The Sentry - Recap

Kolchak races down a seemingly endless corridor. As he looks over his shoulder the golf cart he drives veers from side to side. Finally, the arrow-straight hall ends at a triangular lobby. Rocketing through it, Kolchak finds an incomplete section of the facility – roughly circular tunnels carved from solid rock and sporadically lit by bare bulbs.

Disembarking, Carl crouches behind the golf cart and begins recording his story. He notes that this story he may not get to file in person, because “it” is after him. He further warns those who descend to the deepest underground passages to beware of the shadows...

On April 20th, at 3:30pm, Dr. James Verhyden (holder of three PhD certificates in geology and well-known expert in seismology) was examining an unfinished section of the underground Merrymount Archives Mine Complex. With him was his tool packer Howard Kemper. Both men knew they had something extraordinary when they found, in a kind of rocky vesicle, a number of shiny, dark blue, ovals. The men retrieved a section of rock containing these and Verhyden placed this into a golf cart and drove off. Kemper remained behind to shut off the lights and reposition some equipment. Scarcely had Verhyden left than Kemper heard a growling. Seconds later an enormous clawed hand smashed the light standard to the ground. A foot crushed it. And then the owner of these closed on Howard Kemper, about whom people would say (at his funeral) that he was a good worker...

At ten o’clock the following morning, junior electrician Larry Coogan worked in sector M of the Merrymount Archives. Coogan had told his friends he didn’t like working so far underground and that it reminded him of a tomb. Those words were prophetic, for as Coogan worked, something plodded towards him, smashing light fixtures. Coogan stumbled and fell from his ladder, sprawling onto the floor. His last sight was a mouth full of very sharp, white teeth...

Lieutenant Irene Lamont, a fast riser whose detectors claimed she owed her success to her looks, caught the case. Reporters follow her as she returns to her squad room, asking why the police were involved in a routine industrial accident, and why they were keeping the details to themselves. With easy camaraderie, Lamont dodges these questions, to the disgust of Carl Kolchak. She pleads overwork and ducks into the squad room where the reporters cannot follow. Other reporters, infatuated with the lady, let it pass. One even promises Carl that if he sours the lady on reports, he’ll need mail order teeth!

Carl ducks past his colleagues and into the squad room, where he makes a beeline for Irene’s desk, plops down his recorder and asks her to talk turkey. She picks up the recorder and hands it back, and then tells Carl the she likes him – his directness, his ability to take charge, even the way he dresses. Despite that, she has nothing to say to him. Carl replies that he likes Irene, too. They like each other so much, he wonders why she will not comment on the rumor that relatives were not allowed to identify the bodies. Irene chides him, suggesting that rumors start with misinformation. She tells him the identification found on the bodies was sufficient, and adds that the police didn’t forbid relatives from seeing the bodies. But the accidents left the bodies mangled and in the interest of sparing the relatives misery and anguish the police recommended against viewing the remains. Carl next wants to know why the police won’t say how the victims died or what the accidents were. Lamont reminds him that the sensitive Merrymount Archives pose special problems. They store corporate and Federal government records and the police are simply following ordinary security procedures. Carl wonders what and whose security precautions these were, but Irene is late and cannot go into it now. Carl asks if she’s late for the autopsy report on the electrician, and she confirms this, only seconds later realizing she has fallen into a Kolchak trap.

Carl obtains a set of scrubs and a mask and joins the three doctors conducting the autopsy. Irene Lamont follows the doctors, breaking off to enter the observation room. She seems a little curious about Carl, but his disguise as “Dr. Kolchakowski” holds. At the autopsy, Carl learns that the body is “just like the first man” and sees deep puncture marks. The coroner pronounces these the work of a reptile’s teeth, prompting Carl to wonder aloud if a crocodile savaged the man.

