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X Minus One - "Time and Time Again" (Old Time Radio, 1956) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A wounded soldier on a battlefield in 1975 is sent
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: back 30 years, awakening in 1945 as his 13-year-old self,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: with memories of the war still to come. From NBC
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Radio's X-1, this is Time and Time Again, Episode 33,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: first heard January 11, 1956. Ernest Kenoy adapted H. Beam
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Piper's short story for radio with Jack Grimes, Peter Fernandez,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Joe DeSantis, and a cast including Joseph Bell, Clark Gordon,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Herm Dinkin, Richard Hamilton, and James Dukas. Between a future
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: at war and a mid-century American hometown, one man faces
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the knowledge of events ahead. And now, our story begins.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: In just a moment, X minus one.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: But first, when you hear the hearty laugh and familiar
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: voice of the great Gildersleeve tomorrow night, you know you're
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: in for some hilarious adventures. Because whenever Gildy is around,
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: somehow things never seem to go as planned. It might
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: be his impulsive nature, or maybe it's his incurable weakness
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: for the fairest sex, but whatever it is, the great
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Gildersleeve is bound to keep you laughing for a full
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: 25 minutes. Tune in tomorrow night and meet Judge Hooker,
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Nephew Leroy, Housekeeper Bertie, and all the rest of the
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: friendly people from Summerfield as they join the Great Gildersleeve.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Now stay tuned for X-1 on NBC.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Countdown for blastoff. X-5, 4, 3, 2, X-1, fire.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: of the future, adventures in which you'll live in a
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: million could-be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Street & Smith, publishers of
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: astounding science fiction, presents.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: X minus 1.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: Tonight's story, Time and Time Again by H. Beam Piper.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: It happened during a routine skirmish in the Great War.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: Patrols advanced from the defense perimeter under jet cover and
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: preceded by napalm throwers. The enemy defended in depth and
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: mopped up with guided 98s fired from 40 miles to
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: the rear. The blast area was 10 miles in circumference.
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: And the medics didn't find much to pick up over
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: 500 yards in.
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: Come on, come on.
• 3:10
  Speaker 7: All right, now back it in here.
• 3:12
  Speaker 8: Look out, it's lousy with mud.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: More, more.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: Now, now, cut left.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: More, hold it.
• 3:18
  Speaker 9: Stretches.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Come on, Travers, get those men out.
• 3:24
  Speaker 10: Yes, sir.
• 3:24
  Speaker 8: Get a move on.
• 3:25
  Speaker 11: Line them up.
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: Come on. Easy, easy.
• 3:27
  Speaker 8: You want to kill them.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Okay, take it away.
• 3:35
  Speaker 7: They might have left those jokes where they was. Half
• 3:38
  Speaker 7: of them won't last till the plane comes.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: As long as they're alive, they'll be treated.
• 3:42
  Speaker 9: Get those tags out, driver.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Start taking names.
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: This one must have been a thousand yards in. Get
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: his dog tag out. What a mess. Here.
• 3:53
  Speaker 7: Hartley, Allen, Captain G-5, Chem Research, AN-73D.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Number SO-23869-403-J.
• 3:56
  Speaker 7: Hartley?
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Allen Hartley.
• 4:05
  Speaker 10: Oh, that must be the Hartley that wrote Children of
• 4:08
  Speaker 10: the Mist and Conker's Road.
• 4:10
  Speaker 7: Never heard of him.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Major.
• 4:13
  Speaker 7: Major, I think maybe he's partly conscious.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: And I'd better give him another shot.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Go ahead, Sergeant. There isn't much else we can do
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: for him. It's all rut and shame.
• 4:21
  Speaker 7: Yeah, ain't it always.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Okay, Captain, let me have that arm.
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: There.
• 4:44
  Speaker 12: Alan!
• 4:46
  Speaker 10: Alan! Oh, God.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Tom.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: Tom.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Get up, Alan. Can't stay in bed all day.
• 4:53
  Speaker 8: I remember that.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: Clear as if it were real.
• 4:58
  Speaker 7: Up and at him.
• 4:59
  Speaker 11: Hit the deck.
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: Remarkably vivid.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Strange. Alan, are you all right?
• 5:06
  Speaker 8: I'm all right.
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: What's wrong with my voice?
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: What?
• 5:16
  Speaker 8: It's too high.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: What are you doing? Practicing singing?
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: My voice has changed.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Is that all? You're growing up. Happy birthday.
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: Happy birthday?
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Hey, wake up, son. Wake up.
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: I am awake. It's impossible. I am awake.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: The way you slept through that alarm, I'd say it
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: was impossible. Come on out of bed.
• 5:37
  Speaker 8: I don't understand.
• 5:38
  Speaker 10: You went to bed at a decent hour. You could
• 5:39
  Speaker 10: wake up the next morning. Come on, son, breakfast's waiting.
• 5:42
  Speaker 10: Out of bed or I'll turn it over.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: All right, all right.
• 5:43
  Speaker 8: It's a dream.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Maybe, but you're wide awake now.
• 5:48
  Speaker 8: I am. I'm awake.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Well, half awake anyway.
• 5:53
  Speaker 8: That's the bell at St.
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: Boniface, isn't it? What day is it?
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Are you kidding? You forget today's your birthday? No, no.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: No, I didn't forget.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: Neither did I. Here, son. Happy 13th birthday. You won't
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: guess what's in here.
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: A rifle.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: A light.
• 6:14
  Speaker 8: 22 rifle.
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, now, how did you know that?
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: I remembered.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Did I spill the beans sometime? Oh. I could have
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: sworn it would be a surprise. Well, go on. Open it.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: You like it? Yeah.
• 6:34
  Speaker 13: Yeah.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's perfect, Dad.
• 6:37
  Speaker 10: Well, we'll have to lay down rules about using it.
• 6:39
  Speaker 10: And I'll have to teach you how to operate it.
• 6:41
  Speaker 10: I don't believe in letting a boy handle a gun
• 6:42
  Speaker 10: until he really knows how. If I let you play
• 6:45
  Speaker 10: with that thing before I teach you about guns, you'd
• 6:47
  Speaker 10: blow your head off.
• 6:48
  Speaker 8: I suppose so.
• 6:49
  Speaker 10: I'll be shaving, Alan. Come down to breakfast when you're ready. Well,
• 6:52
  Speaker 10: it's a big day today. You're almost a man.
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: Almost.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: You're still groggy. Snap out of it, Alan.
• 6:58
  Speaker 8: I will.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: It's a dream and it's somewhere, but I'm not sure which. What?
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: Never mind, Dad. I'll be right down for breakfast.
• 7:10
  Speaker 6: What are.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: You going to do today, son?
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: I want to do some reading this morning.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: That's always a good thing to do. After breakfast, suppose
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: you take a walk down to the station and get
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: me a Times.
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: Didn't it come?
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: What, the Times? Well, they don't deliver. Be a good idea, though.
• 7:38
  Speaker 10: Maybe I'll talk to Sam Ashmore about it. Here's a
• 7:40
  Speaker 10: half dollar, Alan. Get anything you want for yourself out
• 7:42
  Speaker 10: of the change.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Dad. Finish your milk before you go. Sure, Dad.
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: Thanks for the money.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: You're big enough to handle it now. Hurry back. I'd
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: like to finish the crossword puzzle before lunch. Here you are, Alan.
• 8:04
  Speaker 7: One times. Tell your father the puzzle's a stinker this week.
• 8:07
  Speaker 8: Thanks, Mr.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Ashburn.
• 8:08
  Speaker 7: Look out for the trucks when you cross the highway.
• 8:10
  Speaker 8: I'll go across Elton's lot. It's a shortcut.
• 8:12
  Speaker 7: Elton's? You'll have a hard time crossing there, son. There's
• 8:16
  Speaker 7: four buildings on that block.
• 8:17
  Speaker 8: I thought they burned down.
• 8:20
  Speaker 7: I've seen them this morning.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Big as life.
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: I guess that didn't happen yet.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: What'd you say?
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: Nothing, Mr.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: Ashburn.
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: I was just muttering.
• 8:30
  Speaker 7: My days, youngsters talked up.
• 8:33
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Bye, Mr.
• 8:34
  Speaker 8: Ashburn.
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: Monday, August 6th, 1945. Okinawa 1.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I'm in Japan.
• 8:50
  Speaker 10: Hey!
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: Hey, Alan!
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: Alan, wait up!
• 8:53
  Speaker 8: Hey, Larry Morton! Hi, Larry!
• 8:55
  Speaker 7: Hi, Al.
• 8:56
  Speaker 8: You going to Sunday school?
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: No, I have some things I want to do at home.
• 9:00
  Speaker 8: Oh, get him. Fancy pants talk. Things I want to
• 9:03
  Speaker 8: do at home.
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: Oh, go chase yourself around the block.
• 9:05
  Speaker 8: Go jump in a garbage can. Go take a flying
• 9:08
  Speaker 8: jet to the moon. Hey, that's a new one. Flying
• 9:11
  Speaker 8: jet to the moon. You thought up a new one, Al?
• 9:15
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 9:16
  Speaker 8: I wish I could stay home from Sunday school when
• 9:18
  Speaker 8: I want to do. How about us going swimming at
• 9:20
  Speaker 8: the canoe club after?
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: Oh, I wish I could. I got to stay home.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: We're expecting company. A couple aunts of mine. Dad wants
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: me to stay home when they come.
• 9:28
  Speaker 8: Answer a pain.
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: Nothing I can do.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: You see the.
• 9:30
  Speaker 8: Football movie at the Grand? Boy, what a team. Notre Dame.
• 9:34
  Speaker 8: I thought you liked Cornell. Cornell? They couldn't beat Vassar.
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: Well, you're going to go to Cornell, aren't you?
• 9:40
  Speaker 8: Me, Cornell? Fat chance. I'll bet you do. I wouldn't
• 9:45
  Speaker 8: take your money.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: Well, I know you wouldn't, but you'll go to Cornell,
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: all right.
• 9:48
  Speaker 8: Ha, Cornell. Far above Cayuga's waters, there's an awful smell.
• 9:54
  Speaker 8: Just the same. You all go to Cornell.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: Larry, I got to go.
• 9:58
  Speaker 8: Well, so long, Al. I'll see you. So long, Larry.
• 10:01
  Speaker 10: See you. I'm stuck in this corner. Seven letter word
• 10:16
  Speaker 10: that makes in proportion.
• 10:18
  Speaker 8: Tightrope.
• 10:19
  Speaker 7: Huh?
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Titan. T-I... It fits. Now, how did you know that, Alan?
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: That? I read it somewhere, I guess.
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: Oh.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: What are you reading now? Tarzan again?
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: No, not Tarzan.
• 10:39
  Speaker 10: It's refreshing to see you with a book. Sometimes I
• 10:42
  Speaker 10: think I ought to forbid comic books in the house. Hmm.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they must be raising the devil with those bombing
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: raids in Japan.
• 10:50
  Speaker 8: Hmm.
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: How long do you think the war in Japan will last, Dad?
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Oh? Hmm, I'd say to the middle of 1946.
• 10:56
  Speaker 10: They'll have to invade those islands foot by foot.
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: I don't think so, Dad. I wouldn't be surprised if
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: the war was over very suddenly.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: How, by magic?
• 11:07
  Speaker 10: There isn't a thing on Earth that will make those
• 11:09
  Speaker 10: Japanese surrender. You expect somebody to make a pass and
• 11:11
  Speaker 10: it'll be all over by this afternoon?
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: Something like that.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I wish you could.
• 11:16
  Speaker 10: There'll be a lot of boys dead in the invasion
• 11:19
  Speaker 10: of Japan. Mr. Hartley.
• 11:21
  Speaker 9: Excuse me, please.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, hello, Mr. Gutchell.
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: That's Frank Gutchell, Dad?
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 11:25
  Speaker 9: Excuse me. I didn't mean to disturb you, Mr.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Hartley. It's all right. Lovely day, isn't it, Mr. Gutchell?
• 11:31
  Speaker 10: Mr.
• 11:31
  Speaker 9: Hartley, the Lord's Day is always beautiful.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Of course, Mr. Gutchell.
• 11:36
  Speaker 10: Mr.
• 11:36
  Speaker 13: Hartley, I wonder if you could lend me a gun
• 11:41
  Speaker 13: and some bullets. My little dog's been hurt, and it's
• 11:43
  Speaker 13: been suffering something terrible.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's too bad.
• 11:47
  Speaker 9: I want a gun to put the poor thing out
• 11:48
  Speaker 9: of its pain.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Of course. Now, how would a 20-gauge shotgun do? You
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: wouldn't want anything heavy.
• 11:55
  Speaker 9: I was hoping you'd let me have a little gun. Maybe, oh,
• 11:59
  Speaker 9: so big.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Pistol?
• 12:01
  Speaker 13: So I could put it in my pocket. It wouldn't
• 12:03
  Speaker 13: look right to carry a hunting gun on the Lord's Day.
• 12:07
  Speaker 13: People wouldn't understand that it was for a work of mercy.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Of course, I understand. You're a very religious man.
• 12:13
  Speaker 9: The whole world is evil, Mr.
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: Hartley.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it certainly looks like it.
• 12:18
  Speaker 10: Well, I have a Coat 38 special from the auxiliary
• 12:21
  Speaker 10: police outfit.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Well, that's fine. You've got to bring it right back, Mr. Gutchell.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: I might be called out. Now, you'll have to promise
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: to get it right back.
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: Dad, wait a minute.
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: I just remembered.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Remembered what?
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: Well, aren't there some cartridges left for the Luger? Then
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: you wouldn't be without the coat.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 12:36
  Speaker 10: I haven't got a German automatic I could let you have.
• 12:37
  Speaker 10: That way, I wouldn't get stuck. You'd have to return
• 12:40
  Speaker 10: it promptly, though.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, wait, Dad.
• 12:42
  Speaker 8: I'll get it.
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: I know where the cartridges are.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Be careful, son. Well, Mr.
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: Gutchell, it sure turned out nice.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: That's all that matters.
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: Hello, police headquarters. This is Blake Hartley. Frank Gutschler lives
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: on Campbell Street. He just borrowed a gun from me,
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: ostensibly to shoot a dog.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: What?
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: No, he has no dog. He intends shooting his wife. Now, listen,
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: he'll walk home. If you hurry, you can get a
• 13:15
  Speaker 5: man there on time.
• 13:17
  Speaker 10: What?
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: No, but I wish you'd get my pistol back to me.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: It's from the First World War. All right, all right.
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: Then you'll take care of it.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Goodbye. There you are. What kept you, Ellen?
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: I couldn't find the.
• 13:36
  Speaker 8: Cartridges at first.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: I'll show Mr. Gutschel how it works. It's all loaded,
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: ready to shoot. This is the safety. Just push it
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: forward and up. There are eight shots in it.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Did you load the chamber, Ellen?
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: Sure.
• 13:47
  Speaker 8: It's on safe now. You understand how it works, Mr.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Gutschel?
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes.
• 13:51
  Speaker 9: Yes, I understand. Thank you, Mr.
• 13:53
  Speaker 10: Hartley.
• 13:54
  Speaker 9: Thank you, Sonny.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Goodbye. Goodbye, Mr. Gutschel. Return the gun when you're done.
• 13:58
  Speaker 9: Yes, I'll be done with it soon. Goodbye.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Alan, you shouldn't have loaded that gun.
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: I guess it's all over now. I had to keep
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: you from fooling with it. I didn't want you to
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: see I took out the firing pin.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: You what?
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: Gutschel didn't want that gun to shoot a dog. He's
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: a fanatic. He sees visions, hears voices. The voices probably
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: put him up to this. I'll submit that any man
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: who holds intimate conversations with disembodied spirits isn't to be
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: trusted with a gun.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: What are you talking about?
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: While I was at it, I called the police upstairs.
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: I put a handkerchief over my mouth and told them
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: I was you.
• 14:35
  Speaker 10: You?
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Why did you have to do that?
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: I couldn't have told them this is little Alan Hartley,
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: 13 years old.
• 14:41
  Speaker 10: Then suppose he really wants to shoot a dog. What
• 14:43
  Speaker 10: kind of a mess will I be in then?
• 14:44
  Speaker 8: No mess.
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: If I'm wrong, which I'm not, I'll take the rap
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: for it. Dumb kid trick, you know. But if I might,
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: you'll have to front for me. You'll give me a
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: lot of cheap boy hero publicity, which I don't want.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: This is crazy, Alan. This is absolutely crazy.
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: Maybe.
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: We'll have the complete returns in 20 minutes.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Hartley?
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: Blake Hartley? That's right.
• 15:14
  Speaker 11: I'm Detective Sergeant Kaborski from Homicide. Here's your luger.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 15:21
  Speaker 12: I don't know how you spotted that guy, but when
• 15:24
  Speaker 12: we busted in, he was pointing that gun at his
• 15:26
  Speaker 12: wife and swearing a blue streak because.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: It wouldn't go off. I'm glad I was able to help.
• 15:33
  Speaker 11: You know, they may even have some kind of a
• 15:34
  Speaker 11: citation for you, Mr.
• 15:35
  Speaker 10: Harvey.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: I don't think that's necessary.
• 15:38
  Speaker 11: In the department, we figure a little publicity never hurt nobody,
• 15:41
  Speaker 11: even a lawyer.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: I really would prefer it if it were kept quiet.
• 15:44
  Speaker 12: Well, whatever you say. We'll want you to drop around
• 15:48
  Speaker 12: in the morning for a statement.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: I'd be glad to.
• 15:51
  Speaker 11: Well, goodbye.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Goodbye, sonny. Goodbye, Sergeant.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: Why don't you take the citation, Dad?
• 16:00
  Speaker 10: Well, you were right. You saved that woman's life. Now,
• 16:08
  Speaker 10: let's see you put back the firing pin.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 16:14
  Speaker 7: Here.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: All right, Alan. Suppose we have a little talk.
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: But I explained everything.
• 16:23
  Speaker 10: You did not. Yesterday, you wouldn't even have known how
• 16:26
  Speaker 10: to take this pistol apart. Today, you've been using language
• 16:28
  Speaker 10: and expressing ideas that are outside of everything you've ever
• 16:30
  Speaker 10: known before.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Now, I want to know.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: I hope you're not toying with the medieval notion of obsession.
• 16:34
  Speaker 7: What?
• 16:35
  Speaker 8: Well, you say I'm changed.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: When did you first notice this?
• 16:38
  Speaker 10: Last night, you were still my little boy. This morning,
• 16:42
  Speaker 10: I don't know. You've been strange all day. There's been something....
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Alan, what's happened to you?
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: I wish I could be sure myself, Dad. You see,
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: when I woke this morning, I hadn't the least recollection
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: of anything I'd done yesterday, August 4th, 1945.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, but that's serious.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: You don't know how serious. My last memory was lying
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: on a stretcher, injured by a bomb explosion. I was
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: 43 years old, and the year was 1975.
• 17:09
  Speaker 7: 1975?
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: Well, that's right. You'll be 43 in 1975, but.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: But a bomb?
• 17:18
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: During the siege of Buffalo in the Third World War.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: I was a captain in G5, Scientific Warfare, General Staff.
• 17:25
  Speaker 7: Buffalo?
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: You mean Buffalo, New York?
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: There'd been a trans-polar invasion of Canada. I was sent
• 17:30
  Speaker 5: to the front to check on service values of the
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: new lubricating oil. A week after I got there, Ottawa
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: fell and the retreat started. We met a stand at Buffalo,
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: and that was where I got it. I remember being
• 17:41
  Speaker 5: picked up and getting a narcotic injection. The next thing
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: I knew, I was in bed upstairs, and it was
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: 1945 again. And I was back in my own 13-year-old body.
• 17:54
  Speaker 10: Oh, Alan, you just had a nightmare to end all nightmares,
• 17:57
  Speaker 10: that's all.
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: I thought it might be that at first, but I
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: rejected it. It won't fit the facts.
• 18:01
  Speaker 10: But it's ridiculous, all this Battle of Buffalo stuff. You
• 18:05
  Speaker 10: picked up something listening to the radio. All the commentators
• 18:07
  Speaker 10: have been going on about another war after this one.
• 18:10
  Speaker 10: You've just got an undigested hunk of H.V. Caldenborn in
• 18:13
  Speaker 10: your subconscious, that's all.
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: But that isn't everything. I remember four years of high school,
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: four years at Cornell, seven years as a reporter on
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: the Philadelphia Record, three novels, Children of the Mist, Rose
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: of Death, Conqueror's Road. You think a 13-year-old can dream
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: up all that stuff?
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: But it's the only possible explanation. Maybe.
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: But I can speak five languages today that I couldn't yesterday. French, German, Chinese, Russian,
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: and a little Spanish. Although I've got a Mexican accent
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: you could cut with a knife.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: But how did it happen? Alan, I can't believe it.
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: All I know is here I am. I've been reading
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: up on time theories. Nobody seems to know much about them. Evidently,
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: time exists parallel as another dimension, and I got kicked
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: backwards along it.
• 18:56
  Speaker 7: But how?
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: It may have been the radiations from the bomb or
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: the narcotic injection, or both together. But the fact remains
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: I'm here with full knowledge of my future identity. This.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: This is quite a shock, Ellen.
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: But you do believe me, don't you?
• 19:14
  Speaker 10: Yes, I suppose I must. You seem so strange as
• 19:19
  Speaker 10: if you weren't my son.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: I'm your son, all right. Same body as yesterday. I've
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: just had an educational shortcut.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute.
• 19:31
  Speaker 10: If you can remember the next 30 years, suppose you
• 19:34
  Speaker 10: tell me when the war is going to end.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: This one against the Japs, I mean.
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: Oh, sure.
• 19:38
  Speaker 8: Sure.
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: Well, a Japanese surrender will be announced at exactly 7.01 p.m.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: on August 14th. That's a week from Tuesday.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: A week from Tuesday.
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: You better make sure we have plenty of grub in
• 19:47
  Speaker 5: the house by then. Everything will be closed up title
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: Thursday morning. I remember we had nothing to eat in
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: the house but some scraps.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: A week from Tuesday. That's pretty sudden, isn't it?
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: Not after today.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: What do you mean? What happened today? Plenty.
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: What time is it, Dad?
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: That's 11.16. Is your watch right? Watch at the seconds. Why?
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: It'll come at exactly 11.17.40.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: What'll come?
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: The radio announcement.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: What are you getting at? Something important on the radio? Well,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: we'll see.
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: Well, don't bother, Dad. It won't work. I remember we
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: had a tube burned out.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: There is something wrong. When is this announcement of yours?
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: Now I remember it. I memorized it in journalism school
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: in 1954. What time is it?
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: 11.18 o'clock.
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: We're breaking into the program now. President Truman has just
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: announced that an atomic bomb has been dropped on the
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: Japanese industrial city of Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped 16
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: hours ago, and the announcement was delayed to ascertain the
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: results of the explosion. A man named John Howard Peterson
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: read that announcement from the Washington newsroom with NBC. I.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: I don't believe it.
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: No?
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Well, listen.
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: That's the Burke-Platt factory whistle. And the bells of St. Boniface. Now, next,
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: the whistle at the Volunteer Firehouse.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: That it's true.
• 21:10
  Speaker 8: It's true.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: Then Larry Morton came by on his bicycle.
• 21:14
  Speaker 8: Hey, hey, hey, Al. Al, you hear? You hear about
• 21:17
  Speaker 8: the bomb? The atomic bomb.
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we heard.
• 21:19
  Speaker 8: Boy, atomic bomb.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, boy.
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: I gotta go find my poppies on the golf course.
• 21:24
  Speaker 10: Bye, Al.
• 21:24
  Speaker 8: Bye, Mr.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Hartley.
• 21:26
  Speaker 8: You knew.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: You knew about it.
• 21:29
  Speaker 5: The next bomb hits Nagasaki.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: I thought that stuff about atomic energy was so much fantasy.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Was it? Was that the kind of bomb that got you?
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: That was a firecracker to the one that got me.
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: It was a guided 98. Exploded 10 miles away.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: And that's going to happen in 30 years?
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: I remember it. How about.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Well, uh... How about me? Oh, wait, wait. Never mind.
• 21:54
  Speaker 10: I don't think I'd better know when I'm going to die.
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: I couldn't tell you anyway. I had a letter from
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: you just before I left for the front. You were
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: 78 then and you were still hunting and fishing and
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: flying your own plane.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: But another war and fought on American soil.
• 22:12
  Speaker 10: Oh, Ellen, I wish this hadn't happened to you.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: It happened. I remember it. But if I can help it,
• 22:19
  Speaker 5: I'm not going to get killed in any battle of Buffalo.
• 22:21
  Speaker 10: But if you remember it, if time exists as a
• 22:23
  Speaker 10: parallel dimension, then every tick we're getting closer to that
• 22:26
  Speaker 10: Third World War.
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: Dad, you know what I remembered when Guttschall came to
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: borrow that gun?
• 22:30
  Speaker 10: No, I suppose that you suspected him and warned me.
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: No, no, no, that wasn't it. The other time, the
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: first time, when I was really 13, I wasn't home.
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: I'd been swimming at the canoe club with Larry Morton.
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: When I got home about a half an hour from now,
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: I found the house full of cops.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: But if the gun didn't fire.
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: What makes you think it didn't? Gutschel talked the 38
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: out of you. He went home, shot his wife four
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: times in the body, once behind the ear, and used
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: the sixth shot to blow his own brains out.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: That's what you remember? Yes.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: The cops traced the gun. They took a very poor
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: view of your lending it to them. You never got
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: it back.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: But here it is.
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: Not the way I remember it. But I didn't want
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: you in trouble, so I warned you. Dad, I found
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: out the future can be changed.
• 23:15
  Speaker 10: One man can't change the whole future.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: I stopped a murder and a suicide.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: I know, but.
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: With 30 years to work, I can stop a world war.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: I'll have the means, too.
• 23:24
  Speaker 7: The means?
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: Unlimited wealth and influence. I've got a good memory, Dad.
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: I wrote a list out this afternoon.
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: Salt.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Jet pilot, citation, ponder, middle ground. What is this, a code?
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: Horses. That's a list of Kentucky Derby winners from 1946
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: to 1970. Oh, you sure? I learned that list on
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: a bet at the officer's club in Cincinnati in 1971.
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: Assault paid eight to one. You figure out what we
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: can take in.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: But gambling.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: Oh, this isn't gambling. It's a sure thing. When we
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: get rolling, we'll make the Rockefellers look like pikers.
• 23:58
  Speaker 7: Hmm.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: The salt that they tore?
• 24:00
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: I suppose I could scrape up $ 5, 000.
• 24:02
  Speaker 10: In 10 years, that'll make a lot of money.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Any other little thing you have in mind, Ellen?
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: Well, by 1952, we start building a political organization here
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: in Pennsylvania. In 1960, I think we can elect you president.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: President? Isn't that going a little too far?
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: Well, why not? Who wouldn't vote for a politician who
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: was always right? Hmm. Besides, that's the one thing we've
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: got to change. In 1960, we had a man in
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: the White House who was good to his wife and
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: sang a nice tenor, and that's about all. He followed
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: up so completely, we ended up at war. I think
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: President Hartley might be a little more trusted to take
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: a strong line.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: But I don't know anything about international decisions.
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: I do.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: I know all the wrong ones. If we can stop
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: one murder, we can stop a war. It's worth a try,
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: isn't it?
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I guess so.
• 24:58
  Speaker 7: Hmm.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Uh, how do I start?
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: Well, as I remember, just after the bomb announcement, you
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: got a phone call from the city fusion party about
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: the next election.
• 25:08
  Speaker 10: Well, there's a lot of talk about a reform ticket.
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: Well, that call is going to be important, Dad. It's
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: the turning point. Now, you've got to know... There it is.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Well, what do I do?
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: Well, answer it. Go ahead.
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: But.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Don't worry.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: I'll tell you what to do.
• 25:20
  Speaker 8: Go ahead.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Hello? Yes, this is Blake Hartley. Judge Cribbins.
• 25:28
  Speaker 9: Yes.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Just a moment. Alan, he's asking me to run. My head.
• 25:34
  Speaker 11: Alan.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Alan, what's the matter?
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: Alan.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: He passed out. Alan, what do I do now? Alan,
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: listen to me.
• 25:44
  Speaker 13: Alan.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: Alan, what's the matter?
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Captain. Captain Hartley. Captain Hartley. He was all right, Doctor.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: I gave him the shot and he was all right.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Well, he's dead. All right, Sergeant. Make out the tag. Hartley, Allen. Captain.
• 26:12
  Speaker 8: Dead April 8th, 1975.
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: Alan.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: Alan, what happened?
• 26:29
  Speaker 11: Alan.
• 26:30
  Speaker 10: Alan.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Alan, are you all right? Hi, Dad. I've got Judge
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Crimmins on the phone. What do I tell him?
• 26:39
  Speaker 8: What?
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Alan, are you all right? You passed out. Sure.
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: I'm all right. Hey, today's my birthday, isn't it? What'd
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: you give for my birthday, huh?
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Don't you remember? The Third World War?
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: What Third World War? Dad, what's the matter? You're looking
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: at me funny.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: You don't remember. You're back again, aren't you? Back to
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: 13 years old.
• 27:11
  Speaker 8: Sure, I'm 13 today. For corn's sake, Dad.
• 27:14
  Speaker 10: You must have died up there. It was only a
• 27:17
  Speaker 10: mind transfer. That means I'm on my own. I have
• 27:22
  Speaker 10: to do it myself without your help. Help for what?
• 27:26
  Speaker 10: If it's the grass, I said I'd cut it tomorrow. No, no,
• 27:28
  Speaker 10: it's not the grass. I've got to save your life, Alan.
• 27:34
  Speaker 10: We can't let you die that way in 1975. You're
• 27:38
  Speaker 10: talking about dead. You sound goofy.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: I've got to change it all by myself.
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: Change what?
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: Never mind, Alan. You don't know yet. Come on. Let's
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: have lunch.
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: Sure, Dad, but how about my present now? What'd you
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: get me for my birthday, huh?
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: In a minute, son. Go on in. Okay.
• 27:58
  Speaker 8: Well, hurry up, Dad, huh?
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Sure, all right. Hmm. Now, where did I put that
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: list of horses?
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: You have just heard X-1, presented by the National Broadcasting
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of astounding
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: science fiction. Tonight by transcription, X-1 has brought you Time
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: and Time Again, written by H. Beam Piper and adapted
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: for radio by Ernest Canoy. Featured in the cast were
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: Jack Grimes, Peter Fernandez, Joe DeSantis, Joseph Bell, Clark Gordon,
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: Herm Dinkin, Dick Hamilton, and James Dukas.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: Radio Network production.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: You have been listening to X-1 time and time again.
• 29:10
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