1061 - The Hole In The Sky (CBS)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
A journey into the realm of the strait and terrifie.
I hope you will enjoy the tip that it will
thrill you a little and kill you a little. So
settle back, get a good grip on your nerve. Where
are we going? You'll find out when we get there.

(00:49):
Come in welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
The universe goes on and on, as round and round
as you go, and where she starts and where she
ends is something no one knows.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Beginnings and endings.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Our neat and precise human minds will insist on clearly
stated limits, boundaries, definitions, But unfortunately there are no satisfactory
ways to limit, bound or define the truly important things
in life.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Have you interrogated the prisoner? I have hey who says
I'm a prisoner?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
We have no use for the cargo, destroy it and
confiscate the ship. What are you trying to pull and
dispose of the prisoner? What do you mean dispose of
the prisoner? Am I being sentenced to something?

Speaker 1 (01:42):
To death? Don't I get a trial?

Speaker 2 (01:44):
You have been tried and found guilty. Our mystery drama
The Hole in the Sky was rich and especially for
the mystery Theater by Sam Dan and stars Mendel Kramer.

(02:07):
Rid of that noise, Curly, you like good music?

Speaker 1 (02:11):
I thought you was a real space jaggie. If you
want to talk about space all right? Want you down
to business of our A little drink first. When I
listened to a deal from you, I better be stone
cold sober.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Now we'll all Curly ever steer you raw ratch absolutely?

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Do you know where is at? That should be a
star beyond Polaris? I get the shot right here.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
The fifth planners circling around Meduces called back you so
you shall see it.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
I can also see it's a pretty good trip. Get
that lock of yours old a three zousand pound cardo,
what kind of cargo? Why do you care? I won't
handle contra band? What's contra band?

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Everything's contraband to somebody somewhere.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
You know what I'm talking about, Curly? What's the different
time the Tripsy league? Leddyhow?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
There are no solo flights allowed outside the Solar system,
so what do you care?

Speaker 1 (03:13):
No drugs, no weapons, Curly? How would I be mixed
up with weapons and drugs? Up to your is? No, no, no,
this is just stuff for the ladies. Yeah, yeah, this
fact is just a.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Wi wild place and it's just being colonized. Now, you
could clear a fortune looks to make up.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
You know, powder makeup things the ladies just have to have.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
That's contraband, sure should it, but it's nice, harmless contrable.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Look if I'm caught with any sort of non essential,
if you're caught, what's the difference what you're caught with?
What's the deal? Fantastic? You split the take fifty to fifty?

Speaker 2 (03:54):
I want that's right, oh buddy, right down the middle.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
What's the catch? No catch, no catch? No, I have
sands and naves fifty to fifty some deal? Uh? When
do I leave? Your Cargo's ready right now? Tonight?

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Well it better be tonight. You do to sit down
on Beacus. No later than the twenty first, twenty first,
or once twenty first of this month, twenty first.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's in six days, Oh, actually six and a half.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Look at the charts you see where Beccus is sure
all this trip should take six weeks. There's no way
I could ever cover this distance in six days?

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Sure? How why rides your old buddy? You know how?
You just go through the hole.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Oh, I see, that's the catch.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
On now, I don't tell me you're scared of the hole.
I'm scared out of my wits.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Look if anybody had ever told me that roch Thorpe
had that little streaky yellow one. Don't try to get
a rise out of me, Curly. I'm not yellow. I'm smart.
See you around And I made it around eight o'clock.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
That's as long as I can hold a job. Oh
but goodbye, Curly. Hey, don't go away mad. It'll make
it harder for you to come back here. I'm not
coming back, and I meant it.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
I was through with all that stuff. But what else
was there for me to do? What else did I
know how to do? I could join the Space Navy
and wear a uniform, and he assigned a contraband control,
which meant I'd have to prowl through space, hunting down
guys like me or guys like I used to be.

(05:39):
Magda was waiting for me when I got home, Curly.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah, he said, your ship is loaded and ready.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
That's what he told you. Well, he's in for the
surprise of his life because I'm not going. What did
you say, I said, I'm not going, honey. That's just great,
is it? What it means you got something better? Is
that what you think?

Speaker 2 (05:58):
You do?

Speaker 1 (05:58):
Have something better? Don't you? I don't have anything at all. Well,
then I don't understand. How could you turn curly down?

