Season Two Episode Nine - In the Forests of the Night
SFX: creepy music, gunfire, distant screaming. A klaxon blares as footsteps run. Someone pants. A door whooshes open and closed.
TABINA: They're on this deck now. They're coming this way, we have to get out of here!
SIDHU: Did anyone get through to Admiral Farren?
TABINA: No, the fleet is half way to the staging ground by now. We can't get through the interference!
SFX: typing.
TABINA: Come on, let's go!
SIDHU: I just need a minute.
TABINA: We don't have a minute!
SIDHU: I have to make copies of my research.
SFX: vent cover is removed
TABINA: They don't care about data, Vikram. They don't care about anything!
SFX: muffled thudding and screaming.
SIDHU: They're here. Quick, climb into the vent.
TABINA: Vikram--
SIDHU: Go! I'll be right behind you.
TABINA: Hurry. I love you.
SFX: a kiss. Clambering. Typing resumes.
SIDHU: Come on, come on.
SFX: power cuts out. Sidhu breaths, panicked. A gun is pulled from a drawer, loaded, and pointed. The gun rattles uncertainly. Distant birdsong.
SIDHU: What is…?
SFX: Birdsong gets closer. Crash, metallic squeaking.
SIDHU: No!
SFX: a gun fires rapidly, then clicks with an empty magazine. Birdsong resumes, then hooting and screaming.
SIDHU: No! No please, I-!
SFX: hooting and screaming reaches a frenzy. Sidhu screams, cut off by wet squelching.
SFX: Intro music starts - “Wilderness” by Taylor Davis.
NARRATOR: The Sojourn. Season Two, Episode Nine: In the Forests of the Night, by Larissa Thompson and Daniel Orrett. Starring Larissa Thompson as Captain Cassandra Farren, Emily Serdahl as Elizabeth Ancelet, Laura Faye Smith as Tamara Melari, and Ben Prendergast as Mathias Croft. Also featuring Matt Surges as Post Captain Lewis Harper, Mithun MK as Professor Vikram Sidhu, and Angus Miller as Agent Alec Reeves.
SFX: Theme music continues.
SFX: urgent music.
CROFT: 4.2 G internal, 9.5 actual.
ELIZABETH: Few more seconds, Croft.
MEDS: Approaching waypoint.
CROFT: Main engine cut off in four, three, two–
SFX: engines turn off.
MEDS: Main engine cut off. Now standing nor-west by west a half west for target coordinates.
ELIZABETH: ETA?
MEDS: One hour, twenty five minutes, silent approach.
ELIZABETH: Alright. Well done guys.
CROFT (through PA): All hands, high-g maneuvers complete. Secure from burn stations.
ELIZABETH: You needn't bother.
MEDS: Where is she?
ELIZABETH: Still hasn't left her cabin.
CROFT: Hope she strapped in.
ELIZABETH: I'll be in the guest quarters if you need me.
SFX: door opens
CROFT: Sure thing Boss.
SFX: doors close.
CROFT: You tried to talk to her yet?
MEDS: No.
SFX: the consoles beep in standby
MEDS: You really thinking of staying in Mericia?
CROFT: I don't know. I'm thinking about it.
MEDS: I… She's trying to keep us safe, that's where her head's at.
CROFT: You know… I really don't need to hear that again. It's like a broken record. Sure that's what she's thinking, but I didn't join any navy. I don't need to be lied to for my own good. I've been around the block a few times, I can take it. I tried to tell her, nothing good's gonna come out of trying to control everyone for their own sake. May as well have been talking to the bulkhead.
MEDS: Yeah… I know what that's like. She can be more like her dad than she cares to admit. I shouldn't have let them get back in contact.
CROFT: Meds. You gotta stop this. She's not your responsibility, you gotta live your own life.
MEDS: Oh what, like ditching us to put your feet up in Mericia? Croft, we've got to put all this back together, okay? You can't just--
CROFT: Yes I can. It's a job, Meds. Don't get me wrong, I love you guys, and, yeah, leaving would suck. But you can't waste your life away trying to coddle somebody into making the right choices, that's no different than what she thinks she's doing for us. It's not selfish to be able to stand on your own two feet, Meds. If you're not getting the respect you deserve, you've got to have enough respect for yourself to hit the bricks.
SFX: beep as chair is vacated.
MEDS: I'm gonna check my gear.
- Scene Change -
SFX: ominous music.
CASS: Ship's log, Guinevere. 45th of Equinox, 306 PCU. We're under silent running, approaching the coordinates of the Yeomanry station where Professor Sidhu is based. I dispatched a signal to my father, appraising him of the danger, but even if he's received it by now, anything he sends will be way behind us. We've pushed the Guin as hard as she'll take to get here. I only hope that we're not already too late. That I haven't… Atamara. Why did it have to be here.
SFX: music fades
- Scene Change -
SFX: tense music. Door whooshes open and closed.
ELIZABETH: We're coming into range.
CASS: What have we got?
MEDS: Nothing useful. LIDAR's a waste of time here.
ELIZABETH: This is The Howling, isn't it?
CROFT: Yep, the Tempest of Atamara. Nobody's ever been able to get a clear signal through it.
MEDS: We'll only have what we can see on scopes, and that's precious little in a system with no sun.
CASS: Can you make out the station from its coordinates, Croft?
CROFT: Not sure, I'm…
SFX: beeping.
CROFT: Wait, there it is. Meds, can you try and clean this up for me?
MEDS: I'll see what I can do.
SFX: pitch tuning.
CROFT: I've got the station and…
ELIZABETH: What?
CROFT: I uh, I think I can see evidence of weapons fire. And I'm picking up two ships, moored to the station. Looks like a ketch and some larger thing I can't make out. No transponders, not that that would help, but… from the look of the markings…
MEDS: Paleborn.
CROFT: Yeah.
CASS: Oh God…
ELIZABETH: There could be survivors, we go in and rescue them. We've dealt with pirates before.
MEDS: Not like this.
ELIZABETH: What does that mean?
CASS: The Paleborn, they… I guess they were pirates to start with. Fought on the side of the Union in the war. But they were only ever there to kill and to…
SFX: quiet echoing screams and gunfire
CASS: This is their home. They've spent all their lives in Atamara. No sunlight, no food. They only eat what they can take… who they can take.
ELIZABETH: What the hell have you done Cass. Sidhu… Tabina... What have you done.
CASS: Croft. Take us in, quietly.
CROFT: Captain. These guys don't leave survivor--
CASS: Now, Croft.
SFX: clicking and beeping. Vector thrusters fire.
MEDS: There's a service airlock on the ventral hull. We'll have to EVA and cut our way in.
CASS: Alright. We'll leave the ship cold a few hundred meters off the station. Everybody gear up.
SFX: music fades.
- Scene Change -
SFX: RCS thrusters fire, oxygen hisses in suit helmets.
MEDS: Everyone keep checking your suit integrity. There are micrometeoroids flying around out here so small that you could have a breach and not even know it.
ELIZABETH: And some not so small.
CROFT: Yeah if those hit you, you won't need to check for it.
CASS: Strange… There were supposed to be CDF ships here. Reeves thought it was a staging ground.
MEDS: Isn't it? Don't you know? Your dad not been keeping you in the loop? I know how you feel.
SFX: suit life supports hiss. Thumping and magnetic connections.
CROFT: Alright this is it. Airlock's got power. It'll cycle.
ELIZABETH: Good.
CASS: Alright. Do it. Liz, stay behind me.
SFX: muffled thudding as airlock opens. A bird whistles. Footsteps run away. A pair of boots land on the floor and a gun racks.
CASS: Clear.
CROFT: Looks like a maintenance hallway above the UNREP tanks. We got air and pressure. Better keep the helmets on though, half this station's been turned into a colander.
ELIZABETH: We need to get up to the labs.
MEDS: Wait, do you hear that?
SFX: slow mouth clicking
CASS: Life signs?
SFX: scanning
MEDS: Yeah, but I don't know how many or in what directions, too much of the station is breached, the interference from outside is still having an effect.
CROFT: At least they're not aware of us yet.
ELIZABETH: How do you know?
CASS: We're not dead.
SFX: slow, tense music. Footsteps proceed slowly.
ELIZABETH: I remember a painting at the Radcliffe Gallery in New Idris. Hawker's Last Stand. She killed their leader, didn't she? I don't remember the name…
CASS: Arcelia Abescal.
MEDS: Pirate Queen of Atamara. I don't think they ever really found themselves another leader after she died. They just kinda lost their minds even more than they already had.
CASS: Safeties off. Move up. Next compartment.
SFX: keypad beeping. A door opens. Gun racks.
ELIZABETH: Clear left.
MEDS: Clear right.
SFX: bootsteps, door closes.
CROFT: Bullet holes. There was a firefight in here. Don't suppose I really want to know where the bodies went.
SFX: a mechanical whir.
CASS: What the hell was that?
SFX: birds whistle. A quiet whimper. Metallic banging and shrieking.
CASS: Contact!
MEDS: Wait, wait, hold your fire!
SFX: running footsteps and shrieking recedes
ELIZABETH: That was a child…
CASS: What?
ELIZABETH: He brushed right past me. I swear it was a child, he had to be six or seven.
CROFT: Did they have children living on this station?
MEDS: I don't think he came from here.
ELIZABETH: What. The Paleborn?
MEDS: I suppose. They have been out here for decades, it stands to reason they must have them.
ELIZABETH: My god… Should we go after him?
MEDS: It wouldn't help.
CROFT: Bugger me…
CASS: Just be glad it wasn't one of the adults.
MEDS: People in cities on Centrum think they know what this famine looks like now. They think it's long queues for rations, living off protein paste and hardtack. They've never been out here. They've never seen hunger. Not real hunger.
CASS: Get to the stairwell. Let's find Sidhu.
- Scene Change -
SFX: door opens. Bootsteps.
MEDS: These are the labs where they've been studying the pulsar?
ELIZABETH: I guess so, I've never seen them. This must be where I've been sending all my notes to.
CASS: Still no bodies.
