Latest / X Minus One | Old Time Radio / X Minus One - "Surface Tension" (Old Time Radio, 1956)

Transcript

X Minus One - "Surface Tension" (Old Time Radio, 1956) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: As Earth confronts an imminent astronomical catastrophe, scientists undertake a
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: survival experiment, the creation of a microscopic human civilization within
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: a drop of water. On August 28, 1956, NBC Radio
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: brought X-1 to Episode 65.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Surface Tension.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Adapted for radio by George Lefferts from James Blish's 1952
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: galaxy science fiction story.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: It follows the experiment as its inhabitants begin to question
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: the boundaries of their small world. Mason Adams, Bob Hastings,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: Larry Haynes, Dan Occo, and Louis Van Rooten are featured
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: under the direction of Scott Buckley. Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: In just a moment, X minus one. But first....
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: Once again, NBC Bandstand brings you some of the nation's
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: top-named bands in person. This week, Ralph Flanagan fills your
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: weekday mornings with his wonderful hit tunes.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Slow numbers are fast. There's no mistaking the delightful Flanagan style.
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: And then, Art Mooney and his orchestra are also on
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: hand with plenty of lively and rhythmic arrangements.
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: The four lads take the Mr.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: Music spot this week, and Bert Parks is back as
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: permanent emcee. Hear them all on NBC Bandstand.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Now stay tuned for X-1 on NBC. Countdown for blastoff. X-5, 4, 3, 2, X-1, fire.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: of the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: presents X minus 1.
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: Tonight, Surface Tension by James Blish.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Come in, Professor. Come in. Mr. President, do sit down.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: I'm terribly sorry to have kept you waiting. Time has
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: very little significance, sir. Well, now, what is the urgent
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: nature of your visit? Mr. President, for some time now
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: at the Nuclear Institute... A group of us have been
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: making a study of a new star, which has entered
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: our constellation. Yes, the military advised me there was some disturbance.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: We've completed our calculation, sir.
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: And?
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Before I give you our results, let me tell you
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: that we've been in touch with the scientific council of
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: the Asian Confederation. They've verified the results. I'm waiting, Professor. Mr. President,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: the effect of this new star in our galaxy will
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: be extremely catastrophic. At the rate it's expanding, it will
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: cause the sun to explode. But what? The sun is
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: going to explode. But that means... Exactly. The world will
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: end in precisely two weeks and seven hours. This is incredible.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Are you absolutely certain of these calculations? Absolutely. Does anyone
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: know of this? Well, as soon as we guessed where
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: our study was leading us, we classified all information... The
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: actual final results are known only to a small group
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: of scientists here and in the Asian Confederation. Two weeks.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: And seven hours. That would be September 4th, 2056. At
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: approximately 12 noon. Is there anything to be done? Nothing.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: The other planets, Mars, Venus... All will be destroyed. The
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: universe as we know it will disintegrate. And the race
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: will vanish. It's impossible. Those are the facts, Mr. President.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: How you choose to make them public, if you do
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: choose to make them public, is a matter of government. Yes, yes,
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: of course. Has the president of the Asian Confederation been notified?
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: He's being notified at this moment. Hmm. I intend to
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: take the following steps, Professor. First, I will contact the
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Asian Confederation. What's the name of their chief scientist? Dr. Goy.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Ah, yes.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I'll propose that you and Dr. Gorelick be given every
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: resource to find a method of preserving the race. You'll
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: be flown to their laboratories by rocket ship in an hour.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I would like to spend these remaining days with my family.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Your family could accompany you. They'll ask questions. They should
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: know better by now. You will not release the information
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: to the public. I would prefer to keep it a
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: complete secret, provided the Asians agree, of course. A public
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: announcement would only create utter panic and chaos. I assume
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: it will happen instantaneously? Yes, instantaneously. Then secrecy is best.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: One thing, Mr. President. Yes? I wonder if perhaps religious
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: leaders should be told. Professor, I believe in the power
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: of God myself. I also believe that my single prayer
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: can be heard by the Almighty just as well as
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: if there were ten million. There will at least be
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: two of us, Mr. President. I too will pray. Dr. Gorlick.
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: Professor, how nice to meet you again. Do sit down,
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: sit down.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: Quite a problem, eh?
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Quite a problem. If the rest of the world knew
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: what we two know. I feel they should be informed, nevertheless.
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: Well, that part of it is for the administrators. We
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: have our own work.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Do you seriously believe that we have the remotest chance
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: of solving this problem in the two weeks that remain
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: for the universe to exist?
