"You unlock this door with the key of imagination." "Beyond it is another dimension- a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind." "You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas." "You've just crossed over into the twilight zone." "Hank, anything?" "Nothing yet, captain." "No sound at all." "Well, try it on.402." "Probably coming from that direction." "I had it on that all morning, sir." "Oh." "Try it again." "Captain... anything?" "No, nothing yet, joan, nothing yet." "They lost, you figure, captain?" "They're not lost, george, just takes time, that's all." "Takes time." "Julie, where's your husband?" "In our bunker, captain." "Something wrong?" "Go get him." "Something wrong?" "Something's wrong, julie." "Yes, sir." "How's the water, george?" "Hot, flat and unforgettable." "But wet?" "Well, bear with it, folks, bear with it." "Six months' time, we'll all be drinking chocolate ice cream soda." "You want to see me, captain?" "Man on the radar tower like to see you, al- would've like to have seen you two hours ago when you were supposed to relieve him." "I overslept, captain." "You tell that to hank parker up there, will you?" "You tell him that you overslept." "Then be good enough to tell him you'll take his entire watch all day tomorrow." "That's not fair- it doesn't happen often." "Once is often." "More than once is intolerable." "And many times more than once is the case history of a man named albert baines who likes his sleep." "I prefer it to a stupid game in the hot sun." "Game, al?" "What are we listening for up there?" "30 years, two watches a day, what have we ever heard?" "Wind noise." "What did we ever pick up on radar?" "Dust particles." "This is william benteen who officiates on a disintegrating outpost in space." "The people are a remnant society who left the earth looking for a millennium, a place without war, without jeopardy, without fear." "And what they found was a lonely, barren place whose only industry was survival." "And this is what they've done for three decades- survive- until the memory of the earth they came from has become an indistinct, shadowed recollection of another time and another place." "One month ago, a signal from earth announced a ship would be coming to pick them up and take them home." "In just a moment, we'll hear more of that ship, more of that home and what it takes out of mind and body to reach it." "This is the twilight zone." "That's all we got, captain." "None left?" "That's all of it right there." "Main switch?" "That's all gone, too." "We used it on the converter pumps." "Well, we've got to get current." "Temperature will go up 50 degrees in those rooms without refrigeration." "We could stop the salt-water converter for a day or two." "Switch the parts." "That's what we'll have to do." "You tell the people to fill up all the jugs they've got." "We're going to turn off the water in six hours." "Yes, sir." "Oh, captain." "What about the ship?" "It's on the way, george." "We know it's on the way." "And when we get back, it's going to be different." "Things that are old and worn out, we're just going to throw them away." "Just throw them away." "Captain benteen." "Cut her down." "Oh, no... prepare her for burial in an hour." "Say your farewells now." "And ask god's forgiveness for what she has done." "Forgive her, lord." "Father, forgive her... for what she's done." "She didn't know what she was doing, lord." "She knew what she was doing." "Better and clearer than any of the rest of us." "This is a funeral, al." "The ninth in the last six months, the ninth!" "This woman and the others took their lives because living became intolerable." "And i say that dying was their right." "That's a blasphemy!" "It's the truth." "Isn't living tough enough here we shouldn't have to go by the book?" "Isn't it hot and miserable enough there shouldn't be rules?" "We shouldn't have to suffer by the numbers?" "Will somebody please make the simple comment there's more happiness going into that grave, more peace of mind than all mourners put together?" "Nothing but anguish here." "Captain benteen, let us live with it in our own way." "Or let us die from it... in our own way!" "Young mr." "Baines... would have us lie down in the sun." "Young mr." "Baines... would have us give in to death, while there is still life." "He'd end the rules." "Throw away the regulations." "No more standing in line for water." "We'll let the strong take away from the weak." "And no more food rationing." "Let the young steal from the old." "And when that ship does arrive... it won't find a society." "Just a pack." "Not one human being left alive." "Only animals." "And there is a ship coming." "It's winging its way now." "It's on its way." "There's a ship coming." "Let me hear you say it." "Say it out loud." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "There's a ship coming." "Thereisa ship coming." "There's a ship coming, there's a ship coming... meteor storm!" "It's a meteor storm!" "It's a meteor storm!" "Get up to the compound." "Get up to the compound!" "Get in the cave." "Get in the cave!" "Get in the cave!" "How's the arm, al?" "All right." "Everybody accounted for?" "They're all here, captain." "Nobody's missing." "Oh, thank god." "Everybody just stay as quiet as you can." "I think the worst is over." "I think the worst is over." "Quiet." "You're not scared, are you, jo-jo?" "Kind of, captain." "Well, we can't have you being scared." "Let's you and me talk a bit, huh?" "Pass the time." "Captain, tell us about the earth." "Do that, captain, would you?" "Tell us about the earth as you remember it?" "Again, jerry?" "All right, i'll talk about it." "Fran..." "you and hank fill in any holes i leave." "If i'm wrong about any of my recollections, correct me, will you?" "Jo-jo, i was just a boy when we arrived here." "I was 15 years old, but i remember the earth." "I remember it as a place... a place of color." "I remember, jo-jo, that in the autumn... jo-jo?" "In the autumn... the leaves changed... turned different colors." "Red, orange, gold." "I remember streams of water that flowed down hillsides." "And the water was sparkling and clear." "And i remember clouds in the sky." "White... billowy things... floated like ships, like sails." "You see, in ancient times that's the way men moved their ships across the water." "They unfurled large sections of canvas against the wind and the wind moved them." "And i remember... night skies." "Night skies... like endless black velvet." "With stars... sometimes a moon hung as if suspended by wires... lit from inside." "What's night, captain?" "Night... night was a quiet time, jo-jo, when the earth went to sleep." "Kind of like a cover that it pulled over itself." "Not like here where we have the two suns always shining, always burning." "It was darkness, jo-jo." "Darkness that felt like like a cool hand just brushed past tired eyes." "And there was snow on the winter nights- gossamer stuff- floated down and covered the earth, made it all white, cool." "And in the mornings, we could go out and build a snowman." "See our breath in the air." "And it was good then." "It was right." "Captain, why did you leave there?" "Well, we thought we could find another place like earth but with different beauties, jo-jo." "And we found this place." "We thought we could escape war." "We thought we could... well, we thought that we could build an even better place." "And it took us 30 years to find out that we'd left our home a billion miles away to be only visitors here, transients... because you can't put down roots in this ground." "But it was too late." "So we spent 30 years watching a clock and a calendar." "And waiting." "But we're not going to wait any longer, jo-jo." "We can't wait another... day... not another hour." "We're going back to the earth... right now." "Al baines?" "Al baines!" "Al!" "You hear that noise?" "All of you, do you hear that?" "That's not a meteor." "That's not wishful thinking." "That's not... make-believe or a phantom." "Those are rockets." "That's the ship." "The ship is here." "Mr. Benteen?" "I'm benteen." "Colonel sloane, commanding thegalaxy vi." "Our orders are to transport you all back to earth." "Oh, welcome, sir!" "Colonel... colonel, colonel, what took you so long?" "Well, we've been traveling for six months... oh, a hundred times more." "We've waited 30 years." "We got your message two months ago then we listened and listened... we did it." "...then nothing more." "We tried to transmit to you, but we simply couldn't get through." "But when we heard your acknowledgement, we knew you'd received the initial message." "Does it all look like this?" "The whole place?" "Yes, it all looks like this." "Craggy mountains, salt flats, two suns, perpetually shining." "Yes, it all looks like this." "30 years." "Yes, 30 years." "Some here have never seen earth, colonel." "Some older people don't remember what it looks like." "We are to get you on board as soon as possible." "We figured you should be ready to leave thursday." "That gives you three days to arrange things." "Unfortunately, your people can only take what they can carry." "There are over 150, right?" "187- men, women and children." "But they'll travel standing on their heads." "That won't be necessary, mr." "Benteen." "It'll be a little crowded, but we'll fit you all in." "I can see you're very used to a great deal of