SFX: bootsteps continue.
CROFT: When you said the Yeomanry was running an off-the-books station I figured it'd be like a little satellite. This place is huge. How many people did they have working here? I didn't know the Admiral and his mates had so much pull.
CASS: Brasspine Yeomanry have always been rich, but there are investors too now. A lot of people aren't happy with Sarali or the peace plan.
ELIZABETH: You don't say.
CASS: I did what I had to do. You never would have listened to me.
ELIZABETH: Don't tell me what I would have done. We had a chance for peace.
SFX: distant clatter.
MEDS: We should keep moving.
ELIZABETH: Hold up. This terminal's still logged in, I want to check it out.
CASS: Alright, fine. Cover her.
SFX: bootsteps, a gun racks. Typing.
ELIZABETH: Work logs.
POLMANN: Research log, 64th of Solstice, 305 PCU. Senior Researcher Edmund Polmann. Interviews with the Advari subject known as Vadric, conducted in-situ by Doctor Elizabeth Ancelet, attest that in the Advari Faith, it is crucially believed that all those sacrificed to their deity, are in some way transformed into energy to fuel the nebula around them, as well as its apparently supernatural verdancy. What attempts we've made using the ten months of data collected by the Avalon Expedition have failed to prove any energetic connection between the pulsar object and the expiration of any life form, human or Advari, within the Sanctum. The pulsar nevertheless seems to remain an apparent wellspring of matter and energy, and energetic discharges throughout the Sanctum, emanating from the pulsar, can be chronologically mapped to several of the seemingly miraculous occurrences of extreme and apparently reactive resource abundance observed by the Avalon Expedition. At the consultant advice of Doctor Ancelet, we are at this time operating under the assumption that the pulsar apparatus is restrained by the laws of thermodynamics, as any other entity, and its abilities, while extraordinary, are merely that of energy conversion, not energy creation. Therefore we are left to question, if the pulsar object and its output is not fuelled by sacrifice, what purpose do these sacrifices serve, and what is the pulsar object's true source of fuel?
SFX: playback ends.
ELIZABETH: They'd made more progress than I realized. They never told me.
MEDS: What does it mean?
ELIZABETH: It means what I suspected is true. The pulsar really was supplying our needs, and the Advari's needs too. Changing itself to make whatever we needed to survive. But if these scientists are right, it wasn't using the sacrifices to do it. That idea never made sense to me anyway. It's getting its fuel somewhere else.
CROFT: So all the sacrifices really are for nothing.
ELIZABETH: Maybe. It could be that they just don't know better. But the Empress mentioned a threshold? That if there are ever too many people in the Sanctum, something will happen, something bad.
CASS: Make copies if you want, you can study this later. I'd rather not hang around.
ELIZABETH: On it.
SFX: beep.
MEDS: Shit.
SFX: scanning
MEDS: I got heat signatures. Can't tell how many, but they're moving nearby. If they know we're here they're not showing it yet.
ELIZABETH: This is gonna take a minute.
CASS: Croft. Stay here and cover her while she copies the files. The researchers' offices are only next door, Meds and I will look for Sidhu.
CROFT: I don't think it's a good idea to split up.
CASS: We're on the clock. Safest way to do this is the fastest way, so we split up. Meds, let's go.
SFX: door opens. Typing continues.
MEDS: Fine, let's make this quick.
SFX: door closes.
CROFT: Is it me or is she being kinda reckless here.
ELIZABETH: It's not you. I don't know where her head's at. Maybe she thinks she's got something to prove. I'm too busy being pissed off and scared out my wits to try and figure her out right now.
CROFT: Yeah, can't argue with that.
SFX: music fades out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: bootsteps. Liquid dripping. Scanning.
MEDS: Clear.
CASS: Still no bodies. Just a lot of blood.
MEDS: I think whoever was in here was dragged out. Cass, this doesn't look good.
CASS: We keep looking until we find survivors. The whole station if we have to.
MEDS: You know as well as I do there's no one left alive, we need to--
CASS: Wait, what's this?
SFX: typing.
CASS: Message logs.
MEDS: I'll have a look.
SFX: typing.
MEDS: It looks like Reeves was right, there was a fleet here. Must be most of the CDF ships Admiral Farren managed to win over to his side.
CASS: They pulled out when they saw the Paleborn coming? Why not make a fight of it?
MEDS: No. It looks like they'd been planning to pull out anyway. They set off before anyone even spotted the Paleborn. With all the interference, the station staff couldn't call them back to help. They might still not even know what's happened here.
CASS: Where did they go?
SFX: typing.
MEDS: A staging ground, somewhere in Seravis. The location's encrypted. They're gonna do it. Attack the Advari blockade. I guess that's it then. War.
CASS: We were already at war.
MEDS: Why didn't you tell us you were working with him? You let Elizabeth pour her heart into that summit when you knew all along--
CASS: Why is it that you think I owe you an explanation? Back in the war, when we were on the Soldati, on the Leander, did you ever expect me to explain my orders to you? No. What you need to know is for the Captain to decide.
MEDS: Not anymore! You got away from all that, finally. What we have here, the Guin, this crew, it doesn't just belong to you, it belongs to all of us. You may be the Captain but we all have a right to be heard. You always made sure we knew that.
CASS: Sometimes that has to stop. Sometimes you can't rely on people to figure it out for themselves. Sometimes you need a firm hand on the tiller, someone willing to act in everyone's best interest, whether they can appreciate it or not. That's what my father is doing. That's what I'm doing. I don't need you to say thank you.
SFX: bootsteps stomp away.
CASS: Just do your job.
- Scene Change -
SFX: creepy music, metallic creaking
CROFT: Uh, hate to rush you Boss, but I'm getting a lot of spooky horror movie noises over here.
ELIZABETH: Yeah I'm almost done, just wrapping up the-
SFX: beeping.
ELIZABETH: The hell is this?
CROFT: What?
ELIZABETH: I found a bunch of files, they're… the medical notes Meds wrote on Vadric… after he got hurt in that high-g burn.
CROFT: What? Where did they get that?
ELIZABETH: It must be from when we gave the Admiral our logs, on Centrum.
CROFT: The hell do they need that data for?
ELIZABETH: The project files aren't on this terminal. It seems to reference something they were doing in Lab 3B? I think I saw a door with 3B on the way in.
CROFT: How far is it?
ELIZABETH: Barely fifteen meters away.
CROFT: Alright.
SFX: comm opens.
CROFT: Captain, we're gonna check something out, we're not going far. Meet you back here.
SFX: door opens and closes.
CASS (over comms): Copy that.
SFX: bootsteps.
ELIZABETH: 3B. This is it.
CROFT: Controls are out. Power loss maybe? It's sealed.
ELIZABETH: You think you can force it with the prybar?
CROFT: Yeah, I'll give it a bash.
SFX: zipping, metal scraping.
CROFT: Stand back.
SFX: metallic creaking, Croft grunting. Air starts rushing.
CROFT: Whoa, shit!
ELIZABETH: The compartment's breached! Hang on!
SFX: klaxon blares.
COMPUTER PA: Warning. Critical Decompression event in: Primary Lab Block. Evacuate immediately.
CROFT: Whoa! Take my hand Boss!
SFX: clunking.
ELIZABETH: Debris, watch out Croft!
SFX: object whistles past.
CROFT: Woah-
SFX: sound drops out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: bootsteps.
COMPUTER PA: Warning. Critical Decompression event in: Primary Lab Block. Evacuate immediately.
CASS: Liz, Croft, do you read me?
SFX: computer warning repeats. Cass’s comm echoes unintelligibly.
MEDS: What the hell happened in there?
SFX: door closes.
CASS: Can you get the door back to the lab block open?
MEDS: No it's sealed, the emergency bulkhead must have dropped.
CASS: They could have got out the other companionway. We need to find another way around.
SFX: distant clattering. Three birdcalls.
MEDS: Shit, that's close. They're in here with us.
SFX: hooting and howling.
CASS: Nowhere else to run. We'll have to hold them off.
SFX: a table is knocked over. Scanning. Hooting and howling continues.
MEDS: Cass, I'm reading forty heat signatures. I've only got two spare mags.
CASS: Here they come.
SFX: yelling and gunfire.
- Scene Change -
SFX: echoing and muffled birdcalls.
CROFT: Woah!
ELIZABETH: It's alright, Croft. You're okay. You were out cold.
SFX: suit air support hisses. Croft catches his breath.
CROFT: Where are we?
ELIZABETH: Outside the station. I managed to hook us to a support strut. We'll have to climb back across the hull.
CROFT: Oh, good stuff. And I was having such a great day until now.
ELIZABETH: Can you move okay?
SFX: suit moving.
CROFT: Yeah I'm good. Lemme just get my bearings. You tried the comm?
ELIZABETH: Yeah, no dice. Too much interference.
SFX: RCS firing.
CROFT: The hell is that over there? On the far side, looks like some kind of tethers coming off the hull.
ELIZABETH: I don't know. I only saw it for a second as we passed. They were stretching out from the breached compartment we fell through.
CROFT: We should probably check that out, Boss. Might be a way back in.
ELIZABETH: Works for me.
CROFT: Alright, I'll go first. Keep your eyes open. There shouldn't be any bad guys out here but there's all kinds of micrometeroids whizzing about.
ELIZABETH: I'll keep an eye on my suit seals.
SFX: breathing. A muffled thud.
CROFT: Oh!
SFX: sad music fades in.
CROFT: Oh shit… you might not want to see this, Boss… it's--
ELIZABETH: Oh my God…
CROFT: The crew.
ELIZABETH: Chained up outside the hull… Wh– What kind of monsters… I don't understand… why– why would they--
CROFT: I think uh… I think it might be for… refrigeration. Storing them out here and hoisting them back in for…
ELIZABETH: Oh God no… Oh no…. It's Professor Sidhu.
CROFT: I was worried about that. I'm really sorry, Boss.
ELIZABETH: He was a kind old man, a scientist. To be butchered like this… strung out on hooks? It's sick.
CROFT: The people who did this… I don't think they're really people anymore. Being out here so long, something just goes away inside.
