Original subtitles

Do you like this?

I don't know why the whole damn capsule not made of glass.

Enjoy it while you can.

Last spin on the merry -go -round.

Re -entry insertion window minus 21 minutes 10 seconds.

I made it, Madeline.

I can feel it. Should I correct manually?

There

you

go.

I'm getting break up on broadband 8F.

Roller.

The hell?

There's some kind of pyrotechnics out there.

It's not coming from the craft.

It's coming towards it.

My God, there's something out there.

Let's get inside.

The last communication we heard from Aspire at Devon on that mission.

Until we regained control, brought you back, and the drug suit opened.

It must be very painful to listen to that, even if it was 38 years ago. Well,

what's painful, Colonel Wayne, is that after four decades, I'm still having

trouble convincing people that what happened to me really happened.

Well, God knows you've had enough time to think about it. What caused you to

send your crap spinning out of control?

Looking back, what do you think it was?

I know what it wasn't.

It wasn't what NASA said it could possibly be. It was not oxygen

was not space dementia.

I didn't black out.

It was not an epileptic seizure.

I don't have to tell you. The data didn't corroborate your version.

Clearly you have some theory.

Something was trying to reach out to me that day in 1963. Whether it was a

friend or foe or another world, I do not know.

And if I had not panicked, I might have found out. That's why it's important I

go back up again.

It's the only way any one of us will ever, ever know. With all due respect,

Colonel Harris, while we've been charged with collecting one of the original

space program astronauts for this shuttle flight,

There have been some reservations expressed about your suitability for

mission. Well, I'm no spring chicken. I don't claim to be, but I'm in reasonably

good health. I think the congresswoman was referring to your mental

preparedness. The record does reflect that you spent a period of

institutionalization after your original flight.

Right. Well, enough people call you crazy. It becomes a self -fulfilling

prophecy.

However, that was past history. I had submitted here psychological evaluations

along with other briefs. And then there was, of course, the incident where you

allegedly hacked into a Pentagon computer.

I was only looking at my own files.

In fairness to Colonel Harris, those charges were dismissed.

Thank you.

One more thing I am curious about.

You indicated this morning that it is, in your words, now or never.

Yes, ma 'am. The planetary alignments.

During my flight, we're virtually the same as we'll be in the next scheduled

shuttle launch.

And they will not be the same for another 24 years, at which time I'll be

and buried, or should be. Though it is now or never.

Well, that should do it. Thank you, Colonel. The committee should be making

decision shortly.

Please, I need to know we all.

Need to know.

Thank you, Colonel Harris.

Mr. Powers?

How'd it go? They turn him down?

Let's just say I think you should make room in your own space flight for one

more passenger.

That's fine.

There is nothing wrong with your television. Do not attempt to adjust the

picture. We are now controlling the transmission.

We control the horizontal and the vertical. We can deluge you with a

channels or expand one single image to crystal clarity and beyond.

We can shape your vision to anything our imagination can conceive.

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

You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the

deepest inner mind to the outer limits.

Please stand by.

The burden of solitude is a mighty one.

Be it a lone voice echoing in the dark, or the cry of humanity in a desolate

universe. I did everything I could. They said your application would be

considered for future flight.

Well, talk to them again, will you, Wayne?

Damn it all, you can make them change their mind, can't you? I'm sorry, Dad.

Yes!

Who is it? Colonel Harris?

No more interviews.

I'm not a reporter.

I represent Carlton Powers, Powers Industries.

Yeah.

So? I understand you want to go back into space.

Come on in.

You may know that our aerospace division has an orbit -capable space plane.

Yeah, XR -141, I know. One million pounds of thrust, no booster, single

orbit. Schedule launch in six months, I know that. That's what the press thinks.

The truth is, we're ready for the inaugural flight right now.

And Mr. Powers has extended an invitation for you to be aboard.

You're not jerking my chain, are you, friend?

Excuse me? You're not jerking me around, are you? Because I haven't got a lot

left to lose.

I assure you, this is completely on the up and up.

Your tea, Mr. Pollard. Thanks, George.

Put it there.

I'm going to hand it to you, Ted.

You don't mind if I call you Ted, do you? No. Guys like you who squeeze

into a tin bucket, park your butt on a powder keg, let them shoot you into the

stratosphere with computers that wouldn't even cut it in a Game Boy.

That took guts.

