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. Tonight's story, The Roads Must Roll by Robert Heinlein. You were bound to know that your roadways keep rolling along. Keep rolling! That your roadways keep rolling along. It was in the middle 1950s that the automotive age began to die. The traffic engineers had long expected it. For years they had watched our vast cities sprawl and spread out, spill over into the countryside, become more and more dependent on motor transportation. And then finally, the inevitable breaking point was reached. The growing flood of cars and buses and trucks began to swamp the streets and arterial highways. The building of roads could no longer keep pace. The super highways clogged, congested, became packed with cars stalled bumper to bumper. And the cities began to die of slow strangulation, for the traffic could no longer roll. And then the engineers took over. They banned the automobiles, tore up the super highways, and in their place they built the rolling roads. Mechanized roads that moved like huge conveyor belts, whirling along on their giant rotors at speeds ranging from five to one hundred miles an hour, carrying the freight, the food, and the people from city to city and coast to coast. And no one worried over the fact that if the road should ever stop, our whole economic life would stop. For the machinery had never failed yet. But people forgot that machinery depends on men, the men who run it. Who makes the roads roll? We do! We do! That's right, the engineers. We're the brains of the road. And where would the public be if we didn't keep the roads rolling? Right behind the eight ball, and everybody knows it. That's right! All right then. We're the men who hold the power, and it's time we started using it. We've called this meeting of the Engineers Control Committee because that's what we want to do. Control. Because I'm tired of taking orders from the Transport Commission, from slick desk jockeys like Jim Gaines, who don't even know how to roll a bearing, from our field corps! Now let Gaines yammer about our duty to the public. That's a lot of eyewash. We've got the power, and we're the men that count. It's time we quit fiddling around and use a little direct action to get what we want. Mr. Chairman! Mr. Chairman! The Chair recognizes Brother Harvey of the Transport Mechanics Union. Thanks. Thanks. Now I don't really belong here since I'm no engineer. I'm just here to represent the Workers Union. But I want to know what's all the shouting for. You engineers have got better working conditions than we have, and we ain't kicking. You say the engineers are powerful. You say you can tie up the roads. Well, so can any screwball with a jar of nitroglycerin. And he wouldn't need no engineer's degree to do it, neither. Harvey! Harvey, are you speaking for your union now, or are you here as a stooge for the Transport Commission? Listen, Van Cleek, I helped fund my union. I led the strike in 75 for decent working conditions. Where were you engineers then? With the Finks! Brother Harvey! Brother Harvey, remember, you're only a guest at this meeting. Go on, Van. Now listen, man. I'm one of the old engineers on the roads. You all are. I worked up the hard way. We didn't go to the fancy technical institutes like those young punk cadet engineers the Commission is training to take over our jobs unless we do something to stop them. Jim Gaines hasn't been able to fill us full of the old school spirit and that baloney about how the roads must roll. So all right then. Why don't we get smart for a change? What would happen if the roads stopped rolling? Maybe the country would begin to realize that they can't do it without us. Maybe we'd begin to get the things we want. Who says the roads must roll? Yes? Your wife is calling, Mr. Gaines. Put her on. Jim, I want you to stop off on your way home. I'm sorry, darling, I can't make it. But you promised. I know what Washington called in. They're sending Evans, the Australian Minister of Transport, through my sector today. I've got to show him through personally. Can't somebody else? I'm chief supervisor. Wouldn't be courteous. Courtesy begins at home. I've planned this dinner for weeks. Honey, the roads must roll. Oh, if you quote that nauseating slogan at me again, I'll divorce you. I can't help it, darling. I'll meet you at Stockton at nine and we'll take in a show. Kiss Allen goodnight for me. Well, all right. Goodbye. Goodbye. Mr. Evans is here. Show him in. Well, good evening, Mr. Evans. I'm Gaines, chief engineer. How do you do, Mr. Gaines? They told me at the embassy you'd be the man to see. I want to know how the roads work. I think we can handle that. Well, I'm not a technical man, Mr. Gaines. My field is sociology. So