Written by Jessica Best
AGENT
The Strange Case of Starship Iris
Report Two: Checkpoint Osiris
Note: this is an ongoing investigation. All agents reviewing this case should begin with Report One: Violet Liu. In accordance with regulation, a brief summary follows.
(Note: this is our “previously on.” All italicized purple lines are from Episode One.)
VIOLET
This is the Starship Iris […] We had—we had a catastrophic shuttle failure as the rest of the crew was returning from their final scouting trip on planet uh, 5925, cause unknown, and—um. I’m the only survivor.
VIOLET
OH MY GOD, ROBOT VOICE, NOW IS NOT THE—
KAY
Uh, living breathing human being here.
KAY
Kay Grisham, I sat in your row. Hi.
KAY
Put the ship on autopilot to our coordinates, cut the atmo reg, you’ve got enough residual air and heat to get you into the cryo chamber, we pick you up, you turn in the samples to our station…
VIOLET
I’m not the best scientist out there. I’m not even the best scientist out there named Violet Liu.
KAY
Well you’re the Violet Liu I wanna meet. And not just because you’re about to owe me a drink.
VIOLET
You’re not the captain of the Philadelphia. Your name isn’t Kay. You didn’t fight in the war—
KAY
Yes. I have an agenda. At present, that agenda is to keep you from dying.
VIOLET
And then?
KAY
Get in the chamber. Find out.
AGENT
Our audio resumes approximately six days after the previous transmission. Transmission two, begin.
(FX: minor static transitions us into the Rumor, the spaceship currently housing Violet.)
VIOLET
The Captivity Diary of Violet Liu. Entry One. Upon request, I’ve been given a small audio device which I intend to use to record my experiences as a prisoner aboard this as-yet unidentified ship. Definitely not military--human or Dwarnian. It looks like it was built out of scraps. (Almost to herself) Is that a submarine door?
I’m sitting in some kind of central room, I think. Smaller than any room in the Iris. Six doors visible, jury-rigged with what look like standard keypad setups. Not sure where they lead. Chairs, a table—this may be a mess hall? Quiet in here, though. Mostly empty. Let’s try to pretend that’s a good sign.
I’ve been told that nobody else will be listening to these recordings. However, this is coming from the same—person who first lied to me about her name, posed as a government captain and war hero, gained my trust, and then manipulated me into abandoning my samples and thus rendering my team’s entire mission totally in vain—so expectations remain low.
ARKADY (a.k.a. KAY)
Ship’s log, First Mate Arkady Patel. Right now I am sitting literally five feet away as Violet Liu pretends to record an audio diary about me, in what may be the single most passive-aggressive move I’ve ever seen.
Just what’s going with this chick? Is this what they teach kids at fancy regime-approved schools? Given we popped her out of cryo ten minutes ago, can we excuse this as a side effect of brain thaw? When is she gonna remember we saved her goddamn life?
(Pointedly) Does she realize the voice recorder’s not even on right now?
VIOLET
Then what’s this green light—
ARKADY
Oh hey! Are we back on speaking terms? Ah. No, we’re just—glaring sullenly. Gotcha. (Pause.) You know, hero’s pretty subjective, but the “war” part of that wasn’t a lie, if we’re keeping score. (Pause.) Also, you can lose the ‘captivity diary’ thing. We didn’t—you’re not a prisoner.
VIOLET
Right. In that case, can I go?
ARKADY
We are floating in a freezing vacuum full of very pointy space debris, days from anything beginning to resemble solid ground. You wanna go take a stroll through the crushing void of space, great, lemme go pop open the airlock for ya.
VIOLET
If your goal is to build trust—
ARKADY
It’s not.
VIOLET
If your goal is to get me to complain a little less—Maybe don’t joke about throwing me into a dark, cold, endless waste.
ARKADY
You want a blanket or something?
VIOLET
What?
ARKADY
(Phrased like Violet is being stupid) You were a human popsicle for six days. Do you want a blanket?
