The Final Programme

True liberation.

You mean death?

Not necessarily, Mr. Cornelius.

The soul may awaken to liberation

yet continue to animate the body it inhabits.

The eternal cycle.

In Brahma, you call these recurring ages yugas, don't you?

That is so.

There are four.

The divisions are uneven but between them,

they encompass the whole span of time from creation.

Smooth stuff, professor.

Yes, our present age began on February the 18th

in the year 3102 B.C.

Really?

Yes, in the afternoon.

It is called Kali Yuga.

Sounds reasonable.

What's it mean?

What does it mean?

The dark age, Mr. Cornelius.

The long, dark age, and it's about to end.

The end of the world?

How long have we got?

A year or two, maybe less,

depending upon the speed of the collapse.

I'm glad you could make it.

A word before you leave.

An unfortunate moment to choose, but may I ask,

what are your immediate plans?

Now that your father's dead, was there a will perhaps?

We worked very closely together, and ironically,

his death has coincided

with a monumental breakthrough in our research.

There's still some specific information

which he kept at the house in England.

If you could arrange?

I'm quite sure it would be his wish.

At the house, huh?

Yes, in particular, there was some microfilm.

It's absolutely vital that I get hold of it,

if our work here is to continue!

You know what?

I'm thinking of getting rid of the house.

- Getting rid? - Yep.

Blow it all up, I fancy.

When?

Well, the day after tomorrow if I can get back in time.

But what about your brother, Frank?

I understand he never leaves the place.

Yeah, that's why the idea appeals to me so much.

And your sister, Catherine?

What about her?

Well, now that Father's dead...

After an emergency

meeting of the senate,

the President agreed that the sum of $600 million

be paid as compensation to the five remaining survivors.

There will be no further statement from the Pentagon,

although it is understood here in Washington,

that a full scale inquiry

will be set up in the next 18 months.

In the meantime,

all training flights over Europe have been canceled.

From Hanifa, North Lapland,

reports have been received of the death

of eminent biophysicist Dr. Alexander Cornelius,

who for the past nine years

has lived in comparative isolation,

working in the field of advanced genetics.

It is not yet known whether his elder son,

Nobel Prize winner Jerry Cornelius,

will continue with his father's research.

Hello, sir.

It goes without saying, sir, how very sorry I was to hear.

Always very good to me he was, your father,

in his own sort of way.

Yeah.

Sorry I couldn't get to the funeral, sir,

but you know how it is.

Oh, you didn't miss much.

Very flat, Lapland.

So I believe, sir.

Where's Catherine?

Is she in the cabin?

No, sir.

Is she here?

She's, uh...

What's the matter with her?

Dead?

No sir, she's not dead.

I think, well, you see,

Mr. Frank, he, uh...

Frank!

What's that sod been doing to her?

Get in the cabin.

Right, sir.

All right then, let's have it.

What's been going on?

I don't know, sir.

He won't let me set eyes on Miss Catherine.

Seven weeks now, every time I ask he says,

"Well, she's sleeping.”

She's been sleeping for seven weeks?

That's what he says, but what kind of sleep is that?

There's stuff like this all over the house.

Yes, that's Frank's writing.

The rat bastard!

Yes, he's been experimenting.

He's in a terrible state himself, sir.

Living off this stuff he is.

All he eats now is bars of chocolate and strawberry jam.

That's no good for anyone, is it?

Now listen, she's still in her old room?

Oh yes, sir.

Right.

Then I'll be home tomorrow.

Oh, that's good news, sir.

But you'll kick him out this time, won't you, sir?

I'm afraid the old place is going up.

For sale, sir?

For keeps.

Napalm probably.

Napalm, sir?

Yeah, I haven't made up my mind yet,

but you know what a traditionalist I am.

Yes indeed, sir.

Get Catherine out of the house

when you're around, can you manage?

I think so, sir, but I'm still a bit confused.

Get her out tomorrow night.

Very well, sir, but where to?

The lodge on the far side of the grounds.

Do it about 10 o'clock.

There'll be some small confusion.

You should be able to make it easily enough in the dark.

I'll do it somehow, sir.

But what about Mr. Frank?

Frank, don't worry, I'll sort him out.

There's another thing, sir.

It's the house itself.

You remember what that old house is like.

I hadn't forgotten.

Major Lindbergh?

Certainly, certainly, and if you see General Spratt,

well, just say that, just say Wrongway Lindbergh called.

Now that's right, Wrongway.

The wrong way is the right way.

Not at all, not at all.

Pleasure doing business with you, sir.

Miserable son of bitch.

Morning sweetheart, did you get the message?

- Well now, Jerry. - Have any luck?

I want you to brace yourself,

because I think that I can get you a Phantom.

Oh really?

What mark?

What mark?

An F-4D.

That means that you're gonna have

a J67-GE-15 turbo jets,

APQ-109 radar control.

Also an ASQ weapon release computer.

And on top of that,

you're gonna have an ASG lead control gyro,

and if you can believe it or not, beyond that,

there's an ASN-63 inertial navigation system, amen.

And I doubt that you'll do better.

And what about the bloody drop tanks?

Well, what about the bloody drop tanks?

Well, I need them, don't I?

I want to push the range to over 3000.

Over 3000?

Where in the fuck are you going?

I don't care where you're going

because they're standard equipment.

Well, they weren't on the last one.

Well, you didn't get the last one from me, did ya?

No, I didn't get the last one from you.

And you won't make that mistake again, will you?

And now, if you don't mind my asking why,

where are you going?

Somewhere with a bit of sun.

Cambodia, I fancy.

Yeah, Cambodia, eh?

She'll need the rest.

Brotherly love, eh Jerry?

She's all I've got, really.

- Major? - Yes?

Zurich has gone off the air again.

Holy Christ.

All I'm getting are local frequencies.

Mostly intercom from Russian tanks.

Are they talking about me?

- No. - No?

Well that's good, thank you, Hari.

Good god, that place must be a shambles.

You've heard about Amsterdam?

Yeah, some mistake.

Phew, 28 square miles of white ash.