19 Nocturne Boulevard - From An Amber Block - Reissue

Adapted by Julie Hoverson, from a story by Tom Curry, as published in Astounding Stories in 1930 A new acquisition by the museum contains a dark dark secret! Cast List Betty Young  - Julia Carson Professor Walter Marble - Don Parris Professor Young - Charles Austin Miller Andrew Leffler - Mark Olson Rooney - Reynaud LeBeouf Smythe - Chuck Burke Doctor - Mitchell Carson Fred - Marshal Latham Guard - Reynaud LeBeouf Music by Wynn Erickson Editing and Sound:   Julie Hoverson Cover Design:  Charles Austin Miller Many thanks to Project Gutenberg and Librivox for curating these classic stories. "What kind of a place is it? Why it's a special annex at the museum of natural history in 1930, can't you tell?" ************************************************ From an Amber Block [From the story by Tom Curry, published in Astounding Stories, July, 1930] Cast: Professor Walter Marble, young scientist, 30 Professor Young, old museum curator, 55 Betty Young, daughter with a clipboard, 20 Andrew Leffler, millionaire dilettante, 48 Rooney, guard, 57 Smythe, janitor, 40 Doctor, 45 Fred, workman, 25 OLIVIA     Did you have any trouble finding it?  What do you mean, what kind of a place is it?  Why, it's a special annex at the museum of natural history in 1930, can't you tell?  MUSIC Scene 1.    SOUND     ECHOING FOOTSTEPS SOUND    WOOD CRATES BEING DISMANTLED AND REMOVED PROF    These should prove especially valuable and interesting without a doubt, Marble, old man. MARBLE    Have they all been brought in and set up, professor? PROF    Check the manifest.  Betty dear, do you have that?  Should be on the clipboard. BETTY    Let's see.  Ah, yes - check, check - all checked off, present and accounted for.  seventeen huge lumps of prehistoric amber. PROF    I've told you time and time again not to bandy such unspecific terms.  Until we have them precisely dated, they are assumed to be common cretaceous amber. BETTY    Yes, father [correcting self] Professor.  But there's nothing common about the size of these pieces!  These are quite outside ...the standard deviation. SOUND    SHE WALKS ON A BIT BETTY    When you see bits of amber worked into jewelry, especially the ones with insects preserved in them, you just can't even picture something on this scale! MARBLE    It was tricky getting them out of the ground, too.  The workmen seemed afraid - didn't want to handle them for some silly reason. BETTY    Is that ...coal in the biggest one?  That dark center? MARBLE    I am inclined to believe it will prove to be some sort of black liquid, possibly a pocket of colophony. BETTY    Which is? MARBLE     [somewhat dismissive] An oil derived from amber.  [change of tone]  Professor Young? PROF    Yes? MARBLE    Even with the dark central void, I think that big one will turn out to be the largest single piece of amber ever mined.  PROF    It appears to be several tons.  It will take some maneuvering to get a proper weight on it.  Betty?  BETTY    Yes, Professor? PROF    Take this down.  Stone 1 - we'll call this large one "stone one"-- BETTY    Noted. PROF    Make up a card when you get a chance.  [back to describing] The amber is clear and pure in appearance, probably mixed with lignite. Yellow brown in color, irregular in shape. I think it is merely the thickness of the amber, and not any imperfections in its refractive structure, that make the central dark spot nothing more than a shadow. BETTY    It's like a small mountain! PROF    Nonsense.  Get some specific measurements.  Height; width through, say, four axes, at three equidistant levels.  BETTY    [resigned] Yes, professor. PROF    If you need help, Walter here is a dab hand with triangulation.  You'll help, won't you, Marble? MARBLE    Certainly.  Whatever you need.  Miss Betty, I think we had better begin by drawing a rough sketch of the block. Scene 2.    SOUND    DOOR OPENS, ACROSS THE ROOM, CONFIDENT STRIDES ENTER LEFFLER    [full of confidence] Well, well, well...what do you think of them? PROFESSOR    Ignore him. BETTY    Father!  You have to play nice.  He funds the research and gets to play philanthropic scientist. PROFESSOR    You mean pseudo-scientific philanthropist.  Yes, yes of course.  [up]  Mr. Leffler!  All present and accounted for! LEFFLER    [coming on] Everybody is talking about the big one!  Orling is coming to see, along with plenty of others.  Marble!  Did you happen to catch any stories the workmen down there were telling?  I'm thinking I'll publish something on the expedition, and that would be a great little chapter. MARBLE    I don't think it was actual stories.  Just general uneasiness and rumors of bad luck.  Something about a creature swimming in a lake of ink, but the translator says the local dialect was pretty difficult. LEFFLER    Well, monster or not, let's hope there’s something good in there, something that will make all our effort worthwhile.  [walking away] Maybe I can come up with a few tales, just spice, you know... MARBLE    Superstition is curious, isn't it?  [chuckles] How can anyone think that a fossil of a creature, penned in such a cell for thousands and thousands of years, could do any harm? PROF    Superstition, by definition, is unreasonable. These amber blocks were mined in the Manchurian lignite deposits by Chinese coolies under Japanese masters. They believe anything over there. I remember working once with a crew of them that thought— BETTY    [off] [scream!] PROF    What is it, Betty dear? BETTY    It - it - it--! MARBLE    Her face is completely white! PROF    You’d better sit down. SOUND    SCUFFLE PROF    What is it that has put you into such a state? BETTY    I—I thought I saw something looking out, eyes that stared at me—-!  [laughs, but forced]  I suppose it was just Mr. Leffler's talk of monsters.  There's certainly nothing there now. PROF    Perhaps the Manchurian devil just likes beautiful young ladies, eh, Marble?  [chuckles] [walking off] Well, be careful, dear. If it takes a notion to jump out at you, call for me and I'll return presently and exorcise it. BETTY    [chuckles, but half hearted] I suppose you think I'm being hysterical, too, Mr. Marble? MARBLE    [musing] No-o-o. PROF    [coming back in]  Come along Betty, we must go home.  There's a long, interesting day ahead of us to-morrow, [going off again] and I want some time to read Orling's new work on matrices before we begin chipping at block number one. MARBLE    [confidential] I... I saw something, too.  Could it have been just some refraction of the light? BETTY    [gasp]  I—I don't know.  I thought I saw two terrible eyes glaring at me from the inky heart.  But when father laughed at me, I was ashamed and thought it was just my fancy. MARBLE    The center is liquid, I'm sure of it.  [beat] Well, we'll find out soon enough, once we get started. PROF    [off, commanding] Come along, Betty! BETTY    Be careful. SOUND    SHE WALKS OFF Scene 3.    MUSIC PROF    Betty?  Have you got the specimens we've laid out on tray 15 itemized yet? BETTY    Yessir!  8 ants, 14 mosquitoes, 32 unidentified insect portions and 3 bees. PROF    Very good.  We'll make a scientist out of you, yet.  [chuckles heartily] BETTY    I'm sure I've got plenty to do as it is.  You are being careful, aren’t you? PROF    That's the dozenth or so time you've inquired.  What is it you expect to happen?  BETTY    I... I don't know. PROF    [condescending] The stones are carefully anchored so they won't fall over, and carefully protected by their canvas covers when we're not working on them.  BETTY    I know.  But do be careful. PROF    You think the fabled Manchurian beast is going to break out of that stone like a - like a chick out of an egg - and run amok?  BETTY    You said you plan to work your way into position to tap that dark central core.   PROF    Between our heaters and our chisels, we'll be through into the central mass sometime tomorrow.  It's getting much softer, now the outside shell is pierced.  Amber used to be called – still is in some cultures – the stone that burns. BETTY    [german name, but quiet]  Bernstein. PROF    Since not only does it become malleable when heated, it can actually return to its original resinous state – a state in which it is, once again, flammable! MARBLE    But, for our purposes, it is soft and permeable – much easier to dig through than say granite or basalt.  Pretty soon we'll find out whether we are right about it being liquid. We have to wait, and make some preparations for catching it, just in case. BETTY    [nervous]  Catching - what? MARBLE     The liquid, of course.  Some sort of large drainage pan should suffice. SOUND    DISTANT BELL PROF    And that is time.  SOUND    PEOPLE PUTTING THINGS AWAY, THE ROOM  QUIETING DOWN BETTY    Mr. Leffler wants to be here when the final breach is made.  Should I call him and issue a formal invite? PROF    Oh, don't bother me with him tonight.  [walks off] We can summon him quickly enough when we're nearly there - otherwise, he'll spend all day hovering about and getting in the way. MARBLE    Here's your coat, miss Young. BETTY    Thanks.  [sigh] I think it must have been my imagination.  I certainly didn’t see anything odd today. MARBLE    Nor did I, but I kept thinking I heard dull scrapings from inside the block. My brain tells me I'm an imaginative fool, that nothing could be alive inside something that old - but just the same, I keep thinking about those eyes we thought we saw. [shaking it off] Just shows how far the imagination will take one. PROF    [calling from off] It's getting dark, Betty!  Better not stay here in the shadows or the devil will get you. I wonder if it will be Chinese or up-to-date American! BETTY    [laugh, slightly annoyed]  Funny how such smart men can sometimes be so dense. MARBLE    Oh? BETTY    Nothing.  Good night! SOUND    SHE WALKS Scene 4.    SOUND    DOOR OPENS ROONEY    Here you go, miss Young. BETTY    Night, Rooney! ROONEY    Stayin' late this evening, are you? BETTY    [going off] No, we're calling it a night, Rooney. SOUND    HER FEET GO OFF ROONEY    Good night, Miss Young. Sleep happy. BETTY    [from off] Thanks, Rooney! ROONEY    [whistles something irish] SOUND    BETTY'S FEET COME BACK ROONEY    Is there a problem, ma'am? BETTY    You'll be extra careful tonight, won't you? ROONEY    Well, miss, I'm always careful. Nobody can get in to harm anything while old Rooney's about. BETTY    [reluctant but urgent] I don't mean that. I want you to be careful yourself, when you're anywhere near this room to-night. ROONEY    [indulgent] Why, miss, what is there to be wary of? Nothing but some funny looking stones, far as I can see. BETTY    Of course. Scene 5.    MUSIC BETTY    [sleeping fitfully] oh… looking ...at... me! SOUND    TELEPHONE RINGS BETTY    [comes awake with a gasp] SOUND    GETS UP, OPENS DOOR PROF    [off] Hello? Yes, speaking. [annoyed] Good morning, Smythe. BETTY    Smythe?  At the Museum? PROF    Shh-shh!  [gasp]  My God! I—I can't believe it!  Is he dead? BETTY    Dead?  Who? PROF    I'll be right down, yes. SOUND    HANGS UP THE PHONE PROF    Dear, there's been a tragedy at the museum during the night. One of the guards has been killed. BETTY    Oh no!  Not Rooney! PROF    I don’t know them by name.  Possibly by burglars.  And Smythe, who found him, wants me to come down and see if anything has been stolen. I must go at once. The body is in our laboratory.  Where did I leave my overcoat...? BETTY    [sniffled a bit]  Give me a minute to get dressed. PROF    No, no. No need. BETTY    [firm]  I'm going with you. PROF    You can come along later, once we have things ...tidied up a bit.  BETTY    I'll be all right. I promise you I will.  And you know I'm the only one who can keep your notes straight. MUSIC Scene 6.    AMB    MUSEUM SMYTHE     I've sent for an ambulance, Professor. PROF    Of course, Smythe.  Let me see the extent of the damage. SOUND    DOOR OPENS SMYTHE    Yes, of course.  The body is around on the left ...here?  Sir? PROF     I must check on the stones first.  See that nothing has been damaged. BETTY    [grumpy mutter] Of course.  Rooney's not going anywhere. PROF    Aha.  Nothing seems missing. BETTY    Father, they’re too large for someone to just run off with. PROF    Why don't you go and check the trays in the lock room.  Make sure nothing portable has walked away. BETTY    Very well. PROF    Smythe?  The body? SMYTHE    Here. PROF    [musing]  No pulse.  Cold.  He's been dead some time. BETTY    [coming on] The lock on the room hasn’t been tampered with, and – [gasp] PROF    There's nothing we can do for him, now.  