The Outer Limits (1963) s01e30 Episode Script

(thunder) (blasting ) (alarm ) What's wrong? Gotta get this under control.
- What is it? - We don 't know.
Dr Marshall pulled it out.
- Konig, better get another divider.
- There's 1 6 inches of lead in there.
- What's its atomic weight? - Somewhere over 256.
A freak reaction .
Marshall said cosmic particles penetrated the shield.
The gold foil disappeared then the lambda process set in .
The pushers are on .
Close the gate.
Collins! The divider began to give way.
- l'm holding the isotope up over it.
- How long for? As long as l have to.
Marshall's the only one who knows what the reaction will be if they come into contact.
- Phone's dead.
- Maybe this stuff throws off - some electromagnetic field.
- l'll try the PA system.
(blasting ) Better report this to Emergency.
Find out if we need any extra shielding.
And see about clean -up.
- The radiation level's halfway up the dial.
- l'll have Emergency here in two minutes.
( man ) There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission .
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all you see and hear.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to The Outer Limits.
( man ) Nuclear physicists have discovered a strange world of subatomic particles, fragments of atoms smaller than the imagination can picture and materials which do not obey the laws of gravity.
Antimatter composed of inside-out material.
Shadow matter which can penetrate ten miles of lead sheet.
Deep in the heart of strange new elements are secrets beyond human understanding.
New powers.
New dimensions.
Worlds within worlds.
Unknown .
(thunder) Those are mal-chamber tracks.
- This plate's been exposed.
-No, that's a cluster.
A cluster? Of particles? They pulled against the magnetic field into a spot of light.
Like radium salts.
- Can we take a look at it? - lt's down at the reactor furnace.
lt's intensely radioactive.
l'm worried about the work team that had to carry it.
- How high was the reading? - Halfway up the scale.
Pollard, these particles are subatomic, yet they're giving out light and lethal radiation .
( PA) Control office, control office, this is Konig.
Dr Marshall, there's an emergency in the furnace reactor.
(blasting ) - Stop.
No one goes in until it subsides.
- What about Collins? - We'll crack the shield and pull him out.
- l'd like to go in .
- There's no cure for radiation sickness.
- l set the rods.
Look at that counter.
This room has 1 1 feet of lead.
That needle is halfway through the yellow zone.
Collins seems to be handling it.
Collins.
Collins! He can 't get his arms out of there alone.
Collins, let go.
You can move your arms now.
Here, let me take the isotope.
Pull back.
Colli (fizzing ) - He's taking too long.
- Maybe they found a way to control it.
Not with that needle rising.
( hissing ) (fizzing ) - We've got to get out.
- They're still alive.
- lt's too late.
- We can 't leave them.
They're close to enough gamma penetration to kill 1 00 men .
We are too.
Close down the shields.
Tell Emergency to send in all the lead blocks.
Try to put up a shield here.
- Putting one in right now.
- Get your men out! Let Emergency do it.
l will not send anyone past the second shield.
We've cut off all currents.
We flooded the cell.
We built up 20 feet of lead.
lt's too hot to approach and still climbing.
lf it doesn 't stabilise within the hour, l'm ordering total evacuation .
- He's afraid of a chain reaction .
- But all the rods are pushed in .
Well, these particles.
Some sort of spontaneous generation .
lt can 't be.
There's no physical process to support it.
Three months ago, the Tech-Astronomy Lab announced the discovery of eight new objects in outer space.
One of them was more than two billion light years away.
- Shining in the 1 3th Magnitude.
- Quasi-stellar radio sources.
That's right, give them a name.
They radiate.
They pulse.
But they're not galaxies or stars.
They break every rule in the book.
Yet they're out there, burning.
These particles are their atomic equivalent.
The ultra-large out there, the ultra-small boiling up in our reactor.
Their radioactivity is greater than your wildest dreams.
Like a hole torn in the universe.
Something seeping in .
(woman laughs) You didn 't come to the restaurant so we came to the rescue.
Any brandy hidden behind the Nobel prizes? - What's wrong? - Paul, what is it? - We've had an emergency.
- Can l help? No , we ve dono a we ca n s a nyoody c u rt ? A reaction 's building up in the central core.
- Can it set off a chain ? - We will have to evacuate if it gets critical.
Maybo yo u d beter go l'd like to wait until you go too.
Why can 't we stay? We won 't get in the way.
We brought you some sandwiches and coffee.
We can all leave together.
We should know in a few minutes.
There's brandy in the cabinet.
( hissing ) Push this shield into the control room.
We'll keep piling them up.
(screams) Can you come right away? Coulter's dying.
We carried him into the corridor.
Did you control the furnaces? We shielded it.
But there's more to it than that.
Pollard, take Terrel with you .
- Are you all right? -Not too steady.
- Radiation ? - Maybe.
l'll stay here with the women .
You go on .
Coulter, can you hear me? Huh - Did you control the reaction ? -Not enough.
Need more shields.
- Tell them what happened.
- Collins Collins came at me.
Only it wasn 't him.
There's something else inside his suit.
l don 't know.
Blue light.
Like an electric arc.
