All language subtitles for The.Andromeda.Strain.2008.x264.720p.aBstracT.eng

extracted by LeapinLar, edited by rogard
with additional parts made by nycera. Thanks!

Thats Orion right there,

the triangle.

And that is Cassiopia.

- Cassiopia?
- Yeah.

Who was she?

No idea.

Thats the big dipper,

and here we have another celestial body.

What do you think you're doing?

I'm about to go

where no man

has gone before.

It's a satellite.

This is so sick, look at that thing.

I don't know Jeff, maybe...

maybe we should leave it alone.
It could be radioactive and stuff.

- Should we tell Marti?
- Are you kidding me? No.

The old fart would just grab it and take all the glory.

It's gone.

Great,

Mandrake's going to sit a brick.

Bright light, big city,

excitement.

Peadmont, Utah,

the armpit of nowhere.

Awful quiet down there.

What are those?

Buzzards.

This is Caper One.

Project Scoop appears to have been moved.
I'm following the signal.

Roger that, Caper One.

No signs yet of any life,

except for this joker staring at us in his pick-up.

Rounding the corner.

Hold on.

Looks like a war zone.

Tell me I'm not seeing this.

This town is full of bodies.

over here, over here, help me!
Help me man, you've got to help me!

Oh God, no. No, no, no no!

No!

No, no, no, no, nooo!

- Where was this again?
- Piedmont, Utah. It's an old mining town.

There's a state park nearby.
It's remote, very isolated.

We seem to have caught a break there.

You'll forgive me if I don't
share your sense of gratitude.

Was it the Korean's?

I think thats unlikely.

Who then?

We don't know.

We're quarantining the area.

This road is closed, ma'am.

You need to detour back around using state road 46.

I'll also have a predator on an
over-flight in the next couple of hours;
I'll know more then.

I'll notify the department of homeland security.

Let me handle that.

And the White House?

Chuck.

I'll take care of both.

I'm also required to initiate the Wildfire protocol.

Does Dr. Stone still have the team?

Untill they pry his cold dead fingers off the door.

I don't suppose there's any way round him?

I can't watch him 24 hours a day.

Do you even know where Lance is?

Are you questioning my parenting?

How long have you
been off your meds? Oh!

The great Dr. Stone
lays down the law.

Nations tremble
and nubile graduate students

spread their legs.
Look, you're not safe, all right?

You're not safe to yourself
or to our son.

Are you threatening me?

Don't you try to bully me or I
will drag you back into court.

Yes.
Dr. Jeremy Stone.

I'm Dr. Stone.

There's been a Wildfire alert.

My orders are to gather you

and the rest of your team right away.

Lisa.

Please get yourself
checked in.

Dad?

Late night? It's mom's
house. Mom's rules.

Not anymore.

Look, I came by to tell you
that I made arrangements.

You're gonna spend
the rest of the month in L.A.

with my sister. She's gonna look
after you.

I can look after myself.

Oh, clearly. Look, Lance.

We're not gonna argue
about this, all right?

It's a done deal. You should...
You should go pack.

Mom's the one who needs help.

You mother has
all the help she needs

if she'll just take it.

Yeah, that just lets you
off the hook, doesn't it?

Sir?

You can't wait
to get out of here?

- I have to leave.
- Yeah.

I'm sure you have to go wherever
it is that you're going.

- If it were anything
else, you know that.

Yeah, I know.

It-It's work.
It's important.

Nasa had a satellite fail
last night over the Utah desert,

and, uh, the army sent in
a retrieval team.

I just wanted to give you
a heads up

before all
the phone calls start

about the black helicopters
and little green men.

I guess they're just
playing it safe, Ed.

All right.

Approaching Piedmont.

Preparing to make
my initial surveillance pass.

Go ahead.

Commencing thermal imaging
and night vision recording.

What the hell is that?

Are those bodies?

Holy Christ in heaven.

I'm moving to northcom.

Confine everyone to base
and lock it down.

I want you to stay
here in D.C.

In case Beeter needs managing.

Yes, general.

- How's the campaign going?
- Fundraising has slowed,

and we're down 15 in the polls
as of last night.

Ha, looking for their piece of the
action, you mean?

Exactly, and of course,

the environmentalists are howling,

and the opposition
is scoring points. Ready?

Flattery will get you
everywhere, won't it?

Thank you, Pat.

Mr. President, we have
a situation, I'm afraid.

An infectious disease outbreak
of unknown origin

in southern Utah.

- How serious?
- Well, the area is remote,

and we think we have it under control,

but I thought you might
like to know about...

it right away.

And I'll wanna be there.

Respectfully, sir,
I think it would be better

- if you stayed here in Washington.
- Daddy!

Whoa! Hello!
What are you doing here?

What are you doing here? Did
you escape?

Hello. Hello, Chuck.

Joanne. I'm sorry
to interrupt, honey.

I was packing and this
little monster got...

away from me.

You got away from your mama.

Campaign tour? Apparently
the American people

would rather see my wife
than myself,

although, I can't say
as I blame them too much.

And as for you, young lady,

you've got to go
back where you came from

'cause daddy is working right
now, okay? Bye-Bye.

Bye, daddy.

Bye.

So this infection is of
unknown origin, you say?

We're still gathering
all the facts, sir.

This isn't going to be
another Houston, is it?

I think it's very unlikely.

Anything you need, Chuck,
you let me know.

- Yes?
- Dr. Tsi Chou?

- What is it?
- There's been a Wildfire alert.

You okay, sir?

Yeah. Light sensitivity.

Uh, migraines.

Adrian has a dentist
appointment on monday.

Don't let him tell you
he's too sick to go.

How long you think?

If I call you and ask
you about your mother,

Grab the kids, get on
a plane and go west.

Get as much distance between you

and the continental
United States as you can.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Sir?

Beeter has informed homeland
security and the president.

The Wildfire team
should be assembled

at Peterson Air Force Base
shortly after your arrival.

Who's the designated "odd man"
on the Wildfire team?

Army Major William Keene.

Ah, the hero of the Houston event.

Excellent researcher and a fine officer.

He had a big dust-up
with Stone last year

Over who first isolated the
CD-1 virus. Have they made up?

They agreed to share credit,

but there's no love lost
between them.

Maybe that's something
we can build on. Sir.

Major Keene?

What's going on?

Please, make yourself
comfortable, doctor.

We'll be taking off shortly.

Hello, Angela.

Jeremy. I, uh, asked
for something bigger,

but this is the best they could
do on such short notice.

I was in surgery.

If it wasn't important,
we wouldn't have come calling.

How bad is it?

Preliminary reports suggest
a fatality rate of nearly 100%.

You always bring me such good tidings.

Please take your seats
and fasten your seatbelts.

Flight attendants,
please cross-check the doors.

I heard about you and Lisa.

How's Lance feeling?

He's a teenager,
so it's always hard to tell.

Beneath the raging hormones,

I'd--I'd have to say he's pretty angry.

He's tolerating the separation.

He's going to stay
with my sister in Los Angeles

- for the rest of july.
- I almost called you when I heard,

but I figured that your life

was probably complicated enough.

Yeah.
Yes.

Mr. Nash, you have a phone call.

Well, I guess I'd better take that then.

- No names!
- God, you're paranoid.

Like the N.S.A. isn't really
tracing all our calls.

Wheezer, knock off the double
espressos and go back to bed.

At the king.
One hour.

Yeah, may have
a little trouble with that.

Mancheck.

Mancheck?

Mr. Nash? Mr. Nash, I think
this is a terrible mistake.

I'll check in again when I'm done.

- It doesn't work like that.
- What doesn't-

My addiction or my insurance?

Well, both, really.

Simply put, these thermal vents
on the ocean floor

precipitate a fortune
in almost pure mineral deposits,

such as manganese, critical
in the production of steel,

and gold in higher concentrations

- than most onshore mines.
- Wheezer, this had better be good.

Until now, no one could
extract these deposits

because of the crushing depths
at which they are found,

but this new technology makes
it possible. Do you mind?

Come on. Don't be a tease.
What's up?

Not up. Down.
"Project Scoop."

What's that?
A Baskin-Robbins' special?

Funny.

Check this out.

It's like a war zone.

This town is full of bodies.

Over here! Over here!
Help me, man! Help me!

You gotta help me.

Oh! No! No! No!

What the hell was that?

Early this morning,
there was an exchange

between Nasa
and the pentagon

about a satellite
code-named Project Scoop

that crashed in southern Utah.

About an hour later, I picked that up-

the last transmission
of a retrieval team

that went into a nearby town, Piedmont,

- after the satellite--
- An army retrieval team.

Hacking the feds is a felony, Wheezer.

Homeland security
will be all over your ass.

My bike needs new tires.

Mancheck?

No! Caper One, do you copy?
Do you copy, Caper One?

Once again, Caper One,
do you copy? Come in.

Get general Mancheck.

Get Mancheck now.

Jack Nash,
my favorite muckraker.

Whose career
are you ruining today?

Oh, you know me.

My hit list of the venal
and the morally corrupt

just keeps on growing.
I can't keep pace.

Hey, is Jeremy there?

Well, for such a superb
investigative journalist,

You are sadly ignorant.

The good doctor and I split.

He has a love nest somewhere,

probably on campus, close
to the sororities he prefers.

I'm-I'm sorry to hear
that, Lisa, truly.

But do you have a number for
him? This is very important.

It wouldn't do you any good.

Saint Jeremy's off
on assignment for the army.

Very hush-hush. They picked
him up early this morning.

Was this in regards
to a Project Scoop?

Don't know. Don't care.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm general George Mancheck,

head of the U.S. Army
bio-defense department.

Uh, you are now being
distributed e-papers.

They contain continuously
updated information

about Wildfire,
and what we currently know

about the event,
which is very little.

Since the failed biological
attack in Houston last year

in which major Keene here
played an important part,

our vulnerability to terrorist
action, especially bioterrorism,

has been a subject
of intense discussion.

You, the Wildfire response team
and laboratory,

are the result of that discussion.

You volunteered
in the spirit of patriotism

for an assignment
that was vague at the time.

Undoubtedly, you're wondering

what the hell you've
got yourselves into.

Dr. Stone. Right. Well, obviously
some of you have worked together.

Certainly everyone here
has read each others' work-

at least heard of one another.

I'm Dr. Jeremy Stone,

head of the Bloomsburg facility
at Johns Hopkins

and the chief consultant for, and...

designer of, the Wildfire
lab and project.

Where is the laboratory?

For security reasons,
we cannot disclose its location.

We're not allowed to know
where we'll be working?

No, but I can assure you that, uh,

we'll be in full and constant
contact with the outside.

Dr. Noyce?

Uh, Dr. Angela Noyce,
surgeon, ex-biologist

and I specialize in tropical
and exotic diseases.

Dr. Charlene Barton,
pathologist,

Formerly with the C.D.C. ,

now with the San Francisco
health department.

Major Bill Keene, M.D. ,

Virologist from the Army
medial research institute

of infectious diseases,
Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Uh, Dr. Tsi Chou,
microbiologist.

So modest.

About ten years ago, Dr. Chou
was one of the premier designers

of biological weapons
for the Chinese government.

But then I saw the light of Jesus,

and now I serve as a consultant
on bioterrorism

for a wide range
of U.S. corporations.

Out of the ashes, into the fire.

Last night-
uh, please.

Last night, a Nasa satellite lost orbit

and came down in a remote part
of southern Utah.

When a retrieval team arrived,

the satellite had been moved,

we believe by civilians, into
the nearby town of Piedmont.

No signs yet of any life.

Except for this joker
staring at us from his pickup.

We're rounding the corner--

Whoa, hold on.

This town is full of bodies.

- It's like a war zone.
- Over here! Over here!

Help me! Help me, man.
You gotta help me!

Aah! Aah!

Help! No! No!

The team's chemical sensors
detected nothing unusual,

so we suspect a biological agent

now code-named "Andromeda."

Whatever Andromeda is, it killed
those two soldiers so quickly,

they didn't even have time
to jump out of their humvee.

Two hours later, this infrared recording

was made by a pilotless drone

flying east to west
at an altitude of 500 feet.