VIOLET
I don’t care. (Pause.) You said you were going to answer my questions.
ARKADY
Sure, but by then, you already knew I was a liar, so. That one’s on you, sweetheart. (Pause) (FX: A few steps, less echoey because the ship is smaller than the Iris.) Here.
(Optional FX of Violet scooting back a little; she doesn’t have that far to go)
VIOLET
Don’t come near me!
ARKADY
Okay. I am gonna put this blanket on the ground. And then I’ll just—(slowly, like she’s doing it while walking) (FX: slow steps) back away, hands up, like you’re robbing me.
Look, I wasn’t kidding about the no torture part. We’re not savages. We’re not—pirates. When the rest of the crew gets back—
VIOLET
(tense) Where are they now?
ARKADY
…looting your ship. Scrapping it for parts. Frying the remains to destroy any evidence. Look, we’re not pirates. I never said we were totally above board.
VIOLET
You’re—
ARKADY
Smugglers. We’re smugglers. That’s not a secret. You’re bound to put that together anyway, from all the, y’know. Smuggling.
VIOLET
Why aren’t you out there scrapping the ship with them?
ARKADY
Tripathi’s the most qualified, Jeeter volunteered first, somebody needed to keep an eye on you, and Krejjh is the one flying this thing.
VIOLET
Krejjh is your pilot.
ARKADY
Yeah.
VIOLET
And Tripathi’s your—?
ARKADY
Captain. Before that, she was a mechanic.
VIOLET
And you’re First Mate?
ARKADY Yup. (Pause.) You look skeptical.
VIOLET You’re just, uh. Very—armed.
ARKADY (Arkady is heavily armed so often that she genuinely hadn’t noticed) What? Oh. Well, you know, on a small ship, it’s a job with a lot of—facets.
VIOLET
And—Jeeter?
(FX: somewhere in the background, a ship door opens and closes, and footsteps approach)
ARKADY
I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what Jeeter does all day? It is unclear to me what we pay him for. (unconcerned) Oh hey, Jeeter.
BRIAN
Captain needs you, Arkady. I can watch our new friend for a bit. We’re trying to leech the fuel but the Iris keeps giving us the runaround.
ARKADY
And your advanced study of Linguistics didn’t prove helpful? Just a sec, lemme scoop my jaw off the floor.
BRIAN
Hey Arkady, how’d she get my blanket?
ARKADY
(half speaking over him) Well, later.
FX
(Footsteps outta there, spaceship inner door opens and closes)
VIOLET
If you want your blanket back—
BRIAN
Nah, that’s what I get for leaving it out. Hey. Brian Jeeter. Ship translator and cook, kind of. I just wanna apologize for Arkady’s—general…way of…being.
VIOLET
Violet Liu. Are you the good cop?
BRIAN
Man, if there’s one thing we are not, it’s cops. (Considers this.) Welllll, there’s a lot of things we’re not, but cops is high on that list.
VIOLET
You’re—smugglers.
BRIAN
Pays the bills, you know? Hey, so when Arkady hacked the Iris’s personnel files, she saw you went to Harmony? Class of eighty-seven, right?
VIOLET
Eighty-five.
BRIAN
Oof, your first year was the purge? Freaky, right? Watching them arrest half the faculty?
VIOLET
It was a—they had a duty to—
BRIAN
Ah, you’ve never been allowed to call it what it was, that’s fair. So you—one sec. Brian Jeeter to Arkady Patel. (FX: comm system activate noise) Hey, quick question.
ARKADY
(through a speaker) Brian, I’m busy
BRIAN
When Violet came out of cryo, did you sweep her for bugs?
ARKADY
(through a speaker, sarcastically) No Brian, because I am an utter novice with no idea what I’m doing and the trusting brain of a child. (Pause) Yes, I swept her. Obviously.
BRIAN
Nothing on deck that could be transmitting back to our pals at—?
