Note:
The Byers quote at the beginning and the end of the
story is from Neil Gaiman's "the Sandman"

**********************************************

Byers is standing outside at night. He's staring up
at the darkened sky gazing at millions of stars.

BYERS (voice over)
"I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence I
think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving
in and going out. But from here I can pretend. I can
pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives
last longer than moments. Gods come, gods go.
Mortals flicker, flash, and fade. Worlds don't last.
Stars and galaxies are transient fleeting things that
twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust.
But I can pretend."
********************************************
LONE GUNMEN THEME SONG PLAYS HERE
********************************************
7 DAYS EARLIER
CUT TO - Interior VW Van

Byers is driving up a twisting mountain road, one
switchback after another. Langly is sitting shotgun
with his head hanging out the window, his face is
slightly green and he's obviously carsick. Frohike is
sitting in the middle. Jimmy is in the backseat but
his head is stuck in between the front seats to talk
to Byers.

JIMMY
"So let me get this straight. This chick has been on
the run from some government guys since 1989?"

LANGLY
"If I have to listen to this story again, I'm gonna
puke."

FROHIKE
"Not again. You're worse than a cotton candy filled
kid on a tilta whirl."

JIMMY
"But Byers has only seen her twice in 10 years. She's
like his one true love. It's not fair."

BYERS
"You're right Jimmy, it's not. And I don't understand
the universe. What unseen forces are out there
conspiring against me. Why would the universe bring
her to me only to take her away."

LANGLY
"Fate's a bitch."

FROHIKE
"Yeah, and we're her pups. You can't beat yourself up
over this Byers, it'll drive you crazy."

JIMMY
"Come on guys, fate's not all bad. It brought the 3
of you together. Think of all the people you've
helped. And it brought me to you. I mean, that can't
be a bad thing."

LANGLY (sarcastically)
"That's your opinion."

FROHIKE
"I still think this whole thing is a long shot."

Frohike pulls a xeroxed copy of a newspaper article
out of his pocket and reads the headline.

FROHIKE
"Power outages reported around Palomar Observatory.
California is a hell of a long way to go for a power
outage."

LANGLY
"Next thing you know we'll be driving to Alaska after
a report of snow."

BYERS
"You said her prints were all over the clipping. And
someone with her alias is working as a chemist at the
observatory analyzing meteor compositions."

FROHIKE
"Yeah, but why would she contact you now? She knows
how dangerous is it."

BYERS
"Maybe she needs our help. Maybe she's in trouble.
Maybe agents are onto her again."

LANGLY
"That's a lot of maybes Byers."
***********************************************
CUT TO - Palomar Observatory, California

The observatory sits atop a mountain in Cleveland
National Forest. The main building is hidden from
view. Only the white observatory dome can be seen
from a distance as it juts into the sky above the
tree-line. Besides the observatory, a handful of
local residents and several campgrounds call the
mountain home. A tiny convenience store down the road
is the closest thing resembling civilization.

The VW van is parked in the observatory parking lot.
The guys walk into the lobby.

The front desk is empty and most of the room is taken
up with a giant model of the solar system. Behind the
front desk, a hallway stretches off in either
direction. The faint sound of fingers dancing across
a computer keyboard can be heard.

BYERS
"Hello?"

The clicking sound stops and a few moments later a
young Chinese man walks into the lobby.

Chinese guy (speaks with a thick accent)
"May I help you?"

BYERS
"I'm John Byers."

Chinese Guy
"I'm Li (need last name) "

BYERS
"My associates and I are journalists. We're working
on an in-depth story about the daily lives of
astronomers. Are you the director?"

LI
"No, I'm a research assistant. Dr. Pederson is the
director. He didn't mention you were coming."

BYERS
"Actually, we didn't mention it either. I hope this
isn't an inconvenience."

LI
"No…no. Dr. Pederson will be thrilled. Please, wait
here while I go wake him."

Li leaves the lobby and walks down a hallway.

FROHIKE
"Wake him? Why the hell is he still asleep?"

JIMMY
"It's not dark yet."

While Frohike, Langly, and Byers wait impatiently for
Li to return, Jimmy examines the model of the solar
system. The planets range in size from a marble to an
enormous beach ball. Tentatively, Jimmy gives the
model a little push. He's delighted as it slowly
starts spinning.

LANGLY
"This story had better win us the Pulitzer."

BYERS
"She wouldn't have contacted us if she didn't think it
was important."

LANGLY
"Or if she thought we could do her dirty work for
her."

JIMMY
"Or maybe she just missed Byers and wanted to see him
again."

LANGLY
"God save me from hopeless romantics."

The planets eventually stop spinning and Jimmy gives
it another shove, a little too forcefully. The
planets topple from the model and scatter across the
floor.

Byers who usually keeps a tight rein on his emotions,
lashes out at Jimmy.

BYERS
"JIMMY!! Can't you keep your hands off things? Is
that so hard to do?"

JIMMY (looking like a lost puppy dog)
"Sorry."

Jimmy scrambles after the planets.

The tension that had been building in Byers since he
first received the newspaper clipping was now oozing
off of him like a physical force. He runs a hand
through his hair and adjusts his tie for the
thousandth time. He paces the room.

FROHIKE
"Go find your chickadee, we've got this covered."

BYERS
"You sure?"

FROHIKE
"As much as we'd love to see the joyful reunion, you'd
better get out of here before you make Jimmy cry."

Byers walks down the hallway. Jimmy manages to get
all the planets but one back onto the model. He's
holding a basketball-sized planet in his hands when
Dr. Pederson enters the lobby.

Pederson is a man in his 60s. He's wearing red
flannel pajamas and fuzzy neon green slippers. He has
a huge bald spot on his head that he tries to hide by
growing one side of his hair ridiculously long.
However, instead of covering the bald spot, it is
sticking straight up into the air. Jimmy, Langly, and
Frohike watch as Pederson animatedly whispers to Li on
the far side of the room.

FROHIKE
"Now that's one big ass cowlick."

LANGLY
"If I look like that when I'm his age, please shoot
me."

FROHIKE (glances at Langly's hair)
"Better get the gun now."

LANGLY
"At least I got more hair than you."

FROHIKE (wicked grin)
"You may have the hair, but I've got the ladies."

Pederson struggles to get his cowlick under control
and rushes across the room.

PEDERSON (talks 90 mph and doesn't give the LGM a
chance to interrupt)
"I'm Dr. Pederson. You're going to do a story on
astronomy!! This is wonderful. Why didn't you tell
me you were coming!! You know I've always thought
that the public would appreciate astronomy more if
they knew exactly what it is we did every day. All
the ever get to see are the shuttle launches and
astronauts but there's so much more involved."

Pederson stops talking, momentarily distracted by the
planet Jimmy is holding.

JIMMY (sheepishly)
"Here's your planet. It……uh….fell out of orbit."

PEDERSON
"This is Saturn. Did you know that if you could place
the entire planet on water it would float?"

JIMMY
"Really? A whole planet?"

PEDERSON
"Yes, isn't astronomy just full of interesting facts.
But, what are you gentlemen interested in?"

FROHIKE
"Everything. And this is Jimmy Bond."

Langly gives Jimmy a little shove toward Pederson and
they shake hands in a formal introduction.

LANGLY
"He's the guy to tell it to."

Jimmy looks startled then happily impressed with his
new responsibilities. He seems to stand up a little
taller.

FROHIKE
"We're just the photographers. Do you mind if we
wander around? Get a feel for the place?"

PEDERSON
"Wander away. Will you need me for a photo shoot?"

FROHIKE
"We'll let you know."

LANGLY (mutters quietly to himself)
"Yeah right."
***********************************************
CUT TO -
Interior of a small cramped laboratory.

Susanne Modeski is bent over a microscope. Her
clothes are casual. She's wearing khakis and a
sweater, under her lab coat. Her blonde hair is
pulled back off her face. Byers stands at the open
doorway and watches her. The look on his face is one
that says she's never looked more beautiful. It's as
if he's looking at a priceless work of art. She
finishes with the slide and pulls it out from under
the microscope. She turns around and sees Byers. The
slide slips from her fingers and shatters on the
floor.

SUSANNE (at a whisper)
"John?"

BYERS
"Sus….."

She puts a finger to her lips to silence him. He
feels like a fool for making a mistake and saying her
real name.

BYERS
"Holly."

SUSANNE
"Like the sugar."

BYERS (a small smile on his face)
"Like the sugar."

She takes his arm leading him into her office and
closes the door behind them.

SUSANNE
"What are you doing here?"

BYERS
"I got your message."

SUSANNE
"I thought you'd send someone else or you'd do your
work from D.C."

BYERS
"What's going on? Have they found you?"

SUSANNE
"No, not to my knowledge. This is about something
else. Something that's going on at the observatory."

BYERS
"What can I do to help?"

SUSANNE (smiles)
"You haven't changed. Always rushing in to the
rescue."

BYERS
"Neither have you. Always trying to save the world."

SUSANNE
"I never intended for you to come out here. This is
too dangerous for both of us…….but it is good to see
you."
********************************************
CUT TO - Palomar Campground

The campground is secluded from the main highway on a
road that runs in a loop. Several of the campsites are
occupied but the VW van is parked in a site as far
away from the other campers as possible. The
observatory dome is visible just above them about a
quarter of a mile away.

Jimmy is setting up his tent like an old pro. Frohike
is building a fire in a fire pit. Langly is fumbling
around with the poles to his tent, getting more and
more frustrated until he tosses them all into a heap
and joins Frohike by the fire.

LANGLY
"This can't be the 21st century if there are still
places without indoor plumbing. It's a known fact
that wilderness can drive people to insanity. There
are documented cases."

JIMMY
"Like Jack Nicholson in The Shining."

FROHIKE
"We're 2 and a half hours from L.A., how wild can it
be?"

Susanne and Byers walk into camp from a path that
leads from the observatory. Byers looks slightly
ridiculous in his suit and tie in these surroundings.
Frohike, Langly, and Jimmy all stop what they're
doing. Susanne nods at them in acknowledgement.

SUSANNE
"Thanks for coming. It's nice to see some familiar
faces again."

FROHIKE
"I bet, Mata Hari."

Jimmy walks over to her and shakes her hand, grinning
broadly.

JIMMY
"Hello Ms. Hari, I'm Jimmy Bond. It's great to meet
you."

She stares at him a long moment with a perplexed
expression on her face.

FROHIKE
"So what's all this about. Why'd ya drag us out
here?"

SUSANNE
"You've heard about the rolling blackouts in
California."

LANGLY
"Well, duh, who hasn't. You'd have to be dead not to,
the way the media covers the story."

SUSANNE
"I believe the energy shortage and rolling blackouts
are a cover up for the military testing a new weapon.
One that knocks out power and communications from a
distance."

