The Outer Limits (1963–1965): Season 1, Episode 24 - Moonstone - full transcript

I'll put the tapes
where they'll be safe.

No! No! No!

Aah! Uhh!

There is nothing wrong
with your television set.

Do not attempt
to adjust the picture.

We are controlling
transmission.

We will control
the horizontal.

We will control
the vertical.

We can change the focus
to a soft blur

or sharpen it
to crystal clarity.

For the next hour,
sit quietly,



and we will control
all that you see and hear.

You are about to participate
in a great adventure.

You are about to experience
the awe and mystery

which reaches from
the inner mind to...

In man's conquest of space,

his own moon must be
the first to surrender.

From there, he will step
his way across the heavens,

to the edge of infinity.

Each step will be
as uncertain as the last.

Yet each will bring him
closer and closer

to ultimate truth.

Lunar expedition one.

Here, a handful of brave
scientists and technicians

pave the way to the future.



Their mission, to
collect information

that will eventually enable
man to inhabit the moon,

to use the moon as
a springboard to the stars.

Once during each
24-hour period,

a force of 3, commanded by
General Lee Stocker,

and including Lieutenant Travis

and Major Clint Anderson,

makes its slow,
uncharted way

across the lunar surface,

a surface whose depths and
desires are as yet unprobed.

Hold it.
I hit something.

Relax the rope
a little.

I'm going to
try to get it.

OK. Pull away.

Doesn't look natural.

Too perfect
geometrically.

Must have been
manufactured.

Looks like they
got here first, General.

The Russians? Perhaps.

Could be payload from
one of their moon shots.

Scientific equipment.

Prize catch, General.

Boys in the Pentagon

will probably
give you another medal.

Did he ever show you

the one he got for
the Korean campaign?

Or have you left

all your Earthly prizes
behind, General?

Oh, Major Anderson?

Yes, General.

Your, uh, gentle
wisecracks out there,

in the presence
of another officer...

I never crack wise, General.

Especially when I feel
strongly about something.

Your feelings
are your own, Major,

and you're entitled to them.

But how you handle them
affects me

and the rest of
the men on this base.

Your behavior has already

gone beyond the point
of insubordination.

You've left me
no choice.

And you're so practiced
at making choices, General.

You're going back to Earth
on the next supply ship.

Back to Earth?

I've arranged for you

to take over a post
at the Pentagon.

Look, General,

I came up here
intending to stay.

It's no good, Anderson.
It isn't working.

I don't have to spell it
out for you, do I?

General, was I really
that rough on you?

Or doesn't it take much

to irritate
a sore conscience?

Lieutenant?

Do you know
if there's

a court of appeals
on the moon?

Well, if there is,
General Stocker is it.

That's what
I was afraid of.

I think I'll
ask around anyway.

Got a lot of scary things
for you today, Professor.

Really?
Let me see

that mysterious
moonstone

everybody's been
alerting me to.

Tom, put it on
the table, please.

Careful, it
might bite.

Seamless?

It's light,
relatively.

Well, let's get it open.

If it does
anything hostile, yell.

Hello, Travis.

All else having failed,

we decided to try
the laser beam.

Your moonstone remains
unscathed, inscrutable,

and as maddeningly
mysterious as a...

A woman scientist.

Try it again,
please.

A laser beam will
cut through anything.

Why, it can drill
holes in diamond.

It's not even
scorching this.

Incredible.

I'm not certain
that this is metal.

It isn't
radioactive,

and it has no
magnetic properties.

Is it solid?

I thought so at first
until I tried this.

A wide-band monitor
similar to the type

we use for resolving
composite signals.

I think this will
take care of any notions

that our little
moonstone is solid.

Cut it! Cut it!

Electronic equipment?

Possibly.

But, uh, what
is its function?

Collecting data for
transmission to Earth.

The Russians
may be monitoring us

at this very moment.

Well, in any case,
we can't be sure

until we can get
inside that shell.

Have you talked to
Washington, Professor?

I'm due to transmit
in half an hour.

I'll pass along

this information
to the committee.

You better come with me,
and bring your notes.

I've missed
you, too.

Let's skip dinner.

Oh, I'm famished.

I'd rather take a stroll
in the moonlight.

You're out of
your mind.

Maybe that's why
I love you so much.

You make me laugh.

Do you?

What?

Love me.

This wouldn't have
anything to do

with the fact that
I'm the only woman

on the moon,
would it?

Obviously. Marry me.

I knew you'd
ask me again.

Pretty sure of yourself,
aren't you?

Up here the odds
are in my favor.

