1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: Colson Media Club Club Club. Hello, and welcome to the 2 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: cools On Media book Club, your only book club where 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: I do the reading for you. And the I in 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: that statement is Margaret Kiljoy because that's my name, and 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: I'm the host of the book club where you don't 6 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: have to do the reading because I do it for you, 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: and then I explain this every week. Anyway, I've been 8 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,480 Speaker 1: on a classic sci fi kick, and because classic sci 9 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: fi is kind of like what got me, and I mean, 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: of course it's what got me into sci fi, right, 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: It's the older stuff, and so it's the stuff that 12 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: I was reading when I was younger. But I think 13 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: I mentioned before on the show at one point one 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:50,959 Speaker 1: of the first books that I ever read was this 15 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: or that got me into science fiction anyway, was this 16 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: book of like all of the greatest science fiction stories 17 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: from before nineteen sixty four or whatever. And I've just 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: always had a soft spot for that era. But it's 19 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: usually all these men, and so I was like, you 20 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: know what I'm going to read you all this week 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: A story from nineteen fifty nine written by a woman, 22 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: and it's about gender and it's like one of the 23 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: queerest stories in a world where you like kind of 24 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: can't have queer science fiction, but it's still this like 25 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: Golden Age science fiction thing where no one I'm sure 26 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: people do. It's we less and less see science fiction. 27 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: That's just like and we're off to go explore the 28 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: galaxy and set up little Wild West colonies in space, 29 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: you know. So here's a story more in that vein, 30 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: but it's strange, and it's by Russell George Brown, who 31 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: was a school teacher and a Greek student, a study 32 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: of like her area of specialty was like fifth century Greece. 33 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: She's from New Orleans. She died when she was forty 34 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: one years old of lymphoma and so and she was 35 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: like everyone was like really excited about her and science fiction, 36 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: but then she died tragically, young, said the forty one 37 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: year old who doesn't want to die this year. This 38 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: story is called Virgin Ground by Russell George Brown, and 39 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: it was published in Worlds of Science Fiction in February 40 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine, and Gutenberg says extensive research did not 41 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: uncover any evidence that the US copyright on this publication 42 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: was renewed, so that's it's good enough for Gutenberg. The 43 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: like little thing in the that's like, here's what you're 44 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: about to read. That's from the magazine. Is Annie signed 45 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: on to a bride ship from Mars. There were forty brides, 46 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: and when she got there, thirty nine men were waiting. Dun, dun, dum. 47 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: The pilot shoved open the airlock and kicked the stairs down. Okay, girls, 48 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: carry your suitcases, and I'll give each of you an 49 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: oxygen mask as you go out. The air has been 50 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: breatheable for fifteen years, but it's still too thin to newcomers. 51 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: If you feel dizzy, take a whiff of oxygen. The 52 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: forty women just stood there and looked at each other. 53 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: Nobody wanted to be first. Annie moved forward, her bulky 54 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: suitcase practically floating in her hand. She was a big woman, 55 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: with that wholesome expression which some women have to substitute 56 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,960 Speaker 1: for sex appeal. She'd make a great senior leader at 57 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: summer camps. I'll go first, she said, grinning confidence into 58 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: the others. I'm not likely to bring out the beast 59 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: in them. She waved herself out, letting the grin set 60 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: and gel. It was odd to feel light. She'd felt 61 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: too heavy as far back as she could remember. Not fat, heavy, 62 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: bone heavy. The sweat on her face dried suddenly, she 63 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: could feel it like something being peeled off her skin. 64 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: Arid climate, it was cold, but she had the warmth 65 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: to meet it. There they were forty men that were 66 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: supposed to be forty. What if one of them had died? 67 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: Who would go back? Not me? Annie prayed to herself, 68 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: Dear God, not me. She tried to count them, but 69 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: they moved around, so they were looking at something, not Annie. 