Salvation (2017) s02e03 Episode Script

1 - Previously on Salvation - What's your name? - Joe Riggs.
- What do you do, Joe? I'm an electrician.
I don't even work for Tanz.
What if this wasn't an accident? Joe, this lady seems to think you're dead.
RE/SYST is assembling their own asteroid mitigation project with 30 scientists from around the world.
RE/SYST has Tess, now Liam and-and Tanz? What aren't you telling us? If you want to know my secrets, I need to know yours.
- I used to work for Darius.
- Tess? You created the software for one of the most advanced learning computers in the world? He fired you? I want things to be normal between us.
This is the new normal, Darius.
Detective Alonzo Carter.
Investigating the disappearance of Claire Rayburn.
Doesn't he see police have more pressing matters? Claire's my sister.
I'm seeing her everywhere.
The guilt of carrying this secret is making me insane.
And what exactly is your plan? A rail gun.
What if I could get access to the Maxwell Collider? - We could convert - "We"? But I can't do it without you.
I am still the president.
And I am going to take back the White House.
He's got an army waiting in the wings.
All we can do now is prepare.
Prepare for what? War.
We're ready, Mr.
President.
Good.
Just hope Mackenzie isn't.
A little heads-up would've been nice, Harris.
I didn't expect him to show up at your house.
Well, he did, asking all sorts of questions: when was the last time I saw Claire Rayburn, what was my relationship with her, what was your relationship with her.
Look, I'm sorry you had to go through that, - but don't worry, Detective - Carter.
Yes, Detective Carter will move off this.
With everything that's happening, it can't be the D.
C.
Police Department's priority.
It's not the department's priority, it's his.
She's his sister, Harris.
Somehow, he failed to mention that salient fact.
He's coming by to collect her things.
- Today.
- Today? With all the hell that's breaking loose? Okay, just hand them over and move on.
And remember, there's no body.
And if there's no body, there's no crime.
Well, it's been a rough couple of weeks, wouldn't you say? Take her down! Take her down! Damn it, Harris, how did this happen? I thought we had eyes on all corners of the city.
We do.
After he raided those Army bases, we expected him to roll in with tanks and armored Humvees.
Instead, he showed up at the Supreme Court in an UberX, with two guards and a team of lawyers.
Yeah, which nobody in this room could have predicted.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, thank you.
Thank you.
We must not shrink from honestly and boldly confronting the conditions that are in our country and in the world today.
Now, not since Lincoln and Davis has this land been divided by two presidents.
And never, never in the history of our great nation have two presidents both laid claim to the same office.
My team has filed an emergency writ with the United States Supreme Court.
And as the testimony will soon prove, my removal from office was not only unconstitutional, but it was criminal.
Now, here, in these hallowed halls, this matter can now finally be put to rest once and for all, both legally and peacefully.
Unbelievable, he just claimed the moral high ground.
Now, I am the only one, the only one, that can save us from this impending Armageddon, and rest assured that I do have a plan that will stop the asteroid.
Thank you, thank you.
And as for the criminals currently residing in the White House, Pauline Mackenzie, Darius Tanz and Defense Secretary Harris Edwards When the world finally learns the truth, you will pay dearly for what you have do He blew the dog whistle and the whole pound turned up.
Now's our chance, Madam President.
Send out the troops, arrest him.
No.
That's exactly what he wants, to be arrested on live television.
We come on tanks a-blazing Soviet Bloc style, and we're only feeding his narrative.
There won't be a narrative once he's behind bars.
Madam President, we have no choice but to submit to the rule of law.
We need to win through proper legal channels in order to maintain our legitimacy.
Otherwise, yeah, we-we risk losing the hearts and minds.
Hearts and minds? Rule of law? This isn't some philosophical debate.
The very fate of our democracy is at stake here, Madam President Gentlemen.
Grace.
You're my senior advisor.
Advise.
I think the vice president is right.
The rule of law shouldn't be the first thing out the window, it should be the last.
Get me the White House Counsel.
They're gone.
When did this happen? As soon as Bennett's speech hit the airwaves.
Darius, I can't supervise a project if there's no one here to supervise.
