- 2 days ago
Alien Worlds was a syndicated radio show created by radio personality Lee Hansen. It aired 26 half-hour episodes between 1979 and 1980, becoming well known for its realistic sound effects, high production values and documentary style of dialog. J. Michael Straczynski was one of the writers.
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00:00Slowly orbiting at the edge of deep space, 1,000 kilometers beyond 21st century Earth, is the Arthur C. Clarke Astronomical Observatory, STARLAB.
00:14Here, STARLAB Research Director Dr. Maura Cassidy and scientists and technicians of the International Space Authority watch over the countless star systems that fill the universe.
00:27This week, a fugitive from a dead planet draws STARLAB into the final battle of an interplanetary war of destruction and deceit, forcing Dr. Cassidy and the ISA to confront a question of conscience on alien worlds.
00:57STARLAB
01:03Starlab bypass is 1 minute 29 seconds.
01:05Solaris to STARLAB.
01:06This is STARLAB. Go ahead, Solaris.
01:08We're on our way back in, Jerry. ETA 3 hours 15 minutes. Give or take a few weeks.
01:14That's what I like about you, buddy. Always such a stickler for details.
01:19What can I say? Class shows in everything we do.
01:23Mm-hmm. So, uh, how about that freighter bound for Thanatos? Did you ever find out what the problem was? The captain sounded a bit vague.
01:30Well, it seems the captain signed on a crew of Semenians.
01:34So?
01:35So, Malakara, the holiest of all the Semenian sacred days, just happened to fall today. And, Jerry, the Semenians consider it sacrilegious to work during Malakara.
01:47You mean they just stopped working right in the middle of the flight?
01:50You got it. So, it was up to us to tow the ship to the nearest spaceport. There, the captain can wait out Malakara. After all, we wouldn't want them falling into the sun or ramming the moon or something. It just ruins the view.
02:03I see. Well, as long as you're in such a charitable mood, perhaps you could do me a favor and make one more stop on your way in?
02:10Don't tell me. Let me guess. A corned beef on rye from the Delphi 5 floating delicatessen.
02:17Not exactly. I've been picking up some erratic Sigma-class radio signals from Sector 9 or 5. I'd like you guys to check it out.
02:24Consider it, Jerry. We'll let you know if we find anything interesting.
02:28Great. Oh, and before I forget, there is just one last little thing.
02:32What's that?
02:33That corned beef sandwich sounds really good. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, you'd think you could...
02:37Sorry, Jerry. Malakara, remember? This is our day off. Maybe next time. Solaris clear.
02:43Star lab clear.
02:45Funny, they don't look so many.
02:52One hour later, the Solaris comes to a stop, 500 yards from a small, needle-shaped craft, hanging motionless against the star-shot curtain of deep space.
03:04Well, there she is. What do you make of it?
03:11Well, the design looks pretty standard, but those markings. I've never seen pictographs quite like those before.
03:17And look at all that carbon scoring along the port side.
03:20Yeah. She's seen some action already. No sign of activity.
03:25You think it's a derelict?
03:27What about the distress signal?
03:28It might be automatic.
03:30Better run a tomography scan.
03:32Right.
03:35No good, Skip. She's shielded. Scanners just can't penetrate the hull.
03:40So much for doing things easily.
03:42You think it might be a booby trap?
03:44Now, who would want to rig a trap just to get a little old to us?
03:47Well, that depends. How many people do you know?
03:49You have a point there.
03:51Well, I guess our only choice is to shoot across a magnetic grappler, bring her back to star lab for a once-over.
03:56Okay, let's do it.
03:58Better run the grappler maximum range, just to be safe.
04:01And if it is a trap?
04:03It's been real nice working with you, buddy.
04:05I was afraid you were going to say that.
04:12Two hours later, the battle-scarred alien spacecraft is maneuvered into the outboard airlock of Isolab 7,
04:20where it's carefully lowered onto a brilliantly illuminated observation pad,
04:25located beneath a circular gallery of smoke-colored windows.
04:29Well, there it is, Bill.
04:31Your very first encounter with a genuine UFO.
