The Outer Limits (1995) s04e14 Episode Script

1 Larry, come here, Look at this, The sky, ,, It's amazing, LARRY: Normal solar flares shouldn't change the sky like that, AMANDA: It just trashed the fusion plant, LARRY: The whole star is flashing over, Oh, my God, End simulation, That's one hell of a simulation, Are you sure you're right? -Larry? -It was just supposed to be a planetary climate model, Nothing like that should have happened, Some model, You just destroyed the entire colony, (STUTTERING) But it shouldn't have changed that much, All I did was add the new solar flare data for our star, You must have made a mistake, -No, -Well, assuming the data you entered was correct, ,, How far in the future was that simulation? Larry? Few days, At the most, CONTROL VOICE: There is nothing wrong with your television, Do not attempt to adjust the picture, We are now controlling the transmission, We control the horizontal and the vertical, We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand one single image to crystal clarity and beyond, We can shape your vision to anything our imagination can conceive, For the next hour, we will control all that you see and hear, You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the deepest inner mind to The Outer Limits, It has been said, that for the truth to exist it takes two people, One to speak it and another to hear it, LARRY: Sim off, How many times have you run that simulation? 46 times, And you got one apocalyptic scenario? Two, If you count this one, And that's enough for me, Why this time and not the others? Because I had better solar flare data for our sun, I just downloaded it off the new orbiting observatory, But the other 44 sims gave you what? Rainbows and sunspots, Making predictions of a fractal geometry is not an exact science, you know that, Dad, I know, I don't want to believe it, How soon is all this supposed to happen? Well, if these numbers are right, Climax pulse, four days, 11 hours, 37 minutes, Could you be more accurate? It's going to happen, How can you be absolutely certain when it's only happened in the simulations, two times out of 46? I can't, But how can we take the chance? I don't have time for this, Dad, wait, IAN: You really think our sun is a pulsating star? On a thousand year cycle and our timing couldn't be worse, Thirty years of planning went into this colony, you think someone would have noticed this, Janus was only discovered 140 years ago, It's plenty of margin for error, But we just come back to the lab, How can you even suggest this after the ground break fiasco? How can you hold that against him? -The council will, -It was five years ago, For 18 months after we land, everyone kills themselves to help build the colony, With 40% done months ahead of schedule, Then you, Larry, convinced the council to abandon the site, Because I thought we were about to be wiped out by an imminent volcanic eruption, I thought I had the evidence, -But you didn't, -I made a mistake, We were talking about people's lives, Which you want to turn upside down again, I miss interpreted the data, I didn't see what it really meant, I couldn't comprehend the enormity of what I detected, You see, what I thought was volcanic, was actually, ,, Nothing, right? No, it was actually our sun flashing over, My mistake was that I thought that all this evidence of super heating material had to be caused by a local volcano, I never imagined it to be planet-wide, Another theory for which you have no conclusive proof, You're a terraformer, Larry, Hematology, botany, geology, those are your specialties, Not astronomy, And what this has to do with practicing medicine is beyond me, We'll have a hell of a lot to do with it if our star flashes over, You saw the data, A single anomalous simulation, I need something tangible, then maybe I'll be onboard, Then come back to the lab, I've got more proof there, LARRY: You wanted more proof, look at this, The melting of the stone is uniform across all the pieces, And if you look at a cross-section, the striations are gone because the heat fused them, These are the same samples you used to convince us to move the colony, You said then this melting was the result of volcanic activity, Like I said, I made a mistake, These relics were exposed to radiation from a pulsating star, Our star, 1,000 years ago, If I could send them back to earth for analysis, it would prove it, Great, Then do it, I'll get you the authorization from Murdoch, But there isn't time, It would take six months even in a translate speech, Don't I have a reputation that people respect anymore? People have long memories, Larry, Without definitive proof, there's no way you'll be listened to, We're talking about complete annihilation, -Where is your sense? -Where's yours? You've got nothing, All this can do is get you