you working for hooper?
how do you know about lacey?
little prick. what'd he tell you?
(shaking his head in
(walking off down the
we. don't. divulge.
okay. let me ask you something. what color were the chairs in the hotel bar?
you were in there for hours. what color were the chairs?
they were green. how many lights are there in this room? bob starts to look around.
a super soldier wouldn't need to look. he would just know.
a jedi warrior. he would know where all the lights were. he could walk through a room and tell you how many power outlets there were. people are walking around with their eyes closed. at level one we were trained to instantly absorb all details.
you're looking at one.
that's correct.
soldiers with super powers. we were the first generation of the new earth army.
that's correct.
we prefer the term remote viewer.
different jedi had different techniques. mel landau used to visualize packing all his cares and worries in a little suitcase, to clear his mind. steve cuttle used to read bible verse.
well, i find drinking helps. also if i'm listening to classic rock music.
i like boston. boston usually works. bob jots this down in the notebook.
invisibility.
yup. that was level three.
well. yeah, that was the goal. but after a while we adapted it to just finding a way of not being seen. when you understand the, the linkage between observation and reality, you learn to dance with invisibility. bob tries to follow this.
it's not like camouflage. we also practised phasing. crossing from particle to wave, from the physical realm to the plane of energy. solid objects seem to pass right through you. it's starts with a breathing exercise.  lyn makes a weird shallow panting sound.
then you think black. that's the nothingness. bob watches him solemnly as he continues his weird panting.
not going to happen.
not going to happen.
i'm shipping out tomorrow.
going to iraq. there's this factory we might be partnering with in al qaim. bob's face falls.
bob, i don't want to be a story, okay? i don't need the attention and.
it's a war over there bob. okay? a war. i can't be looking out for you. bob flushes with annoyance.
what's this?
you wanted to know who bill django was? he's the man who wrote that book.
you see it?
yeah?
i don't know where to begin.
bill always said it started for him when he fell out of a helicopter in vietnam.
what?
no.
it cooks supper. he examines the stove approvingly.
solar. utilizing the power of the universe - no pollution, totally renewable. this is like new earth army technology. bob picks up the manual and starts to read. lyn watches him.
pretty mind-blowing, isn't it? first time i read it, i was like. what the fuck?
what?
go on - what?
the new earth army was tasked with preventing conflict. we're a force of peace, not war. bill realized if you want to change the world, you've got to start by changing the armies. he was the one that started the research into non- lethals.
check this out. he takes a yellow plastic blob from his pocket with a flourish.
the predator.
you see? you're mine now. the predator is completely biodegradable. it's friendly to the earth but it can hurt you in a hundred ways. he takes the blob off the finger and rubs it's serrated edge down bob's temple.
it has warrior functions. and it looks a bit funny. this is new earth army technology. lyn sticks the predator in bob's ear and hauls him to his feet. bob yells with pain.
i bought it on line. what's cool about it is that you could see this lying on the ground and you'd never know it had such lethality. bob holds his ear and pants for breath. lyn's face lights up.
eyeballs.
) i've got crohn's. the steroids help.
sometimes there's a need, bob. sometimes people are calling out for something, even if they don't know it themselves. and then a man like bill appears out of nowhere, because he heard the call.
what? bob turns and sees lyn in a yoga pose on the roof of the car.
salute to the sun. he finishes and jumps down.
okay. we're oscar mike. that's "on the move" soldier.
cloud bursting. keeps me in shape. bob stares up at the clouds.
no. that one. the big one.
they're all far away.
and it's gone. lyn, smiling up at the sky, doesn't notice that the car is veering off the road a little. bang! the two men are slammed forward as the car hits something, bob smacking his face off the dash.
yeah. i'm sorry about that bob. must have got a little bi- locational there, you know? but don't worry. someone'll come along soon.
i don't think they're al qaeda.
bob, there's something i have to tell you. when i said i was retired from the unit, that was a lie. i'm on a mission. dewitts was just my cover. i've been reactivated. i couldn't tell you because this is a black op, but. i think you have a part to play. i think that's why you're with me. bob collapses face down on the mattress.
have you heard of optimum trajectory before? your life is like a river, bob. if you're aiming for a goal that isn't your destiny, you will always be swimming against the current. young ghandi wants to be a stock-car racer? not gonna happen. little anne frank wants to be a high school teacher. tough titty anne. that's not your destiny. but you will go on to move the hearts and minds of millions. find out what your destiny is and the river will carry you. now sometimes events in life give an individual clues as to where their destiny lies.
