August 14, 2025 • 25 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Double Take by Richard Wilson Paul Asher twenty seven, Men's
Furnishings Byer leaned back and let the cloth band be
fastened across his chest, just under the armpits. He adjusted
his heavy spectacles, closed his eyes for a moment, breathed deeply,
(00:23):
and was off. The semi darkness was dispelled as he
shot out of a tunnel into dazzling sunlight. The high
powered vehicle he was driving purred smoothly as it took
the long rising curve. The road climbed steadily toward the
mountain top city ahead. He looked around to satisfy himself
(00:45):
that he was alone in the car. He wasn't. The
girl was a pretty one. He'd seen her somewhere before,
he thought. She was looking insolently at him, her wide
red mouth in a half smile, Her dark hair stirred
in the breeze coming through the window next her, which
(01:09):
was open just a slit. She said, just keep going, sweetheart,
as fast as you can, and she patted the oversized
pocket book that lay in her lap. He pressed down
on the accelerator and the car responded with a flow
of power. The countryside fell away from the road on
(01:29):
either side. Far below he could see a river winding
broadly to the far off sea. The summer day sent
its heat shimmers across the miniature landscape. The road curved again.
Theirs was the only car he had seen since he
had come out of the tunnel, but now far ahead
(01:50):
he saw another. It was standing at the side of
the road, next to a gate that came down in
the manner of one at a railroad crossing, but he
knew by its black and white diagonals, and by the
little sentry hut half hidden behind the other car, that
it marked the frontier. A man with a rifle on
his shoulder stood there. They drew up to it fast,
(02:13):
but his foot automatically eased up on the floorboard pedal
until the girl spoke sharply right through its sweetheart in
the rear window. He saw her leaning forward, her face tense.
In a moment, it would be time to stop if
he were going to Paul Asher hesitated a moment, then
(02:33):
he too leaned forward, the band pressing into his chest.
He was breathing heavily. There was an almost inaudible click.
He trod on the accelerator. He had a glimpse of
the guard unslinging his rifles from his shoulder, and of
another man running toward the parked car. As his vehicle
(02:54):
smashed into the flimsy gate and sent it cracked and
splintered to the side of the road. He fought the
slight wrench of the wheel and sped on. He thought
he heard a shot. Nice work, the girl said. She
seemed to be appraising him as she looked at him.
My name, incidently, is Naomi. Hello, he heard himself saying,
(03:18):
as he whipped the car around a curve that hit
the frontier behind a hill. You seem to know who
I am, that I do, She said, then why don't
you call me by my name instead of sweetheart? That's
because I like you, sweetheart, She was looking out the
rear window. Now just step on the gas, because we've
(03:42):
got company. The car that had been parked near the
sentry hut was whipping into view around the curve. It
was lighter than his, but it was fast too. He
stepped on it. Now the road had become narrow and twisting.
The grate was steep, but the surface was good. Abruptly
it entered a forest. The girl said, two more curves,
(04:05):
then you'll see a field and a barn off the
road and into the barn fast He took the curves
with rubber, screaming, and almost without breaking, sent the car
bumping across the field and into the barn. It was
bigger than it had seen from the outside. As he
brought the car to a lurching halt, the barn door closed.
(04:28):
Where he had expected to see stalls and milking machines
and hay, he saw an expanse of metal floor and
monstrous machinery. The barn door, which had been a rickety
wooden slap from the outside, was a gleaming sheet of
metal from the inside. It glided silently shut and left
no joint or seam to show where there had been
(04:51):
an opening out, said Naomi. As they left the car,
a flexible metal arm snaked from one of the smooth walls,
attached itself to the front bumper of the vehicle, and
whisked it into a cubicle, which opened to receive it
and closed behind it. A power driven wheelchair sped up
(05:12):
to them. Sitting in it was a fat man of
middle age with pendulous jawls and a totally bald head.
His expression was a sardonic scowl. You have the plans,
he asked the girl, Sweetheart here has them. I don't
know what you're talking about. The young man said, he knows,
(05:35):
all right. The girl said, he pretends to be innocent,
but that is merely his training. He has them under
a sticking plaster on the small of his back. Remove
your coat and shirt, commanded the man in the wheelchair.
At that moment, the floor shuddered under their feet. A
gong began to clang insistently, and the giant machinery, which
(05:58):
had been silent, throbbed to life. The man in the
wheelchair whirled and was off shouting commands to men who
materialized high on the walls in cylindric turrets, which the
visitor could only think of as battle stations. What is
this place, he asked. He got no answer. Instead, the
(06:19):
girl grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the
edge of the gigantic metal room. An opening appeared in
the wall, and she pushed him through it into a
room beyond. The entranceway snapped shut behind them, and when
he looked, he could see no door. The room also
was windowless. Naomi went to a metal table, and as
(06:39):
she looked down into its surface, it became a screen
mirrored in it was the mountainous countryside they had driven
through to get to the barn, or what had seemed
to be a barn from the outside. He looked over
her shoulder. They saw, as from a height there was
the light car that had chased them from the front.
