"No, Cass." " A possible sighting, Lieutenant." " Bearing?" "Coming up now." "This is Moonbase Control." "Yellow alert." "'Repeat, yellow alert.'" "'Red alert." "Confirming UFO." "'429-117 blue.'" "Red alert." "Interceptors, immediate launch." " We have the termination, sir." " What is it?" " Western Europe." " Anything more specific?" "The flight path indicates reference UX-104, southern England." "Southern England." "Thank you." " Interceptors closing in." " I'll give the command." " Sir?" " Tell them I'll give the command." "Yes, sir." "Moonbase, orders from Commander Straker." "Suspend Interceptors..." "'UFO closing." "Range 11 million miles." " 'Nine million miles.'" " Interceptors coming into range." "Sir, do we intercept?" "'Range closing." "Seven million miles.'" "Sir, do we intercept?" "No." " Negative." " Negative?" "That's what I said." "'5 milliaon miles.'" "SHADO Control to Moonbase." "Interception negative." "'Repeat, interception negative." "Interceptors to return to Moonbase.'" "This is Moonbase Control to Interceptors." "'Return to base.'" "'UFO passing outer defences." "'UFO maintaining course." "'Confirm speed: 4.7,4.'" "UFO signal now negative, sir, presumably landed." " Map reference." " 119-120." "119-120." "That's somewhere there." "I want the whole area cordoned off." " Alert Mobiles 1, 2 and 3." " Yes, sir." "Colonel Foster, I think you'd better get out there with them." " Yes, sir." " Alert Mobiles 1, 2 and 3." "'Transporter 2, proceed to area 119-128." "'Transporter 3, proceed to area 119-132.'" "It's not much further now." "You did a good job, Liz." "Cass, I can't..." "Go and get it." "Roger." "This is Commander Straker to all Mobile operatives." "You are to locate UFO designated 9051F." "Termination area approximately 119-120." " Colonel Foster?" " Sir?" " 'You cover blue area X-7.'" " OK." " Hello, Alec." " So you let one through." " That's right." " Why don't we do the job properly?" " What do you mean?" " Ask the aliens round for drinks." "Let's go into the office." "We're fighting a series of losing battles here, Alec." "Why?" "Because we don't really know who or what we're fighting." "I've waited months for a chance like this, Alec." "A UFO right on our own doorstep." "That's why I let this one through." "And those Mobiles are on their way to bring it in: intact." "Before any deterioration sets in." "Meanwhile, there's a potential killer or killers at large." "Yes, I know." "It's a risk." "But the area has a low population density." "It's mostly virgin forest." "The danger factor must be very slight." "Mobile 1 to SHADO Control." "1 to Control." "Go ahead, Mobile 1." "'Have covered search area blue X-7 P, Q and R.'" " UFO negative." " 'Roger, Mobile 1.'" "Proceed to link with Mobile 3 at location 118-109." "SHADO Mobiles 2 and 3 are due to report now, sir." "Areas X-8 and 9 are practically covered." " And Mobile 1?" " He's slower, with the densest area." "Every inch of that forest must be searched." "Somewhere in there, there's a UFO." "And we're going to find it intact." "Quiet, quiet." "Come on, boy." "Move." "Go on." "What the...?" "Go back." "Quiet!" "Go ahead." "Quiet!" "Quiet, you fool!" "Look out." "Sultan!" "Sultan!" "Sultan?" "Hey, that's a good boy." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on, come on." "What's the matter with you, eh?" "That's a good boy." "Sultan!" "Mobile 1 to SHADO Control." "1 to Control." " Go ahead, 1." " 'Have located UFO." "'Position blue area 119-113.'" "This is Straker." "Advise on condition." "'It's a total wreck.'" " Is there any sign of life, Colonel?" " Investigating now, sir." " Nervous?" " How long have you been there?" "Come on, pull yourself together." "Let's go over it once again." "Take it from 11 o'clock." "From 11 o'clock." "At 11 o'clock we finish supper." "Then I do the washing up." " There's something else." " What do you mean?" "What do you do before doing the washing up?" "I call up Midge Clayton." "I tell her that I'm ringing her from the cottage." "I ask her over for lunch tomorrow." "Then..." "Why?" "Why do you invite her over for lunch?" "I'm nervous about being here on my own." "Then I tell her two things." "Firstly, that Jack can't be with me because he has to go north on a business trip." "Secondly, that I'm going to go to bed and take a sleeping pill." "Dispatch analysis teams to the area." "Yes, sir." "SHADO Control to ADP unit." "Proceed to blue area 119-113." " Just one thing puzzles me." " You should be so lucky." "How come that UFO is a