"It's stopped." " What?" " Nothing." "How are we doing?" " Ready." " Feeling the magic?" "Oh, I'm feeling the magic!" "All right, let's hit them!" "Yeah!" "Let's do it." " Here we go." " Let's hit them." "Let's go make $30 million." "Good morning." "Before I begin, let me..." " David?" " I'll go get help." "Jesus!" "Jesus, David!" "Phone 911!" "Nick?" "Nicky?" "It's OK, it's OK." "Get everybody else off the bus!" "Sound waves." "So, if we know that sound waves gain wavelength and lose frequency as they travel through more dense materials," "then the anomalies in these waves are the means by which we can surmise the basic architecture of our planet." "How are the nails coming, Christine?" "Good." "All right, let's have a demonstration." "Mr Acker." "Veronica." "Thank you very much." "Mrs Limestone, being a big softie, loves walks, bedtime stories, loves Chet." "I can't play Chet, but I'll try." "Watch the oscilloscope." "All right, here we go." " Dr Joshua Keyes?" " Maybe." "Yes or no?" " The first one." " Come with us." " Guys, what's going on?" " We don't know, sir." "What?" "Your security clearance is higher than ours." " I have security clearance?" " We're just bringing you to your jet." "My jet?" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge." "It's about time." "You're always late." "Let's go." "What am I doing here?" "They wouldn't brief me till you got here." "There are biochemists everywhere, military." "I hate them." " When will you meet a nice girl?" " I'm married to my work." "So am I, so my wife is my mistress." "That's why I'm still in love with her." " Because you're always a romantic." " I love my wife." " I love your wife, too." " I know." "I know." " You don't love in the same way." " It's the French." "I think it's the cheese." "The cheese!" "You're teasing, right?" " These are bodies." " I think we're in the wrong place here." "No." "If you were, you would've already been shot." " That's a hell of a greeting." " Serge." " Serge." " Always a pleasure." " Same here, Thomas." "Dr Keyes." " I know." "Tom Purcell." "Gentlemen, you realise that everything here is totally classified?" "OK?" "At 10.30 a.m. Local time, 32 civilians, all within a ten-block radius, died." "They didn't get sick first." "They hit the ground dead." " Nerve agent?" " No." " They all died at the same time?" " As far as we can tell." " It's about to hit CNN." "I need a reason." " Any variation in sex, age, body type?" "They all had pacemakers." "Under a minute." "Your reputation is well deserved." "How did you guess without clues?" "We're the clues." "He specialises in high energy weapons." "I do geomagnetics." "Calling us means you suspect an electromagnetic pulse weapon." "If these are the only fatalities, they must be susceptible to electronic interference." "QED, pacemakers." "You're spooky sometimes." "I need to know." "Did some sort of weapon kill them?" "The power you would need to create an EM pulse strong enough," " that's not a weapon I've ever heard of." " OK, we're done." "No, there's nothing on the other side of the equals sign." "I agree." "Our concern was if it was an act of war." "As it's not, we can all breathe easier." "Can't we?" "What is it, sweetheart?" "It's OK." "These things happen..." "Let's go!" "Justin!" "Watch it, you bloody idiot!" "The skies are empty now." "But a few hours ago, it was different." "Eyewitnesses said the birds were not attacking people deliberately..." "And it's not just this time." "No, no, no." "The Fortean Times reported swarms last month in Australia and Japan." "...this bizarre and terrifying incident in Trafalgar Square." "Weird." " Strange." " Strange indeed." " How do birds navigate?" " By sight." " No, the long-range stuff." " Magnetic field." "Ions in their brains align with the Earth's magnetic field." " Yeah, what she said." " Right?" "Hit the Net, do a search for... two years ought to do it." "Any weird news." "Bizarre bird migrations, whale and dolphin beachings unusual atmospheric phenomena." "Use your imagination." " That's a huge search." " You look up Sailor Moon crap." "You're up to this." "Danni, get me the brightest kids from the Field Theory class and model an electromagnetic field laid over a 3-D computer model of the Earth." " The planet Earth?" " Yeah, the pretty blue one." "Map out the anomalies that Acker finds and do the equations." "And grab those smelly kids from your Non-Linear Diff class, too." " Do we have time for this?" " I'll sign your doctorates blindfolded." " Blindfolded?" " Do not pass "Go", go directly to PhD." "Be wrong." "Be wrong." "I'm coming in hard, give me some drag." "Roger that." "We are in attitude for entry interface." "Nice work, Major." "I have the controls now for E.I." " I could take us in." " You could." "But you won't." " I'm ready for this, Bob." " No, you're not, Beck." "You're trained, and you're certified, but the Commander lands the bird." "You're the youngest person ever in space." "Be happy." "Now." "Endeavour, Houston." "We show you "go" for re-entry." "Houston, Endeavour." "Descending and coming up on entry interface." "Endeavour, this is Flight." "Couldn't annoy the Commander into letting you land?" " Negative." "I'll have to be more annoying." " Is that even possible?" " Endeavour, we see you in good config." " Roger, Houston." " Goodbye, zero G." " I'm seeing those plasma trails now." " At Mach twenty-four and a half." " So, a minute to air." "Skimming through the Earth's atmosphere in a spaceship." "Com dropout!" " Start the I Com?" " Let's wait until the..." "Com restored." "Quiet." " We're out of position." " Guidance shows us on course." "I've simulated this 213 times." "We're not where we should be." "Where are we?" "Endeavour, guidance is bad." "You are now one-two-niner miles off course." " Roger, Houston." "We noticed." "Is that...?" " Los Angeles." "Confirmed." "We are 15,000 feet with maybe two minutes glide time left." " The guidance and beacons are wrong?" " We're heading for downtown." " We're not crashing into LA." " They'll hit LA at 300 knots." "Bob, you know LA?" "I have an idea." "Houston, those buildings are getting big." "Can you clear a freeway?" " OK." "Thank you." " Come on!" "It's rush hour, Commander." "It's