(07:01):
Standing near it was a man in an officer's uniform
and another in civilian clothes. They were talking and gesturing.
Beside the car was a tank. As they watched, its
gun fired and the structure they were in shuddered, but
they heard no sound. Lumbering up the mountain road were
more tanks and a self propelled gun. One of the
(07:24):
tanks became enveloped in smoke and flames as they watched.
After a moment the smoke cleared, the tank was gone.
Where it had been, there was a deep crater. Gradually,
the figures in the drama below grew smaller. At the
same time, the vista widened so that they saw more
(07:45):
and more countryside. It twisted beneath them, and the horizon
came giddily into view. A few moments later, the curvature
of the earth could be plainly seen. Everything fitted together
at once some of the things. Anyway, we're in a ship,
he said, some kind of rocket ship. It's a planet plane.
(08:10):
The girl said, we are safe, now, safe from what.
He asked, what's this all about? She smiled enigmatically. Hafitz
could tell you if he chose, he's the boss, the
man in the wheelchair. She nodded and took out a
compact as she added lipstick to her mouth. She looked
(08:33):
him over between glances in her mirror. You don't look
like the spy type, if there is a type. I'm
not a spy. I don't know what you're talking about.
The innocent. Go on, take off your coat and shirt.
We'll save hafitit some time. I'll be glad to just
(08:55):
to prove this is all ridiculous, a case of mistaken identity.
You've made made a mistake, that's what you've done. He
stood there, hesitating. The girl gave a burst of laughter.
Then she said, all right, sweetheart, I'll turn my back.
She did, and he pulled his shirt out of his trousers.
(09:17):
Then he froze. Taped to the skin of his back
was a flat package. Paul Asher made the decision. He
bent forward, feeling perspiration the palms of his hands. There
was a faint click. Quickly he ripped the adhesive from
his back. There was an instant of pain as the
(09:37):
plaster came free. He wagged it up the sticky package,
dropped it to the floor, and kicked it under the desk.
Then he took off his coat, tie and shirt. You
can turn around now, he said, A more modest spy
I've never seen. She said, O K now, you turn
(09:58):
around as you see, he said. There are no plans,
no papers, no, not now. But there is a red
mark on your back. What is it? Oh? He said, Oh,
that's a birthmark. She spun him around to face her.
(10:20):
Her face was harsh. She slapped his cheek. Where is
the sticking plaster? Don't trifle with me? Her eyes bored
into his. He returned the gaze, then shrugged under the desk.
He said, I tore it off and kicked it under
the desk. You are sensible to confess, she said. She
(10:44):
bent down unwisely. Paul Asher felt the familiar tightening in
his chest as he leaned forward. The click was barely heard.
He raised his hand and brought the edge of it
down hard on the back of her neck. She crumpled
and fell to the metal floor. He noticed that a
(11:06):
smear of her freshly applied lipstick came off on it.
He pushed the unconscious body aside and fished the packet
out from under the desk. He searched the room for
another hiding place, but too late a section of wall
opened and her feets. The fat man in the wheelchair
sped in. He wheeled past. The young man, looked briefly
(11:29):
at the unconscious girl, then whisked himself around. You'll pay
for this, my friend, he said, But first we will
have the plans for the way station. Where are they.
I don't know anything about any plans, and I don't
know anything about a way station. I try to tell
the girl, it's all a crazy mistake. We will see,
(11:54):
said her feats. He pressed a button on the arm
of his wheelchair, and two bruisers peered through the walls
in the abrupt way people had of materializing here. Bruisers
was the only way they could be described. They were
human brutes, all muscle and malevolence. Take them, said Hafiites,
(12:16):
indicating the unconscious girl and the young man. Take them
and search them for a small packet. If you do
not find it. Search this room. If you do not
find it, still hurt the male animal. They persuade well
with pain. Here I understand, but do not kill them.
I will be in the communications room. He sped off
(12:40):
through a wall opening. One of the bruisers picked up
the girl roughly and disappeared with her. The other grabbed
the young man and hauled him off in a third direction.
