Satellite in the Sky Page #2

And right now I'm about 80 miles away,

so you wouldn't hear me.

I'm riding along the rim of the coast.

Everything responding. Everything okay.

Quite a joy ride. Over.

How about fuel pressure? Over.

Everything normal.

Now returning to airfield. Over.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have

what we wanted, a successful test.

- He's finished? It's over?

- Not quite, Miss Hamilton. Not quite.

- We have to go through that again?

- Receiving loud and clear, Miss Hamilton.

It's nice to have you worry about me. Just

a few routine aerobatics before I come in.

Very pretty to watch.

And who knows, I might even

provide you with a suicide. Over.

Nice work, Mike.

Thank you, Simms.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Operation Stardust will go ahead tomorrow.

I still bet we don't take off tomorrow.

There's nothing to stop us, is there?

I'm getting to a state

I don't believe anything anymore.

Well, everything's set.

- What time?

- Start warming up at 0915 hours.

- Take off 1000 hours.

- All right, I lose my bet.

I suggest you both take it easy.

Try and get some sleep. You'll need it.

Dinner at home for me.

Anything else, Mike?

No. Don't keep that dinner waiting.

Barbara's gonna be thrilled

it's happening.

- Good night, sir.

- Good night, Larry.

There's a great deal to be done.

Where will you be if I want to speak?

I'll be around. I could do with a drink.

- I wonder if the press left any free stuff.

- Why not go and find out?

By the way, you might let Ross know

exactly where you are.

Yes, of course.

KIM:

Okay, I'm finished.

All right.

- Will you have those photographs ready?

- Yeah, as soon as I get back to the office.

Good.

Oh, Bill.

Put this on the editor's desk for me.

You'll be in later?

You really do believe in all this,

don't you, commander?

You don't spend five years of your life

on this if it means nothing to you.

Someday men are going to

explore the universe.

- And when they do finally...

- But that's just it. Do what?

What are you gonna find

that's worth so much?

Perhaps a new world.

The better world they're talking about.

Anyway, it's important to find out.

I know that some people

can't understand.

- You don't see it either, do you?

- Well, I can't say I agree with you.

- All the same, will you do me a favor?

- I don't know. It depends what it is.

Let me see the Stardust.

Why?

So you can write a sarcastic story

about something you don't understand.

"I saw the Stardust last night...

...the plane that's being launched

into nowhere for no reason.

And what is it? Just a mass of metal.

Plain, ordinary metal."

- That's what you want to write.

- It has nothing to do with what I write.

I have a very special reason

for wanting to see it.

If you use this to ridicule the project,

I promise to come back...

...just to pay you back.

I only wanna look at it. Can we go, then?

All right. Let's use this door.

MICHAEL:

Jimmy, have you checked your equipment?

Yeah, everything's checked and stored.

Oh, this is Jimmy Wheeler.

He's our telescreen operator

and photographer.

- Miss Hamilton.

- How do you do?

- Quite a tie you got, Jimmy.

- Yeah.

Pretty smart, eh? There's nothing like

a new tie to give a guy courage.

- Especially when he's got a problem.

- Problem? Like which girl to take out?

I'm a one-girl man now.

I'm shooting the works.

- Oh, it's that serious?

- It sure is.

- Say, Lefty?

- Yep.

- Can you keep a secret?

- Oh, I think so.

Look, if you were a girl, a really

beautiful girl, would you marry me?

If this is a proposal, Jimmy,

save it for the girl.

- Best of luck anyway.

- Thanks. I'll need it.

- I don't think I'm...

- You're not worthy of her.

If I didn't know you better,

I'd say you were kidding me.

Look, Lefty. Why don't you

come up to London with me?

Maybe Ellen's got a girlfriend.

We can have a ball.

You know, if this crew's ever

gonna have a night out, this is it.

I don't think so.

No, I didn't think so either.

I don't see you celebrating anything.

No offense. Be seeing you.

MICHAEL:
Good evening, Thomas.

THOMAS:
Good evening, sir.

KIM:
Good evening.

THOMAS:
Good evening, miss.

KIM:
Tell me, Mr. Thomas,

do you wanna go up tomorrow?

Me, miss? No. I'm comfortable

down here on the ground.

Practically retired. At least Thomas

has his age as an excuse.

I remember when a bike

was the fastest thing.

See what I mean? Come on. Let's go.

THOMAS:

Let me, sir.

I've never seen anything

so overpowering, so beautiful.

MICHAEL:

It's beautiful, all right. Even down here.

KIM:

Yes, it's beautiful but evil.

MICHAEL:
Why evil? Oh, I admit that power

can be used for evil purposes...

...but there's nothing evil in this.

We're just doing something

that's never been done before.

KIM:
You mean because

it's never needed to be done.

Is there any point in trying something

just because it's never been done?

Your trouble is that you want to stand still,

and the world can't and doesn't.

I'd like to go now.

THOMAS:
Good night.

KIM:
Good night.

MICHAEL:
Good night, Thomas.

THOMAS:
Good night, sir.

It's a wonder you don't have

more guards.

There are plenty of guards,

but they watch the outer areas.

What do these guards do?

There are no gunfights,

if that's what you mean...

...but they stop a few

souvenir-hunters and fanatics...

...who want to blow up the Stardust.

Like you, for example.

- Do you hate me for feeling like this?

- I don't hate you at all.

There'll always be people against progress

and you have every right to be one of them.

- I'll turn the jeep around.

- And you're a stubborn idealist.

It's what you're doing I dislike, not you.

Is there any difference between

what a man does and what he is?

I knew two other men like you.

They're both dead

because of what you call progress.

[WHISTLING]

Barbara?

Barbara? Oh, hello, dear.

I got away as quickly as I could.

I was afraid something might come up.

And having nothing better to do,

you came home.

Barbara, you know

tomorrow's the big day.

- Another big day?

- Do try and understand, dear.

I thought we paid this bill.

All I can understand is that

I've had five years of waiting...

...for one big day or another,

after which everything will be wonderful.

- But this one really is...

- I know, this one is going to be different.

- Well, don't let's quarrel.

- You won't have a chance.

I'm going to Myra's party.

- Will it be all right if I come along too?

- You can if you want to.

- I'd hoped that we could be alone tonight.

- You did?

You suddenly remembered

you had a wife.

Don't let's bicker all the time.

- I'm sorry I've been a bit busy lately.

- "A bit busy"?

Well, that's a laugh.

Even when you're with me,

you're not really with me at all.

You're thinking about some problem

on that rocket of yours.

You knew my job when you married me.

You knew it then, the sort of life

we'd lead together.

I didn't really expect anything like this.

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