INTERIOR : STRAKER'S OFFICE
Straker is seated at his desk, holding James's gun. Foster and Lake are standing opposite the desk.
STRAKER
(unhappy)
What a mess.
(pause)
If only I'd thought... waited. Maybe I...
(pause)
Oh, I don't know..
FOSTER
You didn't know. How could you?
STRAKER
Well, that doesn't make it any easier. Half a million miles of Navy jets before he was twenty-five. Ten years as a top astronaut.
FOSTER
He brought a space capsule down with a shattered hip, saved the crew. The best command pilot SHADO ever had.
STRAKER
And why does a man like that suddenly lose all sense of reality and start seeing aliens?
FOSTER
Same pattern as Conroy.
STRAKER
Are we any nearer to an answer there?
LAKE
Well, the autopsy found nothing. But, the computer confirms they had located the Ufo crash area.
STRAKER
Well, that's no help to us. Beaver hadn't been near a Ufo in almost two years.
(pause)
Too much of a coincidence. There must be a connection, a link.
(pause, as he stands)
I need some air.
Straker leaves the office, leaving Lake and Foster standing, looking worried
EXTERIOR : HARLINGTON-STRAKER STUDIOS
Straker walks around the grounds, nodding to various workmen. There are actors in costume taking breaks, wild props being hauled in on flat-bed trucks.
INTERIOR : STUDIO OUTER OFFICE
Miss Ealand sits at her desk as Straker walks in. She beckons to him. He steps closer, leaning over the desk to hear.
EALAND
(whispering)
Howard Byrne is here to see you.
STRAKER
(whispering)
Howard Byrne?
EALAND
(whispering)
The star of that new T.V. series they're filming on five and six.
STRAKER
(remembering)
Oh, yes.
(pause)
Yes, well, he's picked a bad time.
EALAND
(whispering)
I'm sorry, but he insisted.
STRAKER
(aloud)
That's all right, Miss Ealand.
Straker enters the Inner Office.
INTERIOR : INNER OFFICE
HOWARD BYRNE is standing, waiting, as Straker enters.
BYRNE
Well, I finally get to see you. You're a hard man to pin down, Straker.
Straker goes to the far side of the office desk and sits.
STRAKER
(forced pleasantness)
Well, I've been pretty tied up just recently, Howard.
(gestures to chair)
Sit down, sit down.
Stuart Damon is Howard Byrne
Byrne sits in the chair opposite the desk. He lounges back in it.
BYRNE
Yes, haven't we all?
Straker presses a switch on the desk top panel and the office doors close.
STRAKER
Ah, what's your problem?
BYRNE
You're the one with the problem.
STRAKER
Am I?
BYRNE
The series, you've seen it, of course.
STRAKER
Well, yes, but not as often as I would have liked.
BYRNE
Well, unless something's done, it's heading for big trouble. Fortunately though, I have a solution.
STRAKER
Oh?
BYRNE
I want script approval.
STRAKER
(laughs)
Now, Howard, you know we can't do that.
BYRNE
Mister Straker, the series is going to pot. The scripts are old and hackneyed and the entire production is lifeless and trite. I don't think it's doing anything for you. I know it's not doing anything for me.
STRAKER
All right, let's talk about it.
BYRNE
I didn't come here to bargain, Ed. I want script approval.
STRAKER
(Firm)
It's not in your contract.
BYRNE
Ah, well,
(starts to rub forehead)
Of course, you can hold me to my contract, but, you know, I've been getting these terrible bad headaches recently.
While having this conversation a secret TV monitor under Straker's desk comes to life, a message runs across screen, " UFO ALERT"
Straker needs to end this conversation quickly.
STRAKER
Headaches?
(pause, cynical)
Hmm, I wonder what could be causing that?
BYRNE
Oh, it could be eyestrain.
(pause)
From reading a lot of bad scripts? I mean, the kind of headaches that keep me off the floor a couple mornings a week. Understand?
STRAKER
Yes, I understand blackmail.
BYRNE
(feigning hurt)
Blackmail?
(pause)
I never said anything about blackmail. I'm talking about migraine headaches.
STRAKER
Well, why don't you leave it with me, Howard. I'm sure I understand.
BYRNE
I'm not sure you do. If you think I'm bluffing, try me.
STRAKER
All right, I'm calling. No script approval.
(pause)
You know, these headaches that you've been suffering from? They could be caused by a swelling, between the ears?
(pause)
Shouldn't you be in theatre seven, looking at your rushes?
Byrne stands and starts to leave. Straker pushes the switch on the desk and the doors open.
BYRNE
(to Straker)
Have a look at those rushes tomorrow, Mister Straker.
Byrne leaves the office.