The, um, bright spots indicating
thermal activity are corpses.

And, uh, this is another pass
immediately afterwards-

same parameters.

What brought that satellite
out of orbit in the first place?

Uh, possibly contact with a meteor

or unknown space debris.

Uh, there was also one of two new
North Korean satellites in the area.

What they were doing there,
of course, we have no idea.

Well, being sinister
and inscrutable, no doubt.

If their purpose is benign,
why keep it a secret?

One could say the same thing
about this operation, general.

What exactly was Nasa
doing with that satellite?

And--and why was an Army
retrieval vehicle sent in

after it had failed?

Nasa doesn't have a pot
to piss in these days.

All flights are multipurpose.

We're going to need
to trust each other, doctor.

As long as we all act in good faith,

I don't have a problem there.
General?

Can we play both
recordings simultaneously?

That body by the recovery vehicle

has moved between passes.

- Again. Overlay.
- Yes, sir.

Freeze it. Overlay.

Switch back.

Son of a bitch.

Someone's alive down there.

Listen, Bill.

Whatever differences
we've had in the past,

I hope we can put 'em
aside for the duration.

I wouldn't miss this
for the world, Jeremy.

Somebody has to keep
an eye on you.

What's up with you and Mancheck?

Mancheck?

Well, during operation Desert Storm,

I wanted to examine certain
Iraqi munitions bunkers

for possible biological agents,
but he blew them up first.

Why the big hurry?

Maybe there was something
he didn't want me to find.

Oh, yeah, like the Loch Ness monster,

or maybe there was proof of Bigfoot.

Look, a lot of people
wondered how Saddam

acquired his bioweapons
capability in the first place.

Now some people have suggested
that certain governments,

who were friendly at the time
and eager for data

on the battlefield use of
weaponized biological agents,

might have sold Saddam what he wanted

- when he was fighting Iran.

That's just a bunch of
paranoid left-wing B.S.

- It was never proven, Jeremy.
- Just because you're paranoid, Bill,

doesn't mean they ain't out to get you.

Mancheck.

A heads-up from our friend
at the N.S.A.

who's been running security
checks on the Wildfire team.

An hour ago they picked
up a conversation

between Lisa Stone and Jack Nash.

How the hell did Jack
Nash stumble on this?

He asked about Project Scoop.

Jeez. Who's his source?

We're working on it.

Nash and Stone were
an unbelievable pain in the ass

over Kuwait.

How much does he know
about Project Scoop?

Well, as far as we
can tell, nothing yet.

Don't do anything about Nash right now,

except monitor him closely

and identify his source.

What's the escort for? Paparazzi?

A fail-safe plan to prevent
a break in quarantine.

The chopper will drop us off

and hover at 500 feet
until we recall it.

It will not land unless
they get our signal.

Now if we don't come back,
they're to immediately report

back to base for decontamination.

And if the pilot fails to respond?

Well, there is a fail-safe
for the fail-safe.

It's not too late to reconsider.

Oh, this is just starting to get good.

Approaching target, sir.

We have smoke rising from the town, sir.

Whatever Andromeda is,

it still hasn't killed the birds.

Best not to take any chances.

Captain, drop the chlorazine.

Roger that.

Hmm, the Audubon society's
not gonna like that.

Lieutenant, when ready, lower the team

into the center of town

and take up your preassigned position.

Roger that.

What are the ultimate
environmental consequences

of mining these deep-sea thermal vents?

We don't know,

but one thing we know for
sure is that Enburtel,

one of president Scott's largest
corporate campaign contributors,

will make a fortune from it.

And once again, the president and his
corporate masters...

Hey, gorgeous.

...are ignoring science,
defying international treaties

- and acting unilaterally.
- Charlie H. , long time, no see.

- Sorry, Charlie, he just barged in.
- That's all right. Just call security.

Whoa, Charles,
I'm not feeling the love here.

You're in rehab.
That was our deal.

30 days, then you might
get your job back.

I'm clean. I'm sober.

Look at me, I'm even tan,
and I am-

- I've got a lead on something-
- 30 days rehab.

- That was the deal.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Come on, Charlie.

You're too good a producer
to let your personal feelings

- get in the way of a great story.
- How great?

Last night, Nasa satellite
crashes in southern Utah.

This is news?
We call that gravity.

Nasa claims it was a weather
satellite. I know that's a lie.

And why was an Army retrieval team

sent to pick up said Nasa bird,

and why was that team from
the department of bio-defense?

If this is another one
of your paranoid fantasies,

- I swear to--
- The whole unit died horribly.

Wait a minute.
Wait. Wait.

Did...

you know this for a fact?

- I saw the visuals myself.
- You got tape?

I can get tape.

Right. Meanwhile, a
couple of hours later,

one of our leading epidemiologists

is picked up by the Army
and whisked away.

And?

And the Army general
in charge is Mancheck.

- Mancheck. See?
- I knew it. I knew it.

You-You just won't let
that go, will you?

I mean, you're like frickin' Ahab

- and the white whale with that guy.

I swear to god, this
just fell in my lap.

All I need is a week
to run this down and a crew.

A week and a crew -
that's all I'm asking for.

Three days, then you get
your ass back in Betty Ford,

or wherever you were.

- This man loves me.
- Don't kid yourself.

Loves me!

External symptoms -

pronounced swelling of all
surface veins and capillaries,

jaundice-like yellowing of his eyes.

A few of them are
clutching their chests.

This could be coronary.

Not coronary.
Look at his face.

Asphyxiation, maybe.

No, if a person can't breathe,

they try to loosen the clothing
around their neck and chest.

Look at that guy over there.

He has his shirt buttoned
all the way to the top.

This isn't asphyxiation or heart attack.

Well, the survivor we saw

was over near the retrieval vehicle.

Dr. Noyce.

Take a look.

Look at the way he fell

and broke his nose
on the steering wheel.

There's no blood.

A wound like that
should bleed profusely.

Not one of the corpses we've seen,

including the bird food
back there, were bleeders.

- What is it?
- I thought I heard something.

Don't get sketchy on us, doc.

We have a survivor
on tape, remember?

Major, there's a G.P.S. tracking
device in the shotgun seat.

It should still be locked
in on the satellite.

Sorry, boy, I gotta get in there.

Bill, have a little respect.

How about we do our job
and get out of here?

Yeah, it's working.

Looks like we're close.

Pull over here.

There it is.

Unbelievable.
They opened it.

Angela, can you check his lividity?

Okay.

Give me a hand, Bill.

One, two, three.

Easy, easy.

Dead for hours-

Distended arteries, no bruising.

Look at an artery, would you?
Check his radial.

Clotted solid.

What does that?

Is there a problem, officer?

License and registration, please.

Nice bike.

It's a 1951 FL Panhead.
I did the restoration myself.

- Beautiful.
- Tank shift, foot clutch-

You don't see those anymore.

You are Jonathan Scott?

Yes, sir. I-I just
gave it new tires.

- Are you ready?
- Yes.

- Is your husband watching?
- Yes.

- And the family?
- I hope so.

Would you like to say hello
to them out there?

Um...

I've seen enough.

We should nuke this place
and be done with it.

You're not serious. Under the
Wildfire protocols, directive 7-12,

a limited nuclear strike
is a contingency.

- I agree with Bill.
- Ditto. Why mess around?

Because it's premature until
we know what we're dealing with.

You're all forgetting that we have a
survivor on tape.

Yeah, nine hours ago.

Maybe they're dead now

having drowned themselves
or burned themselves

or cut their own freakin' heads off.

Hi. You're okay. Shh.

Shh. It's okay.
Hi.

She must be hungry.

There's some baby formula here.

No, no. Don't-don't-
Don't feed her.

Don't-don't do anything
until we get her out of here.

Maybe feeding's part
of the disease process,

or there was something
protective in her diet.

We can't take the chance.

We have to get her
into a lab right away.

It's too bad she can't tell us
what happened.

Maybe she can.

You leave that baby here!

You got-got no right to-

Ow!

You all right?

Don't-don't touch me.
Just worried about your suit.

Let's l-stat him and get out of here.

We're coming into the lab
with two survivors-

an adult male and an infant female.

I will recommend to the president

that he order a limited nuclear
strike.

Negative. Negative.

We need to figure out

what the hell we're dealing
with first.

I disagree.

What we're dealing with
induces death,

suicide or homicidal behavior
within minutes.

You have as much time
as the president gives you,

and that's it.

What about our survivors?

They'll be taken
along with the satellite

into the lab
through a separate entrance.

Dr. Chou and Dr. Barton
will be waiting for us.

We have no choice now, Chuck.
This thing is scary.

Our safest option
is the nuke the site,

and only the president
can authorize a nuclear.

You promised us there would be
no problems with Project Scoop.

You know as well I as I do
there are no guarantees

on something like this, so
calm down and let me handle it.

Pretty impressive
security measures here.

Better than they look.

Killer pine trees?

We've been under
continuous observation

by satellite and ground sensors

since the moment
the helicopter dropped us off.

There's at least one armed
predator overhead at all times.

If we were a menace,
we'd be dead by now.

Dr. Stone, long time, no see.

Same to you, George.
How's your daughter?

13 going on 35.
Hello, Dr. Stone.

Access approved.

Grouped around a central utility core,

at the bottom of which
is our power source.

A small water-cooled nuclear reactor.

And the pool hours are...

hey, at 5,000 to 8,000 rem,
even a small exposure

would result in disorientation
or coma within minutes,

but, hey, knock yourself out.

Now the top two levels

are for service and maintenance crew.

They live on-site
in 3-month rotational cycles

under the highest levels
of security clearance.

The bottom three levels

are the actual heart of the facility-

the laboratory itself

and culture equipment.

Decontamination and containment
are second to none.

It's safe to remove your helmets.

Oral antibiotics to kill off any flora

that we might be carrying internally.

Now decontaminating the body externally

is a bit more dramatic.

You're gonna have follow
directions closely.

Taking a shortcut could
prove to be fatal.

Once you're ready,

you'll establish your identity
using a retinal scan.

That was some spa.

We do have our amenities.

Now we each have our own
private sleeping quarters,

though we might not see much of them.

The dining area and gymnasium,
which never close.

Now the badges you're wearing
provide voice-controlled access

to the computer system
and the lab equipment.

They also monitor any radiation

or possible contamination
you might face

and provide inter-lab
communication and recording.

You need to wear them at all times.

As painstaking as the entrance is,

I promise you,
it's much harder to get out.

Each level is self-sealing,
and egress

is only through authorization
from the level above.

Communication with the outside

is via secure fiber-optic
phone lines and high-speed LAN.

We can contact our families?

Yes, but communication
is only one-way.

Any personal urgent calls
coming into the faculty

are rerouted directly
through the comm center.

Of course, your privacy
will be respected,

but the priority here
must remain the security.

There should be no discussion whatsoever

- about what we're working on.
- What happens in the event

of an accidental contamination?

Hatch and seal, like a submarine.

In the event
of an overwhelming breach,

the lab is built atop a nuclear device.

I've just armed that system.

Once it's activated,

there's a 15-minute countdown
to detonation.

You gotta be shittin' me.
I'm sure the chances of an accident

in such a beautifully designed facility
are too small to be significant,

but if there should be a mistake...

there is a fail-safe plan.

Dr. Keene is our odd man.

- Please insert your card.
- Odd man?

Place your thumb upon the panel.

To abort the self-destruct sequence,

Bill I.D.s himself
via thumbprint and his card.

There's a panel
like this on every level.

- Why Bill?

The army ran an extensive
battery of tests,

and determined that unmarried
males were more likely

to make the right choice
during a crisis.

In our particular case,
the right decision

is to not prematurely abort
the self-destruction sequence.

So you were looking for the man

most likely to kill himself and us.

Cool.

I feel so reassured.

The omission was not deliberate, sir.

This is one of those programs

that was initiated years ago
by a previous administration.

It's just one of a number of platforms

we have exploring the singularity.

Oh, and now, as a consequence, you
want me to drop a nuclear bomb on Utah?

