Hexagora (audio story)

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Hexagora was the second story in the third series of The Lost Stories, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Paul Finch, from the original story idea by Peter Ling & Hazel Adair, and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.

Publisher's summary

When a newspaper reporter goes missing, the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa uncover a case of alien abduction. The trail leads them to the planet Luparis, and a city that appears to be a replica of Tudor era London.

What are the monsters that lurk in the shadows? And what is the terrible secret at the heart of Luparis? To save a world, the Doctor must try and defeat the evil plans of Queen Zafira.

And one of her plans is to marry him...

Plot

Part one

The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan relax in a villa outside of Brisbane following the events on Florana, but Tegan reads in a newspaper about how investigative reporter and school friend Mike Bretherton disappeared after reporting a meteor and enlists the Doctor and Nyssa's help in searching for him. A visit to Mike's apartment in the TARDIS reveals that Mike had been investigating a series of disappearances, after which the Doctor uses an ionograph to detect two space pods which travelled to Luparis, a tropical and supposedly empty planet. They travel there and find that Lupara greatly resembles 16th century London.

The trio meet Lord Jezzevar, one of the two current husbands of Queen Zafira, who invites them to a duplicate of the Palace of Whitehall upon learning that Nyssa is effectively a Trakenite royal. Knowing that they are unlikely to find Mike on their own, they accept and are given Zafira's hospitality. Nyssa goes riding with Jezzevar and the Doctor goes for a walk on the veranda with Zafira, who indicates that she is attracted to him and advises that he direct any questions about the city to Astorius, the Minister of Science and chief astrologer. Meanwhile, the impatient Tegan scales a gate and heads back into the city, finding the TARDIS gone and Mike living as Sergeant Zax, a member of the city watch.

Part two

Zax arrests Tegan for walking the streets unaccompanied, but Lord Zellenger, head of security and another of Zafira's husbands, learns who she is and takes her back to the palace. Zafira and Astorius explain to the Doctor about how Luparis is rapidly cooling and that people are going into comas, leading them to start putting people into sleep pods in rooms known as nurseries. The sleep pods are arranged in pairs, one being for the husband and the other for the wife, but only one of each pair seems to be operational. The Doctor is also told that he will become Zafira's next husband and be known as her Consort Counsellor, prompting the upset Zellenger to engage him in a duel. Although the Doctor is able to disarm him, Zellenger accuses him of terrorism and has Zax take him to the nurseries.

Tegan catches up with Nyssa, who informs her that Jezzavar is planning to rebel against Zafira and would like to install Nyssa as her replacement; he believes that Zafira is too soft on her people and intends to rule through Nyssa. When serving girls Anza and Eva inform them of the Doctor and Zafira's wedding and that Nyssa and Tegan will be maids-in-waiting, they disguise themselves in the maids' clothes and run from a guard onto the streets. They hide in a dark passage where they they hear a clicking sound which Tegan heard before she met Zax. They flee to another hiding place, but a panel opens and they realise that they are in the nest of a group of insect creatures, one of them tells Tegan that he is Mike Bretherton.

Part three

Mike explains that the Hexagora put humans into insect bodies and did so to him because he was close to discovering them. Nyssa and Tegan go with him into the secret passageways and, whilst Tegan sleeps, Nyssa tells Mike about the Doctor and how he can help. She goes to Jezzavar's party without telling Tegan and pretends to join him in his planned coup d'état; when Tegan awakens, she runs from Mike to go and find her.

Astorius refuses to place the Doctor in a sleep pod without an express order from Zafira and sends Zax away to help when one of the sleepers is brought back to the palace. The Doctor accuses him of lying about the sleep pods, leading Astorius to admit that his race are the Hexagora and that Lupara is based on their memories of a temporary stay in London. They have been kidnapping and switching bodies with humans whilst the youngest Hexagora mature enough to leave the planet, but damage to their technology means that they are unlikely to be able to leave and, as a result, the human hosts are to be permanent, a prospect that troubles Astorius. The Doctor is chased by Zellenger and runs to Zafira, telling her that he would love to be her husband.

