Original subtitles

Tonight, all eyes are on the moon as scientists around the world are piecing

together the causes of this unprecedented lunar phenomenon.

We're here on the campus of Plymouth Institute of Technology to speak with

astrophysicist Dr. Lana Gale.

Doctor, what can you tell us?

Well, basically we've been blindsided.

The orbit of an undetected asteroid has intersected with the moon's orbit and

the two have collided.

While we would like to think that we would always see something like this

coming, The sky is a vast place, and unfortunately we don't have all the

resources that we need to fully cover it.

And what can you tell us of what we're seeing up there?

What we're seeing is an impact cloud of debris and regolith that will eventually

subside. Regolith?

The powdery rock covering the lunar surface.

So I guess the more urgent question would be, is there any cause for alarm?

Well, these things are always more alarming when they happen so close to

but I think the best approach is to wait and see what happens, react to what

develops. As my father used to say, Dr. Lawrence Gale, the universe is a case of

unfinished business.

Thank you very much for your time, Dr. Gale. My pleasure.

How was it, Tony?

You were awesome!

You exuded confidence and clarity and strength and knowledge and expertise,

regolith?

That's what it's called.

I know that, but the average viewer isn't that knowledgeable.

Lana, did you eat anything? Because I kind of skipped dinner.

Oh, I'm sorry, Tony, no.

Please go home. I'll see you in the morning. No, I'll pick us up something.

We'll eat it here. We'll celebrate.

My treat.

Tuna salad, no mayo, heavy Dijon.

Thank you.

Senator, can you tell us whether the collision on the moon causes any danger

here on Earth?

Well, for obvious reasons, it's premature to launch into any kind of

at this time.

What I can say is that we at ASI are assuming the leadership role in

interpreting the incoming data gathered by the international scientific

community.

ASI is the definitive space agency in the world today, and we have our

best people analyzing this phenomenon.

Very shortly, we'll be presenting our analysis to the White House, where...

press conference will follow.

Dr. Pender, one more question.

What would happen if a similar asteroid were to hit the Earth?

Depending on speed and trajectory, there would be...

Garth, Dr. Lana Gale is on line two for

you. Yeah, I got it.

Lana,

thanks for calling.

Have you seen the latest?

I'm probably not as up -to -date as you are.

Garth, what's going on?

Our information on the halo is a concern.

What kind of a concern?

Preliminary data shows some of the asteroid fragments on a course that will

bring them into Earth's orbit.

Hey, John. You weren't on the moon last night, were you?

Hey, John.

All that dust and debris floating around, it kind of looks like your

If I was up on the moon last night doing my work, it wouldn't be there anymore.

Copy that.

Checklist. Good to go? Yep. All right.

Let's blow up a building.

All right, Ollie. How we looking?

Locked and stocked, buddy.

Check it out.

Good. Right on schedule.

Looks like you're going to owe me 20 bucks, homie.

I shake on that?

Oh, yeah.

Well, the building ain't down yet.

Upboard right now. Let's go. We've got to stop the sequence.

We're going to shut it down now.

No, this isn't responding.

There's something wrong.

Ali? I'm trying to override it, John. Give me a few seconds.

Okay, let's have some fun.

What the hell are you doing?

Brina, continue to rebalance the sequence. I'm going to go up there and

that misfire you talked to me on the radio.

They're on this head with their hidey kinko up there. Listen to me. We don't

know how that building's going to come down unless we rebalance the system.

Holly, figure out why that clock is still ticking and shut it down. I'm on

I'll be back.

Okay, now, Verena, give me the location of that misfire.

Ninth floor, 8A.

Okay, copy that. Ollie, if you stop the countdown.

John, the explosion messed up the whole system. It lit up like the Vegas Strip.

Now, I'm trying to stop the detonator, but it ain't happening. I know you got

back, Ollie, so make it happen.

All right, John, listen.

Everything I'm seeing here says that the charges did not go off on their own. I

think someone's in there. Great, that's all we need. Let's get the cops on the

radio. Tell them what we got, all right?

All right, I'll tell them. But look, if someone's still in there, he might keep

setting things off. You won't have enough time to fix it all.

No, no, no, no, no.

I'm going to have plenty of time, Molly, because you're going to fix that damn

clock.

Hey, look at that. It stopped.

How are we doing?

There's no rush anymore.

The countdown stopped.

No,

no, no, no, no, no.

That was the five -minute warning, guys. That means that clock is not off.

Okay, I'm going to have to reboot the whole system.

John, where are you?

I'm on the ninth floor now. Do I go left or right?

Left. No, right.

My left, your right.

Come on, Brina. Focus, okay?

Now, I'm coming up on a large central room. In the middle of that room, you'll

find column 8A.

Okay, okay. Hold on. I think I got it.

That's the one that's missing its charge.

Hey, Joe, double -check lines 21A through F.

Okay.

Are they still hot? Yep, they're hot. Damn it.

Help!

Help me!

Help! I'm coming!

Okay, looks good. You're online and set to go. Now get out of there.

Help me!

Please, help me!

We're going to get you out of here, all right?

Trina, I got a guy up here. He's pinned down by some debris.

I got to get him out.

On three. I'm going to lift this up. You pull your leg out. Ready? One, two,

three.

Get out of my house.

Hold on a second.

Stop.

My house.

I'm trying to help you, all right?

Now, listen to me.

Your house is about to get blown to bits. Do you understand me?

John, just get out of there, please.

I'll be down in 90 seconds.

Come on!

Less than a minute left.

Object the override incident.

