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or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly,
and we will control all that you see and hear.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to...
In man's dark and troubled history,
there are vestiges of strange gods.
This stone statue was once such a god
a thousand years gone by in the central mountains
of Pan America.
Today, new gods have emerged.
The god of power, the god of money.
The Republic of San Blas lies west of the Orinoco basin,
slightly north of the equator.
Its principle exports are coffee, copra, mahogany,
mace, and saccharin.
In a hundred-odd years,
the reins of government have changed many times,
in blood and fire and death.
The last of these revolutions
was led by General Juan Mercurio,
the most absolute and powerful ruler of them all.
Only the Indians who live close to old gods
in the volcanic uplands are unimpressed.
They have seen the coming of conquistadors,
with the power of their guns and flashing flags;
The revolutionaries, with the power of their zeal
and willingness to die;
The Americans, with the power of their money and bulldozers,
with their summer houseboats in the crater lake of Aripana,
with their gadgets and machines and devices.
This is our deep-water research center.
Closed-circuit TV, hydrophones...
Oh, and this is sounding gear.
Ceramic transducer,
capable of sending out half-millisecond pulses.
Now, each pulse can be traced
on this precision graphic recorder.
The principle's pretty much like a...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand the principle.
Let's see how it works.
OK. All right, Skipper,
let's get it in the water.
Hey, who does a lady see around here
about getting her back oiled?
Evans, give her a hand, huh?
Sure, Mr. Dexter.
Evans, come here!
You're going down?
I just saw something.
Like what?
I didn't get too good a look at it,
but it had hands and feet.
I just saw it, Mr. Dexter.
What is it?
I don't know exactly.
A lungfish.
Get me my spear gun.
Well, lungfish won't bother you.
Are you a betting man?
Yeah, I could use a nice hat.
If the thing I saw is a lungfish
or any other kind of fish you ever saw,
you got yourself a brand new Panama hat.
There he is.
How long have you known him?
Oh, about a week.
He sent a lawyer down to buy out my outfit,
but I wasn't about to sell.
Then one day, he came down himself.
Next thing I know, he was the boss,
and I was the General manager.
Little birds have been known
to fly right into his pockets.
The fact is, I'm really not a businessman, anyway.
What are you?
Heh. I'm a marine biologist.
Well, you must be pretty good at it
if he kept you on.
John Dexter only keeps the cream of the crop.
And, uh, what crop
are you the cream of, Miss Arthur?
Me? Oh, well,
I came with a little magazine
he bought up last year.
And by the way,
anybody who rubs my back with suntan oil
automatically is entitled
to call me Lynn. Rules of the house.
More, please.
I, uh...
I didn't know he had a magazine.
Oh, he doesn't, not anymore.
We did an article on him.
He didn't like it,
so he bought the magazine
and canned everybody.
Everybody but you?
Well, I was a special case.
I wrote the article.
And he told me this job was open,
so I, uh, took it.
Well, what do you do down here?
Resident secretary.
That's sort of a den mother
with shorthand.
I live here, keep the house running,
send in weekly reports
of all of his Southern hemisphere
companies, and, uh...
Generally await his pleasure.
Moving through the deeps,
protected only by a tank of air and a hunting spear,
the scientist explorer descends beyond
the San Blas shelf, but all unknown to him,
the observer is himself observed.
Hidden in the sinuous rills of seaweed,
sightless eyes, blind for centuries,
stare out of the abyss.
The legendary creature of the deep,
sensing through nerve receptors in its skin,
becomes aware of the alien invader... Man.
We got another bottle of air?
You haven't got time, Dex.
We're due at the General's at 7:00.
Ohh, I forgot about his nibs.
You, too, Tom. It's cocktails.
Hope you brought your drinking shoes along.
Sorry, I got a date.
Oh, with...
Oh, it's with professor Arrivelo
at the university.
Well, don't stay out too late.
We're gonna get an early start in the morning.
I'm gonna find that thing, whatever it is.
All right, all right.
Tell him to hang on.
I'll leave here in the morning
and be in Rome late tomorrow... tomorrow night.
No, it's all right. I've got the prop jet
down here with me. Bye.
You are leaving so soon, Señor Dexter?
Yeah, a little trouble.
But you only arrived last night.
You should stay here for a while, relax,
see General Mercurio's world's fair.
10 years of Mercurio progress.