70 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: The girl coming down the ramp behind Annie. It was 71 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: Sally with the blonde hair on her shoulders. That's all 72 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: they'd be able to see from there, the blonde hair. 73 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: But a man was coming forward. He had a tam 74 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: like hat pulled low to good humored eyes and an 75 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: easy stride. Wait, Ben, one of the other men said, 76 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: see the others. I pulled first, didn't I? Yeah, but 77 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,799 Speaker 1: you ain't seen but two yet. I want that blond one. 78 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: Let Gary see the others, and he led Sally away. 79 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: He didn't feel her muscles, or look at her teeth 80 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: or measure her pelvic spin. After Sally came Nora. Nora 81 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: giggled and waved, making a shape under the shapeless clothes 82 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: wasn't that just like Nora? Okay, so she was cute. 83 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 1: Second man took Nora. He didn't wait for the others. 84 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: Third man took Regina. Regina looked scared, but you could 85 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: see those big cow eyes a mile off. Regina obviously 86 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: needed somebody to protect her. The other girls came out. 87 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: Annie counted, and her heart hit bottom. Someone was going 88 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,480 Speaker 1: to be left over. Four women, three men. They all 89 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: felt embarrassed. It was the kind of thing the colonists 90 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: would talk about for years. Who was last, who was 91 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: second to last? Spiteful people would remember, and in a 92 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: tight little community, spite took root and throve on the 93 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: least misinterpreted expression. Or but then this wouldn't be a 94 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: tight little community. Annie remembered. The lichen farms were spread 95 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: out over the whole temperate belt of the world because 96 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: the lichens were grown only on hills where the sand 97 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: would not cover them, and because they did a more 98 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: efficient job of oxygenating the atmosphere when they were spread 99 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: over a wide area. One man, hat in hand, even 100 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: in the cold, A little shriveled man with a spike 101 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: of dust colored hair, but kind looking all he drawled 102 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: an embarrassment he clicked his tongue. You're both probably too 103 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: good for somebody like me. I don't know both fine women. 104 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:28,279 Speaker 1: The two women stood in silence. What's your name, Annie, Mary? Mary? 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: My sister's name, Mary, fine woman? He took Mary's hand. 106 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: No disrespect to you, Annie. They were all gone. I 107 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,559 Speaker 1: could take you out my venus run, the pilot said, 108 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: He too was embarrassed. But I'm afraid I'll have a 109 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: full ship after that unless you buy the weight in space. 110 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: I'd be glad to take you free, but the company. 111 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: Annie's eyes were full, but she wasn't going to let 112 00:06:55,120 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: them spill. Sally brought Ben by, already looking self consciously married. 113 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, honey, she said. Look, Annie, if you want 114 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: to come stay with us until another shipment of pioneers 115 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: come to break ground, you're welcome. Maybe you'd find one 116 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: of them you liked. It was a gesture of kindness, 117 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: of course, but it made Annie's eyes spill. She turned 118 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: her head away toward the red hills red and the 119 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: cultivated one's green Christmas colors. Sure Ben said, swell, Anni, 120 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: friend of Sally's is a friend of mine. And the 121 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: way they looked at each other made Annie's heart lurch. Thanks, kids, 122 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: she said, but I don't believe. I'll try, and don't worry. 123 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: This isn't the first time I've been stood up. Are 124 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: you coming, the pilot shouted across the field. Hate to 125 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: rush you, but I've got a schedule to meet. Was 126 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: she coming? What else could she do? What happened to him? Ben? 127 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: Annie asked the other man that should have been here? 128 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: Ben worried a hole in the sand with one foot 129 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: and cleared his throat. He stayed home. You mean he's 130 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: alive here? Well, yes, but he didn't. Never mind, I 131 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: don't need anybody to strum a guitar under my window. 132 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: If he couldn't get away from the farm today, I 133 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: can certainly go to him. I've got a pair of 134 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: legs that'll walk around the world. You coming, the pilot shouted, No, 135 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: Annie cried, I live here. The spaceship took off a 136 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: phoenix rising from the flames, much like these ads arrive 137 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: naturally from the narrative and then interject themselves like a 138 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: gout of flame, or like the gout. Here's ads, and 139 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: we're back. Ben was shuffling his feet, hands in his pockets. 