Original subtitles

Moon Zero Two calling Moon Control.

Moon Zero Two, this is Moon Control.

Zero Two to Moon Control.

Two minutes from outer approach. Request landing instructions.

Zero Two, we have you on radar.

Steer 157, decelerate at 1.8g.

Zero Two, understand.

One-five-seven at 1.89. Over.

Snap it up, Zero Two.

This is Pan Am Moon Express and we're just 10 minutes out.

That is your hard luck, Moon Express.

First come, first down, and you are an hour behind schedule.

Here we go, then.

Will all passengers...

...traveling on interplanetary Flight 009 to Mars...

...please assemble at Airlock 8.

Are you a resident of the Moon, sir? - No.

Have you read the customs regulations?

Regulations are perfectly clear on this point.

There's a 30 percent import duty on all electronic equipment.

For the third time, this is not electronic equipment.

Not with a meteorite hole like that in it.

It's legitimate salvage.

United Nations Space Charter 37, uh, B...

Well, the bit about objects which may prove a danger to navigation.

All right. What is it?

Which should include any communications...

...or other satellite which shall have ceased to function.

That thing hasn't given a squeak in a week.

Hadn't you noticed?

Nobody has been able to radio onto Farside ever since it blew out.

- Yes, I've noticed you've read the book. - And it isn't even my job, huh?

Pan Am Spaceways announce the arrival...

...of Flight X7 Moon Express from Earth.

If you're Moon Zero Two, I wish you'd sell that thing...

...along with the other space rubbish you collect.

- You're a bloody menace. - I don't think I caught the name.

I'm the second officer on the Moon Express. You delayed us for nearly two minutes.

If you took off on time, you might land on time.

- I don't see that-- - l thought you were seeing...

- ...our passengers through customs. - I was telling this man--

You can't tell this man anything about anything.

Now, see to the passengers.

One of the future captains of the universe.

Thank God not all of them make it.

Dan, get this over to the scrapyard.

With your permission.

And don't take anything less than 12,000 Moon dollars for it.

I'll try.

I've just got time for a shower.

- I wanna talk to you, Bill. Come on, then.

- My name is Taplin, Clemen-- - Please.

Turn and face the immigration identification computer.

Sorry.

- Is there a message for me-- ? - The message desk is there.

Thank you.

Turn please. Good evening, Mr. Hubbard.

I'm sorry, Mr. Hubbard.

I hope you enjoyed your trip, sir.

No more or less than a hundred other trips I've taken.

That's a nifty little charmer.

J.J. Hubbard?

So that's 100 percent Hubbard.

- Is he always like that? - Sir, to the likes of us.

- What does he want up here? - l don't know.

Probably wants to buy 100 percent of the Moon.

If it was mine, he could have it.

Cheap.

Listen, I was talking to personnel back at Earth base.

They'd still like you back in the corporation.

- They're starting exploration flights again? - No, but--

When they outfit the first flight to Mercury, tell them to call me.

Come on, Bill, you know the answer to that one.

They can build engines, but where do they...

...find stuff to line the rocket tubes for journeys like that?

We've got regular flights to Mars and Venus. What more do you want?

I'm not coming back into the corporation on passenger runs.

I'm a space pilot, not a mechanically-minded wet nurse.

Thank you very much.

Someone has to be a passenger pilot.

What's that you say?

I said, someone has to be a passenger pilot.

Can't hear you.

Forget it.

I'll buy you a drink back in town, right?

Oh, I'm sorry, miss.

This area is out of bounds to passengers.

I'm looking for Mister--

Captain Kemp.

Oh.

Well, he's in there.

He's doing something just at the moment, but he won't be long.

You go right in.

Thank you.

Where's the dry...?

What are you doing here?

I was looking for Captain Kemp.

This place is reserved for space personnel only.

I'm sorry.

Are you Captain Kemp?

Will you go away?

Are Are you?

Monorail to Moon City will depart in seven minutes.

Otto? Otto got killed?

Couple of days ago.

How?

Retro engines failed on landing. That's what I heard.

Went straight in, crunch.

They ought to put that thing outside where people could read it.

Passengers wouldn't like it.

It would worry them.

Hm. I suppose so.

Did you get the 12,000?

Hey.

He flew the same solar space ferry you got, didn't he?

Mm-hm.

His was a little bit older, that's all.

How much longer are we to be kept sitting here?

We're leaving right away, Mr. Hubbard. Magazine?

Cocktail? For you, sir?

He doesn't drink and he can't read.

- Janie. - Hello, Bill.

You look great.

New uniform.

Same old me on the inside, though.

Got a seat?

One up front for the captain.

This is Captain Kemp, Ms. Taplin.

You said--

I'm always at a disadvantage when I haven't got any clothes on.

I never noticed it.

Well...

What did you wanna see me about?

The receptionist at the spaceport told me you fly over to Farside occasionally.

Mm-hm.

I wondered if you know my brother.

Wally Taplin, he's a miner.

No, no, I don't think I know him.

He was supposed to meet me at the spaceport.

- He's probably waiting at Moon City. - That's what the man said.

We'll check it out when we get there.

- Your first time up here? - Mm. Yes.

Then I suggest you look up front.

My God. It's so bleak.

No air.

No vegetation.

One-sixth gravity.

Fourteen days' sunlight. Fourteen days' night.

I suppose "bleak" is as good a way as any to describe it.

We're all foreigners here.

We always will be.

Perhaps we should never have come.

The monument there is where Neil Armstrong landed back in 1969.

The power stations. They turn sunlight into energy.

And the ice mines.

The what?

Ice mines.

There are layers of ice a mile down.

Melt it into water and you drink it.

Break it into oxygen and you breathe it.

A hydroponics laboratory.

Plants that process oxygen.

And when they die, we eat them.

There's nothing like it anywhere else.

It's funny to think that with no air out there...

...nobody can just open up a window, or stroll about...

...or feel rain on their faces.

Captain Kemp, I'm afraid we have no reservation...

...in the name of Mr. Wallace Taplin.

Nor we have any messages for a Ms. Clementine Taplin.

However, I've reserved Room 328 for you, miss.

Thank you.

Oh, it could be he's just late.

The monorail doesn't go any farther than Moon City, so he'd be coming by bug.

Bug?

It's a way you get around up here.

They run convoys of them over to Farside to bring back the minerals.

But it's a slow business.

Where's his claim?

Spectacle Crater.

Oh, yes. That's here.

They're in darkness at the moment.

The nearest base is Farside Five.

Now, that's at least 2000 miles to Moon City.

Six days by convoy.

It takes longer to get from one side of Moon to the other than to get here from Earth.

- That's right. - What about your spaceship?

Ferry. It's only a moon ferry.

Slow, but I can do it in 20 minutes.

I suppose I ought to go see when the next convoy arrives.

But I can send a radio message, can't I? To see if he's left?

Oh, no. Well, you could have last week.

You see, we use a ring of communication satellites...

...for relaying waves around the curve, but one was hit by a meteorite.

So we're out of touch with Farside right now.

Twenty-first century.

It will still be the same in the 25th.

I suppose so.

Thanks for your help anyway.

Oh, come on. It's not as bad as all that.

Splurge out, buy yourself a new outfit. You'll feel better.

Welcome to the Galaxy Boutique.

Can I help you?

Jupiter jump suits?

Space Captain William H. Kemp reporting to Agent Elizabeth Murphy...

...of the Lunar Bureau of Investigations...

...for immediate interrogation.

Trust you to get your timing wrong.

I'm on duty in half an hour.

Well, we'll have time to talk, anyway.

How did the trip go?

Spend a dollar and make a dollar.

Big business.

I suppose you've heard about Otto.

It happens all the time.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard you say that about a pilot.

It doesn't seem to happen to corporation pilots.

Not you too.

I just had Harry onto me a while back.

I'll tell you what I told him. I'm not going back into the corporation.

- When they gave up exploration flights-- - They gave up killing pilots.

I'd lose my job if I let you see this.

So I won't.

"Please explain delay submitting evidence for grounding space ferry Moon Zero Two.

Urgent. Repeat, urgent."

They're really out to get me.

Not you, Bill. Your ship.

You know it isn't safe anymore.

Space travel's still fairly new and the public isn't sure about it.

They can't see a difference between your old space ferry...

...and the corporation express.

So any crash is bad news.

Otto's crash has really turned the heat on.

The corporation chases the bureau, and the bureau chases me.

And suddenly, I'm running.

If it had been anyone else, I'd have had them grounded a month ago.

You know that.

I know that, Liz, but it's still the only spaceship I've got.

The corporation will take you back.

You're still one of the best pilots they ever had.

But once you get yourself grounded for safety reasons...

...they won't touch you with a radar beam.

They daren't.

I'm still not a passenger pilot.

The exploration is over.

It'll never be over.

There's Mercury, moons of Jupiter, and maybe not Saturn yet...

...but Uranus and Neptune.

There are a lot of stars out there...

...and if the corporation doesn't do it, somebody else will.

And you'd rather get yourself killed on some star...

...than stay alive here on the tatty old Moon.

Anyway, you can't ground me. Otto's dead.

Who's going to do the emergency local flights?

You need my ferry now.

If I have to make the final decision, I must decide to save your life.

For whom?

I'll give you one week more.

I'm not going to cover for you any longer.

Get yourself a major overhaul or a new spaceship...

...or you're on the ground.

I'll miss him too.

He was a very good customer and a good man.

And a good pilot.

As pilots go, he went:

Moonflower. Double.

This is Latin American Week.

There's an old-fashioned Pampas Punch.

First one's on the house.

It still tastes like distilled rocket fuel.