censured, Or worse, deported back to earth, You should listen to your friend, LARRY: What do you want, Fenton? You know, you're a real miracle worker, Chambers, Aren't you late for work? I'm on my way, I was just passing by and I've always got time for a friendly little chit-chat with my neighbor, You know, my wife is the one with the green thumb in our family, You know, she left with the kids, Right after your last great prediction, Do I have to call Chief Bennett? IAN: Do you have business here, Fenton? I'm just watching out for my good neighbor, Reminding him that some of us paid a hell of a price to come here, So noted, Get out, Come by for coffee sometime, Chambers, You could use a botany lesson, Case in point, Then I'll get you more proof, Take whatever time you need, Wish I could, COMPUTER: Climax pulse, four days, 3 hours, 14 minutes, (SIGHS) You should eat something, -Food's the last thing on my mind right now, -Come on, I don't want to see an old friend starve to death, (CHUCKLES) I wonder if the chairman of the council would authorize some core samples, Murdoch? Good luck, My dad's the most reasonable man on the council and if you can't convince him, ,, What? Now you're backing off too? I didn't want to say anything in front of dad, but, ,, He's right, You only got those results twice, Maybe there's something wrong with the simulation, I also have the relics, they show the same thing, Do they? I mean, what if you've misinterpreted them again, -I didn't misinterpret, ,, -Hey, I'm sorry, Listen, I'm sorry, That's not what I meant, I just, ,, Maybe there's a reason that you want to see an apocalypse, I mean, maybe this has something to with Elise, This has nothing to do with Elise, Well, then you're holding something back, Because you'd never be this convinced unless you had more evidence then what I've seen, And I don't understand, Larry, what is it? If you have something that's gonna convince people, then why aren't you telling them? I mean, hell, tell me! If you want some trust, then you've got to give me some first, AMANDA: You found an alien skeleton, I thought these were all buried back in the reservations, I kept this one, I rescued it from an archeological site near the original ground break, Along with these petroglyphs, AMANDA: Imagine a whole civilization wiped out by disease, Do you really think they were shape shifters? Well, I mean, they're like chameleons, only more advanced, No one ever saw them do it, That's a common myth among primitive cultures to take on the attributes of an animal or even people, It's a way of trying to control the world around them, AMANDA: And what does this have to do with your theory? Now, look, this here, I'm reckoning is our sun, Janus, I didn't understand it before, but now I see that there are three events, All leading to the final apocalypse, And if these star positions are accurate for the five brightest stars in our night sky, then it was just 1,000 years ago, What, you think I'm wrong? It could mean anything, Truth is a matter of perspective, CHIEF BENNETT: You're dead right there, LARRY: Chief Bennett, I saw the door was open and the light was on, I just wanted to be sure everything was okay, Science never sleeps, -Nor does it usually have good air circulation, -(CHUCKLES) What kind of research takes place this late at night, I wondered, -Astronomy, -AMANDA: Anthropology, More like art history, I'd say, And someone else's art, by the looks of it, I didn't think these artifacts were allowed in colonists' hands, LARRY: I did bend the rules a bit, (PEOPLE SCREAMING) Look over here! What the hell is that? Beginning of the end, LARRY: We only have three days and 13 hours left, Chairman Murdoch, you must listen to me, If you retrofit the primary cargo ship with the reactors from the atmospheric generators, we can evacuate the entire colony, And when we get back, just how do you suppose we breathe? We'll have to get everything up and running again, It'll be a lot of work, but no different than when we first arrived, A lot of work? "Herculean" would be a better description, You have a better idea? Do nothing, Your theory is preposterous, How do explain last night's aurora? We have the magnetic fields of three moons interacting with this planet's own magnetic field, During solar storms, every ion Janus kicks off gets swept into our skies, Janus has these storms every year, you know that, Then authorize the funds for core samples, You don't even have to pay for a field expedition, We have virgin soil right here in the center of the main dome, All I have to do is knock aside a few plants and drill a couple of hundred meters into the ground and it will prove that all life has been destroyed here every thousand years, It's a waste, It won't prove anything, You want us to miss the harvest, destroy our atmospheric