Damned If You Do (audio story)
Damned If You Do was the first story of Echoes Through Eternity, marking 20 years of the Gallifrey series, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Gary Russell and read by Seán Carlsen. It featured Narvin.
Publisher's summary
CIA Coordinator Narvin is unwillingly called upon to find some lost students - aliens admitted to the hallowed Academy. But when Narvin and Cadet Kransa enter the Catacombs, nothing will be the same...
Plot
President Romana has recently passed an edict permitting off-worlders to study on Gallifrey, prompting Narvin and the other CIA coordinators to petition the High Council, Inner Council and Supreme Council to intercede without success. After Lord Matthias informs him that Darkel will not be joining them in opposing Romana, he receives a call from his the eager CIA cadet Kransa, who lets him know that Chancellor Valyes has summoned the two of them to Sector 72 near the site of a Free Time bombing. He suspects that she is lying about her being invited as well, but he is reminded of himself as a cadet and is amused by Valyes's surprise when she joins them in the sector. Some students, Valyes informs him, have vanished into the catacombs and need to be located to avoid repercussions whilst others were found examining the Untempered Schism.
Narvin leads Kransa to the catacombs and deduces that a Time Lord of the first or second rank must have led the students down there given that the entrance is hidden with a perception filter. He leaves a homing beacon near the entrance so they can find their way back and they begin their search, the anti-intrusion particles in the air triggering their fear centres. As they do so, Narvin asks Kransa about her past to assuage her nerves and learns that she moved to the Capitol from the lowly Red Forest Conurbations after her father had an accident at a manufactory mill. He notices that the brickwork seems to be moving and wonders if the catacombs are part of the APC Net, but Kransa breaks his concentration when they reach the five immobile students. The Shade of Portent, a Time Shade, reveals that it has frozen time around them and does so for Kransa as well.
The Shade of Portent explains that it drew Narvin to the catacombs because of how important he will prove to the future of Gallifrey and that it intends to place information in his mind to ensure he takes the correct path. It shows him parts of the future: visits to parallel universes, himself handing a Time Ring to Valyes, being accused of starting the Time War and running towards a building as a planet is seemingly destroyed. It tells him that there is a price for knowledge and he forgets their encounter as Kransa and the students are unfrozen, after which he leads them back to Valyes and Tutor Heron. He briefly remembers Kransa and the Time War, but the only thing that sticks with him is the burning planet and, in moments of stress, Kransa's name.
Characters
Worldbuilding
- Gallifrey rarely has storms.
- According to Valyes, Castellan Heron managed to avert a disaster when Free Time attacked the records office.
- Matthias is a consul and was once part of the Celestial Intervention Agency.
- Narvin has personalised the sounds that his wrist communicator makes.
- Kransa is Patrexian.
- CIA cadets from Prydon are always difficult and eager to please.
- Narvin remembers training under Vansell.
- The Catacombs are tended to by Time Lords on their final incarnation.
- The catacombs are protected by anti-intrusion particles which trigger people's fear centres.
- Kransa is from the Red Forest Conurbations in East Gallifrey where there are no Great Houses. Her father worked in a manufactory.
- Valyes rhetorically asks if the student anticipated encountering Great Vampires, Vortisaurs or Krafayis.
- The Shade of Portent accuses Narvin of egomania.
Notes
- Seán Carlsen recorded Damned If You Do remotely. (BFX: Echoes Through Eternity)
- This story is set during series 2 of the audio series. Whilst Valyes being Chancellor means that the story is set during or after Insurgency [+]Loading...["Insurgency (audio story)"], no mention is made of Leela being in charge of the academy's security, Darkel openly opposing Romana's presidency nor Braxiatel having been exiled.
Continuity
- Narvin is angry about President Romana's recent admittance of aliens to the Academy and is supportive of Inquisitor Darkel’s ongoing opposition to it, as first depicted in AUDIO: Lies [+]Loading...["Lies (audio story)"].
- Narvin recalls the founders of Gallifrey including Rassilon, Omega and "the others".
- Narvin remembers what Coordinator Vansell was like, as his superior in the CIA. Vansell was first introduced in AUDIO: The Sirens of Time [+]Loading...["The Sirens of Time (audio story)"], and met his end in AUDIO: Neverland [+]Loading...["Neverland (audio story)"], set before the Gallifrey series.
- Narvin recalls his uncle's transgressions, as first established in AUDIO: Transference [+]Loading...["Transference (audio story)"], and wonders if Braxiatel is aware of this past.
- Narvin knows that the Time Shades come from the time of the Great Wars. This evokes the "Great War" of ancient Gallifreyan history, the name given for the Time Lord-Vampire War in AUDIO: Zagreus [+]Loading...["Zagreus (audio story)"].
- Narvin is showed a vision of his future including him giving Valyes a time ring, as depicted in AUDIO: Ascension [+]Loading...["Ascension (Gallifrey audio story)"], divergences and parallel realities, alluding to his travels in Axis depicted from AUDIO: Reborn [+]Loading...["Reborn (audio story)"] to Extermination [+]Loading...["Extermination (audio story)"], and many Daleks and himself wearing leather, alluding to his fighting in the Time War for the resistance as depicted in AUDIO: The First Days of Phaidon [+]Loading...["The First Days of Phaidon (audio story)"], Collaborators [+]Loading...["Collaborators (audio story)"] and Ambition's Debt [+]Loading...["Ambition's Debt (audio story)"].
- The Catacombs are indicated to be the Vaults seen in AUDIO: Lies [+]Loading...["Lies (audio story)"]. They also resemble the Cloisters as seen in PROSE: The Four Faces of Immortality [+]Loading...["The Four Faces of Immortality (short story)"].
- The Shade of Portent, having a gold-clad body made of shadow with a head that is a black globe of a material resembling glass, resembles Shayde, first seen in COMIC: The Tides of Time [+]Loading...["The Tides of Time (comic story)"].
External links
- Official Damned If You Do page at bigfinish.com
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