November 3, 2025 • 28 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:38):
Mind Welcome to a half hour of mind wag short
stories from the Worlds of spect section. This story is
(01:11):
written by Bertram Chandler. Its title is The Cage, and
it first appeared in the magazine The Fantasy and Science.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Fiction of June nineteen fifty seven.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Imprisonment is always a humiliating experience, no matter how philosophical
the prisoner. Imprisonment by one's own kind is bad enough,
but one can at least talk to one's captors. One
can make one's wants understood, One can, on occasion, appeal
to them manned man imprisonment is doubly humiliating when one's captors,
in all honesty, treat one as a lower animal. The
(01:50):
party from the survey ship could perhaps be excused for
failing to recognize the survivors from the interstellar liner load
Stars rational Beings. Two hundred days had passed since their
landing on the planet without a name and unintentional landing
made when load Stars ere and a half generators driven
far in excess of their normal capacity by breakdown of
the electronic regulator, had flung her far from their regular
(02:13):
shipping lanes to an unexplored region of space. Load Star
had landed safely enough, but shortly thereafter troubles never come singly.
Their pile had got out of control, and her captain
had ordered his first mate to evacuate the passengers and
such crew members not needed to cope with the emergency,
and to get them as far from the ship as possible.
Hawkins and his charges were well clear when there was
(02:35):
a flare of released energy and not very violent explosion.
The survivors wanted to turn to watch, but Hawkins drove
them on with curses and the times blows. Luckily, they
were up wind from the ship and so escaped the fallout.
When the fireworks seemed to be over, Hawkins, accompanied by
doctor Boyle, the ship's surgeon, returned to the scene of
the disaster, and the two men, weary of radioactivity, were
(02:58):
cautious and stayed a safe distance from the ship shallow,
still smoking crater that marked where the ship had been.
It was all too obvious to them that the captain,
his officers and technicians were now no more than an
infinitesimal part of the incandescent cloud that had mushroomed up
into the low overcast.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Thereafter, the fifty odd men and women.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
The survivors of Lode Star had degenerated. It hadn't been
a fast process. Hawkins and boil, aided by a committee
of the more responsible passengers, it fought a stout rearguard action,
but it had been a hopeless sort of fight. The
climate was against them for a start. Hot It was
always in the neighborhood of eighty five degrees fahrenheit, and
(03:39):
it was wet, a thin, warm drizzle falling all the time.
The air seemed to abound with the spores of fungi,
and luckily these did not attack living skin, but drove
on dead organic matter and clothing.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
They throve to unplay.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Slightly lesser degree on metals and on the synthetic fabrics
that many of the castaways war danger. Outside danger would
have helped to maintain morale, but there were no dangerous animals.
There were only little, smooth skinned things, not unlike frogs,
that hopped through the sudden undergrowth, and in the numerous rivers,
(04:15):
fish like creatures that ranged in size from the shark
to the tadpole, and all of them possessing the blicosity
of the latter. Food had been no problem after the
first few hungry hours volunteers had tried a large, succulent
fungus growing on the bowls of the huge fern like trees.
They'd pronounced it good. After a lapse of five hours,
(04:35):
they had neither died nor even complained of abdominal paints.
That fungus was to become the staple diet of the castaways.
In the weeks that followed. Other fungi had been found,
and berries and roots all of the medabal They provided
a welcome variety. Fire in spite of the all pervading heat.
Fire was the blessing most missed by the castaways with it,
(04:57):
and they could have supplemented their diet by catching and
cooking the little frog like things of the rainforest, the
fishes of the streams. Some of the hardier spirits did
eat these animals raw, but they were frowned upon by
most of the other members of the community. Two fire
would have helped to drive back the darkness of the
long nights, would, by its real warmth and light, have
dispelled the illusion of coal produced by the ceaseless.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Dripping of water from their lee frond.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
When they fled from the ship, most of the survivors
had possessed pocket lighters, but the lighters had been lost
on the pockets, together with the clothing surrounding them, and disintegrated.
In any case, all attempts to start a fire in
the days when there were still pocket lighters that failed.
There was not Hawkin's for a single dry spot on
the whole accursed planet. Now the making of fire was
(05:46):
quite impossible. Even if there had been present an expert
on the rubbing together two dry sticks, he could have
found no material with which to work. They made the
permanent settlement on the crest of a low hill.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
There were, as so far as they could discover, no mountains.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
It was less thickly wooded there than the surrounding plains,
and the ground was less marshy underfoot. They succeeded in
wrenching France from the fern like trees, and built for
themselves crude shelters, more for the sake of privacy than
for any comfort that they afforded. And they clung with
a certain desperation to the governmental forms of the worlds
that they had left, and elected themselves a council. Boyle,
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the ship's surgeon, was their chief. Hawkins, rather, to his surprise,
was returned as a council member by a majority of
only two votes. On thinking it over, he realized that
many of the passengers must still bear a grudge against
the ship's executive staff for their present predicament. The first
council meeting was held in a hut, if so it
could be called especially constructed for the purpose. The council
(06:49):
members squatted in a rough circle. Boyle, the President, got
slowly to his feet. Hawkins grinned wryly as he compared
the surgeon's nudity with the pomposity that he seemed to
have assualned with his elected rank. As he compared the
man's dignity with the uncamped appearance presented by his uncut,
uncombed gray hair, his uncombed and straggling gray beard.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Boil began.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Ladies and ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Hawkins looked around him at the naked, pallid bodies, at
the stringy, lustreless hair, and the long, dirty fingernails of
the men, and the unpainted lips of the women. He thought,
I don't suppose I look much like an officer and
a gentleman myself.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Ladies and gentlemen, we have been, as you know, elected
to represent the human community upon this planet. I suggest
that at this our first meeting, we discuss our chances
of survival, not as individuals, but as a race.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I'd like to ask mister Hawkins what our chances are
being picked up?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Shouted one of the two women members had dried up
spinsterish creature with prominent ribs and vertebrae, and then Hawkins said.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
Slim, as you know, no communication is possible with other
ships or with planet stations when the interstellar drive is operating.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
When we snapped out.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Of the drive and came in for our landing, we
sent out a distress call, but we couldn't say where
we were. Furthermore, we don't know that the call was received.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Miss Terror and mister Hawkins. I would remind you that
I am the duly elected president of this Council. I
believe there will be time later for general discussion. Now,
as most of you may already have assumed, the age
of this planet, biologically speaking, corresponds roughly with that of
Earth during the carbonivorous era. As we already know, no
(08:45):
species yet exists to challenge our supremacy. By the time
such a species does emerge, something analogous to the giant
lizards of Earth's Triassic era.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
We should be well established.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
We shall be dad, we shall be dead, but our
descendants will be very much alive. We have to decide
how to give them as good a start as possible.