ELIZABETH: I don't blame the Paleborn for this. They're a force of nature, they're a thunderstorm. It was that bastard Reeves. Saving face for the Parliament, sending these people to the worst kind of fate to do it. And he'd never have had the chance if Cass hadn't been lying to us.
CROFT: I'm not too eager to defend her right now, Boss, believe me. But she couldn't have known it would go like this. She rushed us back here to try and save them.
ELIZABETH: She knew it was hopeless as soon as we saw the Paleborn, but she took us in anyway. Out of guilt.
CROFT: Wouldn't you?
SFX: music fades out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: gunfire. Screaming.
MEDS: Cass, I'm almost dry here!
SFX: running
MEDS: Back off!
SFX: thud as metal meets flesh.
CASS: I suppose it was always going to be here. Come on then you bastards. Here I am! Come on!
SFX: gunfire, then an empty gun clicks.
MEDS: I'm out!
CASS: Come on!
MEDS: Liz, Croft. Do you read us?
SFX: the line echoes, distorting.
- Scene Change -
CROFT: I got a comm signal, Boss. It's choppy.
MEDS (over comms, garbled): Liz, Croft. Do you read us? Can you read us?!
CASS (over comms, garbled): Come on!
CROFT: We read you! We're outside the station, where are you?
MEDS (over comms): Croft we're pinned down outside the Lab Block, it's- Grenade! Get back-
ELIZABETH: Shit!
SFX: comm closes.
CROFT: Sounded like a stun grenade, they could be okay.
ELIZABETH: Why would these Paleborn take people alive… Actually I suppose I can guess.
CROFT: Yeah, nothing good. I guess we gotta save their arses again. You with me?
ELIZABETH: Yeah. Yeah, I'm with you. Let's do this.
SFX: fade out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: tense music.
CASS: Ughh. Mmmn.
MEDS: Keep it down. They're watching us.
SFX: a woman groans.
CASS: Ugh, what…
MEDS: Sorry, you didn't get your spectacular last stand. They've sealed us up, I think we're on the command deck.
SFX: a hypospray hisses.
TABINA: Ugh… It hurts.
MEDS: Stay still, I've got you.
CASS: Who is that?
MEDS: Sidhu's wife. She was already tied up in here when I woke up.
CASS: My god, Tabina. Is she okay?
TABINA: Captain… I--
MEDS: Don't try to talk. Try to rest.
SFX: footsteps.
MEDS: No, she's not okay, Cass. I guess they prefer some of their victims to be fresh. We'll find out ourselves soon enough.
TABINA: Vikram… no.
CASS: Tabina… What happened to him? Is your husband here?
TABINA: I… I saw it from the vent… he… he couldn't get away…
CASS: I'm sorry. I tried… I- I'm so sorry.
TABINA: After they caught me… I-I- I was awake when they brought me here. I.. I saw… I saw…
CASS: What?
TABINA: The command deck… they've… there are bodies, flayed bodies everywhere.
MEDS: God…
TABINA: But it's like… like a shrine? There's a… a skeleton, hoist above the room. It's like they're worshipping it.
CASS: One of the bodies?
TABINA: No… not from the crew. I think… I think they brought it with them.
MEDS: I think I heard about that. Some of the merchant hands out here say that on a big raid, they've seen the Paleborn carry the skeleton of Arcelia Abescal with them, like a battle standard.
CASS: That doesn't make sense, Abescal died on her ship, I was there, I saw them board. They couldn't have recovered her body.
MEDS: It's probably just some poor woman they've strung up. There must be ten other Paleborn groups doing the same thing. These people are way past worrying about reality.
CASS: I can't believe the Parliament let this happen. Just because too many people were listening to my father. They'd resort to this just to stop him.
MEDS: He's about to start a war that might kill us all.
CASS: You can't possibly stand here, in the middle of… this, and defend what they've done.
SFX: a door opens.
TABINA: No no no, they're coming back.
SFX: measured footsteps approach. Tabina whimpers.
CASS: Get back, you sick bastard.
PALEBORN: Ye be coming with me if you please… all of you.
MEDS: So you can kill us?
PALEBORN: Aye, aye that be right… in the end.
SFX: a knife slides out of its sheath.
PALEBORN: Or now… if ye rather not be waiting?
SFX: knife drags across metal, echoing before fading out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: airlock cycles, door opens.
CROFT: All clear.
ELIZABETH: Alright, we're back in. Where are we?
SFX: door closes.
CROFT: Somewhere near the command deck, I think. I reckon there might be a terminal through- Shit!
SFX: clattering.
CROFT: Shit, get down.
ELIZABETH: We got bad guys?
CROFT: Yeah. Three of ‘em, in the next room.
ELIZABETH: Shit.
CROFT: Doesn't look like there's a way around.
SFX: quiet chattering and scavenging.
CROFT: Alright. Sorry, Boss but I'm gonna need your help on this one, I can't take all three.
ELIZABETH: It's alright.
SFX: whistling.
ELIZABETH: I'll go left.
CROFT: Alright. Ready… now.
