Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993) Movie Script
HARLECH: Volcanoes, the foundries
of the earth, ladies and gentlemen.
Where the very wheels
of planetary evolution
still turn.
And where, I am here to tell you,
you will find the only viable doorway
to the Inner World.
Doorway to what?
The Inner World!
Egyptians, Greeks, the Norse, Romans,
all told of vast, inhabitable regions
beneath the Earth.
The same people who gave us science,
logic, astronomy.
This volcanic bubble, if you will,
is just one of thousands that weave a path
to the Earth's core.
Estimated at over 3,000 miles across,
and as high in places as 5,000 feet,
you could slide the
entire United States into it.
[STUDENTS EXCLAIMING]
If one had a proper craft,
it could descend into a live volcano.
- Is this a joke?
- No, they could descend into a live volcano...
[SCHOOL BELL RINGS]
...where enormous temperatures,
where enormous temperatures
weaken the geological crust,
just the solid side of liquid.
Then, a sonic blast of suitable amplitude
could open a momentary
doorway to the Inner World.
It's, it's very clear. It's possible.
It makes me crazy when they call
you a lunatic or crackpot, dreamer.
Why won't they believe?
Closed minds can't be forced open.
Put a move on it.
I've got a surprise for you.
They really call me a dreamer?
Put... Wherever you want.
Ah!
Behold,
the Geo-Explorer.
Will it work?
There's only one way to find out.
Forward, ever forward.
[INDISTINCT VOICE ON RADIO]
MAN: [ON RADIO] T-minus
52 minutes and counting.
Confirm?
[INDISTINCT VOICE ON RADIO]
WOMAN: [ON RADIO, INDISTINCT]
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] The rate of
lava shift seems like it's rising fast.
MAN: [ON RADIO] That's a roger,
mountain base.
Confirm on lava shift, Firebird.
FIREBIRD: No question, chief.
Lava flows over to north base.
[RADIO CHATTER CONTINUES] Check, check.
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] And
we're showing a new breakup
near the south wall, Firebird.
Can you check it out?
FIREBIRD: Acknowledged.
On our way to confirm now.
Don't know how close we can
get with these temperatures but--
WOMAN: Center dome is letting go, people.
Repeat, center dome is now letting go.
Oh, my God, it's gonna blow!
MAN: [ON RADIO] Control to Harlech.
It looks like it's got be now or never,
Jim.
Your call.
This is Firebird.
That's a roger on south wind break-up.
I'm going in closer to eyeball on the dome.
Ooh, it could be any minute now.
Chris! Collins! Put a move on!
It's happening now! This is it.
This is it!
I'm telling you, Collins,
all you got do is just wait.
My uncle will go along with it.
No, Chris. Once your uncle
sets his mind on something,
that's it.
MAN: [ON RADIO] All non-essential personnel
must clear the area. Repeat, all--
We're going in, Collins. Now!
Uncle Jim, take me instead.
No! We have been through this.
No, wait.
If we wait any longer, nobody will go in.
But Collins says the decision is yours.
- He'll stand aside if...
- Buckle up, Collins.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Sorry, Chris.
I need you here.
You know all the work I've done,
all the research.
You're the only one who understands,
who believes like I do.
If something happens, I need to know
there'll be someone who'll carry on,
maybe come and get me if I get lost.
Wait.
Hand here!
MAN: [ON RADIO] T-minus 20--
Take this.
Now you gotta come home,
'cause I want it back.
Forward.
Ever forward.
MAN: This is Control to Geo-Explorer.
Jim, do you read me?
HARLECH: Roger, Control. Report now.
Confirming launch coordinates.
FIREBIRD: The sooner the better, boys.
Comin' hot and heavy down there, now.
MAN: Thank you, Firebird.
Raise Geo-Explorer into launch position.
T-minus 60 seconds.
Mobile units, this is Control.
Confirm telemetry and tracking
from your position, please.
T-minus 45.
We got him. It's working.
MAN: That's a roger. Thank you. Jim?
HARLECH: Coordinates confirmed.
Beginning engine reignition check now.
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] Control,
this is mountain base.
Seismic activity increasing fast.
Suggest you launch as soon as possible.
Repeat, as soon as possible.
[RUMBLING]
It's gonna blow!
MAN: T-minus 15 seconds.
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] Control,
our readings indicate
the eruption has started.
- Can you confirm, Firebird?
- FIREBIRD: Affirmative.
Eruption has begun. It's gonna
rip wide open any second now.
No, it's too soon.
No! No!
MAN: Jim,
we're not sure you can launch in time.
HARLECH: I won't turn back now.
We're going in, damn it.
MAN: All units, evacuate now.
Prepare to fire engines, on my mark.
[BEEPING]
WOMAN: Central crater's going down,
Control.
You've got 10 seconds, maybe less.
MAN: Geo-Explorer, this is Control.
Final countdown, engage.
Ship turning in the final launch angle now.
All systems are go,
and you are ready for release.
Good luck, Jim.
Now!
MAN: Ship is away. Repeat, ship is away.
MAN: Geo-Explorer, this is Control.
Do you copy? Over.
Jim, this is Control.
Come in, please. Over.
Firebird, this is Control.
Can you confirm ship status? Over.
FIREBIRD: Negative, Control.
Not a chance in hell.
MAN: Geo-Explorer, this is Control.
Do you copy? Over.
No way they lived through that.
I'm sorry, Mr. Turner.
Chris?
Chris?
Mr. Turner?
SECRETARY: [ECHOING]
Mr. Wentworth will you see you now.
Yes, yes.
WOMAN: Yes, he is.
He'll have to call you back.
SECRETARY: Mr. Turner,
would you follow me, please?
Mr. Wentworth is ready for you now.
WENTWORTH: Welcome, Mr. Turner.
Thanks for coming.
Thank you, sir.
Your uncle's theories are a hobby of mine.
Brilliant man, Jim Harlech.
Unorthodox, yet a free thinker.
Priceless commodity, a mind like that.
Which is why you are here.
Exactly. Now, sir, I have
factored out my uncle's
seismic predictive methods.
[DOOR CLOSES]
We're aware of your results.
WENTWORTH: Excuse me.
Uh, Christopher Edison Turner,
Dr. Margo Peterson.
Oh, I'm sorry. You know one another?
We've met.
Dr. Peterson and I come
from opposite sides of the, uh,
scientific tracks. [CHUCKLES]
Why is she here?
Dr. Peterson is head
of my research division.
I thought you were aware of that.
No, sir. I, uh, I wasn't.
I'm a futurist, Mr. Turner.
I'm concerned with where we're going.
And we're rushing headlong into oblivion.
Pollution, overpopulation, apathy.
We live in a planetary community,
Mr. Turner.
While my father was making billions
destroying the surface,
I used my, uh, allowance
to tunnel under it.
Life in outer space is centuries off.
Inner space is not.
You are not the only one,
for varying reasons,
who is intent on going under.
Whereas I am the only one
rich enough to risk paying for it.
And that's why I'm here, sir.
And this is how I'm gonna get there.
Four crew, powered by thermo-steam
turbines, once we're under.
And this is gonna render all
previous tunneling technology obsolete.
Sonic blaster.
Behold,
the Avenger.
MARGO: A hundred and eighty-two feet long,
two hundred tons fully loaded with
a four-inch thick, solid titanium hull
on a triad of all-terrain threads,
seven crew with room for three more.
Self-generating fuel supply.
It's completely omniphibious in nature.
The sonic bore units are incorporated in...
You stole my design,
my research!
Liberated your ideas, Mr. Turner.
Expanded them and started
construction almost two years ago.
Sue me...
or come on board as a full partner,
Captain Turner.
[EXHALES]
There's just one condition.
What's that?
Dr. Peterson goes with you.
What?
WENTWORTH: As my personal representative,
if you like.
Well, she's been with the
program from the beginning.
She'll co-supervise mission preparations
and you will, of course,
be in command, Captain,
once the mission is underway.
It's an irrevocable condition, Mr. Turner.
Decide.
I'm an insanely busy man.
MARGO: For what it's worth, Turner,
you've made the right choice.
Now,
should we discuss the rest of the crew?
CHRIS: Fine. Who'd you have in mind?
Dr. Tesue Ishikawa of
the Bio-Botanical Institute.
She's the world's foremost
authority on plant-based food sources,
and the ship's medical officer.
Good. Done.
There's the rest of the crew.
Unacceptable, unacceptable, unacceptable.
Ms. Peterson, when's the last
time your life was in danger?
I mean, besides some virus
jumping out of a Petri dish at you?
What does that have to do with--
Assembling this team is about balance.
We can't go poking around worlds unknown
with a bunch of lab coats.
There's an inherent risk factor.
I'm well aware of the risks.
No, not risk. Risk factor.
A statistical variable defining
response to danger and the unknown.
The stuff that attacks
the lizard brain in all of us,
and then either cripples
you or makes you stronger.
Lab coats have never been exposed to that.
These people have.
In fact, they like it.
These three fit every
conceivable physical situation
we could possibly encounter.
MARGO: Sandra Miller,
psychologist and champion rock climber.
Also spelunker.
Master caver.
MARGO: Anthony LaStrella.
World's youngest jet aircraft test pilot
and video game champion?
Has the world's fastest
hand-eye reaction time.
MARGO: Joe Briggs?
Ex-Navy SEAL.
Still holds the all-time
solo descent diving record.
This only makes six crew members.
What about the seventh?
Well, I haven't got a recent photo,
but it's Dr. Cecil Chalmers.
What?
[CHUCKLES] The decision's already made.
There's nothing you can do about it.
You can't be serious.
What possible function could
that supernatural crackpot--
Dr. Chalmers is the categorical expert
on legendarology and all mythic
lore dealing with the Inner World.
So what?
Of what there is to know
about where we're going,
he knows everything.
He advised my uncle.
Did your uncle a lot of good.
[WHISPERING] Closed minds.
Ms. Peterson,
every great civilization
has stories of a vast
and magical Inner World.
My uncle believed that.
Chalmers knows it
and that is why I'm going down there,
to prove it.
CHALMERS: You haven't sold out, Chris.
Now, now, now, not another word.
You made the right decision.
Besides,
Wentworth may have stolen your ideas
but once we're under,
we will have effectively stolen his ship,
so to speak.
By Jove, it's brilliant.
I'll be with you Monday week,
as ordered, Captain!
Oh, no, no. Not, not to worry.
It's just turkey expanding.
Yeah, well, I got this one.
[WHISPERING] There you go.
[SIGHS]
[CHUCKLES] I think I'm in love.
Hey, hey! Can't you read?
You touch this stuff the wrong way,
boom! [GASPS]
All they find is a shoe heel.
[EXHALES]
Thank you, my man.
CHRIS: Now, it's critical you all
appreciate the danger of this project.
Constituting a risk factor 10 times
that of any NASA mission to date.
Now if you decide to sign on,
you'll be paid one million dollars in cash.
The mission should take six months.
Hey, not that I couldn't use a cool mil,
maybe get me a Porsche or two,
but Captain, I couldn't help but notice,
we're sitting on the edge of
one of nature's time bombs.
Is there something you're not telling us,
Captain?
Everything you need to know
is detailed in the manuals,
once you've signed the
contracts and secrecy agreements.
According to our data, within a year,
Mount Oliver is due for a major eruption.
Now, our training and preparation
is scheduled to be completed in six months,
well ahead of the window of opportunity.
Now, at that time, we will launch,
administering a sonic
blast to the molten lava,
opening a momentary
doorway to the Inner World.
That about wraps it up, Turner.
I'll take that return ticket, now.
You haven't heard everything yet,
Mr. Briggs.
I heard enough.
Now, I've dived everything
from oil to toxic waste.
Even did a gig in a nuclear reactor once,
'cause some fool dropped his Walkman in it,
but I have never heard of anybody
diving through solid damn rock.
Not solid, liquid.
Right, liquid damn rock.
Do you know what kinda
temperatures you're talking about?
We're not free diving through magma,
Briggs.
Well, then how in the hell are
we supposed to get down there?
In a sub?
Not exactly.
Welcome to your new home.
The Avenger.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
Oh, Margo, it is incredible!
You gotta be kiddin' me.
Whoa.
A tad large. Don't you think, Chris?
[BOTH LAUGHING]
Reminds me of myself in many ways.
Ah!
Geez!
You broke it. No, next time I break it.
The systems, Mr. Chalmers,
required a housing of this size.
No more, no less.
What if we encounter a subterranean sea?
The Avenger is completely
omniphibious in nature.
Like a frog.
CHRIS: No,
that's a dual environment species.
This is omniphibious.
Not all-terrain, any-terrain.
We're gonna fly this.
Yes, Mr. LaStrella, we are.
We're also gonna drive it
and tunnel it through the Earth.
What's the power source?
It's in the reactor chamber, back this way,
just ahead of the main thrusters.
CHALMERS: Nice.
Sixty pounds of synthetic,
fusionable self-regenerating material.
Has indefinite range.
BRIGGS: No stops at Texaco.
TONY: [LAUGHS] Damn straight.
Well, I still don't get it. It's so big.
How can we possibly move around down there?
I mean, what if we run into like,
like a really small cave or something?
CHRIS: I thought you'd never ask.
