Dimension X - "The Martian Death March" (Old Time Radio, 1951)

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In 1997, at an isolated desert home near Mars' Kalmak Canal,
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young colonist Al and his prospector father meet an Earthman
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aiding Martians confined to reservations. From NBC's Dimension X comes
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The Martian Death March, Episode 34, first broadcast January 14, 1951.
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Ernest Kenoy wrote this original radio play, directed by Edward King,
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in which Al recalls the encounter and finds himself drawn
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toward a dangerous journey by Martian refugees seeking their northern
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mountain homeland. The cast includes Bill Zuckert, Butch Cavell, Cameron Prudhomme,
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David Pfeffer, Lawrence Kerr, Ralph Camargo, Richard Hamilton, with Norman
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Rose as host and narrator. Now, back to the golden
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age of radio. Adventures in time and space.
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Transcribed in future tense.
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On stage tonight, Dimension X.
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Maybe you've been over the route of the march. The
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Cross Mars Highway runs that way now. From the Kalmak
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Canal on the equator.
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North to the highlands.
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With a water station every 20 miles and a radar
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pickup and towing service running 24 hours a day. But
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there wasn't any highway 30 years ago in 97.
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There was desert. Hot, burning desert.
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Sand shifting and blowing, piling up around the empty shells
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of the ruined cities, ancient when man on.
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Earth was living in caves. I lived at the edge
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of the Kalmak Canal then with my father. He was
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a prospector, searching the.
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Surrounding desert with sonar probe and Geiger counter, scratching just
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enough ore from under the Martian sands to pay for
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our grub stake the next year.
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I remember he was in the Adamson Digger in the
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North Quadrant when I came running out. Dad! Dad!
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There's somebody coming, Dad. Across the desert.
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You sure?
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I saw them. They're a couple of miles out.
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How many cars? They're on foot. On foot across the desert?
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Honest, Dad.
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I saw them.
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You sure it wasn't a light reflection off the canal?
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No.
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It was dark against the sand.
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I don't like that. You run back and get the
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rifles out.
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I've got to pull a digger into the shed. Is
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there going to be fighting, Dad?
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I don't know.
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Got a whole year's ore piled out the back of
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the bins.
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Ain't gonna lose it to no claim jumpers.
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You get back to the shack and break out those rifles.
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See if they're loaded, you hear?
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And jump!
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Dad had three surplus army rifles and a couple of
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homemade grenades made out of ore cans stuffed with Adamson
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A explosives. We crouched inside the shack waiting. The shadow
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of the water tower in the doorway grew longer as
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the quick Martian dusk settled down.
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Over the desert. There they come, Al. There's two of them.
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There's something funny about that second one. Look, he's all spindly,
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and his head's funny.
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Yeah, his head's funny, all right. Now, that's a Martian.
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I never saw one off the reservation before.
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There hasn't been one, not in ten years. I don't
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like this.
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Here they come.
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Into the door, you'll... You remember what I told you.
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Line up the sights and just squeeze the trigger.
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Hello?
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Hello?
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Hello there.
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Now, Dad?
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Hello.
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Wait a minute. What do you want? Water.
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What are you going to do, Dad?
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Where do you come from?
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Wallswell.
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You're lying.
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That's a hundred miles across the desert.
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I know. That's where I came from.
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My tank is empty.
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I need water.
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Drop your gear and come up here slow.
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Tell that Martian to stay where he is.
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All right, now. Who are you? My name is John. John, huh?
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What are you doing with that spider?
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His name is Kantalka.
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I don't care what his name is. What's a human
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doing with a Martian?
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I found him in the dry bed of Kalmak Canal,
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nearly dead of thirst.
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Probably ran off from the reservation.
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When our brothers are caged, they seek freedom.
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Brothers?
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Those spiders?
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All living creatures are our brothers. On Mars as on Earth.
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Oh, wait a minute.
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Bert Ahlstrom at False Wells told me there was a screwball.
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Hedge preacher over there.
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hollering about letting the spiders loose.
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Off the reservations.
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Let no man call his life his own. No man,
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no tribe, no nation.
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I guess that's you, all right.
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Yeah, Bert told me they called you Crazy John.
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Oh, well, I don't suppose there's any harm in you...
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Go on, fill up your tank with the air still.
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You can even have supper with us. We would be
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happy to.
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We?
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What do you mean, we? Conto Carr and myself. That spider? Oh, no.
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I ain't having a Martian sitting down to eat with me.
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Why, you come on, no. Thank you, sir, no. But
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my brother is not welcome.
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And the Martian went through the ash pile for half-burned
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fuel brick.
