"This a story of tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, when men have built a station in space, constructed in the form of a great wheel and set a thousand miles out from the Earth, fixed by gravity and turning about the world every two hours," "serving a double purpose;" "An observation post in the heavens and a place where a spaceship can be assembled and then launched to explore other planets and the vast universe itself, in the last and greatest adventure of mankind, a plunge toward the;" ";conquest of space;" "Rocket coming up, sir." "It's the transport, right on schedule, eh, captain?" "No, sir, they're late, a minute and 33 seconds." "It's a minute and 34 seconds, captain." "It's not important, of course, but it could be." "In celestial navigation, one second can be the difference between life and death." "Gee, I hope they don't forget to bring up the ice cream this time." "I thought I issued an order to the effect that food was never to be a subject of conversation on the Wheel." " I'm sorry, sir, I forgot." " There are some men aboard who are not permitted to enjoy the food that you eat, corporal." "And unless you're anxious to share their diet," " I'd advise you not to forget again." " I won't, sir." "The moon, Barney." "A few days, a month and we'II be on it." "Do you realize, sir, that I've been up here a full year without any leave?" "There are several of us in the same boat, Barney." "But I'd only been married for three and a half months." "I'm sure Linda will understand." "She's a sensible girl." "After all, when a girl marries a soldier..." "Soldier!" "." "Ghost, you mean." "A robot spinning around the world every two hours on a tin doughnut." "That's what you've been to Mother for three years" " and what I'm becoming to my wife!" "." " Barney!" "." "I'm sorry, sir." "You built the Wheel, and you're proud of it." "You've got every right to be, but well, why me?" "We were happy down there." "A little cottage right on the base, she was just beginning to furnish it, and you yank me out of it." "You belong here, Barney." "You're my son." "Space is your heritage." "I formally request, sir, that inasmuch as service on the Wheel is voluntary and I have never been accorded the privilege of volunteering, that I be granted permission to return to Earth on the transport rocket." "Colonel, sir, there's a storm building up in the Pacific." "A real lulu." "Might be a hurricane." "Chart it and notify all weather stations likely to be affected." "Yes, sir." "Permission denied, captain." "Somehow or another, I kind of hate to see this job get finished." "It's like my cousin Seymour he's a plastic surgeon." "He built a face for an ugly dame once which turned out to be so beautiful he fell in love with her!" "." "So off she went with the garbage collector!" "." "You afraid this beautiful ship will go off without you, Jackie?" "Precisely and definitely the opposite." "Well, frankly, I'm..." "I'm frightened of going, but I'm more frightened of being left behind." "For what you scared?" "We build this ship, so we fly it." "And so we get to the moon." "Who's gonna guarantee we ever get back?" "I'm with Pete." "For a fat, solid year," "I been eating birdseed out of this goofy sombrero with no squawk." "Now, let some other heroes take it from here;" "This little guinea pig ain't going on no more joy-hops for the great Colonel Merritt;" "And if old space-happy thinks otherwise..." "...he can take his ship and..." " And what, Sergeant Siegle?" "Sergeant Siegle just left, sir." "Roy!" "." "Secure that cable!" "." "I..." "I...can't...move a finger." "Careful." "Watch out, the high voltage!" "." "Grab it." " Are you hurt?" " No, but I..." "What is it, Roy?" "What is the matter with you?" "I don't know, I'm..." "I'm...paralyzed." "Let's get him back to the Wheel." "Taxi!" "We've got a sick man here!" "Gotta get him back to the Wheel!" "AII set." "Shove off!" "Are you feeling better, Roy?" "I'm all right, I guess." "Yeah, I'm all right." "Let's have the straight of it." "What's wrong with the lad?" "What's the matter?" "You sick or something?" " You hurt some place?" " No, I..." "I just couldn't move out there, but..." "..." "I'm all right." " You couldn't move, you say?" " Why not?" " I don't know, I..." "I just couldn't." "He's all right, he told you." "Leave him alone!" "It ain't important!" "You know the colonel's orders with you incubator babies." "Even a pimple is important." "You bluebirds are my responsibility, and he's reporting to the infirmary." "Come on, lad, I'II take you meself." "Gee, it'd be worth taking a trip to the moon just to get rid of that overgrown babysitter." "What is it, sir?" "I..." "I'm all right, aren't I?" "Of course, my boy, of course." "Nothing more serious than a momentary lapse of nerve function." "You're fine." "You believe him, sir?" "I mean, this couldn't make any difference." "It's been a whole year, sir, and after all this time, I..." "I'd hate to wash out." "Well, I'd hate to lose you, Cooper." "Thank you, sir." "Let's have it, Kurt." "What's really the matter with that boy?" "Oh, Cooper's in fine condition, sir." "Why, you gave him a complete physical examination only three days ago, major." "A perfect score, remember?" "You don't have to worry about that boy, sir, I assure you." "He was paralyzed out there, sergeant." "He couldn't move." "That's something to worry about up here." " What was it?" " Somatic dysphasia, self-induced inability of the nerves to transmit brain messages." "In your language, space fatigue." " Self-induced?" " Well, not consciously, of course." "Each mind has its own limit of endurance, at which point it rebels." "The result can be anything." "Simple hives, hallucination, headache," "loss of speech, paralysis, total insanity, anything." "AII of us up here suffer from the same disease to some degree." "It is to be expected." "Man has never before lived in space." "Fortunately, most of the cases are so minor they present no problem." "But Cooper?" "Cooper will be perfectly normal..." "...as soon as you return him to Earth." " That bad?" "What he experienced was simply a warning." "If it happens again, it could be permanent." "I see." "How about the others?" "Andre, Imoto, excellent." "As for Siegle, Sanella and Donkersgoed every day with them, it is a new set of horrible afflictions." "Some of them completely unknown to medical science." "Furthermore, they all seem to have an absolute loathing for the Wheel, its commanding officer, its doctor, and the Space Corps in general." "Everything...with the possible exception of good food and women." "In other words, they're normal." "Thank you very much, major." "What's the matter, sir, are you ill?" "No." "No, I'm all right." "Carry on." "My Rosie!" "Thank heaven science ain't found no way to put you up in capsules." "The future Mrs. Siegle, Pedro!" "How'd you Iike to paddle that around in your gondola?" " For a wife, too skinny." " Too skinny?" "That's beautiful skin, boy." "Andre, what did they say?" " I'm not out, am I?" " Out of what, Roy?" "The Spaceship." "It must have a crew." "Now, look, Roy the colonel hasn't told us definitely we are the crew." "We don't have to be told." "We are, you know we are." "Every man on the Wheel won his place after six months of the stiffest competition in the world." "Each one of us were handpicked from the winners for this special duty." "Who else is being conditioned as we are?" "Special food, special exercise." "Tests, lectures!" "Watched every second!" "Never any leave!" "You fellows know how..." "How tough it's been." "Now, just because I had a bad couple of minutes out there..." "That's funny, I didn't think to have a bad couple of minutes myself." "I don't think we're going no place." "AII right, so we built a spaceship." "That doesn't mean we have to fly it." "Hey, maybe we're guinea pigs." "Maybe they wanna find out how much of them cosmic rays a human carcass can absorb before we light up like Christmas trees." "And at double pay, I can learn to like cosmic rays." "With all that loot, boy, I'm gonna open a TV shop, settle down, marry my Rosie and raise a houseful of kids." "So if I glow a Iittle in the dark, she could find me better." "If you get that charged with cosmic rays, you'd better not plan on too large a family." "That's a Iot of borscht." "One of them cats in the lab just had a litter of seven kittens, and she's been up here longer than we have." "And anything a cat can do, me and Rosie can do too." " Last call for dining car." " Food!" "One!" "Two!" " Shall we go, gentlemen?" " Yes, Mother!" "Hey, Frank!" "Ten-hut!" "Be seated, gentlemen." "Mahoney has six little lambs" "He has to watch their diet" "They helped the colonel build his ship" "And now they have to fly it;" "Peasants!" "Dig in, fellas." "Space smorgasbord." "Say, pretty good today." "Corned beef, I think." "Imagine...all the nourishment you need, no mess, no bother and no waste." "I think I still prefer to eat the hard way." "Hey, Jackie...pass me a cup of coffee." "Cream and sugar." "OK, so I volunteered." "So I'II eat." " What are you eating it for?" " Colonel Merritt eats it." " That's a reason?" " For 30 years, me and the colonel have been banging around