VOICE: It’s time for Captain Radio!
[Intro music plays: thrilling, space-y synthesizer.]
NARRATOR: These are the adventures of Captain Radio! When we last saw our heroes, they foiled the evil plans of Doctor Orban and were heading home to Alpha Centauri. But no sooner had they embarked on the journey home then they intercepted a radio signal from Magnus Hostillian – a man who has been dead for 15 years. Obsessed with finding his long-lost mentor, Captain Radio has spent weeks scouring the galaxy for any sign of him. But the mystery of Magnus’ disappearance goes deeper than our hero can possibly imagine…and it will soon bring him face-to-face with an ancient artifact of terrible power.
You’re listening to Captain Radio and the Curse of the Primordial Planet. Chapter One: The Ghosts of Gemini Four.
While Ace and Orion search for clues at the edge of the unexplored Velorum Expanse, Captain Radio and Andromeda travel to the planet Gemini Four, where Magnus Hostillian was supposedly killed in battle…
CAPTAIN RADIO: Maybe there’s some answer here as to how Magnus survived.
ANDROMEDA: It has been three weeks with nothing to go on but one radio transmission. I think it might be time to accept that we’re chasing a ghost.
CAPTAIN RADIO: He’s out there, Andromeda. I’m sure of it. And he needs our help. I owe him that much.
ANDROMEDA: I know you two were close, but surely–
CAPTAIN RADIO: Magnus Hostillian taught me everything I know. He and my father grew up together, he was like family. If he’s alive, I have to know.
ANDROMEDA: Then we’ll keep looking.
DOCENT: Good morning. Welcome to the Museum of the Battle of Gemini Four. I’m the docent. I’m afraid the battlefield itself is closed to visitors.
CAPTAIN RADIO: My name is Xavier, count of Alpha Centauri. A thousand of my father’s soldiers fought and died here fifteen years ago to save your planet from the Opticon. I think that’s earned me the right to look around.
DOCENT: My apologies, your grace. We didn’t know you were coming. Of course, you may inspect the battlefield if you wish.
ANDROMEDA: I’ll be accompanying him.
DOCENT: And you are?
ANDROMEDA: Andromeda, daughter of Baron Osiris of Proxima.
DOCENT: And Proxima is…where exactly?
CAPTAIN RADIO: She goes where I go.
DOCENT: Ah, I see! Your assistant.
ANDROMEDA: His what?
CAPTAIN RADIO: That will be all, thank you.
DOCENT : If you need anything at all, I’m at your disposal, sir.
ANDROMEDA: I’m sorry if I embarrassed you, Xavier.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Nonsense. You could never embarrass me.
ANDROMEDA: You say that, but I can see it in the way people look at us when we’re together.
CAPTAIN RADIO: What do you mean?
ANDROMEDA: Like they’re thinking, “what’s that common-born girl doing with the heir to the House of Perseid? Doesn’t she know her place?”
CAPTAIN RADIO: Your place is right by my side, Andromeda. Besides, your father acted very bravely in this battle. He earned his title.
ANDROMEDA: Yes, I suppose you’re right. Maybe I’m imagining things.
NARRATOR: Captain Radio and Andromeda stroll through the solemn grounds of the memorial. Nearby, the docent activates a small, handheld radio and signals to someone concealed nearby.
DOCENT: They’re on the northern side of the cemetery. If you act now, no one will see.
CAPTAIN RADIO: It’s amazing a place that has seen so much carnage could be so beautiful.
ANDROMEDA: I see no beauty here. There is too much residual pain. Can’t you feel it?
CAPTAIN RADIO: I do not have your psychic ability. What do you sense?
ANDROMEDA: Fear. Hatred. Death. It is like a stain, one that can never be washed out.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Can you sense individuals?
ANDROMEDA: It’s all mixed together. Maybe if I was closer to the source.
CAPTAIN RADIO: See that depression over there? That must be the crater that was left behind when Magnus slayed the Opticon.
ANDROMEDA: Magnus was here. I can feel his rage, his desire to kill the beast that terrorized this planet. I can feel his blade plunging into the creature’s heart, and the heat and fire that followed.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Did he survive the blast?
ANDROMEDA: I-I don’t know. I can’t. Xavier, it’s burning me.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Try to focus. Did he make it out alive?
ANDROMEDA: I said it hurts!
ANDROMEDA: I’ll wait with the zeppelin.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Andromeda. I’m sorry. I just, I got carried away.
ANDROMEDA: I’m not your assistant. You can’t order me around.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I never said you were.
ANDROMEDA: Let me know when you’re finished.
[We hear the rustle of tree branches.]
NARRATOR: Captain Radio is left alone on the eerily quiet battlefield, when suddenly, a figure dressed in black emerges from the trees behind him, armed with a ray gun.
ASSASSIN: Put your hands up, Captain Radio.
[Ominous music transitions us to:]
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, halfway across the sector, Orion and Ace arrive at Rigel Spaceport, the final stop for ships attempting to cross the vast Velorum Expanse.
ORION: Just between you and me, Ace, I’m starting to think this Magnus guy doesn’t exist.
ACE: Did you not hear the radio transmission?
ORION: I heard someone claiming to be him asking for help. That doesn’t prove anything. Voices can be faked.
ACE: An interesting hypothesis. But what would be the motivation for such a deception?
ORION: Beats me. Maybe someone is trying to send Captain Radio a message.
ACE: We may soon find out. The signal appears to have been reflected off one of the relay stations surrounding the Velorum Expanse. If Magnus went there, it is logical to assume he passed through this port.
ORION: Maybe somebody here saw where he went.
ACE: I was briefly stationed here during my service to the Imperium. We are to meet my contact at the Punch Card.
ORION: The what?
ACE: It is an establishment that serves fermented beverages to unsavory characters.
ORION: Sounds like my kind of place.
ACE: The Punch Card can be dangerous. I recommend you remain in low-profile mode.
ORION: How’s this?
ACE: It will have to do.
[We hear them enter the bar. There is a low murmur of voices, mechanical noises, and beeps. The noises end abruptly as they enter.]
ORION: So much for a low profile. They’re all robots.
ACE: That fact must have slipped my memory tapes. It has been many years since my last visit.
ENIGMA: [Various beeping noises. A greeting.]
ACE: This is my contact, Enigma. They used to be a codebreaker for the Imperium Fleet.
ROBOT BARTENDER: Your accessory u-unit must re-m-m-main outside. N-n-no organics allowed.
ACE: Orion, it may be advisable for you to wait outside.
ORION: I can tell when I’m not wanted. I’ll meet you at the Solarus Arch in one hour. Enjoy your fermented beverage.
ACE: I apologize for the disruption.
ROBOT BARTENDER: Further v-v-violations will n-n-not be tolerated.
ACE: Understood. Greetings, Enigma.
ENIGMA: [Various beeping sounds. A question.]
ACE: I am not here to reminisce. I am seeking someone: a human male, approximately sixty years of age in Centauri garb. He may have traveled through here four or five weeks ago.
ENIGMA: [Various beeping sounds. Another question.]
ACE: Affirmative. My proximity sensors are functional. Why do you ask?
ENIGMA: [Various beeping sounds. A warning.]
ACE: I am aware. I detected someone tracking us the moment we arrived. I have not alerted Orion yet.
ENIGMA: [Various beeping sounds. A question.]
ACE: What does this have to do with the human we are seeking?
[Mysterious music transitions us to:]
NARRATOR: Don’t touch that dial! Captain Radio and the Curse of the Primordial Planet will return after this brief word from our sponsor.
AD ANNOUNCER: Say goodbye to dust and filth and say hello to the Automatic Vacuum Cleaner —
[Radio static. An interruption.]
NEWSCASTER: We interrupt this broadcast for a breaking news bulletin. Shortly before dawn this morning, astronaut Amelia Earhart lifted off from the IAC’s launchpad in Ceylon. Her flight is the first attempt to complete a solo orbit of the Earth and the Moon. Earhart is a veteran space pilot and was Jackie Cochrane’s backup on the Athena-7 mission which landed the first women on the Moon in 1935. We will continue to bring you updates on Earhart’s historic flight as we receive them.
NARRATOR: We now return to the adventures of Captain Radio. Alone on the scarred battlefield of Gemini Four, Captain Radio stands face-to-face with an assassin. With no way to defend himself, he raises his hands in surrender.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I was wondering how long you were going to wait around in that tree. What is it you want?
ASSASSIN: You should have gone home, Captain Radio. Your interference is growing tiresome.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
ASSASSIN: You seek the Lithostar. But my employer has already claimed it.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Why don’t you put that gun down before you do something you’ll regret? I don’t know about this Lithostar. I’ve never heard of it.
ASSASSIN: Don’t deny it. You’re following in the footsteps of Magnus Hostillian. He also seeks the Lithostar for his own gain.
CAPTAIN RADIO: How about we speak with this employer of yours? I’m sure we can clear up this misunderstanding.
ASSASSIN: You talk too much.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Well, I had to find some way to distract you.
ASSASSIN: Distract me from what?
[We hear the low thrum of Andromeda’s psychokinetic powers.]
ANDROMEDA: From me.
NARRATOR: The assassin finds themselves frozen in place by Andromeda’s psychokinetic powers.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I wasn’t sure you could still do that.
ANDROMEDA: My powers were amplified when I was connected to the Eleventh Dimension. It seems there was some lasting effect.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Thanks for coming back for me.
ANDROMEDA: Don’t think I’m not still upset with you just because I saved your life.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Can we not do this right now?
ASSASSIN: Please don’t make me listen to you two argue.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Who sent you? Come on, I want a name.
ASSASSIN: Abandon your search and go home, or she will destroy you.
ANDROMEDA: Your thoughts give you away. There is an image in your mind: an astro-compass.
ASSASSIN: Get out of my head!
ANDROMEDA: There’s something else. I can almost see it–
[The Assassin struggles to breathe.]
CAPTAIN RADIO: Alright, Andromeda. That’s enough. Let him go.
[The Assassin continues to make struggling, choking sounds.]
CAPTAIN RADIO: I said let him go!
ANDROMEDA: I’m trying to!
NARRATOR: Andromeda fights her own uncontrollable powers. Finally, she’s able to sever the psychic connection and the assassin drops to the ground unconscious.
CAPTAIN RADIO: What’s gotten into you?
ANDROMEDA: I-I don’t know why I did that.
DOCENT: Are you going to kill me, too?
CAPTAIN RADIO: He isn’t dead.
DOCENT: A pity. For his sake.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Do you murder everyone who comes to your museum, docent? Or just the high-ranking royal visitors?
DOCENT: This was a peaceful planet before your lot brought the war to us. Before you lured the Opticon here so you’d have an excuse for an invasion.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I’ve heard a lot of outlandish things today, but that accusation is by far the worst. My people saved your planet from the Opticon.
DOCENT: I’m sure you’d like to believe that, but it doesn’t make it true.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Come on, Andromeda. We’re leaving.
DOCENT: This was all farmland, quiet villages, and simple houses scattered across these hills. Look at it now: it’s a graveyard. You lost a battle, but we lost our entire way of life. And for what? So that Alpha Centauri could grow rich off our crops while our children went hungry.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I’m sorry about your planet. Alpha Centauri has certainly made mistakes in the past, but we’ve changed. We no longer live by the sword.
DOCENT: That’s not good enough.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I know. Nothing can bring back the dead, but if you let us go, I will do what I can to make this right.
DOCENT: More Centauri lies.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Your planet can be made whole again. By the storms of Neptune, I swear I will return.
[Andromeda’s psychic field hums menacingly.]
ANDROMEDA: I suggest you take his offer. You won’t like mine.
DOCENT: Go. Before I change my mind.
CAPTAIN RADIO: You have my thanks.
DOCENT: You’d better leave the system while you can. This fellow isn’t the only one on your tail.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Why are these people trying to kill us?
DOCENT: I don’t know. But whatever they’re after, know that they won’t give it up easily.
ANDROMEDA: No time to waste then.
CAPTAIN RADIO: We’ve got to get to Orion and Ace before these goons do.
NARRATOR: Back on Rigel Station, Orion waits for Ace, unaware that someone has been following him through the spaceport, tracking his every move.
ORION: There you are, Ace. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.
ACE: My memory tapes have an accuracy rate of 97-point-one percent.
ORION: Relax, it’s a joke. Did your friend know anything about Magnus?
ACE: Affirmative. Magnus was here. He was pursued by powerful enemies and was forced to leave suddenly.
ORION: Straight into the Velorum Expanse.
ACE: Correct. How did you know?
ORION: While you were busy gabbing, I looked up an old acquaintance who deals in rare antiquities. Magnus came into her shop to buy a map of the surrounding sector.
ACE: But the expanse is uncharted.
ORION: Not entirely. There was one expedition, almost seven hundred years ago. They managed to transmit a partial map before they were never heard from again. I traded her the scroll I borrowed from the Forbidden Archive for a copy of the map she sold Magnus. Take a look for yourself.
[We hear the scrape of paper unrolling.]
ACE: Fascinating. Unfortunately, this map is a forgery. You can tell from the—
ORION: Of course it’s a fake. Everything in her shop is fake, from the Promethian Firebird eyes to the half-crushed skull of King Aster.
ACE: How does a forged star map assist us?
ORION: Try to keep up, rust bucket: it doesn’t matter if it’s real. What matters is that we follow the same course. Come on, let’s get back to the docks. The captain and Andromeda should be here soon.
