Speaker 1: Test rocket. This is a librevox recording. All livervox recordings
Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
Speaker 1: please visit librevox dot org. Recording by Todd Ritchie. Test
Speaker 1: rocket by Jack Douglas. Captain Baird stood at the window
Speaker 1: of the laboratory where the thousand parts of the strange
Speaker 1: rocket lay strewn in careful order. Small groups worked slowly
Speaker 1: over the dismantled parts. The Captain want to ask, but
Speaker 1: something stopped him. Behind him, Doctor Johansson sat at his desk,
Speaker 1: his narroled old hand tied about a whiskey bottle, the
Speaker 1: bottle the doctor always had in his desk but never
Speaker 1: brought out, except for when ye was alone and waited
Speaker 1: for Captain Bair to ask his question. Captain Baird turned
Speaker 1: at last. They are our markings, Captain Baird asked, It
Speaker 1: was not the question. Captain Baird knew the markings of
Speaker 1: the rocket testing station as well as the doctor did. Yes,
Speaker 1: the doctor said, they are our markings, identical, but not
Speaker 1: our paint. Captain Baird turned back to the window. Six
Speaker 1: months ago, it had happened ten minutes after launching a
Speaker 1: giant test rocket had been only a speck on the
Speaker 1: observation screen. Captain Baird turned away in discussed a mouse.
Speaker 1: The captain had said, unfortunate a mouse can't observe build report.
Speaker 1: My men are getting restless, Johansson. When we are ready, Captain,
Speaker 1: the doctor had said. It was twelve hours before the
Speaker 1: urchin call from central control brought the captain running back
Speaker 1: to the laboratory. The doctor was there before him. Professor
Speaker 1: Schultz wasted no time. He pointed to the instrument panel,
Speaker 1: a sudden shift. See for yourself. We'll miss Mars by
Speaker 1: a million quarter. At least two hours later, the shift
Speaker 1: and course of the test rocket was apparent to all
Speaker 1: of them, and so was their disappointment. According to the instruments,
Speaker 1: the steering shifted a quarter of an inch. No reason
Speaker 1: shows up, Professor Schultz said, flaw in the metal. Doctor
Speaker 1: Johanson asked, how far can it go? Captain Baird asked.
Speaker 1: Professor Schultz shrugged. Until the fuel runs out, which is
Speaker 1: probably as good as never, or until the landing mechanism
Speaker 1: is acted activated by a planet sized body. Course, did
Speaker 1: you plot it, the doctor asked, Of course I did.
Speaker 1: Professor Schultz said, as close as I can calculate its
Speaker 1: headed to Alpha Centauri. Captain Baird turned away. The doctor
Speaker 1: watched him. Perhaps you will not be so hasty with
Speaker 1: your men's lives in the future, Captain, the doctor said.
Speaker 1: Professor Schultz was spinning dials. No contact, The professor said,
Speaker 1: no contact at all. That had been six months ago.
Speaker 1: Three more test rockets has been fired successfully before the
Speaker 1: urgent report came through from Alaskan Observation Post number four.
Speaker 1: A rocket was coming across the pool. The strange rocket
Speaker 1: was tracked and escorted by an atomic armed fighters all
Speaker 1: the way to rocket testing station, where it cut its
Speaker 1: own motors and gently landed in the center of a
Speaker 1: division of atomic armed infantry. The Captain, the doctor, and
Speaker 1: everyone else waited impatiently. There was an air of uneasiness.
Speaker 1: You sure it's not ours, Captain Baird asked. The doctor
Speaker 1: laughed identical, Yes, but three times the size of ours,
Speaker 1: perhaps one of the Asian ones. No, it's our design,
Speaker 1: but too large, much too large. Professor Schultz put their
Speaker 1: thoughts into words, looks like someone copied ours, someone somewhere.
Speaker 1: It's hard to imagine, but true. Nevertheless, they waited two weeks.
Speaker 1: Nothing happened. Then a radiation shielded team went in to
Speaker 1: examine the rocket. Two more weeks, the strange rocket was
Speaker 1: dismantled and spread over the field for the testing station.
Speaker 1: The rocket was dismantled in the station begun to talk
Speaker 1: to itself in whispers and look at the sky. Captain
Speaker 1: Baird stood now at the window and looked out of
Speaker 1: the dismantled rocket. He looked, but his mind was not
Speaker 1: on the parts of the rocket. He could see from
Speaker 1: the window. The materials, they're not ours, the captain asked,
Speaker 1: unknown here the doctor said. The captain nodded. Those were
Speaker 1: our instruments. Yes. The doctor still had the whiskey bottle
Speaker 1: and his tight gripped. They sent them back, the captain said.
Speaker 1: The doctor crashed the bottle hard against the desktop. Ask captain,
Speaker 1: for God's sake. The captain turned to face the doctor
Speaker 1: direct It was a man, a full grown man. The
Speaker 1: doctor's sighed, as if letting the pent up steam of
Speaker 1: his heart escape. Yes, it is a man. It breathes,
Speaker 1: it eats, It has all the attributes of a man,
Speaker 1: but is none of our planet. It's speech, the captain began.
Speaker 1: That isn't speech, Captain. The doctor broke in, breaking in sharply,
Speaker 1: it's only sound. The doctor stopped. He examined the label
Speaker 1: of his bottle of whiskey, very carefully, A good brand
Speaker 1: of whiskey. He seems quite happy in the storeroom. You know, captain,
Speaker 1: what puzzled me at first. He can't read. He can't
Speaker 1: read anything, not even the instruments in that ship. In fact,
Speaker 1: he shows no interest in his rocket at all. Now
Speaker 1: the captain sat down. Now he's had at his desk
Speaker 1: and faced the doctor. At least they had the courage
Speaker 1: to send a man, not a mouse, doctor, a man.
Speaker 1: The doctor stared at. The captain has hands squeezing and
Speaker 1: unsqueezing the whiskey bottle. A man who can't read his
Speaker 1: own instruments, The doctor laughed. Perhaps you too have failed
Speaker 1: to see the point, like that stupid general who sits
Speaker 1: at there waiting for his men to find somewhere to
Speaker 1: an Don't you think it's a possibility, the doctor nodded.
Speaker 1: A very good possibility, captain, But they will not be men.
Speaker 1: The doctor seemed to pause and lean form. That rocket, captain,
Speaker 1: is a test rocket, a test rocket just like ours.
Speaker 1: Then the doctor picked up the whiskey bottle and last
Speaker 1: and poured two glasses, perhaps a drink captain. The captain
Speaker 1: was watching the sky outside the window. End of test
Speaker 1: rocket by Jack Douglas