See if you can get access.

Watch out, watch out.

Come on.

You almost got it.

Go, go, go.

Come on!

John, you've got to get out of there. Move it.

John, move now!

Go, go, go, go, go!

Oh, my God.

We now have three reported strikes of asteroid debris, and they're not

meteors, Lana. We're missing something.

Why are so many of them surviving atmospheric entry?

These objects aren't that big. They should be burning up.

Then it's got to be the density.

The mass of the impactor asteroid must have been much bigger than we

anticipated. But it makes sense, because you were right about the ecliptic

plane. The lunar orbits shifted?

The numbers indicate a very gradual shift, and it could still self -correct,

but... There's already a rise in the sea levels and the jet stream has taken a

complete nosedive south.

Which means a big weather change.

Yeah. The kind that triggers an ice age.

Okay, have we located the point of impact?

No, nothing we can see.

But we've got satellites in motion. I mean, we should get images soon. Hey,

Will, Will, how long before we get a look?

The probes are on their way.

Garth, I'm in my office now.

Did you copy Garth on this? You should have it.

You should have a spectral image coming through.

Yeah, yeah, I've got it. Hey, get your folks to work on that dark section.

We just don't have the equipment here. We're having a hard time seeing through

the halo.

No problem. Hey, we'll take a look at this area right here, okay? Get on that.

I really hope you're not sugarcoating this to the suits in D .C.

No, no. Which is why I'd like you here.

They're going to want solid answers.

Which they'd rather hear from someone else.

Nobody's gunning for you here, Lana.

I was actually thinking more knives.

Can we certify the past?

I need you.

You'll run interference for me?

All I can.

Okay.

I owe you one.

I'll arrange a flight.

See you soon, Lana.

Remember when I said I'd never go back to ASI?

Yeah.

I lied.

You want a beer? Yeah.

Cheers.

Hey, next time, let's not get the crap out of him. That's all I'm saying. Copy

that.

So the deal with our homeless guy was, this was his home and he was just trying

to defend it. So, I guess I can't blame him. You're lucky you got out of there,

you know that?

He almost died.

Yeah, but I didn't.

And the building came down perfectly.

So, on to the next.

On to the next.

John.

You're not really going to bust my chops right now, are you?

Well, seeing as you almost got crushed, I think now's the perfect time.

You can't let your work own your life.

And yours does.

Come on, take that vacation. We don't have anything coming up.

Well, actually, we do have a demo possibly in Florida.

Okay, that's it.

I'm out of here.

Where are you going?

Come on, don't go. We're celebrating.

Hey.

I almost died today.

Not funny anymore, John.

She died three years ago.

You need to take some time off.

Your wife's gone, John.

She'd want you to have a life where things grow and thrive and not just

Don't do that to yourself.

20 bucks.

Man, you gonna hold me to that?

Oh, yeah.

Cough it up. Let's go.

All right, buddy, buddy, buddy. Don't give me any lip.

You want my firstborn, too?

Nope. That wasn't the bet.

See you later.

I'll see you later.

Good live, everyone.

Lunar Sat -1 is on course with the outer edge of the debris field.

We've got some delicate maneuvering ahead.

Telemetry, what's your status?

Telemetry is go for live camera feed.

Multiple objects on forward radar.

Calculating flight path.

Maneuvering thrusters engaged.

Well, we've got too many targets on the flight path.

Guidance. Board the trajectory.

Flight, we've got a proximity alert.

There it goes.

Flight, Lunar Sat 1 has signal loss on all channels. Repeat, signal loss on all

channels.

Rerouting Lunar Sat 2 for orbital insertion.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey.

You taking this?

Tony, I know it was radical at the time. But look what's going on. My father

might have been on to something.

Yeah. But what if all those people saying he was trying to preach the

decide to jump on you? One person led that charge.

Victor Stevens.

He had a lot of followers.

Most of them still work at ASI.

They're not going to be too pleased to see this manuscript.

Well, I have to take that risk.

If my father's work is relevant, I have to bring it to the table.

going to me to the crash zone and it's a mess okay ollie start setting up our

site right away and give me all the structural data you can find i'll call

from the plane thanks okay before you say anything i'm sorry i'm late i ran

as soon as i heard with a stop for coffee yeah and gas without either i

have made it oh but i did get flights to baltimore and we landed three hours it

seems to be lots of things dropping in on baltimore lately yeah well they said

on the radio that it was some sort of asteroid hitting the moon that some

could be headed this way Yeah.

I heard that too. Let's go.

You know,

as the reigning father figure in my life, I really need for you to tell me

everything's going to be okay.

Everything is going to be okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Lana, it's been a long time.

It has.

Thanks for getting here so quickly.

Well, Baltimore may not be a unique event.

I'm working on a theoretical model, but I'll need to get on your system and

crunch the numbers from the latest data.

What is it?

It's lost mass.

What?

It's lighter.

According to these figures, it's lost 762 billion metric tons of mass.

Which means the meteors aren't the asteroid debris.

They're the moon.

Took you long enough.

Flight was delayed.

This weather's not exactly predictable, you know. Well, it's not exactly easy

for search and rescue either.

Everyone accounted for?

50 dead. Almost 200 injured.

That's what they're reporting so far.

What are we looking at?

Well, the buildings toppled inward onto each other, but enough of the base has

stayed intact to hold them up for a while.

Okay.

So we got an hourglass.

Hourglass? Yeah, it's the most difficult to bring down. It's tricky to

manipulate, but you just gotta be precise, that's all.

