Adapted by Julie Hoverson from a story by Phillips Barbee (pseudonym of Robert Sheckley) Published in Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1952
Classic era science fiction about a very odd visitor from outer space.
Cast List Professor Michaels - Grant Baciocco (Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd) Frank Connors - Bryan Hendrickson Mrs. Jones - Kimberly Poole (Warp'd Space) Sheriff Flynn - Glen Hallstrom General O'Donnell - Chuck Burke Allenson, scientist - Cary Ayers Moriarty, physicist - Eleiece Krawiec Brigadier-General - H. Keith Lyons Driver - Cary Ayers Soldier1 - John Carroll Soldier2 - Lothar Tuppan Pilot - Mark Olson The Leech - Suzanne Dunn, Will Watt, James Sedgwick, Julie Hoverson
Many thanks to Project Gutenberg and Librivox for curating these classic stories. [Link to The Leech in short sci fi collection 24 at Librivox]
Music by misterscott99 [Thanx to Steve Guy for suggesting searching YouTube for a Theramin artist!!] Editing and Sound: Julie Hoverson Cover Design: Brett Coulstock
"What kind of a place is it? Why it's a cabin in upstate New York, can't you tell?"
************************************************
The Leech
By Phillips Barbee (Robert Sheckley), Galaxy Science Fiction December 1952
Cast:
[Opening credits - Olivia]
The Leech
Frank Connors, assistant
Professor Michaels, anthropologist
Mrs. Jones, housekeeper
Sheriff Flynn / Jerry
General O'Donnell / driver
Allenson, scientist
Moriarty, atomic physicist
[bring in the leech voice, subtle, under the opening credits]
LEECH A
LEECH hungry. Empty. hungry. Empty. hungry. hungry. Empty [repeats under]
OLIVIA Did you have any trouble finding it? What do you mean, what kind of a place is it? Why, it's a professor's rural retreat, circa 1952, can't you tell?
LEECH falling falling falling heat impact FOOD! ...eat.
MUSIC STING
1_BIG NEWS
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, BREEZE, CREAK OF HAMMOCK
SOUND [OFF A BIT] KNOCK ON DOOR, SCREEN DOOR OPENS
MRS. JONES What?
FRANK Where's the prof? I have to talk to him!
MRS. JONES You can give me his mail, young man.
FRANK But this is big news!
MRS. JONES If it's school business--
FRANK It's not!
MRS. JONES It can still wait. This is Professor Michaels' resting week, and you know it.
SOUND SCREEN DOOR SLAMS
MRS. JONES [fading out] Bad enough those army convoys have to drive by at all hours of the day and night.
FRANK Wait! Oh, heck.
SOUND A COUPLE OF STEPS ON WOOD
PROF [sigh] [calling] Conners? What the devil are you on about?
SOUND FOOTSTEPS ON GRAVEL
FRANK Oh! Professor! Say - I'm awfully sorry to disturb you, but there's something damn funny out in the ditch.
PROF Ditch?
SOUND DOOR OPENS
MRS. JONES Oh, you! I told him to go, professor!
PROF It's all right, Mrs. Jones. I'll handle this.
MRS. JONES Dinner in half an hour! You know how you get when you don't eat.
SOUND DOOR SHUTS
FRANK So, the ditch. Didja hear me? There's something weird.
PROF Of course I heard you. [sigh] You found a pixie. Feed him some milk, and go away.
FRANK No sir, I think it's a... a rock.
PROF A rock. In the road. How quaint.
FRANK But sir--
PROF [annoyed, but languid] What is your job, Frank?
FRANK Sir?
PROF If you don't know, then perhaps I should hire someone else.
FRANK I'm to keep everyone off you while you relax. See to the mail, the shopping.
PROF And does any of that involve spotting "rocks"?
FRANK No.
PROF Warning me of rocks?
FRANK No.
PROF Protecting me from rocks?
FRANK No, but--
PROF So move the rock and get on with your--
FRANK But sir, I tried! See?
SOUND SHOVEL MOVEMENT
PROF [sigh] what? [sharper] What?
SOUND DOOR SLAMS OPEN
MRS. JONES What on god's green earth did you do to my shovel, young man?
FRANK I didn't do anything. The rock thing did!
MUSIC
LEECH B
SOUND [UNDER] FEET ON GRAVEL
LEECH food dull food warm light FOOD cold dark food slow food sloooooow...
MUSIC
2_THE LEECH
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS
SOUND WALKING QUICKLY
FRANK [a bit breathless] I really wouldn't have bothered you for just nothing, but look!
