Interlude 02: "Worlds Apart" – The Sheridan Tapes
CONTENT WARNING: Some depiction of a natural disaster, coughing and choking sound effects, and strong secondhand embarrassment.
Through the shifting waters of the Source, many possible futures can be seen by those trapped beyond the veil. This is one such future…
When the Earth’s magnetic field reverses without warning, two arctic scientists – one at the North Pole, one in Antarctica – find themselves unexpectedly connected by the anomaly.
Starring Amitola Lomas as Doctor Llewelyn and Van Winkle as Private Utkin, with Meredith Nudo as Amy Sterling and original music by Jesse Haugen. Written by Van Winkle and produced by Virginia Spotts, with dialogue editing and sound design by Van Winkle. This episode was made possible by our supporters at Patreon.com/homesteadcorner, ko-fi.com/homesteadcorner, and our backers on Seed&Spark.
For more information, additional content, and episode transcript, visit thesheridantapes.com
Script
Transcript
CONTENT WARNING: Some depiction of a natural disaster, coughing and choking sound effects, and strong secondhand embarrassment.
[Swirling energies of the Source, like waves]
Amy Sterling
The Source. The infinite potential of all worlds. The roiling chaos that is the heart of all existences. The place where all space and time and realities meet and coexist as one. A place that is not a place, in a time that is not a time.
Some years ago, a climatologist in the employ of the Institute for Stellar Propulsion, Heuristics, and Aeronautics wrote a paper about the effects of the Earth’s magnetosphere on flora and fauna… and the potential consequences of geomagnetic reversal. Few paid the paper much mind — except for one Doctor Daniella Caldwell, then-head of Experimental Projects… and she saw in that paper, apocalypse. And so she commissioned the construction of a base in the Antarctic to precisely map and monitor fluctuations in the magnetic field… and in time, that base became known as Andromeda Station.
There were many scientists who came and went in the station’s time, and many more who might have… many branches in the road shaped by choice and chance and the unsteady hand of fate. But out of all those possible futures, this one worries me most deeply. I cannot say if it is the future of the world I knew or just one like it, but still… it intrigues me.
[The waves of the Source fade out]
[Main Theme]
[Crackling of radio static and beeping of shrill alarms]
Dr. Llewellyn
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Antarctic research station Andromeda! Mayday! Mayday! Does anyone copy?
[Typing, storm swells outside]
This is an emergency transmission from research station Andromeda! All stations, all stations, all stations — Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! Electrical systems are malfunctioning and climate control is failing. I’ve lost all local and satellite contact and require immediate assistance! Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is Antarctic research station Andromeda…
[Static through radio]
Male Voice (Russian accent)
Privet? I — I mean, Hello? Hello? Are you receiving me? This is Tchaikovsky Station, transmitting in blind. All vessels, all vessels, this is Tchaikovsky Station…
[Llewellyn types at console]
Dr. Llewellyn
Yes! Yes! Tchaikovsky Station? Confirm! You’re receiving me? Over!
Male Voice
Confirmed, Andromeda! This is Science Officer Utkin, receiving you loud and clear, over!
Dr. Llewellyn
Finally! Tchaikovsky, you might just have saved my life. I need evac out of here as soon as possible — power systems are failing and there’s one hell of a storm kicking up. I’m at grid reference 0-10 by 0-17, Can you assist, over.
[Beat]
Dr. Llewellyn
Um, Tchaikovsky? Please confirm you’re receiving, over.
Pvt. Utkin
Receiving you Andromeda. Please repeat coordinates, over.
Dr. Llewellyn
0-10 by 0-17, Antarctic international grid reference 11b. It should be on your charts, it’s a fairly large station…
Pvt. Utkin
Eh, Pardon me, Miss…
Dr. Llewellyn
Llewellyn — DOCTOR Llewellyn.
Pvt. Utkin
Oh, Doktor, hmm?
Dr. Llewellyn
Yes, Doctor. There a problem, Private?
Pvt. Utkin
No, no problem miss, no problem — well, small problem.
Dr. Llewellyn
And what might that be, Mr. You-tkin?
