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X Minus One - "The Reluctant Heroes" (1956) · Old Time Sci-Fi Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: At a remote base on the moon, a relief rotation
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: brings a difficult question for men whose service has stretched
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: far beyond its planned length. On December 19th, 1956, NBC
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: brought listeners episode 80 of X-1, The Reluctant Heroes, adapted
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: by Ernest Kenoy from a Frank M. Robinson story. Mandel
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Kramer heads a cast that includes Bob Hastings and Richard Hamilton,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: with Chapman, a veteran lunar crewman, at the center of
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the dispute over who will stay and who may return
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: to Earth. Daniel Sutter directed and William Welch produced. And now,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the original broadcast.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Countdown for blastoff.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: X minus 5, 4, 3, 2... X.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Minus one, fire.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: From the far horizons of the unknown come tales of
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a million
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: X minus 1.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Tonight, The Reluctant Heroes by Frank M. Robinson. Only Chapman
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: was awake.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: The others sprawled on bunks 20 inches wide with clearance
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: of 24 inches between layers.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: They breathed heavily, taking.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: An air that had been breathed for 18 months, subject
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: to certain modifications to remove carbon dioxide and replenish oxygen
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: by the catalytic action of the Harcourt King unit on
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: silicon dioxide. Outside the single portside port, the lunar dawn
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: was breaking. The dead black shadows moved across the crater
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: as the green haze of Earthlight gave way to the
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: blinding fight of the sun. The telegraph key, which linked
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: the research bunker to the space station in orbit around Earth,
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: chattered as Chapman copied the message into the log pad.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah. In a pig's eye. Miserable no good.
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: What do they want?
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: They want me to stay until the next relief ship lands.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Go back to sleep. It's my turn for breakfast.
• 3:28
  Speaker 6: Are you going to stay?
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Sure. Three years on the moon, they figure I'll be
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: glad to stay for more. Just raise my salary or
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: give me a bonus. Every man has his price. They
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: probably figure I like it here.
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: Chapman, you found a home here on the moon.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Sure. Canned coffee, canned beans, canned pills, and canned air
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: till your insides feel like they're plated with tin. The
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: little scientific home of tomorrow. Ten steps in any direction.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: A charming place where you can't take a shower, you
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: can't brush your teeth, and your insides don't even work right.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Why did you tell him?
• 3:58
  Speaker 7: No.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: You kept it short. Check the oxy cycle before you
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: turn on the stove.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: What's the matter?
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: You sore or something, Chapman?
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Why shouldn't I be? All I'm trying to do is
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: get a good man to stand a job a while longer. Well,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: they got a fat chance.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: They figure you found a home here, right, Doe?
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Why don't you guys shut up till morning? Some of
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: us have to stay here, you know.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Some of us aren't going back today.
• 4:18
  Speaker 8: All right, all right.
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: You might as well get up and get.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: A day's work today before the relief rockets do.
• 4:23
  Speaker 6: I got the coffee ready.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Coffee? Been in a can so long I can taste
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: the glue on the label. The End.
• 4:53
  Speaker 9: Oh, why don't they send up an oil can? These
• 4:56
  Speaker 9: elbow joints make me feel like the Tin Woodman.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: In The Wizard of Oz. You can't lubricate vacuum seal joinings.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Let it squeak. At least it doesn't leak air.
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: Get that back, that thug for me, will you, Donnelly?
• 5:07
  Speaker 9: Lean over, you fat slob. You put on three more pounds,
• 5:11
  Speaker 9: you won't get off the moon. You won't get through
• 5:12
  Speaker 9: the airlock.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 8: Hey, chap.
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: Do you think we ought to radio the space station
• 5:16
  Speaker 6: and see if they've left there yet?
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I talked to them on the last call. The relief
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: ship left 12 hours ago. They should get here in
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: about six and a half hours.
• 5:23
  Speaker 9: Chap, you know what I'm thinking? You've been here twice
• 5:26
  Speaker 9: as long as the rest of us. What's the first
• 5:28
  Speaker 9: thing you're going to do once you get back?
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I guess I was trying not to
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: think about that.
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: I haven't been here three years like you have, but
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: I've got plans. What are you going to do?
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to rent a room in a Hotel
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Astor over Times Square and just sit at the window
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: and watch the people on the street. And I think
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: I'll see somebody. Watch somebody? Oh, just somebody. What are
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: you going to do, Donnelly? Well, I'm going to do
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: something practical.
