December 18, 2025 • 26 mins
https://www.solgoodmedia.com - Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad free! "Mind Webs Daily" rekindles the charm of old time radio with a daily infusion of psychological and speculative tales. Each day offers a unique journey into the enigmatic and often eerie realms of the human mind, reminiscent of classic radio storytelling but with a contemporary flair. Perfect for daily listeners who appreciate a blend of nostalgia and modern narrative depth.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Mind Webb.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome to a half hour of mind webs short stories
from the world Speculating section. The first story on mind
webs and I originally appeared in Night Being fifty one.
It's The Weapon by Frederick Brown, and among the places
(01:06):
it appears is in Science Fiction For People who Hate
Science Fiction, the volume edited by Terry Carr. Frederick Brown's
The Weapon. The room was quiet in the dimness of
early evening. Doctor James Graham, key scientist of a very
important project, set in his favorite chair, thinking. It was
(01:28):
so still that he could hear the turning of pages
in the next room as his son leafed.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Through a picture book.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Often Graham did his best work, his most creative thinking
under these circumstances, sitting alone in an unlighted room in
his own apartment after the day's regular work. But tonight
his mind would not work constructively. Mostly he thought about
his mentally arrested son, his only son, in the next room.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
The thoughts were.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Loving thoughts, not the bitter anguish he had felt years
ago when he had first learned of the boy's condition.
The boy was happy, wasn't that the main thing? And
to how many men is given a child who will
always be a child who would not grow up to
leave him. Certainly that was a rationalization, but what's wrong
with rationalization? When the door bell rang, Graham rose and
(02:16):
turned on lights in the almost dark room before he
went through the hallway to the door. He was not
annoyed tonight. At this moment, almost any interruption to his
thoughts was welcome. He opened the door. A stranger stood there.
He said, doctor Graham, my name is niemand i'd like
to talk to you. May I come in for a moment.
(02:37):
Graham looked at him. He was a small man on
the script, obviously harmless, possibly a reporter or an insurance agent,
but it didn't matter what he was. Graham found himself saying,
of course, come in, mister Nimond. A few minutes of conversation,
he justified himself by thinking, might divert his thoughts and
clear his mind. Sit down, he said, In the living room,
(02:59):
care for a drink?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
No, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
He sat in the chair Graham on the sofa. The
small man interlocked his fingers.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
He leaned forward and said, doctor Graham, you are.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
The man whose scientific work is more likely than that
of any other man to end the human race's chance
for survival. Graham thought a crackbut oh too late now,
and he realized he should have asked the man's business
before admitting him. It would be an embarrassing interview. He
disliked being rude, but rudeness was effective, doctor Graham, the
(03:36):
weapon on which you are working.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The visitor stopped and turned.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
His head as the door that led to a bedroom
opened and a boy of fifteen came in. The boy
didn't notice Nemon.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
He ran to Graham, Daddy, will you read me now?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Boy of fifteen laughed the sweet laughter of a child,
before Graham put an arm around the boy. He looked
at his visitor, wondering whether he had known about the boy.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
From the lack of.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Surprise on Nemon's face, Graham felt.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Sure he had known.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Harry, Daddy's busy right now, just for a little While'll
go back to your room, will you.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I'll come and read you soon, sick and little.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
You'll read me sick and little if you wish.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I'll run along.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Wait, wait a minute, Harry, this is mister Nemond. The
boy smiled bashfully at the visitor. Nemon said, Hi, Harry,
and smiled back at him, holding out his hand. Graham, watching,
was sure now that Neemond had known the smile and
the gesture before the boy's mental age, not his physical one.
(04:36):
The boy took Nemon's hand for a moment it seemed
that he was going to climb into Nemon's lap, and
Graham pulled him back gently. Go to your room, now, Harry.
The boy skipped back into his bedroom, not closing the door.
Nemon's eyes met Graham's and he said, I like him,
Doctor Graham. I I hope that what you're going to
(04:57):
read to him will always be true. Who Graham didn't understand.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Neeman said, chicken Little.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I mean, it's a fine story, but may Chicken Little
always be wrong about the sky falling down. Graham suddenly
had liked niemand when Nemon had shown liking for the boy,
now he remembered that he must.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Close the interview. Quickly, he rose and dismissal.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Hell, I hear you're wasting your time in mind, mister Nemon.
I know all the arguments. Everything you can say.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I've heard a thousand times.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Possibly there's truth in what you believe, but it does
not concern me. I'm a scientist and only a scientist.