Pvt. Utkin
Utkin.
Dr. Llewellyn
Right, Utkin. Now — problem?
Pvt. Utkin
Right, problem. Well, maybe not problem, more — minor misunderstanding.
Dr. Llewellyn
And what exactly am I not understanding?
Pvt. Utkin
Misunderstanding may be wrong word. Da, net navernoye… miscalculation, perhaps? Maybe minor miracle, actually.
Dr. Llewellyn
Private Utkin, the temperature in this station has dropped 15 degrees centigrade in the last hour, [alarms begin to fade] I have no contact with my support staff, and even my sat-phone isn’t getting a signal. I’ve been transmitting for the better part of a day with no response, and I would appreciate it, I would really appreciate it, if you could please tell me what this “minor miracle” of yours is, and whether or not it’s relevant to your ship sending rescue craft before I freeze to death!
Pvt. Utkin
Miss Llewellyn, who do you think you’re speaking to? Over.
Dr. Llewellyn
I don’t know — some kind of research ship off the coast? Military vessel, maybe?
Pvt. Utkin
Andromeda Station, you did say Antarctic grid reference, correct? Over.
Dr. Llewellyn
Of course I did!
Pvt. Utkin
Okhuyet’. Andromeda Station, this is Tchaikovsky Research Base at Arctic Circle grid reference 0-1 by 0-0.
I’m at North Pole, Miss Llewellyn.
[Radio clunks out of her hand]
Dr. Llewellyn
Dammit! [she picks up the radio again]
Tchaikovsky station, say again, you’re transmitting from the north pole?
Pvt. Utkin
Da, Miss Llewellyn — we are, so to say… “in same boat.” All our instrumentation failed at same time as yours, and no contact from Moscow station since 0800. Rest of my team left base to find help and have not returned.
Dr. Llewellyn
How — how are we talking right now?
Pvt. Utkin
Um… With our mouths?
Dr. Llewellyn
No I mean — our radios. How are you getting my signal?
Pvt. Utkin
Oh! Da! I do not know. Over.
Dr. Llewellyn
Well that’s helpful.
Pvt. Utkin
What was your team researching?
Dr. Llewellyn
Excuse me?
Pvt. Utkin
What was your team studying down there? Over.
Dr. Llewellyn
Who says I needed a team?
Pvt. Utkin
Der’mo, don’t tell me you’re all alone in that research station?
Dr. Llewellyn
I like being alone. More efficient that way.
Pvt. Utkin
I — guess that’s true. So, um — what were you researching?
Dr. Llewellyn
What do you think I was researching?
Pvt. Utkin
Probably same thing we were — worsening fluctuations in magnetosphere, and possible effects on… tipa, everything — electronics, communication, navigation…
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin! Utkin, come in! Do you have a compass handy?
Pvt. Utkin
Da, compass is always handy thing to have.
Dr. Llewellyn
No, I mean — do you have a compass easily accessible?
Pvt. Utkin
Oh! Da, it’s right here, over.
Dr. Llewellyn
Okay, okay, good. Now, tell me where it’s pointing.
[She rummages through a drawer]
Pvt. Utkin
Everywhere but where it should be, as usual. Miss Llewellyn, what is point of…
[She finds what she’s looking for]
Dr. Llewellyn
Where is it pointed now?
Pvt. Utkin
Now?
Dr. Llewellyn
Yes, now! Right now!
Pvt. Utkin
South-Southwest, approximately 210 degrees — der’mo, net, now at…
Dr. Llewellyn
North-northeast, 30 degrees. Right? Opposite of mine. And in about five seconds…
Pvt. Utkin
Da! Da! Turning again to 210. An oscillating magnetic field…
Dr. Llewellyn
…with our positions in the center.
Pvt. Utkin
Ya ne veryu etomu…
Dr. Llewellyn
That about sums it up.
Pvt. Utkin
You speak Russkiy?
Dr. Llewellyn
Nope. But I don’t understand a lick of what’s happening out there, either.
Pvt. Utkin
Oh, Good. I have been — what is expression — “swearing like sailor.”
