18 characters: Stone, Renata, Marissa, Announcer, Alien Two, Judge, Peters, Larissa, Ahmadi, Marcus, Therapist, Sanders, Lawrence, Tojo, Ambassador One, Ex-mayor, Saetang, Alien One
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Peters (9 lines, 122 words, 3.93%) - [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 (1 line, 12 words, 0.39%) - [Gwenith Knight] Farah Tojo is a bright young adult who's an apprentice mechanic. Brings a youthful eagerness and excitement to the job.
Saetang (1 line, 46 words, 1.48%) - [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.
Renata (34 lines, 377 words, 12.13%) - [Kathleen Li] Renata Mutombo is the mayor for 22 years now. Now around 50 years old. Ambitious and competent. No longer in campaign mode, she should sound more natural and less practiced than before.
Ambassador One (3 lines, 23 words, 0.74%) - [Azure] Ambassador One is a Centaurian. They communicate non-verbally, so in order to be understood by humans they wear machine translators.
Ex-mayor (7 lines, 139 words, 4.47%) - [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 (2 lines, 8 words, 0.26%) - [Ahmad Joudeh] Doctor Tam Peters is the husband of Salish Peters and therapist to all.
Lawrence (5 lines, 83 words, 2.67%) - [James Lorenz] Chief Lawrence heads up astronomy section.
Ahmadi (18 lines, 143 words, 4.6%) - [Paul Knierim] Detective Arash Ahmadi is now 42 and married to Marissa Flint.
Judge (21 lines, 365 words, 11.75%) - [Rachel Pulliam] Judge Lee is still the justice, but approaching retirement.
Larissa (3 lines, 30 words, 0.97%) - [Lindsay Townsend] Chief Mech Larissa Flint is now 40 years old and much more experienced than last season.
Marissa (35 lines, 496 words, 15.96%) - [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.
Stone (14 lines, 254 words, 8.18%) - [John Gaunce] Doctor Stone has become ever more wrapped up in his research over the years and resents being torn away from it.
Sanders (6 lines, 100 words, 3.22%) - [Erin Suminsby] Chief botanist Juliana Sanders is now in her 40s and mellowed, with dreams of revolution far behind her.
Marcus (17 lines, 202 words, 6.5%) - [Glenn Hascall] Marcus Flint, father of Larissa and Marissa.
Alien One (1 line, 62 words, 2%) - [Meghan Schmitt] A six-legged, one meter tall, sturdily-built hermaphrodite alien with a trunk.
Alien Two (22 lines, 588 words, 18.93%) - [Jeff Robinson] A six-legged, one meter tall, sturdily-built hermaphrodite alien with a trunk.
Announcer (3 lines, 57 words, 1.83%) - [Erin Suminsby] Reads opening, closing and credits.
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 SOUND: medical background with beeps
2 Stone: Ahmadi suffered more than an electric shock when he touched that ancient device. There was a transfer of molecular nanobots involved -- fascinating little things, way beyond our technology. After entering his body they migrated to Ahmadi's brain, multiplying themselves first in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. Those areas are associated with decision making, so I think they're designed to control him by pushing him into decisions favored by the programming, then maybe more directly later once they have sufficient numbers.
3 Renata: You didn't realize anything was wrong at the time?
4 Stone: I don't know how I missed it.
5 Marissa: *I* *do* know, you were too damn absorbed in your precious research to care about your patient! I had to beg you to even glance at him for a second!
6 Stone: [unsure of himself] I... I thought what I was doing was more important...
7 Marissa: So you not only sacrificed your patient, but helped sabotage our chance at defending ourselves!
8 Stone: [unsure] I didn't anticipate...
9 Renata: Is there anything you can do to remove these nanobots, or suppress them?
10 Stone: I don't know. That's going to take a lot of research...
11 Renata: Time is a luxury we're running out of very fast. Let's hope Judge Lee can buy us a little more.
12 SOUND: opening theme
13 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…
14 Announcer: Episode 13 - Launch
15 SOUND: alien ship room tone
16 Alien Two: We can provide you with transportation back to your home planet.
17 Judge: This asteroid is our home. We've lived our whole lives here, our parents lived their whole lives here.
18 Alien Two: Leaving primitives with the power to destroy planets or dictate terms to the galaxy is not an option.
19 Judge: We have no intention of using 253 Mathilde as a weapon. We'll do whatever we can to prove that we're peaceful explorers.
20 Alien Two: You cannot guarantee the behavior of those who have not yet been born. We're aware of the history of your home planet, where explorers have usually been followed closely by conquerors.
21 Judge: We've changed.
22 Alien Two: No doubt you believe that. It's irrelevant. The consequences of a mistake are so high that the risk cannot be allowed, there is no scenario in which you will be allowed to maintain control of an asteroid capable of relativistic velocities.
23 Judge: If we were to surrender our engines, would you leave us alone?
24 Alien Two: Then we could not prevent you from building new engines. As long as you have access to clubenite, you're an unacceptable threat.
25 Judge: Clubenite?
26 Alien Two: The special ore you found deep within your asteroid which enabled your sudden acceleration. Our ancestors left a tracking device in your asteroid precisely because the ore made it a potential threat. You will not be allowed to remain in possession of this controlled substance.
27 Judge: So why did you agree to these negotiations?
28 Alien Two: We're negotiating your surrender. We have no wish to inflict any loss of life if it can be avoided.
29 SOUND: engineering room tone
30 Renata: Peters, is the ship ready to launch?
31 Peters: Almost. Give me another day.
32 Renata: That's going to cut it really close.
33 Larissa: Is there any point to launching? Can the ship outrun them?
34 Peters: With all the fuel mass from the tanker, the initial acceleration can't outrun them. But when they see it's slowing down instead of speeding up and they calculate the fuel burn rate, hopefully they'll decide it's harmless.
35 Renata: That seems unlikely to me, but I still want it launched so we can divide their forces.
36 SOUND: medical
37 Stone: He's coming around.
38 Ahmadi: *groans awake*
39 Marissa: What've you done with my husband? Is he still in there?
40 Ahmadi: [confused] What? Of course I'm in here!
41 SOUND: pulls at restraints
42 Marissa: You're restrained and under guard, you're not going to escape.
43 Ahmadi: That's okay, I've already stopped you from waging war.
44 Marissa: If the mission is complete, release my husband. Get out of his brain.
45 Ahmadi: You're saying something's controlling my brain?
46 Marissa: [disbelief] Did you think you were kidnapping me and destroying our means of defending ourselves of your own free will?
47 Ahmadi: I thought I was saving lives.
48 Marissa: You were just thinking what the nanobots they put in your brain *made* you think. You'll understand when we get them extracted.
49 Stone: I hate to say this, but the only ones who can extract the nanobots without destroying his brain are the aliens responsible for implanting them.
50 Marissa: Do you think they'd willingly release him?
51 Ahmadi: Yes.
52 Marissa: Not talking to you.
53 Stone: They might, if he's finished his mission. Or maybe they don't like to do that sort of thing to people anymore, remember the designers of these nanobots lived many millennia ago.
54 Marissa: Let's hope they've developed some ethical guidelines in those years.
55 Ahmadi: I'm sure they have, they aren't monsters.
56 Marissa: [irked] They've invaded my husband's brain to change his personality, make him commit sabotage, and make him abduct and shoot me. If that's not the behavior of monsters, I don't know what is.
57 Ahmadi: I've only done what needed to be done. You'll notice nobody's been killed.
58 Stone: As far as I can tell from the scans, they haven't done anything permanent to him. I think it's designed to be possible to disable, but only by them.
59 Marissa: We do have one of the aliens on the surface now negotiating with Judge Lee, should we ask them?
60 Stone: Frankly, I don't have any other ideas that can come to fruition anytime soon.
61 SOUND: multicom tap
62 Judge: [sfx: processed] Yes, what is it?
63 Marissa: Judge, I have something to add to your negotiations. Ask them if they're willing to remove their nanobots from Ahmadi's brain.
64 Alien Two: [sfx: processed] I hear you, human. I presume this Ahmadi is the one who touched our monitoring device. Bring him here and I would be happy to restore him to his original state.
65 Marissa: Expect us in an hour.
66 SOUND: tap to close channel
67 Stone: Hadn't you better clear that with the mayor?
68 Marissa: [scoffing] You, of all people, asking me to go by the book and respect my superiors...
69 Stone: How are you going to get him over there, do you really think it's safe to release his restraints?
70 Marissa: I'll be holding a weapon on him the whole time.
71 Ahmadi: Do you expect me to believe you'd shoot me?
72 Marissa: You'd better. You already shot me, I won't flinch at doing it to you. If you won't allow the things controlling you to be removed, then my husband is worse than dead and I'm sure he'd want me to put him out his misery.