SOUND DOINK ON METAL
FRANK Two inches! It melted two inches right off!
SOUND FEET HALT
PROF [incredulous] That?
FRANK That! You can see it better from up close.
PROF Shh!
SOUND SLOWER FOOTSTEPS
PROF [whispered] Do you hear anything?
FRANK [whispered] No. I mean, not beyond birds and things.
PROF [grim] Neither do I.
FRANK So?
PROF [brighter] Well, it's indicative of something, isn't it?
SOUND BRISKER FOOTSTEPS
PROF You have a notebook on you?
FRANK No.
PROF Anything to write on?
FRANK Uh, no. Just - just your mail.
PROF Here.
SOUND SHUFFLE ENVELOPES
PROF No... no... no... Ah. Here. They won't notice if I don't respond.
SOUND SLAPS PAPER INTO HAND
FRANK Okay.
PROF We have what appears to be a round item of a stone-like appearance. Greyish-black and striated.
SOUND JUGGLE SHOVEL, WRITING NOISES
FRANK Gotcha.
PROF [dictating] Sitting in the ditch. Nearest edge, say, three feet off the road.
FRANK It's a bit farther than that, isn't it?
PROF I wouldn't say so.
FRANK [acquiescing] Okay.
PROF About the size of a truck tire.
FRANK No, really now, I think you have your proportions mixed up...
SOUND WALKS FORWARD
FRANK [dismayed] Oh.
PROF What? Think I'm getting senile or something?
FRANK No, just...
PROF "Just" is not quantifiable. Just spit it out.
FRANK It was smaller. Before.
PROF How much smaller?
FRANK I dunno - an inch maybe. But definitely smaller.
PROF Find me a stick.
FRANK A... stick?
PROF Here. [give me that]
SOUND TAKES SHOVEL
FRANK Don't touch it!
PROF I'm not planning to. Not yet.
SOUND A COUPLE OF STEPS, DRAGGING SOUND
PROF As you observe, I am drawing a line approximately three inches beyond the edge of the thing.
FRANK [noting] Three inches. Got it.
PROF Now, we'll have something to measure by in case it grows again.
FRANK Right.
PROF Now. Let's see what happens.
SOUND METAL ON STONE - SORT OF
SOUND SIZZLING NOISE
PROF It's not unyielding - the shovel seems to sink in--
FRANK Oh no it's not!
SOUND SCRAPE
PROF What? Aha! You're right. It's not sinking in, it's being melted away. Gives the same impression. Odd how the mind interprets things....
FRANK I think it just got bigger.
PROF Really?
FRANK I was watching, and I think it swelled a little.
PROF Could be heat waves. I suspect something like this would reflect like asphalt. But let's test it. The shovel's not good for much any more anyway.
SOUND METAL ON STONE GRATE, SIZZLING
FRANK Don't touch it!
PROF My hand is nowhere near touching it. I merely want to see...
FRANK Look! It's getting larger! I can see it!
SOUND WOOD ON STONE
PROF [impressed] Well! [clinical] But it generates no appreciable heat. Odd. I would assume some sort of acidic chemical reaction, which would almost invariably generate heat.
FRANK And it grew! Just a fraction of an inch--
PROF I was paying attention to other things. [sigh]
SOUND WOOD LANDS ON STONE, SIZZLING
FRANK D'you see it swelling?
PROF I doubt there was enough left of that handle to do much. What else--?
FRANK Rocks?
PROF Sound thinking.
SOUND PICK UP SOME ROCKS, DROP THEM, SIZZLE
FRANK Isn't that just about the damnedest thing you ever saw, Professor? What do you think it is?
PROF It's no stone... I'm going to phone the college and ask a physics man about it. Or a biologist. I'd like to get rid of that thing before it spoils my lawn.
MUSIC
LEECH C
LEECH food sharp food fall food lie food move moist food dry food grow food air grow bigger grow.... wake!
MUSIC
3_BACON
AMBIANCE IN PROF'S HOUSE
SOUND DISTANT POUNDING ON DOOR
MRS. JONES What is it?
SOUND BUSTLING THROUGH HOUSE
SOUND DOOR YANKED OPEN
MRS. JONES You better have a brilliant explanation for this--
FRANK Absolutely vital. Professor Michaels knows‑‑
PROF I'm coming. It had better be particularly important to drag me away from Mrs. Jones' bacon.
MRS. JONES [amused annoyance] And Mrs. Jones better leave you boys to your business and see to her bacon before it all burns away.
