← The Strange Case of Starship Iris
The Strange Case of Starship Iris
2.08 Signs and Signals
00:33:22
SUMMARY: Getting the word out. CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild language, discussion of war and bombing, portrayal of PTSD, cremation and description of the cremated body, the sound of bombings, mention of problematic drinking, discussion of killing friends,...
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Ignatius Campbell
A trail of clues, a ticking clock, and then an ad. That's not how this story goes. Solve the case without distractions for just $4 a month. Fable and Folly plus keeps your mysteries suspenseful and ad free. Sign up now@fableandfolly.com plus the truth awaits. Nordstrom brings you the season's most wanted brands. Skims, Mango Free People and Princess polly. All under $100. From Tre. From Trending Sneakers to beauty must haves, we've curated the styles you'll wear on repeat this spring. Free shipping, free returns and in store pickup make it easier than ever. Shop now in stores and@nordstrom.com so how do we know your people will come through? If we strike at our target and your forces leave us hanging, that will be very inconvenient. We can secure a system so that both teams act on the same order simultaneously, regardless of the distance. You can do that? Dornian technology. Give us a list of targets on San Ramos and we will hit every one of them. It is we who should worry about your capabilities. Imdalla will be a crater. This is Rift Radio. Free Telemachus, as always, broadcasting from the debris clouds surrounding the planet. If you're only now joining us. A few hours ago, we received audio of the regime's own Major General Frederick planning a series of airstrikes on St. Ramos, the biggest city on Telemachus, and Heimdala, a densely populated city in Jornian space. Several experts in xenolinguistics have called in to say that the other two voices on the recording sound like highly educated Middle Plains Dwarnians, meaning government. We can't know. It does sound that way. No timeframe yet on the coming attack. Worse, from what we know up here, it looks like San Ramos is in the middle of a widespread blackout, which factor in the severely bugged phone system and it means there's not much communication in or out. If you're hearing this on your shortwave radio, please help us get the word out. And if you're on your way to San Ramos, either divert course or understand the risk you're taking. Should we get Captain Tripati? Why? The cremation was supposed to leave chunks of bone like that, right? Juniper, can you not see? Say it like I think so. Everything I could find said so. Besides, I don't think we could drag the captain out of the cockpit. I wouldn't want to be between her and Telemachus right now. It still feels like someone should say a few words. McCabe, what could you possibly want Me to say you saved her? I don't want to hear it. We shouldn't have let them watch. They said they wanted to, but we shouldn't have listened. At some point, you have to trust when a person tells you they can handle something. And just be there to support them if they can't. Is that so? I'm way too tired to fight you right now. I don't want to fight. There's a first fight. Sorry. Reflex. Look, you were right. What? I have no goddamn business being here. I keep running it through my head, what I should have done when that guard drew a gun on me. And there's nothing. I've got. Nothing. All I did was throw you off your game, Juni. If I hadn't been there, if you'd been able to focus on your mission, maybe you could have gotten out without McCabe killing their friend. We have no way of knowing that. What happened to Martin. No, it's on me. It's on everyone and no one. And most of all, it's on that guard. For buying into a system that would have seen us all killed, or worse. You don't think I should be here and you know it. Look, if we get out of this, I'll go back to Goat Planet. Okay? I'll try to find some way to actually be useful. Just. What? Come visit me sometime? Of course. Hey. Let's get out of here. It's like a million degrees. We're really firing on every thruster to get to San Ramos, huh? Yeah. Violet. What the hell are we gonna do when we get there? So long can't dodge the dawn Red light shines on and on and on and on and on but it's not the sea that's coming for me and it's not the storm no, it's not the storm so come sing me no songs, though. Once we go we are gone and gone and gone When I go to sea don't fear for me Fear for the storm Fear for the storm Shortwave radio transmission. Ignatius Campbell to Dr. Sylvia Robinson. Attempting connect. Hey, can't it wait? Sorry if I woke you. No, I'm just extremely busy with this wave of protest wounds. Not to mention that the power's out. Yeah, even the traffic cameras were off. What are the odds the entire grid fell at once? What are the odds the regime turned off the lights because they're about to do something they don't want the rest of space to see? Reach