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: That depends on what you consider a solution, Professor. Anything
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: that will preserve the race. In that case, we have
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: a solution.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: You're joking.
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: About so serious a matter?
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Hardly.
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: But would you step over to the table, please? Now,
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: if you will be so good... Look into that eyepiece
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: in front of you while I focus it. Will you
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: tell me, please, what.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: You see there? Fascinating. Most unusual.
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: Would you be good enough to describe it?
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Yes, of course. I see what looks like a section
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: of a large swimming pool.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Plant life. Very tiny, and some kind of animal life,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: almost molecular in size.
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: Good. Now let me change the magnification. Impossible. Go on, please, describe.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: What? I see what looks like dogs, cats, a cow,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: evidently swimming underwater in this medium. Wait! Yes, they seem
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: to be dogs and cows and cats, except that they
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: appear to have gill-like breathing apparatus. Good, good. It looks
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: as if somehow these species have been mutated to live underwater.
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: Exactly, exactly.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I don't understand how this is possible. It would take
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: hundreds of generations, thousands of years, possibly, to effect such
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: a change. Even with modern genetic control.
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: Ah, is the key, Professor. Let me ask you another question.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Yes?
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: Would you estimate the size of these creatures? I would
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: say their normal size. And the size of the pool,
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: as you call it? The tank of quite enormous size.
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: I cannot see the walls, but I assume they are there. Good.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Now, Professor, prepare yourself for a shock. I've been a
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: scientist too long to shock easily, Dr. Gorlick.
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: Nonetheless, you will be shocked to learn that what you
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: have just been looking into is a single microscopic drop
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: of water. Less than a milligram.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: A single drop of water?
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Those dogs and cats are microscopic?
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: Submicroscopic. Smaller than a filterable virus. This is incredible, Doctor. Incredible, perhaps,
• 9:22
  Speaker 5: but we have done it. Ah. We found a way
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: to reduce the size of the original fertilized eggs through
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: bombardment of the molecules. In this way, we can produce
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: a full-sized dog that is infinitable.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: And you believe this will help us solve our problem?
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: I am convinced of it. What do you propose? This
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: is our plan. We will create submicroscopic humans. At the
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: submicroscopic level, a thousand generations can reproduce in the equivalent
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: of a few seconds of time. In less than an hour,
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: we can have a species. of human that is capable
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: of living underwater.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Geobreathes? Precisely. And then what?
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: Don't you see, my friend? In a single drop of water,
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: we can reproduce as many human beings as now live
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: in the city of New Chicago or Trans-Europa.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: But when the sun explodes in two weeks' time, all life,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: even that in a single drop of water, must perish.
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: That is true, Professor. But remember this. To a submicroscopic
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: species of human, two weeks would be the equivalent of
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: some 20 million years on Earth. In other words, to
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: these human beings, starting tomorrow, the species will have hundreds
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: of thousands of generations, each living a full life, before
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: the final explosion of the universe.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Almost like playing God.
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: I am not a subscriber to the concept of God, Professor.
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: I must say I'm slightly shocked to discover that you,
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: a man of science... Believes in a creator?
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: I do, Doctor.
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: In any event, will you help us go ahead with
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: our experiment?
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I have no choice. Good.
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: We'll begin tonight to produce the first species. Careful with
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: the virus. Here's the tube. Now then, we'll place this
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: in a drop of water underneath the lens of the microscope.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: What about the evaporation and condensation of the drug?
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: All outside factors will be controlled. Temperature, humidity, and so on.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Will you turn on the lens, please? Now, using the
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: highest magnification... We'll be able actually to manipulate a single
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: being with electron magnets. A sensation we would interpret possibly
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: as we interpret a centrifugal force.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Ready? Ready.
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: Good. We begin the experiment.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Time?
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: 1900 hours.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Fifty-six minutes, three seconds. Coming up on point four, three, two, one, zero.
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: Observation. The first fertilized ovum, reduced to submicroscopic size, has
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: begun to develop. Time.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Nineteen fifty-six, twenty seconds. Coming up on two, one, zero.
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: Four submicroscopic human beings have been reproduced. Two appear to
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: be males, two females. Time?
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: 1956, 24.
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: Observation. Ten generations of submicroscopic humans have been reproduced. Webbed
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: toes and fingers and elementary gill modifications have begun in
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: response to submersion of species in highly oxygenated vapor. Time?
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: 1956, 45.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: 100 generations have reproduced. Increased water and vapor has resulted
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: in gill structure. Species now ready for total submersion in
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: a droplet of water. Turn on the electron magnet. Now
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: for the crucial part of the experiment. Total submersion.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Finish or die, I feel like a murderer.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: The prolongation of the human race is at stake. It's
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: a calculated risk.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Still.
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: Steady. I am about to effect the transfer. Steady. Now.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Done.
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: Look in the microscope, quickly.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: I can't find them.
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: Wait me. Ah. They're alive and swimming around.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: How many?
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: Thousands. We've done it, Professor. Inside that drop of water,
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: human beings like you and me, except for their gills,
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: are already beginning to establish a civilization that will last
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: for them millions of years.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: And for us.
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: Two weeks to observe and wonder, and then.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Unless a miracle should occur.
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: Let us begin now. Time, please.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: 1900 hours, 56 minutes, 49 seconds. 3, 2, 1... So, observation.
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: The equivalent of a million years has already passed inside
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: our droplet of water. Human life is firmly established.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Sir! Sir! Come in, Lavin! Come in! Oh, I swam
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: down from the museum. Exhausting? Arrest yourself. Would you like
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: some proto-steak? No, thank you.
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: Breath of oxygen, perhaps? One hundred proof, distilled from pure
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: upper-level water.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: A breath, perhaps. Ah. Now then, I assume that you've
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: come about the place. Yes. Naturally, the directors of the
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: museum are most anxious. I haven't completed the translation yet.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: It's been six months. Yes, I know that, but they're incomplete.
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: One of them was evidently lost during the final battle
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: with the eaters.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Sure are. Can you tell me off the record what
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: you've already decided?
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: Well, first let me warn you. These plates were prepared
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: thousands of generations ago. They're highly romantic. What they tell
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: us may be fantasy.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Still, I'm fascinated. After all, the greatest archaeological discovery of
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: all time. Buried a million years in the ooze of
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: the bottom. Very well.
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: The first line of the oldest plate reads as follows.
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: It goes, In the beginning, we were created... Created? What
• 16:00
  Speaker 6: an extraordinary concept.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: By whom? What about evolution? Let me finish.
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: It goes, we were created by men who are not
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: as we are, but who are our ancestors all the same.
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: They were caught in some disaster, and they made us
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: and put us here in our universe so that the
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: race of men might live on.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Ridiculous.
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: Perhaps.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: Well, let's suppose it's a universe other than ours. The
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: theory has been advanced before. By fools. Fools. Look at us, Lavin.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Are we really suited to this universe?
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: Our gills, our webbed feet, these are the product of
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: evolution and adaptation.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: But the shape of our bodies, the way we swim... Well,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I'll admit there's some basis for the theory, but every experiment,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: every attempt to prove that anything exists outside, that the
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: surface can be pierced... According to the plates, the surface
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: can be pierced. Listen to this passage.
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: There are three surfaces of the universe. The first is
• 16:55
  Speaker 6: the bottom, where the water ends. The second is the thermocline,
• 16:58
  Speaker 6: the dividing water between the bottom and the sky. The
• 17:02
  Speaker 6: third is the surface film beyond which none can pass.
• 17:05
  Speaker 6: And beyond the surface film, beyond the surface is the
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: universe of the creators.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: The whole thing sounds like a parable or a song.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Whatever it is, remember this.
• 17:15
  Speaker 6: Thousands of generations pondered the miracle of our existence before
• 17:19
  Speaker 6: these plates were written.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Primitive. Men. You sound like a mystic shark. To think
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: that a scientist like yourself could believe in the existence
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: of creators. Nonetheless, creators who were formed in our own image.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Or we in theirs. I'm shocked. Truly.
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: I intend to complete the translation of the plates. I
• 17:38
  Speaker 6: will pursue this project for the rest of my life,
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: if necessary.
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: Dying, Professor.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Second day. 14 hours, 6 minutes, 10 seconds.
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: Observation. The plates which were inscribed with microscopic data by
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: an earlier generation have evidently been removed by a subsequent generation.
• 18:07
  Speaker 5: Our study shows that a highly developed civilization is now
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: living in the drop of water. Certain water organisms have
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: been domesticated and underwater ships have been developed.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: The meeting of the council is called to order. Gentlemen,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: you all know the topic. Our speaker will be Char.
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: Gentlemen, some 28 time units ago, when I was a
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: much younger man, I was given the privilege of translating
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: some metal plates found buried in the bottom. As all
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: of you know, I've devoted much of my life to
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: convincing the world that travel through the surface film was
• 18:49
  Speaker 6: not only possible, but necessary to survive. Finally, the council
• 18:54
  Speaker 6: has seen fit to grant my request for a special
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: ship to accomplish this travel.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: I am deeply grateful.
