Orbit One Zero 1961-04-28 The Cylinder

Summary

Podcast Summary: Harold’s Old Time Radio

Episode: Orbit One Zero 1961-04-28: The Cylinder
Date: January 7, 2026
Host: Harold’s Old Time Radio
Play by: Peter Elliot Hayes (BBC, 1961)

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Episode Overview

This episode features the second installment of the radio serial Orbit One Zero, titled “The Cylinder.” Picking up from last week’s mysterious discoveries, the story follows Dr. Hayward Petrie and his colleagues as they investigate a strange cylindrical object unearthed on a remote Hebridean beach. As the cylinder is transported to London for study, the team begins to probe its disturbing and inexplicable properties, raising suspenseful questions about its origin and contents.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recap and Context ([00:37])

• Narrator Tom Lambert sets the stage, recalling earlier discoveries:
  • Signals monitored from space via the Skyra radio telescope.
  • The eerie, vibrating cylinder found buried under the beach.
  • A growing sense of dread around the object.

“Already, the thing we would come to fear was taking shape.”
—Tom Lambert [00:37]

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2. Discovery at the Beach ([01:12]–[03:32])

• Dr. Petrie, Clifford, Elizabeth, and McFerren excavate the cylinder.
  • It is three feet in diameter, eight feet long, and suspiciously regular.
  • Early suspicions range from archaeology to natural phenomena, but its manmade appearance and strange humming are noted.
  • Clifford takes initiative to use a crane to relocate the cylinder for study.

“It’s a cylindrical shape, all right...But what it is under all that incrustation, could it be some kind of natural formation?”
—Dr. Petrie [02:12]

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3. Moving the Cylinder and Early Investigations ([03:32]–[05:01])

• Clifford successfully hauls the cylinder into the building.
• Garrick begins chipping at the crust, revealing perfect measurements.
• The main team returns to telescope operations, reflecting on the cosmic signals possibly hinting at extraterrestrial intelligence.

“You see, Hayward, it is systematic, this method. Intelligence behind this.”
—McLaren [05:40]

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4. The Cylinder’s First Outburst ([06:26]–[08:39])

• Garrick experiences a chilling incident while working on the cylinder:
  • Humming intensifies.
  • A sudden, cold fog fills the room; Garrick nearly suffers frostbite.
  • The box demonstrates properties of extreme cold and sudden, dangerous environmental changes.

“It was like touching a red-hot stove. After that, I don’t know.”
—Garrick [08:02]

• Mysterious disappearance of nearby objects adds to unease.

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5. Decision to Take the Cylinder to London ([08:39]–[10:56])

• The team decides they need proper lab facilities to study the object.
• Despite ominous feelings (“oddly forbidding appearance”), the cylinder is transported with them via steamer and train.
• The journey is unnerving, with climate anomalies and more unexplained humming from inside the crate.

“Oh, I had a sort of warming sound noise some way back...Turned so bloomin cold in here about a quarter of an hour ago.”
—Train Guard [13:16]

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6. Examination at the College Laboratory ([13:58]–[17:59])

• The team chips away at the crust, revealing:
  • Fused mineral and eventually, a brilliantly metallic, manmade surface.
  • The surface resembles meteorites, indicating possible cosmic origin.
• Petrie grows cautious, suspecting it could be a wartime explosive, and plans to consult experts.

“I’m beginning to wonder whether we mayn’t be risking blowing ourselves and the college sky high…”
—Dr. Petrie [18:01]

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7. The Secret Entrance ([20:16]–[22:39])

• Clifford and Elizabeth sneak back to investigate further.
• They discover a fine, continuous hairline crack around one end—suggesting a removable “plug.”
• Dr. Petrie also returns, driven by irresistible curiosity.

“What an odd thing curiosity is. For some reason, I felt this shouldn’t wait.”
—Dr. Petrie [22:10]

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8. Opening the Cylinder ([22:56]–[26:30])

• Using engineering keys, the team unscrews the end carefully, fearing gas or booby traps.
• Inside they find:
  • A hollow shell, lined with thick metal.
  • At the far end: a green, glass-like solid, likely a core sealed for transit.