It looks as though the poor fellow was set upon and stabbed a number of times by an assailant or assailants, whoever they were. BETTY    Poor Rooney!  He was so jolly and red-faced, but now - his skin is like chalk! PROF    Rather shrunken, too. Almost as if there's no blood left in his veins. BETTY    And that look on his face!  He must have been terrified of whoever killed him. MARBLE    There must have been several assassins; They beat him up frightfully.  It would take more than one man to do such damage. BETTY    [quietly] Poor man.  Who will tell his grandchildren? MARBLE    [quiet, sympathy] Yes. [up] His ribs are crushed in—see, this gash, Professor, that would be enough to cause death without any of the other wounds. BETTY    [to herself, horrible fascination] What are they looking at?  A horrible... blistered area under his arm?  And a gash – oh, that must be what killed him! PROF    Bloodless!  As I said!  It is as if the blood had been pumped out of the body! MARBLE    And yet not much blood on the ground.  I only see a couple of splotches, and those look like they’re from more superficial cuts. PROF    Maybe he was dragged here from another room.  Perhaps the thieves were here to steal something in another part of the museum.  Seems to me that men desperate enough to commit such a murder would not leave without trying to get what they came after. MARBLE    Unless, of course, the killing of the guard frightened them away before they could get to their booty. SOUND    FEET APPROACH SMYTHE    I brought that doctor you asked for, Professor Young. MARBLE    Any idea when this happened, Smythe? SMYTHE    Well, he punched the clock in here at two A.M. - I seen that. MARBLE    And he never made it to his next punch? SMYTHE    Nope.  [heavy sigh] And it's the last time he'll ever do his duty, poor feller. DOCTOR    Curious odor.  [sniffs] It smells like musk, but is fetid. I suppose it's some chemical you use in your lab here? PROF    I noticed that, too.  Nothing I recognize.  Marble?  Where did he get to?  Marble? MARBLE    [off] There are wavy black lines on the tiles, leading around back of the block! PROF    You will have to be more specific.  Wavy lines indeed! MARBLE    [moving further off] come and look, then!  They go around the back, and – good god! BETTY    What?  SOUND    PEOPLE DASH TO LOOK BETTY    That - that dark “hollow” in the stone – it’s completely open! PROF    Marble, get me samples of that liquid before it all evaporates, would you?  Didn’t anyone think to check behind the block here?  BETTY    Everyone was pretty distracted by Rooney. PROF    [dismissive] The corpse?  I suppose, but he’s certainly in no further danger. BETTY    [quiet but intense] You’re more interested in your black liquid then a man who lost his life. MARBLE    [off]  It’s not liquid at all!  At least not any more.  It’s nearly all dried, Professor Young. [musing] Dried into those strange wavy runnels and patterns... BETTY    It looks like black lacquer.  And that smell.  I see what the doctor meant! PROF    Our chipping and hammering and the heat of the radiator causing it to expand must have forced out the sepia, or whatever it is.  [disappointed sigh] I had hoped that inside the liquid we would discover a fossil of value. MARBLE    Yes... MUSIC Scene 7.    AMB    CROWD TALKING, OFF MARBLE    Look here Betty, I guess it’s just you and me that might have seen this… thing. BETTY    That hole in the amber – it’s awful big!  Who knows WHAT might have been inside? MARBLE    [dubious] Could have been nothing at all… BETTY    Did that black stain look like it could have been enough to fill the entire cavity?  I’m quite sure it was full. MARBLE    I’ll poke around a bit. BETTY    Be careful! MARBLE    I will.  Say, from here, does the giant block look like it’s been moved? BETTY    Hold on – I have some sketches. SOUND    FLIPPING PAPERS ON HER CLIPBOARD BETTY    Gosh!  You’re right!  It’s shifted just a bit!  But it – it’s huge!  Tons, Father said.  [rationalizing]  Oh! It must have been the explosion- or expulsion – of all that liquid.  That might very well have shifted it, mightn’t it? MARBLE    [dubious] Maybe. BETTY    You’re worried about those marks in the black gunk, aren’t you?  