War of the Worlds (1988–1990): Season 1, Episode 15 - The Prodigal Son - full transcript
In 1953, Earth experienced
a war of the worlds.
Common bacteria
stopped the aliens,
but it didn't kill them.
Instead, the aliens lapsed
into a state of deep hibernation.
Now the aliens have
been resurrected,
more terrifying
than ever before.
In 1953, aliens started
taking over the world,
today, they're taking
over our bodies.
I have nothing,
really, against humans,
but as a group they stink.
I say... kill them all.
Help. Please pull me up.
To life immortal...
sucker.
Why me?
Gertrude, third base.
Gertrude, home.
Oh, before you say it, Harrison,
I had nothing to do with it.
Good defense, Norton.
Deny everything.
But my work is done.
Say good-bye to everybody.
I'm going to New York.
It's important.
What's important is our briefing
with General Wilson for the U.N.
I'm not going to forget that.
You've been invited
to meet Quinn.
Really?
The hermit artist.
Yes. Quinn himself.
Master of light.
The sculptor of
celestial harmony.
The phony who sells art
that disappears when
the lights are turned on.
I'll ignore that.
If Quinn approves,
I intend to purchase
a piece of his, available only
by personal invitation.
In just 36 hours, Harrison,
you, me, Suzanne,
have a meeting with
General Wilson for the U.N.
In 48, with the U.N.
Security Council
in secret session to
discuss the alien problem.
Now we really need you.
Don't get lost.
I won't.
Until then, I leave you
to the material world
as I dash off in the pursuit
of truth and happiness.
Good-bye.
Now, Norton...
I had nothing to do with it.
Nothing.
We seek your counsel, Advocate.
Which means you still haven't
retrieved the one called Quinn?
He's avoided capture.
As he has so many times before.
He knows this city
well, my Advocate.
Then you must know it better.
Where does he work?
Unknown.
Then where does he sleep?
Also unknown.
He must be captured
and brought to
us, dead or alive.
The future of our species on
this planet may depend on it.
Don't come back without him.
We hear your command, Advocate.
Dr. Blackwood?
Quinn?
This way, please.
I am Quinn.
Harrison Blackwood.
I dislike being touched.
That's understandable
in this age.
You must wear these, Doctor.
I have to protect the location
and absolute
privacy of my studio.
Well, your secrets
are safe with me.
Are they? We'll see.
My work is only
possible with solitude.
We share that need, Quinn.
And perhaps other
needs as well, Harrison?
Step.
Can I take this
blindfold off now?
Not yet, Doctor.
Now look.
Oh, my God.
It's a masterpiece.
Is it?
Do you not find it sterile,
cold and a bit lonely?
Not at all. No.
No, it's as alive as you and I.
What do you call this?
"The Universal Truth."
And the cost, Quinn?
What cost is truth?
That sounds like I'm not going
to be able to afford this.
Don't worry, I'm
a reasonable man.
May I help you?
I'm Margo.
We're interested in the Quinn.
A rare offering.
You have excellent
taste, gentlemen.
Where can we find Quinn?
I have no idea.
Like to talk to him.
Look, even if I knew
how to find Quinn,
I'm not going to tell anyone
and possibly lose his business.
Number...
for Quinn... is two-
one-two...
Five...
Five-quadruple six.
It's an honor to be here...
Just to have the opportunity
to own an original.
Now... tell me,
how much is this?
You can't buy it.
I thought that's why
you invited me here.
I give it to you.
Quinn.
I don't know what to say.
Thank you is enough; you
couldn't afford it anyway.
Here's another small gift,
which exactly matches my own.
Put it on.
Then, then thank you.
Tell me, Harrison,
do you believe
there's life in outer space?
How could I not?
That answer reminds me
of the little old Irish lady
who, when asked if
she believed in ghosts,
replied, "No, but
they're there."
Is that where you derive
your inspiration from, Quinn...
From the stars?
It is the source
of all invention...
Of imagination itself,
and of life immortal!
You've made contact with aliens?
Long ago.
It seems forever.
But I can remember
every detail as clearly
as if it were
happening right now.
Where did this happen?
California... Near
your home town.
In 1953?
Yes, Harry.
Oh, do you mind
if I call you that?
I know Sylvia does.
You know about Sylvia?
And Dr. Forrester,
and all about his secret
alien study called
the Ezekiel Project.
Quinn, if you have any
information about aliens,
tell me.
Oh, I'll tell you, Harry.
But just about one alien.
I'll tell you all about... one
who did not fall to the
bacteria in the great invasion.
One who was stranded alone,
35 long, lonely years,
on a hostile, alien planet...
called Earth.
