"Papa, it's begun." "Look at the size of that." "Can you believe it?" "That thing is huge." "Lauren?" "What are you doing?" "Come over here." "Hurry up!" "God, you must be freezing." "Lauren, are you okay?" "Seven confirmed deaths and a number of missing persons... continues to mount in the wake of the freak storm front... the National Weather Service has officially labeled..." ""the worst of the century"." "Twenty-five inches of rain have fallen..." " ... over the past 72 hours alone." " Hello?" "Hi." "It looks like I'm going to be pretty late." " I figured, with all the flooding." " Actually, it's this case." "I'm with the parents of a grad student who lit herself on fire." " Did she survive?" " No." "And the parents keep saying that she'd never kill herself, so it's pretty intense here." "Your guy has been a real comfort to them, though." "I'm sorry, Catherine." "What guy?" "Dennis something?" "He said he worked with you." " I thought from the Group." " I probably just haven't met him yet." " Well, you'd definitely remember him if you had." " Make sure you get his name." "I will." "I'd better get back to the parents now." "Love you." "Love you." "Was that mommy?" "What did she say?" "I have a secret plan... that I can't tell to any spies unless they're in their pj's." "Hmm?" "Scoot." "I'll be right back, Daddy." "Some think this self-immolation, if that's what it was... had the trappings of a political act." "But none of the students we interviewed have any idea what she may have been protesting." "I hope her family hasn't seen this." "Yeah." "It was on the news." "She reminds me of those Buddhist monks protesting the Vietnam War." "Yeah, I think so too." "Ritualistic pose, focused beyond herself somehow." "Maybe this is why the parents kept saying someone else had to be responsible." "Who?" "They had no idea." "So I took it as a defense mechanism." "You know, find someone out there to blame." "Honestly, that guy who knew you actually encouraged them." " Did you find out what his last name was?" " No, he never came back." "It's gotta feel worse when it's an only child." "I'm gonna go peek in on Jordan." " I'll be up in a minute." " Okay." "Watts." " Peter?" "Frank." " So, you weren't washed away?" "No." "Still here." " Did you see the grad student on the news?" " Yeah." "Pretty grim." "Do we have somebody working on that?" "Dennis something?" "No." "No one." "Do you think we should?" "Catherine spoke to the family." "They say it wasn't a suicide." "If I were the parents, I'd be telling myself that too." "If you want, I can do a little research." "Thank you." "It's open." " Frank Black." "I spoke to you on the phone." " Right." "Look, could you close the door, please?" "I'm not allowed to smoke in here." "You think I'd quit after yesterday." "Is this Lauren's desk?" "Not anymore." " "Point-Set Topology"." " Lauren..." "She was mutant bright." "She was offered a faculty appointment at Oxford last year." " Why didn't she take it?" " Her parents." "They're nice people." "They're just like, uh..." ""Great Britain, isn't that somewhere near England?"" "What do you think, Maura?" "Were there any warning signs before yesterday?" "Like what?" "what, little fires flaring up?" "I'm sorry, but do you people not compare notes?" "I mean, this is a complete Xerox of what your partner already asked me." " Someone was here?" " A Dennis Hoffman." "You know, the snappy dresser." "And the only reason I was willing to go through this again... is 'cause he said you would be able to tell me what happened." "He said you'd be interested in that." " I can't believe it." " I know." " I don't even know what to make of it." " It's just so weird." "I don't know how it happened." " She was a great student." " Yeah, she was." "Frank Black?" "I would have come sooner, but I wanted you to see for yourself." " Have we met?" " Dennis Hoffman." "I'm glad we're teamed up on this." "The girl, the alignment." "Boom, boom." "It doesn't get much clearer than that." " What doesn't?" " On May 5, 2000... seven inner planets align for the first time... since the great flood." "Uranus hit the meridian of its epicenter." "Earth, the focus of the biggest gravitational tug-of-war in 6,000 years." "Catastrophic earth changes on alignment day... preceded by abnormal weather patterns now as stresses build." "Example:" "Hurricanes Edward..." "Andrew, Andhra Pradesh, Bay of Bengal." "Example: the Sahara Desert advancing 70.7 meters per year." "Example:" "Lima earthquake, 7.3..." "Loma Prieta, 7. 