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• Plot Synopses

Corbett.....................Donald Harron
Clark.......................Paul Carr
President...................Ford Rainey
General Ashton..............Paul Genge
Radar.......................Pat Culliton

I was up all night polishing my sword, Admiral.--Lee Crane

Missiles rise into the air, and a military alert goes out. The president of the U.S. answers his phone and asks General Ashton about the situation; they don't know what they are, but they are heading their way and a war alert is on. If the unidentified objects cross the due line, they are to be destroyed.

The Seaview is at sea. In the control room, all appear serious. Mr. Morton counts down--they have reached latitude 0 degrees, 0 minutes, 0 seconds, and are now crossing the equator. The crew all smile. Crane gets on the ship's intercom and orders all "polliwogs"--anyone who hasn't previously crossed the equator and been welcomed into King Neptune's court--to report the the crew's quarters for the 1973 initiation ceremony. The men rush out, and Nelson and Crane follow.

In the crew's quarters, the initiates undergo some good-natured joking, as Nelson and Crane look on, smiling. King Neptune (Morton in crown and mop beard), the Queen (Curley Jones in lipstick and false eyelashes), and the Royal Baby (Kowalski) preside. Neptune calls up the first polliwog, who happens not to be one of the Seaview's crew but a Lt. Commander Corbett of the Navy, a former student of Nelson's, who is there to evaluate the ship's fitness as a missile carrier. Nelson is enjoying himself, getting in on the fun, when suddenly an alarm sounds and Crane orders the crew to their stations and they race out of Neptune's court, still in costume.

In the control room, the "Stand By" light is flashing. There are three signs, reading "Peace," "Alert," and "War"; the "Alert" sign is lit. All crewmembers rush to their posts, and Crane gets on the intercom and tells them that they were slow and sloppy, and that for the rest of the exercise he expects a better performance. Nelson, however, notices the lighted "Alert" sign and tells Crane he doesn't think it's an exercise. He points to Corbett, who is staring in shock at the panel, saying that Corbett is as surprised as they are. Meanwhile, Kowalski finds an electrical short at his station and goes to fix it; suddenly there is an explosion and Kowalski falls back among shards of glass, holding his eyes. The doctor is called from sick bay; when he arrives, Kowalski asks him if he is blind. "Blind? An old girl-watcher like you?" replies the doctor, but he doesn't look as optimistic as he sounds as he leads Kowalski to sick bay. Nelson and Crane exchange looks. Crane wishes they could get Kowalski to a specialist, but Nelson replies that they have more urgent problems right now. Crane wonders if they could actually be at war, and Nelson says he hopes not, but they don't really have to worry unless this goes off, tapping the "War" sign. Crane notes that it's in the hands of one man now, the President. Nelson says that's fine with him--the President is the only one who can open the failsafe so that missiles (including those currently aboard the Seaview) can be fired. As they watch, the "Alert" sign goes dark, replaced with the "War" sign. Crane orders the crew to rig for war alert, to go down to 2000 feet, and to maintain radio silence. He orders all failsafe officers to man their units. Crane and Morton go to the unit in the control room, each removing a key on a long chain from around his neck.

The Navy officer, Corbett, has gone to the his station in the missile room. As Crane calls him on the intercom, he walks slowly toward it. Finally he seems to become aware of what is going on and answers Crane, who tells him to unlock the failsafe units. He hesitates. Crane repeats the order. Nelson runs to the missile room; when he gets there, the crew is watching as Corbett stands there seriously, saying "I cannot destroy the world." "It's not you," says Nelson. "It's not? Who is it?" replies Corbett. "It's me," says Nelson, holding his hand out for Corbett's key. Corbett refuses to give it to him, so Nelson hits him and several crewmembers grab him. Nelson takes the key and turns it, and the missile control panel lights up.

Later, Nelson is in his quarters. Crane knocks on the door--they are 15 minutes from their launch coordinates. He enters the room and asks Nelson about Corbett. Nelson tells him what happened, adding that Corbett isn't a coward, he just started to wrestle with his conscience at the wrong time--he should have done so before he ever took his oath of duty. Crane replies that no one really knows what they'll do in that situation, and asks Nelson to give Corbett another chance. Nelson says he'll think about it.

In the control room, they are 11 minutes from their launch coordinates. Crane goes to the table, reaches for something, nervously pushing aside the item on top of it and knocking it to the floor. He is having a hard time believing that this could actually be happening. Nelson says that it may not be--they won't know until they cross the failsafe line and send up the antenna that may or may not receive an order to abort. If it does not, then it is happening.

In the crew's quarters, Patterson is saying that the U.S. has plenty of bombs and missiles, but so does the enemy--the way he sees it, it's a standoff. Clark, still in costume from King Neptune's court, says he doesn't much like looking like that when it happens. Patterson agrees, but says not to worry, since no one will ever see them again.

In the control room, Clark asks Crane if there has been any news. There hasn't. Nelson aks him about his family, and Clark replies that he wishes he knew if they were all right. Nelson says they are probably thinking the same thing about him. They have 8 minutes until they reach their launch coordinates. They are now in enemy waters.

In sick bay, the doctor asks Kowalski if he can see anything. Kowalski asks what's the difference now, with only an hour or so left to live. The doctor says that that time is critical to whether Kowalski will ever see again--that's the difference. Nelson, who was watching at the foot of the bed, leaves quietly.

There is a ship on the surface, a destoyer. Crane orders the crew to rig for depth charges.

