(upbeat music) This episode is brought to you by Experian. Are you paying for subscriptions you don't use, but can't find the time or energy to cancel them? Experian could cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, saving you an average of $270 per year, and plenty of time. Download the Experian app. Results will vary, not all subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. (dramatic music) It's time for Thriller Thursdays, here on the Mutual Audio Network. (dramatic music) The following audio drama is rated PG for parental guidance. (dramatic music) The Hup Chronicles followed the adventures of Detective K-Puck, who went from a Baltimore police detective to intergalactic investigator, from fighting crime on the streets, to crime in the stars. (dramatic music) And now, episode 232, classmates. - Wait a minute. Did you just say you're looking at a high school photo of our man Leonard from Queens? - Yes. - The guy who was Leo's helpful? - Yes, the same Leo who was Hank's partner. - That scarlet worked for? - The same. - Let me see if I got this straight. You think you're looking at the high school photo of course he's classmate. - Yes. - The same guy who helped Louie, who was partners with Hank, who had scarlet helping him, who's looking for Korski. Did I get that right? - As confusing and convoluted as it sounds. - Yes. - Ah, you know, this can't be a coincidence. We need to add Leonard to our investigation. Maybe if we follow his movements from 1997, we can discover Korskis. - I agree. Scarlet and Korski, along with Leonard, were all recruited by rage. I'm thinking we need to question scarlet more on how and when she was recruited. I need to let Kelly know. She knew Leonard better than I did. - She obviously hasn't looked at his photo yet. - I'd be real interested in hearing her reaction. You're not gonna say anything about who you think he is, are you? - No, Jim, you taught me better than that. (phone ringing) (phone ringing) - Hey, Kate, what's up? Please tell me you've got some breaking news. - It all depends on you, Siz. Do you have the yearbook handy? - Yep, it's right here, why? - Turn to page 35 and look over the portraits. - So what am I looking for? - You'll know it when you see it. - All I see is a bunch of kids with some interesting hair. Wait, what? This can't be. - Are you looking at the guy three rows down and second from the end? - Yeah, yes, but it really, it can't be. That's Leonard from Queens. - That's exactly who it was. You know the implications, right? Leonard helped Louie. Scarlett helped his partner Hank. Leonard's classmate Vincent becomes Korski and helps another rage, Honggen. It's too much. I don't know if Scarlett is seeing Leonard before, but these are too astronomical to be a coincidence. - Well, she's not here. How do you want to handle this? - I don't know if she ever met Leonard. If she did, it was when the Honggen recruited them. - Well, this is hitting close to home. I don't know how she'll take it and she learns that her counterpart was Korski's classmate, but think of this, at least you have a classmate to interview. - That's true. We told Louie that we charged Leonard with espionage. - So he's still in the witness protection program? - Yes, all we need to get from him is anything he can tell us about Vincent Tanaka. It's the best lead we've gotten so far. When Scarlett gets back, just have her look at the photos and see if she recognizes Leonard. - Okay, I take it you're gonna follow up with Periman. - Yes, and with any luck, I'll be reuniting with our old friend Leonard. - All right, you know what Scarlett says. - All right, talk to you later. - Well, this will be interesting. I'm curious to know if she recognizes it. - I am too. I know Kelly's perceptive enough to tell if Scarlett has any kind of hidden reaction to seeing Leonard's photo. - As I heard you'll be visiting Leonard, let me know what Periman says. - I will, and I can't wait to see how Scarlett reacts. - So, Lord Lister, have you exhausted all of your possible candidates? - How about you, Major Dunn? Why are you babysitting a bunch of spineless farmers? You could be a leader, general Dunn. - General Dunn, really. I am flathead, Lord Lister. But my place is here with these men and women. We are happy. No one bothers us, and if our trigger fingers get itchy, we have river monsters to shoot. - I see. So instead of fighting for rage, to regain what is once ours, you'd rather play shooting gallery, tucked safely away behind your walls. - I don't know about safely. These creatures have more than enough strength to break through these walls. Have you decided what to do yet? - There is no use staying here. There's not one soldier left in this camp. - Lord Lister, we have a situation. - Yes, we do. This camp is full of spineless men and women who would rather hide behind these walls than fight for rage. - Yes, and unfortunately their numbers just grew. - What do you mean? - Our men have decided to stay also. - What? Stay? Have they lost their minds? - Well, it's obvious that they see our ways in how freely we live. - Like cowards, hiding behind the skirt tails of these walls. All of them are staying? - Yes, my Lord. - And you, Ursula. Are you abandoning me too? - Never, Lord Lister. My faith and allegiance is to the rebels against the Galactic Empire. - Rage and its