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X Minus One - "Mr Costello, Hero" (1956) · Old Time Sci-Fi Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Aboard the Star Freighter Star Climber, a veteran purser becomes
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: increasingly concerned about an enigmatic passenger named Mr. Costello and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: his effect on those around him. This is X-1, Episode 58, Mr. Costello, Hero,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: adapted from Theodore Sturgeon's 1953 short story. As the ship
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: makes its circuit among Earth's colonies, the prospect of reaching
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: an isolated colony world gives the purser's concern added urgency.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: James Dukas, Bob Hastings, and James Stevens are featured in
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the cast under the direction of Daniel Sutter. NBC first
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: broadcast this drama on July 3rd, 1956. And now, we
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: return to the original broadcast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: In just a moment, X minus one.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: But first, Monitor takes you everywhere and brings you everything interesting,
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: from news and on-the-spot interviews to offbeat features around the world.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: And Monitor also brings you the finest drama with original
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: stories and Hollywood's top stars each week on Monitor World Theater.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: What's the weekend's big sports event? You can be sure
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: of top coverage by NBC Radio in addition to all
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: the latest scores and interesting commentary throughout the day on
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Monitor's sports highlights. Some of the brightest personalities and most
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: interesting features are yours each weekend on Monitor. And now
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: stay tuned for X-1 on NBC. Countdown for blastoff.
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: X-5, 4, 3, 2... X minus one, fire.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: of the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine,
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: presents X minus 1. Tonight's story, Mr. Costolo, Hero, by
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: Theodore Sturgeon. It began the day the skipper called me
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: into his cabin. I'd been a purser aboard the spaceship
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: Star Climber for almost 12 years, and I'd never yet
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: been asked to Iron Man's cabin. But then a lot
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: of strange things had been happening on this trip to Borengwen.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Come in.
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Sit down, Bursa. I said sit down. Yes, sir.
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Here's a deck of cards.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: Deal.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Sir?
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: I said deal. Five card draw. Go on, men. Yes, sir. Well?
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Three of a kind, sir.
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: You didn't draw.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: I beg your pardon?
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: When you play draw poker, you're supposed to draw. If
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: you don't draw, you're supposed to give your opponent a
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: chance to draw. Now, mister, did you ask me to draw?
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Well, I, uh... We haven't been playing that way recently.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Who changed the rules? I don't know.
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: Let me ask you something else. You stood a watch
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: last night in the ship's galley.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Why, uh.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir. Has anybody ordered a galley watch? Well, no, sir,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: but it isn't against the rules, is it? Against the rules? No,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: it isn't. Now, tell me. There's the cook.
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: Mind having a man watching him 24 hours a day?
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Well, no, sir. You see, that way he knows everybody
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: can trust him.
• 4:11
  Speaker 7: You mean that way you know he won't poison you?
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Well, yes, sir. Now, tell me, person.
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: Who aboard this ship suggested that the cook might try
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: to poison you?
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: I really couldn't say, sir. It just came up. Well, cook,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: he doesn't mind, sir. Really, he doesn't.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: He says if he's watched all the time, then nobody
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: can suspect him. So he doesn't mind.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: All right, all right. Let's proceed to something else.
• 4:31
  Speaker 6: How long has it been customary for the deck officer
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: to bring a witness with him when.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: He takes over the watch? That's out of my department, sir.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: Now, think hard, person. Did you ever hear of a
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: deck officer bringing a witness with him before this trip?
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: No, sir.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Or stand a galley watch? No, sir.
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: Or play draw poker without drawing?
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: No, sir. Now, one more thing.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: We never had Mr.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: Costolo as a passenger on this.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Ship before, did we? Mr. Costolo? Mr. Costolo? No, sir,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: we didn't. Okay. Ask him to come to my cabin.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: But.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: That's an order, mister! Yes, sir. Let me tell you
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: about Mr. Costolo. He was our only passenger... Hello, Mr. Costolo. Hello, Purser. Oh,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: am I interrupting something?
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: Not at all.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Come sit down. I'm landing on Borengren tomorrow, so I
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: won't have much more chance to talk. Well, I'll finish
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: this later, Mr. Costolo. Nonsense. Honest men should be open
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: with each other. Go ahead. Show him what you discovered. Well...
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: The Purser's a fine man.
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Well, Mr.
• 5:44
  Speaker 8: Costolo asked me to show him in the space code
• 5:46
  Speaker 8: what a captain can and cannot do.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Now, just a minute, Third. You wanted to show me,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: didn't you? Well, yes. So, actually, you're going over the
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: limitations of a space captain's power of your own... Free will, right? Well,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: I guess so, sure. Sure. Tell the person the part
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: that you just read me.
• 6:04
  Speaker 8: Well, it's a sort of safeguard against letting the skipper's
• 6:07
  Speaker 8: power go to his head. Like, suppose a time comes
• 6:10
  Speaker 8: when the captain begins to act up, you see. The
• 6:12
  Speaker 8: crew figures a lunatic has taken over the bridge. Well,
• 6:16
  Speaker 8: the crew can send a delegate for an accounting. If
• 6:18
  Speaker 8: the skipper refuses, then the crew can confine the skipper.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: Well, isn't there something about the proceedings having to be
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: radioed at the time they happen? Now, there is a
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: man who is absolutely fair. witnesses for the watch, safeguards
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: on the kitchen. I tell you, you're all good men here. Yes, sir,
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: this is the safest ship I've ever seen. Gives a
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: fellow a nice feeling to know he isn't going to
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: get his orders wrong or accidentally find something in the food.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, and I wonder why we never thought of that before. Oh,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: I nearly forgot.
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Costolo, the skipper wants to see you in his cabin.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Right away. I see. Will you come along with me
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: just as a friendly precaution? You can wait outside. Well... Well,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: in that way, both of us will know what happened.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: I'll never be able to say that you didn't give
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: me the message, and you'll be able to say I
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: went to see the skipper.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Right? Well, I guess so. You know, this buddy system
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: sort of makes everything safer, doesn't it?
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: That's right, Purser. You can't do anything bad if you
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: have a friend along to witness.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Mr. Costolo and I went to the captain's cabin, and
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: I waited outside. After a while, I could hear them shouting.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: That is, I could hear the captain shouting. Mr. Costolo
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: never raised his voice. And let me tell you, Mr.
• 7:30
  Speaker 7: Costolo, that if my crew questions my sanity, they have
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: legal recourse. But you can be sure that meanwhile, if
• 7:36
  Speaker 7: a single man aboard questions my authority, he will learn
• 7:39
  Speaker 7: that I am master of the ship, even if he
• 7:41
  Speaker 7: must learn it at.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: The point of a gun. Now, sir, get out.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Wow. You okay, Mr.
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: Costolo?
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I'm fine. Did you hear anything?
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Well... Yes, I did. Would you remember what you heard?
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: I think so. Let's see. You see this little gadget?
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: No bigger than a pocket watch? Yes, sir. What is it? Listen.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: I'll open it. If a single man.
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: Aboard questions my authority, he will learn that.
• 8:13
  Speaker 9: I am master of this ship, even if he must
• 8:15
  Speaker 9: learn it at the point of a gun.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Whose voice is that? It's the captain's. Good man. But how?
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: That's simple.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: You see, this little pin that I wear on my
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: lapel here? This is a microphone. This watch is a
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: magnetic recorder. I just use it as a toy.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll be darned. You see, Purser, I'm a collector.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: What do I collect? Voices. Voices anywhere, anybody, anytime.
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: Listen.
• 8:45
  Speaker 9: A lunatic has taken over the bridge.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Why, that's the third officer. Listen to this now. I
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: better not, Mr. Costolo.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't want you thinking I take bribes from passengers.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Recognize it? Why, that's my voice.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Exactly, the time you brought me the special radio message
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: from Earth Central.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: And you offered me a blue gemstone, and I said... Hey,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: listen to this. I take bribes from passengers. Well, if
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: that isn't the end... Cute, huh?
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: Well, I guess I'll get back to my cabin and pack.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: When do we arrive at Boringwyn?
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Six, tomorrow morning. Oh, good.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: By the way, I'd like you to come see me
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: when you put in there again. Well, that's very nice, sir,
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: but you're an important man, and I'm just.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Nonsense. I insist that you visit me. Well, that's real nice. Oh,
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: by the way, what's the major trade on Boringwyn? Glunker. Glunker?
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's a kind of soft fur. You can make
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: a warm coat out of it that will roll up
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: into a thimble.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: You don't say.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: And the glunker trade, that's carried out by trappers?
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Mostly. They work alone and bring in the pelts.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: I see.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: They spend a lot of time alone, hmm? That's right.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: You know, sometimes I envy them. I mean, working on
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: a ship, you're almost never alone. And the way I
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: see it, a man needs to be alone sometimes.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Correction.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Only.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: I.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Repeat, only if he has something to hide. Otherwise, to
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: be alone is antisocial.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: And evil. We put in at Borenguin the following morning.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: I stood at the ramp of the ship and checked
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: out the supplies and checked in the glunker pelts that
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: we were taking back to Earth. The Boringuin people were
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: a nice, independent, easy-going bunch. I knew a Boringuin woman
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: named Nola, and she came out to the ship to
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: see me. 15,000 glunker pelts.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Check.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: 300 pounds of radioactive ergite.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Check.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: Just put that shipment of show seed over next to
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: the ramp.
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: Hello.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: What?
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Well, Nola. Nola.
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: I saw your ship on the cargo manifest. Well, it's
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: good to see you. Will you be on board when long?
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Just for a day or so. Listen, I have to
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: get this cargo checked in. Can we see each other later?
• 10:51
  Speaker 10: I'll be through at the spaceport at 16 hours.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Well, good. Suppose I... Oh, excuse me a minute. Here
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: comes our passenger. Well, good morning. I see we have
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: arrived safely. Yes, sir. I expected you out before this.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: I had a few items to get in order.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, Mr.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: Costolo, this is Nola. She's a Borenguena. Well, it's very
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: nice to meet you. This is a real nice guy, Nola.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: See that he doesn't have any trouble with customs, will you?
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: Nola works here.
• 11:09
  Speaker 10: And a friend of the person.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Wonderful. Well, I'll say goodbye now.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: Remember to look me up, person, next time you hit Borenguena.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: I will.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: He gave me that big, warm handshake of his and
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: clapped his arm on my shoulder. Give you a good
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: feeling to know that a big shot like Mr. Costolo
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: really liked you. I got the rest of the cargo
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: checked in. Took maybe three hours. Then I was about
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: to go in and ask the skipper for leave when
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: a couple of guys with Space Bureau credentials came aboard.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: All right, that's it, boys.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: Close the hatches.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Excuse me. Yes? Space Bureau. Is Captain Ireson aboard? Oh,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I is. You're the person, huh? That's right. Something wrong?
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: Would you mind answering a couple of questions?
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Not at all.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: Has the captain been behaving strangely this trip? Well.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Not strangely, exactly. Anything unusual? Well, no. He called me
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: in for a card game. Does that happen often? No,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: never happened before. Was he upset? Yes, I guess he was.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: This gentleman would like you to answer a few simple questions. Meanwhile,
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: I'll look up the skipper. They took the skipper off
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: the ship and left Borengwen the next morning with a
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: new skipper assigned by the port captain. There was a
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: rumor later that old Iron Man had been court-martialed or something.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: Nobody knew for certain. We made the rounds after that. Sigma, Nightingale, Carano,
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: all the planets in the fourth system. We even went
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: back to Earth with a load of lizard skins and
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: black prints. It must have been about, oh, 16 months
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: later that we made it for Borengwen again. I was
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: talking to the third officer.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Purser. Hmm? I'd like to talk to you. Go ahead.
• 13:07
  Speaker 8: We land at Borenguin tomorrow.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: So? I don't like it. What's wrong with Borenguin? It's
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: one of the best ports in the system. It was.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: What do you mean?
• 13:15
  Speaker 8: We got a radiogram from the Borenguin customs a little
• 13:17
  Speaker 8: while ago.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: Okay, we got a radiogram. Oh, some bureaucrat sent it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Nothing will happen.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Another thing. The way it was signed. How was it signed?
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Loneliness is evil. Port Captain Borenguin. Loneliness is evil? That's
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: what it said. On a government radiogram? Mm-hmm.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Loneliness is evil. Where did I hear that before? Well,
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: we touched down on Boranguin at 1,200 hours. What a change.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: The spaceport was deserted. The only people who came aboard
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: were two agents from Customs. They censored our tapes and
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: checked our written literature. I finally started a conversation with them.
