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 had prevented the mythical Lithostar from escaping its eternal imprisonment and saved Orion’s people from extinction. Now, they have returned home to discover that the planet of Alpha Centauri is missing.
You’re listening to Captain Radio and the Search for Alpha Centauri. Chapter One: The Fold.
The space zeppelin circles Alpha Centauri’s last known position as Captain Radio and his companions attempt to ascertain what disaster befell the planet. Has it been moved by some mysterious force? Or has Captain Radio’s home been completely obliterated?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I can’t believe it. Who could blow an entire planet out of the sky?
ORION
Nobody blew up Alpha Centauri. Not enough debris.
ACE
It would take an enormous amount of energy to move an entire planetary mass.
ANDROMEDA
Ace, could it be camouflaged somehow?
ACE
Negative. We would still be able to detect its gravity.
CAPTAIN RADIO
If the planet has been moved, then maybe there’s still hope of retrieving it — and all the people on it — unharmed. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
ORION
Let me guess. You want to get the bottom of the mystery, stop whoever’s responsible, and save the day.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Something like that.
ORION
I was afraid of that.
ANDROMEDA
Let’s assume for a moment it’s even possible to steal a planet. Why would someone want to?
ORION
Whoever it is must really want to get our attention.
ANDROMEDA
Or hold it for ransom.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Or they might simply want to cause chaos.
ORION
If it’s chaos they’re after, they succeeded. I can’t make heads or tails of these astrocompass readings. What do you think, Ace?
ACE
Magnetic fields are in flux. We will not be able to get precise bearings.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Wait a moment, what’s that gravitational disturbance at 8 o’clock?
ORION
Hard to say. Could be anything. A rogue comet, maybe.
ANDROMEDA
It’s too big to be a comet. I’m sensing an enormous psychokinetic wake. There are people there. Thousands of them. They’re terrified.
CAPTAIN RADIO
By the fires of Hydra – it’s one of the planet’s moons.
ACE
Judging by its mass and trajectory, it may be the moon of Proxima.
ANDROMEDA
My home.
ORION
No, no, that can’t be right.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Why not?
ORION
According to these readings … it’s accelerating into the sun.
ACE
When the planet disappeared, the orbits of all five moons were disrupted.
ANDROMEDA
How long do they have, Ace?
ACE
Calculating. At the current rate of orbital decay, Proxima will be consumed by the sun in seventy-three hours.
ORION
Three days.
CAPTAIN RADIO
There’s no time to lose. We’ve got to find Alpha Centauri.
ANDROMEDA
What about the people of Proxima? What about my parents? We must rescue them.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I wish we could, Andromeda. But we’re only one ship. The Phaeton can hold a dozen extra passengers at most.
ANDROMEDA
Then save a dozen people. Please.
ACE
Fuel reserves are at twenty–nine percent.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I’m sorry, Andromeda. We’ll come back as soon as we can. But first, we have to get to the bottom of what’s happened to the planet.
ANDROMEDA
Maybe you can ignore their suffering, but I can’t, Xavier. I just can’t.
[The door hisses open and closed.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Andromeda, wait!
ORION
Let her go. Don’t forget that she has the power to crush this ship like a tin can with a single thought. Give her some time to cool off before you rush in to save the day.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Waiting is not my strong suit.
ORION
Believe me, I’ve noticed.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Do you think I’m making the right call, Orion?
ORION
I do. But I’m not about to tell Andromeda that.
NARRATOR
Meanwhile, at the other end of the space zeppelin, a frustrated Andromeda tries to drown out the psychic noise of thousands of minds desperately calling out for help.
[In the background, a persistent but indecipherable whispering of many voices at once.]
ANDROMEDA
Focus, Andromeda. Focus. You can do this. Wall it off. Set it aside. Think of something else. The stellar lilies blooming in autumn. The great eclipse plunging the world into shadow each new year… It isn’t working. I can hear you. I can hear all of you. I’m so sorry. It’s too much. Please. There’s nothing I can do.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I’m going to check on her.
[Footsteps on a metal floor. Door hisses open and closed.]
ORION
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
[A soft beeping sound.]
ORION
What now?
ACE
There appears to be a radio transmission caught in the electra-wave receiver.
ORION
Maybe it’s from whoever did this.