On top of it, the local hospital serving the wounded is right across the street.

Well, this thing just keeps getting better and better.

Okay. We got a bit of a challenge here. Let's put our heads together and see

what we're up against.

What's next, Scott? So listen, Lana, while the team is working over your

findings, you can install yourself here in my office.

Have you released a statement?

We explained the Baltimore event was a meteor. We haven't let on about the

possibility of more.

And for the moment, our analysis of the lunar impact site is on its way to

Washington.

The next statement comes directly from the White House.

What about weather changes?

Tides are rising all over the world.

Right now, incoming meteors are priority one.

This is the new data on the crater coming in from LunarSat -2.

We're going to have a departmental meeting to discuss the situation.

I'd like you to join us. Give us your views.

Well, I can tell you right now, we're going to need outside special hits.

What do you have in mind?

According to the city grid, looks like we've got an acceptable fallout zone to

the northeast.

We can tunnel under the foundations from the corner.

Then we should be able to place charges to direct the hourglass collapse.

Excuse me.

John Redding? Yeah, that's me.

In service, I'm requested by the American Space Institute right away.

The Space Institute?

What do they want with me?

I'm not at liberty to discuss details.

Well, in all due respect, sir, take a look around. I'm kind of needed around

here. Can't this wait?

This order is authorized by the president, requesting the best in your

That's you.

Refusal is not an option.

God bless America.

Ali, you're back in the saddle. Can you handle this?

Yeah, but you just get back quick. I will.

Hold on a second. Here's your shot to prove yourself.

Now, first chance you get, you email me the structure CAD and all the blast

points. You got it? Well, where are they taking me?

Listen.

You're my eyes and ears on this one, okay?

Fine. Be careful.

I'll be back.

The data now coming in from LunarSat -2 have completely changed our

understanding of the lunar impact.

The meteorites were originally thought to be the remains of the asteroid that

struck the moon. It has now been confirmed that they're actually massive

of the moon itself.

Instead of leaving an impact crater, this asteroid has literally cracked the

lunar surface open.

The orbital shifted cause is gradual. However, it's already having an adverse

effect on ocean levels and the jet stream.

And it's just the beginning.

The moon is now entirely unstable.

This computer graphic shows...

The growth of the fissure, which we're calling the Rima Fault because of its

location at the Rima Cirsalis.

As gravitational forces continue to exert their pull on the fractured moon,

size of the Rima Fault will increase until it moves past the critical.

If this happens, the result will be a civilization -ending event.

For the moment, there's little we can do about the deteriorating weather or

incoming lunar debris, but we must stop the breakup of the moon.

Our only chance is to find a way to stabilize the structure of the moon,

specifically the Rima Fault.

This is our clock.

And it's unpredictable.

So we need to find out how big the Rima Fault actually is, how fast it's

growing, moving, shifting, down to the last millimeter.

If everything comes together, we will have one shot, one window, to beat the

deadline and save the moon. And we can't be wrong.

We're depending on your calculations.

Thank you, Lana.

All right, everyone.

You heard it.

Get back to work.

Well,

apparently, forecasting the apocalypse runs in the family.

Although your daddy never had such dazzling visual aids.

Well, Victor, if you think things are exciting, stick around. They're about to

get very interesting.

No, I intend to stick around.

See, my good friend the president...

He heard we had some trouble on the moon.

He thought it might be a good idea for me to come down here and help fix it.

You know, make sure we don't go off half -cocked, as they say.

I think now would be a good time to run that interference, Garth. No, no.

Garth, don't bother. Look, I don't want to get in anybody's way here.

But like you said, we do only get the one shot.

I just want to make sure it's right.

Well, that makes two of us.

I'll be with you shortly. Okay.

Thanks for the heads -up, Garth.

Victor Stevens?

Here to help, Lana. Yeah, help yourself.

Mr. Redding, sorry for all the mystery. I'm Garth Pender. This is Dr.

Lana Gale.

Thank you so much for coming. You guys didn't give me much choice.

Yeah, we're sorry about that. We're experiencing a bit of a crisis.

I noticed.

I'm not sure you know what caused the mess you were cleaning up in Baltimore.

A meteorite.

Right. The first of many.

Our moon has suffered a great impact, and we believe the damage runs deep to

lunar core.

Please, I'd like you to follow up.

Mr. Redding, we've prepared a mock -up here as a visual aid. That's fine, thank

you.

Wow.

That's some crack.

Immense pressure continues to pull this section open wider.

Eventually, this entire corridor will break away and find its way into Earth's

gravitational pull.

And then what?

When that hits us, we go the way of the dinosaurs.

You guys are serious.

You should know what you're up against, Mr. Redding, if you're going to help us

stop him.

I'm just a demolitions expert on Earth. I don't know anything about the moon.

Nobody knows more about how things collapse in on themselves than you.

Now, we need your expertise to see if we can make the walls of the crevasse cave

in. Just lock this entire section in place. Stop the breakup.

Wait a second.

You guys want to put charges on the moon?

Seriously, with all due respect, I really just think I'm way out of my

Nothing like this has happened in the history of man.

This is way out of everybody's league.

We're not asking you to go to the moon, Mr. Redding. We're just asking you to be

part of our team.

At this point, the Atlantic is one huge staging area for a massive hurricane

activity. In fact, there are several Category 5 storms in different places.

All at the same time, this is something that has never happened in all the time

that man has kept track of weather. Call it an act of God, call it an eco

-nightmare. One thing is for sure, this is a weather disaster the likes of which

no one has seen in the modern era.

