 You, finding life pretty dull, dreaming again of exotic places, wishing you were somewhere else, we offer you escape. Escape, designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. Escape with us now, to the year 100,000 and 80, and a world where beauty and terror live side by side, as H.G. Wells describes it in his immortal story, the Time Machine. Dudley, you must be mad, the Time Machine. Yes, my friend, the Time Machine. This, this thing, this very thing, this contraption, this framework made of quartz and bronze and ivory with its levers and its dials and its seat in the middle, this is the result of three years' hard work. I promise you, Father, that on this machine a man can go wherever he likes in time. By working these levers, a man can choose his century, his year, his very day. Oh, really, old man. Time is only a kind of space. If we can move about in all the other dimensions of space, why not in time, too? It's impossible, out of the question. Then what of the journeys I've already taken on this little contraption? I'm afraid you've been having a bad dream. You mean I've developed into a liar? Very well. You shall have proof, my friend. How? Just climb on, Father. Sit in the seat beside me, face these ivory dials, and I'll take you for a little spin. Well, you mean right now? Right now. Or just in case this thing should take off like the flying red horse, are there any... Any preparations? No, Father, no. You won't need any luggage on this trip, not even a toothbrush. You'll be back here in my laboratory in less than a minute. All right. I'm on. Now what? Oh, tight it. Sway's a good deal. I'd hate to lose you. I can't be frightened, Dudley. Then you're braver than I am. Tell me what time is it? It's just 12 noon. Before we start, I want to adjust this control a bit. Is everything in ship shape? Governor, did you notice anything just then? Only a noise, a humming noise, nothing else. And what time is it? You just asked me, old man, it's... Well, that's odd. What? My watch says 11 o'clock. I could have sworn it was noon a moment ago. There must be something wrong with it. It's only that I touched the lever to test it, and we've gone forward a full day. 23 hours at any rate. Yes, but Dudley... Finished scoffing, Father? Yes. Yes, I believe I have. Then hold tight. This'll be the real article. I'm ready, Dudley. Good man. Well? Say goodbye, Father. He went off with a shattering jar. With machines swaying under us. Walls of Dr. Dudley's laboratory suddenly fell away. Night was speeding up today like a flapping of a black wing. I saw the sun hopping across the sky, leaping swiftly across it every second, and every second marking a day. I saw the moon spinning through her quarters like a ball from new to full, all in the twinkling of an eye. Trees grove and blossom like puffs of smoke, and then pass away. All the while we were going faster. Now our pace was a year a second, so that second by second the white snow flashed across the world and was followed by the bright brief spring, and still we went on into the future. Are they'll fail, Father? Very weak. Very dizzy. Or let go, don't fall off. Where are we? How far have we come? We're in 100,000 and 50. And 60. And 70. That's enough! Dudley, Dudley, I can't stand anymore! Stop it! Yes, I... I believe so. No broken bones. What happened? Sure, I must have stopped too suddenly. Where are we, Dudley? The ground for yourself. A wide lawn. Beautiful, vast garden. I meant geographically. Just where we were when we started, where my laboratory stood 100,000 years ago. And the year, Dudley? What is the year now? 100,000 and 80. It seemed absolutely incredible. A dream. The pleasant one. For the garden in which we found ourselves was beautiful and summery. With an unexpected perfume about it, almost like platine. At some distance we could see a large and imposing building. And everything was quiet and peaceful. But almost too much so. And the sense of strangeness. An incredible strangeness sent a shiver up my spine. 100,000 and 80. Father, do you... want to go back? Yes, yes, I rather think I do. Let's go back. Dudley, from over there in the bushes. It sounded human. Come on. It's a child. Seems to be a very small girl. There's been a beast here of some kind struggle with a look at the marks on her. Now, my dear, you'll be all right now. You won't be harmed. It's not English. Motioning us to go with her. What about the animal? Did you see it? No, not a glimpse. Too fast for us. Perhaps we'd better go back, Dudley. The girl seems to be all right now. Leave her like this? Yes, yes, I've had enough. Well, they haven't, old man. Because they're here. All around us. They had crept up on soundless feet to surround us. The little people of this era. And the girl we'd saved was not a child, but a girl stood four feet high dressed in simple tunics. Beautiful creatures, but terribly frail