together." "Korea, Africa, China, now space." "If he intends to shove off to anywhere else," "I ain't giving him any excuse to leave me behind because I ain't eating the proper diet." "Some more of that corned beef, if you please." "You feeling better, son?" "Oh...fine." "Mahoney, you know the colonel a Iot better than the rest of us." " You don't think he'II wash me up...?" " Stop worrying." "If he's going off on an excursion, who's he gonna take?" "He'II have to ask for volunteers again." "Us?" "That son of his?" "I happen to know by the grapevine that the captain has already put in for a transfer." "So that leaves you." "So I hope you and the colonel will be very happy together." "This ain't kosher corned beef!" "So the captain put in for transfer, did he?" "Well, good riddance, I say." "He's a fine officer." "He doesn't measure up to his father's belt buckle." "You know I was with the colonel the night he got the word the kid was born." "We were in Indochina." "We did a Iittle bit of celebrating." "I remember the colonel, captain he was then, pointing up to the sky and said," ""You see that moon?" ""That's his birthday present." ""Someday I'm gonna give it to him."" "A balloon on a string would mean as much to the ingrate." "Putting in for a transfer!" " This is a mistake." " No mistake." "Compliments of Colonel Merritt." " Steak!" " With mushrooms, yet." "Asparagus." "Go ahead, Roy...dig in." "Looks..." "Looks delicious, doesn't it?" "Go on, cut it." "Cut that steak!" "Man, that juice." "You were saying, Sergeant Brooklyn?" "I was saying, Sergeant Imoto, if it wasn't for a certain fatheaded stool pigeon just waiting for me to do it man, I'd be lapping up that steak juice..." " Watch out!" " Look out!" "Meteor, sir!" "Evacuate section 34 and seal off!" "Switch to alternate tanks and compensators." "Fire all jets sporadic blasts stabilize the Wheel." "Boy, oh, boy, what a fortune I could make with this thing at Coney Island!" "Boy, I'm telling you!" "What happened to my...?" "What happened to my turkey?" "Landing crew ready to make fast." "AII stations manned." "Let's go." "It's OK, Mr. Fenton." "Don't be afraid." "You'II just float over." "Hiya, Johnnie." "Got you back on the milk run, I see." "Yeah." "Somebody's got to service this box kite." " Brought you a visitor." "Doctor..." " Dr. Fenton." "Nice to see you." "The colonel's expecting you, sir." "If you'd Iike to freshen up first..." "Thanks, later." "If it's possible, I'd better see the colonel at once." "Of course." "Take charge of the new men, lieutenant." "This way, sir." "Come in." "George." "Thank heaven they sent you." "How are you, boy?" "A bit rocky, but all right otherwise." " And you, Sam?" " Oh, fit as a fiddle." "It's against regulations to feel any other way on the Wheel." " My own orders." "Come on, sit down." " Thanks, I will." "I didn't know until a half hour ago that they were sending you up." "You remember my son, Barney, don't you?" "Dr. Fenton helped to plan every detail of this Wheel, Barney." "They thought we were insane then, didn't they, George?" "Well, frankly, I thought so too but here it is." "You put it up here." "You know, for once, the International Authority has really sent up somebody who knows what it's all about." "And since you are one of the geniuses responsible for that...monstrosity, would you mind telling me what it is?" "We assembled this thing piece by piece as it came up, according to your brilliant specifications." "It's a masterpiece of technology and electronics." "But it doesn't make one particle of sense." " In just what way do you mean?" " Well, here." "Take these wings, for instance." "What in blazes are wings doing on this ship?" " There's no atmosphere on the moon." " The moon?" "And this booster." "AII that power." "What are we gonna do, go up to the moon, or going through it?" "Or maybe we're supposed to tow it back with us so those bright boys from every nation on Earth can have a better look at it." "Is that the idea?" "Working for one government was bad enough, but now we've got all of them on our backs." "I think you'd better read your orders general." " General?" " Your promotion is among these dispatches." "Congratulations, sir." "A general!" "Your orders, Sam." "And for you, captain, your transfer." "You'II be attached to Muroc, I believe, as you requested." "You can return with me, if you Iike." "Mars?" "Mars, sir?" "George, this is fantastic." "No more so than going to the moon." "Mars isn't the moon." "There's a slight difference of several million miles." "Not one word." "No warning." "Just...take off and leave!" "It's just across the solar system." "I