"It stopped." "What's that, Dave?" "Nothing." "How we doing?" "Oh, we're ready." "You feeling the magic?" "Oh, I'm feeling the magic, all right." "Let's hit 'em." "Yeah." "Let's do it." "Here we go." "Let's hit 'em." "Let's go make $30 million." "Good morning." "Before I begin, let me..." "David?" "I'll go get help." "Jesus." "Jesus, David." "Phone 9-1-1." "Phone 9-1-1!" "David?" "Nick?" "Vicky?" "!" "Vicky!" "Okay, it's okay." "It's okay." "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 fundamental 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." "All right." "Mrs. Limestone, being a big softie, you know, loves walks in the park, bedtime stories, big romantic." "Loves Chet." "I can't play Chet, but I'll see what I can do." "Watch the oscilloscope, all right?" "Here we go." "Dr. Joshua Keyes?" "Maybe." "Yes or no, sir?" "The first one." "Please come with us, sir." "Guys, wh-what's going on?" "We don't know, sir." "What do you mean, you don't know?" "Your security clearance is higher than ours." "I have security clearance?" "We're just here to bring you to your jet." "I have a jet?" "Hey, Serge." "Ah!" "Serge." "Serge." "Damn!" "It's about time." "You're always late." "Let's keep moving, gentlemen." "What am I doing here?" "They wouldn't brief me until you got here." "You know, there are biochemists everywhere, military." "I hate them." "When are you going to meet a nice girl and bring her for dinner?" "I'm married to my work." "So am I." "Which makes my wife my mistress... that's why I'm still in love with her." "You were always a romantic." "I love my wife." "Yeah, I know." "I love your wife, too." "I know." "But I don't love your wife." "You know what I mean." "You don't love her the same way, you know." "It's the French." "I think it's the cheese." "Ah, the cheese." "You're..." "you're teasing me, right?" "Oh, my...!" "Whoa." "Wait, these are bodies." "I think we're in the wrong place here." "Yeah, we're in the wrong place." "No." "If you were in the wrong place, you would've already been shot." "That's a hell of a greeting." "Serge." "Serge." "Serge." "Yes." "Always a pleasure." "Same here, Thomas." "Dr. Keyes." " I know." " Tom Purcell." "Gentlemen, you do realize that everything here is totally classified, okay?" "At 10:30 a.m. Local time, 32 civilians, all within a 10-block radius... died." "They didn't get sick first." "They simply hit the ground dead." "Nerve agent?" "Our first guess." "No." "They all died at the same time?" "As far as we can tell, to the second." "This hits CNN in one hour." "I need a reason." "Is there a variation in sex, age, body type?" "They all had pacemakers." "Under a minute." "Your reputation is well deserved." " Hey, hey, hey." " How did you guess?" "Without any clues from the victims?" "No, that's..." "Serge and I are the clues." "I mean, he specializes in high energy weapons." "I do geomagnetics." "So calling us means you suspect an electromagnetic pulse weapon." "If these are the only fatalities, they must be people susceptible to... electronic interference." "QED pacemakers." "You're spooky sometimes, eh?" "Now I need to know, did some sort of weapon kill these people?" "The power that you would need to create an EM pulse strong enough..." "I mean, that's..." "that's not a weapon that" " I've ever heard of." " No." "Okay, we're done." "We're not done, sir." "There's nothing on the other side of the equal sign." "I agree with Joshua..." "Thank you." "Our greatest concern was this may have been an act of war, but since it's not," "I think we can all breathe a little easier, can't we?" "Look at my hat." "What is it, sweetheart?" "It's okay, son." "These things happen all the time and..." "Let's, go, let's go!" "Come on!" "Justin!" "Watch out, you bloody idiot!" "Hurry!" "Run!" "Daddy!" "The skies are empty over Nelson's Column now, but a few hours ago, it was a different story." "Eyewitnesses claimed that the frenzied swarms of birds were not in fact attacking people deliberately..." "And it's not just this time." "No, no, no, no, no, no." "But seemed to be confused and flying blind." "The Fortean Times reported violent bird swarms twice last month in Australia and Japan." "Five people are confirmed dead and dozens injured in the panic that followed the bizarre and terrifying incident in London's historic Trafalgar Square." " Weird." " Mm-hmm." "Quite strange, also." "Mm." "Strange, indeed." "Mm!" "How do birds navigate?" "By sight?" "No, no, no, the long range stuff." "Magnetic fields." "Little ions in their brains align with the magnetic field of the Earth." " Yeah, what she said." " Right?" "Acker." "Hit the 'Net, do a search for... oh, two years ought to do it." "Any and all, like, "weird news", you know... bizarre animal migrations, specifically birds." "Whale and dolphin beachings." "Unusual atmospheric phenomenon, unexplained plane crashes, you know, just use your imagination." "That is a huge search." "You can use our T-1 line to look up Sailor Moon crap." "You're up to this." "Danni, Danni, get me the brightest kids from the Field Theory Class, and design a computer model of an electromagnetic field." "What are we doing?" "I need a 3-D computer model of the Earth to lay the field over." "Whoa-ho-ho, the planet Earth?" "Yeah, the planet Earth." "You know, the pretty blue one." "Map out the anomalies that Acker finds and grunt out the equations." "And, uh... grab those smelly kids from the Non-Linear Diff class, too." "Listen, Josh, do we even have time for this?" "Do this and I'll sign your doctorates blindfolded." " Blindfolded?" " Blindfolded." "Do not pass Go." "Go directly to PhD." "Be wrong." "Be wrong." "Tim, I'm coming in a little hot." "Give me some drag, will you?" "Roger that." "We are in attitude and ready for an 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." "Oh, no, you're not, Beck." "You're trained, and you're certified... doesn't make you the commander." "And the commander lands the bird." "You got to be the youngest person ever in space." "You should say, thank you, be happy." "Now." "Endeavour, Houston, at this time we show you go for reentry." "Houston, Endeavour descending through 400,000 feet coming upon entry interface." "Endeavour, this is Flight." "Weren't able to annoy the commander into letting you bring her in this time?" "That's a negative, Stick." "I'll have to be more annoying next time." "Is that even possible?" "Endeavour, we see you in good entry config." "Roger, Houston." "Advise." "I'm seeing those plasma trails now." "All right, mark 24½." "So, a minute to air." "I don't believe in belts." "Just get me through the Earth's atmosphere in this spaceship." "Com dropout." "Start the I Com." "Let's wait till the..." "Com restored." "Quiet!" "We are out of position here." "Guidance shows us on energy and on course." "Well, I've made this approach 213 times in the simulator." "We're not where we should be." "Where the hell are we?" "Endeavour, guidance is bad." "You are now 1-2-niner miles off course." "Roger, Houston." "We sort of noticed." "Is that...?" "Los Angeles." "That is confirmed." "We are 1-5 thousand feet." "We got maybe two minutes of glide time left." "Doesn't make sense." "The guidance, the beacons are all wrong?" "We're heading straight for downtown." "We're not going to crash into Los Angeles." "They're going to hit downtown L.A." "At 300 knots." "Bob, you know L.A.?" "Because I have an idea." "Houston, those buildings are getting mighty big." "Can you clear a freeway?" "Okay, thank you." "Come on." "Come on." "It's rush hour, Commander, and it's bumper-to-bumper." "Sir, I have an alternate." "If you turn to heading 1-7-5..." "It's Houston's call." "Houston?" "Computers are still plotting." "Come on." "Houston, we are running out of time here." "Sir, I have an alternate." "All right, Beck, what do you got?" "Houston, I have coordinates for an alternate landing site." "Can you confirm?" "Endeavour, give them to me." "I show possible touchdown..." "at 33.55 north, 118.10 west." "Bill?" "It's theoretically possible." "Endeavour, that is confirmed." "Turn right, heading 1-7-5." "Expect visual contact with Los Angeles River in five seconds." "No, that will not work, Houston." "We got bridges every few hundred yards." "Our wingspan alone is going to fold us up." "I've figured the "L" over "D" max." "We can make it if you can bring us straight in." "We're coming in high and hot." "290 feet, 320." " 270, 3-0-5..." " Arm the gear." "You're armed." "Gear down." "Now." "Gear in transition." "240 feet, 290." "Hang on." "This isn't going to be subtle." "210 feet, 265." "Get out of the way!" "Move!" "Derotate." "Inward." "230... 210..." "Speed brakes!" "100%." "Oh, we're way too fast." "Deploy the chute." "No." "We'd snag the bridge." "We'll tear the tail off." "Banking right." "Commander, that next bridge!" "Watch it!" "We're way too high for that one!" "Suck up the gear!" "Not yet." "We'll lose all steering." "We hit, it's over!" "And... gear up now!" "Lock your harnesses." "This is out of my hands." "Let's get out of here!" "Run!" "Let's get out!" "Dr. Zimsky?" "!" "Will you make sure my assistant has your number, darling?" "Sure." " Dr. Zimsky!" " Hello." "I'll call security." "No, it's all right." "It's all right." "Hello." "Thank you, sir." " Dr. Zimsky." " Yes." "What's your name?" " Josh Keyes." " Josh." "No, sir, I don't need you to sign it." "I need you to read that." "I'm sorry, I don't have time." " I'm late for the White House." " Sir, please." "I need you to confirm my results, sir." "Young man, 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, I... this is impossible." "I'm sorry." "I-I-I can't have missed this." "You-You have to be wrong." "I mean, look, I'm sure with careful comparison to my own work, we'll find that you are mistaken." "No offense, but..." "Well, I mean, we'll know soon enough." "The bigger effects will start up any day now." "Rebecca?" "Only you and Dad ever call me that." "Well, Beck." "So, what brings you to sunny D.C.?" "The Board of Review is next week." "Just trying to get a sense of 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." "Well..." "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." "It's right down here." "Really?" "It's like the 4th of July." "What the hell's the hurry here?" "Rebecca, would you excuse me, please?" "Excuse me." "Purcell." "Thomas, um, look... it seems that destiny may have caught up with us." "Did Zimsky really try to give you his autograph?" "Ah, Monsieur Zimsky." "Conrad Zimsky." "Herr Zimsky." "Superstar." "Oh..." "I think I skipped drunk." "Went right to hangover." "Weren't you the one?" "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 any chance you're wrong?" "No." "The sky, man." "The sky..." "I mean, that's just the beginning." "That's high-altitude static discharge." "I know." "Dr. Keyes your presence is required at the Pentagon." "Ah... it's my best buddies." "Hey!" "Why don't you join us for a drink?" "We'd be grateful if you could join us for a ride, sir." "And if I were to say no?" " Just asking." " Yeah." "Well, we have no sense of humor." "That's true." "Oh..." "And we're armed." "Thank you." "Dr. Keyes, welcome." "Thank you." "Dr. Zimsky informs us that you made a useful contribution to his investigations, so he wanted you to assist him in the briefing." "That's very generous of you, Dr. Zimsky." "Science is a selfless business, dear boy." "Now, why don't you begin, and I'll 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." "And let me explain why." "Wrapped around the Earth is an invisible field of energy." "It's made up of..." "electricity and magnetism, so it's called..." "creatively enough... the electromagnetic field." "It's where we get our magnetic North Pole and South Pole, and it protects us from cosmic radiation." "So this EM field is our friend." "But now...?" "But now, that field is falling apart." "Why?" "Why?" "This here." "Does somebody have a can of air freshener?" "Quick and dirty." "The thin skin, that's the Earth's crust." "That's what we live on." "It's 30 miles thick." "The meat here, call it the mantle." "And forgetting all the-the funky transitions, it's 2,000 miles thick." "The core, the peach pit in the center..." "that's a tricky one." "There's two parts... the inner core and the outer core." "Are you following me?" "The inner core is, uh... well, it's a big, solid chunk of iron, we think." "And that's surrounded by the outer core, and that is liquid." "Yes, but, most importantly, this liquid is constantly spinning in one direction." "So a trillion trillion tons of hot metal spinning at a thousand miles an hour, so..." "Right, so Physics 101... hot metal moving fast makes an electromagnetic field." "This spinning liquid outer core is the engine that drives the EM Field." "And that's where we have our problem." "This engine has stalled." "The core of the Earth has stopped spinning." "How could this have happened?" "We don't know." "What's the timeline here?" "As the EM Field becomes more and more unstable, we'll start seeing isolated incidents." "One plane will fall from the sky, and then two, and then... in a few months, anything... everything electronic will be fried." "Static discharges in the atmosphere will create "super-storms" with hundreds of lightening strikes per square mile." "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?" "Mm-hmm." "Three months, gentlemen, 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 you might want to get one of those" "Word-A-Day calendars, General, because it's impossible." "The core is the size of Mars." "You're talking about jump-starting a planet." "This is a superheated hyper-fluid of molten iron and nickel at 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit," "2,000 miles down, 1,000 miles thick." "And the deepest we've ever been is... seven miles with a two-inch drill bit." "If we can go into space, we certainly..." "Well, space is easy." "It's empty." "We're talking about millions of pounds of pressure per square inch." "Even if we somehow 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?" "Okay, this way." "Well, that went better than I expected." "Dr. Brazzleton," "I see you know Dr. Zimsky." "Yeah." "20 years ago, he stole my research." "After that, we-we kind of lost touch." "Research that was equally mine." "That's funny, I don't remember a check from any of the patents." "All right, Braz." "20 years in the desert makes you a prophet and a martyr." "Look, we're here about your legendary ship." "Okay, I'm combining high-frequency pulse lasers with resonance tube ultrasonics." "If you've ever seen ultrasonic waves break up a kidney stone on the Discovery Channel, it's the same deal here." "You can..." "put your helmets on now." "Firing." "Woo-ooh!" "Woo-hoo!" "Yeah." "Oh." "Okay, I'm officially impressed." "So, all right." "So you've made some progress with the engine, we'll grant you." "Have you begun to think about a shell?" "Okay, this is Alex." "Okay, Alex." "Good." "Okay, here we have a concrete block, and in back of that, we have a two-inch steel plate." "Okay." "We're ready." "And we are... firing." "Voila!" "That's..." "That's impossible." "I combined the crystals in a tungsten-titanium matrix at supercool temperatures, and that's what did the trick." "The applications for this are just..." "What do you call this material?" "Well, its real name has 37 syllables." "I call it Unobtainium." "Unobtainium?" "Mm-hmm." "The Unobtainium will take the heat and the pressure and transform it to energy, which in turn, reinforces the shell of the ship, you see." "So the hotter and the deeper she gets, the stronger she gets..." "theoretically." "Theoretically?" "Theoretically, yes." "This... is Johnson, don't mind him." "This is the prototype for the cockpit here." "Excuse me, Dr. Brazzleton, when do you think the ship will be operational?" "When I get my fabrication methods perfected... 