 Transcribed, the Mutual Broadcasting System presents the Mysterious Traveler, written, produced and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Cogan, and starring two of radio's formal characters, Ralph Bell and Brett Morrison, in The Planet Zidious. This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey through the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and cheer you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves and be comfortable if you can, as I retell a story which so many listeners have asked to hear again. It's the story I call The Planet Zidious. Our story begins in a large darkened laboratory, filled with intricate machinery and instruments. A half dozen engineers are seated before control panels, which run the length of the laboratory, while two small slender men stand in the middle of the room, looking at a large screen, a screen which reveals the celestial heavens to them. The two men follow closely, anxiously, the movement of a pinpoint light across the screen. They're coming in much stronger, Commander. Yes, they're keeping a particular stratosphere. I think the first time we've succeeded. The trip that all goes well in an ending. Yes, we've waited so long for success. They cause attention to the controls, men. The IPX-4 will soon enter the stratosphere. The battle ended. Pardon me, Commander Destro? Yes, yes, what is it? My name is the Dre. I've been assigned by the Scientific Council to act as historians for the work they're engaged in. I see. When you come at a most momentous time, Dre, if you look the screen above it, you'll see history in the making. Oh, allow me to introduce Professor Capasio, our Chief Scientist. How do you do this? Man, happy to meet you. You were saying, Commander, that history was being made this very moment? Yes. You see that small pinpoint of light on the tetra screen? Pinpoint of light? Oh, yes, I see it. That is the IPX-4. Interplanet experimental ship number four. This year we'll go down in history. There's an effort making here. You mean that you'll actually speed it in? Excuse me. The IPX-4 is entered the stratosphere. Attention, master control. Prepare to land the IPX-4. Which arm retarding jet number one? Which arm retarding jet number one? Which arm retarding jet number two? Which arm retarding jet number two? Instrument reading. Speed, two hundred miles per hour. Altitude, sixty thousand feet. Nine hundred, forty thousand. Seven hundred, thirty thousand. Five hundred, twenty thousand. Three hundred, ten thousand. Speed, one hundred miles per hour. Altitude, two thousand feet. Signal base crew to stand by. Base crew, signal to stand by. Instrument reading. Covering, five hundred feet. Three hundred, one hundred. Right completed. The IPX-4 has landed, gentlemen. And with it a new era has begun. An era in which we should travel through the entire solar system to other planets. You've finally succeeded. Yes. And the crew. They came through without any injuries or ill effects. The entire flight was controlled by us from this laboratory. The only crew we had on that ship were animals. The animals are alive and well. The flight vision screen aboard the ship permitted us to see and hear them every moment of the flight. Now there remains but the final step. A flight with human beings as the crew? Yes. We shall start to prepare for it immediately. Ready for flight, sir. The crew are at their stations. Thank you. Professor, why don't you show our young friends who'll be ship while I have a last-minute conference with my officers? Yes, sir, Commander. Come along with me. You'll be more than interested. Thank you. I should like to see the rest of the ship. And as you probably gather, this is the fuel room. Mm-hmm. Well, on the deck below are the nuclear propulsion engines. Will you watch ahead? Oh, yes, yes. Now, this is the crew's quarters. And beneath it are storage quarters for ship supplies and equipment. Strange, Professor, but from the outside the IPX-4 seems so much larger than from in here. Well, that's easy enough to explain the drill. You'll see the IPX-4 is a hole within a hole. And this is the inner hole. Oh, I see. And it's the outer hole that protects it. Yes. To break through the field of gravitation of this planet we must achieve a speed of 20,000 miles per hour. And that speed friction creates great heat on the outer hole. The heat which we, fortunately, will feel in this hole. I understand. Is this the control room? Yes. And don't be overawed by these hundreds of controls and instruments. In time you'll come to understand them all. That large screen. Is that the eye of the ship? Yes. Once we're in flight, what lies before us is projected on the screen. Standby for flight orders. Yes, sir. Standby for flight orders. Oh, gentlemen, the moment has arrived. Sound warning signal. Sound warning signal. Switch on flight vision screen. Switch on flight vision screen. Establish contact with base. Establish contact with base. Cut in nuclear jet number one. Cut in nuclear jet number one. I'm taking off your plane. Cut in nuclear jet number two. Cut in nuclear jet number two. Ends from engraving. Later flight, 500 miles per hour. Allocude, 1,000 feet. Later