"It's funny, you know, the kind of stuff that pops into your head when you're trying to work." "I remember there was this horse-- a golden palomino." "Old Man McGinty had got him in a trade, I think." "I couldn't have been much more than nine or ten at the time, but I'd made up my mind I was going to ride that horse." "'Course, knowing Old Man McGinty, that was going to take some doing." "Well, first off, there was his dog, Hector." "They didn't come any meaner or louder than Hector." "One whiff of me heading for that corral, and Hector'd have the old man down on me like a shot." "So much for Hector." "Well, I remember thinking to myself as that palomino stared at me from across the corral with a real kind of proud and angry look, that if ever there was a time for turning back, this was it." "But something else must have decided our paths were bound to cross that day, 'cause, well, my feet just kept right on going." "Now, having a golden palomino in a corral is all well and good, but actually getting right up to her, well, that could be a whole 'nother ball game." "She was starting to look a little bit bigger than I remembered, too." "No, there was definitely more to riding this palomino than had occurred to me the night before." "Psst!" "Psst!" "They didn't say anything to me about any survivors." "The missile-- which tent?" "You might want to pass the time by cutting yourself a little elbow room." "Hey," "I want that knife back, you know." "I'd always heard in riding horses, it was the horse that did the sweating, but I wasn't even on him yet, and you could have wrung enough out of me to water the lawn." "From here on, it was easy does it." "If you move too sudden, or worse, try jumping on her back, and you might just as well strap yourself to a... well, to a rocket." "All right, hotshot, so you got a golden palomino between your knees, and no reins." "Now what?" "Cavalry should be here any minute." "Now." "God, I hate heights." "What are you doing?" "!" "Making a rocket thruster." "What are we doing?" "!" "I'll tell you later!" "Come on, Mac, I've had Big Brothers before." "None of them lived in a place like this." "Well, it's comfy;" "I call it home." "I thought you had to be real normal to be somebody's Big Brother." "I mean, this ain't a normal place to live." "This is weird." "People a lot taller than yourself have said the exact same thing." "I think it's interesting." "Okay, it's interesting." "Now can I see Venus?" "Well, you will be able to once that cloud clears." "Tell you what, in the meantime, what do you say we go down and get a bite to eat?" "Okay." "State Department vehicle" "J-one-seven-six-five requesting entry access to KIVA Level One." "Clearance request granted." "Proceed to Level One." "Will you excuse me, please?" "Oh, yeah, I see what you mean." "Okay, that's the discrepancy." "Okay, uh..." "Dr. Marlowe, our director Dr. Burke was delayed, so on behalf of Dr. Steubens and the Sendrex Corporation," "I'd like to welcome you to the KIVA Laboratories." "Thank you." "Oh, I'm Barbara Spencer." "Oh, yes, his assistant." "He's mentioned you in his letters." "Oh, Dr. Steube ns is waiting for us down on the third level." "Follow me, please." "The elevators are this way." "If you'll just stand completely within this circle, this will only take a moment." "Spencer, Barbara, T." "G-L-seven-seven-three, clearance to Level Three." "Such tight security." "Should I be flattered?" "Standard procedure, I'm afraid." "The KIVA has the most advanced security of all the Sendrex Corporations." "Nothing moves in or out of here that isn't constantly monitored and controlled." "Sidney, dear Sidney, how are you?" "I'm great." "It's good to see you, Carl." "Well, shall we start with a little tour of the facilities?" "Uh, no, I've changed my mind about that." "We have a serious matter to settle face-to-face." "As I recall your last telex, it was Queen to Bishop Four." "Yes." "Correct?" "You countered with Rook to Kings Fifth." "Uh, pure suicide, but far be it from me to stop you, Carl." "It's your move, Carl." "Oh, I know." "I'm sorry, Sidney." "Acid leak, Level Three." "Containment out of control." "Acid leak, Level Three." "Containment out of control." "Tell me you were just in a hurry to see me, and there's no bad news." "Uh, I was just in a hurry to see you, and, uh, I'll save the bad news till we get inside." "Uh, Gant." "Gant... come on, let's have it." "All right." "An accident in New Mexico." "A lab that handles a lot of classified research." "Something set off a series of explosions." "How bad?" "Well, most of the personnel got out, but at least 20 are still unaccounted for." "Among them is a top British scientist named