First Men in the Moon Page #5

You've no right to do this. Leave it.

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.

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.

It's a unique way of dealing

with unemployment.

Entirely reasonable, I guess.

They'll treat us the same

if they have no further use for us.

What a ghastly thought.

Ghastly thought.

Is he dead?

He's not dead.

He's asleep.

It's a sort of suspended animation.

This is interesting.

There's a lunar eclipse on the 12th.

You know, when the Earth

passes between the sun and moon.

That's obviously a resting time

for the Selenites.

Yes. Time you rested too,

Miss Callender.

- It's a long time since we landed.

- An eternity.

Mr. Cavor, I'm so worried about Arnold.

Yes, Arnold.

- Will we see our world again?

- Of course we will.

- I'd even welcome a London fog.

- Would you, now?

Come on, try to get some sleep.

Lie down.

I wish I could and wake up to find

it's all been a bad dream.

You quite comfortable?

- Thank you.

- Right.

- Put that away. You don't need a gun.

- I don't have your confidence.

Try to understand them. They're...

- We're wasting time. I must find Kate.

- She's all right.

You know where she is?

Tell me, so we can get going.

- Not yet.

- What do you mean?

I want time...

I wanna know where Kate is.

Tell me where she is!

Don't spoil it. I want to communicate!

- Where's Kate?

- Give me time!

You'd better get away.

Here, here.

Lift.

Get right back!

Come on!

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 or 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 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?

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 hurting. Please.

Drop the cylinder and help me.

Hand me that wrench.

- Is there much left?

- Only the oxygen cylinders.

I hope Cavor can keep the Selenites

occupied a little longer.

You say men cling to different

tongues and beliefs.

Is there no one ruler?

Every century, some despot tries,

but 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 great explosion.

Now try the one over the porthole.

It's still not working.

I bolted it back like the others.

Nothing else to do. I'll get Cavor.

- I'll go with you.

- No, pack the rest.

I know where to find him.

And yet to fight in a war

is considered an honor.

It's difficult to explain,

but men killed in battle are heroes.

Odd, isn't it?

Men enjoy to make war?

No, they detest it.

Then if they make war,

they are defective.

Well, we're not perfect.

Mankind is still developing.

We're not perfect.

There are men of peace!

My concern is with the men

of violence, the men who kill.

Soon others will come from Earth.

Our galleries will be strewn with dead.

There needn't be any others!

There needn't be!

I alone hold the secrets of cavorite.

Then you and your secret

will remain here, on the moon.

This is not an audience.

You're on trial! Can't you see?

You've just been convicted!

To the sphere!

- This way.

- What?

- Through there.

- All right.

- Why didn't you leave me?

- I didn't risk my neck to save you.

Go on.

- You've put it together.

- But the blinds won't work.

The blinds won't work.

You've destroyed everything

I've set out to accomplish.

- Now you turn to me.

- Who else?

Please, please, Mr. Cavor.

I've no right to keep you here.

All right, come on.

Give me your hand. Come on.

Come on, the cylinders.

Take the other end.

Bedford, it's working, old man.

Come on, hurry.

Come on, I got it working.

Get inside, quick!

- Go on. Go on.

- Come on. Good.

Come on.

Right, up you go. Quickly, quickly.

The cylinder!

Hurry, Cavor.

Your hand! Give me your hand!

You know how to man the controls.

- You don't need me.

- Don't be a fool!

I'm staying, Bedford, old man.

There's a lot to learn.

- Mr. Cavor!

- Cavor, come back!

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 plunged into the sea

off the coast of Zanzibar.

The sphere disappeared without a trace.

But Kate and I managed to swim ashore.

No one ever believed our story.

There was no evidence, nothing.

- Until now.

- I still can't believe it.

Our own Mr. Bedford, a real astronaut.

- First astronaut.

- 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.

Maybe they're not dangerous.

He got away.

- They've had years to get ready.

- Get out of here!

Please, ma'am. Hold it there.

They've broken through the lens pit.

Here they are, deep below

the surface of the moon.

They light flares to see.

We were there.

More evidence of civilization.

It looks like a city.

But who built it? It's starting

to crumble before our eyes.

The astronauts must come to the surface

and are being hauled up.

It's like an abandoned mine caving in.

They're through!

It's crumbling beneath them!

Corrosion and decay.

Everywhere, the same story.

There's evidence of some contamination.

- Some germ from Earth.

- To creatures without immunity.

Under those conditions

microorganisms could run wild.

Multiply. Kill a whole population.

Did they go to another planet,

or were they wiped out by a virus?

Poor Cavor.

As deadly as a plague or as infectious

as a common head cold.

And what happened?

He did have such a terrible cold.

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