140 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: We'd be proud to have you stay with us. Annie, Oh, 141 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: cut it out, Ben, I'm no hot house Rose. Just 142 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: tell me which way and I'll find my own farm. 143 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: She paused, trying to guess his thoughts. You think he 144 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: might be disappointed when he sees me? Is that it? Ben? 145 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: I know I'm no pinup girl, but I'm a worker 146 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 1: and a breeder. He'll see it in the end. That's 147 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: what's going to count. Ben was still making holes in 148 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: the sand with his feet, trying to say something. Please, 149 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: don't worry. Annie went on, your friend won't be sorry 150 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: if he doesn't want to marry me right away. Okay, 151 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: I can understand it, but I can give him a 152 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: chance to watch me work. That isn't it? Ben said, finally, 153 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: I think you look fine. Annie. It's any woman. He 154 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: told them not to send a wife for him, any woman. 155 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: But that's ridiculous. He knows the laws. Five years and 156 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: then a wife. Why did he stick out in the 157 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: first place? That was before Ben answered, oh what, Oh, 158 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: it's not for me to say. Why don't you just 159 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:08,559 Speaker 1: forget Bradman. He's a good enough guy, but not for you. 160 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: You come which way and how far? Ben looked at 161 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: her hard. Okay, on Mars. Your life is your own, 162 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: he pointed, second farm bubble you come to, and you'd 163 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: better hurry. It ought to take eight hours and night 164 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: falls like a ton of bricks. Here Annie made it 165 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: in seven easy. She went up to the transparent hemisphere. 166 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: He was inside working, she shouted, but if he heard her, 167 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: he didn't look up. She went to the flap. That 168 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: must be the door. There wasn't anything to knock on, 169 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: so she opened the flap and walked in. There was 170 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: nothing in the room but a cot, kitchen equipment, and 171 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,199 Speaker 1: lichen growing on a number of tables. The air was 172 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 1: richer than outside, and Annie breathed it thirstily. I'm Annie 173 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: strugg she said, smiling and wishing it wasn't such an 174 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: ugly name. He glanced up, angry blue eyes under a 175 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: growth of black hair. He didn't say a word. Annie 176 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: set her suitcase down and looked out at the green 177 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: growth on the hills. Look, mister Bradman, she cried, suddenly, 178 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 1: pointing a spatulate finger to the western horizon. What in 179 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 1: the name of Heaven is that? There was just a 180 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: catch of fright in her voice. We don't say, mister 181 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: on Mars, he said, reluctantly, Brady, but you don't have 182 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,559 Speaker 1: to call me anything because you're leaving, Sue. He was 183 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: a big, arid man with a sandy voice, but his hands, 184 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: as he stripped the lumpy, brown fruits from a giant lichen, 185 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: were surprisingly delicate. What is it, Annie asked, turning instinctively 186 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: to the big man for a reassurance and protection she 187 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: had no reason to expect. Bradman straightened and moved away 188 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: from her, looking at the black giant growing up from 189 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 1: the earth in the distance and moving straight toward them. 190 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: It's a sandstorm, he said. It'll be here in ten minutes. 191 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: Annie let out there she'd been holding. Oh that doesn't 192 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: sound so bad. I don't know what I thought it was. 193 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: I was just frightened. She smiled, shyly and apologetically at Bradman. 194 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: Bradman grimaced at her, his agate eyes frozen in a 195 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: pallid face that should have gone with red hair. The 196 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: sand blown lines in his face were cruel. Sister, you've 197 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: got a smile like a slab of concrete. Don't try 198 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: it again. You didn't have to say that, Annie said, quietly, 199 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 1: closing her eyes against the winds of her anger. You 200 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: didn't have to come here, he replied, goodbye. I'm not leaving, 201 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: she said, still holding tight the doors of her anger. 202 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: I am. He paced heavily over the sand floor and 203 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: pulled back the flap of the door. Where are you going? 