tell you we're not ready, George." "Why wasn't I consulted?" "We only reached the decision yesterday." "There was some discussion about your age, and, well, General Cronin convinced the Authority..." "And who convinced Cronin?" "You?" "A long time ago, the Supreme Council issued an order that the final objective of this project was to be the planet Mars." "You were present at all those discussions." "The moon was never anything more than just a test hop." "Now the orders are to eliminate the test and proceed with the original plan." "Time makes it imperative." "There's only one man who can take that ship to another planet and bring it back, the man who built the Wheel." "To gamble the lives of a crew of men on as senseless a mission as this is callous." "It's stupid!" "Stupid or callous it may seem to be at this time." "It is not senseless." "Man's very survival on Earth depends upon the success of this or some future search for a new source of raw materials." "General Samuel T. Merritt." "A very imposing title for a tombstone." "The orders are naturally contingent to your acceptance, general." "You can refuse." "When do we leave?" "You're going?" "I've never refused to obey an order, captain." "I never have either, sir until now." "When do we leave?" "Our previous orders were to leave the Wheel proceed to the moon orbit for observation, make a landing and return to base." "These orders have now been cancelled." "We're not going to the moon." "Mr. Fenton has brought us a new directive." "Our time of departure will be 1 1 :36 tomorrow morning." "Our destination, the planet Mars." "Now, that time of departure, both for the outer trip from the Wheel to Mars and for the return from Mars to the Wheel, is most important." "We must arrive at the Martian orbit at the exact time when it is occupied by the planet." "Obviously, the same precision of timing applies for our return." "Now, you five men have been chosen after intensive competitive examinations." "For the past year, you have been receiving special training and instruction for travel into outer space." "The ship, however, can accommodate only two officers and three crew men." "I have been assigned as commanding officer." "AII other service on this trip will be voluntary." "Since Captain Merritt has already volunteered, there are only three berths left open." "Two of you, then, are going to be disappointed." "I can take it, sir." "Before I ask for volunteers, I should like to state my own preferences." "You're all fine men." "Final selection will be made on the basis of special qualifications." " Sergeant Siegle." " Yes, sir?" "I don't think there's a man on the Wheel with less formal education than you possess." "Yes, sir." "I'm sure ignorant, sir." "Nor one with a better knowledge of advanced electronics." "I should like to have you along." "Sergeant Imoto you're a graduate of Osaka University, with two years of postgraduate work at the Colorado School of Mines." "That knowledge is valuable." "Sergeant Fodor, two years of medicine in Vienna, right?" "You're both needed." "Before any of you accept, I should like to make it unmistakably clear that the dangers of this journey are above and beyond anything that the Space Corps or your own governments have any right to ask of you." "I can give you confounded little reason for this attempt to reach Mars and no assurance at all that it will even be successful." "It's my personal conviction that no one but an idiot would volunteer." "And I shall strongly suspect the sanity of anyone who does." "AII right." "We've all got it straight." "Who wants to go?" "Is it permitted to disagree with the general, sir?" "Of course, sergeant." "In my humble opinion, sir, there is an excellent reason for this voyage." "Well, suppose you tell us about it." "Some years ago, my country chose to fight a terrible war." "It was bad." "I do not defend it." "But there were reasons." "Somehow those reasons are never spoken of." "To the Western world at that time," "Japan was a fairy-book nation." "Little people living in a strange land of rice-paper houses." "People who had almost no furniture who sat on the floor and ate with chopsticks." "The quaint houses of rice paper, sir, they were made of paper because there was no other material available." "And the winters in Japan are as cold as they are in Boston." "And the chopsticks?" "There was no metal for forks and knives and spoons, where slivers of wood could suffice." "So it was with the little people of Japan," "little as I am now." "Because for countless generations, we have not been able to produce the food to make us