ARKADY
No live mics right now except the secure one on your collar. She wanted to make an audio—captivity—thing, so I gave her the battery to the coffee maker and told her it was a recording device, but other than that, nothing.
BRIAN
She can hear you.
ARKADY
Don’t care. Arkady out.
(FX: comm system disconnect noise)
BRIAN
(Almost to himself) Did kind of wonder why you were clutching that battery. (Serious again.) So. You knew Alvy?
VIOLET
No?
BRIAN
Alvy Connors? Probably went by Al if he could help it. He was an engineer.
VIOLET
(knows exactly who he’s talking about) Al Connors...
BRIAN
Yeah, he was your nav man on the Iris, right? Look, it’s not a coincidence we found your ship. We were looking for it. For him.
VIOLET
(Doubtful) For Connors?
BRIAN
He sent me this very weird transmission, two weeks ago—
VIOLET
You’re asking me to believe he was in contact with your ship?
BRIAN
He and I tended bar together on Ryedell one summer, kept in touch after, helped each other out when we could.
VIOLET
Connors did favors for smugglers?
BRIAN
Connors did favors for his friends. Nothing illegal.
VIOLET
It’s illegal to provide aid to criminals.
BRIAN
Okay...a little illegal.
VIOLET
Why are you sharing this with me? If you’re telling the truth, you have every reason to think I killed your friend.
BRIAN
What?
VIOLET
Everybody on that mission died but me.
BRIAN
Nah. If you were some slick professional assassin, you would’ve found a way to trigger that explosion in the jump pod without also damaging your ship and coming so close to dying yourself. And you never would’ve let Arkady trick you the way she did.
VIOLET
Yeah, that was. A rookie move.
BRIAN
I figure, either you’re on the level, or you’re a brilliant secret agent who’s like, dead-set on infiltrating our tiny operation in the most chancey, convoluted way you could think of, for, like, maybe a dare or something?
VIOLET
But you asked if I was transmitting.
BRIAN
The Intergalactic Regime has a history of bugging people without their knowledge or consent. Fun little hobby of theirs.
VIOLET Republic.
BRIAN
What?
VIOLET
You said “Regime,” you mean “Republic.”
BRIAN
Yeah, I really don’t.
VIOLET
It’s the largest human government in the universe. You can’t change the name just because you don’t like it.
BRIAN They don’t get to change the basic meaning of words just because they got sick of being called a military coup.
VIOLET That’s--there were extenuating circumstances. We were fighting aliens.
BRIAN
Dude, look me in the eye and tell me you really think that’s all it was about. (Pause, remembers his actual point.) Sorry, I’m not actually angry at you, man. I just don’t think you believe what you’re saying.
VIOLET ...You know, I have no reason to trust you, either.
BRIAN Yeah, I get that.
VIOLET
So you’re saying Kay--Arkady---lied to me because you thought the IGR could be spying on me. You knew Connors was dead by that point, why even get involved?
BRIAN Well, beyond the fact that saving your life kinda felt like the right thing to do, we were hoping we could learn more about whatever happened with the Iris.
(FX: comm system incoming message noise)
ARKADY (over comm system)
Jeeter.
BRIAN
Yeah, Kady?
ARKADY
Ask Liu if—
BRIAN
Ask her yourself, dude, she can still hear you. ‘Sides, I’d thought you two had kind of a fun rapport?
ARKADY
(Very serious, in a way she hasn’t been before.) Quit being an ass. We don’t have time. Liu. What are the odds you know how to shut down your ship’s failsafes?
VIOLET
The whats?
ARKADY
The failsafes, Violet! It’s a security measure built into the system!
VIOLET
I don’t know. You conned me into resetting the password, that didn’t get you in?
ARKADY
No. You need deeper clearance to screw with the—it’s hard to override, once the sequence starts.