And did you decide
what you'd say this time?

I've thought
about it.

And?

It doesn't make sense.

Why?

It's not in the stars.

You've taken up astrology?

These stars, Lee.

Diana, I've dedicated
my entire life

getting these stars.

I'm not afraid
of them, Lee.

They're keeping us apart.

You sure it's not
your involvement

with the stars out there?

What am I supposed
to think, Lee?

All my life...

I've thought
that science

and the military
are opposed.

That the military

is dedicated
to destruction,

and the aim
of science

is peace and
human advancement.

My father
preached it at me.

All of my Professors
implied it carefully.

I've seen it for myself.

Now I say to myself,
how can 2 worlds

at cross purposes
like ours ever meet?

Diana,
look at me.

Look through
this uniform at me.

I'm not dedicated
to destruction.

I'm Lee Stocker...
A man.

A man who wants to spend
his life loving you.

When you
say it that way,

you make me...
Make me feel

narrow-minded
and foolish.

Foolish enough
to say yes?

It's
settled then, Diana?

You'll be my moon bride?

How can I resist
the novelty of that?

Yes, Lee. Yes.

And now can we
go to dinner?

Clint?

Oh, that's
very touching.

Something the matter?

Yes.

What is it, Clint?

Let it wait,
Anderson.

Yes, sir.

Clint?

Can I tell
you something?

Oh, yes, ma'am.

Lee and I are
going to be married.

Well, to the happy
couple then.

Congratulations.

Oh, no.
Now, that's wrong.

You congratulate him
and give her your best wishes.

My apologies.

Lee, what's wrong
between you two?

Goes way back.

He has an old
resentment against me.

It was
born in Korea,

and it's
grown and grown.

A personal thing?

Very. And
unjustified.

I never minded
until recently,

but he's begun to
undermine my authority.

I can't let that happen,
not up here.

I'm having him
transferred.

Transferred?

He's back to Earth on
the next supply ship.

He's become
a morale problem, Diana.

That's one thing we
simply can't have here.

Well, can't you
talk to him?

It might have
been possible once,

but not anymore.

Does he know
he's being sent down?

His orders came
last night.

Well, no wonder
he's so miserable.

Lee, you go on without me.
I want to talk to him.

No, it won't
do any good.

He could use
a friend right now.

Please?

Clint?

Clint?

Clint?

Oh, I'm having
a little party here.

A little
bon voyage party.

Don't you think you've
had enough party, Major?

Now, didn't you know
bon voyage party's

supposed to go
straight through

until the boat leaves.

That's not
until tomorrow.

I'm being transferred

to that Siberia
known as Earth.

I suppose
that's what happens

to all undesirables.

Clint, that's not true.

How can you
do it, Professor?

How does
a woman like you

fall for a gutless
coward like Stocker?

He doesn't deserve
that, Clint.

You're marrying
a murderer.

What are you saying?

Get him to reminisce
about Korea.

Ask him about Qui Chang.

What happened there
can't be forgotten,

not even here.

We may be
a long way from Earth,

but we brought
our crimes with us.

You ask him
if he can forget

the promise he made
to a people

of a certain village
in Korea...

To give them the full
support of his troops

if they rise up against
the reds dug in there.

And then
betrayed that promise

when the showdown came.

Ask him
what it feels like

to know
you're responsible

for the massacre
of a whole village.

Diane?

Clint!

Aah!

Clint?

Don't move.

Call the doctor.

Stop!

Do not touch him.

He will live.

Who are you?

What are you?

We are life.

The form of life.

We come from
the planet Grippia

in the
constellation Xenys.

What are
you doing here?

We were in flight,

desperate flight.

We looked to Earth
for refuge.

We were heading for Earth,

but we were
forced to land here

for want of energy.

Refuge from...
From what?

We 5 represent

the most advanced minds
of our galaxy.

Between us we possess
the secrets of the universe.

What were you fleeing from?

Tyranny.

The present
government of Grippia

wants to use our knowledge

to conquer all
the constellation Xenys,

and then the universe.

We had to escape.

But couldn't you
just refuse

to give them
this knowledge?

Impossible. Long ago,
we ourselves

developed a means
of absorbing knowledge

from any thinking creature.

That is how we have learned
what you know.

That is how
we speak your language.

You mean that they
could assimilate

your knowledge.

There would be
no way to stop them.

We had to escape
and seek asylum

where our knowledge
would be safe.

We could arrange
to have you

taken down
to Earth.

But can we trust them?

Well, there's no
reason not to,

is there?

Who is
your leader?

There is no leader.

Our minds are linked.

