And now, a tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
In a moment, Act One of You Died Last Night, starring Bob Reddick and Santos Ortega,
and written especially for suspense by Robert Arthur.
This portion of suspense is brought to you by the makers of Alpine cigarettes.
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My name's Joe Prescott, occupation garage mechanic, age 34, unmarried, nobody ever heard of before.
But I have a question for you.
What happened to you last night? Now, don't answer because whatever you say, you're wrong.
All of you.
You see, I know what happened last night, because I saw it happen.
You and you and you and all of you.
You died last night.
All right, let's start over, and don't bother to say I'm off my rocker. I'm going to tell you what happened.
And I'm going to do my best to make all of you believe it, because if you don't, all of you,
I got a pretty good idea you're going to die again some night soon.
So we go back two days to the day before yesterday, time exactly 4 p.m.,
place 30 miles northeast of Bakersfield, California.
Characters, just me, Joe Prescott and Nellie, my pack mule.
I was prospecting like I'd do every year for a couple of weeks for the fun of it.
But at this time, I'd struck something, something that looked big.
Because I didn't have anyone else to talk to, I talked to Nellie.
Nellie, old girl, looks like you'll be able to retire. This is as big as I think it is.
That's right, laugh. At this time, I mean it.
I'm going to blow a hole in this ridge and see what's down there, a nice big hole.
About 12 sticks of dynamite.
I tied Nellie to a tree, and then I drilled a hole. I put in 12 sticks of dynamite.
I attached a 60-second fuse and lit it.
And then I heard the noise.
And out of no place I saw it appear.
A kind of blur above the rocks, like a spinning top.
I knew I wasn't imagining it because Nellie heard it too.
All right, easy, easy, easy, easy.
And there it was.
Sitting on the rocks where I just planted the dynamite.
A spaceship.
An honest and gorge-flying saucer half as big as a house.
I acted automatically, not even thinking.
Put my foot on the fuse and crushed out the spark.
And then I looked at this thing.
A doggal-eyed.
An opening appeared near the ground and something came out.
It looked...
Well, it looked sort of like a...
A fuzzy orange teddy bear, five feet tall.
It had two eyes raised on long stalks, and those eyes looked at me.
And I looked at them.
And then this teddy bear spoke to me.
Hello, Joe. What do you know?
Sure, it sounds funny, but that's what this thing said to me.
It's funny because there's a slang line that I use myself,
and the teddy bear had just plucked it right out of my mind,
along with all the other words that I knew.
Please do not be frightened, Joe.
I just want some information.
I believed it.
And I relaxed.
The teddy bear nodded.
That's better, Joe.
How about coming inside the ship with me?
I crawled inside and he followed.
The lens-like opening closed and I was in...
Well, I suppose it was a control room.
It had some dials, some screens, like television screens,
and a couple of overstuffed toadstools.
It turned out to be sort of chairs.
While I was looking around, the teddy bear started...
taking off his orange skin.
Easy, Joe. Don't panic.
This is just a space suit I'm wearing.
Naturally, it doesn't look like your space suit.
I can't breathe your air.
The nitrogen would poison me.
You can breathe my air, though.
The nitrogen is replaced by something inert.
There.
Do I look any better to you?
Well, now he certainly looked more human.
Though I don't guess he was.
Anyway, not exactly.
Out of the orange space suit, he looked like a five-foot-tall old man
wearing some flowing green material.
He was bald, had pointed ears.
He had large green eyes that seemed...
friendly.
Good.
Now you're not afraid anymore.
Incidentally, what you are thinking of as my ears are really...
what's your word?
Antennae.
Like... yes, like your mouth.
Antennae?
Yes.
Ordinarily, I could use my antennae to hear your thoughts.
But your human thought pattern seems so different from ours
that we'd better use speech.
Now that I've picked enough words out of your mind, and...
why don't you call me Tony?
Joe?
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
But Tony what?
Just Tony, short for Thonian.
