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Dimension X - "The Roads Must Roll" (1950) · Old Time Sci-Fi Radio | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: On September 1, 1950, NBC brought Dimension X to its
0:04
Speaker 1: 22nd broadcast, The Roads Must Roll. Adapted by Ernest Quinoa
0:10
Speaker 1: from Robert A. Heinlein's short story, it takes us to
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Speaker 1: a future America where immense rolling roads have replaced cars
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Speaker 1: and trucks, carrying passengers and freight across the nation. The
0:23
Speaker 1: transportation system has become essential.
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Speaker 2: To daily life. when the engineers who.
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Speaker 1: Maintain it challenge its authority, the country's dependence on those
0:33
Speaker 1: roads brings mounting tension. Norman Rose narrates with Joseph Boland,
0:39
Speaker 1: Carl Weber, Ralph Bell, and Wendell Holmes in the cast.
0:44
Speaker 1: Edward King directed for producer Van Woodward. Now, back to
0:48
Speaker 1: the golden age of radio.
0:54
Speaker 2: Adventures in time and space.
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Speaker 3: Transcribed in future tense. Can you predict the future?
1:18
Speaker 2: Can you tell what will come in a hundred years?
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Speaker 3: Or in ten? Or in the next minute? Tonight, Dimension
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Speaker 3: X brings you a glimpse of what may well happen
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Speaker 3: within your own lifetime. The Robert Heinlein story, The Roads
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Speaker 3: Must Roll.
1:33
Speaker 2: The Roads Must Roll.
1:42
Speaker 3: Here's a run, watch them run.
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Speaker 2: Oh, our job is never done.
1:46
Speaker 3: For our roadways go rolling along.
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Speaker 2: While you ride, while you ride, we are watching down inside.
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Speaker 3: So your roadways keep rolling along.
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Speaker 4: Oh, it's high, high, he's the roller man, are we?
2:03
Speaker 4: Check off the sector's mountain top.
2:05
Speaker 5: One, two.
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Speaker 3: Anywhere you go, you are bound to know that your
2:10
Speaker 3: roadway keeps rolling along.
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Speaker 2: Keep on rolling.
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Speaker 6: Your roadway keeps rolling along.
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Speaker 3: It was in the middle of the 1950s that the
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Speaker 3: automotive age began to die. The traffic engineers had long
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Speaker 3: expected it. For years they had watched our vast city
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Speaker 3: sprawl and spread out, spill over into the countryside, become
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Speaker 3: more and more dependent on motor transportations. And then finally
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Speaker 3: the inevitable breaking point had reached. The growing flood of
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Speaker 3: cars and buses and trucks began to swamp the streets
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Speaker 3: and arterial highways. The building of roads could no longer
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Speaker 3: keep pace. The superhighways clogged. Congestives became packed with cars
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Speaker 3: stalled bumper to bumper. And the cities began to die
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Speaker 3: of slow strangulation. For the traffic could no longer roll.
3:05
Speaker 3: Then the engineers took over.
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Speaker 2: They banned the.
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Speaker 3: Automobiles, tore up the superhighways, and in their place they
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Speaker 3: built the rolling roads. Mechanized roads that moved like huge
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Speaker 3: conveyor belts, twirling along on their giant rotors at speeds
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Speaker 3: ranging from 5 to 100 miles an hour, carrying the freight,
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Speaker 3: the food, and the people from city to city and
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Speaker 3: coast to coast. An engineering miracle had changed the face
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Speaker 3: of a nation. The automobiles and railroads vanished. The rolling
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Speaker 3: roads had taken over all transportations. And no one worried
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Speaker 3: over the fact that if the roads should ever stop,
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Speaker 3: our whole economic life would stop. But the machinery had
3:41
Speaker 3: never failed yet. The machinery that rolled the roads was perfect.
3:45
Speaker 3: But people forgot that machinery depends on men.
3:49
Speaker 2: The men who run it. Who makes the roads roll?
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Speaker 6: We do!
3:55
Speaker 2: That's right! The engineers.
3:58
Speaker 6: Not the supervisors, not the mechanic union, but the engineers.
4:03
Speaker 6: We're the brains of the road.
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Speaker 2: And where would.
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Speaker 6: The public be if we didn't keep those roads out
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Speaker 6: there rolling? Right behind the eight ball, and everybody knows it.
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Speaker 3: All right, then.
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Speaker 6: We're the men who hold the power. And it's time
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Speaker 6: we started using it. We've called this meeting of the
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Speaker 6: Engineers Control Committee because that's what we want to do.
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Speaker 2: Control.
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Speaker 6: Because I'm tired of taking orders from the Transport Commission.
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Speaker 6: From slick desk jockeys like Jim Gaines who don't even
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Speaker 6: know a rotor bearing from a field. Let Gaines yammer
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Speaker 6: about our duty to the public. That's a lot of eyewash.