Tell me what you got.

Fresh intel from ASI on an incoming asteroid.

Big? Latest estimate gives it an 8 on the T -scale.

We've got birds in the air.

There's only a 30 -mile grid, 10 minutes of waiting orders. What kind of payload

are we talking about?

Sidewinders, sir.

Well, let's get them climbing.

Delta 1, Delta 2, scramble vector 6 to 2 -9 -2, trajectory uplink N5.

Roger, Control, we're on our way.

Got visual. Army.

All right, gentlemen, let's make this happen.

Cloud cover. Lost visual.

Is this a shot?

Target is destroyed.

We got it.

That was too close.

We got lucky.

What else is on its way?

We're tracking inbounds, but nothing rating on the T -scale.

Atmospheric burn -ins.

Keep on this, Lieutenant. I want jets in the air, and I want constant updates

from ASI.

The tricky part is to calculate what we call reaction mass.

It's how we decide how big a blast is going to be and where we're going to

it. Can we determine that from this information?

Well, I'm sure that we can ballpark it, but I can tell you right now, this blast

is going to have to be massive, definitely nuclear.

And the variables will keep changing with the fault growing all the time.

Nuclear blast?

Well, looks like I got here right on time.

John Redding, this is Victor Stevens, Chief Advisor to the White House.

Welcome aboard, Mr. Redding. Thank you.

Pleasure to meet a man with such an illustrious family tradition of blowing

things up.

Oh, before you go putting the moon on your resume, I think you should both

that I have informed the president of what happened on Miranda.

We don't know what happened on Miranda.

That's sheer speculation.

What's Miranda?

Miranda is one of Uranus' 15 moons.

A research flyby in 86 revealed that she'd been struck by a massive impact or

cracked her surface wide open, but...

Over time, she put herself back together.

There's absolutely no conclusive evidence to support that.

Besides, our moon has a solid iron core which was shattered just as my father

predicted.

Nothing will stabilize the moon unless we do that ourselves.

The moon's structure is much less rigid. It's perfectly capable of displacing

the energy from a massive impact.

Until I see something that...

Makes me feel otherwise. That is all we are going to do.

There is a fracture running clear through the moon.

And you just want to do nothing.

We do nothing. The moon will do something miraculous.

The moon doesn't have an iron core on it. Its gravity will stabilize it. Your

father was wrong.

Look, this isn't personal.

We are going to rely on the prevailing wisdom, which is the best we've got.

Five hundred years ago, prevailing wisdom said that the earth was flat.

Just because it's popular does not make it right.

Look at that.

President probably wants to hear how we're reappropriating his nuclear

I think I'll tell him we need three bombs. I mean, the Pinta and the...

that other one, whatever his name was.

Santa Maria.

Bingo!

Is this about time?

No, no, no it isn't.

Guys, please, I'd like to introduce you to our mission crew for the shuttle

Perseus. Major Rachel Fine, Captain Ben Halberstam. Pleasure. You're our

demolition expert?

That's me.

Hi. Why don't we go down to the conference room and I can brief you?

that's a good idea.

Hey, Garth.

Your mission crew?

What happened to leaving things alone?

I mean, what if the moon could fix itself and Victor's right? Well, what if

is right and we're unprepared?

Now, he may have the presidency here, but this is still my agency.

And it is still within my authority to call for full contingency readiness.

I am.

Thanks,

ma 'am.

They just upgraded the storm.

Oh, good.

Can't wait.

They just shut down the 95.

The equipment trucks are not getting here anytime soon.

Well, how are we going to take this thing down without our pneumatic drill?

Forget it.

Look,

what do you want to do? You want to shut this down?

No, no, no. We are not shutting down. We're just going to do exactly what John

is soliciting.

You know what? I hope they had a good reason to pull him out of here.

What reason? What would ASI want with John, and why now?

Radar has detected a cluster of meteors coming in.

We should alert the Mexican government of possible strikes.

Hope you don't mind.

I was flipping through that book that you have on your death.

Your dad wrote that.

Yes, and I don't mind.

He would have wanted somebody to read it.

And he predicted all of this?

Pretty much.

Well, don't you think he should be here too, helping us?

My dad passed away a few years ago.

Before he died, he wrote a thesis based on lunar anomalies.

Anomalies.

You know, I don't think I got to that page.

But he was right, right?

In the scientific community, the debate between fact and truth can get brutal.

Victor came out against my dad's theories.

He managed to destroy his credibility.

I just finished school at the time.

Trying to get my foot in the door at ASI.

And I made the mistake of distancing myself from the controversy.

I left my dad hanging.

So as to not tarnish my reputation.

He passed away shortly after that.

I'm sure he'd be quite proud of the work you're doing now.

Listen, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.

You could fly up to the Rima Fault and bring me back some mineral samples.

That would help me out.

Yeah? Well, no problem.

Lana, Victor called an emergency meeting to discuss the Mexico impact.

Hey.

We're tracking additional lunar debris.

This probably won't be the last time we get hit.

May I have everybody's attention, please?

Mexico City and the surrounding areas are gone.

Repercussions from the latest impact have been felt all the way to Oklahoma.

The moon's condition is getting progressively worse. Apparently it is

itself. So, the White House has given us a full go for a shuttle mission.

Guards?

With the Rima Fault continuing to grow and the weather systems getting

progressively worse, we have to launch within 48 hours.

So, Let's talk specific.

John, how are we coming with those reaction points?

Well, my initial calculations show we've got four potential blast points.

