Weaver is looking happy around him. He is in an unknown house. He walks out into the garden and hears a noice. He turns.
Weaver: Linda?
A skitter attacks him. He wakes up on his desk, inside the school. It was all a dream.
Tom: Captain? You okay?
Weaver: I'm good.
Tom: Colonel Porter's here.
Weaver: Send him in.
Outside.
Hal: Hey, Ben, you out here?! You're gonna miss lunch!
Ben is practicing with a rope.
Hal: Look at this. I remember when your idea of exercising was reorganizing dad's bookshelves.
Hal looks down and reaches for a chronometer.
Hal: Two hours and fourty minutes. What, are you padding your stats?
Ben: Uh M-must have hit the button before I came out.
Hal: Everything's all right, huh?
Ben: Yeah. Sure. Um, Let's eat.
They walk away.
Inside the court ward, people are working.
Inside.
Porter: I've just done a perimeter review of your preparations, and you've both done a hell of a job keeping your troops motivated. Second Mass looks like it's locked and loaded.
Tom: Well, the Skitters know where we are. The smart move now is to stay one step ahead.
Porter: Weaver, where do we stand right now?
Tom: So, we scouted the roads west of Gardner. As of last night, they were all still clear.
Porter: Dan, when's the last time you slept?
Weaver: I'm fine.
Porter: That wasn't the question.
Weaver: Well, it's not like anybody's getting any rack time around here. Tom's right. School's compromised. We need to pull up stakes.
Porter: Most times I'd agree, but the situation on the ground has changed. Spotters tell me the Skitters are all pulling back. They're converging on that structure over Boston.
Weaver: Regrouping.
Tom: Clearing the field of battle? Could be the first step in launching a new offensive.
Porter: I've been in contact with the resistance in L.A. and Chicago. It's the same story all over, and we're not waiting for them to make the next move. The timetable for the coordinated attack on that structure has been moved up. In four days, we're taking this war to them.
Weaver: All right.
Walking in the corridors.
Tom: Four days -- that's very short notice.
Porter: Can't afford any delay. Every time these bastards change tactics on us, we end up getting hurt bad. Listen, Tom, I want you to take a scout into the city tomorrow. Identify secure routes for your vehicles, give me one last good eyeball recon on that structure.
Weaver: Downtown's a long haul. We've got to have units closer in.
Porter: We did have units closer in. 7th Mass started to pull back, the aliens hit 'em hard. Terry Clayton may have been a son of a bitch, but he wasn't lying about the 7th.
Tom: They're gone?
Porter: Yep, and we've lost contact with the 4th and the 5th. But the attack plan remains the same -- four units, one assigned to each leg of the structure. We blow those demo charges simultaneously, the structure collapses. Which brings me to the issue of demo and high explosives. How we doing on that?
Weaver: The raw materials aren't a problem, but we've stalled on the build.
Tom: Our people don't have the most expertise in the making of, uh, bombs -- something that I normally take comfort in.
Weaver: Well, we might have caught a break.
They walk into the infirmary.
Tom: How's the patient?
Anne: Recovering. And reminding me every day why I specialized in pediatrics.
Tom: Desperate times, desperate measures.
They gather around Pope who’s eating in bed.
Porter: Who the hell is this?
Pope: Name's Pope. You must be Porter. I'd stand and salute, but, um…
Porter: Isn't he the ex-con that fired on your unit?
Pope: That is so three weeks ago.
Weaver: Save the bull. Tell him what you told me.
Pope: I hear you're looking to drive a truckload of high-test into that Skitter palace downtown. That sounds like one tricky piece of demolition work.
Porter: And you know something about demolition?
Pope: A thing or two. You know, around the water cooler.
Porter: That makes you some kind of expert?
Pope: Around my water cooler? Yes, it does. Listen, chief, you do this thing wrong, odds are you're gonna blow up your little scout troop long before you ever roll into downtown Boston. You understand that?
Tom looks at Weaver walking away and joining Rick who is drawing.
Porter: Somebody give me one reason why we need to trust this guy.
Tom: We shouldn't. Other than he came back for Hal and Matt, he makes bread, and we don't have a lot of options.
Porter: All right, Pope. Convince me.
Pope: Everything I know was shown by an ex-marine, used to live in Dorchester…
Pope is still talking in the background.
Weaver to Rick: What made you draw this?
Anne: It's art therapy.
Weaver: Therapy?
Anne: I asked Rick to sketch what he was thinking. Sometimes it can help kids who've been in a traumatic experience get their feelings out.
Weaver to Rick: What made you draw this? I'm talking to you.
Porter: Sorry. He knows a thing or two about demolitions, but he's design only. I don't want him anywhere near the raw materials.
Tom: Right.
Porter: And he's under guard at all times. You two get those damn demolition charges made.
Tom: Okay.
Rick to weaver: Take it.
He hands him a drawing.
Rick: Take it.
They go out.
rédaction en cours par DoctorDean