MARBLE    They look like claw marks, not mere natural striations.   BETTY    Professor Marble?  Please don't look any longer. Let’s leave this terrible place - for the day, anyway - until we see what happens in the next twenty-four hours. MARBLE    I must make a search.  My brain calls me a fool, but just the same, I'm worried. BETTY    Do you really think ...? MARBLE    I fear so. MUSIC Scene 8.    BETTY    Is there any further word on the murder? MARBLE    Your father has dismissed it as a botched theft attempt. BETTY    I – I can’t believe it.  And what about the blood? MARBLE    The blood? BETTY    Father may be able to disregard it, but he’s the one who pointed out that all of poor Rooney’s blood was… missing.  Were there any other signs of struggle?  Anywhere?  Or even some sign of a break-in? MARBLE    No.  [dubious] But it might be the work of a slick professional cracksman. BETTY    And how many of those would rather randomly kill a man than hide until the guard has gone on along his rounds, tell me that? MARBLE    [chuckle] I didn’t say that was MY opinion. BETTY    I'm going to try to take father home, right after lunch, if he'll go. He's so stubborn.  If you must stay, would you – please – carry a gun? MARBLE    Very well.  Not that I think it would be of much use, if I did find—-[cuts himself off] SOUND    DOOR SLAMS OPEN, IMPERIOUS FEET ENTER LEFFLER    [from across the room]  What's this I hear?  A watchman killed in the night? Carelessness, man, carelessness! MARBLE    [quiet] Betty, see if your father needs anything. BETTY    Good idea. LEFFLER    The authorities here are absurd! They hold priceless treasures and yet they allow thieves to enter and wreak their will. [arrived] You, Marble! What's all this mean? MARBLE    We do the best we can, Mr. Leffler.   It is unlikely that anyone would wish to, let alone be ABLE to, steal such a thing as that block of amber. LEFFLER    And why not?  It cost ME thousands of dollars! MARBLE    It took the use of several large machines and a good deal of manpower to bring it INTO this room.  Any attempt to similarly leave – well, it would hardly pass unnoticed. LEFFLER    Hogwash!  I understand it’s been broken into!  There’s pieces of my beautiful stone gone missing, mark my words! SOUND    BELL BETTY    It’s time for lunch, Professor Marble. MARBLE    You’ll excuse us?  Good. SOUND    THEY WALK AWAY, LEAVING LEFFLER    [fading as they leave] OF all the things!  I have contributed considerable sums to this museum, and to see my money treated as if it were no more valuable than the general run of arrowheads and pot shards! MARBLE    Phew.  Thanks for coming to my rescue. BETTY    He’ll still be at it when we get back. MARBLE    yes, but I will have had some coffee! SOUND    DOOR SHUTS, CUTTING OFF LEFFLER MARBLE    Poor Rooney.  It’s been preying on me.  Betty, I feel more or less responsible, in a way. BETTY    No, no! How could you have foreseen such a thing? MARBLE    Those eyes. I shouldn’t have discounted what we saw.  I should have taken precautions. But I had no idea it could burst from its prison. BETTY    You will get a revolver before you search further?  [firm] I'm going to, too. Smythe has one, and I know he'll lend it to me. MARBLE    I believe Leffler has seen something, too. That's why he keeps talking about it being our fault. His talk about the devil inside the block was half in earnest. BETTY    He never seemed to take it any more seriously than – than father does! MARBLE    Perhaps he put it down to imagination, or even did not think this fossil could be dangerous. BETTY    I think Rooney could show them the error of their assumptions. MUSIC Scene 9.    SOUND    OUTSIDE BETTY    There’s some kind of commotion at the museum entrance! MARBLE    Figures.  We leave the building for just long enough to eat, and something happens! SOUND    CROWD MURMURS GUARD    Stay back, folks.  The museum is closed. MARBLE    Let us through! GUARD    The museum is closed to the public, sir! MARBLE    I’m not the public!  I insist you tell me what’s going on! GUARD    Come inside, then both of you.  SOUND    DOOR SHUTS, CLOSING OUT CROWD GUARD    Somethin's happened up in the paleontological laboratories.  