Out of the Unknown (1965) s03e04 Episode Script
Beach Head
1 [theme music plays.]
[spaceship whirring.]
[Decker.]
There is little more I wish to add to what I have already said.
With one exception.
We are all veterans of this kind of exercise.
We know there are a million things about our universe that we don't understand, will never understand, but continue to fear.
However, let me remind you that this is my 37th mission, and in all previous 36 missions, there has been none.
No discovery, no phenomenon, that has not had a logical or a technological cause or explanation.
If there is one thing we still understand too imperfectly, it is ourselves.
ln this, as in all other missions, it is our personal, I repeat, personal intactness that matters most.
Now Iâve had a chance to look over your initial reports, and I think it's fair to say that we do not anticipate any special problems on this planet - 0243 stroke B.
Let us go about our work collecting and collating data in an orderly, direct manner, and get back as soon as we can.
I take it there are no further questions.
- No, sir.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
Sorry, ladies and gentlemen.
Dr.
Jackson, Iâd like you to come along with me.
- If you would please - Yes, Commandant.
[whirring.]
[organ music plays.]
[mechanical whirring, powering down.]
[Decker.]
I want you to have a look at this, Doctor.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Certainly, Commandant.
[Decker.]
Jungle worlds are mean.
Meaner than the others.
Would you like a drink, Doctor? - No thank you.
- You don't mind if I do? How long are we likely to be here? [Decker.]
Six days, six weeks, six months.
Depends on what we find, doesn't it, Dr.
Jackson? [Dr.
Jackson.]
And what are we likely to find? [Decker.]
A job.
Another report to file out.
Then they'll either send out an exploitation party or a pitiful gang of colonists.
Or nothing.
Nothing? [Decker.]
Yes, sometimes they file out reports and let them gather dust for a thousand years or more.
And we go on [Dr.
Jackson.]
You're never afraid, Commandant? Of what? - Of the unknown - Oh, God.
[Decker laughing.]
A romantic! Not just a woman.
Not just a novice on her first trip.
A romantic.
- Hardly.
- In love with the unknown.
Romance! Shades of the 20th century! That romantic, awful twentieth century.
- Commandant - Get a couple of dozen trips under your belt, Dr.
Jackson and you won't feel this way, I assure you [organ music plays.]
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I have been briefed, Commandant.
[Decker.]
Yes, Iâm sure you have.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
âThere is nothing, repeat nothing that can stop a planetary survey party.
â [Decker.]
You believe that? Or do you pretend to believe it? I believe what I have been taught, Commandant.
Iâm glad to hear it, Doctor.
There is something sardonic in your voice, I find irritating.
Iâm sorry, Commandant.
We are a very specialised unit, Dr.
Jackson.
Our job is to establish a beach head on an alien planet, to blast out the perimeter of that beach head against all comers, and to return intact.
Our experts are here to capture data and assemble it on tape.
Itâs a very dry job, Dr.
Jackson, very dry.
Hardly fodder for an adventurous romantic like yourself.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
And if there is life [Decker.]
It will be prodded for a reaction by our experts.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Yes, indeed.
[organ music plays.]
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Like clockwork.
[Decker.]
Yes, it takes a little time this way, but it saves space.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
When do we join them? ln good time, Dr.
Jackson.
ln good time The robots go first.
They unpack and set up six operators.
Then the whole gang uncrates the machinery and sets it up and starts it operating.
No man or woman sets foot on the ground until we have a protective steel ring around us.
We are not brave, Dr.
Jackson.
We do not take chances.
Never? [Decker.]
Itâs not part of our job.
But we must always be on guard against the unexpected.
Which is not the same thing as the unknown, Dr.
Jackson.
You follow? [Dr.
Jackson.]
If by the unexpected you mean something we are not equipped to handle [Decker.]
We are equipped to handle anything.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
All forms of planetary intelligence? There you'll have to ask our friend Mr.
Waldron.
No doubt he will know how to satisfy your curiosity.
You're here to look after us, Dr.
Jackson.
Of course.
Do you find alcohol a necessity, Commandant? [Decker.]
ln the absence of available sexual recreation, certainly.
Does that answer your question? ln the event of the 'unexpected' taking form, Commandant-- [Decker.]
ln that event we get the hell out of here.
I repeat.
Itâs no part of our job to fight heroic last ditch battles.
Not on this or any other planet.
Good day, Dr.
Jackson.
- I am dismissed? - For the moment, yes.
Itâs time to rest.
You must forgive me for my curiosity, Commandant.
You'll get over it in another 20 years or so.
We all do.
[roaring.]
[Le Maître.]
One thousand and seventy four millibars.
Oxygen count 23.
87 per cent in volume, 34.
21 per cent in weight Gravity point nought six below Earth Temperature at 07 15, 38.
6 degrees.
[MacDonald.]
Bloody hot [Le Maître.]
Nocturnal variations within limits of human tolerance Rotation, 36 hour day.
[Decker.]
Normal for jungle climate.
Normal [MacDonald.]
A breeze would help.
[Le Maître.]
The robots can take up to 150.
- [MacDonald.]
The robots can.
- [Decker.]
Radiation? [Tiosawa.]
None of local origin.
Some hard stuff getting through from Sun.
[Decker.]
Bacterial and virus count? Oh, uh This should interest you, Dr.
Jackson.
- Yes? - [Tiosawa.]
As anticipated.
Lots of it, but nothing dangerous.
[Decker.]
There you are.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing unknown.
Are you reassured, Doctor? - Should I be? - You tell me.
These preliminary analyses would appear to point to the possibility of life Life? My dear Dr.
Jackson, this planet is positively crawling with life.
Loathsome vicious stuff at that.
Crawling with it.
A million galaxies all crawling with life.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
It doesn't have to be dangerous.
I know that much.
[Decker.]
Do you? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Why are you trying to alarm me? [Decker.]
Me? Alarm a romantic like you? I wouldn't even want to try, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Does it make you feel better? [Decker.]
Iâve never felt better in my life, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Iâm glad to hear it.
Mind you, if some of this 'life' should happen to pick you for a host, and you're not equipped to fight it - We are equipped - Of course.
[MacDonald.]
The way he needles Dr.
Jackson [Waldron.]
Needles? [MacDonald.]
Don't tell me you haven't observed it? [Le Maître.]
I certainly have.
Perhaps he finds her disturbing in some way.
We've had women executives before this.
[Le Maître.]
Of course, but not as medical officers [Waldron.]
I cannot see the connection.
Not at all.
[Le Maître.]
Oh, come At least Waldron doesn't find her disturbing.
[Waldron.]
I find this conversation infantile and banal.
[Tiosawa.]
I agree.
Completely.
I did not intend any reflection on the Commandant's behaviour.
[Tiosawa.]
But of course not.
[Waldron.]
Indeed? [buzzing.]
Reporting, sir.
We are ready to land cruise.
Sure you are.
You're always ready.
The Legion always will be ready.
[Carr.]
Beg pardon, sir? Rigid discipline, eh, Carr? Ancient pride in the service, all that.
[Carr.]
Sir.
[Decker.]
Tin soldiers! Drilled and disciplined against all known alien viruses, trained and educated in alien psychology.
Do you hear that, Dr.
Jackson? Strictly indoctrinated with the highest survival characteristics - Flesh robots! - Sir! We shall not be ready for some time, Ensign.
The robots have just started uncrating the equipment.
Okay? I await your orders, sir.
- Ensign Carr.
- Sir? Iâve been wondering.
Just wondering, you understand.
Can you imagine any circumstances which might arise here that the Legion could not handle? Iâm afraid, sir.
I do not understand the Commandant's question.
[Decker.]
I didn't think you would Ensign.
Dismissed.
Are you learning, Dr.
Jackson? [buzzing.]
[Decker singing.]
Relax, gentlemen, relax.
Relax.
We're all in the same boat.
[chuckles dryly.]
[Decker exhales.]
[Decker sighs.]
Hello Hello? Dear Father, we are thy servants in an unknown land.
Bless the bread we are about to break, we beg thee, and keep us forever in thy compassion.
Amen.
[all.]
Amen.
Dear Father there is a deadly pride upon us.
Teach us humility and lead us to the knowledge that men, despite their far travelling and mighty works, are still.
.
are still as children in thy sight - Amen.
- [all.]
Amen.
[MacDonald.]
Fine words, Commandant.
I thank you for them, sir.
We would all do well to take heed.
[Decker laughs raucously.]
Got ya! You see, Dr.
Jackson? You're not the only prissy 20th century romantic on this craft.
Eh, MacDonald? [faint chuckling.]
[Tiosawa.]
Iâve been thinking about those mountains - to the west of us, sir.
- [Decker.]
Right.
[Tiosawa.]
The ones we caught sight of when we were coming in.
[Decker.]
Oh, yeah.
[Tiosawa.]
Had a new look about them.
New mountains are good to work in Easier to get at whatever's in them.
We'll lay out our first survey lines in that direction, Tiosawa.
- Thank you, sir.
- [Carr to robot.]
Bread! [Waldron.]
I must say that anthropologically speaking, 0243/B points to some interesting possibilities [to robot.]
No, no.
Brown bread for me.
[Decker.]
Indeed, Mr.
Waldron.
[Waldron.]
Le Maître and I took some readings in observation just before sunset.
And we thought we detected movement [MacDonald.]
Oh, aye? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Something living? [Waldron.]
Yes.
Evidence of life.
[Tiosawa.]
The radiation wagon certainly stirred up something when it went over the field today.
[Decker.]
Really? [Tiosawa.]
The movement Waldron and I thought we detected appeared to be humanoid.
- [Dr.
Jackson.]
Are you saying-- - [Decker.]
Dr.
Jackson on almost every mission Iâve been on, somebody pops up to say that he's seen humanoids.
Pure fantasy, as a rule.
Wishful thinking by over-ambitious officers.
The desire of man to find his own image in an alien world.
[Waldron.]
I shouldn't be too emphatic, Commandant.
The movement indicated Well, we registered two or three of them.
Upright humanoids [Le Maître.]
With rhythmic movements.
Like cats.
[Decker.]
Galactic humanoids, Dr.
Jackson.
When you see your first one, you'll find it so indescribable.
[scoffs, shudders.]
So much for humanoids at dinnertime, gentlemen.
[Le Maître.]
We'll soon know.
If they exist we'll flush them.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
What? [Decker.]
Flush them Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
When are we landing? [Decker.]
First thing in the morning.
Their morning.
[Waldron.]
Are you impatient to go out there? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Did I indicate impatience? [Waldron.]
Iâm so sorry.
I thought you did.
[Le Maître.]
None of us enjoys waiting, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
No.
Part of your job.
Don't worry, Doctor.
You'll get your chance to study Waldron's little humanoids before too long [Dr.
Jackson.]
Before you flush them? [organ music plays.]
[footsteps approaching.]
They've set up the pavilion.
Your great moment has come.
My great moment? To set foot on your first alien planet, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I am quite ready, Commandant.
I was wondering if you would like your temperature taken? Is that in your book of regulations, Doctor? To mother the Commandant? [Dr.
Jackson.]
You seemed feverish last night.
[Decker.]
âSeemed feverishâ.
That's a very inaccurate diagnosis, Doctor.
- Well, are you? - Am I what? A mother, Dr.
Jackson.
A mother.
You had to have me processed.
You must be aware of my status Process! Status! - I just asked you a question.
- No, Commandant.
Thank you.
Is it because I am a woman that I irritate you so much? You're a novice, Dr.
Jackson.
That makes you an irritant by definition.
However, we shall not refer to the matter again.
No.
[Decker.]
Fool proof.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I beg your pardon.
I said fool proof, Dr.
Jackson.
My organisation is fool proof.
Remember that.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I never doubted it.
[Decker.]
Organisation and efficiency and leaving nothing to chance.
The way of Ensign Warner Carr, and he's right.
Plug every loophole before it becomes a loophole.
Crush possible resistance before it develops as resistance.
Gain absolute control over a certain number of square yards of alien planet and operate from there.
Establish an absolutely safe and impregnable base, Dr.
Jackson.
A base to which a field party can retreat, to which reinforcements can be sent and counter-action taken.
Got it? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Of course.
Commandant, they are waiting for you.
We are ready to land.
Someday, Dr.
Jackson, someday Yes? Someday, Iâll find that perfect planet, Dr.
Jackson.
Paradise.
Paradise.
Where the weather is always beautiful, and there is a fine shade and good food for the picking, and natives that are intelligent and companionable.
And there I shall stay, Dr.
Jackson [Dr.
Jackson.]
Is there nothing for you on Earth? Nothing to go back to? [Decker.]
Nothing for some time Nobody.
Oh, I shall find that perfect planet, Dr.
Jackson and then when the ship is ready to blast off l shall stay put.
Iâll stay put to live out my days in one rare perfect corner of this lousy galaxy.
A galaxy that is and always has been bleak and alien.
Gaunt with hunger and mad with savagery and always lonely.
Lonelier than the loneliest place of all.
Mother Earth - Dr.
Jackson? - Yes? You may take my temperature.
[electronic bleeping.]
[whirring.]
Stand to! [fanfare style music plays.]
[Decker.]
Carr! [Carr.]
Inward turn.
[muffled, overlapping conversations.]
Commandant, Survey Party XH 3 to base.
Stage two stroke A completed.
Stroke B in progress.
Soil samples tested.
Fauna catalogued and in process of classification.
Main river water analysed.
Water table in process of analysis.
No problems.
End.
Reports of living matter incomplete.
Reports of presence of humanoids under investigation.
Doubtful Twentieth century superstition will creep in Will creep in Geologists are probing into this planet's hide and the life that swarms in this filthy soil will be captured.
- [Carr.]
Sir? - [Decker.]
I repeat.
Will be captured, and brought in by grinning, non-superstitious robots, and my little flesh robots will pin all these crawling, vicious, squirming things down, and process them And a merry Christmas to you all [Dr.
Jackson.]
Commandant! [Decker.]
What's the matter, Dr.
Jackson? A joke for your benefit.
Can't you take it? No sense of humour? Under all that rig, are you a flesh-robot too, Jackson? [Dr.
Jackson.]
You're ill, Commandant.
[Decker.]
I'm what, my little flesh robot? [Hicks.]
Commandant! Look! They've succeeded! They have succeeded.
Fantastic! Unbelievable! [Tiosawa.]
Humanoid, but hardly human.
[Carr.]
Hardly.
Your humanoid, Dr.
Jackson.
Your precious 'unknown'.
Are you going to be sick, Doctor? [Dr.
Jackson.]
No, Commandant.
[Decker.]
Set up the phrenoscope.
[MacDonald.]
Sir.
[Decker.]
We'll find out what he thinks of us, before we let him know what we think of him.
- All ready, Mr.