glory. - That's all very moving, Lord Lister. But it means nothing here. We are now citizens of Titan III. The rebellion is over. We no longer wish to fight. - Then it's become painfully obvious, Major. - So will you be returning to your ship? - I wish the venture into town. My ship will be safe where it is. I will need to borrow a vehicle that will get me back to the tyrant safely. Will you be able to accommodate us? - I have such a vehicle. I can make it available to you for as long as you need it. Ursula, are you familiar with the Model RT300 armored truck? - Yes, I am. Is it equipped with the standard ordinance? - Yes, and we will make sure you have a full magazine before a department. - Excellent. I can hold off a small army with one of those trucks. - As long as it's daylight, you shouldn't have any worries. If it's getting dark, stop at the supply bunker. You'll be safe there. - Yes, I remember that bunker. - I accept your offer. But I must tell you that I am quite disappointed that no one will follow us. - Not even those who came with you. I should have left them there and bought a bar of prison to rot. - Do not be discouraged, Master Lister. There are former soldiers scattered throughout the galaxy. We will soon find an army. - And when we do, Major Dun, I will give you one last opportunity to join us. But it will be your last. Come Ursula, we must make preparations to depart. (upbeat music) - I guess we'll be done here in a couple of days. - Yeah, we can maybe stretch out three, but no more. What are your thoughts on Korski? - I really don't want to push it too much until it's absolutely necessary. - Well, maybe you can explain to me this new information pyramid passed on to us. - Who exactly is Leonard? - As I've explained to you, we use locals to assist us in our mission. They know the lay of the land and it makes things so much easier. - You have pretty much blackmail these people to do your bidding. - Well, I really don't like the term blackmail. Let's just say that we find a weakness or something they really want and exploit it, like Scarlet. Hank got her with the promise of getting justice for her parents' death. - And that would be our man, Korski. - Yes. - Okay, I'm with you so far. How does this Leonard character fit in? - Hank had a partner working in Queens. That partner, Louis, had a local helping him and that was Leonard. Now, I didn't interact with him because I was in Houston working with Hank. Kate and Kelly worked with a detective Jocko in Queens investigating Louis and Leonard. - This is starting to sound like a soap opera. - Yeah, and it gets better. We know that Korski is a pseudonym for Vincent Tanaka. Kelly and Scarlet found a photo of Leonard in Tanaka's yearbook. - So if we find this Leonard guy, he might be able to give us more insight on Korski and maybe even Bishop. - I need to find out what Korski's role is in this mission of bishops. They go back so far together that it must be something big. - It can be a coincidence that both worked for your people and both went to high school together. - Which means both of them had something in their past that made them vulnerable to, as you say, my people. - Didn't peerman say Korski or Vincent had a big debt paid off? - Yes, and shortly after that, got into West Point. They're digging into Leonard's past to see if there was any change in his lifestyle. - You mean like suddenly going from poor to rich? - Exactly. Like you said, it can't be a coincidence that two kids from the same high school get recruited by rage. - Especially this long after high school and this close together on missions. - It makes me wonder, they're both working with rage at essentially the same time. One in Queens and the other in Houston. Why is Korski working one just 90 minutes from Houston? - Do you think in that Korski was sent from DC to here because Hank and Louie's mission failed? - I think that's a real possibility. Korski and Leonard were both deep implants. Korski might have been a backup for Leonard. - Or consider this, or Bishop was the backup plan of Hank and Louie failed, meaning their mission is the same. We often did have a backup team ready to go on big missions. When I talked to them about Hank's mission to knock out communication systems, they said that they were well aware of how that could take down a country. In this case, it's army. - You're gonna have to get closer to him. Or should I say you need to get closer to Bishop and Korski? - I'll work on it. I need to find a kink in their armor and exploit it. In the meantime. - I know, I know, it's time for your second breakfast. - You know, Detective Garrett. You make a pretty good partner. - This is the slowest ship I've ever been on. These craft are not known for their speed or maneuverability. At this rate, it'll be another sleep cycle before we arrive. We must look at the positive. There is a regular service delivery to Tyranus. The IDF will be looking for a smaller and faster ship. - I suppose there is logic in that. But you know me, General Hanukkah. I am not the patient kind. I crave action in a fast pace. - Yes, I know. This is a new learning experience for me. - We're in the size of this lumbering beast. - Sure, a camp land of a mercenary camp. - And you would be correct. We will take the ship to its destination and disembark there. I know someone who will