Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) s01e05 Episode Script

[ Static .]
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock tfl Seaview.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to 5edyiew.
Come in, 5edyiew.
Come in.
[ Static Continues .]
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to 5edyiew.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to 5edyiew.
Come in, 5edyiew.
Come in.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to 5ed- Your nose is red.
Been hitting the bottle again? lfthere's one thing l can't stand, it's a smart aleck.
lt's 45 below out there.
Did you reach Nelson? Just enough to let him know we're onto the problem ofrestacking the atoms.
Then the magnetic storm got too rough.
- Want some coffee? - Haveyou finished the reports? Almost.
[ Sighs .]
The cold's even getting through thewalls.
- Shall l turn on the extra heaters? - Go ahead.
l thoughtyou told meyou come from hardy pioneer stockwhen l married you.
Well, l wasjust puttin' you on so l could spend my honeymoon stuck on an ice floe near the South Pole just pulling samples ofplankton out of the ocean.
What evey girl wants.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to 5edyiew.
Come in, 5edyiew.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to 5edyiew.
Can you read me? Come in, 5edyiew.
Oh, l think l'll go get some sleep.
- Will you wake me when it's summer? - Mm-hmm.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock tfl Seaview.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock to Sga_igw.
Canyou read me, Sga_igw_ first report, Pennell, Ice Station ''T'' to Nelson.
Preliminay separations ofthe bacterial and enzyme properties of, um, beta, delta and kappa plankton samples reveal unstable stacking ofatoms of lattice.
Plankton rises to sumace ofwater in darkness, sinks again at sunrise.
This is a process long observed without adequate evidence to explain the, uh, phenomenon.
lt has been attributed to light and, uh, to heat without any correlating evidence to support a definite conclusion.
Now, photosynthesis obviously plays a role in the behavior ofthe microorganism.
Yet, there would seem to be, uh a predilection ofthe, um, vital plankton organisms to spend a considerable proportion oftheir time in the deeper layers ofthe sea where there is inadequate life in particular.
And naturally, the photosynthetic process depends upon the chlorophyll in the plant cell.
Diatoms in the plankton divide.
When this occurs each ofthe old valvés- [ Continues, Indistinct .]
[ Screaming .]
[ Yelling .]
Help! Help! Bob, help me! [ Screams .]
The plankton! Anna! The plankton! Anna! Anna! [ Man .]
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Starring Richard Basehart David Hedison.
Voyage to the Bottom ofthe Sea.
lce Station ''T'' for ticktock.
- Come in, Station ''T.
'' Over.
- [ Static .]
- Anything? - Nothing but magnetic interference, sir.
- Ty anotherwavelength.
- Yes, sir, but l'm afraid it won't work.
The storm's all over the dial.
lce Station ''T.
'' This is 5edyiew calling Ice Station ''T.
'' - Come in, Ice Station ''T.
'' Over.
- [ Static Continues .]
[ German Accent .]
This is the result from the R-22 series.
- l'll have the analysis correlated.
- Don't bother.
l t's worthless.
We're on the wrong track.
l've said that all along, Dr.
Reisner.
The Pennells are much closer to the answer.
Miss Lyle, l've heard you say that before and l hope l don't have to hear it again.
This is not a report foryour agricultural information department.
l will be the one to decide what is the correct approach! Doctor, this is ajoint venture between private industy and the Nelson Institute equally important to both ofthem.
Now, we can't make any final judgment until afterwe talkwith the Pennells.
- And when will that be? - We're still tying to reestablish radio contact.
ln any case, we should be there within 24 hours.
Radioman, give me a report on Ice Station ''T''! [ Sparks On Speaker.]
Magnetic storm's getting worse.
We're picking up nothing but static, sir.
Keep at it, Sparks.
From now on any information you want from the radio shack, you get from Captain Crane or myself.
lfl have forgotten my manners, it is because this is so important to me.
lt's important to all ofus, Doctor.
l have given 1 5 years ofmy life to this project.
l have spent only five.
But we're all after the same thing.
What doyou know? Haveyou ever seen people starving? Have _ou ever starved? lfwe can break through plankton can be a source offood that will save the lives ofunborn millions.
- Excuse me, Admiral.
We have a problem here.
- Meaning me.
l am sick and tired ofbeing treated like a common seaman.
Do l have to remind you that l represent the company whose investment made this research possible? Now, we have a healthycuriosityabout how you're spending our moneyon this plankton thing.
l can assureyou, my report will not set well with them.
l, uh, realize, sir, it is not easy to share a cabin with a scientist.
With a Nazi.
He didn't mean that.
Come to the wardroom and l'll buyyou a cup ofcoffee.
So it will never be forgotten or forgiven that l lived and worked in Hitler's Germany.
l'll be in my cabin ifyou want me.
[ Sighs .]
lfyou dislike him so much, why did you pick him for the project? He was the best man for thejob.
l don't have to like eveyone l workwith.
lt's myjob to run this sub.
l can't do it with people- Lee, l'm-l'm sory, but we've all been working vey hard on this plankton problem.
- It'sjust becoming a little bit tense.
- Mmm.
Well, l hopeyou find a solution before something blows.
So do l, Lee.
You've lost contact ofthe 5edyiew, General? lt is the magnetic storm.
It has made our tracking instruments erratic.
- This should have been foreseen.
- l t was.
There's already an agent aboard the submarine who, at the proper time, shall activate a homing signal and then we shall have a true fix on the submarine.
Vey good, General.
l am pleased thatyou recognize the importance ofthe plankton secrets.
Rule the bellies ofthe people, and you rule the people.
Rule the people, and you rule the world.
Plankton could be the key.
[ Explosion .]
Damage Control, Fire Detail to Frame 85 on the double! [ Reisner Coughing .]
Get a medic for this man! Mr.
Morton, take 'er up.
- Scrub the ship ofsmoke.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- What happened here? - l-l don't understand.
lt was a simple compound.
l n the future, Doctor, there'll be no more laboratoy experiments while we're running submerged.
All right.
Yeah, all right.
ls the fire secured? All right.
Clear the corridor.
Help me there.
- We've scrubbed the smoke, sir.
- Veywell.
Take her down, Chip.
Aye, aye.
Prepare to dive.
- Stand by to blow tanks.
- Ballast tanks full.
Close the vent.
flood negative.
full dive on the planes.
Full dive.
Secure the air! All green.
Dive! Up scope.
Down scope.
- Final trim 90 feet, sir.
- Good, Chip.
Cary on.
[ On Speaker.]
Captain, Missile Room.
Kowalski.
- Yes, what is it? - Sir, can you come aft? - We've got visitors.
- l'll be right there.
Seems to be some question about who makes the rules on this ship.
l don't really see what harm there is.
And since we're here an_ay, couldn't we take a closer look at-at that? Or is that one ofyour jealously guarded secrets? The minisub isn't classified.
Butyou'd betterwait for the captain.
- This area's out ofbounds.
- Not to us.
- Can one person operate it? - It's possible, but it's really a two-manjob.
- How doyou launch it? - Through an air lock down there.
Oh.
Then it's more than a two-man operation? Not really.
In an emergency this control activates the air lock mechanism.
A two-man crew can sit right there and launch themselves.
- Kowalski, haveyou told them this section's restricted? - Yes, sir.
You were told there were certain areas on this shipyou weren't allowed to enter.
- What does this say? - Now look here, Captain.
Since l represent the people who are financing this operation- l knowyour company's footing the bills for this expedition but the restricted areas ofthis ship remain off-limits to eveyone but authorized personnel.
Now, ifthis happens again, you'll be confined toyour quarters.
- [ On Speaker.]
Captain Crane, this is Sparks.
- Yes, Sparks? Sir, could you come fo_ard to the radio shack? Right away.
Kowalski? - Yes,sir? - Escortthepassengersfo_ard.
Aye, aye, sir.
l tried to check it out, Skipper.
It comes and goes.
l'll advise the admiral.
