Will Sturka

Will Sturka is the main protagonist of "Third from the Sun," the fourteenth episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone, which aired in 1960. He is an alien scientist who served the government of an unidentified nation on an unidentified planet in a nearby star system, and sought to escape an impending nuclear war on his homeworld. Like the rest of his species, Will is externally identical to a human, wearing a dark suit resembling typical men's wear of the 1960s United States. The episode was framed in a way to trick the audience into believing that Will and the other characters were humans living in an unidentified point in the future, until the twist was revealed at the end.
He was portrayed by the late Fritz Weaver, who also played Father Matthew Karsighan in the episode "The Star" of the 1980s The Twilight Zone series, and The Chancellor in "The Obsolete Man" of the classic 1960s series.
== Biography==
===Early life===
Will Sturka served the government of his nation as a military scientist, developing weapons of mass destruction. At some point, he got married to a woman named Eve, and fathered a daughter named Jody, also befriending military test pilot Jerry Riden and his wife, Ann. However, as the threat of nuclear war between his nation and a rival nation loomed closer and closer, Will realized that it would mean the death of the planet, and thus sought a way to escape. He soon found out that Jerry was running test flights on an experimental spacecraft capable of supporting a crew of five and reaching the nearest star system, also receiving and decoding radio transmissions from the third planet in that system. For two months, Will and Jerry plotted their escape.
===Third from the Sun===
After two months, Will left work one day, where a co-worker, Carling, met with him and told him that war was only 48 hours away, boasting that their nation's power would easily overcome their enemies. When Will tried to point out that any war would result in mutually assured destruction, Carling warned Sturka to watch what he said, and what he thought. Will decided to put his plan into action immediately, meeting with Jerry in his basement to discuss the schedule change. While Jerry tried to object, he accepted, but the the two did not notice Carling eavesdropping. Later that day, Will convinced Jody to stay home instead of going on a date, informing Eve of the plan. That night, the family was met with Jerry and Ann, supposedly to play a game of cards. In reality, the game was a cover for going over the plan. Suddenly, Carling arrived, and while Will seemingly managed to brush off Carling's questioning with the cover of a high-stakes card game, Carling still left Will with an ominous warning that a lot could happen in 48 hours.
After seeing Carling to the door, Will got a phone call from the military, ordering him to return to the base. Deciding they could wait no longer, Will, Jerry, and their families packed up, driving to the airfield where the ship was held. Jerry had already bribed the personnel to let him have it, also fueling and stocking it, and when they arrived, Will saw who he thought was Jerry's contact, getting out of the car to meet him at the gate, only to find that it was actually Carling, who had taken the contact's place. Carling attempted to apprehend them, but Jody quickly opened the car door when Carling was by it, hitting Carling's hand and knocking the gun away, allowing Will and Jerry to knock him out. They then quickly drove to the ship, getting inside while kicking guards away and taking off. Aboard the ship, Will and Jerry set the course, successfully escaping the planet and flying to the next system. While their wives and Jody rested, Will and Jerry stared out of the ship's viewer at their destination, Earth, now 11 million miles away. Behind them, their homeworld was destroyed in nuclear war, leaving Will, Eve, Jody, Jerry, and Ann as the last of their species.
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