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Because I said, how do you think I've lived this long?

Speaker 1 (06:10):
Being scared is what keeps you being careful? Okay, it's
just I understood there was a fortune in this trip,
but I'd have to go through the hole, and I'm
never going to do that again. Roger, you've come through
it before. Do you have any idea what it is
that hole in the sky.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Some people say it's all in the spaceman's imagination.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Let somebody tell me that you don't know what it's like. Okay, Roger, Okay,
it's a hole, a big black hole in the sky.
I believe you, Rod. There is nothing in there, nothing, Honey.
Don't you think you need a drink? Nothing? Do you understand?

Speaker 2 (06:53):
It's a kind of corridor, A crazy kind of corridor,
whatever you say.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
It's like the back.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Door to everywhere wherever you want to go. It's right there,
like everything opens up on it. Everything is right there.
Once you're there, you're everywhere.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
I believe you.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
Stars that are billions and billions of light years away
from each other, like like Polaris and Orion, like Taurus
and Ursa Major. It's as if you can just move
from one to the other, like crossing the streets. That's
why it's only six days from here, because six days
is how long it takes to get to the hole
in the sky. And once you get to the hole,

(07:37):
you're anywhere you want to be. Do you understand?

Speaker 3 (07:39):
I keep telling you it's not all that complicated.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
But I'm not going there again.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
Just try a little goblet of this and you'll go anywhere.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
It's a wild place.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Hey, maybe I'd like to go there, place where the
whole universe is twisted and turned on itself.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Sometimes it's quiet the grave, and then then.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
It explodes, explode, Everything goes haywire crazy. There's no longer
any sense of time or space or place, and you
can just disappear.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
How can you just disappear? Take just a little sip
of this, It's good for what ails.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
You Look right here on Earth?

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Okay, There used to be a big ocean between Buenos
Aires and Cape Town, thousands of miles of ocean, sure,
and right in the middle someplace. There used to be
a spot called the Bermuda Triangle.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Does that so? And the ships that they had, the
ones that were.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
About the ships that sailed over that spot disappeared, ships
that flew above this place disappeared. So so this kind
of thing has happened before.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Maybe that was a hole in the ocean. Pure rash.
If you say sound look, get that tone out of
your voyage. I can't go through that hole in the
sky again. I can't. I need a dozen trips and
nothing happened.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
How long can I be lucky?

Speaker 1 (09:22):
Now? If I go this time, I'll be lost. I'll disappear.
Come on, honey, take a drink. You'll feel better. You
always do.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
I've been thinking about it. I'm going to sell the
lark and do what I can. Sell a lot to
the navy and raise the state and go.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Where where.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
To a planet like Becchus, or maybe right here in
our own solar system, a wild place like mead Bench
or a mine, and.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
You could raise enough from the sale of a.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Mark, a good piece of it for the rest of well.
I gave you plenty of jewels, money, credits. I know
you did.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
All I'm asking is for you to give me some
of it so I can get started.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
That's not all you're asking, Roger. You're also asking me
to go with you and break my back in a
mine or on a ranch.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
It's only tough for the first couple of years.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
As far as the money's concerned, it's mine.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
You gave it to me.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
I thought you and I were beyond words like yours
and mine?

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Just said ours?

Speaker 3 (10:20):
No, What'll I do the day you get tired of me?

Speaker 1 (10:24):
I'll never get tired of you, Magde.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
I'm sorry, Roger. I can't say to you, my darling,
everything I own in the world is yours. Take it, Magda.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
I'm not asking for anything. Would you know that?

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Basically I'm out for myself. Did you think you could
change me?

Speaker 1 (10:43):
All right? Magda?

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Six days there, six days back? Well, honey, that's less
than two weeks. I'll be waiting for you when you
come home.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Beg from her anyhow to give me what you had
to give. Why did I think I was entitled to more?
And who was I kidding?

Speaker 1 (11:07):
I had become a farmer, a rancher, a minor.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
I was nothing but a space raft and I might
as well lend to live with it and die with it.
I didn't even bother it to tell Curly what he
already knew. I went directly to the spaceport the space conquered,
but we had to go through the ritual. Hey, Roger, Joe, Hey,

(11:31):
you're inspected and cleared. Okay, that's two page two destination
venus and cargo. None purpose of journey.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
To visit friends? Oh, come on, ROGERI you gotta do
better than that. Why what's the matter, Give me a break?

