The Killings at Outpost Zeta (1980) Movie Script
1
Outpost Zeta, come in.
A 3W4.
Outpost Zeta, do you read me?
Outpost Zeta, do you read?
Answer.
Reply.
Outpost Zeta, reply.
When?
At 0833, commander.
We're coming up on it now.
No response whatsoever.
Hello, can you hear me?
Uh, we need to run a line
and see what kind of luck
he's having with the contact.
Nope?
No luck so far.
We've been trying to
reach Zeta for 24 hours.
Commander Craig, we have
a single lock on data, sir.
We're initiating communication.
Outpost Zeta, this is Commander Craig.
Respond.
Answer me, damn you.
Answer me.
Sir, shall I maintain a signal watch?
Sir?
Yes.
Set a monitor on the Zeta frequency
And all emergency frequencies as well.
Automatic record mode from
now until I tell you to stop.
Anything that even remotely sounds
like it comes from Zeta, call me
24 hours.
Understand?
Yes, sir.
Keep on it for 24 hours.
And, uh, get back to me if you
have any response from Zeta.
Keep up the good work.
Arnie, keep trying to
set an active com link.
Four more hours, to 9:45.
Yes, sir.
Come in.
Commander?
I thought you might be able to use this.
Mary, what are you still doing here?
You should have gone home hours ago.
But I'm glad you didn't.
Thank you.
You're welcome, sir.
I made an idiot of
myself this morning, Mary.
No one faults you for it, sir.
I do.
We all know the situation on Outpost Zeta.
We all understand.
What is the situation
on Outpost Zeta, Mary?
Do you know?
Does anyone?
We are the pathfinders.
We go in first.
We make it safe.
We clear the way for the rest
of the Starfleet to follow.
And sometimes, we die
12 this time, Mary, 12 in three months.
The first team functioned for two
years without any sign of trouble
and then that six.
The rescue team went out, three more.
The second rescue team, three more.
And now, they're gone.
Now, what's going on out there, Mary?
What's on that godforsaken piece of rock?
We don't know that they're dead.
There could be any number of
reasons why they can't communicate.
No.
After a while, you get a feeling
for a situation like this one.
I feel that Zeta is a graveyard.
But feelings don't count.
We've got to know.
Pull the signal red volunteer files, Mary.
Have them on my desk first
thing in the morning.
I'm gonna have to pick
out some other people
who don't mind getting themselves
killed in that godforsaken planet.
Good morning, gentlemen.
As you know, we have a
problem with Base Zeta.
A pathfinder team was
deployed on June 14, 2100.
The team functioned without
mishap for roughly two years.
And then on May 10th of this
year, for no apparent reason,
we lost contact with them.
The establishment of a secure base there
will be critical to our
explorations in sector 7.
There is no other Earth-type
planet within light-years of Zeta.
Now, based on your reports
and observations submitted
by your pathfinders, we had
anticipated beginning to deploy men
and material within two months.
Colony ships were to follow within six.
Are you saying that won't be possible?
It may not.
Without knowledge of what has
happened to those men and women
that we've already sent
in, I cannot recommend
proceeding with Base Zeta.
Now, we need to find the answer.
Exactly how do you intend
to do this, commander?
And how quickly?
We need that planet.
Yes, sir.
Well, I've assembled a
signal red assignment team.
As captain and commanding
officer, Clark Young.
38 years old, veteran of the
Sirius and Pleiades Campaigns.
Battle citations include three
star clusters, medal of honour.
Biologist Carol Cisco.
40 years old, intellectual
rating genius level.
Responsible for stopping
the epidemic on Aldaberan 6.
The virus thing that wiped
out the entire star base?
Yes, sir.
Engineer Paul Cary.
35 years old, joined Starfleet 2087.
Uh, medical doctor Linda Saunders.
She's 32.
This will be her first
signal red assignment.
Especially recommended for her
abilities as a diagnostician.
There will be two
security officers aboard.
Chief Officer Sigmund Stewart.
40 years old, commander of the
ground campaign against the Vegans.
Numerous citations for valour,
also Medal of Honour winner.
Our second security officer is Gore Stat.
A 10-year veteran, presently
holds rank of star sergeant major.
Ranked first in his division
in both armed and unarmed
combat, a record of
Thank you, Mary.
Gore's reputation also precedes him.
Well, you've chosen well, commander.
Thank you, sir.
When will this suicide mission
of yours be ready for liftoff?
My, um, special assignment team will be
ready to lift off within 72 hours
With your approval, gentlemen.
Of course.
Approved.
Approved.
Now, listen.
Don't fail us.
Young.
Hello, Carol.
Yes, sir.
Clark.
Where's that 50 you owe me from
that last mess I got you out of?
I'll tell you what. Double or nothing.
All right.
You can bet your life on it.
- Very interesting, very good.
- Thank you.
Cary, good to see you.
At ease.
Clark, good to see you again.
Good to see you, commander.
Sigmund.
Commander.
Gore, how's the family?
Doing fine, sir.
Cary, how are you?
Fine, sir.
Good to see you.
Carol, I'm glad you're
shipping with us again.
Commander, I hope this
is not a long voyage.
I was at a crucial stage with some
microbe experiments that promised
to revolutionise my whole
I hope it won't be either, Carol.
Well, I hope so too.
And Dr. Saunders, welcome
to the pathfinder group.
Thank you, sir.
You know, for a first
mission, you drew a tough one.
I'll manage, sir.
Yeah, I trust you will.
Please, uh, sit down.
You have all received a preliminary
briefing on the situation at Zeta.
So I won't go into any more detail now.
All available information
has been programmed
into your ship's data bank.
You will have an opportunity to
study the data on the way out.
I want to remind you now
that this is a mission
of the highest potential danger.
Your presence here is voluntary.
If anyone wishes to withdraw, you may
do so now without any prejudice.
Very well.
Zeta is important to us.
It's our stepping stone to
a new sector of the galaxy.
We must find out what has
happened to the previous crews
and bring it to a halt.
As this is a signal red assignment, Mary
has drawn your last wills and testaments
from the file for your review.
If there are any changes, please
make them before you leave today.
Also, the standard Starfleet
life insurance policies
have been drawn against your lives.
Please fill in the appropriate
spaces for beneficiaries
and sign them.
Any questions?
Very well.
You will lift off at
0700, August 22nd, just
a little over 36 hours from now.
I wish you the
I wish you the best of luck.
Good luck.
Oxygen levels set to normal atmosphere.
Loading bay hatches, locked and secure.
Ignition sequence start in five seconds.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mark.
The mission sequence begun.
Ion accelerators approaching maximum.
At critical now.
Take us out, Mr. Cary.
Aye, sir.
Coming up on 65950, mark.
Is everybody OK?
Ugh, I'm getting too old
for all this foolishness.
Every time out takes a little bit
more of this old body of mine.
Well, your old body has about two
days to get the creaks out of it,
Paul.
We make planet fall in 40 hours.
Now, we got a lot of work to do by then.
All right.
To begin, let's ease off on formalities.
First names make life a
lot easier and save time.
Second, Gore, after this initial briefing,
I want you to draw up a watch schedule
for the remaining approach time.
Uh, eight hours on and eight hours off.
Roger.
Now, I want you all to get
as much rest as possible.
There's no telling when we're
gonna get another chance.
We found Zeta in the usual way.
A remote probe sensed
an oxygen atmosphere,
touched down, and began sending
back basic planetary data.
We believe it was destroyed shortly
after that by volcanic activity.
Then a manned mission was sent
in, began to survey the planet.
And, uh, when preliminary data
indicated habitation possible,
a pathfinder group was sent in.
Did the first survey
ship have any problems?
No.
But it was only on the surface for a week.
And there was no trouble with the
original pathfinder mission either.
Zeta's an important planet to us.
We haven't had too many
opportunities to observe planets
in their early stages of formation.
But it but it's more than that.
With Zeta as a star base, we can
leapfrog from here to who knows.
They want construction
ships on Zeta in two months,
workers and colony ships in six.
Well, who are they gonna
get to colonise that?
It has a very odd look to it.
What's causing it?
A tremendous amount of
fumes and vapour in the air.
As you'll see when we land, your eyes
will have some adjusting to do.
We're dealing with a lot of irritants.
Eyestrain goes with the territory.
Zeta's also somewhat larger than Earth,
so the gravitational pull
is gonna be stronger.
You'll feel weak until you adjust.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
What was that, Linda?
Oh, I'm sorry, captain.
Daydreaming.
No.
What did you say?
Oh, it was just a few lines from
an early Earth poet named Dante.
It was a work he called Hell.
Zeta's an Earth-type planet.
Now, I stress the word type.
The air is bad.
There's a lot of vapour,
nitrogen, and oxygen
in roughly Earth-like proportions.
The volcanoes are pumping
out carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide,
hydrogen, hydrochloric acid,
and hydrofluoric acid.
And no preservatives?
Yeah, with no preservatives.
It's toxic.
But it's survivable.
Are you sure?
Our grandparents
survived it 100 years ago.
I think we can handle it.
In the 20th century, they
lived with it all the time.
What are you talking about? I
That's what they called smog.
Smog.
But on Zeta, it's worse
than it ever got on Earth.
You'll be all right as long as you
don't do anything too strenuous.
But heavy activity'll
leave you gasping, choking.
You may even pass out.
What? No sex?
Gentlemen, come on.
All right.
For safety's sake, everybody
will be required to wear
breathing helmets and oxygen tanks.
Uh, Stewart, will you outline
the security cautions?
Certainly.
As the situation develops on
Zeta, we will adapt our behaviour
to meet the situation.
Initial procedures are these.
No one is to be alone at any time
No one.
All personnel will wear
sidearms at all times.
If anything appears,
oh, out of the ordinary,
communicate with Gore
or myself immediately.
No travel outside the compound
unless we know about it.
We want to know where
you're going and how long
you'll be there no exceptions.
And, of course, no travel
outside at night at all.
You see, we're totally
interdependent on this mission.
One breach of any of these
rules may be fatal to all of us.
Therefore, there must be no breaches.
Questions?
Sigmund, how do you expect us to
get any work done wearing guns all
the time and not going anywhere?
Dr. Cisco, if these
precautions are not followed,
you may not live to do any work at all.
I don't understand what
you're trying to say.
Listen.
I've had problems with you before.
We don't know what we're
up against on Zeta.
And until we do, these
procedures will be followed.
Mr. Stewart, if I may suggest
a few changes in your procedures,
I think that
Doctor, if you required
open heart surgery,
would you trust me to
perform the operation?
No, certainly not.
Why?
Because you wouldn't
know what you were doing.
And you'd probably kill me.
For exactly those same reasons, doctor,
you'll follow the security arrangements
made by Gore and myself
To the letter.
All right. OK.
Look.
One last point, one that
may be very important,
is the layout of Outpost Zeta.
Automatic pilot, officer.
You have control.
Acknowledge.
What do we got, Gore?
Not sure, sir.
Maybe a ship.
Looks small, though.
Set an intercept course.
Aye, sir.
Defence screens?
Primed and ready, sir.
Fire control?
Armed and ready, sir.