Dunno just what, but orders come down to clear the rooms and not let anybody in but members of the staff, sir. MARBLE    Blast!  SOUND    QUICK WALKING BETTY    Walter!  Please wait!  Get yourself a gun. MARBLE    All right. You! GUARD    Me? MARBLE    [to guard] Give me your gun.  [to her] Betty, you need to stay here, where it’s safe. BETTY    I'm going with you. MARBLE    As a senior staff member to a junior one, I order you to remain downstairs. BETTY    Hmph.  Very well. SOUND    HIS FOOTSTEPS GO ONE WAY, THEN HER FOOTSTEPS GO OFF IN ANOTHER DIRECTION Scene 10.    MUSIC SOUND    CHECKING AMMO IN A GUN SOUND    BETTY STRIDING PURPOSEFULLY BETTY    [talking to herself]  Good.  I knew Smythe would come through for me.  Marble may be a bright fellow, but anyone could see another gun will come in handy— SOUND    RUNNING FEET COMING FRED    [panic heavy breathing] BETTY    What is it?  Fred!  Look at me!  Tell me what’s going on! FRED    [gasping and babbling] There was a black fog—I saw a red snake with legs— BETTY    A what? Oh no! You get on out of here! FRED    B-but where are you going? BETTY    To make sure the professors are all right! Scene 11.    SOUND    HER RUNNING FEET, THEY SLOW BETTY    [coughing] What’s that [cough] in the air.  Phew!  It smells like—[suddenly alert] It smells like whatever came out of that stone! LEFFLER    [distant horrible SCREAM] BETTY    Walter! SOUND    SHE RUNS, GASPING, THROUGH THE FOG BETTY    [muttered] It just keeps getting thicker and thicker – I can barely see!  [up] Walter?? SOUND    FOOTSTEPS SLOW, PATTING ALONG WITH HAND BETTY    Ah, the door. LEFFLER    [whimpering, distant] SOUND    DRAGGING JUICY AWFUL NOISES BETTY    [sharp whisper]  Where are you? LEFFLER    [whimpery scream, cut off – urk!] BETTY    If only the sun would come out, the skylights might cut through some of this murk!  [up] Walter! MARBLE    [quiet but urgent] Go back, Betty, go back! SOUND    HER SLOW STEPS MARBLE    [disgust and sorrow] Oh, Leffler! [groan] BETTY    [gasp]  Here you are! MARBLE    I told you to get out of here! BETTY    Is he hurt? MARBLE    He’s dead.  Just like Rooney, far as I can tell. BETTY    But he just twitched! MARBLE    Something must have a hold on him! BETTY    Some thing?  [screams] SOUND    SHE RUNS MARBLE    Get out of here, Betty!  Get to safety! SOUND    SLITHERY NOISE MARBLE    I’ll keep anything from following you. BETTY    [scream breaks off with noise of effort] SOUND    SMASH OF GLASS Scene 12.    MARBLE    What are you doing? BETTY    Terrified or not, I’m not leaving you, Walter!  [noise of effort] SOUND    ANOTHER WINDOW BREAKS BETTY    But unless we get some air in here, that nasty haze will be our undoing! MARBLE    [astonished]  Good girl!  It’s starting to clear a bit.  BETTY    Where are you?  I can see Leffler’s … body… now, but--  Walter? MARBLE    [loud whisper] Stay clear of the amber.  BETTY    Which one? MARBLE    [loud whisper]  All of them.  I think IT is hiding among them, somewhere. BETTY    How can we tell? MARBLE    [strange urgency] Betty, please go outside and call some of the men. BETTY    What are you looking ...at...?  Oh.  That black smoke – that’s not moving because of the open window, is it? MARBLE    [strained, conversational]  It’s coming out from under that canvas cover.  BETTY    [shocked but trying to sound calm] That’s where it is! MARBLE    The cover is too big to move all in one go by myself. BETTY    I can get— MARBLE    Don’t come any closer! BETTY    I’ll grab the rope from here – between us, we can flip it! SOUND    SUCKING TENTACLE NOISE BETTY    [stifled noise of horror] MARBLE    Well, it’s definitely under there. SOUND    ANOTHER SLITHER MARBLE    All right... now! SOUND    FLAP OF CLOTH Scene 13.    MONSTER    [hiss] BETTY    [scream] MONSTER    [shriek] MARBLE    All red, with black patches!  Reptilian, but some sort of secondary nostrils on the – aha!  That's where the black miasma in the air comes from! BETTY    IS coming from!  It’s trying to blind us with its smokescreen. MARBLE    Did you see where it went? BETTY     Other side of the block, I think!  Oh, that smell! MARBLE    It must have been right there, under the canvas, all day. BETTY     Within arm’s reach of the whole staff?  