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X Minus One - "Sea Legs" (Old Time Radio, 1956) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: After years away from Earth, flight officer Robert Craig returns
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: to the planet where his parents were born and finds
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: that gravity is only the first adjustment he must make.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: His hoped-for homecoming soon becomes a struggle to find a
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: place in an unfamiliar, tightly regulated society and to secure
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: permission to leave it again. On May 1st, 1956, NBC's
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: X-1 presented Sea Legs, Episode 49, adapted by George Lefferts
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: from Frank Quattrocchi's 1951 galaxy science fiction novelette. William Redfield
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: plays Craig, with Ralph Bell and Charles Penman in the
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: supporting cast. Daniel Sutter directed the NBC production for producer
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: William Welch. Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Now stay tuned for X-1 on NBC.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Countdown for blastoff.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: X-5, 4, 3, 2, X-1, fire.
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: of new dimensions in time and space.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: These are stories of the future.
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: Adventures in which you'll live in a million could be
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Company,
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: X minus 1.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Tonight, the Frank Quatrochi story, Sea Legs.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: I stood in line at the Grav One desk with
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: the old Knox service record and tapes in my hand
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: and waited for the board processing clerk to speak. The
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: clerk seemed utterly indifferent to the excitement of the men
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: in the line. I wondered how long he'd been out
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: here on this godforsaken Zone 5 planet.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Next.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Next.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: Name? Robert Craig.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Occupation?
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: Flight officer.
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: Destination?
• 2:41
  Speaker 7: Earth.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: Earth?
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: Anything wrong with that?
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: I guess not. How long since you've been on Earth, Mr.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Craig?
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: Well, I've never been there. My parents left during the
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: second colonization of Cassiopeia. I was born there.
• 2:57
  Speaker 6: Have you ever been in a gravity system?
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: Just briefly.
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: Under drugs, of course.
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: You'll have to go through the gravity conditioning course.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, so I was told.
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: Proceed to the airlock chamber on your right and follow
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: the robot's orders. Good luck. You may need it.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Next.
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: I went into the chamber and stripped off my clothing
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: while the robot droned its orders.
• 3:17
  Speaker 8: Remove all metal objects from your person. Place them in
• 3:21
  Speaker 8: the plastic tube at your left. Now stand underneath the
• 3:27
  Speaker 8: decontamination tube. Depress the button with your right foot. This
• 3:36
  Speaker 8: is all. Proceed through the green door to the psychometric section.
• 3:40
  Speaker 8: Please respond quickly to orders, and so to not impede
• 3:44
  Speaker 8: the progress of others.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Next, please.
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: The door to the psychometric section led into a pleasant
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: but cold-looking room with a single metal desk. A man
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: with a balding high forehead sat behind the desk.
• 3:58
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 3:58
  Speaker 10: Craig, have a seat. I'm Captain Wyandotte, the psychological officer.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Nice to meet you.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Yes, well, let's see your records.
• 4:08
  Speaker 11: Hmm.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: You list your destination as terror. You're certain you wish
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: to go to Earth?
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Of course I'm certain.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: You're somewhat aggressive, Mr.
• 4:20
  Speaker 9: Craig.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: Look, I've been standing in line taking orders from clerks
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: and robots for six hours. Every time somebody sees that
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: I'm headed for Earth, I get the fish eye. Are
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: they jealous or what?
• 4:29
  Speaker 10: I hardly think so. You've been a spaceman for 16 years, Mr.
• 4:33
  Speaker 9: Craig.
• 4:34
  Speaker 10: You've been zooming around in the countergraph systems in the
• 4:37
  Speaker 10: outer galaxies without any restraints or self-discipline.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Have you ever spent six weeks strapped into a grav
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: seat on a space rocket, Captain? There's a good deal
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: of self-discipline involved in that.
• 4:47
  Speaker 10: I think you will find things on Terra require a
• 4:50
  Speaker 10: different kind of self-discipline, Mr.
• 4:52
  Speaker 9: Craig.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: I'm pretty much aware of what it's like.
• 4:55
  Speaker 10: Are you? I suppose you've heard all the popularizations in
• 5:00
  Speaker 10: the tapezines.