1..." "Irian jaya, 8.0." "Example." " The hailstorm." " Exactly as predicted." " You mean prophecies?" " I mean scientific fact." "Alignment every 6,000 years." "Obviously, Lauren knew." "She killed herself because a hailstorm confirmed the world was about to end?" "Nobody kills themselves over something that happens three years from now." "I have to believe that she was protesting something else." "People close to her have no idea what that might be." "Someone does." "So obviously there's others involved." "Someone behind this." "Dennis, you've been telling people we work together." " Only those with the need to know." " I've never met you before." "Ask Peter Watts." "He'll confirm." "There are others involved." "Thanks for helping me out with this, Peter." "It wasn't exactly a pleasure dealing with Dennis Hoffman again... but I think I impressed upon him the need to leave you and Catherine alone." " How'd you find him?" " E-mail." "He's always eager to talk." "Dennis came forward on a Zodiac cult investigation a few years back, before you joined us." "Once he found out about the Group, it took a year to get him off our backs." " But he's not dangerous?" " Only if you listen to him." "On the girl, I came up with some pertinent information." "Actually, a lack of pertinent information." "There's no birth certificate." "Subsequent public documents... list Lauren as the Padillas' genetic child, but that's all but impossible." " Too many recessive traits." " So, she was adopted?" "Never formally." "Meaning there's no record of her biological parents." "There's something else." "Scholarships, appointments... an endless list of special programs, starting at a very early age." "I was told the Padillas weren't that sophisticated." "Exactly." "There's been a pattern of positive interference in her life... from outside." "The genetic parents." "Whoever it is has taken pains to remain anonymous." "But there are definitely others involved." "That's what Dennis Hoffman said." "It's Carlin." "She's not coming." "Carlin?" "Carlin?" "Honey?" "Are you okay in there, Carlin?" "Carlin?" "Cheryl Andrews, M.D., conducting autopsy under the auspices of Snohomish County Coroner." "Subject of reported self-immolation, grad student Lauren Padilla." "P-A-D-I-L-L-A." "White female, age 25." "Elevated carboxy hemoglobin... confirms cause of death was hypoxia... and severe thermal injuries." "Bone shrinkage and fourth degree burning of extremities... consistent with use of acetone accelerant." "Body posture consistent with use of acetone accelerant as well." " The kneeling position?" " Well, kneeling makes it sound voluntary." "This is called the pugilistic attitude." "It's very typical." "It's caused by the muscles contracting under intense heat." " What about the hands?" " Less typical." "Much less." "The Mandala position, if you're a Buddhist." "What does that mean?" "Protest?" "Uh, an offering." "A supplication." "Beautiful eyes." "Congenital coloboma occlusion at 3:00." "What do you think?" "It's obviously self-inflicted." "I wouldn't call it self-mutilation." "The shape means something." "In astronomy, it's the symbol for conjunction." "Alignment." "She had a model of the solar system in her office." "The seven planets were aligned the day she died." "Hoffman was there first." "He probably aligned them himself." "He said others were involved." "Someone's behind it." "He always says that." "He's bound to be right once in a while." "I think he knows something." "Dennis?" "we had an agreement!" "Yes, we did." "But now you've found something on the body, haven't you?" "Get in your car and go." "What's this mean to you?" "It's May 5." "I knew it." "Five, five, 2,000." "Seven inner planets align for the first time since the great flood." "Uranus at the meridian of its epicenter." "Yes." "You told me about that before." "Catastrophic earth changes on that day preceded by abnormal weather conditions." " Now..." " The Bay of Bengal." "You said that too." "Seven planets aligned." "Seven people survive with Noah." "Seven separate prophecies by Nostradamus predicting the Apocalypse in May." "Listen, this is the beginning of the thousand days." "When the first trumpet sounds, there came hail mixed with fire and blood." "Revelations, verse seven." "Blood, Exodus, chapter seven..." ""And the river was turned to blood"." "River of blood." "There'll be more." "We found her right where you said she'd be." "A few hundred yards downstream from the dam, just off the spillway." " We left her the way we found her." " Good." "It isn't pretty." "Andisol soil." "Volcanic." "The riverbed ruptured just below the dam." "The fish never knew what hit 'em." "They speculate that volcanic ash from Santorini... turned the Nile River red in ancient Egypt." "River of blood." "That's what people around here have been calling it." "Connective aphasia is pretty degraded." "I'd guess two or three days under water." "Uh, she went missing three days ago." "I figure she was murdered somewhere else and then dumped over the damn." " No, I don't think so." " Someone wanna tell me what's going on here?" "I wanna see my baby!" "I want to see my baby!" "Criminy!" "Zip that thing up." "Now calm down, Lily." " No!" "No!" " Let go!" "I have to see my little girl." "Now listen..." "Listen to me!" "Now, I'm not saying you can't see her." "I'm just asking you as a friend." "Please, let us clean her up first." "I