7 characters: Instructor, Ahmadi, Marcus, Announcer, Computer, Maradona, Earth Controller
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Marcus (72 lines, 905 words, 34.29%) - [Glenn Hascall] Marcus Flint, father of Larissa and Marissa.
Ahmadi (106 lines, 952 words, 36.07%) - [Paul Knierim] Detective Arash Ahmadi is now 46 and married to Marissa Flint.
Computer (7 lines, 80 words, 3.03%) - [Ty DollaTree] The voice of the asteroid's central computer and individual multicoms and also the ship.
Maradona (29 lines, 392 words, 14.85%) - [Matt Ellis] Jesús Maradona is dead, but that won't stop him.
Instructor (4 lines, 74 words, 2.8%) - [azure] A farming instruction hologram.
Earth Controller (2 lines, 179 words, 6.78%) - [Mary-Anne Stanek] The earthbound leader of the international 253 Mathilde mission.
Announcer (3 lines, 57 words, 2.16%) - [Erin Suminsby] Reads opening, closing and credits.
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 SOUND: nature sounds, nice day, sounds of work in garden
2 Instructor: Sow these seeds 6 millimeters deep, 6 centimeters apart from each other, in rows about 30 centimeters apart. Try to distribute your seed evenly so that seeds don't grow together.
3 Ahmadi: Geez, hold up a minute will you? I'm working as fast as I can.
4 :
5 Instructor: Keep this soil moist with frequent shallow watering. Cover with a layer of sand to prevent a crust from forming.
6 Ahmadi: You expect me to lug sand all the way up here from the river...
7 Instructor: After watering, put your finger in the ground. It should be moist but not wet, to your middle knuckle.
8 Ahmadi: [exhausted] How long until we can eat these carrots?
9 Instructor: They'll be ready to harvest in 60 to 80 days.
10 Ahmadi: God, that's forever. Deactivate instructor hologram.
11 SOUND: sits down exhausted, onto box maybe. then, marcus' footsteps approach.
12 Marcus: [sfx: approaching] How's the planting going, Arash?
13 Ahmadi: Slowly and exhaustingly.
14 Marcus: Well, here, have a ration pack.
15 SOUND: passing and unwrapping, then eating
16 Ahmadi: [sarcastic] Hmm, pseudo-cinnamon flavor high calorie nutrient bar, my favorite.
17 Marcus: Unfortunately they won't last forever.
18 Ahmadi: How long do our supplies project for now?
19 Marcus: We've been eating them twice as fast as they planned, because you weren't supposed to be here. So we've only got about two months left, maybe three if we cut our calories to bare subsistence.
20 Ahmadi: Two or three months, that's right about when this carrot crop is supposed to be ready.
21 Marcus: The potatoes will take a little longer, unfortunately.
22 Ahmadi: How's the analysis of the native plants going?
23 Marcus: A lot of them are toxic, but a few are passing all the tests so far, so there's hope.
24 SOUND: opening theme
25 Announcer: Quiet Please dot org presents Two Fifty Three Mathilde. In the early 22nd century, the crewed asteroid 253 Mathilde left the solar system on an interstellar mission. Generations later, after a hundred and fourteen years, a new star system stretches out in front of them…
26 Announcer: Episode 17 - Eddington
27 SOUND: crack of thunder, rain starts
28 SOUND: wind and footsteps
29 Ahmadi: Marcus, this world is changing. I think it's dying.
30 Marcus: What do you mean?
31 Ahmadi: Haven't you noticed how much colder it's gotten since we arrived? And this wind, there wasn't so much of it before. And most of the plants have been shriveling up or changing color!
32 Marcus: This sort of thing happens on Earth too. They call it seasons.
33 Ahmadi: But we're in the tropics...
34 Marcus: Eccentric orbit. Ariel says we're heading into Eddington's winter.
35 SOUND: rain quiets, is there an effect to convey snow or eclipse?
36 Ahmadi: What... what's happening?
37 Marcus: Eclipse, it'll pass in an hour. Gonna get these with a gas giant neighbor.
38 Ahmadi: No, I mean what is this stuff the rain is changing to? Is it dangerous?
39 Marcus: Snow. Didn't you ever watch any holotainments that had snow in them?
40 Ahmadi: What does this mean for the crops we planted?
41 Marcus: Nothing good. Especially since we're only a few Earth days from sunset and it's going to get a lot colder during our weeks-long night. Let's get back to the ship.
