The Outer Limits (1963) s02e10 Episode Script
The Inheritors (1)
( man) ln the troubled places of the world the devil's hunter finds rare game.
For man -made savagery is only the instrument for a secret terror stirring from its dark place of ambush.
Four square to Muncey.
Four square to Muncey.
Come in , Muncey.
(indistinct communication) Triangulate from S-92.
S-92.
(indistinct communication) Yeah, save some for me.
Out.
(gunfire continues) ( machine gun firing) (surgeon) Why isn 't he dead? flown half-way around the world A slow brain -wave pattern is developing.
(surgeon) What we're attempting to remove is embedded in the cerebrum.
( EEG humming) (surgeon) There it is.
Another brain -wave pattern .
Another brain , Mr Ballard.
An alien brain .
There are two brains in the Lieutenant's head now.
( man) There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission .
For the next hour, we will control all you see and hear.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to The Outer Limits.
- Good morning, Adam.
- Good morning, sir.
Puzzling, isn 't it? l put it together in a hurry.
- You been keeping secrets from me? - You've been busy on the Hill, Mr Secretary.
l've prepared a presentation .
- lmportant? - Yes, sir, l think so.
And puzzling.
l'll let you see for yourself.
- Ready? - Fire away.
( Adam) This is Lieutenant Phillip J.
Minns, brought back from the front with a bullet in his brain .
He was operated on 72 hours ago.
He's still in coma.
He's doing fine according to the medics.
That's his encephalograph.
wo pr a n waves? Two brains, sir.
Bear with me.
l want to present this to you in sequence.
The first such case, exactly like the Lieutenant.
Wounded with a bullet in the head.
Should have died and didn 't Sergeant James Conover.
He was flown here to Washington last February 1 3 for surgery from the same war front.
That's his dual brain wave pattern .
Next, Private First Class Francis Hadley.
February 26.
Same bit.
Everything the same.
April 1 0, a month ago.
Private Robert Renaldo.
lnteresting, isn 't it? Yes.
But that's only the beginning.
Now, see the thin , weaker wave pattern in each? Yes.
Those are the individual's own brain waves.
Watch when we take them away.
Those are the strangers, the alien patterns.
lf we superimpose one on top of the other .
.
we come up with one.
Just one pattern .
Just one alien brain .
What is it, Adam? Some kind of freak? No, sir, it's not a freak.
And it's more than just a coincidence.
These four men are medical miracles.
They had bullets in their brains, should have died and didn 't.
And when the bullets were removed, another brain , an intelligence, got in and took over.
And l mean intelligence.
Three of these men developed lQs over 200.
Over 200.
Yes, sir.
Above genius level.
- What have they been doing? - l don 't know.
- Where are they now? - Gone.
They just up and went.
No precautions were taken with Hadley and Conover.
There wasn 't any need to.
But precautions were taken with Renaldo, for all the good it did.
When he wanted out, he just walked.
l can 't find out why the hospital guards didn 't stop him.
- Violence? -No, sir.
When was th s? N no days ago One point of similarity: Each man had a bullet in his brain tissue.
( Secretary) l see a small, four-pointed star at the base.
Stamped on , apparently.
Hand-stamped.
lt's on all of them.
l did what you would have done.
l had them analysed.
- We'll have to go to the metallurgical lab.
- Why? What do you think these stars mean ? Oh, probably just the place of manufacture.
l've already made inquiries about that.
The main thing is the bullets themselves.
The structure of the metal.
(faint buzzing) ( Adam) Cross-section of the molecular structure of those bullets enlarged 1 00,000 times.
You see the honeycomb effect? ( Secretary) Yes.
- What is it? - We don 't know.
We thought it was air bubbles, didn 't we, Professor Whitsett? - ( Whitsett) But they're too symmetrical.
- l thought it was a smelting process.
There's been a lot of it.
Backyard puddling furnaces to help the war effort.
But it couldn 't make that kind of pattern .
That's not like anything l've ever seen .
lf l had a sample of the ore this metal was refined from ls it a rare metal? No, it's just lead and iron .
lt's the structure of the molecules, Mr Branch.
The pattern .
The honeycomb symmetry.
Looks like the shells of something, doesn 't it? As though there was something in there at one time and now it's gone.
As though it leaked out.
The honey of the comb.
- ls that all of it? - Yes, sir.
Don 't you think all this may have an innocent explanation , Adam? No, sir.
l don 't.
l am not against further inquiry on a scientific level.
What have you got in mind? The Federal Bureau of Security can help us find the missing men .
Without publicity.
And precautionary guards, lots of them, should be placed on Lieutenant Minns.
- He'll be recuperating for a few weeks.
- What else? The other problem.
What Professor Whitsett needs.
The ore from which those bullets are made.
You seem ready to go around the world to find it.
Yes, sir.
l don 't know that we're dealing with enemies, but l have to assume the worst.
- Good afternoon , Mr Ballard.
- Lieutenant Minns, how are you? l feel fine.
- 1 1 days after surgery? - Yes.
- Remarkable, isn 't it? - Yes.
But then the whole thing has been remarkable.
Yes, it has.
l'm a lucky man .
l'm also grateful.
l know my body's recuperating from a terrible shock and yet l have this wonderful sense of physical well-being.
Maybe that goes with the rising lQ.
(chuckling) lunderstand my lQ is going up and that's funny because l don 't feel smarter.
No? No new special interest? Like the others? Biochemistry.
Metallurgy.
Physics No.
Not at all, Mr Ballard.
My lQ seems destined to be wasted.
- You seem interested in the others.
- Why should l be? Well, not particularly.
- But l am curious about you .
- Why? What do you want to know about me? What you suspect about me, Mr Ballard.
You're trying to make some connection between those three men and me.
Yes, l am.
