THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD
 
 Screenplay by
 Charles Lederer
 
 Based on the story
 
 WHO GOES THERE?
 by
  John W. Campbell Jr.
 
 
 RKO 1951
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8/29/50
 
 
 
 
 
 FADE IN
 
1 EXT. NIGHT
 
 The snow piled streets at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. A wind
 blows. The street is empty. A bundled figure moves
 through the street toward a low roofed lighted building.
 
 A sign outside the building reads:
 
 "OFFICER'S CLUB, DUTCH HARBOR, ALASKA"
 
 Someone has scribbled the words under the printing "No
 Penguins allowed".
 
 The figure stops in the doorway and looks at a long
 thermometer. It registers twenty-five below zero. The
 figure continues into the club.
 
 
2 INT. OFFICERS CLUB ROOM - MIDNIGHT
 
 This is the social center for U.S.A. flying men roosting
 in the polar regions. The air base is near Dutch Harbor,
 Alaska - a commuting hop from the Arctic Circle. It is
 early winter. The night in Dutch Harbor is long and
 dark.
 
 In the room two of the six gaming tables are occupied.
 At one sits a four handed bridge game. At the other sit
 five men playing poker. RADIO MUSIC - an American
 Service Broadcast - is coming a bit feebly into the room.
  All is cozy and steam-heated in the room.
 
 Among the five poker players are three men who are to be
 active in our story. One is W.O. Vic MacAuliff. He is
 a tough, taciturn radio man. He has seen service
 everywhere, heard nearly all the languages and drunk
 nearly all the different brews of the earth.
 
 The second is Captain Pat Henry, in his early thirties.
 Captain Henry has been a flyer since he shed his first
 stocking cap. He is a man of whimsey and temper and
 also mood.
 
 The third is Lieutenant Eddie Dykes, a tall, homely man
 under thirty.
 
 The overcoats, boots, ear-lapped military hats of the
 aviators lie on an unused table nearby.
 
  EDDIE DYKES
 (as he shuffles
 and deals)
 It was about a hundred and five
 in the shade in this place. The
 women didn't wear any clothes at
 all to speak of - which was very
 intelligent of them. You lay in
 a hammock and three of them stood there
 fanning you. When I die, I hope
 to go to Accra.
 
 MACAULIFF
 I was there.
 
 HENRY
 (looking at
 his hand)
 I open for one dollar.
 
 PLAYER
 I stay.
 
  PLAYER
 I'm out.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Going up.
 
 He puts two chips on the table.
 
 EDDIE
 Scotland strikes again. I'm
  in. Cards, gentlemen.
 
 Two other players add another chip each to the pot.
 
 HENRY
 Three.
 
 PLAYERS
 Three.
 
  MACAULIFF
 These'll do.
 
 The figure has entered the room and is surveying the
 poker players as it removes its wrappings. He is Ned
 Skeely, a newspaper correspondent.
 
 HENRY
  Hello, Skeely, how are you?
 
 SKEELY
 Faintly alive. Twenty-five below
 and going down. It's a night for
 brass monkeys.
 
 HENRY
  Care to join us?
 
 SKEELY
 As soon as I count my fingers.
 I may have lost some.
 
 HENRY
 I think you know everybody here.
 
  Players smile and say "sure."
 
 MACAULIFF
 I haven't met the gentleman, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Ned Skeely - Angus MacAuliff.
 
 MACAULIFF
 How do you do, sir.
 
 EDDIE
 Mr. Skeely's a newspaper man, Mac.
 We're going to put on a snow ball
 fight for him tomorrow.
 
 Skeely takes a seat next
 to Eddie.
 
 HENRY
 (returning to the play)
 One dollar is bet.
 
 EDDIE
 Against a pat hand held by a
 Scotchman. Captain Henry, your
 decorations for valor have gone
 to your head. I'm folding.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Call.
 
 HENRY
  A pair of aces.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Beats two queens.
 
 EDDIE
 (to MacAuliff)
 You ought to know better than to
 try fooling my pal. Only dames
 can do that.
 
 HENRY
 (quietly)
 I promised you a kick in the belly.
 
 EDDIE
 (mockingly)
  Forgive. Forgive. A slip of the
 tongue.
 
 HENRY
 (to Skeely)
 How'd you make out with General
 Fogarty?
 
 SKEELY
 Your general is nursing his secrets
 like a June bride.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Deal 'em out, lieutenant.
 
 EDDIE
 You in, Mr. Skeely?
 
  SKEELY
 Yes. I am always interestad in
 pauperizing the air force.
 
 EDDIE
 (dealing)
 I've got a big idea that involves
  you, Mr. Skeely. You're not going
 to get any story out of this post.
 Forgarty has given us all instructions
 to treat you like a Russian spy.
 
 SKEELY
  General Fogarty is going to end up
 on his knees begging for my attention.
 
 EDDIE
 (intently)
 This is more practical, Mr. Skeely.
 There's a man in Edmonton who can
 give you the whole Radar defense
 story. Loves to talk. General
 MacLaren. You tell the General you
 want to get to Edmonton - and Pat
 and I'll fly you there.
 
 SKEELY
 I know General MacLaren. He bores
 me.
 
 EDDIE
 (desperately)
 Don't be like that! It's warm in
  Edmonton! They've got girls in
 Edmonton! Without fur pants on!
 
 SKEELY
 (to Henry)
 How about it, Captain?
 
 HENRY
  Let's play cards.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (to Eddie)
 Ye ought to know better than to try
 and shoo our captain southward -
 with his heart wrapped around the
  North Pole.
 
 HENRY
 That'll do, Mr. MacAuliff.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (grinning)
 I open - for two dollars.
 
  SKEELY
 (casually, as they play)
 What's going on at the North Pole?
 
 EDDIE
 Some scientists are holding a
 convention there. Looking for
  Polar bear tails. Ever hear of
 Dr. Carrington?
 
 SKEELY
 The fellow who was at Bikini?
 
 EDDIE
 The same.
 
 HENRY
 They're holed in about two thousand
 miles north of here, a lot of
 botanists and physicists.
 
 EDDIE
 (solemnly)
 Including a pin-up girl. Very
 interesting type. Captain Henry
 can give you any data on her you
 want.
 
 HENRY
 (looking at his cards and
 speaking quietly to Eddie)
 Someday I hope to have a co-pilot a
 cut above a high school boy - or
 at least dry behind his ears -
 
 A voice comes over the
 P.A. speaker.
 
  VOICE
 Captain Henry. Captain Pat Henry.
 Report to General Fogarty's quarters
 at once, please.
 
 Henry rises from the table.
 
 SKEELY
 (frowning and serious)
 Twelve thirty and a general yelling
 for his troops. Sounds like the
 old days.
 
 Henry starts putting on his overcoat.
 
  DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
3 INT. GENERAL FOGARTY'S QUARTERS. NIGHT
 
 A living room with a fire going in the fire place. The
 room is fairly well furnished. Some war trophies are
 on the wall, including a piece of a Japanese aeroplane,
 a Jap sword, and other important war souvenirs.
 
 Three men are in the room. One is General Fogarty, in
 his forties; the second is the adjutant of the post,
 Major Smith. The third is Corporal Hauser from the
 post's communication center.
 
 FOGARTY
 (to Corporal Hauser)
 If any more messages come in from
 that base I want to be notified
 personally, no matter what time.
 Tell the O.D.
 
 CORPORAL
 Yes, sir.
 
 There is a knock on the door.
 
 FOGARTY
 Come in.
 
  The door opens and a blast of
 freezing air hits the room as
 Captain Henry enters. He closes
 the door.
 
 HENRY
 Good evening, sir.
 
  Corporal Hauser opens the door
 and exits, letting another blast
 of cold into the room. The General
 shivers, scowls and grumbles.
 
 FOGARTY
  (shivering)
 Freddie, any chance of the Pentagon
 sending us a revolving door?
 
 MAJOR
 Could be. We got a gross of pith
 helmets last week.
 
 FOGARTY
 (to Henry)
 I've go something queer here from your
 picnic party up north. Just came in.
 (he reads from a paper)
 Believe air ship unusual type crashed
 in our vicinity. Please send
 facilities to investigate. Most urgent.
 (he looks up)
 It's from Dr. Carrington. What's it
 sound like to you, Pat?
 
 HENRY
 I think I'd better hop up.
 
 FOGARTY
 (dryly)
 I knew you'd say that. But what do
 you think you'll find, besides your
 lady friend?
 
 HENRY
 (quietly)
 I don't know. Any of our ships
 reported missing?
 
 MAJOR
  Not a one.
 
 HENRY
 Could be a Russky. They're all
 over the Pole, like flies.
 
 FOGARTY
 (smiling)
 Don't get nervous. You're going.
 When a double dome like Professor
 Carrington says "most urgent",
 small people like us have to jump.
 Better take a dog team and everything
 you might need for rescue work.
 
 HENRY
 I'll take off at 4:30.
 
 MAJOR
 What's the weather, Pat?
 
 HENRY
 There's a bad front moving in.
 But I think there's enough time
 to get there and back without
 bumping into it.
 
 FOGARTY
 You can do me a favor, Pat.
 
 HENRY
 Yes, sir.
 
 FOGARTY
 Take that newspaper fella up with
 you - and maroon him there.
 
 HENRY
 I'll invite him.
 
  FOGARTY
 And don't get me wrong about
 who gets marooned, Captain
 Henry. I would appreciate
 it if you didn't smash a landing
 ski and find it necessary to
  twiddle your thumbs for a week
 while it's being repaired.
 
 HENRY
 (coldly)
 That accident was unavoidable, sir.
 
 FOGARTY
  So was Romeo and Juliet. I'll
 expect you back tomorrow night -
 with or without Mr. Skeely.
 Good luck.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
4 INT. C-54 PLANE. IT IS FLYING THROUGH A DIMLY LIT
 SKY. BELOW ARE CLOUD BANKS.
 
 In the plane are W. O. MacAuliff, Ned Skeely,
 Navigator Lieutenant Ken Ericson and Light
 Engineer Corporal Barnes. Captain Henry is flying
 the ship, Lieut. Dykes is beside him. MacAuliff
 is at his radio instrument.
 
 A dozen huskies and several sleds are in the plane,
 plus a pile of other cargo tied down under tarpaulin.
 
 SKEELY
 How far are we from camp?
 
 HENRY
 Three hours. We've slowed down.
 There's a breeze blowing.
 
 EDDIE DYKES
 (grimly)
 A breeze, he says. It's hitting
 forty miles. But you'll find
 that our captain has some funny
 ideas about the North Pole. He
 thinks it's a garden spot. Come
 and bring the kiddies.
 
  HENRY
 (grimly)
 You're yapping is out of order,
 Eddie. I'm not going to tell
 you again -
 
 EDDIE
 Always squawking - that's me!
 And for no reason! Shackleton
 went to the North pole once -
 and retired with a bag full of
 medals. I get to go there every
 three weeks - like it was lover's
 lane.
 
 HENRY
 (coldly)
 I'd like you to get this straight,
 Mr. Skeely, if you write anything.
 I'm liaison officer between our
  post and the Carrington outfit.
 These flights are strictly official.
 Usually bring in supplies. They're
 charting magnetic currents, growing
 new kinds of polar plants, looking
 for minerals.
 
 EDDIE
 That's right, Skeely. I was
 only kidding. It's a terrific
 outfit. The biggest collection
 of double domes ever got together
 on an ice cake.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (to the talkers)
 Something's coming through.
 
 Henry, Eddie and Navigator
 Ericson put on their head
 phones and listen.
 
 EDDIE
 (listening to the
 ear phones)
 Somebody's gooped up!
 
 HENRY
  (removing ear
 phones)
 Give me a new reading, Ken.
 
 KEN
 I can't understand it.
 
 SKEELY
 Who was that?
 
  HENRY
 The radio man, Hendrix - talking
 for Carrington. He wants us to
 correct our compass reading
 twelve points East. A magnetic
 disturbance is whacking away at
 everything.
 
 KEN
 (working)
 This is no place to make a mistake,
 Pat. We were bee-lining for the
 place. Hadn't we better get them
 back.
 
 HENRY
 No. Carrington doesn't make
 mistakes. We'll follow ground
 instructions.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
5 INT. PLANE. A VIEW FAR BELOW OF THE SPRAWLING
 POLAR SETTLEMENT.
 
 Small dots of roofs on a flat expanse of snow.
 The plane starts descending.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
6 EXT. POLAR PROJECT CAMP - DAY
 
 The C-54 makes a landing on skis some two hundred
 feet from the largest of the low looming buildings.
 The arrivals drop out of the plane door.
 
 A half dozen Eskimo workers belonging to the camp
 hurry toward them.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
7 INT. LARGE ASSEMBLY ROOM OF POLAR EXPEDITION
 
 It is 60 per cent underground. It's windows are
 near the ceiling and function as transoms for
 light.
 
  The room is comfortably furnished and warm. It's
 steam pipes run along the wall.
 
 In the room are Dr. Chapman, Dr. Algari and Mrs.
 Chapman.
 
 Chapman is a forceful looking man in his forties.
 His wife is a good looking woman of forty who is
 also his assistant. Chapman is a minerologist.
 Algari is an elderly man, white haired. He is a
 botanist.
 
 A male cook stands at a large electric stove. He
 is cooking coffee and a hot lunch in a number of
 pots. Chapman walks up the stairs to the door,
 which is near the top of the room. He opens it.
 
 Captain Henry and his group come dowm the stairs.
 
 CHAPMAN
 Very pretty landing, Captain.
 We watched it. How was the trip?
 
 HENRY
 Nice ride. This is Mr. Skeely,
 Dr. Chapman, Mrs. Chapman, Dr.
 Algari. Mr. Skeely's a newspaperman.
 
  SKEELY
 Glad to know you.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (smiling)
 Glad to have a newspaperman drop
 in on us. We're a bit off the
  beaten track.
 
 SKEELY
 (looking around)
 Don't tell me I'm practically
 at the North Pole! Looks more
 like my old Kentucky home.
 
  HENRY
 Any further information, Dr.
 Chapman?
 
 CHAPMAN
 I'm convinced it's some sort of
 Russian air craft. Probably some
 new jet propelled rocket.
 
 ALGARI
 I very much doubt that, Hugo.
 I don't understand Russian
 science, but it can't be as
 far advanced as the indications
  we have from the crashed ship.
 
 CHAPMAN
 If it is a ship. We're all
 quite excited, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Where's Dr. Carrington?
 
  CHAPMAN
 In the lab.
 
 MRS. CHAPMAN
 They'll all be here for lunch.
 It's ready - if you'd like to
 eat first. Fresh vegetables.
 
  HENRY
 (to Skeely)
 From their own garden.
 
 SKEELY
 Garden?
 
 MRS. CHAPMAN
 (smiling)
  Hothouse.
 
 SKEELY
 You have a hothouse! At the Pole!
 
 EDDIE
 (winking at Skeely)
 They've got everything here.
 Wait till you see.
 
 HENRY
 I'll join you in a few minutes.
 
 ALGARI
 I'll take you to the lab, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Thanks. I know the way.
 
 He starts out of the room.
 
 MRS. CHAPMAN
 Please sit down, everybody.
 
 The group moves toward a long refectory table set with
 twenty places. We follow Captain Henry out.
 
 
8 INT. A CONNECTING UNDERGROUND CORRIDOR BETWEEN TWO OF
 THE CAMP BUILDINGS
 
 Henry, enters it and walks toward a steep stairway. He
 climbs it and knocks on a door. A voice calls.
 
 VOICE
  Come in.
 
 He opens the door.
 
 
9 INT. NIKKI'S OFFICE AND SLEEPING QUARTERS
 
 A small office-like room, lined with filing cabinets,
 holding a desk, a typewriter stand, a voice recording
 machine, and a couch that serves as a bed, is revealed.
 Sitting at the desk, typing, is a vivid, young woman,
 Alberta Nicholson. She is called Nikki. She stops
 typing and rises.
 
 NIKKI
 Pat! Welcome to our igloo!
 
 HENRY
 (smiling)
 Hello, Nikki. You look like seven
 million dollars. How are you?
 
 NIKKI
 Wonderful. Sit down.
 
  HENRY
 I talk better standing.
 
 He steps up to her and embraces her ardently. She
 pulls out of his embrace, calmly, and without alarm.
 
 NIKKI
 Please.
 (she straightens her hair)
 I think Dr. Carrington is waiting
 for you.
 
 HENRY
 Dr. Carrington will have to wait.
 I'm busy.
 
 He tries to embrace her again.
 
 NIKKI
 (evading him)
 No, you're not.
 
 HENRY
 (frowning)
 What's the matter?
 
  NIKKI
 Now, don't act surprised. We've been
 all through this before. I don't like
 promiscuous love making. It's meaningless.
 
 HENRY
 Who's promiscuous? We're alone, aren't we?
 
 NIKKI
 Pat, last time you were here, I spent
 three days wrestling with a typical air
 corps wolf. It was like playing puss-in-
  the-corner with Bluebeard or somebody.
 You even invaded my bedroom, claiming you
 were looking for a lost pocketknife. Now,
 I'm fond of you, Pat, but this time, if
 you don't keep your hands to yourself,
 we're through.
 
 HENRY
 You're fond of me, eh? Well, I'm fond
 of you, too. What are we waiting for?
 
 NIKKI
  We're waiting until we get to know
 each other.
 
 HENRY
 (grinning)
 Now you're on my side. Come here.
 You'll get to know me.
 
  NIKKI
 (pushing him away)
 Not that way.
 
 HENRY
 What other way is there?
 
 NIKKI
 (desperately)
  Didn't you ever hear the word
 "conversation"? Didn't you ever read a
 book, or see a movie - or - or think
 about anything?
 
 HENRY
 Yeah. But you don't want to talk
 about what I'm thinking.
 
 NIKKI
 No, I don't. If that's all you can think!
 
 HENRY
 I got other thoughts.
 
  NIKKI
 It would be an entrancing diversion to
 hear one.
 
 HENRY
 Well, try this one. Dames are all alike.
 
 NIKKI
  That's not a thought. It's a cliche.
 And a stupid cliche.
 
 HENRY
 All dames want to get married. If you
 ask them to marry you, you're sincere. If
 you don't you're Bluebeard, and a wolf.
 
 NIKKI
 (dangerously)
 Are you saying I want you to ask me to
 marry you?
 
 HENRY
 Never could figure them out. If you
 buy a dame one meal and try to kiss
 her, you're a wolf and a Bluebeard.
 But if the same fellow promises to buy
 her thirty thousand meals, then he's a
  prospective husband and he couldn't
 beat her off with a stick.
 
 NIKKI
 Yes, and tell a fellow your garter
 belt is your own business, and he'll
 think of every mean, stinking thing
 in the world to say back to you!
 
 HENRY
 (calmly)
 That's the war of the sexes, I guess.
 
 NIKKI
  Well, I hate war!
 
 HENRY
 On the other hand, it's my business. I
 got a commission. Gimme a kiss, Nikki.
 
 NIKKI
 I'm tired of you. Now, come on. Doctor
 Carrington's eager to see you.
 
 HENRY
 (gloomily)
 Okay. Lead on, Miss Nicholson. I
 guess I came to the wrong Pole.
 
 He follows her out.
 
 DISSOLVE
 
 
10 INT. DR. CARRINGTON'S LABORATORY
 
 This is a large chamer in a separate building. Here
 are concentrated the instruments used by the various
 scientists in their astronomical, mineralogical and
 botanical experiments.
 
 At a large flat-topped table in the room sits Dr. Arthur
 Carrington. He is a man of 43 with an alert, cheerful
 face. He is good looking, well built, soft spoken.
 His dominant characteristic is a smile that seems never
 to leave his lips. It is present always on his face
 like an extra feature. He is a genius of science and
 a man whose brain is focused like a microscope on the
 secrets of nature. But the intensity of his preoccupa-
 tion with science is not to be heard in the easy tones
 of his voice. It will be seen in the things he does,
 in his point of view - but never in his manner.
 Outwardly, he seems only a good looking man full of
 child-like enthusiasm for a task and with a soothing,
 amiable way for his fellow man.
 
 In the room with Dr. Carrington is a lean young man
 named William Stone, in charge of the camp's
 photographic work and equipment.
 
 Captain Henry stands silently in the doorway, his eyes
 moodily on his scientific rival. The doctor is
 studying the indicator dials of a complex instrument on
 the table. Bill Stone greets the arrivals.
 
  STONE
 Hello, Nikki. Hello, Captain
 Henry. How was the trip?
 
 HENRY
 (shortly)
 O. K.
 
 He remains staring at the preoccupied
 Carrington who seems aware neither of
 his or Nikki's presence.
 
 NIKKI
 (quietly)
 Captain Henry is here, doctor.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (without looking up,
 his voice amiable)
 Yes, I know.
 (his eyes stay on the indicator
 dials and he continues softly)
 Would you take these notes, please.
 (he dictates to Nikki quietly.
 She writes as he speaks)
 November second, 2 p.m. Deflection
 on screen nineteen continues -
 twelve point three. No lessening
 or wavering of disturbing element.
 (he looks up and smiles
 at Henry and adds softly)
 Can we start now, Captain Henry?
 