You're an alien.
Oh, no, Harry.
You're the alien.
I am of a superior race
from a dying solar
system in the constellation
humans call Taurus...
Roughly here.
40 light years away...
Beyond time and beyond space.
In '53, our army came
to conquer this small planet,
and to purge its
surface of all parasites.
Including humanity.
Especially humanity, Harry...
of which you
are a pathetic, miserable,
bacteria-ridden part!
But if you think
you can escape, try.
No, in fact,
I insist on it.
Just walk out the door, Harry,
or I'll kill you where you lie.
Like my gift, Harry?
This 23 Canal Street?
Yes, Officer.
Quinn up there?
Never heard of him.
It doesn't come
off until I take it off.
And that will be
one of two ways...
My choice... dead or alive.
I want to live, Quinn,
but I'm not afraid of death.
Death on what
scale, Dr. Blackwood?
Yours? Your country?
Or total planetary annihilation?
Because that's what's coming,
unless someone stops this war!
If this is a peace
offering, Quinn,
you have a strange
way of showing it!
Just call it the hard sell.
If you give up now, I
promise you sanctuary.
Quinn! Don't be
an idiot! Come on.
What's that explosion?
Why do you think they
call them "trap" doors?
How could Harrison miss our
meeting with General Wilson?
I have no idea.
I haven't heard from him.
He hasn't even checked in yet?
Not a word.
That's not like him.
If, uh, there was a
problem, Doc would call me.
We've already
got a problem.
Tomorrow night,
the top five members
of the U.N. Security Council
expect a report
from this mission,
by order of the President.
How about that R.S.V.P.
number that Harrison
left for Quinn?
I'll try.
Norton,
track down the address
behind Quinn's phone number.
I'll try and reach Harrison
on his portable again.
And let that line ring
until somebody answers.
You talk to nobody
but me until you speak
to the United Nations.
Why are we running from
your own kind, Quinn?
Because I want to live.
I've got rather used to the
idea in a very human way.
Half alien, half human?
Yes, and half crazy from
living in this zoo you call society.
Inside this primitive host body
is the secret of alien
immunity to bacteria
on this filthy planet.
You're the
exception to the rule.
Exactly.
And if the Advocacy captures me,
they will take a
vital organ out of me
to get the secret
for themselves...
And I die.
And our world dies with you.
Quinn, why don't you
just change bodies
and-and disappear into a crowd?
Because I can't, Harry.
The same genetic
twist that keeps me alive
has trapped me
inside this ugly shell.
They know who I am
and what I look like.
I know... I told them years ago.
But no one ever came
after me until the awakening.
You spoke of ending
the war, Quinn.
How?
Not here.
Let's go.
And if you make any more
noise, I'll give you to them.
I'm sorry, your call
cannot be
completed at this time.
The mobile customer
you have called
has traveled beyond
our service range.
Follow me.
This better be important.
Sorry, Sergeant Fitzpatrick,
but this guy is from
the White House.
What's the White House
got to do with this, Colonel...?
Ironhorse, Sergeant.
Nothing at the moment,
except a friend
of ours is missing.
This is his last known location.
Well, what was he doing here?
Buying art.
We'd appreciate any information
you could provide for us.
Yeah, well, I got zip, Colonel.
I've got one dead Korean
driver with a .38 slug in his brain
whose limo, like this loft,
is registered to a
company in Panama.
A matchbook from a "Save the
Dolphins" group in San Francisco.
A pile of goo that I
think from the badge
is a New York cop who's
been missing for a month.
And this.
A Quinn.
So, this is what he does.
Okay, your turn, Colonel.
Now, who's your friend,
and what was he doing here?
That's classified, Sergeant.
May I take a look at
the matchbook, please?
What do you think it means?
I haven't got a clue.
I'll keep in touch,
Sergeant; thank you.
Yes, that was
Harrison's matchbook,
and yes that is his writing,
but how do you get
"Q" equals a delta sign
means Quinn's an alien?
Simple abbreviation.
"Q" for Quinn.
Delta base three,
the alien structure.
If only Harrison would
have given us a clue
as to where he was going.
What if he didn't know?
My God, Paul,
what if they took him over?
I can't believe that.
I won't believe that.
Yet, Suzanne, that is
a very real possibility.
Please be Harrison.
Ironhorse here.
Uh, Norton here, Colonel.
Seems like the East
Manhattan police
found a lady dead in
an art gallery on 57th
with three round
holes in her head
and mucous-like slime
around the wounds.
Aliens.
You win.
Now for the hard
question, where's Harrison?
