The Moons, Like Dust - Season 2, Episode 1

Transcript

[Engine is running loudly, fluorescent lights buzzing]

Winifred Eurus: [Excited] Alright, alright, come oooon Jacqueline, let’s do this!

[Engine revs]

Eurus: We’re moving, okay, we’re moving! Come on girl, come on - 

[Engine sputters and dies, buzzing of lights fade away as the sub fails to move]

Eurus: [Pissed and disappointed. Pissappointed] What?! Ah, motherfucker! Come on-

[Opening music]

Eurus: Hey, uh, hi? This is Fred. Fred Eurus. Dr. Eurus. That’s - that’s me. Ahem

It’s weird that I’m back to not being sure if you can hear me or not. Well, I’m hoping that you can. Though when I sit there and listen all I hear is static. 

I came here to discover an alien ecosystem, to gather information and catalogue and- and quantify it. Maybe I thought it could tell me something about how life works, how it begins and ends, ebbs and flows. Then I got stranded on a strange and distant shore, and I think I’m further from understanding than I was initially. Or maybe I’m just more aware of my limitations.

I-I know you aren’t that far from here - I mean, relatively speaking, of course. You’re in a little spaceship flying away from me at tens of thousands of miles an hour, but in a cosmic sense still right next door. It’ll take less than a second for this to reach you. Eventually you’ll be far enough away for the lag to be noticeable, and then- then we’ll have some real problems. Even without interference. But what is time, anyway? Living in an enclosed environment for a year does all kinds of things to your sense of time. Being down here doesn’t help though, as I’ve only seen one sunrise in the past week.

[Sighs]

It hasn’t been that long since we lost contact. Uh, the tide is high. Conditions are normal, daytime Fons - the sun is shining through low-hanging clouds with a kinda yellowish tinge, the gas giant Volturnus cutting off a bigger slice of it than yesterday. About four Earth days ago, that is.

Uh, high tide makes my base camp into a small island, rocky and cut off and barren. Later, the low tide will reveal it for what it is. The water drops down several hundred feet and exposes the small mountain of sharp, broken pieces of basalt that I’m sitting on. 

[Distant birdlike calls]

What the heck is that?

[Bird calls] 

Uh, but anyway...Uh, currently I’m on an island, empty except for myself, my little radio beacon and antenna, and some very limited equipment. And oh yeah . . . that . . . other thing. 

The other thing is that huge, spiky ball, kind of like an enormous sea urchin. It somehow contains the remnants of the submarine that I wrecked days ago and miles away. I named the original sub the Jaqueline, and you can still see that name written right on the door, plain as day. This one - I guess I’ll just keep calling it the Jacqueline. I always liked that name. I’m not entirely sure why it’s here, or why all the broken pieces of it have been replaced with glass and mother-of-pearl - or whatever goes for mother-of-pearl on this planet. Or why a bunch of slugs towed it to my little rock island in a couple of their own submarines. 

The-the slugs- or the - [sigh] the “snailiens” as Stevens named them, I suppose - they’ve emerged from the shells they live in adhering to the rocks and are-are swimming around close to the water’s surface.

A couple are laying their inner ring of sensory tentacles on the parts of my submarine-slash-sea creature hybrid that they can reach from the water. Actually, let me see if-

[Walking; opens hatch with a hiss and enters sub. Starts pressing buttons]

[Sigh] Unfortunately, while the lights turn on, most of these systems aren’t working. No propulsion, and the sensors aren’t responding. Some of the stuff still lights up, though. [Aggressive tapping] Also the ‘s’ key on this console is made of glass and doesn’t actually press down anymore. [Indignant] What did they DO to Jacqueline?

[Continues tapping, then sound comes over the speakers similar to whale song]

Whoa, whoa whoa- what was that?

