Collision Earth Page #3

---

and the Nautilus spacecraft.

- Is that right?

- Yeah, that's right.

- So if you could just please...

- Excuse me, sir,

the Nautilus is having

severe mechanical malfunctions

and they can't

get a hold of Mission Ops,

but they can

get a hold of my radio.

- We were sent here to see Jennifer...

- This is a secure facility.

No one gets in without

an appointment or a pass.

- Yeah, I understand that, but...

- That was me telling you nicely.

Don't make me tell you again.

Let's go.

- Great.

Let's go.

James, I know what must be

going through your head right now.

Then you'll stop

the small talk.

It's just we don't know

anything for sure yet.

There's a very good chance

that she's alive.

Mercury didn't disappear.

It was knocked out of orbit.

- I tracked its gravity...

- And my wife...

probably should be walking

on Mercury right now.

Now pieces of it

are landing on the Earth.

You understand?

They didn't believe us.

- The guard wouldn't even call Jennifer.

- Fascist.

What should we do now?

Find my husband,

Dr. James Preston.

He'll be at our home

in Pacific Grove.

433 Ocean Beach Drive.

Come on, James.

Look, I don't care if your facility's

on lockdown, okay?

Try her number again

'cause I need to talk to her.

- Sir, you need to calm down.

- Oh, I need to calm down?

I used to work here, okay?

I can't call her

because my phone doesn't work.

It's urgent.

Stand down.

James, you need to leave.

You know you can't be here.

I can't share

classified information with you.

What about Mercury?

Is that classified?

- Look, we know all about Mercury.

- Do you?

Do you also know

it's magnetized?

He's with me.

You, stay there.

- What the hell is he doing here?

- Show him.

Nice trick.

So what?

This thing,

this was attached to Mercury.

You have to recalculate

the planet's trajectory

based on magnetism.

What exactly

are you trying to tell me?

Massive magnetar wave

hit Mercury.

It is now

extremely magnetized.

If it's anywhere near Earth,

it'll lock on to our magnetic field...

it'll come straight for us.

Well, we've tracked its trajectory,

and while it is headed our way,

we're comfortably certain

that it will miss us.

You're not factoring in

the magnetism.

You have to recalculate.

Based on our new data,

the calculations show

the trajectory has changed.

Oh, my God.

Mercury's on

a collision course with Earth.

Look at the distance

it's covered.

- It's moving faster.

- It's locked on to us.

Earth's magnetic field

is drawing it in.

It's like two magnets

pulling it together.

This is beyond

an extinction level event.

- This is the end of the world.

- How long have we got?

Just over 18 hours.

Okay, people, this is why

we have a contingency plan.

Initiate Operation Recourse.

I wanna be online in 30 minutes.

Yes, sir.

Edward...

Operation Recourse won't work.

Your missiles aren't strong enough

to stop a planet.

We are not trying

to stop Mercury.

We're gonna deflect it.

The missiles will cause

coordinated standoff explosions

in front of the planet

and drive it off course.

I already know

what your plan is.

You're assuming

that your guidance system

will withstand

a magnetic interference

and synchronize the blast.

They can go off course.

They could explode

before they get there.

Worse, they get sucked back

into the planet,

they blow it to fragments,

they wipe us out anyway!

Our missiles

are properly shielded.

Not against this.

Going ahead with this launch,

you're choosing suicide

over a firing squad.

Your sarcasm

is really better suited

to your community

college lectures.

You don't have a say

in what we do here.

We launch as soon as Mercury

is within our firing range.

Edward, Edward, listen.

What about Project 7?

This is exactly

what it was designed for.

The deflector never worked

in field testing, not once.

Without that,

it's just a big rock with engines.

We've been modifying the software,

we've been working out the bugs.

You pulled it so you

can give your contracts

to your rocket

manufacturing buddies.

Well, if that's the way you want to see

your failure, that's your business,

but, regardless,

we don't have time to dust it off now.

I can get

the deflector field to work.

I've been uploading

the software since I left.

I'm sorry.

You've been doing what?

- Hacking into a government weapon?

- That's my weapon.

It hasn't been your weapon

since I fired you three years ago.

I could have you thrown

in prison for this.

It'll work.

Just gotta let me

upload the fixes.

We don't have the time

or resources

to launch two programs.

We're only gonna get

one shot at this...

and I am not gonna risk

the fate of humanity

on your unproven technology.

I think you know

the way out.

Okay.

Wait.

- Which way?

- I don't know.

Is this North Coast Road?

I don't know.

There's no road signs.

Let's try this way.

And you're sure P-7 is the key

to stopping Mercury?

- Stake my life on it.

- Sounds like you'll be staking

- everyone's life on it, James.

- My software updates will work.

We just need to upload them

to get P-7 fully online.

- That sounds easy enough.

- We just need to go to my office,

get the software, then we need

a secure SPEAR computer.

Did you say we?

Hello?

Mr. Preston?

Whoa.

- Hey, hey, keep the car straight.

- It's not me.

It's the ground that's moving.

Whoa.

Oh, my God.

- It's metal.

- What?

It's not trees,

it's not telephone poles.

Whatever that is,

it only affected metal.

This must all be

connected to Mercury.

It has to be.

That's not good.

That's not good at all.

We've just received report...

Seattle's been devastated

by a massive magnetic event.

- How far are we from launching?

- We've had to recalculate.

Mercury's speeding up and we're having

a hard time keeping a lock on it.

We have a very small window

to launch these missiles

and we're running

out of time.

What happened

to your security pass?

- Find Preston.

- Yes, sir.

Just follow me.

Oh, wait.

I read on the Internet somewhere

that you can open up any door

with a credit card.

I think, eh,

yeah, you just...

I don't know.

People never leave

these things locked.

Right.

Mr. Preston?

Is anyone home?

Hello?

Hey, come here.

God, the phones

still aren't working.

There's nothing here.

Nothing useful anyways.

- What is that?

- I don't know.

Looks like some kind of weapon.

Whose car is that?

What kind of guy keeps plans

for a top secret weapon on his computer?

If he were here right now,

I'd give him a piece of my mind.

What the hell

are you doing in my house?

- Look, your wife sent us.

- What are you talking about?

We talked to her.

She's in trouble.

We can prove it.

- Yeah.

What?

Well, it's just over there.

Please?

So I used

some of today's engineering

with yesterday's

analog technology

with a few experimental bits

here and there and voil.

It broadcasts and receives

farther than you can imagine.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes