Richard

Previously on The 4400.

Shawn

(to Isabelle)  Okay, we’re clear, right?  It’s over between the two of us.

Isabelle

You once told me that good and evil was a choice, and I’m afraid if I lose you I’m going to make the wrong one.

Receptionist

(to Isabelle)  Welcome to Haspel Corp.  How may I help you?

Isabelle

Hi.  I have an appointment with Dennis Ryland.

Ryland

(to technician)  Learning anything new?

Technician

Yeah.  She’s incredible.  In a week, we’ve made discoveries we thought it would take years to get to.

Shawn

Isabelle, I don’t love you.

Isabelle

Shawn, you and I are the two most powerful people on the planet.  We have to get married.

Richard

I knew she was different.  Dangerous.

Isabelle

You can’t kill me, Shawn.

Shawn

Richard, if I believed that staying with Isabelle would save all those lives, I would marry her tomorrow, but what happens if she gets tired of me, or I make her angry?

Isabelle

There are things I was sent here to do.  Brutal things.

Shawn

I don’t know how you can know that, but it doesn’t have to happen that way.

Isabelle

We need to be together, because I think you’re the only one who can stop me.

Man

(opening scene: on a street; men are waiting to be picked up; a pickup drives up)  Looking for a date?

Darren

Not you.  (indicates Tim McCarren)  Him.

Man

Tim.  You’ve got a customer.

Tim

(in the car with Darren)  So, it’s forty bucks, if you want to get started.

Darren

I just want to look at you for a second.  Do you have any idea how special you are?  You don’t, do you?

Tim

Look.  We can talk if you want to, but it’s still forty bucks.

Darren

Timothy Winters McCarren.  You’re going to change the world.

Tim

How’d you know my name?

Darren

It’s true.  You’re going to change everything unless I stop you.

Tim

That’s it.  I’m out of here.  (door is locked)  Come on, man.  Let me out.  I’m serious.  (screams)

(scene change: Shawn’s apartment; he is given a cigar by Claudio Borghi [disappeared: June 19, 1961])

Claudio

I rolled that myself.  It’s my way of saying thank you for inviting me to your wedding.

Shawn

Well, thank you, but you didn’t have to.  Isabelle and I invited every 4400.

Claudio

I wouldn’t have missed it.  I’m quite excited.  You must be, too.  The ceremony’s so close.

Shawn

Four days.

Claudio

I have to offer you a word of caution.  The cigar: when you smoke it, you might be surprised by its effects.

Shawn

Oh-ho, I’m not going to get arrested for having this, am I?

Claudio

Of course not.  About a year after we returned, I learned I have an ability.  When I come in contact with a person, they sometimes see a vision of their future.  I see nothing, understand—only those I touch—but I’m told it can be quite accurate.

Shawn

That’s a nice talent.

Claudio

Thank you.  I grew this tobacco myself.  It’s been in contact with my hands, and so it contains my ability.

Shawn

Wait.  So, what you’re saying is: if I smoke this cigar, I’m going to see the future?

Claudio

Your future.  A possible one, anyway.  As I said: use with caution.  You might not like what you see, but it seems an appropriate gift for a man on his wedding day.

Shawn

Well, it is better than a toaster oven.  Thank you, Claudio.

Claudio

My congratulations to you.  (exits)

Isabelle

(enters)  The centerpieces are amazing.  You should take a look.  (sits on his lap and kisses him)

Shawn

Uh, yeah.  Sure.  After we’re done with these meet-and-greets, though, okay?

Isabelle

Oh, you taking up smoking?

Devon

(entering with two people)  This is Edwin Garrett [disappeared October 8, 1980] and his wife, Denise.  They came all the way from Edinburgh to be here.

Isabelle

Thank you so much for coming.

(scene change: woods; an officer shows Tom and Diana the body of Tim McCarren)

Officer

The guy’s name was Tim McCarren.  He was a hustler.  Worked an area of the park not far from here.  I found his body just after sunrise.  Now, I’ve already interviewed his colleagues, and they say he got into a pickup truck with a man in his twenties at about 1:30 last night.  One of the other working boys got a real decent look at the driver.  So, you could probably sit him down with a sketch artist.

Tom

Probably could, but you do realize we’re not homicide cops, right?  We’re from NTAC.  So why’d you call us?

Diana

(Tim is dried up as a corpse; a note on the body has the number 27)  That’s why.

(scene change: NTAC morgue)

Doctor

My best guess?  His body was completely oxidized.  It’s a chemical reaction.  Cells change at the molecular level.

Diana

Oxidizing?  That’s what happens when metal rusts.

Doctor

Exactly.  Well, almost exactly.  Rusting is a slow process.  There’s nothing gradual about what happened to Tim McCarren.  One minute he was alive, the next—

Tom

Have you ever seen anything like this before?

Doctor

No.  There’s no documented disease that affects the human body this way.

Tom

Meaning a 4400 ability did this.

Doctor

That’s for you to figure out.  All I can tell you is there’s no Earthly explanation about what happened to this guy.

Tom

Thanks.  (later, in the NTAC office; on his cell phone)  So, nothing even close?  Okay.  Thanks, Brian.  (hangs up; to Diana)  That was the lab.  They ran the composite sketch of the driver against our database of 4400s.  No matches. 

Diana

Anything from forensics?

Tom

No.  They pulled a couple of partial prints off the safety pin that held the note to the kid’s jacket, but nothing we can make an I.D. from.

Diana

Okay.  What about the note?  It’s a deliberate message to whoever found the body.  That’s typical of a serial killer pathology.

Tom

Yeah, but it says “27.”  There can’t be twenty-six other corpses like Tim McCarren’s out there.

Diana

Even one would make it onto our radar.

Tom

So, we’ll talk to McCarren’s friends, families.  Maybe he’s got a connection to a 4400.  Diana, there is one other thing I want to talk to you about.  You got plans on Sunday?

Diana

You mean, you want me to go to Shawn’s wedding?  With you?

Tom

It’s not a date, okay?  I figured you might be interested.  Almost a thousand 4400s are coming.

Diana

Oh, so it’s a professional courtesy.

Tom

Yeah.  That’s one way to put it.  Look.  To be honest, I’d rather not be the only one sitting at the NTAC table.

Diana

You’d have a hard time finding a dance partner.  Look.  You know, Maia begged me to go, and I told her no.  All those 4400s in one place—we have no idea what could happen.

Tom

Diana, it’s Shawn and Isabelle.  Nobody’s going to cause any trouble.  I mean, would you want to be on the bride’s bad side?

Diana

I can’t imagine you’re eager to welcome that girl into the family.

Tom

I’m not—this all happened a little too quickly for my liking—but Shawn won’t talk to me about it.  I must have left him twenty messages.  I was thinking about going to see him after we finish work today.

Diana

Just make sure bridezilla is out of earshot.

(scene change: 4400 Center; outside)

Shawn

I have to.

Tom

“Have to”?  You’re about to get married, Shawn.  You should want to.  What’s going on?  Is she—is she pregnant?

Shawn

No, no.  Nothing like that.

Tom

Is she forcing you?  Look, Shawn.  If you’re feeling trapped, if you’re looking for a way out of this, just tell me.  I can help.

Shawn

“Help”?  Look, Uncle Tommy.  I’m not in front of a firing squad.  I’m getting married.  People do it all the time.

Tom

Come on, Shawn.  You’re marrying Isabelle.  She’s a very dangerous girl.  I happen to know that. 

Shawn

Okay.  I know all about her, too, so don’t think you’re going to surprise me.  I appreciate you coming down here; I know you mean well, but this marriage: it is the right thing.

Tom

The right thing for who?

Shawn

For everybody.

(scene change: in a hospital hallway; Paula Nakata sees the elevator is out of order)

Darren

(to Paula)  They just cannot keep anything working around here.   

Paula

This always happens when I work late.

Darren

You know, I don’t even know where the stairs are in this place.

Paula

Right down here.  Come on.  I’ll show you.

Darren

So, do you always work past eight?

Paula

Most nights, yeah.  Trying to get ahead, you know?

Darren

Dedication.  I like that.  You could accomplish great things.

(scene change: Tom and Diana respond to a police call; hospital stairway; Paula is dried-up corpse)

Tom

Her name was Paula Nakata.  She was a lawyer at a firm in the building.

