Destination Moonbase-Alpha (1978) Movie Script
Moonbase Alpha, the well-established and colonized space station,
is regularly monitored and smoothly functioning.
Atomic waste disposal is one of the biggest problems of our time.
Simmons, you assigned me up here to clear up this mess.
That's what I'm trying to do.
Everything proceeded normally, until one day,
on the dark side of the moon, a malfunction
started in the nuclear prime.
The resulting chain reaction caused
an immense atomic explosion, blasting the moon out of Earth orbit.
The totally unforeseen accident on the lunar surface has caused very serious repercussions
here on Earth. The gravity disruption, the earthquakes in the United States along the
San Andreas Fault and in Yugoslavia, as well as southern France, has caused enormous damage
to life and property.
The International Lunar Commission is an executive conference at this moment deciding what steps
might be taken to rescue the 311 men and women on moon base alpha.
Little hope is held, however, that there are any survivors.
It has now been established that the moon's acceleration away from Earth has put it beyond
the reach of any Earth launch.
The near-crippled Moonbase Alpha plunged deeper into outer space,
virtually in free flight in the universe, unable by its own resources to return to Earth.
For the survivors of the doomed Moonbase Alpha, the date-time is now well into the 21st century.
In command of Moonbase Alpha, veteran astronaut John Koenig.
In charge of the Moonbase Medical Center, Dr. Helena Russell.
Maya, a metamorph who joined Moonbase Alpha from the outer planet Psycheon.
She had mastered the art of molecular transformation.
The ability to change herself at will into any other form of life she chose.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
He he he!
Whee!
Woo hoo!
Commander Koenig.
Tony, you'd better see this.
John, what the hell's going on up there?
John, what's going on up there?
Uh-oh!
Come in, John!
John, can you hear me?
Hey! Look, Ma, no hands!
Do you read me?
Ooh, baby! Look out!
There was a report of an increase in the neutron card.
The commander went up to investigate.
Haven't had so much fun since I burned Grandma's wig.
Medical unit, stand by.
Hey, you really gotta try this.
You have to fly this baby to really believe it.
It's terrific.
Hallelujah! There are angels everywhere!
He's heading for the nuclear waste dumps.
It's too low. He'll hit one of the domes.
John, get out of there. That's lethal.
Come and join us. Come and join us.
Come and join our happy band.
Ha, ha, ha!
Yoo-hoo!
Whee!
Ha, ha, ha!
Alan, take over that eagle by remote.
Medical rescue unit to the launch area.
Crash unit full to launch area.
He's deactivated the remote control.
I can't take over.
If he hits one of those domes, he could cause a nuclear explosion.
No, that will need a specific stimulation with atomic fuel.
He's gonna crash. Alan, get over there.
Take a couple of nuclear physicists with you, just in case.
Erlich, backwards.
Keep your heads out! Big Daddy's coming in!
John, get out of there!
The End
I'm sorry.
Moonbase Alpha status report, 1912 days since leaving Earth orbit.
Dr. Helena Russell recording.
Commander Koenig, while piloting Eagle 10,
became suddenly irrational and unresponsive.
He crashed in the area of the nuclear waste domes.
I've got it all on film.
What's the radiation count?
Negative.
All clear.
- It was lucky.
- Will he be okay?
- He's got severe concussion.
It's a feedback complex, Maya.
It takes brain impulses, modifies them,
feeds it back into the brain.
It's like a brain massage.
Electronic.
It is still experimental.
Then you don't know the side effects.
Is it worth a risk?
If I don't take the risk...
What happened to him up there?
I don't know.
Tony, I have something on the screen.
I'm on my way, son.
Hang in there, John.
Come a mile.
What is it?
It's too far away to tell.
Ma?
Sensors pick up configuration of a spaceship.
Range?
90,210,000 miles.
Heading?
Directly at us.
Medical center.
Helena, how long before I can talk to John?
15 minutes at the earliest.
He's linked to that brain complex, Tony.
I don't dare break the sequence.
Okay, thanks.
Even at the speed of light, it would take that spacecraft
almost an hour to reach out for.
What happened to the monitoring crew that went out to the nuclear waste area?
They're on their way back to report.
Tony, range 40 million miles.
It's impossible.
That means it's exceeding the speed of light.
32 million miles.
Well, we're lucky.
Damage to that nuclear dome was minimal.
Yeah, not a trace of radiation leak.
The nuclear waste area is stable.
Yeah, I was gonna say that way too for centuries,
unless some fool drills a hot plutonium...
Magnify.
Alan, what do you make of that thing?
That is a super swift.
No, it can't be.
But it is, I tell you.
A super swift never got off the drawing board.
No, not before we left Earth. But things have changed.
Physics hasn't changed.
That thing is traveling faster than the speed of light.
Sure in hell looks like the drawings are super swift.
Yeah, it seems like human technology to me.
It could be from Earth.
Now, whatever that thing is out there,
let's not get sentimental about it.
Tony, it's moving into land.
Weapons section, armhole lasers.
Open a channel.
Moonbase Alpha, the spaceship. Identify yourself.
Repeat, identify.
Moonbase offered a spaceship. Identify yourself.
Repeat, identify.
Tony, they're trying to come through.
It's Guido.
Hiya, little brother.
It's my brother, Guido.
Guido.
- Holy Guido! - Holy!
I saw you on that screen. I didn't believe it!
I still don't believe it!
- I bet you! - I'm so scared.
Are you still keeping that guard up, Carter?
Well, I still got the Houston-based championship, buddy.
Only because I couldn't get up here for a rematch.
Dr. Shaw!
- Good night, Diana. - Hey, darling.
Ah.
Now look, brother, I'm a captain.
Now I want a little respect from you.
Oh, yeah, well, that cuts both ways.
I don't know you.
How is your handicap?
Hi.
Oh, Henry, I hate to have to tell you this,
but I can put a shot in the crater at 1,600 yards.
How's your handicap?
- I am.
- You won't look at you, Sophie.
- It's white green grass and fresh hair.
- Oh.
- You know?
- Well, hello.
- Hello.
Could you tell me where I could find Dr. Ben Vincent?
- Mm-hmm.
Oh, you're his sister, right?
- No.
- Oh, his daughter?
- No.
- I know you're his grandmother.
- No.
- Oh boy, I guess that only means you're gonna tell me
what I'm afraid you're gonna tell me.
- Yes, I'm his fiance.
- Well done, Spoh.
- Wonderful.
- Did you make that physiotherapy major?
- Oh, without your coaching, it was difficult.
But I made it.
- Okay, well, listen, I gotta,
Got a lot of stiff tendons all around here.
You know?
All around here?
You've got it, Jeremy. You've got it, Jeremy.
Word for word for God.
Hey, listen, listen. Hold it. Hold it, everybody.
Come on now.
Now, listen. Just try and contain yourselves for a little while.
You've all naturally got thousands of things you want to know.
You bet you tens of thousands.
Okay, how are things back on Earth? How are things back on Earth?
The time it took us to get here, how we finally made it.
When are we going to get back?
Yes, and when you're going to get back to Earth.
All the whys and the wherefores.
Now look, just give us a minute or two to get our breath back,
and then we'll have a nice, relaxed session.
We'll answer all your questions, everything you want to know.
Okay, everybody.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
What is that?
Come on, I'll introduce you.
What?
Maya, this is my brother, Guido.
His elder brother, and his smarter brother, and his handsome brother.
In every other way, he's a poor second.
Put it there, old buddy.
Certainly, old buddy.
Is it always like this between you?
No, no.
I usually dominate him effortlessly.
Oh, he has to have his little fantasies.
It comes from the fact that I always stole his girls.
That's because he could never get any of his own.
Oh, come on, I'll introduce you.
Helena, this is Peter Rockwell.
Hello, how are you?
He's a pilot.
We were going to get married when my tour of duty on Alpha ended.
I've heard a lot about you.
I thought I'd lost her for good.
Never underestimate the extent of human inventiveness.
You always did take that view.
You knew each other before?
Dr. Shaw was my tutor at medical college.
He taught me everything there is to know about being a doctor.
Um, what do you do, Guido?
He's a cab driver.
I kept him the super swift that brought us here.
It's a miracle anybody made it.
How did you attain a speed faster than light?
Um, a little old earth has progressed. You see, um, physics came up with a new wrinkle.
We can now make loops and continue.
Oh, don't let him fool you, Maya. He hasn't got the faintest idea what he's talking about.
Yeah, it was Reinhardt who made the breakthrough at Cambridge.
Cambridge, England.
Massachusetts.
It means we can travel anywhere in the universe now.