Frohike and Langly look at her skeptically.

SUSANNE
"The black outs always coincide with days the
observatory is closed. Palomar is never one of the
intended blackouts but we have them anyway. And
they've been getting bigger. At first, it was only
the observatory, then it was within a few miles. The
last time it covered the entire community."

LANGLY
"Community of what? Squirrels? Maybe the electric
company didn't bother listing this area as part of the
blackouts because no one lives here."

FROHIKE
"I have to agree with Langly on this one, I mean, SO
WHAT? That's not a whole lot to go on."

BYERS
"I'd agree with you too except there's more to it.
Not only did the power go out but it interfered with
radio reception."

FROHIKE
"A simple power outage wouldn't cut out radio
reception."

BYERS
"Exactly."

FROHIKE
"The only thing that could cause power failure and
radio interference is electromagnetic radiation."

LANGLY
"But that's impossible, only solar flares give off
enough electromagnetic radiation to do that sort of
damage."

SUSANNE
"In 1989 a supposed solar flare knocked out power and
communications in Toronto, Canada for 10 hours."

LANGLY
"And what? You think it was the military taking their
new weapon out for a test drive?"

FROHIKE
"And even if the military was capable of producing
that kind of energy the sheer size of the generator
needed would be….."

BYERS
"About the size of an observatory."

SUSANNE
"And 50 miles from Toronto is the Golam Observatory
owned by the U.S. government."

BYERS
"The 1989 blackout was generalized over the entire
area, but in L.A. it's pin point specific. The
weapons more advance and more viable to test on a
larger scale."

FROHIKE
"And L.A. is their ground zero."

JIMMY
"I don't get it guys. What's the big deal about a
power outage? I always loved them as a kid. Getting
out the flashlights, telling ghost stories."

LANGLY
"No power means, no water, no mass transit systems,
computer systems shut down. The rat race comes to a
screeching halt. There'd be looting, riots, general
panic. Fun stuff."

BYERS
"You could bring a country to a complete standstill
without ever firing a gun."

FROHIKE (to Susanne)
"Have you got any proof?"

SUSANNE
"No, it's all circumstantial. That's why I thought
you could help."

LANGLY
"I knew we'd be doing the dirty work."

SUSANNE
"I wish I had more but I've done as much as I dared
without calling attention to myself. I've already
been at Palomar longer than what's safe. But…."

BYERS
"You're tired of running."

SUSANNE (nods)
"I'm sorry to get you involved but I thought the
American people deserved to know the truth."
************************************************

************************************************
CUT TO: Interior of the VW Van

Langly is sitting in front of the computer. Byers and
Frohike are on either side of him peeking over his
shoulder.

LANGLY
"I can't find any record of a new weapon on the DOD
site."

BYERS
"That doesn't mean anything. This could be so
classified it's beyond putting on record."

FROHIKE
"That's true. When's the next blackout scheduled for
anyway?"

Langly clicks away furiously at the computer keyboard.

LANGLY
"Day after tomorrow. It should be easy enough to
trace the electromagnetic signature back to it's
source."

FROHIKE
"What I don't get though, is this place should be
swarming with military."

LANGLY
"Yeah, or at least a few men in black."

BYERS
"Who's to say it's not. What's the background on this
Pederson? Someone on the inside has to know what's
going on."

LANGLY
"Already way ahead of you."

Langly looks at another lap top and pulls it over.

LANGLY
"Pederson, is a nobody. Complete harmless. Phd
Harvard. Worked on the SETI project for a while."

FROHIKE
"Mulder would love this guy."

LANGLY
"He's been here forever. Pretty low key career. He's
given a few lectures…on light pollution of all
things."

He punches a few more buttons on the computer. Byers
and Frohike wait and watch, hovering over his
shoulder.

LANGLY
"Damn, I'm good."

BYERS
"What did you find?"

LANGLY
"Well, it seems there is no record of our friendly
Chinese research assistant."

FROHIKE
"No record?"

LANGLY
"No VISA. No passport. He's not even on record as an
official member of the staff at the observatory."

FROHIKE
"That could mean anything."

LANGLY
"Get this. These are phone logs for his office
number. Every Tuesday for the past 6 months there
have been outgoing calls to Camp Pendelton."

FROHIKE
"That's a stone's throw from here."

BYERS
"He could be a military advisor."

LANGLY
"Or a rotten communist spy."

*********************************************
CUT TO - Observatory

It's the next morning. Langly, Frohike, and Byers are
wearing backpacks and decked out in outdoor wear.
They are standing outside the Observatory giving Jimmy
instructions.

FROHIKE
"You just keep Pederson busy while we're poking
around."

JIMMY (has a pen and a reporters notepad in hand)
"But can I write a story on what I learn?"

Frohike, Byers, and Langly exchange glances. Frohike
rolls his eyes. Langly shrugs.

BYERS
"Sure why not. We'll use it as an educational piece."

JIMMY
"This is so awesome. Thanks guys. I won't let you
down."

Jimmy marches off into the observatory like a man with
a mission. Susanne passes him as she heads out the
building. Byers, Langly, and Frohike meet her at the
door.

SUSANNE
"The trail I've seen Li using starts on the other side
of the observatory. You can't miss it. It winds
through the woods for about a mile and opens into a
valley."

FROHIKE
"And you're sure he goes down there every day for
lunch."

SUSANNE
"Like clockwork. I can't believe that he'd be in on
it though."

