- A security agent investigates sabotage and murder at a secret underground laboratory, home of two experimental robots.
- Scientists working on induced hibernation for space travel are killed, apparently by machines acting independently. Security agent Sheppard arrives at the secret underground space research base to investigate possible sabotage. He finds that the whole base is coordinated by supercomputer NOVAC and its robots Gog and Magog; and a strange aircraft is detected high overhead.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
- We open with closeup of a syringe and Dr. Kirby (an uncredited Aline Towne) injecting a solution into a lab monkey, Pepe. He is wired up for an experiment in freezing and thawing. Through the window we see Dr. Hubertus (Michael Fox), the department head. The chamber is reduced in temperature to minus 85 degrees and Pepe is frozen solid in less than two minutes. The process is reversed and Pepe is revived. The test is deemed a success. Pepe is sent to the lab for a blood count, and Dr. Hubertus sends Dr. Kirby to the supply room for a more sensitive thermostat. After Dr. Kirby leaves, the cold chamber door closes, trapping Hubertus. He struggles to get out as the automated equipment begins its deep cold cycle. Hubertus is frozen solid. Dr. Kirby finds the thermostat and returns to the cryo lab. She enters the chamber to discover the dead and shattered remains of Dr. Hubertus. The door closes on her and the cryo cycle repeats, killing her.
A helicopter crosses the desert sky. On board is the pilot Al (an uncredited Al Bayer) and his passenger, Dr. David Sheppard (Richard Egan). They are headed for the satellite project, a top secret facility built underground. The helicopter is suddenly tossed around, much to Sheppards concern, but the pilot explains that the "brain" has taken over the controls and will do the flying. It keeps the exact location of the facility secret. The pair are being monitored by central control. Just before they land the sun mirror shines on them.
After landing, Dr. Sheppard is met by two security guards, Andy (an uncredited Andy Andrews) and Julie (an uncredited Julian Ludwig). They ask for and verify Dr. Sheppards credentials. Cleared for entry, Julie escorts Sheppard in the elevator to Dr. Van Ness' office. Dr. Van Ness (Herbert Marshall) greets Sheppard and unlocks the brief case he has manacled to his wrist. Sheppard presents his orders and is told he was specifically requested because the project is in jeopardy, and Van Ness has "positive proof of a saboteur on my staff." He calls his assistant, Joanna Merritt (Constance Dowling), to bring in the devices--miniature RADAR beacons. Sheppard recognizes them and comments on their fine craftsmanship. Van Ness gives Sheppard a briefing on the underground facility, but admits an H-bomb would wipe out the project. Sheppard suggests he become familiar with the project and staff. Van Ness agrees and assigns Miss Merritt as his guide. Van Ness contacts his security officer, Major Howard, and issues new security orders. Major Howard informs him that another code transmitter device has been found.
In the locker room, Sheppard changes into a brown jumpsuit with a gold arm band. Joanna informs him that gold gives him access to all the laboratories. She also provides him with a radiation badge. While their first meeting, in front of Van Ness, is formal and business-like, when they are alone it is revealed they've known each other for some time and had been more intimate. She has been assigned to the project by the security services that employ Sheppard. So secret is her mission, even her boss, Van Ness is unaware of her affiliation. She provides Sheppard a list of suspects: Dr. and Mrs. Elzevir, Dr. Zeitman, and Dr. Engel. Sheppard burns the list. They exit the locker room and head for the Chemistry lab on the second level.
Marna Roberts (Jeanne Dean), surrounded by lab equipment and glassware, is performing an experiment in the dark. When Joanna and Sheppard arrive, she turns on the lights and greets the duo. Sheppard wants a sample analyzed--some dust he found in one of the code transmitters. Marna hands him a slide. She tells him to come back in 30 minutes, and Joanna and Sheppard exit, their next destination is the Helio-Engineering lab.
Van Ness is already meeting with Dr. Pierre Elzevir (Phillip Van Zandt) and his wife Mrs. Elzevir (Valerie Vernon). Sheppard and Joanna arrive. Van Ness, excited and proud, shows Sheppard a scale model of the space station at the heart of the project. The Elzevir's are working on the solar mirror which will provide the station all its power. They also demonstrate the destructive power it has at its disposal. Sheppard is also told that the mirror is controlled by NOVAC by code transmitters.
Van Ness, Sheppard and Joanna walk next door to visit Dr. Carter (Byron Kane) in the Human Factors lab. Elzevir tags along. Carter explains his weightlessness chamber and we are introduced to his male, Vince (an uncredited Alex Jackson) and female test subjects. Van Ness gets a phone call from Major Howard, and he, Sheppard, and Joanna race to security. Mrs. Elzevir comes to collect her husband, who shows way too much interest in the female subject in the chamber.