“You mean the cylinder is just a shell? A container to protect some kind of inner core or something...Green and hard. Polished to a perfect fit.”
—Dr. Petrie [26:21]

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9. Extracting the Core ([27:16]–[29:22])

• The team rigs up chains and a pulley to extract the core, as the humming reaches a nerve-jangling intensity.
• Revelation:
  • Within the transparent green rod is a complex mesh of silvery wires converging on a small cavity.
  • In the center: a pulsing, grey, sponge-like structure—seemingly alive, or at least vital.

“It was a rod. An enormous green rod...embedded in it was a fantastic tracery of fine silvery wires...converged to one point. A hollow cavity...a round bubble containing something grey and bulbous. Something which expanded and contracted rhythmically, pulsing with fierce, vital energy.”
—Narrator [27:16–29:22]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Already, the thing we would come to fear was taking shape.”
  —Tom Lambert [00:37]

• “That blustering day on Skara...we had uncovered a most remarkable object.”
  —Dr. Petrie [01:12]

• “You see, Hayward, it is systematic, this method. Intelligence behind this.”
  —McLaren [05:40]

• “It was like touching a red-hot stove. After that, I don’t know.”
  —Garrick [08:02]

• “I’m beginning to wonder whether we mayn’t be risking blowing ourselves and the college sky high…”
  —Dr. Petrie [18:01]

• “It was a rod. An enormous green rod...pulsing with fierce, vital energy.”
  —Narrator [29:22]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:37 — Tom Lambert’s recap and setup
• 02:08 — Uncovering the cylinder on the beach
• 05:40 — Discussion of mysterious cosmic signals
• 07:42 — Garrick's frostbite incident
• 13:16 — Guard notes cold and hoarfrost on the crate
• 15:16 — Meteorite comparison and the scientific approach
• 22:26 — Discovery of the hairline crack
• 24:30–25:40 — Opening the end, discovering the green core
• 27:16–29:22 — Extraction and revelation of the pulsing “living” core

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Tone & Style

The audio drama is tense, methodical, and scientific, alternating between dry humor and mounting dread. Characters maintain a composed, British intellectual demeanor, but underlying excitement and fear break through as the mysteries deepen.

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Final Thoughts

“Orbit One Zero: The Cylinder” masterfully blends scientific investigation with atmospheric suspense, propelling the story from coastal discovery to laboratory revelation. The chilling physical effects of the cylinder, its cosmic hints, and the climactic exposure of its enigmatic, pulsing core set the scene for even deeper mysteries in the episodes to come.

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End of episode summary, skipping advertisements, serial intro/outro, and non-content sections.

Transcript

[A]

From London, we present Orbit 1 0, a play in six episodes by Peter Elliot Hayes. Episode two, the Cylinder.

[B]

This is Tom Lambert. You've now heard the first of the tape recordings made by Dr. Hayward Petrie. In it, he described his visit to Skyra in the Hebrides, where Professor McLaren was in charge of the giant radio telescope, the strange pattern of signals that were being monitored, and the finding in a lonely cove of a vibrating cylindrical object. Already, the thing we would come to fear was taking shape. In this, the second recording, Dr. Petrie continues his NOTES from that point.

[A]

NOTES REEL TO where was I? Oh, yes. That blustering day on Skara, McFerren and I were at work in the underground monitoring room when Clifford and Elizabeth returned from Dromed Point. Returned with a curious account of a cylinder buried under a beach. They seemed so impressed that we took McLaren's ancient car and drove around the coast to see for ourselves. Before we left, Clifford insisted on collecting four spades. There was the cold, deserted bay and the beach. We were led down a cliff path and shown a spot where they had scratched out the sand. We each took a spade and dug, and in less than an hour, we had uncovered a most remarkable object.

[B]

There. What on earth would you make of that?

[A]

He would. It's a cylindrical shape, all right. Three feet in diameter and about eight feet long. But what it is under all that.

[B]

Incrustation, could it be some kind of natural formation?

[A]

It's very regular. It almost looks like part of a pillar. But this is hardly an archaeological site. Clifford, you say you heard a humming sound?

[B]

Well, yes. I guess it must have stopped while we were away. But Liz heard it, too, and there.

[C]

Was that disturbance while the sea was still covering it.

[A]

Yeah, very curious. Well, what now? The tide will cover this spot again before long.

[B]

Well, we've enough on our hands.

[A]

But I suppose this is worth spending.

[B]

A little time on, though, what we can do here. Hey, can I make a suggestion?

[A]

Go ahead.

[B]

I noticed a crane truck back at the telescope. Yes, the transporter for heavy equipment. Well, the road meets the beach farther along.