204 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: Annie glanced back at the towering giant, now glowing red 205 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: in the sunlight like some huge, grotesque devil into the 206 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: storm cellar. Nobody lives through a Martian sandstone. Annie ran 207 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: after him. For God's sake, take me with you. You 208 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: can't leave me. Mine's built for one, he said, and 209 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: pulled the top end over him. As he disappeared into 210 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,320 Speaker 1: the hole. Annie broke her fingernails, pulling at the cover. 211 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 1: The wind was blowing sand in her eyes. She saw 212 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: blood staining the rim of her index finger. She pounded 213 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: with her fists. Let me in, she screamed, in the 214 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: name of God, but all she heard was the keening 215 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: sand in the wind. She looked around. The devil was closer, 216 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: malignant and hungry. It wanted to eat her alive. He 217 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: made her angry. I'll fight it, she screamed. By God, 218 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: I'll fight five minutes, she guessed, maybe five minutes left. 219 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: She ran into the house, ripped open her suitcase bundles 220 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: of nylon marriage clothes. She began to sob somewhere with lace. Fight, 221 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: She shouted to herself. There was her oxygen mask. How 222 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: much oxygen anybody's guess. It was made for maybe a 223 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: few whiffs a day over a period of several months. Swell, 224 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: but it wouldn't keep the sand from tearing through her 225 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:15,439 Speaker 1: eyeballs and flaying her alive. Wrapping nylon nightgowns, ridiculous spacesuit. 226 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: Annie went through the one room house as fast as 227 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: she could. No spacesuit, why should he have one? Three 228 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: minutes left, sand was blowing under the hemisphere, piling up 229 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 1: at one end and oozing out beneath. It was possible 230 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: she would simply be buried the refrigerator that wasn't a refrigerator, 231 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: only a cabinet loosely joined, much like this ad transition 232 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,359 Speaker 1: is loosely joined into the narrative of the text, interrupting 233 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: your narrative pleasure, where now you get to learn about 234 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: things like maybe there'll be an ad for colonizing Mars. 235 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: I hope not. I'm actually totally fine with going places 236 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: that there aren't people who are living things to go 237 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: live there. But the problem is that it would probably 238 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: be a tesla ad and that would make me very sad, 239 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:16,479 Speaker 1: because well, I want him to go on a spaceship 240 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: to Mars that he built himself, because it'll blow up 241 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: and he'll die and that'll be nice. But here's the 242 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 1: other ads and we're back. Annie went outside, on the 243 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: side where the field of lichens grew up a smooth 244 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: stone hill. The Red Devil was whistling at her, now 245 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: a low, insinuating whistle. Something rattled faintly against one steel 246 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: rib of the hemisphere. It was a shrub about five 247 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: feet tall, and he began to laugh hysterically. Brady had 248 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: protected the shrub with loving care. It was tied to 249 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: the steel rib through gromined holes in the hemisphere and 250 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: covered with its own plastic bag to shield off the wind. 251 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:14,359 Speaker 1: One minute the Red Devil was shouting, now laughing with triumph. 252 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: He ran his sandy fingers through her hair and blew 253 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: his gritty breath in her eyes. She pulled the zipper 254 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: at the bottom of the polyethylene bag that covered the 255 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: shrub and yanked the bag off. It was heavy, almost oily, plastic, slippery, impliant. 256 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: There was no time to decide whether it be better 257 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: inside or outside the house. She pulled the bag over 258 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: her head inside out so the zipper would close completely. 259 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: She folded the zipper part under once and wedged herself 260 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: as far as she could go into the space between 261 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: the shrub and the hemisphere, holding the oxygen mask in 262 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: her teeth with infinite care, though she was not likely 263 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: to split the heavy bag. She pulled off her shoes 264 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: and her heavy woolen walking socks. She put the shoes 265 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: back on, her slacks covered her legs. Only her ankles 266 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: were bare. She unraveled one sock and stuffed the yarn 267 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: in her ears. There was a sudden, remarkable quiet. Then 268 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 1: even through the yarn came the roar of the storm, 269 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: for it was upon her. She looked through the milky 270 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: plastic into a wild red inferno, spitting at her in 271 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:25,479 Speaker 1: furious frustration. Then she bound the other sock over her eyes. 272 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: She was in a blind, muffled world, now buffeted against 273 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: the shrub and the wires and the steel rib, but 274 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,199 Speaker 1: not painfully because of her heavy clothing. It was as 275 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: though suddenly all her senses had been switched to the 276 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: last pitch before silence. I might live, Annie thought, I might. 