  HENRY
 (coolly)
 Mind telling me where we're going?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Forty-eight miles due east.
 
 HENRY
  Your message said an aeroplane
 had crashed. Is that what we're
 looking for?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smiling)
 I don't know, Captain.
 
  HENRY
 (covering his irritation
 with difficulty)
 I'd like to know what I'm supposed
 to go looking for, Dr. Carrington.
 
 CARRINGTON
  (gently)
 So would I.
 (eagerly)
 I think we should start while
 the light holds.
 
 HENRY
 (without moving)
  We'll start after you've given me
 what information you've got.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 Is that necessary, Captain?
 (he sees Henry's scowl
  and is quickly contrite)
 I'm very sorry. I was thinking
 only of the vagueness of my
 information. I dislike being
 vague. Will you please read
 Captain Henry my first notes,
 Nikki?
 
 NIKKI
 (opening the note book in
 her hand and reading from
 it)
 November 1, 11:15 p.m. Sound detectors
 registered explosion due east. 11:18 p.m.
 magnetic dial revealed twelve point three
 deflection. Such deflection possible only
 if a disturbing force equivalent to 20,000
  tons of steel or iron ore had become part
 of the earth within fifty mile radius.
 
 HENRY
 That sounds like a meteor, doesn't it?
 
 CARRINGTON
  (amiably)
 Yes, very much. Except for our photographic
 plates. Our telescopic cameras were working
 last night. Here is the film taken between
 11:12 and 11:15. Let Captain Henry see it,
 Bill.
 
 Stone switches on a light in a moviola
 box and runs a strip of film slowly
 through it. Captain Henry looks into
 the box.
 
  CARRINGTON
 You will note the small dot low on the film.
 It is moving from west to east. At 11:14
 the dot moves upward. At 11:15 it drops to
 the earth and vanishes. A meteor might move
 almost horizontally from west to east, but
 never upward. If the traveling object caused
 the explosion we picked up, it is in the ice
 48 miles from here. The sound reached us
 four minutes after the object's disappearance.
 This gives us the approximate distance from
 here.
 
 HENRY
 (frowning)
 Twenty thousand tons of steel is a lot of
 metal for an aeroplane.
 
 CARRINGTON
 For the sort of aeroplane we know, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 (abruptly)
  Come on, let's get going.
 
 He walks out followed by Carrington,
 Stone and Nikki.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
11 INT. C-54 PLANE
 
 Captain Henry and Lieutenat Dykes are at the controls.
 The rest of the crew are in their accustomed places.
 A dog sled and a dog-team occupy the rear of the
 passenger cabin.
 
 Flight Engineer Barnes is scanning the snowscape below.
 So are Photographer Stone and the scientists Olson,
 Chapman, Vorrhees, Laurenz and Redding. Skeely is also
 peering avidly out of the window. There is an air of
 tension to the silence.
 
 Only Dr. Carrington seems relaxed. He shares a seat
 with Nikki.
 
 From time to time Captain Henry turns around to scowl
 at Nikki and Carrington.
 
 NIKKI
 (eagerly to her companion)
 I'm terribly excited, Arthur! I'm
  jumping up and down inside!
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 So am I.
 
 NIKKI
 (laughing)
 If the world were coming to an end, I
 don't think you'd change your expression,
 Arthur. You'd keep smiling - and dictating
 notes - and expect me to take them down
 accurately.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (nodding)
 And you would.
 
 Captain Henry has risen and left
 Dykes at the controls. He has
 walked back to Carrington and stood
  there waiting grimly for their talk
 to end. He speaks up now with
 irritation.
 
 HENRY
 We're fifty miles out, Doctor, and not a
 sign of anything. Those gadgets of yours
 must be screwy.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (amiably)
 I doubt it, Captain. They've exhibited
 no signs of lunacy in the past.
 
  NIKKI
 (to Henry)
 You must be off your course.
 
 HENRY
 (to Carrington, insistantly,
 ignoring Nikki)
 We haven't seen anything, have we?
 What does that mean?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (amiably)
 It means we haven't seen it. It doesn't
 mean it isn't there.
 
  Henry's response is interrupted
 by a cry from Dykes.
 
 DYKES
 Hey, Pat! Look at this! The compass
 is turning around!
 
 HENRY
  (starting forward)
 What the holy --
 
 CARRINGTON
 (calmly)
 We've passed it.
 (calling to Dykes)
 When did it start turning, Lieutenant?
 
 DYKES
 Just now -- fifteen seconds ago.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (to Nikki)
 Mark the time, please.
 (to Dykes)
 Is it a complete revolution?
 
 DYKES
 Yep. Hundred and eighty degrees.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (to Henry)
 Then we flew right over it about a
 mile and three eighths back.
 
 HENRY
 (curtly)
 Thanks.
 (he calls to the cockpit)
 Spin it around Eddie, and take
  her down low.
 
 Henry returns to the cockpit. Carrington follows him
 and stands gazing out over his shoulder.
 
 
12 LONG SHOT OF ICE FIELD FROM SHIP'S POINT OF VIEW
 
 A dark patch in the ice appears.
 
 
13 INT. COCKPIT
 
 CARRINGTON AND DYKES
 (together)
 There - I see it - over there!
 
 DYKES
 It's buried in the ice.
 
 HENRY
  (peering at the
 ground)
 What do you think, Eddie?
 
 DYKES
 (pointing)
 Looks pretty smooth over
 there -
 
  HENRY
 (nodding)
 Fasten your seat belts,
 folks. We're going to land.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
14 THE ICE PLANE
 
 The C-54 lands gracefully on its skis. Its occupants
 disembark. Barnes and Dykes start hitching up the dog
 team.
 
 NIKKI
 (standing on tiptoe)
 I can't see it from here.
 
  HENRY
 It's that way. About a half
 mile.
 
 CARRINGTON
 A little more south, I believe.
 
 NIKKI
 Oh, I hope we don't lose it.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smiling at her
 eagerness)
 Hardly.
 
 MACAULIFF
 This'll lead us right to it.
 
 He holds up a Geiger counter.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (surprised)
 A Geiger counter. But there's
 no reason to suppose it's
 radioactive.
 
  MACAULIFF
 It is, though. I noticed in
 the plane. See?
 
 He holds up the counter. It clicks steadily.
 
 DYKES
 All set, folks.
 
 HENRY
 (to Nikki)
 You ride on the sled.
 
 Nikki gets on the sled. It starts off, the rest of the
 party trotting along in its tracks.
 
 DISSOLVE TO
 
 
15 THE ICE PLAIN NEAR THE DARK PATCH
 
 The sled stops. Nikki gets off and runs with the others
 to the dark patch. They stand looking down at it fron a
 little hillock of snow and ice.
 
 BARNES
 That's no aeroplane.
 
 OLSON
 It's certainly not a meteor.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Whatever it is, how in the
 holy name of Aberdeen, did it
 get in there? Look, the ice
 is smooth as glass.
 
 There is a little chorus of agreement and wonder.
 
 HENRY
 This is the craziest thing
 I ever saw!
 
  CARRINGTON
 Not really.
 
 HENRY
 (over polite)
 Perhaps you'll be good enough
 to explain the little mystery
 to all us ordinary people.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (staring at the
 dark patch)
 Anything hitting the earth's
 atmosphere at an astronomical
 speed would be white hot in an
 instant. It would melt its
 way into the ice which would
 then freeze over it again.
 
 Skeely and Barnes have moved to another hillock to get a
 better view of the buried object. Suddenly Skeely lets
 out a yell.
 
 SKEELY
 (at the top of his
 lungs)
 IT'S A SAUCER! IT'S A FLYING
 SAUCER!
 
 There is an instant's silence. They all stare into the
 ice.
 
 OLSON
 (softly)
 Bless my soul, that's what it
 is!
 
 AD LIB
 A saucer!
  A flying disc!
 Sure, look from over here - see?
 A real, honest-to-God saucer!
 See the direction vanes...
 They said there were no such things...
 D'ya suppose there's anyone in it?
 Must be ... Sure...
 
 SKEELY
 (jumping with excitement)
 Axes! Get some ice-axes!
 
 Barnes and Dykes run for axes.
 
 STONE
 Stand back, everybody! Let me
 get some pictures!
 
 SKEELY
 (widly, as Stone
 starts photographing)
 Where's the radio generator!
 Hey, MacAuliff!
 (MacAuliff turns
 to him)
 Scotty, come on, quick! I
 want to send a message!
 
 HENRY
 (interrupting)
 Nothing doing. No private
 messages.
 
 SKEELY
 What do you mean, private! I'm
 going to send it to the whole
 world!
 
  HENRY
 Sorry, Skeely. This is army
 information. I'll have to wait
 for authority to let you file a
 story.
 
 SKEELY
 (beside himself)
 You've got your authority from
 the Constitution of the United
 States! It's called freedom of
 the press! I'm sending my story,
 Captain!
 
  HENRY
 All right, send it. But not from
 my ship.
 
 Skeely glares at him in frustrated fury. Henry ignores
 Skeely's rage, and turns to MacAuliff.
 
 HENRY (cont'd)
  Call Hendrix..Have him wire Fogarty
 we've found a flying disc - intact
 - imbeaded in the ice - and we're
 going to get it out!
 
 MACAULIFF
 Yes, sir.
 
 He starts for the plane - Skeely at his heels.
 
 SKEELY
 (urgently)
 Looky, Scotty! This is the
 biggest story since the Red Sea!
 A ship from another planet! You
 can't cover it up! Have a heart!
 Think what this means to the world!
 
 MACAULIFF
 I'm not working for the world.
 I'm working for the army, and I've
 got my orders.
 
 SKEELY
 (furiously)
 Even the Russians wouldn't act
 like this!
 
 He starts back toward Captain Henry.
 
  OLSON
 (to Carrington)
 What do you make of that,
 Arthur? It certainly doesn't
 look like 20,000 tons of steel.
 
 CARRINGTON
  Not even a ton, I'd say.
 
 During the above, axes have arrived. Five of the men
 start hacking feverishly through the ice. Nikki stands
 beside Carrington. Captain Henry joins the men chopping
 on the ice. The little group on the wind-swept snow
 work silently and desperately to remove the four feet
 covering of ice from the saucer.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (coming up to Carrington)
 What do you think it's made of,
 Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 No element we know on this earth.
 
 NIKKI
 (excitedly)
 I don't see any door or windows
  in it.
 
 CARRINGTON
 They must be underneath.
 
 OLSON
 (peering)
 I can't make out any engine.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I doubt if we'll find anything
 we call an engine.
 
 SKEELY
 (arriving out of breath)
 What planet do you figure it's
 from, Doctor?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Not this one.
 
 SKEELY
 Must be Mars. That's the only
 one that's supposed to be
 inhabited, isn't it?
 
  CARRINGTON
 I'll be able to answer your
 questions a little more
 accurately after I've examined
 the interior of the craft and
 its occupants, if any.
 
  Skeely grabs an axe and runs toward the chopping group.
 
 NIKKI
 Occupants! They must be dead,
 though!
 
 CARRINGTON
 Dead or alive - we'll learn a
 great many things we don't know
 in the world, now.
 
 The group is swinging axes. Captain Henry suddenly stops
 digging. He looks up at the sun looks at his watch.
 
 HENRY
 (to Dykes)
 We can't make it, Eddie. The
 light'll be gone in an hour.
 The temperature's dropping, too,
 I think.
 
 EDDIE
  (looking toward the
 horizon)
 That storm front's moving in
 fast. But we can't quit. We've
 got to keep going! It's from
 Mars!
 
  HENRY
 I'm not going to try an
 instrument landing on skis in
 the dark - and kill off everybody.
 
 EDDIE
 (eagerly)
 We can dig for another half
 hour, Pat.
 
 HENRY
 If they get that close - I'll
 never get them back in the ship.
 They're so excited now they don't
 know they're half frozen.
 
 EDDIE
 (excitedly)
 Look, Pat - I feel fine. I'll
 stay here all night. Just
 leave me a sleeping bag and some
 whiskey.
 
  HENRY
 (suddenly)
 I got a thermite bomb on the
 sled. Go get it. We'll melt
 the ice away.
 
 EDDIE
 (axe in hand)
 Wonderful! What a brain!
 
 He runs toward the sled. At the same moment one of the
 diggers cries out.
 
 BARNES
 (axe in hand)
 Here's a piece in the open!
 We've uncovered it!
 
 The scientists and the axe
 wielders run over to Barnes.
 Captain Henry comes over.
 Dr. Carrington drops to his
  knees and examines a two foot
 metal edge protruding from the
 ice.
 
 CARRINGTON
 May I have a file, please?
 
 BARNES
  Here's one.
 
 He removes a file from his heavy
 clothes. The group watches as
 Dr. Carrington starts using the
 file on the protruding edge of
  the saucer.
 
 CHAPMAN
 What's it look like, Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (hitting the file against it)
 I don't know. Probably an alloy. I'll
 try and get some filings. We can analyze
 them tonight.
 (he looks up and smiles at the
 group watching him)
 We haven't much time. I suggest you all
  continue with your excavating.
 
 HENRY
 No need to. We've got a thermite bomb.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (pleased)
 Thermite! Oh, excellent!
 
  He stops filing and rises. He
 stands staring down at the machine
 in the ice. Lieut. Dykes arrives
 with a thermite bomb, a length of
 wire and a plunger. MacAuliff comes
 running up at the same moment.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (panting)
 They're relaying the message to Fogarty now.
 We ought to have an answer in an hour.
 I got some news back from Hendrix. The
 barometer fell down to the cellar and a
 freeze is coming up like nobody's business.
 He says to watch out.
 
  HENRY
 I'm watching. Drill a hole for that bomb,
 Eddie.
 
 SKEELY
 (moving in to the group in
 time to hear the last ramark)
 A bomb? Is that safe?
 
 DYKES
 (as he digs the hole, Barnes
 assisting)
 It's S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure
 for removing ice. It just melts it.
 
 BARNES
 It'll uncover the whole saucer in thirty
 seconds.
 
 NIKKI
 I'm so excited, I'm almost sick to my
 stomach.
 
  HENRY
 (to Dykes)
 That's deep enough, Eddie. The light's
 going fast.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly, as he continues to
  stare at the metal mass at his
 feet)
 Five minutes from now we may have the
 key to the stars. A million years of
 history are waiting in that ice for us.
 
  DYKES
 All set, Pat.
 
 HENRY
 Clear the field, Mac.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (calling)
 Over here - everybody. Keep together.
 
 The crew and scientists and Nikki
 move across the ice, led by MacAuliff.
 Eddie uncoils a hundred feet of wire
 and walks with it. Captain Henry stands
  in the increasing wind - surveying the
 dimly outlined ship in the ice.
 
 HENRY
 (raising his arm)
 Let her go, Eddie.
 
 Eddie presses the plunger. There
 is the normal thermite bomb explosion.
 A glow of the thermite flares and
 dies.
 
 EDDIE
 (calling out)
 O.K., folks. She's clear.
 
 Before anyone can move there is a
 muffled exlosion. And a second
 flare starts under the ice. Gradu-
 ally the glare builds up. The
  whole ice field becomes illuminated
 from beneath by an unbearable light.
 The onlookers are forced to turn
 their eyes away, all save Carrington,
 and Henry who continue to stare at
 it.
 
 A chorus of exclamations and queries
 rise from the group.
 
 AD LIB
 What is it?
 What happened -
  Secondary explosion?
 Don't look - Shield your eyes!
 How can it burn - in the ice?
 Chain reaction - from the thermite!
 Etc.
 
 SKEELY
  (grabbing Chapman's arm)
 What's happening to it. Tell me, Doc!
 
 CHAPMAN
 (slowly)
 I'm afraid it's disintegrating - totally.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (his face tense)
 Secrets - that might have given us a new
 science. Gone!
 
 Captain Henry stands aghast as
 the wild burning consumes the
  ship under the ice. He sees its
 outlines run and vanish. Skeely
 comes up to him.
 
 SKEELY
 (raging)
 Standard Operating Procedure, you blind
 ape! You've destroyed it!
 
 CARRINGTON
 I should have thought - I should have
 thought...
 
 SKEELY
 You sure should! The greatest discovery
 in history up flames! Fine work!
 (he wheels on Henry)
 The army can be proud of itself - turning
 a whole civilization into a Fourth of July
  piece. Even the Indians acted smarter
 toward Columbus!
 
 CHAPMAN
 Not a shred left. Every bit of it gone -
 and we know nothing - nothing.
 
 CARRINGTON
 We know one thing...what it was made of.
 Obviously a magnesium alloy.
 
 CHAPMAN
 That's right. Only magnesium would react
 to heat that way.
 
  SKEELY
 (bitterly)
 Splendid! There's a story for me.
 (quoting)
 Scientists learn magnesium burns!
 
 DYKES
  (to Henry)
 Want me to mark the spot - so we
 can find it after the storm?
 
 Captain Henry has been staring
 into the wind-swept ice. He has
 stood silent under Skeely's abuse.
 
 HENRY
 (to Dykes)
 Later, Eddie. First, I want you to bring
 up all your picks and axes. Mac, I want
 your Geiger counter. And bring the dog sled.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Where to?
 
 HENRY
 I saw something under the ice about
 fifty feet from here. The flare lit
 it up.
 
 He holds the Geiger counter
 in front of him and starts
 walking slowly. Carrington,
 Ericson, Barnes, Dykes and
 Skeely move along at his side.
 The others straggle behind,
 MacAuliff leading the dog team.
 
 CARRINGTON
 What was it, Captain?
 
 HENRY
 I don't know. It was shaped like a
 man, but it might have been a piece of
 the disk.
 
 DYKES
 A man! You mean somebody got out of that
 saucer?
 
  HENRY
 Probably thrown out when it crashed. If
 it is a man.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (gesturing toward the counter,
 which is clicking)
 It's radio active. I imagine it must be a
 fragment fron the saucer.
 
 HENRY
 Maybe. It was sure man-shaped, though.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (with growing excitement)
 Good work, Captain. We may salvage
 something yet.
 
 SKEELY
 (pointing at the counter)
 It's getting louder. More to your left,
  I think.
 
 DYKES
 (pointing off)
 There it is! There!
 
 He points to an ice bank. Dimly
 visible in the ice is a two legged
  shape.
 
 SKEELY
 Is this a story! The man from Mars!
 
 MACAULIFF
 (excitedly)
 It's got legs - and a head. I can see 'em.
 
  NIKKI
 It is! It's a man... It really is!
 
 There is an ad lib chorus of
 excited remarks from the others.
 
 AD LIB
 There - see it?
 Look - right by that boulder!
 It's an animal.
 No - it's a man.
 Must be eight feet long.
 Etc.
 
 EDDIE
 How come it's frozen in the ice - if it was
 thrown clear?
 
 HENRY
 (chopping at the ice)
 Same as the saucer. Got melted in.
 
 SKEELY
  (chopping at the ice)
 How about using some thermite?
 
 HENRY
 Shut up!
 
 The men continue to swing their
 axes. MacAuliff has stepped into
  a small depression in the ice and
 is closest to the figure they are
 trying to extricate. The ice
 surrounding it has become flawed
 from their blows, and the figure
 it contains is practically invisible.
 
 BARNES
 (chopping)
 I can't see it at all now.
 
 SKEELY
 Hurry up, boys. I can't wait.
 (to Henry)
 Sure hope it isn't a mirage.
 
 HENRY
 No mirage. It's there all right.
 
 BARNES
 What did it look like in the flare?
 
 HENRY
 You'll believe it when you see it.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (from below)
 Hey -
 
 HENRY
 What's wrong, Mac?
 
 MACAULIFF
 (staggering away
 from the block
 they have carved
 out)
 I'm sick to my stomach. I sunk
 my pick right into its skull -
 something green oozed out.
 
 EDDIE
 No harm done. It was dead
 anyway.
 
 ERICSON
 The light's going, Pat. We
 haven't got time.
 
 HENRY
 You're right.
 
 BARNES
 Hey, look. The whole block's
  coming loose!
 
 CARRINGTON
 (nodding)
 Recently formed ice. Separates
 easily.
 
 HENRY
 All right -- everybody on it.
  We'll load the whole slab onto
 the sled.
 
 They load the block onto the dog sled, and start
 hauling it across the ice field.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
16 EXT. POLAR CAMP. THE LIGHT IS ALMOST GONE
 
 The C-54 appears in the lowering sky. It flies
 erratically in the increasing wind.
 
 The plane makes a precarious landing on its skis, the
 rising gale buffeting, and almost overturning it.
 
 A half dozen bundled Eskimos come out of the camp and
 move toward the plane.
 
 Barnes, Eddie and MacAuliff pile out. They help Nikki
 and the scientists alight. In the half dark, the
 pessengers start across the wind-blasted snow toward
 the camp. They move with difficulty. Words are
 inaudible in the gale.
 
 MacAuliff gestures the Eskimos toward the plane. They
 climb in. Captain Henry and Eddie bring out the dogs
 and a sled.
 
