1. 00:00:00,-695 —> 00:00:04,200
Shared by http://DJJ.HOME.SAPO.PT/
You unlock this door
with the key of imagination.
Copy !req
2. Beyond it is another dimension-
Copy !req
3. a dimension of sound,
Copy !req
4. a dimension of sight,
Copy !req
5. a dimension of mind.
Copy !req
6. You're moving into a land
of both shadow and substance,
Copy !req
7. of things and ideas.
Copy !req
8. You've just crossed over
into the twilight zone.
Copy !req
9. It may be said
with a degree of assurance
Copy !req
10. that not everything that
meets the eye is as it appears.
Copy !req
11. The scene you're watching.
Copy !req
12. This is not a hospital,
not a morgue, not a mausoleum,
Copy !req
13. not an undertakers' parlor
of the future.
Copy !req
14. What it is is the belly
of a spaceship.
Copy !req
15. It is en route to another
planetary system
Copy !req
16. an incredible distance
from the earth.
Copy !req
17. This is the crux of our story,
a flight into space.
Copy !req
18. It is also the story
Copy !req
19. of the things that might
happen to human beings
Copy !req
20. who take a step beyond,
Copy !req
21. unable to anticipate everything
that might await them out there.
Copy !req
22. I remember things.
Copy !req
23. It's more than just void,
darkness, unconsciousness.
Copy !req
24. The mind does work.
Copy !req
25. There are images, patterns,
things to recollect.
Copy !req
26. It's not just the long,
deep sleep
Copy !req
27. that comes
when the fear has left.
Copy !req
28. The cold is felt,
Copy !req
29. the slipping away of feeling
is noted and then succumbed to.
Copy !req
30. The mind functions.
Copy !req
31. Time is distorted, jumbled,
telescoped, accordioned,
Copy !req
32. but there is
a sense of time even so,
Copy !req
33. and I remember things.
Copy !req
34. I remember the way it began.
Copy !req
35. I remember the way it was
in the beginning.
Copy !req
36. Come in, commander stansfield.
Copy !req
37. Dr. Bixler.
Copy !req
38. Please be
comfortable.
Copy !req
39. The figure of
speech, commander.
Copy !req
40. Be comfortable
in the sense
Copy !req
41. that there's no need
to stand on ceremony.
Copy !req
42. But there are
no seats, either.
Copy !req
43. I've heard much of you, doctor.
Copy !req
44. I of you, and that's
the reason you're here.
Copy !req
45. You've been an astronaut
for 11 years.
Copy !req
46. Is that a question, sir?
Copy !req
47. It's an
observation.
Copy !req
48. Should you not have realized it,
you've been the object
Copy !req
49. of considerable observation
for the past several months.
Copy !req
50. I've been aware of some, doctor.
Copy !req
51. When the space agency
put me on my project,
Copy !req
52. they told me
to keep in mind
Copy !req
53. the scientific
problems
Copy !req
54. but also to be aware
of the human factor.
Copy !req
55. You, commander
stansfield,
Copy !req
56. are the human factor.
Copy !req
57. Go on, doctor.
Copy !req
58. You recognize this,
don't you?
Copy !req
59. This is our
solar system.
Copy !req
60. This is the sun
Copy !req
61. and here is
the earth,
Copy !req
62. jupiter, venus,
pluto, mars.
Copy !req
63. And what do we know
Copy !req
64. about our neighbors, commander?
Copy !req
65. Mars is a vast, scrubby desert
Copy !req
66. with an unbreatheable
atmosphere.
Copy !req
67. Pluto is poisonous
and extremely cold.
Copy !req
68. The moon is barren,
jupiter, volcanic.
Copy !req
69. In short, commander,
Copy !req
70. our neighbors offer us only
they're accessible.
Copy !req
71. They're
within reach.
Copy !req
72. Beyond that, they
offer us nothing-
Copy !req
73. scientific, social,
economic- anything.
Copy !req
74. They're the mount
everest of space.
Copy !req
75. Once, they offered us
challenges.
Copy !req
76. Where is the next
mount everest, doctor?
Copy !req
77. That's perhaps
the most pertinent question
Copy !req
78. you've ever asked.
Copy !req
79. This is
a planetary system
Copy !req
80. to date seen only
Copy !req
81. through the lens
of a telescope.
Copy !req
82. We know nothing
of it
Copy !req
83. except for there
are six bodies
Copy !req
84. one of which we
can only assume
is the sun.
