"Outerspace." "Limitless and timeless." "Filled with cosmic explosions and endless turbulence." "An infinite playground forthat occasional blazing visitor, the comet." "At first comets terrified man." "He thought they were signals of impending catastrophe." "But he got used to them and he gave names to them and waited for them to drop by like old friends." "This one has come from behind the sun, moving across the heavens at 108.000 miles an hour, and has neverbefore been seen by man." "The asteroid belt." "A vast junkyard of metal and rock orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Mars." "Thousands of fragments, some as small as a fist some as large as a city." "And amongst these Orpheus." "Twenty miles In dlameterand undisturbed forcountless generations until now." "Give me the horn." "What do you want?" " Is Dr Paul Bradley aboard?" " Who's asking?" "I've gotorders from NASA to bring in Dr Paul Bradley." "Is he aboard?" "This is an emergency." "So's this." "We're tryng to win a race." "We're going to have to cutacross your bow." "All right goddammit." "We're voming in." "Mr Sherwood told me to get you off the boat and on your way to Houston." "There's a special jet for you." " You would've cutacross my bow?" " Yes, sir." "I would've rammed you." "And gone straigh tto the bottom, sir." "Don't go away." "I could be right back." "Dr Bradley, it's good to see you again." "Good to see you again." " You owe me $10." " I do?" " I got my handicap down to 12." " No wonder it's good to see me again." " Yes?" " Bradley's here." "Good." "Send him In." "It's yours." "Mr Sherwood.." "Oh, good to see you." "Come in, come in." " Sorry to do this to you." " Not at all." "Yes, I did that I called Helen and asked her to send your clothes." "Hello?" "Mr Sherwood.'s office." "I, uh..." "I didn't know that you and she were..." " You've met General Easton." " Once, in Washington." " Good of you to vome." " Sam Mason, CAP vommander." "Peter Watson, our flight director." "Put that down and let me fix you a small Scotch." "A large one." " Good." " We could all use one, I think." "Why don'twe sit around the table?" "Take your coat off." " How big is your boat?" " Fifty-two feet" "An awful lot's been happening here, Paul." "And none of it good." "Harry, I left NASA five years ago." " Why am I back?" " Let me tell you." "Gentlemen, help yourselves." "Seven days ago, Palomar Observatory reported the discovery of a new comet." " General." " Thank you." "Nothing unusual in that They spot nine or ten every year, either themselves or other observatories." "But... it's where this one seemed to be going." " The asteroid belt" " Go on." "When they called me, it was a couple of hundred thousand miles from the belt." "Challenger ll, our space probe to Mars, was in the vicinity." "General Easton's son, Tom, was commanding." "We got in touch with them, and then we..." "I changed their programme." "That was last Friday." "Challenger II, do you read me?" "We read you." "How do you feel about making a slight detour?" "Anything to break the monotony." "Whatdo you call slight?" "Two days, four hours and 32 minutes." "What happens to our schedule?" "Don't concern yourself, Tom." "We'll take care of everything." " Mars will have to wait." " Whatever you say." " Where are we going?" " The asteroid belt" " What for?" " A Comet's about to go through it." " They go through all the time." " It's a first for this one." "It was wrenched out of orbit by Jupiter's gravitational pull." " How big is this comet?" " 480 kilometres in diameter, which makes its nucleus large enough to do real damage if it hits anything." "It's headed straight toward Orpheus, the big one in the centre." "Where do we park?" "Park alongside Vesta, about 25,000 kilometres this side." "You'll be there three hours before the comet." "We want all the information you can give us on size and orbital elements." " Take a few pictures?" " A lot of pictures." "We've already started things down here." "You'll change vourse in five minutes." " Is my old man with ya?" " He's here." " Tell him hello." " Will do." "As I said before, that was last Friday." "Yesterday, Sunday morning, at 1100 hours, they started to pull up alongside Vesta." " We got it?" " Yes, we've got it" " Can you zoom in on Orpheus for us?" " Can do." "Beautiful." " Let's have some information." " I'll take some measurements." "For the next hour and