Part four

The Queen chides Zellenger for his ignorance and even reveals she was aware of his plot to frame the Doctor in the rose garden. She further belittles him for his jealousy and finally makes an official order that he is to be banished from the inner courts and denied entry to the royal hall and chamber and will sleep outside the palace for the next 25 years after which their divorce will be finalised and finally that despite his demotion he is to make sure nothing happens at the wedding ceremony tonight as minister of the guards. Despite his protests, he obeys. The Doctor thanks the Queen as Zellenger is dismissed and leaves but she turns to begin questioning him and his suspicious behaviour. The Doctor admits he tried to escape but then reveals he has spoken with Astorius and is aware of the current situation and problems facing the Hexagorans. He consents to having his "ability" put to their disposal.

As the Doctor and the Queen walk, she explains the two major problems. The first is that while Hexagorans can live for approximately five centuries, humans can only last about one, so it will be necessary to change host bodies a great number of times while the ice age endures which would involve abducting more humans. Her second one is that as the climate cools, their technology is beginning to degrade and that they can only now risk the occasional space pod flight, and even that is not insurance, they are now trapped on Luparis and the only way to survive is remain in the mammal bodies.

Tegan finally arrives outside followed by Mike. He asks her why she travels with the Doctor saying that’s not the Tegan he remembers, a Tegan who runs away, and that it is not the Tegan he was in love with. Tegan is slightly shocked and rebuttals but they are interrupted by a far-off voice announcing the wedding of the Doctor and Queen Zafira. Tegan decides to go save the Doctor thinking that he is in trouble. She decides to see if all the sleepers will work together to help her gain entrance after Mike warns her that she won’t stand a chance alone.

The Doctor is curious as to why their technology is being so badly damaged by the weather, however, the Queen explains that it is not the technology itself but their knowledge. They proceed into the inner sanctum. She shows him the genetic memory code, shaped like a giant tear drop. As they succumb to the code, so do they, and it becomes more and more difficult to access the knowledge of their ancestors and as such it is harder to do things like build the advanced weapons that they used to stop their aggressors, etc. The hexian itself is malfunctioning and hence why many of the sleepers are awakening. She reveals the way by which only she can access, which is to use a special device that allows her to access the genetic pool. However, she is able to do this less and less with each passing day and is soon nearing a point where she will not be able to at all, and thus will be useless to her people. She asks if the Doctor can fix it but he explains that given the situation it would be easier and less time-consuming to simply fix the space pods and send the Hexagorans to another warm planet to colonise instead. The Queen fears this plan because it means that the Hexagorans will have to travel unguarded and alone a few at a time rather than together as a swarm and is worried about either being attacked or losing the precious members she has left. She reveals that by mating with the Doctor and producing an off-spring that will be able to out-live the coming ice age is the best strategy and further reveals that it is not just the doctor, but they will use him and his TARDIS to invade Gallifrey and acquire more Time Lords to mate with the other Hexagorans. The Doctor refuses but the Queen silences him, saying that he has asked enough questions and that he will now act the part of a good husband and ready himself for the marriage and follow and obey every order she gives him from now on. She then sends him away.

Tegan tells Mike the sleepers must distract the guards while she slips in.

Zellenger opens the gates for Consul Nyssa and Jezzevar and they are told they are to leave their weapons at the gate while Jezzavar teases Zellenger about his lost position in the Queen’s favour inciting further animosity between the two. They then proceed through the gates.

The Doctor enters the Chapel guards and is greeted by Astorius, who also serves as the Archbishop. He explains to the Doctor that despite his apparent "betrayal", his actions are tolerated by the Queen because he is viewed as a balancing force in matters.

Meanwhile, Mike manages to get his wings to work and flies Tegan over the gate.

The parties install themselves in the churches for the marriage. The Doctor and Nyssa are reunited. The Doctor is then asked to come to the front.

Mike and Tegan manage to land albeit very clumsily. Mike is injured and when they hear Zellenger coming, he goads Tegan into fleeing while he is found. Tegan comes out holding a pitch-fork and threatens Zellenger who likewise threatens her. But she reveals that Jezzavar has something big planned and so Zellenger runs off to warn the Queen.