[Alarms stop]
Dr. Llewellyn
That I did notice.
Pvt. Utkin
Khmm. (beat) Are — are your alarms still on?
Dr. Llewellyn
Huh. Guess not.
Pvt. Utkin
Mine have shut off too. Strannyy.
Dr. Llewellyn
Theories?
Pvt. Utkin
Well — theoretically, a constantly shifting magnetic field could generate a low-level electric current — create static buildup and overload v elektronika, vse zhe…
Dr. Llewellyn
You’re back to Russian again, doctor.
Pvt. Utkin
Chto?
Dr. Llewellyn
Speaking Russian again?
Pvt. Utkin
Net, before that. What did you call me?
Dr. Llewellyn
Oh! Doctor. You are a doctor — aren’t you?
Pvt. Utkin
Well, no. I am — how to say — more like intern. Finishing PHD soon, yes, but need more lab hours for graduation. Tchaikovsky’s like — summer job. Over.
Dr. Llewellyn
They… sent a grad student? To the arctic?
Pvt. Utkin
Da, is fun. Get out of classroom, meet new people, work on suntan. Good program.
Dr. Llewellyn
But — it’s dangerous out here. There, I mean.
Pvt. Utkin
No more than going home for summer. Can be warmer here than in Siberia, you know.
But you’re already doctor, nyet? Why you leave cushy office job for freezing cold Antarctic base?
Dr. Llewellyn
I — came to research the effect of magnetic flux on the local wildlife. No one else would take the post. Besides, I never really liked offices that much — too many people, too little space…
[Utkin yawns]
Dr. Llewellyn
I’m sorry Private Utkin, am I boring you?
Pvt. Utkin
Net, net Doktor, just so quiet now that alarms gone, feeling so sleepy. May take nap to conserve energy. Will get cold soon.
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin, you can’t go to sleep! Isn’t your life support out?
Pvt. Utkin
Chto?
Dr. Llewellyn
Your — the climate control. The heating! Didn’t the flux knock it out?
Pvt. Utkin
Oh! Da, but problem fixed — I think.
Dr. Llewellyn
How?
Pvt. Utkin
Well, static buildup shorted system, but managed to insulate and hotwire to manual. No temperature control, but can turn off and on. Very easy modification.
[Slight pause]
Dr. Llewellyn
Can you… walk me through it?
[Static crackles, whines, and rises]
[Later…]
[Storm rages outside]
Dr. Llewellyn
Andromeda to Tchaikovsky, Andromeda to Tchaikovsky, are you receiving, over?
[Radio buzz]
Pvt. Utkin
Andromeda, this is Tchaikovsky — “you’re five by five.” Proceed, over.
Dr. Llewellyn
Hey Utkin, what’s your status up there?
Pvt. Utkin
Um… largely unchanged, Llewellyn. Temperature holding mostly steady since last week. No radio or radar contact. No major changes in weather either, so, little chance at small talking. Only thing… kak skazat… only thing — dropping? Is…
Dr. Llewellyn
Fuel levels, right? Generators starting to run low?
Pvt. Utkin
Da. At about — third of petroleum reserves now. Should last about two more weeks.
Dr. Llewellyn
So we’ve got a few more miles before the light on the gauge turns on? Heard that one before.
Pvt. Utkin
Light? What light? What are you talking about Llewellyn?
Dr. Llewellyn
Just, um… pointing out the obvious.
Pvt. Utkin
Obvious?
Dr. Llewellyn
Well, your team hasn’t come back, so either they got lost out there, or the magnetic storm knocked out GPS and they can’t find their way back. Neither of us can get in touch with anyone back home, and for all we know, we’ve got the only working telecommunications system on the planet.
Pvt. Utkin
Please find point you’re trying to make — much to do up there.
Dr. Llewellyn
I’m getting there, Utkin. So, we’re totally isolated in the middle of this event — in the eye of the storm, right?
Pvt. Utkin
Pravil’nyy.
Dr. Llewellyn
I’m going to assume that means yes. So, what does that tell you?
Pvt. Utkin
Ya ne znayu, Doktor.