LANGLY
"Yeah, well, conspiracies do seem to follow you around
like the plague."

BYERS (to Susanne)
"We'll let you know what happens."

SUSANNE
"Be careful. You sure you don't want me to come
along?"

Byers shakes his head.

FROHIKE
"Besides, someone's gotta keep an eye on Jimmy."

Susanne nods and goes into the building. The guys
start towards the trail and see Jimmy and Pederson
struggling out the door of the observatory with a huge
metal sundial. Jimmy and Pederson both raise a hand
to wave and nearly drop the sundial. It takes them a
few fumbling steps to get a good grip on it again.

Byers raises his hand in a wave.

LANGLY
"Look at Mr. Wizard over there, a sundial? Please!
Why not bring back the 8 track while he's at it."
*****************************************
CUT TO- Forest Valley

Langly, Byers, and Frohike are hiding in the brush,
watching the clearing. A camera with a huge telephoto
lens hangs around Frohike's neck. Byers is holding
the long range sound amplifier. In the middle of the
clearing they see Li. He's pacing around nervously.
Langly takes a step forward to get a better view and
steps in something. He looks at the bottom of his
black Chuck Taylors.

LANGLY
"Crap."

Frohike glances at Langly's shoe and laughs as Langly
scrapes the bottom of his shoe on a tree stump.

FROHIKE
"That ain't from Lassie either."

LANGLY
"Yeah, well, you're full of it."

BYERS
"Guys, look."

Langly's shoe temporarily forgotten, the guys watch as
a young man in army fatigues walks into the clearing
towards Li. With their sound amplifier they eaves
drop on the conversation.

LI
"You're late."

MILITARY DUDE
"Sorry, traffic was killer. You got the money?"

Li pulls a thick envelope out of his pocket and hands
it to the military guy. Frohike takes a few photos of
the money exchanging hands.

LI
"I couldn't bring all of it, but I should have more
next week."

MILITARY DUDE
"That's fine. Maybe I'll have something for you by
then."

LI
"Me too."

MILITARY DUDE
"Same time?"

Li nods. The military guy pockets the money and walks
away in the direction he had come. Li wastes no time
in getting back on the trail and heading back towards
the observatory.
**********************************************
CUT TO - Convenience Store

Frohike, Langly, and Jimmy are eating supper in the
convenience store that also doubles as a diner. It's
mostly a convenience store, with rows of snack food
and camping gear. The diner consists of two tables
covered in plastic red checkered tables cloth wedged
between the window and an aisle of potato chips.

Byers walks into the store and sees them.

JIMMY
"So where's Ms. Hari?

FROHIKE
"Yeah, Byers, we figured you'd have a big date
tonight."

BYERS
"She's working. She has responsibilities."

LANGLY
"Yeah, to make our lives hell."

BYERS (furious)
"They have her hidden back in some closet of a lab.
Can you believe it? A scientist of her caliber."

FROHIKE
"Well, it's not like she wants a job that will call a
lot of attention to her work."

BYERS
"She shouldn't have to hide. It's demeaning.
Constantly picking up stakes and moving every few
months."

FROHIKE
"Byers, you've gotta realize, she's been doing this
for years. She knew exactly what the stakes were when
she got into this gig."

Jimmy reaches a long arm over to the aisle and grabs a
bag of potato chips. He rips into them and starts
eating. The guys all stop talking and glare at him.
Innocently, he offers them a chip.

JIMMY
"Want one?"

They ignore him.

LANGLY
"If Li is buying government secrets on this project,
this story could be BIG. I'm talking AP wire service,
New York Times. Front page of the Washington Post.
With our bylines on the cover. This could be THE
story guys."

FROHIKE
"Don't start counting new subscriptions yet. We still
don't know where the hell this weapon is hidden."

BYERS
"With the amount of electromagnetic radiation it gives
off, we'll be able to trace it easily enough during
the blackout tomorrow."

**********************************************
CUT TO: Campsite. The night of the blackouts.

Frohike, Langly, Byers, Jimmy and Susanne are gathered
around the open doors of the VW Van. Byers and
Susanne are dressed for funky poaching, all in black.
Byers is loading up a backpack. Frohike and Langly
are inside the van. Langly is punching away on the
computer keyboard. Frohike is tinkering with the
endless mass of wires that crisscrosses the van.
Jimmy is watching with a huge grin on his face. He
can barely contain his excitement.

JIMMY
"This is just like the huddle before opening kick
off!!"

FROHIKE
"Ok, we're wired and ready to go. No power outage
will be able to stop us with this baby."

Frohike pats the side of the VW van affectionately.

JIMMY (to Byers)
"You sure I can't come? I love stake outs."

BYERS
"No Jimmy, your job is too important. You keep an eye
on Pederson while Susanne and I watch the observatory
for Li."

Jimmy nods reluctantly.

BYERS (to Susanne)
"You ready?"

SUSANNE
"Ready."

Susanne motions to Frohike and Langly.

SUSANNE
"What about them?"

FROHIKE
"While you and Byers take your romantic stroll.
Langly and I will monitor the atmosphere for
electromagnetic radiation."

Byers and Susanne start to walk away from camp while
Langly and Frohike climb into their seats in the van.
Jimmy grabs his pencil and tucks it behind his ear and
picks up his notebook. Before everyone is out of
earshot he yells.

JIMMY
"GO TEAM!!!!"