flight, 2,000 miles per hour. Allocude, 150,000 feet. Don't worry if you're about to black out your base to be expected. The crew is conditioned for it. Later flight, 5,000 miles per hour. Allocude, 140,000 feet. Later flight, 10,000 miles per hour. Allocude, 300,000 feet. This is the crucial moment today. Later flight, 11,000 miles per hour. Allocude, 500,000 feet. Later flight, 13,000 miles per hour. Allocude, 700,000 feet. Later flight, 24,000 miles per hour. Flight distance covered, 2,000 miles. We've made it, sir. Each minute of flight, our speed accelerates. We should soon reach our maximum speed of 50,000 miles per hour. Later flight, 30,000 miles per hour. Flight distance covered, 3,000 miles. Take all of us out. Yes, sir. What's the matter with Vidre? Did you black out? Yes, but he wasn't conditioned for the flight. I hope you're all right in two minutes. When he is, bring him into the charcoal. I'll be plotting our course. Come in, Vidre, Professor. How do you feel, Vidre? I'm all right now, sir. Have a seat. Thank you. I've just been plotting our course to the planet Vivius. Vivius, then? Why Vivius? It isn't the mill, it's the climate. Well, it's quite fully prepared. But through the use of a spectrometer, we've been able to determine that Vivius can support human life. The composition of the air on that planet isn't much different from our own. The air of our planet contains 22.8% oxygen and 77% nitrogen. And traces of other gas. And Vivius? And Vivius, the oxygen content is 20.5%. A little less than our own. The nitrogen content is 79%. We shouldn't have too much difficulty breathing on Vivius. I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with Vivius. How did it compare with our planet in other respects? Well, three-fourths of Vivius seems to be water. The land is divided into two continents. Very much like our own planet. Yes. Its confluence is approximately 28,000 miles. 300 years ago, our astronomers noted huge explosions on Vivius. At the time, they thought it was disintegrating. But it didn't. Yes. And since those huge explosions 300 years ago, there's been no additional one. Professor, do you think there might be human life on Vivius? It's quite possible, you did. We should reach Vivius in 60 days. Perhaps then we'd raise. We shall have the answer. Stand by to land on Vivius. Attention, crew members. Stand by to land on Vivius. We're approaching Vivius already. It's spreading a strong force on its surface. Yes. Switch on radar center. Switch on radar center. Our radar signals are reaching Vivius. And being reflected back will be perfect. As we get there, tell the speed of the signals and accelerate. I see. Cut nuclear jet number two. Cut nuclear jet number two. Cut nuclear jet number one. Cut nuclear jet number one. How quiet it is. It's strange not to hear the engines after 61 days. Instrument rating, rate of descent, 500 miles per hour. Approaching stratosphere. Altitude, 400,000 feet. Rate of descent, 600 miles. Altitude, 300,000 feet. The speed is increasing. Quiet. Vivius orbit, gravity is cooling us down toward it. Switch on retarding jet number one. Switch on retarding jet number one. Instrument rating, rate of descent, 400 miles per hour. Altitude, 200,000 feet. Professor, look. You can clearly make out Vivius' surface now. 300 miles. Yes. Altitude, 100,000 feet. We're nearly close to one of the continents. With a small two-way bridge river flowing into the sea. 100 miles per hour. How green it is. Altitude, Vivius has planted, just like our own plant. Yes. That river is quite a large one. All larger than any we have. Only 50,000 feet. Commander-in-chief, I think I know that mountain overlooking the river. Rather hilly, something. 800 feet. Too bad. Darkness is falling. 600, 400, 200, 100, like completed. We've landed. Altitude, retarding jet number one. Altitude, that redox sender, that redox sender. Our gentlemen, we've done it. 180 million miles from our own planet Vivius. Congratulations, Commander. Thank you. Well, it's already grown dark. We'll wait until morning before leaving the ship. Meanwhile, Professor, I suggest you make extensive tests of the air on Vivius. We can't be too careful. Quite agree. Our preceded ones, Commander. We'll have a full report by morning. Good morning, Professor. Good morning. Good morning, sir. Well, I've made a thorough analysis of the air, Commander, and it's substantially so early to find you. In other words, we can live out there. Yes. Well, we may find ourselves a little short of breath now, and then you can let us begin where your spirit perfectly takes. Good. I'll give orders to have the nuclear helicopter assembled for flight. Three of us will make an exploratory trip over this area. Be prepared, leave in exactly one hour. We're ready to take off. I suggest you fasten your safety belt, gentlemen. I'm ready. Stand clear. We'll rise straight up and have a look around. Look, we are high enough now to see the river. It's enormous. Yes. Very sure they've estimated the dead leaves. Oh, my own wish. Seems to flow into that bay and then out to sea. Professor, look to your left across the river. What are you pointing to? All I see are trees and greenery. We'll