[A garbled voice on the radio.]
ACE
Unable to confirm. The message is encrypted.
ORION
Well, come on, rust bucket, let’s decrypt it. It could be a clue.
ACE
Working. Standard encryption keys are not effective.
[The garbled voice, but pitched higher.]
ORION
Maybe it isn’t encrypted at all. Maybe it’s actually been distorted somehow. Try compensating for gravitational effects.
[The garbled voice slowly resolves to:]
NASHIRA
This is Queen Nashira of the Pangalactic Imperium calling Count Xavier of Alpha Centauri. Come in, Xavier.
ORION
What does the ruler of half the galaxy want with the captain?
ACE
I do not know. This may be a private communication.
ORION
He’s with Andromeda now. This could be about the missing planet. We should keep listening.
NASHIRA
It has been some weeks since I dispatched my message proposing a union of our two houses. Since then, the situation has deteriorated. A further nineteen systems have objected to my taking the throne. They are threatening to leave the Imperium. If they do, we could be facing a civil war. I need your answer and I cannot wait any longer. Will you join me in marriage to save the Imperium? With you by my side, we can unite the great houses behind us and preserve peace before it is too late. End transmission.
ORION
Hang on. She wants to marry the captain? Andromeda is not going to like this.
ACE
It is not our place to tell her.
ORION
Someone needs to tell her. If Captain Radio won’t, then I will.
ACE
The fate of the galaxy might be at stake.
ORION
There are worse things.
NARRATOR
Meanwhile, in the aft cabin of the Phaeton, Captain Radio finds Andromeda unresponsive, overwhelmed by the psychokinetic energy coming from the lost moon of Proxima.
[Door whoosh.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Andromeda? Andromeda! Can you hear me?
[Captain Radio buzzes the intercom.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Come quick, Ace. It’s Andromeda.
ACE
(Over the radio)
On my way.
[Door whoosh.]
ACE
What seems to be the problem?
CAPTAIN RADIO
She was like this when I came in. Her eyes are open, but I don’t think she can hear me.
ACE
Scanning. She appears to be in a state of psychic shock.
CAPTAIN RADIO
What could have caused it?
ACE
Impossible to say without more data.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Is it safe to move her?
ACE
I believe so.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Help me get her on this sofa. Careful. That’s it.
ACE
Her brain activity is increasing.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Does that mean she’s waking up?
ACE
Negative. All of the activity is focused on the sub-parietal lobe.
CAPTAIN RADIO
What does that mean?
ACE
My readings indicate that she is in communication with someone. Or something.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Is there a way we can bring her out of it?
ACE
Any attempt to sever the connection may be fatal. The Monks of the Dark Adaptation may be the only ones who can revive her.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Even at our top speed, Caliban is five days away.
ACE
Five days, three hours, and seventeen minutes, to be precise.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Proxima doesn’t have that long.
ACE
Do you have a plan, sir?
CAPTAIN RADIO
We’ll have to split up. Orion can take Andromeda to Caliban while you and I stay behind in the lifeboat.
ACE
The lifeboat is not designed for extended operations. We would be vulnerable to any number of interstellar phenomena.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I know the risks, but we don’t have a choice.
ACE
Agreed. I will prepare the lifeboat for launch.
[Door whoosh as Ace leaves.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Hang on, Andromeda. We’re getting you to the Oracle as fast as we can.
[Door whoosh.]
ANDROMEDA
He has returned…
NARRATOR
Back on the flight deck, Captain Radio and Ace glimpse a terrifying sight. A massive star liner, sliced cleanly in half.
CAPTAIN RADIO
By the storms of Neptune.
ORION
I’ve never seen a weapon that can do that to a ship.
ACE
This damage is not consistent with any known weapon.
CAPTAIN RADIO
What could have done this, Ace?
ACE
There is no evidence to suggest that the hull was cut.
ORION
Some kind of explosive decompression?
ACE
Negative.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Could a reactor failure have vaporized that section of the ship?
ORION
I don’t think so. Radiation levels are normal.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Ace, how many people would have been on that ship?
ACE
Approximately one thousand passengers and crew.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Ace, plot a course out of here.
ORION
Hang on. We’re leaving?