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: Uh, excuse me, sir?
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah? There is a baranguina named Nola that used to
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: work in Customs. I wonder if she's still there. I
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: wouldn't know. Well, the reason I asked, she usually meets
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: my ship when it comes in.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: I see. Well, maybe I'll look her up. She has
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: an apartment on R Street. She won't be living there.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: Probably Central Barracks. Central barracks? That big warehouse near the spaceport.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: I thought they stored the Glunker furs there. They don't
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: use the warehouses to store things anymore. No?
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: They need them for the people. The people?
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: You haven't been on Borengwen since the Brotherhood movement?
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: I haven't been here for 16 months.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Well, you'll find that the people have moved into the
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: warehouses now.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: What about the apartments? What about the homes? They're used
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: only for storage space. I don't get it. Look, we
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: haven't got time to explain now.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: My partner and I have to get back to central control.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Well, maybe I'll go to try and find Nola. Better
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: take a companion. What for? They don't like soloists on Borngwen.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Since when? Since brotherhood. No ladder has a single rung,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: you know. So what?
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: It takes a hundred pair of hands to build a house.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: A single pair is useless.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Not only useless, but evil. I don't get your drift.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: All humanity is made up of many parts. Any part
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: that wants to go off by itself hurts.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: The main thing.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: What good would your hand be if a single finger
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: suddenly decided to go off by itself?
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Listen, is this a gag? It's deadly serious. Well, suppose
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: I want to go off by myself. We'll help you.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: And suppose I don't want to be helped. Then you're
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: a trapper, a glunker. You'll be sent into the bush
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: country where the other soloists are sent.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: Lee Smokes, this place has gone mad.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: Are you coming with us? Look, suppose, just suppose that
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: I want to walk across the field to the warehouse
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: by myself, all alone.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: You can try.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: But you won't get two steps before they pick you up.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: Pick our advice. Get a companion. I let them take
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: me over to the barracks. The place that used to
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: be a warehouse. It was unbelievable.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: The place had been completely cleared of every wall, every partition. There,
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: in front of my eyes, were 10,000 beds, cots and
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: mattresses spread out over the entire floor of the warehouse.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: The light was blinding. Huge floods and spots bathed every
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: square inch. Nothing was concealed. Even the plumbing, showers, tubs,
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: sinks were lined up against an open wall. The agents
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: came in with me and stood.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: At the door.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: The cluster of Boringwood people waited in a roped-off area.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: This is it.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: The customs personnel are in that third aisle going north.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: I'll walk down there. Thanks for the company.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: It's a duty. Wait.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: I'll get you a companion.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: Anyone for the third aisle going north?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Third aisle going north.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: There comes a man. He'll accompany you.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: A small, frightened-looking man detached himself from the waiting group
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: and went with me up the aisle of the warehouse.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: The sound, the smells were frightening. Thousands of people milling around.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: No privacy. Everyone terrified of being alone.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: I wondered how this had happened. Finally, after an hour
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: of searching, I found my friend Lola.
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: So that's the way it is on Borongwen now. Nobody
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: seems to know just how it happened. Just seemed better
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: to be with somebody all the time. Then nobody could
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: accuse you of doing anything wrong.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: But somebody must have started these accusations. Somebody must have
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: put the fear into people.
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: It started with the Glunkers.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: The fur trappers?
• 18:03
  Speaker 10: That's right.
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: We began to hear things about them. That they were thieves,
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: that they planned to take over the city.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Just rumors, of course.
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: And pretty soon, if you didn't like somebody, you called
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: him a Glunker.
• 18:16
  Speaker 10: Then there were signs.
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: No glunkers allowed.
• 18:21
  Speaker 10: You know?
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, I saw something.
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: We began to hear about it on the televisor, and
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: pretty soon they appointed a committee to investigate and find
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: out if there was any truth to the rumors about
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: the glunkers.
• 18:31
  Speaker 10: It was headed by Mr.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Costolo. Costolo? Mr. Costolo?
• 18:36
  Speaker 10: He's a big shot now. Owns half the city, I guess.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Well, it can't be the same one.
• 18:41
  Speaker 10: Yes, it is.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: I've seen him. When did everybody move to the central warehouse?