So the Army Corps of Engineers pulled out? Just like that.
Every last one of them.
And the laborers went with them.
On whose orders? The C.
O.
of Fort Gregson.
He's received conflicting orders from Mackenzie and Bennett, and now his team is standing down until they know who the legitimate president is.
- Insane.
- Darius.
I have six miles of tunnel to overhaul, and just a few weeks to get it done, if you want that rail gun operational in time to divert the asteroid.
You'd better pray that Supreme Court decision goes your way.
It will, it has to.
- Damn it.
- Sorry.
You have a meeting with the White House Counsel - in the Cabinet Room.
- Meetings.
Meetings, insufferable meetings.
Jillian the man who died in the Ark, Joe Riggs you said he wasn't who he claimed to be.
- Yes.
- So who is he? Find out.
So, by crashing these canisters into the asteroid, we can paint a broad section of the surface white, which would change its thermal properties and therefore alter its trajectory.
Cosmic paintballs? The asteroid has such low gravity that most if not all of your graffiti paint's gonna get lost in space.
Mr.
Cole, it's your team's turn to wow us.
Happy to oblige.
It is simple.
We're gonna construct a solar sail.
And with the pressure of sunlight and the reflections of the photons, it will blow the asteroid off its course, like a a sailboat catching an ocean breeze.
Simple? And how are you planning to dock this sail - on a rotating asteroid? - We're not.
We're gonna dock it on the gravity tractor, which is propelled by the EmDrive, - which is already up there.
- Which I engineered, by the way.
So, we're gonna reprogram the GT's EmDrive and turn it from an engine into a magnet.
But then the asteroid's iron core will pull the entire gravity tractor right into it.
Exactly! Which is why we need the sail.
Right? 'Cause it will counterbalance the forces, thus pulling the asteroid off its course.
Okay, imagine a cruise ship.
It needs a tugboat to pull it into port.
If the tugboat has no engine, it crashes into the cruise ship.
But give that tugboat a sail a solar sail, in our case - and voilà.
- "Voilà"? You'll need a sail thousands of miles wide to generate the force necessary.
How are you addressing that problem? It's a hurdle, frankly, which I've raised, by the way, more than once.
The time for theoretical debate is over.
Samson will be here in 120 days.
The clock is ticking.
Each team has 24 hours to put forward a workable model of your respective plans.
The winner with the most viable plan will take command of the entire task force.
Roland Cavanaugh, White House Counsel.
Mr.
Vice President, Ms.
Barrows, we haven't had the pleasure until now.
On what basis does Bennett make his legal claim? Unlawful seizure of the Oval Office.
He's claiming that the four of you orchestrated a coup.
That Harris Edwards kidnapped him at gunpoint.
That you, Madam President, faked your own death.
And that Claire Rayburn was murdered and you're covering it up.
Yes, we removed and detained Monroe Bennett because he was a criminal who illegally seized power by poisoning a sitting president.
And Claire Rayburn? She's a fugitive, as far as we're concerned.
Well, Bennett's team has issued an emergency writ with the Supreme Court, which they have granted in pursuit of Supreme Court Rule 11.
"Is of such imperative public importance "as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination.
" Perfect.
A man with no regard for the rule of law is using the law to steal the country out from under us.
You have to applaud his audacity.
Forgive me if I don't applaud the man - who conspired to murder me.
- An accusation which has no actual evidence, unfortunately.
Because Bennett destroyed it.
So it's a case of he said, she said.
Let's cut to the chase, Mr.
Cavanaugh.
Are you saying we're going to lose? 'Cause I have a team of Army Corps engineers that just walked off the job and no one to build the only thing that's gonna save this sorry planet.
If we lose the government, we lose the rail gun project.
We all go kaboom.
I can't lie.
The facts aren't good.
The law is tricky.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment provides for the vice president to be sworn in upon the death or incapacitation of the president, and he was.
Our best defense will be that Bennett gained the Oval Office through unclean hands.
Well, they were as dirty as it gets.
We have nothing to hide.
All we need to do is tell the truth.
Well, that's good, because Bennett's team - just subpoenaed all of you.