CAPTAIN RADIO
You’re leaving. Andromeda is in shock and the monks on Caliban may be the only ones who can help her. Ace and I are staying behind to find Alpha Centauri.
ORION
You can’t be serious. There’s something out there that can snap a star liner in half.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Then we’ll have to work quickly.
ORION
This plan is insane. Ace, tell him this plan is insane.
ACE
The chances of success are extremely low.
CAPTAIN RADIO
That’s never stopped me before. We’ll take the lifeboat. Once Andromeda is safe, I want you to take the Phaeton to the Throne of Jupiter and alert Queen Nashira. Come on, Ace. Let’s get to the lifeboat.
[A soft ping.]
ACE
Sir, we are receiving a Centauri distress signal. Priority one.
ORION
Priority one? What’s that?
CAPTAIN RADIO
Only the count of Alpha Centauri or the captain of the Centauri Guard have access to that radio frequency.
ACE
The signal is emanating from a point nearby.
CAPTAIN RADIO
We’d better investigate. Someone may need our help.
ORION
Or it could be a trap.
CAPTAIN RADIO
All the more reason to go. Set a course, Ace. Full speed ahead.
[Heroic music transitions us to:]
NARRATOR
Don’t touch that dial! Captain Radio and the Search for Alpha Centauri will return after this brief word from our sponsor!
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NARRATOR
We now return to the adventures of Captain Radio! In searching for the missing planet Alpha Centauri, our heroes have discovered a distress signal, but the danger is only beginning.
[A louder, more insistent ping.]
ACE
We have arrived at the source of the signal.
ORION
There’s nothing here.
ACE
Incorrect. There is a device, approximately one meter in diameter, off the port bow.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Can you tell what it is?
ACE
It matches the dimensions of a Centauri communications relay, but I am unable to retrieve its data from this distance.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Then we’ll have to bring it onboard.
NARRATOR
Captain Radio maneuvers his space zeppelin close to the source of the signal. Using the ship’s mooring lines, Orion fashions a crude tether so that Ace can retrieve the device.
[Ace is heard over the radio, but there is interference causing the transmission to cut in and out.]
ACE
I am approaching the communications relay. Twenty meters. Fifteen. Ten. Five. Contact.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Can you access its memory core?
ACE
I am opening the access junction now. The device has been damaged.
ORION
I have a bad feeling about this.
CAPTAIN RADIO
You have two minutes, Ace. Then we’re reeling you in.
ACE
Please repeat. Your transmission is breaking up.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Blast this interference.
ACE
Several of the device’s systems have been altered.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Altered how?
ACE
It has been equipped with a magnetic field generator and proton reactor.
ORION
Why would a comms relay need that kind of power?
[The signal interference gets stronger.]
ACE
I have activated something. Detecting spatial instability. Magnetic fields are in flux. Error. Error.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Get Ace out of there! Now!
NARRATOR
Orion hauls Ace back to safety, but the damage to the robot is extensive.
ACE
Error. Error. Critical system malfunction.
ORION
What happened?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I’m not sure. Ace is sensitive to strong magnetic fluctuations.
ORION
Must be whatever is throwing off our astrocompass. What do we do now?
CAPTAIN RADIO
Ace has entered a recovery program. There’s nothing we can do but wait and hope for the best. Orion, what are you doing?
ORION
What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m getting this spacesuit on and then I’m gonna go out and get that device.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.
ORION
This whole situation is dangerous. Someone’s got to do it and between the two of us, I’ve got the most spacewalk experience. Hand me an oxygen tank, will ya? The sooner we get this thing, the sooner we can help Andromeda.
[Sounds of hissing gas and clipping gear as he puts on the spacesuit.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Fine. But at the first sign of trouble, I’m pulling you out of there.
ORION
I’m a smuggler, remember? I don’t take unnecessary risks.
NARRATOR
Sealed into a spacesuit and securely harnessed, Orion makes his way outside and approaches the mysterious object. Captain Radio watches from a window, keeping one hand on the mooring line and alert to any sign of danger.
[Orion speaks through the radio, intermittently cutting out.]
ORION
Nearly there. It doesn’t look like much from here.
CAPTAIN RADIO
There should be a memory access hatch on one side. It should slide open.
ORION
It looks old. Rusty. Like it was stored away for a long time.