• 5:57
  Speaker 9: First of all, I'm going to turn over my geological
• 5:59
  Speaker 9: samples to the government.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Then I'm going to sell my life story to the movies.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: And I think I'll get drunk. How about you, Julius?
• 6:09
  Speaker 6: Well, first, I'll get rid of my allocations to the expedition.
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: Then I think I'll go home and see my wife.
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: Then I'll take off my spacesuit.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: I thought all members of the groups were supposed to
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: be single.
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: They are, and I can see the reasons for it.
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: But who could pass up the money the commission was paying?
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: If I had to do it all over again, me.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: He'd hand me a fishbowl.
• 6:33
  Speaker 9: You know, chap, it won't seem like the same old
• 6:35
  Speaker 9: moon without you on it. Like the Sandy Army, you
• 6:38
  Speaker 9: never had it so good. You found a home here.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: All right, button up. And remember to check your suits
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: for leaks and check the valves of your oxygen tanks.
• 6:45
  Speaker 9: I've gone out at least 500 times.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: You've checked me every time.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: And I'd check you 500 more. It only takes one mistake.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: And watch out for blisters under the pumice crust. You
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: go through one of those and that's it, brother. Okay, okay,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: I'll check. Klein, I never knew you were married.
• 7:04
  Speaker 6: There wasn't much sense in talking about it. You just
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: get to thinking and there's nothing you can do about it.
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: You talk about it, it just makes it worse. She
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: let you go without any fuss, hmm? No, she didn't
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: make any fuss. I don't think she'd like to see
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: me go either. At least, I hope she didn't.
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: You got a girl back home?
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Yes. Now, you never mentioned that either. For the same
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: reason you didn't mention your wife. You get to thinking
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: about it.
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: You got to get married when you get back?
• 7:31
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: Hurry up, will you, Klein? I'm sweating.
• 7:34
  Speaker 10: Come on.
• 7:34
  Speaker 11: Nobody ought to build in underarm sprays and spacesuits.
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: Chap, why does somebody have to stay here for stopover?
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Lots of reasons. You can't get a whole relief crew
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: and let them take over cold. They have to know
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: where things are, how things work, what to watch out for. Then,
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: because you've been here for a year and a half
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: and you know the ropes, you have to watch them
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: to see that they stay alive in spite of themselves.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Why was it you on the first trip? You're not
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: a scientist. No, I was the pilot on the first ship.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: When it occurred to us that someone was going to
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: have to stay over, I volunteered. I thought the others
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: were so important that it was better they take their
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: samples and data back to Earth when the first release
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: ship came. You wouldn't do it again, though, would you? No.
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: You think Dole will do as good a job as
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: you did?
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: He volunteered.
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: Yeah, he volunteered because he thought it would make him
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: look like a hero.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: I've lost three years up here, and I don't intend
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: to lose any more. Okay, okay. Check your valve. All right, check.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: Check.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I checked Geiger, CR, Oxy, and Centilla readings. Everything okay.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: You packing, chap? Yeah. Oh, listen, Dole, I've got three
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: or four shirts here that are a little too big.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: I got them from Drysbank in the first group.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: You want them?
• 8:57
  Speaker 12: Chap, do you think they'll ever have relief ships up
• 9:00
  Speaker 12: here more often than 18 months?
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, considering the advance of... No, I don't. Not
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: for ten years. Fuel's too expensive and the trip's too hazardous. Why,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: on freight charges alone, you're worth your weight in platinum
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: when they send you up here. Won't be so bad.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: There'll be new men up here. You'll pass a lot
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: of time just getting to know them. Yeah. Listen, chap.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: I'm engaged back home, you know. Nice girl. You'd like
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: her if you knew her. But here. Let me show you.
• 9:33
  Speaker 12: This is a picture of Alice taken at a picnic
• 9:35
  Speaker 12: when we were together. See, it's a kind of bad
• 9:39
  Speaker 12: angle because she's really got a better figure than that. But, well,
• 9:46
  Speaker 12: we expected to get married when I got back. I
• 9:49
  Speaker 12: never told her about stopover. She thinks I'll be home tomorrow.
• 9:54
  Speaker 12: I kept thinking that somehow I.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: You want to trade places with me, don't you? You
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: thought I might stay for stopover again in your place.