277 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: There was sand in the bag now. Annie could feel 278 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: it sifting under her collar and blowing up her ankles. 279 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: Not much. It was coming from the bottom of the bag. 280 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 1: Probably the end of the zipper had worked over just 281 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: a little. Was that the dull roar of the storm 282 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: through her stoppered ears, or the rushing of her own blood? 283 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 1: If sand were seeping in, the storm must still be on. 284 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,399 Speaker 1: How did Bradman breathe in his storm cellar? Would the 285 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,680 Speaker 1: storm last long enough for the air to go bad? 286 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: It would go bad fast in an enclosed place on Mars, Bradman. 287 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: What sort of monster would walk off and let another 288 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: human being die without a glance backwards? Did the cold 289 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: desert wear out the humanity of a man? How did 290 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 1: a human being get like that? You've got a smile 291 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,159 Speaker 1: like a concrete slab? Is that what you say to 292 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: a person when you know you're about to leave them 293 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:46,159 Speaker 1: to die? Unmarried women between ages of twenty one and 294 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 1: thirty good health, well adjusted marriage on arrival Mars transports 295 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: leaves oct one good health, well adjusted. She could see 296 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: the printed words, red stereo words reaching out from the 297 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: paid Unmarried women between they came and went in her mind, 298 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: and there was a roar in her ears. The words 299 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: were gone now, only a redness that came and went, no, 300 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:16,919 Speaker 1: a blackness. Annie snatched the exhausted oxygen mask off her 301 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,439 Speaker 1: face and gulped a pallid, sandy breath of air. It 302 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: wouldn't do. She took the sock off her eyes and 303 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: bounded around her nose and mouth. It would filter some 304 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: of the sand out. She opened her eyes briefly and 305 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: closed them. The grit stayed in. She didn't dare open 306 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,439 Speaker 1: them again, but the storm looked weaker, or was it 307 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: her imagination. She groped for the zipper. Foul air would 308 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: kill her quicker than sand. She couldn't find it hell 309 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: with the zipper. She pulled her little mending kit out 310 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: of her pocket and slashed the bag with the scissors. 311 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,399 Speaker 1: The storm sounded louder now with the bag gone. The 312 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: sand blew under her eyelids, ripped her face, tore a 313 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: burning circle around each ankle. Annie put her face in 314 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: her hands, breathing through her nose and the sock. She 315 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,160 Speaker 1: held herself stiffly. She didn't want to cough. The whole 316 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 1: world was a blind, gritty pain. There was no end 317 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: to think of, only pain, grayness, blackness. Finally, a voice, Bradman, 318 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: you ruined my shrub? Did you have to slash the 319 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: bag too? Annie opened her eyes. They felt red and ruined. 320 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: They were watering so much her cheeks were wet. She 321 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,679 Speaker 1: could hardly see. She was having a coughing fit. She 322 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 1: dragged herself upright. All she could see was sand. The 323 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 1: plastic bubble had blown off the girders, and if the 324 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,160 Speaker 1: furnishings in her suitcase were there, her eyes were still 325 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 1: too dim to see them. Do you know what that 326 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: shrub's worth? On Mars, Annie found the yarn had fallen 327 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 1: out of one ear, and she pulled it out of 328 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: the other. Do you know what that bag's worth? Gall 329 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: ran in her veins. She spat it out of her mouth. 