This is science Friction on Hudson River Radio dot Com Tonight, episode twelve.
Colossal killer flees from the edge of space. Yes, yes, I know
who you are, Missus Ferguson. What is it this time? A flying
saucer? Two small gray aliens? No, three small gray aliens. Yes,
I'm writing this all down. Yes, I'll send someone right over.
No, we don't need directions. Every Stony Point officer already knows where you
live. No, Missus Ferguson, I don't think you're in any danger.
Good night. The call from crazy old Missus Ferguson had been the only one
to come into the police station in the sleepy little town of Stony Point,
New York on that warm spring night of nineteen fifty four. The responding officer
found no flying saucer and no aliens, and the incident was quickly forgotten as
just another one of Missus Ferguson's bizarre hallucinations. Then, three weeks later,
on another night shift, Stony Point police, Yes, hello again, Missus
Ferguson has another flying saucer landed. What's that? Oh? This one crashed
in the woods. I see No, no need to call the air Force.
I'll send an officer to see if any of the aliens survived. Yes,
best to lock your doors. Good night, Missus Ferguson. Patrolman Smith
laughed when the dispatcher told him the latest from crazy old Missus Ferguson, and
he said he would check it out before taking his coffee break. However,
when over an hour had passed and Smith hadn't checked in or responded to calls
from the dispatcher, there was considerable concern at the police station. Sergeant,
you know this isn't like Smitty. What if something really did crash, like
a Soviet spy plane. Did you call Stewart Air Force Base to see if
they had anything on radar? Yeah, they said they got nothing. Okay,
send Bill and Randy to look for Smitty and tell them to be alert
and have them checking the instant they find anything. Fifteen minutes later, Hey,
Bill, over there off the road, it's Smitty's car. Call it
and will get closer. Both officers rushed to the abandoned patrol car, which
still had its lights on and engine running. The driver's door was open,
but police Officer Smith was nowhere in sight. Smitty, Hey, Smitty,
you out there? Randy? Look here at the roof and hood, they're
all dented. What the hell looks like a little rocks fell on it.
Yeah, except there ain't no rocks around the car, and no tree limbs
or anything else that could have caused this. And Aunt Illinois whose house got
destroyed by giant hale. Then the hail all melted, so if you hadn't
seen it, you wouldn't have known what happened. Hail. Really, they're
gonna cloud in the sky. I'm just saying weird stuff can happen. I
think weird stuff is always happening between your ears. Now, call the sergeant
and get some more men out here. I got a bad feeling about this.
Yeah it's Randy. We got a situation here. It smidio. Okay,
that's just it. His car is banged up, but he's nowhere to
be found. It's like, help, Randy, Help, they got me?
What's happening? Oh my god? What are those things? They got
me too? What Randy? Randy? Answer me. Ten seconds passed with
no response, and then the sergeant calmly walked to the gun rack, grabbed
a shotgun and an extra box of shells. Get every available man, And
I do mean everyone. Get them here asap, but have them stay in
their cars until I arrived. And I want some ambulances on scene. Tell
let to hang back to and wait until they get my signal to approach.
What do you think it is, Sergeant, I have no idea, but
whatever is doing this made a big mistake attacking Stony Point. Meanwhile nearby and
an old shack in the woods where local teens hung out. Ernie, you
told me we're just going to the movies. Come on, Jane, there's
no school tomorrow. Have a beard and try to have some fun like the
rest of us. But everyone's just getting drunk and making out exactly like I
said, have some fun. What's that, Ernie, I'm scared. It's
probably just some kids from school being jerks, jumping on the roof. Hey,
Andy, Butch, let's go out and teach these guys a lesson.
Don't go out there, Ernie, don't worry. We're all on the football
team. We can take care of ourselves. Ernie opened the door and the
three strapping young men stepped outside and immediately started screaming like little girls. Jane
could hardly believe her eyes as she watched dozens of the creatures the size and
shape of flattened beach balls, leaping onto the three defenseless boys. The ghastly
things were black, with ugly, powerful legs and hideous, pointed mouth tubes
that sank deep into the boy's flesh. The creatures quickly swelled with the blood
of their victims, who fell dead in seconds. Almost all the teams in
the shack panicked and tried to run, but none got very far. Only
Jane stayed inside, and she hid in an old foot locker one of the
boys had stolen from his father, and she covered her ears to muffle the
sound of the awful screams. Back at the scene of the attack on the
police officers, I want an armed perimeter. I'm not sending anyone in there
until I know it's clear. It was agonizing for the sergeant, seeing the
bodies of his fallen officers in the distance and not being able to run to
their sides, but no one had any idea of what they were dealing with,
and he wasn't about to lose any more men on his watch. All
clear, sergeant, Okay, get the ambulances up here. My god,
what could have caused those horrible puncture wounds and look at their faces, their
whitest chalk, as if they've lost every drop of blood. But the ground
is dried. There's no blood anywhere. Hey, hey, Larry, that's
Bill, that's Randy over there. See if there's anything you can do for
them. I'm sorry, sergeant, there beyond help. Both of these men
are dead. Can you tell what happened to them? I was a medic
during war and I never saw wounds like this, and with these catastrophic injuries,
there should be blood everywhere whereas all the blood, that's what we were
saying. They found Smithy's body over there, looks like he also, what
is it? What are you shooting at? I don't know? Step out
of it, man, What did you see? It was horrible, some
big black thing like a giant bug. I shout at it with the shotgun
pellets. They just bounced off. Where's it? Now? Where did it
go? It? Just pull yourself together, This is important. Where did
it go? It jumped? Jumped? Where makes some sense? It jumped
like it was shot out of a cannon. It was there and then it
was gone. Sergeant, what's going on? What do we do? Larry?
