
The CBS Radio Mystery Theater shares a story on this episode of Relic Radio Science Fiction. From March 26, 1979, here’s Enemy From Space. Listen to more from CBS Radio Mystery Theater https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/e55e1c7a-e213-4a20-8701-21862bdf1f8a/SciFi858.mp3 Download SciFi858 | Subscribe | Spotify | Support Relic Radio Science Fiction Your support makes this show possible. If you’d like to help, visit donate.relicradio.com for more information. Thank you.
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E. G. Marshall
Relic radio.
Mandel Kramer
This is Relic radio. Sci Fi Old time Radio Science fiction stories from relicradio.com the CBS Radio Mystery Theater presents. Come in. Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. Since time immemorial, stories have begun with the classic phrase once upon a time, then to the avid and eager listener would come a history of love, hate, adventure, mystery, horror, or whatever emotion the teller wanted to convey. But history, like all words, is not necessarily what we think it means. Its basic definition is a narrative of events connected with a real or imaginary object, person or career. Note that it does not confine it to the past. So here is a history of the future, the kind that begins supposing, if we recognize your presence, daughter, what is your desire?
E. G. Marshall
Not mine, but the earth creatures. He demands an audience with you.
Mandel Kramer
Demands?
E. G. Marshall
He says that if he is not returned immediately, his people will send their ships against us and shoot the mother ship out of the sky.
Mandel Kramer
Our mystery drama enemy from space was written especially for the mystery theater by Ian Martin and stars Mandel Kramer. I'll be back shortly with act one.
E. G. Marshall
At the drugstore, they told me there's a powerful anti itch drug I can buy without a doctor's prescription. Now I use bicozine cream as directed. No more burning, embarrassing itching, no more scratching. Bycozine actually speeds healing. Bycozine cream, what a relief.
Mandel Kramer
Now you can soften hard, calloused skin without painful cutting or scraping. Apply stainless Dermasoft cream to your feet as directed. Insist on Dermasoft cream. Here's a tip from your Better Business Bureau. When you move into a new apartment, it's a good idea to have the lock cylinders changed on all the doors. Check with the landlord to see if this has been done. And if it hasn't, it may cost you approximately $25 per door, but in the long run, it'll be well worth the money. Before you hire a locksmith, however, you better check his license and registration with the local police department. This has been a consumer tip from your Better Business Bureau. The following is a paid political announcement.
E. G. Marshall
There's a new spirit in Chicago, and you help make it happen. I'm Jane Byrne, and I want to thank you for your support, but there's.
Mandel Kramer
A big job ahead.
E. G. Marshall
Our neighborhoods must be rebuilt, jobs must be provided, and the CTA must be safe and reliable if we're to get these things done. I need your help in the general election. April 3rd. As your mayor, I promise one Chicago. A Chicago for all the people.
Mandel Kramer
A Democrat for the people. Sponsored by the Jane Byrne for mayor committee.
E. G. Marshall
Coca.
Mandel Kramer
Prizes for Coca Cola Butler's great grocery giveaway include a free 10 minute shopping spree at your favorite food store, grocery cash certificates worth 50 to $500 or a month's supply of Coke. Get entry blanks and details at participating stores where you buy co. Entries must be received by April 11th. No purchase required. Void where prohibited. It is the year 2029. President Winston Alexander is midway through his second term in office, a commanding figure on the world stage who has brought a revitalized America to a new surge of leadership. The unfortunate breakdown of arms limitation talks have more than ever isolated the two superpowers. And with nuclear proliferation effect, the only hope of the world is that the two superpowers are at last nearing the major accord that will mean peace. This is where we stand on this fateful night at exactly 3am February 25, 2029. This is Central Command. Triple red alert. Repeat, this is centcom. Triple red alert. Attention all units. Highest priority, this is alert aaa. This is a triple red alert. An unidentified flying object has pierced the DMZ and has now landed on the front lawn of The White House. Mr. President. Mr. President.
E. G. Marshall
What is it, Andy? Why are you knocking so frantically at father's door?
Mandel Kramer
I don't know, Ginny. We may be under attack.
E. G. Marshall
Now.
Mandel Kramer
Yes. Stick with me until I check on your father. I better try the door. Mr. President, I. Good Lord, no.
E. G. Marshall
He's not in his bed. Where is he? Andy? Where is Daddy? Daddy.
Mandel Kramer
Daddy.
E. G. Marshall
The window is wide open. That thing is still there.
Mandel Kramer
Jenny, come back.
E. G. Marshall
They must have taken it.
Mandel Kramer
But Ginny. Don't show yourself to the enemy. Get down. Get down.
E. G. Marshall
What for not paying any attention to us?
Mandel Kramer
That there's some kind of warcraft out there they might fire on you.
E. G. Marshall
I don't care what they do to me. They've got my father. Who stopped them? Andy stopped them somehow.
Mandel Kramer
Ginny, by now every piece of equipment in the US has been alerted to stop whatever the heck that thing is. Nobody wants to see the President kidnapped. But we can't bring any firepower to bear on him without risking your father's life.
E. G. Marshall
What are you and the rest of you little soldiers going to do?
Mandel Kramer
I can't tell you exactly. There are contingency plans for things like this.
E. G. Marshall
Why?
Mandel Kramer
I don't know. Not a member of centcom. But there must be something that. Attention, please. Attention. Who's that? It's coming from a spacecraft. There is no cause for alarm. We come in peace. This is Commander Barg aboard the spaceship. We are a communications vessel from the Matrix of the mothership Niklos 7. We seek information only and have borrowed your President Alexander in order to get it. He is quite safe. When we have completed our talk, he will be returned unharmed.
E. G. Marshall
I don't believe him, Andy. Why doesn't he let Daddy say something to reassure you?
Mandel Kramer
We will let President Alexander talk to you Now. I realize this is very unusual. For everyone's best interests, I ask you to call off all alerts and to take no action for the next 24 hours. I am assured by my unexpected hosts that I am in no personal. Personal danger. Nor is anyone else. I am being taken to meet Commander Varge superiors. For some as yet unrevealed reason, I have agreed to a truce for 24 hours. If I am not to return by then, I ask Congress to put the nation on full war footing for its defense.
