The Gun - Philip K. Dick

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The gun by Philip K. Dick. Nothing moved or stirred.
Everything was silent, dead. Only the gun showed signs of life,
and the trespassers had wrecked that for all time. The
return journey to pick up the treasure would be a cinch.

(00:20):
They smiled. The captain peered into the eyepiece of the telescope.
He adjusted the focus quickly. It was an atomic vision.
We saw, all right, he said, presently. He sighed and
pushed the eye piece away. Any of you who wants
to look may do so, but it's not a pretty sight.
Let me look, Tance, the archaeologist said. He bent down

(00:42):
to look, squinting. Good lord, he leaped violently back, knocking
against Dorley, the chief navigator. Why did we come all
this way, then, Dorley asked, looking around at the other men.
There's no point even in landing. Let's go back at once.
Perhaps he's right, the biologist murmured, But I'd like to
look for myself, if I may. He pushed past Tance

(01:04):
and peered into the sight. He saw a vast expanse
of endless surface of gray, stretching to the edge of
the planet. At first he thought it was water, but
After a moment, he realized that it was slag, pitted,
fused slag broken only by hills of rock jutting up
at intervals. Nothing moved or stirred. Everything was silent dead.

(01:27):
I see, Fomar said, backing away from the eyepiece. Well,
I won't find any lagoomes there. He tried to smile,
but his lips stayed unmoved. He stepped away and stood
by himself, staring past the others. I wonder what the
atmospheric sample will show, Tance said, I think I can guess.
The captain answered, most of the atmosphere is poisoned. But

(01:48):
didn't we expect all this? I don't see why we're
so surprised. A fission visible as far away as our
system must be a terrible thing. He strode off down
the corridor, dignified and expressionless. They watched him disappear into
the control room. As the captain closed the door, the
young woman turned. What did the telescope show? Good or bad? Bad?

(02:11):
No life could possibly exist? Atmosphere poisoned, water vaporized, all
the land fused. Could they have gone underground? The captain
slid back the port windows so that the surface of
the planet under them was visible. The two of them
stared down, silent and disturbed. Mile after mile of unbroken
ruin stretched out, blackened slag, pitted and scarred, and occasional

(02:33):
heaps of rock. Suddenly, Nasha jumped, Look over there, at
the edge. Do you see it, they stared. Something rose up,
not rock, not an accidental formation. It was round a
circle of dots, white pellets on the dead skin of
the planet. A city, buildings of some kind. Please turn

(02:54):
the ship, Nasha said, excitedly. She pushed her dark hair
from her face. Turn the ship and let's see what
it is. The ship turned, changing its course as they
came over the white dots. The captain lowered the ship,
dropping it down as much as he dared. Piers, he said,
Piers of some sort of stone, perhaps poured artificial stone,

(03:14):
the remains of a city. Oh dear, Nasha murmured, how awful.
She watched the ruins disappear behind them in a half circle.
The white squares jutted from the slag, chipped and cracked
like broken teeth. There's nothing alive, the captain said, at last,
I think we'll go right back. I know most of
the crew want to get the government receiving station on

(03:35):
the center and tell them what we found, and that
we he staggered. The first atomic shell had struck the ship,
spinning it around. The captain fell to the floor, crashing
into the control table. Papers and instruments rained down on
him as he started to his feet. The second shell
struck the ceiling, cracked open, struts and girders twisted and bent.
The ship shuddered, falling suddenly down, then righting itself as

(03:58):
automatic controls took over. The captain lay on the floor
by the smashed control board in the center. Nasha struggled
to free herself from the debris. Outside, the men were
already sealing the gaping leaks in the side of the
ship through which the precious air was rushing, dissipating into
the void beyond help me. Dorley was shouting fire over here,

(04:18):
wiring ignited. Two men came running. Tance watched helplessly, his
eye glasses broken and bent. So there is life here
after all, he said, half to himself. But how could
give us a hand? Fomar said, hurrying past, give us
a hand. We've got to land the ship. It was night.
A few stars glinted above them winking through the drifting

(04:39):
silt that blew across the surface of the planet. Dorley
peered out, frowning. What a place to be stuck in.
He resumed his work, hammering the bent metal hull of
the ship back into place. He was wearing a pressure suit.
There were still many small leaks, and radioactive particles from
the atmosphere had already found their way into the ship.