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Speaker 6: We've got the power, and we're the men that count.
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Speaker 6: It's time we quit fiddling around and use the little
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Speaker 6: direct action to get what we want.
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Speaker 3: Let's go! Let's go!
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Speaker 2: Mr.
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Speaker 6: Chairman!
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Speaker 2: Mr.
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Speaker 3: Chairman!
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Speaker 4: The chair recognizes Brother Harvey of the Transport Mechanics Union. Oh,
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Speaker 4: my God.
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Speaker 3: Thanks.
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Speaker 2: Thanks. Thanks, boys.
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Speaker 4: I don't rightly belong here since I'm no engineer. I'm
5:19
Speaker 4: just here to represent the workers' union. But I want
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Speaker 4: to know what's all the shooting for. You engineers have
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Speaker 4: got better working conditions than we have, and.
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Speaker 2: We ain't kicking.
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Speaker 4: You say you engineers are powerful. You say you can
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Speaker 4: tie up the road.
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Speaker 2: That's right.
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Speaker 5: Well, listen.
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Speaker 4: So can any screwball with a jar of nitroglycerin. Yeah,
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Speaker 4: and he don't need no engineering degree neither.
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Speaker 6: Harvey, are you speaking for your union now? Are you
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Speaker 6: here as a stooge for the Transport Commission?
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Speaker 2: Listen, I helped found my union.
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Speaker 4: and I led the strike in 75 for decent working conditions.
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Speaker 4: Where were you engineers then, huh? With the Finch!
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Speaker 2: Remember, you're only.
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Speaker 3: A guest at this meeting.
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Speaker 2: Go on, Pan. Now, listen, man. I'm one of the
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Speaker 2: old engineers on the roads... You all are. Worked up
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Speaker 2: the hard work.
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Speaker 6: We didn't go to the fancy technical institutes like those
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Speaker 6: young punk cadets the commission is training to take over
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Speaker 6: our jobs. Jim Gaines don't fill us full of the
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Speaker 6: old school spirit and that baloney about how the roads
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Speaker 6: must roll. So all right then. Why don't we get
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Speaker 6: smart for a change? What would happen if the roads
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Speaker 6: stopped rolling? Maybe the country would begin to realize that
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Speaker 6: they can't do without us. And maybe we'd begin to
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Speaker 6: get the things we want. The roads must roll!
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Speaker 3: Yes?
7:17
Speaker 7: Your wife is calling, Mr.
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Speaker 3: Gaines.
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Speaker 2: All right, put her on.
7:21
Speaker 3: Jim, I want you to stop off on your way home.
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Speaker 2: I'm sorry, darling, I can't make it. Oh, but you promised. Yes,
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Speaker 2: I know, but Washington called in. They're sending Evans, the
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Speaker 2: Australian Minister of Transport, through my sector today. I've got
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Speaker 2: to show him through personally. Well, can't somebody else? Well,
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Speaker 2: I'm chief supervisor. It wouldn't be courteous. Calling courtesy begins
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Speaker 2: at home.
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Speaker 7: I've planned this dinner for weeks.
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Speaker 2: Honey, the roads must roll. Jim, if you quote that
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Speaker 2: nauseating slogan at me again, I'll divorce you. I can't
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Speaker 2: help it, darling. I tell you, I'll meet you at
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Speaker 2: Stockton at nine. We'll take in a shuttle. Kiss Ellen
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Speaker 2: goodnight from me.
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Speaker 5: All right, dear.
7:57
Speaker 2: Goodbye.
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Speaker 3: Bye, darling.
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Speaker 7: Mr.
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Speaker 2: Evans is here. Send him in.
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Speaker 5: Go right in, sir.
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Speaker 2: Well, good evening, Mr. Evans. I'm Gaines, chief engineer. How
8:08
Speaker 2: do you do, Mr.
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Speaker 5: Gaines?
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Speaker 2: Won't you sit down? Thank you. They told me at
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Speaker 2: the embassy you'd be the man to see.
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Speaker 5: Oh?
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Speaker 2: I want to know how the roads work. I think
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Speaker 2: we can handle that. I'm not a technical man, Mr.
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Speaker 5: Gaines.
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Speaker 2: My field is sociology. Suppose you tell me about the
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Speaker 2: roads as if I were entirely ignorant. Well, fine, fine. Well,
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Speaker 2: it's nearly dinner time. Suppose we run up to Stockton
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Speaker 2: sector for dinner. All right. Take us about an hour
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Speaker 2: on the roads and you can see them working. Excellent.
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Speaker 2: If you'll excuse me for a minute.
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Speaker 5: Of course. Hi, Chief.
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Speaker 2: What can I do for you? Oh, Dave, you're on
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Speaker 2: the evening watch, huh? Where's Van Cleek?
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Speaker 3: Oh, going to some meeting.
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Speaker 2: I'm going up to Stockton for dinner. Anything to report? No, sir.
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Speaker 3: The roads are rolling.
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Speaker 2: Okay, keep them rolling. All right, Mr. Evans. Let's go.
9:06
Speaker 2: This here is the low-speed strip. You ever ridden a
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Speaker 2: conveyor before?
9:10
Speaker 5: No.
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Speaker 2: That's quite simple. Remember to face the motion of the
9:13
Speaker 2: strip as you get on. That's it. All right. We'll
9:17
Speaker 2: go right across here. Each adjoining strip is a few
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Speaker 2: miles an hour faster than the one next to it.
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Speaker 2: I see. Freight is carried on the 50-mile strip. Most
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Speaker 2: passenger traffic is on the express strip. All right. All right, now,
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Speaker 2: watch your step.
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Speaker 5: All right.
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Speaker 2: Here we are, maximum speed. 100 miles an hour. Amazing.
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Speaker 2: This trip makes a round trip to San Diego to
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Speaker 2: Reno in 12 hours. Oh, here's the restaurant. Ready to eat?
9:48
Speaker 2: Is this a restaurant? There's a sign, Jake's Steakhouse, fastest
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Speaker 2: meal on the road. Is it really a proper restaurant? Well,
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Speaker 2: the best. Hooked right into the moving strip, of course.
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Speaker 2: Shall we go in?
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Speaker 5: Let's go.
10:00
Speaker 6: In?
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Speaker 2: Oh, hello, hello there, Mr.
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Speaker 6: Gaines.
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Speaker 2: We don't see much of you out on the road. Well,
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Speaker 2: busy in the office, Jake. Oh, too, right this way.
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Speaker 3: Thank you.
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Speaker 2: Here we are.
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Speaker 3: Now.
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Speaker 2: What'll it be? Well, you order, Jake. Well, um, how
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Speaker 2: about a steak? Two inches thick from a steer that
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Speaker 2: died happy. Oh, that's nice. That's nice. Plug me in
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Speaker 2: the intercom, will you, Jake?
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Speaker 3: Sure, there's a talk box right.
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Speaker 5: Next to you.
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Speaker 2: Plank tool, Ray. If you'll excuse me, Mr.
10:31
Speaker 5: Evans.
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Speaker 2: All right. Davidson on watch. This is the chief, Davidson.
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Speaker 2: I'm at Jake's Steakhouse. You can reach me at 10-L-6-6. 10-L-6-6, right. Well, now,
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Speaker 2: they can get a hold of me in an emergency now.
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Speaker 3: Mr.
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Speaker 2: Gaines, what kind of an emergency could there be? Well,
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Speaker 2: two principally. Power failure on the rotors would bring the
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Speaker 2: road to a standstill. If that happened during rush hour,
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Speaker 2: we'd have to evacuate millions of people. Well, well, as
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Speaker 2: many as that. Oh, yes, easily. There are 12 million
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Speaker 2: people dependent on this section of road.
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Speaker 2: Gainsor. Hello, Chief Davidson. We just got the hourly reports in. Proceed.
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Speaker 2: A cadet engineer, Gunther, while on watch, was found playing
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Speaker 2: cards with C.J. Ross, technician on duty. Any damage? One
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Speaker 2: rotor running hot, but still synchronized.
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Speaker 3: It was jacked down and replaced.
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Speaker 2: All right. Have the paymaster give Ross his time. Turn
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Speaker 2: him over to civil authorities. Place cadet Gunther under arrest.
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Speaker 2: Bring him to Roadtown Central. Yes, sir.
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Speaker 6: All right.
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Speaker 2: Keep him rolling. As I was saying, Evans, there are
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Speaker 2: two possibilities of danger. Can you visualize what would happen
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Speaker 2: if the strip under us would break? I haven't thought
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Speaker 2: of that.
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Speaker 6: You don't realize you're traveling at 100.
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Speaker 2: Miles an hour, huh? Well, it can't break, not now.
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Speaker 2: The strip has a safety factor of over 12 to 1.
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Speaker 2: This is good soup, Jake. Thank you, Mr.
11:52
Speaker 3: Gaines.
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Speaker 2: But you know, Evans, a break did happen once in
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Speaker 2: the early days. That was on the Philadelphia-Jersey City Road.
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Speaker 2: Tell me now. That's right. The strip wasn't much more
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Speaker 2: than a conveyor belt then. You know, it buckled for miles,
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Speaker 2: crushing passengers against the roof. Yeah. Forward section in front
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Speaker 2: of the brakes filled them down under into the rotors
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Speaker 2: and the rollers. Was it very bad? Over 3,000 people
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Speaker 2: were killed in that brake. But, Evans, the roads had
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Speaker 2: to go on. You know, the entire economic system hangs
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Speaker 2: on the roads. If they stopped now, the country would starve.
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Speaker 2: Isn't it possible that you've become too dependent on these roads, Mr. Gaines?
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Speaker 2: For example, what if you had a strike? We had
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Speaker 2: a strike back in 75, but, well, there's not much
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Speaker 2: danger of that anymore. No? Why not? every cadet that
12:37
Speaker 2: goes to work on the roads today is a graduate
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Speaker 2: of the United States Transport Academy. Oh, I see. They're
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Speaker 2: all picked men, screened for emotional stability. They're trained to
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Speaker 2: give us the same kind of loyalty that Annapolis and
12:47
Speaker 2: West Point develop in their men. Now, you're a graduate,
12:50
Speaker 2: I suppose, Mr.
12:50
Speaker 5: Gaines?
12:51
Speaker 2: No, no, I was too old for that. The academy
12:53
Speaker 2: wasn't set up till after the strike in 75. But
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Speaker 2: it won't be long now, maybe five or ten years, Evans,
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Speaker 2: before the oldest engineer on the roads is a man
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Speaker 2: who's been through that academy. Yeah, Gaines, sir.
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Speaker 1: Davidson, Chief, there's trouble in Sacramento.
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Speaker 3: What is it? What's happening?
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Speaker 2: Emergency stop.
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Speaker 5: Hello?
13:18
Speaker 2: Hello, Davidson? The phones must be out. Come on.
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Speaker 3: Jake!
13:22
Speaker 2: Jake! What is it? What's the matter? Have everybody stay
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Speaker 2: in the restroom, Jake. What's that? Probably somebody stepped onto
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Speaker 2: the next strip. Got cut to ribbons. There'll be plenty
13:30
Speaker 2: of casualties. Jake, where's your getaway hatch? In the pantry. Well,
13:34
Speaker 2: how am I going to help those people? I've got
13:35
Speaker 2: the whole road to think of. Now, don't bother me.
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Speaker 2: Give me a hand, Jake. This hatch is stuck. All right,
13:42
Speaker 2: if you're coming with me, Mr. Evans, you've got to
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Speaker 2: move fast. I haven't got any time to waste. Where
13:58
Speaker 2: are we now? Freeway on top of the inner road ceiling.
14:01
Speaker 2: That's the outer shell over us. Are we going outside? No,
14:04
Speaker 2: there'll be an access down manhole over here. They're spaced
14:07
Speaker 2: every hundred feet. It's there by the green light. All right,
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Speaker 2: this will get us down on the northbound road. Careful now,
14:20
Speaker 2: it's dark.
14:20
Speaker 3: All right.
14:25
Speaker 2: Stand away from that door, Evan. But this road is
14:30
Speaker 2: still rolling. Yeah, so it is. It was only the
14:34
Speaker 2: 100-mile strip that stopped. Here's what I want, a phone booth.
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Speaker 2: Look out, Evans. Excuse me, will you?
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Speaker 5: Hey.
14:40
Speaker 3: Out.
14:40
Speaker 2: I'm talking to my wife. Don't argue.
14:42
Speaker 3: Out.
14:45
Speaker 2: Emergency priority. Division office. Davidson. Gaines here. Report. Chief, how
14:55
Speaker 2: you been? I've been calling. Never mind that report. 709 report.
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Speaker 2: Strip 20 past emergency level.
15:01
Speaker 7: Interlocks acted and.
15:02
Speaker 2: Cut the strip out. Cause of failure unknown. Direct communication
15:05
Speaker 2: to Sacramento Control Office out. Evacuation of Strip 20 commenced.
15:09
Speaker 2: No casualties. There are casualties. I saw them. Put police
15:12
Speaker 2: and hospital routine A into operation. Get me Van Cleek.
15:14
Speaker 2: I want him to take over for me till I
15:16
Speaker 2: report him. We can't reach him, Chief. Shall I cut
15:19
Speaker 2: out the rest of the road? No, keep those other
15:20
Speaker 2: strips rolling or we'll have a traffic jam the devil
15:22
Speaker 2: himself couldn't untangle. There are five million passengers on that
15:26
Speaker 2: road now. Notify the governor that I've assumed emergency authority.
15:30
Speaker 2: Arm all cadets available and await orders. Shall I recall
15:33
Speaker 2: technicians off watch? No, this isn't an engineering failure, man.
15:35
Speaker 2: That whole sector went out simultaneously. Somebody cut those rotors
15:38
Speaker 2: by hand. Now, I want all available senior class cadets
15:41
Speaker 2: to report to Stockton subsector office 10. The pistols and
15:44
Speaker 2: tear gas. Yes, sir. Oh, the governor wants to talk
15:47
Speaker 2: to you.
