The Outer Limits (1963–1965): Season 2, Episode 10 - The Inheritors: Part 1 - full transcript

In the
troubled places of the world,

the devil's hunter
finds rare game.

For man-made savagery is only the
instrument for a secret terror.

Stirring from
its dark place of ambush.

4 square to Muncey.
4 square to Muncey.

Come in, Muncey.

Triangulate
from, uh, "S," 9, 2.

"S," 9, 2.

Yeah, save some for me. Out.

I don't understand why he isn't dead.
14 hours in coma,

flown halfway
around the world.



Look at the slow, lethargic brain
wave pattern, Mr. Ballard.

What we're attempting to remove
is embedded in the cerebrum.

There it is.

Another brain wave pattern.

Another brain, Mr. Ballard.

An alien brain.

There are 2 brains
in the lieutenant's head now.

There is nothing
wrong with your television set.

Do not attempt
to adjust the picture.

We are controlling
transmission.

For the next hour, we will control
all that you see and hear.

You are about to experience
the awe and mystery.

Which reaches from
the inner mind to...

The outer limits.



Good morning, Adam.
Good morning, sir.

Looks puzzling,
doesn't it?

I put it together in a hurry.

You been keeping
secrets from me, Adam?

You've been kept busy on the hill for
the last two days, Mr. Secretary,

and I've taken this opportunity
to prepare this presentation.

Important?

Yes, sir, I think so,
and puzzling.

But I'll let you see
for yourself.

Ready?
Fire away.

This is Lt. Phillip J. Minns.

He was brought back from the far eastern
front with a bullet in his brain.

He was operated on
72 hours ago.

He's still in coma.

He's doing fine,
according to the medics.

That's his encephalograph.

2 brain waves?

2 brains, sir.

But bear with me a bit, I want to
present this to you in sequence.

The first such case,
exactly like the lieutenant,

wounded with a bullet
in the head,

should have died and didn't,

was Sgt. James Conover.

He was flown here to
Washington last February 13th

for surgery
from the same war front.

That's his dual
brain wave pattern.

Next, Pvt. First class
Francis Hadley.

February 26th.

Same bit. Everything the same.

April 10th, a month ago,
Pvt. Robert Renaldo.

Interesting, isn't it?

Yes.

But that's only
the beginning.

Now, see the thin, weaker
wave pattern in each?

Yes.

Those are the individual's
own brain waves.

Watch when we take them away.

Those are the strangers,
the alien patterns.

Now, if we superimpose
one on top of the other,

we come up
with one.

Just one pattern.

Just one alien brain.

What is it, Adam?
Some kind of freak?

No, sir, it's not a freak.

And it's more than
just a coincidence.

These 4 men are
medical miracles.

They had bullets
in their brains,

they should have
died and didn't,

and when the bullets
were removed,

another brain,
an intelligence,

got in and took over.
And I mean intelligence.

3 of these men
developed I.Q.S over 200.

200!

Over 200. Yes, sir.
Above genius level.

What have they been doing?

I don't know.

Where are they now?

Gone. They just up
and went.

No precautions were taken
with Hadley and Conover.

There wasn't any need to.

But precautions
were taken with Renaldo,

for all the good it did.

When he wanted out,
he just walked.

I can't find out why the
hospital guards didn't stop him.

They just didn't.

Violence?

No, sir.

When was this?

9 days ago.

Now, one of the
points of similarity,

each man had a bullet
in his brain tissue.

Look.

I see a small,

4- pointed star at the base.

Stamped on, apparently.

Hand-stamped.
It's on all of them.

Now, sir, I did what
you would have done.

I had them analyzed.

We'll have to go to
the metallurgical lab.

Why?

What do you think
these stars mean?

Oh, probably just
the place of manufacturer.

I've already made
inquires about that.

But the main thing is
the bullets themselves,

the structure of the metal.
That's the important thing.

Cross section
of the molecular structure

of those bullets
enlarged 100,000 times.

You see
the honeycomb effect?

Yes.

What is it?

We don't know.
At first, we thought

it might be air bubbles,
didn't we, Prof. Whitsett?

But they're too symmetrical.

Then I thought it was the
result of a smelting process.

There's been a great deal of homemade
smelting in that war theatre.