don't want you to remember Carlin like this." "You were the one who knew where she'd be." " Yes." "I'm very sorry." " He's one of them." " No." " One of whom?" "Lillian?" "Who are they?" "The ones that brought Carlin to you?" "I don't know." "I never knew." "my perfect baby... they took her." "Same congenital coloboma at 3:00." "carved icon I believe we all recognize." "There's a definite family resemblance." "I'm betting the pelvic cavity should be highly interesting." "There were needle marks in her buttocks." "And a slight abscess of the surrounding adipose tissue... suggests repeated intramuscular injections." "Someone was drugging her?" "Well, by the angle of the needle... she was almost certainly injecting herself." "Both girls show extremely high postmortem estrogen levels." "I assumed Lauren's was a false reading due to extreme heat." "But seeing Carlin's..." "I'm quite sure they were both injecting menotropins." "Fertility drugs." "Gentlemen, welcome to the realm of the truly bizarre." "She's a high school senior, by all indications, a virgin." "And she's super-ovulated." "There are seven." "Seven mature egg follicles, where there should be one." "They're the same, the two girls." "Right." "They've gotta be sisters." "Identical twins." "Frank, they're not the same age." "Seven years apart, identical offspring... being readied for the cataclysm on May 5 in the year 2000." "Like Noah preparing for the flood." "They know about both girls..." "Lauren and earlin." " What should we do?" " Call the others." "This is a technique called the blastomere separation... that's been used for decades to create identical cattle." "You take a fertilized egg and let it divide a few times in vitro." "Then you tease the cells apart." "Each new embryo is identical to the original." "Freeze some for later and you could have identical girls seven years apart." "Both providing eggs for the next generation." ""A few"." "How many is that?" "In cows, a practical amount would be 20 copies." " Probably similar in humans." " So, who does this procedure?" "No one would admit to doing it in a human, but any gynecologist could." "Pretty ugly breeding experiment." "Do you think the girls who killed themselves wanted out?" "No." "Staying in assured they'd survive on May 5." "Both sets of parents said someone forced them." "Maybe they were removed from the program." "If you've got the genes, you don't need the people." "Twenty identical human beings, no longer needed, no birth records... scattered over 50 states." "It's gonna be tough to find." "The river of blood happened just the way you said it would." " How did you know?" " We're at Exodus." " Would you like some water?" " Thank you." "Dennis?" "There are others." "There will be more deaths." " Are you mocking me?" "Is that what you're doing?" " No." "There is someone out there who believes in May 5." "He's responsible for the death of two girls already." "I need to know who else believes in earth changes." "Einstein did." "I mean today." "I don't know anybody like that." "where would he be?" "Where would you be?" "Where will you be on May 5 in the year 2000?" "I really thought... that when I finally found someone who believed... they'd be good." "That the future would somehow be better." "I reserved a hotel room in Pocatello, Idaho." "Technically, it's a motel... but it's supposed to be quite nice." "Pocatello, Idaho." "531 miles from the nearest coast... 4,448 feet above sea level." "A seismic oasis." " Especially compared to here." " Take a look at this." "I mean, forget the "Big One" in LA... when the Cascadia Subduction Zone shifts..." "Seattle's looking at a nine-plus." "All the Starbucks would be about 300 feet under." "Since I don't believe in telepathy, I had to assume... the girls who killed themselves had prior contact." "Peter, I just want to say it's great working with you again." "They did have contact, but it wasn't directly." "This is a picture of their calling patterns." "Both of them called this number just before they died." "The guy in the middle- that's who's pushing the buttons." "I don't know, but watch this." "All in contact with the same guy." "Roughly 20 total." "Twenty." "That's what Cheryl said." "I checked a few of them out." "Missouri, blue-eyed blonde, AWOL." "Colorado, blue-eyed blonde, missing two days." "California girl, missing 24 hours." "Each one an only child." "Think they're being recalled?" "I think we could end up with a real mess on our hands." "Where though?" "Pocatello, Idaho." "I know my building." "I've got pumps, emergency generators, elevator equipment down here." "No elves." "Our records show a lot of activity." "No one has any access to this area without my knowledge." "The bottom line is two dozen people are missing, and they're all focused on this place." "Clear!" "Clear!" "Clear!" " Clear!" " Clear!" "Someone changed the cylinder." "What's in the box?" "I don't know." "None of this is supposed to be here." "It's a