SFX: gunshot. A man groans. More gunfire, bodies hit the ground. Blood drips. A gun rattles nervously.
CROFT: Clear. You got him.
ELIZABETH: Good… okay… give me a minute.
CROFT: First time, right? Sorry Boss, if I could have handled it myself I would--
ELIZABETH: It's alright. I… I guess it's not like we could have talked them down.
CROFT: No. Sorry Boss… some people you just can't help anymore.
ELIZABETH: Shitty day.
CROFT: Yeah, you said it.
SFX: footsteps. Locker opens.
CROFT: Oh shit. Check it out, Boss. They've got all of Cass and Meds’ gear in here. Suits and weapons.
ELIZABETH: They must have been captured. At least they're alive.
CROFT: We must be close. Is there a deck plan on that terminal?
SFX: typing.
ELIZABETH: Yeah you were right, we're just off the command deck. Good a place as any to check I guess, we'll- Wait a second…
CROFT: What is it?
SFX: beeping.
ELIZABETH: I think these guys were scanning for something before we burst in here. I can barely make it out but it looks like there's something on LIDAR.
CROFT: A ship?
ELIZABETH: I guess it must be. It's headed this way. It's only a partial signal but I think I can get part of a transponder code…
SFX: beeping.
ELIZABETH: I can't be sure, but I think it might be CDF.
CROFT: That could be good or bad right now.
ELIZABETH: Let's see if we can find out.
SFX: comm trills.
ELIZABETH: CDF Vessel, this is Doctor Elizabeth Ancelet. Myself and others are aboard the station you are approaching, we are in desperate need of assistance, can you render aid?
SFX: frequency tuning, Elizabeth’s message plays back, garbled.
ELIZABETH: Shit.
CROFT: No dice. We're not getting a message through this soup.
SFX: pacing footsteps.
ELIZABETH: Well… it can't be the Parliament coming to finish the job. That would defeat the point of having used the Paleborn at all.
CROFT: One of Admiral Farren's ships then?
ELIZABETH: Even if it is, I doubt it's a rescue. Chances are good nobody has any idea we're here.
CROFT: Great. So they're here to clean up their secret space station and blow us to bits. Starting to think we must be cursed.
ELIZABETH: It'll be here in… just under sixteen minutes.
CROFT: Alright, alright. Let's go. I need a holiday.
SFX: bootsteps fade out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: door opens, footsteps.
PALEBORN: Sit ye down here now.
SFX: Tabina whimpers.
PALEBORN: Won't be long, not long. I have to speak to the lady now. You be seeing her bones there yonder? So beautiful she is. Not long now.
CASS: How many more of them in here do you think?
MEDS: Five, six, maybe. Too many. And that's if we had our gear and weren't tied up.
TABINA: Oh god. God, let it end.
CASS: It's okay. Liz and Croft will be looking for us.
SFX: Paleborn talks quietly in background.
TABINA: What is he doing?
CASS: He thinks the skeleton is talking to him.
MEDS: Nice of her to keep him in the loop. Sometimes you just need someone with a firm hand on the tiller, you know?
CASS: Can we do this later.
MEDS: We're not getting a later.
PALEBORN: You, you'll be first, she says.
TABINA: No! No, get away from me! No!
CASS: Don't you touch her!
PALEBORN: Shh sh sh sh sh. No pain, no pain. Be quick I will. We're tired you see. All these we take, we keep. Make ‘em last, long, long time. But you are for now. We need to eat, you see? Everyone needs to eat.
MEDS: No!
CASS: Get away from her!
SFX: Tabina cries, bird whistles.
TABINA: You're mad, you're all mad.
PALEBORN: No, no, not mad. If I may make so bold… There be noth- nothin’ mad about it. This is where we be. Left in the dark. There's nothin’ to eat, not nowhere. Not nothin’. Gotta eat to live. You be doing the same, I'll be bound, if they be leaving you in the dark… Nothing mad about it at all.
SFX: Tabina struggles, screams. A knife stab, blood sprays.
CASS: Nooo!
MEDS: You bastard.
CASS: I'll kill you for that.
PALEBORN: Nothing mad about it.
SFX: music rises, then fades.
- Scene Change -
SFX: bootsteps.
CROFT: Command deck should be at the end of this companionway.
ELIZABETH: Wait. Who knows how many of them are in there. Is there a better way in?
CROFT: Good point. I can cut us into the vents from here, we can surprise ‘em from the sides.
ELIZABETH: Perfect. I'll cover you.
SFX: guns rattling. A cutting torch fires.
ELIZABETH: At this point I think I only want to rescue her so I can kill her myself.
SFX: cutting torch stops.
CROFT: Don't joke about that.
ELIZABETH: Sorry.
SFX: cutting torch resumes.
ELIZABETH: I just don't know how to fix things. Or if I should.
CROFT: Don't take this the wrong way Boss, cos I'm just as pissed at her as you are right now. But somewhere in her head, she's doing all of this for you, you know that right?
ELIZABETH: What am I supposed to do with that, Croft?
SFX: cutting torch stops.