How awful! MARBLE    [disgust] It came out only when there was comparative quiet, to get its food.... BETTY    We-we must kill it!  [slower] We... must… MARBLE     Betty!  Its eyes – they’re hypnotizing her Like a snake!  Snap out of it, Betty! SOUND    SLITHERING SLURPING NOISE MARBLE    Betty! SOUND    THUMP, SKID, AS HE KNOCKS HER OVER, GETTING HER OUT OF THE WAY BETTY    [snapping out of it] Its mouth – that long fanged tongue! MARBLE    [noting to self]  It has the thick body of an immense python and the clawed legs of a dinosaur. BETTY    And it’s horrible! MARBLE    But it also appears to have tentacles, like some sort of terrestrial octopus.... BETTY    Still horrible! MARBLE    Betty, no one has ever had such an experience as this, seen such a sight, and lived to tell of it. It must be ravenous with hunger, shut up in its amber cell inside the black fluid. I— SOUND    WHISTLING HISS – INTAKE OF AIR BETTY     I have a feeling it’s about to blow! MARBLE    I think it’s armored.  I’ll have to aim for the head. SOUND    SIX SHOTS BETTY    [screaming]  It’s coming!  SOUND    WEIRD SLITHER THUMP AS IT MOVES BETTY    Come on! SOUND    THEY BACK AWAY MARBLE    It’s in front of the door! BETTY    We can’t go out the window!  We’re too high up!  Here. SOUND    HANDS HIM GUN BETTY    I counted and you’re just about out. SOUND    CLICK MARBLE    Good gravy you’re right.  [ugh, throws the empty gun]  Thanks.  Now you get moving while I distract it!  Hurry!  Run for your life! BETTY    Oh, Walter! SOUND    SHE RUNS SOUND    SLITHER, SNAP, GUNSHOTS BETTY    [off] Oh, there MUST be something! Aha! [Ugn!  Breaks glass case] SOUND    GLASS BREAKS, GRABS FIRE AXE SOUND    MONSTER LUNGES AT MARBLE, MORE GUNSHOTS, CLICK BETTY    [muttered] I won’t let you die, Walter! SOUND    SHE RUNS, THEN BETTY    UGN!!!! SOUND    CHOP OF AXE INTO FLESH MONSTER    [HORRIBLE SCREAM!] MARBLE    No! Over here, you beast!  Keep looking at me! BETTY    And again! SOUND    THUMP, SQUISH MONSTER    Scream! SOUND    THRASHING MARBLE    Look out Betty!  The tail! BETTY    What?  Ugh! [smacked down] SOUND    BODY DROP MARBLE     No!  Betty! FADE INTO BLACKNESS AND SILENCE Scene 14.    MUSIC STUMBLES IN BETTY    [waking, muttering] What??  What happened?  [sudden gasp, freaking out] The monster! MARBLE    [manly agony] Oh, my darling!  Are you badly hurt? BETTY    [calming down] No.  I'm—I'm all right. But—but Walter—did it—? PROF    He's fine, but the monster is hacked to pieces, and don’t think I’m simply using an unscientific term. MARBLE    I – i- when I saw you fall, I think I went a bit mad.  And then the axe was in my hand, and – PROF    [stern] And he utterly mutilated a marvelous and unique specimen. BETTY    Father!  We could have been killed! PROF    [relenting] Well, there are still some remains to examine.  They’re taking the rest of it away now. PROF    I think we will find it to be some sort of missing link between the dinosaurs and mososaurs. Thus, the tentacles. SOUND    HE WALKS AWAY PROF    [lecturing as he leaves] It is surely unbelievable that such a creature should be found alive; but perhaps it can be explained. It is related to the amphibians and was able to live in or out of the water. MARBLE    Hmph.  Oh, to the devil with paleontology, Betty. You saved my life. Come out and let's get married. I love you. PROF    [droning on in the background] Now, we have many instances of reptiles such as lizards and toads penned up in solid rock but surviving for hundreds of years. BETTY    At least we’re safe, Walter. And unique! MARBLE    How’s that? BETTY    It's not every woman who is helped by a living fossil to make the man she loves realize he loves her! PROF    Evidently this great reptile went through the same sort of experience. I would say that there has been some great upheaval of nature, that the reptile was caught in its prison of amber thousands and thousands of years ago. Through hibernation and perhaps a preservative drug it emitted in the black fluid, this creature has been able to survive its long imprisonment. Naturally, when it was released by the cutting away of part of the amber which penned it in, it burst its cell, ravenous with hunger. SOUND    HE FADES OUT INTO CLOSING MUSIC ENDING