Sky Pirates

According to legends, Spacemen from other planets visited Earth in the past. Primitive people called the Gods. The ancient time travelers left behind evidence of their visits; strange archaeological wonders scattered across the planet. Stonehenge in Great Britain is perhaps in ancient calendar. The great Pyramids of Egypt are perhaps vast storehouse of secret mathematical and scientific information. From prehistoric times, forces of good and evil have been working on unlocking the secrets left as a legacy by the Gods. Easter Island, March 1886. Centuries ago, a sacred stolen tablet was hidden in a subterranean cavern on the Island and guarded by a chosen race of people. Within the tablet lay the key to all Earthly power and knowledge. The tablet was broken into 3 pieces and stolen by grave robbers. When the intact tablet was touched by a human, it glowed hot and almost consumed the person who found it. In 1945, the Second World War is about to come to an end. Meanwhile, the Australian military has come across an ancient device which can be used to travel through time. It is imperative that the Allies have it and the Axis powers do not. The experienced aviator Lt. Harris (John Hargreaves) gets assigned to transport the precious item to Washington, D.C. Reverend Mitchell (Simon Chilvers) (with the Australian institute of Theology), Mitchell's lovely daughter Melanie (Meredith Phillips), General Hackett (Alex Scott) and Major Savage (Max Phipps) (Mission in charge) are aboard the Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport. Melanie backs out of flying the mission at the last second. Savage is in charge of the mission and there is a history between Harris and Savage, who don't like each other. The cargo plane is escorted by 2 fighters. The plan is to go to Bora Bora on route to Washington. At Bora Bora they are to pick up Mitchell's associate who is working on the same line of research. During the flight the crate is opened by a soldier and the contents get activated automatically. The power of the magic cargo makes the laws of nature fade, hereby causing a tremendous tempest which leaves Harris no other choice than to ditch the aircraft in the ocean. Before crashing the flight picks up the SOS signal from the Titanic which sank in 1912, and the radio transmission of the Kennedy assassination & the moon landing which took place in the future (with respect to 1945). As the plane starts to break apart, Harris sees flying crafts from the past and the future in the air, all at the same time. The 2 fighter escorts meanwhile simply lose visual contact with the flight. Harris loses 5 men on the plane and refuses to carry the artifact in the rescue dinghy. In rescue boats they discover a weird and misty area full of wrecked ships of different eras. Rev. Mitchell claims there was a connection to the so-called Philadelphia Experiment. The US navy used an ancient device and some antimatter to make 2 ships disappear. Only one of the ships never returned. It was the USS Idaho. Harris remains unimpressed and concentrates on the survival of his crew, even for the price of immolating the arcane freight against Savage's explicit orders. The crew comes across USS Idaho which was reported missing several years ago. The ship's log indicate that the captain and the crew came across an island and went ashore. The crew also sees an island and moves towards it. The Reverend places the location as Easter Island, which is almost 5000 miles away from their last reported position. But then the island vanishes. After drifting for days, they are picked up by a passing merchant ship. Back home Savage has Harris sentenced for insubordination by a military court. Savage also produces an affidavit by Rev Mitchell which adds to his lies. Savage says that Harris cracked under pressure, started hallucinating and when the plane went out of fuel, he ditched it in the ocean. Harris attacks Savage in the court. Harris escapes and seeks to unveil the background of these occurrences. Harris gets back to the JAG's office and gets Rev Mitchell's affidavit. Meanwhile Savage tries to kill Melanie while she is working at a local library. Harris had to come to meet Melanie and ends up saving her (while Savage thinks she is dead). Together they strive to retrieve the lost magic item. Melanie tells Harris that the magic item was made of 3 pieces. 1 piece was in the cargo being transported. 2nd is on Easter Island and 3rd is on Bora Bora. Once united, the item has unlimited power. Meanwhile Savage has imprisoned Rev Mitchell and wants to unite the 3 pieces by himself for his own power. Melanie and Harris steal a plane for an Australian base to head to Bora Bora. They are pursued by the RAF, but Harris manages to shake them off till the fighter plane runs out of bullets and has to return to base. At Bora Bora, Harris meets O'Reilly (Bill Hunter) at a local bar and plays Russian Roulette with him to gain information that Savage and Mitchell have been through there recently. They get the location of Savage's research station. Harris borrows a sea plane from a friend and heads to the exact island in Bora Bora on which the research station is located. At the station, Melanie and Harris find Rev Mitchell alive, who tells them that Savage has headed to Easter Island, looking for the last missing piece. Harris and Melanie find the missing piece near the wreck of a DC3 plane. But Savage intercepts them and takes possession of the piece and takes them hostage. On the Island Savage finds a cave, which Melanie speculates is a library from the beginning of time. They find artifacts from all eras including the dead crew of the Idaho. Savage brings the 3 pieces together, but instead of getting power, he is consumed by it and his entire body burns and shrivels. Harris and Melanie know that the pieces don't belong together and exit the cave before the roof collapses.