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: And I would like to request my friend Lavin as
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: head engineer for this project.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: Permission is granted.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: We wish you luck. The whole of our world will
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: be following your expedition. What's happening, Dr. Gorlick?
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: From what I can detect, the gill breeders are preparing
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: for the equivalent of space travel. A large cylindrical ship
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: is being built.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: What method of power are they using?
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: I can barely detect it through the microscope, but my
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: guess would be that they will use some form of
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: living creatures to power the vessel.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Char to leader. Char to leader. Leader.
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: Go ahead, Char.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: The ship is ready to take off for the upper levels, leader.
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: Water sealed in?
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: All tight. Diatoms ready to move? Diatoms ready. We'll give
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: you an escort of paramecium ships as far as the
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: upper level. After that, you'll be on your own. Very good.
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: Whenever you give the signal, Captain Levin can order the
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: diatoms to proceed.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: The sandbar is clear for the initial climb.
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: Your course is straight up the stem of water plant six.
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: Diatoms ready?
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Diatoms ready, sir.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: Cilia in motion?
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: Cilia in motion. Internal water circulators on? Circulators on. Countdown
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: for takeoff. Five.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: Five.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Four. Four. Three.
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: Three.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: Two.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Two.
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: One. One. Zero.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Diatoms in motion. Full speed ahead. Well, sir, this is
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: the beginning of your dream. If the ship holds. We've
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: utilized every engineering principle known to man. Double construction of
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: the toughest water lily, 2,000 living diatoms for power, 20
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: million sodium. I'm not worried about the power.
• 20:44
  Speaker 6: I'm worried about the temperature and the impact when we
• 20:47
  Speaker 6: reach the surface, Phil.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: What's our speed? 20,000 knots. Well, we've reached water plant six.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Now for the climb up the stem to the surface. Overseer!
• 20:54
  Speaker 6: Over, sir.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Request more mucus from diatoms. Proceed with climb up stalk six.
• 20:58
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: If the diatoms can hold the stalk, the reduced pressure
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: of the surface will have hurtled the first barrier. We're
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: at pressure six now, almost at the upper level.
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: Captain.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Yes? We've lost 27 diatoms. Ciliary detachment. Not serious. We
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: have the vorti to fall back on. Proceed.
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: What's our pressure?
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: Three coming into two now. We're already closer to the
• 21:17
  Speaker 6: surface film than man has ever gone.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Our unmanned test chips went through. Unmanned test chips are
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: a different story, Lavin.
• 21:23
  Speaker 6: Besides, if we do get through to the other side,
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: our problems may just be starting.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, we're entering pressure one zone. Yeah. We're getting too
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: much oxygen in the water. Engineer, switch to internal water
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: supply for breathing. Lavin. What is it? The scopes. Look.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: I can't look now. What is it? I think... Yes,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I can see it. I can see the surface, Phil.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Describe it. A great black whirling mass.
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: Huge boulders and asteroids being whirled and ground back and
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: forth like some tremendous boiling mass of mud and stone.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: It isn't too late to turn back.
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: No.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: The ship was built to go through the film.
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: If we fail, at least we can die knowing we tried.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Very well, sir. Overseer, order all diatoms full speed ahead.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Full speed ahead.
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: Full speed ahead.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: We're in the film, Char. Pressure on the ship is increasing. Overseer,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: more oxygen for the diatoms. Captain, the diatoms are dying.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: More oxygen. Keep moving. We're almost through. Char, use the
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: auxiliary wartime. Maybe the motion of that cilia in the
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: thrust of the water. Overseer, bring up the wartime. Full
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: speed ahead. We're moving. We're making headway. The ship will
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: only hold together. Char, we're through. We're on the surface.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Open the viewing port. It's blinding. Put on your eye shield. Look. Look, Char.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Like a huge sheet of metal stretching as far as
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: the eye can see. With thousands of small streams and
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: great rivers of water. Look above us, Lavin.
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: Space.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Space as far as one can see.
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: And a single huge sun like a great eye looking
• 23:04
  Speaker 6: down at us. Must be billions of miles above us.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: See those enormous boulders and that molten rock on the surface.
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: The ancients did not lie when they made the plates, Lavin.