[A]

So it does the crane.

[B]

And maybe some chain tackle. Well, look, I've driven bulldozers back home. I guess I can handle that.

[A]

Well, it's the only way we'll ever get this thing out. All right with you, Campbell?

[B]

Yes, of course.

[A]

Very well.

[B]

It's your operation, Clifford.

[A]

Oblige me by not breaking your neck over it.

[B]

No, sir.

[A]

Or that crane, because that's something the college will have to pay for.

[B]

I'll be careful, sir.

[A]

I gave no more thought to the object until the following afternoon. Then, looking down from the telescope control room, I saw the transporter pull up by the generator block. Clifford emerged from the cab and supervised the efforts of three resigned islanders he'd pressed into service to haul the cylinder into the building. It seemed his salvage scheme had been successful and that the object was lighter than I had imagined. That same evening, we found Clifford, Elizabeth and Peter Garrick in one of the basement rooms, some surveying their trophy with some pride. They had mounted it on trestles and Garrick was armed with a hammer and a cold chisel. Lying there under the hard white strip lights, the corroded cylinder might well have been the corpse of some hoary sea beast.

[B]

This really is interesting. I've been taking measurements. The ends are perfect circles, 34 inches in diameter and slightly domed. It's 90 inches long. If I can chip away some of these deposits, we can see what it's made of. Well, if it turns out to be solid gold, let us know. We'll be up in the signal box. Right, sir.

[A]

I'd be glad if you'd come and take some notes, Clifford. Yes, sir. And you, Elizabeth.

[C]

Yes, sir.

[B]

I'll be up shortly. I'll just make a start on this.

[A]

Leaving young Garrick chipping away, we went up in the lift to the glass walled control room beneath the vast bowl of the telescope. And again we watched the dancing green traces on the oscilloscopes and listened to those thin, insistent signals reaching us across 5,000 million miles of space. Hello.

[B]

That sequence sounds familiar. Where's Garrett's chart? He's taken photographs of all the recurring waveforms. Yes, this looks like it.

[A]

It's very similar.

[B]

We got this on August 9th last. And before that, on May 3rd. You see, Hayward, it is systematic, this method. Intelligence behind this.

[A]

Intelligence. But that means life in some form. Life on the outermost edge of the solar system, where no life can conceivably.

[B]

Exist because of the conditions. Unimaginable cold. Utter darkness.

[A]

Poisonous atmosphere of methane and ammonia.

[B]

Yes. No light as we understand it.

[A]

I wonder.

[B]

Another layer underneath. Gray, like fused metal and hard. Can't make a mark on. Beats me how a thing like this came to be on the. What? Oh, yes. They said this happened before. Must be some kind of stored energy inside. What was I going to. I can't think.

[A]

Was it.

[B]

Oh, it's cold. I suppose I ought to. What? What's. How did it get in? It must get through to. Peter. Peter? Of your husband.

[C]

Look at his hand.

[A]

Gary, can you hear Me? What happened?

[B]

Full of mist. Cold. Oh, it's you, Doctor. My hand is burning.

[C]

Has he burnt it?

[A]

No, cold has done that. Extreme cold. I think it's come very near to being frost bitten. Here, take my jacket. Wrap his arm up in it.

[B]

Peter, what was it? Why, I was chipping the crust away and then the humming started. Humming? It came from. From inside. Not. Not loud, but. But I couldn't think straight. And then suddenly there was a kind of. Kind of fog everywhere.

[A]

Fog?

[B]

I leaned against the cylinder. It was like touching a red hot stove. After that, I don't know. You reached the alarm bell, laddie, and passed out. We saw that vapor too, when we came in. Place is like a refrigerator now, but outside it's clear.

[A]

Well, another mystery for our collection, Campbell. Your cosmic noise. And now this. Hello.

[B]

That's curious. What are you staring at?

[A]

Well, that shelf. There were some things on it earlier. A couple of spare transformers, a pair of pliers. Has anyone moved them?

[B]

I didn't. No one else has been down here.