Language we shall bequeathed to them.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Never mind the language Doc called the other woman member.
She was a small, blonde, slim with a hard face.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
It's just this question of descendants that I'm here to
look after. I represent the women of child bearing age.
There are, as you know, fifteen of us here. So far,
the girls have been very, very careful. We have reason
to be Can you, as a medical man, guarantee, bearing
in mind that you have no drugs, no instruments, safe deliveries,
can you guarantee that our children will have a good
(09:40):
chance of survival?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Miss Hart, I'll be frank. I have not, as you
pointed out, either drugs or instruments. But I can assure
you that your chances of a safe delivery are far
better than they would have been on Earth during well,
let's say, the eighteenth century. And I'll tell you why.
On this planet mishearts, so far as we know, and
(10:02):
we've been here long enough now to find out the
hard way. On this planet there exists no microorganisms harmful
to man. Now, if such organisms did exist, the bodies
of those of us still surviving would be by this
time mere masses of superation. And most of us, of course,
would have died of sept to see me long ago.
And well, I think that answers both your question.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I haven't finished yet. Here's another point.
Speaker 6 (10:27):
There are fifty three of us.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Here, men and women. There are ten married couples, so
we'll count them out. That leaves thirty three people, of
whom twenty are men. Twenty men to thirteen women. Aren't
we girls always unlucky? All of us aren't young, but
we're all.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
Of us women.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
What sort of marriage set up?
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Do we have?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Monogamy, polyandry?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Monogamy, of course, said a.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Tall, thin man sharply. He was the only one of
those present who wore clothing. If so, it could be
called the disintegrating Franz lashed around his waist with a
strand of mind in little deserve any useful purpose.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
All right, then, monogamy. I'd rather prefer it that way myself,
But I warn you that if that's the way we
play it, there's going to be trouble, and in any
murder involving passion and jealousy, the woman is as liable
to be a victim as either of the men. And
I don't want that.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Well, what exactly do you propose, then, Miss Hart?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Justice Doc.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
When it comes to our meetings, we leave love out
of it. If two men want to marry the same woman,
then let them fight it out. The best man gets
the girl and keeps her.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
See, yes, natural selection. I am in favor, but but
we must put it to the vote.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
At the crest of the low hill was a shallow depression,
a natural arena. Round the rim sat the castaways, all
but four of them. One of the four was doctor
boyle Head discovered that his duties as president embraced those
of the referee. It had been held that he was
the best competent to judge when one of the contestants
was liable to suffer permanent damage.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Either of the.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Four was the girl Mary Hart. She had found a
serrated twig with which to comb her long hair. She
had contrived a wreath of yellow flowers with which to
crown the victor. Was it, wondered Hawkins, as he sat
with the other council members. Was it a hankering after
an earthly wedding ceremony? Or was it a harken back
to something older and darker?
Speaker 5 (12:23):
A pity these blasted molds got on our watchers, said
the fat man at Hawkins's rights. If we had any
means of telling the time, we could have rounds, make
a proper prize fight of it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Hawkins nodded, and he looked at the four in the
center of the arena, at the strutting barbaric woman, at
the pompous old man, at the two dark bearded young
men with their glistening white bodies. He knew them both.
Fennett had been a senior cadet of the ill fated
load star Clemens at least seven years Bennett senior was
a passenger, had been a prospector on the frontier worlds.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
If we had anything to bet with, I'd lay it
on Clemens. That cadet of yours hasn't a snowball's chance
in hell. He's been brought up to fight clean. Clemens
has been brought up to fight dirty. Fennett's in better condition.
He's been taking exercise, while Clemens has been just laying around, sleeping,
(13:23):
and eating. Look at that paunch on him. There's nothing
wrong with good healthy flesh and muscle.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
No remember, no douting, no fighting, and may the best
man win.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
The doctor stepped back smartly from the contestants and stood
with the hart woman. There was an air of embarrassment
about the pair of them as they stood there, each
with his fists hanging at his sides. Each seemed to
be regretting that matters had come to such a pass.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Go on, don't you want me? You'll live to a
ripe old age year and it'll be lonely with no woman.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
Yeah, they can always wait around till your daughties go
up there, if I.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Ever have any daughters a chance at this rate, Fenett
made a start.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
He stepped forward, almost diffidently, dabbed with his ripe fist
at Clemens's unprotected face. It wasn't a heart blow, but
it must have been painful. Clemens put his hand up
to his nose, brought it away, and stared at the
bright blood staining it. He growled, lumbered forward with arms
opened a hug and crush. The cadet danced back, scoring
twice more with his right Why.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Doesn't he hit him and break every bone in his fist.
