Norman Rhodes (0:01)

Relic Radio this is Relic Radio. Sci Fi Old Time Radio Science fiction stories from relicradio.com Adventures in Time and Space Transcribed in Future Tense Dimension the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with street and Smith Publishers of Astounding Science Fiction Bring you Dimension X. The war had been going on for generations. The sea and air were ruled by guided atomic missiles. Radiations and total destruction drove man underground. And there the war continued. The great bay of shale and limestone trembled as an underground cruiser chewed its way through the ageless rock. The ship was squat, ugly, the top of its cutting head 40ft above the clattering caterpillar treads. It was windowless, and behind the grinding duraloid blades were ugly lumps that concealed the gun. On the bridge, Commander Sanderson fought the bucking vibration, one hand tight on a stanchion culver iser. What's wrong with the insulation? It's hotter than oven up here. Port refrigeration unit went out starboard. Can't carry the load. I've got damage control on it. Go back. Ay, sir. Give me a seismal reading. Severe shock. 30 seconds back. Change course to 175 degrees and half speed, please, sir, till I can Chart the straight. Mr. Culver. Aye, sir. 175. Half speed. Aye, sir. Navigation, Lieutenant Watson. Bridge here. Change course to 175, Watson. 175. Aye, sir. Clark. Yes, Miss Watson? New course. 175. 175I half speed. Half speed. I what? We hit something. What is it, Mr. Watson? It's lava, probably. Maybe it doesn't mean anything. No, I guess not. Mr. Watson. Yes, Clark? We ever gonna get out of here? You mean the lava? The whole business. We've been under rock for three months. You better keep quiet, Clark. Psycho officer has rubber heels. I don't care about Carpenter. He's been over me already with those stinking reaction tests. If he gives me one more ink blot to look at. What's your dial? One degree correction. Right, Mr. Watson. What was it like? Huh? When? On the surface. I never saw the surface. I was born in the Denver cave, half a mile down. That was a long time ago, Clark. Yeah, but you remember, don't you? You and Kovacs are the only ones on the ship who remember the service. It was war then, too. Kovacs was in the army? The infantry. The Queen of Battles. Well, the Queen's dead now. What was it like? You mean in the service wars? Yeah. Well, they. They had chaplains and. Chaplains. I guess you never heard of that. Now we have psycho officers. Yeah, they don't talk about religion much these days. It must have been something on the surface. I dream about that. I don't know what it was really like, but I dream about it. Then somebody takes me and shoves me down in the bottom of a hot closet. They shove a big hand over my mouth and I can't breathe. I wake up and I want to bust out of here with my fingernails. I just. What's the matter, Clark? Nothing, Dr. Carpenter. Nothing? No, sir. We were just passing the time. Carpenter. When's the last time you had an emotional reaction test, Watson? I don't know. I forgot. Just remember, your seniority doesn't exempt you from psychiatric review. This isn't some slipshod surface vessel with organized superstition aboard. The old chaplains weren't so bad. Not scientific. You know, I can remember when psychiatry and mental hygiene were the hope of mankind. Now look at it. That goes in my report. Watson. Yeah? Make sure you spell my name right. Now hear this. Now hear this. Attention all hands. Igneous rock detected fresh lava flow. Stand by to go to quarters. You're lucky watch. I'll finish with you later. I've got to check combat detachment. Sure, sure. Go play with your ink blots. I'm busy. Go on, get out of the way. Get down to the combat detachment. They'll be happy to see you. Clark, check those dampers. I'll take three cuts outstand pat object to the pat hand. Combat detachment, huh? What kind of a chicken guy are you? Anytime you want to start anything, you're lying. Yellow Chase. All right. Don't flip your wig. All right. I don't want no trouble. That rubber soled red carpenter, he's worked this all over. All except Norman. Hey, Norman. Norman, how come you ain't been psychoed? I don't need it. I'm stable. I bet you any money he's a stoolie for Carpenter. I've seen his 201 personnel file. It's blink. I heard a guy say he was born in a lab. What do you mean? You ever seen him mate? Oh, you're crazy. The science brass has been working on something like that. Oh, crazy. You know how many men they fell short in the last draft? 900,000. So what now? Suppose you run out of real men for soldiers. Suppose you figure how to make them artificial. The Everton ain't gonna talk about it until it's combat tested. Yeah, I never thought of that. Hey, Newman, what do you got inside of you Gears? I'm not supposed to talk about myself. Yeah, well, suppose I make you talk. Hey, sit down, chef. Sit down before I throw a meal. I'll lay you out too. At ease, men. Well, how's everybody feeling? You coke all right? I'm all right, sir. Huh? Shin. Thank you, Sheen. I'm all right, sir. Norman? I'm all right, sir. Of course. Cause. Very well. Carry on. Commander Sanderson. I have my report. Later, Carpenter. It's rather important. So serious personnel trouble is indicated below. It always is. Give your report to Culver. I'm busy. But, sir. Give me a to reading every 10 seconds. Aye, sir. Speed is steady as before. Mr. Culver. Later, if you will initial the psycho report. All right, all right. Hurry up. This is no time for non combat. Chicken N readings. Sudden fault igneous activity ahead. That means the enemy, Mr. Culver. I. Sir. Elevate the cutters 25 degrees. We're going up. And come on the enemy from above. Ay, sir. Navigation, Watson? Elevate 25 degrees. 