The Revenant's Carnival (audio story)

The Revenant's Carnival was the sixty-seventh Bernice Summerfield audio story released by Big Finish Productions. It was the second story of the Missing Persons series.

Publisher's summary
Bernice Summerfield has never been to Moros Prime before — and it's unlikely she'll be rushing back. Moros is a world of diplomacy and warfare, ruled over by a variety of creeps, dandies and outright weirdoes, where cybernetic implants are the latest fashion accessory and the native humans are ethically harvested for their organs.

Peter Summerfield, however, has a job to do: heading the security team at the country estate of Willem van der Heever, the effective ruler of Moros Prime. Because Van der Heever is throwing a masquerade ball — which means fancy dress, fluorescent peacocks and an almost certain attempt on his life.

Van der Heever is not without his enemies... But as Bernice and Peter uncover more about his past, whose side will they end up taking?

Plot
Benny and Peter travel to Moros Prime, a recently- terraformed planet where Willem van der Heever, who has hired Peter to head the security team during a masquerade, is fighting against the native Kai with clones and drone warfare. Peter reads up on the Kai and learns that they are rebelling against having their redundant organs harvested and have some support from the terraformers. A Kai body is found in the swimming pool and Peter investigates, but the security camera is one that is notoriously glitchy and does not record the murder.

Benny arranges to meet with a Kai member of staff but he does not show up and, whilst waiting, she bumps into van der Heever. He shows her the latest cybernetics that Dr Krige has fitted him with, which allows him to record and imitate others' voices. In the morning, she goes to Dr Krige's operating theatre and Peter, who covers for her when Shrynor finds her, tells her that van der Heever's wife, a Kai named Nexo, died in a hovercar accident which some have speculated was an assassination to ensure her silence.

Needing a dress for the masquerade, Benny visits the dressmaker and confirms with Dr Krige that van der Heever is ready should there be an attack at the party. Peter informs her that clearances and data have been moved between visitors and that Nexo has uploaded a suicide message to be shared during the party; in the message, she says that van der Heever became paranoid after an attempt on his life. Van der Heever wears a diving suit at the party and uses his cybernetics to change his voice to Dr Krige's to fool Benny, but she notices him calling her "professor" rather than "miss" as Dr Krige did and keeps herself from mentioning Nexo.

The guests start to collapse and cough up blood and Dr Krige examines the dressmaker, finding that he has been stabbed with a hypodermic needle. Benny subdues Nexo, who is wearing a gas mask, and tells her that people's costumes have been changed and that she has likely killed two of van der Heever's political enemies. From the control room, Shrynor locks the windows and doors and releases a gas on the orders of van der Heever, whose cybernetics filter poisonous gases. Benny passes out and wakes up on a medical ship some time later and receives a call from Nexo, the only other survivor, who tells her that she stabbed van der Heever.

In truth, Dr Krige survived and moved van der Heever's mind into Nexo's body. Van der Heever now plans to present herself as the only person who can unite the old regime and the needs of the Kai, having allowed Benny to live to spread the word. He vaguely remembers Benny mentioning somebody called Peter, but Dr Krige checks and confirms that there was nobody by that name at the party. Benny, van der Heeven says, is not the sort of person to forget their friends.

Cast

 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * Peter Summerfield - Thomas Grant
 * Willem van der Heever - David Warwick
 * Krige - Susan Vidler
 * Nexo - Ella Garland
 * Shrynor - Brett Underwood
 * Dressmaker - Scott Handcock

Worldbuilding

 * Benny says that being on Moros Prime is like being in an Adam and the Ants music video.
 * Benny wrote an obscure paper called The Ephemeral Eternal: Gold and Precious Metals in Human History and Currency.
 * Willem had a wife.
 * The cameras on Moros Prime have embarrassment filters per the law.
 * The dressmaker has an aviator's costume from the First War of Greater Europe.
 * Benny mentions Hass when she sees a deep sea diving suit. Benny thinks that she is dead.
 * Van der Heever is overlord and prime minister.
 * The dressmaker says that lime green is never a flattering colour.
 * Peter wears a leather jacket.
 * Venus Tull is the transport minister.
 * Jiven is the health minister.

Continuity

 * Benny mentions using the earpieces on Mortis Dock, although she cannot remember who she was with when she was there. (AUDIO: HMS Surprise)