Countdown for blast off. X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one, fire. From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future, adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of astounding science fiction presents X minus one. The Night Story. Cold equations. There is no margin of safety along the rim of a frontier. There can't be any until the way is made for those who come later. Until then the penalty for mistakes is a grim one. The laws of physical nature operate with irrevocable certainty with no room for mercy, kindness, or sentimentality. In space life becomes a cold equation and the equal sign is often followed by death. I know I'm the pilot of an EDS. Come in. You set for me commander? Yes. Sit down Barton. We just got an ED from the Territorial Space Station on Walden. Ah, Walden. That's in the Crab Nebula isn't it? That's right. There are two exploration parties there on Manning's continent. Eight men each. Mm-hmm. They've got colifever in one of them and no serum. Oh and I thought this was gonna be a nice quiet passenger run. Computers are working out your payload and your course right now. In exactly ten minutes we'll drop in a normal space and launch your ship. I'll get it ready. One thing. What's that? Walden is at the maximum pay limit for an EDS. Figuring the weight of the serum we'll be able to give you just enough fuel to land on Manning's continent if you make it the first pass. Otherwise you'll burn out in midair. Mm-hmm. Standard procedure. Report to launching control. Right. Good luck Barton. Thanks. Oh by the way. Yes? When can I expect to be picked up? We'll make a stop on the run back to earth sometime next year. You'll be notified by radio. Okay. Sorry we can't make it sooner. That's what happens when you sign on for EDS work. I'll see you next year commander. Down in the belly of the stardust the crew was working like beavers to get the EDS, the emergency dispatch ship, ready. Mechanics and technicians were swarming all over the place. Girls in inspectors uniforms were checking the gauges in the supply cabinet. Nine minutes later the exact course was in the computer. The serum was stowed in my supply cabinet closet and little EDS 4G3 was ready to be born into space. Barton? Yes sir. 30 seconds to blast off. All set? All set. I'm turning you over to traffic. Ready. Traffic control. Come in EDS 4G3. Ready. 20 seconds. Lock open. 15 seconds. Space drive on. Space drive on. 10 seconds. Gravity neutralizer on. Neutralizer on. Five seconds. Four, three, two, one. Blast off. I don't remember how long it was afterwards that I first noticed something wrong. Maybe an hour, maybe two. There was nothing to show it except the needle and the heat gauge. It was on zero when we left the stardust and now I noticed that it had crept up toward the 30 mark. That meant something inside the ship was radiating heat. That something was in the supply closet and it was alive. All right come out. Whoever or whatever you are if you don't come out in five seconds I'm going to blast you. One, two. Well I'll be... Hello I'm Marilyn Lee Cross. What are you doing in there? I'm a stowaway. Oh my. What's the matter? Do I have to pay a fine or something? What are you doing here? I wanted to see my husband. Who's your husband? He's with the government survey crew on Woden. I haven't seen him since he left Earth four years ago. Okay but what made you hide in my EDS? I have a job waiting for me on Mimir but I heard you were going to Woden and there was plenty of room so I hid. Oh I knew I'd be breaking some kind of rule but what's one little rule? What's one little rule? H amount of fuel will power an EDS with a mass of M safely to its destination. H amount of fuel will not power an EDS with a mass of M plus X safely to its destination. Now how could she be expected to know? She was 5'2 with brown curly hair and the faint sweet smell of perfume. She was 5'2 and she smelled like apple blossoms and her name was X in an equation that would have to be balanced. Stardust, come in EDS, come in. This is Barton, emergency dispatch pilot 4G3. Go ahead. Give me Commander Delhart. What's the message EDS? I have to consult Commander Delhart. The commander is busy. Listen you squirt, give me Commander Delhart. One moment 4G3. Commander Delhart, emergency message from EDS 4G3. This is Delhart, what is it? At 0800 hours I discovered a stowaway aboard my ship. A stowaway? Yes sir. Well have you notified ship's records? Not yet sir. You know the regulations as well as I do. Of course I know the regulations, that's why I'm calling. Barton, what's going on? Sir, this is a girl, a young woman. Oh. She wanted to see her husband on Woden. She didn't know what she was doing. I see. I wondered sir maybe the cruiser could change course or something? I'm afraid not. We're hundreds of light years apart now. We have a limited fuel supply ourselves with 900 passengers. Is there any chance? No. Okay Skipper. Better get the information to ship's records. Okay. Barton. Skipper. I'm sorry. Yeah sure. You've got our acceleration didn't you? Yes. Why? Well save fuel for a while. How did you manage to stowaway? I was taking a language lesson in memories from a girl in the inspection corps. The order came in for your trip. I just went long on an impulse. It was easy. I'll be a model prisoner I promise. If you're only a thief or a spy it would make it easier. Make what easier? Forget it. Why couldn't she have been somebody with some ulterior motive of fugitive hoping to lose himself in a raw new world about the crackpot with a mission? Why did she have to be a woman? A beautiful kind trusting woman. Barton, EDS 4G3. Go ahead 4G3. Identify