VOICE: It’s time for Captain Radio!
[Intro music plays: thrilling, space-y synthesizer.]
NARRATOR
These are the adventures of Captain Radio! Captain Radio is all that stands between Madame Celesta and the destruction of the Taurian species throughout all of time and space. Armed with the legendary Lithostar, she will stop at nothing to alter history and bring her husband back from the dead. But the Lithostar exacts a terrible price in exchange for its incredible power — one that may have consequences across the galaxy.
You’re listening to the final installment of Captain Radio and the Curse of the Primordial Planet. Chapter Five: Obsession’s End.
Captain Radio faces off against Madame Celesta on the vine-choked roof of the temple. Pollux Von Luna, having survived being buried in toxic sand, now threatens to take the stone by force. With Magnus Hostillian slowly succumbing to the same poison, it’s up to our heroes to end the cycle of destruction…
[We hear the sound of heavy rain and a distant crack of thunder.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Put the explosive down, Pollux. It isn’t worth it.
POLLUX VON LUNA
Maybe not for you, but I’ve risked everything to get here. I stowed away on your zeppelin, I clawed my way out of that tomb when you left me for dead, and I have come too far to leave empty-handed.
MADAME CELESTA
And where will you go? Without my matter transmitter, you’re trapped on Ferrilon.
POLLUX VON LUNA
I’m sure we can come to an understanding.
MAGNUS
If anyone is leaving this godforsaken planet with the stone, it’s me.
[Magnus coughs.]
MADAME CELESTA
You are tenacious, I’ll give you that. But you wouldn’t have time to use it. The poison is already at work, paralyzing your nervous system. You’ll both be dead soon and I’ll be home with Quincy. This will all seem like a bad dream.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Shouldn’t the matter transmitter have kicked in by now?
MADAME CELESTA
Don’t try to distract me.
CAPTAIN RADIO
If the Lithostar wanted to leave so badly, why doesn’t it help you?
LITHOSTAR
She must prove her worth first.
CAPTAIN RADIO
You made that up. What does an all-powerful entity need us for?
LITHOSTAR
It is written in the sacred scrolls—
CAPTAIN RADIO
There are no sacred scrolls. You’ve been lying to us from the start. You have no power here.
LITHOSTAR
How dare you! You will pay for your insolence, Captain Radio.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Go ahead. Call down a bolt of lightning, atomize me where I stand. Or leave now with your companion. Prove me wrong.
LITHOSTAR
Do not test me, mortal. I am older than the universe.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Pollux was right. He said there was a curse on this place.
MADAME CELESTA
Primitive superstition.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Don’t be so sure. The builders knew the Lithostar was dangerous — so they took steps to ensure that it would never leave.
POLLUX VON LUNA
Is this true?
MADAME CELESTA
Of course not. The Sargassians built this temple as a monument to the infinite power of the Lithostar, to keep it safe until a worthy successor came to claim it.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Better re-check your hieroglyphics, Madame Celesta. Ferrilon is no temple: it’s a prison.
[Ominous music transitions us to:]
NARRATOR
Meanwhile, deep inside the ancient structure, Andromeda struggles to keep the impending wave of time energy from tearing Orion from existence.
ANDROMEDA
Try to hold on, Orion. Focus on your earliest memory, use it to anchor yourself.
ORION
I can feel myself unraveling. I can’t remember my childhood anymore. Like it’s been erased. What does that mean?
ANDROMEDA
It doesn’t mean anything yet. Time waves are strange — sometimes the effect comes before the cause.
ACE
Which means there is still time to prevent the phenomenon, even as it is occurring.
ORION
I hope you’re right.
ACE
However, the window is closing. Captain Radio and Magnus must act quickly before total erasure.
ORION
Does your vocal unit have any kind of filter?
ACE
Those systems were damaged by ray gun fire on the planet Saurus.
ANDROMEDA
Ace is correct: the odds are against us. I’m trying to deflect the wave’s energy, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold it off.
ORION
I can’t believe I have to be the optimistic one — but Andromeda, you can do this. I once saw you bridge the void between two dimensions. What’s a time wave compared to that?
ANDROMEDA
That was different. I had access to all the power of the Eleventh Dimension. I don’t have that now.
ORION
You don’t need it. You never did. Doctor Orban couldn’t open the Dimension Gate alone — he needed you. I grew up on Caliban, remember? I watched monks spend years in meditation, strengthening their psychokinetic abilities, but none of them hold a candle to what you’re capable of. Not even the Oracle himself.
ANDROMEDA
It’s not just the power. I lost a part of myself: my confidence, my control.
ORION
Is that why you’ve been holding yourself back?
ANDROMEDA
I have no other choice.
ACE
Time wave intensifying.
ORION
Time wave? What time wave?
ANDROMEDA
I’m losing him! I can’t hold it off much longer!
ACE
My scanners indicate that you are not drawing on your full abilities. You must use them now.
ANDROMEDA
I can’t. If I lose control again, I could kill him.
ACE
The alternative is that he will never have existed. You must try.
[Mysterious music transitions us to:]
MADAME CELESTA
A prison? You really expect me to believe that?
CAPTAIN RADIO
It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Think about it. The emerald green sun was the first clue that this system was an artificial construction. To the builders of this place, the green star must have served as a warning to stay away. The Taurian Death Marks above the doors also tried to warn us of the danger. And the matter transmitter — it doesn’t work if it detects the Lithostar within its field. It’s all designed with a single purpose: to keep us out and the Lithostar in.
MAGNUS
If that’s true, then what about the time wave?
POLLUX VON LUNA
What’s he talking about? What time wave?
CAPTAIN RADIO
There’s a build-up of temporal energy around the planet, waiting for Madame Celesta to commit an act of interstellar genocide.
MAGNUS
How can that be if the Lithostar has no power here?
LITHOSTAR
You are very clever, Captain Radio. But no cage can hold me. For centuries, I chipped away at the walls and now the lightest tap will shatter them.
CAPTAIN RADIO
All you have to do is say the word, Madame Celesta, and this evil will spread unchecked throughout the universe. Is that what you want?
MADAME CELESTA
All I want is my Quincy safe and sound.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Don’t you see? That won’t be enough for the Lithostar. It’s a predator. And predators are never satisfied. One change to the timeline will only awaken its appetite for death. It’s going to get hungry again, and when it does, it will tear worlds apart in search of a new victim. Ask the Sargassians what happened when they finally achieved their empire. When they didn’t need the stone anymore, it destroyed them.
LITHOSTAR
The time wave will dissipate soon — we must act if we are to save the one you love.
CAPTAIN RADIO
It survives by preying on our fears, our regrets. You have got to let go of this obsession before it kills you and throws the galaxy into chaos.
POLLUX VON LUNA
You just want it for yourself!
CAPTAIN RADIO
I’m trying to save you, Pollux! I’m trying to save all of you.
MADAME CELESTA
I have searched for this artifact for thirty years; devoted my life to finding it. I’ve spent nearly all my fortune to locate this planet.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I understand. I was so set on chasing Magnus’ signal, I almost got my friends killed. I would’ve given everything to find him. But there comes a time when you have to accept what can’t be changed. You can’t trade Quincy’s life for the life of an entire species. I’m begging you: don’t give in.
MADAME CELESTA
What else am I supposed to do?
CAPTAIN RADIO
Live your life.
MADAME CELESTA
I don’t know how. Not anymore.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Then you’re going to have to learn.
LITHOSTAR
This unbeliever fills you with doubt, but I know your innermost desire. Only I can bring your husband back from the gates of oblivion.
CAPTAIN RADIO
What would Quincy want?
MADAME CELESTA
He will never know. To him, there will never have been a Taurian race, or a Taurian Civil War.
CAPTAIN RADIO
But you’ll know. You’ll have to live with the knowledge of what you’ve done.
MADAME CELESTA
If that is the price, then I shall surely pay it.
CAPTAIN RADIO
And what happens when Quincy leaves again? There will be other wars. And they’re going to need doctors. What then? Will you use the Lithostar to erase them, too? How many species will you obliterate? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? Where does it end?
LITHOSTAR
Together we can end all wars everywhere. We can bring peace to the universe.
MAGNUS
Through mass murder?
LITHOSTAR
No more suffering. No more death. That is my final offer. Will you take it?