But why do you think l suspect anything? Why all the precautions, Mr Ballard? Why all the guards? Why this kind of subtle probing? What are you gonna do when you get out? l really haven 't thought about it.
l'm pretty happy right here.
Good food.
Fine medical attention .
Pretty nurses.
- Anybody waiting for you? - You must have checked my records.
l have no family.
- They wouldn 't show a girl.
- Oh.
No.
Nobody waiting for me.
None of those other men have any ties either.
Link after link.
So many things in common .
There's got to be a reason .
ls that it, Mr Ballard? No clue, Lieutenant? No inkling what it may be? Something alien in your head? Something guiding you? Pointing you? Directing you? No.
What are you reading? Just something l found in the library.
ldle curiosity.
Morgan 's Theoretical Analysis of Comprehensive Finance Mr Ballard? Captain Newa, AlO.
- Delighted to meet you , Captain .
- This is the man we've been waiting for.
He's quartermaster for the guerrilla supply depot, pressed into sniper duty.
He's been most anxious to please.
( laughs) He cannot speak English.
He knows where those bullets were made? Yes.
And was there a concentration of backyard puddling furnaces? He comes from such a district himself.
- How many districts are there, Captain ? - 40, 50.
Maybe 60.
Then the ore we're looking for could come from anywhere.
The same thought occurred to me, Mr Ballard.
But when l questioned the prisoner, he explained that this was not so.
The ore used by all the districts came from the same place.
- From ''the great fire in the sky''.
- Where is that? What kind of place is that? - lt's in the Hoy-Tong Province.
- ls it far? Not very Let's get going.
l'm here for a sample of that ore.
Mr Ballard! l thought it was clear when l explained to you that it was in the Hoy-Tong Province.
- That's behind enemy lines.
- Well, l can 't ask you to come along.
- But if you'll give me instructions - You cannot go.
l've come a long way to let a few more miles stop me.
You cannot go, sir.
Even if l consented to allow you , it'd be suicide.
This theatre of war is totally unlike any other you've ever known before.
Why, you'd be Even l You're determined.
Shall we go? (gunfire) lt's rugged.
- How far now? - Close.
Are we in Hoy-Tong Province? lt's just a matter of remembering the place now.
(gunshot Thanks.
Very sneaky, these Northerners.
This way, l think.
lt's a crater.
This is the place.
The place of ''the great fire in the sky''.
Captain ! Sure it was.
lt was a meteor.
Yes, of course.
l thought you understood.
l remember it when l was very young.
Not much left of it now.
lt's enough.
( Whitsett) There is some substance in these pockets, or .
.
what do we call them? Honeycombs? At 200,000 diameters, there is some loss of resolution .
The honeycomb effect is not familiar.
The matter inside is not familiar either, and yet there is something familiar about the whole of it.
l can recognise, in considerably altered form, the RNA factor.
The basic ingredient in the genes and chromosomes which contain and transmit hereditary characteristics.
What exactly does that mean in this case? For those dual wave patterns, well ( Whitsett 's voice) .
.
l'd say these particles probably affect mentality and intelligence.
What other healing or life-giving factors they may contain , or compulsions, or tendencies, or capabilities, l don 't know.
But l would say, based on the lQs l saw, that those men may achieve intelligence, knowledge and capacities far beyond anything mankind has ever known .
Now, Lieutenant Minns, you know you're not supposed to (electronic buzzing) We don 't want to disturb anybody.
- Would you help me with this, please? - Of course.
Thank you .
- Would you get my blouse, please? - Of course.
( knocking) The guard.
Let him in .
- Everything all right? - Yes, of course.
Hold on , Lieutenant.
We've got orders not (electronic buzzing) ls there anything l can do? There are a dozen of you between here and the gate.
And l just don 't want to cause a disturbance when l leave.
Would you , please? l had 30 men in and around that hospital.
Not one of them can give me any information at all.
No one even remembers seeing Lieutenant Minns.
And he must have gone right by at least 1 2 guards.
- The nurse? The guards? - They can 't tell us a thing.
A patient ''believes'' he saw a uniformed man walking down the hall with a guard.
A visitor ''thinks'' he caught a glimpse of him.
That's it.
lt's probably hypnosis.
There's no telling what that brain is capable of doing.
(sighs) Well, now he's gone.
That's a fact.
Whatever it is, it's started.
Now he's a part of it.
Well, Mr Branch, do you still think there's no connection between these four men ? No concerted effort? No plot? l've always understood your position , Adam.
The possibility is increased that there is a common design among those men .
l think now you ought to put full time in on it.
Assume this officer's full responsibility on the matter.
What are your plans? l'll add the Lieutenant to the others we're trying to find.
Still no publicity? How can we raise a hue and cry? What have they done? lt's what they're doing.
Lieutenant Minns could be anyplace by now.
On his way to Timbuktu , the Congo, or a cold water flat in London .
We don 't recommend commodity futures, Lieutenant Minns.
They're speculative.
l know some brokers are high on them, but for a beginning investor - l've done a little studying.
- And now you want to take a little fling.
How much did you say, 500 dollars? What have you got in mind? l was thinking of buying 2,000 bushels of wheat.
You realise that in less time it would take me to write the order, you could be wiped out? Those commodity prices sometimes move like greased lightning, Lieutenant.
So l understand.
Well, l'll never be able to say you didn 't warn me, Mr Jessup.
Let's see.
- The price is 1 .
43 a bushel.
- lt's down seven cents from the opening.
lt's gone down the limit for four straight sessions now.
-Why do you think it won 't go down some more? - Why, it's pattern , Mr Jessup.
Sell it at 1 .
60, please.
Buy soybeans at 2.
30.
Use all of the money, Mr Jessup.
Sell corn ? And buy cotton .
lsn 't there something called pyramiding? A bit more than 21 ,000 dollars in your account.