Copy !req
85. It's flaming
and gaseous
Copy !req
86. and it must provide
heat and light
Copy !req
87. for these five
bodies here.
Copy !req
88. It's a small system
like our own.
Copy !req
89. The planets run
Copy !req
90. roughly in the same
orbital pattern
Copy !req
91. as we do around
our own sun.
Copy !req
92. Does it have a name?
Copy !req
93. You may call it
Copy !req
94. stansfield's
mount everest.
Copy !req
95. That's where I'm going.
Copy !req
96. When?
Copy !req
97. In about
six months.
Copy !req
98. The ship's being
built now.
Copy !req
99. It's off
the drawing board.
Copy !req
100. The keel is being laid
Copy !req
101. but it'll take
only one man,
Copy !req
102. and that man should
be right there
Copy !req
103. watching every
rivet, every bolt,
Copy !req
104. every item
of equipment
Copy !req
105. going in there.
Copy !req
106. You are that man, commander.
Copy !req
107. You will be
sole occupant
Copy !req
108. and you will be
its pilot.
Copy !req
109. Doctor, I...
Copy !req
110. I like this assignment
very much.
Copy !req
111. That's precisely
why you were chosen.
Copy !req
112. Of course,
there will be
Copy !req
113. the usual dangers,
the usual unknowns.
Copy !req
114. In the past, you've had
meteor showers to contend with.
Copy !req
115. You've had
the usual calculated risk
Copy !req
116. of mechanical difficulties,
landing difficulties,
Copy !req
117. ejection troubles
and the rest of it.
Copy !req
118. Well, you'll still
have those-
Copy !req
119. compounded.
Copy !req
120. We have another factor here.
Copy !req
121. Another problem.
Copy !req
122. The distance.
Copy !req
123. Distance.
Copy !req
124. This system is perhaps
Copy !req
125. 141 light years
away from us.
Copy !req
126. That's a rough estimate
but a good one.
Copy !req
127. The ship is...
Copy !req
128. the ship will have
interstellar drive
Copy !req
129. and an antigravity
device.
Copy !req
130. It'll be the fastest
man-made object
Copy !req
131. ever conceived,
ever brought to life.
Copy !req
132. It'll go
70 times faster
Copy !req
133. than the speed
of light.
Copy !req
134. But in terms
of the space
Copy !req
135. you must conquer,
Copy !req
136. it'll be like an ant
Copy !req
137. crawling across
the sahara.
Copy !req
138. In short, commander,
Copy !req
139. your trip to these
planetary bodies
Copy !req
140. and back to earth
Copy !req
141. will take
approximately
40 years.
Copy !req
142. Commander douglas stansfield,
astronaut,
Copy !req
143. a man about to embark on one
of history's longest journeys-
Copy !req
144. 40 years out into endless space
and hopefully back again.
Copy !req
145. This is the beginning,
Copy !req
146. the first step toward man's
longest leap into the unknown.
Copy !req
147. Science has solved
the mechanical details,
Copy !req
148. and now it's up to
one human being
Copy !req
149. to breathe life into blueprints
and computers,
Copy !req
150. to prove once and for all that
man can live half a lifetime
Copy !req
151. in the total void
of outer space,
Copy !req
152. 40 years alone in the unknown.
Copy !req
153. This is earth.
Copy !req
154. Ahead lies a planetary system.
Copy !req
155. The vast region in between
is the twilight zone.
Copy !req
156. That was the beginning,
Copy !req
157. that brief, unemotional,
very matter-of-fact colloquy
Copy !req
158. between the scientist
and the practitioner-
Copy !req
159. a small cast of two characters.
Copy !req
160. And that was the way
it should have been.
Copy !req
161. But I remember...
I very clearly remember
Copy !req
162. the entrance
of character number three.
Copy !req
163. Will communications team b-8,
Copy !req
164. communications team b-8
report to central control.
Copy !req
165. Communications team b-8,
central control.
Copy !req
166. Oh, a friend in need.
Copy !req
167. Oh, that's my job.
Copy !req
168. Picking up papers?
Copy !req
169. I'm the new
morale officer.
Copy !req
170. I follow people around
who look stricken.
Copy !req
171. Oh, and do I look
stricken?
Copy !req
172. Well, you looked
momentarily nonplussed.
Copy !req
173. I don't believe we've met.
Copy !req
174. Are you permanently
stationed here?
Copy !req
175. I'm with the space agency.
Copy !req
176. And you're...?
Copy !req
177. Stansfield.
Copy !req
178. Commander, u.s.n.
Copy !req
179. Oh...
Copy !req
180. you're the one.