The problem is those keep changing all the time because the fault is growing.

And I've got another question about our blast targets.

What about them?

I'm just trying to figure out exactly what kind of magnetic force are we

with when it comes to the moon?

Minimal. The magnetic forces disappeared billions of years ago.

Right.

So what if we were able to bring it back?

Instead of thinking about blasting, what if we looked at this as more of a

welding job?

I hate to disappoint you, but the moon is not made of steel girders.

That still seems to be a point of contention around here, Vic.

You say the moon doesn't have an iron core, but Lana thinks there's enough to

give it some pull.

I mean, we really just don't know exactly what the moon is made of.

So what I'm wondering is, if we could create a magnetic charge and put it in

right spot to one side of the Rima fault, well, then maybe we can get the

to fall in on itself.

Do you realize the conductor you'd need on that scale?

It's impossible.

A meg.

Theoretically, it would have enough conduction.

We have our solution.

There's no evidence the moon has an iron core.

We are not going back to the drawing boards.

You need to pin down the coordinates for the nuclear blast points.

What's a meg? A mass electromagnetic generator.

It's a device that carries a very large electromagnetic pulse wave as part of

the blast wave.

Sounds like my kind of metal.

What if we could get one big enough?

How do we make this work?

Who's your best engineer?

A big charge?

Are you on drugs?

It can't be done. The materials are way too fragile, way too unstable when

combined, which makes them way, way too dangerous to be handled on Earth, let

alone in space.

Well, then I guess it's a good thing that the president's boy's not here.

Albert, I can think of a million reasons why it won't work. I need your help

with one that will.

If I was to come up with a concept, the only way to keep this whole thing from

detonating on launch is to keep the activator separate until you're in

it is possible.

And did I mention that the two main ingredients in a mag charge are liquid

helium and uranium?

Do you have any idea what happens when you mishandle those two guys? Albert,

it be done?

How can another thing?

You are not going to pass this off on some ASI pilot. This is heavy ordnance.

You got to get this to someone who knows what they're doing. Huh? Who's that

going to be? Is that you?

Hmm? Because it ain't going to be me. Albert, we need a straight answer. Can

be done?

I'll come up with something.

But what I'm most concerned about is you launching my shuttle in this storm.

She just wasn't made for that.

Hey, it's me. You guys okay?

John?

Can you hear me?

Yes. What's your status?

Status? Uh... Well, they've elevated the winds to gale force. We can't get any

of our gear in here. And besides that, these buildings are not looking too

stable. Where the heck are you?

Wishin' I was still there with you guys. Believe me.

The weather service says this lightning's gonna get a lot worse.

Marina, conditions are not gonna get any better for blasting.

Should we shut it down?

Yeah. I want you guys to get out of there. Evacuate everybody out of the

and shut it down.

Brina, I need you to do one more thing before you go.

What's that?

I need you to find a piece of that meteor and bring it to ASI.

Okay.

Let's get the hell out of here.

It's coming down.

Go. Go. Go. Go. Go.

Come

on,

guys. Pick it up.

John.

John, listen, we have two of our best shuttle pilots, but on this one we need

mission specialist.

What specialist is you, John?

You want me to go on the shuttle?

I don't have any training to go to the moon, okay?

We need you up there.

We only get... One chance, I understand that.

We can't force you to go.

You'll have first -hand visual.

Quite frankly, we'd feel more comfortable if it was you up there

trigger All

nuclear

reactions have a magnetic charge it's that entirely destructive element of the

nuke that we're trying to avoid here, so

By using the electromagnetic pulse of the nukes to boost the magnetic charge

our meg, we can create a force powerful enough to recharge the magnetic field of

the Rima fault.

In theory.

For how long?

Long enough for the moon's own gravity to take over.

I'm just giving it a jump start. In theory.

I heard that you were going to accompany the meg on board the shuttle.

Well, with the situation being what it is, yeah, I'm in.

Now, listen, Albert.

This Meg charge, it's gotta be... Meg what?

What's going on here? We're just exploring options.

Ah.

Exploring options.

Well, we don't need any options.

The nukes are on their way.

And when they get here, I don't want so much as a spit polish to go on them

without my authorization. Is that clear?

Yes.

Good.

Some big seismic numbers coming in.

How big?

That's a 40 % jump from the last one. Will, what's our status?

Large -side weather is getting much worse.

Kirk, this is insane.

We can't go up in this storm. Nothing can go up in this storm. That's not an

option, and you know it.

You know, anyone you put up in that shuttle is on a one -way trip to

We're all facing oblivion. Get used to the idea.

We lose power, they'll be flying blind.

That's it. We get off the path.

They will make it off the path. There's no alternative.

Now, the time for caution and second guesses, that's long gone.

This mission is a go.

Do you understand?

Time to sit up.

Get them the hell out of here before it gets any worse.

Victor, you can't still be convinced that the nuclear warheads are going to

the job. The moon is doing exactly what my father said it would, indicating he

was right about the Iron Corps.

You just go on like the facts don't exist. There are billions of lives at

We need to be rational.

And we need to be right.

We're pushing the launch up.

Liftoff is five hours from now.

The weather leaves us no choice.

John, I need a moment.

I, um, I just got some news from Baltimore.

Those buildings have collapsed.

What about my team and Brina? We don't know.

I mean, we could try, but... John.

Tell me we have a solid plan.

Yes, we do.

We go with the news.

Mr. Stevens, we'll need your authorization, sir.

Getting pretty bad out there.

If you want to be alone, I can... No, come in.

I heard about what happened.