They aren't wearing gloves, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Fennett decided to make a stand. He stood firm, his
feet slightly apart, and brought his right into play once more.
This time he left his opponent's face alone, went for
his belly instead. Hawkins was surprised to see that the
prospector was taking the blows with apparent equanimity. He must be,
he decided, much tougher in actuality than in appearance. The
(14:57):
Cadet's side stepped smartly and slipped on the wet Clemens
fell heavily on to his opponent.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Hawkins could hear the whoosh his air was forced from
the lad's lungs.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
The prospector's thick arms and circle Fenet's body, and Fennett's
knee came up viciously to clemens groin. The prospectors squealed, but.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Hung on grimly.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
One of his hands was around Fenet's throat now, and
the other one, its fingers viciously hooked, was clawing for
the cadet's eyes.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And no, no gouging, I said, no gouging.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
He dropped down to his knees, caught Clemens's thick wrist
with both his hands. Something made Hawkins look up. Then
it may have been a sound, although this is doubtful.
The spectators were behaving like boxing fans at a prize fight.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
They could hardly be blamed.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
This was the first piece of real excitement that had
come their way since the loss of the ship. It
may have been a sound that made Hawkins look up.
It may have been the sixth sense possessed by all
good spacemen. What he saw made him cry out. Hovering
above the arena was a helicopter. There was something about
the design of it, a subtle oddness that told Hawkins
(16:04):
that this was no earthly machine. Suddenly, from its smooth,
shining belly dropped the neck, seemingly of dull metal. It
enveloped the struggling figures on the ground, trapped the doctor
and merry heart. Hawkins shouted again, a wordless cry. He
jumped to his feet, ran to the assistance of his
ensnared companions. The net seemed to be alive that twisted
(16:27):
itself around his wrists, bound his ankles. Others of the
castaways rush to aid Hawkins tape away scatter. The low
drone of the helicopter's rotors rose in pitch, the machine
lifted in an incredibly short space of time. The arena was,
to the first mate's eyes no more than a pale
green saucer in which little white ants scurried aimlessly. Then
(16:51):
the flying machine was above and through the base of
the low clods, and there was nothing to be seen
but drifting whiteness. When at last it made its descent,
Hawkins was not surprised to see the silvery tower of
a great space ship standing among the low trees on
a level plateau. The world to which they were taken
(17:12):
would have been a marked improvement on the world they
had left, had it not been for the mistaken kindness
of their captors.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
The cage in which the three men were.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Housed duplicated with remarkable fidelity the fomatic conditions of the
planet upon which load Star had been lost. It was
glassed in, and from sprinklers in its roof fell a
steady drizzle of warm water. A couple of dispirited tree
ferns provided little shelter from the depressing precipitation. Twice a day,
a hatch at the back of the cage, which was
(17:43):
made of a sort of concrete, opened and slabs of
the fungus remarkably similar to that on.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Which they had been subsisting, were thrown in. There was
a hole in the floor of the cage. This, the
prisoners rightly assumed was for sanitary purposes.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
On either side of them were other cages. In one
of them was Mary Hart alone. She could gesture to them,
wave to them, and that was all. The cage on
the other side held a beast, built on the same
general lines as a lobster, but with a strong hint
of squid. Across the broad roadway, they could see other cages,
(18:18):
but could not see what they housed. Hawkins, Boil and
Fenet sat on the damp floor and stared through the
thick glass and the bars at the beings outside, who
stared at them.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
If only they were humanoid, if only they were the
same shape as we are, we might make us start
towards convincing them that we two are intelligent beings.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
Hawkins, they aren't the same shape and we were. The
situations reversed would take some time. Convincing that three six
legged beer barrels were men and brothers. Try Pythagoras's theorem again.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Without enthusiasm. Fenet broke Franz from the nearest tree fern.
He broke them into smaller pieces, then on the mossy floor,
laid them out in the design of a right angled
triangle with squares constructed on all three sides. The natives,
a large one, one slightly smaller in the little one,
regarded him incuriously with their flat, dull eyes. The large
(19:20):
one put the tip of a tentacle into a pocket.
The things wore clothing and pulled.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Out a brightly colored packet.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Handed it to the little one. The little one tore
off the wrapping started stuffing pieces of some bright blue
confection into the slot on its upper side that obviously
served it as a mouth.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
I wish they were allowed to feed the animals. I'm
sick of that damned fungus.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Oh, let's recapitulate, after all, we've nothing else to do.
We were taken from our camp by the helicopter six
of us. We were taken to the survey ship, a
vessel it seemed in Norway superior to our own interstellar ships.
And you were sure as hawkins at the ship used
the air and half drive with something so close to
it as to be its twin brothers.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Correct now.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
On the ship, we've been kept in separate cages. There's
no ill treatment. We're fed and watered at frequent intervals.
We land on this strange planet, but we see nothing
of it. We're hustled out of cages like so many cattle,
into a covered van. We know that we're being driven somewhere.
