rural areas.
A very reason why the
grant school is so
these are
Oh
It appears that theory to the contrary Thurman's approach will work if the circuit can be changed
Hello, uh-huh. I finally caught you
No, no hi babes. Mr. Wizard. You're still in that office. Hmm. You're still working. Well, where are you hiding?
You're supposed to come home early. Remember no sidetracks
I know
Something came up. There's a report Ellie. Oh Mike. Don't you think the Institute could survive without one more report?
I'm sorry. I like look I'm about finished here now. I'll be home in an hour. That'd be okay
Not one I'll see you later my
Yeah, it's gonna be a good trip, you know, we're gonna have a great time
Yeah
Yeah
Mike
Say you haven't changed your mind. Have you now listen woman?
Don't you ever doubt my word
We're gonna go on that trip and we're gonna forget this Institute. We're gonna forget everything. Do you understand? All right, darling
I'll see you in a little while
Oh
Oh
Evening dr. Brandon, did you like all the world's problem?
Still a couple of last
Still a couple
I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on
Hi doctor
Martin Mike never came home. Can you please come over?
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry
All right Phil, thanks
well
No fingerprints. No sign of a struggle
Then where is he?
You don't just abandon a car in the middle of a city and disappear some people do just that dr. Geller for a variety of reasons
Not one of my people
Commissioner I want action on this
Club gentlemen
Brandon is a top man a walking encyclopedia of electronics information
Including the classified kind now when a man like that is missing
Well, you see the Institute sells more than just brains it sells security without that
Well, you understand we understand very well dr. Geller or this would be purely a precinct matter
You see if Mike we're off on a bender of some kind. All right, that's that's understandable
Pressures at a think tank and do that to you sometimes
if it's well if it's something else I
It looks bad chief it just looks very bad for the Institute isn't that what you mean?
Well, I'm thinking of more than the Institute
Look chief I hope you and your people know what you're doing because I'm thinking about the country
I'm thinking about the country dr. Geller now your friend Michael Brandon. Isn't he part of the country?
Oh
Hello, this is Brandon. Yes, I'm chief iron side. This is officer. Sam. Oh, yes, sir
Dr. Geller told me that he would be here, please
Come in
Thank you so much for coming so quickly, would you come this way? This is my husband's study I
Haven't had a chance to get any of my husband's papers. Mrs. Brandon. Do you mind if I poke her out? Oh, no
I
Keep iron side. I I don't know how to say this but my husband didn't have any reason to disappear
There were no problems between you two. No
Well, you know, he was pushing himself pretty hard and I got on him about it once in a while
But no, he didn't have any big problems
Anyway, I fed him too well for him to run off
Had he been
Acting in an unusual or different manner lately
Was there any change in his behavior his habits?
Most unusual thing that we've done in the last 10 years was to plan a vacation
In fact we were supposed to leave today
Mike was
Feeling a little restless. It was also resigning
Resigning Mike never finished that letter. He wasn't going to resign from the Institute from what then?
Well, you see Mike's team was assigned to a Defense Department study of a missile base and he wanted out of that project
Why well, he said that there were enough missiles on that base to level a continent and he didn't want to work with armaments anymore
My husband was
Changing he was growing up
But he was a little bit of a mess
But he never submitted the request
He never quit anything in the middle before see that was the reason for this trip
He he needed time to think about it before he made up his mind
If we could keep this house under surveillance put a tap on the phone
Do you think that he could have been kidnapped?
It's one of the possibilities
Do whatever you have to do I
Love my husband very much and I want him back. He's not a habit. I intend to break
All right, Miles I'll sell you the grain but I'm not trading in futures I want something else
My people have quoted you their top price. He's talking about the arms pack miles. Oh, no
Herb, there's a better way to play the game. You let the computer do it
You don't talk you don't bargain you attack with the big brain Carol give him a reading in a 77 crop Curtis
Have you got it yet
They aggravate me out of my skull Martin we've been playing this game for three days three days wasted Curtis
You are talking about some of the top economists in the country
They're wearing blinders that's supposed to be acting out the next 30 years in World Trade projecting what's going to happen in the year 2000
But they're thinking as 1945 they are here to think in their own way besides. This isn't your project
Everything is my project. What do you want solved pollution problems population problems ecology mass transit?