Speaker 2 (11:48):
The sheep does get checked? How does that look? The
visit friend? What do you want me to say?

Speaker 1 (11:53):
He could say medical emergency? Say medical emergency. You got
to prove you're sick. You got to name the doctor,
and so forth and so on. Joe, write down anything,
you please. Don't bite my head off.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
You and I know what you're doing, and you and
I know where you're going. Okay, all right, Look, I'm
going to visit my poor old mother. Great, but you
better have one and you better be on venus.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Joe. Just let me get out of here when you
got don't go. What you mean, don't go? I mean
pack it in, walk away from it. Are you telling
me I can't go? No, I'm not telling you not
to go. I'm just asking you not to why because

(12:35):
you won't be coming back.

Speaker 4 (12:38):
How do you know?

Speaker 1 (12:39):
I know all the signs you're not coming back, rog
I know you are not coming back.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
At this point, he probably knows something we don't know.
But what from the little we know about it, we
can appreciate that any and I'm certain, but obviously there's
something especially dangerous and ominously unusual about this one.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
Well, Act two is but a few minutes away.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
What was that popular song from a generation ago? It
was called far Away Places with and what were those
far away places? Oh?

Speaker 1 (13:38):
They were in Asia, Africa and Europe, just a hop,
skip and a jump away.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
But our story today is about really far away places
with strange names like Tao Setti, Bettal Goods, and on
a clear night sometimes you may see them up.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
There in the sky. What kind of thing does that
have to say to me?

Speaker 2 (13:59):
I'm not coming back, because it's true, Roger. Five years
ago I had my own ship to five years ago,
Curley had a job for me something like this, only
mine was in Orion someplace.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
Look, why don't we swap stories when I compact you.
I'm not coming back, Roger, you better listen.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
I came out to the field here feeling just like
you do, everything inside me like jelly, and like you,
I knew I wasn't coming home again. I'd been through
that hole in the sky too many times. Like you,
I was scared, scared to face guys like Curly, also

(14:39):
scared of starving. What was I going to do to
make a living?

Speaker 1 (14:43):
What else can I do to make a living? Join
up roun so I could never.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Do that, That's what I thought at first. But isn't
it better all around it?

Speaker 1 (14:51):
Guys like you and me were in the univerorom.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
At least we understand. I have to go now. It
isn't too bad. The money's good, it's clean.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
That's cleaner.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Maybe not, but hey, you can protect your friends.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
I'm only on the take as.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Far as cargo and destinations concerned. All the money in
the world wouldn't get you off the ground if I
knew your ship wasn't spaceworthy.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
Look, I got a schedule to keep. Don't go ride.
I have to well, then, don't go through the hole.
You know as well as I do. I have no choice. Okay, Okay,
I'm on the desk tonight. Maybe I can keep the
hounds out your trail.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
In fifteen minutes, I was completely clear of the Earth.
I would have no problem while in the boundaries of
our own solar system, but as soon as I was
out in the galaxy, the patrols would be after me.
I could outdistance any single pursuit ship, but if they
had my position and course, they could set up a
fire network that could destroy me. In the fraction of

(15:58):
a second. I could hear Joe Dresden on the monastery.
He was getting reports from all of his scouts who
had cited or thought they had sided me.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
He would be feeding all.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
This data into a computer which would calculate my exact positions.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Attention all ships, Greenbow Command.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
Illegal craft identified as Mark registered Captain Roger Thorpe, probably.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Edited for Polaris and so churned nine.

Speaker 6 (16:26):
Four, six and two o' two to track coordinates four
and eight.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
From coordinate twelve and eighteen on challenge Allow five minute
for apply and open fire.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Thank you, Joe.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
He had sent the pursuit off in exactly the opposite
direction he had bought me at least two days' time.