bumper to bumper." " Sir, if you turn to heading 1-7-5..." " It's Houston's call." " Computers are plotting." " Come on." " Houston, time's critical." " Sir, my alternate!" " What have you got?" " Houston, confirm landing coordinates?" " Endeavour, give them to me." " Touchdown at 30-3-55 north, 1- 18- 10 west." "Bill?" "It's theoretically possible." "That is confirmed." "Turn right, heading 1-7-5." "Expect visual contact with LA River in five seconds." "That will not work, Houston." "We've got bridges." " Our wingspan will fold us up." " I've figured the 'L' over 'D' max." "We'll make it if you bring us straight in." " 290 feet, 320." " Arm gear." " Armed." " Gear down." "Gear in transition." "240 feet, 290." "Hang on." "It won't be subtle." "210 feet, 265." "Get out of the way!" "Move!" "De-rotate." " 230, 210." " Speed brakes." "100 per cent." " Deploy the chute." " No, we'd snag the bridge." "Banking right!" "That next bridge!" "We're too high for that one!" "Raise gear." " Not yet." " We hit, it's over!" "And... gear up now!" "Brace, it's out of my hands." "Let's get out of here!" "Get off!" " Dr Zimsky?" " Give my assistant your number, darling." " Sure." " Hello." " It's all right." "Hello." " Thank you." " Dr Zimsky?" " Yes." "What's your name?" "No, sir, I don't need you to sign it." "I need you to read that." "I don't have time." "I'm late for the White House." "Please." " I need you to confirm my results." " Do you have any idea who I am?" "Yes, I do, sir." "Please read this." "What's it about?" "It's the end of the world." "No, this is impossible." "I'm sorry." "I can't have missed this." "You have to be wrong." "I'm sure with comparison to my work, we'll find you're mistaken." " No offence, but..." " We'll know soon enough." "The bigger effects will start any day." " Rebecca?" " Only you and Dad ever call me that." "Right, Beck." "So, what brings you to sunny DC?" "The Board of Review is next week." "Just trying to sense the mood upstairs." " How bad is it?" " Your crew crashed the space shuttle." "Now, how good do you think it could be?" "Sir, this is my life." "I was studying for the Academy when I was 13." " It still is, and has always been, my life." " It's over." "It's over, Rebecca." "I'm sorry." "Really?" "What the hell's the hurry here?" "Rebecca, would you excuse me, please?" "Excuse me." " Purcell." " Thomas." "Look destiny may have caught up with us." "Did Zimsky really try to give you his autograph?" "Monsieur Zimsky." "Conrad Zimsky!" "Herr Zimsky." "Superstar!" "I think I skipped drunk." "Went right to hangover." "I spoke with the kids." "They don't sleep at night." "They look at the sky and and they think it's pretty." " Is there a chance that you're wrong?" " No, the sky, man." "The sky's just the beginning." "That's high-altitude static discharge." "I know." "Dr Keyes." "Your presence is required at the Pentagon." "It's my best buddies." "Why don't you join us for a drink?" " Join us for a ride, sir." " And if I were to say no?" "Just asking." " Well, we have no sense of humour." " It's true." " Oh!" " And we're armed." "Thank you." " Dr Keyes, welcome." " Thank you." "Dr Zimsky says you made a useful contribution to his investigations." "He wanted you to assist with the briefing." " That's very generous of you, Dr Zimsky." " Science is a selfless business." "Why don't you begin, and I'II... fill in all the difficult bits." "All right, I'll put this as simply as I can." "Everybody on Earth is dead in a year." "Let me explain why." "Wrapped around the Earth is an invisible field of energy." "It's made of electricity and magnetism, so it's called the electromagnetic field." "It's where we get our magnetic poles." "It protects us from cosmic radiation." " So this EM field is our friend." " But now?" "But now, that field is falling apart." " Why?" " Why?" "Does somebody have a can of air freshener?" "It's quick and dirty." "The thin skin, that's the Earth's crust." "It's what we live on." "It's 30 miles thick." "The meat here, call it the mantle." "Forgetting all the funky transitions, it's 2,000 miles thick." "The core, the peach pit in the centre, that's a tricky one." "There's two parts, the inner core and the outer core." "OK?" "The inner core is..." "It's a big solid chunk of iron." "We think." "That's surrounded by the outer core, which is liquid." "Yes, but most importantly, this liquid is constantly spinning in one direction." "So, a trillion trillion tons of hot metal spinning at 1,000 miles an hour." "So..." "Right." "Hot metal moving fast makes an electromagnetic field." "This spinning liquid outer core is the engine that drives the EM field." " That's where we have our problem." " This engine has stalled." "The core of the Earth has stopped spinning." "How could this happen?" "We don't know." " What's the timeline here?" " As the EM field destabilises, we'll start seeing isolated incidents, like planes falling from the sky." "In a few months, everything electronic will be fried." "Static discharge will create super-storms with mass lightning strikes everywhere." "After that, it gets bad." "The Earth's EM field shields us from the solar winds, which are a lethal blend of radioactive particles and microwaves." "When that shield collapses, microwave radiation will literally cook our planet." "Dr Zimsky." "This is the Sun." "This is the Earth without the EM field." "Would you?" "Three months and we're back in the Stone Age." "A full year, the field collapses, and that." "May I?" "Feel free to throw up." "I know I did." " So, how do we fix it?" " We can't." " Not in my vocabulary." " Then add it." "It's impossible." "The core's the size of Mars." "It's jump-starting a planet." "It's superheated molten iron and nickel at 9,000 Fahrenheit, 2,000 miles down, 1,000 miles thick." "The deepest we've ever been is seven miles." "With a two-inch drill bit." " If we can go into space..." " Space is easy." "It's empty." "It'd be millions of pounds of pressure per square inch!" "Even if we came up with a brilliant plan to fix the core, we just can't get there!" "Yes, but what if we could?" "Hello, Braz." "Why the hell aren't you dead yet?" "OK, this way." " Well, that went better than I expected." " Dr Brazzelton," " I