MacDonald? - Ready, sir.
[electronic buzzing.]
We are friendly We are friendly Communicate Communicate [buzzing continues.]
[muffled electronic bleeping, feedback.]
We will not harm you.
We will not harm you.
Let us be friends.
We have gifts.
We will help you.
We will! [buzzing and bleeping continues.]
[Waldron.]
Humour him, sir.
Try to humour it.
We will stay.
We will stay and we will give you gifts.
We will give you many good things.
We will teach you.
Die? What is die? What is die? - [Carr.]
Sir! - [Decker.]
Let him go, Ensign.
Tell your legionnaires, don't try and stop him.
Wherever he wants to go Don't try and stop him Yes, sir.
Commandant! Are you all right? He sentenced us to death said we should die here.
A natural primitive reaction I should have thought.
He meant it.
- He believes he can stop us.
- He can't, of course.
He thinks we shall die here And what do you think, Commandant? Dr.
Jackson, what is the matter with me? [organ music plays.]
[Decker.]
It's amusing, really.
[Carr.]
Amusing, sir? Yes, amusing.
A naked humanoid walks out of the jungle, and threatens to do away with an entire human survey party [Carr.]
I do not follow, sir.
You said âamusing.
â [Decker.]
I find it amusing that he should be so positive about it, Ensign.
[Carr.]
We shall not permit it, sir [Decker.]
Oh? Permit what? There are elementary precautions.
For one thing, they can't get near our equipment.
My legionnaires are on emergency alert.
[Decker.]
And we'll all stay on emergency alert.
Until we can be sure sure sure [Dr.
Jackson.]
Sure of what? What I mean we must be sure that an alien savage, with not a whiff of culture about him, can actually wipe Wipe-out a group of human scientists who are protected by a ring of steel.
- That's what I - Sir, we are protected not only by our robots but by a group of fighting men who are confident that they can deal a swift and merciless extermination blow, should anything move against us.
[Decker.]
Yes, of course.
Right You're always right, Carr.
A swift extermination blow.
Yes.
Somehow, gentlemen, I feel-- I feel, Commandant, that at a time like this, our morale should not be assailed by doubts.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Let him say it! [Decker.]
Say? Say what? That naked, blind-eyed savage stood within a circle of alien beings and did not flinch? He faced the unknown The unknown, Dr.
Jackson.
And afterwards he walked away with a dignity that any of us in similar circumstances would be proud to display.
We do not frighten him, Dr.
Jackson.
Our equipment does not frighten him [Le Maître.]
He was just bluffing.
[Waldron.]
Trying to exert pressure on us to leave.
He is motivated by fear We are not, that makes us the stronger [Carr.]
We can take precautions.
We've been warned.
We'll wait your orders, sir.
[Decker.]
Orders yes.
He was just bluffing.
That's all.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Do you think he was bluffing, Commandant? [Decker.]
The naked courage of just taking off that head-set It can't Just can't be measured by us.
No, Dr.
Jackson.
We tried to bluff him and it didn't work.
He's as certain as we are.
He's more certain He's more certain More certain And Iâm certain also, Warner Carr.
[Carr.]
Yes, Mr.
Waldron? The man commanding this survey party is sick.
Doctor Dr.
Jackson, the question was perfectly straight-forward.
You did not ask a question.
You made a statement.
Any personal antipathy you may feel for me, Dr.
Jackson, you would be wiser to suppress.
[Carr.]
What are you talking about? Have you ever heard her address a single polite word to me? Oh, come on, man.
You're talking stuff and nonsense [Waldron.]
You have remarked on it yourself.
[Le Maître.]
Yes, I am remarked on it and other matters too.
[Carr.]
What's going on here? What other matters? [Le Maître.]
This is hardly the moment to be personal.
[Waldron.]
Yes, I think the wise atmosphere on this mission should not be allowed to deteriorate any further.
I find this bickering grotesque.
Okay, Mr.
Waldron.
If there is any bickering in this survey party, it doesn't come for Dr.
Jackson.
Doctor, is the Commandant unwell? Yes or no.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
He is tired.
[Waldron.]
Indeed! [Dr.
Jackson.]
I am doing the best I can.
Perhaps you are confusing cure with cause, Dr.
Jackson.
[sighs.]
[Decker.]
Well? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Better.
Not well.
Better.
[Decker.]
You are a pessimist, I am surrounded by pessimists.
Am I good patient, Dr.
Jackson? I don't think of you as a patient, Commandant.
We are making fine progress.
There has been no attack [Dr.
Jackson.]
No, Commandant.
The field parties continue their exploration trips.
A bed of coal has been found and mapped.
Our botanists have found twenty-seven species of edible fruit.
Yes, we're making fine progress.
There has been no attack.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
No, Commandant.
[electronic whirring.]
[interior monologue.]
No, Commandant.
You are not a pessimist, Dr.
Jackson.
You are filled with earthly hope.
You are earthbound and naive and soft.
I know nothing of your earthly life, but your feelings are rooted in hope.
You enjoy your food like a ten-year-old.
You sleep like an infant.
You look forward.
You still look forward.
[frantically.]
Dr.
Jackson! [running footsteps.]
Cassandra! Good morning, sir.
Oh, relax, Carr.
Relax.
We've found them, sir.
Who has found what? My legionnaires spotted a native humanoid village this morning at 0700, earth time, sir.
- Contact made? - No sir.
Thank God.
Awaiting orders, sir.
You're sure was no contact? - No hostile contact? - No, sir.
Your men did not disturb them? No, sir.
Call back your legionnaires, at once, Ensign.
- But sir - Order a field party.
Executive officers only.
Robotic protection that's all.
- But, sir - That's all, Ensign! But we could capture them easily, sir! The humanoids have no weapons.
They will offer no resistance.
We will leave in one hour, Ensign.
At noon.
Yes, we can be back before their darkness falls, sir.
Before their darkness falls Will the heat interfere with the equipment? [Carr.]
Itâs tested, sir.
Shall I pick out one of them for communication, sir? No, no.
Leave them.
[Carr.]
They're all asleep, sir But they're not asleep, Carr.
Far from it.
They're not moving.
[Le Maître.]
They certainly don't wish to approach us.
That much is clear.
[Decker.]
It won't work.
They will not communicate.
[Carr.]
They must communicate! They have communicated, Ensign.
They have told us all they have to tell us.
There is nothing more they wish to say to us.
We can flush them without difficulty, sir.
No! We must capture them intact - Dr.
Jackson - Yes, Commandant? What do you think? I don't know, Commandant.
Well, look at them, just watching us.
Not afraid, just sitting there.
Calm and self-assured.
And the one who came to the base.
He knew what to do with the headset.
[Waldron.]
That's arguable, sir I wouldn't necessarily agree.
- Doctor Jackson - Yes? Nothing is right here.
Notice that they haven't got a single iron tool.
Not a scrap of mental anywhere.
Yet they knew what to do with our head-set.
[Waldron.]
Their cooking utensils are made of stone, I would say.
[Tiosawa.]
Looks like some sort of soapstone to me.
- I can take samples.
- [Decker.]
No! No.
Nothing must be touched.
[Le Maître.]
I think we should assume they have a culture.
[Decker.]
They have condemned us to death [Carr.]
We can flush them, sir.
Is that your recommendation, Ensign? [Carr.]
Any other course constitutes an unjustifiable risk, sir.
[Decker.]
I need time.
We'll go back to base.
Damn.
My watch has stopped.
