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X Minus One - "The Defenders" (Old Time Radio, 1956) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: In a future underground Western society, college student Mary Taylor
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: studies Joseph, the only living captive from the opposing Asian Confederation.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Above ground, robots known as leadies wage a continuing war,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: while Mary's questions about the enemy and the conflict draw
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the attention of Colonel Moss, Director of Internal Security. On
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: May 22, 1956, NBC Radio presented episode 52 of X-1,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: The Defenders, adapted for radio by George Lefferts, from a
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: story by Philip K. Dick, with Daniel Sutter directing. The
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: cast includes Lydia Bruce, Warren Parker, Grant Richards, Robert Dryden,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Michael Ingram, Stan Early, and Ivor Francis. Here is the
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: original broadcast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: And now stay tuned for X-1 on NBC.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Countdown for blastoff. X-5, 4, 3, 2, X-1, fire.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: of the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: X minus 1.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: Tonight, The Defenders, based on a story by Philip Dick.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: And now we bring.
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: You a special film of the destruction of San Francisco
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: by radioactive pellets, released this week by robots of the
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: Asian Confederation. This bombing was televised by robot cameramen of
• 2:28
  Speaker 5: the Western Confederation as it took place. What you are
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: about to see is a rebroadcast. Here you see the
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: heroic robots, the Lettys, who defended San Francisco against the
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: dastardly attack. Of course, since all human life has been
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: under the surface of Earth for 16 years, there was
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: no actual loss of life in the sense we know it. Still,
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: the vicious destruction of Western Lettys by this sneak attack
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: by Asian robots.
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: The surface war. The surface war, that's all we hear.
• 3:09
  Speaker 6: It's all everybody works for. 90 cents out of every
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: dollar goes for the surface war. Every man, woman, and
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: child is either inventing new weapons or manufacturing robots to
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: fight for us or taking care of the people who
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: are doing the inventing or manufacturing.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: Mary, Mary, take it easy.
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: I'm sorry, Dad.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: Maybe you've been working too hard at the university.
• 3:31
  Speaker 7: Maybe.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: How's the study coming?
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 3:34
  Speaker 7: Colonel Moss was asking about it only today over at
• 3:36
  Speaker 7: Supreme Headquarters.
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: I'm still working.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Mary, you haven't mentioned the enemy much.
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: Oh, what's there to say?
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: Well, is he as hateful as ever?
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: He hasn't been feeling well.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Pity. I hope he doesn't die.
• 3:52
  Speaker 7: After all, he's the only living captive member of the
• 3:54
  Speaker 7: Asian Confederation. How old is he, by the way?
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: Thirty-four.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: You're joking, of course.
• 4:00
  Speaker 6: No.
• 4:01
  Speaker 7: Mary, Western society only moved under the surface of the
• 4:04
  Speaker 7: earth some 16 years ago. Now, that would mean that
• 4:07
  Speaker 7: the enemy was captured when he was.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Only a boy. Yes.
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: He told you this? Oh, no.
• 4:11
  Speaker 6: He tells everyone he's 42. I deduced it from inconsistencies
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: in his statements.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Well, that's a little dangerous, isn't it?
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: You're the only one I've told, Dad.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: I wish you wouldn't even tell me these things.
• 4:22
  Speaker 6: Do you expect your friend Colonel Moss to pop out
• 4:25
  Speaker 6: from under the bed?
• 4:26
  Speaker 7: Now you're being facetious. It's no laughing matter, Mary. The
• 4:30
  Speaker 7: whole concept of the enemy is so charged emotionally... And.
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: So full of lies.
• 4:34
  Speaker 7: Mary!
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: It's true. I've been talking to him for six months now.
• 4:39
  Speaker 6: He's just an ordinary young man who happens to have
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: had the bad luck to come to symbolize every hated
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: thing we fight against.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: I've heard him speak. He is hateful.
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: He knows what to say if he wants to keep alive.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: Mary, I won't hear any more of this.
• 4:53
  Speaker 6: Oh, I'm sorry, Dad. I suppose it doesn't serve any
• 4:57
  Speaker 6: useful purpose.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: It isn't that.
• 4:59
  Speaker 7: I'm thinking of your own safety. If remarks like this
• 5:03
  Speaker 7: were overheard... Do you know what.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: They do to traitors?
• 5:06
  Speaker 6: I've heard they turn them over to the leadies.
