Outback (audio story)

 was the second story in the audio anthology Lady Christina: Series Two, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Sarah Grochala and featured Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina de Souza, Warren Brown as Sam Bishop and Tracy Wiles as Jacqui McGee.

Publisher's summary
In need of respite, Christina seeks out her Great Aunt Eugenia, and finds herself looking for answers in the Australian outback. Has her aunt really been abducted by aliens? What secrets lie within the Jajutuma crater? And why are Sam Bishop and Jacqui McGee of UNIT on Christina's trail?

Plot
After a friend has a stroke, Lady Eugenia de Souza flies him to hospital and, on the way back home to Scarab Station, claims to see a UFO over the Jajutama crater. Christina arrives at Eugenia's house in the 200 and meets her partner, John Flint, who tells her that Eugenia was abducted by aliens. She heads into town to get internet access with the aim of getting permission to visit the crater, promising John that she will hurt him if he had anything to do with Eugenia's disappearance.

Sam and Jacqui follow the energy signature of the 200, seeking to capture Lord Alfred de Souza because of his infection. Whilst Sam travels to the Jajutama crater and is stopped for not having a permit, Jacqui checks into a hotel. Christina arrives at a café and hides when Jacqui comes looking for her, barking from behind a closed door to make her think that she was a dog. Maisie Flint takes Christina to the crater, being its guardian and John's granddaughter. Christina detects extraterrestrial activity everywhere.

Sam regroups with Jacqui and, as they wait for Kate Stewart to arrange for a permit, they go to Eugenia's and find the 200. They are found by John, but he hurries off when his quokkas squeak and they search the house, finding a secret trap door and a room full of treasures. They head off when Sam detects unusual activity at the crater.

Christina and Maisie find that a company is mining at the crater and that they are armed with machine guns. They abseil into the crater, which a giant caterpillar emerges from before attacking everybody, forcing Sam and Jacqui to parachute out of their helicopter. Christina attacks it with a flamethrower, but Eugenia stops her and shows that she is friendly with the creature, getting it to return to the crater. She reveals that she remains the legal owner of the land and that she faked her abduction in order to get some privacy. Outraged, John points his rifle at her, but she has him and Maisie taken away.

Eugenia confides in Christina that she has been searching for the Fountain of Youth and that she believes that it is inside a cavern beneath the lake. The miners get access to the cavern and Christina and Eugenia descend, followed by Sam and Jacqui, and find a pillar of light surrounded by cocoons. They hide behind one when a giant moth flies in and passes through the light, becoming a grub. Christina, Sam and Jacqui try to stop Eugenia from entering the light, but she enters it and mutates into a human larva. She begs Christina to shoot her and, when she is unable to, Sam does it and the cocoons begin to open.

The group leave the cavern and John and Maisie say that they have been caring for the creatures. Sam keeps UNIT from bombing the crater and the giant butterflies take to the skies. Afterwards, Christina agrees to let him Sam know if her father gets in contact with her and hands over Eugenia's estate to the Flints before leaving. Sam and Jacqui go to catalogue Eugenia's treasures and find them missing.

Cast

 * Lady Christina de Souza - Michelle Ryan
 * Jacqui McGee - Tracy Wiles
 * Sam Bishop - Warren Brown
 * Lady Eugenia de Souza - Siân Phillips
 * John Flint - James Smillie
 * Maisie Flint - Sarah Blackstone

Worldbuilding

 * John was married to Deborah Flint.
 * Eugenia and John have quokkas.
 * Sam calls his boss to arrange a permit.
 * Eugenia stole Egyptian treasures during the Second World War. As Interpol closed in around her in the 1980s, she left a note saying that she had learnt the error of her ways and disappeared.
 * Eugenia is the younger sister of Alfred's father.
 * Jacqui does not like snakes or spiders.
 * Golden orbs are harmless spiders.
 * Christina and Eugenia went glamping at Uluru, Kakadu and Ningaloo.
 * Christina has an extraterrestrial activity detector.
 * Eugenia has a statue of Kali.
 * Sam contacts Trap Six for a helicopter.
 * Eugenia says that Fleming was a philistine.

Continuity

 * Alfred de Souza is infected. (AUDIO: The Wreck)