bigger." "Japan's yesterday will be the world's tomorrow." "Too many people and too little land." "That is why I say, sir, there is urgent need for us to reach Mars to provide the resources the human race will need if they are to survive." "That is also why I am most grateful to be found acceptable, sir." "I volunteer." "Thank you, Sergeant Imoto." "You're not a Iittle man." "Anyone else?" "Look, general, sir you wouldn't want these helpless infants along on a mission like this." "Now, a couple of tough old soldiers like ourselves..." "You're not going, Mahoney." "I'm within me rights to demand a reason." "You're 20 years too old." "Too old?" "I am three months younger than you, Sam Merritt, and with twice the endurance." "Who was it carried you on his back for seven miles after the battle of bloody Hill in 1952, when all the breath you had left in you wasn't enough to blow out a candle" " in a Halloween pumpkin!" " Now, I said no, Mahoney." "Now, you angled your way onto this Wheel against my specific orders, and you're not gonna bull your way onto the Spaceship." "And if you say another word," "I'm gonna have you thrown into solitary for a month." "And tied to a wheelchair when you get out." "I'II go, sir." "Well, sir..." "Well, I'd hate to see everybody eat with chopsticks, so..." "Check!" "To you men, our thanks, for your patience and all your sacrifices." "The Earth rocket leaves in two hours." "Get packed, huh?" "Dismissed." " Speechmaker." " Chopstick." "Get down in front!" "I'm mad about a sheik" "I must have his embrace" "When he's near me Dear me" "I'll tell him to his face" "Oh, Ali Baba, be my baby" "Take me by the hand" "Maybe we'll make love, huh, maybe On the desert sand" "On the desert sand" "Come into my tent" "No." " We couldn't have that kind of luck." " Ali Baba, sell your harem" "Why pay all that rent?" " Or could we?" " Send your harem, harum-scarum" " After all, if there's life..." " Come into my tent ...there's always the female of the species." "Forget the lady waiting in Persia I'm the girl who really prefers you" " Yes, but what species?" " When a dreamy melody stirs you" " You just come to me" " Yeah." "Shimmy dancers doing it socko Try to tempt you back in Morocco" "But I'll chase them off of the block Oh, you belong to me" "Ali Baba, be my baby" "I'm at your command" "Maybe make some love, huh, maybe On the desert sand" "On the desert sand" "On the desert sand" "We interrupt this program to take you now to the press room of the Trans" " World Communications in New York City;" "Ladies and gentlemen, it has just been revealed by the security office of the Supreme International Space Authority that within the next 24 hours, exact time to be given later," "Man's first spaceship, built and commanded by General Samuel Merritt, will blast off on the most fabulous voyage ever conceived by the human mind;" "Their destination is the planet Mars;" " Mars?" "You guys?" " Mars?" "Wow." "You want our autographs, peasants?" "We take you now to our permanent station on Mount Palomar;" "There they are, ladies and gentlemen, the satellite and the Spaceship;" "The dream of all mankind come true;" "The moment is almost here;" "The moment for that creation of the Wheel to launch out into limitless space to carry five heroic men to a new planet and to immortality;" "And now, ladies and gentlemen, please stand by while we close our circuits for the final special event of the evening:" "A private last look at the world for the heroic men of the Wheel alone;" "Take it away, Vienna;" "So meine Gnädigste, darf ich bitten jetzt zum Mikrofon zu kommen;" "Jetzt ist der Moment;" "Bitte etwas näher, etwas näher;" "This lady is Mrs;" "Heinz Fodor, gentlemen, the mother of Andre Fodor;" "So und jetzt bitte sprechen Sie ganz ungeniert da hinaus, sehr liebenswürdig von Ihnen;" "Dankeschön;" "Andre;" "Andre, my boy, this is your mother;" "Can you hear me?" "What you are doing must be good;" "You are a good boy;" "Please, Andre, be careful;" "God watch over you, my boy, and bring you back to me;" "Darf ich bitten;" "And now;" "Now we take you back to New York;" "Miss Rosalie McCann, who has something to say to Sergeant Siegle before he leaves;" "Rosie!" " Hello, Jackie;" " Wow!" "Mine, all mine!" "Do you miss me, Jackie, baby?" "I miss you, honeypot;" "You've been away a long time, Jackie, but where love is concerned, what's a year this way or that when the flame of love is burning?" "And it's burning, Jackie, right here, forever;" "In here, too, Rosie, baby." "For me, there never could be anyone else but you;" "Never, ever, ever;" " Rosie;" " In a minute;" "In a