- What? We're testifying under oath before the Supreme Court? Can they even do that? They're the Supreme Court.
They can do whatever the hell they want.
Be prepared to talk about everything, including the missing piece, Claire Rayburn.
My friends, we're going to war, just not the way we thought.
If we lose, we lose everything.
Lying to the Supreme Court.
Tsk, tsk.
Such a bad girl.
But once you've murdered someone, - I guess all bets are off.
- Get out.
I'm sorry, Ms.
Barrows.
I can come back.
Oh, no.
Uh, so sorry, Ella.
What was it you wanted? There's a Detective Alonzo Carter, White House Security.
Says you have an appointment.
Send him up.
Vice president's office in the attic? That's a first.
Status quo and I never really got along.
You wanted to see me? What kind of numbers are we talking about with Bennett? Forces, weapons? Between the Army and Marines, a dozen generals that we know of, and he stripped three regional bases clean: ordinance, DPVs, fuel supplies.
They're clearly preparing for anything.
You mean if the court decision goes against them? Well, I'm not one to fathom the mind of a recalcitrant narcissist.
I'll leave that insight to you.
Finally, a compliment.
Look, Darius, we have to work together.
I accept that.
Do you? Yes.
Good.
'Cause I need access to micro-battery technology that DARPA's been developing.
A stealth jet, DARPA tech.
You know, whatever happened to simple requests like paper clips and more toner? Mr.
Secretary, I need to figure out how to get those nukes back from RE/SYS and stop Samson with a rail gun that doesn't yet exist.
So, if I seem less than engaged with your little Game of Thrones, well, it's because I have to be.
Now, can I get that technology or not? For what purpose? I have a plan to evict RE/SYST from Tanz.
If we lose the government, I'm gonna need to get Tanz back and Liam to build that rail gun.
Okay.
You'll have it.
Is Grace all right? That's a vague question.
I get the feeling that the two of you are withholding information.
Nothing that concerns you, Mr.
Vice President.
Looks like she left in a hurry.
Was a crazy day for everyone.
Right.
Ah.
Claire wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but you don't get to be senior advisor to the president unless you hurt a few people along the way.
Isn't that right, Ms.
Barrows? That's a cynical view of the world.
Maybe.
Maybe.
Well, this used to be her night-light.
Would you believe Claire was afraid of the dark? - Look, Detective, I, uh - Alonzo.
Alonzo.
I wish I could be of more help.
Well, that's good to know 'cause you may be hearing from me again.
What the hell? It's unbalanced.
The solar wind is too weak - and the EmDrive is too strong.
- Such negativity.
All we need to do is improve the efficiency of the sail.
That's it.
No, all we need to do is go back to the drawing board.
But we haven't even explored multiple sails or carbon nanotubes.
Yeah, or maybe an angel will flutter down and spirit the asteroid away on little rainbow wings.
How about that, huh? Okay, we're losing time we don't have.
Show of hands who wants to pursue Liam's solar sail plan? And who wants to scrap the idea and start over? Score's three to three, Alycia.
You're the deciding vote.
I'm with Liam.
Let Tess run the numbers.
Where are you going? Well, since you two lovebirds already seem to have saved the world, I'm gonna go grab an espresso.
Hey, Croft, stop.
Why are you being such a prick in there? Because I can't stand to see your little schoolboy crush jeopardize the entire human race.
Oh, what the hell are you talking about? I don't trust her.
She's a snake.
And if you think Jillian was a distraction, wait until she slithers her way into your heart.
Nate, thanks for helping me cut through the red tape to track down Joe.
Or whatever his name really is.
I owe you one.
Working at the Pentagon has its perks.
And it was the closest I could get to a date with you, seeing as you have a boyfriend.
I do.
Hey, you okay? Just having a sense memory of my grandmother's open coffin.
Dr.
Mauer? - Who's asking? - Jillian Hayes.
- From the White House.
- Yes, of course.
Sorry.
As you can imagine, it's been rather insane the last few weeks.
What happened to all these people? Lost hope.
Suicides, overdoses, people getting shot trying to hoard supplies.
You're here about case number? B-6138.
Well, that one's just been claimed.