Marlowe." "He was here visiting one of our own men, Steubens." "They're also both candidates for the Nobel Prize this year." "Not exactly the kind of publicity the State Department wants to hear." "They still alive?" "They survived the blast, but they're still trapped in the lab." "They calculate the chances of anyone getting through to Marlowe and Steubens as..." "Well, it's not great." "Well, give me "not gre at" on a scale of one to ten." "Minus three." "That's why we couldn't order anyone to try." "So, uh, your name came up." "What other optio ns do they have?" "I'm it, aren't I?" "You're it." "Now look, Mac, you don't have to take this assignment, you know that." "Call the lab, Gant, and tell 'em we're on our way." "I think we may be getting through again." "Dr. Marlowe?" "Dr. Steubens?" "Can you hear me?" "Gentlemen, can you hear me?" "Yes, just-just-just a little." "I-I think..." "Carl is regaining consciousness, but we... we do need a doctor down here." "Dr. Marlowe?" "Hello." "Do you hear me?" "Hello." "Sorry, sir, we lost it." "Keep trying." "Colonel Keel." "Gantner." "Attention, please." "All Sendrex clearances must be approved on a priority basis." "Check at your substation command post." "Oh, Ed, I see you've already met Colonel Keel." "I better keep things moving outside." "I'll check in with you later." "Good." "Charlie Burke, this is MacGyver." "Charlie's director of the lab." "Thank you for coming." "How does it stand right now?" "Well, Marlowe's fine." "Steubens was unconscious for a while, but he's coming around." "We've been unable to maintain any communication for more than a few seconds at a time." "You got any idea what set it off?" "An explosion on the third level somehow made its way to the first, and past that we're guessing." "Uh, any chance it could have had anything to do with their research?" "No, no, no, no, Steubens' research had to do with magnetic fields in the ozone layer." "Rainmakers?" "Yeah." "You're sure this was an accident, right?" "Given the security of the KIVA Laboratories," "I don't see how it could be anything else." "Yeah, right." "Have you got somebody I can talk specifics with?" "Andy Colson is our Chief of Operations." "All right, let's have him." "That ten hours can't be gettin' any longer." "Get Colson down here." "Now we started to drill an air hole from the outside, but we had to stop." "Why is that?" "We hit sulfuric acid." "The explosion must have ruptured one of the tanks, and it's, uh, well, it's leaking into the ground." "Has it reached the aquifer yet?" "Oh, whoa." "What's that?" "Aquifer." "It's a, uh, layer of underground water, in this case it leads directly into the Rio Grande." "Now if the acid hits the river, we're gonna poison most of this state," "Texas and Mexico." "What can you do about it?" "Well, we can neutralize it." "But in order to do that, we have to flood the entire complex with sodium hydroxide." "What's that?" "Let's just say it's the same stuff they use to clean the flesh off of skeletons." "You're kidding." "Is that true?" "Yeah." "There's a convoy of tankers on the way right now." "So it's not ten hours anymore?" "No." "Uh, given the rate of the flow of the acid," "I'd say you have a little under five hours, my friend." "Boy, you're just takin' all the fun out of this, Charlie." "Will you show me where that tank is?" "Right there." "Third level, 300 feet below ground." "You Colson?" "That's right." "You must be the screwball." "Andy, come on." "Yeah... it doesn't make much sense to go over every level right now." "If you can wire me for two-way, you can fill me in as I get to each one." "First problem, though, is to get me inside." "Have you got any ideas on that?" "The only way to get down to the first level right now is through the elevator." "We can't even op en the doors up here." "The whole shaft is protected by lasers." "Infrared or gas discharge?" "Gas." "CO2, 10,000 watts." "You boys take your elevator shafts pretty seriously." "Spare a cigarette?" "Oh, sure." "Thank you." "Take the pack, why don't you?" "You want my lighter, too?" "No, thanks." "I carry my own matches." "Now this wiring duct here." "It looks like it runs into the elevator shaft." "Does it?" "Yeah, it does." "And it's got a grate on the opening, but that's not gonna do you any good." "You're still gonna draw the laser there." "That's what I'm countin' on." "Can you get me inside?" "You know, you're not gon na be able to see that laser." "Can you?" "Yeah, I can get you in." "You know, it's gonna take a lot more than you can car ry in that knapsack to get you through all this." "Well, the bag's not for what I take, Colson." "It's for what I find along the way." "MacGyver, that