The journey back to Earth, well, it's just a bus ride in Earth time.
We're just the scouting party.
The big transporters will be along soon, and then it's goodbye moon for everyone.
Oh, I can't wait.
Maya?
She'll be all right.
How's Mama?
You know, Mama,
she's making you a mound of pasta the size of Vesuvius.
And the sauce...
I know, I know. Everything in it but holy water.
How did she take it when the news broke that we'd blown out?
Three days of weeping,
and then two weeks of phoning the White House to demand action.
Oh, boy, that's Mama.
And then she finally decided simply not to believe it.
The scientists were talking out of their navel as usual.
It was simply a matter of time.
And Papa.
He went quiet.
And he got thin.
Yeah, sure.
Look in praise.
I've been here for a long time.
I know.
And where did you meet?
Oh, somebody's party.
You look a little lost.
I'll help you.
Perhaps later.
Trouble?
I bet she's been looking for John ever since she got here.
She knew him before I did.
Does that give her territorial rights?
Well, you know Diana Morris.
She's like the Fifth Cavalry.
Whenever she plants her flag is home.
Oh, well, I think I'll just leave you to it.
Oh, thanks a lot.
Helena, darling, we haven't had a proper little chat.
No, we haven't, Diana, but there's lots of time for that.
Oh, you poor dear.
It must have been terrible here.
It's obviously been awfully wary.
I think space is generally very hard on women.
How long is it that you've been, uh...
What is it, uh, navigating officer?
Still, there's something to be said for a marooned society.
It does limit men's choices.
And the women's opportunities.
I've always made my own opportunities.
There are some of us who still prefer them to come to us.
Hey, Clive, you're always with the camera, huh?
Is there anything you don't get on tape?
This is for the record.
And this little baby's watching history being made.
It's only one thing, Clive.
Well, what's that?
You won't get to be in the picture.
How do you get along with John Koenig?
Well, in a small community, uh,
everyone has to get along with everybody else.
Cozy.
Isn't it?
Do you, uh, find him interesting?
He's everything you said he was.
I'm glad you can second my opinion.
As a matter of fact, he's much more than you said he was.
There are depths to him that I'm sure you never found out about.
I must look for them at once. Where is he?
At the moment, he is linked to an Ellendorf quadrographic brain complex.
How very wise of you, darling.
Hi.
Thank you.
This is a medical monitor.
Now, this is strategically placed so that from anywhere on out
where we can keep a check on our patients.
That's a good rational setup.
Hey, why don't we get out of this heavy traffic, huh?
I know a nice, cozy spot.
Ben.
Oh!
I wonder if you wouldn't mind, Ben.
I have some very important questions that I would have put to Louisa.
You know, about the shape of things back on Earth,
the configuration of the modern female form.
My darling.
Oh, darling, where have you got John on this brain machine?
I'm dying to see him.
Can't I see him?
Please, I know he's longing to see me.
John?
Oh, my God.
Ah!
Ben!
Hans-Rom was trying to kill Cole.
He's all right.
The cycle's completed.
If it had happened earlier...
- Mike, what happened? - Are you all right?
- What happened? - I'll tell you what happened.
- Wait a minute, Ben. - He tried a kilconic.
- Ben, now just take it easy. - Kilconic! I have to kilconic!
He destroyed us! He destroyed us!
- All right. - He destroyed us!
Here we go. Here we go. Easy.
What about fashions? What's everybody wearing?
Well, there's a lot of silver about.
Necklines tend to be a little lower.
Skirts tend to be a little higher.
Now, where do you think you're going?
Well, I...
I didn't want to disturb the big reunion.
What are you talking about?
Oh, I... I don't want to disturb everybody.
Oh, don't be so ridiculous.
You couldn't disturb anybody. Now, come on.
No, no. Please, Tony.
Um, I've got to check some computers.
My number three.
Come here.
Hey, greet 'em.
What I want to know is what kind of propulsion you use to boost you past the speed of light.
It's a development of the ion rocket.
Look, I always knew you were naive.
Me? Naive?
Yeah.
But I never knew you were shy before.
I do love your makeup.
Diana, this is Maya.
How do you do?
Maya is a psychon.
She's the last of her species.
I'm not surprised.
Tell me, how do you manage to keep so fit up here?
Well, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, we manage.
Do you jog?
What?
Jog.
Oh.
I do think exercise is so important to a man, don't you?
Yeah, I couldn't survive that.
I mean, I think it's so important to his physical well-being.
Maya!
I do a little yoga myself.
You can get into some lovely positions.
What happened to the commando and the eagle?
Do you suppose it could have anything to do with Sandstrom going berserk?
In what way?
Well, could it be infectious?
Contagious?
I found no evidence of virus or bacteria in John's blood samples.
Hello.
How do you feel?
You tell me.
You look great to me.
You're fine.
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's get this off of you. Come on.
Okay. Gently.
- All right? - Yeah.
- Eagle time. - Totaled.
What happened, John?
How long was I out?
Just over five hours.
Five hours?
You're lucky. Your skull took quite a bang.
Without this complex, it could have been weeks.
John, what happened?
What do you mean, what happened?
Everyone must have seen what happened.
Rocket malfunction.
Well, that's what it was, wasn't it?
The investigation crew found no evidence of rocket malfunction.
That means pilot error.
That's terrific.
John, it wasn't pilot error. We don't know what happened.
You seem to have lost control of yourself.
I don't remember anything other than going out to check that...
that neutron count.
-John. -Yeah?
A rescue expedition has landed here on Alpha from Earth.
What?
From Earth. They came in a super swift.
Super swift?
Tony's brother Guido captained it.
And Dr. Shaw is here.
Dr. Shaw?
You remember Dr. Shaw. I've told you all about Dr. Shaw.
Of course I remember Dr. Shaw. Very, very old indeed.
And sans fianc, Peter.
Sans fianc.
-Fiance fiance. -And Professor Hunter.
Professor Hunter.
And, uh...
Diana Morris.
Diana Morris.
Oh, well.
Now, Helena, please don't even joke about that barracuda.
Only you're not joking.
Oh.
You really mean it.
You mean, uh, somehow something worked.
-Yes. -You mean I got it licked.
They're really here.
Yes.
And we can get back to Earth.
Yes.
Oh, Helena.
Yes, yes.
Helena, Helena.
Yes, yes, yes.
Helena.
Oh.
OK, now, give it the name.
Give it the name.
Give it the name.
Keep the arms straight.
Keep the arms straight, and then get your eye on the ball.
I didn't know you had such a big thing going with Dinah
Martin.
with my romantic past.
I wouldn't have thought she was your type.
We were childhood sweethearts.
Oh, Donna Morris was never a child.
Would you believe we met in the jazz ballet group at MIT?
- Oh, you liar. - I'm not a liar.
The commander's on his way.
John, good to see you back.
Sure.
Good, John. Oh, boy.
John! Darling!
Don't come here, we can stay away from that.
John, it's my brother Guido.
What's the matter, John?
This is Guido, my brother.
Are you all right?
Stay back. Don't come near me.
What's the matter, John?
Alan, what's the matter with you?
Tony.
Helena.
Maya, what's the matter with you?
What's wrong with him?
He's fine.
Well, he's as erratic as he was up in the Eagle.
John, they're friends.
Tony, they're not your friends.
They're... they're horrible.
Ugly, hideous.
All right, now, take it easy, John. It's all right.
Tony, listen, Tony, just calm down.
Listen, wait a minute.
- Listen to me. - You'll be all right.
- Listen to me! - You just calm down!
Tony!
Clear to command center!
- John! - Stay behind me. Stay behind me.
Weapons excellent.
Arm all lasers!
Destroyed on any of your ship.
Weapons section, abort laser gun.
Damn you, Tony! I won't come out!
John, it's all right!
Evan!
Stay clear, Tony.
John, no!
Status report, supplemental.
John Koenig continues his odd behavior.
He has no awareness that he acted strangely just before his crash.
With great reluctance, I've put him in restraint.
Better get out of here. Out of here.
Things to be done. Answers. Answers. Gotta find answers to be found.
John, take it easy. It's all right.
Danger. Danger. The entire base. It's in danger.
Helena, can't you do something?
Everybody in the base.
I'm trying, Tony.
His blood pressure's up. His adrenaline level is very high.
Gotta get out. Gotta get out.
Helena!
Yes, John. Now, please, just take it easy.
Those things out there, what are they? What do they want?
John, will you listen to me? Those are people out there from Earth.
Now, you know some of them. They've come to take us home.
They're not people! Are you blind?
John, please trust us.
Why can't you see what you've got out there?
Dr. Shaw, would you please assist me?
Get that out of here!
Get that out of here!
Get that out of here!
Get it out of here!
Get it out of here!
I'm sorry, Dr. Shaw.
Of course. Help.
He's the last man I would have expected to flip out.
Tony, Helena, let me out of here, please.
I've got to get out of here. I've got... No, Helena, don't! Don't! Please!
No.
If you didn't let Ben Vincent out of your range,
Koenig would be dead now.
He interfered.
He escaped the Eagle crash we arranged, and now this.
He's hard to kill, this John Koenig.
We can arrange to control him.
Why fear him?
He is a strong leader.
His mind is no longer under our control.
Something has interfered.
He's in position now.
There is resistance.
I need help.
Helena, could that medical apparatus have aggravated his condition?
The complex was tested extensively.
Ellendorf's results were quite impressive.
I just don't know, Tony.
His mind.
Oh, he wouldn't just cave in, not John Koenig.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Mount Hunter? - Maya, we've got trouble in the records lab.
But how do you explain that wild ride of his on Eagle 10
and his claim that Guido and the others are monsters?
Tony, I'm at the records lab. We have an emergency.
- Maya, what happened? - He's jammed the lock on his side.
We can't control them all at the same time.
Concentrate on candor.
What's happening?
Candor's trapped inside.
Stand back. I've lost it over there.
Alan, wait! The emergency oxygen supply, he's got it full on.
They upload the whole place to pieces.
Tony, I can get you to the air vent.
She's a letter move.
- -
He's dead.
Tony, we're sorry about this tragedy you just had.
I know this isn't the time to talk about other matters,
but we're rapidly getting out of the range of Earth.
And if we're gonna get you all home,
we have to address ourselves the problem.
There's a pilot ship that'll go back first.
There'd be room for three people on it.
If there's anyone you'd like to suggest...
Tony, we should get to it as soon as possible.
Yeah, okay.
All right, everybody. This is Ed.
You ready?
I think I'm more nervous than anybody.
Ehrlich.
Hee hee!
From old beach, here I come!
Hee hee, boy!
Bartlett's.
Carter.
You did it, Alice! Fantastic!
- -
Well, you win some, you lose some.
- My eyes clear. Pulse rate normal. - Yes.
- Blood pressure down? - Yes.
- Do I seem rational to you? - Yes.
Fine.
Now, will you believe that when I look at our friends from Earth,
I don't see what you see?
What do you see?
Something hideous.
Something ugly and horrendous and hostile and deadly.
Now, please listen to me. Please listen to me.
Look, please let me get out of here!
No, please, don't do that. Don't do that.
Please. Please don't do that.
Don't do that.
Look.
Don't you find it very strange
that all the personnel on that rescue ship are people you know,
I mean, close relatives and friends.
What do you think the odds are against that? Aren't they pretty heavy?
Not really. They're all volunteers, John.
They specifically asked to come.
Fine. Okay, fine.
What about the pilot ship?
You said you drew lots to see who'd go first.
Yes.
That Ehrlich, Bartlett, and Hallen were the winners.
- That's right.
- Now don't you find that strange?
The three men chosen are members
of the radioactive monitoring team.
Isn't that strange?
- John, I drew the names.
- What's the matter with you?
Can't you see you're being manipulated?
What's happened to your instincts?
Why won't you listen to me?
You're all blind!
- Hey, old systems are go here.
What's the hold-up, Alpha?
Tony, the pilot ship is ready for liftoff.
Tony, don't! Don't let them go!
Don't let them go, please!
Helena, don't let them go! Don't! No! No! Don't let them go!
No.
Oh, my God!
I'm sorry.
There it is. Earth.
Did you ever see such a beautiful sight?
It's incredible.
It's only been a few hours, hasn't it?
Or has it?
Well, that's why they said the breakthrough they made was all about time.
Don't you go away, blue eyes.
I gotta tell the guys back on Alpha about this.
Hey, you guys.
It's beautiful.
It's beautiful!
Maybe this will convince John,
now that somebody's actually seen Earth again.
Are you all right?
Oh, terrific. What the hell happened?
I hit him with my stick.
Dr. Schiller.
What's your opinion?
His vital signs are very erratic.
This could be causing his mental instability.
Well, if there's anything more I can do.
I'll ask. Thank you.
All right, Maya.
Let's see if he'll respond.
John.
John.
John, Maya's here.
She has something to show you.
It's a recording.
That's the pilot ship.
That's an eagle.
I can see her.
It's blue, blue and beautiful.
We're getting close about a minute.
They're in an eagle.
John, why can't you accept what we all tell you?
Maya, what do you see out there in the command center?
People from Earth.
Oh, I was hoping.
I thought your different brain structure
would have resisted their telepathic control.
Who's telepathic control?
Maya, when you look, you see people from Earth.
When I look, I see monsters from a different dimension.
One of us is wrong.
Will you accept that it could be you?
Well, that would mean, of course, that everyone else is wrong.
Maya, I'm the only one on this base who was hooked up to that machine.
Well, either the machine has distorted your consciousness...
Or protected it.
Telepathic control.
Well, it's possible.
I find it odd that everyone from Earth is somebody's friend.
It's against probability.
Everyone's a friend because everyone's out of someone's memory.
Yes.
They could have tapped everyone's mind and projected what they needed
out of what they found there.
They couldn't project strangers
because people we've never seen can't be in our memories.
Wait a minute.
Maya sees these people, too, and they can't be in her memory.
It is possible that they could project images from other people's minds into my mind.
If they have control over our minds,
why are they letting us have this conversation?
Perhaps they're letting us for a purpose.
Well, maybe they have to be present to exert that control.
Right. Ben did say that he knew Sandstrom was trying to kill you,
but he couldn't do anything about it.
And then when Alan took Louisa away from him,
He regained control of himself.
And in the records lab, Kanda,
they took him over,
controlled his mind.
He must have made a discovery which threatened them.
He didn't go berserk.
They made him release the oxygen causing the explosion which killed him.
If only we knew what it was that he'd found out.
Now listen to this.
We've been in space for months.
In Earth time, that's generations.
If they are from Earth,
they have to be hundreds of years older than they appear.
That should have occurred to me.
Didn't occur to you because they wouldn't let it.
The reason they haven't been able to control my mind is because...
I was hooked to that machine.
There may be no causal effect, but...
it is a tenable theory.
Helena...
- Do we tell Tony? - No.
Our best weapon is surprise.
If we tell Tony, they may probe his mind and take away the one advantage we've got.
Maya, would you let Helena give you the same treatment I had?
- The brain complex, John. - Yes.
Well, I don't know if she can withstand that.
I'm willing.
If the commander's right.
Well, look, then it should be me, not Maya.
But you can handle the machine. We can't.
Helena, if I'm right, there are things Maya can do that you can't.
Oh, you little beauty.
Well, what's the first thing you're gonna do, Joe?
Find a golf course where I don't hit a mile.
You?
Me?
Her name's Jeannie.
How about you, Jack?
Her name's Caroline.
She's five years old.
She's got her mother's eyes.
Hey, son.
What would you and Peter like as a wedding present from little old Earth?
Just to be there.
Will you look at that weather pattern?
I swear it's snowing over California.
Hey, smile when you say that, man.
Maya?
Maya?
Maya?
How do you feel?
Normal.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Well, here we go in the carousel.
Hey, down there, Earth Control.
This is Swift, Pilotship Two. Do you read me?
Do you want me to fly this crate in?
This is New York Control reading you loud and clear.
We have you locked into the computer.
You don't have to do a thing.
Just you sit back and enjoy the ride.
I hear you, O Earth man.
Alan Carter to Moonbase Alpha.
We're now going into Earth orbit and then on down for a landing.
Well?
Ticking over like a flawless machine, as always.
Good.
Helena.
What do you see out there?
Dr. Shaw and San's fiance, Peter.
Maya.
Oh, they look like the plasma that forms on some organic matter when it begins to decompose.
Oh, boy, don't they look beautiful.
You got your historic lines ready?
How about it's a small step from mine, Don?
Well, who said it had to be original?
What are you gonna say, Alan?
Where is the nearest John?
Well, that will make the history books.
This is New York Control. You're coming in clean and neat.
We have you on automatic pilot.
You're about to touch down right in the middle of little old New York.
Let's get this luggage into the hotel.
I sure hope we get a room with a view.
Forget the view. What I want to do is to get to a telephone.
In the old days, they used to call this town the Big Apple.
Everything going according to plan.
Yes, one of them is to stay here to prime the doves.
I'll send the other two for the nuclear trigger.
What do they want?
There's one way to find out.
Oh, I think I know.