************************************************
CUT TO: Observatory Deck

Pederson and Jimmy are on a deck just outside the back
of the observatory. Jimmy sits down in a chair and
gets out his reporters notebook. Pederson is holding
2 flashlights. He hands one of them to Jimmy.

PEDERSON
"You'll need this later."

Jimmy takes the flashlight and looks at it and at
Pederson suspiciously.
Pederson starts setting up an antique telescope.

PEDERSON
"This is an exact replica of the model Gallileo used."

He glances at his watch and stops what he's doing to
sit in a chair beside Jimmy.

PEDERSON
"We've got a few minutes yet."

JIMMY (suspiciously)
"Til what?"

Pederson ignores the question and launches into an
astronomy lesson. He leans back in the chair and
looks up at the sky.

PEDERSON
"The light you see from stars is really very old
light."

JIMMY
"Old light?"

PEDERSON
"The light left those stars thousands of years ago.
Looking up is looking into the past. See that star
right there, Deneb. It's 1600 light years away. The
light we're seeing is the way that star looked in the
year 400 A.D."

JIMMY (completely impressed)
"Wow. The stars are a time machine!!!"

PEDERSON (glances at his watch again)
"EXACTLY!! EXACTLY!!! Well put…but of course you ARE
the reporter."

Pederson picks up his flashlight off the ground and
checks his watch again. A few seconds later the
lights in the observatory go dark. Jimmy notices and
looks at the darkened building. Pederson doesn't
comment. He simply clicks on the flashlight he'd been
holding.

PEDERSON
"Now we can try the telescope. Just wait til you see
the Orion nebula. Now that is something to write
about."

********************************************
CUT TO - Interior VW Van

Langly and Frohike sit in the back of the van, their
eyes are glued to the computer screen. For once
Frohike is at the controls with Langly sitting beside
him peeking over his shoulder impatiently.

LANGLY
"Well, come on? What gives?"

FROHIKE
"Nothing."

LANGLY
"What do you mean nothing?"

FROHIKE
"Nada, zip, zilch. There's no electromagnetic
radiation coming from the observatory."

LANGLY
"You've gotta be kidding right?"

FROHIKE
"I wish I was. I've got this thing set to pick up
anything within a thousand mile radius."

LANGLY
"But why'd the radio signal go out. Only
electromagnetic radiation could cause the
disruptions."

FROHIKE
"Yeah well, this area is so rural they didn't bother
to set it up with a back up power source."

LANGLY
"So when the power goes out the radio goes out."

FROHIKE
"Cheap bastards."

LANGLY
"I knew it we shouldn't have trusted her. I KNEW
IT!!!"

************************************************
CUT TO: Outside the Observatory

Byers and Susanne are watching for Li. They are
sitting in the woods near the observatory. From their
vantage point they have a clear view of the entrances
and exits of the building.

They sit in a companionable silence.

He studies her face in the darkness. Her eyes are
scanning the area for any sign of movement. He sighs
and reluctantly tears his gaze away from her and
watches the observatory. The dome looming above the
trees reminds Byers of the poster in Mulder's office
of the UFO hovering in the sky. Susanne is his UFO.
What he's wanted so desperately to believe in for more
years than he cares to admit.

BYERS (whispering to himself as he looks at the
observatory)
"I want to believe."

SUSANNE
"In what?"

BYERS
"Never mind"

Susanne gives Byers a hard glance, trying to read his
expression.

SUSANNE
"I heard about your father. I'm so sorry."

BYERS
"Oh….uh….rumors of his death were highly exaggerated."

SUSANNE
"Oh?"

BYERS
"Long story."

SUSANNE (smiling)
"You and I seem to have a lot of those don't we."

BYERS (gently mocking tone)
"Now who's fault would that be? You're the one who
started it."

Susanne knew he was kidding but there was truth in his
words.

SUSANNE
"I did start this. Didn't I?"

BYERS
"Susanne, I didn't mean……"

SUSANNE
"I know, I know. But you're right….I did start all of
this. When I saw you that day, I never imagined….even
then, how far it would all go."

BYERS
"There's no way you could have known."

SUSANNE
"I've made so many mistakes in my life…..I don't think
I could live with your life being one of them."

BYERS
"It's not………I like my life. As hard as that is to
believe. God only knows where the three of us would
be if you hadn't walked into that computer show that
day."

SUSANNE (smiled)
"You three do make a great team. You make a real
difference. You may not believe that, but you do."

She takes his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. He
smiles and they look back to the observatory.
Despite the years that had past, the conspiracies
uncovered, and the innocence lost, he still wanted to
believe. He wanted to believe that he was making a
difference in the world. That the future would be
better than the past. That the good guys would
triumph in the end. And as childish as it sounded, he
wanted to believe in a happy ending.
*******************************************

*******************************************
CUT TO: Interior VW Van

Susanne and Byers open the door to the VW van and
climb inside.

FROHIKE
"See anything?"

BYERS
"Nothing."

FROHIKE
"Sounds about like what we saw."

LANGLY (to Susanne)
"Yeah, you got any other great leads you'd like us to
follow? Maybe an new government weapon that causes
earthquakes…Or no wait, I know…..tornadoes."

BYERS
"What are you talking about?"

FROHIKE
"There's no electromagnetic radiation coming from the
observatory."

SUSANNE (shocked)
"That can't be."

LANGLY
"Just like you were so sure your fiancee in Vegas was
on the up and up?"

Frohike elbowed Langly in the ribs to shut him up.

SUSANNE
"I don't know what to say. I apologize. I was so
sure. I don't understand."

