Beneath the New Mexico desert lies a top-secret facility where a space station is quietly taking shape, guarded by a crew of brilliant scientists and a vigilant security team. Dr. David Sheppard [Richard Egan], an investigator from the Office of Scientific Investigation, is called in to untangle a deadly string of malfunctions that have claimed the lives of five scientists and two human test subjects, as well as the Chief of Security, Major Howard [Stephen Roberts]. He arrives alongside Joanna Merritt [Constance Dowling], another seasoned OSI agent already at the site, and together they begin to piece together a troubling pattern of sabotage that seems to target the complex’s nervous system: NOVAC, the Nuclear Operative Variable Automatic Computer that coordinates every machine and process in the underground laboratory.
As Sheppard digs deeper, the team uncovers a chilling fact: someone has secretly tampered with NOVAC by embedding a clandestine radio transmitter and receiver into its Swiss-born design, unbeknownst to its designer, Dr. Zeitman [John Wengraf]. The investigation reveals an unseen enemy in control of the situation, aided by a remarkably stealthy interceptor—a fiberglass-bodied aircraft that cannot be detected on standard radar. This airborne spy beams precise ultra-high-frequency signals into the installation, guiding NOVAC’s every move. In response, the enormous computer begins to manipulate Gog and Magog, two colossal multi-armed robots whose presence keeps the facility on edge and whose actions threaten the very heart of the operation.
The saboteur’s plan is chillingly straightforward yet terrifying in scope: command NOVAC to orchestrate a nuclear catastrophe. Gog is instructed to drift toward the reactor control room and remove the safety rod from the atomic pile, setting off a chain reaction that could obliterate the entire complex. Sheppard moves with urgency, managing to reinstate the rod just in time. A tense confrontation erupts as he engages Gog with a flame thrower, blocking its advance while Magog, the twin, makes a beeline for the reactor. The fight intensifies as the control valve sticks on the second flame thrower, and Gog closes in on its target. Van Ness [Herbert Marshall] arrives with another flamethrower to even the odds, but the weapon’s valve sticks, leaving Gog room to strike. In a desperate gambit, Sheppard uses the flamethrower’s nozzle as a makeshift club, smashing at the robot’s electronic tubes. Gog falters, its arms dropping and its momentum fading, while Magog’s threat subsides for the moment. Yet the danger lingers outside the walls as American F-86 and F-94 jet fighters locate and destroy the hovering enemy plane, cutting off NOVAC’s puppeteering grip.
In the aftermath, the team discovers that Sheppard and Merritt have endured radiation exposure from the reactor—enough to redden their film badges and unsettle the nerves, but not enough to cause lasting harm. They are taken to the facility hospital for assessment and recuperation, and doctors confirm that recovery is likely imminent.
A few days later, Dr. Van Ness [Herbert Marshall] briefs the Secretary of Defense, reporting that despite the saboteur’s disruption, the project remains on track. A working model of the space station is about to be launched, designed to carry telescopes and television cameras that will monitor for future sabotage and keep watch over the Earth and beyond. In a decisive display of resolve, the Secretary proclaims: > Nothing will take us by surprise again! The next morning, the mission proceeds with a flawless launch, heralding a new era for the “baby space station” and the continued push toward spaceborne sight and control.