15:47
Speaker 6: He called in.
15:48
Speaker 2: Refer him to somebody else. I'm busy. I'll get back
15:50
Speaker 2: to you. I'm going down under.
16:05
Speaker 5: Heaven!
16:07
Speaker 2: Put on this helmet!
16:09
Speaker 3: What?
16:09
Speaker 2: Helmet! This helmet! No! You can't hear without an anti-noise filter.
16:15
Speaker 2: All right, come on. What are we looking for? A
16:17
Speaker 2: recon car. There should be one here. Are those the rotors?
16:20
Speaker 2: The big ones are rotors. They drive the road. The
16:22
Speaker 2: little ones are rollers. They give continuous support. I see. Oh,
16:25
Speaker 2: there's a watch gang now jacking down a rotor. Can
16:27
Speaker 2: they hear us? No, the noise filter works on a
16:29
Speaker 2: four-foot radius. I'll flash them. He sees the light. Is
16:34
Speaker 2: that person reporting, sir? I want your recon car, emergency. Yes, sir.
16:38
Speaker 2: Right over here, sir. Come on, Evans. All right, now.
16:45
Speaker 2: Get in. Well, it's so small. Oh, you fit. All right.
16:50
Speaker 2: All right, now. Hang on. She accelerates like a rocket.
16:59
Speaker 3: Oh, wait.
17:06
Speaker 2: This is Gaines. Get me Davidson, senior watch officer.
17:08
Speaker 5: Mr.
17:09
Speaker 2: Gaines, the mayor wants to talk to you. I haven't
17:10
Speaker 2: got time. Get me Davidson. Leave this circuit hooked into
17:13
Speaker 2: Davidson's board until I tell you to cut it. Yes, sir.
17:15
Speaker 6: Here's the senior watch officer.
17:17
Speaker 2: Davidson. Gaines calling. Have you found out yet what's stopping
17:21
Speaker 2: the roads?
17:21
Speaker 3: No, sir.
17:22
Speaker 2: It's still a mystery to me. All right. I'm on
17:23
Speaker 2: my way in a recon car. Hold everything till I
17:26
Speaker 2: get there. Cadet Edmonds reporting, sir.
17:42
Speaker 1: Three platoons of cadet engineers standing by with tumblebug motorcycles.
17:45
Speaker 2: Are they armed?
17:45
Speaker 1: Pistols and tear gases, order.
17:46
Speaker 3: All right, good.
17:47
Speaker 1: Assistant Supervisor Van Cleek is calling you on circuit nine.
17:50
Speaker 2: Well, it's about time. Cut me in.
17:51
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
17:54
Speaker 2: Hello, Van.
17:54
Speaker 3: Where are you?
17:55
Speaker 2: Sacramento, officer. Sacramento, that's good. Report. In a picture, I... What?
18:02
Speaker 7: I'm not your deputy anymore, Gaines.
18:04
Speaker 2: Van, what are you talking about?
18:05
Speaker 7: Don't interrupt me and you'll find out.
18:07
Speaker 2: It's true, Gaines.
18:08
Speaker 7: I've been picked as director of the engineer's control committee.
18:11
Speaker 7: We're taking over.
18:12
Speaker 2: Have you gone off your rotor?
18:14
Speaker 7: It can't start.
18:14
Speaker 2: Strip 20 until I'm ready to let you.
18:16
Speaker 7: Van!
18:17
Speaker 2: I can stop the whole road if I have to. Van,
18:18
Speaker 2: Van Creek, I'll call in the army.
18:20
Speaker 7: How do you get them here if the roads aren't rolling, eh?
18:23
Speaker 2: Listen, Gaines. Whoever controls the roads controls the country. And
18:27
Speaker 2: right now, that happens to be me.
18:29
Speaker 7: Sign off, Gaines.
18:30
Speaker 2: I've got to call the White House.
18:32
Speaker 7: You behave yourself.
18:33
Speaker 5: You won't get hurt.
18:36
Speaker 2: I don't believe it, sir. He's got us, Edmonds. If
18:38
Speaker 2: we go in and blast him out, he may wreck
18:40
Speaker 2: the road. What's your rolling tonnage now? Fifty-three percent on
18:43
Speaker 2: the evening peak, sir. How about strip 20? Almost evacuated.
18:48
Speaker 2: Listen in on this, Davidson.
18:49
Speaker 4: Standing by, Chief.
18:51
Speaker 2: I'm going down inside with these cadets. We're going to
18:55
Speaker 2: work north, overcoming any resistance that we may meet. The
18:58
Speaker 2: watch technicians and maintenance crews are to follow behind us.
19:01
Speaker 2: Each rotor, as they come to it, is to be
19:03
Speaker 2: cut out from under Sacramento's control, then hooked into the
19:06
Speaker 2: Stockton control board. You understand?
19:08
Speaker 3: Got it.
19:09
Speaker 6: Jack.
19:09
Speaker 2: If it works right, we can move control of Sacramento's
19:12
Speaker 2: sector right out from under Van's feet. He can stay
19:14
Speaker 2: in his office there until he's hungry enough to be reasonable. Edmunds,
19:18
Speaker 2: get me a pistol. Mr. Gaines, there's a man here,
19:20
Speaker 2: and he's badly hurt. He wants to see you. Take
19:22
Speaker 2: care of him. I haven't got time to... He's from
19:24
Speaker 2: Sacramento's sector. What? Send him in here. Mr.
19:27
Speaker 5: Gaines.
19:28
Speaker 2: Mr.
19:29
Speaker 5: Gaines.
19:29
Speaker 2: Take it easy. Mr.
19:31
Speaker 3: Gaines.
19:32
Speaker 2: You're Harvey from the mechanics.
19:34
Speaker 5: I tried to warn you. I tried to get away.
19:37
Speaker 5: You shot me three times.
19:39
Speaker 2: Get a doctor, will you? All right, now. Easy, easy, Harvey. Harvey,
19:45
Speaker 2: how long has this been building up? Isn't the man.
19:50
Speaker 5: I told them they were crazy. Told them the roads
19:53
Speaker 5: got a rope. And when I tried to get away...
19:56
Speaker 5: Easy now.
19:57
Speaker 2: Reading from the mouth.
19:58
Speaker 3: Harvey? Harvey? Can you hear me? He's dead, Mr.
20:01
Speaker 2: Gaines.
20:02
Speaker 3: Come on, Edmunds.
20:09
Speaker 2: We better move. All right, you men. You saw Harvey
20:18
Speaker 2: brought in. How many of you want a chance to
20:21
Speaker 2: kill the louse that did it? All right, men. Anybody
20:26
Speaker 2: who hasn't got his mind on his job will be
20:27
Speaker 2: in the way. Now, here's the order. We move north,
20:31
Speaker 2: mounted on tumble bugs. We're going to try to regain
20:34
Speaker 2: control rotor by rotor before Sacramento sector knows what we're moving. Now,
20:39
Speaker 2: we've got to capture any watch personnel we run on
20:42
Speaker 2: before they can get word back. You understand? Man surprises vital.
20:47
Speaker 2: Use tear gas when possible. Shoot only when necessary. But
20:52
Speaker 2: get them before they can reach your phone, Jack. Any questions?
20:57
Speaker 3: No?
20:58
Speaker 2: Then move out. What's the score, Edmonds? Thirty-three prisoners so far.
21:15
Speaker 5: No one killed.
21:16
Speaker 2: For years, since I rode one of these tumble bugs,
21:19
Speaker 2: I've forgotten how to steer it. There's a man ahead.
21:22
Speaker 3: There at the rotor base.
21:23
Speaker 2: He's got a phone, Jack. Hurry. If he gets word back,
21:26
Speaker 2: we're sunk. I don't think he's seen us. I'll dismount
21:29
Speaker 2: and get him.
21:29
Speaker 3: All right, Edmonds.
21:32
Speaker 2: Halt! We're out of fire! Come here, you. He's got
21:35
Speaker 2: a gun. I got him, sir. I got him.
21:38
Speaker 3: Grab his gun.
21:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, he had an intercom jacked in, all right. If
21:43
Speaker 2: he's got through to Sacramento office, it's going to be tough.
21:45
Speaker 2: I don't know, sir. Maybe he'll get the call through.
21:47
Speaker 3: Listen.
21:49
Speaker 2: The road. Take off your noise filter. There. There's a road.
21:55
Speaker 2: The road is stopping. Hold your men. Hold. Hold up there.
21:58
Speaker 2: Hold up. Edmunds, there's a recon car coming up. Relay
22:06
Speaker 2: station call for Mr.
22:07
Speaker 3: Gaines and the recon speaker.
22:08
Speaker 2: Give it to me. Here you are, sir. Gaines here.
22:12
Speaker 2: Davidson here, Chief. Van Cleek's calling you. Who stopped the road?
22:15
Speaker 2: He did. Oh, he did, did he? All right, cut
22:18
Speaker 2: Van Cleek into me.
22:19
Speaker 7: You thought I was fooling, eh, Gaines?
22:25
Speaker 2: What do you think now? All right, Van, the road
22:27
Speaker 2: has stopped. You've won this trick.
22:30
Speaker 7: Then why don't you get smart and give up?
22:32
Speaker 2: You can't win. You forgot something, Van. You can't lick
22:35
Speaker 2: the whole country.
22:36
Speaker 5: Yeah? Again?