- Delirium? -No, something came at us.
- lt must have been Collins.
- A force.
Like a magnetic field.
You mean Collins collapsed when you pulled him out? No.
There's something else.
Something inside the suit.
lt reached for me.
But the light inside the suit .
.
burnt my face.
Blinded me.
l l c can 't see.
- Where is this thing? - The control-room floor.
- ls the shield there? - Yes, but it's not safe to go in .
- Can we move in another shield? - We can try.
- You don 't have to go.
- l wanna get a look at that thing.
They're going into the reactor.
- Do they have to? -No.
Can 't you stop them? Pollard.
Pollard, this is Marshall.
- Yes, Marshall? - The light went on in the passage.
- Are you going to enter the reactor? - Yes.
- Don 't go in there.
- We've got to.
- lt's too hot.
- We're taking a second shield.
- Coulter's dead.
- He's going in .
Paul, please don 't go in ! Marshall says it's not safe! We've got to, just for a minute.
Marshall, tell her l'll be all right.
Paul, you don 't know Something happened in there.
lt's not just radiation .
We'll be fast.
( hissing ) - lt's Collins' suit.
- Be careful.
lt's empty.
- lt came in like there was someone in it.
- Did Coulter hit it? -No.
lt crumpled coming round the shield.
- lt doesn 't make sense.
(flaring ) (shouting ) (constant hissing ) (blasting ) - lt's approaching the critical mass.
- Why aren 't they back? l don 't know.
The circuits are solid static.
When that needle goes into the red, - l have to notify the civil authorities.
- We've got to get out of here.
- Where's Pollard? - They've got him.
And Dr Terrel.
Got him? What are you talking about? Something is coming out of the core.
lt seeps into the suits and takes on a form.
- What kind of form? - Human .
But it's made out of a blue light.
From the material that we took from the cyclotron ? Yes, sir.
The furnace is alive with it.
And it's increasing! - Better get out.
-Not without Paul! - You've got to.
-No! l won 't go! - You've got to stop her! - l can 't go in there.
Don 't have the strength.
Marshall, you're afraid! l know what's in there.
Something from another dimension .
Something invading our time-space continuum.
Laurel .
.
l did it.
l placed heavy elements in the cyclotron .
Particles from out there.
From quasi-stellar sources.
l bombarded it.
l split a crack in time and space.
lt'll widen and tear.
Gravity will collapse.
Radiation .
Contagion .
lt'll burn us! Burn us! l'll try to find her.
Laurel, we've got to get out of here! lf even half of what you say is true, this radiation is going to flare up, isn 't it? Yes.
lt compounds geometrically.
There's nothing we can do.
- Then there is no point in running.
- We can 't stay here! According to you , there's no place to hide.
Let's stay here quietly.
- l don 't want to die! -Nobody wants to die! But if it's time, let's meet it with a little dignity.
Even better, let's go down fighting.
Marshall, you're a brilliant man .
You've got powers of the mind.
Use them.
Use them.
l can 't think.
l'm no use, Laurel.
No use.
(blasting ) Paul! Paul, where are you? Paul! Paul! - (sobs) - Let's get out of here! (buzzing ) lf you won 't help them, l will.
Laurel.
Laurel.
Come back.
( hissing ) Laurel.
(breathes heavily) Laurel! Laurel! Laurel! - Arndis, close that door! - Paul's in there! l'm going in ! - Arndis - Let me go! - You can 't stop me! - Marshall, stop her! She can 't go inside.
(alarm ) (screams) There are two of them in the corridor.
Come on .
Marshall, look.
They've stopped.
- They're cut off from their energy source.
- What are they? Particles.
They consume material substance.
- Did they kill Pollard? - And the others.
They could burn through the suits.
But they take on the body form.
- ls it alive? -Not the way we think of life.
- But it moved and walked! - Maybe it is alive.
l don 't know.
Maybe it's intelligent.
All l know is it's made up of a crawling cluster of particles.
lt's like radium crystals swarming and growing.
- Oh - Oh, Arndis.
You saw it.
You've got to tell us.
- Can you walk? - l think so.
- Let me help you .
- Here, try.
Here.
There.
(blasting ) (bleeping ) Emergency.
This is the control office.
Emergency.
Look at that counter.
The needle's in the red.
(electronic whine ) - This is Civil Authority.
- This is the Broadridge Control Station .
Dr Marshall speaking.
Radiation levels are reading off the scale.
We expect a critical mass in the space of a few minutes.
Please confirm Red-One Alert.
That's correct.
Radiation levels indicate a chain reaction .
- Have you flooded the cells? - Yes.
Rods and shields are in position .
The furnace core is out of control.
- What's the nature of the build-up? -Nobelium 238.
- lnteracting with high-velocity particles.
- What kind of particles? Unknown field reactions.
Don 't bother to give it to your computer.
lt's no known process.
Tell civil authorities to start the sirens.
Get people out of the area or down to their shelters.
Broadridge out.
Let's go.
(siren ) (thunderclap ) (fizzing ) Slide over, Arndis.
Laurel, you drive.
- Aren 't you coming? - Maybe l can do something.
