Dimension X - The Green Hills Of Earth - #32

Summary

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Dimension X - The Green Hills Of Earth - #32
Date: May 6, 2026
Host: Harold’s Old Time Radio

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Overview

This episode of Harold’s Old Time Radio features the classic science fiction radio drama “Dimension X: The Green Hills of Earth.” Set amid the backdrop of a spacefaring future, the episode tells the poignant tale of Riesling—a blind, itinerant spaceman and singer. Through tales, songs, and the personal memories of his shipmate Hertzman, the drama explores themes of home, nostalgia, sacrifice, and the search for peace amid the harsh realities of space travel. The story’s emotional core is Riesling’s longing for Earth’s “cool green hills,” a vision that sustains him through hardship and ultimately defines his legacy among the stars.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

Presidential Message & Setting the Stage

• [00:39–03:25] President Truman’s Christmas Message
  • President Truman delivers a wartime Christmas address, urging faith, hope, and courage in the face of fear and the ongoing Korean conflict.
  • He calls for a “crusade of prayer” and unity against tyranny, contrasting “godless Communism” with democracy’s foundation in faith.
  • Quote: “Democracy’s most powerful weapon is not a gun, a tank or a bomb. It is faith. Faith in the brotherhood and dignity of man under God.” (Truman, [03:12])

Introduction to Riesling—the Blind Bard of Space

• [03:49–05:25] Legendary Status
  • The narrator introduces Riesling as a folk legend of the spaceways, whose songs have transcended language and become universal among Earth’s spacefaring children.
  • The tale is told as an oral history from the perspective of old spacemen.

The Early Days: Humor and Conflict

• [05:25–07:13] Riesling’s Down-and-Out Days in Mars Bars
  • Riesling hustles drinks in a Martian tavern, relying on music and wit to survive.
  • His disregard for authority is evident: “Funny. Never did have no luck with hound dogs nor Martian barking.” (Riesling, [05:53])
  • He’s blacklisted for writing songs while on the job, notably angering Captain Hicks.

The Goshawk Voyage: Tragedy Strikes

• [07:13–13:36] Signing Back on for Danger
  • Despite his checkered past, Riesling is recruited for a risky mission on the aging ship Goshawk due to his experience.
  • He warns the captain about a faulty jet damper, but his expertise is dismissed:
    “Skipper, I was damping jets when that shirt tailed tad wore pins for buttons.” (Riesling, [09:16])
  • During the flight, his fears are realized—a catastrophic malfunction causes a jet explosion and blinds him with radiation.
  • In a heart-wrenching moment he realizes his blindness:
    “What are you talking about? Jimmy Legs…Turn on the lights. It’s dark. Turn on the lights.” ([13:20])

Aftermath: The Wandering Exile

• [14:02–19:27] Blindness, Loss, and Nostalgia
  • Riesling survives and makes his way as a blind musician, eking out a living at spaceports.
  • He reflects on the changes to Mars and the factories replacing ancient Martian cities:
    “I remember them old buildings, old before Bible times on Earth. Thin and graceful, like the fairy palaces my grammy used to tell about.” (Riesling, [17:17])
  • He refuses to return to Earth, too heartbroken by the idea of seeing the hills with blind eyes:
    “Now I couldn’t stand to see black. When I knew they was lying all around me, cool and green in the sun. I couldn’t stand that.” (Riesling, [19:18])

Building a Legacy: The Songs Spread

• [19:45–21:26] The Myth of Riesling Grows
  • As he travels the stars, his music spreads, evolving from rowdy space ballads to haunting songs of longing and loss.

