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X Minus One - "Student Body" (Old Time Radio, 1956) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ernest Kenoy adapted F.L. Wallace's story for NBC Radio with
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Bob Maurer directing. On Glade, a newly settled human colony world,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: biologist Dan O'Marron is called in when the settlers' supplies
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: begin to disappear. The first clues point towards small native animals,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: but Marron finds himself confronting a larger question. How does
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: life survive on a world still unfamiliar to its human arrivals?
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Bob Hastings, Charles Carruth, James Dukas, James Stevens, John Rady,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Kate Wilkinson, and Meryl E. Joles are heard in X-1,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Episode 62, Student Body. First broadcast July 31st, 1956. And now,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: our story begins.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Countdown for blastoff. X minus 5, 4, 3, 2, X
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: minus 1, fire. From the far horizons of the unknown
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: These are stories of the future.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Adventures in which you'll live in a million could be
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Company,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents X minus 1. Tonight,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Student Body by F.L. Wallace.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Our story in one minute.
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: Girl.
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: Boy. Moon.
• 2:12
  Speaker 6: June.
• 2:13
  Speaker 5: Ring.
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: Wedding.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Home.
• 2:14
  Speaker 7: Money.
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: Baby.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: Money.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Education.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Money.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Retirement.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Money.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Solution.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: United States Savings Bonds. There's a smart couple.
• 2:23
  Speaker 8: They're looking to the future.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: They know how important it is to plan for the
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: future now with savings bonds. Yes, the plans you make
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: today will determine what kind of tomorrow you have.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: Are you a student?
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Are you a young married couple?
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: Are you approaching the golden years?
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Whatever your age, whatever your situation, savings bonds can be
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: a big help in making your tomorrow secure and happy.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: Plan wisely.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Buy savings bonds regularly where you work or where you bank.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: They're a good investment. you're saving your money and you're
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: earning more. Series E bonds pay 3% interest compounded twice
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: a year when the bonds are held to maturity. And
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: savings bonds are as safe and sound as America itself.
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: What's more, they're protected against loss or theft.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: For the big things in your life, be ready with
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: United States Savings Bonds. And now, Student Body by F.L.
• 3:12
  Speaker 6: Wallace.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Emergency report to Central Colonial Service. Subject, Planet 7G63 Glade. Reporting,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Dano Marin. Special assignment from Biological Control. Report consisting of
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: standard universal tapes and special recorded comment. First segment, landing
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: day plus one. 6 a.m. sidereal mean time. Voices on tape, myself,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: colonial executive Shep Hafner, and Athil, a female member of
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: our crew.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Tape commencing.
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: Watch your step on the ramp, Baron. It's tilted.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes, I will, I will. All right, where are
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: these people?
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: Over there a few hundred feet beneath that tree.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: Well, come on, then.
• 4:15
  Speaker 7: You know, I'm going to have to note on the
• 4:17
  Speaker 7: log that you cleared the planet for colonization as of
• 4:20
  Speaker 7: last night.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: I understand.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: I'm taping this now for my records. I take full
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: responsibility for the safety of this planet.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: But wait until you see this.
• 4:31
  Speaker 8: Here we are.
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: Now, do you see there? In the clearing beneath that tree? What?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Good Lord, they haven't a stitch of clothes on. None
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: of them.
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: That's just what I told you.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Are they all right? They're not.
• 4:44
  Speaker 7: No, no.
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: No, they're just asleep. You can see them breathing.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: Look here, Hatt. Now, who gave them permission to sleep
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: out here in the open?
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: Shh, don't wake them yet.
• 4:54
  Speaker 7: I gave them permission, Marin. They've been cooped up in
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: that ship for over six months. They wanted to sleep outside.
• 5:01
  Speaker 7: And in view of your clearance, I couldn't see any
• 5:03
  Speaker 7: reason to refuse permission.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I know, I know. You were within your rights. But
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: the clothing, why, they don't even have blankets.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: They did have when they bedded down last night. Some
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: of them even use the standard issue sleeping bag.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: Well, then what happened to them?
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: There are 13 people sleeping around that tree and they're
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: stark naked, all of them.
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: Last night you told me there was nothing dangerous on Glade.
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: Do you still think so?
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: I know so. I have a complete biological survey.
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: Does your survey account for anything like this?
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: You know it doesn't.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: That's what I thought. Okay. Now you've seen it for yourself.
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: Let's wake them up and get them back to the ship.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: No, wait. You better wake them one at a time.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: This will be embarrassing enough for them.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: As it is.
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: Yes, I suppose you're right.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: I will wake the nearest one first.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: That's Ethel, our lab technician.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: Yes, well, here, take my jacket. Cover her with it
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: before you wake her.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: All right. Wake up, Ethel.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: All right, Ethel, wake up. It's Executive Hatton.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: What?
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: Oh, what is it? I am sorry, Ethel. Something has happened.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: My clothes!
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: My blanket, everything's gone.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: Now, now, be careful. Don't wake the others.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, the others. Why, good heavens, they're all that way.
• 6:18
  Speaker 7: Ethel, you'll just go back to your cabin on the ship.
• 6:21
  Speaker 7: Everything is all right. We'll explain it to you when
• 6:23
  Speaker 7: we have the others safely back.
• 6:25
  Speaker 8: Well, I feel so foolish.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: How could this happen?
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: What's the meaning of this?
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Now, just get back to the ship. Your clothes back
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: there are perfectly safe.
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: Yes, it's all right.
• 6:36
  Speaker 8: Well, thank you.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: You told her we'd explain it later, Hafner. Do you
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: think we can?
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: That's your job, isn't it?
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: This planet is as new to me as it is
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: to you.
• 6:51
  Speaker 8: You're the biologist.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: What destroyed their clothing?
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: It would have to be something that could destroy both
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: blankets and clothing without waking the people.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: Nocturnal insects?
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Ordinarily, I'd say that was a distinct possibility if it
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: weren't for the fact that our surveys show no evidence
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: whatsoever of any such insects on Glade.
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: Your survey could have missed them, couldn't it?
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Not if they existed in any great quantity.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Besides, if insects were the answer, there should be some
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: kind of evidence of them right here in the area
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: where Ethel was lying. Certainly one or two of them
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: would be crushed when she rolled over in her sleep.
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: Well, that sounds reasonable.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: Now look for yourself.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: There's absolutely no sign of anything at all here.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: Well, what about some chemical, some vapor oozing from the ground?
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: No chance at all. I'd rule that out completely.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Then what?
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: Well, there's the tree itself.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I suppose it could exude some sort of a chemical
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: that might dissolve cloth, but I can check that in
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: the lab.
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: Well, we'd better arouse the rest of these people and
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: get them back to the ship.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Wait, wait.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: What?
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: What is it?
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: Why, it's some kind of an animal. Just caught a
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: glimpse through there.
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: Ah, there he is.
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you see behind that bush?
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: Looks almost like a chipmunk.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: Yes, and he's feeding on something. Why, it looks like a.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: Piece of cloth. Marin, do you think that... Shh.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: He doesn't hear us. I'll just ease up to him now. Closer. Closer.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: You got it.
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: Oh, work it.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: You, you little devil.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Watch out, Marin.
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: He's got sharp teeth.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: You're telling me. Easy there, boy. Easy there. You like
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: to have your head stroked? Sure you do. That's the boy.
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: He's calming down.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, look at that.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: He's nestling in the crook of my arm, almost like
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: a kitten.
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: Almost. Marin, I hope you don't mind short sleeves.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: What do you mean?
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: He's already eaten half the sleeve off your shirt. I
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: think we've found the answer to our problem.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: The animal was a small furry mammal resembling an earth-type rodent.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Its overall length is 14 centimeters, weight 512 grams.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Fur is stringy and.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Sparse, color a light beige, indicating no particular protective coloring.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: The animal was placed in a special cage in a
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: biological laboratory aboard ship for further study.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Next tape, landing date plus two.
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: Can we exterminate it?
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: Ah, that's quite a job.
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: How about locally?
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: Hardly. It's ecologically basic.
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: Look, Marin, you're from biological control.
• 9:30
  Speaker 8: I've just got an executive's rating.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: Well, look, you know how control works.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: They send a survey ship over and record the neural
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: currents of the animals. They get everything that has a brain,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: including insects, and they take a few specimens to check
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: the patterns.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Now, here's the report on Glade.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: The survey shows that this animal is one of only
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: four species of mammals on the planet.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: It is also the most numerous.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: So if we kill them off here, others will swarm
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: in from other areas.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's about it. Probably millions of them around the planet.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Of course, if you want to put a barrier across
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: the connection to the mainland, you might be able to
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: wipe them out locally.
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: Look, Marin, I've got a tight schedule. I can't spare
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: dirt-moving equipment for that. By the way, what do they eat?
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Well, as far as I can see, anything. Insects, fruit, berries.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: You could call it an omnivore. Now that our clothing
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: is handy, it eats.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: That, too.
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: I thought our clothing was supposed to be vermin-proof.
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: It is.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: On 27 planets, on the 28th, we met up with
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: a little fellow that has better digestive fluids, that's all.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: He's eating a leather belt right now.
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: Are they likely to bother the crops we plant?
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: They shouldn't, but Dan and I would have said the
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: same thing about our clothing.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: All right, Marin, you worry about the crops. Find some
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: way to keep them out of the fields.
• 10:45
  Speaker 7: Meanwhile, everyone sleeps inside the ship until we can build dormitories.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Biological examination of Omnivorae posed this question. Why only four
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: species of mammals on Glade? No reptiles and only a
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: few birds. On all comparable planets, a large variety of species.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Nearest Earth parallel, fossil remains from the late Carboniferous show
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: creatures like the Omnivora. But on Glade, there appears to
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: be no further evolution. Next tape segment, L plus 22. Place,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: temporary warehouse, quartermaster, crone, and myself.
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: There you are, Mr.
• 11:24
  Speaker 8: Marin.
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: They've got in every seat, sack, and barrel in this
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: part of the warehouse.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Well, what makes you think it's mice?
• 11:29
  Speaker 6: Look, I've worked in drain elevators for 30 years in Kansas.
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: Look the way that sack is gnawed. And look over there.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: Droppings. Well, it's not exactly... I know, I know.
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: So they're mice-like. I want to know how to get
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: rid of them.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Have you tried poison?
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: You tell me what poison to use, and I'll use it.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: They got into a hundred pound sack of arsenic and
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: went through it like it was whipped cream.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: Well, how did they get in? It's a fused dirt floor,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: isn't it?
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: It should be pest tight. But see, there are cracks
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: along here. They must have burrowed through. They were loose
• 11:57
  Speaker 6: in here and we don't have time to build another warehouse.
• 11:59
  Speaker 6: They've got to be controlled here.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: Well, catch me a few of them alive and I'll
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: see what I can do.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Next morning, a dozen live specimens of mice-like mammals were
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: delivered to the lab. No two of them were affected
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: by the same poison, and the poison developed to control
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: the omnivora was completely ineffective. Alternate discussed with Executive Hafner
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: and Machinist Tully of Computer Engineering. Next tape, L plus 24. Hafner, Tully,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: and myself.
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: I tried it out yesterday, Mr.
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: Hafner.
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: I think I've got all the bugs licked now.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Tully, I don't want any more metal used than is necessary.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: This isn't standard authorized equipment. You're not dealing with a
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: standard authorized problem. Are you ready to activate the device?
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: Sure thing. Here, help me get it down from this
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: assembly bench down on the floor.
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: There you go, kitty. Now, what do you think of her?
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: A robot cat.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: I still think we need at least three of them.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Mr. Marin, inventory on colonial expeditions is always short. One
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: will have to do.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: All right, Tully.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Show us how this mechanical mouse catcher operates.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: You'd better get out of the way, Mr.
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: Marin.
• 13:09
  Speaker 9: If you've touched any of the mice in the lab,
• 13:10
  Speaker 9: she'll go for you.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: She reacts to smell as well as sight and sound.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: All right, Tully.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Start it up.
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: All right, Kitty, go ahead and have a good time.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: She moves like a cat.