a half, they read the belt for us." "Then what we were waiting for finally appeared." "Magnetic field measuring zero." "It'll go straight through like salt." "It's gonna hit it!" " Get away from there." " It's coming apart in a million pieces!" "I don't think I can ever forgive myself." " I should have figured..." " No guilt Harry." " We'd all have given the same orders." " Who knows about this?" "Nobody at the moment." "We'll have put out a release right after this meeting." "Why am I here?" "A chunk of Orpheus is heading towards Earth, a pretty big one." "There are a lot of little pieces with it and in front of it" "It's the big one we're worried about" "The figures haven't been worked out, but six days from now we could be hit." " We have to be prepared." " That's why we put Hercules up there." "Will you let me finish?" "I've convened a meeting at NASA headquarters in Washington fortomorrow." "Lucas, Steinberg, Fillmore, others you know will be there." "I want you to come to that meeting." " I'll come to your meeting." " We appreciate it Paul." "I've delayed a flight You're leaving in one hour." "Up-to-date material on Hercules." "Something to read." "Your hotel room has been booked." "Gladys has yourexpense arrangements." "Why don't you stick a broom up my arse?" "I vould sweep the carpet on the way out." "Haven't changed, have you?" "See you in the morning." "The Coast Guard towed Rob Samuelson to harbour..." "Among the other nine who failed to finish was Dr Peterson's Maverick, who was disqualified for crossing the line prior to start." "John Slabin's Mary Bee collided with Arnold Parker's Swan." "Both suffered sufficient damage to withdraw." "The big surprise was Paul Bradley's Blithe Spirit, which withdrew for no apparent reason early in the race." "John Dunning had a running battle with..." " Hello." " it's late, I wanted to..." "Paul." "Where are you?" "Why aren't you on the boat?" "Uh, Washington." " How are the kids?" " Jimmy's gota void." "And Julie's bound to get it and we're still fighting about homework." "Apart from that, they're fine." " What are you doing in Washington?" " I'm not sure yet" "I was phoning to let you know where I am." "How are you?" "Oh..." "Not bad, you know." " Paul?" " Tell the kids I love them." "A chunk of Orpheus is heading towards Earth." "A big one." "There are a lot of little pieces with it and in front of it." "But it's the big one we're worried about." "The figures haven't been worked out, but six days from now we could he hit." "Sorry I'm late." "You and everybody else." " Let me tell you about that" " Either we're in the wrong room, or a lot of brainpower's lost." "Nobody else is coming." " Lucas, Fillmore, Steinberg?" " I didn't ask them." " Why not?" " You know why not" "Because we don't need them!" "You." "You originated Hercules." "Out itout, Paul." "I know how you feel." " Dredging up old..." " I'm dredging up nothing." " I can taste it right now." " Now, look" "It wasn't my decision to turn Hercules..." " Into what?" " Will you listen to me?" "It wasn't designed as a nuclear weapon, with 14 warheads pointed at Russia." " Not only Russia." " Or China." "Whatever else!" "Those rockets were supposed to point outwards, not in!" "They were meant to defend us against the threat we're facing now." " Didn't I yell at them?" " Yeah." " Didn't I stand up for you?" " Yes." "Then listen to me." "Will you listen to me?" "That meteor's five miles wide and it's definitely gonna hit us!" "It would make a hole big enough to put the Atlantic in." "Shit Five miles." "Now walk outl" "And General Adlon?" "Isn't he in charge?" "Adlon's a good man, technically." "But he's two-dimensional." "You know that." "We've got to find a way to move him out." "That's problem number one." "Problem number two, there are about 100 guys stupid enough to resist using Hercules because of what it would mean politically." " What am I supposed to do?" " Help me ride over them." "OK you son of a bitch." "I'll help, but i want it straight up and down." "You've got my word." "Those rockets have got to be realigned and we've got exactly five days." "I hope no one has been so foolish to contact the Russians about all this." "It would be inadvisable..." "No one would think of doing that without your approval, Mr Secretary." "You can be sure they know all there is to know about the meteor." "They don't know what we're planning to