It is still distilled rocket fuel.

How much is Scotch this week?

Thirty five dollars a shot. You see, we're a long way--

A long way from Scotland, I know.

Well, Otto, I'd like to have said goodbye in Scotch...

...but I haven't got 35 bucks a shot.

Isn't it about time you got hungry?

A good point, my captain.

And so the gallant space engineer passes into the great unknown...

...of Joe's Old Tyme Moon Hash House.

Perhaps never to return.

He was Otto Von Bech's engineer for a couple of years before he came to me.

Maybe he's just glad to be alive.

Sure. All engineers are crazy.

What did you call this? Pampas Punch?

Tastes more like Tijuana Brass Polish.

That's no way to treat a phone, friend.

I bought it a drink. What more can a man do?

A gentleman wants a word with you.

You can tell him to go to hell instead.

Mr. Hubbard wants to see you.

Old hundred-percent Hubbard?

Why didn't you say so? He can go a hundred percent to hell.

Let's just go and see Mr. Hubbard.

Convince me.

I'm convinced.

Well, throw.

"Community Chest.

Go to jail.

Move directly to jail.

Do not pass Go.

Do not collect $500."

Would you stop sucking your thumb?

What are you going to do?

I'll go to jail.

Now, while you are in jail, I foreclose on the mortgage and I bankrupt you.

That leaves you 19,000 short.

You owe me 17 cents.

Whitsun, deduct it from her salary, and don't forget the interest.

That will be Harry with our guest.

After you.

Scotch.

Now, why didn't you say so?

Tell your man not to play with guns on the surface floor.

One shot, we'd all have been breathing empty space.

So that's why you didn't try to take it off me up there.

Well, there had to be reason, didn't there?

Your reputation didn't exaggerate, Mr. Kemp.

Perhaps I should apologize for sending a man like Harry...

...to fetch the pilot who was the first man on Mars.

Oh, you're that Kemp.

Soda?

A long time ago.

And now you're flying a 10-year-old space ferry...

...and salvaging dead satellites to sell to the junkyards.

- It's a living. - Hardly, Mr. Kemp, hardly.

Will you stop fiddling with that thing?

But I've never been to Switzerland.

The only thing worth seeing are the banks.

I think you knew Otto Von Bech.

I knew him.

And I believe you are the only other pilot on the Moon with a ship for charter.

Otto was going to do a little job for me.

Now...

Now?

Do you know the asteroids, Mr. Kemp?

The remains of a planet which exploded or was never formed.

Some of them grains of dust, some the size of small moons and everything in between.

Hundreds of thousands of them...

...all wandering around the sun in strange orbits.

Some never named, never chartered.

The orphans of the solar system, Mr. Kemp.

And you want to become a father.

You can't set up a mine on an asteroid.

The cost of flying the equipment up, the supplies, bringing the ore back.

It never pays.

Not mine it, Mr. Kemp.

Land it, on the Moon.

Land it?

You mean crash it, and that's against the law in a big way.

Yes, because some young pilot might drop it on Moon City.

Well, we don't do things that way.

You would have the results of two years' research to help you.

We will have the most experienced pilot on the Moon.

So, what's so special about one asteroid?

Well, you'll find out for yourself when you get there, so I may as well tell you now.

Whitsun.

Too small to have either a name or a number...

...the asteroid was first photographed in 1998...

...when it happened to pass close to Earth.

But it was never investigated or plotted.

Until two years ago.

This film was taken by Mr. Hubbard's astronomical division.

The asteroid is barely 60-feet-by-30-by-30. Estimated mass, approximately 6000 tons.

Do you read spectrograms, Mr. Kemp?

Some of the easy ones.

This-- Oh, it looks like aluminum.

Very good.

It's quite similar to aluminum.

But an aluminum that has been squeezed and roasted...

...in the heart of an exploding planet, hundreds of millions of years ago.

What is the name again, Whitsun?

A ceramic crystalline form of corundum aluminum oxide.

Yes.

Sapphire, Mr. Kemp.

Sapphire.

Six thousand tons of the gemstone sapphire.

That's what so special about this asteroid.

Well?

Sounds like a nice profitable idea.

But it's still against the law.

Thanks for the Scotch.

We understand that you are already in trouble with the law on safety regulations.

The bureau wants to ground you.

Oh, come now, Whitsun, that's no way to treat our guest.

Mr. Kemp must be entirely free to make up his own mind.

And just suppose I freely make up my mind to come in, what do I get out of it?

A brand-new space ferry.

It could come in handy.

Order one tomorrow.

But at that price, you could get your own ship, get your own crew.

But not secretly.

You see, someone like myself starts to outfit an expedition into space...

...well, it attracts questions, snoopers.

Investigations from the bureau.

But you...

Why, you just pop off into space on one of your scavenging flights...

...no questions asked.

And a few days later, an asteroid just happens to land...

...on the Farside of the Moon.

And since nobody's bothered to plot it...

...nobody can say that it didn't land there naturally.

Meteors have hit the Moon before.

I wonder if you'd repeat that price.

A new spaceship, just like that?

That's what the man said.

Are you sure you weren't as drunk as I was?

That's what I thought when I got up, so I called him.

- And? - I wasn't drunk.

So, what's all this about engines, then?

They're for the asteroid.

Get up.

It seems that when Otto was gonna do the job, he had an option on some old K 5's...

...from a Mars Explorer.

Your old ship.

They must be at least 7 years old.

They still look pretty good to me, except for number three.

They never got the start-up circuits right.

Give her a thump and she'd light off early.

Or if you didn't thump her, she wouldn't light at all.

Mars was easy. She was a difficult bit.

Do we need all three?

Yes, they should be loading them right now.

But don't tell anybody.

Pan Am Spaceways Earth Express Flight 83...

...will lift off in 20 minutes.

Will passengers please report to Airlock 3.

You're leaving again pretty quickly, Bill.

Us unsalaried workers have to keep working.

That looks like quite a heavy load you have there.

What is it?

Oh, some experimental propulsion equipment I wanna test in space.

We may have something really big here.

Uh-bup-bup-bup. Section 47-C, paragraph one.

No information about commercial or industrial secrets need be disclosed...

...without the authority of the Moon court warrant.

Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Good luck, Bill.

- You'll have to marry that girl, Bill. - What do you mean, have to?

It might be better than have her throw you in jail.

I didn't tell her a lie just then.

Oh, if you've got to that stage, you'd better marry her anyway.

I asked you to stay out of sight until we were ready.

We just came down to witness the liftoff of Earth Express.

We understand it's a sight no tourist should miss.

When will you be ready to liftoff?

Yes, this time we can pay the bill, okay?

The pump valve on number two. We are ready now.

Passengers?

He's got a computer in that briefcase, and Harry can help with the heavy work.

I'll get out there.

That's Mr. Karminski, isn't it? Your engineer?

What nationality is he?

Born on Earth.

It wasn't quite what I asked.

We're all foreigners up here.

Ready to go? Without the pistol, please.

You don't take this off me twice.

Then the trip's off.

If that thing goes off in the ship, we'd never get back to explain why.

Give it to me, Harry.

Let's hope we all have a profitable trip.

Let you know in about four days.

Will Mr. H. Walker please report to Immigration?

Mr. H. Walker, passenger on Flight 320 Mars, report to Immigration.

Okay, we're pressurized. You can take your helmets off.

Whitsun, I want the main course exactly 90 seconds after blastoff.

Yes, Mr. Kemp.

Are you letting him navigate?

He's got a better computer than we have.

Can he use it?

He figures that counting miles per hour...

...isn't so different than dollars per second.

As long as he remembers you can't get miles per hour on credit.

Moon Control. Zero Two.

Request takeoff clearance.

Round trip, no landing away, as usual.

Zero Two, you're clear.

Mars Express due in 20 minutes.

Zero Two. I'll try to miss him. Out.

Got that course yet, Whitsun?

Relative to the elliptic, I want a course of Alpha 351.

Beta 179. Speed, 17,500.

It sounds as if he knows.

It does, doesn't it?

Do you think he means steer sort of over there?

Oh, more or less, I suppose.

I hope it's not too difficult for you.

Not at all, Mr. Whitsun.

Well, if you have an orbitograph, I hope I can make the situation clear to you.

It's over there.

Well, it's not new, but I think it works.

The Earth. The Moon revolving around it.

Now, this year, this week, the asteroid is making its closest approach...

...to the Moon since 1998 on this course.

Our interception course will be just here...

...45 hours from now.

You will arrange the engines on the surface of the asteroid.

We shall fire them four hours later.

The asteroid will change to this orbit.

You will observe that its speed relative to the Moon is quite slow...

...and that it is only visible from the Farside.

Radar stations on Nearside cannot see it. You appreciate the importance of this?

If they could, we'd be in jail the moment we got back.

Exactly.

Then after three days, during which the asteroid...

...will have come to within 10,000 miles of the Moon, we'll return to it...

...take new measurements, reset the engines, and fire again.

The asteroid lands on the Moon.

Crunch. I get the picture.

The convoy's in from Farside Five.

Oh, Wally...

- I'm sorry, I thought you were-- - Wrong number.

Excuse me again.

But do you know Mr. Wallace Taplin?

Wally. Yes, I know Wally.

Not well enough, apparently.

You a friend of his?

No, I'm his sister.

That's a great relief.

Was he on this convoy?

Well, if he was, I didn't see him. Would you like to sit down, take a drink?

Yes, yes, join us. Come.

Three more Rocket Fuels, please.

- All right with you? - Yeah.

Now, I come to think of it, I haven't see Wally in maybe four months.

He sent me a cable to meet him here.

