He's not in his trailer, sir.
Well, where in blazes is he?
It's almost 0700.
I'm sure there must be some explanation, General.
Hang that.
If Austin isn't here in two minutes, I'm gonna pull the plug.
Where does he come off keeping us all waiting?
General.
What's going on here?
Where does he think he is?
Hiya, Charlie. How's it going?
Fine. Beautiful, Steve.
Think I got time for a shave?
I think so.
Hiya, Gus. Hi, Steve.
How's the family? Just great.
How we looking? Real good.
General.
Mr. Austin.
Yes, sir?
Have you any idea what time it is?
About 5 to 7?
Excuse me, General.
Hey, Steve.
You got a positive genius for antagonizing the wrong people.
I know. It's the story of my life.
Where have you been?
I felt like taking a walk.
Walk?
You know, Doc...
Out there, just before the sun comes up...
it's just like being up there on the moon again.
Kind of relaxes me.
Right.
I'll be right with you. Okay.
Well, unless you've got something, I don't have anything else.
Everything's fine in here.
Okay. Good luck, Steve.
Thank you.
Good luck, Steve!
Have a good day.
Thank you.
This is AS-Of. B-52 is ready for taxi.
It's hot in here. Let's get this show on the road.
Okay, Cecil, have you got the B-52 in sight?
Negative.
Okay, just took to your Jeff.
Wait a minute, you took off on 2-2?
Okay, just took to your Jeff.
35 to 4-0 degrees.
Roger...
One minute. Someone's keying their microphone.
Okay. Stand by for system's okay, Steve.
Okay, you're cutting out. Someone's keying your mic.
Let's get oft the test frequency.
Let's put in another 30 seconds, NASA One.
Roger. And 008 hold is heading.
Alright. B-52 cameras are on.
Winds are okay, Steve.
Westerly at about 10 knots.
Coming on. I'm indicating 004. How does that look?
Looks good, Steve. All systems are okay here.
The winds are westerly at 10 knots.
Okay.
This is NASA One calling ten seconds now.
Ten seconds, Roger.
Zero, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Okay, Steve. Check your dampers, old buddy.
Engine's on. Take her to 4-00.
Roger. Watch your alpha, Steve?
Roger.
Okay, you're coming up on Theta.
Okay, on Theta.
Okay, you're on track and you're on profile.
We've got your pitch pulse here. Looks real good.
Roger.
This is NASA One, you're just a little inside of track...
but I'd hold it just like you are.
Looking real good.
- There's another pulse. - And the pulse looks good here.
Starting my tum.
All of it?
In the past 18 months, we have had three projects...
that cost too many lives, too much money...
unnecessarily.
That is risky to the point of threatening uncontrollable...
international confrontations.
We ran an analysis on the subject.
And as you can see, the conclusions dictate a somewhat different approach.
The use of one single force...
especially equipped, as it were, for such projects.
We estimate the cost to be roughly six million dollars...
to establish the facilities...
and half a million to a million dollars a year there after to sustain those facilities...
and maintain the operation.
That's for one prototype?
We have no need of more than one till we work out the bugs.
Where do you get the raw materials, Oliver?
Are you going to ask for volunteers?
No, no, accidents happen all the time.
We'll just start with scrap.
They're shut down now.
Roger. We have you at max altitude.
Trim looks good.
When you get a chance, come about five degrees left.
Five left.
Feels real dizzy.
Okay, Steve.
The winds are down to about five or six knots.
Keep it coming Jeff, Steve.
Okay. Going to lower gains.
Okay, looks good.
Come on Jeff, Steve. Five more degrees.
You're on energy, Steve, and you're heading right for the turn point.
Okay.
Got you coming through 17,000 feet now.
Okay. I got 19.
Correction. 20,000 feet. I'm sorry.
Steve, I got 18,500 now.
18,000 now. Thanks, Bill.
Okay, you're over the turn point now.
About 18,000 feet.
Okay. I think we need the connection right a little bit high.
Okay, Steve, go ahead and check your SAS gains
and your air connects, and you've got it from here.