The young man hastily snatched up his coat, shirt and
tie on root. They ended up in a cell of
a room about seven feet in all directions, in which
(13:01):
the bruiser stripped him methodically went through each piece of clothing,
then satisfied himself that he didn't have the packet anywhere
on his body. The muscleman then raised a fist. Wait,
his prospective victim said, he thought back quickly. Hafitz didn't
say you could bat me around till you searched the
(13:22):
room too. The other spoke, for the first time, you
say the truth. He put his arm down. The young
man watched intently as the bruiser went through the wall
of the cell like room. He dressed fast by placing
his fingers in exactly the same position as the other
had done. Was able to make the wall open for him.
(13:46):
The silver metal corridor had two directions. He went to
the right. After many turnings, at each of which he
reconnoitered carefully, he came to a passageway that was damp.
Why it was damp, he couldn't tell. But there in
the wetness were tracks which could have been made by
a wheel chair. He followed them, feeling the throb of
(14:07):
giant engines under foot. The wheelchair tracks abruptly made a
ninety degrees turn and ended in a blank wall. Somewhere
beyond it must be the communications room. He retreated and waited.
In time, the wall snapped open and Hafites sped out.
The young man retreated into the maze of corridors and
(14:30):
hoped chance would be on his side. It was Pafites
went the other way. The young man ran back to
the wall and used his fingers on it in the
combination he had learned. It opened for him. He closed
it behind him and blinked at the huge instrument panel
which filled almost the entire room. One of the instruments
(14:52):
was a color vision screen tuned into a room in
which there was a mahogany desk, at which was seated
a man in uniform. Behind him was a map of
the United States. The man in uniform was a major
general in the Air Force. An aide a lieutenant colonel
was leaning over the desk. He had a sheaf of
(15:12):
papers in his hand. The men's conversation was audible. Messages
have been coming in from all over Europe. The colonel
was saying, here's the way it reconstructs. Our agent was
en route to the rendezvous when he was intercepted by Naomi.
That's the only name we have for her. She's a spy.
(15:35):
She's worked for half a dozen countries, and her present
employer could be any one of them. They were spotted
as they crossed the frontier between Italy and France. Their
car went into a barn and we thought we had them,
but the barn turned out to be a spaceship in disguise.
It took off. So I'm their agent, Paul Asher thought,
(15:59):
So that's what it's all about. I'm a secret agent
for the United States. But they didn't tell me anything
about it. This is real, George, this is He expected
to hear a faint click and leaned forward experimentally, but
nothing happened. He leaned backward. Still nothing. The colonel was
(16:23):
answering a question from the General. We don't know who
they are, sir. They are not from Earth, obviously, and
the best scientific minds still go further. They are not
even from our solar system. Whoever they are, it's clear
that they don't want us to build a way station
in space.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Those spaceships started buzzing around right after our first moon trip,
the General said. This is the first time they've become
really troublesome, now that we've got the Moon under control
and are ready to build the wast station so that we.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Can get to Mars. That's right, sir, said the colonel.
Progress is a wonderful thing, said the General. Things certainly
have changed since those early days of strategic bombing and
guided missile experiments. Yes, sir, said the colonel. The young
man in the communications room of the spaceship let his
(17:20):
attention wander away from the scene back on Earth and
experimented with some of the switches and controls. Trial and
error led him to one which lit up a signal
on the desk of the General. The General flicked it on. Yes,
he said, He looked puzzled when he got no picture,
just a voice saying hello. Hello. Yes, he said, hello,
(17:46):
Speak up, man, this is your agent aboard the enemy's spaceship,
said the young man. Do you read me, yes, said
the General. We read you. Go ahead. I may not
have much time. Get a fix on me if you can,
and send help. What's your position? The General was reacting well.
(18:07):
He was alert and all business. I don't know I've
been taken prisoner, but I'm temporarily free. There isn't much time.
Hafitz is bound to be back soon. He seems to
be the brains of this outfit, this part of the
outfit anyway. Naomi is here too, but I don't know
whether she's with them or against them. Where are the plans, son,
(18:29):
asked the General. They're safe for the moment. I can't
guarantee for how long I'm getting the fix. The colonel said.
He was beyond the range of the young man's vision screen.
I've got him. He's still within range, but accelerating fast.
We can intercept if we get up our rocket soon enough.
(18:51):
Get it up, ordered the General. Get up a squadron,
scramble the moon patrol, and send out reserves from Earth
at once. Right, said the colonel. The young man was
so engrossed in the makings of his rescue party that
he didn't see the wall open up. Behind him. There
(19:11):
was a squeak of rubber tires, and he whirled to
see Hafitz in his wheelchairs slamming toward him. The fat
Man's hand held a weird looking gun. The young man recoiled,
his back pushed against a row of control buttons. Then
everything went white. Paul Asher blinked his eyes like a
(19:36):
man awakening from a vivid dream. The house lights went on,
and the manager of the theater came on the stage.
He stood in front of the blank master screen with
his checkerboard pattern of smaller screens on which the several
lines of action had taken place. Simultaneously. Paul took off
his selectroscope spectacles with the earphone attachments. Ladies and gentle
(20:00):
the manager said, I regret very much having to announce
that this vicarion of the production Spies from Space was defective.
Though Multifilm has broken, and because of the complexity of
the Vicki process, it will be impossible to splice it
without returning it to the laboratory. Ushers are at the
exits with passes good for any future performance. Those of
(20:24):
you who prefer can exchange them at the box office
for a full refund of your admission price. Paul Asher
unstrapped the wired canvas ban from across his chest. He
put the selectroscope spectacles into the pouch on the arm
of the seat and walked out of the RKO vicarrion
into High Street and around the corner to where his
(20:46):
car was parked. His roommate at the commune apt McCloy,
who's still up when he got there. Going over some projectors,
Max snapped off the screen and quickly swept the slides
together and into a case. You're back, early, mc cloy said,
the multifilm broke. Paul told him, oh, Max seemed abstracted,
(21:10):
as he often did. And again Paul wondered about this
man he knew so casually and who had never confided
in him about anything, especially about his government job. So
I missed the ending, Paul said, I guess it was
near the end anyhow, the space patrol was on the way,
but the villain that Hafite's was just about to blast
(21:33):
me with his gun, and I don't know how I
would have got out of that. I remember that, Max said,
he laughed. You must have been positive all the way through,
like I was when I saw it. If you'd had
any negative reactions, if you'd leaned back against the strap
instead of forward, you'd have been at some other point
in the multiplot, and I wouldn't have recognized that part.
(21:56):
Want me to tell you how it ends? Go ahead,
then if I do see it again, I'll change the
ending somewhere along the line with a lean back. Okay,
there really wasn't much more. It takes so much film
to provide all the plot choices that they can't make
them very long. Well, Hafitz blasts me and missus. Mac
(22:17):
went on, or blasts you and missus to keep it
in your viewpoint. When you jump back, you set off
a bunch of controls. That was the control room too,
not just the communications room. Well, those controls you lean
back against take the ship out of automatic pilot and
send it into some wild acrobatics. And that's why hafit's missus. Also,
(22:39):
it knocks him out of the wheelchair, so he's helpless,
and you get his gun. Also, you see that the
plans are still there right where you put them. Stuck
to the bottom of his wheelchair. So that was it,
said Paul. Yes, said Mac. And then you cover Hafeits
while he straightens out the ship and you run Voo
(23:00):
with the space control and they take you all into custody.
You get a citation from the government, and that's about it. Cornea,
What about the girl, Paul asked, is she really a
spy girl? What girl? Naomi her name was. You couldn't
(23:20):
have missed her. She was in the Viki right at
the beginning, that brunette in the fast car. But there
wasn't any girl, Paul, Mac insisted, not when I saw it.
Of course there was. There had to be. The vickis
all start out the same, no matter who sees them.
It beats me, Paul, I know I didn't see her.
(23:43):
Maybe you dreamed up the dame. I don't think so,
Paul said, but of course it's possible, he yawned. I
wouldn't mind dreaming of her tonight at that. I think
I'll turn in now, Mac, I've got that long trip tomorrow,
you know, up to Canada to look over a new
(24:05):
line of Marswool's sports jacket at the All Planet show room.
Driving or flying. The weather prognosis is zero zero. I'll
drive good, said mac Paul. Asher woke up late. He
had a confused recollection of a dream, something about a
(24:27):
beautiful brunette giving him a back rub. A look at
the krono sent the dream out of his head, and
he hurried through shaving and dressing. His car was waiting
for him, engine idling at the curb. He got in,
tossing his brief case and top coat ahead of him
to the far side of the front seat. His back
began to itch insistently, and he rubbed it against the
(24:49):
leather upholstery. Paul adjusted the safety belt around him and
fastened it. Might as well do it now instead of
having to fool around with it later. Damn that itch anyway,
It was as if something were stuck to his skin,
like a sticking plaster. The high powered vehicle purred smoothly
(25:09):
as it took the long rising curve. The road climbed
steadily toward the mountain top city ahead. The scene was familiar.
The itching of his back spread and became a prickly
feeling in the small hairs at the nape of his neck.
He knew now that he was not alone in the car,
(25:29):
he looked in the rear view mirror Naomi. She was
looking at him insolently, her wide red mouth. In a
half smile, she said, just keep going, sweetheart, as fast
as you can. End of Double Take by Richard Wilson.