Carl next steers his battered Mustang to the Merrymount Archive. He pauses to conceal his camera and tape recorder in his briefcase before marching across the lobby. Before he reaches the elevator Vice President and General Sales Manager Jack Flaherty intercepts him. Carl immediately goes into an act, explaining to the salesman that his company is interested in leasing space but that he’s in a hurry because he has to catch a five o’clock flight to Winnipeg. When Jack asks Carl who he represents, Carl tells him he’s with the “International Nickel Syndicate.” Jack doesn’t want to take Carl where Carl most wants to go, down below. It seems that today is a bad day, the company is opening a new sector and things are hectic. Carl reminds Jack that he’s in a hurry; Jack suggests he provide an estimate and Carl can view the facility at a future date. Taking command, Carl calls an elevator and hustles Jack into it. They descend ten thousand feet as Jack extols on the services Merrymount can provide, including storage on the advanced new magnetic discs. Carl enthusiastically keeps Jack talking by telling the salesman it’s all suitable for his needs. The elevator arrives at the bottom and they walk into the storage hub as Jack tells Carl the archives are quake proof, flood proof and can even withstand a nuclear holocaust. That’s when a worker named Chapman confronts Flaherty with union demands for extra pay and other benefits. Flaherty politely puts him off and then reassures Carl that the recession has everyone in a bad mood.

Outside, a police car pulls up and disgorges Lieutenant Lamont and other police. She recognizes Carl’s yellow submarine and immediately marches to the lobby desk to ask if Carl is there. Told by the receptionist that Carl did come through representing himself as a nickel firm official, Lamont characterizes Carl instead as the proverbial bad penny and demands his location.

Below, Flaherty continues to lead Carl around as he extols the virtues of the Archive. Carl tries to dig for some facts about the accidents but Flaherty cites insurance regulations and refuses to share the details. When Carl mentions deaths, Flaherty mildly suggests that one must expect some industrial accidents in a facility the size of Merrymount. Carl also sees a corridor partially blocked by a uniformed guard at a desk. A sign denies admittance to all who lack prior authorization; Carl correctly speculates that the government occupies that area and Jack does not deny it.

Flaherty next conducts Carl to the Archive’s nerve center, a large room full of computers and busy employees – and one angry scientist. Dr. James Verhyden wants new locks on his doors, and when Flaherty enters, the doctor immediately buttonholes Flaherty and demands the new locks. He claims mysterious occurrences and people “who are not who they appear to be” are making him paranoid. Flaherty tries to sooth him by claiming he has put in a work order, but the doctor remains upset. He makes a final demand for new locks and stalks out of the nerve center. Only then does Carl learn that the man was Dr. Verhyden, government seismic expert. The stability of the Archive site is well suited to long range earthquake predictions, so the doctor has a laboratory. Flaherty then introduces Carl to Ruth Van Galen, director of data storage, whom he claims will put the whole history of Carl’s company on tape. As Jack escorts Carl over to see some of the hardware, someone topside calls down for Jack. Carl hears Irene Lamont’s name and does a fast fade through a nearby door, knowing his imposture is about to end. Across the hall he finds a cafeteria and in it, disgruntled employee Chapman. Grabbing a coffee, Carl invites himself to join Chapman at his table and asks after the union negotiations. Chapman, irate, says they’re moving very slowly and adds that the only thing that happens quickly down below is accidents!

Carl asks Chapman what he thinks caused the accidents and the suspicious Chapman immediately guesses Carl isn’t a buyer. Carl confirms that he’s there undercover and Chapman claims he had a lot to tell the police, but nobody ever listens. Carl corrects the man, he’s no policeman... he’s an insurance investigator! Forty dollars buys cooperation from the surly Chapman. Chapman tells Carl no one knows exactly what happened to Kemper, only that he worked for Verhyden, whom Chapman holds in low regard. Chapman does explain that the big tragedy in Verhyden’s life happened to him in Utah when he found valuable rocks and packaged them for shipment east. A competing geologist replaced Verhyden’s labels and redirected the crates, claiming credit for Verhyden’s work. Since then the doctor has been suspicious of everyone almost to the point of paranoia. Chapman tells Carl that Kemper’s body was found in Sector R – the Swill Hole – an old natural rock tunnel unused since salt mining days. It has hot springs and seepage; the Archive cannot store valuable data in a steam bath so the area has remained undeveloped. Carl also learns that Coogan was discovered in Sector M, and how to navigate the subterranean maze. At that point an alarm light flashes and Chapman gets up to leave. The alarm light tells employees to look for trespassers – something Chapman objects to since that is security work and he is not a security employee. As he leaves he tells Carl it is foolish to go to those sectors without demanding hazard pay.

