"I never thought it would end like this." "To tell the truth, I never thought it would end at all." " I'm still not sure what this is." " Don't worry." "You'll be fine." "I'd do better with more warning." "Between you and me, that's how they like it." "No advance warning." ""They."" " We." "The Group." " Yeah." "Good luck." "Hey." "Just... be yourself." "Please, sit down, Frank." "Many of us have planes to catch so I'd like to get right into this." "Please." " Tell us, who founded the Millennium Group?" " I'm not sure." "Please, turn and face him." "I'm not sure who founded it." "I was told I would learn when the time was right." "And did you?" "Apparently not." "Why are you here?" "Mike Atkins brought me to the Group." "He... helped me understand my gift and convinced me that I could be of service again." " Is that important?" "To be of service?" " Of course it..." "No platitudes." "Do you believe it's important?" "Two months ago, you stabbed a suspect to death in a case the Group was investigating." "The Group wasn't investigating, so I did." "Is that how this works?" "Now you're with us, now you're not?" "Let me state our concern." "The Group has a history and a purpose that is alive in everyone in this circle." "This purpose demands from us a certain strength." "Now, with your personal problems - the estrangement from your wife, your lapse into ultraviolence - with these things clouding your "gift," as you call it, do you still consider yourself a viable candidate?" "I don't consider myself a candidate." "I consider myself a father and a husband." "How?" "Your family left you." "You know, I could've quietly retired from the fbi." "Then I'd be a father and I'd have a wife and family." "But I sacrificed that for the Group." "I have done everything the Group has asked me to do." "Didn't the Group, in fact, ask you to wait before you rushed in and killed that man?" "You know, this is what's commonly known as a "trick bag."" "And if you think I don't recognize it, you're very mistaken." "There are forces acting on us, with or without our consent." "Forces sure of themselves as gravity." "I thought knowing myself with the same certainty would keep me safe, but..." "Surprise!" "As they say, what a long, strange trip this has been." "To us on Earth, the stars are fixed, the planets sluggish." "But from the stars' perspective, our solar system is a hurricane of activity." "A maelstrom that refutes any mechanism..." "He said this when I was in second grade." "Daddy, please." "Our corner of the universe is host to commotion of the fiercest kind, raging on all sides, great clouds of mist that we call nebulae." "A comet visits us once in a thousand years." "Closer to home, surprising variations within the planets of our own solar system." "Centuries sped up to minutes, we see Pluto changing places with Neptune, then returning to its position as the outermost planet in time for the coming millennium, just as it has for every millennium before." "Mommy, what's "millennium"?" " If only we could enroll Bill Gates' kid." " Now you're talking." " It's OK." "You can get it." " I know what it is." "I'll be right back." "I haven't seen her this happy in a while." " She likes having both of us around." " Maybe it's young love." "Oh, no." "That's the family that I told you about, whose son disappeared." "We've had them over a couple of times." "They know about your work." " Want me to intercept?" " That's OK." " Hi." "Hi, Molly." "This is my husband Frank." " Hello." " And this is..." "I'm sorry." " Bill Glaser." "And this is Ian." "Hey, Ian." "Hey, guys, you know what horoscopes are?" "Let's go see what the stars hold for us." "OK?" " OK." " See you later." " Cute kid." " Yeah." "I gather Catherine's told you." " Yeah." " We understand you're with the fbi." "Was." "I'm a consultant now." "Taurus." "The bull." "Absolutely." "Leo." "The lion." "That's some mane." "Very good." "Did they give you the school birthday roster?" "You" " Cancer." "Aquarius." "Sun sign, sure." "I meant your moon sign." "Sit down." "What's your birthday?" "February..." " The sixth." " Oh, thank you." "1963." "You have a great spiritual sensitivity, an almost psychic sixth sense." "Maybe my husband." "Scorpio." "The investigator." "Well, it's been fun." "Let's go over there." "You're in a very difficult transition right now." "You're not together, are you?" "Your family." "I know Alaska's a big state." "But all they would say was "We've done everything we can."" "They flew a helicopter back and forth a couple of times - maybe." "I offered to write a check for a bigger search." "They got huffy, like it was a bribe." "Look..." "I'm not used to asking for favors, certainly not from strangers, but..." "He's alive." "I know it." "You were born with Neptune overhead." "And your husband had Pluto opposite." "The tug of