The Green Hills of Earth: Genesis of a Space Anthem

• [21:26–23:29] The Song’s Origin
  • In Venus labor camps, Riesling finds solidarity with other dispossessed workers and dreams of Earth’s peace:
    "When I go home to the hills..." (Riesling, [23:17])

Final Journey & Farewell

• [24:08–29:38] A Last Ticket Home
  • Years later, Hertzman encounters Riesling seeking a final voyage home to Earth, determined to finish his song before dying.
  • Facing bureaucratic resistance, Riesling pleads:
    “You make me do something I never done for no one before. I’m an old man, an old blind man, and I want to go home…You can stretch for a poor old blind man, can’t you?” (Riesling, [25:43])
  • On the return flight, disaster strikes the power room; Riesling alone can save the ship, sacrificing himself by entering the radioactive area.
  • In his final moments, Riesling records his completed song (his “prayer”):
    “We pray for one last landing on the globe that gave us birth. Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies of the cool green hills of Earth. I can see him now… I can see the sun.” (Riesling, [29:16])
  • His death is eulogized by Hertzman, cementing Riesling’s legend:
    “That’s the way he died. Riesling, the blind singer of the spaceways singing of the home he never reached—the cool green hills of Earth.” (Hertzman, [29:38])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Riesling’s humor and grit:
  “For double pay, I’d jump off the top of the Harriman tower if you allowed me rubber heels for the landing.” ([06:49])

• On blindness:
  “That blue radioactive glow from the jets was the last thing Riesling ever saw. His optic nerve was burned out in an instant.” (Hertzman, [13:36])

• On longing for home:
  “I gotta get home before Riesling has a new company policy. I’ve been singing about him so long, now, Hertzman—I gotta finish the song.” (Riesling, [24:39])

• The final song (the Green Hills of Earth):
  “We pray for one last landing on the globe that gave us birth. Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies of the cool green hills of Earth.” (Riesling, [29:16])

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:39 | President Truman’s Christmas address | | 03:49 | Introduction of Riesling and prologue to his legend | | 05:25 | Setting: Riesling in Twin Moons Bar, Mars | | 07:13 | Signing on for last voyage—foreshadowing tragedy | | 10:18 | Riesling’s blacklisted song and conflict with the skipper | | 13:36 | Riesling is blinded during engine accident | | 17:13 | Nostalgic vision: Mars as an ancient land | | 21:26 | Genesis of The Green Hills of Earth | | 24:39 | Riesling seeks his final return to Earth | | 25:43 | Plea for passage: “an old blind man, and I want to go home” | | 29:16 | The completed “Green Hills of Earth” song | | 29:38 | Hertzman’s eulogy: death of a space legend |

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Conclusion

“Dimension X: The Green Hills of Earth” is a masterful blend of science fiction and ballad, myth and memory. Through Riesling, the episode brings to life the timeless ache for home and belonging, the camaraderie of working men in harsh conditions, and the hope that endures through art and song. For fans of Golden Age radio, this episode stands out as both a tribute to the storytelling craft and a moving exploration of the human spirit amid the stars.

Transcript

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[Riesling]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

[Narrator/Chorus]

What is this, your first date?

[Hertzman]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Together we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Hertzman]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[Riesling]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Hertzman]

We present now a special transcribed Christmas message from the President of the United States to the American people.

[President Truman]

My fellow countrymen all over our country and in many other parts of the world, men, women and children are preparing to celebrate the birthday of Christ. Never before in our lives has a Christmas seemed so important. I am not thinking of turkey dinners and stacks of gifts. I mean the quiet, reverent celebration of faith, hope and love. Born in a manger in Bethlehem. Across all the continents of this world, peace loving people today feel apprehension and lowliness and fear. Many have forgotten the humble surroundings of the Nativity and how from a straw littered stable shone a light which for nearly 20 centuries has given men strength, comfort and peace. Peace of mind. At this Christmas time, we should renew our faith in God. We celebrate the hour in which God came to man. It is fitting that we should turn to Him. Many of us are fortunate enough to celebrate Christmas at our own fireside. But there are many others who are away from their homes and loved ones. On this day, thousands of our boys are on the cold and dreary battlefield of Korea. But all of us, at home, at war, wherever we may be, are within reach of God's love and power. We can all pray. All of us should pray. We should ask the fulfillment of God's will. We should ask for courage, for wisdom, for the quietness of soul which comes alone to them who place their lives in his hands. We should pray for a peace which is based on righteousness. The nation already is in the midst of a crusade of prayer. On the last Sunday of the old year there will be special services devoted to a revival of faith in God. I call upon all of you to enlist in this common cause. I call upon you, no matter what your spiritual allegiance may be. We are all joined in the fight against the tyranny of Communism. Communism is godless. Democracy is the foundation of faith. Faith in oneself. Faith in one's neighbors. Faith in God. Democracy's most powerful weapon is not a gun, a tank or a bomb. It is faith. Faith in the brotherhood and dignity of man under God. Let us pray at this Christmas time for the wisdom, the humility and the courage to carry on in this faith.