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When we went in the.
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House for supper, I could see them silhouetted against the fire.
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The old man with his wild hair and beard, and
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the thin, spidery arms and legs of the Martian.
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Dad? What now?
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Were the Martians always on the reservation?
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Since the Outpost Three massacre, they have been.
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What was that?
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Back before you were born, they lived wild in the
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mountains up north.
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Were they fierce?
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Fierce enough. There's only one place in those spiders. Behind wire. Yeah,
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it sure is.
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Out in the dooryard, the campfire flickered at the base
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of the water tower. The first of the Martian moons
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had set. The other wouldn't rise for several hours. I
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could hear the sand peepers out in the desert as
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I stood there. The old man and the Martian were
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sitting on the ground, huddled close to the fire.
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It gets cold fast on the desert when the sun
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goes down. There's you, boy. You can come up to
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the fire if you'd like.
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My dad wouldn't like it.
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All right.
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But I'm not afraid of no spider.
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No, there's nothing to be afraid of.
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How come his arms are all skinny?
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Ask him.
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Does he talk?
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Yes.
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His name is Cantalcar.
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It is, huh? Hello. Hello, boy. He talks funny.
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It is not my language.
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Why isn't he on the reservation? You can get in
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trouble helping spiders to escape.
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He's my brother. He was caged.
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When my brothers were in bondage, I came to them
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and said, Lo, the time has come for deliverance.
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You talk funny, too. Is it true that you want
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to let all the spiders off the reservation?
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No man has the right to imprison the innocent.
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Do they really call you crazy, John?
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I have been called many things.
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You really think we ought to let all those old
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spiders off the reservation?
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Boy, we die here in the desert.
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We die in the sun.
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The sicknesses you have brought from Earth.
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That's because Martians are just weak. I bet I could
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knock you down myself. You could.
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I'd stay here to die.
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You won't get off the reservation. The patrol takes care
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of that all right. They won't let any stinking old
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spiders out.
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Even in the minds of children is planted the poison
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of evil.
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How long? How long?
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That night through the window I could see the flicker
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of the old man's campfire he was walking up and.
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Down now shouting singing hymns.
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Verse after verse his white beard catching the light as
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he passed behind the fire the Martian sat slumped over
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his thin spindly arms folded across the huge barrel chest
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that had developed over the centuries as the air of
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Mars thinned and escaped into space.
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In the morning, I looked out and they were gone.
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Looking back now, we wonder how they did it.
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The high voltage wire around the reservation carried a fatal charge.
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The patrolmen in the tower had. 50 caliber machine guns.
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The desert around the camp was mined heavily.
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And yet, at dawn August 7th, 1997, they broke out.
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I was down at the dried-up canal bed hunting sand
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peepers when my father came running after me.
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Al!
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Al!
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Here I am.
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Come on, back to the house.
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What's the matter, Dad?
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Now shut up and run!
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What is it? Spiders busted loose.
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Bert Alstrom radioed in.
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Did they come in here?
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They're headed this way. Murdering devils.
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Did they kill anybody? Six patrolmen when they busted.
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Through the wire.
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Now get inside.
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What are you going to do, Dad?
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Wire a keg of Adamson A across the gate. You
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get in there and get the guns out.
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I got the rifles and shoved a full clip in
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each one. Then I slipped a primer fuse in the
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homemade grenades and lugged them out on the porch. Dad
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was running lead.
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Wires back to the detonator from a half keg of
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Adamson A. He'd set across the gate. That's it. Give
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me one of those rifles.
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Will they be here soon?
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You can see the dust over the rise.
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There they are, Dad. There they come.
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Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold up. I
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want to get a good shot. Let them get closer.
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Dad, that's Crazy John up in front.
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There.
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He's taller than the spiders. You can see his beard.
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Yeah, you're right. The renegade rats. Probably helped him break
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out of the reservation. Now, listen, Al.
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If anything happens to me, you light out back to
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the shed. You can hide out in the empty ore
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bins till they go away.
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You got that?
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All right, Dad.
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The spider's shouting something, Dad.
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That's probably a trick. Get down a little louder. You're
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in the way. Fire!
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I got him.
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I got him.
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Dad, look out.
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They've got guns.
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Down.
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Get down.
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Dad. Dad. Get out, Al.
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Get out of the shed. But, Dad, you're hit.
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Go on. Those spiders are going to rush.
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Get going. I can't leave you.
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Shut up.
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Get out of here.
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You hear?
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Get out there.
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Come on. ran back through the house to the shed.
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And behind me, I could hear the Martians sweeping up
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to the dooryard. Then suddenly, the ground shook.
