Don't Be Cruel

-He said it with a straight face. -No.

You want one--

No. I think two is my limit.

With that attitude, the Koreans are gonna eat us alive.

Are we negotiating an East Asian space alliance,

or is this gonna be a drinking contest?

Can't have one without the other. Not in Seoul.

You thought the UN delegates were party animals. Just wait.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

You're gonna be great.

You were born to do this job.

You know, Tom, I've been meaning to talk to you about something.

I think I might--

-You're pregnant. -No.

No. It's not that.

I...

Excuse me, Ellen Wilson? Room 147?

-Yes, thank you. -Phone for you.

Sorry.

This is Ellen Wilson.

Okay. Thank you.

My father had a heart attack. It doesn't sound good.

I'm so sorry.

He's in Connecticut, right?

Yeah.

Use the limo. I'll take a taxi to the airport--

-No, I can't do that. The Korean-- -You can't not do that.

This is family.

Go.

I'll call you.

Thank you.

Poor thing. She was so excited about going to Korea.

Hopefully her father will recover, and she can join me in a day or two.

Must have been a rough night for her.

How about you? Did you get any sleep?

Of course not. You know I can't sleep on planes.

It's a 14-hour flight.

Martini, sir.

These long international flights are the only time I can really focus.

No distractions.

Just me, my martini and the Apollo-Soyuz budget requests.

Some light reading, huh?

You should try reading a novel once in a while.

It'd be good for your mind to just tune out.

I just finished this one called Christine, about this 1958 homicidal Plymouth.

Yeah. My new electric car's tried to kill me a few times.

How are Poole and Morrison doing?

Everything going okay in Russia?

By all accounts the training's going smoothly.

Good.

Still can't quite believe it's happening.

Our astronauts in Star City, their engineers in Houston.

I know.

I was calling to check in on one point on the negotiations

for the EASA before we land.

Check away.

For this proposed space station, are we real--

Tom, you there?

Tom?

If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try--

I'm sorry you missed your flight for nothing.

I blame your mother for overreacting.

It's not nothing, Dad. You had a heart attack.

A minor incident. I feel fine.

A wake-up call.

You heard the doctor. No more red meat, no more smoking.

And you have to slow down.

Though we all know that'll never happen.

I'm running a half-a-billion-dollar company.

We just extended into Asia. Got a new hub in Europe and another--

I know.

You want me to slow down, I'm gonna need your help.

And obviously that's not gonna happen right now.

Maybe you're being a little... shortsighted.

What are you saying?

I'm thinking about leaving NASA.

Bullshit.

I'm serious.

I wanna get to Mars,

and I'm starting to think that private spaceflight is the only way to get there.

Interesting.

What does Larry have to say about you changing course?

Larry... wants me to be happy.

Wherever I am.

One thing I don't have to worry about,

you'll always have a solid man by your side.

Not that I wouldn't mind a grandchild or two.

Sorry to interrupt, ma'am, but the White House is calling for you.

-The White House? -That's what they said.

This is Ellen Wilson.

...news. Special report. Here is Dan Rather.

Yes.

President Reagan arriving at this moment

at Point Mugu Naval Air Station in California,

taking him from his California vacation back to work in Washington.

A vacation cut short by the shooting down

of Korean Air Lines flight 7 by the Soviets,

with the apparent loss of as many as 269,

all of the persons aboard.

President Reagan is expected to deliver a statement shortly.

From Moscow, still no official confirmation of the plane's downing.

Just that there was, quote, "an accident,"

but not even what kind of accident from the Soviets

and nothing in the way of an apology.

In the wake of the barbaric act committed yesterday by the Soviet regime

against a commercial jetliner,

the United States and many other countries of the world

made clear and compelling statements

that expressed not only our outrage

but also our demand for a truthful accounting of the facts.

What can we think of a regime

that so broadly trumpets its vision of peace and global disarmament

and yet so callously and quickly commits a terrorist act

to sacrifice the lives of innocent human beings?

And what are we to make of a regime

which establishes one set of standards for itself

and another for the rest of humankind?

To the families of Congressman Lawrence McDonald,

NASA Administrator Thomas Paine and all those on the ill-fated aircraft,

we send our deepest sympathy.

And I hope they know our prayers are with them all.

What the hell was that airliner doing flying over Sakhalin?

It's not even on its flight path.

Could have been a navigational error.

Flight computer could have caused the plane to deviate from its route.

400 miles?

Maybe something was wrong with the autopilot.

Poor bastard probably never even knew he'd entered Soviet airspace.

So the pilot accidentally wanders into a protected area.

Why shoot down the plane?

It's a commercial airliner, for God's sake.

It doesn't make any sense.

We've got spy planes flying over Sakhalin all the time.

It's a secret air base. They're paranoid.

I'm sorry. It is beyond inconceivable

that any pilot could mistake an American reconnaissance plane

with a Korean passenger jumbo jet.

I don't buy that for a second.

It's more likely they suspected KAL 7 was being used as a spy plane.

Was it?

Don't be ridiculous.

Why would the United States use another nation's passenger plane to spy?

We are wasting time here.

All that matters is I haven't been able to reach Poole and Morrison in Star City.

I have tried every line. It's radio silence.

The FBI shut down access to all Soviet officials in the US,

including the Apollo-Soyuz engineers,

so they're probably responding to that.

They are holding our people hostage. That's not okay.

She's right.

Ellen.

I've spoken with Jim Baker at the White House.

Until the president appoints a permanent replacement,

I'll be fulfilling Tom's duties as acting administrator.

Now, reestablishing communication with our astronauts

is our top priority at this point.

Maybe I should get in touch with Sergei Nikulov,

see if he could help us get in touch with our people, and--

We just got attacked by the Soviets.

You're gonna reach out to 'em and ask for help?

Sergei will listen to reason.

They have shown time and again that they can't be trusted.

This should all run through the NSC.

Well, I think we need to pursue all available options

before this turns into an even bigger incident.

Go talk to him. Hopefully he knows of a way to reach Star City.

Thank you.

Your call.

Damn it!

Let me out!

What can I do for you?

I'm Margo Madison. I need to see Sergei Nikulov.

No one goes in, no one goes out. Those are my orders.

I'm the director, Johnson Space Center.

I'm sure you are, honey, but you're not getting in.

-What's your name? -Sergeant John Perkins.

Okay, Sergeant John Perkins, I know you have a job to do, but so do I.

I'm gonna give you 15 seconds to get in touch with your superior officer,

12 seconds to explain the situation to him,

45 seconds for him to reach General Nelson Bradford

and confirm I am who I say I am.

Another 15 seconds for your boss to get back to you

and ten for you to open this door.

That puts you 97 seconds away

from either a cold beer at the end of your shift

or an open-ended transfer to Thule, Greenland.

Your time starts now.

Honey.

I brought borscht.

Come in.

Did you try the embassy?

Radio silence.

I don't think anything will happen to your astronauts.

Somehow that's not making me feel any better.

I know it's a lot to ask, considering the situation...

but do you have a way to get in touch with Star City?

A secret line, or,

I don't know, something that might put us closer to making contact with our people?

What can I do? I'm trapped here with no phone.

See? Dead?