The building. I'm sorry.

Darth has some folks trying to contact city officials to locate your colleague.

Is that her?

No.

That's my wife.

She passed away three years ago.

So when you said earlier that you lost somebody special, I understood what you

were talking about.

Just standing here wondering if she was still around, would I still want to do

this?

Would you?

I...

The storm just hit tropical status.

We're reporting gusts of up to 75 miles per hour.

I've got to get you up in the air, John.

Let's go.

Velocity 63 miles per hour from the southeast.

Doppler is showing gusts to 71 miles per hour at 30 ,000 feet.

Control, payload insecure.

Okay, Shuttle Perseus, we are at T -3 to launch.

Hope everyone's comfortable.

Comfortable?

Strapped onto the world's biggest vibrating whale about to blast through a

hurricane. This guy's talking comfortable.

Sorry, John.

Oh, you can hear me?

Oh yeah, we're all wired in. Visual 2.

Okay, sorry.

That's good to know.

Control, we've got full grain on O2 and H2. Tanks 1, 2, 3, and 4. Please

confirm.

Confirm, Captain. I'm handing over full system access to you now.

Temperature's holding steady on nuclear pulse engines 1 and 2. Confirm.

Roger, Perseus. Nuclear pulse engines 1 and 2 are solid. Nuclear pulse?

I thought they were in the tech phase.

They are.

You're joking, right?

You know a faster way to get to the moon, Victor. I'm all ears.

Okay, Perseus, looking for your readiness to proceed with launch.

Over. Roger, Control. We are locked in.

Temperature to go.

Pressure to go.

Roger that.

T -minus two minutes to launch.

Well, we've got some flashing red up here standing by.

I have a wind shear warning.

Bypass it.

Okay, flight directors, I want a go, no, go for launch. Capcom, Perseus.

Go, launch. Go for launch.

Retro. Go, launch.

Trajectory. No, go for flight.

I've got a no -go signal for flight.

Booster.

Three percent. No go, flight director.

Negative. I've got a no go for launch.

Oh, perfect.

Four nuclear bombs, two nuclear pulse engines aboard a no go flight.

T -minus one minute to launch.

Navigation, give me your pre -flight data.

Flight, navigation is no go for launch. No go for launch.

We have red lights across the board. We cannot launch this thing. We must abort

now. T minus 30 seconds to launch. Don't do it, Will. It's not going to get any

better out there. They're going to be thrown around like deck chairs. I can't

this.

Will, you listen to me.

I'd like to give you 70 degrees and sunshine so you can launch properly, but

afraid that's not going to happen. Now, don't you turn that key.

T minus 20 seconds to launch.

10,

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,

2, 1.

We have main engine ignition.

Perseus, clear the tower.

I've got three reds, Perseus.

Roger, Control. We sustain the lightning strike.

Losing trajectory.

We're at secondary threat 20%. Copy that.

Standing by.

Control, we are losing horizon.

Storm wind velocity has hit 87 miles per hour.

Flight, they're being blown off course.

Secondary threat.

30%. Come on, come on.

Will, that's not doing it.

Perseus, we're going to change course heading to straighten you out. Adjust

trajectory. 30 degrees northwest with the wind.

Locking on to course.

And on.

Stabilizing. Control, roll maneuver is successful. We're back on trajectory.

Shuttle, Perseus has booster separation.

Control, we are hypersonic and away.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a safe liftoff of shuttle versus lunar mission.

Godspeed.

You still with us, John?

Yeah, most of me.

risky launch of the shuttle Perseus from storm battered Houston, there is now

hope that the ASI shuttle crew can avert the threat of disaster approaching our

planet. Today we are one planet without borders or differences and every thought

and prayer is with the crew of the shuttle Perseus as they set out to

what some say is impossible.

Well, never thought I'd hear myself say it, but

That was better than blowing up a building.

Control, we are ready to leave orbit.

Roger Perseus.

Receive a translunar injection on your mark.

Nuclear pulse engines engage.

Nuclear pulse.

For when 20 ,000 miles per hour just ain't fast enough.

Hold on to your hats.

Control, we have a problem.

Advanced radar is tracking incoming lunar debris and it's right on our

path.

Roger, Perseus. You are cleared for evasive action. Repeat, you are cleared

evasive action.

Roger, Control.

We're on the move.

Maneuver successful.

You better start tracking those bogeys.

On my calculations, they're in the Earth's gravity and heading your way.

A couple of those rocks looked larger than the Mexico meteor.

Just in the last hour, this storm has clearly started to bear down on the

Power is reported being lost in two -thirds of the host, and officials are

calling for a complete and immediate evacuation of the entire Dry County

But with similar storms routed to the entire coast... and the imminent moon

debris striking anywhere at any time, the question remains, evacuates where?

For now, it appears there's no escape from this earth storm.

Stop. Everybody stay calm. Stay calm.

Go to generator power.

That's going to put us on a bit of a clock.

We got limited time on the generators, people.

If we can't get the power back up, we'll lose them completely.

And they need us to fly home.

Will, I need a precise time estimate on our remaining power.

I'm working on it.

Let someone see it. What do you got?

Get it hauled downstairs.

Tell them to crank it up.

I really need to see my boss. John Redding is very, very important.

Karina?

I'm Dr. Lanagale. We are so glad that you are okay.

Uh, thanks. I really need to see John Redding. It's urgent.

Will you settle for a video feed?

John's on the shuttle Perseus, a few thousand miles from the moon.

Well... You can speak to John right over

here.