That's pretty sensational for seven trading days.
Mr Jessup, l want you to buy me Average the cost at 1 4 cents.
A ''cat and dog'' mining stock.
Don 't you think it's speculative? - Have you heard anything? -No, Mr Jessup.
Just my own figures.
want to c ea r 2 75 a sha ro How could you help hearing? lt's all over the Street.
How a man who never owned stock before in his life, starting with 500 dollars You know, Ballard, l gave him a cashier's cheque Wednesday morning in the amount of 405,572 dollars and 1 5 cents.
lt restores your faith in the nation 's economy that such a thing is still possible.
That's him.
A nice guy.
A real nice guy.
Did he do anything wrong? l tell you , he never did anything wrong here.
- What do you want to know? - Ever see any of them? No.
PFC Francis Hadley, Private Robert Renaldo, Sergeant James Conover.
Never saw or heard of them.
Highland Bank and Trust Company drafts.
At Minns' request, 1 20,000 dollars was sent to the Swedish Exchange Bank in Stockholm to the account of James Conover.
A draft for 90,000 dollars to the Tokyo Guarantee Trust, account of Robert Renaldo.
And a draft for 1 88,000 dollars to the Kansas Bank of Wichita, account of Francis Hadley.
- Any address on the Lieutenant? -No.
But he wasn 't trying to hide anything.
According to the vice president of the bank, the Lieutenant was above board.
Everything he did.
Didn 't even try to change his name.
The VP was willing to bet that he was a completely trustworthy man .
He's a banker.
He shouldn 't gamble.
- Hello, Mr Larkin .
- What's that smell? Part of my experiments.
l didn 't realise it was so late.
Would you drop me off at the airport on your way back to town ? - l've got a plane to catch.
- Oh, Hadley l'm going out of the country.
Aren 't you interested in what happened at the bank? - That draft from New York came through.
- That's good.
Well, l don 't understand you , Hadley.
lt's for 1 88,000 dollars.
ls it? Well, this property only cost 1 40,000.
l imagine the rest of the money is for parts and equipment.
- And expenses.
- You know, you sure surprise me.
Seeing this didn 't exactly inspire me with confidence you could come up with 1 40,000.
Especially after that haggling over the 30 a month you've been paying for this room.
- What are you working on ? - Huh? Experimenting.
You've got people who believe in you .
Putting up that kind of money.
- What kind of experimenting? - Gas compounds.
Exotic herbs.
Air conduits.
Pressure atmospheres.
Well .
.
you are now the official owner of 45,000 square feet of the finest abandoned factory in Wichita County and .
.
homemade laboratory.
What is this? Anew kind of air conditioning? Air conditioning? ln a manner of speaking, l guess it is, Mr Larkin .
You fellas and your inventions.
You're sure close-mouthed.
l don 't suppose your backers would be interested in a little investment from me? - Hadley, could you put in a word? - Mr Larkin , you've got this all wrong.
l have no backers that l know of.
And this isn 't any invention , it's just some experimenting.
That's why l'm going on this trip.
l'm looking for a special herb.
Raracoalinsis lt's been reported along the Amazon in Brazil.
Mr Larkin .
Aren 't you supposed to sign those papers and give me a copy? Well, ordinarily, yes.
But .
.
l've had some second thoughts.
This property is worth more than you're paying.
- That's the price you asked.
- l said l've had second thoughts.
- l want 200,000 dollars.
- You're reneging on the deal.
But you got the other money easily.
You can get this.
No.
l have no time now.
l've got a plane to catch.
l can wait.
Mr Larkin .
l have no time to argue.
l want you to sign those papers.
You want? Now, don 't threaten me, Hadley.
l know this younger generation .
No respect for the rights of the individual.
- l carry this with me all the time.
- Mr Larkin .
The only way that you can use that gun .
.
is on yourself.
(electronic buzzing) But you have a choice, Mr Larkin .
You can sign the papers, or you can pull the trigger.
- l'll sign .
- Thank you .
Why don 't you lower the gun ? Please, can 't you hurry, Mr Larkin ? l wouldn 't want to miss my plane.
Let's take a look at his laboratory.
lt's over there.
lf l thought he was doing anything against the law, l wouldn 't have let him have the room.
We don 't know he's done anything against the law.
Don 't jump to conclusions.
You've told us everything you know, Mr Larkin .
Would you excuse us? Sure.
Sure.
What you'd expect from a biochemist, isn 't it, Adam? Yes.
These look like air ducts of some kind.
Looks like he's experimenting with air or gas.
lnert gases.
Doesn 't look like he's running out on this.
He's expecting to come back.
Yes.
Want me to go to Stockholm with you? (sighs) No.
l think you should concentrate on Minns.
l think he's a leader of this thing.
A coordinator.
- l think he's left New York for parts unknown .
- l agree.
Which makes finding him a choice assignment.
Well, aren 't you worried? Am l fighting a lone battle with this thing? Don 't you understand, they could be a terrible threat? That's Hadley.
Well, l don 't know him.
Him either.
lnever saw him.
(fog horn sounding) Looks like a vehicle of some sort.
A room here, two rooms or areas.
(sighs) l don 't understand some of the designations.
Did Conover design it? ( Swedish accent When he first came to me, l thought he was jokester.
ln 32 years of steel making, l have never seen anything like them.
lmpractical things? l told him flatly, impossible things.
Then he showed me how to make them.
Oh He knows things nobody ever dreamed of.
(faint sound of fog horn) AQUERRlN STEEL - Very light.
- lt's an alloy, Mr Ballard.
First, of three elements which don 't unite.
But which he did unite.
Second, of specific weights which totalled more than this finished product.
What's that? He took three weights of metal and put them together.
And it weighed less than one tenth than their combined weights.
Do you want to hear the third incredible thing? Go on .