22:39
Speaker 7: I've got a switch button in my hand. If I
22:41
Speaker 7: push it, it'll blow 300 yards straight across the road.
22:46
Speaker 7: And then, for good measure, I'll take an axe and
22:48
Speaker 7: wreck the control station before I leave.
22:50
Speaker 2: That's pretty drastic, Van. Yeah?
22:53
Speaker 7: If I blow this church in the middle of Sacramento's sector, it'll.
22:56
Speaker 2: Get an awful lot of people.
22:58
Speaker 7: There are plenty of shopkeepers still on Strip 20... That
23:01
Speaker 7: wrong apartment house will let.
23:02
Speaker 2: The wrong go. Now, look, Van, you don't want to
23:04
Speaker 2: blow the road, neither do I. Suppose, Van, I come
23:07
Speaker 2: up to your headquarters and we talk this over. Two
23:10
Speaker 2: reasonable men ought to be able to make a settlement.
23:12
Speaker 2: Is there some kind of a trick? I'll come alone, unarmed.
23:17
Speaker 2: My men will stay here. All right. All right, Gaines.
23:22
Speaker 2: But one wrong move and I blow the road. All right.
23:32
Speaker 2: We've got to hurry, Dave. If I take too long,
23:34
Speaker 2: Van Cleek will get edgy and set off that charge.
23:37
Speaker 2: I can't understand it. The psych tests are rigid. We've
23:40
Speaker 2: never had a failure in the Humwadworth-Burton method. Then suddenly
23:44
Speaker 2: a whole sector goes sour. How could Van Cleek get
23:47
Speaker 2: a whole crew of psych-cleared men to revolt? It's easy, Dave.
23:50
Speaker 2: As my deputy, he was ex-officio personnel officer for the
23:53
Speaker 2: whole road. He must have been faking psych records for years,
23:57
Speaker 2: transferring maladjusted men into his sect. I've got that personnel record, Mr.
24:01
Speaker 3: Gaines.
24:02
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. This is Van's record here. Masked, introvert,
24:06
Speaker 2: inferiority rating seven on comment. In spite of potential instability
24:10
Speaker 2: shown on Wadsworth Curve, this officer is especially adept in
24:14
Speaker 2: handling men. He's adept, all right. I haven't got time
24:18
Speaker 2: for any more, Dave. Chief, are you actually going up
24:20
Speaker 2: there to Van Cleek's office? I've got to.
24:23
Speaker 3: They'll be armed.
24:24
Speaker 2: They'll kill you. I'm going to take that chance. Why
24:27
Speaker 2: don't you call in the army? He won't dare blow
24:29
Speaker 2: the road then. Yes, he would. Look at that psych
24:31
Speaker 2: record there. He's putting up a big brave front, but
24:35
Speaker 2: he's rotten inside. He wants to be taken seriously. He
24:38
Speaker 2: wants everybody to think he's the most dangerous man in
24:40
Speaker 2: this country. If I call the army in, he'll try
24:43
Speaker 2: to prove it by blowing the road. But how can
24:45
Speaker 2: you stop him, Mr.
24:46
Speaker 3: Gaines?
24:47
Speaker 2: He'll have a gun. What'll you have? What'll I have?
24:51
Speaker 2: Only a prayer. And what I know about Mr. Van Cleek....
25:05
Speaker 3: All right, Gaines.
25:06
Speaker 2: Director Van Cleek will see you now. Gaines, I want
25:13
Speaker 2: you to sign this now.
25:14
Speaker 6: The Declaration of Your Recognition of the Engineers Control Committee.
25:18
Speaker 6: You've got one minute to sign it, Gaines, or I'll...
25:21
Speaker 6: I'll push this button and blow up.
25:23
Speaker 2: The whole sector. You'd better sign, Gaines. You need this
25:28
Speaker 2: gorilla with the gun, Van?
25:29
Speaker 5: Why, you.
25:29
Speaker 2: Can't you handle one unarmed man alone? But he's rotten.
25:33
Speaker 2: All right, Harry, out.
25:35
Speaker 5: Out, out.
25:35
Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. All right. I'll sign. What's so funny? You are.
25:52
Speaker 2: You are, man. You start a revolution because you think
25:55
Speaker 2: the engineers should control the road. And when you've got control,
25:58
Speaker 2: the only thing you can think of to do is
26:00
Speaker 2: to blow it up. That's kind of silly, isn't it?
26:03
Speaker 2: Tell me, what you so scared? I'm not scared. Yeah,
26:06
Speaker 2: sitting there sweating all over that push button that you're holding.
26:08
Speaker 2: If your buddies knew how afraid you were, they'd probably
26:11
Speaker 2: throw you into the road. I'm not afraid. You're afraid
26:13
Speaker 2: of me right now, Van. You're afraid I'll have you
26:16
Speaker 2: on the carpet. You're afraid the cadets won't salute you.
