Charles Leavitt

I wanna tell you something Mark, something you do not yet know, that we K-PAXians have been around long enough to have discovered. The universe will expand, then it will collapse back on itself, then will expand again. It will repeat this process forever. What you don't you know is that when the universe expands again, everything will be as it is now. Whatever mistakes you make this time around, you will live through on your next pass. Every mistake you make, you will live through again, & again, forever. So my advice to you is to get it right this time around. Because this time is all you have.

Every being in the universe knows right from wrong, Mark.

I would say that you misread Einstein, Dr. Powell. May I call you Mark? You see Mark, what Einstein actually said was that nothing can accelerate to the speed of light because its mass would become infinite. Einstein said nothing about entities already traveling at the speed of light or faster, at tachyon speeds.

Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. How many doctors are there on this planet?

Let me tell you something, Mark. You humans, most of you, subscribe to this policy of an eye for an eye, a life for a life, which is known throughout the universe for its... stupidity. Even your Buddha and your Christ had quite a different vision, but nobody's paid much attention to them, not even the Buddhists or the Christians. You humans. Sometimes its hard to imagine how you've made it this far.

You know, for an educated person, Mark, you repeat things quite a bit. Are you aware of that? A soap bubble is round because it is the most energy-efficient configuration. Similarly, on your planet I look like you. On K-PAX I look like a K-PAXian.

Well, I've been here many times before. But what brought me here first? I don't know. Pure curiosity, I guess. I'd never been to a Class BA-3 planet before.

I will admit the possibility that I am Robert Porter, if you will admit the possibility that I am from K-PAX. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a beam of light to catch.

She says she doesn't like it when you hide her favorite tennis shoe, and she doesn't hear so well on her left side, so don't sneak up on her anymore.

You know what I've learned about your planet? There's enough life on Earth to fill 50 planets. Plants, animals, people, fungi, viruses, all jostling to find their place, bouncing off each other, feeding off each other. Connected.

Nobody wants, nobody needs. On K-PAX, when I'm gone, nobody misses me. There would be no reason to. And yet I sense that when I leave here… I will be missed. Yes. Strange feeling.

Oh, yes. Much like on Earth, but unlike you humans, the reproductive process is, uh, quite unpleasant for us.

It's more like having your nuts in a vise, except we feel it all over. And to make matters worse, the sensation is associated with something like your nausea accompanied by a very bad smell. The moment of climax is like being kicked in the stomach and then falling into a pool of mot droppings.

Well, actually, there are ten, but that doesn't matter. I'm not from your solar system. K-PAX is about 1,000 of your light-years away from here in what you would call your constellation Lyra

You seem overly upset, Mark. To borrow a phrase from Navarro: You need to chill. For your information: All beings have the capacity to cure themselves, Mark. This is something we've known on K-PAX for millions of years.

The tragedy of the Essex is the story of men. And a Demon.

We were headed for the edge of sanity… like we were aberrations, phantoms. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to superstition.

You know, I heard a man from Pennsylvania drilled a hole in the ground recently and found oil. That can't be true.

Oil from the ground! Fancy that.

We were weeks in the doldrums. That part of the Pacific is more desert than ocean. The sun beating down.

Greed took hold of our captain and first mate. So we headed out. A thousand leagues along the equator. Where knowledge ended, speculation began. That's where the whales had gone to hide. As far from man as they could possibly go. But we hunted them down. Centuries before, sailors feared sailing off the edge of the Earth. But we where headed for the edge of sanity. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to blind superstition.

Take the money and leave! The devil's bargain.

It's a privilege to know the moment of one's death in advance - be able to prepare for it. Cursed to be so far from home - without a chance to say goodbye, without a chance to make peace; without a chance to settle scores. Then let us at least settle those between us, Captain.

The Essex was lost through no fault of yours. I was as much to blame for...

What do we do, do you think, George? And what offense did we give God to upset him so?

Not us? In our arrogance, our greed. Look were we find ourselves.

You really feel like an earthly king after everything that we've been through? We're nothing. We're... we're specks. And dust.

Yes, it is. And very shortly we will be off-island for some time, and I'll be very much at home.

To return to port without a single barrel of oil would be a mistake, sir. And not behoove a man whose name is Pollard. Or Chase, for that matter. And the best thing for both of us would be to work all hours Gods sends us, fill this ship with oil and be home inside a year and rid of one another as quickly as possible. Trust me, I am every bit as desirous of that as you.

Benjamin, what are you doing?

Look at me. Look at me, Benjamin. No right-minded sailor discards what might yet save him.

Something else you've given me tonight.

The courage to go where one does not want to go.

How does one come to know the unknowable? What faculties must a man possess? Since it was discovered that whale oil could light our cities in ways never achieved before, it created global demand. It has pushed man to venture further and further into the deep blue unknown. We know not its depths, nor the host of creatures that live there. Monsters. Are they real?

Or do the stories exist only to make us respect the sea's dark secrets?

The question both vexes and excites me, and is the reason I've written you a second time to request a meeting. A conversation with you, sir, I believe will serve me well for the novel I intend to write, currently entitled: Moby Dick. I hope you will reconsider my offer. The unknown. That is where my imagination yearns to venture. And so the question plagues me still: How does a man come to know the unknowable? Sincerely, Herman Melville.

No, sir. The devil loves unspoken secrets. Especially those that fester in a man's soul.

Sometimes I wonder… will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? Then I look around and I realize… God left this place a long time ago.

Who do you think buys the stones that I bring out? Dreamy American girls who all want a storybook wedding and a big, shiny rock like the ones in the advertisements of your politically-correct magazines. So, please, don't come here and make judgments on me, all right?

No, no, listen here my friend, listen here all right. I'm good friends with Colonel Coetzee, Colonel Coetzee would not be pleased that you've interfered with his business. Now, you know who I am, all right? You don't wanna make trouble for me or my friends right? Now look, why don't I just look the other way, all right, you take one or two of those stones, you get something lekker for the wife, or maybe the mistress all right? We solve the problem right here?

Don't tell me you're going to try and sell it yourself. To who, and for what price my friend? You need my help whether you like it or not.

Listen, listen. They came into this city overnight. It's started. What are you gonna do about it, huh? Look, the right stone can buy anything - safety, information, even freedom, but a big stone does not stay secret for very long. The moment you tell anyone about it, your life is absolutely worthless! The only reason you're still alive is because you haven't told anyone where it is. Am I right? Am I?

Peace Corps types only stay around long enough... to realize they're not helping anyone. Government only wants to stay in power... until they've stolen enough to go into exile somewhere else. And the rebels, they're not sure they want to take over. Otherwise, they'd have to govern this mess.