Shockwave (DotD audio story)

Shockwave was the seventh release of the Destiny of the Doctor audio series, produced by Big Finish Productions for AudioGO.

Publisher's summary
In the far future, the inhabitants of Tarsus Six face a desperate struggle to evacuate their world before their sun, Tarsus Ultra, collapses into a cataclysmic spatial anomaly.

When the Doctor navigates the TARDIS to a space station orbiting Tarsus Six, Ace assumes that he intends offer their assistance. But it soon becomes clear that the Doctor has an agenda of his own.

With the TARDIS immobilised, Ace realises that their own lives are as much in danger as those of the fleeing inhabitants. The race is on to escape the destruction of Tarsus Six and the devastating shockwave that will follow, reaching out and destroying everything in its wake.

Plot
The TARDIS lands on a space station in the 49th century. The station orbits a world called Tarsus Six, part of a system that has been heavily colonized by humanity. It’s a world in chaos, and for good reason: it only has minutes to live. The planet’s sun, Tarsus Ultra, is a red giant, but something is wrong: it’s tearing itself apart, not as a supernova, but in some other, unknown way. Truthfully, the damage is done; the star has already released a massive shockwave that has destroyed the inner colonies, and is closing in on Tarsus Six. Ace wants to save everyone, but the Doctor sadly tells her they can’t—it’s too late.

Ships are fleeing the planet, some making it, some not. It’s the same on the station. The Doctor and Ace meet a ship captain, O1 (OhOne, indicating an unusual naming convention on this planet; his first officer is called K6, or KaySix). Masquerading as authorities from Earth, manage to get themselves onto the Obscura, the last ship leaving the station. They have the TARDIS brought aboard as well. On the way, Ace sees a group of cultists who worship the star and believe the shockwave will cause them to evolve. She makes contact with one girl in the group, 9J (NineJay), and at the last minute uses the ship’s transmat cubicle to bring her aboard and save her life—though it angers some of the passengers, who blame the cultists for the destruction of the star.

The ship, with the Doctor’s help, barely outruns the shockwave just as it destroys the station and Tarsus Six. The Doctor takes Ace to check on the TARDIS, and tells her that they are trapped for now, as the TARDIS can’t leave due to interference from the shockwave. She asks why they are here; he tells her they are here to rob a bank vault.

Ace is understandably disturbed, but the Doctor promises that they are not actually stealing; the artifact he wants belongs to him, sort of. It’s a cube called the Voice of Stone, in the locals’ vernacular. They had to come here, because the Voice’s location can only be verified here and now. The Doctor says it will speak to him, if he can get to it. They reach the vault, and Ace goes to distract a sound-seeking security drone that has been following them, thus buying them some time. The Doctor has found the vault to be already unlocked—and the Voice has been stolen. Suddenly the alarms go off, and they are arrested by the captain.

It is revealed that they are not diplomatic envoys. The Doctor reveals that the Voice is missing, and that they did not steal anything. They are interrupted when the engines suddenly fail. OhOne takes them with him to check the engines, as the door won’t lock without power; the Doctor restores the power, but the engines are still dead. The Doctor bargains for their freedom, in exchange for helping with the situation. KaySix discovers that the engines were actively sabotaged; security reveals that it was the girl, NineJay, whom Ace rescued. Ace goes to find her, and finds her in Ace’s stateroom. NineJay reveals she was sent to join the ship so she could disable it, thus allowing everyone aboard to die in the shockwave and evolve; she says she almost missed the ship, and is grateful that Ace helped her. Ace lectures her for taking the choice from everyone aboard, but NineJay is unpersuaded; and she reveals that she took the Voice of Stone, or rather, “set it free”. And now the shockwave is beginning to arrive; its outer fringes act as a warning shot against the ship. Time is running out.

NineJay gives the Voice to Ace, and reveals that she used the ventilation shafts to sneak around. The cube feels and seems to be alive; it reminds Ace of the TARDIS, and she thinks it is from Gallifrey. (In fact, it is a Gallifreyan hypercube, though Ace has never seen one before). It responds to her, stunning NineJay. KaySix arrives and tries to break into the stateroom; Ace escapes through the vents, with NineJay following.

As they make their way to the engine room, OhOne broadcasts an announcement, indicating that the ship cannot escape the shockwave. However, they have a plan to use the main power unit to create a counterforce that will shield them until the shockwave passes. The ship will then be adrift, but can be recovered later with its passengers. However, someone must stay with the power unit to trigger it, and will die in the process. OhOne volunteers.

Ace arrives after the power unit is launched. Ace tells the Doctor her story, and turns over the Voice to him. The wakes up. It releases an image of a strange man, who is revealed to be the Doctor (the Eleventh, to be specific), which speaks to both of them. It can’t hear them, but it remembers the conversation, and speaks accordingly. He acknowledges that he sent messages to the previous six, and asks the Seventh Doctor for help. The Seventh Doctor and Ace must save OhOne…who is on his way to die right now. He also tells the Seventh Doctor to be nicer to Ace. Ace realizes that this means the Doctor will survive…but what about anyone else?

The shockwave is arriving, just two minutes away. OhOne has activated the counterforce wall, and is still alive…but the Doctor insists there is no way to save him now. He must be there to keep it active. Ace suggests that someone could take his place, but the Doctor won’t let her do it. NineJay volunteers, however; she had long since chosen to die in the shockwave anyway. The Doctor is distrustful, thinking she will deactivate it and let everyone die; but she concedes that Ace was right to say that she can’t take the choice from everyone else. It’s a conflict of faith for her, not on her own behalf, but on that of everyone else. She transmats herself to the power unit, and transmats OhOne back.

With the shockwave passing by, the Doctor and Ace are free to go. Ace can’t help wondering if there’s some chance that NineJay was right—could she, somehow, have survived? They may never know. She cautions OhOne to be grateful—and maybe, he’ll return the favor for someone in the future. They leave him shocked at the sight of the departing TARDIS.

Cast

 * Ace - Sophie Aldred
 * Captain OhOne - Ian Brooker

Continuity

 * Ace recalls looking into the faces of Daleks (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) and Cybermen (TV: Silver Nemesis).
 * The Eleventh Doctor refers to sending messages to his first six incarnations. (AUDIO: Hunters of Earth, Shadow of Death, Vengeance of the Stones, Babblesphere, Smoke and Mirrors, Trouble in Paradise)