A Blind Eye (audio story)

A Blind Eye (identified on the cover simply as Chapter Four) was the fourth story of the first series of Big Finish's Gallifrey audio series. It was written by Alan Barnes.

Publisher's summary
"You're fiddling at the outset of a conflict that will have profound consequences for this planet's history. You don't think that's dangerous?"

Earth, September 1939. With Europe sliding into war, a young Englishwoman, her loyalties torn, comes to a terrible decision. But what does the intergalactic secrets broker Mephistopheles Arkadian want with the fascist sympathiser Cecelia "Sissy" Pollard on the last day of her life?

Still searching for the facts about the Gryben debacle, President Romana makes a deal with the devil. So begins a chain of consequence that can only end in tragedy for the passengers aboard the Vienna to Calais Transcontinental Express — the woman called Leela included.

By journey's end, the truth will out — but at what cost to Romana and Leela? To Gallifrey's empire, even?

Plot
On the evening of 3 September 1939, Romana meets with Mephistopheles Arkadian on the Transcontinental Express per a message that he sent her promising information. He says that there was a young Englishwoman who shot herself whilst in Munich in the hopes of showing the United Kingdom and Germany that war was futile. However, Arkadian sent the British consulate a telegram purporting to be from her sister, telling her that she was alive and inviting her home, and stopped her from killing herself. This woman is Cecelia Eriphyle Pollard, sister of Charley.

Her own first-class compartment having been "invaded by a family of trolls", Sissy joins Muriel Joy in another where Leela is asleep. She is awoken by the train's whistle, which she believes is the cry of a banshee, amusing Sissy.

Arkadian claims that his manipulating Sissy is a coincidence and that he was not originally aware that she was the sister of Charley, of whom he has heard rumours concerning her being a conduit of anti-time. She is, he claims, not important to the timelines and asks that she be permitted to live for only three more hours, offering to tell her who stole the Timonic Fusion Device in return. Romana agrees not to contact Narvin about Sissy's survival for three more hours and to give Arkadian five minutes to run away once she has. Narvin is, he reveals, already aware that he is in 1939.

Sissy is thrilled at the idea that Leela might be a vagabond queen with a horde of gypsies and is concerned when she notices that the train is slowing down. Romana enters the compartment and Sissy held by Leela, who notices her resemblance to Charley and gives away that they know her. Romana tells Sissy that they are there to protect her and, when the train stops, they find that it is Narvin who has stopped it. He boards the train and Romana goes to head him off whilst Leela attacks the conductor, trying to keep herself and Sissy from being in trouble for not having tickets, only to find that it is Torvald.

Romana finds Narvin looking for Sissy with a gadget which measures time displacement, the first reading seeming to correspond with Sissy's mass. However, it is now detecting something far heavier and heading in their direction which Romana identifies as an identical and accelerating train behind them. They rush off to save Leela and Sissy, although Narvin is surprised that Romana had brought Leela to the time zone.

Leela threatens to kill Torvald for killing Andred, which he insists was in self-defence. She senses that something is wrong and looks out of the window, seeing the other train approaching. The train collides with theirs as they hold on, but, when they open their eyes, everything is okay aside from Torvald and Ms Joy having disappeared. They find that they have been locked inside of the compartment.

Torvald and Ms Joy awake without Leela and Sissy and are joined by Romana and Narvin, whose displacement monitor suggests that Sissy is still in the compartment. Arkadian appears.

Sissy gives Leela her League of English Fascists badge, given to her by Oswald Mosley, and the two talk about Adolf Hitler and what he has said about the differences between different races and how they should be kept apart. Sissy says that her race is better than Leela's and that she would only drag hers down, which Leela counters by pointing out that she can pick the lock whilst Sissy cannot. They head off, Leela going first despite Sissy supposedly being the superior one.

Arkadian, who Narvin wants arrested, confirms Romana's belief that the other train was the same as this one, only from a time track in which it was delayed. The second train has caught up and Leela and Sissy are aboard.

to be added

Cast

 * President Romana - Lalla Ward
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * K9 - John Leeson
 * Coordinator Narvin - Seán Carlsen
 * Commander Torvald - Andy Coleman
 * Arkadian - Hugo Myatt
 * Cecelia Pollard - India Fisher
 * Ms Joy - Susan Engel
 * Erich - David Warwick
 * Waiter - Daniel Hogarth

Continuity

 * Romana and Leela both refer to their meeting with Charley. (AUDIO: Zagreus)
 * Mephistopheles Arkadian, when talking to Romana, talked about the rumours about anti-time and how Charley was apparently a conduit for it, and without Charley Gallifrey wouldn't exist. As the fact of the survival saving the Web of Time couldn't be a paradox. (AUDIO: Neverland)
 * Erich tries to sell Cissy Pollard, because Romana turned a blind eye to Eighth Doctor saving Charley, and the anti-time, which came from her. Erich wished to let anti-time out by letting Cissy survive, by stopping her from committing suicide, unless Romana resigned. (AUDIO: Storm Warning to Neverland)
 * Arkadian tells Torvald, Romana and Narvin about a discussion that he had in Bianca's nightclub relating to Torvald. (AUDIO: The Wormery)
 * Leela mentions the damage that the separation of the Tesh and the Sevateem caused her people. (TV: The Face of Evil)