Get those bodies in the ambulances and get them to the coroner's office.
Everyone else, get back in your cars. I want a street by street
search, but no one get out of their vehicles. Understood. Will be
right back with more of Science Friction theat on Hudson River Radio dot com.
Ladies, your husbands need help in choosing that special gift for your next birthday,
Mother's Day, or Christmas, and tell them tonight about the Siphon Air
vacuum cleaners. In independent laboratory tests, Siphon Air sucks twice as much as
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for that next special gift. Nothing sucks as much as a Siphon. We
now return to Science Friction Theater on Hudson Criven Radio dot Com. Helloo the
police. Yes, Sergeant, I'm doctor Peggy Hall. Yes they call me
the bug Lady, but actually I'm an aricknologist, no our recknologist. Spiders.
Well, yes, I do know a lot about other bugs. What
three men killed? Yes, I'll meet you at the stony Point in Coroner's
office in half an hour. The early rays of dawn painted the river and
valley in a reddish hue. The color of blood, Jane thought as she
cautiously emerged from the foot locker and took a trembling step outside the door of
the shack Ernie. No, Andy, Butch, Grace married Joe. Everyone,
they're all dead. I have to help. I have to get help.
I have to warn everyone. Meanwhile, at the coroner's office, doctor
Hall, thank you for coming. Prepare yourself. This is not a pretty
sight. Good heavens, how awful those wounds. They're enormous. How could
you think tiny insects did this? I never said tiny? What what are
you saying? I'm not really sure what I'm saying. Please just examine the
wounds and give me your professional opinion. I'll need some instruments, a bright
life, a magnifier, and a microscope. I guess I had better get
started. Meanwhile, as everyone across town was waking up to start their days,
some parents were discovering that their children were missing and hadn't slept in their
beds. Frantic calls flooded the police station. Then wild rumors swept through the
town as news of the police officer's death get the local radio station. Yes,
ma'am, I understand. Do you have any idea where your son was
going last night. Well, please come down to the station so you can
fell out a report. Yes, ma'am, we're doing everything we can.
Hello Stony Point Police. Yes, sir, your daughter is missing. Please
come down to the station to follow report. Hello Stony Point Police. And
two. So it went as the deaths and disappearances hit Stony Point like an
emotional tidal wave of terror. Back at the coroner's office, Well, I've
completed my preliminary examination, and I must say this is very exciting, exciting.
Those men were my friends and I sent them to their deaths. Oh,
of course, of course, I meant scientifically, it is most intriguing.
I meant no offense, Sergeant. Perhaps I get carried away with my
work sometimes I'm sorry, it's it's been a long night. So doctor Hall,
tell me what killed these men? Flease say what fleas? Big fleas,
and I mean really big fleas. I don't know how it's even possible,
but the puncture wounds are consistent with the two lacini and the epipharynx of
the order of Siphonoptera. Say what the mouth parts of the flea. It's
how they puncture the skin and suck out the blood of their victims. Of
course, I would like to consult with doctor Fred Flanders, a medical entomologist,
someone whom you would call the flea guy. I know this all sounds
fantastic, but that's my expert opinion. I need to sit down. Give
me a second. One of my officers said he saw an enormous black bug
that jumped out of sight in a single leap. The legs of a flea
contain a protein called brazilian, a springy substance that snaps back with the force
of a crossbow. A tiny flea can jump seven inches up at a distance
of thirteen inches. I dare say that a flea of the size necessary to
cause these wounds could probably jump the length of two football fields and higher than
a twenty story building. And he said he shot at it with a shotgun,
but the pellets just bounced off. Also characteristic of a flea, their
bodies are covered with sclerites, which are essentially like armor plating. There's a
reason fleas have been around for one hundred million years. That and their amazing
rate of reproduction. Oh, I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this.