E. G. Marshall
Who is it?
Mandel Kramer
Colonel Harris. Ms. Alexander.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, just a sec. Oh, come in Handy. Any news?
Mandel Kramer
No, not yet.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, do I have to be cooped up here like this?
Mandel Kramer
Shinny, do I even have to answer that? You know what it's like out there? Panicsville.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, what do you think it's like in here? Inside me? Oh, hold me, Handy.
Mandel Kramer
I got you slugging. Hang in.
E. G. Marshall
What's happening to us, Handy? To the whole world. Who are they?
Mandel Kramer
I don't know, Ginny. Nobody knows yet.
E. G. Marshall
Where are they taking dad? And why?
Mandel Kramer
Don't you think I'd give my eye teeth to be able to answer those questions?
E. G. Marshall
Never mind you. What about all those fancy tracking systems? Our big sophisticated strategic command or whatever you call them? Didn't they follow that saucer thing or.
Mandel Kramer
Whatever it was from the second after it lifted off, the darn thing just disappeared.
E. G. Marshall
Where? How?
Mandel Kramer
Darling, I'm a lucky little boy in the Air Force who ended up a President's aide de camp and I hope pretty soon his son in law. But I am not a scientist.
E. G. Marshall
Don't try to waffle Andy. You must have some idea. How could this spacecraft slip all our defenses?
Mandel Kramer
Well, first off, it has some kind of radar negator. Otherwise it never could have gotten here. Second, who knows what this craft is vectored on? It could be traveling on a Mobius curve that took it upside down into some other space continuum or through a galactic time window. All I know is we can't pick it up electronically by laser satellite spectroscope. Nothing. It's just gone.
E. G. Marshall
And dad with it. Gone?
Mandel Kramer
No, Gina, he's all right.
E. G. Marshall
What makes you so sure?
Mandel Kramer
You heard the man.
E. G. Marshall
What man?
Mandel Kramer
Well, whatever he was, Varg, the spaceship's commander. He promised he'd return your father after they talked to him.
E. G. Marshall
What are they? Whoever they are want to talk to him about?
Mandel Kramer
Search me.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, don't give the big stone face to me, Andy Harris. You've got to have some idea of what's going on.
Mandel Kramer
I swear to you, Ginny, I do not have one clue.
E. G. Marshall
And if they don't return dad within 24 hours, then what?
Mandel Kramer
I guess we go on full wartime footing.
E. G. Marshall
Against what?
Mandel Kramer
That's the big question, Ginny. It's bad enough that we have to take a step into the last unthinkable war, but to have to make that step without knowing the enemy is kind of mind bogg.
E. G. Marshall
Do we even know that they are the enemy?
Mandel Kramer
Yeah, I think President Alexander answered that one for us in the speech we heard he was the one that set up the time limit. And the way I read it, he wasn't running all that scared. I think he was laying it on the other guys that they weren't dealing for much strength.
E. G. Marshall
You really, honestly believe that, Andy?
Mandel Kramer
I don't know what I believe, and neither does anyone else. This is the one contingency nobody ever figured to make plans for.
E. G. Marshall
Welcome, Vog. You were successful, I hear.
Mandel Kramer
I am always successful.
E. G. Marshall
It's nice to know someone has a good opinion of you.
Mandel Kramer
Someday I will make you sorry for your contempt for me.
E. G. Marshall
It isn't contempt, Vaugh. You're beneath that.
Mandel Kramer
Do not give yourself air, Zadar. Because you are half borrowed from the life stream, we modules are just as good as you.
E. G. Marshall
I don't intend to argue with you. Have you brought our hostage?
Mandel Kramer
He is just beyond the door.
E. G. Marshall
Can we get on with the business at hand before the Supreme One questions the delay?
Mandel Kramer
Oh, one of these days. Zadar. Open. You may come in, Mr. President. Thank you. This is Dr. Zada. You will be in her control now. May I ask why I've been brought here?
E. G. Marshall
Wherever I am, my instructions do not permit me to do so.
Mandel Kramer
Then I demand to be taken before this. This Supreme One. What is it you want of me?
E. G. Marshall
My desires are simple and quite practical, Mr. President. I am a doctor.
Mandel Kramer
A medical doctor. Yes. May I ask your name?
E. G. Marshall
Zada.
Mandel Kramer
That's all, Dr. Zadok. Won't that serve?
E. G. Marshall
It's only identification. After all.
Mandel Kramer
Why am I here?
E. G. Marshall
As far as it concerns me, For a basic series of tests. Medical.
Mandel Kramer
I'm not applying to be a citizen of whatever state you represent.
E. G. Marshall
You have joined Nicholas Seven as a passenger. It is routine for you to be quarantined until we can determine that you are properly immunized.
Mandel Kramer
There isn't time for that. I thought I had made it quite clear to your Commander Varg that if I am not returned to Earth or am not in contact with it within 24 hours, a state of war will exist between us and your country. Whatever it's called.
E. G. Marshall
We have no country.
Mandel Kramer
I beg your pardon?
E. G. Marshall
We are survivors. Limited to the travelers on this spaceship. Though this is a large cosmos in itself. We are not inconsequential. But we are a culture in search of a home.
Mandel Kramer
I don't understand exactly why I have been. Well, why mince words? Why I have been kidnapped. What function can I serve for you?
E. G. Marshall
I am not quite sure of that myself. It is something you will have to discuss with the Supreme One after I have finished my tests. Give me your arm, please.
Mandel Kramer
What for?
E. G. Marshall
I wish to take a blood sample.
Mandel Kramer
If you don't get me in to see your Precious Supreme One, Dr. Zadar, you will have a bath of blood. My country, for its own protection, will throw all our might against you and blow you and your mother ship out of the sky.
E. G. Marshall
Not while you are hostage.
Mandel Kramer
Oh, yes. I would disappear with you. I am, after all, not indispensable.
E. G. Marshall
You mean you would permit your people to destroy you?
Mandel Kramer
I would expect them to if you were the enemy. Are you?
E. G. Marshall
First of all, I must carry out my tests. And then I will seek an audience with the Supreme One and tell him you wish to appear before him. I bow in reverence before you. Oh, my father.
Mandel Kramer
We recognize your presence, daughter. What is your desire?
E. G. Marshall
Not mine, but the Earth's creatures. He demands an audience with you.
Mandel Kramer
Demands?
E. G. Marshall
He says that if he is not returned immediately, his people will send their ships against us and shoot the mothership out of the sky.
Mandel Kramer
Fortunately, since we are in another time continuum, they cannot find us unless we choose to show ourselves. His threat and his demands are useless.
E. G. Marshall
He wants also to know why we have taken him and what it is you want of him.
Mandel Kramer
I want you to adapt him. Wash his brain clean so that we can send him back to fulfill our purpose.
E. G. Marshall
I don't think I can do that, Father. He is too strong.
Mandel Kramer
Then you must change him. Make him completely one of us.
E. G. Marshall
I don't know if that is possible.
Mandel Kramer
All things are possible. Did you not become completely one of us?
E. G. Marshall
Yes.
Mandel Kramer
So then shall he.
E. G. Marshall
But I can't do that without killing his. It is hard for me to describe to you oming my father. Because we are different. It is you who are different.
Mandel Kramer
Do not fiddle me with old angers. Are you still prattling about the non existent, what you call the soul?
E. G. Marshall
Oh, did we not stamp that out of you? Yes, father.
Mandel Kramer
Then should we hesitate to destroy it in a stranger? I am not interested in President Winston Alexander the earthling, except as he shall serve our needs. However you achieve the result, I want him fully conditioned to carry out those needs and our command. Now remember, this is a story of supposing. If. Supposing there was a mothership from some unimaginable planet coursing in space, looking for a new land to colonize. And supposing if they singled earth and felt that was their promised land, how much of it would they lay claim to? Or would they simply follow the pattern of colonialism and take it all? I shall return shortly with Act 2. Maxwell House has got being counter Maxwell House live to the restaurant Maxwell House.
E. G. Marshall
In good Good morning.
Mandel Kramer
Maxwell House is good company. Good to the last drop. Maxwell House Maxwell House Coffee you can count on Always smells good, Always tastes good. Always good to the last drop.
E. G. Marshall
Maxwell House good coffee good to the last drop.
Mandel Kramer
Metro House. Join hands with Care to improve the lives of the world's needy children. Tomorrow's world is in our hands. We can help make it a better place for all the children. Join hands with people everywhere, each of us into our share in Care Crusade for Children. Please send your check or money order to Care Crusade for children overseas. Box 576, NY 10016. Delta Airlines puts on the Ritz to Florida. Even in tourists, we start off with well chilled champagne. Then comes a super filet mignon lunch or dinner with a crisp fresh salad, steaming baked potato, garden vegetable and a crusty roll and butter. For dessert. It's a tempting pastry and gourmet blend coffee to top it all off. All this is yours in tourist on all Delta mealtime non stops to Florida. If you fly a night coach non stop, enjoy a late snack and fine champagne. Now you have a choice of seven non stops a day to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, three to Orlando, three more to Tampa, St. Pete and two to West Palm Beach. Call Delta or your travel agent, ask about our round trip super saver fares. And this year don't just fly to Florida. Put on the Ritz. Delta is ready when you are. The United States of America, since its birth, has traditionally been a haven for all displaced persons who seek a new chance at life. By and large, with few exceptions, no country has welcomed the alien more generously. But alien in a science oriented society is no longer a simple description of someone who may Differ in minor ways such as color, creed or politics. Tomorrow's alien may come from a background so foreign that there is no hope. A world can be shared. You have been long, Dr. Zeta. What news do you bring?
E. G. Marshall
I am afraid not what you want to hear. President Alexander.
Mandel Kramer
You mean I am not to see your Supreme One?
E. G. Marshall
He has commissioned me to be his ambassador.
Mandel Kramer
Well, under other circumstances, I couldn't be more charmed. Perhaps even under these. What do we have to discuss, Mr. Alexander?
E. G. Marshall
If that is the correct term to apply to you.
Mandel Kramer
It is perfectly correct. Except somehow, between us, I. Yes, Well, I don't know what made me say that. Some. Some strange tug underneath everything makes me want to deny any formality between us.
E. G. Marshall
I must tell you, Mr. Alexander, you are wasting your time. I am not a woman, as you conceive of women.
Mandel Kramer
Are you so sure?
E. G. Marshall
Yes. You must understand about us. Aboard this ship, we are only humanoids. You cannot judge us by your standards.
Mandel Kramer
Humanoids?
E. G. Marshall
Robots, if you prefer the word, although it is not exact. Let me explain. The mother ship on which we are now traveling was named after the planet that was our home, Niklos 7, in the Adumbrian Galaxy. Some generations ago, a supernova in our galaxy exploded. And in the holocaust that swept across our planet, almost all of my ancestors were destroyed. Those that were left, found in that environment. That was left the human body, as you would call it, could not be sustained.
Mandel Kramer
You mean there was no atmosphere? No air to breathe? What?
E. G. Marshall
Oh, there was atmosphere poisoned by radiation, and that forced us to adapt.
Mandel Kramer
To adapt? In what way?
E. G. Marshall
Since the human body was eroded, we had to provide an envelope in which to sustain life. We developed what was essentially a machine, an engine wrapped in the simulacrum, the semblance of the human. And we powered it with the mind, the individual souls of those left alive.
Mandel Kramer
Why, if you were so successful, why didn't you develop and recolonize your planet?
E. G. Marshall
Because, unfortunately, our atmosphere was not stable. And in the time following the holocaust, we were left with no air to breathe and no way to adapt our robots to some other form of energy. The strongest of us set out on this ship to seek a home in another planet.
Mandel Kramer
And you have brought me here to discuss introducing you and your shipmates into our culture?
E. G. Marshall
Oh, no, Mr. President. There is nothing to discuss. It is my function to prepare you so that you will make it possible for us to take over your planet.
Mandel Kramer
How?
E. G. Marshall
It would be hard for me to explain. In storage, against the necessity for constant replacement. We have robots ready to be activated. You see, this machine Here, machine. Perhaps you did not recognize it as such. Two rooms behind glass doors. In one they are already placing your robot.
Mandel Kramer
My robot?
E. G. Marshall
He does not look much like you. Yet. But the electrodes they are attaching to him will be synchronized with the electrodes we attach to you. And when we are finished, he will be, in every physical sense, a simulacrum of you. A duplicate of you.
Mandel Kramer
And what happens to me?
E. G. Marshall
You become a husk to be discarded.
Mandel Kramer
What?
E. G. Marshall
An outmoded model unable to function in the atmosphere of our new world.
Mandel Kramer
What new world?
E. G. Marshall
The one that will exist in the dust of radiation and the end of Earth. The world that all of us from Niklo7 are going to build with your help.
Mandel Kramer
I will not be party to anything like this.
E. G. Marshall
You have no choice, Vaugh. Seize him. All right, Vog. Put him in the transformer.
Mandel Kramer
Afternoon, Ginny.
E. G. Marshall
Afternoon, Andy. I've been dying till you got here. What's new?
Mandel Kramer
Not a thing.
E. G. Marshall
No news of dad?
Mandel Kramer
None.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, no. What else is happening?
Mandel Kramer
What isn't? We've tried to keep it as secret as possible, but there are always leaks.
E. G. Marshall
What is it?
Mandel Kramer
Thank heavens the country doesn't know about it yet. And the press is killing. But the diplomatic wires are burning.
E. G. Marshall
What do they say?
Mandel Kramer
They don't say anything, baby. They just ask. Naveep has been on the hotline off and on all day with President Brusco.
E. G. Marshall
What's his reaction?
Mandel Kramer
What's in it for them? First off, then, diplomatic regrets. They probably figure if we're going to be under attack from outside in space, it might be time for a little more cooperation.
E. G. Marshall
But we don't know yet that they are under attack, baby.
Mandel Kramer
A pirate ship turns up on the White House lawn. And in spite of the greatest security setup in this, they just take our President away like he was off for Disneyland. Hey, everybody's running scared because they don't know what's next.
E. G. Marshall
What is next, Andy?
Mandel Kramer
I wish I knew. Or come to think of it, maybe I don't. It's too scary even to estimate. Baby. We don't know what we're up against. This is President Alexander aboard a shuttle spacecraft returning me as promised to the White House at the pre agreed time. I have been well treated and am in the best of health. No one need have any concern about me. I have just completed preliminary discussions with a friendly power from outer space which will have dramatic and earth shaking consequences for the safety of America, the whole world. I am aware that all our armed forces have been alerted. I ask them, as President and Commander in Chief, to Extend safe conduct to the spaceship and allow it to land me and then depart in full safety.
E. G. Marshall
Where is it, Andy? I can hear it, but I can't see it.
Mandel Kramer
You, me and everybody else. Jenny. I'll lay odds even radar and Transcom haven't got a fix on it.
E. G. Marshall
But it can't be just invisible.
Mandel Kramer
Could be. Probably sets up some sort of magnetic field which locks it out of all our sensors, including just plain old eyesight.
E. G. Marshall
But it sounds louder and louder. You can tell it's approaching?
Mandel Kramer
10 to 1. It doesn't have to. They just want to warn us they're on the way. You better keep to one side of the window, Jane.
E. G. Marshall
There it is. See it, Andy?
Mandel Kramer
Where?
E. G. Marshall
By the monument. It's giving in like a birthday.
Mandel Kramer
I wish that's all it was.
E. G. Marshall
You don't think anything's going to go wrong, don't you?
Mandel Kramer
Sure had better not. If that thing showed up in the first place, I got a hunch nothing's going right.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, Daddy.
Mandel Kramer
Virginia. It's all right. It's all right, baby. It's all right.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, it's been such a nightmare.
Mandel Kramer
It was quite an adventure. What are you doing still up?
E. G. Marshall
Is there anyone who's been aware of what's going on in the last 24 hours? Sleeping out of the quest?
Mandel Kramer
Well, I hope the knowledge hasn't been too general.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, I wouldn't know. But Andy says not. He thinks they've been able to keep the lid on.
Mandel Kramer
I hope so.
E. G. Marshall
You're okay, aren't you, Daddy?
Mandel Kramer
As you can see.
E. G. Marshall
But what went on? Where did they take you? Who are they? I mean.
Mandel Kramer
No, no, no, no, no. One question at a time. Incidentally, let me close this door.
E. G. Marshall
Tell me, who are they? What happened?
Mandel Kramer
First of all, they are friends.
E. G. Marshall
Friends?
Mandel Kramer
I shudder to think of what might be about to happen to our world if they hadn't warned me.
E. G. Marshall
Warned you what?
Mandel Kramer
A monstrous plot to destroy America. An unholy alliance to take over and rule the world. If there is any left of it.
E. G. Marshall
What do you mean?
Mandel Kramer
It's too complex to explain to you, Virginia. There is a secret alliance between a group of mineral rich nations and our main enemy, which is called the Consortium.
E. G. Marshall
The Consortium?
Mandel Kramer
They are poised to unleash a massive strike against us which would wipe us out before we had a chance to reply. Now that plot has been uncovered, I. We have an opportunity to treat with them, or at least with our knowledge, to instigate a preventive strike. Thanks to our friends from outer space, we have a chance to buy some time or Force enough to hammer out a new agreement. If not, we must move first. That's the decision that I have to make. And unfortunately, it must be made alone.
E. G. Marshall
Poor dad. Like you always say, if you only could have shared it with Boots.
Mandel Kramer
Boots, Mom?