 The block of ice, half covered by a tarpaulin, is
 dropped from the plane's door.
 
 Working in the icy blasts now sweeping the dark, the
 men move the ice-block onto a sled. Others tie the
 plane down, tethering it to stakes pounded into the ice.
 
 With the plane tied down, the party starts for the camp.
 The dogs draw the sled with the ice-block on it.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
16A EXTERIOR ENTRANCE TO STOREROOM
 
 A series of steps have been cut through the snowbank
 outside the storeroom entrance. The ice-block is
 unloaded from the sled and bumped down the steep steps.
 
 
17 INT. STORE ROOM
 
 It is a dimly lit room, piled with barrels of
 scientific equipment. It has the look of a gloomy
 well stocked cellar.
 
 The ice-block is slid into a clear space in the middle
 of the room. Barrels and boxes are moved to make more
 room around it, all the group assisting.
 
  HENRY
 (to Eddie)
 Send the Eskimos away.
 
 EDDIE
 They've hot footed it already.
 It's going to take a lot of
 coaxing to get them back.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Anyone got some whiskey?
 
 EDDIE
 (poking among
 some boxes)
 Here's a whole bar room.
 
 He removes a bottle and starts opening it.
 
 BARNES
 (to Henry, nervously)
 What do we do now, unveil him?
 
 HENRY
 Nothing to see through the ice.
 (to Carrington)
 Can you turn off the heat in
 this room, Doctor?
 
 CARRIGTON
 (softly)
 If it's necessary.
 
  EDDIE
 What d'you meen, turn off the
 heat. It's fifty below outside.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I suggest we discuss our procedure
 before we take any further steps.
 
 HENRY
 (to Eddie)
 Open the window, Eddie.
 
 Eddie stares at him and climbs up to the window.
 
 LAURENZ
 (full of tension,
  his eyes on the
 tarp covered block
 of ice)
 We're wasting time, Captain!
 We must melt it out. Investigate!
 Examine!
 
  HENRY
 We're not melting it out.
 
 EDDIE
 (from the ladder
 top)
 The window's closed.
 
 HENRY
  Punch a hole in it.
 
 Eddie breaks the window.
 
 LAURENZ
 This is stupid! Criminal! The
 secrets of a universe are in
 there. We are scientists!
 
  CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 It's almost certain that we'll
 be called in by the army to make
 a study of it later, Captain.
 
 LAURENZ
  You can't fly the thing to Dutch
 Harbor! This storm may last for
 weeks. No human can walk in it.
 
 HENRY
 I'm sorry, gentlemen. I'll wait
 instructions from General Fogarty.
 
 SKEELY
 (quietly)
 I think you're making a crazy
 decision. There's no army
 precedent for how to treat a
 Martian. And nobody is better
 qualified to take our visitor
 apart than these gentlemen of
 science. You couldn't ask for
 more geniuses at an autopsy.
 
 HENRY
  It's staying in the ice.
 
 LAURENZ
 You're behaving like a meddlesome
 sophomore, Captain Henry! There
 are organisms that survive after
 death. Cold may destroy them.
 
 REDDING
 (quietly)
 They may be dangerous organisms.
 Disease germs from another planet.
 We're not prepared medically to
  cope with them.
 
 LAURENZ
 That is absolute nonsense, Redding!
 
 REDDING
 Nor do we know what effect the air
 of our earth may have on the
  creature's remains.
 
 HENRY
 Yes, I'd feel kind of foolish if
 this thing disappeared in a cloud
 of smoke like that saucer did.
 
 LAURENZ
 (to Carrington)
 Arthur, you are in charge of
 this post.
 
 VORHEES
 We have every right to proceed
 scientifically.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (controling himself)
 Captain Henry, I can only urge
 you in the interest of human
 knowledge to permit us to
 examine the body in there -
 
 LAURENZ
 (excitedly)
 We don't have to be permitted!
 We have thirty men in this camp -
 all armed.
 
 HENRY
  Your request is denied, Dr.
 Carrington. That ice-block and
 what's in it is army property.
 And this is a military installation.
 As head of the military here, I'm
 taking over.
 
 SKEELY
 Martial law, eh!
 
 HENRY
 Until I receive instructions from
 my superior officer on what to do
 - we'll mark time.  I'm posting a
 guard to keep everybody out - and
 everybody's hands off - in the
 meantime.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 Captain Henry is doing what he
 considers right.
 (to Henry)
 It's difficult for me to mark
 time - with such amazing information
 waiting for us - but I accept your
 decision. I suggest that your guard
 use one of our electric blankets to
 keep warm. Will you get him one, Fred.
 
 A mechanic present nods.
 
 HENRY
 Thanks. How do we get to your
 radio room?
 
 CARRINGTON
 I'll show you.
 (he starts out)
 
 SKEELY
 (excitedly)
 The radio room! I'm getting
 senile! I forgot all about it.
 
 Skeely starts out.
 
 EDDIE
 Mind if I have a last peek at
 our pal --
 
 He goes to the ice-block, and pulls off the tarpaulin.
 The dim two-legged shape is blurringly visible inside
 the block.
 
 HENRY
 Come on, Eddie.
 
 EDDIE
 (staring at the
 frosted ice-cake)
 I can't quite make it out yet,
 but I know one thing. They
 don't bread 'em for beauty on Mars.
 
 The rest of the group leaves through the inner door.
 We stay with Ken. He stands alone in the cellar,
 leaning against a barrel. He picks up a whiskey
 bottle and takes a swig. Then he approaches the block
 of ice. He stares into it for a moment and backs away.
 He removes his gun from its holster, and resumes his
 place leaning against the barrels, his eyes nervously
 on the ice-block.
 
 
18 INT. UNDERGROUND CORRIDOR - CONNECTING CELLAR AND
 RADIO BUILDING
 
 Led by Dr. Carrington, the group moves down the shadowy
 length.  Skeely is talking as he walks beside Captain
 Henry.
 
 SKEELY
 (his excitement a contrast
 to the silence of the
 scientists and army men)
  Can you imagine what's going to happen
 when this story hits the headlines!
 Everybody who owns a sled is going to
 start for the North Pole for a look at
 the man from Mars. Gentlemen, you'll
 be doing a bigger business than Coney
 Island in a week! What a shame, he's
 dead! An interview with a live Martian!
 That would have been something, eh?
 Look, Captain, you've got to let
 these boys get at that corpse as soon
 as possible. Our readers will be
 waiting for details. You're liable
 to give the whole nation a nervous
 breakdown.
 
 
19 INT. RADIO ROOM
 
 The entire communication equipment of the post is
 housed here. A step-ladder leads to a trap-door which
 in turn leads to a small observation tower above the
 radio room. Sitting at, the radio controls is Ezra
 Hendrix, the operator.
 
 The group enters. Ezra is a stocky young man. He is
 full of excitement as he turns to the arrivals.
 
 EZRA
 I'm using full power. The lousy pole
  is shooting electricity all over
 the place.
 
 HENRY
 I'm Captain Henry. Any messages for me?
 
 EZRA
 Yes. Came through a few minutes ago.
 (he reads from a
 piece of paper)
 Fogarty to Henry. Remove flying
 saucer from ice at once. Use thermite
 bomb to melt her out. Erect temporary
  structure to protect find until my
 arrival with staff chiefs.
 
 SKEELY
 (beaming)
 That's what I like about the army.
 Smart - all the way to the top.
 (to Henry)
 Well, Captain, that gives you a chance
 to pass the buck on that thermite deal.
 
 HENRY
 (ignoring him)
 Will you send this to General Fogarty?
 
 SKEELY
 Make it short, will you, Captain? There's
 a hundred and fifty million people holding
 their breaths -
 
 HENRY
 (to Ezra)
 Henry to Fogarty. Flying saucer completely
 destroyed by thermite bomb, due to unforeseen
 composition of ship. Have removed dead
 passenger from wreck...
 
 EZRA
 (as he taps the key)
 You got a Martian? Where is he?
 
 SKEELY
 On ice, buddy. Hurry it up - I've got a
 flash for you.
 
 EZRA
 (tapping)
 The static's knocking us out of the air.
 
 HENRY
 Keeping dead body in block of ice. Carrington
 wants permission to remove and examine.
 Waiting your instructions before further
 action. That's all.
 
 SKEELY
 (eagerly)
 O. K. Cosmopolitan Press Office, New York
 City. You can clear through Edmonton. Try
 our bureau there.
 (he dictates)
 With Carrington expedition. North Pole -
 The world has a new visitor today, a two
 legged creature from Mars.
 
 CARRINGTON
 You are being a little premature, Mr.
 Skeely. That has not been established.
 
 SKEELY
  You can un-establish it - if I'm wrong,
 Doctor.
 
 EZRA
 It's dead.
 
 SKEELY
 (angrily)
 I know it's dead.
 
  EZRA
 I mean the sender. Nothing's going out.
 
 SKEELY
 Keep clicking, man! It can't quit on you
 now!
 
 Another telegraph clicking
  sound comes through.
 
 EZRA
 Something's coming in.
 
 He starts writing.
 
 CARRINGTON
 It will alter our situation, Captain -
 if we can't get through to your General.
 
 HENRY
 The situation remains as it is - until
 we do.
 
 EZRA
 (reading from the paper on
 which he has been writing)
 Everything grounded - can't join you. Want
 you to -
 (he looks up)
 The rest is scrambled, Captain. Can't pick
  it up.
 
 HENRY
 He didn't get my message?
 
 EZRA
 Doesn't look like it. We're a weaker
 station than the one at your base,
  Captain. I may be able to pick them
 up - if they keep sending - but our
 outgoing stuff is hopeless.
 
 SKEELY
 Lookie! You can't stop! I've got
 to get this story through. Send it
 anyway. Some ham may pick it up -
 there's millions of them. Send it!
 (to Henry)
 Pat, how about heading back for
 Dutch Harbor?
 
  HENRY
 I don't think we can get as far as the
 plane - in this wind.
 
 SKEELY
 (desperately, as he leans
 over Ezra)
  Keep hitting it, pall! Somebody'll get
 it - somewhere. Keep clicking...
 
 Ezra clicks desperately away
 on his instrument. The group
 stands waiting and silent.
 
  DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
20 INT. BEDROOM OF THE POST. NIGHT
 
 This is a large dormitory with cot beds in it, lining
 the walls. Henry, Eddie, Barnes and Skeely are in the
 room.
 
 Skeely is walking up and down, peering out of the window
 at the storming night.
 
 Eddie sits on a cot. Barnes is curled up on another cot.
 Henry is at a window, looking out.
 
 EDDIE
 You know something? These scientists
 here remind me of the time I was stuck
 on Bulan Island with the Hundred and
 Sixteenth. An army nurse came ashore
 one day and created a disturbance similar
  to this Martian.
 
 BARNES
 (from his cot)
 What happened to her, Lieutenant?
 
 EDDIE
 Nothin' she didn't like. I'm just
 wondering if the professors will try
 to rush us, Pat.
 
 HENRY
 (grimly)
 Might relieve the monotony if they did.
 
 EDDIE
 I'd hate to have to shoot down seventeen
 of the world's greatest geniuses. You
 know somethin?
 
 HENRY
 What?
 
 EDDIE
 They're kids, all of them. Nine year olds
 drooling over a new fire engine. Scientists!
 Did you notice those two double domes who
 started crying - when we left the table?
 
 SKEELY
  (suddenly)
 This storm is getting worse, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Yes, it's tossing around some.
 
 SKEELY
 There's only one thing we can do - dog sleds!
 We can wrap General Fogarty up and take him
 along.
 
 EDDIE
 Fogarty?
 
 SKEELY
 That's my name for our pretty boy from Mars.
 He has the same dubious relation to a human
 being as that pot-bellied clam in Dutch
 Harbor. Dog sleds, Captain, are our only
 solution.
 
 HENRY
 Solution to what?
 
 SKEELY
 Getting out of here - we could make
 the base in five days -
 
 HENRY
 Cut the yammering, will you. I've got
 enough on my mind. It's death outside.
 The storm will knock off even the Polar
 bears.
 
 The door opens and MacAuliff
 enters.
 
  MACAULIFF
 He's going crazy.
 
 EDDIE
 Who?
 
 MACAULIFF
 Fogarty.
 
 EDDIE
 Which one?
 
  MACAULIFF
 Are you nuts? There's only one Fogarty.
 
 EDDIE
 There's two now. Skeely's baptized our
 Martian with the same name.
 
  HENRY
 What about the General?
 
 MACAULIFF
 Incoming stuff is pretty jammed. But
 I've figured it to read there's been a
 leak in Washington. News of our find
 has made the papers. Congress and the
 President and a lot of other top brass
 want further details.
 
 HENRY
 They're not picking up anything from us?
 
 MACAULIFF
 Not a crackle.
 
 SKEELY laughs.
 
 HENRY
 (frowning)
 What's the joke, Skeely?
 
  SKEELY
 (chuckling)
 A picture of my editor just came
 to me...tearing up and down his
 office - breaking windows and yelling
 for Skeely. I can almost hear him.
  He's liable to shoot himself by mid-
 night.
 
 The door flings open. Navigator
 Ken Ericson enters. He is in a
 high state of agitation.
 
  KEN
 (loudly)
 Where's Barnes?
 
 BARNES
 (sitting up)
 What's up, Ken?
 
 KEN
 (violently)
 It's eleven five. You're supposed to
 relieve me at eleven.
 
 HENRY
 (sharply)
 You've left your post!
 
 KEN
  (wildly)
 He's late. He was supposed to come
 at eleven.
 
 HENRY
 Shut up!
 
 KEN
 (desperately)
 I can't take it any longer, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Take what?
 
 KEN
 You can see it now! The ice has cleared
 up. It's got crazy hands. No ears, and
  a lot of eyes. They're all open! I turned
 a flash on it - and it looked like it
 was moving. And I lit out.
 
 HENRY
 Get back to your post.
 
  KEN
 (slowly)
 O. K.
 
 HENRY
 Barnes will be right along.
 
 KEN
 O. K.
 
 HENRY
 Get going!
 
 KEN
 Yes, sir.
 
 He turns and walks slowly
 out of the room.
 
 SKEELY
 I'm going to have a look.
 
 HENRY
 You're staying out of there, Skeely -
 along with everybody else. Put on
 your flightsuit, Barnes. And get in
 there before Ken starts having kittens.
 
 BARNES
 (pulling on his electrically
 heated flying suit)
 That's the first squawk I've heard out
 of Ken since Ploesti. I don't like it.
 
 SKEELY
 All I want is to verify what I know -
 about it's being four-eyed.
 
 EDDIE
 He didn't say four eyes. He said -
 
  HENRY
 Never mind what he said. I'm barring
 all civilians.
 
 SKEELY
 You're being a little stuffy about this
 whole thing, Captain Henry.
 
  BARNES
 I won't need the electric blanket -
 if I got this suit plugged in. So
 in case you care to send me any
 company, I could make them
 comfortable, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 I'll relieve you myself at 2 a.m.
 And don't leave your post.
 
 EDDIE
 Pat's right, Barney. If you give
 them a chance, those scientists
 will have him out - waltzing with
 him.
 
 BARNES
 O.K., Captain. I'll expect you
 at 2 a.m.
 
 HENRY
  Right.
 
 Barnes opens the door. Nikki is in the doorway. She
 is dressed in a fetching looking outfit.
 
 BARNES
 (passing her)
 Good evening, Miss Nicholson.
 
 NIKKI
 Hello. May I come in?
 
 HENRY
 (coolly)
 We're a bit untidy.
 
 NIKKI
 (smiling at
 him)
 Dreadfully unsocial atmosphere
 around, even for the North Pole.
 
 HENRY
 I'm sorry to have contributed to
 your gloom, Miss Nicholson.
 
 NIKKI
 Miss Nicholson! Is that what
 happens under martial law -
 everybody loses their nicknames?
 
 HENRY
 (stiffly)
 Did you want to see me about
 anything in particular?
 
 NIKKI
 No. I was having a drink - all by
 myself in my room...and playing the
 phonograph. And I suddenly felt I
 was being very selfish. All that
 lovely music, only for me.
 
 HENRY
 (smiling at her)
 Want company?
 
  NIKKI
 That's what I'm hinting at, Mistah Henry.
 
 HENRY
 (to Eddie)
 I'll be in Miss Nicholson's quarters if
 anything comes up.
 
  SKEELY
 I take it Miss Nicholson's quarters
 are also out of bounds for civilians.
 
 HENRY
 During army occupation only.
 
 He moves Nikki through the door.
 
 
21 INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE NIKKI'S ROOM
 
 Nikki and Captain Henry approach it. They walk in
 silence. Nikki opens the door.
 
 
22 INT. NIKKI'S ROOM AND OFFICE
 
 HENRY
 (a bit sarcastically)
 You sure you trust me with little
 you all alone in your bedroom?
 
 NIKKI
 Yes, I think I can.
 
 HENRY
 Very manly. You ought to wear
 pants.
 
 NIKKI
 (giggling)
 I do.
 
 HENRY
 (handing her a drink)
 Outside of that news, what's on your mind.
 
 NIKKI
 I want a favor.
 
 HENRY
 Uh - huh..
 
 NIKKI
 (producing a bathrobe cord)
  I want to tie your hands behind your back.
 
 HENRY
 (in a sudden temper)
 Oh, for - Look, you asked me in here - I
 didn't break down the door - why make a
  production of -
 
 NIKKI
 Please, Pat. I said it was a favor...
 
 HENRY
 (grudgingly)
 All right, then. But no practical jokes.
  Promise?
 
 NIKKI
 I promise.
 (indicating chair)
 Here. Sit here. And put your hands around
 the back.
 
 HENRY
 (obeying)
 The Secretary of Defense will never
 understand this.
 
 NIKKI
 (as she ties)
 It's all very simple. First there's a
  boogyman in a cake of ice down in the cellar.
 I've got a small case of jumps, and I
 want company.
 
 HENRY
 Is this the way you usually entertain
  your company?
 
 NIKKI
 (she has finished tying his hands)
 How about a drink.
 
 HENRY
 I'd love it. And a long straw, please.
 
  NIKKI
 (picking up a glass and holding it
 for Henry while he drinks)
 Second, I want you to know that out on the
 ice today, I noticed the way you jumped
  in between me and the exlosion...
 
 HENRY
 (patiently)
 Could we get to the point? Why am I tied up?
 
 NIKKI
 Because I want to tell you how much I admire
 you without getting fingerprints all over
 my clavicle.
 
 HENRY
 (sourly)
 Thanks for the compliment. Both of them.
 
  NIKKI
 Another drink?
 
 HENRY
 After you.
 
 NIKKI
 I'm going to have a straight one. But don't
 get your hopes up. Liquor doesn't make me
 amorous.
 
 HENRY
 (as she tosses off a drink)
 It ought to. Nothing else does.
 
 NIKKI
  (eyeing him steadily)
 I liked the way you handled yourself today,
 Pat. And I liked the way you stood up to all
 the big wigs, and refused to let them play
 around with the - with the thing.
 
 HENRY
 You like everything about me, but me, is
 that it?
 
 NIKKI
 No. I like you, too. In fact, I'm going
 to kiss you.
 
  HENRY
 Untie me, honey.
 
 NIKKI
 No. I'm going to kiss you, not wrestle you.
 
 HENRY
 (muttering)
  Talk about Japanese tortures -
 
 Nikki kisses him briefly and precisely.
 
 NIKKI
 That was very nice.
 
 HENRY
 Was it?
 
  NIKKI
 Very.
 (she pours herself another drink)
 See what a good time we can have when
 you're forced to behave yourself.
 
 HENRY
 Nikki, what you don't know about making
 love would populate the whole interior
 of Australia.
 
 NIKKI
 I'll learn. When I'm good and ready.
 (giggling)
  They say it comes naturally.
 
 HENRY
 Untie me now?
 
 NIKKI
 Not on your life.
 (she kisses him again)
 Admit it, Pat. This was a great idea.
 Look at you - sitting talking to me like a
 civilized man instead of grabbing around
 like a throwback. Why, if you weren't tied
 up, I wouldn't have dared tell you how
 much I liked you...
 
 HENRY
 (producing a cigarette)
 Got a light?
 
 NIKKI
 (automatically striking a match
  and lighting his cigarette)
 You see, your trouble is you don't know
 anything about women. You have no - no
 technique. What a woman likes is to -
 
 She stops and stares at Henry's hands, which are resting
 quietly in his lap.
 
 HENRY
 Among other things you don't know is
 how to tie a knot.
 (he stands up and grins at her)
 It's very likely because the only knots
 you have on your mind are marital ones.
 Good-night, Miss Nicholson.
 
 He goes out.
 
 DISSOLVE
 
 
23 INT. STOREROOM
 
 A faint light from the underground hallway comes through
 a transom. Barnes enters. The electric blanket
 discarded by Ken lies on a nearby packing case. It is
 plugged into the electric light socket, hence no light
 in the room. Barnes snaps on his flashlight and gets a
 bottle of whiskey out of another case, opens it, and
 takes a long swig. He leans over and plugs his flying
 suit into the other half of the double-socket shared
 by the electric blanket's plug.  He takes another drink
 and, sitting in the semi-dark, starts whistling
 "Ragtime Cowboy Joe."
 