Major Howard (Stephen Roberts) and his assistant are busy tracking an unknown object. The three arrive and are told an unknown and unauthorized jet plane is in the area flying faster than the speed of sound. Van Ness informs Sheppard that another code transmitter was discovered in Dr. Zeitman's room.
Joanna and Sheppard, on the third level, stand outside Zeitman's lab. They must wait until an experiment is completed before they can enter. Zeitman (John Wengraf) pulls a component from NOVAC (Nuclear Operative Variable Automatic Computer) and makes a few notes and adjustments to the electronic brain. Dr. Engle (William Shallert) assists. Joanna explains that NOVAC was built in Switzerland and took five years to complete, and Zeitman was the designer. Joanna introduces Sheppard to the two robots--Gog and Magog. Zeitman and Engle demonstrate how they operate. Via punched tape, Gog is directed to make an adjustment on a machine, and Magog is directed to hand Dr. Sheppard a screwdriver. The atomic pile on the fourth level is next on the tour, but before they leave, Zeitman, a brilliant but arrogant man, gets a lecture on security regulations.
Sheppard and Joanna examine some of the automated nuclear processes before she introduces Sheppard to Dr. Peter Burden (David Alpert), the chief atomic engineer. He shows Sheppard the monitoring panel, which suddenly shows a strong detection of alpha particles on the second level. They rush off with a Geiger counter and discover the source to be the Chemistry Lab, where Sheppard left a sample to be analyzed. Burden enters in his protective suit, followed by Sheppard and Joanna. They discover Marna collapsed on the floor. Burden pronounces her dead, a victim of excess radiation. He takes the body away, while Joanna calls security and orders a decontamination team be sent to the Chemistry Lab. Sheppard discovers the source of the radiation, an isotope, buried in a potted plant. Burden recovers it and shields it inside a lead vault. Sheppard believes someone is on to his mission, the sample he gave Marna is missing, the equipment destroyed and Marna is dead.
Because Vince, the human factors subject, and Marna were involved romantically, Sheppard goes to the Human Facotor Lab to talk to him. Dr. Carter had already started a centrifuge experiment to test new pressure suits with Vince and the female subject. When a call is made to stop all experiments and department heads to report to Dr. Van Ness, Carter aborts his experiment, but the equipment malfunctions, killing both test subjects.
In Van Ness office, the department heads are briefed and told that sabotage and murder has endangered all the scientists and the project. He orders security tightened even further. Meanwhile, Mrs. Elzevir, back in the Helio-Lab, is the next target. She manages to disable the equipment before she is the next victim. At the same time, Major Howard's assistant triggers the alarm of an unauthorized jet plane in the area. Howard orders everyone out of the room and tries to disconnect the sound detector, but he is overcome by the high decibel sound. Sheppard, Joanna and Howard's assistant must break into the room. After order is restored, Joanna and Sheppard go down to see Zeitman.
Zeitman questions Engle about the missing robot, Magog. Engle explains that it is not possible as he had the power off on NOVAC, and that he never experiments with the robots without Zeitman's express permission. When Sheppard and Joanna arrive, he tells Zeitman that he has concluded that the person controlling NOVAC has to be the killer and saboteur. But with the power off, then who controls the equipment and robots? Before they can answer that question, Gog is activated and attacks and kills Engle and Zeitman. Before he dies, Zeitman instructs Sheppard to use a flame thrower to disable the robot. Magog has gone down to the atomic pile to pull out the safety rod--an action that will result in an explosion and destruction of the underground facility. Sheppard calls Van Ness and tells him the jet flying over the project is responsible for the sabotage and murders and must be destroyed. Jets are scrambled from a nearby Air Force Base. Sheppard and Joanna arrive in the atomic pile room. He pushes the safety rod back and disables Magog with the flame thrower. No sooner has he disabled Magog, but Gog arrives with the intent of completing Magog's directive to destroy the facility. Van Ness arrives armed with a flame thrower, but his malfunctions. The Air Force destroys the rocket plane flying over the project, and Gog shuts itself off. Joanna collapses and Van Ness notices her and Sheppard's badge indicates an exposure to excess radiation.
Some days or weeks later Van Ness, in his office, meets with a Senator (Tom Daly). He briefs the Senator on what happened at the facility. He also informs him that a practical model has been completed and will be launched the next morning. The closing scene is the launch of a V-2 rocket.
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