Likely with Quinn,
who we think is
an alien himself.
My God, they got Harrison?
It looks like it.
You've got to find him.
Look, see what you can muster up
on this Quinn character.
Okay. No problem.
We'll follow up with
the gallery murder.
I want you and
everyone else to evacuate
the cottage immediately.
What are you saying?
I'm saying get out
of there, Norton.
They've got Harrison
and if he's been taken over,
everything that he
knows the aliens will know.
Please, get Debi out of there.
Okay, don't worry about Debi.
I'll call you back to your van.
Gertrude, let's get out of here.
Come on!
What's this?
My home away from home.
Absolutely
no one knows about this place.
Why don't I find
that reassuring?
Sit down. We're safe here.
I said, sit down.
You bastard!
Don't get any ideas, Harry.
I'm much stronger
than this body suggests.
Crushing your
skull would be like
killing a cockroach.
Why do you hate
humans so much, Quinn?
I have nothing really
against humans.
Some of my best
friends are humans.
But as a group they
stink and you know it.
I say kill them all.
Is this the only way
to end the war, Quinn?
Why can't we start here and
now between you and me,
some interspecies dialogue
which might bring peace?
Dialogue, no.
Demand, yes.
You will tell the U.N. Security
Council leaders tomorrow night
that 10% of the human
race will be allowed to live,
only if they follow my orders.
The rest will be poisoned.
Otherwise,
total annihilation
is inevitable.
It's an offer you can't refuse.
That's not a peace offer, Quinn.
That's the slaughter
of billions of people!
This is a fact.
Why? Why our planet?
We come from an
ancient world, Harry.
A garden planet called Mor'Tax.
But our sun is dying.
And without light
there is no life.
Earth is the
closest planet by far,
to continue our eternity
under a new sun,
in a new world, a
world you don't deserve.
A paradise your
kind treats like a toilet.
You're all vermin.
A plague this planet
can well do without.
We belong here, Quinn.
You don't!
We are the future, Harry.
In less than five years
three million colonists
will arrive here from Mor'Tax.
And an army of thousands
out there right now
works to slaughter all of you.
But I offer mankind
a compromise.
What happens to the
ones that you spare, Quinn?
I will have them put on
reservations, far from my kind.
The world will be
a better place for it.
And we will live life immortal.
Even if I was to convey
this grisly offer to the U.N.,
how do I know that your kind
would accept this idea,
especially coming from
a renegade like you?
Because I am
"One Who Knows,"
a supreme commander of the army.
I sacrificed everything.
I left my mate, my
children, my home,
to come here to make a
refuge for my dying race.
But our ruling class
thought only of its own glory,
ignoring the warnings
of our scientists.
Yes, I know that problem well.
The army will accept me
to quickly win this war.
Earth is a new
world with new rules.
We are thousands ruled
by only three, the Advocacy.
But now, Harry,
I will rule alone.
And me?
You...
you will make
the final selection.
Who amongst you lives
and who dies.
With all this cash
and jewelry left behind,
it sure wasn't thieves.
They're not thieves, Sergeant.
We belong to a task
force on terrorism.
Our enemy uses unique methods.
They're ruthless,
determined and deadly.
Any idea what these un-named
terrorists are after?
Come on, what exactly
does your missing
team member mean to them?
Colonel, what about
tonight's special meeting?
We have to assume that the
enemy is aware of that now.
Sergeant, I'll have
photos of Dr. Blackwood
faxed to your office
within the hour.
And I'm going to need
every available man
you can muster up by 1900 hours.
1900 hours? For what?
A stakeout of the
United Nations.
This won't hurt you.
We leave for the
U.N. in 15 minutes.
Indulge me, Quinn.
Answer me just one question.
Hmm?
Do you realize
that you're unique?
What's your point Harry?
My point is that you've
lived here for so long
that you're more human
than you are alien.
Don't try my patience.
I've very little left.
That's what I mean.
The truth is that
you've lived here
for 35 years in
torment and suffering
in a terrible kind
of loneliness.
Now you're revolting
against your condition.
Despite the pain, you
want to live, Quinn.
That's a human feeling.
What I've done
I've done to survive,
no matter what you read into it.
From what I know of your
people, they are short on humor
and they are long on murder.
Do you think that millions
of alien society are going to,
going to accept that that body,
that mind, and
its human feelings,
let alone allow a half-breed
like you to lead them?
No, Quinn, your kind is
intolerant in its superiority.
Your kind murders anything
different from its own.
Yours is the killer
race, Harry, not mine.
But we have learned the
value of tolerance, Quinn,
and your species hasn't.
Tolerance is, and always
will be, the saving grace
of humanity.
Tolerance, Harry?
What good is tolerance to me?
Because if you want to live,
Quinn, humans will tolerate you.
They might even celebrate
your half-alien identity.
But your kind, your
kind will squash you.
They will kill you out of fear.
I will rule this planet.
And anybody who
stands in the way will die.
That's been tried before, Quinn.
Maybe not by one man
operating all by himself...
Oh, but I'm more
than one, Harry.
I have you.
And if you're good,
really good tonight, Harry,
the United Nations
will end this war.
And put you on a throne?
You'd better pray that they do.
Because if this
fails, you'll be extinct,
along with all the rest of
your God-forsaken species.
If anyone spots Dr. Blackwood,
I want you to contact
me immediately.
Yes, sir.
But what if our target
is about to evade
capture, Colonel?
Sanchez, Dr. Blackwood
is not a target,
till I say he's a target.
So I damned well
better be the one
who does any shooting.
Just a manner of speaking, sir.
Well, if that manner
becomes trigger-happy,
you better hope the
enemy gets you before I do.
Do you understand, soldier?
Yes, sir.
Harrison may be the biggest
weirdo, pain in the butt,
I've ever known, but
he's a friend of mine.
He's a friend of
mine, too, Suzanne.
We're almost there.
Why do you use New
York's tunnels, Quinn?
Believe it or not, the
light above hurts my eyes.
How ironic.
That's what you came here for.
Stay close, Harry.
Don't slip, Quinn,
or this damn alien handcuff
of yours will kill us both.
We're early, but tonight
we won't be disturbed.
What did you do with
the door? My laser lock.
It'll hold for 30 minutes.
A simple principle of physics,
but nothing can break
that door down now.
Has it got a force field?
It's all the same thing, Harry,
if you understand the universe.
Light and energy, Quinn. I
understand the principles.
It's the mechanics I'm after.
Now how do you know the session
was set for this room?
Human secrets are
pathetically protected
by those who make them, Harry.
A few bucks here,
a phone tap there,
and anything you
want to know is yours.
Maybe you'd better
tell them that, Quinn.
You must concede to the
will of the Advocacy, Quinn.
You're surrounded.
There's no way out.
Fitzpatrick.
Sergeant, what's your location?
I'm going in. Stay here.
Hear the command, Quinn.
You're nothing without counsel.
You won't take me alive.
Maybe they don't plan to.
I will give you this human
who knows too much
about our people.
Do you really think
they'll let you live, Quinn?
He leads those
who would resist us.
Then you will be rewarded.
Your death will
be that of a hero.
No! I must live!
I know this planet
and its life forms.
I will rule
in place of the three!
No. We live to serve the three.
What are you doing?
Call it survival.
Impossible... I
have no more tricks
to stop them and they
won't leave here without me.
Quinn, you underestimate
human ingenuity.
Oh, you're mad... the laser lock
will disengage in ten
seconds... We're finished.
Oh, yeah?
Let them in.
Why not?
Let's go.
We're trapped.
We can't be.
We are.
The fools.
They have no idea what valuable
knowledge will be lost with me.
They're only interested
in your body, Quinn.
Then I'll give it to them.
I can see why you've
lasted so long, Quinn.
You're a real survivor.
When you live in the jungle
you learn many
things about survival.
Now it's back into
the jungle for me.
And me?
You gave me my life, Harry.
I give you yours.
Twist the crystal
on your bracelet.
You're free.
Quinn?
Quinn!
We'll meet again, Harry.
Don't turn around.
Keep your hands
where I can see them.
Is that you, Harrison?
Yes, Colonel, it's me.
The one and only.
And I'd appreciate
it if you didn't
put any new holes
in me to prove it.
Believe it or not, it's
important to me, too.
You've been under Quinn's
influence for a long time.
How do I know you're
not one of them?
Well, I could tell you a joke,
but if you didn't get it,
and you might not, Colonel,
you might just
shoot me out of spite.
Very funny.
Paul. Yes?
It's really me.
I guess it is.
35 years ago, a great
invasion force of aliens
nearly obliterated mankind
in an all-out attack
from the stars.
They came here
in these spaceships
and they fell from the sky
dead, so we all thought.
Earth was saved from
interstellar conquest
by the presence of common
bacteria found on this planet,
but they were not dead,
as my adoptive
father, Dr. Forester,
tried to warn everyone.
They were only asleep.
Dr. McCullough.
They are capable of
inhabiting human bodies,
a perfect cover
which allows them
to roam our cities
undetected, unnoticed.