wreck?" "It hasn't been in the atmosphere long enough to deteriorate." "Maybe it was the difficulty of the landing area." "Could be a thousand reasons." "Mobile 1 has reported a body inside the wreck of the UFO." " An alien?" " They can't tell, it's very charred." "They'll call back as soon they have more information." "Then at 11.30," "I check the front door to see that it isn't locked from the inside, so that Jack can get in." " And then I go to bed." " You don't go to bed!" "There's something else." "Oh, yes, I change the bulb by the front door..." " for a dud one." " Right." "Go on." "Then I go to bed and I put out the light." "No, no, I read for 5 minutes." "But I find I can't concentrate, so I turn out the light, and wait for Jack." "And when he comes?" "I hear the gate creak." "So I get up and I come in here." "So..." "So I take the gun." "You take the gun, then what?" " Then what?" " I stand at the bedroom door with the gun pointing towards the front door." "Go on." "Then when Jack opens the front door..." "You take aim and you fire, right?" " I can't!" "I can't, Cass, I can't!" " It's perfectly simple." "You're all alone here, someone breaks in, you take aim and you fire." " Aren't you forgetting one thing?" " What's that?" "I'll be here, right beside you." "Oh, Cass, stay here." "Stay here!" "Mobile 1 to SHADO Control." "1 to Control." "Go ahead, 1." "'The body inside the UFO is definitely not an alien.'" "Mobile 1, this is Straker." "Explain yourself." "The body was charred, but there were no hermetic seals around the neck." "We're searching the area on foot." "The alien must be in the forest." "It's time." "Go on." "Answer it." "Hello?" "'Hello, darling." "Just ringing through to say I'm on my way.'" "Fine." "That's fine." " Well, it worked." " 'What do you mean?" "'" "Your little idea." "'No calls, no interruptions for our weekend together." "'The office think I'm at that conference." "'Even Miss Kettle won't know where I am." " 'Hello?" "You there?" "'" " Yes." " 'Yes, I'm here.'" " Good." " I've got a little present for you." " You have?" "'Don't you want to know what it is?" "'" "Yes, of course I do, Jack." "What is it?" "'Burlington Arcade?" "'" "Oh, yes." "Yes, I remember, the pendant." " The blue pendant." " 'You don't sound very pleased.'" "I can easily get something else if you'd rather." "No." "No, I'm sorry, Jack." "I'm sorry." "That was very thoughtful of you." "You all right?" "Yes, I'm all right." "I've just got a slight headache, that's all." " 'Why don't you go to bed, then?" "'" " No, I'll be fine." "You go to bed." "I'll arrive about 12, I'll try not to disturb you." " 'All right.'" " Bye, then." "Goodbye, Jack." " You heard." " Yes." "You heard how he was talking." "I don't think I can do it, Cass." "I can't go through with it." "Do you know how long we've known each other?" "Ten months?" "A year?" "It's exactly one year and one month ago I first came into your house." "I noticed how he spoke to you then, I've heard him a million times since." " Well?" " Every time he talks to you," " it's in that way." " Cass..." "Words." "What's he ever given you but words?" "You've said so yourself over and over again." "He's clothed you, fed you, bought you..." "Blue area to SHADO Control, blue area to SHADO Control." "We found a couple of things, sir." "First, a piece of torn fabric from an alien spacesuit." "'There's also signs of a struggle.'" "Yes, what else?" "We've found a dog with collar number 995587." "Listen, Colonel, we have details here of a missing person in the blue area." "A game warden, name of Mitchell." "That dog collar information checks." "It's my guess it's Mitchell's body you found in the debris." "Try using the dog to locate the alien, he may pick up the scent." "Yes, sir." "Come on." "Come on, boy." "OK, follow me." " What's that?" " The lights!" " Cass!" " The lights!" "He's come an hour early!" " What are we going to do?" " Don't worry." " We're ready for him." " Cass, we can't!" "The lights!" "I can't!" "I can't do it, Cass." "Look, I'm here, right beside you." "He's stopped." "He's coming round to the front, Cass." "He's at the door." "For God's sake, I..." "Oh, God!" "Now!" "What's the matter, Cass?" "What are you doing?" "I'm trying to think!" "How are we going to explain it?" " Who is he?" " Shut up!" "You're not leaving me here?" "!" "But you know I must." "Our only chance is to go through with the plan!" " But how can we?" " We must!" "I don't know any more than you do!" "You shot an intruder, understand?" "Do you understand?" "!" "I must go." "Give me 3 minutes, that's all, then phone the police." "Cass!" "Cass!" "Wait with me!