Captain, can you tell what it is yet?
If we can get a visual.
Gore, try the forward scanners, maximum.
Magnify.
It's an emergency beacon, sir
One of ours.
Looks like it's orbiting around Zeta.
Maybe from the planet, or
Is she transmitting?
Nothing, sir.
Could be her solar
panels are down, though.
All right.
Let's get her aboard and pull the tape.
All right.
Let's see what we've got.
Here's the capsule.
All right.
Let's hear what's on the recording.
This is the last.
We didn't know.
Starfleet, listen.
Stay out of this hellhole.
It's not worth the
the air is
Not much time.
Don't send more people here
to they'll they'll just
end up like the rest, all emptied out and
My god, listen.
They just had time to
To send it off before
Before what?
And that noise in the
background, any ideas?
Well, it sounded like escaping
gases of some kind, perhaps
volcanic activity.
Then they may have been
trapped by an explosion.
But that doesn't explain emptied out
Or anything else, for that matter.
Plus, there are no burn markings
on the inside of the beacon.
If there'd been an explosion,
I'm sure there would be.
And these strange
markings in here, though.
Carol, you have the
facilities to analyse that.
Captain, there won't be any need
for Carol to spend time on this.
After a while, you get to know
the way blood dries in space.
Still, let's check it.
Certainly.
If it's blood, I want
to know if it's human.
All right.
Planet fall will be at 1500 hours.
Let's all do our homework.
How are we doing, doctor?
Well, I don't know.
It's the biological data seems
so thorough and so complete.
Yeah.
But what?
Well, it's hard to believe that on
a planet like Zeta there's no life.
Gore, what do you think?
Are we really in as much danger
as Mr. Stewart seems to believe
we are?
Well, was the uh, the blood
on the satellite human, doctor?
Yes.
Yes, it was.
Well, I think we have to be
very, very careful down there.
Don't worry about it.
We'll be able to take care
of it, whatever it is.
Is that what you live for, Stewart?
The guns?
It's what I do, Cary.
I'm good at it.
And I'm careful.
That's why I'm still alive.
Well, I'm thrilled for you.
You sure the guns are gonna be enough?
They usually are.
Oh, about these guns.
Yeah?
One of them's yours.
What?
Want me to show you how to use it?
No.
I think I can handle it.
Thank you.
That means you're gonna
have to find another place
- to hang that tool belt of yours.
- Oh, no, no, Stewart.
The belt stays on.
I'll hang one of those little blowtorches
on it if it'll make you feel any better.
But the belt stays on, thank you.
As you wish.
Oh, good.
All right.
How long, captain?
10 hours.
10 hours till what?
I wish I knew.
Why did you take this assignment, Linda?
You know the dangers that go
with signal red assignments.
Well, when I was not more than
five years old, my grandfather
Oh, he was on the first Venus
project in mission control.
He sat outside with me one night.
And we sat there.
And one by one, he pointed
out all the stars in the sky
Venus, Mars, Polaris, Regulus, Altair.
Oh, god, it was magic.
And I said, Grandpa,
can I go there someday?
And he said, yes, if
you really want to, yes.
So it it doesn't matter
what project it is, captain
Signal red or any other kind.
I live for this.
You may die for this, Linda.
Maybe.
But I wouldn't regret it
Not a minute of it.
How about you, Captain Young?
Oh, I
I have no home, at least not in the sense
that most people use the word.
My, uh my home is where I belong
Here.
We're two of a kind, aren't we?
Yeah.
I believe we are.
Go ahead, Captain Young.
Commander, we have visual
contact with the outpost.
We're presently 120 units up,
30 minutes from planet fall.
The outpost and the three
ships seem to be secure.
You've received no communication?
Well, in a way, sir, we have.
We took aboard a planetary
beacon that was in a high orbit.
We've prepared a complete report.
Prepare to receive
high-speed transmission.
Transmit when ready.
Reception acknowledged.
This will be our last
transmission for a while, commander.
Request permission to land.
Permission granted.
Need I say be very careful?
No, sir, you needn't.
But you know that I will.
Be very careful, commander
All of you.
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Communication link terminated.
I'll have that transmission
transcribed, commander.
Immediately, please.
Mary?
Tell me what can we do that
we haven't already done?
Nothing, sir, nothing at all.
Hold her steady, Gore.
Are you reading the
outpost landing beacon?
No, sir.
I'm not getting anything at all.
I know it should be there, but.
All right.
I'm gonna take her in on manual.
Release the automatic sequencer, Paul.
You have control, sir.
Acknowledged.
We have touchdown.
All landing gear sensors
indicate solid contact.
Nicely done, captain.
Well, thank you, Paul.
You're most welcome.
All right.
Secure ion accelerators.
Secured.
Power down.
Powered down.
Let's go.
Preliminary readings.
Atmosphere within marginal limits.
Wind and temperature, satisfactory.
Automatic sensors report no anomalies.
Thanks, Linda.
Captain, Linda, Cary, travel with Gore.
Dr. Cisco with me.
Stay close.
No detours for any reason.
Put your helmets on. All right.
Is everybody ready?
Yeah.
Let's go.
Really crappy place this is.
We didn't come here for a party.
Let's just get the job
done and get out of here.
That's strange.
What is it?
Well, just for a moment, I felt
kind of strange, as though, uh,
someone was watching me.
Crazy.
It must be this place.
Captain, you hear that?
Listen carefully.
You can just make it out.
Yeah.
That kind of sighing sound
we heard on the tape.
I can't tell where it's coming from.
Maybe it was a natural volcanic sound.
We'll see if we can find it later.
Try the lights.
Right.
Good.
Cover me.
You're covered.
Look at this.
What happened in here?
I don't know.
Check the oxygen support system.
Right.
There.
It's functioning.
OK.
Come on.
Captain, the oxygen
support system is activated.
Good. Check the doors.
Right.
Please, everybody be careful.
Yes, sir.
Cisco, wait.
You can take your helmets off.
The air is OK.
You've got your work
cut out for you, doctor.
What do you mean, Mr. Stewart?
You got some autopsies to perform
11 of them.
Oh my god.
11, just 11.
Why aren't there 12?
There's something wrong
with their uniforms.
Look at the stomachs.
Gore, Sigmund, take this
one to the sealed lab.
I'll make it my medical bay.
And you better find
something to put it in.
I don't know what's gonna happen
if you just try and pick it up.
There's a stretcher in the mess hall.
I'll get that.
Did you know him, captain?
Yeah.
He was the leader of the
first rescue expedition.
And he's my squadron
leader at Altair Four.
Well, I've got my work cut out for me.
What do you think of this
hole in the fence, Paul?
I don't know.
Look.
At first glance, it looks
like a chunk of lava
rolled down sloping and punched through.
But look at the way the
wires are broken on the end.
It looks like the sound it looks like it
was made from the inside out.
Another piece of the puzzle?
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'll see if I can
find some material here
in the bay to patch it.
If not, I'll get something onboard ship.
Either way, I'll get it fixed up.
All right.
But, uh, do it tomorrow.
It's dark now.
And I don't want anybody
out on the surface.
I'm glad you said that.
Because I don't want
to be out there either.
What, uh, Linda and Carol have found
is that this thing seems to be
some kind of a dissolving process
that starts with the soft tissues.
The, uh, blood was drained
from all the bodies
Also the contents of the
abdominal and thoracic
cavities, also the organs, the
lungs, everything, the brains too.
There's just nothing there.
Are all the bodies the same?
No.
There are three stages of decomposition.
The stages correspond exactly
to the mission personnel.
The first mission, five out of the
six, showed the most deterioration.
Five?
Who's missing from that group?
Dr. Christopher, the geologist.
The three men, first rescue
mission, showed less deterioration.
And the second mission, less still.
But, uh, whatever this thing
is, it attacks the soft tissues.
And then it moves on to the firmer cells.
Maybe in time, even
the skeletons would go.
We we don't know.
What's in the tray?
Well, we don't know that either.
Carol and Linda took
these from the bodies.
We think they have something to
do with the dissolving process.
These came from the first five bodies,
these from the first rescue
mission, and these last three
from the second rescue mission.
We don't have any idea what they
are or what they do, if anything.
Is there anything we can do now?
Not really.
All we can do is just watch and wait.
Carol and Linda are running some
more tests back in the natural lab.
After they get done with those, we'll send
a preliminary report back to Earth.
Until then, all we do is just
stay alert and stay alive.
Linda?
Linda, come here.
Did you notice these marks?
No.
No, I hadn't.
They almost look like tracks
of some kind, don't they?
Yes, they do.
And most of them seem to be
leading to the outside wall here.
What do you think could've caused this?
Do you think it could be animal?
Well, I suppose it could be.
That's odd.
What?
Do you smell fresh air?
Yes, I do.
But I wonder where it
could be coming from.
I don't know.
I don't understand it.
Linda, I think we should get
some samples of this stuff.
All right.
I'm going to, uh, check
the lava vent outside.
You be careful.
You don't have your oxygen on.
You're beginning to sound
like our friend Sigmund.
Well, here goes.
No.
Carol!
Carol!
For the thousandth time, I don't know.
A shape.
What kind of shape?
Fangs?
Claws?
You must've seen something.
Nothing.
Just a hulking kind of shadow that
All right.
That's enough for tonight.
I'm just trying to get
some information from her.
I know, Sigmund.
I know.
Captain, it's my fault. I should have
anticipated we'd come
under immediate attack
and set the perimeter defences.
Dr. Cisco is dead.
And it's my responsibility.
No, Sigmund.
The point is not to go around
blaming ourselves or each other.
The point is not to let it happen again.
Paul?
Yeah?
First thing tomorrow
morning, I want you to set
up the dimensional laser fence.
Sure.
But that's not the problem.
See, the fence is the system
is operating way below maximum.
And I can't get it back
up to normal levels.
We're gonna have to watch our consumption,
or we're gonna blow the entire system.
Well, can't you reroute it someway?
It's not just the rerouting.
See, that fence draws
an awful lot of power.
Yeah, I could
I should be able to integrate
the emergency power system so
that if the fence does go down, we'll
only be open maybe 5 or 10 seconds.
Or, yeah, I could cross
the mains so they'd
kick back in if it does go down.
I'll have to rewire the fuses,
though, so that if they go out,
the one
Paul, Paul, just do it, OK?
Any way you can.
OK.
And second thing, patch up
that hole in the natural lab.
OK.
Linda, are you all right?
Oh, yes, sir.
It's just when I saw Carol, it
Don't dwell on it.
Is your report to Starfleet ready?
The preliminary report
is ready to send, yes.
I just have to add the latest events.
Good.
All right.
As soon as it's ready, give it
to Paul to tape and transmit.
Paul?
Mm?
You take the first watch
with Sigmund, 12:00 to 4:00.
Gore and I will take 4:00 to 8:00.
Uh, also, get a beacon ready to launch.
And get Linda's data into
orbit as soon as possible.
OK.
And everybody, keep your weapons
fully charged and close by.
It looks like we're gonna need them.
Damn it.
Stewart, no.
There.
And now, we have four.
He may have been cold and uncaring.
