* HEAVY ROCK MUSIC THE SPICE GIRLS' 'WANNABE' PLAYS MAN: Clearly, I've never been there, but this shows... JUMBLED POPULAR MUSIC MAN: ..situation, obviously a major malfunction... JUMBLED VOICES AND POP MUSIC ON RADIO LATIN MUSIC, SONG 'FUNKY TOWN' DISCO MUSIC SIGNAL DISTORTS BRIEFLY NIXON: ...the president's a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. NEIL ARMSTRONG: ..step for man, one...giant leap... REPORTER: Robert Kennedy was shot... MOTOWN-STYLE MUSIC MARTIN LUTHER KING: God Almighty, we have... REPORTER: A sniper has fired at President Kennedy... 'PSYCHO' THEME 'ITSY-BITSY, TEENY-WEENY YELLOW POLKA DOT BIKINI' PLAYS '50s-STYLE MUSIC DEAN MARTIN SINGS SINGER CROONS, RADIO VOICES CHATTER BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYS LONE RANGER: Hi ho, Silver! GUNSHOTS REPORTER: ..something never before experienced... MAN: 1941, a date which will live in... HITLER SHOUTS, CROWD ROARS ANNOUNCER: We continue this evening's final edition of our Maxwell House Good News of 1939... ANNOUNCER: ..Walter Winchell. Good evening. All ships are at sea. Let's go to press. SONG 'WE'RE IN THE MONEY', JUMBLED VOICES RADIO FADES AWAY GRADUALLY FAINT RADIO STATIC (Girl speaks faintly) CQ, this is W9GFO. CQ, this is W9GFO here. Come back. CQ. CQ. This is W9GFO here. Come back. RADIO STATIC KNOCKING, DOOR OPENS CQ, CQ, this is W9GFO. Is anybody out there? I'm not getting anything. Small moves, Ellie. Small moves. CQ, this is W9GFO here. Come back. RADIO: Copy, W9GFO. K4WLD here. What do I say? Just be yourself. Where are you, K4WLD? Come back. Pensacola, over. Pensacola. Where's Pensacola? I'll give you a hint. Orange juice. Copy that, K4WLD. How's the weather down there in Florida? Pensacola, Florida. I have to tell you, Sparks. 1,116 miles. Hmm. Pretty good. That's the farthest yet. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC (Ellie and father talk faintly) ELLIE: Can you hear all the way to New York? FATHER: Sure. Can you hear all the way to California? I don't see why not. Can you hear all the way to Alaska? Yeah, on a really clear day. Can we hear all the way to China? (Laughs) On a really, really clear day. (Laughs) Could we... talk to the moon? Well, it's a big enough radio. I don't see why not. Could we talk to Jupiter? Or... or, what's the one after that? Uh, don't tell me. (Whispers) Mars... I'll give you a hint. Hula hoops. Saturn! Can we talk to Saturn? Mm-hm. Dad, could we talk to Mom? I don't think even the biggest radio could reach that far. All right. No more stalling. OK. Pensacola. Oh, Ellie. That's a beauty. Now get some sleep. Hey, Dad. Yeah? Do you think there's people on other planets? I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space. CRICKET CHIRPS FAINT RADIO STATIC (Turns up volume, changes channel) CQ, CQ, CQ. This is W9GFO. Repeat, this is W9GFO. Come back. RADIO STATIC CQ, this is W9GFO. Come back. I'm gonna need a bigger antenna. BIRDSONG SWEEPING MUSIC MAN: What do you think, Dr Arroway? Isn't she a beauty? It'll do. The village is five miles away. There's a general store. They can order most things from San Juan. When can I get dish time? (Laughs) Dr Clark said you wouldn't be able to wait. You're up tonight. All right! KEYBOARD TAPS FAINT RADIO STATIC (Taps on keyboard) ROUGH RADIO STATIC STATIC FLUCTUATES IN PITCH MOMENTARY HISSING STATIC MAN: Go back. Huh? Try back a little. You had something there. HISSING STATIC There! Right there? Yeah. You hear it? Yep. Right there. That's it. 1221.46. That's well within the L-band. Check off axis. Uh-huh. On it. Uh, it's not in the neighbourhood. Ah. Here it is. J1741 plus 2748. Catalogued November 4, 1982. Pulsar. (Sighs) I don't know. Must have been a glitch in the timings that threw me. Must have been a star quake. I think it's great that you listen. (Laughs) Most people don't do that anymore. It's just an old habit. Makes it feel more real. Ellie. Kent. Kent Clark. Hi. They said you've been up at Owen's Valley, working under Drumlin. How do you like him? (Laughs) That much? And what I'd expect after what he said about you. Oh, what was that? That you are brilliant, driven, a MAJOR pain in the ass and obsessed with a field of study that he considers tantamount to professional suicide. DOOR OPENS Anything else? MAN: Yo, what's up? Those were the highlights. Davio, Dr Vernon. Dr Arroway. Hi there. How you doing? I believe you've met our tireless research assistant, Mr Fisher. Yep. Here, I need you to sign... As well as his cologne. (Laughs) Burke's looking at the black hole in M87. Eli's studying markerian 541, a major gamma ray source. Dr Arroway here will be spending her precious telescope time listening for, um... listening for, um... Little green men. One down. Couple billion to go. TELEVISION THEME MUSIC Gracias. Elena, una cerveza. Arecibo. Right? Does it show? Yeah. Cracker Jack? No. No, thanks. Mind if I sit down? Sure. I hear the, um, the locals, they call it El Radar, convinced it has some dark military purpose. I think we're pretty harmless. Palmer Joss. Ellie Arroway. Nice to meet you, Ellie. What, um, what are you studying up there? Oh, the usual. You know, nebulae, quasars, pulsars. Stuff like that. What are you... what are you writing? The usual. Nouns, adverbs, adjective here and there. I work on a project called SETI. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence? Wow. Man, that is out there. Wait, are you a student or something? Uh-uh. I'm a writer. I'm writing a book. I'm down here doing research just about how technology affects Third World cultures. I'm also looking for this guy, David Drumlin, the new head of the National Science Foundation. I'm trying to get an interview with him. I take it you know him. Mm-hm. You could say that. Oh. SETI, man. Man, that's fringe. I've crossed paths with this guy. Something like that must really chap his ass, huh? Compass. That's for you, Ell. You'd better keep this. Might save your life some day. Will you have dinner with me tonight? I... I don't make a very good research subject. I'm just not very quotable. No quotes. No quotes. Scout's honour. Just a good meal, good company. I've got to go. Uh, but, uh... Drumlin's coming in this Tuesday. Now I remember why I took that desk job. (Together) Dr Drumlin. How are you? Fine, thank you. Glad you could make it, David. If I'd known it would take three planes, I'd have reconsidered. How is that new office? I'm still settling in. Of course, they want to give half my budget to the Pentagon. Ellie. Still waiting for E.T. to call? So we're having a little reception... Good to see you too. Asshole. Uh-oh. Looks like it's gonna be a long night. Science must first and foremost be accountable to those paying for it ` taxpayers. We must stop wasting money on pie-in-the-sky abstractions and spend it on practical, measurable ways to improve the lives of the people footing the bill. Not unlike my L-band globular clusters work. You're saying you want to do away with all pure research now? What's wrong with science being practical? Well... Even profitable? Nothing, as long as your motive is the search for truth, which is exactly what the pursuit of science is. That's an interesting position coming from a man on a crusade against the evils of technology, Father Joss. I'm not against technology, Doctor. I'm against the men who deify it at the expense of human truth. Kent, I've been meaning to have a word with you. Over here, please. Yeah, I'll just... I think that hurt my chances of that interview. What do you think? You're a priest? No, not really. I, uh, got my master's in divinity, then I dropped out of seminary and went and did some secular humanitarian work, coordinating efforts with Third World churches. Couldn't live with the whole celibacy thing. You could, um, call me a man of the cloth... without the cloth. Wanna get out of here? CRICKETS CHIRP All right, you see that sort of large W-shaped constellation right there? That's Cassiopeia. And Cassiopeia A gives off a whole lot of radio signals. I actually listen to that a lot. It's a remnant of a supernova. When did you know you wanted to be an astronomer? Well, when I was about 8 years old I was watching the sunset and I asked my dad, "What's that bright star over there?" Dad, what's that star there? And he said it wasn't really a star at all, it was actually... That's not a star. That's a planet. ..a whole planet called Venus. That's the planet Venus. Which should be... over there soon. He said, "You know why they called it Venus? "Because they thought it was so beautiful and glowing. "But what they didn't know "is that it's filled with... deadly gases and sulphuric acid rain." "Wow," I thought. "This is it. I'm hooked." Yeah, there are 400 billion stars out there just in our galaxy alone. If only one out of a million of those had planets, all right, and if just one out of a million of those had life, and if just one out of a million of those had intelligent life, there would be literally millions of civilisations out there. Well, if there wasn't... it'd be an awful waste of space. Amen. THUNDER RUMBLES * PALMER: I was lying there, just looking at the sky. And then I felt something. I don't know. I... All I know is that I wasn't alone. And