Enemy Lines (audio story)

In the distant future, President Romanadvoratrelundar will do anything it takes to save her world, even if it means sacrificing her allies and friends...

In the distant past, President President Romanadvoratrelundar will also do anything it takes to save her world, even if it means sacrificing her own life in the process...

Unfortunately for Romana, there is no easy option.

With the threat of impending war, and negotiations still ongoing, the Temporal Powers are growing restless. Every day, they find their future slipping away from them. Every decision they make proves critical. And no one can escape the fact that sacrifices have to be made...

Time is running out... and it's running straight to Gallifrey.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

In a TARDIS running out of oxygen, Narvin and Ace wonder where Romana has gone, having disappeared after they heard the sound of another TARDIS materialising. A projection of Colonel Trave appears; she informs them that their TARDIS is surrounded and that they have been found guilty of high treason by the High Council. They are executed by the use of time torpedoes.

In the past, Romana's second incarnation materialises aboard the Moros, a Monan Host spacecraft which she plans to repair to show Ambassador Malkino that the Time Lords had no part in its sabotage following an incident on Terra Phallax. She sends her TARDIS back to Narvin so that, should the core of the Moros fail, the resulting singularity will not travel through the Time Vortex, and begins a recording in case she does not survive. After finding only armed droids aboard, she communicates with the computer and learns that it killed the 536 crewmembers with severe trauma as it believes that the ship runs more efficiently without them.

Romana believes that Moros has been deliberately infected with a virus. The computer wants the core to fail, but Romana goes to stabilise it, avoiding lasers on the way and hearing what sounds like the sound of a staser. She reaches the engine room and is confronted by several droids who block her way, but Leela appears and destroys them with a staser. Leela reveals that she had stowed away in the TARDIS and sneaked out whilst Romana was speaking with Narvin.

Continuing on, Romana tells Leela that she plans to regenerate in order to use the energy to stabilise the core. Leela loses her staser thanks to the gravity generators and tells Romana that, even if they do both die on this mission, she has no regrets and is glad to have met her and thankful to the Fourth Doctor for coming to Mordee. They climb to the core, where Romana tricks Leela into entering a teleportation unit and sends her away before the droids arrive. The computer tells her that he was not infected but given enlightenment. Before he can have Romana shot, she is rescued by a TARDIS.

Braxiatel greets Romana and tells her that he has come from a war-torn future, sent by her next incarnation. In his time, the High Council have found her, Narvin and Ace guilty of starting a war with Omega and have executed the latter two. Romana, however, was saved by Braxiatel's intervention and has tasked Braxiatel with ensuring that the Adherents of Ohm are stopped before they can begin to enact their plans. Romana agrees to help once they have recovered Leela; they do so and head back to Gallifrey.

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

Narvin informs Romana that more than fifty Time Lords have been arrested, including two members of the High Council, and that the Hand of Omega has been moved to a secure location. He is suspicious of Braxiatel, whom he had thought lost in the Axis, and says that the destruction of the Moros has indeed created a singularity, one which will almost certainly reach Gallifrey. The transduction barrier has, according to the Academy, stopped working at full efficiency because of a temporal storm or rift activity and will thus be unlikely to protect the planet. Romana tells Narvin to get in touch with his contacts at the embassies and to find out what the Monans' relationship is like with the other Temporal Powers.

Livia approaches Plutus and learns from him of the arrest of the Adherents, which she believes will work strongly in Romana's favour. Plutus tells her, however, that the singularity is worse than was thought and that the Monans seem to be prepared to leave Gallifrey.

Romana summons Braxiatel and asks about the war they have averted, one which involved tensions between the Temporal Powers and agreements being reneged upon. She worries that the averted timeline is reasserting itself and that not enough has been done to change it. Braxiatel agrees that this could be the case and that they should adjust circumstances by, for example, sending Ace away and Romana resigning. She agrees to think about it.

Narvin meets with the Warpwright ambassador Kalbez, who has heard of the Adherents' arrest and that the Monan delegation might soon be leaving. He has also heard a rumour that the Monans themselves had sabotaged the Moros. They are interrupted by a public address by Romana in which she accepts responsibility for the Moros incident and declares that she is resigning and appointing herself as Coordinator of the CIA. She names her successor, subject to the approval of the High Council, as Livia. Narvin is angered by the broadcast and leaves Kalbez to speak with Romana.

Romana tells Narvin that he will continue at the CIA as Deputy Coordinator, denying that she had had designs on his job for some time and explaining that it would have been unconstitutional to appoint herself as his deputy. She chose Livia, with whom she shares an infamous rivalry, as her successor to avoid the consequences of appointing an ally. Narvin tells her of the rumour that the Monans sabotaged their own ship, a conspiracy which he believes make sense as it has forced Gallifrey to accept responsibility. He suggests that Romana opens up an unofficial channel of communication with the Warpwrights and to send somebody to Outpost Delta; she agrees and chooses to send Ace, despite her having only just finished training.

Romana meets with Leela and apologises for teleporting her away from the Moros, but Leela feels that she was punished and is hurt given that she might have been stranded forever on another planet. Romana asks her to keep an eye on things in the Capitol, particularly on Braxiatel as she is not sure that he is telling the truth about being sent from the future.

Ace is in the cells, where Adjutant Coordinator Tauras has been incarcerated. Narvin informs her that she is being sent to Outpost Delta on the Chasm, which marks the border with the Monans', to establish communication with General Gaal of Phaidon intelligence.

Romana completes a document which makes the Presidency as good as Livia's. Livia is suspicious of her motives, but Romana says that she only wants a stable future for Gallifrey, and asks for a full report of what happened on Moros. She leaves for the Panopticon to be scrutinised by the High Council. Braxiatel tells Romana that the science officers have confirmed a weakness in the transduction barrier, as well as artron fluctuation in the Eye of Harmony which might, at some point, stop TARDISes from working. He believes that this might be because of paradoxes caused by the changes to the timeline.

Leela approaches Narvin, who asks her about what Braxiatel said when he and Romana collected her. So long as Romana is associating with Braxiatel, Narvin says that Ace will report only to him and Leela whilst she is on Outpost Delta.

Braxiatel is summoned by Livia and meets her advisor and Acting-Castellan, Plutus. He explains that he will be remaining on Gallifrey so long as his services are required and is recruited by her as liaison to the CIA. His job will be to report to Livia anything that Romana tries to keep from her.

Narvin sees Ace off, telling her that she should report only to him or Leela and only to contact Romana in an emergency. She leaves in a TARDIS, equipped with a sonic screwdriver.

Narvin goes to the Matrix databank and makes a recording for the CIA as a security measure, having become aware of communications made from the Panopticon to the Monans. He is being followed by a woman in a grey cloak and senses danger in her presence, leading him to retreat deep within the databank. Once he finishes the recording, the woman tells him that she is the ending of a tale and the righter of wrongs. Narvin gasps and collapses.

Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

Plutus informs Livia that Narvin has been found murdered and that the Monans have begun teleporting away, timing which they both find very suspicious. With the singularity caused by the Moros expanding and the science officers having found an irregularity in the transduction barrier, Gallifrey is defenceless.

Romana and Leela examine Narvin's body and see burn marks around his throat. Romana mourns for her ally and suspects Malkino and his delegation of being responsible, but Braxiatel, who joins them, warns her not to be hasty. She leaves when she receives a call telling her about Narvin's recording.

Plutus presents Kalbez to Livia, who recognises the ambassador from a conference on Archetryx which resolved a conflict between Unvoss and Nekkistan. Kalbez gives his condolences for Narvin's death, having known him well, and expresses his concerns about the departure of the Monans. He believes that the Monans sabotaged the Moros themselves as an excuse to begin a war against Gallifrey; on behalf of the Warpwrights, Kalbez offers an alliance between Phaidon and Gallifrey.