You just up from Earth? Yeah.

Have you tried radioing him? Of course you can't, that satellite's out.

You'd think they'd have decent communications here.

No government ever spent $1 until they'd lost 5.

Yes, five of us being out of contact the way we are around the back there.

Hello, Ms. Murphy.

The lady's lost her brother.

And do you plan to spend the evening consoling her?

Any news, Ms. Taplin?

Something must have happened to him. Nobody's seen him for months.

Well, he may have just missed the convoy.

It's pretty rough country out at Farside Five.

Yes, that's what must have happened.

I've never known Wally in time for anything.

Well, if you have any news or want any help, just let me know.

Come on, drink up and we'll teach you how to play.

Dealer takes two.

That was three, you thieving ditch digger.

A little mistake among friends.

Kept two good ones, have you?

Contact.

We're gonna use the main engines for final approach.

So strap yourselves down, everybody.

Eight miles. Relative speed, 300 miles per hour.

Keep her coming.

Four miles, 150. Nice, nice.

Two miles. One hundred.

Coming up to one.

Go to 1g.

Thousand yards.

Three, two.

Give her the works. Cut.

A 6000-ton jewel.

How would you like to meet the broad who could hang that around her neck?

- Where exactly do you want this attached? On the cradle.

Treat it gently. This is number three.

It's as liable to go off early as late.

Fasten your safety line, Harry.

I'll go down and get the leads from the other engines.

Now, if each engine is set for exactly...

...100,000 pounds thrust, then...

...if we fire in three minutes, nine seconds...

...and for exactly one hour and 18 minutes.

If number three goes off right on time.

If it doesn't, it will ruin the whole operation.

I'll rig it so that when number three goes off...

...so do all the rest.

But it must fire exactly on time.

I'll stay and give it a thump when you give me the countdown.

When they do fire, she won't make like a spaceship...

...but she'll be building up fast.

Will you be okay?

Provided I get off in the first 10 seconds, yes.

All right.

Are you sure you'll be all right, Mr. Kemp?

You take care of your calculations. I'll take care of myself.

Thank you for asking anyway.

Fifteen seconds, Mr. Kemp.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven. Six.

Five. Four.

Three. Two.

One.

He's got five seconds to get free.

- He's off. - What would have happened if he'd failed?

He'd have ended up in his socks.

- Are you okay, Bill? - Yeah, Dan.

Only, it's a little lonely out here.

Are you walking home or would you like a lift?

I think I'll take a lift.

Have you back at the hotel before you know it.

Try to make it before the bar shuts.

When does Wonder Boy reckon we should go out again?

Three days, according to his box of tricks.

- Want a drink? - Later. I am going to eat.

A double Moonflower, please, Len.

Buffalo Stampede.

There's a lady been asking for you for the past couple of days.

What's she drinking?

- Green Mary. - What?

Rocket Fuel and cabbage juice.

Which takes the taste away from which?

I don't know. I only serve them.

Hi.

- Found your brother yet? - No.

- Not on the convoy? - Not on two convoys.

Nobody seems to have seen him in four months.

Well, Farside is a big place.

You just don't go visiting someone...

...when it's a hundred miles of rough country and in a moon bug which...

Cheers.

Mr. Kemp, do you know anything about Moon mining laws?

- Mm. A little. - Can you explain the Two-Year Rule?

Get a claim for two years, if you haven't found anything...

...you get thrown off.

Somebody else gets it. It's quite a waiting list.

Seems a bit unfair.

Maybe, but the Moon costs a lot of money to get started...

...and they can't have people just digging holes and not finding anything.

- How long has your brother had his claim? - Two years, in three days' time.

And he hasn't struck anything yet?

But he has. He said so in his cable. That's why I'm up here.

Tell him to get over here and prove it before he loses his claim.

By radio? Oh, no.

But the convoys...

No, they wouldn't be quick enough.

Mr. Kemp, will you fly me over there?

I know I haven't got $10,000 on me now, but if Wally's found something...

...we'll pay you back as soon as we're selling it.

I couldn't land on your brother's claim. It's much too rough country.

But we could go to Farside Five. It's a 24-hour ride in a bug from there.

You can owe it to me.

Now, what the hell. I'm nearly rich anyway.

Let's have another drink.

Len, I'd like two more of, uh, whatever they are.

You weren't thinking of taking the young lady for a ride, were you, Mr. Kemp?

- I'm a pilot for hire. - You're already hired. Drop her.

It'll only be a three-day trip. I'll be back in time.

You're working for Mr. Hubbard. Drop her.

- You seem to have your hand on me. - Mr. Hubbard's hand.

Tell him to keep it on things he really owns.

If we're gonna play...

...we're gonna play by my rules.

Moon Bar. Send the police.

One-five-zero.

Five-two-five-seven.

Touchdown in 17 minutes.

Be careful, we've just gone weightless.

I know. Just like the Moon Express.

