Primeval ( audio story ) Publisher ' s summary . Nyssa will die at dawn , and the Doctor doesn ' t even know why . To save her life , he must make a desperate journey to the only place in the universe where a cure might exist to heal her . When even that fails , the Doctor has a choice — let Nyssa die , or make a deal with the devil . After all , the road to hell is paved with good intentions . . . Plot . Part 1 . Nyssa has collapsed , and the Fifth Doctor needs help . He takes her to a healer named Shayla and her assistant Sabian for help , having already induced D - Sleep . It ’ s not her first collapse , but her recovery last time seems to be temporary . After Shayla stabilizes her , she meets with the Doctor , and takes him to see Nyssa . Nyssa awakens in the morning from a nightmare to find the Doctor beside her ; she recognises a bird outside the window as being from Traken . The Doctor explains that they are on Traken , but three thousand years prior to its destruction . He cautions her to keep the truth about their travels as vague as possible . Sabian arrives and sends the Doctor to Shayla , who must report his presences to the Consuls ; he offers to stay with Nyssa in the meantime . The Consuls , Hyrca and Janneus , are uncertain about the Doctor , and Janneus communes with the Source for more information while Hyrca guards her . It warns of danger , but doesn ’ t explain ; it cannot track the patterns involved . This turn of events makes them respond to the Doctor with some hostility . Shayla reports that Nyssa ’ s souls has been corroded by exposure to evil , which doesn ’ t fit with anything the Doctor has encountered before ; evil , he insists , is a relative concept , not an objective force like radiation . The Consuls insist that evil is in fact an objective force , and that the Source protects them from it , rendering Traken perfect ; the Doctor counters this by pointing out that even Traken has the death penalty . The Consuls conclude that the Doctor is jealous of the Trakenites . Later , the Doctor consults with Nyssa , who knows little of her own history , but acknowledges that Trakenites of the past were more superstitious — consistent with Shayla ’ s view that Nyssa has been corrupted with evil . Outside the Traken Union , a fleet of warships has waited for 2500 years , led by the living god Kwundaar . Kwundaar summons Captain Narthex , but he sends a young lieutenant , Anona , in his place . He will not allow her to look at him or speak to him . He reads her mind , and binds her to his service . He reveals that he intends to conquer Traken — Paradise , as he calls it — and claim the Source , which is also dangerous to him . He sends her back to Narthex ; she wonders why Kwundaar doesn ’ t go out to conquer . Narthex suspects he has an agent on Traken , as Kwundaar claims ; but also that the Consuls will attack soon . The Consuls meet secretly with Shayla and discuss the Doctor and Nyssa . Shayla , like Nyssa , believes the Doctor to be a good man , but the Consuls disagree . The Consuls decide to send the Doctor and Nyssa out of the Union . Shayla insists that Nyssa needs the Source to recover , but the Consuls insist they will kill Nyssa rather than let the Union be endangered . Elsewhere , Sabian tells the Doctor about the Source , a sentient , artificial sun . Shayla arrives , and as she explains the outcome of her meeting , Nyssa falls into a near - coma . Frustrated at the lack of knowledge of Nyssa ’ s condition , Shayla suggests something audacious : She suggests contacting Kwundaar , who is allegedly omniscient despite the terrible crimes of his followers . The Doctor agrees , but Shayla knows the Consuls will kill him if they find out he intends to contact Kwundaar ; therefore Shayla bribes a merchant captain at the spaceport to smuggle them out of the Union . After their departure , Nyssa awakens and speaks with Sabian , who lies — badly — about the Doctor ’ s whereabouts Hyrca interrupts them and summons them to a meeting to account for Shayla and the Doctor . En route to the meeting , she collapses again , sensing Kwundaar ’ s mental presence , coupled with danger for the Doctor . Meanwhile , the merchant ship is captured by Kwundaar ’ s forces as soon as it exits the Union ; Anona takes the Doctor and Shayla prisoner , and kills the crew . The Doctor is sent in alone to meet Kwundaar , who claims to know who the Doctor is and what he wants ; he will help , but it will cost . The Doctor challenges him to show his face , and he does — and the Doctor screams . Part 2 . After the Doctor stops screaming , more than an hour passes before Shayla is allowed to see him . He reveals that Kwundaar , a powerful telepath , had to push hard to break down the Doctor ’ s mental defences . Negotiations will resume when the Doctor recovers ; in the meantime , the Doctor debates what Kwundaar could want from him , and indeed , what Kwundaar is . Despite Shayla ’ s distrust of Narthex and Anona , the Doctor insists they are not evil so much as misguided by their lives , and he will save them if they can . On Traken , Nyssa attends the meeting with the Consuls , and offends them when she questions their blind reliance on the Source , which she insists is just a machine , free of morality ; they consider this heresy . They suggest that her evil is contagious , which they suspect prompted Shayla to flee ; they say they may have to kill her , which sends her into a rage and causes her to pass out again . The Doctor and Shayla try to reason with Anona and Narthex , but to no avail ; each for their own reasons , they are devoted to Kwundaar , and in their own contexts , their reasons are , well , reasonable . Kwundaar calls the Doctor back , and shows him the Traken Union from a distance ; he reveals that the light of the Source would destroy him , and yet he once walked on Traken . The Doctor refuses to help destroy the Source , regardless of the cost ; but Kwundaar , well aware of Traken ’ s future destruction and the Doctor ’ s involvement in it , doesn ’ t seek destruction as such . Instead , he seeks an item from the vault of the Source interface , and to that end he offers to strengthen Nyssa ’ s mind until the next day ; but he declines to tell the Doctor what he seeks . Meanwhile , Shayla — feeling chastised by Anona ’ s judgment of her — shares all the medical knowledge on her portable datapad with the ship ’ s computer ; but to her frustration , Anona scorns her for this . As Nyssa recovers , the Consuls adjourn until morning , and leave Sabian in charge of Nyssa . He takes her to an underground spa with a warm spring , which will aid her recovery ; the stream that feeds the spring , incidentally , passes by the vault of the Source interface . The warm waters help her to feel better , and she realises that the spa is an ancient temple of some sort ; Sabian says that it predates the Source . She feels fully restored , but doesn ’ t realise that it is due to Kwundaar rather than the spring . Back at Shayla ’ s house , they find the TARDIS missing ; the Consuls have quarantined it , and now intends to quarantine them , though their reasoning for imprisoning Sabian is very flimsy . The Doctor returns , and Kwundaar speaks through Anona to send him back to Traken . However , Kwundaar says that Shayla will stay as a slave , never to be returned to Traken ; the Doctor refuses to allow it , and flees with Shayla . He breaks into the merchant ship in the bay , threatening the crewmembers who try to stop them , and blasts his way out , damaging the flagship in the process . Narthex is angry about this , until Kwundaar reveals the truth : He has engineered everything , from Nyssa ’ s illness to now , in order to bring in the Doctor to serve his own purposes — and now , the Doctor will deliver Traken over to him . Part 3 . Arriving on Traken , the Doctor and Shayla are collected by the Consuls , who are confounded to see that no evil has yet arisen from their activities , despite their contact with the Union ’ s enemies . He asks to see Nyssa , and is granted permission ; she is fully recovered as yet , and is teaching Sabian to dance the Charleston . He explains that Trakenites of Nyssa ’ s era have been protected by the Source for so long that their mental defences have degraded ; however , he can teach her meditation techniques that will strengthen her defences . Before he can begin , he reports to the Consuls about Kwundaar ’ s fleet , which is preparing for war at the moment . He is dismayed to see that the Consuls are mostly uninterested ; once he has fully reported , they dismiss him , and order Shayla to ensure that he and Nyssa leave the Union . He offers to take Shayla with him , but she declines , though acknowledging Traken ’ s insularity . At last they depart in the TARDIS , leaving the Consuls debating among themselves about Kwundaar . Soon the Source begins to track preparatory activity in the fleet . The Doctor can ’ t simply leave , however . He rematerialises in the spa chamber , as he can ’ t fly directly to the Source interface vault . Using swim gear and artificial gills , he and Nyssa swim to the Source interface , and the Doctor notes that its vault is the same age as the temple structure at the spa . He grows curious about their origin and purpose . He is confounded by Kwundaar ’ s purpose ; there is nothing in the vault to be removed except the interface itself , and there is no Keeper in this age . He looks into the Source itself via the interface , using a combination given to him by Kwundaar to open its shield briefly , but has no idea how to proceed . He closes the shield , boosting its power for safety , and leaves with Nyssa , planning to go back to the TARDIS via the grove rather than the stream . Kwundaar joins Narthex on the bridge of the flagship and announces that the Doctor has done his part , and orders the fleet to attack . The Doctor and Nyssa are caught first by Sabian , then by a Foster named Etrayk , but are interrupted by a bombardment from above . The Doctor , Nyssa , and Sabian manage to hide , but Etrayk sounds the alarm , and is quickly captured by Kwundaar ’ s pirates under Anona . As the fleet destroys