18 characters: Marissa, Larissa, Tojo, Lawrence, Announcer, Therapist, Peters, Aniket, Judy, Ex-mayor, Stone, Hernandez, Jim, Saetang, Ahmadi, Renata, Judge, Marcus
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Stone (32 lines, 527 words, 17.85%) - [John Gaunce] Doctor Stone has become ever more wrapped up in his research over the years. Now he finds himself with a problem so fascinating and revolutionary that he becomes neglectful toward a patient. Basically hubris is at a high point and soon to crash.
Peters (32 lines, 357 words, 12.09%) - [David Loftus] Salish Peters, chief mechanic. Great-grandfather was the first mission commander, and he never tires of telling people so and relating the stories of Earth he remembers hearing from great-grandpa. Sensible, direct, kind of average working Joe. Now about to turn 70, he has a husband and two grown kids.
Tojo (18 lines, 135 words, 4.57%) - [Gwenith Knight] Farah Tojo is a bright young adult who's an apprentice mechanic. Brings a youthful eagerness and excitement to the job.
Renata (19 lines, 216 words, 7.32%) - [Kathleen Li] Renata Mutombo is the mayor for 22 years now. Now around 50 years old. Ambitious and competent. No longer in campign mode, she should sound more natural and less practiced than before.
Ahmadi (13 lines, 108 words, 3.66%) - [Paul Knierim] Detective Arash Ahmadi is now 46 and married to Marissa Flint.
Saetang (9 lines, 115 words, 3.9%) - [Sova Reign] Detective Aranya Saetang has now been on the job for 22 years. Sometimes she's still a little annoyed about having to share the office with Ahmadi, but she tries to bury her resentment.
Judge (9 lines, 98 words, 3.32%) - [Rachel Pulliam] Judge Lee is still the justice, but approaching retirement.
Marcus (2 lines, 33 words, 1.12%) - [Glenn Hascall] Marcus Flint is the emotionally crippled absentee father of Larissa and Marissa Flint. He's 68 years old and realizing that he's failed at everything so far. He feels he needs a change of scenery to start over.
Larissa (33 lines, 376 words, 12.74%) - [Lindsay Townsend] Chief Mech Larissa Flint is now 40 years old and much more experienced than last season.
Ex-mayor (24 lines, 247 words, 8.37%) - [Roger Arnold] Mayor Renata Mutombo's father, a former mayor himself, really misses being in the middle of everything. At 80 years old, he's struggling to reconcile with his declining years and wants to find a way to matter again.
Therapist (6 lines, 126 words, 4.27%) - [Ahmad Joudeh] Doctor Tam Peters is the husband of Salish Peters and therapist to all.
Marissa (6 lines, 76 words, 2.57%) - [Virginia Hargrove] Communications Chief Marissa Flint is 48 years old and enjoys the responsibilities of her new job. She's now married to Arash Ahmadi... turns out there was some jealousy behind her previous spite for him, but they're still playfully combative at times.
Jim (4 lines, 60 words, 2.03%) - [SlimSamVO] Jim O'Hara is an ore extractor who works in the mines. He has a chip on his shoulder and is a little resentful of the desk jockeys who run things and know nothing of real work and real danger. In short, he has an attitude when dealing with the detectives. A fairly macho guy.
Lawrence (14 lines, 181 words, 6.13%) - [James Lorenz] Chief Lawrence heads up astronomy section.
Aniket (1 line, 6 words, 0.2%) - [Yashin Naidoo] Adoptive child of Salish Peters and Tam Peters, aged about 30.
Judy (1 line, 10 words, 0.34%) - [Grace Trombley] Adoptive child of Salish Peters and Tam Peters, aged about 30.
Hernandez (20 lines, 224 words, 7.59%) - [Lindsay White] Eva Hernandez is on a rescue mission.
Announcer (3 lines, 57 words, 1.93%) - [Erin Suminsby] Reads opening, closing and credits.
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 SOUND: noisy engine room with effect from ep 6
2 Marissa: [sfx: speaker] Thirty seconds to gravitational reversal. All massive objects should be secured already, but stay clear just in case. Arboretum is confirmed cleared.
