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