26:18
Speaker 2: You're afraid that they're laughing at you behind your back. No, no, no,
26:21
Speaker 2: I'm not. You keep quiet. Now, I've got a gun here. Yeah,
26:23
Speaker 2: you're afraid of using the wrong fork at dinner. You're
26:25
Speaker 2: afraid people are looking at you, Van, laughing at you.
26:27
Speaker 2: I am not.
26:28
Speaker 3: I am not.
26:29
Speaker 2: You dirty, stuck-up snob. Just because you went to a
26:32
Speaker 2: high-hat school, you think you're better than everybody, huh? You
26:35
Speaker 2: and your crummy little gold-brained cadets. Van, you're a pathetic
26:37
Speaker 2: little shrimp. I understand you perfectly, Van. You're a third-rader.
26:43
Speaker 2: All your life, you've been afraid that someone would send
26:45
Speaker 2: you to the foot of the class, so you're right
26:47
Speaker 2: out on your ear where you belong. I don't want
26:49
Speaker 2: to look at you anymore. You young... I'll show you.
26:52
Speaker 2: I'll put a bullet in you. Put down that pop
26:53
Speaker 2: gun before you hurt yourself. Don't you come near me now.
26:56
Speaker 2: Don't you come near... I'll shoot. I'll shoot now. Give
26:58
Speaker 2: me that, Vern. Let me go, will you?
27:02
Speaker 3: Give me that pistol.
27:06
Speaker 2: I thought if I wounded your little ego, you'd forget
27:08
Speaker 2: to push that button and pull a trigger instead. I'm
27:10
Speaker 2: afraid you'll never make a good executive, Van. They have
27:13
Speaker 2: to know when to punch buttons. Davidson. Gaines here.
27:22
Speaker 3: Chief, are you all right?
27:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm all right. Tack now, Davidson. Mop up. I'll
27:28
Speaker 2: hold the control room. I've got Van Cleek. I think
27:32
Speaker 2: his little revolution is just about over.
27:35
Speaker 3: Van Cleek. Mr.
27:46
Speaker 2: Gaines. Mr. Gaines. Oh, Mr. Evans, I forgot about you.
27:50
Speaker 2: I've been waiting at the sector office. Is everything under control? Yes,
27:53
Speaker 2: all's rolling. Those are the watch engineers going under to
27:57
Speaker 2: check Sacramento's sector inch by inch now. Remarkable organization. Remarkable.
28:01
Speaker 2: Thank you. Oh, he's in chief. San Diego Circle rolling. Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton. Stockton. Stockton, all.
28:09
Speaker 5: Oh, no.
28:09
Speaker 2: What's the matter, Chief? Trouble, Mr.
28:11
Speaker 5: Gaines?
28:11
Speaker 2: There sure is. I promised to meet my wife at
28:13
Speaker 2: Stockton for a show. She's been waiting there since 9
28:16
Speaker 2: o'clock last night. Oh, dear me. Dave, see if you
28:19
Speaker 2: can get her for me. Try the sector office. All right, Chief. And, Dave,
28:23
Speaker 2: see if you can calm her down. Oh, sure, Chief, sure.
28:26
Speaker 2: I'll tell her the road must roll. No, no, don't
28:29
Speaker 2: tell her that. I don't think she'd appreciate that. She's
28:31
Speaker 2: heard it too often.
28:33
Speaker 3: Well, I'd better get going.
28:35
Speaker 7: Bye, Dave.
28:36
Speaker 2: Keep them rolling.
28:59
Speaker 3: You have just heard another adventure into the unknown world
29:03
Speaker 3: of the future.
29:04
Speaker 2: The world of.
29:07
Speaker 3: Dimension X! Next week, the strange story of the test
29:18
Speaker 3: pilot who became the first man ever to invade outer
29:22
Speaker 3: space and of what he found when he got there.
29:27
Speaker 3: Listen next week to The Outer Limit. Tonight's adventure is
29:36
Speaker 3: in Dimension X. The Roads Must Roll was written by
29:39
Speaker 3: Robert Heinlein and adapted for radio by Ernest Canoy. Featured
29:43
Speaker 3: in the cast were Wendell Holmes as Gaines and Ralph Bell.
29:47
Speaker 2: As Van Cleek.
29:48
Speaker 3: Your host was Norman Rhodes. Music by Albert Berman. Engineer,
29:52
Speaker 3: Bill Chambers. Dimension X is produced by Van Woodward and
29:56
Speaker 3: directed by Edward King.
30:33
Speaker 1: You've just heard Dimension X, The Roads Must Roll. Good night,
30:37
Speaker 1: and thank you for joining us. Follow old-time sci-fi radio
30:41
Speaker 1: for more classic science fiction broadcasts.