" The ocean bottom's still slipping away, Captain." " Seismograph, report." "Seismographs still recording bottom slides all through the area, Captain." "Keep 1 O0 feet ofwater below keel." " Follow the bottom on down." " Aye, sir." "Channel all data through the computers for chart revisions, Mr. Morton." "Yes, sir." " Admiral Nelson?" " Yes?" "Admiral, can you come to the control room?" "All right." "I'll be right there." "Seismograph recording four magnitude slide 100 miles north-northeast." "Shock waves should reach us in about 2O seconds." "All hands, brace yourselves for shock waves." " Let me have the graphs, Mr. Morton." " Yes, sir." "All right, here it comes, men." "Stand fast." " Damage Control, report." " Damage Control reporting No damage." "We're picking up a double bottom, sir." "The slide has completely altered the bottom contour." "Call." "All stop." "There's a layer ofsilt hiding the true bottom." " I want to know what's under there." " Diving team, stand to." "Keep them in sight, Lee." "Port engines ahead one third." " Take her above the divers, Mr. Morton." " Aye, sir." "All stop." "A city... crumbled with the decay of centuries... yet it looks like a city of the future." "What are they, Admiral?" "Let's take a closer look." "They look like capsules." " Have the divers bring one of them in." " Aye, sir." "There's no opening." "Only this." " Curley, get me a flashlight." "Yes, sir." "It must be an inch thick." "At least." "Flashlight, Admiral." "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." "Starring Richard Basehart..." "David Hedison." "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." "The light hurts his eyes." "Curley, dim to night lights, and bring over a diamond drill." "Yes, sir." "He must've been in a state ofsuspended animation." "If we don't get him out of there, he'll suffocate." "Try over here too." "Maximum R.P.M." "Ah, it's useless." "Switch it off." "How about the acids?" "Well, the hydrochloric, the fluoric and the sulfuric acids are all negative." "I'm trying the nitric now." "Mmm." "Still negative." "Ah." "It's a Chinese puzzle." "It's an alloy that seems to be impervious to everything." "He's suffocating in there." "What about trying to get him out with an arc rod?" "No, no." "That'd bake him alive." "We might be able to keep the skin of the capsule cool with a spray ofwater... at least long enough to, uh, cut an air hole." "Chief, rig a hose." " Bring up the arc." "Yes, sir." "Have the respirator ready." "No heat retention at all." "Cut a one-inch breathing hole." "He's not moving." "It's too late." "Mr. Morton, verify that all hatches are open." "All hatches are open, sir." "All ventilation systems on?" "All ventilation systems on, Captain." "All electrical switches and relays disconnected?" "All electrical relays and switches disconnected, sir." "Attention, all hands." "This is the captain." "We're using liquid oxygen." "Oxygen is highly combustible." "The smoking lamp is off." " Ship's secure, sir." " Very well." "Now, be careful with that stuff." "Its temperature is 297 degrees below zero." "If it touches the skin, it can freeze the limbs solid almost instantly." "All right, open the valve." "Kill the hose." "All right, start cutting." "Lift it gently." "You all right?" "More power." "Hurt me, you die." "We're not going to hurt you." "How did you know our language?" "As you speak, I learn." "We're friends." "Friends?" "Is this how you treat friends?" " We have not changed." " "W e"?" "lam a man too." "You have seen the remains of my civilization." "Who are you?" "I have been left by my people... for those who follow." " Lee, we must make our friend comfortable." " Yes, sir." "Uh" "Please, follow me." "Thank you, Admiral." "Did you find any more of my people?" "Many." " Are they here?" " No." "We're leaving them where they are." "Theywill die." "They haven't been disturbed." "They're still in a state ofsuspended animation." "You must not abandon them." "You see, um, we know exactly where they are." "We're returning to our base." "On the way... we'll have a chance to know each other... and perhaps we can get permission from our government to return for your people." "Of course." "As you wish." "What is this... material?" "Steel." " Now, please follow me." " Steel?" "Have you known how to make steel for a long time... or is it a recent discovery?" "It wasn't known in primitive times." "But it is a primitive alloy." "I'm amazed it has power to resist... the water pressure." "We have a double hull." "Ah, of course." "But there is an alloy... my people made from a metal from the sea- light in weight." "Aluminum probably." "We've been experimenting with aluminum for submarine bulkheads." "Good." "Our undersea boats... were made