suppose you tell me about the roads as if I were entirely ignorant. Fine. It's nearly dinner time. Suppose we run up to Stockton sector for dinner. It'll take us about an hour on the road. And you can see them working. Excellent. If you'll excuse me a minute. Hi, chief. What can I do for you? Dave, you're on evening watch. Where's Van Cleek? He's gone to some meeting. I'm going up to Stockton for dinner. Anything to report? No, sir. The roads are rolling. Okay. Keep them rolling. All right, Mr. Evans. Let's go. This is the low-speed strip. Ever ridden a conveyor before? No. It's quite simple. Remember to face the motion of the strip as you get on. There. Go right across. Each adjoining strip is a few miles an hour faster than the one next to it. The freight is carried on the 50-mile strip, most passenger traffic on the express strip. All right. Now watch your step. Here we are. The maximum speed. 100 miles an hour. It doesn't seem possible. This strip makes the round trip, San Diego to Reno, in 12 hours. Ready to eat? Is this the restaurant? Jake's Steakhouse. Fastest meal on the road. Is it really a proper restaurant? One of the best. Shall we go in? Hello, Mr. Gaines. We don't see you much out on the road. Busy in the office, Jake. Two? Right this way. What'll it be? Your order. Well, how about a steak? Two inches thick from a steer that died happy. Fine. Fine. Plug me in a phone, will you? There's one right next to you. Plank two, rare. Excuse me, Mr. Evans. Davidson, on watch. Here's the chief. I'm at Jake's Steakhouse. You can reach me at 10L66. 10L66, right. Yeah. Now they can get hold of me in an emergency. Oh? What kind of emergency could there be? Two, principally. Power failure on the road is we bring the road to a standstill. That happened during rush hour. We'd have to evacuate millions of people from the road. As many as that? Easily. There are 12 million people dependent on this section of road. Gaines here. Hello, Chief. Davidson. Just got the hour on the repeat. How was the train ticket service? Discounted. I'm at 510. Where is it? Poussen. Diego Circle, Bakerfield Sector, Stockton Sector, and Reno Circle, all rolling. Oh, you didn't have to bother me with the hourlies, Dave. There's a supplementary from Sacramento. Proceed. Cadet Engineer Gunther, while on watch, was found playing cards with C.J. Ross, technician on duty. Any damage? One rotor running hot, but still synchronized with jacked down, replaced. All right. Have the paper ask to give Ross his time and turn him over to civil authorities. Place cadet Gunther under arrest and bring him to road town central. Yes, sir. All right. Keep him rolling. what would happen if the strip under us would break? Oh, I haven't thought of that. You don't realize you're traveling at 100 miles an hour? Well, it can't. Not now. The strip has a safety factor of over 12 to 1. It'd take a blowout of several miles of rotors and the failure of circuit breakers before the strip could part. But it happened once in the early days on the Philadelphia-Jersey City Road. The strip was much more than a conveyor belt. It buckled for miles, crushing passengers against the roof. Forward section in front of the brake spilled them down under into the rotors and rollers. Oh. Was it very bad? Over 3,000 people were killed in that break. But the roads had to go on. The entire economic system hangs on the roads. If they stopped now, the country would starve. Well, uh... Isn't it possible that you've become too dependent on these roads? I mean, if your whole economy is geared to the function of one type of machinery... The roads are foolproof now. The machinery is interlocked with an enormous safety factor. Yes, but in the long run, machinery depends on men. What if you had a strike? We had one back in 75. There's not much danger of that anymore. No? Well, why not? Every cadet that goes to work on the roads today is a graduate of the United States Transport Academy. They're all picked men, screened for emotional stability, and trained to give us the same kind of loyalty that Annapolis and West Point develop in their men. I see. Are you a graduate, Mr. Gaines? No, I'm too old for that. The Academy wasn't set up till after the strike in 75. But it won't be long now, maybe five or ten years, before the oldest engineer on the roads is a man who's been through the Academy. Gaines here. Davidson, there's another trouble report from Sacramento sector. Again? What is it this time? What's this? What is it? What happened? Emergency stop. Hello? Hello, Davidson? Homes are out. Come on. Jake! Jake! What is it, Earl? What's the matter with the roads? Have everybody stay in the restaurant. What's that? Probably somebody stepped onto the next strip, got cut to