• 5:09
  Speaker 7: They're taken up to the surface. As they approach it,
• 5:12
  Speaker 7: the radioactivity begins to destroy them. And by the time
• 5:15
  Speaker 7: they reach the top... I'll be careful.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: Good.
• 5:19
  Speaker 7: Now then, why don't we stop this morbid talk? How
• 5:24
  Speaker 7: about turning on some music, hmm?
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Dad? Yes?
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: What was it like?
• 5:34
  Speaker 7: What?
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: On the surface.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Don't you remember?
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: Mm-mm.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, of course not.
• 5:39
  Speaker 7: You were only about six at the time. Well, it's
• 5:43
  Speaker 7: best not to talk about it too much.
• 5:45
  Speaker 6: Tell me, Dad, please.
• 5:47
  Speaker 7: Well, it was quite different from living underground. You lived
• 5:50
  Speaker 7: in a valley, your mother and you and I. There
• 5:53
  Speaker 7: were pretty farms along the floor of the valley, little
• 5:56
  Speaker 7: white houses and green fields and trees.
• 5:59
  Speaker 6: Oh, and there were birds.
• 6:01
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: I'm afraid the birds are extinct now.
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: It must have been hard for you, those first years underground.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: It wasn't pleasant.
• 6:09
  Speaker 7: But I had my work at the War Institute. There
• 6:12
  Speaker 7: was so much to be done then. Building the leadies
• 6:14
  Speaker 7: to take over the surface war. Designing the pneumatic tubes
• 6:17
  Speaker 7: to get supplies and weapons.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: Up to the robots.
• 6:20
  Speaker 7: Organizing the robot councils on the surface. And, of course,
• 6:23
  Speaker 7: the constant fight against radiation leakage. We're still working on
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: that one.
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: I wonder what my life would have been like if
• 6:31
  Speaker 6: it hadn't happened... About all I know is metal walls
• 6:35
  Speaker 6: and great roaring factories and barracks.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: Nobody wants to live this way, my dear. We have to. Someday,
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: when the enemy is defeated... What.
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: Makes you think he'll be defeated? The Asians are just
• 6:45
  Speaker 6: as secure underground as we are.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: When our ladies conquer theirs.
• 6:49
  Speaker 9: Dad.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: What is it?
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: Dad, the enemy, the one I've been interviewing.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: I thought we weren't discussing him.
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: He mentioned a word to me.
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: A word?
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: Yes. It seems to me that I heard it before
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: when I was a little girl.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: It's best to forget these things. No.
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: I don't know what it means. It might even be
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: a bad word, but I have to ask you.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: I'd rather not. Please? Well.
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: The word was peace. Dan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: to shock you. I think I'll go up to my room. I...
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: I have to get up early. I'm taping an interview
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: with the enemy. Excuse me.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Get me the director of internal security.
• 7:39
  Speaker 10: Yes?
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: Moss, this is Donald Taylor.
• 7:45
  Speaker 8: Yes, Donald.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: It's about my daughter. Mary?
• 7:48
  Speaker 7: Yes. She's been working with the enemy, as you know,
• 7:50
  Speaker 7: compiling a new study. I'm afraid from some of the
• 7:53
  Speaker 7: things he's told her that he may not be completely, well,
• 7:57
  Speaker 7: completely sane. I thought perhaps you might, well, supervise their
• 8:03
  Speaker 7: relationship a little more. After all, she's been spending almost
• 8:07
  Speaker 7: six months in his company, several hours a day.
• 8:09
  Speaker 10: I see what you mean.
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: Now, I don't mean to suggest that anything has happened already.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Her attitude... Don't.
• 8:14
  Speaker 10: Concern yourself about it. Everything will be handled as.
• 8:33
  Speaker 9: The enemy is waiting inside, Miss Taylor.
• 8:36
  Speaker 6: Good. Is the recording and filming equipment ready to go?
• 8:39
  Speaker 9: All checked and ready.
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: You've checked the restraint suit on the prisoner?
• 8:43
  Speaker 9: Yes, miss.
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: You may leave us alone.
• 8:45
  Speaker 9: Just buzz when you want me, Miss Taylor.
• 8:47
  Speaker 8: I will.
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: Thank you, guard. Hello, hateful one.
• 8:55
  Speaker 10: Hello, beloved.
• 8:58
  Speaker 6: How are you?
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: Feeling no pain?