Will,

pull up a video feed on John.

Uh, John, you there?

Rina, is that you?

Yeah.

Oh, hey, can you see me?

Yeah, I can.

Look, I know I said you needed to get away, but this is a little ridiculous.

Thank God you're alive.

How's Oliver?

Oh, he's fine, he's fine. He's banged up and in the hospital, but he's going to

be okay.

John, you're coming back, right?

Oh, yeah. That is most definitely on this itinerary.

Good, because I went to hell and back to get that thing you asked for.

You got it.

Great. Be sure you get it to a woman down there named Lana Gale.

You be sure you give it to her, all right?

Yeah.

She's right here next to me.

You did great.

If you can believe it, they've got me overseeing a blast job that's going to

save the moon.

Hey, you get that sample to Lana, and I'll see you around.

Stay safe down there.

Yeah.

Bye, John.

Where did you get that?

The meteor crater in Baltimore.

I'm in the lab.

Perfuse is on target.

Entering the outer phase of the debris field.

Control, we're taking evasive action.

Buckle up guys, this could get a bit rough.

What's this?

Straight.

Something's wrong.

Something's wrong with the nuke?

Yeah, I've got to go and secure the cargo hold.

What the hell is that?

Flight, we've lost communication speed and secondary hydraulics. We've been

How bad?

All director, report your status.

Communications, get us back online.

Ben, you alright?

Ben!

Rachel, Ben's down.

What happened?

I think he's unconscious.

That's it.

General Perseus, what's the status?

Control, we're clear of the debris field for now. The shuttle sustained a hit

and Ben's been hurt.

How about the payload?

Got knocked around a little bit.

John's with Ben now. Just secure that payload.

Forget about Ben.

John, do you hear me?

Yes, I hear you. Now, could you shut up, Victor?

Don't. If that payload gets damaged, nothing else is going to matter.

Ben doesn't have a serious neck injury.

I'm inspecting the nukes now, and they seem to be okay.

Just a detached cargo clip.

Payload secure.

Thank you.

Okay, how much longer?

Hold on, hold on.

That's interesting.

What?

That's interesting.

What?

I'm printing.

So that's interesting, right?

Control, we're approaching the Remus Rosales. Our first clear view of the

should be any minute now.

John, are you seeing this?

Looks like we've got our work cut out for us.

My father was right, Victor.

The Lunar Corps is composed mainly of dense metal.

It's not a fantasy anymore, it's a fact.

Full of uranium iron, the list goes on.

And it's far from the structure of Miranda.

My father's theory was just proven.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

Doesn't that mean we should have sent a mag instead of the nuke?

John?

John, are you there? It's Albert.

That sample that you sent proves that the moon has more iron in its structure

than we were planning for in our blast.

Please tell me that you guys are kidding me right now.

I wish I was, but we're working on a solution.

Right. Okay. You know where to find us.

Rachel, we can't use the nukes.

What? Why?

Moon's surface is too rigid.

It wouldn't sustain the shockwave.

Make the whole situation worse.

John, come in. This is Albert again.

John? Yeah? We, uh, we're gonna try to convert the nukes that you got up there

into a meg charge. We almost have it figured out.

John? Still there?

John, I know it sounds crazy, but we've been able to assemble a puzzle down

here, using elements of the shuttle and the nukes to come up with a plan that

actually works.

I hear you, Lana.

My only question is, I mean, obviously we can't put a meg charge where we were

gonna blast.

Okay, where do you suggest we go?

Will, are you on?

Right here, John.

See if you can figure out for me where the epicenter of all this seismic

activity is within the fault. Can you do that? Kind of find out where the

fulcrum is.

Copy that, John. I'll put a geology team on it right away.

Did you get all that?

Yep.

Good.

Because you're going to have to get us there.

All right.

I'm on it.

Be careful in here.

This is Shuttle Perseus to Control.

Standing by for instruction.

Shuttle Perseus, you are clear to maneuver.

Roger, Control.

We're on the move.

All right, Albert, what's the first step? Talk to me.

Okay, John, we need a timing trigger.

There's a heating circuit in your mission science equipment that you're

using right now.

Where?

Look for a bin labeled MF431.

Look for the orange label.

Orange MF431. Got it. Go ahead.

Okay, John.

You are going to pull out the igniter module.

And we can marry it to the payload circuit path.

Oh, yeah.

John, if you see anything green, don't touch it. Can you confirm that message

for me, John? Nothing green.

John, are you digging? Did you find it? It's clearly marked.

Right. Got it. Next.

John, go to the circuit boards towards the flight deck.

You'll see a row of black circuit panels.

Which one?

The one -label channel interface.

Behind that panel, you'll find the tubing that you need.

They're cut. Net.

Follow that cable to the junction box.

Can I help you find something?

Hey, good to have you back, buddy.

What about the, how can you, how can you maximize the liquid hydrogen?

Will, geology's come up with new drop point coordinates.

We're going to have to go straight to the core.

We've calculated a flight path down through the fissure.

Got new coordinates coming in for you, Perseus.

We're taking you down into the fissure.

Roger Control.

Coordinates received.

It's gonna be dark down there.

Definitely the weirdest bomb I ever built.

We've got a problem.

What is it?

I've done a recalculation based on our solenoid.

Solenoid? What about it?

The maximum power you could expect to get out of that contraption is about one

hundredth of what you need. What?

No.

That's the velocity, Lana. It's just not there. It won't give you the pull you

need.

He's right. It's not going to work.

We underestimated the conduction we got.

John! Yes?

You better hold on to something.

