"No, I need this!" "No!" "For him!" "No!" "No!" "There isn't enough food for him!" "I'm so sick of you monsters!" " No!" "No!" " Hey, over here." "Come on." "Come on." "Come and get me." "Come on." "Hey, over here." "Okay, this time, I'm begging." "Come on." "Come on." "It's you, the real one." "I hope you didn't forget the beer this time." "I lost track of time when I ran into myself in the alley." "Yourself?" "Apparently, I am no longer the only Ghost patrolling the streets of our fair city." " Yeah?" "Somebody stole your act, huh?" " Heh." "I just hope they don't get themselves killed pretending they're me." "How are you?" "Just keep talking." "What kind of intel did you get?" "Anything worth a damn?" "I got three-quarters of this camp mapped." "But I can't figure out where these skitters are coming from when the alarm goes off near that church." "There's no guard tower, there's no checkpoint and I can't see into those streets." "We need a bird's-eye view." "No!" "What are you doing?" "No!" "You're not taking me!" "What the hell?" "You damn roaches!" "You'll be bleeding in the streets when this is over!" "Did they just lock us out of solitary?" "Looks like they're throwing us all in the same frying pan." "Dad." "Hal?" "Hal." " You all right?" " Colonel." "They can't break your old man." " Tec." " Hey, professor." "Hal." " Why did they let you guys out?" " I don't know." "Something's changed." "Got big black flying things coming into camp." " Look like hornets." " Yeah." "Taking the kids out of camp." "They got Jeannie." "I'm afraid they might have gotten Matt." "We'll get them back." "We're gonna find Jeannie." "We're gonna find Matt and then Ben and Lexi and Anne." "And then we're gonna take the Espheni out permanen..." "What's that?" "Everybody, back!" "Everybody, get back!" "Your games have come to an end." "He's harnessed." "Somebody up there is trying to send us a signal." "There will be no more food drops until you surrender the terrorist you call the Ghost." "We've emptied your solitary ward allowing your most ruthless criminals to save themselves by hunting him down." "Whoever identifies this vigilante will be rewarded." "Anyone found aiding him will be executed." "This is not a warning." "Hand over the Ghost." "He is not, as it turns out, your friend after all." "The choice is yours." "Tell me, Tom, that you're not gonna do anything stupid." "Define "stupid." Look, these people are starving already." "Without rations, they're gonna be dead." " There are other ways to deal with this." " Great." "Like how?" "Like Pope." "We'll track him down." "We'll find his stash." " You think he's got enough food?" " He's got enough to feed the whole state." "It's not a permanent solution." " Yeah, but it's something, isn't it?" " It'll buy us a little time." "Good." "All right." "And listen, you're not turning yourself in." "That's off the table." "Got it?" "Hal, any more intel on where the skitters are coming from behind the church?" "No, not yet." "They're making it around that corner and into the town square in under 17 seconds." " If I'm gonna draw their fire..." " Better know where they're coming from." "What about the escape route?" "We had our tunnelers go down another 10 feet." "The wall is still there." "So we're not going under it?" "Right." "But we found some rubble against the south wall." " Might be able to climb over." " You disrupt power to the fence?" "We threw that little generator at it." "It barely even flickered." "So how are we gonna do it?" "Well, we're not." "Well, for the plan to work, the wall has to come down." " What?" " The plan's changed." "You changed the plan without talking to me?" " Well, I'm talking to you right now." " No." "This can't happen." "Well, it's gotta happen." "I know you think you got this whole thing on your shoulders but you've been locked up." "You left me in charge." "Now trust me when I say I think I know there's a better way." "Because I know someone who can get us out of here." "He needs water!" "Take off his backpack." "Grab his gear." "Split it between you." "Keep drinking." "Let's keep moving." " Anne..." " We're not stopping, Anthony." "Look, we can march all day or all night, but we can't do both." "The Espheni are using these roads to haul children to God knows where." "There's a good chance my daughter's at the end of the line." "Look, that's why we're following you." "Everyone has family they're trying to find." "I'm just trying to keep from losing anyone else along the way." "How long does she expect to keep going if she keeps giving her rations away?" "The rest of us are dehydrated." "It came through the brush." "I don't see any others." "It's still alive." " Allow me." " No." "He's mine." "What's she doing?" "Learning, meditating, escaping from them." "What do they want