3 Larissa: Prepare to cut all acceleration on my mark.
4 Tojo: Ready.
5 Marissa: [sfx: speaker] Gravitational reversal imminent.
6 Larissa: Mark.
7 SOUND: touch press, sounds fade out
8 Tojo: I just lost 20 kilos, fastest diet ever.
9 SOUND: sound of objects/people landing on floor and room creak
10 Larissa: Lucky thing too, or you've have hit your head pretty hard on the ceiling-turned-floor. Now fire up side engine A, five minute burn, let’s get spinning.
11 SOUND: some control fiddling
12 Tojo: Engine start confirmed.
13 SOUND: room creak and object clatter
14 Tojo: I hope they don't make us clean up the mess we're making.
15 SOUND: multicom taps
16 Larissa: Astronomy section, I’m going to need a precise reading on the distance to Peters’ ship before we can start the deceleration burn. To the centimeter, please.
17 Lawrence: [sfx: processed] I’m on it, Chief.
18 Tojo: Distance to the nanometer won’t solve the problem of counteracting his last minute gravitational acceleration.
19 Larissa: I’ve got a couple of ideas there, let's hope they're as good as I think they are.
20 SOUND: opening theme
21 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…
22 Announcer: Episode 10 - Rescue
23 Therapist: How are you feeling?
24 Peters: [sfx: processed] You’re always asking that.
25 Therapist: I always want to know.
26 Peters: I think you’ve got a pretty good idea. Scared.
27 Therapist: It helps to say it.
28 Peters: Not really.
29 Aniket: Can you see us yet, dad?
30 Peters: Yeah Aniket, you’re growing pretty fast.
31 Judy: We’re decelerating hard for you, we won’t overshoot.
32 Therapist: Going to have to turn you over to Chief Flint soon.
33 Peters: [breaking down] If… if I never see you again, I love you Tam, love you Aniket, love you Judy.
34 Therapist: We love you too.
35 SOUND: engine room, engines running
36 Larissa: Cutting inner ring, bringing us down to one engine.
37 SOUND: slight change in noise
38 SOUND: noise reduces
39 Larissa: ... and now, zeroing out acceleration.
40 SOUND: noise stops
41 Tojo: Gravitational capture imminent!
42 Larissa: Velocity relative to Peters?
43 Tojo: Four meters a second towards him.
44 Peters: [sfx: processed] Gravitational capture confirmed! I’m reading acceleration in your direction!
45 Larissa: Okay let’s cancel out that velocity quick, five second single engine burst.
46 SOUND: engine sound briefly rises then lowers
47 Tojo: Velocity fifteen centimeters a second.
48 Larissa: Good enough for now.
49 Peters: [sfx: processed] I’m reading an altitude of 29 kilometers.
50 Tojo: My math says that gives us 40 minutes until impact.
51 Peters: Impact velocity?
52 Tojo: Trust me, you don’t want to know.
53 Larissa: But we have plans to fix that, let’s go over the contingencies with you now.
54 SOUND: end scene
55 SOUND: locker room, people suiting up
56 Ex-mayor: Okay rescue team, do you understand your mission?
57 Stone: [mildly annoyed] The mayor already told us everything, yes.
58 Ex-mayor: Let’s go over it again.
59 Hernandez: Suit up, stay in the airlock, be ready to rush to where Peters crashes, pray we can get to him with the spare suit in time if he’s got an air leak.
60 Ex-mayor: Okay, sounds good, carry on.
61 Stone: [sarcastically] Yes *sir*.
62 SOUND: security section room tone
63 Jim: We’ve routed our operations around the thing for now, but what do you want us to do with it?
64 Saetang: Could you remove it, bring it up here?
65 Jim: Sure, ‘course we’d have to cut some connections.
66 Ahmadi: That’s a terrible idea, we need to leave it where it is and keep it operating normally until we understand everything.
67 Saetang: I think we should treat it as a security threat. It’s transmitting somewhere, we don’t know if the intentions are friendly, so we should focus on disabling it.
68 Ahmadi: [urgently] No! You can’t do that!
69 Saetang: Why not, Ahmadi?
70 Ahmadi: It’s… uh, it’s a priceless archaeological treasure, we can’t risk damaging it.
71 Saetang: We should at least cut off the antenna, that should make sure it stops giving away our location and any other details to a potential hostile power far more advanced than we are.
72 Ahmadi: [forcefully] No!
73 Saetang: Why?
74 Ahmadi: What if that makes the whole thing shut down? What if it triggers a self-destruct?
75 Saetang: There’s no reason to expect that.
76 Ahmadi: What about the way it reacted when I touched it?
77 Saetang: Just a buildup of charge over millennia. You’re talking like it was an intelligence reacting to you.
78 Ahmadi: That’s exactly what I think it was.
79 Jim: [dismissive] I’ve touched it. Didn’t react to me.
80 Saetang: So have I, once we made sure it was safe.
81 Ahmadi: My decision is final.
82 Saetang: You don’t outrank me.
83 Jim: [annoyed] Well, I’ll leave you two detectives to sort this out between yourselves, I guess for now things stay as they are.
84 SOUND: engine room but engines not running
85 Larissa: Velocity?
86 Tojo: He’s coming down at 42 meters a second now.
87 Larissa: Fire ring two engines for a 5 second burst.
88 SOUND: engines
89 Tojo: Engine 17 didn’t light, 19 is running at 90%, compensating…
90 Peters: [sfx: processed] They weren’t designed for all this on and off brief thrusting, they were designed to run constantly.
91 Larissa: Did we zero out the velocity?
92 Tojo: Missed it by 5 meters a second.
93 Peters: Not good enough. That happens at impact and I’m dead.
94 Larissa: We’ll have to go with plan B. Are you ready, boss?
95 Peters: Ready as I’ll ever be.
96 Renata: Rescue team, are you in position?
97 Stone: [sfx: processed] In the airlock, ready to head out as soon as we have a position.
98 Renata: Stand by with that suit, the odds we'll need you just went up.
99 Larissa: Test it out now, see if you can do an air release to cancel that 5 meters a second.
100 Peters: Okay, here goes…
101 Larissa: Did it work?
102 Tojo: Yep, he just hit zero, hovered there nicely for a few seconds, gravity is taking over again now.
103 Peters: Used a bit more air than I was expecting though.
104 Larissa: Use it all if you need to. Direct the air releases to make sure you land as close to base as you can so our team can get to you quickly.
105 Peters: I seem to recall this strategy not going well for you a couple decades ago.
106 Larissa: A massive ship like that is actually a lot easier to keep control of, and your release valves are steadier than my air hose was. You can do this.
107 Tojo: Projected landing time one minute.
108 Larissa: How close is he coming down?
109 Tojo: Looks like only a few hundred meters from airlock A.
110 Larissa: Perfect. Mayor, maybe you should send the team out now.
111 SOUND: mayor touches multicom
112 Renata: Doctor, move your team outside and hold position, you should see him coming down.
113 Peters: Altitude forty meters, velocity two meters a second.
114 Larissa: Firing one second burst to cancel as much of that as I can for you.
115 Peters: Velocity point seven meters a second. I've deployed the landing legs.
116 Larissa: Use your air the rest of the way, boss.
117 Peters: Altitude 28 meters, velocity one meter a second.
118 Larissa: I’d wait until 10 meters or a velocity over 5 meters a second.
119 Peters: I don’t need a backseat driver right now.
120 Tojo: 15 meters.
121 Peters: Starting an air release now...
122 Tojo: His descent is slowing, looks good from here.
123 Larissa: I think you're gonna make it!
124 Peters: [proud and relieved] Touch down! Whew, that was as soft a landing as I've ever felt if I may say so myself!
125 SOUND: some background people cheering
126 Renata: Rescue team, go!
127 Stone: Already on our way, we'll get to him in a couple minutes.
128 Larissa: How's your air gauge, boss?
129 Peters: On nil, just the cabin air left, I should be fine with that for an hour or so.
130 Larissa: Not enough time to tow your ship into the hangar.
131 Renata: Peters, you're going to have to open the hatch for the rescue team when they knock.
132 Peters: [developing shock] You realize I have no airlock?
133 Renata: We realize.
134 Stone: [sfx: processed] I’m not going to tell you this’ll be fun, Peters.
135 Peters: Oh no… why didn’t… well actually I can see why you didn’t warn me earlier, I wouldn't have been able to think about anything else.
136 Stone: It’ll only hurt for about 9 to 12 seconds, then you’ll be out cold.
137 Peters: But how will you get me inside in time?
138 Stone: We're bringing a spare suit we’ll put you into, won’t take a minute.
139 Peters: Better not.
140 Stone: Take your shoes off so we won't have any trouble getting your feet in. And be sure to grab onto something when you open the hatch so you don't get swept out. And above all, remember: *don't* hold your breath! The pressure difference from holding your breath will make your lungs rupture. As long as you don't do that, we've got about 90 seconds to get you into the suit before the vaccum does any real damage.
141 Peters: Are you sure I'll fit in the suit?! Did you account for swelling?!
142 Stone: It's oversized, don't worry, I accounted for that.
143 Hernandez: We're right outside the hatch now.
144 SOUND: knocking on metal
145 Stone: [irritated by stupidity] Hernandez, move to the side if you don't want to get caught in the wind.
146 Hernandez: [embarrassed] Sorry Doctor.
147 SOUND: hatch open clang with sudden rush of wind, then silence
148 Stone: Move! Let's get in there!
149 SOUND: amplified metallic footsteps and suit movement noises
150 Hernandez: Found him! He just passed out as I was approaching him.
151 Stone: [with a bit of urgency] Here, I'll lay the suit out for you next to him face side down. Now let's get his feet in first. Good. Stand him up now, Kochergan help me hold him! There, I've got his helmet placed. Hernandez, seal him up!
152 Hernandez: I'm trying, doctor!
153 Stone: Hurry, please.
154 Hernandez: [panic setting in] I can’t get it closed! This seal wasn’t designed to be closed by someone with these damn gloves on!
155 Stone: Take one of your gloves off.
156 Hernandez: [panic] Is that safe, Doctor?
157 Stone: [hurriedly] A few seconds won’t do any damage. I’ll help you reseal your suit after. Just be quick.
158 Hernandez: Are… are you sure?
159 Stone: That’s an order, Hernandez! Now!
160 SOUND: hissing of air escaping
161 SOUND: suit fastening/sealing noise
162 Hernandez: Got it, his suit’s sealed!
163 Stone: I’m activating his air... done.
164 Hernandez: [panic] I can’t get the glove back on, my hand is swollen up twice as big as it was before, help me!
165 Stone: Uh… forget the glove, it’ll never fit in there. I’ll seal your suit at the wrist.
166 Hernandez: [panic] My whole right arm is swollen and numb! And the hand, oh my god!
167 Stone: Be thankful it's numb right now. Okay let’s get a move on, Kochergan you can help me get Peters to medical and Hernandez you can take yourself there, run ahead of us, hurry!
168 SOUND: end scene with music swell probably
169 SOUND: medical background with beeping
170 SOUND: door opens and footsteps approach
171 Peters: Larissa! Glad you could make it down here! I owe you my life.
172 Larissa: [cheerful] Seems your time without air wasn't anywhere near as hard on you as *mine* was when *you* rescued *me*.
173 Peters: I'm fine, looking forward to a really big meal. I just wish I could say the same for Hernandez.
174 Larissa: What happened to her?
175 Peters: Have a look.
176 Larissa: I don't... oh, the hand. That's terrible.
177 SOUND: Stone's footsteps approach
178 Stone: [sadly] It was exposed to vacuum for too long, and the circulation cut off by the wrist seal too... there was no choice but to amputate.
179 Larissa: Will she be okay?
180 Stone: All of her except her missing right hand will be fine. In fact it's time to wake her up now.
181 SOUND: touch presses for wake-up magic
182 Hernandez: *wake-up groans*
183 Stone: How do you feel, Eva?
184 Hernandez: [momentarily groggy] Where am I?
185 Stone: In medical. We were rescuing Peters, remember?
186 SOUND: rustling of Hernandez sitting up behind following line
187 Hernandez: I remember. You ordered me to take off my glove, and... OH MY GOD WHERE'S MY HAND?!
188 Stone: [remains calm here and for rest of conversation] We had to amputate it.
189 Hernandez: You... you monster! You knew this would happen when you ordered me to take the glove off, and you didn't tell me!