SOUND BUSTLES OFF
FRANK It's nearly eighteen feet across!
PROF The thing?
FRANK Yup!
PROF I was trying some acids on it yesterday, and nothing seemed to even ruffle it.
FRANK None of them?
PROF Nope. I'll finagle a bacon sandwich or two and we'll head out presently.
MUSIC
LEECH D
LEECH so small. how is one so small. one was large. one was grand. Miniscule now. Hungry. sooooo hungry. food is slow. Dull. Eat...
MUSIC
4_SHERIFF
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE
FRANK See what I mean?
PROF Seems the larger it gets, the faster it grows. Not surprising, if what I suspect is happening is true.
FRANK What's that?
PROF Say it absorbs whatever it touches. The more surface area, the more it can touch, the more it can absorb.
FRANK That's not good. It's like some kind of... of leech.
PROF I don't know that I would characterize it so narrowly just yet, Frank--
SOUND CAR DRIVES UP, STOPS
FRANK Morning Sheriff!
SHERIFF Morning. What the devil is this?
PROF Don't know. Just showed up.
SHERIFF Ha. Ha. We gotta get it out of the road! Something like this, you can't let it block the road. The Army's gotta use this road.
FRANK We didn't--
PROF Shh. [up, dry] Terribly sorry. Go right ahead and move it, Sheriff. But be careful. It's hot.
FRANK [quiet] Hot?
PROF [quiet] Close enough.
SHERIFF Should just be able to--
SOUND OPENS TRUNK
SHERIFF Where is the--?
FRANK [quiet] Shouldn't we warn him?
PROF [quiet] We'll stop him if he goes to touch it. But if he doesn't see for himself, he'll never buy it.
FRANK Oh.
MUSIC
LEECH E
SOUND [UNDER] METAL HITTING STONE, GUNSHOTS
SHERIFF [frustrated noise]
LEECH slow food. fast! energy impact. ahhhhhh. more. more hit. more energy. give!
MUSIC
5_MONKEY'S UNCLE
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE
SHERIFF Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
PROF [quiet] That would make deputy Jerry, there, "cheetah".
FRANK [snickers]
PROF Ready to listen yet, sheriff?
SOUND ARMY CONVOY APPROACHING
SHERIFF What? Hey look! NOW we'll get some action!
PROF [quiet] That's rather what I'm afraid of.
MUSIC
LEECH F
SOUND [UNDER] CONVOY STOPS, IDLES, DOORS OPEN, ETC.
LEECH more energy. more food. need. senses very dim. Thoughts very dim. grow. waken more. food.
MUSIC
6_ARMY
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE
O'DONNELL You can't block this road. Clear that away.
PROF Sorry. It's not ours. And we can't seem to do anything with it.
O'DONNELL What in sam hill is it?
FRANK A leech.
SHERIFF A what?
PROF [annoyed but covering] Simply a name to refer to it by - we have no real idea what it is.
O'DONNELL But you've tried moving it?
PROF Every way we could think of.
O'DONNELL Crowbar?
FRANK Didn't help.
O'DONNELL Blowtorch?
PROF More or less. No effect.
O'DONNELL Gunshot?
SHERIFF Sad to say...
O'DONNELL [calling orders] Driver? Ride over that thing.
FRANK But sir!
PROF Shh.
SOUND JEEP STARTS INTO GEAR
FRANK [to prof] We have to stop him!
PROF You thought the sheriff was bad, having to see it first? This is the military.
FRANK Oh.
SOUND JEEP ROLLS FORWARD SLOWLY, TAKES A BUMP, THEN HALTS, SIZZLING SNEAKS IN, UNDER.
O'DONNELL [bellowing] I didn't tell you to stop!
DRIVER I didn't stop it, sir!
O'DONNELL Get moving!
DRIVER It's stalled out sir!
PROF General? Pardon me, but if you look closely, you'll see that the tires are melting down.
SOUND POP, HISS OF TIRE
FRANK Yikes!
O'DONNELL Criminee! [orders] Driver! Jump clear! Don't touch any of that grey stuff!
MUSIC
LEECH G
SOUND [UNDER] DRIVER CLIMBS ONTO HOOD OF CAR AND JUMPS
LEECH large food. energy. much movement. nice. hungry. more large? Need food. waking waking... more self, more hungry. need food
MUSIC
7_JEEP
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE
SOUND CAR SLOWLY SINKING INTO THE THING, MUCH SIZZLING
DRIVER It's up to the chassis already!
