The Dalek Transaction (audio story)

 was the first story in the audio anthology, Encounters, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Matt Fitton and featured Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver as Petronella Osgood, James Joyce as Josh Carter and Ramon Tikaram as Vikram Shindi.

Publisher's summary
When a rogue guerrilla faction offer an alien artefact for auction, Kate Stewart and her team go undercover to the jungles of Central America. But they find that the prize on offer is far deadlier than its owners realise. Captive, desperate and alone. That's when a Dalek is at its most dangerous.

Plot
Kate, Osgood, Josh and Shindi prepare to go undercover for a meeting with Captain Maria Gonsalves in Monte Bosque, set up by the now-missing Sam, using false identities put together by Jacqui. The artefact that they are investigating landed on Earth six weeks ago and disappeared off the coast of Brazil before Sam learnt about it whilst looking a group of underground traders who sell alien technology.

Gonsalves feeds nutrient soup to the "parcel" that UNIT are coming to purchase: a damaged and disarmed Dalek whose sale she intends to finance her group's revolution. After bribing the city officials, UNIT travel to the rendezvous point and are taken, blindfolded, into a truck where they are gassed and driven to the camp. Gonsalves has Osgood, Josh and Shindi taken to the underground bunker to see the Dalek and discusses the transaction with Kate. Osgood scans the Dalek and detects that it is mutating.

When UNIT are reunited, Kate sends Osgood and Josh to deal with the money transfer whilst she and Shindi interrogate the Dalek for information on whether an invasion is planned. The Dalek tells them that a dormant taskforce is hidden in the jungle and agrees to take them to it, but the transaction only covers the Dalek mutant and it is removed from its casing. Kate and Shindi go into the jungle with the mutant and several guerillas and finds that it has lied; there are no other Daleks and it manages to escape. The two of them are taken back to the camp, where Gonsalves has caught Osgood and Josh in a restricted area and found that the Auctioneers know nothing about them.

Gonsalves sends Josh, Shindi and Rodrigues with several guerillas to deal with the threat of the Dalek mutant. One guerilla is killed by a Dalek sting and another is killed by a trap. It takes control of a tank with an energy weapon, but the humans manage to destroy it. With all of her best people dead, Gonsalves forces Kate, Osgood, Josh and Shindi into a cell with parts of the mutant and goes to contact the Auctioneers, for whom she has been running a research base, about what to do next. Osgood attempts to piece the mutant back together and finds that it has shedded some limbs as a deception; it is still alive.

Gonsalves takes Kate and Osgood to a secret armoury where they find that the Dalek has returned to its casing and is putting itself back together, including its eyestalk and manipulator arm. It cannot find its gunstick, but kills the remaining guerillas with chemical weapons from inside their vehicles' storage crates and Gonsalves with its manipulator arm. Josh and Shindi are let out of their cell by the guerillas just before they die and put on hazard suits before finding the gunstick and using it to severely damage the Dalek.

Osgood is determined to remove the mutant from its casing and try to understand it, but it activates its self-destruct system and UNIT are forced to flee from the armoury and take cover. The alien technology is completely destroyed and UNIT North America come to take the group to safety. Although they are leaving with nothing to show for it, Osgood points out that they have faced a Dalek and survived.

Cast

 * Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave
 * Osgood - Ingrid Oliver
 * Captain Josh Carter - James Joyce
 * Colonel Shindi - Ramon Tikaram
 * Captain Gonsales - Karina Fernandez
 * Guerilla - Jot Davies
 * The Dalek - Nicholas Briggs

Continuity

 * Osgood suggests they contact Dr Jones at UNIT North America. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
 * Jacqui McGee has been tasked with creating their false identities. She gained Kate's approval in AUDIO: In Memory Alone. At the end of that story, Kate considers recruiting her.
 * UNIT was aware of a possible "Code D" crashing to Earth 50 years prior, following it as it passed through private collections. However, they lost track of it in Utah. (TV: Dalek, PROSE: Object Auction, The Secret Lives of Monsters)
 * Colonel Shindi notes that UNIT has fought the Daleks on several occasions. (TV: Day of the Daleks) He himself has lost several colleagues to them, alluding to their recent invasion of Earth. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
 * There is a black market dealing in alien material on Earth. (TV: The Man Who Never Was) UNIT will know their handlers as the Auctioneers. (AUDIO: The Sontaran Project)