190 Stone: Would you have taken it off if I'd told you?
191 Hernandez: You had NO RIGHT!
192 Stone: I'd grow you a new hand, if we didn't have a law against growing a clone for harvest. You can take that up with the mayor if you like.
193 Hernandez: [with contempt and disbelief] Wow you're incredible!
194 Stone: It was an emergency, we had to get Peters' suit sealed, and like you said those suits were designed to be closed up by a partner's free hands in a pressurized room. I realized you weren't going to be able to get it done with the glove on.
195 Hernandez: So why couldn’t you do it YOURSELF?! Take off your OWN glove?!
196 Stone: Then who would’ve been able to treat me, to perform the amputation, and to treat Peters? A doctor needs his hands.
197 Hernandez: So in that split second you just decided you’re more important than me and ordered me to sacrifice my hand to save yours!
198 Stone: To save Peters.
199 Hernandez: Oh, piss off! I hope I never see you again!
200 SOUND: Hernandez storms out
201 Stone: She’ll be back. When she realizes that tourniquet has to be replaced twice a day.
202 Larissa: [disbelief at what she's just witnessed] I don’t know how you can do these things, Doc.
203 Stone: I remember that I’m working for a higher purpose, for the greater good. Sometimes that means I have to put somebody in danger.
204 Larissa: A hand here, a cloned twin sister there… someday it’s all gonna catch up with you, Doc.
205 Stone: [philosophical shrug] Maybe.
206 :
207 SOUND: end scene
208 SOUND: soft music playing for party, moderate crowd conversation noises
209 Ex-mayor: Do you mind if I sit here, Judge Lee?
210 Judge: Go ahead. And I'm off duty, call me Meera.
211 Ex-mayor: Meera... that feels awkwardly personal.
212 Judge: Not as awkward as saying *your* name would be.
213 Ex-mayor: True. So, Meera... you're getting old.
214 Judge: [sarcastic] Thanks for noticing. Is that what you came over to say?
215 Ex-mayor: No, I mean... you're aging well.
216 Judge: Better.
217 Ex-mayor: You announced you're retiring in a few months.
218 Judge: That I did.
219 Ex-mayor: Have you thought about what you'll do after?
220 Judge: I'll just take it easy. Spend more time with my husband and the grandkids. Read a lot, maybe get a plot in the arboretum to garden.
221 Ex-mayor: You'll find relaxation isn't anywhere near as much fun anymore when you're not using it as a break from job stress.
222 Judge: You're saying fun isn't fun anymore when you get to do it too often?
223 Ex-mayor: Basically. If I were you, I'd reconsider that retirement.
224 Judge: I can always get another job if I miss working, but I don't think I will.
225 Ex-mayor: It's not the same when you're not on top of your profession anymore. There's no going back to how things were.
226 SOUND: approaching person takes seat
227 Judge: [judging a bit] I think you just can't stand not having power.
228 Ex-mayor: Well, I mean, isn't that natural?
229 Marcus: You know, most of us *little* people have never *had* any power.
230 Ex-mayor: That makes it easier, Marcus. If you've never tasted it, you can live a happy life without really knowing what you're missing.
231 Marcus: No, we can't. We live miserable little lives, but you don't ever have to think about that because we don't matter.
232 SOUND: tapping of wine glass to draw attention, crowd quiets
233 Therapist: I just want to take a moment to say a proper thank you to everybody who helped bring Salish home to us safely. Our mayor for organizing the effort. Our mayor's father and apprentice Tojo for finding water. Chief Flint for working out how to get us to him and get him down safely. Doctor Stone for leading the rescue team. Eva Hernandez for her brave sacrifice. Marissa Flint for keeping us in touch while we were drifting apart. And so many more of you. This was a real community effort, and we couldn't be more thankful!
234 SOUND: crowd applauds a bit, then breaks up into conversations as before
235 Ahmadi: Marissa, did you get a chance to look at those signals today?
236 Marissa: I did.
237 Ahmadi: And?
238 Marissa: Well, it's certainly not static. It's organized information.
239 Ahmadi: Any idea where it's being sent?
240 Marissa: That's the odd part. There's a little drift in where it's pointing, it's not quite the same location it was yesterday.