42 SOUND: sound of them walking, then hatch opens and then step in and it closes. muffled howl of wind through hull.
43 Ahmadi: Ariel, how long is this 'winter' projected to last?
44 Computer: No precise definition of astronomical winter exists for this world. Please clarify.
45 Ahmadi: Estimate time until temperatures stay above freezing consistently again.
46 Computer: Estimated time to last daytime freeze is three Earth months, estimated time to last nighttime freeze is four to five Earth months.
47 Ahmadi: And if it ruins our crops we'll have to start over with the planting, that'll take way too long.
48 Marcus: Ariel, can we generate enough power in a mobile pack to keep our crops from freezing all winter?
49 Computer: Negative. Sufficient power is available for lighting to stimulate overnight growth, but capacity for outdoor heating is negligible.
50 Ahmadi: Could we grow inside the ship?
51 Computer: Insufficient space.
52 Ahmadi: But if we take out--
53 Marcus: It's too late to start over re-planting anyway. What about building a greenhouse around what we've planted?
54 Computer: Insufficient materials available. No native materials are sufficient to protect against projected temperatures.
55 Ahmadi: [after a pause] Seems there's only one answer, we need to start eating the native food.
56 Marcus: But without taking more time for additional toxicology studies we can't be certain that's safe.
57 Ahmadi: There's a quicker way to find out.
58 Marcus: What's that?
59 Ahmadi: I'll start eating real food, you can be the control group and stay on rations.
60 Marcus: [sigh] Well... if you're sure.
61 Ahmadi: I'm so ready to taste something besides these boring rations that I almost don't care if it kills me.
62 SOUND: starts collecting food from bowls
63 Marcus: The ones on the left could kill you, the three on the right probably won't, and the one on the top shelf might be okay if you cook it.
64 Ahmadi: This'll be the best random alien plant salad I've ever tasted.
65 SOUND: transition
66 SOUND: tents flapping, animal noises outside. then sound of animal picking at tent flap.
67 Maradona: [very faintly] Ahmadi.
68 Ahmadi: Marcus, is that you?
69 SOUND: more picking at tent flap
70 Ahmadi: Who's there?
71 SOUND: ahmadi gets up and unzips tent
72 Ahmadi: Hello there.
73 SOUND: animal noise
74 Ahmadi: Do you want in out of the cold? I've got some food we can share, it hasn't killed me yet.
75 SOUND: eager noise
76 Ahmadi: A flawless first contact. I'll have to give you a name... how 'bout Drina? You look like a Drina.
77 SOUND: footsteps, unzip as marcus enters
78 Marcus: Ah, you have company... I thought I heard you talking to yourself.
79 Ahmadi: Nope, the food hasn't put me into a delirium. Marcus, meet Drina, our first friend on Eddington.
80 Marcus: Looks kinda like a cross between a lizard and a raccoon.
81 Ahmadi: I wonder why it's not afraid of us.
82 Marcus: We haven't seen any sign of large animals, or any predators. There may only be herbivores on this world, so they've never evolved to fear being hunted.
83 SOUND: transition
84 SOUND: ship interior
85 Ahmadi: Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we *can* imagine.
86 Marcus: You feeling alright, Ahmadi?
87 Ahmadi: I thought as a resident of Eddington I should start reading some of Arthur Eddington's books. That's one of his little nuggets of...
88 SOUND: communication alert beeps
89 Computer: Incoming transmission.
90 Ahmadi: [excited] They must've retaken control and repaired the dish!
91 Marcus: Well, we'll see...
92 SOUND: moves to console, activates switch
93 Earth Controller: This is the planet Earth calling.
94 Ahmadi: [disappointed] Oh, damn...
95 Marcus: [sharply] Quiet!
96
Earth Controller:
Congratulations, you courageous lone explorer! If you can hear me, you've become the first human being ever to set foot on a world beyond our solar system! Everything you do is on behalf of our entire planet, and we want you to know we're all behind you.
It's 2208 here and today's data stream from 253 Mathilde was from 2207, we have to make a lot of guesses to figure when you'll land on Tau Ceti b II -- and you'll probably have picked a new name for it. So I apologize if our greeting comes a bit late. We'll retransmit periodically in case it's early. We know you're probably getting a little lonely out there all alone, so we'll also be transmitting news and entertainment from Earth for you once a week. We wish we could hear back from you directly, but I hope I'll live long enough to hear 253 Mathilde relay your mission reports for however long you're in range of them. Again, congratulations from everyone on Earth! You're an inspiration to us all!
97 Marcus: Nice to be appreciated by somebody.
98 Ahmadi: I'm confused.
99 Marcus: What this time?
100 Ahmadi: Earth transmitted 12 years ago by our clocks from 12 light years away, but we had 4 years of time dilation so our clocks should be running 4 years ahead of theirs, doesn't that mean we should be hearing their transmissions from only 8 years ago?
101 Marcus: No sense wasting your time trying to understand brain twisters that don't matter.
102 Ahmadi: We live on a moon named after the guy who proved relativity, and we got here by relativistic travel.
103 Marcus: But understanding it still doesn't put food on the table. Just accept your limitations and move on. Think about where you're going to find more of those things you say have the chocolatey taste, or tomorrow's recon.
104 SOUND: transition
105 SOUND: trudging through snow
106 Marcus: Hmm. That's odd.
107 SOUND: ground collapse, fall
108 Marcus: *grunting and panting from falling down a hole*
109 SOUND: radio activation
110 Marcus: Ahmadi! Help!
111 SOUND: perspective switches to Ahmadi
112 Ahmadi: What's the problem, Marcus?
113 Marcus: I came to a spot with no snow, I was taking a look and suddenly the ground collapsed under me.
114 Ahmadi: Are you okay?
115 Marcus: I don't seem to be hurt, but I can't get back to the surface.
116 SOUND: Ahmadi grabs stuff and puts on coat
117 Ahmadi: On my way.
118 Maradona: [softly] Ahmadi.
119 Ahmadi: What was that?
120 Marcus: I didn't say anything.
121 Maradona: [softly] Go.
122 SOUND: ahmadi jogging through snow under the following convo
123 Marcus: There's something down here with me.
124 Ahmadi: An animal?
125 Marcus: An object.
126 Ahmadi: Technological?
127 Marcus: I think so.
128 Ahmadi: Don't touch it! Might be like what we found in the mines.
129 Marcus: Too late, I just did. It's made of out metal, I can tell that much. And it's cold. I'll dig out the rest of it when you bring me enough light to see what I'm doing.
130 Ahmadi: [exhauted] Made it!
131 Marcus: Can you toss your light down?
132 Ahmadi: Catch. Brought a trowel for you too.
133 SOUND: toss and catch, toss and thud
134 Marcus: It's pretty small, whatever it is.
135 SOUND: digging with trowl
136 Marcus: Got it! It's only a couple kilos. Looks old. Definitely broken, whatever it was.
137 Ahmadi: Can I have a look?
138 Marcus: You can if you can pull me up out of here.
139 SOUND: lying flat and stretching
140 Ahmadi: It's no good, I can't reach you!
141 Marcus: You need a rope.
142 Ahmadi: I don't think Ariel has one of those.
143 Marcus: How are those vines behind you? Do they feel sturdy?
144 SOUND: Ahmadi shakes the vine a bit
145 Ahmadi: Hmm, might work.
146 SOUND: knife flick, cutting vine
147 Ahmadi: I'll tie this end around the base of one of these shrub-like things.
148 SOUND: tying knot, brushing against shrub
149 Ahmadi: Catch! Is it long enough?
150 Marcus: Yeah it's good.
151 SOUND: climbing
152 Marcus: *grunting and panting while climbing a rope*
153 Ahmadi: Take my hand.
154 Marcus: [exhausted] Whew. Back on Mathilde I could've just jumped up.
155 Ahmadi: But if it happened on Miranda you'd probably have broken every bone in your body.
156 Marcus: Well, here's the metal sphere.
157 Ahmadi: You know what it reminds me of?
158 Marcus: What's that?
159 Ahmadi: Sputnik.
160 Marcus: Hm. Could be somebody's probe that crashed.
161 Ahmadi: Looks too primitive for the aliens who invaded Mathilde.
162 Marcus: Maybe it came from Miranda, if there really are cities there. The gravity there is so strong, this is about the biggest probe they'd ever be likely to manage to launch.
163 Ahmadi: Too bad they didn't sign it and leave contact info so we could return it to the owner. Okay, let's get it back to camp for study.
