Adventures in time and space told in future tense. The mansion's back! Can you predict what will come in 100 years, or in 10, or in the next minute? Some people think they can. Nuclear scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, biologists. They'll predict the shape of the future. Why? Because they make the future. Because they see beyond the known dimensions of time and space. Into the unknown. Dimension X. We go ahead now in time to 1965. We're on a vast concrete runway set in the desert of the southwest. A giant metal ship stands before us, prowl pointed for the stars. And in five minutes the signal will flash and it will tear up through the atmosphere to the outer limit. Attention! Attention! Clear field for takeoff. Clear field for takeoff. Five minutes, Steve. All right. One of her up, Charlie! Turn her over! Takeoff! I want to go over the procedure again, Steve. No worry, I got it straight. You just make sure. Okay. I take her up on jets to 50,000 and I cut in the rockets. No lore or your tail blast will burn out three counties. I climb four minutes on rockets then start maneuver tests. Remember that, no more than four minutes. Right. This ship isn't like those strato rockets you've been testing. She's the first one built for outer space. If she works, she can go clear to the moon. If I'd known that I'd have brought my toothbrush. Well, not this trip. Now get this, Steve. You've got power there to clear the Earth's gravitational field. But remember, after you cut in the rockets, you've only got 10 minutes fuel. If you go beyond the outer limit and don't save fuel for the return... I know, I won't get down again. That's right, Steve. You will drift off into space. Get that now. Ten minutes fuel. Gotcha. As far as I'm concerned, this project is a lot more important than that cosmic ray bomb they're testing out in the Pacific tonight. Well, Security Commissioner Brass doesn't think so. I don't see any undersecretaries under anything. Don't worry. In the long run, our ship will make the CR bomb backpaid stuff. But in the meantime, it's just as dangerous. Remember, half the principles in this ship are pure theory, Steve. Slide rule stuff. If anything goes wrong, we may have to scrape you off the landscape with a soup spoon. You have a charming sense of humor. Here's what I'm getting at. We're risking your neck in this test. If anything blows, we don't want to have the next man pull the same boner. I know, Hank. So keep your mic open and keep talking. If anything goes wrong, we want to know exactly why. And we won't be able to ask you. Let us know before you pull every switch. Before you do anything. You got that? Yeah. Even if you only have to blow your nose. All right, get those fuel lines away. Okay, Mr. Brose. Well, I guess that's about all, Steve. That reminds me, look, if Mary calls, I'm just up on a milk run. I didn't tell her today, was it? How is she? She's okay, but she's due about now and I don't want her to be nervous. Hey, I didn't know the baby was that close. Yeah. Steve, I really ought to be sending a single man on this job. What, and cut me out of a soft paycheck? Forget it, Hank. You know, you can't get anybody else who can take 15 G's acceleration when those rockets cut in. Yeah, I know. It's time, Steve. Yeah. Well, see you later. Don't worry, Hank, I'll sweat for both of us. Button her up, Shelley. So long, Hank. So long. We'll give you the light from control. Thanks to Lord of Control. Thanks to Lord of Control. Are you there yet, Hank? Okay, Steve, got you on the speaker. I'm ready to go. Mr. Hanson. Ready on radar, Sergeant? Check. Mr. Hanson, you better see this. What is it, Elton? Message center for Steve. Mrs. Weston just left for the hospital. What? Hello, Steve. Yeah. Steve, I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. Hello, Steve. Yeah. Stand by a minute. Shall we hold the takeoff, Mr. Hanson? What? Oh, yes. No, wait just a minute. It's too late now. You're going to tell him? Maybe he's got enough to worry about. Hey, what's holding us up, Hank? Something in your mind? No, no. It's nothing, Steve. I just wanted to say good luck. Clear for takeoff, Charlie? All right. Okay. Give him the light. All right, Steve. I'm reading you clear. I'm at 40,000. Airspeed 600. She's running fine. Soundproofing works. There's a third degree waver in the AGY pressure. Got that, Charlie? Check. A dead center on radar, Mr. Hanson. 50,000 now. Cutting out the port jet. Now the starboard. Off jets. Airspeed dropping. Opening the rocket ports. Switch sticks a little, Charlie. Oxy-alkyl pressure 350. All right, now I'm advancing the excursion. I'm going to the rocket one. Steve? Steve, you all right? Yeah. All right. Now, speed 1,400. Here goes number two. Hello, Steve. Elapsed rocket time is now four minutes. What's your altitude? Over to you. Speed 4,400. Still climbing. Level off for maneuver test. You've got exactly six minutes fuel left. Okay. Starting at three degree left bank. It's a little sluggish. There, it's all right now. There's a low vibration someplace. Maybe the cockpit hatch. Now I'm straightening out. Five minutes fuel left. Now I'm starting at three degree ro- Hey! What's the matter? What's wrong? There's something up here. Something's shining. What are you talking about? There's something above me, Hank. I'm gonna chase it. Steve, Steve, you're at the outer limit now. I can see it plain now. Steve, don't go any higher. You've only got four minutes left. You've only got- It's static, I can't hear you, Hank. It's dead ahead now. Gonna make a pass at it, get a good look. Hey, it's swimming to meet me. It's dead ahead now. It's dead ahead. Hello? Hello, hello, Steve? Steve, come in. Nine minutes fuel gone. Still no sign on radar. Hello, hello, Steve? Steve, what's happened? Charlie, get out the crash squad. Tell the army squadron to alert their search planes. Right. Nine and a half minutes gone. Hello, hello, Steve? What's happened? What the devil is it? Hello, come in, Steve. We need a search squadron. Come in. No, Mr. Hanson's busy. Hello, hello, Steve? Hello, Steve? Ten minutes, Mr. Hanson. That's the end of this fuel. How long has it been now? Ten hours, Mr. Hanson. Nothing more on radar, Sergeant? Screen's blank. Colonel Corelli called in. Search planes are back. They didn't find anything. Should be some trace. Couldn't have bailed out, could he? He don't hit the silk at 4,400 miles an hour. Either one passed the outer limit, ran out of fuel. Something blew and we'll find the pieces scattered from here to the coast. Why does it have to be the best man? Always the best man. I'll get it. Charlie, Charlie, we've, you know, we've gotta figure out what was wrong. All right, I'll tell him. Something, something must have blown. Yeah. There's a message from Northside Hospital for, for Steve. What is it? Mrs. Weston's fine. It's a boy. Thank you, Elsie. It's a boy, Charlie. Oh, fine, fine, it's a boy. He didn't even know she went to the hospital. How am I gonna tell Mary that? Wasn't your fault, Mr. Hanson? Ship had to be tested. Yeah, yeah, we'll build another one and some other flying fool will shoot past the outer limit into space. Oh, I'm getting old, Charlie. You can remember when I used to take him up myself. Now I've gotta send other men. It's a job, Mr. Hanson. Now I'm afraid. Every time I hear a jet go off, I jump. Every time I have to send someone up in a new model, I start to sweat. Mr. Hanson. Yeah? I think there's something on the radar. No flight's scheduled in, are there Elsie? We have the whole bay cleared. It's coming in behind her. Here it comes over the building. What crazy jockey's buzzing the field like that? Is that an army plane, Charlie? I can't see. It's turning. Charlie, alert the field. I know that engine. It's Steve. That's impossible. Look, that's his ship. It can't be. There's no other model like that. It's Steve, all right. It's coming in. Thank God. Thank God. Thank God. All right, sit down, Steve. The quicker we get this done, the quicker you get over to see Mary and the baby. Hank. Elsie, give the order to check and refuel the rockets. I don't want anybody in here until I get Steve's reports. Bury any calls. All right, let's have it. What the devil happened to you? Hank, does that cosmic ray bomb still go off tonight? What are you talking about? Straighten out, Steve. Where have you been for the last 10 hours? Listen, Hank, there's something more important. Come on, come on. I've got to get a report on the screen to Washington, so let's have it. I've got to know how you stretch 10 minutes' fuel to keep you in the air for 10 hours. Now, one thing before I talk. Look, Steve. Have the Geiger men run over the ship before they refuel. What did you run into? So help me, Hank. I don't know. We better check and make sure it isn't radioactive. Elsie, add a Geiger report on the standard check. Steve, maybe we better have the doc look you over, too. No, no, I'll be all right. They said I'd be all right. They? Look, son, I know you've had a tough time, but we've had this field on the alert for 10 hours. One of the Army boys cracked up looking for you, and he's hurt bad. So let's have the story. Let's have it straight. I don't know how to tell you. Hank, I saw something up there. At 300 miles? I chased something up there, Hank, and I