for the first time in my life I wasn't scared of nothing. Yeah, nothing. Not even dying. It was God. And there's no chance that you had this experience because some part of you needed to have it? No, I mean, I'm a reasonably intelligent guy, but this... No, this... my... my intellect, it couldn't even touch this, and... No. I've been to Sunday school a few times. Uh-huh. And? Well, I just... I kept asking all these really annoying questions, like, uh, "All right, then, where did Mrs Cain come from?" And, uh, pretty soon they called my dad and they asked him if he wouldn't mind just keeping me home. Your dad? Is that this guy? Yeah. You're close to him, aren't you? Yeah, I was. He died when I was 9 years old. I never got to know my mother. I'm sorry. That's got to be tough. Yeah. Being alone. What do you say we pack a picnic tomorrow morning and hike up to old Montana sea well? I don't think I can. I've got to work. All right, how about dinner, then? Tomorrow night on El Grey dive? I don't think so. Ellie, did I miss something? Huh? No. Shit, I'm late. Oh, I told Kent that I'd be there at 2:30. I'm not trying to push you. No, no, don't be silly. I've wanted to look at this sector for weeks. Just hang out and sleep in, and there's food in the fridge. OK? How can I reach you? Uh, just leave your number. I'll call you. SCREEN DOOR SHUTS YOUNG ELLIE: Dad! Dad, it's starting. You're going to miss it! Dad, there's another one. Hurry up! In a minute, squirt. Almost there. There's another one. Come on, hurry up, Dad. THUMP! CRASH! Dad? Dad? Daddy? Oh, Dad! Dad?! Dad! I'll get the medicine. HEAVY BREATHING ECHOES WIND RUSHES DOGS BARK IN DISTANCE Ellie? I know it's hard to understand this now but we aren't always meant to know the reasons why things happen the way they do. Sometimes we just have to accept it as God's will. Should have kept some medicine in the downstairs bathroom. Then I could have gotten to it sooner. VOICES MURMUR CQ, this is W9GFO. Do you copy? RADIO STATIC Dad, this is Ellie. Come back. This is Eleanor Arroway transmitting on 14.2 megahertz. Dad,... are you there? Come back. (Brokenly) Dad? Are you there? (Voice fades) Dad, this is Ellie. ELECTRONIC WHIRRING BEEP! REGULAR BEEPING DOOR CLOSES Ellie? Yeah. Kent. What are you doing up so early, huh? I was thinking ` we'd make a pretty good team. What? We could develop a kick-ass ad hoc SETI program. What? You know the Very Large Array, New Mexico? It would be a dynamite place... What are you talking about, Kent? Drumlin pulled the plug. We're homeless. MAN: Hey, watch it! Is it true?! You pulled the plug?! I'm doing you a favour. You're far too promising a scientist to be wasting your gifts on this nonsense. I don't consider what could be the most important discovery of the human race 'nonsense'! There's 400 billion stars out there... And only two probabilities! One, there's intelligent life out there but so far away you'll never contact it... You're making a decision... Two, there's nothing out there but noble gases and carbon compounds and you're wasting your time! Meantime, you won't be published, you won't be taken seriously, and your career will be over. SO WHAT?! It's my life! Hey, Kent. You were right. Screw Drumlin. We're gonna raise the money ourselves. We're going to New Mexico. Chicago's set. Call me and tell me how it goes. I've set up more corporate stops on the east coast. Did that private investor reply to us? I'll hit him up in LA. Try begging for some Hollywood money! Why not? They've been making money off aliens for years. They say begging's good for the soul. We'll see about that. Just do me a favour. Yeah? Try not to be too confrontational. Huh? Confrontational! Me? What do you mean? I'm going to see if I've left anything. ELLIE: This is a unique time in our history, in the history of any civilisation. It's the moment of the acquisition of technology. That's the moment where contact becomes possible. The Very Large Array in New Mexico is the key to our chances for success. With its 27 linked radio telescopes, we can search more accurately than at any other conventional facility. Now, we've already gotten preliminary approval to buy the telescope time from the Government. Now all we really need is the money. A nice presentation, Doctor. But while our foundation arm does have a mandate to support experimental programs, we must confess that your proposal seems less like science and more like science fiction. Science fiction? Ah, you're right. It's... crazy. In fact, it's even worse than that. Nuts. Want to hear something really nutty? I heard of two guys that built something called an airplane. People go in it and fly around like birds. Ridiculous, right? What about breaking the sound barrier? Rockets to the moon? Atomic energy or a mission to Mars? Science fiction, right? Look, all I'm asking is for you to have the TINIEST bit of vision. You know? To step back for one minute and look at the big picture. Take a chance on something that might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history of... history. I'm sorry. I just, ah... I just spent the last 13 months coming into rooms like this and talking to people like you. The truth is, you're my last chance. I'm sorry I wasted your time. Doctor? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You have your money. (Softly) Thank you. Thank you. STATIC CRACKLES SATELLITE DISHES CLANK AND WHIRR * Oh, perfect cast! Come on, fishy. Oh, Frank, look at the size of that sonofabitch. Welcome back, Dr C. How did it go? How was the trip? I've had better. Drumlin. What is this? This his personal vendetta now? It's not just Drumlin. There's been enormous pressure from other scientists too. Doesn't matter. Hadden's funding us for another two years. These are government-owned telescopes. They can lease them to whomever they want. They don't want the High Priestess of the Desert using them anymore. What? Staring at TV static for hours! Listening to washing machines! Did you think these stories wouldn't circulate? I was looking for patterns... It doesn't matter anymore! We're a joke to them. They want us out. We've got three months until the paperwork goes through. (Sighs) Fine. Start looking for other funding. I'll just start writing letters... Could you face reality, please? Just this once, Ellie. We lost. It's over. Fine. I'm not stopping. If I have to go it alone, I'll go it alone. I've done it before. CRICKETS CHIRP BIRD CALL ECHOES TV: My guest tonight is author and theologian Palmer Joss. He has become a spiritual counsellor of sorts and a recent fixture at the White House - God's diplomat, according to the 'New York Times'. His latest book, 'Losing Faith', is currently number one on that publication's best-seller list. Thanks for being with us, Palmer. You've had quite a ride this last couple of years. I sure have, Larry. You know, Fish, I was thinking - who would make the best astronomers? I mean, think about it ` who has the perfect synthesis of career and lifestyle? I give. VAMPIRE! Are you anti-technology? Are you anti-science? No. Not at all. The question that I'm asking is this ` are we happier, as a human race? Is the world fundamentally a better place because of science and technology? We shop at home, we surf the Web but at the same time, we feel emptier, lonelier and more cut off from each other than at any other time in human history. We're becoming a synthesised society... RADIO SIGNAL PULSATES MECHANICAL WHIRRING I think it's because we're looking for the meaning. What is the meaning? We have mindless jobs, we take frenetic vacations, deficit finance trips to the mall to buy more things to fill these holes in our lives. Is it any wonder that we've lost our sense of direction? STATIC HISSES SIGNAL PULSATES LOUDLY Holy shit! Right ascension. 18 hours, 36 minutes, 56.2 seconds. Declination plus 36 degrees, 46 minutes... ELLIE ON RADIO: ..56.2 seconds! TELEVISION BLARES Confirm! Right ascension, 18 hours, 36 minutes, 56.2 seconds. Hey, is anybody awake in there? I'm moving the Array. Confirm! Processing bogey! Right ascension 18 hours... What? Huh? I can't... Fish! We're on it. Declination plus 36 hours, 47 minutes and 1 second. Strong enforcement post J.N. Separate four. I'm moving the rest of them now. Confirm the coordinates. Check the status of the Array. She's doing all the dishes. All systems nominal. Hello. I need a full systems check. Coordinates confirmed. Willie's checking the system now. Stay on top of the system's diagnostics. Check the reference point offsets and I want you off axis on 27 the second we get there! Tell Willie to break out the Big Boy. Copy that. Willie... (Ellie shouts) Yeah, go. Go, Ellie. I can hear it on the headphones. We gotta be sure. Give me another Array status. Her four are online. The rest are tracking in. Your four are online. The rest are tracking in. But there's a bad drive on 16. Your four are online, the rest are tracking in but there's a bad drive on 16. Copy that? What do I do about the source queue? Forget about it and hold the queue. Go get ready to set the target frequency to manual, the second we're online. Do you copy? Go off axis on 27 the second we're there. And leave the L-band frequency where it is. Stay on it, Fish. If you lose it, just scan the bands. Run every frequency you can think of. How are you doing? Talk to me, guys. Partially polarised set of moving pulsars, amplitude modulated. We're locked. Systems checked out signal across the board. What's the frequency? 