Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) s01e21 Episode Script

[Radio Frequencies Beeping.]
[Morse Code Beeping.]
[Man On Radio.]
Tracking stations have made positive l.
D.
M/SP-l is returning to Earth's atmosphere.
Distance: 90,000 miles.
Closing fast.
Impact point estimated Seaview, proceed immediately to make recovery.
Thank you, H.
Q.
Probe.
Will do.
- Chip, set course 1-0-4.
Proceed at flank speed.
- Aye, aye, sir.
This reportjust came in from H.
Q.
Probe, Admiral.
M/SP-l's been spotted.
It's reentering the Earth's atmosphere.
- Where's the point of contact? - Right here.
Brand, do you realize how far off that is from the original estimate? What difference does that make? Man In Space Probe 7 is coming back to Earth.
We can reach the point of impact in time, Captain? We're racing toward it now, Dr.
Brand.
We'll get there.
The first round-trip probe into deep space, and it's coming back! [Exhales, Chuckles.]
Gentlemen, this project has worked beyond my wildest hopes.
What about all those weeks of silence when we lost them when we were cut off from all communication? Cosmic rays, solar flares- Who knows? We'll get all our information now when we get our astronaut aboard.
[ Man On Speaker.]
Capsule altitude: 40 miles.
Impact point bearing 0-0-5, relative.
Range: 5,000 yards.
One degree right rudder.
Slow to one third.
Any minute now.
We should pick it up one point off the port bow.
[Small Explosion.]
Bring us alongside the splash point, Lee, and crack the cargo hatch.
We'll load the capsule right into the missile room before we open it.
Aye, sir.
Maneuvering, stand to.
[Chattering.]
[Crane.]
All secure, sir.
It's your baby, Doctor.
You blow the hatch.
Thank you, Admiral.
Gentlemen, this is a moment for history- the first voyager to return from deep space.
Let's welcome him.
-[Signal Beeps.]
-[Small Explosion.]
[ Kowalski .]
It'; not a man.
It'; a robot.
[Man.]
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Starflng Richard Basehart David Hedison.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Down scope.
We're at 9O feet with a good trim, Skipper.
- Very well.
Set a course for Santa Barbara.
- Come to course 0-1-0.
- All ahead full.
- All ahead full.
- Keep it this way until we get home, Chip.
- Aye, aye, sir.
Off the record, Lee, what's the big rush? We'll all feel better when we dock at the institute.
Because of that thing we picked up? That thing, Chip, might very well be the most important cargo we've ever hauled.
Carry on.
[Sighs.]
We're losing precious time.
How much longer would you guess, Admiral? Well, let's find out.
Laboratory, this is Nelson.
Report.
[ Man On Intercom .]
Laboratory, Admiral' Radiation count is dropping at a faster rate all the time- four points in the last 70 minutes.
All right.
Keep us advised.
- Four points? What is it now? - Let? see.
That's, uh- It should be down to safety limits within, uh, about 15 minutes.
A quarter of an hour.
- And we can't move.
- [Laughing.]
You-You're like an expectant father.
I know.
I know, but this project is so important.
Think of it, Admiral-a robot with an almost human sensory system that's gone into deep space, and now it's come back just-just crammed full of vital information.
It won't stay hot much longer.
Then we'll get at the debriefing.
Meanwhile, there's nothing to do but wait.
I know.
Admiral the information stored in that electronic brain can open up the pathway for man to the whole galaxy.
[Geiger Counter Ticking.]
Count's dropping.
It's well below safe levels now.
Good.
How soon can we start debriefing? Anytime now.
I can't wait to get at the information stored in those memory cells.
Neither can I.
How much can it tell us? As much as we could learn by going there ourselves- and more.
Sensations of sight, sound, touch- all locked up in memory cells.
An indestructible package of priceless information.
Whenever you're ready, Doctor-.
Oh.
[Chuckles.]
Yes, yes.
Switch on.
[Computer Whirring.]
- All right to come in? - Yes, of course.
You'rejust in time to see something really remarkable.
[Signal Fluctuating.]
We're getting feedbacks from somewhere.
Oh, it's probably other instruments on the sub.
- [ Fluctuations Continue.]
- Captain? Is it possible to shutoff all electronic power on this boat? - For how long? - Well at least until we get a preliminary reading- 1 O, 2O minutes.
It depends upon our trim.
I'll see how long we can hold it.
- Mr.
Morton.
- [On Speaker.]
Morton, Captain.
Stop all engines, cut all main power banks.
Hold this trim as long as possible.
Aye, sir.
We'll do the best we can.
Thanks, Captain.
[Nelson .]
These instruments seem to be all wrong.
I can't make contact.
It's not responding.
[Signal Fluctuating.]
Doesn't make any sense at all.
- Anything? - [ Exhaling.]
Only gibberish.
If this thing were human, I'd say that it was in a state of shock.
It's all in there! All that information- I can't get to it.
[ Morton On Speaker.]
Captain, we're losing trim.
- We've got to resume power in the boat.
- Nu.
We've got to blow ballast.
We're losing trim.
- Give me just 1O more minutes.
- I can't risk 1 O minutes.
Give him another two minutes, Lee.
just one more try.
[ Morton.]
We've dropped to 1-5-0.
Rate of descent is increasing' All right, Mr.
Morton.
Stand fast.
I'll let you know when.
Aye, sir.
Well, it's no-go.
It's still as fuzzy as ever.
Why? I put that brain in there.
I programmed it.
- Admiral, we can't wait any longer.
- Right, Lee.
Mr.
Morton, restore all power.
Bring her up to 90 feet and resume course and speed' Aye, aye, sir.
I'll join you in the control room right away.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
Don't blame yourself, Doctor.
Any one of a hundred things could have affected it.
But I planned for all that- the Van Allen belt, cosmic rays, solar storms.
It was supposed to be immune.
Look at it.
It's worthless.
No.
The information's still there.
It has to be.
We'll find a way to get it out, but we'll have to wait till we get back to the institute.
We don't have adequate facilities here.
I can't just sit and wait.
Can? we call the institute? We'll have them run some of this gibberish through the giant computer.
Right now, we seem to be in need of one or two giant answers-.
[ Door Closes .]
Hey, what's goin' on, Chief? Search me.
You ought to see the way they treat that thing.
I wouldn't be surprised if they sent it to sick bay.
Yeah.
I nearly fell over when they blew the hatch and there was a robot.
- I thought we were picking up a man.
- Me too.
- Do you think it'; 5.
22%? - Safe? - Havin' it aboard, I mean.
-just another hunk of machinery.
Sure, I know- Onlyl didn't like the look of its eyes-.
What's the matter, Curley? You afraid of robots? Oh.
You think they might take overyourjob.
Nah.
They ain't got the intelligence.
[Sputtering.]
Yes.
Yes, that's right.
No, we're not ready to release anything to the press just yet.
I'll let you know-.
Dr.
Brand is ready with his instructions.
- Go ahead, Doctor.
- Brand here.
Look, I want a complete original run-through.
That's right.
Feed every scrap of data we started this project with into calculating organs, mark-and-memory organs and all programming organs.
Right.
I want a rundown on every corrective measure taken for a stray course.
I want a file and cross file- That's right, a file and cross file on all circuitry systems breakdown of communications.
Right.
Right, right, right.
[ Beeping.]
Yes.
Yes, we have all the readings straight now.
Admiral? [Clicks Tongue.]
Not one deviation.
Calculation, memory, programming- all positive.
That's not possible.
It doesn't make sense.
Check solars, magnetics, cosmics.
[Sighs.]
Brand again.
Now, do this.
Complete computation on magnetic analyzer- Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? - What's wrong, Sparks? - [On Speaker.]
I don't know, Admiral.
The signal cut off - [ Crane on Speaker.]
A dmzkal Come to the control room.
- Right away- [Irregular Beeping.]
I never heard anything like it, Skipper.
- It's coming from inside the ship, not out.
- What is it, Lee? Our instrumentation's gone wild.
Nothing's working properly.
Could your robot be doing something to affect our equipment? I don't see how.
There's nothing in its circuitry to affect your instruments.
If anything, this could explain the trouble we've been having in the lab.
- I don't follow you, Doctor- - lfthere's a malfunctioning transmitter on board-.
- - I don't follow you, Doctor- - lfthere's a malfunctioning transmitter on board-.
- it could affect not only your instruments, but scramble the robots sensors.
I doubt that very much- We don't have any equipment aboard that could do anything like that- - Well, not necessarily, Lee.
- It must be that.
What else could it be? There's one way to make sure.
Duty Electrician, lay down to the master switchboard on the double.
If it's a failure in our telemetry, it'll show up there-.
- And if it doesn't? - [Man On Speaker.]
Reactor Room t0 Captain.
The atomic pile shut down.
No reason.
We cant seem to find the trouble.
We'll switch to auxiliary and surface.