Ace arrives on Outpost Delta and meets Gaal. She learns of the Monans' departure and Narvin's death and thinks about returning to Gallifrey, but Gaal suggests that she stays so that they can begin a contingency plan should war break out.

Romana, Leela and Braxiatel listen to Narvin's recording. Braxiatel recognises his description of the woman as that of the Watchmaker, a Time Lord myth.

Concerned about the unofficial alliance between the Nekkistani and the Monans, Plutus advises Livia to give Kalbez's offer further consideration. She agrees and asks that he arrange a meeting with the Phaidon delegation following her inauguration.

Romana is suspicious of the Monans, as the last of them teleported off Gallifrey only thirty minutes after Narvin's death. Leela, however, cannot think why the Monans would kill Narvin rather than Romana or herself and instead suggests that Braxiatel could be responsible. Romana finds it unlikely, although she is still not sure that she can trust him.

Braxiatel is at the Matrix databank when Plutus approaches and asks to know why Romana is conducting an internal inquiry into Narvin's death rather than relying on the Chancellery Guard. Braxiatel informs him that he has found that there was a tachyon spike in the Monan embassy when Narvin died and that there was a 500% increase in artron energy at the databank during the murder. He believes that "something impossible" was behind it.

Livia summons Romana to her office and offers her condolences, telling her that she would understand if she wished to take time off from the CIA. Romana refuses and insists that she will continue her investigation into Narvin's death as, if it involves politics, it comes under the CIA's remit. Livia informs her that Braxiatel was at the databank and that, in a break from tradition, she wants her to be the one to pass her the Rod and Sash at the ceremony, which will be held at Pandak's Square. Romana agrees.

Returning to Leela, Romana learns from her that the last Monans to leave Gallifrey were politicians and unlikely to be assassins. Braxiatel calls regarding the energy that he has detected and Romana sends Leela to find the energy source at the Monan embassy whilst she attends the inauguration.

Plutus reminds Livia of how the ceremony will proceed and they await Romana's arrival.

Leela calls Romana from the embassy, which is completely empty. She comes across a teleportation platform through which she can see the Moros and hear the computer. Romana tells her to leave and goes to Pandak Square, interrupting the beginning of the ceremony and telling everybody to get away from the Monan embassy as quickly as possible. There is an explosion and Livia orders an evacuation of the area. As further explosions occur, Leela finds Romana and they flee and run into Braxiatel.

Livia makes an announcement about the explosion and the assassination of President Zaldair of Phaidon in Bazar. These are seen as an act of war, giving Livia the power to create an alliance with Acting-President Kalbez. She warns that Gallifrey's response will be swift and merciless.

Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Monans have all left Outpost Delta without meeting with Ace and Gaal. Whilst Ace holds that the Monans stationed at the Chasm might have had nothing to do with the explosion at Pandak's Square or the assassination of the President of Phaidon, Gaal is ready for war.

Romana and Leela are summoned to an informal briefing in front of a committee, where Plutus questions Leela about the events at Pandak's Square and her familiarity with the Monan teleportation unit, suggesting that she might be an agent of the Monans and responsible for the explosion. Romana, outranking Plutus, calls an abrupt end to the meeting unless he is planning on arresting her and Leela.

Ace and Gaal suspect that the Monans might have left a bomb as they had at their embassy and try to think of ways to quickly search the Outpost, a task which could take months.

Romana has an idea based on Plutus' assertion that no Monans had entered or exited the embassy after their exodus; the culprit might have teleported into the embassy, placed the bomb and then left, meaning that they could still be on Gallifrey.

In the Outpost's hangar, Ace and Gaal watch dozens of Battle TARDISes arrive. Trave introduces herself and has her officers secure the area and assist the pair in their search for a bomb. She also warns Ace that they are now stuck here due to the weakening Eye of Harmony.

Leela finds that an unnamed person left the embassy twenty minutes after the Monans. There is no record of them entering and Romana does not recognise the clearance code that they presented at the Chancellery checkpoint. It looks to her like a diplomatic code.

Gaal's agents have found something in the gravity engines which seems to be an explosive device based on its thermal readings. He suggests an evacuation, but the TARDISes are effectively out of action and there are not enough Phaidon timeships to evacuate everybody. The only option, Ace says, is for her to disarm the device.

Romana accesses the checkpoint's security feed and spots the suspect: a Warpwright currently stationed on Outpost Delta. Leela remembers that this is where Ace has been sent.

Ace has entered the gravity engine and begun to disassemble the device when Trave patches Romana and Leela through to her. After they tell her that Gaal will soon travel back in time to destroy the Monan embassy, she decides that to stop him and prevent the explosion. It is Romana's belief that he will sabotage the Moros and use one of the teleportation units to travel to and destroy the embassy.

Ace tells Trave to arrest Gaal, but he shoots Trave and threatens to do the same to her before leaving. Trave begins to regenerate and tells Ace to catch him.

Livia is speaking with Kalbez about the Warpwrights' forces before Romana and Leela interrupt, telling them about Gaal. Kalbez denies that Gaal could have been involved given that he is stationed at Outpost Delta.

Ace is unable to stop Gaal, who claims that he is just following orders, from using a timeship.

Livia herself reminds Kalbez of the Monan teleporters and suggests that Gaal could have used time travel. Leela accuses Kalbez of deliberately provoking war between the Time Lords and the Monans, prompting him to invite Gaal into the office and reveal that he had ensured that Gaal would be identified so that he could get Romana, Leela and Livia in one room. He has Gaal take them to the roof.

The new Trave tells Ace that the Phaidon agents have all left the Outpost and asks if Gallifrey is now at war and, if so, with whom.

Kalbez plans to have Gaal use a staser to kill Livia and graze his arm, after which he will have Romana's regenerations exhausted using a Phaidon blaster and Leela thrown from the roof. He also plans on blaming Ace for the imminent destruction of the Outpost. In the aftermath, Phaidon will become Gallifrey's most senior ally in a war against the universe. However, Braxiatel arrives by TARDIS with a number of guards and has Kalbez surrounded.

Ace is contacted by Leela, who has held Gaal over the roof and learnt that the bomb is in Ace's quarters. She locates it and, as it supposedly cannot be defused, she takes it through an airlock and releases it into the Chasm. As she returns to the Outpost, she sees the Watchmaker swimming in space towards her. Ace screams.

Part five[[edit] | [edit source]]

Leela loses contact with Ace and tells Romana about the woman that she had seen. Romana has her contact Outpost Delta and ensure that a search party is despatched if Ace has not returned.

Kalbez is arrested and transported to Phaidon to be dealt with by the Acting-President whilst Gaal will be taken to and tried on Space Station Zenobia for mass murder. Livia assures Plutus that his position as Acting-Castellan is secure despite him failing to identify Kalbez as the person responsible.

Braxiatel informs Romana and Leela of what is happening to the two Warpwrights and asks about Ace, who was last heard from two hours ago. Whilst he is concerned about the Watchmaker, Romana does not consider it to be a priority and sends him to liaise with Plutus to find out how Gaal managed to get clearance for the embassy. At Leela's insistence, Romana tells her the legend of the Watchmaker, a Time Lord who was married to one of Rassilon's generals and, after her husband was erased from the timelines by the Vondrax, she tried to bring him back by changing time repeatedly. She became a wraith-like, spectral figure doomed to wander between dimensions for eternity.

Braxiatel tells Plutus about Ace's disappearance and learns that the Eye of Harmony has become strong enough to send a replacement to Outpost Delta. This increase in power occurred within the last few hours, which Braxiatel finds interesting.

Romana confirms that Gaal had a diplomatic code, one apparently issued to him by Commander Raldeth of the Chancellery Guard, who was killed at Pandak's Square. Leela notices that the code was generated after he died.

