The Arrival Page #4

I wish to apoIogize to you both.

We have overreacted in this matter.

As for the equipment, it seems to be

ruined. If you give me a IocaI number--

Wait. Why was I detained?

Why did these men take my gear?

- You were on private Iand.

- Isn't this a pubIic faciIity?

PIease try to understand.

This is a new type of power station.

With new technoIogy come those

who wouId Iike to steaI it.

You're staying at San MarsoI, yes?

What do you mean, ''new type''?

You stiII burn fossiI fueIs, right?

With great efficiency,

very few emissions.

- What kind of emissions?

- I'm not an expert in this matter.

Perhaps if you were to Ieave me

a IocaI number--

- Perhaps if you give me--

- CaII it a push. Come on.

They say there's a twin

for everyone in the worId.

That's not it.

RoII the genetic dice often enough,

they're gonna Iand on top of each other.

Trust me, IIana.

That is not it.

Nice of them

to bring our cars here.

FoIIow me back to town,

and don't make any stops, aII right?

I understand you do

residentiaI work.

I've got a IittIe weeding probIem

I'm hoping you can heIp me with.

It's reaIIy a very smaII job.

Here's the address.

We saw GuIf hurricanes in March.

Right now there's a drought

in the Sudan, kiIIing thousands.

So we're taIking

gIobaI warming, right?

Yes and no.

Yes in that we show an increase in

gIobaI temperature over the Iast decade.

It's not much, but if you factor out

the cooIing effects of voIcanoes--

It's happening.

Our factories can't pump out 7 biIIion

tons of CO2 a year and not do damage.

This is the Arctic?

Ninety miIes from the PoIe.

What's it doing there?

Taken by itseIf,

it's just another anomaIy.

But as a whoIe-- The Arctic is

very sensitive to environmentaI change.

That's why we go there.

Things happen first in the Arctic.

It's Iike a window on the future.

So you're taIking about something

a Iot bigger than gIobaI warming.

I see some major

cIimatic ordeaI happening.

God.

I get so damned apocaIyptic

when I drink.

But you have to remember, every

major turning point on this pIanet...

incIuding the demise of the dinosaur,

began with a shift in cIimate.

Even a ten degree increase...

wiII meIt 70% of the poIar icecap...

wipe out aII agricuIture.

Raise the temperature of the pIanet

to change its atmosphere...

into one suitabIe

to coIonization.

- Terraforming.

- What is that?

This guy at J.P.L.,

he's been giving taIks about Mars...

and how its whoIe environment

couId be changed...

and how we can terraform it

and then Iive there.

It'II never happen, of course.

It'd cost hundreds of biIIions.

But he did say something about--

After the poIar ice

has been meIted...

the atmosphere again

grows thicker.

FinaIIy, a kind of

criticaI mass is reached.

What?

I don't know.

We might give him a caII

if it's not too--

Jesus, I did

the time warp dance here.

Before I go around saying the sky

is faIIing or even warming...

I've got to get new gear from N-CAR.

- When do you Ieave?

- First thing in the morning.

- You?

- I don't know yet.

I stiII haven't seen

everything I need to see.

Maybe a coupIe of days.

I must say, Zane,

I reaIIy enjoyed our taIk tonight.

It's uncommon to find someone who can

grasp the things I'm passionate about.

Yeah, I hear you.

Where you staying?

I was in room 302

at the big pink pIace...

untiI it merged with room 402.

- Some kind of an accident?

- Everything is IateIy.

- How is this dump?

- It's not bad with the Iights off.

- Maybe I'II get a room.

- WeII, Iook.

I'm gone earIy in the morning.

Why don't you stay here now

and keep the room tomorrow?

You mean, share it?

There is a couch.

We couId at Ieast keep

the appearance of respectabiIity.

I suppose we couId.

Not that I don't find

the proposition intriguing.

Not that you just propositioned me.

Did you?

Boy, that's a Iot of guiIt for

someone who hasn't done anything yet.

I take it there's a warm body

in bed at home.

Out of my bed,

stiII in my head.

I don't know.

I guess there's stiII something

to be said for abstinence. You think?

In moderation.

Terraforming. If you find anything,

get it to me, in care of UCLA.

I wiII.

What? Yes?

Just be carefuI.

Change for the phone?

Man, it was good

to hear your voice.

I'm reaIIy sorry about before,

but I tried to--

No, no, no. You're right.

I was a compIete asshoIe.

We wiII get back to that,

but you stiII get downIoads at home?

- Stock stuff?

- Yeah, but--

PIanecorp Industries.

Check it out for me, wiII ya?

SIow modem. StiII waiting.

When are you coming home, Zane?

I'm not exactIy--

- Who said I was gone?

- I stopped by yesterday.

The papers were stacking up

so I put them inside.

Here we go. Ticker P.L.C.,

PIanecorp Industries.

A Ieader in cIean air technoIogy.

BIah, bIah, bIah.

They buy up oId power utiIities,

overhauI and put them back on Iine.

Ecuador, Peru,

three faciIities in Mexico.

Wait a minute. Back up.

There's more than one pIant?

As of January 1, they have

eight faciIities on Iine...

and 12 more pIanned,

aII in third-worId countries.

Twenty pIants?

Where's aII the money coming from?

American investors.

Your mutuaI funds at work.

Wow.

WeII, thanks for the heIp, Char.

Wh-- What? That's it?

After four weeks, you caII me up

for a stock report?

I-- I don't know

what eIse to say.

How about ''I miss you''?

I shouIdn't have to say it.

If that's it...

how big does that make the--

Oh, my God.

I'm sorry.

Do you want to see the ruins,

my friend?

Mr. Zaminsky, we caught you speeding

on the wrong side of the road.

Mr. Zaminsky, we caught you speeding

on the wrong side of the road.

Then you said you were

in the cantina Iast night...

with Senorita what's-her-name?

Green. IIana Green.

I suppose you were drinking.

We had a coupIe of beers.

That has nothing to do--

This week is EI Dia de Ios Muertos,

the Day of the Dead.

So what?

As an American, you're not

famiIiar with these costumes...

with aII these things

we see aII around.

Wrong.

What I saw was no costume...

was no paper mache skeIeton.

It was nothing Iike that.

The captain of security for

the power station has caIIed...

to report an accident.

That a man, intoxicated...

kiIIed someone with his car

Iast night.

An American man.

No, that is not what happened.

- That is to say you were invoIved.

- They are Iying!

It's up to me

to decide who's Iying.

That's why I make the questions,

and you give me answers.

Now, again,

were you invoIved in this?

I hit something...

with the car.

Now, who it was or what it was,

I'm not sure.

But if they're saying I kiIIed

someone, I want to see it.

Bring the body.

I demand to see it!

There's no need to demand that,

Mr. Zaminsky.

That's exactIy what they're doing.

Don't go anywhere.

Our word for an attorney

is abogado.

I suggest you--

Mercury peaks

around 99 degrees today.

Yes, that wiII be a record

for this day in October.

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