O'DONNELL How fast can it eat?
PROF [quiet] you are keeping track aren't you?
FRANK Sure thing, professor! It's been about three minutes, give or take a few.
PROF Make a note - Frank needs a stopwatch.
FRANK Oh. Ok. Right.
SOUND SCRIBBLING
O'DONNELL You called this thing a leech, professor?
PROF As I said, it is nothing but a name to refer to it by.
O'DONNELL But it is leeching, far as I can tell - eating anything that gets near it.
PROF Which bodes rather ill for the underside.
O'DONNELL Whazzat?
PROF You're only thinking about things that get near it on the top - who knows how far below this thing may have eaten away the dirt, or even the bedrock.
FRANK Dirt and stones do seem to digest a bit slower.
O'DONNELL You've been experimenting with it, eh? Did you by any chance MAKE this thing with one of your experiments, professor?
PROF [sigh] First, general, I am not that type of scientist. I am a professor of anthropology. I do, however, understand scientific method and felt that if we established some parameters up front, such as rate of growth, speed of dissolution, etc., we might be able to more easily convince some of my hard science colleagues to come and have a look.
O'DONNELL [after a pause] So you say.
SOUND MARCHES OFF
FRANK You did that on purpose, didn't you?
PROF [over innocent] did what?
FRANK Oh, no - don't play innocent! I've seen you lecture someone til their eyes glazed over, before this!
PROF [chuckle]
DRIVER [background] There goes the aerial!
SOUND SIZZLING OUT
O'DONNELL [commands, off] You!
DRIVER Sir! Yes sir!
O'DONNELL [commands, off] Go back and have some men bring up hand grenades and dynamite!
DRIVER Yes sir!
FRANK That will get it!
PROF I am not so sure.
O'DONNELL [from off, yelling to prof] I don't know what you've got here, but it's not going to stop a U.S. Army convoy!
PROF I pray he's right.
MUSIC
LEECH H
SOUND UNDER EXPLOSIONS - HAND GRENADES AND DYNAMITE
LEECH waking more. thinking more. sensing more. hungry. [boom] food! yes yes food! [boom] Ahhhhh eat and grow. [bullets] mass and movement. energy. more. yes. please! [huge explosion] yesssssss!
MUSIC
8_EVACUATE
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, NEAR PROF'S HOUSE
SOUND WOOD CRACKING THROUGHOUT UNDER
MRS. JONES Well, I never.
PROF Did you get everything moved out all right?
MRS. JONES Well, yes, but I've cooked for you in that very house for nearly ten years now. Where am I supposed to feel at home? Where are you? [supposed to feel at home]
PROF [muttered] That may not be a problem for long.
SOUND HUGE CRACK, SHATTER OF GLASS
MRS. JONES There goes the front porch! Who would have thought such a terrible thing could spread so darn far?
PROF The government surely didn't.
MRS. JONES It looks like one of them - what's the word? Blasted heath. Yes. That's exactly what a blasted heath would look like.
PROF [musing] Or a cooled lava flow. [snapping out] Either way, it's pretty darn blasted.
MRS. JONES Blasted leech.
SOUND FEET ARRIVING
PROF I do wish people would stop calling it that.
SOLDIER Pardon me, sir? General O'Donnell would like to see you at the command post.
PROF Right. I already know the end to this little melodrama. [to soldier] See to it Mrs. Jones gets back to the city, will you?
SOLDIER Sir, I'm supposed to escort you--
PROF But I know where I'm going. She does not.
SOLDIER Yes, sir!
MUSIC
LEECH I
SOUND CRUSHING HOUSE UNDER
LEECH slow food. want fast food. more awake now. why no more fast come. good energy. big food. hungry. more food make more pieces. more pieces make more hungry. more hungry wants more food.
MUSIC
9_PERIMETER
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS, AT THE EDGE OF THE LARGER SITE
SOUND CROWD NOISE, FADING IN
PROF What's that over there?
SOLDIER2 Perimeter. Barbed wire. Half mile out.
PROF I doubt the barbed wire is making all that noise.
SOLDIER2 Oh, them. Reporters. Rubberneckers.
FRANK [calling from off] Professor!
PROF Assistants.
SOLDIER2 You need assistance?
PROF Just my assistant. Let him in would you?
SOLDIER2 I don't have any orders--
PROF Well, he takes all my notes, so I guess I'll have to stay within earshot. Which ends about here.
SOLDIER2 But the general--
PROF Will it be easier to move the general, or my assistant, do you think?