CAPTAIN RADIO
The Centauri Guard keeps a stash of equipment for emergencies in the caverns under the palace. Maybe that’s where this thing came from. Any luck accessing the memory core?
ORION
I’ve got the hatch open. There is a memory tape loaded, but it’s not long enough for a message. It looks more like a command prompt. A single instruction. Hang on. Something is happening.
[Interference increases.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Pull the tape and get back here. We’ve already lost too many people today.
ORION
The stars look wrong. They shouldn’t be moving like that.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Do you hear me, Orion?! Get out of there!
[Orion cries out in pain, short and sharp, the rest of his scream suddenly cut off by radio interference.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
Orion! Orion!
[A sound of winding as winch retracts the mooring line.]
NARRATOR
Captain Radio pulls Orion back inside and gets him out of his suit only to find that one of his arms is missing.
[A click and hiss as his helmet seal is opened.]
ORION
What- what happened?
CAPTAIN RADIO
By the glaciers of Pluto, does it hurt?
ORION
Not particularly.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Try not to move. I’ll get the medical scanner.
[A case opening. The scanner hums.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
There’s no blood. No sign of any injury.
ORION
I should be dead. Taurians have major arteries in each arm.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Fascinating. The arm was severed on a subatomic level. Atom by atom.
ORION
Talk about precision.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Let me see if I can increase the resolution of this scan. There. Interesting. There’s cellular residue, but it’s incredibly small. Much smaller than it should be.
ORION
Maybe your scanner is broken. All of our instruments have been acting strangely since we got here.
CAPTAIN RADIO
I don’t think so. Look at this.
ORION
I don’t understand. Is that the space around my arm?
CAPTAIN RADIO
Precisely. Space itself has warped. No, not warped. Folded. Folded down to a point so small our scanners can barely register it, except as interference.
ORION
If the starliner collided with that device, half of it may have been caught in the fold when it activated. Ace said the device was equipped with a proton reactor. At full power, it might be strong enough to fold space around an entire planet.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Alpha Centauri wasn’t stolen. It’s been here all along. But it’s simply too small for us to see.
ORION
Who or what could do that? Why would they?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I saw a device like this once. It was only a prototype, but it allowed Doctor Orban to hold Mars for ransom by reducing its capital city to the size of a marble.
ORION
Could Orban be behind this somehow?
CAPTAIN RADIO
I don’t see how that would be possible. I destroyed the prototype and Doctor Orban is imprisoned in the Eleventh Dimension. Still, the similarities are too striking to ignore.
ORION
Maybe that means there’s a way to reverse this. I mean, who ever heard of a Taurian with only five arms?
[A klaxon sounds.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
That’s the proximity sensor. Come on, let’s get to the flight deck.
[Door whoosh.]
CAPTAIN RADIO
I thought you shut down the engines, Orion.
ORION
I did. We shouldn’t be moving.
CAPTAIN RADIO
According to these readings, we’re accelerating.
ORION
Look!
NARRATOR
Out the window, the massive hulk of the destroyed starliner looms above them, a cloud of debris glittering among the stars.
ORION
That’s the same wreck. We’re going in circles.
CAPTAIN RADIO
We’re not going in circles. Space is curving in on itself.
ORION
We’ve been inside the fold all this time?
CAPTAIN RADIO
And there may be no way out.
[Ominious music transitions us to:]
AD BREAK
NEWSCASTER
We interrupt this broadcast for an important news bulletin. Following the destruction of astronaut Amelia Earhart’s space capsule by Soviet missiles six months ago, the Russian war machine has continued to run rampant across Northern Europe. Today, U.S. President Al Smith and the Secretary General of the League of Nations met with officials in Helsinki. President Smith expressed sympathy for the Finnish people, who have borne the brunt of Stalin’s aggression, and committed to dispatching warships to the Baltic. In the States, the news has only served to inflame already tense divisions within the country. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst expressed his outrage at America being dragged into another European conflict in a scathing editorial printed coast-to-coast. A frequent critic of Smith’s administration, Hearst announced he would seek the Republican nomination for president in 1940. We will continue to bring you updates to this developing story as we receive them.
SCENE 3
NARRATOR
We now return to the adventures of Captain Radio! The Phateon is trapped inside a fold in the fabric of space itself. And time may be running out for Andromeda and the people of Alpha Centauri if they can’t find a way to escape.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Try the radio again.
