Asteroid vs. Earth Page #2

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While thank you very much.

Wow it is late.

It's so late it's early.

You feel good.

Are you for real?

You tell me.

Scared?

Oh I'm terrified.

You should be.

You could be a foreign agent.

Marissa Knox!

I'm Gunnery Sergeant Luiz Zuniga.

Military Police from Koror

Hafen Naval Base.

I'm here to escort you to the USS Polk.

That's my sub.

Commander?

Steady your weapon, Gunny.

I apologize, sir. But

Ms. Knox has to come with us.

I'm not gonna do anything.

Under who's orders are you acting?

Orders come directly from

Air Force Chief of Staff

General Masterson's command.

- We better go.

- Ms. Knox, please.

Come on.

What the hell?

Stop the car.

Sir I have direct orders

Now Gunny!

Excuse me?!

What are you doing with my HROV?

Rouse!

It's nice to see you Commander.

What the hell are your

A-Gangers doing here?

We're voiding the manufacturer's

warranty if you ask me.

Don't take my word for it.

Ask the Skipper.

You can't do this. This is my mini-sub!

Welcome to the Navy ma'am.

If you'll excuse me, Commander.

The Captain is waiting

for you on board, Commander.

Ms. Knox.

Captain Rogers.

Commander.

Ms. Knox.

Have you two met?

Oh.

Ms. Knox,

on the behalf of

the Department of Defense,

I apologize.

I wish I could tell you why

you are here but,

I can't.

I simply don't know.

So, I suggest we call Keck and see if

General Masterson could explain it.

Warren.

USS Polk for Keck observatory,

come in.

Stand by.

Sir, we have a connection,

bringing it up now.

- Is this working on it's own now?

- Yes, sir.

- I'd appreciate it if you wait for us in the hall.

- Yes, sir.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm Major Sara.

Please hold for Jim Masterson,

Air Force Chief of Staff

with oversight of US STRATCOM,

United States Strategic Command.

General.

Thank you, Major.

We're under extraordinary circumstances,

so let's skip with the pleasantries.

I'm kind of in an awkward

situation as none of

you have the security

clearance for the briefing.

I wish beyond measure

I didn't have to give.

So I must insist on your word

that this remains classified.

No one may know, not even on the Polk.

- Captain?

- Yes, sir.

- Commander?

- Yes, sir.

Ms. Knox.

General I was dragged

here against my will

under some very

suspicious circumstances.

I'd like a little bit of information

before I give you my word on anything.

Then I'll rely on your good sense,

Ms. Knox.

Telly. Please.

It's uh pretty straightforward really.

Um, an asteroid is 8 days,

4 hours from impacting...

The Earth.

How large an asteroid?

Good question.

Based on the orbital deviation in

its path and its gravitational influence

I'd probably say...

At least 200 miles wide.

Is that big for an asteroid?

I mean, it sounds pretty big.

66 million years ago an asteroid

impacted earth on the Yucatan Peninsula.

It was about 6 miles wide.

And it killed the dinosaurs.

General, have we launched interceptors

to deflect or destroy it?

Air Force Global Strike command

along with other nuclear powers,

has launched an interdiction effort.

I will most certainly fail.

Who are you, Telly?

I'm the Keck intern.

Discovered the meteor.

Continue Telly.

The asteroid is effectively

impossible to move

with the tools and time at our disposal.

So uh,

I want us to move the Earth instead.

What exactly are you suggesting?

Well that's why you're here.

Um, we set off Earthquakes

around the Pacific Ocean.

Generating a cumulative

seismographic impact

over 18 on the Richter scale.

At just the right place,

at just the right time...

by the equator near sunset...

That's over a trillion times more energy then

any nuclear detonation you'll ever have. So

it will definitely move the Earth

out of the Asteroid's way.

You want me to blow up the Yap Trench?

No one else on the submarine,

no one else on Palau,

no one else at Woods Hole,

Scripps or Jacque Cousteau's

great-grandson knows as more

about the Yap Trench as you do Ms. Knox.

And no one knows how to operate that HROV.

So I'm putting you in charge of

the placement, timing, size

and detonation of the nuclear charges.

- Commander?

- Yes, sir.

You once served as Weps on

the Virginia, is that correct?

Yes, sir.

Lt. Rudy Marzyk is Weps on the Polk now.

He's a very dependable man.

That's good because he'll be on shore guarding

the 2 SLBM's we're off-loading

to make room for the HROV.

You will now answer to Ms. Knox

as weapons officer Commander.

In addition to your

responsibilities as Executive Officer.

Gentlemen. Ms. Knox.

Please succeed.

The Earth is depending on you.

What he's suggesting could kill

over 50% of the people on this planet.

If the alternative is all of us,

we don't have a choice, do we?

Let's get cracking.

Uh, Sir.

Um...

The sun and the moon

are entering a spring tide.

And they are aligning in a straight

line relative to Earth,

that is causing really powerful

high and low tides.

That's what the calendar tells me,

but the rest of it...

The asteroid is also aligning

with the sun and the moon.

And it's way closer

or bigger then we thought.

Or both.

Right. In addition to causing the floods

and other weather related disasters.

I'm well aware of that son.

Um, the gravitational influence

of the asteroid,

it also seems to be weakening

the Earth's cohesion.

Increasing the probability

of sub-ductal slippage.

Meaning we'll have more

Earthquakes naturally.

What's the delay, Lieutenant?

Pardon me, sir.

Did you just ask me what the delay is?

We need to disembark before low tide,

So yes, I'm asking what

the delay is, Mr. Rouse.

My men have had 8 hours

to do a 6 month retrofit

that would have taken 6 years

of testing in dry-dock just to confirm

that it was physically possible to do.

Well it looks like you're doing

a good job Lieutenant, so carry on.

It looks like my nephew just

wiped his dirty diaper all over my boat.

Sir, I can't vouch for this work.

Certainly nor for you to go pleasure

cruising with your girlfriend.

If we're lucky Lieutenant,

one day you'll feel like a jackass

for saying that and we'll both laugh at it.

In the mean time, secure whatever

supplies you need to get make this ship

sea-worthy to crush depth in 30 minutes.

If you need to make

modifications wet, do so.

But we sail in 30.

Aye aye, sir.

Sailor.

XO said it's good enough.

But sir it's almost wired.

XO's always right son.

Pack it up.

One of those day, huh?

You don't know the half of it.

You're gonna stay here

to watch the missiles.

I knew they'd want somebody

if this thing went pear-shaped.

How long you think before

they pick the black guy?

- Lieutenant.

- Commander.

Hey.

Yeah.

You should call Terry.

We're not speaking remember?

I'm phobic.

- Really? It's that bad?

- Yeah.

What do we talk about?

I don't know.

Your feelings. It'll lighten the mood.

Feelings.

Watch my boat, Chase.

And you watch my nukes.

Captain's on the bridge!

Captain on board, come in.

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