ELIZABETH: What. She's sabotaging the peace initiative I've worked so hard on, for my own sake? Barely anyone in the cluster can stand the sight of me right now and she was supposed to be the only person who had my back.
CROFT: Not the only person.
ELIZABETH: Sorry.
SFX: cutting torch resumes.
CROFT: I'm just saying, it's always fear that makes people dumb. She's worried that everything that's happening with the Advari is gonna take you away from her or put you in harm's way. What her dad's doing may seem ruthless, but what if he's right, and ignoring him will cost her what she's found with you? The Skip has spent her whole life learning how to make the choice for everyone whether they like it or not. It's what command is all about.
ELIZABETH: Doesn't mean she's right.
CROFT: Nope, it sure doesn't. But for what it's worth, I think if there's a snowball's chance in hell of her listening to anyone at this stage, it's only going to be you.
SFX: cutting torch stops. Metal moving.
CROFT: Alright, enough of that. Lock and load, I guess.
SFX: fade out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: slow footsteps. Cass struggles.
PALEBORN: It be your turn now.
CASS: Get the hell away from me.
MEDS: Cass!
PALEBORN: Please stay still, can do it much kinder like if you stay still. Shh. Still now. Still-
SFX: a rumble and crash.
PALEBORN: What?
SFX: an explosion.
PALEBORN: Agh!
MEDS: Something hit us. Something's firing at the station.
CASS: Get the bindings loose!
MEDS: I can't!
PALEBORN: No no, you not be getting away now!
SFX: Cass struggles.
PALEBORN: Still now. Shh… Nothing mad about it.
SFX: heartbeat quickens, knife shinks.
CROFT: Could you pass the salt, mate?
PALEBORN: Huh?
SFX: gunshot.
MEDS: Oh thank god.
ELIZABETH: Get 'em free, we don't have long.
CROFT: On it.
SFX: gunfire. Paleborn scream and groan as they are hit.
ELIZABETH: Clear. But two of ‘em got away.
CROFT: It's okay Boss, you did good. Good to see you mate. Thought you might be a packed lunch for a minute there.
MEDS: Yeah, me too.
CASS: Who's shooting at us?
ELIZABETH: CDF, we think. We couldn't get word to them.
MEDS: Time to make tracks, then.
ELIZABETH: Here, we found your gear. Get suited up.
CASS: Thanks for the save. I'm glad you're okay.
SFX: fabric rustling.
ELIZABETH: Let's see how long it lasts.
CROFT: There's an airlock two decks down.
MEDS: We keep standing around and this whole place is gonna be airlocks. Let's move.
- Scene Change -
COMPUTER PA: Warning. Evacuate immediately.
SFX: computer repeats. Exciting music. Distant gunfire.
CROFT: Around here, this is it. The Guin should be six hundred meters off from this port.
CASS: Meds, keep us covered.
MEDS: On it.
SFX: typing, a negative beep.
ELIZABETH: Shit. The outer door's been blown off. I can't cycle it.
CROFT: Wait, you hear that. Did they stop firing?
MEDS: Two more!
SFX: gunfire.
CASS: Agh!
CROFT: Shit, she's hit!
ELIZABETH: Cass, You okay?
CASS: Force the door, blow out the compartment. We have to jump for it.
MEDS: Cass, your suit!
ELIZABETH: More of them! A lot!
SFX: distant howling.
CASS: There's no time. Do it!
CROFT: Ready, now!
SFX: a klaxon blares. The door jettisons. Atmosphere hisses out of Cass’s suit as she panics.
CASS: Shit, shit. I've got no RCS. Liz? Meds? Can anyone hear me?!
SFX: Cass’s comm repeats back. Urgent warning alarm. Scrambled clicking.
CASS: Shit, shit… Can anyone… shit…
SFX: Cass’ breathing slows and the sound falls away, only life support hissing.
SURGEON'S MATE (echoing, muffled): She's fading in and out but she's stable.
HARPER (echoing, muffled): Good. Thank god. Hang in there Captain, your crew is safe, you're gonna be okay.
SURGEON (echoing, muffled): Twenty millilitres Apromulin, please.
ELIZABETH (echoing, muffled): Cass.
SFX: a door whooshes open.
STEWARD: Captain Farren for you, sir.
HARPER: Thank you Davis, send her in please.
SFX: footsteps, door closes.
HARPER: Captain Farren, sit please. I'm very glad that you're up and–
CASS: It was you firing at the station.
HARPER: Yes. I'm sorry, if we'd known you were aboard… It was only when we finally sighted the Guin that we--
CASS: You're working with the Brasspine Yeomanry then. Working for my father.
HARPER: Yes. He's in Sevaris with a number of loyal ships. He intends to attack the Advari. I was sent back to clean up the station after we heard it had fallen to the Paleborn. It was supposed to be perfectly hidden, I- I don't know how those animals could have stumbled into it.
CASS: It was because of me. A CASIS agent duped me on Mericia. He was after the coordinates.
SFX: quiet computer boops.
HARPER: CASIS. You're saying this was planned? The Parliament leaked the location to the Paleborn deliberately?
CASS: That's right.