from her?" "Everything." "I think they think she's God." "I'm glad you're here." "Lexi needs someone who will tell her the truth." "What truth?" "She's dying." "What?" "No." "No." "She's..." "She looks..." "She looks like she's 21." "She's barely a year old." "I can't figure out her growth spurts." "They seem totally random." "And I don't know how long she can last when she's aging at this unpredictable rate." "Her DNA's a mutation, part human, part alien." "But something about the combination has resulted in an organism unlike anything I've ever seen." " So, what are you gonna do?" " I don't know." "It might be a mistake to do anything." "Nature's miracles spring from unlikely combinations." "Sometimes, one plus one equals three." " You have to help her." " I want to." "First few months we were here, I took care of Lexi." "I monitored her human hormonal levels, blood sugar, rate of cell replication." "I kept her stable while trying to understand the volatility of her aging and she trusted me." "But when she stopped that mech and all this..." "All this sprung up around her I couldn't get near her anymore." "Who was stopping you?" "Lourdes put out strict orders to keep me away." "She says I upset Lexi." "That I'm a nonbeliever." "But you're not, are you?" "Mr. Mason, what is the new coalition?" "We are, team leader." "The next generation to walk the Espheni path." "We will save the Earth and its people." "And how will you do that?" "First, we save our families." "And how will you do that?" "I'll find them and raise the alarm." "And why will we do this?" "Because I love them." "Nice work, Mr. Mason." "You may take your seat." "Sheila." "I'd now like to invite you up front." "Nice work, Mr. Mason." "You almost fooled me." "Today is a very special day." "Sheila is graduating." "Sheila's parents are what some call "insurgents" or "terrorists."" "Some adults on Earth have become so cynical about governments and leaders that they have a hard time trusting our Espheni brothers." "Sheila's parents are part of this web of rebellion that is launching unprovoked attacks." "Luckily, we intercepted a message from Sheila's mother asking if anyone had seen her daughter." " She really loves you." " I love her too." " What are you going to do?" " I'll raise the alarm." " But not before..." " She takes me to their hiding place." " So we can save all the insurgents." " Exactly." "Will you lead us in the pledge?" "The Earth is a gift." "The new coalition must protect it with our Espheni brothers." "Joined together, we will build a beautiful world." "Are you out of your mind?" "Why are you following me?" "I'm here for your stash." "That's right." "I saw you slide behind the skitters, lapping up their crumbs stealing food from decent people who can't defend themselves." "I took what I could, no different than anybody else." "Besides, you and Mason have been in charge all this time." " Look where we are." " Who's this "we," Pope?" "As far as I can tell, you're doing a fine job of behaving like a craven, immoral turncoat all by yourself." "Hand over your stash." "Come and get it." "Pope, Weaver!" "Yeah, we know you're down here." "Somebody followed you, you..." "So you two are working together." "No." "Look, I know you've been stealing." "I just didn't know where you kept it." " Till now." " Thanks for that, by the way." "Listen, boys, I'm here for the same reason you are to find whatever food is hidden down here and distribute it to everybody." "Screw that." "We're hungry." " We're gonna eat." "Now." " Whoa, whoa, whoa." "What do you think you're doing?" "Don't waste your time, Pope." "Come on." "Come on." " Dingaan." " Tom Mason." " My pleasure." " Thanks for meeting me." "Is that a shortwave?" "Yeah, man." "And it works." "That is, if there's someone out there to hear it." "You're welcome to try." "I may take you up on that." "Hal tells me you're from South Africa." "Uh, yeah." "Johannesburg." "I lost my wife and son." "In the initial invasion or when the walls came down?" "Invasion." "I'm sorry." "As am I." "Been running ever since, escaping Espheni prisons, three of them." "Richmond, Greensboro, Charlotte." "Impressive." "Hornets found me crossing into South Carolina, brought me here." "Tell me about the escapes." "Every camp is different but one thing is a constant, the green barrier." "To go over it, you need one of these." "A Faraday suit." "It allows electricity to flow around me as I climb the fence." " You're a physicist?" " Electrical lineman." "I will teach you how to build one if you help me find copper." "Without it, the suit won't work." "I know some guys that are hoarding some scrap metal." "I can talk to them." "The suit's great, but it's only for one person." "We need to get everybody out." "No, we need to figure out a way to cut the