The Lamentation Cipher (audio story)

 was the first story of the audio anthology Charlotte Pollard: Series One. It was written by Jonathan Barnes and featured India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard, Michael Maloney as the Viyrans and James Joyce as Robert Buchan.

Publisher's summary
Charlotte Pollard — once the greatest adventuress of her generation — is terminally bored. She is tired of life as an emissary of that powerful and mysterious race, the Viyrans. She has grown weary of her role as an expendable agent in their ceaseless quest to eliminate contagion across the universe. Her work is repetitive and gruelling and has come to feel as if she hardly recognises herself. Very quietly, and without fuss, her heart is breaking.

So when the Viyrans arrive at the edge of galaxy Brouhaha-Nine-Nine-Five, besides the bizarre and enigmatic space-time anomaly known as the Ever-and-Ever Prolixity, Charley is overjoyed at an opportunity for escape. It is a chance that she will be grateful to seize — but given what awaits her, she may, before long, come to wonder if she might not have been more careful about just what it is she has wished for...

Plot
A distorted message from the Viyran Commander says that Charlotte Pollard is the Viyrans' greatest treasure and that she must be recovered as she is the key to the Lamentation Cipher.

Millennia after her own time and billions of light-years beyond the perception of Earth's most powerful telescopes, Charley is at the Jolly Brewer looking into the Ever-and-Ever Prolixity and writing in her diary, waiting for a particular man to enter. She is greeted by a flirtatious Robert Buchan, who tells her that he is a detective and an adventurer, and she cryptically tells him that she is employed by terrifying people not unlike librarians. He begins saying words that he is unfamiliar with without realising and Charley realises that he is the man she has been waiting for - a man who has just visited the fifth moon of the Indecisive Torrent.

Charley takes Robert with her to a medical suite that she has prepared on the floor below and tells him about the explosion of the Amethyst Viral Containment Station and subsequent spreading of the viruses within. Robert was infected with one of these viruses, the Obscurantist, on the fifth moon and will be reduced to a puddle of DNA and slime once the virus has gained a foothold on his system through his race memory. They are watched from the shadows by the Viyrans, who sedate him and tell Charley to leave. However, Robert's last word before going under is "Vortisaur", reminding her of Ramsay and making her wonder why he said it.

Returning to the Fieldship Prime on a Viyran Transporter, Charley feels that she is not needed by the Viyrans and that she has simply become a glorified pet. She admires the Prolixity when she is joined by the Rogue Viyran who is friendly with her and strikes up conversation about the Prolixity, which changes shape as they watch. Another Viyran appears and, when Charley mentions the Rogue, he says that she is alone and that she might be imagining things due to stress.

Charley refuses to move from the spot before the Viyran tells her what is going on, believing that the Rogue Viyran, the Obscurantist and the change in the Prolixity were connected somehow. As answering her would be beyond his function as laid out by the Viyran Commander, he refuses to do so and says that they could have her mind wiped to forget her "confusions". They hear a noise and, over a loudspeaker, a Viyran issues a warning of a time virus and says that energy from the Prolixity is affecting their technology. The Viyran with Charley is afflicted and, with the other Viyrans being told to head to the disembarkation area, Charley runs away with the aim to escape.

Running to find a pod, Charley hears an alert telling the Viyrans of her disappearance and that she should be taken to the command deck if found. She hears the sound of Viyrans nearby but is saved by a hidden panel behind her leading to a secret passageway and an escape pod which, when activated, identifies the Jolly Brewer as the nearest environment capable of sustaining life. It locks onto the Jolly Brewer and leaves the Transporter.

A Viyran tells the Commander that Virus KX Variant 243 had breached the vivarium deck, apparently heading towards the Prolixity, after the Prolixity's energy affected the experimental analysis chamber; the virus killed several Viyrans and the survivors have all been isolated and confined. The Viyran tells the Commander that a pod left the Transporter just before it docked, heading for the Jolly Brewer, and that Charley was most likely aboard. A unit is dispatched.

Charley tries to buy her way onto a spacecraft and bumps into Robert, who tells her that everybody is too focused on the Prolixity. As he has been treated by the Viyrans and thus had his mind wiped, he does not recognise Charley and she tries to pretend that they have not met before upon realising. She accepts his offer to take her with him to Earth in his ship and demands that they leave quickly despite Robert wanting to watch the Prolixity.