I really hate to ask you, Maya, but--
They're so repulsive.
If there was any other way.
Maya, remember, they know you're a metamorphic,
So be careful.
We haven't much time. We are beginning to lose energy rapidly.
Two aliens have been dispatched for the nuclear trigger.
Once they energize it, we will take our fill.
All the alien creatures will die.
They are of no consequence.
They are so ugly.
Naturally, they are of no consequence.
Nevertheless, they will be happy before they die.
Which of our number is that?
It has our shape, but it is not of our species.
Come here.
Stop that one.
Come on.
I'm sorry.
What do they want here?
Well, their planet ran out of radiation.
They're starving.
Unless they get a huge intake soon, they're gonna die.
They want a nuclear waste dump so that they--
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
That could be beneficial to us.
Let's give them our nuclear waste.
- It's not that easy. - Why not?
Well, they need the kind of intense radiation
they will get from blowing up the dumps.
Blowing them up? That would destroy us.
We've got control of our minds so that we don't know what we're doing when we blow them up.
Why haven't they just blown up the dumps themselves?
They have very little kinetic energy.
They don't seem to be able to handle physical activity.
They plan to manipulate us into exploding them for them.
How?
By making us think that we're doing one thing when actually we're doing something else.
It's what they did to me and the Eagle.
Wait a minute.
Alan, Bartlett, and Ehrlich.
That's where they really are.
Still on the surface.
And they were flying in an eagle.
I still see the pilot ship.
They're at the atomic waste dumps.
They're going to detonate them.
They can't do that without atomic fuel.
There's your atomic fuel.
That's the trigger to blow up the dumps.
They blew it.
They won't know they're doing it.
Computer, close and lock entrance to Atomic Fuel store.
I've got to get to an eagle.
Hold it, John. Where do you think you're going?
Tony, I must have an eagle.
Tony, listen to me.
Now, stay back.
Paula?
How did he get out of medical center?
He just broke loose.
Then why the hell didn't you give the alarm?
He could have hurt himself and us.
I'm sorry, Tony. I'll... I'll keep him under restraints.
Yeah. Well, you do that.
All right, you stay with the commander.
Make sure he's properly taken care of.
Yes.
You coming, Dr. Shaw?
Helena!
Commander.
Helena.
John.
-Hala. -They're still in the atomic fuel store.
Now, how long would it take to process
all our people on that machine?
Make every one of our people immune to those aliens.
It would take days.
Days, John.
Unless we can break the aliens' hold on our people,
I'll never be able to save Alpha.
There may be a way.
Why didn't I think of it?
What?
I sometimes use a sonic anesthetic instead of drugs.
It's called white noise, and it works
by blocking nerve paths in the synapses in the brain.
That would obstruct the telepathic input of the aliens.
It would have to be amplified and transmitted
to all of our people.
All right, let's go.
Helena, stay away from those aliens in command center.
Otherwise, I'll take you over again.
Make sure these things are set to stun.
Let's hope the aliens don't read your mind, Helena.
Try and use our people to stop us.
Hold it.
We're set to kill.
Don't worry!
What the hell is going on here?
Shut up!
Hello.
That's as much amplification as I can give it.
What about Alan and the others on the surface?
Will the sound reach them?
They'll be getting it to their helmet receivers.
But it won't be powerful enough if the aliens choose to block it.
Deltoni!
Beget the power from energy!
They've disappeared.
They've vanished.
We've won.
The atomic fuel store.
We haven't stopped them.
They're on their way to Bartlett with a trigger.
Tony, Maya.
I'm sorry.
The End
The aliens know about the white noise.
They must be concentrating all their power on Allen, Ehrlich, and Bartlett.
You said they were starmen.
Where were they getting their strength?
Well, every piece of electrical equipment on Alpha
emits a minute amount of radiation.
They must be getting it from that.
Hello, Ann.
Yes?
Cut all non-essential power, all except communications.
Out.
I can't see them, John.
They've got to be down there somewhere.
Alan, this is Commander Koenig. Do you read me?
Alan?
Alan, are you receiving me?
Come in, Alan.
Answer, Alan.
This is Eagle Horn to Alan Carter.
Are you receiving?
There's something over there, to the left.
Switch on scanners.
There they are.
Alan, Ehrlich, this is Koenig.
Do you read me? Do you read me?
Alan, do you read me?
Alan, do you read me?
Come in, Alan.
Touchdown in front of them, Tony.
No, Commander. The terrain is too crumbly.
With the weight of the Eagle, we go straight through the surface.
We'll use a harness. We'll drop me in front of them.
Aye.
Maya, prepare to depressurize.
Decompression complete. Lower away.
I'm sorry.
Alan, stop!
Alan, stop! You don't know what you're doing!
Erlich! Stop him! Erlich!
Dylan! Dylan, stop!
- -
Oh, my God.
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
Recompression complete, Tony.
All right, now move it, Maya. Move.
Alan!
Screw it!
Alan, it's me!
John!
- -
Alec, listen to me!
Alec, listen to me!
Alec, you don't know what you're doing!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
- -
Commander, Erlnix losing air, his tank's punctured.
Tony, Erlnix lost most of his air.
We've got to get him back to Alvin.
But fast. He needs to pressurize him.
It's his only chance.
Coming in now, John.
Alan!
Alan, wait!
Alan!
Alan! Alan, wait!
Alan! Alan!
Alan!
Alan!
All right, Tony. Take him up.
Barclay, come out here and get me a hand.
Oh, my God.
When you're inside, you will seal the door.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Maya.
Yes, Commander?
There are aliens everywhere, all over the place.
Well, they have no power to harm you, either mentally or physically.
They need all of their energies to control Alan and Bartlett.
He can't get through. They've got the door sealed.
They have reached a nuclear core.
Soon we will have all the radiation we need.
Oh, my God.
The End
We broke them through.
It doesn't matter.
They will resist him.
- Maya. - Yes, Commander.
How come the aliens are still controlling Alan and Bartlett?
Everything's closed down. Where are they getting their energy?
Well, the human brain generates electrical activity.
There may be enough among the population of Alpha to keep them going at survival level.
When people are unconscious, their brain activity is reduced, isn't it?
Very greatly.
Alan, I want everyone on the base knocked out,
with the exception of yourself and the chief engineer.
- You mean unconscious? - I mean unconscious.
- John. - Don't argue with me. Can you do it?
Well, yes, I can do it. I can use a contact gas.
- But John... - Just do it. Out.
Come on.
Oh, Arthur!
It's atomic fuel!
You're about to plug it into the core.
We've blown up the whole planet!
That's right.
You and I are in a living illusion!
But you've broken the aliens' control!
Now help me!
Maya, I think Bartlett's return to normal.
Careful, Commander.
With everyone else unconscious, they're running out of energy.
With what little they've got left, they'll concentrate on Alan.
Alan!
Bartlett!
They're still controlling him.
Alan, listen to me. It's all right. It's all over.
Is it?
No! That won't help.
You learn quickly, John Cornyn.
That is hopeful.
- Hopeful?
Hopeful for who?
- Yes, it's true, Bartholet.
You have been living inside an illusion,
but haven't you been happy?
Happier than you've ever been on Alpha before,
living your life reunited with your loved ones,
living, as it were, back on Earth.
- Yes, but it's unreal.
You've been living in a dream.
- Isn't it better to live in a dream of happiness
than to face the reality which you hate.
Bartlett, help me!
Do you really face living out your lives,
growing old and dying on this piece of debris?
How long could the dream last?
As soon as the nuclear waste is triggered,
all human life on the moon will be wiped out.
How long is a meaningless term?
A pygmy's phrase.
Time is relative.
A butterfly lives a gloriously full life in a day.
A single-celled organism in a microsecond.
So long as one is fulfilled, time is irrelevant.
Bartlett, don't listen.
Help me.
We can offer the people of Alpha a complete life
as it would be with your loved ones in your own homes on Earth.
A life without pain or sorrow, without fear or loss.
This is what we offer.
Bartlett, use your laser!
Shut down, isn't it?
Now put the trigger in the atomic core.
Stop him. Stop him, Bartlett.
It's futile to call him Bartlett for help.
He's immobilized.
Allen!
It's
You are a truly primitive organism commander.
We could have given you an eternity of happiness in an instant of time.
Now your life will be where the life of your species has always been.
Cruel and futile.
It's better to live as your own man than as a fool in someone else's dream.
Even you
You have never found a miracle
With your magic you can be a dream
Covered in reality
Shall we try
In the silence of our tiny room
To make love with all eternity
Come with me
Let us be
More than free
Infinity is unknown
Ocean's and moonlight are born
This light starts in the night
I'll be more and more
is regularly monitored and smoothly functioning.