GRATUITOU???SLY PLEASANT FEMALE VOICE (distantly behind her) Authorization code not accepted. Would you like to try again? Authorization code not accept—authorization code not accepted. Would you like—
VIOLET
I don’t know. Why would I have any clearance at all, I’m a biologist!
ARKADY
We only have your word on that. Your word, and some personnel files that are not that hard to fake.
VIOLET
I don’t—
BRIAN
(Reasonable) Arkady, dude, she doesn’t know. Find another way.
ARKADY
(Curt) Yeah. Arkady out.
(FX: comm system disconnect noise)
VIOLET
...should we. Be worried?
BRIAN
Mm, not yet, I don’t think.
VIOLET
Then when?
BRIAN
Uh, trust me, it’ll be—pretty apparent.
VIOLET
Is this ship even safe to be on?
BRIAN Why? Oh, because of the whole--Frankenship thing? Trust me, the Rumor looks a lot better from the outside. Besides, the Iris was state of the art, so, y’know. That’s no guarantee.
VIOLET Um.
BRIAN
Yeah, you’re new-ish to life in vacuum, right? Everything’s high stakes, man. All the time. To the point where it kinda equalizes back out, and you learn not to get so worked up about things. Like that old saying.
VIOLET
“It’s not a crisis until you’re actively on fire”?
BRIAN
I mean, that works.
VIOLET
Before, were you trying to imply that what happened on the Iris wasn’t an accident?
BRIAN
Look, Connors knew something was up two weeks ago.
VIOLET
(still a little skeptical) Is that what his transmission said?
BRIAN
Hard to tell exactly what he was trying to say. But it’s gotta mean something, because it’s—very odd.
VIOLET
How.
BRIAN
You wanna hear it? Is that gonna be weird for you?
VIOLET
It’s fine.
BRIAN
Okay, let me just—cue this up:
CONNORS
(A recording) Jeeter, my man, my pal! What is up? No doubt this message will be unexpected. Get in line! Surprise assignment. A short vacation from the lab. Safe to say I’m living large. Of course, the mission’s secret but: exotic locales? Limited work? Seems almost designed for me.
We’re passing near your neighborhood: sector two eight four three two five. The schedule’s gonna eliminate any chance of a reunion, tragically. You’ll miss us by days. We’ll be there in two weeks. But maybe next time, yeah?
The bossman’s pissed, but wrong or right, I am enjoying a break! The violet nebulas! The dark quiet skies! Thought I might find it a little creepy or something but damn, right? Sometimes you gotta enjoy the ride.
So, in one or two days we will be soaring as she flies through checkpoint Osiris, Ryedell style!
Well, everyone knows goodbye’s bad luck in space, so. Later, friend.
VIOLET
Wow, that. I’ll admit that does sound like him.
BRIAN
Yeah, it’s not—an imposter, or anything. But do you notice how his eyes keep moving back and forth as he talks, like he’s nervous, or—
VIOLET
Reading something? Yeah, but. Are you seriously suggesting someone pulled a gun on him and forced him to send you that?
BRIAN
I dunno, man. Ryedell style, that’s a joke we had, although it doesn’t—really make sense here. And he knew we weren’t heading anywhere near that part of space.
VIOLET
He probably just—forgot, or wasn’t paying attention.
BRIAN
That wasn’t Connors.
VIOLET
Look, he was your friend and—not to speak ill of the dead but—that was absolutely Connors. Uh, he seemed nice? He was the only person on the ship who made an effort to be friendly to me, but he was scattered. Checked out. And—maybe the laziest person I’ve ever met.
BRIAN
Did you know him at all before the mission?
VIOLET
I didn’t know any of them before the mission. It was last minute for me, too.
BRIAN
That guy loved his work. The summer we met, he was writing this program on the side. He’d pull a double at the bar and then go write code for six hours, just to wind down. It was ridiculous. Made us all look bad, but man, you couldn’t hate him for it. Work ethic like you wouldn’t believe.
VIOLET
People change.