12... ten years, ten years." "What would it take to get it done in three months?" "$15 billion." "I..." "Will you take a check?" "Why don't you use a credit card?" "You get miles." "Mm." "Shit!" "Mr. Finch, this is the FBI." "We have a warrant." "Purge!" "Come on, purge!" "FBI!" "Freeze!" "Okay." "I know these look like computers." "Totally not." "Theodore Donald Finch." "Carnegie-Mellon University." "M.I.T." "Worked at the Sun, Lucent, Rand Corp." "My handle's "Rat." Call me Rat." "63 computer fraud indictments." "64." "Two convictions." "This is strike three, Mr. Finch." "Wait a second." "You guys aren't here to whack me, are you?" "Because I was really, really hoping to have sex before that happened." "Yeah." "I've been told by the FBI... whose database you crippled last year... that you are the best in the business." "So you're about to be given a choice." "What 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, anytime I want." "We multitask like you breathe." "I couldn't think as slow as you if I tried." "Do you have any idea...?" "Okay, hey." "Hey!" "Let's just, let's give the kid a break." "Okay, 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 kind of help?" "Information control." "We need you to control the flow of information on the Internet." "You're dreaming." "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 phone... forever." "Okay." "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 and you alone were responsible for proposing the descent vectors for the shuttle, correct?" "Yes, General." "We have determined that the Class "A" landing mishap experienced by the Shuttle Endeavour was caused by biased navigational data from the ground due to a brief geomagnetic disturbance." "Major Childs, the resourcefulness you showed in determining the descent vectors proved that you have exceptional navigation skills." "You've brought much credit upon yourself, the space program and the United States Air Force." "Congratulations, Major." "You are reassigned with Commander Iverson and Flight Director Stickley to a new mission effective immediately." "Transportation is waiting outside." "Good luck and Godspeed, Major." "Are you sure you want to wear this tie?" "Why?" "I don't know." "I mean, you look so nervous about it." "You look so..." "So, how are you holding up?" "Oh, hi." "I'm good, I'm good." "I'm about to tell a couple hundred people the world is going to end." "Well..." "I've had better days." "You look good." "Well, no, you don't look good." "Why did he touch his tie like that?" "Thomas, let me speak with you for a moment." "Listen, wouldn't you rather I did this?" "I mean, given my reputation, I think that..." "No." "No, Keyes is in the lead here, Zimsky." "Yes." "Thomas, this is the most important scientific operation in history." "And given my status, I feel that it's my job to present..." "Project Destiny was your job, Zimsky." "And you went way beyond authorized limits." "And let me tell..." "And let me tell you," "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, the other left." " Gentlemen." " And then you..." "Gentlemen." "Commander Iverson, Major Childs, this is your crew:" "Dr. Brazzleton knows the ship;" "Hello." "Dr. Zimsky knows the planet;" "Doctor." "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..." "fellow... what?" "Terranauts?" "Hello." "All this brain power over here is starting to smell like burning batteries." "Y'all better come and join in." "Yeah." "It's the simplest things that are the hardest, huh?" "Yeah." "It's official." "I'm the least-qualified person on this base." "Dr. Keyes, I'm sure the people in charge have every confidence in you." "Well, the problem is that I'm in charge." "Yeah, I know." "Can I help you?" "Yes, please." "You're an astronaut, and you can tie a Windsor?" "Mm-hmm." "Is there anything you can't do?" "Not that I'm aware of." "I find that incredibly intimidating." "Yep." "Most people do." "Here." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Let me introduce our project leader, Dr. Joshua Keyes." "Thank you, thank you." "Good evening." "Good evening." "Wow." "This looks like a meeting for Nobel Prize Winners Anonymous." "I know you are all the finest in your fields and have come a long way to be here." "So, I'll outline our program over the next three months." "Dr. Brazzleton will supervise the building of a ship which is capable of reaching the center of our planet." "Once there, it will deliver an explosive charge large enough to restart its core." "Dr. Zimsky will calculate the scale of the explosion needed." "This is a program I designed to simulate the effect of nuclear detonations on the core." "If my calculations are correct, a tiny nudge in any direction will force the core back into its normal flow." "What's a "tiny nudge" in planetary terms?" "A thousand megatons, give or take?" "Tops." "Because any more than that would create a core instability." "We made a few monster warheads in the 200-megaton range." "Braz, do you think the ship can handle five of these babies?" "Yeah." "I can enlarge the ejection pod..." "Forgive me, but, you know, I know I'm not the expert here, but what if the core is thicker or thinner?" "I mean, what if it's not what you think it is?" "Isn't that going to affect the way the explosions are...?" "Yes, 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 my best guess is you don't know." "With luck, irony will break for the good guys for once, and the world's biggest weapons of mass destruction will help save the world." "The ship will be powered by a small experimental nuclear reactor." "It will be divided into six compartments like cars on a train:" "The locomotive unit, navigation compartment, living quarters, engineering, bomb compartment and finally the weapons-control module." "Up to a 45 degree angle, every compartment will be held level by these gyro control gimbals." "But if we do breach a section, bulkhead doors engage automatically, seal off the section in red, and eject." "Is ejection really the best option?" "Only option." "Each damaged compartment degrades the entire hull." "The objective is simple." "The obstacles are gigantic." "We're going to need all the help in the world, but if we are to avoid panic and chaos, the world at large can never know what's happening here." "Which is where our friend Mr. Rat comes in." "It's called Virus-bot." "It's a computer virus that will seek out files anywhere on the Web that contain keywords that we designate and wipes them out." "This is my Kung-Fu, and it is strong." "Meanwhile, there are a million puzzles ahead of us, and we have three months to solve them." "We have a committed and ingenious team." "We have every resource available to us, and we have the best of the world's scientific and technical talents on our side." "With your help we can, we must... succeed." "Feedback in the resonance tube." "Talk to me, gentlemen." "We are losing structural integrity." "No, it's not feedback." "It's an impeller malfunction, I believe." "No, it's not, no." "If it were an impeller malfunction..." "For God's sakes, Braz, make the call!" "No, I'll make the call." "I should make the call." "65 knots." "Depth, 8-5 thousand feet." "Look, guys..." "It's a disaster!" "What part of "talk to me" don't you guys understand?" "For the 22nd time in a row, everyone on Earth is dead." "Let's take a little quiet time, and you all are going to try this again." "Hi." "Hi." "What is this?" "Well, it's..." "I invented it." "It's how you're going to..." "going to steer underground." "It's, um... not very good reception." "Well, 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-it's souped-up." "I invented it for Deep Earth surveying." "And then the government came in, bought my research, paid off my student loan guys and made me a consultant." "I'm sorry, this is really delicate." "And I have it just the way I want it." "So... excuse me." "Uh, yeah." "Then they brought me in when the pacemakers quit, and... boom..." "you know, I'm Apocalypse Boy." "Apocalypse Boy?" "Yeah." "I'm having T-shirts made up." "Well, hats sell better." "You know, it's funny, because that is... right where it should be." "Well..." "I'm sorry." "I'm a little ragged around the edges." "I'm just trying to get this thing to focus correctly." "This is really cool, but can I just...?" "Well... mm-hmm." "It's better." "It's better." "Uh..." "God, I hate this sky." "Crashing one ship isn't enough for you?" "Hey." "Practice makes perfect." "You can practice all you like." "It doesn't mean you're ready to sit in that seat." "So you keep reminding me, sir." "You know, I doubt you're even going to 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, sir." "No, you don't, Beck." "I mean, you're not just responsible for making good decisions." "You have to be responsible for the bad ones." "You got to be ready to make the shitty call." "What makes you think I'm not?" "Because you're so good." "You haven't hit anything you couldn't beat." "I mean, hell, you were the one who figured out how to save the shuttle." "You made me, you made the rest of NASA just 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 developing this system..." "Oh, come on, guys, the chefs at NASA..." "I want wine!" "I need wine!" "It's about nutrition." "In five days, I think..." "Whoa!" "That's high-level static discharge." "I think we should check this out." "This doesn't look so good." "It's a lightning superstorm." "Popping up all over the world." "Got 'em." "Tracking." "Uh-oh." "Rome does not look good." "This planet is decaying faster than we thought." "It's just the start." "Soon they'll be EM spikes and microwaves will break through the weak spots and..." "All right." "Get this ship in the ground." "Now." "Ah!" "Summer in the Pacific." "Yeah, the world is inside out." "I was saving this for later, but... this is the time for..." "Josh, do you mind?" "No, not at all." "Yeah." "We should have a name for this baby." "Oh, she's called Virgil, actually." "Virgil... the poet that led our man into the depths of hell?" "That's it." "That's appropriate, I guess." "Well, here's to Virgil." "To the planet." " To Virgil." " To Virgil." "No flashbulbs, no press, nobody cheering." "It's... weird." "Let's go." "Cabin pressure, TSI, 3.5." "Check." "ECS cabin repress open." "And repress VLV closed." "Check." "Fluid dump valve." "We are about to begin our journey into the heart of the cosmos, into the very core of our own planet." "Close." " Where we find therein..." " Check." "The secrets of the universe 3.5 PSI." "...the mysteries of time..." "LM circuit lockup." " Check." "...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 countdown to launch." "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." "Leveling out." "Okay, guys, let's swing forward." "800 feet." "Light 'em up, Beck." "Gyro leveling operational." "Hull integrity holding." "I'm going to keep her nose down about 15 degrees and..." "Oh, my goodness." "They're singing to us." "Virgil's resonance tubes are powered up, so they're vibrating sub sonically." "Actually, we're singing to them." "What's our depth?" "1,600 feet, plenty of room on both sides." "Hull integrity is good." "You sure?" "Let's increase impeller speed." "I think we'll be needing additional control." "Stick, I'm getting a seismic reading." "What's happening?" "T-phase." "Underwater earthquake." "Still think the water-launch was a good idea?" "Yes, yes, I chose this location because the crust is thin here." "The downside is... there's lots of seismic activity." "4,000 feet." "You see that rock?" "That is not good." "We're losing steering here." "There's some kind of crosscurrent." "14,000 feet." "Okay, guys, 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 the highway." "Pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure." "What do you mean, pressure?" "I thought you said this thing was indestructible!" "I said the pressure makes us stronger." "We just don't have enough of it yet." "We're at 25,000 feet." "Pull out, sir." "Can't." " What?" " We're locked in." "Go to full throttle." "Standby to engage front and lateral lasers, please." "But what if we hit bottom in ten seconds here?" "Just give it a couple more seconds." "The lasers will fire." "No, there's not enough time for power-up." "27,000 feet." "The lasers will deploy." "29,000 feet." " Do it!" " And..." "Do it!" "Now." "And we've got a signal." " All right." " Yeah!" "All right." "Switching on electron spin burst transmitters." "Plotting through lowest density material, reconfiguring every five minutes." "Hull integrity 100%." "Reactor power 100%." "All green on the bomb compartment." "Speed is 60 knots." "Hot damn." "All right, we'll be through the crust in 15 minutes and into the mantle." "24 hours to the core, and then assuming we survive..." "Assuming?" "Yes, assuming." "Another 15 hours to