be able to make arrangements for me to get to the camp. - As we spoke before, I've heard many things about this camp. - And most of them are true. It is surrounded by a jungle infested with large meat-eating beasts. These beasts are nocturnal hunters, so we will only travel during the daylight. - And if we see one? - If we see one, we will move on and ignore it. - And if it comes after us? - Then I'll watch you slay him, of course. - I appreciate your confidence and my ability to fight. What if I lose? - By that time, I will be long gone. Listen, turn your attention to much brighter things. - Such as? - Such as revenge upon a certain bounty hunter. - Yes. - Gabby. - Yes, and whoever else is with her, you know she won't be alone. Titan three is much too dangerous for one lone bounty hunter. - She fights like a cruel cat. - Are you developing feelings for her, God? - Trust me, my lord. I definitely have feelings for her. - I want her alive. She has a circuit board much like Zokar's. It is our good fortune that she hasn't mastered it yet. - And once we secure the circuits from her brain. - Then you may exercise your feelings for her. - Lovely. - But for now, we must turn our attention to the task at hand. When we arrive, we will make our way to a man named K.L. He will provide us with transportation to the camp. - There we will seek out the surgeon who will do the operation. - Surely he can't do it there in the middle of the jungle. - Of course not. There's a facility in the city that we will use. - Ah, an operation like this will not only require a surgeon, but also surgical assistance. - And what is your point? - If you are to fool people into thinking that Zokar lives, what interest do you have that these people will not spread the truth about his death? I worry not only about these people we seek, but also of those who remove the board from Zokar. - There is no need to worry. If word gets out, they know that I will suspect them and then take action. - Mm, yes, something to look forward to. - Two. - I'm still in shock over the fact that Leonard was Korski's classmate. - Yeah, and I have to say everyone else is in shock that you and Leonard were counterparts on the same mission. - I can see how that looks suspicious, but I can tell you that I never met Leonard or Louis. - Then throw that into the mix that Korski or Vincent and Leonard were classmates and you have an even bigger puzzle. - So the last I heard, your people were going to charge Leonard with terrorism, or was that just show for Hank? - No, because he was crucial in capturing Louis, we cut him a deal. He's in the witness protection program in Hagerstown, Maryland. It's the same town in which another conspirator, Heinrich, is being held at a local prison. - I remember Kate telling me about him. It was her first IDF case. Do you think we can get to Leonard? - Kate's working on that now. Until then, we need to pursue whatever leads we can. - Maybe we can go back and talk to Brian and ask him if he knew Leonard. Maybe Leonard and Vinny were pals. It could be that they'd gotten to trouble together and both were recruited by rage at the same time. - Then that would mean that they've been in the rage system for a long time. I wonder if they'd been on missions before. Well, that's something we never addressed with Leonard. Maybe Sam can get that kind of information out of Korski. - It might be worth a shot. - Let's see if I can get to him before they get too busy today. (phone ringing) - Good morning, Kelly. To what do I owe this honor? - Well, I guess you heard about Leonard from Queens and Korski. - Yeah, we were just going over that. That's too much to be a coincidence, don't you think? - Absolutely. We were wondering if there was any way you could tie in Hank with Leonard in your conversations with Bishop and Korski. - Wayne and I have been discussing the same thing. I'm just not sure yet how to bring up the fact that he and Leonard were classmates. - Yeah, I get it. For you to know that, it would mean that you were digging into his past and he'd want to know why. - Exactly. - I've got you on speaker now. Scarlett wants to say something. - Hey, Scarlett. - Hey, Sam, here's an idea. Talk to him about how important getting the mission right is. Say something like, you know, Hank and Louis failed and their helpers or locals went to jail. This guy Leonard who was helping Louis got hard time. As I understand it, Hank's local scarlet flipped on him and got a light sentence, just probation. - That's a thought. It might put down in his mind and he might have known that Leonard was helping Louis. - And if he acknowledges Leonard as someone he knew, that could give you some kind of an opening. - I'll give it a shot. Korski might think he's well protected, but maybe hearing that his old classmate was arrested could make him nervous. - Have you been able to get much out of either one? - Bishop did mention that they might call on me if they run into any problems. Maybe we need to make some problems for them. - I'm not sure what we could do, but we'll think on it. Let me know if you uncover anything else, especially what kind of dead Korski had as Vincent and if Leonard was part of it. - All right, we'll do. - I hope Sam can get through to these two. - You mean gain their trust and pull them into their mission? - Yes, but we may not be able to bring Korski to trial for what he did to my parents, but if we can involve him in an act of terrorism, he'll spend the rest of his life in prison and that is good enough for me. - Well, that was quite a war last night. - I guess we stirred him up, Tom, yeah? Do you think Lister is still in there? - If he is, things could get ugly, but I'm betting he left this morning for Tyrannis. Question is, who went with him? - Well, we're about to find out. - Who's that waiting to greet us? - That's Major Dunn, the assistant camp commander. - What kind of bloke is he? - He's pretty down to earth. Now the camp commander, Colonel Rada, is old school. Stiff upper lip and formal. - Gabby, this is getting to be a rather busy place. - Major Dunn, I hope we're still welcome here. - As long as you're not here to arrest anyone, you are welcomed. - It sounded like you had quite a battle going on here last night. - We did, so you were close enough to hear, I assume. - And we were right up on that crest when one of the big boys played as a visit. - He took off when he heard his buddies start howling. - So, you were spying on us, I take it. - Not so much you, Major. We're only interested in Lister and his assistant. I take it he's not here. - The two of them left this morning. - So he left his bat behind. - We figured it would be safe where you left it. - You said that he left with his assistant? - Yeah, Ursula. - Well, we know there were several others with him. - They escaped with him and Ursula from Boulder by prison. - This is where we might have a problem. - I'll be honest with you, their bounty isn't very high and we don't have the necessary resources to arrest them and return them to Boulder Bar. - Then you are welcomed to stay as long as you like. - Everyone here is probably wanted by the IDF. So what's a few more? - Where's Colonel Rada? - He just wasn't cut out for this kind of life. He returned to his whole planet. So I guess everyone is stuck with me. - When did Lister Lew and what sort of transport did he have? - He left it first light and he's using one of our swamp trucks. - Thanks, Major. We'll head back to our ship. We might be able to beat him to Tyrannis. - That's not what we wanted to hear, Gabby. - What's that? - It's another trip across that river. (birds chirping) - Positive coin right. Gear up. - Mercury, you are clear. Put the rod left. - Create fourth rattle up. - Thrusters at 100% all systems green. - Crew prepare for 2G. - What every woman wants to hear she'll soon weigh twice as much. - Relax, you'll see way nothing. - 2G reached whole, integrity, good. All systems green. - Mercury, you are clear down, green. Resumed of a navigation for orbital insert. - Mercury, clear. Don't range. Resuming navigation for insert. (dramatic music) - Maximum thrust that she began insertion roll. Beginning roll for a little bit. - I hate this part. I feel like I'm wearing braces and they have locked together. - Begin, throttle down. - Throttle, 80%. - 1.5, jeez. - Captain Tam. - Do you have the course for Titan 3 locked in? - Course is plotted and locked in, transferring to pilot. Course, received. - Orbit, achieved. - Begin gravitation or rotation? - Rotation, initiated. - Everyone, please remain buckled in. Everyone doing okay? - Yes, everyone seems to be doing fine. - Once we've established our artificial gravity, I need everyone to remain here. - We need to discuss how we're going to move forward. - We're now at 50% gravity. - See, Captain Tam? Now you're on your way off as much. - It's enough to make me not even want a getting weight. - So, Jaffra, how do you plan to search Titan 4? - We will make contact with our team on Titan 3. Hopefully, all of the catered lists there, as for Helica, we'll have to wait and see on that. - Whatever your plans are, Jaffra, I want Lister. Gabby can go after Hanukkah. - This is a team effort, L'Enora. I can't understand your desire to go after Lister. However, we must work together as one unit. - I know that, Agent Simon, but if there's a choice, I want it made perfectly clear that Lister is my main concern. - I'll take that into consideration. - And we've got the fix yet on Hanukkah. He may still be sitting on Titan 4 waiting for a ride. - The only ship that's left in that direction of Titan 3 was a slow freighter. So our best guess is that he is on that ship. - I'm familiar with that freighter. It arrives once a month with much needed supplies. - It stands to reason that they would be on that ship. It's my understanding that there isn't anything else headed for Titan 3 for weeks. - Artificial gravity reached. - All right, ladies and gentlemen, you're free to move about the cabin. But as Jaffra said, stay in the control room for now. - Ah, I believe I'm just going to sit back, relax, exactly where I am. I'm going to take this opportunity for a nice, quiet ride to Titan 3. (dramatic music) - Warning, structural integrity reached, securing major bulkheads. - What exactly does that mean? - Means when we get to Titan 3, we're not going to be able to land. - Is this the end of the Mercury and the mission? Will Gabby, Joe Mack, and Marco be alone? Will Sam be able to learn from Korski? And will this define help on Titan 3 before Hanukkah arrives? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the next episode of the Hawk Chronicles, Red Alert. (whooshing)