space, sir." "Space... and heat!" "Yes, i can believe it." "Captain, jo-jo wants to meet the colonel." "Colonel sloane, jo-jo." "How do you do?" "Can i give you a kiss, captain?" "You sure can." "Can jo-jo inspect the ship, colonel?" "Certainly, take him right up there." "The earth!" "Colonel, has the earth changed?" "No, not too much." "Is it still green?" "It's still green." "And the cities?" "And the cities still stand." "And war?" "One pops up here, another dies out there, but through a miracle and the grace of god we never had the hydrogen war." "Captain benteen." "George, george." "Colonel sloane, this is george morris." "How do you do?" "I think you'll find it very much as you left it, mr." "Benteen." "Captainbenteen." "That's what people call me." "This place was my responsibility for 30 years." "You've done quite a job." "But you can rest easy." "We'll handle the responsibility." "I've become used to the functions." "Your quarters, they're underground." "As i was- cooler there, mr." "Benteen?" "I... where?" "I didn't hear what you said." "Your underground rooms, are they cooler?" "They're refrigerated." "But it's captainbenteen." "Captain benteen's kept us alive here." "I believe it, captain benteen." "Can i show you the ship, gentlemen?" "Yes, yes." "Al... al baines." "Where's your sling?" "It's a magnesium band." "Colonel sloane says my arm will be perfect by the end of the week." "Look at julie's cheek." "Isn't it incredible, captain?" "Look, colonel sloane gave it to me." "It's a medicinal bandage." "You wear it for 24 hours... it accelerates the growth of new skin." "You can hardly see the bruise." "It really is incredible." "Looks like i've lost my practice." "Al, do me a favor." "Put that in a sling." "I've treated hundreds of broken arms and the only way to cure them is to keep them immobile." "As you all know, in less than 36 hours, we'll be departing." "Weight allowance has been set at 14 pounds per person." "When we leave here, we'll begin a process of notation to establish what your personal belongings will be and what they will- colonel sloane." "Hope i'm not intruding, captain." "Of course not." "I was giving the weight requirements." "We'll handle that tomorrow." "When i heard you were meeting, i brought engle and rafferty." "You've all been asking so many questions about earth i thought we'd answer a few more." "The purpose of this meeting is departure problems." "Colonel, my folks were from san diego." "What's california like?" "Sunny and warm, most of the time." "Los angeles is the biggest city in the world now." "I feel that these questions can best be answered at a later time." "Do they still have public schools?" "Oh, yes." "And they're pretty much the same as they were." "Except they're larger, better-equipped, more adequately staffed." "There's a whole new system of visual aids now." "Many classes are televised." "If a student is learning about, oh... we'll say the grand canyon, they do an actual program right there on the scene that's fed into the classroom on a new tape device." "Colonel sloane, are there still major leagues?" "My dad used to tell me all about baseball and the world series." "Two leagues, same as before." "American and national." "What city has the dodgers now?" "Still los angeles." "They came in tenth last season." "After we're finished here, let's improvise a ball and a bat have ourselves a ball game." "It's much too hot for that kind of activity." "We might sing here in the cave we haven't done that in some time." "Why don't we show the colonel the music we can make?" "Let's let him hear some real harmony." "Two more." "Come on, baby, come on." "That is the universal language, captain." "Baseball?" "Mm-hmm." "You have a very limited vocabulary, colonel." "Do you have any idea what the temperature is out here right now?" "Well, not by degrees but certainly by discomfort." "At this time of day it's about 110." "Don't know about your crew members being able to stand that heat, but i do know about my own people." "They're going to suffer for this little athletic event." "For some of the older people, it might be serious." "Aw, it's only a game, benteen." "If they're suffering, my guess is that it might be worth it." "Colonel, when we get aboard your ship, you'll be in command." "You tell us what to do, where to go, and we'll fall right into line." "But here, in this place, i'm in command." "Now, mr." "Benteen... captainben... i'm not trying to usurp your authority, captain." "I just don't see what harm a little baseball game could be." "That's not your concern, is it, colonel?" "The well-being of these people, their health... that's my concern." "Galaxy crew members, inside the ship." "Lower the