BRIAN
Checkpoint Osiris doesn’t exist. (pause) Searched every map I could find.
I don’t know. It’s freaky, hearing him. The voice is right, but the cadence, the syntax is just—off. There’s no way he wasn’t trying to tell us something. I mean, he gives us coordinates and a date, talking like we’re gonna pass each other when he knew my ship was on the other damn side of space. We were on our way to try to intercept you when—yeah. Guess you guys ran ahead of schedule.
VIOLET
The checkpoint thing—
BRIAN
There’s this story about Osiris, in Egyptian mythology. He was a god, right? So his evil brother chops him up, and then his wife’s gotta go around, gather the pieces, stick him back together. Seemed like a warning, maybe? Or a “come find us.” Or, passing through a gate that doesn’t exist, like death, or—
VIOLET
Yeah, (a little embarrassed) I figured it was a math joke.
BRIAN
What?
VIOLET
Checkpoint Osiris. There were plans, but it never got built. Some kind of local unrest or—anyway, it fell through. It wasn’t something you talked about, but that’s why the route in that region goes straight from O-9 to O-11. I lived near O-11 for a few years, people whispered about it there a little. I could see a programmer joking about it. ‘When is ten an imaginary number?’ Something like that.
BRIAN
Osiris was number ten?
VIOLET
It would’ve been.
BRIAN
Huh.
VIOLET
What?
BRIAN
Ryedell style. The joke was, management was real stingy with mixed drinks, how much liquor you could put in, so we started saying “Ryedell-style” to mean “the same, but minus an ounce.” Or, like, “the same, but one less.” Like, a bike, Ryedell style, is a unicycle. So, Osiris, Ryedell style—
VIOLET
Checkpoint nine?
BRIAN
Wait, I think I know what we need to do!
ARKADY (over walkie talkie)
Liu.
BRIAN
Arkady, we’re kinda busy right now.
ARKADY
Violet Liu, if there is the slightest chance you have any clue how to bypass the failsafe—
VIOLET
I already told you—
ARKADY
Yeah but your safety’s on the line here, too. We are working on a countdown now, and I do mean a countdown.
VIOLET
What? No, it’s a science vessel. No way would it have those protocols!
ARKADY
Yeah, well. Tell that to your science vessel.
GRATUITOUSLY PLEASANT FEMALE VOICE
Termination sequence commencing in—five minutes.
BRIAN
So the Iris is gonna self-destruct?
ARKADY
Unless Liu’s got something to share with us.
VIOLET
I don’t know! I’ve been conscious for half an hour, and I don’t know what’s going on! I don’t know what happened, I don’t understand what Connors was trying to do, and I have no idea why they built war protocols into my ship! This is just—not the sort of thing we’re told, okay? I don’t know!
ARKADY
Well, shit. Plan B?
SANA (Also over comms)
(An aside) Plan B’s being generous, but yeah. (A little more formal, spoken quickly but with authority) Captain Tripathi to all crew.
(FX: Comm connecting noise, the sound quality improves as Sana is no longer using Arkady’s mic.) Guys, it’s hard to spin this in a positive way. In about four and a half minutes, the Iris is gonna explode. Now, we are currently tethered to the Iris, and Arkady’s sense is, cutting the tether might also trip the failsafe. No way to know.
Arkady’s sense is also that it’s still our best course of action. If detaching doesn’t set the Iris off, we want to be as far from that ship as we can when it does blow, so time is of the essence. If there’s no objections, we’re gonna untether. (Pause) Nobody? Violet, you get a say, too. This really is all our lives in the balance.
VIOLET
Uh. No, no objections.
SANA Good. Brian, let me and Arkady back in. Violet, you too, we could use an extra pair of hands.
BRIAN This way, come on!
(FX: Two sets of footsteps, running)
SANA
Krejjh, are you listening?
KREJJH
Captain Tripathi!
SANA
Krejjh, how do you feel about outrunning an explosion?
