"Are you all right?" "Sorry." "My bike, it ran out of gas." "It won't take me where I have to go." "But your car will." "What?" "This was all an act so you could steal my car?" "Just stay where you are." "I don't like doing this." "I'm sorry." "But I have a very good reason." "You're not going to leave me in the middle of nowhere, are you?" "Wait on the road." "You're a beautiful girl." " Somebody's gonna come and pick you up." " Thanks a lot." "Hi, Sheriff." " What happened to him?" " He hit his head, knocked himself out." " This your car?" " Yes, sir." "Did you know he was packing this?" "It looked a lot bigger when it was pointing at me." "I don't think I've seen you round these parts before, Miss" "Prince, Diana Prince." "I was on my way to meet a friend when he hijacked my car." "This friend you say you're gonna meet?" "He's at the Red Mountain Army Missile Range about 20 miles from here." "And I'm already late, Sheriff." "You're going to have to be a little later." "I have you back to town to sign a statement." " What town?" " Name of Burrogone." "It's back there a ways." "You can drive your own car and follow me." "All right, I guess." "I just hope we don't take too long." "Sheriff Beal to Home Plate." "Come in, Luther." "You read me?" "Over." "You catch up with that guy on the motorcycle?" "Bringing him in now." "There's some girl he tried to get a car away from." "Bringing her in, too." "So tell everybody to get into their song and dance." "Over and out." "Better take the car over to Ernie's and gas up." "It's the last gas station in a hundred miles." "Okay." "Thanks, Sheriff." " I'll join you as soon as we lock him up." " Okay." "Thank you." "Get the other end." "All right." "Get out of here, dog." ""Mac MacDonald. "" " He's coming around." " Swell." "All we need is for him to start shooting off his mouth... while I'm getting a statement from that girl." "You want I should arrange a terminal accident for him?" "No." "Not unless we have to." "We'll keep him on ice here." "It's that girl that's got me worried." "Dog, what is the matter with you?" "Will you go on home?" "Luther, take a truck out to the highway and pick up his cycle." "I don't want it raising any questions out there." "Yes, sir, Sheriff." "Something strike you funny, Luther?" "Yeah." "Well, no." "I was just thinking, you sure do sound official." "We better all sound like what we're supposed to be... while we got a stranger in town." "Yes, sir, Sheriff." "Yes, sir." "What's the matter with people in this town?" "They act like they've never seen a stranger before." " Stranger?" " Yeah." "Sure, we get strangers through here all the time." "Anyway, six, eight times a year." "Of course, they ain't all as pretty as you." "Hi, Sheriff." " I can take that statement from you now." " Good." "We can do it over coffee here, if it's all the same to you." "Just so I can be on my way as soon as possible, Sheriff." "We wouldn't want to keep you here any longer than we have to." " Would we, Ernie?" " No, sir." ""Statement of Miss Diana Prince..." ""regards armed robbery attempt..." ""parenthesis, grand theft auto attempt..." ""parenthesis, by suspect Mac MacDonald. "" "Sometimes I think the pack rats carried these off and brought them back again." " It's really getting late, and I" " I've got to ask you one more question." "You said you were gonna meet someone at the test site?" "Yeah, by this time, he probably thinks I got lost." "Diana was supposed to be there over two hours ago, Hal." "Frankly, I'm worried, Steve." "I called the main gate." "There's no sign of her there." "Nothing on the approach road?" "No, sir." "And the gate guard can see 10 miles of it from his position." "Keep me informed, Hal." "When she does get there give her a fast escort." "I want her there for the final countdown." "Right." "Seating down program trajectory." "Program go at 17 degrees left of six." "Two degrees right of six." "Program go at 17 degrees left of six." "Two degrees right of six." "45-degree climb." "15-degree left turn with 3-degree descent." "Where's our countdown, Corporal?" "Minus 52 minutes, Captain." "Right turn, 45 degrees." "3- degree climb to the left, 12 degrees." "Set air guidance to acquisition mode." "Arm warhead for impact timing." "It's complete, Lieutenant." "All responses A-okay." "Right, Corporal." " How did it go, Andy?" " All systems are go, Captain." "This baby will think the Athena rocket to its target." "Good." " Just one thing that worries me." " What's that?" "There were supposed to be two of these." "A spare