"Oh, man." "What did he say?" "A natural heat vortex." "That's what he called it." "And he was right." "See out there?" "The cool breezes from the ocean mixing with the steaming' desert air... make, like, a big... wind collision thing, and that's what runs the windmills." "You figured that out by yourself?" "Not me." "Jarod." "Did it by watching them." "Without moving a muscle, they can just... hover in the vortex." "He just sat in this spot all day." "Just eating' Pez and taking in the hawks." "I'm surprised your Dr. Dolittle didn't try talking to them." "Well, it wasn'tjust the birds he was into." "He really dug these." "He'd, like, be throwing dust at 'em all day, saying he was figuring the... updrafts and the air currents and stuff." " Righteous, huh?" " Lovely." "Oh, Jarod." "What are you up to now?" "Whoo-hoo.!" "That was great!" "Congratulations." "You just beat the gauntlet." "This is so cool." "Well, Jarod, the audition's over." "You want the job, it's yours." "Want it?" "I could stay up here forever." "Hee-hee.!" "Well, Mr. Matthews, for an ex-fighter jock, you've done pretty good for yourself." "Well, Yeager sells batteries." "I've got SkyVionics." "A buck's a buck." "The end of the Cold War nearly killed most of the defense contractors... yet your stock's up, what, 17% last quarter alone?" " Eighteen." " Whoo!" "Maybe I should buy me a little." "Well, with the Scimitar chip about to be approved... maybe you should buy yourself a lot." " Is that a Draken?" " Yeah." "Uncle Sam's not the only one with a shrinking purse." "We're testing the Scimitar in planes from the R.A.F., the Israelis." "Hell, even the frogs sent over a Mirage." " You seen Dixon?" " Yeah." "There's the wild man now." "He's a good pilot, but punctuality's not his thing." "He'll probably miss his own funeral." " You're late." " Yeah, but what an entrance." " So, how'd he do?" " Only took him one week to do three weeks' worth of tests." " That makes him the new king of the mountain." " You serious?" "He scored 34%." " Ah, it was no big deal." " Oh, it is when Dix here only scores 33." "Even so, I want you to shadow this hotshot." "He'll show you everything you need to know about the new system." "Then you can teach him how to beat the gauntlet." "At the end of the week..." "I'll decide who gets to be my wingman for the Pentagon test." "No pressure." "So, Jarod, I heard you ran some flights for the Agency." " Who was your point man?" " Andrew Sterling." "Original secret agent man." "Yeah, I ran some TR-1 recons over Singapore for him back in the '80s." "North Korea." "Right." "Well, I can't believe I'm actually flying for Manhunter Matthews." "He's the second-best pilot I've ever seen." "And who's the best?" "You're looking at him." " How does it feel up there?" " Ah, smooth." "I can't wait to get this baby back up." "Body by F-16." "Brains by yours truly." "The Scimitar chip makes any plane's onboard computer work 10 times as fast as the others." "Well, in this game, speed means life." "Glad to see Tom's finally got himself some A1 jocks to keep up." "Quality control problems?" " Mr. Lawson." " Depends on who you ask." "I'd appreciate the latest hydraulic specs." " You're beginning to sound like a broken record, Lieutenant." " Quick way to fix that." "Yes, ma'am." "Stereographs." "They say there's a picture in there somewhere... but I've never been able to see one." "A penguin at the Sphinx." "A penguin riding a camel." "A penguin on a Nile barge." "Now that's something you don't see very often." "I could look at these things for a week." "Nothing." "Well, it's all in the ocular muscles." "The key is you focus on the poster... but you move your primary eyesight eight degrees to the left." "What did you do?" "Invent these things?" "Mmm." "Not officially." " Jarod Wright." " You're Ronald Collins's replacement." " LieutenantJanice Gant." " Nice to meet you." "Penguin, huh?" "Penguin." "I see you met Miss Congeniality." "Toughest S.P.O. in the field." "Ah." "So she's the special projects officer." "Blue-suiters sent her to keep tabs on us." "Which reminds me." "Clearview Ridge." "Natural heat vortex." "Wind shear up the wazoo." "You lean on the throttle anywhere near there, and she'll blow a gasket." "Clearview Ridge." "Thanks for the tip." "Don't tell me what you see, Jarod." "Tell me what you feel." "Tell me what you feel." "I feel tired." "My legs hurt." "Push with the pain." "Focus." "We need details." "This helmet's too tight." "It's hot." "I don't like this." "Why can't I get a bike that actually goes somewhere?" "Sydney." "Sydney." "Just a minute." " Hello, Mr. Hollis." "How are you?" " Fine." "Super." "Great." " Can I help you with something?" " Why do you need a second phone line?" "It's for my modem." "I'm uploading something." "Oh." "One of those." " One of those?" " Sheep." "People who don't mind giving up their privacy." " Baa!" " Excuse me?" "It's too late." "They know." " They?" " The black helicopters." "The gray men." "Like those SkyVionics people." "I've been on that place." "Been out there since World War II... doing some very cockamamy things." "What's in the case?" " Memories." " Pictures?" "Something like that." "Why would you want a computer if I gave you a perfectly good TV?" "See?" "Universal remote even." "Runs everything but your life." "Yes." "But they could be watching you through the TV." "No reverse-imaging device." "I inspected it." "I also took the liberty... of programming this to skip channels with subliminal mind control." "Well, that was very considerate of you, Mr. Hollis." "You aren't uploading filthy pictures, are you?" "Well, that depends on how you define filthy." "It came down the linejust a few minutes ago." "Jarod." "This better be good, Syd." "Mr. Raines?" "How did he find out about him?" "Must be the disks from the digital simulation archive." "Do you think he realizes what it means?" "We're talking aboutJarod." "If he doesn't now, he soon will." "He is a genius." "You can stretch it... bounce it and copy newsprint with it... and it comes in its own plastic egg." "Yeah." "See, the egg is like a symbol of this stuff's birth, you know?" "Its being." "It's notjust putty." "It's whatever you want it to be." "Oh." "Well, why would they call something this versatile silly?" "Would you buy something called Versatile Putty?" "I don't know." "But I'll buy this." "I'll buy 100." "Cool." "Hello." "You must beJarod." "We'll be very happy to help you with that." "The view is better from the inside." "Thought I smelled some smoke." "Everything seems to be A-okay." "Good." "Never figured you for a pilot." "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not really a pilot." "Oh, right." "I'm Jimmy Hoffa." "Could have told me." "Man likes to know when he's about to have his throat ripped out and fed to him." "It didn't seem important." "Important?" "Does that look important?" "Fleets of these behemoths, like crazed flying monkeys... terrorizing U.S. citizens from Seattle to Miami." "Terrorizing?" "Halcion gas." "C.I.A. created it in 1971." " 1969." " I knew it." "You're one of them." "Would you stop, please?" "This is a mass hallucinogen." "This is pretty potent." "Well, not anymore." "I cut it with 50% oxygen." "Hell, your dentist has stronger stuff." "Even so, I caught an accidental whiff." "Thought I was Eleanor Roosevelt for the best part of an afternoon." " Your point being?" " Remember the medfly?" "No such thing." "Lock your doors and bolt your windows, amigo." "The exterminator's coming, and his name is SkyVionics." " SkyVionics?" " Merchants of death." "Trust me." "I've been a clown in that circus... and it's anything but the Greatest Show on Earth." "That's quite a collection." "The only thing we have now to hang up there is you, the SkyVionic boys... since we don't have a base anymore." "What's your poison?" " Excuse me?" " What's your drink?" "Uh, I was raised on optimized nutritional supplements:" "hearts of palm, wheatgrass, asparagus mixed with tomato." "Virgin Mary, celery garnished." "Uh, could you make it two, please?" "I'm expecting company." "Mm-hmm." "What the hell do you think you were doing up there?" " Practice makes perfect." " You know what I'm talking about, Wright." "Clearview Ridge." "I was retracing Ronald Collins's last flight." "Two Virgin Marys." "I hope this is your poison." " You knew I'd come after you." " Toughest S.P.O. in the field." "At least that's what they tell me." "So, Lieutenant Gant... why is the air force so concerned with a civilian flier?" "You're testing a system that's designed to protect military pilots." "It's my job to make sure it's safe." "And I'm up for wingman on Friday's test." "I don't fly avionics I'm not familiar with." "It's my job to know what I'm getting into." "True." "Now, from what I understand, Collins had plenty of time to eject." "Time, yes." "Ability, no." "His record in the Gulf says otherwise." "Well, between me and you and that wall of fame..." "Collins didn't eject because he blacked out." "What are you saying?" "Put it this way." "His drink of choice was not a Virgin Mary." " Is that true?" " You can take my word for it... or steal my report from the Special Projects Office in D.C." "Now that would be impossible." "Look, not even his wife fought the allegations, and they cost her his pension." "Two SkyVionics employees place Collins right here in this very bar..." " the night before the crash." " Who?" "Lawson, for one." "Who else?" "Tom Matthews." "Nice flying, Jarod." "Bring it on home." " You weren't kidding when you said you were a quick study." " Ah." "Beginner's luck." "We're making a big announcement after the test." "Scimitar's going commercial." "By the year 2000, that Scimitar chip's gonna be on every airliner in the country." "I feel safer already." "Well, I just want you to know I've been talking to corporate types about you." "You're our best flier, hands down." " But?" " But I gotta give the test to Dixon on Friday." "I understand." "You don't want a repeat of the last test." "We won't." "This time no test pilot's gonna let me down." "Ron Collins could have flown circles around you two." "Instead he hit the bottle." "I'm surprised you missed that." "I called him on it the morning of the test." "He said he was fine." "So it wasn't a mechanical failure." "The residual alcohol in his blood... caused him to black out when he pulled too many g's." "Collins was flying a safe plane." "I'm sure he was." "Is your mom home?" "Mom!" "You were with Ron in Saudi Arabia?" "Your husband... he saved my tail on the third night over Baghdad." "When I heard about the accident, I..." "Well, I tried to make my way here as soon as I could." "I want to tell you how sorry I am." "Me and a couple of the guys, we petitioned the C.N.O.'s office... about getting Ron a posthumous Gulf War commendation." "What's wrong, Mom?" "Nothin'." "That's great." "That's really great." "Have you had supper yet?" "You're saying Jarod left this for us." "When I tried to save this picture of Mr. Raines... it unzipped an executable that created this program." "And I'll be able to communicate with him and see him?" "Through his encryption, yes." "I don't want Miss Parker to find out about this." "Uh, wait... wait a minute." "Uh, you want to play political Parcheesi with the ice queen, you go..." "You go right ahead, but I'm not dancing in that minefield." "No way." "You are afraid of losing your job." "I'm afraid of losing my life." "Hey." "You get hot dogs and macaroni for dinner every night?" "I wish." "It's quite a view, huh?" "That's Orion, the hunter." " And that one's Pegasus." " The winged horse." "That was Dad's favorite." "I can name a lot of stars." "Dad and I studied 'em." "We went to see 'em in the desert the night before he left." "Really?" " Just you and your dad?" " Shh." "Mom never liked it when we snuck out late." "We never told her." "Hey, Jarod." "Don't forget." "Tomorrow I need you to play bogey in the Draken." " Where is it?" " They're prepping in number 27." " That's two hangars down." " Thanks." "How many hours you logged in one of those?" "Well, actually, this'll be my... first." "Looks likeJarod's been busy." "This image was taken last night by one of our KH-11 