Operation Lorelie - William P Salton

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Operation Lorelai by William P. Sulton. It was a new
time and a vast new war of complete and awful annihilation.
Yet some things never change, And as in ancient times,
Ulysses walked again, brave and unconquerable, And again the sirens

(00:25):
wove their deadly spell with a smile and a song.
They came like monsters rather than men, into the vast
ruin of what had once been a great city. They
walked carefully, side by side, speaking to each other by radio,
as though they were in deep space rather than upon

(00:47):
solid ground. The winding way they followed through the ruins
was marked by blurred footsteps in the dust, and the
two men, clumsy in their bulky suits, found the going difficult.
They stopped and one of them held out an instrument.
He studied the dial, all clear, and both men removed

(01:09):
their helmets. They wiped sweat from their faces and glanced
at each other. The blonde man said, the air is okay, Jarvis,
everything seems all right. I don't get it, Jarvis, his
dark eyes, weary scowled as he looked about. It seems
all right, but we know it isn't. It can't be.

(01:34):
I'm shuck in this suit. Don't be a fool, Mark,
But the dial read clear, man, and we know nobody
is going to shoot us. All life had to be
wiped out? How about minor power as installations? Jarvis took
a chocolate bar from his pocket, sat down on a

(01:56):
piece of broken rubble, and began to eat. You're too careless,
far too careless, Mark, Mark laughed, Huh, You've always been
cautious enough for both of us. Got me out of
plenty of scrapes back in school too. Don't think I've forgotten.
Affection warmed his blue eyes as they rested on the

(02:17):
face of his friend, O K O K. But what
happened to them? Where did they go? Jarvis took nervous
bites from his second chocolate boarer, Then he too peeled
off his suit. He sniffed the air distrustfully as he
wiggled his shoulders to free them from the clinging damp shirt.

(02:39):
Then he took a few experimental steps forward. Seems all right, Mark,
But how do you explain about Hank and Garland? Never
were two more careful guys. Probably a simple miscalculation or
an accident. We know it couldn't have been enemy action
tests proved conclusively that we wiped them out to a man,

(03:04):
He took deep gulps of air into his lungs and
stretched like a cat. We'll find out soon enough, boy,
I feel great. They deflated and folded their safety suits
and added the bundles to the other equipment on their backs. Then,
with their instruments held before them, they probed their way

(03:27):
into the twisted wreckage. Still following the faint, dust filled footprints,
Bent and rusted girders rose on all sides like the
bones of prehistoric monsters. Nothing stirred, the dust lay ages
thick on. Everything gives you the spooks, doesn't it. Jarvis

(03:51):
was still tense, poised to respond to the first signal
of danger. Feels like we're the last men alive about
Hank and Garland. There's nothing here to harm anyone, Jravis
looked at his watch. Better contact HQ for instructions. The

(04:11):
two stepped off the path into the shade of a
grotesque chunk of broken masonry. Mark set up the radio
and twirled the dials. Team four calling HQ, Team four,
reporting HQ here. The voice from the radio blared loud
in the stillness. Give your report, Team four. Looks like

(04:35):
nothing's moved here in a thousand years, safe as a
baby's dream, rock solid air, morning pure. But he hesitated,
trying not to sound like a scared schoolboy. No sign
of Team three, or of Teams one and two either,
over look here, Team four. It's your job to find

(04:58):
out the earth didn't just swallow them. Final report from
each team placed them well within the city. It's been
ten days since the last contact. Probe every inch of
the place right, But be careful. We can't afford to
lose any more men. Roger, Roger. There was only one

(05:22):
way now ahead. It lay clearly marked. The dim footsteps
never strayed or faltered. Three hours of search revealed no pitfalls,
no dangers, and no trace of the missing men. The
night was upon them, and they betted down gratefully. Strange,

(05:42):
isn't it? The war over, the invaders blasted from the earth,
all peril gone, and yet men disappear. Jarvis stared at
the ruins around them. I can't take much more, Mark,
Twelve years of war is enough? Are we never to
have a life, have our home and women back and peace.

(06:06):
Sure it's been tough, but think of the women and children.
Isolated on that sub satellite. It's tougher for them. Just waiting,
stretched on his back, Mark stared at the cloudless evening sky.
But pretty soon we'll get this planet cleaned up and
bring the men Christ. Four years without even seeing a woman,

(06:28):
I remember the last time. Okay, Jarvis interrupted, impatiently. Let's
get to sleep, sure, pal, good night. They fell asleep
to dream of green hills, corn ripening apples roasting over
and open fire, peace and home and girls, their firm

(06:50):
legs flashing in the sun. Soldier like, Mark was suddenly awake.
He lay without motion, sensitive to some soul in the surroundings.
From the corner of his eye he could see Jarvis,
wrapped in sleep. The silence seemed eternal. Then whisper soft

(07:11):
came a murmur, a sound, a voice, a girl's voice,
sighing and singing from deep in that devastated spot, a woman.
Instantly Mark was on his feet, no need to wake Jarvis.
Plenty of time for Jarvis to find out afterwards, but

(07:32):
not yet a miracle that a girl had survived in
all that wreckage, But a miracle he wanted to save
her alone. Ahead, the path turned and Mark followed it.
As he went forward again, down hill between the mast
walls rubble. Now the voice swelled a melancholy song. Well

(07:56):
she won't be melancholy for long, Mark thought, her solitarire
ordeal was over. Mark Jarvis stood up on an up
turned blentil ten feet above Mark's head. As Marked dirt
to a stop. At the cry, Jarvis jumped into his path.
You fool, don't you know it's a trap? So that's

(08:19):
how you want to play it. The noble friend, protecting
me from myself. He slammed a fist into the side
of Jarvis's head. Well, I won't bite. She's mine. I
found her in silence in the narrow passage between the
rocks the two fought. Suddenly, above the sound of fists

(08:40):
on flesh came the voice of the girl again. Clear, young,
she is there, thought Jarvis. He could almost taste her
lips on his. The sensation came as a shock. How
did he know he'd never had a woman? That's what
came from listening to the tales of Mark's exploits with women.

(09:03):
Now he had to have that girl. The mounting tension
of the fighting snapped something in Jarvis's seething mind. Danger, friendship,
duty all meant nothing. Only one thing mattered, the girl.
Mark had had more than his share of girls. He
Jarvis was the one who should have her. He'd been

(09:25):
deprived of his manhood long enough. His frenzied brain hunted
a trick to gain his ends. Mark's superior strength began
to force Jarvis to give ground. Then a final blow
sent him reeling. He reached out to break his fall.
His hand closed on a rock. He threw it. Mark
crashed to the ground, his knee smashed, his leg useless.

(09:49):
Then the tomb stillness of the dead city took over.
The dust settled slowly. Mark came to his feet. Jarvis
was gone. Dragging his useless leg, Mark forced himself to
crawl forward. Jarvis had to be stopped ahead. A shadow

(10:10):
moved and for a moment the moon through the silhouette
of a man against a cavernous opening in the debris Jarvis.
An electric flash shattered the darkness. The jagged teeth of
the bolt spit tongues of fire chordite mingled with a raw,
nauseat revolting smell of scorched flesh and hair. The figure

(10:33):
tottered and fell into the black mouth of the cave. Then,
as the flame faded, it lit up small bundles of
charred bones. Near the fallen body. There was a whir
and a click of mechanism. Fifteen feet away, Mark watched
as the arm of a phonograph rose moved slowly back
to the starting point. Then the record began once more

(10:56):
to grind out its death trap melody end of Operation
Lorelei by William Pea Salt