like those doodles you just "happened" to draw? he unbuttons his shirt and reveals an eye tattooed on his chest - very similar to the one bob had drawn. bob looks up.
this is the ajna chakra - the third eye - the symbol of the jedi. when i saw you'd drawn it. well, the universe gives me a sign like that, i don't ignore it. you're meant to be here with me, bob. the jedi inside you sensed that. bob stares at the eye.
now listen to me. i don't think these guys are frl's or mehdi army.  i think we're talking standard criminals here, okay? what they're gonna do is try and sell us on to another group. we can't let that happen.
we're jedi, bob. the jedi don't fight with guns. we fight with our minds.
let's say we have no choice but to fight with these men. then we use visual aesthetics to instill psychically in the enemy a disincentive to attack.
okay, you lock eyes with one of them, you go into a monotone and you say "no, i'm not going to attack you." you totally relax your body and your voice. and then you rip out one of his eyeballs.
or you use a pen, stab him in the neck, create a fountain of blood, i mean really a fountain, get the blood to squirt on his buddies. that's a psychic disincentive, right there. bob thinks about this, a little nauseated.
choke me.
choke me. what am i gonna do? just here. choke. choke.
c'mon.  "attack me." bob stares at him, a little annoyed by this.
quit jawing, bob, and choke me.
i'm going to interrupt your thought pattern.
see? i hardly moved. physics wise there's not much going on. it's the psychic energy that's important. you okay?
you felt fear didn't you? before hand? bob massages his back, impressed despite himself.
would you say that level of fear was abnormal for you? bob thinks about this.
that's okay. you learnt a lesson. "whatever you fear most has no power - it is your fear that has power."
oprah.
just my cover.
no. i do run a dance school. i love dance.
in time, bob.
we learn to recognize our own kind after a while. you ever dream about flying?
that's one of the signs.
don't you? haven't you always really felt you were different? bob considers this.
that's the way it is for us. we're the ones who don't fit in as kids.
kind of. they used to call me the jinx.
lyn cassady sir.
opelousas, louisiana, sir. bill stares at lyn, taking in his orphan air, his hunted look.
it's a man on a chair. bill unlocks the little cupboard and takes a photograph of the lincoln memorial. there are murmurs of admiration from the watching jedis.
don't move bob.
let's hope it doesn't come to that. one of the insurgents stirs and says something softly in arabic. the other laughs. angrily the first young iraqi takes out a handgun and levels it at lyn.
you can put your weapon away. you're not interested in us. the young iraqi points the gun at bob who starts to walk towards the truck.
(to the iraqi,
ben, you're not forgotten. the knife you gave me lies next to my beret. god bless ben echmeyer.
there he is. he puts his foot down and the truck roars after the running man.
(yelling over the
oh crap!
sir? are you okay? bob, give me a hand here will you? bob gets out and the two lift the iraqi man and begin to carry him back towards the truck. they stop listening to an approaching rumble.
what's krom? the security guard continues to watch him through his mirrored shades.
right. lyn notices the chilean security guard on his other side has a tattoo on his arm - "viva pinochet!"
what is this?
they're really good. bob nods politely. mahmud nods, sighs.
i'm very sorry for running you over, sir. mahmud shrugs.
not your fault sir. i mean we get kidnappers in america too, so. you know. there's always, uh, bad apples, right? the men eat in silence for a moment. mahmud stares blankly at his plate, looking crumpled and lost. bob watches him, faintly irritated. lyn tries to think of something comforting to say.
did i say it wrong? mahmud shakes his head, moved but embarrassed.
what?
just mahmud. people try to build something of their lives, something lasting, something good.  but there's always someone wants to smash it up.
i really appreciate this sir.
bedouins have been navigating this desert for centuries without maps. you can use a wrist-watch in conjunction with the sun.
what?
i haven't got a watch.
this is a digital watch, bob.
so you need a watch with hands for christ's sake!
will, if you'd just be quiet for a.
will you shut up? i don't need a watch. i'm using level two.
level two. intuition. we were trained to make correct decisions. somebody runs up to you and says "there's a fork in the road. do we turn left or do we turn right? and you go.  "we go right!" bob stares at him.