That's all.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
The van stops.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
The door opens, and a couple of these these animated
beer barrels poking poled with smaller additions of those fancy
nets on the end of them, and they catch Clemens
and Miss Taylor, drag them out, and we never see
them again. The rest of us spend the night, in
the following day and night in individual cages. The next
day we're taken to do this zoo.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Do you think they were they've dis acted? I never
like Clemens dock, but I am afraid they were Fennett.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Our captors must have learned of the difference between the
sexes by it. Unluckily, there's no way of determining intelligence
by vivisection. Ah, the felthy Brute's asy son.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
You can't blame them, you know, we've vivisected animals a
lot more like us than we are to these things.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
The problem is to convince these things that you call
them hawkins, to convince them that we are rational beings
like themselves. How would they define a rational being? How
would we define a rational being?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (21:33):
Maybe somebody who knows Patagonist's theorem.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
I read somewhere that the history of man is the
history of the fire making tool using animal.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Then make fire, make us some tools and use them.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Don't be silly.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
You know that there's not an artifact among the bunch
of us, no false teeth even and not even a
metal filling. Even So, when I was a youngster, there
was among the cadets and the interstellar ships a revival
of the old arts and crafts. We considered ourselves in
(22:11):
a direct line of descent and the old windjammer sailormen.
So we learned how to splice rope and wire, how
to make senate and fancy notts, and all the rest
of it. Then one of us hit on the idea
of basket making. We were in a passenger ship, and
we used to make our baskets, secretly, daubed them with
(22:33):
violent colors, and sell them to passengers as genuine souvenirs.
From the lost planet of our tourists the sixth there
was a most distressing scene when the old man and
the mate found out, what are you driving that, Hawkin?
Just this, we will demonstrate our manual dexterity by the
weaving of baskets. I'll teach you how well.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
It might work. It just might work. On the other hand,
remember that certain birds and animals do the same sort
of thing on Earth. There's the beaver who makes quite
cunning dams, and there's the bower bird who makes a
bower for his mate as part of the courtship ritual.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
The head keeper must have known of creatures whose courting
habits resembled those of the Terran bower bird. After three
days of feverish basket making, which consumed all the bedding
and stripped the tree ferns, Mary Hart was taken from
her cage and put in with the three men. After
she had got over her hysterical pleasure at having somebody
(23:36):
to talk to again, she was rather indignant. It was good,
thought Hawkins Drosalie to have Mary with them. A few
more days of solitary confinement must surely have driven the
girl crazy. Even so, having Mary in the same cage
had its drawbacks. He had to keep a watchful eye
(23:57):
on that young Flannet. He even had to keep a
watchful Eyron Boil, the old goat, Mary screamed. Hawkins jerked
into complete wakefulness. He could see the pale form of Mary.
On this world it was never completely dark at night,
and on the other side of the cage the forms
of Fennet and Boil. He got hastily to his feet,
(24:19):
stumbled to the girl's side.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
What is it, I don't.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Know, something small with sharp claws. It ran over me.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Oh, that was only Joe.
Speaker 6 (24:30):
Joe.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
I don't know exactly what he or she is.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I think it's definitely a he.
Speaker 6 (24:38):
What is Joe really?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
He must be the local equivalent to him mouse, though
he doesn't look like one. He comes up through the
floor somewhere to look for food. We're trying to tame him.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
You encourage the boat.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
I demanded you do something about him at once, poison
him or trap him.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
Now tomorrow, now tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
The capture of Joe proved to be easy. Two flat
baskets hinged like the valves of an oyster shell made
the trap. There was bait inside a large piece of
the fungus. There was a cunningly arranged upright that would
fall at the least tug at the bait. Hawkins, lying
sleepless on his damp bed, heard the tiny click and
thud that told him that the trap had been sprung.
(25:22):
He heard Joe's indignant chitterings, heard the tiny claws scrambling
at the stout basket work. Mary Heart was asleep.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
He shook her.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
We've caught him, and kill him.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
But Joe was not killed.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
The three men were rather attached to him. With the
coming of daylight, they transferred him to a cage that
Hawkins had fashioned. Even the girl relented when she saw
the harmless ball of multi colored fur bouncing indignantly up
and down in its prism. She insisted on feeding the
little animal, exclaimed gleefully when the thin tentacles reached out
(25:58):
and took the fragment of fungus from her fingers. For
three days they made much of their pet. On the
fourth day, beings whom they took to be keepers, entered
the cage with their nets, immobilized the occupants, and carried
off Joe and Hawkins.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Oh, I'm afraid it's all hopeless. He's gone the same way.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
That I haven't stopped him out than some museum, won't
they No, they couldn't.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I'm afraid they could.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Abruptly, the hatch at the back of the cage opened.
Before the three humans could retreat to the scant protection
supplied by a corner.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
A voice called it's all right, come on out.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
And Hawkins walked into the cage. He was shaved, and
the beginnings of a healthy tan had darkened the pallor
of his skin.
Speaker 6 (26:48):
He was wearing a.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Pair of trunks fashioned from some bright red material.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Come on out.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Our hosts have apologized very sincerely, and they have more
suitable accout mondation prepared for us. Then as soon as
they have a ship ready where to go pick up
the other survivors.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Now, Hawkins, wait just a moment. Put us in the picture,
will you? What made them realize that we were rational beings?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Hawkins's face darkened, and he said.
Speaker 5 (27:21):
Only rational beings put other beings in cages.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
You've heard a story titled The Cage, written by Bertram Chandler.
It appeared first in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science
Fiction for June of nineteen fifty seven. This is Michael
Hanson speaking reading with me this time Ward Paxton and
Mindy Radner. Technical production from Mindwebbs by Leslie Hilsenhoff. Mindwebs
(28:22):
comes to you from w y A Radio and Madison,
a service of University of Wisconsin Extension
Mind Welcome to a half hour of mind wag short
stories from the Worlds of spect section. This story is
(01:11):
written by Bertram Chandler. Its title is The Cage, and
it first appeared in the magazine The Fantasy and Science.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Fiction of June nineteen fifty seven.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Imprisonment is always a humiliating experience, no matter how philosophical
the prisoner. Imprisonment by one's own kind is bad enough,
but one can at least talk to one's captors. One
can make one's wants understood, One can, on occasion, appeal
to them manned man imprisonment is doubly humiliating when one's captors,
in all honesty, treat one as a lower animal. The
(01:50):
party from the survey ship could perhaps be excused for
failing to recognize the survivors from the interstellar liner load
Stars rational Beings. Two hundred days had passed since their
landing on the planet without a name and unintentional landing
made when load Stars ere and a half generators driven
far in excess of their normal capacity by breakdown of
the electronic regulator, had flung her far from their regular
(02:13):
shipping lanes to an unexplored region of space. Load Star
had landed safely enough, but shortly thereafter troubles never come singly.
Their pile had got out of control, and her captain
had ordered his first mate to evacuate the passengers and
such crew members not needed to cope with the emergency,
and to get them as far from the ship as possible.
Hawkins and his charges were well clear when there was
(02:35):
a flare of released energy and not very violent explosion.
The survivors wanted to turn to watch, but Hawkins drove
them on with curses and the times blows. Luckily, they
were up wind from the ship and so escaped the fallout.
When the fireworks seemed to be over, Hawkins, accompanied by
doctor Boyle, the ship's surgeon, returned to the scene of
the disaster, and the two men, weary of radioactivity, were
(02:58):
cautious and stayed a safe distance from the ship shallow,
still smoking crater that marked where the ship had been.
It was all too obvious to them that the captain,
his officers and technicians were now no more than an
infinitesimal part of the incandescent cloud that had mushroomed up
into the low overcast.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Thereafter, the fifty odd men and women.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
The survivors of Lode Star had degenerated. It hadn't been
a fast process. Hawkins and boil, aided by a committee
of the more responsible passengers, it fought a stout rearguard action,
but it had been a hopeless sort of fight. The
climate was against them for a start. Hot It was
always in the neighborhood of eighty five degrees fahrenheit, and
(03:39):
it was wet, a thin, warm drizzle falling all the time.
The air seemed to abound with the spores of fungi,
and luckily these did not attack living skin, but drove
on dead organic matter and clothing.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
They throve to unplay.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Slightly lesser degree on metals and on the synthetic fabrics
that many of the castaways war danger. Outside danger would
have helped to maintain morale, but there were no dangerous animals.
There were only little, smooth skinned things, not unlike frogs,
that hopped through the sudden undergrowth, and in the numerous rivers,
(04:15):
fish like creatures that ranged in size from the shark
to the tadpole, and all of them possessing the blicosity
of the latter. Food had been no problem after the
first few hungry hours volunteers had tried a large, succulent
fungus growing on the bowls of the huge fern like trees.
They'd pronounced it good. After a lapse of five hours,
(04:35):
they had neither died nor even complained of abdominal paints.
That fungus was to become the staple diet of the castaways.
In the weeks that followed. Other fungi had been found,
and berries and roots all of the medabal They provided
a welcome variety. Fire in spite of the all pervading heat.
Fire was the blessing most missed by the castaways with it,
(04:57):
and they could have supplemented their diet by catching and
cooking the little frog like things of the rainforest, the
fishes of the streams. Some of the hardier spirits did
eat these animals raw, but they were frowned upon by
most of the other members of the community. Two fire
would have helped to drive back the darkness of the
long nights, would, by its real warmth and light, have
dispelled the illusion of coal produced by the ceaseless.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Dripping of water from their lee frond.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
When they fled from the ship, most of the survivors
had possessed pocket lighters, but the lighters had been lost
on the pockets, together with the clothing surrounding them, and disintegrated.
In any case, all attempts to start a fire in
the days when there were still pocket lighters that failed.
There was not Hawkin's for a single dry spot on
the whole accursed planet. Now the making of fire was
(05:46):
quite impossible. Even if there had been present an expert
on the rubbing together two dry sticks, he could have
found no material with which to work. They made the
permanent settlement on the crest of a low hill.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
There were, as so far as they could discover, no mountains.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
It was less thickly wooded there than the surrounding plains,
and the ground was less marshy underfoot. They succeeded in
wrenching France from the fern like trees, and built for
themselves crude shelters, more for the sake of privacy than
for any comfort that they afforded. And they clung with
a certain desperation to the governmental forms of the worlds
that they had left, and elected themselves a council. Boyle,
(06:25):
the ship's surgeon, was their chief. Hawkins, rather, to his surprise,
was returned as a council member by a majority of
only two votes. On thinking it over, he realized that
many of the passengers must still bear a grudge against
the ship's executive staff for their present predicament. The first
council meeting was held in a hut, if so it
could be called especially constructed for the purpose. The council
(06:49):
members squatted in a rough circle. Boyle, the President, got
slowly to his feet. Hawkins grinned wryly as he compared
the surgeon's nudity with the pomposity that he seemed to
have assualned with his elected rank. As he compared the
man's dignity with the uncamped appearance presented by his uncut,
uncombed gray hair, his uncombed and straggling gray beard.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Boil began.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Ladies and ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Hawkins looked around him at the naked, pallid bodies, at
the stringy, lustreless hair, and the long, dirty fingernails of
the men, and the unpainted lips of the women. He thought,
I don't suppose I look much like an officer and
a gentleman myself.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Ladies and gentlemen, we have been, as you know, elected
to represent the human community upon this planet. I suggest
that at this our first meeting, we discuss our chances
of survival, not as individuals, but as a race.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I'd like to ask mister Hawkins what our chances are
being picked up?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Shouted one of the two women members had dried up
spinsterish creature with prominent ribs and vertebrae, and then Hawkins said.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
Slim, as you know, no communication is possible with other
ships or with planet stations when the interstellar drive is operating.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
When we snapped out.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Of the drive and came in for our landing, we
sent out a distress call, but we couldn't say where
we were. Furthermore, we don't know that the call was received.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Miss Terror and mister Hawkins. I would remind you that
I am the duly elected president of this Council. I
believe there will be time later for general discussion. Now,
as most of you may already have assumed, the age
of this planet, biologically speaking, corresponds roughly with that of
Earth during the carbonivorous era. As we already know, no
(08:45):
species yet exists to challenge our supremacy. By the time
such a species does emerge, something analogous to the giant
lizards of Earth's Triassic era.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
We should be well established.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
We shall be dad, we shall be dead, but our
descendants will be very much alive. We have to decide
how to give them as good a start as possible.