[A]

Perhaps I'm mistaken. I could have sworn. Well, this is a remarkable find of yours, Clifford. Now we shall have to investigate it, because I'm sure of one thing. It's not solid. There is something inside. Later that night, we held a conference. The cylinder clearly possessed some disturbing properties. At Kirkwish, there were no facilities for investigating it thoroughly. But in my own modern laboratory at the college. Well, with some regret, I propose that we return to London and somehow take the cylinder with us. McLaren agreed. He was as curious as myself, but could spare no more time from his study of the signals. Well, a lot of arranging had to be done, but Clifford and Elizabeth did their share and three days later we left Skara on the island steamer. The cylinder went with us, cradled in straw and enclosed inside a stout crate. Even as I watched it being hoisted aboard at Kirkuish, the case swinging from the derrick had an oddly forbidding appearance. Why, I should have felt that then. Oh, I don't know. But all the way back to Glasgow, it was just a confoundedly awkward piece of luggage. However, eventually we were relaxing on the express to London with our trophies safely stowed in the luggage van at the rear of the train. Out of sight, but hardly out of mind.

[C]

Peter Garrick was much better when we left.

[B]

Yeah, the doc in the island thought he was lucky not to have lost his fingers. I don't get it, sir. What could have caused a sudden temperature drop like that?

[A]

I have no idea, Clifford. But we mustn't go leaping to any science Fiction. Conclusion. Possibly some freak condition peculiar to that cellar. Then the humming from the cylinder. Well, certain elements can resonate in magnetic fields. There was a lot of electrical equipment nearby but there wasn't on that beach.

[B]

And that mist. Something about the way it moved.

[A]

It's the material that interests me. Under the sea crust that Garrick chipped away there was another layer, rough and metallic. Reminded me of something that slow him down.

[C]

Stopping. It can't be Carlisle yet.

[B]

May I see your tickets please? Thank you. Thanks. Thank you, sir. What have we stopped for, Inspector? Seems they're having a little trouble up front with the locomotive. One of the new diesels, isn't it? Yes, but it hasn't been pulling properly for the last few miles. Yeah, I noticed that losing power. A motor fault I suppose. If the motorman can't trace it. We'll have to get a relief sent out from Carlisle. We hope the delay won't be too long.

[A]

So I wonder.

[B]

What is it, Doctor? Anything wrong?

[A]

I don't know these last few days. Perhaps I'm getting foolish ideas. Anyway, it won't do any harm to make sure. Will you two come with me? I'm going down to the luggage ham.

[B]

Sure. Just a moment, sir. Looking for something?

[A]

You have a crate of mine in here, Guard. Would you mind if we take a look at it?

[B]

That'll be all right. That big fellow, isn't it? Machinery of some sort.

[A]

Machinery? What makes you think that?

[B]

Oh, I had a sort of warming sound noise some way back where all seemed to be coming from the case thought perhaps some electrical gadget had managed to switch itself on. Stopped after a bit though. Here it is. Hasn't exploded anything. Just the same as it was when it came aboard at Glasgow Cliff.

[C]

It isn't. The crate's a different color. Why is the wood white like that?

[B]

Serves me. Funny sort of weather this. Of course you get all sorts of north this time of year. But it turned so bloomin cold in here about a quarter of an hour ago. Had to put my coat on. Pen nipped my ears too. Oh, we're off again.

[C]

The doctor seems to be covered in some kind of powder.

[A]

Don't touch it again, my dear. Come away from it. That's not powder.

[B]

It's frost.

[A]

The rest of the journey after that was uneventful. At Houston, six porters heaved the crate onto a waiting lorry ascent from the college and we followed to Kensington in a taxi. The college was empty and echoing as it always is in vacation time and the smell of dust and age had come back into its own. With the aid of two boilermen and Simmons, the head caretaker, we took the crate up in the goods lift and dragged it through the silent corridors to my laboratory. It was late in the afternoon. We were tired, but any idea of waiting until the next day to begin work just didn't occur to us. We dismantled the crate and mounted the cylinder on a long workbench wet with wooden blocks and arranged floodlights to work by. The first thing I did was to examine the place where Garrick had flaked away the white coating of sea growth. Yes, this was the surface before the Atlantic started on it, as it was probably when it first became submerged. Gray, hard and honeycombed with small bubbles. From these streaks, I should say traces of iron, copper and nickel.

[C]

It looks almost like a volcanic rock.

[A]

No, no, this has been fused by a much higher temperature. Now what? Yes, of course. I know where I've seen this before. On the surface of meteorites.

[B]

Meteorites?

[A]

But they get scorched up entering the earth's atmosphere. Yes, well, the condition is similar. Clifford.

[B]

Sir?