• 13:27
  Speaker 9: You know, I wouldn't bet a plug nickel on any
• 13:29
  Speaker 9: mouse in the same warehouse with that baby.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Robot cat device proved relatively successful in warehouse one. Rodent
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: damage held below danger margin. Next tape, L plus 37. Tully, Hafner,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: and myself.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: I can't salvage it, Mr. Hathaway. Just look at that.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: That skeleton was chrome steel. Now it's bent.
• 13:53
  Speaker 9: The skin was duroplastic. And now it's cut to ribbons.
• 13:56
  Speaker 9: The computer parts are all smashed to bits.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: How do you account for it, Tully?
• 14:00
  Speaker 9: Well, look around the poor thing. You had me build
• 14:03
  Speaker 9: it for mice. These things weren't mice. They're a good
• 14:06
  Speaker 9: foot long. They just outnumbered him, that's all.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: You examined these dead animals, man?
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Not closely.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Well, you'll find your mice have grown. They ganged up
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: on that cat.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: There aren't supposed to be any rats on Glade, are there?
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Well, there weren't supposed to be any mice either. What
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: are you going to do?
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: We'll have to build another warehouse. Two foot thick fused floors.
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute, Mr. Halfman. To do that, we'll have
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: to stop all other construction. The Atomic General... Why not.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: Build more robot cats?
• 14:34
  Speaker 7: You weren't here when we opened the doors, Marin. A
• 14:38
  Speaker 7: warehouse was swarming with rats. Tell me, how many robot
• 14:42
  Speaker 7: cats would we need?
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: Five?
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Fifteen?
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: We don't have enough parts to build more than three.
• 14:47
  Speaker 7: If we need more than that, we'll have to rob
• 14:48
  Speaker 7: the computer and the spaceship. And that's one thing I
• 14:50
  Speaker 7: refuse to do. The spaceship is our only link with
• 14:54
  Speaker 7: Earth until the next wave in two years. All right,
• 14:57
  Speaker 7: then I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll floodlight the
• 15:00
  Speaker 7: supplies at night. We'll post the guard with half-charged rifles
• 15:03
  Speaker 7: until we can move to the new warehouse. That'll take
• 15:06
  Speaker 7: about ten days. Meanwhile, our fast crops are ripening. It's
• 15:11
  Speaker 7: my guess that the rats will turn to that for food. Now,
• 15:14
  Speaker 7: in order to protect our future food supplies, you'll have
• 15:16
  Speaker 7: to activate your cold storage animals, Marin.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Mr. Hafner, it's against regulations to release any cold storage
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: animals on a planet until after a complete investigation.
• 15:24
  Speaker 7: That takes 10 to 20 years.
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: This is an emergency.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I don't want to be responsible for another rabbit-infested Australia
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: or that planet in the Centauri system that the snails
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: took over.
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: Marin, I'll take the responsibility. You're recording now, aren't you?
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 15:37
  Speaker 9: All right.
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: If that isn't authorization enough, I'll put it in writing.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Well, a beast I've got for this job won't be
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: any good against rats this size.
• 15:44
  Speaker 8: You've got hormones.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: Use them.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: Dead rats were gathered and frozen for further study. Observed animals,
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: a wide variation in size. Internally, a lack of uniformity
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: in organs. Some specimens had huge fangs and delicate jaws.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: Others had tiny teeth and massive bone structure. Obviously, the
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: most scrambled species ever encountered by a biologist. Reproductive cells
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: were especially baffling. Proceeding with hormone treatment on cold storage
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: earth animals. Next tape, L plus 39. Lab technician, Athil,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: and myself.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: First one is coming out of it, Mr.
• 16:27
  Speaker 9: Marin.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, that makes 85% viability. That's not bad. All right, fella,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: now take it easy, take it easy.
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: Oh, he's a cute little fella.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: But he's tough. That's a wire-haired terrier. They're small, but
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: they've been used for ratters since the Middle Ages.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: Do you think he's nearly ready for the hormone course?
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: I think so. All right, first pituitary injection.