Atomic waste disposal is one of the biggest problems of our time.
Simmons, you assigned me up here to clear up this mess.
That's what I'm trying to do.
Everything proceeded normally, until one day,
on the dark side of the moon, a malfunction
started in the nuclear prime.
The resulting chain reaction caused
an immense atomic explosion, blasting the moon out of Earth orbit.
The totally unforeseen accident on the lunar surface has caused very serious repercussions
here on Earth. The gravity disruption, the earthquakes in the United States along the
San Andreas Fault and in Yugoslavia, as well as southern France, has caused enormous damage
to life and property.
The International Lunar Commission is an executive conference at this moment deciding what steps
might be taken to rescue the 311 men and women on moon base alpha.
Little hope is held, however, that there are any survivors.
It has now been established that the moon's acceleration away from Earth has put it beyond
the reach of any Earth launch.
The near-crippled Moonbase Alpha plunged deeper into outer space,
virtually in free flight in the universe, unable by its own resources to return to Earth.
For the survivors of the doomed Moonbase Alpha, the date-time is now well into the 21st century.
In command of Moonbase Alpha, veteran astronaut John Koenig.
In charge of the Moonbase Medical Center, Dr. Helena Russell.
Maya, a metamorph who joined Moonbase Alpha from the outer planet Psycheon.
She had mastered the art of molecular transformation.
The ability to change herself at will into any other form of life she chose.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
He he he!
Whee!
Woo hoo!
Commander Koenig.
Tony, you'd better see this.
John, what the hell's going on up there?
John, what's going on up there?
Uh-oh!
Come in, John!
John, can you hear me?
Hey! Look, Ma, no hands!
Do you read me?
Ooh, baby! Look out!
There was a report of an increase in the neutron card.
The commander went up to investigate.
Haven't had so much fun since I burned Grandma's wig.
Medical unit, stand by.
Hey, you really gotta try this.
You have to fly this baby to really believe it.
It's terrific.
Hallelujah! There are angels everywhere!
He's heading for the nuclear waste dumps.
It's too low. He'll hit one of the domes.
John, get out of there. That's lethal.
Come and join us. Come and join us.
Come and join our happy band.
Ha, ha, ha!
Yoo-hoo!
Whee!
Ha, ha, ha!
Alan, take over that eagle by remote.
Medical rescue unit to the launch area.
Crash unit full to launch area.
He's deactivated the remote control.
I can't take over.
If he hits one of those domes, he could cause a nuclear explosion.
No, that will need a specific stimulation with atomic fuel.
He's gonna crash. Alan, get over there.
Take a couple of nuclear physicists with you, just in case.
Erlich, backwards.
Keep your heads out! Big Daddy's coming in!
John, get out of there!
The End
I'm sorry.
Moonbase Alpha status report, 1912 days since leaving Earth orbit.
Dr. Helena Russell recording.
Commander Koenig, while piloting Eagle 10,
became suddenly irrational and unresponsive.
He crashed in the area of the nuclear waste domes.
I've got it all on film.
What's the radiation count?
Negative.
All clear.
- It was lucky.
- Will he be okay?
- He's got severe concussion.
It's a feedback complex, Maya.
It takes brain impulses, modifies them,
feeds it back into the brain.
It's like a brain massage.
Electronic.
It is still experimental.
Then you don't know the side effects.
Is it worth a risk?
If I don't take the risk...
What happened to him up there?
I don't know.
Tony, I have something on the screen.
I'm on my way, son.
Hang in there, John.
Come a mile.
What is it?
It's too far away to tell.
Ma?
Sensors pick up configuration of a spaceship.
Range?
90,210,000 miles.
Heading?
Directly at us.
Medical center.
Helena, how long before I can talk to John?
15 minutes at the earliest.
He's linked to that brain complex, Tony.
I don't dare break the sequence.
Okay, thanks.
Even at the speed of light, it would take that spacecraft
almost an hour to reach out for.
What happened to the monitoring crew that went out to the nuclear waste area?
They're on their way back to report.
Tony, range 40 million miles.
It's impossible.
That means it's exceeding the speed of light.
32 million miles.
Well, we're lucky.
Damage to that nuclear dome was minimal.
Yeah, not a trace of radiation leak.
The nuclear waste area is stable.
Yeah, I was gonna say that way too for centuries,
unless some fool drills a hot plutonium...
Magnify.
Alan, what do you make of that thing?
That is a super swift.
No, it can't be.
But it is, I tell you.
A super swift never got off the drawing board.
No, not before we left Earth. But things have changed.
Physics hasn't changed.
That thing is traveling faster than the speed of light.
Sure in hell looks like the drawings are super swift.
Yeah, it seems like human technology to me.
It could be from Earth.
Now, whatever that thing is out there,
let's not get sentimental about it.
Tony, it's moving into land.
Weapons section, armhole lasers.
Open a channel.
Moonbase Alpha, the spaceship. Identify yourself.
Repeat, identify.
Moonbase offered a spaceship. Identify yourself.
Repeat, identify.
Tony, they're trying to come through.
It's Guido.
Hiya, little brother.
It's my brother, Guido.
Guido.
- Holy Guido! - Holy!
I saw you on that screen. I didn't believe it!
I still don't believe it!
- I bet you! - I'm so scared.
Are you still keeping that guard up, Carter?
Well, I still got the Houston-based championship, buddy.
Only because I couldn't get up here for a rematch.
Dr. Shaw!
- Good night, Diana. - Hey, darling.
Ah.
Now look, brother, I'm a captain.
Now I want a little respect from you.
Oh, yeah, well, that cuts both ways.
I don't know you.
How is your handicap?
Hi.
Oh, Henry, I hate to have to tell you this,
but I can put a shot in the crater at 1,600 yards.
How's your handicap?
- I am.
- You won't look at you, Sophie.
- It's white green grass and fresh hair.
- Oh.
- You know?
- Well, hello.
- Hello.
Could you tell me where I could find Dr. Ben Vincent?
- Mm-hmm.
Oh, you're his sister, right?
- No.
- Oh, his daughter?
- No.
- I know you're his grandmother.
- No.
- Oh boy, I guess that only means you're gonna tell me
what I'm afraid you're gonna tell me.
- Yes, I'm his fiance.
- Well done, Spoh.
- Wonderful.
- Did you make that physiotherapy major?
- Oh, without your coaching, it was difficult.
But I made it.
- Okay, well, listen, I gotta,
Got a lot of stiff tendons all around here.
You know?
All around here?
You've got it, Jeremy. You've got it, Jeremy.
Word for word for God.
Hey, listen, listen. Hold it. Hold it, everybody.
Come on now.
Now, listen. Just try and contain yourselves for a little while.
You've all naturally got thousands of things you want to know.
You bet you tens of thousands.
Okay, how are things back on Earth? How are things back on Earth?
The time it took us to get here, how we finally made it.
When are we going to get back?
Yes, and when you're going to get back to Earth.
All the whys and the wherefores.
Now look, just give us a minute or two to get our breath back,
and then we'll have a nice, relaxed session.
We'll answer all your questions, everything you want to know.
Okay, everybody.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
What is that?
Come on, I'll introduce you.
What?
Maya, this is my brother, Guido.
His elder brother, and his smarter brother, and his handsome brother.
In every other way, he's a poor second.
Put it there, old buddy.
Certainly, old buddy.
Is it always like this between you?
No, no.
I usually dominate him effortlessly.
Oh, he has to have his little fantasies.
It comes from the fact that I always stole his girls.
That's because he could never get any of his own.
Oh, come on, I'll introduce you.
Helena, this is Peter Rockwell.
Hello, how are you?
He's a pilot.
We were going to get married when my tour of duty on Alpha ended.
I've heard a lot about you.
I thought I'd lost her for good.
Never underestimate the extent of human inventiveness.
You always did take that view.
You knew each other before?
Dr. Shaw was my tutor at medical college.
He taught me everything there is to know about being a doctor.
Um, what do you do, Guido?
He's a cab driver.
I kept him the super swift that brought us here.
It's a miracle anybody made it.
How did you attain a speed faster than light?
Um, a little old earth has progressed. You see, um, physics came up with a new wrinkle.
We can now make loops and continue.
Oh, don't let him fool you, Maya. He hasn't got the faintest idea what he's talking about.
Yeah, it was Reinhardt who made the breakthrough at Cambridge.
Cambridge, England.
Massachusetts.
It means we can travel anywhere in the universe now.
The journey back to Earth, well, it's just a bus ride in Earth time.
We're just the scouting party.