generator, fly to the stars to avoid an apocalypse that will never happen and return to nothing, It will happen! Like you're volcanic eruption, Have you asked yourself why you're trying to tear down what we worked so hard to create? Larry, we've known each other long time, So please don't take offense at this, But I think there's a voice inside you telling you something much bigger than any of this, That maybe this isn't your home anymore, That you really want to go back to earth and forget, -No, -Just listen, Maybe you want to see an apocalypse because inside your world here ended when your wife died, Frank, this has nothing to do with Elise's death, I think it does, Even you can't stop cancer, If she had stayed on earth, she would have had the facilities that would have saved her, I think you blame yourself and this colony for her death, -That isn't fair, -Isn't it? You're the one who went missing for two weeks after she died, That sounds like a lot of grief and a lot of guilt to me, Larry, you did a brilliant job terraforming this planet, But I think it's time for you to start thinking about going back to earth and finding your own life again, We're in danger, Frank, And I'll do everything that I can to prove it, What are you doing here? You're scaring a lot of people, I won't be silent when our lives are at stake, Give me Chief Bennett, People talk, They talk about how you've gone over the edge, About how you're trying to destroy their homes, And how you're trying to force us to go back to earth, And a lot of people don't wanna go, Let him go, Fenton! You're here to enforce the law, not break it, I'm just a visiting councilman, CHIEF BENNETT: Don't you still have a few hours left on your shift, Fenton? -Is everything okay? -Everything's fine, CHIEF BENNETT: Amanda, where have you been? I'm sorry I was at the anthropology lab, After the auroras, I went down to see the colonies records of the petroglyphs myself, -to see if maybe Larry was wrong, -And? There's nothing concrete, I mean, nothing that we could present to the council, But I looked at dozens of photograph of petroglyphs and I feel very strongly that those drawing foretell what you said, I think we have to get out of here, Dad, Now, Evacuation's not a popular idea, especially when it's based on feelings, You have weight on the council, Dad, You could push Murdoch to at least authorize those core samples for me, -Amanda, -Well, then would you please just do it for me? This doesn't mean I endorse your theory, but I'll see what I can do, To tell the truth, I was going to propose it to Murdoch as a way of shutting you up, I'll get started organizing a crew immediately, AMANDA: The three witches, It sounds so gloomy, Well, that's what happens when a Norwegian astronomer discovers your planet, The goddesses of fate, Urd, Verandi and Skuld, -Past, present and future, -Yeah, What do you think our fate is going to be? Either way, it's going to be hard, For the colony or for me, And anyone who supported me, I shouldn't have drawn you into this, Larry, you didn't draw me into this, To tell you the truth, I've been trying to find just about every excuse I can to spend some time with you, (CHUCKLES) Sorry, I, ,, (SIGHS) I didn't realize, But I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I know that you still miss Elise, It's just that if you're right and there isn't much time, I wanted to let you know how I felt, (POWERING DOWN) COMPUTER: Initial core sample drilling complete, Ready to begin analysis, How long will it take? LARRY: The scan has to sift through thousands of years worth of sediment, Say, eight to 12 hours I love your choice of trees to terraform this part of the colony, I love the smell when I'm outside hiking in them, Yeah, me too, Reminded me of my place back on earth, Elise and I used to stroll through the trees, It was so peaceful, you know, Just wind in the trees, made me feel safe, When I was little, on nights like this, I used to go into my backyard, I'd stare at the stars for hours, (CHUCKLES) Now I'm looking up there and I'm dying to go back, I came here with a dream to, ,, To, ,, When Elise died and the whole debacle with the first ground break, ,, (CHUCKLES) I'm sorry, I just keep using you to keep me company, to persuade your father, -to cry on your shoulders, -Listen, I knew what I was getting into, I'm gonna make sure you get off this planet, Amanda, Somehow, someway, I'll make sure that you survive, LARRY: All we need now, ,, All we need now is for the fusion engineers to rig up the transmitter, The ship is big enough to get us all off the planet to safety, Are you sure about this, Larry? You've ruined our lives once before, why should we trust you now? (ALL MURMURING) WOMAN: But are you sure? No, I'm not completely sure, What about your core samples? What do they show? I