Escape Pod 1015: Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias

Podcast: Escape Pod
Host: Mer Lafferty, Escape Artists Foundation
Episode: 1015
Story By: Ellie Bangs
Narrated By: Christiana Ellis
Release Date: October 16, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features the science fiction short story “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias” by Ellie Bangs. The narrative follows Ursa Major, a queer runaway from a dystopian Earth, who escapes onto a mysterious alien aether train that links thousands of utopian alternate Earths. Through legend, heartbreak, adventure, and introspection, Ursa seeks connection, meaning, and ultimately considers returning to the world she fled — bringing unexpected hope with her. At its heart, the episode explores the trauma of living in a broken world, the allure and limitations of escapism, the complications of heroism, and the radical possibility of healing and change.

Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

Act I: Escape and Transformation

• Ursa Major’s Leap (02:41–06:40)

  • At 17, Ursa flees her own universe upon seeing an alien aether train appear above her town. She grabs the opportunity to escape, using a grappling hook to catch a passing train.
  • She leaves behind her old life, family, even her name– bringing only what fits in a backpack, determined never to return.
  • The narrator, Ursa’s best friend, becomes her distant biographer: “I was the only person she told her true name before she left, and I’ve missed her terribly. I couldn’t follow where she went. Instead, I’ve made myself her distant biographer...” (04:43)

• Encounters with Utopians (06:50–12:00)

  • Ursa finds it most difficult to connect with the train’s eclectic passengers—denizens of countless utopias—who cannot fathom the trauma she fled.
  • To explain, she recites a searing rhyme enumerating the injustices of her Earth (lead in water, kids in cages, climate change, medical debt, racist police, armed fascists, etc.).
  • Most listeners react in stunned silence, unable to relate: “And when Ursa would ask, what, ain’t your world ending? They would blink a lot and stammer things like ‘No’ and ‘Of course not’ and ‘Why would it be? Do you know something I don’t?’” (09:28)

Act II: Legend and Love in the Multiverse

• Meeting Calliope (12:10–16:37)

  • Ursa meets Calliope, a statuesque, enigmatic traveler collecting “beads” for every universe whose music she has truly “heard.”
  • The two connect deeply: “She had been the first person to listen to the whole song and make a serious attempt to understand its lyrics.” (15:40)
  • Despite only one meeting, Ursa is profoundly affected and hopes to see Calliope again: “Even if I never see her again, she’s out there being incredible. And that’s enough. It has to be.” (16:16)

• Becoming a Space Pirate (16:38–22:30)

  • Ursa gains renown on the trains for her bravery and skill. Her legend grows: “Who is this diamond forged in hell? ... What force in the multiverse could stand against her?”
  • She assembles a motley crew and stages a pirate “mutiny,” seizing control of a train—though the details become shrouded in rumor and myth.

Act III: Epiphany and Growth

• A Second Encounter — Loss and Self-Reflection (22:31–26:00)

  • Against all odds, Ursa and Calliope meet again—a fleeting reunion that leaves Ursa tongue-tied and unsatisfied. Calliope seems unimpressed by Ursa’s legend and withdraws.
  • Ursa’s disquiet leads to a crisis of leadership. When she snaps at her young crew, she realizes she’s reproducing the hierarchy she fled and abolishes unjust rules:
    • “She apologized to the kid and to his mom, who was also the XO, and dried his tears... From now on, there would be no hierarchy, no unthinkingly emulating the very power imbalances that had driven her to flee our universe in the first place.” (26:05)

• Festival of Pirates & Reunion (28:00–32:26)

  • The Crimson Train transforms into a traveling multiverse festival—a hub for performers, musicians, and joy.
  • Calliope is drawn back, finding Ursa alone atop a train car. The two finally share an honest, vulnerable conversation about trauma, otherness, and longing:
    • “The more I travel, the more I get to know myself, the more I find something in me that reminds me of my own terrible universe that I never want to go back to.” — Ursa (32:27)
    • “Have you talked to any of the others about it? Might help to have someone around who really gets it.” — Calliope (32:49)