phone switcher." "It could be forwarding literally anywhere." " Who designed this building?" " Where'd you find this guy?" " Who did design it?" " A local woman." "worked out of an office from her ranch about an hour from here." "I forget her name." "But you know, I still remember the phone number." " 5-5-5..." " 2000." "I know you could care less, but I got a dozen guys about to go into golden time here... so I say we go down there and knock on the door with a domestic disturbance complaint." "There have been two deaths already." "This could become extremely volatile." " We have movement." " They're in there." "They made us." "Everybody in." "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Come on, move!" "Move!" " Let's go!" " Come on." "Move!" "Hey, I found something up here!" "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" " Run!" "This way!" " Hurry!" "It's okay." "Nobody's gonna hurt you." "A little more." "Little more." "A little more." " Okay." "Good." " Drake, what is this?" " Protective custody." " You can't arrest them." "Those ten-year-olds in there found out today they're about as individual as ants." " I'm not taking any chances." " This is not necessary." "Sorry." "No way there's any Jonestown on my watch." " You're making things worse." " Frank?" "He wants to talk to you upstairs." "I told him you understood." "I don't wanna understand." "They're being locked in a bus." "Shipped off." "Do you know where?" "Do you care?" "Could you give us a minute?" "I want you to understand." "Noah was an insane man... until the rains came." "And that day the flood began... all the people who had jeered showed up." "Imagine that scene." "The chaos, the violence." "People who had taunted Noah... just hours before... now willing... to commit any vile act... to secure a seat on his boat." "I contemplated that scene... for many years." "And I finally accepted... that the people I wanted to see in the next world... people who would care for each other... as brother and sister... did not exist." "I would have to make them." "when I saw the results... how perfect they are to each other..." "I knew that the next world would be better." "Your daughters are crying down there." "The arrogance... not to take responsibility." "No." "The humility... of accepting my place in the universe." "You wanna take God's place." "I accept... that on May 5... the planets will align... and massive earth changes will occur." "Not as a referendum... on man's wickedness... but as part of the eternal order... of the cosmos." "We cannot stop this." "It is not about us." "And once you accept this, Mr. Black... it is your responsibility... as a human being... to do everything you can... to preserve what is good... about humanity." "I was hoping for the future... that you would understand." "The two girls..." "you talked to them before they died." "They were your daughters." "What did you tell them?" " The truth." " What truth?" "That the thousand days had begun... and that I'm dying." "I won't make it with them... to the other side." "All my children..." "I pray... they'll be all right." "Unit 7-6-3-4-5, please call the station." "Come on." "Let's keep moving." "A chance to remake the world in your own image." "Maybe you'd be crazy not to take it." " I don't think that's what he had in mind." " Well, that's what he got." "Look at this stuff." "When you're breeding Einsteins, 20 at a pop, that's a lot of ribbons." "we're pretty much wound down here." "I'm gonna send my guys home." "Where's Dennis?" "He was out front when they were loading the girls in the bus." "You mean that Hoffman crackpot?" "I haven't seen him since they left." " He's gone." " What do you mean?" "They're gone." "They're all gone." "That bus will never get there." " Mason, Breaker!" "Get after that bus!" " Yeah!" "We're on it!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" " What the hell is going on?" " The power's out!" "Come on, guys." "We need some help down here." "The power was deliberately cut." "They found the bus empty." "Dennis is still at large." "Wherever they vanish to, he'll be with them." "The ark." "Well, at least we know where they'll be May 5, 2000." "It's a lot harder to dismiss when it's not just Dennis ranting." "He just didn't know what to do with the knowledge." "These people obviously have a plan." "So, how does it start... the great cataclysm?" "Nobody knows exactly." "All they know is how it's gonna end." "I'm gonna get something for my daughter." "Thank you!" "What is it?" "It's our solar system." "Here." "This is the sun and this is us." "We live in a ball?" "Shall I tell Daddy the great news?" "She got in." "Green Valley Day School." " They accepted Jordan for next fall." " Good." "Good?" "Frank, she's set through the 12th grade." "We're home free until 2010." "I am so proud of you!" "Your daddy and I think you are the smartest little girl... and you're gonna grow up to be a smart big girl." "Revision:" "Thor"