4.4623 gigahertz. Hydrogen times pi. Told you. Strong sucker too. I got it! I'm patched in. STATIC HISSES All right, let me hear it. (Turns up volume) SIGNAL PULSATES LOUDLY Listen to that. Make me a liar, Fish. Ah, could be AWACS out at Kirtland jamming us but I'm doubting it. All right, let's see if FUDD's reading it too. Willie, patch it back and give me the off axis. Are we recording? Never stopped. Thank you, Elmer. AWACS status is negative. What about White Sands? On this frequency? No! Right, I'll punch up the darks. How's the spying tonight, guys? Come on. All right. NORAD's not tracking any snoops in this vector. Shuttle 'Endeavour' is in sleep mode. OK. Point source confirmed. Whatever it is, it ain't local. Position? I checked interferometry. Somewhere in Lyra, I think. Vega? It can't be! It's only 26 light-years away. Hey, what's the peak intensity? Coming up! Vega. Vega. I watched the times at Arecibo. It was negative results always. Got it. Reading over 100 janskys. SIGNAL PULSATES STRONGLY Jesus! Be picking up on my.... SIGNAL STOPS STATIC CRACKLES (Softly) No! SIGNAL PULSATES WEAKLY Oh, come on. All right, all right. It's restarting. Wait a minute - those are numbers. That was a three. The one before was a two. Base 10 numbers. Start counting. It's a five! See how far we get. One... PULSATES SEVEN TIMES THEN PAUSES Seven. Seven. SIGNAL RESUMES Those are primes. Two, three, five, seven - those are all prime numbers and there's no way that's a natural phenomenon. Holy shit. Let's calm down. Pull up the star file on Vega. It doesn't make any sense - the system's too young, so it can't have a planetary system, let alone life. (All talk excitedly) Maybe they didn't grow up there. Maybe they're just visiting. Spacecraft? No, the system's full of debris. It would get clobbered. Not if they used their laser blasters and photon torpedoes. That's not funny, Willie. How else do we explain it? (Both argue) Willie's right. If we go public with this and we're wrong, that's it. It's over. We're cooked. God, I wish Kent was here. Whatever the signal is, we better do something soon. Vega's gonna set. That position is confirmed. We've got 4.4623 gigahertz. Confirmed. We've got 112 janskys. All right, do you have a source location yet? We put it right smack in the middle. Vega. OK, thanks, Ian. Just keep tracking and we'll get back to you. Yeah. Righto. RADIO WHINES SIGNAL STOPS OK. 101. The pulse sequenced through every prime number between 2 and 101. Who are we going to call now? Everybody. * TV: The rumours are flying, the implications extraordinary. This morning, detection of an unidentified radio source from deep space can neither be confirmed nor denied. REPORTER: Sources close to the VLA report that the planet Earth has indeed been contacted by some form of intelligent being living outside our solar system. Again, there is no confirmation... MAN: I want these people out of here. REPORTER: National Security Adviser Michael Kitz... Where's the girl? FISHER: 22 stations worldwide are confirming the signal. Vega's currently below our horizon, so what you're hearing is the signal from Russia. Let's get decryption people in here. Leonard Sharski's visiting at Caltech. Explain this to me ` if the source of this signal is so sophisticated, why the remedial math? Exactly. Who don't they just speak English? Maybe because 70% of the planet speaks other languages. Mathematics is the only truly universal language, Senator. It's no coincidence that they're using primes. I don't get it. Prime numbers. That would be integers that are only divisible by themselves and one. We think this may be a beacon, some kind of an announcement to get our attention. If it's attention you want, you got that. One thing ` Vega. People have been looking at Vega for years, no results, and now, yesterday, they start broadcasting primes. Why? Well, it's hardly yesterday. The signal has been transmitting for 26 years. Dr Arroway? Excuse me. Who are you? Ellie, Michael Kitz. National Security Adviser. Let me first say that your reputation... First, could you ask the gentlemen with the firearms to wait outside? This is supposed to be a civilian facility. Come on. Doctor, with all due respect... Excuse me. Hey, hey, hey. Hi! I'm so glad you're back. Come on, I got something for you to hear. Is this great? (Laughs) Who are these people? I've no idea. Sit down. We could use help with the spectrum analysis. Listen to that! I'll get the headsets. I'll come right to the point. Sending this announcement all over the world may constitute a national security breach. This isn't a person-to-person call. A civilisation sending this kind of message wouldn't intend it just for Americans! You MIGHT have consulted us. The message contents` You want to classify prime numbers?! Mike, because of the earth's rotation, we're only in line with Vega so many hours a day. The only way to monitor the signal is co-operating with other stations. If Dr Arroway hadn't acted quickly, we could've lost key elements. Fine. They've got the primes. But if a more significant transmission's still coming... We'll need the network's help receiving the decode! Do you understand my job is to... KENT: Shh! SIGNAL CHANGES What was that? I hear it. Hear what? Harmonic? Bingo! Retune to 8.9247 gigahertz. There's a lot more here if you want to see it. Fish, let's get on the negative side band. FISH: On it. What's happening? Another signal. Yeah, a second signal at double the frequency. Looks like... Somebody get a TV monitor. All right, patch the recording into the image processor. You want the new data? The frequency we just recorded. David, would you explain this to me, please? There's another signal that looks like a TV transmission. We're hot. Do me a favour ` go get the blinds. There's a lot of glare. You're patched in. All right, it's definitely an image. Let's try and stabilise it. STATIC CRACKLES What do you make of that, Fish? It's almost like they're two different interlaced frames and framing one. STATIC Ah, it's just noise. Trying frame two. Ah, I've got an offset carrier here. I think it's audio. Plug it in. Plug it in. Oh, man! Centre that segment. FISHER: Centring. Can you clean it up any more than that, Fish? I'm working on it. SIGNAL CONTINUES What the hell? Try zooming out. COMPUTER CLICKS All right. Freeze. Inverse values. Try zooming out again. Rotate 90 degrees counterclock... My God. (Hitler speaks German) OK. KENT: Ah, what's going on? You're not going to believe this. (Hitler continues speaking) SIGNAL PULSATES Does anybody speak German? Ah..."I declare the Games in Berlin, "at the celebration of the first Olympics of the new era, "as open." CROWD ON TV CHANTS Get me the White House. 20 million people died defeating that sonofabitch and he's our outer space ambassador?! ELLIE: The Hitler broadcast... Broadcasts from the '36 Olympics was the first powerful television transmission into space. They recorded it, sending it back saying, "We heard you." "Sieg Heil. You're our people." Wait a minute! Hitler's politics have nothing to do with this! MAN: Ms Constantine? It's unlikely they'd understand. Excuse me... The people are in good hands. We'll take it from here. TV: The White House has released a statement confirming that a message of unknown origin, emanating from deep space, has been received by American scientists. Claire Shipman is at the White House. Donna, we've just been told that the President will have only a few brief remarks about today's extraordinary announcement. He won't be taking questions from the press. CAMERAS CLICK Good afternoon. I'm glad to be joined by my science and technology adviser. This is the product of years of exploration by some of the world's most distinguished scientists. Like all discoveries, this one will and should continue to be reviewed, examined and scrutinised. It must be confirmed by other scientists. But, clearly, the fact that something of this magnitude is being explored is another... Fish, what's the story here? Wasn't Ellie supposed to be on? KENT: Ah! Ah, guys? Guys? Um, ah, you know those interlaced frames that we thought were noise? This has structure. I'm... I'm hearing structure. If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered. Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as could be imagined. Even as it promises answers to some of our oldest questions, it poses still others even more fundamental. We will continue to listen closely to what it has to say as we continue the search for answers and for knowledge that is as old as humanity itself but essential to our people's future. Thank you. REPORTERS SHOUT QUESTIONS CONSTANTINE: I will answer your questions at the end but, first, a few corrections. The message was received Friday morning, 6:31am standard time. It was largely mathematical and, in spite of the reports you may have seen to the contrary, appears to be completely benign in nature. Let me say that again ` the message is completely benign. The President has been in touch with heads of state from around the world and every possible security measure is being taken. To better explain the events of the last 48 hours, I'm turning you over to the leader of the scientific team, Dr David Drumlin, special science adviser to the President. CAMERAS CLICK, REPORTERS MURMUR Thank you, Rachel. Hello. In 1936, a very faint television signal transmitted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, as a show of German superior technology. That signal left Earth at the speed of light... PAGER BEEPS arrived in the vicinity of a star we call Vega. That signal has been sent back to us, hugely amplified - an unmistakable sign of intelligence. Now... ELLIE: You're online, Kent. KENT: The Adolf transmission used 25 frames per second but we're receiving 50 frames per second. We searched the other 25 frames for anything else. We found a series of markers on the top of each frame. Yeah? Send it, Willie. OK, here it comes. It's digital. Massive amounts of data which extend right to the higher harmonics. Jackpot. All right, as you'll see, interlaced with the frames of the original Hitler image, we found these sections. Now, we thought they were just noise but they're actually data - huge amounts of it. When we combine this with the data from the amplification of the original signal, we get these encrypted pages of text. Now, no two are alike and we've uncovered over 10,000 already. What does it mean, Doctor? Well, we have no idea. It could be anything. It could be the first volume of an Encyclopaedia Galactica. Instructions to acquaint us with their colonisation procedures. Moses with a few billion new commandments. How long will it take to decode it? Ah, it could take forever. We really need a primer... We really need a primer... We need to get the best decryption people we have. I intend to use the VLA as my command post. In the meantime, my office has made out a preliminary budget. Wait a minute. This is a privately funded operation. We're only leasing time... Dr Arroway, I've never seen a more clear-cut case of eminent domain. I'll recommend to the President militarising this project. What?! This is my project. Nobody knows more about these scenarios than I do. David, tell him how... Excuse me! Could we calm down here? Now, I'm going to recommend that Dr Drumlin administer and coordinate the decryption effort. However, in light of Dr Arroway's long experience in these matters, for the time being, SHE will continue to direct operations at the VLA - with the express understanding that any future discoveries will be kept in the strictest of confidence until the President can decide the most suitable course of action. Understood? Yes. * TV: This is CNN breaking news. HARRIS: The President made a brief statement calling the message from Vega one of the most stunning insights... Attendance at religious services has risen a dramatic 39% in recent days... As police and three German armed divisions clashed with Neo-Nazi protesters. It turns out there's life on other planets. This will really change the Miss Universe contest. LAUGHTER Health officials from around the world are concerned that the message from Vega might trigger a rash of mass suicides, not unlike the recent cult deaths near San Diego... Even a scientist has to admit that there are some pretty serious religious overtones to all this. Let's hear from someone whose organisation has been accused of conducting an inquisition in recent days. Richard Rank, head of the Conservative Coalition. Thank you. This is yet another example of science intruding into matters of faith. LENO: This means they've tracked TV signals they got from us in the 1930s. They're just getting them. Imagine how disappointed they'll turn out to be if they're Cubs fans? LAUGHTER Jeremy Roth is reporting on events at the Very Large Array, near Socorro, New Mexico. Like a bolt from the blue it came. What is being called the Message from Vega has caused thousands of believers and nonbelievers to descend upon the VLA facility in New Mexico. Many have come to protest, many to pray, But most have come to participate in what has become the best show in town. RAUCOUS MUSIC # Well, I saw the thing coming out of the sky # It had one long horn and one big eye # I commenced a shakin' and said "Ooh-ee" # Looks like a purple people eater to me # It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater # One-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater # One-eyed, one-horned... # (Crowd shouts and applauds) (Sing Indian tribal song) # I wanted to be a spaceman... # MAN: Three, two, one... BRASS BAND PLAYS MILITARY TUNE (Shouts) # When they lay me down to die # I'm going up to the spirit in the sky # Going up to the spirit in the sky... # (People shout) ELVIS: I'll be there in Vega, baby. (All cheer) (Choir sings) # Hail to Vega Hail to Vega # Hail to Vega Hail to Vega # Hail to Vega. # MAN: But they have failed! It's the same people who, again and again, have brought us to the brink of destruction! Who've polluted our air, who've poisoned our water. These 'scientists'... have had their chance. Are these the kind of people that you want talking to your God for you? (People shout) No! TV: Efforts continue around the clock but for now ` almost two weeks after the message's arrival ` scientists here at the VLA still have no answers, only more questions. Jeremy Roth, CNN, Socorro, New Mexico. More on the quest for the message's meaning after this. They got to line up somehow. Yeah, well, this one doesn't fit either. We've tried over a million permutations. Always, I can only get three quarters to fit. I don't understand the significance. CRICKETS CHIRP COMPUTER WHIRRS Huh. What? Somebody broke in. PHONE RINGS Hello? I don't know who you are but you broke into the database and... VOICE SOUNDS FAINTLY What, now? Where? FAX MACHINE STARTS I'll be there. You should feel fortunate. He hardly lands for anyone. Dr Arroway... I presume. Mr Hadden. I've had my eye on you a long time, Doctor. I consider you one of my most valuable long-term investments. And when it comes to my investments... I always do my homework. Eleanor Ann Arroway. Born 25 August 1964, De Pere, Wisconsin. Mother, Joanna, died from complications during childbirth. Early testing indicated high predisposition towards science and mathematics. Father, Theodore, advised to provide enrichment activities along these lines did so conscientiously until his death from myocardial infarction November 10, 1974. You graduated from high school in 1979, almost two full years early. Awarded full scholarship MIT. Graduated magna cum laude. Doctoral work, Caltech, where you did breakthrough work on the lanthanide-dope ruby maser dramatically increasing the sensitivity of radio telescopes. Subsequently offered a teaching position at Harvard University which you turned down to pursue SETI work at the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. Changes in NSF policy gave rise to certain funding problems... at which point you came to my attention. You compromised our security codes. Once upon a time... I was a hell of an engineer. Please... sit, Doctor. I have guests so rarely, it's important to me they feel welcome in my home. You live here? I find it convenient to keep my interests... mobile. Anyway, I've had my fill of life on the ground. Well, I guess I should, er... I guess I should thank you for having bailed me out all that time. I know a good bet when I see one. Earl Grey. No sugar, no milk, I believe. What am I doing here? (Chuckles) The powers that be have been very busy lately. Falling over each other to position themselves for the game of the millennium. Maybe I can help deal you back in. I didn't realise that I was out. Oh, maybe not out. But certainly being handed your hat. I've had a long time to make enemies, Doctor. There are many governments, business interests, even religious leaders that would like to see me depart this earth. I'll grant them their wish soon enough. But before I do, I wish to make a small contribution. A final gesture of goodwill to the people of this little planet that have given... from whom I have taken so much. You found the primer! Clever girl! Lights! Pages and pages of data. Over 63,000 in all. And on the perimeter of each... Alignment symbols ` a registration mark. But they don't line up. They do... if you think like a Vegan. An alien intelligence is going to be more advanced. And that means efficiency functioning on multiple levels and in multiple dimensions. Yes! Of course! Where's the primer? You'll see. Every three-dimensional page contains a piece of the primer. There it was all the time, staring you in the face. BOTH: Buried within the message itself is the key to decoding it. Within the layering of the matrix we have these basic equations. So with this very elementary foundation they've given us a kind of general scientific vocabulary. We now have the symbols for true and false and this... This was the key, to put it simply, that allowed us to decipher their language for physics, geometry, chemistry. Next frame, Ellie. Yes, and when we, uh, apply this to the rest of the message, we find this. Those look like