port." "Now, my friends, time to rest." "Go to your homes." "I'll announce when the new day will begin." "Go to your homes." "Happy now, captain?" "I was never unhappy." "I just know what's right and what's wrong." "I see." "Colonel, i have to ask your men to stay on the ship." "I don't want the people distracted." "You do have a weighty fist, captain." "Well, had it been one ounce lighter, there'd be no one here to go back with you, colonel." "I've held these people together- by will." "They'd have died if they hadn't had someone to hang onto." "They'd have withered away." "Hmm." "Well, they're not going to wither away now, captain." "Why don't you just relax?" "That's a luxury i've never been able to afford." "I've never taken a wife." "I've never been able to think only of myself." "I've... i've been confessor, governor, father figure, if you will." "And if i hadn't been, there'd be no life here today." "Those are my people, colonel." "Do you understand that?" "Mypeople." "What's with him, colonel?" "What's his problem?" "Oh, suffer him a while longer." "He's really quite a guy, you know." "Quite a guy." "He just has one aberration:" "He thinks he's a god." "And we're booting him out of his heaven." "Twilight zonewill continue after station identification." "Colonel sloane?" "Yes." "Captain benteen is here." "Oh, yes." "Oh, come in, captain." "Come in." "Colonel." "Well, how are you today?" "Fine." "Thank you." "I have a list of your passengers, and their approximate weights." "Also, the weight of their belongings noted after each name." "We weighed on our scale, and i'm afraid it's an old-timer, underweighs about four or five pounds." "All i wanted was an approximation, captain." "Oh, this will do just fine." "We'll weigh them out on our own equipment before we blast off anyway." "Well, captain, today's wednesday." "Tomorrow we leave." "Tomorrow you go back to mother earth." "Back to modern times." "Though i honestly wonder whether it'll be to your liking." "Because the way you'll be lionized when you get back to earth... you know, you're referred to in the press as "the lost pioneers."" "They'll make quite a thing out of you when you land." "I suppose it's inevitable." "I guess that seems to be your fate." "And wherever your people settle, they'll be met by brass bands, welcoming committees, keys to the city... keys to the city." "Yeah, the government has had inquiries from literally thousands of relatives." "They'll just have time to look into a television camera and then they'llscatter- all over the 50 states." "They won't be scattered, we'll go together." "I was talking about when you get back on earth, captain." "Well, so am i, colonel." "We won't be splitting up." "Not those people, not my people." "We'll stay together." "You mean this is what you've all decided to do?" "No decision was necessary." "You have asked them, haven't you?" "Colonel, asking them would be exactly like asking a child if he wants some more ice cream." "They're just like children, colonel." "The majority of them are adults." "Chronologically, yes." "They range in age from six months to 60 years." "But psychologically and socially, they're children." "I've kept these people alive and together all these years." "When we get back to earth, i will simply have to continue the process." "Have you told them this?" "There's no need to tell them, they know it already." "You mean they know that after 30 years of waiting, after 30 years of living in a compound, that they're going to travel a billion miles just to walk single file into another one." "They wouldn't have it any other way." "Colonel, you don't understand, and i don't blame you, that these people are children." "And to transport them a billion miles and then land them in a strange place and abandon them would be an act of cruelty." "It would be a crime." "Would you do me a small favor, captain?" "Of course." "Ask them." "Outside the cities on earth, there are suburban areas." "This was a major living change that took place in the 1950s:" "Decentralization of the population area." "There's certain aspects of earth living we should touch on." "We will not concern ourselves with colder areas, the northeastern states and some upper sections of the great plains." "Captain, i want to live in wisconsin." "So you better tell us about frostbite." "What about the state of oregon, captain?" "That's where betty and i want to settle." "I can remember the forests there." "What about the eastern seaboard, captain?" "The finger lake district in upper new york state, captain?" "Is there still a new york city?" "You don't understand." "I'd like to make one thing very clear." "You'll all be able to meet your relatives and