a stowaway. Give me your identification disc Miss Cross. Here. Why? Well it's for ship's records. Identification number T8374. One moment. This is for the gray card of course. Yes. I'll need the time. I'll tell you later. That's highly irregular. Then we'll do it in a highly irregular manner. The subject is a young woman. She's listening to everything that's said. Are you capable of understanding that? Go ahead 4G3. Number T8374-Y54. Name Marilyn Lee Cross. Female. Married. Born July 7th 2160. Good Lord you're only a child. Height five feet two inches. Weight 110. Hair brown. Eyes blue. Complexion light. Blood type O. Original destination Port City, Mimir. Listen I'll call you back later. Look Miss. Marilyn. Look Marilyn. I guess you don't know what you got yourself into here. Well it's like this. This ship is carrying Cala fever serum to the survey group on Woden. Yes. Their supply was wrecked in a tornado. The fever is always fatal unless the serum is given in the first 48 hours. Now these little ships have exactly enough fuel to reach their destination. If you stay aboard her your added weight will cause it to use up all its fuel before it can land. What happens then? We crash. You die, I die and six fever victims on Woden die. Can't they send out another ship to meet us? There are no ships to send. Well I... Oh no. Oh no you couldn't do that. That's how it has to be. But that's crazy. I haven't done anything. I haven't heard anybody. I'm sorry. I should have told you before but I wanted to make sure there was no other way. You mean it? You're gonna make me leave this ship? That's how it is. But I'll die. I'll explode. I'll be like those horrible pictures of... Try to understand. I do understand. You're going to kill me and I didn't do anything. I know you didn't. I know you didn't. That has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with it. Nobody just dies like that for no reason. Oh listen. Maybe there are other cruisers. Cruisers you don't know about. Maybe the radio. Maybe it... Now listen to me. It's different here. Different from anything you've ever known. On Woden there are 16 men. 16 men on an entire world. They're fighting. Fighting an alien environment. The environment fights back. You can only make a mistake once. I made a mistake. Yes. There's no hope. Absolutely none. You have to be put out of the ship. It was better so. With the going of all hope would go the field. Then would come the resignation. She needed time and there was so little. EDS. Starship to EDS need pertinent data. All right Starship. When do you expect to complete your report? I... need a computer check. I'll give you statistics. Statistics. This is EDS 4g3. I'm intersecting course vector 7.3 at 0831. Deceleration 1750. Weight 1 ton. I would like to stay at point 10 as long as the computers allow. Will you give them the question? Check. I'll call you back. We wouldn't have long to wait. The new factors would be fed into the steel more of the computer bank and the electrical impulses would go through the complex circuits. Here and there a relay would click. A tiny cog turn over. But it would be the current, formless, mindless, invisible which would determine with utter precision how long the pale young girl beside me would live. Five little segments of metal in the second bank would trip against an inked ribbon and the machine would spit out the answer. He will resume deceleration at 1910. It was 1810 when he spoke. One hour. She has one hour to live. One hour? That's it. All I did was hide in a closet. Now you tell me I have to die. I don't believe it. You might as well get used to it. If this happened back on earth a thousand ships would fill the sky. The whole world would know about it. They'd do everything to save it. This isn't earth. It was such a big dream. Jerry and I separated almost five years ago. We were too young and I was going to see him to try to make everything all right again. Are you married? I was. Oh. She ran off with some guy in the Weather Service. Do you still think about it? I don't let myself. Where is she? Back on earth. Look if you don't mind I'd just as soon talk about something else. Okay. What do you do when you've got an hour to live? What do you talk about? What's Jerry like? Jerry? He's a funny guy. When he found out I mean about the other fella he didn't get mad. He cried. That was all he felt. Sadness. So you walked all over him. I thought I wanted him to get mad at me to be jealous. And now? I've been thinking about him for five years. So when I heard this ship was bound for Woden and I knew Jerry was there I stowed away. I didn't know about the fuel. I didn't know this would happen to me. She had violated a man-made law that said keep out. The penalty was not of man's making or desire. It was not a penalty men could revoke. Each amount of fuel will power an EDS with a massive M safely to its destination. The time was 1830. 