power to the fence." "When the hornets flew me into this camp, I saw a sensor and a tether coming off it." "I couldn't see where it led." " Do you think that tether's a power cord?" " Could be." "Well, if that's true, then maybe I could use one of your suits." "I'll climb the wall, cut the tether, and bring power to the walls down." "Dad, it's not all on you, remember?" "Fair enough." "We still need to figure out how to get hundreds of people out of here." "I could cause a distraction, have the guards follow me while everybody else escapes." "But then we'd still need someone to get in the suit and climb the wall." "Easy." "That brings us back to the missing piece of the puzzle where the skitters are clustered near that church." "Looks like all the answers are right there." "I could have taken those guys." "I would have liked to see you get your ass kicked." "They had knives, and thought we were partners." "I'm not getting killed for you." " I hope they like beans." " What?" "My stash consisted of eight cans of beans." "Ha, ha." "Why didn't you say that?" "Hey, one day, I'm gonna be back in business." "Till then, I got a reputation to uphold." "I was ready to kick your ass back there, but I'm happy to do it here." "Well, now, that's the smartest thing you have said all day." "Hold on." "What?" "You need to take a nap, huh?" "You need to stretch out, shot of Gatorade?" "Would you shut up?" "What is that sound?" "Cochise, this is Tom Mason." "Do you read?" "Cochise?" "This is Tom Mason." "Are you out there?" "Tom Mason, I read you." "It's working." "My father would be surprised to find the communicator he left me has been retrofitted to a lesser technology." "You gotta change with the times, my friend." "Even if it's backwards." "I know it's a bit of a crapshoot, but we're hurting for food and supplies." "There are substantial Espheni forces between my team and your camp." "What else is new?" "A great deal, as a matter of fact." "We have confirmed that the Espheni are constructing a new power station." "Is this, uh, designed to power a grid like the one before?" "No." "That grid, along with the Espheni jamming device you destroyed before my arrival, were defensive measures." "The new power source would allow the Espheni to go on offense." "On offense?" "That doesn't sound very good." "Uh..." "Well, let's burn that bridge when we come to it." " Right now I've got some very hungry people." " I am sorry." "I cannot get food to you at this time." "However, if you do manage to escape, I can tell you where there is food." " Well, we got that to look forward to, then." " I do have one piece of encouraging news." "One of our recon drones observed children being transported to a camp south of here." "We believe Matt has been taken there." "Can you get him?" "Cochise?" "I must confer with my team." "No, no." "Well, yes, confer with whoever you want, but..." "But that's about the worst thing you could dangle in front of me." "I'm his father, and I can't protect him." "Can you get to him, please?" "Please, Cochise." "I will leave within the hour." "Signing off." "Denny's gonna translate for us." "You tell me what I wanna know and I won't kill you." "Understand?" "I understand." "We stopped a transport truck with children." "Where were they being taken?" "Re-education to help them be successful in the new order." "What new order?" "Espheni and human together, led by the hybrid." "The hybrid?" "The hybrid is our future." "Lexi." "Is this her?" "Is this...?" "Is this who you're talking about?" "My daughter?" "Is she the future?" "Is she the future you're talking about?" " I don't know." "I don't know." " Tell me." "Where is she being taken?" " Oh, no." " Where is she?" " Oh, no." " Where is she being taken?" "!" "Oh, no." "Hey." "You're gonna learn, Mason." "These people will out your head off." "I'm not waiting in line to see my sister." " Thattaboy." " Hi." "Excuse me." "Give us all of her offerings." "She's..." " You can't go in there." " Yes, I can." "If we wanna stop you, we can." "Why would you stop me?" "Because I'm her brother and she might listen to me?" "Because you've aligned yourself with a nonbeliever." "You mean Dr. Kadar?" "You know his name." "Why are you acting like this?" "You're a doctor." "Being a doctor didn't keep me safe." "Okay?" "Lexi did." "She removed the scales from my eyes, and I was healed." "She saved me." "And I will protect her." "Ben?" "Lexi." " I need to talk to you." " Of course." "Come in." "Only you, Ben." "Isn't it beautiful in here?" "So much nicer than it is out there." " All the noise, the crowds." " The mechs." "You heard about that." "That's a story these people will never stop telling." "They think you destroyed it." "Did you?" "I could feel the electricity gathering in the atmosphere." "I could feel the