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X Minus One - "Project Mastadon" (Old Time Radio, 1956) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A man claiming to represent an unknown republic comes to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Washington seeking recognition from the United States. That extraordinary claim
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: sets X-1 on a course toward time travel and a
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: proposed colony in prehistoric America, where survival and ownership become
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: immediate concerns. It begins in Washington, D.C., before the venture
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: reaches prehistoric America. From NBC's sustaining science fiction series, this
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: is Project Master Don, episode 54, first heard June 5th, 1956.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Ernest Kenoy's radio adaptation of Clifford D. Simak's galaxy novelette,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: published in March 1955, with Raymond Edward Johnson, Frank Maxwell,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Bob Hastings, John Larkin, and Joe Julian. Settle in for
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: a June night visit with X-1. And now, we return
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: to the original broadcast.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Now stay tuned for X-1 on NBC. Countdown for blastoff.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: X-5, 4, 3, 2, X-1, fire.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: of the future, adventures in which you'll live in a
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: million could-be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: X minus 1.
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: Tonight, Project Mastodon by Clifford D.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Simak. Mr. Secretary, may I present Mr. Hudson of, um... Mastodonia. Uh, Mastodonia. Mr. Hudson,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: this is the Secretary of State. Honored, sir. Now, as
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Chief of Protocol for the Department, I've... All right, Mr. Kingston,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I haven't much time.
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: I'm due at a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: Committee at two.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: If you pass Mr. Hudson in, I'll assume everything is
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: quite proper. Now then, Mr.
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: Hudson, I understand you've been here several times seeking recognition
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: for your country.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Well, that's right. I had a hard time making your
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: staff believe I was in earnest. And are you, Mr. Hudson? Oh,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: very much so. You are an American, Mr. Hudson.
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: I assume you are acting as a representative for Macedonia
• 3:03
  Speaker 6: rather than as a principal in the matter.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, no, no. I claim dual citizenship, sir. I
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: am a Macedonian.
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: You'll pardon me, but I've never heard of your country. Well,
• 3:14
  Speaker 6: it's a new nation, but quite legitimate.
• 3:16
  Speaker 7: We have a constitution, a democratic form of government, duly
• 3:20
  Speaker 7: elected officials, and a code of laws. We are a free,
• 3:24
  Speaker 7: peace-loving people, and we are possessed of a vast amount
• 3:27
  Speaker 7: of natural resources.
• 3:28
  Speaker 6: Please tell me, Mr. Hudson, just where are you located?
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: I gathered it was somewhere in Asia.
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: Oh, no, no.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Technically, you are our nearest neighbor. That's ridiculous.
• 3:39
  Speaker 7: Now, look here, Hudson, you can't... If you'll give me
• 3:41
  Speaker 7: just a moment, Mr. Secretary, I have considerable evidence... I'll
• 3:44
  Speaker 7: have to ask you to leave. I'm sorry, sir, I.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Go ahead, Mr. Hudson.
• 3:48
  Speaker 6: You've submitted a document signed by a certain Wesley Adams.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Well, he's our first president. You see, we'd like to
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: establish diplomatic relations. After all, we are a sister republic.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: We'd like to negotiate a trade agreement and.
• 4:03
  Speaker 7: Of course, we'd be grateful for assistance under the foreign
• 4:06
  Speaker 7: aid program.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Naturally. Who wouldn't? Mr. Secretary. All right, Kingston.
• 4:10
  Speaker 7: We're prepared to offer something in return for one thing.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Sanctuary. Sanctuary?
• 4:18
  Speaker 7: I understand that in the present state of international tensions,
• 4:20
  Speaker 7: a foolproof sanctuary is not something to be sneezed at.
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: Hmm.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: All right, Kingston. I think we've had enough. Show Mr.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Hudson out.
• 4:29
  Speaker 6: Hmm.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: All right, let's have the story again. Look, mister, I
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: don't want any trouble.
• 4:45
  Speaker 9: Just tell the story again. You want to cooperate with
• 4:49
  Speaker 9: the FBI, don't you?
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, sure, sure I do. Sure, but I just don't
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: want any trouble.
• 4:53
  Speaker 9: All right, start over. You found the briefcase in the booth.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's right. I brought my beer over from
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: the bar, you know? And this fella just went out
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: a minute before, so I figured he must have left it.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I run after him.
• 5:05
  Speaker 9: You didn't see him, though?
• 5:06
  Speaker 10: No.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: So I... Well, I just kind of looked in the briefcase.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: You know, I mean to identify. That's all. I don't steal.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Then you came to us. Yeah, yeah, that's right. I mean,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: after all, when I saw that stuff, well, I just
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: figured I was way over my head, you know? All right.
• 5:22
  Speaker 9: Don't say anything about this, do you understand? We'd rather
• 5:25
  Speaker 9: you just forgot the whole thing.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, sure, sure. Listen, some things I don't want to remember.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: You know? Hello? Is this Dr.
• 5:47
  Speaker 9: Harrison of the paleontology department?
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: This is Mr.
• 5:50
  Speaker 9: Jenkins at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We have some
• 5:54
  Speaker 9: movie film we'd like you to look over.
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 5:57
  Speaker 8: Huh?
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, uh, we acquired it.
• 6:01
  Speaker 9: Big shaggy elephants and tigers with teeth down to their neck.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: No.
• 6:07
  Speaker 9: No, it's not fakes. Our labs are sure of that.
• 6:12
  Speaker 9: Whatever is on those films is real.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Hmm?
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: No, we don't know.
• 6:19
  Speaker 9: That's why we called you. We haven't the slightest idea
• 6:23
  Speaker 9: where those pictures were shot. We can't even guess.
• 6:48
  Speaker 8: Ow!
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: What's the matter, Coop?
• 6:51
  Speaker 8: I was flying hypodermics. This is a fine, healthy spot.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Skeeter's as big as hummingbirds. Oh, careful, son.
• 6:58
  Speaker 8: You're knocking the climate of the capital city of Macedonia. Yeah,
• 7:02
  Speaker 8: some capital city. One palm tree and a Boy Scout
• 7:06
  Speaker 8: pup tent. Wes, this is the wildest thing we ever did.
• 7:10
  Speaker 8: What if Chuck can't get back? Chuck Hudson is a
• 7:13
  Speaker 8: man of many parts.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Have faith.
• 7:15
  Speaker 8: Supposing they're putting him in jail or something might happen
• 7:18
  Speaker 8: to the time unit or the helicopter.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: We should have gone along. Do you think they'll do it, Coop? Who, what?
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: The United States. Do you think they'll recognize us?
• 7:29
  Speaker 8: Not if they know that Mastodonia is the United States 50,000
• 7:32
  Speaker 8: years ago. Well, we have to get legal recognition first,
• 7:35
  Speaker 8: otherwise it wouldn't be safe. Well, there goes that Mastodon again.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Good old buster.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: Where is he? Right there.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Over the groves, eh? Nah, he's lonely. What? He probably is.
• 7:53
  Speaker 8: He must have been run out of the herd by
• 7:54
  Speaker 8: some younger bull. That's why he hangs around like some
• 7:58
  Speaker 8: homeless dog.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: One thing worries me, Wes.
• 8:02
  Speaker 8: I know you dreamed up the time unit and we
• 8:04
  Speaker 8: all chipped in for the helicopter, but can you just.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Claim territory on your own like we did? Why not?
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: We found it. It's ours. Hey, Buster's coming this way.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Give me the right. No, wait, wait, wait. Maybe he's
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: only bluffing.
• 8:17
  Speaker 8: If that mastodon comes through here, he'll stomp everything flat.