satellites." " That's La Grange." " Mm-hmm." " La Grange?" " One of the Centre's private, unmarked airstrips." " That's somewhere in Virginia, right?" " Right." "It's just outside of D.C." "This shot's just before 2:00 a.m. Nothing up the sleeve, right?" "And presto." " Draken jet." " Draken." "Oh." "Parked there for three hours until..." " Poof." " He landed there in the middle of the night, undetected?" "And three hours gives him perfect time for a visit to D.C." "Why Washington?" "LieutenantJanice Gant reporting." "S.P.O. video record." "Collins/Matthews dogfight simulation." "Scimitar 2, come in." "Do you copy, Hammer?" "Uh, roger that, Manhunter." "System is hot and working great." "Let's try that again at Mach 1.8." " Throw in a shoulder roll for good measure." " Come and get me, Manhunter." "Coming in for the kill." "Say your prayers, Hammer." "Pull out of the roll, Collins." "Pull out of the roll." "You're headin'down." "Level off." "Level off, Collins.!" "Collins, punch out.!" "Level off, Collins." "You're going down." "Get out of there." "Punch out.!" "Punch out.!" "Collins.!" "Collins.!" "You couldn't punch out... because Matthews sent you up in an unsafe plane." "If you don't understand, we'll just try again." "Okay?" "Very good." "Listen to me, Doctor." "Listen to me, Doctor." "The kid asks about his father again... tell him Daddy loved him very much... and Daddy died in a plane crash." "That's not exactly a lie." "Are we clear?" ""Are we clear?"" " Mr. Hollis?" " Get me out ofhere." "Mr. Hollis." "Mr. Hollis." "It's okay." "It's Jarod." "It's Jarod." "Jarod." "Are you all right?" "Nightmare." "Shouldn't you be uploading something?" "Hiroshima." "This is you." "Greatest Show on Earth." "I was part of something that... should have never happened." "I helped do this." "You couldn't have known." "Ignorance is a poor excuse... for murder." "Stop this car." "Stop it or I'll... 140 channels, nothing on." "Yeah." "My wife says I'll die with one of those things in my hand." "Hmm." " Broke?" " Defective." "Hey, you're the mechanical whiz." "The specs say there's a failure rate of 0.4%." "So?" "So, I've done my own calculations, and I've come up with a failure rate of... 3.1%." "Sounds like a bad chip." "You're the expert." " That's a Scimitar chip." " Mm-hmm." "And when it fails, whole plane's affected." "Altitude controls... infrared sighting... ejection systems." "Ronald Collins didn't punch out the night of the crash because he couldn't." "3.1%." "Is that what a man's life is worth at SkyVionics?" "He wasn't at the Tail Fin Bar drinking the night before the crash." "He was out in the desert." "He was stargazing with his son." "Why did you lie?" "I, uh..." "I warned Matthews about the chip... but he said the ratio was acceptable." ""3.1 is nothing against the bottom line."" "Is that why you doctored the voice recorder?" "Yeah." "Matthews wanted to keep Gant out of the loop." "He said we'd all be raking it in once he closed the commercial contracts." "Jarod." "Put yourself in my shoes." "I already have." "Who is that man?" "It's no one, Jarod." "It's no one." "Answer the question, Sydney." "Who is he?" "And what does he know about my father?" "Sydney, I'm not here." "I'm glad we can finally talk again." "The plane crash is "not exactly a lie."" "What did he mean by that?" "I only know him as Mr. Raines." "But listen, Jarod." "I've been searching here... and I've discovered one thing." "Your father was an aviator." "An aviator who had flown with..." " Jarod?" "Jarod!" " Sydney?" "Sydney?" "Sydney!" "Sydney." "Damn." "Well, somebody inside cut us off." "That's right." "Come with me." "Lieutenant Gant, it's Jarod Wright." "There's something that you really should see." "Uniforms-R-Us?" "I need a rush job." "I thought we had an understanding." "And now... this." "Well, he talked me into it." "He forced me." "He's not that good." "I can make it up to you." "And how do you propose to do that?" "Jarod's transmission used an old ARPA connection from the early Internet days... when it was still a Defense Department system." "I've