for backup, in case one got damaged in transit." "When I came here to uncrate them an hour ago, I found this in one crate... and this in the other one." " A regular-issue flight helmet." " Right." "So where's my backup control helmet?" "This better be a foul-up, or we're in big trouble." "We better find out in a hurry." "I sure appreciate your cooperation, Miss Prince." "You sure I can't buy you a little lunch?" "No, thanks." "Maybe next time I come to Burrogone, Sheriff." "Well, thanks again." "Frida, whip me up a chili, size..." "Goodbye, Sheriff Beal." "What are you doing?" "What are you doing to my car?" "By golly, this sure is your lucky day, miss." "Just on a whim, I checked under your hood... and dogged if your fuel pump wasn't leaking." "Your whole car might've blowed up on you." "Just look at this little bugger." "Look at the gasoline pour out of there." "I'll have it fixed up for you right away." "No time at all." "You trying to get the news?" " Hi, who are you?" " I'm just George." "Just George?" "Yes, that's what everybody says when they see me." ""That's just George. "" "Well, I'm just Diana, George." "I'm happy to meet you, Diana George." "No, I'm Diana, George." "That's what said, ma'am." "Diana George." "Yes, that's what you said." "I can't get seem to get my car radio to work." "Maybe you'll read a newspaper." "Only costs a dime." "But this newspaper is three weeks old, George." "That's why it costs a dime." "Cost a quarter, new." "You don't want it?" "No, it's fine." "I'll tell you what." "I'll pay you full price for the newspaper... if you'll give me some information." "Good, anything you want." "Okay, is there a car for rent, or a taxi service in town?" "No, ma'am." "Nothing like that." "What about a bus?" "There's got to be a bus that goes through Burrogone." "One came through about eight years ago." "The driver was lost." "What about a public telephone?" "Is there a public telephone somewhere in town?" "Flo has one in the front room." "She's our telephone operator." "That is the best news I've heard all morning." " You're a doll." " Thank you." "Flo's not home now." " She's not?" " No." "She went to the store." "I seen her go." "She'll be back in a little while." "I can't even call Hal to send someone to pick me up." "That's great." "I get the feeling that there's something very strange going on in this town." " I gotta go now." " Wait!" "Nice doggy." "Friendly doggy." "Get out of the way." "Sheriff, we're asking for trouble... if we don't get rid of that woman before she gets wise." "Okay, hero." "Do you want to be the one to do it?" "Why don't we give the job to Flo?" "Not a bad idea." " You want me to check on her, boss?" " No, I'll do that." "What do you know?" "You reckon that prisoner we got in the cell there?" "Seems he got into a little misdemeanor mischief a couple years back." "Halloween mischief on a motorcycle." " Something else." " What?" " You'll never guess who his uncle is." " Who?" "The sheriff of Burrogone." "Been looking at your dossier here, Mac." "Seems as though you is a regular jailbird, ain't you?" "That's right." "You sleep it off." "The more you don't see, the longer you stay alive." "What're you doing in there?" "Come on back out." "Oh, no!" "Sheriff, he's escaped." "No!" "Just come on in." "It's open." "Well, I am speaking up, Mrs. Merkle." "Have a seat." "I'll be with you in a minute." "I'm shouting myself hoarse." "There's just too much noise on the line today." "That's all." "But they're working on it." "It'll be cleared up soon." "It's Mrs. Merkle." "Yes, all right." "That prisoner, Mac, he's escaped." "I want you all to keep your eyes peeled for him." "Incidentally, one of you two jokers is going to have to pay for a new vehicle... out of your share of the take." "How they coming?" "Be a while, looks like." "They still don't have the rocket in firing position." "Sing out when they do." " Is that walkie-talkie working?" " Yeah." "All right, Mrs. Merkle." "My best to Fred, too." "Maybe later we can hear each other better." " Hello, dearie." "My name's Flo." " Nice to meet you, Flo." " Is there something I can do for you?" " Yes, there is." "I want to make a call to the military testing grounds." " About 30 miles from here." " I know where it is, all right." "The trouble is there's so much line noise today." "I don't know what it is." "Maybe sunspots or something." "You might do better if you plugged it into the outgoing instead of the incoming." "Mercy sakes, you're right." "You'd think after 25 years, I'd get the hang of this