Ultra Red

Alex, Amanda, breakfast is ready.

Come on.

Mom, I told you I'm a vegetarian.

Well, you weren't last week.

You never listen.

Here, go eat your breakfast.

We're in a hurry.

You said we were late mom, there's no time for breakfast.

Honey, can you take the kids to school today?

No, I can't.

Director McHale called me in early for a briefing.

I gotta be in the office in 20 minutes.

I've already rescheduled these investors twice.

I just can't.

You still got time.

This is the fourth time this week

I've driven the kids to school and you said we'd trade off.

I'll make it up to you later.

Thanks honey.

What, no eggs?

What the hell was that?

We don't know, sir.

We lost signal this morning.

You're in charge of this scrappy, why isn't it fixed yet?

We're working on it.

I've already assembled a rescue team and we're ready to go.

We're just trying to locate Jack Walker.

Jack Walker?

Who the hell's Jack Walker?

Jack Walker also known as Jonathan Walker.

He's the one who built Truth about five years ago.

So what?

Just leave without him.

We can't.

None of the men are trained

to deal with the mechanics of Truth.

And even if we brought the rover back to Earth,

we'd still need to necessitate cooperation with Jack Walker.

But if he could fix it on Mars

and relaunch it right there,

it would save us months and a lot of money.

We need to bring him with us.

So you're gonna train him how to be an astronaut overnight

and throw him on a fucking spacecraft in the morning?

That's your plan?

Yes, I don't see an alternative.

You saw what the rover saw before it cut out.

It could be extraterrestrial life.

We gotta get on this now and time's wasting.

Do you even have a ship that can leave immediately?

Dead less Five.

Dead less Five is an antiquated pile of shit.

It passed inspection last week,

and it's the only ship that's safe and ready to go.

Oh Christ.

All right, give me five minutes.

I'll make some calls.

Thank you, sir.

Don't bother coming back inside.

Head straight over to Crescent Valley Correctional Center.

The guy is doing a three year stint.

Warden's private conference room, you must be important.

You've got five minutes.

My superior should have called.

Did he not brief you on the urgency

and the weight of this matter?

I don't have anything to do with that.

You've got five minutes.

It's nice to meet you, Mr. Walker.

I'm from the NASA Research Directorate.

Can we have some privacy?

This is confidential.

Mr. Walker, I'm Kristin Worthington.

I apologize for the urgency and being so direct,

but we're currently dealing with a time sensitive material

that could change the world forever.

Sounds exciting.

You know, I don't have to ask what a Harvard grad

who's one of the most technically brilliant men in the world

is doing in a place like this,

but it's none of my business.

Yeah, so let's just cut to this earth shattering drama,

huh?

As I was saying, earlier today,

we lost signal with Truth P41 early this morning.

But before it cut out, we saw something that could be life.

Life, on Mars?

Are you serious? Because that's impossible.

We're certain enough to investigate it.

And what do you expect me to do?

I'm here.

The rover is millions of miles away.

Plus, I've never received training for anything like that.

You know, space travel.

They don't exactly let me watch YouTube video tutorials

in here.

I have a team ready to launch right now.

We need you on board.

Your job would simply be go up, fix the rover,

send it back on its way,

and maybe assist my team if something looks suspicious.

So simple.

So am I doing this for the good of all mankind

or does today just happen to be my last day in jail?

My boss, Director Kenneth McHale,

is willing to offer you a full pardon upon your return.

Just like that, huh?

You don't even know what I'm in here for.

I don't care.

What do you say?

That was not five minutes.

All right, lover boy.

- Mr. Walker... - Tea time is over.

Mr. Walker, we need to know now.

Okay, fine.

Just get me out of here before five o'clock,

right, they're serving tuna casserole again.

Come on.

So I had a nice little chat with the warden.

Do you wanna know what your guy was in for?

Yes, I read the file. I couldn't resist.

I always knew you were judgmental to the core.

We all are.

So you trust this guy on a multimillion dollar spacecraft

on a mission that took the better part of a decade

to prepare for?

He is more intelligent

than every person in this building combined.

Then how'd he land up in a cage?

Bad luck.

Too trustworthy.

There's lots of different reasons

that have nothing to do with intelligence.

Plus all of his crimes are nonviolent.

I trust him.

Well, I don't.

He's a thief.

And I found two men in the office while you were out,

and they might be able to help us fix Truth.

They're still students, but their coding is similar enough.

Look there.

See on the floor?

You see my ring on the floor?

Yes.

I left it there before I left and he saw it.

I bet you he doesn't take it.

If he does, you could send him back to jail

and we'll guess work the repairs on Truth

with your backup guys.

But if he doesn't, he stays on the mission.

All right, you're on.

Mr. Walker, please report to room 2A.

See there.

See the

Dang it.

Yep, I never doubted him for a minute.

He's ready to go.

He probably knew it was a trap.

You made it too obvious for him.

Does he have the basic training

to even walk on board a spacecraft?

I don't want him shitting his pants

five minutes into zero gravity.

Jensen's been briefing him for the last two hours.

He's ready to go.

Congratulations.

Few people get this opportunity, Mr. Walker.

Thank you, sir.

It's actually been a dream of mine since I was a little boy.

Ah, well, isn't that special?

You'll be boarding Dead less Five first thing in the morning.

It's one of our older ships, but it'll get the job done.

It's a nine month mission each way.

But we've got cryogenics on board, so don't worry,

it'll feel like you're taking a nap.

Kristin will get you a hotel room for tonight,

and Helden is downstairs waiting for you.

He's one of our finest astronauts and an even better man.

He'll get you up to speed and leave with you in the morning.

If you have any questions, ask him.

Good luck to you both.

- He's nice. - He's an asshole.

Oh, and by the way, between you and me,

you didn't think that little bullshit trick

with your ring was gonna work, did you?

You knew it was a setup?

I've been robbing banks and diamond brokers

for the better part of a decade.

I live my life as if there's a camera on me at all times

because there usually is one.

Right.

I knew you knew.

And I suggest you get downstairs with Helden.

You don't wanna keep him waiting.

Right.

I'll see you next year

if I don't decide to stay.

You must be Helden.

Yes, Helden Smith.

It's a pleasure to meet you.