Copy !req
181. Should I thank you
Copy !req
182. or report you
for insubordination?
Copy !req
183. I've always wanted to meet you.
Copy !req
184. I've always wanted
to meet you, too.
Copy !req
185. No, that's true.
Copy !req
186. I have e.s.p.
And I, uh...
Copy !req
187. a long time ago
I woke up one morning
Copy !req
188. and some inner voice told me
Copy !req
189. that I would meet a girl
with a stricken look
Copy !req
190. who would drop papers
in corridors.
Copy !req
191. And did your e.s.p.
Tell you the name?
Copy !req
192. Mm-hmm, sandra horn.
Copy !req
193. Oh...
Copy !req
194. subtle astronaut.
Copy !req
195. It's been an honor
meeting you.
Copy !req
196. I, um...
Copy !req
197. I don't suppose
the space agency
Copy !req
198. could do without
your services
Copy !req
199. for a couple of
hours this evening,
Copy !req
200. just long enough
for dinner.
Copy !req
201. Well... despite the fact
that I am invaluable
Copy !req
202. and that the whole
space program
Copy !req
203. rests on me alone,
Copy !req
204. I think a two- or
three-hour period
Copy !req
205. could be carved out.
Copy !req
206. I'm in the book, commander.
Copy !req
207. Please phone.
Copy !req
208. No, I won't call-
I'll pick you up.
Copy !req
209. I'll be there at 8:00.
Copy !req
210. Arrivederci, lady
from the space agency.
Copy !req
211. At 8:00, astronaut.
Copy !req
212. Arrivederci.
Copy !req
213. You are 31 years old,
commander.
Copy !req
214. When you return from this trip,
Copy !req
215. the earth will have aged
almost half a century.
Copy !req
216. That's something
to contemplate.
Copy !req
217. I'll be over
70 years old.
Copy !req
218. I will have lived
Copy !req
219. the better part
of my life
Copy !req
220. out in space
and alone.
Copy !req
221. You will have lived
the better part of it,
Copy !req
222. but you will not have aged.
Copy !req
223. We intend to try something new,
Copy !req
224. also a risk,
Copy !req
225. also decidedly
calculated.
Copy !req
226. Freezing?
Copy !req
227. An extension of that
Copy !req
228. but much more
complicated.
Copy !req
229. It'll be a suspended
animation
Copy !req
230. in its purest form.
Copy !req
231. We've developed
a substance
Copy !req
232. from the lymphoid tissue
of hibernating animals
Copy !req
233. plus several
vitamin absorbents
Copy !req
234. and a collection
of drugs.
Copy !req
235. The earth will have
aged, commander,
Copy !req
236. but you will not.
Copy !req
237. You'll be only
a few weeks older
Copy !req
238. when you return.
Copy !req
239. Sort of like dying
and coming to life again.
Copy !req
240. After a fashion.
Copy !req
241. But coming
to life again
Copy !req
242. in the sense that
Copy !req
243. there'll be very
few people here
Copy !req
244. that you will know
or who will know you.
Copy !req
245. Life will have
changed, commander.
Copy !req
246. You'll have to
begin living it
Copy !req
247. all over again
as a stranger,
Copy !req
248. as a... well,
as an anachronism,
Copy !req
249. if you will.
Copy !req
250. All right, doctor.
Copy !req
251. When do I begin?
Copy !req
252. You have begun.
Copy !req
253. As of this moment
Copy !req
254. you are very much
committed, commander.
Copy !req
255. I'm on the payroll,
doctor,
Copy !req
256. and I just checked in.
Copy !req
257. Something?
Copy !req
258. A month from now
Copy !req
259. you'll be off
to space.
Copy !req
260. And by the time you
come back down again...
Copy !req
261. you want to talk
about that now?
Copy !req
262. Only for the following
absurd reason.
Copy !req
263. I've known you for exactly
three and a half hours-
Copy !req
264. that's what
it's been
Copy !req
265. three and
a half hours-
Copy !req
266. a long dinner...
Copy !req
267. and a short dance.
Copy !req
268. And already...
Copy !req
269. already...
Copy !req
270. already what, sandy?
Copy !req
271. Already...
Copy !req
272. I feel a sense of... loss.
Copy !req
273. My life had been space.
Copy !req
274. It had been missions,
projects and expeditions.