E. G. Marshall
What you used to call her?
Mandel Kramer
Oh. Oh, yes, yes. But what does that have to do with anything? This is a decision of state. Who is it? Six. Audience Commander Vaughan. O Supreme One. You are to be commended, Varg, for your loyalty and bravery to our State. Oh, thank you, Supreme One. I have a little time left. My light is growing dim. You shall be my successor. And I will have you bound in union to my daughter. In her burns the only flame which can guarantee us immortality. You must guard it. First of all things.
E. G. Marshall
You sent for me, great Father.
Mandel Kramer
I ask you about the Earthling. Faag has delivered him back to his planet. Has this module, this simulacrum, improperly vested with our ideas and desire?
E. G. Marshall
Yes, Father.
Mandel Kramer
Then we control this robot completely.
E. G. Marshall
Yes, Father.
Mandel Kramer
And the real. What is his name? Alexander has been eliminated. I didn't hear your answer, daughter.
E. G. Marshall
The real Alexander has ceased to be a threat.
Mandel Kramer
Mmm. Mmm. Yeah, who is it?
E. G. Marshall
Andy, it's me, Jim.
Mandel Kramer
Hold it. I'll be right there. What is it, Ginny? What are you doing wandering around at 5 in the morning?
E. G. Marshall
Andy, I'm scared. Can I come in? I don't know how to say this so it makes sense. You're the only one I can say it to.
Mandel Kramer
Say what? Come on, baby, spill it.
E. G. Marshall
Andy. The man they brought back in the spacecraft.
Mandel Kramer
Uh huh.
E. G. Marshall
That's not my dad. It's not President Winston Alexander. There's just no way. That is my father.
Mandel Kramer
As President of the United States States, Winston Alexander holds the fate of the world in less than one hand. In cold fact in the finger that may press the button to unleash atomic warfare to end the worlds. But has Winston Alexander been replaced by a robot activated by a power in space who has everything to gain from the end of Earth and nothing to lose? I shall return shortly with act three.
E. G. Marshall
When you're traveling across our country.
Mandel Kramer
Is the most comfortable place under the sun.
E. G. Marshall
Let our sign Let it shine, say where.
Mandel Kramer
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E. G. Marshall
I tell you, he is not my father.
Mandel Kramer
You mean they brainwashed him or something?
E. G. Marshall
I don't know what I mean. It's just. It's just. I don't know. Little things. He is not my father.
Mandel Kramer
What little things?
E. G. Marshall
Oh, I don't know. Like he called me Virginia. Now, that's funny. That's strange. Dad never called me anything but Gin. And he doesn't. I don't know how to describe it. It just doesn't feel right.
Mandel Kramer
Ginny, we've all been through the ringer and been pretty shook. Now you're just jumping at shadow.
E. G. Marshall
I'm not. Boots.
Mandel Kramer
Huh?
E. G. Marshall
Boots. That was Dad's name for my mother. Dad could never forget it.
Mandel Kramer
Ginny, your mother's been dead for 15 years.
E. G. Marshall
But you don't forget things like that. Dad wouldn't. He can't forget his own name for her. That he loved to call her.
Mandel Kramer
If it isn't your father, who is it?
E. G. Marshall
I don't know. I. Andy, do you think I'm losing my mind? Because there's something about him that scares me. It scares me right down to my heels. Wake up, Mr. President. Alexander, wake up. That's such a long name. We must find something more suitable. What did your wife call you?
Mandel Kramer
Well? What did you say?
E. G. Marshall
Did your wife have a name for you?
Mandel Kramer
My wife? Ruth Boots. She. Yes. She called me Wink. Wink? Yes, short for Winston. It's a silly name, but I liked it. Wink.
E. G. Marshall
I like it too.
Mandel Kramer
Wink. Where am I?
E. G. Marshall
Where I brought you. To my bed.
Mandel Kramer
To your bed? I can't stay.
E. G. Marshall
You must. Where else can I hide you?
Mandel Kramer
Hide me? Why must I be hidden?
E. G. Marshall
Because I should have destroyed you once I made your other self.
Mandel Kramer
What other self?
E. G. Marshall
The one we sent back to Earth. The one we programmed to destroy all the people on Earth so we Niklasians may have a home again.
Mandel Kramer
To destroy all the people on Earth? How? Why?
E. G. Marshall
You ask me? You were the ones who made the seed of your own destruction. But the bombs do not obliterate. The radiation will disintegrate. When there are no living left, we robots can make it home.
Mandel Kramer
Nuclear war? That's unthinkable. Look, I know President Broskov. He's a man of sanity. He could not start such a war.
E. G. Marshall
It is not he who will start it.
Mandel Kramer
Who then?
E. G. Marshall
Yourself.
Mandel Kramer
What? Me?
E. G. Marshall
In the image I have created of you and sent back to take your place.
Mandel Kramer
Wait a minute. Now I'm beginning to remember. That machine. That scanner and a robot that you were molding so that it would look like me. But you didn't. You couldn't have.
E. G. Marshall
I already have. He is sleeping at this moment in your bed on Earth. When he rises to mar, he will still believe what he has been programmed to believe. That his friend, President Buskov, and a number of leaders from the Third World have betrayed him and are prepared to start an atomic war against America. Convinced he has no other option, he will initiate the war instead. In the resulting holocaust, what survivors are left we will exterminate so that your Earth will be fit for us to occupy.
Mandel Kramer
Then what purpose am I being saved for?
E. G. Marshall
When we met, you felt the same urge I did. A long forgotten urge for me. I am not like most Neclosians. My mother was alive. The last of the humans on our planet. You are the first living man I have ever known.
Mandel Kramer
What?
E. G. Marshall
I want. You.
Mandel Kramer
You want me? You want me for what? As a luck charm? As a house pet? Look, I have got to stop what you say is going to happen.
E. G. Marshall
There is no way.
Mandel Kramer
There has to be. Zadar, listen to me. You say that your mother was human and you are her child. So you must have some feelings. If you. If you have any. If you have any love for me?
E. G. Marshall
Love.
Mandel Kramer
Well, what made you keep me alive?
E. G. Marshall
I don't know. I wanted to know, to feel, to understand why I felt these. These things in me. I never wink. It's what I feel for you. Love.
Mandel Kramer
I doubt that. Love doesn't ask or demand. Love gives.
E. G. Marshall
You want me to give you something?
Mandel Kramer
Yes. Give me my freedom to go back and to save my world.
E. G. Marshall
Dog. What are you doing here?
Mandel Kramer
I have been listening to you plan treason against Domeng in our ship.
E. G. Marshall
But I ran a screen so no one could listen.
Mandel Kramer
As commander of the ship, I have my own communication. No one can shut them down.
E. G. Marshall
What is it you want?
Mandel Kramer
Him.
E. G. Marshall
Why?
Mandel Kramer
To eliminate him, as you should have done.
E. G. Marshall
Leave him alone.
Mandel Kramer
Give me the Earthman to destroy and give yourself to me, and I will keep your treachery my secret.
E. G. Marshall
No.
Mandel Kramer
I am in no mood to argue. I will destroy him now. Don't.
E. G. Marshall
I warn you.
Mandel Kramer
How can you stop me like this? No. Ah. How can you? No one is to be armed but me. You fool.
E. G. Marshall
I am a doctor. If I can create the Simulacrum of Life, do you think I would not have the power to destroy it?
Mandel Kramer
But we. We are deathless.
E. G. Marshall
Only the human spirit is that a robot dies forever with the body.
Mandel Kramer
But you can give another body to never.
E. G. Marshall
It's time that all of us went down to destruction.
Mandel Kramer
Good Lord. He's just. He's just disintegrating. It's not a body at all. It's just a mass of wires and circuits and transistors. Is that what's sitting in place of me at this very minute?
E. G. Marshall
And programmed to blow up your world as you know it?
Mandel Kramer
I've got to get back and stop it.
E. G. Marshall
You can't stop it. Only I can do that.
Mandel Kramer
Then you have got to.
E. G. Marshall
I don't have to do anything, but this I can do out of free will. You said that loving was giving. I only hope we are in time. We've got to get back to the White House, Andy.
Mandel Kramer
I know. I have the duty in an hour. Tonight I have the black box.
E. G. Marshall
The phone.
Mandel Kramer
Yeah. The trigger. Once the code words are spoken into it, that's the end of it all.
E. G. Marshall
Oh, no. No, Andy, he's not planning to use it.
Mandel Kramer
No. Honey, this has been a day to remember or forget. Ever since he came back from. From wherever the space nicks took him, he's been obsessed by this plot. He says they proved to him that the other side is set to push the button. I want to tell you, the cabinet meeting was a shambles.
E. G. Marshall
He is not my Father, whatever he is, he is not the President.
Mandel Kramer
That's why I had to get you away from there, to talk to you for a moment. Crazy as it is, somewhere along in this afternoon, watching him, I. I knew you were right. The guy in the White House is not our President.
E. G. Marshall
Could you convince any of the cabinet members or the Veep of that?
Mandel Kramer
Nah, I'm just a lowly lieutenant colonel and the President's special aide. I'm still on the outside looking in.
E. G. Marshall
So what can we do?
Mandel Kramer
Try to keep cool. Nothing's happened yet, and nothing is going to happen.
E. G. Marshall
But you just said that.
Mandel Kramer
Yeah, that I was on the outside outside looking in. That. That's true. Except for one thing. Tonight I have the special duty. Remember?
E. G. Marshall
The black box.
Mandel Kramer
Right. If he tries to use it, Ginny, I'm gonna stop him. Are we going to announce this arrival?
E. G. Marshall
There is no. No need. I have the radar negator on. We can penetrate your DMZ and have landed before they can activate a screen.
Mandel Kramer
Still, to avoid the risk of upsetting an already uneasy situation.
E. G. Marshall
Wink, how much more would it upset if you were to announce yourself as President Alexander, returning when your whole world believes you are already there?
Mandel Kramer
Yes, I suppose you're right. So what do we do when we land? There will be ground forces helpless against.
E. G. Marshall
The force field I maintain and the one I shall throw around you.
Mandel Kramer
And then what happens?
E. G. Marshall
We find your simulacrum and I destroy him as I did Varg.
Mandel Kramer
And then all is as it was.
E. G. Marshall
Before we invaded your world. I will return to the mothership and Earth will be safe.
Mandel Kramer
But you. You could stay, Zadar. You could stay and.
E. G. Marshall
Nothing. There is nothing for us. And I must return to take command of the Nikla 7 and drive it forever out of your orbit.
Mandel Kramer
But where will you go?
E. G. Marshall
Well, we should have gone long ago, when we ceased to be anything but automatons. To course into the empty void of space till fuel or air runs out and we will be no more. In the end, the ship will break up. We will all disintegrate like rock and disappear into atomic dust.
Mandel Kramer
I won't let that happen to you.
E. G. Marshall
There is no way you can stop it. And no time to discuss it further. We are about to land.
Mandel Kramer
Close the door, colonel. Yes, sir, Mr. President. Only. Only what? Ginny wanted to talk to you for a moment. Well, Ginny will have to wait. I have no time to talk to her now. Close the door. Yes, sir. Bring the box over to the desk and open it. Yes, sir. Why did you want me to open it, sir? Because I'm going to have to use it. Use it? Mr. President. The forces of evil have bound themselves together in an unholy alliance to wipe the America we know from the face of the Earth. We have no choice but to take preemptive action. Open the box and give me the phone. No. Sir. What? If you disobey my orders, I'll have you shot. Yes, sir. But not much chance of that since I'm the only one that's armed at the moment. You think for one moment that that outmoded weapon that you're pointing at me could. What's that? Well, I'll open the window and. It's the spaceship. What's it doing here? Let me see. The door is opening. Zeina. What are you doing here?
E. G. Marshall
Eliminating you. So that is the end of it. And us.