Yes, fleas can start laying eggs within twenty four hours of their first
blood feting. They lay up to fifty eggs at a time, and in
a week or two, the new generation is ready to reproduce. So you're
telling me we only have a week to find and kill all these things and
all of their eggs, or Stony Point will be overrun with colossal killer fleas.
Precisely, get this flea out here asap, I'll sergeant, sergeant,
what is it now? This girl, Jane Finnegan, she ran into the
police station all hysterical. I think you should hear what she has to say.
Help, you have to get help. Calm down, dear, take
a deep breath and tell me what's wrong. They're dead. They're all dead.
Get a hold of yourself. We need information, doctor Hall. Was
that really necessary? She's just a child. It's okay, I'm okay.
Now we were at old We're at the old Shack in the woods, and
there are all these huge black bugs. They attacked Ernie and the other kids,
sucked all their blood out. In seconds. They were swarming all over
them, swarming. There was nothing I could do. And now they're all
dead. They're dead. The sergeant asked, Jane to try to draw what
she saw. It was a crude sketch, but the legs, the body,
and especially the repulsive mouth all looked like those of a flea, hopefully
that somehow grew big enough to drain a man's blood in a few thirsty gulps
later that morning. This is a Hudson River Radio emergency alert. Stay in
your homes, do not go out. There are dangerous, unknown creatures looking
in Stony Point. Report anything unusual, and stay inside until further notice.
Back at the police station, sergeant Colonel Barker from the army has arrived.
Good send him in. Okay, Sergeant, you have exactly two minutes to
make me believe in colossal killer fleas. I have a dozen bodies in the
morgue with massive puncture wounds that have been drained of every drop of blood.
I have a bug expert who confirmed the wounds or from enormous fleas, and
another expert examining the bodies now. And I have two eyewitnesses who have actually
seen these hideous creatures jumping and feeding just for laughs. Suppose I believe you?
So Where these things come from? God knows all. We've got to
go on is that we got a call from this crazy old lady in town
last night that a flying saucer crashed, and the next thing I know,
I had three dead officers. Then wait, a flying saucer crashed. Why
wasn't I informed of this? Well, old missus Ferguson means well, but
she always claims to see something strange. Let's go see this, Missus Ferguson.
Then I need to find the ten minutes later, well you find them
aliens, any of them still alive? No, Missus Ferguson, we haven't
found them yet. Could you tell me and Colonel Barker here exactly what you
saw? A few weeks ago I told the police that a silver flying saucer
landed right here in that field. Three of them little grayish aliens with big
heads, got out, walked around, picked up some plants like they was
collecting specimens, then took off. And last night, well, I was
in the backyard with my little Buffy, waiting for him to do his business,
and that same saucer drops out of the sky, all wobbly like,
out of control, crashed in them woods back there, maybe half a mile.
I'll bet you dollars to donuts all these deaths are because of that ding
blasted crashed saucer. Thank you very much for the information, missus DOMI will
take it from here. Oh yeah, I feel real safe now that the
government's in charge. He's a piece of work, isn't she Yeah, but
I think she's right. Whatever crash seems to have started all of this.
Do you know how to get to this area, she pointed to Yes,
but I hope you brought some serious firepower. These blood sucking bastards are armor
plated. Don't worry about that. You name the target, we've got something
to penetrate it and blow it all the hell, which is exactly where these
killer fleas belong. Back at the coroner's office, Hello, you must be
doctor Flanders. Yes, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Doctor
Hall. Your papers on the mating rituals of the orb weaver spider was most
engrossing. I've been admiring your work for years. Oh thank you, doctor.
It's nice to have ones worth appreciated. And I was fascinated by the
transcript of your lecture on how flea larva feed on their parents dried blood waste.
Thank you ever so much. Most people don't appreciate the exquisite beauty of
the siphonoptera. Now I understand there is an unusually large flea infestation and stony
point. That's an understatement. Come have a look at these bodies. No,
it can't be for flea to make these wounds. It must be two
maybe three feet long. Is this some sort of a sick joke, Doctor
Hall, No, it's no joke. I assure you examine the wounds for
yourself, and there are witnesses. Hold on, what's that? Get me
some forceps? Yes, doctor here, what do you see here on the
edge of that wound? Let me see if I can grab it. It's
really stuck in there. Help me pull. As doctor Hall placed her hands
around those of doctor Flanders, their eyes met for a brief moment, and
it was like a jolt of electricity ran through their spines. Together, they
pulled with all their might until they yanked out the spiky, thornlike object from
the side of the gaping wound. Both of them knew their lives would never
be the same. Oh, thank you, doctor Hall. You're quite welcome.