• Truth of the Pirate Legend (34:00–35:40)

  • Ursa tells Calliope what really happened when she took over the train:
    • “[The conductor] said, factually, like a bored scientist, ‘Because you are truly beautiful.’ Without another word, the conductor had handed Ursa Major the key to the engine and then vanished.” (35:27)

Act IV: Resolution, Return, and the Promise of Change

• Hearing Utopia’s Music (36:10–37:30)

  • Calliope takes Ursa to a universe that feels “different.” It was once a broken world, but is now healed. Calliope shares the secret:
    • “A universe doesn’t even have to be that good to be perfect... Utopia is a process, just any place where the struggle is always happening, the work is getting done, the old wounds are healing, [and] the empty stomach never starves.” (37:00)

• Decision and Hope (37:31–38:02)

  • Ursa realizes she must return to her home, broken world, now believing it can be changed:
    • “I have to take what I’ve learned out here and go back to my Earth... For everybody else too, even though there are a lot of pretty hideous ways to get sad and die there.” (37:47)
  • Calliope agrees to come:
    • “Depends. Is there music there?”
    • “The best.”
    • “Cool. Let’s go.” (38:00)

• Finale — A Call to Action

  • The narrator reveals Ursa was one of thousands who left Earth that day, all now returning, “riding the Aether trains from every corner of the multiverse, riding them straight toward us as fast as the fractal tracks can carry them... in their hearts grow the seeds of a brand new Utopia, numbered 10 billion and one.” (38:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trauma and Refusing Resignation:

  • “She had fallen into the trap of thinking of herself the same way her crewmates did, as someone made strong by her wounds instead of by the toilsome and lifelong work of healing them.” (27:14)

• On Utopia:

  • “Utopia is a process, just any place where the struggle is always happening, the work is getting done, the old wounds are healing, the empty stomach never starves.” — Calliope (37:00)

• On True Beauty:

  • “Why did it ever roll through my shitty universe?... ‘Because you are truly beautiful.’” — The Conductor (35:27)

• On Returning Home to Change Things:

  • “I have to take what I’ve learned out here and go back to my Earth... For everybody else too, even though there are a lot of pretty hideous ways to get sad and die there.” — Ursa (37:47)

• Triumphant Closing:

  • “Their new accomplices are at their sides, fearless and ready, and in their hearts grow the seeds of a brand new Utopia, numbered 10 billion and one, friend. They are legion. They’re coming. They’re here.” (38:00)

Special Author’s Note (38:03–41:23)

Ellie Bangs’ Commentary

• Bangs explains writing the story during the fraught summer of 2020—a time marked by protests, wildfires, and pandemic.
• She notes the story’s inspiration from alternate histories and legendary narrative frameworks (e.g., The Great Gatsby, Heart of Darkness) where the narrator is not the protagonist but acts as a witness and myth-maker.
• Bangs reflects: “I wish I could Space Pirate Queen this timeline to be better, but I like the chutzpah and the interdimensional train.”

Timestamps — Important Segments

• [01:39] Host introduction
• [02:41] Story narration begins
• [06:50] Ursa describes the horrors of her own Earth
• [12:10] Ursa meets Calliope
• [16:38] Ursa’s legend as a space pirate grows
• [22:31] The second encounter with Calliope, realization about leadership
• [28:00] The Crimson Train becomes a festival
• [32:27] Ursa and Calliope have a heart-to-heart about identity and longing
• [35:27] Truth of the aether train takeover
• [36:10] Music, healing, and the secret of utopia
• [37:47] Ursa’s decision to return home
• [38:00] Final rallying vision
• [38:03] Author’s note and story framing commentary

Episode Tone

• Wry, heartfelt, and profane; blending caustic humor with earnest hope
• Celebrates outsider resilience and transformative love
• Balances trauma and anger with the radical optimism of growth and collective action

For Listeners

This episode is a perfect fusion of adventurous sci-fi and deeply personal allegory, illuminating the pain of living with broken systems and the subversive hope of choosing healing—alone and together. It’s a rallying call to be the “space pirate queens” of our own timelines, bringing utopia home.