Dr. Llewellyn
It tells me that we’re on our own. That if we want to get out of this, we need to work together. That we need to figure out what’s happening, and how to counteract it.
Pvt. Utkin
Chto? I mean, what? Miss Llewellyn, we are v odinochestve — alone, da, alone out here. I have not much equipment, and most of it is for resource survey. How can we…
Dr. Llewellyn
Because I’m not Miss Llewellyn, Private Utkin, I’m Doctor Llewellyn. Doctor. The youngest woman — the youngest person — to ever earn a PHD from Stanford University. I’ve been studying this phenomena for years — I know what I’m looking for. And if you work with me on this…
Pvt. Utkin
And just how young are you?
Dr. Llewellyn
Excuse me?
Pvt. Utkin
Well, you do sound rather young to be running an arctic research station all by your lonely.
Dr. Llewellyn
Lonesome.
Pvt. Utkin
Chto?
Dr. Llewellyn
Christ on a skidoo, would it kill you to try and speak English, Comrade Kelvin!
Pvt. Utkin
Aga, shchas tovarishch Doktor. Would you die, too, if you tried to speak a little Russkiy?
Dr. Llewellyn
I. Don’t. Speak. Russian.
Pvt. Utkin
Then you should be glad I speak Angliyskiy at all, tovarishch. “Comrade Kelvin.” Pah! Would be cruel joke if one person you could talk to was one person you couldn’t understand.
Dr. Llewellyn
That would be funny, wouldn’t it?
Pvt. Utkin
Sorry, didn’t quite get that Doktor. I think I might be losing signal, over.
Dr. Llewellyn
I said it would be something, wouldn’t it, if the only person I could talk to in the entire world sounded like a goddamn Bond villain!
[Slight pause]
Pvt. Utkin
Sorry, didn’t get that, must be storm, losing signal, try again later, over and out!
Dr. Llewellyn
No wait, Utkin, I…!
[Static as his signal cuts out]
Dr. Llewellyn
Dammit.
[Static crackles, rises, and falls]
[Later…]
[Alarms, sirens, the sound of fire]
[Utkin coughs as he fumbles at the console]
Pvt. Utkin
Andromeda Station, Andromeda Station, Andromeda Station! Can you read me?
Llewellyn, I know you’re there!
Dr. Llewellyn
Da. Privet, tovarishch Kelvin.
Pvt. Utkin
Oh, ha ha Doktor. Been studying your Russkiy, have you?
Dr. Llewellyn
Nemnogo, Utkin. Nemnogo.
Pvt. Utkin
Well, If you are quite done being pleased by yourself, may I bring to your attention the fact that my LABORATORY IS ON FIRE!?
[A light bulb explodes]
Dr. Llewellyn
What? Utkin! Jesus, are you okay!?
Pvt. Utkin
Yes, yes, I am — unharmed, excepting minor smoke inhalation. Fire suppression system should start…
[Fire extinguisher whooshes]
Pvt. Utkin
Ah. Luchshe.
Dr. Llewellyn
What happened?
[His console whines]
Pvt. Utkin
Oh. Er… tipa, I was attempting to test my theory — you know, about static buildup and discharge caused by crazy magnetosphere spin, and, um…
Dr. Llewellyn
Please tell me you didn’t try to install a lightning rod on the station?
Pvt. Utkin
Not so much lightning rod, more of — collection coil. My own design. Very clever, large solenoid made of copper wiring attached to station batteries to see if phenomena could be used once the generators…
Dr. Llewellyn
Goddammit Utkin! Your climate controls are already fried! [Utkin’s stomach growls] What, were you trying to blow out the rest of your systems, or just kill yourself…
Pvt. Utkin
Please do not say “Fried,” Doktor, my stomach feels empty enough without reminder of real food. God, could really go for some shashlyk right now.
Dr. Llewellyn
Don’t — don’t you have food up there?
Pvt. Utkin
Da. Net. Navernoye. I…
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin? What’s going on?
Pvt. Utkin
I… khmm. Well, when I rewired the climate controls, I forgot they were connected to the refrigeration unit, so was pumping heat into cold box for a week before I noticed smell. Plenty of canned meat left, but…
Dr. Llewellyn
For the love of sweet baby Russian Jesus and all the Siberian shepherds, what were you thinking! How could you forget to check that? What were you even doing?
Pvt. Utkin
I was… working on the collector coil design. Wasn’t eating much. Not sleeping much, either, come to think of.
Dr. Llewellyn
You weren’t… Why would you do that?
Pvt. Utkin
Because… because I was trying to — to prove I could do something right. Prove I was not idiot.
Dr. Llewellyn
Did… did you think I — that I thought you were a…
Pvt. Utkin
Net. But… but you are youngest Doctor in Stanford history, and I am student from Siberian backwater who barely speaks enough Angliyskiy for you to understand. I — I am idiot.
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin…
[Static cuts her off]
[Later…]
[A welding torch sparks]
Dr. Llewellyn (muffled)
You have a family back home?
Pvt. Utkin
Chto?
[She flips her welding mask up]
Dr. Llewellyn
Do you have a family? Back in Russia?
[Winding of wrench]
Pvt. Utkin
Da, of course I do. Everyone has family. Well, except evil Soviet cloning experiments, but I don’t think I’ve met any of those.
Dr. Llewellyn
That’s not what I… I mean, are you married? Do you have a wife? Husband? Kids…?
Pvt. Utkin
Oh yes, many kids. Lots of white picket fences and Joneses I have to keep up with. Very time consuming.
Dr. Llewellyn
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Pvt. Utkin
I ty? Is there a mister doktor Llewellyn? Or a missus doktor, maybe?
[Llewellyn laughs]
Pvt. Utkin
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything…
Dr. Llewellyn
No, no, it’s not that. It’s just we’re… (imitating Utkin) “How do you say — in same boat.” (she laughs) No time for that sort of thing.
Pvt. Utkin
Really? No time for — anyone?
Dr. Llewellyn
Nope. No time for anyone but myself, or so I’ve been told by several potential mister and missus Doktor Llewellyn’s. What can I say? [she knocks on metal] Work is everything.
Pvt. Utkin
Da. The work.
Dr. Llewellyn
Okay, coil’s attached. That should be it, right?
Pvt. Utkin
Pochti. Just need to connect to secondary comms circuit — you have fire extinguisher ready?
[Whoosh of fire retardant]
Pvt. Utkin
Khorosho. Now, connect to terminals, negative to positive, positive to…
[Electricity sparks]
Dr. Llewellyn
Ah, son of a borscht!
Pvt. Utkin
Doktor Llewellyn, are you alright?
Dr. Llewellyn
Well, this things live, Utkin, I’ll tell you that for free.
Pvt. Utkin
Are you hurt? Durachit’, I should’ve told you to wear insulating gloves…
Dr. Llewellyn
I’m fine, Utkin. Just a little zap. And besides… (Doctor Frankenstein impression) “It’s… Alive!”
Pvt. Utkin
Chto?
Dr. Llewellyn
The device is working. The console should be able to transmit directly into the anomaly.
Pvt. Utkin
Don’t you mean, the huricano dynamo?
Dr. Llewellyn
God, I called it that one time. And that was after you convinced me to look in the commander’s locker for drinks.
Pvt. Utkin
What can I say? Vodka is great comfort in times of affliction. Most happy memories from childhood warmed by it.
Most bad ones, too.
Dr. Llewellyn
Well if I didn’t know any better, I might think you were trying to get me drunk. You know, if you weren’t on the other side of the planet from me.
[Pause]
Pvt. Utkin
Um… you should — try transmitting with the relay. I haven’t had any response on my end, but yours should be more powerful. Over.
Dr. Llewellyn
Yeah. Over. I’ll — I’ll give that a try. Over and out.
[Beep, radio switches]
[Static changes tone]
Dr. Llewellyn
Dammit, not again.
Male Voice (garbled through radio)
…Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky, ty menya slyshish’? Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky…
Dr. Llewellyn
Holy shit, it works?