these two planets on each other is the great conflict of our times." "At the planetarium, they said Pluto and Neptune cross paths." "Every 500 years." "A great clash." "A spiritual force with earthly power, out of which comes a new era." "In the past, the birth of Christ, King Arthur's court, the Renaissance." " And this time?" " The great conflict is also your conflict." "The two of you." "Catherine." "I'm ready." "I guess we went a little overboard - GPS, solar computer, emergency transmitter." "But Alaska's a long way away, and he wanted to go alone." "When Alex graduated high school, all his friends wanted cars." " He just wanted to go back." " Go back?" "We did some Alaska cruises two years ago." "I mean, completely different." "We barely got off the boat." "But what are we gonna say, though?" "He's a great kid." "Honor roll, nice friends." "Varsity miler." "No drugs." "Doesn't even like beer." " He'd never really asked for anything before." " You mind if I keep this?" "No." "Go ahead." "We put together a list we thought might help." "Driver's license, birth date, credit cards." "It doesn't say on there, but he'd be a freshman now." "At Tufts." "Alex has had it since he was a kid." "He was teaching Ian the constellations before he left, and asked Ian to watch it for him till he got back." "Ian says he'll see Alex with it." "Maybe if they got a call from you." "No." "I'm going to Alaska." "I need a standard briefing packet we normally get from Law Enforcement." "You have no authority to work for the Group, especially after that review." " I must have paged you ten times today." " Are you gonna help me or not?" "How does this work?" "You get uncomfortable, you walk?" "I've always made the assumption that this was a two-way street." "I'm sorry." "You're on your own." " So, here's your damn prints." " Thank you." "I hate it when they smile." " "Drunk and disorderly"?" " Can't lock 'em up for being irritating'." "Between us, I stashed him in there." " Mostly for his own protection." " Protection from whom?" "A long list." "Doesn't your group tell you anything?" "I left Seattle without a briefing." "Look." "Some teenage millionaire wants to buy a few rounds with a singing doll, no one objects." "But he was giving expensive crap to people's wives." "Wives who are lucky if they get new boots at Christmas." " Now, that's gonna generate some animosity." " Oh, yeah." "I've seen some bar brawls in my day, but this one was special." "Saved his ass that time, but it was pretty clear he wasn't gonna last up here." "Oh." "After all that, he forgets his watch under that mattress." "I seen the ads." "Five grand." "What a little pissant." "John!" "You here?" "John, the boy, the one you were looking for." "They found him." "Right there." "Like I said, he wasn't gonna last." "That's not him." "Nature ain't a dainty eater." "Larry Nolan, Acting Coroner." "Conducting autopsy on Alex Glaser." " The dental match is inconclusive." " Well, half the jaw's missing." "I'd prefer we designate him a John Doe." " Conducting autopsy on John Doe." " Thank you." "Height, 5'11"." "Like Alex Glaser." "Shoe size, 10." "Like Alex Glaser." "Estimated age, 18." "Like Alex Glaser." "Connective fascia, severely degraded." "Two to three weeks underwater." "Like Alex Glaser." "I'll notify the parents." "And tell them what?" "About the brutality of this man's death?" "About his crushed skull?" "With no evidence this is their son?" "Conifer." "300 million cedars in this state." "About as unusual as antlers on a moose." "Do you know where they fished the body out of the water?" "I'll factor in the currents to determine where he entered the water." "The conifer is generic." "But with the knowledge we have, who knows?" "I know this:" "someone didn't like his charming ways." "Though most of your wet ones are DD." " Drunk and drowned." " Alex didn't drink." "He sure was on something the night he spent here." "Soylent green is people." " Probably the phone lines." " Yeah?" "They're..." "What do you call it?" "Fiberoptic." " Hello." " Hi." "Did I wake you?" "Oh." "No." "No, I was just paying some bills." "How are you making out?" "Fine." "Except I've got a computer glitch." "Is there any chance you could go over to my place and check it out for me?" "Sure." "Frank..." "What?" "I was just thinking about you, that's all." "I'm pretty sure Jeanne is in across the hall." " I'll see if she can watch Jordan." " Thank you." "This was worth it just to check out your new lifestyle." ""Ladies of the night"?" "It's just a CD-ROM." "It's about owls." "Yeah, sure." "OK." "Millennium Group." "I'm hitting it now." "Soylent green is people." ""Access denied." You want me to give Peter a call?" "No, no, no." "Let's go outside the Group." "I want you to open an icon marked "plastic."" "Wait a minute." "You can find out what anyone's