wait till we rise a little higher. Ah, yes. That greenery is growing on top of immense ruin. You see them, don't you, Commander? Yes. Yes, I think you're right, Big Ray. Bradley, it's an island. Yes, it is. Let's fly over and have a look. An island is 12,000 feet, but it's very large. Oh, yes, yes, I see the ruins now. Oh, and they're nearly discernible under the growth of trees and the bad bits of it. Well, where are you going to land, Commander? We'll put down on that huge ruin directly ahead. From it, we'll have a good deal of the entire island. The ruins are truly amazing to matter. Thousands and thousands of buildings and dwellings covered by trees and grass. These are the ruins of a great civilization. How old would you have to make these ruins deep, Professor? If in a rather hasty study of the plant life that's grown on it, I should say approximately 300 years? 300 years. Do you think those huge explosions our astronomers saw on this planet 300 years ago might have wiped out this civilization? That's quite possible, Commander. Yes, Big Ray got them too. Oh, there he is. Oh, Big Ray, don't get too near the age you may fall over. I'm being quite careful, Professor. I just wanted to see what was below us. This ruin we're standing on must have been a huge building leveled by some great force. If you look over the edge, you'll see that it's built down to what seems to be streets. Streets? Yes, very much like those on our own planet. It would be quite possible for us to make our way down the side of this ruin to the bottom. It can't be more than 200 feet. What do you think, Professor? Why not? There only is lipstick in and have a look around. Well, we only have a few more feet. Well, watch your footing here. These rocks keep giving way beneath me. Yes. It would be quite easy to break a leg here. Oh, yes, Commander. Here we are. Oh, it seems as though we've descended 1,000 feet instead of only 200. Yes. The dark down here. Everything's in shadow. If you were quite right today, beneath this rubble we're standing on there seems to be a paved street. Let's have a look around, shall we? There seem to have been huge buildings. Yes. If I may judge, there must have been seven, eight, perhaps a thousand feet high. Apparently, this civilization was almost entirely developed before it was destroyed. Yes. Professor, do you think it's possible that there may be descendants of the people who built this civilization? It's possible, of course, but it's yet I've seen our signs of them. There's a building which hasn't been entirely destroyed. Let's have a look inside. Yes, sir. What do you mean? Perhaps we'll discover objects that will give us more information about the race that once lived here. Oh, huge, that entrance is. It looks quite dark in there. Unfortunately, I have a small torch. Come along. You look at the size of this chamber. The ceiling is at least 40 feet high. Professor, this building must have been an institution. A library. Look at the thousands of books lying on the floor simply rotting away. Yes, yes, you're right. Look at this book, Professor. It's about twice the size of our own. Yes. It's too bad it's been exposed to the elements. Page of the yellow, the printing is all that faded. Here's another one on the floor. It's a much larger book, and bound in some sort of animal skin. Let me see. Yes. Yes, this is in much better condition. We shall take it back to the ship, we pray. See if one of our scientists can decipher the language, it's pretty. Professor, would you come here for a minute? Oh, yes, yes, you go. Look. He's actually on the floor. Looks like the remains of a fire. Yes, you're right. It appears to be only a few weeks old. A few weeks old? Then... Then that means, yes. There were survivors of the Holocaust that destroyed this civilization. They have to send them to maybe here. In these ruins, watching this. That's quite possible. However, we're armed. I... I wonder what they look like. Perhaps after a time when they get used to the sight of a sail, show themselves. Yes, yes. What was that? It sounded like a signal, if I'm so wrong. Yes, you're right. I suggest we leave, Commander. Yes, come along. It feels good to get out of that dark chamber. There it is again. Only much closer. There's no need to get alarmed, Dragan. We only knew what they looked like. I dare say we frightened them as much as they do us. I... I think we're being followed. I saw a huge figure back there, clipping from one room into another. Oh, not as with Dragan, you're imagining. From the moment I caught a glimpse of someone behind us through. Well, we're almost at the foot of the ruin, which may descend if we haven't much further to go. Perhaps we ought to fire our weapons as a warning. No, no, no, no. They'd surely take it as a threatening gesture. We don't want to do that. Yes, sir. Here we are. It's not recently time climbing to the crop. Yes, they still seem to be following. How then I can make out a shadowy figure. It's almost impossible to tell what they look like. They seem to be the shadows. They... they seem enormous. Much larger than ourselves. That's much imagination and awareness. It's... it's amazing how much faster we're going up than when