[A]

Get the keys from Simmons and go down to the engineering department.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Find some mallets and chisels. The heavier the better. What I want to know is what is underneath this? For four hours under those glaring lamps, we chipped away like three sculptors inspired. Only we had no conception of what was taking shape under our tools. Beneath the outer crust was a solid layer an inch thick of fused mineral matter. When we had cleared one end of the cylinder, we attacked that, and that too, we eventually got through to bare metal, bright silver. A metal cylinder. Our basic question was answered. It cannot have formed naturally. Whatever it was, it had been constructed. For a long time we contemplated that smooth, gleaming surface. We had no suggestions, no theories. And then it seemed the only thing to do. We began to enlarge the area we had uncovered. Outside, the lamps came on in Cromwell Road and theater bound taxis hustled on their way. By 8 o' clock, we had bared one entire end of the cylinder. There it lay, bright under the lights, like the end of a monstrous metal cigar case. At 10 past 8, I laid my mallet and chisel on the bench. Well, no point in going on with this all night. It will take days to cure the whole service. Then the only way in will be with an oxy acetylene torch. It's going to be a long job, and not necessarily one for us.

[C]

How do you mean?

[A]

Well, I'm beginning to wonder whether we mayn't be risking blowing ourselves and the.

[B]

College sky high some Wartime beauty. You mean that got washed up on Scarab? Yeah, we thought of that on the beach. It's possible.

[A]

I think first we ought to have an expert opinion. I suppose the Ministry of Works of the people.

[C]

But a bomb, A rusty mine. Could that cause anything to happen now? I mean, what we saw.

[A]

I don't know, Elizabeth. Seems about as sinister now as a stick of Brighton rock. Look, I think we should all go home. Tomorrow we'll. We'll reconsider it. Will you both be here at 11?

[B]

Certainly.

[A]

Good. Put those lights out, will you, Elizabeth?

[C]

Right. Here's your coat, Doctor.

[A]

Thank you. We can leave everything as it is.

[B]

You coming covered? Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. Don't forget your briefcase.

[C]

No thankful money.

[A]

We went down in the lift across the dark entrance hall with its spreading dome and enormous crystal chandelier. And I said good night to my students on the steps outside. And I held a taxi to take me to my house in Eaton Square. Clifford and Elizabeth walked away towards South Kensington tube station. It began to rain. 10 minutes later. I understand they were sitting in a coffee bar in the Fulham Road.

[B]

Oh, heck. How do sculptors keep at it? My chisel arm's stiffening up already. Well, what now?

[C]

Half past eight? You can take to the pictures if you like.

[B]

A movie at this time? Liz, you surely can throw off the cares of the working day.

[C]

No point in brooding over this. We have some unexplained phenomena. An unidentified object. It just means experimenting until we find the answer.

[B]

Just like that. And I'm the one without imagination. Me. I keep thinking of that enormous, great thing sitting up there like an overturned idol.

[C]

Almost as if it's watching us. Hustling. Just a slab of metal.

[B]

Yeah. You know, Petrie didn't notice. It could be just a scratch. On the other hand, if there is a way in.

[C]

What do you mean?

[B]

Well, I guess I should have mentioned it at the Prof. I'm never gonna sleep with this on my mind. And it won't take long to check. Are you coming?

[C]

Where to?

[B]

Back to the college.

[C]

Now?

[B]

Yeah. Someone's will open up for me. Just a question of whether it's a line or a crack.

[C]

A line or a crack?

[B]

Yeah. Come on. Hey, swing that lamp a bit this way, will you?

[C]

All right?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, fine. Hey. Hey. This is it, Liz. Do you see here? A thin line running right around the end of the cylinder. This wire's too thick. I know. Cigarette paper. That's it. Now, the thing is, will it. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It slides in. It is a crack. And deep in the End.

[C]

This whole section must be. Quickly.

[B]

Listen.

[C]

Someone's coming. Who could it be? Not Simmons. He doesn't walk in like that. Shush.

[A]

Wait. Well, it would appear that great minds do think alike.

[B]

Dr. Petrie, we had no idea you were coming back.

[A]

Neither had I, until I got home and tried to forget all this. What an odd thing curiosity is. For some reason, I felt this shouldn't wait. You do, I imagine.

[B]

Well, not exactly, sir. I noticed this earlier on.

[A]

What?

[B]

This hairline around the circumference. I tested it and it's a crack. A crack? Yeah. So this whole end section could be kind of a plug. It could come off.

