Test Rocket - Jack Douglas

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Test rocket by Jack Douglas. Captain Baird stood at the
window of the laboratory, where the thousand parts of the
strange rocket lay strewn in careful order. Small groups worked
slowly over the dismantled parts. The Captain wanted to ask,
but something stopped him. Behind him, Doctor Johanson sat at
his desk, his narroled old hand tied about a whisky bottle,
the bottle the doctor always had in his desk but

(00:21):
never brought out except for when ye was alone and
waited for Captain Baird to ask his question. Captain Baird
turned at last. They are our markings, Captain Bard asked,
It was not the question. Captain Baird knew the markings
of the rocket testing station as well as the doctor did. Yes,
the doctor said, they are our markings, identical, but not
our paint. Captain Baird turned back to the window. Six

(00:45):
months ago, it had happened ten minutes after launching the
giant test rocket, had been only a speck on the
observation screen. Captain Baird had turned away in discussed a mouse.
The Captain had said, unfortunate, a mouse can't observe build report.
My men are getting restless. Johannsson, when we are ready, Captain,
the doctor had said. It was twelve hours before the

(01:06):
urgin call from Central control brought the captain running back
to the laboratory. The doctor was there before him. Professor
Schultz wasted no time. He pointed to the instrument panel.
A sudden shift. See for yourself. We'll miss Mars by
a million a quarter. At least two hours later, the
shift and course of the test rocket was apparent to
all of them, and so was their disappointment. According to

(01:28):
the instruments, the steering shifted a quarter of an inch.
No reason shows up, Professor Schultz said, flaw in the metal.
Doctor Johanson asked, how far can it go? Captain Baird asked,
Professor Schultz shrugged. Until the fuel runs out, which is
probably as good as never, or until the landing mechanism
is activated by a planet sized body. Of course, did

(01:50):
you plot it, the doctor asked, Of course I did.
Professor Schultz said, as close as I can calculate. It's
headed to Alpha Centauri. Captain Baird turned away. The doctor
watched him. Perhaps you will not be so hasty with
your men's lives in the future, Captain, the doctor said,
Professor Schultz was spinning dials. No contact. The professor set
no contact at all. That had been six months ago.

(02:15):
Three more test rockets has been fired successfully before the
urgent report came through from Alaskan Observation Post number four.
A rocket was coming across the pole. The strange rocket
was tracked and escorted by an atomic armed fighters all
the way to rocket testing station, where it cut its
own motors and gently landed in the center of a
division of atomic armed infantry. The Captain, the doctor, and
everyone else waited impatiently. There was an air of uneasiness.

(02:38):
You sure it's not ours, Captain Baird asked. The doctor
laughed identical. Yes, but three times the size of ours,
perhaps one of the Asian ones. No, it's our design,
but too large, much too large. Professor Schultz put their
thoughts into words, looks like someone copied ours, someone somewhere.
It's hard to imagine. Nevertheless, they waited two weeks, nothing happened.

(03:04):
Then a radiation shielded team went in to examine the rocket.
Two more weeks, the strange rocket was dismantled and spread
over the field for the detesting station. The rocket was
dismantled in the station begun to talk to itself in
whispers and look at the sky. Captain Baird stood now
at the window and looked out of the dismantled rocket.
He looked, but his mind was not on the parts
of the rocket. He could see from the window the materials.

(03:26):
They're not ours, the captain asked, unknown here the doctor said.
The captain nodded. Those were our instruments. Yes. The doctor
still had the whiskey bottle in his tight gripped They
sent them back, the captain said. The doctor crashed the
bottle hard against the desktop. Ask captain, for God's sake.
The captain turned to face the doctor directly. It was

(03:48):
a man, a full grown man. The doctor's sighed, as
if letting the pent up steam of his herd escape. Yes,
it is a man. It breathes, it eats, It has
all the attributes of a man, but is none of
our planet. It's speech, the captain began. That isn't speech, Captain,
The doctor broke in, breaking in sharply, It's only sound.
The doctor stopped. He examined the label of his bottle

(04:10):
of whiskey very carefully. A good brand of whiskey. He
seems quite happy in the storeroom. You know, captain, what
puzzled me at first. He can't read. He can't read anything,
not even the instruments in that ship. In fact, he
shows no interest in his rocket at all. Now the
captain sat down, now he's hat at his desk and
faced the doctor. At least they had the courage to

(04:31):
send a man, not a mouse, doctor, a man. The
doctor stared at. The captain has hands squeezing and unsqueezing
the whiskey bottle. A man who can't read his own instruments,
The doctor laughed, Perhaps you too have failed to see
the point, like that stupid general who sits at there
waiting for his men to find somewhere to invade. Don't
you think it's a possibility, the doctor nodded, A very

(04:52):
good possibility, captain. But they will not be men. The
doctor seemed to pause, andly informed that rocket, captain, is
a test rocket, a test rocket just like ours. Then
the doctor picked up the whiskey bottle and last and
poured two glasses, perhaps a drink, Captain. The captain was
watching the sky outside the window. End of Test Rocket

(05:13):
by Jack Douglas