zeroed in on his location." "It's a beginning." " Lieutenant." " Sir." "We should be starting in about 30 minutes, sir." "Good." "Been waiting six years for this Scimitar system to impress us." " Better be now." " Trust me, sir." "After what I saw last night... it's gonna be a real eye-opener." "What do you mean you can't find Dixon?" "I'm sorry, sir." "There's no answer at his home." "He's probably on his way." "All right." "You tell control to confirm that all systems are on line." " Yes, sir." " And call Dixon's house again." "Nothing." "The natives must be getting restless." "You up for a dogfight?" "Me?" "I was born for this moment." "All right." "You know the drill." "Just like we practiced." "Don't break Mach 1." "Don't get fancy." "We'll be open-miked into the tower, so remember... we're on the air, and everything's on the line." "I wouldn't have it any other way." "All right." "Here we go." "Scimitar 2, why don't you make like a bandit?" "Roger that, Manhunter." "First stop, radar reflection." "Scimitar's advanced avionics will enable Eagle's R. W. R... to initiate lockup twice as fast as competitive systems." "As he evades, Scimitar will predict his angle off-tail... and lock on a real missile." "In the air, speed is life, and Scimitar is speed." "Bang." " You're dead, Eagle." " I always wondered what that felt like." " Okay." " Let's try this again." "Mach 1.8." "Let's really test the system." "Roger that." "Jarod, we're off the speaker." "What do you think you're doing?" " You want to look good in front of the brass, don't ya?" " You follow my lead." "I really couldn't do that." "You see, there's a failure rate of 3.1% on any promise I make." "Ronald Collins wasn't so lucky." "Come and get me, Manhunter." "All right, General." "Watch and learn." "Sir." " What the devil is this all about?" " The truth, General." "I've lost flight control." "Eagle, repeat:" "I've lost flight control." "That's because your Scimitar chip has failed." "Just like the one in Ronald Collins's plane." "Scary, isn't it, Tom?" "I can't punch out!" "I can't punch out!" "I'll tell you how..." "if you tell me the truth." "What the hell are you talking about?" "Well, then you're gonna suffer the same fate as Ronald Collins." "Do you copy, Manhunter?" "I had to make good on the quarter!" "You killed a good man, and then you blamed it on him." "I didn't want that to happen!" "I'm sorry!" "He was a friend of mine." "I didn't want that to happen." "Get me out ofhere.!" "Enable your infrared sighting." "I.R.'s on." "Disable your radar warning receiver." " Check." " Pull the eject handle." "It won't work!" "It still won't work!" "Oops." "I almost forgot." "Cool." "Ladies and gentlemen, SkyVionics Radio... has reached the end of another broadcast day." "This is Eagle, signing off." "Let's go." "Yee-haw.!" "This is so cool." "Matthews." "The government wants a refund." "Oh.!" "Yes!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Come look at this!" "Well, I guess it's not easy living next to a nutcase." "You're not crazy, Mr. Hollis." "I believe everything you've told me." "I'm still not sure about the Eleanor Roosevelt thing." "There is another piece of information that I'd like you to keep your eye on." "What's that?" "It's in Delaware." "Blue Cove." "A place called the Centre." "Now, that's the only map you're ever gonna find it on." "It's a dangerous place." "People should be made aware, if you know what I mean." "Oh, yeah." "This is real ripe." "I'll spread the word." "I'm counting on it." " Good luck." " You too." "Uh, Jarod." "I don't know what it is you're after, but I hope you find it." "Miss Parker." "You're Miss Parker." " That's right." " Hmm." " What is it?" " Silly Putty." "Do you have a mirror?" ""Late pilot cleared of error."" "Nothing." "I'm beginning to dread that the Parker killer instinct wasn't hereditary." " I'll find him, sir." " Let me be perfectly clear." "Jarod is not some minor inconvenience... for you to pad your Centre expenses with." "I understand, Mr. Raines." "We're ready for you, sir." "Help yourself."