Susanne steps out of the van. Byers watches her go
but turns back to Langly and Frohike.

BYERS
"If there's no electromagnetic radiation then what's
causing the blackouts around Palomar?"

FROHIKE
"Some sort of power surge. But dammed if I know
what's causing it."

LANGLY
"I knew this was going to be a wild goose chase.
There's no story here."

BYERS
"Regardless, something's going on here. Li is
obviously making cash payoffs to the military and
something is causing the power outages. We owe it to
Susanne to find out what it is."

Langly starts to open his mouth but Frohike elbows him
in the ribs before he can speak.

FROHIKE
"Walk your chickadee back to her place. Langly and I
will try and get a lock on the origin of the power
surge."

************************************************
CUT TO: Campsite

Langly and Frohike sit alone around the campfire.

FROHIKE
"We could go and check this thing out tonight. The
surge was coming from a power line less than a mile
from here."

LANGLY
"Forget it. I'm not traipsing around these woods in
the dark. We can go in the morning. Drag Ms. Mata
Hari along with us. I'm telling you I heard something
out there last night."

FROHIKE (sarcastically)
"I know, maybe it was Sasquatch."

LANGLY
"Fine, see if you're still laughing when you find the
bloodied remains of my sleeping bag."

They sit in silence and hear the sound of crushing
leaves and branches coming from the observatory trail.
At first it sounds like a small animal but the sound
continues to grow louder and louder the closer it gets
to the camp site. By the look of fear on Langly's
face he's imagining a giant bear barreling through the
forest cutting down everything in it's path. Even
Frohike starts to look a little alarmed. They
exchange glances and Frohike grabs the barbeque poker.
The "creature" comes into the light of the campsite.
It's Jimmy, completely out of breath. He puts his
hands on his knees taking deep breaths. Langly
breathes a sigh of relief. Frohike looks annoyed.

JIMMY (out of breath)
"Guys….you'll never believe it. I've got…..what do
you call it? A scoop."

FROHIKE (waving the poker at him)
"You're gonna have a whooped ass if you don't slow
down. You about scared Langly to death."

Jimmy glances at Langly and Frohike.

JIMMY
"Sorry. But guys, I just had to get over here to tell
you. Dr. Pederson knows about the blackouts."

LANGLY
"Well of course he knows about them. Everybody in the
damn area KNOWS about them."

JIMMY (shaking his head)
"No, I mean, he knew about them ahead of time. He
brought a flashlight with him out on the deck…he
hadn't done that yesterday. And he kept putting off
the astronomy lesson and looking at his watch saying
that we should wait a little longer. And when the
lights went out he wasn't at all surprised."

FROHIKE
"You're sure about this?"

Jimmy nods.

JIMMY
"I'm positive. So do your hacking thing Langly."

Langly sighs about to protest but hears an owl hooting
in the distance. Suddenly the idea of getting in the
VW van is incredibly appealing.

LANGLY
"Let's go."
*******************************************
CUT TO - Interior VW Van

Langly is sitting in front of a computer. Jimmy and
Frohike are on either side of him peering over his
shoulder.

LANGLY (looks at the computer screen)
"I think I went into the wrong line of work. Stay up
all night, sleep all day and get paid a million bucks
for it."

FROHIKE
"What'd ya find?"

LANGLY
"Cowlick deposited 1.2 million dollars into his bank
account last week."

FROHIKE
"A million bucks? From who?"

LANGLY
"It's untraceable. Cash. A payoff, you think?"

FROHIKE
"It's have to be. Where else would he be getting that
kinda cash. Li must have paid Pederson the money to
get access to the observatory."

JIMMY
"So he's in on it with the Chinese?"

LANGLY
"It looks like it."

FROHIKE
"Good call Jimmy."

JIMMY (smiling and getting excited)
"Wait till Byers hears this!!"

FROHIKE
"Somehow I don't think we should wait up for him
tonight."

JIMMY
"Let's go get him, this is big news."

Frohike sighs and Langly gets annoyed.

FROHIKE
"This will keep til morning."

LANGLY
"Byers is probably rounding 3RD BASE by now."

JIMMY
"3rd base?"

Jimmy thinks about it for a minute. His eyes grow
wide and a huge grin spreads across his face.

JIMMY (laughing)
"OOOOOooooooh. 3rd base. GO BYERS!!!"
*******************************************
CUT TO - Susanne's house

Susanne fumbles around with the matches, lighting a
candle while Byers holds a flashlight for her to see.

SUSANNE
"This happens all the time, you think I'd get used to
it by now. I'm just not used to being so cut off from
the world."

BYERS
"That's understandable. I know Langly wouldn't last
15 minutes unplugged."

Byers clicks off his flashlight as Susanne finishes
lighting several candles around the living room. He
glances around the room. The house is small, more of
a summer vacation cabin than a permanent home. A
small couch and a coffee table are in the middle of
the room. An overstuffed chair sits by the window,
draped across the seat is an well-worn quilt and an
open book, face down, marking its page. The rest of
the room looks more like an office. An open lap top
computer is on a desk. Beside it is a microscope and
a stack of files. The walls are lined with
bookshelves. All the books lined up neatly in rows.
Everything in it's place.

It's the first time they've really been alone in a
very long time. Both are standing in an awkward sort
of silence. Byers looks uncomfortable as if he's not
quite sure what he should say or do.