• 8:21
  Speaker 8: I'll give him three steps more. It would be such
• 8:24
  Speaker 8: a shame to plaster him. He's such a nice old monster.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: One more step and he gets it. Hey, that's Chuck.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: He's back. I wish he could fly that helicopter better.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: He might wreck it. Well, anyway, he scared Buster off.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: Pump those fires up, Wes. No, they're high.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Enough, Duke. You don't want a saber-tooth waltzing through here,
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: do you? Well, we better get a stockade up.
• 8:56
  Speaker 8: Some night a herd of mastodon will come busting in here,
• 8:58
  Speaker 8: and if they ever hit the helicopter, we'll be dead ducks.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: We'd never get back.
• 9:02
  Speaker 8: We'd be stuck back here in the Pleistocene Age. I
• 9:05
  Speaker 8: won't feel safe till we get another helicopter. Those mastodons
• 9:08
  Speaker 8: carry a lot of ivory. And the mammoths up north.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, sure, sure. And get socked in the jug for
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: smuggling ivory.
• 9:14
  Speaker 7: Only way to cash in on the time unit is
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: to get diplomatic recognition for mastodonium.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: We've got a good case. You said so yourself. A
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: saber tooth? Down by the grove. I don't like that.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Sounds closer. Hey, poke up that fire, will you, Coop? Well,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: that's Buster. There he is. He's tangling with a saber tooth.
• 9:40
  Speaker 8: I'll lay three to five on Buster. Cat's drawing blood.
• 9:44
  Speaker 8: I'll take five dollars of it.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Come on, Buster.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: Roll on him, will you?
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Cat's on his head now. Hey! Hey, he's coming this way.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Look out! Wes, turn him! Shoot! Hey, got him.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Got him.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: He's dead? Yeah. The tiger's gone. He won't get far.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Neither will we. Oh, no. No.
• 10:14
  Speaker 8: Good old Buster. Trust him to drop dead right across
• 10:18
  Speaker 8: the helicopter. Well, we can fix it, can't we? We
• 10:22
  Speaker 8: probably won't even be able to roll Buster off of it.
• 10:25
  Speaker 8: The rotor blades are twisted and the frame is a mess.
• 10:28
  Speaker 8: A total mess, gentlemen. We are in trouble. Mastodonia faces
• 10:36
  Speaker 8: a crisis.
• 10:52
  Speaker 11: Herb, Herb, you're the key man in the administration. You
• 10:56
  Speaker 11: swing a big stick on the hill. You can't give
• 10:58
  Speaker 11: up on Project Mastodon now.
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: Les, it's been ten years. If they were coming back,
• 11:03
  Speaker 6: they'd be here by now.
• 11:04
  Speaker 11: Look, I've been working on this ever since we got
• 11:07
  Speaker 11: those films. I've traced their lives from the time they
• 11:10
  Speaker 11: were born till the time they disappeared. Adams was the brains.
• 11:14
  Speaker 11: The other two were quite capable of helping him carry
• 11:16
  Speaker 11: it out. Hudson knew all the angles.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Les, I've sneaked your appropriation through four times. Now, there's
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: a limit. But I've got the proof.
• 11:25
  Speaker 11: We've had every paleontologist in the country go over those films.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: They couldn't be faked.
• 11:31
  Speaker 11: Who would know to put lynx tassels on the ears
• 11:35
  Speaker 11: of saber-toothed tigers? Who would know that young mastodons were
• 11:39
  Speaker 11: black and the location... We tracked down Adams' farm just
• 11:44
  Speaker 11: from landmarks in the prehistoric landscape in those films.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: We've got to contact them.
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: Look, Les, even assuming it's all true, a planet has
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: only a grand total of resources. If we get Adams' device...
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: Time machine. If we exploit resources of prehistoric America, won't
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: we be robbing ourselves of our own heritage?
• 12:03
  Speaker 11: Look, Herb, I've been over all that with the AEC.