with a plump, soft kind of frailty. They were like eerie figures in a dream. And all we could hear was the rustling of their clothes as they served happily around us their faces. Weaved their smiles. Why, they're not savage at all. They're very loving and gentle little people. There's something terribly wrong with them. How do you mean? They seem to have the minds of five-year-olds. How do you expect them to be? Far ahead of us, of course, incredibly ahead of us in knowledge and in science. Look at them. Children. They seem happy in this huge garden of theirs. Dudley, I've changed my mind. Let's stay. Maybe we shall enjoy spending a few days with our little friends. The little people led us home into their valley. They lived in colossal buildings sleeping all together in one huge hall, eating in another, playing and fiddling together in the sunshine. And we lived with them for days in utter contentment. One afternoon Dudley and I walked along the banks of the Great River. Little people all wear the same clothes, the same soft hairless skin, the same feminine roundness of limbs. I wonder if it's because they're vegetarians. They're vegetarians because they have to be. They haven't run across any horses or dogs, cattle of any kind, have you? No, now that you mention it. With good reason. All extinct by now. This is the dinosaurs with us. Dudley, there's something strange here. Something hidden away and silent here in the year 100,000 and 80. Felt the same way. I've taken the precaution of removing the control levers of the time machine, putting a master padlock on the main switches. Not much fancy the idea of someone riding away with it into another century and leaving us here for the rest of our lives. Dudley, do you know where we are? Yes, this is where we landed. I thought so. I wasn't sure. Why did you ask? What's happened to the machine? But they've taken it away. They've stolen it. This is where it was. It's right here. Look. Follow the tracks. Here where they've dragged it. Over here. Come along. Down this path. Look. Right there. The monument. There's a brass door in the base. Oh, they're locked. The machine. It must be in there. Inside. We must get it. Break down the door. How can we? Here. Use the levers. It's more... No, it's no good, Dudley. It's solid. It will never break through. Never. No. Never. We've done it through here. Right here. All our lives. We never go home again. It must open the machine. Our little time machine. How well do you know the history of your army? For example, do you know who the first chaplain was? He was the Reverend John Hurt. During the early days of the American Revolution, he served as chaplain of the 6th Virginia Infantry. Later, he became brigade chaplain. And finally, in 1790, he was appointed first chaplain of the United States Army. Thus, another page was added to the history of your United States Army. And now, we return you to escape. We were caught in a year 100,000 a day. The time machine was gone. The brass doors of the monument held. Our retreat was cut off, the thin line by which we could make our way back home, back to our own time and our own people, back to 1950. We had no way of communicating with the little people, of asking what they had done with the machine or how to get it back. There was nothing hostile in their attitude. They were more like simple, wandering children. Only one, the young woman Weena, who's life we had saved on our first day had become really friendly. She went with us wherever we walked, brought us presents of garlands, of flowers, slept near us at night in the hall. And we, in turn, had taught her a few words of English. Now, we redoubled our efforts, like men racing against a clock, so that we might speak to her and discover the secret of our immense loss. We were talking to her one night after the others had gone to sleep. No, not this, Dudley. No. How can you be so sure your people didn't steal the machine? Aren't there any thieves among them? Are they all perfect? No, no, no, that's so loud, Dudley. You'll wake them. Besides, she doesn't understand. The thief must be sleeping somewhere in this hall. Weena, they take machine. No, Dudley, no. Who then, who? We, we are our friends. Yes. We must have machine. Yes, Dudley, yes. Who took machine? Other people, not yours? Other? What about those doors, Weena? Doors, open. No, no. Weena, machine in, in there. Must open. No, no, not open. All right, my dear. Go to sleep, get some rest. Yes, Dudley. What's to become of us, Fowler? Are we caught here in this century? We spend our lives with the little people and their secret. We'll go back to the monument tomorrow. We'll find a way of breaking in. Good night, Dudley. Dudley? Yes. Did you just... There it was again. What? Something on my face. Cold, filthy to the touch. On my face and in my hair. It's cold as death, Dudley! You're right. There's something