[More typing]

It’s coming out of the speakers. I’ll see if I can-

[Clicking. Sound stops]

Huh. Well, so much for that. I’m still poking around the various systems and I think I set something off. Wait . . .Um, that’s- that’s actually one of the external sensors I activated. They’re making that noise on the outside. 

Honestly I can’t believe something on this ship actually works. The aliens, beyond all expectations, managed to figure out and repair or replace some of the wires. It really makes you wonder about the extent of their technological knowledge.

Finding living organisms on this moon was a long shot. I wasn’t prepared for intelligence. After a year on the Stribog, I had begun to doubt intelligence existed anywhere in the universe.

[Static. Waves crash. Beeping]

Eurus: Oh, my suit is - oh, okay. [Click] [Relieved] Uh, hey. Hello?

Robert Montague [staticky]: Heeeeeey, Freddie!

Eurus: [Sigh] Hey. Hey, Montague.

[Montague laughs]

Montague: Aw, y’know. Thought I’d check in, make sure you’re alright, since we’re in a window of low interference. What has it been, almost a day? 

Eurus: Mm.

Montague: Still uh, want to let you know I’m gonna try to allow you to hear my beautiful voice as often as I possibly can. I wouldn’t want you getting sad and lonely down there without me. 

Eurus: You know Robert, sometimes you make me miss being alone.

Montague: [Pretending to not understand] What’s that? Uh, oh yeah, oh, I  missed you too. Ha!

Eurus: Not what I said.

Montague: So let’s see, let’s see, uh... What to talk about to distract you, hm . . . Oh! First of all, I’m very aggravated by how slowly we’re moving.

Eurus: Okay, at least you’re moving.

Montague: Yeah, sure, but like, like, really slow. We-We’re a lot further from you, but only a little bit closer to Juturna than we were. Fons is uh, moving in retrograde but this jerk is going in the opposite direction, so we have to keep chasing it.

Eurus: Yeah, soon there’ll be a whole gas giant in between us.

Montague: [Sympathetic] I know, it’s gonna be rough.

Eurus: You know what, I was just thinking the time even further apart might be good for me.

Montague: Hey, I’m just trying to keep you from losing your mind. 

Eurus: [Unconvinced] Yeah, of course. And what’re you avoiding by doing that exactly?

Montague: [Conspiratorially, and a little sheepishly] Don’t tell him this, but I’m mostly avoiding Martinez. Guy’s seriously - seriously! - obsessed with my wellbeing. It’s freaky! 

Eurus: Seriously, he just doesn’t want you to have another heart attack! Maybe listen to what the medical doctor is trying to tell you? I don’t know, stay alive?

Montague [interrupting]: Look, look look look look look, aw, c’mon, I can stay alive better than -- look if there was anything that was proven by my death, it’s that I can stay alive. 

Eurus: [exasperated noise]

Montague: I can manage my own health, okay, I’m not a baby!

Eurus: I - I’m - okay...

Montague: Babies would have died at the electricity level that I took in.

Eurus: That is true. But I’m just, you know . . . concerned . . .

Montague: [Heard her perfectly] Uh, I’m sorry, What’s that? Come in? You’re - You’re breaking up, I uh...It almost uh...oh, it almost sounded like you were gonna say you were concerned about me?

Eurus: Nope. No, actually never mind. Nothing. I said nothing.

Montague: Riiight, right right right . . . Oh! So in other news, everyone is spending a lot of time trying to repair the external sensors, because while they’re down we’re just plowing into any debris we come across. The hull’s holding up for now, luckily. One of the rotating segments has a nice new dent in it, though. I’m trying to convince Stevens to put on the EVA suit and go buff out all the scratches but he’s been resistant to the idea so far.

Eurus: Shocking.

Montague: No, I can’t imagine why either. Uh...I know I’m not going out there. Other than that, we’re scooping up loose hydrogen as well as collecting some ice and rock samples. I’m gonna take some cores later and try to figure out how these rings were formed. God Fred, you’re missing some gorgeous views. 