What you hold in your hand has two parts, not one.
Can you see the place of joining? - Here.
- Mm-hm.
That is most amazing to me.
No rivets, no welding.
Those parts are polarised together.
They fit as perfectly as if they were one piece.
And that piece is stronger than the strongest commercial alloy made.
And lighter than the lightest magnesium alloy.
And more heat and cold resistant than any metal known .
You're making them for Conover? Ja ja We are fabricating them.
They are tremendously costly.
( laughs) But the money doesn 't seem to bother him.
He's a brilliant man , Mr Ballard.
- And a sad one.
- Sad? l like him.
l like him for the kind of man he is.
lnside, Mr Ballard.
A troubled man .
Troubled by what he's doing.
But when l ask him to explain what he's about he could not tell me.
Could not? Could not.
lt was as though - As though - As though what? The devil had him under this thumb! (thud) And he had no chance to get out of To be his own man .
Excuse me.
l - l don 't think l'm expressing myself well.
- You're doing fine.
He is late.
He is always here at half past eight in the morning.
- He hasn 't missed a morning since he came.
- Except today.
Did he know you were anxious to see him? l don 't know how he could have known .
But yes, l think he did.
(church bells ringing) The father, the son , the holy ghost.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sins from now to the hour of our death.
Amen .
l should be grateful l'm alive.
l was at death's door.
l looked death in the face.
ls it your will? This .
.
this thing inside my head, it .
.
creates new and wonderful images.
lt makes me do things of such beauty.
lt can 't be bad.
No, it's not bad, it's good.
lt is good .
.
isn 't it, God? (faint knocking) ( louder knocking) ( knocking continues) Well Mr Ballard.
Hello, Renaldo.
- lt's been a while.
- Yeah.
You've been here all the time? Yeah, practically.
Sit down , Mr Ballard.
Sit down .
For a guy with a big brain like mine, l got a lot of respect for you .
Have a drink.
No.
Something wrong, Renaldo? No.
What could be wrong? l'm celebrating.
l just finished my mission Whatever that is.
- Three guesses.
What is it? - Some kind of motive device.
( laughs) Hey.
Well, wasn 't l right? Don 't l know my lQs? You couldn 't tell just by looking, Mr Ballard.
- How did you know? - l guessed.
(scoffs) You did? Hadley's experimenting with a system of air conditioning, Conover with vehicle design and metallurgy.
Obviously, whatever is being planned needs a motor.
And l'm the last one with this gift up here.
- The next to last.
What is it? - Who's the last? You don 't know? Lieutenant Phillip Minns.
- He's the one that sent me the money? - Yes.
And that's how you found me? Not that l was hiding.
Want to show me what it does? Like everything connected with this thing, if you need to know, suddenly you learn .
lf you need money, suddenly you get money! Anything.
Anything to finish the job, the the project! Nothing can stop it.
But if you want to get it off your back lf you want to walk out on it Oh, no.
You can 't do that.
You're hooked.
The monkey's got you .
You do what's inside your head! No matter how your insides are busting.
Look, Renaldo (shouting) Look, why don 't you take a drink! Watch this, Ballard.
This is motor power like nothing you've ever seen ! No fuel.
No moving parts.
(buzzing) (electronic humming) You understand, Ballard? l beat gravity.
The pull of the Earth.
You understand that, Ballard? You can stop fighting.
We're going home.
We're gonna to put an end to this project.
- What did you say, Mr Ballard? - We're gonna put an end to this project.
(electronic humming) l don 't know what happened.
l was talking to Renaldo in Tokyo, last thing l remember.
Now l'm in lndianapolis, at the Memorial Day Race.
l've lost more than two weeks.
We've been frantic.
We put out searches, but couldn 't find you .
l'll catch the next plane from Washington .
Let me sum it up, then .
ln Wichita, a chemical laboratory, an abandoned factory, and a biochemist experimenting with air components, gases and atmospheric conduits.
ls that right? And a missing biochemist.
Vanished up the Amazon , looking for a rare herb called Raracoalinsis .
ln Stockholm, a vehicular design in a metal lighter than wood and stronger than steel.
And a missing metallurgist.
We have no lead on him.
l don 't believe he's in Sweden , nor in this country.
And in Tokyo, an anti-gravity device.
- ( Harris) And a missing physicist.
- Does it seem obvious what's going on ? Each man working independently under the compulsion of that intruder brain .
Each man giving the appearance of not hiding, they use their own names, of being honest, above board, ethical, good men .
- l've heard that expression several times.
- Go on , Adam.
But each of them subservient to that monitor in his brain .
That intruder which instructs, coordinates, protects the project.
Whatever that project is.
l got the impression that these men hate what has happened to them.
Hate what they are doing even as they unwillingly do it.
Not just frightening.
lt's terrifying.
These men are tormented and unable to control themselves.
They'll be charming if they have to be, and vicious if they must, for whatever dark and evil purpose their efforts are leading them towards.
Lieutenant! Lieutenant! - How'd you know l'm a lieutenant, Johnny? - How'd you know l'm Johnny? - What can l do for you? - l wanna go with you .
Do you , Johnny? Do you know where l'm going? l don 't care.
Far away, Johnny.
On a starship.
Far away.
Don 't you want to take me? Yes, Johnny.
l want to take you .
(tyres screeching) That's it, Adam.
Second floor, apartment 17.
- ls Minns in there? -No, but it's his place.
We've got twelve men on this street and three cars from here to the corner, two on each side street and one opposite.
You wanna go inside? He'll be along anytime.
All set? ( man) Man looks up at the stars and dreams his futile dreams.
Child of the universe.
His toys are ignorance.
His games, fantasy.
Not even master of his own fate.
lt is the devil's puppeteer who stretches his fingers to answer the question : ''What will happen next?'' We now return control of your television set to you until next week at this same time when the control voice will take you to .