Okay, I'll raise the gains.
I don't like that too well.
However, the gains are open.
She's really oscillating now.
Check your circuit breakers.
Hey, old buddy, right now, get out!
Don't take any chances, Steve.
No sweat.
Pull away out there. Give him some room.
He's got a clear gap.
Rog. Okay, NASA One, I'm gonna try to cut it short...
by angling off to the compass rose.
Okay. Take her any place you want.
280, 270 knots.
Get that chopper out of the way.
It's alright. You're okay. You're clear.
Watch your gear.
This is NASA One.
Get that fire truck out there immediately.
8-9, get on your way!
Sorry, Mr. Spencer.
I didn't know you were here until about three minutes ago.
Is he in a coma? Why?
The accident was 36 hours ago. He should be conscious by now.
No. We're keeping him unconscious.
This is a process called electro-sleep. We got it from the Russians.
We generate an electric pulse directly into his skull through those electrodes.
The pulse matches the alpha rhythm...
and the body, in effect, resonates with the impulse.
As long as we keep the current going, he'll sleep.
Won't feel any pain.
I'd like a report of his condition, please.
Rudy.
Rudy?
This is Mr. Spencer of the Office of Strategic Operations.
Will you brief him on Steve's condition, please?
Well...
He lost his right arm in the crash, Mr. Spencer.
Both legs are badly crushed.
We had to cut them off and he's blind in one eye.
We're also concerned about injury to the spinal column.
I mean, if some of the main nerves were affected.
Well, he may not be able to use his remaining arm.
And so on.
Just keep him alive.
I was told this is where you take your breaks.
I can understand your feelings.
Do you?
Yes. He's a very close friend, I understand.
You have a remarkable opportunity, Doctor.
What do you mean?
We've been watching your work very close for some time, now.
You claim that you and your research team...
can take a man in Steve Austin's condition...
replace the arm and both legs...
and possibly even the eye and make him come out even better
possibly than he was before, is that correct?
Theoretically it could work, yes.
Theoretically.
I am prepared to give you all the money you require to make that happen.
Are you serious?
That could cost millions.
Whatever it takes, we want you to do it.
What's the problem, Doctor?
The problem is, it's all on paper.
It should work.
But if it doesn't, what do I tell him?
I haven't the faintest idea.
What would you tell anyone?
Steve Austin isn't anyone.
Of all the men I know...
he's the last I'd want to live the way he is now.
Well, then, you're his only hope.
If you can't do it...
then nobody can.
One question.
Yes, of course.
Maybe this is none of my business, but...
what happens after he's been equipped with all these new parts?
We have work for him.
What kind of work?
Certain jobs where the use of...
ships, planes...
personnel, would be inappropriate.
And where the use of a so called normal agent would be ineffective.
And that's where you come in, Doctor.
We feel that an agent...
as you propose, part machine, part human...
would be the best compromise this particular time.
He would work alone, course.
And to the extent that he is machinery...
he would be much more durable...
due to the fact that you could replace the parts...
that perhaps might become damaged.
Suppose he doesn't want to do that kind of work.
You don't really know what kind of work we do, Doctor.
Espionage? Sabotage?
Assassination?
Don't make a decision for Mr. Austin...
based upon hearsay...
or upon your own, personal prejudice, Doctor.
I know that man.
I am not altogether unfamiliar with him, Doctor.
I've been through a rather extensive file on him.
I suppose you have a file on me, too.
Certainly. I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you if they're weren't one.
Well, Mr. Spencer, you've...
given me the opportunity of my life.
I can't tell you how grateful I am.
You'll forgive me if my anxiety is showing.
Yes, well, I'm sure you'll work it out, Doctor.
We're transferring Steve Austin to our Research Center in Colorado.
You'll forgive me if I've taken the liberty...
of making accommodations for you and your staff on the same plane.
We leave within the hour.
Sparine. 50 milligrams.
Okay.
Help me strap him down, Jean.
This will reassure him. Unconsciously anyway.
We wouldn't have to do this if he were totally powerless.
I'm not gonna use the Sparine.
I prefer the paraldehyde in case we have to knock him out again.
I know it's old-fashioned. But it applies in this instance.
It's nondepressive as far as the respiratory system is concerned.
Alright.
I don't want you in here when he comes to.
I don't want anybody here.
Come on. Out. Out.
Jean?
Jean, thank you.
Steve?
Can you hear me?
Steve?
I'm gonna tell you, Steve.
I'm gonna tell you everything.
Please.
Beautiful, isn't it?
I imagine you're curious.
As to why I haven't spoken to you since... that night.
How long has it been?
Four months.
I didn't have anything to say.
Apparently, in part due to you...
I'm going to stay alive.
We may as well begin to deal with it as a fact.
How's it going?
You know, Doctor, what this is, is impossible.
I mean, a man loses an eye.
Who can make him a new eye to see out of?
Now, look here.
What will it look like when it's in place?
Just like the other eye.
No difference.
And we'll match it perfectly.
I thought we were talking about a glass eye.
Well, they used to think that was impossible...
because the eye normally rejects any foreign bodies.
But they've done a lot of operations...
on pilots who had pieces of broken windshield in their eyes.
And they've discovered...
we make jet plane windshields...
out of a kind of plastic that the eye does not reject..
I wanna show you something, Steve.
This is your arm.
That's it?
We're rather proud of it.
There's a manual that goes with it. It has 840 pages. I'll give you a copy.
As you can see, it's not finished yet...
but I just wanted to give you a sense of the...
the basic structure.
Look at it, Steve.
There's nothing else like it in the whole world.
This is a nuclear powered electrical generator...
that runs this motor.
This motor provides power...
for the manipulation of the arm and hand and fingers.
It's infinitely more powerful than your own arm.
This is your arm, Steve.
It'll be covered with skin that'll match your skin in color and texture.
The number of hairs of your forearm.
The skin on the fingertips will have your fingerprints on them.
Look at it, Steve.
Steve?
This is not something alien.
This is your arm.
Now.
Tell you what we're gonna do.
We are going to put you back on the operating table.
We're going to connect this arm to you permanently.
It will take orders from your brain.
It will be alive to do what you want it to do.
Now, Steve.
When we're through...
when we're through...
and you've finished learning how to use this arm...
in the same way that a baby has to learn how to grasp...
to put down, to pick up.
When all this is done...
you'll be able to hold a woman in your arms...
and in no way will any of her human senses...
be able to tell her which arm you were given.
Not by sight, not by touch, not by skin temperature, no way.
And we'll also give you two legs.
And you'll be able to walk up to her, take her by the hand...
and if it's what you want...
you'll be able to dance with her.
Everything I told Steve Austin...
was designed to reassure him...
That in all respects, he'd be a normal man again.
What I didn't tell him, because I didn't feel he was ready for it...
was the extent to which he'd be abnormal.
I didn't tell him that if the operation was a success...
his physical powers would be absolutely awesome.
In fact, virtually limitless.
That his new legs would enable him to run at incredible speeds.
That his new arm with it's nuclear power source...
would have the strength of a bulldozer.
That his new eye would not only approximate...
but conceivably transcend normal vision.
In short, what I hadn't told Steve Austin...
was that if my theories prove correct...
he would be transformed into something that had never before existed.
Cyborg.
A reconstructed man capable of inordinate, physical feats.
How did it go?
Alright.
Not so alright. Not from the tone of your voice.
If he comes through this...
I don't know.
I don't know how he's gonna react.
We'll take care of his future. You take care of his present.
What you don't understand, Mr. Spencer.
Is that I've known this boy for a very long time.
Do your job.
Dr. Frankenstein, I presume?
Is everything alright?
I'm fine.
Will you sit with me a minute?
Please?
May I touch you?
Now I have a choice again.
Two hands, both mine.
Right down to the fingerprints.
Which one do I touch you with?
What will the other one feel?
They have touch circuits built into it.
So that I can feel what I'm touching?
Something like that.
They're not gods, you know.
Tell that to them.
I didn't say you could touch me.