do." "What we're discussing." "I hope it's still discussion." "General Adlon, I assure you that no decisions have been made." "That's what this meeting's been called for, to decide what to do." "You're in charge of Project Hercules." "If the result of this meeting is to make use..." "There's nothing else." "The only thing we've got is Hercules." "Dammit Hercules is not up there either, as far as anybody but we are concerned." "It's got to stay that way." "We have never admitted to Hercules." " If we admit to it now..." " We have to!" "You can't keep the whole world in the dark about what's going on." "Once they know that a five-mile hunk of rock is gonna hit at 30,000 mph, people will want to know whatwe intend to do about it." "You're gonna tell the entire world we have nuclear rockets out there in direct contradiction to every international agreement we've ever made?" "That's an invitation to being called liars and warmongers by every..." "It's international murder if we don't!" "What do you wantto do?" "You want to meet it with BB guns and slingshots?" "Please!" "Gentlemen!" "Dr Bradley, would you please tell us what would happen if this meteor struck us?" "A massive rock, one mile wide, travelling at 30,000 miles per hour, would cause a crater 50 miles across and five miles deep." "Orpheus is five miles wide." "Its striking force is equal to 2,500,000 megatons of TNT." "That is ten orders of magnitude above the largest earthquake ever recorded." "It would throw into the atmosphere five billion tons of earth, and reduce solar radiation for decades to come." "It could cause another Ice Age." "What if the thing doesn't hit?" "There's some chance." " Every scientific facility..." " You have been wrongl" "You were wrong to send Challengerll off its course!" "I don't have to listen to thisl" "Pleasel" "You're out of order!" "At ease, gentlemen." "Dr Bradley, where are you going?" "I need air." "I don't give a damn what Russia says about America or vice versa." "I told you what's gonna happen when that meteor hits." "If you think you can prevent it by burying your heads under a blanket of shit fine." "If you reach a decision, I'll be in the bar across the street." "I'll have to discuss this at the White House." "In time, because there's damn little time." "We are now going to replay a recording of a broadcast made by them earlier today." "The British Cabinet met to discuss the announcement by Jodrell Bank Observatory that a piece of an asteroid knocked out of orbit by a comet is on possible collision course with Earth." "In less than a week, this giant object could strike our planet, causing untold damage and great loss of life." "The Prime Minister is in consultation with the American President..." "Put the game on!" "...and volunteered every assistance the government can give." "We consider it deplorable that the American people should he dependent on the BBC to supply us with facts that we have a right to know." "I consider it deplorable I don't have a drink." " Yes, sir?" " Scotch." " A large one." " A large one." "What happened?" "They're calling the President." "What if he says no?" "A couple of years ago, my son, Andy, started to complain about pains in his stomach." "All the junk food kids eat, I wasn't a bit surprised." "But he kept on complaining." "I had a talk with Miriam and we decided to take him to a doctor." "Just for an opinion, you understand." "Appendicitis, the doctor said." "Miriam said, "Let's wait till tomorrow." "The pain will go away. "" "You know my Miriam." "She can't stand the thought of an operation." "That night when she went to bed, she cried herself to sleep." "I went and picked him up and took him to a hospital." "Six hours later his appendix was out, he was feeling better, and Miriam..." "Miriam was all smiles." "You get my point?" "Yeah." "How do you sneak me into a position where I can fire nuclear warheads without Miriam knowng?" "I'll do it, if I can't do it any other way." "Is there a Mr Sherwood. here?" " Yeah, that's me." " Telephone, right through there." "Thanks." "Mr Secretary, I'd rather not call back I'd appreciate it if you held on." "Yes, Dr Bradley is checking out the information to verify." "Yes, sir, I do think it's urgent." " No, sir." "Paul." " In a minute." "It's coming up now, sir." " What do I tell him?" " How good is his health?" " Confirmed?" " Confirmed." "Hercules is light." "Mr