 Suddenly he stops whistling and laughs.
 
 BARNES
 (self-mocking)
 Whistling in the dark, aren't you,
 Barnes?..
 
 He lifts the whiskey bottle again, then sits staring
 toward the ice-encased mummy.
 
 BARNES (cont'd)
 (suddenly)
 All right, let's ses what you look
 like, sonny boy -
 
 He switches on his flashlight, and
 centers its beam on the ice-block.
 As Ericson said, the ice is now almost
 transparent. Through it, only
 partially distorted, can be seen an
 unearthly horror. It has a bulbous
 head, a tiny suck-hole for a mouth,
 multiple eyes, no ears. Its arms
 are extra-long, ending in thorny
 clusters, rather than hands. It
 stares malevolently through the ice.
 
 Barnes lets out a grunt of dismay,
 and turns the flashlight away.
 
 BARNES
 Whew!
 
 He drinks again, and then starts
 making himself comfortable. He
 uses a bag of flour for a pillow,
 and prepares to stretch out on
 the floor. Abruptly he shines
 the flashlight on the ice again.
 
  BARNES
 (angrily)
 Quit staring at me!
 
 He sees the blanket lying on the
 nearby packing case. He picks
 it up, and throws it over the
 ice-cake.
 
  BARNES
 I could go nuts looking at you...
 
 He lies down, puts his head on
 the flour sack and taking a
 magazine from his pocket prepares
 to read. The camera moves to
  the electric blanket now covering
 the ice-cake, then follows the
 electric connection down to the
 indicator affixed to the cord.
 The indicator hand points to the
 "full on" position.
 
  After a moment, the camera
 moves back to the floor beneath
 the ice block. A slow dripping
 has commenced. The sounds of
 the rising storm outside obscure
 the pit-pat of the drops hitting
  the floor. A small puddle starts
 to form.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
24 THE PUDDLE
 
 It is now a large puddle, very large.
 
 The camera pans across the wet floor, and discovers the
  puddle is close to Barnes' legs.
 
 
25 CLOSE SHOT - BARNES
 
 He is having difficulty reading. His flashlight has
 started to wane. He snaps it on and off, experimentally.
 The battery is nearly dead. Barnes aims it at the
  printed page once more, then decides it is useless for
 the time being. He snaps it off, and stretches himself
 out more comfortably.
 
 A splinter of light from the hallway outside still
 illuminates the scene.
 
 
26 CLOSE SHOT OF PUDDLE
 
 It continues to grow. The howl of the storm outside
 does not lessen.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
27 STAIRWELL OUTSIDE STOREROOM
 
 The form of a sled dog appears. It stands poised at the
 top of the steps for an instant, pointing eagerly at the
 storeroom window. It is joined by three or four more
 sled dogs. They start to bark angrily, their snouts
 still aimed at the storeroom window. They run down the
  stairwell and press their muzzle against the storeroom
 door.
 
 
28 INTERIOR STOREROOM
 CLOSE SHOT OF BARNES
 
 He is sleeping. The barking and eager whining of the
 dogs can now be heard over the storm noises outside.
 The CAMERA PANS down to Barnes' legs. The puddle has
 reached them, and, as we look, they stir slightly,
 causing a little splatter of water. Barnes abruptly
 sits up into the picture.
 
 BARNES
  (staring into
 the darkness
 at his feet)
 What the --
 
 At this moment, a moving shadow falls
 across his face. He looks up quickly.
 An expression of pure terror appears
 on his face. He screams eerily, springs
 to his feet, and jerks out his revolver.
 He fires six times, then, still screaming,
 jumps for the storeroom door, the cord from
 his flying suit snapping out of the fixture
 and trailing behind him. He yanks open
 the door and runs into the corridor.
 
 
29 INT. CORRIDOR
 
 Barnes races down the corridor, yelling at the top of
 his lungs!
 
  BARNES
 It's alive! It's alive! It's alive!
 
 
30 INT. MAIN CORRIDOR
 
 As Barnes appears, still yelling, doors have begun to
 pop open. Captain Henry, pyjama-clad, gun in hand,
 comes running out of his room and grabs Barnes.
 
 The other inmates, in various stages of undress, tumble
 out into the hallway only minutes later. Barnes
 continues to shriek incoherently.
 
 HENRY
 (shaking Barnes)
 Shut up! Cut it out!
 (he slaps Barnes, who
 stops screaming, and
 stands sobbing with terror)
 Now! What is it? What happened?
 
  BARNES
 (almost in shock)
 It - it - it came after me!
 It's alive, I tell you!
 
 HENRY
 (sharply)
 Did you fire those shots?
 
 BARNES
 (staring past him)
 I shot it - six times - it kept
 on coming at me.
 
 HENRY
 (releasing Barnes and
 wheeling to Dykes,
 Ericson and MacAuliff)
 Sounds like some joker's loose.
 Come on. Bring your guns.
 
 He starts for the storeroom,
 Eddie, Ken, and Mac following.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (to Mrs. Chapman,
 indicating Barnes)
 Esther, better give this lad a
 sedative. I'll be right back.
 
 He starts up the hall. Carrington
 appears in his doorway.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (joining Chapman)
 Did I hear right? The boy said
 it was alive?
 
 CHAPMAN
 (nodding)
 Probably had a bad dream.
 
 NIKKI
 (calling after
 Carrington)
 Wait for me, Arthur.
 
  CARRINGTON
 You stay here, Nikki.
 (he stops and faces
 the group in the
 corridor)
 I'd appreciate it if you'd all
 wait in the living room until
 we can check this nightmare.
 Thanks.
 
 He continues down the corridor,
 Chapman following.
 
 
31 INT. STOREROOM.
 
 Henry leads the way into the room. He snaps on a light,
 and stands staring at the electric blanket in the puddle
 of water.
 
 HENRY
 (blankly)
 Gone -
 
 DYKES
 Those double-domes! They
  stole it.
 
 ERICSON
 No. The kid said it was alive!
 I knew it - all the time I was
 here - I could feel it!
 
 DYKES
 Nuts! How'd it get out of the ice?
 
 For answer, Pat indicates the
 electric blanket.
 
 HENRY
 Somebody threw a hot blanket on it.
 
 DYKES
  I know who. Those six-year old
 Einsteins, that's who.
 
 Carrington and Chapman have
 appeared in the doorway.
 
 CARRINGTON
 What did we do, Lieutenant?
 
  DYKES
 (furiously)
 Swiped the freak. Hustled it
 off somewhere to take it apart,
 that's what!
 
 CARRINGTON
 I assure you, Lieutenant --
 
 CHAPMAN
 (suddenly)
 Sh - h. Listen!
 
 All heads are turned toward the
 open door. Over the whine of
 the wind they hear a chorus of
  savage barking and growling.
 
 HENRY
 The sled dogs -
 
 ERICSON
 He's out there -
 
 CHAPMAN
 They'll tear him to pieces!
 
 Abruptly, Carrington brushes
 through the group, and darts
 out into the howling night.
 He is clad only in his pajamas
 and bathrobe.
 
 DYKES
  Doctor! Stop!
 
 CHAPMAN
 Arthur - are you mad!
 
 Henry curses under his breath
 and charges in pursuit. Locating
 Carrington with his flashlight,
 he brings him down with a flying
 tackle. Carrington struggles to
 escape Henry's grasp, but Henry
 succeeds in leading him back
 into the storeroom. The storm
 noises have made their exclamations
  inaudible.
 
 HENRY
 (panting)
 Mac - get flying suits - hurry -
 
 MacAuliff runs out.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (also winded)
  If you please - Captain - you
 may release me now -
 
 HENRY
 (doing so)
 That was a pretty stupid move -
 for a genius.
 
  DYKES
 You'd have been frozen to death
 in five minutes!
 
 CARRINGTON
 (apologetically)
 Too much zeal, I'm afraid.
 Forgive me, gentlemen.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (peering into
 the night)
 Over there - I see something!
 
 HENRY
 Put out the light.
 
 Dykes snaps off the storeroom
 light. The four men gaze
 intently into the dark night.
 Henry turns on his flashlight.
 Skeely enters the storeroom.
 
 SKEELY
 (excitedly)
 Where is it? Is it really alive?
 Can it talk? Who else saw it
 beside Barnes? What are you doing?
 Is it out there? Speak to me,
 somebody!
 
  HENRY
 Shut up.
 (he listens and
 looks for
 another moment)
 They're still barking.
 
 CARRINGTON
  (speaking through
 numb lips - his
 voice shivery)
 If only the dogs follow it.
 We'll never find it otherwise.
 
 SKEELY
 (a howl of dismay)
 Don't tell me you've lost it -
 you bungling army boob. This
 is worse than Pearl Harbor!
 
 MacAuliff enters, carrying
 flight suits.
 
  MACAULIFF
 Here you are, Pat.
 
 HENRY
 Grab one, Eddie.
 
 CARRINGTON
 May I have one, Captain?
 
 SKEELY
 Me, too!
 
 HENRY
 (dressing hurriedly)
 Army personnel only.
 
 SKEELY
 (through his teeth)
 Wait till you see what I write
 about you! You'll shoot yourself!
 
 HENRY
 (zipping his suit up)
 Snap it up, boys.
 
 He grabs his flashlight, and
  runs out into the storm.
 MacAuliff and Dykes follow
 a second later. Skeely,
 Carrington, and Chapman
 remain staring after them.
 
 
32 EXT. STOREHOUSE
 
 The army officers, leaning against the iron wind, grope
 their way toward the barking dogs. Their flashlights are
 almost useless in the snow flurries raised by the gale.
 They stop and confer for a second, their words carrying
  no further than the ear they are shouted into. Henry
 points with his flashlight, and the trio alters course
 accordingly.
 
 Suddenly a flashlight beam picks up some moving forms.
 All three flashlights center on the activity, but snow
 flurries continue to intervene. Dimly, a struggle can
 be discerned.
 
 The officers move toward it. A sudden increase in the
 wind knocks them down. They continue toward the barking
 and struggling, crawling on their hands and knees.
 
 
33 MEDIUM SHOT OF DOG PACK FROM HENRY'S POINT OF VIEW
 
 The dogs are tearing at a figure in their midst. A sheet
 of flying snow blots out the scene. When it reappears,
 the figure is gone.
 
 Henry, MacAuliff, and Dykes crawl into the scene. Two
 dogs lie dead in the snow. A third is wounded so
 hideously that Dykes shoots it.
 
 Henry signals his pals to pick up the dead dogs. They
 each take one.
 
 Henry stops and examines the ground. He picks up two
 objects, looks around, then starts back to the camp.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
34 INT. DR. CARRINGTON'S LABORATORY
 
 It is crowded with nearly all the members of the
  expedition. The scientists are ranged around
 Carrington's table. The others stand behind him.
 
 Carrington is bent over the table. Captain Henry,
 MacAuliff and Eddie are immediately around him.
 
 A bright beam of light is focused on the table center,
 hidden from our eyes as we come on the scene.
 
 The crowd around the table is silent and tense, as at
 some overwhelming dramatic performance.
 
 Nikki stands beside the doctor. She is dressed in
 pajamas and a woollen robe. All the others in the
 laboratory are also hastily dressed, some in bath robes
 and slippers, some in sweaters and work pants.
 
 Skeely's large bulk is crowded behind Captain Henry,
 peering over his shoulder.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (as he works)
 Can you describe what you saw,
 Captain?
 
 HENRY
 (quietly)
 The dogs had him down, tearing
 at him.
 
 MACAULIFF
 I saw him get up, with three dogs
 on his throat.
 
 HENRY
 The cold's blinding. I couldn't
 make out the action. But when we
 got there two of the dogs were
 dead.
 
 EDDIE
 They looked like they'd been through
 a chopper. Mince meat!
 
 HENRY
 I found the hand under one of them.
 They must have torn it off.
 
 SKEELY
 How could dogs tear off a hand?
 
  CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 This kind of a hand.
 
 He is bent over the object
 on the table, looking at it
 through a powerful lens.
 
 
35 TABLE TOP
 
 On it lies a hand and part of a forearm. The hand
 has ten stringy looking fingers, twice the human
 length. They are stiffened and resemble a slightly
 arced set of thin knives more than fingers.
 
  OLSON
 Sharp as razors, aren't they?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (studying the
 knife fingers)
 Yes - a sort of chitinous
 substance.
 
  SKEELY
 (tensely)
 Speak English - will you!
 
 CARRINGTON
 Something between a beetle's
 back and a rose thorn.
 
  SKEELY
 Thorn fingered, eh?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (trying to bend
 one of them)
 Amazingly strong.
 
 CHAPMAN
  They may be frozen.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I don't think so.
 
 SKEELY
 Well, we know one fact about him.
 He's dead now.
 
  CARRINGTON
 What is your opinion, Captain?
 
 HENRY
 I don't know. He stayed alive in a
 block of ice for twenty-four hours.
 
 MACAULIFF
  After I'd sunk a pick into his skull.
 
 HENRY
 And he got up - with twelve dogs
 on him.
 
 OLSON
 (bending over
  the table)
 That's blood on the arm, isn't it,
 Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Yes - but not his blood.
 
 OLSON
 From the dogs?
 
 Carrington has been working
 on the arm with a scalpel.
 
 CARRINGTON
 There's no blood in the arm. No
 animal tissue. Have a look at this
  under the microscope, George.
 
 He hands a bit of material to
 Dr. Auerback, who adjusts it
 under a microscope.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (his voice soft as
 he continues his
 examination)
 I doubt very much if it is dead.
 I doubt if it can die - as we
 understand dying.
 
 SKEELY
 It's bound to freeze to death outside.
 
 EDDIE
 It got along all right in a block
 of ice - for twenty-four hours.
 
 AUERBACK
  (from the microscope)
 No arterial structure indicated,
 Arthur. No nerve endings visible.
 Porous, unconnected cellular
 growth.
 
 CARRINGTON
  I imagined that.
 
 SKEELY
 Sounds like you're trying to describe
 a vegetable, doctor.
 
 AUERBACK
 I am.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (hunched over the hand,
 his eye peering through
 his lens)
 Are you getting all this, Nikki?
 
 NIKKI
 (who has been writing
 in her pad)
 Yes, doctor.
 
 CARRINGTON
 That's why the bullets fired into
 it by Corporal Barnes had no
 effect. They merely punchcd a few
 holes into some vegetable matter.
 
 MACAULIFF
 What about the green stuff I saw
 ooze out of its head?
 
 CARRINGTON
  There is some of it in the hand.
 I think we will find it has a
 sugar base.
 
 HENRY
 Like - plant sap?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Yes.
 
  SKEELY
 (excitedly)
 You mean - its some kind of a
 super carrot, doctor?
 
 CARRINGTON
 A carrot that can construct a
  ship beyond our terrestrial
 intelligence, of materials we
 have not yet created - and guide
 it sixty million miles or more
 through space.
 
 MACAULIFF
 But you don't think it has any
 feelings, eh?
 
 CARRINGTON
 It has an intelligence beyond ours -
 and possibly feelings equaly
 refined.
 
  HENRY
 (softly)
 A vegatable with a brain -
 
 SKEELY
 An intellectual carrot! The mind
 boggles!
 
  CARRINGTON
 It shouldn't. Imagine how strange it
 would have seemed in the pliocene age
 to forecast that worms, fish, and
 lizards that crawled over the earth
 were going to evolve - into us. On
 the planet from which our visitor
 came, vegetable life underwent an
 evolution similar to that of our own
 animal life, which would explain the
 superiority of its brain. Its
 development was not handicapped by
 emotional or sexual factors.
 
 SKEELY
 Dr. Carrington, you're a man who's
 won the Nobel prize. You've received
 every kind of international kudos a
 scientist can attain. If you were
 for sale I could get a million bucks
 for you from any foreign government.
 I am not, therefor, I going to stick
 my neck out and say that you are
 stuffed absolutely cleam full of
 wild blueberry muffins, but I
 promise you that my readers are going
 to think so.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smiling)
 Not for long, Mr. Skeely. In fact, not
 even for a moment if they happen to know
 anything about the flora of their own
  planet.
 
 SKEELY
 You mean there are vegetables right
 here on earth that -- that can think?
 
 CARRINGTON
 A certain kind of thinking, yes.
 Did you ever hear of the Telegraph
 Vine? Or the Acanthus Century Plant?
 
 SKEELY
 Not recently.
 
 CARRINGTON
 The Century plant catches mice, bats,
 squirrels -- any mammals small enough
 to evade its privacy. It lures them
 with a bait of sweet syrup then it
 closes like a fist and feeds on the
 corpse of its catch. It is only a
 plant but its brain can obviously
 outwit a species far above it in
 the scale of minds as we measure
 them.
 
 SKEELY
  (scribbling)
 Thanks, doctor. And what's a
 Telegraph Vine?
 
 CARRINGTON
 A vine that has proven beyond doubt
 that it can signal to other vines
  of its species twenty or one
 hundred miles away. If an insect
 migration, for instance, is moving
 in a certain direction, it will
 devour the first vine but the second
  one, having been warned, will have
 altered its chemical structure
 so that the insects find it inedible.
 
 SKEELY
 (still
 scribbling)
  That's one for Ripley.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smiling)
 There are hundreds of other examples.
 No, Mr. Skeely, intelligence in
 vegetable and plants is an old
 story on this planet of ours. Older
 even than the animal arrogance
 that has overlooked it.
 (to Auerbach)
 May I have your scalpel, George?
  (Auerback hands
 Carrington a
 surgical knife)
 The palm seems soft.
 (he cuts it open)
 
 OLSON
 (looking)
  Seed pods.
 
 CARRINGTON
 Yes - the neat and unconfused
 reproductive technique of
 vegetation.
 
 CHAPMAN
 No pain or pleasure as we know
 them.
 
 HENRY
 No heart.
 
 CARRINGTON
 None. Our superior in every way.
 
 LAURENZ
 The absence of ears of the
 creature might indicate that it
 has a hearing system superior
 to ours.
 
 REDDING
 Or that it is deaf.
 
  CARRINGTON
 It probably neither hears nor
 sees as we do - but receives
 magnetic impressions.
 
 VOORHESS
 We cen safely presume that the
 planet on which it lived is
 colder than ours and that its
 atmosphere is too thin to conduct
 sound waves.
 
 LAURENZ
 Or that there is any oxygen in
  its air content - a planet would
 need none.
 
 REDDING
 It's amazing how it was able to
 adjust itself to the vitally
 altered conditions of earth -
  and stay alive.
 
 LAURENZ
 It's mysteries will be explained
 when we - communicate with it.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 Perhaps - before.
 
 He looks at the seeds in his hands.
 
 LAURENZ
 You think those seeds are alive?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 That would be - too strange,
 don't you think?
 
 He frows at Laurenz.
 
 LAURENZ
 (quickly)
 Absolutely. There are certain
 things which are - impossible.
 
  HENRY
 I think we're overlooking
 something.
 
 CARRINGTON
 What is that, Captain?
 
 HENRY
 What - it's doing.
 
 SKEELY
 Probably looking for another
 block of ice to hide in. A
 vegetable would head for cold
 storage...instinctively. Keep
 it from rotting.
 
 HENRY
 I don't think so. There's no
 reason for it to stay out in
 that storm if it can move. And
 I saw it move.
 
  VOORHEES
 It ran out into the cold. I
 think our surmise that it requires
 a cold temperature is correct.
 
 LAURENZ
 Obviously. That's why the saucer
  tried to land in our Polar regions.
 They corresponded to the conditions
 of its own planet.
 
 HENRY
 There might be another reason.
 Its passengers could have wanted
 to keep their arrival secret.
 
 EDDIE
 What's on your mind, Pat?
 
 HENRY
 I have an idea it's inside the
 camp. It headed into the storm
 because it smelled the dogs and
 was hungry.
 
 SKEELY
 (staring)
 Inside the camp! Gentlemen -
 what I would give for an interview!
 
 CARRINGTON
 I don't think it eats, Captain.
 There is no evidence of any animal
 digestive system.
 
 HENRY
 If it doesn't eat, it does
 something.
 (to the group)
 I'd like a half dozen men to go
 along with Lt. Dykes and me. We
 don't need guns. Knives, clubs
 and axes will be better.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I grant you it may have returned
 to the camp - and hid itself on the
 premises, Captain. But there's no
 reason to go after it - like an
 enemy.
 
 HENRY
 It didn't look friendly - in the
 snow outside, doctor.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
  It's a stranger in a strange land
 - with strange - unearthly features
 and attributes. The only crimes
 involved are those that man and
 nature have committed against it.
  It crashed in an air ship, was
 frozen in the ice, had its head
 split open by a pick, and was
 attacked by a pack of fierce dogs.
 I see no reason to give it a bad
 character, Captain.
 
 HENRY
 (grimly)
 It went after the dogs. I'm in
 charge of the search, doctor.
 And I'm going to look for it,
 my way.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (his voice rising)
 It would be criminal vandalism
 to injure the visitor further.
 We must find it - and treat it
 as our superior whose brain -
 if we can communicate with it -
 is full of unique and overwhelming
 knowledge. We must -
 (he breaks off and stares at
 the table)
 
  SKEELY
 (his eyes on the
 table)
 Holy Heaven! It's moving!
 
 EDDIE
 It's alive - look out!
 
 We see the hand moving on
 the table. Its knife fingers
 flex and unflex. The sliced
 palm tightens into a fist and
 opens again. Some of the
 watchers step away from the
 teble, a terror in them.
 Carrington remains bent over
 the hand. Captain Henry
 stays beside him.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly, as the
 hand moves)
 Nikki -
 
 NIKKI
 (faintly)
 Yes, doctor -
 
 CARRINGTON
 (dictating)
 At two forty-five the hand became
 alive. The temperature of the
 forearm showed a twenty degrees rise.
 
 He is studying a thermometer removed
 from the arm as he dictates. There
 is a hush. The only sound is that
 made by the knife fingers beating
 on the table. During the hush,
 Carrington takes the surgical scalpel
  and cuts his thumb. He holds the
 bleading thumb over the moving hand.
 His blood drops on the forearm. The
 hand's activity is increased. Its
 fingers move more quickly as they
 beat on the table top.
 Carrington continues his dictating.
 
 I believe the activity due to the fact that
 the organism when it's temperature rose was
  able to ingest the nourishment provided by the
 canine blood with which it was covered...
 
 
36 CORRIDOR LEADING FROM KITCHEN
 
 Six or seven supply rooms open on this corridor. A
 searching party led by Captain Henry is in the process
 of examining these rooms.
 
 Henry carries a Geiger counter with which he scans each
 door before opening it and sweeping it with his flashlight.
 
 Carrington, MacAuliff, Dykes, Laurenz, Voorhees, Stone
 and Chapman comprise the rest of the searching party.
 With the exception of Carrington and Skeely, who are
 unarmed, they carry an assortment of ice-axes, iron rods,
 shovels and other improvised weapons. Skeely carries
 a camera.
 
  STONE
 (as Henry searches)
 You sure you know how to use that
 camera, Skeely?
 
 SKEELY
 I ran one of these things on Iwo
  Jima. Never got out of focus once,
 during the entire bombardment.
 (he calls)
 Hey, Captain -
 
 HENRY
 What do you want?
 
  SKEELY
 If we catch up with our pal I
 want a couple of hundred feet of
 film...before anyone starts making
 a salad out of him.
 
 CARRINGTON
  (a touch sharply)
 No one has any intention of
 injuring him, Mr. Skeely.
 
 CHAPMAN
 And no chance of finding him I'd
 say. He'd never hide in the camp -
 not after the reception Barnes gave
 him.
 
 Henry has completed his inspection
 of the supply rooms.
 
 HENRY
 No dice in this end. Come on.
 
 He leads the way.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
37 INTERIOR RADIO ROOM
 
 A short corridor leads to a windowless chamber that
 houses ths camp's generators. The party with Henry and
 his Geiger counter in the van, crosses the radio room.
 
 Hendrix looks up from his
 telegraphy.
 
 HENDRIX
 Looks like a lynching bee. What's
  up?
 
 MACAULIFF
 (kidding)
 We heard you got the Mars man
 hidden back there.
 
 HENDRIX
 (in alarm)
  I what! You mean it's - it's -
 
 CHAPMAN
 Mr. MacAuliff is being amusing.
 
 HENDRIX
 I don't want any part of that
 thing. In fact, I'd like to go
 home.
 
 
38 INTERIOR GENERATING ROOM
 
 Henry's flashlight probes its corners.
 
 HENRY'S VOICE
 Nothing.
 
 As he closes the door.
 
  DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
39 A SHADOWY HALLWAY
 
 The party moves along. As it reaches a doorway, Henry's
 geiger counter begins to click.
 
 HENRY
 Hold it!
 
  He moves toward the doorway.
 The clicking of the counter
 increases.
 
 HENRY
 It's in there! Eddie - Mac -
 
 CARRINGTON
  (with a small chuckle)
 No, Captain. That's the mineralogy
 lab. We've got radioactive isotopes
 in there.
 
 CHAPMAN
 Your Geigers reacting to a roomful
 of uranium ore samples.
 
 HENRY
 Let's check it anyway.
 
 Dykes and MacAuliff stand beside
 him as he pushes open the door
  and snaps on the light.
 
 
40 INTERIOR MINERALOGY LAB
 
 Save for the scientific paraphenalia that clutters it,
 it is empty. Henry switches off the light.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
41 INTERIOR END OF CORRIDOR
 
 The party has halted by a closed door at the end of
 the hallway.
 
 HENRY
 (trying the door)
 It's locked.
 
 CHAPMAN
  I'm sorry - I forgot. I'll get
 the key.
 
 He hurries away.
 
 HENRY
 Nothing else was locked up.
 What's in here?
 
 CARRINGTON
 The greenhouse. We have to keep it
 locked. Ths Eskimos have a weakness
 for our strawberries.
 
 SKEELY
 (incredulously)
 Your what?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smiling)
 Strawberries.
 
 VOORHEES
 We use artificial sunlight. It's
 quite a garden. We raise our own
  tomatoes, asparagus, lettuce.
 
 DYKES
 (sharply)
 Shut up a minute!
 
 CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 What is it?
 
 DYKES
 (his ear at the door)
 There's something moving inside.
 
 There is a silence as everyone listens intently.
 Carrington puts his ear to the door.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (disappointed)
 Yes, I hear it. It's the ventilator.
 The fan needs oiling.
 
 The group relaxes.
 
 SKEELY
 (bitterly)
  We've been through every crevice of the
 camp. If it's not in there, we're
 cooked. Just think - we've lost a
 flying saucer and a man from Mars
 all in one day. What a bunch of
 butterfingers!
 
 Chapman enters.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (proffering the key)
 Here you are, Captain.
 
 Henry takes the key and opens the door.
 
  SKEELY
 (ruminatively, as Henry
 is opening the door)
 I wonder what they would have
 done to Columbus if he'd discovered
 America, and then lost it.
 
  Henry opens the door slowly. He aims his flashlight
 and snaps it on.
 
 
42 INT. GREENHOUSE
 
 Henry's flashlight illumines the greenhouse for several
 moments, playing over its plants and bushes. Henry
 switches on the artificial sunlight arcs. A queer glow
 suffuses the greenery. Henry enters, the others follow.
 
 They stand staring into the corners of the large room.
 It is empty and silent.
 
 CHAPMAN
 It's empty.
 
 HENRY
 Maybe.
 
 He starts forward to examine the spaces concealed by
 the shrubbery. Skeely and Carrington move with him.
 
 HENRY
 (stopping)
 Stay here, please. Near the door.
 
 SKEELY
 My, you're big and brave. What are
 you going to do, catch him all alone?
 
 HENRY
  I'm still waiting to see if he wants
 to catch me. Eddie - Mac - come along.
 
 The soldier trio makes a round of the hothouse. The
 others wait.
 
 
43 CLOSE SHOT OF CARRINGTON
 
 He is watching the moving flyers.  Suddenly he sees
 something that brings a glint of excitement to his eye.
 He starts to speak, then reconsiders and changes the
 incipient remark into a cough.
 
 
44 MEDIUM SHOT GROUP AT DOOR
 
 VOORHEES
 (closest to Carrington)
 What's that, Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Nothing. I just noticed. The
 Mendelson molds are vitiated. We
 mustn't neglect them.
 
 Voorhees and Laurenz look at Carrington curiously. He
 shakes his head imperceptibly. They refrain from
 comment.
 
 Henry and his colleagues complete their round of the
 greenhouse.
 
  HENRY
 Well, that's it, I guess.
 
 SKEELY
 Yes, and isn't it dandy. We're
 certainly going to be a famous group.
 Like the Donner Party.
 
  HENRY
 (ignoring him)
 Dr. Chapman was right. Our pal is
 probably holed up in a snowbank.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (nodding)
 After all, he's lost a hand and had
 six bullet holes shot in him. Animal,
 vegetable or mineral, he must need a
 rest.
 
 The others laugh. Their mood is much lighter now,
 except for Skeely, who stares morosely at the floor.
 
 HENRY
 We'll start searching outside as
 soon as it's light.
 
 CHAPMAN
 We'd better do it in relays. A
  half hour is about all you can
 stand in that cold now.
 
 HENRY
 Good idea. Report to Lt. Dykes
 and he'll arrange a scedule for you.
 (He reaches for the
 light switch)
 Coming, gentlemen?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smoothly)
 Not right away, Captain. Doctor
 Voorhees and Professor Laurenz and
  I want to do some emergency work on
 those molds. Goodnight, gentlemen.
 
 There is a chorus of goodnights as the others move out.
 Henry stands looking at Carrington for a moment.
 
 HENRY
 Kind of late to start work now,
 isn't it?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (laughing)
 It's easy to see you're no scientist,
 Captain Henry. Work is what we do
 when we want to relax.
 
 Henry continues to study him for another moment.
 
 HENRY
 (abruptly)
 I see. Goodnight.
 
 He goes out. Carrington quickly closes the door behind
 him.
 
 He bolts it. Laurenz and Voorhees watch him expectantly.
 Carrington turns and smiles at them brightly.
 
 CARRINGTON
 The MacCormick molds - look!
 
 He points. Laurenz and Voorhees regard the plants he
 indicates.
 
 CARRINGTON
 They're wilted, from cold.
 
 LAURENZ
 But it's warm in here.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (grinning happily)
 Isn't it? So what do you conclude?
 (without waiting for an
 answer he continues)
 Those molds would be in the direct
 path of a blast of icy air if that
 rear door were opened. Ten or
 twenty seconds of such an exposure,
 and they would wilt. I repeat,
 gentlemen, what do you conclude?
 
 VOORHEES
 (pointing)
 But that bolt hasn't been pulled.
 How could the door be opened?
 
 For answer Carrington strides to the rear door.
 Leaving the bolt still in "Shot" position, he turns the
 knob and pulls. The door opens.
 
 Voorhees and Laurenz move quickly to the door. The wind
 whistles about them as the three scientists examine the
 bolt.
 
INSERT CLOSEUP OF BOLT
 
 It has been cleanly severed.
 
 VOORHEES' VOICE
 Filed clean through!
 
 BACK TO GROUP. Carrington closes the door.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (as he does so)
  Not filed, Andrew. Cut.
 
 LAURENZ
 (excitted)
 Yes. Of course. Those razor-like
 fingers on the hand!
 
 VOORHEES
  But the power - to cut through
 that steel - like butter -
 
 CARRINGTON
 (smiling happily)
 Incredible. Really incredible.
 
 LAURENZ
  (his eyes darting around
 the greenhouse)
 Then it's been in here.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (also scanning his
 surroundings)
  Beyond a doubt.
 
 VOORHEES
 What's that?
 
 LAURENZ
 Where?
 
 VOORHEES
 Stand here. See?
  (he points)
 The storage bin. See how the light
 glistens on it.
 
 Carrington crosses to a two and a half foot storage bin,
 and stares at it.
 
 
45 CLOSE SHOT - STORAGE BIN
 
 Its handle glistens strangely.
 
 
46 BACK TO GROUP
 
 Carrington touches the handle with his forefinger. It
 is coated with a viscous fluid. Carrington rubs it
 between his thumb and forefinger, then smells it.
 
 CARRINGTON
  A smear of sap - from the wounded
 arm.
 (indicating the bin)
 Pull it down, please.
 
 Laurenz and Voorhees take hold of the bin and start to
 lift it to the floor. It falls from their grasp.
 
 VOORHEES
 Look out!
 
 The bin crashes over on its side. A body topples out
 of it and crashes at their feat. It is the corpse of a
 dog.
 
 Carrington kneels down and examines it.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (feeling the dog)
 Not dead over an hour.
 (to Voorhees)
 See if there's any congealed blood
 in the bin, Andrew.
 
 LAURENZ
 (as Voorhees inspects
 the bin)
 Seems rather shrunken, doesn't it?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Its blood has been drained.
 
 VOORHEES
 The bin is clean.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (nodding)
 Now we know definitely the type of
 nourishment it requires.
 
 LAURENZ
 (gesturing at the dead dog)
 Why do you suppose it brought
 the dog in here?
 
 CARRINGTON
 We must try very hard to find an
 answer to that question.
 
 His eyes start moving around the greenhouse.
 
 VOORHEES
 Maybe the artificial sunlight
 attracted -
 
  LAURENZ
 (shaking his head)
 The light was off.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (tensely)
 That loam bed - number four.
 Does it strike you the earth
 has been disturbed?
 
 LAURENZ
 (eyeing the loam bin)
 Olson started some lichen there
 last week.
 
 VOORHEES
  That's right.
 
 The trio moves over to the loam bed.
 Carrington regards the loose earth.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (vibrantly)
 Gentlemen, our creature will
 come back here. Of that I
 am certain.
 
 LAURENZ
 What do you see, Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 I'd rather not say - yet. But
 it will come back.
 
 VOORHEES
 Hadn't we better tell the others?
 
 CARRINGTON
 No. I think it better if Science,
 rather than the Army greeted it
  this time.
 (to Laurenz)
 Will you keep watch with me tonight,
 Andrews?
 (Laurenz nods. Carrington
 turns to Voorhees)
 Please bring us some sandwiches and
 coffee. Tell Doctor Auerback and
 Doctor Olson what we have found.
 Ask them to relieve us at eight in
 the morning. And ask them, please
 to confide in no one.
 
 Voorhees nods and departs as we
 
 DISSOLVE TO
 
 
47 INT. MAIN ROOM. CAMP
 
 It is eleven-thirty the following morning. A late
 breakfast is being served in the main living room.
 
 Outside the storm has not abated. It fills the
 sky, darkening the arctic noon.
 
 Henry and Dykes are eating. Mrs. Chapman sits
 nearby knitting.
 
 DYKES
 (staring out the window)
 Look at that, will you? It'll
 never let up! And we could have
 been in Edmonton - open air
 cafes. Moonlit gardens -
 
 MRS. CHAPMAN
  (placidly)
 Oh, we've had them worse than this.
 Three weeks is the longest they last.
 
 DYKES
 Three weeks! We ought to be growing
 our own fur by that time.
 
 The door opens and MacAuliff, Barnes and Ericson
 come in.
 
 HENRY
 Anything, Mac?
 
 MACAULIFF
 (removing his outer garments)
  Not a sign. We've poked into every
 snowbank within a mile.
 
 ERICSON
 (grinning)
 Barnes flushed a Polar bear.
 
 BARNES
  (bitterly)
 I sure did!
 
 DYKES
 (laughing)
 Scare you?
 
 BARNES
 Not after I saw it was only a bear.
 
 Hendrix enters from an interior door. He carries
 a sheaf of messages.
 
 HENDRIX
 (bitterly)
 I want a raise. Or I'm gonna
 strike. Sixteen hours straight
  receiving without stopping!
 
 HENRY
 Anything for me?
 
 HENDRIX
 (angrily)
 Just a few million words. What's the
 matter with that Fogarty fellow -
 got epilepsy?
 (he tosses a bundle of
 messages on the table)
 I haven't even had time to eat.
 
 He pours himself a cup of coffee. Dykes picks
 up the messages.
 
 DYKES
 Some of them are for Skeely.
 
 HENRY
 (eating)
 Skip them. Stick to Fogarty.
 
  DYKES
 (scanning the messages, reads
 from one after another)
 Fogarty to Henry. Preserve wreckage
 of saucer carefully.
 (he throws the paper down
  and picks up a second
 and reads)
 Same to same. Preserve corpse
 of occupant carefully. Allow no
 one to touch it until my arrival.
 Same to same. Forward detailed
 description of saucer - measure-
 ments, weight, general characteristics
 of corpse. Important. Fogarty to
 Henry. Why havent you answered?
 Answer immediately. Same to same -
 radio silence unnecessary.
 Reference message Fogarty to Henry.
 Acknowledge immediately. Acknowledge
 soonest. Fogarty to Henry. Awaiting
 report. Silence confusing. Same to
 same - acknowledge. Fogarty to
 Henry. Acknowledge.
 
 HENRY
 I get the general drift. He wants
 to hear from me.
 
 Skeely enters. He is rumpled, unshaved and still
 sleepy.
 
 SKEELY
 What you got there?
 
 HENDRIX
 (eating toast and gulping
 coffee)
 Some stuff for you.
 
 SKEELY
 (diving for the messages)
 For me?
 (he stares at them, his voice
 growing hoarse with
  excitement)
 They got part of my story! It went
 through! Listen.
 (reads)
 Verify garbled message regarding man
 from Mars. Authorize all expenses.
  Cable straight. Eldredge.
 (he looks up)
 That's the chief.
 (he reads)
 New, York Times Syndicate - Will pay ten
 thousand full story discovery flying
  saucer and Mars man. Want full de-
 tails. Answer collect.
 (he shuffles through
 the other messages)
 London - Paris - A.P. - R.K.O. -
 Life - Colliers - Saturday Evening
 Post - Marshall Field Museum -
 Denver - Chicago - New Orleans -
 They're all gone mad!
 (he looks up)
 People in the streets yelling for
  more news. Every man, woman and
 child in the U.S.A. has stopped
 working.
 (he wheels on Hendrix)
 Lookie, Ez - I've knocked out ten
 thousand words. Been typing all
 night. Get back and send 'em.
 
 HENDRIX
 (eating)
 Not me.
 
 SKEELY
 (yelling)
 Get on that key!
 
 HENDRIX
 (wearily)
 Afterwards. I'm going to bed
 first.
 
 SKEELY
 You can't go to bed. Listen -
 I'll split with you. It's a
 bonanza! I'll give you 25
 percent of the take.
 
 HENDRIX
 (his eating done, wearily)
 Nothing doing! I'm out on my feet.
  And the stuff ain't going through
 anyway. Waste motion.
 
 SKEELY
 It'll go through! You keep send-
 ing! Ez, old man, they're mobbing
 the newspaper offices. They're
 hanging out of windows. This is
 a world emergency. You can't desert
 your post in an emergency - any more
 than you would if a ship was
 sinking?
 
 HENDRIX
 (starting to open
 the door, his back
 turned to it)
 A ship is sinking! And it's me.
 
 As he pulls the door open, we see a tall figure
 leanings against it. Hendrix, unaware of it,
 continues to open the door as he talks.
 
 HENDRIX (cont'd)
 I wouldn't stay up another hour for
 ten thousand dollars a minute. I'm
 out on my feet, I tell you.
 
 The tall figure slides in the doorway and comes
 crashing into the room at Hendrix' feet. It is
 Aligari, the botanist. His face is covered
 with blood. He is semi-conscious. Henry and
 Dykes rush to him. Henry grabs his wrist and
 feels for his pulse.
 
 SKEELY
 Who - Who's that?
 
 MRS. CHAPMAN
 Dr. Aligari.
  (to Henry)
 Is he - dead?
 
 HENRY
 No.
 (to Barnes)
 Get Dr. Chapman.
 (to Mrs. Chapman)
 Got any smelling salts?
 
 MRS. CHAPMAN
 Right here - in the washroom.
 
 She starts out of the room.
 
 HENRY
 Wait.
 (to MacAuliff)
  Go with her, Mac.
 
 MacAuliff follows her out. Aligari stirs and
 tries to sit up.
 
 HENRY
 Take it easy, Doctor. Stay where
 you are. Can you talk?
 
  ALIGARI
 (with difficulty)
 In the greenhouse - the thing -
 Dr. Olson - Auerback.
 
 HENRY
 What happened?
 
 ALIGARI
 I went in - to check the temper-
 ature - my back was turned - when
 Olson screamed - When I turned
 around - the thing - it cut my
 face - The blood blinded me - I
  fell down - I must have fainted.
 (Mrs. Chapman reappears.
 She hands Henry the salts.
 He holds them to Aligari's
 nostrils)
 Thank you ... When I came to, I
 saw Olson and Auerback - hanging
 upside down - Their throats were
 cut - I crawled out - and came
 here -
 
 Henry rises swiftly.
 
 HENRY
 Come on, Eddie. You too, Mac.
 The rest of you stay here -
 and stay together.
 
 He runs out.
 
 SKEELY
 I'm coming! I don't care what
  you say!
 
 He follows the others.
 
 
48 OUTSIDE GREENHOUSE DOOR.
 
 The door is shut. Henry, MacAuliff, Dykes and
 Skeely come down the corridor. They are carrying
 axes and guns.
 
 Henry approaches the door, then stops. He turns to
 MacAuliff.
 
 HENRY
 Mac, round up a detail and post it
 at the rear door of this hothouse.
 Don't go in - just take some timber
 and seal up the doorway!
 
 MACAULIFF
 Right.
 
 He runs down the hall. Almost
 before Henry has finished
 speaking, the door behind him
  has opened with lightning
 rapidity. Henry turns with
 almost equal speed, instantly raising
 his axe. The Thing appears for a
 split second in the doorway, only
  to be met with a crashing wallop
 from the flat of Henry's axe.
 The force of the blow propels
 the Thing back into the greenhouse.
 Henry seizes the doorknob and pulls
 the door shut. He turns the key
 in the lock.
 
