Embrace the Darkness (audio story)

The Doctor and Charley travel to the remote Cimmerian System to unravel the mystery of its sun. But darkness has already embraced the scientific base on Cimmeria IV in more ways than one.

In a fight for survival, the Doctor must use all his wits against a deadly artificial life-form and an ancient race whose return to the Cimmerian System threatens suffering and death on an apocalyptic scale.

Plot

Part one

Haliard wins at draughts against Ferras, when Orllensa, their boss, returns from the cold outside the scientific base they're in. They were listening to a recording of Professor Astrov's instructions, but were ignoring it in favour of the game. They power up their ship, ready to leave the planet they're on (Cimmeria IV), but the base begins to shift, causing the power to fail. They begin to lose light, which is a problem, as they're on a planet with no sun. Ferras goes to get some lamps and something touches his arm- they send out a distress signal. An unknown voice whispers "embrace the darkness", and the three are attacked. The voice declares them to be safe forever.

On the TARDIS, the Doctor picks up a temporal energy discharge from a flotilla of type 70 TARDIS's. The Doctor tries to avoid them but the TARDIS becomes temperamental, and Charley comes to see what's happening. They end up in the Cimmerian system, and Charley accesses the TARDIS data bank to find out more about it. One day, the star suddenly vanishes, but the TARDIS has taken them to a time before that. The Doctor wants to find out why the sun disappeared, so they go back to when it happened. Then, everything goes haywire.

A droid notes in their mission log that there has been no response from the base, so they head towards the planet to investigate. Meanwhile, Ferras wakes up. Orrlensa is already awake. The Doctor and Charley have been brought somewhere by a matter transmitter, but are in a containment field. Ferras finds Haliard sobbing in pain. Meanwhile, the droid- a rescue operation droid (ROSM)- interrogates Charley and the Doctor. Charley is classified as a biohazard, and the droid, ROSM, is about to kill her. The Doctor argues for her life while Charley runs. Another ROSM finds Charley but she escapes in a pod that takes her to the Cimmeria IV base.

On the base, Haliard has stopped crying- he's gone, into the darkness. The Doctor travels with the ROSMs to the base as well. The ROSM notes that the base has been infiltrated by odd particles, which seem to be the cause of the problems facing the base crew. Charley is in the base- it's dark. She shines a light, but Ferras and Orrlensa can't see her, or any light. Ferras and Orrlensa's eyes are gone.

Part two

The Doctor and the ROSM keep trying to figure out what is happening on the base, while Ferras and Orrlensa describe the pain they're in. Charley's light dims- the shipmates say that the Cimmerians are taking the light, having been doomed by the ancients to live in perpetual darkness, as the Doctor recounted earlier. Charley's eyes are struck with pain as she cries out for the Doctor.

The Doctor keeps trying to tell the ROSM that the potentially mutagenic cells in Charley aren't as urgent a danger as the alien particles harming the people on the planet below. They disperse the particles, and the Doctor gets his sonic back as they enter the base. ROSM turns the lights on, and the Doctor runs off, finding Haliard laughing madly, screaming "embrace the darkness". The Doctor then meets Orrlensa, who says the Cimmerians took their eyes, and takes him back to where they were when she meet Charley. Charley meets Haliard, only partly able to see. The Cimmerians return, and Haliard runs screaming. The ROSM appears.

The Doctor and Orrlensa reach Ferras, and then they hear the ROSM, so the Doctor runs towards it and finds the ROSM with Charley, but the Cimmerian has been shot. The ROSM has decided not to kill Charley. The Cimmerian voices discuss something being prepared, and promise not to let the others leave. The Cimmerian looks childlike, with flat features. It didn't know what eyes were.

Haliard, meanwhile, is undergoing an identity crisis when he encounters more Cimmerians, who want to taste his eyes. The others hear his laughter, then his screams. The Doctor wants to go find him, but the ROSM declares war on the Cimmerians. ROSM takes them all back to the ship, as it calls more ROSMs. He brings the Cimmerian back to the ship too. Some ROSMs stay to rescue Haliard.