164 SOUND: transition to tent backdrop, night noises
165 SOUND: drina makes noise of alarm
166 Ahmadi: *waking noises* What is it, Drina? You hear something?
167 SOUND: sounds outside tent, and ahmadi stands and shuffles
168 Ahmadi: [apprehensive] Is there somebody out there? Marcus?
169 Maradona: [jovially] Ahmadi! You made it, you old snake!
170 SOUND: tent unzipping maradona entering and making himself at home, drina reacting
171 Ahmadi: ... the hell?!
172 Maradona: [jovially] Don't pretend you've forgotten me!
173 Ahmadi: I haven't forgotten you. You're Jesús Maradona. And you're dead. For 22 years now.
174 Maradona: Of course I'm dead, how else could I be here?
175 Ahmadi: Huh?
176 Maradona: Haven't you figured it out yet? This is the planet of the dead.
177 Ahmadi: You're saying I'm dead?!
178 Maradona: No, not you. Everyone else gets here by dying, you're the first to take the long way around.
179 Ahmadi: So there are other dead people here?
180 Maradona: On the island.
181 Ahmadi: The island?
182 Maradona: The island of the dead.
183 Ahmadi: Is... is Marissa there? Did she die?
184 Maradona: [still cheerful] She's there, they're all there. It's ironic, while you and Marcus were racing towards Eddington everyone you left behind beat you here when their escape attempt failed and the aliens decided they were too much trouble and wiped them out.
185 Ahmadi: [struggling to process] That's... how can I get to the island, where is it?
186 Maradona: I'll guide you. Do you know how to get to the northern coast? That's not too far.
187 Ahmadi: I can call up the map.
188 Maradona: Meet me there tomorrow and I'll teach you how to build the raft you'll need.
189 SOUND: transition
190 Marcus: You still asleep, Arash? I think this'll be our last day of daylight for a while, don't waste it.
191 SOUND: marcus unzips tent
192 Marcus: Huh. Where could you be?
193 SOUND: drina makes some noises
194 Marcus: I don't suppose *you* could tell me what happened to him...
195 SOUND: beach background
196 SOUND: raft construction sounds
197 Ahmadi: [exhausted] Whada ya think?
198 Maradona: [still jovial] Not bad for a beginner. It should get the job done.
199 Ahmadi: Should I go back and get Marcus now?
200 Maradona: [a little more sinister undertone appears and persists] Marcus isn't coming with us.
201 Ahmadi: But...
202 Maradona: He's not ready yet. He'll join us later. Now let's go, let's get this thing into the water.
203 Ahmadi: Looks like a storm is coming in, are you sure this is a good time to be on the ocean?
204 Maradona: It's the perfect time. Let's go.
205 SOUND: sound of pushing/pulling raft into water, splashing
206 Ahmadi: So cold, even with this waterproof gear...
207 Maradona: We're in, now start paddling with that oar until we're far enough out that the current can take us where we need to go.
208 SOUND: long transition
209 SOUND: harsh sea storm waves
210 Ahmadi: [shouting over stormy waves] I thought you said it was close? Shouldn't we be there by now?
211 Maradona: [shouting over stormy waves] Where?
212 Ahmadi: [shouting over stormy waves] The island of the dead!
213 Maradona: [shouting over stormy waves] Do you really believe you've earned that?
214 Ahmadi: [shouting over stormy waves] [confused] What?
215 Maradona: [shouting over stormy waves] Do you believe you deserve to be reunited with your loved ones on some beautiful island? Sounds like heaven, doesn't it?
216 Ahmadi: [shouting over stormy waves] [confused] I thought...
217 Maradona: [shouting over stormy waves] [sinister] I'd rather take you to the other place. The place your life earned you.
218 Ahmadi: [shouting over stormy waves] I... don't...
219 Maradona: [shouting over stormy waves] A long time ago, you stabbed me in the back. I'm happy to finally return the favor, for myself and for Marissa and for all the other people you hurt and got killed in their hour of greatest need.
220 Ahmadi: [shouting over stormy waves] But I wasn't in control, I tried...
221 Maradona: [shouting over stormy waves] I'd carve 'I tried...' on your tombstone for you, but it looks like yours will be an unmarked watery grave.
