" Well, we're here, Nevsky." " I see, colonel." "Rice to crew." "Transmit touchdown time and position to mother ship." "Let's have a look at the environment telemetry." "Only Child to UN One." "Touchdown at 7 hours, 2 minutes, 9 seconds sidereal time." "Latitude 3-7 degrees, 8 minutes, 10 seconds..." " What's it like out there, Stuart?" " The readings are coming through now sir." "UN One to Only Child on H. F. UN One to Only Child on H. F." "How do you read?" "How do you read?" " Rice on U. H. F. High." "Do you read me?" " Roger." "Loud and clear." " How was the landing?" " Well, we made it in one piece." "The environmental conditions are go colonel." "We're putting the survey team down." "Sgt. Martin's entering the escape hatch now." "Here's Nevsky." " Set?" " Go, sir." "Roger, Only Child." "Your impact point is right on." " Read you loud and clear." " Secure escape hatch." "Your systems look good." "How does it look out the window?" "Decontaminate." "The lapse time is 13 plus 10." "This is it, Rice." " The big event." " Release outer lock." "Sgt. Andrew Martin, the farm boy from Indiana touched by the finger of fate to be the first man to set foot on the moon." "Congratulations are pouring in already from every nation all over the world." "Martin!" "Stuart!" "Well, I didn't put it there." "Hey, colonel, we found something." "You'd better take a look." "And here's something else." ""Claimed for her Majesty Queen Victoria in the year of our Lord, 1899."" " How do we goine to explain this?" " The Kremlin will never believe it." "You know it's like a summons of some kind." ""Katherine Callender," whoever she is." "They'll never believe it." "Never." "Dymchurch." "We better get it on the scanner to Earth before it falls to pieces." "Well how am I gonna tell them this?" "Queen Victoria." "For crying out loud, they'll think I'm nuts or something." "Rice to Mother ship." "Rice to Mother ship." "Urgently request UN Space Agency Investigation Team proceed at once to Dymchurch, England." "Sgt. Martin is the first man to step foot on the moon..." "You'll see there never was a Katherine Callender." "You coming, Dr. Tok?" "Don't forget, England's the land of eccentrics." "... man on the moon, for the very first time." "I hope." "Excuse me your Dr. Tok from the U. N. Space Agency?" "I'm from the Express." "Could you tell me... 1899?" "That's a bit before my time, yes." "Well we keep the records over there." "Katherine Callender, you say?" "Is it a birth, a wedding or a death?" "We just want to know if Katherine Callender once lived here." "Come this way." " So some crackpot faked it." " Why?" "To take the frosting off the UN cake." "Mother Empire, still waving the flag." "We'd better start with the births." "What." "Oh, bless my soul, these are the deaths." "Well, you know, it's weddings, weddings." "They always affect me." "They do, even now." "Look at this stuff." "They never affected me, much to my regret." "Here we are, C-A..." "Callaghan, Calder..." "You did say "Callender"?" " Yes, Katherine Callender." " Yes." "Well, there's no record of any Katherine Callender among the births." " You see, she never existed." " The address is Cherry Cottage." " I told you." "Bedford, Bedford..." "Ha, I remember now." "I married her." "From Boston, Massachusetts." " Wait a minute." " So there is a Katherine Callender?" " Was." "She died some 10 years ago." " This Mr. Bedford is he still alive?" " Yes, if he wasn't, he'd be in this book." "Over here." "Excuse me." "Has all this have anything to do with the moon..." "Hold it!" "Hold it!" "Hold it!" "You were saying, sir?" "Mr. Bedford has been in a nursing home for a long time." "Where is it?" "Well it's called the Limes, outside Dymchurch, along the Folkstone Road." "Would you like me to let them know you're coming?" " Let's have a picture or something." " Oh, come on." "Oh, come on." " I'm trying to find out myself." "Go with us to Folkstone Road." " The Limes, the nursing home." "The UN Space Agency?" "Well, I hope you're not wasting your time." "You see, we've had trouble before with Mr. Bedford's obsessions." "But if you'll follow me, I'll take you up to his room." "Obsessions you say?" "Sending letters abroad to official bodies." "Russian Space Agency National Aeronautic and Space Administration .." "ABOUT THE MOON." "The moment I saw your credentials, I wondered." " What sort of letters?" " Warnings." "Absurd warnings." " Does he know of the expedition there?" " No." "We don't let him watch television." "It only excites him needlessly." " Now, must you see him?" " It is necessary." "Just the UN party, then." "No, you newspaper men are not allowed through." "Mr. Bedford." "Visitors." "Mr. Arnold Bedford?" "I'm Richard Challis, UN Space Agency." "Margaret Hoy, Mr. Glushkov and Dr. Tok." "Please, sir, won't you sit down?" "I hope you don't mind us barging in like this but I just want to ask you one question..." " We can save time." "Have you ever seen these things before?" "My glass." "Um, yes." "How did you..." "How did you find..." "You found them on the moon, didn't you?" " Yes." "Yes." "There's been an expedition?" "They didn't tell me." " It's there now." " There now?" "Well they mustn't, they're in great danger." " I know." "You must stop them." " Please." "Matron?" " You must go." " Stop them." "They must know." "It's very dangerous for all of them." "They've got to know." "Are you seriously telling us that