- General Henry J. Wilson: Mrs. Pennyworth sets a wonderful table, don't you think?
- Suzanne McCullough: Yes. She and Mr. Kensington have made us all very comfortable.
- General Henry J. Wilson: You never know it, but Mrs. Pennyworth was a very valuable asset in the American section of Berlin during the last war. Her husband did the same thing with the Brits!
- [chuckles]
- General Henry J. Wilson: Rumor has it they met one night when they were both trying to infiltrate the Russian sector. Oh, that woman has seen a lot of history. Even helped brighten some of the two. And this house has had its own share of history as well. A few nuclear physicists lived here in the early days of the Manhattan Project. And just before you, we kept a KGB defector here. I wonder who the next occupants will be.
- Norton Drake: [laughs] Harrison, does that sound suspiciously like an eviction notice to you?
- General Henry J. Wilson: I wouldn't look at it that way, Mr. Drake. All missions eventually come to an end, and that's why I'm here... to thank you all, personally, for a job well done.
- Harrison Blackwood: I'm sorry, General, but the job isn't done!
- General Henry J. Wilson: Well, I'm completely satisfied with everything you've accomplished.
- Harrison Blackwood: We've hardly accomplished a thing.
- Suzanne McCullough: Uncle Hank, I can't believe you're cutting us off!
- General Henry J. Wilson: Suzanne, your own research suggests the aliens were susceptible to radiation poisoning.
- Suzanne McCullough: How do you know that? I haven't released that data yet!
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: I don't think it takes a scientist to realize that any of those creatures that weren't blown up with their ships have died from radiation poisoning.
- Harrison Blackwood: General, if you shut us down now, you're going to be repeating the same mistake that was made 35 years ago!
- General Henry J. Wilson: On the contrary, the aliens are finished! And now, I suggest you all get on with the rest of your lives.
- Harrison Blackwood: How much of this is your doing, Colonel?
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: The General asks me to make reports; I make reports. I'm just doing my job, Doctor.
- Harrison Blackwood: I wish to God you would let me do mine!
- Advocate #3: I have a difficult time accepting that the instrument of our salvation that has also become our damnation.
- Advocate #1: The concept is foreign, but we cannot ignore the inevitable conclusion, comrades. The radiation which gave us a second life is slowly killing us.
- Advocate #2: We seem to be faced with a most challenging dilemma.
- Suzanne McCullough: Without tissue samples, most of this is just educated guessing, but I think I understand how an alien blends with whoever happens to be unfortunate enough to get in its way. It's a combination of osmosis and cell-phase matching. Watch. Through osmosis, alien cells invade the human body. These cells then spread out, seeking human cells that they can bond to. This bonding allows all the genetic information from the individual human cells to communicate to the alien cells.
- Harrison Blackwood: Killing the human cells in the process?
- Suzanne McCullough: Yes, but apparently not before it absorbs all of the intelligence of the human victim.
- Norton Drake: We're talking "Night of the Living Dead" here, folks. Not only do these guys get to pick our brains; they also get to use our bodies as a perfect disguise.
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: I don't call open sores and radiation sickness a perfect disguise. I mean, it's not exactly difficult to spot these things in a crowd.
- Harrison Blackwood: For now, maybe. But it's only a matter of time until they figure out a better way to protect themselves, and conceal themselves.
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: If any more of them are still around.
- Scientist: Our analysis indicates - the high level of radiation needed to protect us from the indigenous bacteria of this planet causes our metabolisms to heat to dangerous levels.
- Advocate #1: Our scientists seem to have a firm grasp on the obvious. Tell us something we don't already know!
- Advocate #2: Isn't there anything you can do to disperse the heat?
- Scientist: We are doing our best, Advocate. As you have seen, the treatments are slowing the degeneration process.
- Advocate #3: But not reversing it.
- Scientist: Unfortunately not. This planet's natural resources contain different elements than those on our planet.
- Advocate #2: The lower classes are all alike. Excuses for every shortcoming!
- Scientist: But Advocate, it takes time for a species to adapt to a new environment.
