"* *" "(eerie whirring)" "(crackling)" "* *" "* *" "** *" "(vehicle approaching)" "NARRATOR:" "Starring Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent." "The invaders... alien beings from a dying planet." "Their destination... the Earth." "Their purpose... to make it their world." "David Vincent has seen them." "For him, it began one lost night on a lonely country road looking for a shortcut that he never found." "It began with a closed, deserted diner and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey." "(eerie whirring)" "It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy." "(whirring intensifies)" "Now David Vincent knows that the invaders are here." "That they have taken human form." "Somehow, he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun." "The guest stars in tonight's story:" "Barbara Barrie." "Richard Anderson." "Paul Mantee." "NARRATOR:" "For two days, planes have crossed and recrossed the Utah wilderness searching for some clue to the fiery object witnesses swear plunged from the sky." "But the planes find nothing and the investigation is called off." "Only one man continues the search." "For somewhere in the forbidding mountains may be the remains of an alien spacecraft." "It's starting again." "All right." "Come over here and let me give you another injection..." "Not yet." "Not yet." "You're in pain." "Now, let me help you!" "We don't know how this can affect me." "It's experimental." "Part of the reason I'm here." "Listen to me." "Pain is for a purpose." "It's a warning that you need help." "I'll get help as soon as I complete this mission." "You need help before then." "They'll take me to one of our regeneration stations." "The injections are wearing off too quickly." "You keep talking about this rendezvous that you have to make this afternoon." "How do you know your two friends aren't there right now?" "Why don't you let me go up to the mine office..." "Why are you so concerned about me?" "I know this needle has kept me alive." "You could've let me die." "Why didn't you?" "I'm a nurse." "That doesn't answer my question." "You saw the ship." "You guessed what I am." "You don't show the fear emotions humans are supposed to." "Why?" "I've just come back from a year in Vietnam." "After what I've seen there, nothing's ever going to frighten me again." "I'm not like anything you've ever seen." "Maybe." "But in the meantime, why don't you try trusting me?" "Humans?" "Oh, no." "No." "I've heard about you." "You fight." "You hate." "You kill." "You betray each other." "It's the only way you know." "You do it to each other and you'll do it to me, if you get the chance." "(phone ringing)" "Hello." "Hello, Gale." "Remember me?" "Oh, Vern." "Yes." "Uh, how's everything?" "Well, pretty slow since all that saucer fuss." "Say, I, uh, I'd like to come by tonight, if it's okay." "You've been back a week, and, uh..." "Oh, well, uh, I'm pretty tied up right now." "How about some other time?" "Oh, uh... uh, doing what?" "Oh, trying to get this ranch into shape." "Maybe in a few days." "Yeah." "Sure." "Sure, Gale." "When you're not so jammed up." "Bye." "You see?" "We don't all betray each other." "Someone's coming." "There can't be." "No one ever comes up here this time of day." "Who is it?" "I can't tell from here." "You found out a way to get help after all, didn't you, huh?" "How could I?" "I've been with you every minute." "Find out who it is and get rid of him." "All right." "Go into the kitchen." "No, no, no." "I'll stay here." "You go out and meet him." "You trust me that far?" "It's not a question of trust." "Now get going." "All right." "Give me the keys to the jeep." "And I'll take this." "It's not loaded." "You took all the shells out, remember?" "But he's not going to know that." "This land is posted." "Who are you?" "My name is David Vincent." "I'd like to talk to Mr. Frazer." "Miss Frazer." "This is my ranch." "What do you want?" "Well, I'm trying to get back up into those mountains." "The only place this road leads is to my ranch." "What are you looking for?" "Well, I'm looking for whatever fell into the mountains a couple of nights ago." "Oh, I heard those reports." "There's nothing there." "They called off the search." "Well, they were looking for a plane;" "I'm not." "Just what are you looking for?" "Well, it would take a long time to explain and I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me." "Thank you." "I'll go back to the mine and try to find that road." "No, Mister, uh..." "Vincent?" "Right." "This land is mine, all the way up to that ridge." "Now, unless you have government business on this property..." "You don't, do you?" "No." "I don't." "Well, you're trespassing." "So please get off." "Well, maybe I should explain why I'm going up there." "Get out." "* *" "* *" "Who