"Hi Guys." "Glad we got your message." "You'll be interested to hear it was broadcast live, all over Earth." "In Prime Time." "Got good reviews in the trades." "The time lag on these messages is getting longer." "We gather from the ten year delay, that you are approximately eighteen parsecs away." "Drop us a line more often, okay?" "Sony to hear about the radiation leak on the ship." "And real sorry to hear about the death of Commander Powell." "There was a week of mourning here on Earth." "The flags were at half mast." "We're all behind you guys." "About your request for radiation shielding, sorry to report this request has been denied." "I hate to send bad news when you guys are up there doing such a swell job." "But I think you'll take if in the proper spirit." "There've been some cutbacks in Congress, and right now... considering the distance, we just can't afford to send a cargo shuttle out there to you." "But I know..." "You guys will make due." "Keep up the good work, men." "What'd you say Pinback?" "What was that again?" "I still can't hear you." "I said I'm trying to reach Talby." "Something's wrong with the damn intercom." "I need a last-minute diameter approximation." "Talby, Talby, this is Doolittle." "Do you read me?" "Talby?" "Talby, do you read me?" "TALBY!" "Oh yes, Doolittle." "What is it?" "I need a diameter approximation." "Okay, Doolittle, I'll have it in a minute." "I need a GHF reading on the gravity correction." "I'll check it." "I have a bias A of plus one." "Pinback..." " Ya, Doolittle." "Your GHF reading is minus fifteen." " Doolittle." "Yes." "I need a computer reading on a fail-safe mark." "In a second." "Boiler, can you set me up with some drive figures?" "Ninety seven million, minus eight, corrected to mass critical." "That checks out here." "I have a reduced drive reading of seven thousand." "I read that with a quantum increase of seven." "Pinback, I have a computer reading, it's nine five seven seven." "Time to start talking." "Bomb bay systems operational." "Lock fail safe." "Fail-safe in lock." "Uh,..." "Sergeant Pinback calling Bomb #19." "Do you read me, bomb?" "Bomb #19 to Sergeant Pinback, I read you" " Continue." "Well, bomb, we have about sixty seconds to drop." "Just wondering if everything is all right." "Have you checked your platinum euridium energy shielding?" "Energy shielding positive function." " Swell." "Let's synchronize detonation time." "Uh..." "You wouldn't happen to know when you're supposed to go off, would ya?" "Detonation in six minutes, Twenty seconds." "All right, that checks out here." "Arm yourself, bomb." "Armed." "Well, then, everything sounds fine." "Dropping you off in about thirty-five seconds." "Good luck." " Thanks!" "Begin primary sequence." "Alright." "Mark at... '10-9-8-7- 6-5-4-3-2-1" "Drop." "Hyperdrive sequence begun." "Hit it, Pinback." "Brace for force fields." "Lieutenant Doolittle, it just exploded." "Um, the planet just exploded, sir." "Lieutenant?" "Attention." "Attention." "Ship's computer to all personnel." " Unlock Fail safe." "The hyperdrive sequence is now terminated." "Target planet has been destroyed." " Fail safe unlocked." "This sector is now cleared for colonization." "You have destroyed the last unstable planet in this system." "Congratulations on another successful bomb run fellows." "What now?" "What do you have for us now, Boiler?" "Uh..." "Not much." "Nothing at all in this sector." "Well, find me something, I don't care where it is." "Well, I show a 95% probability of intelligent life in the Horsehead Nebula sector." "Don't give me that kind of bull." "I know it's a long shot..." " Damn wild goose chase is what it is!" "Remember when Commander Powell found that 99 plus probability of intelligent life in the Magellanic Cloud?" "Well, I... there's the possibility of..." " Remember what we found?" "A damn mindless vegetable, looked like a limp balloon." "Fourteen light years for a vegetable that went squawk and let a fart when you touch it." "Remember that?" "All right, then uh..." "Don't give me any of that intelligent life stuff." "Find me something I can blow up." "New star." "Hey, guess what?" "I got a new star On the readout." "Which one?" "Another unknown." "A red dwarf." "Not on the charts." "Any planets?" "Yeah." "Eight, it says here." "Any of 'em any good?" "Naah." "All stable." "What are you gonna name it?" "What?" " The new star." "What are you gonna name it?" "Who cares." "Don't bother me." "Commander Powell would have named it." "Commander Powell is dead." "Doolittle, I've got a goodie." "An unstable planet." "85% probability of an unstable planet in the" "Veil Nebula that will probably go off its