Claimed? By who? Said he was his brother.
He had all the proper paperwork.
Um Can we get a copy of the autopsy report? For the vice president.
Certainly.
Got to admit, this one was peculiar.
Um, peculiar how? Well, there was a chip behind his ear.
Some kind of implant.
Uh, the kind they put in pets to track or I.
D.
them.
But not humans.
At least, not usually.
Do you still have it? No.
Everything goes with next of kin.
But there's a photo of it in the file.
This is it? Everything that was in Claire's office? Mm.
It's what I was given.
I got you what you wanted.
It's time to give me what I want, Mr.
President.
Tell me everything you know about what happened to my sister.
Now, you said that after President Mackenzie came out of hiding and received the backing of the Joint Chiefs, she departed the Pentagon garage at what time? Uh, 2:30 p.
m.
And you and Secretary Edwards followed after her? Yes.
Straight to the White House.
Now, according to the White House logs, you and Secretary Edwards arrived there over an hour later.
Yes, that's right.
Ms.
Barrows and I stayed back to strategize how best to inform Congress of the coup.
Is that your memory, Ms.
Barrows? Yes.
Okay.
Now, let's, uh, talk about the missing key witness, Claire Rayburn.
When was the last time anyone saw her? Several hours prior.
It seems Ms.
Rayburn is the key to this whole puzzle.
Any idea as to her whereabouts? She's in the wind.
Darius, you're not gonna believe this.
What are you doing? Building a drone decoy.
To save the world.
You know, the usual.
I got the autopsy report on Joe Riggs.
Well, who isn't Joe Riggs.
He had a implant in the side of his neck.
What do you think it means? I don't know.
Yet.
Jillian, blow this photo up.
See who makes this chip.
How many were sold.
And to whom.
Okay.
Good work.
Darius, any word from Liam? No.
But I'm hoping to make contact.
Soon.
It's so hard when you love someone and you know they're out there but you can't be with them.
I can only imagine.
Yeah.
No, Your Honor, I have no knowledge of Claire Rayburn's whereabouts.
I have no knowledge of Claire Rayburn's whereabouts.
That's a lie.
I killed her and covered it up.
You're gonna crack like an egg.
Ms.
Barrows.
We need to have a little talk.
Detective, I gave you everything I had.
Did you? Okay.
'Cause a few choice facts were omitted from our friendly conversation.
Like? Like my sister had an intimate relationship with Harris Edwards.
So did you.
I'm sorry, why is my business your business? Because Harris Edwards is a person of interest.
Well, I would trust Secretary Edwards with my life.
I bet you would.
He's an honest man.
He certainly looks the part.
Firm handshake, steady gaze, like all the best liars.
If you've already made up your mind about him, what do you expect to learn from me? Well, I have a witness who believes Claire was murdered by Harris Edwards in order to silence her.
Who would believe that? Other than Monroe Bennett.
Secretary Edwards abducted Bennett.
Legally detained, not abducted.
Let's leave the semantics up to the Supreme Court.
The day she disappeared, Monroe Bennett was abducted at gunpoint by Secretary Edwards and an unidentified man who may have been a CIA operative.
Any thoughts on who this Mr.
X might be? FYI, I have skills other than body disposal.
I love you.
Detective, you want to know the truth about Claire? You don't want Harris Edwards.
You want me.
You better be in bed, Liam, like a good little prodigy.
Come on, kid.
A dragonfly at night, that's got to raise your antennae.
Holy crap.
Darius? Liam, I know you're under a news blackout in there, but things have gone from bad to worse out here, and you're the only one who can do anything about it.
To stop RE/SYST and take control of those orbiting nukes, we have only one option, destroy Tess.
She's the one controlling those nukes.
This chip contains a virus that'll do just that.
All you have to do is upload it to the server in Tess's control room.
- The virus will take care of the rest.
- Uh, yeah.
I know what to do to solve the solar sails.
Okay, so these new calcs seem spot-on, but the simulations still fail.
Why? Because the sail's too small.
Size does matter, but not as much as we think.
What do you mean? Well, if solar radiation is so weak it requires a sail the size of the moon, maybe we need a different source of radiation.