frequency necessary for the mech to operate." "I was afraid." "And the mech came down." "I'm worried about you." "Why?" "Dr. Kadar thinks you're in danger." "He wants to examine you." "Lourdes says no." "Lourdes is trying to gain power by controlling you." "I answer to a higher power." "Lexi you're in danger, and I'm not convinced the people here have your back." "There's not even anyone guarding the camp." "As long as we are peaceful, the world is peaceful." "Will you please stop talking like a damn fortune cookie?" "How would you like me to talk?" "Do you have a manual for how I should communicate?" "You think you're a better teacher than Dickens or Shakespeare or your own God?" "Do you?" "Do you?" "Lexi there is a war on, and our family, we have no idea where they are." "Dad, Matt, Hal, your mother." "They're all coming, Ben." "They'll all be here soon." "Until then, we're safe." "You don't remember what it was like when the barriers fell." "I remember everything." "I remember you holding me to your chest, saying, "I will protect you."" "I will." "I'm..." "I'm your brother." "I'll die before I let anyone hurt you." "If you want me to see Dr. Kadar, I will." "You sure about this?" "Don't you think we ought to wait for Colonel Weaver?" "We need to get information one way or the other." "How do you know they're not gonna kill you?" "If they wanted me dead, I'd be dead." "They've had plenty of chances." "You know what to do." "And if anything goes wrong I need you to take over for me." "These people trust you." "I do too." "I love you." "Come on, it's the Ghost." "Look." "There he is." "He's here." "What's going on?" " It's the Ghost." " It's the Ghost." " He's here, you guys." " Come on, man." "He's here." " It's him, man." " It's the Ghost." "It's Tom." "Torn Mason." " You want me?" "Here I am." " No." "Tom!" "Welcome, Tom Mason." "You know my name." "I do." "Do you know his name?" "This poor kid you're using as a mouthpiece?" "He's not important." "I disagree." "Are you gonna show yourself or are you afraid to come out and do your own dirty work?" "There's nothing dirty to be done." "I have a simple proposition." "You're a leader." "We need you to be part of our war effort." "That's not gonna happen." "You will help us thwart a greater common enemy and, in so doing, spare your own family." "I wouldn't mention my family." "I know more about you than just your name, Tom Mason." "We don't have a common enemy." "The Volm are our allies." "The Volm are no match for the danger that's coming." "What danger would that be?" "A force far greater than your mind can comprehend." "But defeating them is why we strayed so far from our own galaxy why we collected resources from every planet and moon along the way." "The great battle is coming, and in order to face it we are creating a new elite frontline army." "Oh, is that where the big black flying things come from?" "Those are traitors from the ranks of our guards." " Rebel skitters?" " Genetically altered into mindless drones..." "Free will can be dangerous, but I don't have to tell you that." "The other guards performed admirably, but they are limited." "Harnessing human children proved to be unpredictable long-term." "We are perfecting a smarter, more plentiful soldier for the fight." "Selected human adults." "Your bodies have finished growing." "Personalities and predispositions are set." "Didn't you already try with Karen?" "That didn't work out." "We neglected to strip Karen of free will." "We corrected that mistake." "We will begin transforming our selected human adults in precisely 48 hours." "What happens when we refuse to go along?" "Did you willingly go along with anything we've chosen to do so far?" "We will select the best and the brightest of your race to join us." "This is a process we've taken months to perfect." "We're doing it even now, as we speak." "Anyone who resists will simply serve in a less-conscious form." "What does that mean?" "You'll find out soon enough because your family will be first in line if you refuse our offer." "Pope." "Look." "Wait a second." "That's part of the wall." "Which means that whatever is on the other side of it is outside the wall." "That's daylight." "You're the kind of leader we need." "Help this transition go smoothly and your family will be spared." "I need your answer now." "Let's roll!" "You have a decision to make." "You and your family can be spared from the great transformation that is to come." "Your leadership and courage will be invaluable as the crucial human link between our war machine and the new army." "Choose, Tom Mason." "Evolution or extinction?" "Here!" "Come get some, you bastards!" "Tick, tick, boom, baby!" "Whoo!" "How can there be more than one Ghost?" "Your friends will pay severely." "Whoo!" "That's where they're