(05:00):
Nasha and Fomar were sitting at the table in the
control room, pale solemn, studying the inventory lists lo on carbohydrates.
Fomar said, we can break down the stored fats if
we want to, But I wonder if we could find
anything outside. Nasha went to the window. How uninviting it looks.
She paced back and forth, very slender and small, her

(05:23):
face dark with fatigue. What do you suppose an exploring
party would find, Fomar shrugged, Not much, Maybe a few
weeds growing in cracks here and there. Nothing we could use.
Anything that would adapt to this environment would be toxic lethal.
Nasha paused, rubbing her cheek. There was a deep scratch there,
still red and swollen. Then how do you explain it?

(05:46):
According to your theory? The inhabitants must have died in
their skins, fried like yams. But who fired on us?
Somebody detected us, made a decision, aimed a gun and
gaged distance, the captain said, from the cot in the
corner he turned toward them. That's the part that worries me.
The first shell put us out of commission. The second

(06:08):
almost destroyed us. They were well aimed, perfectly aimed. We're
not such an easy target, true, Fomar nodded, Well, perhaps
we'll know the answer before we leave here. What a
strange situation. All our reasoning tells us that no life
could exist. The whole planet burned dry, the atmosphere itself
gone completely poisoned. The gun that fired the projectile survived.

(06:31):
Nasha said, why not, people, it's not the same. Metal
doesn't need air to breathe, Metal doesn't get leukemia from
radioactive particles. Metal doesn't need food and water. There was silence,
a paradox. Nasha said, anyhow, in the morning, I think
we should send out a search party, and meanwhile, we
should keep on trying to get the ship in condition

(06:52):
for the trip back. It'll be days before we can
take off, Fomar said, we should keep every man working here.
We can't afford to send out a party. Nasha smiled
a little. We'll send you out in the first party.
Maybe you can discover what was it you were so
interested in legomes, edible lagomes. Maybe you can find some

(07:13):
of them, only only what only Watch out. They fired
on us once, without even knowing who we were or
what we came for. Do you suppose they fought with
each other? Perhaps they couldn't imagine anyone being friendly under
any circumstances. What a strange evolutionary trait, enter species warfare
fighting within the race. We'll know in the morning, Fomar said,

(07:36):
let's get some sleep. The sun came up, chill and austere.
The three people, two men and a woman, stepped through
the port, dropping down on the hard ground below. What
a day, Dorley said, grumpily. I said, how glad I'd
be to walk on firm ground again. But come on,
Nasha said, up beside me, I want to say something
to you. Will you excuse us? Tans Tance nodded gloomily.

(08:00):
Dorley caught up with Nasha. They walked together, their metal
shoes crunching the ground under foot. Nasha glanced at him. Listen,
the captain is dying. No one knows except the two
of us. By the end of the day period of
this planet, he'll be dead. The shock did something to
his heart. He was almost sixty, you know. Dorley nodded.
That's bad. I have a great deal of respect for him.

(08:23):
You will be captain in his place, of course, since
you are vice captain now, No, I prefer to see
some one else lead, perhaps you or Fomar. I've been
thinking over the situation, and it seems to me that
I should declare myself mate it to one of you.
Whichever of you wants to be captain, then I could
devolve the responsibility. Well, I don't want to be captain.
Let Fomart do it. Nasha studied him, tall and blonde,

(08:47):
striding along beside her in his pressure suit. I'm rather
partial to you, she said. We might try it for
a time at least, but do as you like. Look,
we're coming to something. They stopped walking, letting tam Let's ketch. Up.
In front of them was some sort of a ruined building.
Dorley stared around thoughtfully. Do you see this whole place

(09:08):
is a natural bowl, a huge valley? See how the
rock formations rise up on all sides, protecting the floor.
Maybe some of the Great Blast was deflected here. They
wandered around the ruins, picking up rocks and fragments. I
think this was a farm, Tant said, examining a piece
of wood. This was part of a tower windmill. Really.