But we fought together more than once.
And we nearly died
together more than once.
Now probably the best
soldier Starfleet ever had.
Whatever did this to him will pay for it.
All right.
We have two priorities.
First, defence.
It's getting near dawn.
OK.
First light, Gore and I
will get the fence up.
OK.
Second, the outpost logs.
Linda and I will start going
through them day by day.
Yeah.
There might be an answer in
there as to what's happened.
Is happening.
One thing we know, those
track-like markings that Carol
and I were sampling the night that
she died, they seem to be a trail
of some kind left by this thing.
When it's fresh, it leaves
sort of a silvery look,
like we saw next to Carol
and Sigmund's bodies.
It dries very quickly.
If you see the silvery markings,
it means it's a very fresh trail.
I want you all to make yourselves
as comfortable as you can.
The night comes very quickly.
And if that thing tries anything tonight,
we'll have a much better chance together.
That's the last of the lasers.
You want to start
setting up the fence now?
No, no, no.
I want to go back to the ship once more
and get that stuff I'll need to
fix the hole in the natural lab.
I'll need a, uh, welding
torch, a few other things.
Come on, Gore.
We both need the exercise, a nice
brisk walk in the countryside
to cheer you up.
Yeah, cheers.
Where do we begin?
We've got nearly two
years of material here.
Yeah, I know.
We don't have time to go through it all.
Let's start by dropping the first year.
Then, if we have to pick
it up later, we can.
Here.
You take the scientific journals.
I'll take the daily event logs.
Hey, Gore, where you going?
Hey, Gore, wait.
Gore!
Linda, it'll be all right.
Did you see them?
All of them, emptied out from the inside
All of them.
Yeah.
I saw them.
You wanna take a break?
No.
No.
There's something out there
that's trying to kill us.
And I'm not gonna let it.
Get back to work, captain.
There's not much time.
Yes, ma'am.
Gore.
They found life.
What?
Linda, what did you say?
They found life on Zeta, at least evidence
that there was life here once.
Here.
Look at this.
"Found at the edge of a massive
spatter cone, charred bone
fragments of numerous small animals,
unfortunately not enough to make
identification or drawings."
Let's see.
Here.
Look.
"Found an almost complete skeleton.
Teeth indicate parallel to herbivore."
So there must have been
plant life here as well.
"Also found what may be a gastrolith
in the abdominal cavity."
What's a gastrolith?
It's a stone in the stomach.
Animals sometimes swallow
it to help their digestion.
Let's see.
"Skeleton back to lab for
cleaning, preserving, and tests."
So they must all still be here.
Should we look for them?
No, not yet.
We're dealing with more
than a small animal,
so it's got to be something else.
Here.
You keep working in this log.
I'll look up the same date in mine.
We'll see what happens.
This may be what we're looking for.
Captain, it's here.
It's all here.
They did find life on Zeta.
Not only did they find life, but
they nourished it and made it grow.
Gore, behind you!
What were they, Gore?
Animals?
Vegetables?
I don't know.
But you were following a trail.
I think they laid that trail for you.
I think the first one brought you in here
and waited until you got
close enough to jump.
These things think, Gore.
All right.
I'll buy that.
And the second one, he followed me in.
Or it was already here,
sitting tight until you went by,
then waiting to slam the
door on you if it had to.
I guess I kind of screwed
up the plan by opening
fire from as long range as I did.
Either way, it's getting late.
And I don't think I want to
be out here when it gets dark.
Come on.
Let's go.
Where'd you come from, anyway?
I saw you heading out. I shouted at you.
But you didn't hear or didn't listen.
I figured you might need some company.
So I came along for the ride.
I'm glad you did.
I owe you one.
Nah, we're even.
The second one might've ripped me open.
You can buy me a drink
when we get back to Earth.
OK, buddy?
They were sectioning the gastrolith
when Dr. Murray, the physicist,
noticed it was very different
from the rest of the lava.
And she opened it up with a carbon saw.
And when she was taking the
two halves out of the saw,
she cut her finger.
She says here that the sawed gastrolith
was as sharp as a razor's edge.
Some blood fell on both
halves of the rock.
And the rock absorbed it.
And it started to grow.
Good lord.
It was such a little thing
I mean, a cut finger.
When they saw what was happening,
they decided to experiment.
They began feeding it.
It was a curiosity, just a wild curiosity.
And nobody knew a thing about it?
No.
They never said a word
about life on this planet.
Why?
I think I can explain that.
I know I knew Jack Mann, the
expedition leader, pretty well.
We shipped together on a Jupiter
expedition about two years ago.
He was the type of man who liked
to hold everything in until he
was absolutely sure of his ground.
And then he'd let it all out at once
for the biggest possible impact.
He knew how to make news
And a reputation.
Well, it might console him to
know he's gonna be in the headlines
again.
This is gonna be a very, very big story
If we ever live to tell it.
Come on.
Back to the books, Linda.
"They grew quickly,
gained what is probably
their full adult size in six weeks.
Diet, exclusively meat."
"Seemed to possess a
considerable intelligence.
They show a remarkable trust and
apparently no fear of us whatever."
"Test proceeding on schedule.
Not yet determined biology of the beast.
X-rays may show internal
physiology and organs, if any.
Externally, they are amazing.
Could we make use of these things?
Perhaps a source of labour?
Must explore that possibility.
Partners?
Servants?
Where would they fit in?"
They killed one.
They what?
How?
They don't know how.
It may have been the x-rays.
Or possibly, it was kept inside the
outpost too long and suffocated.
When they started an autopsy on the
dead one, the other came into
the sealed lab where they were
working and pushed up against the body,
as if it was trying to wake it up.
Kept that up for about 10 minutes.
And and they say here that it went crazy.
It rushed around the lab,
scuttled into the corridor,
and went into the natural lab door.
They opened the door for it.
And it went straight for the
mesh wall, and broke through it,
and disappeared.
A hole they never fixed.
Three days after that,
Kayward, the biologist, vanished.
From this account, the beast did too.
They hunted him for two weeks, found
his equipment south of the outpost,
but no sign of him.
An eye for an eye?
Did they kill him?
I mean, are these things capable
of feeling grief and anger?
A desire for revenge?
Maybe.
They finally gave up on
the hunt for Kayward.
Missing.
We heard that last part.
Make that confirmed dead.
Found him about 1,000 metres
Northwest of here at a volcano.
Northwest?
But I thought they were
Now, obviously, they
They can move their victims.
Remember how the bodies were
spread out in the natural lab?
Linda, keep digging.
Now, you two, tell me
exactly what you were doing.
"Probable cause
of beast's death, asphyxiation.
Zeta's air is tolerable for
humans for short periods of time.
It works the same way for
the beast in our atmosphere.
Oxygen does to them what CO2 does to us"
They think.
Listen to this.
The one that left reproduced.
About a month after it disappeared,
it came back with a small one
beside it.
They think it was some kind of
asexual fusion, like an amoeba.
Jeez.
Does that mean we have
two of them to deal with?
Yeah, we saw two.
There may be more.
No, there's no way of
knowing at this point.
Let's assume two.
Paul, what's the status
on the directional fence?
Well, I've got two
more stations to instal.
Gore, come with me.
We'll finish that.
Paul, I want you to do whatever
rewiring you have to do
to get that fence operational.
I'm nearly finished.
Paul, when you're finished,
get a report together
with the information that
Linda's found so far.
Get a capsule, and get it in orbit.
We've got to get that information
to Earth as soon as you can.
"Our peaceful coexistence seems
to have re-established itself.
So we are adapting to accommodate them.
Today, installed a special
low-touch plate in the natural lab
so they can come and go as they please."
It's done.
At least we'll be safe for the night.
I hope so.
Captain?
What, Gore?
Do you think we'll make
it through the night, sir?
Well, yes, of course.
Don't you?
No, sir.
But I think we'll go down in style.
Well, I hope you're wrong, Gore.
I hope you're wrong.
We should do a sweep, make sure we
haven't locked one of those things
in with us.
It means separating.
I think it's worth the risk.
Well, let's test the fence as we go.
"It's becoming more difficult
to determine who are the testers
and who are the experiments.
We are all acquiring a strong
sense of being intently studied.
The beasts have a capacity for learning.
And they are learning quickly.
They watch us always.
They analyse.
They think."
How's it going?
Well, they're definitely
vulnerable to Earth atmosphere.
You see, they exhale a mixture of gases
as waste products that's very
close to what we breathe.
They need a mixture of
volcanic byproducts to survive.
And the key element may be sulphur.
Sulphur?
Now, Dr. Mann guessed, in spite
of the outpost philtre system,
enough Zeta air must be getting
through to keep them alive for up
to something like two hours.
Two hours?
Without that trace of their natural air,
they would last only about 30 minutes
In a heavy oxygen atmosphere, much less.
How about that?
So in other words, they eliminate
what we would think was fresh air?
Yes.
And that explains what Carol
and I smelled in the natural lab
the night she was killed.
As in, we take in a lot of nitrogen,
but we get rid of most of it.
So they can't live on oxygen?
Yes.
We couldn't live in a nearly
total nitrogen atmosphere either.
So the same goes for them with oxygen.
Gore, that sighing sound we heard
on the emergency beacon and then
on the way in.
It was breathing.
And we thought it was
coming from the volcano.
That means the man who made that
last tape was being attacked.
But why?
That's the big question.
Did they ever find out
why these things kill?
If so, I haven't found it yet.
It has to be in there.
Don't worry.
We'll find it.
All right.
Linda, I want you to take a break.
We're gonna have to be on watch 24 hours
Six hours on, and six hours off.
I'll take the first shift, sir.
And I'll join him.
I want to keep an eye
on that rewiring we did.
It's using a lot more
juice than I thought.
I'll tell you we have
got to keep everything
turned off as much as possible.
That alarm system is really hot.
If anything penetrates it,
we're gonna know about it.
What is it?
I don't know.
Something hit the fence, but
there's nothing on the cameras.
OK.
But keep an eye on it for
a couple more minutes.
I'll be in my bunk.
Shout if anything happens.
I think this is
gonna be a very long night.
They're wearing us down.
They're just picking at us.
This filthy, stinking kind of beast.
They're thinking on it.
Oh, yeah.
Just picking at us, just waiting
for us to make a mistake,
like the stinking, rotten
Cary, Cary.
They know what
- It's not gonna do us any good.
- I know.
I know. I know.
Not you, not any of us.
I know.
What do you want?
Damn you.
What do you want?
Why do you want to kill us?
Talk to me.
Linda.
We know you're out there.
We know you're there.
Why
That's enough.
Now, shut it down, Dr. Saunders.
And I mean right now.
I'm sorry.
It's just that I didn't know
all this was gonna happen.
I know.
Nothing for us to do right now except just
hang on and try and pull ourselves out.
We can.
It's just that right now, it doesn't
seem like we have much of a chance.
No, no.
These these things are vulnerable.
They can be hurt.
They can be killed.
We just have to figure out a way to
To trap them so that we can.
There's always a catch, isn't there?
Busy night, huh, Clark?
How many more to come?
Not many, Paul
With any luck, not any.
We're down, but not out.
Our defences are up.
And we can prevent any attack.
Can we?
We're rabbits trapped in a hole
with dogs sniffing all around us.
Even rabbits have teeth, Linda.
You've been studying the test data.
Where can we hurt these
things the easiest?
Well, lasers will stun
them, but it won't kill them.
Um, heat, well, enough
flame will do the job.
But I don't know how much.
They've been living on this
planet so long they would've
adapted to the high heat by now.
I think our best bet is
the air they breathe.
They can't take Earth air
for any length of time.
Well, let's think about that one.
We have the main lab down the hall
that can be hermetically sealed.
If we can get those things in
there, fill it full of oxygen,
they'd suffocate, right?
Ah, that's an awfully big if, captain.
That means opening up
the outpost deliberately
and letting those things in here.
No, sir, I, uh
I think that's very dangerous to
send out an invitation like that.
Yeah.
But there's no reason for that.
We've got three sealed
labs outside right now.
The spaceships?
Yeah.
Except for the one we need to get home,
the other three are expendable.
Commander Craig would
love to hear you say that.
Wait a minute.
Now, you say we have three traps going?
OK.
How do we spring them?
What do we use for bait?
Well, the bait part is easy.
- It's me.
- No.
No.
It's gotta be that way, Linda.
Excuse me, captain.
She's right.
You're needed here.
And besides, I'm the one
with the score to settle.
Don't make me pull rank on you, Gore.
No, sir, I won't.
It's my job.
Yeah, you're right.
All right.
The object is to lure that thing out
there and keep it in the spaceship
until it suffocates.
Now, how do we do it?
Paul, we, uh
We can activate the mechanisms
on our ships by remote control,
can't we?
Yeah.
And the outer door, the
airlocks, latches, sure.
Captain, you notice one of the ships
still has her cargo ramp down.
Yeah, yeah.
It's probably because the guy
who sent up the emergency beacon
didn't have time to close it up.
OK.
Try this.
I go inside that ship, up the cargo ramp,
turn the oxygen feed up to full.
After that, I get in one of the
airlocks and shut myself in.
When the beasts are inside, I shout.
Then, from the control panel here, you
shut the ramp by remote control.
I blow the airlock and bail out.
It's clean, simple.
Yeah.
It may be too simple, Gore.
How do you make it from
here to the ship alone?
That might not be so easy.
No.
It might not be.
So you'll have to keep the
cameras here on me as best you can
and watch.
I don't think I like it, Gore.
Well, I don't think that matters
much, sir, with all due respect.
Cary, I'd like to have a
micro camera on my helmet.
Ready?
As I'll ever be.
All systems check out, Clark.
Now.
Good hunting.
Please be careful.
Anything?
Nothing.
There I think.
Yes, yes, there, for sure.
That would put it about 150
metres distant at 5 o'clock.
Can't see it, captain.
Was that a definite contact?
No, no, no.
Keep me posted.
Picking anything up?
The same?
Definite now.
Maintaining your speed, the same distance.
Now it's moved to 7 o'clock.
Can you get a clear view of the thing?
No.
It's like some chunk of lava
decided to get up and move around.
It's a perfect camouflage.
And this light is no good.
Gore, pick up the pace.
It's closing in now, about 40
yards behind you, 9 o'clock.
Hurry up, man.
It's about 100 metres to go, captain.
Am I going to make it?
Yes, yes.
You're gonna make it.
It's not coming any closer now.
Good.
Hey, by the way, just heard
you say the target is out here.
Confirm the sighting for me.
How many are on my tail?
We can only confirm one, Gore.
But I'm sure they're both out there.
Yeah, I wish I were.
There.
I think I saw one of
them by the ramp door.
Careful, Gore.
Don't let it cut you off.
Gore, what happened?
I slipped on something.
I'm all right.
Gore, there's a fresh
trail from one of the beasts.
It must be in the ship.
Get out of there.
One of them is coming at you.
Gore?
Gore, what's happening?
It sounds like he's in an airlock.
But why can't we see him?
I'm out now.
I'm on the surface.
I'm heading back.
My laser's out of power.
My leg, it hurt when I landed.
Watch them for me.
Gore, I have them both on the screens.
And they're moving after you fast.
Keep moving.
And watch the fence as you approach it.
We'll power down as soon as you hit it.
I don't think
I don't think I'll make
the fence, captain.
Try, Gore.
You will.
What happened?
Not much.
A crack in the lava tripped me up.
Gore, we lost the picture for a while.
But we've got it back.
I'm
I'm done, captain.
No, Gore. No.
You're almost home.
Keep going, man.
Keep going, man.
I don't know if I can do him any good.
But I'm gonna try and
give him some cover fire.
Watch the fence.
I'll be busy.
Come on, Gore.
Come on.
Now, captain.
Well, they're too smart for us, captain.
What do you want to do now?
I don't know, Gore.
I never expected them to
anticipate so far ahead.
They outguessed us, set a trap for you.
And it almost worked.
I think the only reason you did
make it was that oxygen you did
get turned on slowed them down
Just a bit, but enough so they
couldn't catch up with you.
Well, that rules out using the ships.
You know what that means.
No.
What does that mean?
You wanna invite them in?
Hey, come on in. Have a seat.
Have a cup of coffee.
How's the weather?
Here's my throat.
The air, if you pardon the expression,
has gotten to you, Gore.
What's that supposed to mean, Cary?
You got a better suggestion? Spit it out.
Yeah, I got a better idea.
Come on. Come on.
Come on, you guys.
Cut it.
Haven't we got enough trouble
without fighting between ourselves?
Is he all done?
Mm-hmm.
How does it feel, Gore?
Yeah.
You know, I had so many
places it could hurt.
Why don't you take a break, Gore?
You took a beating out there
Internally and externally.
Why don't you lie down for a couple
hours and recharge your batteries?
You'll need it.
And that goes for you too, Captain Young.
And don't argue.
Doctor's orders, gentlemen.
Just do it.
So that's it.
That's why.
What the?
What is it, Paul?
What's happening?
You know, we been
running on the ragged edge
ever since we turned on that fence.
Come on.
You've got to.
Come on.
Unless that thing's sitting
right on top of the fence,
I think we're OK.
Yeah, well, let's hope so.
Linda, what did you find out?
Well, the lab test
results, it's all in here.
They ran a final series of
tests on one of the beasts.
They got it into the sealed
lab, closed the door,
and then filled the lab with a
high percentage of oxygen mixture.
And then what happened?
The beast became comatose.
They sliced off pieces of living tissue.
Then, they reintroduced
Zeta air into the lab.
And the beast revived.
Right away, it headed towards
the natural lab, met the other.
And they both left the compound.
Now, the first pathfinder
group had been feeding
these things for quite some time.
So they probably built
up a store for themselves
that will last them quite a while.
What about the living
tissue samples they took?
What happened to them?
They surgically removed
the enzyme from it.
And its metabolic rate slowed right down.
It seemed to go into
a kind of hibernation.
It didn't die exactly.
It just went dormant.
And when they added a drop of
blood to the tissue, it revived.
When the tissue sample became dormant,
was there any exterior
change that took place?
Yes.
It took on kind of a pebbly
surface, a glossy black crust.
It was probably some kind of
protective crystallisation.
That's right.
Then that thing that they found was
nothing more or less than an egg.
And sitting back at the
sealed lab, we've got 11 more
One out of each body.
Linda, how long was that
thing gone when it disappeared
after the first one died?
They said about a month.
From the time we first lost
contact with Zeta through the two
rescue missions until now, it's
been just a little over four weeks,
hadn't it?
My friends, that means that
there are five more back at the lab
waiting to hatch.
And half a dozen more ready.
Come on.
Gore, cover me.
Gore, stop fire.
Can you see them?
Watch yourself.
Oxygen, use the oxygen.
Spray it in his face.
Spray it in his face.
Watch it.
Gore, come on.
No, get out.
Save yourself.
That's one of them.
But he was right.
I'm sorry, Gore.
You were right.
Power.
Damn, the other one must've cut the power.
Come on.
I've got maybe four or five seconds left.
And then, we're down to one gun, Linda's.
And that's not gonna do us much good.
I don't know what will.
That thing's got us boxed in.
And there's only way out
of here down that hall.
Maybe not, captain.
If you can buy us maybe
30 seconds, I might
be able to get us out of here.
The vent shaft?
We can get through, I think.
But it can't.
I'll have to go first because there's
a atmosphere philtre halfway up.
And the surface is a great bloody grid.
We'll need air.
Here.
Keep it away from me.
Hold your fire.
Here, Cary.
Take this.
There's not much time.
There's no time for that now, doctor.
We're not finished yet. Get in the shaft.
No.
- in the black hole.
- Come on.
Go.
- Paul, your helmet.
- I'll get it.
I'll get it. Now, come on.
You can't make it to the ship without it.
I'll get it when we get out.
Come on, Saunders.
I'm coming.
My god, my my breathing
tube, it's ripped.
It's all right. Breathe easy.
You can share mine.
Hurry up.
I can't hold this thing all day.
Give me a hand.
Paul, get your helmet.
My helmet.
Oh my god.
Cary.
It got him.
But I don't see him now.
Isn't it gonna come after us?
God, what's it doing?
Come on.
There's no time to think about it.
We gotta make it to the ship.
I won't
I won't ma without some air, I won't
I won't make it.
There it is.
For some reason, it stayed with
Cary's body for a few minutes,
maybe to feed.
But it's after us now.
See what it's doing?
It won't let us reach the ship.
It's driving us towards this volcano.
We'll be trapped.
It's closing in.
What can we do?
Listen to me.
We've only got one chance.
I'm gonna show myself as a target.
I'll lead the beast right over
to the edge of the volcano.
And I'll try to take it into the firepit.
And I might have to go with it, Linda.
No.
No, please don't.
There must be some other way,
something else we can do.
It'll kill you just like the rest of them.
No.
There is no other way.
As soon as I start moving to the
crater rim, make for the ship.
The beast will follow me.
And that should give you
time to lock yourself in.
Now, trade oxygen tanks and tubes with me.
You're gonna need the air more than I am.
Don't.
Don't argue.
There's no time.
And that's about it, commander.
We'll be reaching warp
speed soon and heading home.
You've done well,
Captain Young, and you, Dr. Saunders.
My congratulations to you both.
Be prepared for a long, long
debriefing when you return.
Oh, we rather expected it, sir.
Well then, I won't disappoint you.
Once again, a job well done.
Thank you, commander.
Communication terminate.
There'll be no more beasts anyway.
Will there?
No.
They're both dead.
The eggs are destroyed.
If there are any more eggs left on Zeta,
they'll lie dormant for a long, long time.
According to Mann's studies, there hasn't
been a living animal on the
surface of Zeta in 100,000 years
Until we came.
No, no plant life, no
animals, no enzyme, no beasts.
So the supply ships and the
colonists will start coming in?
In about two months.
The first thing they're gonna have
to do is bring in three extra crews
to get those ships back and
to take the bodies home.
Yeah.
What does it matter?
Two months, six, a year?
Zeta'll keep.
It's safe now.