- Anyword from Pennell on Ice Station ''T''? - No, sir.
That magnetic storm's still fouling up reception.
Mm-hmm.
- [ Knocking .]
- Come in.
l'd like to speak toyou for a minute, sir.
- Well, go ahead, Lee.
- Alone.
Will you excuse us, Doctor? - Communication's picking up a strange signal, sir.
- From where? Right on top ofus.
We may have a sub riding us piggyback.
- Could be a power leak.
- No, no, l doubt it.
lt seems to be a slave circuit tied into our power source.
- We're tying to pinpoint it right now.
- Any identifiable signal? No, none.
Just a standard, continuous beep like a homing signal.
Somebody seems awfully anxious to find out what we're doing and where we're going.
We are getting a clear homing signal now.
Our tracking instruments are locked on 5edyiew, sir.
Good.
Our mission, General, has two objectives.
Plan one: obtain the secret for synthesizing plankton.
Plan two: sink the Sg__igw with all hands so they cannot return with what they know.
And ifthe first plan fails? You'll make sure the second will not.
But l have a valuable agent aboard! l must make provisions for escape from the submarine.
lt has been provided for.
Once the 5edyiew reaches the ice station our agent will be rescued.
And then, the 5edyiew will be sunk.
We're still having no luck Iocating that homing signal.
- Is Sparks still picking it up? - Yes, sir.
You know, l think somebody smuggled some kind ofa device aboard.
- What areyou getting at, Lee? - Admiral, you've got three guests aboard.
One ofthem almost blew us out ofthe water.
The other two were snooping around the restricted area.
Now, as far as l'm concerned, they're all suspect.
From now on, all visitors will be limited to authorized areas.
- Hey, what the- - What areyou doing? - Takeyour hands offme! Takeyour hands off- - Get right in there! - Now, this Nazi was outside, listening! - Well, Doctor? l was coming to consult with you.
Why didn'tyoujust knock and come in? - l didn't want to interruptyour conversation.
- He's lying.
Lee, will you take Mr.
Wesley forward? And l want that search doubled.
Doctor, l want to talk toyou.
- l was not tying to hear.
- What wereyou tying to do? l was coming to talkwith you.
- About what? - Phillip Wesley.
Go ahead.
He isjeopardizing the project with his constant intemerence and suspicions.
He does not understand what we are tying to do orwhy.
- He is choking me with- - Dr.
Reisner! Mr.
Wesley is aboard here because money is necessay for this project.
That is a fact oflife.
lt's notjust a question of Phillip Wesley.
You've managed to alienate evey person aboard this sub.
Now, why? You have known me for 20 years, Admiral Nelson butyou do not know me.
l know thatyou had a chance to leave Hitler's Germany, and you didn't take it.
Haveyou never made a mistake, Admiral? That is why l came toAmerica after the surrender.
l was sick ofwar and killing.
l wanted to save lives, not take them.
Well, you-you can't do it byyourself.
You've got to learn to trust the peopleyou're working with and, above all you must have patience' , Doctor.
Patience? l do not have time for patience! Six months is all l have.
There was a reactor failure in my laboratoy.
l received a massive dose ofradiation.
ln six months, l will be dead.
Keep the 5edyiew buttoned up, Lee.
We'll be back as soon as possible.
Aye, sir.
Oh, no.
What happened here? What could have caused this? Nelson to 5edyiew.
Come in, 5edyiew.
[ Sparks .]
Read you, Admiral.
Over.
Tell Captain Crane the ice station's demolished.
We're investigating now tying to determine the cause.
Stand by.
Over and out.
What is this slime? It's all over the place.
l'd have to run some samples, but l-l think it's plankton.
The poor Pennells.
No sign of'em.
They couldn't have survived this.
Get as much ofthis as you can.
Did they transmit any hint, any clues? No.
Satellite observation confirms that Ice Station ''T'' has been reached, sir.
- Good.
- Cary out the next phase ofoperations.
[ Man On Radio .]
U.
S.
Air Force craft ''J'' forJenny, ''K'' for kilo ''S'' for sugar, 1 49 to 5edyiew.