Eurus: Yeah, I bet. You’re taking pictures, right?

Montague: Oh sure, sure, of course. I go float around the observation deck on my time off. 

Eurus: Mm.

Montague: I like to look at the uh, the patterns in those big fields of ice and stone, swirling around, y’know, endlessly. Though Saturn gives them a run for their money, to tell you the truth. Just a personal preference.

Eurus: Eh, yeah, it’s all the same to me.

Montague: Oh! You would say that, wouldn’t you? But I think you’d find the view pretty nice anyways. 

[Fred scoffs]

Montague: We can see Juturna - well not right now, I’m-I’m not on the observation deck. Uh, but from there you can see the other moon shepherding her gap between the two main rings, still a small bright circle like uh, like a coin in that vast field of dust. You can see a few smaller rocks with number designations for names, above or below or embedded in the rings. Overall the effect is uh, . . . breathtaking. 

Eurus: [Some disdain] That’s a... very poetical way to talk about rocks.

Montague: Mm, yeah well. Thank you, thank you, I- I do try. Uh... But yeah, anyway, uh, I’ve got these two chunks of ice, they’re about a half ton to a ton each. I’m going to take some samples then we’ll jettison them back out - it’s a shame, they’re great for keeping your drinks cool.

Eurus: You can’t use the ice for that - Jesus, Robert. Have some sense of . . . propriety. 

Montague: Nononono! Chill! I set the cup on top of the ice, I’m not putting it in the cup--

Eurus: Ugh, debatable!

Montague: Though honestly it’s- It’s probably cleaner than whatever you’ve been drinking. So don’t judge, pal. 

Eurus: Okay, water reclamation is very difficult here!

Montague: Yeah, I’d imagine. And...[To himself] I don’t even have an ice pick. Well, I mean I could probably use the little uh- 

Eurus: [Slightly amused] Okay, whatever, loser. Tell me what you’re working on with the cores.

Montague: . . . Really? You want to talk to me about rocks?

Eurus: Oh my god, shut up, I’m just bored!

[Montague laughs excitedly.]

Montague: [Animated] Well, all right then, if you insist. Most evidence suggests the rings formed along with the rest of the early solar system. But I’m looking out for anything like comet debris, because I theorize Volturnus drawing in stray comets might have been the source of Fons’s water. 

Eurus: Huh…

Montague: Maybe even seeded it with life. Y’know. Just a thought.

Eurus: I mean, that’d be a reasonable assumption. I’m not the biggest fan of panspermia, myself. But I agree that it could have seeded it with some organic compounds.

Montague: I completely support the idea of life arising from humble nonliving beginnings. To the dust we all return to and all that. 

Eurus: So we’re all just walking, talking dirt to you, Robert?

Montague: In a manner of speaking yeah. Oh, by the way, you’re sitting down right? Cause, uh...Erickson found the stash of sunflower seeds in your bunk. Not sure how you managed to hold onto it this whole time. Anyway I made them give it to me for, y’know, safekeeping and now I’ve hidden them in - [lowers voice conspiratorially] - an very undisclosed location!, this channel is not secure, I will tell you at a later date, for when you get back. So, you’re welcome.

Martinez [off-mic]: Montague? 

Eurus: Wait wait what, what do you- what do you mean they found it in my bunk, Robert-

Martinez [off-mic]: Montague? Hello?

Montague [frantically]: Look, I’m going to have to get back to you . . .

Martinez: Hey, Mont-

[Click. The transmission ends. Pause]

Eurus: Montague? Montague, did you just hang up on me? What the fuck, dude. Oh man, Dee better not fucking touch my sunflower seeds. I’ve been saving those. What were they even doing in my bunk?! And then him of all people, pretending to be the one with morals here. I bet he took a couple for himself, that bastard...

At least they won’t all be gone, though - just the thought of eating something with texture is helping me get through this whole fucking thing.

[Click. Static.]

Martinez: Fred? 