We share the same thoughts,
and one voice...

The voice you hear...
Speaks for all of us.

But it wouldn't do any good
to take us to Earth now.

Why?

We have realized
that we could not survive

on your Earth.

Your sun is weak.

Even here, it's rays
do not provide us

with the energy
we must have.

On Earth,
the molecular density

and stratification
of your atmosphere

causes too great
a diffraction

of your suns
ultraviolet rays.

We would perish instantly.

Well, if you
can't stay here,

where will you go?

There are partisans.

They are coming.

A rescue ship,

bringing us energy.

Can we, uh,
be of any help?

Yes.

We are too weak now
to contact the ship.

Guide them here.

You can do that.

Transmit pulses
on 10 million megacycles

in the direction
of Grippia.

But we don't
have a transmitter

that will go
up that high.

Your equipment
can be modified to do it.

We will
give you the formula.

The partisans
will detect a beam

and follow it in.

Well, how long
can you last?

Without more energy,

perhaps...

24 of your hours.

Will, uh,
he be all right?

He will recover completely.

And if you
do not survive,

neither will your knowledge.

It'll be lost,
all of it.

You can preserve it.

Arrange for us
to feed it into

your electronic computers.

But our computers
are so slow.

If we hurry,

and if you can
guide the rescue ship here

before it is too late.

I'll get a couple
of orderlies.

The trajectory of
light matter is paraboloid.

The difference rate
governed by the density

of the emitting matter

raised to the cube root
of the transient medium

transmission cavity.

As determined by direct
optical observation

applied to galax gala
of plan form "M."

Diana,
how's Anderson?

He's conscious now,
coherent.

What happened
in here, Diana?

What caused the accident?

Diana.

Excuse me.

Directly
as the square deviation

and inversely as the direction
of radiation change.

For an instantaneous case...

That's it.

Everything checks
out exactly

according to
their diagram.

And if they're right,

we'll find their planet
and their rescue ship.

Get the scanner unit
out there,

see how they're doing.

Scanner unit,
do you read me?

Yes, sir.

We're all set up here.
How you doing out there?

Just double-checking
now, sir.

Hurry it up,
will you?

Yes, sir.

Ah, what do
you think?

Hmm.

I've been working with
electronics for 10 years,

and I've never even dreamed
of anything like this.

Communications?

Roger.

Ready, sir.

Scanner rigged
and checked out.

You and your crew
better get to some cover.

That thing might blow.

Roger.

Communications?

Roger.

Scanner unit
undercover, sir.

Let her go.

All right.

Pulse supply on.

She's holding.

She's working, sir.

10 billion
miles of mystery.

Somewhere out there
is a speck of dust

called Grippia.

Contact the base.

Fill them in on
our progress up here.

Have them relay our report
to Washington.

Roger.

Anti-images in
hyperspherical portion

paraboloid trajectory.

The coherence of
each individual pattern

is due entirely to
this cyclical cancellation

of aberrations

and is the essence of
the solidity of matter,

light, anti-matter,

and anti-light,

and all real velocities.

Mutation of
magnetic phenomena,

molecular energy,
and electrical phenomena

are all meant...

How's it going?

Incredible.

Do you know what
they're giving us now?

The formula for
transmuting matter

sequentially into light.

It'll take our best
physicists years

to make this work,
but when they do

we'll be able to turn
anything into light

and recover it again
as matter...

Even ourselves.

We'll be able to travel
at the speed of light.

Something we've always
assumed was impossible.

Without them,

it might've
taken us centuries

to develop something
like this.

Do you think we'll have
time to get much more?

We'd need
at least a decade

to get 1/10 of
what they know.

And we've got
only 11 hours.

Diana, I must
talk to you.

No, Clint.

What happened?

He fell.

I mean before
the accident.

He was telling me
about you.

About Qui Chang?

He won't
forget that.

Is it true?

I know just what
you're thinking.

I've seen that look
before.

Like I'm some
sort of monster,

military monster.

I never thought
I'd see it in your eyes.

I was thinking about
those people in that village

filled with hope,

hope that you gave them.

I had no choice.
Did he tell you that?

The Chinese sent
reinforcements in

to put down
the uprising.

We were outnumbered
10-1.

That sounds like
military logic.

It was
a command decision

I had to make.

Hundreds of my men

or a handful of
Korean villagers.

If there was just
one chance of saving them,

no matter how small,

you owed it to them
to try.

I'll never convince you
otherwise, will I?

I'm sorry, Lee.
I tried.

It's just that I...

It's difficult
to fight this thing,

this rigid conception
I have.