in here with a fan. It smells of the grave. What was it? I don't know. But look at them. Look at the little people are all awake. They've only been stampeded. Let's get out of here. I want some fresh air. We went quickly through the hall and outside, away from the frantic rustling of the little people. The moon was full, just overhead. And it was close to dawning. There was a faint sound speeding close behind us. And we turned. Our nerves ragged. Our muscles tensed. But it was only Weena coming swiftly to join us. Dudley, I'm afraid it's dark. Then there is something. What do you mean, Weena? Dark. What? Dark thing. Dark place. Night. Why should they be afraid of the night, Dudley? It's not the night alone. Dark place. That's our cube. Perhaps it's something underground. It was another day. We had wandered into a lovely wooded place about a mile from the community. And suddenly Weena screamed. Oh, Father! We stopped short. A pair of glaring eyes were fixed upon us. As we stood there, petrified the thing, a little ape-like figure, rushed across our path and disappeared in the clearing about 30 yards away. What was it? I couldn't see it too well. It seemed to be a dull white with white hair in its head and down its back. It looked like a smorgasbord. It was running on all fours, over its arms held very low. Weena. Weena, what was it? Morlocks. They... Morlocks. Who are the Morlocks? What are they? Weena, tell me. No. No. Let's go over there and see where it disappeared. Come along, Father. In the clearing, we found a round well-like opening. Dudley and I leaned over and looked down a deep shaft. A small white creature was retreating down a ladder in the well. Like a human spider, its large, bright eyes watching me as it went swiftly down, then it disappeared in the shaft. Did you see it? Like an ape. Yes, but also like a man. So there are two species of men in this world. Yes. The little people above the ground and this obscene thing, this bleached monster below. That white look, common to animals that live in the dark. Like huge rats, like worms that are cold to the touch. I know because they've touched me. Father, you can feel the air being sucked down into this shaft. Yes. There's a tiny tunnel enormously here under our feet. These monsters must live in the tunnels. I think we know now who stole our time machine. Yes. Then... Then we'll go down and have a look. No! No, not go! Why not we now? More locks. You never come back. We must have our machine, my dear, and you wait for us here. No! No! And so we went down, our heels ringing on the small metallic bars that were meant for creatures so much smaller than us. Down we climbed, down, down, ever in darkness. Down it seemed, into the center of the earth, into the core of the world. How much longer? Well, no, until we reach bottom. Can't be much further. Do you hear that? Like machinery. We're almost there. Well, thank heaven for that. All right, Father, I'm on the bottom. Come along, just a few more steps. Now, give me your hand, Father. Good. Here. Where are you here? In the land of the Morlocks. Do you have a match? Yeah, yes, yes, here. It seems to be a large vaulted cavern at the end of this passage. What do you... I suppose they'll do. They'll catch us. I've no idea. Let it take care not to be caught. Ah, another match. That throbbing noise. Probably their ventilating system pumping the air down. There must be thousands upon thousands of these Morlocks living under the earth. We haven't seen any yet, except for our friend who came down ahead of us. Why do you suppose they wanted our time machine? I think they wanted us, not the machine. And we've come to them. We must, it's our only chance. Talon, if that noise does come from air pumps, why is it so stuffy here, so oppressive? Dudley, that smell. Blood. Lighten up the match. Dudley, straight ahead. On the white metal table. Set for a meal. Yes. With a small haunch. Meat? We know that the cattle are extinct. Then what do they feed on these Morlocks? Don't you know? Yes, I know. Another match? Dudley, I have no more. I've used our last match. All right, we'll have to go back then. We know the secret now anyway. These Morlocks living here underground are the masters of this age. And our friends up above fatted cattle fed by the Morlocks' clothes supplied and housed until the day when they're cut out of the herd and brought underground as food. This is the future you're looking at. This is what we men of the 20th century shall come to. Dudley, what is this? Hands? Take one of these, let us guess. Use it as a whack-out. I guess this wall fell ahead behind me. You went back in that evil darkness fighting every step as we went. Back to those projecting bars, kicking and clawing ourselves loose from their talent grasping hands and climbing up again up toward daylight and freedom with their stench and the eagerness of their icy hands and