Secretary, it's been confirmed." "So, what you're telling me is that even if we admit to Hercules" "and I give you my permission to realign the rockets, we still need more firepower?" "More nuclear mega-tonnage?" "More rockets?" "That's right Mr President." " Mr Secretary, do we have more rockets?" " Not in space, sir." "What are we supposed to do, conjure them out of air?" "Mr President, would you confirm what I'm about to say?" "The Russians have their own equivalent of Hercules out in space." "True or not true?" "True." "Mr President, we need the combined power of theirs and ours." " They'll never admit it" " We'll make them." " How?" " General Adlon, for the time being, until this crisis is resolved," "I am putting Dr Bradley in charge of Operation Hercules." "I rely on you to give him every aid and assistance." " I hope I'm public-spirited enough..." " I'm sure you are." "Listen, I think I have a solution to this problem." " Where will you be this evening?" " We're flying to New York." "Make sure you hear my broadcast at 8.00." "That's all, gentlemen." "Thank you." "You'll ask what steps have been taken to make sure that this meteor never comes near the Earth's surface." "I'm happy to tell you that realising that such an emergency as this could arise, your government, in collaboration with the best scientific brains at its disposal," "developed a project to deal with this emergency." "That project has been named Hercules." "What is Hercules?" "Hercules is an armed, orbiting satellite its nuclear weaponry aimed toward outerspace." "Right name." "Wrong direction." "What can Hercules do?" "It can send, at the press of a botton, enough power to destroy any foreign body on a collision course with our planet." "But, in this case, a special circumstance has arisen." "The meteor is of such size and velocity that even this powerful weapon cannot do the job entirely." "Fortunately, the Russians, with the same foresight that we possessed, mounted their own defence weapon." "We do not know what the Russians have called their weapon, but we know it exists." "And we are going to ask them to combine their nuclear power with ours, so that together we will be able to deal with the meteor, to strike it with irresistible force and to end forever its potential danger to us all." "I wlll, myself, be speaking with the Russlans" "Immediately after I finish this broadcast." " The game is on." " Good night." "And God bless you." "Hello?" " Do you have a pass for Dr Bradley?" " Good morning, sir." " General Adlon come in yet?" " Half an hour ago." " How far down?" " Right next to an old subway station, a section that runs under the Hudson." "It made it easy for us to bring the equipment in and it saved millions." "Why not some sensible place, like Houston?" "Mm-mmm." "This has easy access to a total telecommunications set-up above us." "Nobody in their right minds would put their most important emergency striking power under the busiest city in the world." "This is Dr Bradley." "Can I see your pass, sir?" "Would you mind signing it sir?" "Thank you." "Command to Internal." "Central Control, call 8-1-2-4." "General Adlon, most impressive." "Thank you." "A message for you." "Normally we work with 25, but since it's an emergency i brought in the full crew." "Good news." "The Russians are coming." "I consider allowing the Russians to come into this centre a grave error, which one day the United States may bitterly regret." " I'd like to meet the staff." " Of course." "General, may I use your office for a moment?" "Certainly." "This way." "This is our chief technician, Rolf Manheim." " Rolf." " Dr Bradley." "You have been teaching my nephew at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology." " Ben Manheim." " Yes." "He's a bright boy." "He'll be teaching me in a couple years." "All stations give status now." "This is our trajectory analysis officer, Jan Watkins." " Hello." " I suppose you're tied into 1180?" "No." "At 360, with a custom-designed memory." "Like I said, I'll be asking you and your computer a lot of questions." " We'll give you prompt answers." " Triple-checked." "My assistant, Alan Marshall." "Dr Bradley, I've got Sir Michael Hughes from the Jodrell Bank Observatory." "He'd like a word with you." "Excuse me." "I'm Bill Hunter, in charge of tracking." "What else are you linked with?" "Hong Kong, Arecibo and New South Wales." " Good morning, Michael." " Good