Eurus: Uh...Doctor Martinez! Hi. Uh, if you’re looking for Montague, he just called me a few minutes ago so he can’t be far.

Martinez: Oh, I know. I finally caught up with him and got him back to the infirmary, with only minimal bribery this time. Braunstein is watching him. 

Eurus: Oh. You’d better get back then soon, if you don’t want him to escape again. 

Martinez: Don’t worry, I’ll deal with him. But first I wanted to check in with you. I really should have done so earlier.

Eurus: [Groan] Yeah, I-I guess. Uh... My ankle’s almost back to normal. My sleep cycle has mostly evened out - Actually, I set a timer, and when it’s quote-unquote “nighttime” I put my helmet on backwards. Uh...Thanks for the vitamins by the way, I-I think they’re really helping.

Martinez: That’s great, I’m glad to hear it. 

Eurus: Uh huh.

Martinez: I also wanted to know, y’know, how you’re feeling about everything. 

Eurus: Uh huh…

Martinez: Uh huh. Y’know, isolation can take a toll on you. Y’know, physically...psychologically. 

Eurus: Uhhhh huh. . . Eh…

Martinez: Uh huh. Eh, well, that’s what I thought. Y’know. I think you’re overdue for some Feelings Time. 

[Distant birdlike calls]

Eurus: Oh man, you know . . . I-I-I think I can actually hear something outside, so I think I really need to go check it out. I will talk to you later, Doctor!

Martinez: Nonononono!

Eurus: Yep!

[Click. Transmission ends. Static. Waves crash against the shore.]

Eurus: [Grunts. Wind blowing]Ugh, alright. . . Sorry . . . just getting to a better vantage point. All the way at the top of my rocks here I have a full 360 degrees of vision. Lots of droppings and claw marks from the birds. Breeze up is strong up here. But I can see a little clearer now.

Off to the southeast there’s a group or flock of things. Not birds though. They look like little boats or rafts, bleached bone-white from the sun. They move a little like a flock of birds, swarming across the surface of the water. I counted, umm... thirty-six individuals. 

Looking through the binoculars that I now have, I’m getting the impression of a long, narrow shell with a smallish lump on one end that I think contains most of the body of the creature. There are similarities in the overall pattern of the shell that makes me wonder if these and the snailiens share a common ancestry - they’re not just more snailiens in boats though, they’re much too small and their behavior is very different. They do make sounds in a similar way, however, by-by scratching some sort of beak against the surface of the shell, which amplifies the sound. 

The animal itself is visible, or at least four long paddle-like limbs are, two to either side. Each little boat or boogie board has a flat area in front with some kind of plant or fungus growing on it. These are matted down and trail in the water. I can see the little mouths of fish pocking the surface like carp, trying to eat the trailing strands. 

It gets interesting once the fish are in the right position, right in the front of the prow. With a swift motion of its paddle limbs the surfer dips the prow down beneath the water and underneath the fish, bringing it back up and tossing the fish briefly into the air to land on the flat bit. Perhaps because of the weeds it doesn’t escape immediately, it gets tangled and stuck. Then the feeding tentacles and beak of the thing inside emerge to finish the job. 

It’s really freakin’ cool.

Oh man. I want to - no! No, that’s a terrible idea. But those shells would make the perfect little canoe or surfboard . . . 

[Pause]

It’s interesting, while these things are coordinated - like I said, similar to a flock of birds - there’s that distinct difference between coordination in that way and coordination with humans, and possibly the snailiens. They’re still basically simple units responding to simple stimuli - they’re- they’re following a school of fish, circling in front of them and redirecting them, trying to lure them in with their weeds. Their calls are like bird calls, and I’m guessing it’s a sort of contact call, more urgent when separated. It’s never more than a syllable or two long, rarely complex enough to be called a song. 

They might very well be intelligent. But I get the feeling the surfers wouldn’t try to repair my sub if they found the wreck. They seem to be monkeys to the snailiens’ hominid, if you know what I mean. 

