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2000 Plus - "Alone" (1950) · Old Time Sci-Fi Radio | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: In the year 2060, nuclear physicist John Rhodes leaves a
0:04
Speaker 1: psychiatric hospital and returns to Nuclear City, where laboratories and
0:08
Speaker 1: avenues that should be busy stand deserted. This is 2000
0:13
Speaker 1: Plus from Mutual's adult science fiction anthology series, In Alone,
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Speaker 1: broadcast November 15, 1950. Ralph Bell stars as Rhodes, with
0:25
Speaker 1: Joan Shea as Volta, Nat Polin appears as Dr. Drainoff
0:29
Speaker 1: and Carl Eastman as Davis. As Rhodes searches for an
0:33
Speaker 1: explanation and assurance that he has not relapsed, Volta is
0:37
Speaker 1: the only other person he can find. The script is
0:41
Speaker 1: by Judith and David Bublik for Dreyer and Wienolsen Productions. Now,
0:47
Speaker 1: back to the golden age of radio. Follow old-time sci-fi
0:52
Speaker 1: radio for more classic science fiction broadcasts 2,000.
0:59
Speaker 2: Plus.
0:59
Speaker 3: 2,000 plus.
1:00
Speaker 2: Adventures in the world of tomorrow.
1:24
Speaker 4: Dramatic stories of the years beyond 2000 A.D. Today, a
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Speaker 4: story of the world of 2000 plus 60.
1:34
Speaker 3: A story called Alone. Alone.
1:59
Speaker 5: I listened to my footsteps as I walked down the
2:02
Speaker 5: long corridor. Just my footsteps. For the first time in
2:07
Speaker 5: so many months. No nurses, no doctors, no burly attendants.
2:12
Speaker 3: At my side.
2:14
Speaker 6: I was walking alone.
2:16
Speaker 3: I was welled.
2:18
Speaker 5: I knew who I was and where I was and
2:20
Speaker 5: what I was going to do. I walked past the
2:25
Speaker 5: photoelectric cell that operates the huge bronze doors.
2:30
Speaker 6: Out into the brilliant sunshine.
2:34
Speaker 5: And down the road leading toward my laboratory in the
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Speaker 5: heart of Nuclear City.
2:39
Speaker 6: I passed up the hospital limousine service. I wanted to walk.
2:43
Speaker 5: To breathe in the air of freedom. To drink in
2:45
Speaker 5: the sunshine. the peace of the quiet countryside. I walked
2:50
Speaker 5: slowly because I realized that all too soon I would
2:53
Speaker 5: be engulfed by the noise and the tumult of the
2:56
Speaker 5: Earth's top research center. And finally, I reached the city proper.
3:02
Speaker 5: I started up the broad avenue lined with laboratories. And
3:06
Speaker 5: then suddenly....
3:09
Speaker 6: Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. I stopped a moment and listened...
3:17
Speaker 6: And then I realized what was wrong. Not a sound.
3:22
Speaker 5: On this avenue, normally bursting with activity, with the whine
3:25
Speaker 5: and groan of machinery and the roar and rumble of nuclear.
3:28
Speaker 6: Bombardment, there was nothing. Not a sound. Not a voice.
3:34
Speaker 6: Not a soul. Not a single, solitary human being.
3:37
Speaker 3: The End.
3:49
Speaker 5: For a moment, a wave of panic swept over me.
3:53
Speaker 5: How would you feel in my place? They had taught
3:56
Speaker 5: me well at the hospital. I fought it off in
3:58
Speaker 5: my mind. But my feet hadn't been psychoanalyzed. They began
4:01
Speaker 5: to go faster and faster... through the streets and down
4:04
Speaker 5: the alleys... looking, searching for some sign of life.
4:11
Speaker 6: A cat. I stumbled up the two steps and flung
4:14
Speaker 6: open the door.
4:16
Speaker 3: Hey.
4:18
Speaker 6: Hey, anybody here? There was nobody in the shop.
4:21
Speaker 3: It was empty.
4:23
Speaker 5: Only the sound of that cat yowling in the back room.
4:26
Speaker 5: I stepped over to the door separating us. All right.
4:30
Speaker 6: All right, Kitty, take it easy. I'll let you out.
4:33
Speaker 6: Just let me slide this bolt. Ah, here we are. Now,
4:37
Speaker 6: let's see what you look like. Hey, Kitty. Kitty, where
4:45
Speaker 6: are you? Where are you? It was gone. Vanished.
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Speaker 5: One moment it was scratching furiously and yowling its full
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Speaker 5: head off. The next it had disappeared. All that was
5:03
Speaker 5: left after that strange hissing noise was a small dark
5:08
Speaker 5: stain on the floor. When something suddenly happens to your
5:23
Speaker 5: nervous system, when you find yourself with trembling fingers and
5:25
Speaker 5: a racing pulse, it's a good idea to do something physical,
5:28
Speaker 5: some familiar mechanical act. There was a pack of cigarettes
5:31
Speaker 5: on the counter of that deserted shop right behind the
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Speaker 5: cash register. I pounced on it eagerly, put a cigarette
5:36
Speaker 5: between my lips, took a quick puff to light it,
5:38
Speaker 5: and then drew in a deep breathful of the comforting smoke.
5:44
Speaker 5: and then I heard it. The sound of a motor,
5:47
Speaker 5: a big motor. I dashed to the door, and it
5:51
Speaker 5: seemed to me that the bus must be terribly close,
5:53
Speaker 5: but it wasn't. It was fully two blocks away. Only
5:56
Speaker 5: the unearthly quiet of Nuclear City made it seem so near.
6:00
Speaker 5: I sprang to the middle of the street, waving my
6:01
Speaker 5: arms wildly, shouting with relief, Hey, driver, driver, this way!
6:07
Speaker 5: A bus, a 300-seater that would be bringing people, voices, news,
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Speaker 5: news about this terrible silence that had fallen over Nuclear City.
6:14
Speaker 5: It was 150 yards from me now, and my skin
6:16
Speaker 5: began to crawl.
6:18
Speaker 6: There was something wrong.
6:20
Speaker 5: Now it was 100 yards from me, 50, and still
6:22
Speaker 5: the juggernaut hadn't slowed down or honked or swerved or
6:26
Speaker 5: given any indication that I was blocking its path.
6:28
Speaker 6: At the last split second, I jumped.
6:32
Speaker 5: And then turned to watch its thunder past me, catapult
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Speaker 5: over the pedestrian ramp and smash into the concrete walls
6:39
Speaker 5: of the deep space observation chamber.
6:41
Speaker 3: Ah!
6:45
Speaker 6: The bus was a tangled mass of twisted steel and lucite.
6:48
Speaker 6: That was all that was left of it. And the people?
6:51
Speaker 5: I forced my way in, threw a gaping hole in
6:54
Speaker 5: the side and thrashed through the wreckage looking for some survivor,
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Speaker 5: straining to hear a cry, a faint moan.
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Speaker 6: There was nothing.
7:01
Speaker 5: From the rear straight through to the driver's seat, there
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Speaker 5: was not a sign of any human being, dead or alive.
7:08
Speaker 5: It was a phantom bus. And the passengers and driver...
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Speaker 5: who had sat in it when it started its journey,
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Speaker 5: had vanished into thin air. I staggered away from the
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Speaker 5: incredible spectacle, my senses reeling. It would take more than
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Speaker 5: a cigarette, more than a familiar mechanical act to quiet
7:40
Speaker 5: the rising terror that was beginning to grip me. I
7:44
Speaker 5: had to find someone quickly or my mind would give
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Speaker 5: way again as it had once before.
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Speaker 1: You!
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Speaker 7: You down there in the street!
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Speaker 6: I shook my head to clear it. Voices. Hallucinations. This
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Speaker 6: was one of the first signs of insanity. I remember... Please!
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Speaker 3: You!
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Speaker 1: Down there in the street!
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Speaker 6: Look up here!
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Speaker 1: I'm up here at the window!
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Speaker 6: Slowly, I raised my head and looked up. She was there.
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Speaker 5: Framed in the window, a frightened woman with red hair
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Speaker 5: and a desperate urgency in her voice.
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Speaker 6: You, you're real, aren't you?
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Speaker 3: Thank God.
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Speaker 6: I thought I was going mad. What's happened? What's happened
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Speaker 6: to Nuclear City? You are real. You talked.
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Speaker 8: Come in.
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Speaker 3: Quickly.
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Speaker 9: Quickly.
8:32
Speaker 5: I bounded for the front door, tried the knob.
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Speaker 4: I'm coming down.
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Speaker 6: Don't go away.
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Speaker 7: Please don't go away.
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Speaker 5: I heard her fumbling with the bolt, and at last
8:43
Speaker 5: I had found someone, someone to talk to. In another moment,
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Speaker 5: I would stand face to face with the first human
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Speaker 5: being I'd seen in three hours.
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Speaker 6: The door swung open. I caught a fleeting glimpse of
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Speaker 6: red hair, and then.
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Speaker 6: That soft, sibilant sound. And after that, nothing. No voice,
9:03
Speaker 6: no red hair, no woman....
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Speaker 5: Nothing.
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Speaker 2: All at once it dawned on me.
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Speaker 5: I knew now with a dreadful certainty exactly what had happened.
9:22
Speaker 5: My mind had snapped again. No, no, no, not snapped.
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Speaker 6: Swerved.
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Speaker 5: Swerved into that strange, rare condition doctors call Duval's phenomena.
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Speaker 5: There were people on the street. There were voices and
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Speaker 5: sounds in the air. But my sick mind shut them out.
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Speaker 5: Refused to acknowledge their existence. A mind that blotted out
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Speaker 5: all living things might lead to anything.
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Speaker 6: I was dangerous. I had to get away while I
9:46
Speaker 6: still had some control of my movements. I began to run. Run, run, run, run, run, run.
9:50
Speaker 5: Back to one place where I knew I could do
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Speaker 5: no harm. Back to the safe, calm, composed climate of
9:54
Speaker 5: the psychiatric hospital. Once more, the big bronze doors that
10:03
Speaker 5: I thought I would never see again clanged shut behind me,
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Speaker 5: and I walked slowly down the corridor with a feeling
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Speaker 5: of relief as though a heavy weight had been lifted
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Speaker 5: from me. The elevator operator was not at his post,
10:16
Speaker 5: but I knew how to operate the pressure lift. I
10:20
Speaker 5: pressed the button that would take me to my own
10:22
Speaker 5: pavilion on the 36th floor. The therapy room where, just
10:26
Speaker 5: a few short hours ago, I had been playing a
10:28
Speaker 5: four-handed game of galaxies with my fellow patients. I took
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Speaker 5: three eager steps into the room.
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Speaker 6: And then I stopped. For the room was empty. With
10:43
Speaker 6: a strange emptiness as though time had stood still. There
10:48
Speaker 6: was the table with the cards still laid out, the
10:50
Speaker 6: cigarettes still smoldering into ash. As I snuffed them out,
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Speaker 6: I noticed a chess game in the corner. The same
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Speaker 6: game I had watched Phillips and Maxim start three hours ago.
11:00
Speaker 6: Queen's Gambit declined. Phillips was still a pawn ahead. But
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Speaker 6: Phillips wasn't there.
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Speaker 5: And neither was Maxim.
11:08
Speaker 6: Where were Marquand? And Lester? And Rosen? And Tien Chung?
11:14
Speaker 6: And Ferrer?
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: I stepped out into the hall, plugged in the PA relay,
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Speaker 5: and frantically tried to get someone.
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Speaker 3: Dr. Frankel.
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Speaker 6: Calling Dr. Frankel. Please acknowledge.
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Speaker 5: Nurse.
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Speaker 1: Nurse.
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Speaker 6: Nurse!
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Speaker 2: Hello, hello! Does anyone hear me?
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Speaker 9: Emergency!
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Speaker 2: This is emergency!
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Speaker 6: In the name of heaven, if anyone hears me, please acknowledge!
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Speaker 3: Nurse!
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Speaker 5: In all that vast space which was the Regional Psychiatric Hospital,
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Speaker 5: in all the miles of corridors and acres of wards
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Speaker 5: and pavilions, there was no one. No one to hear
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Speaker 5: my voice and acknowledge it. I fled down to the
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Speaker 5: main floor along the silent corridor and out into the open.
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Speaker 5: I jumped into the nearest vehicle, a turbojet that must
12:14
Speaker 5: have dated back to the year 2100. and made for
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Speaker 5: Nuclear City. Something kept nagging at my mind, tugging at
12:21
Speaker 5: the strings of my consciousness, but I shook it off.
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Speaker 5: I was afraid to think. I could only keep moving, moving, moving, moving,
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Speaker 5: hoping for... I.
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Speaker 6: Have no idea what. In the city, nothing had changed.
12:41
Speaker 6: I wandered through the streets slowly, searching for some sign
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Speaker 6: of life, some... I jumped at the six o'clock whistle.
12:49
Speaker 6: In a moment now, tens of thousands of workers should
12:51
Speaker 6: come pouring out of the tall buildings. Shouts, cries, laughter
12:54
Speaker 6: should fill the air. But the whistle only echoed through.
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Speaker 5: The empty streets and the traffic lights clicked on and
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Speaker 5: off idiotically in a mad cycle.
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Speaker 6: Red, green, cross. Red, green, cross. Red, green, cross.
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Speaker 5: Suddenly, a sharp stab of fear knifed through me. I
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Speaker 5: thought of my laboratory, the project. The project I'd been
13:19
Speaker 5: working on when I became ill. Internal organic dispersion. A
13:23
Speaker 5: method of activating the energy within a mass, causing it
13:25
Speaker 5: to burst outward. Something must have gone wrong. My assistants
13:29
Speaker 5: had misread the formula and let the force get out
13:32
Speaker 5: of control. Of course, of course, that could have done it.
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Speaker 5: I must get to the lab at once. A burst
13:40
Speaker 5: of speed brought me to my intersection. I leaped to
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Speaker 5: the escalator onto the high-speed pedestrian ramp.
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Speaker 6: Slidewalk, the kids had called it when there were kids.
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Speaker 5: And a minute later, I was racing through the familiar
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Speaker 5: twists and turns of the fishing building, pushing through the.
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Speaker 6: Doors to my own laboratory. Hunting. I looked about. Everything
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Speaker 6: appeared to be in order.
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Speaker 5: From far below, I could hear the throbbing of the
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Speaker 5: giant cyclotron. and the hum of the huge electromagnetic dynamos,
14:08
Speaker 5: the sharp smell of ozone filled the air. I took
14:11
Speaker 5: a quick glance at the control panel. It showed every machine,
14:16
Speaker 5: every piece of apparatus working perfectly. There was nothing wrong,
14:21
Speaker 5: except the fact that they were working. It was after
14:24
Speaker 5: hours and machines should have been turned off. I switched
14:27
Speaker 5: off the main control, and then... a cold shiver ran
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Speaker 5: down my spine. There was a new sound. A sound
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Speaker 5: I hadn't expected to hear. Someone was coming up the
14:42
Speaker 5: pressure lift. The private lift leading from the cyclotron to
14:46
Speaker 5: my own laboratory.
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Speaker 3: I stood facing the cage.
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Speaker 6: Watching.
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Speaker 3: Waiting.
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Speaker 5: A man stood there. A live man clad in the
15:06
Speaker 5: Usual anti-radiation suit. I peered through the glass panel on
15:09
Speaker 5: the headpiece, and then... I had to fight to keep
15:12
Speaker 5: a stare out of my voice.
15:14
Speaker 4: Davis!
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Speaker 6: Davis, it's you! It's really you! Sure it's me, Chief.
15:19
Speaker 3: How are you, John?
15:20
Speaker 6: Welcome back. We missed you. Davis, you're all right. You're alive.
15:23
Speaker 3: Of course I'm alive, John. You're the one who's been sick, remember?