Why is old dr. Whittaker everything together? What's the problem?
Can you get Michael Brandon inside that package Curtis? This is chief iron side
He's handling the case from our end along with officer Sanger. Well, I think I can leave the three of you to take care of it
Look Curtis, would you just save a little energy for the Hobart airbase study?
The furor worries too much. What about Brandon? Ah come to my sanctuary and I will tell all
Some people were upset
When they heard Brandon talking about leaving the Hobart airbase study, you know, they felt let down betrayed
And you?
You work with three people four. It's all the same. You don't get any great insights from plotters
You know, that's what Brandon is flutter. He's earthbound iron side tethered by his own fears
I mean for him science is science and for you
It's the golden hind or sir Francis Drake's
Sword an adventure or a challenge at the very least
How do you meet your challenge dr. Whitney? What's your place in the team?
Haha, I'm the one who knows everything there is to know
About this
You're in charge of this whole operation I've built oh
Come on in take a look
Right this way look inside
I wasn't very close to Brandon. He's a co-worker not friend
This change that came over it wasn't sudden, you know, I need to see it
How started a couple of months ago. He got way down in any kind of military application of his work
Then he became guarded quiet except when he was being held hostage
Because all we did hear he said was work on ways to destroy people
Excuse me
Curtis Whitney
Hold
Iron side
Yes, sir
All right, we'll meet you at the office
Ed and Fran have something
Well, thank you. Dr. Whitney. You've been a great help. Yes, or the coffee by the way
This is my own special for me. How'd you like it?
It was an adventure doctor a challenge
This is your main savings account shows about $1,000
Now this account has $1,253
Oh, this one's our rainy day account. We use it for fixing up the house and things like that
Mrs. Brandon, do you recall that savings account 52 or $57?
I thought my clothes that one out. We used it years ago for tax money when he was consulting
Do you remember the last time he was in the hospital?
It was a very long time ago
Go on Fran
The bank's records show several deposits made in the last month
Current balance over $55,000
$55,000? I mean, that's not right. It just couldn't be
Mrs. Brandon, is there anything you know of that could account for those deposits?
Nobody could do that much outside work and Mike wasn't doing any
Are you sure your husband wasn't trying to earn a little going away present for you? Could that be possible?
What do you mean? I don't understand
Those could be payoffs, Mrs. Brandon
Oh
We need more information, but from what we have so far, at best, indications are that your husband may be a defector
And at worst?
He may be a spy
It's down this way, Chief Ironside
I think you'll find Mike Brandon's room just the way we left it
We'll be here quite a while, Dr. Geller
Brandon was very valuable to you
I'd like to see how valuable he'll be to them
Most of Mike's notes are in writing
But he left a great deal of recorded material, too. Yes, tapes made while he worked
Thank you
Well, would you like me to stay and help?
For the moment, no
You see, Firenzeide, I realize that scientists sometimes sell out from both sides, but I handpick Mike Brandon myself
The Brandon who disappeared seems to be quite a different person from the Brandon you handpicked
But for him to have changed that much...
No way to foresee these things
I don't think your reputation is in jeopardy
Well, Chief Ironside, there are some people who consider my devotion to the Institute unselfish
But I hate to be drowning and depend on him to throw me a line
If the rope belonged to the Institute, he'd probably be afraid to get it wet
Mark, if the rope belonged to the Institute, he'd probably be afraid to get it wet
If the rope belonged to the Institute, it probably would be specially treated to save thousands
All right, then, Chief, what do we do first? Do we read or do we listen?
What we do first doesn't matter as long as we do it all
You may choose your half of the job
This belongs to me
If Mike gets any ideas or inspirations, this is the room that he works in
He comes down and writes them up and in the morning he tries to figure out what it all means
We'll start down here, Mrs. Brandon
All right
But we'd like to look through the entire house
Well, you can look wherever you want to
Thank you
If, um...
If your husband did defect, he may have left some indication of his intentions, some record
Sergeant Brown, if my husband wanted to go someplace and not be found, he wouldn't leave a road map lying around the house
He may not have known that's what he was doing
Mrs. Brandon, usually in cases like this there's a contact
Someone in particular he saw during the last two months or someone he talked to
No, no, I've already told Chief Ironside that there was nothing out of the ordinary
Not even a trip recently?