you've been on the moon and returned?" "1899." "Oh, it's so long..." "Thank you." "I'd been..." "I'd been engaged in an unsuccessful business speculation." "To be frank, my creditors were pressing me hard." "You see, I'd always had the idea I could write a play." "Wonderful financial possibilities in a successful play." "So, I looked for somewhere secluded where I could write." "In the end I rented a cottage, out near Dymchurch." "I remember, I remember it was along an abandoned canal." " Just one today, Mr. Bedford." " Thank you very much." " Hi." " Infernal contraption!" "Hello." " Hello, darling." " Kate." " Was it all right with your relations in London, I mean?" " No trouble at all." "They think I'm at Worthing rehearsing a play." "Cherry Cottage." "Oh Arnold, it's lovely." "And with a real cherry tree." "The moat to my castle." "Come on." "Watch your step." " All right?" " Thank you." "Oh, it's so beautiful." "Careful." " It's like a postcard." " Well your seeing it at the best time of year." "How's the work going?" " Oh, fine." "Fine." " Good." "Arnold it's charming." " It's the perfect place to write your play." " Well it's comfortable and quiet." "Act 1, scene 1." "Is that as much as you've written?" "Oh well, you know how difficult it is to start." "Yes, darling, I know." "You see, the basic idea is the important thing." "After that it's just a question of slogging away." "Well I've got a producer in London who's clamoring for the manuscript." "Oh this is probably something from him here." "Excuse me darling." ""Rent in arrears, 20 pounds."" "Oh well, he'll just have to be patient." "Arnold, it's perfect." "Just my idea of a little old English cottage." "It really belongs to you?" "Yes, an old aunt of mine retired down here and I was always a praticular favorite of hers." " And well, she left it to me." " Then Arnold, what's to stop us?" "The two of us here, we can get married now." "With a London producer's clamoring for your play..." "Or are you just too set in your comfortable bachelor ways?" "Oh no Kate, I'm just as impatient as you, but..." "Kate." "There's something you ought to know." "You see all my money's in boots." "Yes Army surplus boots from the Boer War." "Well I know it will pay off when I find the right customer." "But meanwhile, I'm very much affraid I'll have to sell cherry the cottage to meet my creditors." "Oh, no, Arnold." "We'll think of something darling." "Right now, I'd like to freshen up a bit." "The stairs are right here, dear." "Well, I can manage quite well alone, darling." " Oh, yes." "That's strange." "That's very strange." "Yes." "Excuse me, excuse me." "I was on my way to the village, and I noticed the smoke." "I thought the place was empty, but I..." "I'll explain, I'll explain." "My name is Cavor, Joseph Cavor." "How do you do?" "Oh, let me help you." " Hello." " Hello." "I live in the house across the fields, over there." " Well, I'm Kate." " Hello." "How do you do?" "I hope you don't mind my asking but are you the, the owner of the cottage?" "No, Mr. Bedford's gone to the village." " Mr. Bedford?" "Mr. Bedford?" "Right." " Won't you come in?" " That's very nice of you." "Yes, I will thank you, thank you." " He won't be long." " I hope I'm not being an intrution." " No, not at all." "It's a delightful little place." "I've known it since I was a boy." "No, after you." "Thank you." " Please sit down, Mr. Cavor." " Thank you, thank you." " I'll bring some tea." " That would be nice, thank you." "You see, I'm a research scientist." "I'm on the point of completing a most important scientific demonstration." "As a matter of fact, it's probably one of the most important scientific demonstrations of all time." "I'd like to say how pleased I am to have you and Mr. Bedford as neighbors." "The point is, I moved here for the isolation." "But Mr. Cavor, we won't trouble you." "That's just what attracts Arnold, Mr. Bedford I mean." " He needs peace and quiet to write his play." " Oh yes of course I understand." " Well, then, what is it?" " Well, I must tell you there's a certain amount of risk, even danger connected with my experiments." "It might even damage your property." "Now if Mr. Bedford would consider selling, I'd be willing to pay anything, within reason." " You mean you want to buy Cherry Cottage?" " Yes, I do, yes." "Yes." " Well, how much were you figuring?" " Well, I'm, I'm not very good at this sort of thing." "I thought perhaps 1000 pounds, or perhaps a little more." "Well, that's $5000." "Yes." "Oh, the cottage has been in Mr. Bedford's family for a very long time." "He has a deep sentamental attachment for it." "I know, yes." "You see the trouble is, my experiments have cost me so much up to now..." "Of course, I might be able to double it." "But I..." "Good Lord!" "Good Lord,I forgot." "The furnace!" "The furnace!" "Gibbs!" "Gibbs!" "Gibbs!" "Gibbs!" " Mr. Cavor!" " Gibbs!" "Oh." "Nearly fell." "Gibbs!" " You forgot your bicycle!" " Yes, yes, I have a bicycle." "That's quite right." "Arnold." "Arnold The most wonderful news." "I've sold the cottage." " You what?" " I've sold the Cherry Cottage to Mr. Cavor." "What that crackpot?" "Gibbs, the furnace!" "Here." "You better take this to him." "He forgot it." " Mr. Cavor, I've come about the cottage." "Now, first of all..." " Left the bicycle again, has he?" " Where's Cavor?" "I want to talk to him." " Inside." "Door's open." "Someone to see you." " My