That would be general Mancheck's
recommendation, sir.

It's a limited low-yield
tactical device, Mr. President -

- less than a kiloton.
- Oh, is that all?

We have ongoing test ban
treaty negotiations

with the Russians
and the Chinese.

We're still trying to
get North Korea and Iran

to abort their nuclear programs.

How am I gonna explain this to them?

Additionally, Mr. President,

not to be crass...

that's your job, Pat.
Weigh right in.

Nuke Utah for whatever reason,

and you can kiss
your reelection good-bye.

What does Dr. Stone recommend?

The Wildfire team
is divided over the issue.

That wasn't my question.

Dr. Stone would prefer
more time to examine Andromeda.

I should add, Mr. President,

that while no one is sure
of the origin of this infection,

we do know that a North Korean
satellite was in in the area

just prior to our bird going down.

What, you're saying
this was an aggression,

Chuck?

Why would the Koreans do that?

The Pyongyang regime has always
been a loose cannon, sir.

I'm not prepared to go to war
on a hunch

and some half-baked intelligence.

If I authorize it, how quickly

can you call that strike
on Piedmont, general?

Let's give Dr. Stone
some time to do his work.

You lied to me about that satellite.

"Need to know," Ed.

If you ever lie to me again, Chuck,

and homeland security
might just stumble

over on of your little
"off the book" ops.

Why did you push
the Korean scenario?

You said yourself it was a possibility.

But unlikely. You know
something I don't, Chuck?

Just do your job, general.
Let me do mine.

Yes, sir.
I- I just gave it new tires...

- Henderson.
- Charlie? Nash here.

I got a tip from my army source.

Units of the Salt Lake city
national guard

are suddenly being deployed for
a "training exercise related

to immigration and border security."

Odd thing is, according to my source,

the order originated directly
from the office of Chuck Beeter.

The director of the N.S.A.
doesn't have the authority

to call out the national
guard. Fancy that.

Oh, also, something's happened
to my original source on Scoop.

He left me some weird message
that cut out abruptly.

If I-if I text you his particulars,

can you pull the phone records,

- tell me where the call came from?
- Sure.

I'll see what I can do. And you
check in with me regular, Nash,

and watch yourself.

We're obviously dealing with
some kind of infectious agent,

whether it's viral,
fungal, bacteriological,

parasitic or prion,
we just don't know.

To complicate things,
the latest weather report

indicates a possible
Santa Anna weather condition

developing within the next 48 hours.

Those winds could conceivably
sweep the contagion

towards Southern California.

Charlie Henderson from NNT called

about the Utah guard rollout
and the rumors

that it originated
out of Beeter's office.

Unbelievable.
This place leaks like a sieve.

It's sooner than we might like,

but not entirely unexpected.

In any case, I think
we can stall Henderson.

Maybe this would be
a good opportunity

to offer NNT an exclusive
about your reelection campaign.

You know, kill two birds with one stone.

Henderson is not the real problem.

He can be leveraged, but Nash-

Nash is different.
Nash is a bulldog.

Have you located his sources yet?

He's gone to ground,
but we're closing in.

The problem is, if Nash
gets in contact with Stone,

there's gonna be no way

to keep Project Scoop out of the press.

Can't we just impose a gag order

on the Wildfire team?

That ain't gonna be pretty.

Of course, sometimes these
communication systems

suffer from mechanical failure.

I say we go nuclear
and sterilize the whole area.

Fortunately, you're not in charge.

The final call, please
correct me if I'm wrong,

is the president's.

Dr. Stone, please contact
the communications officer.

Dr. Noyce is right.

Our job is to employ
the best science we can

so the president has
the information he needs

to make a decision.

Now why don't you all
get started on the satellite?

I'll be in in a minute.

Call for Dr. Stone.

We're having a problem
with the communication system.

Now we're okay within the lab,

but I can't raise the outside at all.

Computer, phones - nada.

Okay.

So we'll be entering the capsule
through the compartment door,

which was originally removed
by Piedmont's late fire chief.

I think it's safe to conclude

that Andromeda was originally
inside the capsule,

otherwise the citizens
who recovered it

would never have made it
back to town alive.

What did Mancheck say the
satellite was doing?

He didn't say.

Apparently, we're experiencing

some kind of technical glitch
within our communication system.

Glitch?
I don't like glitch.

All external computer
and communication lines

are down, but I've been assured

that they're gonna have them up
and running as soon as possible.

- Please, Dr. Chou, continue.
- Uh, well, this is not a new satellite.

I would say it's at least
two to three generations old.

And from what I can
tell from the exterior,

it wasn't designed
for communications,

navigations or surveillance.

In fact, what it appears to be is a
biocontainment vessel.

Son of a bitch.

Well, it's very damn odd.
It means that it was designed

to capture and retain
biological materials.

Which means two things-

And the second thing?

Mancheck is lying.

So it was what?

Randomly collecting
bio samples in space?

- What are the chances of that?
- Slim to none.

Let's pop it open.

Wait. Go back.

Stop it.

Zoom in.

Could that material be Andromeda?

That's still to be determined.

If that's what knocked
the satellite down,

it must have been moving
at a tremendous rate of speed

or be incredibly heavy.
How could that be?

It didn't do that much damage
to the satellite.

Maybe it has elastic qualities
we don't know about.

For now, let's assume
this is Andromeda.

Bill and Charlene, you check
the pathology of this thing.

See if you can figure out how it kills.

Dr. Noyce, you examine our survivors.

Find out what kept them alive.

Dr. Chou, you and I will test
the black substance in Andromeda

for what conditions
each likes and dislikes.

See if we can't I.D. their
nature and their structure.

So, sergeant George, you
and the men of Bravo company

have no idea then what this
sudden call-up is about.

No, sir.

They pretty much tell us
to show up

and we find out what the deal
is when we get there.

Meanwhile, the pentagon insists

this sudden alert
of the Utah national guard

is nothing more than
a routine training exercise.

No further details are forthcoming,

including when this deployment
will be over.

When have we heard that before?

Computer, patient number one,

according to documents
found on him, is Kyle Tobler-

male, 60 years old,

Undernourished,
possibly anemic.

Computer, has he responded
since arrival?

Basolyte test results?

Kyle Tobler is a G.I.
Bleeder.

I want two units of
whole blood, plus plasma,

And vitamin K for him

and a complete blood workup
on both patients.

You're gonna be okay,
sweetie. I promise.

Hey, Charlie.
What's up?

I've got some bad news
about your friend.

He's dead.

I'll text you the details
in a moment.

I'm sorry.

Time - ten seconds.

Damn, this thing is lethal.

And airborne, if there was any doubt.

Let's check it.

Most John Does we get
don't drive a Harley Panhead.

Lucky for him you remember that.

Yeah.

Lucky for him.

This your friend?

I don't know if you know anybody
in the family or anything,

But, uh, if his bike's
available now, you know,

I'd love to buy it.

No harm in askin', right?

Removing contaminated air.

Dead animals are not infectious.

That's an extremely
unusual adaptation

if that's what that is.

Well, we know Andromeda
coagulates the blood,

but how does it enter the body -

through the lungs or the skin?

We can radioactively tag
some blood proteins

and scan the animals
on their initial exposures.

Let's start with a rhesus.

So you think Mancheck
deliberately isolated us?

Let's just say

I wouldn't put it past him.

Have you told the others?
I don't want them distracted.

There's so little time as it is.
Why tell me?

I guess because I needed
somebody to talk to,

somebody I trust.

Mmm. Are you making
any progress?

Yes, the infant's
blood work is normal,

and Tobler's anemic,
and his PH is very acidic.

I don't know why.

Why don't you go ask him?

- George, this is Dr. Stone.
- Yes, sir, what can I do for you?

We're having some kind of
communications problem down here

and I need your help.
Do you got a cell phone that works?

Yeah, my wife got me
this new Blackberry.

Jack, it's Jeremy Stone.

I need to talk to you.
It's urgent.

I'll try to call back in one hour.
Damn it!

Aah!
Who the hell are you?

Where am I?

I'm Dr. Noyce.

You were bleeding
very badly internally,

and we had to give
you a transfusion.

What happened in Piedmont?

There was an outbreak of disease.

That's why we brought you here.

Am I contagious?

We don't think so,

but we don't want
to take any chances.

Initiating the scintillometer
and exposing the subject.

Definitely inspired by the lungs,

Andromeda then crosses
into the bloodstream

and begins coagulation.

But is that how it actually kills?

Could it be a single cerebral clot?

Maybe an anticoagulant
could stop this thing?

Let's repeat with something
like Heparin.

Okay.

I want to get these tissues
samples out to the lab first.

Computer, sample and stain
with H&E and P.A.s.

I also would like sections
of the nerve tissue stained

with both nissl
and cajal gold preparations.

The black material is artificial.

What do you mean?
A construct?

Yeah, at first it appears to have

a complex lattice-like
microstructure of carbon fibers.

Further analysis reveals
a structure of buckyballs.

Well, that would explain
how the contact

drove the satellite out of orbit
without damaging it,

but isn't this kind of
application still theoretical?

Yeah. This is nanotechnology
light-years ahead

of anything anyone
is doing right now.

What about the other material?

Did you see that?

That must be our infectious agent.

Computer, replay.

That's Andromeda.

Did anybody else make it?

Just you and the baby.

That's Sylvie.
It's the Ritter kid.

Not used to her being so quiet.

She's one little yeller.

Cries to beat the band.

Nobody else made it?

No, I'm afraid not.

This-this place
is giving me the creeps.

I want-I want to get out of here.

You're not well enough
to go anywhere.

I know my rights!
I- I-I'm no damn terrorist.

You're in quarantine.

Well-well, give me
a cigarette then.

Sorry, no smoking.

Oh, yeah, I've heard
that bullshit before-

No smokin', no drinkin',
no Mexican food.

What's the point of livin' like that?
It's damn boring.

You've been hospitalized before
for the bleeding?

Hell, yeah.

Spittin' up blood like old faithful.

Tell me I got an ulcer
the size of a grapefruit.

Did they give you
any medication, Kyle?

They did, but I didn't much
like the taste of it.

So you went untreated.

What about the pain?

Uh, Aspirin works just fine,

About a bottle a day
towards the end there,

plus a little squeeze.

"Squeeze"?

The pink lady,

Red eye. You know, sterno.

Sterno, that's got methanol in it.

- Is that bad?
- It can blind you or kill you.

Well, it didn't kill me.

They all died,

but I didn't.

Kyle. Kyle, what happened
in Piedmont?

What happened to you
and the others that night?

I don't want to talk about it.

It's very important.

Lots of lives depend
on what you might know.

Look, I don't know!
I don't want to talk about it.

Kyle,

what did you see that night?

It was Jeff Megan
and Suzie Travers.

They found the damn thing.

They're just kids, really.

They-they brought it
to the fire station,

to the chief Hank Benedict,

'cause I hear he's an engineer
and knows lots of stuff.

The only reason I know
is 'cause I was playin' poker

at the fire station -
Me, Hank

aAnd Al Ritter
who runs the gas station,

Herbie Block and Annie Dillon.

You think it's from outer space?

It fell from the sky, Annie.

You know what I mean.
Is it alien?

Yeah, that's why it says
U.S.A. on the side.

You think aliens can't spell?

Probably just a weather satellite.

Yeah, that's what
they want you to think.

Have you ever heard of area 51?

You don't think that there
aren't all these secret

government things that goes on
that none of us know about?

- What do you think, Hank?
- It's a satellite -

weather or communications
or something.

I'll make a few calls, and let
you know what I find out.

About a half-hour later,
I'm gettin' a soda

from Al's gas station

because the squeeze makes
you kind of thirsty.

So you'd been drinking that day?

How did you feel?

A- A-A little dizzy,

my-my breath was
kind of short on me.

My head!

Aah! My head!

Al?

Al? !

Hang on!
Hang on, buddy!

Hey, Annie.

What's going on?
What's wrong with these people?

You got to burn 'em out. Don't
you see? It's the only way.

Annie, well, what...?

Annie!

What--?
Hey, Annie!

Annie!