[Hertzman]

Ladies and gentlemen, you have just heard President Truman's Christmas message to the American people. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company. In answer to many thousands of requests from its listeners, the National Broadcasting Company

[Announcer]

is happy to bring you Adventures in Time and space. Transcribed in future tense dimension. This is the story of Riesling, the singer of the Spaceways. You've probably sung his songs in school in English, French or German. The language doesn't matter. But it was an Earth tongue. But the real story of Riesling is not found in the footnotes of a scholar's critique or a publisher's biography. It is in the memories of the old time spacemen. The pioneers who pushed the thundering old fashioned rockets to the far strange ports that are our commonplace heritage. These men know the true story of Riesling.

[Narrator/Chorus]

The arching sky is calling spacemen back to their trade O hands, stand by free falling and the lights below us fade. Out Ride the sons of terror Far drives the thunder up leaps the race of earthman out far and onward. Yeah.

[Hertzman]

When I first met Riesling, he was hustling drinks in the Twin Moons Bar at Drywater Mars. He'd won a guitar off a Chinese barkeep at Luna City by cheating at one thumb. And he made his whiskey by singing in the bar and passing the hat.

[Riesling]

Listen to her, Hurtsman don't you strum pretty like a 16 year old gal.

[Hertzman]

Say, how much you collect on that last song?

[Riesling]

$3, Martian and a slug. Al grabbed it for my bill. You don't trust me no more? Funny. Never did have no luck with hound dogs nor Martian barking.

[Hertzman]

Hey, Riesling, look over there by the bar. There's an Institute 4 striper giving you the eye.

[Riesling]

Know him? Captain Hicks, off the gosh hog.

[Hertzman]

He's sure giving you the once over.

[Riesling]

Maybe he's got a job they don't make. Never no mind to me. I've been blacklisted. Hicks logged me for making up a song on watch. Right Fine song too.

[Hertzman]

Hold it.

[Captain Casey]

Here comes the brass arm reasoning. I've been looking for you.

[Riesling]

I've been right here, Skipper. You saw to that.

[Captain Casey]

I need a Jetman on the Goshawk.

[Riesling]

Interesting, Real interesting. Well, I got news for you, Skipper.

[Captain Casey]

You blacklisted me, remember? Well, you kept your nose clean. And we need an experienced man.

[Riesling]

Been a little changing down aft in the Goshawk.

[Hertzman]

Ain't there, Skipper?

[Captain Casey]

How'd you know that?

[Riesling]

You got that new atomic pile drive. Last three of them teakettles blew somewhere in the asteroids.

[Captain Casey]

Look, it's double pay, but if you're scared.

[Riesling]

Scared? Listen, fella, for double pay, I'd jump off the top of the harem and tower if you allowed me rubber heels for the landing.

[Captain Casey]

All right, then. You show up tonight to sign the book.

[Riesling]

Sober. Got no choice, Skipper. Money and me is total strangers.

[Captain Casey]

We lift at 11:30 Mars time. Sober. You understand?

[Hertzman]

Riesling, you taking the job?