KREJJH
Oh, I’d file it under—“lifelong dream.”
SANA
That’s what we like to hear! Alright, power to full and stay ready. The second we are safely back in, I’ll give you the signal. Brian, Violet? You guys almost in place?
BRIAN (running)
Almost! (To Violet) This way—so the thing, with Alvy’s code--
VIOLET (running)
Brian, no offense, but is this the time?
BRIAN
Point taken. (to SANA) Alright. Captain, we’re here. (FX: running ceases, like an abrupt stop) (to Violet) Violet, you know how to work the airlock?
VIOLET
I—
BRIAN
Those three buttons, okay? I’m gonna help them get back in.
VIOLET
I—
BRIAN (running forward)
Those three buttons!
SANA
Alright, we’re here. Violet, now!
(FX: Sound of three buttons being pressed, airlock opening. Airlock closing)
BRIAN (Dragging SANA to safety)
C’mon, here, up. You okay, Captain? Haha, yeah, thumb’s up. Arkady?
ARKADY
I’m fine, Jeeter. Let’s move.
KREJJH
Crewman Jeeter, Captain Tripathi! Everybody in?
SANA (FX: Some sort of switch operated) Remotely cutting the tether in ten.
GRATUITOUSLY PLEASANT FEMALE VOICE
Disconnecting in ten...nine...eight…(the countdown continues in the background, stopping at “one” where indicated)
SANA
Krejjh, get ready to live the dream.
KREJJH
(This is the best day of Krejjh’s life) Strap in, hepcats and moondoggies!
VIOLET
...what?
(FX: When Gratuitously Pleasant Female Voice hits one, the entire ship shakes for a sec and then absolutely takes off; it is going so so fast)
KREJJH
WOOOOOOOOOOO! Ha HA!
(FX: The spaceship is just really really going.)
VIOLET Ahhh Jesus!
BRIAN
It’s cool, Krejjh is the best.
VIOLET
Is this really—whoa—how “best” feels?
BRIAN
Anybody else and we’d be hot mash right now.
SANA
Aren’t there supposed to be emergency harnesses down here?
ARKADY
Captain, you took them apart to make that hammock in the mess hall. For morale.
SANA In retrospect that was a poor call.
(FX: Everybody is kind of thumping around in the ship.)
KREJJH (while flying dangerous stunts)
Folks, I wanna apologize for the turbulence. We are currently fleeing that smoke cloud at—downright unsafe speeds through a debris field that is—taking some damn impressive stunts on my end. Gonna advise that you all make your way to the nearest secure spot and—WOO!!! Yeah! (triumphant laughter)
If conditions persist, you might wanna take a sec and pray. Deity of your choice; I figure, cover as much ground as we can. And if conditions get much worse, I’m gonna need Crewman Jeeter up here, pronto, for a little good luck kiss. Can’t hurt, right?
In the meantime, I advise you to remember that the closer we are to danger, the more clearly we can hear the elemental thrum of our own vitality! In this moment we are living!
Kids, you are gonna want to hold onto something.
BRIAN
Krejjh, dude, it is—augh!—kinda hard to navigate the hallways right now.
SANA
Okay, we just—ahhh!—need to get to the end of this hall, there’s a safety—whoa—safety railing we can brace against, it should hold our weight!
VIOLET
Who designed this thing?
SANA
...I did. But point taken. Alright, count of three, we run hard as we can for the railing. One, two--three!
(FX: Everybody grabbing hold of the railing.)
ARKADY Hah.
SANA
Everyone secure?
BRIAN
We’re good, Captain.
SANA
Krejjh, how are we looking?
KREJJH
We are not in the clear just yet.
Danger, I feel you but I will not bow.
Fear, I taste you but I will not relent.
Mortality, I see you but I will not follow.
YEAH! EAT IT, MORTALITY! EAT IT! EAT IT WITH SAUCE! WOO!
ARKADY
Jeeter, make them stop.
