Aloha

There was a time I knew everything in the sky.

Every satellite...

every constellation...

souvenirs of space walks and astronauts...

and rockets launched by NASA in the '60s.

As a kid, I looked up and felt the future.

It belonged to me.

Hey, hey, man, check this out.

Then 2008 happened.

Budgets crashed.

NASA was just another business looking for cash.

The billionaires took over.

Satellite pirates with deep pockets, drunk with the idea of ruling the world.

I left the military and took a contracting job with the biggest billionaire of them all.

Carson Welch. I went to the gray side.

Messed up bad in Kabul, Afghanistan, broke about 18 bones in two legs.

Lost my gig.

For a year, I waited for scraps...

like a hungry cat outside a seafood restaurant dumpster.

Finally, I got a crappy second chance.

- At least I was going back to Hawaii. - Woody.

Just wanted to say hello before we landed.

How you doing?

How's the contractor job going? Miss the uniform?

Sometimes.

Heard you popped your balloons in Afghanistan. Thought you were dead.

I'm excited about this very important gig.

I'm delivering a blessing on a pedestrian gate.

Only in Hawaii, huh?

- Below the aloha exterior. - Casablanca, baby.

Tracy's gonna flip out when she sees you.

- Colonel Lacy? - Yes, sir.

Are you aware of the so-called Arrival myth?

- What's that? - The calendars all say...

that this week is the return of the playful Hawaiian god Lono...

and he will wreak havoc in the sky with the fire goddess Pele.

Mitchell? Hey. Okay.

Sorry. Sorry. He's a Hawaiian-myth buff.

Yeah, of course he is.

All right, Mitchell, be cool. Relax and enjoy a bitching summer.

Make love not war, huh?

- Morning, captain. - Morning, airman.

Good to go.

Well, shit. Looks like we're down to dwindling resources, huh?

Colonel, I'm here to save you, you great white obsolete whale.

After Kabul, I'm surprised you can even make a joke.

- Can I be honest? You look terrible. - Thanks, Colonel. I've missed your psychotic hands.

Good times. Baby, we missed you, too. When's the last time we worked together?

- Silent Reaper? - Jesus. Silent Reaper?

Yeah. It's been a while.

- How's your life been? - I got no life. You're my life, Fingers.

"You're my life, colonel." Nobody calls me Fingers anymore.

I'm a big old deal around here. Got my name on the wall.

I'm so powerful, I'm feeling erect just thinking about it.

Present arms!

Of course, the old ex-girlfriend.

Pause for the memories.

She handles all these ceremonies around here now.

All right, Gilcrest, I want to introduce you to your Air Force liaison. She is a fast burner.

F-22 pilot on loan to Space Command for "career broadening." Yep.

Decorated two years ahead of schedule. General Dixon's favorite.

Meet your watchdog.

Enjoy.

Captain Allison Ng, sir. I know you have a meeting.

I'll take us on a flyby of the island.

I'd like to take you through how this is gonna work.

Hey! I refuse to talk to you.

Well, you just broke that promise.

Are you okay?

So good. Super, super good.

Woody never told me you were coming.

- He never tells me anything. - Sir, if I may?

- He talked to me. - Oh, yeah?

- Yeah. - Because you're not married to him.

Hey, I called you five times last year.

- I was worried about you. - You still in Forensics?

Would you believe I'm head of the department. I make my own hours.

Will you stop getting more beautiful?

An awkward silence lasts four seconds. I can end this in three.

Sir? If I may?

- You've gotta meet my kids. - Yeah.

I'll be right back, captain.

Don't get lost now.

Never. Sir.

Tracy. Tracy. Tracy.

- I got my bag. - Oh, so sorry.

Mitch. Mitch, come out of the flag, please.

I want to introduce you to Brian Gilcrest.

- Pleasure. Hey. - Hey.

- Mitchell is 10 and Gracie's 12. - Gracie. Brian.

- Brian and I haven't seen each other in... - About 13 years.

Thirteen years. Right.

- Dad. - There you are.

- Hey, Dad. - You're back.

There she is.

- Are you the Arrival? - No.

But in five days, sadly, I'm the departure.

There's a blessing we're gonna take care of on the new pedestrian gate.

Gilcrest. Carson. Come on.

You know the deal.

Myths and bones and ghosts.

Well, hey, why don't you come for dinner?

- Say yes. - This week?

Say yes.

- Come on. - All right.

- I'd love to. - Yeah? Great.

The house across the street from the Officers' Club. It's the corner house.

So good. Super, super good. Okay.

Are you familiar with the Hawaiian god Lono?

- No. - In the Arrival myth, he saves Pele...

the Hawaiian goddess...

Look forward to hearing the rest at dinner. Thanks for the lift, Woody.

- For you. - Yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

This is very important for our book. I wanna hear about your childhood memories.

Childhood.

That's nostalgia and a trap.

Carson, the new king of space exploration.

Aloha, boys.

I saw your TED Talk on the way.

Oh, that. Yeah, Bono talked me into that.

Oh, how is Bono?

As if I knew him. That's...

Everybody wants to launch a rocket.

Right. Sure.

Good at that.

Smooth.

Smooth.

It's good to be back.

Oh, God.

I didn't abandon you.

I saved you.

Let's do some great stuff here.

All right, start with the blessing, and we'll move on from there.

Okay.

And welcome back.

Killed it.

Oahu traffic, Seneca 128.

Alpha-Romeo over Rabbit island, 2000 feet.

Sir, our appointment with the sovereign king...

and the head of the state of the nation of Hawaii, Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, was rejected.

He's a fierce man, sir. He's a 7th generation descendant of King Kamehameha the Great.

I know Bumpy. I helped him get elected.

We've all worked together before. And you don't have to call me "sir."

Sir, I will also be an invaluable addition to our joint mission.

I am a quarter Hawaiian.

Call me "sir."

The Royal Aloha. Careful on those steps.

- I see them. - I know about the leg.

Sir, I'd love to get a beverage.

Or a peppermint tea.

And discuss all kinds of stuff.

The sky. The future. Yeah.

Everything.

- I'm a peppermint-tea girl. - You have a good time.

- I meant with you. - Captain Ring, I...

it's Ng. It's like "ring," but without the R or the I.

It's just Ng. It's short.

Short. Short's good.

Small talk and conversation, Ng. There's no time for it.

You are never going to offend me by being blunt to the point.

Handful of words, boiled down.

No more than five. One, two, three, four...

- Five. Yeah. - There you go.

Let this be our longest conversation.

Good evening, captain.

Warmest aloha, sir.

Okay, let's talk about Gilcrest.

So finally we meet, right?

This is a great story.

This is good. Yeah.

So much paperwork on this guy. A surprising amount of paperwork.

Flirting with Pakistani princesses. Yeah, yeah.

Something with the daughter of Princess Hafa El Yassein.

- He got married and divorced... - Yeah, you know what, I lived a full life.

...from a fake heiress.

Oh, yeah. Homegirl took him down.

But before that all came apart, there was greatness in this guy.

Oh, now you're gonna compliment me?

He's got kind of...

like a chilly presence.

Like, you look into his eyes and it's miles of blue.

He's just a brilliant...

compelling, innovative...

commanding...

Stop it.

...fricking wreck of a guy.

He's like a...

A sad city coyote.

You know?

- Okay. I love you too, Mom. - Oh wow, a great relation with your mother.

Hey, you should look up at 10:37 tonight because there is a Jupiter-moon conjunction...

that you will not wanna miss.

Okay, good night.

A double espresso.

Morning, sir. I'm so jacked for today.

Make that a triple.

Thank you for the camaraderie, sir.

- I didn't say anything, captain. - No, it's your manner.

I find your manner very down-to-earth.