Come in, 5edyiew.
Come in, please.
Over.
This is 5edyiew.
Who areyou? Please identi_.
You're being tracked.
Over.
J KS-1 49 based out of Baffin Air Reconnaissance Group instructed to make contact with you.
May l land? Your coordinates, please.
Over.
What's your mission? Please state fully.
Over.
Listen, Charlie, l'm just a bush pilot sent out to pick up some egghead on your sub.
Nobody tells me nothin'.
l don't even know who it is but l got a sealed, watertight packet right next to my little pixie heart that tells all.
Now, ifyou'll let me down out ofthe foggy, foggy dew you can read all about ityourself.
A vey cold over.
Okay, Smilin'Jack, bring it in on the beam we send you.
And wearyour mittens.
It's cold down here.
- Whywould Washington wanna pick up one ofour people? - l don't know, Chip.
That wasn't mentioned in our orders.
Skipper, a single plane's just entered our perimeter.
Sparks, get me the admiral.
Come in.
lce Station ''T'' Nelson.
Go ahead, 5edyiew.
- Over.
- Admiral, this is Lee.
Doyou know anything about an order for an air force plane to land and pick up one ofour passengers? - Over.
- That's news to me.
Has Sparks got anything on his log? Over.
Negative.
Whywould they make such an arrangement without informing us? lt doesn't read right to me.
- Over.
- Nor to me.
Find some way to check it out.
Over.
Aye, sir.
Over and out.
Tie me in with that plane.
Come in, Smilin'Jack.
This is the last ofthe great birdmen.
What can l do forya, pappy? l meant to askyou before.
What part ofthe States areyou from? The Bronx, daddy.
Pelham Parkway, Southern Boulevard and 1 72nd Street.
Great.
Then you must know Colonel Washburn from Baffin.
He's from your neck ofthe woods.
Haveyou seen him lately? Sure! We play pinochle evey Friday night.
You know him, huh? How about that? Yeah, how about that? Order Fire Control alert.
Blast that plane out ofthe skies.
Tom Washburn's been dead for sixyears.
Fire Control, lock on target in overhead perimeter and fire one.
We missed, Captain.
The magnetic storm's fouled up our tracking mechanism.
- Correct for error.
- Aye, sir.
Track it manually.
Lock and explode by auto-control.
That'll take a few minutes to switch, sir.
Then get cracking! He's close! We may not have a few minutes! He's switched his approach pattern, Skipper.
Attack trajectoy.
Get me the admiral.
- What is it, Lee? - Hostile plane making a pass.
Take cover! - [Airplane Overhead .]
- Get down! We gotta get back to the submarine! - [ Lyle Screams .]
- Come on! - Come on! - No! No! No! [ Screams .]
- Missile control on manual, sir.
- Fire two.
Missile locked on target.
- Scratch one bogey.
- Good.
Sparks, Kowalski, give me a hand here.
Take her down.
There may be more planes up there like that.
Prepare to dive.
All right.
Take her to my cabin.
Huh, Doctor? So- Nojaw dislocation.
It's too early to tell about concussion.
Sory.
l had to hityou.
Onlyway l could think of to saveyour life.
- We're moving.
- Yes.
We're safe now.
Couple hundred feet below the ice and heading home.
- No! -Take it easy, ma'am.
Let me go! We've got to surface! l've got to stop them! - l can't let her get up now.
Hold her down, will you? - Let me go! - l've got to see the captain! - This'll keep her for about an hour or so.
- Please, lie back.
- Roll up her sleeve.
No! Captain Crane, help! Captain Crane, help! Help! - Relax! - No! [ Static, Pennell Grunting .]
Anna! [ Screaming .]
Whatever hit them must've come so fast, they couldn't protect themselves.
lt makes no sense.
No bodies, no pattern ofdestruction.
That thin film all over the walls- it's plankton.
But in a form that neither Dr.
Reisner nor l had ever seen before.
[ Explosion .]
Damage Party reports all main control gear smashed.
