Countdown for blast off. X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one, fire. From the far horizons of the unknown come 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 Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine presents X minus one. Tonight the time is June 25th 1962. The place, a lonely beach. The story Saucer of Loneliness by Theodore Sturgeon. My name is Jason Berniades. I'm a newspaper reporter 31 years old. I write poetry but I don't show it to anybody because they might laugh and the things I write about are very important to me. I was an only child. I never went with girls much because I'm too ugly and too sensitive and they used to hurt me. I live alone. It isn't much fun. I'm not painting this picture of myself to get sympathy. I don't need it but it's important that you should know the kind of person I am otherwise you won't understand what I'm going to tell you. It happened tonight the thing I'm going to tell you about tonight. The 25th of June 1962. I was down on the beach. Hey mister. Hey mister. What is it kid? You seen a cop around any place? On this beach? I found this pile of clothes down near the rocks. The lady's dressing in shoes. Well did you see anybody? A girl? I think so but she was running along the sand in the moonlight. I yelled to her but she just kept running and then I found these. Look kid you go try to find a cop someplace. I'll see if I can find the girl. Okay. I thought to myself she's dead. I'll never find her now in this white flood of moonlight with the surf seething in over the pale sand. I ran and ran until my knees buckled and went down in the swirl of it. The sea on my lips with the taste of tears and the whole white night shouted and wept and then I saw her waist deep walking into the surf. Stop. Stop it. Come back. Come on. Come out. Let me go. Don't do it. Please don't. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. I'm going to have to hit you. Forgive me. I hit her in the neck with the edge of my hand and she slumped. I brought her ashore and carried her to where a dunes between us and the water. Then I rubbed her wrists. She had a pale beautiful face with ancient bottomless blue eyes. She opened them and looked at me after a moment. It's all right. Here put my coat over you. Why couldn't you leave me alone? I couldn't. Why? Because it's important to me. I suppose you want to know why I did it. If I told you I understand would you believe me? How could you understand? Maybe I know what it means to be lonely. That? That's it isn't it? I don't know. I'm so terribly tired. Put your head against my arm and just stay. I'm... Don't be afraid. I've been looking for you for a long time. Looking for me? All my life. How did you know? I don't believe you. It's true. I found your message. Oh? So you see there's nothing to be afraid of. Not anymore. Just rest. The moonlight is terribly white. Yes. I'd like to rest for a while. She didn't remember it of course, but I was one of the reporters who had covered the story when it first happened five years ago. I'll never forget that day. I was working the police blotter. It was a quiet summer afternoon when they brought her in. Two big cops in blue uniforms. Come on now, girlie. Come on. Let me go. I haven't done anything. Take it easy now. What's the trouble, Connolly? Disturb in the peace, Sergeant. Is this that Central Park call? Hey, this is it. I thought you radioed that there was an air riot up there. You should have seen the place. All right. Give me the report. Well, me and Bennett got up there and there was a mob of people all surrounding this girl, see? So we bust through and there in the middle of maybe 600 people, she's lying there, sort of in a faint. I asked a couple of people what the difficulty was and they tell me it's the flying saucer. The what? The flying saucer. What flying saucer? Let me finish, Sergeant. What flying saucer, I ask. And then they says that this girl was standing on the green and suddenly the saucer comes down and starts whirling overhead like a halo. What is this, Miss? A gag? It happened. It did, huh? Well, I suppose you tell me your version. I was standing in the park and I looked up and there it was. Describe it. It was beautiful. It was golden with a dusty finish like an unripe conquered grape. Made a faint sound, a chord of two tones and it circled over my head like some great round hummingbird. Go on. Other people must have seen it because they were all looking at me and pointing. I saw one man cross himself and then it came down and touched me and spoke to me. This flying saucer spoke to you? Yes. And just what did it say to you? I said what did it say? I can't tell you. A secret, huh? Yes. I see. Connolly, this girl is for Bellevue. Well, Sergeant, the plain fact is that it happened just like that. Ten witnesses all agree it did. Are you trying to tell me that there was such a thing as this whirren hummingbird of a saucer? Oh, there was that, Sergeant. And just how do you know, Connolly? Well, we've