A Handful of Dust (audio story)

A Handful of Dust was the sixty-third Bernice Summerfield audio story released by Big Finish Productions. It was the first story of the New Frontiers series.

Publisher's summary
"S.O.S. Emergency. Please send... an archaeologist?"

On a routine postal mission for a deranged millionaire, Bernice, Ruth and Jack intercept a distress signal from the most haunted planet in the galaxy: Nemeqit.

Taking their newly-christened shuttle – The Irverfield – down to investigate, the trio soon find themselves confronted with a pair of childlike extra-terrestrials; Vonna Byzantium, presenter of Paranormal Planets and part-time diva... and an awful lot of dust.

But something else is going on beneath the surface of Nemeqit, something none of them ever imagined. And this time, Bernice really can't save everyone...

Plot
Benny, Ruth and Jack are sent by Irving to deliver millionaire Till Madden's documents to a space station in the Theia Quadrant, a mission that Peter declines to join. They take the Irverfield, as Irving has named their new shuttle, to a hyperdimensional waste ship and, after delivering the documents, they are told by Captain Sacker of a distress call that they received from Nemeqit requesting an archaeologist.

Leaving Jack to guard the Irverfield, Benny and Ruth head out onto the dead planet and meet Bel and Lud inside a dome they call Eden. They explain that they have no memory from before they woke up in Eden, but they have had visions and believe that they are the last of the Nemeqitians; to discover their past and find out what their religion was, they need the help of an archaeologist. Benny and Ruth go to investigate the nearby caves where they find symbols indicating that the Nemeqitians worshipped the planet as a living entity.

Jack wanders away from the Irverfield and gets himself lost. He soon meets Vonna Byzantium, former host of Paranormal Planets, and Rex, her robot. They separate and encounter each other once again in Eden, where Vonna interviews Bel and Lud. When Bel has an accident but does not bleed, Jack examines her and finds that she is solid all the way through and has no internal organs. He is reunited with Benny and Ruth when they return from the cave, Ruth narrowly having escaped suffocating in quicksand, and realises that Bel and Lud do not excrete.

Vonna hypnotises Bel and Lud and they reveal that they are the children of Nemeqit. The dome cracks and they enter a dust storm, causing them and the storm itself to disappear. After sabotaging Vonna's camera, Jack receives a message from Madden saying that he no longer wants a report on Harrison's sanity as he asked for as Harrison is now looking into two new planets which suddenly appeared.

Cast

 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * Peter Summerfield - Thomas Grant
 * Ruth - Ayesha Antoine
 * Jack - David Ames
 * Vonna Byzantium - Ellen Salisbury
 * Bel - Charlie Hayes
 * Lud - Peter Sheward
 * Captain Sacker - Scott Handcock
 * Crewman - Tony Coburn
 * Dinner Lady - Dolly Oladini

Worldbuilding

 * Advent is a period of twenty-nine days culminating in Advent Day, the shortest day of Legion's year. Bowls of lobsters and hanging saucepans are traditional.
 * Benny likens Advent to Christmas.
 * The space station is in the Theia Quadrant, which is a year from Legion.
 * The inhabitants of Nemeqit were called Nemeqitians.
 * Bel and Lud recycle water.
 * Rex 1 and Rex 2 are Vonna's robots. They can release a truth drug during interviews.
 * Paranormal Planets was cancelled after an incident with fake ectoplasm.
 * Vonna presented Cooking With Ghosts, Cleaning With Ghosts and Sleeping With Ghosts.
 * Harrison is Till Madden's scientist.
 * Benny mentions MRS GREN, a phrase to help remember the characteristics of life.
 * Benny uses a holo-imager.
 * Ruth falls into quicksand.

Continuity

 * Ruth mentions when she was a priestess. (AUDIO: The Temple of Questions)
 * Ruth mentions when Benny awoke from stasis. (AUDIO: Dead Man's Switch, Judgement Day)
 * Benny mentions being a deity. (AUDIO: Brand Management)