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: The universe does exist beyond the surface.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, but where are your creators, Charm? Certainly, they were
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: a romantic notion. I believe they exist, Lannister. Char! Captain! Captain,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: the diatoms are dying! There's not enough oxygen in the
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: water cases! What's the atmosphere like? Almost 30% oxygen. Completely unbreathable.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: We'll have to try to get back into the surface
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: film to restore life to the diatoms. Overseer, get the
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: diatoms out of their shells. Full reverse speed down the stalk.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: We're going under again.
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I'll try. We know one thing, Lavin. The surface can
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: sustain life. Can't sustain ours much longer. Full reverse. It's
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: no use, Captain. The diatom's in near death. Use the Vortai.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: We haven't enough water, sir. They're starting to suffocate. We've
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: got to get back beneath the surface.
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: Lavin, we must think of what it means to mankind
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: to know that the universe goes on, that it can
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: sustain life.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know what to do, Char. We're finished. There
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: must be a way. A way? Why don't you pray
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: to your creators? Now, perhaps they'll help you. And as
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: for me, I'm resigned to death. I cannot share your bitterness, Lavin.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: We have enough water for perhaps two minutes breathing, Char.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: There are no miracles and no creators. You'd better prepare
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: to die.
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: I am as ready as you, Lavin.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Captain! Captain, we're strangling you! Well, sir, why don't you
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: pray to the creators? Better still, let me. I have
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: a louder voice. Hey, creators! You, all-powerful ones who made us!
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Can you hear me? This is Captain Lavin of the
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: first ship to breach the surface. We need your help!
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Can you hear me? We need your help! if there
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: be creators, and I believe there are.
• 24:42
  Speaker 6: And I ask that our presence be noted and that
• 24:45
  Speaker 6: we be delivered from this trial not for ourselves, but
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: for the good.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: Of the race. Well, Doctor?
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: The ship has emerged from the film and is lying
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: on the surface. There is no movement now.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Probably strangling from lack of water.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: Very likely.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: What are you going to do?
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: It's a pity they can't get back again. Eventually, they
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: may have to learn to live on the surface when
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: the temperature changes.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: Why not help them? You've played God before.
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: Why not, indeed? Switch on the electron magnet.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Ready.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: Now then, if I can just breach the surface tension
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: near them, they'll be sucked under again. As in a whirlpool.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: If they survive, you've got to hurry. Here goes. Can't
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: live much longer, Sheriff.
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: No.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: It's getting... What? What's that? I don't know. We're moving. Downwards. Lemon,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: it's a vortex.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: A vortex is opening through the surface.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: One way or another, we'll die. The ship can't take
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: the stress. We're dropping. Sheriff. Sheriff. We're through. We made it.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: The water is circulating again. It's too much to believe, Char.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: It's like... A miracle. Yes. It is a miracle. Well, Doctor?
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: They've gotten through. The ship is floating down toward the
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: bottom now.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: I wonder what they thought at the moment they were saved.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Must have seemed to them as if the hand of
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: God reached out to help them.
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: Very likely.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: Do you suppose they prayed?
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: To whom would they pray?
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Perhaps to us? To the creators?
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: It is not inconceivable. If only the human race, as
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: we know it, had creators who could reach down and
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: save us from destruction.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: How do you know we don't?
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: Professor... I'm a scientist.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: So am I, Doctor. Those submicroscopic humans can't see us
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: because we're too big to see. A molecule of our
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: flesh would be like a world to them. And yet,
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: we exist. We cannot hear their individual voices, perhaps, but
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: we are capable of intervention of a sort. Is it
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: not conceivable that our own plight might not be seen
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: and recognized What else is there at this time but
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: to admit our inadequacy... and to cast off this arrogance
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: that gives us bitter pride instead of humility?
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: Where are you going, Professor?
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: To pray, Doctor. There isn't much time.
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: Professor.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Yes? Wait.
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: I will come with you.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: THE END You have just heard X-1 presented by the
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine,
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: which this month features Jackpot by Clifford D. Simak. After
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: years of searching, they had discovered the richest strike in
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: the whole galaxy. But what in the name of space
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: was it? Galaxy Magazine on your newsstand today. Tonight by transcription,
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: X-1 has brought you Surface Tension, a story from the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: pages of Galaxy written by James Blish and adapted for
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: radio by George Lefferts. Featured in the cast were Louis
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Van Rooten, Danny Ocko, Lawson Zerbe, Larry Haynes, Mason Adams,
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: James Stevens, and Robert Hastings. Your announcer, Fred Collins. X-1
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: was directed by Scott Buckley and is an NBC Radio
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Network production.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: And so ends X-1's surface tension from NBC Radio. Follow
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: X-1 for more classic broadcasts.