[A]

Well done, Clifford. This is important.

[B]

You see, it won't move or turn. But there's something else here on the end face. Two holes about a foot apart.

[A]

Yes. Sockets for a key. If we can find something to fit them.

[B]

The engineering floor.

[A]

Oh, of course.

[B]

They have every kind of plate key down there. I'll be right back.

[A]

All right. Good man. Now, if this end is removable, it's been made so for a purpose. And that, Elizabeth, can only be because.

[C]

Because there is something inside.

[A]

Yes. It seemed an age before Clifford returned with an assortment of burnt steel keys. We found one that fitted the sockets exactly. Even as I felt its grip, I hesitated. Should we go on? Should we take a calculated risk? Looking back on that night, I can understand why none of us seriously considered doing anything else. We understood so little. Then Clifford and I hauled on the Keen. After a few seconds, the whole end of the cylinder began to turn a few inches. And then it stuck. We threw our weight on it. And then it was turning freely. A fine, polished thread crept slowly into sight. The gap between the plug and the casing steadily widened.

[B]

I think we're nearly there. Better be ready to catch this when it comes clear.

[A]

Yes. Turn slowly. Deliver. Stand back, please. Phillip, stop a moment.

[B]

Something wrong?

[A]

I want to listen. Escaping gas. Anything? No, nothing. All right. Go on. Very slowly.

[B]

Yeah, it's coming.

[A]

Hold it. Don't let it drop.

[B]

I've got it. Now let it down. That's it.

[A]

Elizabeth, quickly. Can you see anything?

[C]

It's hollow. There's a cavity, but it seems to be empty.

[B]

What?

[A]

Yes. A hollow barrel. About 18 inches across.

[B]

Hey, look at the thickness of that casing.

[A]

Nine inches of solid metal at least. This doesn't go in very far. There's something blocking it. Elizabeth, bring that lamp down here. That's it. Now. Yes. The hole goes in for about a foot and then just a shiny surface.

[B]

It looks like glass. Green this.

[C]

There it is. That humming.

[A]

Is that what you heard before?

[B]

Yes, but much louder.

[A]

You'll understand it. This enormous thing and nothing inside. But unless. Bring the lamp nearer. Mirror nearer. Yes, it must be.

[B]

Well, what else can there be? There's no other way in.

[A]

Don't you see that green substance? It's solid and it isn't attached to the casing. It must run the full length inside. You mean the cylinder is just a shell? A container to protect some kind of inner core or something Green and hard.

[B]

Polished to a perfect fit.

[A]

That could be slid in and in the casing, Captain. Sealed. And that would keep it intact for. Well, any sort of journey.

[C]

If it went in like that, it.

[A]

Should come out the same way.

[C]

Doctor, you said a journey. How long a journey? Where's this thing come from?

[A]

I don't know, Elizabeth. And at the moment we'd better not speculate. We can't turn back now. We must know the truth. For. Well, for better or worse.

[B]

But how can we drag it out? There's nothing to get a grip on.

[A]

There might be a way.

[B]

Look.

[A]

That hoofs been up there. Some chain and a pulley.

[B]

Yeah. Upend the casing and lift it off.

[A]

It's the only way.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

We worked feverishly into the early hours again. We raided the engineering department, dragging up hooks, chains and pulley blocks. We rigged the tackle over the cylinder, attaching the block to the steel span which crossed overhead and shackled the lifting chain securely around and closed the end. And all the time the thing on the bench continued to hum softly and insistently. The chains swung and tightened slowly. The massive cylinder reared upright on the bench. There was a terrifying moment when it rocked and almost toppled. But then it settled firmly on its open end. There was a sliver and a thud. The core had shifted. We went on dragging at the chain. The pulley clattered and our hands became slippery with grease. With nerve wracking slowness, the casing rose, exposing inch by inch the thing it contained and guarded. It was a rod. An enormous green rod. It was solid and transparent. But embedded in it was a fantastic tracery of fine silvery wires. A glittering spider's web of strange branching patterns. And every gleaming vein converged to one point. A hollow cavity in the heart of the crystalline mass. A round bubble containing something grey and bulbous. Something that looked like a fine sponge. Something which expanded and contracted rhythmically, pulsing with fierce, vital energy.

[B]

That was Orbit 10, a play in six episodes, written by Peter Elliot Hayes and produced for the BBC by David Davis.