"The First Murder on Mars"

### Narrator(s)

Mike DelGaudio, Andy Cresswell, Atticus Jackson, Erin Lillis, Sarah Ruth Thomas, Kyle Akers, David Ault, and Nikolle Doolin

### Next

"The Midnight Caller"

**"The First Murder on Mars"** is the fourth tale in the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, settlers on Mars deal with a murder. Written by Jesse Rose, it has a runtime of 35:00 and was performed by Mike DelGaudio, Andy Cresswell, Atticus Jackson, Erin Lillis, Sarah Ruth Thomas, Kyle Akers, David Ault, and Nikolle Doolin. It is the 1789th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

In the future, humanity has managed to build a colony on Mars. It is rapidly approaching the twentieth anniversary of the first landing, when there was only four people. There are now sixty-nine.

Al, one of the original four, loves his life on the red planet and his relationship with another settler, Vanessa. However, his best friend Nigel, also one of the original four, has been doing terribly for the past few months. He longs to go back to Earth and misses his home. It is all he can talk or think about.

On the morning of the twentieth anniversary, Al heads over to Nigel's pod to give him a celebratory bottle of whiskey. However, he discovers that Nigel murdered his podmate during the night, driven insane by his longing for Earth. He runs past the other settlers who have brought a cake to contact the company's director and CFO, Ivan and Charlotte.

Al, Vanessa, and the other head officers Miggy, Stefania, and Craig ask the director for advice on how to deal with Nigel. It is the planet's first case of murder. Despite Al's pleadings to send a ship to bring him back to Earth for prosecution, Ivan and Charlotte say that will be too expensive and time-consuming and tells them to come up with a solution on their own.

Miggy, Stefania, and Vanessa want to sentence Nigel to death, while Al and Craig want to rehabilitate him. A meeting is called with all the other settlers, where both sides will present arguments and a vote will be taken. After the cases are given out, including Nigel himself pleading to be pardoned, the votes are counted. By a slim margin, he is to be rehabilitated into the society. The opposing side is not happy about the ruling.

Later that night, chaos erupts at the base. Al is horrified to learn that someone has punctured Nigel's pod from the outside. He yells at Miggy for allowing such a thing to happen, and ruining the entire twenty-year mission. A brawl breaks out between the factions, hindering the efforts to save Nigel. Though Al manages to open the doors, he is too late to save his friend, who has suffocated.

He walks to the exit hatch and sees Vanessa outside. She was responsible for breaking the hole in the wall. She expresses regret and horror at her actions before taking off her helmet, killing herself.

Al messages Ivan sometime later, detailing the events that have happened. The director agrees to send a mission to pick everyone up, all sixty-eight remaining settlers. Al says they will only need fifty-six, as his faction murdered Miggy and ten of his supporters for the killing of Nigel.

## Cast

Mike DelGaudio as Al

Andy Cresswell as Nigel

Atticus Jackson as Miggy

Erin Lillis as Vanessa

Sarah Ruth Thomas as Stefania

Kyle Akers as Craig

David Ault as Ivan

Nikolle Doolin as Charlotte