SOLDIER2 Um...
MUSIC
10_HQ
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
SOUND TENT FLAP SWOOP, PROF AND FRANK ENTER TENT
O'DONNELL I've been put in charge of operation leech. Ah, professor... and...?
PROF My assistant. He is also the one who found this thing in the first place. Absolutely indispensable.
FRANK Hi.
O'DONNELL Is he trustworthy?
PROF Think of him as my right arm.
FRANK The one he writes with.
O'DONNELL You're a professor, right?
PROF Yes. Anthropology.
O'DONNELL Good. I'd like you to stay around in an advisory capacity. I'd appreciate your observations on the... enemy.
PROF I think this is more in the line of a physicist or a biochemist.
O'DONNELL I don't want this place cluttered up with scientists.
FRANK But he isn't--
O'DONNELL Don't get me wrong. I have the greatest appreciation for science. I am, if I do say so, a scientific soldier. I'm always interested in the latest weapons. You can't fight any kind of a war any more without science.
PROF Of course not.
O'DONNELL But I can't have a team of longhairs poking around this thing for the next month, holding me up. My job is to destroy it, by any means in my power, and at once. I am going to do just that.
PROF I don't think it will be that easy.
O'DONNELL That's what you're here for. Tell me what the problem is, and I'll figure out how to solve it.
FRANK [muttered] Usually a scientist's job.
PROF Very well. As far as I can figure out, this thing--
O'DONNELL The leech.
PROF It isn’t really--
O'DONNELL It's the codename.
FRANK [muttered] I'm the one who called it that in the first place.
PROF The "leech" appears to be an organic mass-energy converter, and a frighteningly efficient one. I'm guessing here, and keep in mind that this is really not my--
O'DONNELL Get on with it.
PROF It appears to convert external mass into energy, then back into its own internal mass. Energy is directly converted into the body mass. How this takes place, I do not know. The leech is not protoplasmic. It may not even be cellular--
O'DONNELL So we need something big against it. That's all right, then. I've got plenty of big stuff here.
FRANK Oh boy!
PROF I don't think you understand me. Let me rephrase. [intense] The leech eats energy! It will consume any energy weapon you use against it.
O'DONNELL [considering] And what happens if it keeps on eating?
PROF I think it will only be limited by its food source.
O'DONNELL So when it runs out, we'll all be safe?
PROF When it runs out, we'll all be gone.
MUSIC
LEECH J
LEECH senses growing. Feel moving food. Sitting food. Food near. Food far. Waiting for food to come near. Hungrrrrry.
MUSIC
11_NEED HELP
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
PROF I insist you contact some physicists. Biologists and chemists too. Give them a chance to figure out how to nullify it. I can give you some names.
O'DONNELL I don't have time to wait while a passel of scientists wrangle! I have this axiom - Muster enough force, and anything will give. Anything.
FRANK [muttered] Military thinking.
O'DONNELL [pleased] Thanks.
PROF [sigh] But I am not that kind of--
O'DONNELL Don't sell yourself short, Prof! And don't underestimate the army. We have, massed under North Hill - right over there - the greatest accumulation of energy and radioactive weapons ever assembled in one spot. I bet even this leech won't withstand the full force of all that.
FRANK [worried] Professor?
PROF [doubtful] I suppose it could be possible to overload the thing.
O'DONNELL [smug] I'll go and give some orders. We're gonna crack that leech in half!
SOUND HE LEAVES
FRANK Did he listen to a single thing you said?
PROF [sigh] He is the military.
FRANK Then why are you - we - even here?
PROF I fear the general wants to be able to say he consulted a scientist. I'm convenient since I can’t possibly have a relevant opinion.
MUSIC
LEECH K
SOUND [UNDER] RAY GUNS, EXPLOSIONS, ETC.
LEECH Fooooood! Rich food! Needing more! Ray food, energy food, liquid food! Needing more! More food makes more hungry!!!! Sensing. Sensing for food. Ahhhh. THERE.
MUSIC
12_STOCKPILE
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
O'DONNELL [incredulous and furious] It did what?
SOUND NANA OF VOICE ON WALKIE-TALKIE.
FRANK It flew!
PROF It might be better described as a type of hovering.
O'DONNELL Shh! Over and out.
SOUND WALKIE SQUAWK - OFF
PROF [resigned] Where did it go?
O'DONNELL The damned fools! Why'd they have to panic? You'd think they'd never been trained!
FRANK They couldn't exactly expect that!
PROF [urgent] Where?