BRIAN
I can’t. It’s cultural.
SANA
Krejjh, how’s our rearview?
KREJJH
No cloud in sight. That exploding varmint has been left to make a meal of our dust.
SANA
Not to put too fine a point on this, but is it safe for you to—slow down a little?
KREJJH
I—yeah. Actually, we can start to—Everyone hold tight while I decelerate and—ha!—maneuver around—was that a chunk of space station?
ARKADY
(Irritated) Nobody can see it but you, we’re nowhere near the screens. We’re just outside the airlock.
KREJJH
Why would you—fellas, there aren’t any safety harnesses back there. Captain Tripathi used ‘em for—
SANA
Yup. We covered this.
BRIAN
In your defense, Captain, it was a pretty good hammock. Not great, but.
SANA
How’s everyone feeling?
ARKADY
Pretty sure I died for a moment, but here we are.
BRIAN
Feels like this does put another check in the column for “something weird going on.”
VIOLET
Uh.
ARKADY It’s okay, it’s over, Liu. You can open your eyes.
VIOLET
It just—doesn’t make any sense. Why would you rig a science vessel to explode?
ARKADY
God, it’s almost like the so-called Republic isn’t to be trusted. Imagine. Just imagine.
VIOLET
Look, I don’t know everything Connors was involved in, but I know they had no reason to go after me.
ARKADY
None? Perfect little lapdog of the regime? They’ve got a lot of rules. You’ve never broken any of ‘em?
VIOLET
Nothing worth all this. Do you know how much money and resources it takes to mount even a small expedition? That’s a lot of trouble for a deathtrap.
SANA
I hate to say it, but—we are talking about a regime that won a war because it was willing to accept collateral damage. No offense, but just because they had no reason to target you, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t—write you off as a loss.
VIOLET
No, of course that occurred to me, but—
ARKADY
It occurred to you and you’re standing here defending them?
VIOLET
I’m not defending them, I’m saying it doesn’t make sense. I can acknowledge the Republic isn’t—ideal in all respects, without automatically siding with a bunch of criminals—
SANA
Arkady, you told her we’re just smugglers, right?
VIOLET
Why do you all keep saying that like it’s comforting?
ARKADY
We break the law. We don’t go around killing people as a matter of course. Unlike your less-than-ideal, ALLEGED Republic—
SANA
Arkady, stand down.
ARKADY
Sana—
SANA Yeah, I know. I know, and I am telling you to stand down. Listen, we’ll do a full debrief later. In the meantime, Brian, I wanna thank you for hauling me back in here. You might’ve saved my life.
BRIAN
Don’t mention it.
SANA
Krejjh, I feel like anyone watching our flightpath from the outside would’ve seen a true work of art.
KREJJH
You’re right. I am incredible.
BRIAN
Seriously, do you know how few pilots could’ve pulled that off?
KREJJH
Very few. Incredible. Going off comms for a spell, I’ll be in the cockpit if anyone wants to join me for a drink. Or if Crewman Jeeter wants to join me for a congratulatory kiss.
BRIAN (laughing)
Dude.
KREJJH
Krejjh out. (Comm hangup noise.)
SANA
Arkady, as always, when the chips are down, there is nobody else I’d rather have on my side. I am proud to know you.
ARKADY
What if we maybe skip the feelings corner this time?
SANA
Hey. Don’t make me start a group sing-along.
ARKADY
Ugh.
SANA
Violet Liu. Good to finally meet you. I’m Sana Tripathi, captain of the Rumor. How long have you been out of cryo?
VIOLET
I’m not sure? Less than an hour?
SANA
Well hey. (At a loss for words for a second.) Would you like a cuppa?
VIOLET
Sorry, what?
SANA
A cup of—
VIOLET
Oh my god, sorry, sorry, just. After everything that’s happened, you’re seriously, uh. (Maybe some hysterical laughing) Standing there in a space suit, offering me tea.