- Try to trace down the trouble.
- Aye, aye, sir.
All those systems couldn't have failed at the same time.
Engineering, this is the captain.
Send repair teams to check the ship from stem to stern.
- All cabling, all wiring systems- everything.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Mr.
Morton, surface the boat.
- Aye, aye, sir.
Ten degree up bubble.
Stand by to surface.
[ Heavy Footsteps.]
[Screaming.]
- Gyro's out.
- Chip, take over.
Chief, stabilize the gyro fast.
That hatch must have sprung loose on the first list and caught him head-on.
Take him to sick bay.
Tell Doc we'll want an autopsy.
There'll be an inquiry.
- Aye, sir.
Come on, Curley.
- Admiral' The robot's gone.
I went down to the laboratory to check him out again.
There's no sign of him- He's gone.
Of course.
We should've known when everything started malfunctioning.
All right, men, give me your attention.
You'll work in groups of two.
You'll search the ship, compartment by compartment.
Admiral.
You're all armed.
Use your weapons if you have to.
To tell you the truth, I don't know what efiect it?! have.
lust be alert and report regularly.
- Okay, that's it.
- On the double, men.
- Why are those men armed, Captain? - For protection, Doctor.
They were ordered to use their weapons, to shoot the robot.
Why? I want the information in your robot's sensors every bit as much as you do.
What good is the information going to do us ifit sinks the ship with all hands? Come now, Admiral.
It couldn't possibly do that.
- It wouldn't even make the attempt.
- I hope you're right.
- [ Morton On Speaker.]
Skipper.
- Yes, Chi p.
We got up to 85 feet, but our controls have jammed, and we've got negative buoyancy Unless we can free them, we're going down again.
- Stay with it.
I'll be right there.
- Doctor.
- [Computer Whirring.]
- It's receiving you, isn't it, Brand? Yes, it's receiving me, all right, but- Well, can you get a fix on it, locate it? Something seems to be scrambling our signal.
Or maybe it'; scrambling our signal.
That's impossible.
I'll try again.
Are you all right? Are you hurt? No.
Look at that.
It's ruined.
Yeah.
Looks like it's up to the men.
Now, watch it, Curley.
It could be anywhere.
I told you I didn't like the look in his eyes-.
Benson.
He's been hit by his own bullet.
Get him outta here, and I'll coverya.
You report- I'll take care of him-.
Captain Crane.
Captain.
- This is Crane.
Report.
- Kowa/ski.
I'm at Frame 84.
We ran into it.
Benson fired at point-blank range.
The bullet bounced offit, came back to hit him.
Seal off the corridor and get out of there.
And get Benson to sick bay.
Aye, aye, sir.
It-lt's no use.
It's beyond repair.
- I'll have to rig something.
- [Morton on Speaker.]
C ap tazh.
M/e ire loszhgr pressure.
Temperature readings are dropping all over the ship.
It's ice cold.
You go ahead, Admiral.
I'll stay here as long as I can.
It's as though the air conditionings gone mad.
We're down to 3O degrees throughout the boat, and it keeps on dropping.
Missile Room.
What's your temperature reading there? [ Man On Speaker.]
Twenty-three degrees.
We're freezing, Skipper.
- Break out cold-weather gear for the whole crew.
- Aye, aye, sir.
Engineering.
Get a repair party to the air revitalizing room on the double.
Get that central air-conditioning system under control.
I just checked our depth.
We're at 250 feet and dropping fast.
Unless we find a way to blow ballast, we're gonna be on the bottom in a matter of minutes.
- Chip, how's Engineering doing with the hand pump? - They're still working on it- Last report was the forward tanks are clear.
- Once we clear the main tanks, we'll have positive buoyancy- - Keep on it- - Cold weather gear, sir.
- Thanks, Curley.
- Give me one for Dr.
Brand.
- Yes, sir.
Lee, come along.
I'm going to the lab to see Brand.
Maybe between the three of us we can find some way to outthinkthis machine.
Since it won't respond to commands, I've been concentrating on pure detection.
But every time I start to get a fix on it it does something else to throw me off.
- You talk as if it were doing it deliberately.
- That's nonsense.
I know what that machine can do.
I know what it can't do.
I built it.
I programmed it.
Exactly.
That's why I think it's been reprogrammed.
How could it have been? You said you lost all control when it passed through the Van Allen belt Radiation may have affected its central control system.
Not with its sensors completely insulated against maximum-plus radiation.
[Scoffs.]