.
The Outer Limits.
For man -made savagery is only the instrument for a secret terror stirring from its dark place of ambush.
Four square to Muncey.
Four square to Muncey.
Come in , Muncey.
(indistinct communication) Triangulate from S-92.
S-92.
(indistinct communication) Yeah, save some for me.
Out.
(gunfire continues) ( machine gun firing) (surgeon) Why isn 't he dead? flown half-way around the world A slow brain -wave pattern is developing.
(surgeon) What we're attempting to remove is embedded in the cerebrum.
( EEG humming) (surgeon) There it is.
Another brain -wave pattern .
Another brain , Mr Ballard.
An alien brain .
There are two brains in the Lieutenant's head now.
( man) There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission .
For the next hour, we will control all you see and hear.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to The Outer Limits.
- Good morning, Adam.
- Good morning, sir.
Puzzling, isn 't it? l put it together in a hurry.
- You been keeping secrets from me? - You've been busy on the Hill, Mr Secretary.
l've prepared a presentation .
- lmportant? - Yes, sir, l think so.
And puzzling.
l'll let you see for yourself.
- Ready? - Fire away.
( Adam) This is Lieutenant Phillip J.
Minns, brought back from the front with a bullet in his brain .
He was operated on 72 hours ago.
He's still in coma.
He's doing fine according to the medics.
That's his encephalograph.
wo pr a n waves? Two brains, sir.
Bear with me.
l want to present this to you in sequence.
The first such case, exactly like the Lieutenant.
Wounded with a bullet in the head.
Should have died and didn 't Sergeant James Conover.
He was flown here to Washington last February 1 3 for surgery from the same war front.
That's his dual brain wave pattern .
Next, Private First Class Francis Hadley.
February 26.
Same bit.
Everything the same.
April 1 0, a month ago.
Private Robert Renaldo.
lnteresting, isn 't it? Yes.
But that's only the beginning.
Now, see the thin , weaker wave pattern in each? Yes.
Those are the individual's own brain waves.
Watch when we take them away.
Those are the strangers, the alien patterns.
lf we superimpose one on top of the other .
.
we come up with one.
Just one pattern .
Just one alien brain .
What is it, Adam? Some kind of freak? No, sir, it's not a freak.
And it's more than just a coincidence.
These four men are medical miracles.
They had bullets in their brains, should have died and didn 't.
And when the bullets were removed, another brain , an intelligence, got in and took over.
And l mean intelligence.
Three of these men developed lQs over 200.
Over 200.
Yes, sir.
Above genius level.
- What have they been doing? - l don 't know.
- Where are they now? - Gone.
They just up and went.
No precautions were taken with Hadley and Conover.
There wasn 't any need to.
But precautions were taken with Renaldo, for all the good it did.
When he wanted out, he just walked.
l can 't find out why the hospital guards didn 't stop him.
- Violence? -No, sir.
When was th s? N no days ago One point of similarity: Each man had a bullet in his brain tissue.
( Secretary) l see a small, four-pointed star at the base.
Stamped on , apparently.
Hand-stamped.
lt's on all of them.
l did what you would have done.
l had them analysed.
- We'll have to go to the metallurgical lab.
- Why? What do you think these stars mean ? Oh, probably just the place of manufacture.
l've already made inquiries about that.
The main thing is the bullets themselves.
The structure of the metal.
(faint buzzing) ( Adam) Cross-section of the molecular structure of those bullets enlarged 1 00,000 times.
You see the honeycomb effect? ( Secretary) Yes.
- What is it? - We don 't know.
We thought it was air bubbles, didn 't we, Professor Whitsett? - ( Whitsett) But they're too symmetrical.
- l thought it was a smelting process.
There's been a lot of it.
Backyard puddling furnaces to help the war effort.
But it couldn 't make that kind of pattern .
That's not like anything l've ever seen .
lf l had a sample of the ore this metal was refined from ls it a rare metal? No, it's just lead and iron .
lt's the structure of the molecules, Mr Branch.
The pattern .
The honeycomb symmetry.
Looks like the shells of something, doesn 't it? As though there was something in there at one time and now it's gone.
As though it leaked out.
The honey of the comb.
- ls that all of it? - Yes, sir.
Don 't you think all this may have an innocent explanation , Adam? No, sir.
l don 't.
l am not against further inquiry on a scientific level.
What have you got in mind? The Federal Bureau of Security can help us find the missing men .
Without publicity.
And precautionary guards, lots of them, should be placed on Lieutenant Minns.
- He'll be recuperating for a few weeks.
- What else? The other problem.
What Professor Whitsett needs.
The ore from which those bullets are made.
You seem ready to go around the world to find it.
Yes, sir.
l don 't know that we're dealing with enemies, but l have to assume the worst.
- Good afternoon , Mr Ballard.
- Lieutenant Minns, how are you? l feel fine.
- 1 1 days after surgery? - Yes.
- Remarkable, isn 't it? - Yes.
But then the whole thing has been remarkable.
Yes, it has.
l'm a lucky man .
l'm also grateful.
l know my body's recuperating from a terrible shock and yet l have this wonderful sense of physical well-being.
Maybe that goes with the rising lQ.
(chuckling) lunderstand my lQ is going up and that's funny because l don 't feel smarter.
No? No new special interest? Like the others? Biochemistry.
Metallurgy.
Physics No.
Not at all, Mr Ballard.
My lQ seems destined to be wasted.
- You seem interested in the others.
- Why should l be? Well, not particularly.
- But l am curious about you .
- Why? What do you want to know about me? What you suspect about me, Mr Ballard.
You're trying to make some connection between those three men and me.
Yes, l am.
But why do you think l suspect anything? Why all the precautions, Mr Ballard? Why all the guards? Why this kind of subtle probing? What are you gonna do when you get out? l really haven 't thought about it.
l'm pretty happy right here.