charged?" " You've done that to me, haven't you?" " Yeah." "419011603511226." "Should be..." "Alex Glaser." "The only entry from Alaska is a general store." "Monroe's." "That's where I am." "$587.38." " $587?" "For what?" " Itjust says "merchandise."" "Wait a minute." " There's somebody outside." " What?" "Catherine?" "Catherine!" "Catherine, pick up the phone." " What the hell is going on here?" " Catherine!" " I got it." " Catherine!" " What are you pulling?" " Why are you breaking in..." " What are you doing barging in here?" " Are you bugging my phones?" " We had a security breach on your account." " It was Frank." "Yeah, I know about it!" "He's on his own." "The Group considers him AWOL." "AWOL?" "Who do you people think you are?" "You're supposed to be looking out for him." "Did you cut him off?" "Answer me!" "When you're ready to listen." "You OK there?" "A few weeks ago, a young man came in here and purchased a few items." "Almost $600." "Yeah, the dead kid." "Only it wasn't a number of items, it was one big one." "I'll never forget." "He signs the receipt real careful." "Like anybody cares, right?" "And then he gives me his card." "He gives me his card." "And I say no way." "Credit card fraud being highly immoral." "Anyway, who in this town is gonna believe I'm Alex... what's his name?" "So he takes the scissors and he cuts the card in two." "Here's the receipt." "This is not his name." "This says "Alex Ventoux."" "Hey, the charge cleared." "Don't mess me up." "Ventoux, what did he buy?" "A telescope?" "He wouldn't backpack with this." "He made me swear to keep it secret, but I guess he's in no position to complain." "The telescope wasn't for him." "He had me deliver it there." "Look at this." "Alex had a younger brother named Ian." "They shared a telescope," " like the one he bought here." " So?" "He had it delivered to the Bering Elementary, second grade, the same as his brother." "Alex wasn't trying to cause trouble." "He was trying to make peace with the world." "He bought a telescope to atone for leaving a brother he loved behind." "He was jettisoning material possessions." " The insane giveaway in the bar." " Yeah." "And the watch he left for you." "He's moved on to where time is not important." "Yeah." "The great hereafter." "The whole business reeks of suicide." "No." "He signed his name "Alex Ventoux" on this receipt for the telescope." "He was creating a new identity to have a new life, not ending one." " Then who was the floater?" " I don't know." "But it wasn't Alex." "I have a very strong feeling about this." "Yeah." "I talked to Peter Watts about these "strong feelings" of yours, which, as I understand them, makes you at least as loopy as that kid was." "He also said you're here as a solo act." "You lied to me." "I plotted currents where the body was found." "It may have entered the ocean here, by the Emmonak river." "The cedar fragments suggest that it started at altitude." "It washed down the river, tumbling over boulders, which would explain the skull damage and the broken bones." "The river is the last known location." "I'm going after him." "Do what the hell you want." "But you're on your own." "Hey." "I'll be picking your body outta the water next." "That's my strong feelin'." "You want to know why it happened, and I can't say." "But I do know when." "It was that moment when I turned my back on everything, and felt peace." "All right." "The river's right up there, about 200 yards." "Follow it all the way or you're gonna be lost in about 30 seconds." "I'm leaving at 4.30 sharp, with or without you." "So whatever you're doing, turn around at one." "Understood." "Look, this is just human to human." "What?" "Are you OK?" "The sheriff told me that you're a little bit whacked." "He did, huh?" "I'll be back by 4.30." "OK." "Hey!" "You know that kid expired about three weeks ago, right?" "You know that?" " There's someone at the door." " Whose idea was that?" "Will you talk to me?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "I'm sorry." "I'm..." "I'm sorry." "For coming here." "But I..." "He's gone." "He's headed up north." "For I don't know what." "And I didn't stop him." "I didn't try to." "What happened this past year?" "I feel like I just stood by watching while Frank and Jordan and I got run over by a train." "We've all felt that way from time to time." "Then how can you not help him?" "This is very difficult for me, Catherine." "All of it." "How do you make it work?" "Really?" "Barbara, my wife." "So it's my fault." "It isn't about fault, it's about coming to terms with the times we live in." "You know how I spent the past two days?" "Reading astrology books." "Digging into Pluto and Neptune." "Because that's what it's come to for me." "I don't know where to look for answers." "I think you know exactly where to look." "Anywhere that