(09:28):
Nasha took the stick and turned it over. Interesting, But
let's go. We don't have much time. Look, Dorley said, suddenly,
off there a long way off. Isn't that something? He pointed?
Nasha sucked in her breath. The white stones? What? Nasha
looked up at Dorley. The white stones, the great broken teeth.

(09:49):
We saw them, the Captain and I from the control room.
She touched Dorley's arm gently. That's where they fired from.
I didn't think we had landed so close. What is it,
Tant said, coming up to them. I'm almost blind without
my glasses. What do you see the city where they
fired from? Oh? All three of them stood together. Well,

(10:10):
let's go, Tant said. There's no telling what we'll find there.
Dorley frowned him. Wait, we don't know what we would
be getting into. They must have patrols. They probably have
seen us already. For that matter, they probably have seen
the ship itself, Tant said, They probably know right now
where they can find it, where they can blow it up.
So what difference does it make whether we go closer

(10:31):
or not. That's true, Nasha said, If they really want
to get us, we haven't a chance. We have no
armaments at all. You know that I have a hand weapon.
Dorley nodded. Well, let's go on. Then. I suppose you're right, Tance,
but let's stay together. Tan said nervously, Nasha, you're going
too fast. Nasha looked back. She laughed. If we expect

(10:54):
to get there by nightfall, we must go fast. They
reached the outskirts of the city at about the middle
of the fat afternoon. The sun, cold and yellow, hung
above them in the colorless sky. Dorley stopped at the
top of a ridge overlooking the city. Well, there it is,
what's left of it. There was not much left. The
huge concrete piers which they had noticed were not peers

(11:16):
at all, but the ruined foundations of buildings. They had
been baked by the searing heat, baked and charred almost
to the ground. Nothing else remained, only this irregular circle
of white squares, perhaps four miles in diameter. Dorley spat
in disgust. More wasted time, a dead skeleton of a city,
that's all. But it was from here that the firing came.

(11:38):
Tance murmured, don't forget that, and by some one with
a good eye and a great deal of experience. Nasha added,
let's go. They walked into the city between the ruined buildings.
No one spoke. They walked in silence, listening to the
echo of their footsteps. It's macabre, Dorley muttered. I've seen
ruined cities before, but they died of old age, old

(11:59):
age and fatigue. This was killed, seared to death. This
city didn't die, it was murdered. I wonder what the
city was called, Nasha said. She turned aside, going up
the remains of a stairway from one of the foundations.
Do you think we might find a sign post, some
kind of plaque. She peered into the ruins. There's nothing there,

(12:20):
Dorley said, impatiently. Come on, wait. Nasha bent down, touching
a concrete stone. There's something inscribed on this. What is it?
Tans hurried up. He squatted in the dust, running his
gloved fingers over the surface of the stone. Letters. All right,
he took a writing stick from the pocket of his
pressure suit and copied the inscription on a bit of paper.

(12:41):
Dorley glanced over his shoulder. The inscription was Franklin Apartments.
That's this city, Nasha said softly, that was its name.
Tanz put the paper in his pocket and they went on.
After a time, Dorley said, Nasha, you know, I think
we're being watched, but don't look around. The woman and stiffened. Oh,

(13:02):
why do you say that? Did you see something? No?
I can feel it, though, don't you. Nasha smiled a little.
I feel nothing, but perhaps I'm more used to being
stared at. She turned her head slightly. Oh. Dorley reached
for his hand weapon. What is it? What you see?
Tanz had stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth half open.