And then everything's quiet.

Then it's like
the whole world is dead.

And that's when I saw the general,

Scott Arnold, a vet,
steady as a rock.

You know what's happening, Kyle.

They've gotten under the wire.
They're inside the compound.

- I don't think that's it, general.
- Got to face facts, soldier.

You tell 'em back home
I did my best, okay?

I thought I'd gone crazy,

Hallucinatin',
too much pink lady maybe.

Hey! Hey! Hey, over here!

It's me! I'm here.
Help me, man!

Help me, man!
You got to help me!

No, no, no!

Help, help,

No, no, no, no!

Poor bastard.

So Tobler was acidotic because
of the methanol he was drinking.

It breaks down and becomes
formaldehyde and formic acid.

Plus he was taking
a bottle of aspirin a day.

That affected his breathing?

He had to breath rapidly
to blow off the carbon dioxide

and decrease the carbonic acid
in his body.

Well, maybe there's a way

to attack Andromeda in there.
No, the baby's PH is normal.

There's nothing unusual
about her except her colic.

Charlene? Here's
what we know so far.

Andromeda is approximately 1 micron,

the size of a single cell.
It's transmitted by air.

Dead organisms are not infectious.

Andromeda is inspired by its victim.

It crosses into the bloodstream
where it initiates coagulation.

Death occurs within seconds.

Now we tested anticoagulants,

but they don't affect its process.

So it cannot transmit from a
corpse?

Yeah, strange, isn't it?

Andromeda kills men, kills
all mammals as far as we know

and then dies within the organism.

It shows no signs of having
adapted to mankind.

You know, maybe this
is just what it seems -

an alien life-form, the first
mankind has ever encountered.

So it's not cuddly like E.T. ,
but there it is. Deal with it.

Who says it's natural?
It could be engineered.

Especially given what Tsi
discovered when he was looking

at the black material
alongside Andromeda.

Yeah, it's an extremely advanced
form of nanotechnology

called Buckyballs, named after
the inventor Buckminster Fuller.

The molecule is form of
carbon 60, octahedral in shape,

with 60 atoms forming
the shape of a ball.

So if this black material
was a manufactured shell

containing Andromeda,

then what you're describing is
some kind of a biological bomb.

- Whoa!
- Why not?

It would be arrogant
to think that human beings

are the only creatures
sophisticated enough

to use bacterial warfare. Why would
you assume alien origin at all?

Mancheck said there was a North
Korean satellite in the area.

If anyone was gonna attack
the United States,

why go through all the trouble
of sending a contagion

into space and hoping
that Nasa will pick it up?

Why not simply bring it in
on a shipping container

like one of the thousands that
come in every day un-inspected

because homeland security just
doesn't have enough resources

to do the job?

And for that matter,
why use such an exotic bug

when plague, typhus or smallpox
would be just fine?

Well, you'd be the expert on that.
Whoa!

Easy, Keene. Mancheck is a
liar, and you are a racist fool!

Yeah? How many died in that
outbreak in Shanghal?

That's enough, both of you.

It's growing?

That's right.

Now the first time it displayed
that behavior it was unprovoked.

So is what we just saw some kind
of nonspecific growth response

Or a sentient reaction to injury?

Maybe it just doesn't like being poked?

I think we need to
focus more on structure,

what is Andromeda made of.

Bill, you and Charlene,
do an amino acid workup

while Tsi does a spectro-analysis.

I'd like to continue my exploration

of the black material.

That is, unless you think
I'm a security risk, Bill?

I trust you, Tsi. Why wouldn't I?

I know there's a link between
Kyle Tobler and Sylvie Ritter.

I want to continue to pursue that.

Let's get started.

I appreciate the lift, man.
Car just up and died on me.

No problem, man.

It's important to see
your family when they ship out.

You never know, know what I mean?

What happened in Shanghal?

It was a different time back then.

The international treaties
on biowarfare were toothless.

Every country, including yours,
was experimenting.

We were field testing
a weaponized version

of hemorrhagic smallpox
at an outdoor laboratory.

It proved much, uh,
hardier than we expected.

A young girl in a fishing boat
9 miles offshore

caught the disease,
brought it back to the city.

It killed 107 people,

30 of them children,
before we could contain it.

There were people
in both our governments

who were prepared to unleash
unimaginable horrors.

I like to think that
in the end reason prevailed,

but maybe we were
just very, very lucky.

Jeremy! Jeremy!

You're not gonna believe this.

Andromeda doesn't have D.N.A.

- What is it, some kind of prion?
- No proteins, not even any amino acids.

Charlene was right.

There has never been
anything like Andromeda

anywhere on the earth.

This is terra incognita.
This is alien.

Hey, that's good eatin'.

- Appreciate the food, Mr. Nash.
- My pleasure, sergeant.

Didn't know they were embedding
journalists on this operation.

Pretty much standard operating
procedure these days.

Just bringin' the war on terror home.

- Nash.
- Jeremy Stone.

Jeremy Stone-I've been trying
to reach you, man.

Where the hell are you?

You sound like you're at the
bottom of a well.

You can say that.

Listen, why is the guard
deploying in southern Utah?

They're
calling it an exercise,

but the orders originated
with the N.S.A.

possibly because
some kind of secret satellite

code-named Project Scoop
came down in the desert.

- What is Project Scoop?
- No idea, but it's army.

This is being run by our
old friend general Mancheck.

Let me tell you,
when that sucker came down,

it killed a lot of people.

I mean, no one's saying
infectious outbreak, but--

And-
and how do you know that?

I can't give details,
but it cost my source his life.

And it wasn't any virus
killed him either,

unless microbes routinely
pack.9 millimeter slugs.

These guys are not
messing around, Jeremy.

Now I'm being followed.
At least, I was.

Are those guard units carrying
any biohazard here with them?

I don't know, but I can check.

All right. Well, pay close
attention to their equipment.

- I got to go, Jack.
- Wait, wait, wait.

I showed you mine. You show me yours.

It's a biological
infection called Andromeda.

That's all I can say for now.

When I know more, I'll call
you first. I promise.

Look, in the meantime, see
what else you can find out

about Project Scoop, and I'll
call you back in three hours.

Listen, Jack, be careful,

and I'm not just talking
about the army

and whoever else is
following you. Andromeda.

It's lethal, beyond comprehension.

Tuesday, Marti, pot roast.

It's just coffee, Sally.

You all right, Marti? You look
kind of green around the gills.

Flu or somethin',
my head's killin' me.

- You have any aspirin?
- Yeah, sure.

They're all out to get me.

Marti, you're hurting me.

Please, Marti, please.

General, there has been
an incident

40 miles south of Piedmont.

A Utah sheriff named Willis
has shot three people

and killed himself.

Here's the raw network feed.

And here's the security camera.

Please, Marti, please,

Please.

- If it's Andromeda...
- It is.

I don't know how Willis
escaped quarantine.

Willis could have passed
through Piedmont

the night of the infection
before the quarantine went up.

Have you isolated these bodies

and whoever worked the crime
scene?

Already done, general.

Mancheck.

I have a message from Dr. Stone
regarding Project Scoop.

Unless communication
is restored fully

to the lab,

Jack Nash will go public
with all the details

Live on NNT.

You have ten minutes to comply.

What happened?

Stone knows about Project Scoop.

Put Wildfire back online.

Get me Stone.

Yes, general.

Come on.
You deliberately isolated us.

And you lied about the purpose
for the satellite, general.

We had a technical problem,
and the problem got solved.

Now we want the full facts
on Project Scoop

and everything associated with it,

or I swear to God every press
agency from "the New York times"

to some podunk podcaster in
Nebraska will get this story.

Nasa astronomers discovered
a singularity

- in our solar system.
- A singularity?

A theoretical distortion
in the space/time...

continuum. No longer theoretical -

there was a sudden
and inexplicable appearance

of a tiny source emitting
extremely powerful bursts

of light and energy -
In short, a wormhole.

Now we're still in the process
of analyzing that data,

but physicists have theorized
since 1935

that traversable wormholes
could function as portals

between distant parts of the galaxy.

Project Scoop was
one of several attempts

to explore this phenomenon,
and in this case,

to collect samples
of living organisms.

Now we're not sure
exactly what happened,

but on approach, the satellite
became erratic and came down.

Shortly thereafter,
the wormhole, or...

whatever the hell it was, closed.

Well, why in God's name
did you withhold this?

We have wasted valuable time, time we
don't have, flailing about in the dark.

Can you imagine the panic
news of an event like this

would have caused?
It was strictly need-to-know.

Need to cover your ass.

Now why would the army's bio-defense

be covertly collecting samples?

Maybe shopping for lethal material

that wouldn't be covered
by any existing

or future biowarfare agreements?

What we did,
whatever you think of our motives,

the problem facing us
right now is Andromeda,

and it's getting worse by
the minute.

What do you mean?

Well, the president, largely
on your recommendation,

opted for quarantining the area

instead of calling in
a limited nuclear strike,

and now we've already
had a breach.

I just got word of an event
outside the quarantine zone

that sounds like Andromeda.

Now I've got that area locked up tight,
but I need to know,

what have you got to fight this?

Nothing at this point,
not a single thing.

Andromeda is completely unlike
anything we have ever seen.

It would appear to be alien
in its source except...

except for the material
found along with it,

which we think might be
a casing or a delivery system.

It's built from
materials common to earth

but utilizes a nanotechnology
that so far is only theoretical.

So what are you saying then?

Is Andromeda of this
world, or is it alien?

We can't say, either way,

but it's extremely unlikely
that Andromeda is the creation

of any kind of terrestrial power.

Whatever the source, general, we
need to nuke Piedmont right now.

I have to say, I agree with Bill.
I think it's still too risky.

Well, what the hell else can we do?

Wildfire has effectively ruled
out Andromeda as originating

with any known enemy -
foreign or domestic.

Are we under attack or not?

Absolutely, but from whom or what,

we can't say with certainty.

What, you're saying this
is an alien attack, Chuck?

Yes, sir.

Wherever Andromeda comes from,

it dies in Piedmont, understand?

We're ready when you are,
Mr. President.

Are the guardsmen
on the ground going to be safe?

We'll pull back all forward
observation posts 5 miles.

None of our men will be
in harm's way, Mr. President.

Very well.

Do it.

5 miles from the target,

I want you to let loose
and climb like hell.

Theoretically you should be
able to avoid the aftershock,

But no one's actually dropped
one of these things

since Nagasaki.

Blair.

You may authorize
the launch when ready.

Yes, sir.

- It's a go.
- Sir.

What exactly are we lookin' for?

Trespassers, little green men,

who knows.

Tear it down, fellas.
They're pullin' us back.

- You got to be kidding me.
- You heard me. Let's go.

What is that?

Some kind of eagle, sir.

It's got somethin' in its claws.
What is that thing?

Whoa, whoa, you can't
shoot an eagle, sergeant.

It's a rat.

He's bombing us with a rat.

No, way.

- Oh, my head!
- You all right?

- What's up, man?
- Oh, it hurts.

He's dead.

This isn't happening.

Oh, man, this isn't happening.

It's the end of days,

the mark of the beast.

Cut that out right now.
The seals are broken!

Hell in a handbasket,
it's where we're goin'!

Put your gun down!

If Mancheck hadn't kept us
in the dark--

We just ran out of time.

There are just some things
that don't add up.

Chou's casing theory
doesn't--doesn't feel right.

Something's missing, but I--
I just can't put my finger on it.

# Come home, baby #

Afternoon, private Carson.

Jack Nash, NNT. Great job
you fellas are doin'.

Can I help you?

Those, uh, Stryker carriers
of yours are really something.

Are those chemical/biological units?

Yes, sir, pretty much
top-of-the-line.

Now what's that bio trace m3 sampler?

Uh, it's used to collect
biological samples.

We don't normally travel with
this kind of, uh, equipment.

Why do you suppose they need
something like that for?

Uh, why are you here?

You're approaching a restricted area!

Stop your vehicle immediately!

It's a suicide bomber!

Open fire!

Charlie, I'm at-- I'm at desert H.Q.
For the guard.

