Written by Jessica Best
[CONTENT WARNINGS AVAILABLE HERE.]
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(FX: RADIO TUNING SOUNDS. THE FOLLOW SCENE HAS A FOUND FOOTAGE SOUND THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM ITS PRIOR APPEARANCE IN THE SHOW)
SANA
--is Captain Sana Tripathi, of the Good Ship...Name TBD! Hand over my crew and Brian calls off the robot swarm!
GUARD 2
Sir, the cloud, it’s hovering…
SWARM (hums ominously)
GUARD 4
What is it?
BRIAN We’ve got something that might help explain that. Uh, see, while all the guards were swarming ADVANCE, I logged into CUI headquarters, grabbed some files the people might find interesting, and uploaded them to the public ‘net.
GOODMAN
No…
(FX: SPACESHIP DOOR OPENING)
(FX: FEET, WHEELS ROLLING UP THE SHIP RAMP)
BRIAN
You’ll wanna start with Report One: Violet Liu, go from there.
KREJJH
(TO THE AGENTS AND GUARDS) And in the meantime, so long, suckers!
(FX: SPACESHIP DOOR BEGINS TO SHUT)
PIPER I do not get tired of that footage! The Regime continues to write off the New Jupiter explosions as mere terrorism, and the Iris Casefiles as a carefully crafted morsel of insurgent propaganda, but now that we’ve all had a chance to grab a copy of our own off our favorite illegal downloads source and give it a good listen--and if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? Cram it down your earholes--I think we can all agree, something is going on.
Those of us waiting for the Good Ship Name TBD’s next move may be waiting a while, though, because we’ve had not one report of a landing. Which is worrying, because fuel is finite.
Look after yourselves, rock n roll fans.
Up next, co-host Kestrel Colvin teaches you how to connect with like-minded activists on San Ramos, through the magic of short-wave radio--
(FX: RADIO TUNING)
(FX: TYPING)
ARKADY Hello? Hello? Anybody there? Dammit. What if I--
(FX: TYPING)
SANA Arkady--
ARKADY Shit, but have I tried--
SANA Arkady.
(FX: MORE TYPING) SANA Arkady! You’ve been at this too long. Go take a break.
ARKADY That’s what you said last time, Captain.
VIOLET Last time, you were on shift for ten hours and you’d forgotten to eat.
ARKADY
What happens if we can’t get ahold of Other Violet and Thasia? We jumped into this with both feet, but correct me if I’m wrong, we don’t have a next step, other than “land before we die.”
KREJJH
Speaking of which--
SANA Sackville got back to us.
PARK That’s...good.
SANA She says no.
MCCABE No honor among thieves.
SANA (QUELLINGLY) Thank you, McCabe. (TO THE REST) She’s already got the Regime on her trail. We’re a very distinctive group of wanted criminals. Wherever we touch down, we’re gonna get noticed, and we can’t ask anyone to risk their lives for us.
PARK What about Captain Tripathi’s friend, Cam--
KREJJH BLARGH!
PARK Wha--?
KREJJH Oh, sorry, Agent Park. I just really wanted you to stop talking.
PARK He’s a talented forger with a lot of connections. Have you made contact with him yet?
SANA I sent him a message.
ARKADY In the middle of the night in San Ramos, when you knew he’d be asleep.
SANA He did a lot for us, and then I accused him of betraying us to the government he hates--
KREJJH In your defense, nobody saw the brainwashed robot swarm thing coming.
SANA We can’t assume he’s in a headspace to help us right now.
PARK Captain, all due respect, if this ship runs out of fuel because you won’t work through your issues with a guy you like--
SANA (SPUTTERING) How do you know about-- MCCABE (GLUM) The Iris casefiles.
SANA Right. (BUSINESSLIKE) Look, if Campbell decides to get in contact with us again, and if he is willing and able to help us, of course we’ll take him up on that, but the situation is delicate, and we’re not pushing. That’s that. Okay?
KREJJH There’s still the Fowleys’ offer to consider.
ARKADY Uh, none of us are taking that seriously, right?
SANA Violet, pull it up again?