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: Well, Mr.
• 5:03
  Speaker 10: Craig, let me give you a word of caution. It's
• 5:06
  Speaker 10: going to be vastly different.
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: I'm prepared for that, Captain. Can we get going?
• 5:12
  Speaker 9: Naturally.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: You will undergo a 20-day conditioning course.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: 20 days?
• 5:16
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Craig, you've been in space 16 years.
• 5:19
  Speaker 10: Your body is conditioned to a normal state of free fall,
• 5:23
  Speaker 10: or at best, to acceleration. The return to gravity would
• 5:27
  Speaker 10: kill you if you weren't prepared for it.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: All right, what do I do?
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Report to centrifugal department. Here are your papers.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: Oh, and Mr.
• 5:34
  Speaker 9: Craig.
• 5:35
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Centrifugal is a rather trying ordeal.
• 5:40
  Speaker 10: If during the course of treatment you should change your
• 5:42
  Speaker 10: mind about returning to Earth, you're free to do so.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: Thanks.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: I won't.
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: I won't.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: I'd heard about centrifugal, but you can never really know
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: about these things until you experience them. Four times a day,
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: we were whirled around until it seemed as if our
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: insides were too big for our bodies. On the twelfth day,
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: it got to be too much for me. I was
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: in the base hospital for five days. My roommate was
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: an old space bomb they'd brought in to die with
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: a case of ruptured veins. His name was Charlie Brockman.
• 6:23
  Speaker 9: How you feel, son?
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: I'm pretty good, Charlie.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: You get discharged tomorrow, I hear. You gonna try it again?
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: I guess so.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 6:31
  Speaker 9: Hmm?
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: Only way I'll ever get to Earth.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: You really want to go?
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: You talk to anybody been there last 10 years or so?
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: No, you don't get to talk to many people from
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: Earth and the galaxies.
• 6:43
  Speaker 9: Were you ever there? Me?
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Now, what would an old space bum like me be
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: doing on Terra?
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: Well, I just thought maybe.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: I done most of my time in Zone 5. Out there,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: you get to thinking anybody who stays less than 80
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: light years from Earth is a landlubber.
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I used to think the same. Then I took
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: the exam for a job back on Earth, and I
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: passed it.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: I used to think I'd like to go back, but
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: space was exciting, you know. New and raw, it tugged
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: at your guts and it sent the blood rushing through
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: your veins.
• 7:10
  Speaker 9: But it was free.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: No bureaucrat ever lasted six months and grabbed five.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: I had enough hitting atmospheres all over the universe, old man.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're right. Lean over here, will you?
• 7:21
  Speaker 9: Sure.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Unbutton my pajama top, will you?
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: There's a chain around my neck. Got a little message
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: capsule on it.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, I got it.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Do me a favor, huh? Take it with you when
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: you go back to Terra. Don't open it till you're
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: on the ship.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: Okay, Charlie.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: And, son.
• 7:37
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I lied to you. I have been back to Terra.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: I faked some papers and made a landing there six
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: months ago.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: What are you doing back here?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: I had to leave in a hurry.
• 7:49
  Speaker 10: Why?
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: You'll find out, son.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: Good luck. Charlie died the next day. A few hours later,
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: I was visited by Captain Wyandotte, the psych officer.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: How are you feeling, Craig?
• 8:09
  Speaker 9: Okay.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: You still want to go back to Earth? Yes.
• 8:15
  Speaker 10: You're completely sure you want to live out your life
• 8:18
  Speaker 10: there to give up space service for it?
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: Look, we've gone through this, Captain. Now, you tell me
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: that spacemen don't settle down on Terra, yet you won't
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: or you can't tell me why. All right, what's the pitch?
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: Does the Space Service need men so badly that they
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: have to make it impossible for us to go back?
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: That, Mr. Craig, you will have to discover for yourself.
• 8:38
  Speaker 10: You have my authorization to complete your conditioning and return
• 8:41
  Speaker 10: to Earth as a private citizen.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I wish you luck. You'll need all you can get.
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: Somehow I managed to survive the torments for 18 days.
