THE LAST WEAPON

Episode #455 · Written by Robert Sheckley · Narrated by Scott Miller

A desperate treasure hunt on the frozen surface of Mars turns explosive when three men uncover the legendary weapons of a vanished civilization. But the greatest danger is not what the Martians left behind — it’s the ambition boiling inside the humans who find it.

On the wind-scoured plains of Mars, Edsel, Parke, and Faxon are searching for the legendary lost weapons of a vanished civilization. Weeks of hardship have frayed their nerves to the breaking point — until they stumble on a hidden vault filled with artifacts beyond anything Earth has ever imagined. Blasters, freeze-guns, radiation tools, force-fields: weapons powerful enough to topple governments and reshape worlds. And in that moment, desire becomes deadlier than the weapons themselves.

As each man reveals what he truly wants, alliances dissolve and Mars becomes a stage for betrayal, ambition, and an escalating parade of destructive wonders. But deeper in the vault lies something stranger still — the “last weapon,” sealed away behind warnings in an alien tongue. What the Martians considered their final creation is nothing the men could have predicted… and absolutely nothing they can control.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Sheckley, born in Brooklyn in 1928, remains one of the most original stylists in 20th-century science fiction. His stories combine satire, irony, psychological tension, and sly philosophical undercurrents, often revealing the absurdity of human motives through futuristic scenarios. Sheckley wrote for all the major magazines of the era and became renowned for short fiction that reads like a perfect collision between spec-fiction and dark comedy.

His influence stretches through generations of writers, filmmakers, and comic creators. With “The Last Weapon,” Sheckley demonstrates why his work endured: tight storytelling, unexpected turns, and a tone that shifts effortlessly from adventurous to unnerving. This story is a prime example of the clever, biting, endlessly imaginative sci-fi that made Sheckley a genre giant.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to The Last Weapon by Robert Sheckley — vintage science fiction adventure as treasure-hunters uncover lost Martian weapons — and unleash something far worse.

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