[Ominous music transitions us to:]
NARRATOR
Far below, in the depths of the stone structure, Orion’s time is running out.
ORION
How did I get here? What is this place?
ACE
Orion, try to remain calm.
ORION
Why do you keep calling me that? Who is Orion? Who are you people?
ANDROMEDA
The time wave is here. All around us. I can’t stop it.
ACE
What would Captain Radio say if he were here?
ANDROMEDA
He would never give up. Not if someone was in danger.
ACE
You must not fear your own strength.
ANDROMEDA
You’re right. I can do this. I just need to focus. Breathe. I can see the tomb. The walls of stone. The others on the roof, fighting. The storm brewing above them. Lightning in the clouds. And above all that, a psychic field enveloping the planet. It’s old, tattered, frayed around the edges, on the verge of total collapse.
ACE
Can you repair it?
ANDROMEDA
I don’t know, but I’m going to try. And I think I have an idea that just might work.
[Heroic 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.
NEWSCASTER
We interrupt this program for an important news bulletin. One week ago, astronaut Amelia Earhart disappeared while attempting to complete a solo orbit of the Moon. So far, no signs of wreckage have been found, but this morning, Soviet officials claimed responsibility for shooting down the Electra One capsule. President Al Smith, speaking from the White House, denounced the Kremlin’s actions and called on the League of Nations to impose harsh sanctions, further escalating tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Please stay tuned for more updates as we get them.
NARRATOR
We now return you to the Adventures of Captain Radio! Our valiant hero stands on the roof of the prison built to contain the Lithostar’s unimaginable power to alter the flow of time itself — a power which is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting universe to devastating effect.
LITHOSTAR
There is another way off this planet. A space capsule crashed in the jungle several weeks ago.
MAGNUS
Impossible. I barely made it out of that wreck alive.
LITHOSTAR
It can be made to fly again.
[Magnus draws his sword, metal scraping on metal.]
MAGNUS
I’ve heard enough of this. I’m taking the stone and using it to stop the Centauri defeat at Gemini Four. At least I can use it to save lives.
POLLUX VON LUNA
Stay where you are, old man. I’m taking the Lithostar and I’m going to raid every tomb and sarcophagus from here to Nocturna Major.
CAPTAIN RADIO
No one’s taking the stone anywhere.
POLLUX VON LUNA
I could make it worth your while, Captain Radio. I swear that no one will be harmed if you help me take it from these two. And when I am the richest man in the known universe, you will be well rewarded.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I don’t think so.
MAGNUS
We’ve tried it your way, Xavier. Now we do it my way.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Magnus, no!
NARRATOR
Before Captain Radio can stop him, Magnus charges Pollux, his sword flashing in the darkness. Pollux drops the explosive he was holding to raise his laser rifle. He manages to block Magnus’ blow with the barrel of the rifle.
[We hear the clash of steel.]
POLLUX VON LUNA
You’re dying, old man.
MAGNUS
That makes two of us.
[More clashing of steel.]
NARRATOR
As the two men scuffle, Madame Celesta makes a break for it. With the Lithostar under one arm, she grabs a vine and prepares to climb down to the forest floor. Captain Radio watches as the armed explosive rolls precariously toward the edge. At the last second, he dives for it, grabbing it just before it tumbles over the side.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Everyone stop!
[The sounds of fighting stop abruptly. Only the rain continues to patter.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
If you won’t listen to reason, maybe you’ll listen to this.
MADAME CELESTA
I thought you didn’t kill your enemies, Captain Radio.
CAPTAIN RADIO
There’s a first time for everything. Hand over the artifact, nice and easy.
NARRATOR
Madame Celesta hands our hero the infernal stone. Its blackened, pictogram-laden surface is as cold as comet ice, and Captain Radio can almost feel its malevolent intentions.
LITHOSTAR
Finally, one who is worthy of sharing my power. I can be a force for good, you know. Together, we can seek out injustice and defend the weak. What do you say?
CAPTAIN RADIO
My answer…is no.
LITHOSTAR
We could go back in time and prevent Doctor Orban’s birth. We could save your father from the ravages of the Typhonian plague. And doesn’t a part of you wish you had accepted the Imperium’s offer to make you king over all the cosmos?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I see what you’re trying to do. You poison everything you touch. You weaponize grief and shame to feed a bottomless pit of evil. You even corrupted Magnus Hostillian, the most honorable man I know. It ends today. Once and for all.