The big transporters will be along soon, and then it's goodbye moon for everyone.
Oh, I can't wait.
Maya?
She'll be all right.
How's Mama?
You know, Mama,
she's making you a mound of pasta the size of Vesuvius.
And the sauce...
I know, I know. Everything in it but holy water.
How did she take it when the news broke that we'd blown out?
Three days of weeping,
and then two weeks of phoning the White House to demand action.
Oh, boy, that's Mama.
And then she finally decided simply not to believe it.
The scientists were talking out of their navel as usual.
It was simply a matter of time.
And Papa.
He went quiet.
And he got thin.
Yeah, sure.
Look in praise.
I've been here for a long time.
I know.
And where did you meet?
Oh, somebody's party.
You look a little lost.
I'll help you.
Perhaps later.
Trouble?
I bet she's been looking for John ever since she got here.
She knew him before I did.
Does that give her territorial rights?
Well, you know Diana Morris.
She's like the Fifth Cavalry.
Whenever she plants her flag is home.
Oh, well, I think I'll just leave you to it.
Oh, thanks a lot.
Helena, darling, we haven't had a proper little chat.
No, we haven't, Diana, but there's lots of time for that.
Oh, you poor dear.
It must have been terrible here.
It's obviously been awfully wary.
I think space is generally very hard on women.
How long is it that you've been, uh...
What is it, uh, navigating officer?
Still, there's something to be said for a marooned society.
It does limit men's choices.
And the women's opportunities.
I've always made my own opportunities.
There are some of us who still prefer them to come to us.
Hey, Clive, you're always with the camera, huh?
Is there anything you don't get on tape?
This is for the record.
And this little baby's watching history being made.
It's only one thing, Clive.
Well, what's that?
You won't get to be in the picture.
How do you get along with John Koenig?
Well, in a small community, uh,
everyone has to get along with everybody else.
Cozy.
Isn't it?
Do you, uh, find him interesting?
He's everything you said he was.
I'm glad you can second my opinion.
As a matter of fact, he's much more than you said he was.
There are depths to him that I'm sure you never found out about.
I must look for them at once. Where is he?
At the moment, he is linked to an Ellendorf quadrographic brain complex.
How very wise of you, darling.
Hi.
Thank you.
This is a medical monitor.
Now, this is strategically placed so that from anywhere on out
where we can keep a check on our patients.
That's a good rational setup.
Hey, why don't we get out of this heavy traffic, huh?
I know a nice, cozy spot.
Ben.
Oh!
I wonder if you wouldn't mind, Ben.
I have some very important questions that I would have put to Louisa.
You know, about the shape of things back on Earth,
the configuration of the modern female form.
My darling.
Oh, darling, where have you got John on this brain machine?
I'm dying to see him.
Can't I see him?
Please, I know he's longing to see me.
John?
Oh, my God.
Ah!
Ben!
Hans-Rom was trying to kill Cole.
He's all right.
The cycle's completed.
If it had happened earlier...
- Mike, what happened? - Are you all right?
- What happened? - I'll tell you what happened.
- Wait a minute, Ben. - He tried a kilconic.
- Ben, now just take it easy. - Kilconic! I have to kilconic!
He destroyed us! He destroyed us!
- All right. - He destroyed us!
Here we go. Here we go. Easy.
What about fashions? What's everybody wearing?
Well, there's a lot of silver about.
Necklines tend to be a little lower.
Skirts tend to be a little higher.
Now, where do you think you're going?
Well, I...
I didn't want to disturb the big reunion.
What are you talking about?
Oh, I... I don't want to disturb everybody.
Oh, don't be so ridiculous.
You couldn't disturb anybody. Now, come on.
No, no. Please, Tony.
Um, I've got to check some computers.
My number three.
Come here.
Hey, greet 'em.
What I want to know is what kind of propulsion you use to boost you past the speed of light.
It's a development of the ion rocket.
Look, I always knew you were naive.
Me? Naive?
Yeah.
But I never knew you were shy before.
I do love your makeup.
Diana, this is Maya.
How do you do?
Maya is a psychon.
She's the last of her species.
I'm not surprised.
Tell me, how do you manage to keep so fit up here?
Well, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, we manage.
Do you jog?
What?
Jog.
Oh.
I do think exercise is so important to a man, don't you?
Yeah, I couldn't survive that.
I mean, I think it's so important to his physical well-being.
Maya!
I do a little yoga myself.
You can get into some lovely positions.
What happened to the commando and the eagle?
Do you suppose it could have anything to do with Sandstrom going berserk?
In what way?
Well, could it be infectious?
Contagious?
I found no evidence of virus or bacteria in John's blood samples.
Hello.
How do you feel?
You tell me.
You look great to me.
You're fine.
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's get this off of you. Come on.
Okay. Gently.
- All right? - Yeah.
- Eagle time. - Totaled.
What happened, John?
How long was I out?
Just over five hours.
Five hours?
You're lucky. Your skull took quite a bang.
Without this complex, it could have been weeks.
John, what happened?
What do you mean, what happened?
Everyone must have seen what happened.
Rocket malfunction.
Well, that's what it was, wasn't it?
The investigation crew found no evidence of rocket malfunction.
That means pilot error.
That's terrific.
John, it wasn't pilot error. We don't know what happened.
You seem to have lost control of yourself.
I don't remember anything other than going out to check that...
that neutron count.
-John. -Yeah?
A rescue expedition has landed here on Alpha from Earth.
What?
From Earth. They came in a super swift.
Super swift?
Tony's brother Guido captained it.
And Dr. Shaw is here.
Dr. Shaw?
You remember Dr. Shaw. I've told you all about Dr. Shaw.
Of course I remember Dr. Shaw. Very, very old indeed.
And sans fianc, Peter.
Sans fianc.
-Fiance fiance. -And Professor Hunter.
Professor Hunter.
And, uh...
Diana Morris.
Diana Morris.
Oh, well.
Now, Helena, please don't even joke about that barracuda.
Only you're not joking.
Oh.
You really mean it.
You mean, uh, somehow something worked.
-Yes. -You mean I got it licked.
They're really here.
Yes.
And we can get back to Earth.
Yes.
Oh, Helena.
Yes, yes.
Helena, Helena.
Yes, yes, yes.
Helena.
Oh.
OK, now, give it the name.
Give it the name.
Give it the name.
Keep the arms straight.
Keep the arms straight, and then get your eye on the ball.
I didn't know you had such a big thing going with Dinah
Martin.
with my romantic past.
I wouldn't have thought she was your type.
We were childhood sweethearts.
Oh, Donna Morris was never a child.
Would you believe we met in the jazz ballet group at MIT?
- Oh, you liar. - I'm not a liar.
The commander's on his way.
John, good to see you back.
Sure.
Good, John. Oh, boy.
John! Darling!
Don't come here, we can stay away from that.
John, it's my brother Guido.
What's the matter, John?
This is Guido, my brother.
Are you all right?
Stay back. Don't come near me.
What's the matter, John?
Alan, what's the matter with you?
Tony.
Helena.
Maya, what's the matter with you?
What's wrong with him?
He's fine.
Well, he's as erratic as he was up in the Eagle.
John, they're friends.
Tony, they're not your friends.
They're... they're horrible.
Ugly, hideous.
All right, now, take it easy, John. It's all right.
Tony, listen, Tony, just calm down.
Listen, wait a minute.
- Listen to me. - You'll be all right.
- Listen to me! - You just calm down!
Tony!
Clear to command center!
- John! - Stay behind me. Stay behind me.
Weapons excellent.
Arm all lasers!
Destroyed on any of your ship.
Weapons section, abort laser gun.
Damn you, Tony! I won't come out!
John, it's all right!
Evan!
Stay clear, Tony.
John, no!
Status report, supplemental.
John Koenig continues his odd behavior.
He has no awareness that he acted strangely just before his crash.
With great reluctance, I've put him in restraint.
Better get out of here. Out of here.
Things to be done. Answers. Answers. Gotta find answers to be found.
John, take it easy. It's all right.
Danger. Danger. The entire base. It's in danger.
Helena, can't you do something?
Everybody in the base.
I'm trying, Tony.
His blood pressure's up. His adrenaline level is very high.
Gotta get out. Gotta get out.
Helena!
Yes, John. Now, please, just take it easy.
Those things out there, what are they? What do they want?
John, will you listen to me? Those are people out there from Earth.
Now, you know some of them. They've come to take us home.
They're not people! Are you blind?
John, please trust us.
Why can't you see what you've got out there?
Dr. Shaw, would you please assist me?
Get that out of here!
Get that out of here!