• 10:03
  Speaker 12: Well, chap, I know you want to go home, but
• 10:06
  Speaker 12: I couldn't ask any of the others. You're the only
• 10:08
  Speaker 12: one who was qualified. Look, you know my father's pretty
• 10:13
  Speaker 12: well fixed. Chap, we could make it worth your while.
• 10:18
  Speaker 12: It wouldn't mean 18 more months, but They'd be well-paid months.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Forget it, Dole. You're staying and I'm going home.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: Klein. Hey, Klein. Dole. Where are you? About ten yards
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: off the trail. Come out of the shadow. I've got
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: a meter jammed over here. You know the regulations. Chapman
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: will kick like a steer. Keep in sight at all times.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: I'll only be a minute. I've got a short circuit
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: in my instrument. Time for a ten-minute check. I've got
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: my hands full. My valves are all right. I know it.
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: You know it. But the book says valve and leak
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: check every ten minutes.
• 11:11
  Speaker 11: Hey.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Come out.
• 11:13
  Speaker 10: What?
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Do you see a flash?
• 11:15
  Speaker 7: Where?
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Past Camel's hump. There. What is that? Northern Lights? No. No,
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: come over here, you fat geologist. What's the matter with you?
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: That's the relief rocket. Come on. Hey, where are you going?
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: I'm going over to the ship. Breeze some air that's
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: a little less used. You think we ought to? Chapman
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: said to stay. Forget Chapman. We're going home. I want
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: to see that beautiful ship. Come on. How about the
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: ten-minute check? Just a formality. Forget it. This is Christmas
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: and Fourth of July roll into one. Okay, let's go.
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: I can just taste some clean, fresh air. I see
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: it when we top the hump. Maybe we better check.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute. I'll swing my gauge up.
• 11:52
  Speaker 7: Honore.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah? How long have we been out? Oh, about a
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: half hour.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Well, look at your gauge. Oh, what are you... Oh.
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: If we'd started for the rocket, we never would have
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: made it. We were strangled halfway down the hump. Come on,
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: we better get back to the bunker.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Check the lock, Seale. Okay. All right, open the inner door.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Close the lock.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: Get me out of this fishbowl.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: It's down.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: The relief rocket, it's down on the other side of
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: Camel's Hump.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Oh, what a beautiful looking ship. What a beautiful ship.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: They must be on their way over here now. Chap,
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: they're on their way.
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: We're going home today.
• 13:04
  Speaker 12: Get your RA unit out of that suit and into
• 13:06
  Speaker 12: the dryer.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: All right, all right.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Okay, what's eating you, Dole?
• 13:09
  Speaker 12: Listen, just because the relief rocket lands, it doesn't mean
• 13:12
  Speaker 12: your RA unit is going to dry up by itself.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: That goes for you too, Donnelly. Okay. Hey, Chapman. Yeah?
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: He's taking it pretty hard. He volunteered? Yeah, he volunteered.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: What a beautiful, beautiful ship.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: ¶ ¶.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: Hey, listen, what happened to the Pittsburgh and the series?
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: That's all I want to know.
• 13:51
  Speaker 12: Yeah, Washington.
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: Come on, man. Still teaching at the university.
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: Who took over a seminar at the AEs?
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: Hey, hey, look what we got here, chap.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Come here. What's the matter?
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: Hey, look what this one's got, a box.
• 14:01
  Speaker 11: Yeah?
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Look inside, dirt. Ordinary dirt with grass.
• 14:05
  Speaker 7: Grass.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Hey, hey, hey, fellas, it feels like grass.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: That's right, it's real grass. Yeah, and real valuable.
• 14:11
  Speaker 12: Do you realize that current freight rates up here, it's
• 14:14
  Speaker 12: worth about $ 10 a blade?
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: Oh, shut up. Hey, bud, you mind if I chew
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: a blade?
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Uh, Mr.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Chapman? Yes?
• 14:21
  Speaker 8: Oh, Mr.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: Chapman.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Uh, my name's Everline, captain of the relief ship.
• 14:25
  Speaker 7: I understand you're in charge here.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you might say so. They didn't have a captain
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: on the first ship, just a pilot and crew. Dole,
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: turn up the oxy cycle in the Harcourt unit. Well,
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: things have advanced somewhat, huh? Look, Mr. Chapman, is there
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: any place where we can talk together privately? Well, come
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: around the corner of my locker. It's about as private
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: as we can get. Oh, good. What's on your mind?