Copy !req
275. There had been no time
for intrusions
Copy !req
276. that took the form
of a woman's face,
Copy !req
277. a voice, a short month of a man
and a woman drawing together,
Copy !req
278. becoming a part of one another,
Copy !req
279. reaching tentatively
Copy !req
280. into that strange
and mysterious pond of love
Copy !req
281. and then watching the ripples
that came from it.
Copy !req
282. But now I think
of these things,
Copy !req
283. now they come to mind,
now in the darkness,
Copy !req
284. in the cold, the solitude,
Copy !req
285. the... stillness,
the loneliness.
Copy !req
286. Now there comes
a feeling of warmth.
Copy !req
287. Sandy... where are you now,
sandy, across the void?
Copy !req
288. My dear sandy,
Copy !req
289. through the millions of miles
of cold, empty space,
Copy !req
290. through the vastness of
a naked desert of sky and stars,
Copy !req
291. I love you.
Copy !req
292. I love you, sandy.
Copy !req
293. Minus 2-30.
Copy !req
294. Small, unofficial gesture
Copy !req
295. from one of
the lesser bureaucrats
Copy !req
296. of our good,
respectable government.
Copy !req
297. Unofficial... and very much
apart from protocol.
Copy !req
298. But I couldn't
let you leave, doug,
Copy !req
299. not without
saying good-bye.
Copy !req
300. Not without tell you I...
Copy !req
301. I loved you very much.
Copy !req
302. And I shall
sorely miss you.
Copy !req
303. And that my life-
Copy !req
304. whatever there is
left of it-
Copy !req
305. shall be a strangely
meaningless, dull and...
Copy !req
306. empty thing
without you to share it.
Copy !req
307. It's a very odd
thing, sandy,
Copy !req
308. when I get back,
when I...
Copy !req
309. touch this earth again,
Copy !req
310. I know the first
thought I'll have,
Copy !req
311. I know... the first thing
that I'll want to see,
Copy !req
312. I know... the first...
Copy !req
313. thing that I'll
want to touch.
Copy !req
314. I'll be the...
Copy !req
315. little old lady
in the lace shawl.
Copy !req
316. The one waving
the "welcome home" sign.
Copy !req
317. So look for me.
Copy !req
318. Will you, doug?
Copy !req
319. two, one, zero.
Copy !req
320. One, two, three, four and five.
Copy !req
321. I move now,
I streak across the sky,
Copy !req
322. I leave an earth behind
Copy !req
323. that changes
beyond my closed eyes.
Copy !req
324. From a warm place
of leaves and trees
Copy !req
325. to a cold orb
hanging in a dark sky
Copy !req
326. and growing smaller
and smaller and smaller.
Copy !req
327. And time passes.
Copy !req
328. It inexorably passes.
Copy !req
329. And I can do nothing about it.
Copy !req
330. General walters?
Copy !req
331. Space contact, sir.
Copy !req
332. A craft spiraling in.
Copy !req
333. All right,
let's hear the report.
Copy !req
334. It's expedition called
stansfield's mount everest.
Copy !req
335. Commanded by douglas stansfield.
Copy !req
336. The date of departure?
Copy !req
337. This one's
one of the old jobs, sir.
Copy !req
338. Departure, december 31, 1987.
Copy !req
339. "Old" is putting it mildly.
Copy !req
340. All right, check it out
in your report.
Copy !req
341. Let me know.
Copy !req
342. This one's one of the pioneers.
Copy !req
343. Been in space 40 years.
Copy !req
344. First voice communication
we've had.
Copy !req
345. It's been tracked on radar
Copy !req
346. but his communications
must have malfunctioned
Copy !req
347. a few hours
after he left the atmosphere.
Copy !req
348. Now, here's a funny one.
Copy !req
349. How's that, sir?
Copy !req
350. Well, there's an insertion
Copy !req
351. from a man named bixler.
Copy !req
352. He was one of the project people
years and years ago as I recall.
Copy !req
353. He must have been in charge
of the stansfield mission.
Copy !req
354. It says we're to contact
a girl name sandra horn.
Copy !req
355. Who?
Copy !req
356. A miss sandra horn,
Copy !req
357. a friend of
commander stansfield.
Copy !req
358. Where would we find her, sir?
Copy !req
359. An old lady's home?
Copy !req
360. No, you'll find her
in a hibernation room.
Copy !req
361. You'll find her a young woman
of 26 years of age.
Copy !req
362. I hope you find her alive.
Copy !req
363. General walters.
Copy !req
364. Miss horn.
Copy !req
365. You're looking
very well indeed.