15:27
Speaker 5: Davis, how long have you been down there in the
15:30
Speaker 5: cyclotron housing?
15:31
Speaker 6: Two days.
15:32
Speaker 3: Special inspection tour. I'm glad it's over. Help me out
15:35
Speaker 3: of this suit, will you?
15:36
Speaker 6: The buckle's caught. Yes, of course. Of course, that explains it.
15:40
Speaker 6: Explains what? You were shielded when it happened. Hold tight
15:43
Speaker 6: now while I yank. There you are.
15:46
Speaker 8: Thanks.
15:47
Speaker 6: I can manage now.
15:48
Speaker 8: What do you mean that explains it?
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Speaker 5: Explains what? I watched him unbuckle the anti-radiation suit. I
15:55
Speaker 5: felt I should say something. I tried to, but nothing
15:58
Speaker 5: would come. Finally, the suit was undone. Davis started to
16:03
Speaker 5: step out of the suit, and finally the words came
16:05
Speaker 5: past my lips.
16:06
Speaker 6: No, no, Davis! Get back! Get back in the suit!
16:14
Speaker 5: It was too late. Before my very eyes, Davis disappeared.
16:22
Speaker 5: And his anti-radiation suit crumpled to the floor. My legs
16:43
Speaker 5: buckled and I began to tremble all over. I knew
16:46
Speaker 5: my hours were numbered. No mind could stand up under
16:49
Speaker 5: repeated explosive shocks such as I had been through. I
16:52
Speaker 5: staggered to the first aid cabinet for a plasma capsule.
16:56
Speaker 5: As I tilted my head back to swallow the capsule,
16:58
Speaker 5: the building across the street caught my eye and my
17:01
Speaker 5: pulses leaped. Communications building. Communications, Visiphone, long-range tele-sonic broadcasting.
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Speaker 6: This was it.
17:08
Speaker 5: My opportunity to establish contact with the outside world. I
17:11
Speaker 5: dropped the glass and bottle and capsule and rushed out.
17:18
Speaker 5: Two minutes later, I was in the main studio. I
17:20
Speaker 5: plugged in the lines. World ascending and receiving controls to
17:23
Speaker 5: maximum range. Focused the electronic visiscope camera and switched on
17:27
Speaker 5: the power. Nuclear City calling all stations. Nuclear City to
17:33
Speaker 5: all stations. Clear wires for disaster report.
17:36
Speaker 6: Emergency.
17:38
Speaker 5: Nuclear City calling all stations. Please acknowledge. I shifted the
17:43
Speaker 5: directional beam. Nuclear City calling St.
17:46
Speaker 9: Louis.
17:46
Speaker 3: St. Louis.
17:47
Speaker 6: Omaha. San Francisco.
17:50
Speaker 2: Guam.
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Speaker 5: Tokyo.
17:53
Speaker 6: Come in, St.
17:54
Speaker 7: Louis.
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Speaker 6: Guam. Tokyo. Come in. Nothing. Not the slightest sign that
18:02
Speaker 6: there was anyone anywhere who could hear the sound of
18:04
Speaker 6: my voice or see my image. I turned off the
18:07
Speaker 6: power and swung away.
18:09
Speaker 5: And a slight movement, a tiny flash of light caught
18:12
Speaker 5: my eye.
18:13
Speaker 6: The turntables.
18:14
Speaker 5: The turntables that recorded every program sent out were still going,
18:18
Speaker 5: turning round and round and round, wearing deep, meaningless grooves
18:22
Speaker 5: in the wax platter. I stepped over to the first table,
18:26
Speaker 5: moved the pickup arm to the start of the record,
18:28
Speaker 5: and switched on the playback control. In another moment, I
18:31
Speaker 5: would hear the last sounds that it issued from Nuclear
18:33
Speaker 5: City's communication center. Two days later, Rama and I reached
18:37
Speaker 5: the great spaceport of New Terra.
18:39
Speaker 6: We had spent a month in the steaming jungles of
18:41
Speaker 6: Venus and.