We are at war gentlemen.
And we had better win.
There won't be
any second chance.
a war of the worlds.
Common bacteria
stopped the aliens,
but it didn't kill them.
Instead, the aliens lapsed
into a state of deep hibernation.
Now the aliens have
been resurrected,
more terrifying
than ever before.
In 1953, aliens started
taking over the world,
today, they're taking
over our bodies.
I have nothing,
really, against humans,
but as a group they stink.
I say... kill them all.
Help. Please pull me up.
To life immortal...
sucker.
Why me?
Gertrude, third base.
Gertrude, home.
Oh, before you say it, Harrison,
I had nothing to do with it.
Good defense, Norton.
Deny everything.
But my work is done.
Say good-bye to everybody.
I'm going to New York.
It's important.
What's important is our briefing
with General Wilson for the U.N.
I'm not going to forget that.
You've been invited
to meet Quinn.
Really?
The hermit artist.
Yes. Quinn himself.
Master of light.
The sculptor of
celestial harmony.
The phony who sells art
that disappears when
the lights are turned on.
I'll ignore that.
If Quinn approves,
I intend to purchase
a piece of his, available only
by personal invitation.
In just 36 hours, Harrison,
you, me, Suzanne,
have a meeting with
General Wilson for the U.N.
In 48, with the U.N.
Security Council
in secret session to
discuss the alien problem.
Now we really need you.
Don't get lost.
I won't.
Until then, I leave you
to the material world
as I dash off in the pursuit
of truth and happiness.
Good-bye.
Now, Norton...
I had nothing to do with it.
Nothing.
We seek your counsel, Advocate.
Which means you still haven't
retrieved the one called Quinn?
He's avoided capture.
As he has so many times before.
He knows this city
well, my Advocate.
Then you must know it better.
Where does he work?
Unknown.
Then where does he sleep?
Also unknown.
He must be captured
and brought to
us, dead or alive.
The future of our species on
this planet may depend on it.
Don't come back without him.
We hear your command, Advocate.
Dr. Blackwood?
Quinn?
This way, please.
I am Quinn.
Harrison Blackwood.
I dislike being touched.
That's understandable
in this age.
You must wear these, Doctor.
I have to protect the location
and absolute
privacy of my studio.
Well, your secrets
are safe with me.
Are they? We'll see.
My work is only
possible with solitude.
We share that need, Quinn.
And perhaps other
needs as well, Harrison?
Step.
Can I take this
blindfold off now?
Not yet, Doctor.
Now look.
Oh, my God.
It's a masterpiece.
Is it?
Do you not find it sterile,
cold and a bit lonely?
Not at all. No.
No, it's as alive as you and I.
What do you call this?
"The Universal Truth."
And the cost, Quinn?
What cost is truth?
That sounds like I'm not going
to be able to afford this.
Don't worry, I'm
a reasonable man.
May I help you?
I'm Margo.
We're interested in the Quinn.
A rare offering.
You have excellent
taste, gentlemen.
Where can we find Quinn?
I have no idea.
Like to talk to him.
Look, even if I knew
how to find Quinn,
I'm not going to tell anyone
and possibly lose his business.
Number...
for Quinn... is two-
one-two...
Five...
Five-quadruple six.
It's an honor to be here...
Just to have the opportunity
to own an original.
Now... tell me,
how much is this?
You can't buy it.
I thought that's why
you invited me here.
I give it to you.
Quinn.
I don't know what to say.
Thank you is enough; you
couldn't afford it anyway.
Here's another small gift,
which exactly matches my own.
Put it on.
Then, then thank you.
Tell me, Harrison,
do you believe
there's life in outer space?
How could I not?
That answer reminds me
of the little old Irish lady
who, when asked if
she believed in ghosts,
replied, "No, but
they're there."
Is that where you derive
your inspiration from, Quinn...
From the stars?
It is the source
of all invention...
Of imagination itself,
and of life immortal!
You've made contact with aliens?
Long ago.
It seems forever.
But I can remember
every detail as clearly
as if it were
happening right now.
Where did this happen?
California... Near
your home town.
In 1953?
Yes, Harry.
Oh, do you mind
if I call you that?
I know Sylvia does.
You know about Sylvia?
And Dr. Forrester,
and all about his secret
alien study called
the Ezekiel Project.
Quinn, if you have any
information about aliens,
tell me.
Oh, I'll tell you, Harry.
But just about one alien.
I'll tell you all about... one
who did not fall to the
bacteria in the great invasion.
One who was stranded alone,
35 long, lonely years,
on a hostile, alien planet...
called Earth.
You're an alien.
Oh, no, Harry.
You're the alien.
I am of a superior race
from a dying solar
system in the constellation
humans call Taurus...
Roughly here.
40 light years away...
Beyond time and beyond space.
In '53, our army came
to conquer this small planet,
and to purge its
surface of all parasites.
Including humanity.
Especially humanity, Harry...
of which you
are a pathetic, miserable,
bacteria-ridden part!
But if you think
you can escape, try.
No, in fact,
I insist on it.
Just walk out the door, Harry,
or I'll kill you where you lie.
Like my gift, Harry?
This 23 Canal Street?
Yes, Officer.
Quinn up there?
Never heard of him.
It doesn't come
off until I take it off.
And that will be
one of two ways...
My choice... dead or alive.
I want to live, Quinn,
but I'm not afraid of death.
Death on what
scale, Dr. Blackwood?
Yours? Your country?
Or total planetary annihilation?
Because that's what's coming,
unless someone stops this war!
If this is a peace
offering, Quinn,
you have a strange
way of showing it!
Just call it the hard sell.
If you give up now, I
promise you sanctuary.
Quinn! Don't be
an idiot! Come on.
What's that explosion?
Why do you think they
call them "trap" doors?
How could Harrison miss our
meeting with General Wilson?
I have no idea.
I haven't heard from him.
He hasn't even checked in yet?
Not a word.
That's not like him.
If, uh, there was a
problem, Doc would call me.
We've already
got a problem.
Tomorrow night,
the top five members
of the U.N. Security Council
expect a report
from this mission,
by order of the President.
How about that R.S.V.P.
number that Harrison
left for Quinn?
I'll try.
Norton,
track down the address
behind Quinn's phone number.
I'll try and reach Harrison
on his portable again.
And let that line ring
until somebody answers.
You talk to nobody
but me until you speak
to the United Nations.
Why are we running from
your own kind, Quinn?
Because I want to live.
I've got rather used to the
idea in a very human way.
Half alien, half human?
Yes, and half crazy from
living in this zoo you call society.
Inside this primitive host body
is the secret of alien
immunity to bacteria
on this filthy planet.
You're the
exception to the rule.
Exactly.
And if the Advocacy captures me,
they will take a
vital organ out of me
to get the secret
for themselves...
And I die.
And our world dies with you.
Quinn, why don't you
just change bodies
and-and disappear into a crowd?
Because I can't, Harry.
The same genetic
twist that keeps me alive
has trapped me
inside this ugly shell.
They know who I am
and what I look like.
I know... I told them years ago.
But no one ever came
after me until the awakening.
You spoke of ending
the war, Quinn.
How?
Not here.
Let's go.
And if you make any more
noise, I'll give you to them.
I'm sorry, your call
cannot be
completed at this time.
The mobile customer
you have called
has traveled beyond
our service range.
Follow me.
This better be important.
Sorry, Sergeant Fitzpatrick,
but this guy is from
the White House.
What's the White House
got to do with this, Colonel...?
Ironhorse, Sergeant.
Nothing at the moment,
except a friend
of ours is missing.
This is his last known location.
Well, what was he doing here?
Buying art.
We'd appreciate any information
you could provide for us.
Yeah, well, I got zip, Colonel.
I've got one dead Korean
driver with a .38 slug in his brain
whose limo, like this loft,
is registered to a
company in Panama.
A matchbook from a "Save the
Dolphins" group in San Francisco.
A pile of goo that I
think from the badge
is a New York cop who's
been missing for a month.
And this.
A Quinn.
So, this is what he does.
Okay, your turn, Colonel.
Now, who's your friend,
and what was he doing here?
That's classified, Sergeant.
May I take a look at
the matchbook, please?
What do you think it means?
I haven't got a clue.
I'll keep in touch,
Sergeant; thank you.
Yes, that was
Harrison's matchbook,
and yes that is his writing,
but how do you get
"Q" equals a delta sign
means Quinn's an alien?
Simple abbreviation.
"Q" for Quinn.
Delta base three,
the alien structure.
If only Harrison would
have given us a clue
as to where he was going.
What if he didn't know?
My God, Paul,
what if they took him over?
I can't believe that.
I won't believe that.
Yet, Suzanne, that is
a very real possibility.
Please be Harrison.
Ironhorse here.
Uh, Norton here, Colonel.
Seems like the East
Manhattan police
found a lady dead in
an art gallery on 57th
with three round
holes in her head
and mucous-like slime
around the wounds.
Aliens.
You win.
Now for the hard
question, where's Harrison?
Likely with Quinn,
who we think is
an alien himself.