You know, sir, backyard puddling furnaces
to help the war effort, and so on.

But it couldn't do that,
make that kind of pattern.

That's not like anything
I've ever seen before.

If I had a sample of the ore
this metal was refined from...

Is it some kind of rare metal?

No, it's just lead and iron.

It's the structure of the
molecules, Mr. Branch. The pattern,

the, uh, honeycomb symmetry.

Looks like the shells
of something, doesn't it?

As though there was
something in there at one time

and now it's gone.

As though it leaked out.

The honey of the comb.

Is that all of it?

Yes, sir.

Don't you think
all of this may have

an innocent
explanation, Adam?

No, sir.
I don't.

Well, I'm not against

further inquiry
on a scientific level.

That's our job.

What have you
got in mind?

Well, first I think
the federal bureau of security

can help us find
those missing men.

Without publicity.

And precautionary guards,
lots of them,

should be placed
on Lt. Minns.

Of course, he'll be recuperating
for the next few weeks.

What else, Adam?

The other end of the problem,
what Prof. Whitsett needs.

The ore from which those
bullets are made.

You sound as if you're ready to go halfway
around the world to find it yourself.

Yes, sir.

I don't know that we're dealing
with enemies of some kind,

but I have to assume
the worst.

Good afternoon,
Mr. Ballard.

Lt. Minns, how are you?

I feel fine.

11 days after surgery?

Yes. Remarkable,
isn't it?

Yes.

But then, the whole thing
has been...

Remarkable.

Yes, it has.

I'm a lucky man.

I'm also grateful.

I know my body's recuperating
from a terrible shock,

and yet I have this wonderful
sense of physical well-being.

Maybe that goes
with the rising I.Q.

I understand my I.Q. Is going
up and that's very funny

because I don't
feel any smarter.

No? No new special interest?

Like the others?

Biochemistry,

metallurgy, physics.

No, not at all,
Mr. Ballard.

My I.Q. Seems destined
to be wasted.

You seemed interested
in the others.

Should I be?
Well, not particularly.

But I am curious
about you.

Why?

What do you want
to know about me?

Well, what do you suspect
about me, Mr. Ballard?

I know you're trying
to make, uh, some connection

between those 3 men and me.

Yes, I am.

But why do you think
I suspect anything?

Why all the precautions,
Mr. Ballard?

Why all the guards?

Why this kind of
subtle probing?

What are you going to do
when you get out, lieutenant?

I really haven't
thought about it.

I'm pretty happy
right here.

Good food. Fine medical
attention. Pretty nurses.

Anybody waiting for you?

You must have checked my
records, Mr. Ballard.

I have no family.

They wouldn't show a girl.

Oh.

No, nobody
waiting for me.

None of those other men
have any ties, either.

Link after link.

So many things
in common.

There's got to be a reason, a purpose.
Is that it, Mr. Ballard?

No clue, lieutenant,

no inkling what it may be?

Something alien in your head,

something guiding you,

pointing you,

directing you?

No.

What are you reading?

Just something
I found in the library,

idle curiosity.

Morgan's, uh, theoretical analysis
of comprehensive finance.

Ballard?

Capt. Newa, A.I.O.

I'm delighted
to meet you, captain.

This is the man
we've been waiting for.

He was quartermaster
for the guerilla supply depot,

pressed into sniper duty.

He's been most anxious
to please.

He cannot speak English.

He knows where those
bullets were manufactured?

Yes.

And where there was a concentration
of backyard puddling furnaces?

He told me he comes
from such a district himself.

How many districts
are there, captain?

40, 50, maybe 60.

Well, then the ore we're looking
for could come from anywhere.

The same thought
occurred to me, Mr. Ballard.

When I questioned
the prisoner about it,

he explained that
this was not so.

The ore used by all the districts
came from the same place.

The place of
"the great fire in the sky."

Well, where is that?
What kind of place is that?

It's in the
Thua Thien province.

Is it far?

Not very far.

OK, then let's get going. That's what
I'm here for, a sample of that ore.

Mr. Ballard!

I'm sorry, I thought it was
clear when I explained to you

that it was in
the Thua Thien province.

That's behind enemy lines.