Though your ship is different in other ways.

It'll be dark over Farside.

You are in for a nice long night drive in a moon bug just built for two.

I'll stay with the ship and give her a spring clean.

And get some sleep.

Approaching reentry point.

Haven't seen Wally here in, oh, must be nearly four months by now.

Well, I tried to radio him a couple of times...

...but it's always chancy in the mountain country.

How about relaying it?

Well, I could ask Nick Hunter to ask Louis Grenier...

...to ask Tad Connel to pass on a message...

...but Tad's been in hospital with kidney trouble the last fortnight...

...and I know that Nick went over to Moon City on the last convoy.

On the other hand, I might be able to contact Bill Whirter.

Oh, no. He's off radio for the next couple of days.

Sorry, there doesn't seem to be any way.

When you didn't hear from him, didn't you think of declaring an emergency?

With a six-day delay sending a message by convoy?

- Hell of an emergency that would be. - The satellite's only been dead for 12 days.

I know that, but...

Nobody dies slowly on the Moon, you know that.

Well, can I take a bug, then?

Well, one's out and I was hoping to do an overhaul on the other.

I'd need a thousand dollars' deposit.

Thank you.

- Is it ready? - As ready as she'll ever be.

I guess she'll get you there.

- And back? - Sure do hope so.

Climb aboard.

Move over unless you wanna drive.

Sorry, but this is a part of the Moon that tourists don't see.

If we pull the wrong lever out here, there's no guarantee we'll be found.

I'm sorry.

But I'm not a tourist, Mr. Kemp. I'm here to stay and work with my brother.

Fine. Just be careful in here until you're used to what's what.

I understand.

How long does it stay dark?

It will be sunup in 40 hours.

It must get awfully cold out there.

Two hundred degrees below zero.

And up above boiling point when the sun's out.

Don't worry. These bugs have efficient heating and cooling systems.

And we've always got the moon suits.

I see what you mean about...

...we'll always be foreigners.

Why did your brother pick this end of the Moon?

He didn't. It was the only claim left.

That figures.

- What was he mining on Earth? - Gold, some silver.

Last thing he found was copper up in Montana.

Sold out cheap to a big company.

He always thinks there will be a bigger and better strike over the next hill.

He came over a big hill this time.

- Your father? - He blew himself up five years ago.

Dynamiting for emeralds in the Andes.

I hardly knew him.

He was always off somewhere, digging a new hole over a new hill.

You're the Bill Kemp who was the first man on Mars.

- That's right. - It's funny meeting you like this.

Driving a hired moon bug?

No. I can remember when we got the news that you'd landed on Mars.

I was just a schoolgirl then.

And I wasn't very interested in space travel.

Mm-hm.

Then the astronomy teacher showed us Mars one night...

...and told us how far it was.

It still is.

I remember your name from then.

The man who'd flown his spaceship for 40 million miles.

Well, not quite single-handed.

I could still recite you the names of the crew.

That's more than I could.

- Why did you give it up, exploring? - It gave me up.

After Mars, and Jack Harvey got on Venus...

...the corporation decided that passengers was where the money was.

Sure it would have taken some money and some new inventions...

...to get to Mercury and Jupiter's moons...

...but somebody's gonna do it.

Anyway, I wasn't a passenger pilot, so I quit.

- l understand. - You do?

Always something over the next hill.

- I know. - And always on borrowed money.

But there is something over the hill.

That's the trouble for a woman.

Space travel is just a big way of getting out of the house on a Saturday evening.

Well, if you don't have anything better to do.

We're within radio range.

- Do you wanna try? - Please.

Wallace.

Wally, come in, please. Over.

- Try it again. - Wally Taplin, are you receiving me? Over.

He might not be switched on.

Don't worry. We'll be there in a couple of hours.

Can you see anything?

Only your brother's igloo. No sign of life.

Into the suits. We'll walk from here.

Wally, can you receive me?

Over.

Wally, are you receiving me? Over.

Okay, boots off.

It's a pretty color.

So you'll show up at a distance.

In different colors too. So as you can tell who's who.

Right. Boots and gloves.

- There are a few other things. - But we've got to get out.

Okay, just take it easy. We're all foreigners, right?

Let's learn the language.

Now, there's heating, air, radio.

Now, with your helmet on...

...you'll be airtight and properly warmed up.

If the heating busts, you won't need me to tell you about it.

- And you're quite sure this suit works? - Sure, I'm sure.

Look, I think I've found something.

Where are you? - Around the corner.

Don't wander off. You've got to stay in sight.

I'm sorry.

You see, he has been mining.

- Do you know what this is? - A piece of rock.

With a vein of nickel in it, and a very rich one.

- Wally did find something. Are you sure?

I know a little about geology.

- Where could he have gone? - Not far or he'd have taken his bugdozer.

Look, there's someone there.

I suppose he just made a mistake.

He managed for two years without making one.