was it?" "I'm not sure." "Come on." "Come on." "Who was it?" "Well, he's gone." "You don't have to worry." "What does that mean?" "Well, he... he's not from the Aeronautics Board." "At least he said he wasn't here on government business." "But he said he wanted to get to the place where your ship crashed." "And he said he wasn't looking for a plane." "And, uh... you let him go, huh?" "I sent him back to town." "What else could I do?" "And you think that he's going to go back to town, because you, uh, you said so?" "I got to get up to that clearing." "You're too weak to make it." "Sit there." "Drink this." "I've got to make it." "Even if he finds that clearing, there's nothing there." "You destroyed the ship." "The courier's box is hidden there." "I was supposed to land him safely;" "I failed." "Now I have to finish his mission for him." "But you hid the box." "Why don't you wait until your... friends get here this afternoon and then send them for it?" "You said you wanted to help me." "I need your help." "Will you?" "(footsteps approaching)" "Don't." "He's going to carry the box to the jeep." "Get back." "He's sick." "Can't you see that?" "Get back." "He's suffering, Mr. Vincent." "He needs me and I'm going to help him." "Highway department says that storm's going to be a big one." "Well, there's nothing we can do about it." "We better call the ranchers and give them the word." "Thought we was all done with visitors." "Now, you go make your calls and don't forget Gale Frazer's place." "Right." "Morning, Sheriff." "This is Mr. Lavin." "Sheriff." "How are ya?" "My name is Sawyer." "How are you?" "Our company has just bought out the Aurelia Mine." "I wonder if you could tell us how to get up there?" "Now, who'd want to do a fool thing like that?" "That mine was run dry long before they closed it." "Well, the record says there's enough low-grade ore to work with our new equipment." "Can't scrape meat off a chewed bone." "We want to find out how chewed." "A man from the mine department is meeting us up there this afternoon." "Not wanting to wish you any bad luck-- 'cause, Lord knows, we could use that mine" "I think you're going to find ore like they found that flying saucer." "Flying saucer?" "Yeah, that's what some folks called it." "That's what all the excitement was about." "I thought even the big city papers would print that." "Well, maybe they did." "We've been traveling around a great deal." "What saucer?" "It came down back of the old Frazer place." "If you ask me, it came from the same place as that ore of yours." "Had to be a trick of some kind or the government men would have found it." "Oh, then there was a search?" "For two days." "Planes covered every inch of those hills." "Well, I'll leave you two be so you can go over your assets" "that is, if you call mice assets." "Just turn your car around, take that road up into the hills about three miles." "Thank you, Sheriff." "Oh, if you're hungry, uh, try Henry's across the alley." "Opening old mines..." "flying saucers... well, you live long enough, you see everything." "Do you have to do that?" "No matter where he's from, he's ill." "Look, I've proven to you that I'm not one of them." "I'm just a nurse, and I want to help him." "His body is a shell." "It's an imitation." "He's not in pain." "I've treated enough wounded men to know that he's in shock." "Well, let's get him to a doctor." "Don't you understand?" "He won't make it that far." "I have some medication at the ranch that might help him." "Or do you want him to die?" "He's reverting to his own form." "The form he had before he assumed this body." "He'll never survive." "Please, then let's get him to the ranch." "Well, has anybody else tried that number?" "I've been trying to get her about a half hour." "Well, keep trying, Millie." "Trouble?" "I've reached everybody except Gale, Sheriff." "I think the phone's out up there." "Yeah, try it again, Millie." "All right." "Thanks, Millie." "Phone's dead, all right." "Her road'll go fast if that storm's as bad as they say it is." "You better get up there and warn her in case she hasn't heard the radio." "She might want to come in town until it blows over." "The way she's been keeping herself shut away up there since she come back, she might welcome it." "Vern..." "I know how you felt about Gale, and still do but she's been through a lot." "Give her a little time." "If she asks what you're doing up there, tell her I sent you." "Official business." "I'll get back as soon as I can." "(door shuts)" "The reversion's stopped." "It only affected his hands." "If he hadn't disconnected the phone," "I could have gone into town for help." "You had your chance when you first met me." "I know I had the chance but I didn't know who you were." "I didn't know what you'd do." "As long as you understand one thing-- they're here to take over the earth." "How do you know?" "I've seen others." "I've seen what they've done here." "We're the killers, Mr. Vincent." "You've seen what they've had to do to defend themselves against us." "How do you know they're not here on a mission of peace?" "You want us to extend a helping hand, right?" "That's right." "And after they bite it off?" "I only know one thing." "He could have killed me, and he didn't." "Doesn't that mean anything to you?" "He needs you to keep him alive until he finishes his mission." "You're judging him by the way we act-- a "civilized" people." "All we know how to do is kill." "Anything that's strange or unlike us doesn't have a chance." "I have to get him to town." "Untie his hands." "Or do you think he's going to run away?" "How soon will this stuff take effect?" "I don't know." "We're dealing with a completely different symptom." "Mr. Vincent, is there anything else you can tell me about this..." "reversion process?" "I might be able to do something." "The only other person who's seen an alien in that form went insane." "All I know is that they can't survive here in their native form." "Doesn't that prove you're wrong?" "Why would they want to take over the world if they can't survive here?" "The answer may be in that box." "Did he say where he was going to deliver it?" "To the mine they bought." "Why can't you let him go?" "It doesn't make any difference whether you're right or I'm right about why they're here but if we turn him in, and he dies, then we killed him." "I've had enough killing." "My father died in one war." "My brother died in a war they didn't even call a war." "Never mind." "It's a world I don't understand anymore." "I thought if I..." "came here to the ranch," "I might find some reason... but I can't." "(horn honking)" "It's the sheriff's car." "Won't you listen to me?" "Won't you let him go?" "He won't be harmed." "Who are you?" "My name is David Vincent." "Where's Gale?" "Inside." "What is that supposed to be?" "A gun." "I have a prisoner inside." "He's sick." "I'll explain while we get him back to town." "Gale, what's this all about?" "Let him tell you." "He's in the bedroom." "You'll understand when you see him." "All right, show me what's going on." "His hands!" "What's the matter with his hands?" "A mission of peace." "Your company sure bought a pig in a poke." "Map's not even right." "This ain't the main shaft." "It's over here near the Frazer place." "Frazer?" "Is that where this, uh, "saucer" came down?" "Yeah, right here." "The man in the restaurant gave us quite a description of what he saw." "Give that old fool another week, he'll swear the moon fell down." "Well, you haven't been too encouraging, Sheriff, but at least you've been honest about the mine." "Yes." "Well, let's see what our man in the department says." "I'll tell you what." "My deputy's up at the Frazer place now." "I'll give him a call and have him keep an eye out for your man." "This is no time to be caught out if that storm's as bad as they keep saying it is." "That Frazer road will wash out first thing." "Vern." "Come in, Vern." "Thanks a lot for your help, Sheriff." "My pleasure." "Now, Vern, you answer me." "What do you think I'm paying you for?" "Come in, Vern." "Vern, you get on that radio, you hear me?" "If you're going to get rid of us, do it." "That would be foolish." "I need you." "Did you have to kill him?" "He was no use to me." "Is that all you care about-- what use people are to you?" "(chuckles)" "Primitive people." "Lives ruled by emotions." "Don't you feel anything?" "You're trying to understand him in our terms." "It doesn't work." "I just want to know one thing." "When you're done with us... do we die, too?" "Sorry, Mr. Vincent, I should have listened to you." "It's almost time." "You know what to do." "You think I'm still going to help you?" "I started to revert once." "I can't afford to let it happen again." "No." "He's my assurance that you will." "I learned from you how valuable even one life is." "You won't sacrifice his." "Do as he says." "The longer I stay alive, the better chance we have of stopping him." "You've gone to a lot of trouble for this rendezvous-- buying a mine company." "Why the fancy game?" "It's no game." "We intend to use those mines." "We have to feel free to move our equipment in for our experiments without any suspicion." "The material for this experiment... is in that box." "That's right." "And I will deliver them this afternoon." "No, Mr. Blake, you won't deliver them." "If you have another attack, nothing is going to help you." "You see this?" "It's smashed." "You did it when you killed Vern." "I can't do anything more for you." "Find another." "I have no other." "W-w-w-we'll get one at your village." "Willing to risk that?" "There's no risk, Mr. Vincent." "You'll see." "No, Millie, I don't know what happened to his radio." "Just keep checking the ranches at the other end." "Maybe he stopped at, oh, the Thompsons' or the Whites'." "You be as quick as you can." "If you try anything, I'll kill you." "Gale!" "Hello, Sheriff." "How are you?" "Oh, I see Vern did get to you, then." "Vern?" "Yes, I sent him out to warn you there's a big storm coming." "You telling me you haven't seen him?" "I haven't seen him, Sheriff." "Well, I'll be darned." "I'll have to find out where that young fella's been." "Anyway, it was smart of you to come into town before it hit." "I-I'm not staying." "I just, uh..." "I just brought some friends in to get some supplies." "You'll die, too." "We'd better get back, Gale." "I've..." "I've got to get back." "Well, I think it's a darn silly idea, but it's your business." "Look, you sure you haven't seen Vern?" "I wish I could tell you that I had." "* *" "Survivors." "You all right?" "Yes." "Why don't you let me drive?" "No, it's all right." "It keeps me occupied." "Besides, I know the road." "My... hands... it's begun." "How far are we from the mine?" "I can't tell from here." "Maybe 100 yards or so." "Can you hold out that long?" "Keep going." "Can you walk?" "Yes." "Let's get inside." "The keys." "Look, we couldn't get away if we wanted to." "The keys." "(keys clinking)" "Now let's get inside." "Take the box." "Leave it here." "The box!" "All right." "There's a lantern over there." "(thunder rumbling)" "You said there was a stove." "In the corner." "I'll get some wood." "Gale." "Hurry." "I'll start the fire." "Is this what you need?" "I can't help you anymore." "The box." "He took it with him." "Where?" "The mine." "(thunder crashing)" "Hmm." "Humans." "Hmm." "You humans..." "puzzle me." "You fight to stay alive, and then you ask to die." "You guard your lives and then you sacrifice them pointlessly." "Why?" "With us, you know why." "If I don't accomplish this mission, there will be plenty of others to take my place." "And what is your mission?" "What's in that box?" "(groaning)" "Doesn't matter." "If we're going to be killed," "I want to know why." "So that we can live here." "We're going to experiment with the chemicals in that box-- experiment to perhaps change our chemistry so that we can use the oxygen in your atmosphere even in our native form." "And if it doesn't?" "Will you go away, then, and leave us alone?" "No." "We'll simply eliminate the oxygen." "Eliminate the oxygen?" "And kill every living thing?" "Yes." "Mr. Vincent..." "I know now that what I did was worth doing." "Was it even worth the pain of dying?" "You know, don't you?" "You have the same fears." "You haven't been fighting to stay alive just because you have a mission." "You're like us." "You're in pain and you're afraid to die." "Something must have happened to you in that crash." "It changed you." "My will to survive is as strong as yours." "No medicine is going to save you now." "At least spare us." "Thank you very much, Mr. Vincent." "Thank you for reminding me." "I'm going to die." "It's time to admit that and time to carry out my responsibility." "There's a tunnel somewhere that leads to the ranch if I can find it." "Vincent!" "Let's go." "(thunder crashing)" "Where are you?" "He's reverting." "Can you find that tunnel that leads to the ranch?" "I don't know." "It's up above, I think." "We'll have to go back that way." "* *" "This is the way." "I'm sure it is." "Vincent!" "(coughing)" "What about this way?" "No-- no good." "Wait!" "Wait!" "Got caught up in that storm." "Just made it up here." "What's wrong?" "(footsteps approaching)" "Lavin?" "Sawyer?" "Blake...!" "The box-- where is it?" "Destroyed." "Help." "I need help." "There is no help." "We're all finished here." "Get rid of them." "All of them." "(groaning)" "Vincent... help me." "My hands... the pain..." "Do something... anything." "Stop the pain." "(thunder crashing)" "I never did see a storm as bad as that one." "I never could have gotten through it without you." "Neither could I." "What are your plans?" "Oh, I don't know." "They haven't taken over yet." "Until they do, I'm still a nurse and there are still lots of people who need me." "I wish we hadn't killed a man, David." "Blake wasn't a man." "To me, he was." "I'm sorry Vern had to die." "Will you drop me in town?" "Sure." "What about your plans?" "What will you be doing?" "I don't know." "I suppose more of the same." "Let's go." "NARRATOR:" "David Vincent's war is unrecognized, unheralded." "Its battlefields can be anywhere... anywhere the invader has carved out a stronghold." "David Vincent's war will have no ending until the invader is driven back to his own world or until he has made David Vincent's world his own."