O'DONNELL North Hill. [angry sigh] Our armory.
FRANK But that's a whole mile away!
PROF At least.
O'DONNELL Sixty-seven men died! And the leech just - just jumped there!
PROF I still say it hovered. It definitely moved with some sort of self-propulsion.
FRANK I'll write that down.
PROF The way it looked, it floated across the sky, blacking out the sun, and then, when it reached its goal, it simply dropped.
O'DONNELL [snarling] How can you be so clinical about this?
FRANK I - I-
PROF It's OUR job to take notes for the scientists you will eventually have to call in.
MUSIC
LEECH L
LEECH So good! So nice! Rich food. Much energy. Growwww. Yessss. Ahhhh. More cells. Now, more hungry.
MUSIC
13_EXPERTS
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
SOUND PACING
O'DONNELL Haven’t those eggheads made up their minds yet? We've had to evacuate six nearby farms.
FRANK It's not like choosing a tie.
O'DONNELL But they're the experts!
PROF No one's an expert on this. It's never happened before. The physicists consider it a biological matter, and the biologists seem to think the chemists should have the answer. We can't even agree on whose problem it is!
O'DONNELL It's the military's problem! I don't give a hang what the thing is! I just want to know how to destroy it! [offhand] They better give me permission to use the bomb.
SOUND STRIDES OFF
FRANK Will that work?
PROF Well, I have a theory.
FRANK Yes?
PROF Which I hope will remain a theory.
FRANK How can I make notes if you don't tell me?
PROF The Bomb might overload it. MIGHT destroy it. Or give it what it needs to grow big enough to devour the entire continent. Sooner.
SOUND FEET STRIDE BACK
O'DONNELL Still talking! Gah! I've been pushing for the Bomb for a week now! And I'll get it, but not til they run out of doubletalk!
FRANK Could be a while.
O'DONNELL [intense] I am going to destroy that leech. I am going to SMASH it, if it's the last thing I do! It’s gone beyond national security now. THIS is personal.
SOUND STRIDES OFF
PROF I knew you shouldn't have named it.
FRANK Why?
PROF Once you name something, you get to thinking you KNOW it. And no matter how much you think you won't, you start applying traits to it. Anthropomorphizing it. Attaching motives and feelings to it.
FRANK Who says it doesn’t feel?
PROF It does.
O'DONNELL [from off] Here come the bright boys now!
MUSIC
LEECH M
LEECH So big. Big now. Big makes hungry. So much to fill. So much to feed. Need more. More good rich food.
MUSIC
14_SCIENTISTS
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
O'DONNELL Well, have you figured out what it is yet?
ALLENSON [weary sarcasm] Just a minute - I'll hack off a sample. Hah.
O'DONNELL [exasperated] Have you figured out some scientific way of killing it?
MORIARTY [dry, offhand] Oh, that wasn't difficult at all.
FRANK Really?
MORIARTY Wrap it in a perfect vacuum. That'll do the trick. Or blow it off the earth with anti-gravity.
FRANK Can they really?
PROF Don't be silly.
ALLENSON Failing that, we suggest you use your atomic bombs and use them fast.
O'DONNELL Yes! [vainly trying to curb his enthusiasm] Is that the opinion of the entire think tank?
MORIARTY [sigh] Yes.
SOUND GENERAL HURRIES OFF
ALLENSON He should have called us in immediately! There's no time to consider anything but force now.
PROF Have you come to any conclusions about the nature of this thing?
MORIARTY Only general ones. Very much in line with your notes and conclusions.
ALLENSON As you mentioned, it's a perfect converter--it can transform mass into energy, and any energy into mass.
MORIARTY Naturally that's impossible and I have figures to prove it. We're positing that this thing was in some dormant spore-stage until it was pulled in by the earth's gravity.
ALLENSON Incidentally, we should be damned grateful that it didn’t land in the ocean. We'd have been eaten out of house and home--
FRANK Literally.
ALLENSON --before we even knew what we were looking for.
PROF [musing] I wonder how long it will take him to get permission to use the bomb.
MUSIC
LEECH N
LEECH slow grow. Hungry. No grow. Dull food not enough. Want more. Want grow. Want be big again.
MUSIC
15_BOMBS
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
O'DONNELL Brigadier-General, with all due respect sir, how many MORE scientists can there be? We've been waiting for--
BRIG-GENERAL [on phone] Washington had to explore every alternative before detonating an atomic bomb in the middle of New York!
O'DONNELL So now I can use the bomb?