That's why I designed the sonic blaster.
MARGO: And why I perfected it.
We've prepared a small demonstration.
With your permission, Captain?
CHRIS: Absolutely.
It's over this way, people.
MARGO: Commence with the sonic bore test,
Tom.
AUTOMATED VOICE:
Now hear this. Now hear this.
- Sonic bore firing in 20 seconds.
- Everybody ready?
Clear the area.
All personnel, clear the area.
AUTOMATED VOICE: Power grid engaging.
Target coordinates, locked and final.
All systems green and
ready to fire on command.
Prepare to fire.
[WHIRRING]
MARGO: Fire!
TONY: Way to go, baby! Way to go.
[ALL CHEERING] It's fantastic.
We've tested the sonic bore on every
existing geo-structure known to man.
Nothing withstands it.
When do we go inside?
Right now. If anyone has any
reservations about the project,
now is the time to decline.
[ALL AGREEING]
I wouldn't miss it for the world.
[ALL CHEERING]
Well, all right.
Come on! We got a lot of work to do.
CHRIS: To be honest about it,
I was still burning inside
from Wentworth having stolen my work,
but that first day when the crew
all signed on and came aboard,
I realized that if this whole crazy
project was gonna get off the ground,
I'd have to put that behind me now.
For reasons I can only guess at,
Wentworth had put me in charge.
I was their captain,
and it didn't take long to see that was
bound to be as much of an adventure
as getting to the center of the Earth.
Don't even think about it!
CHRIS: Like cramming seven type-A gonzos
in a titanium tin can
for the next six months
and keeping them from
blasting holes in each other.
Not that the Avenger didn't
have its creature comforts,
but it was clear my job
was gonna be looking past
even what Margo's
whiz-bang computer could see.
Whoa.
We're outfitted for every possible
circumstance that DEVIN could anticipate.
Hey, you know, Captain.
I think I'll bunk right here.
I don't think that would be appropriate.
Who's Devin?
Sounds like a babe to me.
Digital Electroplasmic Virtual
Intelligence and Navigator.
DEVIN for short.
- Good morning, DEVIN.
- Good morning, Captain Turner.
Is this the crew?
CHRIS: Yes, it is.
- This is Dr. Tes--
- Tesue Ishikawa.
Your work precedes you, Doctor.
I've so looked forward to meeting you.
And you, Dr. Chalmers.
I hope we have time
for lengthy conversation.
Indeed.
She controls every system on the ship,
Cecil.
I wouldn't mess with her.
DEVIN, if you please.
The upper deck stations,
control the geo-science evaluation systems,
while all other mechanical
and operational modes,
from sonic bore deployment to flying,
are controlled from the flight deck.
Navigation shares a redundant
link with Dr. Peterson...
CHRIS: I had to admit,
DEVIN gave new meaning
to the word "database."
But I still wasn't about to
just follow the bouncing ball,
no matter how many
megabytes she had up her sleeve.
At least, not when hanging ten
on the edge of an active volcano,
which I knew could have the nasty
habit of ignoring everyone's projections.
And all the more reason to
get right down to business.
Step one was to have Margo
familiarize our crew with the ship.
Of course, knowing LaStrella, he
was in a hurry to just get, well, familiar.
And the truth was, Margo did seem
more at home programming DEVIN.
When it came to anything hi-tech, no
question, Margo was in a class by herself.
But, somehow, she couldn't seem to
cut much slack for us mere humans.
Fortunately, I knew Sandy and her smile
would be as good at pulling us all together
as she was at scaling mountains.
Not to mention the
famous Dr. Tesue Ishikawa,
who had her own curious
formula for uniting the crew.
Oh, Margo was right. Tesue
was first-rate as a medical officer,
but she hauled all of
us in for so many tests,
Briggs took to calling her "Marcus Welby".
I don't think he meant anything by it.
Hell, within the first week, Briggs
had picked a nickname for most of us,
so I'm sure it was just a coincidence,
but when the time came
for us to gather in the galley
and try out some of
Tesue's more bionic grub,
well, for some reason, she seemed
to think Briggs was the man for the job.
Mmm.
Meatloaf.
CHRIS: I'm not sure, but I don't think he
ever called her "Marcus Welby" after that.
I mean, it didn't take a rocket scientist
to know it would be tough enough
learning to get comfortable
in such tight quarters
without looking to
rattle each other's cages.
And that, I'm afraid,
included Chalmers' beloved Briar Number 12.
Not exactly a big hit with fitness
freaks like Briggs and Sandy.
So, I had no choice but to tell him,
"Cecil, where there's smoke,
there's mutiny."
Besides, where we were going,
there was likely to be enough
smoke even for his taste.
And one good look at the volcano
cookin' outside was all it took
to settle that question and remind everyone
that we were training on borrowed time.
Two months,
15 days till operational readiness.
CHRIS: I knew DEVIN could keep good time,
but wary of putting all
our eggs in her basket,
I had Margo build us a
holographic navigation unit
so we could eyeball our way through
the Inner World if it came down to that.
And I started drilling with LaStrella,
until he could not only fly
the Avenger without me,
but deploy and fire the sonic bore
blindfolded, if necessary.
I needed to be sure,
this ship and crew could survive,
even if, for some reason, I didn't.
Briggs was assigned with ship
security and backup on navigation
and I told Margo to program a
series of emergency drills for us,
running the gamut from an
onboard fire to an all-out crash.
Like my uncle's Geo-Explorer,
the Avenger was one-of-a-kind.
While we could guess how the
ship might react if things got gnarly,
what the crew would do was another story
but whether Margo and I
chose well or we just got lucky,
I was glad to see they all came
through it like the pros they are.
And then there was the
so-called Book of Knowledge.
I thought I'd recognized a
picture of it in Wentworth's office,
and I was sure Chalmers
could fill me in if anyone could.
Well, he did one better by
revealing what he claimed
was an actual piece of this magical book,
supposedly coughed up by
Vesuvius over a century ago.
And, frankly, I had trouble
keeping a straight face about it all
but Chalmers, well, he wasn't laughing.
According to DEVIN,
the eruption was still months off...
but it didn't look that way when I'd
go out and walk the rim alone at night.
I knew this ship and crew
were ready for anything,
but then it never fell to me to be the
captain of a mission like this before.
So, maybe what was troubling
me was whether or not I was ready.
Dr. Chalmers, Erin Wentworth.
Very nice to meet you.
I'm a great enthusiast of your work,
Dr. Chalmers.
Hey, Mr. Wentworth. Tony LaStrella.
Mr. LaStrella.
Hi, Sandy Miller.
Charmed.
CHALMERS: A vessel and crew
worth drinking to, eh, Mr. Wentworth?
Mr. Wentworth, fungal champagne.
One of my more favorite synthetics.
Hey, not too shabby.
I say, Doctor, well done.
A speech, a speech.
Ah, Chris?
Yes, Mr. Turner, inspire us.
The past 24 weeks haven't
been easy on any of us,
but your hard work and
dedication have paid off.
Tomorrow, we're fully operational.
One final week of tests to flush
out the gremlins in the system,
and then we'll just sit on our hands
and wait for Old Faithful to blow.
Now, I'm not gonna stand here and
tell you that none of us is in any danger,
and that everything will be smooth
sailing on the journey, because,
well, that might not always be true,
but I will say what we're
doing has got to be done.
The potential of what we discover
could be the salvation of our planet Earth.
Thermal energy sources, pure air
that could revitalize our atmosphere.
The good doctor here might even discover
a cure for cancer and who knows what else?
I am so proud to be part of it
and I couldn't have a better crew if I'd
hand-picked every single one of you,
which I did.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
So, here's to us
and whatever lays before
us or beneath us or whatever.
We are a team, a unit.
- We are...
- The Descenders.
CHRIS: The Descenders. Descenders.
- ALL: The Descenders.
- That's cool.
Captain Turner,
I detect an unsettling development.
Oh, forgive me, DEVIN,
we didn't mean to forget you.
You're as much a part of this
ship or crew as anyone. To DEVIN!
- ALL: To DEVIN.
- I... Captain, I...
Well, now don't just hang there,
babe, say somethin'.
The volcano is about to erupt.
What?
When?
How much time?
According to my calculations,
we can make it if we launch in 30 minutes.
[ALARM BLARING]
This is no drill. Everybody,
man your stations.
Man your stations. Let's go! I want
that canopy back in, T-minus ten.
LaStrella, we're going to full power
as soon as your butt hits the seat.
If anybody's got any questions,
ask 'em on the run.
What about the systems checks?
We need a week of tests on almost every--
I can't think of a better test.
Can you, Doctor?
Let's go, people. Put a move on.
We're a minute behind already.
Unless you plan on
getting your hands dirty,
Mr. Wentworth,
I suggest you get off my ship.
My ship, Mr. Turner!
My ship. Right.
I love it. God, I love it.
Keep an eye out. Cross your fingers.
Prepare launch sequence, on my mark.
Forward scanners five-by-five.
Now.
MAN: [OVER PA] Launch code
initiated. Clear the flight deck.
DEVIN, give me heads-up display,
eruption status and countdown readouts.
DEVIN: We are in pre-programmed
launch sequence, Captain.
CHRIS: Cancel program and transfer
launch control to the helm. Do you read me?
DEVIN: Affirmative.
All monitors up and active.
Project full eruption in three minutes,
and we are at T-minus 2.24
and counting. [RUMBLING]
CHRIS: Dr. Peterson,
give me fuel and booster status.
MARGO: Boosters armed and fueling.
BRIGGS: We clear the
hangar in five seconds, Captain.
CHRIS: Prepare for hydraulic lift.
Prepared for lift.
[BEEPING]
Activate lift.
DEVIN: We are now at
T-minus 136 and counting.
CHRIS: Stand by to fire
main boosters in four seconds.
Buckle in, everybody.
We're going ballistic.
MARGO: Two, one.
We have ignition, Captain.
DEVIN: Now approaching
optimum release angle.
I need to know there'll be someone
to come and get me if I get lost.
Take this.
Now you gotta come home,
'cause I want it back.
DEVIN: Repeat,
we are ready for launch, Captain.
Captain? Captain?
[ENGINE REVVING]
[RATTLING]
DEVIN: Escape velocity now three
kilometers per second and rising.
Deploy sonic bore.
Sonic bore, Captain,
deployed. Fire at will.
[PULSING]
DEVIN: Now at minus two
kilometers and descending.
Minus 10 kilometers.
Twenty kilometers.
Forty kilometers.
Eighty kilometers.
One hundred and fifty kilometers.
Two hundred and twenty kilometers.
Three hundred and twenty-five
kilometers and descending.
[EXPLODING]
[BEEPING]
CHRIS: We're in a ghost spin.
Activate side thrusters.
Negative. Helm not responding.
CHRIS: Hit the backup gyros, now!
TONY: We're coming in too fast.
Get her nose up.
CHRIS: Hang on.
TONY: We're gonna hit. We're gonna hit.
[SCREECHING]
[BEEPING]
[GRUNTS]
Are you all right?
Sound off. Anybody injured?
- CHALMERS: I think I'm all right.
- MARGO: I'm okay.
- I'm feeling in one piece, Captain.
- Talk about a neat ticket.
How bad?
Can't tell. What does DEVIN say?
DEVIN?
I detect seven carbon-based life forms.
I presume the crew is intact?
Yes, everyone survived.
Get these alarms off and then I'll
need a complete damage report.
All major systems appear to be functional.
The sonic bore unit is impacted,
but repairable.
Surface communication is out.
I'll need time for further determination.
Have you run self-diagnostics?
I'm battered, but not broken.
I'm gonna shut you down
to sleep level for a while
until I can factor out your
potential for error rate.
Maybe you're right. A little rest
might be just what the doctor ordered.
[SIGHS]
DEVIN?
I shut her down,
but her data systems are available.
Well, can you rely on her to
run an atmospheric analysis?
We gotta check the hull.
Chris, Margo, I'm afraid some of
the food has, well, it's blended itself.
It's ruined.
You're breaking my heart.
I should really gather some specimens.
Uh, Captain, if you don't me asking,
what do we do now?
Well, we compile a detailed damage report
and effect whatever repairs are necessary
for the continuing of the mission.
Continue the mission? Are you all blind?
- Mission over.
- Briggs.
- We're finished.
- Briggs.
- No, I say we get back to the surface and--
- Briggs, at ease.
Hey, relax, all right?
According to DEVIN,
the atmosphere is breathable.
And what if she's wrong?
[BEEPING]
It's the hatch. Give me an outside camera.
Sorry for the alarm.
You must come and see this, Chris.
Talk about breaking
through to another world.
[SCREECHING]
Invaders from the Over World with the book.
They have a piece of the book.
Impossible.
The book belongs only to the center realm.
If what you say is true, then bring it to me now.
[SHRIEKING]
Just one more piece added to my own
and I will be free from this living death.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
CHALMERS: Hey, just look over here.
Briggs, take point.
LaStrella, watch our backs.
Behold, the Inner World.
TONY: How can there be light?
Actually, a self-suspended, subterranean,
bioluminescent mineral source,
to be precise.
Living rock?
CHRIS: There may be more than just rock.
Look at that lake.
Where there's water, there's life, right?
CHALMERS: And who knows
what forms of it we might find here.
MARGO: How 'bout we start by being
grateful that we're still alive. All right?
SANDY: I'll second that emotion.
A stunning sight if ever I saw one.
MARGO: Agreed,
but we won't be able to explore it
unless we get started on some repairs.
Turner, the ship.
Well, the design worked.
No major structural breach.
I sure hope somebody
popped for the insurance.
[SAW WHIRRING]
[SHRIEKING]
What the hell was that?
[SCREECHING]
[BEEPING]
DEVIN: Intruder alert. Intruder alert.
Chris?
[GRUNTS]
[GUNFIRE]
I hope you're satisfied, both of you.
What the hell happened here?
Did I miss something?
Oh, just Briggs here shooting
up our main control link
and a few other
miscellaneous but vital relays.
I was shooting at someone.
Something. It was in the crew quarters.
Doing what?
I don't know what.
Maybe we should check our gear,
see if anything's missing.
Now, wait a minute,
wait, wait a minute, wait.
Let's get this squared away.
Did anybody see anything?
Just what or who were we supposed to see,
Briggs?
We're the only ones down here.
Yeah? Well, then who blindsided
me over the back of the head, huh?
How do you explain this?
Oh, come on, man,
that's nothing. Look at this.
TESUE: I've got one, too.
TONY: Yeah, check this out.
All right, all right, let's go.
We got work to do.
I trust it's repairable?
I think we can crawl,
but flying might take a little doing.
LaStrella, Sandy, Briggs, you're with me.
I want to set Homer.
Were you trying to go somewhere?
[SHRIEKING]
[GROWLING]
You bring me words about
strange spirits and this ship of theirs.
But you were sent for the book.
[SHRIEKING]
Do not anger me with your excuses.
It is clear you must have help.
Go into the maze and
find Kateeok of the Trogs,
and bring him to me.
That much I know you can do.
[MUTTERING]
Briggs, be cool, okay?
Now listen up, everybody.
Try and stay in sight of the ship.
We're gonna rendezvous here in 30 minutes.
Then what?
Then we eat.
Maybe I should keep an eye on her.
Not to worry. I'll go with her.
Here, this way.
Oh, isn't this amazing?
Yes, indeed. Oh.
[DRILL WHIRRING]
Secure.
[BEEPING] Activated, Captain.
All right, Homer's in place.
Just in case we wanna get back.
Say the word. I'm ready.
[GROWLING]
[GROWLING]
- SANDY: What was that?
- It came out of that cave.
Chalmers and Tesue are in there. Come on.
CHRIS: Just when I was starting to
think Briggs might be seeing things,
but it hadn't made an
aggressive move since we found it.
With all due respect, Captain,
are you out of your mind?
First this thing breaks into the ship,
then it knocks out Chalmers.
Actually, it was my fault.
It's bigger than any two of us,
and you bring it onboard ship.
You're out of order, Briggs.
The creature's obviously harmless.
Now stow the weapon and sit down.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
You understand what he's saying?
No, but it sounds similar
to a Tibetan dialect found
in the high Himalayas.
I can't believe this.
We found the Abominable Snowman.
You mean like a Bigfoot?
CHALMERS: Please, some respect.
You're standing in the presence
of a lifeform believed to be extinct,
or even non-existent.
If only we could talk to it.
Try this.
A Walkman?
An A.I.T. - Aural Impulse Transducer.
It scans the incoming sounds for
patterns of intelligent communication
and translates them into
something maybe we can understand.
I didn't get a chance
to test it before we left,
so don't expect any miracles.
[DISTORTED] Who are you?
SANDY: It works.
[DISTORTED] How did you get here?
Keep, keep talking. It adjusts for pitch.
How did you get here?
We came here through a volcano,
in this ship,
to explore beneath
the surface of the Earth.
Are there more like you?
I am of a race that lives within this planet.
Where do you live? Where are your people?
I live here, in the maze.
The maze?
CHALMERS: I think he's
referring to the puzzle of the deep.
According to ancient mystics,
a portion of the Inner World
is a tangled web of passages that
constantly shift and change direction.
Please, Mr. Chalmers,
this is no time for hocus-pocus theories.
Oh, really?
DALLAS: But it is not by chance
that I dwell alone in the maze.
I must tell you of my crime.
I knew it.
It was him attacked me on the ship.
[COCKS RIFLE]
What were you trying to steal?
- Briggs.
- TONY: Chill, man.
- Enough. Sit down.
- Put that gun away.
TESUE: Just let him talk.
My people are a gentle race.
We live by two commands.
First one is, no harm.
We cannot hurt any living thing,
but we also live at the hand of fate.
It is forbidden to
interfere with it in any way.
Even saving a life is taboo.
A girl was playing
at the bottom of a rocky slope.
The stones gave way.
I grabbed her,
saving her life.
It just happened.
I saw the boulder,
I grabbed the girl.
I don't know what came over me.
It is for this
that I was banished to the maze.
I shame you with my presence.
No.
On the surface, we consider the
saving of a life to be a sacred act.
Your deed was one of profound courage.
You are jesting.
No, it's true.
Oh.
[WHIMPERING]
Hear me, creature,
there are strangers among us now.
Come in a great ship from the
Over World to destroy you all.
But do as I command,
and your people will live.
Soon I will cause this great ship
of theirs to become lost, Kateeok,
and then you and your
warriors will find them.
Before we theorize on the future,
perhaps we should make
decisions about the immediate,
such as what to do with your friend here.
You know my vote.
I say we video it,
take some blood and tissue samples,
and put it back.
I think he'd make an
invaluable addition to the crew.
I agree.
We can't take on
everything we find down here.
This isn't Noah's Ark.
She's right.
We know nothing about this thing.
It could be a man-eater.
My people are vegetarian.
That's even worse. It's a liberal.
Would you like to join us?
Become part of our team?
Oh, yes.
Well, now that that's settled,
what do they call you at home, big guy?
Huh?
What... What is your name?
How do others recognize you?
Ah, my sounds.
We are each given one at birth.
Mine is...
[GROWLING] ALL: Ow!
- Pinto.
- Well, Bob's good.
Bubba, Ed, Jack, Bob, anything.
- How's Rocky?
- George.
Chalmers, you found him, you name him.
Well, there is a name I always
wished my parents had called me.
Yeah, with a name like Cecil,
I'm not surprised.
What is it, Chalmers?
Daedalus.
Daedalus is the Greek
god of labyrinths and mazes.
Father of Icarus.
Everybody, say hello to Daedalus.
Yeah, that really rolls of the tongue,
doesn't it?
Daedalus, Deedle, Daddle, Dallas.
[FINGERS SNAP]
Dallas, yeah. That's close enough for me.
Dallas...
welcome to the crew.
All right, let's run your checks,
people. We're goin' mobile.
Tony, we're gonna wanna
tractor clear of this debris.
Take her around. 180 hard right.
TONY: Aye, aye, Captain.
CHRIS: Briggs, initiate forward scanner.
[BEEPING]
Margo, set DEVIN to standby
and activate holograph navigations.
- TONY: Scanners up.
- MARGO: Setting DEVIN at standby
and HG navigations activated.
CHRIS: Okay,
let's truck her out of here, LaStrella.
TONY: Tread circles on and rolling.
CHRIS: DEVIN, prepare to fire
main engines in maximum lift mode.
DEVIN: Firing sequence engaged
and at your controls, Captain.
Engines on. [ENGINE WHIRRING]
TONY: Scanner shows us
clear for lift-off in three seconds.
CHRIS: Activate side thrusters at full,
LaStrella.
- TONY: Side thrusters on.
- CHRIS: DEVIN?
DEVIN: We have lift-off, Captain.
MARGO: Yes! All right!
CHRIS: Steady as she goes, Tony.
All right, Margo,
find us a course out of here.
MARGO: Looks like there's an
opening to another cavern bearing 2-2-7.
CHRIS: 2-2-7. I got it.
Scanner says we're clear.
Could be a mile, maybe more.
CHRIS: It'd been a
rough start for all of us,
but my uncle had been right,
there was an Inner World.
And even at a crawl,
I was determined to give it our best shot.
I knew Briggs was against keeping Dallas,
but for all our hi-tech toys,
the truth was, we were flying blind
and if Dallas could help
us get through this maze,
then it was worth the risk,
but then who or what really did
attack Briggs back there and why?
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
BRIGGS: Scanner shows
us clear for that passage.
High, and two. Wait, check that.
[RUMBLING]
What the...
That's impossible. It's sealing itself off.
BRIGGS: And damn fast, too.
If the sonic bore was operational,
we could blast our way out.
Full reverse. We're outta here.
TONY: Reversing engines now.
CHRIS: DEVIN,
you got some way to analyze this,
just feel free to jump in any time here.
DEVIN: Processing now, Captain.
BRIGGS: Wait, Chris, kill that reverse,
man, and check your aft monitors.
- Look, it's closing off.
- CHRIS: DEVIN?
DEVIN: Hull sensors indicate the passageway
is now constricting on all sides.
BRIGGS: Is she saying
we're gonna be crushed?
CHRIS: Extend hull stabilizers, now!
TONY: Stabilizers extending. Maximum reach.
CHRIS: Divert power from main engine
to stabilizers and cut off side thrusters.
[BEEPING]
Do it, LaStrella. Briggs, buckle in.
Everybody brace yourselves.
MARGO: DEVIN,
give me a hull pressure readout.
[RUMBLING]
DEVIN: Hull pressure now
at 12,000 pounds and rising.
[RUMBLING]
[WHIZZING]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
DEVIN: Pressure now
at 18,000 and still rising.
CHRIS: Margo, what's our maximum?
MARGO: That was the maximum.
We're not gonna make it.
DEVIN: Anticipate hull
collapse in 30 seconds.
Twenty-nine, 28...
CHRIS: DEVIN, drop ballast
and increase internal air pressure.
DEVIN: Negative, Captain.
Circuits not responding. [RUMBLING]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
DALLAS: Do not steer
it away. It will end soon.
We're gonna die.
He's sayin' we're gonna die.
No, the way, the way of the maze.
Path close, path open.
What the hell's he talking about?
That!
CHRIS: Transfer full
power back to main engines
and prepare to release the stabilizers.
On my mark.
Thrusters, LaStrella.
Vectoring thrusters now.
MARGO: We don't know if we can clear that, Turner.
CHRIS: We can't stay here. Mark!
[ROCKETS BLASTING]
TONY: Releasing stabilizers.
CHRIS: Now ahead full for 30 meters,
then 90 degrees hard to port when I holler.
TONY: Got it.
Come on!
Turn it, LaStrella.
- TONY: Hard to port. 90 degrees.
- CHRIS: Briggs?
BRIGGS: The opening's expanding,
but I can't tell you we're gonna fit.
- CHRIS: DEVIN?
- DEVIN: Pressure now at 19,000, Captain,
but if kept at full power,
the engine vibrations
will cause a hull rupture in nine seconds.
Eight, seven, six...
CHRIS: Make a break and turn
starboard and cut engines for one-third.
TONY: Turning to starboard.
DEVIN: Hull rupture in four seconds.
CHRIS: Cut the power, LaStrella.
TONY: I can't.
The switch is jammed on full.
DEVIN: Rupture in three seconds.
CHRIS: DEVIN, reverse engines, now.
- DEVIN: But Captain...
- CHRIS: Just do it!
DEVIN: Reversing engines. Negative.
Blow back failsafe triggered
full engine shut-down.
- TONY: Yes!
- CHRIS: And the hull?
DEVIN: Vibrations falling
back within normal tolerances.
No rupture.
[ALL WHOOPING]
- Nice move.
- Way to go. Way to go, guys!
CHRIS: DEVIN, restart engines.
Power to one-third.
And when Briggs says it's clear,
prepare to take the helm.
Oh, and thanks for listening.
DEVIN: Any time, Captain.
Now that they fear the maze,
their ship will keep to the great
canyon even as it brings them closer.
Go and silence the voice
they left to call them back
before I give them to the Trog.
TONY: Scanner shows we got a clear channel
for as far as you can see, Captain.
All right, then I want you all to grab
some rest while we got the chance.
I'll keep watch up here.
CHRIS: I was hoping without the crew around
I could think through what had happened.
One instant this world
seemed to want us by the throat
and the next it was as
gentle and amazing as Dallas.
But was it really this world or was there
something else I just couldn't see yet?
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Yes, quite.
Uh, what's your heading?
What's your hurry? Enjoy it.
Mr. Turner, do I have to remind you
that at this moment we have
lost all relays with our base above?
CHRIS: She had a lousy way of saying it,
but I guess that meant Margo
was scared of something, too.
What? What did I do? Did I say anything?
[SHRIEKING]
[INSTRUMENT BEEPING]
[SIGNAL TURNING OFF] MARGO: What the...
No.
I've lost Homer.
So have I.
We'd better go back.
CHRIS: And miss a chance to maybe find
out who's been after us since we landed?
MARGO: After us? Turner, you don't think--
I don't think it's safe
to assume our problems
are just happening at random, Doctor.
Look, just keep us on this course for now,
and tell the crew break time is over.
I want everyone back up on the bridge.
DARK PRINCE: Yes, the invaders draw close.