Male Voice
Privet? Ryadovoy Utkin, eto ty? Reagirovat…
Dr. Llewellyn
Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? This is… um… I’m sorry, did you just say Utkin?
Male Voice
Utikin, da! Kto ty?
Dr. Llewellyn
Sorry, wrong number!
Male Voice
Chto? Kto eto…?
[Static, she shuts off the radio]
[Later…]
[Footsteps in Andromeda station]
[Clank of door, storm rages outside]
[Llewellyn shivers]
Dr. Llewellyn
Brrr! Utikin? You there?
[Radio static]
Pvt. Utkin
Da, doktor. Chort, and I thought winters back home were cold.
Dr. Llewellyn
Yeah? Try Minnesota in January. You haven’t seen cold ’til your eyelashes start f—freezing.
Pvt. Utkin
I don’t know about eyelash… what about frozen beards?
Dr. Llewellyn
You have a b-beard?
Pvt. Utkin
Oh yes, big bushy Rasputin beard. Keep pet monkey in it.
Dr. Llewellyn
Hardy har h-har. Nice one Comrade Kelvin.
Pvt. Utkin
What do you think I look like?
Dr. Llewellyn
What?
Pvt. Utkin
Well, I was just thinking — I mean, you hear strange voice on radio when all alone…
Dr. Llewellyn
A f-friendly voice…
Pvt. Utkin
…and when I sound the way I do — I mean, Cold War was not so very long ago…
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin, I don’t th-think you’re some kind of monster, if that’s what you’re getting at.
Pvt. Utkin
Just — pointing out obvious flaw in our relationship. Our professional relationship, I mean of course!
Dr. Llewellyn
N-no! I’m the one missing the obvious! Brr! We c-came out here to observe the auroras under f-flux…
Pvt. Utkin
Now Doktor, if you were trying to get me outside to look at the stars with you, there are easier ways.
Dr. Llewellyn
What? No! That’s not what this is! I…
Pvt. Utkin
Uspokoysya, Doktor. Bad joke. Khmm. Aurora is strong at my end. Moving much faster than usual — probably due to accelerated magnetic activity in ionosphere, or could be unpredicted solar flare…
Dr. Llewellyn
What… color is it?
Pvt. Utkin
Chto?
Dr. Llewellyn
It’s blue here — turning to p-purple just before it reaches the stars. Yours?
Pvt. Utkin
Green. Neimovernyy, such a green. I’ve only ever seen them so vibrant once before.
Dr. Llewellyn
You’ve — you’ve seen them before?
Pvt. Utkin
Da, Doktor.
Dr. Llewellyn
Before you came here?
Pvt. Utkin
When I was a boy. I grew up in Dikson. You know of Dikson?
Dr. Llewellyn
N-no.
Pvt. Utkin
No surprise. No one knows Dikson. Small town, northern Siberia. Heh, too small to even be called “town.” Too far, they say, too cold for people. Only idiots live there. But it is beautiful. Right on the shore of the Kara.
I used to watch the lights over the black water when I was a boy. Folk thought I was strange. Well, they always thought that — silly little boy with his head in books. They told me I’d catch my death out there, ankle deep in snow, in the cold and the dark. But the lights — the lights always made me feel so calm. Pah. I could never sleep very well. I was always thinking, always wondering — my brain never stopped. Except for after those times I watched the lights dance in the dark above and the dark below — then I could rest. Then I could dream.
[The sound of the wind for a moment]
Dr. Llewellyn
We didn’t get auroras very often. Only a couple of times when I was a kid, and I barely remember them. But I loved the night sky. It was always… so big. So dark and empty, except — it wasn’t. So many stars, with so many planets, you just had to wonder.
I was alone, most of the time. Even when I was with other people, I was still lonely. Most of the time I still am — at least back home. But… I mean, looking up at the sky and trying to count the stars, I just… I just knew I couldn’t be the only one like me out there. I knew there had to be someone, somewhere, looking up at the the sky and feeling the same things I was.
Pvt. Utkin
Doktor, I think I…
[Spike of static, he cuts out]
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin? Utkin! Do you read me, over? Tchaikovsky station, are you receiving?