Not like these hot shots we have nowadays.

Are you a pilot?

Yes, sir.

Best years of my life.

Matter of fact, some days I'd give up all this just to hit Mach 3 in a

Blackbird.

You know, I'm going to co -pilot the maiden flight of the Daedalus.

But don't worry.

Damn thing's so automated that you can't leave the head with your zipper down.

to look and get forced in the mouth. Why'd you pick me, Mr. Powers?

You're the real deal, Ted.

Mercury astronaut, I'm billing you as a host lecturer.

I'm not going to lie to you. This flight is going to make the privatization of

space a reality.

And I learned long ago the value of promotion.

Look at the hooplots around in the Glenn flight.

Two of my passengers had their names drawn out of a hat.

Won a contest.

Hell, I'm even taking a reporter along for the ride.

And I'm part of this circus.

The fact that you were snubbed by the shuttle committee and the controversy

surrounding your original mission, you can't buy publicity like that.

You know what they say about me, don't you? No worse than they say about me.

Just a lot of damn fools shooting their mouths off.

I stopped listening to them years ago.

I have a feeling you did the same thing.

And you're willing to launch around my time window, are you?

Are the birds ready?

You're ready?

I'm ready?

Hell yes.

What do you say we break out something stronger and make it official?

The pariah of the Mercury program.

The black stain of the project. Nobody wanted to talk to me after I came back.

And I don't blame them.

Well, I suppose by implication, that includes me.

No, you were doing your best you could for the mission. Besides, you were the

only one who came to see me when I was in the rubber room, except for my wife.

Well, how's Madeline? You two see one another anymore? Oh, I've seen her a

couple of times since she's gone back to Maryland.

Well, I didn't ask you out just to congratulate you, Ted. I have something

get off my chest.

That experience that you went through in 63, what

I mean is you weren't the only one to go through something they couldn't

explain.

What are you talking about?

Well, I'm...

I'm not talking the whole nine yards, not everything that you saw, but...

I saw my sixth orbit.

Just coming up over the sub -Saharan.

And I saw lights outside the capsule.

And at first I thought it was the straps burning off the retro pack.

But it wasn't.

You didn't say anything, and you could have changed everything.

I know it, and God knows it's been weighing on me all these years.

Hey, buddy.

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.

Listen, Dad. You son of a bitch.

I understand.

But the truth is that I was afraid for my career. I was afraid that I

wouldn't... Get the chance to suit up again.

Why'd you decide to tell me now?

I think it's important that you know that somebody else understands

this overpowering urge you have to go back out there.

There's somebody else who needs to know some answers.

I got you.

Got your hand.

Get out of here!

You're trying to show NASA off by heading into space before the shuttle

that Colonel Harris would hope to be on?

NASA's got the resources of the entire United States government behind it. I'm

just a lowly entrepreneur trying to advance the cause of science.

Some of his former colleagues are claiming that he's delusional, even

Does this concern you?

If I had a dollar for every insult hurled at me, I'd be a richer man than I

today. No, sir, it does not concern me. Colonel Harris is a man with a mission.

So am I.

With all the embracement of cubism and its fierce rivalry with Picasso, one

would expect even more vigor in this painting.

But the surprise?

There's a serenity to this work that's fairly atypical for the stage in the

artist's life.

Excuse me.

I'll catch up with you in a moment.

Ted! Madeline, I'm sorry to... What are you doing here? I'm sorry to disturb

you, but it's kind of important.

Still doing your volunteer work, huh?

I'm once to feel useful.

Yeah.

I guess you heard about my flight.

I've already been approached by the reporters.

I can't say it brings back fond memories.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

I didn't sleep half the night thinking about what we had and what we...

I can't do this.

Don't get me wrong. I've given up trying to rehash what we went through, what I

put you through. No tears for me, Ted.

I was just another bystander.

You were a one -man train wreck.

Remember this?

You gave it to me. You had some kind of premonition that things wouldn't go

right.

What is it you want, Ted?

To be just, not alone.

Madeline, I've been in that damn angry room of mine over 30 years, and this is

the chance to break out. This is the chance to find some answers. You're

to drive yourself crazy all over again.

All that anguish, confusion, it's all part of the past. It's over.

Like us. You act as if this happened yesterday. It was more than 30 years

People change.

I've changed.

I'm going to go, Dad.