Very beautiful.
How's it doing?
Just between you and me, Señor,
it is empty.
2 whole months now,
nobody comes.
Where are the turistas?
What is the matter?
Get rid of your little General Mercurio,
and maybe somebody'll come down here.
Please, Señor!
You must never say such things,
even joking.
Who's joking?
Please, believe me, Señor,
even here,
General Mercurio has big ears these days.
Mira.
My brother-in-law last month,
just talking, criticizing,
but, uh, pleasantly.
Of course, everybody knows
General Mercurio does a lot of good,
but does it badly.
Did you know that the dam
he built for San Blas,
it's already crumbling
here and there.
And the university.
Such a... Spies...
Spies-on-spies system.
My own brother-in-law
was merely making conversation...
How's miss Arthur making out?
Is she behaving herself?
Well, tell him.
Don't just stand there. Throw something.
Don't get too close.
Hooks like a middleweight.
Señorita.
No, thank you.
The invitation is for 7:00.
Yeah, let's go.
What's the trouble with you?
"Is she behaving herself?"
Well, now, just think that one over.
Do you think I'm worried about
these five-and-dime valentinos down here?
Behaving means getting plenty of sleep
and 3 meals a day.
Do you know how many times you've been down here
in the last 6 months?
Twice.
Once for 2 days and once for a day and a half.
And now, you're going to Rome.
This is business.
You know, sometimes I wish I'd never heard of you.
You or your job.
If you want a pink slip, write it yourself.
I'm not gonna help you out.
And then I turned around and I knew it was...
Mercurio!
Señor Dexter, Señorita Arthur.
Ah, Señor Dexter.
General.
The lovely one.
What brings you to San Blas?
I am testing some underwater research gear.
Just bought up a little firm...
Sort of a hobby.
Well, you've come a long way
to practice your hobby.
But then, why not?
Permiso.
Señor Dexter, it has been far too long
since we have spoken.
I think I can make it myself, General.
Of course. I forget.
North American men do not like to be touched.
Latins are different.
We do not feel it is unmanly
to show friendship or emotion.
I kissed my father until the very day he died.
You didn't know my father, did you?
No.
No. Of course not.
Once, he told me,
"Juanito, beware of jeweled men."
And now, I myself am a Jewel.
But of course, he meant rich.
Like you, Señor.
And you.
I would be happier in a barrio.
Believe it.
I only live this way because my people want it so.
There is nothing that I will not do for my people.
Nothing.
Clean streets, electric lights.
And a beautiful world's fair.
Now, 10 years ago, who would have dreamed it?
Now, 10 years of progress
is not just an empty phrase, Señor.
See for yourself what I have done.
A city in Latin America second to none.
A university.
Now, this very palacio...
Rebuilt from ashes.
And here...
My dam. Mercurio dam.
To supply power...
And to hold back the flood waters.
I did these things for my people.
Do you believe that?
If you say so.
You're a liar, Señor.
You think I'm a tyrant.
All Yankees do, true?
Not true?
Then why do the Yankees not come to San Blas...
To my beautiful world's fair?
Why?
What do you want from me?
You're a man of great influence
in your country.
I was thinking perhaps a word
to a publisher or two.
A pleasant article about San Blas.
Even myself.
That's impossible, Mercurio, and you know it.
We are very much alike in many ways.
Ah, here's Señor Dexter.
Hi.
Señor.
What is this thing?
A very old god, Señor.
Very old and very prominent
in the folklore of our country.
It is said that the ancient ones
could speak with him.
Hmm.
Has anybody ever seen anything like that?
Occasionally, Indian fishermen
in lake Aripana have come back with stories.
Let's go. We've gotta make it an early evening.
I'm gonna be diving all day tomorrow.
What about Rome?
Forget it. Something else came up.
All right, skipper. That's deep enough.
All right, Evans, let's go.
It must be down there some place.
That's the sound it made.
That sounds like a dolphin.
But it can't be. Not here.
Let's go down and find out, then.
Tom?
Tom, are you all right?
Where's Mr. Dexter?
We saw something...
Something horrible.
Evans, what is it?
I don't know.
Oh, about that bet. I like a loose weave
with a nice, broad brim.
Skipper?
All right, hold it. Evans? Come on.
All right, get this thing in the cold box.
Set it at freezing.
Now, let's get moving. We've gotta take this
to the marine lab.