[Riesling]

Well, that goshawk is one stinking old tub. Her engine's got more bugs than a beagle dog and spring. And that new drive is about as safe as a pretty gal in the Ozarks. But I reckon she'll do for one more trip.

[Hertzman]

Welcome home, Riesling.

[Riesling]

Hi, Jimmy Legs. Meet my friend Hertzman. He's signing on as a Whopper Wiper. This is Jimmy Legs Casey. He's bosin. Can't hold his liquor no more than a sieve, poor boy.

[Hertzman]

Mr. Casey, you sing. You sober enough to sign the book?

[Riesling]

Drunk or sober, I'll make my mark. Stand aside.

[Hertzman]

Three X's.

[Riesling]

It took me a middle name. Yeah.

[Captain Casey]

You two lay below.

[Hertzman]

And Hertzman. Aye, sir. Get him sobered up before the skipper makes rounds.

[Riesling]

Jimmy Legs, I'm sober as a hanging judge.

[Captain Casey]

Yeah, well, you can leave that bottle here.

[Riesling]

What bottle?

[Captain Casey]

The one in your back pocket.

[Hertzman]

Glass buttons, maybe.

[Announcer]

Give it here.

[Riesling]

Jimmy Legs, I swear I'm going to write a song about you.

[Hertzman]

Go ahead, threaten me. Now, get below. We raise ship in 30 minutes.

[Riesling]

Hi, skipper.

[Captain Casey]

Riesling, what the devil are you doing up here on the bridge without permission?

[Riesling]

Figured I'd take a little stroll.

[Captain Casey]

Riesling, get below before I.

[Riesling]

Hold on, skipper. You'll have that gold bridge just crawling up your arm. I'm up here on business. Well, that number two jet ain't fit. Cadmium damper's a whoop.

[Captain Casey]

Why tell me? Tell the chief engineer.

[Hertzman]

I did.

[Riesling]

He says they'll hold. Well, he's wrong.

[Captain Casey]

He's wrong. He's got a Harriman Institute degree in power electronics and some drunk space rat says he's wrong.

[Riesling]

Skipper, I was damping jets when that shirt tailed. Tad wore pins for buttons.

[Captain Casey]

I've got no time for you reasoning, Casey. Sound takeoff.

[Hertzman]

Aye, sir.

[Riesling]

I'm telling you, Skipper, that number two jet's gonna blow. Damper's warm, crooked like a turtle's back.

[Captain Casey]

Riesling, drag your dead head out of here.

[Riesling]

Below

[Hertzman]

Go ahead. From control tower, Captain.

[Captain Casey]

All right Casey, fire one. And.

[Hertzman]

Hog Class Thunder had to blast for three watchers before going into free flight. Riesling and I had the second watch. Damping was done by hand in those days with a multiplying vernier and a danger peeper. And as long as the peeper ticked off slow and steady, we knew the ship was safe for a while. Hey Riesling, you better stow that guitar. If Jimmy Lakes catches it he'll blow a gasket.

[Riesling]

Don't worry, I can damp this teakettle in my sleep.

[Hertzman]

How's number two all sofa?

[Riesling]

Do you ever hear that song about Hicks? The one that got me blacklisted?

[Narrator/Chorus]

Oh, the skipper is the father of his crew A gentle guiding light to me and you but on Mars he likes his women if they walk or if they're swimming or if they've got six arms instead of two.

[Riesling]

The second verse is better.

[Narrator/Chorus]

Now the skip likes his liquor by the court yes, he go from Mars to Venus for a snort he'll drink a rocket fuel amp.

[Riesling]

Well hi Skip. Didn't see you come in.

[Captain Casey]

You were too busy, eh? Who's watching the gauge?

[Riesling]

I got an eye on it. Don't you fret nut Riesling.

[Captain Casey]

I'm going to fix it so you can't get a berth on a rocket powered pogo stick. Report to Casey. Under arrest.

[Riesling]

I don't rightly think I will.

[Captain Casey]

You what?