Susanne looks at him and smiles. The candlelight
reflects off the edge of a gold chain on his neck,
barely visible beneath his shirt collar. She reaches
out and picks it up pulling it out from his shirt. On
the end of it dangles the wedding band she'd given
him. She holds onto it.

SUSANNE
"I shouldn't have asked you to come with me that day."

BYERS (stunned)
"Why?"

SUSANNE
"Because, you've spent all this time wondering what
might have been. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Especially not you. You deserve a great deal more
than that."

BYERS
"So do you."

SUSANNE
"I've learned to accept it."

BYERS
"Have you? You should be making great discoveries,
winning the Nobel Prize. You should have family. Be
surrounded by people that love you. You shouldn't
have to live your life this way."

SUSANNE
"Since this whole thing started you are the only
person I've ever trusted."

Byers hesitates a moment before answering. The moment
of truth. A million thoughts run through his mind.
Of how fate tossed her into his life and altered it
forever. How he would not be the man he is today if
it wasn't for her. He wonders if that is why he loves
her and decides for once in his life the whys are
irrelevant.

BYERS
"And you're the only one I've ever loved…….you know
that….don't you?"

She nods. Her eyes are filled with tears. She takes
the chain off his neck and takes the ring off the
chain. Then she takes his hand and slips the ring
onto his finger.

SUSANNE
"Wear it."

BYERS
"Susanne?"

SUSANNE
"For tonight, please. No more regrets. Let's pretend
it's forever."

Byers looks at her and at the ring on his hand. They
kiss.
**************************************************
CUT TO: Outside a Utility shed.

The next morning.
Byers, Langly, Frohike, and Jimmy are breaking into a
utility shed near a power line. Frohike is cutting
the padlock. Jimmy keeps looking at Byers and
grinning.

JIMMY (winking)
"Good game last night huh?"

BYERS
"What?"

JIMMY
"You don't kiss and tell…that's cool."

Byers blushes and ignores him.

BYERS
"It still amazes me how far people will go for money."

FROHIKE
"1.2 million dollars will change a man."

LANGLY
"And people say freedom is priceless."

JIMMY
"Dr. Pederson seemed like such a nice guy. Maybe he
just thinks Li is working on his own project. I can't
believe he'd betray his country."

BYERS
"What have we told you Jimmy?"

JIMMY (quoting)
"Never let my emotions get in the way of a story."

They all walk into the darken shed. In the corner of
the shed is a generator with lines running from the
generator out the side of the shed attached to the
power lines. Frohike examines it closely.

FROHIKE
"This doesn't generate electromagnetic radiation.
It's a surge generator."

JIMMY
"You mean surge protector."

FROHIKE
"No, I mean surge generator."

JIMMY
"So what does it do?"

FROHIKE
"It starts a chain reaction in the power systems.
Overloads them one at a time, sending a surge along
the lines to the next relay station. It could easily
knock out all the electricity in southern
California…if he'd fix the damn wiring."

BYERS
"Li's setting up some sort of terrorist act? A power
outage of this size could result in a direct lost to
the economy in the billions of dollars."

FROHIKE
"This thing's been pieced together by someone who
doesn't know a hell of a lot about electrical
engineering. Got the thing set up on a cheap timer.
Looks like he's fumbled his way through it. He's
lucky he didn't fry his ass."

BYERS
"He must be timing trial and error testing on the same
nights as the rolling blackouts so it won't raise too
much suspicion."

JIMMY
"But it won't kill anybody?"

FROHIKE
"Technically no."

JIMMY
"Well, that's better than a bomb."

LANGLY
"Oh shut up Pollyanna."

BYERS
"We still need hard proof that he's the one behind it.
Frohike, you think you can adjust the generator so it
won't go off at it's usual time?"

FROHIKE
"Piece of cake. I can get the video camera and we'll
get the proof on tape."

JIMMY (catching on)
"Oh, so when the lights don't go out, he'll come out
here to see what's wrong?"

BYERS
"Exactly. We'll have proof for the story and stop an
act of terrorism."

FROHIKE
"Not bad for a days work, eh guys?"

**************************************
CUT TO: Utility shed

Later that night:

The guys are hidden behind stacks of equipment and old
boxes in the utility shed. Frohike has a video camera
to record the events. Langly is ready with back up
and has the camera. Byers is crouched behind the
boxes beside Jimmy. He's twisting the gold band on
his finger. Jimmy looks down and notices and Byers
quickly hides his hand from view.

BYERS
"He should be here any second."

A few seconds later the door opens and Pederson walks
in. He turns on the light and walks over to the
generator and starts fumbling around with the wires.

JIMMY (whispering)
"But I thought Li was the real bad guy?"

BYERS
"Shhhhh."

Pederson continues to tinker with the generator.
Jimmy gets antsy and can't sit still. Byers tries to
hold him back but Jimmy stands up.

JIMMY
"Why would you want to betray your country?"

Pederson jumps dropping his flashlight on the floor.
He looks around the darkened shed. Frohike, Langly,
and Byers all moan and get up from their hiding
places.

PEDERSON
"Jimmy? Is that you?"

Jimmy steps forward and turns on his own flashlight.

JIMMY
"Why? Why would you want to betray your country."

PEDERSON
"Betray my country, what are you talking about Jimmy?"

JIMMY
"This thing here will cut out the power to all of
Southern California."

PEDERSON
"So I've been found out."

FROHIKE
"You admit you're the one who built this thing?"

PEDERSON
"Yes."

JIMMY
"And you took a million dollars from the Chinese."