Some kind of suicide bomber
just attacked.

I just sent photos.
Also I just found-

General Michaelson, you ever heard
of freedom of the

Take Mr. Nash to the stockade.

- I'm a civilian, general.
- He was illegally on my base,

Which has just come
under terrorist attack.

Care to go on the record
about that, general?

Northcom, this is Alpha One.

I will enter the release zone
in 30 seconds.

Roger, Alpha One.

Arm missile.

Roger that. Arming missile.

Missile is armed
and ready to go.

These are the results
of our growth matrix program

on Andromeda.

The particular growth medium

doesn't seem to be a factor.

But atmosphere and light are crucial.

Darkness and infrared inhibit
growth, likewise for oxygen.

Nitrogen is a wash.
Ultraviolet light stimulates,

so does carbon dioxide.

So Andromeda thrives
best in an atmosphere

of 100% carbon dioxide lit
by ultraviolet light.

Looks to me almost like
a pure conversion system.

Computer, post all results
for all closed growth systems.

You're right. No excretions,
no waste, amazing.

What effect does radiation have?

Computer, check all irradiated samples.

My god, it eats it up.

Nuking Andromeda is not gonna kill it.

It'll make it grow exponentially.

Give me general Mancheck.
This is a code red emergency.

Entering release zone.

Dewitt.
Urgent message from Stone.

Get the president
to shut down that launch.

Mr. President, message
from Wildfire. We have to abort.

Hold fire.

30 seconds to target.

Mr. President. Dr. Stone,
what do you mean, abort?

Andromeda eats radiation. If you
nuke it, you won't kill it.

You will grow it.
Northcom.

General Blair,
this is president Scott.

I am ordering you to abort
the mission immediately.

Stand down, Alpha One.
Do not launch.

I say again, cancel sequence
and return to base.

Roger that, northcom.

This is Alpha One. I am shutting
down the launch sequence.

Confirming.
Missile is disarmed.

Oh, thank goodness.

Wow, that was close.

Northcom, I am having some kind
of mechanical problem here.

Northcom, this aircraft
is not responding.

Northcom, please come in.
I cannot control this craft.

Oh, my-- there went the visor.

Northcom, my visor
is disintegrating. The-

I can't-I can't breathe.
I can't breathe.

I can't get air.
I- I'm losing control here, sir.

I cannot get any air.
I need--

Northcom, please come-

The missile is rearmed!

It's disintegrating!

Its almost falling apart!

I have to bail out!

What the hell?

What in the hell
was that?

Mancheck,
why did you drop the bomb?

Well, there must have been
some kind of malfunction!

General Michaelson,
are your troops all right?

A little shook up, sir,
but I think we'll be okay.

I'm sending patrols out

to the outlying posts
within minutes.

Mr. President, seismic stations

are picking this up
all over the world.

We need to decide
how we're going to respond.

Tell 'em the truth.

Tell 'em we lost a plane
for some...

yet unknown
mechanical reasons.

Agnogenic systems failure, sir.

Somehow the tactical
payload went off.

Schedule a news conference.

There'll be no way to claim
that the questions this raises

are motivated by
political partisanship.

And I want to know
what happened out there.

You know as well as I do

that nuclear arms have
numerous fail-safe systems.

- That bomb did not go off accidentally!
- We canceled the drop. You heard it.

- You're lying!
- Knock it off, Stone.

- Can I see the pilot's last transmission?
- Okay.

It's - it's almost disintegrating!

It's just falling apart!

The missile is rearmed!

Aah!

Now what would destroy plastic
resin compounds like that?

Certain chemical agents
under certain conditions

can destabilize the chemical
structure of polymers.

So could certain
microorganisms.

- It's mutating.
- Yeah, but the plane

had to by flying at least
several thousand feet.

It's always been
an airborne pathogen,

albeit of a very short life span.

Maybe this is a new, hardier version.

But it was miles away.

But there was a fire, remember?

And maybe this variant,

either as a separate mutation
or residing in a living host

- Insect, bird -

rose on that column of smoke
and made contact with the jet.

No, no. That is-
that is too difficult to believe.

Does anyone have a better theory?

Does anyone even have
a different theory?

Recon reports eight casualties

at a forward observation post,

but these were not caused
by the blast.

These attacks may
very well be connected

to the attacks
on our headquarters.

Speaking off the record,
it would be a lot easier

for me to do my job if I knew
what we were up against.

It's some kind of virulent
biological infection.

As far as we know,

it may be a prelude
to a much larger attack.

Get me wildfire.

The event in the diner
we can explain

as a lapse in quarantine.

Your smoke theory might explain
how it reached that jet,

but this dead army unit

was 50 miles away from Piedmont.

It must have adapted
and found transportation

in a host. Like influenza,
jumping back and forth

between animal
and human populations.

How do I quarantine that?

You have to scorch the perimeter,

and drive everything living
inside the area.

The rate of mutation is likely
to increase post-blast.

We have to be prepared for anything.

The entire area is under
satellite surveillance.

If something new happens out
there -anything- we'll see it.

What do you need, Stone?

Tell me what you need
to kill this thing,

and I'll get it.

I'm not Stonewalling anyone,
I assure you.

I simply think it is better
that you wait

for the president himself to
answer all of your questions...

from Mancheck--

Andromeda's mutation rate is increasing.

There's a very real chance that
we won't be able to contain it.

- Get "Air Force One" ready.
- I don't think--

You heard me.

And now, ladies and gentlemen,

The president
of the United States.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Two hours ago,
one of our Air Force jets

suffered a fatal systems failure,

and crashed
in a remote part of Utah.

In the process,
a tactical nuclear device

was accidentally detonated.

- Mr. President.
- Yes.

Was this blast near those
Utah national guardsmen,

and are the surrounding cities
in any immediate danger?

Yes, the guardsmen
were there in the area

on a training exercise
related to border security.

The area was already
under strict quarantine,

so they were no way
endangered by the blast.

- Yes, Katherine.
- What about radioactive fallout,

and why were those guardsmen
deployed there to begin with?

Yes, we're taking steps to contain it.

I would like to assure the American public

that they're safety in no way
has been compromised by this.

Bad time, Charlie.

Chuck, listen.
I got a reporter -Jack Nash-

disappeared while covering

the deployment of the Utah
national guard.

So what am I, missing persons?

Come on, Charlie, contact
the local authorities.

I did. They've given me
the runaround,

and I happen to know that
that deployment order

- came out of your office.
- Says who?

Nash was present
for that terrorist attack

on guard headquarters.

What attack? I have no idea
what you're talking about.

Really? Take a look.

- Okay.
- Come on, Chuck.

I haven't heard from Nash
since he sent me those photos.

Now you want me
to just run with this

and ask my questions on camera

about a satellite going down,
and that a bio-defense team

sent in by General Mancheck
to collect it are all dead?

Okay, look. I, uh...

I'm gonna check into this, Charlie,

and I will get back to you.

- Are you all right?
- No.

And this bomb blast
has got everyone freaking.

Aunt Alice is a mess.

You know,
people are saying it's-

it's just an attack by terrorists

and the government's lying
about it. It's-it's not.

- How would you know that?
- I just- I just know, is all.

Yeah, right. The great
Know-It-All, that's you.

- I gotta go.
- Lance.

Lance..

the president is taking
a serious pounding over this.

He's announced that
he is traveling to Utah

to personally oversee
the situation.

So I understand.

And Henderson at NNT

is all up in arms over Nash,
who apparently showed up

at that national guard
headquarters in the desert.

I prefer not to be embarrassed
by information like that.

Nash is in confinement now.
I'm on my way there.

Good.

I need to know how much
information Nash has

and who he's shared it with.

I also need to feel confident
that he is going to shut up.

Do you think
you can handle that?

How's Mancheck holding up?

I would say he's under
a lot of stress right now.

We're going to take casualties on this,

and Mancheck may have to be one,

but that doesn't necessarily
apply to his staff,

especially those who show
boldness and initiative

as we tie up these loose ends.

You can rely on me.

What do you know about wormholes?

- What do I look like, a physicist?
- Try your best.

All I know is that speculation
centers around two basic types:

Lorentzian and Euclidean.

Both are, in theory,
potentially traversable.

That's all you know?

So a method of travel

from one part of the universe
to the other.

Yeah, and through time.

It's like a worm eating
its way through an apple

instead of around it.

Don't tell me you actually
believe Mancheck's story.

It's too fantastic to be a lie.

Attagirl.

The North Koreans have announced

they're abandoning
the Seoul agreement

and reopening their nuclear program

because of our recent unauthorized

- and illegal nuclear testing.
- Well, contact Pyongyang.

Send him satellite photos
of the crash sequence

along with our assurance
as a compliance, okay, Pat?

- What?
- We've also had word from the U.N.

that the general assembly
is going to pass a measure

that will ban all vent mining

unless and until member
countries are satisfied

with a revenue sharing system.

There's also a rumor at the U.N.

- that the blast in Utah was staged...
- Oh.

as a deliberate distraction

- from the vent mining controversy.
- Oh...

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln,

how did you like the play?

Computer, Dr. Stone examining
the tenth series of exposures

of potential inhibiting agents
to Andromeda.

None of the major classes
of antifungals or antimicrobials

have the least effect.

Run all known bacteriophages.

Commencing exposure

of Andromeda to multiple
strains of bacteria.

All tests are negative.

Damn it.

Everything dies.

What kills you?

What?

Shit.

- Stupid, stupid.
- What?

We were in such a hurry,

we forgot to pull the autopsy
of the test rats.

We just assumed that
the coagulation in the body

was the killer. Whereas
a blood clot in the brain...

would be both lethal and would
explain some of the weird

and violent behavior
in some of the victims.

We started picking this up
ten minutes ago.

The color indicates
large amounts of dead

and/or decaying animal matter,

but a closer look reveals
a massive bird die-off

just outside the blast zone,
which is not explicable

by either the detonation
or the fallout.

Is this another mutation?

I've-

I've never seen anything
adapt this quickly before.

Andromeda's movement
into the aviary population

gives it an incredibly
efficient mode of transport.

Chlorazine?

Knocks down anything that flies.

You have to keep it contained.

What the hell did you guys
set off out there?

Was that part of Project Scoop?

What is Project Scoop?

Well, I suspect you know
more about that than I do.

- I know you asked Lisa Stone about it.
- Oh, really?

- And how do you know that, Colonel Ferrus?
- Well, she told us.

Lisa told-
Yeah, I find that highly unlikely.

What'd you do, wiretap
her phone, Colonel?

Was it a
legal wiretap?

I'll be asking the questions here, understood?

That's a military district
of D.C. patch you're wearing.

Who you working for exactly?
You are aware

that you have knowingly
violated a quarantined area

and trespassed on a military base?

Release me immediately, or I'll
have my lawyer all over this.

Oh, I don't have to let you
speak to a lawyer.

I don't even have to acknowledge
that you are in our custody.

Under the homeland security act,
you can be held here

indefinitely as a terrorist threat.

Listen to me, you tin-pot fascist,

I'm not some hapless
middle eastern exchange student

with an out-of-date visa.

I'm an American citizen
with a very public profile.

You screw with me, and you're
gonna have to answer

- some really unpleasant questions.
- What you are is an addict--

- Some really unpleasant questions.
- What you are is an addict

with an inflated sense of self-importance

who has screwed up in a major way.

Now I want you to tell me

everything you know
about Project Scoop

and who you've shared
the information with.

If you guys are out
to stop this plague,

what are you doing packing
biological collection equipment?

Actually, you know,
I prefer it this way.

You can't hide this, Ferrus!

Whatever the hell it is,
you can't hide it!

The prisoner's personal belongings.

They'll need 'em as evidence in
Salt Lake City.

That's not mine.

That's not mine!
That's not my bag!

You are the chief medical officer

for the Utah highway patrol?

I am. What can I do
for you this fine day?

I need some medical information
on Sheriff Willis,

who shot three people
and then himself

at a diner in Brush Ridge.

- I really need it right away.
- Uh, well, I'm sorry.

I'd love to help you out,

but our medical information
is confidential.