evening, Paul." "I didn't expect to see you until Wimbledon." "Assumlng there'll be a Wimbledon." "What have you got?" "Expect the first splinters in 24 hours." "Doubtful if we can track them unless they're in clusters." "We'll do our best." " Anything else?" " No." "I just wanted to make contact." "We'll keep in constant touch." "Until then." "Paul, the Russian astrophysicist you asked for?" " Dr Dubov?" " He's arriving at 7.30 this evening." "Dr Dubov, are we glad to see you here!" "Thank you." "Twenty-two, 47, colon, 56 point 55." "He assumes this is an accurate representation of the satellite." "Or is the direction of the rocket just accidental?" "I am not prepared to volunteer strategic information." " Is that what I said?" " Yes, sir." " Please." " Thank you." "What striking power does it carry?" "I'd prefer you got that from Dr Bradley." "Good morning." "Fourteen rockets, each carryng a 100 megaton bomb." "Welcome to New York Dr Dubov." " Everything in duplicate?" " It's a procedure." "How else do we know we're being interpreted properly?" "I think we could all start by trusting each other." "Otherwise, what's the point?" "If it's a matter of choosing, I'll take the pretty one." "The pretty one is Tatiana Nikolaevna Donskaya." " Did I say it right?" " Very good." "Astrophysicist and Dr Dubov's English voice." " How do you do?" " How do you do?" "The captain is General Adlon's Russian voice." " Sir." " Hi." "Since it appears we are redundant here, if you'll excuse us." "Mr Sherwood., I'd like to see you outside." "I'll see if I can't calm him down." "He thinks General Adlon is not pleased to see him." " I know this is difficult for you..." " Mr Sherwood!" "I spoke to the Secretary of Defence, who seems more aware of the complexity of the situation." " But..." " His orders are, and I quote," ""No change in the direction of rockets until the Russians admit they've got their own and agree to realign them. "" " Is that understood?" " Look." "Why don'tyou Xerox 100 vopies of that report, pass them out among 100 guys in Washington, then organise 100 meetings to discuss it" "By that time the meteor will have hit and we won't have any more problems." "He doesn't mean to criticise, but you will not find it easy to hit a meteor with your warheads pointing toward the USSR." "We call ours Hercules." "What do you call yours?" "How can one give a name to that which does not exist" "Then who put up this thing called Peter the Great its warheads pointing at the United States?" "Chinese, perhaps." "Dr Dubov, we've gota slight problem." "If Peter the Great does not exist, we are out of business." "But if it does exist," "I'd have to know what weapons it would be carryng where it was and what frequencies we would have to use to align it with Hercules." "Now, for purposes of discussion only..." "He understands the importance of your questions." "If he had been involved in construction of such an illegal weapon he could then, of course, theoretically, answer those questions." "Then would you be prepared, theoretically, of course to work out the details with me as to how we link the satellites?" "Yes, he would be ready." "Before that, what would you have designed your striking power to be?" "Sixteen rockets, each carryng mega-tonnage, the same as yourown." "That gives us a billion plus." "Theoretically." "Theoretically." "I give the floor to the first speaker on my list, a representative of Canada." "We have information thata disturbance of earthquake proportions has occurred somewhere in Siberia." "I believe that all of us here are aware of that fact." "Would the Russian delegate tell us what was the cause of the disturbance?" "Mr President, we would like to request a recess while we consult further with our government." "At my next mark, it will he 2300." " We are in test number 36." " Good morning." " Did you get any sleep last night?" " A couple of hours." "You?" "I played gin rummy and lost." "What's the Russian girl like?" "Very nice, very brightand forget it." "I missed you." "...approaching X plus six minutes on the attitude control test and all station monitors are green." "With compliments." "I had them strip your bed and puton some proper sheets." " That's kind." " I've got some decent soap, because using the stuff here is like washing your hands with a rock." " Thank you." "That's a pretty scarf." " Thank you." "Wlll Jim Jackson