I can feel the presence of the book
within their ship now.
Then it is time for their journey to end
in the fires of the Trog.
Continue bearing on course 1-9-5 for--
No, wait. Something's--
Full stop. Full stop. I see it. I see it.
CHRIS: Reverse forward thrusters,
LaStrella.
Let's try and put down
on that shelf we just
passed before this
cavern shifts anymore.
TONY: Roger, Captain.
Reversing and preparing to land.
All right, full stop. Ease her down.
TONY: Landing sequence engaged.
DEVIN: Reducing main engines to one-eighth
and beginning descent
at 50 meters per second.
CHRIS: Switching forward
scanners to ground view.
DEVIN: Touchdown in four seconds.
Three, two, one.
We have touchdown.
CHRIS: Margo, as soon as we're secured,
I want the sonic bore back in operation.
If these walls get pushy,
I'd like to know we can push back.
The rest of you, come out with me.
I wanna check our antenna to Homer.
[WHIRRING]
All right,
let's hope it's only the antenna.
Sandy, LaStrella, check it out.
Briggs, keep an eye out,
but Briggs, be cool, all right?
If I could offer my assistance?
It's not needed.
Oh, really?
What possible help could you be to me,
Mr. Chalmers?
Well, let's see. I should
remind you I have doctorates
in electro-magnetic theory,
charmed quark physics,
and applied systems engineering,
along with advanced degrees
in 18 other varied subjects.
[TINKERING]
Voila. Care to close, Doctor?
Listen, Professor,
I need to say something to you.
I apologize.
Whatever for?
I've always rejected
anything or anyone
connected with the supernatural,
and it's affected the way I thought of you.
My dear Miss Peterson,
you're simply confused.
Let me explain it this way.
I believe that science and magic represent
mankind's highest aspirations.
While at first they seem
like opposing forces,
at some point their paths coverage.
[SCREAMING]
CHRIS: All right, come on,
everybody, bring it in. Let's go.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
My God, look.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Hold your fire, hold your fire.
[SHOUTING]
[HOWLING]
[YELLING]
My people are familiar with these beasts.
What are they?
CHALMERS: If I'm not mistaken,
they're Troglodytes.
The evolutionary
transition from ape to man.
Some of the species must've
found an amiable environment
below the surface,
thereby avoiding extinction.
You mean missing links?
Speaking of missing links, where's Tony?
LaStrella?
This is the scientific
chance of a lifetime.
Sidearm. LaStrella?!
CHALMERS: We have to
gather data on these creatures.
They could prove invaluable
in our search for habitability.
[ECHOES] LaStrella?
Look at this.
Wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait, hold it, hold it.
Just stay here. Just stay here.
Just stay here.
I've got the uncomfortable feeling
they've already made contact.
All right.
Margo, run a geo-stability scan.
I'm goin' after him.
MARGO: DEVIN?
I need you to run a geo-structural
analysis of the surrounding area.
We might have to be here for a while.
There is a disturbing number
of serious deep level geo-structural faults
in the immediate area.
[COUGHS] I do not suggest
remaining here for more than two hours.
Even that may be pushing it.
I'll let the captain know.
Let me go with ya, Cap.
No, I need you here. They need you here.
Besides, when we find LaStrella,
Chalmers here is the only one who might
be able to talk them into giving him back.
DEVIN says two hours, maximum.
Well, then if we're not back in two
hours or haven't made radio contact,
you do whatever you do
have to save the Avenger.
What?
I say, Chris, is that absolutely necessary?
For the good of the many, Professor.
- BRIGGS: Captain, Captain.
- That's an order. We're clear?
[CHEEPING]
Looks like we're not the first.
Not even close.
My God, Chris, look at this.
This might be their history.
How they came to dwell below the surface,
through a volcano.
Uncle Jim was right.
Look, there's more.
It appears the Trogs don't like visitors.
My God, you don't think LaStrella is...
[GROWLING]
I'll try and talk to them.
Cecil, guaranteed they
know how to use these things.
Then what do we do now, Captain?
I'll let you know when I think of it.
DEVIN: Repeat. Access not authorized.
MARGO: Dallas?
It's cold in here.
We have to keep it cool to
protect the computer system.
I do not mean that kind of cold.
My people are used to that.
I am talking about woman
who lives within this wall.
She has no heart.
What do you suppose that was all about?
Maybe he meant DEVIN?
[RAMBLING]
[MUMBLING]
[SHOUTING COMMAND]
How long they been out?
A little over an hour.
Forget this. I'm goin after 'em.
Sit down and relax, Mr. Briggs.
That's an order.
[INCOHERENT SHOUTING]
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Captain?
- Chalmers.
- Tony.
- You all right?
- Yeah, yeah, I'm fine,
but that's more than I
can say for the company.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
They're offering us food.
Always a good sign. Let's sit.
MARGO: Chris, do you read me? Over.
Dr. Chalmers, this is Margo. Come in, please. Over.
- Anything?
- No.
They've still got 20 min... minutes. [SIGHS]
CHRIS: Oh, God,
I can't eat any more of this crap.
Force yourself. Smile.
They want to have us for dinner.
Well, why are they feeding us now?
You don't understand. They're fattening us up.
They are having us for dinner.
What?
[GUTTURAL GRUNT]
You have only three?
You were sent to take them all.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Silence, animal!
Don't talk to me of white fur demons.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
I am the demon you must fear. Damn you!
[SCREECHING]
No, let 'em go for now,
but see to it their ship is watched.
I must think.
TESUE: It's been two hours.
Well?
Well, what, Mr. Briggs?
Are we just gonna leave 'em out there,
or what?
I don't know about you,
but I had a real hard time
understanding the captain's last order.
Well, you know,
I couldn't make it out, either.
Yeah, I didn't hear a thing.
I heard him. He said,
"If we're not back within two hours,"
we're supposed to leave without him.
O-o-h.
Gear up. We're goin' after 'em.
You stay here.
Oh, I think we should take him with us.
He would make an excellent guide.
I like it. DEVIN, I'm putting you on full security alert.
What are you doin'?
You gear up, I gear down.
Yeah, whatever.
DEVIN: Security program loading now.
DEVIN: Now activating ship security.
Warning, main hatch closing and
hull electrified at 500 megawatts.
[SCREECHING]
[TESUE GASPS]
What does this mean?
It means trouble. Come on, let's go, go.
Then it is as I thought, the others follow.
And the book?
Their spirit keeps guard
over it within their ship
and prevents our entry.
Then quickly, bring Kateeok back
so I can warn him of their approach.
[EXHALES DEEPLY]
[GRUNTING]
No way.
Nothing there.
So where are they?
They may have gone through
that passageway, beyond.
What damn passageway?
The one beneath the boulder.
Come on.
DALLAS: Can you not feel it?
The path, it's still warm.
But it's a dead end.
No, look further.
[ROCKS SCRAPING]
There.
[MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY]
Get down. Lights out.
They're ugly, but they ain't stupid.
They got sentries all over the place.
We've got to find a way over that ridge.
[BEASTLY CRY]
[HISSING]
[GRUNTING]
[TROGS CHANTING]
Eyes up.
Okay, go.
[TROGS CLAMORING]
- They're gonna burn 'em alive.
- Oh, no.
Oh, there's one more thing.
They've got these two big stone heads.
They look just like Dallas.
Trogs are deathly afraid of my people.
They think we are demons.
How come it's like pulling
teeth to get anything out of you?
[STAMMERS]
Miller, help me rig a harness
and tackle for the big guy.
You got it.
Huh?
You worthless slime.
You were told to bring him, not kill him.
He's useless to me now.
[GROWLING]
Go. Tell me if the Trog
have taken the others.
Quickly!
For three millennia I have
been left to suffer in this hell,
but freedom reaches for me now.
[HEART BEATING]
But why are you doing this?
Because you're gonna help
us get our friends out of this.
Huh?
We strap you in a cradle,
hang you on a roller,
sail you across the rope.
Uh, oh.
You fly over the Trog-a-Links,
scare the hell out of 'em.
They run for cover,
we duck in and grab the
captain and the others.
I'll get sick.
Good, go ahead and puke.
That'll scare 'em even more.
[TROGS CHANTING]
Don't you see I... I can't.
You either do it on a rope
or you do it free fall.
It's all the same to me.
I won't allow any threats.
I've seen guys like him.
They just need to be convinced.
You've seen guys like him?
I don't think so, Briggs.
I thought we were your friends.
My first.
Then why won't you help us?
[WHIMPERING]
We believe that a friend is
more important than any law.
[TROGS CHANTING]
When you get straight over the village,
you drop these.
They detonate on impact.
No. No harm.
They won't hurt anyone, Dallas.
They're just fireworks.
Yeah, you'll be the bright
spot of their day. You ready?
No!
Good.
Give 'em hell, big guy.
[LOUD GROWLING]
[ALL SCREAMING]
I'll do the captain. Get Chalmers.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Come on. We ain't home yet.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Let's force our way out of here.
They're saved?
I don't care how, damn you,
but they run for their ship, yes?
[YELLING]
[SHOUTING]
[PANTING]
Okay, big guy,
let's find some cover. Come on.
Okay, big guy, do your thing.
[SHOUTING]
That's no way to treat a demon.
Great.
They cannot be allowed to leave.
I have no choice now.
Prepare yourselves to ensure my return.
I can venture from here,
but no more than a handful of minutes,
but I must have their piece of the book.
[GUN COCKS] Damn, the gun's jammed.
DALLAS: It's the goup for us.
[EXPLODING]
Yeah! Yeah, yeah! Yeah!
Come on, Dallas. Let's get outta here, man.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
It is time.
Go now, all of you,
and be there when I call.
[SCREECHING]
[GROWLING]
[GROWLING]
CHRIS: LaStrella, DEVIN,
initiate emergency take-off protocol.
Let's get this thing in the air.
TONY: Side thrusters going to full.
DEVIN: E-lift protocol engaged.
Main engines firing in eight seconds.
CHRIS: Margo? Briggs?
MARGO: Activating HG navigation now,
Captain.
[BEEPING] BRIGGS: Scanners up and sweeping.
DEVIN: We have ignition
on all main engines.
Prepare for lift off in 10 seconds.
Nine, eight...
CHRIS: Time to strap yourselves in,
people.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
DEVIN: Four, three, two.
We have liftoff, Captain.
CHRIS: Assume stable hover at 18 meters.
Prepare for level flight.
[BUBBLING]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
DEVIN: Approaching stable hover, 18 meters.
You're clear to take it out that
hole you blew to get us out, Captain.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
CHRIS: Ahead one quarter
and turn us to port, 12 degrees.
DEVIN: Engines ahead at 2.5 V, Captain.
MARGO: And bearing 169,
just below that cliff ahead, LaStrella.
[GASPING] [ALARM BLARING]
DEVIN: Danger, forward hull anomaly.
Primary grid overloading.
Circuit relay failure imminent.
Initiating fire control system. Ah!
My book! [SCREAMING]
[GRUNTING]
The book!
Give me your piece of the book.
I beg you...
DEVIN: Life support reaching critical.
[SCREAMING]
[GROANING]
BRIGGS: Somebody wanna tell
me who or what the hell that just was?
CHRIS: Well, I can't swear to it,
but I think that's who's been
hounding us since we got here,
and I think this is why.
TESUE: For this? But what is it?
That piece is only a small part
of the Book of Knowledge.
Doesn't look like a book.
It's more like a puzzle, really.
It's a cosmic force that makes the
Holy Grail pale into insignificance.
Just before the demise of Atlantis,
the high priests of the city used
a craft to descend into a volcano.
Sound familiar?
Mythology states that the priests
then built deep within the Earth
the legendary library of Atlantis.
A library?
CHALMERS: Probably destroyed.
What we saw were only
a few pieces of the puzzle.
It's a spiritual circuit board of sorts.
It contains a mystical energy
that could enlighten mankind.
Well,
if it were to fall into the wrong hands,
it could be a source of evil power.
It could enslave the human race forever.
- He wasn't lying.
- Who?
Wentworth. He knew all about this puzzle.
I was supposed to let
him know if we found it.
CHALMERS: Looks like your
billionaire has a hidden agenda.
World dominion, if you will.
How many of these pieces are there?
No way of knowing till
they're all assembled.
It's based on a technology that
doesn't yet exist, or rather used to.
It was lost with Atlantis.
It's a crossing point.
The bridge from this world
with its finite knowledge
to the next one, to the infinite.
So it must store...
If I'm not mistaken,
the combination to the maze.
Without it, we may never get out of here.
I know this journey has
not been a smooth one.
There's not one of us who
hasn't had second thoughts
and fears about what may lay ahead,
but down here,
we and only we control our destiny.
Our strength is in us, as one,
and as one, we will survive.
Let's do it.
With you, Captain.
CHRIS: DEVIN,
status on the helm control, if you please.
DEVIN: Maintaining
level flight at 50 meters.
Forward scanners read all clear,
and the helm is yours now, Captain.
Full ahead, LaStrella.
Forward...
ever forward.
CHRIS: I guess it
wasn't until then I realized
there exists a strange and
unknown place like this in all of us.
For me, it was becoming Captain,
but I'd looked into that darkness now
and seen more than I ever thought possible,
and the journey was just beginning.
of the earth, ladies and gentlemen.