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: When the police started picking up soloists, everybody began to
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: move in together.
• 18:52
  Speaker 10: Didn't take long. That's the strange thing. How little time
• 18:58
  Speaker 10: it took.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: I talked to Nola for a while, then I couldn't
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: take it any longer. I had to get out to
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: get away by myself. I found somebody who was going
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: toward the exit, and after a while, we were standing
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: outside the warehouse entrance. I'm going south.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: Uh, I'm going north to the spaceport. Oh. Tell me,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: does anybody travel alone?
• 19:28
  Speaker 11: Sometimes we take a chance on it. I guess I'll
• 19:31
  Speaker 11: have to take a chance right now. I'll be late
• 19:33
  Speaker 11: for my job if somebody doesn't come along soon.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Where do you work?
• 19:36
  Speaker 11: That orange building right across the street. Would you like
• 19:38
  Speaker 11: me to walk with you? Oh, you'll just get stranded there.
• 19:40
  Speaker 11: I'll make a run for it. The street looks clear. Well,
• 19:43
  Speaker 11: thanks for the company.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: Not at all. So long. Hey, mister, look out that car.
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: Look out!
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Ah!
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Why, you.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Is he dead? Yes, sir.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: That was deliberate. I saw it. Hello, person. That's Mr. Costolo. Yes,
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry about the accident. My chauffeur was... He tried
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: to run away.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: That's what happens to soloists. If he'd had a companion
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: to warn him to thrust him out of the way.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: You understand that, don't you, Percy?
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Climb into the car.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: You can't go wandering about boring when alone.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Well, I... Police will take care of the body. It's
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: all right. Okay, if you say so, Mr. Castle. Drive
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: to the spaceport.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Well, what do you think of our little planet... Well.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: I knew you'd like it. Just think of it, Purser.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: All humankind a single unit. Yes, this is a people
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: that has found the truth.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: It awes me. Makes me humble. I, uh... Speak up, man.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: I'm your friend.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Well, I was going to say, I'm not sure I
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: like it. Well, take your time. Nobody has to make
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: a man see the truth. Isn't that right?
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Well... That's right, isn't it? Yes, I guess it is.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: Fine.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Yes, only the trappers refuse to see the truth. Are
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: they really dangerous? Dangerous?
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: They go out and spend weeks alone by themselves, don't they?
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: Alone with their own evil thoughts.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: Evil thoughts? We all have them, you know. Even you.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: For example, you remember this? Well, I... Well, this should
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: refresh your mind. Listen to this. I take bribes from passengers.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: Your voice, purser, and a very evil thought, too. But
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: that isn't what I said. That's what's on the tape, purser.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: Now then, I wouldn't use it against you, of course.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Mr. Costolo, what is it you want from me? Nothing.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Absolutely nothing. Well, a minor favor, perhaps. Go on. Your
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: ship is going back to Earth after it leaves Borengren.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: You will have a passenger. I didn't know that.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: To be exact, a mentally deranged man.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Who is he?
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: His name is Hines. He's been the Earth Consul here
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: on Borington. He's been recalled to Earth to report. He
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: said he was mentally ill? He is, but the Earth
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: government doesn't know him. Well, what can I possibly do?
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't want Mr. Hines to go back and tell
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: them a lot of lies about what's happened on Borington.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Well... Purser, I want you to put this capsule into Mr.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Hines' food. What is it? Oh, sleeping potions. You think
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: I'm a murderer, Mr. Costolo?
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Purser, do you know what will happen if this tape
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: recording of your voice is sent back to Earth? Do
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: you know what they do to pursers who take bribes?
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: You'll be court-martialed.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: You'd use it?
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Only in the interest of protecting our happy society. Now then,
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: will you see that Mr. Hines is properly sedated? I...
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: You can get ten years of Uranus.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: Well, purser? I.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: Give me the capsule.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: Good.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: Ride over to the ship, driver. The first day out,
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: the Earth Council, Mr. Hines, was in his cabin, and
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: I brought him his dinner. He was a tense, nervous
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: little man. Here's your dinner, sir.
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: Put it down, Stuart.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm the purser, sir. The steward's ill, and I'm
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: helping out.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: I see. Thank you. Do you know what's happened on
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: Warren Gwynne?
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: I was only there a few hours, Mr. Hyde.