Diana

My God.  The poor woman.  That’s two bodies in less than twenty-four hours.

Tom

It doesn’t make any sense.  Most spree killers: they have a type, but Tim McCarren and Paula Nakata could hardly be more different.

Diana

A prostitute and a corporate attorney.  Why would someone target these two?

Tom

And why is she labeled “11”?  The numbers on the bodies are working backwards.

Officer

It looks like we might have a partial print on the wedding band.  It’s probably from the victim, but you never know.

Tom

Let’s hope whoever did this slipped up, because I don’t think he’s anywhere close to finished yet.

(scene change: Shawn’s apartment; he lights up the cigar and has a vision of a possible future)

Richard

(hurting; in a war zone)  We were so close.  We were going to save everything.  (Shawn comes to kill him)  Isabelle changed you.  You don’t even know who you are anymore.

Shawn

She didn’t change me.  She showed me who I am.  I know myself better than ever, and I know exactly what has to happen here.

Richard

Don’t do this.  Shawn—  (dies; Shawn returns to the present and puts out the cigar)

(scene change: NTAC; in Marco’s laboratory)

Diana

Marco?  Did you go home last night?

Marco

Uh, no.  Uh, I was working on your case.  It got late.  (he takes a sip of his coffee)  Cold.

Tom

We had a message you wanted to talk to us.

Marco

Uh, yeah.  The—uh—print that they pulled from Paula Nakata’s wedding band wasn’t hers.

Tom

Does it match the one we found on Tim McCarren’s body?

Marco

It does indeed.  The print belongs to a man named Darren Piersahl.

Tom

Piersahl?  I never heard of him.

Marco

I’m not surprised.  See, he is not a 4400.

Diana

Well, then he’s not the murderer.  Marco, you saw both bodies.  A 4400 killed these people.

Marco

It certainly looks that way, but the fingerprint match wasn’t from our database.  It was from U.S. Military records.  Piersahl was an army ranger for seven years.

Tom

“Was”?  What’s he doing now?

Marco

Not much.  According to Army records, Darren Piersahl is dead.  He was killed in action in Iraq in 2005.  I’m wondering: how could an army sergeant who’s supposedly been dead for a year be using a 4400 ability to kill people in present-day Seattle?

(scene change: in Mr. Piersahl’s home; Tom and Diana interview Mr. Piersahl)

Dad

Darren always wanted to be a ranger.  It was his dream, ever since he was old enough to read.  I encouraged it.  I spent twenty years in the service myself.  So, when Darren signed up, it was like carrying on the family legacy.  Why is NTAC so interested in my son’s death, anyway?

Tom

It’s part of an ongoing investigation, Mr. Piersahl.  Please.  Anything you could tell us would help.

Dad

Not long before he died, I got a letter from Darren.  He was excited.  Said he’d been accepted into this elite training unit.  He couldn’t tell me much about it, just that it meant he was being transferred off the front lines and out of harm’s way.

Diana

And he was killed in action soon after that?

Dad

Two weeks later.  The Army told me he’d been flying a recon mission in an OH-58 helicopter.  It got hit with an RPG.  [rocket-propelled grenade]  They never did find his remains.

Tom

I’m so sorry, Mr. Piersahl, but you said the Army “told you” he was flying a recon mission.  Did you have any reason to doubt that?

Dad

Well, I thought the timing was peculiar.  I mean, I just got this letter from him saying he was done fighting.  So, I did some checking.  There were six soldiers reported dead in the crash that killed my son.

Diana

And why is that unusual?

Dad

Because an Oh-58 flies with a crew of four.  It can’t hold six people.

(outside Mr. Piersahl’s home)

Tom

A secret training program?  A death under suspicious circumstances?  There’s something off here.  Even the kid’s dad knows it.

Diana

It’s weird.  I’m not denying it, but let’s just take our time with this, okay?  There are explanations that don’t involve a cover-up.  Someone could have planted Darren Piersahl’s fingerprints at the crime scene.  Who knows?  It could be a 4400.  Someone who can mimic other people’s fingerprints.

Tom

Maybe.  But if you were trying to frame someone, why would you pick a dead man?  (cell rings)  Baldwin.  Where?  We’ll be right in.  (hangs up; to Diana)  They just found another body.

