heyWhoa! Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa.
- Easy.
- Mornin'.
Mornin'. Y'all mind
steppin' aside?
- You know what I think?
- No, sir, I don't.
I think you got yourselves
a shipment of gold in that wagon...
that you're bringin'
to General Lee.
- Just who might you be?
- A friend of the Confederacy.
Why don't y'all show us what a
good friend you are by steppin' aside?
I'd be most happy to,
'cept first...
I'd be much obliged
if you'd give me that gold.
I don't think I heard you correct.
I think you did.
I'd like that gold now.
Listen, mister, it ain't
very nice out here, as you can see.
There are five of us.
If you don't step aside now,
I'd just as soon kill you as not.
You wanna die out here in this
miserable weather, that's your choice.
I'm gonna ask you
one more time.
Would you please
give me the gold?
Good afternoon, senators.
The president is very
grateful for your time here.
Believe me, this is a matter
of the utmost importance.
I cannot stress too much
the utmost secrecy.
Why don't you just
cut out the shit, George?
You're here to ask the committee
for money, so come out and ask for it.
Thanks for the advice.
I am gonna ask you for money.
Guess what else?
You're gonna give it to me.
You all remember
Dr. Hans Kleindast...
the Nobel Laureate who helped us
during the space program?
For 20 years...
he's been keeping his face
off of Time magazine doing research.
His field of research
has been time travel.
- Time travel.
- Time travel.
- Well, beam me up, Scotty.
- That's very funny, Senator.
- Wanna know what's funnier than that?
- He's gonna tell us.
The funny thing is...
the good doctor actually did it.
I thought that'd
get your attention.
He did it. The technology is
in the folders in front of you.
You won't understand it
any better than I can.
Now, you can't go forward,
because the future hasn't happened yet.
However, you can go back,
and that's where things get tricky.
If you go back and change something,
it's serious. It could be catastrophic.
It's like throwing
a stone in a lake...
only now there
are ripples in time.
So you can't go back and kill Hitler,
much as we'd like to...
because it could cause
a chain reaction of events...
that could alter
or even destroy mankind.
And that, my good senators,
is where you come in.
We have to form a new agency to police
this technology and protect time.
It will be called the Time Enforcement
Commission or the T.E.C.
Eugene Matuzak of the Washington P.D.
Is our choice to run the commission.
- How much is this gonna cost?
- A lot.
- How much is a lot?
- More than a little
and less than too much.
This is not a good time
to ask for money. The economy...
Suppose one of our competitors goes
back in time and invents the computer?
Or the airplane or the automobile?
You wanna talk about
the American economy, Senator?
How about this one?
Saddam Hussein finances a trip to 1944.
He gets our technology...
and Iraq becomes the first country
to have the atomic bomb.
- Oh, you like that one.
- Not bad.
Try this one.
We think there's already been a ripple.
Ten days ago, the C.I.A. Broke up
an arms sale to terrorists...
in Hamburg, Germany.
Ordinarily, that sort of news
doesn't cross the president's desk.
What made this different...
was that the purchase
was made with gold bullion...
and the bullion
was dated 1863...
and stamped
"Confederate States of America".
We had it carbon-tested
and authenticated. It's real.
Now, just think
about what I'm saying.
Going back in time
is a pretty easy way to make money.
Our committee would have exclusive
jurisdiction over this program?
Yours and yours alone. No one can know
about this. It's too dangerous.
That's very good, George.
Personally...
I think this sounds like that
bullshit Star Wars program.
You'll get your money. Anyone here want
to chair the oversight on this program?
Yeah, I'll do it.
Ah, young Senator McComb.
Why not?
Oh,