We- humans, I mean, are more than a flock of birds, more than a pack of wolves, right? I'm not just talking about individual intelligence. Individual birds can be very intelligent, and very cooperative in groups, but that’s not enough for society to arise the same way it did for us. The same way it might have for the snailiens. But what is it that makes the difference?

Bob and his friends communicate in a much more complex way, for one, through their shell connections that conduct vibrations to one another directly. They also build complicated things. For instance, there’s an entire new engine connected to the Jacqueline, separate from the original one. I have no idea how the thing works, but smoke comes out a smallish stack when I turn it on, and it’s connected to a tank of some sort of biodiesel fuel. I think it would take a civilization’s worth of scientific development to create something like that. But what do I know?

[Eurus’s suit beeps.]

Oh. Uh, hey, I guess I have voicemail. There’s a saved message that came through a few hours ago when I was napping. It’s either Martinez giving me some guidelines on mindfulness or Montague informing that my sunflower seeds have ‘mysteriously disappeared’.

[Click]

Victor Stevens: How’s it going down there Fred?! Uh, it’s me, Stevens! Your uh, your assistant. . . Yeah. You know that...Um, I already miss you up here. Well, I missed you before too, but I think I almost miss you more now that we talked and I know you’re alive, you know? I want you to know all of us miss you a lot and can’t wait to see you again. Uh, but I know you want to know about work stuff too. So - um, where is it? 

So, I’ve attempted replicating some of the biological substances you sent data back on. The nanomachines are working as we speak, but we’ve already got a lot of very interesting enzymes and polymers coming out of it. Even something that looks a little like DNA plasmids, little loops of a triple-stranded molecule with a complex structure. It’s really exciting! Uh… I wish you were here to comb over them with me.

Uh, let’s see. There’s other stuff like salinity and thermocline data, but that’ll take a while to analyze. Mostly we need to take more measurements across a wider area. I can tell you that ocean water is a lot more mineral-rich than Earth’s. That’ll be a result of erosion, ocean vents, frequent turnover. Uh, but the end result is the organisms have much saltier internal environments in order to maintain osmotic balance, and I’m trying to decipher how that would affect the nerve impulses of the higher-order organisms. If you have time, dissecting a larger animal and taking samples of their nervous systems would be worthwhile. Uh, but... I don’t think I should have to say this, but please don’t kill Bob and take out his brain, okay? Please? 

Um, and as for the, . . . damn it, Fred. I can’t do this. I’m just so worried about you. I mean, I’m still mad at you, too. It’s . . . complicated. Almost like I’m mad at you for being in a place I can’t help you? Which feels unfair. But maybe that’s on both of us.

Well, anyway, later . . . [impulsively] gator. Oh no, why did I say that. I’ll cut that out later. Wait, how does this- Does anyone know how to edit these? Montague?!

[Click]

Eurus: Fucking dingus. I miss him a little bit though, I’ll admit. [Confidently] But unlike him, I know how to edit my audio, so he’ll never know. 

I should be clear: I haven’t told the rest of the crew about the sub. I have a message all queued up but I haven’t sent it yet. To be honest, I’m not really sure what to say about it. I think I wanted to make sure it was really happening first, you know? I think it’s real. I can see it, I can touch it. It’s actually there.

But I know too much about how the brain works, about how biases in science work, to be completely convinced. The problem is I really want it to be real. I don’t want it to be a mistake or an illusion - like the Jacqueline’s wreckage just washed up here by coincidence, covered in alien barnacles and glassified by an unknown chemical process, and I’m just reading more into the situation than actually exists. 

I want there to be intelligence behind the things that are happening to me. And I trust myself far less because of that desire. 

That’s one reason for other people. Even if you have to collaborate with a loudmouth and a wet noodle, it’s-it’s worth it to have another brain you can throw ideas against and see if they stick. No, in that case the idea would be the wet noodle. Sorry, uh... mixed metaphors.

