about your visit.
I've tried to clear
things up, Professor Scott.
I explained you'd come
all the way from Edinburgh
on appointment
to study methods of
manufacturing by Plexicorp,
but they don't know
anything about it.
Don't know anything about it?
It's hard to believe
that I've come
millions of miles-
thousands.
thousands of miles
on an invited tour-
Professor Scott,
if you'll just-
I demand to see the owners!
Professor Scott, take it easy!
Dr. Nichols has offered
to show us the plant personally.
He has?
With pleasure.
Well, that's different.
Gregory!
Whoa!
Professor.
May my assistant join us?
Of course.
Don't bury yourself in the part.
Hi.
Hi.
Good-looking ship.
Huey 204, isn't it?
Right on.
You fly?
Oh, here and there.
I flew something similar
back in my academy days.
Then this must be
old stuff to you.
Old, yes, but interesting.
Mind if I ask you
a few questions?
Do it.
This is a fine place
you have here, Dr. Nichols.
Thank you.
Your knowledge of engineering
is most impressive.
Back home we call him
"The miracle worker."
Indeed. May I offer you
something, gentlemen?
I might be able to offer
something to you.
Yes?
I noticed you're still
working with polymers.
Still?
What else would I
be working with?
Aye, what else, indeed.
I'll put it another way.
How thick would a piece
of your plexiglass
need to be at 60' x 1 0'
to withstand the pressure
of 1 8,000 cubic feet of water?
That's easy. 6 inches.
We stock that size.
I have noticed.
Now, suppose...
just suppose...
I were to show you
a way to manufacture a wall
that would do the same job
but be only 1 inch thick?
Would that be worth
something to you, eh?
You're joking.
Perhaps the professor
could use your computer.
Please.
Computer.
Computer.
Ah.
Hello, computer.
Just use the keyboard.
The keyboard.
How quaint.
"Transparent aluminum"?
That's the ticket, laddie.
It would take years
just to figure out
the dynamics of this matrix.
You would be rich
beyond the dreams of avarice.
So, is it worth
something to you,
or should I just
punch up "clear"?
No! No.
Not now, Madelaine!
What exactly did you
have in mind?
Well, a moment alone, please.
You realize, of course,
if we give him the formula,
we're altering the future.
Why?
How do we know
he didn't invent the thing?
Yeah.
Sure you won't
change your mind?
Is there something wrong
with the one I have?
A little joke.
Bye, old friend.
Wait a minute!
How did you know
Gracie's pregnant?
Nobody knows that.
Gracie does.
I'll be right here.
What, he'll just hang
around the bushes
while we eat?
It's his way.
Do you trust me?
Implicitly.
A large mushroom, pepperoni
with extra onions,
and Michelob, please.
O.K. Great choice.
And you, sir?
Make that two.
Thank you.
Well...how did
a nice girl like you
get to be
a cetacean biologist?
Just lucky, I guess.
You're upset about
losing the whales,
aren't you?
You're very perceptive.
How will that
be done exactly?
They'll be flown
in a special 747 to Alaska
and released there.
That's the last
you'll see of them?
See, yes,
but we'll tag them
with radio transmitters
so that we can
keep tabs on them.
You know,
I could take those
whales somewhere...
where they'd
never be hunted.
You can't even get yourself
from Sausalito
to San Francisco
without a lift.
If you have a low opinion
a my abilities,
how come we're
having dinner?
Sucker for hard luck cases.
Ha ha ha.
Cheers.
Besides...
why are you traveling
with that ditzy guy
who knows
Gracie's pregnant
and calls you admiral?
Where could you take them?
Hmm?
My whales.
Where would they be safe?
It's not so much
a place as a time.
The time would have
to be right now.
Why right now?
No humpback
born in captivity
has ever survived.
The problem is
they won't be
that much safer at sea
because of all the hunting
this time of year.
So you see,
that, as they say, is that.
Damn.