Transcripts become available as episodes release.
SEASON 1
Trailer: I could be the last
Prologue: We breathe, briefly
Episode 1: My mind was going numb
Episode 2: Drying inward from the edge
Episode 3: What portion of me be Assignable
Episode 4: Stripped off the foliage
Episode 5: Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Episode 6: Sorrow seems to win
Episode 7: The solemnest of industries
Episode 8: Hope is the thing with feathers
POEM OF THE DAY
(in between seasons bonus)
SEASON 1
August: Departure by Edna St Vincent Millay
September: Life by Charlotte Brontë
October: Sonnet 71 by William Shakespeare
November: I Measure Every Grief I Meet by Emily Dickinson
December: The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
January: Idem the Same by Gertrude Stein
February: Protest by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
March: The Mask of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley
SPECIAL
Trailer: I could be the last
Subtitled video version of trailer HERE
(Music – Chaika’s theme by Chris Gregory)
VALEN
This is Valen Solarin, engineering lead lunar mining. Seeking urgent status update on… well, earth.
NARRATOR
Chaika. A science fiction audio drama.
(beat)
CHAIKA
Nothing has been heard from the Mars colony since before Earth went silent. Maybe… Maybe they all died too. And all I will find is their bones. I could be the last. The last human. (beat) I cannot stay. (calls) TROST?
(TROST entry beep)
TROST
Chaika.
CHAIKA
Could you… Um, could you prepare the shuttle?
TROST
Affirmative. Long or short range journey?
CHAIKA
Oh, long. Very long.
(Footsteps, spaceship doors opening, HYGGE entry beep)
HYGGE
(in Danish) Velkommen. [Welcome] I am HYGGE. How may I have the pleasure of addressing you?
CHAIKA
It’s Chaika.
HYGGE
Chaika. Russian for seagull. Call sign of Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. The first Earth woman-
CHAIKA
-in space. Yes. My… my mother gave me that name.
(beat)
(LEQU entry pop)
LEQU
Probably time you got to know some non-human people.
CHAIKA: Oh, you mean like you?
LEQU: Yes, I am a delightful acquaintance.
CHAIKA: I… Yes, I am sure you are.
(beat)
HYGGE: You frightened her.
LEQU: Ah, she’ll get over it. (beat) She has other things on her mind.
NARRATOR
Chaika. For more information, please visit y2kpod.com/chaika, that’s C H A I K A.
VALEN: Repeat, priority communication to moonbase- (breath) Get back to me and tell me this is just a glitch, all right? Please.
(Fade out)
Prologue: We breathe, briefly
Episode 1: My mind was going numb
Episode 2: Drying inward from the edge
Episode 3: What portion of me be Assignable
Episode 4: Stripped off the foliage
Episode 5: Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Episode 6: Sorrow seems to win
Episode 7: The solemnest of industries
Episode 8: Hope is the thing with feathers
August: Departure by Edna St Vincent Millay
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. Departure by Edna St Vincent Millay, published in 1923.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
It’s little I care what path I take,
And where it leads it’s little I care,
But out of this house, lest my heart break,
I must go, and off somewhere!
It’s little I know what’s in my heart,
What’s in my mind it’s little I know,
But there’s that in me must up and start,
And it’s little I care where my feet go!
I wish I could walk for a day and a night,
And find me at dawn in a desolate place,
With never the rut of a road in sight,
Or the roof of a house, or the eyes of a face.
I wish I could walk till my blood should spout,
And drop me, never to stir again,
On a shore that is wide, for the tide is out,
And the weedy rocks are bare to the rain.
But dump or dock, where the path I take
Brings up, it’s little enough I care,
And it’s little I’d mind the fuss they’ll make,
Huddled dead in a ditch somewhere.
Is something the matter, dear, she said,
That you sit at your work so silently?
“No, mother, no—’twas a knot in my thread.
There goes the kettle—I’ll make the tea.”
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
OUTRO MUSIC
September: Life by Charlotte Brontë
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. Life by Charlotte Brontë, published in 1846.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily
Life’s sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly!
What though Death at times steps in
And calls our best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O’er hope, a heavy sway?
Yet hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell fear!
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
OUTRO MUSIC
October: Sonnet 71 by William Shakespeare
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. Sonnet 71 by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse.
But let your love even with my life decay,
Lest the wise world should look into your moan
And mock you with me after I am gone.
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
November: I Measure Every Grief I Meet by Emily Dickinson
NARRATOR
Hi! Karin Heimdahl here, creator of Chaika. I wanted to pop in here at the beginning of this bonus episode to talk briefly about the Audioverse Awards. Chaika is a finalist in an astounding 10 categories, and we would love your vote! We are finalists along some really amazing shows, like Doctor Who: Redacted, Roguemaker, The Secret of St Kilda, Echoes in Between and Two Flat Earthers Kidnap a Freemason, and this is the kind of voting where your vote counts more, the more shows you vote for, so please vote for everything you enjoy! Only, y’know, place Chaika near the top, please. Voting is open until December 5. And the link is https://audioverseawards.net/vote/ And I will pop that into the shownotes as well.
Now onto the poem of the day, where I will sound very different, because I didn’t have this cold when I recorded that section.