Language we shall bequeathed to them.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Never mind the language Doc called the other woman member.
She was a small, blonde, slim with a hard face.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
It's just this question of descendants that I'm here to
look after. I represent the women of child bearing age.
There are, as you know, fifteen of us here. So far,
the girls have been very, very careful. We have reason
to be Can you, as a medical man, guarantee, bearing
in mind that you have no drugs, no instruments, safe deliveries,
can you guarantee that our children will have a good
(09:40):
chance of survival?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Miss Hart, I'll be frank. I have not, as you
pointed out, either drugs or instruments. But I can assure
you that your chances of a safe delivery are far
better than they would have been on Earth during well,
let's say, the eighteenth century. And I'll tell you why.
On this planet mishearts, so far as we know, and
(10:02):
we've been here long enough now to find out the
hard way. On this planet there exists no microorganisms harmful
to man. Now, if such organisms did exist, the bodies
of those of us still surviving would be by this
time mere masses of superation. And most of us, of course,
would have died of sept to see me long ago.
And well, I think that answers both your question.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I haven't finished yet. Here's another point.
Speaker 6 (10:27):
There are fifty three of us.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Here, men and women. There are ten married couples, so
we'll count them out. That leaves thirty three people, of
whom twenty are men. Twenty men to thirteen women. Aren't
we girls always unlucky? All of us aren't young, but
we're all.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
Of us women.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
What sort of marriage set up?
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Do we have?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Monogamy, polyandry?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Monogamy, of course, said a.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Tall, thin man sharply. He was the only one of
those present who wore clothing. If so, it could be
called the disintegrating Franz lashed around his waist with a
strand of mind in little deserve any useful purpose.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
All right, then, monogamy. I'd rather prefer it that way myself,
But I warn you that if that's the way we
play it, there's going to be trouble, and in any
murder involving passion and jealousy, the woman is as liable
to be a victim as either of the men. And
I don't want that.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Well, what exactly do you propose, then, Miss Hart?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Justice Doc.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
When it comes to our meetings, we leave love out
of it. If two men want to marry the same woman,
then let them fight it out. The best man gets
the girl and keeps her.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
See, yes, natural selection. I am in favor, but but
we must put it to the vote.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
At the crest of the low hill was a shallow depression,
a natural arena. Round the rim sat the castaways, all
but four of them. One of the four was doctor
boyle Head discovered that his duties as president embraced those
of the referee. It had been held that he was
the best competent to judge when one of the contestants
was liable to suffer permanent damage.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Either of the.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Four was the girl Mary Hart. She had found a
serrated twig with which to comb her long hair. She
had contrived a wreath of yellow flowers with which to
crown the victor. Was it, wondered Hawkins, as he sat
with the other council members. Was it a hankering after
an earthly wedding ceremony? Or was it a harken back
to something older and darker?
Speaker 5 (12:23):
A pity these blasted molds got on our watchers, said
the fat man at Hawkins's rights. If we had any
means of telling the time, we could have rounds, make
a proper prize fight of it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Hawkins nodded, and he looked at the four in the
center of the arena, at the strutting barbaric woman, at
the pompous old man, at the two dark bearded young
men with their glistening white bodies. He knew them both.
Fennett had been a senior cadet of the ill fated
load star Clemens at least seven years Bennett senior was
a passenger, had been a prospector on the frontier worlds.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
If we had anything to bet with, I'd lay it
on Clemens. That cadet of yours hasn't a snowball's chance
in hell. He's been brought up to fight clean. Clemens
has been brought up to fight dirty. Fennett's in better condition.
He's been taking exercise, while Clemens has been just laying around, sleeping,
(13:23):
and eating. Look at that paunch on him. There's nothing
wrong with good healthy flesh and muscle.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
No remember, no douting, no fighting, and may the best
man win.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
The doctor stepped back smartly from the contestants and stood
with the hart woman. There was an air of embarrassment
about the pair of them as they stood there, each
with his fists hanging at his sides. Each seemed to
be regretting that matters had come to such a pass.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Go on, don't you want me? You'll live to a
ripe old age year and it'll be lonely with no woman.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
Yeah, they can always wait around till your daughties go
up there, if I.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Ever have any daughters a chance at this rate, Fenett
made a start.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
He stepped forward, almost diffidently, dabbed with his ripe fist
at Clemens's unprotected face. It wasn't a heart blow, but
it must have been painful. Clemens put his hand up
to his nose, brought it away, and stared at the
bright blood staining it. He growled, lumbered forward with arms
opened a hug and crush. The cadet danced back, scoring
twice more with his right Why.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Doesn't he hit him and break every bone in his fist.
They aren't wearing gloves, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Fennett decided to make a stand. He stood firm, his
feet slightly apart, and brought his right into play once more.
This time he left his opponent's face alone, went for
his belly instead. Hawkins was surprised to see that the
prospector was taking the blows with apparent equanimity. He must be,
he decided, much tougher in actuality than in appearance. The
(14:57):
Cadet's side stepped smartly and slipped on the wet Clemens
fell heavily on to his opponent.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Hawkins could hear the whoosh his air was forced from
the lad's lungs.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
The prospector's thick arms and circle Fenet's body, and Fennett's
knee came up viciously to clemens groin. The prospectors squealed, but.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Hung on grimly.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
One of his hands was around Fenet's throat now, and
the other one, its fingers viciously hooked, was clawing for
the cadet's eyes.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And no, no gouging, I said, no gouging.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
He dropped down to his knees, caught Clemens's thick wrist
with both his hands. Something made Hawkins look up. Then
it may have been a sound, although this is doubtful.
The spectators were behaving like boxing fans at a prize fight.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
They could hardly be blamed.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
This was the first piece of real excitement that had
come their way since the loss of the ship. It
may have been a sound that made Hawkins look up.
It may have been the sixth sense possessed by all
good spacemen. What he saw made him cry out. Hovering
above the arena was a helicopter. There was something about
the design of it, a subtle oddness that told Hawkins
(16:04):
that this was no earthly machine. Suddenly, from its smooth,
shining belly dropped the neck, seemingly of dull metal. It
enveloped the struggling figures on the ground, trapped the doctor
and merry heart. Hawkins shouted again, a wordless cry. He
jumped to his feet, ran to the assistance of his
ensnared companions. The net seemed to be alive that twisted
(16:27):
itself around his wrists, bound his ankles. Others of the
castaways rush to aid Hawkins tape away scatter. The low
drone of the helicopter's rotors rose in pitch, the machine
lifted in an incredibly short space of time. The arena was,
to the first mate's eyes no more than a pale
green saucer in which little white ants scurried aimlessly. Then
(16:51):
the flying machine was above and through the base of
the low clods, and there was nothing to be seen
but drifting whiteness. When at last it made its descent,
Hawkins was not surprised to see the silvery tower of
a great space ship standing among the low trees on
a level plateau. The world to which they were taken
(17:12):
would have been a marked improvement on the world they
had left, had it not been for the mistaken kindness
of their captors.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
The cage in which the three men were.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Housed duplicated with remarkable fidelity the fomatic conditions of the
planet upon which load Star had been lost. It was
glassed in, and from sprinklers in its roof fell a
steady drizzle of warm water. A couple of dispirited tree
ferns provided little shelter from the depressing precipitation. Twice a day,
a hatch at the back of the cage, which was
(17:43):
made of a sort of concrete, opened and slabs of
the fungus remarkably similar to that on.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Which they had been subsisting, were thrown in. There was
a hole in the floor of the cage. This, the
prisoners rightly assumed was for sanitary purposes.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
On either side of them were other cages. In one
of them was Mary Hart alone. She could gesture to them,
wave to them, and that was all. The cage on
the other side held a beast, built on the same
general lines as a lobster, but with a strong hint
of squid. Across the broad roadway, they could see other cages,
(18:18):
but could not see what they housed. Hawkins, Boil and
Fenet sat on the damp floor and stared through the
thick glass and the bars at the beings outside, who
stared at them.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
If only they were humanoid, if only they were the
same shape as we are, we might make us start
towards convincing them that we two are intelligent beings.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
Hawkins, they aren't the same shape and we were. The
situations reversed would take some time. Convincing that three six
legged beer barrels were men and brothers. Try Pythagoras's theorem again.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Without enthusiasm. Fenet broke Franz from the nearest tree fern.
He broke them into smaller pieces, then on the mossy floor,
laid them out in the design of a right angled
triangle with squares constructed on all three sides. The natives,
a large one, one slightly smaller in the little one,
regarded him incuriously with their flat, dull eyes. The large
(19:20):
one put the tip of a tentacle into a pocket.
The things wore clothing and pulled.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Out a brightly colored packet.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Handed it to the little one. The little one tore
off the wrapping started stuffing pieces of some bright blue
confection into the slot on its upper side that obviously
served it as a mouth.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
I wish they were allowed to feed the animals. I'm
sick of that damned fungus.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Oh, let's recapitulate, after all, we've nothing else to do.
We were taken from our camp by the helicopter six
of us. We were taken to the survey ship, a
vessel it seemed in Norway superior to our own interstellar ships.
And you were sure as hawkins at the ship used
the air and half drive with something so close to
it as to be its twin brothers.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Correct now.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
On the ship, we've been kept in separate cages. There's
no ill treatment. We're fed and watered at frequent intervals.
We land on this strange planet, but we see nothing
of it. We're hustled out of cages like so many cattle,
into a covered van. We know that we're being driven somewhere.
That's all.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
The van stops.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
The door opens, and a couple of these these animated
beer barrels poking poled with smaller additions of those fancy
nets on the end of them, and they catch Clemens
and Miss Taylor, drag them out, and we never see
them again. The rest of us spend the night, in
the following day and night in individual cages. The next
day we're taken to do this zoo.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Do you think they were they've dis acted? I never
like Clemens dock, but I am afraid they were Fennett.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Our captors must have learned of the difference between the
sexes by it. Unluckily, there's no way of determining intelligence
by vivisection. Ah, the felthy Brute's asy son.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
You can't blame them, you know, we've vivisected animals a
lot more like us than we are to these things.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
The problem is to convince these things that you call
them hawkins, to convince them that we are rational beings
like themselves. How would they define a rational being? How
would we define a rational being?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (21:33):
Maybe somebody who knows Patagonist's theorem.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
I read somewhere that the history of man is the
history of the fire making tool using animal.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Then make fire, make us some tools and use them.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Don't be silly.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
You know that there's not an artifact among the bunch
of us, no false teeth even and not even a
metal filling. Even So, when I was a youngster, there
was among the cadets and the interstellar ships a revival
of the old arts and crafts. We considered ourselves in
(22:11):
a direct line of descent and the old windjammer sailormen.
So we learned how to splice rope and wire, how
to make senate and fancy notts, and all the rest
of it. Then one of us hit on the idea
of basket making. We were in a passenger ship, and
we used to make our baskets, secretly, daubed them with
(22:33):
violent colors, and sell them to passengers as genuine souvenirs.
From the lost planet of our tourists the sixth there
was a most distressing scene when the old man and
the mate found out, what are you driving that, Hawkin?
Just this, we will demonstrate our manual dexterity by the
weaving of baskets. I'll teach you how well.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
It might work. It just might work. On the other hand,
remember that certain birds and animals do the same sort
of thing on Earth. There's the beaver who makes quite
cunning dams, and there's the bower bird who makes a
bower for his mate as part of the courtship ritual.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
The head keeper must have known of creatures whose courting
habits resembled those of the Terran bower bird. After three
days of feverish basket making, which consumed all the bedding
and stripped the tree ferns, Mary Hart was taken from
her cage and put in with the three men. After
she had got over her hysterical pleasure at having somebody
(23:36):
to talk to again, she was rather indignant. It was good,
thought Hawkins Drosalie to have Mary with them. A few
more days of solitary confinement must surely have driven the
girl crazy. Even so, having Mary in the same cage
had its drawbacks. He had to keep a watchful eye
(23:57):
on that young Flannet. He even had to keep a
watchful Eyron Boil, the old goat, Mary screamed. Hawkins jerked
into complete wakefulness. He could see the pale form of Mary.
On this world it was never completely dark at night,
and on the other side of the cage the forms
of Fennet and Boil. He got hastily to his feet,
(24:19):
stumbled to the girl's side.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
What is it, I don't.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Know, something small with sharp claws. It ran over me.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Oh, that was only Joe.
Speaker 6 (24:30):
Joe.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
I don't know exactly what he or she is.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I think it's definitely a he.
Speaker 6 (24:38):
What is Joe really?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
He must be the local equivalent to him mouse, though
he doesn't look like one. He comes up through the
floor somewhere to look for food. We're trying to tame him.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
You encourage the boat.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
I demanded you do something about him at once, poison
him or trap him.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
Now tomorrow, now tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
The capture of Joe proved to be easy. Two flat
baskets hinged like the valves of an oyster shell made
the trap. There was bait inside a large piece of
the fungus. There was a cunningly arranged upright that would
fall at the least tug at the bait. Hawkins, lying
sleepless on his damp bed, heard the tiny click and
thud that told him that the trap had been sprung.
(25:22):
He heard Joe's indignant chitterings, heard the tiny claws scrambling
at the stout basket work. Mary Heart was asleep.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
He shook her.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
We've caught him, and kill him.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
But Joe was not killed.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
The three men were rather attached to him. With the
coming of daylight, they transferred him to a cage that
Hawkins had fashioned. Even the girl relented when she saw
the harmless ball of multi colored fur bouncing indignantly up
and down in its prism. She insisted on feeding the
little animal, exclaimed gleefully when the thin tentacles reached out
(25:58):
and took the fragment of fungus from her fingers. For
three days they made much of their pet. On the
fourth day, beings whom they took to be keepers, entered
the cage with their nets, immobilized the occupants, and carried
off Joe and Hawkins.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Oh, I'm afraid it's all hopeless. He's gone the same way.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
That I haven't stopped him out than some museum, won't
they No, they couldn't.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I'm afraid they could.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Abruptly, the hatch at the back of the cage opened.
Before the three humans could retreat to the scant protection
supplied by a corner.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
A voice called it's all right, come on out.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
And Hawkins walked into the cage. He was shaved, and
the beginnings of a healthy tan had darkened the pallor
of his skin.
Speaker 6 (26:48):
He was wearing a.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Pair of trunks fashioned from some bright red material.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Come on out.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Our hosts have apologized very sincerely, and they have more
suitable accout mondation prepared for us. Then as soon as
they have a ship ready where to go pick up
the other survivors.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Now, Hawkins, wait just a moment. Put us in the picture,
will you? What made them realize that we were rational beings?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Hawkins's face darkened, and he said.
Speaker 5 (27:21):
Only rational beings put other beings in cages.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
You've heard a story titled The Cage, written by Bertram Chandler.
It appeared first in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science
Fiction for June of nineteen fifty seven. This is Michael
Hanson speaking reading with me this time Ward Paxton and
Mindy Radner. Technical production from Mindwebbs by Leslie Hilsenhoff. Mindwebs
(28:22):
comes to you from w y A Radio and Madison,
a service of University of Wisconsin Extension
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!