LITHOSTAR
The time wave. It’s gone! What have you done?!
CAPTAIN RADIO
Nothing. But while you’ve been distracted up here, Andromeda has been rebuilding this planet’s psychic defenses.
LITHOSTAR
No! No!
ANDROMEDA
That should hold for another ten thousand years, give or take a century.
ORION
Oh, at least. I wouldn’t be surprised if that wall held until the end of time.
ACE
Planetary defenses have been returned to full operational capacity.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Well done, Andromeda! I’m sorry I ever doubted you.
ANDROMEDA
I can’t take all the credit. I had help.
ORION
Andromeda did the heavy lifting. I couldn’t begin to explain half the things she did to repair the psychic field.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I’m glad to see you’re still with us, Orion.
LITHOSTAR
You will pay for this. I will burn every planet in this galaxy to ashes!
CAPTAIN RADIO
Consider the jailbreak canceled. I’m going to return the artifact to its cell. The rest of you get the matter transmitter warmed up. We’re getting out of here.
NARRATOR
Some time later, as the thunder storm dissipates and the emerald sun begins to rise, seven figures gather in a clearing on the jungle floor. A switch flips and they shimmer with an ethereal light before disappearing, leaving the planet Ferrilon sealed off from the rest of the galaxy, its lone prisoner isolated once more. Moments later and lightyears away, they materialize inside the dark interior of an ancient lighthouse.
[The sound of distorted voices resolves into clear dialogue.]
POLLUX VON LUNA
I still think I could’ve taken the thing, stashed away enough loot to live comfortably, and returned it before it had a chance to go berserk.
MAGNUS
Let it go, kid. It’s better this way.
ORION
Besides, I’m sure there’s plenty of treasure out there just waiting to be discovered.
POLLUX VON LUNA
Come to think of it, I heard they struck platinum on the fifth moon of Argo. Might be worth a look.
ANDROMEDA
No treasure hunting until you get to a hospital. Both of you. Consider that an order.
MAGNUS
Yes, ma’am.
POLLUX VON LUNA
I know an apothecary on Rigel Spaceport that’ll have the antidote. If you don’t mind giving me a lift. Again.
ACE
According to my calculations, we have enough fuel reserves on the zeppelin to take on passengers.
ORION
What Ace means is “welcome aboard.”
NARRATOR
While the others make their way to the Phaeton, Madame Celesta lingers. She drops the controller for the matter transmitter to the floor and crushes it with her boot.
[We hear crunching metal and glass.]
MADAME CELESTA
That’s that.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I know it wasn’t easy for you to give up the stone, but you made the right choice.
MADAME CELESTA
It’s what Quincy would’ve wanted. It’s a cryin’ shame you never got to meet him; he would’ve liked you.
CAPTAIN RADIO
What will you do now?
MADAME CELESTA
I honestly don’t know. This was my life’s work. Starting over at my age ain’t a simple proposition.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Just promise me that if you run across another cursed artifact with the power to break time and space, you’ll leave it alone.
MADAME CELESTA
I shall make no such guarantees. Now, if you’ll excuse me…
NARRATOR
Clutching her pith helmet, Madame Celesta finds Orion aboard the space zeppelin already making preparations to set sail.
MADAME CELESTA
Uh, Mr. Hunt?
ORION
Orion is fine.
MADAME CELESTA
Orion. I do believe I owe you an apology.
ORION
That would be one way to start.
MADAME CELESTA
I never intended to harm you personally. Well, actually, I suppose I did. I don’t think I realized how prejudiced I was. Taurian rebels killed my husband, you see, and I’ve come to blame all Taurians for his death. I hated you before I got to know you. I was blinded by my anger, twisted up in it. I’m sorry.
ORION
You’re not the first person who wanted to throw me out an airlock for having blue skin and six arms. People like to blame Taurians for everything wrong in the galaxy.
MADAME CELESTA
Can you find it within yourself forgive me?
ORION
You tried to kill me and erase my people from time. My parents. My ancestors. And now you want my forgiveness?