got the thing out in the squad car. You what? Venice brings it in right now, see? About 36 inches across it is and covered with strange markers. Great, Mother, did you call the bomb squad? I didn't think of it. Well, think of it, man. This may be some kind of atomic weapon. I'll turn it over to ballistics. Never mind about ballistics. Call the FBI and tell them we've got this thing. Yes, sir. What about the girl? We'll book her on disturbing the peace. I've got a feeling the government men may want a word with her. Sergeant. What is it, Baniades? I'd like to do a story on this for my paper. Could I have a look at the saucer? We'd better clear it first. Well, could I talk to the girl? After she's been booked. Connolly, is the crowd still up at the park? Very likely. Well, I'll run up there and get some eyewitnesses. Then I'd like to come back and talk to the girl. Up at the park, they were still buzzing about it. Some said she was a communist agitator. Some said it was a flying saucer from Mars and she had stepped out of it. Others said she was a saint and it was her halo. I took some notes, phone the paper and went back downtown to talk to her. But there were a couple of agents with her and they wouldn't let me in. Now then, miss, you told the sergeant the saucer spoke to you, is that correct? Yes. Did it speak to you in English? I don't know. You did understand it though? Yes. Do you speak any other languages? No. Tell me, what message did you receive from this instrument? Wasn't anything really? Suppose you tell me. I'd rather not. Miss, let me be very frank. I'm not a policeman. I'm a security agent. That means that I deal with problems that affect the security of our country. Do you understand? Yes. Now we've examined this flying saucer enough to know that it is not of American manufacture. It also possesses an extremely high radioactive count. Now that means that it was made in an area where radioactive materials are in great abundance, such as an area where atom bombs are made. That's why we want to know the message you received from the saucer. There was no message. You just made it up? Yes. I'm afraid you're lying. Suppose we have some soldiers bring the saucer in here and hold it over your head. Would you object? I don't care what you do. All right boys, bring it in. Now when I tell Amanda, hold it over your head, you try to recall what it said. I don't know what it said. Lift it up boys, hold it right over her head. It's talking to you now, isn't it? Yes. What is it saying? What did it say? All right boys, crate it up and send it down to the National Research Laboratories. What about the girl sir? We'll get nothing out of her. I don't believe she really knows what that humming noise is. Better have a psychiatrist examine her. Yes sir. They took her to the city hospital and she had a room to herself. Whenever the door opened she could see the policeman outside. The door opened quite often. There were a lot of important people, some in army uniforms, who came up from Washington just to see her and talk to her. Apparently they had analyzed the flying saucer and discovered something that made this girl about the most important person in the country. I used to stand outside and I could identify the heads of certain security agencies but nobody would answer the questions that the reporters shot at them. Sir, excuse me. Yes. I'm Jason Benyades from the Trib. I've been assigned to this flying saucer story as chief of the security. I'm sorry, I have no comment. Can you tell me how long the girl will be held? That's a matter for the civil authorities. Well have the psychiatrist... Excuse me Mr. Benyades, my car's waiting. A few days later she was released from the hospital and returned to the court to be tried on the disorderly conduct charge. They found her guilty and fined her 15 dollars and turned her loose. When she walked out of the courtroom she was handed a subpoena to appear before a congressional committee in private session. She answered all their questions except one. My paper sent me over to cover the hearings. Now young lady, I want to remind you that I'm a senator of the United States and empowered by the people of this country to ask questions relating to matters of security. Do you understand? Yes. Your name is Janet Boyce, is it not? I told you that. Now at an earlier session you testified that as a young girl you were a member of a certain organization in your neighborhood. Would you name it? The Rinky Dinks. Who comprised the Rinky Dinks, Miss Boyce? It was just a bunch of girls who got together to play field hockey and listen to recordings. Any particular recordings? Mostly Eddie Fisher. I see. Now this flying saucer, you said it talked to you. You did say that didn't you? Yes. And then you denied it. Yes. Why? Because I was tired of answering questions. Young woman, let me put something to you squarely. Oh by the way, I think if there are members of the press here, I can divulge a rather spectacular piece of information to you. This flying