caught it. Now don't hand me that, Steve. Listen, I was cruising along, just starting the right bank when I spotted something. It must have been going about half my speed. It was egg-shaped and smooth. I made a pass at it, and I was coming back for another, and then there was a humming sound. Humming? A sort of vibration. And I blacked out. I was headed straight for it at 4,400 miles an hour. I thought it was going to be the biggest smash since Hiroshima, and I guess they were drinking that bottle. Never mind that, Steve. What happened? I came to, inside their ship. Uh-huh. Steve, this whole thing has been a devil of a strain on you. I'm going to call Major Donaldson from the Army base. Ask him to sit in. Psychiatrist? Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea. Let him run his tests. He'll tell you. I'm not kidding. Because, Hank, unless I miss my guess, I've just been tipped off to the way the world ends. All right, Mr. Weston, suppose you continue your story. Yes, let's have it, Steve. You woke up inside the ship? Yes, and the place was jammed with machinery. Dials, blinkers. I couldn't recognize anything. And you were surrounded by these men from Mars? I didn't say anything about men from Mars. I didn't even say they were men. I couldn't see them clearly. They were just there. Where did they come from, then? Another galaxy, millions of miles outside of our solar system. That's all I know. You figure out where they came from. And they came all that distance to find the Earth? Yes. Did they tell you that? Yes. Did they speak English to you? No, no, they didn't. That's funny. I hadn't thought. They didn't really speak to me at all. They just planted the thoughts in my mind. You mean thought transference, telepathy? Yes, that's right. Well, Steve, what brought them here? We did, Hank. We rang their bell. We brought them in. How? With our atomic explosions. Hank, that's why you've got to stop that bomb test tonight. I'll give up. Look, you've got to believe me, Hank. Oh, how can I make you understand? Maybe I can help, Mr. Weston. Would you submit to narco-psychometry? What's that? Under proper drugs, I can put you back in this, uh, ship. By suggestion. Then we can get a playback record of your memory pattern on the audio circuit. And how long will that take? Half an hour. We'll have to go over to the lab. Will you believe me if it checks? It will give us an accurate memory picture of what your mind reports. All right, let's go. Hank, you've got to believe me. We haven't got much time. You should be getting drowsy now. Count backwards from 10. 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 6... He's under. Now we attach the head plate electrodes. The cortical pickup. Look out for that wire, Mr. Henson. Real setting. 31.3. Now throw that switch, Mr. Henson. I have to start him off by suggestion. All right, Steve. You're in your ship now. You're in the rocket. Rocket? You're in the rocket. You're in the rocket. And you've just sighted something strange. Now I'm starting at 3 degree right. What's that? Hey, there's something up here. Something shining. His memory pattern. We're picking it up electronically. There's something above me, Hank. I'm going to chase it. It's piped through the audio circuits. I'm getting static. I can't hear you, Hank. This is where we lost contact with him. I'm going to make a pass at it and... Hey, it's working to meet me. It's not ahead now. It's not ahead. No one. This is where he blacked out. There's no telling how long. Minutes or hours. What's that noise? I don't know. Quiet. Where? How did I get in here? What? Who are you? Is he seeing things? Intergalactic Patrol. What's that? What are they saying, Steve? What are they saying? It's about nuclear fission. They know about it. They know the danger of it. Long ago they had wars that almost destroyed them. But finally they learned. Now they've outlawed war. Go on, Steve. They patrol space. When their detector picks up an atomic explosion, they send a patrol. What are they going to do? They've quarantined us. They've isolated the Earth. Because we don't know how to control ourselves yet. Until we learn, we'll be a menace to the whole universe. What is this nonsense? How are they going to do it, Steve? They've spread a layer out here of... I don't know how to call it. All around the Earth. It's miles deep. When there's an atomic explosion on Earth, the radioactive particles will drift up to this layer and set off a chain reaction. It'll go around the world in microseconds. And that's the end. Wait, wait. Yes. Yes. I understand. I've got to bring back the warning. You're going to put me back in my ship to bring the