(13:22):
The gun, Nasha said, it's the gun. Look at the
size of it. The size of the thing. Dorley unfastened
his hand weapon slowly. That's it, all right. The gun
was huge, stark, and immense. It pointed up at the sky,
a mass of steel and glass set in a huge
slab of concrete. Even as they watched, the gun moved
on its swivel base, whirring underneath a slim vane turned

(13:46):
with the wind, a network of rods atop a high pole.
It's alive, Nasha whispered, it's listening to us, watching us.
The gun moved again, this time clockwise. It was mounted
so that it could make a full circle. The barrel
lowered a trifle, then resumed its original position. But who
fires it, Tant said, Dorley laughed, no one, No one

(14:10):
fires it. They stared at him. What do you mean
it fires itself? They couldn't believe him. Nasha came close
to him, frowning, looking up at him. I don't understand
what you mean. It fires itself. Watch, I'll show you.
Don't move. Dorley picked up a rock from the ground.
He hesitated a moment, and then tossed the rock high

(14:31):
in the air. The rock passed in front of the gun. Instantly,
the great barrel moved, the vanes contracted, the rock fell
to the ground. The gun paused, then resumed its calm swivel,
its slow circling. You see, Dorley said, it noticed the
rock as soon as I threw it up in the air.
It's alert to anything that flies or moves above the
ground level. Probably it detected us as soon as we

(14:52):
entered the gravitational field of the planet. It probably had
a beat on us from the start. We don't have
a chance. It knows all about the ship, just waiting
for us to take off again. I understand about the rock,
Nasa said, nodding. The gun noticed it, but not us,
since we're on the ground, not above. It's only designed
to combat objects in the sky. The ship is safe

(15:14):
until it takes off again. Then the end will come.
But what's this gun for tance put in? There's no
one alive here. Everyone is dead. It's a machine, Dorley said,
a machine that was made to do a job, and
it's doing the job. How it survived the blast, I
don't know. On it goes waiting for the enemy. Probably
they came by air in some sort of projectiles. The enemy,

(15:38):
Nasha said, their own race. It is hard to believe
that they really bombed themselves, fired at themselves. Well, it's
over with, except right here where we are standing, this
one gun still alert, ready to kill. It'll go on
until it wears out, and by that time will be dead,
Nasha said bitterly. There must have been hundreds of guns

(15:59):
like this. Dorley murmured. They must have been used to
the sight guns, weapons, uniforms. Probably they accepted it as
a natural thing, part of their lives, like eating and sleeping.
An institution like the church and the state, men trained
to fight to lead armies, a regular profession, honored respected.
Tance was walking slowly towards the gun, peering near sightedly

(16:21):
up at it. Quite complex, isn't it, all those vanes
and tubes. I suppose this is some sort of a
telescopic sight. His gloved hand touched the end of a
long tube. Instantly, the gun shifted, the barrel reacting it swung.
Don't move, Dorley cried. The barrel swung past them as
they stood rigid and still. For one terrible moment, it

(16:42):
hesitated over their heads, clicking and wiring, settling into position.
Then the sounds died out and the gun became silent.
Tance smiled foolishly inside his helmet. I must have put
my finger over the lens. I'll be more careful. He
made his way up onto the circular slab, stepping gingerly
behind the body of the gun. He disappeared from view.

(17:04):
Where did he go? Nasha said, irritably, He'll get us
all killed. Tance, come back. Dorley shouted, what's the matter
with you? In a minute, there was a long silence.
At last the archaeologist appeared. I think I found something.
Come up and i'll show you what is it? Dorley?
You said the gun was here to keep the enemy off.
I think I know why they wanted to keep the

(17:26):
enemy off. They were puzzled. I think I found what
the gun is supposed to guard. Come and give me
a hand, all right, Dorley said abruptly, let's go. He
seized Nasha's hand. Come on, let's see what he's found.
I thought something like this might happen when I saw
that the gun was like what. Nasha pulled her hand away.
What are you talking about? You act as if you

(17:46):
knew what he's found? I do, Dorley smiled down at her.
Do you remember the legend that all races have the
myth of the buried treasure and the dragon the serpent
that watches it, guards it, keeps everyone away. She nodded. Well.
Dorley pointed up at the gun that he said, is
the dragon. Come on. Between the three of them, they

(18:08):
managed to pull up the steel cover and lay it
to one side. Dorley was wet with perspiration. When they finished.
It isn't worth it, he grunted. He stared into the dark,
yawning hole. Or is it? Nasha clicked on her hand lamp,
shining the beam down the stairs. The steps were thick
with dust and rubble. At the bottom was a steel door.