And he didn't puncture his suit. He had to have oxygen to look like--

To go as he did.

One full, one empty.

Just a stupid mistake.

Hold it.

You out there, identify yourselves.

Get down.

We're on telephone now.

They can't hear us, but don't say anything on the radio.

They're picking it all up.

Come on out, both of you. Or we'll drill you like a sieve.

Don't shoot. The girl's hurt. You've gotta help me.

There's another way out.

Back in the cave.

Quickly, give me your brother's pack.

- This was your brother's, wasn't it? - Yes.

Well, he was murdered, all right. Whatever's in here, it isn't air.

How do we get out of here? Our bug's ridden off.

Let's try this one.

Leave your suit on. It's 200 degrees below zero in here.

Can't we turn the heating on?

Oh, it's all shot to hell.

And we've only got power for about 150 miles...

...but not for heating and cooling as well.

- We'll have to stay in our suits all the way? - Can't do that either.

The charges won't last more than a few hours.

A hundred and fifty miles?

But it's over 200 miles back to Farside Five.

Yes, by the track, but this thing's built to go over mountains.

We're gonna have to try a shortcut.

Bill, is nickel very rare on the Moon?

You find it, but not just lying around.

Is it valuable enough to murder a man for?

You can't price a murder. People have been killed for their small change.

We're getting pulled way off course. How long does this crevasse go on for?

Another mile.

The walls are narrowing.

- We must be nearing the end. - Are you sure you can read a map?

- Oh, there's a way out. Will we make it?

There's only one way to find out.

We're going to make it.

This is where it starts.

It will take a little time yet.

You'd better turn your insulation off. Save the last of the charge.

We might need it later on.

How far now?

About 80 miles.

It looks as though the worst is over. It seems pretty flat from here.

Just when we need the shade.

Take off your moon suit.

What are you gonna do now?

Now that you're not gonna work with your brother?

Back to Earth?

I hadn't really thought.

Any jobs going for a good space shipping clerk up here?

Could be.

Thanks.

Bill, I'm sorry I dragged you into all this.

I'm not.

It'd be a bit silly for Bill Kemp to die just here, on the Moon.

After all the places you've been at.

It would be a bit silly for Bill Kemp to die anyplace as far as I'm concerned.

So sit down and start telling me how much farther we have to go.

Is there any water left?

It's damn near boiling.

Well, what's the matter?

Well, nothing.

Not a thing.

If it gets any hotter, I'll very likely take the rest of it off.

How much farther?

- Only a few miles. - How many?

- I don't know. Seven? Ten? - Which is it? Seven or 10?

I'm sorry, but seven means we might make it, 10 means we won't.

We've got power for couple of miles, then we walk.

We've only got an hour's insulation charge left in the suits.

The overheating has melted the pressure point.

I only hope...

Quick. Into your suit.

Look.

It's Farside Five. Come on.

All right, Bill, you're under arrest.

Fine. Now, has anybody got a nice, cool drink?

Nothing I could do, Bill. She just suddenly appeared.

She always gets her man, Bill.

Well, you've really been running up an account this time.

Causing a disturbance liable to breach the pressure of an outside room.

Malicious damage to hotel property.

Miss Taplin's brother has been murdered out there.

Come on, you can do better than that.

Yes, well, three other characters got killed, but I did that myself.

When you get into trouble, you really jump off the top board, don't you?

Someone had better get out there and check.

One thing we can check right now:

Wally Taplin was killed with one of these.

Tell me what you think it smells like.

Go on.

Just one sniff.

It could be cyanide.

Funny, I just took it off my own suit.

Smells like good fresh air to me.

But you thought it was cyanide.

Now, you sold him his air bottles. You sell all air bottles around here.

Why?

You'd better answer him.

They made me. They wanted Taplin's claim.

It was due to expire but it seems he'd found something on it...

...and they had to have it.

What for?

To land an asteroid on it.

Mr. Hubbard, they've found out about it. You've got to get me off the Moon.

So you've reached the confession stage...

...and in front of the Bureau of Investigation.

I'm glad we got here on time, Mr. Kemp.

I was afraid some of my associates might not realize...

...how essential you are to this project and would have disposed of you.

They tried. Really?

- All three of them? - All three.

I really did underestimate you, Mr. Kemp. So we're three men short, then.

- Whitsun, make a note to engage-- Mr. Hubbard.

You're under arrest.

I don't think so.

Do you, Harry?

Let me get this straight.

You got that louse to murder my brother so you could have a place to land an asteroid?

- Not just any old asteroid-- - You scou--

Mr. Kemp, please.

Don't get yourself killed unnecessarily.

I don't think I'm gonna be able to get you out of this one this time, Bill.

Don't talk, Liz.

I'm gonna miss you, Bill.

Even the rows were good.

We're quite safe, sir. None of the shots pierced the dome.

Yes, well, I believe we need to take off for the asteroid in just under one hour.

If you think I'm gonna land that thing for you now, you're--

But I do.

Whitsun, when was the last time we abandoned a project without any profit?

- Antarctic oil, eight years ago. - I remember. There was no oil there.

No, but there is sapphire in this asteroid, Mr. Kemp, so...

Harry, shoot the young lady.

That's better.

Alter course. Alpha 271, Beta 095.

Speed, 8500.

Fifteen minutes to contact, Mr. Hubbard.

Good.

That gives me time to finish my dinner.

Phew.

That really does taste like iron filings.

You wouldn't be trying to poison me, my dear, would you?

I didn't think of that.

I wonder if I could bottle the taste of caviar.

You're crazy, did you know that?

- For trying to bottle the taste of caviar? - For trying to land 6000 tons of sapphire.

You won't make a cent.

I don't think you know quite as much about this as you think you do.

Sapphire's only valuable as long as it's rare.

They mine about a ton a year on Earth.

Put 6000 tons on the market and it becomes as valuable as colored glass.

Sounds like Antarctic oil again, Mr. Hubbard.

He doesn't want it for jewelry, you space head.

It's a ceramic tougher than the stuff we've lining the rocket tubes out there.

And it can stand more heat than stainless steel.

Two thousand degrees centigrade, so my experts tell me.

So if one has 6000 tons of it lying around...

...worth, as Miss Taplin says, nothing...

...then why not use it to line rocket tubes?

They'll be able to build big engines.

Real big ones.

Which could power the ships for Mercury...

...and Jupiter's moons.

And they will be my ships, Mr. Kemp...

...and anything they find will be my trade at my prices.

They'll have to invent a new word instead of rich.

They won't let you do it.

They can't stop me.

United Nations Space Charter, Section--

Section 5-C, freedom to explore and exploit.

You always said if the corporation didn't do it...

...somebody else would.

Meet the somebody.

The first flight to Mercury will also require a good pilot.

The sort of man who made the first landing on Mars.

If he hasn't forgotten too much since then.

And after Mercury and Jupiter's moons...

...Uranus and Neptune.

And when that is all over...

...I will need good men to govern those places.

Pick your planet, Mr. Kemp.

I wouldn't help you put your dirty little fingers on a lump of it.

Two hundred thousand dollars in the gem market.

We need a slight tilt before firing off for full retro effect.

We can arrange that by firing two engines early.

One of them will have to be number three. Just remember that.

Yes, I have anticipated that. Same system as before.

Number three controls the firing of the others.

Come out here where the boyfriend can see you, love.

Sort of encourage him in his work.

We have a margin for error here.

If we fire between four and seven minutes...

...it will still land on the claim.

Good. Anything else?

If I'm going to stay down here and thump number three again...

...I'll need a long line.

Miss Taplin.

They're up on the passenger deck.

- What can I do? - Into the Control Deck.

Bill's chair.

I think that's everything, sir.

It will land 16 minutes after firing.

Excellent timing, Whitsun.

Mr. Taplin's claim expired half an hour ago.

No legal problems.

Are you there? - Yes.

On your right. Two rows of switches.

Bottom row.

- All right? - What now?

On your left, the big throttle lever.

Pull it all the way back.

Now.

Cut the throttle.

- The engineer must have got free. - But he can't have. I handcuffed him.

I suppose you think the girl's flying that thing?

In the maintenance locker there, there is a buzz saw.

Mr. Kemp, can your engineer land that thing on his own?

No, I don't think so.

Then he needs you as much as we need the ship.

Mr. Karminski, if you hear me...

Are you ready to go home now?

- Go get him, Harry. - That's right, Harry. Come and get me.

- He's got a gun, Mr. Hubbard. - I know that. It's your gun.

So start earning your pay for once.

Be reasonable, Mr. Kemp.

We just wanna get back to the Moon same as you do.

- So let's have no more trouble, please. - Watch your head, Harry.

Now, let's be reasonable, Mr. Kemp.

Come here.

I'm sorry, Mr. Hubbard, I forgot to leave you any cutters.

The whole sequence has started. Well, stop it.

Mr. Hubbard, I can't reach it. The buildup of power, it's too great.

Well, they'll be on the Moon before we are.

Seal her up.

We'll follow as far as we can.

Pressure normal. No leaks.

United Nations Space Charter, Section 99-B:

No sex is permitted in space.

Do you make them all up?

Most of them. Nobody else has read it either.

They'll reach the Moon in exactly one minute.

On target? On target.

And whoever takes over from Hubbard gets 6000 tons of sapphire.

That makes you a very attractive woman.

We can prove your brother was murdered...

...and that he'd found nickel, and the law doesn't allow profit by murder.

Five seconds.

Four. Three.

Two. One.

Contact.

Well, he made his mark on the Moon, all right.

Course for Moon City.

Oh, by the way, what's your room at the hotel like?

Why don't you find out?