As I told you in the first pre -flight briefing,

Your variable tension magnetic boots will hold you on the deck when we're at

zero G's.

So you'll have to forgive me for any discomfort you might feel.

These god -awful unisex outfits I find painful.

Considering what I pay for this ticket, I think you could have popped for a

designer.

Well, you'll have to forego the high fashion for a couple of days, Lil.

Now then, you all have your own private sleeping quarters.

But if you're anything like me, you won't be spending much time in the sack.

Our newlyweds might have a different idea.

Once we're in orbit, we'll be doing 31 laps around the big marble.

We'll be logging approximately three quarters of a million miles at an

orbital altitude of 136 miles.

I believe that's about 30 miles short of your apogee on the Mercury.

Right. I was wondering if we couldn't go to a slightly higher orbit.

Flight plan's pretty tight.

We haven't zeroed out the risk factor, so we'd like to stick with the program.

I'll start the pre -flight checks, Mr. Powers.

What's the reason you want the high orbit? Oh,

I just like to visit the old neighborhood, you know. Just call me a

fool, I guess.

Well, I wouldn't be the first, now would I?

No offense intended.

Mr. Reese is covering our trip for the National Scope. In other words, you're

paid to be contentious.

What can I say?

Rotting minds want to know.

I suggest we strap in, Mr. Powers. Launch window begins at 0900.

Well, see you folks in space.

Lock and load.

What? Put your belt on.

You're not scared, are you?

Relax.

Do you think a guy like Carlton Powers would be going up with us if there was

any real danger?

Yeah, I guess you're right.

Nice, deep breaths.

You'll be fine, I promise.

I just keep thinking about that young teacher on Challenger.

We're light years ahead of that technology.

Don't worry.

Okay.

Roger, Nellis. We reach primary fuel tank at 100%. Here go for weather

downrange. Heel cell check complete.

Thrust for gyros are 5 -0 -8. All engines ready to fire.

This is Denver Control.

Checklist complete.

Deadlifts, you're still go.

T -minus two minutes and counting.

Tell me you love me, Ty.

Of course I love you.

And we've got to be the luckiest couple in the world.

You really mean that?

You know how many people must enter that contest?

A free trip into space?

What are the odds?

moments away from a whole new era in private space flight.

T -minus one minute and counting.

We're told there may be as many as 12 flights over the next three years.

T -minus 30 seconds and counting.

What a surprise, man. Six months and counting.

The systems seem to be performing perfectly.

And we have a successful launch of the maiden flight of the Powell Industries

reusable space plane, the Daedalus.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to weightlessness.

You're free to move about the cabin as long as you keep your boots on.

more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.

Pictures will never do it justice.

Is it just me?

Or have all the sci -fi movies I've seen made me feel like I've been there, done

that? I get the feeling, Martin, the first words you ever spoke were ho -hum.

I wouldn't dare share this with my readers, but onto new.

This isn't outer space.

Not really.

It's a high -altitude Concorde without the flight attendant.

Fortunately, I brought my own.

Customized for the occasion.

Not that I'd want to dampen anyone's religious experience.

Spare us a scourge of little minds.

Who said that?

I believe I just did.

Well, it beats the hell out of Puerto Vallarta, doesn't it?

Oh, man, the guys in the office are never going to get over this.

It's humbling.

You can't help but feel so small.

Yeah, I guess.

Congratulations, friends.

We've all just made history.

Space is no longer the province, just a big government or the chosen elite.

And I guess that's a good thing?

Are you kidding?

NASA sends a shuttle into space, comes back minus $40 million worth of

Private Enterprise tries its hand, comes back with a fully reusable craft.

Now you tell me who's got better technology.

I'll reserve judgment till we're back on terra firma.

Well, it's still a matter of priorities. I mean, say what you will about NASA,

and I've had my differences.

Their basic desire is still to discover, to explore, and to

uncloak the mysteries of space.

Oh, come on, Ted.

They're not about uncovering black holes. They are the black hole.

I'll put my R &D people up against government scientists anytime, anywhere.

Well, you're both making the same assumption.

What's that?

That ultimately science will provide all the answers.

What do you mean, Lou?

Well, take a look out there.

It's a big universe.

It's beyond arrogance to believe all of this is quantifiable.

That every secret will yield to the prodding and pushing of eggheads who

wouldn't know a miracle if it bit them on the asteroid.