On the Fieldship's observation deck, the Viyran Commander records in the Viyran Data Almanac that the Prolixity is in flux, growing larger and giving energy readings at the edge of Viyran science. The Rogue Viyran, whom the Commander does not recognise, tells him that the meaning will become apparent in time and asks to speak to him in private about the Lamentation Cipher, something that the Commander does not believe he should know about.

Before leaving the Jolly Brewer, Robert admits that he is not a detective nor an adventurer nor a magnet for trouble as he had originally told her; he is actually an investment broker who works for his father, whom he does not get along with. A Viyran stops them from leaving and tells them that Charley will be returned to the Fieldship Prime whilst Robert has his memory erased once again. She is kept on the observation deck to await an interview with the Viyran Commander.

Robert is woken up by a call from his father, Bert Buchan, and confirms what he has heard about the expansion of the Prolixity. Bert sees this as an opportunity to make money.

At the interview, the Viyran Commander tells Charley that she has become invaluable to them but that she is not a prisoner and they feel gratitude towards her for assisting in their work, to which she is integral. He promises that she will be returned to her home once the Viyran mission has been completed and, without a choice, she accepts that she is back with the Viyrans for good.

Robert leaves a message for his father telling him that the Prolixity's expansion is accelerating and that energy is bursting from it in tendrils. Although he has always wanted adventure, he is frightened and tells him that he will be back on Earth soon.

The Fieldship Prime prepares for departure and Charley says goodbye to the Prolixity, the Jolly Brewer and Robert Buchan. She is approached by the Rogue Viyran, who tells her that events are not yet certain and who she notices calls her "Charlotte" rather than "Charlotte Pollard". He agrees that he is unique amongst his kind and says that he wishes to help her to escape, having created the earlier passage and prepared the pod, for reasons that he is not at liberty to divulge. With only minutes before transference to hyperspace, the Rogue Viyran hurries her along.

Robert is flying to Earth and receives a call from his father, who says that communication has been disrupted by the Prolixity. Robert says that the Prolixity seems to be hungry and expanding to swallow the fleeing spacecraft.

An alarm is raised on the Fieldship Prime as Charley has escaped again. The Rogue Viyran leads her towards the pod, which he has altered to make it capable of outrunning the Fieldship Prime, until the Viyrans catch up with them and stop them. He tells Charley to escape, creating a passageway using abilities he has learnt to use over the course of his travels, and that they might one day be friends. He says that she should trust the Prolixity and fear the Lamentation Cipher, apologising that the latter will be her burden and her curse. The Viyrans fire at the Rogue and she flees, boarding the pod. The Rogue mentions the Cipher to the Viyrans, telling them that it is now out in the stars, before his life signs become zero.

The pod speaks with the voice of Robert Buchan, having been selected by the Rogue Viyran as one which would be familiar and comforting. The pod leaves the Fieldship Prime, aiming to head for Earth, but it has difficulty breaking free.

A Viyran reports to the Viyran Commander that the Rogue Viyran is dead and that Charley has escaped in a pod containing technology beyond their science. The Viyran Commander says that he spoke with the Rogue and that he feels that he has been infected by his words. He asks the other Viyran what he knows about the Lamentation Cipher.

Free of the Fieldship Prime, Charley laughs before the pod tells her that they are heading towards the Prolixity, saying that it is necessary to do so.

Robert says that he can understand his father's suggestions but that he does not believe that it is fair. He notices Charley's pod heading towards the Prolixity and says that whoever is flying it must be mad.

The Viyran Commander says that he has had his head filled with non-Viyran concepts such as melancholy, ennui and despair. He has seen the future, heard the lamentation and seen the universe in flames, the Viyrans' endeavours having failed. The Viyran that he is speaking to invokes Leadership Clause Hexagon-13 and kills the Commander, succeeding him and ordering that the grappling stream be used to recapture Charley.

The pod alerts Charley that the Fieldship Prime is giving chase and has engaged its grappling stream, which the pod may not be able to escape. The Prolixity extends its tendrils towards the pod and the new Viyran Commander calls the pod, telling Charley that she is too close to the Prolixity and that she should return. Charley has the pod reroute all non-essential energy to combat the grappling stream and the energy makes contact with the pod.