wish they were more definitive, What do you mean, you wish? Look, all experiments have a margin of error, I agree some people could look at this data and say it's not going to happen, Don't you think I've asked myself this question a thousand times? But how can we take the chance? I'm talking about all of us being wiped out, -Oh, please, -(CROWD MURMURING) Please! Please! Please! Let him finish, The core sample suggest, ,, FRANKLIN: They don't show anything, I'm surprised that you'd endorse this, I don't see any layers of ash, All I see is some numbers, That say statically there's a possibility that a thin layer exists? It's too minute to be detected visually? I mean, if a radiation pulse is supposed to wipe out everything on this planet every 1,000 years, shouldn't there be a big layer of charred plants and animals remains every thousand years? (CROWD AGREEING) Maybe they don't! Maybe they don't because all life here has adapted to Janus' solar cycle, (CROWD DISAGREEING) Wait! Wait! I can show you! When survey team discovered this solar system, virtually all life on this planet had disappeared, It barely seemed enough to be able to support the native alien population, It's because of contamination from our advance probes, No one every proved that, (POWERING UP) What I think is that over millions of years life here has adapted to Janus' solar cycles, When a new solar flare period approaches, all life here goes dormant, Goes underground, This is the native soil of this planet, it should have dormant spores, By irradiating this patch of ground we can simulate the Janus pulse, And because of the incredible growth rate of the native plants, we should see something in a matter of seconds, This is absurd, No, I mean, ,, I'll increase the power (RADIATION INTENSIFYING) All right, I've seen enough, No, No, Wait, Wait, Larry, nothing is happening here, I have work to do, It's going to happen, If the corporation knew the planet was unsafe, why send us here? Who chose this planet? Who shares the profit if this colony stays populated for 20 years, Murdoch, Bonus payments for every year that we're here, Oh, for God sake, Financial incentives, Yes, We were all granted them, But I'm not stupid enough to risk my life for them, If we leave and come back, we'll lose the whole harvest, And the construction we started, we'll lose that too, To the winter storms, This is a harsh world, Larry, And these are harsh facts, Everybody getting killed is a harsh fact, No one's going to be around to bail us out, The money will come out of all our pockets and you can bet half of us will die, From hunger or exposure, I'm staying, This is my home, Now, Larry, you have proved one thing, we haven't seen anything happening here, You've proved you're wrong, I want you to keep an eye on him, I won't let him try and destroy this colony, Not again, Larry? (THUNDER RUMBLING) Larry, (CROWD CLAMORING) ROARK: What's going on? You were all briefed five years before you even came here, That we would be subject to ionic disturbances exactly like this, once the ozone level started to rise, We've got a lot of charged particles floating around right now -and that's what's causing the light shift, -Enough of this, -There must be some truth to what Chambers says, -MAN: Yeah, His latest simulation predicted the aurora and this, So far, he's two for two, Maybe we should convene the council over this, take a vote if we need too, Chambers had 46 simulations, 44 show nothing, Now, please, everybody, go home, There's absolutely no danger, (CROWD MURMURING) He's a criminal, More and more people are starting to believe him, The council's on the verge of voting to leave, In a few days it'll blow over, they'll all be laughing at him, What if they vote to leave before that? If only a thousand people get on the ship and go back with Chambers, the colony won't sustain itself, It will collapse, You're really worried about your bonus, My bonus? There're two kinds of people, Bennett, Quitters and winners, I know, My father was a quitter, Most people are, But you want to see a portrait of a quitter, you look at Chambers, So what does that make you? A winner? (LAUGHING) As a young man, Bennett, I found myself on a planet crowded with 10 billion people and no room left at the top, I mean, don't take offense of this, but on earth you'd be a second-rate police sergeant and nowhere to move up to, -Maybe, -Oh, you better believe it, You don't have the connections or the elite school to win the top job, And me? I'd be a minor administrator in a government department that nobody ever heard of, But this, this is a whole new world, They'll actually name cities after us, Bennett, Maybe you'll get a whole mountain, And a kid in a funny beard will play you in his school pageant on founders day, We can create something here, And we can be on