Speaker 6 (16:50):
Attention all ships, Rainbow Command June and reported headed for
for the.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Major and so charge three eight h four to two sixty.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
How skillfully he kept directing the pursuit away from me.
I was coming to the end of the fifth day,
and now I didn't have to worry. I was near
the hole in the sky. And even though so many
people were convinced that it was all fiction, that was
back down there in the safety and security of Earth

(17:30):
up here, even the most skeptical suddenly became believers. I
could rest assured there was nobody within a trillion miles
of me.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Now, Roger, Roger, you can ask me, Rogia, you won't
give away your position. I want to see a frequency. Joe,
you're at the edge of the hall. I know. Turned back,
I can't. I'll clear a path for you. I have

(18:02):
to keep going. I'll bring you home. Save it sound.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
I'm going in now, Joe. I'm here, And I was there.
I was in the hole in the sky. It was
so quiet, so peaceful, so tranquil. I better see my
computer I speed, of course, I definite mention. I could

(18:31):
expect to find myself orbiting the Deserve. Then I could
set my bearing.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
For the planet backus. I could still hear Joe's voice.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Roger it's quiet, Jaw, it's quiet.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
It all change.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Thanks for everything, Joe, I'm all right now, come home.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
Roger, Come home there, Roger.

Speaker 7 (18:57):
Come Joe, where are you?

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Suddenly everything started to spin, Everything went out of control,
not just my computer and my instruments, but everything inside
of me. It was as if I was just coming
apart under some terrible pressure, an unbelievable stress and strain,
and began to pull me in every direction.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
It was as if it were the end of the world. Well,
maybe it was the beginning.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Maybe it was the chaos that was in the very beginning, And.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
There was nothing. Ah, off this phone. What are you saying?

Speaker 2 (19:55):
It sounded like no language I'd ever heard before. Remembered
what I had to do. I fed the sounds into
the computer and waited. Just like the ancient anthropologists could
construct an entire prehistoric animal from just a few fragments
of bones, the computer could project an entire language from

(20:16):
just a few significant sounds. Gradually the voice became clearer
and clearer.

Speaker 8 (20:23):
What ship is yours? Identify? Identify Lark Lark? How many aboard?

Speaker 1 (20:34):
Just one?

Speaker 9 (20:35):
Identify Roger Thorpe registered Captain pole Port Earth? Where is
that consult star chart eight seven six.

Speaker 8 (20:47):
What is star talk eight seven six?

Speaker 1 (20:51):
Whatever you happen to use, start with Polaris. What is Polaris?

Speaker 2 (20:56):
You draw a line from Polaris to Deneb Are such stars?

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Hey? What's that noise? You are locked into a landing?
The pull it? I don't necessarily want to land. Cut
your power. I only need to get my bearings, prepare
to descend. Am I being forced to land? You are
being invited? But I don't want cut all power. Step

(21:28):
clear of the ship.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
But where follow instructions under protest.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
Follow a red line. Where am I going? Stop at
the door, Wait for what it will slide open? Step inside?
What's in there? Step inside? There's nothing in here? Step inside?
All right? All right? What do I do? Now? Wait?

(21:59):
What do you people want? Who are you? Where am I?

Speaker 2 (22:05):
I was in a room of some kind, a plain,
bare space. There was a chair, just a single chair,
and that was the only furniture.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
I sat down. I waited, Who were these people? What
did they want?

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Then the wall slid away. Facing me was a woman.
She was sitting behind a desk of some kind. She
was young, about thirty ish. She wore a black robe,
her red hair was short. She might have been good
looking if she didn't have such a serious look on

(22:49):
her face. She touched a switch and suddenly on the
entire wall behind there appeared an enormous sky chart.

Speaker 4 (22:58):
Point out your homes star.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
My home star. Well it doesn't show up too well.
You see it's a red dwarf. I can give you
its position. Yes, uh, just let me orient myself.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
I'll have to find Polaris and then Taros CT I've
never heard.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
Wait a minute, Wait a minute, this isn't possible. I
don't recognize any of these patterns.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
I warn you to tell the truth.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
But this is all very strange.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Orion should be right there, Oh Ryan, I don't see
a single thing I know in this entire sky.

Speaker 4 (23:37):
This is the universe.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Well, maybe it's a part of it that's off somewhere.

Speaker 4 (23:41):
This is the complete universe.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
Wait a minute, the universe is infinite. Why did you
do that, Lesphemy?

Speaker 3 (23:51):
Everyone knows the universe is closed and limitedly.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
Okay, have it your way. Why are there no papers
on your ship? Because I did need any. What is
your cargo? I'm sure you looked it over by now. Cosmetics?
What are cosmetics? Didn't you translating computer tensing. Yes, but
I don't understand. Well, it's just it's this stuff that
women put on their face. For what purpose? I guess

(24:17):
it makes them look better?

Speaker 4 (24:18):
Better?

Speaker 1 (24:19):
What's the difference? Skills answer the question? Is it important?

Speaker 3 (24:23):
It may be the most important thing in the universe,
these cosmetics.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
They change people's faces. You could say that it disguises them. Well,
strictly speaking, it might. I see, Yes, yes, I see.
I hope you see something because I don't interrogator, Yes, censor.
We have examined the ship. Have you examined the prisoner
who says I'm a prisoner? You have not been spoken to.

Speaker 4 (24:54):
I have examined the prisoner.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
We see no use for the cargo.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
Destroy it at once, confiscate the ship, immediately dispose of
the prisoner.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
What does that mean?

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Dispose save him for the games, or eliminate him quietly? Whatever?

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Suto? What is he talking about? I shall save him
for the game.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
But am I being sentenced to something to death? Wait
a minute, why don't I get a trial?

Speaker 1 (25:19):
You have been tried and found guilty. I have the
right to defend myself. You have no rights at all.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
What sort of place is this that could very easily
fit certain places here on our own earth.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
But this is a story that.

Speaker 2 (25:38):
Takes place far in the future, in a place so
far away that the imagination could scarcely encompass the distance.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
But space time, What do these things matter? People are
people everywhere, aren't they?

Speaker 10 (25:54):
I shall be back shortly with a three.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
There are more things in heaven and on Earth than
are dreamed of in your philosophy is a favorite line
of Shakespeare's, And of course he had a rather limited
idea of heaven. He didn't know that the heavens consisted
of an infinity of space with an unlimited number of worlds.
Can you imagine what he might have written had he

(26:32):
been able to talk with a modern astronomer or an astronaut.
From what I could gather, the man was called the censor.
The girl who had been talking to me was called
the interrogator. And how they both decided that it was
all over from me? The man left, You will.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
Be executed at the games.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
What games are they supposed to be?

Speaker 3 (26:56):
The games to honor the establishment of the autocracy.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
I don't have anything to do with all this. What
was your purpose in coming here? I was on my
way to Medusa.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Medusa.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yes, it's a giant yellow star.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
There is no such star.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
How can you make a statement like that?

Speaker 4 (27:12):
Because I never heard.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Of it, that doesn't mean it existed.

Speaker 4 (27:17):
I would have heard of it.

Speaker 3 (27:19):
Since I have never heard of it, that is proof
that it never existed. Why do I have to be
killed because you have come here to overthrow the Autocrat?

Speaker 1 (27:28):
That isn't true. Are you a stranger? Yes?

Speaker 3 (27:31):
The only reason strangers come here is to overthrow the autocrat.

Speaker 4 (27:36):
Since you admit to being a.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Stranger, who that doesn't necessarily follow?

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Do you have legitimate business on this planet?

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Then you admit it.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
Since you do not have legitimate business, you therefore must
be treated as a stranger.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
She stood up and nodded her head. Two men in
black robes came in. I understood to go with them.
I don't care what world you're in. A cell is
a cell. This was a small room with smooth white walls.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
There were two beds in it. I had a roommate.
His name was R. D. And I asked him why
he was in jail.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
I tried to kill the Autocrat. Look set me straight,
will you? Who is the autocrat? He is the maximum ruler,
And that's why you want to kill him. I want
to kill him because he oppresses the people. And then
what then, perhaps the next maximum ruler will be a
kinder person. And suppose he turns out worse that has

(28:45):
happened before. In that case, what do you do?

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Kill him? And hope again? When did it make more
sense to eliminate all these rulers entirely? Well, then who
would rule the people? The people? How could the people rule?

Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, they would elect representatives to well to let's say
that to a congress.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
I don't understand how that could work.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
And doesn't work with all these rulers either. Well, that's
because he has not come yet. Who the ultimate ruler?
And who's he supposed to be? The ultimate ruler? He
will come down from the skies? How he should be
carried by a bird?

Speaker 1 (29:27):
You have to be a pretty big bird.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Yes, And he would mark his people, mark them no way.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
In a certain way. In other words, you don't know.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
I only know what the prophecy reads, always prophecy.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
For those of us who believe he will come, still,
it should be easy to explain what marking his people
would mean.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
I suppose with a sign that will enable everyone to
recognize them.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
All right? Meanwhile, how does it look for you and me?
We shall be executed? You say you were opposed to
the ruler. What'd you do? I wasn't able to do anything.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
We are too few, too weak, Or maybe we are many,
but we do not know it. We have no sign
by which we may recognize each other. Or what did
you actually do to wind up in hear?

