In the novel The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards, the Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Captain Jack Harkness land on the remote Novrosk Peninsula in Russia, where they encounter a squad of Special Forces led by Colonel Oleg Levin. The investigation centers on an ancient extraterrestrial spaceship buried beneath a decommissioned Soviet naval base, which is emitting a signal that drains the life force of nearby inhabitants, leaving them prematurely aged. This energy is harvested by the ship's remotes—gelatinous, blue-glowing entities—and a group of corrupt scientists who have used the technology to achieve a skeletal, parasitic form of immortality. Tensions rise as the Doctor must navigate the threats posed by the Russian military, the mutated scientists, and the hungry probes to shut down the ship's power. Ultimately, the heroes defeat the deviant strain of life, though the story ends on a somber note regarding the irreversible damage done to the local villagers.