The Traitor (BF audio story)
- You may wish to consult
The Traitorfor other, similarly-named pages.
The Traitor was the first story in the audio anthology Dark Eyes 2, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka.
Publisher's Summary
Nixyce VII is under Dalek occupation. For many, their only hope of survival is decent medical care, as slave working conditions under the Dalek regime are appalling. But when you help people to survive under the rule of the Daleks, are you actually helping the Daleks? Med-tech Liv Chenka doesn't have the luxury of pondering these dilemmas. She must just do what she feels is right.
But then there are the soldiers of last resort... The freedom fighters left behind to cause maximum damage to the Dalek war effort, at whatever cost. To them, anyone who seems to be helping the Daleks is a traitor.
And when the Doctor arrives, his secret agenda throws him into conflict with everyone.
Plot
The planet Nixyce VII is under Dalek occupation, with the native humans being used as slaves, with many being converted into Robomen. However, there are rebels fighting back against the Dalek forces. One such rebel is med-tech Liv Chenka. Following an explosion in the Haralis Mine, she is transported there by Robomen, to assist the wounded. On arrival, she is shocked to find hundreds of casualties from the explosion. She reports back to her superiors but is confronted by a Dalek, who instructs her to take charge of the scene and leaves to provide her with supplies. The man she is treating, Carna, recognises her - apparently, some on Nixyce refer to her as “the Traitor” as they believe her to be working with the Daleks. Another Dalek orders Liv to remove all casualties from the area and transport them to the Dalek control ship, which has had a hospital area installed. She and a pair of Robomen take Carna to a skimmer - but when another Roboman confronts them, Liv's assistants reveal themselves to be rebels named Kavel and Aldin who had disguised themselves as Robomen. They think that she is the Traitor, and demand that she fly them off the planet, but some Daleks appear over the communications channel, questioning why they have yet to take off. The rebels thus let Liv fly them to the Dalek control ship.
Meanwhile, the Doctor lands the TARDIS on Nixyce, inside a Dalek robotisation plant. He listens in on a Dalek conversation about the decreased productivity of the human slaves - a conversation which involves the Dalek Time Controller, despite the seeming finality of their previous encounter. The Time Controller lays out its plan to give the humans hope to ensure maximum efficiency. After leaving the TARDIS, the Doctor is soon caught by a Dalek outside the robotisation compartment and is “processed”, though he resists this easily and merely pretends to be a Roboman.
Liv, Kavel and Aldin arrive at the Dalek control ship, and Liv finally realises that Carna is a rebel leader known as the Hawk. They make their way to the hospital and Liv convinces a Dalek to allow Kavel and Aldin, still disguised as Robomen, to help her. Carna comes round after Liv treats him, but they notice a Roboman across the room from them - who, unsurprisingly, turns out to be the Doctor. Liv doesn't recognise him, given that the last time they met he was a man with a straw hat and an umbrella. The Doctor is able to convince the rebels to help him get the Daleks off Nixyce, but reveals to Liv that the rebels’ plan is to blow up the Daleks’ planetary weapons systems installed within various mineshafts on the planet - they were responsible for the Haralis Mine explosion.
The group arrive at the docking bay and fly to the mine on a skimmer. The Doctor explains that if Carna takes him to where he lost the trigger for the mineshaft bombs, he will be able to locate it with his sonic screwdriver. His plan is to activate the evacuation alarms from the Haralis control centre to get everyone out of the mines, and then detonate the bombs. Once they arrive at the mine, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the lift, but as they exit it the Doctor comes face to face with a group of Daleks, who have finally been made aware of his presence on Nixyce. While he distracts the Daleks, the rebels attack them with bombs, taking out the whole group, and the Doctor is able to sound the activation alarms. Aldin, however, is killed by a Dalek attack. The rest of them head for the lower levels.
Once they arrive at the area with the detonator, Kavel destroys the lift, much to Liv's consternation. The Daleks, meanwhile, have the rest of the lifts working, but Kavel has set all of the charges. Carna tries to blow them up, but the detonator isn't working. While the Doctor, Liv and Kavel climb up the lift shaft, Carna is killed by the Daleks. The Doctor takes the detonator himself and tells Kavel to throw a spare bomb at the Daleks - which he does, destroying them all in the process. After spending a while climbing up the lift shafted, they stop for a rest and the Doctor repairs the detonator. They suddenly hear the Daleks on their tail and so keep climbing. As they get to floor 110, the Daleks finally catch up with them. The Doctor gives Kavel the detonator and tells him to run while he and Liv hold off the Daleks. The Daleks take the pair of them to Dalek control, where they come face-to-face with the Time Controller. Under threat of Liv's death, the Doctor reveals his reason for coming to Nixyce: there is a fleet on the fringes of the Nixyce System that the Doctor wants the Daleks to destroy. However, the Daleks are one step ahead of the Doctor - they blocked the evacuation signal, meaning all the slaves are now in the mines and will be killed if Kavel detonates the bombs. The Time Controller demands that the Doctor hand over the frequency for the detonator in order to jam the signal. Suddenly, the Daleks announce that the fleet is quickly approaching Nixyce and the Time Controller changes its offer: whatever the Doctor chooses, Liv will be spared. Thus, against Liv’s wishes, the Doctor gives them the frequency…
Cast
- The Doctor - Paul McGann
- Liv Chenka - Nicola Walker
- Carna - Chris Porter
- Kavel - David Dobson
- Aldin/Robomen - John Dorney
- The Daleks/The Dalek Time Controller/Control/Auto-Voice - Nicholas Briggs
- Robomen - Brian Shelley
Worldbuilding
- Some people on Nixyce VII refer to Liv Chenka as "the Traitor" for working with the Daleks.
- The Doctor uses the alias "Bert Higgins."
Notes
- This is the last Dark Eyes story to be written by Nicholas Briggs.
Continuity
- The Doctor reminds Liv of the last time that they met aboard the Lorelei, when he had a different face, wore a straw hat and carried an umbrella. (AUDIO: Robophobia)
- The Dalek Time Controller recalls his plans with Kotris and how the Doctor defeated him. (AUDIO: X and the Daleks)
- The Daleks realise that the TARDIS is a time capsule as it exhibits chronon particles. (TV: Time and the Rani, The Wedding of River Song)
- The Doctor tells the Daleks that there is an alien fleet on the fringes of the Nixyce system and that he seeks their help in defeating it. (AUDIO: Time's Horizon, Eyes of the Master)
External Links
- Official The Traitor page at bigfinish.com
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
