Colony Mutation

Shh.

Parsons.

You'll have to finish on your own time. Break's over.

I got ten more seconds, according to that clock.

Parsons.

The guys and me are hopping over to Del Monaco's to grab one...

Got a different sort of rendezvous planned this evening.

Oh, yeah? What's her name?

Destiny.

I'm not late, am I?

No more than usual.

Beautiful night, isn't it?

And freezing.

Wait.

You did follow my specifications

for the packing density, right?

More or less.Well, an error

could be the difference between us living and dying.

We're in uncharted territory, Rich.

The time for caution has long passed.

Ad astra...

Per aspera.

Fuck!

43.27 feet.

That can't be right.

Well, you're welcome to check my math if you want.

That's even worse than last time.

And now the violin concerto, movement number two.

Hey.

Hope I didn't wake you.

You know I have trouble sleeping with one side of the bed empty.

How'd it go?

Every time I think we're making headway,

we take a step back.

I don't want to bore you with the details,

but we made it about a thousand feet, before...

That seems pretty high.

It's not high enough.

We've reached the limit of what we can do

with the resources at our disposal.

Speaking of, I need to borrow a few bucks.

Supplies cost a little more than I expected.

Jack, we're two months behind.

The bank called again...

You just got to hold them off a little longer.

: Sorry.

Looks like someone's moving in to the old Weller place.

We'll have to go introduce ourselves.

Who moves in the middle of the night?

Excuse me. Hey.

I'm just a little turned around.

Where's GALCIT again?

Right over there.

Thanks.

Jack.

Jack?

What the hell do you think you're doing?

Looking for you.

I told you to meet me outside.

I don't see what the fuss is about.

It's just a big pipe.

Which produces winds of over 200 miles an hour.

The wind tunnel is only open

to authorized students and personnel.

Well, I'm about to be, aren't I?

I just hate walking in there

without any sense of what he's gonna say.

How do you feel?

You know how I feel.

I realize you don't think we were ready to submit,

but I didn't have a choice.

Susan's had it with me spending our money on this.

Well, I don't blame her, it's literally going up in smoke.

Fucking hilarious.I am not joking, Jack.

Sometimes, the rocket reaches 60 feet,

sometimes it-it doesn't leave the ground

and sometimes, it explodes.

The results are completely random

and we don't even understand why.

I-Is it the size of the nozzle or the chamber?

Is it the fuel? Or maybe it's the oxidizer...

That's the point of the project.

To figure those things out.

But what if our proposal is approved and we still fail?

The only difference is the head of my department

will be watching.Have a little faith, Rich.

They'll be naming buildings after us by the time we're done.

It is absurd.

You wish to build rocket capable

of taking, uh, meteorological equipment into ionosphere?

Yes, sir, w-we thought...

Well, that part was Richard's idea.

He thought it sounded more...

practical.

Our ultimate goal was to create a rocket

capable of taking man into space.

Professor Goddard only managed

to launch rocket 2,700 meters, maximum.

Ionosphere is nearly 100,000.

Remember what I say in first year seminar

about crossing river?

Stepping stones.

Exactly.

Small advances needed before big ones can be made.

What if we're not content to be someone else's stepping stone?

Richard tells me you never completed, uh,

undergraduate degree, Mr. Parsons.

: I'm starting to understand why.

I had to drop out to support my family

because of the Depression.

Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.

Don't be. A degree's just a piece of paper.

I'd just as soon not have all those protocols

weighing me down.

: But listen, you are trying, uh,

to work in a field that does not even exist.

If you don't proceed with caution, you will fail.

Or even worse...

blow yourself up.

What?

What?

That wasn't how it was supposed to go.

No. No, Jack, leave it alone.Professor?

Jack.Professor.

I was just thinking, you should come and see

one of our launches for yourself.

I gave you my answer.

Richard and I have been building rockets since we were teenagers.

Some words on a page can't convey what we're capable of.

They should.

Well, they can't.

When you were developing the PUZ-1,

did you rely on a written proposal

to demonstrate its feasibility?

No, but, uh...No, because helicopters

didn't exist.

Because people didn't even believe they couldexist.

That is a slight exaggeration.

There were precedents.

My point is, you had to prove the naysayers wrong

by showing them it could work.

Next thing you know, your prototype takes three men

in the air, and you change aviation history forever.

Another slight exaggeration.

All I'm asking for is the same chance.

You don't believe

we can back up our claims?

Let us prove to you we can.

Hey. Hey.

I don't get why you're mad. He said he'd come.

The point was to get approval to build a functional rocket motor.

Yeah. So?You were talking

like we'd built one already.

Because he rejected us.

Now we have a chance to change his mind. How?

None of our tests have broken 70 feet.

This will only prove our incompetence.

We'll figure something out between now and then.

But what, Jack?

Something.

This is my career.

The top aerodynamicist in America

is gonna think I'm an imbecile and a fraud.

So you'd prefer we just give up?

I just wish that you'd stick to the facts

once in a while.

I don't understand--

you said you'd be getting an answer today.

That iswhat I'm saying. We basically did.

The professor just needs

to make sure we can back up our claims.

And if the demonstration goes well, then you'll be approved?

Yes.

Let's just make this quick, okay?

I've got a lot of work to do.

Jack, try to be civil. We might get on with them.

Doubtful, if they're anything like our other neighbors.

Shh.

[recording of Dixieland jazz playing]

Hi. We're Mr. and Mrs. Parsons