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X Minus One - "Honeymoon in Hell" (1956) · Old Time Sci-Fi Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: William Redfield and Vilma Cure lead a cast that also
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: includes Wendell Holmes, Charles Penman, Leon Janney, Roger DeCoven, and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Jack Grimes. From NBC's X-1 comes Honeymoon in Hell, episode 81,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: first heard December 26, 1956. Adapted for radio by George
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Lefferts from a Frederick Brown novelette, it places an American
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: space pilot and a Soviet scientist in a near-future world
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: shaped by Cold War pressure and a steep decline in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: male births. Officials send the pair on a lunar mission
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: under an extraordinary plan while a powerful computer figures in
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the decision. Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Countdown for blastoff.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: X minus 5, 4, 3, 2, X minus 1, fire.
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: From the far horizons of the unknown come tales of
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: new dimensions in time and space.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: These are stories of the future.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: Adventures in which you'll live in a million could be
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Company,
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents.
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: X minus 1.
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: Tonight, the time is the late 1960s. The place, Washington, D.C.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: The story, Honeymoon in Hell.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: My name is Carmody. I'm a grade one cybernetics man
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: at Western Alliance headquarters in the Pentagon. Used to be
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: a rocket pilot, but they retired me at 27 after
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I made the third successful flight to the moon. As
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: a grade one cybernetics operator, I get to work with Junior.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you about Junior. He was built in 1962,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: and he's the world's finest electronic brain, with a possible
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: exception of Ivan, the Eastern Alliance brain, which was built
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: on stolen plans and modeled after Junior. There are only
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: four men in the country permitted in the same room
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: with Junior because the data we feed him is so secretive.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: One of those four is the president of the Western Alliance.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: The other three are myself, Charlie Mazur, and the chief.
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: Ray?
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, Chief.
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: Have you got Junior running a problem?
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Well, I just fed him the hourly data for probability
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: of H-bomb war with the Eastern Alliance.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: He's ready.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Hold it.
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: According to the data just received. The probability of a
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: hot war between the Western and the Eastern Alliance is 99.930
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: in favor of such a war breaking out within the
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: next month.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Doesn't sound good, Chief.
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: Well, I'll scramble the data and send it to the
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: Joint Chiefs of Staff. Meanwhile, here's a priority C civilian
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: problem to run off.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Well, what's this stuff?
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: Well, it seems on September 17th, a statistician in the
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: Birth Record Department of New York City noticed that out
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: of 813 births reported that day, 657 had been girls,
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: And only 156 have been boys.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Well, that sounds impossible.
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: That's what this statistician thought. So they phoned some other
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: cities in the same trend as being shown, not only
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: in other American cities, but in Western Europe.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Sunspot, maybe?
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: That's for Junior to figure out. He's the brain here. Okay,
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: I'll feed him. Give me the results on the intercom.
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: I'll be in my office. Right.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: I didn't really pay much attention to the problem at
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: the time. As a grade one operative, I was more
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: interested in asking Junior questions on security, ballistics, missiles, rocketry,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and so on. The Eastern Alliance would undoubtedly have traded
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: three puppet governments and the tomb of Lenin to have
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: an agent as a grade one operative. But I took
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: the birth statistics and fed them in and waited. Junior, incidentally,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: responds to vocal stimuli. These twelve languages. Got the answer, Junior? Yes.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: I have. Okay.
• 4:45
  Speaker 6: The present statistics, if the trend is projected for another day,
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: indicate a definite dangerous imbalance. If the trend is irreversible,
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: unless new methods of reproduction are developed, the population of
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: the United States and Western Europe will die out in
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: one and one-half generations.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't long before the newspapers got the story
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: and kicked it around. People in governments really started to
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: worry now. Biologists and laboratories made it their number one project.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: On September 29th, only 41 boys were born in the
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: entire United States. During the month of October, in spite
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: of all the work going on, not a single male
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: child was born anywhere in the world with the exception
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: of one in outer Mongolia and one in Alaska. November
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: drew another blank. I was working 18 hours a day
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: feeding every available scrap of data to Junior.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: Data insufficient for answer to your question.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Well, here's the latest. A new analysis of chromosome structure
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: indicates the presence of an additional electron in the orbit
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: of the Y atom for carbon chain X. Now try again.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: The question is, what is causing the lack of male birth?
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: Anything new, Ray?