One that we can manufacture and control.
- Like a space laser.
- Yes.
It's expensive but it's doable.
It would give us all the energy we need.
Exactly.
Solar sails, space laser by themselves, nothing much; put them together, - and you've got magic.
- Holy crap.
You're a genius.
That is amazing.
Sorry.
I'm not.
Look, I don't believe you.
Your sister knew she was about to be indicted.
Is it so hard to believe she might want to disappear? For poisoning the president of the United States.
And for putting a hit out on me, and several others who didn't serve her ends.
You see this? A homeless guy who thought his rusty box cutter was Excalibur dug it into me.
No big deal, but my sister went ballistic.
Next thing I know, Pauline Mackenzie's personal physician is at my door.
My sister recruited the president of the United States to help her baby brother, a nobody cop.
That's who Claire Rayburn is.
She might be a good sister, but she's also a traitor and a murderer.
I know a killer when I see one, Ms.
Barrows.
And when I find out who killed my sister, God help them.
Thanks for the coffee.
Alycia, th-this isn't real.
I We're just locked down here together.
- I've got a girlfriend.
- So do I.
And a boyfriend.
But they're not here and we are.
Okay, um I'm kind of engaged.
No worries.
We're good.
I call dibs on rewriting the code for the beta test.
You round us up some caffeine.
It's gonna be tight to get this ready by morning.
Hey, Liam.
We did it.
If we can get this approved, we can stop that damn space rock.
Liam, what are you waiting for? Is it a bad time? - So this chip was in Joe's neck? - Yeah.
The NSA wasn't able to determine the manufacturer.
It was sold on the black market, unable to trace.
It's definitely a tracker, an advanced one at that.
Someone didn't want that Ark to take off so badly that they planted Joe on the inside, and and almost killed everyone in the process.
So you're saying that Joe, who isn't Joe, was the saboteur.
Claire's brother was here.
Harris, I feel like I'm losing it.
He's putting together the pieces quickly about me, you, my father.
I can't stop thinking about what I did.
I can't I can't lie under oath.
I can't.
That's exactly what you have to do.
The truth will set Bennett free and put the rest of us in prison.
Darius and Mackenzie could lose the government.
Grace, sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons.
But who decides what's wrong or what's right? Who made us God? I need you to pull yourself together.
We have to testify tomorrow.
Get some sleep.
You're whispering.
Harris, is someone there? I'll see you tomorrow.
That was Grace? Yeah.
You two had a thing.
Yeah.
Now it's over? Jillian? And me.
Darius, what's going on? Grace, can we talk? I'll be upstairs.
So you're saying Joe was part of some conspiracy in the Ark? Yes, it was sabotage.
My construction for the Ark was sound.
And that's why you're here, at 1:00 a.
m.
, the night before we testify in front of the Supreme Court.
You want absolution? Okay.
- Great.
- I almost killed you, Grace.
Do you know how haunted I've been by the possibility that I almost killed you? Darius, I know what it's like to be haunted You did what you had to do keeping us down there in the Ark.
Please don't torture yourself anymore.
Grace I'm not the only one who's tortured, am I? Is there anything you want to tell me? No.
Darius.
I forgive you.
Sometimes the hardest thing is being able to forgive ourselves.
Can you keep track of all the lies you've told since you killed me? What? No.
Why do you think we're here? Because I've lost my mind.
Because you've lost your way.
But that day, on this very spot, you knew exactly who you were and what you had to do.
If you really believe you did the right thing, and you'd do it again, then do it.
I did what I had to do.
But will you, Grace? and the world faces its greatest existential threat.
Hello.
We have your family.
Just remember that.
I know.
in the midst of highly extraordinary circumstances which require a shift from ordinary protocol.
I remind you that when you are called to testify The canisters now orbit the rock instead of crashing into it.
Pressurized cold jets Liam? What the hell are you doing? I was poisoned by my own vice president in a naked grab for power.
And once he had that power, he used it to cover up all evidence validate this claim, Claire Rayburn, seems to have mysteriously vanished.
Now, Ms.
Barrows, let's hear from you.
- State your name for the record.