makes you conscious of the part you play." "The part I play in what?" "Sorry." "They were just gonna take me to the airport." "If you have time for a cup of coffee..." "Yes." "I'd like that." "I'll call you." "Where are you off to?" "Alaska." "I was never honest with you why I came back here." "I could never quite explain." "But I'll try now, while I still can." "It happened on our cruise through Prince Edward Sound." "I was looking at the water and the mountains, which were beautiful, but for a moment, up on the deck of that ship, I couldn't swear it wasn'tjust... an incredibly realistic simulation." "Notjust the scenery." "My whole life." "Back home, the feeling never left." "All junior and senior year while I studied, ran track, filled out college applications." "I returned here to find my life again." "I had to." "I don't understand what draws me on, but God doesn't move us by telling us the facts." "He moves us by pains and contradictions." "He's given me a lack of understanding." "Not answers, but questions." "An invitation to marvel." "And here, for the first time," "I have." "I never thought it would end like this." "I never thought it would end at all." "But, like they say, what a long, strange trip this has been." "My leg is broken." "I've lost a lot of blood." "It's starting to rain and I know I'll never make it home." "Someday some kid will tell Ian "You're an idiot, just like your brother who threw his life away."" ""Walked into the woods and died."" "I'm asking you, as a last favor, to put a better spin on it for him." "You two, and Ian, you have always been real." "Yo!" "Please know I love you." "I'm thinking of you in the end." "And I'm looking at the stars." "The guy swears he'll be back by 4.30, and the sun's goin' down, the wind's comin' up." "I'm drivin' a damn lemon taxi." "I'm outta here." "Toss out a survival kit." "I'll get a search team for the morning." "And you owe me 50 bucks." "You called it, John." "Hey, man, this state's got a lousy way of dealing with nut cases." "Down in front." "Listen," "I didn't want to die." "I wanted to be alive." "Hang in there, kid." "I'm not gonna let you die." "Mommy?" "Jordan, you're supposed to be asleep." "Daddy didn't call." "Oh, well," "I am sure that he will." " That's Daddy." " Oh, no, honey." "You know, Daddy has a lot of responsibilities." "A lot, for everybody." "And that means sometimes he has to do things that aren't very nice." "Not that." "That." "I hope so, sweetheart." "Alex." "Alex, wake up." "Alex!" "Come on, look at me." "Come on, Alex." "We got a lot of ground to cover." "We'll walk a GPS grid from the bottom of the river." "Ortez, you look north." "Andrews, south." "I'll take the middle with Peter Watts here." "Check in every hour." "Channel 16." "Scotty'll be overhead, 122.5." "All right?" "Oh, my God." "Frank!" "Are you all right?" "OK, we got him, we got him." "Come on." "Watch your step." "Watch your foot." "You take care of him now, Peter." "I think he's alive." "He's still alive." "He's still alive." "Get in." "We're outta here." "Lewis, we'll come back for ya." " I'm staying." " You're in shock." "You need a doctor." "No." "He'll come back." "Let him be." "I saw it, you saw it." "What were those crazy lights?" "We asked the National Observatory, and they called it "a near-space anomaly."" "OK." "Now, since the astronomers are clueless, I asked a local astrologer and she..." "I know, I know." "Here's what she said:" "Neptune and Pluto are in Sagittarius, whose nature symbol is a rainbow." "So that light show was a "space rainbow."" ""The signature of a new covenant."" "Ooh, doesn't that clear things up?" " Mr Black." " Hi." "How is he today?" "What's the matter?" "He was in great spirits." "Talking, writing." "No one saw him leave." "We are meant to be here." "We step from once piece of holy ground to the next, under stars that ask:" "Imagine for one second you could drop in on a past life." "What would you like to find yourself doing there?" "What would charm you?" "Make you proud?" ""Ask yourself that, and the question of what to do in this life becomes so simple, it's terrifying."" ""Just to do that thing that would charm you, that would make you say 'It's the real me."'" ""Do that and you're alive." "Alex Ventoux."" "All right." "What does that mean?" "No." "Over 500 years ago, a man named Petrarch climbed a mountain just to see the view." "It was a new kind of thinking that became the beginning of the Renaissance." "The name of that mountain was Ventoux." "I don't understand." "I just..." "I just don't understand." "Do you think he'll ever come back?" "The person they thought he was?" "No." "Peter asked me to give this to you." "I told him there was no guarantee you'd read it." "What's it say?" "I'm not sure it matters." "Visiontext Subtitles:" "Joanna Wilkinson" "US ENGLISH"