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And I could feel the dull concussion waves hit my
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ears as the Adamson A exploded. I could hear the
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high-whispered screams of the Martians and the rattle of fragments
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on the metal roof of the shed. the ore bin
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and slammed the hatch almost shut. I crouched there watching
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the thin edge of light that pillared through, listening to
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the brittle tramping of Martian feet on the board floor
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of our house. The shooting had stopped and the shots
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had died away.
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I sat there waiting.
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And then suddenly a shadow fell across the edge.
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Of light and the hatch slid open on top of me.
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You leave me alone. I'll kill you.
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Boy, I've been looking for you.
260
00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:53.419
Where's my dad?
261
00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:55.080
What did you do to my dad?
262
00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:56.460
He's dead.
263
00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.269
You killed him. You and those spiders. You killed my father.
264
00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:02.570
Come out of there, boy.
265
00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:11.320
I'll kill you. I'll kill all those stinking murdering spiders.
266
00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:13.480
They are our brothers, boy.
267
00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:17.919
Your father shot without warning and the fire was returned
268
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.179
against my orders.
269
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:21.590
You did not have to shoot.
270
00:14:22.730 --> 00:14:26.750
Our brothers came in peace. They're going home to their mountains.
271
00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:29.350
We came to get water for the journey.
272
00:14:29.830 --> 00:14:31.450
You mean you just wanted water?
273
00:14:31.970 --> 00:14:32.269
You.
274
00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:34.529
You... Dad.
275
00:14:40.549 --> 00:14:42.720
We must go. And the boy? We'll have to leave
276
00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:45.940
him here with water and supplies. No, the Earth Patrol
277
00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.049
would question him. We need the time. He goes with us.
278
00:14:49.049 --> 00:14:51.929
He's scared to skate across the desert to the mountains.
279
00:14:51.950 --> 00:14:57.720
He'll die. John, since the Earthmen came to Mars, the Highlanders...
280
00:15:19.210 --> 00:15:22.480
mounted it on poles. They piled our supplies in the
281
00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:25.000
yard and loaded them on their backs.
282
00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:35.049
And then they started. I marched with the old man
283
00:15:35.129 --> 00:15:38.970
at the head and the columns stretched out behind us.
284
00:15:38.970 --> 00:15:44.009
On the desert. Women, children, the sick and the dying.
285
00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:47.940
Some showing the signs of the diseases that were trivial
286
00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:50.980
to the Earthmen, but deadly to the Martians.
287
00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:57.330
Chickenpox, German measles, and the bronchial infections that raced through
288
00:15:57.370 --> 00:16:01.289
the vast areas of Martian lungs, eating away the tissue
289
00:16:01.309 --> 00:16:05.080
till death came in a last spasm of coughing.
290
00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.960
I turned to look back at our house.
291
00:16:17.250 --> 00:16:20.929
As he marched, his eyes fixed on the horizon where
292
00:16:20.990 --> 00:16:24.690
far to the north rose the cool mountains that were
293
00:16:24.710 --> 00:16:35.100
the ancient home of the Highlanders.
294
00:16:35.629 --> 00:16:37.429
Fourteen of the Martians died the first day.
295
00:16:37.429 --> 00:16:40.899
They dropped to the side of the column when they
296
00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:45.070
could go no further and died. The march went on.
297
00:16:46.610 --> 00:16:48.889
The sun burned down in a day.
298
00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:51.269
The air shimmered with the heat.
299
00:16:51.309 --> 00:16:53.509
And at night, under the cold racing light of the
300
00:16:53.549 --> 00:16:58.679
twin moons, the winds cut at tattered clothing and scattered
301
00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:03.000
the feeble fires that darted the campsites. On the fifth day,
302
00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:04.420
we swung wide to avoid.
303
00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:08.480
A mining settlement. But not wide enough. They were in
304
00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:11.460
ambush behind a pile of rocks. Down!
305
00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:12.599
Down, boy!
306
00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:14.579
Why aren't the spiders fighting back?
307
00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:14.960
Go on, go!
308
00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:21.119
I will shoot the whole lot of you. Let us
309
00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:21.720
go in peace.
310
00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:23.460
Who's that? You.
311
00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:27.039
What are you doing with them spiders? That's crazy, John.
312
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:29.240
A voice cries out to the universe.
313
00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:31.789
Your brothers must have justice.
314
00:17:32.049 --> 00:17:33.349
We'll give them justice.
315
00:17:33.609 --> 00:17:35.589
I shall lead them home.
316
00:17:35.609 --> 00:17:38.970
Home to the promised rest.
317
00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:42.970
Home to the mountains. March forward.
318
00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:55.740
March forward. rocks they marched, and.
319
00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:59.730
The Earthmen fired as fast as they could reload. A
320
00:17:59.750 --> 00:18:03.509
Martian would spin and drop as the heavy caliber bullets
321
00:18:03.869 --> 00:18:07.990
shook his bones to brittle fragments. But the march went on.
322
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.779
round across the desert in wild zigzags.
323
00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:18.759
Following the paths.
324
00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:22.279
The old men had traveled through the years. Only once
325
00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:26.559
a patrol plane hovered on the horizon and then shot away.
326
00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:32.799
The days went on. The weeks. And the Martians died.
327
00:18:32.819 --> 00:18:36.660
They died of exhaustion. They died of the disease we
328
00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:44.279
had given them. And they died of thirst. units of
329
00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:48.019
water an hour, no more. And on that, they died
330
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:53.039
of thirst. Here, boy. Here's your water.
331
00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.509
That's more than the others got. You're giving me your water.
332
00:18:57.569 --> 00:18:59.289
It will be provided to me.
333
00:18:59.309 --> 00:19:04.869
He that brings justice to his brothers will drink deep
334
00:19:05.029 --> 00:19:09.329
of the water of righteousness. He that leads his brothers
335
00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:28.859
to their promised rest will savor the cool the desert,
336
00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:33.640
from the Kalmak Canal to Fever Dip, past the towering
337
00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:38.250
mesas of the Higgins Badlands, across the dry sea bottoms,
338
00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:43.269
they marched.
339
00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:45.859
On the 54th day of the march, we hauled it
340
00:19:45.940 --> 00:19:46.380
at evening.
341
00:19:50.049 --> 00:19:54.539
The rations had long since been exhausted. And around the campfires,
342
00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:58.279
they cooked the hard, bitter kernels of the dog bush
343
00:19:58.339 --> 00:20:03.529
nut that grew on spiny stalks like earth cactus. I
344
00:20:03.569 --> 00:20:05.970
lay down to sleep wrapped in the old man's coat.
345
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.359
Was lifting slowly, and I saw the old.
346
00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:22.740
Man standing by the burned-out fire, the paper swirling around
347
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.509
his legs, and the cold light of the false dawn
348
00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:28.710
edging his wild beard.
349
00:20:30.049 --> 00:20:31.829
Go back to sleep, boy.
350
00:20:32.549 --> 00:20:33.230
I can't.
351
00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:47.869
The mountains. It's over.
352
00:20:48.309 --> 00:20:50.250
We're there. I have led.
353
00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:57.660
Them to their home. And I must go back to
354
00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:58.200
the desert.
355
00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:00.240
You mean alone?
356
00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:00.319
No.
357
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:05.039
Even now, I hear a voice in the wind.
358
00:21:06.299 --> 00:21:48.829
Carry the message to I found him 500 yards from
359
00:21:48.869 --> 00:21:55.230
the camp, dead. He had given me his water. He
360
00:21:55.269 --> 00:21:59.869
had divided his ration among the sick. And yet his gaunt,
361
00:21:59.990 --> 00:22:03.119
tall body had lasted till the march was done, till
362
00:22:03.130 --> 00:22:04.380
the mountains were in sight.
363
00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:10.059
For now the mist rose, and before us towered the highlands,
364
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:17.430
the tall, green mountains. The march was over.
365
00:22:18.950 --> 00:22:23.880
Of the 7,000 Martians who started, 900 were alive.
366
00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:28.140
They gathered now on the rise of ground and faced
367
00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:33.039
the hills. Their thin bodies wavered as they stood. And
368
00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:36.529
some dropped to the ground as they stood there. But
369
00:22:36.549 --> 00:22:39.349
there was a light of hope in their large, staring eyes.
370
00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:43.309
Most of them had died.
371
00:22:43.349 --> 00:22:47.309
But they had died on the way home. And now
372
00:22:47.349 --> 00:22:48.609
the march was over.
373
00:22:55.230 --> 00:23:00.519
Then the patrol planes were spotted on the horizon. And
374
00:23:00.539 --> 00:23:05.559
within ten minutes, they had landed. The Martians stood silently.
375
00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:09.730
As the squads piled out and set up the. 50
376
00:23:09.730 --> 00:23:13.480
caliber machine guns and petroleum gel flamethrower.
377
00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:16.640
All right, you spiders, hands up and stay together.
378
00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:18.119
Gather a bunch.
379
00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:19.549
And don't try anything. Sergeant.
380
00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:20.250
Yes, sir.
381
00:23:20.609 --> 00:23:22.670
Shoot the first spider that moves and shoot to kill.