73 SOUND: end scene
74 SOUND: airlock depressurization effect from ep 1
75 Marissa: [sfx: suit mic processing] Stay two paces ahead of me, where I can see you.
76 Ahmadi: [sfx: suit mic processing] Affirmative.
77 Marissa: Okay, head out now.
78 SOUND: boot footsteps as in ep 1
79 Marissa: Judge?
80 Judge: [sfx: processing] Yes, Flint?
81 Marissa: We're right outside, have them open up their airlock.
82 Judge: Works a bit different for them... you'll see momentarily.
83 Marissa: Wow, I see what you mean, a whole section of bulkhead just went transparent and I can see you in there... no airlock?
84 Judge: No airlock. Just walk through, there's an invisible field keeping the air in. You'll feel a little resistance but it'll be easy to push through.
85 Marissa: Okay... Ahmadi, or whatever you want me to call you, you go through first.
86 SOUND: sound of passing through field, then they take their helmets off
87 Marissa: Never imagined anything like that.
88 Alien Two: Our technology has been developing for ten thousand years longer than yours.
89 Marissa: Put like that, I guess it's a wonder you're not more advanced than you are. Now, can you please give me my husband back?
90 Alien Two: Remain here, I'll take him into the lab section. Ahmadi, follow me.
91 SOUND: their footsteps depart, door opens and closes
92 Marissa: Any luck, judge?
93 Judge: Well, the good news is they don't seem to want to kill us. The bad news is they won't accept anything short of complete surrender and agreement to be taken back to Earth.
94 Marissa: [wryly] A pity they couldn't have made that offer decades ago when the returnists were at their zenith.
95 Judge: Ironic how gaining the ability to accelerate fast enough that we could've returned home easily is what convinced so many people to want to explore the galaxy instead.
96 SOUND: transition to the other room scene with unnique background texture
97 Ahmadi: I've protected them by disabling most of their weapons, but I still need to detonate their reactor at the right moment to make sure they can't resist.
98 Alien Two: There's one other issue of concern as well -- this spacecraft they possess.
99 Ahmadi: It'll be launched shortly, but it's no threat. It'll be decelerating for an exploration of the Tau Ceti system.
100 Alien Two: We'd still like to make sure.
101 Ahmadi: Should I try to sabotage it?
102 Alien Two: Not necessary. I believe we can address both our issues by having you stow away on board. You can tie into the ship's communications system to detonate the reactor at takeoff time, correct?
103 Ahmadi: Yes.
104 Alien Two: Good. I'll supply you with an internal explosive which you can set off if the ship begins to present a threat or you're being ejected from it, so even if you're a captive you'll still be able to take out the ship if you need to. Your mission will simply be to monitor until enough fuel has been used that the ship no longer presents any theoretical danger. At that time, your nanobots are to shut down and allow you to live whatever remains of your life without influence.
105 Ahmadi: Yes.
106 Alien Two: Remain here until I get rid of the humans.
107 SOUND: door opens
108 Marissa: Where is he, is he himself??
109 Alien Two: The removal process takes time, and I've sedated him for the duration. I suggest you return in twelve of your hours.
110 Marissa: He'll be himself then?
111 Alien Two: In twelve hours, yes. Judge Lee, I recommend you also use this time to go confer with your mayor in person. Impress upon her the superiority of our technology and the pointlessness of risking lives by resisting.
112 Judge: I'll talk to her.
113 SOUND: end scene
114 Marcus: This is it. The last goodbye.
115 Larissa: It's hard to believe.
116 Marcus: Believe it.
117 Marissa: [mild disbelief] You're not backing out?
118 Marcus: I need to do this. But I'm glad I didn't have to leave with you still missing, Marissa.
119 Larissa: Good luck, dad. I wish I could be out there exploring new worlds with you.
120 Marissa: I wish I could say we'll be looking forward to your reports for the months we're in range, but it's not looking like we'll be given the chance.
121 Marcus: Well, at least the aliens are giving you your husband back... that's a start on relations.
122 Marissa: We can only hope for a last second breakthrough.
123 Marcus: I hate long touchy-feely goodbyes, so I'll be off now.
124 SOUND: end scene
125 SOUND: hallway with people passing by
126 Judge: I feel like my job would be easier if these were heartless invaders set on power and wealth. Then I could maybe offer them something of value to them. But they're not like that.
127 Therapist: Oh?
128 Judge: The thing is, I'm not sure they even see us as adults. We're irresponsible children running around with a dangerous toy.