Double Take by Richard Wilson Paul Asher twenty seven, Men's
Furnishings Byer leaned back and let the cloth band be
fastened across his chest, just under the armpits. He adjusted
his heavy spectacles, closed his eyes for a moment, breathed deeply,
(00:23):
and was off. The semi darkness was dispelled as he
shot out of a tunnel into dazzling sunlight. The high
powered vehicle he was driving purred smoothly as it took
the long rising curve. The road climbed steadily toward the
mountain top city ahead. He looked around to satisfy himself
(00:45):
that he was alone in the car. He wasn't. The
girl was a pretty one. He'd seen her somewhere before,
he thought. She was looking insolently at him, her wide
red mouth in a half smile, Her dark hair stirred
in the breeze coming through the window next her, which
(01:09):
was open just a slit. She said, just keep going, sweetheart,
as fast as you can, and she patted the oversized
pocket book that lay in her lap. He pressed down
on the accelerator and the car responded with a flow
of power. The countryside fell away from the road on
(01:29):
either side. Far below he could see a river winding
broadly to the far off sea. The summer day sent
its heat shimmers across the miniature landscape. The road curved again.
Theirs was the only car he had seen since he
had come out of the tunnel, but now far ahead
(01:50):
he saw another. It was standing at the side of
the road, next to a gate that came down in
the manner of one at a railroad crossing, but he
knew by its black and white diagonals, and by the
little sentry hut half hidden behind the other car, that
it marked the frontier. A man with a rifle on
his shoulder stood there. They drew up to it fast,
(02:13):
but his foot automatically eased up on the floorboard pedal
until the girl spoke sharply right through its sweetheart in
the rear window. He saw her leaning forward, her face tense.
In a moment, it would be time to stop if
he were going to Paul Asher hesitated a moment, then
(02:33):
he too leaned forward, the band pressing into his chest.
He was breathing heavily. There was an almost inaudible click.
He trod on the accelerator. He had a glimpse of
the guard unslinging his rifles from his shoulder, and of
another man running toward the parked car. As his vehicle
(02:54):
smashed into the flimsy gate and sent it cracked and
splintered to the side of the road. He fought the
slight wrench of the wheel and sped on. He thought
he heard a shot. Nice work, the girl said. She
seemed to be appraising him as she looked at him.
My name, incidently, is Naomi. Hello, he heard himself saying,
(03:18):
as he whipped the car around a curve that hit
the frontier behind a hill. You seem to know who
I am, that I do, She said, then why don't
you call me by my name instead of sweetheart? That's
because I like you, sweetheart, She was looking out the
rear window. Now just step on the gas, because we've
(03:42):
got company. The car that had been parked near the
sentry hut was whipping into view around the curve. It
was lighter than his, but it was fast too. He
stepped on it. Now the road had become narrow and twisting.
The grate was steep, but the surface was good. Abruptly
it entered a forest. The girl said, two more curves,
(04:05):
then you'll see a field and a barn off the
road and into the barn fast He took the curves
with rubber, screaming, and almost without breaking, sent the car
bumping across the field and into the barn. It was
bigger than it had seen from the outside. As he
brought the car to a lurching halt, the barn door closed.
(04:28):
Where he had expected to see stalls and milking machines
and hay, he saw an expanse of metal floor and
monstrous machinery. The barn door, which had been a rickety
wooden slap from the outside, was a gleaming sheet of
metal from the inside. It glided silently shut and left
no joint or seam to show where there had been
(04:51):
an opening out, said Naomi. As they left the car,
a flexible metal arm snaked from one of the smooth walls,
attached itself to the front bumper of the vehicle, and
whisked it into a cubicle, which opened to receive it
and closed behind it. A power driven wheelchair sped up
(05:12):
to them. Sitting in it was a fat man of
middle age with pendulous jawls and a totally bald head.
His expression was a sardonic scowl. You have the plans,
he asked the girl, Sweetheart here has them. I don't
know what you're talking about. The young man said, he knows,
(05:35):
all right. The girl said, he pretends to be innocent,
but that is merely his training. He has them under
a sticking plaster on the small of his back. Remove
your coat and shirt, commanded the man in the wheelchair.
At that moment, the floor shuddered under their feet. A
gong began to clang insistently, and the giant machinery, which
(05:58):
had been silent, throbbed to life. The man in the
wheelchair whirled and was off shouting commands to men who
materialized high on the walls in cylindric turrets, which the
visitor could only think of as battle stations. What is
this place, he asked. He got no answer. Instead, the
(06:19):
girl grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the
edge of the gigantic metal room. An opening appeared in
the wall, and she pushed him through it into a
room beyond. The entranceway snapped shut behind them, and when
he looked, he could see no door. The room also
was windowless. Naomi went to a metal table, and as
(06:39):
she looked down into its surface, it became a screen
mirrored in it was the mountainous countryside they had driven
through to get to the barn, or what had seemed
to be a barn from the outside. He looked over
her shoulder. They saw, as from a height there was
the light car that had chased them from the front.
(07:01):
Standing near it was a man in an officer's uniform
and another in civilian clothes. They were talking and gesturing.
Beside the car was a tank. As they watched, its
gun fired and the structure they were in shuddered, but
they heard no sound. Lumbering up the mountain road were
more tanks and a self propelled gun. One of the
(07:24):
tanks became enveloped in smoke and flames as they watched.
After a moment the smoke cleared, the tank was gone.
Where it had been, there was a deep crater. Gradually,
the figures in the drama below grew smaller. At the
same time, the vista widened so that they saw more
(07:45):
and more countryside. It twisted beneath them, and the horizon
came giddily into view. A few moments later, the curvature
of the earth could be plainly seen. Everything fitted together
at once some of the things. Anyway, we're in a ship,
he said, some kind of rocket ship. It's a planet plane.
(08:10):
The girl said, we are safe, now, safe from what.
He asked, what's this all about? She smiled enigmatically. Hafitz
could tell you if he chose, he's the boss, the
man in the wheelchair. She nodded and took out a
compact as she added lipstick to her mouth. She looked
(08:33):
him over between glances in her mirror. You don't look
like the spy type, if there is a type. I'm
not a spy. I don't know what you're talking about.
The innocent. Go on, take off your coat and shirt.
We'll save hafitit some time. I'll be glad to just
(08:55):
to prove this is all ridiculous, a case of mistaken identity.
You've made made a mistake, that's what you've done. He
stood there, hesitating. The girl gave a burst of laughter.
Then she said, all right, sweetheart, I'll turn my back.
She did, and he pulled his shirt out of his trousers.
(09:17):
Then he froze. Taped to the skin of his back
was a flat package. Paul Asher made the decision. He
bent forward, feeling perspiration the palms of his hands. There
was a faint click. Quickly he ripped the adhesive from
his back. There was an instant of pain as the
(09:37):
plaster came free. He wagged it up the sticky package,
dropped it to the floor, and kicked it under the desk.
Then he took off his coat, tie and shirt. You
can turn around now, he said, A more modest spy
I've never seen. She said, O K now, you turn
(09:58):
around as you see, he said. There are no plans,
no papers, no, not now. But there is a red
mark on your back. What is it? Oh? He said, Oh,
that's a birthmark. She spun him around to face her.
(10:20):
Her face was harsh. She slapped his cheek. Where is
the sticking plaster? Don't trifle with me? Her eyes bored
into his. He returned the gaze, then shrugged under the desk.
He said, I tore it off and kicked it under
the desk. You are sensible to confess, she said. She
(10:44):
bent down unwisely. Paul Asher felt the familiar tightening in
his chest as he leaned forward. The click was barely heard.
He raised his hand and brought the edge of it
down hard on the back of her neck. She crumpled
and fell to the metal floor. He noticed that a
(11:06):
smear of her freshly applied lipstick came off on it.
He pushed the unconscious body aside and fished the packet
out from under the desk. He searched the room for
another hiding place, but too late a section of wall
opened and her feets. The fat man in the wheelchair
sped in. He wheeled past. The young man, looked briefly
(11:29):
at the unconscious girl, then whisked himself around. You'll pay
for this, my friend, he said, But first we will
have the plans for the way station. Where are they.
I don't know anything about any plans, and I don't
know anything about a way station. I try to tell
the girl, it's all a crazy mistake. We will see,
(11:54):
said her feats. He pressed a button on the arm
of his wheelchair, and two bruisers peered through the walls
in the abrupt way people had of materializing here. Bruisers
was the only way they could be described. They were
human brutes, all muscle and malevolence. Take them, said Hafiites,
(12:16):
indicating the unconscious girl and the young man. Take them
and search them for a small packet. If you do
not find it. Search this room. If you do not
find it, still hurt the male animal. They persuade well
with pain. Here I understand, but do not kill them.
I will be in the communications room. He sped off
(12:40):
through a wall opening. One of the bruisers picked up
the girl roughly and disappeared with her. The other grabbed
the young man and hauled him off in a third direction.
The young man hastily snatched up his coat, shirt and
tie on root. They ended up in a cell of
a room about seven feet in all directions, in which
(13:01):
the bruiser stripped him methodically went through each piece of clothing,
then satisfied himself that he didn't have the packet anywhere
on his body. The muscleman then raised a fist. Wait,
his prospective victim said, he thought back quickly. Hafitz didn't
say you could bat me around till you searched the
(13:22):
room too. The other spoke, for the first time, you
say the truth. He put his arm down. The young
man watched intently as the bruiser went through the wall
of the cell like room. He dressed fast by placing
his fingers in exactly the same position as the other
had done. Was able to make the wall open for him.
(13:46):
The silver metal corridor had two directions. He went to
the right. After many turnings, at each of which he
reconnoitered carefully, he came to a passageway that was damp.
Why it was damp, he couldn't tell. But there in
the wetness were tracks which could have been made by
a wheel chair. He followed them, feeling the throb of
(14:07):
giant engines under foot. The wheelchair tracks abruptly made a
ninety degrees turn and ended in a blank wall. Somewhere
beyond it must be the communications room. He retreated and waited.
In time, the wall snapped open and Hafites sped out.
The young man retreated into the maze of corridors and
(14:30):
hoped chance would be on his side. It was Pafites
went the other way. The young man ran back to
the wall and used his fingers on it in the
combination he had learned. It opened for him. He closed
it behind him and blinked at the huge instrument panel
which filled almost the entire room. One of the instruments
(14:52):
was a color vision screen tuned into a room in
which there was a mahogany desk, at which was seated
a man in uniform. Behind him was a map of
the United States. The man in uniform was a major
general in the Air Force. An aide a lieutenant colonel
was leaning over the desk. He had a sheaf of
(15:12):
papers in his hand. The men's conversation was audible. Messages
have been coming in from all over Europe. The colonel
was saying, here's the way it reconstructs. Our agent was
en route to the rendezvous when he was intercepted by Naomi.
That's the only name we have for her. She's a spy.
(15:35):
She's worked for half a dozen countries, and her present
employer could be any one of them. They were spotted
as they crossed the frontier between Italy and France. Their
car went into a barn and we thought we had them,
but the barn turned out to be a spaceship in disguise.
It took off. So I'm their agent, Paul Asher thought,
(15:59):
So that's what it's all about. I'm a secret agent
for the United States. But they didn't tell me anything
about it. This is real, George, this is He expected
to hear a faint click and leaned forward experimentally, but
nothing happened. He leaned backward. Still nothing. The colonel was
(16:23):
answering a question from the General. We don't know who
they are, sir. They are not from Earth, obviously, and
the best scientific minds still go further. They are not
even from our solar system. Whoever they are, it's clear
that they don't want us to build a way station
in space.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Those spaceships started buzzing around right after our first moon trip,
the General said. This is the first time they've become
really troublesome, now that we've got the Moon under control
and are ready to build the wast station so that we.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Can get to Mars. That's right, sir, said the colonel.
Progress is a wonderful thing, said the General. Things certainly
have changed since those early days of strategic bombing and
guided missile experiments. Yes, sir, said the colonel. The young
man in the communications room of the spaceship let his
(17:20):
attention wander away from the scene back on Earth and
experimented with some of the switches and controls. Trial and
error led him to one which lit up a signal
on the desk of the General. The General flicked it on. Yes,
he said, He looked puzzled when he got no picture,
just a voice saying hello. Hello. Yes, he said, hello,
(17:46):
Speak up, man, this is your agent aboard the enemy's spaceship,
said the young man. Do you read me, yes, said
the General. We read you. Go ahead. I may not
have much time. Get a fix on me if you can,
and send help. What's your position? The General was reacting well.
(18:07):
He was alert and all business. I don't know I've
been taken prisoner, but I'm temporarily free. There isn't much time.
Hafitz is bound to be back soon. He seems to
be the brains of this outfit, this part of the
outfit anyway. Naomi is here too, but I don't know
whether she's with them or against them. Where are the plans, son,
(18:29):
asked the General. They're safe for the moment. I can't
guarantee for how long I'm getting the fix. The colonel said.
He was beyond the range of the young man's vision screen.
I've got him. He's still within range, but accelerating fast.
We can intercept if we get up our rocket soon enough.
(18:51):
Get it up, ordered the General. Get up a squadron,
scramble the moon patrol, and send out reserves from Earth
at once. Right, said the colonel. The young man was
so engrossed in the makings of his rescue party that
he didn't see the wall open up. Behind him. There
(19:11):
was a squeak of rubber tires, and he whirled to
see Hafitz in his wheelchairs slamming toward him. The fat
Man's hand held a weird looking gun. The young man recoiled,
his back pushed against a row of control buttons. Then
everything went white. Paul Asher blinked his eyes like a
(19:36):
man awakening from a vivid dream. The house lights went on,
and the manager of the theater came on the stage.
He stood in front of the blank master screen with
his checkerboard pattern of smaller screens on which the several
lines of action had taken place. Simultaneously. Paul took off
his selectroscope spectacles with the earphone attachments. Ladies and gentle
(20:00):
the manager said, I regret very much having to announce
that this vicarion of the production Spies from Space was defective.
Though Multifilm has broken, and because of the complexity of
the Vicki process, it will be impossible to splice it
without returning it to the laboratory. Ushers are at the
exits with passes good for any future performance. Those of
(20:24):
you who prefer can exchange them at the box office
for a full refund of your admission price. Paul Asher
unstrapped the wired canvas ban from across his chest. He
put the selectroscope spectacles into the pouch on the arm
of the seat and walked out of the RKO vicarrion
into High Street and around the corner to where his
(20:46):
car was parked. His roommate at the commune apt McCloy,
who's still up when he got there. Going over some projectors,
Max snapped off the screen and quickly swept the slides
together and into a case. You're back, early, mc cloy said,
the multifilm broke. Paul told him, oh, Max seemed abstracted,
(21:10):
as he often did. And again Paul wondered about this
man he knew so casually and who had never confided
in him about anything, especially about his government job. So
I missed the ending, Paul said, I guess it was
near the end anyhow, the space patrol was on the way,
but the villain that Hafite's was just about to blast
(21:33):
me with his gun, and I don't know how I
would have got out of that. I remember that, Max said,
he laughed. You must have been positive all the way through,
like I was when I saw it. If you'd had
any negative reactions, if you'd leaned back against the strap
instead of forward, you'd have been at some other point
in the multiplot, and I wouldn't have recognized that part.
(21:56):
Want me to tell you how it ends? Go ahead,
then if I do see it again, I'll change the
ending somewhere along the line with a lean back. Okay,
there really wasn't much more. It takes so much film
to provide all the plot choices that they can't make
them very long. Well, Hafitz blasts me and missus. Mac
(22:17):
went on, or blasts you and missus to keep it
in your viewpoint. When you jump back, you set off
a bunch of controls. That was the control room too,
not just the communications room. Well, those controls you lean
back against take the ship out of automatic pilot and
send it into some wild acrobatics. And that's why hafit's missus. Also,
(22:39):
it knocks him out of the wheelchair, so he's helpless,
and you get his gun. Also, you see that the
plans are still there right where you put them. Stuck
to the bottom of his wheelchair. So that was it,
said Paul. Yes, said Mac. And then you cover Hafeits
while he straightens out the ship and you run Voo
(23:00):
with the space control and they take you all into custody.
You get a citation from the government, and that's about it. Cornea,
What about the girl, Paul asked, is she really a
spy girl? What girl? Naomi her name was. You couldn't
(23:20):
have missed her. She was in the Viki right at
the beginning, that brunette in the fast car. But there
wasn't any girl, Paul, Mac insisted, not when I saw it.
Of course there was. There had to be. The vickis
all start out the same, no matter who sees them.
It beats me, Paul, I know I didn't see her.
(23:43):
Maybe you dreamed up the dame. I don't think so,
Paul said, but of course it's possible, he yawned. I
wouldn't mind dreaming of her tonight at that. I think
I'll turn in now, Mac, I've got that long trip tomorrow,
you know, up to Canada to look over a new
(24:05):
line of Marswool's sports jacket at the All Planet show room.
Driving or flying. The weather prognosis is zero zero. I'll
drive good, said mac Paul. Asher woke up late. He
had a confused recollection of a dream, something about a
(24:27):
beautiful brunette giving him a back rub. A look at
the krono sent the dream out of his head, and
he hurried through shaving and dressing. His car was waiting
for him, engine idling at the curb. He got in,
tossing his brief case and top coat ahead of him
to the far side of the front seat. His back
began to itch insistently, and he rubbed it against the
(24:49):
leather upholstery. Paul adjusted the safety belt around him and
fastened it. Might as well do it now instead of
having to fool around with it later. Damn that itch anyway,
It was as if something were stuck to his skin,
like a sticking plaster. The high powered vehicle purred smoothly
(25:09):
as it took the long rising curve. The road climbed
steadily toward the mountain top city ahead. The scene was familiar.
The itching of his back spread and became a prickly
feeling in the small hairs at the nape of his neck.
He knew now that he was not alone in the car,
(25:29):
he looked in the rear view mirror Naomi. She was
looking at him insolently, her wide red mouth. In a
half smile, she said, just keep going, sweetheart, as fast
as you can. End of Double Take by Richard Wilson.
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