see you know Dr Zimsky." " 20 years ago, he stole my research." " After that, we kind of lost touch." " Research that was equally mine." "I don't recall a cheque from the patents." "All right, Braz, 20 years in the desert makes you a prophet and a martyr." "We're here about your ship." "OK, I'm combining high-frequency pulse lasers with resonance tube ultrasonics." "If you've seen ultrasonics break up a kidney stone, it's the same here." "You can put your helmets on now." "Firing!" "OK, I'm officially impressed." "All right." "You've made some progress with the engine." "We'll grant you." "Have you begun to think about a shell?" "OK, this is Alex." "OK, good." "Here we have a concrete block and, in the back of that, we have a two-inch steel plate." "OK, ready?" "And we are firing." " Voila!" " That's..." " Impossible." " I combined the crystals in a tungsten-titanium matrix at super-cool temperatures," " and that's what did the trick." " The applications for this are..." " What do you call this material?" " Its real name has 37 syllables." "I call it unobtanium." "Unobtanium?" "The unobtanium transforms the heat and pressure into energy, reinforcing the ship, so the hotter and deeper she gets, the stronger she gets." " Theoretically." " Theoretically?" "With this!" "This is Johnson, don't mind him." "This is the prototype for the cockpit here." "When do you think the ship will be operational?" "When I get my fabrication methods perfected." "Twelve... ten years." "What would it take to get it done in three months?" "$50 billion!" "I..." "Will you take a cheque?" "Use a credit card." "You get miles." "Shit!" "Mr Finch, this is the FBI." "We have a warrant." "Purge!" "Come on!" "FBI!" "Freeze!" "OK, I know these look like computers..." " Totally not." " Theodore Donald Finch." "Carnegie-Mellon University, MIT, worked at Sun, Lucent, RAND Corp." "My handle's Rat." " 63 computer fraud indictments..." " 64." "Two convictions." "This is strike three, Mr Finch." "Wait." "You aren't here to whack me, are you?" "Because I was really hoping to have sex before that happened." "The FBI, whose database you crippled, say you're the best in the business." " So you get a choice." " If I say no?" "Excuse me, but is this really the best we could do?" "I mean..." " How many languages do you speak?" " Five, actually." "Well, I speak one, one-zero-one-zero-zero." "With that, I could steal your money, your secrets, your sexual fantasies, your whole life." "Any country, any place, any time I want." "We multi-task like you breathe." "I couldn't think as slow as you if I tried." " Do you have any idea who I am?" " Let's just give the kid a break." "OK." "It's a phone, it's just a phone." "Rat, we got a big problem." "A lot of people are going to die." "We need your help." " What help?" " Information control." "Controlling the Internet information flow." " Nobody controls the Net." " Could you?" "With unlimited resources?" "You want me to hack the planet?" "He wants me to hack the planet." "You've got free long distance on that." "Forever." "OK, if I decide to do this," "I'm going to need an unlimited supply of Xena tapes and Hot Pockets." "Hot Pockets." " They help me concentrate." " Sounds fair." "Major Childs, they're ready for you." "Major Childs, a clarification." "You were solely responsible for the descent vectors for the shuttle?" " Correct?" " Yes." "We've determined that the Endeavour's landing mishap was caused by biased data from the ground, due to a geomagnetic disturbance." "Your resourcefulness in determining the descent vectors proved that you have exceptional navigational skills." "You're a credit to yourself, the Space Program and the US Air Force." "Congratulations, Major." "You are reassigned, with Commander Iverson and Flight Director Stickley, to a new mission." "Transportation is waiting outside." "Good luck and Godspeed, Major." " Are you sure you want to wear this tie?" " Why?" "I don't know." "You look so nervous about it." "You look so..." " How are you holding up?" " I'm good." "I'm good." "I'm about to tell people the world is going to end." " I've had better days." " You look good." " You don't." " Why did he touch his tie?" "Thomas, can we speak?" "Wouldn't you rather I did this?" " Given my reputation..." " No, Keyes is in the lead." "Yes." "This is history's most important scientific operation." " Given my status, I feel that it's my job..." " Project Destiny was your job, Zimsky." "And you went beyond authorised limits!" "I still..." "I want to know if Destiny caused this problem." "It's highly unlikely." "But it may be the solution." " Now, I have not finished checking..." " Excuse me." "Rebecca, I'm so glad I was wrong." " Right over left..." "No, the other left." " Gentlemen." "Gentlemen." "Commander Iverson, Major Childs, this is your crew." "Dr Brazzelton knows the ship." "Dr Zimsky knows the planet." "Dr Leveque knows the weapons system." " Excuse me, ladies first." "Hi." " And Dr Keyes..." "Dr Keyes built the navigation system." "So..." " Hi, Rebecca Childs." " Bob Iverson." "These are your fellow..." "What?" " Terranauts?" " Hello?" "All this brainpower is starting to smell like burning batteries." "Come and join in." " The simplest things are the hardest." " It's official." "I'm the least qualified here." " I'm sure the people in charge trust you." " Well, the problem is that I'm in charge." " Yeah, I know!" " Can I help?" "Yes, please." "You're an astronaut and you can tie a Windsor?" "Anything you can't do?" "Not that I'm aware of." " I find that incredibly intimidating." " Yep." "Most people do." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Let me introduce our project leader, Dr Joshua Keyes." "Thank you." "Good evening." "This looks like a meeting for Nobel Prize Winners Anonymous." "I know you're all the finest in your fields and have come a long way to be here." "So, I'll outline our programme over the next three months." "Dr Brazzelton will supervise the building of a ship for reaching our planet's centre." "It will deliver an explosive charge large enough to restart its core." "Dr Zimsky will calculate the scale of explosion needed." "I designed this to simulate the effect of nuclear detonations on the core." "If I'm correct, a tiny nudge in any direction will return the core to normal." " What's a "tiny nudge"?" " Around 1,000 megaton." " Any more would create core instability." " We made a few 200-megaton devices." "Braz, do you think the ship can handle five of them?" " Yeah." "I can enlarge the ejection pods." " Forgive me." "I know I'm not the expert here, but what if the core is thicker or thinner?" "I mean, won't that affect the way the explosions are..." "Yes, yes, yes." "And what if the core is made of cheese?" "This is all best guess, Commander." "That's all science is is best guess." "So you don't know." "With luck, irony will back the good guys." "The world's biggest weapons of mass destruction will save it." "The ship will be run by an experimental nuclear reactor and have six compartments, like cars on a train." "The locomotive, navigation, living quarters, engineering, bomb compartment, and finally, the weapons control module." "Up to 45 degrees, every compartment will be held level by these gimbals." "But if we do breach a section, bulkhead doors engage automatically, seal off the section in red, and eject." "Is ejection the best option?" "Only option." "Each damaged compartment degrades the entire hull." "The objective is simple." "The obstacles are gigantic." "We'll need all the help in the world." "But to avoid panic and chaos, the public can't know what's happening, which is where Mr Rat comes in." "It's a computer virus that seeks out files anywhere on the Web that contain keywords we designate and wipes them out." "This is my kung fu, and it is strong." "There are a million puzzles ahead and three months to solve them." "But we have a committed, ingenious team and every resource available." "The world's best scientific and technical talents are with us." "With your help, we can, we must, succeed!" " Feedback!" " Talk to me!" " We're losing structural integrity." " No, it's an impeller fault." "No, if it were..." " Braz, make the call!" " No, I should." "65 knots!" "Depth, 85,000 feet." "It's a disaster!" "What part of "talk to me" don't you get?" "For the twenty-second time, everyone on Earth is dead." "Let's take a little quiet time, and you all try again." " Hey." " Hi." "What is this?" "It's..." "I invented it." "It's how you're going to steer underground." "It's not good reception." " You're looking through three feet of lead at 50 yards away, so... it ain't bad." "It's like a CAT scan at a hospital, but it's souped-up." "I made it for surveys." "The Government bought it and made me a consultant." "Sorry, it's really delicate and I have it just how I want it." "So..." "Excuse me." "They called me in when the pacemakers quit and - boom!" " I'm Apocalypse Boy." " Apocalypse Boy?" " Yeah." "I'm having T-shirts made up." "Well, hats sell better." "It's funny," " because that's right where it should be." " Well..." "Sorry I'm ragged." "I'm getting this to focus correctly." " This is cool, but can I...?" " Well..." "It's better." "It's better." "God, I hate this sky." " Crashing one ship isn't enough for you?" " Practice makes perfect." " It doesn't make you ready for that seat." " So you keep reminding me, sir." "I doubt you'll even listen to this, but I'm going to give it a shot." "Being a leader isn't about ability." "It's about responsibility." " Got it." " You don't." "You're not just responsible for making good decisions, but also bad ones, and be ready to make the shitty call." " Why do you think I'm not?" " Because you're so good." "You haven't hit anything you couldn't beat." "You figured out how to save the shuttle." "Made me look like an ass." "It's just that you're used to winning." "And you're not really a leader until you've lost." " $20 billion has been spent on this..." " The chefs at NASA..." "I wouldn't call them chefs!" " I want wine." " I'll cook for you." "No worries." " It's five days." "I think..." " Whoa!" "High-level static discharge." "We should check this out." "This doesn't look so good." " Lightning super-storm." " All over the world." "Got 'em." "Tracking." "Rome does not look good." " It's decaying faster than we thought." " It's just the start." "Soon there'll be EM spikes and microwaves." "Get this ship in the ground." "Now." " Summer in the Pacific." " Yeah, the world's inside out." "I was saving this for later, but... this is the time." " Josh, do you mind?" " Not at all, yeah." " We should name this baby." " She's called Virgil, actually." "The poet that led our man into Hell?" "Appropriate." "Well, here's to Virgil!" " To the planet." " To Virgil." "No flashbulbs, no press." "Nobody cheering." "It's weird." "Let's go." " Cabin pressure PSI, 3.5." " Check." "Re-press open." " And re-press VLV closed." " Check." " Fluid dump valve..." " We are beginning our journey into the heart of the cosmos, into the very core of our planet." "Will we find therein the secrets of the universe the mysteries of time..." " Circuit lock-up hope for the future?" " And, signal." "Deep Earth Control, this is Virgil." "Signal check." "This is Deep Earth Control." "I have thumbs-up across the board." "You are clear to initiate power-up." " Reactor power confirmed." " At 1,000 RPM, we will count down on your mark." " Pad leader, stand by for launch." " All right, Virgil." " Mark." " Gantry count:" "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, launch!" "500 feet." "Levelling out." "OK, guys." "Let's swing forward." " 800 feet." " Light 'em up, Beck." " Gyro levelling operational." " Hull integrity holding." "I'm going to keep her nose down about 15 degrees and..." "Oh, my goodness!" " They're singing to us." " The resonance tubes are powered up." "They vibrate subsonically." "So, we're singing to them." " What's our depth?" " 1,600 feet, plenty of room both sides." " Hull is OK." " You sure?" "Let's raise impeller speed for control." " Stick, I'm getting a seismic reading." " What's happening?" "Earthquake." " Still like the water-launch idea?" " I chose this location as the crust is thin here, but... there's lots of seismic activity!" "4,000 feet." "See that?" "It's not good." "We're losing steering." "14,000 feet." "OK, fasten your seat belts." "We're turning into the skid." " 18,000, 18,500..." " They're