- We're on emergency generators.
- Any computers operational? None.
We're stone-blind and dead in the water.
- Chip, can we maintain trim? - We have so far.
l hope we can hold it.
How did this happen? Oh, uh, excuse me.
[ Crane .]
One minute, Dr.
Reisner.
We were booby-trapped.
From what we can tell there was a miniature limpet attached to the depth gauge.
Once we get below 400 feet, it was rigged to go off.
But would anyone wanna sink the 5edyiew with himselfon board? Must've rigged it while we were on the surface.
That explains the phony air force plane.
- Whoever planted the bomb planned to get away on the plane.
- What doyou think ofthis, sir? lt must've been rigged with the booby trap.
- Dr.
Reisner? - Yes? - May l borrowyour lighter? - Oh, yes, ofcourse.
- Is this it? -Yes, it- But this is ridiculous.
l- l-l-l've had this lighter foryears.
lt never had a radi_ This is a vey common lighter.
l know dozens ofpeople who have them.
On the Se__iew_ - That is not my lighter.
- Where is yours, Doctor? l-l don't know.
But what does it matter? That is not my lighter! - Patterson! - Yes, sir? Take this man to his cabin.
Keep him under arrest.
Aye, sir.
[ Sighs .]
Can we- Can wejuy-rig some kind ofcontrol system? - Time is all we need, sir.
- What was that explosion? We've got our hands full right now.
We'll talk about it later.
What was it? l have a right to know.
Mr.
Wesley, go toyour cabin.
l demand to know what is going on- Wesley, get out ofhere! We're holding steady, sir.
All engines stopped.
lfwe can rig a manual pump to each ofthe ballast tanks we can blow them and surface.
Then we radio Baffin to fly in replacement parts.
- We lost our generators.
- Our gyrostabilizer's out.
We're losing trim.
Switch to manual! Nothing happens, sir.
We're dropping.
Get two technicians up to the gyro room on the double! Kowalski, Foxx, get back to the gyro room!Jump! - Hey, Foxx, what is that stuff? - Kowalski! - Foxx, give meyour hand! - Help, Kowalski, help! [ Screaming .]
[ Screaming .]
- [ Panting .]
- Kowalski! - Foxx! - What's the matter? What happened to Foxx? lt- It grabbed him and then it got him! [ Sobbing .]
Gyro room.
- Chief.
the C02 tank.
- Yes, sir.
lt got to the gyros.
That's whywe're out ofcontrol.
The plankton's regenerating itself.
- The Pennells never had a chance.
- Hurywith those tanks, will you? Clear that stuffout.
l've gotta get to the manual gyro.
We can't hold it back much longer! Get Dr.
Reisner.
Lee! Chie_ That'll hold! Come on! - [ Nelson .]
Lee, are you all right? - We're cut of_ Get aft, and dog all hatches behind you.
We'll ty to contain it to midships.
Doctor, did your experiments give any hint ofthis? Well, there is regeneration in plankton but only at a vey primitive level.
l do not understand this at all.
You suppose that the Pennells' records might be the key to it? - Perhaps.
- All right, come along.
It's all right.
Someone sabotaged the controls, and we're sinking.
- We're all gonna die.
- l'm not.
You don't understand.
There's no way out.
Wesley.
How much doyou want to live? What areyou talking about? You're quite right about the sabotage.
l planted the bomb.
Now there is one way out ofhere but only for two people.
The mini-sub.
You listen to me andyou and l will be the two people that use it.
[ Morton On Speaker.]
Captain Crane? - Yes, Chip.
- We can't hold these bulkheads up here.
- It's burst through two already.
- How far forward is it? lt's moving into the flood control chamber and the control room.
They're only separated by a bulkhead.
- Secure all watertight hatches.
- Skipper! Come on! Come on, Captain! Hury up! lt'll take it a while to break through.
- Admiral? - Yes, lee? Go ahead.
We're trapped aft in the missile room.
- Can you stop it from that end? - We're working on it.
Hold on, lee.
We're doing our best.
Something was done to the plankton.