BRIG-GENERAL We need some time to evacuate people in an orderly fashion.
O'DONNELL Sir! This leech is still growing! We have to stop it before it gets out of hand!
FRANK Bit late for that.
PROF Shh. He's doing the best he can.
BRIG-GENERAL We've signed you out five bombs. Use them well. But not until the order comes through.
MUSIC
LEECH O
LEECH slowing. Drowsing. Waiting. Cells starving. Too much need food. Tired...
SOUND EXPLOSION
LEECH YESSSS! Foooooood! Much! Too much! Holding! Choking! No! straining.... straining! More cells. Need more cells! Building! Feeeeeeeeding! Choking? [beat] No.
SOUND BOMB
LEECH Enough cells now. Rich food. More. Grow. Build. JOY.
MUSIC
16_SIXTY MILES
AMBIANCE INSIDE NEW HEADQUARTERS TENT
O'DONNELL Sixty miles across.
PROF There was no way to know.
O'DONNELL This was supposed to KILL it.
FRANK At least there was no fallout.
PROF I'm sure it ate THAT too.
O'DONNELL I have to KILL IT! Do you hear me! The blasted thing has spread all the way to the Adirondacks!
FRANK What's next? More bombs?
PROF I don't think it's advisable. If we throw enough at it to crack it, we might crack open the earth's crust.
O'DONNELL The leech has to be blown up quick. What are the bright boys hedging for?
PROF They don't know what will happen. The concentration of bombs it would require--
O'DONNELL Perhaps they'd like me to order a bayonet attack.
FRANK They've got to do something.
PROF It's frustrating. I keep feeling like I should be doing more, but this simply isn't my area of expertise! That thing thrives on force - and the scientists don't have time to consider any alternatives.
FRANK Fight fire with fire.
PROF But it's not fire. Fire is fickle. Fire is Loki. Fire is a trickster. This thing is... is...
O'DONNELL Where the heck are the scientists?
SOUND TENT FLAP
ALLENSON [coming in] We've finished the calculations.
O'DONNELL Good. I'll call in the strike.
MORIARTY There's a damned good chance of splitting the earth wide open with that much power!
O'DONNELL You have to take chances in war.
FRANK He doesn't even care!
PROF He cares. He just doesn't care about that. Hercules himself couldn't turn the general from his course.
ALLENSON Hear us out!
O'DONNELL Your own calculations show that the leech is now growing at twenty feet per hour. So how much time is that before it reaches this post?
FRANK He's got a point.
PROF [musing] Hercules.... Something...
ALLENSON And speeding up. But this can't be done in haste--
PROF Aha!
O'DONNELL What?
PROF I may have a counter-offer.
O'DONNELL Does it involve me blowing up the leech?
PROF It's a very dim chance, but... [trails off]
O'DONNELL Yes?
PROF have you ever heard of Antaeus?
MUSIC
LEECH P
LEECH more large. more thought. More memory. Large rock and dirt and stone food. Devoured. Joy. Huge mass of combustibles - light and heat and energy! Food. True joy!
SOUND MEMORY SOUNDS
LEECH then all devoured. Dark. Cold. Empty. Cells Shrinking, dying, self-devouring self. Moving. Seeking. Food.
MUSIC
17_DRONE SHIP
AMB OUTSIDE
SOUND SMALL PLANE PASSES OVERHEAD
FRANK So that's what a drone looks like.
PROF Pretty much like any other rocket ship. The pilot just happens to be over there in the tent.
O'DONNELL I hope you're right about this, professor.
MORIARTY The calculations all validate the hypothesis. If what you said about the creature's motivational capability is accurate--
FRANK There it goes!
O'DONNELL Straight up! Son of a biscuit!
PROF It's - it's - enormous!
MUSIC
LEECH Q
SOUND FIGHTER PLANE BUZZES PAST
LEECH Food! Rich food! Above! Out of reach! Why not fall? Come to me? Food! ... seek.
SOUND BUZZ OF FIGHTER PLANE MOVING AWAY
LEECH heat! Small food. Cold! Nothing. Ah, little flying food, come to - oh. Oh, yes. Far. There. Huge bright glowing mass of combustibles. Food.
MUSIC
18_ANTAEUS
AMBIANCE OUTDOORS
FRANK Wow. Now, that's a crater.
PROF You can look at it later. I keep worrying that I've missed something.
FRANK But the leech is gone, professor! Right up and out of the atmosphere.
PROF There's no way to be sure it won't come back.
FRANK Everybody's going to be watching for the leech.