Where the very wheels
of planetary evolution
still turn.
And where, I am here to tell you,
you will find the only viable doorway
to the Inner World.
Doorway to what?
The Inner World!
Egyptians, Greeks, the Norse, Romans,
all told of vast, inhabitable regions
beneath the Earth.
The same people who gave us science,
logic, astronomy.
This volcanic bubble, if you will,
is just one of thousands that weave a path
to the Earth's core.
Estimated at over 3,000 miles across,
and as high in places as 5,000 feet,
you could slide the
entire United States into it.
[STUDENTS EXCLAIMING]
If one had a proper craft,
it could descend into a live volcano.
- Is this a joke?
- No, they could descend into a live volcano...
[SCHOOL BELL RINGS]
...where enormous temperatures,
where enormous temperatures
weaken the geological crust,
just the solid side of liquid.
Then, a sonic blast of suitable amplitude
could open a momentary
doorway to the Inner World.
It's, it's very clear. It's possible.
It makes me crazy when they call
you a lunatic or crackpot, dreamer.
Why won't they believe?
Closed minds can't be forced open.
Put a move on it.
I've got a surprise for you.
They really call me a dreamer?
Put... Wherever you want.
Ah!
Behold,
the Geo-Explorer.
Will it work?
There's only one way to find out.
Forward, ever forward.
[INDISTINCT VOICE ON RADIO]
MAN: [ON RADIO] T-minus
52 minutes and counting.
Confirm?
[INDISTINCT VOICE ON RADIO]
WOMAN: [ON RADIO, INDISTINCT]
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] The rate of
lava shift seems like it's rising fast.
MAN: [ON RADIO] That's a roger,
mountain base.
Confirm on lava shift, Firebird.
FIREBIRD: No question, chief.
Lava flows over to north base.
[RADIO CHATTER CONTINUES] Check, check.
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] And
we're showing a new breakup
near the south wall, Firebird.
Can you check it out?
FIREBIRD: Acknowledged.
On our way to confirm now.
Don't know how close we can
get with these temperatures but--
WOMAN: Center dome is letting go, people.
Repeat, center dome is now letting go.
Oh, my God, it's gonna blow!
MAN: [ON RADIO] Control to Harlech.
It looks like it's got be now or never,
Jim.
Your call.
This is Firebird.
That's a roger on south wind break-up.
I'm going in closer to eyeball on the dome.
Ooh, it could be any minute now.
Chris! Collins! Put a move on!
It's happening now! This is it.
This is it!
I'm telling you, Collins,
all you got do is just wait.
My uncle will go along with it.
No, Chris. Once your uncle
sets his mind on something,
that's it.
MAN: [ON RADIO] All non-essential personnel
must clear the area. Repeat, all--
We're going in, Collins. Now!
Uncle Jim, take me instead.
No! We have been through this.
No, wait.
If we wait any longer, nobody will go in.
But Collins says the decision is yours.
- He'll stand aside if...
- Buckle up, Collins.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Sorry, Chris.
I need you here.
You know all the work I've done,
all the research.
You're the only one who understands,
who believes like I do.
If something happens, I need to know
there'll be someone who'll carry on,
maybe come and get me if I get lost.
Wait.
Hand here!
MAN: [ON RADIO] T-minus 20--
Take this.
Now you gotta come home,
'cause I want it back.
Forward.
Ever forward.
MAN: This is Control to Geo-Explorer.
Jim, do you read me?
HARLECH: Roger, Control. Report now.
Confirming launch coordinates.
FIREBIRD: The sooner the better, boys.
Comin' hot and heavy down there, now.
MAN: Thank you, Firebird.
Raise Geo-Explorer into launch position.
T-minus 60 seconds.
Mobile units, this is Control.
Confirm telemetry and tracking
from your position, please.
T-minus 45.
We got him. It's working.
MAN: That's a roger. Thank you. Jim?
HARLECH: Coordinates confirmed.
Beginning engine reignition check now.
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] Control,
this is mountain base.
Seismic activity increasing fast.
Suggest you launch as soon as possible.
Repeat, as soon as possible.
[RUMBLING]
It's gonna blow!
MAN: T-minus 15 seconds.
WOMAN: [ON RADIO] Control,
our readings indicate
the eruption has started.
- Can you confirm, Firebird?
- FIREBIRD: Affirmative.
Eruption has begun. It's gonna
rip wide open any second now.
No, it's too soon.
No! No!
MAN: Jim,
we're not sure you can launch in time.
HARLECH: I won't turn back now.
We're going in, damn it.
MAN: All units, evacuate now.
Prepare to fire engines, on my mark.
[BEEPING]
WOMAN: Central crater's going down,
Control.
You've got 10 seconds, maybe less.
MAN: Geo-Explorer, this is Control.
Final countdown, engage.
Ship turning in the final launch angle now.
All systems are go,
and you are ready for release.
Good luck, Jim.
Now!
MAN: Ship is away. Repeat, ship is away.
MAN: Geo-Explorer, this is Control.
Do you copy? Over.
Jim, this is Control.
Come in, please. Over.
Firebird, this is Control.
Can you confirm ship status? Over.
FIREBIRD: Negative, Control.
Not a chance in hell.
MAN: Geo-Explorer, this is Control.
Do you copy? Over.
No way they lived through that.
I'm sorry, Mr. Turner.
Chris?
Chris?
Mr. Turner?
SECRETARY: [ECHOING]
Mr. Wentworth will you see you now.
Yes, yes.
WOMAN: Yes, he is.
He'll have to call you back.
SECRETARY: Mr. Turner,
would you follow me, please?
Mr. Wentworth is ready for you now.
WENTWORTH: Welcome, Mr. Turner.
Thanks for coming.
Thank you, sir.
Your uncle's theories are a hobby of mine.
Brilliant man, Jim Harlech.
Unorthodox, yet a free thinker.
Priceless commodity, a mind like that.
Which is why you are here.
Exactly. Now, sir, I have
factored out my uncle's
seismic predictive methods.
[DOOR CLOSES]
We're aware of your results.
WENTWORTH: Excuse me.
Uh, Christopher Edison Turner,
Dr. Margo Peterson.
Oh, I'm sorry. You know one another?
We've met.
Dr. Peterson and I come
from opposite sides of the, uh,
scientific tracks. [CHUCKLES]
Why is she here?
Dr. Peterson is head
of my research division.
I thought you were aware of that.
No, sir. I, uh, I wasn't.
I'm a futurist, Mr. Turner.
I'm concerned with where we're going.
And we're rushing headlong into oblivion.
Pollution, overpopulation, apathy.
We live in a planetary community,
Mr. Turner.
While my father was making billions
destroying the surface,
I used my, uh, allowance
to tunnel under it.
Life in outer space is centuries off.
Inner space is not.
You are not the only one,
for varying reasons,
who is intent on going under.
Whereas I am the only one
rich enough to risk paying for it.
And that's why I'm here, sir.
And this is how I'm gonna get there.
Four crew, powered by thermo-steam
turbines, once we're under.
And this is gonna render all
previous tunneling technology obsolete.
Sonic blaster.
Behold,
the Avenger.
MARGO: A hundred and eighty-two feet long,
two hundred tons fully loaded with
a four-inch thick, solid titanium hull
on a triad of all-terrain threads,
seven crew with room for three more.
Self-generating fuel supply.
It's completely omniphibious in nature.
The sonic bore units are incorporated in...
You stole my design,
my research!
Liberated your ideas, Mr. Turner.
Expanded them and started
construction almost two years ago.
Sue me...
or come on board as a full partner,
Captain Turner.
[EXHALES]
There's just one condition.
What's that?
Dr. Peterson goes with you.
What?
WENTWORTH: As my personal representative,
if you like.
Well, she's been with the
program from the beginning.
She'll co-supervise mission preparations
and you will, of course,
be in command, Captain,
once the mission is underway.
It's an irrevocable condition, Mr. Turner.
Decide.
I'm an insanely busy man.
MARGO: For what it's worth, Turner,
you've made the right choice.
Now,
should we discuss the rest of the crew?
CHRIS: Fine. Who'd you have in mind?
Dr. Tesue Ishikawa of
the Bio-Botanical Institute.
She's the world's foremost
authority on plant-based food sources,
and the ship's medical officer.
Good. Done.
There's the rest of the crew.
Unacceptable, unacceptable, unacceptable.
Ms. Peterson, when's the last
time your life was in danger?
I mean, besides some virus
jumping out of a Petri dish at you?
What does that have to do with--
Assembling this team is about balance.
We can't go poking around worlds unknown
with a bunch of lab coats.
There's an inherent risk factor.
I'm well aware of the risks.
No, not risk. Risk factor.
A statistical variable defining
response to danger and the unknown.
The stuff that attacks
the lizard brain in all of us,
and then either cripples
you or makes you stronger.
Lab coats have never been exposed to that.
These people have.
In fact, they like it.
These three fit every
conceivable physical situation
we could possibly encounter.
MARGO: Sandra Miller,
psychologist and champion rock climber.
Also spelunker.
Master caver.
MARGO: Anthony LaStrella.
World's youngest jet aircraft test pilot
and video game champion?
Has the world's fastest
hand-eye reaction time.
MARGO: Joe Briggs?
Ex-Navy SEAL.
Still holds the all-time
solo descent diving record.
This only makes six crew members.
What about the seventh?
Well, I haven't got a recent photo,
but it's Dr. Cecil Chalmers.
What?
[CHUCKLES] The decision's already made.
There's nothing you can do about it.
You can't be serious.
What possible function could
that supernatural crackpot--
Dr. Chalmers is the categorical expert
on legendarology and all mythic
lore dealing with the Inner World.
So what?
Of what there is to know
about where we're going,
he knows everything.
He advised my uncle.
Did your uncle a lot of good.
[WHISPERING] Closed minds.
Ms. Peterson,
every great civilization
has stories of a vast
and magical Inner World.
My uncle believed that.
Chalmers knows it
and that is why I'm going down there,
to prove it.
CHALMERS: You haven't sold out, Chris.
Now, now, now, not another word.
You made the right decision.
Besides,
Wentworth may have stolen your ideas
but once we're under,
we will have effectively stolen his ship,
so to speak.
By Jove, it's brilliant.
I'll be with you Monday week,
as ordered, Captain!
Oh, no, no. Not, not to worry.
It's just turkey expanding.
Yeah, well, I got this one.
[WHISPERING] There you go.
[SIGHS]
[CHUCKLES] I think I'm in love.
Hey, hey! Can't you read?
You touch this stuff the wrong way,
boom! [GASPS]
All they find is a shoe heel.
[EXHALES]
Thank you, my man.
CHRIS: Now, it's critical you all
appreciate the danger of this project.
Constituting a risk factor 10 times
that of any NASA mission to date.
Now if you decide to sign on,
you'll be paid one million dollars in cash.
The mission should take six months.
Hey, not that I couldn't use a cool mil,
maybe get me a Porsche or two,
but Captain, I couldn't help but notice,
we're sitting on the edge of
one of nature's time bombs.
Is there something you're not telling us,
Captain?
Everything you need to know
is detailed in the manuals,
once you've signed the
contracts and secrecy agreements.
According to our data, within a year,
Mount Oliver is due for a major eruption.
Now, our training and preparation
is scheduled to be completed in six months,
well ahead of the window of opportunity.
Now, at that time, we will launch,
administering a sonic
blast to the molten lava,
opening a momentary
doorway to the Inner World.
That about wraps it up, Turner.
I'll take that return ticket, now.
You haven't heard everything yet,
Mr. Briggs.
I heard enough.
Now, I've dived everything
from oil to toxic waste.
Even did a gig in a nuclear reactor once,
'cause some fool dropped his Walkman in it,
but I have never heard of anybody
diving through solid damn rock.
Not solid, liquid.
Right, liquid damn rock.
Do you know what kinda
temperatures you're talking about?
We're not free diving through magma,
Briggs.
Well, then how in the hell are
we supposed to get down there?
In a sub?
Not exactly.
Welcome to your new home.
The Avenger.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
Oh, Margo, it is incredible!
You gotta be kiddin' me.
Whoa.
A tad large. Don't you think, Chris?
[BOTH LAUGHING]
Reminds me of myself in many ways.
Ah!
Geez!
You broke it. No, next time I break it.
The systems, Mr. Chalmers,
required a housing of this size.
No more, no less.
What if we encounter a subterranean sea?
The Avenger is completely
omniphibious in nature.
Like a frog.
CHRIS: No,
that's a dual environment species.
This is omniphibious.
Not all-terrain, any-terrain.
We're gonna fly this.
Yes, Mr. LaStrella, we are.
We're also gonna drive it
and tunnel it through the Earth.
What's the power source?
It's in the reactor chamber, back this way,
just ahead of the main thrusters.
CHALMERS: Nice.
Sixty pounds of synthetic,
fusionable self-regenerating material.
Has indefinite range.
BRIGGS: No stops at Texaco.
TONY: [LAUGHS] Damn straight.
Well, I still don't get it. It's so big.
How can we possibly move around down there?
I mean, what if we run into like,
like a really small cave or something?
CHRIS: I thought you'd never ask.
That's why I designed the sonic blaster.