name is Bedford." " There's a gentleman here." "Ahh, stand by, Gibbs." "Any moment!" "Now!" "Get it quickly, fix that!" "The weight's come off the end!" "Cavor, I've come about the house." " Gibbs, fix that!" " I must get this straight." "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, get the doors." "Quick!" " Cavor, you simply must realize..." " Just a little patience." " Just a little patience." "Please." "Please!" " But you..." " Getting on, you see." " I'm trying to tell you..." " Cavor, you simply must listen to what I'm saying to you!" " Just a minute." "Just a minute." " Mr. Cavor, my fiancée is in no position..." " Open the door!" "Get out of the way, man, very hot." "Very hot!" " Cavor!" " Go on, get out." "Get out." "Mr. Cavor, I simply must get this straight." "I..." "I'm not in a position to..." "This..." "You see..." "Kate..." "Kate couldn't possibly sell you Cherry Cottage because..." "What is this stuff?" " What?" " What is this stuff?" "That's cavorite." "It's cavorite." "Oh, nicely on temperature." "Nicely on temperature." "Mr. Cavor if you would kindly tell me exactly what it is you're trying to do, in a simple language, if you don't mind because you see, I'm not a scientist." "That is, of course, if it isn't a secret." " It is a secret." "It is a secret." " Would you am..." "Would you tell me?" "Yes, I will tell you." "I will tell you." "I'll explain." "I'll explain." "Now, you know that you can use screens, like this to cut off light and heat." "By the same token, you can cut off Marconi's wireless rays with sheets of lead." " Nothing, up till now, cuts off the force of gravity." " Oh, gravity." "Yes, of course, the, the pull of the earth." " What holds us on the ground." " Yes, that's right, that's right." "Now, what I'm experimenting with is a sort of coating, or rather a metallic paste which will, in point of fact, cut off the force of gravity." " Paste?" " Paste." "You mean, you mean you paint it on things?" "Yes, in a way, yes." "Yes." " Like this chair, for example." " You could use that chair." "Yes, you could." " May I?" " Please." "Yes, I'll show you." "I'll show you." "Takes effect when it hardens." " That's all?" " That's all." "I see." "Are you..." "Are you seriously telling me that this chair will lose its weight?" "Yes it will." "As a matter of fact, we'll have a job to stop it from rising." " Really?" " Yes." " Well in that case, I'd better sit in it." " I'd be careful if I was you because..." " Now, about the cottage..." " It really will go." " As I was saying, Katherine is in no position..." " Be careful!" "Your head!" "Your head!" "Gibbs, the ladder!" "This is fantastic!" "Cavorite is the most incredible thing I've ever seen!" " Cavor, can't you see what this effect will do to the world?" " I warned you!" "I warned you!" "It will revolutionize shipping, locomotion, ability ..." "Think of the ways we could exploit this product!" "Gibbs!" "I'll get you down." "I'll get you down." "We have the chance of a thousand years." "We can be rich." "Gibbs!" "Rich beyond belief." "I mean just think of it." "Think of it." "The cartels, the trusts." "Cavorite could rule the world." "I'm certain we could make an absolute fortune." "Your invention, my brains, my methods..." " Is there anything wrong?" " It's nothing to do with you." "Noting to do with you at all!" "Give me that!" " Never mind the ladder!" " What?" "Gibbs, you're an idiot." " I did warn you." " Cavor, never mind." "Listen to me." "Cavor." "About the cottage." "It's yours." "What?" "Provided you allow me to invest the money in your invention." "What do you say?" " Do you think you should?" " Well of course I should!" "I'm a businessman." "I can handle patents, process secrets, all that..." "Yes of course." "It's settled." "Come on, help me down." "Oh, by the way..." "How had you thought of using cavorite?" "Well, nothing very practical, I'm afraid." " Something like a trip to the moon." " Yes, well of course..." "My dear sir!" "Now your'll sign there." "That's the deed assigning Cherry Cottage to you." " Oh, why bring me into it?" " Oh darling, I've explained." "I'm selling the cottage and it's got to be done in the proper way." "You see, Cavor's solicitors need papers and documents." "I daren't put my signature to them." "If my creditors get wind of the fact I've come into money, that's the last I see of it." " You're sure there's nothing dishonest about it?" " No, no, no it's just a legal device." "Now, this is the agreement with Cavor." "Sign there." "On the proceeds of cavorite,I'll be able to pay off my debts a 1000 times." "Arnold, with this money, we'll be able to get married now." "Right away." "Oh yes, we could, if I wasn't putting it into the experiments." "What?" " $10,000 with that madman?" " But it will make our future, I'm sure." " What about your play?" "The London soliciter..." " Oh the play's an absolute gamble." " But..." " Darling you must trust me." "I'm doing this all for you." "Any day now the experiments will be completed." "Arnold Bedford, if you fritter away your money on those lunatic experiments, the wedding's off!" "I'm packing up and going home to Boston!" "Gibbs." "Your move." " Look at this." "I've got him now." " Hang on." " You must keep an eye on that furnace." " Yes." "Yes, all right." "Bedford, old man come in, come in." "Oh you got the deeds?" "Go into the kitchen, go into the kitchen." "Gibbs." "Watch that