Speaker 1 (30:20):
I complained? You complained about what the weather?

Speaker 2 (30:26):
I mean you're going to be executed because you complained
about the weather.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
It wasn't the first time.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
If you establish yourself as one who complains, it means
you are basically a dissatisfied person. Therefore you are likely
to revolt.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Well do you plan to just sit here and wait?
It does no good at all to make other plan?
Why not?

Speaker 2 (30:44):
How can plans be carried out? We are sealed in here.
There is no hope of escape. There has to be
something we can do. We must face our fate bravely.
I can't accept that, accept it, since you may not
reject it.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
It seemed there was no help at all.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
The days passed, When would it happen the games at
which the execution would take place? Or were the executions
of the games. Even Artie didn't know, and the jailer
who brought.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
Us our food wasn't talking.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
Then one morning, Artie was taken out of the cell
and I thought, this is it, But why was I
being left behind? Then about an hour later Artie returned, Hey, I.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Thought that was the old ball game for you? Artie?
You were worried. I'm sorry. It's my fault, your fault. Oh,
I should have told you.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
As the day draws closer, you are given a chance
to save your life.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Oh what kind of chance. Naturally you don't take it?
Why not? What have you got to lose? Everything? You see?

Speaker 2 (31:50):
You are given an opportunity to inform on your fellow conspirators.
All the fact is I don't have any fellow conspirators.
Didn't you say that you belong to an organization that
wants to overthrow the autocraph?

Speaker 1 (32:03):
I didn't say it was an organization.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
Well, then, how do you expect one person can do
it if he is resourceful enough.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
But wouldn't it be better if you did have a group?

Speaker 4 (32:13):
Of course?

Speaker 1 (32:13):
But how would we know each other?

Speaker 2 (32:17):
I was very brave, but I wonder suppose I did
have Confederates. Would I have betrayed them to save my
own life? I don't think you would, Ardie. Then suddenly
the door opened and the guards were in the cell.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
They grabbed me. I was hustled alongsome corridors and finally into.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
A room, a small room. She was behind a table.
There was no place for me to sit. Suddenly she
took a small metal rod from under her black robe.
She pointed it at every part of the room. It
gave off a squeezing noise.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
One has to be sure of what. I'm sorry, I
cannot for you a chair. My name is Danara.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
What do we have to be sure of?

Speaker 4 (33:05):
That we are not overheard? We are safe for a
moment at any rate?

Speaker 1 (33:08):
What am I doing here?

Speaker 4 (33:10):
You know what you are doing here.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
You have been sent here to save us. What you
are the ultimate ruler? Me just hold you no good
to deny it.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
I'm telling the truth. I have no idea, probably.

Speaker 3 (33:24):
The truth as you see it. You do not know
that you are the ultimate ruler, but you have fulfilled
the prophecy. The prophecy surely already has talked with you
in the sound.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Yes, but I didn't believe what was predicted.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
That the Ultimate Ruler will come down from the skies.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
He will be carried by a bird.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
What is the name of your ship? You can't be serious.
The lock and it is a bird of delushed.

Speaker 4 (33:48):
It's not an angry bird, a bird of prey.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
That's all coincidence.

Speaker 3 (33:52):
And he shall mark his people. Well, what have you
brought on your ship on the loark?

Speaker 4 (33:59):
You have brought devices with which your people can be marked,
paved and powder.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
Look, I'm afraid you don't understand.

Speaker 4 (34:06):
It's the prophecy.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
I am not the Ultimate Ruler.

Speaker 4 (34:10):
It does you no good to deny.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
My name is Roger Thorpe.

Speaker 4 (34:13):
You told me that I come.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
From a planet called Earth that revolves around a tiny
reddish dwarf star called Soul.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
It doesn't I'm a trapped space captain. I carry mostly contraband.
If I want to make a living, it's not important.
There's a place called the Hole in the sky.

Speaker 4 (34:28):
I never heard of it.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
It's a spot in the universe where crazy things can happen.
You get all twisted and turned in space and time.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
It makes no difference. So maybe I am in an
entirely strange universe.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
It doesn't change the prophecy if you are aware or
not of being the ultimate ruler, you fulfill.

Speaker 4 (34:46):
All the requirements.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
Why are you telling me this?

Speaker 4 (34:49):
I too wish to overthrow the autocrat.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
You, but aren't you a member of the regime.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
There are many of us who do our work secretly
and hope the day to arrive.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
The fact is, I'm going to be executed any day now.
So what good does it do if you think I'm
the ultimate ruler.

Speaker 3 (35:07):
You have been brought here by your beautiful bird. You
have brought the material with which to mock your people.
Your people will save you.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
There was only one way to make sense out of
any of this. I would just have to assume that
I had landed on a planet of nuts, pure and simple,
And so I did.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
But it got pretty grim.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
One day, Artie and I were taken from oursel and
brought to an enormous stadium. There must have been one
hundred thousand people, all of the more black robes with
hoods that cover their heads. Ardi and I were led
to the center of the arena. Then we heard the
voice of the censor.

Speaker 6 (35:48):
These men men have plotted against the Autocratic. Their faith
is to be consumed by the mighty electric energy.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Of the states.

Speaker 6 (36:00):
A few moments, they shall no longer exist.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Let this then serve as a lesson to.

Speaker 6 (36:08):
All an attempt a similar madness.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Not a single word was heard from the robed and
hooded crowd. And then we heard it humming that grew
louder and louder.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
I began to feel warm, then hot, and soon it
was as if I was on fire.

Speaker 6 (36:29):
Stark, who dares hope the execution?

Speaker 4 (36:33):
I the interrogator, GA, for what purpose?

Speaker 1 (36:38):
Revolt?

Speaker 6 (36:39):
Arrest her?

Speaker 7 (36:40):
Before anyone dares to touch me, I shall remove my hood, Look.

Speaker 4 (36:46):
At my face.

Speaker 7 (36:49):
Let all who have the same markings now show their faces.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Whose white as powder could make it. Her lips were
red as the most flaming scarlet.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
I could hear her voice shouting, believers in the Ultimate Roller,
show your markings. And now by the thousands the hoods
came off, and there they were men, women, children, with
stark white faces and flaming red lips. Hardly anyone remained masked,

(37:26):
except for the Sensor and a few high officers, and
they were quickly hustled away.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
And now the silent crowd began to kneel.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
Neel.

Speaker 6 (37:36):
Homage to the Ultimate rouler.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
No one should kneel to me. You are the Ultimate Ruler.
They must about that makeup.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
You mean the sacred markings?

Speaker 1 (37:47):
Men? Men shouldn't really wear any Would you.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
Deprive us of the privilege of showing our reverence and
respect Ultimate Ruler?

Speaker 4 (37:55):
The prophecy has been fulfilled.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
The Ultimate Ruler has arrived on a beautiful bird. He
has brought with him the markings that his faithful followers
have proudly put on, And she where forever and now all.

Speaker 4 (38:15):
Hail the Ultimate Ruler.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
I don't understand completely. I'm the Ultimate Ruler. I'm treated
with respect and reverence. I have whatever I want. There
are times when I can't believe it. Am I lost
in space? Or am I lost in my own imagination?

Speaker 1 (38:42):
Who knows? At times this is real.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
And times when it seems like a dream.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
I only know one thing. I entered the hole in
the sky and I'm still in there. Do any of
us know what it means? Is there a hole in
the sky? Is there a Bermuda triangle?

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Are there mysterious disappearances that simply defy all rational explanation?
We work for centuries to solve.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
A rid and then when we think we know the answer.

Speaker 2 (39:27):
Suddenly the original question looms larger than ever. I'll be
back shortly. Maybe there is a hole in the sky

(39:50):
after all. Einstein spoke of a place where the past,
the present, the future are all intermixed and intermingled. He says,
it occurs at the speed of light. But just think
in the universe that's surrounded by our own minds, the
private universe that each of us presides over. The past,

(40:12):
present and future frequently mix and mingle, and that truly
can be where you find the hole in the sky.
Our cast included Mendel Kramer, Joan Shay, Earl Hammond, and
Russell Horton. The entire production was under the direction of
Hymon Brown.

Speaker 5 (40:30):
Missus E. G.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Marshall, inviting you to return to our Mystery Theater for
another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, Pleasant dream