Nelson enters the missile room. Corbett is at his station. Nelson goes to him and asks if he's all right--he doesn't understand why he acted as he did earlier. Corbett replies that this is no game now, it's real, saying "I just couldn't do it--but you could, couldn't you?" Nelson says that it's their job to protect their country, adds "you failed your country once before, don't do it again," and leaves.

In the control room, they have reached the launch coordinates, and the Seaview comes to a stop. Crane asks Nelson if he can think of any reason to delay firing; "None that have any military relevance," replies Nelson. He orders Corbett to release the failsafe antenna, which he does, and it floats to the surface. They wait. When no abort signal is received, Nelson orders Crane to start the firing procedure.

In sick bay, the doctor is examining Kowalski.

In the control room, Crane looks at Nelson, who barely noticeably nods his head. Just then, the antenna picks up the abort signal. The "War" sign goes dark. Crane tells the crew the attack has been cancelled, and the response is a joyful whooping and hollering throughout the ship. In sick bay, Kowalski hears this and asks the doctor what he's waiting for. Corbett is also happy and relieved--until he notices that one of the four misssile control panels is still up.

And of course there is still that destroyer waiting on the surface--they don't know why the Seaview is in their waters. Nelson says to surface and tell them. Crane orders the ship to surface, but just then Corbett calls them on the intercom, saying that missile #4 won't deactivate, and it's fuels are set to detonate at 0 feet--whatever they do, they must not surface! With that option no longer open to them, Nelson says to get out of the area immediately. The destroyer starts to drop its depth charges, rocking the ship back and forth while the doctor attampts to operate on Kowalski's eyes. Nelson asks Corbett if he has made any progress, but he has not--the fuels are still jammed.

By now the Seaview is also under attack from the air. The engine room reports that they can go no faster, Corbett is still working on the missile, and Jones and a repair crew are trying to fix all the leaks that have been caused by the multiple attacks. They have received one particularly bad hit, and their trim will be poor, as the main valves in the ballast tanks have blown.

Corbett reports that there is no way to deactivate the fuel. Their only hope is to find a lonely place, go deep, and fire it. However, only the President can open the failsafe to make this possible. Nelson says they must first lose the destoyers, ordering the crew to jam their sonar so they'll have to rely on hydrophones.

In sick bay, between attacks, the doctor continues to try to save Kowalski's sight.

In the missile room, Nelson tells Jones to reduce engine speed gradually until he tells him to stop. His plan is to stop the Seaview and launch a minisub as a decoy, and hope that the destroyer will start to follow it instead. It works, and the Seaview gets underway.

Corbett says he can detonate the missile wherever Nelson wants, as long as it's beneath the surface, but they can't surface the ship until the missile is gone. Nelson insists that it must be detonated at 1000 feet below the surface; Corbett objects--to do that safely, the Seaview itself would have to be at 4700 feet, dangerously close to crush depth. He asks if Nelson would really risk the lives of all the men on board just to conceal a nuclear accident. Nelson replies that he would not, and he also would not do it simply to honor the test ban treaty (which they would break by detonating above the surface)--but he would do so to avoid polluting the earth's atmosphere with their mistake. Corbett is insistent that the world should learn, as he has, what doomsday would really mean. Maybe then, he says, they would throw away their bombs. Nelson replies simply that the detonation will occur at 1000 feet below the surface.

Nelson is on the radio to the President, who is very reluctant to do as Nelson asks and open the failsafe system long enough to let him fire the missile. He can't open the failsafe without activating the entire system, and during that 30 seconds, anyone with access could fire their missiles. Nelson replies that they have worked it out so that they'll need only 5 seconds, and only he and the President will know the exact time the failsafe will be open. The President has not made a decision, but tells Nelson to take the Seaview to the firing site, which it will reach in 24 hours, and call him when they arrive.

In sick bay, the doctor has taken all the glass out of Kowalski's eyes. He should be fine in a week or two, he tells Nelson. Just then the ship rocks and Nelson races for the control room. Since the main ballast vents are damaged, it's difficult to hold trim. He has the ship brought to periscope depth, wanting to be sure the area is clear; it is. He has the ship taken down, still concerned about its ability to hold steady.

Nelson enters his quarters and calls the President, saying that they are 5 minutes from firing, assuming the President permits it. He is worried about the human factor--yesterday the Russians launched 25 missiles, for communications as it turned out, but they forgot to tell the U.S. about it beforehand. He makes it clear that Nelson has no room for human error--the failsafe will be open in exactly five minutes for exactly five seconds--and wishes him luck.

In the missile room, Nelson and Corbett exchange looks. Nelson leaves, and Corbett gets to work. He takes off his key. Crane and Morton wait in the control room by the station there. Nelson counts down. All unlock their units. The missile is now under manual control. Nelson orders the Seaview taken to 4700 feet, and all watch as the depth gauge shows their descent. Corbett, for his part, fires on Nelson's command, but is thrown aside when a bubble in the ballast rocks the ship violently. Nelson calls Corbett--they are now back up to 4400 feet--who says he can't fire. Nelson hurries to the missile room. Corbett is working frantically, and he does manage to fire the missile after all, but as it turns out he disobeyed Nelson's order and left the missile set for a surface detonation, saying that the people have a right to know. The missile, however, stops at 200 feet, then sinks to the ocean floor, to the great relief of the Seaview's crew.

Later, Crane and Morton are in the conning tower, taking readings from the night sky. Nelson comes up, and Morton leaves with the data. Crane asks if Nelson wants to talk about it; Nelson replies that there's nothing to talk about--he has to recommend a courtmartial for Corbett. By disobeying orders he inadvertantly saved all their lives, but ruined his career as well.