warning. Now what? Blacked out again. I guess that's all. What does all that mean? It's what he remembers. You don't think that really happened? No, no. Narcosocometry circuits produce what he remembers. It just means that Steve believes this happened. I don't like to see this. I've seen too many top pilots snap. Steve is the best I've known. I'm going to go back to the ship. I'm going to go back to the ship. How bad do you think he is? Frankly, outside of the presence of this well-organized hallucination, there's no sign of unbalance. It may not be too serious. If you had a more plausible story, I'd be inclined to believe you. Warning. Warning. Hank. It's all right, boy. Did you hear it, Hank? You understand? Sure, sure. We've been quarantined. Let me give you something to make you sleep, Steve. Don't you understand? They fixed it so that if we set off one more nuclear explosion, that'll be it. Of course. Don't roll your sleeve down. You don't believe me? Now, take it easy, Steve. They're testing tonight. They're setting off to see our bomb. Hank, what time is it? 11.20. Well, it's scheduled for midnight. Hank, we've got to stop that bomb. Steve, let Donaldson give you the hypo. Hank, you've got to believe me. I saw them. I got the warning. If we touch off that bomb tonight, it'll be the biggest galactic Fourth of July of all time. The whole earth will go up like a Roman candle. April 10, 1965, the end. Now, look, Steve, you better calm down. Don't you want to see Mary and the baby? You've got a new son, remember? Yeah, that's just it, Hank. I want to see my son. I want him to live. If that bomb goes off, Hank, we've got to stop them. Mr. Hanson, I think we'd better get over to the base hospital. Hank, you've got to believe me. Yeah, sure, sure, Steve. Maybe there is something to it. Look, it's out of your hands. I'll put it in a report and shove it into Washington in the morning. In the morning? There isn't going to be any morning, Hank. Don't you understand? You've got to call Washington now. Get the head of the security commission and postpone that test. Now, you know I can't do that, Steve. My neck will be out of my mouth. Besides, this is 1965, not 45. 20 countries have atomic bombs now. What's the use of stopping just this one? The rest will keep right on popping them up. We'll have to call an international conference. Can't you understand, Hank? The first one that goes off finishes is at the end. They've given us the quarantine warning. Steve, I think you'd better go with us to the base hospital. Look, Steve, we can call up for a detail if we have to. All right, all right. I'll go with you. You don't need a straight jacket. That's the way, Steve. You'll probably feel better by morning. Let's go. Well, Steve, tomorrow I'll drive you over to the hospital to see Mary and the kid. Sure. Look at the ship under the floodlights. Pretty, huh? You'll be flying her again soon, don't you worry. Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Uh, what you doing out in the line? The, uh, refueler? Yeah, we got Klozowitz coming. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. Yeah, we got Klozowitz coming in tomorrow from Denver for another test. I figure we give you a day off. That's good. That's fine. Steve, Steve, come back. Come on, Donald. Steve, Steve, wait. He's heading for the rocket. Look, there he goes up. That crazy fool. We can't get at him now. That covers armor glass. He's waving. Yeah, towards control. It's the radio. He needs the radio. Come on. I should have gotten help. The radio's still hooked up here. Hello. Hello, Steve. Listen to me, Hank. You got to call Washington now. Come out of that rocket, Steve. I'll call my men. Don't try anything, Hank. They refuel the rocket for tomorrow. Take it easy, Steve. Listen, you know what will happen when I fire the rocket tubes down here? Steve, don't. It'll burn out every building for five miles. All of us in one big blast. Steve, what do you want? You've got to stop that bomb. You got to call Washington right now. They won't believe me. You make that call or I cut in the rocket. Now, I mean it, Hank. Now, hook my screen to yours in parallel. I want to see exactly what you're doing. All right, all right. Just don't fire those rockets. Get going, Hank. You got 12 minutes to make that call and stop that bomb. All right, I'm making the parallel hookup right now. Donaldson, you think he'll really blast? I don't know. Up to now, I'd almost say he was normal. But now he's liable to do anything, Hanson. Steve, Steve, there. Are you getting it on your screen? Yeah. Now, put that call through. All right. Operator. Visit screen to Washington. The visit screen circuits are busy, sir. If you'll try again in half an hour. This is security commission priority. Break in, get me a line. Yes, sir. Just a moment, please. Ten minutes, Hank. Listen, Steve, I'm trying. We're ready to take your call, sir. Washington, security commission three. This is urgent. I want undersecretary Herbert Ames. Washington three. One moment, please. Hurry, will you? One moment, please. What time is it, Donaldson? 