This is a matter of public safety.

- Uh, well, sweetie, that may be, but--
- Dr. Smithson,

I'm gonna give you a direct line

to General George Mancheck
at the pentagon,

and I suggest you call him
and jerk him around,

in which case you might find
yourself blindfolded

and taped to a stretcher
in a military stockade.

Where did you say
you were calling from?

Sherriff Willis
must have been exposed

driving through Piedmont
Sunday night.

Later, he shows up at the diner.

He was diabetic, inconsistent
with his insulin use.

He'd had two incidences of
ketoacidosis in the last year.

Well, did the acidosis
somehow delay

the onset of the Andromeda infection?

Most die immediately with exposure.

Those that don't, exhibit
violent behavior within minutes.

Willis lasted a longer time,
while Tobler and the Ritter baby

Continued to remain symptom-free.

Why? Well, these are
the temple lobe samples

from our lab rats.

Note the enormous amounts
of Andromeda.

Coagulation starts immediately,

and death usually follows
with congestion in the lungs.

If coagulation is inhibited,
then Andromeda moves

to the brain, creating a hemorrhage,

provoking violent behavior.
But that doesn't explain

why diabetic Willis lasted
for hours with Andromeda

and an alcoholic man
and a colicky baby

continue to remain uninjured.

What do they have in common?

Hey!

Oh!
Hey, what's going on back there?

Mayday.
This is warrior two.

We're blowin' smoke here.

Mayday.
This is warrior two.

I'm settin' her down.

We have zero visibility.

Stop!

Stop, or I'll shoot!

Let's move two more companies
into sectors nine.

Sir.

We've got a helo down just
outside the quarantine area.

- Survivors?
- Negative.

We're unable to raise anybody on-site.

- Get a team in there right away.
- Yes, sir.

- Get me General Mancheck.
- Sir.

I've never seen a cellular
structure like that.

Take a look at the Fourier
electron density scans.

It's uneven.

That doesn't make any sense,

unless this group of organisms was-

Part of a larger group.
Right.

So is Andromeda

self-sustaining like a bacterium,

or is part of a larger unit,

like a-
Like an organ?

Messenger theory.

What is messenger theory?

It's a theory in astrobiology

that's been kicking around for years

space travel is long and arduous.

Instead of tacking a gold plate

with pictures onto a satellite

like we did with voyager,
maybe a more efficient way

of sending a message
is in a seedlike culture

of bacterium or viruses.

You're saying Andromeda
is a signal

created by an intelligent species

and then sent across the universe?

Or perhaps through the wormhole.

Well, I don't know about that.

Well, what if Andromeda
is like a human stem cell-

it has the capability to change itself

into many different
components depending on

what it's encountering or what
it's ultimately designed for?

Okay, as long as we're
playing "what if,"

maybe it's not the message,

maybe it's the messenger.

I mean, we all assume
that alien life is large,

singular and complex,
but what if it was a colony?

You're missing the point.

Whether Andromeda
is the newspaper

or it's the delivery boy
who is dropping it off,

The message is loud and clear-

"Drop dead."

We've got a problem.
Nash has disappeared again.

We don't have a problem, Colonel.

You have a problem.

If Nash gets to his editor,
he'll put two and two together.

Yeah. Well, he's got no water-

I want you to find him.

I want you to make him disappear.

Yes, sir.

I miss you bad, babe.

The bed's cold, and the house
is two sizes too big.

Oh, you sweet thing.

How are the kids?

Tired of daddy's cooking.

You cook now?

Hey, desperate times
call for desperate measures.

You know that.

Mm, desperate, huh?

So...

tell me how desperate you are

in great detail.

Do you believe in time travel?

Sure, as much as I believe

in Santa Claus
and the easter bunny,

Which is to say, I love the idea,

but I'm dubious about the reality.

But I'm all for it.

For someone like me
who's always running late,

it would be a godsend.

According to Chou,
a Lorentzian wormhole

is theoretically traversable, not
only in terms of distance, but in time.

Andromeda comes from the past?
The future?

Well, the sophistication
of the technology

involved in the black material
would argue for the future.

Why would you threaten
your own past like that?

I don't know.

It would be nice, though, wouldn't it,

to be able to go back,
change things?

I- I think a linear time frame

is a key part of what it means
to be human.

If our really important choices

could be sampled

like a box of chocolates,

then our decisions
would lose their meaning.

What would be at stake?

Everything good at home?

Oh, yeah.

How about you?

You got a girlfriend back home
tying ribbons around oak trees?

No ball and chain for me.

Can't get a date, huh?

If you don't ask, I won't tell.

I always thought that was
a stupid ass policy.

You know, it's ironic that
the army's extensive battery

of psychological tests
has conclusively determined

that the person
they're most afraid of

is the best suited
to make the right choice

in this crisis.
So what are we looking at?

Andromeda's chemical composition.

It's weird.

It's not carbon based.
It's sulfur based.

Sulfur?

Damn.

You're a long way
from home, little bug.

I owe you an apology.

Stanford.
I was a big girl, Jeremy.

I'm sure it wasn't the first time

That a researcher and his
associate became involved.

Well, it was for me.

Look.

I realize that's not popular
opinion, but it's the truth,

and if I really had the courage
of my convictions,

instead of breaking
it off with you, I...

I would have left Lisa instead.

The truth is,

I haven't ever really
stopped thinking about you.

Dr. Stone, Tsi here.

I found something.

You're, like,
I don't-I don't know,

"Clan of the Bear Cave"
or something.

Cave bear.

Daryl Hannah is so hot,

but no.

"Quest for Fire."

- Rae Dawn Chong
- Very hot.

- "Iceman."
- Cold.

Ohh!

I know, I know!

"One million Years B.C."

Raquel Welch is smoking, though.

Oh, screw you.

Another clue?

Sparta!

Spartan women are so hot.

We should go.

I gotta go.

Ow! Holy...

"Night of the Living Dead"?

"28 Days Later"?

"Planet Terror"?

"Pet Sematary"?
I mean-

They're-they're not
classic zombies.

I mean, they come-

they're dead, they come back,
but not classic

in, like, the traditional sense.

Gordo, that's not funny!

Gordo, what's wrong with you?

Ohh!

Here at the molecular level,

the black material is composed
of octahedral beads. Buckyballs.

Exactly, but notice
a slight variation in color.

Each molecule
has 60 carbon atoms,

but some are bonded
with potassium,

while others are bonded
with rubidium,

- giving us this slight color variation.
- And why is that?

Why, indeed?

The differences between
potassium and rubidium

are negligible - neither offers
any advantage

in strength or conductivity,
so the question is,

why would the designer
of this material

use two different elements?

It seems like an extraordinary
amount of work to go to

for no apparent good reason.
That's what I think.

Dr. Stone,

system reports completion
of assigned series.

We have a single positive encounter.

I was taking a shot in the dark

for potential Andromeda inhibitors,

but nothing seemed to work -
apparently until now.

Let's see what we got.

This is x234.
Computer, show test.

My god, it's working.
What is that?

It's an experimental bacteriophage.

Computer,

retest another sample
of Andromeda

and display result.

- Was the first time an anomaly?
- You saw the recording.

Then Andromeda adapted
to the threat?

Tsi, this is a completely
different sample of Andromeda.

How is that possible?

Well, you have yourself a great
time in California, okay?

And you be careful.
If the pollsters are right,

you're gonna be
in more danger than me.

And you, young lady,
you be a big girl

- and take care of your mommy for me.
- Okay.

Okay?
Give me a kiss.

Welcome, Mr. President.

I apologize. Our accommodations
are somewhat spartan.

General, I'm not here on
vacation. Bring me up to speed.

Andromeda has mutated again

and is now in the bird population.

We're killing everything
in the quarantined area.

The national guard reports,
uh, nine killed in action,

probably related
to Andromeda infection,

and the loss of one helicopter
and its crew

due to mechanical failure.

We've also had an event
outside the quarantine zone

- That looks like Andromeda.
- How'd it get out there?

- We're not sure.
- I thought we had this thing boxed in.

So now Andromeda communicates?

- How else do you explain it?
- Contamination.

It wouldn't be the first time

the great Stone has made a mistake.

I was there when he reran the tests -

the same results.
Time-out.

How about everybody take a breath, okay?

What have we got here,

potentially?

An alien creature

that can be broken
into multiple parts

separated by space,
but somehow connected.

One part's still able to learn from the others.

How might that work?

Maybe...

some property of light, harmonics

or, uh, radiation serves

as a neural network.

It has a crystal-like structure.

Crystals vibrate. they also
receive and bend light.

- Maybe-
- Maybe Andromeda

created a subtle energy field-

a harmonic field which links up
its disparate parts.

So we haven't just got
the killer bug of all time.

We have a bug that communicates
with itself over distance.

And learns from experience

and adapts quickly.

Remember, Andromeda was
initially lethal only to humans.

Then we isolated it-
thought we isolated it.

But by that time, it had already
mutated and was jumping

in and out of animal
populations and spreading.

Then we made the mistake
of trying to bomb it.

Then the third mutation-
a resin-eating variant

destroyed the airplane.
Now there's a fourth mutation

affecting birds,
which allows Andromeda

to spread further
and faster than before.

The president has joined us
here at northcom.

Mr. President.

Hello, Dr. Stone.
Please continue.

Uh, we are just discussing
the possibility that Andromeda

somehow may be capable

of communicating
with its disparate parts.

There is by no means a consensus

on this idea, Mr. President.
General Mancheck, does-

does Andromeda appear to be
spreading out unilaterally

or moving in one particular direction?

It's most concentrated in an area

just to the north of the blast zone

and appears to be moving
in a northwesterly direction.

That's the direction
of the storm front, yes?

Yes, the same.

Andromeda is being driven
by natural forces.

That is completely logical.

General, what prominent
features - geographic or man-made

would Andromeda encounter next?

The Henry river. The Henry river
flows into the Colorado river.

Millions of miles of watershed,

connecting waterways, rivers,
irrigation ditches.

Including Lake Mead, which puts
it within striking distance

- of Las Vegas.
- How many flights a day out of vegas?

Hundreds.

One international flight,
and Andromeda's worldwide.

I'll expand the quarantine zone,
order an evacuation.

And shut down all airports

in the Vegas region.

This could be our only chance
to contain it.

All right, go up.

Come back, good.
Keep going.

Keep going.
All right, hold it.

Guards, move out!

- You okay, baby?
- I'm fine.

I just felt bad 'cause I forgot
to ask you about your mother.

- How's she doing?
- Mama? What-

Uh, yeah. She's, uh, she's
all right I guess, you know.

Same ol', same ol'.

Mm-Hmm.
Well, maybe you're right.

Maybe you should go see her.
Take the kids.

She'd love that.

Now be sure to give her my love.

What's goin' on, Charlene?

Nothin'.

Just bein' silly is all.

I gotta go now.
I got work to do.

I love you, baby.

I love you.

Get out of there, Adrian.
We gotta go.

No... no!

Accidents are the number one
cause of death

of people under 40.

Worse than heart attacks
or cancer.

It's the little things, you know,

the small stuff that people overlook.

- It's gonna kill you every time.
- Oh, stop scaring her, Annie.

- Is that sterno?
- A little hair of the dog.

It's poisonous.
And illegal.

So is homicide.
My head hurt.

Take an aspirin next time.
Drinking sterno will kill you.

If you're so smart,

how come I'm still alive
and everyone else is dead?

Now who's trying to scare her?

Look.
Don't get me wrong.

I'd just as soon have
a big bowl of chili

with a cold beer and a cigarette,

but choosers can't be beggars.
Beggars can't be choosers.

See? There's nothing
wrong with your hearing.

You just don't listen so good.
Have an ulcer.

Ruby red.
I can't eat grapefruit.

It messes with my blood sugar.

You just don't listen so good.

So what does a drunk

who self-medicates
with sterno and aspirin

have in common with a baby?

I could not make sense
of it until I learned

that sheriff Willis was diabetic

and often suffered from acidosis.
And Tobler suffered acidosis

- from all the aspirin he was taking.
- Mm-hmm.