the inner core-outer core border." "They're doing well." "The crust is just rock." "Now it gets interesting." "Virgil, can we get a status check?" "We're about to make the transition into the mantle." "Come on, come on." "Well, exterior pressure is 800,000 pounds per square inch." "And hull integrity is 100%." "It is as if we we're diving through the memories of the planet." "But we are about to pass from memory into madness." "Are you going to be doing that Carl Sagan narration all the way to the core?" " I beg your pardon?" " I said..." "I-I have an obligation to my students, to my readers..." "An obligation to make a book deal perhaps?" "Two book deals, if you'd like to know the truth." "I read that last book." "It wasn't very good." "Oh, really?" "Really?" "When did you learn how to read?" "People." "Drs. Zimsky and Keyes?" "You guys are our resident geophysicists." "What do you make of this?" "The mantle is a chemical hodgepodge of... a variety of elements..." "Say it with me:" ""I don't know."" "Well, Commander, wise men say, "When in doubt, you should go around."" "No." "It's too big." "We turn too slow." "Anything that we can't go through displays as black." "So what's... what's static?" "It's nothing." "What do you mean?" "It's nothing." "It's empty space." "I..." "I never taught the computer how to read empty space." "And I never taught Virgil how to fly." "Oh, God!" "Oh, no, man!" "Oh, dear God." "Serge, you all right?" "Yeah." "Anybody hurt?" "No." "You okay?" "Yeah." "What's that?" "What is that?" "From the cooling system." "Shut that down." "Shut it down." "I told you to go around her." "Nobody listens to me." "Where in God's name are we?" "Whatever has us jammed up is inside our lasers." "Shut 'em down." "We're not going anywhere." "Powering down." "Josh, is there any other image you can pull up?" "Nope." "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." "I want to collect samples." "Wait, hang on, hang on." "Wait, wait, the first problem is, the only way out of the ship..." "is the way we came in, which is through the impeller outlet..." "Which is still at 5,000 degrees." "Exactly, I mean..." "I'll just flush it with liquid nitrogen from the cooling system." "Wait." "The cooling system that's keeping us from roasting to death in this ship?" "Well, just a small part of it." "Alternatives?" "Anybody." "Whoa, whoa, 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 completely jammed the laser assembly." "We just..." "we got to hope, if we can cut it loose," " they're still functional." " Careful!" "Okay." "Got it." "Beck, try the lights, will you?" "Lighting up." "Oh, it's magnificent." "Oh, my God." "Aladdin's cave." "It's like a crystal Grand Canyon." "I think it's a geode." "But I don't understand how it could have survived down here." "Cobalt shell, maybe?" "No." "I-I mean, in a magma environment of 5,000 degrees." "Something would have to protect it." "Unbelievable." "Zimsky." "Yeah?" "We're inside 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." "Okay, Braz." "I'm going to check the hull." "Call me if you need me." "Okay." "Oh, no." " Zimsky!" " Yeah?" "Zimsky, look!" "It's an amethyst." "Oh, God, we've breached the shell." "Guys, you don't have to be here!" "I want you back inside!" "Well, I think that means me." "Orders are orders." "Wait, Josh." "The problem is I'm losing oxygen." "Braz, what can I do?" "Check the feeds for me." "Check the feeds for me, Josh." "Quick!" "I'm coming." "I'm coming as fast as I can." "Hey, guys, at this rate we have three minutes before the lava gets to us." "Come on, guys." "Come on." "It's not going to work without oxygen!" "We're losing oxygen!" "I fixed it." "Now cut!" "That's good." "It's working now." "It's working well now!" "That's good, Josh!" "Josh's vital signs are dropping." "What?" "Serge!" "You're almost there." "You're almost there, Josh." "Josh!" "Joshua!" "Okay, guys, connect the oxygen." "Braz, you got that?" "Yes." "Connected!" "Good." "I got to check these lasers." "Okay, Beck, turn 'em over." "Pre-lasers only, if you don't mind." "Initiating." "This better work." "The tide's really coming in." "Yes!" "We got lucky..." "I think we're going to swim right out of this one." "Bob?" "Huh?" "Bob?" "Bob..." "Braz, come on, it's over." "Okay." "Okay." "Beck!" "Beck!" "We're coming in." "Initiate start sequence." "Beck!" " Beck, do you hear me?" " Careful." "Start the impellers!" "The door, open the door." "Activate bulkhead doors!" "Now, Beck!" "You okay?" "You're going to be weak." "You're okay." "Good job, good job." "Good man." "Well done, well done." "I'm fine." "Thank you." "So, um... we have some good news, and, uh... and we have some bad news." "Uh, good news." "I'll take good news." "All right." "Well, we're alive and we're moving." "That's g... that's good news." "Oh, it is hot in here." "Yeah, that nitro we flushed out of the cooling system, it-it's causing things just to heat up a little." "I'm going to go back and just make some adjustments." "I'll lend you a hand." "All right." "I'm fine." "I'm going to check your heartbeat, okay?" "Thanks, Braz." "Appreciate it." "So, that's the bad news?" "That's not too bad." "No." "Commander Iverson died." "But... we're living, and he would want to... he'd want us to complete our mission, so I think that it's important that we all..." "It's all right." "Thank you." "I'm sorry." "Let's give him a second, okay?" "He deserves that." "Oh, God, this all just seems too big, doesn't it?" "I think you were attempting the impossible." "You were trying to save the world, and... it's overwhelming." "I came here to save my wife and my two children and... six billion lives..." "it's too much." "I just hope I'm-I'm smart enough and brave enough to save three." "You did a nice job, Joshua." "Very nice." "Great." "You'd have done the same thing." "Well, maybe, maybe." "Hey... who's steering the ship?" "Video screen autopilot." "I 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." "Well, I just, I just..." "Listen, the lack of oxygen kept me from weeping like a little girl as is my custom in dangerous situations." "Hey, guys, we're close to the mantle core interface." "Where are you?" "Key's in, Dr. Brazzleton." "Ready." "We are in the..." "Okay, the code..." "0-1-3-1-9-9-5." "...luxurious, beautiful weapons control... checking the controls on the nukes." "This is the birthday of my daughter." "0-1-3-1-9-9-5." " Ready?" " Yeah." "Three, two and one..." "Thank you." "Green." "All green." "Great." "So we have to synchronize the babies now." "Just a second." "There." "All right, now let's put them to bed." "Zimsky, could you please come up here for a second?" "Yes?" "We're not supposed to go through anything black." "Yes, so please don't." "What is this?" "They're scattered everywhere." "Oh, my God!" "They're diamonds!" "Great." "You might want to sit down and buckle up." "We're on a collision course here." "All rightie." "Careful." "Guys, we're dodging diamonds the size of Cape Cod, so bear with me." "Not exactly nimble here." "Diamonds?" "I want some." "Can I help?" "Ooh!" "Okay." "It's okay." "Okay, it looks like we're in the clear." "Breach!" "Guys!" "Weapons control, get out!" "Get out now!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "What the hell are you doing?" "Come on!" "My notebook!" "Now!" "Serge!" "Take the time reg, Joshua!" "Come on Serge!" "Come on!" "My notes!" "You'll need them!" "No!" "God, no, Serge!" "It's okay." "Serge, come on!" "No!" "Serge!" "Come on, man!" " Leave the box!" " We need the box!" "We can get him!" "We can get him out!" "Hold on, Serge!" "Beck!" "Beck!" "Override the ejection system!" "Beck, no!" "One damaged compartment threatens the whole ship!" "Beck!" "Beck!" "Override the ejection system!" "Serge, we're right here." "We're not going to forget about you, man." " Josh, can you hear me?" " Serge!" "Serge..." "Hey, buddy, look in your monitor right now." "Serge, look in your monitor." "I'm right here." "Serge..." "Josh, I can't see you." "Braz is going to override the doors manually, okay?" "We're working on it right now." "Braz, how long?" "Going as fast as I can, Fast as I can." " Okay, I'm scared." " We're going right now." "Shouldn't be two seconds, all right?" "Josh!" "Beck, override the ejection systems, okay?" "Damn." "I don't think Beck can hear me." "Serge, look at me now." "Serge!" "Serge, we're right here, okay?" "We're not going to forget about you, man." "I'm going to get you out of here." "We're working on it, all right?" "Stay with me here." "Okay?" "I don't know what to do." "Can you hear me now?" "All right, here I am." "I'm not going to let you go, man." "I'm not going to let you go, all right?" "Stay with me here, okay?" "I'm going to come to Paris and we'll go out, all right?" "After this." "After this is all said and done, all right?" " Josh!" " Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Did you reset the overrides?" "I never pushed them." "You let him die." "Actually, you really want to know?" "I killed him twice." "First when I hit the diamond, and then when I didn't hit the override." "Do you want me to feel any worse about that than I already do?" "It's not possible." "Why are you being so smug about that?" "Could you have made the decision?" " Yes." " Could you?" "Yes, I could've." "If you would've hit that switch," "I could've got him outta there!" "I was yelling for you!" "Take it and look at it!" "I was two inches from him!" "I was two inches, 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!" "Serge died so that we could complete our job." "Oh, that's right, the job of saving the world." "Not the whole world, Josh!" "Just three of them." "Virgil, you are 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 are green and good to go." "We just got a huge speed jump." "We just got a huge speed jump." "We're at 95 knots." "110." "130... 140." "Our speed's jumped because the density of the core is different than our estimates." "It's lighter than we thought." "So much for best guesses." "I'm fine with this." "At this rate, we'll, what... hit the inner core in a little over five hours." "I think we finally bought some luck." "Braz." " Yeah." " Would you please punch the new core density into the equations for the nuclear detonation?" "Please tell me this is enough." "Okay." "You're telling me the 1,000 megatons of nuclear warheads we hauled down here isn't going to cut it?" "No." "This core material is too thin." " What?" " The energy waves from the explosion won't spread far enough." "They'll just bleed away into nothing." "That's it." "We go home." "We go home." " Home?" " What?" "Our Commander is dead." "Our weapons specialist is dead." "Our weapons control systems are gone." "We don't know whether we can arm the nuclear devices, and our plan to fix the core no longer works." "So... we have failed." "We have not failed." "We have failed, and we go home, and we go to the alternative." "What alternative?" "What are you talking about?" "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." "Now what the hell is Destiny?" "It's a device." "Deep Earth Seismic Trigger Initiative, DEST-INI." "Destiny." "We had reason to believe that our enemies were building a weapon that could generate targeted seismic events." "They would be able to create massive earthquakes under our territory." "No way of telling who did it." "So?" "So... we built one, too." "M.A.D." "Mutually Assured Destruction." "A perfect acronym if ever there was one." "Beautiful." "They built it first." "I built it better." "I beamed high-powered electromagnetic energy waves down Deep Earth fault lines, and, you know." "Zimsky, what makes you think that Destiny would even touch the core?" "'Cause it already did." "This isn't a fluke." "We killed the planet." "You keep saying that the core is too big to be affected by anything short of nukes." " So..." " The core is an engine." "Throw a small wrench into a big engine, you can still stall it." "Deep Earth, this is Virgil." "We require clarification on the status of Project Destiny." "Why weren't we notified of this, sir?" "Because you didn't need to know, Major." "Now you may not like this." "I may not like it either." "But it's my job, and I do it for my country, and if we don't develop these devices, someone worse will and they will use them against us." "But you have my word." "No one in this administration... no one, had any idea that this could happen." "So the device that killed the planet is your backup plan?" "An electric shock can stop a heart." "It can certainly restart one." "Destiny will work." "It has to." "No, it won't work." "If you fire that thing again with the core already stalled, it'll terminally destabilize it." "Yes, granted... there is a marginal risk involved, but given the circumstances," "I hardly see that there's an alternative." "No, Zimsky, listen to me." "Every volcano on the planet will blow." "There'll be earthquakes big enough to 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, Virgil." "We go to plan B." "Well, what about plan C?" "What?" "What?" "Well, 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 out of there." "Then don't." "We fail, fire Destiny." "Oh, come on!" "That's ridiculous!" "What choice do we have," " Zimsky?" " Are you kidding me?" "If they set that thing off, the shock waves will wipe us out!" "We'll be lucky to get back if we turn back right now!" "Virgil, I'm telling you right now, we will fire Destiny, and we need to do so as quickly as possible, and if you're still there, you will be destroyed." "Rebecca?" "Please don't make me have to do this." "Plan C." "It's your call, Commander." "Majority decision." "We're going in." "I'm sorry, sir." "Oh, come on, you're a bunch of suicidal morons!" "What are you, crazy?" "Plan C?" "Restart the core "somehow"?" "Oh, that's a great idea!" "That's a brilliant idea!" "I can't believe I'm stuck in this floating septic tank with you lunatics!" "You may have nothing to lose." "You may have nothing to lose!" "You may have nothing to lose but I have my life to lose, thank you very much while you're up!" "Now turn it around!" "He told us to go back and we're going back!" "Why?" "You want to be a hero?" "You want to be a martyr?" "What do you want to be?" "You're out of your mind!" "Thank you!" "Turn it around!" " No!" " Zimsky." "You, shut up!" "It's not a stupid ship." "I had to." "It had to happen sometime." "Yeah." "Oh..." "Status!" "What is that?" "It's the EM monitoring station." "It's the one that tracks EM pulses." "God, no." "Just talk, Mr. Rat." "No." "That's a good boy." "Remember those invisible microwaves that Josh was talking about?" "Well, they just found a hole." "No, it's a parking lot out here..." "Oh, my God." "And now with this horrific breaking news, we go live to San Francisco, where Leo Jacks has the story." "Yes, Claire, it's hard to believe that half of San Francisco is in ruins today following the most devastating and the most baffling event in our nation's history." "It's-it's a horrific situation here." "Thousands are dead." "Many are missing." "It's-it's hotels, hospitals." "Bring up the power grid." "The whole West Coast is out." "That means we're going to have to suck up just about every drop of juice east of the Rockies to fire Destiny." "Another EM spike, we're not going to have enough power." "General, you have got to give them more time." "There is no more time." "Colonel, call Destiny." "I am launching a formal complaint against you with the Department of Defense." "Rat to Josh." "Go, Rat." "Hey, um... here's the EM Field data that you're primed for." "Digging that, Rat." "Primed for." "Primed for." "Prime numbers... one, two, three, five, seven, 11, 13, 17..." "Here we go." "James." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "Here we go, folks." "Okay, this time it's going to work." "Here you go... beautiful." "Yeah, mm-hmm." "Come on, baby." "Come on, Daddy wants to see the sky again." "Okay, okay, okay." "Let's try again." "Your torque is R, cross F..." "No, your R is too small, Josh." "Right." "Wait, hold on." "What are you laughing at?" "No, I mean, it took me and 400 of the world's smartest people to come up with the first plan." "You want to help?" "No." "I want to turn around and go home." "It's not going to happen." "Well, then we're going to die." "True." "All right, look," " let's start from square one." " Okay." "Let's start from square one." "The bulk modules..." "depends on density." "Your torque is R cross F, but you have to integrate volume..." "But here, here..." "just consider this." "Now, we got this..." "Okay, now, R cross F, we're putting in pi." "What's V?" "Oh, for God's sake!" "All right." "I'm hitting him again." "No, no, no!" "Braz, no, look, I have a theory." "Are you interested?" "Yes." "We're interested." "Then let me smoke a cigarette, and I'll tell you." "Oh, thank God." "Hmm?" "All right, fine, look." "Look, we have to use wave interference, okay?" "Because one explosion won't do it." "Think about stones in a pond." "You drop a large stone into a pond, you get a big splash, and then that's it, it's over." "But drop a smaller stone, wait until the ripples weaken and drop another and another, and another, and fluid dynamics 101." "The ripples reinforce each other in geometric progression." "Hm, the whole bigger than the sum of the parts." "Then we'll have five 200 megaton explosions..." "Instead of one big bang." "So, we hot-wire the nukes." "Yes." "And as one does, we seed them through the core... at locations that have to be accurate to the inch." "We detonate them in a sequence that has to be accurate to the millisecond... then we outrun the biggest nuclear shock wave in history." "Right." "Yeah." "I mean, that should be fairly simple." "Destiny now should be diverting to the central." "Final calibration on both transmission systems..." "Come on." "Cut the..." "cut the rouge." "The red wire above the circuit." "Okay." "Okay." "No, no, wait, hold it!" "I'm sorry, cut it below." "Please..." "Extensions A, B." " Here we go." " F, check." "Increase power to reactors ten through 15" "We're almost there, folks." "Okay, guys we're closing on the inner core." "The nukes are ready." "Timers are on." "Great." "Let's start dropping them." "No." "The bombs are not built for these pressures." "That's why they were in that pod." "If you send them out now... out of that casing, they'll be crushed instantly." "I'm assuming we have a Plan D." "Plan D is Virgil's compartments." "We put a nuke in each section of Virgil, and then eject the individual sections one at a time." "They should stay intact long enough for the nuke to go off." "Oh..." "What?" "Virgil's not designed to eject undamaged compartments." "Okay, these are the ejection mechanisms holding each compartment in place." "They're all connected by one master hydraulic gear." "Kind of like keys on a key ring." "What we have to do, we have to unlock the piston." "That will release the compartments so the bombs can be jettisoned." "Where's the master gear?" "In the crawl space we used to get out earlier." "Well, what the hell is it doing there?" "I built the ship in three damn months." "I didn't think I'd be intentionally sabotaging it." "I'm sorry!" "So one of us has to go in there." "Correct." "Into the crawl space that has core fluid at 9,000 degrees." "Yes." "Can you flush it with liquid nitrogen?" "We don't have enough at this point." "9,000 degrees." "And our suits are built to withstand...?" "Half that, probably." "Right." "Half that." "So what you're saying is whoever goes into that crawl space, is not coming back." "Hmm." "Together." "Yes, thank you." "Wait." " On three." " Okay." "One... two... three." "Huh." "Well, I better go on, get myself ready." "No, Braz, wait." "No, Braz, no wait." "Excuse me." "Just a moment, may I see that?" " No." " May I?" "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 do it again." "I thought you'd be happy." "No." "Not at the expense of you making us look like fools." "He's right." "Why do you get dibs on being the hero?" "Because it's my damn ship." "Oh, that makes perfect sense." "Look, for 20 years, I've done nothing but Virgil. 20 years." "Virgil belongs to me, and I will not let her fail." "I will not." "Now if 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 am going to go and get ready." "Good to go." "Beck." "Josh." "It's a hell of a boat you built, Braz." "I am really proud to have known you guys." "Thank you." "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." "Come on, hang on." "Manual override is complete!" "Braz, we can still get you out of there." "No... start..." "start the impeller." "No." "We got a job to do." "Let's do it." "Let's go." "Magnetic shielding systems are up." "Magnetic shielding systems are up." "Power level's 85%." "Increase power to Reactor 10." "All personnel should be clear." "Oh, God!" "Oh, I'm sorry." "Okay, she's down." "Approaching the first drop-off point." "We got to be accurate to the second here, boys." "And drop in three-five seconds." "And... timer on." "Pull it." "Clear... and... ejecting." "All right." "Initiate firing sequence." "Sir..." "It's our last shot, Stick." "Damn you." "Damn me?" "Too late." "Ten, nine, eight..." "What's that?" "Gotcha!" "...four, three, two..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" "Someone's diverted our energy." "Where the hell's it gone?" "!" "It looks like..." "Coney Island." "Your Kung Fu is not strong." "Well, how long will it take to get it back online?" "Well, then get to it!" "Oh, hey, 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 always wanted to make a splash in nuclear physics." "You know, that energy propagation stuff you were talking about..." "Oh, that was high school physics." "Yeah, it's not exactly..." "I just took the wavelengths from the core fluid off the MRI readings." "Yeah, and multiplied by 800... 600." "Surely you compensated for the MRI bias." "We got to reset the timers!" "Reset the timers!" "No!" "It just won't work." "It's not the timers!" "This is not enough!" "What's not enough?" "The last bomb is not enough." "To complete the wave form." "Yeah." "No." "The last bomb has to be 30%larger." "That's six or seven pounds of plutonium." "Where are we going to get six or seven pounds of plutonium?" "Guys, we got hit by an energy flare." "I can't keep us on course." "Ejecting compartment in 50 seconds." "No, Beck!" "No, wait!" "No!" "Push it!" "You push it!" "Come on, guys, I can't hear you." "It's got my shoulder!" "Push!" "Guys!" "Clear!" "Clear the compartment!" "What are you doing?" "I think the flare has knocked the Coms out." "I can't get it, Josh." "I can't get it." "Go..." "I can't." "Okay." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Can you hear me?" "I'm correcting course." "Now!" "Zimsky!" "No!" "Push it!" "Ejecting compartment in ten seconds." "Can you hear me?" "Josh, go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Get out!" "Go!" "Josh." "For the last bomb, to make it larger... use the fuel rods from the react..." "Ejecting." "I got to get..." "I got to..." "Beck." "Beck, can you hear me?" "Beck, if you have any better ideas, you tell me now." "We've only got three minutes to eject this one." "Beck!" "Come on, guys." "I can't hear you." "Beck." "Josh, come on." "Are you okay?" "Are you okay?" "Will you take my gloves off?" "Oh, my God." "Please." "I had to build the blast." "I'm sorry." "Hold on, let me get..." "No." "Stay here for one second." "I was trying to call you." "I know the Coms were down." "Right." "I know what you did." "We don't have enough energy..." "I know." "...to get back." "You did good." "I would've done the same thing." "Where's Zimsky?" "Come here." "You did good." "You did good." "One minute to the first detonation." "And 12 until the blast hits us." "I was hoping we'd suffocate to death first." "Beck." "Beck, Beck." "What could you do if I got you enough power to fire the impeller?" "Maybe not the laser but the impeller." "What?" "From where?" "The heat of the core." "It's 9,000 degrees." "Unobtainium converts heat to energy." "So this whole damn ship is like a big, old solar panel." "Come on, I need your help." "Number two's going!" "Come on, come on." "For 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!" "Come on, Beck, where is it?" "Come on." "Come on, hurry up." "Is that the last one?" "Yeah." "Give it a couple seconds." "It worked!" "Get ready to pull a few G's." "420 knots." "Now, this is more like it." "440." "So, Rat, what's the center of this quake?" "It's everywhere!" "It's one giant shock wave!" "The planet's healing itself." "At this speed, we're going to be home in a third of the time." "As long as we can surf these magma flows, we'll be okay." "Let's just pray we don't run into any dead ends, or we're going to miss those lasers." "Okay, navigator, which way?" "We've got greater fluid density on the left." "Go with the flow." "Uh-huh." "Bill, where are they headed?" "Looks like she found a space between some tectonic plates somewhere near Hawaii." "Josh..." "Yeah?" "They're closing in on us too fast." "I don't know if I can..." "Hey, you got it." "Um... w-we lost them, Stick, and I..." "Where'd our power go?" "Well, we're powered by the heat." "It's stone cold down here." "Well..." "Look on the bright side." "At least we're not going to boil to death." "You always look on the bright side?" "Always." "Okay, let's assess:" "We've got no communications, we're probably 800 feet down, but we might as well be 800 miles." "We're in an Unobtainium cigar tube with the sonar signature of a rock." "We've got just enough power to make the ultrasonics burp, but no one's listening on those frequencies anyway, and... nobody even knows we're alive." "Okay." "Give me a minute on this one." "This is hopeless." "Come on, General, we've got to be getting close." "We can't..." "Mr. Rat, even if they were still alive, there's no way they could contact us." "Bridge." "Skipper, Combat relays that our sub has something on the sonar." "Where do they think?" "Bill, put it up on the hydrophone." "Whales, sir." "They're a long way off their usual path, but that's not uncommon since that, uh... what are they calling it?" "Orbital wobble?" "Yeah, that's what they call it." "Well, thank you very much, Captain, but I think we're done here." "General." "J.O., this is the captain." "Stand down from SAR Operations." "It's whales!" "It's whales!" "Hey!" "General!" "Stick!" "It's whales!" "The ultrasonics!" "They're singing to them!" "You gotta find the whales!" "Alpha X Ray, this is November Echo six one zero." "I'm changing..." "Hold on, I'm seeing those whales now." "Whoa!" "Okay, ball's in the water." "This is neat." "Those whales are circling something." "Hold on, hold on." "We have a strong echo here." "Depth, 800 feet." "There-there's something down there." "There's definitely something down there." "I told you pulsing the ultrasonics would work." "Do 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 freshmen geophysics students." "You know what makes me really, really angry?" "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." "Okay, here we go." "Sweet." "It is now emerging that the world owes its survival to the heroism of six remarkable individuals..." "Shuttle Commander Robert Iverson..." "This extraordinary craft..." "French Scientist, Dr. Serge... was captained by NASA astronaut Dr. Bob Iverson." "Edward Brazzleton is a name so..." "Dr. Conrad Zimsky will be best remembered..." "On Capitol Hill today, everyone's asking the same question..." "What is Project Destiny?" "Destiny, meet world." "World, meet Destiny." "Look at the red, red changes in the sky" "Look at the separation in the borderline" "But don't look at everything here inside" "Here inside" "And be afraid, afraid to speak your mind" "It took a moment before I lost myself in here" "It took a moment and I could not be found" "Again and again and again and again" "I see your face in everything" "It took a moment the moment it could not be found" "What's with the fascination with the echelon?" "What's with the constant questions" "That you have this time?" "What's with this circumstantial consequence?" "Consequence" "Find oversight before this night will ever rise again" "It's all you've got inside your head" "You better get up and leave instead" "It took a moment before I lost myself in here" "It took a moment and I could not be found" "Again and again and again and again" "I see your face in everything" "It took a moment the moment it could not be found" "Found" "To find ourselves lost here within" "We need good reasons why" "So we take this bridge" "With the others that will thrive in the great divide" "Look at the red, red changes in the sky." "It