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: Let me tell you, then. You won't believe it. Nobody
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: will believe it.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: First, it was a little wedge driven in the one
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: place it might exist between the city people and the trappers,
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: the glunkers. Suddenly, the glunkers were a menace. Then came
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: the changes. You didn't have to prove that a glumper
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: had done anything. You just had to prove he.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Was a glunker.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: It all happened so fast. Pretty soon you were afraid
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: to be alone for a second. There was a man
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: named Costolo.
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: He came from Earth.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: I know him. You know him? He went to Boranguin
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: on this ship.
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: Then you must be the one.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: The one? Which one?
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: Who testified against your captain for the court, Marshal. What?
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: There was a tape recording your voice and the voice
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: of the third officer.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Costolo had them. He used them to send a skipper
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: to Uranus? I didn't know. You must have known. What's
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: happened to us? What's happened?
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: What? I got him into his bunk and gave him
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: a sedative. Then I took away the food I'd fixed
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: for him. I still had Costolo's poison capsule in my pocket.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: I went down to the radio room and sent a
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: message to Earth headquarters. Two days later, we landed.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: Hines told his story and I told mine. I showed
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: them the poison capsule and told them what had happened
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: to the skipper and about the tape recorder. Within 24 hours,
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: a task force of the Earth fleet was on its
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: way to Borinquin. It wasn't much of a battle, they
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: tell me. The Borinquin army didn't have its.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Heart in it. That was, uh, oh, 20 years ago,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: I guess. About Mr. Costolo?
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: I met him again last week, right here on Earth.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: Funny thing, I was sitting in Central Park on a bench.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Well, well, well. If it isn't the purse, sir. I'm sorry.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: I don't believe... Look, look, look closer. Don't you recognize me?
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: No.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Why, Mr. Costolo. I thought you... You thought I was
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: on Uranus? I was. I served 20 years. Mind if
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: I sit down? It's a free earth. You know, I'm
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: glad I ran into you. I think you may be
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: just the man that I need. Need?
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Let me show you something.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Here.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: In this pouch. Recognize these? They're just live ants. Exactly.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Let me dump them out on the ground. Won't they
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: crawl away? They'll come back. Watch.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: You see, I put a little piece of this bread
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: in the pouch, and I lay it on the ground.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: See how they crawl back? Yes, I'll accept that one.
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: He's interested in that dead caterpillar.
• 26:28
  Speaker 11: Yes.
• 26:29
  Speaker 9: You see, about one in 30, I discovered, will eat
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: something different. Break away from the pack.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: So what? Don't you see, man?
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: If we can find a way to make the others
• 26:37
  Speaker 9: turn on that one in 30. If we can make
• 26:40
  Speaker 9: the bread eaters think that the caterpillar eaters are dangerous.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: They're not dangerous. They're just different. What's the difference?
• 26:45
  Speaker 9: Just so we can get the bread eaters scared enough.
• 26:47
  Speaker 9: They'll turn on the others.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: And then?
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: And then we can make them do anything that we want.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: You see? You see what I'm driving at?
• 26:54
  Speaker 9: If you think of these ants as people.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Well, where are you going? I'm leaving, Mr.
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: Costolo.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: Why, doesn't what I say make sense? Yes, it does, Mr. Costolo,
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: except for one thing. What is that? I'm no ant.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: So long, Mr. Costolo.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: You have just heard X-1 presented by the National Broadcasting
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: month features The Claustrophile, an unusual story by Theodore Sturgeon,
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: which turns common sense completely around and pumps it down
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: squarely on its feet. Galaxy Magazine, on your newsstand today.
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: Tonight by transcription, X-1 has brought you Mr.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: Costolo, Hero.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: A story from the pages of Galaxy written by Theodore
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: Sturgeon and adapted for radio by George Lefferts. Featured in
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: the cast were Wendell Holmes, Mandel Kramer, Bob Hastings, Joe DeSantis,
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: Terry Keene, James Stevens, James Dukas, and Raymond Edward Johnson.
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Radio Network production. Follow the news with Chet Huntley tonight
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: on NBC Radio. X-1 has concluded with Mr. Costello Hero.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: Good night and thank you for joining us. Follow old-time
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: sci-fi radio for more classic science fiction broadcasts.