Doctor Flanders. Now, what do you think this is? My heavens,
can it be Look, this is clearly a bristle of hair from a
siphonoptera, but it should be microscopic. And this is the size of my
pinkie. Why my heart is all a flutter? Think of it, Doctor
Hall. Together we have a chance to study the most remarkable species of insect
the world has ever known. And there's no one I would rob first study
giant mutant siphon Up to row with the new doctor Flanders. Call me Fred,
and please call me Peggy. Will be right back with both a science
fiction Theaton on Hudson River Radio dot com. And now for the exciting conclusion
of science fiction Theaton on Hudson River Radio dot com. Several army jeeps drove
into the woods as far as they could go, and then nervous troops continued
on foot. A soldier with a Geiger canter led the way, and as
the readings intensified, they knew they were getting closer, but closer to what,
Colonel, shouldn't we be in protective gear Sergeant trenches of the Nevada A
bomb test sites. And the radiation didn't bother me. Don't worry if it
gets really bad, wait, hop ahead, what's that? But it can't
be. God help me, but it looks like a crashed disk. Flying
saucers are real. Careful man, fan out and keep your eyes open for
anything. As the men cautiously approached, they were stunned, horrified, and
elated to see three extraterrestrial beings lying in front of the damaged craft. Unfortunately,
they were all dead. Look, colonel, they have all the same
puncture wounds. They must have been killed by the colossal fleece too after they
crashed, or was it before? What do you mean? Remember missus Ferguson
said that three weeks ago these aliens were walking in a field and collecting plants.
So so what if they inadvertently picked up some fleas too? Maybe it
was feeding off the alien blood coupled with the radiation and out of space that
caused them to grow so large, and then the giant mutated fleas attacked the
aliens and cause them to crash. Well no more. When we get these
bodies back to the lab and transport that sofcaware can be reverse engineered. Owen,
Sergeant, Yes, colonel, you didn't see anything here today, understood.
I'm a patriot. You can count on me. I'm sure I can
now the fleas. They must be attacking like something out of your worst nightmare.
Dozens of enormous fleas sprang into their victims with blinding speed, drained their
blood, then jumped far into the distance. Men fired wildly and by sheero.
Look. One high powered armor piercing round caught a flea in the midsection
and brought it crashing down. It's six bristled legs twitched for a moment,
and then it lay still. Quick man, grab these alien bodies and fall
back. Sergeant, let me get this dead flea into the jeep and then
let's get the hell out of here. Twenty minutes later, back at the
coroner's office, Oh, sergeant, this is Fred of doctor flandersts. He
concurs that these wounds were made by giant fleas, and we have physical proof.
We concurt you, and we have about forty pounds of physical proof.
Soldiers, put that damn dead mutant flea on the exam table. My god,
it's magnificent. I can't believe my eyes. I never imagined such a
spectacular fines would come my way. What's with you, bug people? It's
a hideous, colossal killer flea from the edge of space feeding off alien in
human blood. I need to know what makes them tick and how to kill
them. Did you say alien blood, sir? Something about space? Yes?
I did, now get to it, yes, yes, sir.
Over the next several days, as the residents of Stony Point were evacuated,
troops streamed into town. Radar guided high speed weapon systems were installed around the
crash saucer to protect the special teams working to retrieve it. But still the
lightning fast fleas seemed to strike at will. It was a race against the
clock. Retrieved the saucer, hunt down the colossal fleas and find the nests
of eggs and larva, which by now could number in the thousands. But
then the clock ran out. The first batch of vava I had already matured
and they were out for blood. Sergeant, reports are coming in of hundreds
and hundreds of fleas coming out of the woods. Within hours, Stony Point
will be completely overrun, and they'll start spreading into all the neighboring towns too.
Colonel, you have to get your men out of here. The saucer
is being loaded on a truck as we speak. How those bug people come
up with any answers yet? They're saying that it was the unique properties of
the alien blood and radiation from being in space that caused the mutation and accelerated
their reproduction cycles. They're saying that if something isn't done, and soon there'll
be no stopping them. We should have done something days ago. Our priority
was retrieving that flying saucer. This alien technology could put us generations ahead of
the Soviets. Yeah, but now stony Point will be lost, A small
price to pay for such advanced technology. So now what I think you know
what you have to do. Yes, I'm afraid that I do. We're
going to try napalm first, and if that doesn't work well, the President
has authorized the nuclear option. God help stony Point, and God help the
world if we leave even one mutant fleagg alive. Watching from a Navy ship
in the river, Red and Peggy looked on with great sadness as the napalm
rained down on Stony Point and it became a blazing inferno, all those precious
specimens lost. They could have at least let us keep some larvage to study.
And with the secrecy in order, we can't even publish our findings.
This all started out so promising, and now what do we have left.
We may have lost the colossal fleas, but we found each other. Yes
Sunday, there will be other mutant specimens to dissect, and we will do
it together. This has been Science Friction Theater for production of Hudson River Radio
dot Com. Written by Winda Zimmermy. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast
so you'll never miss an exciting adventure. See you next time on Science Friction Theater