Salvation

Ladies and gentlemen, tech pioneer Darius Tanz.

Sir, my name's Liam Cole.

I'm a student at MIT.

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

and we're all gonna die.

Previously on Salvation...

What about you? What important

save-the-world work are you doing at MIT?

I'm creating a map of space.

Professor Croft, it's Liam.

There's something there that was

- not there three months ago. - Really?

People need to see this immediately.

911? My professor, he disappeared.

I'm onto something that someone, somewhere

doesn't want public.

The sky is falling,

and you may be the only person

that can do something about it.

You run DOD point

- for all things NASA. - Is there a problem?

Depends on whether a planet-killing asteroid

is heading our way.

Grace Barrows, DOD Public Affairs.

You wanted to see me?

Dr. Eduard Acosta discovered an asteroid

large enough to cause an extinction-level event.

So what is the plan?

A gravity tractor.

That would deflect the asteroid through gravitational pull.

I'm sorry. I never wanted to burden you with this.

You're confident this will work?

Yes. You don't have to stay.

I can't leave, but if I stay,

no more secrets.

There was a burn test today.

- And how'd it go? - Perfect.

Not sure what they were testing, but they failed.

What the...?

You're right, Darius. The government's plan won't work.

You said the technology doesn't exist yet.

If you're so damn smart, invent it.

Come work with us.

Hi. Where can I put my stuff?

Okay. Uh, passport,

antibiotics, cell phone charger... ooh,

and the ambassador's cell number.

If you have any problems, he's a personal friend.

Mom, it's Africa, not Jupiter.

But I'm just a Skype away.

Okay.

What's happening?

I'm sorry. I should have told you.

Told me what?

Happy birthday.

Okay. Whoa, hey, there's fire here.

Oh. Sorry.

Sorry.

- Bad dream. - Yeah.

Bad night, apparently.

You all right?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I must have just conked out on the couch.

I'm still working on your birthday gift.

Oh.

But in the meantime,

gluten and dairy-free for the woman

that likes to live on the edge.

Thank you, baby.

Make a wish.

_

So Darius Tanz

left the embassy ball with a Pentagon flack

and a kid from MIT, and you think that's a story?

They had a secret meeting in his compound

in the middle of the night.

not The Washington Post.

We do not have the money to fund goose chases.

A Pentagon employee was murdered the next day.

My guy at Metro Police slipped me the file.

His name's Walter Carnahan, he was in satellite operations

with top security clearance.

- So what's the autopsy say? - There was none.

Someone's trying to keep this quiet.

The question is why?

_

Happy birthday, boss.

Thanks.

Older but not wiser.

Delivery just came for you, but there was no card.

Secret admirer?

Oh, yeah. You know me,

got them lining up out the door.

Thank you for the flowers.

What flowers?

Hey, I, uh, I also got you a little something.

You didn't need to...

No.

I did.

A4 security badge.

Oh, the way to a woman's heart.

If you're gonna be on the task force,

you need the highest level clearance.

So I can tell you everything.

The rocket test failed, Grace.

Oh.

I couldn't tell you before,

but now...

No more secrets.

No more secrets?

So...

Your birthday dinner.

You know, once upon a time, we had plans.

Mmm. Well, you just gave me the highest level clearance.

What would it look like if anyone thought we were...?

Yeah, I know, I know.

- We need to keep this professional, but... - Mm-hmm.

We could have a professional dinner.

Could we? Really?

Yeah.

Come on, I don't want you to be alone on your birthday.

Me, neither.

Yeah?

They're ready for you.

As we're all aware, the rocket test failed.

We can't launch a gravity tractor

up to the asteroid in time to divert it off its path.

But our planetary defense team has a viable

alternative plan.

Dr. Strauss.

Thank you, Deputy Secretary.

After reviewing the alternatives,

we believe that this is the next best option.

The IO Probe.

A NASA spacecraft

currently orbiting Jupiter.

The plan would be

to redirect it from Jupiter's orbit,

and propel it into the asteroid.

The impact

could alter its trajectory just enough

for it to miss Earth.

Throwing rocks

at an oncoming train, a bold strategy.

I'll be right behind you.

You have an issue with this plan?

Yes. In a word,

it stinks... That's two words, actually.

What Captain Planet here

fails to mention is that a high-velocity

kinetic impact could just as easily

smash our asteroid friend into several pieces...

Now you've turned one problem into ten.

It's raining asteroids, each of which

may cause cataclysmic damage.

I take it that you have a better idea?

You had it right the first time:

the gravity tractor.

Send it up, do a fly-by,

the mass of the GT pulls the asteroid off its trajectory.

No muss, no fuss,

- no loss of life. - Darius,

I just said, we don't have

- the technology... - Not yet.

All we need is a working EM drive,

and I can build it.

An electromagnetic drive?

You're insane.

You're not the first to say so.

What exactly is an EM drive?

Liam?

A rocket can only carry

so much fuel.

Right? So you get one big initial

push from the thrust, and that's as fast

as it's ever gonna go.

But with an EM drive,

the force is small but it's constant,

so it keeps accelerating,

getting faster and faster as it goes.

With an EM drive, we can get to the moon

in hours instead of days,

to Mars in a few weeks instead of months,

and to our asteroid friend here,

with just enough time for a gravity tractor...

You had it right the first time...

To save us all from extinction.

No one has ever built a working EM drive.

It violates the laws of Newtonian physics.

And-and Newtonian physics violated Aristotelian physics

back in the day, you know, laws were made to be broken.

I-I could drone on about

pilot wave theory and quantum vacuum fluctuations,

but seeing as we have approximately 181 days

left to live, I'd rather just go off and build the damn thing,

if you don't mind.

And what would it take to “build the damn thing”?

$2 billion.

To start.

Okay, a request that large would have to go through