To the Core and Back Page #5

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and made me a consultant.

I'm sorry, this is really delicate.

And I have it just the way I want it.

So... excuse me.

Uh... Yeah. Then they brought me in

when the pacemakers quit,

and... boom, you know,

I'm Apocalypse Boy.

Apocalypse Boy?

Yeah. I'm having T-shirts made up.

Well, hats sell better.

You know, it's funny, because

that is right where it should be.

Well...

I'm sorry. I'm a little

ragged around the edges.

I'm just trying to get

this thing to focus correctly.

- This is cool, but can I just...?

- Well... Mm-hm.

It's better. It's better. Ah...

[electrical zapping]

God, I hate this sky.

- [crashing sounds]

- [alarm blaring]

[sighs]

[Bob] Crashing one ship

isn't enough for you?

Hey. Practice makes perfect.

You can practise all you like.

It doesn't mean you're ready

to sit on that seat.

So you keep reminding me, sir.

You know, I doubt

you're even going to listen to this,

but I'm going to give it a shot.

Being a leader isn't about ability.

It's about responsibility.

- Got it, sir.

- No, you don't, Beck.

I mean, you're not just responsible

for making good decisions.

You have to be responsible

for the bad ones.

You got to be ready

to make the shitty call.

- What makes you think I'm not?

- Because you're so good.

You haven't hit anything

you couldn't beat.

I mean, hell, you were the one who

figured out how to save the shuttle.

You made me, you made the rest

of NASA just look like an ass.

It's just that

you're used to winning...

...and you're not really

a leader until you've lost.

[Braz] $20 billion has been spent

developing this system...

[Josh] Oh, come on, guys,

the chefs at NASA...

- I wouldn't call them chefs.

- [all arguing]

I want wine! I need wine!

It's about nutrition.

In five days, I think...

- Whoa!

- [Zapping]

That's high-level static discharge.

I think we should check this out.

This doesn't look so good.

[rapid chattering]

[Josh] It's a lightning superstorm.

- Popping up all over the world.

- Got 'em. Tracking.

Uh-oh. Rome does not look good.

[electrical zapping]

[crowd murmuring]

[patrons chattering]

[man speaks foreign language on TV]

[hissing]

[all shouting]

[howls]

[all screaming]

[screaming continues]

[Sirens]

[woman speaking foreign language on TV]

This planet is decaying faster

than we thought.

It's just the start.

Soon they'll be EM spikes and microwaves

will break through the weak spots and...

All right. Get this ship

in the ground. Now.

Fihunde

[sneezes]

[groans]

Summer in the Pacific.

Yeah, the world is inside out.

[Serge] I was saving this

for later, but...

- ...this is the time for...

- [laughs]

- Josh, do you mind?

- No, not at all. Yeah.

We should have a name

for this baby.

- Oh, she's called Virgil, actually.

- Virgil,

the poet that led our man

into the depths of hell?

- That's it.

- That's appropriate, I guess.

Well, here's to Virgil.

To the planet.

[all] To Virgil.

No flashbulbs, no press,

nobody cheering. It's... weird.

Let's go.

Fihunde

[chattering]

[Bob] Cabin pressure, TSI, 3.5.

[Beck] Check.

[Bob] E CS cabin repress open

And repress VLV closed.

- Check.

- Fluid dump valve.

We are about to begin ourjourney

into the heart of the cosmos...

- [Bob] Close.

- ...Into the core of our own planet.

- Where we find therein...

- [Beck] Check.

- ...the secrets of the universe...

- [Bob] ...3.5 PSI.

- ...the mysteries of time...

- [Bob] Helen circuit lockup.

- [Beck] Check.

- ...hope for the future.

- [Bob] And signal.

- Deep Earth Control, this is Virgil.

- Signal check.

- This is Deep Earth Control.

I have thumbs-up across the board.

You are clear to initiate power-up.

Reactor power confirmed.

[Stick] At 1,000 rpm, we will

countdown to launch. On your mark.

Pad leader, stand by for launch.

All right, Virgil.

- Mark.

- Gantry count. Ten, nine,

eight, seven, six, five, four...

...three, two, one... launch.

- Five hundred feet.

- Levelling out.

OK, guys, let's swing forward.

- Eight hundred feet.

- Light 'em up, Beck.

[beeping]

- Gyro levelling operational.

- Hull integrity holding.

I'm going to keep her nose

down about 15 degrees and...

- [whale sounds]

- Oh, my goodness.

They're singing to us.

Virgil's resonance tubes are powered up,

so they're vibrating subsonically.

Actually, we're singing to them.

[hull creaking]

What's our depth?

Sixteen hundred feet,

plenty of room on both sides.

- Hull integrity is good.

- You sure?

Let's increase impeller speed. I think

we'll be needing additional control.

- [beeping]

- Stick, I'm getting a seismic reading.

- What's happening?

- T-phase. Underwater earthquake.

[rumbling]

Still think the water-launch

was a good idea?

Yes, yes, I chose this location

because the crust is thin here.

The downside is... there's lots

of seismic activity.

Four thousand feet.

You see that rock?

That is not good.

We're losing steering here.

There's some kind of crosscurrent.

Fourteen thousand feet.

OK, guys, fasten your seat belts.

We're turning into the skid.

Eighteen thousand.

- Eighteen-five.

- They're going way too fast.

[alarm blaring]

- Twenty-one thousand feet.

- We hit the wall,

we're rabbits on the highway.

[Braz] Pressure, pressure,

pressure, pressure.

What do you mean, pressure? I thought

you said this thing was indestructible!

I said the pressure makes us stronger.

We just don't have enough of it yet.

We're at 25,000 feet. Pull out, sir.

- Can't.

- What?

- We're locked in.

- Go to full throttle.

Standby to engage front

and lateral lasers, please.

But what if we hit bottom

in ten seconds here?

Just give it a couple of more seconds.

The lasers will fire.

No, there's not enough time

for power-up.

Twenty-seven thousand feet.

[Braz] The lasers will deploy.

Twenty-nine thousand feet.

- Do it!

- And...

- Do it!

- Now.

[monitor beeps]

- [beeping]

- And we've got a signal.

- [man] All right.

- [all applaud]

All right. [clears throat] Switching on

electron spin burst transmitters.

Ah, plotting through

lowest density material,

- reconfiguring every five minutes.

- [exhales]

Hull integrity 100 per cent.

Reactor power 100 per cent.

- All green on the bomb compartment.

- Speed is 60 knots.

[laughs] Hot damn.

All right, we'll be through the crust

in 15 minutes and into the mantle.

Twenty-four hours to the core,

and then assuming we survive...

- Assuming?

- Yes, assuming.

Another 15 hours to the

inner core-outer core border.

[beeping]

- They're doing well.

- The crust is just rock.

Now, it gets interesting.

Virgil, can we get a status check?

We're about to make

the transition into the mantle.

- [rumbling]

- Come on, come on.

[exhales]

Well, exterior pressure

is 800,000 pounds per square inch.

And hull integrity is 100 per cent.

It's as if we we're diving

through the memories of the planet.

But we are about to pass

from memory into madness.

Are you going to be doing

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