That's it, Steve. Come on. Slow.
Okay, hold it. Now, hold it.
Give him his full weight. See if he can carry it.
Now take your time.
Easy.
Atta boy.
Now come on. Slowly.
Push it. Push it, come on.
Great, Steve.
That's it. Come on.
Good.
That's it, Steve. Put your back into it.
Easy coming around. Atta boy.
Good. Good. Looks good.
Easy.
That's good, Steve.
Hold it.
Want some help?
No.
The thing is, Doc Why? Why?
Why, what?
Come on. I may walk like a two year old, but I'm not that naive.
Now you all have given me a gift, and I thank you very much.
But now, what is the price tag?
We have given you something back that you've lost and that is all.
How do you know what I've lost?
We've given you and eye for an eye, haven't we? An arm for an arm.
My arm didn't come packed in a wooden box!
What do you want?
I wanna know who's paying the freight.
What's the difference?
The difference is when the bill comes due.
What are you so suspicious of?
Look, I was a civilian member of the space program for 12 years!
I know how much things cost.
Now why am I worth a few million dollars?
And what do I have to do for it?
How can I communicate with you when you suspect everything that I say?
When I was up there on the moon, Doc...
I was a quarter of a million miles away from the real world.
But I felt a lot closer to it then...
than I do now.
He's not even breathing hard.
Well, you see, his lungs are used to handling oxygen for the blood supply...
for two arms and two legs.
Now, he'll only have to take care of one.
Look! It's impossible.
20 years ago, so was the four-minute mile.
The limits are here, Miss Manners. Here.
That arm, those legs of his will do anything...
absolutely anything his mind tells him to.
I think he's ready for us now.
I'm not quite sure, Oliver.
I think perhaps a few days off, a little R and R as it were.
Don't you think so, Miss Manners?
Man flying.
We always try to imitate nature. Do her one better.
Why is that?
I guess because it's there.
Yeah, because it's there.
You know, that's why I wanted to go to the moon.
When I was a kid, it really used to bug me.
No way to reach it.
We just couldn't get there from here.
Finally, though.
Yeah. Always finally.
They gave me a long lifeline.
You remember you asked me about feeling?
Whether or not you could feel or touch anything?
I was there the day they...
the day they worked out the built-in vibratory sensors in the fingertips.
Afterwards, when we got to know you, everything was personal.
But that day, you were in electro-sleep.
And everything was just technical.
We didn't connect it to anything real or living.
I'm sorry.
It's warm.
It's alright. Nothing broken.
Help! Somebody! Help!
Help! Help!
Please! He's stuck! My little boy!
Help! He's right down there!
Please! Get him out of there!
Stay here. Please! Help him!
Alright.
He's in the front! Get him out of there! He's a baby! He can't get out!
Get him out!
Get him out! Get him out!
Get him out!
Johnny!
My God!
Johnny. God.
Are you alright?
Johnny.
Thank God.
He'll be alright, ma'am.
I wanna thank you.
What are you?
Spencer, I'm glad you could come.
How was Malta?
Hot. How is he?
He can't see us?
No, the mirror's on his side.
Any change since you called me?
No. He just sits there. He won't let us repair the arm.
He won't let us sedate him.
We've given him food and he won't eat.
Just sits there.
Suicidal?
No, he's just fighting us.
Fighting us?
You alright?
I'm fine. I just feel a little cold inside.
I got a report on what happened.
Is that a one-way mirror?
Yes. Yes, it is.
Who's watching me??
Rudy Wells.
We have a job for you.
I won't take it.
That's too bad. The timing is very bad.
It won't be a long assignment.
A week, ten days at the most.
No.
Well, let me tell you what's involved.
I'm not interested.
It may be more important than your rush to get the hell out of here.
I don't owe the OSO anything.
You had twelve years.
Twelve brilliant years.
One of six civilians so trained and employed.
All courtesy, all compliments of Uncle Sam.
And I paid my obligations above and beyond the call of duty.
There is no end to obligations.
Look, I will not work for the OSO, period!
Why?