instant. just like that.
improvised explosive device.
you're okay bob. it's gonna be okay.
alright, c'mon.  he hauls bob to his feet, puts his baseball cap on him and pulls him onto his back. bob hangs there limply as lyn sets off again.
fedayeen will find us first.
fedayeen saddam. paramilitary. fellas who probably laid the ied. they could be on their way now. hold this bob. he passes bob his backpack. they stagger on in silence for a moment, bob jogging up and down on lyn's back. lyn snaps the legs off bob's glasses, uses them as improvised divining rods to scan the sand ahead.
could be ied's or mines around here. i'm checking for disturbances in the telluric current.
bob? it's pretty important you keep your mouth closed, okay? you can lose a lot of water through an open mouth. he staggers on with him.
you're okay.
you're not bleeding to death, bob. it's shock, okay? it's just the shock. it'll pass. you're gonna be okay.
bob, you're suffering from shock. if you start panicking now your heart's gonna stop. bob stares after him incredulously.
the mission isn't in al qaim. it's somewhere near al qaim.
if the exact whereabouts of the target was known it wouldn't take a jedi to find them, would it? bob watches lyn stare around him, looking pale and drawn and, for the first time, afraid.
bill did.
bill did. he appeared in my trailer two months ago. a psychic projection. i could hear him calling my name. bob is so staggered by this for a moment he can't speak.
he needed me.
i don't have crohns.
i'm dying. bob stares at him, stunned.
i've been murdered.
it's gone bob. i can't find him. i've lost my power. it's the curse.
(with profound
i did.
this was the real deal, bob. i was at the gateway. afterwards i realized i'd got injured.
sympathetic injury i guess. i was bruised all over.
i wish it was. hooper told holtz we should try the experiment again. only this time they said. kill the goat.
there was no way! what had the goat ever done to me? it was totally against the way of the jedi. i was just going to pretend to try so they would say, "okay - it can't be done" and forget about it. but then, as i sat there, i felt this, this pulse start inside of me and. i couldn't stop it. he turns to look at bob, haunted.
you know what i keep thinking?
maybe deep down inside some dark part of me wanted to see if i could do it?
collateral damage. that was it. i'd used my powers for evil and it was like i brought a curse upon us all. like that poem where the guy kills the seagull and they make him wear it round his neck. every night i'd dream of that goat in its little bib, it's mouth opening and closing but nothing coming out.  bob shakes his head, stares out into the darkness.
i finished my tour and i quit. i walked out of the unit and i never went back.
what do you wan? before he can finish larry chops his hand down in an odd blow onto lyn's forehead. lyn staggers back a little, holding his head.
what the hell? larry has already darted around him with a crazy laugh and is running madly back into the base. lyn stares after him, stunned.
it was the dim mak.
the dim mak. the quivering palm. the death touch. it's like this legendary, martial arts move. it was forbidden in the new earth army. larry had got it from a mail- order book.
it kills you bob. with one touch.
there's a story that wong wifu, great chinese martial artist, had a fight with some guy and had him beat when the guy gave him this light tap, and wong looked at him and the guy just nodded. that was it. he'd given him the death touch and wong died.
no. eighteen years later. that's the weird thing with dim mak - you never know when it's going to take effect. he flops back, too tired to talk anymore. bob watches him as he falls asleep.
this is bob.
i remote viewed you. larry smiles a little mockingly.
you're working for him? bill frowns at the cds, not seeming to hear.
it's the dark side.
it's too late. i'm dying, bob.
dim mak.
it's cancer.
i mean, i know it was caused by the dim mak. but. it's. you know. it's cancer. that's what the doctors say. different ways of looking at. different names for a reality or, or uh.  he lapses into silence. bob is stunned. lyn lies down.
i shouldn't have come bob. shouldn't have come. lyn pulls the eagle feather from the chain around his neck.
give this back to bill. i don't deserve it. bob stares at him.
i told you. i remote viewed you.
no.
i haven't seen scotty.
what's going on?
what?
okay, let's go.
we're very sorry. ma'assalama.
you are the mission bob! you are the mission! tell them what happened! the helicopter begins to rise. bob stands swaying, staring up. lyn smiles sadly through the window, raises his hand. the helicopter rises - higher and higher. bob waves goodbye.