mik e is voice-activated." "All you've gotta do is talk." "We'll be listening." "Okeydoke." "Ed, relax." "I've got a big date on Sunday." "I'm playin' ball with my Little Brother." "Well, I've reached the grate." "I don't see any damage so far." "What was that?" "Yeah, well, there's nothing wrong with your laser." "I told you you couldn't get through." "Well, then maybe it's time for a smoke." "Come on, pal, how about a light?" "Is he really taking the time for a smoke?" "Well, that's kinda pretty." "Gant, remind me to get another pair of binoculars." "Geez, I hate to do this." "You're the best pair I ever had." "Binoculars?" "What the...?" "What're you doing with binoculars?" "Well, I'll tell ya, did you ever see a scorpion sting itself to death?" "I think I'm in." "What does it look like down there?" "Twilight Zone." "Elevator's jammed in the shaft, so I'm gonna have to find another way to the lower level." "I'm headin' for the bio lab." "We got a problem, boys." "What is it, Mac?" "Well, the corridor's caved in ahead here." "I don't think I can make that bio lab." "Back the other way, MacGyver." "There's a control room." "Hold it a second." "Mac, what's happening?" "I'm getting a tapping sound coming from the direction of the lab." "I got a pretty big girder in my way here, though." "Come on back to me one more time." "I got some life down here, boys." "Uh, MacGyver, the girder." "Can you move it?" "Well, that'd take some doing." "It's wedged in here pretty good." "If I could raise it up about three or four inches," "I might be able to swing it to one side." "What's that sound?" "It was me, Mac, just taking a sip of water." "Water." "MacGyver, what are you doing down there?" "Praying my back doesn't give out." "Is there anybody hurt seriously?" "Some of us, but we can all walk." "All right, let's get you out of here." "One at a time, up through that hole." "You can make your way to the corridor from there." "Colson, you got a whole bunch of people coming your way." "A rope ladder in the elevator shaft ought to get them topside." "We'll see them out from up here." "Thank you." "Yeah, we got lucky." "Let's just hope it holds, huh?" "Sure you can go on, Mac?" "Well, unless you got another way to get to Marlowe and Steubens," "I'm just getting lazy." "Marlowe and Steub... you're not saying they're still alive, are you?" "Yes, ma'am, in the lab on the third level." "I know where." "I, I mean, I was just about to join them again in his lab when the first explosion hit." "Are you going down after them?" "Yeah, well, that's the plan." "It sure would be a big help if you could tell me how you made it all the way back up here." "I'll do better than that." "I'll show you." "I'm going with you." "No, whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no," "I'm sorry, but the only place you're going is up through that hole to the surface." "Oh, no, not without Carl Steubens." "Look, uh..." "Spencer." "Barbara Spencer." "Barbara, what if I were to tell you that, if I can't stop an acid leak down there, in a few hours, they're going to flood this whole complex with sodium hydroxide?" "Then I'd say we're wasting time." "Uh, guys, we got a little change of plan here." "I have a Barbara Spencer on my hands." "She's coming with me." "God, I hate heights." "I know this is a stupid time to ask, but... have you got a name?" "MacGyver." "Heh, MacGyver." "That's a good name." "Any idea what set the blasts off?" "No, it was so sudden," "I barely had time to make it past the electronics lab before that exploded, too." "Huh." "Steubens' lab, bio lab, electronics." "It seems like all the explosions were somehow connected to the labs." "I don't see how that's possible." "They're all independent of each other." "Is this where you came up?" "Yes, there's a stairway..." "Hey, hold it!" "Hold it!" "Oh!" "Is there another way down?" "The gas chamber." "The what?" "It's a nickname we have around here for a series of air locks around a common lab that work with sensitive gases." "This way." "Uh, you got three hours and 27 minutes, Mac." "How's Spencer holding up?" "She likes my name." "What more could I ask for?" "Chocolate." "Want one of these?" "No, thanks." "How can you thinkabout eating candy at a time like this when chances of us getting out of here alive..." "I know what the odds are." "But I thought we might be able to store up on a little energy before we pressed on." "Let's go." "Strange." "What's that?" "Air locks along the corridor are designed to close in any emergency." "MacGyver!" "Hurry!" "Carl?" "Carl?" "We're still alive?" "After that explosion, it's a miracle we are." "But, uh, we're, we're trapped down here, and the intercom, it's, it's on-off, on-off." "They, they know we're here?" "They're trying to get to us." "With all the damage on the upper levels, it's a, it's..." "Oh, no." "Roger." "Colonel... the hydroxide tankers are reaching the complex now." "Get Burke on the line." "Tell him we'll be ready to flood the complex in 55 minutes." "Listen, we're repairing the circuits that open the air lock doors that are behind you." "I hear you." "Do you have any idea what kind of gas is in there?" "No, I sure don't." "Maybe Spencer does." "Yeah, Colson, I don't think we can get a fix on it just yet." "We're going to try the air lock circuits now." "Okay." "Colson?" "Yeah?" "Sorry." "What's the distance from here to that complex wall?" "Uh, 885 yards." "Just over a half mile." "And a straight shot." "Radio Burke." "Tell him we found a spot." "Colson, this is a gas lab, right?" "Wouldn't there be some vacuum pumps to evacuate the air just in case of an emergency?" "Yeah, that's right, there are." "But you would have to go through the gas to get to them." "And even then, there's no guarantee that they'll work." "Mac, you can't." "Once you break the seal on that air lock, the gas'll kill you." "It doesn't matter, Gant." "We're going to run out of air in here pretty soon anyway." "The switch for the pum ps is on that panel." "See it?" "All right." "When we open this air lock," "I want you to head straight for that passage down to the next level, all right?" "Here." "I want you to put this around your mouth and nose." "It won't keep out the gas, but it might help a little." "MacGyver, if you don't get the pumps started..." "Hey, hey..." "I just wanted to say.." "Thanks." "You bet." "It's the indicator lights for the pumps." "They're coming on." "I can't be positive they're working, but they're on." "Mac, Mac, can you hear me?" "Colonel Keel's confirmed, sir." "They're about to go into the launch procedure." "Thank you." "Launch procedure?" "What launch procedure?" "What's he talking about, Charlie?" "Ed, Ed, Ed, take it easy." "We had no choice." "About what?" "About the acids." "We can't be sure the sodium hydroxide flooding is going to be enough." "We have to fuse the substratum rock between here and the aquifer." "And we think an underground missile aimed at the KIVA foundation might do it." "A missile?" "And what happens to the KIVA?" "Below the first leve l there won't be a KIVA." "Mac, you got to get out of there." "They've got a missile aimed at you." "Mac!" "Mac, can you hear me?" "Mac!" "Answer me!" "Mac, u-use your intercom." "Mac!" "Bad news, Spencer." "We lost the two-way mike." "They don't know where we are now." "Let's find that acid leak." "The tanks should be this way." "Watch your step now." "This is nasty stuff we're lookin' for." "MacGyver!" "Well, it looks like the explosion cracked the foundation, too." "Acid's runnin' into the ground through that." "Well, there's nothing we can do to stop it, is there?" "We might be able to whip up a Band-Aid." "Our first problem, though, is to get up to that crack." "Do you think you could balance against that tank if you stood on my shoulders?" "That might get us close enough to stop that leak." "With what?" "That's sulfur ic acid up there, remember?" "With these." "Chocolate bars?" "To you, they're milk chocolate." "To sulfuric acid, it's lactose and sucrose" "C12, H22, O11-- disaccharides." "The acid will react with the sugars to form an elemental carbon and a thick gummy residue." "That should be enough to clog up that rupture, temporarily at least." "Comin' up!" "All right, I'm movin' over." "All right, bars are comin' up, right hand." "A little closer." "All right, start stuffing' 'em in at the angle and work your way over." "Oh, and, Spencer?" "Yeah, make sure it melts in the acid and not in my hand, right?" "Yeah." "How much longer before they launch?" "From our last sync check, nine minutes and 30 seconds." "I think we got it!" "Yeah." "Nice work, Spencer." "Oh, no!" "There's the door to Steubens' lab right there, but with all this in the way," "I don't know how we're gonna get..." "Well, we're just gonna have to build ourselves a new door." "Is there any way to communicate with them?" "There's a lab-to-lab intercom." "I'll try it." "Dr. Steubens!" "Dr. Marlowe!" "Can you hear me?" "Please!" "Can you answer this?" "Are you all right?" "Dr. Marlowe!" "Plastique..." "Can you hear me?" "A bomb." "Dr. Marlowe!" "Yes." "Is Carl all right?" "Oh, yes, he's all right, but..." "We're down here on the third level in metallurgy... just behind the back wall of your lab." "No!" "It's them, Carl, they're right there!" "They've, they've come to get us." "We're gonna..." "Dr. Marlowe, I want you to build yourselves a barricade as far from the back wall as you possibly can." "We're gonna try and blow an opening in that wall." "Do you understand?" "We'll do it." "Blow an opening?" "With what?" "Don't tell me you know how to make a bomb out of a stick of chewing gum." "Why, you got some?" "Come on." "This is a lab, right?" "There's gotta be something here we can fake it with." "What kind of lab is this anyway?" "It's metallurgy." "Metallurgy... metallurgy..." "metallurgy." "Come on, MacGyver." "Sodium metal." "That'll do it." "Any idea where they might keep it?" "In here." "Bingo." "All right, we probably won't need much more than a few grams, but we're gonna have to contain it in something." "Test tube?" "No." "Much too big, and it's got to be water soluble, something cellulose." "How about a cold capsule?" "Yeah." "You know, Spencer," "I think you're startin' to get the hang of this." "But I do wish I had known you had a cold before I kissed you." "Attention!" "Six minutes to missile launch." "I say again, six minutes to missile launch." "All right, now try to find me a glass jar, about a quart size with a stopper in it." "Put some water in it, all right?" "Okay." "This capsule hits the water and dissolves, the sodium'll give off hydrogen, and there'll enough of a reaction to ignite it." "Call Marlowe and tell him to get down." "We're ready." "Dr. Marlowe, we're gonna try and blow an opening in the wall now." "All right, Spencer, do me a favor, will ya?" "Name it." "Let me go in after Marlowe and Steubens." "You wait out here, all right?" "Why?" "Well, chalk it up to superstition, all right?" "Wait here!" "Marlowe!" "Steubens!" "You all right?" "Yeah." "We're, we're over here." "Oh..." "Get on the intercom." "Try to reach the surface." "Okay." "You, back!" "Sidney, get away from that intercom." "Carl, what is this?" "What are you doing?" "Have you gone clean out of your mind?" "MacGyver, is everyone all right?" "Spencer, gosh darn it!" "I told you to wait outside." "I'm sorry, Barbara." "Carl, I don't understand." "The explosion down here..." "itwasn't an accident." "Everybody kept lookin' for an accidental explanation because nothing else made sense." "With all the secur ity of this place, who could possib ly get a bomb to this level?" "You and Marlowe, you weren't supposed to survive." "No." "Carl, this makes no sense!" "Doesn't it?" "You told me Sendrex ordered a whole new series of experiments, but that Steubens refused to accept the results." "So, he invites the only other expert in the field to visit." "One accidental explosion and all this research is set back 20 years." "Maybe more." "They wanted it to become a weapon." "I've spent my whole life to stop suffering." "A weapon?" "Chain reactions in the ozone..." "Without the ozone layer, the sun's ultraviolet rays would kill everything on Earth." "I think Carl here discovered the key to make the ozone layer self-destruct, didn't you, Carl?" "The ultimate doomsday weapon." "I couldn't give them that." "I still can't." "Sidney, we're the only ones who can stop this." "No!" "That was dumb, Spencer!" "Very, very dumb!" "Yeah, it also hurts like hell!" "Ah, stop talkin', will ya?" "Colson, I want you to begin the flooding." "All right, Spencer, it's time to get you out of here." "You're a lousy liar, MacGyver." "We're out of time and they don't even know we're down here, do they?" "There's gotta be some way to contact the surface." "You did everything in your power, Mac." "Spencer, you're a genius!" "What's going on with the lights, Colson?" "I don't know." "Will somebody tell me what's going on?" "Morse code, sir." "What's it saying?" "20, 18, 18, 1 7, 16..." ""Acid stopped..." "All safe." "Mac."" "The missile!" "Abort the launch!" "Abort launch?" "Yes, sir." "Abort launch!" "Abort launch!" "Repeat, abort launch!" "Hey, hold it a second, guys." "What is this, Spence, you trying to get outta here without saying good-bye?" "I'd kiss you, MacGyver, but I got this cold." "So, what's a little cold between friends, huh?" "You're terrific, Spencer." "Move her out." "You still haven't told me what you do for a living." "Oh, I'm sort of a repairman." "But I like playing basketball with you best." "Okay, what's the deal this time?" "Championship." "Seventh and final game of this awesomely contested match." "110-108-- my team on top, of course." "And the clock?" "A paltry three seconds remain." "Ow!" "Look at that!" "Short Stuff's out." "All right, wait." "Hold it." "Hold the phone." "What?" "You better get somebody ready to measure me for my championship ring." "All right, shoot it!" "Shoot it!" "All right." "Reggie stops, pops, and is tops!" "A phenomenal shot by a short kid!" "The fans go crazy!"