That's what we call ourselves, Thonians.
Just as you call yourselves, humans.
So you're from outer space.
Yes.
About 15 light years away.
And it seems I got here just in time.
I don't get you. What do you mean, just in time?
To take the necessary steps, Joe.
Necessary steps for what?
A few hours ago, our galactic survey bureau picked up radioactive waves
coming from space.
We located them in the solar system, and I was sent here immediately.
Apparently, about 15 years ago, you humans exploded a quantity of radioactive material
for the first time.
Oh, yeah, I guess so. The first atom bomb.
That means you humans have discovered the secret of atomic energy.
It won't be long before you're building spaceships and traveling to the stars.
I suppose you're right.
You see, we Thonians are rather set in our ways.
We like peace and quiet.
Frankly, we've had a lot of trouble with younger races who discovered atomic energy
and came journeying through the universe trying to conquer everything in sight.
Yes, I can see how that might happen. They'd rather fight than be friends, huh?
Much too often.
So now we just prevent trouble before it starts.
I'm here to find out what the human race is like.
If it doesn't measure up, I may have to take drastic action.
That's what he said.
Drastic action.
Meaning that if he didn't like our looks, he was going to destroy the human race
before it could ever get dangerous to the Thonians.
Now, Joe, you mustn't be upset.
It may not come to that.
I'm here to take corrective action, yes,
but I can decide whether it will be mild, severe, or drastic.
And what does mild mean?
Oh, blow up all atomic energy installations.
And what would drastic be?
That would involve turning your world into a ball of flaming gas.
That's nice.
But it's hardly ever necessary.
Oh, that's a consolation.
So what is the other possibility, severe measures?
I'd say eradicate all large cities and towns.
You mean wipe them out?
Remove them from existence.
And kill a few hundred million human beings?
Oh, more than that.
Reduce the population of the world to, say, 50 million people
and let them rebuild.
But believe me, Joe, it would be quick and painless.
Oh, just like that, huh?
Kill off most of the population and leave a few to rebuild?
Really, it's not as bad as you think.
You could think of it as, what's the word I want?
Yes, as pruning.
You mean like fruit trees?
Exactly.
Sometimes races need pruning, too.
And I'm afraid that from the Thonian viewpoint,
the human race badly needs pruning.
Yes, Joe, rather badly.
There you have it.
Here was Tony, a representative of a super race from the stars
come to our earth in a super spaceship to destroy us.
And what could I do about it?
Nothing.
I grabbed the revolver that I always carry when I'm prospecting,
but Tony turned those big green eyes on me
and I froze, paralyzed like a statue.
You see, Joe, you're helpless.
Please accept the inevitable.
It'll be better that way.
OK, Tony, what choice do I have?
Well, what now?
When do the festivities start?
Festivities?
Oh, you are being humorous.
You mean when do I begin corrective measures?
That's right.
I suppose you have ray guns, bombs, stuff like that
to do your dirty work.
Joe, if only you wouldn't use words like dirty work.
If you could just think of it as a necessary and helpful pruning.
Yes, well, I can't.
Let's keep it on a high plane.
Suppose I say preventive measures.
Well, it does sound better, I must admit.
Well, to answer your questions, I do have a store of bombs.
Very small, but very efficient.
I don't carry any armaments or such.
My ship is very light and delicate.
It's built for speed, not for fighting.
But then, we Thonians haven't had to fight anyone
for the last million years.
Killed off the opposition before it got started, huh?
I guess you could put it that way.
Later, the other races we've dealt with
have grown up to be mature and peaceable.
There are no wars in the plant tree or otherwise.
I get the picture.
I don't say I like it, but I get it.
Splendid.
I'm favorably impressed by your quickness, Joe.
Perhaps the human race is better than I think.
But now, let's start out on our tour of inspection.
Inspection?
Of your Earth.
I have to make it before I decide
what preventive measures to take.
Wild, severe, or drastic?
BANG
Tony pushed some buttons.
The walls of the spaceship became transparent,
as if we were sitting in midair,
and then we began to move, drifting up and away.
I saw Nellie, my pack mule, raise her head and hee-haw after us.
And then we were zipping over the mountains
until there were only a blur under us.
I began to ask Tony questions about how the ship worked,
looking for an angle, anything that might help.
Tony, how did you say that it was only a few hours ago
that your race first knew an atomic bomb had been set off on Earth?
Four hours, and let me see, 48 minutes by your time, Joe.
And you covered 15 light years and under five hours?
How could you do that?
I thought nobody could travel faster than the speed of light.
They can't, Joe.
But you see, this ship travels both in space and in time.
Travels in time?
When I have a long trip to make,
I start the space drive and set the automatic pilot.
Then I turn the time control forward
to the estimated duration of the trip.
And there I am, at my destination.
That way you can do a year's traveling in a second.
More or less.
Time traveling is a little tricky,
but very convenient for long distance travel.
Yes, plenty convenient.
Can you travel backwards in time?
Yes, the process is reversible.
We could go back to that instant when you first saw the ship, if we wanted to.
And would I be standing there looking at you the way I was?
No, you'd be inside the ship, because you are now.
So the past would be changed.
Going backwards is a bit tricky, you see.
We seldom do it.
Now, Tony.
Yes?
Now, let me see. If I've got this straight,
I'll be back on your planet 15 years have passed since you left.
That's correct.
And 15 more will pass before I get back, Joe.
You humans are intelligent.
And rather likeable, judging from you.
I do hope I won't have to take drastic measures on your world.
Well, I learned something, but not much.
There were the lights of the city underneath us, Los Angeles.
Tony slowed down to study it.
That's one of the cities I suppose you're going to have to blow up, isn't it, Tony?
Oh, I do hope I won't have to, Joe.
Perhaps it can be avoided.
What is that over there?
That? That's, uh...
It looks like an amusement park.
An amusement park?
I'd like to study that.
Tony's trip came to a stop 100 feet in the air above a big amusement park right on the beach.
Apparently we couldn't be seen, but we could see and hear everything down below perfectly.
First, Tony seemed interested in the rifle range.
And next, he swooped down over an open-air dance platform where a band was playing,
while 100 couples danced.
Well, Tony, there you are.
Human beings enjoying themselves, having fun.
Having fun.
Yes, your race has still the capacity to enjoy itself.
We Thonians are very serious, I'm afraid.
You still think we're so bad, we humans?
Joe, I never said you were bad.
But you may be dangerous.
It's my job to find out.
Now let us see some more of your world.
He pushed a button and the source leaked eastward across the continent.
Beneath us, the mountains, the plains, the farmlands, the forests, the lakes and cities.
Tony kept pushing buttons and I asked him what he was doing.
Why, Joe, I'm making a record.
Sort of, uh, what's your word?
Yes, a movie.
A record of life and your world for our scientists to study.
I thought you said it was up to you to make the decision whether or not,
you know, you were going to take action.
Oh, it is.
This record is in case I do take action.
Then a thousand years from now our scientists can study these records
and see if the new world you build after I...
well, after I finish pruning, shall we say,
is better than the old one?
What could I say to that?
I kept my mouth shut.
Suddenly we were over New York.
Tony slowed down the ship and brought it close to the ground.
For a minute we hovered there directly over Times Square and the scene.
Directly under us was the usual snarl of traffic of people coming and going,
with big electric signs flashing, the heart of the world's greatest city beating.
For a couple of seconds we just sat and listened.
What energy your people have, Joe.
What vitality.
To what heights your race can climb.
If you let us...
If you let yourselves.
Well, we must be going on.
He pushed another button, we swept onward,
and I saw the world as no man has ever seen it before.
All the beauty and wonder and misery and horror of it.
In England someplace we stopped long enough to watch a parade
led by a band of highland pipers.
And then on across the rest of Europe.
Tony seemed to like to see human beings enjoying themselves.
But we visited Berlin too, and they were all over the place.
We saw a man and a woman suddenly jump from a window in East Berlin
over that wall they've erected and run for safety in West Berlin.
And we saw what happened.
A man and woman fell and lay there where they fell.
Tony pushed a button, and then we were sweeping over barren wasteland
and suddenly Tony pointed.
Joe, look. See that?
I looked and hundreds of miles away I saw a tremendous burst of light
followed by the most enormous mushroom-shaped cloud the world has ever known.
Tony pushed a button and suddenly we were thousands of miles out in space
looking down at the earth spinning underneath us.
Joe, that was an atomic explosion. A tremendous one.
Yeah, I read the Russians were planning to set off another big one.
I guess that about decides it, Joe.
Right up to the end I was hoping that mild corrective measures would be enough.
I like you humans. You're full of laughter and vitality.
And you can be kind and generous.
But you're also full of cruelty and hate.
You're a puzzling race, Joe.
And our scientists will study these records for a long time.
And they will all be dead, huh?
No, not quite all of you.
I leave a few of you to rebuild.
And hope they'll do a better job next time.
You know what happened next time?
He pushed a switch.
And down below us in 10,000 different spots the earth blew up.
10,000 cities and towns vanished.
10,000 times 10,000 people were gone as if they'd never existed.
And that was when it happened.
Last night.
When you and you and you
died.
I had to tell you all this so you'd understand how you died.
When it was over, Tony told me he'd put me back on earth anywhere I wanted.
And that's when the idea hit me.
I asked him to put me down at the exact spot that he picked me up.
He pushed a button.
And we were back there hovering over that little California valley.
And then I asked Tony to satisfy my curiosity to show me how his time travel gadget worked.
I asked him just for a second to take me back to the very instant at 4 o'clock the day before when I'd first seen his ship.
He agreed. He turned a dial.
And all of a sudden time turned backwards.
It was the day before and none of it had happened.
You were all alive.
The world was just as it had been. Everything was the same.
Except one thing.
The first time I had been outside the ship and now I was inside.
The world's was exactly, exactly the same including that 12 sticks of dynamite with the fuse sputtering.
And now the dynamite was going to go off because I wasn't outside to stamp out the fuse.
And as we hovered there, it did.
That explosion had ripped Tony's spaceship open, blew me out through a rip in the wall.
And as I laid days on the ground, I saw the Thonian spaceship go spinning wildly around up into the sky and out into space.
And I knew Tony must be dead because his ship was a wreck.
He'd have no air.
So I'd fix things.
The world was okay.
But Tony was a wreck.
He was a wreck.
So I'd fix things. The world was okay.
You were all still alive.
I'd tricked Tony. He hadn't known about the dynamite.
All right. There you have it.
The whole story.
How you died last night and why you're still alive now.
I had a broken ankle and a lot of bruises.
But I rode Nellie back to town and told my story.
And they laughed at me.
I suppose you're laughing at me now thinking I've made all this up just to entertain you.
But you're wrong.
You are wrong because out there in the stars is a race that doesn't think that we can be trusted.
In 15 years, they'll wonder why Tony doesn't come back.
They'll send someone else to find out. Just 15 years.
Before then, we have got to prove they can trust us after all.
We've got to act like human beings.
We've got to live up to the best that's in us, not the worst.
And we've only got 15 years.
I only hope we can do it in time.
Suspense.
You have been listening to You Died Last Night.
Starring Bob Reddick and Santos Ortega.
And written especially for Suspense by Robert Arthur.
Suspense is produced and directed by Bruno Zarratto Jr.
Music supervision by Ethel Huber.
Sound patterns by Joseph Cabibbo.
Listen again next week when we return with Let There Be Light, written by Urban Lewis.
Another tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
They're the most Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney weekdays on the CBS Radio Network.