MARGO: And why I perfected it.
We've prepared a small demonstration.
With your permission, Captain?
CHRIS: Absolutely.
It's over this way, people.
MARGO: Commence with the sonic bore test,
Tom.
AUTOMATED VOICE:
Now hear this. Now hear this.
- Sonic bore firing in 20 seconds.
- Everybody ready?
Clear the area.
All personnel, clear the area.
AUTOMATED VOICE: Power grid engaging.
Target coordinates, locked and final.
All systems green and
ready to fire on command.
Prepare to fire.
[WHIRRING]
MARGO: Fire!
TONY: Way to go, baby! Way to go.
[ALL CHEERING] It's fantastic.
We've tested the sonic bore on every
existing geo-structure known to man.
Nothing withstands it.
When do we go inside?
Right now. If anyone has any
reservations about the project,
now is the time to decline.
[ALL AGREEING]
I wouldn't miss it for the world.
[ALL CHEERING]
Well, all right.
Come on! We got a lot of work to do.
CHRIS: To be honest about it,
I was still burning inside
from Wentworth having stolen my work,
but that first day when the crew
all signed on and came aboard,
I realized that if this whole crazy
project was gonna get off the ground,
I'd have to put that behind me now.
For reasons I can only guess at,
Wentworth had put me in charge.
I was their captain,
and it didn't take long to see that was
bound to be as much of an adventure
as getting to the center of the Earth.
Don't even think about it!
CHRIS: Like cramming seven type-A gonzos
in a titanium tin can
for the next six months
and keeping them from
blasting holes in each other.
Not that the Avenger didn't
have its creature comforts,
but it was clear my job
was gonna be looking past
even what Margo's
whiz-bang computer could see.
Whoa.
We're outfitted for every possible
circumstance that DEVIN could anticipate.
Hey, you know, Captain.
I think I'll bunk right here.
I don't think that would be appropriate.
Who's Devin?
Sounds like a babe to me.
Digital Electroplasmic Virtual
Intelligence and Navigator.
DEVIN for short.
- Good morning, DEVIN.
- Good morning, Captain Turner.
Is this the crew?
CHRIS: Yes, it is.
- This is Dr. Tes--
- Tesue Ishikawa.
Your work precedes you, Doctor.
I've so looked forward to meeting you.
And you, Dr. Chalmers.
I hope we have time
for lengthy conversation.
Indeed.
She controls every system on the ship,
Cecil.
I wouldn't mess with her.
DEVIN, if you please.
The upper deck stations,
control the geo-science evaluation systems,
while all other mechanical
and operational modes,
from sonic bore deployment to flying,
are controlled from the flight deck.
Navigation shares a redundant
link with Dr. Peterson...
CHRIS: I had to admit,
DEVIN gave new meaning
to the word "database."
But I still wasn't about to
just follow the bouncing ball,
no matter how many
megabytes she had up her sleeve.
At least, not when hanging ten
on the edge of an active volcano,
which I knew could have the nasty
habit of ignoring everyone's projections.
And all the more reason to
get right down to business.
Step one was to have Margo
familiarize our crew with the ship.
Of course, knowing LaStrella, he
was in a hurry to just get, well, familiar.
And the truth was, Margo did seem
more at home programming DEVIN.
When it came to anything hi-tech, no
question, Margo was in a class by herself.
But, somehow, she couldn't seem to
cut much slack for us mere humans.
Fortunately, I knew Sandy and her smile
would be as good at pulling us all together
as she was at scaling mountains.
Not to mention the
famous Dr. Tesue Ishikawa,
who had her own curious
formula for uniting the crew.
Oh, Margo was right. Tesue
was first-rate as a medical officer,
but she hauled all of
us in for so many tests,
Briggs took to calling her "Marcus Welby".
I don't think he meant anything by it.
Hell, within the first week, Briggs
had picked a nickname for most of us,
so I'm sure it was just a coincidence,
but when the time came
for us to gather in the galley
and try out some of
Tesue's more bionic grub,
well, for some reason, she seemed
to think Briggs was the man for the job.
Mmm.
Meatloaf.
CHRIS: I'm not sure, but I don't think he
ever called her "Marcus Welby" after that.
I mean, it didn't take a rocket scientist
to know it would be tough enough
learning to get comfortable
in such tight quarters
without looking to
rattle each other's cages.
And that, I'm afraid,
included Chalmers' beloved Briar Number 12.
Not exactly a big hit with fitness
freaks like Briggs and Sandy.
So, I had no choice but to tell him,
"Cecil, where there's smoke,
there's mutiny."
Besides, where we were going,
there was likely to be enough
smoke even for his taste.
And one good look at the volcano
cookin' outside was all it took
to settle that question and remind everyone
that we were training on borrowed time.
Two months,
15 days till operational readiness.
CHRIS: I knew DEVIN could keep good time,
but wary of putting all
our eggs in her basket,
I had Margo build us a
holographic navigation unit
so we could eyeball our way through
the Inner World if it came down to that.
And I started drilling with LaStrella,
until he could not only fly
the Avenger without me,
but deploy and fire the sonic bore
blindfolded, if necessary.
I needed to be sure,
this ship and crew could survive,
even if, for some reason, I didn't.
Briggs was assigned with ship
security and backup on navigation
and I told Margo to program a
series of emergency drills for us,
running the gamut from an
onboard fire to an all-out crash.
Like my uncle's Geo-Explorer,
the Avenger was one-of-a-kind.
While we could guess how the
ship might react if things got gnarly,
what the crew would do was another story
but whether Margo and I
chose well or we just got lucky,
I was glad to see they all came
through it like the pros they are.
And then there was the
so-called Book of Knowledge.
I thought I'd recognized a
picture of it in Wentworth's office,
and I was sure Chalmers
could fill me in if anyone could.
Well, he did one better by
revealing what he claimed
was an actual piece of this magical book,
supposedly coughed up by
Vesuvius over a century ago.
And, frankly, I had trouble
keeping a straight face about it all
but Chalmers, well, he wasn't laughing.
According to DEVIN,
the eruption was still months off...
but it didn't look that way when I'd
go out and walk the rim alone at night.
I knew this ship and crew
were ready for anything,
but then it never fell to me to be the
captain of a mission like this before.
So, maybe what was troubling
me was whether or not I was ready.
Dr. Chalmers, Erin Wentworth.
Very nice to meet you.
I'm a great enthusiast of your work,
Dr. Chalmers.
Hey, Mr. Wentworth. Tony LaStrella.
Mr. LaStrella.
Hi, Sandy Miller.
Charmed.
CHALMERS: A vessel and crew
worth drinking to, eh, Mr. Wentworth?
Mr. Wentworth, fungal champagne.
One of my more favorite synthetics.
Hey, not too shabby.
I say, Doctor, well done.
A speech, a speech.
Ah, Chris?
Yes, Mr. Turner, inspire us.
The past 24 weeks haven't
been easy on any of us,
but your hard work and
dedication have paid off.
Tomorrow, we're fully operational.
One final week of tests to flush
out the gremlins in the system,
and then we'll just sit on our hands
and wait for Old Faithful to blow.
Now, I'm not gonna stand here and
tell you that none of us is in any danger,
and that everything will be smooth
sailing on the journey, because,
well, that might not always be true,
but I will say what we're
doing has got to be done.
The potential of what we discover
could be the salvation of our planet Earth.
Thermal energy sources, pure air
that could revitalize our atmosphere.
The good doctor here might even discover
a cure for cancer and who knows what else?
I am so proud to be part of it
and I couldn't have a better crew if I'd
hand-picked every single one of you,
which I did.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
So, here's to us
and whatever lays before
us or beneath us or whatever.
We are a team, a unit.
- We are...
- The Descenders.
CHRIS: The Descenders. Descenders.
- ALL: The Descenders.
- That's cool.
Captain Turner,
I detect an unsettling development.
Oh, forgive me, DEVIN,
we didn't mean to forget you.
You're as much a part of this
ship or crew as anyone. To DEVIN!
- ALL: To DEVIN.
- I... Captain, I...
Well, now don't just hang there,
babe, say somethin'.
The volcano is about to erupt.
What?
When?
How much time?
According to my calculations,
we can make it if we launch in 30 minutes.
[ALARM BLARING]
This is no drill. Everybody,
man your stations.
Man your stations. Let's go! I want
that canopy back in, T-minus ten.
LaStrella, we're going to full power
as soon as your butt hits the seat.
If anybody's got any questions,
ask 'em on the run.
What about the systems checks?
We need a week of tests on almost every--
I can't think of a better test.
Can you, Doctor?
Let's go, people. Put a move on.
We're a minute behind already.
Unless you plan on
getting your hands dirty,
Mr. Wentworth,
I suggest you get off my ship.
My ship, Mr. Turner!
My ship. Right.
I love it. God, I love it.
Keep an eye out. Cross your fingers.
Prepare launch sequence, on my mark.
Forward scanners five-by-five.
Now.
MAN: [OVER PA] Launch code
initiated. Clear the flight deck.
DEVIN, give me heads-up display,
eruption status and countdown readouts.
DEVIN: We are in pre-programmed
launch sequence, Captain.
CHRIS: Cancel program and transfer
launch control to the helm. Do you read me?
DEVIN: Affirmative.
All monitors up and active.
Project full eruption in three minutes,
and we are at T-minus 2.24
and counting. [RUMBLING]
CHRIS: Dr. Peterson,
give me fuel and booster status.
MARGO: Boosters armed and fueling.
BRIGGS: We clear the
hangar in five seconds, Captain.
CHRIS: Prepare for hydraulic lift.
Prepared for lift.
[BEEPING]
Activate lift.
DEVIN: We are now at
T-minus 136 and counting.
CHRIS: Stand by to fire
main boosters in four seconds.
Buckle in, everybody.
We're going ballistic.
MARGO: Two, one.
We have ignition, Captain.
DEVIN: Now approaching
optimum release angle.
I need to know there'll be someone
to come and get me if I get lost.
Take this.
Now you gotta come home,
'cause I want it back.
DEVIN: Repeat,
we are ready for launch, Captain.
Captain? Captain?
[ENGINE REVVING]
[RATTLING]
DEVIN: Escape velocity now three
kilometers per second and rising.
Deploy sonic bore.
Sonic bore, Captain,
deployed. Fire at will.
[PULSING]
DEVIN: Now at minus two
kilometers and descending.
Minus 10 kilometers.
Twenty kilometers.
Forty kilometers.
Eighty kilometers.
One hundred and fifty kilometers.
Two hundred and twenty kilometers.
Three hundred and twenty-five
kilometers and descending.
[EXPLODING]
[BEEPING]
CHRIS: We're in a ghost spin.
Activate side thrusters.
Negative. Helm not responding.
CHRIS: Hit the backup gyros, now!
TONY: We're coming in too fast.
Get her nose up.
CHRIS: Hang on.
TONY: We're gonna hit. We're gonna hit.
[SCREECHING]
[BEEPING]
[GRUNTS]
Are you all right?
Sound off. Anybody injured?
- CHALMERS: I think I'm all right.
- MARGO: I'm okay.
- I'm feeling in one piece, Captain.
- Talk about a neat ticket.
How bad?
Can't tell. What does DEVIN say?
DEVIN?
I detect seven carbon-based life forms.
I presume the crew is intact?
Yes, everyone survived.
Get these alarms off and then I'll
need a complete damage report.
All major systems appear to be functional.
The sonic bore unit is impacted,
but repairable.
Surface communication is out.
I'll need time for further determination.
Have you run self-diagnostics?
I'm battered, but not broken.
I'm gonna shut you down
to sleep level for a while
until I can factor out your
potential for error rate.
Maybe you're right. A little rest
might be just what the doctor ordered.
[SIGHS]
DEVIN?
I shut her down,
but her data systems are available.
Well, can you rely on her to
run an atmospheric analysis?
We gotta check the hull.
Chris, Margo, I'm afraid some of
the food has, well, it's blended itself.
It's ruined.
You're breaking my heart.
I should really gather some specimens.
Uh, Captain, if you don't me asking,
what do we do now?
Well, we compile a detailed damage report
and effect whatever repairs are necessary
for the continuing of the mission.
Continue the mission? Are you all blind?
- Mission over.
- Briggs.
- We're finished.
- Briggs.
- No, I say we get back to the surface and--
- Briggs, at ease.
Hey, relax, all right?
According to DEVIN,
the atmosphere is breathable.
And what if she's wrong?
[BEEPING]
It's the hatch. Give me an outside camera.
Sorry for the alarm.
You must come and see this, Chris.
Talk about breaking
through to another world.
[SCREECHING]
Invaders from the Over World with the book.
They have a piece of the book.
Impossible.
The book belongs only to the center realm.
If what you say is true, then bring it to me now.
[SHRIEKING]
Just one more piece added to my own
and I will be free from this living death.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
CHALMERS: Hey, just look over here.
Briggs, take point.
LaStrella, watch our backs.
Behold, the Inner World.
TONY: How can there be light?
Actually, a self-suspended, subterranean,
bioluminescent mineral source,
to be precise.
Living rock?
CHRIS: There may be more than just rock.
Look at that lake.
Where there's water, there's life, right?
CHALMERS: And who knows
what forms of it we might find here.
MARGO: How 'bout we start by being
grateful that we're still alive. All right?
SANDY: I'll second that emotion.
A stunning sight if ever I saw one.
MARGO: Agreed,
but we won't be able to explore it
unless we get started on some repairs.
Turner, the ship.
Well, the design worked.
No major structural breach.
I sure hope somebody
popped for the insurance.
[SAW WHIRRING]
[SHRIEKING]
What the hell was that?
[SCREECHING]
[BEEPING]
DEVIN: Intruder alert. Intruder alert.
Chris?
[GRUNTS]
[GUNFIRE]
I hope you're satisfied, both of you.
What the hell happened here?
Did I miss something?
Oh, just Briggs here shooting
up our main control link
and a few other
miscellaneous but vital relays.
I was shooting at someone.
Something. It was in the crew quarters.
Doing what?
I don't know what.
Maybe we should check our gear,
see if anything's missing.
Now, wait a minute,
wait, wait a minute, wait.
Let's get this squared away.
Did anybody see anything?
Just what or who were we supposed to see,
Briggs?
We're the only ones down here.
Yeah? Well, then who blindsided
me over the back of the head, huh?
How do you explain this?
Oh, come on, man,
that's nothing. Look at this.
TESUE: I've got one, too.
TONY: Yeah, check this out.
All right, all right, let's go.
We got work to do.
I trust it's repairable?
I think we can crawl,
but flying might take a little doing.
LaStrella, Sandy, Briggs, you're with me.
I want to set Homer.
Were you trying to go somewhere?
[SHRIEKING]
[GROWLING]
You bring me words about
strange spirits and this ship of theirs.
But you were sent for the book.
[SHRIEKING]
Do not anger me with your excuses.
It is clear you must have help.
Go into the maze and
find Kateeok of the Trogs,
and bring him to me.
That much I know you can do.
[MUTTERING]
Briggs, be cool, okay?
Now listen up, everybody.
Try and stay in sight of the ship.
We're gonna rendezvous here in 30 minutes.
Then what?
Then we eat.
Maybe I should keep an eye on her.
Not to worry. I'll go with her.
Here, this way.
Oh, isn't this amazing?
Yes, indeed. Oh.
[DRILL WHIRRING]
Secure.
[BEEPING] Activated, Captain.
All right, Homer's in place.
Just in case we wanna get back.
Say the word. I'm ready.
[GROWLING]
[GROWLING]
- SANDY: What was that?
- It came out of that cave.
Chalmers and Tesue are in there. Come on.
CHRIS: Just when I was starting to
think Briggs might be seeing things,
but it hadn't made an
aggressive move since we found it.
With all due respect, Captain,
are you out of your mind?
First this thing breaks into the ship,
then it knocks out Chalmers.
Actually, it was my fault.
It's bigger than any two of us,
and you bring it onboard ship.
You're out of order, Briggs.
The creature's obviously harmless.
Now stow the weapon and sit down.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
You understand what he's saying?
No, but it sounds similar
to a Tibetan dialect found
in the high Himalayas.
I can't believe this.
We found the Abominable Snowman.
You mean like a Bigfoot?
CHALMERS: Please, some respect.
You're standing in the presence
of a lifeform believed to be extinct,
or even non-existent.
If only we could talk to it.
Try this.
A Walkman?
An A.I.T. - Aural Impulse Transducer.
It scans the incoming sounds for
patterns of intelligent communication
and translates them into
something maybe we can understand.
I didn't get a chance
to test it before we left,
so don't expect any miracles.
[DISTORTED] Who are you?
SANDY: It works.
[DISTORTED] How did you get here?
Keep, keep talking. It adjusts for pitch.
How did you get here?
We came here through a volcano,
in this ship,
to explore beneath
the surface of the Earth.
Are there more like you?
I am of a race that lives within this planet.
Where do you live? Where are your people?
I live here, in the maze.
The maze?
CHALMERS: I think he's
referring to the puzzle of the deep.
According to ancient mystics,
a portion of the Inner World
is a tangled web of passages that
constantly shift and change direction.
Please, Mr. Chalmers,
this is no time for hocus-pocus theories.
Oh, really?
DALLAS: But it is not by chance
that I dwell alone in the maze.
I must tell you of my crime.
I knew it.
It was him attacked me on the ship.
[COCKS RIFLE]
What were you trying to steal?
- Briggs.
- TONY: Chill, man.
- Enough. Sit down.
- Put that gun away.
TESUE: Just let him talk.
My people are a gentle race.
We live by two commands.
First one is, no harm.
We cannot hurt any living thing,
but we also live at the hand of fate.
It is forbidden to
interfere with it in any way.
Even saving a life is taboo.
A girl was playing
at the bottom of a rocky slope.
The stones gave way.
I grabbed her,
saving her life.
It just happened.
I saw the boulder,
I grabbed the girl.
I don't know what came over me.
It is for this
that I was banished to the maze.
I shame you with my presence.
No.
On the surface, we consider the
saving of a life to be a sacred act.
Your deed was one of profound courage.
You are jesting.
No, it's true.
Oh.
[WHIMPERING]
Hear me, creature,
there are strangers among us now.
Come in a great ship from the
Over World to destroy you all.
But do as I command,
and your people will live.
Soon I will cause this great ship
of theirs to become lost, Kateeok,
and then you and your
warriors will find them.
Before we theorize on the future,
perhaps we should make
decisions about the immediate,
such as what to do with your friend here.
You know my vote.
I say we video it,
take some blood and tissue samples,
and put it back.
I think he'd make an
invaluable addition to the crew.
I agree.
We can't take on
everything we find down here.
This isn't Noah's Ark.
She's right.
We know nothing about this thing.
It could be a man-eater.
My people are vegetarian.
That's even worse. It's a liberal.
Would you like to join us?
Become part of our team?
Oh, yes.
Well, now that that's settled,
what do they call you at home, big guy?
Huh?
What... What is your name?
How do others recognize you?
Ah, my sounds.
We are each given one at birth.
Mine is...
[GROWLING] ALL: Ow!
- Pinto.
- Well, Bob's good.
Bubba, Ed, Jack, Bob, anything.
- How's Rocky?
- George.
Chalmers, you found him, you name him.
Well, there is a name I always
wished my parents had called me.
Yeah, with a name like Cecil,
I'm not surprised.
What is it, Chalmers?
Daedalus.
Daedalus is the Greek
god of labyrinths and mazes.
Father of Icarus.
Everybody, say hello to Daedalus.
Yeah, that really rolls of the tongue,
doesn't it?
Daedalus, Deedle, Daddle, Dallas.
[FINGERS SNAP]
Dallas, yeah. That's close enough for me.
Dallas...
welcome to the crew.
All right, let's run your checks,
people. We're goin' mobile.
Tony, we're gonna wanna
tractor clear of this debris.
Take her around. 180 hard right.
TONY: Aye, aye, Captain.
CHRIS: Briggs, initiate forward scanner.
[BEEPING]
Margo, set DEVIN to standby
and activate holograph navigations.
- TONY: Scanners up.
- MARGO: Setting DEVIN at standby
and HG navigations activated.
CHRIS: Okay,
let's truck her out of here, LaStrella.
TONY: Tread circles on and rolling.
CHRIS: DEVIN, prepare to fire
main engines in maximum lift mode.
DEVIN: Firing sequence engaged
and at your controls, Captain.
Engines on. [ENGINE WHIRRING]
TONY: Scanner shows us
clear for lift-off in three seconds.
CHRIS: Activate side thrusters at full,
LaStrella.
- TONY: Side thrusters on.
- CHRIS: DEVIN?
DEVIN: We have lift-off, Captain.
MARGO: Yes! All right!
CHRIS: Steady as she goes, Tony.
All right, Margo,
find us a course out of here.
MARGO: Looks like there's an
opening to another cavern bearing 2-2-7.
CHRIS: 2-2-7. I got it.
Scanner says we're clear.
Could be a mile, maybe more.
CHRIS: It'd been a
rough start for all of us,
but my uncle had been right,
there was an Inner World.
And even at a crawl,
I was determined to give it our best shot.
I knew Briggs was against keeping Dallas,
but for all our hi-tech toys,
the truth was, we were flying blind
and if Dallas could help
us get through this maze,
then it was worth the risk,
but then who or what really did
attack Briggs back there and why?
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
BRIGGS: Scanner shows
us clear for that passage.
High, and two. Wait, check that.
[RUMBLING]
What the...
That's impossible. It's sealing itself off.
BRIGGS: And damn fast, too.
If the sonic bore was operational,
we could blast our way out.
Full reverse. We're outta here.
TONY: Reversing engines now.
CHRIS: DEVIN,
you got some way to analyze this,
just feel free to jump in any time here.
DEVIN: Processing now, Captain.
BRIGGS: Wait, Chris, kill that reverse,
man, and check your aft monitors.
- Look, it's closing off.
- CHRIS: DEVIN?
DEVIN: Hull sensors indicate the passageway
is now constricting on all sides.
BRIGGS: Is she saying
we're gonna be crushed?
CHRIS: Extend hull stabilizers, now!
TONY: Stabilizers extending. Maximum reach.
CHRIS: Divert power from main engine
to stabilizers and cut off side thrusters.
[BEEPING]
Do it, LaStrella. Briggs, buckle in.
Everybody brace yourselves.
MARGO: DEVIN,
give me a hull pressure readout.
[RUMBLING]
DEVIN: Hull pressure now
at 12,000 pounds and rising.
[RUMBLING]
[WHIZZING]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
DEVIN: Pressure now
at 18,000 and still rising.
CHRIS: Margo, what's our maximum?
MARGO: That was the maximum.
We're not gonna make it.
DEVIN: Anticipate hull
collapse in 30 seconds.
Twenty-nine, 28...
CHRIS: DEVIN, drop ballast
and increase internal air pressure.
DEVIN: Negative, Captain.
Circuits not responding. [RUMBLING]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
DALLAS: Do not steer
it away. It will end soon.
We're gonna die.
He's sayin' we're gonna die.
No, the way, the way of the maze.
Path close, path open.
What the hell's he talking about?
That!
CHRIS: Transfer full
power back to main engines
and prepare to release the stabilizers.
On my mark.
Thrusters, LaStrella.
Vectoring thrusters now.
MARGO: We don't know if we can clear that, Turner.
CHRIS: We can't stay here. Mark!
[ROCKETS BLASTING]
TONY: Releasing stabilizers.
CHRIS: Now ahead full for 30 meters,
then 90 degrees hard to port when I holler.
TONY: Got it.
Come on!
Turn it, LaStrella.
- TONY: Hard to port. 90 degrees.
- CHRIS: Briggs?
BRIGGS: The opening's expanding,
but I can't tell you we're gonna fit.
- CHRIS: DEVIN?
- DEVIN: Pressure now at 19,000, Captain,
but if kept at full power,
the engine vibrations
will cause a hull rupture in nine seconds.
Eight, seven, six...
CHRIS: Make a break and turn
starboard and cut engines for one-third.
TONY: Turning to starboard.
DEVIN: Hull rupture in four seconds.
CHRIS: Cut the power, LaStrella.
TONY: I can't.
The switch is jammed on full.
DEVIN: Rupture in three seconds.
CHRIS: DEVIN, reverse engines, now.
- DEVIN: But Captain...
- CHRIS: Just do it!
DEVIN: Reversing engines. Negative.
Blow back failsafe triggered
full engine shut-down.
- TONY: Yes!
- CHRIS: And the hull?
DEVIN: Vibrations falling
back within normal tolerances.
No rupture.
[ALL WHOOPING]
- Nice move.
- Way to go. Way to go, guys!
CHRIS: DEVIN, restart engines.
Power to one-third.
And when Briggs says it's clear,
prepare to take the helm.
Oh, and thanks for listening.
DEVIN: Any time, Captain.
Now that they fear the maze,
their ship will keep to the great
canyon even as it brings them closer.
Go and silence the voice
they left to call them back
before I give them to the Trog.
TONY: Scanner shows we got a clear channel
for as far as you can see, Captain.
All right, then I want you all to grab
some rest while we got the chance.
I'll keep watch up here.
CHRIS: I was hoping without the crew around
I could think through what had happened.
One instant this world
seemed to want us by the throat
and the next it was as
gentle and amazing as Dallas.
But was it really this world or was there
something else I just couldn't see yet?
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Yes, quite.
Uh, what's your heading?
What's your hurry? Enjoy it.
Mr. Turner, do I have to remind you
that at this moment we have
lost all relays with our base above?
CHRIS: She had a lousy way of saying it,
but I guess that meant Margo
was scared of something, too.
What? What did I do? Did I say anything?
[SHRIEKING]
[INSTRUMENT BEEPING]
[SIGNAL TURNING OFF] MARGO: What the...
No.
I've lost Homer.
So have I.
We'd better go back.
CHRIS: And miss a chance to maybe find
out who's been after us since we landed?
MARGO: After us? Turner, you don't think--
I don't think it's safe
to assume our problems
are just happening at random, Doctor.
Look, just keep us on this course for now,
and tell the crew break time is over.
I want everyone back up on the bridge.
DARK PRINCE: Yes, the invaders draw close.
I can feel the presence of the book
within their ship now.