PROF Please don't call it that.
FRANK What then? Antaeus? Who's that anyway?
PROF Greek Mythology. Son of Gaea and Poseidon - the earth goddess and sea god. He was an invincible wrestler, drawing his strength from the earth itself.
FRANK His mom. Apron strings, even in mythology.
PROF [chuckles] Well, Hercules had to wrestle him, and every time Hercules threw him to the ground, he rose refreshed.
FRANK Didn't Hercules know about the earth?
PROF He figured it out. After that, he just held Antaeus up in the air until he gave up.
O'DONNELL [off slightly] Come on, join me in some champagne. Even you brainy folks can use a little celebration!
MORIARTY [happily] Maybe just a sip!
ALLENSON I don't mind if I do.
FRANK Be there in a minute! [to prof] So the fighter rocketship they sent up will just keep leading it around in space til it gets tired and drops dead?
O'DONNELL Better. It's going to take it right into the sun. Big or not, the damn thing can't eat THAT.
PROF Lord, I hope not.
O'DONNELL [to pilot] How's the ship, pilot?
PILOT Just reached the orbit of Mercury, sir.
O'DONNELL Fine! Fine. I swore to destroy that thing. Not the way I wanted to do it - too far out to see it go up with my own eyes - If I had a choice, it would be more personal. But the important thing is the destruction. Destruction is at times a sacred mission. Man, I feel wonderful!
MORIARTY [panicky] Turn the rocket!!!! TURN IT!
O'DONNELL What the devil?
MORIARTY Considering rate of growth, energy consumption capacity, and speed versus projected energy retention, figuring in the energy it will receive from the sun as it approaches--
O'DONNELL Speak English!
MORIARTY [dire warning] It’s gonna devour the sun.
MUSIC
LEECH R
LEECH closer! Closer! More heat! More light! All! Must have all! Small rich food moving away. Choice. Nearby small food? Far big food? Hungry NOW. Close first. Catch quick, feed enough to move to big food. Yes!
MUSIC
19_TURN AWAY
AMBIANCE INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT
PILOT It's turning, sir!
ALL [general sounds of relief]
ALLENSON Take it out at right angles to the plane of the solar system.
SOUND RADAR [start much earlier]
FRANK So the blob is the leech and the dot is the ship?
PROF Yes.
O'DONNELL What portion of the sky would the leech be in just now?
MORIARTY Somewhere out in that section - just over that tree.
O'DONNELL Fine. [calling order back over shoulder] Soldier! Carry out your orders!
ALL [surprised concern - "what?" "huh" "what are you up to?" etc.]
FRANK [calling] The dot is slowing down! The blob is catching up!
PROF What are you up to, general?
O'DONNELL [grim satisfaction] I told you this was a personal matter. I swore to destroy that leech. We can never have any security while it is alive. [chuckles triumphantly] I had that ship especially built.
PROF To do... what... precisely?
O'DONNELL Shall we look at the sky?
SOUND FEET, TENT FLAP, ETC. as they leave.
O'DONNELL Soldier?
PILOT Three seconds, sir!
O'DONNELL Push the button.
PILOT Yes, sir!
FRANK is something supposed to-- Whoah!
MORIARTY Not a good idea to look directly at the explosion!
PROF What... did... you... do?
O'DONNELL [smug] That rocket was built around a hydrogen bomb. I set it off at the contact moment.
FRANK How come there's no sound? Thought there'd be a loud bang or something. Is it like thunder?
ALLENSON Sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum.
PROF [explaining] We're anthropologists.
O'DONNELL [calling to pilot] Anything on the radar?
PILOT [from within] Nope! Not a speck, sir.
O'DONNELL Men - and scientists - I have met the enemy and he is MINE. Let's have some more of that champagne.
PROF I wish I was that sure.
MUSIC
LEECH S
LEECH Catching food. Slowing. Tiring. Catch. Massive surge! Too much! Holding! Holding! Absorbing! Building! No! No! overload! Too much! Breaking! Come apart! Losing thought! Losing cohesion! Breaking. Broken. Shattered.
SOUND [long moment of silence, then in squeaky little voices:]
LEECHETTE1 Hungry
LEECHETTE2 Hungry
LEECHETTE3 Hungry
LEECHETTE4 cold. hungry
LEECHETTE5 Hungry
[more and more leechettes until they populate the entire soundscape]
LEECH [MANY VOICES] hungry. Empty. hungry. Empty. hungry. hungry. Empty [repeats under]
MUSIC
END CREDITS