engineering schematics. Almost like blueprints. Yeah. Yes, it is our belief that the message contains instructions for building something, some... kind of machine. A machine? That does what, Doctor? Well, we don't know. It might be some type of, er, advanced communication device. Or it could be a teaching machine of some kind. Or, uh... it might... turn out to be some kind of a transport. Transport? There's no proof of that. You don't know what it does. It could be anything. It could be a Trojan horse. Build it, and out pours the Vegan army. Why risk the personnel? It could be a weapon. Right. Some kind of a doomsday machine. Exactly ` every time they detect a new civilisation, they fax down these construction documents from outer space. We poor saps build whatever this thing is and blow ourselves to kingdom come. There's no reason to believe their intentions are hostile. Why is it the default position of the eggheads that aliens would always be benign? Why is that, Doctor? We're no threat to them. It's like us going out of our way to destroy a few microbes on some African anthill. Interesting analogy. How guilty would we feel destroying African microbes? I hope you're right, doctor. I really do. Right now my job is to protect American lives from any plausible threat. In that regard, I'm obligated to assume the worst. I'm forced to agree. My problem is this. The content of that message is morally ambiguous. Our internal numbers show support for this is incredibly soft. If the President wishes to stay this course, I guarantee you'll find his numbers going south like a duck in winter. This is nuts. Excuse me...miss. We know nothing of these creatures' values. Fact is, we don't even know whether they believe in God. This doesn't make sense. If you asked... Excuse me, Dr Arroway. We won't be suppressing any opinions here today. No, of course not. I understand. What I meant to say is that the message was written in the language of science. If it had been religious in nature it should have taken the form of a burning bush or a booming voice from the sky. But a voice from the sky is exactly what you found, Dr Arroway. I'm sorry I'm late, ma'am. Now, I agree with Mr Rank that there are unavoidable religious implications at stake here but that doesn't justify taking an alarmist position. My hope is that we can find common ground and break through any obstacles that have kept us apart. Well, perhaps we can... I need to make one thing very clear. Our organisation won't be mollified or placated with flowery New-Age rhetoric. Mr President. TV: The president met with his top advisers today regarding the latest efforts to decode the message. While there have been reports of some progress, the official line remains a cautious one. If you're asking me when we'll find out what the purpose of that machine is... maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe never. * Here he is, the man with his finger on the spiritual pulse of the nation. So good to see you, Ellie. You too. Your discovery, all of this... it must be a real vindication. I'm really happy for you. Are you? Mr Joss. The president's waiting. OK. President's waiting. Yeah. Oh, Ellie. See you at the reception tonight? Oh, yeah. I wouldn't miss it. All right. Great. (Whispers) Uh...probably. Excuse me, Miss Constantine. May I speak to you? Oh, certainly. Um, I have a big problem. Yes? Um... do you know where I can find a really great dress? TRAFFIC NOISE PROTESTERS CLAMOUR MAN: God created man in the form of Himself, not in the form of monkeys! CHAMBER MUSIC PLAYS Wow! You look beautiful, Ellie. So do you. No, you really do. I read your book. Here we go. Would you like me to quote you? "Ironically, the thing that people are most hungry for, meaning... "is the one thing that science hasn't been able to give them." Yeah. Yeah. Come on, it's like you're saying that science killed God. What if science simply revealed that he never existed in the first place? I think we're going to need to get some air. What? And a few more of these. Thank you. You're welcome. Ooh! A little chilly out here. Yeah, this is nice. I've got one for you. What have you got? Occam's razor, ever heard of it? Hockham's razor? Sounds like some slasher movie. No, Occam's razor. It's a basic scientific principle. It says, all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one. Makes sense to me. All right, so what's more likely? Thank you. You're welcome. An all-powerful mysterious God created the universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence. Or, that he simply doesn't exist at all and that we created him, so we wouldn't have to feel so small and alone. I don't know. I couldn't imagine living in a world where God didn't exist. No, I wouldn't want to. How do you know you're not deluding yourself? I mean, for me, I...I'd need proof. Proof. Did you love your father? What? Your dad, did you love him? Yes. Very much. Prove it. MOBILE PHONE RINGS Kent. PAGER BEEPS The White House. Mr Joss? I don't want excuses. Whoever's responsible, I want their head on a platter. Ellie. What happened? You were right all along. TV: The decryption team at the VLA has been working around the clock and the hard work has paid off. This key section, uncovered tonight, and obtained exclusively by CNN shows an illustration of what is unmistakably a human figure inside a geometric structure of some kind. This and other contextual clues now leads scientists to believe that the message is in fact... The President's called an emergency meeting. Yeah, I imagine he would. ...designed to take a single human occupant into space, presumably to the star Vega. I missed my mother's birthday party. Would you call her in the morning? Tell her I... Tell me. They're going to build it. Who gets to go? The President's just gone international to spread the risk and construction cost. Who gets to go, though? It's complicated, Ellie. What? They've formed a group of international candidates. Oh, no. No, it's your discovery. They understand that. You're at the top of a very short list. But they're also putting together a formal selection committee. It's made up of scholars, theologians, scientists, philosophers... You're on it. I've been asked, yes. I guess that means you're a selector and I'm a selectee and that we can't... Yeah. What you don't understand, Ellie, is... I understand. Ellie, I want you to know, whatever happens, as far as I'm concerned... well... good luck. Well, whatever you do, just make sure he doesn't monopolise the committee, all right? He's not on the committee, Ellie. What? He just resigned as science adviser. He wants to be the one to go. TV: The President is already feeling the financial pinch. Consortium sources say the cost of the project is spiralling to more than a third of $1 trillion, making this what may be the most expensive single project in all of human history. BOBBIE BATTISTA: Meanwhile, months of debate finally reached a conclusion of sorts last week as 10 international candidates were selected by the IMC. Representing a cross section of political, philosophical and religious views, many of these scientists are the same experts who have been consulting on the machine's design and function. As such, they will be actively participating on site during the construction process. The choice of these 10 candidates has not been without controversy. Fully one-third of the candidates are American. Many international observers are asking why. We are shouldering an enormous percentage of the financial burden. Isn't it true that the large contractors like Hadden Industries are making those contributions in exchange for technology rights? Different nations are being compensated in different ways. Japan made headlines last month when it announced it would forgo candidate representation in exchange for the lucrative systems integrations subcontract. LARRY KING: On what basis do you choose a human being to represent humanity? do you choose a human being to represent humanity? Good question, Larry. Yes, well, if nothing else, it should be somebody who is fluent in the language the message was given in ` science in this case. Dr Arroway, despite your obvious enthusiasm, there's been a lot of criticism of late that this whole endeavour is simply too dangerous. Some of that criticism from scientists. One Nobel prize winner recently noted ` his words ` "There is every indication "that this is simply beyond our capabilities, "that this endeavour will fail and the machine's occupant "will pay for that failure with their life." How do you respond to that? Well, this message is from a civilisation that may be anywhere from hundreds to millions of years ahead of us. I have to believe that an intelligence that advanced knows what they're doing. All it requires on our part is, uh... Faith? I was going to say a sense of adventure. And in breaking news, Major John Russell, a former astronaut considered to be the leading American candidate for the machine seat has unexpectedly dropped out of the running. Russell met with reporters this afternoon at his Houston home. I told my dad that I didn't want him to go. Daddy, don't go. Nothing would give me more pride than to represent my country, but what can I say to