(scene change: 4400 Center; outside; pre-wedding luncheon)

Danny

I’ll let you all in on a little family secret.  My brother and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye; so, we didn’t talk for a while.  I went to college.  He became the most famous person in the world.  But it’s all good, because he’s a great guy, and I’m really proud of him.  I think we all are.  So, congratulations, man.  I couldn’t be happier to see you walk the plank.

Others

Congratulations.

Danny

Cheers.

Isabelle

Is there anything you’d like to say, Daddy?

Susan

Toast.  The father of the bride wants to speak.

Richard

(rises)  Shawn.  Isabelle.  I have to say, I had my doubts.  But my daughter has managed to overcome them.  She was determined to make this marriage happen, and here we all are.  Shawn, she couldn’t have picked a better partner.  I’m proud to call you my son.

Isabelle

Cheers.

Others

Cheers.  Cheers.

Danny

So, where you going on your honeymoon?

Shawn

Well, we haven’t really figured that out yet.  If you’ll all please excuse me—  (he leaves the table)

Richard

(as Isabelle starts to rise)  Stay.  You keep charming your in-laws.  I’ll see what’s up.  (exits)

Susan

Isabelle.

(scene change: in another part of the 4400 Center)

Richard

You saw me die?  You’re sure?

Shawn

I killed you, and Richard, I swear to God, it looked like I was enjoying it.  The whole reason that I’m marrying Isabelle is to keep her attached, normal—that’s not what happens.  I don’t make her more human.  She makes me less human.  Listen.  I have to try something.  I have to go.  I have to see if it changes anything.

Richard

You’re going to walk out on the wedding?

Shawn

Maybe.  I don’t know.  I’m—I’m getting out of here, and then I’m going to see what happens.

Richard

If you leave now, it’s not going to make Isabelle very happy.  It might not be that easy to come back.

Shawn

I know that, but I have to do it.  Just—tell them I’m sick or something.  I’m sorry.  Just tell them something, okay?

(scene change: NTAC forensics/autopsy ward)

Doctor

Her name was Holly Martins.  She was a housewife in Madison Park.  The pool man found her body.

Tom

Was there a note?

Diana

“92”?  How many people is this guy targeting?

Marco

(sticking his head in the doorway)  Guys, I figured out what all these corpses have in common. 

Diana

All the victims had the same mutation?  We did a genetic workup on all three corpses. 

Marco

Every one of them has a slight alteration of the eleventh chromosome.  It’s called the Starzl mutation.

Tom

That could be a coincidence.

Marco

Not likely.  The Starzl mutation is extremely rare.  The only documented cases are in the Seattle area.  See, there’s two kinds of mutations.  Some occur naturally.  You know: something goes wrong when the body is building itself.  Others are induced.  The genes are changed by external factors.

Diana

The Starzl mutation is induced.

Marco

That’s right.  Starting in 1969, Seattle Presbyterian Hospital used a flawed radiation machine to treat their cancer patients.  You know the micro-switches that controlled the thing?  Weren’t working, so the dosages were all off.

Tom

How long did this go on?

Marco

Just under five years.  Once the hospital figured out what they were doing, they tested everyone who had ever been exposed to it.  In some cases, the radiation induced a small mutation. 

Diana

The Starzl mutation.

Marco

Yeah.  They named it after the company that made the bad machine.  And the mutation’s replicable.  The people who got it passed it on to their kids, which includes our three victims.

Tom

But they were all living normal lives.  They were healthy.

Marco

Just like most mutations, you can have it and not even know.  After everything went public, the lawyers came out to play.  There was a class-action lawsuit.  Seattle Presbyterian paid a huge settlement to everyone who was affected by the machine.  They almost went bankrupt.

Tom

So, Darren Piersahl, who’s supposed to be dead, is targeting carriers of the Starzl mutation, which only occurs around Seattle, and has absolutely no effect on its carriers.

Diana

Okay, but why? 

Marco

Excellent question.  When you find out, feel free to tell me.

Tom

If there was a lawsuit, there’s a paper trail.  I bet you that hospital keeps a master list of everyone they paid.

(scene change: Shawn lights up the cigar in his car; the scene is one of chaos)

Shawn

(trying to heal Tom)  You okay?  You okay?