On the ship, Charley tries to warm up the Cimmerian. She thinks her eyes have been getting better since the Cimmerian spoke to her. Ferras explains that they were setting up EPUs on the planet, which are "energy protection units"- they were going to put up artificial suns. The ROSM demands the Cimmerian's give Haliard back, and when they refuse, it orders all assault units (other ROSMs) to go forth. However, they find they are unable to move as the Cimmerians are releasing more of their light-destroying particles, though they are slightly different particles from the ones before. The main ROSM can't remember what's happening; it's cognitive abilities damaged. They try to close the airlock door manually.

Orrlensa becomes angry that the Cimmerian is still alive. The ROSM is now improving, and places the Doctor and Charley in containment fields, and the second wave of particles are breaching the ship's defenses.

Part three

The Doctor decides he wants to find out why exactly the Cimmerians destroyed their sun, and talks to ROSM, convincing him to move the ship to a safe area. However, the Cimmerians stop the ship from leaving, and wake up Haliard. ROSM is still losing control of his functions, so the containment fields fail, and the Doctor and Charley go to the Cimmerian on the ship. However, it has gone, though Orrlensa and Ferras didn't notice it leaving, since they can't see.

The Doctor realises that something wants to restore their eyesight, as Charley can see much better. He thinks it is the doing of the Cimmerian on the ship, but Orrlensa refuses to believe this. They spread out through the ship- Charley with Orrlensa, Ferras with the Doctor- to find the Cimmerian. Meanwhile, ROSM is contacted by Haliard, asking to let him in, but he refuses as it's too risky. Ferras tells the Doctor about their work, how they were attacked just as they were about to fire up the artificial suns using the EPUs. Orrlensa tells Charley about her string of bad luck- how, once, she had to kill a spy, and Charley tells Orrlensa that she feels at home with the Doctor.

They find the Cimmerian, but Charley leaves Orrlensa. The Doctor finds ROSM severely malfunctioning, and decides to try and turn on the artificial suns. Charley finds Orrlensa singing to herself, having found the cimmerian, which gave her back her eyes. The cimmerian tells them that the Solarians will come for them now to destroy them. He is exhausted. Meanwhile, the Doctor watches Professor Astrov's introduction video, using it to fix the EPUs. Haliard tells them their life support will be shut down.

Charley, Orrlensa, and the Cimmerian return, explaining what happened. The Doctor realises that the cimmerians destroy light to protect themselves, because if light is detected, the solarians will descend and hurt them. Haliard tells them to override ROSMs systems and open the airlock, but the Doctor realises that setting up the EPUs again will cause the solarians to come and destroy them all, so they can't leave. ROSM successfully rebooted it's system, and the suns are running. They detect Solarians entering the system.

Part Four

To be added

Cast

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Charley Pollard - India Fisher
Orllensa - Nicola Boyce
Ferras - Lee Moone
Haliard - Mark McDonnell
ROSM / Solarian / Cimmerian - Ian Brooker
Cimmerian Voice - Nicholas Briggs

Worldbuilding

TARDIS

Type 70 TARDISes emit a particular temporal energy discharge signature.
Charley knows how to access the TARDIS' databank.

Technology

ROSM is an acronym for Rescue Operational Security Module. It was designed by Professor Astrov.

Species

The Doctor is aware of other species who refer to themselves as the Solarians.

Planets

Cimmeria IV is located hundreds of light-years from Earth.

Culture

Ferras and Haliard play draughts.

Notes

This story was originally to have featured the Morestrans (who appeared in the television story Planet of Evil) instead of the Throxillians, but the rights could not be obtained from the BBC.
This audio drama was recorded on 22 January, 25 January and 26 January 2001.
The name of the robot ROSM is a reference to the 1921 play R.U.R. Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Čapek which introduced the word "robot" to both science fiction and the English language.

Gallery

Original CD cover
Illustration preview by Martin Geraghty in DWM 316

Continuity

ROSM detects the anti-time infection in Charley's system but is unable to recognise it. (AUDIO: Neverland)
The Doctor runs into a flotilla of Type 70 TARDISes in the Time Vortex and steers around them. He later learns the reasons for their presence from Lady President Romana during the anti-time crisis. (AUDIO: Neverland)
The Celestial Toymaker would later refer to the Cimmerian in a riddle while Charley was playing his games in the Celestial Toyroom. (AUDIO: Solitaire)
After Charley escaped from the Ever-and-Ever Prolixity, a Viyran agent was stationed in the Cimmerian system to search for her. (AUDIO: The Fall of the House of Pollard)

External links

Official Embrace the Darkness page at bigfinish.com