But it's not like the baby
was knocking back handfuls

of acetylsalicylic acid.
No, but Tobler said she was always crying.

She was colicky.

If Sylvie breathed rapidly
long enough,

carbon dioxide would
build up in her system

and she would become acidotic.

So you're saying
they survived Andromeda

because they have the same level
of stomach acid.

That's brilliant.

Mr. Henderson,
I am very sorry to inform you

that while Jack Nash
was being evacuated

from guard headquarters,
the helicopter he was in

suffered mechanical failure
and went down.

- Jack's dead?
- I'm afraid so, sir.

I'm having a hard time
locating the next of kin.

Did Mr. Nash have
family or friends?

Where are you calling from?

I'm gonna have to ask you again, sir.

Did jack Nash have family or friends?

What's your name?
Where are you calling from?

No, my friends,

not today.

Dinner is most definitely

not served!

Okay, um...

I don't know
how this works exactly,

but, uh...

I'm sorry.

I'll do better.

Uh, I'll-I'll be nice to people.

Please save my ass.

Amen.

Okay, how about this?
I'll never do drugs again -

Ever. I swear.

No drugs, no booze, no cigarette-

No drugs, no booze-
How about that?

Yeah, same to you, pal.

I take it back.

Okay, I take it back.

Okay.
We've got a vulnerability.

Andromeda can only exist
within a very narrow range

of acidity and alkalinity.

It pretty much falls within
the parameters

of human tolerance - 7.5-7.0.

So anything we hit
Andromeda with

which is acidic
or basic enough to kill it

might also be lethal to humans.

And to make matters worse,

if our test results are correct,
whatever we attack with,

Andromeda will
eventually adjust.

We'd have to hit
every bit of the infection

virtually simultaneously to
prevent its adaptation.

Yeah. And disrupt its communicative
abilities at the same time.

You know, if you set out

to deliberately
exterminate mankind,

you couldn't do better
than Andromeda.

Hello?

- Get back! I mean it.
- Okay.

- What do you want?
- Well, first of all,

I want a glass of water
the size of a chevy,

but, uh, then I really need
to make a phone call.

Do-do you have a cell phone?

What happened to you?

Name's Jack Nash.
I'm a reporter with NNT.

You probably know my face.

- I just watch Colbert.
- Right.

"South park," sometimes.

Look. There was a helicopter
crash. I'm the only survivor.

I have some important
information I need to deliver,

and I really, really need
to make a phone call,

and- Need some help
with the tire?

Honestly, isn't that
getting a little heavy?

How long before this
Santa Anna condition

reaches the infected area,

and then how long after that
until it gets to Los Angeles?

At the rate that it's moving,
it'll be at the edge

of the quarantine zone
in 24 hours,

which puts it about 200 miles from
Los Angeles.

Should we evacuate L.A. ?

Evacuate to where, Ed?

Can you imagine
what it would be like

if we actually asked the entire
Los Angeles basin to leave?

Why should the United States
distract them?

Like the California gold rush,
we are looking

at a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity here... Mr. president,

we have a developing situation
in the mid-Atlantic.

The extremely radical
environmental group-

Ocean Saviors- has mounted
an armed assault

against our vent mining platform.

This came on their web site
just moments ago.

At 5:47 this afternoon,

an Ocean Savior assault team

seized control of vent mining
platform number one.

During the course of this action,

one of our brothers has died.

We were driven to this course
by the self-serving

greedy policies of president Scott

and his cabal of industrial apologists.

Ocean Savior says no to vent mining.

Ocean Savior says no

to the rape of the ocean.

We have taken hostages,

and we've now wired
the platform with explosives.

Any attempt to interfere with us

will result in the most
serious consequences.

We will provide
a list of our demands

in our next communique.

the Navy has two frigates
and a submarine

in the vicinity,
plus a team of Navy seals.

Let's see what they want first.

Enough people have died today.

Besides, if we don't stop Andromeda,

it's not gonna much matter
anyway, will it?

That thing that Bill was saying

about disrupting Andromeda's
communicative abilities-

It got me thinking about
messenger theory again.

The idea that Andromeda might be
a coded message from the future.

You think its lethal qualities
are accidental, not intentional?

No, no. I agree that Andromeda
was designed to kill humans.

Now I realize
this is highly speculative,

but maybe the message,
if there is one,

is in the casing.
Maybe it is the casing.

Hmm. Now each molecule
of the black material

is cemented by one
of two bonding agents-

uh, potassium or rubidium.

They serve no structural purpose,

and alternate
in a seemingly random manner.

Why go to such trouble?

Is it random- two agents?

Why not three or four?

Because it's binary.

It's a binary code.

Each sequence is approximately
200 molecules long,

but if you look,

there's a pattern
within the larger pattern.

Eight.

Patterns of eight.

In a typical binary computer code,

each 8-bit sequence
would stand for a letter.

Computer, treat molecular
sequence as binary code,

and search for key.

Why would our enemies
send us a message?

Well, maybe they didn't.

Maybe somebody else did.

Okay, I know this
is going to sound fantastic,

but let's say that Mancheck
wasn't lying about the wormhole,

and that, in fact,
it was the source of Andromeda-

wormholes as we understand them
are a theoretical connections

between distance and time, right?

What if Andromeda
was sent to us by our future?

Okay, I think somebody's
been working too hard

and drinking way too much coffee.

Why send something back that
could destroy your own past?

It would be a move
of absolute desperation.

A wake-up call, a cry for help.

- They couldn't beat Andromeda.
- And we can?

Come on, future technology
must be superior to ours.

All right, maybe it's not
about technology.

Maybe they lack something
that we have-

That-that we still have.
Something to do with ph.

Resources-

natural resources.

Something we used up or destroyed-

Some fossil fuels or some species

of plant or animal life
in the rain forest.

And the answer is...

okay, if I'm sending a message back

to some lab-coated geek
in the past, I'd keep it simple.

I'd use the basic American
computer code for documents,

and the Roman alphabet.
ASCII.

Computer, approach pattern

as ASCII code and translate.

What the hell is bacillus infernus?

Bacterium from hell.

What's that number?

I did some work on this once.

It-it's an extremely rare
member of the archaea genus,

found only one place on the planet-

At the bottom of the sea,
nearly 3 kilometers deep,

next to thermal vents.

The bacterium thrive

under the most extreme
conditions imaginable,

including very acidic ph.

It practices chemosynthesis to survive.

In fact, its main food source

is the sulfur-based effluent
from the vents themselves.

The chemical composition
of Andromeda is based on sulfur.

I bet infernus looks
at Andromeda the same way

a pit bull would look
at a big, juicy steak.

The plan to mine those vents
of their mineral deposits

is gonna be very destructive.

It-it's a kind of
underwater strip-mining.

Maybe that's why they needed to
send a message from the future.

The bacteria no longer exist there,

because we
destroyed it.

We've set plenty of precedent for this kind of weapon.

We spray both mosquitoes
and gypsy moths

with lethal bacterium.

What about Andromeda's
ability to mutate?

That's the beauty
of this line of attack.

Andromeda can't change
its basic atomic composition,

which is sulfur based.

- You can run, but you can't hide.
- All right.

Does this bacterium have
any adverse effect on humans?

Nothing we could find.
So we spray infernus in the air, in the water-

Wherever Andromeda is,
and the bacteria consume it.

Hold on now. We're getting
ahead of ourselves.

It makes really good theoretical sense,

but we have to test it out.

Oh, this is horseshit!
I gotta go with Chuck on this, sir.

I mean, it's just too fantastic.

All right.
Dr. Stone, look.

I'm finding all this
a little difficult to accept.

Andromeda is a biological assault-

possibly a precursor
to an invasion,

but of the future?

And it was sent to us by them
for our help

because of this bacteria?

Mr. President, I-I recognize
how crazy it sounds,

but it explains everything
we know about Andromeda.

They sent it back, safely contained

Within the black material we found.

They could not have anticipated

its interception by the Scoop satellite

or its subsequent release
in Piedmont.

This is purely speculative.
There's nothing real here, sir.

How do you explain the binary
code then-coincidence?

It's a redundancy system-

standard operating procedure
in aeronautics.

Everything Nasa builds
is done that way.

They coded the solution
to Andromeda

within the molecular
structure of the container.

If you analyze all the data

and the only explanation
that works is the improbable,

then the improbable
must be true.

- Oh, what is that - Confucius?
- Okay, gentlemen, gentlemen...

- Sherlock holmes.
- Now, Dr. Stone,

This string of numbers
that came with the message

and the nonsense that followed it -
what do you make of that?

The computer hasn't been
able to make any sense

of the number 739528, but it's
continuing to work at it.

I- I know that's not
very helpful, sir.

Well, you don't do well
in my line of work

unless you're willing to roll
the dice once or twice.

Well, if they want my head,
they can have it later.

- What do you need, Dr. Stone?
- Samples of the bacterium, sir.

We need to test
it's lethality on Andromeda.

The lab I worked with
at U.C.L.A. still has samples.

I'll have it sent out
to wildfire right away.

I'll also have our biological
dispersal equipment standing by

the minute you give the
word. And, Dr. Stone,

if this doesn't work,
what's your plan "B"?

There is no other plan,
Mr. President. That is it.

All we can do now is work like hell

to get operational
and hope that Andromeda

doesn't pull yet another
adaptation out of the bag.

Hey, look at that!

What the? Hey, they're
comin' right at us!

What the-
Aah, get off me!

Aah!

Oh, my god!
Aah, aah!

You think Stone's bacterium
is the solution?

- Well, he seems to think so.
- That's not what I asked you.

- That's my answer.
- I need something done.

- What?
- Find out where Dr. Barton's family is.

Flight 82 to Honolulu

is now boarding at Gate Five.

Mr. Barton,
will you come with me, please?

Mr. Barton,

you and I need to have a conversation

about your wife.

We lost contact with one of our units

near the Henry river
a half-hour ago.

Predator overflight
reveals no survivors.

I think we have to assume that
quarantine has been breached.

Extend the ground patrols
in that area

and increase overflights.
Keep me posted as you make progress.

I can cut short your wife's trip

the minute you give word.

We can have her on a plane
and out of danger

in under an hour.

What about all the other wives
and daughters

in Los Angeles, Pat?

- What are you gonna do for them?
- Well, I just thought-

Go on, leave me alone.
Go on, get outta here!

Okay, we're introducing
a very modest amount

of infernus to Andromeda.

Look at it go.

Yes! 2.3 seconds.

So we have a weapon.

How much of this bug do we need
to grow to make a difference?

Welcome to the nursery.

Biological breeder vessels.

State of the art.

Well, let's crank 'em up.

Andromeda is now
definitely in the watershed

of the Henry river,
and it's moving downstream.

The color blooms there-

massive aquatic die-offs.

- Evacuate the entire Lake Powell area.
- Yes, sir.

It works.
The bacterium works.

Excellent work, Dr. Stone.

We've started production

and should have usable
quantities within ten hours.

Ten hours is cutting it damn close.

How so? Andromeda had
developed another mutation

that attacks aquatic life,
and it's gotten

into the watershed
of the Colorado river.

At the rate it's moving,
it should be in Lake Powell

within 10, 11 hours.

- And the storm?
- It continues to pick up speed.

Let me know the minute
you're ready.

Priority call for Dr. Barton.

Charlene, honey.

- Sam?
- The kids all right?

Did you- did you
get to your mom's?

Something came up.

There's somebody who wants
to talk to you, Charlene,

and I want you to listen
to him, baby, okay?

Okay.

Dr. Barton,

in the interest
of your family's safety,

I suggest you listen to me
very carefully.

Computer, assemble the team
in the conference room.

Hey, you okay?

I'm fine.

We have all come to accept
the possibility

that it was a mutation of Andromeda

that brought down that jet,

but there is something
that's always bothered me-

The jet had been recalled,

its mission aborted,

and then Andromeda attacked it.

I think we might be
underestimating Andromeda.

Yes, we've discussed

its phenomenal rate of mutation,

We've-we've considered
the possibility

that it can communicate among
its physically separated parts,

but what if it knowingly
crashed the jet

in order to set off
the onboard nuclear device

and accelerate its own growth?