Why? Because you had an experience this afternoon...
that made you feel a little like, some kind of a Frankenstein monster?
And now you hold the OSO responsible for those feelings...
simply because we gave you those two legs and that arm and that eye to see out of?
That what you're talking about?
That's what you're feeling?
Well, let's cut through this nonsense. We're pressed for time.
If the OSO were an artillery outfit...
we would very simply pick up the telephone...
and call a foundry and have a cannon designed and built for us.
We are not, however, an artillery outfit.
We do need a different kind of a weapon.
A weapon that is potentially far more destructive than a cannon.
It must be mobile and self-propelled...
in the field, under any circumstances over any terrain.
It must be able to reprogram itself in the field...
on the basis of new information and altered circumstances.
It must have superior strength, stability, and utter dependability.
Those were our specifications.
And I'm the result. You are the result.
One robot.
No, actually, we would've preferred a robot.
A robot doesn't have emotional needs and responses.
You do.
We have you because you are the optimum compromise...
in the present state of technology, Mr. Austin.
A cybernetic organism.
Part machine, part human being.
The cyborg.
Yes, we've had to settle for that.
Mr. Austin. We didn't order you into the lifting body you were testing.
We merely picked up the pieces and unlike Humpty Dumpty...
put you back together again.
In some ways I think even better than before.
If only these feelings of mine wouldn't keep getting in the way, right?
Yeah, something like that.
You know, you're more of a robot than I am.
You should've been me.
Yes, it would've been simpler.
Supposing I agree to take your assignment, whatever it is...
how do you know I'll follow through?
I don't. Unfortunately, I have no guarantees.
But I would've thought that a man with your background...
with the kind of the life that you led would lead you to want to be...
of further service to your country.
All I want is to be left alone.
One of the most powerful men in Israel has been kidnapped by terrorists.
He is a vital link to any negotiated settlement in the Mideast.
And you want me to spring him? Precisely.
What if I trade places with him?
They'd never accept you.
The terrorists have nothing to gain from peace.
Their coming to power depends on a war.
I don't want to kill people.
No one's asking you to. Come on.
That depends upon your ingenuity.
Alright.
I'm not promising, but I'll listen.
Dr. Wells?
- Dr. Wells? - I'm here.
We're gonna have to have Mr. Austin repaired and modified.
If you could get things rolling on it, please.
Steve?
We're in a time bind, Doctor.
I'll arrange a briefing for you and transportation.
I'll get Miss Manners in here.
I want her replaced.
I don't want a permanent nurse again.
It gets too personal.
We'd better sort this out, Steve.
We're not talking about a nurse assigned to a case.
We're talking about a man and a woman and feelings.
I'm in love with you.
You're going to have to deal with those feelings.
Getting the lady replaced doesn't settle it that easily.
Think it over.
I'll be here waiting when you get back.
Well, Mr. Austin. Glad to see you're looking so fit.
Thank you.
Shall we get on with the briefing?
This is Nudaylah, desert survival.
And Geraldton, Operational Tactics.
How do you do?
- Please sit down. - All.
We have a touchy situation, Mr. Austin.
Shall we begin?
Right. Dim the lights, please.
This is Ali Ibn Jabral Hagmud.
He is an Arab who chose to remain in Israel.
Very rich, very powerful...
and committed to detent between the Arabs and Israelis.
As you know, he's being held hostage by a group of terrorists.
Why don't the Israelis get him out?
He's an Arab, Mr. Austin.
Should he die in the attempt, the Arab world would blame Israel.
Then in effect, they're dammed if they do and dammed if they don't.
Exactly.
Would you take over from here, Mr. Geraldton, please?
Yes, thank you.
Saudi Arabia, of course.
Now this is where they are.
The Arabs call it 'Ar Rab Al Khali'...
which translates as 'The Empty Quarter'.
An appropriate description.
There's absolutely no habitation of any sort and a great deal of sand, as you can see.
In fact, quite a desert.
This fly by was a calculated risk...
but we think it's worth it in order to get the shots.
Now their aircraft is the DC-3...
that you will use in your escape.