VIOLET Right here.
(SOME KEY CLACKS)
JAY FOWLEY Hey! My favorite smuggler crew. Holy hell, you’re in a mess, huh? The entrepreneur in me is damn horrified, but the part of me that’s still a shitkicker from Cricket District is having an absolute ball, the stunts you pulled. The explosions! The explosions were my favorite.
Look, I’m guessing you’ve backed yourselves into a tight spot, huh? Smugglers, ideally famous for stealth and discretion. Or should I say, “ideally not famous.” I just wanted to let you know, you’re welcome to make landing on good ol’ Elion, any time you want. We’ll set you up with new credentials, everything a baby revolutionary needs. It’d be an honor, one shitkicker to another.
Oh, and about the whole “your First Mate flipping my best table” thing. Water under the bridge, my ducky!
Jay Fowley out.
VIOLET I mean, I’m no expert, but...it’s a trap, right?
SANA I’d say there’s an eighty-five percent chance.
ARKADY Ninety. You should’ve seen how pissed the Fowleys were about that table. (A LITTLE PROUD) Think it was an heirloom.
SANA Arkady, you can keep trying to signal Other Violet for thirty minutes, and then, as your Captain, if you don’t get up and take a break, I will sit on you.
KREJJH Isn’t that Science Officer Liu’s job? (STONE SILENCE) Okay folks, on that note, I’m gonna see myself out--
SANA Oh! How long have you been on shift? I should’ve had Park take over fifteen minutes ago!
KREJJH Nah, it’s fine, I was enjoying the conversation. Now, to go find my finance. My fee-antsy. My. Breesht.
VIOLET Fiancé.
KREJJH That one!
(FX: STANDING FROM A COCKPIT CHAIR, FOOTSTEPS TO THE DOOR, DOOR OPENS) (FX: FOOTSTEPS)
KREJJH (SINGING TO THEMSELVES IN THE HALLWAY) Singin’ a song...something is wrong, why can’t we all get along, find a place to land onnnn, where we all can belong...ba da da da dong…
(FX: BRIAN IS COOKING IN THE KITCHEN--FUTURISTIC KITCHEN DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING, FOIL PACKETS BEING RIPPED OPEN, THINGS DUMPED INTO A POT AND STIRRED.) BRIAN Did you write that one yourself, bud?
KREJJH (PROUDLY) I did.
BRIAN It’s got heart, soul, and a beat you can dance to.
KREJJH (HAPPY LAUGH) Missed you. What’s for dinner?
BRIAN How do you feel about veggie stew?
KREJJH What’s the other option?
BRIAN All the same ingredients, but raw, in kind of a...pile.
KREJJH Stew sounds aces.
BRIAN We don’t have, like, a ton of supplies left--
KREJJH
We’re not exactly spoiled for fuel, either.
BRIAN Any progress?
KREJJH Sackville said no.
BRIAN Dang.
KREJJH McCresky said no, Chen said no, Hernandez said no--Anders said yes but they were being raided by the Regime during the call, we think they might’ve been in shock. The Fowley siblings said yes, but--
BRIAN (HEAVILY) Yeah.
KREJJH Stew smells good.
BRIAN It doesn’t. We don’t even have garlic powder anymore.
KREJJH It does to my… (GOOFY) superior alien senses.
BRIAN (KREJJH IS A BRIGHT SPOT IN HIS WORLD) Krejjh, theh-shlow-lay.
KREJJH Love you too, Crewman Jeeter. So much.
BRIAN All the near-death experiences kinda put things in perspective.
KREJJH Yeah.
BRIAN (DEEP BREATH) I wanna get married.
KREJJH Me too.
BRIAN No, I mean, I think we should do it. Even if it’s nothing in the eyes of the law, we should say the words, together, in front of someone. Don’t you want to--smash a glass, throw a party?
KREJJH Of course I want to destroy a glass with you. But you know for me all that ceremony only counts if the family agrees, and that’s--(SIGH) Eejjhgreb sent me another message.
BRIAN What’d it say?
KREJJH Same thing it always does.
BRIAN Yeah.
KREJJH They’re just--they’re never gonna admit they were wrong, you know?
BRIAN I know, but. Getting married. It could be just for us.
KREJJH We know who we are, we’ve got nothing to prove.
BRIAN (QUIETLY) Are we ever gonna really talk about it?
KREJJH About having a party--
BRIAN About how you almost died on New Jupiter. I couldn’t contact you and I knew something had happened to you, I knew it--
KREJJH It was a leg wound, Crewman Jeeter. Nobody writes poetry about a leg wound. Which is a shame, because, like, a million words rhyme with “knee”--
BRIAN Krejjh, I want to talk about it.
KREJJH ...I don’t.
BRIAN (GENTLY) We need to, eventually.
KREJJH Not right now.
BRIAN (FRUSTRATED) That’s what you said-- (SIGH) The stew needs to simmer a while. I’m taking a nap, okay, bud?
KREJJH
Mind if I join you? I’m off duty.
BRIAN Yeah, but it is gonna be an actual nap. I’m just-- I’m tired, Krejjh.
KREJJH I hear that.
BRIAN I’m so tired.
(FX: FOOTSTEPS AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN. FOOTSTEPS INTO THE KITCHEN. A DRAWER OPENS. A KNIFE--NORMALLY VELCROED IN PLACE--IS PULLED UP. A BOTTLE WITH SEVERAL PILLS IN IT IS SET ON THE COUNTER.) SANA Hey, Violet.
VIOLET Gah! Uh, hey Captain.
SANA Whatcha doing?
VIOLET Oh, I was just, uh, chopping some--
SANA You were just splitting the last of your anxiety meds.
VIOLET (CAUGHT OUT) Yes.
SANA
I thought one pill was a day’s dose.
VIOLET It is.
SANA This doesn’t seem like the best time to cut back.
VIOLET I don’t want anyone to panic, but I’m running low, and given how hard it is to resupply, I can’t risk going cold turkey. I’ve done it before and it was--not good. And that was before all of this.
SANA You’ve got a lot on your mind.
VIOLET We all do.
SANA Yeah, but Violet, your parents--your sister--
VIOLET (IN A SMALL VOICE) I just want them to be okay.
SANA I know.
VIOLET Juniper’s only--twenty-two. She’s a grad student. She’s gonna be so vulnerable, to any kind of meddling.
SANA (GOING FOR COMFORTING) She grew up under the Regime. She has to know she needs to be careful now. And I bet she’s really smart.
VIOLET She is. That won’t save her.
SANA It might. And for now, you might as well live as though she’s safe. If you need us, we’ll be here. And in the meantime, you absolutely shouldn’t be taking half-doses of your anxiety medication, Violet, come on.
VIOLET (ABRUPT) I have three pills left.
And if I just stop taking them once I’m out, I won’t. Uh.
SANA
You’ll be miserable.
VIOLET No, it’s worse than that, I won’t be able to get my work done.
SANA And you’ll be miserable. You’re a person first, Violet, and a crew member second. Put your pills back, stick the knife back down, and let’s go solve this.
(FX: THE PILLS ARE RETURNED, THE KNIFE STUCK BACK DOWN ONTO THE VELCRO. FOOTSTEPS BACK TOWARD THE COCKPIT.)
VIOLET Captain Tripathi?
SANA Yeah?
VIOLET How long have you been on-shift?
SANA I’m the Captain. I never clock out.
VIOLET Somewhere, a Workplace Health and Safety official is crying and doesn’t know why.
SANA A what official? Is that a thing?
VIOLET Exactly.
(FX: COCKPIT DOOR SLIDES OPEN)
ARKADY (DEEPLY FED UP) --many times do we have to say, you and Park are not prisoners. You can leave any time you want--
MCCABE Yeah, I’ve heard that before, you’d happily boot us out of the airlock--
PARK McCabe--
MCCABE Or maybe you can just dump us on a planet somewhere, with all of our many job options, as certified traitors!
ARKADY You should’ve thought of that before you betrayed your people!
SANA (REPRIMANDING) Arkady, McCabe.
ARKADY Yeah, Captain.
SANA McCabe, I know life threw a lot at you at once. Hell, we threw a lot at you at once. We are all so, so grateful you chose to help us. If you still want to leave when we do touch down, we’ll do whatever we can to connect you with some form of employment.
MCCABE Collaborating with rebels--
SANA As long as we have some assurance you won’t head back to your former employers and turn us in, you can go work for a kebab stand, if that’s what you want. But in the meantime, our priorities have changed.
PARK Captain?
SANA Liu has a medical situation. All our focus, as of right now, goes into making landfall, and making it soon.
ARKADY Violet, is this about--?
VIOLET Yeah.
MCCABE About what?
ARKADY Cram it, McCabe! (PAUSE) That was too much. Even I can tell that was too much. Sorry. What now?
SANA We call the Fowley Siblings, make sure we can eliminate them as an option.
VIOLET How do we do that?
SANA Remember how things went down on Hafizah? I’m thinking we pull another Ricky Q. (TO PARK AND MCCABE) That means we--
MCCABE We know. The casefiles.
SANA Uh, Park, did you--
PARK (WRY) Had I been taken to Zone Z yet? No.
SANA Great! So you know the drill. Computer, outside call. Sana Tripathi to Jay Fowley.
ELLA Attempting connection. Attempting connection.
JAY FOWLEY
Sana Tripathi! Where’ve you been, you old so-and-so!
SANA That’s me.
JAY FOWLEY Still can’t believe what you pulled. Tell me you’re taking me up on my oh-so generous offer before my heart breaks!
SANA Heading in your direction as we speak, Jay.
JAY FOWLEY What’re your coordinates now?
SANA Hm?
JAY FOWLEY I mean, when can we expect you?
SANA Hard to say, depends how reckless we fly. Can’t wait to see you, though. Reminisce about old times...
JAY FOWLEY Of course.
SANA Like that time you stole an entire gear shipment during the war. How much was that worth, again?
JAY FOWLEY Uh.
ARKADY Or that network of Regime officers you bribed, to let you move all that dairy across spacelines--
JAY FOWLEY (AUDIBLY NERVOUS) Listen, in the past I’ve maybe exaggerated my misdeeds a little, you know me, always trying to sound cool--
ARKADY Oh come on, Jay. You can’t be trying that hard.
PARK What was it you said about proprietary government tech?
SANA Mm, yeah, the shielding tech you personally stole from CUI headquarters last year? And now you use it for--
ELLA Connection ended.
PARK I have never heard anyone more obviously bugged by the government.
SANA Right. Next course of action. Who haven’t we contacted yet?
VIOLET (TYPING) It looks like...a pretty short list, and they’re all based far enough we’d have to fly the last leg on nothing but momentum.
SANA Alright, we start from the top.
PARK Hang on.
SANA Park?
PARK We’re not that far from an old government satellite.
ARKADY A decommissioned satellite, yeah.
PARK It still works.
SANA What?
PARK Something about--local officials--
ARKADY Corruption.
PARK Yes.
SANA So if we fly towards the satellite, Arkady, does that boost our signalling power? Enough to hopefully reach Other Violet and Thasia, and get the benefit of their contacts?
ARKADY Assuming it’s not also a trap.
PARK If we wanted to kill you all in your sleep, seize the ship, and try to bargain with the Regime--
ARKADY No, they’d prefer us alive. And able to be tortured.
PARK (THROUGH GRITTED TEETH) Tell me how I already know that, Arkady.
The question isn’t if you trust me without caveat, the question is, do you trust me more than you trust any of your other--associates--are going to come through for you at the moment.
SANA It’s not personal.
MCCABE The Fowleys sounded personal.
SANA She did break their table.
ARKADY I said sorry. Sarcastically, but. The word left my mouth.
VIOLET Can we please focus? SANA Yes. Of course. Sorry, Violet. So we start heading towards this satellite, or we keep floating and pushing further down our address book. Do we put it to a vote? We do have quorum.
PARK Satellite.
MCCABE I’m with Park.
VIOLET
Given the way the calls have been going, I’m on team satellite, too.
SANA Arkady?