I know it is public knowledge that I am working
on a weapon, a rather ultimate one, but you see,
for me personally, that is only a byproduct of the
fact that I am advancing science.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I've thought it through.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I have found that that is my only concern. But
doctor Graham, is humanity ready for an ultimate weapon? I
I've told you my point of view, mister Nimond. Neemond
rose slowly from the chair. Very well, if you did
(06:17):
not choose to discuss it, I'll say no more. He
passed a hand over his forehead. I'll leave, doctor Graham,
although I wonder and might I change my mind about
the drink you offered me. Graham's irritation faded. There certainly,
will whiskey and waterdo admirably? Graham excused himself and went
(06:39):
into the kitchen. He got the decanter of whiskey, another
of water, and the ice cubes and the glasses. When
he returned to the living room, Niemond was just leaving
the boy's bedroom. He heard Nemon's good night, Harry, Harry's
happy night, mister Nemond. Graham made drinks. A little later,
Niemond find the second one and started to leave Nemom said, Ah,
(07:04):
doctor Graham, I took the liberty of bringing a small
gift to your son. I gave it to him while
you were getting the drinks for us. I I hope
you'll forgive me doctor. Uh, of course, Uh, thank you.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Good night.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Graham closed the door. He walked through the living room
into Harry's room. He said, all right, Harry, now I'll
read too. Only a madman would give a loaded revolver
to an idiot. Our first story this evening was titled
(07:43):
The Weapon by Frederick Brown. It appeared in the book
Science Fiction for People who Hate Science Fiction, edited by
Terry Carr. The second story on mindwebs this evening comes
(08:20):
from the book A Wilderness of Stars.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Edited by William F. Nolan.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The story is by Charles E. Fritch and is called
La Castaway. He didn't know how long he'd been here
in this world of eternal day. There was no way
of telling the passage of time. The spaceship's chronometer was dead,
as the spaceship itself was dead. Is some day he
would be dead. The rocket had crashed on his oxygen planet,
(08:48):
breathed its last mechanical sigh, and died. M. Jordan that
was his name, not much. He knew he'd forgotten a
great many things during the long years, but those things
didn't matter. Jordan was his name, and he clung to
the identity of the grasp of a dying man, a
dying man. He thought, how long?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
How long? Between the twin suns?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
The planet rotated slowly, warmed, and illuminated, first by one
sun and then by the other. There was no need
for clothing, for the air was warm, and besides, all
his clothing had crumbled into dust long ago. How long months, years, decades,
Ageless and yet aging, He found himself growing old without
(09:35):
the discomforts of growing old. After a while, he didn't
even mind being alone. It was terrible at first, if
only the radio had worked, even if only the receiver
so he could hear a human voice. But the twin
suns blocked communication, and after a while, after a long while,
he forgot about it. He remembered the crash in the
(09:57):
darkness that followed. He recalled approaching this pla at it
with his spaceship, wabbling, bursting spasmodic jets of flame through
torn tubes, frantically working controls that wouldn't respond as they should.
Forcing him toward the twin suns, toward the single planet
between the twin suns.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
His heart held no hope.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
He had expected to die, but he was alive. He
remembered sitting up and feeling his balms, and stretching and
wondering at this miracle. Fifty yards away the space ship
lay a broken metal hulk that should have been his coffin.
Great gaping wounds stood from it like evil sores, and
mechanical veins sprouted lifeless from the holes.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It was a miracle he had lived.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
A second miracle that the planet contained an atmosphere he
could breathe without discomfort. But greater miracles were forthcoming. He
took small hand weapons from the space ship and explored
the planet. It was very much like his Earth, but
much smaller. The gravity was similar. There was green grass,
and there were ever green trees, and there were small
(11:01):
ponds and rivers which reflected the sky and the great
yellow suns. And there was even a small ocean. He
stood at the edge of this ocean and wondered what
lay beyond. Years or was it decades later he found out.
He wandered across the face of this planet, occasionally building
crude but serviceable rafts to navigate bodies of water, and
(11:22):
he found the world the same as it was where
he had crashed. There were no intelligent creatures to be found.
There were animals that looked like squirrels, others which resembled deer,
and the waters held a multicolored fish not too unlike
those of Earth. This offered some consolation. He even made
friends with one squirrel like animal, calling it Friday. If
(11:47):
any ships flew near the planet, they might see the
crashed rocket and investigate. That was his hope. Often he
shaded his eyes from the glare of the sun and
gazed into the bright sky, searching for a gleam of.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Metal, but he found none. Food food was everywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Fruits and berries could be had for the reaching, and
small animals could easily be caught, but he wasn't hungry
at first. This puzzled him. After the crash, he'd take
an inventory of his rations aboard the spaceship, mentally calculating
how long they'd last. After several days, or what he
considered to be several days, he tried to force rations
down his throat, thinking he would starve if he didn't,
(12:27):
but the food was repugnant, and he felt worse for
having tried to eat it. He looked into the cracked
mirror aboard the spaceship at his smooth, young features. I'm
twenty six now, he thought, How old will I be
when I'm rescued? Or will I spend the rest of
my life here? At that thought, he angrily picked up
(12:47):
a stool and smashed his only mirror into fragments. He
had cause to regret that for later, when he looked
into ponds.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Of clear water that bore his reflection, he tried.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
To see what lines lay in his features, to calculate
how long he'd been on this planet.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
After a while, he forgot about it.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
He forgot about most things, most things, but not all.