Tom

Shawn— You have to stop healing me.

Shawn

No.  You’re going to make it, Uncle Tommy.

Tom

No, Shawn.  I’m not.  This is all my fault.  I should never have talked you out of marrying Isabelle.

Shawn

No.  That was my decision, not yours.

Tom

I can’t help thinking that it didn’t have to end this way.  Everyone we love is dead.  I’m sorry.  The catastrophe is here.

Shawn

Hey—  No, no, no. Hold on; hold on; hold on; hold on—

Tom

No!  Let me go.  Let me go!  Save as many as you can, Shawn.  (dies)

(scene change: Seattle Presbyterian)

Man

You’re lucky.  Until six weeks ago, I hadn’t pulled that file in years.  If you’d asked me then, it would have taken me hours to find it.

Diana

What happened six weeks ago?

Man

Some guy in a suit showed up.  He had a document with him saying that the military needed the file for—uh—research in the war on terror.  Yeah.  There we go.  There it is.  That’s the master list of everyone we paid in the Starzl case.

Tom

This man: can you tell me his name?

Man

Yeah.  Miles Enright.  Why?  You know him?

Tom

Not yet.

(scene change: NTAC)

Marco

(overlooking the file)  There’s a hundred and twenty-three people here.  A hundred and twenty-three people we know have the Starzl mutation.

Diana

And the numbers we’ve been finding on the dead bodies correspond to where they appear on the list.  Number 27: Timothy McCarren.  Number 11: Paula Nakata.

Marco

And Holly Martins: 92.  So, Darren Piersahl, if he’s the killer, is working from the same list we’re holding. 

Diana

But the order seems so random.  I mean, is he just killing them as the opportunity arises, or is there some method?

Marco

I’ll try and find a pattern.  Hey—um—how’s Maia been?

Diana

She’s okay.  She asks about you a lot.

Marco

Yeah?  (exits)

Tom

(entering)  I just checked out Miles Enright.  He’s a vice president of research and development at Haspel Corp.

(scene change: Haspel Corp.’s lobby)

Tom

Dennis. 

Diana

You’ve been ignoring our calls.

Ryland

I’m busy, Tom.  Why don’t you go through my assistant?  Maybe we can talk next week or so.

Tom

It’s important, Ryland.

Diana

It’s about Darren Piersahl, and your company’s program to create a division of the U.S. Military with 4400 abilities.

Ryland

(in Ryland’s office)  I don’t know, Tom.  I’ve been working here less than three months.  I still don’t know where the supply closets are, and now you’ve got me heading up a covert program where I’m injecting Promicin into United States soldiers?

Tom

Six weeks ago, the vice president of research and development acquired a list of everyone with the Starzl mutation.  Miles Enright.  Maybe you know him?

Ryland

Sorry.  It’s a big building.  I haven’t met everybody yet.

Diana

Three people are dead.  Now, you need to tell us everything you know about Darren Piersahl, so we can bring him in before he kills anyone else.

Ryland

I’ve never heard of him, and I’ve certainly never heard of this—what do you call it?  “Starzl mutation”?

Tom

This is your last chance to cooperate before we find Piersahl.  If you help us now, we’ll make it look better for your company later, Dennis.

Ryland

Well, how can I help you when I have no idea what you’re talking about?  Now, if this program existed—and please understand, I’m not saying it does—you seem to think that people would be shocked to know that it’s out there.  Me, I think they’d be grateful.  I think any good citizen would be thankful that his government was working on this, because you can be damn sure our enemies are.

Tom

If everyone would be so happy, why not just tell us about it?

Ryland

As usual, you have no idea of what the stakes are.  Whoever controls Promicin has a strategic advantage over the rest of the world.  This is another Manhattan Project, Tom, and they didn’t close it down because a couple of technicians got radiation poisoning.  They kept on working, and they were right to do that.  It’s made the world a better place.

Tom

Not that you’re admitting that the program exists, right?

Ryland

(smirks)  What program?

(scene change: on a bench near a large lake)

Shawn

So, if I go through with it, if I marry Isabelle, you and I become enemies.  I kill you.  If I don’t do it, Richard, things are even worse.  People are dead.  A lot of people.

Richard

In the second vision, your uncle said that the catastrophe was here, right?