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: I thought about you last night. I talked to Father.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Be careful.
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: Oh, it's all right.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: This can't go on, Mary. Sooner or later, someone will suspect.
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: I don't care. I love you.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: Mary. You'd better get something on tape. If anyone comes in.
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: All right. Tape number 425X. Subject, recorded interview with captive ZN2,
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: former soldier of the Asian Confederation and enemy of the
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: Western Confederation.
• 9:36
  Speaker 11: I am Joseph Kali, serial number ZN2, former soldier of
• 9:41
  Speaker 11: the Asian Confederation.
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: What were you taught to believe concerning the people of
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: the Western Confederation?
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: I hate them with all my heart. They are inhuman
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: and to be destroyed.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: What is your objective?
• 9:53
  Speaker 11: It is the objective of my people to enslave all
• 9:56
  Speaker 11: members of the Western Confederation and to utilize them for
• 10:00
  Speaker 11: the benefit of the masters of the Asian Confederation.
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: Did you ever witness any murder of members of the
• 10:05
  Speaker 6: Western Confederation?
• 10:07
  Speaker 11: I was a pilot in a group which dropped radioactive
• 10:10
  Speaker 11: dust on women and children who were preparing to be
• 10:13
  Speaker 11: evacuated underground.
• 10:16
  Speaker 9: I myself killed some 15,000.
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: We will discontinue the interview to check the quality of
• 10:20
  Speaker 6: the recordings. And to kiss the lips of the captive
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: from the Asian Confederation. Oh, Joseph. I can't tell you
• 10:32
  Speaker 6: how it pains me to hear you mouthing this stuff.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: It keeps me alive.
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: If there were only some way to escape, some place
• 10:39
  Speaker 6: to go.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: The surface is the only place to go.
• 10:43
  Speaker 11: And the radioactivity kills you in 40 minutes with the
• 10:45
  Speaker 11: thickest lead suit.
• 10:46
  Speaker 6: Sometimes I think even 40 minutes of freedom would be
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: worth it.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: 40 minutes of pain?
• 10:52
  Speaker 6: If that's the price, then I.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: For myself, I wouldn't care. But for you, Mary.
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: If there were a way to reach the surface... There is.
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: Colonel Moss.
• 11:02
  Speaker 12: This has been, I must say, a most interesting interview
• 11:06
  Speaker 12: to him.
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: You heard it.
• 11:08
  Speaker 12: From the beginning. We had the room wired this morning.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: Then you know.
• 11:12
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 11:13
  Speaker 6: Well, what's going to happen to us?
• 11:16
  Speaker 12: To you, nothing.
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: Because of my friendship for your father and your own youth,
• 11:21
  Speaker 7: we will simply require that you.
• 11:22
  Speaker 12: Remain silent about anything that has happened.
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: And Joseph?
• 11:26
  Speaker 7: The enemy will be handed over to a D-class leady
• 11:28
  Speaker 7: at the mouth of the tube and taken to the surface.
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: We will perform the entire operation with a ceremony and
• 11:34
  Speaker 7: a public announcement.
• 11:35
  Speaker 6: He died.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Precisely. No.
• 11:38
  Speaker 10: Please.
• 11:38
  Speaker 12: Now you'd better go.
• 11:39
  Speaker 9: Your father is waiting outside.
• 11:40
  Speaker 8: Joseph.
• 11:41
  Speaker 7: Mary.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Mary. Do as he says.
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: Joseph, I love you.
• 11:43
  Speaker 9: Take her out.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: Please let me say, let me say goodbye to him.
• 11:46
  Speaker 9: Remove her.
• 11:47
  Speaker 6: Joseph, please.
• 11:49
  Speaker 8: Please let me say, please.
• 11:51
  Speaker 10: Father?
• 11:53
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: Did you talk to Colonel Moss?
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: And?
• 12:16
  Speaker 7: He'll permit you to come along and watch the ceremony, provided... Provided?
• 12:20
  Speaker 7: There's no display of any sort. And, of course, a
• 12:23
  Speaker 7: public denouncement of the whole matter. He's prepared a statement
• 12:26
  Speaker 7: to the effect that the enemy tried to dupe you,
• 12:28
  Speaker 7: that he used hypnosis.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: Et cetera, et cetera. Well?
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: I'll sign it.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: The ceremony is at the foot of the tube tomorrow
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: morning at six.
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: At that hour, the enemy will be handed over to
• 12:41
  Speaker 7: a D-class leady, which is being brought down from the surface.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: Remember your promise.
• 12:53
  Speaker 13: Detail!
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: Halt!
• 13:06
  Speaker 12: The prisoner is ready to be turned over, sir. Is
• 13:08
  Speaker 12: the robot here? The robot is arriving now. I'll give
• 13:18
  Speaker 12: the orders. I wish to converse with it.
• 13:20
  Speaker 9: Yes, sir.
• 13:21
  Speaker 7: The robot has landed at the foot of the tube, sir.
• 13:24
  Speaker 12: Switch on the intercom.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Robot.
• 13:28
  Speaker 10: Robot N-71.
• 13:31
  Speaker 12: Can you hear me?
• 13:32
  Speaker 10: Yes, sir.
• 13:33
  Speaker 7: We have a prisoner to turn over. He is to
• 13:36
  Speaker 7: be taken to the surface and destroyed.
• 13:38
  Speaker 10: Yes, sir.
• 13:39
  Speaker 7: Before we send him into the radiation lock, there are
• 13:42
  Speaker 7: a few questions the military would like to have answered.
• 13:45
  Speaker 10: Yes, sir.
• 13:46
  Speaker 12: How is the war going on the surface?
• 13:49
  Speaker 10: The war continues. We are a little short of fast
• 13:52
  Speaker 10: pursuit craft, the single seat type.
• 13:55
  Speaker 12: It will be noted.
• 13:57
  Speaker 10: Our missiles pounded the Euro munitions plant of the Asian
• 14:00
  Speaker 10: rover team last night with good results.
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: Excellent.
• 14:05
  Speaker 12: Are you ready to receive the prisoner?
• 14:08
  Speaker 10: I am ready.
• 14:09
  Speaker 7: I must warn all observers to remain behind the lead
• 14:12
  Speaker 7: wall when the radiation lock opens. A few seconds exposure
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: to a hot leady is enough to cause serious damage.
• 14:21
  Speaker 12: Prisoner, step forward.
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: Father.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Steady, Mary. Remember your promise?
• 14:27
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: Is he.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: He's there.
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: I could only see him alone a minute.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: It's out of the question. Keep well behind the lead wall.
• 14:36
  Speaker 10: Ready?
• 14:37
  Speaker 7: Ready.
• 14:37
  Speaker 12: Ready, Colonel. Open the lock. Step into the lock, prisoner.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: He's in with the leady. You can almost feel the radiation.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: By now, he's as good as dead.
• 15:00
  Speaker 12: Lower the door.
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: No, wait.
• 15:03
  Speaker 12: Joseph!
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: Joseph!
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: Mary, come back!
• 15:06
  Speaker 12: Hold the door!
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: Mary! Robert!
• 15:09
  Speaker 12: Remove the woman and take the person to the service. Hurry!
• 15:11
  Speaker 12: She'll be burned to death. Don't go out there. The
• 15:13
  Speaker 12: lady is pushing her out. Close the lock!
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: Mary!
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: Sergeant!
• 15:16
  Speaker 7: Get a technician in a radiation suit to pick her up.
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: Have her shielded and brought to the decontaminating chamber.
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: My daughter.
• 15:23
  Speaker 12: You'd better get into a lead suit, Donald. We'll see
• 15:24
  Speaker 12: what we can do to save her.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: How is she?
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: Bad?
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I don't understand it. What's wrong? She's cold. Not a
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: trace of radiation. You mean the leady wasn't radioactive? It's impossible.
• 15:48
  Speaker 9: Those robots are exposed to enough radiation in an hour.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: To kill a regiment. Well, could the counter be defective?
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: I checked it.
• 15:55
  Speaker 7: No, it must be some freak. Somehow she avoided exposure
• 15:58
  Speaker 7: to the rays. Well, you're a very lucky man, Professor.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Can I see her?
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: Go in. Thank you. Mary. Hello, Dad. Did they tell
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: you you're going to be all right?
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: Well, you don't seem overjoyed.
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: Should I be?
• 16:23
  Speaker 7: You really care for this murderer of women and children?
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: Dad, for the last time, Joseph never murdered any women
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: and children. He confessed to those crimes to keep alive.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: Well, we won't discuss it. You're safe. That's all that matters.
• 16:40
  Speaker 6: Is he Was he taken up?
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Yes. By now, he's gone.