temperature." "Any drop could be disastrous." "Talk about disaster." "What's he want to interfere for?" " Set them up again." "Here, take over for me, will ya?" " Let him do it." "I'm me having tea." " I'm a metal worker, not a stoker." " Since when's a gardener's job stoking a furnace?" "Come on, matey." "It'll be just like working with your petunias." "I'm fed up with this lark." " Let's settle it over a pint at the Box in Daveron ." " Now you're talking." "Don't know why he wants it so blumming hot in here anyhow." "Let them see it for themselves, use it." "For instance cavorite trays and boots." "Boots!" "Yes, of course!" "Simply enamel the soles and a man would just..." "Just like that." "That's right." "Oh good, good." "I thought of boots last night." "Army surplus boots." " You know, it's one of those basic ideas..." " Only way to do it, really." "Well, perhaps not the only way, but for a start." "Don't see why we shouldn't do it together." "Room enough in the sphere for two people." "Well now wait a minute." "You're not serious about that idea of going to the moon, are you?" "Wasn't it a joke?" "Wasn't it?" "I mean we'd be firing ourselves off the globe for nothing, absolutely nothing." "I mean if there was anything on the moon worth discovering, there might be..." "It's exceptionally high in minerals." " Minerals?" " Minerals." " Including gold?" " Including gold." "Mind you, there's a theory that the minerals on the surface of the moon are not in a molten magma but dotted about in nuggets." "Rather like raisins in a fruitcake." "Better than weightless boots, isn't it?" "Come on, I've got something to show you." "I've got something to show you." "How far would it be?" "What, to the moon?" "Yes." "About a quarter of a million miles." "About quarter of a million..." "Come on." "You'll have to forgive this confusion, untidiness." "I'll really get it cleared up one day." "Oh, my goodness!" "That's much too high." "It's to carry the hot gases from the furnace." "I'll explain later." "I'll explain." "Come on." "I'll explain." "It's all right!" "It's all right!" "He's a friend!" "He's a friend!" "My guards." "Much better than dogs." "They're quite harmless, really." "There's Gwendoline, Aristotle." "Come on." " Hey, it's hot in here!" " 123 degrees!" " No?" " Yes!" "Come on!" "Out of the way, out the way!" "The sphere." " You've actually built it." " Yes....." "Yes" "It's taken time, mind you." "Years, years." "Well, here it is." "The sphere." "It's double-walled, you see." "Now there's a shell inside that's complete." "But then there's this outer frame that's covered with roller blinds and old railway buffers." "The blinds will be covered with cavorite." "Yes and...and when they're extended, they'll cut off the force of gravity." "Yes, you see that's right." "That's very good." "That's right." "You see you open and shutter blinds to cut off gravity let's say from the Earth moon or any other bodies in space." " Space." "You really mean it." "I'll tell you something." "If the last batch of cavorite is successful we start coating the sphere tonight." "It's in the furnace now." "It's all rather exciting, isn't it?" "I really must say, I'm..." " Opening all right?" " Yes, perfectly." "Good!" "Oh, my little kingdom." " What happened?" " I don't know!" "The furnace...." "Gibbs!" "...." "Gibbs!" "Well, come on, Bedford old man, hurry up!" "Oh, Bedford, hurry!" "Gibbs!" "..." "Gibbs!" "..." "Gibbs!" "I'll be back." "I'll be back!" "I'll be back!" "Darling you're all right." "I thought something had happened to you." "Something happened all right." "I told Gibbs to keep an eye on that furnace!" "They're sacked." "The lot of them." "Bedford, from now on, you stoke it." " But it exploded!" " No, it worked!" "It worked!" "It really worked!" " I'll say it did!" " Now we know it's enough power to lift the sphere!" "What's he talking about?" "What does he mean?" "Those diving suits." " You're not thinking of deep-sea diving!" " Madam...." "I'll explain." "You see, what keeps water out, keeps air in." "You see?" " Hey Bedford, you know that might be fun, walking around in a complete vacuum." " Cavor, don't..." "As far as we know, there is no atmosphere on the moon." "I've got a book on it." "I'll go and check!" "I'll go and check!" "I've got a book on it." "Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "I've got a book." "The moon?" "Ah, you see, Kate, ah we were planning ah a little expedition to test the effects of cavorite." "On the moon?" "You're both raving mad!" "Both of you!" "It's throwing your lives away!" " The moon?" " Yes darling, you see, I was just waiting for the opportunity to tell you all about it." "You never breathed a single word and all the time you were planning to go ...on this lunatic expedition..." " Oh, darling, I..." " "Lunatic" is just the word!" "Go ahead, blow yourself to bits." "I don't care if I ever see you again!" "Oh, Kate, you..." "Oh, Cavor." " Kate!" "Well done, Bedford!" "Pour on more coal!" "Keep up the steam!" "Well done!" "Get out of the way!" "Out of the way!" "Well done, Bedford, old man!" "Keep it up!" "Keep it up!" "Bald-headed old..." "Madam!" "Madam!" "You must remember to keep those doors closed otherwise you'll ruin the whole experiment!" "I mean, look it's down to 110 degrees!" "What on earth have you got there?" "I've brought a few useful things for Arnold." "Though I wouldn't want him to know it." "Just