we came down. We're almost at the top. I have a feeling they won't try to climb this ruin after it. Evidently, they don't like daylight. There, here we are. Well, don't look out, honey. Oh, it's close. What was it? They threw some sort of weapon at you. Might something with a long round pole with a sharp piece of metal on the end. It's a spear. We have them in our museums. It's the weapon of a primitive tribe. Then... then they must be little more than savages. Yes. And I don't think they'll come after this, but I suggest we take off and return to the ship. Lyle? Yes, sir? I don't expect any trouble, but turn on the radar system for protection. If anyone approaches the ship, the alarm will go off. Yes, sir. Why are you so fascinated by that spear, the Dre? You've been examining it for ten minutes now. Well, it's just that... Well, it's an enigma, Commander. We find the ruins of a great civilization, huge building, swelling streets, a city that must have had four or five million people. What happened to them? They can only surmise, they'd say. Perhaps it was a violent quake, a gigantic tidal wave of some other huge force that all but likes enough. And this spear... Could it have been hurled by a descendant of that great race that built all that? Yes, it's quite like that. But look at this spear. The man who threw it was a little more than a sandwich. That's the wheel of evolution that slowly turned to its starting point. It's difficult to say. The alarm! Come on, brother, put the radar system on. I'll kill them with the tension, with participation. Put your arm right up, friend. Put your arm right up, friend. That's too bad, my friend, fallen. Three in the field, nothing but shadowy trees. Yes. What's that? It sounds very much like spear bouncing off the hull. Yes, we're being attacked. All those spirits can certainly do us no harm. Commander, look at the radar, please. That's a huge figure. It's how it can make off. He's carrying a burning torch. Yes. Now, yes, sir. If that figure is carrying that torch, a temporal torch, fire on him with a ray beam. Yes, sir. Look, he's running forward. Yes, he's about to set the ship on fire. Look how huge he is. He's simply gigantic. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. He's down. Only a few yards from the ship. He doesn't seem to be dead. I can see him moving. First, my ray beam would have killed any of us. He only seems to have wounded him. Down. Yes, sir. Order a party of six men to go up and bring that monster in here. Yes, sir. Of course. They're bringing him in now, Commander. Yes. Bring him over here, man. He's much too big for the bed. All right, lie him down on the floor. God, God, God, that's it. He's dying. There is nothing we can do for him. Time to say something. He only knew his language. He did. Too bad. Sorry, we had to fire on him. I was hoping we could establish friendly relations with the people of Zivia. Look at the size of him. He's gigantic. Even larger than I thought. Yes. You must measure at least here. Let me see. Professor, the leather-bound book you found in the room. I've succeeded in deciphering the language. I've already translated the first two pages. Please be patient a moment later. I want to finish my examination of this man. Simply, this book you found is apparently the key to their civilization. As soon as I've translated the rest of it, I'm sure we'll have a... This man of Zivius, I should say, he weighs at least 200 pounds. And it's for his height. At least six feet one. Six feet one. Boy, that would make him almost... twice as tall as we are. Yes. But that isn't all. He only has five fingers. Five fingers? Are you sure? Yes, it is. Please, I wish you'd let me read you the translation of the book you found in the room. Oh, yes. Yes, Pedro. By all means. Great. Well, I've translated only the first two pages. It begins this way. When God began to create the heaven and the earth, the earth was a desolate waste with darkness covering the abyss and a tempestuous wind raging over the surface of the water. It's evident, sir, that this planet we know as Zivius was called Earth by the race that wrote this book. Earth. I wonder what happened to the people of Earth that brought Earth's civilization to an end. This has been a serious travel again. Did you enjoy our little visit to the planet, baby? I'll get it known to us at first. What's that, madam? You don't like the sort of civilization being destroyed? Well, fortunately, it doesn't have to happen. And not if we don't want it to. Oh, by the way, all names of characters in this story will take pictures and any resemblance to the names of actual persons is very strictly out of this world. And all you have to get off here, I'm sorry. But I'm sure we'll meet again. I take this same train every week at the same time. You have just heard the mysterious travel with Maurice Parkland and the title role. Others in our cast will round Belle, Larry Hain and Lawson's Erby. All characters in this story will take pictures. Any resemblance to the names of actual persons living or dead was purely coincidental. Original music composed and played by Al Finnelli. Bill Tarkin speaking. This is the mutual broadcasting system.