- Grace Barrows.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? You're going to kill Tess? Have you gone mad? It is the only way to disarm those nukes.
And then we can all get the hell out of here, and restore the world to some kind of order.
Order? An asteroid is coming, Liam.
The world's going to be in chaos until we stop it.
And we're on the verge of being able to do that.
- We won the bake-off.
- We did? Yes.
RE/SYST had Tess analyze all the results.
Our beta test showed a 93% chance of success.
The other teams weren't even close.
Darius put you up to this, didn't he? You're gonna do the bidding of Darius Tanz instead of saving the world? Liam, you're loyal to a man who isn't loyal to anyone but himself.
No.
No.
He's changed since you knew him.
He's changed even since I've known him.
Whether or not you agree with their methods, RE/SYST just gave us the resources to stop that asteroid.
We've got the greatest scientists in the world here, all ready to do our bidding.
You disarm those nukes, you dismantle the best weapon we have forced international cooperation.
It's time to be your own man, Liam Cole.
President Mackenzie was being dosed with lethal levels of mercury.
So you're testifying under oath that Monroe Bennett tampered with the president's medication? Not Bennett.
It was his advisor, Claire Rayburn.
These are very serious charges against someone not here to defend herself.
- I realize that, Your Honor.
- Do you have any information as to Ms.
Rayburn's current whereabouts? No, I don't.
Claire Rayburn is in the wind.
Liam, there you are.
Come, come, come.
Liam, congratulations.
The 3-D printer just spit out the beryllium fabric prototype for the solar sail.
What do you think? I, uh I think, um I think we're gonna save the world.
These are very serious charges against someone not here to defend herself.
Do you have any information as to Ms.
Rayburn's current whereabouts? No, I don't.
Claire Rayburn is in the wind.
Following Grace Barrows' dramatic testimony, the justices retired You rang, 'Lonzo? What you need? Other than a different planet to live on.
I need this small fry decrypted.
Just give me the bad news.
Our White House Counsel just got a call from a trusted source.
The justices seem split down the middle, four-four.
Chief Justice Cheng is the swing vote, but he was a Mackenzie appointee and appears to be leaning our way.
Okay.
Let's not pop any champagne yet.
Okay.
All right, but when we do, I'm buying.
Hey, it's all over, Grace.
Soon, we can finally put this behind us.
I hope you're right.
The latest and greatest.
Washed up on the Potomac this morning.
Another suicide? Not unless she shot herself and then dumped her own body.
That's Claire Rayburn.
Still no word from Liam? Do you think he's in danger? Worse.
I think he feels safe.
The White House and Congress are under siege.
The Judicial branch is in disarray.
This chaos only proves our point.
That the world needs us more than ever.
Take her down! Take her down! Jessie.
Everything okay out there? No.
I'm sorry, but they have my family.
What was that? We are still awaiting word from the FBI and the White House as far as loss of life, extent of damage and possible motive for this bombing, but with the court divided four to four, - and Chief Justice Martin Cheng - Monsters.
Soulless monsters.
They found Justice Cheng.
He's alive, but in critical condition and on his way to D.
C.
General.
- My God.
- You're live on all channels - in ten minutes.
- Right.
This needs to be more than a reassuring speech.
We need civilians off the street and a strong military presence around the entire district.
Lines are being drawn.
- Battle lines.
- Forget battle lines.
The first shots have just been fired on social media.
from President Monroe Bennett.
Today, terrorists have declared war on America.
And those terrorists are Pauline Mackenzie and Darius Tanz.
They knew that Chief Justice Cheng was gonna rule in my favor, and so they put out a hit on him.
They are coming for me next, but I will not run.
With your help, I will stand, and I will fight.
We will win this fight in the streets, and we will take back our country.
Stand by, await instructions and may God bless the United States of America.
Bennett wanted chaos, so he created it himself.
- This was his plan all along.
- It's time to call out the National Guard.
Get tanks and patrols on every street and set a perimeter.
Everything in a ten-block radius at the White House is a no-go area.
Yes, Mr.
Secretary.
See to it.
See to it now.
This is Bennett's Fort Sumter.
For the first time since Abraham Lincoln, this country is going to war with itself.