[Riesling]

You kind of forget Skipper. According to space code you can't remove a Jetman till the end of the watch. Right.

[Captain Casey]

Now look you corn fed space lawyer.

[Riesling]

Now is that a rule or ain't it?

[Captain Casey]

Riesling, your ship is over at 2300 and I'll see you ride the rest of the way in Slop locker.

[Riesling]

Maybe, maybe. In the meantime you clear out of my power room. I gotta make me up a third verse from a song.

[Hertzman]

I got it. Power room.

[Riesling]

Damn.

[Hertzman]

Number two a point. Number two I.

[Riesling]

Hey, let me have that mic. Gimme legs. Is that force dry boil up there?

[Captain Casey]

Give me that Casey. Riesling, I've taken just about enough for.

[Riesling]

And I've got a little news for you skipper. Number two jet is bulging like a fat lady in a satin skirt. Listen you clown that I think I'm going to junk my song and start over. I could do much better on this

[Captain Casey]

is the last time. Ring damp.

[Hertzman]

Number two a point.

[Riesling]

Sure. Look out her.

[Hertzman]

I'll take it.

[Riesling]

You watch the gauge

[Hertzman]

now.

[Riesling]

Easy here, she's bucking a little. Rhys Link, hit the emergency it she won't D Is that for. There go the lights.

[Hertzman]

Ring. Ring.

[Riesling]

Stay down behind the B. I've got to take a look. It's radioactive. Look out. I've got a piece of hot stuff out of it too.

[Hertzman]

What's going on down there?

[Riesling]

Shut up, Jimmy Legs. I'm busy. She's tight now.

[Captain Casey]

What happened?

[Riesling]

Number two blew your lunk headed space rat?

[Hertzman]

You all right?

[Riesling]

A little sunburn. The lights are gone. What's the matter with the emergency circuits?

[Hertzman]

Riesling.

[Riesling]

Jimmy Legs. Get some lights down here. It's dark. Get the emergency light on.

[Hertzman]

They're on, Riesling. They went on after the blast. The lights are on.

[Riesling]

What are you talking about? Jimmy Legs. Jimmy Legs, turn on the lights. It's dark. Turn on the lights.

[Hertzman]

That blue radioactive glow from the jets was the last thing Riesling ever saw. His optic nerve was burned out in an instant. He was in sick bay on the rest of the trip and on the swing back. We set Riesling down at Drywater Mars. Look out for the cable, Riesling.

[Riesling]

Thanks, Hudson.

[Hertzman]

Hey, Riesling.

[Riesling]

That you, Jimmy Legs?

[Hertzman]

Hold up a minute, will you? Oh, Riesling.

[Riesling]

Jimmy Legs, I promised I'd write a song about you, didn't I?

[Hertzman]

Sure, Riesling.

[Riesling]

Sure. Can't seem to sing like I used to.

[Hertzman]

Look, Riesling, the men up in the bridge feel kind of bad about this. Yeah, why didn't they think of that when Riesling told him that damper was shot? Now, Hertzman, that's all over. Sure, sure, that's all forgotten, Riesling. Let's get out of the Twin Moons before I vomit. Now hold it, hold it. The Skipper feels pretty bad about the whole thing, Riesling.

[Riesling]

Kind of late for that, Jimmy Lakes feeling sorry don't hold no corn.

[Hertzman]

The boys pass the hat. Skipper kicked in half a month's pay, did he not?

[Riesling]

And on principle. I suppose I ought to tell him to stuff it back up the jets. But you can't buy no drinking whiskey on Principal.

[President Truman]

I'll take it.

[Captain Casey]

Here you are. I'll get it.

[Riesling]

I'll be seeing you recently. Sure, Jimmy Lee. Sure. Come on, Hertzman, let's get that drink.