from alu-mi-num." "Your light emits unnecessary heat." "You have not yet... learned to conduct electricity... without- without" "Wires." "No, we haven't learned to conduct electricity without wires." "Then you must have a central wiring place." " Well, do you?" " Do we what?" "Do you have one central place... where all electrical circuits... come together?" "Forward, beneath the control room." "Beneath the control room." "Of course." "That is the most logical place." "This will be your cabin." "What is that?" "It's a bunk." "Bunk?" "What is it for?" "For sleeping." " Sleeping?" "Yeah, sleeping." "You do sleep, don't you?" "Ah, yes, sleeping." "What the animals do." "I understand." "[)0 you sleep?" "Well, of course I do." "My people practiced what your friend called "suspended animation."" "But only forjourneys lasting many years." " Your people never slept?" " Never." "When they got tired, how did they rest?" "Ah, yes, I see you" "Your civilization has not yet discovered that animals sleep... because when the sun goes down... it is difficult for them to see... not because the animal needs to sleep." "We sleep because we get tired." "No." "You sleep out of habit... because the animals you evolved from slept... not because you need it." "Think." "Aren't there creatures... who don't need to sleep?" "Some fish." "Dolphins, sharks- they don't sleep." "You see?" "One saves much time... by not sleeping." "Well, I, uh" "I hope you find our humble accommodations satisfactory." "Thank you." "Come in." " What is it, Lee?" " I think we're gonna regret... ever having opened that capsule." "What happened?" "Nothing I could put my finger on." "He's... weird." "You know, he's probably thinking the same thing about us." "I think we should head for home, Lee." "I thinkyou're right, sir." " Take her down, Mr. Morton." " Aye, aye, sir." "Mr. O'Brien, prepare to dive." "Aye, aye." "Clear the deck!" " Make it 9O feet, Mr. Morton." " Ninety feet, sir." "Prepare to dive." "Close all main ballast tank vents." "Stand by to blow tanks." "Close the vents." "Full dive on the planes." "Full dive." "Secure the air!" "All green." " All green." " Dive!" " Try again, Sparks." "Yes, Admiral." "Still nothing." "Well, we're cut off." "We don't have enough power to transmit." " You know the reason?" " No, sir." "I'm working on it." " Keep at it." "Yes, Admiral." "Nothing's working properly." "Sonar, radar- everything electrical is malfunctioning." "We're having a hard time holding course." "We can only dead reckon." "Well, do the best you can." "Our, uh, friend must be responsible." "How or why I don't know, but I intend to find out." "Why don't we take that weapon away from him and slap him in the brig?" "Let's play along with him." "I wanna seejust what he's up to." "Well, I hope he doesn't kill us all while we play along." "Lee?" " Yes, Admiral?" " He's not in his cabin." " Search the ship." "Find him." "Aye, sir." "Attention, all hands." "Now hear this." "You two, in the cabins." "You two, there." "Admiral Nelson, Sick Bay on line one." "Nelson here." "Yes, Doctor." "Well, you know why?" "Ah." "I'll be right there." "Lee, call off the search." "He locked himselfin the doc's cabin to study medical books." "Medical books?" "Now, the doc's talked him into letting himself be examined." "Now, this I gotta see." "Incredible!" "I don't see how he can function." "This is me." "My body, my face, hands, skin... were created by our scientists." "Created?" "Our scientists knew we were doomed... but that man would evolve again someday in another form- in this form." "How did your race become extinct?" "The Earth became a boiling sea." "According to carbon 14 tests... he is 2O million years old." " That can't be." " I'm certain of my findings." "Fire, ice and water have covered the Earth many times... since my civilization was destroyed." "You must be the product ofanother evolutionary cycle." " No!" " Now, don't be frightened." " I'm just taking a sample of your blood." " Put that down!" "It's set on the lowest power, Admiral." "I would not want to see you become ill because of me." "You have learned about me, Admiral." "I would like to learn about you..." "and your people." "Do you have a library?" "A fine library." "A knowledge of man on microfilm." "Would you show our guest the library?" "I wanna know why he destroyed that sample." "Here." "Let me know what you find as soon as possible." "Certainly, Admiral." " Find anything?" "Takea look." " F don 1:' see anythxhg" " Neither did I." "Not a sign oflife." "No bacteria, no germs." "Nothing." "That's impossible." "There must be airborne bacteria... or germs from the deck where we collected the sample." "Nothing." " Well, let's use the electron microscope." " It's not