David Wayne: Dr. Charles Dutton

The Andromeda Strain

Dr. Charles Dutton

Dr. Jeremy Stone: According to this, there'll be a super-colony of Andromeda over the entire southwest in...
Dr. Charles Dutton: [interrupting] Jeremy! These are biological warfare maps!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Why, yes... so they are... uh... but... simulations, Charlie. Defensive... it's just a scenario.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: That's not the point, for God's sake! Wildfire was built for germ warfare! Wildfire AND Scoop! And you knew, Stone! YOU KNEW IT!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: That's not true, Ruth! I learned about Scoop the same time you did!
Dr. Charles Dutton: They already have Andromeda programmed! The purpose of Scoop was to find new biological weapons in outer space, and then use Wildfire to develop them!
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: It stinks, Stone!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: You're blowing your tops! We have no proof...
Dr. Charles Dutton: The map!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Don't be an ass! That map only shows what Andromeda could do in the hands of an enemy!
Dr. Charles Dutton: Enemy? We did it to ourselves!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Perhaps! But this is hardly the time to organize a protest!
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: [sarcastic] Another giant leap for mankind!

[Dutton has just finished drawing a picture on the blackboard of a scientist examining a specimen under a microscope. A speech balloon from the slide says "Take us to your leader". His students all laugh]
Dr. Charles Dutton: I'm glad you're amused gentlemen, but it might just turn out to be true. During this symposium, we'll discuss the possibility that intelligent life on a distant planet may be no larger than a flea.
[more laughter]
Dr. Charles Dutton: Perhaps no larger than... a bacterium.
[silence]

Dr. Mark Hall: Dutton, I think rapid breathing helps. Don't let the bug in your lungs long enough to penetrate blood vessels. I want to turn off the pure oxygen and you start breathing room air as fast as you can!
Dr. Charles Dutton: NO! No, I-I was running a test in here! The air is thick with Andromeda! Experiment with your own lives, damn it!

[Leavitt averts her eyes when passing a flashing red warning light]
Dr. Charles Dutton: Something wrong?
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: I never liked red lights. They remind me of my years in a bordello.

Dr. Charles Dutton: No excretions. No waste of any kind.
Dr. Jeremy Stone: You'd expect that, Andromeda's perfect for existence in outer space. Consumes everything, wastes nothing...
[Leavitt, Stone, and Dutton exchange anxious glances]
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Good lord!
Dr. Mark Hall: What?
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Stone to Delta-Five. Put me through to Dr. Robertson Immediately!
Dr. Mark Hall: WHAT?
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: God, I hope we're not too late.
Dr. Mark Hall: Tell me!
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: It functions like an atomic reactor!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: An atomic blast could provide it with enough energy to grow into a gigantic supercolony.
Dr. Charles Dutton: In one day!

Dr. Robertson: You can relax now, we've just left the President. He agreed to drop the bomb...
Dr. Jeremy Stone: NO NO! You've got to stop 7-12 from being carried out!
Grimes: Now wait a minute! We're not playing ping pong! We just got through telling the President that you...
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: For God's sake, go back! It grows when exposed to x-rays. or any source of energy.
Dr. Charles Dutton: Tell him NO nuclear device mush be detonated anywhere near it.
Dr. Jeremy Stone: We just found out Andromeda functions like a little reactor. Converts matter to energy, energy to matter, directly
Dr. Robertson: [Whistles] Then the bomb would just provide a fantastically rich growth medium.
[to Grimes]
Dr. Robertson: Understand?
Grimes: No, but I'll pass along the recommendation.
[smugly]
Grimes: The boss'll be pleased to know that HE made the right decision on 7-12 in the first place.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: [harsh with sarcasm] Congratulate him on his scientific insight.

Dr. Charles Dutton: The whole thing. What a world we're making... I can see why the kids are dropping out; we should've.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: It's an emergency, Dutton. We got tagged, period. 'Til I saw those photos from Vanderburg, I...
Dr. Charles Dutton: They brought it on themselves.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: Who? The people in Piedmont?

[At the entrance to Wildfire]
Dr. Charles Dutton: Put your hands on that glass, palms down. It's a finger and palm print analyzer, that...
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: -reads a composite of ten thousand dermatographic lines.
Dr. Charles Dutton: How'd you know that?
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: [coyly] Oh Dutton, I have a *long* criminal record.
Dr. Charles Dutton: Then you're in trouble. This machine has a *long* memory.

Dr. Charles Dutton: [Viewing x-ray crystallography scan of Andromeda] How does something so simple use energy for growth?
Dr. Jeremy Stone: No way of telling from the structure.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: Oh yes there is.
[uploading information]
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: With this new data we can get a computer simulation of how Andromeda operates.
[Contrast-enhanced computer stimulation begins on display]
Dr. Jeremy Stone: They're not uniform.. could be mutation...
[simulation speeds up and eventually crashes. Computer displays '601']
Dr. Charles Dutton: What the devil...?
Dr. Jeremy Stone: 601? The computer's overloaded! Too much data coming in too fast.
Dr. Charles Dutton: Dividing and mutating at the same time?
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: And *nothing* to stop it. Normal Earth checks and balances don't exist for it.

[Arriving at the Wildfire entrance, disguised as an agricultural facility]
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: It's a great place to grow pot.
Dr. Charles Dutton: Just a plain old crop of barley. Still, it is rather clever, I think.

Dr. Ruth Leavitt: You don't believe the infection in that capsule was brought back deliberately, do you?
Dr. Charles Dutton: Skip it. Skip it. I hope I'm talking through my hat.

Dr. Charles Dutton: When I retire, I'd like an agricultural station like this - in Alaska.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: You, a sourdough?
Dr. Charles Dutton: The sourest.

Dr. Charles Dutton: The disease could spread into a worldwide epidemic.
Grimes: It's because of rash statements like that the president doesn't trust scientists.
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Warn the president it may already be too late.