Well, he did take a trip to Washington for a conference
Was there anyone there who seemed to have especially impressed him? A name that kept coming up?
No, no one
I mean, no one could impress him as much as you're trying to suggest
It's just not possible
What about telephone calls? Did he call anyone with whom he or not familiar?
Mike makes his business calls from the office
Mrs. Brandon, I know this is very difficult for you
Look, Sergeant, I understand that you have to do your job
But I would like you to know that my husband would never betray his country
He's just not like that
I'm afraid some of his co-workers feel differently
Officer Belding, Sergeant Brown, the house is yours
You can look wherever you want to
But I should warn you that if you're going to place Sherlock Holmes
You're not going to find what you're looking for unless you use a distorted magnifying glass
Who thinks that they know Mike better than I do?
Oh, sure, this is the Eye in the Sky Defense Project
It's electronic surveillance
Top secret?
Let me put it this way
If you hadn't been clear, there's no way either of you could have even touched these files
What's this, negative feedback test?
You don't know what that is?
Inverse images
The canceling out of electronic impulses
Why wasn't I told about this project?
Yeah, but you're supposed to know about all research going on here
What I did?
It was a test
It has to do with television
We were able to make out that much
Yes
Why was I kept in the dark about this?
Well, if we can redo some of the experiments
Maybe we'll know why
Carl, would you move the camera a little further right?
We want a completely blank backdrop
There we are
There we are, that's fine
Ready, Dr. Whitney?
I'll play a game on the side beach working
Going to Brandon's tape, you played this one before
Yes, but I don't usually like to do things twice
No surprises that way
All right, curtain going up, let's get on with the show, folks
All right, Mark, any time
Is it the computer program?
It is now
Mark?
What's happening, Dr. Whitney, exactly?
Well, as the computer receives the impulses carrying the ball's image
It automatically sends out electronic patterns which are the exact opposite
They cancel out the actual picture of the ball
It does indeed
Yeah, Mike Brandon's version of the hidden ball trick
A thing of beauty and at the time something of a joy
Why wasn't I told about this joy the first time you saw it?
Well, it wasn't really very important to anyone but me
I wanted to use it to test my computer
You see, I had set out to create the fastest brain in the world
Well, this showed me I had succeeded
And there's no other practical application
Oh, that's the beauty part, Ironside
You know, that's what think tanks are for, a little abstract along with your concrete
Chief?
Yes, Ed?
We found the Brandon's phone bill for last month, checked out the numbers
And?
We found several calls Mrs. Brandon knows she didn't make
One of the numbers is of the Carriage House Hotel
A watering hole for the Foreign Diplomatic Corps
What about the other one?
There's a phone out here, I'll get it for you
Brandon called it almost every day
His wife doesn't know anybody there
No friends, no associates
It's ringing
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Trade Mission, Chernyakov here
Ellie, I don't like to think the worst about Mike either
But there is this evidence
Oh, Mike, evidence, what evidence?
Everything that Mike worked for has been destroyed
No, Ellie, nobody can take his achievements from him
Martin, you have a way of making that sound like a press release
Oh, dear
I've written so many books on Mike
Oh, dear, I've written so much of that stuff I forget about it sometimes
Martin, I...
Mrs. Brandon, how are you?
Not very well, frankly
I have the Hobart data broken down if you care to see it
Kurt, I think we've got to look at it tomorrow, don't you?
Fine
Mrs. Brandon?
Dr. Whitney, I'd like to ask you a question
Do you think that my husband affected?
Yes, I think he did
And that's what you told Ironside?
Not in so many words
You must be glad that he's gone
Ellie, I...
I really didn't think about it, been too busy
Must be very nice not to have him around to, uh, cramp your style, to keep your feet on the ground
Nobody's been able to do that, my dear
I do my soaring no matter whose small mind is around
And you hated those small minds, didn't you?
What you're really asking is if I hated your husband
I really think this is a...