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: Ready.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: All right, now, this is going to hurt just a
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: little fella. Oh, that's a dirty trick, isn't it, jabbing
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: you with a needle when you're fresh out of a
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: deep freeze?
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: But don't you worry, fella. You'll be glad you had it.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: You'll stand a better chance against those rats when we
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: work you up to about a Great Dane size.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: L plus 50.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Artificially enlarged terriers loosed in the fields of the fast crops.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Following tape, field observation of terriers. Executor Hapner and myself.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: How long have they been at it, Marin?
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: Since daybreak. I had to bring the dogs in at
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: night and shoot them full of antibiotics.
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: Will the dogs last?
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: Well, this crop will be harvested in about a week.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: We'll make that.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: And there'll be two weeks to rest up before the
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: next fast crop shows above ground.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: I think we've got the rats licked for a while.
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: Well, when you get a chance, you might ask some
• 17:47
  Speaker 7: of those PhDs in Central how they happened to hand
• 17:50
  Speaker 7: us a survey and forgot to give us a few
• 17:53
  Speaker 7: details like mice and rats.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: I've been checking on that, Mr. Hafner. I don't think
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: there's any doubt. When that survey was made before we landed,
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: there weren't any mice and rats on Glade.
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: Then where did they come from?
• 18:02
  Speaker 8: How did they get here?
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: I don't know. But we're going to have to find out.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Research project on pseudomice and pseudorats interrupted by field trip
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: with biological survey officer Whitehead. Tape L plus 63 infield
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: geological survey vehicle.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Whitehead and myself.
• 18:24
  Speaker 8: You think you got troubles? Can you read a sonar map? No. Here, look.
• 18:29
  Speaker 8: See this scope? It reads straight down about 10 miles.
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: I'm supposed to be out looking for oil shale, but
• 18:34
  Speaker 6: I got kind of interested in this.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Look.
• 18:37
  Speaker 8: First few feet down, you can find fossils.
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: After the first few feet, that's about 20,000 years, there
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: are no fossils until.
• 18:45
  Speaker 8: You get way down here.
• 18:46
  Speaker 6: That's about the same as Lake Carboniferous on Earth.
• 18:50
  Speaker 8: Then you get the fossils again. It doesn't figure.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: But isn't that usual? Changes in geological eras?
• 18:58
  Speaker 8: You don't get it, man. I'm not talking about eras.
• 19:00
  Speaker 8: I'm talking about years.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Straight down from here, 20,000 years ago, this was a desert.
• 19:06
  Speaker 8: And then three years later, it was a jungle.
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: Five years after that, there was a glacier.
• 19:12
  Speaker 8: Earth normal would be 50,000 years or more for a
• 19:15
  Speaker 8: change like that.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: What caused it?
• 19:17
  Speaker 8: You've got me.
• 19:18
  Speaker 6: Fluctuations in the sun, I don't know, but Talk about
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: changeable weather.
• 19:23
  Speaker 8: This planet really has it.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Based on accumulated data, theory developed regarding mammalian life on
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: planet Glade. Tape L plus 65. Place temporary headquarters of
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: Executive Hafner.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: Marin, I've got a lot of work to clear.
• 19:41
  Speaker 8: Up this morning.
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: I thought you might.
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: Like to know where the mice came from. They don't
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: bother us anymore.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: I have also determined the origin of the rats.
• 19:49
  Speaker 8: They're under control.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: I wonder if they.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Are, Mr.
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: Hafner.
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: What do you mean?
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Hafner, I've checked this with Whitehead. Between 100 million years
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: and 20,000 years ago, this planet was changing violently and quickly.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: The first change wiped out the dinosaur just the way
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: it did on Earth.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: But it kept on changing.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Desert, glacier, jungle, and all this within the lifespan of
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: a single animal. For one million years, this was the
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: norm of existence on Glade.
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: I've checked geological survey.
• 20:19
  Speaker 8: The planet is stable now.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Well, that's not what I'm getting at. The point is,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: survival was difficult. Only one species of mammals managed to
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: come through.
