Gordon R. Dickson by The Stranger

Author:The Stranger
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SCIENCE FICTION MONSTER

Spine-chilling, monstrous white ape with blood-red face.

JOE CHANNION RESEARCH CHEMIST

Age twenty-eight, full of character, handsome, a scientific type with glasses. NORA WINTERS JOE’S ASSISTANT

Age twenty-two, tall, beautiful, sensitive understanding. POOTIE (PATRICIA) LATIMER JOE’S NIECE

Age seven, golden-haired child. DR. SVEN SODERUP ARCHAEOLOGIST

Age 64, white-haired, frail, scholarly. TRUCK DRIVER, SHERIFF, ETC.—minor characters. OCIENTIFIC NOTE: Recent research has indicated Scene 1—Ruins of an oriental-looking ancient city, half-excavated from the jungle.

WE OPEN WITH AN AERIAL VIEW, PANNING DOWN AND INTO ONE OF THE EXCAVATED BUILDINGS. THE ROOM WE ENTER IS STILL HALF-FULL OF DIRT. THE EXCAVATED HALF SHOWS BENCHES AND TABLES ON WHICH SIT CURIOUSLY SCIENTIFIC-LOOKING INSTRUMENTS OF GLASS AND POTTERY. IN THE OTHER HALF, A NATIVE LABORER IS SINGING TO HIMSELF AS HE EXCAVATES SOMETHING LARGE AND WHITE. WHICH WE SEE IS THE BODY OF A HUGE WHITE APE WITH A BLOOD-RED FACE.

LABORER. SUDDENLY REALIZING WHAT IT IS HE IS EXCAVATING, GASPS AND DROPS HIS SHOVEL.

AS HE STARES HORRIFIED, THE APPARENTLY MUMMIFIED APE SLOWLY OPENS ONE EYE AND WINKS AT HIM.

THE LABORER’S FACE SUDDENLY CHANGES TO A MASK OF HORROR. HE MAKES A

MOVEMENT AS IF HE WILL TURN TO FLEE BUT THE GREAT. WHITE, APELIKE FIGURE REACHES OUT WITH ONE HAND. GRASPS HIM BY THE THROAT AND STRANGLES HIM HIS DEAD BODY DROPS WITHOUT A SOUND TO THE FLOOR-THE APE. WHO IS —“IT.” OUT OF DARKEST JUNGLE-CLOSES HIS EYE AND GOES MOTIONLESS AND APPARENTLY MUMMIFIED ONCE MORE.

A MOMENT LATER, DR. SODERUP ENTERS THE ROOM. FOR A MOMENT HE DOES NOT SEE THE BODY OFTHE LABORER. THEN

HE DOES AND COMES FORWARD TO BEND OVER IT, SHOCK WRITTEN ON HIS FACE. DR. SODERUP

What could have killed him in that horrible fashion?

HE NOTICES THE BODY OF THE APE, WITH ITS ARM STILL OUT-STRETCHED ABOVE THE THROAT OF THE DEAD MAN. FOR A MOMENT HE FROWNS, AND THEN SHAKES HIS HEAD.

No, no. Obviously this creature has been dead for many thousands of years. I am imagining things— and who can blame me? Forty-two months in this murderous jungle—the heat—the insects—HE BENDS HIS ATTENTION ON THE APE BODY AND HIS EYES LIGHT UP

But this is a priceless find. Who knows what an examination of this body may not teach us? I must get it back to my laboratory in Muncie, Indiana. DISSOLVE, Scene 2—A modern-looking concrete laboratory next to a flimsy-looking ancient wood house somewhere in the Kentucky hills.

WE LOOK DOWN ON THE PLACE FROM THE SURROUNDING, WOODED HfLLS A DIRT ROAD LOOPS BY BEFORE THE TWO BUILDINGS AND A FRONT YARD IN WHICH IS AN ANCIENT WELL, AND A HUGE, ANCIENT HALF-BURIED GRANITE BOULDER WEIGHING MANY TONS. WE MOVE DOWN AND IN A WINDOW OF THE LABORATORY IT IS OBVIOUSLY A PLACE WHERE A CHEMIST WORKS-BENCHES ARE COVERED WITH GLASSWARE IN STRANGE SHAPES AND A RETORT FULL OF DARK LIQUID IS BUBBLING MYSTERIOUSLY-YOUNG DR. JOE CHANNION SITS DISCONSO-LATE ON A STOOL BESIDE A RACK FULL OF HALFFILLED TEST TUBES-NORA BESIDE HIM, STANDING. JOE

Another failure!

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.