Yes, sir.
All right, wait a minute.
Oh, here.
Keep your eye on that.
It'll make a nice little souvenir.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, please,
may I have your attention?
I am professor Arrivelo,
marine biology department, university of San Blas.
Now, a few words of explanation regarding
the being that you are all waiting to see.
In 1938, off the coast of Africa,
a native fisherman pulled in his net one day
and astounded the world with the discovery
of the Cylacon...
A fish thought to be extinct some 50 million years.
In that room is a creature whose line, in my opinion,
is half as old as the world itself.
300 million years.
Please, Señor Evans.
The one that we are most interested in:
The Ichthyosaurus, or fish lizard.
Part crocodile, part whale or dolphin.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my opinion
that the creature in the next room
evolved directly from...
Well, where is the thing?
In the cold room, General.
Señor Dexter was wise enough to freeze it instantly.
The press will also be welcome.
You may bring your cameras.
Well, he didn't waste much time cashing in.
Yeah.
Listen, we gotta fly that thing back
to the states frozen.
That means a big, insulated box.
Plenty of ice.
Get in touch with my pilot and tell him.
Right. and find out
when we can get out of this place.
Right.
Now, the creature seems to be mainly aquatic,
but I would say it has reached
a stage of evolution where it can live on land
for short periods of time.
But notice what you might call the fingers.
It is a wonder Mr. Dexter was not torn to shreds.
My spear was in its shoulder.
Well, there is no sign of a wound.
I want a man watching this thing at all times.
No one is to move it. No one is to touch it.
Understand?
Yes, your excellency.
You may now take your photographs.
Enough.
I talked to the pilot. He'll be fueled
and ready to go by 8:00 in the morning.
Good.
Paco, I have a very special job for you.
You are to stay in this room all night
and do not let anyone enter that room.
For any reason. No one.
Orders from the General.
Oh.
Now I want to show you something very important.
Paco, this is the thermostat for the cold room.
It is set at the freezing point exactly.
Now, I do not want the temperature
to go below nor above.
You understand?
Yes, professor. No touch.
Bye now.
Hey, Paco.
Oh, Mario. What you say?
What I say?
I come to keep you company.
Checkers. vino.
Oh, fine.
Good.
Heh heh!
Ahh, good.
1, 2, 3, King.
Help!
Help! Somebody come here, quick!
Help! Help!
Somebody come in here, quick! Help!
What's going on here?
That thing... It got loose.
Don't shoot! It won't hurt you.
It could have killed me, but it stopped.
It tore a hole right through that door.
Come on, use the nets!
Keep away from its head. It is like a stingray.
Go get professor Arrivelo.
Go and get him, quick!
How did it get out? I would've sworn I killed it.
The temperature went wrong in the cold room.
Paco says it tore open the door.
Tore it open?
Well, pulverized it.
Why, this is powdered iron.
Did you say "powdered" iron?
It has been subjected
to a tremendous pressure
of some kind.
I would say it was a concussion force.
But there was no burn place,
and Paco said there was no explosion.
They say it gave off some kind
of high-pitched scream.
Like that sound it's making now?
No, no. They say it was different.
This sound it made was loud enough
to break things.
Well, the only thing I can figure
is some kind of supersonic impulses
concentrated into a beam.
Now, we've set up an oscilloscope
to try to read the frequency.
Does it give off any kind of a pattern?
Oh, very definitely.
It's like the distress cries
of certain species of dolphins.
I'd say it's signaling.
Mr. Evans, you say it's giving off
a definite pattern of sounds.
Like words?
Well, you could call it that.
Then it might be possible to talk with this thing?
It might be.
We've established certain speech patterns
with dolphins.
A sound for come, go, danger, distress,
and so on.
We tape these and play them back
on underwater amplifiers.
Now, the dolphins do respond.
And as our taped vocabulary increases,
so will our ability to communicate with them
in direct ratio.
And this thing is like a dolphin?
As far as sound goes.
You see, the dolphin gives
a single tone-burst as an information carrier.
But the harmonic pattern with this one
is a lot more complex.
Professor Arrivelo, what is your opinion of this?
For the record, sir.
If we can establish communication
with this creature, it will be beyond doubt
one of the most important scientific breakthroughs
of the century,
if not of all time.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, General Mercurio has stated his belief
that this thing will make his fair the success
"it deserves to be." Those are his words.