top of it, Is that so very bad? But we can't run away, FRANKLIN OVER INTERCOM: Anything yet? FENTON: Not a peep, FRANKLIN: Keep watching, I wanna know when Chambers turns up and if he's meeting with any council members, -Let me know as soon as you see something, -Will do, (GROWLING) FRANKLIN: I've called this emergency council meeting on Fenton's behalf, Fenton, just tell us what you saw, I saw an alien coming out of Chambers' lab, If you saw anything at all it was a fake, There aren't any aliens left alive and if there were, we would have known by now, How can you be so sure? The colonial marines reported they were shape shifters, Maybe that was Chambers, Maybe he's an alien, He's always been obsessed with alien artifacts and alien relics, And now this, It all fits, All aliens are extinct, Look, first we have Chambers apocalypse, what's next here? The lost city of Atlantis? This is insane, What if it's true? (CROWD MURMURING) The rest of you stay outside, You heard me, Step back, Fenton, guard the door, What are you doing here? Security Officer Fenton says he saw an alien leave your lab, And you believe him? Lot of people outside that door do, A lot of them believe you were that alien, I'm just here to put their minds at rest, You got people worked up, Larry, to the point where they'll believe anything, I wanna put a stop to it, Where were you last night at midnight? Here, working alone, Anybody see you here? This is completely insane, No, I have no alibi, if that's what you mean, The only way to confirm this is with a DNA scan, Sure, You have no right to ask me to do anything of this sort, but I'll do it anyway, (SCANNER BEEPING) (SCANNER BEEPING) (EXHALES) His readings aren't normal, They're definitely not human, (CROWD CLAMORING) MAN: He's an alien! For God's sake, if I was an alien why would I do all this? Why would I go to all the trouble trying to warn people about a planetary disaster? And why wouldn't I just appear as an alien? Wouldn't that be the best way to convince you? Close the door, (CROWD CLAMORING) You know why, Revenge, When they first discovered this planet, they attempted to move you to reservations, But you resisted, So the government sent out a unit of colonial marines, Oh, my God, They butchered them? They put out a cover story that there had been a terrible tragic plague, But the soldiers reported that all of the natives had been eliminated, Obviously, the soldiers were wrong, So, you see, there's every reason for you to preach gloom and doom, You want us all to leave, So that you and any of your surviving race can have your planet back, Not to mention, our satellite defenses, our round base laser batteries, all our heavy weapons that we'll be forced to leave behind, Once your kind gets control of them, we'll never be able to land here again, Why are you doing this? Our sun is going to flash over and then nothing is going to be left except some hardware, Look, I have sympathy for you, But my first responsibility is to the people of this colony, I can't let all we worked for, all Chambers himself worked for, to be destroyed by this, What are you planning to do? I'm gonna hold a closed hearing before the council, And then, we're bound to follow the government's directive, I'm very sorry, Place him in confinement, This is ridiculous, Amanda, you've got to talk some sense into them, You rigged this, You're just trying to get rid of me, (CROWD CLAMORING) Amanda, they're lying, They just don't wanna leave the planet, No, let me talk to her, please, Please, Amanda, I would never hurt you, You know me, Better than anyone has known me in a long time, At least, save yourself, You've got to get off this planet, Let go off me, You really don't think I'm Larry Chambers? I don't know what to think, Don't think, Just, just listen to your heart, You know I'm telling you the truth, I am Larry Chambers, (DOOR CLOSES) (DOOR SLIDES OPEN) What do you want from me, Frank? I'll do whatever you want, just let Amanda go and her father, Get them one of the small star freighters and let them leave, We need every freighter we've got, It's a billion dollar asset we can't afford to lose, you know that, What did you do to Larry Chambers? Damn it, stop fooling around! Just tell me what you want! I want to keep this colony safe! I wanna keep this colony safe, Then we've gotta get out of here, We're not leaving, (SIGHS) So now what? You're gonna kill me? I don't feel good about that, Larry, I mean, I'm sorry, what do you call yourself? (SCOFFS) If you had just said earlier on that you made a mistake, none of this would have happened, So you framed me? Why would I do that? So you wouldn't have to leave, So you could stay here and then be a big fish in a small pond, I don't know, ,, If you are Larry Chambers, what happened when you vanished into the woods three years