ARKADY Violet, how badly do you need--what you need?
VIOLET I, uh. (DEEP BREATH) If we go longer than three days, I won’t be okay.
ARKADY Satellite.
SANA Alright, including me, that’s five in favor. Park, if you’ll do the honors and reroute us?
PARK Aye aye.
VIOLET If Other Violet and Thasia don’t have connections on any nearby planets, we’re going to feel very foolish.
ARKADY Cheer up. We won’t for long.
VIOLET Because we’ll be dead.
ARKADY That’s my girl.
VIOLET How’s your wound?
ARKADY Fine, as long as I sit. (PAUSE) I’m not looking forward to standing, though.
VIOLET Does it hurt?
ARKADY Yeah, but I’m being very stoic about it.
VIOLET (LAUGHS) I can go get pain meds. If we’re counting on restocking soon…
ARKADY I’m good for now, I just wanted some credit.
VIOLET You’re very brave.
MCCABE Take it outside, please.
VIOLET What?
MCCABE The flirting. It’s off-putting.
ARKADY We were not flirting.
VIOLET I was.
ARKADY (PLEASED) ...oh.
MCCABE Off-putting.
(FX: TYPING) ARKADY Hang on--we have--a wisp of a signal--
SANA Just like that?
MCCABE You know how powerful IGR tech is, right?
ARKADY Shut up. (MORE TYPING)
SANA Arkady.
ARKADY Yeah, yeah, sorry.
SANA Arkady, how’s the wisp?
ARKADY Less wispy by the second.
VIOLET Should I call Krejjh and Brian? ARKADY Let’s not be hasty. (FX: TYPING) (QUICKLY, DELIGHTED) No no wait, let’s be very hasty.
VIOLET Computer, Violet Liu to Brian Jeeter.
FX: COMM SOUND
BRIAN (SLEEPY) Yeah?
VIOLET Sorry to disturb you, but we need you and Krejjh at the cockpit.
KREJJH Righto, Science Officer Liu!
ARKADY
(DEEP BREATH) Computer, outside call. Arkady Patel to Other Violet.
PARK Did you really put the premiere spymaster of the revolution in the system like that?
ELLA Attempting connection.
PARK ...you did.
ELLA
Attempting connection. Attempting connection. Attem--
OTHER VIOLET Hello?
SANA Hello, can you hear us?
OTHER VIOLET Loud and clear. It’s a relief to know you’re not all dead, Captain.
ARKADY Stop, our egos.
OTHER VIOLET I understand you were successful in rebooting both the Vree Chel Noke nanoswarm infecting your ship, and the captive swarm at Intelligence headquarters? Albeit by drawing tremendous attention to yourselves, and leaving a trail of wreckage a kilometer wide.
SANA I’d say that sounds like us, Ms. Liu.
OTHER VIOLET Please, Ms. Liu was my mother. Call me boss. How’s Park? PARK Unquestionably alive.
SANA Listen, we absolutely need to debrief, but before we get any farther--
OTHER VIOLET You need a place to land.
SANA Yes.
VIOLET How did you know--
OTHER VIOLET You’re a minor smuggling crew that just flung yourselves onto the grand stage. Who else do you have to rely on?
SANA Tell us you’ve got somewhere we can safely resupply.
OTHER VIOLET Sending you the coordinates. You should be able to make it in two days if you’re careful. Or lucky, which seems more your speed.
VIOLET (TREMENDOUSLY RELIEVED) Thank you, thank you, thank you.
OTHER VIOLET
Are you familiar with a planet called Hypatia?
MCCABE It has two reasonably good colleges and extensive wheat fields, but the capital city is a den of criminality.
OTHER VIOLET Succinct. Yes. Who the hell is she?
SANA, ARKADY, PARK They.
OTHER VIOLET They. Sorry.
SANA That’s former agent McCabe. When they found out that Major General Frederick was angling for another war with Dwarnians, they opted to help us instead.
OTHER VIOLET So you scooped them up, too. Don’t make a habit of it, Captain Tripathi. Government agents aren’t puppies.
(FX: DOORS OPEN) KREJJH Whoa, whoa, are we getting a puppy?