stopped." "What's that, Dave?" "Nothing." "How we doing?" "Oh, we're ready." "You feeling the magic?" "Oh, I'm feeling the magic, all right." "Let's hit 'em." "Yeah." "Let's do it." "Here we go." "Let's hit 'em." "Let's go make $30 million." "Good morning." "Before I begin, let me..." "David?" "I'll go get help." "Jesus." "Jesus, David." "Phone 9-1-1." "Phone 9-1-1!" "David?" "Nick?" "Vicky?" "!" "Vicky!" "Okay, it's okay." "It's okay." "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 fundamental 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." "All right." "Mrs. Limestone, being a big softie, you know, loves walks in the park, bedtime stories, big romantic." "Loves Chet." "I can't play Chet, but I'll see what I can do." "Watch the oscilloscope, all right?" "Here we go." "Dr. Joshua Keyes?" "Maybe." "Yes or no, sir?" "The first one." "Please come with us, sir." "Guys, wh-what's going on?" "We don't know, sir." "What do you mean, you don't know?" "Your security clearance is higher than ours." "I have security clearance?" "We're just here to bring you to your jet." "I have a jet?" "Hey, Serge." "Ah!" "Serge." "Serge." "Damn!" "It's about time." "You're always late." "Let's keep moving, gentlemen." "What am I doing here?" "They wouldn't brief me until you got here." "You know, there are biochemists everywhere, military." "I hate them." "When are you going to meet a nice girl and bring her for dinner?" "I'm married to my work." "So am I." "Which makes my wife my mistress... that's why I'm still in love with her." "You were always a romantic." "I love my wife." "Yeah, I know." "I love your wife, too." "I know." "But I don't love your wife." "You know what I mean." "You don't love her the same way, you know." "It's the French." "I think it's the cheese." "Ah, the cheese." "You're..." "you're teasing me, right?" "Oh, my...!" "Whoa." "Wait, these are bodies." "I think we're in the wrong place here." "Yeah, we're in the wrong place." "No." "If you were in the wrong place, you would've already been shot." "That's a hell of a greeting." "Serge." "Serge." "Serge." "Yes." "Always a pleasure." "Same here, Thomas." "Dr. Keyes." " I know." " Tom Purcell." "Gentlemen, you do realize that everything here is totally classified, okay?" "At 10:30 a.m. Local time, 32 civilians, all within a 10-block radius... died." "They didn't get sick first." "They simply hit the ground dead." "Nerve agent?" "Our first guess." "No." "They all died at the same time?" "As far as we can tell, to the second." "This hits CNN in one hour." "I need a reason." "Is there a variation in sex, age, body type?" "They all had pacemakers." "Under a minute." "Your reputation is well deserved." " Hey, hey, hey." " How did you guess?" "Without any clues from the victims?" "No, that's..." "Serge and I are the clues." "I mean, he specializes in high energy weapons." "I do geomagnetics." "So calling us means you suspect an electromagnetic pulse weapon." "If these are the only fatalities, they must be people susceptible to... electronic interference." "QED pacemakers." "You're spooky sometimes, eh?" "Now I need to know, did some sort of weapon kill these people?" "The power that you would need to create an EM pulse strong enough..." "I mean, that's..." "that's not a weapon that" " I've ever heard of." " No." "Okay, we're done." "We're not done, sir." "There's nothing on the other side of the equal sign." "I agree with Joshua..." "Thank you." "Our greatest concern was this may have been an act of war, but since it's not," "I think we can all breathe a little easier, can't we?" "Look at my hat." "What is it, sweetheart?" "It's okay, son." "These things happen all the time and..." "Let's, go, let's go!" "Come on!" "Justin!" "Watch out, you bloody idiot!" "Hurry!" "Run!" "Daddy!" "The skies are empty over Nelson's Column now, but a few hours ago, it was a different story." "Eyewitnesses claimed that the frenzied swarms of birds were not in fact attacking people deliberately..." "And it's not just this time." "No, no, no, no, no, no." "But seemed to be confused and flying blind." "The Fortean Times reported violent bird swarms twice last month in Australia and Japan." "Five people are confirmed dead and dozens injured in the panic that followed the bizarre and terrifying incident in London's historic Trafalgar Square." " Weird." " Mm-hmm." "Quite strange, also." "Mm." "Strange, indeed." "Mm!" "How do birds navigate?" "By sight?" "No, no, no, the long range stuff." "Magnetic fields." "Little ions in their brains align with the magnetic field of the Earth." " Yeah, what she said." " Right?" "Acker." "Hit the 'Net, do a search for... oh, two years ought to do it." "Any and all, like, "weird news", you know... bizarre animal migrations, specifically birds." "Whale and dolphin beachings." "Unusual atmospheric phenomenon, unexplained plane crashes, you know, just use your imagination." "That is a huge search." "You can use our T-1 line to look up Sailor Moon crap." "You're up to this." "Danni, Danni, get me the brightest kids from the Field Theory Class, and design a computer model of an electromagnetic field." "What are we doing?" "I need a 3-D computer model of the Earth to lay the field over." "Whoa-ho-ho, the planet Earth?" "Yeah, the planet Earth." "You know, the pretty blue one." "Map out the anomalies that Acker finds and grunt out the equations." "And, uh... grab those smelly kids from the Non-Linear Diff class, too." "Listen, Josh, do we even have time for this?" "Do this and I'll sign your doctorates blindfolded." " Blindfolded?" " Blindfolded." "Do not pass Go." "Go directly to PhD." "Be wrong." "Be wrong." "Tim, I'm coming in a little hot." "Give me some drag, will you?" "Roger that." "We are in attitude and ready for an 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." "Oh, no, you're not, Beck." "You're trained, and you're certified... doesn't make you the commander." "And the commander lands the bird." "You got to be the youngest person ever in space." "You should say, thank you, be happy." "Now." "Endeavour, Houston, at this time we show you go for reentry." "Houston, Endeavour descending through 400,000 feet coming upon entry interface." "Endeavour, this is Flight." "Weren't able to annoy the commander into letting you bring her in this time?" "That's a negative, Stick." "I'll have to be more annoying next time." "Is that even possible?" "Endeavour, we see you in good entry config." "Roger, Houston." "Advise." "I'm seeing those plasma trails now." "All right, mark 24½." "So, a minute to air." "I don't believe in belts." "Just get me through the Earth's atmosphere in this spaceship." "Com dropout." "Start the I Com." "Let's wait till the..." "Com restored." "Quiet!" "We are out of position here." "Guidance shows us on energy and on course." "Well, I've made this approach 213 times in the simulator." "We're not where we should be." "Where the hell are we?" "Endeavour, guidance is bad." "You are now 1-2-niner miles off course." "Roger, Houston." "We sort of noticed." "Is that...?" "Los Angeles." "That is confirmed." "We are 1-5 thousand feet." "We got maybe two minutes of glide time left." "Doesn't make sense." "The guidance, the beacons are all wrong?" "We're heading straight for downtown." "We're not going to crash into Los Angeles." "They're going to hit downtown L.A." "At 300 knots." "Bob, you know L.A.?" "Because I have an idea." "Houston, those buildings are getting mighty big." "Can you clear a freeway?" "Okay, thank you." "Come on." "Come on." "It's rush hour, Commander, and it's bumper-to-bumper." "Sir, I have an alternate." "If you turn to heading 1-7-5..." "It's Houston's call." "Houston?" "Computers are still plotting." "Come on." "Houston, we are running out of time here." "Sir, I have an alternate." "All right, Beck, what do you got?" "Houston, I have coordinates for an alternate landing site." "Can you confirm?" "Endeavour, give them to me." "I show possible touchdown..." "at 33.55 north, 118.10 west." "Bill?" "It's theoretically possible." "Endeavour, that is confirmed." "Turn right, heading 1-7-5." "Expect visual contact with Los Angeles River in five seconds." "No, that will not work, Houston." "We got bridges every few hundred yards." "Our wingspan alone is going to fold us up." "I've figured the "L" over "D" max." "We can make it if you can bring us straight in." "We're coming in high and hot." "290 feet, 320." " 270, 3-0-5..." " Arm the gear." "You're armed." "Gear down." "Now." "Gear in transition." "240 feet, 290." "Hang on." "This isn't going to be subtle." "210 feet, 265." "Get out of the way!" "Move!" "Derotate." "Inward." "230... 210..." "Speed brakes!" "100%." "Oh, we're way too fast." "Deploy the chute." "No." "We'd snag the bridge." "We'll tear the tail off." "Banking right." "Commander, that next bridge!" "Watch it!" "We're way too high for that one!" "Suck up the gear!" "Not yet." "We'll lose all steering." "We hit, it's over!" "And... gear up now!" "Lock your harnesses." "This is out of my hands." "Let's get out of here!" "Run!" "Let's get out!" "Dr. Zimsky?" "!" "Will you make sure my assistant has your number, darling?" "Sure." " Dr. Zimsky!" " Hello." "I'll call security." "No, it's all right." "It's all right." "Hello." "Thank you, sir." " Dr. Zimsky." " Yes." "What's your name?" " Josh Keyes." " Josh." "No, sir, I don't need you to sign it." "I need you to read that." "I'm sorry, I don't have time." " I'm late for the White House." " Sir, please." "I need you to confirm my results, sir." "Young man, 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, I... this is impossible." "I'm sorry." "I-I-I can't have missed this." "You-You have to be wrong." "I mean, look, I'm sure with careful comparison to my own work, we'll find that you are mistaken." "No offense, but..." "Well, I mean, we'll know soon enough." "The bigger effects will start up any day now." "Rebecca?" "Only you and Dad ever call me that." "Well, Beck." "So, what brings you to sunny D.C.?" "The Board of Review is next week." "Just trying to get a sense of 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." "Well..." "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." "It's right down here." "Really?" "It's like the 4th of July." "What the hell's the hurry here?" "Rebecca, would you excuse me, please?" "Excuse me." "Purcell." "Thomas, um, look... it seems that destiny may have caught up with us." "Did Zimsky really try to give you his autograph?" "Ah, Monsieur Zimsky." "Conrad Zimsky." "Herr Zimsky." "Superstar." "Oh..." "I think I skipped drunk." "Went right to hangover." "Weren't you the one?" "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 any chance you're wrong?" "No." "The sky, man." "The sky..." "I mean, that's just the beginning." "That's high-altitude static discharge." "I know." "Dr. Keyes your presence is required at the Pentagon." "Ah... it's my best buddies." "Hey!" "Why don't you join us for a drink?" "We'd be grateful if you could join us for a ride, sir." "And if I were to say no?" " Just asking." " Yeah." "Well, we have no sense of humor." "That's true." "Oh..." "And we're armed." "Thank you." "Dr. Keyes, welcome." "Thank you." "Dr. Zimsky informs us that you made a useful contribution to his investigations, so he wanted you to assist him in the briefing." "That's very generous of you, Dr. Zimsky." "Science is a selfless business, dear boy." "Now, why don't you begin, and I'll 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." "And let me explain why." "Wrapped around the Earth is an invisible field of energy." "It's made up of..." "electricity and magnetism, so it's called..." "creatively enough... the electromagnetic field." "It's where we get our magnetic North Pole and South Pole, and it protects us from cosmic radiation." "So this EM field is our friend." "But now...?" "But now, that field is falling apart." "Why?" "Why?" "This here." "Does somebody have a can of air freshener?" "Quick and dirty." "The thin skin, that's the Earth's crust." "That's what we live on." "It's 30 miles thick." "The meat here, call it the mantle." "And forgetting all the-the funky transitions, it's 2,000 miles thick." "The core, the peach pit in the center..." "that's a tricky one." "There's two parts... the inner core and the outer core." "Are you following me?" "The inner core is, uh... well, it's a big, solid chunk of iron, we think." "And that's surrounded by the outer core, and that is liquid." "Yes, but, most importantly, this liquid is constantly spinning in one direction." "So a trillion trillion tons of hot metal spinning at a thousand miles an hour, so..." "Right, so Physics 101... hot metal moving fast makes an electromagnetic field." "This spinning liquid outer core is the engine that drives the EM Field." "And that's where we have our problem." "This engine has stalled." "The core of the Earth has stopped spinning." "How could this have happened?" "We don't know." "What's the timeline here?" "As the EM Field becomes more and more unstable, we'll start seeing isolated incidents." "One plane will fall from the sky, and then two, and then... in a few months, anything... everything electronic will be fried." "Static discharges in the atmosphere will create "super-storms" with hundreds of lightening strikes per square mile." "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?" "Mm-hmm." "Three months, gentlemen, 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 you might want to get one of those" "Word-A-Day calendars, General, because it's impossible." "The core is the size of Mars." "You're talking about jump-starting a planet." "This is a superheated hyper-fluid of molten iron and nickel at 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit," "2,000 miles down, 1,000 miles thick." "And the deepest we've ever been is... seven miles with a two-inch drill bit." "If we can go into space, we certainly..." "Well, space is easy." "It's empty." "We're talking about millions of pounds of pressure per square inch." "Even if we somehow 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?" "Okay, this way." "Well, that went better than I expected." "Dr. Brazzleton," "I see you know Dr. Zimsky." "Yeah." "20 years ago, he stole my research." "After that, we-we kind of lost touch." "Research that was equally mine." "That's funny, I don't remember a check from any of the patents." "All right, Braz." "20 years in the desert makes you a prophet and a martyr." "Look, we're here about your legendary ship." "Okay, I'm combining high-frequency pulse lasers with resonance tube ultrasonics." "If you've ever seen ultrasonic waves break up a kidney stone on the Discovery Channel, it's the same deal here." "You can..." "put your helmets on now." "Firing." "Woo-ooh!" "Woo-hoo!" "Yeah." "Oh." "Okay, I'm officially impressed." "So, all right." "So you've made some progress with the engine, we'll grant you." "Have you begun to think about a shell?" "Okay, this is Alex." "Okay, Alex." "Good." "Okay, here we have a concrete block, and in back of that, we have a two-inch steel plate." "Okay." "We're ready." "And we are... firing." "Voila!" "That's..." "That's impossible." "I combined the crystals in a tungsten-titanium matrix at supercool temperatures, and that's what did the trick." "The applications for this are just..." "What do you call this material?" "Well, its real name has 37 syllables." "I call it Unobtainium." "Unobtainium?" "Mm-hmm." "The Unobtainium will take the heat and the pressure and transform it to energy, which in turn, reinforces the shell of the ship, you see." "So the hotter and the deeper she gets, the stronger she gets..." "theoretically." "Theoretically?" "Theoretically, yes." "This... is Johnson, don't mind him." "This is the prototype for the cockpit here." "Excuse me, Dr. Brazzleton, when do you think the ship will be operational?" "When I get my fabrication methods perfected... 12... ten years, ten years." "What would it take to get it done in three months?" "$15 billion." "I..." "Will you take a check?" "Why don't you use a credit card?" "You get miles." "Mm." "Shit!" "Mr. Finch, this is the FBI." "We have a warrant." "Purge!" "Come on, purge!" "FBI!" "Freeze!" "Okay." "I know these look like computers." "Totally not." "Theodore Donald Finch." "Carnegie-Mellon University." "M.I.T." "Worked at the Sun, Lucent, Rand Corp." "My handle's "Rat." Call me Rat." "63 computer fraud indictments." "64." "Two convictions." "This is strike three, Mr. Finch." "Wait a second." "You guys aren't here to whack me, are you?" "Because I was really, really hoping to have sex before that happened." "Yeah." "I've been told by the FBI... whose database you crippled last year... that you are the best in the business." "So you're about to be given a choice." "What 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, anytime I want." "We multitask like you breathe." "I couldn't think as slow as you if I tried." "Do you have any idea...?" "Okay, hey." "Hey!" "Let's just, let's give the kid a break." "Okay, 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 kind of help?" "Information control." "We need you to control the flow of information on the Internet." "You're dreaming." "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 phone... forever." "Okay." "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 and you alone were responsible for proposing the descent vectors for the shuttle, correct?" "Yes, General." "We have determined that the Class "A" landing mishap experienced by the Shuttle Endeavour was caused by biased navigational data from the ground due to a brief geomagnetic disturbance." "Major Childs, the resourcefulness you showed in determining the descent vectors proved that you have exceptional navigation skills." "You've brought much credit upon yourself, the space program and the United States Air Force." "Congratulations, Major." "You are reassigned with Commander Iverson and Flight Director Stickley to a new mission effective immediately." "Transportation is waiting outside." "Good luck and Godspeed, Major." "Are you sure you want to wear this tie?" "Why?" "I don't know." "I mean, you look so nervous about it." "You look so..." "So, how are you holding up?" "Oh, hi." "I'm good, I'm good." "I'm about to tell a couple hundred people the world is going to end." "Well..." "I've had better days." "You look good." "Well, no, you don't look good." "Why did he touch his tie like that?" "Thomas, let me speak with you for a moment." "Listen, wouldn't you rather I did this?" "I mean, given my reputation, I think that..." "No." "No, Keyes is in the lead here, Zimsky." "Yes." "Thomas, this is the most important scientific operation in history." "And given my status, I feel that it's my job to present..." "Project Destiny was your job, Zimsky." "And you went way beyond authorized limits." "And let me tell..." "And let me tell you," "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, the other left." " Gentlemen." " And then you..." "Gentlemen." "Commander Iverson, Major Childs, this is your crew:" "Dr. Brazzleton knows the ship;" "Hello." "Dr. Zimsky knows the planet;" "Doctor." "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..." "fellow... what?" "Terranauts?" "Hello." "All this brain power over here is starting to smell like burning batteries." "Y'all better come and join in." "Yeah." "It's the simplest things that are the hardest, huh?" "Yeah." "It's official." "I'm the least-qualified person on this base." "Dr. Keyes, I'm sure the people in charge have every confidence in you." "Well, the problem is that I'm in charge." "Yeah, I know." "Can I help you?" "Yes, please." "You're an astronaut, and you can tie a Windsor?" "Mm-hmm." "Is there anything you can't do?" "Not that I'm aware of." "I find that incredibly intimidating." "Yep." "Most people do." "Here." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Let me introduce our project leader, Dr. Joshua Keyes." "Thank you, thank you." "Good evening." "Good evening." "Wow." "This looks like a meeting for Nobel Prize Winners Anonymous." "I know you are all the finest in your fields and have come a long way to be here." "So, I'll outline our program over the next three months." "Dr. Brazzleton will supervise the building of a ship which is capable of reaching the center of our planet." "Once there, it will deliver an explosive charge large enough to restart its core." "Dr. Zimsky will calculate the scale of the explosion needed." "This is a program I designed to simulate the effect of nuclear detonations on the core." "If my calculations are correct, a tiny nudge in any direction will force the core back into its normal flow." "What's a "tiny nudge" in planetary terms?" "A thousand megatons, give or take?" "Tops." "Because any more than that would create a core instability." "We made a few monster warheads in the 200-megaton range." "Braz, do you think the ship can handle five of these babies?" "Yeah." "I can enlarge the ejection pod..." "Forgive me, but, you know, I know I'm not the expert here, but what if the core is thicker or thinner?" "I mean, what if it's not what you think it is?" "Isn't that going to affect the way the explosions are...?" "Yes, 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 my best guess is you don't know." "With luck, irony will break for the good guys for once, and the world's biggest weapons of mass destruction will help save the world." "The ship will be powered by a small experimental nuclear reactor." "It will be divided into six compartments like cars on a train:" "The locomotive unit, navigation compartment, living quarters, engineering, bomb compartment and finally the weapons-control module." "Up to a 45 degree angle, every compartment will be held level by these gyro control gimbals." "But if we do breach a section, bulkhead doors engage automatically, seal off the section in red, and eject." "Is ejection really the best option?" "Only option." "Each damaged compartment degrades the entire hull." "The objective is simple." "The obstacles are gigantic." "We're going to need all the help in the world, but if we are to avoid panic and chaos, the world at large can never know what's happening here." "Which is where our friend Mr. Rat comes in." "It's called Virus-bot." "It's a computer virus that will seek out files anywhere on the Web that contain keywords that we designate and wipes them out." "This is my Kung-Fu, and it is strong." "Meanwhile, there are a million puzzles ahead of us, and we have three months to solve them." "We have a committed and ingenious team." "We have every resource available to us, and we have the best of the world's scientific and technical talents on our side." "With your help we can, we must... succeed." "Feedback in the resonance tube." "Talk to me, gentlemen." "We are losing structural integrity." "No, it's not feedback." "It's an impeller malfunction, I believe." "No, it's not, no." "If it were an impeller malfunction..." "For God's sakes, Braz, make the call!" "No, I'll make the call." "I should make the call." "65 knots." "Depth, 8-5 thousand feet." "Look, guys..." "It's a disaster!" "What part of "talk to me" don't you guys understand?" "For the 22nd time in a row, everyone on Earth is dead." "Let's take a little quiet time, and you all are going to try this again." "Hi." "Hi." "What is this?" "Well, it's..." "I invented it." "It's how you're going to..." "going to steer underground." "It's, um... not very good reception." "Well, 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-it's souped-up." "I invented it for Deep Earth surveying." "And then the government came in, bought my research, paid off my student loan guys and made me a consultant." "I'm sorry, this is really delicate." "And I have it just the way I want it." "So... excuse me." "Uh, yeah." "Then they brought me in when the pacemakers quit, and... boom..." "you know, I'm Apocalypse Boy." "Apocalypse Boy?" "Yeah." "I'm having T-shirts made up." "Well, hats sell better." "You know, it's funny, because that is... right where it should be." "Well..." "I'm sorry." "I'm a little ragged around the edges." "I'm just trying to get this thing to focus correctly." "This is really cool, but can I just...?" "Well... mm-hmm." "It's better." "It's better." "Uh..." "God, I hate this sky." "Crashing one ship isn't enough for you?" "Hey." "Practice makes perfect." "You can practice all you like." "It doesn't mean you're ready to sit in that seat." "So you keep reminding me, sir." "You know, I doubt you're even going to 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, sir." "No, you don't, Beck." "I mean, you're not just responsible for making good decisions." "You have to be responsible for the bad ones." "You got to be ready to make the shitty call." "What makes you think I'm not?" "Because you're so good." "You haven't hit anything you couldn't beat." "I mean, hell, you were the one who figured out how to save the shuttle." "You made me, you made the rest of NASA just 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 developing this system..." "Oh, come on, guys, the chefs at NASA..." "I want wine!" "I need wine!" "It's about nutrition." "In five days, I think..." "Whoa!" "That's high-level static discharge." "I think we should check this out." "This doesn't look so good." "It's a lightning superstorm." "Popping up all over the world." "Got 'em." "Tracking." "Uh-oh." "Rome does not look good." "This planet is decaying faster than we thought." "It's just the start." "Soon they'll be EM spikes and microwaves will break through the weak spots and..." "All right." "Get this ship in the ground." "Now." "Ah!" "Summer in the Pacific." "Yeah, the world is inside out." "I was saving this for later, but... this is the time for..." "Josh, do you mind?" "No, not at all." "Yeah." "We should have a name for this baby." "Oh, she's called Virgil, actually." "Virgil... the poet that led our man into the depths of hell?" "That's it." "That's appropriate, I guess." "Well, here's to Virgil." "To the planet." " To Virgil." " To Virgil." "No flashbulbs, no press, nobody cheering." "It's... weird." "Let's go." "Cabin pressure, TSI, 3.5." "Check." "ECS cabin repress open." "And repress VLV closed." "Check." "Fluid dump valve." "We are about to begin our journey into the heart of the cosmos, into the very core of our own planet." "Close." " Where we find therein..." " Check." "The secrets of the universe 3.5 PSI." "...the mysteries of time..." "LM circuit lockup." " Check." "...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 countdown to launch." "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." "Leveling out." "Okay, guys, let's swing forward." "800 feet." "Light 'em up, Beck." "Gyro leveling operational." "Hull integrity holding." "I'm going to keep her nose down about 15 degrees and..." "Oh, my goodness." "They're singing to us." "Virgil's resonance tubes are powered up, so they're vibrating sub sonically." "Actually, we're singing to them." "What's our depth?" "1,600 feet, plenty of room on both sides." "Hull integrity is good." "You sure?" "Let's increase impeller speed." "I think we'll be needing additional control." "Stick, I'm getting a seismic reading." "What's happening?" "T-phase." "Underwater earthquake." "Still think the water-launch was a good idea?" "Yes, yes, I chose this location because the crust is thin here." "The downside is... there's lots of seismic activity." "4,000 feet." "You see that rock?" "That is not good." "We're losing steering here." "There's some kind of crosscurrent." "14,000 feet." "Okay, guys, 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 the highway." "Pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure." "What do you mean, pressure?" "I thought you said this thing was indestructible!" "I said the pressure makes us stronger." "We just don't have enough of it yet." "We're at 25,000 feet." "Pull out, sir." "Can't." " What?" " We're locked in." "Go to full throttle." "Standby to engage front and lateral lasers, please." "But what if we hit bottom in ten seconds here?" "Just give it a couple more seconds." "The lasers will fire." "No, there's not enough time for power-up." "27,000 feet." "The lasers will deploy." "29,000 feet." " Do it!" " And..." "Do it!" "Now." "And we've got a signal." " All right." " Yeah!" "All right." "Switching on electron spin burst transmitters." "Plotting through lowest density material, reconfiguring every five minutes." "Hull integrity 100%." "Reactor power 100%." "All green on the bomb compartment." "Speed is 60 knots." "Hot damn." "All right, we'll be through the crust in 15 minutes and into the mantle." "24 hours to the core, and then assuming we survive..." "Assuming?" "Yes, assuming." "Another 15 hours to the inner core-outer core border." "They're doing well." "The crust is just rock." "Now it gets interesting." "Virgil, can we get a status check?" "We're about to make the transition into the mantle." "Come on, come on." "Well, exterior pressure is 800,000 pounds per square inch." "And hull integrity is 100%." "It is as if we we're diving through the memories of the planet." "But we are about to pass from memory into madness." "Are you going to be doing that Carl Sagan narration all the way to the core?" " I beg your pardon?" " I said..." "I-I have an obligation to my students, to my readers..." "An obligation to make a book deal perhaps?" "Two book deals, if you'd like to know the truth." "I read that last book." "It wasn't very good." "Oh, really?" "Really?" "When did you learn how to read?" "People." "Drs. Zimsky and Keyes?" "You guys are our resident geophysicists." "What do you make of this?" "The mantle is a chemical hodgepodge of... a variety of elements..." "Say it with me:" ""I don't know."" "Well, Commander, wise men say, "When in doubt, you should go around."" "No." "It's too big." "We turn too slow." "Anything that we can't go through displays as black." "So what's... what's static?" "It's nothing." "What do you mean?" "It's nothing." "It's empty space." "I..." "I never taught the computer how to read empty space." "And I never taught Virgil how to fly." "Oh, God!" "Oh, no, man!" "Oh, dear God." "Serge, you all right?" "Yeah." "Anybody hurt?" "No." "You okay?" "Yeah." "What's that?" "What is that?" "From the cooling system." "Shut that down." "Shut it down." "I told you to go around her." "Nobody listens to me." "Where in God's name are we?" "Whatever has us jammed up is inside our lasers." "Shut 'em down." "We're not going anywhere." "Powering down." "Josh, is there any other image you can pull up?" "Nope." "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." "I want to collect samples." "Wait, hang on, hang on." "Wait, wait, the first problem is, the only way out of the ship..." "is the way we came in, which is through the impeller outlet..." "Which is still at 5,000 degrees." "Exactly, I mean..." "I'll just flush it with liquid nitrogen from the cooling system." "Wait." "The cooling system that's keeping us from roasting to death in this ship?" "Well, just a small part of it." "Alternatives?" "Anybody." "Whoa, whoa, 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 completely jammed the laser assembly." "We just..." "we got to hope, if we can cut it loose," " they're still functional." " Careful!" "Okay." "Got it." "Beck, try the lights, will you?" "Lighting up." "Oh, it's magnificent." "Oh, my God." "Aladdin's cave." "It's like a crystal Grand Canyon." "I think it's a geode." "But I don't understand how it could have survived down here." "Cobalt shell, maybe?" "No." "I-I mean, in a magma environment of 5,000 degrees." "Something would have to protect it." "Unbelievable." "Zimsky." "Yeah?" "We're inside 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." "Okay, Braz." "I'm going to check the hull." "Call me if you need me." "Okay." "Oh, no." " Zimsky!" " Yeah?" "Zimsky, look!" "It's an amethyst." "Oh, God, we've breached the shell." "Guys, you don't have to be here!" "I want you back inside!" "Well, I think that means me." "Orders are orders." "Wait, Josh." "The problem is I'm losing oxygen." "Braz, what can I do?" "Check the feeds for me." "Check the feeds for me, Josh." "Quick!" "I'm coming." "I'm coming as fast as I can." "Hey, guys, at this rate we have three minutes before the lava gets to us." "Come on, guys." "Come on." "It's not going to work without oxygen!" "We're losing oxygen!" "I fixed it." "Now cut!" "That's good." "It's working now." "It's working well now!" "That's good, Josh!" "Josh's vital signs are dropping." "What?" "Serge!" "You're almost there." "You're almost there, Josh." "Josh!" "Joshua!" "Okay, guys, connect the oxygen." "Braz, you got that?" "Yes." "Connected!" "Good." "I got to check these lasers." "Okay, Beck, turn 'em over." "Pre-lasers only, if you don't mind." "Initiating." "This better work." "The tide's really coming in." "Yes!" "We got lucky..." "I think we're going to swim right out of this one." "Bob?" "Huh?" "Bob?" "Bob..." "Braz, come on, it's over." "Okay." "Okay." "Beck!" "Beck!" "We're coming in." "Initiate start sequence." "Beck!" " Beck, do you hear me?" " Careful." "Start the impellers!" "The door, open the door." "Activate bulkhead doors!" "Now, Beck!" "You okay?" "You're going to be weak." "You're okay." "Good job, good job." "Good man." "Well done, well done." "I'm fine." "Thank you." "So, um... we have some good news, and, uh... and we have some bad news." "Uh, good news." "I'll take good news." "All right." "Well, we're alive and we're moving." "That's g... that's good news." "Oh, it is hot in here." "Yeah, that nitro we flushed out of the cooling system, it-it's causing things just to heat up a little." "I'm going to go back and just make some adjustments." "I'll lend you a hand." "All right." "I'm fine." "I'm going to check your heartbeat, okay?" "Thanks, Braz." "Appreciate it." "So, that's the bad news?" "That's not too bad." "No." "Commander Iverson died." "But... we're living, and he would want to... he'd want us to complete our mission, so I think that it's important that we all..." "It's all right." "Thank you." "I'm sorry." "Let's give him a second, okay?" "He deserves that." "Oh, God, this all just seems too big, doesn't it?" "I think you were attempting the impossible." "You were trying to save the world, and... it's overwhelming." "I came here to save my wife and my two children and... six billion lives..." "it's too much." "I just hope I'm-I'm smart enough and brave enough to save three." "You did a nice job, Joshua." "Very nice." "Great." "You'd have done the same thing." "Well, maybe, maybe." "Hey... who's steering the ship?" "Video screen autopilot." "I 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." "Well, I just, I just..." "Listen, the lack of oxygen kept me from weeping like a little girl as is my custom in dangerous situations." "Hey, guys, we're close to the mantle core interface." "Where are you?" "Key's in, Dr. Brazzleton." "Ready." "We are in the..." "Okay, the code..." "0-1-3-1-9-9-5." "...luxurious, beautiful weapons control... checking the controls on the nukes." "This is the birthday of my daughter." "0-1-3-1-9-9-5." " Ready?" " Yeah." "Three, two and one..." "Thank you." "Green." "All green." "Great." "So we have to synchronize the babies now." "Just a second." "There." "All right, now let's put them to bed." "Zimsky, could you please come up here for a second?" "Yes?" "We're not supposed to go through anything black." "Yes, so please don't." "What is this?" "They're scattered everywhere." "Oh, my God!" "They're diamonds!" "Great." "You might want to sit down and buckle up." "We're on a collision course here." "All rightie." "Careful." "Guys, we're dodging diamonds the size of Cape Cod, so bear with me." "Not exactly nimble here." "Diamonds?" "I want some." "Can I help?" "Ooh!" "Okay." "It's okay." "Okay, it looks like we're in the clear." "Breach!" "Guys!" "Weapons control, get out!" "Get out now!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "What the hell are you doing?" "Come on!" "My notebook!" "Now!" "Serge!" "Take the time reg, Joshua!" "Come on Serge!" "Come on!" "My notes!" "You'll need them!" "No!" "God, no, Serge!" "It's okay." "Serge, come on!" "No!" "Serge!" "Come on, man!" " Leave the box!" " We need the box!" "We can get him!" "We can get him out!" "Hold on, Serge!" "Beck!" "Beck!" "Override the ejection system!" "Beck, no!" "One damaged compartment threatens the whole ship!" "Beck!" "Beck!" "Override the ejection system!" "Serge, we're right here." "We're not going to forget about you, man." " Josh, can you hear me?" " Serge!" "Serge..." "Hey, buddy, look in your monitor right now." "Serge, look in your monitor." "I'm right here." "Serge..." "Josh, I can't see you." "Braz is going to override the doors manually, okay?" "We're working on it right now." "Braz, how long?" "Going as fast as I can, Fast as I can." " Okay, I'm scared." " We're going right now." "Shouldn't be two seconds, all right?" "Josh!" "Beck, override the ejection systems, okay?" "Damn." "I don't think Beck can hear me." "Serge, look at me now." "Serge!" "Serge, we're right here, okay?" "We're not going to forget about you, man." "I'm going to get you out of here." "We're working on it, all right?" "Stay with me here." "Okay?" "I don't know what to do." "Can you hear me now?" "All right, here I am." "I'm not going to let you go, man." "I'm not going to let you go, all right?" "Stay with me here, okay?" "I'm going to come to Paris and we'll go out, all right?" "After this." "After this is all said and done, all right?" " Josh!" " Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Serge!" "Did you reset the overrides?" "I never pushed them." "You let him die." "Actually, you really want to know?" "I killed him twice." "First when I hit the diamond, and then when I didn't hit the override." "Do you want me to feel any worse about that than I already do?" "It's not possible." "Why are you being so smug about that?" "Could you have made the decision?" " Yes." " Could you?" "Yes, I could've." "If you would've hit that switch," "I could've got him outta there!" "I was yelling for you!" "Take it and look at it!" "I was two inches from him!" "I was two inches, 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!" "Serge died so that we could complete our job." "Oh, that's right, the job of saving the world." "Not the whole world, Josh!" "Just three of them." "Virgil, you are 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 are green and good to go." "We just got a huge speed jump." "We just got a huge speed jump." "We're at 95 knots." "110." "130... 140." "Our speed's jumped because the density of the core is different than our estimates." "It's lighter than we thought." "So much for best guesses." "I'm fine with this." "At this rate, we'll, what... hit the inner core in a little over five hours." "I think we finally bought some luck." "Braz." " Yeah." " Would you please punch the new core density into the equations for the nuclear detonation?" "Please tell me this is enough." "Okay." "You're telling me the 1,000 megatons of nuclear warheads we hauled down here isn't going to cut it?" "No." "This core material is too thin." " What?" " The energy waves from the explosion won't spread far enough." "They'll just bleed away into nothing." "That's it." "We go home." "We go home." " Home?" " What?" "Our Commander is dead." "Our weapons specialist is dead." "Our weapons control systems are gone." "We don't know whether we can arm the nuclear devices, and our plan to fix the core no longer works." "So... we have failed." "We have not failed." "We have failed, and we go home, and we go to the alternative." "What alternative?" "What are you talking about?" "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." "Now what the hell is Destiny?" "It's a device." "Deep Earth Seismic Trigger Initiative, DEST-INI." "Destiny." "We had reason to believe that our enemies were building a weapon that could generate targeted seismic events." "They would be able to create massive earthquakes under our territory." "No way of telling who did it." "So?" "So... we built one, too." "M.A.D." "Mutually Assured Destruction." "A perfect acronym if ever there was one." "Beautiful." "They built it first." "I built it better." "I beamed high-powered electromagnetic energy waves down Deep Earth fault lines, and, you know." "Zimsky, what makes you think that Destiny would even touch the core?" "'Cause it already did." "This isn't a fluke." "We killed the planet." "You keep saying that the core is too big to be affected by anything short of nukes." " So..." " The core is an engine." "Throw a small wrench into a big engine, you can still stall it." "Deep Earth, this is Virgil." "We require clarification on the status of Project Destiny." "Why weren't we notified of this, sir?" "Because you didn't need to know, Major." "Now you may not like this." "I may not like it either." "But it's my job, and I do it for my country, and if we don't develop these devices, someone worse will and they will use them against us." "But you have my word." "No one in this administration... no one, had any idea that this could happen." "So the device that killed the planet is your backup plan?" "An electric shock can stop a heart." "It can certainly restart one." "Destiny will work." "It has to." "No, it won't work." "If you fire that thing again with the core already stalled, it'll terminally destabilize it." "Yes, granted... there is a marginal risk involved, but given the circumstances," "I hardly see that there's an alternative." "No, Zimsky, listen to me." "Every volcano on the planet will blow." "There'll be earthquakes big enough to 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, Virgil." "We go to plan B." "Well, what about plan C?" "What?" "What?" "Well, 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 out of there." "Then don't." "We fail, fire Destiny." "Oh, come on!" "That's ridiculous!" "What choice do we have," " Zimsky?" " Are you kidding me?" "If they set that thing off, the shock waves will wipe us out!" "We'll be lucky to get back if we turn back right now!" "Virgil, I'm telling you right now, we will fire Destiny, and we need to do so as quickly as possible, and if you're still there, you will be destroyed." "Rebecca?" "Please don't make me have to do this." "Plan C." "It's your call, Commander." "Majority decision." "We're going in." "I'm sorry, sir." "Oh, come on, you're a bunch of suicidal morons!" "What are you, crazy?" "Plan C?" "Restart the core "somehow"?" "Oh, that's a great idea!" "That's a brilliant idea!" "I can't believe I'm stuck in this floating septic tank with you lunatics!" "You may have nothing to lose." "You may have nothing to lose!" "You may have nothing to lose but I have my life to lose, thank you very much while you're up!" "Now turn it around!" "He told us to go back and we're going back!" "Why?" "You want to be a hero?" "You want to be a martyr?" "What do you want to be?" "You're out of your mind!" "Thank you!" "Turn it around!" " No!" " Zimsky." "You, shut up!" "It's not a stupid ship." "I had to." "It had to happen sometime." "Yeah." "Oh..." "Status!" "What is that?" "It's the EM monitoring station." "It's the one that tracks EM pulses." "God, no." "Just talk, Mr. Rat." "No." "That's a good boy." "Remember those invisible microwaves that Josh was talking about?" "Well, they just found a hole." "No, it's a parking lot out here..." "Oh, my God." "And now with this horrific breaking news, we go live to San Francisco, where Leo Jacks has the story." "Yes, Claire, it's hard to believe that half of San Francisco is in ruins today following the most devastating and the most baffling event in our nation's history." "It's-it's a horrific situation here." "Thousands are dead." "Many are missing." "It's-it's hotels, hospitals." "Bring up the power grid." "The whole West Coast is out." "That means we're going to have to suck up just about every drop of juice east of the Rockies to fire Destiny." "Another EM spike, we're not going to have enough power." "General, you have got to give them more time." "There is no more time." "Colonel, call Destiny." "I am launching a formal complaint against you with the Department of Defense." "Rat to Josh." "Go, Rat." "Hey, um... here's the EM Field data that you're primed for." "Digging that, Rat." "Primed for." "Primed for." "Prime numbers... one, two, three, five, seven, 11, 13, 17..." "Here we go." "James." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "Here we go, folks." "Okay, this time it's going to work." "Here you go... beautiful." "Yeah, mm-hmm." "Come on, baby." "Come on, Daddy wants to see the sky again." "Okay, okay, okay." "Let's try again." "Your torque is R, cross F..." "No, your R is too small, Josh." "Right." "Wait, hold on." "What are you laughing at?" "No, I mean, it took me and 400 of the world's smartest people to come up with the first plan." "You want to help?" "No." "I want to turn around and go home." "It's not going to happen." "Well, then we're going to die." "True." "All right, look," " let's start from square one." " Okay." "Let's start from square one." "The bulk modules..." "depends on density." "Your torque is R cross F, but you have to integrate volume..." "But here, here..." "just consider this." "Now, we got this..." "Okay, now, R cross F, we're putting in pi." "What's V?" "Oh, for God's sake!" "All right." "I'm hitting him again." "No, no, no!" "Braz, no, look, I have a theory." "Are you interested?" "Yes." "We're interested." "Then let me smoke a cigarette, and I'll tell you." "Oh, thank God." "Hmm?" "All right, fine, look." "Look, we have to use wave interference, okay?" "Because one explosion won't do it." "Think about stones in a pond." "You drop a large stone into a pond, you get a big splash, and then that's it, it's over." "But drop a smaller stone, wait until the ripples weaken and drop another and another, and another, and fluid dynamics 101." "The ripples reinforce each other in geometric progression." "Hm, the whole bigger than the sum of the parts." "Then we'll have five 200 megaton explosions..." "Instead of one big bang." "So, we hot-wire the nukes." "Yes." "And as one does, we seed them through the core... at locations that have to be accurate to the inch." "We detonate them in a sequence that has to be accurate to the millisecond... then we outrun the biggest nuclear shock wave in history." "Right." "Yeah." "I mean, that should be fairly simple." "Destiny now should be diverting to the central." "Final calibration on both transmission systems..." "Come on." "Cut the..." "cut the rouge." "The red wire above the circuit." "Okay." "Okay." "No, no, wait, hold it!" "I'm sorry, cut it below." "Please..." "Extensions A, B." " Here we go." " F, check." "Increase power to reactors ten through 15" "We're almost there, folks." "Okay, guys we're closing on the inner core." "The nukes are ready." "Timers are on." "Great." "Let's start dropping them." "No." "The bombs are not built for these pressures." "That's why they were in that pod." "If you send them out now... out of that casing, they'll be crushed instantly." "I'm assuming we have a Plan D." "Plan D is Virgil's compartments." "We put a nuke in each section of Virgil, and then eject the individual sections one at a time." "They should stay intact long enough for the nuke to go off." "Oh..." "What?" "Virgil's not designed to eject undamaged compartments." "Okay, these are the ejection mechanisms holding each compartment in place." "They're all connected by one master hydraulic gear." "Kind of like keys on a key ring." "What we have to do, we have to unlock the piston." "That will release the compartments so the bombs can be jettisoned." "Where's the master gear?" "In the crawl space we used to get out earlier." "Well, what the hell is it doing there?" "I built the ship in three damn months." "I didn't think I'd be intentionally sabotaging it." "I'm sorry!" "So one of us has to go in there." "Correct." "Into the crawl space that has core fluid at 9,000 degrees." "Yes." "Can you flush it with liquid nitrogen?" "We don't have enough at this point." "9,000 degrees." "And our suits are built to withstand...?" "Half that, probably." "Right." "Half that." "So what you're saying is whoever goes into that crawl space, is not coming back." "Hmm." "Together." "Yes, thank you." "Wait." " On three." " Okay." "One... two... three." "Huh." "Well, I better go on, get myself ready." "No, Braz, wait." "No, Braz, no wait." "Excuse me." "Just a moment, may I see that?" " No." " May I?" "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 do it again." "I thought you'd be happy." "No." "Not at the expense of you making us look like fools." "He's right." "Why do you get dibs on being the hero?" "Because it's my damn ship." "Oh, that makes perfect sense." "Look, for 20 years, I've done nothing but Virgil. 20 years." "Virgil belongs to me, and I will not let her fail." "I will not." "Now if 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 am going to go and get ready." "Good to go." "Beck." "Josh." "It's a hell of a boat you built, Braz." "I am really proud to have known you guys." "Thank you." "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." "Come on, hang on." "Manual override is complete!" "Braz, we can still get you out of there." "No... start..." "start the impeller." "No." "We got a job to do." "Let's do it." "Let's go." "Magnetic shielding systems are up." "Magnetic shielding systems are up." "Power level's 85%." "Increase power to Reactor 10." "All personnel should be clear." "Oh, God!" "Oh, I'm sorry." "Okay, she's down." "Approaching the first drop-off point." "We got to be accurate to the second here, boys." "And drop in three-five seconds." "And... timer on." "Pull it." "Clear... and... ejecting." "All right." "Initiate firing sequence." "Sir..." "It's our last shot, Stick." "Damn you." "Damn me?" "Too late." "Ten, nine, eight..." "What's that?" "Gotcha!" "...four, three, two..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" "Someone's diverted our energy." "Where the hell's it gone?" "!" "It looks like..." "Coney Island." "Your Kung Fu is not strong." "Well, how long will it take to get it back online?" "Well, then get to it!" "Oh, hey, 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 always wanted to make a splash in nuclear physics." "You know, that energy propagation stuff you were talking about..." "Oh, that was high school physics." "Yeah, it's not exactly..." "I just took the wavelengths from the core fluid off the MRI readings." "Yeah, and multiplied by 800... 600." "Surely you compensated for the MRI bias." "We got to reset the timers!" "Reset the timers!" "No!" "It just won't work." "It's not the timers!" "This is not enough!" "What's not enough?" "The last bomb is not enough." "To complete the wave form." "Yeah." "No." "The last bomb has to be 30%larger." "That's six or seven pounds of plutonium." "Where are we going to get six or seven pounds of plutonium?" "Guys, we got hit by an energy flare." "I can't keep us on course." "Ejecting compartment in 50 seconds." "No, Beck!" "No, wait!" "No!" "Push it!" "You push it!" "Come on, guys, I can't hear you." "It's got my shoulder!" "Push!" "Guys!" "Clear!" "Clear the compartment!" "What are you doing?" "I think the flare has knocked the Coms out." "I can't get it, Josh." "I can't get it." "Go..." "I can't." "Okay." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Can you hear me?" "I'm correcting course." "Now!" "Zimsky!" "No!" "Push it!" "Ejecting compartment in ten seconds." "Can you hear me?" "Josh, go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Get out!" "Go!" "Josh." "For the last bomb, to make it larger... use the fuel rods from the react..." "Ejecting." "I got to get..." "I got to..." "Beck." "Beck, can you hear me?" "Beck, if you have any better ideas, you tell me now." "We've only got three minutes to eject this one." "Beck!" "Come on, guys." "I can't hear you." "Beck." "Josh, come on." "Are you okay?" "Are you okay?" "Will you take my gloves off?" "Oh, my God." "Please." "I had to build the blast." "I'm sorry." "Hold on, let me get..." "No." "Stay here for one second." "I was trying to call you." "I know the Coms were down." "Right." "I know what you did." "We don't have enough energy..." "I know." "...to get back." "You did good." "I would've done the same thing." "Where's Zimsky?" "Come here." "You did good." "You did good." "One minute to the first detonation." "And 12 until the blast hits us." "I was hoping we'd suffocate to death first." "Beck." "Beck, Beck." "What could you do if I got you enough power to fire the impeller?" "Maybe not the laser but the impeller." "What?" "From where?" "The heat of the core." "It's 9,000 degrees." "Unobtainium converts heat to energy." "So this whole damn ship is like a big, old solar panel." "Come on, I need your help." "Number two's going!" "Come on, come on." "For 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!" "Come on, Beck, where is it?" "Come on." "Come on, hurry up." "Is that the last one?" "Yeah." "Give it a couple seconds." "It worked!" "Get ready to pull a few G's." "420 knots." "Now, this is more like it." "440." "So, Rat, what's the center of this quake?" "It's everywhere!" "It's one giant shock wave!" "The planet's healing itself." "At this speed, we're going to be home in a third of the time." "As long as we can surf these magma flows, we'll be okay." "Let's just pray we don't run into any dead ends, or we're going to miss those lasers." "Okay, navigator, which way?" "We've got greater fluid density on the left." "Go with the flow." "Uh-huh." "Bill, where are they headed?" "Looks like she found a space between some tectonic plates somewhere near Hawaii." "Josh..." "Yeah?" "They're closing in on us too fast." "I don't know if I can..." "Hey, you got it." "Um... w-we lost them, Stick, and I..." "Where'd our power go?" "Well, we're powered by the heat." "It's stone cold down here." "Well..." "Look on the bright side." "At least we're not going to boil to death." "You always look on the bright side?" "Always." "Okay, let's assess:" "We've got no communications, we're probably 800 feet down, but we might as well be 800 miles." "We're in an Unobtainium cigar tube with the sonar signature of a rock." "We've got just enough power to make the ultrasonics burp, but no one's listening on those frequencies anyway, and... nobody even knows we're alive." "Okay." "Give me a minute on this one." "This is hopeless." "Come on, General, we've got to be getting close." "We can't..." "Mr. Rat, even if they were still alive, there's no way they could contact us." "Bridge." "Skipper, Combat relays that our sub has something on the sonar." "Where do they think?" "Bill, put it up on the hydrophone." "Whales, sir." "They're a long way off their usual path, but that's not uncommon since that, uh... what are they calling it?" "Orbital wobble?" "Yeah, that's what they call it." "Well, thank you very much, Captain, but I think we're done here." "General." "J.O., this is the captain." "Stand down from SAR Operations." "It's whales!" "It's whales!" "Hey!" "General!" "Stick!" "It's whales!" "The ultrasonics!" "They're singing to them!" "You gotta find the whales!" "Alpha X Ray, this is November Echo six one zero." "I'm changing..." "Hold on, I'm seeing those whales now." "Whoa!" "Okay, ball's in the water." "This is neat." "Those whales are circling something." "Hold on, hold on." "We have a strong echo here." "Depth, 800 feet." "There-there's something down there." "There's definitely something down there." "I told you pulsing the ultrasonics would work." "Do 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 freshmen geophysics students." "You know what makes me really, really angry?" "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." "Okay, here we go." "Sweet." "It is now emerging that the world owes its survival to the heroism of six remarkable individuals..." "Shuttle Commander Robert Iverson..." "This extraordinary craft..." "French Scientist, Dr. Serge... was captained by NASA astronaut Dr. Bob Iverson." "Edward Brazzleton is a name so..." "Dr. Conrad Zimsky will be best remembered..." "On Capitol Hill today, everyone's asking the same question..." "What is Project Destiny?" "Destiny, meet world." "World, meet Destiny." "Look at the red, red changes in the sky" "Look at the separation in the borderline" "But don't look at everything here inside" "Here inside" "And be afraid, afraid to speak your mind" "It took a moment before I lost myself in here" "It took a moment and I could not be found" "Again and again and again and again" "I see your face in everything" "It took a moment the moment it could not be found" "What's with the fascination with the echelon?" "What's with the constant questions" "That you have this time?" "What's with this circumstantial consequence?" "Consequence" "Find oversight before this night will ever rise again" "It's all you've got inside your head" "You better get up and leave instead" "It took a moment before I lost myself in here" "It took a moment and I could not be found" "Again and again and again and again" "I see your face in everything" "It took a moment the moment it could not be found" "Found" "To find ourselves lost here within" "We need good reasons why" "So we take this bridge" "With the others that will thrive in the great divide" "Look at the red, red changes in the sky."