this? Consortium officials had no comment. KNOCK AT DOOR Sources within the American delegation have disclosed that Dr Arroway appears to now be the front-runner for the machine seat. "Meet me at noon, must talk." I didn't expect to get a message like this from you. Thanks for coming. So is this kosher? Fraternising with the enemy? Selectors and selectees mingling around. Can we talk about Einstein? Yeah, sure, OK. Special relativity. Yeah. This machine. If it works and you travel to Vega at close to the speed of light, when you come back... If you come back. IF you come back... you'll only be four years older, but over 50 years would have passed on earth. Basically, yeah. And everybody that you care about... ..will be gone, dead and buried. If you came back, if you survived at all, which... Look, Palmer, nobody's saying this isn't dangerous. The rest of the candidates and myself, we fully understand the implications, the risks that we're taking. the risks that we're taking. Why? Because it's a historic opportunity. Because the world needs... You, Ellie, you. You personally. And by doing this, you're willing to give your life. You're willing to die for it. Why? (Sighs) You know, for... For as long as I can remember, I've been searching for something. Some reason why we're here. What are we doing here, who are we? If this is a chance to find out even just a little part of that answer I don't know, I think it's worth a human life. Don't you? You're an incredibly brave woman, Ellie. Or incredibly nuts. Palmer. I'm really confused. So am I. DR BERGERON: I think I speak for us all when I thank you for your patience. Myself, I have one final question, Dr Arroway. If you should meet these Vegans and were permitted only one question to ask of them what would it be? Well, I suppose it would be "How did you do it?" How did you evolve? How did you survive this technological adolescence without destroying yourself? That more then any other question is the one that I personally would like to have answered. Not too bad, Mike. Well... DR PATEL: I join Dr Bergeron in expressing thanks for your patience, Dr Arroway. We've all been most impressed with your candour. And your stamina. I believe we are ready to move on to your final statement. Madam Chairman, I have one more question. Yes, Mr Joss. Dr Arroway. Would you consider yourself a, uh, a spiritual person? Uh...I... I don't really understand the point of the question. Uh, I consider myself a moral person. I'm sure we all agree that is the case, but I think what Mr Joss is in fact asking... Do you believe in God... Dr Arroway? As a scientist, I, uh, rely on empirical evidence and in this matter, I don't believe that there is data either way. DR PATEL: So your answer would in fact be that you don't believe in God. I-I just...I don't understand the relevance of the question. Dr Arroway, 95% of the world's population believes in a supreme being in one form or another. I believe that makes the question more than relevant. Dr Arroway? I believe, um... I believe I've already answered that question. TV: I'm proud of what we've achieved as a species. and as a civilisation. I would hate to see everything we stand for, all that we have fought for for a thousand generations, all that God has blessed us with, betrayed... in the final hour because we chose to send a representative who did not put our most cherished beliefs first. Thank you. KNOCK ON DOOR Why did you do it? Our job was to select someone to speak for everybody. I just couldn't in good conscience vote for a person who doesn't believe in God. Someone who honestly thinks the other 95% of us suffer from some form of mass delusion. I told the truth up there, and... Drumlin told you exactly what you wanted to hear. (Sighs heavily) DRUMLIN: With full humility and utmost gratitude, I accept this great honour. And I promise I will do my best to represent my nation, my planet and my God on this historic journey. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. APPLAUSE * TV: There's a carnival atmosphere here at Cape Canaveral, as the International Machine Consortium hosts as much a media event as a systems test. David Drumlin is supervising the on-site portion of the test. We spoke with him earlier today. We'll be able to monitor the stresses and effects using the robot passenger who we lovingly call Elmer. PA: Two hours and counting. All systems are go. Dr Arroway, the press would like to ask you some questions, as soon as they're done with Dr Drumlin. Now, at the moment that we release the pod, there'll be a substantial amount of energy generated at the core. We'll be able to monitor the stresses and effects using our robot passenger who we lovingly call Elmer. (Chuckles) Thank you. Welcome. PA: Range safety reports test areas clear and go. Sir, they're ready for you at the site. Yeah. Just a minute. Ellie. Congratulations, David. Glad you could come. I didn't expect to see you here. Well, I'm still, uh, you know Crew Ops at the Control Centre. And I suppose the fact that I discovered the message means that I have some PR value. Of course. Ellie, I know you must think this is all very unfair. Maybe that's an understatement. What you don't know is I agree. I wish the world was a place where 'fair' was the bottom line, where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing was rewarded, not taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world. Funny. I always believed the world is what we make of it. Excuse me. Dr Drumlin, sir? Good luck on the test. Thank you. Right this way, sir. DRUMLIN: Test director. Everything looks good up here. We're ready to go. All right, people. I want things double and triple checked here. We only get one shot at this. Let's get it right. Ladies and gentlemen. We are ready to start up. All controllers, I need a 'go', 'no go' for test initiation. Mechanical? Go. Electrical? Go. Dynamics? Go. Communications? Go. Client systems? Go. Safety? Go. Crew Ops. Verify all pre-test procedures are complete? Yes, verified. I'm go. Pad leader, we're looking good. Is everything OK? Roger. The pad is a go. Test initiation on my mark. Five... four... three... two... one... mark! MACHINE BEEPS Test Start. Rings are unlocked. Power levels indicate a good start. PA: And we've begun the full-scale test of Earth's first system built by sharing knowledge with a neighbour in our universe. All power sources on core-induction bus. IPV power transfer. Brain motion detect - Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. Gerry, how are we looking? Looks good. We're under way. DRUMLIN: Looks like a normal start-up. Roger, David. It's looking good here. CHEERING, APPLAUSE PA: We are moments away from initiation of the drop sequence. All systems are go. Mechanical, you still happy? Roger that. I tell you, this is very exciting from up here. We've got 4%. We're confirming 4%. Frequency, niner 0.85. Harmonics, in the green. G-level, 1.1. 5%. Confirmed. We are at 5%. David, how's it looking to you? OK. I'm going to take a look. Show you what we've got. PA: All test subject instrumentation looks good. Confirm we have a good picture from Dr Drumlin's PRD. I hope you guys are seeing what I'm seeing. All systems are go. DEEP RUMBLING This is really something! TV: For the purposes of this test, Dr Drumlin will be on top of the gantry crane over the machine. We've got some video animation to show you just how this machine, it is thought, will work. The passenger pod will be released. It will come down through the centre of the rings and into the machine's core. The big question everyone here is asking is, of course, what happens then? Some believe that the rings function as an accelerator or something, sending its energy into this passenger pod, making it rocket away at near the speed of light. Other people believe it might open up a doorway to some other dimension. Who's right? Well, that's what today's test is all about. 35%. Sep Systems, are you ready? 40% normal acceleration. Roger, Mechanical. We're ready. Confirm 40%. All controllers stand by to initiate drop sequence. On my mark. All systems ready for drop sequence. 45%. We're in 45%. Can you verify closure? 