At first, he strained and fretted and cursed, and glanced
a thousand times at the empty sky. But calmness returned.
His mind grew placid and reasonably content. Only one thing remained.
A Tormentian space. It's cool reaches out there, just beyond
(13:29):
the sun, out in that yellowness that becomes.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Black as the blackest above it.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
With the stars like blazing diamonds. He was twenty six,
and all of space.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Lay before him.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Like a great challenge, like a beckoning finger in fighting.
No one could ever know what it meant to me,
he told Friddy.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
It was an obsession.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I remember when I was in my teens, the way
I used to stand and stare at the stars. Why
I'd spend a whole night just stayed there and watching
the stars, whirling about the heavens, looking at the univers
as though it was a great celestial circus. I'd say
to myself, Friday, I'd say, someday, I'm going out there.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Someday I'm going out there and take apart some.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Of those flaming thin wheels and see what they're made of.
I'll go farther than anyone has ever gone before, and
then farther than that, I'll discover suns and worlds no
one has ever known existed. And I'll find out if
the universe is round after all, And if it is,
I'll find out what's on the outside of it. Jordan laughed.
(14:35):
Friday sat on a nearby rock, contemplating the earth Man
with large round.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Eyes that looked thoughtful.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
I was a good dream, Friday, but only a dream.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
You'll never know how I felt about it. This is
your world. Your planet.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
You can climb the highest tree on it and look
down on the world and know you've accomplished what you've
set out to do.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But not me. He looked up and shrugged.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
And yet I haven't he'd seen a star or the
night sky?
Speaker 3 (15:01):
And how long has it been?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Friday looked up at him sympathetically. Jordan laughed and reached
out the peppy animal. You're a good friend, Jordan said.
Not many friends would be so patient. It was good
to have someone to talk to. Jordan was grateful. And
then suddenly, or was it suddenly? The time came when
(15:24):
the animal was gone. Jordan found him dead a short distance.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
From his tree home.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Jordan cried unashamedly, remembering the times they'd spent together with
the earth Band, tossing a berry for the animal to
scamper for, but Friday occasionally making some small chattering noise.
But death was real and came without regard for friendship.
Jordan buried Friday beneath the tree that was his home,
(15:52):
and then stood for a moment, eyes misted, staring at
the grave. A sudden chattering brought his eyes upward to
the crotch of a tree, where another animal squatted on
its haunches and regarded him with frank curiosity. Friday, Jordan breathed, No,
that was impossible. There were differences even among the animals,
A subtle difference in the placement of colors and the fur,
(16:14):
a tapering to the ears and the bushy tail, an
individual idiosyncrasy, even in the automatic twitching of the nose.
Jordan turned away sadly and went back.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
To the rocket.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
The spaceship was a skeleton, now almost toppling beneath its
own weight. He didn't look at it. He sat down
in the sunlight. The animal leaped upon the nearby rock,
as Friday used to do, and regarded the earth man.
Jordan said, I wonder if you knew Friday. Maybe you
were relatives, maybe a cousin.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
You look like you might be a cousin. He used
to sit there, just the way you're doing, and I
used to tell him about the other worlds in this universe.
He never complained about being limited to this planet. I
wish I could be as content. In the days that followed,
Jordan grew tolike the small furry animal. He called it Friday.
(17:06):
He knew that Friday wouldn't mind, and at times it
seemed to the earth man that Friday actually lived in
this animal. That's the advantage of a family, Jordan said
to himself. Through offspring, you achieve immortality, passing a part
of yourself arm from generation to generation, so that, in
a sense, you actually live on after death.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
But what of my death?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He didn't like to think of that, not because he
was afraid, because he wasn't. But there were so many
things he had wanted to do, so many places out
there in the universe, to see so much that it
would take a million lifetimes to see only a small.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Part of it.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
At least, he thought there should be nights, but there
wasn't the slightest inkling that such a thing could exist.
The planet Jordan was on rotated at an even pace
between the two suns. When one sun was not in
the sky, the other was. When one left the other appeared,
and there was no twilight period, no brief instant when
(18:09):
a faint pinpoint of starlight might pierce the atmosphere. Yet
Jordan never ceased to look for it. During all the years,
no spaceship came. His own ship was red dust. Now
it takes a long time for metal to become dust.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
How long.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
He looked into the quiet pools of water at his reflection.
Gazing back at him, it was an ancient face, wrinkled
and incredibly old.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
He looked at his.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Hands and at his naked body, and found them the
color and texture of burned leather, with the bones showing through.
Dozens of Fridays had set upon the rocks and patiently
listened to his story. He had forgotten many things, but
he never forgot the blackness of space and the stars
that might have shared his destiny. He buried each animal tenderly,
(19:02):
weeping for the friend he had lost, and each time
Friday came reincarnated to listen to him, to keep him
company during the long, lonely vigils. I'm an old man,
Jordan said.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
An old old man.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
He walked across the fields and among the trees and
down to the ocean.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Soon he would not be able to do this.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
He felt a gradual lessening of strength and overall weakness
that slowly crept over him. Now he remained in the
vicinity of the rocket crash, near the last few fragments.
He sat beneath a tree near the edge of the clearing,
and here I'll die, he thought. The only regret he
felt was it not seeing the stars again. He sat
(19:48):
quietly in the shade. If he had required food, he
would have starved, for he lacked the strength to move.
The animal often sat nearby, a quizzical look on its
squirrel features, as though wondering why no sound came from
the lips of this strange.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Creature that had once talked to it.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Jordan sat there, thinking silently to himself, Jordan, that was
all there was left now, the identity of the name.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
How long would it be, he wondered.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Before even consciousness left.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
He waited.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
He waited patiently while the planet rotated on its axis
and the twin suns chased each other across the sky.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
He waited, dying, while.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
The forest grew on around him and animals came to
stare at him in wonder. He waited, and his body
grew brittle, until it seemed the skin would crack open
like a dry river bed baked in the sun. It
seemed his bones were dry powder within him, as though
his blood had ceased flowing. When a gentle breeze came,
(20:51):
he could feel his body tremble like a leaf in
a windstorm, as though it were a pattern of dust
that would scatter in a meaningless cloud. He stared straight
ahead with eyes that grew weak and weaker, staring at
the empty stretch of clearing in the forest that lay beyond.
He sat, not moving because he could not move, and
(21:13):
thought of the stars he would never see. He waited
while the years passed uncounted, and one day the space
ship came. It came down out of the yellow sky,
all silver and flame, and settled.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
In the clearing.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
It was a new ship, like a freshly minted coin,
sturdy and powerful, with a promise of lightning velocities in
its proud lines. Two men descended a ladder to the ground,
tall earthmen in spaces The earthmen stopped by the rust
fragments that were once a space ship and looked down
at them, wondering. They walked cautiously about the clearing. They
(21:54):
don't see me, Jordan thought wildly. They don't see me
sitting here by the twee here over here.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
I've been waiting for you. But no sound came. The
two earthmen returned to their spaceship climbed the ladder.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Jordan watched them enter the rocket saw the airlocked door
swing shut, his last chance about to blast off on
wings of flame forever.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
He struggled.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
He tried to raise an arm, a leg, tried to
move his lips, his head. He could feel his ancient
body shudder.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Gently under the strain. He felt a very particle shake.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
From a precarious balance, and then then suddenly he was free.
He ran to the edge of the forest, into a clearing,
to the great silver ship. He stood beneath it and shouted, here.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I am here, I am look, look down here. Don't
take off yet. I've been waiting for you, down here.
But the rocket grumbled and great sheets of golden flames
swept down over him, blinding him, cutting off all.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Side of the grass and the trees and the sky.
The spaceship was gone a dot there became less than
a duck, and then nothing of memory.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
A dream. Sadly, Jordan turned away.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
At the foot of the tree where he had sat
was a pattern of dust. He looked at it, puzzled
for a moment, wondering.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
He felt weightless, He felt he could fly.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Experimentally, he rose from the ground. He flew below in
the forest, grew small. The world became a round ball
with rivers.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
And palms and oceans of one best platter and feld.
What did it mean? No wonder, what did it mean?
His body had grown old and older, and an older still,
it had grown so old.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
That it had disintegrated at a movement, For that was
not really dead.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
And if it did not really die, but merely aged.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Until a good age no longer, what would prevent the
mind of the consciousness from continuing on? Jordan knew the ensign.
He was no longer planet bond, no longer prisoner to gravity.
He knew it as he left the planet far far
below him, wrapped in its haze of atmosphere, as he
(24:17):
swept past the nearest golden sun, brushing.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
It with a mental finger. And then he was clear.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Night burst upon him like a velvet mantle, cool with
ice crystal patterns of stars.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
He hung, poised for a brief moment.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Centuries of emotion flooding through him. He whirled excitedly, then
looking this way and that. Here were the stars and
the constellations, and the island universes in the nebulae that
curved and spiraled and stretched in great gaseous bands across
(24:57):
the heavens like fiery jewels, and last showcase, and here
and here and here were the others, all of them,
all of them waiting softly.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
He spoke their names. They were old.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Friends, not seen too long a time. It would take
a million lifetimes to visit only a small.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Number of them. But he had that and more.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Which way first, he wondered, which way around him patiently,
the universe waiting the.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Second story.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
This evening was called The Castaway, written by Charles E.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Fritch. It appeared in the book edited by William F.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Nolan, A Wilderness of Stars. This is Michael Hanson speaking
production engineer for Mindwebbs as Steve Gordon.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Mindwebbs is a
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Production of WHA Radio and Madison, a service of the
University of Wisconsin Extension
Mind Webb.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome to a half hour of mind webs short stories
from the world Speculating section. The first story on mind
webs and I originally appeared in Night Being fifty one.