going way too fast." " 21,000 feet." " We hit the wall, we're rabbits on a road." " Pressure..." " What?" " You said it was indestructible!" " We need more pressure." " We're at 25,000 feet." "Pull out." " Can't." "We're locked in." "Go to full throttle." "Stand by to engage lasers, please." "We hit bottom in ten seconds!" "Hold on." "The lasers will fire." "No, there's not enough time to power up." " 27,000 feet." " The lasers will deploy." " 29,000 feet." " Do it!" " Do it!" " Now!" " We've got a signal!" " All right!" "All right, switching on electron spin-burst transmitters." "Plotting through lowest density material, checks every five minutes." "Hull integrity 100%% %, reactor power 100%%% ." " All green on the bomb compartment." " Speed 60 knots." "Hot damn!" "We'll be through the crust in 15 minutes and into the mantle." "24 hours to the core and then, assuming we survive 15 hours to the inner core border." " They're doing well." " The crust is just rock." "Now it hots up." " Virgil, status check?" " We're going into the mantle." "Come on, come on." "Exterior pressure is 800,000 pounds per square inch and hull integrity is 100%%% ." "It's as if we're diving through the planet's memories." "But we are about to pass from memory into madness." "But..." "Are you doing that Carl Sagan narration all the way to the core?" " Pardon?" " I said..." " I have an obligation to my students..." " To make a book deal!" "Two!" " I read that last book." "It wasn't good." " When did you learn to read?" "You amaze me!" "People!" "Doctors Zimsky and Keyes." "You're our geophysicists." " What do you make of this?" " The mantle is a chemical hodgepodge of various elements..." "Say it with me, "I don't know."" "Well, wise men say, "When in doubt, you should go around."" "No, it's too big." "We turn too slow." "Anything we can't go through displays as black." "So, what's static?" " It's nothing." " What do you mean?" "It's nothing." "It's empty space." " I never taught the computer this!" " I never taught Virgil to fly!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, dear God!" " Serge, are you all right?" " Yeah." " Anybody hurt?" " No." "You OK?" " Yeah." " What is that?" "From the cooling system." "Shut it down." " I told you to go around." "Nobody listens." " Where in God's name are we?" "Whatever has us jammed is inside our lasers." "Shut 'em down." "We're not going anywhere." "Powering down." "Josh, is there any image you can pull up?" "No." "Whatever it is, it's also inside our MRI cameras." " We have to go outside." " What?" "Believe me." "I hate to admit it, but I think he's right." " I'm coming to get samples." " Wait." "The only way out is the way we came in, through the impeller outlet... is the way we came in, through the impeller outlet..." "Which is at 5,000 degrees." "I'll just flush it with liquid nitrogen from the cooling system." "The cooling system that's keeping us from roasting?" "Well, just a small part of it." "Alternatives?" "Anybody?" "That's it." " It's like a giant, giant crystal." " Where the hell are we?" "Well, the good news is, it looks like the suits can take the pressure." "It's jammed the laser assembly." " Hope they'll still function." " Careful!" "OK." "Got it." " Beck, try the lights, would you?" " Lighting up." " It's magnificent." " Oh, my God!" "Aladdin's cave." "It's like a crystal Grand Canyon." "I think it's a geode." "I don't understand how it's survived down here." "Cobalt shell?" "No." "I mean, in a magma environment at 5,000 degrees." "Something must protect it." "Unbelievable." " Zimsky?" " Yeah?" "We're in a giant gem bubble, wrapped in a cobalt cocoon," "700 miles below the surface of the Earth..." "Hell of a day." "Yes, it is." " I'll start cutting." " OK." "I'll check the hull." " Call me if you need me." " OK." "Oh, no!" " Zimsky!" " Look, it's an amethyst." "God!" "We've breached the shell!" "You don't have to be here!" "I want you inside." "Well, that means me." "Orders are orders." "Wait, Josh!" "The problem is I'm losing oxygen." " What can I do?" " Check the feeds." "Check the feeds for me, Josh!" " Quick!" " I'm coming!" " Guys, 3 minutes until the lava gets us!" " Come on, guys." "Come on." "It's not going to work without oxygen!" "We're losing oxygen!" " I've fixed it." "Cut!" " That's good." "It's working well now." "That's good, Josh!" "Yeah!" " Josh's vital signs are dropping." " What?" "Serge!" "Almost there." "Yeah, almost there, Josh." "Josh!" "Joshua!" " OK, I need the oxygen." " Braz, got that?" " Connected!" " Good." "I've got to check these lasers." "OK, Beck, turn them over." " Pre-lasers only, OK?" " Initiating." "This had better work." "The tide's really coming in." "Yes!" "We're going to swim out of this one." "Bob?" "Bob?" " Come on, it's over." " OK." "Beck!" "We're coming in!" "Initiate start sequence." "Beck!" "You hear?" " Careful." " Start the impellers!" "The door!" "Activate bulkhead doors!" "Now, Beck!" "You OK?" " You're OK." " Good job." " Thank you." " Well done, well done." "So, we have some good news and we have some bad news." "I'll take good news." "Well, we're alive and we're moving." "That's... that's good news." "It is hot in here." "That nitro we flushed out is causing overheating." " I'm going to adjust it." " I'll help." " I'm fine." " OK." " I'm going to check your heartbeat, OK?" " Thanks, Braz." "Appreciate it." " That's the bad news?" "It's not too bad." " No." "Commander Iverson died, but we're living, and he'd want us to complete our mission." "So I think it's important that we all..." "It's all right." "Thank you." "I'm sorry." "Let's give him a second, OK?" "He deserved that." "This all seems too big, doesn't it?" "You're attempting the impossible." "You're trying to save the world and it's overwhelming." "I came to save my wife and children." "Six billion lives!" "It's too much." "I hope I'm smart enough and brave enough to save three." "You did a nice job, Joshua." "Very nice." " You'd have done the same." " Maybe." "Serge." " Who's steering this ship?" " Video screen autopilot." " Hope he knows the way." " You and me both." "So, you're really a college professor?" "You're not from the CIA or the NSA or any of those three-letter