Shawn

The place looked like a war zone.  What the hell am I supposed to do?

Richard

Look.  You can only deal with the information you have.  In one future, I die.  In another, it sounds like thousands of people, maybe millions, are at risk.  That’s no choice at all.

Shawn

We’re talking about your life.

Richard

The guy said each vision was one possible future.  If you do marry Isabelle, at least we’re going into it with our eyes open.  Now that we know what could happen; we can change things.

Shawn

Nothing’s inevitable, right?

Richard

Let’s hope not, because believe me, I don’t want to die.

(scene change: NTAC)

Marco

(shows a picture on a large screen)  Meet Staff Sergeant John Shaffner.

Diana

Okay.  So why are we meeting him?

Marco

He was one of six fatalities in the helicopter crash that “killed” Darren Piersahl.

Tom

A helicopter that seated only four.  Right.

Marco

Turns out John Shaffner’s family never received his remains either.  You know, there was really a helicopter crash that day in Iraq, but four families got their kids’ bodies back, and two didn’t.  So here’s what I’m thinking—

Tom

You think Piersahl and Shaffner were recruited into Haspel Corp’s training program at the same time. 

Diana

So, they used the crash to fake two deaths, so that Piersahl and Shaffner could disappear into the program with impunity.

Tom

So, we have a second member of Haspel Corp’s program, which is great, but it doesn’t get us any closer to Darren Piersahl.

Marco

Good point.  It doesn’t, really.  Not until you look at Shaffner’s dog tags.  This is Shaffner’s military serial number.  Look familiar?

Tom

Yeah.  Should it?

Marco

(circles numbers on the screen)  Twenty-seven.  That’s what the note we found on Tim McCarren said.  That’s also where we found his name on the list of people with the Starzl mutation.  Eleven.  That was Paula Nakata’s number.

Tom

And Holly Martins was 92 on the list.  There is a pattern.

Diana

He’s picking the order based on his buddy’s serial number.  Okay.  But why?

Marco

Maybe it’s a message; maybe they’re doing it together, but if he’s consistent, the next victim will be number 38 on the Starzl list.

Tom

Alex Messina.

Marco

I already checked him out.  He manages a bike store in Madrona.

(scene change: the bike store)

Alex

Yeah.  I recognize him.  He was in here earlier today.

Tom

Did he say anything to you?

Alex

It was kind of weird, actually.  He asked me if my name was Alex Messina, and he said it like that.  You know, the full name?  He wanted to know if I could come out and take a look at his bike.  He needed to replace a part.  I told him just to bring it in.  He said he’d come back when we were less busy.

Tom

(talking on his cell; on the street)  Send a tactical team over right away.  Thanks.  (hangs up; to Diana)  If Piersahl makes a move, we’ll be ready.

Diana

(finds a note on the car)  Tom.  It must be from Piersahl.  (note reads: “Don’t interrupt me again!”)

(scene change: Shawn’s apartment; he finds Isabelle sitting on a couch)

Isabelle

Hey.  Do you like this color?  This place needs to be a little more girly if I’m going to be living here.

Shawn

Yeah.  It looks great.

Isabelle

I think so, too.  I’m glad you’re back.  (she moves to kiss him)

(scene change: parking garage)

Tom

If Piersahl knows we’re on to him, he’ll change his pattern of attack.

Diana

There’s about a dozen people we can’t find.  Let’s hope we get to them before he does.

John

Tom Baldwin?

Tom

Yeah.  Who’s asking?

John

My name is John.  John Shaffner.  I was a volunteer in the same program Darren Piersahl was in.  The one that drove him crazy.

Diana

Yeah.  We know who you are.

Tom

And we know about the program.

John

Good.  Then you’re ready to hear what I have to say.  We were volunteers.  All of us.  I still remember the sales pitch.  We’d be the elite, a new type of soldier.  We had to give up our lives, forfeit our identities—they said it was the only way.  The program had to operate in complete secrecy.

Tom

When did you start getting the injections?

John

Right away.  It started slow, but about three weeks ago, they started upping our dosages.  That’s when guys started to lose it.

Diana

Where did they get their Promicin?

John

I don’t know, but they seemed to have plenty of it, though.  Darren was the first one who could do stuff.  An ability.

He killed one of the instructors by mistake.  It freaked him out.

Diana

You two escaped together?

John

Once we got out, we pretty much went our separate ways.  I had no idea he was going do this.

Tom

So, he’s AWOL?  These murders aren’t sanctioned by anyone?  (Absent Without Leave)

John

No.  Darren’s freelancing.  That’s why they want him back so bad.  He’s compromising the program.  Our C.O.S.: they told us about the Starzl mutation; they told us it could be a threat, but they never told us to kill anybody.

Tom

Then what is it?  Why does Darren want them dead so badly?

John

It’s got something to do with babies.  So far, any time a 4400 has a kid with a member of the regular population, their babies are normal.  They don’t make Promicin.  They don’t have abilities.

Diana

We know.  We’ve been tracking the births.

John

The Starzl mutation changes all that.  If a 4400 has a kid with someone who has the mutation the baby would be Promicin-positive.  They’d have abilities.

Tom

How would the military even know that?  Have they tried it?

John

I don’t know, but they seem pretty goddamn sure it’s true.  I know this is going to sound crazy, but Darren is a victim here, too.  They gave us so many stimulants.  They amped us up to kill, and he snapped.  I don’t know if he thinks he’s on a mission or something, but I know he needs to be stopped.  I’ll do whatever I can to help you find him.

(scene change: Ryland’s office)

Ryland

So, what do you think you know?

Diana

Everything, including the Starzl mutation, and I have to give you credit—if what you say is right, it would explain why the 4400 were sent back in 2004, why they were all brought to Seattle. 

Tom

This is the only place the 4400 can reproduce and have kids with abilities.  Any of this sound familiar?

Ryland

I think I read the same theory in a supermarket tabloid once.

Tom

We know about your enhanced soldier program, Dennis.  We have one of your people.  John Shaffner been showing up for many roll calls lately?

Diana

Well, as soon as we have Piersahl, we’re going public with this, and there’s nothing you can do to stop that.  All you can do is make yourself and this company look slightly better by cooperating with our efforts to bring him in.

Tom

We want Piersahl’s personnel file.  Everything you have.  If it’s not in my hands in ninety seconds, John Shaffner will be standing in front of a bank of cameras before lunch.

(scene change: NTAC)

Tom

(looking over Piersahl’s personnel file)  This could be something.  Maybe.  It reads like some kind of personal statement.  An essay by Piersahl.

John

Yeah, we had to do those to get in the program.  They wanted us to write about some goal we achieved, something we were proud of.

Diana

This is all about a volunteer program that he did.  There was a patch of forest that got cleared by a fire.

John

Piersahl volunteered to renew it so that he could become a—

Tom

Darren Piersahl was an Eagle Scout?

John

Yeah.  He used to talk about those woods all the time.  When we were in the middle of the program, whenever things got really bad, he used to tell me that’s where he’d go in his head.  He’d imagine himself there.  It calmed him down.

Tom

This patch of forest, any chance you know where it is?

(scene change: 4400 Center; Richard and Isabelle pose for pictures)

Photographer

Maybe you could put your arm around her, Mr. Tyler.  That’s great.  The magazine wants to get a shot of the bride and groom.  Has anyone seen the groom?

(scene change: Shawn’s apartment; he lights up a third time; still a war zone)

Richard

(as Shawn enters a room)  Who gave you the key?

Shawn

Your own bodyguard.  You started a war, Richard.  You turned the 4400 into an army, and you launched an attack for no reason!

Richard

We didn’t have a choice.  It had to be a preemptive strike.

Shawn

No choice?  Look at what you’re doing!  Look at it!  It has to stop.

Richard

Isabelle changed you.  You don’t even know who you are anymore.

Shawn

(prepares to kill Richard)  She didn’t change me.  She showed me who I am.  I know myself better than ever, and I know exactly what has to happen here.

Richard

Don’t do this.  Shawn—  (dies; back to the present)  Shawn.  Sorry to barge in on you.  It’s just—uh—they need you down in the garden.  Pictures.  Are you okay?

Shawn

I’m fine.  I’m just a little overwhelmed.

(scene change: in a forested area)

John

Darren?  Darren?  Darren, you out here?

Darren

(grabs him and puts a knife to his throat)  What are you doing here?