the spaceport , the Doctor realises that the Source ’ s light is not destroying the fleet as expected — and when the sun rises , it is jet black . It seems the Doctor ’ s efforts to strengthen the shield , rather than keeping Kwundaar out , have kept the light in ; and now Kwundaar is conquering Traken , and will take the Source . Part 4 . Shayla and Etrayk arrive at the Consular Chamber , and find Janneus and Hyrca helpless to stop the crisis , just before Narthex and Kwundaar transmat into the chamber . Kwundaar ’ s gaze drives Etrayk mad . Kwundaar orders his troops to shoot the Doctor on sight , but retracts the order , choosing to watch the Doctor die personally . In fear , Hyrca leads him to the Source interface , and Kwundaar secures the vault and sends Narthex for a device from the flagship . He orders that the civilians be unharmed , as they will make better slaves that way . The Doctor , meanwhile , moves to intercept Kwundaar , sending Nyssa via the spa and taking Sabian with him via the grove . They spot Kwundaar ’ s followers carrying the Source Manipulator to the vault ; he gives Sabian the code that must be put into the manipulator . Narthex captures them , stunning the Doctor , and orders Sabian to carry the Doctor ’ s unconscious form to the Consular Chamber . Nyssa encounters Anona at the spa ; she lies and says that the Doctor is swimming upstream to the vault . Anona dives in to follow , not realising that the water is infused with energy from the Source , which burns her . Nyssa wrestles away her gun and stuns her with it , then heads for the vault . Anona recovers enough to warn Narthex , who in turn warns Kwundaar , who already knows . Kwundaar meets Nyssa at the vault , and invades her mind , forcing her to operate the Manipulator so that the Source will accept Kwundaar ’ s control . He then sends Narthex to bring the Doctor . The Doctor , meanwhile , is recovering , and compares notes with Hyrca , who has lost hope . He realises that Kwundaar has been waiting outside the Union for 2532 years — exactly as long as the Source has been active . He does not know what Kwundaar was doing before that . Narthex brings the Doctor and Shayla to the vault , with Anona accompanying him . Nyssa is also recovering , and the Doctor suspects she is experiencing racial memories of past battles between the Trakenites and Kwundaar , with the Source as their weapon . However , Kwundaar insists that the Trakenites once worshipped him ; he gave them scientific skill , and they promptly used it to expel him . The spa and the vault were once his temple ; and he has returned for revenge . Just before entering the Source chamber , he orders Narthex and Anona to kill the survivors . Anona prepares to do so , but Narthex shoots her ; he has reconsidered his allegiance to Kwundaar , fearing for his family . As she dies , Anona shoots the Source Manipulator . Up above , in the Consular Chamber , Sabian argues with the Consuls , who reveal they have known the truth all along , though it has long been concealed from the public . Now , they are rationalising their actions in the face of their failure , preparing to hand their civilisation over to Kwundaar . Anona destroyed the control keyboard , but the device is intact . Narthex plans to cannibalise the keypad from the vault entrance door , but it will not be quick . The Doctor gives Nyssa the code and then goes to confront Kwundaar . Kwundaar tells him that he no longer seeks worship ; he just wants to destroy everything , and to that end he is using the Source to summon other exiled gods to his cause . He strikes the Doctor down , and leaves the chamber . Nyssa tries to psychically hold Kwundaar back , but he removes her psychic powers at once , and gets the code from her mind . He inputs the code , intending to lock the Source into its current configuration , then prepares to kill Narthex . However , the Doctor comes out , and is in control of the Source ; he reveals that he lied about the code , and rather than locking the Source , it transfers control to whomever is inside at the time it is entered . The Doctor uses the Source to restrain Kwundaar , while Nyssa uses the Manipulator to purge the Source of corruption . The Doctor sets the Source to re - open , and offers to let Kwundaar escape ; but Kwundaar declines , and stands fast , until the Source burns him away . The light does not burn Narthex , indicating he may be a good man , despite his past . The Doctor transfers control of the Source to Shayla , and then Nyssa enters the real lockdown code , making Shayla the first Keeper of Traken . Shayla chooses not to punish the Consuls , who have just seen all of Kwundaar ’ s followers dissolve in the Source ’ s light . Narthex leaves to recover and repatriate any of Kwundaar ’ s followers who may have survived , with the Doctor ’ s word to vouch for him when he returns . The Doctor offers to let Nyssa stay ; after all , Kwundaar did manage to summon other primeval adversaries , and they will be searching for the Doctor . She refuses , and chooses to stay with the Doctor regardless .