ribbons. There'll be plenty of casualties. Jake, where's your getaway hatch? In the pantry. Look here, aren't we going to help those people? I've got the whole road to think of. Don't bother me. Give me a hand, Jake. The hatch is stuck. You coming with me, Mr. Evans? You've got to move fast. I haven't got any time to waste. Where are we now? Freeway on top of the inner road ceiling. That's the outer shell over us. Are we going outside? No, there'll be an access down manhole over here. They're spaced every hundred feet. There, by the green light. Now, this'll get us down on the northbound road. Careful, it's dark. Now stand away from the door, Evans. Yes. But, uh, this road is still rolling. It was only the hundred mile strip that stopped. That's why I want a phone booth. Look out, excuse me. Look out! Hey, hey! Hey, I'm talking to my wife. What's the idea of a bus in India? Out! Emergency priority, division office. Davidson. Gaines here, report. Chief, what have you been up and calling you? Never mind that, report. 709, consolidated tension. Report strip 20 Sacramento sector past emergency level. Interlocks acted and cut the strip out. Cause of failure unknown. Direct communication cut to Sacramento control office. Evacuation of strip 20 commenced. No casualties. There are casualties, I saw them. Put police and hospital routine A into operation. Get me Vance Clique. I want him to take over for me till I report in. We can't reach him, Chief. Shall I cut out the rest of the road? No. Keep those other strips rolling or we'll have a traffic jam the devil himself couldn't untangle. There are five million passengers on the road now. Notify the governor that I have assumed emergency authority. Armored cadets available on the white orders. Shall I recall technicians on watch? No. This isn't an engineering failure. That whole sector went out simultaneously. Somebody cut those roaders by hand. I want all available senior class cadets to report to Stockland subsector office 10. With pistols and tear gas. Yes, sir. The governor wants to talk to you. He called in. Refer him to someone else. I'm busy. I'll get back to you. I'm going down under. Evans! Evans! I can't hear you. There's a noise. Put on this helmet. What? Helmet! Helmet! Oh, oh. Yes. You can't hear without an anti-noise filter. Come on. What are we looking for? A recon car. There should be one here. Are those the roaders? The big ones are roaders. They drive the road. The little ones are rollers. They get continuous support. There's a watch gang now jacking down a rotor. Can they hear us? No. The noise filter works on a four foot radius. I'll flash him. He sees the light. Cadet Wilson reporting, sir. I want your recon car. Emergency. Yes, sir. Right over here, sir. Come on, Evans. Get in. But it's so small. You'll fit all right. You can take off your noise filter now. Hang on. She accelerates like a rocket. Oh, my stomach. Relay station. Mrs. Gaines. Get me Davidson, senior watch officer. Mr. Gaines, the mayor wants to talk to you. I haven't got time. Get me Davidson. Leave this circuit hooked into Davidson's board until I tell you to cut it. Yes, sir. Here is the senior watch officer. Davidson. Gaines calling. Have you found out yet what's stopping the roads? No, sir. It's still a mystery to me. All right. I'm on my way in a recon car. Hold everything till I get there. Cadet Edmonds reporting, sir. Three platoons of cadet engineers standing by with tumble bug motorcycles. Armed. Pistols and tear gas is audited, sir. Good. Assistant supervisor Van Cleek is calling you on circuit nine, sir. Van Cleek. It's about time. Cut me in. Yes, sir. Hello, Van. Where are you? Sacramento office. Now, listen. Sacramento? That's good report. In a pig's eye. What? I'm not your deputy anymore, Gaines. What are you talking about? Listen, don't interrupt me and you'll find out. You're through, Gaines. I've been picked as director of the engineers control committee. We're taking over. Have you gone off your rotor? We stopped strip 20 just to give you a taste of what we can do. We're running things now. And you don't really think you can get away with this? You can't start strip 20 until I'm ready to let you. I can stop the whole road if I have to. Van Cleek, I'm calling the army. How will you get them here if the roads aren't rolling? Now, listen, Gaines. Whoever controls the roads controls the country. And right now, that happens to be me. Now, sign off, Gaines. I've got to call the White House. You behave yourself and you won't get hurt. I don't believe it, sir. Who's got us, Edmonds? We go in and blast them out of Mereco Road. What's your rolling tonnage now? 53% under evening peak, sir. How about strip 20? Almost evacuated. Listen in on this, Davidson. Standing