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[Hertzman]

Craving something specific? From global flavors to viral snacks, TikTok has it all. If you can dream it, you can make it right at home. Find your next favorite dish on TikTok. That was all just another space bum who didn't have the good sense to finish. Before his luck ran out, Riesling holed up at the Twin Moons till his money was gone. Then he hooked a ride on a crawler over to Marsopolis. It was a boom town then, with an industrial district mushrooming between the Lesser and Grand Canals. I ran into Riesling about two months later, playing his guitar on a jetty that ran out into the canal. He had a dirty rag tied over his eyes with a gentleman's knot, and his hat was on the wharf beside him.

[Riesling]

Riesling. Who's that? Wait a minute. Hertzman. Yeah.

[Hertzman]

How have you been?

[Riesling]

Passable. Say, is this a Venusian dime?

[Hertzman]

No, it's a slug.

[Riesling]

I'll figure it.

[Hertzman]

Well, how's it going? Singing again?

[Riesling]

Some work in saloons mostly. But I've been thinking some funny songs, Hertzman. The words come out different than they used to. Come on along the canal with me. Sure.

[Hertzman]

Here, take my arm.

[Riesling]

I know the way. That's a funny thing, Hertzman. I figure I know it better than other folks. Look back there towards the city. What do you see?

[Hertzman]

Factory towers. Smell them from here, but it don't

[Riesling]

seem that way to me. I remember them old buildings, old before Bible times on Earth. Thin and graceful, like the fairy palaces my grammy used to tell about down home in the hills.

[Hertzman]

They've torn em down now, or else block them up with cinder bricks.

[Riesling]

Hertzman, when I stand out out here on the canal, I can see it the way it used to be. The water ice blue with the stars shining up out of it. Way off there, the city with the towers sweeping up like a bird flying off a tree. I can see it.

[Hertzman]

It's the dirtiest stink hole in the system.

[Riesling]

Not always. Depends on how you see it.

[Narrator/Chorus]

Bontar. The race that brace the towers. Forgotten are their lors long gone. The gods who shed the tears that lap these crystal shores. Slow beats the the time worn heart of Mars. Beneath this icy sky, the thin air whispers voicelessly that all who live must die.

[Hertzman]

You make that up? Why don't you go home, Riesling?

[Riesling]

Home, Earth. I've been thinking about that, Hertzman. When I Was a youngster down in the Ozarks. I used to climb a big old oak tree my daddy had in the dooryard. You could see the hills for miles, green and cool. I've been thinking about that.

[Hertzman]

Why don't you go back?

[Riesling]

Then I couldn't see them hills no more. Now I couldn't stand to see black. When I knew they was lying all around me, cool and green in the sun. I couldn't stand that.

[Captain Casey]

Yeah.

[Riesling]

Well, let's get back to town.

[Hertzman]

Hertzman.

[Riesling]

Today I made three and a half dollars Martian. I'm all set to drink it down before dawn. Come on.

[Hertzman]

I lost track of after that. I shipped out on a slow freight of the Condor class for Luna. And he hitchhiked a ride to Venusburg on an ore ship in the triplanet run. So he beat around the system. Venusburg to Layport, to Drywater, to New Shanghai and back. Any spaceport was his home and no skipper had refused to lift the extra mass of Riesling and his battered guitar. He made up his song sitting out watches down in the power room with old shipmates While the monotonous beat of the jets shook the hull plates.

[Narrator/Chorus]

Hear the jets, Hear the jets Hear them snarl at your back when you're stretched on the rack Hear the jets Feel the pain in your ship Feel the strain in your grip Hear the jets feel her rise Feel her drive strain Steel come alive on her jets on her head.

[Hertzman]

Little by little, his songs began to travel along the spaceways ahead of him. Raw spaceman songs with titles like since the Pusher Met My Cousin and the Spacesuit Built for Two. But more and more, we began to hear a different kind of song. Strange, sad songs, the ones you find printed in the Centennial editions. Dark Star Passing Death, Song of a Woods Cove. And then finally, the Green Hills of Earth. It grew for 20 years. That's all. They say it started way back when Riesling was down in the labor camps on Venus, singing for the indentured man.