[Click. Static. The rumbling of the submarine.]

Eurus: [Aggressive typing] Mother fucking ‘s’ key! Okay, um. I’ve integrated external proximity detectors and the sonar system to try to get a feel for the outside - and . . . Oh, um. Nice, okay. Whoa. It’s-it’s kind of creepy, a sort of grainy black and white image on the only working monitor, showing me an image of the rocks nearby. But there’s the path up, and there’s the village of shells. I think.. I think that one’s Bob? It’s a little hard to track movements, and there’s a delay, and but - whoa, okay, they’re...they’re moving all over the place, what? What’s - Okay, what-

[Loud snailien noises from speakers, more urgent and painful]

Eurus: Son of a - okay, um sorry. How do I- How do I turn this off? 

Um, oh okay, I see it.  Um, okay.[Click] Okay, sonar is off. I’m blind, once again. Awesome...

[Noises stop]

Eurus: I can’t see the snailiens anymore, but I bet they’ve calmed down now that I’m not sending sonic waves directly at them. Oops. Kind of a jerk move on my part, I’ll admit that. Sorry guys. 

I did notice before that some of the external cameras aren’t completely covered by shells. I might go and try to clean them up, get them working again. It’d be nice to be able to look around without upsetting everyone in the vicinity.

While playing around in here, I noticed some irregularities in the controls. Like, for instance I think if I do this- 

[Grinding noise] 

Eurus: Oh, um - I move one of the spikes on the outside. Useful as a means of shoving off if I want to take this thing out for a spin. Hm. It’ll take a while to figure everything out in here.

[Thud of impact]

What the- what the hell?

[Opens metal door of sub and pokes her head out]

Eurus: Hey! Watch where you’re going, dickhead!

[Pulls head back inside. The door closes behind her.]

Eurus: I forgot those other vessels were in the area. One of them’s pulled up right beside me and is poking my sub with...ugh! It’s motherfucking spike, jesus christ, really?

[There is a loud scrape of metal.]

Eurus: Okay guys. I’m gonna try sending them a couple sonar clicks and see what they do. Low amplitude, trying not to overwhelm them. [Typing]

[Over speakers: pause, two distorted clicks]

Eurus: Whoa. Oh, okay. Um, let me- let me try that again.

[Pause. Two more distorted clicks]

Eurus: . . . Huh. Interesting. It, uh… It responded.

Did- Did I just . . . Did I just make contact? Did I just become the first ambassador to an alien society? Where neither of us understands the other, and a single mistake can ruin our relationship forever.

[Ironically] It’s a . . . good thing I’m such a great communicator. Ha. Alright…

[Click. Static. Outro music.]

Ayla: Tides was written by Jesse Schuschu and directed by Jesse Schuschu and Ayla Taylor. That’s me. It was produced by Ayla Taylor with assistance from Renee Sima and edited by Mikayla Elias. Special thanks to Dayna Patel. 

This episode featured the voices of Julia Schifini as Winifred Eurus, Jordan Higgs as Victor Stevens, James Oliva as Robert Montague, and Caleb del Rio as Ricardo Martinez. 

You can find us online at our website tidespodcast.com and follow us on Twitter at @tidespodcast. If you like our show and would like to help us keep making it, you can support us on Patreon at patreon.com/tidespodcast. Special thanks to all our patrons and fans who stuck with us during this very long break between seasons. We’re really happy to be back. Expect another episode this time next month. 

This month we’d like to recommend Null/Void, a science fiction audio drama about a young woman named Piper Lee, whose life is saved by a mysterious voice named Adelaide. Piper soon uncovers a malicious plot by a monopoly of a tech company and must work with her friends and an unusual ally to help foil their deadly plot.

And now…

Eurus: This is Dr. Winifred Eurus, and this is an Ocean Fact: Just like the tide, I always come back.