PEDERSON (confused)
"The Chinese?"

BYERS
"You deposited 1.2 million dollars in your bank last
week."

PEDERSON (laughs)
"That wasn't from the Chinese. I just got lucky in
Vegas."

JIMMY
"So you aren't selling the observatory off to let the
Chinese use it?"

PEDERSON
"I'm the only one using it as far as I know."

JIMMY
"But why would you want to hurt so many people.
Knocking out the power will cause riots and fry all
the computers and………hurt the economy."

PEDERSON (genuinely surprised)
"You think so?"

JIMMY
"That's what my friends say."

PEDERSON (shrugs)
"I don't give a damn about the economy. If people are
stupid enough to panic over a few weeks with no power
than they have serious problems. I mean, it's just a
little power outage, not the end of the world."

JIMMY
"Some people get scared when the lights go out. A lot
of people could get hurt."

PEDERSON
"People rely way too much on technology. It's sad
really. Think about Isaac Newton. He discovered the
secrets of gravity and what was he doing? He was
just sitting under a tree. From my calculations, it
would only take a month to get power restored."

FROHIKE
"And your point being?"

PEDERSON
"A month of truly dark skies. Is that too much to
ask? Do you realize that there are hardly any truly
dark places in the United States. At the rate of city
expansion, the stars could be completely obscured by
manmade light by the year 2050."

FROHIKE
"So let me get this straight, you did this because you
wanted it dark?"

LANGLY (sarcastically)
"We're definitely gonna win the Pulitzer with this
story."

PEDERSON
"Do you realize that all of astronomy is done now from
a desk in front of a blinking computer screen?"

LANGLY
"Of course, computer operating systems can analyze
data in a fraction of the time that it would take by
hand. You can learn a lot more by data generated by
computers than by those antique eye pieces you look
through."

PEDERSON
"Hogwash!"

Pederson walks out the door of the utility shed and
into the darkness of night. The others follow and
watch him. He leans back and points at the sky.

PEDERSON (demanding)
"Look at it."

Langly, Byers, Frohike, and Jimmy stare up at the
stars. For a long moment no one says a word.

PEDERSON (awestruck, almost at a whisper)
"Just look at it. There's no way a computer screen
can be more important than what I'm seeing now."

Jimmy is staring at the sky and smiling. Langly leans
over to Frohike and whispers.

LANGLY
"I told you wilderness makes people crazy."

BYERS (to Pederson)
"You know we can't let you do this."

Pederson looks at them and sighs and nods reluctantly
in agreement.

PEDERSON
"I know."

LANGLY
"But if you're the one behind this, who the hell was
Li paying off in the woods?"

******************************************
CUT TO - The Campsite

Frohike and Jimmy are packing up the VW Van. Byers
and Langly are talking to Li.

LI
"Dr. Pederson said you had something for me?"

BYERS
"He told us about your expired Visa."

LI
"Yes, my mother's one wish was for me to live in a
free country. So after I finished school I stayed on
here."

BYERS
"You miss her?"

LI
"Yes, I am trying to send her enough money to come
here as well."

LANGLY
"And you get a friend of yours to mail it for you?"

LI (nods)
"I am too afraid I will be deported if I used my name
and address to mail something back home."

BYERS (hands Li a piece of paper)
"This is the name of a man in L.A. who can get you a
social security card and forged birth certificates,
whatever other paper documents you might need. He's
expecting you."

LI (confused)
"Paper documents?"

LANGLY
"Forget about the beaurocratic paper. They only use
that to wipe their asses. You're in where it counts:
the computer systems. As far as the government is
concerned you're an official American citizen."

LI
"I'm an American citizen?"

BYERS
"Welcome to the United States."

LI (eyes filled with tears)
"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Li shakes Byers hand pumping it furiously again and
again.

Li (looks at the observatory dome in the distance)
"My statue of liberty."

At that moment a huge explosion erupts in the distance
beyond the observatory dome. Byers, Langly, Frohike,
and Jimmy all jump startled by the explosion and see a
rising cloud of black smoke and flames. Li doesn't
look the least bit surprised.

LI
"Dr. Pederson has dismantled the generator."

Li walks away humming the national anthem to himself.
Frohike and Jimmy start packing up quickly and Langly
joins them.

FROHIKE
"Let's get out of here before the cops show up."

LANGLY
"Yeah, Motel 6 has got the light on for me."

BYERS (looking around the camp)
"Pick me up at Susanne's when you're finished."

FROHIKE
"Sure thing, take as much time as you want."
************************************************
CUT TO - Susanne's house

The house is dark as Byers walks up the front steps.
He knocks on the front door. No answer. He waits a
few seconds and knocks again. He puts his hand on the
doorknob and turns. It's unlocked. He opens the door
- the house is dark.

BYERS
"Susanne?"

He reaches over and flips on the light switch. The
house is completely empty. No furniture, no nothing.
It's as if no one has ever lived there at all.

She's gone.
*********************************************
Byers is standing outside at night. He's staring up
at the darkened sky with it's millions of stars.

BYERS (voice over)
"I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence I
think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving
in and going out. But from here I can pretend. I can
pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives
last longer than moments. Gods come, gods go.
Mortals flicker, flash, and fade. Worlds don't last.
Stars and galaxies are transient fleeting things that
twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust.
But I can pretend."

Byers gaze goes from the stars to his hands. On his
left hand is the gold wedding band. He looks at it
and closes his eyes.

THE END