possibly visit with them for even a week or more." "We'll stay together as a community in whatever land grant we can get or whatever prescribed area can be arranged." "I'd also like to assure you that- and, i hope, put all your fears to rest- i'm going to continue as your guide and consultant." "I guarantee none of you will want for my help or advice." "Captain?" "Julie and i... julie and i were planning on farming." "That's a wonderful idea, a fine idea." "Of course we'll farm." "As we farmed here, only better- more rainfall." "Remember, one sun, not two." "You don't have to shield crops from the sun." "The sun helps them." "You'll farm, al, certainly we'll farm." "Julie has relatives in the state of washington." "We'll settle there." "It would be too cold for you there, al." "It would be too cold for all of you." "Now, wherever we settle, i guarantee there will be good farming." "I'll see to that." "Well, now, what's the matter with you?" "What's the matter with all of you?" "You don't understand, captain." "We, uh... we don't plan to stay together." "Well, you don't understand, al." "You never did understand much of anything." "Now, al, if we did split up, if we went our separate ways, i seriously doubt if we could survive." "Explain it to him, al, go ahead." "Yes, go on, tell him, al." "We'll survive, captain." "If any of us want to stay together, that'll be their right." "If any of us want to go off on their own, that'll be their right, too." "Am i wrong, colonel?" "No, you're not wrong." "Our orders are to take you back to earth as a group." "On earth, you're free to do what you please." "Colonel sloane, i tell you now to let us settle our differences alone." "There are no differences, captain." "There are differences!" "There are changes that have taken place on earth that none of us are prepared for." "Now, these... these people, they make it seem like a big holiday, like everything's easy, like the good life... you can pluck it off a tree!" "Well, my people, i don't want any one of you to be disillusioned." "I tell you now that wherever men live they grub and they struggle." "They dig to stay alive." "This i know." "This is true, this is a fact." "But together- that's the word, together- we must stay together." "I want you to think of that now and i want you to say it with me out loud." "All of you:" ""Together."" "Together." "Together." "Together together... together." "Together." "Together." "Together." "Well, i figured out the compartment assignments, captain." "I'd like to go over them with you." "The compartment assignments." "There's not much time." "We still have checking to do." "There's a decompression problem also a moment of weightlessness after we leave the atmosphere... colonel, do you know what we called you?" "The messiah." "We called you the messiah." "You did?" "We said you'd bring..." "freedom." "That's not what you've brought at all." "What did we bring, captain?" "Selfishness." "Dissatisfaction, divisiveness." "With all the misery we've had here, those were germs we never suffered." "Captain benteen, uh... i brought nothing but a ship and a crew- uh, a means of escape." "You say you have no diseases, no viruses." "Well, has it ever occurred to you why?" "It's because you live in a test tube, captain." "Antiseptic and germ-free." "And also sterile." "Oh, sure, you're a group, sure, you're a cell, but that's all over with now, captain." "Now it's time to be what god meant you to be- individuals." "A man, a woman, a child, a being." "It's time to break that test tube." "It's time to rejoin the race of men." "I remember the race of men, colonel." "I remember the earth." "It's incredible." "Absolutely incredible." "For 30 years, i've been wrong." "30 years i've been lying to my people." "I've told them about an earth that doesn't exist." "I've told them about an imaginary garden." "I've told them about a planet a billion miles away that has no more substance than a wish." "We can't go back to earth, colonel." "It's too late for us." "We cannot go back there." "Everybody?" "Everybody!" "Come, gather 'round." "Come." "Gather 'round, everybody." "I have something i must tell you." "Now, listen." "I want to tell you things about earth that you haven't heard before." "Things that are ugly." "Things that are wrong." "Things that cannot be lived with." "There is violence on earth." "There are hatreds." "And jealousy." "Now, listen to me, listen to me, and listen carefully." "The earth is a place we do not know." "The earth is a place we have never lived in." "It is a society we do not belong in." "If we leave here... we will die, we willdie!" "We'll be committing suicide if we go back to earth." "We will die of a misery we