Well, I can't ask you
to come along,

but if you'll
give me instructions.

You cannot go.

I've come a long way to let
a few more miles stop me.

You cannot go, sir.

Even if I considered
to allow you,

it'd be suicide.

This theater of war
is totally unlike

any other
you've ever known before.

Why, you'd be...

Even I...

You're determined.

Shall we go?

It's rugged.
How far now?

Close.

Are we in
Thua Thien province?

Just a matter of
remembering the place now.

Thanks.

Very sneaky,
these northerners.

This way, I think.

It's a crater.

This is the place.

The place of "the great
fire in the sky"?

Captain, sure it was.
It was a meteor.

Yes, of course,
I thought you understood.

I remember when
I was very young.

Not much left of it now.

It's enough.

Well there is some
substance in these pockets,

or, uh, what do we call them,
honeycombs?

At 200,000 diameters

there is some
loss of resolution.

The honeycomb effect
is not familiar.

The matter inside the pockets
is not familiar either.

And yet there is something
familiar about the whole of it.

I can recognize,
in considerably altered form,

the R.N.A. Factor.

The basic ingredient
in the genes and chromosomes

which contain and transmit
hereditary characteristics.

Well, what exactly does that
mean in this case, professor?

For those dual wave patterns?

Well,

I'd say these particles
probably affect mentality.

And intelligence.

What other healing or life-giving
factors they may contain,

or compulsions, or tendencies,
or capabilities, I don't know.

But I would say,
based on the I.Q.S I saw,

that those men
may achieve intelligence,

knowledge and capacities.

Far beyond anything
mankind has ever known.

Now, Lt. Minns, you know
you're not supposed to...

We don't want
to disturb anybody.

Now, would you help me
with this, please?

Of course.

Thank you.

Would you get
my blouse, please?

Of course.

The guard.

Let him in.

Everything all right?

Yes, of course.

Hold on, lieutenant.
We've got orders not...

Is there anything I can do?

There are probably a dozen of
you between here and the gate,

and I just don't want to cause
a disturbance when I leave.

Would you, please?

I had 30 men in and around
that hospital, Mr. Secretary.

Not one of them can give me
any information at all.

No one even remembers
seeing Lt. Minns,

and he must have gone
right by at least 12 guards.

The nurse?
The guards on his door?

They can't tell us a thing.

A patient in a private room
believes he saw a uniformed man

walking down the hall
with a guard.

A visitor in the waiting room
thinks he caught a glimpse of him,

and that's it.

It's probably hypnosis.

There's no telling what that
brain is capable of doing.

Well, now he's gone.
That's a fact.

Whatever it is, it's started.

Now he's a part of it.

Well, Mr. Branch, do you still think
there's no connection between these 4 men?

No concerted effort? No plot?

I've always understood
your position, Adam.

And I think now
the possibility is increased

that there is a common
design among those men.

And, I think now you ought
to put full time in on it.

Assume this office's full
responsibility on the matter.

What are your plans, Harris?

I'll have to add the lieutenant to
the others we're trying to find.

Still no publicity?

How can we raise a hue and cry
against them? What have they done?

It's what they're doing.

Lt. Minns could be
any place by now.

On his way to Timbuktu,
the Congo,

or a
cold-water flat in London.

We don't recommend commodity
futures, Lt. Minns.

They're speculative.

I know some brokers
are high on them,

but for a beginning investor
in the market...

I've done a little studying.

And now you want
to take a little fling.

How much did
you say, $500?

That's right.

What have you got in mind?

Well, I was thinking of buying,
uh, 2000 bushels of wheat.

Do you realize that in less time than
it would take me to write the order,

you could
be wiped out?

Those commodity prices

sometimes move like
greased lightning, lieutenant.

So, I understand.

Well, I'll never be able to say
you didn't warn me, Mr. Jessup.

Let's see.

The price is
$1.43 a bushel.

It's down 7 cents
from the opening.

It's gone down the limit
for 4 straight sessions, now.

What makes you think
it won't go down some more?

Why, its pattern, Mr. Jessup.

Sell it at $1.60, please.

Buy soybeans at $2.30. Use all
of the money, Mr. Jessup.

Sell corn?

And buy cotton.

