It! The Terror from Beyond Space

This was the planet Mars

as my crew and I first saw it.

Dangerous,

treacherous...

Alive with something we

came to know only as...

Death.

This is what we faced

when our spaceship

cracked up in landing

just six months ago...

In January of this year, 1973.

But it seems as if

six centuries passed

before a rescue ship arrived...

For today, of all my crew,

I, col. Edward Carruthers

of the United States

space command,

am the only one alive.

Now, I will be going back to

face my superiors on earth

in Washington.

And perhaps there, too,

I will find another

kind of death.

Ladies and gentlemen

of the press,

as you know, the first attempt

to send a spaceship

to the planet Mars

was made 6 months ago.

We knew that that ship,

the Challenge 141,

had reached its destination.

But that's all we knew.

Teleradio communication

with Mars ceased immediately.

And we were forced to assume

that the ship and

crew had been lost.

The man in charge

of this expedition

was a man who had become

known to the world

as the first man

to be shot into space.

The man who pioneered

interplanetary space travel.

Col. Edward Carruthers.

2 months ago, we sent

a second ship to Mars

to learn the fate of

col. Carruthers and his crew.

The president has asked me

to pass on to you

this significant news.

Col. Edward Carruthers

has been found alive on Mars.

But there is a tragic side

to this history-making event.

Col. Carruthers was

the sole survivor

of this first expedition.

1 hour ago, we received a

teleradio communication

from col. Van heusen,

commander of the

second spaceship.

This ship is now

ready to take off

for its return trip to

the earth from Mars.

And col. Carruthers

is being brought back

for a court-martial

to face trial for the murders

of the rest of the crew.

The rescue ship is

ready to return to earth.

I am to spend the next

4 months with strangers,

a crew of men and women who have

but one single purpose...

To see that I face

a military firing squad.

The emergency air lock

in c compartment

has been left open. What gives?

Sorry, sir, that was me.

I was dumping some empty

crates overboard a while ago.

Name check.

Eric Royce, secure.

Mary Royce, secure.

Ann Anderson, secure.

Maj. John Purdue,

secure.

Bob Finelli, secure.

Lt. James Calder, secure.

All right! Countdown.

Minus 10, 9,

8, 7,

6, 5, 4,

3, 2,

1!

Carruthers?

Carruthers?

What are you thinking about?

Those 9 bodies

you left down there?

Yes.

But I didn't kill them.

Still sticking to your story

about a mysterious creature.

Do you expect a court-martial

to believe it?

It's all I can tell them.

I wish we could've stayed

and searched for the bodies.

However, there's still

enough evidence

to put you in front

of a firing squad.

You honestly believe I'd

murder 9 of my closest friends

in order to survive on Mars?

Isn't it logical, colonel?

The Challenge 141

cracks up in landing.

You know you're

marooned indefinitely

on Mars until

another ship is sent.

If another ship is sent.

You know the food

and supplies aboard

would last the entire

crew only a year,

but they'd last you 10 years,

if the others were dead.

Those people were

killed by something.

Not me.

I want to show you another

something, Carruthers.

After you.

At least I appreciate

the freedom of a ship.

Why not? Can you think

of a better prison?

Aren't you afraid I'll murder

you all in your sleep?

Either It. Calder or myself

will be with you

every second of the trip.

Take a look at this.

We brought the dental records

of the first crew from earth.

This is frank kenner.

Kenner?

We found it near

the Challenge 141,

the day after we found you.

There's only one kind of

a monster that uses bullets.

The second we hit earth,

I'm gonna jump

through that air lock

all the way to the ground.

Then I'm gonna roll around and

stretch like a cat in the sun.

Oh, boy, the sun.

We'll be 50 million

miles closer to it.

Even when I was a kid, I could

never stand being cold.

How'd you ever win the

ardmore fellowship

in low temperature physics?

I wore long underwear. Ha ha ha.

Aah. That figures.

What do you look forward to?

Girls!

Oh, you!

I think I remember,

a fascinating research.

Won't a geologist do?

You're, uh, military

property, Ann.

Occupied territory.

Every time van

sees you, he floats,

even though the ship is equipped

with artificial gravity.

These days, van seems more

concerned over a manhunt,

than a woman hunt.

It's just that Eric believes

Carruthers' story, I don't.

I don't believe it, necessarily.

Nor do I disbelieve it.

However, one thing's sure:

He does believe it.

He had to force himself to

believe it or he'd go insane.

And I didn't do that, did I?

Missed your dinner,

col. Carruthers.

I'm tired of ruining appetites.

I'd just like a coffee,

if I may, miss Anderson.

Of course, colonel.

Better stay here, Carruthers.

Jimmy?

Yeah.

Here's some last-minute

computations

on adjusting the orbit.

Look 'em over when

you get a chance.

Yes, sir.

By the time we reach earth,

I'll have his

confession on tape.

Col. Carruthers!

Thank you.

Such a cold, desolate world.

We saw so little of it.

Sometimes I almost

want to believe you.

I killed them or I didn't.

It was me or something.

I've only heard the

story through van.

Now you'd like to

hear my version?

All right.

It's a long story,

but I'll make it brief.

We were all outside the ship,

exploring the Southern tip

of syrtis major,

suddenly a sandstorm came up

and we started back.

I was driving the Jeep.

The sand was so thick

we could barely see.

We were almost back

to the ship when...

Cartwright just disappeared.

One minute he was there and

the next minute he was gone.

As if something had just

plucked him out of the Jeep

like... Candy out of a box.

We heard a weird sort of sound.

Then we thought

we saw a dark shape

running near the Jeep

and started shooting at it.

A few moments later,

kenner and all

the rest were gone.

I was the only one who

made it back to the ship.

When the sandstorm quit, I...

Went out and searched all over.

There wasn't a sign of them.

How can you explain the

bullet hole in the skull?

We were all shooting

at this thing...

Maybe the one who got

the bullet was lucky.

You don't believe me, do you?

I don't disbelieve you.

How about you, lieutenant?

Mars is almost as big as Texas,

maybe it's got monsters.

Carruthers is still talking

about his monsters?

Why don't you stop

baiting him, van?

You're not using your

authority very well.

I'm not doing it for kicks.

Believe me, chicken.

I'm just playing the odds.

Your odds, because

you think he's guilty.

Admitted.

But, Anne, there's a time

factor involved here.

He's unstable right now.

If I crack his story,

I can turn him over

to the court-martial tied

up in a little pink ribbon.

What if he's done

nothing to confess?

Then he won't.

But I owe it to the lives

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote