"Some friendships are like a good game of hockey." "The right balance of teamwork and smooth skating generally adds up to a winning combination." "Like me and Pete Thornton." "Partner, boss, friend." "You can't do much better than that." "But sometimes things come up that test the best of friendships." "And this weekend of skiing was one of them." " It wasn't my fault." " Whose fault was it?" "The guy cut me off." "What was I supposed to do?" "Come on, Pete, let's face it." "You did not belong on that slope." "It was for expert skiers." "You telling me, I should have been on the bunny slope?" " Well" " Listen, that man was skiing" "like he owned the whole darn mountain." "Pete." "That man does own the whole darn mountain." "Well, that's still no excuse for him to swing on me." "Look, all I know is I've been looking forward to skiing that mountain for months." "And now I'm banned for life." "Did I ask for your help?" " I could have handled him just fine." " That's not the point." "Now what's the matter?" "We couldn't be out of gas, could we?" "Could we?" "You said you would fill it up when you went for pizza, remember?" "Well, I didn't." "I messed up." " So sue me." " Oh, never mind." "Why let a little thing like this ruin a perfectly good vacation?" " Now where are you going?" " To find a gas station." "And I suggest you look the other way." "Fine." "First one back with a can of gas goes after the other guy." " Okay?" " Fine." "Put the body here in the back room." "Quickly." "The truck should be here within ten minutes." "We have a problem." "No." "Let me check him out first." "Hi." "What can I do for you?" "Oh, my buddy and I ran out of gas a few miles up the road." "I can help you out." "You picked a nice day for it." "Your friend's not the walking type, huh?" "No, I sent him up the other way to try his luck." "Kind of looks like you got a corner on the market." "You could say that." ""Phoenix Foundation."" "You work there?" "Yeah, more or less." "My cousin Louise works in accounting." "You know her?" "I can't say that I do." "It's a big outfit." "You need a deposit on the can?" "You've got an honest face." "Just bring it back when you're done." "Sorry I can't give you a lift." "I'm here alone." "No problem." "You let him walk away?" "For the moment." "He's with the Phoenix Foundation." "It could prove useful to us." "Then why didn't you take him now?" "Because now we have more important matters to attend to." "More questions, Armin?" "Frank." "Frank, are you there?" "Do you read me, Frank?" "Frank, come in." "Talk to me now, Frank." "Go ahead, Jonathan." "Frank, we have a problem I need you to deal with." "Hey." "Thanks a lot." "You're the first good thing that's happened to me." "I guess this is your lucky day, huh?" "You'll love the food." "I've been coming here for years." "Never disappointed." "Good morning." "Well, where's Justine this morning?" "She's at home in bed." "She's got the flu." "I'm telling you, don't even look at it." "This place makes a corned beef hash that will make you think you've died and gone to heaven." "Now stay still." "Come on." " Let's go, come on." " All right, take it easy." "Get over here." "Stay right there." "Don't move." "There we go." "Get down there." "Get down." "He's going to come looking for his friend." "Why don't we have Frank put our new toy to the test?" "You got it." "Hot damn, you got it." "Nice." " Did you get the friend?" " Yeah." "He's in the cellar." "Phoenix Foundation too, am I right?" "The other one will be here soon." "How much power will it take to stop his Jeep?" "Point-one percent of one capacitor." "That transformer is more than enough to juice it." "Help me with the cables." "Let's go with the cables." "Okay, here we go." "That'll do it." "Point-one percent." "We're in business." "That's it?" "It's everything we can pull out of that transformer." "You just wait until we patch it into Powertech's superconductor," " then you'll see what this baby can do." " Show me how it works." "First, you need some power to charge the capacitors." "Then the capacitors dump the electricity into the vircator chamber here." "It generates the electromagnetic pulse which discharges from the focus in the dish here." "Follow me." "The whole procedure is operative when you push this button." "It also has an automatic-sequence feature for remote operation." "All the modern conveniences, huh?" "Good." "Armin." "Better get out there." "He'll be coming any time now." "He's coming." " Now." " Do it." "Now what?" "Hold it right there." "What's going on?" "Hey, I was gonna return the gas can." "Keep moving." "Let's go." " MacGyver." " How you doing, Pete?" "Over there, both of you." "Go now, over there." "Would you mind telling us what's going on?" "History in the making, and you are going to be part of it." "You know, we'd be happy to just pass on that." "Aside from special operations, your Phoenix Foundation engages in speculation and analysis, right?" "Tell me, how many men do you suppose it would take to overpower the downtown core of a city and throw the lives of say, a million people, into total chaos, how many?" "I don't know, what do you think?" " You got us on that." " The correct answer is four." "With strategy, timing and the right technology, we will show the rest of the world just how soft and vulnerable you Americans really are." " Forget the rhetoric." " At 1 :00 this afternoon, a lot of people are going to wish it was simply talk." "Your streets will be filled with lifeless vehicles, your communications will be shut down, and your financial centre will be in a shambles." "And your people will riot and panic and destroy one another." " Big plans." " You are going to be part of them." "And if you behave yourselves, you may live to tell about it." "You gentlemen know how these work." "Pull the pin, release the handle and it explodes." "Crude, but effective." "Now, then, if you gentlemen should try to loosen your ropes, you will only succeed in blowing each other up." "Once we have achieved our objective, we will notify the authorities as to your whereabouts." "And then you can validate our accomplishments." "You see, gentlemen, you are our witnesses." "The videotape." " Is it ready?" " It's all set." "They'll definitely get the message." "Good." "Come over here, look at this." "Frank and I will be finished with the microwave base by 1 0:40." "Armin, you and Lisa must have the telephone switching station out of commission by 1 0:45." "No problem." "We will rendezvous here at this intersection by 1 1 :1 0, 1.5 kilometres from Powertech." "Understood?" "Jonathan." "The Phoenix men." "Would it not be better if we killed them?" "More questions, Armin?" "What we are doing is a first and I want it witnessed." "We are going to accomplish more than just our leader's freedom." "And when it is over, the American military complex will do everything possible to cover up the fact that their defences could not prevent four lone individuals from crippling one of their largest cities." "Jonathan." "There's no way to cover up something this big." "They will try." "But the Phoenix Foundation is a corporate white knight." "And when people come to them looking for answers," "Phoenix will tell them the truth." "And they will be believed." "It is time." "We must go." "Did you hear that?" " Sounded like a truck." " Yeah, it's a big rig." "They have something covered up on the back." "Any idea what that could be?" "I haven't a clue." "So..." "So how do we get out of here?" "I don't know." "You don't know?" "MacGyver, don't do this to me." "Come on, think." "I'm trying, Pete." "You know, maybe you can come up with something." "All right, maybe I can." "Let's see." "Okay." "I got it." "We throw one of the grenades there, under the door." "We duck over there for cover, and when it blows, we're out of here." "Yeah." "Except I think this place would cave in on us." "Maybe you're right." "Maybe we could find something to replace the pins." "Yeah." "That's better." " It's good, in fact." " Really?" "Yeah." "I'll need your lift ticket." "Oh, well, that's fine." "How are you gonna get it?" "Ever heard of a party game called Pass the Apple?" "Take a look that way." " You were right, no guard." " He only checks in twice a day." "Like I said, this place is an easy target." "This is where we patch in to all the broadcasting signals." "Help me with this thing." "Pull it." "Okay, right here." "This is suicide." "There's gotta be another way." "Well, if you think of one in the next 30 seconds, let me know." " Got it?" " Yeah, I got it." "But hurry." "There." "I want it broadcast on all stations, both radio and television." "I have to set the timer." "It's slipping." " Don't talk." " Yeah, but" "Get down." "Run." "Twelve thousand seven hundred telephones." "All the eggs in one basket." "Got another idea." "Wanna hear it?" "Yeah, shoot." "The detonator in the grenade." "You think that'll blow those doors?" "Nope." "But you're on something, Pete." "C-4 inside it will." "Yeah?" "You're doing good, Pete." "Here." "Get the detonator out of there." "Yeah, sure." " Detonator." " Yeah, here." "It's just a power line." "There's no phone here." " We've gotta get help." " Let's check the truck." "No keys." "Listen, do you believe him?" "You think they can really do what he said they could?" "Yeah." "How about you?" "I don't think we can afford not to." "Let's get to a phone." "It's dead." "Look, the windows." "They clash with my fur." "This one is out too." " Maybe they got to a switching station." " That could be." "He talked about weak links." "This sure fits." "Vectrocomp." " Ring any bells?" " Yeah, we work with them." "They've been tied up with the Air Force lately." "They specialise in electromagnetic technology." "We, the soldiers of the Black Dove Front, have taken over your public airwaves to demand the liberation of our leader," "General Shakthi." "He is to be released before his court appearance this afternoon at 1 :00 and taken to the airport, where you will provide a private aircraft to return him to his homeland." "If you fail to do this, we will strike a deadly blow to the heart of your city." "We will attack your city at its most vulnerable points." "All electrical systems will be terminated." "Transportation will be brought to a standstill, creating massive gridlock to all of your major thoroughfares." "Telephones, radios, television, all forms of communication will be cut." "Every computer in the downtown core will be rendered useless." "Their operational memory and the information they contain will be wiped clean." "Police and emergency services will be powerless to deal with the riots and looting that will occur." "Many lives will be lost in the panic that will grip your city." "The choice is yours." "You have until 1 :00 this afternoon to release our leader, or we shall bring your city to its knees." "They set the deadline for 1 :00." "That gives us less than an hour." "Well, if they had taken out a switching station, it'll take at least that long to get a phone that works." "Think." "Did you hear what he said?" "I mean, how could four people possibly do that much damage to a city?" "I mean, short of a nuclear bomb, that is." "Vectrocomp." "My watch stopped." "My Jeep." "What's your jeep got to do with your watch?" "They both stopped about the same time." "It would take an electromagnetic pulse of some kind to do that." "And that is Vectrocomp's specialty." "Do you think they hijacked an EMP generator of some kind?" "I'll bet that's what was on the truck." "Suppose they hijacked an EMP from these men." "Why would they take it to the cabin?" "I mean, why would they bother to knock out a phone grid" " this far from the city?" " To create a dead zone to work in." "What for?" "Power." "They need power." "Power?" "Powertech." "Heard of them?" "Yeah." "It's a multinational energy development corporation." "They've got branches all over." "Maybe they got a branch around here." "In the dead zone." "Of course, it would take an enormous source of energy to feed an EMP generator that could do that much damage." ""Powertech, High Voltage Lab." "1 460 lron Ridge Road."" " Let's find it." " I saw a map in the truck." "I'm Marilyn Ross, reporting from the federal courthouse, and with me is Dr. Cromwell, best selling author of The Terrorist Game, a book which detailed the activities of the Black Dove Front in the Mediterranean last year." "Tell us, doctor, what is your assessment of the televised threat they made?" "Frankly, Marilyn, I don't buy a word of it." "The Black Doves are obviously making a last-ditch attempt to keep their leader from going to trial." "Is there other technology they could use to carry out such a threat?" "In principle, yes, but it's a good eight to ten years away." "The military has been experimenting with electromagnetic-pulse generators that produce a similar atmospheric effect." "But I hardly think they'd have access to that kind of technology." "Everybody on the floor." "On the floor." "Get down." "Now." "Who's in charge?" " I am." " Open the doors." "Open the doors!" "Now close it." "Close it." "Get down with the rest of them." "We have to be loaded up and out of here in 20 minutes." " Where is it?" " Over here." "One high-density superconducting energy storage magnet, all recharged and rea" "What's going on?" " What's going on, I don't know." " What's wrong?" "It's empty, there's no power." "It's dead." "What?" "We planted you here for two months to make sure that everything was in place, now this?" "The maintenance was scheduled to be finished last week." "It was supposed to be recharged two days ago." "All right." "Charge it now." "This is not a flashlight battery." "It takes all day." "We must be out of here in 20 minutes." "There has to be another way." "Only one way." "What?" "The high-voltage regulator." "We can force-feed this sucker 3 million