BRIAN Hey, folks.
OTHER VIOLET I need you heading to Prospero, the capital city of Hypatia--
SANA Boss Violet, how’s Prospero’s med supply? (TO VIOLET) Our Violet, what do we need?
VIOLET Dilamadol, 60 miligram tablets.
OTHER VIOLET Can it be used recreationally?
VIOLET I--yeah, if you mix it with enough alcohol.
OTHER VIOLET Then they’ll have it where you’re going. Exorbitant prices, but if it’s a matter of medical necessity, we can fund you.
VIOLET It...is. (GAINING CONFIDENCE) It is.
OTHER VIOLET Got it. Enough small talk. I have a mission for you. Two missions, in fact.
SANA Great. Give us the broad strokes, and we’ll vote on whether or not we take them on.
OTHER VIOLET (GOOD LORD) You’re really doing this.
I--fine, okay. Job one. Are you familiar with the Echoes?
ARKADY The sound, or the roving bands of soldiers-turned mercenaries?
SANA (TO OTHER VIOLET, A LITTLE DRILY) Assume yes.
ARKADY Isn’t everyone?
VIOLET Wait, they were soldiers before? All of them?
ARKADY There’s a reason they kill like professionals. They’re disciplined. Regimented. Scary.
OTHER VIOLET An Echo leader recently resurfaced. We want you to make contact, offer him a deal. His name is Max Gavins.
ARKADY Oh, you are shitting me.
VIOLET Who’s--
MCCABE: Max Gavins? He’s been in the IGR’s wanted list for years.
VIOLET Well. Isn’t that...kind of good?
PARK
He once killed his mark by shooting through three other people.
OTHER VIOLET (A LITTLE DEFENSIVE) He’s ruthless, but he has--standards.
ARKADY
Yeah, I’m sure he proofreads his ransom notes.
OTHER VIOLET He’s a merc. He’s done bad things, but he’s always done them for money. He doesn’t torture, doesn’t hurt people for fun. Anyway, I’m not asking you to appeal to his better nature. We’re offering revenge and cash. We have a lot of artists and academic types, but we need an army, and the Echoes have no love for the Regime.
PARK I thought he was dead.
OTHER VIOLET Alive and kicking, and sources suggest he’ll be making a supply run on Hypatia two weeks from now.
SANA So, we go there and talk to Max. Why us?
OTHER VIOLET Honestly? Because I’m not sure what else to do with you. You very publicly faced down the Regime and lived, which gives you a surprising amount of cred, but half of you are civilians and all of you are unpredictable in the field, at best. So PR and recruitment it is.
ARKADY (SKEPTICAL) You think he’ll be impressed by us?
KREJJH Who wouldn’t be?
OTHER VIOLET I think he’ll know it’s not a set-up. Certainly, not a well-planned one.
SANA All in favor, raise your hand?
OTHER VIOLET Again, I can’t see your hands--
SANA
McCabe, you and Park get votes too, remember.
MCCABE Can I abstain?
SANA Of course. That’s six in favor, one abstained. Park, set the course for Hypatia.
OTHER VIOLET Sending you a full dossier now.
ELLA Message received.
OTHER VIOLET (SPOOKED BY THE SOUND OF HER DEAD FRIEND’S VOICE) Did you need to reinstall that program?
SANA It felt like a nice way to keep Emily Craddock’s memory alive, let her voice keep drifting through the airwaves.
ARKADY Also, it’s free.
OTHER VIOLET Uh. Yeah. Moving on. The second job. Forwarding you an anonymous recording we received the other day.
ELLA Message received.
OTHER VIOLET Take a look. Well, not a “look” because the visual’s been too compressed to play on a human-built computer. Take a listen.
(FX: THE HUM OF TWO SPACESHIP ENGINES OF VERY DIFFERENT MAKE, ONE HUMAN, ONE DWARNIAN.)
(IN THE BACKGROUND, OVERLAPPING WITH THE DIALOGUE, IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE IN FRENCH.)
HUMAN (VOICE 1)
---heeah, wi felsh? All thee-gran gun.