No, Martin, please
I want to ask Dr. Whitney what he thought of his co-worker
Of the man that made most of his ideas work
Just some of them, Mrs. Brandon, just some of them
Let's not glorify your husband too much
He was a catapult afraid to come out of his cocoon
My husband had a conscience
I didn't hate your husband, Mrs. Brandon, I really didn't think about him that much
If I had, what I would have felt was, uh, pity
Pity? I don't know
You're wrong, Dr. Whitney
My husband did not defect
I'm not going to stop this investigation until all the facts are known
Hello?
Ellie, this is Mike
Mike, Mike, darling, darling Mike, where are you?
I'm alive and I'm healthy
I'm already out of the country in another land
I've been living in this country for my whole life
I've been living in this country for my whole life
I've been living in this country for my whole life
And I'm healthy, I'm already out of the country in another land
Where I can work for peace
This is a recording, Ellie, I made it some time ago when I knew I had to leave
We'll never be able to see one another again, Ellie
But I have provided for you
Forgive me for what must appear in abandonment of you in our country
But the forces of reaction threaten the world
Mrs. Brandon called as soon as the call was over
No one was monitoring the wiretap that late
But the automatic mechanism picked it up
That's definitely your husband's voice
That's Mike, I know his voice anywhere
Well, we wanted to know what happened to Dr. Brandon
And now we do
He wouldn't be the first man to try a stalemate, Mrs. Brandon
All neatly tied up so we go on to other things, is that what you mean?
Have to, Bob, we have no choice
Somebody had to play those tapes on the phone
Somebody who knew about Mike
Finding your husband's whereabouts and getting him back
The State Department will be working on that
The Sawyer wholesale jewelry vaults are on the fourth floor on this corner here
According to Captain Larson, the thieves probably entered via a neighboring roof to...
Am I boring you, Chief?
What? No, no, go on, Ed
We're supposed to be thinking about some 100% loyal cat burglars now
You have my undivided attention, right? Right
Right. Now, the only way to get from one building to the other would be to use a line
Grapple marks were found on the cornices of...
Oh, that's no good. No good at all
Chief, I know what you're thinking
But there I saw her face
The face of a woman whose husband has left her
For a cause
The face of a woman who'd never heard of that cause
Ed, start the tapes
Chief, look, sure, the tapes could have been edited, but we have listened and listened...
And...
And we will listen again
This is a recording, Ellie
I made it some time ago when I knew I had to leave
I've left a bank account with what I hope is enough to see you through
The intonation he uses
Would a man speak that formally to his wife if someone was with him breathing over his shoulder?
But Brandon and his wife were close. Now, why didn't he take her with him?
Why didn't he at least take her into his confidence beforehand?
Maybe he couldn't. Maybe they wouldn't let him
Forgive me for what must appear abandonment of you and our country
It just won't wash. He expresses concern, but his voice never shows it
You know, there was something that bothered me, and I just thought it was too silly to bring up
I don't think there's one place in that tape that Brandon tells Mrs. Brandon he loves her
He never uses the word love
He never uses any word that's not part of business English
It's as though he were dictating a letter or a report
Exactly
All right, let's get the van
Personnel factors, daily procedures, security
It's all there, Martin. One missile base, destruction potential virtually unlimited
Broken down to its lowest common denominators
Any weaknesses in the system?
One or two. They can be corrected, though, if they follow my recommendations
Yes? Yes, tell the guard to send him on in
Well, looks as if Chief Ironside still isn't finished with us
What does he need?
I don't know, but I want the Institute open to him, Kurt
Everybody has to cooperate
It's going to disrupt a lot of work
Well, that's the only way we're going to clear up this mess
Come on, Martin, we'll survive this, and no one can blame you
Kurt, I hired Brandon
On the basis of his credentials?
No, I don't know. Maybe I should have been more on the lookout
But frankly, Kurt, I like Mike
I don't know, maybe I went too much on instinct
Don't condemn yourself for that
In any event, the police may not be able to prove anything
Yeah, unless he turns up in Russia or China tomorrow
Well, then let's wait and see
Look, I'd stick around for the show, except that I have to get back to the air base
It's dismantling time, and Colonel McAdams wants us out
How soon before the recommendations of the team will be ready?
Oh, you don't mind in two weeks, Tops?
Believe me, Martin, the job we do at Holborn Air Base will make them forget all about what Brandon's done
I'll yet see you without that perpetual frown
Yes
Yes, he can use it
Absolutely, let him use whatever he wants
Do you want me to play it again?
You sure there's no difference in the sound level of the voice?
No measurable one, not in the volume, not in the tone
Maybe the pickup isn't sensitive enough
It's as sensitive as they come
Maybe what we're looking for just isn't there
Go
Let's try it a little slower
Ellie, this is Mike
I'm alive and I'm healthy
I am already out of the country in another land
Where'd that come from?
It was there all along, just didn't show up till now
That happens with... With what?
Let me make sure
This analyzes song component
Already out of the country in another land
There, see?
What is that?
That's the radio frequency of fluorescent light
There's no sound unless you record near it
Then look out
But it's not on every word
Well, you know what that means
Yeah, splice, run it down to the next one
Start anywhere
At this stage of the experiment
The timing of the methane injection is critical
And the electrical...
Now the next one
As usual, Whitney insists he can computerize the entire operation
That's enough
There was no whistle that time
Both were recorded by Brandon in his office
But at different times of the day
He had the mark clearly
The first one was done late at night
The second during the afternoon
He'd have his desk light on at night, not during the day
His forest and desk light
And somebody faked the whole phone call
Put it together out of bits and pieces of Mike's old notes
The tape's phony
What about everything else?
According to the ledger, the last deposit was made
September 4th of this year
Only I went through the day's deposit slips, every one of them
No deposit was made
The phone bill was faked, too
According to the phone company's log
The calls made to the Russian trade mission
And the carriage house hotel were never made
But how can that be?
I mean, how can those things be faked?
By computer
The bank's ledger is computerized
So is the telephone company's billing system
And it completely fakes the whole thing
Computerized, so is the telephone company's billing system
And a computer can be programmed to lie any way you like
Programmed? By who?
An expert
These two computers and several others were studied by a group from the Gregory Institute
The bank's Stata processing firm couldn't begin to tell me how flattered they were
It's not often they're visited by anyone as eminent as Dr. Curtis Whitney
All this to make it look as if Mike defected
All this to make it look as if he was still...
Oh, God
I knew Mike didn't defect
I wish I could have been wrong
Whitney
We have no proof of anything, Commissioner
We think we know what he did, but we don't know why
What about that defense project he was working on?
He and Mike worked on those before with no more than the usual friction
How many, do you remember?
Five, maybe six bases in the last couple of years
Being on those bases never bothered your husband?
No
But there was something about this one
There was something different about Hobart Air Force Base
Aren't you finished yet?
When we move in, Colonel, we move in
All that's left to be taken out, sir, is the computer link-up
I'll be very relieved when that's done
I don't know, I'm gonna miss all those sexy little sack communicates
It's a joke, gentlemen, a joke
These four in this one are ours, this connect will pull them out through the side
I'll need help with the computer
Sergeant Henry, this is your expertise
Don't you worry about a thing, Colonel
In a few minutes we'll be out of here
And Hobart Air Base will be its old aloof self again
It'll be as though civilian hands never touched it
Until later when you tell us all the things we've been doing wrong
Colonel, Captain, would you like to check the computer?
We're no longer connected to the Gregory Institute
Everything's out, Captain Coleman
In that case, Dr. Whitney, goodbye
You can button that up, Sergeant
I will
Dr. Whitney, I'm trying to get you on the phone
There's a gentleman here who wants to see you
Hello, Curtis
Hi
May I speak with you for a few minutes?
I'm just on my way to a meeting
This is a pretty busy day
I realize I should have called first
I can wait or come back later
I would like to see you
All right
I guess I can put the other meeting off for a while
I'll let him know when you stand
Yes, sir
Thank you
You have a very impressive place here, Curtis
Dr. Whitney
I've forgotten how important titles are to some people
Only in certain company
It's a pretty dumb thing to do, Frank
Mr. Clausen
And it's not so dumb
Business has been good, I can afford a morning off
I forgot, it's not economics that worries you
We were wondering how it was going
Well, can't you wait until I get in touch with you?
Did Sergeant Henry do his part?
Like the good trooper that he is
Thank you, Dr. Whitney
I've made the connection, but I haven't checked it yet
Can you?
It's too soon
Let the people at Hobart slip back into their routine
I was talking to Kansas City today, to some of our friends there
They're very excited about what we're doing here, Curtis
They want it verified, they want to know
They'll know when it's time
I'm sorry if our beliefs are much stronger than yours, Kurt
But that's the way it is
Oh, come now
Let's see just how good the great Dr. Whitney really is
Do me a favor, will you, my man?
You're with me, and I'm not with you
Will you remember that little thing?
And here now, ladies and gentlemen
Is where the Hunderkens' lovely little brain pal does its thing
Take an hour off, folks. Call them early lunch
We're tuned into the base computer now
Then we could actually fire the missiles anytime we wanted to, right from here
Of course
That's the communications channel between SAC headquarters and Hobart Air Base
The missile firing code changes every hour
So we've got a little wait
Chief, this is the 12th time we've listened to any of your orders
This is the 12th time we've listened to each other
Ed, and we will listen again
Mark, Frank, Ed
All right, now...
No, keep us in
Keeping tabs on the base is not the purpose of this
Let's test the override
You won't know if you've really done it, Kurt
If you've won, unless you go all the way
All right, a test alert
The arm-light on
Affirmative
Range ready
Ready
Water system ready
Affirmative
I have equipped complete light
Rock tanking secured
Rock tanking secured
All recorders and oscillographs too fast
The base is sending in a code verification request
And if that code comes over in the next hour, they feed it into their firing system
And the missiles take off?
Right to their present targets
Music
All right, it's up to them now
Colonel McAdams
Music
That comes the tough part
After the code checks out, they send another request for verification
And you've got to cancel it out before it reaches SAC
And send the verification through yourself
What are you doing?
Just keep going, Doctor
A man like you can't quit until he has his final proof
Better hurry, Dr. Whitney
Speed is what counts, right?
At first, Dr. Whitney, it didn't compute
Why did Brandon want out of his study?
Why put him out of circulation?
After all, everything was the way it had always been
But it wasn't
No, you were different
You and that little hidden ball you asked Brandon to develop
The technique was clean and perfect
You could block electronic messages of all kinds, not just television
Now, let's say a man wants control of a doomsday button
You tie in your own computer while pretending to do a study of a missile base
You send out a firing order
When the base requests a verification from SAC, you intercept it
And cancel it out with your bouncing ball
There's more to it than that
But I've got the basics
You're actually a much better student than Mr. Clausen here, take my word
He came to me a while ago, Martin
He and his friends, they had the organization, the inside men to make it all work
It was a challenge, an adventure that made everything else pale
Is that how you sold it to Brandon?
Sold Brandon was good old-fashioned patriotism, my friend
We could beat the system, I told him
And then we could show them how to improve it so that we couldn't beat it again
Unfortunately, Dr. Brandon did not stay sold
He started to worry
He didn't like working outside the proper channels
But even then, he didn't know how to behave like a man
Do I tell Gellert, don't I?
Is Kurt helping the country or not?
So you stepped in to be sure he didn't make the wrong decision?
We had one of our people follow Dr. Brandon on his way home
He cut off his car, Dr. Brandon got out to complain
We just made certain that he never got in again
You kill him?
Oh, no, not yet
We had to make sure that our idea would work
It had to be that way, don't you see?
The world has gone to hell, everyone knows that
Our friends are our enemies, our enemies are friends
What if our government wouldn't step in, wouldn't use the power it had when it needed to?
So you were going to make sure the power was used?
Not were
It doesn't necessarily have to be were
What's that?
Time to stop the test
No!
Why not a first strike?
It's too good
We can't lose this chance
Is this what you signed on for, Dr. Whitney? Armageddon?
It was supposed to be up to me
I was to pick the time
I was to be the one to decide
No, it's my decision
Keller, Chief Ironside is for you
Yes?
Chief, we got through the sack
In time?
If the countdown hadn't been stopped, the best they could have done was destruct in the air
New security precautions are being implemented now
Thank you, Sergeant
Thank you very much
All right, Mark
Doctor
We had our chance, our chance if you waited
If you waited
We had our chance, our chance if you waited