Pretty heavy stuff for a woman who made her fortune selling cosmetics.

Unless you're talking about the divinity of miracle cream.

Give it a rest, Martin.

Hey, come on. I want to show you something.

What?

What is that, Ty?

Oh, nothing.

Really?

I just found all that talk kind of boring.

I was enjoying it.

Really?

I can think of something else you'd enjoy even more.

Ty, this really isn't the time. Why not?

No one's going to come in here.

It's time to join.

The ultimate mile -high club.

That squall down there?

Right over the Cape of Good Hope.

Talk about your ultimate weather map.

Yeah. We had to fly like hell for a window in the Mercury capsule.

There were those in the agency that felt that astronauts were mainly backup.

Well, maybe we are now.

This automatic pilot will initiate re -entry procedures, even land a bird if

has to.

Who's that?

What? Well, there. I thought I saw a flicker of light.

Probably just a reflection off the glass.

Yeah.

Getting just enough drift for an attitude correction.

Going manual.

Roll right.

3 .8 degrees.

Right yaw thrust.

Two seconds.

Smooth as the small of a woman's back.

I remember the night I was selected for the Mercury program like yesterday. I

had a million things on my mind.

Who would be the first to go? If it was me, how would I react?

How would it change my life? What would I say to the reporters? And then I

walked over to my car and I stopped. I didn't get in. I looked up and all of a

sudden I saw a bushel of stars.

And I... then knew that it was not a space race. It was not about politics

science and technology. It was really all about all about us.

All about us reaching up and touching God.

That's pretty corny.

Are you a religious man, Colonel Harris?

Not until then, no.

What about when you went up?

Do you feel like it happened?

Did you touch God?

It was close.

As in close encounter.

You saw the light, I seem to remember.

It was in all my reports, yeah. Of course, you left off the attribution to

Mother Goose.

Martin. Just trying to pin our esteemed friend down.

It was all pretty muddled in the official debriefings I read.

It was not an hallucination. Nurses' psychological evaluations say otherwise.

I've been called everything from a nutcase to a cosmic goopy.

Usually by people terrified that their cozy little world might not be so cozy

after all.

One small step for bipolar disorders.

You have all the tact of a charging rhino.

It's Lil.

May I come in?

I wouldn't let that slime bucket Martin get to you.

You know, some people believe the whole human race was seeded millions of years

ago by visitors out there, just waiting patiently for us to mature before they

contact us.

Dad, tell me what you see. saw back then.

Lights.

Beautiful violet lights.

Where were they coming from?

Everywhere. Nowhere. I don't know.

What do you think it was?

They were growing. They were changing.

Into what? I don't know. They were alive.

Go ahead, Ted.

You're seeing it right now, aren't you? No.

What's going on?

I don't know.

We just rotated 90 degrees and fired all the aft thrusters.

Take it out of auto.

I'm trying.

It's a computer.

It won't let me override.

What's that?

We're heading away from Earth.

That's for sure.

How could something like this happen?

Wait a minute. The thrusters are ramping down on their own. We're rolling into

Earth's orbit again.

to level into Earth orbit at 166 miles.

You still can't break through, Denver?

We've tried everything.

Your autopods got us in a lockout.

What about rebooting the nav computer?

I've done it twice.

It doesn't have any effect.

You think it could be a virus?

Nothing we read here.

Keep trying, Devlin.

I don't get it. This is not the orbit we programmed in.

Not the orbit we thought we programmed in anyways.

Are you saying this is not a malfunction?

Whatever is overriding the flight is following strict navigational protocol.

What do we tell the passengers?

No reason to panic.

Not yet, anyway.

Has anybody in there said we're a lot higher than we were before?

Oh, I sure as hell am.

We're on a wider orbit.

Did you persuade the pilot to match your altitude on Mercury?

He did it on his own.

This is what it was like back in 63.

That's wrong.

Well, if you spot any space spooks, do let me know. You don't know when to

do you, Martin?

No, I've never been much of a quitter.

I've always been good at recognizing them, though.

Losers, too.

Recognize them, bucko.

The only reason you cut people up with that slippery slide tug of yours is

because you're afraid.

You've lost hope, noble Scrivener.

You're afraid that what might be out there is out there. Well, I gotta tell

something. I saw it. It is.

We've established that. I saw something that no man was supposed to see.