- Advocate #2: We don't have time! In our weakened state, our invasion will fail.
- Advocate #3: As it is, we are already too weak to separate from this decaying flesh.
- Scientist: Perhaps if you sought the guidance of the Council...
- Advocate #1: No! Our leaders must be protected from such negative news. They must hear only of victory!
- Advocate #3: Since your medicines have proven inadequate, you will find a more effective method of dealing with this killing heat.
- Advocate #2: Solutions, not excuses!
- Scientist: As you wish, Advocate.
- Advocate #1, Advocate #2, Advocate #3: As we order, scientist!
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: Slaughtered cattle. A dozen missing factory workers. Stolen plastic products. Why are you showing me this?
- Harrison Blackwood: Because I think those incidences are connected. First to the aliens, and then to each other.
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: And I think you're looking for imaginary dragons under imaginary rocks. Where did you get this list?
- Suzanne McCullough: Norton has his own way of finding these things out.
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: Didn't Mr. Drake get the message? Didn't any of you people get the message? This operation is terminated! You people are no longer in the alien-busting business!
- Harrison Blackwood: You could bring this list to General Wilson, Colonel, and you could ask him to give us more time.
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: Oh, really? And what am I supposed to say to the general, that the aliens are trying to take over the world by cornering the market on plastic tubing? Give me a break, Doctor!
- Norton Drake: One of the jobs I have this little baby performing is constantly monitoring the National Crime Network computer to see if there's any bizarre stuff we might be interested in.
- Suzanne McCullough: Excuse me, but isn't tapping into that computer just the tiniest bit against the law?
- Norton Drake: I don't know. I never asked. Well, let's see if there's something worth going to jail for.
- Suzanne McCullough: You need a hang with anything in here?
- Norton Drake: No, thanks. My daddy always used to tell me never get so comfortable with a place or a woman that you can't leave in five minutes flat.
- Suzanne McCullough: That must have been a great comfort to your mother.
- Norton Drake: Well, my folks were married 42 years, had six kids. Must have done something right.
- Young Wife: This has gone on long enough, Ralph! Three days and you haven't been home! You don't call! You don't return my calls!
- Ralph: I've been working.
- Young Wife: You really expect me to believe that? This is a factory, not a hospital. I mean, how important could this be?
- Ralph: I've been working.
- Young Wife: What's her name, Ralph? You owe me that much! Who is she?
- [to another worker]
- Young Wife: Why is he treating me like this?
- Foreman: He's been working.
- Young Wife: Good; then he'll have plenty of money for a divorce lawyer. Did you hear me, Ralph?
- [the workers all stop to stare at her; she leaves and they resume their work]
- Colonel Paul Ironhorse: [to Harrison Blackwood] I don't know whether or not these guys are aliens, Doctor, but they are definitely weird.
- Advocate #2: After all this time, the suits are finally completed!
- Advocate #3: Completed, yes. But completely useless without some form of coolant.
- Advocate #2: Our attempt to steal the liquid nitrogen from the rocket facility was at best poorly conceived!
- Advocate #3: Desperate times call for desperate measures! My own body temperature has risen to untold levels!
- Advocate #2: So has mine! If we cannot survive, who will assume the mantle of the Advocacy? I fear there are not three worthy candidates from among our ranks.
- Advocate #3: Then pray that our current attempt at the refrigeration plant meets with success.
- Advocate #2, Advocate #3: To Life Immortal.
- Scientist: We still lack an adequate coolant. Liquid nitrogen would be the ideal substance.
- Advocate #2: Why are you not producing the substance?
- Scientist: We have tried, Advocate. This planet's atmosphere contains ample amounts of the nitrogen element. But converting the nitrogen into a useful form is beyond the scope of the materials we have on hand.
- Advocate #2: If you're incapable of manufacturing what we need, then you will acquire it in another way.
- Advocate #3: And quickly! Before permanent harm comes to those who are still alive!
- Advocate #2: We cannot allow submersion into this rancid pool to become our destiny as well!