04:34What do you think?
04:36It's different.
04:37The Academy certainly doesn't prepare you for anything quite like this.
04:40That's why you're here, remember?
04:42You mean this isn't a transport bound for the passion planet?
04:46I never should have taken that left turn at St. Louis.
04:49Oh, well.
04:50So, what's next?
04:52Well, to start with,
04:53we've got to make a spectrographic analysis of the metals in the ship's hull.
04:57This will give us a picture of what materials make up its exterior,
05:00and a rough idea about the kind of planet it came from.
05:07Maura, look!
05:08It's opening!
05:09I see it.
05:10Seal the Isolab airlocks.
05:12Something's coming out.
05:14At the base of the ship.
05:15There, do you see it?
05:16My God.
05:20Medical team alert.
05:21Get a bioexamination chamber down to Isolab 7 as fast as you can.
05:25I've never seen anything like it before.
05:27A large reptilian alien rises to its feet,
05:34its scaled turquoise skin glimmering against the dull gray of the spacecraft.
05:39It stands holding a three-clawed hand against the bright viewing lights,
05:43and then falls.
05:46How is he, Ma?
05:56Well, according to the report,
05:57he's been in a state of extreme oxygen deprivation for several weeks.
06:02They can only find scattered traces of oxygen in his entire bloodstream.
06:06How did he manage to survive?
06:08Probably by going into a kind of hibernation.
06:11As you can see, he's still in something of a comatose state.
06:14Oh, Dr. Cassidy.
06:16The time of non-life is over.
06:18You can understand us.
06:20Your language is not unknown in the universe.
06:23I am called Isu of Nakaresh.
06:26Nakaresh?
06:28I don't think I'm familiar with that system.
06:30And with good reason.
06:32For there are none left save myself to speak of it.
06:36There was a war, a terrible war,
06:39between my planet and another.
06:41The reasons are no longer important.
06:43Both our worlds shared the same last breath,
06:47and now live no more.
06:49You mean the war left everyone on both sides dead?
06:53All safe too, yes.
06:55For, as I survived,
06:57by chance so too did the last enemy battleship, Urcus,
07:01which to this day precedes me.
07:04But what can they hope to accomplish?
07:06Nothing.
07:08Everything.
07:09It does not matter theirs as an unreasoning
07:12and irrational hate for my people
07:14that will not let them rest until the very last member of my race.
07:18It has been totally and utterly exterminated.
07:22Maura.
07:23Right here, Jerry. Go ahead.
07:25I'm picking up a ship.
07:26Five kilometers out.
07:27I think you better take a look at it.
07:29It's big.
07:30Real big.
07:31We're on our way.
07:33And so it begins again.
07:35Can you not see them?
07:37I can.
07:38I can sense their presence.
07:41Yes.
07:42It is them.
07:43The enemy.
07:44The enemy.
07:45The enemy.
07:46The enemy.
07:47The enemy.
07:48The enemy.
07:49The enemy.
07:50Alien Worlds.
07:51Alien Worlds.
07:52Will continue.
07:53Alien Worlds.
07:54Alien Worlds.
07:55Continues.
07:56While investigating a distant distress signal,
07:58John and Buddy discover a battle-scarred alien spacecraft.
08:13Returning to Starlab, a large reptilian alien crawls out of the ship,
08:19sways for a moment,
08:21then falls unconscious to the floor of the ship.
08:24Isolab 7.
08:25Later revived, the alien reveals that he is the last surviving member of a race totally annihilated during an interplanetary war.
08:43Suddenly, a second vessel, a giant crimson colored battle cruiser, appears near Starlab.
08:50And so it begins again.
08:51Can you not hear them?
08:52I can.
08:53Yes.
08:54It is them.
08:55The enemy.
08:56They have found me at last.
08:57Meanwhile, an envoy from the battle cruiser arrives in Starlab Docking Bay 9 to discuss the fate of the alien creature.
09:15Well, would you look at that.
09:29Uh, did you say something, Maura?
09:31Huh?
09:32Oh, no.
09:33I just meant I didn't expect him to be so...