• 12:08
  Speaker 11: There's a lot of lead in southwestern Wisconsin. If we
• 12:11
  Speaker 11: go back far enough, we can catch it when it's uranium.
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: The whole research project hasn't turned up a lead on
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: Adam's machine, if it exists.
• 12:21
  Speaker 11: We've got to keep watching that farm. They might return.
• 12:25
  Speaker 11: We've got to keep looking for them, no matter how
• 12:28
  Speaker 11: long it takes.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: The End.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Listen, Wes, we can't stay around here much longer.
• 12:52
  Speaker 8: Old Buster's getting a little too strong.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'll have the time unit clear the helicopter
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: in a few minutes. Then we'll just have to move
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: camp upwind. Look at him.
• 13:01
  Speaker 8: It's only two days since he dropped dead, bless his heart.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Freddie, those vultures are half into them. I haven't picked
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: clean inside of a week. Give me the hex wrench,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: will you?
• 13:10
  Speaker 8: Wes, is it all right, the time unit? Well, we
• 13:13
  Speaker 8: won't know until we try it, Coop. And then, of course,
• 13:16
  Speaker 8: it's too late.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: It either does or doesn't. Problem is, how are we
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: going to use it without the copters? Couldn't we take
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: a chance on using it on the ground?
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: No, we have to get up in the air. You
• 13:27
  Speaker 8: don't want to take a chance of arriving in the
• 13:28
  Speaker 8: 20th century about six feet underground.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute, Wes.
• 13:31
  Speaker 8: It's got to be higher here than in the 20th century. Look,
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: these hills have stood here since the Jurassic era. They've
• 13:37
  Speaker 8: got to be weathered down.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know.
• 13:39
  Speaker 8: The only safe way is to build a platform about
• 13:41
  Speaker 8: 12 feet high.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: That should be enough to clear us. But suppose we
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: come out on the other end two feet higher? Well,
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: we fall. Which would you rather do, take a chance
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: on a broken leg or stay here? Okay, okay. Now,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: why don't we build a platform out of it? There
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: you are, Wes.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: All right, I got it.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Chuck, comes the next stone. Now, wait a minute. Hey,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: look out. You want a whole pile to come down.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Okay, Wes, hand it up. That's about 12 feet,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: isn't it? Well, it ought to be. It took us
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: 10 days to pile it up. Look out, I'm coming down.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: All right, don't start an avalanche. Well, pretty soon we'll
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: be able to start all over again.
• 14:34
  Speaker 10: Mm-hmm.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: If the unit works. That isn't all.
• 14:37
  Speaker 8: We don't have any proof we've been back here. We'll
• 14:40
  Speaker 8: be stone broke. Another helicopter would cost.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: $ 30, 000.
• 14:45
  Speaker 8: Can't walk into a bank and borrow 30 grand to
• 14:47
  Speaker 8: take a short trip to the Stone Age.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: Wes, where do you figure we are? I mean on
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: a farm. Well, I think we're clear of the barn
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: and the silo. I hope so.
• 14:56
  Speaker 8: Well, I figured we're a straddle at barbed wire fence
• 14:58
  Speaker 8: at the south end of the orchard.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Well, we might as well give it a try. All right,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: I'll get the unit. You two climb up on top
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: of the pyramid.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: You ready?
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Think it'll work, Wes? I don't know. Got pretty well
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: banged up when Buster hit the copter. I haven't got
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: the equipment to check the waveforms. All right, stand around close.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: Bend your knees a little. Might be quite a drop.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Go ahead. Push the button. Okay. One, two, three. Nothing.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Doesn't work. Well, that's that. We're stuck. I'm sorry, Les.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: There's nothing you can do, Herb. You've been out of
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: government for five years.
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: If there's anything I can do, the board of directors
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: instructed me to offer you.
• 16:09
  Speaker 11: No, thank you.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: What are you going to do? I mean, now that
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: you're retired. I bought a farm. Oh? In Wisconsin. You
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: haven't given up, have you?
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: I'm the only one.
• 16:18
  Speaker 11: They closed Project Mastodon down three years ago, and they've
• 16:22
  Speaker 11: been hinting ever since that.
• 16:24
  Speaker 10: I'd be happier retired.
• 16:27
  Speaker 11: Old Bowers, he's the crackpot from Project Mastodon.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Les, but it has been 20 years. Yes, yes,
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: it has.
• 16:35
  Speaker 11: But think of it from a military point of view.
• 16:38
  Speaker 11: Hidden bases in enemy territory itself, centuries removed in time,
• 16:43
  Speaker 11: yet only seconds away. If we had bases like that
• 16:47
  Speaker 11: and shelters... Relax, Les.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: It's all over.
• 16:50
  Speaker 10: Sure, sure. It's all over.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Ah, mess.
• 17:08
  Speaker 8: You should be more careful. We've only been stuck a
• 17:12
  Speaker 8: month now. Someday we'll run out of ammo, and then
• 17:14
  Speaker 8: it's bows and arrows.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: It's cold. There'll be snow soon. Coop, I'm worried about Wes.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: He takes it pretty hard.
• 17:21
  Speaker 8: As long as he's tinkering on that time unit, he's happy.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, he isn't going to repair the unit. He hasn't
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: got a chance. Back in the workshop, the tools, maybe. Well, anyway,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: the hunting's great.
• 17:31
  Speaker 8: Maybe we'd better start saving bullets for big games. We
• 17:35
  Speaker 8: won't be lords of creation around here long without our guns.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and if one of us gets sick or breaks
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: a leg.
• 17:43
  Speaker 8: Well, nobody lives forever. Wes is the lucky one. He's
• 17:46
  Speaker 8: got that time unit to tinker with.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Come on. We better get back to camp.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: Hey. Hey, Wes! Come on.
• 18:12
  Speaker 9: Wes!
• 18:14
  Speaker 10: Wes!
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: There's no sign of him. Wait, there's a note on
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: the door. Wes! Never mind, listen.
• 18:22
  Speaker 8: Dear guys, I don't want to get your hopes up
• 18:25
  Speaker 8: again and have you disappointed, but I think I may
• 18:27
  Speaker 8: have found the trouble.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: I'm going to try it out. If it works, I'll
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: be back to get you.
• 18:33
  Speaker 9: Wes.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: What, a fool? That unit can't work. He must be
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: off his rocker. Wait a minute. Coop, look, that pyramid.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: It took us ten days to pile those stones up.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: It's gone. The Pyramid of Rocks. It's gone.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: Oh, what the... Of all the confounded.
• 19:05
  Speaker 11: Oh, what's going on out there?
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Rocks? Who dumped those rocks? My car, who's out there?
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: It's all right.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Don't you move, mister.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I got a 45 pointed at you. Well, I can explain. Well,
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: you better. There was a.
• 19:18
  Speaker 11: Brand new car where you dumped that load of rocks.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: Who the devil are you?
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: My name is Wesley Adams. Adams?
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Adams?
• 19:27
  Speaker 11: Man, where have you been all these years?
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't suppose you'll believe me, but the fact is.
• 19:31
  Speaker 11: I've been waiting for you for 25 years. The others
• 19:34
  Speaker 11: all gave up.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry about your car. Oh, never mind.
• 19:37
  Speaker 11: I'll be right down. Now, don't touch a thing. Don't
• 19:41
  Speaker 11: go anywhere.
• 19:42
  Speaker 8: But it can't be 25 years. It's only been a
• 19:54
  Speaker 8: few months in Mastodonian time.
• 19:56
  Speaker 11: 25 years. Man, it's been a long wait.
• 19:59
  Speaker 8: The unit has been badly calibrated. You see, it isn't
• 20:03
  Speaker 8: accurate for more than 50,000 years at a jump if
• 20:05
  Speaker 8: the setting is moved.