MADAME CELESTA
I know it’s a lot to ask, but I would like a fresh start, if I may.
ORION
(bitterly)
You’re going to have to do a lot more than ask. You’ve gotta earn it.
ACE
Powering up main engines and preparing for takeoff.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I can take it from here, Ace. Would you mind showing our guests to their staterooms?
ACE
Yes, sir. Follow me, please.
MAGNUS
Can I lend a hand?
CAPTAIN RADIO
Keep an eye on that astrocompass, will you?
MAGNUS
Aye, my lord.
CAPTAIN RADIO
You know, now that all this business with the Lithostar is over, I was hoping you’d come back home with us. I could use an advisor.
MAGNUS
I’d be honored. But I don’t think you need me. You just saved an entire species without spilling a drop of blood. Alpha Centauri is in good hands.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Then what’s next for you?
MAGNUS
Might be nice to settle down, find an uninhabited planet where I can put down roots for a while. And who knows? I may put on a mask and a cape and go seeking out injustice, defending the powerless.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I think you’d be good at that. But I could still use your advice, old friend.
MAGNUS
What’s on your mind, kid?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I have a choice to make. On the one hand, I could follow my heart, continue wearing the mask, stay with Andromeda.
MAGNUS
And on the other?
CAPTAIN RADIO
Do my duty. Hang up the cape, dedicate myself to the care and protection of Alpha Centauri, serve the empire I helped to save.
MAGNUS
Where does Andromeda fit into that life?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I was going to ask her to marry me. To take her place beside me on the throne. But there’s a wrinkle. The Pangalactic Imperium has a new queen, Nashira, and she’s asked for my hand.
MAGNUS
Nashira. I know that name. Eldest daughter of the House of Leonid.
CAPTAIN RADIO
So you see my problem.
MAGNUS
By the Great Red Spot, if you were to accept, and unite the two greatest houses of the Imperium—
CAPTAIN RADIO
Then, it just might be enough to hold the empire together.
MAGNUS
A mighty weight rests on your shoulders. I do not envy you this choice.
CAPTAIN RADIO
What should I do?
MAGNUS
You are no longer a child, Xavier. I cannot tell you what to do. It is your life, your choice. I have no more lessons to teach.
NARRATOR
After dropping Magnus, Pollux, and Madame Celesta off at Rigel Station, our heroes steer their space zeppelin back toward home, but they are about to confront yet another mystery.
ANDROMEDA
Is everything alright, Xavier? You seem preoccupied.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind.
ANDROMEDA
Whatever’s troubling you, we’ll figure it out together, like we always do.
ACE
Coming up on Alpha Centauri in two minutes.
ORION
I hope you’ve alerted the palace kitchens, because I could eat a whole leviathan right about now.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Don’t you worry, Orion. Our chef is the best in the system.
ACE
Error. Alpha Centauri is not present at the predicted coordinates.
ORION
How can that be? It should be right in front of us.
ANDROMEDA
It isn’t there.
ORION
Let me see that star map.
ANDROMEDA
Ace doesn’t make mistakes.
ACE
Coordinates confirmed. The planet is missing.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Camouflage?
ACE
Negative. Alpha Centauri’s gravitational signature would still be present even if it were hidden.
ORION
Who could steal a whole planet?
ANDROMEDA
And why?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I don’t know. But we’re going to find out.
[In the distance, an evil laugh reverberates through the stars. Heroic music transitions us to:]
NARRATOR
You’ve been listening to Captain Radio and the Curse of the Primordial Planet! Who has stolen Alpha Centauri from its orbit, and for what nefarious purpose? Find out soon in Captain Radio’s final and greatest adventure yet. Don’t touch that dial: up next is Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour, right here on the Columbia Broadcasting System. Until next time, keep your eyes on the stars!
The Adventures of Captain Radio is a production of Obscure Studios. This episode was written by Jonny Eberle and produced by Will McDonald with mixing and sound design by Trask Snow.
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
Laura Burt as Madame Celesta
Jonny Eberle as Pollux Von Luna
Richard Burt as Magnus Hostillian
Hanna Wonders as the Lithostar
Jonny Eberle as the Newscaster
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. You can also make a donation on our Ko-Fi page. 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.
Obscure Studios 