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: I was ready to return to Earth. A month later,
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: I descended from a huge intergalactic jet at Los Angeles Spaceport.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: I was dead tired from the trip. I checked in
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: at the nearest inexpensive hotel.
• 9:13
  Speaker 9: This is your room, sir.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: Just put the bags down, will you? I'll unpack myself.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir.
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: Just back from outer space, sir?
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right. How could you tell?
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: Sea legs.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: Sea legs? Well, the way you walk.
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: You can tell when somebody's been in the low-grav systems.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: Oh, uh... Oh, here. Oh, thanks, Mr.
• 9:34
  Speaker 9: Craig.
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: For another five units, I'll tell you where it is.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: Where what is? You know, the mic.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Mic?
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: Okay, make it three units.
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: I won't hold you up.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: You mean a microphone?
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
• 9:48
  Speaker 7: They wanted to put screens in, but the boss convinced
• 9:50
  Speaker 7: them there ain't any freedomites ever stay here.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: Freedomites?
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: Not so loud.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: You want to get controlled?
• 9:56
  Speaker 7: No. No.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: Here's the money.
• 9:58
  Speaker 9: Where is it?
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: It's in the bedroom.
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: Illuminator you can short it with a razor blade thanks
• 10:05
  Speaker 7: you uh want any sensation tapes what are they you
• 10:10
  Speaker 7: know metal image oh boy you've been away from terror
• 10:13
  Speaker 7: a long time wait.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: A minute before you go son yeah Where's the, uh,
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: minerals building? I have to report there for a job interview. Oh,
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: that's in the government cluster.
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: Fifth level at X and second.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Thanks. I'll want breakfast about eight o'clock.
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: Well, I'll need your ISS units.
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: My what? Your ration units. I don't have any ration units.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: You have your ident card? Look, I just got here
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: an hour ago.
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: Well, you better go see the civil control board tomorrow.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: If you want to eat, that is. All right, where
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: do I find the control board?
• 10:42
  Speaker 6: Government cluster. But don't worry.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: If you don't find them, they'll find you. I went
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: to sleep that night with the uneasy feeling that somebody
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: was watching me. It had been a weird day. I
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: hadn't exactly liked it. Well, I told myself it figured
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: that there'd be more formalities and rigmarole on Earth than
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: there were out in the systems, especially at first. Still,
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: I couldn't get the idea of the concealed microphone out
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: of my mind.
• 11:22
  Speaker 9: You may relax, Mr. Craig. You are Mr. Craig.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: Yes, Robert Craig.
• 11:28
  Speaker 9: You aren't nervous, are you?
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: No, no, no. This is my first time before the
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: control board. Well, it's my first time.
• 11:37
  Speaker 9: Flight officer.
• 11:40
  Speaker 11: Somewhat unusual for a vigorous young man like yourself abandoning
• 11:43
  Speaker 11: space service, isn't it?
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 11:46
  Speaker 10: Is it?
• 11:47
  Speaker 9: Leaving something behind, Mr. Craig?
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: No.
• 11:51
  Speaker 9: You don't like this sort of affair, do you, Mr. Craig?
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Well, I'm afraid I don't quite see its necessity. I
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: serve the intergalactic service well. My records prove it.
• 11:59
  Speaker 9: It's enough impertinence, Mr. Craig. Answer the questions. You are
• 12:04
  Speaker 9: a Terran? Yes. Where are your loyalties?
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: I don't understand.
• 12:10
  Speaker 9: Your first loyalties are to intergalactic, is that right?
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: Is there a distinction?
• 12:16
  Speaker 9: Do you wish to be held in contempt of this board?
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: Of course not.
• 12:20
  Speaker 11: Then you will confine your responses to simple yes answers.
• 12:24
  Speaker 9: Now, Mr. Craig, we shall begin again.
• 12:26
  Speaker 11: Please try to show restraint of emotion. You are here
• 12:32
  Speaker 11: to petition for an identity card of provisional code two type.
• 12:36
  Speaker 11: You maintain that you've never been on terror before. Indeed,
• 12:40
  Speaker 11: you state that you've never had a political affiliation.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 12:45
  Speaker 9: What are your reactions to the latest acts of the
• 12:47
  Speaker 9: Liberal Party?
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: I have none.
• 12:50
  Speaker 9: You do not condemn the Liberal Party? Well, I... Then
• 12:53
  Speaker 9: you must favor it.
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: I don't know anything about it.
• 12:58
  Speaker 9: Now then, Mr. Craig.
• 13:00
  Speaker 11: The import service report shows that you passed your test
• 13:03
  Speaker 11: aboard your ship. You were unable to accomplish this through
• 13:07
  Speaker 11: night study.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 13:09
  Speaker 11: Yet you maintain in your application that you had considered
• 13:12
  Speaker 11: the space service a career.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: I changed my mind.
• 13:17
  Speaker 9: Oh, you changed your mind.
• 13:19
  Speaker 7: I see.
• 13:20
  Speaker 11: I see, too, that you have petitioned the board for
• 13:23
  Speaker 11: a private means of conveyance. Why do you wish to
• 13:27
  Speaker 11: own your own transportation vehicle?
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: To make it easier to get around, I report to
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: my job and.
• 13:32
  Speaker 9: What job?
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: I pass the exam for the import service. I report today.
• 13:38
  Speaker 9: Where are you living, Mr. Craig?
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: At the Star Hotel.
• 13:42
  Speaker 9: Very well. You'll wait outside in the waiting room until
• 13:45
  Speaker 9: you're called again.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: I waited about two hours in the porcelainized waiting room
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: of the civil control board. Then I was called over
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: to the clerk's desk at a small window. He stamped
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: some cards for me.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Craig.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: Here.
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: Here's your stuff. Last one, provisional ident card. Sign it
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: and fingerprint it.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: Don't lose it.
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: If you do, you'll be picked up by the control agents.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: I petition for a class two card.
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: You'll get a class one.
• 14:16
  Speaker 12: This entitles you to maintain an apartment in the lower
• 14:18
  Speaker 12: level of the Beverly Project.
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: Here's your clothing ration. You'll have to turn in that
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: leather flight jacket.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute. I had this made on Chuan. Listen,
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: I can remove the insignia.
• 14:29
  Speaker 12: That is not the point. Your clothing ration is defined
• 14:31
  Speaker 12: by law. There are no exceptions. This is your food ration.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: What's all this... medical stuff on the card.
• 14:38
  Speaker 12: You are rationed fairly in accordance with your particular metabolism
• 14:42
  Speaker 12: oh you're kidding i do not kid mr craig what.
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: About a car i asked to be allowed to buy
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: a car.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: I see.
• 14:52
  Speaker 12: Your petition to be permitted to purchase a private means
• 14:54
  Speaker 12: of transportation is hereby.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: Denied I walked out of the control board feeling like
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: a man who has just come out of free fall
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: into a hypergravity system. Instead of reporting to the import
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: service for my initial job interview, I walked around the city.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: I don't know how long I walked, maybe an hour,
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: maybe two. After a while, I came to the outskirts
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: of old Los Angeles. There was a big fence around
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: it and the usual signs. Radioactivity.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: Beware.
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: With just a pile of rubble and twisted girders. I
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: looked at it for a while and then turned around
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: and headed for the Intergalactic Freight Office.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: So you figure you made a mistake.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right. You don't hear much about Terra out there.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: And you want me to sign you back into Intergalactic? Yes.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: You got any character references?
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: No, no, not here on Earth, but I can post
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: a good-sized bond if they'll release my ISS unit.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: What's your ratings?
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: I can handle anything up to 15 G's acceleration on
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: my old license.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: You got a Terran contract with import service, you said?
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: I haven't started work yet.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: Look, kid. Mr. Craig, is it? How long you been
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: on Earth? Two days. So you're a spaceman. Flight officer,
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: ex-flight officer.
• 16:19
  Speaker 8: You know how to navigate through four star zones and
• 16:22
  Speaker 8: the asteroid belt thrown in. You got a license for
• 16:24
  Speaker 8: 15 G's. Could get five more with a check flight.
• 16:28
  Speaker 8: You got enough brains to pass the import senior rooter's exam.
• 16:32
  Speaker 8: But you ain't got enough sense to come in out
• 16:34
  Speaker 8: of the rain. We get guys like you every day.
• 16:38
  Speaker 8: You're hot, you're big, you're raring to go. But you
• 16:41
  Speaker 8: ain't gone nowhere.
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: I'm listening.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: I don't know how you got here, Craig.
• 16:46
  Speaker 8: Maybe you did quit honorable, or maybe you went and
• 16:48
  Speaker 8: burned up a colony someplace.
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: That would be in my records.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: The point is, it don't make any difference. Nobody leaves
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Terra without a permit.
• 16:56
  Speaker 8: Nobody gets a permit to go back to space once
• 16:58
  Speaker 8: he hits this old apple.
• 16:59
  Speaker 12: Why not?
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: Are you afraid somebody will tell what it's like?
• 17:02
  Speaker 8: Oh, son, you got things to learn. One is you
• 17:06
  Speaker 8: don't go shooting off your mouth. Another is Terra's changed
• 17:10
  Speaker 8: a lot since the radioactive wars. We're going places, doing things.
• 17:15
  Speaker 8: Big places, big things. You've got to fit into that, kid.
• 17:20
  Speaker 8: Move with it.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: Stick around.
• 17:23
  Speaker 8: You still got your sea legs. You're gonna like it here.
• 17:27
  Speaker 8: You can make a quick dollar and spend it quick too.
• 17:30
  Speaker 8: But you'd better smarten up or you'll finish scrubbing radioactive
• 17:34
  Speaker 8: dust off girders.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: That's the story, huh?
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: The whole story?
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: That's it. Everything runs by a system. And son, you
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: can't fuck the system.
• 17:50
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: I don't suppose there's any place around here a guy
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: could get a quick drink.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, out at the end of Y Street. They
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: got a little place you can buy an Acadian Taz. Pluto,
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: as they call it.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Thanks.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, get it out of your system, then settle down.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: That's my advice.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: Thanks. So long.
• 18:10
  Speaker 8: Get me the control agent. He just left here. He's
• 18:14
  Speaker 8: on his way to the Pluto Cafe.
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: Hey, waiter. Waiter, bring me another drink for the young lady.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: Now then, where were we?
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't know.
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: In fact, I still don't know why you're buying me
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: free drinks. I told you, I want somebody to talk to. You,
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: a purist?
• 18:49
  Speaker 10: Maybe you don't like the brand of Sensation tapes they're
• 18:52
  Speaker 10: peddling these days.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: You know, you don't have a bad face, really, underneath
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: the makeup. I mean, it's a little crooked, but it
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: ain't bad, really. Thanks. Does me pretty good. What's your name?
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Gloria.
• 19:08
  Speaker 9: Oh, sure. Sure.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: Sure, I remember. Gloria.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: Maybe you had enough to drink.
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: No, no. No, not yet. You know, I look around,
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: I see all these people with their faces all froze
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: up like plastic. And I feel like I got to
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: know somebody, or I go out of my mind. So
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: what happens? Everybody is afraid. I mean, what happened? Whatever
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: happened to freedom? What's the matter? Did I say something?
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: Was everybody so quiet about it all of a sudden?
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 19:50
  Speaker 9: Come with me.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Well, who are you?
• 19:53
  Speaker 9: Control board agent.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Hey, I wasn't with him. Honestly, he just picked me
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: up and brought me a drink and started shooting off
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: his mouth. I wasn't with him.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Let's go, Mac.
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: Wait a minute.
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: What for?
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: You'll find that out.
• 20:04
  Speaker 9: Come on. On your feet.
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: Okay, okay. Keep your hands off. I'll go with you.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Everybody else just minds your own business. You, girlie.
• 20:18
  Speaker 8: Yeah?
• 20:19
  Speaker 13: Let's see your ident card.
• 20:22
  Speaker 7: Here.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: You live at this address?
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Alone?
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: With my.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: My sister.
• 20:34
  Speaker 13: Maybe some night she could go to a movie or something.
• 20:36
  Speaker 13: We could spend some time getting acquainted.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, sometimes.
• 20:42
  Speaker 9: Right, I'll call you.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Hey, I need my dent card back. I can't get
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: rations without it.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: I'll keep it.
• 20:49
  Speaker 13: Bring it back myself.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: Why does he give a girl her card?
• 20:54
  Speaker 13: Maybe you mind your own business. Let's go. You walk
• 20:59
  Speaker 13: just a little in front of me.
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: He was a big man. Maybe 250 pounds, and he
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: shuffled when he walked. He hit me right across the
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: right shoulder with a sort of rubber truncheon. Now it
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: began to ache. We were walking along a sort of
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: back street. Everywhere in the universe there were such streets.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: Streets where you could find freedom in anonymity. A compromise
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: between lawlessness and law. They are permitted by the authorities
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: because it is necessary to have a place for those
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: who are not permitted elsewhere.
• 21:38
  Speaker 9: Okay.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Step into the stowaway.
• 21:40
  Speaker 9: Hurry up, you fool.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: We're being followed.
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: We're being followed by who?
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: Don't ask questions.
• 21:44
  Speaker 9: Who's your toad?
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: Don't I have any rights? You've got the right to
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: get hit over the head unless you do what you're told. Now, quit.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: They're coming.
• 21:49
  Speaker 9: In here.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: Hurry.
• 21:51
  Speaker 9: Who are they shooting at? You or me?
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: Both of us.
• 21:53
  Speaker 13: Down these steps.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: Stop.
• 21:57
  Speaker 5: Stop or we'll fire.
• 21:59
  Speaker 9: Through this door.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: Now, duck behind that pillar. Don't make a sound.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: You see them?
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: Not a trace.
• 22:07
  Speaker 9: Come on, it probably slipped out.
• 22:11
  Speaker 13: Walk through the tunnel behind you.
• 22:14
  Speaker 9: One false move and you're finished. Go on.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: From the direction of the tunnel, I guessed it was
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: part of an old sewage system that led toward the
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: ruined city. I don't know how long we walked, maybe
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: an hour. Finally, we came to a small wooden door.
• 22:35
  Speaker 9: Stop here. Okay, let's have it.
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: What?
• 22:41
  Speaker 9: What?
• 22:42
  Speaker 6: Have what?
• 22:42
  Speaker 9: The tube.
• 22:43
  Speaker 13: I don't know what you mean. Our detectives picked it
• 22:46
  Speaker 13: up on you the minute you got off the plane.
• 22:48
  Speaker 13: You're carrying a radioactive message tube with a periodic emission signal.
• 22:52
  Speaker 13: I'll need to have it before we can go any further.
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: You mean the tube that old Charlie gave me?
• 22:58
  Speaker 9: Old Charlie?
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: Yes, Charlie Brockman. The old spaceman who was in the
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: hospital with me.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Where is it?
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I think it's in my pocket. I
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: never even bothered to open it.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Do it now.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Let me see.
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: Oh, here it is. Open it.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: It's empty.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 23:23
  Speaker 13: The message is in the tube itself. We identify our
• 23:27
  Speaker 13: people by the radioactive pattern.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: Our people?
• 23:32
  Speaker 9: You'll see.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: Come in.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Make it fast.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: It's the one?
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: This is the one. Has he been drugged? He's had P.O.N.,
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: a massive dose at the Pluto.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: Good.
• 23:48
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: Craig?
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: My name's Cocteau.
• 23:52
  Speaker 9: This is Mr.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Brannigan.
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: You're probably quite bewildered about all this. Let me clarify
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: the situation. You're now in the headquarters of the Freedomites,
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: underneath the radioactive part of old Los Angeles.
• 24:04
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Brannigan is not a control agent. He's one of our men.
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: We've been watching you ever since we detected the message
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: tube as your ship was approaching Earth.
• 24:13
  Speaker 9: Now, wait a minute.
• 24:14
  Speaker 11: You.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: You guys are freedomites?
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: You're pretty illegal, aren't you?
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: Let's say our lives aren't worth a snap of your
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: fingers if we're caught.
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: All right, who are you? Where are you from?
