Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike Page #7

It was all my doing.

You blew up your own mines.

Don't.

What?

We lost the 22 Transmountain Express

and the whole Taggart Tunnel.

- Casualties?

- Not sure yet.

At least 200 on our side.

The Army Special, five troop cars,

maybe another 200.

What are they doing about it?

Not much.

Don't let James screw up

anything else until I get there.

Dagny, don't go back.

Hey!

I'm trying to save you...

You're not trying to save a damn thing.

In what could be the nation's

worst ever rail disaster,

a Transcontinental train and another,

still unidentified, train

have collided in the world famous

Taggart Tunnel in southern Colorado.

Though there is no official

casualty count,

there are no reports of survivors.

Who is John Galt?

- Eddie.

- Dagny, thank God!

I'm glad you're back from vacation.

You need to take some

responsibility around here.

We need all of our

best people on this right now.

Start with Central Region.

Get me Ryan on the line first.

Ryan's a no-show.

- Then get me Knowland.

- Gone.

- Andrews?

- Gone.

McGuire?

Do we have any of

our quality people left?

You're looking at 'em.

How long until they

get that tunnel open?

- I didn't...

- That's all right.

We need a go-around, Eddie.

Get me the old rail maps.

The ones we used before 1950.

All right.

OK, the Taggart Tunnel

is closed for now.

We'll open the old grade... here.

We haven't run heavy trains

on those tracks in years.

Put high rail trucks and hand

crews in front of every train.

Better safe than sorry,

but better moving than not.

Everything with wheels rolls.

I'm going to Colorado.

If I have to dig open that

tunnel with a soup spoon

we are going to open that route.

Dagny, you need to be here.

You mean you need me to do your job.

Well... what do we tell the press?

Mr. Mouch.

Just when I thought there wasn't a

problem in the world I didn't have.

Miss Taggart, we're all very

appreciative that you cut short

your temporary leave of absence.

I just want you to know you'll

have the government's full support.

If the government had stayed

out of the way to begin with,

we wouldn't have

hundreds of people dead.

It's lamentable.

I understand that you're upset,

it's upsetting to everyone.

Your rail road links this nation

together. The public relies on it.

That's why I'm willing to grant you

Special Government Exceptions

to Directive 10-289

in order to bring this crisis

to a speedy resolution.

I ignore you altogether,

and you stay out of my way.

I knew we could count

on your full cooperation.

Tell them to hold the Comet.

Your plane's being fueled as we speak.

Hold the Comet, reserve my car.

I'm the face of

Taggart Transcontinental.

I'm taking the train.

Hello?

Are you ready, Mr. Daniels?

- Are you the only one still working?

- I don't know. Could be.

- But I've got my job to do.

- Any idea what the problem is?

Seems like an E-C-U malfunction.

Any idea how long it'll take to fix it?

Could be two hours.

Could be a few days.

Hey, you're Dagny Taggart.

Depends.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

That's a great, I'd say.

Gee, you're a legend.

This is an honor. Thank you for my job.

I'm... I'm Jeff Allen. Trackman.

Taggart Transcontinental.

Where'd you get the hat, Jeff Allen?

Yeah, well.

Those were great days... for a while.

What happened at

Twentieth Century Motor Company?

Who is John Galt?

I wish I knew who started

that expression.

That, that might've been me.

What?

Well, me, or somebody else

who worked at the plant

back in Starnesville, Wisconsin.

He used to work there.

What happened there?

Well, Mr. Starnes passed and his heirs

took over. They wasn't worth a lick.

They had this big plan about

how they were gonna run the place,

and we were all gonna belong

to each other, like a big family.

And the idea was that everybody

would work to best of his ability,

but be paid according to his needs.

That's when John Galt stood up

and said he'd have no part of it.

How would they know

whose needs came first?

Now that is the rub, isn't it?

Yeah.

It fell apart pretty quick.

The best workers had to work harder

and the needy got needier.

Worker turned against worker.

What happened to John Galt?

You know, nobody knew too

much about him, really.

I just remember, when he walked out

he swore that he was gonna...

...he was gonna put an end to

the whole thing once and for all.

"I will stop the motor of the world."

I mean, what kind of thing is

that to say, really, but...?

I'll tell you something,

ever since that day,

every time I saw the lights go out

and some factory close...

...I thought about that man.

I thought, maybe that's him...

...doing what he said...

...stopping the motor of the world.

May I please borrow your truck?

What's to borrow?

It's your truck.

- Thanks.

- Yep.

- Quentin!

- Taggart, hello.

You asked me find the person

who created the motor?

- I think I have the answer.

- Really?

That's great.

Actually, I was just about to call you.

- Tell me you've made progress.

- I did, I really did.

That's not the... thing that...

I guess that's everything.

See, I can't work for you anymore.

I have to resign.

That's fine, Quentin.

I respect that.

Let's talk about this in person,

face to face.

Honestly, there's nothing you

can say to make me change my mind.

Don't move. Don't do anything.

I'll be there in a few hours.

You'll be too late.

Excuse me...

I'd like to rent that antique.

I'm sorry, it's not for rent.

Is it for sale?

Everything's for sale.

Eddie, I'm flying to Utah.

- Utah?

- Long story.

I'll double back to Colorado

after I've met with Quentin Daniels.

Sounds good.

Jeff Allen.

Double his salary... triple it.

And get him a new truck ASAP.

I stole his.

- I'll see you soon, Eddie.

- Done.

Afton tower, this is Whiskey-Papa

Four-Zero-Niner, requesting permission

to land.

Whiskey-Papa,

Four-Zero-Niner, this is Afton tower,

you're clear to land.

Use runway 2-4 right.

Departing aircraft 2-4 left.

Oh, no.

Come on.

Pull, baby, pull.

Who is John Galt?

Don't move, Miss Taggart.

You're hurt.

You know me?

Of course.

For many years.

Who are you?

I am John Galt.

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