Like Dorothy pulling back the curtain on the wizard.

Yeah, right.

So now we're supposed to follow the Elvick Road?

Don't treat her like that!

Don't treat her like some hollow plastic doll!

And don't mistake her compliance for her weakness, her stupidity. Treat her with

respect!

What is it?

I'm still dizzy.

It is getting stuffy in here.

Oxygen levels are dropping.

Can you crank them up?

Nothing. Mr. Powers, please, we need your help.

Be right there.

There's not enough air in here.

Take me to the emergency room, too.

Give her some room.

Come

on, honey.

Breathe.

Oh, good. She's coming around.

Where's Colonel Harris?

It's locked.

Well, how could it be locked?

Colonel Harris?

Ted!

Ted, are you there?

Ted, talk to me. Open the hatch.

Ted, I need to talk to you now.

You don't have to do this.

Whatever it is you want to do, we can talk about it. Just open the hatch.

Are we rolling?

Sure as hell are.

Lil, you tried.

166 miles orbit. Remember that figure?

Exactly as Fire 7's Apogee.

Now we know we took over the autopilot.

Oh, this is beautiful.

You invite a lunatic onto a space flight and now he's flying the damn plane?

Ted, can you hear me?

You've got to open up.

Yeah, yeah, we're almost, almost there.

Almost where?

Bypass the lock. Try the redundant system.

Get that disc back in the nav system and get it booted up now.

I just hope we're not too late.

Sir?

If anybody is hurt by your irresponsible behavior, I guarantee I'll prosecute

you to hell and back.

Once we get the proper program online, everything's going to be okay.

We're all going to die, aren't we? Nobody is going to die.

What's happening, Ty?

This is insane.

We never should have gone for something like this.

I should have trusted my instincts.

I would have been happy on a beach in Mexico.

What about what I wanted?

Doesn't that count?

I'll be oxygen to all captains.

You know, we were only a couple of minutes from his destination, whatever

hell that was.

I wonder what he's hoping to find.

The man's pathological.

I'm not suggesting we hang around to find out.

No.

The attitude control fuel is at 20%. No, we can't afford to take the risk. Let's

turn this baby around.

Firing right yaw thrust on my count.

Three, two, one.

They're dropping down to a lower orbit.

This is my last chance.

Bill, if there is any part of you that believes in the truth of what I'm

you've got to help me. You know what I believe in. You've got to help me cut me

loose. You've got to help me. Please help me.

We are back in the driver's seat, Denver. Here go for primary coordinates.

Amen.

What is it?

Somebody just entered the airlock.

Where's Harris?

Patch me through to the airlock.

I'm dead.

I know you're upset.

Please don't do anything rash.

No one needs to know what happened up here.

I'll stand by you, I swear.

He came all the way up here to kill himself.

Oh, my God.

Major Sullivan, patch Colonel Harris into the main cabin.

Ellis, Ellis, do you read?

We hear you, Colonel.

You've got to come back.

It's all right. You did the right thing.

Tell Madeline that I love her, that I never stopped loving her. Will you do

for me, Lil?

I promise.

For the first time, I'm not alone.

I know that doesn't make any sense.

But I'm sure of it.

He's becoming delirious.

Oxygen deprivation.

My God.

They've come back.

They were waiting for me all the time.

We have nothing to fear from them.

I have nothing to fear from them.

It's amazing.

It's wonderful.

They're all around me. Everywhere.

I understand.

I understand.

Understand what?

Ted.

We want to know.

We need to know.

They were only sent to watch.

They never meant to interfere.

It's a gift.

They're giving me a chance.

Another chance.

I'm alive.

Of course you're alive.

It was a perfect flight.

Now, you just take it easy.

We're going to get you out of there, okay?

What's the date?

It's September 16th. Another year.

What year is it?

1963.

What did you expect?

I'm sure it felt like forever, but it's only been a day and a half.

Nothing. My wife.

She's waiting for you on the carrier, sir.

Beautiful woman, your wife. You're a lucky man.

Yes, I know.

I finally know.

Our lives are defined by our choices.

Paths taken, worlds explored.

But once we commit, we can never go back and choose again.

Or can.

Next on Sci -Fi, Komodo.

Extraordinary stars.

Have you lost your mind?

Cutting edge stories.

Infinite possibilities.

Experience the outer limit. Monday through Thursday at 8 on Sci -Fi.