241 Ahmadi: Might mean the antenna aligner is broken.
242 Marissa: Could be. But I put astronomy section on it, they're searching that part of the sky for possible signal targets.
243 Ahmadi: Hmm.
244 Ex-mayor: Not to rush you or anything Peters, but I'm wondering if you think the ship can still be ready for the launch window?
245 Peters: Absolutely, it'll be ready in a couple weeks. I wasn't just sleeping over there, being stranded gave me plenty of time to think through the remaining problems. And I heard ore processing is making great progress on building out the fuel cache for the tanker.
246 Ex-mayor: Good. I'd hate to miss our chance to explore the Tau Ceti system, and I know we can't slow down enough to buy you much time.
247 Peters: I'm only sorry I can't do the exploring myself.
248 Ex-mayor: I know what you mean. Ah, to be young again. Look at them all, with so much to look forward to.
249 Peters: You know what they say, youth is wasted on the young.
250 Renata: [sfx: fade in] There you are, dad. Thought I'd let you know I picked the other two members of your mission volunteer selection committee.
251 Ex-mayor: Oh, who are they?
252 Renata: Doctor Peters, because he's best suited to evaluate how psychologically prepared someone is to spend the rest of their life alone without cracking up, and to make sure our volunteers are of sound mind in understanding what they're getting into. And Astronomy Chief Lawrence, since he understands our scientific goals better than anyone.
253 Ex-mayor: I'll get in touch with them tomorrow and we'll start narrowing down the list.
254 SOUND: multicom alert noise
255 Renata: Speak of the devil, I've got a call from Lawrence now.
256 :
257 SOUND: renata moves away slightly, call accept sound
258 :
259 Lawrence: [sfx: processed] Mayor, this is astronomy section. You're going to want to get up here and see this.
260 Renata: Now? Is it important?
261 Lawrence: [sfx: processed] Could be the most important thing that ever happened to us.
262 Renata: On my way.
263 Ex-mayor: I'll join you.
264 SOUND: walking out
265 Renata: [tired] I don't want you in the way but I don't feel like arguing about it at the moment, so do as you like dad.
266 :
267 SOUND: some sort of transition
268 SOUND: some computery sounds perhaps and occasional machine movements like telescopes
269 SOUND: door opens, Renata and her father stride in
270 :
271 Renata: Okay Chief Lawrence, what's going on?
272 Lawrence: You know communications section told us where the transmission was aimed?
273 Renata: Yes.
274 Lawrence: And that there's a slight drift?
275 Renata: Get on with it.
276 Lawrence: Well, have a look here.
277 SOUND: telescope noises
278 Lawrence: [points] There.
279 Ex-mayor: That star is moving.
280 Lawrence: Asteroid. A little smaller than ours. The transmission from our ancient device is tracking it precisely.
281 Renata: Is it part of Tau Ceti's system, debris disc, or its Oort cloud?
282 Lawrence: That was our first thought, but it's not gravitationally bound to Tau Ceti... and I mean *emphatically* not bound.
283 Ex-mayor: How fast is it moving?
284 Lawrence: That's the shocker right there. Relative to Tau Ceti, it's moving at about half the speed of light.
285 Renata: Is there any natural phenomenon that could explain that?
286 Lawrence: No, but even if there were, it wouldn't be able to explain the acceleration... well better to call it deceleration actually, relative to us.
287 Ex-mayor: [alarmed] It's approaching us?
288 Lawrence: No doubt about it. Coming up very fast, but now slowing, like they're planning to match our speed when they get here.
289 Renata: Can you project how long until it reaches us?
290 Lawrence: Already have. It'll be around 15 days.
291 :
292 Renata: Could we outrun them?
293 Lawrence: Their acceleration at the moment is one point eight gees and the fastest we've managed is zero point one. No chance.
294 Ex-mayor: [worried] Let's hope they're friendly.
295 :
296 SOUND: closing theme
297 Announcer: You've been listening to Two Fifty-Three Mathilde, episode ten: Rescue.