places?" "No." "I am a boring college professor." "Wrong place, wrong place." "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen." "I just..." "Listen, the lack of oxygen kept me from weeping like a little girl." "As is my custom in dangerous situations." "Guys, we're close to the mantle/core interface." "Where are you?" "Keys in, Dr Brazzelton." "Ready?" "We are in the luxurious, beautiful weapons control," " checking the controls on the nukes." " It's my daughter's birthday." " Chantalle?" " Yeah." "Ready?" "Three, two and one." " Thanks." " Green?" "All green." "Great." "So, we have to synchronise the babies now." "One second." "There!" "Now, let's put them to bed." "Zimsky, come up." " Yes?" " We don't go through black." " Yes." "Please don't." " What's this?" "They're scattered everywhere." "God!" "They're diamonds." "Great." "You might want to sit and buckle up." "We're on a collision course here." "Ready?" "Careful." "We're dodging diamonds the size of Cape Cod." "Hang on." "She's not nimble." " I want some." " Can I help?" "OK." "It's OK." "OK, it looks like we're in the clear." "Breach!" "Weapons control, get out now!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "What the hell are you doing?" "Come on!" "My notebook!" " Take the timers!" "Joshua!" " Come on, Serge!" "Come on!" "My notes, you'll need them!" "God, no!" "Serge!" " It's OK." " Serge!" "Come on, Serge!" "Serge!" " Get the box!" " No, Josh!" "We can override it!" "Braz, we can get him!" "Hold on, hold on!" "Beck!" "Beck, override the ejection system!" "No!" "One damaged compartment threatens the whole ship." "Beck!" "Beck!" "Override the ejection system!" "We're here." "We're not forgetting you." " Josh, can you hear me?" " Buddy, look in your monitor right now." "I'm right here." "I can't see you." "Braz is overriding the doors manually." "Braz, how long?" "Joshua?" "I'm going as fast as I can!" " I'm scared." " We'll do it now." "Two seconds, OK?" " Josh!" " Beck, override the ejection systems." "Damn, I don't think Beck can hear me." "Serge, look at me now!" "We're right here." "I'm going to get you out." "We're working on it." "All right?" " Stay with me here, OK?" " I don't know what to do." "You can hear me now?" "OK." "Here I am." "I'm not going to let you go, man." "All right?" "Stay with me here, OK?" "I'm coming to Paris and we'll go out, OK?" "After this is all done." " Josh!" " Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Did you reset the overrides?" "I never pushed them." "You let him die." "You want to know?" "I killed him when I hit the diamond and didn't hit the override." "Do you want me to feel any worse than I already do?" " Why are you so smug?" " Could you have made the decision?" "Yes!" "If you'd hit that switch, I could've got him out!" "I was yelling for you!" "Take it and look at it!" "I was two inches from him, and I told you to put the door up and you didn't!" "I was screaming for you!" "Why didn't you do it?" "Because I had to make that decision." "Fate or God..." "No!" "Damn it, you leave God out of this!" " He died so we could complete our job!" " Right, saving the world!" "Not the whole world, Josh!" "Just three of 'em." "Virgil, you're approaching core interface." "Are you good to go?" "Josh?" "Josh, can you hear me?" "Josh, can you hear me?" "Ready as we'll ever be, Stick." "Dr Keyes..." "Right here." "Deep Earth, we're good to go." "We just got a huge speed jump to 95 knots." " 110." " 130." "140." "It's because the core's density is lighter than our estimates." "So much for best guesses." "At this rate, we'll hit the inner core in about five hours." "We got some luck." " Braz." " Yeah?" "Punch the new core density into the equations for the nuclear detonation." "Please tell me this is enough." "Failure?" "The 1,000 megatons of nuclear warheads we hauled here won't cut it?" " No." "This core material's too thin." " What?" "The explosion's energy waves won't spread far enough." "That's it." "We go home." "We go home." "Our commander and weapons specialist are dead." "Weapons control is gone." "We don't know if we can arm the weapons." "And our plan to fix the core no longer works." "We've failed." " We have not failed!" " We have failed, and we go home." " We go to the alternative." " What?" "General, this is Dr Conrad Zimsky." "Destiny is a go." " Repeat, Destiny is a go." " Damn." "I need to know everything to do my job." "You don't have to know this." "General, it is my job to ensure the safety of this mission." "Anything that affects it is my business." "What's Destiny?" "It's a device." "Deep Earth Seismic Trigger Initiative." "D-E-S-T-l-N-I. "Destiny"." "We believed our enemies were building a weapon to trigger seismic events." "They could create massive earthquakes under our territory." " No way of telling who did it." " So?" "We built one, too." "MAD:" "Mutually Assured Destruction." " A perfect acronym." " Beautiful." "They built it first." "I built it better." "I beamed strong electromagnetic energy down fault lines," " and..." " Zimsky." " How do you know Destiny would work?" " Because it already did." "This isn't a fluke." "We killed the planet." "You say the core's too big to hit with anything but nukes." "The core's a big engine." "Throw in a small wrench, you can still stall it." "Deep Earth, this is Virgil." "We require clarification on Project Destiny's status." " Why weren't we told?" " You didn't need to know." "You may not like it, but it's my job, and I do it for my country." "And if we don't develop these devices, someone worse will." "I swear, no one in this administration, no one, had any idea that this could happen." "So the device that killed the planet is your back-up?" "An electric shock can stop a heart and certainly restart one." "Destiny will work." "No, it won't work!" "If you fire that thing with the core stalled," " it'll terminally destabilise it." " Yes, it's a risk." "But I hardly see there's an alternative." "Every volcano will blow." "The earthquakes will rip us to pieces." " Dr Keyes." " What?" "I'm afraid it's all we've got." "Now, I have orders from the President." " Come home." "We go to plan B." " What about plan C?" " What?" " Plan C." "We continue on, we restart the core, somehow." "We