25 elevation. Aye, sir. Figures ahead on soar. Sounds like three. All right. Sound general quarters. Aye. S. All right. All right. General quarters. Have all this stinking luck. Aces I got. Get into your armor. You tub a lot. Yeah. Give me a hand. Shin the action Bomber. My helmet stuck too tight. Helmet's too tight. You eat too much. At least I ate. Not like Norman. Yeah, look at him. Full armor and he's still smoking. I bet he lives on nicotine. Hey, Newman. Yes, you live on nicotine. Tobacco is necessary to me. See that I rope it. What did I tell you? All right, shut up and test your helmet. Radio. Snap it down. Okay, now I'll get mine. Can you hear me? Is my intercom okay? Okay. Keep the power up. Newman, check your intercom. I can hear you. Attention. Attention, Combat detachment. Move out. Where are those chow runners with battle breakfast. Breakfast, huh? I can remember when I had meat in the chow. When I had cooks instead of food. Chemists first class. Quit griping, Coke. At least we eat. Yeah, we eat. How about him? Any breakfast, Numa? No, I don't need breakfast. I can wait without it. Navigation, Watson. Bridge here. Half speed. Half speed. Half speed, aye. Clark. What? What's the matter? You got the shakes? No, no, I'm all right. Half speed. Half speed. I Attention all hands. Enemy digger sighted. Prepare for action at close enemy diggers sightings. You hear that? Watch it. Prepare for action at close quarters. Full speed forward. No, I won't. What? Come on. Full speed forward. No, no. Another inch. Stop this ship. Get away from there. Let me Go. I gotta stop the ship. I won't be killed. I won't. I won't be killed. Get away from the controls. Clark, you're hurt. All right, take it easy. Now what? I've got a gun. Stop this ship. Stop it before I shoot you. Now take it easy, boy. I won't be killed. I won't let him give you three watches that I shoot. I don't know what you're doing. I'm gonna stop the ship. One, two. You could have wounded him, Carpenter. That would have been enough. My judgment was the Clark was more than a marginal risk. I acted accordingly. Sure, sure. I'll get a detail to clean up. Well, doctor, the commander says you rate a citation. If you had read my report, Mr. Culver, you'd understand. Carpenter, I. Sir. Don't let the crew hear of this. Wouldn't do for them to know an officer was emotionally unstable. You won't keep it quiet. Sir, there was a detail to remove the body. What's that? Enemy digger within 100ft. Coming in fast. Hold it, Culver. Don't reverse engines. Turn on the drill with the tread stationary. Aye, sir. Full speed drill. Treads cut out. Blow up a cloud of dust. That'll blind their optical technician in the infrared. Stand by, gunnery. Stand by, gunnery. Ready, sir. Enemy will be breaking through any second. There it is. Halt drill blades. Navigation cut out Drill cut out drill. Fire when ready. Fire. Contact signal. Contact signal received. Cease fire, Mr. Culver. Contact signal. Cease fire. Enemy battery silence, sir. Give the go ahead to the combat men. They can move in. Who tripped that alarm? Cut it off. Navigation to bridge. Bridge, aye. What's wrong down there? Why the emergency? The atomic piles kicking up. We can't get into hand dam. She may blow any minute. I'll take over. Mr. Culliver, prepare to abandon ship. But the enemy diggers. Atomic pile about to blow. We'll have to advance. Destroy the enemy and take refuge in their ship. There's nothing else we can do. Look alive. Ay, sir. Attention, all hands. Prepare to abandon ship. Prepare to abandon ship. Kovacs, have the ship's records packed and ready to go. Aye, sir. Commander Watson, what are you doing up here? Be a lot more chance of getting out if the ship's engines were reversed. She crawled back down the tunnel before she flew. There's no way to set up remote control. I know. I thought I could stay and run her, but the pile's going to blow. I know. All right, lieutenant. Permission granted. You may stay with the ship. Thank you, sir. You may go Watson. Aye, sir. We can't let him do that. Commander, you can't ask any man to do that. This is no time for sentiment, Mr. Culver. Doctor, you're a louse. That's an unstable statement, Culver. It's obvious that Watson isn't worth much anyway. He might as well die. I've heard enough, Doctor. You've had this coming a long time. Get away from me. Pearson, get here. Get go of me, Culver. Yes, sir. All right, Kovacs, release him. Hey, sir. Culver, I need you now. But if we come through this, I'll be forced to prefer charges. Kovacs, help Dr. Carpenter up. All right, Mr. Culver. Give the order to abandon ship. All the men are away. Kovacs, full speed in reverse. Hi, Mr. Watson. How long have we got before the pile blows? I don't know. Kovacs, why did you stay here? You could have abandoned ship with the others. I have been saving a cigar. I got two wood gas. Would you like one? Thanks. That's good. You didn't answer my question. Why did you stay? How about you, sir? Me? I was in the last class out of Annapolis before it went underground and merged into the Geo Warfare Academy. I guess I just hang on to illusions. Dead traditions of sinners. I suppose I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do. Yeah, I guess that's it. When you get down to it. Kovacs, you saved a cigar. Against the rules. I've got something, too. It's a book. I sold it out of that hotel room in Frisco in the old days. A Bible. Yeah. Psycho officers don't allow them on board. Carpenter would have had me in the cells if he'd known about it. There goes the Geiger alarm. It'll blow any minute now. Kovacs, you remember this. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green past. All right, guys. Now you know what an enemy underground cruiser looks like. Let's border. Who is that? I don't know. Come on. The enemy left their landing trap down. Let's go. Look out. It's Fontaine. I kicked in his face plate. Watch out for my gun. Recoil when I go up the ladder. There may be waiting for us. Where are they? Ought to be some resistance. Let's get outside. We can sneak into the bridge. We got him. There it is. Bridge Hat. I don't like this. They should have been gods. Forget that. You throw open the hatch. I'll cover him with a gun. Got your voice speaker on? Right. Okay, open it. Come here. There. Copeland. Look at him. They're all dead, every one of them. This one died with a sword. A big bat killed himself with a sword. Confounded foreign equipment. Over. How soon can we get this enemy ship underway? Give me the damage report. Aye, sir. The port tread knocked out. Armor breach. Staffed in the midships. Gun batteries inoperable. Lieutenant Adamson estimates we can make limited headway in two days. Very well. Sir, Is it necessary for me to have this guard tagging after me? You're under arrest, Culver. Excuse me, Commander, sir. Oh, go ahead, Coke. There was a message or something under the guy with a sword. When I broke in, I. I kept it as all sort of a souvenir. Oh, give it to me. I didn't mean anything wrong, sir. Hand it over. Culver, you read the enemy language. I'm afraid I'm under arrest as a prisoner. That'll do. Go ahead, read it. From supreme headquarters, there's a code designate to all field commanders. Subject secret weapon x 39. Failure of one research project x 9. 3. No. Released on South America front last night. X 9. A semi living chemical process attacking all forms of protoplasm was found to be uncontrollable. Is spreading through our own armies all over the world. 2. You are instructed to. Well, I told that. Quiet. Gentlemen, there is only one way to interpret this news. Carpenter, you will inform all hands that the destruction of the enemy is worldwide. The war is over. Hey, Newman, why don't you laugh, huh? Why don't you shout the word? I don't need to shout. Dr. Carpenter, you will instruct Cook to serve double rations as a celebration. No, sir. I strongly advise against it. The psychiatric implications. What's the matter? I don't know. Something I. It's inside me. I've got to get out. Carpenter. Cope. Newman, go after him. Come on. No. Like that can't happen to a man. Not that it's Carpenter, you can see that. But that can't happen to a man. He's deserved. What's going on here? You don't understand, Commander. You didn't listen to that enemy message. A semi living chemical process attacking all forms of protoplasm. All forms, Carpenter. And you. And me. You understand why the enemy killed themselves. They knew. The war's over, all right. There's got to be something to do. Culvert, sound general quarters. It's too late for that, Commander. The war's over. They invented the perfect weapon. The human race is dissolved. That's funny. Dissolved like Carpenter. Is that you? Yes. They're all dead, aren't they? Yes. Commander Sanderson was the last trip. Me? I suppose so. How about you? It will not affect me. I am not made of protoplasm. I am an inorganic synthesis. You can't die, then. No. I am atomic powered. My breakdown point is calculated in thousands of years. I cannot destroy myself. I was conditioned against it. It's beginning. You'll be all alone, Jim. I know. Buried alive in a rock for thousands of years. I'm sorry for you, Newman. I'm sorry. You'll be all alone. Sorry. Can you stand that? Why can't I die? Why didn't they make me so I can die like the others? I can't even kill myself. Why can't I die? Why I die? Man has always told himself that he was master of the machine. But he always be. Listen next week for the story of a Nightmare. Dimension X is transcribed each week by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Crete and Smith publishers of the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. Today, Dimension X is presented the last objective written for radio by Ernest Kanoy from the story by Paul Carter. Featured in the cast were Lawson Zerby as Culver, Ralph Bell as Dr. Carpenter, Wendell Holmes as Watson and Jack Grimes as Newman. Your host was Norman Rhodes. Music by Bert Berman. Engineer George Mattis. Dimension X is produced by William Welch and directed by Edward King. That's the show for this week, but don't forget there are thousands more like it at relicradio.com horror, strange tales, science fiction, crime, all available for free. If you'd like to donate to Relic Radio and help keep it all free, you can do that through the website as well. Visit donate. Relicradio.com to find out more and to see the special downloadable sets that are available. Thanks to those who have donated and thanks for listening today. Talk to you again next week.