11 51. Do you think he'll fire those rockets? He might. Washington? Visit screen to Washington. Visit screen three. Mr. Herbert Ames, please. That is a coded exchange. I cannot accept your call without clearance. Get it through, Hank. Listen, Washington, put it through. This is Mr. Hanson at San Marco Air Base. This is a priority call. I'm coded. One moment, please. I will check your code number. Get that through, Hank, or that body goes off at 12. Will you be reasonable, Steve? Your call has cleared, San Marco. Washington, visit screen three. Herbert Ames, please. Security commission Ames. Listen, Ames. Paul O'Hanso. Ames, you've got to get me to the chief. Are you sure? Yes, sir. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. You hear that, Steve? I've got to cut the incoming screen. All right, but don't try anything. Eight minutes, Hank. Hello. Hello. What? You got him, Hank? Yes. This is Hanson, at San Marco. No, sir. Priority request to cancel the bomb test. No, no. I'm serious. This is deadly serious. We sent the X2JTR up today to the outer limit. We uncovered evidence. Yes, on the automatic instruments. What's that? No possible chain reaction. No, I can't tell you the whole story. There isn't time here. Yes, yes. I'll bring the readings into Washington in the morning. You've got to postpone the test till you see them. Look, I've worked on contracts with the commission for ten years. Yes, yes. I have complete confidence in my information. You can record that. All right. I'll call you back immediately. Bye. Hank? Hank? He's agreed to cancel, Steve. The bomb won't go off. All right, boy. You can come down out of that ship. He's opening up. Here he comes. All right, Steve. Come on down. Sure, Hank. Just a second. Hank, I was scared. I was plain scared. Easy now. It's all over. The bomb won't go off. Thank God. Look, I want to see Mary and the baby. Can you get me transportation now? Wait a minute. It's almost 12. They won't let you in the hospital now. I want to see the baby. Sure you do, but you've been under a strain. I've got a shot for you here, Steve. I'll give you a good night's sleep. All right. Roll up your sleeve. Here. There. That'll make you sleep. Sergeant will find you a bed. Yes, sir. Come on, Mr. Weston. Okay. Good night, Hank. I'm kind of beat. It's been a tough night. It's been a tough night. It sure has. I thought for a minute he was going to blast those rockets and send us all to Kingdom Come. Yeah. Quite a stunt getting the ray bomb test called off. It isn't called off. But the chief said... Ames couldn't get the chief. I was talking to a dead circuit. Bomb goes off in a couple of minutes. Oh. Poor Steve. He was one of the best. He was the best. One in ten million. Some story of his, poor guy. For a while he almost had me believing that quarantine. That's a very common illusion. End of the world. Yeah. I suppose so. Ah, it's a nice night. Never saw the stars so bright. We better be getting in. That wind is cold. The bomb goes off in thirty seconds. Poor Steve. You know, Hanson, there's just one thing. Yeah? It's outside my field, but I'm curious. How did he keep that ship in the air for ten hours? Ten hours with only ten minutes' fuel. You have just heard The Outer Limit by Graham Doar. An adventure in time, space, and the unknown. Dimension X. Now, about next week. Have you ever heard of the Mark III? The amazing electronic brain at Harvard that instantly solves the most complicated scientific problems? Suppose you had a mechanical brain like that in your house. A robot that was always at your service. So that you could just sit with folded hands and relax the rest of your life. That would be nice, wouldn't it? Perfect. That's what they thought when it happened in the year 2006. But they were wrong. Terribly wrong. How? I'll tell you. Next week. Tonight's story, transcribed on Dimension X. The Outer Limit by Graham Doar was adapted for radio by Ernest Kanoy. Featured in the cast were Joseph Julian as Steve, Wendell Holmes as Hank, and Joe DeSantis as Major Donaldson. Your host is Norman Rose. Music was by Albert Berman. Sound designed by Sam Monroe. Edward King directed. Tomorrow, here's Sam Spade, now it's Truth or Consequences on NBC.