thing." "May I?" "Well, sure." "Bad enough here in town." "Out on the trunk line out to the testing grounds, there's no way." "That's the same static I heard on the car radio this morning." "A person might get the idea... someone was jamming communications in and out of Burrogone." "You mean commies?" "You hold it right there!" "Hold it!" "Mac, you come on back here right now!" "Say please, Luther." " Now go after him." " Yes, Sheriff." "It's so lovely you could join me for a cup of tea." "There's one thing about Burrogone." "It's not much of a town, but we do try to make folks feel welcome." "I bet you never heard of this town before today, did you, dearie?" "Actually, I did." "I remember reading an article a while back... about colorful western place names." "Burrogone, do you know what the name means?" "Why, goodness, no, child." "It's just a name." "It doesn't mean anything." "I suppose not." " Do you take anything in yours?" " No, thanks, Flo, nothing in mine." "Well, here you are." "Now, you drink this." "I could tell you were all tensed up about something." "Now, I'll get mine." "Now, here we are." "Isn't this lovely?" "Having a little tea party." "I'm so sorry." "I'm clumsy today for some reason." "Everything that's been happening" "No trouble at all." "I'll just get a towel to mop that up." "There's plenty of water for another cup." "Here we are." "I goofed." "Had it all set up and she walked out." "Lady, listen." "I don't know your name, but you have to trust me." "Trust you?" "I can't even see you." "And if you are who I think you are, you pulled a gun on me." "If it hadn't been for Wonder Woman, you would've stolen my car." "I understand that you travel in the best of company." "I still thought you were one of them." "Lady, you've got to trust me." "I heard them plan it with Flo for her to kill you." "Okay, you don't believe me?" "Go inside and have a cup of tea." "Okay." " Where do we talk?" " Turn to your right." "There's a freight depot." "I'm sorry." "I just wanted to make sure you weren't followed." " Who are you?" " Mac MacDonald." "Okay." "One time citizen of Burrogone." "Born of a real citizen." "They put you in the jail." "How did you get out, Mac MacDonald?" "My uncle is the sheriff of this town." "When I was 13, Jailbreak Willie taught me how to bust out of jail." "I was just passing through town, I figured I'd say hello to Uncle Bert." "I get into town, and nobody is who they're supposed to be." "Especially Uncle Bert." "If Flo or Ernie are any indication, I'd say they're all imposters." " Am I right?" " Every last one of them." "I want to show you something." " Today's the 14th, right?" " That's right." "There's nobody in town." "All right." "But we still don't know who these people are or what they're up to." "No, the only obvious thing they've done is... they've set up a portable generator." "They've put it inside the barn at the end of town." "Yes, I have seen that building." "Okay, then it's your turn to trust me." "Okay?" "I think it's part of a plan to steal an army missile... being tested in about an hour in the Red Mountain Missile Range." "What's our next move?" "Your next move is to do whatever you have to, to get out of town." "Go to Capt. Hal Shaver at the Red Mountain Test Area." "Tell him to abort the Athena flight." "What about you?" "You gonna be okay?" "I'm gonna do everything I can to put that generator out of commission." "Go on, and be careful." "These are five of them, Bill." "You've been on the project since it started." " Any of them look familiar?" " Who are they?" "These are men who've left the project or been fired as potential security risks." "Sorry, none of them ring a bell." "Excuse me." "Trevor." "Yeah, put him through." "It's Hal Shaver." "Hal, I've got five prime suspects here." "Any one of them could've taken the missing control helmet." "There's not much we can do about it now, Steve." "Except maybe pray." "We're eight minutes and counting from launch." " Any sign of Diana?" " None." "Looks like she's going to miss the excitement." "Keep me posted." "I'll be here." " Any problems?" " No, it's been quiet." "Some of us are getting pretty tired of all this dumb play-acting." "When do we see some loot out of all this?" "You've already seen some pretty good loot up front." " The payoff isn't far away now." " It better be worth it." "Hold it right there, little lady." "The dummy here tells me you saved him from being run over by the jeep." "Now maybe you'd like to save him from having his head ventilated?" "Nothing tells me that he