Some radiation was used, or some chemical added.
But Pennell left no indication.
Yeah, his records are incomplete.
The tape was damaged, and probably part ofit destroyed.
ls there anything in this? No, l've been through all this.
It'sjust some personal papers.
There's no record here ofhis experiments.
lt'sjust- You found something? - His wedding license.
- Wedding license.
lt says here that Robert V.
Pennell was married to KarenJoyce Comstock.
- So? - So, Karen.
Karen.
His wife's name was Karen.
But on the tape, he kept calling forAnna.
- ''Anna!'' - Mm-hmm.
Well, don'tyou see? He wasn't calling for his wife.
He was tying to speak when the plankton attacked him.
What he must've been tying to saywas anaerobic.
- Anaerobic bacteria? - Bacteria that lives on air.
Then it wasn't something that was added to the plankton but something that was missing that made it grow.
Exactly! The anaerobic bacteria keeps the plankton under control but heat destroys its power to check growth, and the plankton runs wild.
Heat.
Heat is what makes it grow.
Then the answer is- [ Nelson On Speaker .]
Cold.
We can freeze the plankton drop it to a temperature where it'll become dormant again then blow it out like ballast.
But we can't cut the heat off.
The electrical system's dead.
Then someone's gotta get into flood Control and open the emergency hatch to the sea.
The in-rushing freezing water should do it.
Anybodywho tries to go in there is dead.
lt's ouronlychance.
Aye, aye, sir.
[ Crane On Speaker.]
Admiral, l've got an idea.
Don't let- Lee? Lee? Come in, Lee.
Line's dead.
Communication system's out.
We haven't much longer.
You won't last out there at this depth, Skipper.
l've got 1 O minutes.
l've gotta take that chance.
- Patterson, any luck on that intercom? - Stone-dead, Captain.
Come on.
Come on.
Let's go.
That's it.
Another bulkhead down.
Unless we can stop it there, we're finished.
lfwe flood that compartment and the ones directly behind it- Whoever goes in there to open up the sea hatch won't be coming back.
But it must be done.
What we know now must be put to use.
l have the least to lose and the most to gain.
You still don't know me, doyou? - No.
- But it doesn't matter now.
You have no choice.
Patterson, any luck on that intercom yet? - l'm tying to tie in on another circuit, Skipper.
- Well, keep on it! And let the admiral know what l'm tying to do ifyou can get through.
Okay, Chief.
All right.
[ Knocks .]
Missile Room to Control Room.
Missile Room to Control Room.
- Missile Room to Control Room.
-Yes, Patterson, this is Nelson.
Come in.
The captain's outside the sub, sir.
He said don't ty to enter the flood control chamber.
He's going to open the hatch from topside.
Thanks, Patterson.
Well, Doctor, you heard him.
l hadjust about decided thatyou were the one- Admiral, Doctor, step away from there.
Do not open that hatch.
We have absolutely nothing to lose, so do as l say.
You threaten a dying man with death? Oh, you'll die all right, Doctor.
- The mini-sub only holds two.
- You'll never get to the mini-sub through there.
- It's filled with plankton.
- Don't ty to stop us, Admiral.
l can understand her motives, Wesley, but what's in it foryou? That's simple, Admiral.
l wanna live.
You can understand that, can't you? l can understand that completely.
Phillip Wesley is no worse than the rest ofyou.
That is why the men l work for will win in the end.
That is not so.
l know the kind ofmen you're working for.
Theyall end the same way.
Open it.
[ Nelson .]
You can't go through there.
It's alive with plankton.
That room is full ofplankton! [ Screaming .]
l had to close the hatch.
lfit had gotten in here- l had to do it.
[Water Rushing Overhead .]
Listen.
The flood control chamber's open to the sea.
lt's over.
As soon as we find a hole in the ice, we can surface.
- Dr.
Reisner? - Hmm? One ofthe crewmen found this under a table in the wardroom.
l think it's yours.
l hope what we know now is worth what it cost.
Someday it will be.
We won't see it, but we've opened the door.