It's The Weapon by Frederick Brown, and among the places
(01:06):
it appears is in Science Fiction For People who Hate
Science Fiction, the volume edited by Terry Carr. Frederick Brown's
The Weapon. The room was quiet in the dimness of
early evening. Doctor James Graham, key scientist of a very
important project, set in his favorite chair, thinking. It was
(01:28):
so still that he could hear the turning of pages
in the next room as his son leafed.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Through a picture book.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Often Graham did his best work, his most creative thinking
under these circumstances, sitting alone in an unlighted room in
his own apartment after the day's regular work. But tonight
his mind would not work constructively. Mostly he thought about
his mentally arrested son, his only son, in the next room.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
The thoughts were.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Loving thoughts, not the bitter anguish he had felt years
ago when he had first learned of the boy's condition.
The boy was happy, wasn't that the main thing? And
to how many men is given a child who will
always be a child who would not grow up to
leave him. Certainly that was a rationalization, but what's wrong
with rationalization? When the door bell rang, Graham rose and
(02:16):
turned on lights in the almost dark room before he
went through the hallway to the door. He was not
annoyed tonight. At this moment, almost any interruption to his
thoughts was welcome. He opened the door. A stranger stood there.
He said, doctor Graham, my name is niemand i'd like
to talk to you. May I come in for a moment.
(02:37):
Graham looked at him. He was a small man on
the script, obviously harmless, possibly a reporter or an insurance agent,
but it didn't matter what he was. Graham found himself saying,
of course, come in, mister Nimond. A few minutes of conversation,
he justified himself by thinking, might divert his thoughts and
clear his mind. Sit down, he said, In the living room,
(02:59):
care for a drink?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
No, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
He sat in the chair Graham on the sofa. The
small man interlocked his fingers.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
He leaned forward and said, doctor Graham, you are.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
The man whose scientific work is more likely than that
of any other man to end the human race's chance
for survival. Graham thought a crackbut oh too late now,
and he realized he should have asked the man's business
before admitting him. It would be an embarrassing interview. He
disliked being rude, but rudeness was effective, doctor Graham, the
(03:36):
weapon on which you are working.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The visitor stopped and turned.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
His head as the door that led to a bedroom
opened and a boy of fifteen came in. The boy
didn't notice Nemon.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
He ran to Graham, Daddy, will you read me now?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Boy of fifteen laughed the sweet laughter of a child,
before Graham put an arm around the boy. He looked
at his visitor, wondering whether he had known about the boy.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
From the lack of.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Surprise on Nemon's face, Graham felt.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Sure he had known.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Harry, Daddy's busy right now, just for a little While'll
go back to your room, will you.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I'll come and read you soon, sick and little.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
You'll read me sick and little if you wish.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I'll run along.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Wait, wait a minute, Harry, this is mister Nemond. The
boy smiled bashfully at the visitor. Nemon said, Hi, Harry,
and smiled back at him, holding out his hand. Graham, watching,
was sure now that Neemond had known the smile and
the gesture before the boy's mental age, not his physical one.
(04:36):
The boy took Nemon's hand for a moment it seemed
that he was going to climb into Nemon's lap, and
Graham pulled him back gently. Go to your room, now, Harry.
The boy skipped back into his bedroom, not closing the door.
Nemon's eyes met Graham's and he said, I like him,
Doctor Graham. I I hope that what you're going to
(04:57):
read to him will always be true. Who Graham didn't understand.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Neeman said, chicken Little.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I mean, it's a fine story, but may Chicken Little
always be wrong about the sky falling down. Graham suddenly
had liked niemand when Nemon had shown liking for the boy,
now he remembered that he must.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Close the interview. Quickly, he rose and dismissal.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Hell, I hear you're wasting your time in mind, mister Nemon.
I know all the arguments. Everything you can say.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I've heard a thousand times.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Possibly there's truth in what you believe, but it does
not concern me. I'm a scientist and only a scientist.
I know it is public knowledge that I am working
on a weapon, a rather ultimate one, but you see,
for me personally, that is only a byproduct of the
fact that I am advancing science.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I've thought it through.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I have found that that is my only concern. But
doctor Graham, is humanity ready for an ultimate weapon? I
I've told you my point of view, mister Nimond. Neemond
rose slowly from the chair. Very well, if you did
(06:17):
not choose to discuss it, I'll say no more. He
passed a hand over his forehead. I'll leave, doctor Graham,
although I wonder and might I change my mind about
the drink you offered me. Graham's irritation faded. There certainly,
will whiskey and waterdo admirably? Graham excused himself and went
(06:39):
into the kitchen. He got the decanter of whiskey, another
of water, and the ice cubes and the glasses. When
he returned to the living room, Niemond was just leaving
the boy's bedroom. He heard Nemon's good night, Harry, Harry's
happy night, mister Nemond. Graham made drinks. A little later,
Niemond find the second one and started to leave Nemom said, Ah,
(07:04):
doctor Graham, I took the liberty of bringing a small
gift to your son. I gave it to him while
you were getting the drinks for us. I I hope
you'll forgive me doctor. Uh, of course, Uh, thank you.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Good night.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Graham closed the door. He walked through the living room
into Harry's room. He said, all right, Harry, now I'll
read too. Only a madman would give a loaded revolver
to an idiot. Our first story this evening was titled
(07:43):
The Weapon by Frederick Brown. It appeared in the book
Science Fiction for People who Hate Science Fiction, edited by
Terry Carr. The second story on mindwebs this evening comes
(08:20):
from the book A Wilderness of Stars.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Edited by William F. Nolan.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The story is by Charles E. Fritch and is called
La Castaway. He didn't know how long he'd been here
in this world of eternal day. There was no way
of telling the passage of time. The spaceship's chronometer was dead,
as the spaceship itself was dead. Is some day he
would be dead. The rocket had crashed on his oxygen planet,
(08:48):
breathed its last mechanical sigh, and died. M. Jordan that
was his name, not much. He knew he'd forgotten a
great many things during the long years, but those things
didn't matter. Jordan was his name, and he clung to
the identity of the grasp of a dying man, a
dying man. He thought, how long?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
How long? Between the twin suns?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
The planet rotated slowly, warmed, and illuminated, first by one
sun and then by the other. There was no need
for clothing, for the air was warm, and besides, all
his clothing had crumbled into dust long ago. How long months, years, decades,
Ageless and yet aging, He found himself growing old without
(09:35):
the discomforts of growing old. After a while, he didn't
even mind being alone. It was terrible at first, if
only the radio had worked, even if only the receiver
so he could hear a human voice. But the twin
suns blocked communication, and after a while, after a long while,
he forgot about it. He remembered the crash in the
(09:57):
darkness that followed. He recalled approaching this pla at it
with his spaceship, wabbling, bursting spasmodic jets of flame through
torn tubes, frantically working controls that wouldn't respond as they should.
Forcing him toward the twin suns, toward the single planet
between the twin suns.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
His heart held no hope.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
He had expected to die, but he was alive. He
remembered sitting up and feeling his balms, and stretching and
wondering at this miracle. Fifty yards away the space ship
lay a broken metal hulk that should have been his coffin.
Great gaping wounds stood from it like evil sores, and
mechanical veins sprouted lifeless from the holes.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It was a miracle he had lived.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
A second miracle that the planet contained an atmosphere he
could breathe without discomfort. But greater miracles were forthcoming. He
took small hand weapons from the space ship and explored
the planet. It was very much like his Earth, but
much smaller. The gravity was similar. There was green grass,
and there were ever green trees, and there were small
(11:01):
ponds and rivers which reflected the sky and the great
yellow suns. And there was even a small ocean. He
stood at the edge of this ocean and wondered what
lay beyond. Years or was it decades later he found out.
He wandered across the face of this planet, occasionally building
crude but serviceable rafts to navigate bodies of water, and
(11:22):
he found the world the same as it was where
he had crashed. There were no intelligent creatures to be found.
There were animals that looked like squirrels, others which resembled deer,
and the waters held a multicolored fish not too unlike
those of Earth. This offered some consolation. He even made
friends with one squirrel like animal, calling it Friday. If
(11:47):
any ships flew near the planet, they might see the
crashed rocket and investigate. That was his hope. Often he
shaded his eyes from the glare of the sun and
gazed into the bright sky, searching for a gleam of.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Metal, but he found none. Food food was everywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Fruits and berries could be had for the reaching, and
small animals could easily be caught, but he wasn't hungry
at first. This puzzled him. After the crash, he'd take
an inventory of his rations aboard the spaceship, mentally calculating
how long they'd last. After several days, or what he
considered to be several days, he tried to force rations
down his throat, thinking he would starve if he didn't,
(12:27):
but the food was repugnant, and he felt worse for
having tried to eat it. He looked into the cracked
mirror aboard the spaceship at his smooth, young features. I'm
twenty six now, he thought, How old will I be
when I'm rescued? Or will I spend the rest of
my life here? At that thought, he angrily picked up
(12:47):
a stool and smashed his only mirror into fragments. He
had cause to regret that for later, when he looked
into ponds.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Of clear water that bore his reflection, he tried.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
To see what lines lay in his features, to calculate
how long he'd been on this planet.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
After a while, he forgot about it.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
He forgot about most things, most things, but not all.