don't do it, you fire Destiny." " I can't wait for you to get clear." " Don't." "We fail, fire Destiny." " Ridiculous!" " What else?" "Are you kidding?" "If they do it, we're dead!" "We'll be lucky to get back if we go now!" "Virgil, I'm telling you now, we will fire Destiny." "We need to do so as quickly as possible." "If you're still there, you'll be destroyed..." "Rebecca?" "Don't make me do this." "Plan C." "It's your call, Commander." "Majority decision." "We're going in." "I'm sorry, sir." "You're suicidal morons!" "What are you, crazy?" "Restart the core "somehow"?" "Great idea!" "I can't believe I'm stuck in this septic tank with lunatics!" "All of you may have nothing to lose!" "I have my life to lose, thank you!" "Turn it around!" "He said go, we go!" "You want to be heroes?" "Martyrs?" "What?" "You're crazy!" "Turn it around!" "No, I won't die like this!" " I don't want to die!" " It's not about us!" "There's three people..." "Shut up!" "It's not a stupid ship." "I had to." "Had to happen sometime." "What is that?" "It's the monitoring station that tracks EM pulses." "God, no!" "Just talk, Mr Rat." "That's a good boy." "Remember those invisible microwaves that Josh was talking about?" "They're here." "It's a parking lot..." "Oh, my God!" "With this horrific breaking news, we go live to San Francisco to Leo Jacks." "It's hard to believe that half of San Francisco is in ruins today after the most devastating and baffling event in our history." "It's a horrific situation here." "Thousands are dead." "Many are missing." "It's hotels," " hospitals..." " Bring up the power grid." "The whole west coast is out." "We're going to need every drop of juice east of the Rockies to fire Destiny." "Another EM spike, we won't have the power." "Give them more time." "There isn't any." "Call Destiny." "I'm lodging a formal complaint with the Department of Defense." " Rat to Josh." " Go, Rat." "Here's the EM data you're primed for." "Digging that." "Primed for, primed for..." "Prime numbers." "1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17..." "There we go." "James." "Yes, sir?" "Yes, sir." "Here we go, folks!" "This time!" "Beautiful." "Come on, baby!" "Daddy wants to see the sky again." "OK, OK." "Let's try it again." " Your torque is R across F." " No, your R is too small." " Right..." " Wait." "Hold on, let me..." "What are you laughing at?" "It took me and 400 geniuses to devise the first plan." " You want to help?" " No." "I want to go home." " It's not going to happen." " Then we're going to die." " True." " All right, let's start from square one." "The bulk modulus depends on density." "Your torque is R across F, but you have to integrate volume." "Here, here, just consider this." "Now, what we've got is..." "R across F, we're putting in pi." "What's V?" " For God's sake!" " Right, I'm hitting him again!" "No!" "I have a theory." " Interested?" " Yes!" "Then, let me smoke and I'll tell you." "Thank God!" "All right, look." "We have to use wave interference, OK?" "One explosion won't do it." "Think of stones in a pond." "Drop a large stone into a pond, you get a big splash and it's over." "Drop a smaller stone, let the ripples weaken, and drop another, another, another, another, and fluid dynamics 101." "The ripples reinforce each other geometrically." "They're bigger as a whole, five smaller explosions..." "Instead of one big bang." "We hot-wire the nukes, as one does." "We seed them through the core at locations accurate to the inch." "We detonate them in a sequence accurate to the millisecond." "Then we outrun the biggest nuclear shockwave in history." " Right." " Yeah." "I mean, that should be fairly simple." "Final calibration on both transmission systems." "Cut the rouge, the red wire above the circuit." " OK." " No, wait!" "Sorry." "Cut it below." "I don't know what that means." "Extensions A, B." "We have check." " Increase reactor power." " Almost there." " We're closing on the inner core." " The nukes are ready." " Let's start." " No." "The bombs can't take these pressures out of that pod." "Send them out of it, they'll be crushed instantly." " I assume we have a plan D." " It's Virgil's compartments." "Put a nuke in each section and eject the sections." "They should stay intact long enough for the nuke to go off..." "What?" "Virgil's not designed to eject undamaged compartments." "These are the ejection mechanisms for the compartments." "They're all connected by a master gear." "Kind of like keys on a key ring." "We have to unlock the piston, releasing the compartments," " so the bombs can be ejected." " Where's the master gear?" " In the crawl space we used to get out." " What's it doing there?" "I built this in 3 months." "I didn't think I'd be sabotaging it." "Sorry!" " One of us goes in?" " Correct." " With core fluid at 9,000 degrees?" " Yes." " Use nitrogen?" " We haven't enough." "9,000 degrees." "And our suits are built to withstand...?" "Half that, probably." "So you're saying whoever goes in is not coming back." " Together." " Yes, thank you." " Wait." " On three." " OK." " One, two, three!" "Well, I'd better go and get myself ready." "No, wait!" "Excuse me." "Just a moment, may I see?" "No!" "May I?" " Yes." " Thank you." "Magic." "I mean, Braz, three straws of equal length." "I mean..." " This is childish." "Let's do it again." " No, we will not." "I thought you'd be happy." " Not at being made a fool." " Why do you get to be the hero?" " It's my ship." " That makes sense." "For 20 years, I've done nothing but Virgil." "Virgil belongs to me, and I will not let her fail." "I will not." "Now, you want to know what's worth dying for?" "This ship." "Building it, instead of imagining it." "If Virgil needs more blood, it will be my blood." "Now, I'm going to go and get ready." "Good to go." "Beck." "Josh." "It's a hell of a boat you built." "I am really proud to have known you guys." "Braz." "Edward." "Yes, Conrad?" "You're right." "It is your ship." "But I wish to God it had been ours." "The chamber's sealed, Beck." "Ready." "Open the hatch." "Hang on, Braz." "Hang on." "Manual override complete!" "We can still get you out." "No!" "Start the impeller." "We got a job to do." "Let's do it." "Let's go." " Magnetic