DWARNIAN (VOICE 2)
Gun, all dwasha-dwasha gun sh'allus, yal went gull---
HUMAN
Em deleh buum chehr, laik--
DWARNIAN
Neesh, em go bex em.
HUMAN
Want lastam fowa-zeym ku Azhmith.
DWARNIAN
Naukandu. Naugud neeah.
HUMAN
Oukay, dull. Lastam... (gestures to calendar) nou nextam, oukay, want allus gimi em--- (gesture) ku six-ten-thee, ep sen-a-nain-thee, nextam fowa-ten-faiv, ep nain-tu-thee, nextam eyt-a-ten-nain, ep thee-faiv-thee, Ekko-Oss- (STATIC), em---
DWARNIAN
Kandu allus kreel. Want yal-
HUMAN
Em felsh chehr? (FX: SPACESHIP DOOR OPENS) Tu, mor tu-gran--- DWARNAIN Felsh.
OTHER VIOLET This was sent very quickly, in the middle of the night. Someone risked their life to give us this information, and neither Thasia nor I can make any sense of it.
BRIAN Oh, that’s because it’s not in English or Standard Exo-Dwarnian.
OTHER VIOLET Brian?
BRIAN Hi. Uh, that’s Dwarnglish. It’s a pidgin, like, a blend of multiple languages? I think it was only ever spoken in Neuzo, to be honest.
OTHER VIOLET Thasia grew up in Neuzo.
BRIAN Yeah, Dwarnglish was only used in really specific circumstances. Shopkeepers and street vendors, you know? Smugglers, mafiosos.
OTHER VIOLET What are they saying?
BRIAN Dwarnglish is pretty situational? A lot of gestures and facial expressions and stuff.
OTHER VIOLET But it’s a mix of English and Dwarnian?
BRIAN Mostly.
OTHER VIOLET So when they say “guns.”
BRIAN I think they mean guns. There’s some numbers, too. Look, this is--I think it’s bad. I think it’s really bad. Present company excluded, humans and Dwarnians don’t meet up just to hang out. What this sounds like to me is an arms deal.
KREJJH Bl’dlithay vemchako...
BRIAN Yeah.
KREJJH I do not want to know what the Regime would do with Dwarnian tech. Our stuff is...well, it’s much, much better than yours.
OTHER VIOLET Brian, look it over, do what you can to make sense of it.
BRIAN Look, there’s not a ton of scholarship on Dwarnglish because the few researchers who worked on it tended to…
VIOLET (HOPEFULLY) Quit?
BRIAN Quit this mortal coil, yeah. Mafia language, you know? They were protective of it. But I’ll do what I can.
OTHER VIOLET Good. Transferring you funds from the New Jupiter job now, should be enough for all the basics. Keep me in the loop about Hypatia, and in the meantime, try not to blow anything else up.
SANA Thank you, Boss Violet. We’re glad you’re not dead, too.
OTHER VIOLET Thasia is waking up, I have to go--
KREJJH (GLEEFUL, ALWAYS READY TO SHIP SOMETHING NEW) Wait, do you sleep in the same room?
ELLA Connection ended.
SANA Violet, if you can get us started on a shopping list. Arkady, take a break now, absolutely no excuses. Krejjh, we need you rested too for the landing. Brian--
BRIAN Can you play the recording again? From the start.
PARK That is the start. It picks up mid-sentence.
RECORDING (BEGINS TO PLAY AGAIN)
PARK Captain Tripathi, do you mind taking the wheel? I’ll be back in five. McCabe and I need to check our supplies, for the shopping list.
SANA Of course.
PARK McCabe?
(FX: FOOTSTEPS OUT OF THE COCKPIT, DOORS SWOOSH SHUT. WE’RE OUTSIDE THE COCKPIT)
PARK Good thing we didn’t get stuck on Elion with the Fowleys.
MCCABE Yeah. That would’ve been-- (WEAKLY) bad.
PARK You’ve been quiet.
MCCABE I don’t have much to say.
PARK So, here’s what I keep thinking. The Fowleys had their calls bugged because of their involvement with the Iris case.