ORION
I am trying. Our signal just gets reflected back to us. Any luck finding a weak spot?
CAPTAIN RADIO
The field strength is identical in every direction. There doesn’t seem to be a way out that I can find. The only way forward is deeper into the fold.
ORION
I don’t like the sound of that.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Nor do I. But it may be our only option.
ORION
What about Andromeda? We’ve got to get her to the monks.
ACE
Recovery mode activated. Start-up sequence error. Switching to backup memory tapes. Powering up.
ORION
Well, it’s about time. I was beginning to think we’d have to sell you for scrap.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Good to have you back, old friend. Are you alright?
ACE
I am operating within normal parameters. However, I have no record of coming to the flight deck. Was I successful in retrieving the device?
ORION
Neither of us had much luck with that.
ACE
You are missing your left dorsal arm. I appear to have missed a great deal.
CAPTAIN RADIO
We’ll get you up to speed later. Right now, I need you to chart a course out of this system. Do you remember Doctor Orban’s graviton fold generator?
ACE
I recall that we destroyed the device after he used it to threaten the planet Vespa Majorum.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Someone has managed to re-create it. But this one is powerful enough to shrink an entire planet.
ACE
Excellent.
CAPTAIN RADIO
How so?
ACE
My vocal unit must be malfunctioning. I meant to say fascinating. There must have been a second prototype.
ORION
Yeah, yeah, we’re all very impressed. But can we focus on getting out of here?
[Door whoosh.]
ANDROMEDA
We can’t leave. Not yet.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Andromeda! You’re awake. Are you alright?
ANDROMEDA
I’m fine. Just a little lightheaded. I have about a million voices in my head, but I’ve managed to block them for now.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Ace is going to find a way out of this maze we’re in. And then we’re going straight to Caliban.
ANDROMEDA
The Oracle can’t help me. I can handle this, but whatever is happening to the space around Alpha Centauri is affecting me, too. It’s like we’re in a psychic echo chamber. Once the planet is free, I’ll be free of these voices.
CAPTAIN RADIO
Any idea where to start?
ANDROMEDA
Proxima. My home. We have to go there.
ORION
That may be difficult.
ACE
Proxima is on the very edge of the fold. We should be able to reach it.
CAPTAIN RADIO
And then what?
ANDROMEDA
I’ve been keeping a secret from you, Xavier. There’s something on Proxima, a weapon of terrible power.
ACE
What do you intend to do with this weapon?
ANDROMEDA
Something incredibly dangerous. Something that hasn’t been done in centuries. We’re going to steal a psychokinetic bomb — and then we’re going to use it to save Alpha Centauri.
[Heroic music transitions us to the outro:]
NARRATOR
Can our heroes escape from the graviton fold with their lives? What is the secret weapon hidden on the moon of Proxima? Who is responsible for the fold and can Captain Radio’s home planet be rescued from the brink of destruction? Find out in the thrilling second chapter of Captain Radio and the Search for Alpha Centauri, brought to you by the Law Offices of Asimov, Verne, and Wells!
WILL
The Adventures of Captain Radio is a production of Obscure Studios. This episode was written by Jonny Eberle and produced by William McDonald. Mixing and sound design by Trask Snow. Featuring music by Simon Cunningham and art by Tami King.
Our talented cast includes:
Scott Kennedy as the Narrator
William McDonald as Captain Radio
Abigail Stokley as Andromeda
DeLano Hays as Ace
Christian Carvajal as Orion
And Jonny Eberle as the Newscaster
With Hanna Wonders as Queen Nashira
JONNY
Special thanks to our co-producers who contributed to our crowdfunding campaign to make this season possible: Mikey Hudson, Chris Gunn, Ruth Heathman, Hanna Wonders, Keene Short, and Sarah Bevan.
WILL
We’re a small team of independent creators. If you like our work and want to support us, follow Obscure Studios on social media, contribute on Ko-Fi, buy merch on our TeePublic store, or join our mailing list at obscurestudios.net. You can also help us reach more listeners by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app and by sharing a link to our show with a friend. See the show notes to learn more. Thank you so much for listening and for your support!
Obscure Studios 