Do you have the time, Ensign? Itâs stopped, sir! - [Waldron.]
So has mine! - [Tiosawa.]
And mine! [Le Maître.]
Mine too.
[Carr.]
Party assemble.
Back to the base.
Top speed.
[dramatic organ music plays.]
[Carr.]
There is no logical explanation.
None at all.
[Decker.]
No, sir.
The watches are dead.
Time is dead.
Something must have caused it.
It couldn't have happened on its own You are looking for cause on an alien planet, Doctor Jackson.
The matrix of cause and effect probably doesn't hold here.
- Ensign Carr.
- Yes, sir.
Have you ordered all field parties back to base? Yes, sir.
[Decker.]
Are we ready for an emergency take-off? [Carr.]
All instructions have been given, sir.
All robots on full-time alert.
They have been ordered to desert the machines and abandon equipment if necessary.
[Decker.]
Good.
Dismiss.
A flesh robot We could not do without the likes of him Could we, Dr.
Jackson? You're prepared to abandon all our equipment? Just because some of our watches have stopped? That's sheer panic, Commandant.
We are taking precautions.
Necessary precautions.
We do not take chances.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
But you're willing to get back to Earth and say, âWell, you see, our watches stoppedâ? All our watches stopped, Dr.
Jackson.
[Decker.]
Yes? [Carr.]
The camps aren't answering, sir.
Operators have been trying to get through to the field parties but there is no reply.
- The lines are dead.
- [Decker.]
Yes.
Yes.
Of course.
They will answer, Ensign.
Give them time.
Please sit down, Ensign.
You look tired.
- Sit down, sir?! - Yes! Sit down! You too, Dr.
Jackson.
We'll all just sit here for a while and try to come to terms with our internal situation our exhaustion.
Sir! We must alert the other executive officers this is an emergency You will do as I order, Ensign Carr.
I don't want people like Waldron and Le Maître losing their heads, I need time to think.
Beer! Ensign.
We may have to ask God for help.
There are precedents.
Three beers.
Ice-cold.
[knocking.]
Beer! Dr.
Jackson.
Go and tap that robot.
Tell him we want three beers.
Ice-cold.
Do you hear, Dr.
Jackson? Go and prod him.
Prod him! [thud.]
[Dr.
Jackson screams.]
Quick Ensign.
Try number two.
Dead.
[crashing.]
Dead? [Carr.]
The mechanism.
All the mechanisms.
[Decker.]
The lines to our field units.
Our watches.
[Carr.]
Dead, sir.
Just dead.
[crashing, shattering.]
Well It seems, we're on our own Alive and on our own.
Are we still alive? Tell me something, Dr.
Jackson.
You're the medico.
Are we still alive? Are we? He's not been fit to lead for some time.
Iâve seen it coming and so have you, Bert.
[Waldron.]
My earlier warnings were not heeded, were they? [Tiosawa.]
He spends all his time with the doctor.
[Waldron.]
All right, what you do suggest? [Tiosawa.]
I have seen it happen before [Waldron.]
If I trust anyone now, it's Warner Carr.
We should ask him to communicate with base at once.
[Le Maître.]
I agree.
[Tiosawa.]
Communicate with base? Don't you know yet Don't you understand? [Carr.]
Gentlemen [Waldron.]
Warner Carr, we have something to say to you.
[Carr.]
The robots are out of action.
Destroyed, useless.
- [Le Maître.]
All of them? - All of them.
[Waldron.]
You tell him, Tiosawa.
Tell him.
Warner Carr [Tiosawa.]
We have come to a decision.
[clattering.]
- Cassandra - Yes? Give me your hand.
I think we have arrived.
I feel so calm, so close to close to it.
Close to what? Paradise.
[rustling.]
Commandant! - Itâs the ship, sir - I know.
You don't have to tell me.
The big stuff's all right.
But it's the small gadgets.
The injector mechanism, the indicators - and the gauges - [Decker.]
They disintegrate.
[MacDonald.]
How do you know? Iâve only just discovered.
The unknown, Cassandra.
Mr.
MacDonald.
Please don't tell the others, will you? Make your peace.
Make my peace? Commandant, don't you get what I'm saying? We can't take off.
We can never take off.
We can't communicate with base.
We're all prisoners on this planet.
- The humanoids have no metal.
- [Dr.
Jackson.]
Well? [Decker.]
We have.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Yes we have.
This doesn't make sense.
None of this makes sense.
There was no sign of any metal in that humanoid village.
Their dishes were soapstone and there were no ornaments.
And yet they are intelligent enough to fabricate metal.
There are iron ore deposits in those western mountains Many centuries ago, they must have tried to make metal tools.
They must have gone to pieces underneath their fingers Take metal from a man and he goes back to the caves.
But they're not hostile.
They haven't touched us Commandant What is it? Who knows? Oh, we may find out sooner or later, but it won't help us.
A microbe, a virus, a bug.
Yes - Something that eats metal.
- Sir? Well, the bug doesn't go for iron ore.
If it did, those deposits we found would have gone long ago The robots are dropping like flies.
Scrap metal The computers will go next.
The little stuff, the finely fabricated mechanism like witches and radio innards and computer brains, and electronic controls, that sort of thing.
The hors d'oeuvres first.
Do you understand, MacDonald? We've brought then the first square meal they've had for who knows.
Maybe a million years.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
But how could the humanoids have survived all this time - before we came? - I don't know.
Maybe a million years is like a day to them.
It was like that in paradise, Cassandra.
And it seems that He looks after them not us them.
Them.
Commandant, we request an interview.
- A personal interview.
- Yes! [Tiosawa.]
We regret this deeply, but in such a moment of crisis, we feel we should [Le Maître.]
We've asked Ensign Carr to take immediate command of the survey party.
I see.
Ensign Carr? Yes, sir.
You are willing to assume command? Yes, sir.
Also of the ship? You are willing to assume command of the ship? Yes, sir.
All right go ahead.
Itâs all yours.
Sir, there is no question of mutiny Mutiny? Did I use the word? No sir, but you see We feel we are acting in the common interest [Waldron.]
All of us I should like to hear you give your first order, Ensign.
- May I? - Yes, sir.
[Carr.]
Mr.
MacDonald Aye? Prepare to take off.
Abandon the robots.
Prepare to take off in one hour.
[MacDonald laughs.]
Did you hear me, Mr.
MacDonald? Aye, laddie.
I heard you all right.
I heard you fine.
[continues laughing raucously.]
[wind rustling.]
[fanfare style music plays.]
[music fades, flattens.]
Next the emergency generators will go and we shall have no light or power.
Then all the machines will break down and the Legionnaire's weapons will be no more than clubs.
We shall never leave.
The humanoids knew it from the start.
We shall never leave.
Just you and I on this planet.
You're forgetting the others I am not thinking of the others.
Nor of our mission.
Not of Earth.
What are you thinking of? Paradise, Cassandra.
Paradise.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I never told them, the others, that you were ill.
Was I wrong? Very wrong.
This illness started long ago, long before this This bug started to work on me.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I know.
On me and on the iron in my soul.
There is no such thing, scientifically speaking.
Space-veterans time works imperfectly sometimes, Cassandra.
My body had developed some sort of precognizance.
We develop special antennae out here.
I was being warned I can think of no other explanation.
Not that it matters now.
You are very calm I have never felt better in my life.
I can't help myself.
I feel afraid.
Of what? The unknown? Still the unknown? This is the unknown, Cassandra.
This is it.
.
Eternity has just begun.
Paradise.