You're saying it thinks?

I'm saying we have
to consider the possibility

and act accordingly.
We could dose it now.

We probably have enough bacteria
to hit the hot spots.

No, I don't want to risk missing
some portion of Andromeda,

enabling it to regroup.

When we strike, it has to be
devastating, and to be safe,

I think we need to destroy

every last sample of Andromeda
in the lab right now.

You think Andromeda knows

or could know what
we're trying to do here?

I don't think we can take that chance.

I'm gonna go check
the breeder vessels.

Do you think the bacterium will work?

What?

Do you think the bacterium will work?

Uh, what else have we got?

I mean, they were damn clever,

Andromeda's creators.

It's a-it's a brilliantly
lethal construct,

but we're-we're a resilient species.

Think of the imagination
those scientists had

to figure out what they
needed and send for it

in the past.

You know what's truly ironic

is that what may end up
saving mankind

at the pinnacle of creation

is this very simple
primitive bacterium

from the slime on the bottom
of the ocean,

the creature that we were
prepared to obliterate

with-
without a moment's thought.

There's a profound lesson
in humility there, I think.

Not usually your strong suit.

I'm workin' on it.

Yeah.

Jeremy,
come to the conference room.

It's urgent.

What is it?

It's not numbers or letters.

It's an image,
a design of some kind.

That's why it took
so long to process.

What is that?

I've never seen anything like it.

It's not scientific.

Religious, maybe?

I don't know.

Let's go!

Clear the line.
Clear the line.

Let's get up!

Saddle up, boys.

We're good to go, lieutenant!

That weather system
is picking up speed, sir.

If this doesn't work,

Andromeda will hit Los Angeles
in less than five hours.

Also, our, uh, strike teams

are in position near
the mining platform

waiting for your word to go in, sir.

Is there anything you'd like me to do?

Are you a religious man, Chuck?

Sir?

I don't mean every four years.
I mean-

I mean, do you have faith?

Yes, sir.

Well, then you can pray.

Hey.

Howdy.

Oh.

Nice.

Yeah, it's real pretty,

but, uh, mind if I try
your cell phone again?

Don't you ever just relax?

No. I don't really.
I should.

Go ahead, but the reception's
not gonna be any better

than it was last night.

Well, my luck's changing.
I can feel it.

I see two people-
one male, one female.

Breakfast.

I really would like to,

But, um, I can't.

I made a promise.

I know that sounds lame,

but there it is.

Jack, what's going on out there?

Time to go.

Why was he shooting at us?

Not us, me.
They're shooting at me.

Jeremy, we have got a lot
of product down here,

and it's all screamin',
"feed me."

Urgent message for Dr. Stone.

Go for Dr. Stone.

Dr. Stone, we should
have out helos

to your facility within minutes.

You gonna be ready?

Good to go.
That storm front's closing in fast.

We've got less than an hour.

Oh, terrific.

What?

Must have hit a rock.
Do you carry any oil?

No. Maybe. I don't know.
Why were they shooting at us?

Because I know things,
or they think I do.

That's why I need
to make that call.

General,

just wanted to say
good luck.

You did a great job, doctor,
you and your whole team.

You know, when this is over,
I'm going to raise hell.

Not that you have any reason
to believe me,

but for what it's worth, you're
preachin' to the converted.

Although,
if this doesn't work,

what you and I think isn't gonna
make a damn bit of difference.

Can we go faster?

We're losing too much oil.
We have to dump this thing.

Do you have any kind
of a weapon in here-

- a gun, a knife, a slingshot?
- No.

Check the glove box.

A can opener?

Great. We'll buy 'em a beer.

Ten minutes to the area
of infection.

All right, spread out and disperse.

Cover the entire surrounding
area. Cover it all.

Stand by.
This is it.

Let's kill this bastard.

Wildfire is infected.

Wildfire lab is now initiating
lockdown procedures

and beginning countdown to auto
self-destruct.

What's happening?

15 minutes and counting.

What the hell is that?

There has been a breach
in containment

in the sample vault.

Computer, give me
the sample vault.

What's going on, Charlene?
What's happening?

Charlene, we're on our way.

Tsi, what is it?
Turn him on his side.

- Is it Andromeda?
- No, it's a gran mal seizure.

Did you know he was epileptic?

The fail-safe panel is ruined.

I can't shut down the self-
destruct sequence from here.

Where's the next closest
control panel?

One level up.

But you can't use the elevators.
Every level is sealed off.

- How do I get up there?
- You can't. That's the point.

Hold him steady.

Hold him steady.

Computer, show all
the mechanical conduits

into the central
maintenance shaft.

Break in and climb up.
That's a brilliant idea.

I'll check on Barton.

Charlene, what happened?

I-

I need you to talk to me.
Talk to me or I can't help you.

I- I-I don't-
I don't-

I don't know.

There's a sample in one
of the containment boxes.

Why didn't you destroy all of them?

They've got Sam and my kids.

They wanted to save a sample,

and then the seal started
to disintegrate,

and the alarm went off.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

All right, take-take it easy.
Slow down.

How are you feeling?

How the hell do you think I feel?

Wildfire lab will self-destruct
in 11 minutes.

General, how do we shut down

the auto-destruct sequence?
Is there anything we can do?

No, there's nothin' we can do, sir.

In the event of a security
breach, the lab was set up

to follow an automatic
sequence of self-destruction.

Only the designated odd man
can stop it.

Well, General, if that
nuclear device explodes,

then none of what
you and your team

are doin' right now will matter.

Andromeda will be spread over a huge
area. We will never be able to contain it.

Listen to me. If you had been
exposed to a lethal strain,

you'd be dead by now.

Are you-are you
symptomatic at all?

I'm breathing rapidly.

Maybe that's what's keeping it at bay.

Get me the hell outta here!

Charlene, you have
to calm down, okay?

I promise we'll get you out of there,

But you need to listen to Jeremy.

Forget about me.
I'll be fine.

Go shut it off.

Go.

You had a seizure.
Have you had them before?

The lights. That's bad.

The light set it off.
We have a breach of containment.

Charlene is trapped
in the sample vault.

We have to fix the contamination.

You have to rest.

We fix it or we'll die.

Get out, Leila. Run!

What about
you?

Run! Just get the hell outta here. Go!

Shut the door!
Shut the door!

You're wasting your time.
I've already called this in.

The police will be
on their way any minute.

Aah!

Angela, follow up progress
on the monitor.

Help us get to the next level.

Ten minutes and counting.

Jeremy, you okay?

Not wild about heights.

Don't look down.
Stare straight ahead.

These joints are compromised.

And the pipes are deteriorating.

Ohh!

Give me your hand.

Come on, Bill, you can make it.
Give me your hand.

Just reach out.
Give me your hand.

Then we're both gonna fall.

Just do it. Give me your hand.
We need you.

Ahh! You need this!

Oh.

Angela- Angela,
I have the key.

It won't do you any good.

The system will only recognize
Keene's thumbprint.

Tsi, what are you doing?

We're out of options.

Four minutes and counting.

Jeremy.

Ohh!

Three minutes and counting.

I need your help, Angela.

I don't know where I'm going.

Angela, you copy me?

Move 6 feet up

And 3 feet to your right.

There's a - what looks to be

a large heating/cooling conduit

that might work.

I see it!

Oh!

Aah!

I can't see.

Everything's falling apart.

Aah!

Two minutes and counting.

Any word from the wildfire facility?

Nothing, sir.

The self-destruct sequence
is still activated.

Jeremy, are you okay?

Which way?

The panel is behind you, 15 feet.

It's right above you now.

A little higher.

Reach up with your right hand.

There.

One minute and counting.

A little bit to your left.

Find the slot.

Welcome, Dr. Keene.

To cancel auto destruct,

please place your right thumb
on the flashing button.

30 seconds and counting.

Jeremy.

All right.

20 seconds.

A little bit to your left.

Ten, nine, eight...

Auto destruct canceled.

You have gotta be kidding me.

A signal.

Machine.

Charlie, it's Nash.

Listen. Somebody brought
bio-collecting equipment

to the national guard headquarters.

I think they're trying
to sample the contagion.

Look for a D.C. Colonel
named Ferrus. He's the link.

He also tried to kill me... twice.

And, uh, that's it.

Hey. Hey!

Hey! Hey!

Over here! Over here!

Over here!
Hey!

No!

Well, it's been that kind of day.

Let's go.

You okay?

Yeah.

Didn't think sobriety
was gonna be this painful.

Sorry about your car.

Are you kidding?

That was amazing what you did.

Yeah, well...

I have my moments.

That's it.

We got it!

Whoo!

We got it!

Son of a bitch!

today, America mourns
the loss of two citizens

who made the ultimate sacrifice
for their country-

Dr. William Keene, U.S. Army, and
Dr. Tsi Chou, a brilliant scientist

who immigrated to this country

in a much-celebrated case
some ten years ago.

Standing to president Scott's
right is Dr. Jeremy Stone

who headed wildfire
and his surviving teammates...

Hey, there's dad.

Dr. Angela Noyce
and Dr. Charlene Barton.

God, he looks terrible.

Only a few details
are presently available

from what remains a highly
classified operation...

Hero of the day.

Apparently, a leak developed
in a small...

He did good, okay?
I mean, yeah, he's not perfect,

but he deserves credit
for what he did.

...in a remote area
of southern Utah.

Fortunately,
the leak was contained,

although not without the loss
of two key researchers.

The senate subcommittee
chairman on homeland security

is pledging
a thorough investigation

and already demanding details
from the administration.

Seems a little dramatic,
don't you think?

Every bit of data confirms
the same observation.

The Andromeda infection
is dead.

Nothing survived your assault.

It's an extraordinary
achievement, sir,

A real heroic victory.

You think that's how
our part in all this

is gonna be remembered,
as heroes?

Well, I think we might
have made some mistakes,

but we came through in the end.
Some mistakes.

I think the desire to assign
blame in Project Scoop

will be, uh, mitigated,
as it always is,

by the fear
of public embarrassment

at the highest levels
of government.

We didn't just screw up,
Colonel.

We very nearly lost everything,

And not just once-
several times.

Why did you blackmail
Dr. Barton

to try and salvage
a sample of Andromeda?

I don't-I have no idea
what you're talking about.

Well, maybe I should
get on the phone

to Chuck Beeter
over at the N.S.A.

and ask him
where that sample is.

I know what you
sons of bitches did.

There needn't be any losers
in this scenario, general.

Aside from
the American people?

Your kind of honor
is a bit outdated, sir.

I'm not gonna fall on my sword
for you or anybody else.

No. I didn't think so.

What?

Jesus! What the hell you doin'?
Not with me here!

Thank you, lord,

for the honor and the privilege

we have had to know these
two extraordinary men...

I had no idea about Project Scoop

or any black-bag operations
connected with it

that may or may not
have been running.

Well, you may
not have known,

but there were those in
your administration that did.

It might be a good idea

to tell the American people
really what happened

and permanently shut down
the vent mining project.

I don't know what
you think you have,

but I don't see it that way.

Well, if you'll excuse me,
mr. President,

I have an interview to do.

I'm very sorry for your loss.
He was a brave man.

Yes.

Our technology and our science
saved us in the end, yes,

but it was our arrogant
misuse of both

that got us into this trouble
in the first place.

Science is and always has been

about the search for the truth,

and that search can
really only take place

in the full light of day.

I think, um, I think one
of the lessons learned here

is that just because
we have acquired

a technological
or scientific capability

doesn't mean we should
rush out to use it.

Would vent mining prove
to be incredibly lucrative?

Maybe, but considering
what's just happened,

I think the question
needs to be asked.

Would it be worth it?
Would you care to speculate

about the original source
of the virus,

and if Andromeda was
a biological weapon,

how do you think its
creators would respond

to what you've done?

I have no idea.

We would seem to have been
successful in the short run,

but it's probably fair
to say, whoever it is,

we've gotten their attention.

What happens next
is anybody's guess.

Captioned by
closed captioning services, inc.

edited by rogard