report to the security office." "His hours are confused." " How about you?" " Oh, I'm all right" "System analysis team will review power problems at 0800 tomorrow in conference room." " Should I wake him?" " Let him sleep." "Have some coffe." "Commands for attitude control updates programmed In Hercules." "How long have you been with him?" "I've known him for ten years." "But I've only worked with him for five." "Why did you choose astrophysics?" " It chose me." " How?" "I was a telephone operator at a centre for controller flight in a cosmodrome by Kannur in Middle Asia." "I knew your language because when I was a child my mother kept giving me books in English and telling me that one day I would be grateful to her." "I suppose I am." "Would you like one?" "No, thanks." "Go on." "Then, about ten years ago, some British scientists came to Russia to meet with some of our people." "Alexei Serich, our Sleeping Beauty, needed someone to translate for him, and they asked me." "His English voice." "When I finished, he asked me to stay on with him as interpreter and third assistant." "He was married to Olga Alekseevna then, his flrstwife." " How many's he had?" " He's on his fourth." "He's sleeping alone now, but just not very often." "You know, it's very nice talking with you." "Thank you." "We've been talking for almost two days." "No." "I've been talking with you and Dubov." "I mean talking with "you", you." " Very attractive." " Thank you, again." " Then..." " Then?" " Astrophysics." " Oh!" "Well, I realised that space fascinated me." "Alexei Serich saw this and he encouraged me." "He arranged for me to go to university." "And when I returned, I was an astrophysicist." " That's when I met my husband." " Your husband?" "He was a cosmonaut We were together for three years." "And then he went on an exploratory mission, and he didn't come back." "And now?" "Is there anyone?" "Nothing serious." "Not really." "Dr Bradley, Sir Michael is reporting on the monitor." "There are meteors over Central Europe." "Ah, Paul, the observatory in Frascati is reporting." "There's a cluster big enough to track coming in over Italy south of Pisa." "Speed of approach, 15,000 metres per second." "They've burnt upl The clusters evaporated." "Frascati says that not one of them got through." "The whole thing's been nothing more than a gigantic fireworks display." "Thank you." "That's the best news yet" "We'll try and keep it that way." "Bradley!" "I think we can assume the emergency's over." "This one, and the emergency in general." "It's a pity the world's been sent into a state of unnecessary panic." "There's your threat, Dr Bradley, a fireworks display!" "Tell this arsehole once and for all, Orpheus will not burn up." "It's too big!" "We've got enough to deal with here." "We don't need any additional aggravation from youl" "Notone promise of calamity has come true." "As far as I'm concerned, not a single one will!" "When common sense is restored and the President has returned the control of this centre to me," "I shall return to this centrel" "He wishes to telephone the Russian Embassy in Washington." "The USSR is not unaware of the seriousness of this situation." "We have, therefore, decided to add to the power of Hercules the considerable power that we, ourselves, possess." "A satellite, developed before the United States developed theirs." "But which we designed and constructed for the purpose of defence against possible disasters such as the one confronting us now." "For that purpose only!" "The USSR will always support any exercise, the primary object of which is to the benefit of mankind." " To Peter the Great." " To the Russian cutting of red tape." "Peter the Great." "Dr Dubov would like to tell you words he heard from a taxi driver when he was last in America." "Walk the Dodgers!" "Attitude correction complete." "Situation nominal." "This is Goldstone." "We have a realignment interrupt." "Realignment Interrupt." "Copy." "Readjustment malfunction." "Deployment latch relay on rocket three may he hung up." "We have to re-set." "Send back-up command and update the guidance systems to account for the delayed firing time." "Co-variance matrix has been recalculated." "All Hercules back-up syslems are ready." "Attitude correction complete." "Situation nominal." "We wait till we see the whites of its eyes." "0700 Sunday." "It is eight hours since a splinter struck