[spaceship whirring.]
[Decker.]
There is little more I wish to add to what I have already said.
With one exception.
We are all veterans of this kind of exercise.
We know there are a million things about our universe that we don't understand, will never understand, but continue to fear.
However, let me remind you that this is my 37th mission, and in all previous 36 missions, there has been none.
No discovery, no phenomenon, that has not had a logical or a technological cause or explanation.
If there is one thing we still understand too imperfectly, it is ourselves.
ln this, as in all other missions, it is our personal, I repeat, personal intactness that matters most.
Now Iâve had a chance to look over your initial reports, and I think it's fair to say that we do not anticipate any special problems on this planet - 0243 stroke B.
Let us go about our work collecting and collating data in an orderly, direct manner, and get back as soon as we can.
I take it there are no further questions.
- No, sir.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
Sorry, ladies and gentlemen.
Dr.
Jackson, Iâd like you to come along with me.
- If you would please - Yes, Commandant.
[whirring.]
[organ music plays.]
[mechanical whirring, powering down.]
[Decker.]
I want you to have a look at this, Doctor.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Certainly, Commandant.
[Decker.]
Jungle worlds are mean.
Meaner than the others.
Would you like a drink, Doctor? - No thank you.
- You don't mind if I do? How long are we likely to be here? [Decker.]
Six days, six weeks, six months.
Depends on what we find, doesn't it, Dr.
Jackson? [Dr.
Jackson.]
And what are we likely to find? [Decker.]
A job.
Another report to file out.
Then they'll either send out an exploitation party or a pitiful gang of colonists.
Or nothing.
Nothing? [Decker.]
Yes, sometimes they file out reports and let them gather dust for a thousand years or more.
And we go on [Dr.
Jackson.]
You're never afraid, Commandant? Of what? - Of the unknown - Oh, God.
[Decker laughing.]
A romantic! Not just a woman.
Not just a novice on her first trip.
A romantic.
- Hardly.
- In love with the unknown.
Romance! Shades of the 20th century! That romantic, awful twentieth century.
- Commandant - Get a couple of dozen trips under your belt, Dr.
Jackson and you won't feel this way, I assure you [organ music plays.]
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I have been briefed, Commandant.
[Decker.]
Yes, Iâm sure you have.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
âThere is nothing, repeat nothing that can stop a planetary survey party.
â [Decker.]
You believe that? Or do you pretend to believe it? I believe what I have been taught, Commandant.
Iâm glad to hear it, Doctor.
There is something sardonic in your voice, I find irritating.
Iâm sorry, Commandant.
We are a very specialised unit, Dr.
Jackson.
Our job is to establish a beach head on an alien planet, to blast out the perimeter of that beach head against all comers, and to return intact.
Our experts are here to capture data and assemble it on tape.
Itâs a very dry job, Dr.
Jackson, very dry.
Hardly fodder for an adventurous romantic like yourself.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
And if there is life [Decker.]
It will be prodded for a reaction by our experts.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Yes, indeed.
[organ music plays.]
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Like clockwork.
[Decker.]
Yes, it takes a little time this way, but it saves space.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
When do we join them? ln good time, Dr.
Jackson.
ln good time The robots go first.
They unpack and set up six operators.
Then the whole gang uncrates the machinery and sets it up and starts it operating.
No man or woman sets foot on the ground until we have a protective steel ring around us.
We are not brave, Dr.
Jackson.
We do not take chances.
Never? [Decker.]
Itâs not part of our job.
But we must always be on guard against the unexpected.
Which is not the same thing as the unknown, Dr.
Jackson.
You follow? [Dr.
Jackson.]
If by the unexpected you mean something we are not equipped to handle [Decker.]
We are equipped to handle anything.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
All forms of planetary intelligence? There you'll have to ask our friend Mr.
Waldron.
No doubt he will know how to satisfy your curiosity.
You're here to look after us, Dr.
Jackson.
Of course.
Do you find alcohol a necessity, Commandant? [Decker.]
ln the absence of available sexual recreation, certainly.
Does that answer your question? ln the event of the 'unexpected' taking form, Commandant-- [Decker.]
ln that event we get the hell out of here.
I repeat.
Itâs no part of our job to fight heroic last ditch battles.
Not on this or any other planet.
Good day, Dr.
Jackson.
- I am dismissed? - For the moment, yes.
Itâs time to rest.
You must forgive me for my curiosity, Commandant.
You'll get over it in another 20 years or so.
We all do.
[roaring.]
[Le Maître.]
One thousand and seventy four millibars.
Oxygen count 23.
87 per cent in volume, 34.
21 per cent in weight Gravity point nought six below Earth Temperature at 07 15, 38.
6 degrees.
[MacDonald.]
Bloody hot [Le Maître.]
Nocturnal variations within limits of human tolerance Rotation, 36 hour day.
[Decker.]
Normal for jungle climate.
Normal [MacDonald.]
A breeze would help.
[Le Maître.]
The robots can take up to 150.
- [MacDonald.]
The robots can.
- [Decker.]
Radiation? [Tiosawa.]
None of local origin.
Some hard stuff getting through from Sun.
[Decker.]
Bacterial and virus count? Oh, uh This should interest you, Dr.
Jackson.
- Yes? - [Tiosawa.]
As anticipated.
Lots of it, but nothing dangerous.
[Decker.]
There you are.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing unknown.
Are you reassured, Doctor? - Should I be? - You tell me.
These preliminary analyses would appear to point to the possibility of life Life? My dear Dr.
Jackson, this planet is positively crawling with life.
Loathsome vicious stuff at that.
Crawling with it.
A million galaxies all crawling with life.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
It doesn't have to be dangerous.
I know that much.
[Decker.]
Do you? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Why are you trying to alarm me? [Decker.]
Me? Alarm a romantic like you? I wouldn't even want to try, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Does it make you feel better? [Decker.]
Iâve never felt better in my life, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Iâm glad to hear it.
Mind you, if some of this 'life' should happen to pick you for a host, and you're not equipped to fight it - We are equipped - Of course.
[MacDonald.]
The way he needles Dr.
Jackson [Waldron.]
Needles? [MacDonald.]
Don't tell me you haven't observed it? [Le Maître.]
I certainly have.
Perhaps he finds her disturbing in some way.
We've had women executives before this.
[Le Maître.]
Of course, but not as medical officers [Waldron.]
I cannot see the connection.
Not at all.
[Le Maître.]
Oh, come At least Waldron doesn't find her disturbing.
[Waldron.]
I find this conversation infantile and banal.
[Tiosawa.]
I agree.
Completely.
I did not intend any reflection on the Commandant's behaviour.
[Tiosawa.]
But of course not.
[Waldron.]
Indeed? [buzzing.]
Reporting, sir.
We are ready to land cruise.
Sure you are.
You're always ready.
The Legion always will be ready.
[Carr.]
Beg pardon, sir? Rigid discipline, eh, Carr? Ancient pride in the service, all that.
[Carr.]
Sir.
[Decker.]
Tin soldiers! Drilled and disciplined against all known alien viruses, trained and educated in alien psychology.
Do you hear that, Dr.
Jackson? Strictly indoctrinated with the highest survival characteristics - Flesh robots! - Sir! We shall not be ready for some time, Ensign.
The robots have just started uncrating the equipment.
Okay? I await your orders, sir.
- Ensign Carr.
- Sir? Iâve been wondering.
Just wondering, you understand.
Can you imagine any circumstances which might arise here that the Legion could not handle? Iâm afraid, sir.