Do you agree with him, sir?
Well...
I would not disagree with the General.
However, I must add
that to think of this marvelous discovery
as a tourist attraction is to degrade and belittle
the world of science.
And it is to that world, and that world alone,
that this discovery belongs.
It took a lot of guts, his expressing
those anti-Mercurio sentiments to the press.
Not to mention
in the presence of you, Mr. Dexter.
Me? Why?
Well, you seem to be a friend of Mercurio's.
What do you know about guts, Evans?
I get the feeling that you don't really fit in, Evans.
Am I fired?
You're fired.
Why? Just because he thinks
you're a friend of Mercurio's?
He knows why.
All right!
I froze down there this morning.
Anybody can freeze.
You can't freeze and work for me.
Well, what about professor Arrivelo?
He's expecting me to work with him.
Go ahead, but you won't be working for me.
I won't pay you.
And when I look at you, I won't even see you.
Can you take that kind of arrangement?
I can try.
It took courage for him to say that.
Women like that in men, don't they?
They admire it. That's all.
He'll be back in the states by morning.
Does it make you feel extra hard and powerful
to think that people who are more human than you
are less magnificent than you?
Lay off, Lynn.
Well, now, don't tell me I've touched something.
There are a lot of people around
who'd be glad to come down here
and give me a bad time for nothing.
I don't need it from you. It wasn't part of our deal.
Oh, yes, I forgot.
That's your life story, isn't it?
Every relationship is a deal.
Well, I've been holding out on you
in this deal, Dex.
Holding out what?
Oh, just a few little things
that I couldn't bargain with
even if I wanted to.
Love, pity, tears.
Exception noted.
Love, pity, and tears... They're all yours, Lynn.
I don't need 'em.
You know, Dex, once...
About 5 million years ago...
I had the silly notion that I was in love with you.
But it just isn't possible to love a beautiful machine
that's self-sealing, non-flammable,
impervious to wind or weather.
You may not need love, pity, or tears,
but I need to give those things.
How soon can I move him, Professor?
Move him? Where?
I'm flying him back to the states.
We got a tank welded.
They're putting it aboard now.
Don't worry, it's for science.
I'll handle Mercurio.
It is not that.
The experiment, to interrupt it now?
It has been talking to us.
Listen. Show him, please.
We set up a 2-way microphone
at the interface of the dam.
We are hoping another creature will...
It's ranging noises.
What's the matter?
It sounds like a school of them.
A school of those things?
It's a well-known fact that a dolphin will
try to rescue a member of their species.
That's true of most species.
A school of them.
And they're getting louder.
This wall must come out.
We can move the tank on rollers.
Yes, your excellency.
This discovery has been declared
a national treasure.
And it will be called "Ichthyosaurus Mercurius."
Now, the people of San Blas...
It belongs to me, General,
and I've already made other plans for it.
Guard!
If anyone touches this creature
without my permission,
your orders are to shoot to kill.
Dex, the truck's outside. We're all ready to go...
Stop!
All right, get that thing out of here.
We're taking it to the plane right now.
Listen.
What is it now?
Let it go.
Let it go back into the lake.
I think they're gonna try to rescue him.
Well, we can't tell what they might do.
They aren't going to do anything.
Dex, please listen to him.
Who knows what'll happen to this town,
to all the people?
That's Mercurio's problem.
Now, look. You brought that thing here.
It's your problem, too.
All right, it's my problem.
And I'm handling it. Let's go.
OK, Jose, untie the net first.
Carlos, get the other side.
Dex!
Cut it loose!
Stressed and strained
by constant drilling of ultrasonic beams,
the concrete face of the dam cracks and faults.
10 million tons of pressure builds toward ultimate collapse.
You looked pretty good in there today.
To you?
That isn't the compliment it used to be, Evans.
Do you really think he's a coward?
He does.
And if he doesn't come back here and face you,
so do I.
And so will you.
Don't get too close.
Rome?
What's the deal?
Let's play it by ear.
The forces of nature
will not submit to injustice.
No man has the right,
nor will the checks and balances of the universe
permit him to place his fellows
under the harsh yoke of repression.
Nor may he again place the forces of nature
under the triple yoke of vanity, greed, and ambition.
In the words of Shelley...
"Here lies your tyrant
who would rule the world immortal."