the Swiss Alps." "Only now has the enormity of what has happened begun to sink in." "There's never been anything like this." "Avalanches and storms have destroyed whole villages, but nothing on the scale of what's here." "Help is coming from all over, ambulances, helicopters, rescue equipment and supplies." "Dead casualties are being taken to churches and town halls." "Those still alive are rushed to hospitals for resuscitation." "So many skiers and holiday-makers here atthis time of year, and many of them are unregistered." "There's no way of telling who they are." "Anyone who has reason to believe that friends or relatives have been in this area during the last weeks should go immediately to the Swiss emergency offices that have been opened up in Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich." "The tragedy has been heightened by the loss of 12,000 contestants in the cross-country marathon, which started an hour before the splinter hit." "The cameraman and crew who shot this film left the area by helicopter only minutes before the disaster." "In the minds of people everywhere, the question is, where next and what about the big one due on Sunday, closing on Earth at 30,000 miles an hour?" "We can only hope, as the President of the United States has assured us, that we are in safe hands." "This is Osman Ragheb In Zurich, returning you to the ABC Studlos In New York." "My God." "As simply as you can, Mr Sherwood., what's the procedure now?" "The satellites are orbiting with Earth 22,500 miles out in space." "Since they are in different orbits, and in order for them to reach the target together, they will have to be fired at different times." "Peter the Great first, and then 40 minutes later, Hercules." "Two hours after that, they will explode at a designated distance from the target." "Can anything go wrong?" "Well once the rockets have been launched, they switch over to their own internal decision-making systems." "If these systems perform perfectly, there's no problem." "But if there's a malfunction..." "What are the odds?" "Mr President, you know we've neverdone this before." "The odds?" "Your guess is as good as mine." "If you fail?" "The meteor will hit Earth two hours later." "Hit It Mr Sherwood.." "Get rid of it." " What is it?" "What's happened?" " Oh, nothing." "Nothing." "I just wondered if you'd taken time to eat." "Yes, I, uh, had some coffe." "That will only make you nervous." "You will do better with food." "You're absolutely right Let's go eat." "That's a pretty scarf." "Thank you." "How many children do you have?" "Two." "A boy and a girl." " How do you know I'm married?" " I asked Mr Sherwood.." "He also told me that you and your wife are... separated?" "I'll have a talk with Mr Sherwood.." "I hope you don't mind that I asked him about you." "No." "I would have asked Dr Dubov about you, but my Russian's limited." " Like some coffe?" " No, thank you." "What else you want to know?" "It would be too rude to ask." "Ask what you like." "Why are you and your wife separated?" "Nothing specific." "It uh, just happened." "It's, uh..." "No more talks, no more interests together." "It's what we here in America call, uh, "incompatibility"." "That's what we call it in Russia." "Yeah." "That sounds about right." " Ever thought of living elsewhere?" " No." " Not often." " Sometimes?" "Well..." "You'd like it here." "We've got everything." "Powercuts, strikes, unemployment, race riots and a terrific crime rate." "Yamashiro on the Hong Kong monitor reporting another splinter." "Yes, Clark?" "We've just received a transmission from a TWA jet overthe Pacific." "There was an explosion at sea, heavy enough to knock out two engines." "The plane's heading for Taiwan." "They've reported a tidal wave, 100 feet high, heading towards Hong Kong." "Radar contact with the wave establishes height stabilised at 100 feet" "Speed is constant 600 miles an hour." "Fifteen minutes before it hits us." " Can you hear it?" " Yesl Get out of there." "It's no use." "Get the big one, Paul." "Get it." "Fifteen minutes from now the Russian rockets will be launched." "Forty minutes after, our own rockets will be sent to join them." "They will strike the meteor, sending it into a harmless orbit nevermore to menace Earth." "It is Sunday." "Stay in your homes." "Have faith." "There is nothing we can do but wait" "We will let you know when the danger has passed." "Launch