HARPER: All of those people… What kind of cowards would stoop to this? So afraid to fight a common enemy that they'll subject their own people to barbarism instead. I was worried I might have made the wrong choice… but no. Someone has to stand up. This is the moment. We have to be like Admiral Redfield, we can't let fear defeat us. We have to strike first, or there's no future for any of us.
SFX: music fades out.
- Scene Change -
SFX: airlock cycles. Footsteps approach.
ELIZABETH: Cass?
CROFT: Glad you're still with us, skip.
CASS: Me too.
MEDS: Back to Mericia then, I guess.
CASS: No.
CROFT: Excuse me?
CASS: Croft, I'd be glad if you'd stay, but if you still intend to go home, Captain Harper will call out a clipper for you. Liz, Meds. Take your stations. We'll be accompanying the Alacrity to Seravis.
MEDS: Cass, this is…
ELIZABETH: No. You’ve already crossed the line here Cass. If you're gonna help them attack the Advari without provocation--
CASS: Exactly how much provocation do you want?
ELIZABETH: Don't do this Cass, don't do this to me! You don't have to. We can go back, back to that island on Rialtis. Just live.
CASS: And for how long? For a week? A month? Until they're here. Until they march us out of that house to be sacrificed. Will that be provocation enough for you? We will go back there. But only when this is over. Only when we're safe.
ELIZABETH: You'll be there alone, Cass. Because if you take this ship to Seravis right now, I swear you'll never see me again.
CASS: Don't be ridiculous. You don't mean that. You may not see it yet, but you don't mean that.
Meds, lay in the course.
SFX: footsteps.
MEDS: No, Cass. I won't.
CASS: I've done a hell of a lot for you, Meds.
MEDS: More than anyone. Answer's still no.
CASS: Coward.
CROFT: You leave her the hell alone.
ELIZABETH: You're not yourself, Cass. You're afraid.
CASS: No. I'm the only one here who isn't. Call out that clipper. Get the hell of my ship, all of you.
SFX: sad music.
MEDS: Come on. Let's go…
SFX: footsteps retreat. Door opens.
CROFT: Right with you.
ELIZABETH: Cass--
CASS: The first thing you're going to say to me when I see you again, is thank you.
SFX: footsteps retreat. Door closes.
- Scene Change -
SFX: quiet rock music, happy bar chatter.
BARTENDER: You want another one, love?
ELIZABETH: Yeah.
SFX: bottle opens.
ELIZABETH: Leave the bottle.
MEDS: I would say you should go easy on that but…
ELIZABETH: Wouldn't do any good. Where's Croft?
MEDS: With Blake.
ELIZABETH: Good. Good for him.
MEDS: Yeah.
ELIZABETH: How about you? What are you gonna do now?
MEDS: I booked a flight to Maiala's Rest. Long overdue.
ELIZABETH: I'm glad. Good luck, Meds.
MEDS: Yeah I was actually hoping you'd come with me.
ELIZABETH: Maybe I'll catch up with you. Just need some time on my own… for a while.
MEDS: Alright. You better stay in touch, or I'll come looking for you.
ELIZABETH: I will. Fair winds, Meds.
MEDS: Fair winds.
SFX: drink is poured.
BARTENDER: Here you go, love. Well dressed chap over paid your tab for you.
ELIZABETH: He's shit out of luck, caught me on the wrong day.
REEVES: Actually, I think I picked exactly the right moment.
ELIZABETH: You! You rat bastard, I--
REEVES: Now I really would'nae do anything foolish right now if I were you.
ELIZABETH: How the hell can you sleep at night? There were eighty people on that station.
REEVES: Appreciate the concern, but I sleep just fine. I did my job. And right now it's my job to give you a message.
ELIZABETH: Right. And what's that then?
REEVES: That there might just be something more useful for you to be doing than drinking yourself to death. That maybe, there might just still be time to douse the match on all of this, before it blows us all to hell.
SFX: The Sojourn Ending Theme plays.
NARRATOR: You’ve been listening to The Sojourn; Season Two, Episode Nine: In The Forests of The Night. Written by Larissa Thompson and Daniel Orrett. Directed by Larissa Thompson. Story by Lead Writer Daniel Orrett and Staff Writer Larissa Thompson. Produced by Executive Producer Daniel Orrett, and Producers Larissa Thompson and Gabriel Fonseca. Scientific Consultation by Gabriel Fonseca, Sound Design and Audio Editing by Kennedy Phillips. Assembly Editing by Aiden Brookstone. Audio Mixing by Dave Chick with additional voices by Maia Harlap, Leander Deeny, PJ Langer, David Dietz, CJ Chapple, Diane McFaul, Kimberly Hoar, and Kate Swift. Music by Sam Redfern, also featuring ‘Wilderness’ by Taylor Davis, which is used with the given permission of Taylor Davis representatives. Special Thanks to Honorary Producer Ashley Fey and Honorary Producer Shoyu. This was The Sojourn: Season Two – Volume Three. Please visit www.thesojournaudiodrama.com for more information on the series and upcoming volumes. Thank you for listening.
SFX: The Sojourn Ending Theme continues.