saucer has been thoroughly examined and analyzed and I wish to inform the people of this great nation that it definitely, I repeat, it definitely did not originate on this planet. Now then, now then Miss Boyce, consider that it is possible that our earth might be attacked from outer space by beings much stronger and cleverer than we are. And consider that perhaps you have the key to our defense against those beings. Don't you owe it to the world? I don't think I owe anything to anybody. Even if the earth was not attacked, just think what an advantage it would give this country over its enemies. Young woman, I ask you, what did that flying saucer say to you? Do you know that what you are doing is tantamount to working for the enemies of your country? I will give you one more chance. What was the message? It was personal. Gentlemen, I move that Miss Janet Boyce be cited for contempt. The Führer was fantastic. The Chief of Security blasted the Senator for divulging secret information about the origin of the flying saucer. The Senator said the people had a right to know, and besides he was just guessing anyway, and happened to guess right. Meanwhile, the press printed the girl's picture all over the front page and ran banner headlines such as, Girl Refuses to Betraying the Führer. The Führer was a great man. He was a great man. Girl Refuses to Betraying Martian Secrets. Flying Saucer Girl Won't Talk, Cited for Contempt. The contempt trial was equally spectacular. She didn't plead any amendment or anything. She just said the saucer was talking to her and it was nobody else's business. She was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. Boniades. Yes, Chief. For the Sunday supplement? What, what do you think? Is anything in it? Okay, whatever you say. Hey, Mike, get me everything you can on that flying saucer girl, will you? The one that was sent to jail about four years ago. See if you can find out what she's doing now. She was released about six months ago, I think. Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, the boss wants a feature for the Sunday supplement. Okay. I found out she had gotten a job cleaning at night in offices and stores down near the beach front. There weren't many to clean, but that meant there weren't many people to remember her face from the newspapers. I tracked her down and caught up with her in a one-armed coffee joint about four in the morning. Excuse me, miss. Do you mind if I sit here? No. Nice night, isn't it? Moonlight and everything. Which are you? Security, newspapers, or just somebody out for a good time? You're pretty bitter, aren't you? Shouldn't I be? Yeah, I guess you should. My name is Jason Benioides. I'm with the newspaper. It's been nice meeting you. I have to go now. Just a minute. Please. I can't blame you. How did you find me? One of the leg men located your mother. I talked to her earlier tonight. Oh. How is she? Still hitting the bottle. The way she knew where you were, you sent us some flowers on her birthday, remember? Yes. She wouldn't talk to me. Said she didn't want a daughter who was a jailbird. Tell me how it's been. So you can write about it? I promise you I won't write anything you don't want me to write. Okay. You want to know how it's been? Right after I got out of jail, I met a man at a restaurant. Nice man. He asked me for a date. I spent every cent I had on a red handbag to go with my red shoes. They weren't the same shade, but anyway, they were both red. And I was very excited about the date. We went to a movie. Afterward, he didn't even try to kiss me or anything. He just wanted to know what was going on. He just wanted to know what the flying saucer had told me. Didn't say anything. I just went home and cried all night. That was it? No. I had another date. I get pretty lonely. This time they arrested the man I was with. He was a Russian agent. On Christmas Eve, four men called me up and sang me a song. Would you like to hear the words? It doesn't matter. They go, the flying saucer came down one day and taught her a brand new way to play and what it was she will not say, but she takes me out of this work. I'm sorry. Now will you go away and leave me alone? Yes. Aren't you going to ask me the big question? No. Everybody does. That will not me. You will sooner or later. Maybe. Look, can I take you home? No. Can I see you again? Please. I don't know. I'm afraid to let myself like anyone. Trust me. Will you? I'm not sure. Maybe. Maybe. I'll wait here for you tomorrow night. All right. The next night I went back to the coffee joint to wait for her. I knew she got through about four in the morning. I got there about 15 minutes early. Mr. Vanayati? Yes. Say, you're the chief of the security section, aren't you? You have a good memory. You mind if I sit down? Well, I'm expecting someone. Yes, I know. Oh, I see. I'd like to talk to you. Go ahead. You probably know that we've been trying to gain the confidence of this girl for some years now. Yes. And apparently you've succeeded where we've failed. Not really. In any event, you seem to be making some progress. She may not even show up. I think she will. Now I'm going to ask you to help us. Help? In what way can I help? We have reason to believe that this girl is a courier for some alien power. On what do you base that? Well, there was the incident of the saucer, of course. We've definitely established that it came from some other planet. And recently, she's been throwing messages inside bottles into the ocean. What sort of messages? They're always the same. I have one right here. You're welcome to read it and see if it makes any sense. We've had every decoding expert in the service trying to break it, but we can't seem to find the key. I see. Now she's throwing literally hundreds of these messages in bottles into the sea. We've got many of them, but not all, naturally. Now what we're most interested in is locating the contact. Naturally. And that's where you fit in. We'd like you to gain this girl's confidence even further. Try to find out just what these messages mean and beyond that, what the saucer said to her. You'll be doing us a favor and your country a great service. You're certain this is some subversive activity on her part? How else can you explain the fact that she won't tell us her secret? Maybe because it's hers and everybody has a right to have something of his own. Are you trying to tell me that you won't cooperate? I didn't say that. I'd like to remind you, Mr. Bonitey, is that you have a duty to us. I know that. I also have a duty to myself and to God, if you'll excuse me. I folded the bottle message and put it in my pocket. I waited for her to show up. The minutes went by and the hours and I knew she wasn't coming. Oh, she had come and seen me with the chief and changed her mind. That's when I left the cafe and walked down to the beach. That's when I dragged her out of the surf before she could follow one of her bottles into the water. How do you feel now? Are you cold? Why should you care? I do. Is that why you were sitting with the security chief in the cafe? I didn't arrange that meeting. He asked me to spy on you. I suppose he told you that. I didn't know that. I wonder how much of the taxpayers' money they spent on gathering them up. I think they'd get tired of it. All the writing in the bottles is the same. Maybe you could have saved a lot of trouble. Do you think so? All of them just disappeared. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I think they'd have saved a lot of trouble. Do you think so? All of them? Judges, jailers, jukeboxes, people. Do you really think it would have saved me a minute's trouble if I told them the whole truth at the very beginning? Wouldn't it? No. They wouldn't have believed me. What they wanted was a new weapon, some super scientific, super science from some alien super race. Science. That's all they think of. Yeah. It's pretty important. Would it ever have occurred to them that this super race from another planet might have super feelings or super longings or super loneliness? No. All they think about is weapons. Isn't it time you asked me what the sorcerers said? No. They all will ask me. I don't have to ask you. I know. You know? Let me read it to you. There is in certain living souls a quality of loneliness unspeakable. So great it must be shared as company is shared by lesser beings. Such a loneliness is mine. So know by this that in immensity there is one lonelier than you. How did you know? It's the message you put in the bottles. The same message that some lonely strange being in some other world put into a bottle. Only his bottle was a flying saucer and sent across space to you. You knew? I'm lonely too. Look at me. I've never had the love of a woman. They think I'm pretty ugly. You're not ugly. No. I don't feel ugly right now. Say it again. The message from the saucer. Know by this that in immensity there is one lonelier than you. I wonder if whoever first wrote it has found someone. I think perhaps he has. She looked at me and said nothing but it was as if a light came from her. More light than even the practiced moon could cast. Among the many things it meant was the fact that even to loneliness there is an end for those who are lonely enough long enough. You have just heard X minus one presented by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine which this month features I am a Nucleus by Stephen Barr. The story of a man who felt he was hexed because his comfortably untidy world had suddenly turned into a monstrosity of order. Galaxy Magazine on your new stand today. Tonight by transcription X minus one is brought to you saucer of loneliness a story from the pages of Galaxy written by Theodore Sturgeon and adapted for radio by George Lefferts. Featured in the cast were Elaine Ross as Janet Nat Poland as Jason William Keene as the sergeant jock McGregor as the cop Mandel Kramer as the chief and Wendell Holmes as the senator. This is Fred Collins X minus one was directed by Fred Way and is an NBC radio network production.