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. I Measure Every Grief I Meet by Emily Dickinson, written in 1862.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, eyes –
I wonder if It weighs like Mine –
Or has an Easier size.
I wonder if They bore it long –
Or did it just begin –
I could not tell the Date of Mine –
It feels so old a pain –
I wonder if it hurts to live –
And if They have to try –
And whether – could They choose between –
It would not be – to die –
I note that Some – gone patient long –
At length, renew their smile –
An imitation of a Light That has so little Oil –
I wonder if when Years have piled –
Some Thousands – on the Harm –
That hurt them early – such a lapse
Could give them any Balm –
Or would they go on aching still
Through Centuries of Nerve –
Enlightened to a larger Pain –
In Contrast with the Love –
The Grieved – are many – I am told –
There is the various Cause –
Death – is but one – and comes but once –
And only nails the eyes –
There’s Grief of Want – and grief of Cold –
A sort they call “Despair” –
There’s Banishment from native Eyes –
In sight of Native Air –
And though I may not guess the kind –
Correctly – yet to me
A piercing Comfort it affords
In passing Cavalry –
To note the fashions – of the Cross –
And how they’re mostly worn –
Still fascinated to presume
That Some – are like my own –
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
December: The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, published in 1917.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of the year.
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
January: Idem the Same by Gertrude Stein
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. Extract from Idem the Same: A Valentine to Sherwood Anderson by Gertrude Stein, published in 1922.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
I knew too that through them I knew too that he was through, I knew too that he threw them. I knew too that they were through, I knew too I knew too, I knew I knew them.
I knew to them.
[…]
To Be
No Please.
To Be
They can please
Not to be
Do they please.
Not to be
Do they not please
Yes please.
Do they please
No please.
Do they not please
No please.
Do they please.
Please.
If you please.
And if you please.
And if they please
And they please.
To be pleased
Not to be pleased.
Not to be displeased.
To be pleased and to please.
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
February: Protest by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. Protest by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, published in 1914.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men. The human race
Has climbed on protest. Had no voice been raised
Against injustice, ignorance, and lust,
The inquisition yet would serve the law,
And guillotines decide our least disputes.
The few who dare, must speak and speak again
To right the wrongs of many. Speech, give thanks,
No vested power in this great day and land
Can gag or throttle. Press and voice may cry
Loud disapproval of existing ills;
May criticise oppression and condemn
The lawlessness of wealth-protecting laws
That let the children and childbearers toil
To purchase ease for idle millionaires.
Therefore I do protest against the boast
Of independence in this mighty land.
Call no chain strong, which holds one rusted link.
Call no land free, that holds one fettered slave.
Until the manacled slim wrists of babes
Are loosed to toss in childish sport and glee,
Until the mother bears no burden, save
The precious one beneath her heart, until
the soil is rescued from the clutch of greed
And given back to labor, let no man
Call this the land of freedom.
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
March: The Mask of Anarchy: Written on the Occasion of the Massacre at Manchester by Percy Bysshe Shelley
INTRO MUSIC, starts, then fades to low
NARRATOR
Chaika. Poem of the day. Extract from The Mask of Anarchy: Written on the Occasion of the Massacre at Manchester by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written in 1819.
INTRO MUSIC, up to full volume, fades.
Ding.
HYGGE
Poem of the day.
Ding.
MUSIC
NARRATOR
When one fled past, a maniac maid,
And her name was Hope, she said:
But she looked more like Despair,
And she cried out in the air:
`My father Time is weak and gray
With waiting for a better day;
See how idiot-like he stands,
Fumbling with his palsied hands!
`He has had child after child,
And the dust of death is piled
Over every one but me–
Misery, oh, Misery!’
Then she lay down in the street,
Right before the horses’ feet,
Expecting, with a patient eye,
Murder, Fraud, and Anarchy.
When between her and her foes
A mist, a light, an image rose,
Small at first, and weak, and frail
Like the vapour of a vale:
Till as clouds grow on the blast,
Like tower-crowned giants striding fast,
And glare with lightnings as they fly,
And speak in thunder to the sky,
It grew — a Shape arrayed in mail
Brighter than the viper’s scale,
And upborne on wings whose grain
Was as the light of sunny rain.
On its helm, seen far away,
A planet, like the Morning’s, lay;
And those plumes its light rained through
Like a shower of crimson dew.
With step as soft as wind it passed
O’er the heads of men — so fast
That they knew the presence there,
And looked, — but all was empty air.
As flowers beneath May’s footstep waken,
As stars from Night’s loose hair are shaken,
As waves arise when loud winds call,
Thoughts sprung where’er that step did fall.
And the prostrate multitude
Looked — and ankle-deep in blood,
Hope, that maiden most serene,
Was walking with a quiet mien.
MUSIC fades.
NARRATOR
You have listened to Charlotte Norup as HYGGE, and Karin Heimdahl – that’s me! – as the narrator. Music by Chris Gregory and Kevin McCleoud. We are hard at work on season 2, but until that is ready to drop, we will give you one poem at the end of every month, so please listen out for that. Chaika is a Y2K production. For more information please go to y2kpod.com/chaika. Thank you so much for listening.
Y2K Productions 