out on shortwave Start spreading the word for folks to stay home today and stay by the radios this really. Doc, can I get back to you in five? A ship's landing across the street. Hey, Forge. Campbell. Sorry. We tried to call ahead. So, the regime attacks the Dwarnians. Some subset of the Dwarnians attack us. And both can't get the war they've been after. Got it in one, if you need a minute. Wish I was surprised. Wish I still had that. And you have proof? Audio of Major General Frederick arranging the whole damn thing. Just no way to spread the word far enough, fast enough. Stay on the line. We'll figure this out. Gretch. Brian. Good to see you. The Iris 2 isn't here yet, is it? What? It's all over your faces, dude. Captain Tripathi and the rest of the crew were way closer to Telemachus than we were. They should be here and they aren't. Maybe they took the secret door, like we did last time. Through the rubble. If you fly it careful, that can be a real slowdown. If. If they're not flying carefully, it's a permanent slowdown. Any chance they landed in a port and they're stuck in line? We picked up some radio chatter from the ports on our way here. The regime agents are down to a skeleton crew. And they were way more concerned with people leaving the planet. Whoever's left has eyes on the exits, not the entrances. Besides, if the Captain and the rest were just waiting for processing. They would have radioed Brian. You think I'm not worried about Sanaa? About Violet and her sister, even McCabe? The fact is, we can't think about that. We don't have time. We need to find a way to evacuate San Ramos. The largest remaining human city in the galaxy. That's the one without power. In the meantime, we've got a network of solar powered short ray radios. For arranging protests and spreading news too sensitive to share our rift. Everyone's got three names to call. I say altogether it can reach maybe a third of the city. If everyone we contact reaches out to all their friends and family. Even the ones who aren't political. Let's say half, not enough. Better than nothing. Before we start calling, I want to be 100% clear on what we're telling them to do. Otherwise, the only thing we're spreading is panic. Agreed. Let's be systematic. How many people can the city bomb shelters take? Not everything from the last war is still operational. Counting the tunnels, I'd say we could pack in maybe 20% of the population. So shelters are last resort for people who can't make it out of the City. It'll probably be best if folks could get off planets. You said the ports were understaffed, right? With a good distraction, we might be able to overwhelm them. Hippocratic Oath's a little bendier than I remember, Doc. They're already watching the exits. A disturbance at the ports is going to draw out whatever regime presence still here. We can't afford that. So the message is to leave the city, not the planet. Do we tell people what's going on? Do we say who's doing the bombing? We have to, right? There's going to be another war with Dwarnians. Unless folks know the regimes behind it, it'll slow the evac down. The body count of a Dwarnian war is going to be so much higher than an attack on any one city, even San Ramos. What good will a warning do if most people don't even believe you? The regime working with their worst enemy. Well, you both bought it in under a minute, Doc. Yeah, but we've been following all this for years. We're dead inside. Besides, there's probably gonna be a second Bornean war no matter what. Remember, the IGR is attacking him. Dala too. Unless Thazia's people can stop it. We sent our footage out to Rift. I think for now, we focus on reducing the body count as much as we can. Get the story straight later. There'll be time to do that, but only if people live. Right then, Doc. We got some calls to make. Keep me in the loop. Shortwave radio transmission. Arkadi Patel to Madge Ferguson. Hi, is this Madge? Who's asking? I'm calling on behalf of Irene Wells. Irene got taken nine days ago. Yeah, I'm filling in for her on shortwave. Ignatius Campbell's idea. Tell me there's an action today. The action is get the hell out of San Ramos. An aerial attack is coming. An aerial attack? Are you positive? Wish I wasn't. We don't know when, but we need our people to tell everyone they know. Take everyone they can and disperse out of the city. My doctor said I shouldn't fly. Something boring about my blood pressure. Anyone who can't get airborne should seek their nearest bomb shelter. I'll pass that along. Thanks. Good luck. Madge Ferguson to Esperanza Vasquez. Ma, Is there an action today? I need you to get your family out of sandbags. Ramos. Kid. What? An air attack's coming. Spread the word to leave the city or seek shelter and then do the same. You sure? Yeah, Esperanza, I'm sure. Is he old enough to fly yet? Yeah, but he's a shit pilot. Sorry, I had to. You didn't. He should be fine in the ship. Go call the rest. And then you and Della and the baby get out of here. Got it. Shortwave radio transmission. Esperanza Vazquez to David Parker. Hey, I'm on night shift right now. Can I. You brought your radio to work so we can have charming conversations like this one. Listen to me, David. This is very, very important. Clerk. Can you tell me where to find them? No, I'm gonna talk to your manager. Okay. You better be serious. An air attack's coming. Call your 3 and tell them to leave the city or seek shelter and then get out of here. Need a ride? Thanks, but I've got one. Good. Get going. I'm at work. Work is about to be a hole in the ground. I guess. In that case, I quit. Thank you. Hey. Shortwave radio transmission. David Parker to Yuri Nakamura. Hey, Yuri. How's your hot wiring? At this point, I could hand you the reins to the very chariot that pulls the sun. Great. Go down to the nearest dealership and grab something that can take 30. There's gonna be an airstrike on San Ramos. We need to get out of here and go remote. Who? I don't. Is it the Dornians or the government? Friend, you know it's one or the other? I have no idea. I just know it's coming. Everyone who can't disperse out of San Ramos needs to seek shelter. Head to the south dockyards. Call your half of the usuals and wait for my ship. How will I know which one's yours? It'll be the prettiest. No shit. Take care. See ya. Shortwave radio transmission. Yuri Nakamura to Ignatius Campbell. Have you heard? Yeah. Dude got a spot with your name on it in the nicest ship I can hotwire you in. Well, thank you. Extend the honor somewhere else. You sure? I've got a lot of work to do. Right. Best of luck. Have we covered everybody? Circle around the tree. We have anything from Sanaa and the others? You would have been the first to know. We need to find a way to reach more people than shortwave, or I'm gonna start going door to door. Too bad we can't talk to everyone with a radio. Actually, we might be able to. How? What would San Ramos do if there was a disaster? A hurricane or a terrorist attack? They've used the Emergency Alert System. The EAS overrides all radio and cable. It'd reach everybody with a device that runs on Battery. It reached the regime galoot stationed here. If they believed the warning, either they stay and help the evacuation or they turn and run, in which case they leave the ports open. Good. How do we set it off with no juice? Could we hook it up to Forger Campbell's van engine? That's Sanaa's department, but we can try. The signal relay would be in a government building. One with a radio tower. The office of the governor. Could you make it happen? I cannot overstate how much the EAS is just a button you push. I have to imagine the building would be under heavy guard, though. Do we have a way of knowing that's still true? Looks like the regime took a lot of their forces off planet. One way to know. Shortwave transmission. Ignatius Campbell to Madge Ferguson. Ignatius. Your friend called. I'm just packing up for the shelter. Do you still live on the top floor of the Keef building? Yeah. Can you get a line of sight on the office of the governor? Sure. Decent view when the back's acting up and I need something to flip off. How's it look around there? Um. Big crowd of people swarming some guys in jeeps. Barricade in the street. Looks like. Damn. Thanks. See you on the other side. The governor's gathering up a crowd. Shit. Any cover that might have gotten us in has been blown for months, and there's no time for new credentials. Do we try storming the building? Maybe. With the right distraction. There's four of us, and any backup is getting the hell out of the city proper right now. Do we need to breach the big fancy office for this? Or could First Mate Patel hack us in someplace else? I could record my own message and patch it through, but to reach the whole city, I need an antenna. A big one. The regime closed down most local radio. Scrap the stations for parts. Most? What'd they leave? Vaughn University still has one. To the best of my knowledge, they're the only one. Gotta train the new generation of propagandists somewhere the jump ship won't take four. My van's parked this way. All right, let's get this show on the road. Can I drive? Humid roads crash with humid traffic laws. I'm driving. Less fun in two dimensions anyway. What? Except transmission. Where are you at? Captain, it's an op. Sorry about the delay. We ran into something. Just get to Vaughan University on State and Liberty. Okay. We're all meeting at Vaughan University. Sounds good. Can't wait. Grace, I kind of hear your voice. Is. Are the others okay? We will be. Get here really goddamn soon. Okay. What's that shape up there? Too opaque for a cloud. You're right. I see them. I see them. Crush. For the love of God, stay down. Lights are out. And anyway, this is a college campus. People see a Dorian looking somebody around here, they'll assume they've been up studying too late. Or that it's the drama department. Is that true? I sure am willing it to be. My crew. My crew. My crew. My crew. Hey, Krej. Where are. Oof. Good to see you. Good to see you. What the. Yeah. Come see the drama department's new staging of Midsommar, where all the fae are played by folks dressed as Dwarnians. Whoa. Deep. No, it's not. What does that actually say? Please. You made me go to that extreme experimental jazz thing. Don't pretend. I should not have run. Hi. Hi, Ryan. Great to see you again. Hey, Captain. Hi. We don't really have time to. I know. Should be mad you came back in the middle of all this, but. God. Glad you're here. Me too. Arady, are you coming? Campbell forgot to put the van in park. Hi, everyone. Violet. Missed you so much. You too. Mind if I just don't let go for a while? Hold on as long as you want. Hi, Juniper. I know. Good to meet you. Hey. Sanaa. McCabe. McCabe. How are I? Fine. So what are we doing here? What's the plan? Everybody on the ship. I'll explain. So here's the plan. We use Campbell's van to power the university antenna. Use the antenna to patch me into the emergency alert system. Use the EAS to intercept anyone with a battery powered radio or screen and send a message to either find shelter or evacuate. All right, we have a. Let's call it a setback. What? The van engine won't do it. For an antenna like this, we need a generator. The size of what? This ship. You're saying hook up the power from the ship life support system. The Iris 2 is essentially a huge flying battery. I think I could do it. If you turn the ship into a generator, will you be able to turn it back? That part's harder. So we're taking a ship that could easily move 60 people out of the city and tying it to the ground. We have to do it right? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we're going to find something else that can handle this kind of power. This ship was our way out. Our jump ship can only carry three, and even that's a tight fit. If we can use it to send a message to the rest of the city. Yeah, I know. So we put it to a vote. All in favor of converting the ship? Hands up. Thank you. All opposed? Can I abstain? Yeah. Thank you for taking this risk, everyone. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We got the parts you asked for, Captain. Thank you. Set them down over there. Will do. Where are we at? I'd say two hours to go. How's the distraction? Uh, Brian is reciting a poem and Krej is ribbon dancing. Kind of great. The busker ploy. Nobody looks hard at buskers. Too afraid of being asked for change. Where's McCabe? They said they wanted to scout the perimeter. In the dark? I think they just want space. Hmm. You need anything else? Time. Made you a sandwich. How? I keep a bugout bag in the trunk. It's extensive. Thanks. Set it there. When's the last time you ate? I don't appreciate these trick questions. Sanaa. This isn't you. If we don't get the signal out in time Because I was eating a sandwich. You can chew ant work. Please. All right, Captain, what can I get you? Nothing. I think it's done. I think we're done. Half an hour ahead of schedule. Get Arcady. She was going to send the message. Arcady got tired of waiting for McCabe and took the van after them. Do we wait every second we lose? Yeah, I can do it. Juniper. Are you sure? I interned for a news station. I've heard EIS bulletin all the time. How often? On Lovelace. They ran at any time a suspect was on the loose. One time it was, well, me. Point being, emergency alerts are firm in my mind. Have you heard the message for an air attack before? No, I haven't. And it's been years since war. I'm guessing people either won't notice if it's different or the. I don't know. The protocol got updated. I just need to sound like I know what I'm talking about. That's half of broadcast journalism anyway. Fi, I'm good at this. It's taking a risk. That's kinda what we do. Patching you over in 3, 2, 1. This is the Emergency Alert System. An aerial attack is imminent. Please evacuate the city in a calm and orderly manner. If you are unable to do so, please report to your nearest functional bomb shelter. This is the emergency Alert. And we've got it. Looks like they got it working. Yeah. Get in the van. McAbe, thanks for scouting the area. You're not going to try to Talk to me. Are you? What? I know Captain Tripathi told your half of the crew what I did. I don't need you of all people trying to contort what I did into some rebel fable. I'm alright. Okay? Nobody needs to worry about me. I am goddamn fine. Fair enough. You know, I've been losing time. What, a few seconds here or there. I'll look up from where I am and not know how I got there. What does Violet think? Haven't told her. Haven't told anyone. Can't be good. And everyone's already got their shit. So I've just been trying to ignore it. How's that going? Turns out it does something to you. When you pack everything way down inside and pretend it can't hurt. You look at me like that. Everyone you know is on your side. You have no idea what it's like to pull the trigger on your best friend. No idea. McCabe. I thought you read