his gin and bitters and a few personal things." " Gin and bitters, gin and bitters." "Personal things." "Like an elephant gun!" " It's a sensible precaution." " You don't know what you'll meet." " What about these things?" "What about these animals?" "Oh well, I brought some fresh food too." "All those tinned supplies, it's not healthy." "Madam, you have thought about feeding them, I suppose?" "Oh yes." "There's a whole sack of chickenfeed in the back of the..." "No." "Mrs. Bedford, no." "I'm sorry." "There's no room." "You'll have to leave the lot." "I very sorry but you'll just..." "The temperature!" "The temperature!" "Oh, my goodness!" "The temperature!" "Chickens, gin and bitters, guns..." "I don't know." "Mr. Cavor." "Should you run out like that when you're so overheated?" "You'll catch cold!" "Will you close those blasted doors!" "Bedford, give me that." "The greenhouse temperature is down by 15 degrees." " Well, it's not possible." " That woman of yours keeps mooning around!" " She won't leave those doors alone!" " Kate's still here?" "Of course she still here!" "Tell her to go home!" "Just tell her to go home!" "And Bedford, don't be too long!" "We're leaving within an hour." " I'd thought you'd gone." " I brought you a few things for your journey." "Thanks." "Oh Arnold, why did you have to get mixed up in this?" "Oh, don't go." "Change your mind." "It's not too late." "Please." "But it's only for a few weeks, Kate." "It's not as if it were forever." "If you go, it may as well be forever." "And I won't be here when you get back." "And I mean it this time." "So make a decision here and now." "It's Cavor or me." "When you decide, I'll be at the cottage." "Oh come on Bedford!" "I've banked the fires." "We haven't got much time." "Come on." "Those doors!" "That woman will be the death of me." "Thank the Lord I never got married." "My mother warned me." "She was right." "My goodness, she was right." " Oh, Arnold, I'm so glad..." " Evening." "Katherine Callender?" " Yes." "I give formal notice that "This summons is served on behalf of the landlord of Cherry Cottage."" " Summons?" " Just a minute, please." "I believer there's been an illegal attempt to transfer the title deed to a third party."" "And your signature is on this paper." "But Mr. Bedford inherited the cottage from his aunt." "Cherry Cottage is the sole property of our clients Bascombe G. Osgood, and we'll see you in court, madam." "Goodnight." "Come along, Bassie." "Lies." "Lies from beginning to end." " Well, that's everything, I think?" " No, that's not everything." " What?" " I've forgotten something." " What?" " I don't know what it is." "Oxygen cylinders?" " No, no, no." " Glasses?" " No." "I've got those." " You left the gas running?" " No, I haven't left the gas running." "I've got it." "It's very important, very important." "I've got it." "I've got it." "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a solemn moment." "liberty is at hand." "Goodbye, Gwendoline, Victoria." "Thank you, I shall always be grateful for everything you've done." "Come on, man." "The time's running short." "Come on." "Liberty, my friends!" "Liberty!" "Be back as soon as I can." "Oh, my goodness." "Come on, Cavor, hurry." " All right Cavor?" " Yes." "Thank you." "Oh." "Ah well, we're nicely on temperature." "Oh, Bedford old man." "This is a solemn moment in the history of mankind." "Man into space for the first time." "Future generations will long remember us." "As long as we're not blown into smithereens." "Bedford, please, please." "Now, put your hands and your arms through the nets like this." "Because there might be a violent shock coming." "Arnold Bedford, you come out of there!" "You can't go off leaving this in my..." "Any moment now." "Any moment now, I can feel it." " We're off!" " Open up." " Open up!" "Mr. Bedford, open up!" " What's that?" " It's Kate." " That woman!" "That woman!" "She's impossible." "She'll be blasted to death." " Open up!" " Bedford, get her inside!" "Get her inside!" " Hurry, for heaven's sake!" " Hurry!" "I'm stuck." "I can't move." "You'll be all right Mrs. Bedford." "We'll stop accelerating at any moment now." "Where are we?" "What's happening?" "Just as I predicted, shot into space with the speed of a bullet." " I'll put magnets in your shoes." " Space?" " I think I'm gonna be sick." " Well old on to the handgrips woman!" "You had no right to take me." "I only came to have it out with Mr. Bedford." " We had no choice, did we Mrs. Bedford." " Please stop calling me Mrs. Bedford!" " We're not married." " We're not likely to be." "Ever!" "Not married?" "Kindly leave the room." "Kindly leave the room." "For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful." "Amen." "Oh." "There's the Pole star." "We're nicely on trajectory." "Can you see, Kate?" " Close that blind!" " I was only trying to see out." " Can't you steady this thing?" " Ruined." "All my calculations, ruined." " I'm sorry." " Sorry?" "Madam, we're headed straight for the sun!" "Poor darling, he must be exhausted." "This is the first time he's closed his eyes since we left." "Who knows how long that's been?" "No days, no nights up here." "Well, I don't need a chronometer to know what time it is." "It's breakfast time, and I'm sick of sardines." "Chickens." "Aah." "That means fresh eggs." "Katie." " Katie, you're an angel." " Not that you deserve it." " Oh, Katie, darling..." " Don't you Katie me." "Leaving me in the larch with a summons." "The nerve!" "Well, I never dreamt they'd be on to it so soon." "And I'll pay the man back." "Anyway, who else do you know that would go to all the way to the moon for you?" "You're impossible." " What was that?" " Nothing." " Are you feeling all right?" " Yes." "I was just doing a few barnyard impersonations." " I was reared on a farm, you know." " Really?" "Just a minute." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "You didn't dare." "You didn't dare!" "Geese, I adore." "Chickens, I detest." "I've a good mind to make you fly home." "All of you." "My calculations!" "How I hate chickens!" " We seem to be getting some of our weight back." " Yes, about a tick." "It's the pull of the moon, you see." "We've got to control it, you see." "It mustn't be too fast." "Mare Imbrium." "Ideal for landing." "Nicely on target." "Yes." "Now, we use the Earth to slow down our rate of descent." " Anything I can do?" " Well, everything needs lashing down." "Take that and that." " Katie, put that away." " Oh, all right." "Landing positions." "Hold on tight, Kate." "Arnold." "What?" "Are you all right Kate?" "I think so." "Where's Cavor?" "I think I've gone blind in one eye." "Thank you." "Oh." "What a relief." "I'll get a new pair when I get back." "Just a broken glass." "It's incredible." "Yes." "We're down." "We're down." "We did it!" "We did it!" "WE DID IT!" " I never thought we would." " Well neither did I. At least, I wasn't absolutely sure." " Well, what now?" " I suppose.... explore!" "Explore." "Here, your suit." "There's your suit." "Boot." "Here's your other boot." "Now wait a minute." "There's no pressure outside, which means the moment the hatch is opened, the entire sphere is a vacuum which will be fatal for Kate because we only got two suits." "No, No!" "That's it, nobody goes outside." "She'll be quite safe in the airtight compartment." " In there?" "No, no." "It's out of the question." " I'll be all right, Arnold." "You sure?" "Don't worry about me." "All right." "Let's make some room." "Here." "Just a minute." "Just a minute." "Would you bring those things here, please?" "Madam, the chances of bagging an elephant on the moon are remote." "We won't need this." "Told you before." "Now, give me the flag." "A claim." "Yes, definitely we've got to stake a claim." "Take a letter." "Sit down." "Take a letter." "You'll find some paper in my coat pocket." "Claimed for Her Royal..." "No, not royal, not royal, not royal." "Claimed for Her Majesty Queen Victoria in the year of our Lord..." " What is the year of our Lord?" " 1899." "1899." "Now, I'm leaving the oxygen full on." "Now, Kate, get in." " Now you can open the hatch from the inside." "Wait for my signal to open the hatch." " All right." "Here's your helmet." "Don't forget: when we get outside if you wanna speak, touch helmets." "Otherwise, we won't hear each other clearly." "What's wrong with the blessed thing?" "It worked perfectly all right in England." "I asked for a seven-and-three-eighths." "They said it was a seven-and-three-eighths." "Six-and-a-quarter." "I'll have to put it down to shrinkage." "Hello, moon." "My goodness." "Amazing sensation!" "Light as a feather!" "Look!" "Top of that rock!" "Look!" "Top of that rock!" "You all right?" "No discipline, this moon." "We'll be smashed to pieces." "Bedford, old man, isn't it magnificent?" "It's empyreal." "An empire Caesar never dreamed of." "Yes." "We'll be in all the newspapers." "Cavorland." "Bedfordshire." "That's for you!" "That's for you!" "We'll be famous, knighted by the queen!" "The queen!" "Give me that, give me that!" "I claim the moon in the name of our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria." "You're getting too much oxygen." "You're actually drunk." " Let's check your gauge." " That's wonderful." "I feel like an eagle!" "Geronimo!" "Cavor, come down!" "Help." "Help." "S. O. S." "Help!" "Thank you." " You need a lead, old chap." " Yes, I think I probably do." "Cavor, you hear that?" "Hold on Cavor!" "I'll get you down." "Bedford, Bedford, your helmet!" "Your helmet!" "It must have..." "But I can breathe Cavor." "There's air down here." "Take this off." "Take this off." "That's better." "There's a subterranean atmosphere here." "Listen." " We got to get back to get Kate." " Without your helmet, you won't get 20 feet." "We'll just have to find it." "There's a way down." "What?" "Now keep it tight, all right?" "All right?" "All right." "Yes." "Go on, I've got it, go on." "You're all right, go on." "Go on, that's it." "Throw me your helmet." "All right." "Bedford." "Look at that prism assembly." "Only thing I want to look at is that helmet." "I know we should have brought that gun." "Cavor, it's fantastic." "What is it?" " It's a moon creature, a Selenite." " But the size." "Yes, it's the low gravity." "Bedford." "Leave them!" "Cavor...." "Help me, Cavor!" "No, you're making a mistake." "Leave them, Bedford." "Leave them!" "Leave them!" "Well, you've certainly given them a taste of human violence." "They will be here in the thousands and you shall be running from gallery to gallery." " Oh, we're not improving our chances by standing here." " I should have come on my own." "I knew I should have come on my own." "Are you staying here or are you coming with me?" "If only we'd, if only we could have communicated with them." "Just talk to them, it was such a marvellous