Conquest of Space Page #5

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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 Iost 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 Iately.

Crazy stuff.

Things Iike blowing up the ship.

Things Iike that.

Gone.

Just Iike Cooper.

Listen, you slimy Iittle 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 Ionesome old friend?

Look at her,

all red-faced and pouting,

Iike 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 Ianding.

SIowing nicely, sir.

CIear Ianding 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 Ianding.

This is a good Ianding?

Any Ianding's a good Ianding.

Gravity.

Beautiful gravity.

Let's go below, shall we?

Feels Iike good soil.

Given water, I bet you can grow

anything here we grow on Earth.

Big things, maybe,

Iike 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, Iook.

Must have damaged the pipes

when we Ianded.

Wait here.

General, stop!

"As wax melteth before the fire,

so Iet 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.

PIease, you've got to Iisten 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 Ieft is our Iife.

Every drop must be rationed.

No washing, no heat.

Look, captain...

...why couldn't we kick off

with what we got Ieft?

We could, except for one slight detail.

The Earth wouldn't be there

when we arrived.

How very unpleasant.

So how Iong 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 Iet'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 Iong 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 Iet them know

before it's too Iate.

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 Iousy, 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 Ieave that stuff

back on Earth...

...but it don't operate

past a thousand-mile Iimit.

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, Iook!

- 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 Iife is possible on Mars.

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