(18:28):
Come on, tant said excitedly. He started down the stairs.
They watched him reach the door and pull hopefully on
it without success. Give a hand, all right, They came
gingerly after him. Dorley examined the door. It was bolted,
shut locked. There was an inscription on the door, but
he could not read it. Now what, Nasha said, Dorley

(18:49):
took out his hand weapon, stand back, I can't think
of any other way. He pressed the switch. The bottom
of the door glowed red. Presently it began to crumble.
Dorley clicked the web and off, I think we can
get through. Let's try. The door came apart easily. In
a few minutes. They had carried it away in pieces
and stacked the pieces on the first step. Then they

(19:10):
went on, flashing the light ahead of them. They were
in a vault, dust lay everywhere on everything. Inches thick
wood crates lined the walls, huge boxes and crates, packages
and containers. Tance looked around curiously, his eyes bright. What
exactly are all these? He murmured, something valuable, I would think.

(19:30):
He picked up a round drum and opened it. A
spool fell to the floor, unwinding a black ribbon. He
examined it, holding it up to the light. Look at this,
They came around him. Pictures, Nasha said, tiny pictures, records
of some kind. Tance closed the spool up in the
drum again. Look, hundreds of drums. He flashed the light around,

(19:53):
and those crates. Let's open one. Dorley was already prying
at the wood. The wood had turned brittle and dry,
managed to pull a section away. It was a picture,
a boy in a blue garment, smiling pleasantly, staring ahead,
young and handsome, he seemed almost alive, ready to move
toward them. In the light of the hand lamp. It

(20:13):
was one of them, one of the ruined race, the
race that had perished for a long time. They stared
at the picture. At last, Dorley replaced the board. All
these other crates, Nasha said, more pictures, and these drums.
What are in these boxes? This is their treasure, Tant said,
almost to himself. Here are their pictures, their records. Probably

(20:34):
all their literature is here, their stories, their myths, their
ideas about the universe, and their history, Nasha said, will
be able to trace their development and find out what
it was that made them become what they were. Dorley
was wandering around the vault. Odd, he murmured, even at
the end, even after they had begun to fight, they

(20:54):
still knew, some place down inside them that their real
treasure was this, their books, in their myths. Even after
their big cities and buildings and industries were destroyed. They
probably hope to come back and find this after everything
else was gone. When we get back home, we can
agitate for a mission to come here. Tant said. All

(21:15):
this can be loaded up and taken back. We'll be
leaving about he stopped. Yes, Dorley said dryly. We'll be
leaving about three day periods from now. We'll fix the ship,
then take off. Soon we'll be home. That is, if
nothing happens like being shot down by that. Oh, stop it,
Nasha said, impatiently. Leave him alone. He's right, all this

(21:37):
must be taken back home. Sooner or later. We'll have
to solve the problem of the gun. We have no choice,
Dorley nodded, what's your solution. Then as soon as we
leave the ground will be shot down. His face twisted bitterly.
They've guarded their treasure too well. Instead of being preserved,
it will lie here until it rots. It serves them right,

(21:57):
How don't you see? This was the only way they knew,
building a gun and setting it up to shoot anything
that came along. They were so certain that everything was hostile,
the enemy coming to take their possessions away from them. Well,
they can keep them. Nasha was deep in thought, her
mind far away. Suddenly she gasped Dorley. She said, what's

(22:19):
the matter with us? We have no problem. The gun
is no menace at all. The two men stared at her.
No menace, Dorley said, it's already shot us down once
and as soon as we take off again, don't you see?
Nasha began to laugh. The poor foolish gun. It's completely harmless.
Even I could deal with it alone. You her eyes

(22:40):
were flashing, with a crowbar, with a hammer or a
stick of wood. Let's go back to the ship and
load up. Of course, we're at its mercy in the air.
That's the way it was made. It can fire into
the sky, shoot down anything that flies. But that's all
against something on the ground. It has no defenses, isn't
that right? Dorley nodded slowly. The soft underbelly of the