When things
keep happening,

they seem to bear them
out so strongly.

General, ahem,

we picked up a UFO
on the grid trajectory

about 200,000 miles out.

Maybe it's
a rescue ship, sir.

What do you
think, Professor?

Could it be the ship?

It's coming in
right on the beam,

straight as an arrow,
whatever it is.

It's traveling
at a velocity

far in excess of
anything we have.

Yes, but nowhere near
the speed of light.

Perhaps they're
too close for that.

Lieutenant,
notify Earthbase.

If this thing
overshoots the moon,

we don't want
somebody down there

taking a potshot at it.

Yes, sir.

And have them clear it
with Conrad international

just in case.

They're decreasing
velocity all the time.

Where are they now,
Phillip?

Less than
100,000 miles away.

We'd better inform
the moonstone.

They say they have
just enough energy left

to contact the ship
within a range

of 50,000 miles.

Have you made contact?

Yes.

Will they reach you
in time?

Yes.

Is there anything more
we can do

to help guide them in?

Nothing.

They are in control now.

Where will
the rescue ship land?

There is no rescue ship.

No rescue ship?

The tyrants
have destroyed it.

Than this one...

The tyrants are coming
to take us back.

What do they say?

They want you
to surrender us.

And if we refuse?

They will not leave
without us.

But we can't just
hand you over to them.

Lee, there must be
something we can do.

General Stocker, it's
reached the scanner area.

Call the crew in.

We tried, sir.
The lines are dead.

Everything's out,
even the radio.

We've lost contact
with them.

They cut our
communications.

Apparently, they
mean business.

We've got to do something
before it's too late.

We didn't come up here
prepared for a fight.

So what's the answer
then, General?

Surrender them?

Our weapons will prove
useless against them.

Will they attack

if we refuse to
surrender you?

They know no other way.

They have not the rationality
of the less powerful.

If only we knew
how far they'd go.

Well, they're
not going to risk

destroying the moonstone
just to intimidate us.

All right, Diana.

What do you
want to do?

Anything...

Everything
to protect it.

Tell them we
promised you refuge,

and we intend
to keep that promise.

They will not leave
without us.

Will they
attack?

What is
their alternative?

I suggest we take
the moonstone

and put it aboard
our shuttle craft.

Then if they start
to attack,

we stand a chance
of launching it

back to Earth.

Detach it.

I'll put the tapes
where they'll be safe.

No! No! No!

No!

Unh! Uhh!

Ashes.

Stop them!
Stop them!

Diana.

Let me go!
Stop them!

How? By giving them
what they want?

By letting them
have that?

Yes, we have
no other choice!

We will inform them
of your decision,

and they will stop.

They will continue
the suspension of their attack

for one more hour.

By that time
you will deliver us

to the site of
your farthest excavation.

There we will be lifted
aboard their craft.

It is the only way.

Their power is too great,

their madness even greater.

If necessary...

They would pursue you
to Earth

and destroy
your entire planet

to get us back.

We can not allow that.

If you are ever
to destroy evil,

you must survive
to fight it.

You will be safe now.

We will return with them
to Grippia.

I'm sorry.

You did
what you had to do.

Perhaps that is the most subtle
definition of bravery.

Spare your
Earthly compassion

for the creatures
of our distant galaxy.

They will know far more
devastation and death

than you have seen
displayed here.

This we can assure you,

because it will be we
who will invent

those constantly-improved
methods of accomplishing it.

In the end...

It is usually
the good minds

who enable evil to thrive.

I'm... sorry

you had to learn it
this way, Diana.

I don't think
I could've learned it

any other way.

Commence all
preparations for...

Stay with Diana.

She'll be
all right.

General?

Yes.

I'd like to help...

Go with you.

You feel
up to it?

Yes, sir.

Let's see if we can find
some undamaged suits.

Thank you.

We didn't earn
your thanks.

The mind earns by doing,

the heart earns
by trying.

Go.

Quickly.

General...

Is this what you felt
after Qui Chang?

You mean...

Remorse, bitterness?

Yes.

I didn't
understand then.

It's not something
to understand.

It's... something
you live through...

A kind of private hell.

Look!

What's happening?

What I expected.

Well, that's
one way to...

Defeat the tyrant.

Yes, of course.

It was the only way.

The steps man takes

across the heavens
of his universe

are as uncertain
as those steps

he takes across
the rooms of his own life.

And yet, if he walks
with an open mind,

these steps must lead him
eventually

to that most perfect
of all destinations...

Truth.

We now return control of
your television set to you

until next week
at this same time

when the control voice
will take you to...