by, sir. I'm going down inside with these cadets. We'll work north, overcoming any resistance that we may meet. The watch technicians and maintenance crews are to follow behind us. Each road as they come to it is to be cut out from under Sacramento's control, then hooked into the Stockton Control Board. Understand? Got it. Check. If it works right, we can move control of Sacramento Sector right out on under Van's feet. And he can stay in his office there until he's hungry enough to be reasonable. Edmonds, get me a pistol. Yes, sir. Mr. Gaines, there's a man here. He's badly hurt. He wants to see you. Take care of him. I haven't got time. He's from Sacramento Sector. What? Bring him in. All right. I'll take care of him. Easy, Mr. Gaines. You're Harvey from the Mechanics Union, aren't you? I tried to warn you. I tried to get away. He shot me three times. Get a doctor. All right. Easy, Harvey. How long has this been building up? It isn't the man. It's the engineers. I told them they were crazy. I told them the road's got to roll. When I tried to get away, they... He's bleeding from the mouth, sir. Harvey. Harvey, can you hear me? I can hear you. I can hear you. I can hear you. I can hear you. I can hear you. I can hear you. He's dead, Mr. Gaines. Come on, Evans. We've got to move. Hey, hey! All right, you men. You saw Harvey brought in. How many of you want a chance to kill the louse that did it? I do. I do. Very well. You men turn in your weapons and return to quarters. We've got a job to do to make sure the road starts rolling again. We haven't got time for infantile heroics. Anybody who hasn't got his mind on his job will be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. I'll be in the way. Anybody who hasn't got his mind on his job will be in the way. Now, here's the order. We move north, mounted on tumblebugs. We're going to try to regain control, rotor by rotor, before Sacramento sector knows we're moving. We've got to capture any watch personnel we run on before they can get word back. Surprise is vital. Use tear gas when possible. Shoot only when necessary. But get them before they can reach a phone jack. Any questions? No. Then move out. What's the score, Edmonds? 33 prisoners so far and nobody killed. Whoops. Yeah, since I rode one of these tumblebugs, I've gotten how to steer it. Well, sir, there's a man ahead. There at the rotor base. He's got a phone jacked in. Hurry. If he gets word back, we're sunk. I don't think he's seen us. I'll dismount and get him. Quick, he sees us. Here you. Look out. He's got a gun. I got him. Grab his gun. Yes, sir. You had a phone jacked in all right. If he got through to Sacramento office, it's going to be tough. I don't know, sir. Maybe he didn't get the call through. Wait a minute. Listen. The road. Take off your noise filter. There. The road. The road is stopping. Hold your men. Hold. Hold up there. Hold up. There's a recon car coming up. Relay station call from Mr. Gaines. Give it to me. Here you are, sir. Gaines here. Davidson here, Chief. Van Cleek's calling you. Who stopped the road? He did. Cut, Van Cleek. Enemy. You thought I was fooling, huh, Gaines? What do you think now? All right, Van. The road has stopped. You won this trick. Then why don't you get smart and give up? You can't win. You forgot something, Van. You can't lick the whole country. Yeah? Gaines, I've got a switch button in my hand. If I push it, it'll blow 300 yards straight across the road. And then for good measure, I'll take an ax and wreck the control station before I leave. That's pretty drastic, Van. Yeah. If I blow 300 yards straight across the road, it'll blow 300 yards straight across the road. And then for good measure, I'll take an ax and wreck the control station before I leave. That's pretty drastic, Van. Yeah. If I blow 300 yards straight across the road, it'll blow 300 yards straight across the road. You don't want to blow the road, neither do I. You've got to hurry, Dave. If I take too long, Van Clake will get edgy and set off that charge. Failure report notes? One, strips must be cross-connected with safety interlocks so that when one dies, the other slow down. Two, the men. I can't understand it. Psych tests are rigid. We've never had a failure in the Humwadsworth-Burton method. And then suddenly a whole sector goes sour. How could Van Clake get a whole crew of psych-cleared men to revolt? It's easy, Dave. As my deputy, he was ex officio personnel officer for the whole road. He must have been faking psych records for years and transferring maladjusted men into his sector. I've got that personnel record, Mr. Gaines. Man's record. Masked introvert. Inferiority rating seven. Comment. Despite a potential instability shown on Wadsworth Curve, this officer