18:42
Speaker 5: Had learned many things.
18:43
Speaker 6: We have learned that the flora and fauna... Oh, shut up,
18:46
Speaker 6: shut up, shut up! I'll try the next table. Maybe
18:50
Speaker 6: I'll have better luck.
18:52
Speaker 4: And dispatchers pouring in from all parts of this sector
18:55
Speaker 4: have confirmed earlier reports that the disaster which has struck
18:57
Speaker 4: Nuclear City is.
18:59
Speaker 6: The disaster is due.
19:00
Speaker 9: That is, the condition.
19:02
Speaker 6: Is caused by a wave... A wave of.
19:07
Speaker 6: Once again, I heard it. Recorded for posterity. The quick,
19:12
Speaker 6: seething hiss. And the silence.
19:16
Speaker 5: I couldn't stand it any longer. I suddenly went berserk.
19:19
Speaker 5: I began smashing everything in sight.
19:21
Speaker 4: The records.
19:22
Speaker 6: Piles and piles of them. The machines. The tubes.
19:24
Speaker 5: Everything. Stop.
19:26
Speaker 6: Stop it. You'll hurt yourself.
19:28
Speaker 5: I hardly knew what I was doing. For hours and hours,
19:30
Speaker 5: an explosive force had been building up inside of me.
19:32
Speaker 5: And now it burst loose.
19:33
Speaker 6: And finally, finally, it spent itself. I calmed down. And
19:40
Speaker 6: heard her voice.
19:41
Speaker 8: That's better.
19:42
Speaker 6: Much better.
19:44
Speaker 8: My name is Walter. Well, turn around.
19:49
Speaker 6: Look at me. No. No, I'm afraid so. You'll vanish.
19:56
Speaker 6: Like the others.
19:57
Speaker 8: Nonsense. I haven't vanished yet. Turn around. You see?
20:05
Speaker 3: You....
20:07
Speaker 6: You're beautiful.
20:09
Speaker 8: Anyone would look beautiful to you now. Anyone alive and real.
20:15
Speaker 6: How did you escape it, Walter? Why are we here,
20:18
Speaker 6: we two alone?
20:19
Speaker 8: We must go. We can't remain here any longer.
20:22
Speaker 3: Go.
20:22
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, yes, you're right. We've got to get away
20:24
Speaker 5: from Nuclear City, away from this whole stricken area.
20:27
Speaker 6: But how?
20:27
Speaker 8: There is no transportation.
20:29
Speaker 6: Now, wait, wait. My plane.
20:30
Speaker 8: Plane?
20:31
Speaker 5: Yes, six months ago, before I went into the hospital,
20:33
Speaker 5: I put it up in a small hangar at the spaceport.
20:35
Speaker 7: Six months ago? It wouldn't be any good now. You
20:39
Speaker 7: couldn't possibly get it into the air.
20:40
Speaker 6: We can try.
20:41
Speaker 5: It's our only chance, Walter. Come on, there's no time
20:44
Speaker 5: to lose. Do you see anything, Walter?
20:55
Speaker 6: No, John.
20:56
Speaker 8: It's pitch dark out there.
20:58
Speaker 6: No beacon. No clusters of light.
20:59
Speaker 5: Keep trying the audio box. I'll see if I can
21:02
Speaker 5: pick up the landing beam.
21:04
Speaker 8: Calling Chicago.
21:05
Speaker 6: Calling Chicago. Landing instructions requested. I've got the beam. No. No,
21:12
Speaker 6: it's gone now. Probably a radar reflection. Move over quickly.
21:15
Speaker 6: Let me try that scanner. Chicago. The skyscrapers. The lakefront.
21:26
Speaker 6: The bullet parts. What's... What's happened to the lights? What's
21:30
Speaker 6: happened to the airport?
21:31
Speaker 8: It's no use, John.
21:32
Speaker 6: It's reached here, too.
21:33
Speaker 8: We might just as well have stayed in Nuclear City.
21:35
Speaker 6: No, no, no, no. We've got to go on. We've
21:37
Speaker 6: got to find someone. I won't believe. I can't believe
21:40
Speaker 6: there's no one left but us.