I do not understand the Commandant's question.
[Decker.]
I didn't think you would Ensign.
Dismissed.
Are you learning, Dr.
Jackson? [buzzing.]
[Decker singing.]
Relax, gentlemen, relax.
Relax.
We're all in the same boat.
[chuckles dryly.]
[Decker exhales.]
[Decker sighs.]
Hello Hello? Dear Father, we are thy servants in an unknown land.
Bless the bread we are about to break, we beg thee, and keep us forever in thy compassion.
Amen.
[all.]
Amen.
Dear Father there is a deadly pride upon us.
Teach us humility and lead us to the knowledge that men, despite their far travelling and mighty works, are still.
.
are still as children in thy sight - Amen.
- [all.]
Amen.
[MacDonald.]
Fine words, Commandant.
I thank you for them, sir.
We would all do well to take heed.
[Decker laughs raucously.]
Got ya! You see, Dr.
Jackson? You're not the only prissy 20th century romantic on this craft.
Eh, MacDonald? [faint chuckling.]
[Tiosawa.]
Iâve been thinking about those mountains - to the west of us, sir.
- [Decker.]
Right.
[Tiosawa.]
The ones we caught sight of when we were coming in.
[Decker.]
Oh, yeah.
[Tiosawa.]
Had a new look about them.
New mountains are good to work in Easier to get at whatever's in them.
We'll lay out our first survey lines in that direction, Tiosawa.
- Thank you, sir.
- [Carr to robot.]
Bread! [Waldron.]
I must say that anthropologically speaking, 0243/B points to some interesting possibilities [to robot.]
No, no.
Brown bread for me.
[Decker.]
Indeed, Mr.
Waldron.
[Waldron.]
Le Maître and I took some readings in observation just before sunset.
And we thought we detected movement [MacDonald.]
Oh, aye? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Something living? [Waldron.]
Yes.
Evidence of life.
[Tiosawa.]
The radiation wagon certainly stirred up something when it went over the field today.
[Decker.]
Really? [Tiosawa.]
The movement Waldron and I thought we detected appeared to be humanoid.
- [Dr.
Jackson.]
Are you saying-- - [Decker.]
Dr.
Jackson on almost every mission Iâve been on, somebody pops up to say that he's seen humanoids.
Pure fantasy, as a rule.
Wishful thinking by over-ambitious officers.
The desire of man to find his own image in an alien world.
[Waldron.]
I shouldn't be too emphatic, Commandant.
The movement indicated Well, we registered two or three of them.
Upright humanoids [Le Maître.]
With rhythmic movements.
Like cats.
[Decker.]
Galactic humanoids, Dr.
Jackson.
When you see your first one, you'll find it so indescribable.
[scoffs, shudders.]
So much for humanoids at dinnertime, gentlemen.
[Le Maître.]
We'll soon know.
If they exist we'll flush them.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
What? [Decker.]
Flush them Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
When are we landing? [Decker.]
First thing in the morning.
Their morning.
[Waldron.]
Are you impatient to go out there? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Did I indicate impatience? [Waldron.]
Iâm so sorry.
I thought you did.
[Le Maître.]
None of us enjoys waiting, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
No.
Part of your job.
Don't worry, Doctor.
You'll get your chance to study Waldron's little humanoids before too long [Dr.
Jackson.]
Before you flush them? [organ music plays.]
[footsteps approaching.]
They've set up the pavilion.
Your great moment has come.
My great moment? To set foot on your first alien planet, Dr.
Jackson.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I am quite ready, Commandant.
I was wondering if you would like your temperature taken? Is that in your book of regulations, Doctor? To mother the Commandant? [Dr.
Jackson.]
You seemed feverish last night.
[Decker.]
âSeemed feverishâ.
That's a very inaccurate diagnosis, Doctor.
- Well, are you? - Am I what? A mother, Dr.
Jackson.
A mother.
You had to have me processed.
You must be aware of my status Process! Status! - I just asked you a question.
- No, Commandant.
Thank you.
Is it because I am a woman that I irritate you so much? You're a novice, Dr.
Jackson.
That makes you an irritant by definition.
However, we shall not refer to the matter again.
No.
[Decker.]
Fool proof.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I beg your pardon.
I said fool proof, Dr.
Jackson.
My organisation is fool proof.
Remember that.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I never doubted it.
[Decker.]
Organisation and efficiency and leaving nothing to chance.
The way of Ensign Warner Carr, and he's right.
Plug every loophole before it becomes a loophole.
Crush possible resistance before it develops as resistance.
Gain absolute control over a certain number of square yards of alien planet and operate from there.
Establish an absolutely safe and impregnable base, Dr.
Jackson.
A base to which a field party can retreat, to which reinforcements can be sent and counter-action taken.
Got it? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Of course.
Commandant, they are waiting for you.
We are ready to land.
Someday, Dr.
Jackson, someday Yes? Someday, Iâll find that perfect planet, Dr.
Jackson.
Paradise.
Paradise.
Where the weather is always beautiful, and there is a fine shade and good food for the picking, and natives that are intelligent and companionable.
And there I shall stay, Dr.
Jackson [Dr.
Jackson.]
Is there nothing for you on Earth? Nothing to go back to? [Decker.]
Nothing for some time Nobody.
Oh, I shall find that perfect planet, Dr.
Jackson and then when the ship is ready to blast off l shall stay put.
Iâll stay put to live out my days in one rare perfect corner of this lousy galaxy.
A galaxy that is and always has been bleak and alien.
Gaunt with hunger and mad with savagery and always lonely.
Lonelier than the loneliest place of all.
Mother Earth - Dr.
Jackson? - Yes? You may take my temperature.
[electronic bleeping.]
[whirring.]
Stand to! [fanfare style music plays.]
[Decker.]
Carr! [Carr.]
Inward turn.
[muffled, overlapping conversations.]
Commandant, Survey Party XH 3 to base.
Stage two stroke A completed.
Stroke B in progress.
Soil samples tested.
Fauna catalogued and in process of classification.
Main river water analysed.
Water table in process of analysis.
No problems.
End.
Reports of living matter incomplete.
Reports of presence of humanoids under investigation.
Doubtful Twentieth century superstition will creep in Will creep in Geologists are probing into this planet's hide and the life that swarms in this filthy soil will be captured.
- [Carr.]
Sir? - [Decker.]
I repeat.
Will be captured, and brought in by grinning, non-superstitious robots, and my little flesh robots will pin all these crawling, vicious, squirming things down, and process them And a merry Christmas to you all [Dr.
Jackson.]
Commandant! [Decker.]
What's the matter, Dr.
Jackson? A joke for your benefit.
Can't you take it? No sense of humour? Under all that rig, are you a flesh-robot too, Jackson? [Dr.
Jackson.]
You're ill, Commandant.
[Decker.]
I'm what, my little flesh robot? [Hicks.]
Commandant! Look! They've succeeded! They have succeeded.
Fantastic! Unbelievable! [Tiosawa.]
Humanoid, but hardly human.
[Carr.]
Hardly.
Your humanoid, Dr.
Jackson.
Your precious 'unknown'.
Are you going to be sick, Doctor? [Dr.
Jackson.]
No, Commandant.
[Decker.]
Set up the phrenoscope.
[MacDonald.]
Sir.
[Decker.]
We'll find out what he thinks of us, before we let him know what we think of him.
- All ready, Mr.
MacDonald? - Ready, sir.
[electronic buzzing.]