222 SOUND: extreme storm noises, music crest and crash
223 SOUND: beach with waves
224 SOUND: drina noise of concern
225 Ahmadi: grunts of awakening
226 Ahmadi: Drina, how'd you get here? Where are we?
227 Marcus: [calling from a distance] Arash!
228 SOUND: standing up, or trying to and falling
229 Maradona: [melodramatically] Hell chewed you up and spit you back out.
230 Ahmadi: [weakly] Marcus!
231 Maradona: It's over, Ahmadi. Just let the sand envelop you.
232 SOUND: footsteps in sand as marcus arrives
233 SOUND: medical scanner
234 Ahmadi: [weakly] What's the verdict, Doctor? Will I live?
235 Marcus: Hypothermia. Here, get this around you and we'll try to raise your temperature gradually.
236 SOUND: putting jacket/blanket around him
237 Ahmadi: How'd you find me?
238 Marcus: Drina led me, by smell maybe. Your footsteps weren't hard to find in the snow most of the way either though.
239 Ahmadi: Across the sea?!
240 Marcus: I can see you built a raft, but those winds must've pushed you right back to shore.
241 Ahmadi: [disappointed] Then there really is no island of the dead.
242 Marcus: [perplexed] What? Island of the dead?
243 Ahmadi: Jesús Maradona told me everyone we've lost is waiting there, he told me to build the raft.
244 Marcus: Jesús Maradona is dead.
245 Ahmadi: Yes, but he's standing right next to you.
246 Marcus: [connecting the dots] *sighs* I think that native food you've been eating must have some sort of cumulative neurotoxin effect. Better get you back on rations.
247 Ahmadi: What?
248 Maradona: [unsympathetic] He's telling you your mind isn't under your own control... *again*. You're seeing things. You're nuts.
249 Ahmadi: [frustrated] How could I not notice the signs? How could be I be fooled again?
250 Maradona: [reading quotation dramatically] We have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown. We have devised profound theories, one after another, to account for its origins. At last, we have succeeded in reconstructing the creature that made the footprint. And lo! It is our own.
251 Ahmadi: That sounds familiar.
252 Maradona: Something the man this world is named after wrote 300 years ago.
253 SOUND: long transition
254 SOUND: campfire
255 Ahmadi: Did you discover anything about our little metal sphere while I was recovering?
256 Marcus: I opened it up. It's got electronics, they're not entirely incomprehensible in design but I don't have the knowledge or equipment to say anything more detailed. I can tell it's all been cooked so bad even Larissa wouldn't be able to make it work again.
257 Ahmadi: Must've been a parachute failure, or miscalculation.
258 Marcus: Arash, we have to make a big decision. And we have to make it now.
259 Ahmadi: What's that?
260 Marcus: We have to decide if this world is viable or if we should pull up stakes and head to Miranda.
261 Ahmadi: Can't we give it some time?
262 Marcus: Rations will run out soon. The long freeze is killing the crops we planted. I haven't been able to determine if any of the native plants or animals are free of the neurotoxin that sent you off the deep end.
263 Ahmadi: So if we wait, neither of us may be sane enough to make a decision later.
264 Marcus: Exactly.
265 Ahmadi: But if we go, there's no guarantee things will be better on Miranda.
266 Marcus: The weather will be a lot better, the gravity will be a lot worse, the rest we don't know.
267 Ahmadi: Those possible cities on Miranda are tantalizing, and the chance to meet the people who crashed the probe here. I'm sick of roughing it, wouldn't mind joining a technological civilization again.
268 Marcus: I'd hate to base our decision on that and then find no intelligent life. Or that the food there is poisonous and we have no time to plant. There's no coming back from Miranda, the gravity well is too deep.
269 Ahmadi: What do *you* think, Drina?
270 SOUND: animal noise
271 Marcus: She just pooped on your bag.
272 Ahmadi: Must be her way of telling us we should go.
273 SOUND: transition
274 SOUND: ship room tone
275 Ahmadi: That's the last of the gear loaded. Close it up.
276 SOUND: hatch closes
277 Marcus: [wistfully] I'm gonna miss this little moon.
278 Ahmadi: The bone-chilling mists, the damn snow everywhere, the hallucinations trying to get me killed... I hope where we're going won't make me miss it.
279 Marcus: Ariel, can you project how long it'll be before we land on Miranda?
280 Computer: Assuming optimal rendezvous and docking procedures, estimated landing is in 34 hours.
281 Marcus: Okay then, let's get going!
282 Ahmadi: Goodbye, Eddington.
283 SOUND: ship takes off, outside perspective
284 SOUND: mournful sound from drina watching
285 Announcer: You've been listening to Two Fifty-Three Mathilde, episode seventeen: Eddington.