my file. I was one of the goddamn 77s. Do you really think the regime didn't send any of them after me when I went on the run? How did you get through it? I killed them, McCabe. I thought that was obvious. No, I mean how did you? Drinking. Mostly Sarcasm. I'm not saying handle it how I did. Jesus, don't do that. It feels so bad. How can it be the right thing when it feels this bad? Would you feel better if you'd let your friend take you all into custody? March you straight to Zone Z? I don't know. See, I think you do know. Sometimes you don't get the luxury of a choice. That's going to leave you feeling good. Doesn't mean there aren't degrees. People say lesser of two evils, like it's damning, but shit less evil always preferable. There's nothing you can say that will. I think Sanaa would say it's allowed to hurt. It doesn't seem to need permission. Yeah. Hey, you're back. They're here. What's our next step? Just got off a short wave with the shelter on 29th and Jackson. It's a no go. What's left? From what I hear, all the shelters are full up. In a way that's good news. Just not for us. Last resort time. There's a stretch of subway in uptown that doesn't connect to anything. They never finished building it. My buddy told me you can get down there through the manhole cover on 2nd and Chavez. Assuming it's not underwater. And assuming he wasn't full of shit. Yeah, Sanaa Keys. Where's Juniper And Krej and Brian? Other room. Hey, folks, you made it. What is that? We took a brief detour to the school communications lab. Did a little light looting. Yup. Okay, everybody in the van now. Captain, would you mind dropping off me and Krej at our jump ship? We've got the beginnings of a plan. This is Radio Free Telemachus reporting as we always do from somewhere inside the old wartime debris surrounding Telemachus. A wave of ships have begun to evacuate San Ramos, some heading off Telemachus entirely. And we're starting to receive messages from people that have made it out. Many say they've heard an official emergency broadcast warning of an incoming offensive on San Ramos and urging them away from the city. This contradicts our earlier transmissions, in which intercepted audio seemed to suggest a government conspiracy between regime top brass and some Djuornian officials. Uh, our bad on that one. Maybe. Maybe. We'll continue to report on the story as it develops. And in the meantime, here's Moonchaser by creature to creature. And we're out. I still think something's up, Kes. Me too. But we need to head. Where the facts from? Unknown number. Incoming call from Ahoy Hoi. Krezh speaking. The Krezh. I've been waiting my whole life for someone to call me a Z. Anyway, we're just calling to say special delivery. Krezh love. When you say that to people who don't know you, it's kinda ominous. Fair point. Look, we got a doohickey that'll beef up your signal to the rest of space. Help us spread word of what's really happening and why. We'll deliver the booster to you. And a full exclusive account of the evac. All we need are your coordinates. How do we know you are who you say you are? Quick, ask us anything. Only we would know. I mean, Krej could do the Duarnian J, but without some really specific training, it won't land on your ear as anything special. Tell you what. We tell you where we are, and in exchange, you do something for us. What could we possibly. Oh, how's this? You need someone on the ground on Telemachus reporting on the attack. We happen to know someone who hasn't evacuated. With media training. Science Officer Liu's gonna hate this. Juniper's gonna love it. We need this connection. Fair enough. Great. Sending you our coordinates. Drop off your booster and we'll hand off some recording equipment for Juniper. So we're flying back to San Ramos, weren't we always, bud. 16 more blocks and we're there. Does anybody else hear that? Hear what? That humming. Dwarnian bomber ships make a really specific sound. Why do their bombs still sound exactly the same? Arcady. Arcady. Drive. The Strange Case of starship Iris episode 8 signs and signals Starring Julia Morizawa as Piper Tanaka Lucille Valentine as Kestrel Colvin Jackie Andrews as RJ McCabe Cindy Chu as Violet Liu Ray Tay as Juniper Ricky Harris as Ignatius Campbell Angelique Lazarus as Dr. Robinson Rukmini Desai as Sanathrapathi Jamie Price as Brian Jeter Brittany LaFeber as Krej Ishani Kanitkar as Arkady Patel Ella Womersley as Ella L. W. Salinas as Madge Isaramos as Esperanza Vazquez Dorian as David Parker Yudo Kuroky as Yuri Nakamura Ella Moria Seat as the Customer Kay Watson as Student 1 Ari de Lynn as Student 2 Sound design, mixing and editing by Hannah Cross and Erin Bauman directed by Rachel Kellum written by Jessica Best. Opening credits music is Fear for the Storm, written by Jessica Best and Essie Winters and performed by Kyron Starr with Aaron Bauman on vocals. Ending credits music is Rocket Science by David Devereux of Tin Can Audio, the Fable and Folly Network, where fiction producers flourish.