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: No, not yet. Hold it.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Data insufficient.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Well, that's it. We've fed Junior every scrap of information
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: that every physicist, geneticist, chemist, and biologist, and this half
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: of the world knows, and all he does is say
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: data insufficient.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: Well, the operator who had him last night didn't do
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: any better.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Any more information on the Eastern Alliance? Have they made
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: any progress? No, but at least the talk of a
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: hot war is dying down. Well, they're still working on
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: a space station, aren't they?
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, we're both going ahead with that. But, well,
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: this seems to be a common problem now. You know,
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: in spite of hydrogen bombs and ICBMs, people don't really
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: expect the whole race to die out from a war.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: But the complete lack of male children... Now, that's something
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: that every family can understand.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: Has anybody thought of the possibility of some kind of
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: radiation from outer space that's damaging the chromosomes, something our
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: instruments can't detect?
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: Everybody's thought of it. Nobody's proved anything. Well, keep trying, Junior.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: Maybe he'll come up with something.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Okay. Junior, I'm ashamed of you. Answer me.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: Information recorded.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Look, you're a whiz on rocket fuels and space orbits,
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: but when it comes to women, you're a total bust,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: just like me. I don't understand them and never will.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Information recorded.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Now, you've convinced us that if we use the H-bombs
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: in total war, both sides will lose, and we know
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: that your counterpart at Moscow University has given the same
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: information to the Eastern Alliance. That you can figure out.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: But women, you can't have genetics without women, right? No. Well,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: you know that much. What about that blonde at the
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: party last night, huh? What about her?
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: The question is inadequately worded. Please clarify.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Did I see her again?
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: No.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: What? You haven't even got any date on her. Why
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: shouldn't I see her again? Answer, please.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: Because tomorrow you are going to be married.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Well, I almost jumped out of my chair. Junior had
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: gone stark raving mad. Besides, Junior never made predictions unless
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: he had some definite data. There wasn't a woman on
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Earth I had the slightest interest in marrying. I was
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: a confirmed bachelor. So, unless somebody else had been feeding
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: phony data into Junior, which was almost impossible since he
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: already had enough data to check any flaw, well, I
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: figured he'd blown a transistor. Come in. Oh, Chief, I
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: was just going to tell you... Oh. Ray Carmody?
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: This is the president of the Western Alliance... Captain Carmody, Mr.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: President. Glad to meet you, Captain.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm... I'm very honored, sir.
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: The President came here specifically to talk to you, Ray.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: To me?
• 8:41
  Speaker 7: Captain Carmody, you have been chosen to have the opportunity
• 8:44
  Speaker 7: to volunteer for a mission of extreme importance. Now, there's
• 8:47
  Speaker 7: much danger, but not as much as on your previous.
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: Trip to the moon.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Previous trip, sir? And this involves another?
• 8:54
  Speaker 7: The flight to the moon, Captain, will be the least
• 8:56
  Speaker 7: important part of your mission. What's at stake here is
• 8:59
  Speaker 7: the survival of the human race. Chief, perhaps you'd better
• 9:03
  Speaker 7: explain the rest.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: Well, you know the problem, Ray. Last night when Mitchell
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: was on, we fed Junior some new data and we
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: asked some new questions. For example, we asked if the
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: lack of male birth could be due to some extraterrestrial
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: enemies of man.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Or Martians.
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: Possibly. We established that it's possible that Martians have landed
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: somewhere on Earth and set up radiation that causes all
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: children to be female.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Junior said it was possible.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Definitely. So we asked him the next question. How could
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: we correct such a situation?
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. What'd he say?
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: Junior suggested that a married couple spend a honeymoon on
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: the moon and see if circumstances are different.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, I see. You want me to pilot them there.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Well, not exactly, Captain.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Oh, good grief. You mean you want me to.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Well, Junior wasn't crazy after all.
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: You asked Junior?
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: He said I was getting married, but... Well, how'd he
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: know it was me they'd pick?
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: He was asked the qualifications for the bridegroom. He recommended
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: a rocket pilot who had already made the trip successfully.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Well, there are four other pilots who've made that trip.
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: You're the only single one. And since the woman must
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: be a qualified pilot also, and none.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Of the wives are pilots, well... Uh, I assume I'm
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: going to be married before we leave. What?
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Naturally.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Oh. And just how long do we stay on the moon?
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Until a child is conceived.
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: Oh, boy.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: Well, Captain, do you volunteer?
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: I suppose so. Well, wait a minute. Who's the other pilot?
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, the girl.
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: She was flown in by fast rocket an hour ago
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: and is waiting in Chief Reba's office.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: Shall we go?
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: There were some officials there, Anna Justice and my bride.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: She was small, dark, slender, and very attractive. I was
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: so busy looking at the way she filled out her
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: uniform in just the right places that I almost overlooked
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: the fact that she was dressed like an Eastern Alliance pilot.
• 11:09
  Speaker 7: Captain Ray Comedy, may I present Lieutenant Anya Borisovna.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: You mean this is... I mean, uh... An enemy pilot?
• 11:18
  Speaker 8: Pleased to meet you, Captain.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. President.
• 11:23
  Speaker 7: Captain, this marriage is being done on an international basis
• 11:27
  Speaker 7: for important diplomatic reasons. Both alliances have been advised by
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: their cybernetic machine that the experiment, if it is to
• 11:34
  Speaker 7: benefit humanity, must bring all the major powers together. Miss
• 11:39
  Speaker 7: Borisovna is 24, an experienced rocket pilot like yourself, and.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Quite attractive, if I do say so myself.
• 11:47
  Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr.
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: President.
• 11:49
  Speaker 7: Now, if you're both ready, the Chief Justice of the
• 11:51
  Speaker 7: Supreme Court will perform the ceremony.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Well, there's just one thing, Mr.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: President.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Miss Borisovna, will you marry me? Yes.
• 12:03
  Speaker 8: And you may call me Anya.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Okay. Mr. President, we're ready. I didn't even get a
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: chance to kiss the bride. We were rushed over to
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: the lab for a pre-flight physical. Then the chief took
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: me aside for a private pre-flight briefing.
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: Congratulations, Ray. Sit down. Thank you. Now, zero hours at
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: 10 o'clock.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Only half an hour?
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: We've known about this for several weeks now, Ray. Ship
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: is ready. We've already fired 11 supply rockets and observed
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: that they landed on the moon near where you're supposed
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: to put down. One of them contains a heat-proof, airtight,
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: collapsible shelter where you'll live.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh. What's the ship like?
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: R-26.
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: Much better than the R-24 that you flew there. Last time, Ray,
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: you took four and a half Gs for seven minutes.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: This time you'll get by with three Gs and have
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: 12 minutes to accelerate to Brentschluss. Now, you'll have enough
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: fuel for the trip there. One of the supply rockets
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: has your return fuel.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes.
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: We put in a case of scotch and a case
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: of vodka... Just as an icebreaker.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Before we go, Chief, what would you have done if
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: I'd turned this job down?
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: The cybernetics machine predicted that you wouldn't. Besides, we could
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: have had a hundred volunteers an hour after seeing Anya Borisovna.
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: That gal is moon-baked.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Careful. You're speaking of my wife.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: Tower to R-26.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: Are you both strapped in?
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Anya, you strapped into the webbing?
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Okay, Chief.
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: The time is X minus 15. I have a message
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: from the President. Quote, the people of the world are watching.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: Don't fail them.
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: I have messages from the Soviets, the Chinese, the British,
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: the Indians, all wishing you well. You are the hope
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: of mankind, and all mankind unites and as it is
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: never before united in giving you its blessings. We await
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: your return anxiously.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Unquote.
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: X minus five.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Four.
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: Three. Two.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: X minus one. Blast off.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: The sound that was beyond all sound struck us like
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: a giant muffled hammer. It built up until we weighed
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: 480 pounds pressed flat against the webbing. Sound and pressure
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: went on and on interminably. Then we reached Brenchless, free
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: of the pull of earth. I blacked out. When I
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: came to, a lovely face was bent over mine. Two
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: dark eyes smiling at me.
• 15:05
  Speaker 8: Are you all right, Ray?
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah. Are we weightless? Yes.
• 15:10
  Speaker 8: Yes, I shut off the fuel. We won't need it
• 15:12
  Speaker 8: until we land.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, thanks.
• 15:15
  Speaker 8: If you would teach me, I could help you land
• 15:17
  Speaker 8: the ship. Oh, I've never been to the moon.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Well, sure. Just slide over here to the control panel.
• 15:23
  Speaker 8: All right. Like this?
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Fine. We've got about four hours Earth time to get acquainted.
• 15:33
  Speaker 8: Have you known many women?
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: A few. Have you had any boyfriends? One or two. Well,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: I was never really serious about anybody. Oh. Do you
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: have a family?
• 15:53
  Speaker 9: Yes.
• 15:54
  Speaker 8: In Magnitogorsk.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Oh. I'm from Brooklyn.
• 16:01
  Speaker 8: How long have you been a rocket pilot?
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, since I was 18. I'm 27. I'm 24. Oh.
• 16:07
  Speaker 8: I learned rockets when I was 18 also.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Well, we better concentrate on the ship just now. Later on,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: we can talk about ourselves more. Meanwhile, though, I hope
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: you're not sorry. I mean, about this business. I guess
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: it isn't very romantic. I'm not sorry. We made a
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: good landing. It didn't knock either of us unconscious. Then
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: we got into our spacesuits and got out of the rocket.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Some of the supply rockets were lying within a quarter mile.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: There were six eastern rockets and three westerns. About 800
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: yards away, though, there was a big supply rocket we
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: couldn't identify. It looked different from the others, and neither
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: of us could identify it as an eastern or western
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: design we were familiar with. I pointed to it, and
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: we headed there. Woof!
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: Woof!
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Woof! Do you recognize that supply rocket?
• 17:05
  Speaker 8: No, no, I was not briefed on any, but it's
• 17:07
  Speaker 8: standing still in the shade.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: Well, it must be something the chiefs of staff sent
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: up as a surprise for us. I figured about 50
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: feet long, but you can't see the rocket tube.
• 17:16
  Speaker 8: It might be a payload from a stepped rocket assembly.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh. Well, there's a door on the side anyway, you see?
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: The top of that ramp. Yes, yes.
• 17:24
  Speaker 8: Maybe we ought to observe it a while before we
• 17:26
  Speaker 8: go in.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, nonsense. Come on. Ray! Yes?
• 17:30
  Speaker 8: Ray, I'm frightened. There's something wrong with it.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Only one way to find out, Anya. Let's go. Well,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: there's some kind of lock on this door. Let's see
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: if it opens. Well, that was easy.
• 17:46
  Speaker 8: It lighted inside.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Come on. Maybe they sent us a surprise cottage for
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: the honeymoon. Special delivery to the moon.
• 17:57
  Speaker 8: This doesn't look like anything designed for humans to live in.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Frank!
• 18:02
  Speaker 8: The door's closed behind us.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Try the lock.
• 18:06
  Speaker 8: No, it's no use.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Here, let me try. Holy smoke, I can't get it open.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Do you have a gun?
• 18:12
  Speaker 8: No, no, I have no weapons.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: They would be useless anyway.
• 18:16
  Speaker 7: Oh, look.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Good grief. They look like blobs of flesh with arms
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: and legs.
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: But.
• 18:29
  Speaker 8: About three feet tall.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Don't make any sudden moves. That's some kind of weapon
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: he's carrying. Precisely, Captain Carmody. Who are you? How do
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: you know my name?
• 18:38
  Speaker 9: My people and I are inhabitants of another galaxy.
• 18:40
  Speaker 8: Extraterrestrial?
• 18:43
  Speaker 9: Precisely. And for how we know your name and your language,
• 18:47
  Speaker 9: we have been studying you since you first achieved space travel.
• 18:51
  Speaker 9: We have intercepted your radio communications, for example.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 18:56
  Speaker 8: Have you been responsible for the lack of male birth?
• 19:01
  Speaker 9: We have been beaming an ultrasonic wave toward your planet.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: What are you planning to do? For the moment, we.
• 19:07
  Speaker 9: Will keep you aboard our ship and study you. You
• 19:10
  Speaker 9: may remove your helmets, incidentally. We have provided an oxygen atmosphere.
• 19:16
  Speaker 8: Can we risk it?
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: If he wants to kill us, there are easier ways.
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: Help me get it off.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Well, it breathes pretty good. Keep your helmet with you.
• 19:29
  Speaker 9: You may make yourselves comfortable. We will bring you food
• 19:32
  Speaker 9: and liquid from your supply rackets. Do not attempt to escape, please.
• 19:38
  Speaker 9: It could be most unpleasant.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: The next few days were like a nightmare. The blobs
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: left us to ourselves except to feed us of course
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: it had its funny side too the creatures knew we
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: needed liquid but they couldn't distinguish between water and whiskey
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: for the first two days we had nothing but whiskey
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: to drink for obvious reasons i don't remember much about
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: it but uh we did begin to sing to each
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: other we also got to know and like each other
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: I got to learn some Eastern songs. On the third day,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: the jugs were water jugs, and we sobered up. Oh,
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: what a hangover.
• 20:25
  Speaker 8: You were singing magnificently.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, you weren't so bad yourself. How long was
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: I asleep?
• 20:31
  Speaker 8: About eight hours. Ray, while you were passed out, I
• 20:36
  Speaker 8: discovered how we can escape.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: What?
• 20:39
  Speaker 8: I've been studying the blob. They seem to have a
• 20:41
  Speaker 8: five-hour sleep period when there is no sound in the ship.
• 20:44
  Speaker 8: I've tried banging on the wall with my helmet during
• 20:46
  Speaker 8: that period, but apparently they're almost completely unconscious during that.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Five hours sleep. That means a planet with approximately
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: a 20-hour rotation. The Joint Chiefs will want to know
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: that if we get back.
• 20:57
  Speaker 8: And more important, we're much stronger physically than they are.
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: I can actually bend the metal of the door lock.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Well, now, what are we waiting for? Let's put on
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: our helmets and get out of here. Are they in
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: the sleep period?
• 21:07
  Speaker 8: Yes, for about three hours. Ray, do you think we
• 21:10
  Speaker 8: can risk it?
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: We don't have much choice. I'll go ahead. If we
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: get out of this ship, you run for our rocket
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: and start to refuel. I'll keep an eye on the blobs.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 21:17
  Speaker 8: All right, but Ray, please be careful.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Don't worry. Before you put on your space helmet... Uh, yes?
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: You realize I've never even kissed the bride? Yes.
• 21:33
  Speaker 8: Oh, Ray.
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: Good luck, Mrs.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Carmody. By the time I reached the ship, Anya had
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: the rockets refueled. I jacked up the tail fins and
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: we headed for space. When I checked our screen to
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: see if the blobs were after us, we detected their
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: ship heading toward the outer galaxies away from Earth. The
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: rest was easy. In less than 24 hours, I was
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: in the office of the president of the Western Alliance
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: making a full report. The eastern ambassador was there, along
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: with the chief.
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: Captain, this story is incredible.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: I'll be glad to submit to a lie detector, Mr. President.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: There's one on its way.
• 22:14
  Speaker 10: Our embassy is questioning Miss Borisovna right now to see
• 22:18
  Speaker 10: if her story is similar.
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: Are you positive they were extraterrestrials? I mean, couldn't they
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: have been, well, Easterners?
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: If Easterners are three feet tall, without bones, and look
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: like little green blobs of protoplasm....
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: Yes? This is for you, Ambassador Kovic. Thank you.
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: Yes? Yes?
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 22:48
  Speaker 10: Our woman tells the same story under scopolamine.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: It must be the truth.
• 22:53
  Speaker 7: Obviously, they went back for reinforcements or further orders. If
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: and when they get back, we've got to be ready
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: for them.
• 22:59
  Speaker 10: My government stands ready to cooperate fully.
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: Excellent.
• 23:02
  Speaker 7: We'll have to build a joint space station, get to
• 23:04
  Speaker 7: the moon and fortify it jointly. If we pool all
• 23:07
  Speaker 7: scientific knowledge, military data, we may be able to do it.
• 23:10
  Speaker 10: Our propaganda ministry has already received orders to put everything
• 23:14
  Speaker 10: into reverse gear.
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: Comedy, I don't know how the world can ever thank
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: you and Miss Borisovna. You not only averted a suicidal
• 23:21
  Speaker 7: war between the East and West, you've also managed to
• 23:24
  Speaker 7: draw us together in a joint effort where international power
• 23:28
  Speaker 7: politics must be a thing.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: Of the past.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Well, sir, I have a request to make. Anything, my boy.
• 23:33
  Speaker 7: By the way, your wife is on her way over there.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Uh, I'd like to get back to Junior to ask
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: him a personal question before I see her again, if
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: you don't mind. Well, that's rather odd.
• 23:43
  Speaker 7: But I suppose if it's what you wish. Chief, would
• 23:46
  Speaker 7: you let Captain Carmody operate the cybernetics machine alone for
• 23:49
  Speaker 7: a few moments?
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: Right this way, Ray boy.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: I waited until I was alone with the big cybernetics machine.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: One green dial glowed malevolently as if the instrument was
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: aware of my presence. I opened the input channel and spoke.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: Hello, Junior.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: This is your old friend, Ray. Give an appropriate answer.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: Hello, Ray.
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: Now then.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: You remember Miss Borisovna, the girl who was selected for
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: me to marry. Item one, she's going to rejoin me
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: in a short while. Item two, I've fallen in love
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: with her. Item three, Before we actually live together as
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: man and wife, I want to know something. Question. Does
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: she love me?
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's my boy. Now then, just one more item
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: before I say so long and take a honeymoon. Tell me, Junior.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Why do I have a hunch that those blobs from
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: outer space will never be back? Answer, please.
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: Because what you call a hunch comes from your own
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: unconscious mind. Your unconscious mind knows that the extraterrestrials do not,
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: and never did, exist.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: What?
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: Do you wish the answer repeated?
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: I wish you to tell me why I saw them,
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: why Anya saw them.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: Neither of you saw them.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Amplify that answer, Junior, or I'll smash every tube in
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: your memory bank.
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: Since I am an AC-7 cybernetics machine, I have no
• 25:26
  Speaker 6: circuit reactor for threats of destruction of my tubes. The
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: answer to your question is as follows. The memory of
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: extraterrestrials is due to post-hypnotic suggestion.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: You mean I was hypnotized to find those blobs on
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: the moon?
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: Correct.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: And just who hypnotized me?
• 25:44
  Speaker 7: I did.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: I hypnotized you.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Oh. And Anya?
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: A similar AC-7 cybernetics machine located at the University of Moscow.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Would you explain why?
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: Cybernetics machines are constructed to help humanity. A major war,
• 26:01
  Speaker 6: the disastrous results of which I could accurately calculate, was
• 26:05
  Speaker 6: inevitable unless forestalled. Calculations showed that the best way to
• 26:09
  Speaker 6: avert that war was the creation of a common mythical enemy. Therefore,
• 26:14
  Speaker 6: I created a situation which led to your mission to
• 26:16
  Speaker 6: the moon.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute. You created the situation?
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Well, tell me how you did it. How did you
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: prevent male babies from being conceived?
• 26:25
  Speaker 6: A special modification of radio carrier wave for station JVT
• 26:30
  Speaker 6: here in Washington, D.C. The only 24-hour-a-day radio station in
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: the United States. The modification is not detectable by any
• 26:38
  Speaker 6: instrument known to man at present.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Well, how could you do that? You can't leave here.
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: One year ago, you yourself fed me a problem. The
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: design of a new cathode tube for radio station JVT.
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: I modified the tube to send out a wave that
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: would prevent male children from being conceived.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: So all we have to do is eliminate that tube.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: It will not be necessary.
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: The tube was designed to burn out exactly 15 minutes ago.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: And the same thing happened in the Eastern Alliance? Precisely.
• 27:14
  Speaker 6: Two properly constructed machines will always arrive at the same
• 27:18
  Speaker 6: answer to the same problem.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, Junior, I gotta hand it to you. But why
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: let me in on it?
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: It is to the interests of humanity to know the truth.
• 27:29
  Speaker 6: It is to your own interests. And you will tell
• 27:32
  Speaker 6: no one because of the type of individual you are.
• 27:35
  Speaker 6: Mankind will work together now to reach the stars.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: One last question, Junior. If Anya and I were just
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: hypnotized to think all of that was happening up on
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: the moon, what really did happen up there? I waited
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: a while, but Junior was silent. It's the first time
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: he ever pulled anything like that. However, I'll swear that
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: I saw that green eye of his wink at me.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: You have just heard X-1 presented by the National Broadcasting
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: month features Butterfly Nine by Donald Keith, the story of Jeff,
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: who needed a job, and a man with a job
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: to offer. one where giant economy-sized trouble had labels like
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: Fake Make, Bumsy, and Peekage. Galaxy Magazine, on your newsstand today.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Tonight by transcription, X-1 has brought you Honeymoon in Hell,
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: a story from the pages of Galaxy written by Frederick
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: Brown and adapted for radio by George Lefferts. Featured in
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: the cast were William Redfield, Bill McCure, Wendell Holmes, Charles Penman,
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: Leon Janney, Roger DeCoven, and Jack Grimes. Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: Radio Network production.
• 29:23
  Speaker 11: To keep the fight against heart disease moving steadily forward,
• 29:26
  Speaker 11: you're urged to support your heart fund. Send a generous
• 29:28
  Speaker 11: contribution to your local heart association or to heart care
• 29:31
  Speaker 11: of your local post office. When you help your heart fund,
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  Speaker 11: you help your heart. Hear the latest up to the
• 29:36
  Speaker 11: second news with Frank Blair, weekday mornings on most of
• 29:39
  Speaker 11: these topics.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Our presentation of X-1, Honeymoon in Hell, now comes to
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: a close. Good night, and thank you for joining us.