129 Therapist: That's an interesting way to put it.
130 Judge: Well, it's infuriating. No matter what I say, it feels like they don't hear me.
131 SOUND: mayor's office room tone, an entry request tone
132 Renata: Come in.
133 SOUND: footsteps enter
134 Renata: [acknowledgement] Chief Sanders.
135 Sanders: Mayor, before I begin, I need to tell you that I'm speaking on behalf of at least fifty people.
136 Renata: [apprehensive] I gather this isn't going to be a conversation I'll enjoy.
137 Sanders: Word has gotten out about the offer the aliens have made. That if we surrender we'll be taken back to Earth.
138 Renata: [with a sigh] I was afraid there'd be no way to keep that under wraps.
139 Sanders: Then I guess you know what I'm going to say.
140 Renata: I've a pretty good idea.
141 Sanders: Some of us would eagerly volunteer for the chance to return to Earth. Others would rather stay here but simply don't think this hunk of rock is worth dying over.
142 Renata: *I* believe freedom is worth fighting for.
143 Sanders: [combatively] Fine, you go on believing that, just grant *us* the freedom to choose to go home willingly.
144 SOUND: a pause
145 Renata: We don't have anywhere near enough weapons for everyone anyway. I'll designate the arboretum as a gathering place for those who wish to surrender, and I'll let our enemies know.
146 Sanders: Thank you, mayor.
147 SOUND: end scene
148 Alien Two: I'm pleased at least some of your people have seen reason.
149
Judge:
They're a minority, you still have to deal with the rest of us.
I've come up with a new offer. We'll allow you to leave observers with us who can ensure we don't become hostile, and who can signal for reinforcements if we do. You could even have a dead man switch, send troops to wipe us out if you don't hear from your people in a certain time.
150 Alien Two: Unacceptable. Your current velocity combined with the acceleration you're currently capable of is already too great to intercept.
151 Judge: But you *did* intercept us?
152 Alien Two: We had many years head start thanks to the telemetry from our device beneath your surface, and the advantage of your not knowing we were coming until very recently. If we were starting from our home planet today, you could be across the galaxy before we could catch up. This is why our law says we must confiscate the threat without exceptions.
153 Judge: You really aren't willing to offer any alternative besides a ride back to Earth? Because most of my people aren't going to accept that.
154 Alien Two: For those who find going home so unpalatable, we can resettle you on an uninhabited world which suits your needs.
155
Judge:
We're explorers, not settlers. I don't think that's going to move the needle for anyone. But I'll let them know.
By the way, how's Ahmadi?
156 Alien Two: Tell his wife he's stabilized and sleeping, but it'll be a few more hours before she can see him. The rest is important to heal his brain.
157 Judge: Okay, I'll let Marissa know.
158 SOUND: astronomy section background
159 Renata: This is our war room for the moment, so I hope you don't mind the extra people.
160 Lawrence: Just keep them to the side please.
161 Renata: Keep your instruments trained on their asteroid. What's the latest distance and velocity?
162 Lawrence: A hundred and seventy million kilometers, twenty seven hundred kilometers per second and slowing.
163 Tojo: That's a little over the distance from the Earth to the sun.
164 Renata: We've seen the shuttle they sent their negotiator in. Any idea when we'll see more, or how many more?
165 Lawrence: We've identified what looks like a hangar on the optical and infrared scopes. But there's no way to know how many ships are in there, until they come out.
166 SOUND: multicom press
167 Renata: Ambassador One, are you ready?
168 Ambassador One: [sfx: processed] We've set up our positions in the designated corridors.
169 Renata: We're relying on you.
170 Ambassador One: [sfx: processed] Mayor, what is our objective here? Realistically. We face a technologically superior force.
171 Renata: The big unknown right now is numbers. If there are only a few of them, you might be able to stop them. If there are hundreds and you're overwhelmed, I'm not asking you to throw away your lives.
172 Ambassador One: [sfx: processed] Acknowledged.
173 Lawrence: Mayor! We've got visual on a number of small craft leaving the asteroid! Putting it on the big screen for you now.
174 SOUND: radar tracking blip noises?
175 Ex-mayor: Tracking shows 8... no, 10 ships so far!
176 Renata: How much time do we have?
177 Lawrence: Should be about 2 hours until they land. Assuming that's their objective.
178 SOUND: multicom tap
179 Renata: Peters, how's it coming?
180 Peters: Marcus is on board, we're just going through the pre-flight checks now.
181 Renata: We've got incoming ships, ETA two hours. The sooner you can clear him for launch, the better.
182 SOUND: multicom tap
183 Renata: Doctor Stone, now would be a great time to hear you've found a weakness in the alien physiology.
184 Stone: [sfx: processed] Sorry, mayor. I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker.
185 Renata: Any idea where I can find a miracle worker? We need one of those in two hours.
186 Stone: I'm sorry, mayor.
187 SOUND: call end sound
188 Saetang: We've evacuated the areas near the airlocks. We'll wait for as many of them as possible to come inside, then flush the air to those sections. If they get through that, Ambassador One's team will try to deal with them before they get too far in.