 HENRY
 (to Dykes)
 Get the carpenter - on the double!
 
 Dykes runs out.
 
 SKEELY
 (tensely)
 We going in now?
 
 HENRY
 No.
 
 SKEELY
 What about Olson and Auerback?
 
 HENRY
 (snapping)
 Nothing about them! They're dead.
 
 SKEELY
 (producing a camera from
 his pocket)
  How about opening the door long enough
 for me to get one shot - just two seconds.
 
 HENRY
 I'll shoot the man who opens this door.
 
 SKEELY
  (grimacing)
 Well, that's a straight answers. What
 other plans have you got?
 
 HENRY
 If Mac gets to the rear door in time,
 we're going to keep that thing bottled
 up in there.
 
 SKEELY
 Suppose it starves?
 
 HENRY
 I'll let you do my crying for me.
 
  DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
49 MEDIUM SHOT AT DOOR OF GREENHOUSE
 
 The carpenter is driving home spikes in a heavy cross
 beam that bars the greenhouse door. Four similar bars
 have already been installed.
 
 Barnes and Ericson are holding the beam in position as
 the carpenter works. Skeely has left to resume his
 pestering of Hendrix the telegrapher.
 
 Henry is consulting with Chapman.
 
 HENRY
 You're sure there's no other way out?
 No trapdoor - or windows?
 
 CHAPMAN
 None. Only the front and back doors.
 
 HENRY
 The walls solid?
 
  CHAPMAN
 Corrigated iron.
 
 HENRY
 That thing's radio active. Could it
 maybe burn its way out?
 
 CHAPMAN
 I'd consider it extremely unlikely, but -
 
 He pauses.
 
 HENRY
 But what?
 
 CHAPMAN
 The thing itself is extremely unlikely.
 According to Doctor Aligari, it has
 already grown back its arm.
 (with a sudden emotion)
 Captain Henry - forgive me. I don't want
 to go against your orders but those two
 men in there were friends of mine. Close
 friends, for many years. Isn't there some
 way we can get their bodies out? I can't
 stand the thought of them hanging there -
 by their feet - and nothing being done
 for them!
 
 HENRY
 What can be done for them? Face
 the facts, Doctor. They're dead.
 Their throats were cut and they bled to
 death.  Upside down, like in a slaughter
 house. Our job is to see that nobody else
 joins them.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (with a shudder)
 What a way to die.
 
  Professor Voorhees has come down
 the corridor.
 
 VOORHEES
 (quietly to Chapman)
 May I have a word with you, Fred?
 
 CHAPMAN
  (turning to him)
 Certainly.
 
 VOORHEES
 Privately.
 
 CHAPMAN
 Oh.
 (to Henry)
 Excuse me.
 
 Henry nods. Chapman
 accompanies Voorhees a few
 yards down the corridor.
 Voorhees starts to whisper.
 Henry watches them.
 
  VOORHEES
 (into Chapman's ear)
 Come to Carrington's lab as soon as
 you can - and don't let anyone know.
 
 CHAPMAN
 Right away.
  (turning back to Henry)
 Was there anything else, Captain?
 
 HENRY
 Yes. We're keeping a double guard -
 outside and in. Two hour shifts. I'll
 need eight volunteers.
 
 
50 INT. DR. CARRINGTON'S LABORATORY
 
 Dr. Carrington is at his desk. Nikki is beside him,
 note book in hand.
 
 Drs. Chapman, Voorhees, Laurenz and Wilson are in front
 of him. They are silent and alert as he talks.
 
 Carrington is tense and queerly exuberant. Exhaustion
 and excitement are in his face.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly and tensely)
 Two of our colleagues have died and a
  third is dying. Those are our losses - and
 the battle has only begun. There will be
 more losses. The creature X is more powerful,
 more intelligent than us. We are infants
 beside him. He regards us as soft, vulnerable
 earth worms important only for his nourishment.
 He has the same attitude toward us as we have
 toward a field of cabbages.
 
 LAURENZ
 (interrupting)
 You said you had news for us, Arthur.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I have.
 (he rises and smiles)
 We are infants, earthworms and also
 scientists. We have made gains.
 
 VOORHEES
 What have you found out?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (glowing and tense)
 A new world has come to devour us. Only
 science can conquer it. Our minds, gentlemen -
 the little muscle that thinks, observes,
 examines and finds answers. All other weapons
 will be powerless.
  (his eyes close. Weariness
 overcomes him. He mutters)
 I'm very tired. It's difficult to eat.
 (he presses his thumbs into
 his eyeballs)
 Will you read my notes, Miss Nicholson?
 
 LAURENZ
 You need some rest, Arthur.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 No rest. Please read -
 
  NIKKI
 (reading from her note book)
 At 9 p.m. I placed the fifteen seeds taken
 from the severed hand of X in four inches
 of earth. I saturated the earth with two
  units of plasma taken from our blood bank.
 
 Nikki pauses, her face tense.
 
 CARRINGTON
 Please go on, Nikki.
 
 NIKKI
 (continuing to read)
 The condition of the dog found in the
 greenhouse indicated that blood was a
 primal factor in the cultivation of the
 seeds. At 2 a.m. the first sprouts
 appeared through the soil. I used another
 two units of plasma. At 4 a.m. the sprouts
 began to take on definite forms - and -
 
 She breaks off, her face
 strained, her voice faint.
 
 LAURENZ
 (tensely)
 They are still growing!
 
 CARRINGTON
 Five of them - have survived.
 
 Carrington rises and starts
  toward a screened in table.
 The others follow. Nikki
 remains motionless at the
 desk.
 
 
51 SCREENED IN TABLE
 
 A four foot box of earth is on its top. The men stand
 over it. Five small sprouts are budding through the soil.
 There is a moment of silence.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (softly)
 It reproduces itself - like a vegetable!
 
  WILSON
 (staring)
 They're growing!
 
 LAURENZ
 Alive!
 
 CARRINGTON
 Yes. The Geiger counter registered
  6 point 1 radio activity from them an
 hour ago.
 
 He holds the counter over the
 sprouts. The men watch its
 dial.
 
 CHAPMAN
  (reading the dial)
 Nine point five.
 
 LAURENZ
 Thriving -
 
 The men speak in excited but
 controlled voices.
 
  WILSON
 (awed)
 Human plants!
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 Super human.
 
 VOORHEES
 (eagerly)
  We must nourish them carefully. My
 examination of the hand revealed a
 high glucose content and a chlorophyll
 base. I suggest a glucose injection.
 
 LAURENZ
  Glucose may be dangerous.
 
 CARRINGTON
 Yes. I think so. He's not using glucose
 in the greenhouse.
 
 WILSON
 That's why he killed - for blood. He's
 growing seeds there. What will we do - when
 these mature?
 
 CARRINGTON
 Study them.
 
 LAURENZ
 (quietly)
 Have you examined the roots, Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 There are no roots.
 
 CHAPMAN
 Amazing! I think we ought to turn the
 violet rays on it.
 
 LAURENZ
 (testing with his fingers)
 No. The growth seems strongest where
 the earth is dampest. Any light might
 dry it up.
 
  VOORHEES
 How much plasma have we got?
 
 CARRINGTON
 I've moved all the units in here. Thirty-
 five.
 
 LAURENZ
  (softly)
 That may be enough.
 
 WILSON
 (looking at an instrument
 beside the earth box)
 What were you doing with that stethescope,
  Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 Listening to them.
 
 LAURENZ
 (looking at the buds through
 a magnifying glass)
 There doesn't seem to be any oscillation.
 
 CARRINGTON
 The sound doesn't come from any oscillation -
 but from something else.
 
 VOORHEES
 An animal sound! Impossible!
 
 Wilson puts the stethescope in
 his ears and holds the end of
 it over a bud. The others wait
 in silence. We listen with him.
 
 WILSON
 (removing the stethescope)
 Arthur's right. It's a hunger noise -
 like an infant.
 
 Nikki has appeared behind
  the screen.
 
 NIKKI
 May I talk to you, Arthur?
 
 CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 Later. Would you please type up all
 my notes.
 (he looks at her intense face
 and then smiles at her, he
 turns to the men)
 Excuse me.
 (the scientists are bent over
 the earth box. They hold the
 Geiger counter over it and listen
 to its faint clicking. Dr.
 Voorhees listens as did Wilson
 through the stethescope. Carrington
  moves out from behind the screen
 with Nikki)
 What is it, Nikki?
 
 NIKKI
 I insist that you get some sleep, Arthur.
 
 CARRINGTON
  Later.
 
 NIKKI
 (insistent)
 You can't use your mind - if you're exhausted.
 
 CARRINGTON
 My mind's still perfectly clear.
 
  NIKKI
 It isn't.
 (he frowns at her)
 You're not thinking of what's happening in
 the greenhouse. You saw what one of them
 can do! Well, just imagine if there are a
 thousand, or a hundred thousand!
 
 CARRINGTON
 I have imagined it.
 
 NIKKI
 And you won't do anything?
 
  CARRINGTON
 I'm doing all that can be done, Nikki -
 discovering its secrets.
 
 NIKKI
 (tensely)
 I know! And that's quite wonderful.
  But what if that ship came here not just
 to visit the earth, but to conquer it!
 To start growing some kind of a horrible
 army. And turn the human race into - into
 food for it! And kill the whole world.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (quietly)
 There are many things threatening to kill
 our world, Nikki. New stars and comets
 shooting through space. Atmospheric changes.
 A sudden cooling of the sun. And even human
 wars - that may release deadly global gases.
 
 NIKKI
 But those are theories, Arthur! This is an
  enemy - near us - and -
 
 CARRINGTON
 (taking her arm)
 There are no enemies in science - There are
 only phenomena to study. We are studying one.
 
  NIKKI
 You're not afraid?
 
 CARRINGTON
 I'd be a traitor to human reason if I allowed
 my fears to destroy what has come to us - or
 let anyone else destroy it.
 (softly)
 I want you to believe in my way, Nikki - the
 way of the mind.
 
 NIKKI
 (nervously)
 I've admired you tremendously, Arthur -
 
 CARRINGTON
 (intensely)
 Not admiration - Faith.
 
 NIKKI
 You have it.
 (she smiles nervously)
 I'm so terrified I can barely walk. I'll
 - I'll totter off to my room and type your
 notes.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 Thanks.
 
  (She starts away)
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
52 INT. NIKKI'S ROOM
 
 She is typing at her desk, her note book propped up in
 front of her. A sheaf of typewritten pages is beside
 her machine.
 
 The door opens. Captain Henry enters.
 
 HENRY
 (watching her type)
 Want to take a rest?
 
 NIKKI
 (without looking up)
  Can't.
 
 HENRY
 I'll rub your neck. It'll relax you.
 
 He comes behind her and
 massages her neck and
 shoulders gently.
 
  NIKKI
 Please, I can't concentrate - when you
 do that.
 
 HENRY
 Maybe you're concentrating on the wrong
 thing.
 
 She finishes the last line of
 typing, pulls the page out of
 the machine, puts it on a pile
 of copy. She covers the pile
 with a large book.
 
  NIKKI
 I'm bushed.
 (she smiles at him)
 That feels good. Please don't tire yourself.
 
 HENRY
 (massaging, and trying
 to get a look at the
 copy over her head)
 Couldn't.
 (casually)
 Have there been any accidents up here in the
 last two months? Anybody shot, stabbed or
  had an ulcer removed?
 
 NIKKI
 (covering the copy casually
 with another book)
 No. That what-is-it in the greenhouse is
 our first diversion.
 
  HENRY
 (smiling)
 I brought up thirty-five units of blood
 plasma two months ago. What's become of
 it?
 
 NIKKI
  Why nothing. It's here.
 
 HENRY
 I wondered why they're not using it on
 Dr. Aligari. They're giving him blood
 transfusions. No plasma. Two live
 donors. Any ideas about that?
 
 NIKKI
 (moving her neck and
 shoulders away)
 Thanks for the massage. You're really
 very good at it.
 
  HENRY
 It's just a sample.
 (firmly)
 Relax your neck muscles.
 (she does)
 That's fine.
 (he starts massaging her
  shoulders, speaking casually
 as he does)
 What's Carrington doing with thirty-five
 units of plasma, Nikki?
 
 NIKKI
 Ask him.
 
  HENRY
 I will.
 (gently)
 Just close your eyes - and float. It's
 good for you.
 
 NIKKI
 (wearily)
 I'm really exhausted.
 
 She closes her eyes, sighs and "floats." Henry makes a
 quiet sudden move toward the pile of copy she has
 hidden under the two books. The gesture catches Nikki
 by surprise. She stares for an instant unable to
  believe his perfidy and then leaps to her feet, full of
 outrage.
 
 NIKKI
 Give that back! It's private. You're
 not allowed to - ! Give that back or I'll - !
 Oh, you're horrible, a cheap, underhanded
 army spy!
 
 She has flung herself at him, clawing for the papers in
 his hand. Her physical assault is too violent for
 Henry to ignore. He puts an end to it by sending a
 short right into her stomach. She doubles up with a
 groan.
 
 NIKKI
 You hit me!
 
 HENRY
 Only in the stomach. Won't leave any marks.
 (Nikki sinks into her chair,
 staring at him as he reads
 the copy. His voice grows
 quiet and serious)
 So that's it! Holy Ike - five of them!
 (he looks up from his reading
 and stares back at her, his
 voice curt)
 You deserved that punch!
 
 NIKKI
 (softly)
 I wanted to tell you. But I couldn't.
 I gave my word. I'm glad you - did what
 you did. I'm very glad.
 (she smiles wearily at him)
 You can finish the massage now - Pat.
 
  HENRY
 I've got a few other things to finish
 first, baby.
 
 He walks out.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
53 INT. CARRINGTON'S LABORATORY
 
 The door opens. Captain Henry, Lt. Dykes, Dr. Redding
 and Dr. Ambrose enter. They look into a seemingly
 empty room.
 
 HENRY
 (calling)
 Dr. Carrington.
 (Carrington comes out from behind the
 screen)
 
 CARRINGTON
 I'm afraid I'm rather busy right now,
 Captain. Might I ask you to -
 
 HENRY
  (cutting in)
 I've learned that you found a dog in
 the hothouse - bled white by our Visitor.
 And you didn't report it.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I didn't consider it necessary.
 
 HENRY
 No? But it was necessary to let two
 friends of yours go in there and get
 killed!
 
 CARRINGTON
 (evenly)
 I did what you would have done. I
 put them there as guards. I was a
 guard myself. Their deaths were
 unavoidable. Whoever was in there
 would have been killed.
 
  HENRY
 I also understand you're doing a
 little gardening.
 
 Carrington remains silent.
 Voorhees and Laurenz
 emerge from behind the
 screen and stand at
 Carrington's side.
 
 HENRY
 You might have notified me - instead
 of letting me find it out from Miss
 Nicholson.
 (Carrington scowls at this
 bit of news. Henry adds sharply)
 Where are they?
 
 Carrington and his two cohorts
 are silent. They stand staring
  at Ambrose and Redding. Dykes
 has stepped behind the screen.
 
 DYKES
 (reappearing)
 This way to the nursery, Pat.
 
 Henry, Ambrose and Redding
 step behind the screen.
 
 
54 SCREENED IN TABLE
 
 Captain Henry and Lt. Dykes stare at the box of earth.
 Rigged up over it are four plasma containers out of
 which blood is dripping slowly.
 
 Carrington appears.
 
 Henry points at the plasma containers.
 
 HENRY
 (grimly)
 That's what your late colleagues are
 doing - in the greenhouse. This is
  a distinct improvement.
 
 AMBROSE
 (quietly)
 We have read your notes, Arthur.
 I think you should have consulted
 the rest of us.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (coldly)
 I have all the help I need.
 
 REDDING
 (his eyes on the
 sprouts in the
 earth box)
  I consider the situation extremely
 serious, Dr. Carrington.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (softly)
 Your opinion has not been asked,
 Dr. Redding.
 
  REDDING
 (quietly)
 It has - by Captain Henry. And I've
 given it to him. I'll repeat it to
 you. We're facing something
 unpredictably dangerous. The creature
 in the green-house is obviously
 multiplying itself - in this identical
 fashion. It will need more blood for
 its operations. It will make every
 effort to obtain what it needs.
 
 CARRINGTON
 It has been imprisoned and
 immobilized.
 
 REDDING
 We don't know its powers....or its
 resources. We can not be sure of
 our safety - or of something even
 more important - the world's safety.
 We have no knowledge of how much it
 can multiply. A thousand creatures -
  or ten thousand of the sort we've seen
 could -
 
 CARRINGTON
 (interrupting)
 I'm not interested in your fantasies,
 Dr. Redding.
 
  AMBROSE
 Redding's right. The thing has to be
 destroyed, Arthur, and its progeny
 along with it.
 
 CARRINGTON
 Never.
 
 HENRY
 (ignoring Carrington)
 What do you think is the best
 procedure, Dr. Redding?
 
 REDDING
 We'll analyze these things in the box
 first, and see what sort of gas or
 chemical has the quickest effect on
 them. And then use it in the greenhouse.
 
 AMBROSE
 A high electric voltage should be
 able to accomplish what we want.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (coldly)
 You're talking like a frightened
 school boy, Dr. Ambrose.
 
 AMBROSE
  (angrily)
 Two men have been killed! And there's
 more killing ahead.
 
 HENRY
 Electricity sounds good to me. We'll
 shoot it into the greenhouse and -
 
  CARRINGTON
 (interrupting angrily)
 I forbid - any destruction!
 
 LAURENZ
 It would be an outrage!
 
 VOORHEES
  (at the same time)
 A cowardly betrayal of science!
 
 HENRY
 (grimly)
 This isn't science! This is a
 military action against an enemy
  invader. Go ahead, gentlemen. Get
 MacAuliff, Lieutenant.
 (to Redding)
 Mr. MacAuliff will be in charge of
 the electrical operations.
 
 The door opens and the post's radio man, Ezra
 Hendrix enters.
 
 HENDRIX
 (excitedly)
 I got your message through, Dr.
 Carrington! And the answers are still
 coming. I had to take them in shorthand.
 (he starts reading)
 Fogarty to Henry. Carrington informs
 me Martian alive. You are directed to
 make every effort to keep it alive, and
 protect it against any injury. General
 MacLaren arriving tonight with
 fourteenth squadron - and full government
 personnel including Secretary of State.
 Chief of staff already here. Under no
 circumstances take action against
 Martian until our arrival at post soon
 as weather permits. Confirm instantly.
 (Hendrix looks up)
 There's one for you, Doctor. Fogarty
 to Carrington - give Henry all
 cooperation needed to insure survival
 of creature you describe. Army and
 science chief regard your captive most
 important in human history.
 
 CARRINGTON
 You have your orders, Captain Henry,
 and I have mine. I consider them sane
 and intelligent.
 
 HENDRIX
 I got to get back. That loon
 Skeely's got a story longer than
 the Bible he wants me to send.
 
 Henry starts with Hendrix for the door.
 
 EDDIE
 What do we do, Pat?
 
  HENRY
 We get on that radio and try
 changing the Army's mind.
 
 He walks out.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
55 INT. ROOM OCCUPIED BY HENRY AND HIS CREW. 1 A.M.
 
 MacAuliff and Barnes are sleeping on cots. Captain
 Henry is preparing to lie down. He goes to the
 window and looks out at the wildly whirling snow.
 
 HENRY
 (muttering)
  That stinkin' wind!
 (he turns toward
 one of the cots)
 You think our plane's still in
 one piece, Mac?
 
 There is no answer from the sleeping MacAuliff. The
  door opens and Eddie comes in. He wears his flying
 suit. He carries a Kerosene hurricane light.
 
 EDDIE
 (wearily)
 Baby, am I bushed! That bitchy wind
 cuts you in half.
 (he hands Henry
 the lamp)
 Mind filling this up? Burned dry.
 You'll need it outside. Blacker than
 Fogarty's heart.
 (he starts
 removing his suit
 as they talk)
 Anything new?
 
 Henry starts filling the lamp out of a large
 kerosene can.
 
 HENRY
 (grimly-quoting)
 Fogarty to Henry. Your attitude
 inviting court martial. Fogarty
 to Henry. Your hysterics are
 unbecoming to officer - also black
 mark for entire air corps.
 
  EDDIE
 (wearily)
 That pook head! He thinks we're
 running a ministrel show.
 (he has lain down
 on the cot)
 When do I stand guard again?
 
 HENRY
 Four hours.
 
 EDDIE
 (snuggling
 into pillow)
 In that case, excuse me.
  (he sighs and
 mutters sleepily)
 Remember Guadalcanal - those nice
 warm nights?
 
 Henry has lighted the hurricane lamp.
 
 HENRY
 If this rotten weather would only quit
 for a minute - they can come in and
 court martial me all they like.
 Hendrix says it won't blow itself out
 for two more weeks. He was up here
 once with -
 
 A snore comes from Eddie and Captain Henry stops
 talking. He sits down on a cot to remove his shoes.
 There is a knock on the door. Henry goes to it and
 opens it. Nikki comes in. She is in a night robe
 and slippers. She carries a small toilet kit and
 a blanket.
 
