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james_davis_nicoll Marooned with Death Part 1
Marooned with Death Part 2
More interstellar stuff and it's even more unsatisfactory about how interstellar flight works in this setting than the previous episode.
The Polaris, with Captain Strong and the three cadets have been sent to a planet whose name I never got in a system that is never specified. Although it turns out the place is habitable, the ship doesn't seem to have touched down at all and they've been there long enough when we meet them for their supplies to have run dangerously low. They have good reason to be cautious about the planet, since the previous four missions to the place have vanished without a trace.
The automated rocket with their supplies never arrives. This is because a nova has appeared, jamming communications and scrambling autopilots; the drone ship is now down even now past the world. With no better choice, the Polaris heads down to the surface of the world.
Unlike spacemen in a lot of SF programs I could mention, the crew of the Polaris is actually pretty cautious about sampling the local food and water, carefully testing the water for contaminants. This leaves only the problem of how to test the food with the limited equipment on the ship but happily they brought a test primate along and his name is Roger.
Assuming because he saw a local animal eating local fruit the fruit must be safe, Roger collects a large amount of fruit and heads back to the ship. Strong stops him from swallowing the flesh of the fruit Rogers is gnawing on but as Roger explains, by that time he had et seven of the fruits. To everyone's concern he then lapses into what seems to be a coma but it turns out he just likes to nap after gorging.
Strong is not impressed by Roger's logic about the animal, pointing out they have no idea what the local biochemistry is like; for all Roger knows, the locals need a steady supply of cyanide in their diet.
Amongst the many features not properly documented during the orbital phase of exploration are the frequent seismic events the place experiences but the Guardsmen work out their oversight as soon as all the water in the nearby lake suddenly races out towards the horizon. Strong works out how to get him and the boys through the tsunami but many of the electronics on the Polaris are badly damaged.
They then have what seems to be a lucky break; it turns out that at least some of the missing crews survived because there is a settlement near by. Even better, there is a wrecked ship near it from which they might salvage parts.
The leader of the settlement is Captain Yates, of the very first ship to arrive at (vague name I never heard clearly). Much to Roger's pleasure, the Captain's beautiful daughter Arlene is also among the inhabitants of the little colony (although her mother does not seem to be). Unfortunately for Roger, his social instincts on par with his ideas about food safety and everyone hears his unduly frank expression of admiration for her form. Frantic back peddling occurs.
On the way back to the Polaris, the crew salvages material from the wreck. They discover something that makes them very suspicious; the valves are of a kind not developed until after Yates left Earth. The wreck is from one of the later expeditions, expeditions Yates claimed never arrived.
Meanwhile, Yates and his daughter are discussing whether or not it will be necessary to kill the crew of the Polaris so that the settlers can continue to enjoy their paradise without interference or if this time they can be convinced to join the colony. Arlene hopes the boys can be saved and makes a comment about how far she'd go to see this happen that probably didn't sound half as creepy in the 1950s as it does now.
Arlene distracts the cadets somehow in a scene that occurs offstage while her father sabotages the Polaris. The Guardsmen notice that their radio tubes have been smashed or stolen and when they try to life, they barely survive the explosion that follows. ALmost immediately after that, they are all captured and dragged off to a dank cell by Yates and his men.
All would seem lost except the underground cell the Guardsmen are in is only rivaled in its inability to keep prisoner in by Taos' notorious soft adobe jail cell wall. In short order, they've dug their way into the next cell, allied with the man there and sprung an ambush on Yates.
Although technically they've not escaped yet, everyone is sure that having Yates and a deadly ray pistol means they've won. Astro points out an upside to Roger; Roger was worried he'd have to leave Arlene behind when the Polaris left but now he will be able to keep her as his prisoner on the long trip back to Earth.
Wow, Roger hitting on Arlene is pretty crude but the interaction between Arlene and her father is megacreepy.
The interstellar travel is getting vaguer and vaguer. On the other hand, how many shows of this vintage have robot spacecraft?
It's very clear starship doors cannot be secured from the outside. That seems like a bad design.
Marooned with Death Part 2
More interstellar stuff and it's even more unsatisfactory about how interstellar flight works in this setting than the previous episode.
The Polaris, with Captain Strong and the three cadets have been sent to a planet whose name I never got in a system that is never specified. Although it turns out the place is habitable, the ship doesn't seem to have touched down at all and they've been there long enough when we meet them for their supplies to have run dangerously low. They have good reason to be cautious about the planet, since the previous four missions to the place have vanished without a trace.
The automated rocket with their supplies never arrives. This is because a nova has appeared, jamming communications and scrambling autopilots; the drone ship is now down even now past the world. With no better choice, the Polaris heads down to the surface of the world.
Unlike spacemen in a lot of SF programs I could mention, the crew of the Polaris is actually pretty cautious about sampling the local food and water, carefully testing the water for contaminants. This leaves only the problem of how to test the food with the limited equipment on the ship but happily they brought a test primate along and his name is Roger.
Assuming because he saw a local animal eating local fruit the fruit must be safe, Roger collects a large amount of fruit and heads back to the ship. Strong stops him from swallowing the flesh of the fruit Rogers is gnawing on but as Roger explains, by that time he had et seven of the fruits. To everyone's concern he then lapses into what seems to be a coma but it turns out he just likes to nap after gorging.
Strong is not impressed by Roger's logic about the animal, pointing out they have no idea what the local biochemistry is like; for all Roger knows, the locals need a steady supply of cyanide in their diet.
Amongst the many features not properly documented during the orbital phase of exploration are the frequent seismic events the place experiences but the Guardsmen work out their oversight as soon as all the water in the nearby lake suddenly races out towards the horizon. Strong works out how to get him and the boys through the tsunami but many of the electronics on the Polaris are badly damaged.
They then have what seems to be a lucky break; it turns out that at least some of the missing crews survived because there is a settlement near by. Even better, there is a wrecked ship near it from which they might salvage parts.
The leader of the settlement is Captain Yates, of the very first ship to arrive at (vague name I never heard clearly). Much to Roger's pleasure, the Captain's beautiful daughter Arlene is also among the inhabitants of the little colony (although her mother does not seem to be). Unfortunately for Roger, his social instincts on par with his ideas about food safety and everyone hears his unduly frank expression of admiration for her form. Frantic back peddling occurs.
On the way back to the Polaris, the crew salvages material from the wreck. They discover something that makes them very suspicious; the valves are of a kind not developed until after Yates left Earth. The wreck is from one of the later expeditions, expeditions Yates claimed never arrived.
Meanwhile, Yates and his daughter are discussing whether or not it will be necessary to kill the crew of the Polaris so that the settlers can continue to enjoy their paradise without interference or if this time they can be convinced to join the colony. Arlene hopes the boys can be saved and makes a comment about how far she'd go to see this happen that probably didn't sound half as creepy in the 1950s as it does now.
Arlene distracts the cadets somehow in a scene that occurs offstage while her father sabotages the Polaris. The Guardsmen notice that their radio tubes have been smashed or stolen and when they try to life, they barely survive the explosion that follows. ALmost immediately after that, they are all captured and dragged off to a dank cell by Yates and his men.
All would seem lost except the underground cell the Guardsmen are in is only rivaled in its inability to keep prisoner in by Taos' notorious soft adobe jail cell wall. In short order, they've dug their way into the next cell, allied with the man there and sprung an ambush on Yates.
Although technically they've not escaped yet, everyone is sure that having Yates and a deadly ray pistol means they've won. Astro points out an upside to Roger; Roger was worried he'd have to leave Arlene behind when the Polaris left but now he will be able to keep her as his prisoner on the long trip back to Earth.
Wow, Roger hitting on Arlene is pretty crude but the interaction between Arlene and her father is megacreepy.
The interstellar travel is getting vaguer and vaguer. On the other hand, how many shows of this vintage have robot spacecraft?
It's very clear starship doors cannot be secured from the outside. That seems like a bad design.
Rockets Labs Cadet
Missing Sick Injured
Episode W D W D T A R T A R T A R
Trial in Space 4 1 1 1 1
Asteroid of Danger 2 1 2 1 2
Giant of Mercury 1 1
Atmosphere of Death 1 1
Mission of Mercy 1
Double Cross in Space 1
Sparkling Meteor
Holiday of Terror 3 1
Riddle of Astro 1
Escort of Death 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Danger in Deep Space
Marooned with Death 4 1 1 1
Total 8 11 1 1 1 3 7 2 3 4 2
Supporting Cast
Good Guys Bad Guys
Episode Missing Injured/ Killed Kidnapped Injured Killed
sick
Trial in Space
Asteroid of Danger 1
Giant of Mercury 9 9 1 4
Atmosphere of Death 1 2 1 1
Mission of Mercy many many
Double Cross in Space 1
Sparkling Meteor 1
Holiday of Terror a town 1 a town lots
Riddle of Astro
Escort of Death one crew
Danger in Deep Space 1
Marooned with Death three crews
Total* 11 1 11 1 1 7
* Does not include totals for Mission of Mercy (+1 ship), Holiday of Terror
(a town), Escort of Death (one ship) or Marooned with Death (three ships).