volts in one big gulp, but it's risky." "It could blow up our generator." "Nothing is as risky as certain failure." "Do it." "You know, if they have an EMP, and they get the right amount of power, the electromagnetic pulse could wipe out banking, social security records, pensions, even the stock exchange." "I mean, it could be a threat to the entire nation's economy." "Put that on top of blackout, gridlock, looting." " It's kind of a grim picture." " Yeah." "I just hope we're not the only ones coming to this conclusion." "Tell me, colonel, could these terrorists have stolen an electromagnetic-pulse generator?" "Absolutely impossible." "If we were experimenting with such a weapon, it would be under such tight security there'd be no way these fanatics could get within a mile, let alone walk away with it." "You have to remember, we would be talking about a massive piece of equipment here." "Come on." "Look at this place." "No security." "None." "As soon as you got it locked down, you need to run the ground cable over to the floor box, then start connecting this cable to the magnet terminals." "Look at that." "They have got an EMP." "What are they up to?" "Well, that big tower looks like some kind of high voltage generator." "I'd bet they're gonna charge up that magnet, and, yes, it can store enough energy to do what they said they'd do." "I'm gonna have to climb up and pull the plug." "How are you gonna do that without getting spotted?" "I can't." "Maybe I can slow them down." "I want that magnet charged to its full capacity." "Mister, you're out of your mind." "That generator tower puts out over 3 million volts of electricity." "If we release a charge like that too fast, this whole place will go up." "We'll just have to take that chance." "Take over, Frank." " Come, come, come." " Three million volts, coming up." "Armin, get those cables hooked up." "Move it." " What have you got?" " I'm gonna lock them in with that." "If they bust through give this a yank." " How much longer?" " Thirty seconds." "It's that Phoenix man." "Lisa, come." "Hold it." "There goes the other one." "He's going for the cable." "No." "You'll hit the tower." "Finish that connection." "The moment it's charged, hit it." "Move, inside." "Move." "Quickly." "Almost." "That's it." " Charged." " Fire." "No." "Armin's still up there." "I said, fire." "No!" "You butcher." "Never mind." "Never mind." "See if it worked." "The generator's fully discharged." "It worked." "Let's go." "You." "You." "Open the door." "Get back." "Hey." "We've got your friend." "Interfere with us again and he's dead." "I promise you that." " Move it." " All right." "Do it." "Please, think." "Did they say anything at all about" " where they were taking that thing?" " Nothing, they just wanted to get the superconductor storage magnet charged and out of here." "Do you have any idea what pulse range the EMP might have?" "With 3 million volts on board?" "I figure at least two miles." "All right, they've got 1 5 minutes before their deadline." "Where is the closest vantage point of the city?" "There's only one." "At the end of the road." "Jericho Point." "First a witness, now a hostage." "You are a valuable man, Mr. Thornton." " Will you release Shakthi?" " It's government policy not to give in to the demands of any terrorist organisation." "Your policy's about to expire." "Enjoy your front-row seat." "the Black Dove Threat will continue." "With just five minutes left until 1 :00, we have received word that General Shakthi is now in transit." "It's not yet clear if he's being taken to the airport and released, or brought here to the federal courthouse to face trial as planned." "Get it going." "Power up the capacitors." "Storage magnet drained." "All capacitors charging." "Three million volts ready to go." "All right." "1 2:57." "Set the timer for three minutes." "I will focus the dish." "Something is wrong." "Keep an eye on the power level." "Frank?" "Can you turn it off?" "No, it's locked in automatic sequence." "No, what MacGyver did was connect the generator to the superconductor, then back to the generator." "Right?" "Yeah." "Sort of like giving it a shot of its own medicine." "This is a matter of national security, officer." "My men will debrief you." "Do you realise you have just destroyed a multimillion-dollar piece of top-secret military hardware?" "Sorry." "Listen, it was the only way." "I'll give you the full details in my report." "There's not gonna be any report, Mr. Thornton." "I feel a stonewall coming here." "Yeah, but it's not gonna happen." "Count on it." "So, Pete, what do you feel like doing next weekend?" "Well, l"