ago? (SIGHS) I had to get away, When Elise died, I lost control, I lost all sense of time and space, My life was about one thing, Her, Building a home for us, Without her I had no life, I just wanted to disappear and die, But, ,, Eventually, I realized I wanted to live, And I came back, You came back a changed man, And now we know what that change was, What do you want from me? It's not what I want, It's what the law demands, Amanda? What's going on? I need a neutralizer, You're the only one who can get me one, I'm not going to get you one, -What do you need it for? -I have to get in to see Larry, I have to test his blood again, There's no need to do that, You saw him test it, If they lied to us about what they did to the aliens on this planet, what makes you think they're not lying about Larry, They could have rigged that scan, (SIGHS) That's why I brought my own analyzer, -I'll talk to Murdoch, I'm sure, ,, -What? Stall until, ,, We're all dead? Dad, listen we don't have time, Amanda, you can't ignore the law just because it's inconvenient, Even if it's costing us our lives? I mean, I don't know what to believe, I don't know what is going on, but I just keep coming back to the same thing, What if he's right? I mean, what if in spite of all the inconclusive tests and the failures, he's telling us the truth? I can't just do nothing, You can't just do nothing, Dad, I need to see Dr, Chambers, I'll have to clear that with Chief Bennett first, Sorry, wrong answer, (DOOR SLIDES OPEN) -LARRY: Amanda, -Wait, Put your hand in, -We've gotta get out of here, -Not until you put your hand in, Please, Now, (SCANNER BEEPING) (MACHINE BEEPS) I'm only seeing the parameters of a normal human reference sample, So nothing alien about you, -I'm sorry, -Now, can we go? Come on, we've gotta get you off this planet, We'll steal the star freighter at the docking bay, CHIEF BENNETT: Fenton, this is Bennett, Do you read me? Fenton? Something's wrong, Sound the alarm, (ALARM BLARING) They're going for the ship! Larry, what are you doing? I've gotta open the hangar door, We can do that from inside the ship, No, they'll override it, Go on, There's no time, Larry, I'll be right there, Larry, don't be stupid, It's your only chance, Give me that neutralizer, I'll be right there, (GUARDS CLAMORING) Here I am, Frank, LARRY: No reason to be afraid, Not with all those good, honest people behind you, Put it down, Larry, and move away from the door, You're afraid for the wrong reason, right? This world is going to be destroyed in a matter of hours and there's nothing anyone can do about it, That's a hell of a lot more frightening than any alien could ever be, -Put it down, -You know what the funny thing is? You've already killed the colony, You've killed its heart, its soul, You've turned neighbor against neighbor until we're no longer a family, We're just a, ,, A mob of frightened people, All right, Frank, You win, -(MACHINE BEEPS) -No! (GUARDS CLAMORING) No! -No! -Strap in, Powering, Lift off in 30 seconds, (SCREAMS) Larry! AMANDA: Larry! Let me out, (GRUNTS) Wait! Stop it! Pull away from him! No! Get away! Dr, Chambers, What are you saying? See Elise can, ,, I'm sorry, I truly am, COMPUTER: Launch sequence initiated, It was gonna kill us, We had to, Fenton, Stop the ship, -Panel's frozen, -Unfreeze it, It's too late, It's too late when I say it's too late, COMPUTER: Nine, -FRANKLIN: Close the launch bay doors, -Eight, -Seven, six,  -It's too late, Five, four, three, two, one, Launching, (CRYING) (WATCH BEEPS) Ten, nine, eight, seven, ,, FRANKLIN ON PA: Six, five, four, ,, Three, two, one, -Zero, -(CLICKS) So much for Chambers theory, Did you ever believe him? Yes, I did, For a second, It was hard not to, We needed that ship, We didn't need to kill them too, We didn't kill Chambers, A mob did, But we set up that mob, Based on blood tests you doctored, Of all the people in the colony they were the most honest humans, And the most gentle, I don't know how you rigged it, -And I don't wanna know, -It was easy, I used my own blood, What? You should have listened to Chambers, He was right, We've had millennia of experience, Nature taught us how to adapt, You taught us how to deceive, -What are you talking about? -(THUNDER RUMBLING) CHIEF BENNETT: You should be happy, Because you were right also, With the weaponry we'll be inheriting, we can defend ourselves against the next wave of invaders, And since you didn't fly away, we'll have your starships too, And we'll be able to move some of our people to new worlds that don't have this troublesome problem, (CRACKING) I'm afraid you were absolutely correct, You missed some of us, No, No, No! No! (SNARLING) (SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE) CONTROL VOICE: Mankind will be forever doomed to destruction if we continue to ask for the truth,