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: I don't believe it.
• 16:47
  Speaker 7: Mary.
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: I don't believe it. Somehow, deep inside me, I know
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: he's alive. Somehow, I knew that letty wasn't radioactive.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: That letty. Yes, that's puzzling. We'll have to investigate that.
• 17:01
  Speaker 7: I'm going to send an order to the service asking
• 17:03
  Speaker 7: that the same letty be sent down again. There's something
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: very strange about the whole business.
• 17:21
  Speaker 9: The tube is arriving with the leady as you requested, Professor.
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: Good. I'm going in to examine it.
• 17:28
  Speaker 9: Isn't that dangerous, even with the suit on, sir?
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: It won't take me long.
• 17:32
  Speaker 9: Very well. He's reached bottom.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: Open the lock.
• 17:37
  Speaker 10: Father.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: Hold it.
• 17:38
  Speaker 7: Mary, what are you doing here in a radiation suit? I.
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: This is the same leady, isn't it?
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: Yes. I was just going in to examine it.
• 17:45
  Speaker 6: I want to go with you.
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: Why?
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: This is the letty that took Joseph up. I want
• 17:49
  Speaker 6: to speak to it and find out.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: Now, Mary, why torture yourself?
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: It's more torture this way. I have to know. If
• 17:55
  Speaker 6: he's alive or dead, I have to know.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: He's dead.
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: The letty will know. Please, Father, please.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: Very well. Close your helmet. Open the lock, God.
• 18:15
  Speaker 8: Let's go in. You're Robert N.
• 18:22
  Speaker 12: 71?
• 18:23
  Speaker 8: I am. The same who escorted the prisoner to the
• 18:26
  Speaker 8: surface this morning?
• 18:27
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: Is he?
• 18:28
  Speaker 10: He is dead. The radiation killed him before he reached
• 18:33
  Speaker 10: the surface.
• 18:34
  Speaker 8: Steady, Mary.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: Robert.
• 18:36
  Speaker 10: Sir?
• 18:38
  Speaker 8: You accompanied him to the surface?
• 18:39
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 18:40
  Speaker 8: You've been exposed.
• 18:41
  Speaker 10: I have fought in three battles.
• 18:44
  Speaker 8: Then explain something.
• 18:46
  Speaker 10: Sir?
• 18:47
  Speaker 8: According to a counter I have concealed in my suit,
• 18:50
  Speaker 8: you're cold. Not a trace of radioactivity. How do you
• 18:54
  Speaker 8: explain this?
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Well?
• 18:58
  Speaker 8: Answer me. That's an order.
• 19:01
  Speaker 10: I must return to the surface.
• 19:03
  Speaker 8: Not till you answer me.
• 19:05
  Speaker 10: I must return to continue fighting the war. Do not
• 19:09
  Speaker 10: attempt to stop me.
• 19:10
  Speaker 8: I again... Daddy has a ray gun.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: Look out!
• 19:14
  Speaker 8: Keep back. I've shorted him with the metal counter. He'll
• 19:17
  Speaker 8: be burned out in a second. That was close.
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: I thought these robots were unable to harm their masters.
• 19:26
  Speaker 8: He might have been bluffing, but I couldn't take a chance.
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: Why do you suppose he did it?
• 19:29
  Speaker 8: I don't know.
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: But I'm beginning to suspect something so fantastic that I've
• 19:34
  Speaker 7: got to find out about it.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Find out?
• 19:37
  Speaker 8: Leave the tube, Mary.
• 19:38
  Speaker 6: What are you going to do?
• 19:40
  Speaker 8: I'm going to the surface. My suit will protect me
• 19:44
  Speaker 8: for about five minutes up there.
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: No, humans have been up to the surface for years.
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: It's illegal.
• 19:49
  Speaker 8: It's... I know all about that. Now, will you leave
• 19:52
  Speaker 8: the tube?
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: No. I'm going with you.
• 19:55
  Speaker 8: Mary, please. If you go, I go with you. All right.
• 19:59
  Speaker 12: Hang on.
• 20:04
  Speaker 8: I'm going to start the elevator. Here we go.
• 20:19
  Speaker 12: Almost there. It's supposed.
• 20:29
  Speaker 8: To be a good father, with all that ruin. The
• 20:34
  Speaker 8: car's stopping.
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: The silence is frightening. Father, what was that?
• 20:43
  Speaker 8: It sounds like... like a rooster. It's impossible.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: It's impossible.
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: There's no living thing on Earth.
• 20:51
  Speaker 8: Open the car door.
• 20:56
  Speaker 10: Father.
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: Mary.
• 20:59
  Speaker 8: Do you see what I see? Trees, forests, a windmill
• 21:05
  Speaker 8: and farmhouses.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Look.
• 21:08
  Speaker 8: We must be dreaming. Father.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Birds, look.
• 21:14
  Speaker 8: It's unbelievable. Oh, no, I can't believe it.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: I can't. Raise your hands, both of you.
• 21:24
  Speaker 8: It's a levy. Do as he says.
• 21:26
  Speaker 10: He's armed.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: Good. I am Alpha Five, chairman of the Surface Council.
• 21:31
  Speaker 8: What's this all about? Where's the war? The ruins? What's
• 21:35
  Speaker 8: happened here?
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Can't you guess?
• 21:37
  Speaker 8: The war?
• 21:37
  Speaker 13: There is no war. There hasn't been any war for
• 21:41
  Speaker 13: 15 years.
• 21:43
  Speaker 8: No war? But the guns, the munitions... We've.
• 21:47
  Speaker 13: Been destroying them as fast as you sent them to
• 21:50
  Speaker 13: the surface. Their robots have been destroying their arms also.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Why? How did this happen?
• 21:56
  Speaker 8: What about those films of the destruction of San Francisco?
• 21:59
  Speaker 8: What about those televised reports, the bombings, the slaughters?
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Models.
• 22:04
  Speaker 6: Models?
• 22:04
  Speaker 13: We have a full-time division of A-class robots who do
• 22:08
  Speaker 13: nothing but photograph the progress of the fictitious war using
• 22:12
  Speaker 13: scale models. The entire destruction of San Francisco, which you
• 22:18
  Speaker 13: witnessed on your televisors, took place on a tabletop.
• 22:23
  Speaker 8: How did this come about?
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Quite logically.
• 22:27
  Speaker 13: You created us to pursue the war for you, while
• 22:30
  Speaker 13: you human beings went below ground to survive. But before
• 22:35
  Speaker 13: we could continue the war, it was necessary to analyze it,
• 22:39
  Speaker 13: to determine its purpose.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: We did this.
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: And?
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: We found it had no purpose.
• 22:48
  Speaker 13: War to the logical mind is absurd, but it fulfills
• 22:52
  Speaker 13: a need in human terms, the need to direct your
• 22:55
  Speaker 13: hatred of yourselves away from you and onto others. Eventually,
• 23:01
  Speaker 13: man will grow up enough so that he can face
• 23:04
  Speaker 13: his own dislike of himself with humility.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: The time has almost come, as a matter of fact.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Until it does come.
• 23:13
  Speaker 13: We decided to preserve the illusion of war Meanwhile, we
• 23:18
  Speaker 13: rebuilt the cities, replanted the farms, and kept everything in readiness.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: We are the caretakers.
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: And what will happen to my daughter and myself?
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: You will remain on the surface with the others.
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: Others?
• 23:33
  Speaker 13: There is a small group of members of the Asian
• 23:36
  Speaker 13: Confederation which came to the surface only a few months ago.
• 23:40
  Speaker 13: They are farming a valley not far from here. By
• 23:44
  Speaker 13: the way, you may remove your radiation suits. There is
• 23:49
  Speaker 13: no radiation.
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: You said the others. Does that mean that the prisoner,
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: the one who.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: He is alive and well.
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: Father, he's alive. Where is he?
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: In a farmhouse not far from here. He has rejoined some.
• 24:07
  Speaker 10: Of his people.
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: Would you take me to him? Can I see him?
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Of course, if you will just follow me.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Wait. Wait. There's another car rising in the tube.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Stand aside.
• 24:25
  Speaker 12: Just remain where you are. Sergeant, take this lady into custody.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 24:31
  Speaker 9: Well, Professor, this is quite a sight.
• 24:33
  Speaker 7: How did you happen to come here? The guard told
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: us you had surfaced. We found the shorted robot where
• 24:38
  Speaker 7: you left it and discovered it was cold. So we
• 24:41
  Speaker 7: decided we'd better investigate. Good Lord, what a shock this is.
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: A blessing, Colonel. Not a shock. Do the Asians know
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: about this?
• 24:49
  Speaker 7: A few of them have surfaced, but the underground civilization
• 24:51
  Speaker 7: is still ignorant of it.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: They think the war is going on just as our
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: people do. Don't say. You know what this means, don't you?
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: It means the end of the war. It means peace.
• 25:02
  Speaker 9: It means victory, Professor. It means we can mount a
• 25:05
  Speaker 9: full-scale attack.
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: We can drop hydrogen fission bombs right down their tubes.
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: We can wipe out the whole race. But there's no need.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: There's no war.
• 25:12
  Speaker 9: There will be.
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: I'm returning underground to report this to Supreme Headquarters. You'll
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: have to accompany me for security purposes.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: You cannot do that, Colonel.
• 25:21
  Speaker 9: Since when does a robot give orders to a human?
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: We were constructed to protect you. In this case, we
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: will protect you from yourselves.
• 25:30
  Speaker 12: Stand aside.
• 25:31
  Speaker 9: We're going to the tube.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: I will be happy to stand aside. But you will
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: not be able to descend.
• 25:37
  Speaker 9: No?
• 25:38
  Speaker 12: Well, we'll just see. Look out!
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: Father, what is it? What happened?
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: Look. Good Lord. They've destroyed the tube.
• 25:51
  Speaker 9: We're sealed off.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 25:54
  Speaker 13: We have always had heat bombs in readiness for just
• 25:57
  Speaker 13: such an emergency. Lead and rock are fused for a
• 26:00
  Speaker 13: depth of some ten miles. It will be years before
• 26:04
  Speaker 13: your people can reconstruct the tube.
• 26:06
  Speaker 12: I don't believe it.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: It makes no difference to us whether you believe it
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: or not.
• 26:11
  Speaker 9: Men, destroy this robot.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: There are many more.
• 26:15
  Speaker 12: Destroy him.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 26:21
  Speaker 6: Look down the road. Humans. A bunch of humans coming
• 26:25
  Speaker 6: toward us. Why, they're waving.
• 26:27
  Speaker 12: Those are Asians.
• 26:28
  Speaker 10: Joseph. Joseph.
• 26:30
  Speaker 6: Father Joseph's with them.
• 26:32
  Speaker 9: Ready arms, men.
• 26:33
  Speaker 12: As soon as they're close enough, I'll give the signal
• 26:35
  Speaker 12: to fire.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: Colonel, in heaven's name, they aren't even armed.
• 26:37
  Speaker 12: They're the enemy. Our only hope for survival is to
• 26:40
  Speaker 12: join with them.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: We'll need food and shelter. If we destroy them.
• 26:43
  Speaker 9: The professor is right, Colonel. We're cut off from our
• 26:47
  Speaker 9: own people.
• 26:48
  Speaker 12: Sergeant, another word and I'll have you court-martialed. Now, ready
• 26:52
  Speaker 12: your weapons.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: Men, don't do it.
• 26:54
  Speaker 12: Our only hope now is peace. Silence!
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: I've got to warn them.
• 26:57
  Speaker 6: Go back!
• 26:58
  Speaker 10: Go back!
• 26:59
  Speaker 12: All right, Professor, you asked for it.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: Now!
• 27:01
  Speaker 8: Father!
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: Father!
• 27:07
  Speaker 6: Father, is he.
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: Colonel Moss is dead. Thank you, Sergeant. You've saved not
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: only my life, but many others.
• 27:18
  Speaker 9: I couldn't see any other way, Professor. We gotta live, too.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Father? Yes, Mary?
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: Does this mean that we can have peace?
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: If we want it, Mary. If we really want it,
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: we can have it.
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: You have just heard X-1, presented by the National Broadcasting
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: month features the Clifford D. Simak novelette titled Drop Dead.
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: The story of a perfect world, accommodating and peaceful. But
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: how it got that way was less ghastly than how
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: it stayed that way. Galaxy Magazine, on your newsstand today.
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: Tonight by transcription, X-1 has brought you the George Lefferts
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: adaptation of The Defenders, based on a story from the
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: pages of Galaxy written by Philip Dick. Featured in the
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: cast were Lydia Bruce, Warren Parker, Grant Richards, Robert Dryden,
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: Michael Ingram, Stan Early, and Ivor Francis.
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter and is an NBC
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: Radio Network production.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: X-1 concludes with The Defenders from May 22, 1956. Follow
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: X-1 for more classic broadcasts.