21:47
Speaker 5: Calling Detroit. Calling Detroit. This is John Rhodes of Nuclear City.
21:51
Speaker 5: John Rhodes calling Detroit. Channel 407. Respond.
21:56
Speaker 8: You're wasting your breath, John.
21:58
Speaker 6: Turn back.
21:58
Speaker 5: I'll never turn back. John Rhodes to Harb City. John
22:05
Speaker 5: Rhodes to Harb City.
22:06
Speaker 6: Come in, please. Come in, please. Can you hear me?
22:15
Speaker 8: Are you convinced now?
22:17
Speaker 6: Sure, I'm convinced.
22:18
Speaker 5: I'm convinced the stricken area is larger than I thought,
22:20
Speaker 5: but I'm not quitting.
22:21
Speaker 8: Not quitting?
22:21
Speaker 6: What are you doing?
22:22
Speaker 5: Strap on your safety belt and switch on the oxygen control.
22:24
Speaker 5: I'm shifting into nuclear overdrive.
22:26
Speaker 7: Where are we going?
22:26
Speaker 6: The other side of the Earth. The spaceport at Rio.
22:29
Speaker 6: Steady now. In less than 40 minutes now.
22:35
Speaker 4: We'll be.
22:35
Speaker 6: What is it? What's wrong? I don't know. Something's happening.
22:40
Speaker 6: We're swerving. We're swinging around. Some tremendous magnetic force has
22:45
Speaker 6: caught us in its toe. Turn back, John. Turn back
22:48
Speaker 6: before the ship flies apart. I can't, Bolter. I can't
22:52
Speaker 6: do anything with a plane. She's out of control.
22:55
Speaker 2: I lay there....
23:12
Speaker 3: Looking at the clock.
23:15
Speaker 5: I couldn't bring it into sharp focus, but I knew
23:17
Speaker 5: that the number three was slightly chipped, and that when
23:21
Speaker 5: it chimed, there was distinct hesitation between the second and
23:26
Speaker 5: third notes. I knew these things because that clock was
23:34
Speaker 5: on the wall of the therapy pavilion on the 36th
23:38
Speaker 5: floor of the psychiatric hospital.
23:42
Speaker 6: Yes, I remember the clock. But how had I gotten here?
23:49
Speaker 6: What had happened to my plane? Where was Walter? Or
23:54
Speaker 6: was any of it real?
23:57
Speaker 5: Had I ever gone down the long corridor? Had I
24:01
Speaker 5: ever really left the hospital? Was the awful experience I
24:06
Speaker 5: had lived through anything more than a very vivid nightmare?
24:09
Speaker 6: And if I screamed now. Would a nurse come running?
24:18
Speaker 3: Help!
24:20
Speaker 4: Help!
24:21
Speaker 5: Nurse!
24:26
Speaker 6: It's true, then. Everything really happened. I'm not dreaming. And Walter.
24:36
Speaker 5: What about Walter? I've lost her, too. There's no one
24:42
Speaker 5: left on earth but me. I'll never see another face
24:48
Speaker 5: or hear another voice.
24:50
Speaker 6: I know that now. I will sit here in the
24:56
Speaker 6: silence and wait for the end. Footsteps. Footsteps.
25:10
Speaker 3: Good evening, Mr. Rhodes. I'm Dr. Brenner.
25:15
Speaker 6: Dr. Brenner.
25:17
Speaker 3: Do.
25:18
Speaker 6: Do I know you?
25:20
Speaker 3: No, Mr. Rhodes.
25:22
Speaker 9: Not yet. But you will. You will be in my
25:26
Speaker 9: charge from now on. You've been very ill and you're
25:29
Speaker 9: going on a little journey. Here, take this capsule.
25:33
Speaker 3: But I... Take it, Mr. Rhodes. The trip you're about
25:37
Speaker 3: to make is long and difficult... There, that's it. I'll
25:43
Speaker 3: look in again presently.
25:50
Speaker 8: Dr. Drennis.