minute;" "So I won't say goodbye, Jackie, just farewell;" " Rosie;" "Hey, come on;" " Please, Sidney;" "In a minute;" "Sidney!" "I gotta hurry now, Jackie;" " Mama's waiting;" " Mama!" "Oh!" "Bye now;" "Don't forget to bring your Rosie back a nice souvenir from Mars;" "Souvenir!" "You two-timing tomato!" "For that Sidney I got a souvenir!" "Come on out, you rat!" "I'II fight you." "I'II throttle you." "That's what I'II do." "Holding 20,000 miles per hour, sir." " Set your gyros for Mars." " Yes, sir." "On course, captain?" "On course." " You were saying, Sergeant Brooklyn?" " I was saying, Sergeant Imoto, that the next time, I am definitely gonna try the train." "You men can get out of those couches now." "We won't need them again till we land on Mars." "Ain't that just grand, sergeant?" "Nothing to worry about for millions and millions of miles." "Spaceship, Wheel calling;" "Come in;" "Over;" "Spaceship One to the Wheel." "Come in, Wheel." "Over." "Hello, Spaceship One;" "Professor Fenton for General Merritt;" "General, sir." " How are we doing, George?" " Good, general;" "You're getting a bigger push from Earth than we anticipated, however;" "Is our cotangential orbit correct?" "We're computing it now;" "Keep your radio open;" "We'll be in constant communication as long as possible;" "Incidentally, TWC has OK'd relay broadcasts for morale;" "Your boys like to hear some mood music?" "Thanks." "For this mood, there is no music." " Stand by the radio." " Yes, sir." "Sergeant Imoto, Sergeant Fodor, go aft and check the tailpipe temperatures." "Look at him." "He's off again." "We went to a Iot of trouble to develop those magnetized shoes." "Now, you get back into them and keep them zipped up." "We'II have no unnecessary floating aboard this ship." "No, sir." "General!" "Look!" "Grab him." "Put him over there." "Mahoney!" "Don't just stand there." "Get some water." "Yes, sir." "Of all the stupid, harebrained things to do." "Stowing away on a spaceship." "What a beating he must have taken during the blastoff." "Wake up, you insubordinate Iunatic." "Thirty years in the Army and still too brainless to obey an order." "Wake up, so I can have you shot." "He's coming to." "What are you doing aboard this ship?" "You forgot your toothbrush." "I don't remember you reading the Bible so often, sir." "It's the one book you never really get through reading." "Man's every move, his every thought, his every action is in there somewhere, recorded or predicted." "Every move except this one." "According to the Bible, Man was created on the Earth." "Nothing is ever mentioned of his going to other planets." "Not one blessed word." "At the time the Bible was written, it wouldn't have made much sense, would it?" "Does it now?" "The Biblical limitations of Man's wanderings are set down as being the four corners of the Earth." "Not Mars or Jupiter or infinity." "The question is, Barney, what are we?" "Explorers or invaders?" "Invaders?" "Of what, sir?" "Of the sacred domain of God his heavens." "To Man, God gave the Earth." "Nothing else." "But this taking of..." "Of other planets it's almost like an act of blasphemy." "But why?" "They belong to no one else." "We don't know that." "But, look, sir, it couldn't be just an accident that at the very time when Man's resources on Earth are reaching an end," "Man develops the ability to leave his own world and seek replenishment on other planets." "The timing is what fascinates me." "It's too perfect to be accidental." "Those other planets might already be tenanted." "I don't think so." "The universe was put here for Man to conquer." "I don't know." "I..." "I just don't know." "Why don't you try to get a Iittle sleep, sir?" "Huh?" "Oh." "Yes, I..." "I think I will." "Good night, Barney." "Good night, Father." "Topside viewer's jammed." "Can't move it." "Sergeant Siegle, Sergeant Fodor, get out there and free that pickup." "Out, sir?" "But the ship is going 20,000 miles an hour, sir." "So are you, sergeant." "You won't fall off." "The operation's the same as it would be on the Wheel." "Get going." " Yes, sir." " Yes, sir." "Look at her." "If we ever get back, you know what business I'm really going into?" "Real estate." "Cut out that chit-chat up there and fix that pickup;" "Yes, sir." "That's what I Iove about this job, the privacy." "Try it now, sir." "It's OK now." "You men go forward." "Asteroid, dead astern." "Come on, Iet's get inside before they throw something else at us." "Meteor fragments." "He's been hit!" "Sergeant Siegle, return to the air lock at once." "That's an order." " Give him a hand." " Yes, sir." " Mahoney." " Yes, sir." "Say, if