"If one train's going 20 miles an hour and the other's going 30, and the stations are 80 miles apart, where will they meet?" "Can you take a look at this?" "Kid, how should I know?" "I haven't been on a train in years." "That's not the point, J.D." "The point is that Mrs Grady's teaching us sixth grade stuff." "Well, you're in the sixth grade, aren't you?" "You don't even know what grade I'm in?" "Look, kid, I'm trying to watch the TV, all right?" "Like always!" "Cathy, get away from the door!" "Get away from it!" "Cathy!" "Wow." "Cathy?" "Cathy!" "UFOs, ghosts, giant insects, cattle deaths, you name it." "And I got a citizen in Del Rio who will swear he saw it." "All these sightings in the immediate vicinity of this base?" "Well, people have been seeing them for years all over the county." "Lately it's the base." "Haven't you heard?" "The Navy never really did shut this place down, and that they're conducting secret experiments on aliens?" "Here, look at this." "I had a sketch artist come down from San Antone a month ago." "He drew what Mrs Dewald said she had seen." "Little green men, Lieutenant." "That's what you've come all this way down here for." "Little green men." "We're here because the Navy was contacted by Senator Dickson, Sheriff." "Who is riled because Cathy Gold's going missing has..." "Has hit the news." "I know." "I know." "You don't sound particularly concerned." "Lieutenant, I have been doing nothing but looking for that little girl." "I'm working on three hours sleep in as many days." "And I've got her uncle J.D. On me like a hound on a ham bone." "And when you meet him you'll realise that UFOs have nothing to do with this." "Do you think she ran away?" "She's done it before." "Wouldn't blame her." "Living out here in the desert with that old hermit." "Can't have been much of a life." "So supernatural phenomenon had nothing to do with her disappearance?" "There ain't no supernatural phenomenon, Lieutenant." "Closing this base killed the town." "We've got no jobs, no tax base, no mayor, even." "You know times are tough when the politicians pack it in." "No, the only thing that's going on around here is desperation working on people's imagination." "So that's just all mass hysteria." "Isn't that more likely than aliens and flying saucers and such?" "We shouldn't dismiss something just because we don't understand it." "Meaning what?" "You believe in the little green men?" "What I believe isn't the issue, Sheriff." "How many of those reports have you actually investigated?" "Enough." "The county pays me to patrol this place." "If there was something going on around here, I'd know it." "When the Navy closed this base, they said they might reactivate it." "They left a lot of systems behind." "They..." "They even maintained them for a while." "So what if the Navy did open this base back up and they just didn't tell no one?" "The Navy has no secret operations here, Sheriff." "It's a big place." "You want to take a little time to look it over?" "Thank you, Sheriff, but the Navy's taken care of that." "JAG-9." "This is Bloodhound." "Making my run." "Full spectrum scan complete." "Over." "Bloodhound." "JAG-9." "ATARs received." "Out." "Infrared didn't pick up any working machinery or people on the base." "Comparison shows no deviation with an aerial taken last year." "Everything's in the same place it was six months ago." "Would that scan pick up little green men?" "Very funny." "You don't really think a UFO took that little girl." "I didn't say that." "And you're being close-minded." "No, I just reserve believing in things until I actually see them." "Which is what everyone who is close-minded says." "Did you see that?" "No." "Neither did I." "Look, I don't care what the taco said." "That man's so dense he wouldn't notice if a brick hit him on the side of the head." "Have you witnessed other sightings, Mr Gold?" "Lights in the sky, but nothing like that, and nothing like that pain." "And I'll tell you, that Mexican, he didn't steal Cathy." "I mean, he was more afraid of it than I was." "All this damage happened that night, sir?" "You don't have to "sir" me, Lieutenant." "My name is J.D." "You didn't "sir" me when I was in the Navy, no reason to do it now." "You serve in Vietnam, J. D?" "Two tours as a SEAL." "That's why I moved