46%. All controllers stand by to initiate IPV drop sequence. On my mark. 48%. DEEP RUMBLING INCREASES Test Director, I'm feeling a very strange vibration. Are you feeling it down there? Gerry, can you confirm any vibration out of limits? Negative. Everything looks good here. Crew Ops? Nothing wrong with Elmer. David, we're not seeing anything abnormal down here. No good. Hold the sequence. I'm going to take a direct reading. What the hell's he talking about? Can anyone say 'grandstanding'? He sure knows he's on TV. Back home, that's what we call an overcooked ham! I'm reading 10 kilohertz. What's your reading on the first and second order G-levels? G-levels are right on. MAN: TD, we confirm Drumlin's readings and they're all normal. We're go. Copy that, Dynamics. I think we're OK, but we'll let him pitch. Mechanical, you still OK? Roger. We've got a security problem here. Ellie, are you sure? Yeah, this guy. He shouldn't be there. I know him. Gerry, execute the rapid shutdown sequence. Security, move the emergency response team into position one. Get me Drumlin on a secure loop. You got him. David. Can you hear me? Yes, I hear. We've got a security breach here. Right behind you. The tall guy. The technician. See him? He's not supposed to be there. David, he's got something in his hand. Him! Take him! Security breach! A bomb. He's got a bomb! I want that emergency response team on the gantry now! Security, stage one alert. SECURITY: Back off, we'll all fire. The rest in position one. CHAIN OF EXPLOSIONS TV: That's it for now... Wait a minute. Something's going on. CROWD SCREAMS All right, all right, back to your stations. I need you to be professional, people. Settle down. Pad leader, pad leader, do you copy? Com One, do you have contact with the pad? Negative. TV: The scene earlier today when David Drumlin, advisor to two presidents and winner of the National Academy of Science's Lifetime Award of Excellence, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. In a related story... Can I help you? I've got some mail for you. ...resulted in the discovery of this amateur video ` the apparent suicide note of the leader of the terrorist group believed responsible for the explosion in Florida this week. What we do, we do for the goodness of all mankind. This won't be understood, not now. But the apocalypse to come... will vindicate our faith. SIGNAL PULSES Welcome home. THUNDER RUMBLES (Man speaks Russian) (Speaks Russian) Oh, er, Comrade Arroway. He has been expecting your call. One moment, please. Mr Hadden? Doctor. How kind of you to call. Mr Hadden, where are you? The Russian government was kind enough to give me accommodations on Mir. You're living on a space station? It's quite simple, really. The low-oxygen, zero-gravity environment is the only thing keeping the cancer from eating me alive. Actually, I quite like it up here. My little room has one hell of a view. I want to show you something. Hokkaido Island. The systems integration site. Look closer. First rule in government spending. Why build one when you can have two at twice the price? Only...this one can be kept secret. Controlled by Americans. Built by Japanese subcontractors. Who also happen to be recently acquired, wholly owned subsidiaries of... Of Hadden Industries. ...Hadden Industries. They still want an American to go, Doctor. Want to take a ride? * WOMAN: And augmenting our restraint and communications console subsystem, we have your personal recording unit. Normal, infrared and ultraviolet lenses. Digital microchip good for thousands of hours of recording. OK, look, I...I understand the reason for recording and documenting the mission. But I just...I want to go on record one more time. OK, the transmitted specs never said anything about any chair or a restraining harness or, uh, survival gear. I mean, why can't we just trust the original? Doctor, both the IMC board and the SI team carefully reviewed the matter and concluded that design impact is negligible. The bottom line is we're not putting anybody aboard this machine unless there's some sort of minimal protection. Minimal protection. End of story. OK. Ellie... we've been giving these to the astronauts since the beginning of the space program. It's never been made public, of course. It's fast, and it's painless. I'm not going to travel 26 light-years to commit suicide. Something may go wrong. There may be an unforeseen mechanical failure. You could be marooned. Unable to return. There are a thousand reasons we can think of for you to have this with you. But mostly it's for the reasons we CAN'T think of. DEEP RUMBLING KNOCK AT DOOR Come in. Dr Arroway? Time to get ready. Thank you. I know you don't have much time. As soon as I found out about the machine, I called the President. I came with Kitz. I had to see you one more time. Oh, God, I'm sorry. It's OK. No, I'm glad you came. Listen, there's something I've got to say to you. The reason I didn't vote for you to go, Ellie, was a good reason but it wasn't the real one. I didn't vote for you to go... because I don't want to lose you. You find your way home, all right? 23 hours ago, the world was stunned by the announcement of the existence of a second machine and its passenger Eleanor Ann Arroway. Now the question that's on everyone's mind - will history repeat itself? With a piece of engineering this complex, with so many unknowns, could the unthinkable occur? The security in Hokkaido has been incredibly tight. No reporters whatsoever have been allowed near the site. ETHEREAL HUMMING Thanks a lot. The magnetic restraint is secure. All life support functions are normal. Roger that. Ellie, this is Control. Do you copy? Ellie to Control, reading you five by five. Com 1, give me Ellie's PRD. Video unit recording. Transmitting. Are you reading me? That's affirmative. Video looks good. Copy that, Control. OK. Ellie, we're going to proceed to button you up. Roger, Control. I'm ready. I can confirm the walkway retraction. Communications? Go. Life support? Go. Ellie, we are go for closure. I'm go here. Mechanical, initiate IPV closure sequence. Go code. Hold on. I'll get you a chair. I'm go here. It's nice to smell you again, Mr Kitz. You too. Wouldn't peg him as a Polo man. I've got a visual on the door. IPV escape system is armed. Door is looking good. Door alignment looks good. Ellie, we are showing green across the board. Copy that, Control. IPV is secure. LIGHTS CLICK ON We are at 30%. Copy that, 30%. How are you doing in there, Ell? Kent, is that you? That's a big affirmative. Well, who let you in there, huh? Oh, a higher power intervened. Well, I'm glad you came. 35%. Copy that, 35%. Mechanical? We're good. 40%. I'm picking up a moderate vibration here. Dynamics, can you confirm vibration? Everything looks good here. It's the same thing they felt at the Cape at this point. Ellie, the vibration is normal. We are at 50%. All systems nominal. Copy that. 50%. Vibration's getting a little stronger now. We're picking up some low-frequency noise. Mechanical, can you confirm? It looks fine to me. Roger. Gerry, what do you think? I'm still go. People, we are still go. What? Something's happening. I-I-I...I'm... There's...there's a light. Do you see that? I'm seeing... Something... I can't tell whether it's daylight or not. There it is again. It's coming from the bottom. Let me show it to you. Do you see that? Negative. Ellie, you're breaking up. Com 1, can we boost our signal? Already at maximum. 65%. The material is changing. It's bordering on translucence. If the system's intact... It's got to be some kind of...some kind of electromagnetic field. Are you reading this? Negative. We're seeing only interference. It's coming... I can't describe it. I can't even explain it. 70%. People, we have intermittent com but we are still go. Initiate secondary drive systems. Initiating auxiliary booster sequence. We're going for ignition. We have auxiliary booster ignition. Life support, how's she doing? We still have data. Heart and respiration are high but within limits. She's OK. Ellie, do you copy? If you can hear... I am OK to go. If you can hear me... 80%. All vibration and G-levels are in the green. Control, if you're reading me, I am OK to go. OK to go. 85%. All bearing tips are on the profile. 90%. We're detecting some structural instability. Confirm. Can she hold? We're within limits. Barely. I'm OK to go. I'm OK to go. My God. OK to go. I'm OK. 100% target velocity. Steve, I'm picking up tremendous EMI levels around the machine. All field measurements are pegged off-scale high. Steve, we're approaching our abort limits. OK to go. I hear her. I hear her. Barely. But...but she's there. OK to go. She says she's OK to go. Steve, we're real close. Electrical, what's your reading in the core? The internal environment looks normal. Inside the core the weather's beautiful. (Shakily) I'm OK to go. I'm OK to go. Initiate drop sequence. On my mark. 10...9... Now we transfer. 8... 7...6... 5...4... 