• 20:06
  Speaker 11: Well, we better call Washington. I imagine you'll want the
• 20:09
  Speaker 11: same terms as before.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Terms?
• 20:11
  Speaker 11: Recognition, economic aid from Mastodonia, defense pack. Listen, Adams, you've
• 20:17
  Speaker 11: got those saps over a barrel. You can get anything
• 20:20
  Speaker 11: you want now.
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: Unit.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: I'll have to calibrate to the day to go back
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: for them.
• 20:24
  Speaker 11: Oh, don't worry about it. You can have every scientist
• 20:27
  Speaker 11: in the country working on it now. Oh, you've got
• 20:32
  Speaker 11: them right where you want them.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Hello?
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Long distance.
• 20:37
  Speaker 11: This is Major General Leslie Bowers, retired. I want to
• 20:42
  Speaker 11: put a call to the President of the United States,
• 20:46
  Speaker 11: White House Washington. You can tell him I'm placing the
• 20:49
  Speaker 11: call for the President of the Republic of Mastodonia.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Come on, Og, son of fire, put another log on.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: It's cold. Good cold storage for the furs. Boy, when
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Wes gets back, we'll be millionaires. Furs, ginseng root, ivory.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: If he gets back. It's been five years. He'll come back.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: I feel it in my bones.
• 21:19
  Speaker 8: Well, he better find it before we get too old
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: to enjoy anything. Unfortunately, there's no social security in Mastodon.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Don't you worry. Wes is working on it right now.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: I can feel it. Hello, Charlie?
• 21:45
  Speaker 9: Something just came through on the ticker. I want you
• 21:46
  Speaker 9: to get a background story on it. And we just
• 21:49
  Speaker 9: recognized Master Donnie.
• 21:52
  Speaker 10: What?
• 21:53
  Speaker 9: How should I know where it is? Look it up
• 21:55
  Speaker 9: in the encyclopedia.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: Huh?
• 21:58
  Speaker 8: Huh?
• 21:59
  Speaker 9: No, the item says formal recognition was delayed five years
• 22:02
  Speaker 9: until communication.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Could be established.
• 22:05
  Speaker 9: Certain technical difficulties.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: What? I don't know.
• 22:11
  Speaker 9: Wherever it is, I don't see what difficulties could hold
• 22:13
  Speaker 9: up five years. It stands to reason wherever the place is,
• 22:17
  Speaker 9: you could walk there.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: In five years.
• 22:20
  Speaker 9: No, no, it's not important. You know these postage stamp countries. Monaco, Luxembourg,
• 22:27
  Speaker 9: they're all alike. What's so different about Master Donnie?
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: You have just heard X-1, presented by the National Broadcasting
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: month features the Theodore Sturgeon novelette, The Skills of Xanadu.
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: When a malignant world endangers another, surgery is the usual answer.
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: But perhaps there's another solution to kill it with kindness.
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: Galaxy Magazine on your newsstand today. Tonight by transcription, X-1
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: has brought you Project Mastodon, a story from the pages
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: of Galaxy written by Clifford D. Simak and adapted for
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: radio by Ernest Canoy. Featured in the cast were Floyd Mack,
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: Dick Hamilton, Charles Penman, Raymond Edward Johnson, Frank Maxwell, Robert Hastings,
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: John Larkin, and Joseph Julian. Your announcer is Jerry Damon.
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: Radio Network production.
• 23:53
  Speaker 8: Listen next week for the Murray Lannister story, If You
• 23:56
  Speaker 8: Was a Moklin. a tale in which the childlike natives
• 23:59
  Speaker 8: of a strange planet pull a real switch on a
• 24:02
  Speaker 8: red-headed female witch and everyone doubles in brass.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: That's next week on X-1.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: This was NBC's X-1 presentation, Project Mastodon. Follow X-1 for
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: more classic broadcasts.