working." "None of our high voltage electronic equipment is working." "What do you make of him, Doc?" "A creature without nervous system, heart, blood... and the l.Q. of a genius." "I don?" "know what to make of him." "What does he want from us?" "I don't know." "Excuse me." "Yes, sir?" "What is your name?" "Foster, sir." "I have been reading about diseases, Foster." "Do you often have diseases?" "The doc has a lot of penicillin aboard ship." "At the first sign ofanything, we usually get a shot." "These shots, are they effective against all disease?" "Well, the doc has something forjust about anything that ails us." "Good." "What happened, sir?" "I cut my hand." " Would you look at it for me, Foster?" " Sure." "Don't you ever wonder, Curley?" "I mean, think about it." "Before man- even before the dinosaurs, there were people on the Earth." " People like us." " Not like us." "Sure, like us." "just like us." "Oh, come on, Kowalski." "You saw what was left of his civilization." "What do you think are in those other capsules?" " More guys like him, I guess." " No." "Look, Curley, if you were smart enough to build that capsule, that gun... and you know enough to hibernate for a couple of million years... what would you put in the capsules?" "Huh?" "Women, Curley." " Women!" " Women?" "So they can reproduce and rebuild their civilization." " You think we'll ever let him do that?" " Well, they were here first." "Now, who does the Earth belong to, them or us?" " The admiral up yet, Chip?" " I don't think so." "He turned in around midnight." " What about our guest?" " He's still reading." "He's been at it for 32 hours straight." "He's gone through all the encyclopedias, all the scientificjournals... even the admiral's chess books." " Good morning, gentlemen." " Good morning." " Good morning." " He's now concentrating exclusively... on ecology, biology and medicine." "I don't like it, Admiral." "He knows all about us, and we don't know anything about him." "Well, perhaps he'sjust curious." "Wouldn't you be?" "I am." "I wanna know what he's up to." "So do I. But remember, he didn't find us." "We found him." "He claims there was a great flood, and all life was destroyed." " That's right." " And yet, he's alive, Admiral." "And back there in those capsules, others like him are alive... waiting to be released." " Why?" " That's what I'm trying to find out." " Nelson here." " This is the doctor, Admiral." "Foster is very sick." "Can you come to Sick Bay?" "I'll be right there." " Come on." " I'll see you in the control room." "just relax now." " Just relax." " I don't want" "You're gonna be okay, Fostenjust relax." "Over here." "His temperature is 106." "I examined his blood under the microscope... and I can't find any sign of bacteria or virus." "His blood is absolutely free of germs." " This sound familiar, Doc?" " It sure does." "We must use the electron microscope." " Somehow, we have to rig a high voltage system." " Yes, sir." "You are on the brink of self-destruction." " I had hopes." " What do you mean, you had hopes?" "I am more than a relic of the past." "I am the future of my people." "Without me, they cannot live." "I have duties I must do for them." "What duties?" "Before I release my people from their capsules..." "I must decide ifour two civilizations can live together." "And if you decide that they can't?" "Then I destroy you and your civilization." "Then destroy us." "How?" "With that?" "Do you think you can 125 people before one of us kills you?" "Don't underestimate me, Captain." "You can't stop me because you don't know how." "I intend to stop you." "How, Admiral?" "By reasoning with you." "By convincing you... that our civilizations can live together." "And when reason fails, you'll resort to violence?" "Are you open to reason?" "Or have you already decided?" "I'll kill him." "No, Lee." "You fools." "If you would have killed me, nothing would have saved you." "Nothing." "Leave us." "Leave us alone." "We have very little time, Admiral." "I must decide." "You heard, Lee." "Automatic navigation computes our position as being right here." " Impossible." "l agree." "To reach this position, we would have to have averaged 9O knots." "I'd estimate we've been making 3O knots." "But with our electrical gear foul-up, there's no way of knowing." "Have you rigged emergency power for the electron microscope yet?" " It should be ready in a couple hours." "Verywell." "Take her up to periscope depth." "Let's find out where we are." "Aye, sir." "Take her up to 9-0 feet." " Up scope." " Aye, aye, sir." " Shooting the sun." " Aye, sir." "On the sun, sir." "On the sun, sir." "On the sun, sir." "Mark." "Angle: 8-0 degrees, 47 minutes, nine seconds." "Captain." "Look at this." " Take her down to 1 O0 feet above bottom." " Aye, aye, sir." " Where's the admiral, Mr. Morton?" " In his cabin, sir." "Well, Admiral, we are mightier than you." " Admiral Nelson?" " You're not reasoning" " Yes, Lee?" " Admiral, turn on your TV." "Right away, Lee." "We're back there." "We've sailed in a circle." "HOW?" "We were a highly technical civilization." " I want them brought aboard, Admiral." " No." "You will eventually." "We'll remain right here until you do." "By the way, how is Seaman Foster?" "He's dead." "Master-at-arms." "Guard this man." "If you want to save them... don?" "do that." " Admiral, the air supply's contaminated." " We'll shut down the system." " Ventilation system off, Mr. Morton." " Aye, sir." "The contamination seems to be centered in the air revitalization system." " Lee, we'll have to send someone in there." " f'//g0, sir:." "Me too." "Look, you realize that compartment will have to be sealed off... until we determine the nature of the contamination." "Yes, sir." "You can bet that he had something to do with this." "Captain, this is Morton." "Somethings wrong down here." "Request the compartment be sealed off." "Will do." "Close and sea!" "hatches 27 and 28." "Keep him here." "Come on, Lee." " Here." " Where's yours?" "There's only one." "We'll share it." "There's nothing we can do." "Morton, what's going on down there?" "Morton!" "Admiral, explosive gas." "Can't close hatch." "Hinges are welded." "How can we get them out?" "Ifwe unseal the compartment... the slightest friction anywhere in the ship will blow us all up." "Yeah, I know." "How much air do you have?" "About four minutes." " Are the ballast compressors fixed yet?" " Yes." "Well, if we nose the ship down" "Then gravity might force the gas away from the hatch." " Yes, it might work, Admiral, if- - lfwhat?" "If we can maneuver that tight without engines or controls." " With only ballast." " Well, try it." "Try." "Morton, Kowalski, we're gonna try to get you out, but you'll have to help." "We're going to nose the ship down." "Chief, how much water between us and the bottom?" " 1 O2 feet, sir." " Blow aft ballast for three seconds." " Yes, sir." "Captain?" "I've had it." "I don't care what power you've got." "If he moves, if he speaks, if he twitches, kill him!" "Understand?" " Bottom distance, Chief." " 14O feet, sir." "Nose her down." "Blow aft tanks for six seconds." "Aye, aye, sir." "Hold on, men." "Stand fast." "Steady, Morton." "Bubble down 2O degrees, Captain." "Bottom coming up fast." "Get ready to open the compartment, men." " Bubble down 6O degrees, Captain." "Angle's right, Admiral." " It'; nowornever." " All right, open the hatch." "All right, Lee." "Got 'em out." "Hatch secured." "One million times magnification." "Still too small." "Use the Fulton ion grid." "Right." "One billion times magnification." "Filterable virus." "Botulinus strain." "Enough here to wipe out a good-sized city." "Think how much he has in his body." "Now, that's how he planned to destroy us." "The way this strain multiplies... if he's wounded in any way... enough botulinus would filter through the bulkheads and into the sea and" "Multiply infinitely." "Our race would become extinct... and theirs would regain possession of the Earth." "We must destroy this sample." "Yes, Doctor." "It must be completely consumed in fire... without a trace remaining." " There must be some other way." " There isn't, Lee." "He must be consumed by fire." "One drop of his blood contains enough virus to kill every human being on Earth." "We must destroy him before he destroys us... and it must be done without warning." "I understand." "Make sure that ventilator shaft is airtight." " I want the oxygen hoses open." " Right." "_ Lee?" "_ Yes?" "Move the queen to king bishop three." "Good." "When I move the queen to that square... your signal light'll go on." "Open the oxygen valves full." "You'll, urn, give yourself plenty of time, won't you?" "As much as I can." "Seal up my door as soon as he's inside." "Well, get out of here and send him in." "Well, come in." "Come in." "Sit down." "Persuasion is not a very effective weapon against you, is it?" "On the contrary..." "I have been much affected." "Unfortunately, your people and mine cannot live together." "Seaman Foster's death proves that." "His murder, you mean." "An experiment, Admiral." "Had Foster lived... or had your medicines advanced... so that you could cope with our normal viruses... then we might have been able to coexist." "Open the valves." "I must destroy you." "Destroy me, and the virus will spread from the sea to every corner of the Earth." "We'll see." "Nelson!" "Nelson, you die!" "You all die!" " Ready to detonate?" " Remote detonator ready, sir." "Detonate, Lee." "Man's second chance."