John

Darren, relax, man.  It’s me, Shaffner.  John.  We’re friends, remember?

Darren

Shaff.  You came.  That’s good.  That’s good.  I need your help.  I’m never going to make it all the way through this list on my own.

John

Darren, you don’t have to finish the list.  It’s someone else’s agenda.  You’ve got it all mixed up in your head.  Come on with me.  There’s some people I want you to talk to. They can help us.

Darren

“They”?  Who are “they”?

John

It’s got to stop, man.  Please.  Come with me.  (offers his hand)

Darren

No.  No.  (runs off)

John

(gives chase)  Wait!

Diana

(arriving late)  We’ve got people covering the access road.  We’ll pin him down.

Tom

Fan out!  (finds John; is attacked by Darren; they fight in the water)

Diana

(finding John)  Oh, Jesus.  Tom!  (holds her weapon on both; to others)  I can’t see anything!  Tom.  Tom!  Tom?  (she pulls Tom on shore)

(scene change: NTAC)

Marco

We lost Shaffner.  Piersahl’s dead.

Tom

He was on his way out before we even started fighting.  Piersahl had a stab wound in his stomach.  I guess Shaffner didn’t go down without a fight.

Marco

Yeah.  Well, they’re both gone, and there’s no one left to talk about the program.

Tom

We still have evidence.  We can go after Haspel Corp.  Expose everything.

Diana

Yeah.  But it would’ve been nice to have a face to put out there.  I mean, now all we have are accusations and a paper trail.

Tom

And five dead bodies.

Garrity

(entering)  Hey, you guys got to see this.

General

(broadcast on TV)  We are proud to announce the existence of this enhanced soldier program to all the world, but it should not in any way be seen as an offensive maneuver.  We have evidence suggesting that other countries have similar programs.  This is merely a response.  The young men I’m about to introduce to you have been working in secret, and we’ve made numerous advances.  In time, they’ll become the first non-4400s to develop extra-human abilities, and they’ll use them in the defense of the United States.  Now I’d like to introduce eight heroic young men, all of whom have given so much of themselves to make this breakthrough possible.

Diana

Ryland’s preempting us.  Trotting them out there on stage like they’re the first astronauts.

General

Major Jeremy Elwood.  First Lieutenant Raymond Garcia.  First Lieutenant Jeff Rice.  First Lieutenant Brian Dawson.  Second Lieutenant James Knowlon.  Second Lieutenant Dirk Danoff.

(scene change: Haspel Corp.’s lobby)

Tom

The press conference was a clever move, Dennis.  I have to give credit where it’s due.  But this company has five bodies on its hands, and I’m going to make sure everyone knows it.

Ryland

Knows what?  We’re not denying anything.  It’s unfortunate that one of my men went AWOL, but he was clearly deranged.  I’ve got a whole team of doctors standing by to testify to that effect.

Tom

You created an assassin.

Ryland

It’s a tragedy, and it’s news.  I’ll admit that, but tomorrow morning, the Piersahl case will be below the fold on every newspaper, and all the headlines will be about our program.  That’s the way I see it, anyway.

Tom

Who’s feeding you your information?  You knew about the Starzl mutation before we did.  You have a source of Promicin for your program.  Who is it?  (he grabs Ryland’s arm)

Ryland

You give me too much credit, Tom.  That stuff happens way above my security clearance.  (looks at his arm)

Tom

The soldiers you’re creating: are you really going to use them to defend the country?  Or are you just going to send them after the 4400?

Ryland

Is there a difference?  Enjoy your nephew’s wedding.

(scene change: 4400 Center grounds; the wedding is about to start)

Tom

You sure you’re ready for this?  (Shawn laughs nervously)  You look ready.

Shawn

Let’s do this.  (the crowd cheers as he greets people)  Hello there.  (shakes hands and waves)  Thank you for coming.  Thanks, kids.  Thank you for coming, so much.  Thank you for being here.  Thank you so much for being here.  Thank you.  Thank you for coming so far.  Thank you.  Appreciate you coming all this way.  Thank you so much.

Jordan

(calls out)  Shawn!  Shawn Farrell?  (approaches with a beard and looking quite unkempt)  Do you know who I am?

(to be continued)