Get that out of here!
Get it out of here!
Get it out of here!
I'm sorry, Dr. Shaw.
Of course. Help.
He's the last man I would have expected to flip out.
Tony, Helena, let me out of here, please.
I've got to get out of here. I've got... No, Helena, don't! Don't! Please!
No.
If you didn't let Ben Vincent out of your range,
Koenig would be dead now.
He interfered.
He escaped the Eagle crash we arranged, and now this.
He's hard to kill, this John Koenig.
We can arrange to control him.
Why fear him?
He is a strong leader.
His mind is no longer under our control.
Something has interfered.
He's in position now.
There is resistance.
I need help.
Helena, could that medical apparatus have aggravated his condition?
The complex was tested extensively.
Ellendorf's results were quite impressive.
I just don't know, Tony.
His mind.
Oh, he wouldn't just cave in, not John Koenig.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Mount Hunter? - Maya, we've got trouble in the records lab.
But how do you explain that wild ride of his on Eagle 10
and his claim that Guido and the others are monsters?
Tony, I'm at the records lab. We have an emergency.
- Maya, what happened? - He's jammed the lock on his side.
We can't control them all at the same time.
Concentrate on candor.
What's happening?
Candor's trapped inside.
Stand back. I've lost it over there.
Alan, wait! The emergency oxygen supply, he's got it full on.
They upload the whole place to pieces.
Tony, I can get you to the air vent.
She's a letter move.
- -
He's dead.
Tony, we're sorry about this tragedy you just had.
I know this isn't the time to talk about other matters,
but we're rapidly getting out of the range of Earth.
And if we're gonna get you all home,
we have to address ourselves the problem.
There's a pilot ship that'll go back first.
There'd be room for three people on it.
If there's anyone you'd like to suggest...
Tony, we should get to it as soon as possible.
Yeah, okay.
All right, everybody. This is Ed.
You ready?
I think I'm more nervous than anybody.
Ehrlich.
Hee hee!
From old beach, here I come!
Hee hee, boy!
Bartlett's.
Carter.
You did it, Alice! Fantastic!
- -
Well, you win some, you lose some.
- My eyes clear. Pulse rate normal. - Yes.
- Blood pressure down? - Yes.
- Do I seem rational to you? - Yes.
Fine.
Now, will you believe that when I look at our friends from Earth,
I don't see what you see?
What do you see?
Something hideous.
Something ugly and horrendous and hostile and deadly.
Now, please listen to me. Please listen to me.
Look, please let me get out of here!
No, please, don't do that. Don't do that.
Please. Please don't do that.
Don't do that.
Look.
Don't you find it very strange
that all the personnel on that rescue ship are people you know,
I mean, close relatives and friends.
What do you think the odds are against that? Aren't they pretty heavy?
Not really. They're all volunteers, John.
They specifically asked to come.
Fine. Okay, fine.
What about the pilot ship?
You said you drew lots to see who'd go first.
Yes.
That Ehrlich, Bartlett, and Hallen were the winners.
- That's right.
- Now don't you find that strange?
The three men chosen are members
of the radioactive monitoring team.
Isn't that strange?
- John, I drew the names.
- What's the matter with you?
Can't you see you're being manipulated?
What's happened to your instincts?
Why won't you listen to me?
You're all blind!
- Hey, old systems are go here.
What's the hold-up, Alpha?
Tony, the pilot ship is ready for liftoff.
Tony, don't! Don't let them go!
Don't let them go, please!
Helena, don't let them go! Don't! No! No! Don't let them go!
No.
Oh, my God!
I'm sorry.
There it is. Earth.
Did you ever see such a beautiful sight?
It's incredible.
It's only been a few hours, hasn't it?
Or has it?
Well, that's why they said the breakthrough they made was all about time.
Don't you go away, blue eyes.
I gotta tell the guys back on Alpha about this.
Hey, you guys.
It's beautiful.
It's beautiful!
Maybe this will convince John,
now that somebody's actually seen Earth again.
Are you all right?
Oh, terrific. What the hell happened?
I hit him with my stick.
Dr. Schiller.
What's your opinion?
His vital signs are very erratic.
This could be causing his mental instability.
Well, if there's anything more I can do.
I'll ask. Thank you.
All right, Maya.
Let's see if he'll respond.
John.
John.
John, Maya's here.
She has something to show you.
It's a recording.
That's the pilot ship.
That's an eagle.
I can see her.
It's blue, blue and beautiful.
We're getting close about a minute.
They're in an eagle.
John, why can't you accept what we all tell you?
Maya, what do you see out there in the command center?
People from Earth.
Oh, I was hoping.
I thought your different brain structure
would have resisted their telepathic control.
Who's telepathic control?
Maya, when you look, you see people from Earth.
When I look, I see monsters from a different dimension.
One of us is wrong.
Will you accept that it could be you?
Well, that would mean, of course, that everyone else is wrong.
Maya, I'm the only one on this base who was hooked up to that machine.
Well, either the machine has distorted your consciousness...
Or protected it.
Telepathic control.
Well, it's possible.
I find it odd that everyone from Earth is somebody's friend.
It's against probability.
Everyone's a friend because everyone's out of someone's memory.
Yes.
They could have tapped everyone's mind and projected what they needed
out of what they found there.
They couldn't project strangers
because people we've never seen can't be in our memories.
Wait a minute.
Maya sees these people, too, and they can't be in her memory.
It is possible that they could project images from other people's minds into my mind.
If they have control over our minds,
why are they letting us have this conversation?
Perhaps they're letting us for a purpose.
Well, maybe they have to be present to exert that control.
Right. Ben did say that he knew Sandstrom was trying to kill you,
but he couldn't do anything about it.
And then when Alan took Louisa away from him,
He regained control of himself.
And in the records lab, Kanda,
they took him over,
controlled his mind.
He must have made a discovery which threatened them.
He didn't go berserk.
They made him release the oxygen causing the explosion which killed him.
If only we knew what it was that he'd found out.
Now listen to this.
We've been in space for months.
In Earth time, that's generations.
If they are from Earth,
they have to be hundreds of years older than they appear.
That should have occurred to me.
Didn't occur to you because they wouldn't let it.
The reason they haven't been able to control my mind is because...
I was hooked to that machine.
There may be no causal effect, but...
it is a tenable theory.
Helena...
- Do we tell Tony? - No.
Our best weapon is surprise.
If we tell Tony, they may probe his mind and take away the one advantage we've got.
Maya, would you let Helena give you the same treatment I had?
- The brain complex, John. - Yes.
Well, I don't know if she can withstand that.
I'm willing.
If the commander's right.
Well, look, then it should be me, not Maya.
But you can handle the machine. We can't.
Helena, if I'm right, there are things Maya can do that you can't.
Oh, you little beauty.
Well, what's the first thing you're gonna do, Joe?
Find a golf course where I don't hit a mile.
You?
Me?
Her name's Jeannie.
How about you, Jack?
Her name's Caroline.
She's five years old.
She's got her mother's eyes.
Hey, son.
What would you and Peter like as a wedding present from little old Earth?
Just to be there.
Will you look at that weather pattern?
I swear it's snowing over California.
Hey, smile when you say that, man.
Maya?
Maya?
Maya?
How do you feel?
Normal.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Well, here we go in the carousel.
Hey, down there, Earth Control.
This is Swift, Pilotship Two. Do you read me?
Do you want me to fly this crate in?
This is New York Control reading you loud and clear.
We have you locked into the computer.
You don't have to do a thing.
Just you sit back and enjoy the ride.
I hear you, O Earth man.
Alan Carter to Moonbase Alpha.
We're now going into Earth orbit and then on down for a landing.
Well?
Ticking over like a flawless machine, as always.
Good.
Helena.
What do you see out there?
Dr. Shaw and San's fiance, Peter.
Maya.
Oh, they look like the plasma that forms on some organic matter when it begins to decompose.
Oh, boy, don't they look beautiful.
You got your historic lines ready?
How about it's a small step from mine, Don?
Well, who said it had to be original?
What are you gonna say, Alan?
Where is the nearest John?
Well, that will make the history books.
This is New York Control. You're coming in clean and neat.
We have you on automatic pilot.
You're about to touch down right in the middle of little old New York.
Let's get this luggage into the hotel.
I sure hope we get a room with a view.
Forget the view. What I want to do is to get to a telephone.
In the old days, they used to call this town the Big Apple.
Everything going according to plan.
Yes, one of them is to stay here to prime the doves.
I'll send the other two for the nuclear trigger.
What do they want?
There's one way to find out.
Oh, I think I know.
I really hate to ask you, Maya, but--
They're so repulsive.
If there was any other way.
Maya, remember, they know you're a metamorphic,
So be careful.
We haven't much time. We are beginning to lose energy rapidly.
Two aliens have been dispatched for the nuclear trigger.
Once they energize it, we will take our fill.
All the alien creatures will die.
They are of no consequence.
They are so ugly.
Naturally, they are of no consequence.
Nevertheless, they will be happy before they die.
Which of our number is that?
It has our shape, but it is not of our species.
Come here.
Stop that one.
Come on.
I'm sorry.
What do they want here?
Well, their planet ran out of radiation.
They're starving.
Unless they get a huge intake soon, they're gonna die.
They want a nuclear waste dump so that they--
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
That could be beneficial to us.
Let's give them our nuclear waste.
- It's not that easy. - Why not?
Well, they need the kind of intense radiation
they will get from blowing up the dumps.
Blowing them up? That would destroy us.
We've got control of our minds so that we don't know what we're doing when we blow them up.
Why haven't they just blown up the dumps themselves?
They have very little kinetic energy.
They don't seem to be able to handle physical activity.
They plan to manipulate us into exploding them for them.
How?
By making us think that we're doing one thing when actually we're doing something else.
It's what they did to me and the Eagle.
Wait a minute.
Alan, Bartlett, and Ehrlich.
That's where they really are.
Still on the surface.
And they were flying in an eagle.
I still see the pilot ship.
They're at the atomic waste dumps.
They're going to detonate them.
They can't do that without atomic fuel.
There's your atomic fuel.
That's the trigger to blow up the dumps.
They blew it.
They won't know they're doing it.
Computer, close and lock entrance to Atomic Fuel store.
I've got to get to an eagle.
Hold it, John. Where do you think you're going?
Tony, I must have an eagle.
Tony, listen to me.
Now, stay back.
Paula?
How did he get out of medical center?
He just broke loose.
Then why the hell didn't you give the alarm?
He could have hurt himself and us.
I'm sorry, Tony. I'll... I'll keep him under restraints.
Yeah. Well, you do that.
All right, you stay with the commander.
Make sure he's properly taken care of.
Yes.
You coming, Dr. Shaw?
Helena!
Commander.
Helena.
John.
-Hala. -They're still in the atomic fuel store.
Now, how long would it take to process
all our people on that machine?
Make every one of our people immune to those aliens.
It would take days.
Days, John.
Unless we can break the aliens' hold on our people,
I'll never be able to save Alpha.
There may be a way.
Why didn't I think of it?
What?
I sometimes use a sonic anesthetic instead of drugs.
It's called white noise, and it works
by blocking nerve paths in the synapses in the brain.
That would obstruct the telepathic input of the aliens.
It would have to be amplified and transmitted
to all of our people.
All right, let's go.
Helena, stay away from those aliens in command center.
Otherwise, I'll take you over again.
Make sure these things are set to stun.
Let's hope the aliens don't read your mind, Helena.
Try and use our people to stop us.
Hold it.
We're set to kill.
Don't worry!
What the hell is going on here?
Shut up!
Hello.
That's as much amplification as I can give it.
What about Alan and the others on the surface?
Will the sound reach them?
They'll be getting it to their helmet receivers.
But it won't be powerful enough if the aliens choose to block it.
Deltoni!
Beget the power from energy!
They've disappeared.
They've vanished.
We've won.
The atomic fuel store.
We haven't stopped them.
They're on their way to Bartlett with a trigger.
Tony, Maya.
I'm sorry.
The End
The aliens know about the white noise.
They must be concentrating all their power on Allen, Ehrlich, and Bartlett.
You said they were starmen.
Where were they getting their strength?
Well, every piece of electrical equipment on Alpha
emits a minute amount of radiation.
They must be getting it from that.
Hello, Ann.
Yes?
Cut all non-essential power, all except communications.
Out.
I can't see them, John.
They've got to be down there somewhere.
Alan, this is Commander Koenig. Do you read me?
Alan?
Alan, are you receiving me?
Come in, Alan.
Answer, Alan.
This is Eagle Horn to Alan Carter.
Are you receiving?
There's something over there, to the left.
Switch on scanners.
There they are.
Alan, Ehrlich, this is Koenig.
Do you read me? Do you read me?
Alan, do you read me?
Alan, do you read me?
Come in, Alan.
Touchdown in front of them, Tony.
No, Commander. The terrain is too crumbly.
With the weight of the Eagle, we go straight through the surface.
We'll use a harness. We'll drop me in front of them.
Aye.
Maya, prepare to depressurize.
Decompression complete. Lower away.
I'm sorry.
Alan, stop!
Alan, stop! You don't know what you're doing!
Erlich! Stop him! Erlich!
Dylan! Dylan, stop!
- -
Oh, my God.
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
Recompression complete, Tony.
All right, now move it, Maya. Move.
Alan!
Screw it!
Alan, it's me!
John!
- -
Alec, listen to me!
Alec, listen to me!
Alec, you don't know what you're doing!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
- -
Commander, Erlnix losing air, his tank's punctured.
Tony, Erlnix lost most of his air.
We've got to get him back to Alvin.
But fast. He needs to pressurize him.
It's his only chance.
Coming in now, John.
Alan!
Alan, wait!
Alan!
Alan! Alan, wait!
Alan! Alan!
Alan!
Alan!
All right, Tony. Take him up.
Barclay, come out here and get me a hand.
Oh, my God.
When you're inside, you will seal the door.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Maya.
Yes, Commander?
There are aliens everywhere, all over the place.
Well, they have no power to harm you, either mentally or physically.
They need all of their energies to control Alan and Bartlett.
He can't get through. They've got the door sealed.
They have reached a nuclear core.
Soon we will have all the radiation we need.
Oh, my God.
The End
We broke them through.
It doesn't matter.
They will resist him.
- Maya. - Yes, Commander.
How come the aliens are still controlling Alan and Bartlett?
Everything's closed down. Where are they getting their energy?
Well, the human brain generates electrical activity.
There may be enough among the population of Alpha to keep them going at survival level.
When people are unconscious, their brain activity is reduced, isn't it?
Very greatly.
Alan, I want everyone on the base knocked out,
with the exception of yourself and the chief engineer.
- You mean unconscious? - I mean unconscious.
- John. - Don't argue with me. Can you do it?
Well, yes, I can do it. I can use a contact gas.
- But John... - Just do it. Out.
Come on.
Oh, Arthur!
It's atomic fuel!
You're about to plug it into the core.
We've blown up the whole planet!
That's right.
You and I are in a living illusion!
But you've broken the aliens' control!
Now help me!
Maya, I think Bartlett's return to normal.
Careful, Commander.
With everyone else unconscious, they're running out of energy.
With what little they've got left, they'll concentrate on Alan.
Alan!
Bartlett!
They're still controlling him.
Alan, listen to me. It's all right. It's all over.
Is it?
No! That won't help.
You learn quickly, John Cornyn.
That is hopeful.
- Hopeful?
Hopeful for who?
- Yes, it's true, Bartholet.
You have been living inside an illusion,
but haven't you been happy?
Happier than you've ever been on Alpha before,
living your life reunited with your loved ones,
living, as it were, back on Earth.
- Yes, but it's unreal.
You've been living in a dream.
- Isn't it better to live in a dream of happiness
than to face the reality which you hate.
Bartlett, help me!
Do you really face living out your lives,
growing old and dying on this piece of debris?
How long could the dream last?
As soon as the nuclear waste is triggered,
all human life on the moon will be wiped out.
How long is a meaningless term?
A pygmy's phrase.
Time is relative.
A butterfly lives a gloriously full life in a day.
A single-celled organism in a microsecond.
So long as one is fulfilled, time is irrelevant.
Bartlett, don't listen.
Help me.
We can offer the people of Alpha a complete life
as it would be with your loved ones in your own homes on Earth.
A life without pain or sorrow, without fear or loss.
This is what we offer.
Bartlett, use your laser!
Shut down, isn't it?
Now put the trigger in the atomic core.
Stop him. Stop him, Bartlett.
It's futile to call him Bartlett for help.
He's immobilized.
Allen!
It's
You are a truly primitive organism commander.
We could have given you an eternity of happiness in an instant of time.
Now your life will be where the life of your species has always been.
Cruel and futile.
It's better to live as your own man than as a fool in someone else's dream.
Even you
You have never found a miracle
With your magic you can be a dream
Covered in reality
Shall we try
In the silence of our tiny room
To make love with all eternity
Come with me
Let us be
More than free
Infinity is unknown
Ocean's and moonlight are born
This light starts in the night
I'll be more and more