• 14:49
  Speaker 7: I've always wanted to meet the man who spent more
• 14:50
  Speaker 7: time here than anybody else.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: You mind if I smoke? You better ask Dole. He's
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: in charge now. You know, we have big plans for
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: the research station here. Oh? I haven't heard of any. Oh, yes,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: big plans, big plans.
• 15:03
  Speaker 7: They're working on unmanned open-side rockets now that can carry cargo...
• 15:08
  Speaker 7: Sheet steel for more bunkers like this. Enable us to
• 15:11
  Speaker 7: enlarge the unit. Have a series of bunkers all linked together.
• 15:16
  Speaker 7: Make good laboratories and good living quarters for you people.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Have a little privacy for a change. They could use
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: a little privacy up here. Oh, they could.
• 15:24
  Speaker 7: Well, that's one of the reasons I wanted to talk
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: to you, Chapman. The commission talked it over and they'd
• 15:30
  Speaker 7: like to see you stay. They feel if they're going
• 15:33
  Speaker 7: to enlarge it, add more bunkers and have more men
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: up here, that a A man of practical experience should
• 15:37
  Speaker 7: be running things. They figure you're the only man who's
• 15:41
  Speaker 7: capable and has had that experience.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Is that all?
• 15:46
  Speaker 7: Well, naturally, you'd be paid well. I don't imagine any
• 15:50
  Speaker 7: man would like being here all the time. They prepare
• 15:53
  Speaker 7: to double your salary, maybe even a bonus in addition.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: They want you to have full charge. You'd be director
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: of lunar laboratories. Oh, a title, too, hmm?
• 16:03
  Speaker 7: Well, the commission said they'd be willing to consider anything
• 16:05
  Speaker 7: else you had in mind.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: If it's more money... The answer is no. I'm not
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: interested in more money for staying because I'm not interested
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: in staying. Money can't buy it, Captain. I'm sorry. I'm
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: afraid you'd have to stay up here to appreciate that.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: You don't understand the importance of this. Come over here
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: to the port.
• 16:25
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Now look out there about a hundred yards. You mean
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: where that... That mound of stones? That's right. We made
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: that cross out of condensed milk cans slid over iron bars.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: When you get out there, you can still see the
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: footprints and the pumice where we gathered around. It's more
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: than 18 months ago, but there's been no wind to
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: wear those tracks away. They'll be there forever. Oh, I see. Well,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: who was it? Dreisbach? Or Dixon?
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: Dixon.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Dixon. We never got drives back out of the crevasse
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: in Tyco. What happened? You want to know? I can
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: give it to you in detail. Sit down and listen.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: What do you mean? Just wait a minute and I'll
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: show you. Why? What is it? Regulations. When someone goes
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: out alone, we have to monitor his radio. Tape recorded.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: We had the recorder open when Dixon went out. I
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: want you to hear it. Well, all right.
• 17:27
  Speaker 7: I've got the tape right here. It'll take me a
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: minute to thread it up. Now, look, Chapman, you don't
• 17:34
  Speaker 7: have to.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Listen. I want you to listen.
• 17:41
  Speaker 11: Moon, moon, great big silvery moon.
• 17:47
  Speaker 8: Won't you please shine down on me Moon.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Moon Regulations. He had to keep saying something so we
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: know he was all right. Most of the guys just sing.
• 18:04
  Speaker 11: Gentlemen, I'm getting a lovely sonar reading. If anybody wants.
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: To set up a tombstone concession on the moon, this
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: is the spot. Lovely marble, granite, and rock suitable for
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: lobbies here.
• 18:25
  Speaker 11: It's that old devil moon.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: He should have been making a ten-minute check on his
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: oxygen level. He was a good kid, all wrapped up
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: in science. Being on the moon was the opportunity of
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: a lifetime. He thought so much about it that he
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: forgot a lot of little things, like how to stay alive.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: This was the day before the second group came.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: All right, gentlemen.
• 18:49
  Speaker 11: I have three or four more readings to take, and
• 18:51
  Speaker 11: I'll be right in.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: I'm doing fine, fine, fine, fine.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: A little stuffy.
• 18:59
  Speaker 8: It's almost as if Hey, somebody get a fix on me, huh?
• 19:08
  Speaker 8: How far am I from the bunker?
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: Must have sprung a leak.
• 19:14
  Speaker 11: When... Hey, when did I take the last ten-minute check?
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: How far am I? It's down to 22. We took
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: a fix.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: He was a half hour out. I can't get the
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: valve closed.