out here, because I never want to see another jungle again or an officer." " How close were you to the UFO?" " UFOs?" "They're a crock, ma'am." "Do you have another explanation for what you saw?" "Maybe." "My last tour, they sent us into Laos." "With these little black boxes." "Now, I didn't know what they did, or what they were." "But we planted them and then we pulled out." "But you see, Charlie, he never went near that area again." "The military isn't behind what you saw." "Like I thought you'd say something different." "Anything besides the pain and the light?" "Just when the north winds blow, there's a..." "There's a smell." "Something chemical." "Like those little black boxes we buried." "They smelled, too." "Now, you got any more questions, Lieutenants?" "Was Cathy happy here?" "She never knew my brother." "And her mother died last year in a car accident, and it's either me or the orphanage." "And so far I am winning by a hair." "And unless I'm wrong, the Navy sent you here." "Not Social Services." "We'd like to get Cathy back, J.D." "Then you tell the spooks that you're working for..." "You tell them to give her back to me." "We'll contact you tonight before we leave and let you know what we found." "All right." "Something took that place apart." "You ever seen anything like it before?" "No." "But from the pain he described and the high frequency sound, could have been caused by sonic pressure." "Well, there are sonic weapons in development." "Not here, Meg." "They wouldn't have sent us out here to investigate if something like that were going on." "Maybe we aren't developing it." "Maybe it's an ancillary effect from something we know nothing about." " You mean like a UFO?" " I didn't say that." "You were thinking it." "Let's go back to the base." "See if J.D.'s nose picked up something that ATAR scan didn't." " I'll call the Sheriff to unlock the gate." " No." "If there is something going on at the base, he might be in on it." "I assume your legal skills include picking locks." "They do." "But we won't be using the gate." "If there is someone on the base, they'll be watching the gate." " You think J.D. Was right?" " Not about the Navy." "But who knows who else might be out there?" "Or what." "Grab the floor mat." "You think it's hot?" "No current." "My four bits." "I never understood bits." "It comes from the old Spanish dollar." "Pieces of eight." "Two bits to a quarter." "Four bits, 50 cents." "My 50 cents which is in your pocket." "I'll bet you go Dutch on dates." "It's the only coin I've got and we may want to check the fence coming back out." "Sure." "Let's go." "Thank you." "Where do we start?" "Let's go down this street and come back along the flight line." "Nothing." "Did you expect the spaceships to be lined up along the tarmac?" "Very funny." "Seriously." "I mean, if there was a race advanced enough to travel millions of light-years to Earth," "I truly doubt we could catch them no matter how much we wanted." "That's strange." "What?" "Walk to me and listen." "Sand." "It's everywhere." "Except in front of the hangar." "The wind swirls around the hangar and blows it clean." "Maybe." " Engine oil." " Maybe it's been there a long time." "Hasn't dried up." "No sand." "It's fresh." "Cathy?" "There's no other way out of here." "Apparently there is." "Do you think this is what's been flying in and out of here?" "Well, not without a tail rotor." "No one's flown this for a long time." "Harm?" "Did you feel that?" "It's gone." "You saw it disappear into the hangar." "You said seeing was believing." "But what did we see?" "A UFO or an illusion?" " Nothing physical could vanish like that." " Except it did." "Harm, we have no idea what we're dealing with here." "We agree on that." "At least we can tell J.D." " Cathy's hiding somewhere on the base." " She looked so small and scared." "Well, don't worry." "The Navy will have a security team in here by sun-up." "We'll find Cathy and whatever it was we saw." "Why doesn't that make me feel better?" " It's hot!" " Super hot." "Where's the base power station?" "It's here." "There's no lights." "There's nothing on but the perimeter fence." "Could be a residual charge." "Caused by the UFO?" "Why not?" "We don't know what powered it." "A strong magnetic force could have charged the fence