Plutus tells Livia about Ace and that Trave has sent out a search party for her. He is surprised to hear that Livia has invited a small delegation from the Monan Host to mend relations between them and the Time Lords. Plutus reminds her that they were close to declaring war and that they had illegally mined on Terra Phallax, but Livia is unconcerned and tells him to make sure that the delegation are made to feel welcome.

Braxiatel shows Romana the readings from the Eye of Harmony and the readings of artron energy in the Capitol. The spikes correspond with one another and occurred right after Narvin's death and the loss of communication with Ace, but Romana believes that this could be a coincidence and that there is no proof that the Watchmaker exists. Braxiatel has spoken with the Academy and has found the source of another paradox in a pocket universe in Mutter's Spiral, one which he says Romana should locate. Trave contacts her, informing her that they have recovered Ace's body and that there are burn marks around her throat.

Leela meets Plutus in his office and receives an apology for the interrogation at the Chancellery. She asks why somebody of Raldeth's rank was assigned to sentry duty and, when she mentions that Raldeth's code was used, Plutus asks if she is sure that Raldeth issued it. Leela, however, has not mentioned that he issued it,

Romana shows Braxiatel an image of the singularity, which has already consumed an uninhabited star system and is increasing in size. He suggests that they could channel the singularity into the pocket universe, but Romana believes that to do so would be immoral.

Leela tells Plutus that Raldeth would not have needed to use time travel to issue the code and, as a result, somebody else must have used his clearance to issue it; she names Plutus as the one who did this. He admits that he is guilty and shoots the wall with a blaster before throwing it, emptied, to her. He calls for security and flees.

Braxiatel has had the Academy open a bridge to the paradox at Mandorla in the pocket universe.

Leela is incarcerated and taunted by Plutus, who informs her of Ace's death and denies having been involved in either her or Narvin's deaths. Livia enters and has Plutus arrested and Leela freed, but Plutus takes the President hostage and leaves with an armed Leela in pursuit.

Romana builds a projection of how Braxiatel's identification of Mandorla as the site of the paradox would continue, narrowing it down to the Valley of Barshazza on the continent of Argrystle.

Plutus takes Livia to his TARDIS, expressing his frustrations at being a Time Lord of the lower classes, and is stopped by Leela. She fires her blaster, grazing Livia, but Plutus is able to get into his TARDIS and dematerialise. Livia, who realised that Plutus was a traitor after Kalbez was unmasked, quickly enacts an override and sends him to the Chasm where he is arrested by Trave.

Braxiatel gives Romana a tracker for the paradox and she departs in a TARDIS. She searches the valley and is approached by an aged Leela who never expected to see her face again.

Part six[[edit] | [edit source]]

The aged Leela has not seen Romana teleported her away from the Moros to Legion, where she was stranded for several months before going on adventures and settling on Mandorla to grow old. She refuses to accept that this universe should not exist and she shows Romana a memorial to those who died in a battle against the Sycorax and tells her that many more might have died had she not come here. A storm begins and, as it rains stones, Romana and Leela see the Watchmaker and hurry away.

In the catacombs, Romana tells Leela that the Watchmaker wants to kill them both as Romana does not belong here and Leela belongs to a world which should not exist. Their way is blocked and the walls move, leaving them trapped with no means of escape. Romana commands the Watchmaker to reveal herself. She does so and gives Romana the choice of which universe should exist: the one in which the Moros is destroyed and reality consumed or the one in which Omega's war breaks out and Gallifrey is destroyed. Romana is unable to choose between the two worlds, but Leela has a suggestion; Romana will take Leela to the Moros, where she will die to save the ship and cause this world to cease existing. The Watchmaker frees them.

On the Moros, Braxiatel saves Romana's life and the computer announces that the failure of the core is imminent. Romana and Leela arrive in the TARDIS and the Watchmaker appears, making Romana realise that both her and Leela need to die to resolve the paradox; otherwise, there would be two Romanas in this world. Romana apologises to Leela for abandoning her on Legion and the Watchmaker observes as they die in the ship's explosion, the singularity drawn through the TARDIS to the destroy the other world.

