The Library in the Body (audio story)

The Library in the Body was the first story in The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield box set The Unbound Universe.

Publisher's summary
In a dying reality knowledge is the only thing left of value — and the Kareem have come to destroy it. Can Bernice and the Doctor save the last library?

Plot
Benny is giving a lecture when the TARDIS materialises and a Doctor she does not recognise pulls her inside by the hand. He had hoped that Benny would serve as an anchor into her universe due to her unique artron cloud, but he unwittingly brings her to his reality instead, which is dying as the result of a war in which he refused to fight. They materialise on the Gateway, a bridge between the the two universes and the last splinter of a great civilisation.

The Doctor pilots the TARDIS to the Library, the target of the Kareem, who believe that knowledge is evil and brought about the war. The Doctor extends the TARDIS's shields to protect the undefended Library for a time and tells everybody to get to safety inside the building. The Sage of Sardner suggests that the books are transmatted onto his spaceship for their protection, but the Mother Superior objects and counters that they should be moved to nanovaults of the Monastery of St Beedlix. A fight almost breaks out between the acolytes and the nuns before the hard-light interface Librarian declares that the books will not be moved.

The Kareem wipe out the ships above the Library and refuse to recognise the authority of the Doctor, who calls himself the universe's champion. Benny finds the Doctor over an acolyte's body without any obvious damage and accuses him of being responsible when the other visitors arrive to ensure her continued freedom. She visits him in his cell and learns from King Mandeville that he is the Ruler of the Universe following the deaths of everybody else in line, an idea that she finds laughable. The TARDIS shield fails, so Benny links the walls to the power grid to absorb the Kareem's energy weapons. The Librarian puts Mandeville asleep and releases the Doctor.

The Sage lets the Kareem into the Library as he tries to leave with a copy of a priceless book of poetry, but the Kareem chief has him seized and force-fed the pages of the books. Benny finds a book about her life which includes information that only she could know; she and the Doctor realise that all of the books are completely blank, which explains why the Sisterhood of St Beedlix's songs from one of the prayer books are unable to protect the building. The Library is actually a parasite which sucks out knowledge. The Doctor tempts the Librarian with the knowledge in his mind and runs away. He hears the information that the Library has on the Time Lords and wonders who it got it all from. The voice of the Master welcomes him.

Benny tells everybody to write down the most painful things that they can in the blank books and wakes up the Doctor, whose memories are being drained, before he can make proper contact with the voice. The Kareem try to destroy the Library, but the Librarian points out that they still hold all of the knowledge that they have destroyed and that they will keep the Library fed for a very long time. Benny and the Doctor get everyone to the TARDIS and take them to the Gateway as the Library flies off; the Doctor arrives from the future and gives Mandeville the manual that he was after, Acolyte Farnsworth a data stick containing the Geldrax Archive to set up a new library and The Salvation Songs of St Beedlix for the nuns.

As a result of its recent travels, the TARDIS has run out of energy and can no longer time travel. The Doctor invites Benny to join him on the last travels that the TARDIS will take and suggests that they go somewhere fun. Benny accepts the offer.

Cast

 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * The Doctor - David Warner
 * The Librarian - Zeb Soanes
 * The Sage of Sardner - Guy Adams
 * Acolyte Farnsworth - Tom Webster
 * Mother Superior - Rowena Cooper
 * Mandeville / Kareem Chief / Acolyte - Alex Jordan
 * The Master - Sam Kisgart

Continuity

 * Benny describes her recent experiences with the Doctor as "a Lazy Susan". (PROSE: Big Bang Generation, AUDIO: The Pyramid of Sutekh)
 * This is not the first time Benny has travelled inside the TARDIS of an alternate universe Third Doctor. (PROSE: Blood Heat)
 * Benny has encountered space nuns before. (AUDIO: Bad Habits)
 * Benny refers to her friends and family. (AUDIO: Paradise Frost et al.)
 * Benny uses the Prisoner's Dilemma to escape being locked up. (AUDIO: The Prisoner's Dilemma)
 * The library has copies of Norton Folgate's books. (AUDIO: Ghost Mission et al.)