they did not follow. For daylight was their enemy and their great fear and we lived among the lush gardens of the little people like prisoners like men without reprieve, like men who are dead, though they still walk the earth. For the time machine was locked away behind great brass doors and we knew we could never force them open. Then one day, Weena told us of an old building, an ancient sagging structure that had survived through many ages and was filled with many curious objects. A museum, that's what it must be, a museum fowler. Perhaps from some earlier time. I'm in no mood to go looking at a museum, don't you see? Specimens hermetically sealed in museums. Perhaps there are things, weapons, machinery, something we can use. Yes, yes, of course. If we could find some dynamite or gunpowder or something. We could blast those doors we could get in. Where is this place, Weena? This old building that no one ever goes near. I take you. It's not far. A chance, old man. A slim one but a chance nonetheless. Today we wandered through the great ruined halls. The building had been deserted, unused for perhaps a century. The childlike men of that time had long since ceased to care about anything but their own personal comforts. It was late afternoon and growing dark when we came upon the chemical section. We had found nothing useful to us until then and now came the worst disappointment of all. And it's dust. All of it. Been dust for centuries. Another dead end. Ah, it's hopeless. We were out of our heads to hope that nitrates would retain their form for a hundred thousand years. We, go now. It's nothing here. Wait just a moment. Something in this case. You can break it with your lever. Stand back a little. Box of matches. Hermetically sealed. Wait, let me see. They're perfect but they're not even damp. What shall we do with them? Burn down those brass doors. You'd better keep them. Small narrow footprints leading away into the darkness at the end of this gallery. We'd better go. We'd better run for it. I don't be frightened, my dear. It'll be all right. We came out of the gloom of that place into the deeper gloom of dusk and suddenly we saw. We were trapped all around us with a morlock. We were there by the fowls surrounding us and coming closer in the long even line of deathly fight, their eyes blinking in the half light, their tiny mouths alive with appetite. I had them dipped like a fire. Hurry, man. The forest is dry. Hurry, buddy. We'll have an inferno again in a minute if our little friends don't like light or heat. The fire leaps high to the heavens and the countryside with a flame. The morlocks turned in fear, blinded by the glare. Some of them blundered into the middle of the raging flames and the rest faded away like a fog. Dudley had left a narrow passageway for our retreat and we fled down a long corridor of deeping flames and blistering heat. We fled to safety toward the community of the little people. As we ran, we passed the huge monument to the great bronze doors that were locked tight in our time machine and suddenly in the glare of the distant fires we saw something had stopped us short. It's a trap. They're there waiting for us inside. Waiting or not, we're going in. It'll take me one minute to screw the levers on again then I touch them and we're away. All right, I'll try to give you your one. Good boy. I'll hold tight around my neck. You're coming home with us. All right. All right, let's go. We're in a look for a machine they haven't harded. I don't see them yet. Come on now quickly. The door's Dudley. The clothes get in the seat. I'll be ready in a moment. I waited for the hum that would signal our departure. There in the darkness the morlocks were finally upon us. Cold, persistent fingers swarmed over my body tugging at me and sucking me away from the machine. I held tight to wieners. A man holds fast to life. I kicked them away with my feet. Dudley, Dudley, Dudley! They get me clever quickly or we're done. They tore her from my hands at the last minute. I tried to save her. I still have a piece of a tunic. Here are my fists. Little piece of a tunic, Dudley. Nothing else. And so we came home again. Back into the very minute from which we had left. We were in Dudley's laboratory again. Motionless. Sitting on the ridiculous contraption which he has called a time machine. Was it all a dream? Did any of it happen? Could any of it happen? Of course not. How stupid. Then what of this? What of this little piece of thin green silk I hold in my hand? Escape is produced and directed by Norman McDonnell. Today we have brought you the time machine by H.G. Wells. Adapted for radio by Irving Ravitch and starring John Daenerys Fowler and Larry Dubkin as Dudley with Georgia Ellis as Wiener. The special music for Escape was arranged and played by Ivan Dittmarz. This is the United States Armed Forces for Radio and Television Service.