(23:01):
dragon in the legend, the dragon's armour doesn't cover its stomach.
He began to laugh. That's right, that's perfectly right. Let's go, then,
Nasa said, let's get back to the ship. We have
work to do here. It was early the next morning
when they reached the ship. During the night, the captain
had died and the crew had ignited his body according
to custom. They had stood solemnly around it until the

(23:23):
last amber died. As they were going back to their work.
The woman and the two men appeared dirty and tired,
still excited, and presently from the ship. A line of
people came, each carrying something in his hands. The line
marched across the gray slag, the eternal expanse of fused metal.
When they reached the weapon, they all fell on the
gun at once with crowbars hammers anything that was heavy

(23:45):
and hard. The telescopic sights shattered into bits, the wiring
was pulled out, torn to shreds. The delicate gears were
smashed dented. Finally, the warheads themselves were carried off and
the firing pins removed. The gun was smashed, the great
weapon destroyed. The people went down into the vault and
examined the treasure. With its metal armored guardian dead, there

(24:06):
was no danger any longer. They studied the pictures, the films,
the crates of books, the jeweled crowns, the cups, the statues.
At last, as the sun was dipping into the gray
mists that drifted across the planet, they came back up
the stairs again. For a moment, they stood around the
wrecked gun, looking at the unmoving outline of it. Then
they started back to the ship. There was still much

(24:28):
work to be done. The ship had been badly hurt,
much had been damaged and lost. The important thing was
to repair it as quickly as possible, to get it
into the air. With all of them working together, it
took just five more days to make it space worthy.
NASA stood in the control room, watching the planet fall
away behind them. She folded her arms, sitting down on
the edge of the table. What are you thinking of?

(24:50):
Dorley said I nothing? Are you sure? I was thinking
that there must have been a time when this planet
was quite different, when there was life on it. I
suppose there was. It's unfortunate that no ships from our
system came this far. But then we had no reason
to suspect intelligent life until we saw the fission glow
in the sky. And then it was too late, not

(25:15):
quite too late. After all, their possessions, their music, books,
their pictures, all of that will survive. We'll take them
home and study them, and they'll change us. We won't
be the same afterwards. They're sculpturing. Especially. Did you see
the one of the great winged creature without a head
or arms broken off? I suppose, but those wings, it

(25:35):
looked very old. It will change us a great deal.
When we come back, we won't find the gun waiting
for us, Nasha said, Next time, it won't be there
to shoot us down. We can land and take the treasure,
as you call it. She smiled up at Dorley. You'll
lead us back there as a good captain should. Captain.
Dorley grinned that you've decided. Nasha shrugged. Foemar argues with

(25:59):
me too much. I think, all in all, I really
preferred you. Then let's go, Dorley said, let's go back home.
The ship roared up, flying over the ruins of the city.
It turned in a huge arc and then shot off
beyond the horizon, heading into outer space. Down below, in
the center of the ruined city, a single, half broken

(26:19):
detector vane moved slightly, catching the roar of the ship.
The base of the great gun throbbed painfully, straining to turn.
After a moment, a red warning light flashed on down
inside its destroyed works, and a long way off a
hundred miles from the city, another warning light flashed on
far underground, automatic relays flew into action. Gears turned, belts

(26:42):
whined on the ground. Above a section of metal slags
slipped back. A ramp appeared. A moment later, a small
cart rushed to the surface. The cart turned toward the city.
A second cart appeared behind it. It was loaded with
wiring cables. Behind it, a third cart came, loaded with
telescopic tube sites, and behind came more carts, some with relays,

(27:03):
some with firing controls, some with tools and parts, screws
and bolts, pins and nuts. The final one contained atomic warheads.
The carts lined up behind the first one, the lead cart.
The lead cart started off across the frozen ground, bumping
calmly along followed by the others moving towards the city,
to the damaged gun. And of the Gun by Philip K.

(27:31):
Dick