[Riesling]

Now, if someone will kindly pass a bottle. It is not much Riesling here.

[Narrator/Chorus]

It'll do.

[Riesling]

What is that stuff? Tequila. You cannot make him good here on Venus. What do you karak bush?

[Narrator/Chorus]

Home.

[Riesling]

It is home. It is different. Where are you from, son? Tasco, Mexico. It's a long way from here, see? A long way. How'd you come to sign on? The man comes out to the village from the city in the shining automobile. Very big. He says there is work. You signed the paper for 10 years and you work, work. There is Work here. All right. 10 stinking hours in the jungle with machete. I tell you, when I get home to Earth, what'll you do, son? What is the use? We aren't getting home. You know how many men die out there in the swamp today? 10 men.

[Hertzman]

10.

[Riesling]

What is the use? My mother, she's dead. My father don't care.

[Hertzman]

A girl, she.

[Riesling]

She says she. Wait.

[Hertzman]

I. I don't know.

[Riesling]

Sure, son.

[President Truman]

You.

[Riesling]

You sing some more. Easter, we drink, you sing. Maybe a new song, son.

[Narrator/Chorus]

We ride in the molds of Venus we wretched her tainted breath foul I have flooded jungles across Crawling with unclean bed Let the.

[Riesling]

What is the matter? Finish the song, Lay. I can't. Can't yet. It just don't come. I'll finish it when I go home.

[Hertzman]

That's it.

[Riesling]

When I go home to the hills. Now pass that bottle. The dawn whistle don't blow for four.

[Hertzman]

That's where the green hill started. And I was there when it was finished. It was 20 years after that and there wasn't a man flying around the beach hadn't heard of Riesling and his songs. He was getting old now. For a spaceman, he was a familiar figure through the whole system. Tall, gaunt, and with that dirty bandage tied across his blind eyes. I was chief Jetman then. On the Old Falcon. We were cradled at Venus Ellis Isle scheduled for a direct jump to Great Lakes, Illinois. On Earth, I was taken in dunnage when Riesling felt his way up the gangway and came through the line. Riesling?

[Riesling]

Who's that?

[Hertzman]

Mike Hertzman.

[Riesling]

Hertzman. Hertzman.

[Hertzman]

Well, what are you doing on this old honk boat?

[Riesling]

Figured I'd ride her back to Earth. Earth?

[Hertzman]

Are you going home, Riesling? I thought you were never going to make that run.

[Riesling]

They've been hankering to set foot in the Ozarks again.

[Hertzman]

How about those hills?

[Riesling]

I've been singing about him so long now, Hertzman, I got to finish the song. I gotta set foot in the dooryard and hear the wind through that oak tree. About the last thing I'll be doing. I gotta get home before Riesling has

[Hertzman]

a new company policy.

[Riesling]

You see, Hertzman, I'm getting just a little old.

[Hertzman]

Riesling, listen. No more deadhead rides. The new code book is in, folks.

[Riesling]

I seen code books come and go.

[Hertzman]

The skipper's one of them youngsters fresh out of Harriman Institute cadet training. He's liable to throw the book at you.

[Riesling]

At me? I've been around space as long as Halley's Comet in Brewster's Ridge. I'm going back to Earth. Cool green hills of Earth. I'm going home.

[Hertzman]

All secured, Hertzman. What are you doing here? That's Riesling, Captain. Riesling, huh?

[Riesling]

I'm dragging it back to Earth, Captain.

[Hertzman]

Not in this ship. Earthman have his man removed. Funny thing, Captain, I sprained my shoulder suddenly.

[Riesling]

Look, Skipper, you're a youngster. You're pretty new out here. I'm going home. You don't know what that means to an old man. Going home.

[Hertzman]

I can't take you against the Harriman code.

[Riesling]

Oh, now, look, skipper. You can slide me by to the distressed spaceman's clause in that code book.