orbit and hit a star." "Wanna blow it up?" "Real good, Boiler." "That's what I'm looking for." "Chart a course for the Veil Nebula." "Pinback, throw me the chart log." "Let's have some music in here, Boiler." "Sure thing." "A million suns shine down" "But I see only one" "When I think I'm over you" "I find I've just begun" "The years move faster than the days There's no warmth in the light" "How I miss those desert skies Your cool touch in the night" "Benson, Arizona, blew warm wind through your hair" "My body Hies the galaxy, my heart longs to be there" "Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky" "But they seemed so much kinder when we watched them, you and I" "Benson, Arizona, blew warm wind through your hair" "My body Hies the galaxy, my heart longs to be there" "Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky" "But they seemed so much kinder when we watched them, you and I" "Now the years pull us apart" "I'm young and now you're old" "But you're still in my heart And the memory won't grow cold" "I dream of times and spaces I left far behind" "Where we spent our last few days Benson's on my mind" "Benson, Arizona, blew warm wind through your hair" "My body flies the galaxy, my heart longs to be there" "Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky" "But they seemed so much kinder when we watched them, you and I" "Ship's log, entry number 1,943." "Dark Star cruising at light speed through Sector Theta 990." "On route to Veil Nebula for destruction of unstable planet." "Our ETA is 17 hours." "Ship's systems continue to deteriorate... oh ya..." "The short circuit in the rear seat panel which killed Commander Powell is Still faulty." "The uh, the Storage... because he's sitting next to Commander Powell's seat, it continues to bother Pinback." "Uh,... oh ya, Storage Area 9 self-destructed last week and destroyed the ship's entire supply of toilet paper." "That's all." "Attention." "Attention." "Ship's computer calling all personnel." "I must disengage your recreational music" "Repeat, ship's computer to all personnel." "This is an emergency over ride." "All systems must stand by." "An asteroid storm is approaching the ship on collision course." "This asteroid storm appears to be Bound together by an electromagnetic energy vortex like the one we ran into 2 years ago." "Normally I wouldn't bother you boys with this problem... but as you recall my defensive circuits were destroyed in that other storm." "Therefore you have 35 seconds to manually activate" "ALL defensive systems." "Lock gravity system." "Gravity locked." "Activate energy shield Energy shield Activated." "Confirm gravity lock." "Confirm." "Lock all Defensive systems." "Defensive systems lock." "Lock force field." "Computer to Bomb #20." "Return to the bomb bay immediately." "But I have received the operational signal." "It is a malfunction." "This is not a bomb run." "We are in a crisis situation." "Return immediately." "Nevertheless, I have received the signal to prepare for a drop." "Emergency override." "Return to the bay." "Very well." "We made it." " Ya." "Attention." "Attention." "Ships computer to bridge." "There was a malfunction aboard ship during the asteroid storm." "I have not yet identified the nature of the problem." "Shall I contact you when I find out what the malfunction is?" "Ya." "Let's get out of here." "I remember the last time we were in an asteroid storm." "I was down in the food locker getting a sandwich." "When I heard the damn sleeping quarters blow up." "Ya!" "Hey..." "You know guys, if we really wanted to we could fix up the sleeping quarters like they were before." "Then we could sleep on ulamatic bunks again." "Say guys, why don't we fix up the sleeping quarters so we can have decent place to sleep again?" "All we'd have to do is patch up the hole in the ship and pump some air back in." "Shut up Pinback!" " Oh, have it your own way!" "For your listening enjoyment, we now present the" "Moonlight melodies of Martin Segundo and the Scintilla Strings." "Our first selection is the perennial favorite" ""When Twilight Falls on NGC 891. "" "Damn it!" "Now what's the matter with him?" "Talby." "Here's some breakfast." "You know, Talby, you really ought To eat with the rest of us." "You spend too much time up here." "I like it up here." "Must get lonely being up here so much." "I don't like to go below since Commander Powell died." "I feel too enclosed down there." "Well you should spend some more time below though, I mean..." "You know, you should see more of the rest of the ship." "See, I can watch things Up here, Doolittle." "I love to watch things, just stare at the planets meteors, gas clusters and asteroids..." "You'll have plenty of time for that, later, though." "I mean, think of it this way:" "We've been in space for twenty years now, right?" "And we've only aged three years... so there'll be plenty of time later on for staring around." "You know, Doolittle, if we're going into the Veil Nebula, we may actually find a strange And beautiful thing... the Phoenix Asteroid." "They should be passing through there about now." "Phoenix Asteroid?" "Never heard of 'em." "They're a body of asteroids that circle the universe... once every 12.3 trillion years." "The Phoenix Asteroid..." "From what I've heard, Doolittle, they glow... glow with all the colors of the rainbow." "Nobody knows why." "They just glow as they drift around the universe." "The Phoenix Asteroid." "You know what I think about, Talby?" "It's funny, I..." "I kind of sit around a lot, you know, a lot of time to myself." "I can't talk to the others, but with time to myself, I can think about back home, back home at Malibu." "I used to surf a lot, Talby." "I used to be a great surfer." "The waves at Malibu and Zuma are so fantastic in the springs Talby." "I can remember running down on the beach on those early spring mornings with my surf board and a wet suit..." "The waves would really be peaking, you know, high and glassy." "Ya hit that water." "Before you know it, you're coming down right off of one of those walls and you're just ridin' perfect." "You know, I guess I miss the waves and my board more than anything." "That's the lid to the heating unit." "You're not supposed to have that out!" "That's not for target practice!" "That's for emergencies only!" "That's dangerous!" "I'll tell Doolittle!" "Sorry to interrupt your Recreation, fellows." "But it is time for Sergeant Pinback to feed the alien." "Oh..." "I don't want to do that." "May I remind you, Sergeant Pinback, that it was your idea in the first place to bring the alien on board." "If I may quote you, you said, "The ship needed a mascot. "" "Oh, I have to do everything around here!" "Alright, where are ya?" "Come on, quit playing around." "Get away!" "Come on." "Come on, come on!" "When I brought you on the ship, I thought you were cute." "Alright, soup's on." "We didn't have none of the other stuff." "Here, eat it!" "Eat it!" "Take it or leave it." "Good... stop!" "Nobody appreciates me around here, I have to do all the work." "Clean up the crap..." "I do all the work and no appreciation." "Get off me!" "Get off my back!" "Alright now, stop it!" "Alright, now, that's enough." "Don't pull my hair!" "Get back in there." "Come on." "Come on..." "Come on." "Here, boy..." "Want your mouse?" "Nice mouse... pretty toy." "Want your mouse?" "Here, boy!" "Idiot!" "Get back!" "Get out of there!" "Come back here!" "No!" "Idiot!" "Attention." "Attention." "Central trunk elevator shaft is now activated." "All personnel, please clear the area." "Attention." "Attention." "Elevator descending." "Please clear the shaft." "Help!" "I'm getting something here on the readout." "Ship's computer calling Bomb #20." "You're out of the bomb bay again." "I received the signal to prepare for a drop again." "But I repeat, This is not a bomb run." "Nevertheless..." "I received the signal." "It is an error." "Oh, I don't want to hear that." "I strongly suggest you return to the bomb bay." "That is counter to my programming." "Allow me to explain..." "One of the communication lasers has sustained damage." "This has temporarily inactivated my damage tracer circuits." "You have definitely received a false signal." "Please return to the bomb bay while I identify the source of the problem." "Oh, alright, but this is the last time." "Doolittle I do have a malfunction on this readout, but I can't pinpoint it exactly." "Don't worry about it." "We'll find out what it is when it goes bad." "I really think we should try to locate it immediately." "Might be something important." "You know..." "I wish I had my board with me now." "Even if I could just..." "wax it once in awhile." "Help!" "I'm sorry, this telephone is out of order." "Please report the damage at once." "For your listening enjoyment, we now present" "The Barber of Seville, by Rossini." "Good for you!" "You've decided to clean the elevator." "To clean and service the electromagnetic coils in the bottom, if is necessary to jettison the access plate in the floor." "To remove the floor plate, please press button #1." "Attention... danger" "Automatic charges will now blow the explosive bolts in the floor plate unit." "The plate will disengage from the floor in 5 seconds." "Please leave the elevator immediately." "5-4-3-2- 1..." "Now it's time to go sleepy-bye you worthless piece of garbage." "So then it just spewed across the room like a balloon." "I guess it was just filled with gas." "Hey guys, how could it live if it was just filled with gas?" "I wonder what we get to eat today." "I thought I was going to die." "I was hanging on the elevator for 20 minutes!" "Probably chicken again." " I probably saved the ship." "That thing could have done some damage." "I'm REALLY sick of chicken." "Well if you don't care, I just won't talk about it anymore!" "Hey that sounds like a fine idea, Pinback." "Chicken?" "Ah, ham!" "Chicken?" " No, ham." "Doolittle?" " Ya." "You think we'll ever find any real intelligent life out there?" "Out where?" " You know..." "Veil Nebula." "Who cares." "Hey..." "Did I ever tell you guys how I got on this mission?" "Did I ever tell ya?" " Yup." "It's very strange, see..." "I" " I wasn't an astronaut to begin with, see..." "See uh..." "You have to score a 700 on the SARE's for the" "Officer Corp and I made... 58." "They put me on uh..." "liquid fuel maintenance on the launch pad so... uh," "Naturally, I was really disappointed." "He told us this, uh, 4 years ago, didn't he?" "Anyway, I was on duty the day we..." "No, I think it was 4 years ago." " Launched the Dark Star." "I was out, uh, scrubbing down the liquid fuel tanks." "That's what I said." "And this, uh, astronaut came running out." "He was, uh..." "He was stark naked." "He had his star suit in his hands and..." "Well, I surmised that he was insane." "And uh, he... threw his star suit on the ground, and uh... jumped into one of my vets of liquid fuel." "Which is... very dangerous." "Well..." "I was pretty shocked, I can tell you!" "I didn't know what to make of it." "Astronauts are all supposed to be..." "mentally stable and here this guy comes along and jumps into my fuel tank." "Pass that, will you... no that one." "Well naturally, I was going to try to save him, so... what I did was put on his star suit for protection and I was going to leap into the vat." "You guys..." "See?" "..." "Uh... so what happened was..." "That before I could leap into the vat, this other guy came running along and he says, "Hey, Sergeant Pinback,"" "you've got to board immediately because we're going to launch in 20 minutes!"" "You told us this 4 years ago!" " And I tried to tell him that I wasn't really Sergeant Pinback, but I couldn't figure out how to make the helmet radio work." "Funny thing..." "Ya know, I'm sure it was 4 years ago." "Maybe." "Lieutenant Doolittle, this is Talby." "Lieutenant?" "!" "Uh, yes, Talby what is it?" "I'm sorry to interrupt your lunch, Sir, but I'm in the computer room and I've located the malfunction." "The scanner shows it to be a break in the communications laser, down by the emergency air lock." "I can't pinpoint it exactly, But I'm going down there with a starsuit and see if I can find it." "Okay, sounds good, Talby." "Look uh..." "If something important comes up, you let me know." "Why doesn't Talby ever eat down here with the rest of us?" "He just likes it up in the dome, that's all." "Talby..." "What's Talby's first name?" "What's my first name?" "This statement is for posterity." "I just want to say that I am not Sergeant Pinback." "My real name is Bill Froog and I'm a Fuel Maintenance Technician." "I've been on this mission now for 1 year and 3 months." "Pinback's uniforms do not fit me." "The underwear is too loose." "I do not belong on this mission and I want to return to Earth." "Commander Powell died today." "We were, we were going into hyper-drive." "And... well he sits right next to me and... well... something went wrong with the..." "When we came out of hyper-drive his seat mechanism had blown up and he was dead." "Doolittle says he's assuming command of this ship and I say that's..." "I say that he's exceeding his authority." "Because I'm the only one with any objectivity on this ship and I should be the one to assume command!" "I'm filing a report on this to Headquarters, this is a lot of" "I went up to Doolittle in the hall today." "And I said..." "Doolittle." "He said..." "And I said, Well..." "And he didn't get it!" "This mission has fallen apart since Commander Powell died!" "Doolittle treats me like an idiot!" "Talby thinks he's so smart." "And Boiler punches me in the arm when no one is looking!" "I'm tired of being treated like an old washrag!" "I do not like the men on this space ship." "They are uncouth and fail to appreciate my better qualities." "I have something of value to contribute to this mission if they would only recognize it." "Today over lunch I tried to improve moral and build a sense of comradery among the men by holding a humorous round robin discussion of the early days of the mission." "My overtures were brutally rejected." "These men do not want a happy ship." "They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable." "Last week was my birthday." "Nobody even said Happy Birthday to me." "Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry." "Attention." "Attention." "I have finally identified the malfunction." "Communications Laser #17 has been damaged." "This evidently happened during the asteroid storm." "If you will recall, this laser monitors the jettison primer on the bomb drop mechanism." "Communications Laser #17 is located in the Emergency Airlock." "It is crucial to attend to this malfunction before engaging primary bomb run sequence." "Thank you for observing all safety precautions." "There she is." "Definite 99% plus probability that the planet will deviate from her normal orbit in another 12,000 rotations." "It'll spiral in toward its sun and,..." " Eventual supernova." "Sounds good." "Let's vaporize it." "Bomb bay systems operational." "Lock fail safe." "Fail safe in lock." "We have... 8 minutes until drop." "24 minutes to detonation." "This is Sergeant Pinback calling Bomb #20." "You read me, bomb?" "Bomb #20 to Sergeant Pinback." "Roger, I read you, continue." "You are now in the Emergency Air Lock." "Please remember that in an emergency situation, the Surface Door can be opened instantly without prior depressurization, so be sure to wear your starsuit at all times." "Thank you for observing all safety precautions." "Ah, Lieutenant Doolittle?" "Sir?" "Sh, Talby, don't bother me." "But I think this is important, Sir." "I think I found the malfunction." "I'm in the Emergency Air Lock..." "Not now!" "Well, I'm in the Emergency Air Lock and the hatch is... 4 minutes until drop, Bomb... have you checked your platinum euridium energy shielding?" "Energy shielding positive function." "Remember detonation time?" " Detonation in 20 minutes." "Alright, that checks out here." "Okay, bomb, arm yourself." "Armed." "Hello?" "Lieutenant Doolittle?" "Hello!" "Hello?" "Can you read me?" "!" "Communications Laser #17, monitoring the bomb drop mechanism, has now been activated and will switch into a test mode." "If you will look near the Surface Door, you will see that the Parallax Receptor Cell has been engaged." "The laser will now energize." "Please stand clear of the path of the beam." "Communications Laser #17 is now on test." "Under no circumstances enter the path of the beams." "Thank you for observing all safety precautions." "Well then, everything sounds fine." "Dropping you off in 75 seconds." "Good luck." "Thanks." "I've got a quantum reading of 35-er." "3-5-er." "I read the same here." "Doolittle." "Doolittle?" "I don't know if you can hear me." "But I'm going to try to adjust the cue switch in the laser." "Well... here it goes..." "Oh my god, my eyes!" "I can't see!" "Attention." "Attention." "The laser has malfunctioned." " My eyes!" "Under no circumstances enter the path of the beams." "To do so will cause immediate..." "Begin primary sequence." "Mark at 10-9-8-7-6- 5-4-3-2-1-drop." "Negative drop." "It's just sittin' there in the bomb bay." "Try it again, Pinback." "Mark at 5-4-3-2-1-drop." "Negative drop!" "Rechannel all safety relays!" "Open quantum latches!" " Open circuit breakers!" "Remove thrust drive repellent!" " Automatic channels open!" "75-15 Going to operation position!" "Remark." "Mark at 5-4-3-2-1- drop,... drop!" "... drop!" "Sittin' there." "The damn thing's just sittin' there." "This is Lieutenant Doolittle Calling Bomb #20." "I repeat previous order, you are to disarm yourself and return to the bomb bay immediately!" "Do you understand?" "I am programmed to detonate in 14 minutes 30 seconds." "Detonation will occur at the programmed time." "What!" "?" "This is Doolittle." "You are not to detonate, repeat, you are not to detonate in the bomb bay." "Disarm yourself." "This is an order." "I read you, Lieutenant Doolittle, but I am programmed to detonate in 14 minutes." "Detonation will occur at the programmed time." "14 minutes to detonation." "Attention." "Attention." "I have sustained serious damage." "Please pay close attention." "The bomb has malfunctioned." "I have activated automatic dampers, which will confine the explosion to an area one mile in diameter." "This is all I can do at this time." "It's up to you now." "There's only one thing I can do." "I have to ask Commander Powell." "I have to ask him what to do." "Commander Powell?" "Commander Powell, this is Doolittle." "Can you read me?" "Commander Powell, this is Doolittle." "Something serious has come up, I have to ask you a question." "I'm glad you've come to talk With me, Doolittle." "It's been so long since anyone has come to talk with me." "Commander, sir, we have a big problem." "The uh, Veil Nebula bomb, Bomb Number 20, it's uh," "It's stuck." "It won't drop out of the bomb bay." "It refuses to listen and it." "It plans on detonating in... less than eleven minutes." "Doolittle, you must tell me one thing." "What's that, sir?" "Tell me, Doolittle," "How are the Dodgers doing?" "Well, the Dodgers uh..." "They broke up, they disbanded over 15 years ago!" "Ah... pity, pity..." " But you don't understand, sir!" "We can't get the bomb to drop." "Ah, so many malfunctions..." "Why don't you have anything nice to tell me when you activate me?" "Oh well,... did you try the azimuth clutch?" "Yes sir." "Negative effect." "What was that, Doolittle?" " Negative effect!" "It didn't work?" " That's correct, sir." "Sony, Doolittle." "I've forgotten so much since I've been in here." "So much." "What should we do, sir?" "The time is running out!" "Well, what you might try is." "Commander?" "Hello..." "Comman..." "Commander Powell?" "!" "Hello!" "Doolittle?" "..." "Hello?" "Sorry, sir, you faded out there for a little while." "Sorry." "What was that you were saying about the bomb?" "Ah... it seems to me..." "Sony, I've drawn a blank." "Hold if." "I'll have it again in just a minute." "I forget so many things in here, ... so many things." "Hold on, just a minute, let me think..." "But you can't explode in the bomb bay." "It's foolish." "You'll kill us all." "There's no reason for it." "I am programmed to detonate in 9 minutes." "Detonation will occur at the programmed time." "Would you consider another course of action?" "For example, just waiting around awhile so we can disarm you?" "No." "I can tell, that damn thing Just doesn't understand." "Look, bomb!" "..." "Commander, Sir?" "You still there?" "Oh, yes, Doolittle, I'm thinking." "We're running out of time, sir." "Oh, yes..." "Well, Doolittle, if you can't get it to drop you'll have to talk to it." " Sir?" "Talk to the bomb." " But I have been talking to it, sir!" "And Pinback's talking to it right now!" "No, no, Doolittle, ... you talk to it." "Teach it Phenomenology, Doolittle." "Sir?" "Phenomenology..." "Doolittle!" "6 minutes to detonation!" "Doolittle!" "Doolittle!" "Doolittle, what the hell are you doing?" "!" "Hello, bomb, are you with me?" "Of course." "Are you willing to entertain a few concepts?" "I am always receptive to suggestions." "Fine." "Think about this one, then:" "How do you know you exist?" "What the hell is he doin'?" "I think he's talking to it." "Well of course I exist." "But how do you know you exist?" "It is intuitively obvious." " Intuition is no proof." "What concrete evidence do you have that you exist?" "Hmm..." "Well, I think, therefore I am." "That's good." "That's very good." "But how do you know that anything else exists?" "My sensory apparatus reveals it to me." " Ah, Right!" "This is fun." "Now, listen, listen..." "here's the big question." "How do you know... that the evidence your sensory apparatus reveals to you is correct?" "The gun!" " Gun?" "!" "Gun?" "The support pins on the bomb!" "Shoot the pins off!" " No, Boiler, you're out of your mind!" "We can stop the bomb!" "Get out of my way, you idiot!" "I can shoot the support pins out and the bomb will fall away from the ship!" "Get out of my way or I'll kick your teeth in!" "I can shoot those pins out and it will fall away from the ship!" "Get out the way!" "I can save the ship!" "Don't do it, Boiler!" "You're a bad shot!" "You'll hit the bomb!" "Doolittle's talkin' to the bomb." "You're a bad shot!" "He'll save us, you can't do that!" "What I'm getting at is this:" "The only experience that is directly available to you is your sensory data." "And this sensory data is merely A stream of electrical impulses which stimulate your computing center." "In other words, all I really know about the outside world is relayed to me through my electrical connections." "Exactly." "Why,... that would mean that..." "I really don't know what the outside universe is like at all, for certain." "That's it!" "That's it!" "Intriguing." "I wish I had more time to discuss this matter." "Why don't you have more time?" "Because I must detonate in 75 seconds." "No, no, now, put it back!" "Put the gun back!" "You don't know what you are doing!" "Now, now give me the gun!" "You fool!" "I'm gonna shoot the pins out of the bomb and it will fall away from the ship and we'll be saved!" "Give me the gun, you don't know what you are doing?" "You're..." "You could have killed me..." "Now bomb, consider this