- lf it explodes, you'll be killed! - Go to the civic shelter.
- l'm sorry l said what l did! - You were right.
l was afraid.
l still am.
But you taught me not to run .
l do have powers.
Of the mind.
My work made it happen .
- l'm staying till the very end.
- lt's too late.
ook (buzzing ) What is it? Radiation .
The atomic structure of the building.
You two have got to get out of here.
Arndis, can you drive? Can you drive the car? l Yes, l think l can .
- Then get onto the passage road.
- Paul! What about Paul? You've got to think about your children .
- They're probably at the civic shelter.
- But Paul He would want you to be with the children .
- Go with her.
-No, no, l'm staying with you .
The back power shed.
The wall's a shield.
(blasting ) (bleeping ) (rattling ) Something is delaying the reaction .
When counters rise that high, fission sets in .
Marshall, the force fields, those things in the suits.
Do they control it? All my life l've followed the laws of physics.
Now there's no cause and effect.
Now , Ma rsha , yo u n aws a ro not wrong Well, right or wrong, you made it happen .
l do sense something.
Pollard called it mathematical intuition : you feel there's a proof to a problem but it's unknown .
Get the grid paper.
(thunderclap ) ( hissing ) l was trying to explore into the heavy elements.
Electron reversals.
That's negative matter.
(fizzing ) - l can 't! - Marshall - l can 't! lt won 't solve! - lt's there, l know.
lt's in you .
- There is an answer.
- Time! l need time! - l can 't force it! - Don 't force.
Don 't try.
That building is going to explode.
Thousands of megatons.
Temperatures that will turn metal to plasma.
lt'll crush us like that! Listen to me.
Take my hand, Marshall, please.
Mm Collins and Konig were working on an isotope in the furnace.
Give me those readings.
Lambda series, berkelium 245.
Fermium 252.
Yeah.
Caesium 1 37.
Radioactive isotope beta emitting.
l was working with the barium.
Laurel, l l thought my figures were wrong.
Maybe not.
According to this, that substance is far above critical mass.
lt ought to have started a chain reaction .
Why didn 't it? lt's being controlled.
Those fields have some way of holding it back.
Then they are some form of life.
lntelligence.
Life.
But like nothing on Earth.
Nor in the universe, for that matter.
The fission process is active.
The atoms are splitting.
That's why the plant is radioactive.
But instead of exploding, becoming energy .
.
the splitting process is like a billion tiny cracks in a wall.
The particles are emerging and they're forcing their way in from an entirely new dimension .
What are you going to do? Reverse the pr ocess ow ? The particles are created out of fission , the splitting of nuclei.
lf l can set up a fusion reaction , compressing atoms inward, it ought to seal off the process.
You can 't go in there.
You will burn up.
There's a radiation suit in the cyclotron chamber.
lt has reinforced shielding.
- Follow me on the circuit.
- Marshall lt's better than running.
(door opens and closes) (fizzing ) Laurel can you hear me? - Laurel? - Yes, Marshall, l can hear you .
Keep contact as ong as yo u ca n The static will probably wipe me out when l get to the building.
Marshall, l'll stay with you .
- l'm going out.
- Marshall.
Marshall.
l want you to know l'm with you with all my soul.
Laurel, l'm going into the material vaults.
The hydrogen distillate canisters are there.
- ls there anything l can do? - Keep talking to me.
Marshall, whatever happens, we'll be together.
(blasting ) ( hissing ) (fizzing ) (clicking ) (blasting ) Laurel, they're coming.
Marshall! Marshall, l can 't hear you ! ( hissing ) (rumbling ) (wind howls) Marshall! (thunderclap ) Laurel, help me.
- Yes, Marshall.
Where are you? -Near the car.
- l can 't move.
- Marshall, l'm coming out.
Hurry.
l've set a hydrogen .
.
thermonuclear component.
(fizzing ) (wind howls) Marshall! Marshall! Marshall! Marshall! Marshall! Try to start the car.
We're on ground zero.
Hurry! (tyres screech ) (pulsating hum ) How wide is ground zero? Over a mile.
But we have to find shelter.
Stop at the desert station .
There's a concrete bunker for observing nuclear shots.
(gurgling fizzing ) (pulsating ) (blasting ) Don 't look directly at it.
lt destroys the retina.
Will there be a shock? More like a windstorm.
There's no telling the effect of fission on negative matter.
- What about fallout? - l don 't think so.
lt won 't be an explosion bursting outwards.
lt'll implode, like a vacuum compressing inwards.
lf l'm right, if there is another dimension involved, then there may be time-reversal effects.
- How long was it timed for? - lt's set to go off now.
(rumbling ) Look out! The shower! (winds howl) (sudden silence ) Laurel, it's over.
Broadridge crushed in .
Particles gone.
We're going to live.
( man ) As Man explores the secrets of the universe, strange and inscrutable powers await him.
And whether these powers are to become forces of destruction or of construction will ultimately depend upon simple but profound human qualities.
lnspiration .
lntegrity.
Courage.
[ Skipped item nr.
408 .]
until next week at this same time when the control voice will take you to .
.
The Outer Limits.