anybody'd Iike some hot coffee I could heat up a couple of tins." "Get lost, Fodor." "Get lost, will you?" "Get lost." "Get lost." "Get lost!" "Take it easy, lad." "He can't hear you." "Sir, shouldn't someone go out there and...?" ""O Lord," ""rebuke me not," ""nor chasten me in thy hot displeasure." ""For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore." ""There is no soundness in my flesh" ""because of thine anger," ""and there is no rest in my bones" ""because of my sin." ""Make haste" ""to help me, O Lord..." ""...my salvation."" "Wheel calling Spaceship;" "Wheel calling Spaceship;" "Come in, over;" "The Wheel." "They're trying to get us." "Spaceship to Wheel, we hear you." "We hear you." "Come in." "Over." " Lost them." " No, it takes time." "Millions of miles." "Spaceship to Wheel, we hear you." "We hear you." "Come in." "Come in." "Over." "Spaceship to Wheel." "Come in, come in." "Over." "Getting bigger all the time, isn't it, sir?" "Yes, sergeant." "The planet and the blasphemy." "The what, sir?" "Spaceship;" "Spaceship;" "Wheel calling Spaceship;" "This is Fenton;" "We've been calling you constantly for weeks;" "Come in;" "Over;" "Spaceship to Wheel." "This is Captain Merritt." "Standby for the general." "General, sir, the Wheel." "Merritt speaking." "Here's the report:" "Lost course for several days due to near collision with asteroid." "But we can still reach destination as plotted, which may be Mars or hell." "This voyage is a cursed abomination." "If it were possible, I'd come back now, return the ship to Earth" " and blow it up!" " General, please." "Together with all plans in existence for building another." "We're committing Man's greatest sacrilege!" "And we can't stop." "Professor, the general isn't well." "Fatigue." "He's been suffering from severe headaches and insomnia." "He's very tired, almost exhausted." "We lost a crew member, Andre Fodor, struck by a meteor." "The general took it very hard." "I'm sure it's only temporary." "He'II be all right, don't worry." "Everything else is under control." "Hey, you guys, we're in trouble." " Off our course?" " No, the general." "You ought to hear the blast he just threw at the Wheel." "Not just that Bible talk he's been spouting lately." "Crazy stuff." "Things like blowing up the ship." "Things like that." "Gone." "Just like Cooper." "Listen, you slimy little calumniator." "If you were one-tenth the man the general is, you'd be twice the man you are." "What he says or how he acts is not for you to criticize." "And if I catch you doing it again," "I'II pull out your filthy tongue and strangle you with it." "Sam." "How about coming down to the parlor and having a Iittle cup of tea with a lonesome old friend?" "Look at her, all red-faced and pouting," "like she might be angry with us." "And with us coming all this way to visit her." "Aft viewer, Sergeant Siegle." "We've gotta release the boosters." "Hey, don't we need them tanks?" "They're empty, just excess baggage now." "The reserve tanks below will take us back home." "Ready, sir." "Jettison boosters." "Look at it go." "That's what would happen to us if we hit the atmosphere that fast." "AII right, men, positions for landing." "slowing nicely, sir." "clear landing ahead." "No." "No." "We mustn't." "We can't." "We haven't the right." "General, stop!" "What are you doing?" "You'II kill us." "Hold your places until the ship is raised." "The ship is upright, sir." "Good landing." "This is a good landing?" "Any landing's a good landing." "Gravity." "Beautiful gravity." "Let's go below, shall we?" "Feels like good soil." "Given water, I bet you can grow anything here we grow on Earth." "Big things, maybe," "like in Jack the Beanstalk." "Be wonderful to try and see what could happen." "I have some flower seed." "I been carrying them ever since I Ieft Hawaii." "I was gonna try them on the moon, but here in this soil..." "You'd need a pipeline from the Colorado River to water them." "Captain, look." "Must have damaged the pipes when we landed." "Wait here." "General, stop!" ""As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish" " "at the presence of God."" " Father, stop it!" "You're mad!" "Hydrazine and nitric acid explode on contact!" "We'II be blown to bits!" " Father!" " Stay back." "Dad, it's Barney." "please, you've got to listen to me." "Don't turn that valve!" "Don't turn it!" "Father, please." "I..." "Don't blame yourself." " You killed him." " No." "Your own father." "You murdered him!" "Why, you no-good..." "No." "No, captain." "You'II not die, not now." "But when we get back, and we'II get back, we've got a date, you