We are friendly We are friendly Communicate Communicate [buzzing continues.]
[muffled electronic bleeping, feedback.]
We will not harm you.
We will not harm you.
Let us be friends.
We have gifts.
We will help you.
We will! [buzzing and bleeping continues.]
[Waldron.]
Humour him, sir.
Try to humour it.
We will stay.
We will stay and we will give you gifts.
We will give you many good things.
We will teach you.
Die? What is die? What is die? - [Carr.]
Sir! - [Decker.]
Let him go, Ensign.
Tell your legionnaires, don't try and stop him.
Wherever he wants to go Don't try and stop him Yes, sir.
Commandant! Are you all right? He sentenced us to death said we should die here.
A natural primitive reaction I should have thought.
He meant it.
- He believes he can stop us.
- He can't, of course.
He thinks we shall die here And what do you think, Commandant? Dr.
Jackson, what is the matter with me? [organ music plays.]
[Decker.]
It's amusing, really.
[Carr.]
Amusing, sir? Yes, amusing.
A naked humanoid walks out of the jungle, and threatens to do away with an entire human survey party [Carr.]
I do not follow, sir.
You said âamusing.
â [Decker.]
I find it amusing that he should be so positive about it, Ensign.
[Carr.]
We shall not permit it, sir [Decker.]
Oh? Permit what? There are elementary precautions.
For one thing, they can't get near our equipment.
My legionnaires are on emergency alert.
[Decker.]
And we'll all stay on emergency alert.
Until we can be sure sure sure [Dr.
Jackson.]
Sure of what? What I mean we must be sure that an alien savage, with not a whiff of culture about him, can actually wipe Wipe-out a group of human scientists who are protected by a ring of steel.
- That's what I - Sir, we are protected not only by our robots but by a group of fighting men who are confident that they can deal a swift and merciless extermination blow, should anything move against us.
[Decker.]
Yes, of course.
Right You're always right, Carr.
A swift extermination blow.
Yes.
Somehow, gentlemen, I feel-- I feel, Commandant, that at a time like this, our morale should not be assailed by doubts.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Let him say it! [Decker.]
Say? Say what? That naked, blind-eyed savage stood within a circle of alien beings and did not flinch? He faced the unknown The unknown, Dr.
Jackson.
And afterwards he walked away with a dignity that any of us in similar circumstances would be proud to display.
We do not frighten him, Dr.
Jackson.
Our equipment does not frighten him [Le Maître.]
He was just bluffing.
[Waldron.]
Trying to exert pressure on us to leave.
He is motivated by fear We are not, that makes us the stronger [Carr.]
We can take precautions.
We've been warned.
We'll wait your orders, sir.
[Decker.]
Orders yes.
He was just bluffing.
That's all.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Do you think he was bluffing, Commandant? [Decker.]
The naked courage of just taking off that head-set It can't Just can't be measured by us.
No, Dr.
Jackson.
We tried to bluff him and it didn't work.
He's as certain as we are.
He's more certain He's more certain More certain And Iâm certain also, Warner Carr.
[Carr.]
Yes, Mr.
Waldron? The man commanding this survey party is sick.
Doctor Dr.
Jackson, the question was perfectly straight-forward.
You did not ask a question.
You made a statement.
Any personal antipathy you may feel for me, Dr.
Jackson, you would be wiser to suppress.
[Carr.]
What are you talking about? Have you ever heard her address a single polite word to me? Oh, come on, man.
You're talking stuff and nonsense [Waldron.]
You have remarked on it yourself.
[Le Maître.]
Yes, I am remarked on it and other matters too.
[Carr.]
What's going on here? What other matters? [Le Maître.]
This is hardly the moment to be personal.
[Waldron.]
Yes, I think the wise atmosphere on this mission should not be allowed to deteriorate any further.
I find this bickering grotesque.
Okay, Mr.
Waldron.
If there is any bickering in this survey party, it doesn't come for Dr.
Jackson.
Doctor, is the Commandant unwell? Yes or no.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
He is tired.
[Waldron.]
Indeed! [Dr.
Jackson.]
I am doing the best I can.
Perhaps you are confusing cure with cause, Dr.
Jackson.
[sighs.]
[Decker.]
Well? [Dr.
Jackson.]
Better.
Not well.
Better.
[Decker.]
You are a pessimist, I am surrounded by pessimists.
Am I good patient, Dr.
Jackson? I don't think of you as a patient, Commandant.
We are making fine progress.
There has been no attack [Dr.
Jackson.]
No, Commandant.
The field parties continue their exploration trips.
A bed of coal has been found and mapped.
Our botanists have found twenty-seven species of edible fruit.
Yes, we're making fine progress.
There has been no attack.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
No, Commandant.
[electronic whirring.]
[interior monologue.]
No, Commandant.
You are not a pessimist, Dr.
Jackson.
You are filled with earthly hope.
You are earthbound and naive and soft.
I know nothing of your earthly life, but your feelings are rooted in hope.
You enjoy your food like a ten-year-old.
You sleep like an infant.
You look forward.
You still look forward.
[frantically.]
Dr.
Jackson! [running footsteps.]
Cassandra! Good morning, sir.
Oh, relax, Carr.
Relax.
We've found them, sir.
Who has found what? My legionnaires spotted a native humanoid village this morning at 0700, earth time, sir.
- Contact made? - No sir.
Thank God.
Awaiting orders, sir.
You're sure was no contact? - No hostile contact? - No, sir.
Your men did not disturb them? No, sir.
Call back your legionnaires, at once, Ensign.
- But sir - Order a field party.
Executive officers only.
Robotic protection that's all.
- But, sir - That's all, Ensign! But we could capture them easily, sir! The humanoids have no weapons.
They will offer no resistance.
We will leave in one hour, Ensign.
At noon.
Yes, we can be back before their darkness falls, sir.
Before their darkness falls Will the heat interfere with the equipment? [Carr.]
Itâs tested, sir.
Shall I pick out one of them for communication, sir? No, no.
Leave them.
[Carr.]
They're all asleep, sir But they're not asleep, Carr.
Far from it.
They're not moving.
[Le Maître.]
They certainly don't wish to approach us.
That much is clear.
[Decker.]
It won't work.
They will not communicate.
[Carr.]
They must communicate! They have communicated, Ensign.
They have told us all they have to tell us.
There is nothing more they wish to say to us.
We can flush them without difficulty, sir.
No! We must capture them intact - Dr.
Jackson - Yes, Commandant? What do you think? I don't know, Commandant.
Well, look at them, just watching us.
Not afraid, just sitting there.
Calm and self-assured.
And the one who came to the base.
He knew what to do with the headset.
[Waldron.]
That's arguable, sir I wouldn't necessarily agree.
- Doctor Jackson - Yes? Nothing is right here.
Notice that they haven't got a single iron tool.
Not a scrap of mental anywhere.
Yet they knew what to do with our head-set.
[Waldron.]
Their cooking utensils are made of stone, I would say.
[Tiosawa.]
Looks like some sort of soapstone to me.
- I can take samples.
- [Decker.]
No! No.
Nothing must be touched.
[Le Maître.]
I think we should assume they have a culture.
[Decker.]
They have condemned us to death [Carr.]
We can flush them, sir.
Is that your recommendation, Ensign? [Carr.]
Any other course constitutes an unjustifiable risk, sir.
[Decker.]
I need time.
We'll go back to base.
Damn.
My watch has stopped.
Do you have the time, Ensign? Itâs stopped, sir! - [Waldron.]