Carl grabs a golf cart from a nearby niche and races off. At a junction of several corridors he finds a directory and identifies a nearby corridor that leads to Sector M. That corridor is dark so Carl leaves the golf cart and heads down slowly on foot. Before long, something crunches beneath his heel. In the beam of his flashlight he can see bits of glass. Looking up, he can see the a broken light fixture. And when he hears a soft growling, he realizes that something large is walking down the corridor towards him! In the darkness he cannot quite make it out, but he snaps a few photos before realizing it is not human! Afraid, he turns tail and runs back down the corridor, finally regaining the junction and his golf cart. Racing away, he first finds himself heading toward Sector N, and then turns around and toward Sector O – and there is something moving down that long hallway! It walks upright, balancing an enormous head atop a humanoid torso, and the thing Carl can see most clearly in that head is the vicious teeth! Somehow, the lizard has got ahead of him; Carl rolls out of the golf cart and lets it run into the monster, knocking it back and buying himself time to escape back to the junction. This time, Carl selects the correct exit and barrels back into the break room, and right into a crowd of police including Irene Lamont.

Carl tries to warn them about his pursuer, but no one takes him seriously. Lamont’s partner confiscates Carl’s film, and her men handcuff him and manhandle him towards the surface, as Lamont promises him prison for impersonating a doctor (she has seen through his ruse back at the autopsy) and for trespassing in a secure area. Jack Flaherty arrives and claims he knew Carl was an imposter the entire time, a claim Carl jeers at. As they pass through the ground level lobby, a water department employee with a cigar clenched in his teeth tells Lamont he’ll take custody of Carl, but she claims prior jurisdiction.

Sometime later, Vincenzo complains bitterly. Bailing Carl out of jail has cost him his lunch hour and given him indigestion. Carl claims Tony’s pain is worth it and says he has pictures; Tony does not want to hear any more about a “giant newt.” He warns Carl to say away from Merrymount, but Carl’s determined to rip the lid off the lizard creature affair. And he’s going to start by learning who the folks from the water department really are. It starts with a call to Arnie Weismore, whom Tony thought was still in prison. Carl assures Tony that’s not the case – Weismore is out on parole. After persuading Arnie that he does not want Tony’s arms broken, Carl explains that he wants Arnie to deliver a package and will call later with the details. Tony warns Carl not to have anything to do with Arnie, causing Carl to sneeringly speculate that Irene Lamont used her feminine wiles to persuade Tony to yank Carl off the story. Tony’s denial seems hollow.

Tony claims he agreed to backpedal on the story and keep Carl out of her way, and in return Irene agreed that when news broke she’d call in an exclusive directly to Tony. Carl scoffs, promising Tony she’ll never call. The argument goes downhill from there as both men get louder and louder. Abruptly, both men go quiet and Carl advises Tony not to yell because it will rile his bile, then ducks out.

In a warehouse later, Carl reads a book on reptiles as Arnie Weismore and a helper finish a large packing crate. Arnie and Carl make small talk about reptiles; Carl’s confused, because none of the reptiles in the book matches what he saw – none even walk upright. He does read that a few reptiles are photophobic – they don’t like the light.

Arnie’s assistant finishes the crate and Carl steps inside. He takes a bit of bumping but he makes it into Merrymount inside the crate. Down below, Carl peeks out of the crate carefully until the area is clear and then emerges. He finds himself near one of the large junctions and walks carefully to the other side, stopping as he hears Irene Lamont questioning Dr. Verhyden. Verhyden repeats that all he found in Section R were some agate specimens. But she wants to hear it one more time – Verhyden was the last person to see Howard Kemper alive. Carl ducks back the way he came and finds a directory near an elevator. That gets him to Verhyden’s office in room O57. Carl enters the darkened office and plays his flashlight around, revealing furniture, computers and shelves stacked with mineral specimens. Meanwhile, his nose detects some kind of stench. Finally, on a desk, he finds pieces of a broken rock – and that’s when the door opens and the lights come on! Dr. Verhyden has returned to his office. He’s touchy, refusing to confirm that Carl has found a piece of one of the rocks from Sector R. Verhyden gives Carl thirty seconds to leave his office... and that’s when Carl hears a noise in the wall.

