Computer Affair
Setting: Col. Freeman and the commander in Straker's HQ office after an interceptor is destroyed.
Straker: Why, Alec?
Freeman: You've read the report.
Straker: Yes. An astronaut killed; a UFO through the outer defenses. The report tells me what happened. I want to know why.
Freeman: I don't really know.
Straker: Oh, come on, Alec! I know you better than that.
Freeman: It happened so fast.
Straker: Meaning?
Freeman: I can't be sure.
Straker: Well, look. I'll settle for an educated guess, Alec.
Freeman: The error could have been human. A decision was taken. It oculd have worked, but the point is -- it didn't.
Straker: Right. I want the personnel concerned, the two surviving astronauts and Lt. Ellis, brought back here on the next home flight.
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Setting: Col. Freeman and the commander in Straker's HQ office after a captured alien dies.
Freeman: I'd like you to accept this.
Straker: [Takes envelope] We've worked together a long time, Alec.
Freeman: Maybe too long.
Straker: Can't we talk about it?
Freeman: There's not much to say. It's a difference in temperament.
Straker: Think I wanted him to die? It was a calculated risk.
Freeman: It's not only that. You make all your decisions based on cold logic. Computer predictions.
[Cut to Mark Bradley and Gay Ellis having dinner in a restaurant. Bradley calls Freeman, interrupting their discussion about his resignation.]
Freeman: . . . I'll sleep on it. [Phone rings]
Straker: It's for you.
Freeman: [After the call] Mark Bradley.
Straker: Important?
Freeman: He thinks it is. [Tears up resignation] Well, it looks like you were right. You and your computers.
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Straker: Why, Alec?
Freeman: You've read the report.
Straker: Yes. An astronaut killed; a UFO through the outer defenses. The report tells me what happened. I want to know why.
Freeman: I don't really know.
Straker: Oh, come on, Alec! I know you better than that.
Freeman: It happened so fast.
Straker: Meaning?
Freeman: I can't be sure.
Straker: Well, look. I'll settle for an educated guess, Alec.
Freeman: The error could have been human. A decision was taken. It oculd have worked, but the point is -- it didn't.
Straker: Right. I want the personnel concerned, the two surviving astronauts and Lt. Ellis, brought back here on the next home flight.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Setting: Col. Freeman and the commander in Straker's HQ office after a captured alien dies.
Freeman: I'd like you to accept this.
Straker: [Takes envelope] We've worked together a long time, Alec.
Freeman: Maybe too long.
Straker: Can't we talk about it?
Freeman: There's not much to say. It's a difference in temperament.
Straker: Think I wanted him to die? It was a calculated risk.
Freeman: It's not only that. You make all your decisions based on cold logic. Computer predictions.
[Cut to Mark Bradley and Gay Ellis having dinner in a restaurant. Bradley calls Freeman, interrupting their discussion about his resignation.]
Freeman: . . . I'll sleep on it. [Phone rings]
Straker: It's for you.
Freeman: [After the call] Mark Bradley.
Straker: Important?
Freeman: He thinks it is. [Tears up resignation] Well, it looks like you were right. You and your computers.
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