Satellite in the Sky Page #3

And besides, you've changed.

You don't really need me anymore.

Oh, Barbara, I do need you.

Anyway, this job's nearly finished.

I promise after tomorrow

we can have all the time we want.

And you're sure that after tomorrow

there won't be bigger and better rockets?

Barbara.

That wasn't fair.

I thought it was pretty good.

[CAR ENGINE STARTS]

[VEHICLE DRIVES AWAY]

[FOOTSTEPS]

- Must be about time for our relief.

- Yes.

- Larry, will you promise me one thing?

- Certainly.

Tonight let's forget about

everything except us.

That'll be easy. I promise.

[PHONE RINGING]

Mr. And Mrs. Noble are out.

- Well, perhaps...

- Oh, Larry, please don't answer it.

Larry.

Hello?

Oh, yes, sir.

Tonight? No, I can't.

Won't it keep till the morning?

Oh, I see.

Yes, I'll be right over.

[PHONE HANGS UP]

- That was the chief.

- I heard.

Well, it's important.

Of course.

The rocket is always important.

They wouldn't call me

if they didn't need me.

And they can have you.

But this time, I'm not waiting

for the rocket to let you come back.

[DOOR CLOSES]

- Oh, hello, Michael. Come in.

- Hello.

Did they find Miss Hamilton?

No, sir. I imagine she left

without handing in her pass.

- I don't know how.

- I wouldn't worry about it, sir.

Blandford, let's get down

to the task in hand.

We should wait until Mr. Noble

gets here. He's on his way now.

I thought the crew

would have been sleeping here.

If I had my way, the whole project

would have been handled as a top-secret.

That would have drawn more attention

to it. We wanted to avoid that.

May I introduce Commander Hayden,

the chief pilot?

- How do you do?

- Professor Merrity, War Office.

Glad to meet you, professor.

All this sounds very mysterious, sir.

[KNOCKS ON DOOR]

- Come in.

- I didn't know that the War Office...

...were interested.

- Professor, this is Mr. Noble.

Good evening.

Hello, Mike, it's a bit late.

- Sorry.

- Let's get to the point, shall we?

All this is in absolute confidence.

Blandford, will you tell them?

Michael, we all know the scientific object

of your flight tomorrow...

...and the observations

you're going to take...

...but there is another project

even more important.

When you take off,

you'll be carrying a bomb.

- A bomb?

- Not an ordinary one.

The first Tritonium bomb

to be made, T-1.

It was perfected at the atomic

research station in New Mexico.

Look, wait a minute.

I thought we were on

a purely scientific mission.

Michael, it took many millions

to finance and build Stardust.

That money would never have been

made available for research alone.

Blandford, let's stop

beating about the bush.

Your ship was built to take T-1

up beyond the stratosphere.

Why can't the new jet bombers

take it up? What's the point?

T-1 is a new type of atomic weapon...

...far more powerful

than the hydrogen bomb.

- More powerful than the H-bomb?

- Yes.

That's why it cannot be tested on Earth.

Up there beyond the atmosphere,

the explosion will exhaust itself in space.

On Earth it would cause destruction

beyond anything that you can imagine.

That's why it cannot be exploded

on Earth.

Let's hope it's the only Tritonium bomb

ever to be exploded.

The test will be recorded and

its effects observed all over the globe.

When the destructive power of T-1

is made evident in this way...

...it should be a convincing demonstration

of the futility of any future war.

If I say that the bomb

should never have been made...

...l'd only be trying

to turn back the clock.

The bomb exists now.

- How do I explode it?

- I shall do that.

It'll be released automatically

up there...

...to explode at 2100 hours tomorrow.

What happens to the bomb

if Stardust crashes on takeoff?

The bomb has a specially designed fuse.

It can't explode until the fuse is set.

Merrity will set the fuse

when you reach the required altitude.

Until then, the bomb is harmless.

The reporters are going to be here

tomorrow.

How do we explain Professor Merrity?

Officially, he will be described

as a meteorological expert.

- You carry on, Ross.

- Right, sir.

- Good night, gentlemen.

ALL:
Good night.

I'm afraid I must ask you

and Mr. Noble to stay here tonight.

- The War Office insists.

- But I promised my wife...

- I'm sorry.

- It won't take me more than a few minutes.

I'll phone her

and tell her I won't be home.

Of course. I hope you don't mind,

but I must ask you...

...to telephone her in my presence.

All right.

It's a shock to find that what we thought

was the purpose of this project...

...is just a blind for something else.

Have the rest of my crew been told?

No, and they won't be.

We in this room

are the only people who know.

Is that fair? You're making

Jimmy and Lefty take part...

...in something they know nothing about.

No chance to back out.

LARRY:

Yes, Birchley, 2592.

- Why should they back out?

- I'm not saying they will.

- They should know what they're doing.

- Sorry. It's impossible.

- Anyway, they both still have the same job.

- Still l...

Are you sure you're ringing

the right number?

[RINGING]

- Darling, can you lend me some stockings?

- Yes, in just a moment.

[DOORBELL BUZZES]

Okay, I'll get it.

JIMMY:
Hi, Pat.

- Hello, Jimmy.

ELLEN:
Who is it?

- It's me, honey.

You set for soft lights and sweet music?

Well, I was.

Jimmy, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm...

What do you mean?

Don't we have a date?

You're not the sort of girl to run out.

- No, but Pat and l...

- It's the fashion show at the Grand Hotel.

- You said you'd got out of that.

- I thought I had.

- Stockings.

- Oh, yes.

My boss just called.

One of the girls is ill.

You can call your boss back

and tell her you have an important date.

No, I can't.

Supposing you'd been told to stay at

Thunder Hill tonight. You'd have stayed.

I've got a job too.

I've got to do what I'm told.

- Great, tonight of all nights.

- It's how things happen.

- They're coming for me. I must be ready.

- Sure, I get chucked out, just like that.

There'll be other nights.

Not for me, honey.

- Jimmy?

JIMMY:
I'm sorry, honey.

[MAN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

[PIANO PLAYING]

BARBARA:
He was going to take me

to the south of France, but we didn't go.

You mean he neglects you?

- Perhaps he doesn't mean to, but...

- He does, doesn't he?

His work always seems to be

much more important to him than I am.

Well, it's hard to understand

when a man has a wife as lovely as you.

Excuse me a moment.

- Got a light, Jerry?

- Sure.

- How's Larry?

- He's fine. Thank you.

Barbara, let's put these away.

And then, if you feel like it...

...let's go somewhere and dance.

Well, yes, I'd love to.

Same again, Jack.

You can't drown it, you know.

- No?

- No.

- Make it a double.

- A woman?

Yeah. Yeah, she stood me up.

For another man?

No, a fashion show.

I ask you, a fashion show.

- She's just like all the others, I suppose.

- What do you mean, "like all the others"?

- Listening to you talking, I thought...

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