[Hertzman]

Distressed spaceman, my eye. You've been bumming around the system for 30 years.

[Captain Casey]

Excuse me?

[Riesling]

You make me do something I never done for no one before. I'm an old man, an old blind man, and I want to go home. I ain't never crawled in front of a 4 striper in my life. But you gotta let me drag home the law says a man's got a trip coming to him. You can stretch for a poor old blind man, can't you? You gotta skip it.

[Hertzman]

All right, you old space rat, but

[Riesling]

keep out of the way.

[Hertzman]

I run an efficient ship and I don't want any trouble.

[Riesling]

No, sir, no, sir, no trouble. I'll just lay down to the power room. I kind of like to be near the jets when they blast off for Earth. Sit down, Riesling.

[Hertzman]

Take a load off. You feeding.

[Riesling]

Thanks, man.

[Hertzman]

Stand by for lift. Standby.

[Riesling]

Best seat in the system. Power room and an old hawk. Glass ship.

[Hertzman]

Power room, fire three.

[Riesling]

I see. The cool green hills of Earth.

[Hertzman]

Still singing that recently?

[Riesling]

Oh, some. I changed her a little. Going to finish her now, Mac. Going home to finish her. Yeah. Have you seen those new automatic dampers, Riesling? Don't have to do nothing but sit and watch. Hey, where's the peeper? Turned off. She's all automatic. You have it soft nowadays. When I was twisting the tail, you had to stay awake. You got an old hand damping plates on all but the links.

[Hertzman]

Man shipped them.

[Riesling]

They cover up the dials. You might need them. No, the automatics handle everything. Well, you finally going home recently, huh? Won't seem the same out past the moon. I've been waiting for this a long time, Mac. Gonna be good to get home.

[Narrator/Chorus]

I reckon the arching sky is calling spaceman back.

[Riesling]

Hey, Mac, you all right? I got the emergency. The hand dampers where are the leaks? Beyond a wall. Here some. I got him. Power room.

[Hertzman]

What's the alarm?

[Riesling]

Emergency squad coming in. Stay out. The place is hot. Radiation blast.

[Hertzman]

Stay behind the baffles.

[Riesling]

I got the link shift. I can hand damper now.

[Narrator/Chorus]

What's going on in there?

[Riesling]

I'm still in jet three.

[Hertzman]

Is this McDougal?

[Riesling]

MacDougall is dead. This is Riesling.

[Hertzman]

On what?

[Riesling]

Riesling, get out of there.

[Hertzman]

You'll kill yourself.

[Riesling]

Don't worry, Skipper. I know this power room like inside of my shirt. Somebody's got a damper. Riesling.

[Hertzman]

I'm sending in a crew.

[Riesling]

No, no, no use. The whole room will be hot for an hour and the other jets won't hold. Skipper. Throw on the recording tape. What? Throw on the recording tape. I want to get something down.

[Hertzman]

Tape's on. Riesling.

[Riesling]

Stop that.

[Hertzman]

Riesling. The radiation will burn you down.

[Riesling]

Yeah, I reckon. Pretty sharp sunburn. Pick me out of here with tongs and bury me in a lead shield carpet. Okay, Skipper. She's clean. Radiation getting brighter. I can almost see. Bright rosy. Like the sun. Like the sun over the hills down home. I got my song figured right now. Here it comes. We pray for one last landing on the globe that gave us birds. Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies of the cool green hills of Earth. I can see him now. He healed my son. I can see the sun.

[Hertzman]

That's the way he died. Riesling, the blind singer of the spaceways singing of the home he never reached the cool green hills of Earth.

[Announcer]

Next week, we bring you another story. Many of you have requested that we repeat. It's the strange tale of man's first visit to another planet and why he decides that Mars is heaven.

[Hertzman]

Be with us at this same time next week for another adventure into the unknown world of dimension. This program was transcribed. Now dynamic Tallulah Bankhead brings you the big show on NBC.

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[Hertzman]

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