director says go." "We've been cleared to launch." " Clear..." " Roger..." "Standby for clear release." "Clear." "Release on time." "You copy?" "Clear." "Release was on?" " Autopllot light on." " Thank you." "Thirty seconds and counting." "Twenty-five seconds." "Zero-six-one-four..." "Twenty seconds." "Engines start." "Fifteen seconds." "Engines have started." "Ten seconds." "Seven, six, five, four... three..." "Ignition." "Blast-off!" "No problems." "We are on our way." "Miss Donskaya?" "Would you please be good enough to convey my congratulations to Dr Dubov?" "My apologies, Bradley." "I was very wrong." " If there's anything i can do..." " Thank you." "I'll be in my office ifyou need me." "Hercules launch minus three minutes." "All stations report on readiness." "Power operating at correct levels." "Engine parameters all OK." "Hercules targeted correctly..." "Ground facilities have conformation Hercules has received and stored the launch command." " Yes, Sir Michael?" " I've got some serious news." " I'd like a word with Dr Bradley." " Yes, sir." "Dr Bradley?" "Sir Michael would like to talk to you." "We've picked up another splinter." " A big one." " Direction?" "The United States." " The eastern seaboard." " You mean us?" " Near enough." " Due when?" "Just about now." "Can you advance Hercules?" "No way." "Stand by." "Coming up on 90 seconds and counting." "Stand by." "Mark, 90 seconds." "We wait" "We don't fire, and we go out of action." "The Russian rockets aren't enough." "We wait" "Clear." "Release on time." "Copy?" "Clear." "Release was on time." " 55 seconds." " Thank you." "Auto pilot light on." "Forty seconds and counting." "Thirty seconds and counting." "Twenty seconds." "Seven, six, five, four..." "Ignition." " Godl" " Somebody help me." "Somebody help Manheim." " You all right?" " I'm all right" "But I.." "I think..." " Let's go." " Don'tworry." " Help me, please." " Take a look" "This is Ops Chief Goldstone reporting to Houston." "Motor burns on all rocket engines for both satellites appear nominal." "Easton again." "The situation is A-1." "All rockets functional." "66 minutes to impact." "We'll relay Information." "There's been no contact from New York." "Have you heard?" "Nothing from the centre." "The rest of the city's in shambles." "No way." "Dr Bradley, vould you vome here, please?" "Listen, everybody." "Listen carefully." "The exit from the canteen has been blocked." "We can get out through the support room." "We'll need flashlights." "You head up the lead." "I'll pick up the stragglers." "Everybody head for the subway tunnel." "Have you got batteries forthe flashlight?" "Here, take this one." "Just take this flashlight." "Come on." "The rest of you stay where you are." "Chanhel five of Peter the Great indicates number 4 and 7 rockets have malfunctioned." "Goldstone tracking reports Peter the Great has lost two." " How bad is that?" " There's a safety margin of five." "After the rockets join up, they'll attack the meteor in three waves." "Tlme to impact 35 minutes, 42 seconds." " Can we go through?" " Yes." "It's OK butthere's a subway car blocking the tunnel." "Get the others." "It'll be all right" "Harry, the river's breaking through!" "Through that car!" "Hurry up!" "This way, through the car!" "Hurry up." "Through the car." "Help!" "That way!" "Come on, come on!" "Oh, my God." "It's no use." "Get in." "You OK?" "Come on." "Come on!" "Come on." "Fourteen minutes till impact" "Fourteen minutes." "Ten degrees." "We're losing one from Hercules." "Time to impact?" "Thirteen minutes, 29 seconds." "What was that?" "He said one day you will come to Moscow and you will see a clean subway." "One day I'll take him up on that" "How long?" "Three minutes." "Two minutes, 50 seconds." "Tracking stations report no more loss." "Keep your fingers crossed." "Helicopters over the city report tremendous damage." "All local radio and television stations are not functioning." "Here at WADW in New Jersey, we'll keep you informed throughout the day." "Any second now." "We're interrupting our coverage to bring an announcement just received from Houston." "Three minutes ago at 10.38, the combined rockets of the United States and the USSR struck the meteor, which has for five days been coming towards us." "The danger is passed." "Quiet down, everybody." "Listen, listen." "With the compliments of the Dodgers." "Dodgersl" "Baseball."