have never experienced before- loneliness." "Loneliness, like animals in a zoo." "We do not belong there." "We do not belong to his kind." "We do not belong there." "We do not belong there." "Captain benteen?" "Why don't you let your children vote on it?" "Only if they know what's waiting for them." "Only if they know that the earth is not a garden." "Never was a garden!" "And it never will be a garden." "Fair enough." "Fair enough." "Then i'll tell you what earth is." "It's a race of men, struggling for survival." "Just as you have survived." "And captain benteen is quite right when he tells you it isn't a place of all beauty." "We may yet have wars and there still remains prejudice." "And i suppose as long as men walk there will be angry men, jealous men, unforgiving men." "But it has one thing that you don't have." "One thing." "It lets every man be his own master." "There won't be any captain benteens there for you." "There won't be anybody to tell you when to eat, sleep and meet." "There won't be anyone to tell you when to dance, what to sing, or how to play." "Instead of thirst, you may feel hunger; instead of heat, cold." "But you'll be men and women." "You won't be sheep." "You won't be a kindergarten." "And when you pray to god, his name won't be benteen." "A vote now, captain." "And the majority wins." "Those of you who want to be on board ten hours from now to head back to earth raise your hands." "Let loose now, captain." "For everyone's sake, let loose!" "May god help you." "May god help you all." "Tomorrow you think you'll be getting on a ship on its way to... paradise." "Well, you'll be on your way to hell!" "What about you, captain?" "I'll stay here." "I'll stay here, this is my home." "This is where i belong." "This is where you all belong." "Captain, we leave at 0800 tomorrow morning." "Don't wait for a fetching committee." "0800- if you're not on board, you'll never be on board." "If you take off at 0800, you take off at 0800." "But as for the rest of you, you can go on this ship or you can remain here with me." "Captain?" "Benteen?" "We know you can hear us." "We know you're in here someplace." "Come out." "Please." "Let us talk to you." "We're leaving now, benteen." "We have to take off in five minutes or we'll lose our orbital position." "It'll be too late for us." "Benteen, it has to be now." "Captain, please." "Please come out." "If we leave without you, there'll be no ships returning here." "This is where you'll live from this moment on." "And this is where you'll die." "All right, benteen." "As you prefer." "Come on, let's go, baines." "Good-bye... captain benteen." "Well, my friends... any business to transact today?" "No business?" "Jo-jo. nothing from you today?" "Don't you want me to tell you about the earth, jo-jo?" "Don't you want to hear about the rivers and the seas, the blue skies and night, the stars and moon?" "Don't you want to hear about all those things today?" "There's color on earth." "The change of the seasons, the wind." "The wind brings the smell of the ground- the plants, the seeds, the roots, the flower petals, the sap from the trees." "The wind brings with it the smell of the weather, the rain, the mist, the fog... and the earth is green, jo-jo." "Green." "The color green." "The feeling green." "There's something so fresh about it." "So alive about it." "So living about it." "It's the earth." "The earth." "Don't leave me here!" "Don't leave me behind." "Don't leave me here!" "Please... please, i... i want to go home." "William benteen, who had prerogatives." "He could lead, he could direct, dictate, judge, legislate." "It became a habit, then a pattern... and finally a necessity." "William benteen, once a god, now a population of one." "Next ontwilight zone, an exercise from the typewriter of charles beaumont." "A sea voyage into the darker regions of the zone." "Our stars in alphabetical order:" "Gladys cooper, wilfrid hyde-white, cecil kellaway, lee philips, and joyce van patten." "I'm prepared to pay you double the amount of your tickets if you'll abandon your plans." "Not a chance." "Mrs. Ransome, you're driving me to extremes." "However, if you leave thelady annenow, i'll give you the equivalent of 5,000 american dollars." "And i'll match that." "Making it a total of 10,000." "Ever since we picked this tub, people have been trying their best to discourage us." "I don't know why." "Forget it." "And leave us alone." "Great news, great news." "Very important, since we've been talking it over, millie and old burgess and the rest of us, and we've come to the conclusion that you won't have to leave the ship after all." "What my husband is trying to say is that you won't have to die after all."