Captain?
Yes, doctor?
Outpost Zeta, come in.
A 3W4.
Outpost Zeta, do you read me?
Outpost Zeta, do you read?
Answer.
Reply.
Outpost Zeta, reply.
When?
At 0833, commander.
We're coming up on it now.
No response whatsoever.
Hello, can you hear me?
Uh, we need to run a line
and see what kind of luck
he's having with the contact.
Nope?
No luck so far.
We've been trying to
reach Zeta for 24 hours.
Commander Craig, we have
a single lock on data, sir.
We're initiating communication.
Outpost Zeta, this is Commander Craig.
Respond.
Answer me, damn you.
Answer me.
Sir, shall I maintain a signal watch?
Sir?
Yes.
Set a monitor on the Zeta frequency
And all emergency frequencies as well.
Automatic record mode from
now until I tell you to stop.
Anything that even remotely sounds
like it comes from Zeta, call me
24 hours.
Understand?
Yes, sir.
Keep on it for 24 hours.
And, uh, get back to me if you
have any response from Zeta.
Keep up the good work.
Arnie, keep trying to
set an active com link.
Four more hours, to 9:45.
Yes, sir.
Come in.
Commander?
I thought you might be able to use this.
Mary, what are you still doing here?
You should have gone home hours ago.
But I'm glad you didn't.
Thank you.
You're welcome, sir.
I made an idiot of
myself this morning, Mary.
No one faults you for it, sir.
I do.
We all know the situation on Outpost Zeta.
We all understand.
What is the situation
on Outpost Zeta, Mary?
Do you know?
Does anyone?
We are the pathfinders.
We go in first.
We make it safe.
We clear the way for the rest
of the Starfleet to follow.
And sometimes, we die
12 this time, Mary, 12 in three months.
The first team functioned for two
years without any sign of trouble
and then that six.
The rescue team went out, three more.
The second rescue team, three more.
And now, they're gone.
Now, what's going on out there, Mary?
What's on that godforsaken piece of rock?
We don't know that they're dead.
There could be any number of
reasons why they can't communicate.
No.
After a while, you get a feeling
for a situation like this one.
I feel that Zeta is a graveyard.
But feelings don't count.
We've got to know.
Pull the signal red volunteer files, Mary.
Have them on my desk first
thing in the morning.
I'm gonna have to pick
out some other people
who don't mind getting themselves
killed in that godforsaken planet.
Good morning, gentlemen.
As you know, we have a
problem with Base Zeta.
A pathfinder team was
deployed on June 14, 2100.
The team functioned without
mishap for roughly two years.
And then on May 10th of this
year, for no apparent reason,
we lost contact with them.
The establishment of a secure base there
will be critical to our
explorations in sector 7.
There is no other Earth-type
planet within light-years of Zeta.
Now, based on your reports
and observations submitted
by your pathfinders, we had
anticipated beginning to deploy men
and material within two months.
Colony ships were to follow within six.
Are you saying that won't be possible?
It may not.
Without knowledge of what has
happened to those men and women
that we've already sent
in, I cannot recommend
proceeding with Base Zeta.
Now, we need to find the answer.
Exactly how do you intend
to do this, commander?
And how quickly?
We need that planet.
Yes, sir.
Well, I've assembled a
signal red assignment team.
As captain and commanding
officer, Clark Young.
38 years old, veteran of the
Sirius and Pleiades Campaigns.
Battle citations include three
star clusters, medal of honour.
Biologist Carol Cisco.
40 years old, intellectual
rating genius level.
Responsible for stopping
the epidemic on Aldaberan 6.
The virus thing that wiped
out the entire star base?
Yes, sir.
Engineer Paul Cary.
35 years old, joined Starfleet 2087.
Uh, medical doctor Linda Saunders.
She's 32.
This will be her first
signal red assignment.
Especially recommended for her
abilities as a diagnostician.
There will be two
security officers aboard.
Chief Officer Sigmund Stewart.
40 years old, commander of the
ground campaign against the Vegans.
Numerous citations for valour,
also Medal of Honour winner.
Our second security officer is Gore Stat.
A 10-year veteran, presently
holds rank of star sergeant major.
Ranked first in his division
in both armed and unarmed
combat, a record of
Thank you, Mary.
Gore's reputation also precedes him.
Well, you've chosen well, commander.
Thank you, sir.
When will this suicide mission
of yours be ready for liftoff?
My, um, special assignment team will be
ready to lift off within 72 hours
With your approval, gentlemen.
Of course.
Approved.
Approved.
Now, listen.
Don't fail us.
Young.
Hello, Carol.
Yes, sir.
Clark.
Where's that 50 you owe me from
that last mess I got you out of?
I'll tell you what. Double or nothing.
All right.
You can bet your life on it.
- Very interesting, very good.
- Thank you.
Cary, good to see you.
At ease.
Clark, good to see you again.
Good to see you, commander.
Sigmund.
Commander.
Gore, how's the family?
Doing fine, sir.
Cary, how are you?
Fine, sir.
Good to see you.
Carol, I'm glad you're
shipping with us again.
Commander, I hope this
is not a long voyage.
I was at a crucial stage with some
microbe experiments that promised
to revolutionise my whole
I hope it won't be either, Carol.
Well, I hope so too.
And Dr. Saunders, welcome
to the pathfinder group.
Thank you, sir.
You know, for a first
mission, you drew a tough one.
I'll manage, sir.
Yeah, I trust you will.
Please, uh, sit down.
You have all received a preliminary
briefing on the situation at Zeta.
So I won't go into any more detail now.
All available information
has been programmed
into your ship's data bank.
You will have an opportunity to
study the data on the way out.
I want to remind you now
that this is a mission
of the highest potential danger.
Your presence here is voluntary.
If anyone wishes to withdraw, you may
do so now without any prejudice.
Very well.
Zeta is important to us.
It's our stepping stone to
a new sector of the galaxy.
We must find out what has
happened to the previous crews
and bring it to a halt.
As this is a signal red assignment, Mary
has drawn your last wills and testaments
from the file for your review.
If there are any changes, please
make them before you leave today.
Also, the standard Starfleet
life insurance policies
have been drawn against your lives.
Please fill in the appropriate
spaces for beneficiaries
and sign them.
Any questions?
Very well.
You will lift off at
0700, August 22nd, just
a little over 36 hours from now.
I wish you the
I wish you the best of luck.
Good luck.
Oxygen levels set to normal atmosphere.
Loading bay hatches, locked and secure.
Ignition sequence start in five seconds.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mark.
The mission sequence begun.
Ion accelerators approaching maximum.
At critical now.
Take us out, Mr. Cary.
Aye, sir.
Coming up on 65950, mark.
Is everybody OK?
Ugh, I'm getting too old
for all this foolishness.
Every time out takes a little bit
more of this old body of mine.
Well, your old body has about two
days to get the creaks out of it,
Paul.
We make planet fall in 40 hours.
Now, we got a lot of work to do by then.
All right.
To begin, let's ease off on formalities.
First names make life a
lot easier and save time.
Second, Gore, after this initial briefing,
I want you to draw up a watch schedule
for the remaining approach time.
Uh, eight hours on and eight hours off.
Roger.
Now, I want you all to get
as much rest as possible.
There's no telling when we're
gonna get another chance.
We found Zeta in the usual way.
A remote probe sensed
an oxygen atmosphere,
touched down, and began sending
back basic planetary data.
We believe it was destroyed shortly
after that by volcanic activity.
Then a manned mission was sent
in, began to survey the planet.
And, uh, when preliminary data
indicated habitation possible,
a pathfinder group was sent in.
Did the first survey
ship have any problems?
No.
But it was only on the surface for a week.
And there was no trouble with the
original pathfinder mission either.
Zeta's an important planet to us.
We haven't had too many
opportunities to observe planets
in their early stages of formation.
But it but it's more than that.
With Zeta as a star base, we can
leapfrog from here to who knows.
They want construction
ships on Zeta in two months,
workers and colony ships in six.
Well, who are they gonna
get to colonise that?
It has a very odd look to it.
What's causing it?
A tremendous amount of
fumes and vapour in the air.
As you'll see when we land, your eyes
will have some adjusting to do.
We're dealing with a lot of irritants.
Eyestrain goes with the territory.
Zeta's also somewhat larger than Earth,
so the gravitational pull
is gonna be stronger.
You'll feel weak until you adjust.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
What was that, Linda?
Oh, I'm sorry, captain.
Daydreaming.
No.
What did you say?
Oh, it was just a few lines from
an early Earth poet named Dante.
It was a work he called Hell.
Zeta's an Earth-type planet.
Now, I stress the word type.
The air is bad.
There's a lot of vapour,
nitrogen, and oxygen
in roughly Earth-like proportions.
The volcanoes are pumping
out carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide,
hydrogen, hydrochloric acid,
and hydrofluoric acid.
And no preservatives?
Yeah, with no preservatives.
It's toxic.
But it's survivable.
Are you sure?
Our grandparents
survived it 100 years ago.
I think we can handle it.
In the 20th century, they
lived with it all the time.
What are you talking about? I
That's what they called smog.
Smog.
But on Zeta, it's worse
than it ever got on Earth.
You'll be all right as long as you
don't do anything too strenuous.
But heavy activity'll
leave you gasping, choking.
You may even pass out.
What? No sex?
Gentlemen, come on.
All right.
For safety's sake, everybody
will be required to wear
breathing helmets and oxygen tanks.
Uh, Stewart, will you outline
the security cautions?
Certainly.
As the situation develops on
Zeta, we will adapt our behaviour
to meet the situation.
Initial procedures are these.
No one is to be alone at any time
No one.
All personnel will wear
sidearms at all times.
If anything appears,
oh, out of the ordinary,
communicate with Gore
or myself immediately.
No travel outside the compound
unless we know about it.
We want to know where
you're going and how long
you'll be there no exceptions.
And, of course, no travel
outside at night at all.
You see, we're totally
interdependent on this mission.
One breach of any of these
rules may be fatal to all of us.
Therefore, there must be no breaches.
Questions?
Sigmund, how do you expect us to
get any work done wearing guns all
the time and not going anywhere?
Dr. Cisco, if these
precautions are not followed,
you may not live to do any work at all.
I don't understand what
you're trying to say.
Listen.
I've had problems with you before.
We don't know what we're
up against on Zeta.
And until we do, these
procedures will be followed.
Mr. Stewart, if I may suggest
a few changes in your procedures,
I think that
Doctor, if you required
open heart surgery,
would you trust me to
perform the operation?
No, certainly not.
Why?
Because you wouldn't
know what you were doing.
And you'd probably kill me.
For exactly those same reasons, doctor,
you'll follow the security arrangements
made by Gore and myself
To the letter.
All right. OK.
Look.
One last point, one that
may be very important,
is the layout of Outpost Zeta.
Automatic pilot, officer.
You have control.
Acknowledge.
What do we got, Gore?
Not sure, sir.
Maybe a ship.
Looks small, though.
Set an intercept course.
Aye, sir.
Defence screens?
Primed and ready, sir.
Fire control?
Armed and ready, sir.
Captain, can you tell what it is yet?
If we can get a visual.
Gore, try the forward scanners, maximum.
Magnify.
It's an emergency beacon, sir
One of ours.
Looks like it's orbiting around Zeta.
Maybe from the planet, or
Is she transmitting?
Nothing, sir.
Could be her solar
panels are down, though.
All right.
Let's get her aboard and pull the tape.
All right.
Let's see what we've got.
Here's the capsule.
All right.
Let's hear what's on the recording.
This is the last.
We didn't know.
Starfleet, listen.
Stay out of this hellhole.
It's not worth the
the air is
Not much time.
Don't send more people here
to they'll they'll just
end up like the rest, all emptied out and
My god, listen.
They just had time to
To send it off before
Before what?
And that noise in the
background, any ideas?
Well, it sounded like escaping
gases of some kind, perhaps
volcanic activity.
Then they may have been
trapped by an explosion.
But that doesn't explain emptied out
Or anything else, for that matter.
Plus, there are no burn markings
on the inside of the beacon.
If there'd been an explosion,
I'm sure there would be.
And these strange
markings in here, though.
Carol, you have the
facilities to analyse that.
Captain, there won't be any need
for Carol to spend time on this.
After a while, you get to know
the way blood dries in space.
Still, let's check it.
Certainly.
If it's blood, I want
to know if it's human.
All right.
Planet fall will be at 1500 hours.
Let's all do our homework.
How are we doing, doctor?
Well, I don't know.
It's the biological data seems
so thorough and so complete.
Yeah.
But what?
Well, it's hard to believe that on
a planet like Zeta there's no life.
Gore, what do you think?
Are we really in as much danger
as Mr. Stewart seems to believe
we are?
Well, was the uh, the blood
on the satellite human, doctor?
Yes.
Yes, it was.
Well, I think we have to be
very, very careful down there.
Don't worry about it.
We'll be able to take care
of it, whatever it is.
Is that what you live for, Stewart?
The guns?
It's what I do, Cary.
I'm good at it.
And I'm careful.
That's why I'm still alive.
Well, I'm thrilled for you.
You sure the guns are gonna be enough?
They usually are.
Oh, about these guns.
Yeah?
One of them's yours.
What?
Want me to show you how to use it?
No.
I think I can handle it.
Thank you.
That means you're gonna
have to find another place
- to hang that tool belt of yours.
- Oh, no, no, Stewart.
The belt stays on.
I'll hang one of those little blowtorches
on it if it'll make you feel any better.
But the belt stays on, thank you.
As you wish.
Oh, good.
All right.
How long, captain?
10 hours.
10 hours till what?
I wish I knew.
Why did you take this assignment, Linda?
You know the dangers that go
with signal red assignments.
Well, when I was not more than
five years old, my grandfather
Oh, he was on the first Venus
project in mission control.
He sat outside with me one night.
And we sat there.
And one by one, he pointed
out all the stars in the sky
Venus, Mars, Polaris, Regulus, Altair.
Oh, god, it was magic.
And I said, Grandpa,
can I go there someday?
And he said, yes, if
you really want to, yes.
So it it doesn't matter
what project it is, captain
Signal red or any other kind.
I live for this.
You may die for this, Linda.
Maybe.
But I wouldn't regret it
Not a minute of it.
How about you, Captain Young?
Oh, I
I have no home, at least not in the sense
that most people use the word.
My, uh my home is where I belong
Here.
We're two of a kind, aren't we?
Yeah.
I believe we are.
Go ahead, Captain Young.
Commander, we have visual
contact with the outpost.
We're presently 120 units up,
30 minutes from planet fall.
The outpost and the three
ships seem to be secure.
You've received no communication?
Well, in a way, sir, we have.
We took aboard a planetary
beacon that was in a high orbit.
We've prepared a complete report.
Prepare to receive
high-speed transmission.
Transmit when ready.
Reception acknowledged.
This will be our last
transmission for a while, commander.
Request permission to land.
Permission granted.
Need I say be very careful?
No, sir, you needn't.
But you know that I will.
Be very careful, commander
All of you.
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Communication link terminated.
I'll have that transmission
transcribed, commander.
Immediately, please.
Mary?
Tell me what can we do that
we haven't already done?
Nothing, sir, nothing at all.
Hold her steady, Gore.
Are you reading the
outpost landing beacon?
No, sir.
I'm not getting anything at all.
I know it should be there, but.
All right.
I'm gonna take her in on manual.
Release the automatic sequencer, Paul.
You have control, sir.
Acknowledged.
We have touchdown.
All landing gear sensors
indicate solid contact.
Nicely done, captain.
Well, thank you, Paul.
You're most welcome.
All right.
Secure ion accelerators.
Secured.
Power down.
Powered down.
Let's go.
Preliminary readings.
Atmosphere within marginal limits.
Wind and temperature, satisfactory.
Automatic sensors report no anomalies.
Thanks, Linda.
Captain, Linda, Cary, travel with Gore.
Dr. Cisco with me.
Stay close.
No detours for any reason.
Put your helmets on. All right.
Is everybody ready?
Yeah.
Let's go.
Really crappy place this is.
We didn't come here for a party.
Let's just get the job
done and get out of here.
That's strange.
What is it?
Well, just for a moment, I felt
kind of strange, as though, uh,
someone was watching me.
Crazy.
It must be this place.
Captain, you hear that?
Listen carefully.
You can just make it out.
Yeah.
That kind of sighing sound
we heard on the tape.
I can't tell where it's coming from.
Maybe it was a natural volcanic sound.
We'll see if we can find it later.
Try the lights.
Right.
Good.
Cover me.
You're covered.
Look at this.
What happened in here?
I don't know.
Check the oxygen support system.
Right.
There.
It's functioning.
OK.
Come on.
Captain, the oxygen
support system is activated.
Good. Check the doors.
Right.
Please, everybody be careful.
Yes, sir.
Cisco, wait.
You can take your helmets off.
The air is OK.
You've got your work
cut out for you, doctor.
What do you mean, Mr. Stewart?
You got some autopsies to perform
11 of them.
Oh my god.
11, just 11.
Why aren't there 12?
There's something wrong
with their uniforms.
Look at the stomachs.
Gore, Sigmund, take this
one to the sealed lab.
I'll make it my medical bay.
And you better find
something to put it in.
I don't know what's gonna happen
if you just try and pick it up.
There's a stretcher in the mess hall.
I'll get that.
Did you know him, captain?
Yeah.
He was the leader of the
first rescue expedition.
And he's my squadron
leader at Altair Four.
Well, I've got my work cut out for me.
What do you think of this
hole in the fence, Paul?
I don't know.
Look.
At first glance, it looks
like a chunk of lava
rolled down sloping and punched through.
But look at the way the
wires are broken on the end.
It looks like the sound it looks like it
was made from the inside out.
Another piece of the puzzle?
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'll see if I can
find some material here
in the bay to patch it.
If not, I'll get something onboard ship.
Either way, I'll get it fixed up.
All right.
But, uh, do it tomorrow.
It's dark now.
And I don't want anybody
out on the surface.
I'm glad you said that.
Because I don't want
to be out there either.
What, uh, Linda and Carol have found
is that this thing seems to be
some kind of a dissolving process
that starts with the soft tissues.
The, uh, blood was drained
from all the bodies
Also the contents of the
abdominal and thoracic
cavities, also the organs, the
lungs, everything, the brains too.
There's just nothing there.
Are all the bodies the same?
No.
There are three stages of decomposition.
The stages correspond exactly
to the mission personnel.
The first mission, five out of the
six, showed the most deterioration.
Five?
Who's missing from that group?
Dr. Christopher, the geologist.
The three men, first rescue
mission, showed less deterioration.
And the second mission, less still.
But, uh, whatever this thing
is, it attacks the soft tissues.
And then it moves on to the firmer cells.
Maybe in time, even
the skeletons would go.
We we don't know.
What's in the tray?
Well, we don't know that either.
Carol and Linda took
these from the bodies.
We think they have something to
do with the dissolving process.
These came from the first five bodies,
these from the first rescue
mission, and these last three
from the second rescue mission.
We don't have any idea what they
are or what they do, if anything.
Is there anything we can do now?
Not really.
All we can do is just watch and wait.
Carol and Linda are running some
more tests back in the natural lab.
After they get done with those, we'll send
a preliminary report back to Earth.
Until then, all we do is just
stay alert and stay alive.
Linda?
Linda, come here.
Did you notice these marks?
No.
No, I hadn't.
They almost look like tracks
of some kind, don't they?
Yes, they do.
And most of them seem to be
leading to the outside wall here.
What do you think could've caused this?
Do you think it could be animal?
Well, I suppose it could be.
That's odd.
What?
Do you smell fresh air?
Yes, I do.
But I wonder where it
could be coming from.
I don't know.
I don't understand it.
Linda, I think we should get
some samples of this stuff.
All right.
I'm going to, uh, check
the lava vent outside.
You be careful.
You don't have your oxygen on.
You're beginning to sound
like our friend Sigmund.
Well, here goes.
No.
Carol!
Carol!
For the thousandth time, I don't know.
A shape.
What kind of shape?
Fangs?
Claws?
You must've seen something.
Nothing.
Just a hulking kind of shadow that
All right.
That's enough for tonight.
I'm just trying to get
some information from her.
I know, Sigmund.
I know.
Captain, it's my fault. I should have
anticipated we'd come
under immediate attack
and set the perimeter defences.
Dr. Cisco is dead.
And it's my responsibility.
No, Sigmund.
The point is not to go around
blaming ourselves or each other.
The point is not to let it happen again.
Paul?
Yeah?
First thing tomorrow
morning, I want you to set
up the dimensional laser fence.
Sure.
But that's not the problem.
See, the fence is the system
is operating way below maximum.
And I can't get it back
up to normal levels.
We're gonna have to watch our consumption,
or we're gonna blow the entire system.
Well, can't you reroute it someway?
It's not just the rerouting.
See, that fence draws
an awful lot of power.
Yeah, I could
I should be able to integrate
the emergency power system so
that if the fence does go down, we'll
only be open maybe 5 or 10 seconds.
Or, yeah, I could cross
the mains so they'd
kick back in if it does go down.
I'll have to rewire the fuses,
though, so that if they go out,
the one
Paul, Paul, just do it, OK?
Any way you can.
OK.
And second thing, patch up
that hole in the natural lab.
OK.
Linda, are you all right?
Oh, yes, sir.
It's just when I saw Carol, it
Don't dwell on it.
Is your report to Starfleet ready?
The preliminary report
is ready to send, yes.
I just have to add the latest events.
Good.
All right.
As soon as it's ready, give it
to Paul to tape and transmit.
Paul?
Mm?
You take the first watch
with Sigmund, 12:00 to 4:00.
Gore and I will take 4:00 to 8:00.
Uh, also, get a beacon ready to launch.
And get Linda's data into
orbit as soon as possible.
OK.
And everybody, keep your weapons
fully charged and close by.
It looks like we're gonna need them.
Damn it.
Stewart, no.
There.
And now, we have four.
He may have been cold and uncaring.
But we fought together more than once.