40 minutes. It was beginning to get me. A space frontier is a rough place and I'd seen a hundred men die since I left earth but this was different. I watched her as she wrote a message to her folks. I watched her as she fought her way through the black horror of fear toward the calm gray of acceptance. And then there it was on the view screen. The planet Woden. A red ball enshrouded in the blue haze of its atmosphere swimming in space against the background of star sprinkled blackness. The chronometer on the instrument panel said 1845. Listen we're in radio range of Woden now. I mean would you want me to try to contact your husband? Jerry? It would mean he would know you're going to die. There'd be nothing anyone can do. Yes I would like to talk to him. Do you think we can? The planet is turning. If his group is on the side facing us we might be able to reach him. Could try. All right. Hello hello Woden. EDS to government survey group. Can you hear me? Come in Woden. They may not be monitoring. Hello. Hello. Identify yourself please. This is government survey group one on planet Woden. This is John Barton EDS pilot. You have the serum? Yes. How bad is it? One man died last night. Six have the fever. How long will it take? I start deceleration at 1910 hours. I should be able to land at 1930. Look do you have a Gerald Cross in charge of the group? Commander Cross? Yes we do. Could I speak to him? He isn't here. He's out with the survey team. When do you expect him? Can't say. How do you read me? How much time do we have left for communication? Less than 15 minutes. All right if commander Cross comes back before we lose radio contact will you have him buzz me it's important. Okay EDS. I'll keep the set open. Check. The minutes passed like small bits of eternity. On the view screen I could see Manning's continent sprawled like a gigantic hourglass in the eastern sea. There was a thin line of shadow where it was beginning to disappear as the planet turned on its axis. I looked at the pale woman next to me and I thought of another woman long ago who had sat next to me and cried because I wouldn't try to understand. What had she written in those letters back home? What would they think of the faceless unknown pilot who had sent her to her death? What would I think of myself alone nights reliving this voyage? Cold isn't it? I'll turn up the thermostat. Nothing from Jerry? We have about two minutes of radio contact left. Maybe it's better. I mean suppose it were you and your wife tried to call you. How would you feel? I don't know. Do you ever hear from her? I got a letter about a year ago. I tore it up. That was foolish. Yeah it was. Life is so terribly short to be wandering around alone. Well I... wait a second we're getting something. How much time before I have to leave the ship? About ten minutes. Hello EDS. Hello EDS. Come in. Come in. EDS. This is Wotan. I have Commander Cross. All right go ahead. Hello this is Commander Cross. Jerry Cross. Yes. I have someone for you. Go ahead. Hello. Jerry. Hello. Jerry. Who is it? It's me. Marilyn. Marilyn. I wanted to see you again. I stowed away on the EDS. You what? But Marilyn. It doesn't matter Jerry. All that matters is that I can tell you all the things I've kept inside for so long. Jerry I want you to know I've never forgotten. It's been so many years. I can't believe it. I thought I'd see you again but now I can't. Jerry you don't hate me do you? Hate you? Marilyn I've never stopped loving you. Not for an instant. Oh Jerry. Listen we don't have much time. The transmission is getting fuzzy. Marilyn I've got to see you. There's got to be some way. There isn't. Let me talk to the pilot. Hello. Pilot have you called the mothership? Did you have them checked with the computers? I've done everything. You've been on the frontier long enough to know the setup and the EDS. Oh dear God there must be something some way. Do you think I'd let this happen if I wasn't sure? He tried to help me Jerry. He tried. And it really doesn't matter. I'm not frightened anymore. Not now. But how did you get here? I don't understand. I was going to Mimir to take a job I thought. Now I realize it was I was just going because I'd be closer to where you were. Oh Jerry all this time. Don't. Let me tell you something. Marilyn I've always known you'd come back to me. I've known it every minute. It's what's kept me alive. I want you to hold that in your mind. Jerry I can't hear you. We haven't much time. We're losing radio contact. Jerry. Don't cry darling. Just know how I feel. I do. It's fading. There are so many things to say. Jerry if you can still hear me maybe I'll come to see you again. Maybe I'll come to you in your dreams or be the touch of a breeze or one of those golden winged little birds singing my silly head off. Maybe I'll be nothing you can see or hear but you'll know I'm there. Think of me like that Jerry. Goodbye. She sat motionless in the hush that followed. And then she looked at me. Now? Now. I pulled down the black lever and the inner door of the lock slid open. She walked with her head up and the brown curls brushing her shoulders. I let her do it alone. She stepped into the lock and turned to face me and I could see the pulse in her throat. I'm ready. I pulled the red lever and there was a slight waver as the air gushed out. I thought I sensed a bump as if something had bumped the outer door. And then there was nothing. The white hand of the closet temperature control was back at zero. A cold equation had been balanced and I was alone in the ship. You have just heard X minus one presented by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of astounding science fiction. Tonight by transcription, X minus one has brought you cold equations written by Tom Godwin and adapted for radio by George Lefferts. Featured in the cast were Court Benson as Barton, Jay Meredith as Marilyn, Milo Bolton as Commander Delhart, Bob Hastings as Jerry Cross, Jack Arthur as traffic control officer, and Walter Kinsella as the Woden monitor. Your announcer, Bill Rippey, X minus one was directed by Ken McGregor and is an NBC radio network production. And now next week, in the days of the windjammers, whalers sometimes went on cruises that lasted as long as two years and so sometimes they had to resort to rough methods to gather a crew. And what of the future when a cruise to a distant star may last for 15 years or more? We hear of such a voyage next week on X minus one.