SANA
Oh, I meant a cup of moonshine. We brew it in the engine room. It’s gruesome. But I thought, the day you’ve been having, maybe you could use a nip of something?
VIOLET What...time is it?
SANA
On this ship? Half past thirteen hundred.
VIOLET
It’s...only one-thirty in the afternoon?
SANA
Yeah, but. Space-time relativity sorta brings new meaning to “it’s five o’clock somewhere.” Arkady? You wanna join us? You and I can get out of these suits and dump our stuff, meet back up with Krejjh and—hey, where’d Brian go?
ARKADY
Jeeter? Pretty sure he’s uh. Congratulating. Liu, seriously, you can let go of the railing.
VIOLET
I’m just...thinking about the physics of what we just did.
SANA
There’s better ways to get a headache. Oh, before I forget: we retrieved a bunch of stuff from the ship, including what I assume are your extra clothes. In case you were worried what you were gonna do on laundry day.
VIOLET
(understatement) Gonna go ahead and admit that had not yet occurred to me. I—is brain thaw, is that an actual thing?
ARKADY
Aren’t you a biologist?
VIOLET
I didn’t specialize in the freezing and unfreezing of human brains.
ARKADY
Well, brain thaw is a thing. I told you it was a thing.
VIOLET
Yes, and then in basically the same breath you called yourself a liar, so—great, now I can’t tell if it’s really happening, or just a combination of adrenaline shock and confirmation bias.
SANA
Either way, I’m sure it’d do you good to take a moment, get off your feet. Right, Arkady?
ARKADY
Guess that depends how much Liu really wants the opinion of some evil criminal smuggler.
VIOLET
Uh. To be honest, I think—I think I would like that drink.
SANA
Lovely! You know, we could probably scare up a kettle, if you want tea.
VIOLET No thank you, Captain, moonshine sounds—just fine.
SANA
Violet, I appreciate your can-do attitude. Now if we can scrounge cups—oh hey, Brian!
BRIAN
We need to talk.
SANA
Great, we’re just organizing a little group bonding, you’re welcome to join us.
BRIAN
No, I mean, I found the key to Alvy’s code just before we lost the Iris, and now I’ve got his message. His real message.
VIOLET
That quickly?
BRIAN
The guy wasn’t exactly a cryptographer. It was easy once I knew what I was doing.
VIOLET
What does it mean?
BRIAN
Why don’t you tell me?
ARKADY
Brian, what the hell.
BRIAN
(Heavily) Violet Liu, I think you owe us an explanation.
AGENT
End of transmission two.
We have verified the identity of Violet Liu, referred to elsewhere in these files as Cindy Chu.
We have verified the identity of Arkady Patel, a.k.a. Kay Grisham, a.k.a. Ishani Kanetkar. She is a known con artist, a registered subversive, and a suspected army deserter. Too many other crimes to detail here. See attached file.
No documentation yet found on Brian Jeeter. Independently verified by Agent Oliva that Alvin Connors worked at several establishments on Ryedell station in the summer of ’87, chiefly at a bar known as Jamie Price’s. Following the collapse of Ryedell in early ’89, few employee records have survived.
Sana Tripathi is a name associated with the uprising on Cresswin Landing, in conjunction with possible alias Rukhmani Desai.
No documentation yet found for Krejjh. For the sake of clarity and consistent spelling, in this report they will sometimes be referred to as Brittony LeFever.
This report has been transcribed by Ensign Best. If you need to review a written version, please access procyonpodcasts.com. That’s p-r-o-c-y-o-n podcasts dot com.
This is Agent Park, codename Apollo, thanking you for reviewing this report. Additional thanks to Agent Cross, Agent Baumann, Agent Gleason, Agent Finnegan, and the specialists at Procyon for their assistance.
The Starship Iris Case is currently classified as priority six. Due to the involvement of the criminal known as Arkady Patel, it is strongly recommended that this be revisited.
Thank you.
Long live the Republic.