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Most of us are from the same place you're from,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: outer space.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: Many of us have the same history you have. We
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: shipped into Earth and became disillusioned and went to the
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: Intergalactic Freight Office to apply for a job. The man
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: at the office, the man who made the speech about
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: coming in out of the rain, is one of our agents.
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: Aren't you taking a chance telling me all this?
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Not at all.
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: At the Pluto, you were given a massive dose of P.O.N.
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: You won't remember anything that happened to you after the
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: drug hits you in an hour or so. It works
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: like a shock.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Everything will be repressed into the unconscious.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: Ah, I see.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: Very neat.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: It will exist in your unconscious, however.
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: Somewhere, because you're the kind of man you are, because
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: living in space has taught you the blessing of feeling free,
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: you'll be able to draw upon your unconscious knowledge when
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: you need to.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: And when will that be, Mr. Cocteau?
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: That depends on whether you decide to join us or not.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: Join you in what? I haven't the faintest idea of
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: what you're trying to do. For all I know, you're
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: a bunch of traitors. You know, I've heard this comes
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: the revolution stuff before.
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: My friend, you're woefully ignorant of our aims, as is
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: to be expected. We anticipate no revolution. We print no leaflets,
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: publish no newspaper, and we have no world plan for conquest.
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: The kind of totalitarian mind which subscribes to tight economic
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: systems like the ancient Marxism of the communists is abhorrent
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: to us. We're interested in only one thing, the preservation
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: of the idea of freedom. Our fear is that men
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: will forget what it's like.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: To feel free.
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: Well, how do you expect to accomplish this?
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: Our concepts are being kept alive in only one place
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: in the universe today.
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: Outer space?
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: On the frontiers of the universe. Where freedom is a
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: condition of life and growth.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: Suppose I join you. How can I help?
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: You're an experienced pilot. We have enough connections to do
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: some plastic surgery on your face... and get you a
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: position piloting a spaceship again. You'll remember nothing of your mission,
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: but you will remember that you have been back to Earth,
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: what it was like. You'll be able, carefully, of course,
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: to tell people, to help keep the idea of freedom alive.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Think it over carefully. You have 20 minutes before the
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: drug takes effect.
• 26:51
  Speaker 4: I don't need 20 minutes.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: I'll do it. Good.
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: In exactly 48 hours, you'll wake up in your hotel
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: bed with a new face... The identity card of a
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: man named Harold Janus. You'll not remember how you got
• 27:05
  Speaker 5: them or why, but you'll know what to do with
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: his identity. He is or was master navigator on the
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: Earth-Mars run.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Good luck, Mr.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: Craig.
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: I woke up in the hotel bed, feeling like a
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: man who has hung one on but good. I looked
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: into the mirror and I saw the face of another man.
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: I looked in my wallet and discovered that I was
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: Harold Janus, navigator for Intergalactic, holder of a license for
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: 15 Gs. I wondered where it came from, how I
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: got it, but I asked no questions. This license, this
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: ident card, meant freedom. I walked out of the hotel
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: feeling steady for the first time. I'd gotten my sea
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: legs at last.
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: You have just heard X-1 presented by the National Broadcasting
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: month features The Venus Trap by Evelyn E.
• 28:12
  Speaker 9: Smith.
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: One thing man never planned to take along into space
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: with him was the eternal triangle, especially a true blue
• 28:20
  Speaker 5: triangle like this one. Galaxy Magazine, on your newsstand today.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: Tonight by transcription, X-1 has brought you Sea Legs, a
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: story from the pages of Galaxy... Written by Frank Petrocchi
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: and adapted for radio by George Lefferts. Featured in the
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: cast were William Redfield, James Stevens, Stan Early, Charles Penman,
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: James Dukas, Richard Hamilton, Jack Orison, Jack Grimes, Craig McDonald,
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: Ralph Bell, Kermit Murdoch, and Frederica Chandler.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 28:51
  Speaker 5: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 28:54
  Speaker 5: Radio Network production. Hear Politics and Primaries, Dateline, Ohio and Indiana,
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: tonight on NBC Radio.
• 29:12
  Speaker 9: That was X-1, Sea Legs, first heard on May 1, 1956.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: Follow X-1 for more classic broadcasts.