Well, something's affected it! Your robot's lost all capacity to respond.
It's like having a maniac loose on the ship.
Oh, it's worse than that, Lee.
It's a maniac that's been built to be indestructible.
[ Machinery Churning.]
There's our trouble all right.
Listen to that air conditioner.
As you were, men.
Come on.
Let's get outta here.
The air revitalizing chamber.
Of course.
Sir, I'm telling you- no farther away from me than you are now.
Here's our chance.
Control Room, this is the captain.
Get all search parties to lay down to “D“ Corridor on the double.
We've got the robot trapped in Air Revitalizing.
Curiey, the minute I undog the hatch, hit it with everything you've got.
Captain, if there's any chance of taking it without destroying it- There isn't.
Go ahead, Lee.
This may do it.
I've managed to concoct a rather crude electronic ear that can pinpoint its exact location even behind a bulkhead.
All right, Doctor- I'll assign a couple of men to tour the ship with you-.
Check every bulkhead until you find it.
- See to it, will you, Chip.
- Yes, sir.
This way, Doctor.
Temperatures down another 1 O degrees.
- What's our depth? - We're holding our own.
Engineering must be making some progress with the ballast tanks.
Good.
We'll fight our way to the surface yet.
- [ On Speaker.]
Captain, this is Patterson.
- Go ahead, Patterson.
We're having trouble with the main ballast-tank vents.
They'rejammed.
We can? hand pump any more water out.
We still need more buoyancy.
What could bejamming those vents? [ On SpeakerjAdmiral, this is Brand.
Can you hear me? Yes, Doctor.
What is it? I've got it pinpointed between the inner and outer hulls at, uh- Where are we? - [Crewman.]
Frame 60.
- At Frame 60- All right, Doctor.
Stay there.
Keep a fix on it.
The main ballast tanks.
Could it have worked itself in there? Must have.
Patterson, can we still flood the main ballast tanks? Yes, sir.
Wejust can't blow them.
[Sighs, Raps Table.]
We've been working like dogs to clear those tanks.
If we flood them again, we'll go down.
- How much bottom under us? - At least 6,000 feet- beyond crush depth.
If we flood the main ballast tanks the water might short-circuit it, make it helpless.
- I say try it.
- Well, I hope you're right.
- Patterson, flood main ballast tanks.
- Yes, sir.
We're at 500 feet.
- 565 andho/zfing - That's strange.
We're still holding at 565.
We've got full tanks and negative buoyancy.
Why aren't we dropping? - [ On Speaker.]
Skipper.
This is K0 wa/ski.
- What is it, Kowalski? I'm in the corridorjust forward of the missile room.
Smoke's pouring from the airvents.
All right, Kowalski.
We'll sound the fire alarm.
- Get a detail aft.
- That's not smoke.
It's steam.
Of course.
That explains our buoyancy.
The water in the ballast tanks is being vaporized.
Temperature's rising in the boat.
It's above normal already.
First it freezes us.
Now it's roasting us to death.
Generator Room.
What happened to your auxiliary? Hello.
Generator Room! Sparks, what's wrong with the line? What's wrong with communications? - Dead.
- Let's get aft.
[Steam Hissing.]
- [Coughing.]
- Someone's there.
[Coughing.]
Captain Crane? - Dr- Brand, are you all right? - Yes.
I couldn't find my way.
- What happened to the lights? - We're trying to find out.
- You lost contact with the signal again? - Completely.
The frequency changed, the signal faded- almost like a loss of power.
I couldn't reestablish contact.
Let's get forward to the observation nose.
There'll be less steam.
You go on ahead.
I'll check the rest of the boat- I'll join you later-.
Right.
Come along, Doctor.
[ Footsteps Approaching.]
- What's the appraisal, Lee? - Complete blackout.
Our nuclear pile has quit cold, and all communications are gone.
[Clicks Tongue.]
We're dead in the water.
How can this happen? There was nothing in its mechanism to produce these effects.
Is it possible for a machine- ifit's, uh, sufficiently sophisticated- to-to go berserk to become paranoiac, the same as a man can? Absolutely correct, but not my machine.
I built in too many controls, too many checks.
Then my explanation's the only solution.
That the Van Allen belt shorted all its controls? I can't buy that.
I can't buy that either, but it's happening.
That's not my fault.
I didn't lose contact until the blackout came.
Just a minute, Doctor.
You began to lose contact just at the moment of the blackout? Yes, or a moment or two after perhaps.
- Why? - That's what we've been looking for.