When Astorius asks if there is anyone who disagrees with the marriage, the Doctor objects. First on the grounds that this whole ceremony is wrong and that they are replicating a ceremony and culture that they have no understanding or appreciation for and secondly because he has no best man. The queen orders Jezzavar to fill this position. Astorius asks the Doctor to present the ring. Jezzavar claims to have one but instead pulls out knife and attacks them. Zellenger attempts to stop him and it is revealed that Jezzavar was attempting to kill them, start a coup and install Nyssa as the Queen. He then takes the Queen hostage at knife-point. Mike bursts in and manages to distract him while Astorius pulls out the flint lock pistol and advises Jezzavar to release the Queen. He concedes. She berates him for what he has done and orders him to be put to death when the doctor realises something. He tries to explain that the failure of being able to access the memory pool has to do with the foreign bodies they have been inhabiting for so long. He explains that their race has always been accustomed to acting as a "hive-mind" but they are not used to using bodies not equipped with telepathic sensors and so the Hexagora are no longer a collective but are beginning to think individually, hence the jealousy, betrayal and all other negative features manifesting itself. She accuses him of just trying to save the humans but he assures her that the reason they haven’t been able to access the memory is because they are no longer recognised as Hexagora by the pool, acting as a single hive mind and collective. He says that if they go back to their original bodies then they should be able to access the memory pool once again and find the knowledge to repair their space pods which they can then repair and use to return the humans to Earth and find another safer planet. When asked about what to do with Jezzavar, the Doctor says that it doesn’t matter since Jezzavar is just the victim of the mentality of the body he inhabits as he is acting like "a true Elizabethan".

Nyssa and Tegan view the genetic pool and she asks Nyssa where the Doctor is. Nyssa explains that once Astorius switched back bodies and accessed the pool, he didn’t even need the Doctor’s help to rebuild the pods. The Doctor then routed the reverse coordinates of all the abductees that Astorius had kept and re-calculated, being able to help send the humans home and luckily because they have all been unconscious the whole time, they won’t remember anything. She also reveals that Tegan must have really liked Mike and tells her that he specifically requested to be sent home last. Tegan runs off.

Mike (having been restored to his body) and Astorius chat while they send the humans back to Earth. Tegan arrives and The Doctor politely persuades Astorius to come along and assess the memory pool to give Tegan and Mike some time alone. He offers her a chance to come back home and he’ll put on the BBQ for the two of them. She says she will someday and will come see him soon.

A woman named Beth (the body that had previously served as Queen Zafira’s vessel) wakes up to find her husband (who’s body had been used as the vessel for Lord Zellenger) and tells him the strangest thing happened and she feels like she’s been asleep for ages. He laughs, and after she asks whether they’re going to watch the Queen’s jubilee which he again laughs at, they lovingly embrace.

Cast

References

  • Graham Sturges is Mike's news editor.
  • Luparis is the third planet of Proxima Centauri and is supposed to be overgrown with no intelligent life.
  • Proxima Centauri is the closest solar system to earth's own.
  • Tegan and Mike Bretherton, who were next door neighbours, went to high school together in Brisbane. They were taught physics and chemistry by Miss Anderson. When she was fifteen, she broke her toe during track and gym and Mike carried her books home for her.
  • Luparis is a replica of Tudor London, featuring reproductions of the River Thames (which has frozen over due to the planet's rapidly falling temperatures, leading to a frost fair), London Bridge and the Palace of Whitehall.
  • The Doctor once sparred with Errol Flynn.
  • Tegan and Nyssa each have their own TARDIS keys.
  • The Doctor says that Gallifreyans can live for "millennia".
  • When attempting to climb the locked 12 foot gate, Tegan comments to herself about "always wearing heels at times like these."
  • The Doctor uses a device called an ionograph to help track down Mike. This is a device that can detect a diminishing ion stream from a spacecraft, or rather space pod. The Doctor further explains that "a spacepod isn't made of solid material; it is a spherical force-field, a sort of gravity bubble that uses photonic propulsion, capable of fantastic velocity and ideal for interplanetary travel, expect that it can only usually carry one or two passengers at a time." He likens them to eddy made by liquids in flow; Nyssa comments that it is similar to a vapour trail from an earth aircraft.
  • Astorius describes the Agellae as "a race of hideous, moronic ape creatures".
  • The Hexagorans use a device called a "Scry warp" to observe other potentially habitable planets.
  • Hexian is a material from the Hexagoran's homeworld that they use for both nutrients and technology.

Notes

Continuity

Footnotes

  1. ↑ LATEST AND UPCOMING RELEASES - Archived on 27-11-2011

External links

v • e
The Lost Stories
First Doctor
Second Doctor
Third Doctor
Fourth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
Seventh Doctor
Sara Kingdom
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