EXILES

Narrator Ashley Morton guides this tightly plotted, suspenseful tale as it unfolds on a remote human colony on Mars. Medical Officer Gold and fellow mission officers arrive on the planet's surface to find the newly constructed base partially destroyed. Conflicting, unsettling accounts about the mysterious "threat" emerge from their interviews with the two remaining construction robots. Morton gives the robots crisp, precise voices, blending their characterizations with emerging sentience and programming mandates. Hallucinations begin plaguing Gold, who sounds by turns weary, resolved, and uncertain as she grapples with her own reasons for accepting the Mars assignment. The mystery, along with the crew, unravel with satisfyingly deliberate precision and flashes of horror. A gripping performance complements the shifting reality of this taut psychological sci-fi mystery. [Published: JANUARY 2026]