Copy !req
366. You look fine.
Copy !req
367. Sounds idiotic,
doesn't it
Copy !req
368. but what do you say to somebody
who's been asleep for 40 years?
Copy !req
369. I was told commander
stansfield...
Copy !req
370. yes, his ship landed
six hours ago.
Copy !req
371. I asked to see you.
Copy !req
372. What about him?
Copy !req
373. In good health.
Copy !req
374. Naturally... very tired.
Copy !req
375. I want to see him.
Copy !req
376. I must see him.
Copy !req
377. You shall see him
in just a moment.
Copy !req
378. I... I had to
speak to you first.
Copy !req
379. I'll try to make this
as brief as possible.
Copy !req
380. Commander stansfield suffered
a communications failure.
Copy !req
381. It probably occurred
Copy !req
382. within the first 12 hours
after his departure.
Copy !req
383. There was only
sporadic contact made
Copy !req
384. during the entire flight
both there and back.
Copy !req
385. He reached the other
solar system.
Copy !req
386. Yes, he reached it.
Copy !req
387. He landed, he took off,
he returned.
Copy !req
388. He found no life.
Copy !req
389. But we found that 20 years ago.
Copy !req
390. That's one of the ironies
of progress, miss horn.
Copy !req
391. Could have saved the trip.
Copy !req
392. Could have saved him...
his anguish
Copy !req
393. his anguish being
the following:
Copy !req
394. Unknown to us here on earth,
Copy !req
395. to my predecessors
and to theirs,
Copy !req
396. because of the lack
of communication,
Copy !req
397. commander stansfield arbitrarily
removed himself from hibernation
Copy !req
398. six months after leaving earth.
Copy !req
399. He did this
because...
Copy !req
400. I know why.
Copy !req
401. Oh, god help me.
Copy !req
402. I know why.
Copy !req
403. Over 40 years, miss horn.
Copy !req
404. 40 years in the cockpit
of a ship.
Copy !req
405. 40 years.
Copy !req
406. His loneliness must have been...
Copy !req
407. something brand-new
in the human experience.
Copy !req
408. I wish to heaven
Copy !req
409. he could have returned
to you just as he left,
Copy !req
410. but... as it is, he...
Copy !req
411. doug...
Copy !req
412. you remember me... don't you?
Copy !req
413. Remember you?
Copy !req
414. I've spent...
Copy !req
415. I've spent 40 years
remembering you, sandy.
Copy !req
416. Painting a picture
inside my head.
Copy !req
417. Listening
to your voice.
Copy !req
418. Thinking about your touch.
Copy !req
419. I've spent...
Copy !req
420. 40 years surviving
for you, sandy.
Copy !req
421. Oh, doug...
Copy !req
422. it can still be that way.
Copy !req
423. The way you are...
Copy !req
424. the way I am.
Copy !req
425. It doesn't make
any difference.
Copy !req
426. Oh, it makes
a difference, sandy.
Copy !req
427. It's 40 years' difference.
Copy !req
428. That's too much difference.
Copy !req
429. You're...
still beautiful.
Copy !req
430. Very beautiful.
Copy !req
431. No, you go away now, sandy.
Copy !req
432. Please go, hmm?
Copy !req
433. Stansfield...
Copy !req
434. you are really
quite an incredible man.
Copy !req
435. It may be the one distinction
in my entire life
Copy !req
436. that I knew you...
Copy !req
437. that I knew
a man
Copy !req
438. who put such
a premium on love.
Copy !req
439. Truly...
Copy !req
440. truly quite a distinction,
stansfield.
Copy !req
441. Mmm.
Copy !req
442. Commander douglas stansfield,
Copy !req
443. one of the forgotten pioneers
of the space age,
Copy !req
444. he's been pushed aside
by the flow of progress
Copy !req
445. and the passage of years
Copy !req
446. and the ferocious travesty
of fate.
Copy !req
447. Tonight's tale
of the ionosphere and irony
Copy !req
448. delivered from
the twilight zone.
Copy !req
449. And now, mr. Serling.
Copy !req
450. Next time out on
the twilight zone
Copy !req
451. an unusual little item
from the pen of jerry mcneely
Copy !req
452. based on a story by henry slesar
and called, intriguingly enough,
Copy !req
453. "the self-improvement
of salvadore ross."
Copy !req
454. This one poses the question,
Copy !req
455. "if you don't like what you are,
how do you go about changing?"
Copy !req
456. Don gordon portrays a man
who really goes the route
Copy !req
457. when it comes
to some basic changing
Copy !req
458. and the results
are most unexpected.
Copy !req