My God, they got Harrison?
It looks like it.
You've got to find him.
Look, see what you can muster up
on this Quinn character.
Okay. No problem.
We'll follow up with
the gallery murder.
I want you and
everyone else to evacuate
the cottage immediately.
What are you saying?
I'm saying get out
of there, Norton.
They've got Harrison
and if he's been taken over,
everything that he
knows the aliens will know.
Please, get Debi out of there.
Okay, don't worry about Debi.
I'll call you back to your van.
Gertrude, let's get out of here.
Come on!
What's this?
My home away from home.
Absolutely
no one knows about this place.
Why don't I find
that reassuring?
Sit down. We're safe here.
I said, sit down.
You bastard!
Don't get any ideas, Harry.
I'm much stronger
than this body suggests.
Crushing your
skull would be like
killing a cockroach.
Why do you hate
humans so much, Quinn?
I have nothing really
against humans.
Some of my best
friends are humans.
But as a group they
stink and you know it.
I say kill them all.
Is this the only way
to end the war, Quinn?
Why can't we start here and
now between you and me,
some interspecies dialogue
which might bring peace?
Dialogue, no.
Demand, yes.
You will tell the U.N. Security
Council leaders tomorrow night
that 10% of the human
race will be allowed to live,
only if they follow my orders.
The rest will be poisoned.
Otherwise,
total annihilation
is inevitable.
It's an offer you can't refuse.
That's not a peace offer, Quinn.
That's the slaughter
of billions of people!
This is a fact.
Why? Why our planet?
We come from an
ancient world, Harry.
A garden planet called Mor'Tax.
But our sun is dying.
And without light
there is no life.
Earth is the
closest planet by far,
to continue our eternity
under a new sun,
in a new world, a
world you don't deserve.
A paradise your
kind treats like a toilet.
You're all vermin.
A plague this planet
can well do without.
We belong here, Quinn.
You don't!
We are the future, Harry.
In less than five years
three million colonists
will arrive here from Mor'Tax.
And an army of thousands
out there right now
works to slaughter all of you.
But I offer mankind
a compromise.
What happens to the
ones that you spare, Quinn?
I will have them put on
reservations, far from my kind.
The world will be
a better place for it.
And we will live life immortal.
Even if I was to convey
this grisly offer to the U.N.,
how do I know that your kind
would accept this idea,
especially coming from
a renegade like you?
Because I am
"One Who Knows,"
a supreme commander of the army.
I sacrificed everything.
I left my mate, my
children, my home,
to come here to make a
refuge for my dying race.
But our ruling class
thought only of its own glory,
ignoring the warnings
of our scientists.
Yes, I know that problem well.
The army will accept me
to quickly win this war.
Earth is a new
world with new rules.
We are thousands ruled
by only three, the Advocacy.
But now, Harry,
I will rule alone.
And me?
You...
you will make
the final selection.
Who amongst you lives
and who dies.
With all this cash
and jewelry left behind,
it sure wasn't thieves.
They're not thieves, Sergeant.
We belong to a task
force on terrorism.
Our enemy uses unique methods.
They're ruthless,
determined and deadly.
Any idea what these un-named
terrorists are after?
Come on, what exactly
does your missing
team member mean to them?
Colonel, what about
tonight's special meeting?
We have to assume that the
enemy is aware of that now.
Sergeant, I'll have
photos of Dr. Blackwood
faxed to your office
within the hour.
And I'm going to need
every available man
you can muster up by 1900 hours.
1900 hours? For what?
A stakeout of the
United Nations.
This won't hurt you.
We leave for the
U.N. in 15 minutes.
Indulge me, Quinn.
Answer me just one question.
Hmm?
Do you realize
that you're unique?
What's your point Harry?
My point is that you've
lived here for so long
that you're more human
than you are alien.
Don't try my patience.
I've very little left.
That's what I mean.
The truth is that
you've lived here
for 35 years in
torment and suffering
in a terrible kind
of loneliness.
Now you're revolting
against your condition.
Despite the pain, you
want to live, Quinn.
That's a human feeling.
What I've done
I've done to survive,
no matter what you read into it.
From what I know of your
people, they are short on humor
and they are long on murder.
Do you think that millions
of alien society are going to,
going to accept that that body,
that mind, and
its human feelings,
let alone allow a half-breed
like you to lead them?
No, Quinn, your kind is
intolerant in its superiority.
Your kind murders anything
different from its own.
Yours is the killer
race, Harry, not mine.
But we have learned the
value of tolerance, Quinn,
and your species hasn't.
Tolerance is, and always
will be, the saving grace
of humanity.
Tolerance, Harry?
What good is tolerance to me?
Because if you want to live,
Quinn, humans will tolerate you.
They might even celebrate
your half-alien identity.
But your kind, your
kind will squash you.
They will kill you out of fear.
I will rule this planet.
And anybody who
stands in the way will die.
That's been tried before, Quinn.
Maybe not by one man
operating all by himself...
Oh, but I'm more
than one, Harry.
I have you.
And if you're good,
really good tonight, Harry,
the United Nations
will end this war.
And put you on a throne?
You'd better pray that they do.
Because if this
fails, you'll be extinct,
along with all the rest of
your God-forsaken species.
If anyone spots Dr. Blackwood,
I want you to contact
me immediately.
Yes, sir.
But what if our target
is about to evade
capture, Colonel?
Sanchez, Dr. Blackwood
is not a target,
till I say he's a target.
So I damned well
better be the one
who does any shooting.
Just a manner of speaking, sir.
Well, if that manner
becomes trigger-happy,
you better hope the
enemy gets you before I do.
Do you understand, soldier?
Yes, sir.
Harrison may be the biggest
weirdo, pain in the butt,
I've ever known, but
he's a friend of mine.
He's a friend of
mine, too, Suzanne.
We're almost there.
Why do you use New
York's tunnels, Quinn?
Believe it or not, the
light above hurts my eyes.
How ironic.
That's what you came here for.
Stay close, Harry.
Don't slip, Quinn,
or this damn alien handcuff
of yours will kill us both.
We're early, but tonight
we won't be disturbed.
What did you do with
the door? My laser lock.
It'll hold for 30 minutes.
A simple principle of physics,
but nothing can break
that door down now.
Has it got a force field?
It's all the same thing, Harry,
if you understand the universe.
Light and energy, Quinn. I
understand the principles.
It's the mechanics I'm after.
Now how do you know the session
was set for this room?
Human secrets are
pathetically protected
by those who make them, Harry.
A few bucks here,
a phone tap there,
and anything you
want to know is yours.
Maybe you'd better
tell them that, Quinn.
You must concede to the
will of the Advocacy, Quinn.
You're surrounded.
There's no way out.
Fitzpatrick.
Sergeant, what's your location?
I'm going in. Stay here.
Hear the command, Quinn.
You're nothing without counsel.
You won't take me alive.
Maybe they don't plan to.
I will give you this human
who knows too much
about our people.
Do you really think
they'll let you live, Quinn?
He leads those
who would resist us.
Then you will be rewarded.
Your death will
be that of a hero.
No! I must live!
I know this planet
and its life forms.
I will rule
in place of the three!
No. We live to serve the three.
What are you doing?
Call it survival.
Impossible... I
have no more tricks
to stop them and they
won't leave here without me.
Quinn, you underestimate
human ingenuity.
Oh, you're mad... the laser lock
will disengage in ten
seconds... We're finished.
Oh, yeah?
Let them in.
Why not?
Let's go.
We're trapped.
We can't be.
We are.
The fools.
They have no idea what valuable
knowledge will be lost with me.
They're only interested
in your body, Quinn.
Then I'll give it to them.
I can see why you've
lasted so long, Quinn.
You're a real survivor.
When you live in the jungle
you learn many
things about survival.
Now it's back into
the jungle for me.
And me?
You gave me my life, Harry.
I give you yours.
Twist the crystal
on your bracelet.
You're free.
Quinn?
Quinn!
We'll meet again, Harry.
Don't turn around.
Keep your hands
where I can see them.
Is that you, Harrison?
Yes, Colonel, it's me.
The one and only.
And I'd appreciate
it if you didn't
put any new holes
in me to prove it.
Believe it or not, it's
important to me, too.
You've been under Quinn's
influence for a long time.
How do I know you're
not one of them?
Well, I could tell you a joke,
but if you didn't get it,
and you might not, Colonel,
you might just
shoot me out of spite.
Very funny.
Paul. Yes?
It's really me.
I guess it is.
35 years ago, a great
invasion force of aliens
nearly obliterated mankind
in an all-out attack
from the stars.
They came here
in these spaceships
and they fell from the sky
dead, so we all thought.
Earth was saved from
interstellar conquest
by the presence of common
bacteria found on this planet,
but they were not dead,
as my adoptive
father, Dr. Forester,
tried to warn everyone.
They were only asleep.
Dr. McCullough.
They are capable of
inhabiting human bodies,
a perfect cover
which allows them
to roam our cities
undetected, unnoticed.
We are at war gentlemen.
And we had better win.
There won't be
any second chance.