And we nearly died
together more than once.
Now probably the best
soldier Starfleet ever had.
Whatever did this to him will pay for it.
All right.
We have two priorities.
First, defence.
It's getting near dawn.
OK.
First light, Gore and I
will get the fence up.
OK.
Second, the outpost logs.
Linda and I will start going
through them day by day.
Yeah.
There might be an answer in
there as to what's happened.
Is happening.
One thing we know, those
track-like markings that Carol
and I were sampling the night that
she died, they seem to be a trail
of some kind left by this thing.
When it's fresh, it leaves
sort of a silvery look,
like we saw next to Carol
and Sigmund's bodies.
It dries very quickly.
If you see the silvery markings,
it means it's a very fresh trail.
I want you all to make yourselves
as comfortable as you can.
The night comes very quickly.
And if that thing tries anything tonight,
we'll have a much better chance together.
That's the last of the lasers.
You want to start
setting up the fence now?
No, no, no.
I want to go back to the ship once more
and get that stuff I'll need to
fix the hole in the natural lab.
I'll need a, uh, welding
torch, a few other things.
Come on, Gore.
We both need the exercise, a nice
brisk walk in the countryside
to cheer you up.
Yeah, cheers.
Where do we begin?
We've got nearly two
years of material here.
Yeah, I know.
We don't have time to go through it all.
Let's start by dropping the first year.
Then, if we have to pick
it up later, we can.
Here.
You take the scientific journals.
I'll take the daily event logs.
Hey, Gore, where you going?
Hey, Gore, wait.
Gore!
Linda, it'll be all right.
Did you see them?
All of them, emptied out from the inside
All of them.
Yeah.
I saw them.
You wanna take a break?
No.
No.
There's something out there
that's trying to kill us.
And I'm not gonna let it.
Get back to work, captain.
There's not much time.
Yes, ma'am.
Gore.
They found life.
What?
Linda, what did you say?
They found life on Zeta, at least evidence
that there was life here once.
Here.
Look at this.
"Found at the edge of a massive
spatter cone, charred bone
fragments of numerous small animals,
unfortunately not enough to make
identification or drawings."
Let's see.
Here.
Look.
"Found an almost complete skeleton.
Teeth indicate parallel to herbivore."
So there must have been
plant life here as well.
"Also found what may be a gastrolith
in the abdominal cavity."
What's a gastrolith?
It's a stone in the stomach.
Animals sometimes swallow
it to help their digestion.
Let's see.
"Skeleton back to lab for
cleaning, preserving, and tests."
So they must all still be here.
Should we look for them?
No, not yet.
We're dealing with more
than a small animal,
so it's got to be something else.
Here.
You keep working in this log.
I'll look up the same date in mine.
We'll see what happens.
This may be what we're looking for.
Captain, it's here.
It's all here.
They did find life on Zeta.
Not only did they find life, but
they nourished it and made it grow.
Gore, behind you!
What were they, Gore?
Animals?
Vegetables?
I don't know.
But you were following a trail.
I think they laid that trail for you.
I think the first one brought you in here
and waited until you got
close enough to jump.
These things think, Gore.
All right.
I'll buy that.
And the second one, he followed me in.
Or it was already here,
sitting tight until you went by,
then waiting to slam the
door on you if it had to.
I guess I kind of screwed
up the plan by opening
fire from as long range as I did.
Either way, it's getting late.
And I don't think I want to
be out here when it gets dark.
Come on.
Let's go.
Where'd you come from, anyway?
I saw you heading out. I shouted at you.
But you didn't hear or didn't listen.
I figured you might need some company.
So I came along for the ride.
I'm glad you did.
I owe you one.
Nah, we're even.
The second one might've ripped me open.
You can buy me a drink
when we get back to Earth.
OK, buddy?
They were sectioning the gastrolith
when Dr. Murray, the physicist,
noticed it was very different
from the rest of the lava.
And she opened it up with a carbon saw.
And when she was taking the
two halves out of the saw,
she cut her finger.
She says here that the sawed gastrolith
was as sharp as a razor's edge.
Some blood fell on both
halves of the rock.
And the rock absorbed it.
And it started to grow.
Good lord.
It was such a little thing
I mean, a cut finger.
When they saw what was happening,
they decided to experiment.
They began feeding it.
It was a curiosity, just a wild curiosity.
And nobody knew a thing about it?
No.
They never said a word
about life on this planet.
Why?
I think I can explain that.
I know I knew Jack Mann, the
expedition leader, pretty well.
We shipped together on a Jupiter
expedition about two years ago.
He was the type of man who liked
to hold everything in until he
was absolutely sure of his ground.
And then he'd let it all out at once
for the biggest possible impact.
He knew how to make news
And a reputation.
Well, it might console him to
know he's gonna be in the headlines
again.
This is gonna be a very, very big story
If we ever live to tell it.
Come on.
Back to the books, Linda.
"They grew quickly,
gained what is probably
their full adult size in six weeks.
Diet, exclusively meat."
"Seemed to possess a
considerable intelligence.
They show a remarkable trust and
apparently no fear of us whatever."
"Test proceeding on schedule.
Not yet determined biology of the beast.
X-rays may show internal
physiology and organs, if any.
Externally, they are amazing.
Could we make use of these things?
Perhaps a source of labour?
Must explore that possibility.
Partners?
Servants?
Where would they fit in?"
They killed one.
They what?
How?
They don't know how.
It may have been the x-rays.
Or possibly, it was kept inside the
outpost too long and suffocated.
When they started an autopsy on the
dead one, the other came into
the sealed lab where they were
working and pushed up against the body,
as if it was trying to wake it up.
Kept that up for about 10 minutes.
And and they say here that it went crazy.
It rushed around the lab,
scuttled into the corridor,
and went into the natural lab door.
They opened the door for it.
And it went straight for the
mesh wall, and broke through it,
and disappeared.
A hole they never fixed.
Three days after that,
Kayward, the biologist, vanished.
From this account, the beast did too.
They hunted him for two weeks, found
his equipment south of the outpost,
but no sign of him.
An eye for an eye?
Did they kill him?
I mean, are these things capable
of feeling grief and anger?
A desire for revenge?
Maybe.
They finally gave up on
the hunt for Kayward.
Missing.
We heard that last part.
Make that confirmed dead.
Found him about 1,000 metres
Northwest of here at a volcano.
Northwest?
But I thought they were
Now, obviously, they
They can move their victims.
Remember how the bodies were
spread out in the natural lab?
Linda, keep digging.
Now, you two, tell me
exactly what you were doing.
"Probable cause
of beast's death, asphyxiation.
Zeta's air is tolerable for
humans for short periods of time.
It works the same way for
the beast in our atmosphere.
Oxygen does to them what CO2 does to us"
They think.
Listen to this.
The one that left reproduced.
About a month after it disappeared,
it came back with a small one
beside it.
They think it was some kind of
asexual fusion, like an amoeba.
Jeez.
Does that mean we have
two of them to deal with?
Yeah, we saw two.
There may be more.
No, there's no way of
knowing at this point.
Let's assume two.
Paul, what's the status
on the directional fence?
Well, I've got two
more stations to instal.
Gore, come with me.
We'll finish that.
Paul, I want you to do whatever
rewiring you have to do
to get that fence operational.
I'm nearly finished.
Paul, when you're finished,
get a report together
with the information that
Linda's found so far.
Get a capsule, and get it in orbit.
We've got to get that information
to Earth as soon as you can.
"Our peaceful coexistence seems
to have re-established itself.
So we are adapting to accommodate them.
Today, installed a special
low-touch plate in the natural lab
so they can come and go as they please."
It's done.
At least we'll be safe for the night.
I hope so.
Captain?
What, Gore?
Do you think we'll make
it through the night, sir?
Well, yes, of course.
Don't you?
No, sir.
But I think we'll go down in style.
Well, I hope you're wrong, Gore.
I hope you're wrong.
We should do a sweep, make sure we
haven't locked one of those things
in with us.
It means separating.
I think it's worth the risk.
Well, let's test the fence as we go.
"It's becoming more difficult
to determine who are the testers
and who are the experiments.
We are all acquiring a strong
sense of being intently studied.
The beasts have a capacity for learning.
And they are learning quickly.
They watch us always.
They analyse.
They think."
How's it going?
Well, they're definitely
vulnerable to Earth atmosphere.
You see, they exhale a mixture of gases
as waste products that's very
close to what we breathe.
They need a mixture of
volcanic byproducts to survive.
And the key element may be sulphur.
Sulphur?
Now, Dr. Mann guessed, in spite
of the outpost philtre system,
enough Zeta air must be getting
through to keep them alive for up
to something like two hours.
Two hours?
Without that trace of their natural air,
they would last only about 30 minutes
In a heavy oxygen atmosphere, much less.
How about that?
So in other words, they eliminate
what we would think was fresh air?
Yes.
And that explains what Carol
and I smelled in the natural lab
the night she was killed.
As in, we take in a lot of nitrogen,
but we get rid of most of it.
So they can't live on oxygen?
Yes.
We couldn't live in a nearly
total nitrogen atmosphere either.
So the same goes for them with oxygen.
Gore, that sighing sound we heard
on the emergency beacon and then
on the way in.
It was breathing.
And we thought it was
coming from the volcano.
That means the man who made that
last tape was being attacked.
But why?
That's the big question.
Did they ever find out
why these things kill?
If so, I haven't found it yet.
It has to be in there.
Don't worry.
We'll find it.
All right.
Linda, I want you to take a break.
We're gonna have to be on watch 24 hours
Six hours on, and six hours off.
I'll take the first shift, sir.
And I'll join him.
I want to keep an eye
on that rewiring we did.
It's using a lot more
juice than I thought.
I'll tell you we have
got to keep everything
turned off as much as possible.
That alarm system is really hot.
If anything penetrates it,
we're gonna know about it.
What is it?
I don't know.
Something hit the fence, but
there's nothing on the cameras.
OK.
But keep an eye on it for
a couple more minutes.
I'll be in my bunk.
Shout if anything happens.
I think this is
gonna be a very long night.
They're wearing us down.
They're just picking at us.
This filthy, stinking kind of beast.
They're thinking on it.
Oh, yeah.
Just picking at us, just waiting
for us to make a mistake,
like the stinking, rotten
Cary, Cary.
They know what
- It's not gonna do us any good.
- I know.
I know. I know.
Not you, not any of us.
I know.
What do you want?
Damn you.
What do you want?
Why do you want to kill us?
Talk to me.
Linda.
We know you're out there.
We know you're there.
Why
That's enough.
Now, shut it down, Dr. Saunders.
And I mean right now.
I'm sorry.
It's just that I didn't know
all this was gonna happen.
I know.
Nothing for us to do right now except just
hang on and try and pull ourselves out.
We can.
It's just that right now, it doesn't
seem like we have much of a chance.
No, no.
These these things are vulnerable.
They can be hurt.
They can be killed.
We just have to figure out a way to
To trap them so that we can.
There's always a catch, isn't there?
Busy night, huh, Clark?
How many more to come?
Not many, Paul
With any luck, not any.
We're down, but not out.