Isn't there something
called pyramiding, Mr. Jessup?

A bit more than $21,000
dollars in your account.

That's pretty sensational
for 7 trading days.

Mr. Jessup, I want you
to buy me 150,000 shares

of ore and base unlimited.

Average the cost
at 14 cents.

A "cat and dog" mining stock.

Don't you think
it's speculative?

Have you heard anything?

No, Mr. Jessup.
Just my own figures.

I want to clear
$2.75 a share.

How could you
help hearing about it?

It's been all over the street.

How a man who never owned
stock before in his life,

starting with $500...

You know, Ballard, I gave him a
cashier's check Wednesday morning

in the amount of
$405,572.15.

It restores your faith
in the nation's economy

that such a thing is
still possible.

That's him.
A nice guy, a real nice guy.

Did he do anything wrong?

I tell you, he never
did anything wrong here.

What do you want to know?

Ever see any of them?

No.

P.f.C. Francis Hadley, Pvt. Robert
Renaldo, Sgt. James Conover.

Never saw or heard of them.

$405,000.

Highland bank
and trust company drafts.

At minns' request,

$120,000 was sent to the Swedish
exchange bank in Stockholm,

to the account
of James Conover.

A draft for $90,000 to the Tokyo
guarantee trust in Tokyo,

account of Robert Renaldo.

And a draft for $188,000

to the Kansas
bank of Wichita,

account of Francis Hadley.

Any address on the lieutenant?

No.

But he wasn't trying
to hide anything, Adam.

According to the vice-president
of the bank, anyway.

The lieutenant was
so open and above board.

Everything he did and said. Didn't
even try to change his name.

The V.P. said he was willing
to bet that he was

a completely honest
and trustworthy man.

He's a banker.

He shouldn't gamble.

Hello, Mr. Larkin.

What's that smell?

Part of my experiments.

I didn't realize
it was so late.

Would you mind dropping me
off at the airport

on your way back to town?

I've got a plane to catch.

Oh, Hadley...

I'm going out of the country
for a week or so.

Hadley, aren't you interested
in what happened at the bank?

That draft from New York
came through.

That's good.

Well, I don't
understand you, Hadley.

It's for $188,000.

Is it?

Well, this property
only cost a $140,000.

Well, I imagine the rest of the
money is for parts and equipment,

and expenses.

You know,
you sure surprise me.

Seeing this didn't exactly
inspire me with confidence

you could come up
with a $140,000.

Especially after that
haggling over the $30 a month

you've been paying
for this room.

What are you
working on?

Huh?

Experimenting.

Well, you've got people
who believe in you.

Putting up
that kind of money.

What kind of
experimenting?

Gas compounds.

Exotic herbs.

Air conduits.

Pressure atmospheres.

Well,

you are now
the official owner

of 45,000 square feet

of the finest abandoned
factory in Wichita county

and
homemade laboratory.

What is this? A new kind
of air conditioning?

Air conditioning?

Yes, in a manner of speaking,
I guess it is, Mr. Larkin.

You fellas
and your inventions.

You're sure close-mouthed.

I don't suppose
your backers would be

interested in a little
investment from me?

Hadley,
could you put in a word?

Mr. Larkin,
you've got this all wrong.

I have no backers
that I know of.

And this isn't
any invention,

it's just
some experimenting.

That's why I'm going
on this trip,

I'm looking for
a special herb,

Rara coalinsis.

It's been reported along
the Amazon in Brazil.

Mr. Larkin, aren't you
supposed to sign those papers

and give me a copy?

Well, ordinarily, yes,

but, you know,
I've had 2nd thoughts.

This property is really worth a
lot more than you're paying me.

That's the price you asked.

Well, I said,
I've had 2nd thoughts.

I want $200,000.

You're reneging on the deal.

Right.

But you got the other money
so easily, you can get this.

No, I can't.

I have no time now,

I've got a plane to catch.

I can wait.

Mr. Larkin,

I have no time to argue.

I want you
to sign those papers.

You want?

Now,
don't threaten me, Hadley.

I know this
younger generation,

no respect for
the rights of the individual.

I carry this with me
all the time.

Mr. Larkin,

the only way that
you can use that gun

is on yourself.

But you have a choice,
Mr. Larkin.

You can sign the papers

or you can pull the trigger.

I'll sign.

Thank you.

Why don't you lower the gun?

Please, can't you hurry,
Mr. Larkin?

I wouldn't want
to miss my flight.

Let's take a look
at his laboratory.

It's over there.

If I thought he was doing
anything against the law,

I... I wouldn't have
let him have the room,

much less let him
buy the whole place.

We don't know if he's done anything
against the law, Mr. Larkin.

We're just investigating.
Don't jump to conclusions.

You've told us everything
you know, Mr. Larkin.

Would you excuse us for
a few minutes, please?

Sure. Sure.

What you'd expect from a
biochemist, isn't it, Adam?

Yes.

These look like
air ducts of some kind.

Looks like he's experimenting
with air or gas.

"Inert gases."

Doesn't look like
he's running out on us.

Looks like he's
expecting to come back.

Yes.

Want me to go
to Stockholm with you?

No. I think you should
concentrate on minns.

I think he's some kind of a leader
of this thing, a coordinator.

And I think he's probably left
New York for parts unknown.

I agree.

Which makes finding him
a choice assignment.

Aren't you worried?

Am I fighting a lone
battle with this thing?

Don't you understand,

they could be
a terrible threat?

That's Hadley.

Well, I don't know him.

Him either.

I never saw him.

Looks like
a vehicle of some sort.

A room here.
2 rooms, or areas.

I don't understand
some of the designations.

Did Conover design it?

When he first came to me,

I thought
he was a jokester.

In 32 years
of steel making,

I've never seen
anything like them.

Impractical things?

I told him flatly,
impossible things,

then he showed me
how to make them.

Oh,

he knows things
nobody ever dreamed of.

Very light.

It's an alloy,
Mr. Ballard.

1st, of 3 elements
which don't unite,

2nd,
of specific weights,

which totalled more
than this finished product.

What's that?

He took 3 weights of metal
and put them together.

And it weighed
less than one-tenth

than their
combined weights.

Do you want to hear the
3rd incredible thing?

Go on.

What you hold in your
hand has 2 parts, not 1.

Can you see
the place of joining?

Here.

Mmm-hmm.

That is most amazing to me.
No rivets, no welding.

Those parts are
polarized together.

And they fit as perfectly
as they were really one piece.

And that piece,
Mr. Ballard,

is stronger than the strongest
commercial alloy made,

and lighter than
the lightest magnesium alloy.

And more heat- and cold-resistant
than any metal known.

You're making them
for Conover?

Yeah, yeah,
we are fabricating them.

They are tremendously costly.

But the money
doesn't seem to bother him.

He's a brilliant man,
Mr. Ballard.

And a sad one.

Sad?

I like him.

Uh, I like him for
the kind of man he is.

Inside, Mr. Ballard,
a troubled man.

Troubled
by what he's doing.

But when I ask him
to explain what he's about,

he... he could not
tell me.

Could not?

Could not.

It was as though...

As though...

As though what?

As though the devil
had him under this thumb!

And he had no chance
to get out of...

To be his own man.

Excuse me, I...

I...

Just don't think
I'm expressing myself well.

You're doing fine.

He is late.

He is always here

at half past 8
in the morning.

He hasn't missed a morning
since he first came.

Except today.

Did he know you were
anxious to see him?

I don't know how
he could have known.

But yes, I think he did.

"The father, the son,
the holy ghost."

"Holy Mary mother of god,
pray for our sins,

from now to the hour
of our death. Amen."

I should be grateful
I'm alive.

I was at death's door.

I looked death in the face.

Is it your will?

This... this thing
inside my head,

it creates new
and wonderful images.

It makes me
do things of such beauty,

it can't be bad.

No, it's not bad, it's good.

It is good.

Isn't it, god?

Well, Mr. Ballard.

Hello, Renaldo.

It's been a while.

Yes.

You've been here
all the time?

Yeah, practically.

Sit down, Mr. Ballard.
Sit down.

For a guy with a big
brain like mine, uh,

I got a lot of
respect for you.

Have a drink.

No.

Something wrong, Renaldo?

What could be wrong?

I'm celebrating.

I just finished my mission.

Whatever that is.