25:51
Speaker 9: He took it, Voltaire. Yes, I believe we chose wisely.
25:55
Speaker 9: John Rhodes is the greatest nuclear physicist on Earth. He
25:59
Speaker 9: will be of inestimable value to us and our people.
26:02
Speaker 7: I think our work here is about finished, Doctor. The
26:04
Speaker 7: final reports have just come in. The molecular diffusion cloud
26:08
Speaker 7: worked perfectly.
26:09
Speaker 3: And according to plan.
26:10
Speaker 9: Those who were not directly affected by the cloud itself
26:13
Speaker 9: were disintegrated by contact with their fellow men.
26:16
Speaker 3: Some died immediately. Some seemed to have a temporary immunity.
26:19
Speaker 8: Like that woman, Nina, who called to Rhodes from the window.
26:22
Speaker 8: Poor man.
26:24
Speaker 7: Even though we protected him from the disintegration mist, he
26:27
Speaker 7: apparently was still capable of killing others.
26:29
Speaker 9: But now the chain reaction is complete. There's not a
26:32
Speaker 9: living human being left on Earth, except Rhodes.
26:35
Speaker 8: Perhaps it was wrong, Dr. Drannith, to destroy these humans.
26:39
Speaker 3: Wrong.
26:40
Speaker 8: They were different from what I had expected.
26:43
Speaker 7: As I guarded John Rhodes, I found him kind and
26:45
Speaker 7: intelligent and courageous. Now I'm beginning to think the whole
26:49
Speaker 7: experiment was cruel.
26:51
Speaker 3: Cruel? I do not understand you, Volta.
26:55
Speaker 9: You're familiar with the history of the planet Earth from
26:57
Speaker 9: the very first pages of recorded time. These Earth men
27:00
Speaker 9: have bent every effort to kill each other off, to
27:03
Speaker 9: create new and more efficient weapons of death.
27:06
Speaker 3: We merely fulfilled their destinies. but we did it mercifully.
27:10
Speaker 3: The new inhabitants we bring here will be kind, as
27:13
Speaker 3: we are.
27:14
Speaker 8: I suppose you're right.
27:17
Speaker 7: Well, here are my notes on the six hours I
27:19
Speaker 7: spent observing John Rhodes' psychological reactions. You will find them
27:24
Speaker 7: very illuminating. And now, what do we do with him,
27:29
Speaker 7: this last human being left on Earth?
27:31
Speaker 3: What we planned from the beginning, Volta.
27:34
Speaker 9: You may notify our spaceship anchored beyond the magnetic field
27:37
Speaker 9: to send a tender for us.
27:39
Speaker 6: Yes, Dr.
27:39
Speaker 5: Drenner.
27:40
Speaker 9: We and our specially selected Earth specimen are ready for
27:43
Speaker 9: the long journey home.
27:45
Speaker 3: Home to Mars.
27:46
Speaker 4: 2000 Plus is produced by Dreyer and Winn-Olson Productions, Incorporated.
28:09
Speaker 4: In tonight's cast, Ralph Bell played John Rhodes, Joan Shea
28:12
Speaker 4: was Volta, Nat Poland was Dr. Dranath, and Carl Eastman
28:16
Speaker 4: was Davis. The script was written by Judith and David Bubling.
28:28
Speaker 4: The orchestra was conducted by Emerson Buckley. Music composed by
28:31
Speaker 4: Elliot Jacoby. Sound, Walt Shaver and Adrian Penner. Engineer, Bob Albrecht.
28:37
Speaker 1: THE END.
28:59
Speaker 3: Thank you.
29:59
Speaker 6: Adventures into the world of tomorrow. Tune in again next
30:03
Speaker 6: week at this same time for another thrilling story.
30:06
Speaker 1: This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
30:10
Speaker 2: ¶ ¶.
30:37
Speaker 1: THE END That was 2000 Plus Alone. Good night, and
31:36
Speaker 1: thank you for joining this radio theater presentation. Follow old-time
31:40
Speaker 1: sci-fi radio for more classic science fiction broadcasts.