Robert tells his father that all of the ships have stopped and that the pod is being swallowed up by the light of the Prolixity.

The energy from the Prolixity boosts the pod's own power, helping the pod break free of the Viyrans' stream. The Commander tells her that she is being pulled into the Prolixity and that her actions are putting them all in danger. The pod tells Charley that the Rogue Viyran left her a message telling her to trust the Prolixity, which she chooses to do, likening it to the risk that she took on the R101. The pod is pulled into the heart of the Prolixity as the Commander tells her that they will track her down and bring her home.

Robert says to his father that he and the other ships are now leaving to avoid being pulled into the Prolixity like the pod. His father tells him to stop being sentimental about the fate of the pod and that sentiment would be the death of him, which Robert accepts.

The Commander sends a squadron into the Prolixity after Charley despite the risk to Viyran lives, which he says is necessary. He says that something significant has been engrained within her and that she is far more important to the future of the universe than she is aware.

The pod falls through space, being ripped apart, and Charley later wakes up to find herself lying in grass with a Scottish woman pointing a gun at her. The woman demands that she tell her who she is and where she is from, which Charley says is a long story.

Cast

 * Charley Pollard - India Fisher
 * Viyran Commander / Rogue Viyran / Other Viyrans - Michael Maloney
 * Robert Buchan / Computer - James Joyce
 * Bert Buchan Snr / Computer / Phone Alarm / Docking Station Loudspeaker Voice - Nicholas Briggs

Uncredited

 * Mrs Turnerman - Jacqueline King

Worldbuilding

 * Brouhaha-Nine-Nine-Five is at the furthest regions of known space, billions of light-years beyond the perception of Earth's most powerful telescopes.
 * Charley describes the Ever-and-Ever Prolixity as looking like a "cauldron of broiling darkness" roughly the size of Jupiter. It is a place of pilgrimage and scientific research.
 * No probe or spacecraft that has ventured close to the Prolixity has ever returned.
 * There are satellites and viewing platforms around the Prolixity, including the Jolly Brewer.
 * Charley drinks orange juice. She has never and will never drink alcohol.
 * A bushel is a bowl.
 * Charley had a boarding school education.
 * Charley likens the Viyrans to librarians.
 * Cribbage is an old Earth game.
 * Robert went to the fifth moon of the Indecisive Torrent in the TK system.
 * The Obscurantist (or Virus Signal 10847 Variant 104) is airborne and takes over the infected by working through their race memory and accessing their ancestors' vocabulary. With a foothold on their system, it breaks down the infected's cells until they are a puddle of DNA and slime before moving on.
 * The Viyrans sometimes give Charley Earl Grey and shortbread fingers.
 * The Viyrans contain Virus KX Variant 243 in a Level Green-Gamma-9 containment field.
 * Robert's ship is Indigo-class, Model 6 and, according to him, the fastest in the quadrant "under the right circumstances".
 * Charley had a small savings account with Coutts.
 * The Viyrans update the Viyran Data Almanac.
 * Robert is an investment broker.
 * A Viyran invokes Leadership Clause Hexagon-13 and kills the Viyran Commander.
 * Charley says that she feels like she has crossed the Rubicon.

Continuity

 * Charley refers to the fact that millions of viruses stored in the Amethyst Viral Containment Station were accidentally spread throughout the universe. (AUDIO: Patient Zero)
 * After Robert mentions Vortisaurs, Charley recalls travelling with Ramsay in the TARDIS. (AUDIO: Storm Warning, Sword of Orion, The Stones of Venice, Minuet in Hell)
 * The Viyran Commander refers to his people's ability to alter the minds of sentient life forms. (AUDIO: Mission to the Viyrans, Blue Forgotten Planet)
 * Charley tells Robert that she has a mother, a father and two sisters, referring to Peggy and Sissy. (AUDIO: Zagreus)
 * Charley tells Robert that her family lost her a long time ago. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)
 * Charley refers to the fact that she was once frozen by the Viyrans. (AUDIO: Patient Zero, Paper Cuts)
 * Charley recalls taking a risk by boarding the British airship R101 on 4 October 1930. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)
 * The Rogue Viyran faked his own death in order to allow Charley to escape. He drifted in space for over a year before he was picked up by Millicent Belanger III. (AUDIO: The Viyran Solution)