 NIKKI
 (brightly)
 Have you got room?
 
 HENRY
 Come in. I was just going to bed.
 
 NIKKI
 Thought I'd join you - if you don't
 mind.
 
 HENRY
 Don't mind at all.
 
 NIKKI
 I brought my own blanket - if
 you have an extra cot.
 
 HENRY
 I think we can - arrange something.
 
 NIKKI
 (sitting down
 on a cot)
 This one's empty.
 
 HENRY
 It's mine.
 (she starts
 to get up)
 Perfectly all right - you can use it.
 
 He sits down beside her.
 
 NIKKI
 (nervously)
 You don't mind sleeping with one
 of the men.
 
 HENRY
 It's not my usual preference.
 
  NIKKI
 (laughing a little
 loudly)
 Mine either.
 
 HENRY
 (frowning)
 Shh. No sense in waking them up.
 They're very tired.
 
 NIKKI
 (solemnly)
 Sorry.
 (he puts his arm
 around her as she
 peers at the sleepers)
 I'll try not to disturb them.
 
 HENRY
 You can lie down, if you care to.
 
 NIKKI
 I can't.
 
 HENRY
  Why not?
 
 NIKKI
 I'm scared to death. The minute
 I lie down, I jump up.
 
 HENRY
 Maybe I can relax you, baby.
 
  NIKKI
 Please - no massages.
 
 HENRY
 Can't you think of me as something
 beside a masseur?
 
 NIKKI
 Yes.
  (she looks at
 him nervously)
 Please make love to me.
 
 HENRY
 (holding her)
 You're shaking.
 
 NIKKI
  I know. It'll take my mind off -
 what's making me shake - that what-
 is-it.
 
 HENRY
 (gently)
 You're very sweet. Perfect skin,
 perfect nose - everything perfect.
 
 NIKKI
 Thank you.
 (she stares
 at him and
 adds softly)
 Please go on.
 
  HENRY
 Your mind isn't on it.
 
 NIKKI
 Yes - it is. Honestly it is.
 You said I was perfect.
 
 HENRY
 If you lie down you'll stop
 shaking, baby.
 
 NIKKI
 I won't.
 
 HENRY
 Just try it.
 
 NIKKI
 You -- you can't make love to
 me if I'm lying down.
 
 HENRY
 Yes I can. It doesn't interfere
 at all.
 
 NIKKI
 Pat -- do you really love me? Or
  are you just talking because I
 asked you to?
 (Henry has turned his
 head toward a clicking
 noise coming from the
 direction of MacAuliff's
 bed. Nikki frowns at
 him)
 Now whose mind isn't on it?
 
 HENRY
 (looking at her)
 Darling.
 
  NIKKI
 (smiling nervously
 at him)
 I understand perfectly.
 
 HENRY
 What?
 
 NIKKI
 A room full of kibitzers and a
 monster floating around -- it's
 a little difficult kissing a
 girl under such conditions.
 
 HENRY
 (his ears cocked at the
  continuing clicking)
 You're wonderful.
 
 He kisses her.
 
 NIKKI
 (after the kiss)
 That's very -- relaxing. I feel
 much better. I'll -- I'll lie
 down, it you don't mind.
 
 She lies down on the cot. As she does, Henry stands
 up. She looks at him with some surprise.
 
 HENRY
 That clicking. Sounds like.
  No -- it couldn't be --
 (he smiles tensely at
 the recumbent Nikki)
 Excuse me.
 (he goes to MacAuliff's
 bed and shakes him
 gently)
 Mac, Mac -- wake up.
 (MacAuliff opens
 his eyes)
 
 MACAULIFF
 What's the matter?
 
 HENRY
 (gesturing toward
 the clicking)
 Hear that?
 
 MacAuliff listens for a second, then sits up swiftly.
 
 MACAULIFF
 The counter!
 
 HENRY
 I thought so!
 
 MacAuliff jumps up and grabs at a duffle bag that lies
 at the foot of his bed.
 
 NIKKI
 What is it?
 
 HENRY
 The Geiger counter.
 
 NIKKI
 Why should it be clicking now?
 
 HENRY
 There's something moving around
 that's radio active.
 
  NIKKI
 Oh, no -- no!
 
 MacAuliff lifts the counter out of his duffle bag and
 stares at it. It continues to click, its rhythm
 accelerating slightly. Henry darts to the
 intercommunication panel at his desk.
 
  HENRY
 (pushing a button)
 Ericson! Ken! This is Pat.
 Come in -- quick!
 
 A moment's silence.
 
 ERICSON'S VOICE
 Ericson here --
 
 HENRY
 (rapidly into
 speaker)
 Any trouble down there?
 
 ERICSON'S VOICE
 Not a thing, Pat.
 
  HENRY
 Who's on duty outside?
 
 ERICSON'S VOICE
 Dr. Ambrose and what's his name,
 the carpenter.
 
 HENRY
 Beat it aut there, as fast as
 you can. Check that rear door
 and call me back!
 
 ERICSON'S VOICE
 Will do.
 
 Henry turns to MacAuliff and Nikki who are staring
 fearfully at the counter. The clicking has continued
 to gain in volume and metre.
 
 MACAULIFF
 It's getting stronger.
 
 Henry grabs a pillow from the bed and an ice axe from
 his desk. He runs to the door, opens it and
 cautiously peers down the hall. MacAuliff and Nikki
 watch him tensely.
 
 HENRY
 (after a moment)
 Nothing. Not a sign --
 
 Nikki gives a long sigh of relief.
 
 NIKKI
 My heart's pounding like a horse
 running away.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (shaking the counter)
 Suppose this thing's gone nuts?
 
 HENRY
 (dropping the
 pillow and
 ice axe)
 I sure hope so. Let me see it.
 (he takes the
  counter; the
 clicking is now
 quite rapid)
 It looks okay.
 
 There is a movement outside the window. No one in the
 room sees it.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Maybe Dr. Carrington is
 experimenting some more.
 
 NIKKI
 (hopefully)
 That's possible. Shall I call
 him?
 
 The intercom speaks.
 
 ERICSON'S VOICE
 Everything's in order outside,
 Pat.
 
 HENRY
 (into intercom)
 Thanks, Ken.
 
 He snaps the intercom shut.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (eyes glued on
 the counter)
 I sure don't get it.
 
 HENRY
 Call Carrington, Nikki.
 
  NIKKI
 (pressing a
 switch on the
 intercom)
 Dr. Carrington -- Dr. Carrington.
 This is Nikki, Arthur.
 
 A moment's pause, then Carrington's sleepy voice comes
 from the intercom.
 
 CARRINGTON'S VOICE
 Yes, Nikki?
 
 NIKKI
 I'm in Captain Henry's room.
 His Geiger counter is counting
 Geigers like mad. He wants to
 know if it might be picking up
 anything that you're doing.
 
 CARRINGTON'S VOICE
 No. What's the reading?
 
  MACAULIFF
 Eight point six. And going up.
 
 NIKKI
 (repeating into
 intercom)
 Eight point six. And going up.
 
  CARRINGTON'S VOICE
 I'll be right down.
 
 The intercom snaps off. Suddenly the Geiger counter
 starts purring like a rattlesnake.
 
 HENRY
 (his voice rising)
 Eddie! Barnes! Get up!
 (Dykes and Barnes
 sit up in alarm)
 Grab your guns -- axes are
 better -- Nikki, take this!
 (he seizes the
  mattress on
 his cot and
 pushes it at
 Nikki)
 Sit in the corner -- hold that
 over you!
 (to MacAuliff)
  Where's your tommy-gun?
 
 MACAULIFF
 Here!
 
 He pulls tommy-gun from under his bed and brandishes it.
 
 DYKES AND BARNES
 What's up?
 Where is it?
 
 A CRASH from the window is their answer.
 
 HENRY
 Pillows! Get those pillows in
 front of your faces!
 
 A second CRASH sends the entire window hurtling into
 the room. The Creature springs into their midst.
 
 GUNS ROAR. The Creature moves toward MacAuliff. His
 tommy-gun chatters at it point-blank. It strikes at
 the tommy-gun, knocking it out of MacAuliff's hands,
 and sending MacAuliff sprawling.
 
 The Creature jumps after MacAuliff. It is balked for a
 moment by Henry who strikes it with his ice axe.
 
 A bullet hits the light. Only the dim light of the
 kerosene lamp remains.
 
 The Creature whips its knifed hand at Henry's face.
 Henry partially blocks the blow with his pillow which
 shreds in the air. Henry staggers back against the
 wall. He almost knocks over the hurricane lamp. He
 picks it up and dashes it at the Creature. Flaming
 kerosene spatters over it. As it stands burning torch-
 like in the middle of the room Barnes moves forward
 and strikes a mighty blow with his axe. The blow
 misses. Instantly the Creature wheels and seizes Barnes
  by the throat. Barnes screams once. His scream gurgles
 away. Dykes, holding his entire cot in front of him
 as a shield, rushes forward followed by Henry. They
 smash at the monster which, still holding Barnes with
 one tentacle, retreats to a corner of the room.
 
 It is the corner in which Nikki has been crouching.
 She screams. The Creature whips its free talon at her
 and secures her by the arm. Still afire, it starts
 dragging its two victims toward the window. Nikki's
 screams fill the room. Once more Henry charges forward
 with his ice axe and sinks its pointed end into the
 Creature's head.
 
 The Creature stops, drops Nikki and lashes at Henry.
 This time its arced knife-fingers slash Henry's wrist.
 Henry drops the axe and falls back. Dykes, still
 shielded by his cot, has at the same time grabbed
 Nikki's ankle and pulled her away. MacAuliff has
 picked up the can containing the remainder of the
 kerosene. He throws it on the Creature. The blaze
 surges up.
 
 Parts of the room have caught fire.
 The Creature picks up Barnes and
 springs out the window into the
  storm.
 
 For a moment its motion through
 the night is etched in fire. Then
 the wind and snow extinguish the
 flames. The Creature disappears.
 
  Dykes moves quickly from Nikki to
 bend over Henry who is kneeling in
 silent agony, clutching his
 lacerated forearm.
 
 Dykes snaps on a flashlight.
 
  DYKES
 (panting)
 You all right, Pat?
 
 HENRY
 (with difficulty)
 Yeh.
 (he nods toward Nikki)
  How about her?
 
 DYKES
 Fainted. Her arms cut. I think
 she's all right, though.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (his fingers on Nikki's pulse)
  Yes, she's all right.
 
 HENRY
 Barnes - he died quick, I think.
 
 DYKES
 So do I.
 (he points his flashlight
  at the floor)
 That thing won't make much of a meal
 of the poor guy. Most of his blood's
 in here.
 
 There is a knock on the door.
 
 CARRINGTON'S VOICE
 It's Dr. Carrington.
 
 HENRY
 Come in.
 
 Dr. Carrington enters. Dykes'
 flashlight focuses on his face.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (blinking at the beam)
 I heard shots - what happened?
 
 HENRY
 Dr. Carrington, I want everyone in
 this camp to assemble in the radio
 room immediately. Fully dressed.
 Bring medical supplies, provisions,
 and every weapon we've got.
 
 CARRINGTON
 Your window - is it - was it the - ?
 
  HENRY
 It was. I'll give you all a full
 report in the radio room. Get going
 Doctor - you, too, Eddie. Round
 everybody up. Get 'em barricaded
 before it comes back!
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
56 INTERIOR RADIO ROOM - 2:30 A.M.
 
 Beyond the radio room is a short underground passage
 leading into the generator room.
 
 All the members of the expedition, save Henry, MacAuliff
 and Hendrix are in the radio room.
 
 Chapman is putting final touches on a bandage on Nikki's
 arm.
 
 Two workers are nailing shut the trap door that leads to
 the observation tower.
 
 Henry enters with Hendrix and MacAuliff following.
 
 HENDRIX
 (to Henry)
 ...not during the storm, Captain.
 But soon's it blows over I can get
 the transmitter out of your plane
 and rig up a two-way communication
 with Dutch Harbor.
 
 Henry nods. MacAuliff has
 taken two Geiger counters
 from a ruck-sack in the
 corner. He returns to Henry.
 
 HENRY
 (to MacAuliff)
 Got 'em?
 (as MacAuliff shows him
 the counters)
 Eddie!
 
  Dykes turns from where he
 has been supervising the
 workers at the trap door.
 
 HENRY
 I'm going to station you and Mac at
 each end of the corridor. Take a
 counter along. If it starts clicking,
 report back here on the double.
 
 DYKES
 (feelingly)
 You bet.
 
 HENRY
  I'll put Nikki on the intercom.
 She'll keep checking with you, so
 we'll know if you get taken by surprise.
 
 DYKES
 (wryly)
 That'll be a big help...
 (He goes out
 with MacAuliff)
 
 HENRY
 (to Nikki)
 Got that, Nikki?
 
 NIKKI
 Yes. Where's the intercom?
 
 HENRY
 (pointing)
 Over there. Hendrix'll show you.
 
 Nikki pulls a chair over to
 the intercom panel. Hendrix
  moves to show her the levers
 that will connect her with
 Dykes and MacAuliff.
 Skeely emerges from the
 generator room and crosses
 to Henry.
 
 SKEELY
 Hey, Ceptain, what's the sense of
 everybody huddling in here? Let's
 set some acetylene torches and hand
 grenades and stuff and rush the greenhouse.
 
 HENRY
 It isn't in the greenhouse. I just
 checked.
 
 CHAPMAN
 How did it get out, Captain?
 
 HENRY
  Burned its way out. There's a
 big hole in the wall. Still hot.
 
 SKEELY
 (incredulous)
 Burned its way through an iron wall?
 
 HENRY
 It's radio-active.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (solemnly)
 Probably can generate enough heat to
 burn its way through anything.
 
 NIKKI
  (into intercom)
 All right, Eddie? Over.
 
 EDDIE'S VOICE
 Nothing yet.
 
 NIKKI
 (into intercom)
 All right, Mac? Over.
 
 MACAULIFF'S VOICE
 All quiet here.
 
 At twenty second intervals,
 Nikki, Eddie and MacAuliff
 repeat the same ritual.
 
  SKEELY
 I still say we ought to corner that
 thing in the greenhouse. That's were
 it's growing its stuff -- it'll go
 back there --
 
 ERICSON
 (growling)
 Corner it with what, you dumb joker?
 Insect powder?
 
 AMBROSE
 (coming up)
 I've got enough cable to reach the
  nursery, Captain. Suppose we electrocute
 it?
 
 CHAPMAN
 It might be immune to electricity.
 
 REDDING
 (coming up)
  It's not. I tried it, on one of those
 horrible sprouts.
 
 Carrington has been sitting
 nearby, his head in his
 hands. He looks up angrily.
 
  CARRINGTON
 You destroyed them!
 
 REDDING
 Only one. It disintegrated under
 five hundred volts and burnt to an
 ash.
 
 CARRINGTON
 I forbid you to do any more tampering!
 Our orders are clear. We are to wait --
 
 HENRY
 (curtly)
 I'm giving the orders.
 
 Carrington looks at Henry for
 a moment, then rises and goes
 into the generator room.
 Henry ignores him.
 
 HENRY
 (to Redding)
  I think you've got something, Doctor.
 
 AMBROSE
 (eagerly)
 Shall I run the cable into the green-
 house?
 
 HENRY
 Our pal isn't going back there.
 
 AMBROSE
 But those things in the greenhouse are
 growing...They must need -- nourishment.
 
 REDDING
 (to Henry: protesting)
 You can't anticipate its moves. Its mind
 is of a different nature than ours.
 
 HENRY
 A mind at war is always the same --
 whether it's hatched in Tokyo or Mars.
 We know the thing's objective.
 
 SKEELY
 What?
 
 HENRY
 (nodding at Ambrose)
 Nourishment. Blood, and all the blood in
 the camp is in this room. He'll be
 coming down the pike any minute now.
 
 As Henry speaks his eyes
 have been roving around the
 room.
 
  CHAPMAN
 Perhaps we'd be wiser to disperse --
 
 HENRY
 He'd get us one at a time.
 
 SKEELY
 (eyeing Henry)
  So what do we do?
 
 HENRY
 We give him a welcome home party.
 (he points to the corridor
 that leads to the generator
 room)
  In that tunnel. And a great, big
 hotfoot.
 (he turns to Redding)
 Got any chicken wire - cattle fence
 wire -- any kind of wire webbing?
 
 REDDING
  Yes -- rolls of it.
 
 HENRY
 (to Ericson)
 Ken, take two men and help Doctor
 Redding bring the wire out. Lay it in
 that passage way. Then string it along
 the roof.
 
 SKEELY
 Like a fly trap!
 
 HENRY
 (to Ambrose, as Ken
 follows Redding out)
 Splice your cable to the webbing. And
 fix up an operating switch on a long wire -
 about thirty feet. How many volts can
 you give me?
 
 AMBROSE
 Over a thousand.
 
 HENRY
 That enough?
 
 AMBROSE
 I earnestly hope so.
 
 HENRY
 Got going, Doctor.
 
 Ambrose runs out. Nikki's
 exchanges with Dykes and
 MacAuliff have been continuing
 at regular intervals. Now
 Nikki turns to Hendrix.
 
 NIKKI
 Take over for me, please,
 Mr. Hendrix.
 
 Hendrix sits at the intercom
 and starts checking with the
 sentinels as Nikki goes to
 Henry. She pulls at his sleeve.
 
 Pat, don't you feel it? It's getting
 cold.
 
 HENRY
 (paying no attention)
 Everybody who's not working get back
  in the generator room. Make it snappy,
 please.
 
 NIKKI
 Pat, I tell you I'm getting cold.
 
 HENRY
 You sick?
 
 NIKKI
 No, you dunce. It's cold. The heat
 must be off.
 
 HENRY
 (calling to Chapman)
 What's the thermometer reading?
 
 CHAPMAN
 (glancing at a wall thermometer)
 Fifty-four. I thought it was
 getting chilly.
 
 SKEELY
 It sure is.
 
 CHAPMAN
  (still staring at the
 thermometer)
 It's going down fast.
 
 HENRY
 (placing his hand over
 a heat vent)
 There's no heat at all coming
 through the vents.
 
 CHAPMAN
 We've got three furnaces. They
 couldn't all break down at once.
 
 SKEELY
  (looking at the thermometer
 over Chapman's shoulder)
 Going down. Forty-nine!
 
 CHAPMAN
 Someone better go to the furnace room.
 
 HENRY
 No, Doctor. There's nothing
 wrong with the furnaces.
 
 NIKKI
 Must be, Henry. Why aren't they working?
 
 HENRY
 Because they've been turned off.
 By our visitor.
 
 SKEELY
 Holy Ike. He's gonna freeze us out!
 
 HENRY
 And come in after us when we're
 numb or dead with cold.
 
 SKEELY
 What a practical joker. Reminds me
 of General Rommel when we were "it."
 
 CHAPMAN
 (reading from the thermometer)
 Forty-five now.
 
 SKEELY
 And it's sixty below outside.
 
 Redding, Ericson and two other scientists have emerged
 from the storeroom with the wire rolls. They start to
  execute Henry's orders.
 
 HENRY
 (to Chapman)
 How many flying suits are there,
 Doctor?
 
 CHAPMAN
 Eight, counting yours. And one
 electric blanket.
 
 The telegraph instrument starts to chatter.
 
 HENDRIX
 (calling)
 Nikki.
 
 NIKKI
 Coming.
 
 She replaces Hendrix at the intercom panel. Hendrix
 starts taking down the telegraph message.
 
 HENRY
 (to Chapman)
 Leave me one for Nikki. Take the
 others in the generating room and
 tell the folks to take turns
 wearing 'em. Ten minute shifts.
 
 Chapman moves to obay.
 
 SKEELY
 Our friend's quite a boy. Figures all
 the angles.
 
 HENRY
 (staring at the wiring)
 Lucky thing we got Edison and
 Einstein on our side.
 
 SKEELY
  (quietly)
 Wonder if they're going to be enough.
 
 HENRY
 (equally quietly)
 I was wondering the exact same thing.
 
 ERICSON
  (working)
 My fingers are getting numb.
 
 SKEELY
 (walking up and down to
 warm himself)
 I remember once, in Accra, in
 equatorial Africa --
 
 ERICSON
 Shut up. Nobody's listening.
 
 HENDRIX
 Message for you Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Hold it.
 (to Chapman who is returning
 for another load of flying suits)
 Got any rubber boots in that storeroom?
 
 CHAPMAN
 Plenty of them.
 
  HENRY
 Get us four pairs, will you.
 
 Chapman goes to the storeroom.
 
 SKEELY
 What're the boots for?
 
 HENRY
 So nobody gets burned accidentally
 when I turn the juice on.
 
 SKEELY
 (calling after Chapman)
 Make that five pair, Doctor!
 
 DYKES' VOICE
  (over intercom)
 It's coming!
 
 NIKKI
 (relaying the warning)
 Pat! It's coming!
 