So has mine! - [Tiosawa.]
And mine! [Le Maître.]
Mine too.
[Carr.]
Party assemble.
Back to the base.
Top speed.
[dramatic organ music plays.]
[Carr.]
There is no logical explanation.
None at all.
[Decker.]
No, sir.
The watches are dead.
Time is dead.
Something must have caused it.
It couldn't have happened on its own You are looking for cause on an alien planet, Doctor Jackson.
The matrix of cause and effect probably doesn't hold here.
- Ensign Carr.
- Yes, sir.
Have you ordered all field parties back to base? Yes, sir.
[Decker.]
Are we ready for an emergency take-off? [Carr.]
All instructions have been given, sir.
All robots on full-time alert.
They have been ordered to desert the machines and abandon equipment if necessary.
[Decker.]
Good.
Dismiss.
A flesh robot We could not do without the likes of him Could we, Dr.
Jackson? You're prepared to abandon all our equipment? Just because some of our watches have stopped? That's sheer panic, Commandant.
We are taking precautions.
Necessary precautions.
We do not take chances.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
But you're willing to get back to Earth and say, âWell, you see, our watches stoppedâ? All our watches stopped, Dr.
Jackson.
[Decker.]
Yes? [Carr.]
The camps aren't answering, sir.
Operators have been trying to get through to the field parties but there is no reply.
- The lines are dead.
- [Decker.]
Yes.
Yes.
Of course.
They will answer, Ensign.
Give them time.
Please sit down, Ensign.
You look tired.
- Sit down, sir?! - Yes! Sit down! You too, Dr.
Jackson.
We'll all just sit here for a while and try to come to terms with our internal situation our exhaustion.
Sir! We must alert the other executive officers this is an emergency You will do as I order, Ensign Carr.
I don't want people like Waldron and Le Maître losing their heads, I need time to think.
Beer! Ensign.
We may have to ask God for help.
There are precedents.
Three beers.
Ice-cold.
[knocking.]
Beer! Dr.
Jackson.
Go and tap that robot.
Tell him we want three beers.
Ice-cold.
Do you hear, Dr.
Jackson? Go and prod him.
Prod him! [thud.]
[Dr.
Jackson screams.]
Quick Ensign.
Try number two.
Dead.
[crashing.]
Dead? [Carr.]
The mechanism.
All the mechanisms.
[Decker.]
The lines to our field units.
Our watches.
[Carr.]
Dead, sir.
Just dead.
[crashing, shattering.]
Well It seems, we're on our own Alive and on our own.
Are we still alive? Tell me something, Dr.
Jackson.
You're the medico.
Are we still alive? Are we? He's not been fit to lead for some time.
Iâve seen it coming and so have you, Bert.
[Waldron.]
My earlier warnings were not heeded, were they? [Tiosawa.]
He spends all his time with the doctor.
[Waldron.]
All right, what you do suggest? [Tiosawa.]
I have seen it happen before [Waldron.]
If I trust anyone now, it's Warner Carr.
We should ask him to communicate with base at once.
[Le Maître.]
I agree.
[Tiosawa.]
Communicate with base? Don't you know yet Don't you understand? [Carr.]
Gentlemen [Waldron.]
Warner Carr, we have something to say to you.
[Carr.]
The robots are out of action.
Destroyed, useless.
- [Le Maître.]
All of them? - All of them.
[Waldron.]
You tell him, Tiosawa.
Tell him.
Warner Carr [Tiosawa.]
We have come to a decision.
[clattering.]
- Cassandra - Yes? Give me your hand.
I think we have arrived.
I feel so calm, so close to close to it.
Close to what? Paradise.
[rustling.]
Commandant! - Itâs the ship, sir - I know.
You don't have to tell me.
The big stuff's all right.
But it's the small gadgets.
The injector mechanism, the indicators - and the gauges - [Decker.]
They disintegrate.
[MacDonald.]
How do you know? Iâve only just discovered.
The unknown, Cassandra.
Mr.
MacDonald.
Please don't tell the others, will you? Make your peace.
Make my peace? Commandant, don't you get what I'm saying? We can't take off.
We can never take off.
We can't communicate with base.
We're all prisoners on this planet.
- The humanoids have no metal.
- [Dr.
Jackson.]
Well? [Decker.]
We have.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
Yes we have.
This doesn't make sense.
None of this makes sense.
There was no sign of any metal in that humanoid village.
Their dishes were soapstone and there were no ornaments.
And yet they are intelligent enough to fabricate metal.
There are iron ore deposits in those western mountains Many centuries ago, they must have tried to make metal tools.
They must have gone to pieces underneath their fingers Take metal from a man and he goes back to the caves.
But they're not hostile.
They haven't touched us Commandant What is it? Who knows? Oh, we may find out sooner or later, but it won't help us.
A microbe, a virus, a bug.
Yes - Something that eats metal.
- Sir? Well, the bug doesn't go for iron ore.
If it did, those deposits we found would have gone long ago The robots are dropping like flies.
Scrap metal The computers will go next.
The little stuff, the finely fabricated mechanism like witches and radio innards and computer brains, and electronic controls, that sort of thing.
The hors d'oeuvres first.
Do you understand, MacDonald? We've brought then the first square meal they've had for who knows.
Maybe a million years.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
But how could the humanoids have survived all this time - before we came? - I don't know.
Maybe a million years is like a day to them.
It was like that in paradise, Cassandra.
And it seems that He looks after them not us them.
Them.
Commandant, we request an interview.
- A personal interview.
- Yes! [Tiosawa.]
We regret this deeply, but in such a moment of crisis, we feel we should [Le Maître.]
We've asked Ensign Carr to take immediate command of the survey party.
I see.
Ensign Carr? Yes, sir.
You are willing to assume command? Yes, sir.
Also of the ship? You are willing to assume command of the ship? Yes, sir.
All right go ahead.
Itâs all yours.
Sir, there is no question of mutiny Mutiny? Did I use the word? No sir, but you see We feel we are acting in the common interest [Waldron.]
All of us I should like to hear you give your first order, Ensign.
- May I? - Yes, sir.
[Carr.]
Mr.
MacDonald Aye? Prepare to take off.
Abandon the robots.
Prepare to take off in one hour.
[MacDonald laughs.]
Did you hear me, Mr.
MacDonald? Aye, laddie.
I heard you all right.
I heard you fine.
[continues laughing raucously.]
[wind rustling.]
[fanfare style music plays.]
[music fades, flattens.]
Next the emergency generators will go and we shall have no light or power.
Then all the machines will break down and the Legionnaire's weapons will be no more than clubs.
We shall never leave.
The humanoids knew it from the start.
We shall never leave.
Just you and I on this planet.
You're forgetting the others I am not thinking of the others.
Nor of our mission.
Not of Earth.
What are you thinking of? Paradise, Cassandra.
Paradise.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I never told them, the others, that you were ill.
Was I wrong? Very wrong.
This illness started long ago, long before this This bug started to work on me.
[Dr.
Jackson.]
I know.
On me and on the iron in my soul.
There is no such thing, scientifically speaking.
Space-veterans time works imperfectly sometimes, Cassandra.
My body had developed some sort of precognizance.
We develop special antennae out here.
I was being warned I can think of no other explanation.
Not that it matters now.
You are very calm I have never felt better in my life.
I can't help myself.
I feel afraid.
Of what? The unknown? Still the unknown? This is the unknown, Cassandra.
This is it.
.
Eternity has just begun.
Paradise.