Good food.
Fine medical attention .
Pretty nurses.
- Anybody waiting for you? - You must have checked my records.
l have no family.
- They wouldn 't show a girl.
- Oh.
No.
Nobody waiting for me.
None of those other men have any ties either.
Link after link.
So many things in common .
There's got to be a reason .
ls that it, Mr Ballard? No clue, Lieutenant? No inkling what it may be? Something alien in your head? Something guiding you? Pointing you? Directing you? No.
What are you reading? Just something l found in the library.
ldle curiosity.
Morgan 's Theoretical Analysis of Comprehensive Finance Mr Ballard? Captain Newa, AlO.
- Delighted to meet you , Captain .
- This is the man we've been waiting for.
He's quartermaster for the guerrilla supply depot, pressed into sniper duty.
He's been most anxious to please.
( laughs) He cannot speak English.
He knows where those bullets were made? Yes.
And was there a concentration of backyard puddling furnaces? He comes from such a district himself.
- How many districts are there, Captain ? - 40, 50.
Maybe 60.
Then the ore we're looking for could come from anywhere.
The same thought occurred to me, Mr Ballard.
But when l questioned the prisoner, he explained that this was not so.
The ore used by all the districts came from the same place.
- From ''the great fire in the sky''.
- Where is that? What kind of place is that? - lt's in the Hoy-Tong Province.
- ls it far? Not very Let's get going.
l'm here for a sample of that ore.
Mr Ballard! l thought it was clear when l explained to you that it was in the Hoy-Tong Province.
- That's behind enemy lines.
- Well, l can 't ask you to come along.
- But if you'll give me instructions - You cannot go.
l've come a long way to let a few more miles stop me.
You cannot go, sir.
Even if l consented to allow you , it'd be suicide.
This theatre of war is totally unlike any other you've ever known before.
Why, you'd be Even l You're determined.
Shall we go? (gunfire) lt's rugged.
- How far now? - Close.
Are we in Hoy-Tong Province? lt's just a matter of remembering the place now.
(gunshot Thanks.
Very sneaky, these Northerners.
This way, l think.
lt's a crater.
This is the place.
The place of ''the great fire in the sky''.
Captain ! Sure it was.
lt was a meteor.
Yes, of course.
l thought you understood.
l remember it when l was very young.
Not much left of it now.
lt's enough.
( Whitsett) There is some substance in these pockets, or .
.
what do we call them? Honeycombs? At 200,000 diameters, there is some loss of resolution .
The honeycomb effect is not familiar.
The matter inside is not familiar either, and yet there is something familiar about the whole of it.
l can recognise, in considerably altered form, the RNA factor.
The basic ingredient in the genes and chromosomes which contain and transmit hereditary characteristics.
What exactly does that mean in this case? For those dual wave patterns, well ( Whitsett 's voice) .
.
l'd say these particles probably affect mentality and intelligence.
What other healing or life-giving factors they may contain , or compulsions, or tendencies, or capabilities, l don 't know.
But l would say, based on the lQs l saw, that those men may achieve intelligence, knowledge and capacities far beyond anything mankind has ever known .
Now, Lieutenant Minns, you know you're not supposed to (electronic buzzing) We don 't want to disturb anybody.
- Would you help me with this, please? - Of course.
Thank you .
- Would you get my blouse, please? - Of course.
( knocking) The guard.
Let him in .
- Everything all right? - Yes, of course.
Hold on , Lieutenant.
We've got orders not (electronic buzzing) ls there anything l can do? There are a dozen of you between here and the gate.
And l just don 't want to cause a disturbance when l leave.
Would you , please? l had 30 men in and around that hospital.
Not one of them can give me any information at all.
No one even remembers seeing Lieutenant Minns.
And he must have gone right by at least 1 2 guards.
- The nurse? The guards? - They can 't tell us a thing.
A patient ''believes'' he saw a uniformed man walking down the hall with a guard.
A visitor ''thinks'' he caught a glimpse of him.
That's it.
lt's probably hypnosis.
There's no telling what that brain is capable of doing.
(sighs) Well, now he's gone.
That's a fact.
Whatever it is, it's started.
Now he's a part of it.
Well, Mr Branch, do you still think there's no connection between these four men ? No concerted effort? No plot? l've always understood your position , Adam.
The possibility is increased that there is a common design among those men .
l think now you ought to put full time in on it.
Assume this officer's full responsibility on the matter.
What are your plans? l'll add the Lieutenant to the others we're trying to find.
Still no publicity? How can we raise a hue and cry? What have they done? lt's what they're doing.
Lieutenant Minns could be anyplace by now.
On his way to Timbuktu , the Congo, or a cold water flat in London .
We don 't recommend commodity futures, Lieutenant Minns.
They're speculative.
l know some brokers are high on them, but for a beginning investor - l've done a little studying.
- And now you want to take a little fling.
How much did you say, 500 dollars? What have you got in mind? l was thinking of buying 2,000 bushels of wheat.
You realise that in less time it would take me to write the order, you could be wiped out? Those commodity prices sometimes move like greased lightning, Lieutenant.
So l understand.
Well, l'll never be able to say you didn 't warn me, Mr Jessup.
Let's see.
- The price is 1 .
43 a bushel.
- lt's down seven cents from the opening.
lt's gone down the limit for four straight sessions now.
-Why do you think it won 't go down some more? - Why, it's pattern , Mr Jessup.
Sell it at 1 .
60, please.
Buy soybeans at 2.
30.
Use all of the money, Mr Jessup.
Sell corn ? And buy cotton .
lsn 't there something called pyramiding? A bit more than 21 ,000 dollars in your account.
That's pretty sensational for seven trading days.
Mr Jessup, l want you to buy me Average the cost at 1 4 cents.
A ''cat and dog'' mining stock.
Don 't you think it's speculative? - Have you heard anything? -No, Mr Jessup.
Just my own figures.
want to c ea r 2 75 a sha ro How could you help hearing? lt's all over the Street.
How a man who never owned stock before in his life, starting with 500 dollars You know, Ballard, l gave him a cashier's cheque Wednesday morning in the amount of 405,572 dollars and 1 5 cents.
lt restores your faith in the nation 's economy that such a thing is still possible.
That's him.
A nice guy.
A real nice guy.
Did he do anything wrong? l tell you , he never did anything wrong here.
- What do you want to know? - Ever see any of them? No.
PFC Francis Hadley, Private Robert Renaldo, Sergeant James Conover.
Never saw or heard of them.
Highland Bank and Trust Company drafts.
At Minns' request, 1 20,000 dollars was sent to the Swedish Exchange Bank in Stockholm to the account of James Conover.
A draft for 90,000 dollars to the Tokyo Guarantee Trust, account of Robert Renaldo.
And a draft for 1 88,000 dollars to the Kansas Bank of Wichita, account of Francis Hadley.
- Any address on the Lieutenant? -No.
But he wasn 't trying to hide anything.
According to the vice president of the bank, the Lieutenant was above board.
Everything he did.
Didn 't even try to change his name.
The VP was willing to bet that he was a completely trustworthy man .
He's a banker.
He shouldn 't gamble.
- Hello, Mr Larkin .
- What's that smell? Part of my experiments.
l didn 't realise it was so late.
Would you drop me off at the airport on your way back to town ? - l've got a plane to catch.
- Oh, Hadley l'm going out of the country.
Aren 't you interested in what happened at the bank? - That draft from New York came through.
- That's good.
Well, l don 't understand you , Hadley.
lt's for 1 88,000 dollars.
ls it? Well, this property only cost 1 40,000.
l imagine the rest of the money is for parts and equipment.
- And expenses.
- You know, you sure surprise me.
Seeing this didn 't exactly inspire me with confidence you could come up with 1 40,000.
Especially after that haggling over the 30 a month you've been paying for this room.
- What are you working on ? - Huh? Experimenting.
You've got people who believe in you .
Putting up that kind of money.
- What kind of experimenting? - Gas compounds.
Exotic herbs.
Air conduits.
Pressure atmospheres.
Well .
.
you are now the official owner of 45,000 square feet of the finest abandoned factory in Wichita County and .
.
homemade laboratory.
What is this? Anew kind of air conditioning? Air conditioning? ln a manner of speaking, l guess it is, Mr Larkin .
You fellas and your inventions.
You're sure close-mouthed.
l don 't suppose your backers would be interested in a little investment from me? - Hadley, could you put in a word? - Mr Larkin , you've got this all wrong.
l have no backers that l know of.
And this isn 't any invention , it's just some experimenting.
That's why l'm going on this trip.
l'm looking for a special herb.
Raracoalinsis lt's been reported along the Amazon in Brazil.
Mr Larkin .
Aren 't you supposed to sign those papers and give me a copy? Well, ordinarily, yes.
But .
.
l've had some second thoughts.
This property is worth more than you're paying.
- That's the price you asked.
- l said l've had second thoughts.
- l want 200,000 dollars.
- You're reneging on the deal.
But you got the other money easily.
You can get this.
No.
l have no time now.
l've got a plane to catch.
l can wait.
Mr Larkin .
l have no time to argue.
l want you to sign those papers.
You want? Now, don 't threaten me, Hadley.
l know this younger generation .
No respect for the rights of the individual.
- l carry this with me all the time.
- Mr Larkin .
The only way that you can use that gun .
.
is on yourself.
(electronic buzzing) But you have a choice, Mr Larkin .
You can sign the papers, or you can pull the trigger.
- l'll sign .
- Thank you .
Why don 't you lower the gun ? Please, can 't you hurry, Mr Larkin ? l wouldn 't want to miss my plane.
Let's take a look at his laboratory.
lt's over there.
lf l thought he was doing anything against the law, l wouldn 't have let him have the room.
We don 't know he's done anything against the law.
Don 't jump to conclusions.
You've told us everything you know, Mr Larkin .
Would you excuse us? Sure.
Sure.
What you'd expect from a biochemist, isn 't it, Adam? Yes.
These look like air ducts of some kind.
Looks like he's experimenting with air or gas.
lnert gases.
Doesn 't look like he's running out on this.
He's expecting to come back.
Yes.
Want me to go to Stockholm with you? (sighs) No.
l think you should concentrate on Minns.
l think he's a leader of this thing.
A coordinator.
- l think he's left New York for parts unknown .
- l agree.
Which makes finding him a choice assignment.
Well, aren 't you worried? Am l fighting a lone battle with this thing? Don 't you understand, they could be a terrible threat? That's Hadley.
Well, l don 't know him.
Him either.
lnever saw him.
(fog horn sounding) Looks like a vehicle of some sort.
A room here, two rooms or areas.
(sighs) l don 't understand some of the designations.
Did Conover design it? ( Swedish accent When he first came to me, l thought he was jokester.
ln 32 years of steel making, l have never seen anything like them.
lmpractical things? l told him flatly, impossible things.
Then he showed me how to make them.
Oh He knows things nobody ever dreamed of.
(faint sound of fog horn) AQUERRlN STEEL - Very light.
- lt's an alloy, Mr Ballard.
First, of three elements which don 't unite.
But which he did unite.
Second, of specific weights which totalled more than this finished product.
What's that? He took three weights of metal and put them together.
And it weighed less than one tenth than their combined weights.
Do you want to hear the third incredible thing? Go on .
What you hold in your hand has two parts, not one.
Can you see the place of joining? - Here.
