Sphere of Influence (audio story): Difference between revisions

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 '''''Sphere of Influence''''' was the first story in the audio anthology ''[[Susan's War (audio anthology)|Susan's War]]'', produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Eddie Robson]] and featured [[Carole Ann Ford]] as [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] and [[William Russell]] as [[Ian Chesterton]]. This was the first appearance of the [[Sensorite]]s in a [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] audio drama.
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 == Plot ==
-''to be added''
+[[Susan Foreman|Susan]] has entered a [[Battle TARDIS]] commanded by [[Veklin]] and is scanned to confirm that she is not a [[Dalek duplicate]]. The hull of the TARDIS has been breached and the interior is becoming unstable; [[Dalek]]s are on board and one exterminates Strato, who was on his final [[incarnation]], before Veklin can destroy it and flee to the secondary control room with Susan. The Daleks wipe out the [[Time Lord]]s in the primary console room and search for the connection to the [[Eye of Harmony]] whilst Veklin jettisons the secondary console room to save herself and Susan. She welcomes her to the [[Last Great Time War|Time War]].
+Susan and Veklin land in [[the Capitol]] and meet [[Rasmus (Deeptime Frontier)|Cardinal Rasmus]], who informs them that the Daleks still have control of the TARDIS and have broken into its link to the Eye of Harmony, using it to drain enough of [[Gallifrey]]'s power to cripple the Time Lords. The Daleks cannot be disconnected and the Eye cannot be shut down without disabling every [[TARDIS]], but control of the TARDIS could be reclaimed using [[telepathy]]. Susan suggests the [[Sensorite]]s, being the most powerful telepaths that she knows and having proven capable of handling Gallifreyan technology when they removed the lock of [[First Doctor|her grandfather]]'s [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]]. Rasmus says that they cannot use [[Eighth Doctor|the Doctor]] and ask who else was with her during her visit to the [[Sense Sphere]].
+[[Ian Chesterton]] is on the phone with [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] when they both hear the sound of a TARDIS materialising. It appears as a [[refrigerator]] in front of Ian, who assumes that it is the Doctor. Veklin steps out and tells him to end his call and come with her to help with a [[diplomacy|diplomatic]] mission on behalf of Gallifrey, but he declines to help unless she gives him more information; when she mentions a fight against the Daleks, he agrees to join her.
+Susan is concerned that the Sensorites will not want to engage themselves in a war, but Rasmus says that agents have gone back in time to establish a diplomatic relationship with them and are now friends of Gallifrey. Veklin arrives with Ian, whom Susan is delighted to see for the first time in more than fifty years and learns that he and Barbara arrived in [[1965]] and got married. As Barbara did not spend much time on the Sense Sphere and Ian played an important role in getting the [[Thal]]s to rise against the Daleks on [[Skaro]], he has been chosen to join her.
+Susan and Veklin prepare to pilot the [[Diplomatic TARDIS]] and discuss the culture of the Sensorites whilst Ian finds a [[clothes machine]] to smarten up. Susan is surprised when Veklin implies that protection of the Sense Sphere will be withheld until they can reach an agreement, saying that the Time War should be fought to protect all species.
+On the Sense Sphere, the [[Second Elder (Sphere of Influence)|Second Elder]] informs his colleagues of the [[First Elder (Sphere of Influence)|First Elder]]'s decision that the delegates will be confined to the palace. When the delegation arrives, he explains to them that the First Elder is in trade talks on the [[Ood Sphere]] and that the [[Investigator (Sphere of Influence)|Investigator]] will give them a tour of the palace. The Investigator asks them not to leave the palace or speak to anybody that does not have her approval so as to avoid consternation, which Ian believes sounds [[paranoia|paranoid]]. [[Guard (Sphere of Influence)|A guard]] will be stationed outside of their rooms for their safety.
+Veklin goes to the Investigator's office, waiting for her to discuss security arrangements, whilst Susan and Ian wait in their communal area and talk about how the Sensorites have changed since their first meeting, seeming more hostile. Susan tells Ian that she has met the Doctor several times since leaving him and that she is alone now, having lost [[David Campbell|David]] and [[Alex Campbell|their son]]. The Investigator finally returns to her office, telling Veklin that there had been concern that news of the delegates' arrival had leaked to [[the Interior]] and thus become accessible to all Sensorites.
+Susan dreams of the upcoming negotiations, imagining the Second Elder refusing to negotiate until she supplies him with [[biscuit]]s made from [[Arcturan moondust]]. She hears an angry and resentful voice telling her to leave. When she wakes up, she tells Ian and Veklin that the voice was that of a Sensorite threatening her to try to get her off of the Sense Sphere. Ian and Veklin go to speak with the Second Elder whilst Susan rests before the talks; Veklin wonders if the threat was to try to get a Sensorite to look into Susan's mind, which was forbidden, but the Investigator believes that Susan's mind tapped into the Interior and caught random thoughts.
+The negotiations begin and the Second Elder expresses the Sensorites' unwillingness to go to war, even for the technology that Susan offers. He explains that the Daleks came to the Sense Sphere before; he and the First Elder met with three Daleks, who asked for materials to repair their damaged ship, but they easily read their minds and saw that they want the materials to build more Daleks. They exploited the Daleks' lack of strength as individuals and, using the full power of the Sense Sphere, caused them to become paranoid and destroy one another. The Second Elder says that his people are safe on this planet and that they will not leave it.
+Ian and Veklin are not party to the negotiations and wonder what is happening. Veklin asks Ian to tell Susan to take a tougher stance and tells him that there are two Battle TARDISes orbiting the Sense Sphere to serve as a threat if necessary. They hear the guard hurriedly leave his post for the conference hall and inform the Investigator before heading after him.
+The Second Elder says that the [[War Council]] have already impressed upon him the threat that the Daleks represent to the entire universe, but remains unswayed by Susan, particularly when she says that the Time Lords tried to prevent the Daleks' creation. The guard bursts into the conference hall and fires at Susan. He misses and Veklin uses a [[sonic weapon]] to disable him, after which he is taken to a cell. Ian goes to speak with the Investigator to ask about her opinion whilst Veklin remains to protect Susan.
+The Investigator apologises to the Second Elder and offers her [[resignation]], taking full responsibility for the failure to properly vet the guard but denying any involvement in the attempted [[assassination]]. The Second Elder decides that he will consider whether or not to accept her resignation once the delegation has departed and can detect that the guard's mind is curiously blank. Ian enters the office and asks the Investigator to be honest with him and his colleagues; he tells her about the two Battle TARDISes in order to get her trust and explains that the guard had overheard him and Veklin discussing this before the attack. The Investigator thanks him.
+''to be completed''
 == Cast ==
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 * The [[War Council]] send delegates several centuries back into the [[Sense Sphere]]'s history, creating a long-lasting diplomatic relationship where none previously existed.
 * Ian uses the [[clothing machine]] of a TARDIS.
+* Susan, Ian and Veklin are given [[crystal water]].
 * Susan dreams that the Sensorites want [[cookie]]s made from [[Arcturan moondust]].
 * The Second Sensorite recalls a time in the Sense Sphere's history when a lone group of [[Dalek]]s discovered the Sphere and attempted to turn it into a [[New Skaro|new homeworld]].