opportunity." "The meeting of two worlds." "Cavor, come on!" "I knew I should have come on my own." "The sphere's gone!" "Well there's the flag's right where we put it." "The controls." "She must have touched the controls." "Selenites, thousands of them." "They dragged it." "This time!" "Now!" "Block it, Cavor!" "..." "Block it!" "All this clutter." "The place is an absolute honeycomb." "Can you see a trail, Cavor?" "Leave me alone!" "Stay away from me or I'll shoot." "I will!" "Get away from there." "I said stay away or I'll shoot!" "Down there!" "What is it?" "I don't know." "Probably a harmless vegetarian." "Bred for food, rather like a cow." "If that's a cow?" "I wouldn't like to meet a bull." "Come on, Cavor!" " "Harmless vegetarian" yah?" " Well, I thought I..." "Cavor..." "Give me your hand!" "Cavor Run!" "Run, Cavor, run!" "Run." "What, what do you want?" "What do you want me to do?" "No, please, don't." "What do you want me to do?" "Let me out of here!" "Can you hear me?" "Let me alone, can't you?" "Staring at me like an animal in a zoo." "You!" "You there, with my shoe." "Give it back, or I'll let you have the other one." "You!" "You there, with my shoe." "Give it back, or I'll let you have the other one." "You!" "You there, with my shoe." "Give it back, or I'll let you have the other one." "So, imitating me now." "You think it's funny, do you?" "Very funny." "Very funny." "You think it's funny, do you?" "Very funny." "Kate....." "Miss Callender." "Just a minute." "Just a minute." "Oh, Mr. Cavor, I'm so glad to see you." "Where is Arnold?" "Is he safe?" "Yes, yes he's safe." "We got separated." "Give me my shoe." "Very funny." "Give me my shoe." "Very funny." "They're trying to communicate with us." "Analysing what we say." "I wish they'd stay off the words with E's in them." "Man." "We come from Earth, many hundreds of thousands of miles away." "No, no it doesn't mean a thing." "Nothing at all." "Man." "Man!" "Did you hear that." "They're trying to communicate with us." "Why that's imperial!" "It's absolutely..." "Man, man!" "From hundred of thousands of miles away." "Man from Earth." "Kate, you see, they understand, but they're not repeating what I say." "That's splendid!" "It's splendid!" "It's absolutely imperial." "Yes, my dear fellow, it is!" "It's absolutely imperial!" "Well it's obviously some sort of apparatus for generating oxygen on a vast scale." "That's why we're able to breathe down here." "That's fantastic." "It's fantastic." "I'd say it's perpetual motion, if it wasn't impossible." "Why it makes all other forms of power obsolete." "Look, that's where they're getting their power, from sunlight." "Kate, come." "Come quickly." "Quick." " They're taking the sphere apart." " We must stop them." "Quickly, hold my hand." "Carefully." "You've no right to do this." "Leave it alone." "It doesn't belong to you." "Now we'll never get home." "It's cavorite." "We have tried to duplicate the substance coated on your sphere, but unable." " Well, it's called cavorite." " Cavorite." "It's a compound of elements." "Well, it's based on the use of helium." " Ought you to tell them that?" " Helium?" "It's a light, inert gas found in the atmosphere on Earth." "Well, you must know helium." " No more questions for now." " For now?" "For now?" "What do you mean, "For now"?" " What's happening?" " Chemical workers put to sleep until needed again." "You will return to the examination chamber." "Well, it's a unique way of dealing with unemployment." "Entirely reasonable, I suppose." "They'll treat us the same way if they find they have no further use for us." "What a ghastly thought." "Ghastly thought." "Is he dead?" "No." "No, he's not dead." "He's asleep." "It's a sort of suspended animation." "This is rather interesting, you know." "According to my almanac there's a lunar eclipse on the 12th." "An eclipse?" "You know, an eclipse, when the Earth passes directly between the sun and moon." "Now, that's obviously a resting time for the Selenites." "Yes." "It's time you rested too, you know, Miss Callender." " It's a long time since we landed." "Come on." " An eternity." "Oh, Mr. Cavor, I'm so worried about Arnold." "Yes, Arnold." " Do you think we will ever see our world again?" " Of course we will." " I'd even welcome a London fog." " Would you, now?" "Come on, you really must try to get some sleep." "Lie down there." "I wish I could and wake up to find it's all been a bad dream." "You quite comfortable?" "..." "Sure?" " Thank you." " Right." " Awe put that away." "You don't need a gun." " I don't have your boundless confidence in these insects." "Well you don't try to understand them." "You see they're a different society..." " Oh, we're wasting time." "I've got to find Kate." " Kate, she's all right." "I've just left her." "You know where she is?" "For heaven's sake man, tell me, so I can fix the sphere and we can get going." " Not yet." " What do you mean?" "No, no I want time..." "I wanna know where Kate is." "Tell me where she is!" "Don't spoil it." "I want to communicate with them!" " Where's Kate?" " Give me time!" "You'd better get away." "You'd better get away." "Here, here." "Lift." "Kate get right back!" "Come on Kate!" "Hurry!" "First of Earthmen, welcome on the moon." "I am here before you." "Your earth is the center of our orbit." "Tell us of its life how it differs from ours." "Well, I don't know where to begin." "I don't know whether