- Mm-hm.
That is most amazing to me.
No rivets, no welding.
Those parts are polarised together.
They fit as perfectly as if they were one piece.
And that piece is stronger than the strongest commercial alloy made.
And lighter than the lightest magnesium alloy.
And more heat and cold resistant than any metal known .
You're making them for Conover? Ja ja We are fabricating them.
They are tremendously costly.
( laughs) But the money doesn 't seem to bother him.
He's a brilliant man , Mr Ballard.
- And a sad one.
- Sad? l like him.
l like him for the kind of man he is.
lnside, Mr Ballard.
A troubled man .
Troubled by what he's doing.
But when l ask him to explain what he's about he could not tell me.
Could not? Could not.
lt was as though - As though - As though what? The devil had him under this thumb! (thud) And he had no chance to get out of To be his own man .
Excuse me.
l - l don 't think l'm expressing myself well.
- You're doing fine.
He is late.
He is always here at half past eight in the morning.
- He hasn 't missed a morning since he came.
- Except today.
Did he know you were anxious to see him? l don 't know how he could have known .
But yes, l think he did.
(church bells ringing) The father, the son , the holy ghost.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sins from now to the hour of our death.
Amen .
l should be grateful l'm alive.
l was at death's door.
l looked death in the face.
ls it your will? This .
.
this thing inside my head, it .
.
creates new and wonderful images.
lt makes me do things of such beauty.
lt can 't be bad.
No, it's not bad, it's good.
lt is good .
.
isn 't it, God? (faint knocking) ( louder knocking) ( knocking continues) Well Mr Ballard.
Hello, Renaldo.
- lt's been a while.
- Yeah.
You've been here all the time? Yeah, practically.
Sit down , Mr Ballard.
Sit down .
For a guy with a big brain like mine, l got a lot of respect for you .
Have a drink.
No.
Something wrong, Renaldo? No.
What could be wrong? l'm celebrating.
l just finished my mission Whatever that is.
- Three guesses.
What is it? - Some kind of motive device.
( laughs) Hey.
Well, wasn 't l right? Don 't l know my lQs? You couldn 't tell just by looking, Mr Ballard.
- How did you know? - l guessed.
(scoffs) You did? Hadley's experimenting with a system of air conditioning, Conover with vehicle design and metallurgy.
Obviously, whatever is being planned needs a motor.
And l'm the last one with this gift up here.
- The next to last.
What is it? - Who's the last? You don 't know? Lieutenant Phillip Minns.
- He's the one that sent me the money? - Yes.
And that's how you found me? Not that l was hiding.
Want to show me what it does? Like everything connected with this thing, if you need to know, suddenly you learn .
lf you need money, suddenly you get money! Anything.
Anything to finish the job, the the project! Nothing can stop it.
But if you want to get it off your back lf you want to walk out on it Oh, no.
You can 't do that.
You're hooked.
The monkey's got you .
You do what's inside your head! No matter how your insides are busting.
Look, Renaldo (shouting) Look, why don 't you take a drink! Watch this, Ballard.
This is motor power like nothing you've ever seen ! No fuel.
No moving parts.
(buzzing) (electronic humming) You understand, Ballard? l beat gravity.
The pull of the Earth.
You understand that, Ballard? You can stop fighting.
We're going home.
We're gonna to put an end to this project.
- What did you say, Mr Ballard? - We're gonna put an end to this project.
(electronic humming) l don 't know what happened.
l was talking to Renaldo in Tokyo, last thing l remember.
Now l'm in lndianapolis, at the Memorial Day Race.
l've lost more than two weeks.
We've been frantic.
We put out searches, but couldn 't find you .
l'll catch the next plane from Washington .
Let me sum it up, then .
ln Wichita, a chemical laboratory, an abandoned factory, and a biochemist experimenting with air components, gases and atmospheric conduits.
ls that right? And a missing biochemist.
Vanished up the Amazon , looking for a rare herb called Raracoalinsis .
ln Stockholm, a vehicular design in a metal lighter than wood and stronger than steel.
And a missing metallurgist.
We have no lead on him.
l don 't believe he's in Sweden , nor in this country.
And in Tokyo, an anti-gravity device.
- ( Harris) And a missing physicist.
- Does it seem obvious what's going on ? Each man working independently under the compulsion of that intruder brain .
Each man giving the appearance of not hiding, they use their own names, of being honest, above board, ethical, good men .
- l've heard that expression several times.
- Go on , Adam.
But each of them subservient to that monitor in his brain .
That intruder which instructs, coordinates, protects the project.
Whatever that project is.
l got the impression that these men hate what has happened to them.
Hate what they are doing even as they unwillingly do it.
Not just frightening.
lt's terrifying.
These men are tormented and unable to control themselves.
They'll be charming if they have to be, and vicious if they must, for whatever dark and evil purpose their efforts are leading them towards.
Lieutenant! Lieutenant! - How'd you know l'm a lieutenant, Johnny? - How'd you know l'm Johnny? - What can l do for you? - l wanna go with you .
Do you , Johnny? Do you know where l'm going? l don 't care.
Far away, Johnny.
On a starship.
Far away.
Don 't you want to take me? Yes, Johnny.
l want to take you .
(tyres screeching) That's it, Adam.
Second floor, apartment 17.
- ls Minns in there? -No, but it's his place.
We've got twelve men on this street and three cars from here to the corner, two on each side street and one opposite.
You wanna go inside? He'll be along anytime.
All set? ( man) Man looks up at the stars and dreams his futile dreams.
Child of the universe.
His toys are ignorance.
His games, fantasy.
Not even master of his own fate.
lt is the devil's puppeteer who stretches his fingers to answer the question : ''What will happen next?'' We now return control of your television set to you until next week at this same time when the control voice will take you to .
.
The Outer Limits.