Inalienable...Walter Koenig script entertains, solid Sci-Fi Thriller!

The highlight of the Backlot Festival yesterday was undoubtedly the Sci-Fi thriller - "Inalienable" - starring Richard Hatch, Walter Kroenig, and Courtney Peldon.

In the opening scenes - which move along quickly to establish the basic plotline - the audience learns that the lead character (Hatch) is a research scientist who is still recovering from the loss of his wife and child a few years earlier.

When a friend stumbles on a curious specimen among the charred ruins of a meteor, he drops it off for the good doctor to examine; but, Hatch's character - Dr. Norse - is too busy and too sapped of energy to even humor him.

The duffel bag that contains the specimen is tossed aside as the scientist tucks into bed that night for some much-needed rest and relaxation.

The following day, the doctor suddenly feels ill, and is shocked to discover there appears to be a cyst festering in his side.

He turns to a doctor he trusts, who takes an extensive series of tests. Both are startled by x-ray chart results that suggest the unexplained growth may actually be a parasite feeding off Norse's life functions.

The prognosis?

If the growth is surgically removed the doctor may face instant death.

In a curious twist, the scientist ends up giving "birth" to an alien child.

But now, the complications escalate.

The Feds swarm in and place father and "child" in quarantine until the Government can make a determination as to what further action to take to ensure the American people are not in potential danger of alien attack.

The script by Walter Koenig (Star Trek) is tight and well-crafted and makes for an entertaining Sci-Fi thriller.

In particular, I found the courtroom scenes that focus on a myriad of legal fine points (Constitutional issues), and hypotheticals, intriguing and thought-provoking.

Mr. Koenig certainly knows how to stir up the pot.

Richard Hatch turns in a surprisingly believable performance, in spite of the unusual challenges he faces in this role. With dead earnest, and integrity, he acts out the scenario without cliché or melodrama.

The supporting cast rises to the occasion, too.

I particularly found the Judge who presided over the legal maneuverings amusing, bang on in her characterization (played by Judy Levitt); while Mr. Koenig carried off an admirable turn as a villain with aplomb.

"InAlienable is a work of love by all that were involved," Walter Koenig stated. "I'm extremely proud of our production team, cast and crew."

They should be - it’s a little gem.

Toll Highways...beam me up, Scottie!

I suppose if there wasn't a toll bridge at the turnpike, Sonny - a character in the "Godfather" - would never have been ambushed and murdered in brutal gangland style.

New Yorkers feel they are being ambushed in another way.

On the horizon?

City-dwellers in the Big Apple can expect to be squeezed for tolls on mid-Manhattan streets during peak traffic hours.

"It's another scheme for them to milk the middle class," said one irate driver.
Another quipped that, "It's for rich people like Bloomberg."

Backers argue that "congestion pricing" will ultimately save money because companies won't have to pay workers to sit in traffic.

After all, there are stunning claims that gridlock currently saps about $13 billion dollars out of the economy each year.

In jolly old England, commuters pay hefty fees daily for the privilege of careening around the downtown core of London's quaint city streets.

Of course, their system is so much more ominous than the one proposed in the U of SA.

Imagine that, a device affixed to the lower carriage of the vehicle actually tracks the drivers as they cruise through the cityscape.

Geez, that sounds a lot like Orwell's 1984, to me!

Out of spite - a defiant few are parking their old caddies and new-fangled hybrids - to hop on a scooter, take a morning jaunt to work, or ride public transport.

People must be getting desperate, eh?

I'm waiting for the days when we can use a particle device to transport our sentient beings through space without any dependence on Detroit or the automakers in Japan.

Not such a far-fetched idea.

In fact, in the December issue of Nature Magazine, a group of researchers at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, reported an account of the first experiment to verify quantum teleportation.

Another team in Rome ( headed by Francesco De Martini) submitted similar evidence for publication in the Physical Review.

Neither group sent a colleague to Katmandu or a car to the moon.

But, what they did prove is still pretty startling.

Anton Zeilinger, De Martini and their colleagues - demonstrated independently of each other - that it is wholly possible to transfer the properties of one quantum particle (such as a photon) to another.

Even if the two photons are at opposite ends of the galaxy.

I just hope my body reconfigures correctly at the other end when they transport me!