Verhyden doesn’t hear the noise, and again orders Carl out. Carl promises to leave as soon as the doctor shows him an agate sample, but Verhyden is through with having people steal from him and refuses. He starts to talk about Utah before Carl cuts him off, pointedly asking what he has in this office that’s worth stealing. Verhyden becomes more agitated but says nothing. Carl returns to the desk and for the first time realizes that the mineral fragments somewhat resemble eggs. Verhyden is nearly apoplectic by this point, shaking his fists and quivering with rage. Finally Verhyden picks up a phone to call for security and have Carl arrested. That’s when the map falls from the far wall – because the wall has a huge and growing hole in it. Through it steps the same monster Carl saw earlier.

Carl yells to Verhyden to get out as the monster smashes a console, killing the lights. Verhyden instead attacks the thing with a rock hammer, which proves entirely ineffective. The monster’s return smash sends the scientist sprawling. Carl takes a few snaps; the creature flinches from them. As Carl ducks towards the door the monster overturns tables and smashes shelves.

Carl bursts out of the room and discovers men in water department uniforms lined up facing the door with rifles ready. One of them hauls him behind their line as the monster bursts through the door. Before the men can do much, the creature is among them, knocking each down and out with a single blow. The few shots they get off don’t even slow it down. Examining one of the downed men, Carl discovers dog tags. And then Irene Lamont discovers Carl.

First Lamont makes Carl ruin his film. Then she wants to know what Carl and Verhyden talked about, and isn’t happy when Carl tells her the truth: they talked about rocks. Carl wonders what happened to the sweet Irene Lamont, and she warns him that he doesn’t know how bad she can be. Then the chief of the water department folks appears, stub of a cigar clenched in his teeth, and asks her politely to step away. First he offers Carl a cigarette which the suspicious reporter refuses. Then he offers easy camaraderie, warning Carl that he can’t keep Lamont at bay forever. She wants to bust Carl badly, but this man’s bonhomie simply oozes reassurance. And all Carl has to do is open up...

Carl addresses the man as general and gets corrected: he’s a colonel. Carl realizes the man’s chief concern. He suspects there may be more of these monsters, and wonders whether they’ll get into the silos, the SAC bases, and other underground facilities, or maybe whether they already have. Carl adds the subways and the underground parking garages and asks when they intend to warn the public. The colonel replies they’ll issue a warning when they feel the time is right – and the lights go out.

Not far away, a wall containing an electrical box crumbles and heavy claws tear out the wires. Seconds later, when the emergency lights come on and the colonel lights a flashlight, Carl is gone!

Carl returns to O57, the former Dr. Verhyden’s office, and sifts through the wreckage. A soft growl sounds. Running footsteps get louder, and a terrified Ted Chapman appears! Carl tries to find out where Verhyden kept his samples, but Chapman cannot help and flees. Carl finds a storage room, O55. With a rock hammer, he forces the lock and steps inside. Another soft growl sounds, nearer this time. Carl forces open a locked cabinet and inside discovers the sample Verhyden and Kemper had earlier removed from the Swill Hole. And inside it, he finds several intact agate specimens similar to the broken pieces from Verhyden’s office. Smooth, about the size of a man’s fist, they give off an offensive odor. Carl realizes his earlier speculation is correct: the strange agates are actually eggs. Carl puts the rock bearing the eggs into a golf cart, then returns to the storage room and retrieves materials for creating a crude torch. By the time he returns to the golf cart the monster has shambled into view and is closing quickly. Carl races off, glancing over his shoulder from time to time.

Soon enough, Carl reaches Sector R and begins dictating his story into his tape recorder. As he does, he places the nest of agate eggs between himself and the direction from which the monster approaches. Its silhouette appears on a far wall as Carl retreats behind the golf cart. It approaches slowly, popping each light bulb it passes. Finally it reaches Carl, who tries to fend it off with the torch. After several feints, the monster slaps the fire from Carl’s hand and Carl can only curl up and wait for the end – which does not come. A few seconds later, Carl looks, and sees the monster walking away, carrying its nest. It has what it came for.

Carl knows what will happen next: men will explain to him how they’ll break him if he reveals what he knows, and suppress the story. He wonders aloud whether The Sentry’s eggs will hatch in the dank warmth of the Swill Hole, and whether the government will find the nest. And then realizes he’ll never know either way. He finishes by advising folks underground who think they hear something moving in the walls that it may not be their imagination, and suggests they run, not walk, for the nearest exit.


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