capacitors." "A charge that strong would have jerked the fillings out of our teeth." "I don't have any fillings." "No, no, no." "This fence is being charged by the base power station which should be that way." "Let's go." "Silent as a tomb." "Can't say much for your simile." "There must be another power plant on the base." "Not according to the plans." " What?" " Get down!" "I counted the beams." "There's at least five of them out there." "Five what?" "Men." "Those were targeting beams, Meg." " Targeting beams are red." " Well, maybe they don't like red." "Or can't see red." "Aliens again?" "I'm just saying maybe they can't see red light." "Where's base operations?" "There'll be a communication centre there." "If the fence has power, maybe it does, too." "Got it." "It's near the tower." "You ready?" "After you." "Down here!" "No juice." "Up here!" "When I saw you before, I thought you were one of them." " We're not, Cathy." " How do you know my name?" "We talked to your uncle." "He's worried about you." " Right." " Cathy, who are they?" "I don't know." "I followed them here because I thought they'd be ghosts." "You want them to be ghosts?" "Why not?" "You wanted them to be aliens." "Why do you want them to be ghosts, Cathy?" " It's okay." "You can tell me." " You'll think it's silly." "No, I won't." "He might." "But I won't." "If they were ghosts, maybe they could talk to other ghosts." "Then they could talk to my mom and get my mom to talk to me." "See?" "You think it's silly." "No." "I'm just sorry I didn't think of it." " Is your mother dead, too?" " No." "My father." "I never knew my father." "But I'd talk to him if I could." "J.D.'s very worried about you." " Right." " He is." "That's why we're looking for you." "J.D. Wouldn't call someone in a uniform if the house was on fire." "He didn't." "He called the TV station." "Cool." "Cathy, did they come in a..." "You can't even say it." "A spaceship?" "If they did that, I wouldn't have thought they were ghosts." "They'd be aliens." "No spaceship?" "I don't think that thing is a spaceship." "From the mouths of babes." "What about the sound?" "Didn't that hurt you?" "It's not too bad if you hold your fingers in your ears." "Sonic pressure." "Cathy, how did you get on the base?" "Same way I always do when I come here to play." "There's the tunnel under the fence." " It's too small." " Sorry." "I didn't think about that." "It's okay, Cathy." "Do you know how to operate a cellular phone?" "Please, I'm 10." "Here's the key to our car." "It's about a half a mile that way." "Put the key in the ignition and turn it on." "The phone will light up." "Press zero three times." "You'll get a Navy operator." "Tell them Lieutenant Rabb needs level red support." "Can you do that?" "Key in the ignition." "Turn it on." "Dial zero three times." "Lieutenant Rabb needs level red support." "Good girl." " Do I get a ribbon like that one?" " You get it right now." "Here." "Go, Cathy." "Go." "Now." "Every year, there are thousands of reports of unidentified flying objects." "As a rule, people who admit to having an encounter with a UFO open themselves to ridicule and derision." "Some will call them crazy." "Others will openly accuse them of concocting a hoax." "In this story..." "Boo!" "Lord!" "J.D., you are going to get yourself killed scaring people like that." "I doubt that, Stu." "You know, these Navy people came by to see me." "Yeah, I know." "I sent them." "Well, they said they were going to check in on me before they took off, let me know if they found out anything about Cathy." " But they didn't show." " Well, that's the Navy, isn't it?" "Well, you know what I'm thinking, maybe what happened to Cathy might have happened to them, too." "You mean, they ran away from you like she did?" " Stu." " What in the hell is wrong with you?" "I've got to get on that base." "All right?" " In the morning." " No, the morning's too late." "J.D., you realise that I am probably gonna get another one of these from that sheriff in San Antone." "Now just where in the hell did he pick Cathy up last time?" " El Paso." " El Paso?" "Yeah." "Look," "Stu," "Cathy didn't run away this time." "Yeah, well, what happened?" "She and I, you know, we're getting along so much better now." "No, Stu, she is out in that base." "I mean, she might have a nest or something." "I don't..." "Well, how did she get in?" " She's capable." "She's so capable..." " Oh, hell." "Stu." " I'll look." " Thanks." "By myself." "She's my niece." "I either go alone or I don't go." "What's it going to be?" "Okay, I'm going to sit here and I'm going to wait for you to come back then, huh?" "I was afraid you were going to say that." "I'll be damned." "J.D. Was right!" " Are you okay?" " They're after them." "Lieutenant Rabb said to call for level red support." " Call who?" " The Navy." " Where is Lieutenant Rabb?" " On the base." "All right, Lieutenants Rabb and Austin, this is Sheriff Pope." "Y'all come out." "Come on, Navy." "I need my sleep!" "Is that you, Lieutenants?" "It's all clear." "They must be sending electricity only to the fence." "It was off when Sheriff Pope and I drove in." "He's dead, you know." "They're not going to get us, Cathy." " Yes, they will." " No, they won't." " Did you call the Navy operator?" " The Sheriff wouldn't let me." " He didn't believe her." " I think he's paid for that, Meg." "J.D. Was right, wasn't he?" "The government's doing something secret here." "There's something secret going on, but our government isn't behind it, Cathy." "What if it's an operation the government doesn't know about?" "Next you'll be talking about black helicopters and UN troops taking over the country." "You're right." "That only brings me back to a possibility you don't want to discuss." "I don't think aliens would be tossing M-33 baseball grenades." "They're flesh and blood, no matter what they look like, Meg." "I knew they weren't ghosts." "I'm sorry, Cathy." "It's okay." "I wouldn't want ghosts like that talking to my mommy anyway." "Why'd they turn the power off at the fence?" "Because if the Sheriff found the fence hot, he'd have gone for help." " You think they turned it back on?" " Most likely." "Let me see those, Cathy." "Night vision goggles." "This is how they've been tracking us." " I see three of them by the big hangar." " You think that's all there are?" "God!" "That was blinding!" "Get down." "The radio." "I hear a plane coming in." "Mayday!" "Mayday!" "Does anyone copy?" "This is Lieutenant..." "Damn." "It's an R5D with no markings." "Pulled into the big hangar." " Where's the Sheriff's car?" " Around front." "I don't see anyone." "If we can get to his car, we could crash the main gate." "He's dead." "I don't want to see him again." "Well, you won't have to, honey." "Three of us would have a tough time getting there without being seen alone." " I have a better chance." " You're going to leave us behind?" "I would never leave you behind, sweet-pea." "The chapel's on the way to the gate." "There's some cover between here and there." "Where better to meet than at a church, right?" "Right." "Let's go." " Meg, are you scared?" " A little." "Me, too." "My mom used to hold me when I was scared." " Come here." " You kind of smell like mom." "About now I smell like a Texas bronc buster." "Your mom bust broncos?" "She rode horses." "Me, too." " Really?" "What kind?" " Quarter horses." " She used to barrel race." " Me, too." " Do you have a horse?" " Tyree." " He's the best quarter horse in Texas." " You're from Texas?" "A ranch about a couple 100 miles north of here." "And when we're all finished here, you and I are going to go riding there." "Can I live there with you?" "I'm in the Navy, Cathy." "I don't live there anymore." "Besides, you have your uncle." " J.D. Doesn't like me." " He loves you, Cathy." " Did he say that?" " He didn't have to." "I could tell." "He doesn't even know what grade I'm in." "I bet he does." " It's coming!" " No, that's the R5D." "Mayday." "Mayday." "Does anybody read me?" "Cathy, Meg!" "Move it!" " You scared the hell out of me, J.D." " The Sheriff said that to me earlier." " Is he out in the car?" " No." "He's dead." "Cathy?" "We found her." "She's with Lieutenant Austin." "Thank God." "Where are they?" "I don't know." "Look, we haven't got much time." "They'll be gone when the sun's up." "What are you telling me now, they're vampires?" "No." "But that is a logical explanation." "Vampires." "J.D., were you here when the base was built?" "I was born here." "You remember the hangar excavations?" "Hell, yes." "They dug those foundations so deep you could