09:36Handsome?
09:37Good looking?
09:38I meant tall, Phil.
09:40I'm just trying to help.
09:42Uh, welcome to Starlab.
09:45Who's in charge here?
09:46I am.
09:47I'm Dr. Maura Cassidy.
09:49My name is Andrus of Belshazzar.
09:52I wish to thank you for capturing the creature Isu.
09:56It's comforting to know that there are others in the universe that recognize the depravity of his crime.
10:02And will assist in the administration of justice.
10:05Now, if you will please, turn him over to us.
10:08Oh, wait a minute.
10:09Wait a minute.
10:10Back up.
10:11I'm afraid we don't know anything about any crimes.
10:14The one you want, Isu, claims to be the sole survivor of a great war.
10:19And as such, has requested sanctuary.
10:21Sanctuary?
10:22From a war that never was?
10:24I'm not sure I understand.
10:26Isu had isolated a plague bacteria, against which our people had no defense.
10:32He used the threat of unleashing this disease as a form of blackmail, in order to further his own twisted dreams of power.
10:39But my people refused his demands, and they died within the day.
10:44But if what you say is true, then why are you and your crew still alive?
10:48We were on a deep space probe when the plague was unleashed.
10:52And by the time we returned, all life on our planet was gone.
10:56At that moment, we vowed to bring this murderer to justice.
11:01That's where we run into a problem.
11:04Both you and Isu tell different stories, while each claiming to be the last of his kind.
11:09Leaving no one to verify either story.
11:11You don't seriously mean to say that you equate my credibility with his lies?
11:15My job here is to find out the truth.
11:19Isu has requested sanctuary, and I am obliged to give him that until his guilt in this crime, or at least the crime itself, can be established.
11:26And how long will this take?
11:28A few days.
11:30A few days?
11:31That's impossible.
11:32Well, I'm sorry, but we do have certain procedures for dealing with this sort of thing.
11:36We are not interested in your procedures.
11:39Every moment that he lives, further increases his chances of escaping us.
11:43My response to your suggestion is simple.
11:47You have five of your hours in which to turn him over to us.
11:50That sounds a little like a threat.
11:52It's a very disagreeable term.
11:54Let us instead call it a strongly voiced suggestion.
11:57Oh, but you can't expect us.
11:58I repeat, five hours.
12:01This discussion is concluded.
12:02I repeat, five hours.
12:17This discussion is concluded.
12:21That's the end of it, Commissioner.
12:23After that, he's stormed out, and we haven't heard a word from the Urka since then.
12:27I see.
12:29It's quite a dilemma you've got on your hands.
12:32What do you think the odds are of Andrus getting nasty if you don't turn over Esu?
12:36I honestly don't know, Commissioner.
12:39Well, go ahead and put Stargazer on alert, and have them put three squadrons on standby.
12:45All right, sir.
12:46Beyond that, I guess the best advice I can give you is just to follow your instincts.
12:50We don't want to start a war, but I don't see how we can turn over the last member of another civilization to be murdered.
12:58Well, I think I'll stop by his cabin and have a talk with him.
13:01Maybe he'll say something that could help confirm either story.
13:04Good.
13:06Be careful, Maura.
13:07And be sure to keep me posted.
13:09I will, Commissioner.
13:10Starlight clear.
13:16How long, Andrus?
13:20How long until Esu is ours?
13:22Soon, Meshach.
13:23Soon.
13:25We've come too far and searched too long to let him slip away.
13:28But how can you be certain they'll release him?
13:31They're a reasonably intelligent race.
13:34I believe they'll see matters our way.
13:36And if they still refuse?
13:38Then we shall simply take him from them.
13:41In whatever way we happen.
13:46You would have liked my world, Maura.
13:55What was it like, Esu?
13:57Oh, it was beautiful.
13:59Crystalline flowers that reflected the emerald sunlight into a thousand dazzling patterns.
14:06Cool, quiet forests.
14:08And sleeved silver birds with soft golden eyes.
14:13Then the war began.
14:14My task was to seed the space between our two planets with antimatter modules which would detonate whenever an enemy cruiser approached.