Then it is time for their journey to end
in the fires of the Trog.
Continue bearing on course 1-9-5 for--
No, wait. Something's--
Full stop. Full stop. I see it. I see it.
CHRIS: Reverse forward thrusters,
LaStrella.
Let's try and put down
on that shelf we just
passed before this
cavern shifts anymore.
TONY: Roger, Captain.
Reversing and preparing to land.
All right, full stop. Ease her down.
TONY: Landing sequence engaged.
DEVIN: Reducing main engines to one-eighth
and beginning descent
at 50 meters per second.
CHRIS: Switching forward
scanners to ground view.
DEVIN: Touchdown in four seconds.
Three, two, one.
We have touchdown.
CHRIS: Margo, as soon as we're secured,
I want the sonic bore back in operation.
If these walls get pushy,
I'd like to know we can push back.
The rest of you, come out with me.
I wanna check our antenna to Homer.
[WHIRRING]
All right,
let's hope it's only the antenna.
Sandy, LaStrella, check it out.
Briggs, keep an eye out,
but Briggs, be cool, all right?
If I could offer my assistance?
It's not needed.
Oh, really?
What possible help could you be to me,
Mr. Chalmers?
Well, let's see. I should
remind you I have doctorates
in electro-magnetic theory,
charmed quark physics,
and applied systems engineering,
along with advanced degrees
in 18 other varied subjects.
[TINKERING]
Voila. Care to close, Doctor?
Listen, Professor,
I need to say something to you.
I apologize.
Whatever for?
I've always rejected
anything or anyone
connected with the supernatural,
and it's affected the way I thought of you.
My dear Miss Peterson,
you're simply confused.
Let me explain it this way.
I believe that science and magic represent
mankind's highest aspirations.
While at first they seem
like opposing forces,
at some point their paths coverage.
[SCREAMING]
CHRIS: All right, come on,
everybody, bring it in. Let's go.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
My God, look.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Hold your fire, hold your fire.
[SHOUTING]
[HOWLING]
[YELLING]
My people are familiar with these beasts.
What are they?
CHALMERS: If I'm not mistaken,
they're Troglodytes.
The evolutionary
transition from ape to man.
Some of the species must've
found an amiable environment
below the surface,
thereby avoiding extinction.
You mean missing links?
Speaking of missing links, where's Tony?
LaStrella?
This is the scientific
chance of a lifetime.
Sidearm. LaStrella?!
CHALMERS: We have to
gather data on these creatures.
They could prove invaluable
in our search for habitability.
[ECHOES] LaStrella?
Look at this.
Wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait, hold it, hold it.
Just stay here. Just stay here.
Just stay here.
I've got the uncomfortable feeling
they've already made contact.
All right.
Margo, run a geo-stability scan.
I'm goin' after him.
MARGO: DEVIN?
I need you to run a geo-structural
analysis of the surrounding area.
We might have to be here for a while.
There is a disturbing number
of serious deep level geo-structural faults
in the immediate area.
[COUGHS] I do not suggest
remaining here for more than two hours.
Even that may be pushing it.
I'll let the captain know.
Let me go with ya, Cap.
No, I need you here. They need you here.
Besides, when we find LaStrella,
Chalmers here is the only one who might
be able to talk them into giving him back.
DEVIN says two hours, maximum.
Well, then if we're not back in two
hours or haven't made radio contact,
you do whatever you do
have to save the Avenger.
What?
I say, Chris, is that absolutely necessary?
For the good of the many, Professor.
- BRIGGS: Captain, Captain.
- That's an order. We're clear?
[CHEEPING]
Looks like we're not the first.
Not even close.
My God, Chris, look at this.
This might be their history.
How they came to dwell below the surface,
through a volcano.
Uncle Jim was right.
Look, there's more.
It appears the Trogs don't like visitors.
My God, you don't think LaStrella is...
[GROWLING]
I'll try and talk to them.
Cecil, guaranteed they
know how to use these things.
Then what do we do now, Captain?
I'll let you know when I think of it.
DEVIN: Repeat. Access not authorized.
MARGO: Dallas?
It's cold in here.
We have to keep it cool to
protect the computer system.
I do not mean that kind of cold.
My people are used to that.
I am talking about woman
who lives within this wall.
She has no heart.
What do you suppose that was all about?
Maybe he meant DEVIN?
[RAMBLING]
[MUMBLING]
[SHOUTING COMMAND]
How long they been out?
A little over an hour.
Forget this. I'm goin after 'em.
Sit down and relax, Mr. Briggs.
That's an order.
[INCOHERENT SHOUTING]
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Captain?
- Chalmers.
- Tony.
- You all right?
- Yeah, yeah, I'm fine,
but that's more than I
can say for the company.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
They're offering us food.
Always a good sign. Let's sit.
MARGO: Chris, do you read me? Over.
Dr. Chalmers, this is Margo. Come in, please. Over.
- Anything?
- No.
They've still got 20 min... minutes. [SIGHS]
CHRIS: Oh, God,
I can't eat any more of this crap.
Force yourself. Smile.
They want to have us for dinner.
Well, why are they feeding us now?
You don't understand. They're fattening us up.
They are having us for dinner.
What?
[GUTTURAL GRUNT]
You have only three?
You were sent to take them all.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Silence, animal!
Don't talk to me of white fur demons.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
I am the demon you must fear. Damn you!
[SCREECHING]
No, let 'em go for now,
but see to it their ship is watched.
I must think.
TESUE: It's been two hours.
Well?
Well, what, Mr. Briggs?
Are we just gonna leave 'em out there,
or what?
I don't know about you,
but I had a real hard time
understanding the captain's last order.
Well, you know,
I couldn't make it out, either.
Yeah, I didn't hear a thing.
I heard him. He said,
"If we're not back within two hours,"
we're supposed to leave without him.
O-o-h.
Gear up. We're goin' after 'em.
You stay here.
Oh, I think we should take him with us.
He would make an excellent guide.
I like it. DEVIN, I'm putting you on full security alert.
What are you doin'?
You gear up, I gear down.
Yeah, whatever.
DEVIN: Security program loading now.
DEVIN: Now activating ship security.
Warning, main hatch closing and
hull electrified at 500 megawatts.
[SCREECHING]
[TESUE GASPS]
What does this mean?
It means trouble. Come on, let's go, go.
Then it is as I thought, the others follow.
And the book?
Their spirit keeps guard
over it within their ship
and prevents our entry.
Then quickly, bring Kateeok back
so I can warn him of their approach.
[EXHALES DEEPLY]
[GRUNTING]
No way.
Nothing there.
So where are they?
They may have gone through
that passageway, beyond.
What damn passageway?
The one beneath the boulder.
Come on.
DALLAS: Can you not feel it?
The path, it's still warm.
But it's a dead end.
No, look further.
[ROCKS SCRAPING]
There.
[MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY]
Get down. Lights out.
They're ugly, but they ain't stupid.
They got sentries all over the place.
We've got to find a way over that ridge.
[BEASTLY CRY]
[HISSING]
[GRUNTING]
[TROGS CHANTING]
Eyes up.
Okay, go.
[TROGS CLAMORING]
- They're gonna burn 'em alive.
- Oh, no.
Oh, there's one more thing.
They've got these two big stone heads.
They look just like Dallas.
Trogs are deathly afraid of my people.
They think we are demons.
How come it's like pulling
teeth to get anything out of you?
[STAMMERS]
Miller, help me rig a harness
and tackle for the big guy.
You got it.
Huh?
You worthless slime.
You were told to bring him, not kill him.
He's useless to me now.
[GROWLING]
Go. Tell me if the Trog
have taken the others.
Quickly!
For three millennia I have
been left to suffer in this hell,
but freedom reaches for me now.
[HEART BEATING]
But why are you doing this?
Because you're gonna help
us get our friends out of this.
Huh?
We strap you in a cradle,
hang you on a roller,
sail you across the rope.
Uh, oh.
You fly over the Trog-a-Links,
scare the hell out of 'em.
They run for cover,
we duck in and grab the
captain and the others.
I'll get sick.
Good, go ahead and puke.
That'll scare 'em even more.
[TROGS CHANTING]
Don't you see I... I can't.
You either do it on a rope
or you do it free fall.
It's all the same to me.
I won't allow any threats.
I've seen guys like him.
They just need to be convinced.
You've seen guys like him?
I don't think so, Briggs.
I thought we were your friends.
My first.
Then why won't you help us?
[WHIMPERING]
We believe that a friend is
more important than any law.
[TROGS CHANTING]
When you get straight over the village,
you drop these.
They detonate on impact.
No. No harm.
They won't hurt anyone, Dallas.
They're just fireworks.
Yeah, you'll be the bright
spot of their day. You ready?
No!
Good.
Give 'em hell, big guy.
[LOUD GROWLING]
[ALL SCREAMING]
I'll do the captain. Get Chalmers.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Come on. We ain't home yet.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
Let's force our way out of here.
They're saved?
I don't care how, damn you,
but they run for their ship, yes?
[YELLING]
[SHOUTING]
[PANTING]
Okay, big guy,
let's find some cover. Come on.
Okay, big guy, do your thing.
[SHOUTING]
That's no way to treat a demon.
Great.
They cannot be allowed to leave.
I have no choice now.
Prepare yourselves to ensure my return.
I can venture from here,
but no more than a handful of minutes,
but I must have their piece of the book.
[GUN COCKS] Damn, the gun's jammed.
DALLAS: It's the goup for us.
[EXPLODING]
Yeah! Yeah, yeah! Yeah!
Come on, Dallas. Let's get outta here, man.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
It is time.
Go now, all of you,
and be there when I call.
[SCREECHING]
[GROWLING]
[GROWLING]
CHRIS: LaStrella, DEVIN,
initiate emergency take-off protocol.
Let's get this thing in the air.
TONY: Side thrusters going to full.
DEVIN: E-lift protocol engaged.
Main engines firing in eight seconds.
CHRIS: Margo? Briggs?
MARGO: Activating HG navigation now,
Captain.
[BEEPING] BRIGGS: Scanners up and sweeping.
DEVIN: We have ignition
on all main engines.
Prepare for lift off in 10 seconds.
Nine, eight...
CHRIS: Time to strap yourselves in,
people.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
DEVIN: Four, three, two.
We have liftoff, Captain.
CHRIS: Assume stable hover at 18 meters.
Prepare for level flight.
[BUBBLING]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
DEVIN: Approaching stable hover, 18 meters.
You're clear to take it out that
hole you blew to get us out, Captain.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
CHRIS: Ahead one quarter
and turn us to port, 12 degrees.
DEVIN: Engines ahead at 2.5 V, Captain.
MARGO: And bearing 169,
just below that cliff ahead, LaStrella.
[GASPING] [ALARM BLARING]
DEVIN: Danger, forward hull anomaly.
Primary grid overloading.
Circuit relay failure imminent.
Initiating fire control system. Ah!
My book! [SCREAMING]
[GRUNTING]
The book!
Give me your piece of the book.
I beg you...
DEVIN: Life support reaching critical.
[SCREAMING]
[GROANING]
BRIGGS: Somebody wanna tell
me who or what the hell that just was?
CHRIS: Well, I can't swear to it,
but I think that's who's been
hounding us since we got here,
and I think this is why.
TESUE: For this? But what is it?
That piece is only a small part
of the Book of Knowledge.
Doesn't look like a book.
It's more like a puzzle, really.
It's a cosmic force that makes the
Holy Grail pale into insignificance.
Just before the demise of Atlantis,
the high priests of the city used
a craft to descend into a volcano.
Sound familiar?
Mythology states that the priests
then built deep within the Earth
the legendary library of Atlantis.
A library?
CHALMERS: Probably destroyed.
What we saw were only
a few pieces of the puzzle.
It's a spiritual circuit board of sorts.
It contains a mystical energy
that could enlighten mankind.
Well,
if it were to fall into the wrong hands,
it could be a source of evil power.
It could enslave the human race forever.
- He wasn't lying.
- Who?
Wentworth. He knew all about this puzzle.
I was supposed to let
him know if we found it.
CHALMERS: Looks like your
billionaire has a hidden agenda.
World dominion, if you will.
How many of these pieces are there?
No way of knowing till
they're all assembled.
It's based on a technology that
doesn't yet exist, or rather used to.
It was lost with Atlantis.
It's a crossing point.
The bridge from this world
with its finite knowledge
to the next one, to the infinite.
So it must store...
If I'm not mistaken,
the combination to the maze.
Without it, we may never get out of here.
I know this journey has
not been a smooth one.
There's not one of us who
hasn't had second thoughts
and fears about what may lay ahead,
but down here,
we and only we control our destiny.
Our strength is in us, as one,
and as one, we will survive.
Let's do it.
With you, Captain.
CHRIS: DEVIN,
status on the helm control, if you please.
DEVIN: Maintaining
level flight at 50 meters.
Forward scanners read all clear,
and the helm is yours now, Captain.
Full ahead, LaStrella.
Forward...
ever forward.
CHRIS: I guess it
wasn't until then I realized
there exists a strange and
unknown place like this in all of us.
For me, it was becoming Captain,
but I'd looked into that darkness now
and seen more than I ever thought possible,
and the journey was just beginning.