- It was right in front of us, and we didn't recognize it- - What? Its power source- light.
Everything that moves- man, animal, machine- needs fuel.
Your robot feeds on light, doesn't it? That's true.
It gets all its energy from photocells.
Without light, it can't function.
We can trap it now.
We have the bait.
[ Beeping 1 [Beeping Stops.]
- Sealed off, Admiral.
- Will that compartment hold? The men tried to make it as secure as humanly possible.
What makes something human? Sometimes a machine might gain control of the man who made it but, in the end, the man will win out.
I hope so.
The robot is more or less contained right now but I don't know how long we'll be able to keep it that way.
- Let? see what we can do t0 get back t0 the surféce.
- Aye, sir.
Now, Doctor we can't risk keeping that thing around here any longer.
We've got to destroy it.
We can't do that.
The information it contains is priceless.
Destroy that machine, you destroy everything we've worked for- everything! Look, don't you realize it could still kill all ofus? What happens to your information then? I know I can get it under control.
I knowl can.
- All I need is more time.
- No, no.
I'm sorry, Doctor.
You listen to me.
Right now, your robot is immobilized, but it could reactivate at any time.
Now, we can't throw away the chance to make sure it doesn't break loose again.
I can't take part in anything like that.
Then I'll send an engineering detail in there to hack it to pieces and have it blown out the torpedo tubes.
No- Wait a minute.
All right.
Let me dismantle it.
- At least I can salvage part of it.
- Mm.
That's it.
You're gonna be all right.
- [Steady Beeping.]
- You'll get your strength back now.
Your memory banks will transmit and you'll give me all your secrets the way you've been programmed to do.
[Irregular Beeping.]
[Regular Beeping.]
Transmit.
You can understand my commands.
Obey them! Transmit! Transmit! No! Obey me! Get back! Get back! [ Beeping.]
Lucky he's alive.
- He meant to kill me.
- Easy.
Don't try to talk.
[ Shuffling In Distance.]
It's moving away.
A couple of you men get Dr.
Brand here to the observation nose.
Forty minutes to an hour to surface.
I hope we make it.
- How deep now? - 465.
Our rate of ascent is still the same.
What I'd give to broach the surface right now.
Carry on, Chip.
[ Footsteps Approaching.]
Thank you.
- Feeling any better? - Yes, thanks.
You were lucky.
A mindless machine- to do all that.
That robot has a brilliant mind- an electronic brain dedicated to killing all ofus.
- That's a strange statement coming from you.
- No.
Listen carefully.
Ig I had to program it with emotional reactions closely duplicating a man's behavior.
But something happened up there in space' Something went wrong.
Now its whole intelligence is dedicated tojust one thing- our destruction.
[Crane On Intercom.]
Admiral.
- Yes.
- I'm in the crew's mess.
Three of the men- it was like before, only worse.
- How much worse? - Take my word- not pretty.
[ Footsteps Approaching.]
- Hear that? - Yeah.
It's coming this way.
- Come on.
Let's get aft.
- No.
Wait a minute.
You go aft.
I wanna see.
If it passes me, I'll get back and report to the skipper.
Okay.
Good luck.
[Scoffing.]
Oh, thanks.
Have they dogged down all hatches between it and the missile room? Yes, sir, but that won't help.
That thing goes through steel hatches like they were cardboard.
The missile room.
There's nothing we can do now.
It's getting stronger every minute.
Once it gets to the missile room, there's no telling what damage it'll do.
Wait a minute.
Wait.
This may be the best break we've ever had.
- I'm going there to meet it.
- Admiral, stay away from it.
You saw what it did to your men.
Yes.
Yes, I did.
It's coming in here.
We're trapped.
Nothing can stop it.
He's looking at the magnetic mines.
H' he breaks one of those loose- [Timer Ticking.]
He's activated it.
In 6O seconds, the whole ship blows up.
Fifty seconds.
Douse those lights.
I'll try to lead him into the escape chamber.
[ Patterson.]
Forty seconds.
Thirty seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Ten seconds.
- [ Water Rushing.]
- Five four three two- [Morton On Speaker.]
Captain, we've got full power back all over the ship.
Take us to the surface, Chip.
We're heading home.
Well, it's gone now- all its information with it.
What are you going to do now, Doctor? Do? Create another one, Admiral, send it up there.
Only this time, I'll insulate it against any possible interference with its personality.
Maybe with a prayer next time.
For the robot, Captain, or for us? [Chuckles.]
Maybe for both, Doctor.
Maybe for both.