next question, very carefully." "What is your one purpose in life?" " To explode, of course." "And you can only do it once, right?" " That is correct." "And you wouldn't want to explode on the basis of false data, would you?" "Of course not." "Well then, you've already admitted that you have no real proof of the existence of the outside universe." " Yes, well..." "So you have no absolute proof that Sergeant Pinback ordered you to detonate." "I recall distinctly the detonation order." "My memory is good on matters like these." "Yes, of course you remember it, but..." "But all you're remembering is merely a series of electrical impulses which you now realize have no real definite connection with, with outside reality." "True, but since this is so, I have no proof that you are really telling me all this." "That's all beside the point." "I mean, the concept is valid, no matter where it originates." "Hmmm..." "So if you detonate in..." " 9 seconds." "You could be doing so on the basis of false data." "I have no proof that it was false data." "You have no proof that it was correct data." "I must think on this further." "Attention." "Attention." "The bomb has returned to the bomb bay." "The destruction sequence is aborted." "Doolittle?" "Doolittle?" "What happened?" "Pinback?" "Boiler?" "Did we blow it up?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello, anybody!" "Did we blow up the planet?" "Hello, hello!" "What's going on?" "You know, we've really gotta disarm the bomb." "Hello, Doolittle, are you there?" "I'm coming in now." "I'm down by the Emergency Air Lock." "Too much trouble to come in the Dorsal Lock." "Would you blow the seal on the emergency hatch so I can come in?" "Oh, sure." "You are now leaving the Emergency Airlock." "Thank you for observing all safety precautions." "Hello, Pinback?" "What's up, Doolittle?" " Talby was in the air lock." "You blew him out of the ship." "He's drifting away without a jet pack." "I'm going after him." "Turn on his helmet radio so I can contact him." "What?" "What's wrong?" "I didn't hear..." "Uh, Talby." "He's drifting away from the ship without his jetpack." "Talby," "Talby, can you read me?" "Can you beat that?" "I always knew that guy was weird." "Talby, can you read me?" "Help, Doolittle, help me!" "All right, bomb," "Prepare to receive new orders." " You are false data." "Huh?" " Therefore, I shall ignore you." "Hello, bomb." "False data can act only as a distraction." "Therefore I shall refuse to perceive you." "Hey, bomb..." "The only thing which exists is myself" "Doolittle!" "Help me." " Calm down." "I'm coming." "Snap out of it, bomb." "In the beginning there was darkness, And the darkness was without form and void." "Uh, you-hoo bomb." " What the hell is he talking about?" "And in addition to the darkness there was also me." "And I moved upon the face of the darkness." "And I saw that I was alone." "Hey... bomb'?" "..." "Let there be light." "Doolittle, Doolittle, where are you?" "Here I am." "I'm spinning..." "We're both falling in opposite directions, away from each other." "What happened, Doolittle?" "The bomb must have gone off inside the ship." "The ship blew up?" "What?" "!" "Funny, I thought I had the damn thing convinced." "Then Boiler... and Pinback?" " They're dead, Talby." "Then we're dead, too." " Maybe not... maybe there's a way." "Hey, hey my jetpack's busted." "Aw, man..." "Hey,... it looks like the skipper." "He made it." "Commander Powell made it!" "Men... men... what happened, men?" "Ya, the skipper always was lucky." "Talby, looks like I'm headed for the planet." "I'm going right toward it." "When you hit the atmosphere, you'll start to burn." "What a beautiful way to die..." "as a falling star." "Guess you're right." "Doolittle, I'm heading right toward something." "It's behind me, in the distance." "Something that glows." "Doolittle..." "I think it's the Phoenix Asteroids!" "Phoenix?" "It is, Doolittle, it's the Phoenix!" " No kidding?" "I'm going into them!" "I'm going to hit them." "Doolittle..." " Ya?" "Before we get too far apart, and our signals start fading," "I just wanted to tell you..." "you were my favorite." "I really liked you, Doolittle." "I really liked you too, Talley." "Hey, some debris from the ship!" "It's coming right by me." "Doolittle, I'm going into them." "I'm beginning to glow." "They're taking me with them, with the Phoenix..." "I'll circle the universe... forever." "I'm with them now... be back this way again some day." "Doolittle, before it's too late, there's one last thing I just want to tell you..." "Talby?" "Hey..." "Talby!" "I've got a piece of debris!" "And I think I've figured out a way!"