3...2... I'm OK to go. OK! Ellie to Control. Ellie to Control, do you read me? Ellie to Control, do you read me? I'm... I'm going to try and keep recording. I'm going through some kind of... a tunnel. There's a light source ahead. Brilliant. Blue, white. This is all radiation. PULSING It's a star. I must have... gone through a wormhole. Oh, it's Vega! Oh, I'm in another wormhole now. (Echoes) I had no idea. A series of them. (Echoes) They're alive. It's like some... some kind of a transit system. A subway...? (Echoes) They're alive. (Gasps) OK. OK, I've got to keep talking. It's a triple... no, quadruple system. Oh, it's beautiful. They're alive. Another wormhole. This one's much more violent. Some... celestial event. No... no words... no words... to describe it. Poetry. They should have sent a poet. It's so beautiful. Beautiful. So beautiful. So beautiful. I had no idea. I had no idea. (Echoes) I had no idea. I had no idea. I had no idea. I had no idea. I had no idea. I had no idea. TING! HIGHER-PITCHED NOTE HIGHER-PITCHED NOTE TING! TING! TING! WAVES LAP Hi, Sparks. Dad? I missed you. How did you...? I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, sweetheart. How? You're not real. None of this is real. That's my scientist. When I was unconscious you downloaded my thoughts, my memories, even. Pensacola. We thought this might make things easier for you. Why did you contact us? You contacted us. We were just listening. And there are others? Many others. They all... travel here through that transit system that you built? We didn't build it. We don't know who did. No, they were gone long before we ever got here. Maybe some day they'll come back. All the other civilisations that you find, they come here? Not all. Is this some test? No. No tests. You have your mother's hands. You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams... and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone. Only you're not. See... in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other. What happens now? Now... you go home. Home? But... I have so many questions. Do we get to come back? This was just the first step. In time you'll take another. Other people need to see what I've seen. They need... This is the way it's been done for billions of years. But... Small moves, Ellie. Small moves. * (People talk hurriedly) We've got video on Ellie, five by five. She's through! She is in the net. She's alive. Get the president on the phone! What's going on, Steve? How is she?! Ellie, this is Control. Do you copy? What's going on? I don't know. CONTROL: Put her on the PA! Ellie, just hold on tight. We're trying to determine the nature of the malfunction but the important thing is you're OK. What? It's all right, Ellie. The important thing is that you're safe. What...what malfunction? What... What happened? What day is this? I'm sorry, Ellie. Did you say "what day?" How long was I gone? Ellie, the IPV dropped straight through the machine. You didn't go anywhere. I did. I did go. That's what I've been trying to tell everyone. What, the headset didn't record a single image? KITZ: Just this. Static. Thank you. Now, Doctor, let me show you what we saw. 43 separate remote cameras show exactly the same event. The IPV dropped straight through. Everyone who watched saw exactly the same thing. Nothing happened. How do you explain this, Doctor? I can't. TV: I would encourage you not to inflame this situation beyond the facts. Let us deal with this on the facts. We are monitoring what has actually happened. We are taking what we believe is factually appropriate steps. Amid a flurry of accusations and counteraccusations by the nations representing the machine consortium, the President has ordered a special executive inquiry. However, the appointment to the committee of Michael Kitz, who has recently resigned as National Security Adviser, has raised a number of eyebrows on Capitol Hill. I've made no decision to run for Congress. I've announced no candidacy. The fact that I've resigned as National Security Adviser has nothing to do with anything, other than I'll devote ALL my energy to this inquiry. The people of the world have a right to know what really happened. And yet every scientific instrument confirms the IPV was out of contact for only a fraction of a second. Isn't that correct, Doctor? A fraction of a second Earth time, yes. WOMAN: Earth time? Senator, I believe that the machine opened up a wormhole, a tunnel through the fabric of space-time, also known as an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Now, because of the effects of general relativity, what I experienced as approximately 18 hours passed instantaneously on Earth. Doctor, isn't it true that these wormholes you speak of are merely theoretical predictions? There is no evidence they actually exist. There is no direct evidence, no. Tell me something, Doctor, why would aliens go to all this trouble, bring you tens of thousands of light years, and send you home without proof? They said that's how it's been done for billions of years. Neat, Doctor. You have no proof because they didn't want you to ` a phenomenon known in psychiatric circles as a self-reinforcing delusion. Is that what you think? I was delusional? You may have suffered some kind of an episode, yes - I do. Doctor, I'd like to propose an alternate hypothesis, and I'd like you to bring your considerable scientific expertise to bear on it. To, um, fake a signal from Vega, what would you need? You'd need a satellite to transmit the signal but it would be impossible to simulate something... You'd need a satellite and launch capabilities to put the satellite into orbit and the message itself. To put something like this together, so complex, drawing... Would be impossible. Impossible? Impossible? Is there anyone who might have been up to the challenge? Someone with extraordinary technical expertise, enormous financial resources - someone perverse enough, eccentric enough to have come up with the idea in the first place? Hadden? S.R. Hadden. PEOPLE MURMUR You're implying that this was all some kind of a hoax? That he engineered this... S.R. Hadden - a legendary powerbroker and manipulator in perhaps his final bid for immortality. Maybe he wanted to explore experimental technologies and get the world's governments to pay. Perhaps this was his final altruistic gesture - to unite the world in some common goal. Maybe all of the above. S.R. Hadden - a brilliant and complicated man. Doctor, are you familiar with the scientific precept known as Occam's razor? Yes. It means that, all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one. Exactly. Now, you tell me what is more likely here. That a message from aliens results in a magical machine that whisks you to the centre of the galaxy to windsurf with dear old dad and a split-second later, returns you without a shred of proof? Or that your experience is the result of being the unwitting star in the farewell performance of one S.R Hadden? A man with the means, motive and opportunity to play you and the rest of us as pawns in the biggest, most elaborate, most expensive hoax of all time? Doctor Arroway, you come to us with no evidence, no record, no artefacts ` only a story that, to put it mildly, strains credibility. Over half a trillion dollars was spent, dozens of lives were lost. Are you really going to sit there and tell us we should just take this all on faith? KITZ: Please answer the question, Doctor. Is it possible that it didn't happen? Yes. PEOPLE MURMUR EXCITEDLY As a scientist, I must concede that. I must volunteer that. Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You admit that you've no physical evidence to support your story? You admit that you've no physical evidence to support your story? Yes. You admit that you've no physical You admit you may have hallucinated this? Yes. You admit that, if you were in our position, you'd respond with the same degree of incredulity and scepticism? you'd respond with the same degree of incredulity and scepticism? Yes. you'd respond with the same degree Then why don't you simply withdraw your testimony and concede that this journey to the centre of the galaxy in fact never took place?! Because I can't. PEOPLE TALK EXCITEDLY I had an experience. I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am, tells me that it was real. I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever ` a vision of the universe that tells us, undeniably, how tiny and insignificant and how rare and precious we all are. A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater than ourselves, that we are NOT, that none of us are, alone. I wish I could share that. I wish... that everyone, if... even for one moment, could feel that awe and humility, and hope. But... that continues to be my wish. VOICES DRONE MAN: Dr Arroway, get a picture, please? Get a photo over here? WOMAN: Here comes Ellie. CROWD MURMURS EXCITEDLY SCATTERED APPLAUSE WOMAN: Believe in yourself. CHILD: That's her. MAN: Yeah, that's her. REPORTERS: Reverend Joss! Reverend Joss! MAN: Reverend Joss, what do you believe? As a person of faith, I'm bound by a different covenant than Dr Arroway. Uh, but our goal is one and the same - the pursuit of truth. I, for one, believe her. So, what happens now? We give her a medal? I say at least a healthy grant. I assume you read the confidential findings report from the investigating committee? I flipped through it. I was especially interested in the section on Arroway's video unit. The one that recorded the static. Continue. The fact that it recorded static isn't what interests me. Continue. What interests me is that it recorded approximately 18 hours of it. That is interesting, isn't it? MECHANICAL CLANKING, WHIRRING You can see, over there, we're building 45 brand-new dishes and that means that when you put them together with all the different radio telescopes all over the world, then we get to hear farther into space than anybody has ever heard. Yeah? Are there other people out there in the universe? Well, that's a good question. What do you think? Huh? I don't know. That's a good answer. Sceptic, huh? The most important thing is that you all keep searching for your own answers. I'll tell you one thing about the universe, though. The universe is a pretty big place. It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So, if it's just us... seems like an awful waste of space. Right? Supertext Captions by the Australian Caption Centre. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Able 2019