Mandel Kramer
Wink. No, don't go.
E. G. Marshall
I must. But I gave you something strange.
Mandel Kramer
I gave your world. What can I say? Goodbye.
E. G. Marshall
Me and mine. We're a disease which had to be stamped out and will be. You will never see or hear of us again. But at least one swink I gave. I found out what love is all about. I would rather have lived it. But it is also worth dying for.
Mandel Kramer
The full story, when it was told at last, with the evidence of the disintegrating robot that had been the simulacrum of our President had sober and far reaching effects. Out of it came the great accord of July 4, 2029, when the nations of all the Earths reached full agreement to scrap all arms and rebuild a brave new world. At least that would have been the outcome of the story. But remember, we began with supposing if. I'll be back shortly. This is Safety Vision, a quick and easy method for observing potential hazards in your home. Let's start by activating your safety scan methodically. Focus on your hair dryer. Is the dryer mistakenly plugged in while not in use? Is it in a position where it could possibly fall into water and be a shock hazard? And is the dryer grill free of lint and hair? This time, focus on your electric food preparing appliances. Are they out of the reach of young children? And check that the appliance cord does not hang over a table edge or counter. Next, your safety scan should include checking all electrical appliances for an indication that the product design has been evaluated by safety engineers and complies with a nationally recognized safety standard. To do this, check for the UL label on the appliance. A public service message on behalf of Underwriters Laboratories and this station. You want A trucker van. John Morelli Ford Honda has something important to say to you. They're having a truck and van sale, but it's not any old sale. It's a sale that'll knock your tailgate off. John Morelli, Ford Honda is knocking 25% off list price on every truck and van on John Morelli's lot. And that is a lot because John Morelli has the largest truck inventory in Chicagoland. And that means selection. 25 off means. It means you save a truckload. Think of it. 25% off. 25% off any regular or four wheel drive pickup van, trick van, Ranchero and Bronco four wheeler. Add it up in your head. 25 off list price. John Morelli has greatly expanded his truck line, adding hundreds of trucks, adding many factory trained mechanics and thousands of dollars worth of parts. So come to John Morelli Ford Honda and save yourself 25% off list price on any truck or van on John Morelli's lot. John Morelli Ford Honda Western avenue at Route 30 in Olympia Fields. The nights are lonelier than ever now for President Winston Alexander since his daughter Ginny married full colonel Andrew Harris. They live in Georgetown. Not too far away, but far away are his thoughts. Far away beyond the stars with a woman named Zeta, who learned about the miracle of love just in time, but still too late. Our cast included Mandell Kramer, Evie Juster and Russell Horton. The entire production was on under the direction of Hyman Brown. CBS News. Though it took three decades of war and months of sometimes frustrating negotiations, Israel and Egypt have signed a peace treaty at the White House. A celebration is still going on. I'm Rob Armstrong reporting on the CBS radio network. The treaty itself was signed on the White House lawn. Egypt's President Sadat and Israel's Prime Minister begin flanking President Carter. All spoke of their lasting hope for peace in the Middle East. The scene shifted in the evening from the front lawn of the White House where the treaty was signed to the back lawn for a celebration. Lee Thornton was there.
E. G. Marshall
After a festive state dinner for 1300 guests, President Carter offered a toast in which he called on the Arab world to cooperate in making the treaty work.
Mandel Kramer
We hope that the Palestinians and others will soon join us in our efforts to make this treaty the cornerstone of a comprehensive peace, a true and a lasting peace, a just peace for the entire Middle East.
E. G. Marshall
Then, in a strongly political statement, President Sadat said some of the things that were left out of his prepared remarks at the treaty signing this morning. He said the Palestinians need reassurance.
Mandel Kramer
A dialogue with their representatives will be very helpful. It would also be consistent with American tradition.
E. G. Marshall
Prime Minister Begin ignored the Palestinian issue, but he drew loud and long applause when he spoke of nominating President Carter for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mandel Kramer
And please, no sharing of the award. All the prize is due to the president of the United States.
E. G. Marshall
With tongue in cheek, the president replied that if the next nine months of negotiation go smoothly, he might consider accepting the nomination. Lee Thornton, CBS News, the White House.
Mandel Kramer
Not everyone rejoiced over the treaty signing. The chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, predicted that Sadat would be assassinated soon and that he would, in Arafat's words, cut off the hands of President Carter, Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat for their roles in bringing about the treaty. In the old city of Jerusalem, a bomb went off just after the treaty was signed. Several people were injured, including two American tourists. CBS News continues after this message. Sandra Hammock of Corrales, New Mexico, tells how Western Union came to the rescue.
E. G. Marshall
Our son was rock climbing in Colorado and he got back to his car and someone had siphoned all of his gasoline. He called us and said he was out of money and out of gas and stranded. So I called Western Union and he received the money.
Mandel Kramer
To send money, call Western Union toll free and charge it to your master charge or visa account. Day or night. It's Western Union to the rescue and.
E. G. Marshall
I didn't have to leave my house.
Mandel Kramer
That was very good. I have 35 children to take care of and I'm not even married. I'm a school teacher. So when I get home in the evening, I really need to relax and have a good cup of coffee. Maxwell has coffee. I've tried other coffees, but I've learned one lesson. Maxwell House is coffee you can count on.
E. G. Marshall
Maxwell House is coffee you can count on.
Mandel Kramer
Good to the last drop. Maxwell House. The Teamsters union current contract with the nation's trucking industry expires this Saturday. The Carter administration has said it will invoke the Taft Hartley law if the Teamsters decide to strike, saying such a strike is contrary to the national interest. Monday, the Teamsters went to court asking the federal government to produce the documents it will use in seeking a Taft Hartley injunction so the union can prepare its arguments to show the national interest would not be endangered by a strike. Some progress was reported in Monday's negotiations. More talks are set for Tuesday. OPEC oil ministers will hold their second day of talks in Geneva Tuesday. The ministers of the oil exporting cartel failed to decide Monday whether or not to increase the price of oil. Sources close to the OPEC meeting, however, say the decision is no longer one of whether oil prices will go up, but rather by how much. Canadian general elections will be held May 22. Under Canadian law, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was obligated to call for general elections by July 8, and he did so Monday night. Trudeau will be trying to lead his Liberal Party to its fourth straight general election win in Canada. We'll have more after this.