Control, we're approaching the new drop point.

Oh, this

isn't looking good.

John? We've got increasing seismic activity.

We've got to get out of here now or we won't get out of here at all. We'll get

trapped.

Albert, Lana, talk to me, guys.

John, John, listen, I'm afraid I have some bad news.

The Meg won't work either.

The lines of force are too small.

What do you mean, too small? I thought you guys had this all figured out. We've

got to blow this thing.

John, this is Victor. Listen, it won't work.

It's over.

It's not over.

What is the problem?

John, it's the magnitude of force we can't change.

The maximum field that we can create up there with what we've got is just not

going to make a difference.

Lana, come on. We are up here. Let's drop this sucker. Maybe it will work.

He's right.

This is all we have. We need to go.

No. There's got to be something we're missing, Garth. We have got to make sure

this shot works.

Come on, guys. Help us out up here, okay?

Think. What do we have on board this ship that will make this thing work?

They just don't have the power.

We're draining crucial generator time here, people. We can't push this any

longer. Wait a minute.

The engines.

We're sitting on two nuclear pulse engines.

The pulse engines.

Ben, we can get access to those, right?

Is that an option, guys?

Cannot be made to work.

Albert, Lana, talk to me.

I think so.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely possible.

Okay, gang, here we go.

John, we have got to get out of here now. The seismic activity is increasing.

Copy that, Rachel. We're almost there. What do I do next, Ben? The control

is above the engine.

The access code is 8491138.

138, got it. Now what? Now use the winch to slide the mech inside the engine,

but please, please be careful. Those, my engines are extremely fragile. But the

two charges need to be balanced, and we don't know that they are. The line of

force could still be too weak. But that's when the moon's gravity kicks in.

Please, for once, just trust me.

Fault index is approaching the critical.

Oh, damn it.

All right, everyone, just listen up. Listen up. I want you to shut everything

down. Let's restart those generators.

Where's Will? Will? Right here. Come on, give me voice combat as soon as

possible. We got it.

All right, let's load this stuff.

What the hell is that?

You okay back there, Gun?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Control, this is Shuttle Perseus. Do you read?

Get those backup generators online now.

Listen, tell the president they're about to deploy the make.

All right, here we go.

Okay.

We're locked and loaded.

Come on.

Don't do this to me.

Control, this is Shuttle Perseus. Do you read?

Albert?

Albert!

John, we lost all communications.

Well, get them back for me now.

I can't. The problem's in Houston.

What happens now?

Judging the engines, we detonate en route according to your calculations.

Copy that.

All right. The mega's set to go. I can calculate detonation timing on the

flight. Copy that.

At least those suckers, we gotta get the hell out of here.

Got it.

Senator Perkins, can you read me, over?

Senator Perkins, do you read, over?

Stella Perkins, can you read Oak?

Rema Fault has hit the critical.

Repeat, Rema Fault has hit the critical.

Oh my God.

We're recording massive seismic disturbances and rapid growth in Rima

John, you can hear me. You've got the detonate.

Get out of there, John.

I've got to wait for a surge of magnetic density within the fault. We're

recording ongoing and accelerating seismic activity.

Blow the damn thing.

Too late.

We have a magnetination.

Repeat, we are picking up a magnetic spike in magnetination.

Magnetic amplification of brimofault has peaked.

We have continuing seismic activity in the fault.

Stabilizing. Radar imaging shows Rima fault is closing.

It's working.

It's working.

We have indications that the lunar orbit is stabilizing. Repeat, the lunar orbit

is self -correcting.

Cell Perseus, can you read me?

Cell Perseus.

Can you read me? Over.

Shuttle Perseus, this is Mission Control. Do you read? Over.

Shuttle Perseus, can you read me? Over.

Shuttle Perseus, this is Mission Control. Do you read? Over.

Shuttle Perseus, can you read me?

This is Shuttle Perseus.

Yes.

We're coming home.

Thank you all. Thank you. Good work. Great job. Good work.

The Perseus shuttle mission has succeeded.

ASI has announced that the lunar orbit is returning to normal and that Earth,

its tidal and weather systems have averted disaster.

You finish it?

Now.

Well, then this will be right on time.

It's the foreword that Victor wrote.

A foreword? Should I be concerned?

No, it's actually not too bad.

He apologized for everything he said about your dad, and he even gives you a

compliment. In his own kind of, sort of, arrogant Victor way.

Must have been humbling.

So, it's basically seven days a week, 365.

So, when do you have time to go out?

What do you mean? Like, off -campus kind of stuff?

Off -campus.

How are we looking?

Beautiful. The movers are bringing in everything as we speak.

Lana, the offices are huge. It's going to be awesome.

Awesome?

Garth wants me back.

And I want to be back.

This is where I belong.

Speaking of where people belong, are you ever planning to come back to work?

You know what, Brina? I've been thinking about that whole thing.

Excuse me.

And you've been right all along about this whole taking more time off thing.

Yeah, so I'm just going to start switching over the addresses and, of

Internet, because you can't live without the Internet.

It's just like you, this one.

Work, work, work. Damn overachievers.

Where are you taking me?

To engage in some off -campus debauchery.

You know what?

He's in trouble.

So if you're not going to go back to work right away, what are you going

to do?

I think I'll heed some advice about a vacation I'm in desperate need of.

They say space is the next vacation hotspot.

I've already been there.

Do you like sailing?

Is that an invitation?

Yes. You accepting?

Uh, yes.

Caribbean? Gotta be careful.

It is hurricane season.