Our defences are up.
And we can prevent any attack.
Can we?
We're rabbits trapped in a hole
with dogs sniffing all around us.
Even rabbits have teeth, Linda.
You've been studying the test data.
Where can we hurt these
things the easiest?
Well, lasers will stun
them, but it won't kill them.
Um, heat, well, enough
flame will do the job.
But I don't know how much.
They've been living on this
planet so long they would've
adapted to the high heat by now.
I think our best bet is
the air they breathe.
They can't take Earth air
for any length of time.
Well, let's think about that one.
We have the main lab down the hall
that can be hermetically sealed.
If we can get those things in
there, fill it full of oxygen,
they'd suffocate, right?
Ah, that's an awfully big if, captain.
That means opening up
the outpost deliberately
and letting those things in here.
No, sir, I, uh
I think that's very dangerous to
send out an invitation like that.
Yeah.
But there's no reason for that.
We've got three sealed
labs outside right now.
The spaceships?
Yeah.
Except for the one we need to get home,
the other three are expendable.
Commander Craig would
love to hear you say that.
Wait a minute.
Now, you say we have three traps going?
OK.
How do we spring them?
What do we use for bait?
Well, the bait part is easy.
- It's me.
- No.
No.
It's gotta be that way, Linda.
Excuse me, captain.
She's right.
You're needed here.
And besides, I'm the one
with the score to settle.
Don't make me pull rank on you, Gore.
No, sir, I won't.
It's my job.
Yeah, you're right.
All right.
The object is to lure that thing out
there and keep it in the spaceship
until it suffocates.
Now, how do we do it?
Paul, we, uh
We can activate the mechanisms
on our ships by remote control,
can't we?
Yeah.
And the outer door, the
airlocks, latches, sure.
Captain, you notice one of the ships
still has her cargo ramp down.
Yeah, yeah.
It's probably because the guy
who sent up the emergency beacon
didn't have time to close it up.
OK.
Try this.
I go inside that ship, up the cargo ramp,
turn the oxygen feed up to full.
After that, I get in one of the
airlocks and shut myself in.
When the beasts are inside, I shout.
Then, from the control panel here, you
shut the ramp by remote control.
I blow the airlock and bail out.
It's clean, simple.
Yeah.
It may be too simple, Gore.
How do you make it from
here to the ship alone?
That might not be so easy.
No.
It might not be.
So you'll have to keep the
cameras here on me as best you can
and watch.
I don't think I like it, Gore.
Well, I don't think that matters
much, sir, with all due respect.
Cary, I'd like to have a
micro camera on my helmet.
Ready?
As I'll ever be.
All systems check out, Clark.
Now.
Good hunting.
Please be careful.
Anything?
Nothing.
There I think.
Yes, yes, there, for sure.
That would put it about 150
metres distant at 5 o'clock.
Can't see it, captain.
Was that a definite contact?
No, no, no.
Keep me posted.
Picking anything up?
The same?
Definite now.
Maintaining your speed, the same distance.
Now it's moved to 7 o'clock.
Can you get a clear view of the thing?
No.
It's like some chunk of lava
decided to get up and move around.
It's a perfect camouflage.
And this light is no good.
Gore, pick up the pace.
It's closing in now, about 40
yards behind you, 9 o'clock.
Hurry up, man.
It's about 100 metres to go, captain.
Am I going to make it?
Yes, yes.
You're gonna make it.
It's not coming any closer now.
Good.
Hey, by the way, just heard
you say the target is out here.
Confirm the sighting for me.
How many are on my tail?
We can only confirm one, Gore.
But I'm sure they're both out there.
Yeah, I wish I were.
There.
I think I saw one of
them by the ramp door.
Careful, Gore.
Don't let it cut you off.
Gore, what happened?
I slipped on something.
I'm all right.
Gore, there's a fresh
trail from one of the beasts.
It must be in the ship.
Get out of there.
One of them is coming at you.
Gore?
Gore, what's happening?
It sounds like he's in an airlock.
But why can't we see him?
I'm out now.
I'm on the surface.
I'm heading back.
My laser's out of power.
My leg, it hurt when I landed.
Watch them for me.
Gore, I have them both on the screens.
And they're moving after you fast.
Keep moving.
And watch the fence as you approach it.
We'll power down as soon as you hit it.
I don't think
I don't think I'll make
the fence, captain.
Try, Gore.
You will.
What happened?
Not much.
A crack in the lava tripped me up.
Gore, we lost the picture for a while.
But we've got it back.
I'm
I'm done, captain.
No, Gore. No.
You're almost home.
Keep going, man.
Keep going, man.
I don't know if I can do him any good.
But I'm gonna try and
give him some cover fire.
Watch the fence.
I'll be busy.
Come on, Gore.
Come on.
Now, captain.
Well, they're too smart for us, captain.
What do you want to do now?
I don't know, Gore.
I never expected them to
anticipate so far ahead.
They outguessed us, set a trap for you.
And it almost worked.
I think the only reason you did
make it was that oxygen you did
get turned on slowed them down
Just a bit, but enough so they
couldn't catch up with you.
Well, that rules out using the ships.
You know what that means.
No.
What does that mean?
You wanna invite them in?
Hey, come on in. Have a seat.
Have a cup of coffee.
How's the weather?
Here's my throat.
The air, if you pardon the expression,
has gotten to you, Gore.
What's that supposed to mean, Cary?
You got a better suggestion? Spit it out.
Yeah, I got a better idea.
Come on. Come on.
Come on, you guys.
Cut it.
Haven't we got enough trouble
without fighting between ourselves?
Is he all done?
Mm-hmm.
How does it feel, Gore?
Yeah.
You know, I had so many
places it could hurt.
Why don't you take a break, Gore?
You took a beating out there
Internally and externally.
Why don't you lie down for a couple
hours and recharge your batteries?
You'll need it.
And that goes for you too, Captain Young.
And don't argue.
Doctor's orders, gentlemen.
Just do it.
So that's it.
That's why.
What the?
What is it, Paul?
What's happening?
You know, we been
running on the ragged edge
ever since we turned on that fence.
Come on.
You've got to.
Come on.
Unless that thing's sitting
right on top of the fence,
I think we're OK.
Yeah, well, let's hope so.
Linda, what did you find out?
Well, the lab test
results, it's all in here.
They ran a final series of
tests on one of the beasts.
They got it into the sealed
lab, closed the door,
and then filled the lab with a
high percentage of oxygen mixture.
And then what happened?
The beast became comatose.
They sliced off pieces of living tissue.
Then, they reintroduced
Zeta air into the lab.
And the beast revived.
Right away, it headed towards
the natural lab, met the other.
And they both left the compound.
Now, the first pathfinder
group had been feeding
these things for quite some time.
So they probably built
up a store for themselves
that will last them quite a while.
What about the living
tissue samples they took?
What happened to them?
They surgically removed
the enzyme from it.
And its metabolic rate slowed right down.
It seemed to go into
a kind of hibernation.
It didn't die exactly.
It just went dormant.
And when they added a drop of
blood to the tissue, it revived.
When the tissue sample became dormant,
was there any exterior
change that took place?
Yes.
It took on kind of a pebbly
surface, a glossy black crust.
It was probably some kind of
protective crystallisation.
That's right.
Then that thing that they found was
nothing more or less than an egg.
And sitting back at the
sealed lab, we've got 11 more
One out of each body.
Linda, how long was that
thing gone when it disappeared
after the first one died?
They said about a month.
From the time we first lost
contact with Zeta through the two
rescue missions until now, it's
been just a little over four weeks,
hadn't it?
My friends, that means that
there are five more back at the lab
waiting to hatch.
And half a dozen more ready.
Come on.
Gore, cover me.
Gore, stop fire.
Can you see them?
Watch yourself.
Oxygen, use the oxygen.
Spray it in his face.
Spray it in his face.
Watch it.
Gore, come on.
No, get out.
Save yourself.
That's one of them.
But he was right.
I'm sorry, Gore.
You were right.
Power.
Damn, the other one must've cut the power.
Come on.
I've got maybe four or five seconds left.
And then, we're down to one gun, Linda's.
And that's not gonna do us much good.
I don't know what will.
That thing's got us boxed in.
And there's only way out
of here down that hall.
Maybe not, captain.
If you can buy us maybe
30 seconds, I might
be able to get us out of here.
The vent shaft?
We can get through, I think.
But it can't.
I'll have to go first because there's
a atmosphere philtre halfway up.
And the surface is a great bloody grid.
We'll need air.
Here.
Keep it away from me.
Hold your fire.
Here, Cary.
Take this.
There's not much time.
There's no time for that now, doctor.
We're not finished yet. Get in the shaft.
No.
- in the black hole.
- Come on.
Go.
- Paul, your helmet.
- I'll get it.
I'll get it. Now, come on.
You can't make it to the ship without it.
I'll get it when we get out.
Come on, Saunders.
I'm coming.
My god, my my breathing
tube, it's ripped.
It's all right. Breathe easy.
You can share mine.
Hurry up.
I can't hold this thing all day.
Give me a hand.
Paul, get your helmet.
My helmet.
Oh my god.
Cary.
It got him.
But I don't see him now.
Isn't it gonna come after us?
God, what's it doing?
Come on.
There's no time to think about it.
We gotta make it to the ship.
I won't
I won't ma without some air, I won't
I won't make it.
There it is.
For some reason, it stayed with
Cary's body for a few minutes,
maybe to feed.
But it's after us now.
See what it's doing?
It won't let us reach the ship.
It's driving us towards this volcano.
We'll be trapped.
It's closing in.
What can we do?
Listen to me.
We've only got one chance.
I'm gonna show myself as a target.
I'll lead the beast right over
to the edge of the volcano.
And I'll try to take it into the firepit.
And I might have to go with it, Linda.
No.
No, please don't.
There must be some other way,
something else we can do.
It'll kill you just like the rest of them.
No.
There is no other way.
As soon as I start moving to the
crater rim, make for the ship.
The beast will follow me.
And that should give you
time to lock yourself in.
Now, trade oxygen tanks and tubes with me.
You're gonna need the air more than I am.
Don't.
Don't argue.
There's no time.
And that's about it, commander.
We'll be reaching warp
speed soon and heading home.
You've done well,
Captain Young, and you, Dr. Saunders.
My congratulations to you both.
Be prepared for a long, long
debriefing when you return.
Oh, we rather expected it, sir.
Well then, I won't disappoint you.
Once again, a job well done.
Thank you, commander.
Communication terminate.
There'll be no more beasts anyway.
Will there?
No.
They're both dead.
The eggs are destroyed.
If there are any more eggs left on Zeta,
they'll lie dormant for a long, long time.
According to Mann's studies, there hasn't
been a living animal on the
surface of Zeta in 100,000 years
Until we came.
No, no plant life, no
animals, no enzyme, no beasts.
So the supply ships and the
colonists will start coming in?
In about two months.
The first thing they're gonna have
to do is bring in three extra crews
to get those ships back and
to take the bodies home.
Yeah.
What does it matter?
Two months, six, a year?
Zeta'll keep.
It's safe now.
Captain?
Yes, doctor?