and me, with a court-martial." "And I'II be the witness." "And it'II be a rope for you, captain." "And I hope they make it slow, very slow, so I can watch you kick." "No signs of water." "Not even bugs or worms." "They ought to give this planet back to the..." "Who do you give it back to?" "No people." "What water we have left is our life." "Every drop must be rationed." "No washing, no heat." "Look, captain why couldn't we kick off with what we got left?" "We could, except for one slight detail." "The Earth wouldn't be there when we arrived." "How very unpleasant." "So how long we gotta stick around this crummy planet?" "How old are you, Sergeant Siegle?" " Just turned 29." " When you turn again, you can start packing." "You and Sergeant Mahoney start draining the pipes of the heating system." "Well, he says we gotta squeeze the water." "So let's get to squeezing." "It's gonna be a cold, dry winter." "God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay" "Remember Christ;" ";our Savior Was born on Christmas Day" "Call the Wheel again, sergeant." "What for?" "To wish them a merry Christmas?" "Spaceship to Wheel." "Come in, Wheel." "Over." "How long you gonna keep doing this?" "We ain't heard from the Wheel in months." "And supposing they answer, so what?" "Maybe we ask for room service and have them send up some ice water." "We've done what no men in the world have done before us." "We've got to let them know before it's too late." "If it's humanly possible, we've got to report." "Report what?" "That the operation was a big success, but the patients are dying on a lousy, dried-up ball" " in the corner pocket of nowhere?" " We could report a murder, captain." "I've told you everything that happened, sergeant." "Yes, captain that you have." "And you can tell it to me from now until doomsday, but don't forget, I was there and I saw everything with me own eyes." "Spaceship calling the Wheel." "Spaceship to Wheel." "Over." "The general wasn't crazy, he was right." "We asked for it." "There's a curse on this ship and everybody in it." "Baloney." "You can leave that stuff back on Earth but it don't operate past a thousand-mile limit." "Only God can make a tree." "OK." "Where is it?" "Where's the trees and the flowers and the grass?" "Where's the water?" "You hear me?" "Where's the water?" "Hey, fellas, look!" " Snow!" " Boy, you can hit me with a snowball!" " Merry Christmas, boys!" " Open the hatch!" "OK, captain, let her rip;" "Leave that, Mahoney." "We won't take anything unessential to the voyage." "Everything OK up there, sir?" "AII secure." "By this time tomorrow, we'II be on our way home." "Just about finished, captain." "I think these soil and mineral samples will prove that life is possible on Mars." "It can be done, sir." "AII the elements are in those sacks." "Even air and water, in other forms." "Until now, this little planet has been alone friendless, all drawn up into itself." "So it's crusty, dried-up and unyielding." "But with patience and understanding and hard work, it could be made to blossom." "I wish I had your faith, Imoto." "Hey, fellas!" "Come!" "Captain, come!" "Look!" "Look." "Look." "It grew." "A flower." "A seed from Earth growing here." "Look at it." "A flower on Mars." "It is a flower." "Hey, captain, the ship is tilted." "We won't be able to take off." "That sand, look at it." "It's draining." "Must be caves or crevices underneath." "This whole section is honeycombed." " We drilled into a Iot of pockets." " Caves, caverns." "If we could crack them open, the sand would pour in like water." "We might draw off enough to lower that side of the ship." "Straighten her up?" "It's possible." "But how do we crack open the cavities?" "With the engines." "We blast." "Hammer the ground with the rockets." "Great." "But what happens if we open some cracks on the wrong side?" "We fall over." "We've got exactly 14 minutes to come up with a miracle and say goodbye to this planet, or we'II never leave it." " You were saying, sergeant?" " I'm sold." "Punch it, captain." "Again, sir." "It's moving." "It's working." "Try it again, captain." "That's it." "I don't dare to..." "We're perpendicular." "Protect yourselves." "We're blasting off." "You did it." "A date is a date, sergeant." "It was a glorious way the general died." "Sacrificing his life as he did to bring his ship and his crew safely to a landing on the rocky desert of a new planet." "That's the way the history books will tell it." "Won't they, captain?" "A fitting end for a grand soldier." "For the man who conquered space." "Would you be caring for a cup of tea, captain?" "Thanks."