3 guesses,
what is it?

Some kind of
motive device.

Hey, well,
wasn't I right?

Don't I know
my I.Q.S?

You couldn't tell just
by looking, Mr. Ballard.

How did you know?

I guessed.

You did?

Hadley's experimenting with some
kind of system of air conditioning,

conover, with vehicle
design and metallurgy,

obviously
whatever's being planned...

Needs a motor.

And I'm the last one
with this, uh,

gift, up here.

You're next to last.
What is it?

Who's the last?

You don't know?

Lt. Phillip minns.

He's the one
that sent me the money?

Yes.

And
that's how you found me.

Not that I was hiding.

Wanna show me
what it does?

Like everything connected
with this thing,

if you need to know...

Suddenly you learn.

If you need money,
suddenly you get money!

Anything.

Anything to finish the job.

The... the project!

Nothing can stop it.

But if you want
to get it off your back...

If you want to
walk out on it,

oh, no,
you can't do that.

You're hooked.
The monkey's got you.

You do
what's inside your head!

No matter
how your insides are busting.

Look, Renaldo.

Look,
why don't you take a drink!

Watch this,
Ballard.

This is motive power like
nothing you've ever seen.

No fuel,
no moving parts.

You understand, Ballard?

I beat gravity.

The pull of the earth.

You understand that,
Ballard?

You can stop fighting now.
We're going home.

We're going to put
an end to this project.

What did you say,
Mr. Ballard?

I said, we're going
to put an end to this project.

I don't know what happened,
Mr. Branch.

I was talking
to Robert Renaldo in Tokyo,

the last thing I remember.

Now I'm here in Indianapolis,
at the Memorial Day race.

I've lost more than
2 weeks.

We've been frantic here, Adam.

We put out
all kinds of searches.

We couldn't
find a trace of you.

Well, I'll catch the next
plane for Washington.

Let me sum it up, then.

In Wichita,

a chemical laboratory,
an abandoned factory,

and a biochemist experimenting
with air components,

gases and
atmospheric conduits.

Is that right?

And a missing
biochemist.

Vanished up the Amazon,

looking for a rare herb
called rara coalinsis.

In Stockholm,
a vehicular design

in a metal lighter than wood
and stronger than steel.

And a missing metallurgist.

We have no lead on him.

I don't believe
he's in Sweden.

I don't believe
he's in this country, either.

And, in Tokyo,

an antigravity device.

And a missing
physicist.

Does it seem obvious,
what's going on?

Each man working
independently

under the compulsion of that
intruder brain in his head,

each man giving
the appearance of not hiding,

they use their own names,

of being honest,
above board,

ethical, good men.

I've heard that
expression several times.

Go on, Adam.

But
each of them subservient

to that
monitor in his brain.

That intruder
which instructs,

coordinates,
protects the project.

Whatever that project is.

I got the impression
that these men

hate what has
happened to them,

hate what they are doing, even
as they unwillingly do it.

It's not just frightening,
it's terrifying,

these men are tormented and
unable to control themselves.

They'll be charming
if they have to be,

and vicious,
if they must,

for whatever dark
and evil purpose

their efforts are
leading them towards.

Lieutenant?

Lieutenant!

How'd you know
I'm a lieutenant, Johnny?

How'd you know I'm Johnny?

What can I do for you?

I want to go with you.

Do you, Johnny?

Do you know
where I'm going?

I don't care.

Far away, Johnny.

On a starship.

Far away.

Don't you want to take me?

Yes, Johnny.

I want to take you.

That's it, Adam.

2nd floor,
apartment 17.

Is minns
in there now?

No, but that's his place,
all right.

We've got 12 men
up and down this street.

4 men
inside the building.

We have 3 cars
from here to the corner.

2 on each
of the side streets,

and one opposite.

You wanna go inside now?
He's gonna be along anytime.

All set?

Man looks up at the stars.

And dreams his futile dreams.

Child of the universe,

his toys are ignorance,

his games, fantasy.

Not even master
of his own fate,

it is the devil's puppeteer.

Who stretches his fingers
to answer the question:

"What will happen next?"

We now return control
of your television set to you.

Until next week,
at this same time,

when the control voice
will take you to...

The outer limits.