By Dawn's Early Light

Sam:
They'll shoot you for this general.

Alice:
Sam, old friend, I should find such an angel of mercy.

Harpoon:
Use the pause. Settle things down.

Fargo:
The best defense... Cut off the head of the Soviet chicken.

President:
We got Alice in one plane and the mad hatter in another.

Fargo:
Hell, most Soviet bombers are so old they still use propellers. The Minnesota Air National Guard could probably knock them down.

Harpoon:
Well, do you want to get on the phone and order them into the air, Colonel, because every transistor in Minnesota is BURNED OUT!

US President:
No, General. This is my responsibility. I will not act precipitously on the basis of some goddamn computer.

General Renning:
The goddamn computer will be destroyed in twenty-one minutes along with everyone here.

Gen. Renning:
Well, I've done about all I can. You and Harpoon take it from here. Old buddy?

Alice:
Yeah, Clay?

Gen. Renning:
Happy Hunting!! [Screen aboard "Looking Glass" aircraft goes to snow, indicating that SAC Headquarters has been destroyed.]

Harpoon:
Call some of our bombers. And see how the Soviet will respond.

Condor:
Hmm.

Colonel Fargo:
Mr. President. There is another solution. Cut the head off the chicken.

Alice:
We got a Two One Zebra.

Colonel Sam:
Jesus! You're kidding.

Alice:
Wish the hell I was.

Major Cassidy:
What am I supposed to do? Shoot you? Eject you? Put you down on the ice?

Captain Moreau:
Turn the plane, Major. That's what I want you to do. Turn the plane.

Alice:
Turn the bombers. See what happens.

Condor:
You don't understand what's going on here, do you? If we stop now, we lose. This president has determination to wage a nuclear war until acceptable outcome is achieved.

Alice:
Acceptable to whom, Sir?

Condor:
Acceptable to me and American people. And you will put the bombers on the henhouse fast. Did you get that?

Alice:
I heard you, Sir.

Condor:
You put this on the general order. To bring down Polar Bear One. Did you hear that?

Alice:
Yes, Sir.

Condor:
You don't sound convince, General.

Alice:
I don't need it, Sir.

Condor:
Fine, fine. We can send the order from here.

Alice:
I suggest you do that, Sir.

Condor:
Am I hearing you correctly?

Alice:
I believe you did.

Condor:
General, you are fired.

Captain Moreau:
I think we have to face up to the reality...

Major Cassidy:
If we are lucky, reality is a firing squad.

Captain Moreau:
And if we are unlucky?

Major Cassidy:
Planet of the Apes, Darlin'. Remember Two One Zebra?.

[At SAC Headquarters, the staff are speechless at seeing the displays indicate US bases being hit, with one track headed straight for the base. SAC commander General Renning is in contact with Looking Glass officer Alice and NEACP officer Harpoon]

Gen. Renning:
Harpoon, I don't know if the President will make it to Andrews. All our military bases have been hit. Who's available to succeed?

Harpoon:
General, the vice-president and most of the Cabinet are in northwest Washington. We've been unable to contact. The only one we are sure of is the secretary of the interior; he was inspecting a wilderness preserve near Baton Rouge.

Renning:
And the FBI are out looking for him?

Harpoon:
And the Army, E-4's two hours from touchdown in Baton Rouge.

Renning:
[to Alice] Alice, you're reading our new target projections in your display?

Alice:
I got everything I need, sir.

Renning:
And the current impact in the area clear to you, yes?

Alice:
Yes, sir.

Renning:
Well, I've done about all I can. You and Harpoon take it from here. Old buddy?

Alice:
Yeah, Clay?

Renning:
Happy Hunting!

[Alice looks at monitor showing the radar display showing SAC headquarters go to snow, indicating that it is destroyed]

[Aboard the E-4 NEACP, the admiral codenamed Harpoon tries to convince the acting President to at least recall the bombers and buy time to negotiate with the Soviets on ending the war]

Condor:
Admiral, we're supposed to take his word for it?

Colonel Fargo:
Mr. President, historical fact: The Soviets have always been willing to take massive losses to achieve victory.

Harpoon:
Colonel, this isn't the 1950s. They're not looking for new worlds to conquer. [to Condor] Mr President I have a very hard time believing the Soviets want this war more than we do. Recall some of our bombers and see how the Soviets respond.

Condor:
Hmm, well I -

Colonel Fargo:
Mr. President. There is another solution. Cut the head off the chicken.