They search the pockets of the dead man on the sidewalk and find a set of keys, one of them bearing the VW logo. After much deliberation, with Zach proposing that they all just pack it in and return to San Diego, they locate Scot’s mini mag lite keychain and Zach’s low-light camcorder, they enter the abandoned Yacht Club. The windows are all boarded up so it is almost completely dark inside. They look for a phone at the reception desk but find none. Receipts litter the ground, and look to be dated no later than 1955. Open archways gape to their right and left, and a large, regular hole in the ceiling is all that remains of a once-majestic stairway. With some trepidation, they go through the archway to their right, and find an old dining room littered with decades of garbage left by squatters. At the far end is a door, presumably to a kitchen. They cross the lobby and go in the other archway and come into a lounge area, old rotting leather furniture still present. Scot shines his mag lite over the couches and sees two forms lying on the floor, one face-down, the other face-up. One is a man and the other a woman, and their heads and faces are also bloodied; these two presumably murdered in their sleep. The investigators cannot determine what kind of instrument would do this kind of bodily damage, but decide not to wait around and find out. They escape to the daylight.
There is no cell phone coverage in North Shore, so they wait until they’re back on the highway before they call the murders into the police. They speak to a dispatcher, who takes the information and tells them that all the officers are at NSCA but, that one of them will call shortly.
They arrive at the press conference. There are more news outlets present now, and the whole staff of the NSCA is on hand. Sheriff Kaufmann returns Zach’s phone call as they pull in, and they go over to speak with him in person. He tells them that they have dispatched another officer from County to the scene, and he will speak with them after the press conference, which is starting momentarily.
Sheriff Kaufmann stands before the reporters, and states the facts as they currently know them. Based on a mysterious device they found near the site of the destroyed radio telescope, they believe that it may have been sabotage, however, the device is not something that they have ever seen the likes of before, and it is in the hands of the bomb squad. For the time being they will not be providing details to the press concerning it. Nobody was hurt in the explosion.
Questions follow. Rupert, in the capacity of a reporter from the Union Tribune, asks the Sheriff if the explosion was somehow related to the work the Observatory was doing in regards to the Nemesis Star. As he mentions this, Dr Neal becomes noticeably enraged. He storms over to them, with Carl Wilson, roaring and screaming at the investigators for divulging this highly secret project to the assembled media. There is a scuffle and the three men are escorted off of the property. In leaving, Scot flips off the camera crews and his photo is later splashed across the pages of many local newspapers, under the byline “Area Crackpots Disrupt Press Conference.”
They return to Mecca in the Charger, and go to visit Stan, since it is now officially visiting day. When they arrive he is already with his parents, who are telling him how they heard on the radio that three men at the press conference were asking about “Nemesis.” He looks stricken, and then sees his friends enter the room. He can’t believe that after all those months of work, the secret was slipped before publication.
Zach takes the time to negotiate more money out of them, claiming that the work is more dangerous than he is used to taking on. The parents leave, and the investigators try to convince Stan that the sounds mixed down from the radio signals is the cause for the strange behavior in the area, and he sounds as if he is starting to believe that may be true. He asks to be left alone, as he is very depressed.
By late afternoon they return to the Sunset Café and order milkshakes. Zach and Rupert grow increasingly anxious, and could it be that man in the corner is staring at them? Yes, they believe he is. Zach tells the man to mind his own business. The man looks bewildered, and Zach and Rupert continue to berate him, even inviting him outside to settle it with their fists. The man leaves a $20 on the table and makes a hasty retreat. Scot, meanwhile, no longer is motivated to do much of anything, and wants to return to the motel. Maybe have a nap, yes, a nap would be nice.
Rupert, now convinced that the NSCA must stop their Nemesis research, wants to return to the Observatory to speak with Dr Guest. Scot will have none of it though, and Zach, spotting some overweight ladies passing by the café, invites them back to the motel’s Jacuzzi. Rupert pockets a steak knife from the restaurant and heads to the NSCA by himself.
Zach and Scot sit in the Jacuzzi with the two women. Scot is not much interested, but reasons that sitting here is as good as sitting anywhere. The women seem to be not interested either, as they are irritable and complain a lot. Zach tells them to beat sand, and then it starts to rain. There is a crash out on the street, and when they go to see the cause they spot a man in a battered pickup truck careening around the street. There is what appears to be blood on the fender. The fire alarm in the motel goes off. They also see a roving band of young men coming down the road, breaking the windows of storefronts and laughing.
Zach decides that it’s time to get out of town. San Diego is to the south, and he debates finding Rupert before they leave. They return to the room and see a note affixed to the door. In a strange, spidery hand, it says “meet me by the ruined telescope at 2 am.” Zach takes the note. They grab their stuff, get in the Civic, and leave the parking lot. The rain is now a downpour. They see a man on the roof of a building with a shotgun, firing wildly. A bullet strikes Zach’s car. “Oh shit!” he says. With all hell breaking loose around him, they pull out of town, past a gas station. They are only a few hundred yards beyond it when the tank explodes, killing dozens of town residents who had taken to the streets.
Meanwhile, Rupert finds his way to the main tower at the NSCA. It is late, but the lights are on as the scientists are working through the night to finalize their findings. He enters the tower and heads upstairs. He hears a lot of yelling; it is clear that tensions are at an all-time high. The sound of the telescopes are playing at a high volume over the loudspeakers. Dr Guest and Dr Neal see him at the top of the stairs. Dr Guest rushes to his side to tell him that perhaps it’s not a good time; they are now in a crisis situation because of his announcement today. Dr Neal throws a laptop at Rupert and misses, then grabs a chair and hurls it toward them, impaling Dr Guest in the stomach. Rupert grabs Dr Guest and pulls him outside, to listen to the radio reports of mayhem in Mecca.
“I’m dying!” yells Dr Guest. Rupert puts the radio on in the Charger, and rushes into the admin building to find a first aid kit. He tells Dr Guest to please wait outside the car, as he doesn’t want him to bleed all over the leather upholstery. He is busy wrapping gauze around Dr Guest’s midsection when the others arrive in the Civic. Dr Guest, now convinced, tells them they must turn off the telescopes from the top of the tower. He can barely stand, so they support him and together enter the tower once again.
The “music” continues its monotonous drone. They can smell smoke. They go back upstairs to the lab from which Rupert recently fled, and find it empty. Suddenly, a man leaps from a darkened office and attacks them. Soon another man arrives from upstairs. They are both in their thirties and strong, perhaps even stronger because of their mad rage. They manage to throw one man down the stairs, and the other they beat down with their fists and feet, and a heavy desk lamp. They continue to the top floor.
In the main control room, they confront Dr Neal. He is completely batshit crazy. He grabs a fire axe and charges the investigators. Zach draws his weapon and shoots him dead.
They all crowd around the console. Dr Guest, barely conscious, is unable to deactivate the telescopes. Zach, Scot and Rupert all in turn try as well but to no avail. Maybe Stan Arnold could do it; maybe Dr Neal could have done it, were he not crazy and dead. On the horizon they can see a glow as Mecca continues to burn. The time is now 1:30 am…
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