fit all of San Antone in them." "They weren't laying foundations." "They were building underground hangars that would stand a nuclear strike." "That's how that UFO and R5D disappeared." "That hangar floor is probably an elevator, like on the deck of a carrier." "Wait." "The government has got a UFO down there?" "No." "But I'll bet there's a cocaine processing lab." "You said there's a chemical smell in the air now and then?" "When you refine coca leaves, you use acetone." "Well, that was the smell." "It was like acetone." "They're using underground hangars to process cocaine and they're scaring the locals away with their UFO." " And what about the sound?" " High-intensity sonics." "Russians have been developing battlefield systems for a decade." "With their economy in such a mess, they probably sold one to the highest bidder." "And God knows the drug lords have the dollars." "Sonics like that could cover the noise of anything flying." "It's probably just a helicopter with lights to make it look like a UFO." "With all the years of everyone ignoring sightings, it was guaranteed camouflage." " How did you get on the base?" " Well, the gate was open." "It's not open anymore and the fence is probably hot." "You think you could figure a way out?" "Look, I'm not going anywhere until I get my Cathy back, all right?" "Lieutenant Rabb." "You have five minutes to appear at the base of the control tower unarmed with your hands in the air, or they'll kill me." "And Cathy." " No!" " We know where they are!" "It's almost sun-up." "We'd never make it to the tower without being seen." "For a second that uniform had me fooled." "I thought you were Navy." "But I forgot." "You're just another lawyer." "A tricky lawyer." "J.D., they don't know there's two of us." "J. D!" "You shouldn't have given up, sir." "I didn't have a choice." "All right?" "So this is how they get underground." "What the hell are you going to do with us?" "Hey, I asked you a question!" " What?" " He'll shoot us if we don't shut up." "What's the plan?" "I think we're playing it by ear, wouldn't you say?" "I was afraid of that." "There's your UFO, Lieutenant." "The hangar's a giant elevator." "He wants to know if anyone else knows we're here." " Hell, yes." "SEAL team 6 is on their way." " Navy SEAL?" "He understood SEAL team." "He wants to know how you called them." " Well, the Sheriff's car radio." " Really?" "Radio." "There's at least one other." "He just told him to lock the Mexicans up." "Listen, the SEALs are going to be here any minute." "You might as well surrender." "He doesn't believe you." "He's taking one of us with him as a hostage." "And the other two?" " Take the girl." " No!" "Listen, you know what, kid?" "You're a pain in the ass." "It's a good way of getting rid of you." " You don't mean that!" " The hell I don't!" "I hate you, J. D!" " I hate you!" " I know." "No!" "Easy with her." "Let me go!" "Let me go, you're hurting me!" "Cool." "Are you going to make it scream?" "No." "You are." "Turn this on in 30 seconds." "SEALs." "Harm got one of them." "You get ready." "Couldn't you think of a less painful rescue, sir?" "Cathy." "Watch your head." "The DEA figures there's an acre of lab beneath us." "Those poor illegals were supplied by border coyotes as slave labour." "Why would they bring the leaves all the way up here from Colombia?" "Colombians are cracking down on processing." "This operation could have gone undetected for years, if they hadn't gotten cute with the UFO." " Which is now an IFO." " Identified flying object." "You know, you're a pretty smart kid for being in the fourth grade." "You know what grade I'm in?" "I think your uncle knows a lot more than you credit him for." "He knew they'd shoot whoever they left behind." "Is that true, J. D?" "Hell, no!" "If I knew that, I would have volunteered to be a hostage." "Why do you have to play the crusty old hermit?" "You know you love her." "Now stop pretending you don't." "Don't think this is going to cut any slack for you running away." "You understand?" " I won't." " Let's go, Lieutenant." "Don't forget, you and I have a riding date." " How do I write this up, Meg?" " By the book." "You really want me to enter that you first thought we were dealing with a UFO full of little green men?" "Shut up and drive, sir."