E. G. Marshall
Mom, why didn't you show Mrs. Wood.
Mandel Kramer
The ring Daddy gave you for your anniversary?
E. G. Marshall
Because all she'd look at would be.
Mandel Kramer
The brown spots on the back of.
E. G. Marshall
My hand and guess my age.
Mandel Kramer
Oh, Mother, if you're that sensitive, get some porcelain.
E. G. Marshall
Some what?
Mandel Kramer
Porcelain.
E. G. Marshall
It's a medicated cream that helps fade age spots.
Mandel Kramer
It sure worked for Bob's mother. Really?
E. G. Marshall
Porcelain works on age spots, brown spots and freckled spots. Just rub it in. Watch spots start to fade. Porcelain Medicated Fade Cream actually works to lighten brown patches and spots that come not only with age, but during childbearing years, too. Porcelain is available at cosmetic counters everywhere. Porcelain, you say? I'll get some. It'll help bring back the natural tone.
Mandel Kramer
Of your skin in just six weeks.
E. G. Marshall
Porcelain. Just rub it in. In. In. Watch spots start to fade. Fade.
Mandel Kramer
Fade. Porcelain.
E. G. Marshall
Medicated cream. News only.
Mandel Kramer
As directed. The Spartans of Michigan State won the NCAA college basketball championship about an hour ago in Salt Lake City, defeating the Indiana State Sycamores 75 to 64. Michigan State had been favored in the contest and led all the way, though Indiana State had won 33 straight games. Until tonight. I'm Rob Armstrong, CBS News. First in news, we're CBS News Radio 78, WBBM Chicago. Good evening, everyone. It's 11:33 now, and this is Alan Bickley on WBBBM News Radio 78.
Relic Radio Sci-Fi: "Enemy From Space" by The CBS Radio Mystery Theater
Release Date: December 9, 2024
"Enemy From Space" is a gripping science fiction drama presented by The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, aired on Relic Radio Sci-Fi. Set in the year 2029, the story delves into the tense interactions between humanity and an alien force from the distant planet Niklos 7. As diplomatic tensions escalate, President Winston Alexander and his daughter Ginny navigate unprecedented threats that could determine the fate of Earth.
Act 1: The Invasion Begins (00:01 – 17:05)
The episode opens with President Winston Alexander receiving a dire warning from Commander Barg aboard an unidentified spacecraft that has landed on the White House lawn. The extraterrestrial commander demands an audience with the President, threatening to destroy the mother ship if their demands are not met within 24 hours. The President’s aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew "Andy" Harris, grapples with the possibility of an alien attack while trying to maintain calm among the staff.
Notable Plot Points:
Act 2: Unveiling the Truth (17:05 – 46:15)
As tensions mount, Ginny uncovers unsettling discrepancies in her father’s actions and speech, leading her to doubt his true identity. It is revealed that the real President Alexander has been replaced by a robotic simulacrum controlled by the alien overseers. The alien leader, Zada, explains the dire circumstances of Niklos 7 and their desperate need to colonize Earth to survive their decimated homeland.
Notable Plot Points:
Act 3: The Final Confrontation (46:15 – 57:23)
The climax unfolds as Ginny confronts the alien-controlled President Alexander. A struggle ensues between Andy and the alien commander, culminating in the activation of a "black box" device intended to trigger nuclear warfare and annihilate Earth. However, through a combination of resolve and love, Ginny manages to disrupt the alien plans, leading to the destruction of the alien forces and the preservation of humanity.
Notable Plot Points:
President Winston Alexander: The leader of the United States who is secretly an alien robot from Niklos 7, designed to facilitate the invasion and colonization of Earth.
Notable Quote:
“We are survivors. Limited to the travelers on this spaceship. Though this is a large cosmos in itself. We are not inconsequential.”
(07:50)
Ginny (Virginia) Harris: The President’s perceptive daughter who uncovers the truth about her father’s identity and becomes pivotal in thwarting the alien invasion.
Notable Quote:
“I tell you, he is not my father.”
(36:00)
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew "Andy" Harris: The President’s aide who initially supports the alien commander but eventually aids Ginny in revealing the truth and stopping the invasion.
Notable Quote:
“I have the duty in an hour. Tonight I have the black box.”
(43:13)
Dr. Zadar: An alien medical specialist whose interactions hint at deeper complexities within the alien hierarchy and their intentions.
Notable Quote:
“It is my function to prepare you so that you will make it possible for us to take over your planet.”
(23:57)
Alien Ultimatum:
Revealing the Simulacrum:
Ginny’s Realization:
Final Confrontation:
Resolution and Hope:
Identity and Deception: The episode explores themes of identity, trust, and the ease with which deception can be employed to manipulate and control.
Human Spirit vs. Technological Control: A central conflict is the inherent resilience and emotional depth of humans contrasted against the logical, emotionless nature of alien robotics.
Sacrifice for the Greater Good: The narrative underscores the importance of personal sacrifice in the face of existential threats, highlighting characters who choose humanity over duty.
Hope and Diplomacy: Despite overwhelming odds, the story emphasizes the power of hope and diplomatic efforts in averting disaster and fostering global unity.
"Enemy From Space" masterfully intertwines suspense, emotional depth, and thought-provoking themes, capturing the essence of classic science fiction storytelling. Through its well-developed characters and intricate plot, the episode offers a compelling narrative that questions the nature of humanity, the complexities of interstellar diplomacy, and the enduring power of love and sacrifice.
For listeners seeking an immersive journey into a world where Earth's fate hangs in the balance, "Enemy From Space" delivers a memorable and engaging experience that resonates with timeless sci-fi tropes while presenting fresh, original content.