There it is in close shot.
Now notice, please, these two half trucks.
They are manned by 30 caliber machine guns.
Nearby is an reinforced emplacement. There it is.
That has a 50 caliber machine gun...
and is about 30 yards from this block house...
Where we believe Al Hagmud is kept.
That's a distance of about 250 yards...
from the plane which is on the runway.
But to make it, you would have to put out this tank.
The cannon is a 105 millimeter.
Now as you can see, they have been fully prepared for this.
We cannot storm them, because if we do...
they'll simply kill Al Hagmud straight away. Lights please.
The problem then is to get him out.
And that, Mr. Austin, is where you come in.
We'll fly you in as close as we can without alerting them, of course...
and drop you by parachute.
But you will have some traveling to do.
And time is an important factor here.
A normal man, of course, could not be expected to survive the ordeal.
In fact, there's no guarantee that even you...
If we fly you in by air-foil parachute, you'd have a four to one glide ratio.
By then, you might pick up 30 or 40 miles in gliding down.
What about the winds?
They are unpredictable.
But 30 or 40 miles is a serious distance.
If he thinks so, I'm for it.
Alright, then you'll go in and fly him out safely in the DC-3.
Come here.
Where's Al Hagmud?
Who are you? What are you doing here?
Never mind. I'm here to get him out.
Then your intelligence is a bit dated.
Al Hagmud been dead five weeks.
He was shot trying to escape.
Do not move!
You lied.
How did you find out?
What's the difference how I found out? I know.
And what I don't know is how you could possibly send a man to his death...
For no reason whatsoever.
I had my reasons.
None that could justify what you've done. None!
Dr. Wells, listen to me carefully.
You're very good at what you do.
But you have no idea at all about what I do.
Steve Austin is a risk. He was from the very beginning.
Why don't you just let him die?
Because he's all I had.
So we spent millions on him. Literally rebuilt him from scrap.
But with all your technology...
what I couldn't rebuild into him was attitude.
Yes. We trained him, we taught him, we tested him...
but how do you test a man to find out if he has the need, the will to survive?
Are you telling me for the sake of a test you risked an extraordinary man's life?
- Is that what you're telling me? - Please, please, Wells.
Don't be sentimental. I can always have another cyborg built if this one fails.
But if he should survive, which appears to be doubtful...
then I know that I have my man.
On the contrary. If he survives, you've lost your man.
Doesn't your file tell you they'll hold you in contempt for what you've done?
I am not concerned about feelings. His, yours or mine.
Before I risk World War III on a man...
I must know, beyond a doubt, that he is utterly, totally reliable.
There was no other way.
Boy, you guys really play for keeps, don't you?
Yes, Dr. Wells. Of course we play for keeps.
Why didn't they kill you, too?
I am Israeli.
They can use me as bait for prisoner trade.
But you, my friend...
understand me well...
They will question you.
And if they determine you have no use to them...
they will shoot you.
Are you?
Of use to them? No.
Pity.
Here. Take a card.
Too bad. It's a great trick.
You fly that little number out there?
Yes, why?
I'm going out of here. You coming?
Of course.
But I must warn you...
it is not easy going in broad daylight dragging a cement wall behind you.
How are you able to do that?
Vitamins.
Still, how can we get out of this building? That door is two inches thick.
Never mind, just stay here.
When the shooting starts, run for the plane, start it up.
I'll follow.
Jean?
I was in the desert today.
I didn't want to die. I wanted to make it back.
Well, congratulations, Steve.
Fooled you.
Did you?
I made it back.
Well, I was always hoping you would.
Bend down here a minute, Spencer, I wanna tell you something.
Yes?
Really?
Well, I haven't been called that since grammar school.
Steve, we're gonna put you back into electro-sleep to get you through the pain.
You'll be healing while you sleep, okay?
You're the doctor.
Dr. Wells?
Is it possible to keep him asleep indefinitely?
Now what are you going to do?
Keep him under between assignments...
and wake him up only when you need him?
Over my dead body.
It was just an idea.
Not a bad one at that?