[she types commands]
Dr. Llewellyn
Dammit! Utkin, answer me! Please! Please! Please, don’t — don’t let me be alone out here.
[pause]
Dr. Llewellyn
Utkin. Utkin, please. Please answer me. I need to hear you. I need you to make another stupid joke, so I can laugh at it even if it isn’t funny. You can even speak Ruskiyy if you like! I’ll try to speak it too! I know I won’t be any good, but…
Please. I need to tell you you’re not an idiot. You’re stone-cold brilliant. And I need to tell you I’m not any kind of genius. Well, maybe I am, but I didn’t mean to be. I never wanted to be the youngest doctor in Stanford history, I just wanted to have a normal life. I wanted to feel butterflies in my stomach when I saw the person I liked. I wanted to go to prom and feel embarrassed when I finally got up the courage to dance with them. I wanted to get engaged on a pier somewhere with the sun setting behind us.
I need to tell you what I did — what I didn’t do. I heard the rescue team, Utkin. The one coming to get you. On the relay, the first time I switched it on. And I got so scared at the idea they’d come and take you away that I didn’t tell them where you were. I didn’t tell you they were looking for you. I didn’t try and get you help. And I should have, because — I wanted to keep talking to you, to have you to myself, but… but I love you more than that now.
I love you.
Pvt. Utkin
Doktor?
Dr. Llewellyn
Oh, goddammit.
Pvt. Utkin
Sorry to lose you there. Static buildup must’ve shorted radio — easy fix.
Dr. Llewellyn
How, uh… how much of that did you hear?
Pvt. Utkin
Um… most — of it? Pretty much everything?
You really wanted to get engaged on a pier at sunset? Hmm. Very specific.
Dr. Llewellyn
If you ever tell a living soul…
Pvt. Utkin
Uspokoysya, Doktor! No one will ever know you are — what is phrase? — “old romantic?”
Dr. Llewellyn
And the other part? The, um…
Pvt. Utkin
The lying?
Dr. Llewellyn
Yeah. That.
Pvt. Utkin
I — da, yes, I heard that. Well. You know old American expression? “Glass houses should not throw rocks?”
Dr. Llewellyn
No, it’s “those who live in glass houses shouldn’t…” — Wait, what?
Pvt. Utkin
You know how I said communication relay didn’t work on my end? That it didn’t have enough power to reach anyone?
That was — that was lie. As soon as I turned it on, I caught radio transmission from rescue team in Antarctic. They had your position, but GPS is kaput all over planet. They were trying to contact you, to get you to launch flares. I could’ve — I should’ve told you weeks ago, I know, but…
Dr. Llewellyn
But you didn’t want to be alone either.
Pvt. Utkin
Da. It’s like you say, Doktor. I am alone. Except for here. Except alone with your voice on the radio.
Dr. Llewellyn
We’re both kind of messed up, aren’t we?
Pvt. Utkin
[He laughs] Da, Doktor. Da. But same kind of messed up, I suppose.
Dr. Llewellyn
In a way.
Pvt. Utkin
So what do you say? Our rescue teams must be close by now. One call, one flare, and they take us both home.
Dr. Llewellyn
Do they, though? Is that — is that really home for me? For you?
[Utkin chuckles]
Pvt. Utkin
Niet. Niet, not really.
Dr. Llewellyn
What do you say then? One more night under the stars? I think I still have some vodka left.
Pvt. Utkin
And I’m pretty sure I can survive one more canned meat supper.
Da, Doktor. I would like that very much.
Dr. Llewellyn
One more night, then. One more night.
[The wind rises over the snow]
[Music plays out]
[The swirling of the Source]
Amy Sterling
The future… always shifting, always uncertain — and even more so within the Source. Only in time can we know which future comes to pass… but if it does, then it worries me somehow. So many of the futures I’ve seen hinge on this single moment… on Llewelyn and Utkin… on the choices they will make soon after. I am Amy Sterling, and within this place I see all the worlds that I have lost… though maybe not forever.
[End Theme and Credits]
Homestead on the Corner 