The Lifeboat and the Deathboat (audio story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story SMW

|audio anthology  = The Diary of River Song: Series Five

|writer          = Eddie Robson

|release date    = 22 January 2019

|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>3rd of 4 stories

|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-78703-505-8 (physical); ISBN 978-1-78703-506-5 (digital)

|epcount=1}}'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the third story of the audio anthology, ''[[The Diary of River Song (audio series)|The Diary of River Song]]: [[The Diary of River Song: Series Five|Series Five]]''. It was written by [[Eddie Robson]] and featured [[Alex Kingston]] as [[River Song]] and [[Eric Roberts]] as {{Roberts}}.

Stranded in the [[Time Vortex]] due to a malfunction in her [[vortex manipulator]], River had taken refuge with Daniel, an expert in biology from the [[42nd century]], and his daughter [[Alison (The Lifeboat and the Deathboat)|Alison]]. They had been stranded here from some time, now, living in a refuge built out of the wreckage of other [[space-time vessel]]s. Their survival is constantly threatened by a [[Vormatoda]], a creature living in the Vortex, which attacks various ships coming in, and seems particularly attracted to Daniel and Alison's vessel.

 

 

In the Vortex, River, Daniel and Alison get track of another ship, a destroyed [[TARDIS]], and settle in, using anything they can find useful to power their ship and protect themselves from the Vortex. While doing so, Alison notes her fragility, highlighting that she wears a stabiliser to protect herself from serious damage. As they all settle, Alison stops River from going into a specific room, saying that Daniel doesn't allow anyone in there.

 

Admiral Eno finds the Vormatoda and attacks it, only for the beast to split her ship in half, separating the engines from the control deck. River, Daniel and Alison witness the fight and climb aboard, half to help survivors and half to see if they can find something useful. The three of them find Valencia unconscious but alive, and the stasis chamber with Mileska inside. Daniel and Alison take the latter to their ship to see if they can harvest useful technology from the chamber, while River stays with Valencia as he recovers consciousness.

 

Daniel awakens Kaliopi, who attacks him and Alison; they also find out she is a [[Psychic power|psychic]], capable of reading the minds of other people. Daniel tricks her into letting Alison go, then he drives her off as a diversion. Back in the wreckage, Eno manages to contact Valencia, and together with River they think of a way to pull the ship back together using the emergency power from the engines and lowering the shields. The ship will then be able to come out of the Vortex. Alison reaches River and tells her what happened; River goes off to help Daniel, leaving Alison with Valencia.

 

Together, River and Daniel lead Kaliopi to the forbidden room, where Daniel stashed some weapons for self defence. As they try to think of a way to hold her, River suddenly recognises the room as belonging to [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. Noticing that Daniel too recognised a TARDIS when they boarded it earlier, she puts the pieces together and comes to the conclusion that "Daniel" is actually {{Roberts}}. He confirms that, and tells her that, after his fall into the [[Eye of Harmony]], he was able to reconstitute [[Bruce Gerhardt|his stolen body]] because of the TARDIS's connection to the Eye and materialized in a room of the TARDIS - the one they are in now, and that the ship detached the room as soon as it realised what happened. He had been stranded ever since, trying to figure out a way to escape, and welcomed River hoping she could help him.

 

River and the Master briefly abandon their feud and work together to trap Kaliopi in a trapdoor in the room, before River returns her attention to the room's contents, wanting to know more about the Master and especially who Alison is. She finds a [[VHS cassette]] of a [[1980s]] movie, ''[[Anyone but Me]]'', about a teenager, and realises Alison is based on the main character of the movie. Right at that time, Alison reaches them, to tell them Eno and Valencia are ready to put their ship back together. The Master releases Kaliopi and offers them safe passage if she helps him dispose of River, but the professor is instead able to persuade Alison the Master is not her father, and convinces her to take off the stabiliser. As soon as she does that, she transforms into a Vormatoda cub.

 

* [[Bruce Master|The Master]] - [[Eric Roberts]]

== Worldbuilding ==

* The Master acknowledges that his [[Bruce Gerhardt|current body]] was stolen.

{{Bruce Master stories}}