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: Listen.
• 19:33
  Speaker 11: Listen, you got to come out and get me.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: You got to.
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: You got to come out and get me.
• 19:38
  Speaker 13: It's down to 22. Is somebody listening back there? Hey,
• 19:44
  Speaker 13: is somebody listening? I figure I've got ten minutes. Just
• 19:49
  Speaker 13: ten minutes. Listen, you can make it in ten minutes.
• 19:54
  Speaker 13: I'll meet you towards Campbell's home.
• 19:56
  Speaker 11: I'll start now.
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: I'll start now.
• 20:01
  Speaker 11: Come and get me, you hear?
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: Come and get me.
• 20:03
  Speaker 11: Chapman?
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Are you listening, Chapman?
• 20:07
  Speaker 11: Can you hear me? I'm running.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Camel's hump, hype.
• 20:14
  Speaker 11: Hot.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: The heat.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: The RA unit's overloading. Can't dry it up. Gotta run.
• 20:22
  Speaker 11: Run, run.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: No use. I can't run. The unit heats up. Gauge
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: is down to 15. I can't make it.
• 20:43
  Speaker 10: I'm gonna.
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna sit down now.
• 20:51
  Speaker 10: You'll find me at number seven radiation meter about ten
• 20:55
  Speaker 10: yards off the trail. I'm gonna sit down. Sit down
• 21:01
  Speaker 10: next to a rock.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: You're getting dizzy.
• 21:10
  Speaker 12: Hey.
• 21:13
  Speaker 13: Remember, we used to argue, do you strangle from no
• 21:17
  Speaker 13: oxy or pass out from CO2?
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: Keep tuned to this channel, boys. You'll find out. It's
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: that old devil moon that you.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Oh, boy, the earth's going round and round and round.
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: Chaps. Chaps. You can't get me.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Can you? We didn't have a chance by even 15 minutes.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: We didn't even go out. There wasn't any.
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: Sense to it. Did you record after that? Yeah, it's
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: on the tape, but you don't want to hear it.
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: We'd better put it back.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: That's why we want you to stay, Chapman. We don't
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: want any more like Dixon. You don't get the point, Captain.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I don't want to be the next Dixon. I'm going
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: home now. But you... Bob Dole is staying for stopover.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: If there's something important about the project or any changes,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: you better tell him before you go.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: All right, all right, mail call. Mail call. Cap, here's
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: one for you.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: Donnelly. Dole.
• 22:49
  Speaker 10: Dole.
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: Donnelly. Oh, Klein.
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: Dole.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: Donnelly. Boy, did I miss an opportunity.
• 22:56
  Speaker 9: I could have had a year's subscription to the ladies'
• 22:58
  Speaker 9: home journal combined with the American Farmer all for half price.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: All right, men, all right. My departure time is an
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: hour and a half.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: Hey, my sister had twins.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: Hey, chap, aren't you going to read your letter? I
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: read it. It's a short letter. Is something wrong? No, no,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong. Doe.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: What is it, chap?
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Get your stuff and leave with the others. What? What
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: do you mean? What are you talking about, chap? Get
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: your bag and let's go. I'm not going back. What's
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: the matter with you?
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: Did you suddenly decide you don't like the blue sky
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: and the trees?
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: Come on, let's go. Look, Julius, I'm not going back.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: I haven't got anything to go back for. Was it
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: the letter? Yeah. Dear Joe... This isn't going to be
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: a nice letter, but I thought it best you should
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: know before you come home.
• 23:44
  Speaker 10: Oh.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Isn't very original, is it? Three years is a long time,
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: and a quarter of a million miles is a long distance.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: You know what, Junior? She can look up in the
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: night sky now and tell him how she was once
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: engaged to the man in the moon. That's a real
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: conversation piece, isn't it? Very funny. Go ahead, Doe. Get going.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: You're doing a much braver thing than you may think, Mr. Chapman. Yeah, sure.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Do you like the looks of the moon going away
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: from it, Mr.
• 24:47
  Speaker 10: Dole?
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: It looks a lot better this way. I suppose you'll
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: be glad to get home. I'd rather not talk about it.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: They were kidding, Chapman, this morning. They said he found
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: a home on the moon. If we'd stayed an hour
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: or so more, he might have changed his mind and
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: left after all. I'd offered him money. I didn't want
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: to stay for stopover.
• 25:11
  Speaker 12: I was a coward and I offered him money to
• 25:13
  Speaker 12: stay in my place.
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: Well.
• 25:15
  Speaker 7: We're all cowards once in a while. But your offer
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: of money had nothing to do with his staying. He
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: stayed because he had to stay. Because we made him stay.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: I don't understand. Chapman had a lot to go home for.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: He was engaged to be married. I know.
• 25:34
  Speaker 7: We got her to write him a letter breaking it off.
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: We knew that it meant that he'd lost one of
• 25:38
  Speaker 7: his main reasons for wanting to go back. I think
• 25:41
  Speaker 7: perhaps he still would have left if we'd stayed and
• 25:44
  Speaker 7: argued him into going.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: But we left before he could change his mind. That
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: was a lousy thing to do. We had no choice.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: We didn't use it except as a last resort.
• 25:53
  Speaker 12: I don't know of any girl who would have written
• 25:54
  Speaker 12: such a letter if she was really in love with
• 25:56
  Speaker 12: a guy like Chapman.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: No matter what your reasons. There was only one girl
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: who would have. Ginny Dixon.
• 26:03
  Speaker 7: You see, Chapman's girl was Dixon's sister. She understood what
• 26:09
  Speaker 7: we were trying to tell her. That the new shift
• 26:11
  Speaker 7: had to be safe. that there had to be someone
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: who had to take over and keep those boys alive.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: She understood that. Because her brother died up there. You mean...
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: he's the only one? I couldn't have done the job? Oh, look, Dole.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: Chapman knows how to live on the moon. He's like a.
• 26:30
  Speaker 7: a trapper... who spent all his time in the forest.
• 26:34
  Speaker 7: He knows it like the palm of his hand. He
• 26:36
  Speaker 7: never makes mistakes. He never fails to check things. And
• 26:40
  Speaker 7: he isn't a scientist... He would never become so preoccupied
• 26:43
  Speaker 7: with research that he'd fail to make checks, and he
• 26:46
  Speaker 7: can watch out for those who do make mistakes. He
• 26:49
  Speaker 7: understood that, too, all too well. It costs a lot
• 26:52
  Speaker 7: of money to send ships up there and establish a colony.
• 26:55
  Speaker 7: You have to have the best man for the job.
• 26:57
  Speaker 7: You get them even if they don't want to do it.
• 27:00
  Speaker 7: Personal lives and viewpoints are expendable.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: It's got to be that way. There's too much at stake.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: It's a cold place, the moon, though.
• 27:10
  Speaker 7: You're an odd bunch of guys, you and the others
• 27:12
  Speaker 7: in the groups. Few of you, Dole, come up for
• 27:16
  Speaker 7: the glamour, I know. None of you really like it,
• 27:20
  Speaker 7: and none of you are enthusiastic about it. You're all
• 27:24
  Speaker 7: reluctant to come in the first place, for the most part.
• 27:28
  Speaker 7: You're a bunch of, well, of pretty reluctant heroes.
• 27:32
  Speaker 11: Eighteen months.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: He'll be up there eighteen more months.
• 27:37
  Speaker 7: Personally, I don't feel happy about that. I don't like
• 27:40
  Speaker 7: having to mess up other people's lives. I hope I
• 27:43
  Speaker 7: won't have to again. Maybe somehow, some way, this one
• 27:48
  Speaker 7: can be patched up.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: We'll try to.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: 18 months.
• 27:52
  Speaker 7: In the meantime, on behalf of the commission and myself,
• 27:58
  Speaker 7: I feel like a cheap, rotten heel.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: You have just heard X-1 presented by the National Broadcasting
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: month features My Lady Greensleeves, a novelette by Frederick Pohl,
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: which begins when a guard smelled trouble and knew it
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: would come because he had been bred that way. Galaxy
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: Magazine on your newsstand today. Tonight by transcription, X-1 has
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: brought you The Reluctant Heroes, a story from the pages
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: of Galaxy written by Frank M. Robinson and adapted for
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: radio by Ernest Canoy. Featured in the cast were Mandel
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: Kramer as Chapman, Jim Drummond as Klein, Bob Hastings as Dahl,
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: Dick Hamilton as Donnelly, Jim Stevens as Dixon, and Dick
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: Janiver as Heberlein.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: Radio Network production.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: That was X-1, Episode 80, The Reluctant Heroes. Good evening,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: and thank you for joining us. Follow Old Time Sci-Fi
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: Radio for more classic science fiction broadcasts.