Growing Higher (short story)

Growing Higher is the second story in the Big Finish short story anthology Short Trips: Zodiac.

Summary
82-year-old Sewa Singh lives on the Moon with his 19-year-old lover Bernadette Franklin. Four months ago the artificial world Kuppam was destroyed resulting in the death of 50,595 people. Sewa was responsible for the bearings’ quality control and was blamed by the Earth authorities for the deaths. UN officials were dispatched to bring him back to Earth to stand trial. Given his medical conditions his lifespan would be significantly reduced should he return to the higher gravity planet. Many lunar colonists believe that Singh is being used as a scapegoat and the trial threatens to spark a civil uprising in the colony. Rather than let this happen Singh decides to end his own life by walking on the lunar surface with a space suit with only a limited oxygen supply, thus committing suicide and avoiding a slow painful death on Earth. The Doctor and Fitz arrive on the colony before the UN officials distracting Bernadette for long enough to allow him to carry out his plan.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Fitz Kreiner
 * Sewa Singh
 * Bernadette Franklin
 * Joshu Akimboola
 * Aristo Cleomides

Continuity

 * Discrete blue eye-shadow was fashionable for men ten years earlier. (DW: Warriors of the Deep)

Timeline

 * Growing Higher occurs after: EDA: Parallel 59
 * Growing Higher occurs before: EDA: The Shadows of Avalon