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Just until I call!" " 3 minutes." " Please, Cass, please!" "Cass!" "Cass..." " Would you get your coat, Mrs Newton?" " Why are you here?" "Who are you?" "Are you the police?" "How do you know my name?" "Please." "Ah, Mrs Newton, Mr Fowler." "We've been expecting you." "This way, please." "Would you care to sit down?" "Freeman, Alec." "'Voice-print identification positive." "97, Freeman, Alec E.'" "If you'll just follow me, please." " Look, what is going on here?" " Please, Mr Fowler." " You've had a harrowing experience." " Right." " You're entitled to an explanation." " Right again." "Mr Straker will explain why you're here." "For now, make yourselves comfortable." "I'm sure you'll find everything you need." "What are you doing?" "Just be very careful what you say." "Where are we?" "We're under some kind of film studio." " I don't understand." " Neither do I." "We must get our stories straight." "Liz?" "Liz?" "Who are you?" "More to the point, who are you?" "The rest of the story is exactly the same." " Who are these people?" " I don't know." "The one that brought us here said something about a man called Straker." "Isn't he a film producer or something?" "I apologise for having you brought here." " Mr Fowler, Mrs Newton." " Now, listen here." "And I've had you brought here for a discussion." "Now if you'll both please sit down." "Was your wife expecting you?" " Naturally." " Are you certain?" "But of course!" "I phoned her on the way down here." " Why do you ask?" " Do you recognise these?" "Photographs of this room." " Did you take them?" " No." " Know who did?" " I've never seen them before." "Do you keep a gun here, Mr Newton?" " Yes." " Who knew about it?" " My wife." " Anyone else?" "I'm not sure." "Don't think so." "Look, what is this all about?" "I'm sorry, you'll have to bear with me." "I suggest you return to London." "I'll arrange for your wife to join you there as soon as possible." "Unidentified flying objects?" "Aliens from another planet?" "A world defence organisation?" "It's incredible." "Then the lives of everyone can be in terrible danger all the time." "Very great danger." "That's the reason for all the security." "The general public must never know." "One thing I don't understand is:" "if your organisation is so secret, why did you bring us here?" "To help you forget the whole thing." "Forget?" "Yes, you see, SHADO have developed an amnesia drug, for obvious reasons." "We administer it to people who've had contact with aliens." " Or indeed, with our organisation." " An amnesia drug?" "Yes." "It's perfectly harmless." "All it will do is erase all memory of the past 12 hours." "It's tasteless." "Would you care for some more coffee?" "What's wrong?" "Paul has come up with a very interesting theory." "Tell him." "Mrs Newton and Fowler said they shot an intruder" " as he forced open the door." " Plausible." "Yes, if they weren't expecting the husband." "The husband?" "He came back to the cottage 40 minutes ago." " Is our security angle covered?" " We've taken care of." "But don't you see what it means?" "They planned a cold-blooded murder." "They had it all worked out." "But unfortunately for them, an alien arrived instead of her husband." "It all fits." "Morally, they're guilty." "Well, the amnesia drug was administered a few minutes ago." " They won't remember a thing." " We can't let them go free." "I suppose you think I should hand them over to the public prosecutor." "He'd sure have a great case." "What would he go for?" "The attempted murder of a husband or the killing of an alien?" "We can't produce that body, there's no concrete evidence against them, and the accused would both have genuine, total amnesia." "So there's nothing we can do about." " We're not in the morality business." " What about the husband?" "They wanted to kill him once, they're bound to try again." "Well, in the line of duty, we've stumbled onto a triangle." "SHADO's involvement made it a square." "All we're doing is erasing the past 12 hours." "So, it's back to the triangle." "Colonel Foster, get back to that UFO." "Get all the information you can." "Right." "Alec, get the medical team to work on that alien." "On my way." "How are Mrs Newton and Mr Fowler?" "'They're receding, sir.'" "Well, get them out of here." " 'But sir, I don't think...'" " Yes, get them out of here!"