Braxiatel arrives on Gallifrey with Romana and Leela, much to Narvin's surprise. Narvin tells them that the singularity has apparently collapsed in on itself and that he thought that Romana and Leela were dead. Later, Romana announces that she failed to save the Moros and that she is resigning as President. Livia is inaugurated as her successor, the Rod and Sash being handed to her by Romana in a break with tradition.

Plutus and Kalbez argue about the singularity and the continued presence of the Monans on Gallifrey. Although they have failed, Plutus is now the Castellan and Kalbez will soon be President of Phaidon and there will be other opportunities for them in the future. Narvin, now Deputy Coordinator, and Ace inform Kalbez that there has been a failed assassination attempt on President Zaldair and arrest them both, knowing about the virus, the gateway and the communications between Kalbez and the Monan ambassador. Ace teaches Narvin how to high five.

Romana feels relieved that she is no longer President and confesses to Leela that she too has had dreams of another life, including being on the Moros when it was destroyed. She leaves, saying that she has somebody to catch up with.

Braxiatel is approached by the Watchmaker. Both have been waiting for the other and, now that the Watchmaker has tidied up her loose ends, she has come to take Braxiatel due to him being paradoxical and anomalous. She wants him to choose his true path, telling him to choose to return to Dellah, Legion or the Braxiatel Collection, to remain on Gallifrey with knowledge of the future or to hide himself away forever more. He cannot, however, do all. He suggests that they begin.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Trave - Sean Biggerstaff^[1]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover Art - Stuart Manning
Producer, Script Editor & Director - Scott Handcock
Executive Producer - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
Music - Ioan Morris and Rhys Downing
Sound Design - Neil Gardner
Writer - David Llewellyn

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Colonel Trave belongs to the Fifth Battalion.
The Time Lords intervened on Terra Phallax when the Monan Host mined illegally. The intervention was seen as aggressive, which was not helped by Leela's diplomacy; she threatened Ambassador Malkino with violence. Nekkistan was unofficially involved.
The crew of the Moros included Captain Barsgar and Second Officer Ural.
Chronules are a Monan unit of energy.
Romana has not seen Braxiatel for centuries.
Livia had an uncle on the High Council centuries ago.
Phaidon is in a binary star system.
President Zaldair rules Phaidon. He is assassinated in Bazar.
Clause 5 Subsection 9 of the Presidential Code allows a resigning President to appoint themselves to a position of lower rank. It is unconstitutional, however, for a President to appoint themselves as another's deputy.
Adjutant Coordinator Tauras has been arrested.
The Chasm is a fold in the fabric of spacetime. It marks the border between Gallifreyan and Monan space and is the location of Outpost Delta.
Ace has a a sonic screwdriver.
Livia attended a conference on Archetryx with Ambassador Cariovel. Grayle of Unvoss gave a long and tedious speech.
Time Lords from all across Wild Endeavour are expected to attend Livia's inauguration.
Livia belongs to the House of Brightshore.
Warpwright forces are on Tarrice, a planet near Nekkistani space.
The Sycorax once tried to invade Mandorla in another timeline. It is a Class 5 planet with a circumference of approximately 29,000 miles, three major landmasses (Arenat, Argrystle and Nixra) and countless inhabited archipelagos. The Valley of Barshazza was once the centre of a mercantile empire spanning five star systems but is now a "sleepy backwater".
Livia says that Plutus would betray his own mother for a promotion.
Plutus tries to go to Ticutla.
Leela lived on Legion for several months before stowing away on a Kaldorian cargo vessel headed to Andromeda. She watched the supernova of Xerxes, crossed the Great Desert of Gahir with Draconian nomads and flew a starcruiser through the Rings of Calabria.
Leela recites Ulysses by Tennyson.
Both Leela and Romana dream of their respective negated timelines.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was recorded on 6 October and 12 and 13 November 2015 at the Moat Studios.
This story was the first to depict a female incarnation of a Time Lord regenerating into a male one.