User:Brian Kurtz/Sandbox

Synopsis
At different points in the past, people find themselves being abducted by a mysterious, inexplicable white light. In Crescent City, California on March 13th, 1946, young Maia Rutledge is taken while wandering in the woods. On May 11th, 1951, an African American US Army soldier stationed in South Korea named Richard Tyler finds himself the victim of violence by his own peers after they discover that he has been romantically involved with a white woman. He too disappears. In Tacoma, Washington, a middle-aged businessman named Orson Bailey leaves the office and disappears on June 11th, 1979. On April 22nd, 2001 two cousins named Shawn Farrell and Kyle Baldwin sit out at Highland Beach drinking beer. They see a bright light overhead and Shawn disappears. Kyle falls to the ground and slips into a coma.

Three years later, in the present, Kyle's father Tom Baldwin sits and watches over him in his hospital room. While keeping his nightly vigil over Kyle, he watches a news broadcast, which talks about a strange comet traveling close towards the Earth. Tom's estranged wife, Linda enters the room to visit Kyle. Tom and she bicker over Kyle's wellbeing and Linda tells him that she cannot live by his bedside every moment of every day the way Tom does.

Elsewhere, CDC analyst Diana Skouris receives a telephone call summoning her to the Seattle branch of the Department of Homeland Security. She meets Dennis Ryland who is in the midst of doling out emergency evacuation procedures for an upcoming threat. An agent named Sid Stradner tells Diana that their radar has spotted a comet on a direct course for Earth. Ryalnd fields a call informing him that China has just launched its missiles at the comet. Following suit, NORAD launches its Titan II missiles as well. The combined arsenal however has no affect and the comet continues on its course, altering its trajectory so that it is now heading directly towards Mount Rainier. Diana monitors the comet's progress on a computer and notes that it is slowing down, as if it were coming in for a landing.

HomeSec teams and emergency crews converge on the spot at Mount Rainier and watch the skies as the comet comes closer. As it becomes more visible, spectators see that it is not a comet, but a hovering ball of blue energy. The ball of energy dwindles in size, then explodes, releasing a tremendous shockwave and a blinding flash of light. A blanket of fog rolls over the lake at the base of the mountain and as the spectators adjust their vision, they see 4,400 people emerge from the fog. They are dressed in attire from various time periods and all of them appear to be in a state of great disorientation. Some of the returnees include Maia Rutledge, Richard Tyler and Shawn Farrell.

Tom Baldwin goes to Dennis Ryland's office. A former Homeland Security field agent, Tom wants to be part of the operation responsible for researching the returnees. Ryland is irritated by Baldwin's sudden arrival and feels that he abandoned the department three years ago. Tom admits towards having a personal stake in joining back up and he feels that the return of his nephew Shawn might shed some light as to why his own son is in a coma. Ryland ultimately relents and decides to take Tom on. He introduces him to Diana Skouris and tells them that they will be working together with one another.

All 4,400 returnees are placed into quarantine. NTAC agents conduct extensive interviews with each of them, recording all information that they gather. Tom and Diana pour over the video files and Diana determines that the earliest known person to be abducted is eight-year-old Maia Rutledge. Tom has his own returnee that he wants to interview - Shawn.