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: Now, wait a minute, Marin. There are four species, ranging
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: in size from a squirrel to a water buffalo.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: One species. They're the same.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: If the food supply for the largest animal increases, some
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: of the smaller so-called species just grow up. Conversely, if
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: the food becomes scarce in any category, the next generation,
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: which apparently can be produced almost instantly, switches to a
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: form which does have an adequate food supply.
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: The mice?
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: The mice weren't here when we got here. They were
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: born of the squirrel-sized omnivora.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: And the rats?
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Born of the next larger size. After all, we are environment, too,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: and they adapt to environment.
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: Let me get this straight.
• 21:07
  Speaker 8: The mutations.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: On Earth, it would be mutation. Here, it's merely normal evolution.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: These animals have no genes or chromosomes. I don't know
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: how they pass down heredity, but they react to external
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: conditions far faster than anything we've ever encountered.
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: Then we'll never be free from pests unless, of course,
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: we rid the planet of all animal life.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you mean with radioactive dust? That won't work. They've
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: survived worse.
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: Well, maybe we could leave the planet.
• 21:34
  Speaker 8: Leave it to the animals.
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: I could exercise authority under Clause 364.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: It's too late for that.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: What do you mean?
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: We sent back the specimen ship. The animals are on Earth, too.
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: But those specimens were in cages.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Yes, but the next generation would be small enough to
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: get out through the bars. They'll be running free in
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: the cargoes of the spaceships. They'll land on Earth, and
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: the first thing you know, a new mutation of rats
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: will appear. They won't have any reason to connect it
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: with the specimens from Glade.
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: They won't be able to vermin-proof every building on Earth.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: No, we've got to stay here. We've got to study
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: the animals here and find out how to beat them.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: If we can. Next tape, L plus 83. Place, field outpost.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Quartermaster Krohn, Hafner, and myself. I saw it, Mr.
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: Hafner. I saw it. Are you sure?
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: There.
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: You see that tree? No, no, the big one.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: The white flower?
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: That's the one.
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: I saw it behind there.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Can you describe it? Well, I didn't get a good.
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: That's it.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: That's what I heard.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: It sounds like a tiger.
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: I've heard them like that in India.
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: You watch. Right by that tree.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: Look out, look out.
• 22:43
  Speaker 8: It's heading this way. Give me that rifle.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Hurry up.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: Shoot.
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: Shoot. Try again.
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: I've got it.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: Come on.
• 22:52
  Speaker 8: Come on, let's take a look.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Now look out. It might be still alive.
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: No, no. I hit it square with that second charge.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: Devil, is it?
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: It's a good eight feet long.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: What do you make of it, Marin? Well, except for
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: the lack of markings, it closely resembles a tiger.
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: Look at those claws.
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: We chase the rats out of the warehouse. They go
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: to the fields. We hunt them down in the fields
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: with dogs and they breed tigers.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: Well, that's easier than rats. We can shoot tigers.
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: Wait a minute.
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: We've been here less than three months, Marin.
• 23:28
  Speaker 8: The dogs have been in the fields only two.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: And that tiger's mature. How do you account for that?
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: I am not sure, Mr.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Hafner, but I imagine if the survival factor is high,
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the young don't ever have to be young.
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: What?
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: They can be born as fully functioning adults. Development report.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Mice under control. Field rats under control by terriers. Tiger-like
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: animals under control with searchlight and rifle.
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: Additional complication.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: The original animal developed an appetite for electrical insulation. There
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: is no protection except to keep the power on at
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: all times. The last tiger-like animal was seen at L
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: plus 130.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: After that, the attack ceased.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: By L plus two years, the animal seemed to have
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: been controlled in all its forms. However, three months before
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: the next colonists would do, a new animal was detected.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Food was missing from the fields. Dogs were useless. The
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: animals seemed to roam the fields and the dogs did
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: not attack. Patrols were unable to find the animal. Tape
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: L plus two years. Hafner, Engineer Tully, and myself.
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: Now here's the way I'm rigging it up, Mr.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Hafner.
• 24:46
  Speaker 9: Whatever it is, it spotted the photoelectric cell rig. So
• 24:51
  Speaker 9: I've worked up an alarm that reacts to body radiations.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: You're sure the animal won't spot that?