330 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: She backed up to the steel beam and braced her 331 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: feet against it. Light in the Martian gravity, I told 332 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: them not to send a woman out here. She pushed 333 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: off and sank her fist into his teeth. He went down. 334 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: She was too light, but he was too light too. 335 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: It evened out. She turned his face and held it 336 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,959 Speaker 1: in the sand. Her strength was insane. Do you know 337 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: what a human life is worth, she screamed. He struggled, 338 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: but she fought his bucking body, kept his face buried 339 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: in the sand until he was dead, and a long 340 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: time after an age passed. Annie was frozen and a 341 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:52,120 Speaker 1: world rhymed over with white starlight sequined with frost. Then 342 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: the cross eyed moons came up. She found an edge 343 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: of the plastic bubble, rumpled and limp and half buried 344 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 1: in the sand. She pushed off the heaviest hills of 345 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: sand with her hands and pulled it out. She climbed 346 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: up the anchored girders with it, and then she slept 347 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: the rest of the night in her own home. The 348 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,919 Speaker 1: next day she dug out her household supplies from the sand. 349 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: The day after, she cleared the sand from the lichens 350 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: on her farm. On the fourth day, she called a 351 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: few neighbors in, and late in the evening she buried Bradman. 352 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: No one questioned her. It had been after all self defense. 353 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,159 Speaker 1: She kept the farm as well as any man better. 354 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,199 Speaker 1: She worked how she worked, She kept herself numb with labor, 355 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:44,959 Speaker 1: her mind drunk with the liquors, a fatigue. After five years, 356 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: he came. He just appeared inside the door flap, looking 357 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: a little nervous but grinning. I'm Jack Hamstrong, he said, 358 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: his voice full and wholesome, like Iowa corn I. You 359 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: weren't at the spaceport, so I figured, what the heck? 360 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: I just want? This is my farm, Annie said, My 361 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: hands are on every inch of it. Hamstrong's ruddy face 362 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 1: turned on itself a little. I know, I know the story. 363 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: I didn't come to take anything away. I came to 364 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: good Lord. Didn't you know you'd be sent a husband? 365 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: Annie's eyes went queer like a cat's a husband if 366 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,679 Speaker 1: they told her she hadn't heard go away, she said. 367 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 1: She looked around at her farm, the fruits of her 368 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: travail alone, the virgin birth. No, he said firmly, it's 369 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: yours and mine legally, I am not a mean man. Annie. 370 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: You'll find me patient but stubborn. I can wait. Annie sighed, 371 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,959 Speaker 1: or was it a shudder. She looked up again at 372 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 1: the puckering edges of the evening sky. She put down 373 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,399 Speaker 1: the knife she'd been peeling a giant lichen with. She 374 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: wiped her hands on her apron and lifted the doorflap. 375 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 1: All right, then, she said, Wait for what the sand storm? 376 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: She said, and she got into the storm cellar and 377 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: pulled down the weighty lid, locking it behind her. That's 378 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:17,160 Speaker 1: the end of the story, because she killed one husband 379 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: and she's about to kill another. I like this story 380 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: so much, and I like some of the well I 381 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: found it subtle, but maybe it's not subtle at all, 382 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: like the insinuation that the sandstorm represents like marriage and 383 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,640 Speaker 1: men right, because it like multiple times like the sandstorm 384 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: is like wolf whistling at her right, and the sandstorm 385 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: is like running its hands through her hair and all 386 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: this shit, and she's just like, I just got to 387 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: survive it. I'm not gonna let it kill me, and 388 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: then then I'll be all right, you know. And that's 389 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: some science fiction from seventy years ago for you all. 390 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: I hope you like. And if you don't, well, why'd 391 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: you listen to the whole thing? Are you just stuck 392 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: driving and you're like, uh, I don't want to take 393 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: my eyes off the road, And maybe you're driving through 394 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: a storm right now and you're like, oh no, there's 395 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: a storm, and I'm stuck listening to this because I 396 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: don't want to go get my phone from where it's 397 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: giving me directions to the storm and I don't have 398 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: a co pilot with me, and if so, I'm sorry 399 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: that you've been stuck with me as your copilot this 400 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: whole time. It's pretty tragic, but you'll you'll make it 401 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,120 Speaker 1: through the storm of marriage. The storm is marriage, and 402 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: I will talk to you all next week with another 403 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: episode of cool Zone Media Boom Club. It Could Happen 404 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,640 Speaker 1: Here as a production of cool Zone Media. For more 405 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia 406 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 407 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 408 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at 409 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening