Salvation

Ladies and gentlemen, tech pioneer Darius Tanz!

Sir, my name is Liam Cole.

In 186 days, an asteroid's gonna collide with Earth,

and we're all gonna die.

Previously on "Salvation"...

What's Atlas?

Don't say that word to anybody, ever.

Looks like I got a real story now.

All we need is a working EM drive and I can build it.

I just need help to expedite it over the finish line.

- What kind of help? - Malcolm Croft.

- My professor? - I've been trying

to crack the EM drive for years.

And I'm not the only one.

Then let's compare notes, see if together,

we can't do the impossible.

- Get me what I need. - Fine. What else do you need?

A hundred kilos of enriched uranium.

You want to help me save the human race or don't you?

You're stealing the code.

I'm stealing uranium from the United States government.

And betraying a man you love.

Keep recording. This is an act of war.

Get back. Back up!

If you don't think we're at war, think again.

This building behind me produces nuclear weapons,

like the ones reportedly headed to Florida to be decommissioned.

Funny, I was always told we decommissioned our nukes in Utah.

Last I checked, Florida's where we launch things.

- Who do you think... - Hey!

Get down on the ground! And stay on the ground, now!

Don't.

Oh, Zoe...

- ...has poison ivy. - Hmm.

Two days camping with her dad.

- Mouthwash. - Hmm?

For the poison ivy, stops the itching.

You have an answer for everything.

Yeah, well, that's my military training.

Ready for anything, anytime.

- Really? - Yeah.

What gets red wine out? Was it salt or peroxide?

- Harris. - Hmm?

I need to tell you...

Turn it...

- _ - The White House.

Wants an update from the task force, right now.

Human beings.

We have limits.

Or we think we do.

Just when it seems we've gone as far as we can go...

...we go further.

Innovation is not about "why," it's about "why not?"

Tanz Industries. Changing your world.

And, behind those doors, the world's greatest minds are busy

breaking all the rules.

I'd like to direct everyone's attention

to the Goliath Two rocket.

Colonizing Mars is a priority for Mr. Tanz,

and this state of the art rocket will be what takes us

to the red planet within the next decade.

Fantastic.

- "Fantastic"? - Yeah.

Those microwaves are flying all over the place.

It looks like a blender in there.

- This is what it's supposed to look like. - And it will, it will.

We just need to find the right frequency and the waves will fall into line...

And create thrust, I know.

I guess I just thought once we got those emitters online,

we'd start seeing something.

I've been trying to build a working EM drive for seven years.

This is how science gets done, Mr. Cole.

It's sweat and patience, and more sweat.

Good morning, gentlemen.

- You two look like hell. - Hi.

When was the last time you slept?

Uh, Monday, maybe.

Well, it depends what day it is.

Tess?

Today is Friday, Liam.

Oh, that's bad.

So how's our EM drive coming along?

Simulations still not producing any thrust.

But, the team here

has made incredible progress with the emitters.

- Emitters? - Yeah.

W-We don't need one small step for man,

we need the giant leap for mankind right now.

The process is methodical.

Malcolm, this isn't MIT.

There's no time. Big moves equal big results.

The world doesn't care how you get there, just get there.

Hmm. Fast and loose.

Some things never change with you, Darius.

Yeah, fast, never loose.

I think I'm gonna make myself an espresso.

Or three.

So...

I take it that no one else here

knows why there's a rush on this EM drive project?

- You, me, uh, and Lazlo. - Lazlo?

I've known Laz since I was a boy.

You, you're safe here, I can vouch for that personally.

I hope so, because whoever was after me in Boston,

there's no telling what they'll do if they find me.

Then we'll make sure they don't.

Liam.

Fancy meeting you here.

It's Liam, right?

Yeah, good memory.

How could I forget our four minutes together?

You here for the, uh, the tour, Amanda?

Yes. And I came to see you.

Really? Huh.

I was hoping you could help out a fellow millennial.

Oh, I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype.

Annie Hall.

Yeah. Nobody ever gets that.

I like surprising people.

You're a reporter.

I should've told you at the embassy,

but I didn't want to ruin the moment.

We were having a moment?

I thought so.

Anyway, I want to do a piece on Darius Tanz.

Something splashy to earn my keep at Capitol Eyes.

You think you could grease the wheels for me?

Excuse me. You don't have clearance

to be in this area.

Oh, sorry.

I got lost on the way to the loo.

I'll help you find your way back.

Liam, you have a visitor in the lobby.

I do?

Good to see you, Liam.

You know where to reach me.

...breaking all the rules.

And, over here, I'd like to direct everyone's attention.

Jillian?

Liam.

- Hey. - Hi!

Hey.

What are you, what are you doing here?

So, some guy named Lazlo

just showed up at the bookstore the other day.

He said that Darius Tanz wanted to meet me.

I'm getting a tour, and he's taking me to lunch.

Wow.

I assumed it was because of you.

Well, yeah.

Yeah, I-I told him all about you.

I just, I didn't realize that was today.

- Yeah. - That's, uh...

I'm really glad to see you.

Me, too.

You look...

- Like crap, I know. - No, I was gonna say

"tired," but, like, cute tired, not crappy tired.

Thank you. Uh...

Hey, I-I got to get back to it, but, uh...

uh, we, we should, we should have dinner later.

Dinner.

- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.

Okay. All right.

Have fun.

And that concludes this morning's tour.

Any questions?

A ton.

So do we know what this is about?

New information coming out of Planetary Defense.

White House wants to be briefed.

Who are they sending?

Hold that, please.

Harris.

Claire.

Been a long time.

This is Grace Barrows.

Press Secretary DoD.

Nice to meet you in person.

Claire Rayburn, senior advisor to the president.

Of course. Nice to meet you.

So, the president has asked for an update on where we are,

and advice on the best course of action moving forward.

Dr. Strauss, I understand you have a revised plan.

Walk us through the latest.

Our plan is still to repurpose the IO Probe orbiting Jupiter

as a kinetic impactor.

Put the probe on a collision course with the asteroid.

Correct.

The asteroid is poised to hit in 174 days.

But now we know

there are two windows of opportunity

in which the probe can actually intercept the asteroid.

The first window is in exactly seven days,

the second, in 63.

What results can we expect?

We've run thousands of computer simulations,

and confidence is high that upon impact,

the asteroid will break up into smaller fragments

downgrading it from an extinction-level event.