isn't one of you." "Everybody else is." "Want to bet?" "Of course, you don't have as much to lose as George has." "Please, don't let him do it." "All right." "What do you want me to do?" "Just let me lock you up somewhere till we're done with what we're doing." "Why lock me up?" "Why don't I just leave?" " Leave?" " Yeah." "Fly away." "Like this." "Bad man." "Not even the real sheriff." "And I'm not the real, real George." "Straight in the face, this stuff will stop a herd of elephants." " Is she dead?" " I doubt it." "But she can't bother us anymore." "Where's Ernie?" "Help!" "Get that idiot down." "I want everybody in the street in two minutes flat." "Let's move it." "Five, four, three, two one, zero." "We are in flight." "All systems go." "All systems go." "Proceeding now with program trajectory number one." "Proceeding as programmed." "First program systems A-okay." "Program secure, degrees nine through six." "Repeat." "Level 5, 45 degrees." "Attention." "Athena rocket has completed 90 percent... of its required maneuvers on its "A" program." "Now bring it back and we'll try the "B" run." "Commencing 45 degrees as set for "B" run." "15 degrees left turn with maximum acceleration." "Repeat. 15 degrees left turn." " What're you doing?" " It's getting away from me." "Rocket now in unprogrammed yaw to right." "Unprogrammed yaw completed." "32 degrees minimal trajectory." "Missile now violating test range facility." " Are we still transmitting?" " Yes, sir, we're wide open." "Captain." "I'm picking up a transmission beamed our way." " Is it capable of interfering with ours?" " Yes, sir, it is." "Captain, I can't control it." "It's not responding!" "Don't knock yourself out, Andy." "It's the other control helmet." "We've found it." "Get a bearing on its new course." "MPs and security people, saddle up, we're going after it!" "Who are you?" " Are you Shaver?" " Yeah." "I have a message for you from a Diana Prince to abort Athena flight." " Don't tell me I'm too late." " We'll see about that!" "Everybody, let's go!" "There it is." "I see it." "Bull's-eye!" "He did it!" "Don't touch it!" "It works!" "Don't you have that other important item, Sheriff?" "Sure thing." "Got it all ready over in the sheriff's office." "Don't you think it calls for a celebration?" "Yes, sir." "Okay, everybody, let's go back to the jail." "We've got a party going on." "Sir, the missile's landed." "30 miles south of here." "Right." "We'll see how fast we can travel 30 miles." "Aren't you going to have a drink?" "This stuff packs an awful wallop." "More of a wallop than you think, Sheriff." "Why, you..." "See, my friends, I'm not really very much of a sharing person." "Besides, you would've all been too greedy to wait for the big payoff." "A million dollars cash sale is nothing." "You understand that, Wonder Woman?" "As soon as I build a few more of these helmets..." "I'll hold the whole country for ransom." "The military, the airlines... they'll all have to pay if they want their planes to fly unmolested." "You see... there's no defense against a thought-controlled missile." "Follow me." "There he is now." "It was all perfect." "Everything planned, step by step, and you had to show up." "Well, there are some things you just can't count on." "Come on, George." "All right, let's go." "Load them up." " Genius, huh?" " Get him aboard." "Well, there it is, Steve." "The IADC owes a big vote of thanks... to a young man by the name of Mac MacDonald." "I'll see to it that he gets a commendation." "They wanna give you a medal." "Oh, by the way..." "I found out that your friend, George is a Dr. Wunderley." "He was fired off the project two months ago... when he was found playing footsies with a foreign government." "He's a very dangerous man, Steve." "I hope they lock him up for a long time." "I think you can count on that, Diana." " So long, now." " Okay, bye." "Hal." "I should've known that these people weren't the real residents of Burrogone... when old Flo gave it away." "She didn't know what the name meant." " Burrogone?" "What does it mean?" " Why don't you tell him, Mac?" "I'll tell him the story if you promise to have lunch with me tomorrow." "Okay." "The story goes that there was this old prospector... he came into town and met these Indians." "He taught them how to play poker." "Except that he taught them so well... that he lost everything he owned, except for his mule." "So he takes his mule and puts it in the last pot." " And?" " That's what Burrogone means." "This is the town that he lost his..." "jackass in."