MCCABE ...makes sense.
PARK As an agent working on the casefiles, you would’ve been informed of any related operations. If the Regime, the IGR, whatever you want to call them, made contact with the Fowleys while you were still on New Jupiter, you would’ve known all about it. But you didn’t say anything to the crew.
MCCABE Agent--Park, I--do you really think I’d, what, sell the crew out, sell you out, to try to strike a deal with the IGR?
PARK I think you were thinking about it.
Look, RJ--McCabe, you need to understand. You and I, we’re not their prisoners.
MCCABE Does this feel like freedom to you? We’re stuck here.
PARK You don’t always have to be happy about what you did. But you do need to understand, and I mean you need to understand yesterday, that this is it. It’s too late to change sides. It’s too late to decide you don’t want to make the sacrifice. You shot an officer.
MCCABE Park--
PARK
You fled with the Rumor crew, and with me. It doesn’t matter how many strings get pulled, this administration will never trust you again. There is nothing the Regime hates more than a turncoat.
MCCABE ...I was going to tell them about the Fowleys eventually.
PARK Well, I hope you’re right. But honestly, in this moment, McCabe? I’m glad we don’t have to find out.
MCCABE (AGONIZED) My family will never--my brother is in the military--
PARK I know.
MCCABE Your family--Shelly--
PARK
...I know. It is what it is.
I’m not your boss anymore, and I can’t give orders. But as your fellow crew member, I suggest you go back to your room, do what nobody else here seems to manage, and get some sleep. Sort your head out.
MCCABE Will you cover for me?
PARK This time.
MCCABE Thanks, age--thanks, Park.
PARK Yeah, yeah.
(FX: FOOTSTEPS AWAY. WE’RE FOLLOWING PARK AS HE LINGERS OUTSIDE THE COCKPIT DOOR FOR A SECOND.
PARK (LETS OUT A LONG EXHALE)
FX: THE DOORS OPEN WITH A WHOOSH AND PARK STEPS BACK INSIDE)
ARKADY Well?
VIOLET What Arkady meant was, “anything else for the shopping list?”
PARK Coffee. McCabe’s so far into caffeine withdrawal, they’re taking a nap.
BRIAN Can I get a pair of better headphones? I wanna see if I can isolate sounds on the recording. Emphasis is everything, and there’s so much background noise--
SANA Background noise? Wouldn’t know what that’s like, not on this ship!
KREJJH Fruit jerky! Add fruit jerky to the list!
VIOLET Gauze, painkillers, antiseptic, earl grey tea if we’re dreaming…
SANA Let’s dream. Let’s dream big.
(SOUNDS START TO FADE OUT)
BRIAN Garlic powder! Peanut butter! Anything that’s not the makings of veggie stew!
KREJJH I love your stew, Crewman Jeeter!
ARKADY You love Crewman Jeeter, is what you love.
KREJJH Aww, First Mate Patel, I love you, too!
SANA A hammock? A hammock would be amazing…
ELLA The Strange Case of Starship Iris, Starring--
JULIA Julia Morizawa as Piper Tanaka
RUKHMANI Rukhmani Desai as Sana Tripathi
ISHANI Ishani Kanetkar as Arkady Patel
CINDY Cindy Chu as Violet Liu
BRITTONY
Brittony LeFever as Krejjh
JAMIE
Jamie Price as Brian Jeeter
CHRIS Chris Choi as Jin Seon Park
JACKIE Jackie Andrews as RJ McCabe
ELLA
Ella Whomersley as ELLA
ALEXANDER Alexander Doddy as Jay Fowley
JO
Jo Chiang as Other Violet
MAK Mak Shepard as French recording
ELISHA Elisha Chen as Voice One
REY Rey Vargas as Voice Two
ERIN Sound design, mixing, and editing by Hannah Cross and Erin Baumann
JEFFREY Directed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner
JESS Written by Jessica Best
Opening credits music is “Fear for the Storm,” written by Jessica Best and S.E. Winters and performed by Chiron Star with Erin Bauman on vocals. Ending credits music is “Rocket Science” by David Devereux of Tin Can Audio.