shielding systems are up." " Power levels 85%%% ." " Increase power to reactor ten." " Clear personnel." "No, wait!" "Jesus!" "God!" "I'm sorry." "She's down." "Nearing drop." "We've got to be accurate to the second here, boys." "Drop in 35 seconds." "And timer on!" "Pull it!" "Clear... and ejecting." " OK." "Initiate firing sequence." " Sir..." "It's our last shot." " Damn you." " Damn me?" "Too late." "Ten, nine, eight..." "What's that?" "Got you!" "...four, three, two..." "Someone's diverted our energy." " Where's it gone?" " It looks like Coney Island." "Your kung fu is not strong." "How long to get it back online?" "Get to it!" "General!" "Is there something I can do for you?" "Timer on." "Clear." "Ejecting." "Ejecting." "Pull it." "All right." "Let's go throw our last little 200 megaton-stone in the pond." " I wanted my name in nuclear physics." " The energy propagation..." "High school physics." "I took the wavelengths off the MRI." " And multiplied them by 800." " 600." "But you compensated for the MRI bias?" "We've got to reset the timers!" "It's not the timers." "It won't work!" "This isn't enough." " What isn't?" " The last bomb." " To complete the waveform?" " It has to be 30%% % larger." "That's six or seven pounds of plutonium!" "But from where?" "An energy flare hit us, I can't keep on course!" " Ejecting compartment in 50 seconds." " No, Beck!" "Wait!" " Push!" " You push!" "I can't hear you." " It's got my shoulder!" " Push!" "Guys?" "Get clear!" "Get clear!" " The flare's cut the coms!" " I can't get it." "Go." " I can't..." " OK." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Can you hear me?" "I'm correcting course." "Now!" "Push it!" "Ejecting in ten seconds!" "Josh, go!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Go!" "Josh!" "For the last bomb, to make it larger, use the fuel rods from the reac..." "Ejecting." "I hear you, Zimsky, I hear you." "Beck!" "Beck, can you hear me?" "If you have any better ideas, tell me now!" "We've only got three minutes to eject this one!" "I can't hear you." "Beck." "Josh?" "Here, come on." "Are you OK?" "You OK?" " Would you take my gloves off?" " My God!" "Please." "I had to build the blast." "I'm sorry." " Hold on, let me get the first aid." " No." "Stay here a second." " I was trying to call you." " I know." "The coms were down." " Right." " I know what you did." " We haven't enough energy..." " I know." "...to get back." " You did good." "I would have done the same thing." "Where's Zimsky?" "Come here." "You did good." "One minute to first detonation." "12 until the blast hits us." "I was hoping we'd suffocate first." "Beck!" "Beck!" "Beck!" "What if I got you enough power to fire the impeller?" "Not the laser, the impeller?" "From where?" "The heat of the core." "It's 9,000 degrees." "Unobtanium converts heat!" "So, this whole damn ship's like a big solar panel!" "I need your help." "Number two!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Here, in the great, infinite unknowable, man can come to know the most important thing of all." "Himself." "He can understand..." "What the fuck am I doing?" " We've got full rotation!" " It's turning!" "All right!" "Where is it?" "Come on, hurry up!" " Is that the last one?" " Yeah." "Give it a couple of seconds." "It worked!" "Get ready to pull a few Gs." "420 knots." " This is better." " 440." "What's the quake's centre?" "It's one giant shockwave!" "The planet's healing itself." "At this speed, we're going to be home in a third of the time." "We're OK surfing these magma flows." "Pray we don't hit dead ends or we'll miss those lasers!" "OK, navigator, which way?" "Fluid density's greater on the left." "Go with the flow." "Where're they headed?" "She's got out between tectonic plates, somewhere near Hawaii." "They're closing in on us too fast." "Don't know if I can..." "You got it." "We lost them, Stick, and I..." "Where did our power go?" "We're powered by heat." "It's stone cold down here." "Well, look on the bright side." " We won't boil to death." " You always see the bright side?" "Always." "OK, let's assess." "We've no communications." "We're maybe 800 feet down, but might as well be 800 miles." "We're in an unobtanium cigar tube with the sonar signature of a rock." "We can make the ultrasonics burp, but no one's checking those frequencies." "And nobody even knows we're alive." "OK." "Give me a minute." "It's hopeless." "We must be close." "Mr Rat, even if they're still alive," " they can't contact us." " Bridge." "Our sub has a sonar contact." " Where do they think?" " Put it on the hydrophone." "Whales." "They're off their usual path." "That's not unusual since that, what's it called?" " "Orbital wobble"?" " Yeah, that's what they call it." "Thanks very much, Captain." " I think we're done here." " General." "This is the Captain." "Stand down from SAR operations." "It's whales!" "It's whales!" "Hey!" "General!" "It's whales!" "The ultrasonics!" "They're singing to them!" "We've got to find the whales!" "November X-ray, this is November-Echo-6- 1-0." "I'm changing..." "Hold on, I'm seeing those whales now." "Ball's in the water." "This is neat." "The whales are circling something." "We have a strong echo!" "Depth 800 feet." "There's definitely something down there." " I said using the ultrasonics would work." " You ever get tired of being right?" "Yes." "So, what's next for you?" "A shower." "Then back to NASA, I guess." "You?" "Deep dish pepperoni pizza, green peppers, onions, extra mushrooms, then a shower." "And then back to the classroom." "NASA could use a few good men, you know?" "Yeah." "Unfortunately, so could my freshman geophysics students." "You know what makes me really, really angry?" "Bob, Serge, Braz, Zimsky, no one's going to ever know what they did, or why they died." "Unless it all got out somehow." "That's unthinkable." "Yeah." "OK, here we go." "Sweet." "It seems the world owes its survival to the heroism of six remarkable individuals..." "This extraordinary craft, Virgil, was captained by astronaut Bob Iverson..." " Edward Brazzelton..." " Dr Conrad Zimsky..." "On Capitol Hill today, everyone asks the same question," ""What is Project Destiny?"" "Destiny, meet world." "World, meet Destiny."