189 Renata: Good plan, let's hope they haven't anticipated it.
190 Ex-mayor: Renata, have you thought about when you'll surrender?
191 Renata: I don't plan to, dad.
192 Ex-mayor: This could be a no win scenario. Life isn't some game where you get to reset and bring everybody back to life and try again.
193 Renata: What are you saying, dad? That we should surrender?
194 Ex-mayor: We should fight until they show us we can't, we should resist as long as we have a chance, but no longer. We need to be prepared to recognize when the cause is lost.
195 Renata: As long as we've alive, we have a chance.
196 Ex-mayor: Exactly. If we get ourselves killed right away in a futile direct defense, we don't have a chance... but if we let them take us alive, an opportunity might present itself later.
197 Renata: What sort of opportunity?
198 Ex-mayor: Who knows. And if no opportunity arises, at least we'll be alive and be taken back to Earth. If they're telling the truth about that.
199 Renata: I'll think about it.
200 Ex-mayor: You've got a little under two hours to think.
201 Alien One: [sfx: processed over speakers] Attention, people of 253 Mathilde! This is the voice of the legitimate law enforcement authority which will shortly confiscate the dangerous weapon in your possession. If you wish to comply and be returned peaceably to your planet of origin, now is the time to gather in the area you call the arboretum. If you fail to do so, we cannot guarantee your safety.
202 SOUND: multicom tap
203 Renata: [loudly and urgently over alien's announcement] Communications section! Shut that off!
204 Marissa: [while working hard] We're trying, mayor! I don't know how they're doing it, give us a minute to trace where it's coming from...
205 Renata: [after alien finishes] Flint, how they hell did they do that?
206 Marissa: [sfx: processed] I'm not sure, mayor. Evidently they got access to the speaker system.
207 Renata: See to it that it doesn't happen again, even if you have to disable the system.
208 Marissa: Would that be wise to be unable to make an announcement in an emergency situation?
209 Renata: If it's necessary. You'll do as you've been told.
210 SOUND: conversation end noise
211 SOUND: ship interior room tone
212 Peters: [sfx: processed] There's a swarm of small ships on their way, looks like the invasion fleet, should reach us in a bit over an hour.
213 Marcus: I gather everyone's agreed that I fly anyway?
214 Peters: That's right. Good luck.
215 Marcus: Sounds like you guys need the luck more than I do. Listen, I'm reading a bit of an anomaly in the air processing system.
216 Peters: What kind of anomaly?
217 Marcus: The air is cycling twice as fast as it should. Should I pull the system out to check for an intake sensor glitch?
218 Peters: It can still handle that rate, and there's no time, you'll have to leave it for after you're underway.
219 Marcus: Understood.
220 Peters: The rest of your pre-flight checks look good from here, what about on your end?
221 Marcus: All green.
222 Peters: [sfx: cut off at end, static] Then you're cleared--
223 Marcus: [agitated] Peters? Come in, Peters...
224 SOUND: fiddling with controls
225 Ahmadi: You won't be hearing from them again, I just remotely detonated their reactor.
226 Marcus: YOU! How the hell did you get on board?!
227 SOUND: punches, wrestles to ground
228 Ahmadi: It's alright, tie me up if you like.
229 Marcus: I do like, time for you to get a taste of what you did to my daughter. Lucky I've got a lot of cables here...
230 SOUND: tying up
231 Marcus: I wish I could take you back to the base...
232 Ahmadi: They haven't the power to run the airlock.
233 Marcus: Thanks to you. And I haven't got the time. Looks like you're coming with me.
234 SOUND: sitting down in pilot's seat, flicking a few more controls
235 Marcus: Peters, I'm pretty sure you can't hear me, but I'm proceeding with launch.
236 SOUND: more controls, engine start, takeoff
237 Marcus: I'll send you guys regular mission reports, I just hope there'll be somebody to hear them.
238 SOUND: closing theme
239 Announcer: You've been listening to Two Fifty-Three Mathilde, episode thirteen: Launch.