 HENRY
 (to Nikki)
  Call Mac in!
 (to the wire workers)
 Almost finished?
 
 REDDING
 (working frantically)
 Another minute..
 
 AMBROSE
 (calling from the other
 end of the corridor)
 All ready on this end!
 
 Henry has moved to the door. He opens it. MacAuliff
 and Dykes come running in. Henry shuts and bolts the
 door behind them.
 
 DYKES
 (panting)
 The counter's going. The reading's
 low, but it's going up. Oh, boy,
 it's cold!
 
 He hands the counter to Henry. Chapman has come out
 of the storeroom with the boots. Skeely takes a pair,
 and the others are dumped at the entrance of the
 passage-way.
 
 HENRY
 (jerking his head toward the
 generator room)
 Nikki - back there. Get going.
 (to the others)
 Get those boots on, boys.
 
 He starts to pull on a pair himself. Carrington comes
 out of the generator room. He looks at the cable
 hook-up Ambrose has made, then glances up quickly at
 the wire-web installed by Redding, etc.
 
 REDDING
 That does it. All set, Captain.
 
  HENRY
 Okay, everybody in the back room
 but Army personnel.
 
 Carrington strides up to Henry. His face is working
 emotionally. He is about to address Henry, when
 Hendrix speaks up.
 
  HENDRIX
 How about your message, Captain?
 
 HENRY
 Let's have it.
 
 HENDRIX
 (reading)
 MacLaren to Henry. Use every means
 to save lives of expedition. But take
 no steps against captive. Expect to
 relieve you in three days. Hold out
 well as you can. Your main objective
  is to keep creature alive until our
 arrival. Congress, President, Chiefs
 of Staff, all superiors consider
 survival of captive creature greatest
 triumph for our civilization.
 
  DYKES
 The biggest heroes are always back
 of the lines, eh?
 
 HENRY
 (grimly)
 Well - that's that.
 
  SKEELY
 (quietly)
 How does that affect your plans, Captain?
 
 HENRY
 Not at all.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (intensely)
  You can not ignore your orders,
 Captain! They come from sources
 that know more than you!
 
 Henry finishes donning his boots. He stands up, and
 glances coolly at Carrington.
 
  HENRY
 We'll discuss that some other time.
 (pointing to the
 rear door)
 Inside, folks.
 
 Carrington stands glaring at Henry. He makes an effort
 to control the fury in him.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (vibrantly)
 You're defying orders from your superiors,
 Captain Henry. You've been directed
 to preserve the life of this interplanetary
 creature at all costs.
 
 DYKES
 (from the thermometer)
 The temperature is now thirty above.
 
 SKEELY
 Perfect for ski-ing.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (tensely to Henry)
 You are an officer in the United
 States Army in charge of a military
 mission. You have received instructions
 from your general - and from every
 department of the government on how
 to proceed.
 
 HENRY
 It's no fun breaking orders, Doctor.
 But my duty -
 
 CARRINGTON
 (cutting in sharply)
 Your duty is to the Army you represent!
 
 HENRY
 (quietly)
 My first duty as a man is to the
 human race. There's an enemy of it
 coming after us. I'm going to kill it.
 
 Redding enters from the corridor. He hands Henry a
 switch on the end of a long wire.
 
 REDDING
 Here's your operating switch.
 
 HENRY
 Thanks.
 
 Redding glances curiously at Carrington and returns
 toward the rear room. Dykes is standing by the
 intercom panel.  He pushes a button. A subdued
 squealing comes out of the communicator.
 
 HENRY
 (sharply)
 What's that?
 
 DYKES
 I've got the intercom open to the
 greenhouse. Listen to them.
 
 As he talks the room fills with an insistent mewing
 as if from a myriad of voices.
 
 HENRY
 Your friends sound hungry, Carrington.
 
  SKEELY
 (as the voices rise)
 They must be big boys now.
 
 DYKES
 The wild carrots are coming - !
 
 CARRINGTON
 (his voice rising in anger)
 You're doing more than breaking Army
 orders, Captain! You're robbing the
 human mind!
 
 HENRY
 You can testify to that effect at my
 court martial, Doctor.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (tensely - and controlling
 himself again)
 A secret has come to us, greater than
  any secret ever revealed to science.
 It must not be destroyed! It must
 be studied - and learned.
 
 HENRY
 (quietly)
 I saw it, Carrington. It's not
 something to put under glass -
 and examine. And there are thousands
 more of them hatching. They'll
 reproduce like weeds. They'll
 tear the world apart.
 
  CARRINGTON
 That doesn't matter!
 
 HENRY
 (softly)
 It kind of matters to me.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (growing wilder)
 Knowledge is more important than
 life, Captain. We have only one
 excuse for existing - to think,
 to find out, to learn what is unknown.
 
 DYKES
  We haven't a chance to learn anything
 from that pookey Martian, except a
 quicker way to die, Doctor.
 
 HENRY
 I'm ordering you back, Carrington.
 
  CARRINGTON
 (full of a curious fury)
 It doesn't matter what happens to
 us! We're not animals. We're a
 brain that thinks! Nothing else
 counts, except our thinking. We've
 thought our way into nature. We've
 split the atom -
 
 DYKES
 Yeah, and that sure made the world
 happy, didn't it!
 
 The mewing out of the wall speaker increases.
 
 HENRY
 I've ordered you out, Carrington.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (wildly)
 We owe it to the brain of our
 species to stand here and die
 without destroying a source of
 wisdom! Captain, I beseech you.
 Science, government, the Army -
 civilization has given us orders.
 
  HENRY
 (grimly)
 They're wrong order. They come
 from people who don't know what
 they're talking about.
 
 SKEELY
 I'm with you there, Henry. In a
 pinch I always put my money on a
 little man - against all top brass.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (wildly to Henry)
 You set yourself above all human
  progress, above all science!
 
 HENRY
 (quietly)
 I set myself against an enemy,
 Carrington.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Come on, Doctor. You've said your
 piece. This is one time when
 science doesn't blow up the world
 ...just to see what makes it tick.
 
 DYKES
 (suddenly)
  The Geiger!
 
 He picks up the counter. It is clicking more
 rapidly.
 
 HENRY
 Inside, Carrington.
 
 Dykes seizes Carrington. The Doctor goes with him.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (from the door into the
 underground passage)
 You're fools! You'll never hurt it!
 It's wiser, stronger -
 
 DYKES
 Shut up - !
 
 He pushes Carrington into the passage into the
 generator room. Nikki, Chapman and Hendrix follow.
 Dykes shuts the door behind them and then rejoins the
 group in the radio room. It consists of Henry,
 MacAuliff, Ericson, Skeely and Dykes. Henry turns
 and sees Skeely.
 
 HENRY
 Sorry, Skeely. These are front lines.
 No civilians allowed.
 
 SKEELY
 That does not include the Press,
 Captain.
 
 HENRY
 Get in with the others, Skeely.
 You don't belong here.
 
 SKEELY
 (grinning)
  I didn't belong at Alamein or
 Bouganville - or Okinawa. Just
 hung around as a kibitzer. I am
 also a very good obit writer.
 Ignore me, please.
 
 Henry grins and decides to ignore him. He turns to
 Dykes.
 
 HENRY
 You got the Geiger, Eddie.
 
 DYKES
 Yeah, no change.
 
 MACAULIFF
 The temperature is now twenty-two.
 
 HENRY
 Keep moving around. That'll help
 a little.
 
 ERICSON
 (trying to keep his
 voice casual)
 Excuse me, Pat, but wouldn't it
 be a better idea to wait at the
 other end of the tunnel.
 
 HENRY
 No, Ken. We receive in here.
 
  DYKES
 Any reason, Pat?
 
 HENRY
 Psychology. Our boy seems kind
 of smart. He's going to notice
 an empty room - and a lot of fence
  wire laid. And sit down to think
 it over - for a few hours. But
 if it finds us out here waiting,
 he'll chase us back into the trap.
 
 SKEELY
 Providing we are able to move.
 
 HENRY
 That's right.
 
 SKEELY
 Frozen bait, eh?
 
 MACAULIFF
 How can it get cold so quick?
  (to Dykes)
 You're turning blue.
 
 HENRY
 Keep moving, boys.
 
 They pace.
 
 ERICSON
 Must be zero.
 
  DYKES
 (from the thermometer)
 Was. Next stop five below.
 
 MACAULIFF
 Come, Mr. Martian - and get some
 nice Scotch blood - 110 proof.
  Nothin' like it for babies!
 
 ERICSON
 (pacing)
 Cut it out - !
 
 MACAULIFF
 I never thought I'd be in a hurry
 to see that lad again.
 
 ERICSON
 (gesturing toward
 the intercom from
 which the mewing noises
 are still issuing -
 now in a sudden
 crescendo)
 Those things give me the fantods.
 Okay if I shut it off, Captain?
 
 SKEELY
 No, don't. I like the gooseflesh.
 Keeps me warm.
 
 There is a moment or two of silence. The men keep
 moving and swinging their arms.
 
 DYKES
 I don't hear the Geiger.
 
 HENRY
 It's going.
 
  ERICSON
 Faster?
 
 HENRY
 Two points.
 
 DYKES
 Then he's on his way!
 
 MACAULIFF
  Maybe. I got a worry.
 
 DYKES
 (to Henry, saluting
 like a courier)
 Report from the front, Captain.
 Brother MacAuliff has a worry.
 
  MACAULIFF
 It's no joke.
 
 ERICSON
 (tensely)
 Spill it!
 
 MACAULIFF
 What if it can read our minds?
 
  DYKES
 (pacing)
 It's going to be sore when it
 gets to you - a blank page.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (angrily)
 They're working on telepathy in
 this country ain't they? So they've
 probably got it on Mars, considerin'
 the superior type of carrots they
 produce. So it knows everything
 we're sayin' and thinking and it'll
 wait till we're froze stiff in our
 own trap before it -
 
 HENRY
 (sharply)
 It's coming closer.
 (the mewing has
 stopped. There
 is silence. The
 Geiger counter
 is heard clicking)
 Up two more points.
 
 DYKES
  (pats Henry on the back)
 A real strategist. You'll be a
 general yet.
 
 SKEELY
 Not a chance. Not enough fat
 in his head.
 
  ERICSON
 (staring at the counter
 in Henry's hand)
 It's standing still now.
 
 DYKES
 Getting its wind.
 
 HENRY
  Keep moving -
 
 SKEELY
 (as he paces)
 I remember the first electrocution
 I ever covered. Ruth Snyder and
 Judd Grey. I'll never forget how
  Madam Snyder bounced in the chair
 when they gave her her last permanent.
 We were all watching her eyes and -
 
 HENRY
 (sharply)
 Hold it!
 
  Skeely becomes silent. The quickened clicking of the
 Geiger fills the room.
 
 DYKES
 (softly)
 Thar she blows!
 
 HENRY
 (his voice precise)
 When it comes in, you get into
 the passage first, Skeely.
 (he points to the
 opened passage door)
 You next, Ken. Then Mac, then
  Eddie. Got that?
 (the men nod)
 Don't start falling back till its
 in the room and sees us. I'll
 carry the switch. Take care when
 I turn the juice on that you don't
 touch the walls. You'll get
 electrocuted if you do.
 
 MACAULIFF
 What if the thousand volts aren't
 enough, Pat?
 
 DYKES
  Five hundred burned one of the
 sprouts.
 
 MACAULIFF
 You can kill a baby with a fly
 swatter - you need a baseball bat
 for a man. How do we know it
  won't walk right through.
 
 HENRY
 (curtly)
 We don't know. But we'll find out.
 All set?
 
 DYKES
 (quietly)
 Yes, sir.
 
 The Geiger counter is now clicking loudly. Holding
 axes and hatchets in their gloved hands, the men take
 their positions as Captain Henry indicated.
 
 HENRY
  (quietly)
 If the voltage doesn't stop it,
 keep swinging at its arms.
 
 MACAULIFF
 (suddenly)
 It's outside! It's coming in!
 
 A creaking of wood comes from the doorway.
 
 SKEELY
 Yeah, we got a caller.
 
 HENRY
 Wait till it shows - before you move!
 
 At this moment the lights go out.
 
  SKEELY
 (in the dark)
 What the holy -- !
 
 MACAULIFF
 (calling in the dark)
 The juice is off!
 
  ERICSON
 (bawling out in the dark)
 Put on the lights.
 
 The Geiger clicking and the mewing fill the darkness.
 The outline of the door begins to glow in the dark, as
 the Creature burns away at it.
 
 NIKKI'S VOICE
 (yelling)
 Pat!! Pat! Carrington's
 disconnected the generator!
 
 HENRY'S VOICE
 Mac! Come with me! Eddie -
 hold that thing back as long as
 you can!
 
 DYKES
 Roger -
 
 REDDING'S VOICE
 (calling down the
 passageway)
 Captain Henry - Watch out -
 Carrington's got a gun!
 
 We hear the sound of feet crashing against the wire
 webbing as Henry and MacAuliff run along the tunnel.
 The doorway's outline continues to glow more brightly.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
57 INT. GENERATOR ROOM
 
 It is entirely dark. Henry's flashlight stabs into the
 room. It swivels around quickly, pausing briefly on
 Nikki's panicky face, flashing over the frightened
 faces of the others, then finding Carrington.
 Carrington stands with a gun in his hand, staring
 wildly.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (as the flashlight
  hits him)
 I'll shoot! I'll shoot if anyone
 touches that generator!
 
 Henry's response is to charge forward. He grabs the
 revolver with one hand, and hits Carrington with the
 other. Carrington falls unconscious, alongside the
 generators. Henry seizes Carrington's revolver.
 
 HENRY
 (as he retrieves
 the revolver)
 Mac! Redding! Get those
  generators connected!
 
 He darts out as Mac and Redding turn their flashlights
 on the generator and fall to work.
 
 DISSOLVE TO:
 
 
58 INT. RADIO ROOM
 
 The redly glowing door begins to fall inward. As it
 topples, Dykes' voice is heard.
 
 DYKES
 Never mind the guns. Use your
 axes!
 
 The Creature stands revealed in the doorway radioactivity
 causes it to shimmer weirdly in the dark. It pauses a
 moment in the doorway, then moves toward the little
 group in the mouth of the passagway.
 
 HENRY'S VOICE
 (in the dark)
  Fall back, fellows - Get going,
 Skeely! You nest, Ken! Move!
 
 The group retreats in order down the passageway. The
 Thing pauses at the entrance of the corridor.
 
 MACAULIFF'S VOICE
  (in the dark)
 All connected - Okay, Pat --
 
 The tunnel lights begin to glow redly, revealing the
 Army group retreating over the fence wire. The Creature
 is advancing toward them, but has not yet entered the
 trapped tunnel.
 
 ERICSON
 It's connected! What're you
 waiting for, Pat?
 
 HENRY
 (coolly)
 I'm waiting to catch it in the
 middle of the tunnel, Ken.
 Take it easy, son.
 
 At this moment there comes the sound of a scuffling
 from the generator room. A figure bursts out into the
 tunnel, as we here a chorus of "Grab him," "Shut the
 door," "Hold him - he's crazy," etc. The figure is
 Carrington. He pushes by Henry, Dykes and the rest of
 the Army group, and runs the length of the corridor.
 He comes to a halt at the far end of the corridor,
 facing the Creature. Carrington, only a few feet away
 from the unearthly visitor, extends his arms in a
 pleading gesture.
 
 HENRY
 (during this)
 Grab him! Eddie! Stop him!
 
 DYKES
 Too late. Shall I go get him?
 
 HENRY
 (after a split
 second)
 No. No, Eddie, don't. Fall
 back.
 
 The army group continues to retreat.
 
 CARRINGTON
 (his face dimly
 visible in the
 refracted light
 of the Creature's
 phosphoresence)
 Listen to me - I'm your friend!
 Look, my hands are in the air -
 I have no weapons - I'm your
 friend - you must understand
 that. You're wiser than I -
 you must understand I'm trying
 to help you - Don't come any
 further. They'll kill you!!
 Look at me, I'm defenseless -
 you must see that I don't mean
 to hurt you - I want to know
 you - to help you -
 Believe me! You have a greater
 intelligence than anything on
 Earth - Use it - use it - look
 at me and know what I'm trying
 to tell you - I'm not your
 enemy - I'm a scientist - a
 scientist!
 
 The Creature has paused before Carrington's tirade as
 if studying him. Now, without haste, it lifts one arm,
 and flicks its hand at Carrington's throat. Carrington
 falls to the floor almost decapitated, his last words
 still gurgling in his throat. The Creature steps over
 Carrington's corpse and enters the tunnel. It advances
 five or six steps.
 
 HENRY
 (crying sharply)
 Watch out! Here we go!
 
 He presses the switch in his hand. A bombardment of
 huge sparks leaps from ceiling to floor. The Creature
 is caught in the lightning flashes. It stands
 motionless as the thousand volt bolts crack through it
 from head to foot. In front of it stand the five men -
 axes ready, and weirdly visible in the spitting light.
 The Creature begins to glow like a filament, then
 bursts into flame. It sinks to the ground.
 
 HENRY
 Don't move anybody!
 
 SKEELY
 (pointing a small
 camera)
 Keep that light going! I got
 him! I got him!
 
 The Creature's form melts in the flames. As it dwindles
 away, Henry ends the spark bombardment. The lights of
 the passage come up full. The men move toward the heap
 of ashes remaining of the Creature.
 
 HENRY
 (to Mac)
 Go tell them it's over - and to
 get the furnace going.
 
 As MacAuliff moves to obey, Chapman, Nikki and a number
 of the refugees come out of the generator room.
 
 NIKKI
 Dr. Carrington - what happened to him.
 
 HENRY
  (quietly)
 He's dead.
 
 SKEELY
 (to Henry. Kneeling
 over Carrington's
 remains)
 A clean sweep, Captain. Both
 monsters are dead.
 
 DISSOLVE
 
 
59 INT. RADIO ROOM 7 A.M.
 
 The wind is still blowing, the snow still swirling
 outside the tower windows.
 
 Hendrix sits exhausted at his radio sending panel.
 
 Skeely is hoarse and almost out on his feet with sleep.
 He drinks coffee. A coffee pot is boiling over on an
 electric stove beside him.
 
 Captain Henry sits on the cot bed. He is trying to stay
 awake.
 
 CHAPMAN
 (to Henry)
 Those pills taking hold?
 
 HENRY
 (foggily)
 I'll say.
 
 CHAPMAN
 Don't fight them. Relax.
 
 HENRY
 I've got to --
 
 CHAPMAN
 That can all wait. First you have got
 to rest. We all do.
 
  He goes out.
 
 SKEELY
 (drinking coffee)
 She clear?
 
 HENDRIX
 Just a minute.
 (into Mike)
 Dutch Harbor, can you hear me?
 
 VOICE
 (back out of radio)
 Dutch Harbor - reception clear.
 
 SKEELY
 (excited and hoarse)
 I'm on!
 
 VOICE
 General Fogarty standing by for
 Captain Henry.
 
 HENRY
 (eyes closed)
 Coming -- I'm coming.
 
 Instead he sinks onto the cot bed.
 
 SKEELY
 (at the microphone)
 North Pole, November 15 - Ned
 Skeely reporting -
 
 VOICE
 (coming back)
 General Fogarty standing by for
 Captain Henry.
 
 SKEELY
 (into mike)
 Tell General Fogarty to read it in the
 papers. Flash. The world's greatest
 battle was fought and won today by
 the human race. Here at the top of
 the world a handful of American
 soldiers and civilians wiped out the
 first invasion from another planet.
 
 VOICE
 (over radio)
 Captain Henry - come in. General
 Fogarty standing by.
 
 As Skeely continues to broadcast, Nikki enters. She
  looks around sleepily. She sees Henry stretched out
 on the cot bed, goes to him and starts shaking him
 awake. But nothing will rouse him.
 
 Failing to bring Henry to wakefullness, Nikki smiles
 sleepily and stretches out in the cot beside him. She
 closes her eyes.
 
 Henry opens his eyes and looks at her foggily. He tries
 to embrace her but cannot.
 
 HENRY
 (drowsily)
 Untie me, honey.
 
  NIKKI
 You bet I will. Tomorrow.
 
 Henry sticks his nose into her neck and falls happily
 asleep.
 
 During this Skeely is broadcasting.
 
 SKEELY
  (answering voice)
 Stand by, all newspapers! Flash
 continued! This first skirmish
 for the possession of the earth
 by the creatures from space was
 won by the daring leadership of
 Captain Patrick Henry. Noah once
 saved the world with an ark of wood.
 Captain Henry performed a similar
 service for our planet with an arc
 of electricity. But, ladies and
 gentlemen of the globe - there is an
 enemy hovering over our heads - an
 enemy with an armada of flying saucers,
 and an army of super human and
 fantastic warriors. Every citizen
 of the world must become a sentinel
 watching the skies. Keep looking for
 the next flying saucer - watch the
 skies, watch everything over your
 head - throw a ring of watch towers
 around the earth - Keep looking -
 looking - looking -
 
 FADE OUT
 
 
 The End