is especially adept in handling men. He's adept all right. I haven't got time for any more, Dave. You're not going up there to Sacramento office? I've got to. They'll be armed. He'll kill you. I've got to take that chance. But unarmed? Why don't you call in the Army? He won't dare blow the road down. Yes, he would. Look at that psych record. He's putting up a big brave front, but he's rotten inside. He wants to be taken seriously. He wants everybody to think he's the most dangerous man in the country. And if I call the Army in, he'll try to prove it by blowing the road. How can you stop him, Mr. Gaines? He'll have a gun. What will you have? What will I have? Only a prayer. And what I know about Mr. Van Cleek. All right, Gaines. Director Van Cleek will see you now. Gaines is here, Director Van Cleek. Come in, Gaines. I'm sorry, I'm not being sensibly at last. You know I've got you where I want you, and there isn't anything you can do about it. I searched him, Director. He's unarmed. I want you to sign this now. It's a declaration of your recognition of the Engineers Control Committee. You've got one minute to sign it, Gaines, or I'll push this button and blow up the whole sector. You better sign, Gaines. You need this gorilla with a gun van? Hey, you... Can't you handle one unarmed man alone? All right, Harry, out. What? Yeah, okay. All right, now sign. What's so funny? You are. You start a revolution because you think the engineer should control the road. Then when you've got control, the only thing you can think of to do is blow it up. Tell me, what are you so scared of? I'm not scared. Yeah? Sitting there sweating all over that push button you're holding? Your buddies knew how afraid you were. They'd probably throw you into the rotors. I'm not afraid. You're afraid of me right now. You're afraid I'll have you on the carpet. You're afraid the cadets won't salute you. You're afraid they're laughing at you behind your back. No, no, I'm not. Now, now, you keep quiet. I've got a gun. You're afraid of using the wrong fork at dinner. You're afraid people are looking at you, laughing at you. I am not, you... You... You dirty, stuck-up snob! Just because you went to a high-hat school, you think you're better than anybody? You and your crummy little gold-brained cadets! Man, you're a pathetic little shrimp. I understand you perfectly. You're a third-rate. All your life you've been afraid that someone would see through you and send you to the foot of the class. Throw you right out on your ear where you belong. I don't want to look at you anymore. I'll show you. I'll put a bullet in you! Put down that shotgun before you hurt yourself. Don't you come near me! Don't you come near me or I'll shoot! I'll shoot! You mean it! No! Let me go! Give me that pistol! Thanks for not disappointing me, Van. I don't understand. I thought if I wounded your little ego, you'd forget to push that button and pull a trigger instead. I'm afraid you'll never make a good executive, Van. They have to know when to push buttons. David, sir. Chief, are you all right? I'm all right. Attack now and mop up. I'll hold the control room. I've got Van Clink and I think his little revolution is just about over. Hear them hum, watch them run. Oh, our job is never done. For our own ways go rolling along. While you ride, while you glide, we are watching down inside so your roadways keep rolling along. Mr. Gaines? Mr. Gaines! Oh, Mr. Rebens, I forgot about you. Yes, I've been waiting at the sector office. Is everything under control? All rolling. Those are the watch engineers going on to the Czech Sacramento sector inch by inch. Remarkable organization, remarkable. Hourly's in, Chief. San Diego Circle rolling. Baker's Field, Fresno, Stockton. Stockton? Stockton? Oh, no. What's the matter, Chief? Trouble, Mr. Gaines? It sure is. I promised to meet my wife at Stockton for a show. She's been waiting there since nine o'clock last night. Dave, see if you can get her for me. Try the sector office. All right, Chief. And Dave, see if you can calm her down. Oh, sure, Chief. I'll tell her the roads must roll. No, no, don't tell her that. I don't think she'd appreciate it. She's heard it too often. Oh, it's high, high, deep, the roller miller leaves. I better get going. Bye, Dave. Keep them rolling. Anywhere you go, you are bound to know that you're going to roll. Keep them rolling. That your roadways go rolling along. Keep them rolling. That your roadways go rolling along. Keep them rolling. That your roadways go rolling along. Keep them rolling. You have just heard X minus one presented by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of astounding science fiction. For announcer Fred Collins, X minus one was an NBC radio network production.