14:25In fact, I still carry a full load of them in my ship.
14:28Then it happened.
14:30The fools finally used it.
14:33Used what?
14:34My people and the Balthazarians both possessed radiation weapons of incredible force, capable of wiping out an entire planet.
14:44We thought that neither would dare use it.
14:47But the Balthazarians did.
14:49And we retaliated.
14:51And that was the last day.
14:52The emerald sky turned red.
14:55Then black.
14:57The brown trembled.
15:00And the crystal flowers shattered into a million splitters.
15:04Birds fell lifeless from the sky.
15:07Their golden eyes.
15:09Empty.
15:10I then realized that even though my world had died, if something from it could survive myself, a bird or even a simple flower, perhaps my world could continue.
15:23I don't know, Jerry. I just don't know who to believe.
15:35I gather your meeting with Isu didn't help to clarify matters very much.
15:38No.
15:39But even though he can't prove his story, everything he says seems to ring true.
15:43I had the same feeling about Andrus.
15:45Erkus to Starlab.
15:47I wondered when we'd hear from them again.
15:49It's been two hours.
15:51This is Starlab. Go ahead, Erkus.
15:53Dr. Cassidy, we've changed our minds.
15:56We've realized that in five hours Isu could escape us again.
16:00We are therefore giving you ten minutes in which to deliver him to us.
16:04I'm afraid you're asking the impossible, Andrus.
16:06And the impossible shall be your demise.
16:09We regard you as actively harboring a criminal with all the attendant consequences.
16:14Release him to us.
16:16Your only alternative is destruction.
16:24Alien Worlds will continue.
16:26Alien Worlds continues.
16:40Following the rescue of the reptilian alien Isu, who claims to be the sole survivor of an interplanetary holocaust.
16:54Andrus, Isu's pursuer, contacts Starlab.
16:57You have ten minutes to turn Isu over to us.
17:01Your only alternative is destruction.
17:03Stargazer security, this is Starlab.
17:04Please scramble a squadron of Zodiac fighters.
17:05We will scramble.
17:06All interceptors, this is a priority one alert. Scramble all Stargazer fighters immediately.
17:10Stargazer security, this is a priority one alert.
17:11All interceptors, this is a priority one alert. Scramble all Stargazer fighters immediately.
17:27Andrus, our long range sensors have picked up a flight of ships coming this way.
17:44They look to be fighters.
17:45So, they've made the decision.
17:48Very well then. Launch the assault group.
17:52The time of final reckoning is at hand.
17:59This is a priority one alert.
18:01All personnel report it in.
18:04Do you know what those sirens outside mean?
18:07Do you know what's going to happen in another few minutes?
18:10There's going to be one of the biggest space battles this station has ever seen.
18:14A lot of people are going to die because of you.
18:16And you know what?
18:18I don't believe you. Not one bit.
18:20I think everything Andrus said about you is true.
18:23I'm sorry for you, my young friend.
18:26But you should not despair.
18:28For there may yet be another solution.
18:30Meanwhile, 10 kilometers beyond Starlab,
18:39ISA Zodiac Squadrons 1, 3, and 6
18:43rocket into battle against five flights of Malthasarian fighters.
18:50Zodiac 1, Zodiac Squadron leaders target sighted.
18:54Approximately four squadrons, type of weaponry unknown.
18:57Activate laser turrets and shielding generators on my mark.
19:01Mark.
19:04Ah, this is Zodiac 3, laser and shield functions confirmed.
19:08Zodiac 6, laser turrets and shields all go.
19:12Alright, let's go in.
19:18Here they come.
19:19Frank him through.
19:21Hold formation.
19:22Zodiac 6, take the point.
19:24Roger.
19:26Zodiac leader, there's one on your tail.
19:28Hang on, I've got him.
19:30One down.
19:32Get him later, Zodiac 6.
19:34Hang on, I've got him.
19:36One down.
19:38Get him later, Zodiac 6.
19:40Hang on, I've got him.
19:42One down.
19:44Get him later, Zodiac 6.
19:46Zodiac 6.
19:49Zodiac 6, do you copy?
19:51Hey, got him.
19:53Alright, Donaway, poor man.
19:55Let's make another pass.
19:56Another pass.
20:05Andrus, a single craft is approaching from Star Labs.
20:08What type?
20:09I can't tell, it's shielded.
20:11Wait, there's a signal coming in.
20:13It's Isu.
20:15He requests permission to come aboard.
20:17Permission granted.
20:19Well, it seems we've won the war before we've even finished the battle.
20:24Call off the attack, Meshack.
20:26Yes, Andrus.
20:34Zodiac leader to Star Labs.
20:36Go ahead, Zodiac leader.
20:38Something funny's going on.
20:39They're pulling back and breaking off the attack.
20:42Hold your position, Zodiac leader, and stand by.
20:45Roger.
20:47Wait a minute.
20:48There's another ship heading toward her, because it's not one of ours and it doesn't look like one of theirs.
20:52One second, Zodiac leader.
20:54I'm putting it on the screen now.
20:56Oh no, Isu.
20:58Dr. Cassidy, can you hear me?
21:02Yes, Isu, I hear you. What are you doing?
21:04Too many have died, Farrah.
21:06And for me, it is the end of the running.
21:09And perhaps the beginning of peace.
21:11In the years to come, watch for silent silver birds in flight.
21:16And think of me.
21:18Silver birds.
21:19Star Lab to Zodiac leader, get those ships out of there fast.
21:25Roger, Star Lab.
21:26Mara, what's happening?
21:27Thank God, Jerry, I know what he's planning to do.
21:30Remember me, Dr. Cassidy.
21:32Remember me.
21:36The Urcus.
21:37It's gone up like a Roman candle.
21:40More like someone set off a shipload full of antimatter modules inside of it.
21:43What were our losses, Mara?
21:56Three Zodiac interceptors.
21:58And the Urcus?
22:00No survivors.
22:01It's too bad.
22:02It seems now we'll never know who was really telling the truth.
22:05If Isu was lying, this could have been his final, ultimate act of destruction.
22:10Then there's always the possibility that he was telling us the truth after all.
22:15There's always that, yes.
22:17Well, I suppose I'd better file my own report on all this.
22:21I'll see you in a few days, Mara.
22:24All right, see you soon, Commissioner.
22:25Star Lab out.
22:30Mara?
22:31Yes, Phil, what is it?
22:32I found these in Isu's cabin.
22:34A cassette tape.
22:35And this flower.
22:36They're for you.
22:37The tape will explain it.
22:40Dr. Cassidy.
22:42This crystalline seedling is the last thing left to me.
22:46And I leave it in your care.
22:47When the time comes, you will know what to do with it.
22:53When the time comes?
22:55Do you know what he was talking about, Mara?
22:57Yes, Phil, I think I do.
22:59The crystalline flower seedling.
23:02Someday we'll find a planet with an emerald sky and still silver birds.
23:07And when we do, I'll know what to do with this.
23:11And I will remember.
23:17A question of conscience was written by J. Michael Straczynski.
23:40And starred, Linda Gary, Chuck Olson, Bruce Philip Miller, and Corey Burton.
23:47With special guest stars, Dawes Butler as Andrus.
23:51Joe Young as Isu.
23:53Michael Bell as Phil.
23:55And Tina Holland as Mishok.
23:57Associate producer, Ron Thompson.
24:00Music director, Tom Rounds.
24:02Engineer, Stu Jacobs.
24:04Assistant to the producer, Jim Cook.
24:07Technical consultant, Peter Skye.
24:09Alien Worlds was created, produced, and directed by Lee Hansen.
24:16And is distributed by Watermark Incorporated.
24:19And so until next week, this is Roger Dressler.
24:23Inviting you to join us for our next adventure.
24:26From the elsewhere and else when of Alien Worlds.
24:30We are here today.
24:31We are four.
24:33Very, very brave.
24:41We have threeущades missions, not only to be yokri, but there is one of the ones who the
24:43people have died, where you are, there is one of the ones who had passed on on.
24:44You
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