you can understand me, whether you can hear me." "Well, I'll try." "Man." "Man lives on the surface of Earth in protective structures." "Not protective." "That's the wrong word." "Buildings!" "Houses, cottages." "We call them cities, towns." "It's rather like your tunnels, but on the outside." "That would explain the dark areas we have observed." "Does not the sun blind you, living on the surface?" "No..." "No..." "No, you see we have an iris, which protects the eyes." "Come closer." "I wish to see." "Yes, sir, certainly." "There, you see?" "Please, the light, that's." "That's hurting." "Please." "Kate, drop the cylinder and help me." "Hand me that wrench." " Is there much left back there?" " Only the oxygen cylinders." "I just hope that Cavor can keep the Selenites occupied a little longer." "You say men cling to different tongues and beliefs." "Is there not one ruler?" "No." "No." "Every century, some despot tries, but up till now, no one's succeeded." "Like Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Napoleon..." "Does this not lead to confusion?" "Yes, it does, and worse." "Starvation, hostility even war." "Tell me...of war." "Tell you of war?" "Oh, my goodness." "Well it usually starts with a wacking great explosion." "Now try the one over the porthole." "It's still not working." "Well, I bolted it back like the others." "Nothing else to do." "I'll have to go get Cavor." " I'll go with you." " No, Kate stay here and pack the rest of the things." "I know where to find him." "I shan't be long." "And yet to fight in a war is considered an honor." "Well, it's difficult to explain, but men who are killed in battle are heroes." "That's odd, isn't it?" "Men enjoy to make war?" "No...." "No, they detest it." "Then if they make war, they are defective." "Well, we're not perfect." "Mankind is still developing." "We're not, we're not perfect." "There are men of peace!" "My concern is with the men of violence, the men who kill." "Soon others will be coming from Earth." "Our galleries will be strewn with dead." "There needn't be any others!" "There needn't be any others!" "I am the only one who holds the secrets of cavorite." "Then you and your secret will remain here, on the moon." " Cavor!" "Cavor, this is not an audience." "You're on trial!" "No Bedford, no." "Can't you see?" " No!" "You've just been convicted!" "To the sphere!" " This way." " What?" " Through there." " All right." " Why didn't you leave me?" " Don't flatter yourself, I didn't risk my neck to save you." "Go on." " The sphere." "You've put it together." " Yes, but the blinds won't work." "The blinds won't work." "Good Lord." "You've destroyed everything I've set out to accomplish." " Now you turn to me for help." " Who else can we turn to?" "Please, please, Mr. Cavor." "Well, all right, I've no right to keep you here, I suppose." "All right, come on." "Give me your hand." "Come on." "Come on, the cylinders." "Take the other end, Kate." "Bedford, it's working, old man." "It's working." "Come on, hurry." "Come on, I got it working." "Come on." "Come on." "Kate, get inside, quick!" " Go on, Kate." "Go on." " Go on..." "Good." "Come on, Bedford." "Right, come on, up you go." "Quickly, quickly." "Cavor....the cylinder!" "Hurry, Cavor." "Cavor, your hand!" "Give me your hand!" "You know how to man the controls." " You don't need me." " Cavor. don't be a fool!" "Come back." "You see..." "I'm staying, Bedford, old man." "There's a lot to learn." " Mr. Cavor!" " Cavor, come back!" "I'll explain." "I'll explain." "One day, I'll explain." "We were hurled into space." "Well, one way or another, I managed to guide the sphere back to Earth." "We...we plunged into the sea off the coast of Zanzibar." "The sphere disappeared without a trace." "But Kate and I managed to swim ashore." "Of course, no one ever believed our story." "I mean, there was no evidence, nothing." " Until now." " Oh, I still can't believe it." "Our own Mr. Bedford, a real astronaut." " The first astronaut." " Dear Mr. Bedford, I must tell the others." "There he is." "Okay, it's gone through to them." "Red alert for lens pits or other accesses and Selenites." "Those creatures, maybe they're not dangerous after all." "He got away." " They've had years to get ready for us." " Get out of here!" "Please, ma'am." "Hold it there." "They've gone down." "They've broken through the lens pit." "And here they are, deep below the surface of the moon." "They light flares to see their way." "That's where we were there." "More evidence of civilization, it appears to be a lunar city." "But who built it and why?" "It's starting to crumble, collapsing before our very eyes." "The astronauts will have to come to the surface before they are trapped and they're being hauled up on nylon ropes." "It's like an abandoned mine caving in on top of them." "They're through and into the open!" "And it's crumbling right beneath them!" "Corrosion and decay." "Everywhere, the same story." "There seems every evidence of some kind of contamination." " Some simple germ brought from Earth." " To creatures completely without immunity." "Under those conditions microorganisms could run wild." "Multiply." "Kill a whole population." "Did they take off to another planet, or were they wiped out by an all conquering virus?" "Poor Cavor." "As deadly as a plague or as infectious as a common head cold in the head." "And what happened?" "He did have such a terrible cold."