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15 - Test Rocket · Astounding Sci-Fi Audiobook Library

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Test rocket by Jack Douglas. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: by Dale Grothman. It's amazing how much you can learn
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: about absolute strangers if you just stop to think about
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the kind of animal be'll put in A test rocket
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: by Jack Douglas. Captain Baird stood at the window of
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: the laboratory, where the thousand parts of the strange rocket
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: lay strewn in careful order. Small groups worked slowly over
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the dismantled parts. The Captain wanted to ask, but something
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: stopped him. Behind him, Doctor Johansson sat at his desk,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: his gnarled old hand tight around a whiskey bottle, the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: bottle the doctor always had in his desk but never
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: brought out except when he was alone and waited for
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Captain Baird to ask his question. Captain Baird turned at last.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: They are our markings, Captain Baird asked. It was not
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a question. Captain Baird knew the markings of the rocket
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: testing station as well as the doctor did. Yes, the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: doctor said, they are our markings, identical, but not our paint.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Captain Baird turned back to the window. Six months ago.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: It had happened ten minutes after launching the giant test
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: rocket had been only a speck on the observation screen.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Captain Baird had turned away in disgust. A mouse, The
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Captain had said, unfortunate. A mouse can't observe build and
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: report my manner getting restless, Johnson, when we are ready, Captain,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the doctor had said. It was twelve hours before the
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: urgent call from Central Control had brought the Captain running
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: back to the laboratory. The doctor was there before him.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Professor Schultz wasted no time. He pointed to the instrument panel,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: a sudden shift. See for yourself. We'll miss Mars by
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a million and a quarter. At least two hours later,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the shifting course of the test rocket was apparent to
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: all of them, and so was their disappointment. According to
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the instruments, the steering shifted a quarter of an inch.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: No reason shows up, Professor Shultz said, law in the metal.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Doctor Johansson said, how far can it go? Captain Baird asked.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Professor Shultz shrugged. Until the fuel runs out, which is
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: probably as good as never, or until the landing mechanism
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: is activated by a planet sized body. Course, did you
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: plot it, the doctor asked, Of course I did. Professor
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Shultz said, as close as I can calculate. It is
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: headed for Alpha Centauri. Captain Baird turned away. The doctor
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: watched him. Perhaps you will not be quite as hasty
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: with your men's lives in the future, Captain, the doctor said.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Professor Schultz was spinning dials. No contact, The Professor said,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: no contact at all. It had been six months ago.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Three more test rockets had been fired successfully before the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: urgent report came through from Alaska Observation Post number four.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: A rocket was coming across the pole. The strange rocket
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: was tracked and escorted by atomic armed fighters all the
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: way to the rocket test station, where it cut its
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: own motors and gently landed in the center of a
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: division of atomic armed infantry. The Captain, the doctor, and
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: everyone else waited impatiently. There was an air of uneasiness.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: You're sure it's not ours, Captain Baird asked. The doctor
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: laughed identical, Yes, but three times the size of ours.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Perhaps one of the Asian ones. No, it's our design,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: but too large, much, too large, Professor Schultz put their
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: thoughts into words. Looks like someone copied hours someone somewhere.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: It's hard to imagine, but true. Nevertheless, they waited two weeks,
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: nothing happened. Then a radiation shielded team went in to
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: examine the rocket. Two more weeks and the strange rocket
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: was dismantled and spread over the field of the testing station.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: The rocket was dismantled, and the station began to talk
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: to itself in whispers and look at the sky. Captain
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Baird stood now at the window and looked out at
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the dismantled rocket. He looked, but his mind was not
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: on the parts of the rocket. He could see from
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: the window the materials. They're not ours, the captain asked,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: unknown here the doctor said. The captain nodded. Those were
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: our instruments. Yes. The doctor still held the whiskey bottle
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in a tight grip. They sent them back, the captain said.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: The doctor crashed the bottle hard against the desktop. Ask it, Captain,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: for God's sake. The captain turned to face the doctor directly.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: It was a man, a full grown man, the doctor sighed,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: as if letting the pent up stream from his heart escape. Yes,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: it was a man. It breathes, it eats, it has
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: all the attributes of a man, but it is not
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: of our planet. It's speech. The captain began. That isn't speech, Captain.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: The doctor broke in, breaking in sharply, it's only sound.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: The doctor stopped. He examined the label of his bottle
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: of whiskey, very carefully. A good brand of whiskey. He
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: seems quite happy in the storeroom. You know, Captain, what
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: puzzled me at first. He can't read. He can't read anything,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: not even the instruments in that ship. In fact, he
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: shows no interest in his rocket at all. The captain
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: sat down, He sat at the desk and faced the doctor.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: At least they had the courage to send a man,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: and not a mouse. Doctor, a man. The doctor stared
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: at the captain, his hand squeezed and unsqueezed on the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: whiskey bottle. A man who can't read his own instruments,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: the doctor laughed, Perhaps you too have failed to see
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the point, like that stupid general who sits out there
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: waiting for men from somewhere to invade. Don't you think
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: it's possible, the doctor nodded. A very good possibility, captain.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: But they will not be men. The doctor seemed to
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: pause and leaned forward. That rocket, Captain, is a test rocket,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: a test rocket just like ours. Then the doctor picked
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: up his whiskey bottle at last, and poured two glasses,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: perhaps a drink, Captain. The Captain was watching the skies
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: outside the window. The End of Task Rocket by Jack
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Douglas