clustering." "Underground hatch." "All its power is from here." "Down the tether." "Got what I came for." " Matt." "Heh." " I was waiting for you." " I thought we could walk over together." " Okay." "But should we be doing this?" "The new coalition doesn't have any rules against holding hands." "At least, I don't think they do." "We could ask Kent." "Uh..." "Heh." " Come on." "We're going to be late." " Awesome." "Where are they?" "We're a little late, but they should have waited for us." " Get out of here, Mira." " What?" "Just go." "Hurry." "Go." "Can I help you, Mr. Mason?" "I was just looking for Skip." " Skip graduated." " When?" "He didn't say anything." "Some people like their privacy." "Another boy will be moving in tomorrow." "Hector." "He's very bright." "You're gonna like him." "You know, Matt I see all sorts of potential in you so I'm gonna keep my eye on you." "Thank you, team leader." " You okay, Lexi?" "You need anything?" " Yeah, I'm fine, Ben." "Thanks." "What is that?" "One plus one equals three." "Oh, Lexi." "I'm sorry, Ben." " What are you doing to her?" " This has nothing to do with you, Lourdes." " Give me that." "I'm her doctor." " She consented to this procedure." "Let it go, Lourdes." "She can't consent." "Only I can consent, and I don't want you touching her." "You don't want the truth, but the truth could save her." "You're trying to kill her." "You wanna put a name to it, say she's sick." "She's not sick." " Let go!" " No, no!" "Lourdes, you have to stay away from my sister." "Ben, get her out of here." "You're not worthy of her, of what we've built here." "Stop fighting" "You want war, more killing." "You're breaking the peace." "I won't let you kill her." "Lourdes, get away from my sister." " You can't!" "Aah!" "Aah!" " Lourdes!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "How is she?" "She's calmer." "She's sleeping." "I hope she's sleeping." "What the hell's going on here, Maggie?" "Did she do that?" "A lot of weird things have been happening around here." "I don't know what to think anymore." "Lourdes, she's using Lexi." "Yeah, she's got her totally snowed." "Lexi's just a little kid." "She's naive." "Someone could manipulate her into using her abilities for something bad." " So, what do we do?" " Keep an eye on her day and night." "Don't let anyone have access to her, including Lourdes." " That's not gonna be easy." " I don't care." "We have to do it." "If someone wants to get to her, they have to go through me." " What?" " Ha, ha." "It's nice to have another sane person in this place." "You mean someone you agree with?" "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." "Someone I can talk to." "There's no one to talk to around here." "Everyone's drunk the Kool-Aid." "I'm glad you're here." " I'm not." " Ha-ha-ha." "But if I have to be, I'm glad I have you." "Uh, I think I'll go check in on her one more time." " All right, I'll see you in the morning." " Yeah." "I shouldn't have killed the skitter while you were connected to it." "I didn't think." "I know." "I could feel you losing control." "So could it." "You could read its thoughts." "Did you see where Lexi is?" "It didn't know." "But something very weird happened when it started talking about the hybrid." "This blackness appeared and it got bigger and bigger until it blocked out the west." " What do you mean, "the west"?" " I don't know." "This black fear." "It was coming from the west." "Whenever you asked about the hybrid it feared the west." " That's where she is." " Yes." "Then that's where we're going." "Please, I don't want these powers." "Just take them away." "They're getting stronger." "I'm going to hurt someone." "I understand." "Lexi, no." "The food drops are back." " Come on." "This way." " I got one." " Get your hands off." " Whoa." "Take it easy, people." "Make sure everyone gets their fair share." "Hey!" "Come on, you boys know better." "Hey, old man." "The flamethrower was a nice touch." "Oh, you liked that?" "Yeah, I added that last minute." "Ha-ha-ha." "Well, where have you been?" "I thought I told you not to do anything crazy." "No, you said don't do anything stupid." "You didn't say anything about crazy." "I know." "I didn't see another way." "Well, I did." "I found an underground tunnel that might come in handy if we can find a way to get that wall down." "Well, I may have an idea or two on how to do that very thing." "So, what did you say to him up there?" "I mean, they let you go, and they gave us food." "I made a deal." " A what?" " With the Espheni." "I made a deal." "Told them we're not gonna fight anymore and we're not gonna riot." "I don't follow you." "My version of "Let's Make a Deal." Remember you said the answers were on that dirigible?" "Well, they were." "We're getting out of here, all the way out."