At first, he strained and fretted and cursed, and glanced
a thousand times at the empty sky. But calmness returned.
His mind grew placid and reasonably content. Only one thing remained.
A Tormentian space. It's cool reaches out there, just beyond
(13:29):
the sun, out in that yellowness that becomes.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Black as the blackest above it.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
With the stars like blazing diamonds. He was twenty six,
and all of space.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Lay before him.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Like a great challenge, like a beckoning finger in fighting.
No one could ever know what it meant to me,
he told Friddy.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
It was an obsession.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I remember when I was in my teens, the way
I used to stand and stare at the stars. Why
I'd spend a whole night just stayed there and watching
the stars, whirling about the heavens, looking at the univers
as though it was a great celestial circus. I'd say
to myself, Friday, I'd say, someday, I'm going out there.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Someday I'm going out there and take apart some.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Of those flaming thin wheels and see what they're made of.
I'll go farther than anyone has ever gone before, and
then farther than that, I'll discover suns and worlds no
one has ever known existed. And I'll find out if
the universe is round after all, And if it is,
I'll find out what's on the outside of it. Jordan laughed.
(14:35):
Friday sat on a nearby rock, contemplating the earth Man
with large round.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Eyes that looked thoughtful.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
I was a good dream, Friday, but only a dream.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
You'll never know how I felt about it. This is
your world. Your planet.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
You can climb the highest tree on it and look
down on the world and know you've accomplished what you've
set out to do.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But not me. He looked up and shrugged.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
And yet I haven't he'd seen a star or the
night sky?
Speaker 3 (15:01):
And how long has it been?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Friday looked up at him sympathetically. Jordan laughed and reached
out the peppy animal. You're a good friend, Jordan said.
Not many friends would be so patient. It was good
to have someone to talk to. Jordan was grateful. And
then suddenly, or was it suddenly? The time came when
(15:24):
the animal was gone. Jordan found him dead a short distance.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
From his tree home.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Jordan cried unashamedly, remembering the times they'd spent together with
the earth Band, tossing a berry for the animal to
scamper for, but Friday occasionally making some small chattering noise.
But death was real and came without regard for friendship.
Jordan buried Friday beneath the tree that was his home,
(15:52):
and then stood for a moment, eyes misted, staring at
the grave. A sudden chattering brought his eyes upward to
the crotch of a tree, where another animal squatted on
its haunches and regarded him with frank curiosity. Friday, Jordan breathed, No,
that was impossible. There were differences even among the animals,
A subtle difference in the placement of colors and the fur,
(16:14):
a tapering to the ears and the bushy tail, an
individual idiosyncrasy, even in the automatic twitching of the nose.
Jordan turned away sadly and went back.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
To the rocket.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
The spaceship was a skeleton, now almost toppling beneath its
own weight. He didn't look at it. He sat down
in the sunlight. The animal leaped upon the nearby rock,
as Friday used to do, and regarded the earth man.
Jordan said, I wonder if you knew Friday. Maybe you
were relatives, maybe a cousin.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
You look like you might be a cousin. He used
to sit there, just the way you're doing, and I
used to tell him about the other worlds in this universe.
He never complained about being limited to this planet. I
wish I could be as content. In the days that followed,
Jordan grew tolike the small furry animal. He called it Friday.
(17:06):
He knew that Friday wouldn't mind, and at times it
seemed to the earth man that Friday actually lived in
this animal. That's the advantage of a family, Jordan said
to himself. Through offspring, you achieve immortality, passing a part
of yourself arm from generation to generation, so that, in
a sense, you actually live on after death.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
But what of my death?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He didn't like to think of that, not because he
was afraid, because he wasn't. But there were so many
things he had wanted to do, so many places out
there in the universe, to see so much that it
would take a million lifetimes to see only a small.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Part of it.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
At least, he thought there should be nights, but there
wasn't the slightest inkling that such a thing could exist.
The planet Jordan was on rotated at an even pace
between the two suns. When one sun was not in
the sky, the other was. When one left the other appeared,
and there was no twilight period, no brief instant when
(18:09):
a faint pinpoint of starlight might pierce the atmosphere. Yet
Jordan never ceased to look for it. During all the years,
no spaceship came. His own ship was red dust. Now
it takes a long time for metal to become dust.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
How long.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
He looked into the quiet pools of water at his reflection.
Gazing back at him, it was an ancient face, wrinkled
and incredibly old.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
He looked at his.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Hands and at his naked body, and found them the
color and texture of burned leather, with the bones showing through.
Dozens of Fridays had set upon the rocks and patiently
listened to his story. He had forgotten many things, but
he never forgot the blackness of space and the stars
that might have shared his destiny. He buried each animal tenderly,
(19:02):
weeping for the friend he had lost, and each time
Friday came reincarnated to listen to him, to keep him
company during the long, lonely vigils. I'm an old man,
Jordan said.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
An old old man.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
He walked across the fields and among the trees and
down to the ocean.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Soon he would not be able to do this.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
He felt a gradual lessening of strength and overall weakness
that slowly crept over him. Now he remained in the
vicinity of the rocket crash, near the last few fragments.
He sat beneath a tree near the edge of the clearing,
and here I'll die, he thought. The only regret he
felt was it not seeing the stars again. He sat
(19:48):
quietly in the shade. If he had required food, he
would have starved, for he lacked the strength to move.
The animal often sat nearby, a quizzical look on its
squirrel features, as though wondering why no sound came from
the lips of this strange.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Creature that had once talked to it.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Jordan sat there, thinking silently to himself, Jordan, that was
all there was left now, the identity of the name.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
How long would it be, he wondered.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Before even consciousness left.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
He waited.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
He waited patiently while the planet rotated on its axis
and the twin suns chased each other across the sky.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
He waited, dying, while.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
The forest grew on around him and animals came to
stare at him in wonder. He waited, and his body
grew brittle, until it seemed the skin would crack open
like a dry river bed baked in the sun. It
seemed his bones were dry powder within him, as though
his blood had ceased flowing. When a gentle breeze came,
(20:51):
he could feel his body tremble like a leaf in
a windstorm, as though it were a pattern of dust
that would scatter in a meaningless cloud. He stared straight
ahead with eyes that grew weak and weaker, staring at
the empty stretch of clearing in the forest that lay beyond.
He sat, not moving because he could not move, and
(21:13):
thought of the stars he would never see. He waited
while the years passed uncounted, and one day the space
ship came. It came down out of the yellow sky,
all silver and flame, and settled.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
In the clearing.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
It was a new ship, like a freshly minted coin,
sturdy and powerful, with a promise of lightning velocities in
its proud lines. Two men descended a ladder to the ground,
tall earthmen in spaces The earthmen stopped by the rust
fragments that were once a space ship and looked down
at them, wondering. They walked cautiously about the clearing. They
(21:54):
don't see me, Jordan thought wildly. They don't see me
sitting here by the twee here over here.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
I've been waiting for you. But no sound came. The
two earthmen returned to their spaceship climbed the ladder.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Jordan watched them enter the rocket saw the airlocked door
swing shut, his last chance about to blast off on
wings of flame forever.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
He struggled.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
He tried to raise an arm, a leg, tried to
move his lips, his head. He could feel his ancient
body shudder.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Gently under the strain. He felt a very particle shake.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
From a precarious balance, and then then suddenly he was free.
He ran to the edge of the forest, into a clearing,
to the great silver ship. He stood beneath it and shouted, here.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I am here, I am look, look down here. Don't
take off yet. I've been waiting for you, down here.
But the rocket grumbled and great sheets of golden flames
swept down over him, blinding him, cutting off all.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Side of the grass and the trees and the sky.
The spaceship was gone a dot there became less than
a duck, and then nothing of memory.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
A dream. Sadly, Jordan turned away.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
At the foot of the tree where he had sat
was a pattern of dust. He looked at it, puzzled
for a moment, wondering.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
He felt weightless, He felt he could fly.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Experimentally, he rose from the ground. He flew below in
the forest, grew small. The world became a round ball
with rivers.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
And palms and oceans of one best platter and feld.
What did it mean? No wonder, what did it mean?
His body had grown old and older, and an older still,
it had grown so old.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
That it had disintegrated at a movement, For that was
not really dead.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
And if it did not really die, but merely aged.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Until a good age no longer, what would prevent the
mind of the consciousness from continuing on? Jordan knew the ensign.
He was no longer planet bond, no longer prisoner to gravity.
He knew it as he left the planet far far
below him, wrapped in its haze of atmosphere, as he
(24:17):
swept past the nearest golden sun, brushing.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
It with a mental finger. And then he was clear.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Night burst upon him like a velvet mantle, cool with
ice crystal patterns of stars.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
He hung, poised for a brief moment.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Centuries of emotion flooding through him. He whirled excitedly, then
looking this way and that. Here were the stars and
the constellations, and the island universes in the nebulae that
curved and spiraled and stretched in great gaseous bands across
(24:57):
the heavens like fiery jewels, and last showcase, and here
and here and here were the others, all of them,
all of them waiting softly.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
He spoke their names. They were old.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Friends, not seen too long a time. It would take
a million lifetimes to visit only a small.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Number of them. But he had that and more.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Which way first, he wondered, which way around him patiently,
the universe waiting the.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Second story.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
This evening was called The Castaway, written by Charles E.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Fritch. It appeared in the book edited by William F.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Nolan, A Wilderness of Stars. This is Michael Hanson speaking
production engineer for Mindwebbs as Steve Gordon.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Mindwebbs is a
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Production of WHA Radio and Madison, a service of the
University of Wisconsin Extension
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.