• 24:56
  Speaker 9: Well, I'm burying it in the field. Then we'll move
• 24:59
  Speaker 9: the visible alarms to another field.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: All right, Tully.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: As soon as the alarm goes off, notify Mr.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: Marin and me.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Do you understand?
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir. Just as soon as the alarm goes off.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: L2 plus 15. Radiation alarm sounded. Place field station.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: Hafner and myself.
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: Look out where you're walking, Marin. We don't want to
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: scare it away.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: There are dogs in that field, aren't there?
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: There were supposed to be, but they didn't bark.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Quiet.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: There it is.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: See?
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: See?
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: It's in between the rows.
• 25:35
  Speaker 8: Look out.
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: Look out.
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: Give me a clear shot.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: No, wait a minute. Don't shoot.
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: Look, Marin, I'm the executive here. I say it's dangerous.
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: Dangerous.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: That's why you can't shoot.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: It's more dangerous than you know.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Quiet.
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: Quiet.
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: It'll hear you.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: We're downwind. Now, listen, Hattner.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: This is important.
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: I don't want any lecture now, Marin. I don't want
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: to lose the shot.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: You've got to listen.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Animal could evolve mice. We stopped mice and it brought rats.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: We turned back the rat and provided the tiger.
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: All right, we stopped the tiger.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: Not really.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: There was another animal being formed. The one that's in
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: that field now. It took the animal two years to
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: create it. How, I don't know.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: A million years were required to evolve it on Earth.
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: He's moving away. Marin, I'm going to shoot.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: Don't shoot. We can't destroy the animal. It's on the
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Earth now and on other planets. We've never even been
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: able to get rid of our own rats. How can
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: we exterminate this animal?
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: All the more reason to start now. Get down and
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: give me a clear shot.
• 26:28
  Speaker 8: Listen.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Are their rats better than ours? Will their beasts win
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: or ours be stronger? Or will the two make peace, unite,
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: and interbreed?
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: It's not impossible.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: This animal could do it if interbreeding had a high
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: survival factor. Don't you see? After the tiger, they bred
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: this thing. If we shoot it down, what will come next?
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Look at it, standing erect. opposable thumbs, binocular vision, a
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: large brain capacity. This one I think we can compete with.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: It's the one after this that I don't.
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: Want to face.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Maren.
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: Maren, it must hear us. It's looking this way.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: Look at it, Hathner.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: He's holding his hands up to show us he's got
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: no weapon. Drop your rifle.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: Are you sure?
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: Drop your rifle.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: He's coming this way.
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: He's got one of those white blossoms in his hand.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Must be a sign of peace.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: Wait.
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: It looks almost like a man. I wonder what's inside
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: that body.
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: I wonder what's inside that head.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: You have just heard X-1 presented by the National Broadcasting
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: month features Verbal Agreement by Arthur Sellings, the story of
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: an unsuccessful poet who was forced to ask what it
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: was the aliens could want that was half as precious
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: as the skins they wouldn't sell. Galaxy Magazine, on your
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: newsstand today. Tonight by transcription, X-1 has brought you Student Body...
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: A story from the pages of Galaxy written by F.L.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Wallace and adapted for radio by Ernest Canoy. Featured in
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the cast were John Raby, Bob Hastings, Kate Wilkinson, James Stevens,
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: Charles Carruth, and Meryl E.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: Joels. Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: X-1 was directed by Bob Maurer and is an NBC
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Radio Network production. Suppose you met a man in a
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: tavern and he told you quite seriously that he wasn't
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: a man at all, that he was the last Martian
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: left alive. Well, that's what happens to a newspaper reporter
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: next week when he is sent out on what appears
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: to be a routine crank story. What happens next, though,
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: is very far from routine as the interview leads to
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: a whole succession of astonishing events. The story is The
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: Last Martian by Frederick Brown, next week on X-Minus One.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: The Fisher Body Awards to Teenagers will be made tonight
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: on the NBC Radio Network.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: X-Minus One Student Body has concluded. Follow X-Minus One for
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: more classic broadcasts.