What happens
Crazy John, an Earthman, leads a group of Martians across the desert toward their ancient highland home after escaping their reservation. A boy and his prospector father live at a Martian canal outpost when the strangers arrive asking for water. The father distrusts them, and a tense standoff follows that the boy watches with growing unease. The boy listens as John explains his cause, and the Martians' plight becomes clearer. The story follows the long march through the desert and the hardships the travelers endure along the way.
Mars, 1997, the desert near a Martian canal and the Martian reservation
Characters: John, Cantalka, Al, Al's father
Listen for: The boy's first conversation with John and Cantalka beside the campfire, where John explains why the Martians left the reservation.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.