NARRATOR: Orion and Ace return to the docking ring to find the Phaeton moored there. Rigel’s silver light reflects off the glistening space zeppelin as our heroes are reunited.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Welcome back. Did you find anything?
ACE: It was a most productive endeavor.
ORION: Your old pal Magnus was here. This map should help us track him down.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Excellent work!
ACE: What did you find on Gemini Four?
ANDROMEDA: More ghosts.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Whatever Magnus is mixed up in, we’re not the only ones looking for him. Ace, do you have a record of something called a ‘Lithostar’?
ACE: Negative.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Set a course for the Velorum Expanse.
ORION: Is everything alright, Andromeda?
ANDROMEDA: It’s nothing.
ORION: It doesn’t take a psychic to know that something happened between you two.
ANDROMEDA: Do you think I’m dangerous, Orion?
ORION: Dangerous? How do you mean?
ANDROMEDA: Ever since I opened the Dimension Gate, I haven’t been the same. I feel like I’m bursting with power I can’t control. I almost killed someone today.
ORION: Perhaps we should take you back to Caliban. I’m sure the Oracle could help.
ANDROMEDA: And ask Xavier to give up his quest? Not likely.
ORION: We both know we’re not going to find Magnus. Eventually, he’ll realize it, too.
ANDROMEDA: I hope you’re right.
NARRATOR: At the other end of the ship, Captain Radio receives a secret radio transmission from Flagstaff, Captain of the Centauri Guard, with news from home.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Go ahead, Flagstaff. I’m reading you loud and clear.
FLAGSTAFF: I wanted to let you know that the council met to select the new leader of the Imperium.
CAPTAIN RADIO: And?
FLAGSTAFF: They chose Nashira. They’ll be announcing her coronation any day now.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I see. She’s an excellent choice.
FLAGSTAFF: Have you responded to her message yet, sir?
CAPTAIN RADIO: No. I’m still thinking it over.
FLAGSTAFF: I wouldn’t wait too long. At the risk of being too bold, I think it would make for an excellent match. The two greatest houses of the Imperium would be united for the first time.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Has she approached anyone else?
FLAGSTAFF: She went to visit Countess Elnath, but it’s no secret that you’re her first choice, your grace.
CAPTAIN RADIO: It isn’t that simple, Flagstaff.
FLAGSTAFF: Because of Lady Andromeda?
CAPTAIN RADIO: Yes. But also because of Captain Radio. I don’t know if I can put all of that aside.
FLAGSTAFF: We all have to choose between our heart and our duty, sir.
CAPTAIN RADIO: Keep me informed if you hear anything else.
FLAGSTAFF: Yes, sir. And good luck. I hope you find him.
CAPTAIN RADIO: I won’t give up until I’ve brought him home. No matter the cost.
(Heroic music transitions us to the outro:)
NARRATOR: You’ve been listening to The Adventures of Captain Radio! Will our heroes find Magnus? Who is the young man who has stowed away aboard the space zeppelin? And what is the deadly secret drawing them all together in the heart of the unexplored Velorum Expanse? Find out next week in the rousing second chapter of Captain Radio and the Curse of the Primordial Planet, brought to you by the Automatic Vacuum Cleaner!
The Adventures of Captain Radio is a production of Obscure Studios. This episode was written by Jonny Eberle and edited by Will McDonald.
Our main cast includes:
William McDonald as the Narrator
William McDonald as Captain Radio
Christian Carvajal as Orion
DeLano Hays as Ace
Abigail Stokely as Andromeda
Scott Kennedy played the Assassin. Jonny Eberle played the robots in the bar and the newscaster. Kaye Spivey voiced the part of Flagstaff, and William McDonald played the Docent.
This episode is dedicated to our friend, Rob Peters, who voiced Orion in Season 1.
Our theme music was composed by Simon Cunningham and our stunning artwork was designed by Tami King.
If you like the show, there are three simple things you can do to support us. The easiest thing to do is to leave us a rating and review wherever you’re listening right now. Second, you can make a donation on Ko-Fi. Or, you can buy Captain Radio merchandise like t-shirts, stickers, coffee mugs, phone cases, and more on our TeePublic store.
You can find all of those links as well as complete episode transcripts and more information about us on our website: obscurestudios.net.
Thanks for listening and we’ll see you next time.
You can find all of those links as well as complete episode transcripts and more information about us on our website: obscurestudios.net.
That’s a wrap on this season. Stay tuned for more stories from the world of Captain Radio. Thank you for listening and we’ll see you next time.
Obscure Studios 