382
00:23:22.690 --> 00:23:23.549
All right, come on.
383
00:23:23.549 --> 00:23:23.730
Come on.
384
00:23:25.789 --> 00:23:26.319
Boy.
385
00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:27.619
There was a boy reported.
386
00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:30.220
Here I am. You all right, kid?
387
00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:31.799
They didn't hurt you?
388
00:23:31.819 --> 00:23:32.099
No.
389
00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:34.970
No, I'm all right. John gave me his water ration.
390
00:23:35.049 --> 00:23:37.299
Oh, the leader, huh? I've got a warrant for him.
391
00:23:37.309 --> 00:23:37.769
Where is he?
392
00:23:38.470 --> 00:23:38.839
There.
393
00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:40.319
He's dead.
394
00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:40.740
Oh.
395
00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:42.240
Well, just as well.
396
00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:44.640
I'd hate to be him in front of a settler's jury.
397
00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:46.390
What are you going to do to them?
398
00:23:46.710 --> 00:23:49.910
The spiders? You see those transport planes coming in?
399
00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:52.990
We're going to ship them all back to the reservation.
400
00:23:52.490 --> 00:23:53.170
Where they belong.
401
00:23:53.430 --> 00:23:54.910
You mean take them all back?
402
00:23:54.950 --> 00:23:56.289
Lock, stock, and barrel.
403
00:23:56.769 --> 00:23:58.910
They'll be back behind wire before tonight.
404
00:23:58.930 --> 00:23:59.990
All right, Sergeant.
405
00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:02.259
Get them broken up in groups of 50.
406
00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:03.779
The first transports are coming in.
407
00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:05.579
You can't. You can't do that.
408
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:07.019
What are you talking about, kid?
409
00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:10.869
Oh, you can't take them back. They're home. John said
410
00:24:10.910 --> 00:24:11.569
they were home.
411
00:24:11.690 --> 00:24:14.700
You take it easy, kid. You're all right. Now we
412
00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:18.019
rescued you. You don't have to worry about these spiders anymore.
413
00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:21.339
You can't take them back. It isn't fair. I won't
414
00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:24.079
let you. I won't let you. I won't let you.
415
00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:26.980
Hey, hey, hey. Let go of me. Sergeant. Yes, sir.
416
00:24:27.059 --> 00:24:29.119
I can feel this crazy kid off me.
417
00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:33.509
They're home. Can't you understand? You can't take them back.
418
00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:34.200
All right, now.
419
00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:39.210
Get easy, easy. Must be the sergeant. All right, you spiders.
420
00:24:39.230 --> 00:24:41.589
Step it up. Move along. These transport planes.
421
00:24:41.609 --> 00:24:42.970
It's all over now.
422
00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:45.150
You're headed right back to the reservation.
423
00:24:53.279 --> 00:25:01.359
They separated them in groups of 50 and loaded.
424
00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:03.220
Them in planes. 900 out of 7,000. And soon the first.
425
00:25:03.059 --> 00:25:07.289
Big-bellied ships waddled out on the hard sands and lifted.
426
00:25:06.950 --> 00:25:11.289
Slowly into the air, headed back to the south, flying
427
00:25:11.349 --> 00:25:17.589
over the trail of March to the highlands. The march
428
00:25:17.650 --> 00:25:19.990
to home. Come on now, kid.
429
00:25:20.769 --> 00:25:23.250
You'll feel better as soon as you get back to civilization.
430
00:25:23.309 --> 00:25:27.150
And don't worry about those spiders. They're taken care of now.
431
00:25:27.470 --> 00:25:29.579
The End.
432
00:25:43.079 --> 00:25:46.319
Before the plane took off, I looked once more at
433
00:25:46.339 --> 00:25:51.380
the green mountains, towering through the mist. And then, just
434
00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:56.089
before the motor raced, I saw John.
435
00:25:56.130 --> 00:25:56.710
Crazy John.
436
00:25:58.170 --> 00:26:00.690
Propped up against a dog nut bush where the Martians
437
00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:01.329
had placed him.
438
00:26:02.970 --> 00:26:05.279
The wind from the south gave the wild hare and
439
00:26:17.329 --> 00:26:28.430
led them through the wilderness of Mars.
440
00:26:28.450 --> 00:26:30.839
Be with us at this same time next week for
441
00:26:30.900 --> 00:26:35.559
another adventure into the unknown world of Dimension X.
442
00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.160
The signal fades on Dimension X and the Martian Death March.
443
00:26:42.619 --> 00:26:45.839
Follow Dimension X for more classic science fiction broadcasts.