To the Core and Back Page #4

---

that the Class "A" landing mishap

experienced by the Shuttle Endeavour

was caused by biased navigational data

from the ground

due to a brief geomagnetic disturbance.

Major Childs,

the resourcefulness you showed

in determining

the descent vectors proved

that you have exceptional

navigational skills.

You've brought much credit

upon yourself,

the space programme

and the United States Air Force.

Congratulations, Major.

You are reassigned with Commander

lverson and Flight Director Stickley

to a new mission, effective immediately.

Transportation is waiting outside.

Good luck and Godspeed, Major.

[chattering]

[Serge] Are you sure you want

to wear this tie?

- [Josh] Why?

- [Serge] I don't know.

I mean, you look so nervous about it.

- You look so...

- So, how are you holding up?

- Oh, hi.

- I'm good, I'm good.

I'm about to tell a couple hundred

people the world is going to end.

- Well...

- I've had better days.

You look good.

Well, no, you don't look good.

Why did he touch his tie like that?

Thomas, let me speak

with you for a moment.

Listen, wouldn't you rather I did this?

I mean, given my reputation,

I think that...

No. No, Keyes is in

the lead here, Zimsky.

Yes. Thomas, this is the most important

scientific operation in history.

And given my status,

I feel that it's my job to present...

Project Destiny was your job, Zimsky.

And you went way beyond

authorised limits.

And let me tell... let me tell you,

I still, I want to know

if Destiny caused this problem.

It's highly unlikely,

but it may be the solution.

- Now, I have not finished checking...

- Excuse me.

Rebecca... I'm so glad I was wrong.

Right over left...

No, the other left, the other left.

- Gentlemen.

- And then you...

Gentlemen.

Commander lverson, Major Childs,

this is your crew:

- Dr. Brazzelton knows the ship.

- Hello.

- [Tom] Dr. Zimsky knows the planet.

- Doctor.

Dr. Leveque knows the weapons system.

- Excuse me, ladies first. Hi.

- [Tom] And Dr. Keyes... [clears throat]

Dr. Keyes built the navigation system.

- So...

- Hi. Rebecca Childs.

Bob lverson.

These are your fellow... fellow what?

- Terranauts?

- [Stick] Hello.

All this brain power over here

is starting to smell

like burning batteries.

- Y'all better come and join in.

- Yeah.

It's the simplest things

that are the hardest, huh?

Yeah. It's official. I'm the

least-qualified person on this base.

Dr. Keyes, I'm sure the people in charge

have every confidence in you.

Well, the problem is that I'm in charge.

- [chuckles] Yeah, I know.

- Can I help you?

Yes, please.

[clears throat]

You're an astronaut,

and you can tie a Windsor?

Mm-hm.

- Is there anything you can't do?

- Not that I'm aware of.

I find that incredibly intimidating.

Yep. Most people do.

Here.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

[Tom] Let me introduce our project

leader, Dr. Joshua Keyes.

[Josh] Thank you, thank you.

Good evening. Good evening.

Wow. This looks like a meeting

for Nobel Prize Winners Anonymous.

I know you are all

the finest in your fields

and have come a long way to be here.

So, I'll outline our programme

over the next three months.

Dr. Brazze/ton will supervise

the building of a ship

which is capable of reaching

the centre of our planet.

Once there, it will deliver

an explosive charge

large enough to restart its core.

Dr. Zimsky will calculate the scale

of the explosion needed.

[Zimsky] This is a program I designed

to simulate the effect

of nuclear detonations on the core.

If my calculations are correct,

a tiny nudge in any direction

will force the core back

into its normal flow.

What's a "tiny nudge"

in planetary terms?

- A thousand megatons, give or take?

- [Zimsky] Tops.

Because any more than that

would create a core instability.

[Serge] We made a few monster warheads

in the 200-megaton range.

Braz, do you think the ship

can handle five of these babies?

Yeah.

- I can enlarge the ejection pod...

- [Bob] Forgive me,

but, you know, I know

I'm not the expert here,

but what if the core

is thicker or thinner?

I mean, what if it's not

what you think it is?

Isn't that going to affect

the way the explosions are...?

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

And what if the core is made of cheese?

This is all best guess, Commander.

That's all science is, is best guess.

So my best guess is you don't know.

[Josh] With luck, irony will break

for the good guys for once,

and the world's biggest weapons

of mass destruction

will help save the world.

The ship will be powered by a small

experimental nuclear reactor.

It will be divided into six compartments

like cars on a train:

the locomotive unit,

navigation compartment,

living quarters, engineering,

bomb compartment

and finally the weapons-control module.

Up to a 45-degree angle, every

compartment will be held level

by these gyro control gimbals.

But if we do breach a section,

bulkhead doors engage automatically,

seal off the section in red, and eject.

- Is ejection really the best option?

- Only option.

Each damaged compartment

degrades the entire hull.

[Josh] The objective is simple.

The obstacles are gigantic.

We're going to need

all the help in the world,

but if we are to avoid

panic and chaos,

the world at large can never

know what's happening here.

Which is where our friend

Mr. Rat comes in.

[Rat] It's called Virus-bot. It's a

computer virus that will seek out files

anywhere on the Web that contain

keywords that we designate

and wipes them out.

This is my kung fu, and it is strong.

[Josh] Meanwhile, there are

a million puzzles ahead of us,

and we have three months

to solve them.

We have a committed

and ingenious team.

We have every resource

available to us, and we have the best

of the world's scientific

and technical talents on our side.

With your help we can,

we must... succeed.

[indistinct conversations]

- Feedback in the resonance tube.

- Talk to me, gentlemen.

[Serge] We are losing

structural integrity.

No, it's not feedback.

It's an impeller malfunction, I believe.

No, it's not, no. If it were

an impeller malfunction...

For God's sakes, Braz, make the call!

No, I'll make the call.

I should make the call.

[Beck] Sixty-five knots!

Depth, 8-5 thousand feet.

L0ok,guys...

It's a disaster!

[laughing]

[alarm blaring]

What part of "talk to me"

don't you guys understand?

For the 22nd time in a row,

everyone on Earth is dead.

Let's take a little quiet time,

and you all are going

to try this again.

- Hey

- Hi.

What is this?

Uh, well, it's... I invented it.

It's how you're going to...

going to steer underground.

It's... not very good reception.

[Josh] Well, uh, you're looking

through three feet of lead

at 50 yards away, so...

...it ain't bad.

It's like a CAT scan at a hospital,

but it's, uh, it's souped-up.

I invented it

for deep earth surveying.

And then the government came in,

bought my research,

paid off my student loan guys

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes