The Armageddon Factor

Part One

[Landscape]

(In a futuristic landscape, a man and a woman in plastic clothes are having a romantic moment to piano accompaniment.)

HEROINE: Darling.
HERO: Oh, my love.
HEROINE: Don't go.
HERO: I must.
HEROINE: But you'll be killed!
HERO: Perhaps.
HEROINE: I can't bear it. I love you.
HERO: There is a greater love. Men out there, young men, are dying for it. Dying so that Atrios might live.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Atrios? Do you know, I've never actually been to Atrios.
ROMANA: Nor to Zeos?
DOCTOR: Where?
ROMANA: Atrios and Zeos. The twin planets on the edge of the helical galaxy. Didn't they teach you anything at the academy?
DOCTOR: Yes, but we're not going to Zeos.
ROMANA: No, we're going to Atrios.
DOCTOR: Well why don't you get on with it then?
ROMANA: Right.
DOCTOR: Atrios, K9. Atrios. I wonder what the inhabitants are like there?

[Hospital ward]

(The opening scene turns out to be from a patriotic soap opera playing out on a screen above a hospital bed in a squalid bunker. In contrast to the high-tech background we've just seen, this place is about Crimean standard.)

HERO [on screen]: You must be strong. We must all be strong and play our parts until victory is won, evil vanquished, and peace restored. Then, and only then, my darling, can we love again. I must go. Kiss the children for me. Tell them their daddy will return before long.

(Wheeeee Boom! A piece of the ceiling falls down on a couple of patients. The doctor runs over.)

MERAK: It's all right, it's all right.

(He, the nurse and another man go to move the concrete lintel that is dangling down.)

[Control area]

(Magnetic tapes whirl round in pseudo-IBM mainframe computers as reports come in.)

MAN [OC]: Area six obliterated.
MAN 2 [OC]: Section seven, heavy damage.
WOMAN [OC]: District ten, no contact.
MAN 3[OC]: Level fourteen holding.
MAN 4: Area two, no contact.
WOMAN 2: Heavy casualties through all upper levels.

(An elegant young woman in a long purple robe, yellow cape and with a gold circlet around her forehead stands in front of the Atrian symbol of a stylised eagle on the wall and listens impassively. Everyone say Hi! to Lalla Ward. On a chair a little way in front of her sits John Woodvine in a red military uniform with massive gold epaulettes, with his aide de camp, Shapp, standing beside him. Black uniformed guards stand around while grey suited workers collate information. A printout comes up on the viewscreen opposite the Marshal's seat. L/SIX X/Y 739 OBL N/OP BLDGNG DMGE95 OBL EX PERSL .97 FATS L/SEVEN X/Z 743 S/OBL N/OP BLDNG DMGE 79 OBL EX PERS .93 FATS TEN INCOMM INCOMM INCOMM INCOMM)

MARSHAL: Any news of our counterattack?
SHAPP: None, Marshal.
MARSHAL: What do you mean, none?
SHAPP: The fleet is still trying to locate the target, sir.
MARSHAL The target, Major Shapp, is Zeos! The planet. Isn't that big enough?
SHAPP: The navigation systems are being blocked, sir. The Zeons must be using a new device. The whole fleet's flying blind.
MARSHAL: Or have they all turned cowards? I want this attack pressed home, Shapp, before the Zeons smash us to pieces. Is that clear?
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MAN [OC]: Direct hit reported on hospital complex. Wards seven to ten destroyed.

(The young woman runs forward.)

ASTRA: I must go there.
GUARD: I'm sorry, your Highness, you can't leave without an escort. Marshal's orders.
ASTRA: Marshal, I insist on going to see the hospital immediately.
MARSHAL: Too dangerous.
ASTRA: The hospital's been hit!
MARSHAL So has everywhere else, your Highness. We're under nuclear attack.
ASTRA: How much longer are you going on with this futile war? Atrios is being destroyed around us. We must negotiate before it's too late. We must have peace.
MARSHAL: You don't beg for peace, Princess. You win it! Our counterattack is already underway. When it has succeeded, we shall have victory within our grasp. Then we shall have peace.
ASTRA: But don't you understand? We shall all be wiped out if we go on, Zeons and Atrions alike.
MARSHAL: I understand only my duty. And my duty as Marshal of Atrios is to prosecute this war to a successful conclusion. Yours is to uphold the people's morale and give them comfort.
ASTRA: Then let me go to the hospital. I can't do anything here.
MARSHAL: What's the situation, Shapp? Is this raid over?
SHAPP: Yes, sir, at least for the moment.
MARSHAL: Very well, your Highness. One of my guards will accompany you to the hospital. Where, no doubt, Surgeon Merak anxiously awaits you.

[Hospital ward]

MARSHAL [on screen]: People of Atrios, once more the hated forces of Zeos clamour at our gates. Once more, they shall not pass. Be brave, my people. Be steadfast, be strong.

[Hospital corridor]

MARSHAL [on screen]: This rain of death which the Zeons pour upon us, will it extinguish the flame of liberty, my people?
ASTRA: My people.
MARSHAL [on screen]: No, our sun will rise again, and Atrios from its ashes will rekindle a mighty resolve, an implacable wrath, crushing the hated Zeon beneath the heel of Atrios.

[Hospital ward]

(Astra and her guard enter the ward.)

MARSHAL [OC]: Even now we know the Zeon will to fight is failing. They cannot go on. Our ships dominate their skies. All I ask, my people, is that you, who have suffered so much, clench the jaw, grimly endure a short while more, until we can deliver the final blow which will bring Zeos to its knees. Victory will be ours.

(Patriotic music follows this Churchillian declamation.)

ASTRA: Surgeon Merak.
MERAK: Princess Astra.
ASTRA: Why must these brave men and women be left on the floor like rubbish?
MERAK: The wards are full, your Highness.
ASTRA: I see.
MERAK: Excuse me, your Highness, but I think your rad-check is due for renewal. Yes, if you'd just come this way.

(He leads her into a curtained-off alcove.)

[Ward store]

ASTRA: I was so worried. They told me your ward had been hit.
MERAK: Damaged but not destroyed.
ASTRA: And you?
MERAK: Luckier than many.
ASTRA: Oh, when will it all end?
MERAK: Have you been able to contact the Zeons?
ASTRA: The Marshal has me watched all the time.
MERAK: We must get through. It's the only way. Whether we're seen as traitors doesn't matter any longer.
ASTRA: I'll go on trying, but none of our messages seem to get through.
MERAK: Jammed from here?
ASTRA: No.
MERAK: Because if they were, it would mean the Marshal suspects us.
ASTRA: No, it's not that. He'd have arrested us. I sent the last message myself. There was no contact signal, no echo, no bounce-back, nothing. As if Zeos just wasn't there.

(Wheeeee Boom!)

MERAK: Zeos is there all right.

(The guard enters.)

GUARD: Behind schedule, your Highness.
ASTRA: Very well.
MERAK: You must take more care, Princess, and remember to keep your rad-check renewed.

[Control area]

MARSHAL: We're losing, Shapp.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: If we don't get this counterattack underway soon, we're finished.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: Still nothing from the fleet?
SHAPP: No, sir, they're still lost.
MARSHAL: We must discover whatever it is that's blocking our navigation systems.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. Whatever it is, it's certainly effective.
MARSHAL: How can the Zeons develop something like that and not us? What's gone wrong, eh?

[TARDIS]

(The TARDIS materialises in space.)

DOCTOR: There. We should be in parking orbit over Atrios. Let's see where we're going, shall we?
ROMANA: Why not?

(The scanner shows just stars.)

DOCTOR: That's odd. That's very odd. Wouldn't you say that was very odd?
ROMANA: That's very odd.
DOCTOR: I wonder what went wrong?
ROMANA: Better check the coordinates.
DOCTOR: Zero zero six nine. That's exactly what you gave me. Are you sure?
ROMANA: Quite sure. Something's gone astray.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, just a minute. There may have been a time shift. Let's take another reading.
ROMANA: Zero zero eight zero one zero zero four zero.
DOCTOR: Zero zero eight zero one zero. What a lot of zeroes. There it is!

(A small red planet is on the scanner.)

DOCTOR: Well. Well, it's something, anyway.
ROMANA: But it's millions of miles away.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: And where's Zeos? There's no sign of it.
DOCTOR: Do you know what I think? I think something's gone wrong. Something fairly serious.
ROMANA: The Black Guardian?
DOCTOR: Well, it could be a coincidence.
ROMANA: I wouldn't like to bet on it.
DOCTOR: No, nor would I. There's only one thing to do.
ROMANA: Listen, why don't you take us in on manual.
DOCTOR: I think I'll take us in on manual, with circumspection.
ROMANA: Right.

[Control area]

SHAPP: Marshal? I think we're getting something here.
MARSHAL: Ours or theirs?
SHAPP: It's hard to tell at this range, sir, but it's not a signal profile I know and it's hardly moving at all.
MARSHAL: A Zeon secret weapon?
SHAPP: It's possible, sir.
MARSHAL: The device that's been interfering with our navigation and targeting.
SHAPP: I can't tell yet, sir.
MARSHAL: Track it until it's within surface missile range, Shapp, and then we shall see.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: Destroy that, and we can still win. I'll show Princess Astra and her pacifist friends.

(He touches the skin behind his left ear and walks over to a mirror in an alcove, where he speaks to his reflection.)

MARSHAL: She's beginning to panic, becoming a thorn in my flesh, an irritant. She could be useful to my enemies. Something tells me her value to me may be at an end.

(The Marshal touches the place behind his ear again. Shapp is behind him.)

MARSHAL: Don't lose track of that Zeon device.
SHAPP: It may not be a Zeon
MARSHAL: Just don't lose it. Inform me as soon as it comes within missile range.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. Where will you be?
MARSHAL: I have to attend to (pause) a matter of state.

[Hospital corridor]

(Astra and her guard leave hospital areas A-G. The guard's comm. beeps and he touches her arm.)

GUARD: Excuse me, your Highness.

(She stops and he answers the call.)

GUARD: Yes? Yes, sir, she is. Yes, sir. Very good, sir. Will do, sir.
ASTRA: Well?
GUARD: There's been a change of plan, your Highness. Your visit to the children's ward has been cancelled.
ASTRA: Why?
GUARD: A danger of subsidence, your Highness. The recent attack.
ASTRA: But what about the children?
GUARD: They're being evacuated. We're to go to K block so that you can welcome them into their new quarters.
ASTRA: I thought K block was closed down years ago because of radiation contamination.
GUARD: Apparently it's clear now, your Highness. This way, please.

[Control area]

(Shapp uses his comm.)

SHAPP: Inform the Marshal our unidentified target will be within range within two minutes.

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: Well, there's still no sign of Zeos, but I'm picking up a reading for Atrios' twin. (whistles)
DOCTOR: What's the matter?
ROMANA: Look. Radiation levels you wouldn't believe.
DOCTOR: Good heavens. You could fry eggs in the street.
ROMANA: But that means
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: There must be a huge nuclear war going on down there.
DOCTOR: Not at all, no.
ROMANA: Well, what else could it be?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Probably someone giving a huge breakfast party. Think positive. Why do you always assume the worst?
ROMANA: Because it usually happens.
DOCTOR: Empirical poppycock. Where's your joy in life? Where's your optimism?
ROMANA: It opted out.
K9: Optimism. Belief that everything will work out well. Irrational, bordering on insane.
DOCTOR: Oh do shut up, K9. Listen, Romana. Whenever you go into a new situation you must always believe the best until you find out exactly what the situation's all about, then believe the worst.
ROMANA: Ah, but what happens if it turns out not to be the worst after all?
DOCTOR: Don't be ridiculous, it always is. Isn't it, K9?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Still, nuclear war. It's always difficult walking into these situations. You never know who's fighting who.
ROMANA: Or why.
DOCTOR: Oh, I think I can say why.
ROMANA: Why?
DOCTOR: Why? Why, it's got to be, hasn't it? It's got to be something to do with the sixth and most important segment of the Key to Time, hmm?

[Outside K block]

(An even more battered bit of underground corridor than in the hospital area.)

GUARD: This way, Princess. The children will be waiting for you.

(He opens the door to K block. It creaks.)

GUARD: You must go in. Please, your Highness. I'm only obeying orders.
ASTRA: Yes, I understand.

(She marches into K block, and the guard closes the doors behind her. The Marshal kills him with a green flashing light. Inside the room, Astra's radiation detector on her wrist beings to beep, and flash red. She tries the door but cannot get out.)

[Control area]

(The Marshal enters.)

MARSHAL: All well, Shapp?
SHAPP: Yes, sir. It's still there, not moving at all.
MARSHAL: It could be on surveillance.
SHAPP: Yes, sir, monitoring and observing.
MARSHAL: Hmm. Is it within range?
SHAPP: Just.
MARSHAL: Then it won't be on surveillance much longer. Vapourise it.
SHAPP: Perhaps we should try to capture it, sir?
MARSHAL: That's probably exactly what they want us to do. Vapourise it now!
SHAPP: Yes, sir.

(Shapp reaches over to a minion's control panel and presses a red button. Somewhere a missile lifts off.)

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: Doctor, look, something's approaching us from the planet surface.
DOCTOR: A welcoming party, do you think? K9? K9, what do you make of that?
K9: Missile identified. Nuclear warhead.
ROMANA: What? Let's get out of here.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no, no. Wait. We'll dematerialise at the last moment. Let whoever's shooting at us think they've hit us. Always confuse the enemy.
ROMANA: If you say so.
DOCTOR: Right, link that tracer in. I want to land as close as possible to the sixth segment. The less time we spend on Atrios, the better.
ROMANA: Right. Ready.
DOCTOR: Standing by? K9, how long to impact?
K9: Three, two, one.
DOCTOR: What?

(KaBOOM! A lovely fireball in the vacuum of space.)

[Control area]

MARSHAL: Got it! We got it! Smashed it, vapourised it! Beautiful. You've earned yourself a medal, Shapp.
SHAPP: Thank you, sir, but I don't know.
MARSHAL: What do you mean, you don't know?
SHAPP: Whether we got it.
MARSHAL: I saw it with my own eyes. Beautiful direct hit. It's what it's all about.
SHAPP: Yes, sir, but I could swear that the target disappeared before impact.
MARSHAL: Nah.

[Outside K block]

(The TARDIS parks herself in a passageway with bits of debris hanging from the ceiling.)

ROMANA: Oh no.
DOCTOR: No, no, don't say it, please.
ROMANA: Don't say what?
DOCTOR: Don't say another underground passage.
ROMANA: Well, I wonder how deep we are this time?
DOCTOR: Yes. K9? K9, are you still sulking in there? Come on out. No water or swamps. It's quite safe.

(Wheeeee BOOM! K9 speaks in very speeded up words.)

ROMANA: What did he say?
DOCTOR: I don't know. What did you say?
K9: Master, radiation levels indicate nuclear warfare in progress on planet surface.
ROMANA: What? How deep are we?
K9: Four hundred metres below, master.
DOCTOR: Four hundred metres? They are taking a pasting. If it's like this down here, imagine what it's like on the surface.
ROMANA: Surely nothing can live in this? The radiation levels alone
K9: Radiation levels are variable. No sign of immediate life. The corpse on the left, however, is recent.
ROMANA: What?

(The corpse is the guard.)

DOCTOR: You're right, K9. He hasn't been dead. Shot, poor chap.
ROMANA: At close range, from the front.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Must have been one of his friends. Just goes to show, you can't trust anyone nowadays.
ROMANA: I don't think I'm going to like this place very much.
DOCTOR: No. Let's locate the sixth segment and get out of here.
ROMANA: I'm with you all the way. Through there.

(The doors to K block.)

DOCTOR: Locked and lead. What does that suggest to you?
ROMANA: High radiation zone?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Any sentient life through there, K9?
K9: Regret lead shielding will prevent effective analysis.
DOCTOR: Yes, it's well guarded, or at least it was. Perhaps the door's booby-trapped.
ROMANA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: Remember what we were saying about the Black Guardian?
DOCTOR: Yes. What? Will you come into my parlour said the spider to the fly?
ROMANA: Very apt.
DOCTOR: I think we should tread very carefully. K9?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Could you make a hole for me in that door, K9? A little, little hole, K9. We don't know what's beyond there, do we.

(What's beyond there is a despondent Astra, hugging her knees in the corner.)

[Control area]

(The Marshal is staring at his reflection again.)

SHAPP: Sir? Marshal?

(Shapp taps the Marshal's shoulder to get his attention.)

MARSHAL: Never do that.
SHAPP: I'm sorry, sir.
MARSHAL: I was (pause) thinking. Well, Shapp, good news? The fleet?
SHAPP: No, sir, not yet.
MARSHAL: Well, what is it, man?
SHAPP: The alarm sensors in K block, sir.
MARSHAL What about K block?
SHAPP: Sensors indicate an attempted break-in. Now why would anyone want to attempt to break in to the high radiation zone, risk certain death?
MARSHAL: Seal it off, Shapp. Seal all exits immediately. I'll deal with this myself, you understand?
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: No one else is to be involved. And bring that traitor Merak here, now.

(The Marshal leaves.)

SHAPP: Merak?

[Outside K block]

DOCTOR: That's enough, K9, that's enough. Back up.

(The Doctor looks through the hole K9 has burned in the metal door, and sees Astra's eye looking back at him.)

ASTRA [OC]: Help me, whoever you are.
DOCTOR: Romana, there's a
ROMANA: There's a what?
DOCTOR: There's a man standing behind you. Get your hands up.

(It's the Marshal and his weapon.)

MARSHAL: Who are you?
DOCTOR: We're travellers. We seem to be lost, actually. He's dead.
MARSHAL: You'll be shot for this.
ROMANA: It wasn't us. He was like that when we found him.
MARSHAL: You expect me to believe that?
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: No. Yes.
ROMANA: No.

(The Marshal gestures for the Doctor and Romana to walk ahead of him. K9 is left behind in the shadows. Astra lies down on the floor. There is another explosion, and falling debris stops K9 from following the Doctor.)

[Control area]

MARSHAL: What were you doing at that door?
DOCTOR: I've told you. We were trying to avoid the bombardment. I thought that door might lead to the way out.
MARSHAL: That door leads to certain death.
DOCTOR: What? He saved our lives.
MARSHAL: You're obviously Zeon spies.
DOCTOR: Spies? Do we look like spies?
ROMANA: No.
DOCTOR: I though spies looked kind of inconspicuous.

(Shapp enters.)

SHAPP: Surgeon Merak, sir.
MARSHAL: Good. These are the intruders who were caught trying to break into K block.
SHAPP: Who are they? What do they want?
MARSHAL: Precisely what I intend to find out before I execute them. Bring in Merak.
MERAK: Marshal, I've got a hundred patients waiting.
MARSHAL: Then they'll have to wait. Do you know these people?
MERAK: No, should I?
MARSHAL: I think you do. I think they are your accomplices.
MERAK: What?
MARSHAL: Zeon spies and saboteurs.
MERAK: What's that got to do with me?
MARSHAL: Princess Astra is missing. She was last seen with you. Since then, her escort has been found dead.
MERAK: We must find her. Are you searching for her?
MARSHAL: Everything possible is being done. Now Merak, I know you don't agree with my conduct of this war.
MERAK: I don't agree with war, nor does Astra.
MARSHAL: I think it's possible that you might have been foolish enough, misled no doubt by the noblest of motives, to cooperate with the enemy. Am I right?
MERAK: No, Marshal, you're wrong.
MARSHAL: It would be much better for you to admit everything. I arrested these two myself, standing over the body of the Princess's escort.
DOCTOR: I told you, we're not even armed. Look, nothing, just a whistle. Care for a blow? Go on.

(The Marshal takes the Doctor's dog whistle.)

MARSHAL: Shapp.

(Shapp blows the whistle. They hear nothing, of course.)

MARSHAL: Bah, it's useless. Don't play the fool with me.

(The Marshal drops the whistle and the Doctor picks it up again.)

MARSHAL: What is the purpose of your visit?
DOCTOR: Tourism.
MARSHAL: In the middle of a nuclear war?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I run this small agency, you see. Trips to battlefields future and past. How civilisations died. It's very profitable. Isn't it very profitable, Romana?
ROMANA: Oh, absolutely. It's very educational.
MARSHAL: For the last time, what are you doing here?
DOCTOR: Looking for a key.

(Inside K block, a piece of the wall slides back and something lights up in an alcove near the feverish Princess Astra. Meanwhile, K9 is homing in on the source of the dog whistle.)

MARSHAL: Everything you've told me is obviously a pack of lies. It's clear to me that you are Zeon spies. You've murdered one of my guards, abducted the Princess Astra, no doubt with the collusion of Surgeon Merak here. Unless you divulge her whereabouts, you will be executed immediately as spies. Now is that clear?
DOCTOR: Beautifully put, I thought.
MARSHAL: Well?

(The Doctor looks round and sees K9 entering.)

DOCTOR: I'm sorry, I don't think we can help you.
MARSHAL: Is that your last word?
DOCTOR: No.
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: No, I sincerely hope not, but I think we've been here long enough.
MARSHAL: Stay where you are!
DOCTOR: Listen, we tell you the truth and you don't believe us. You accuse us of crimes we haven't committed, and now you're going to have us shot. I think after a long journey that's a bit too much, Marshal. K9, lights!

(K9 shoots the light out.)

DOCTOR: Goodbye, Marshal. Come on.
MARSHAL: Stop them! Stop them!

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: Come on, run.
ROMANA: Where to?
DOCTOR: Back to the TARDIS.

(Meanwhile, a figure dressed in black and wearing a black mask drags Princess Astra into the alcove. The wall shuts again. Inside the alcove, they vanish.)

[Outside K block]

ROMANA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: The TARDIS! It's gone!
Part Two

[Outside K block]

(The Doctor and Romana stare at a wall of fallen brick, stone and wood.)

DOCTOR: Yes, buried under that rubble.
ROMANA: Then we're trapped. There's no way out.
DOCTOR: There's always a way out, if only we can find it.
ROMANA: Yes, and if one has time. Those guard'll be after us any minute.
DOCTOR: Possibly, possibly. K9's watching our rear.
ROMANA: Shush, someone's coming.

(They hide, then pounce on Merak.)

DOCTOR: Oh, it's you.
MERAK: Where is she? Where's Astra?
ROMANA: We don't know.
DOCTOR: Just a minute, just a minute. Why do you want to know?
MERAK: I love her.
ROMANA: Oh.
DOCTOR: Ah. Oh. Oh, well, just before the Marshal arrested us, I did find somebody, and judging from the voice it was certainly a young woman.
MERAK: Where? Where?
DOCTOR: She was through there.
MERAK: That's a high radiation zone!
DOCTOR: No, no, no, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'll take a look.

(The Doctor peeks through the hole burnt through the door. K9 arrives.)

DOCTOR: I can't see anything. K9, any sign of our pursuers?
K9: Negative, master. They went the other way.
DOCTOR: Good. Now listen, K9. K9, we want this door open, but be careful. There may be someone on the other side.
K9: Understood, master.
DOCTOR: Come on.
MERAK: What is it?
ROMANA: It's all right, he won't hurt you. He's with us.
MERAK: Who are you? Are you Zeons?
DOCTOR: No, no, no, of course not, but we're friendly. Don't worry about that. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: Keep an eye out round the corner. Come here, Merak.
ROMANA: Right.
DOCTOR: Why would the Marshal want to get rid of Astra?
MERAK: The Marshal? What makes you think he's involved?
DOCTOR: Too many coincidences. Well?
MERAK: Astra and I were trying to make contact with the Zeons to try and make peace. The Marshal knows. He wants the war to go on, of course.
DOCTOR: Of course.
MERAK: How much longer?
K9: Twelve point two three seconds.
MERAK: Well, I knew I was in danger, but I thought Astra was safe. The Marshal always said that he needed her support, her influence with the people.
DOCTOR: Yes. Is there any other reason why the Marshal would want to get rid of her?
MERAK: None that I can think of, no.
K9: Ready, master.
DOCTOR: Good. Romana? Ready?

[K block]

(The Doctor bursts into the room.)

MERAK: She's not here.

(Romana uses the tracer.)

DOCTOR: Anything?
ROMANA: Nothing.
MERAK: Here's something.

(It is Astra's gold circlet on the floor.)

MERAK: Look, this is hers.
ROMANA: Then she was here.
DOCTOR: Yes.
K9: Danger, master. It is dangerous to remain in this environment.
MERAK: Astra, she must be here. She must be.
K9: Radiation levels excessive.
ROMANA: Look, Merak, we can't do anything by staying here.
MERAK: If Astra's been
ROMANA: No.
MERAK: Then I will stay with her.
DOCTOR: Merak, Merak. People aren't dissolved by radiation. You're a surgeon. You should know that. If she's not here, she must be somewhere else.
MERAK: Astra.
ROMANA: Come on, Merak, worrying won't help. Let's just get out of here before it's too late.
DOCTOR: K9. K9, keep an eye on that wall.
K9: Master.

[Outside K block]

DOCTOR: Merak, do you know if there's anything behind that room?
MERAK: Nothing but a recycling shaft. This area's been disused for years. Radiation leak.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: Well, she can't have been there for very long, but how did she get out?
DOCTOR: They could have moved her while we were with the Marshal. They moved the guard's body. On the other hand.
ROMANA: On the other hand what?
DOCTOR: Well, on the other hand, anything's possible. Well almost. Merak, a recycling shaft? Recycling what, exactly?
MERAK: Scrap metal waste for the war effort. Everything metal gets put down the shaft to be recycled in the furnaces. Why?
DOCTOR: Oh, just general interest. Come on, let's go.
ROMANA: Where to?
DOCTOR: Well, if there's no way out there's only one thing to do.
ROMANA: What's that?
DOCTOR; Go back the way we came. I'd like to find out what that Marshal's really up to. Come on.

[Control area]

(Once again, Shapp struggles to attract the Marshal's attention as he stares at his reflection.)

SHAPP: Ahem.
MARSHAL: Well?
SHAPP: We've got them on scan, sir. Surgeon Merak's with them.
MARSHAL: That traitor. And that machine of theirs?
SHAPP: No sign of it at the moment, sir.
MARSHAL: Have them picked up.
SHAPP: No need, sir. They're coming this way.

(The Marshal rubs behind his left ear.)

MARSHAL: That machine of theirs. Metal, would you say?
SHAPP: Partly, yes, sir.
MARSHAL: Recycle it, Shapp. Locate it and turn it into scrap, understood?
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
(The Marshal turns back to look at his reflection again.
In K block, a small hole appears in the wall opposite the door. K9 turns to see red flashing light behind it.
Shapp returns to the Marshal.)
SHAPP: Got a fix on it now, sir. In K block.
MARSHAL: Get rid of it.

(The wall section in K block rises, and K9 follows a red glowing symbol through it. The wall closes behind him.)

SHAPP: We've got the machine, sir. It's en route to the recycling furnace.
MARSHAL: Good. Shapp, when you find the others, treat them properly.
SHAPP: No softening up, sir?
MARSHAL: No, Shapp. No brutality.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.

(Shapp moves away.)

MARSHAL: Not yet.

[Conveyer belt]

(K9 is being moved along with all the other metal scrap.)

K9: Blaster inoperative. All other circuits undamaged. Temperature increasing.

[Corridor]

(Romana is still waving the tracer about.)

MERAK: What are you doing?
ROMANA: Looking for something.
MERAK: What?
ROMANA: I wish I knew. All I know is that this will tell us when we find it.
MERAK: And that's why you're here?
ROMANA: Yes.
MERAK: Not to help us?
ROMANA: Look, we will if we can. You'll just have to trust us, Merak. Will you?
MERAK: What else can I do?
ROMANA: Tell me, apart from that circlet that Astra wears, is there anything else that she always wears or carries?
MERAK: Not that I can think of, no.
ROMANA: I see.
DOCTOR: Come on!

(They pass a notice saying War Operations Restricted Area authorised personnel only and meet armed guards.)

GUARD: You, stop! Take them. Come on, move.
DOCTOR: Where are we going?
GUARD: The Marshal wants to see you now.
DOCTOR: That's funny, I want to see the Marshal. Come on, let's move.

[Control area]

DOCTOR: So nice of you to invite us back.
SHAPP: Those two, wait over there. You, come with me.
DOCTOR: Listen, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm the Doctor. Who are you?
SHAPP: Major Shapp. This way.

(The Doctor follows Shapp to the mirror alcove.)

DOCTOR: Ah, Marshal. I understand you've got a few problems and I was thinking that if you and I got together we, er, Marshal? Marshal? Is he all right?
SHAPP: Shush.

(They move away from the alcove.)

SHAPP: He's meditating.
DOCTOR: What? Does he do it often?
SHAPP: When things are not going well. He makes most of his decisions this way.
DOCTOR: No wonder thing's aren't going well. Standing in front of a mirror gimbling and smiling at himself like that is the first sign of megalomania. He's not a ventriloquist, is he?
SHAPP: A what?
DOCTOR: A ventriloquist. A chap who throws his voice, you know. Throws his voice. Has a dummy. Operates a dummy. A dummy. A dummy. A dummy, of course!

(The Marshal turns round.)

DOCTOR: Ah, Marshal.
MARSHAL: Welcome, my friend.
DOCTOR: Friend? The last time I came here, you wanted to shoot me.
MARSHAL: A misunderstanding. I apologise.
DOCTOR: Ah, well, fancy you mistaking me for a Zeon. Really, Marshal.
MARSHAL: I had forgotten.
DOCTOR: Forgotten?
MARSHAL: That you had been foretold. Your coming had been foretold.
DOCTOR: We had? You mean that we were expected?
MARSHAL: It's the war. This endless war occupied my thoughts to the exclusion of all else.
DOCTOR: Yes, I understand how you feel, Marshal.
MARSHAL: Now that you are here, you are the one.
DOCTOR: I am. Am I?
MARSHAL: The one who will lead us to victory.
DOCTOR: Oh, good-o. As long as there's no personal risk involved, of course.
MARSHAL: To halt the hated Zeons in their tracks, wipe their presence from our skies, and free this land, this world, this Atrios
DOCTOR: This blessed plot.

(You can't beat a bit of Shakespeare for patriotic speeches.)

MARSHAL: Good, good. This blessed plot from the terrors of war and the evils of pestilence.
DOCTOR: Yes! No, I prefer the original.
MARSHAL: You, Doctor, you shall give us our victory.
DOCTOR: Yes. But listen, before I do, what happens if I don't?
MARSHAL: The question doesn't arise.
DOCTOR: Oh well, I'm very grateful for your confidence, Marshal. I'll see what I can manage. Er, we're not under arrest, then?
MARSHAL: Oh, my dear Doctor.
DOCTOR: Listen, I shall need to know the situation. The basic situation.
MARSHAL: Of course. Shapp?
SHAPP: We've located the Zeon fleet, sir.
MARSHAL: Then stand by to counterattack. Come, Doctor. Come, you shall see it all.

(The Doctor sits in the Marshal's chair and watches the viewscreen.)

[Conveyer belt]

K9: Temperature unacceptable. Request further instructions. Master? Master?

[Control area]

MARSHAL: Now, Doctor, you shall see the mighty battlefleet of Atrios, the weapons that are available to you.
DOCTOR: Me?
MARSHAL: The new architect of our victory. Shapp, order the counterattack.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. Base to fleet, commence attack. Attack, attack, attack.
PILOT [OC]: Closing. Closing. Range four thirty. Fire zero four. Hold on seven zero. Ranging, ranging. Target acquisition. Fire now. Report RDF and maintain attitude four three break zero six. Closing.

(Two sets of dots move in from the sides of the viewscreen. One vastly outnumbers the other.)

PILOT [OC]: Closing. We have full combat state on all sectors.
DOCTOR: Six ships? Is that it? The mighty battlefleet of Atrios?
MARSHAL: It does the people no good to know the truth, Doctor. They live on hope, nothing else. It's been a long, hard struggle. Production is slow, losses are crippling, but we fight on. That's the main thing.
DOCTOR: Why?
MARSHAL: To win. What else? War is an expensive business, Doctor, but worth it. Now look. Look.
PILOT [OC]: Zero to control, zero to control.

(A Zeon dot flares and disappears.)

SHAPP: A hit, sir. A hit, confirmed.
MARSHAL: And another.
SHAPP: One of ours, sir. That's zero four, sir.
MARSHAL: And that?
SHAPP: Zero six, sir.
PILOT [OC]: Power loss on main guide system. Blue leader, attack, attack.
SHAPP: Shall I pull them out?
MARSHAL: Never.
PILOT [OC]: Zero three, answer, answer.
MARSHAL: Press home the attack.
PILOT [OC]: Request permission to abandon ship. Zero three, answer, answer.
SHAPP: Zero two's gone, sir.
MARSHAL: What in the name of Atrios is the matter with them all? Why? Why?
PILOT [OC]: Permission to use escape module.
SHAPP: It's inexperience, sir. Brave but barely trained. The best crews went a long time ago.
PILOT [OC]: Immediate reply. Request permission to use escape pod.
MARSHAL: Pull them out.
SHAPP: All units disengage. All units disengage.
PILOT [OC]: Break off. Break off action. Break off immediately. Break off.
MARSHAL: Three ships left out of a once proud battlefleet of hundreds. Three. You see now why we need your help. We must have the weapon that will wipe the Zeons clear of our skies once and for all. Can you provide it?
DOCTOR: Yes, I think so.
MARSHAL: What is it?
DOCTOR: Peace.
MARSHAL: Very funny. How can we have peace until we have the ultimate deterrent that will ensure a lasting peace?
DOCTOR: Tell me, Marshal. If you had this ultimate deterrent, what would you do?
MARSHAL: Use it, of course. Make sure it works.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, you have a true military mind, Marshal.
MARSHAL: Thank you.
DOCTOR: I'll tell you what I'll do. You help me find the S, you help me find the Princess Astra and I'll knock you up a deterrent. How's that?
MARSHAL: I like you, Doctor.

[Conveyer belt]

K9: Overheating. Overheating.

[Control area]

DOCTOR: Oh yes, I think I can do something for you.
MARSHAL: It must be the ultimate deterrent.
DOCTOR: Oh, it will be, it will be. A sort of parasol affair.
MARSHAL: What?
DOCTOR: Well, a sort of umbrella forcefield, you know, that no Zeon ship can penetrate.
MARSHAL: Oh, so we can attack, they can't retaliate.
DOCTOR: Well, not quite. I mean, they can't get in but you can't get out.
MARSHAL: Then how do we win?
DOCTOR: Well, I mean
MARSHAL: We must have victory.
DOCTOR: Well, there's always a snag, I mean, but I'll work on it. Look, I'll need K9.
MARSHAL: K9?
DOCTOR: Yes, my computer. The one you thought was a weapon.
MARSHAL: Well, Shapp?
SHAPP: It's too late, sir. It's on the way to the furnace.
DOCTOR: Furnace? What furnace?
SHAPP: Recycling. We recycle all scrap.
DOCTOR: Scrap! Where is this furnace? Where is this furnace?

(Shapp points to the door, the Doctor runs through it.)

[Conveyor belt]

(Bits of scrap are starting to tumble off the end of the conveyor belt.)

K9: Closing down.

(K9 tumbles off the end as the Doctor crawls along towards him.)

[Outside the recycling shaft]

(The sign below the dial which is in the red says Danger Recycling Shaft No Admittance.)

MARSHAL: Close down the furnace.
SHAPP: I already have, sir.
MARSHAL: The Doctor must not die. Not yet.
SHAPP: It takes weeks to cool down, sir.
MARSHAL: The Doctor must not die!
SHAPP: There'll be nothing left but slag and clinker. I'm sorry, sir.
MARSHAL: Sorry? Sorry?

(The Marshal grabs Shapp round the throat, then pulls at his own collar, revealing a blinky device fastened to his own neck. The door to the shaft opens in a cloud of smoke.)

ROMANA: Oh! Oh, K9, are you all right?
K9: Affirmative, mistress.

(The smoke starts to clear to reveal the Doctor carrying K9.)

DOCTOR: Warm for the time of the year. It's a little trick I picked up from the fire-walkers in Bali. They do it all the time. Come on, old boy.

[Control area]

(They walk straight back in.)

MARSHAL: He's not even singed, My apologies, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, that's all right. We all make mistakes sometimes, don't we, K9?

(K9 is still smoking from his muzzle.)

K9: Negative.
DOCTOR: Yes, now listen, Marshal. If you're going to insist we do this your way
MARSHAL: I do.
DOCTOR: I thought you might. Now listen. If we're going to set up a one-way forcefield, one that keeps the Zeons out but allows you to pass through it to attack them, we're going to have to get to know our enemy, so to speak.
MARSHAL: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: I was thinking in terms of a psychological barrier. It's cheap, efficient and energy saving, and it would stop the Zeons wanting to come here. Introduce an element of iatrophobia?
ROMANA: Oh, what a brilliant idea!
MARSHAL: Go on.
DOCTOR: Yes, but to that I'd have to meet one, you see, get to know it. Brain patterns, that sort of thing. Isn't that right, Romana?
ROMANA: Oh, absolutely. There's no other way.
DOCTOR: Now, Marshal, can you arrange that?
MARSHAL: No, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Look, it doesn't have to be anything particularly intelligent. Any prisoner would do.
MARSHAL: There are no prisoners. This is war to the death. Like us, the Zeon warriors are sworn to destroy themselves. Death before dishonour.
DOCTOR: Well, if you can't find me a Zeon, I'll have to think of something else.
MARSHAL: Time is running short, Doctor.
ROMANA: How right you are. Any news of Astra?
MARSHAL: Intelligence reports suggest that she's been abducted by Zeons. If that's the case then I'm afraid
DOCTOR: Quite, quite, Marshal. Marshal, would you excuse us please?
MARSHAL: Certainly.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
SHAPP: Marshal. Zeon fleet closing again.

(The Doctor and Romana move to one side to whisper to each other. Merak listens.)

ROMANA: Doctor, when you went into the furnace after K9, the Marshal almost went berserk at the thought you might be killed.
DOCTOR: He did? How very considerate of him.
ROMANA: No, it wasn't. Because what he said was, the Doctor must not die. Not yet.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: And listen, I saw something at his throat like a little black cylinder.
DOCTOR: What, a device of some sort? Something you weren't meant to see?
ROMANA: Yes, yes, I'm sure of it.
DOCTOR: A control device?
ROMANA: Yes. If the Marshal's a puppet, who's pulling the strings?
DOCTOR: Yes, and what's behind that mirror he's so fond of looking at?
MERAK: Questions, questions.
ROMANA: Shush.
MERAK: And no answers.

(Boom!)

MERAK: We're no closer to finding Astra or whatever it is you're looking for. Well, are we?
DOCTOR: Merak, I believe we're closer to finding Princess Astra than we realise. What worries me is, are we supposed to?
ROMANA: A trap.
DOCTOR: Who's pulling the wool over who's eyes? Are we supposed to fall for the Marshal's bluff or is he supposed to fall for our?
MERAK: Listen, Doctor, you said a minute ago that we were close to finding Astra. Please tell me where she is or where you think she is.
DOCTOR: It wouldn't make any difference. Even if I told you, you couldn't reach her.
MERAK: Why not?
DOCTOR: Because I think that Astra's on Zeos.
ROMANA: Doctor, you're forgetting something. We haven't been able to locate Zeos, not from the TARDIS or from anywhere.
DOCTOR: Zeos is there all right, it's just you can't see it.
ROMANA: Why not?

(The Doctor moves a step back and puts his hand in front of his face.)

DOCTOR: Can you see me now?
ROMANA: No.
DOCTOR: Why not?
ROMANA: Because your hand's in. Oh, you mean there's something between us and Zeos.
DOCTOR: Right.
ROMANA: That would account for the orbital shift. But why can't we see whatever's in the way?
DOCTOR: Because it's absorbing the light or energy. Or else it's camouflaged.
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: No, no, no. Maybe it's large, or perhaps its small.
ROMANA: How can you be so sure?
DOCTOR: How could Columbus be so sure.
ROMANA: Who?
DOCTOR: Never mind about that.
MERAK: But Astra said that she couldn't get a signal back from Zeos. Where do we start?
DOCTOR: Behind that mirror over there. There's bound to be another entrance. You and Romana go over there and see what you can find.
ROMANA: Right.

(Merak and Romana stroll over to the mirror alcove.)

MARSHAL: Reinforcements!
SHAPP: There aren't any, sir.
MARSHAL: Deploy the reserves!
SHAPP: I already have, sir.
MARSHAL: Then we're defenceless.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. We've thrown everything we can at them and still they keep coming.
MAN [OC]: Fire in section seven.
MARSHAL: This could be the last battle, Shapp.
MAN [OC]: No response, level three.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MAN [OC]: Collapse in eight.
MARSHAL: Where's that Doctor?
DOCTOR: Here.

(The Doctor is reading printouts.)

MAN [OC]: No response level fourteen.
MARSHAL: Can we have that forcefield now? We've committed everything. We're being obliterated. We've nothing left. It's our last hope.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no. I've worked it all out.
MAN [OC]: Radiation levels
DOCTOR: The problem is energy. If we're using energy to neutralise mass, which is all a forcefield is, we need enough energy or power erg-wise to counteract the Zeon bombardment mass-wise
MARSHAL: So, I'll give you absolute energy priority.
DOCTOR: It won't work. Look, K9's worked it all out.
K9: Affirmative. The more you use, the more you need. You'd have to consume the whole of Atrios to give it an effective forcefield.
DOCTOR: Which rather defeats the purpose.
MARSHAL: Why?
DOCTOR: Because you wouldn't have a planet to live on.
MARSHAL: Then we are defenceless.
DOCTOR: No, no, not quite, not quite. You remember I mentioned a psychological barrier, a deterrent that no Zeon would cross?
MARSHAL: Yes, but you need Zeons to experiment on.
DOCTOR: No, I think I said examine.
MARSHAL: There are no Zeons.
DOCTOR: There are on Zeos.
MARSHAL: What exactly are you proposing?
DOCTOR: I go to Zeos, pick up a Zeon, and bring the Princess Astra back if she's there.
ASTRA [on viewscreen]: People of Atrios, lay down your arms. Surrender. Resistance is useless. The Zeons can never be defeated. They have taken me captive. My people, my people, they have sworn to destroy Atrios unless you surrender now. If you love me, my people, save me. Save yourselves. Hand over the Marshal and surrender. Surrender now. The war is over. The Zeons

(The Marshal pulls the plug on the viewscreen.)

MARSHAL: This forcefield. Can you provide it now? Will it give us breathing space?
DOCTOR: Yes, it'll give you time to save your neck.

(The Marshal puts his hand to his throat and goes to the mirror.)

DOCTOR: Well?
MARSHAL: You may go to Zeos. There is a way.

[Behind the mirror]

(Merak and Romana enter a small room. They can see through to the Control area. There is a shiny amber skull on a pedestal in front of the 'mirror'.)

MERAK: It's the Marshal.
ROMANA: It's a two-way mirror.
MERAK: What's that?
ROMANA: Shush.
MARSHAL [mirror]: It's done. The Time Lord suspects nothing. I've directed him to the transmat point in K block where your agents will be waiting.
ROMANA: Time Lord? How does he know?
MERAK: What?
ROMANA: Shush.
MARSHAL [mirror]: My lord, once you have the secrets of time, please, give me my victory. I've waited so long. Please, my lord.
MERAK: He said K block. Astra was in K block.
ROMANA: We'd better warn the Doctor. Come on.

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: You know, K9, I've got a feeling we're missing out on something. Are you listening to me, K9?
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Listen. Why should the Marshal, leader in a war against Zeos, be the only one to know of a transmatter link with the enemy planet? And why should he tell me? I think one of us is being extremely stupid.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Come on.

[K block]

(The wall panel to the transmat slides open as the Doctor enters.)

DOCTOR: Well, good luck, K9. I hope to see you again soon.
K9: Master, I do not advise entry of that
DOCTOR: Shush. K9, can I take the decisions, please? Good luck. I'll see you again soon.

(The Doctor steps into the transmat, where two masked figures move into shot behind him. The door closes as Romana runs in.)

ROMANA: Doctor! Doctor, wait! Oh, no. K9, it was a trap.

[Transmat]

DOCTOR: A trap?

(The masked figures grab his arms and the transmat takes them away.)

[K block]

ROMANA: Doctor! Doctor.
Part Three

[K block]

MERAK: What are they doing in there?
ROMANA: Going to Zeos, I should think.
MERAK: What do you mean? How can they, it's a room.
ROMANA: It's not just a room, Merak, it's a transmat point.
MERAK: Transmat?
ROMANA: Short for particle matter transmission. I'll explain it to you another time when I've got about two weeks to spare.
MERAK: Were those things Zeons?
ROMANA: Yes, I should think so.
MERAK: And they've got Astra?
ROMANA: And the Doctor. Come on, we shall have to try and use the TARDIS. Come on, K9.

[Behind the mirror]

MARSHAL [mirror]: But you promised. You promised me victory.
SKULL: The war has served its purpose as you have served yours. Now that I have the Time Lord, there will be no more attacks from Zeos. Make of that what you will, Marshal.

[Control area]

MARSHAL: No more attacks? Then I can still win. I can achieve a great personal victory. I shall lead the final assault myself!
SHAPP: Marshal? The Zeon fleet's gone. They had us at their mercy and now they're gone.
MARSHAL: Yes, Shapp! We've exhausted them. Now we'll strike back.

[Outside K block]

(By the rubble covering the TARDIS.)

ROMANA: What's the matter, K9? Hurry.
K9: Haste unnecessary, mistress. Sensors indicate the TARDIS to be missing.
ROMANA: Missing?

[Zeos interrogation room]

(Meanwhile, the Doctor has arrived in a dark place, ruled by a humanoid dressed in a long black robe and black half-skull mask.)

SHADOW: Place the control device.

(One of the minions puts a small device on the Doctor's throat.)

SHADOW: Now, Doctor, you are completely in my power.
DOCTOR: Really? Do you mean because of that?

(The Doctor removes the device.)

SHADOW: Ah! Very well.

(The Doctor is pushed into a small alcove and onto a seat. Metal frame doors swing closed.)

SHADOW: Now do you hear me, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, I hear you. Who are you?
SHADOW: I am the Shadow. Your adversary, shall we say. It is not important. You come in quest of a key.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHADOW: The Key to Time, as it is called.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHADOW: You are in possession of certain elements of that key?
DOCTOR: No.

(Static electricity flickers around the Doctor.)

SHADOW: I warn you, Doctor. If you lie, the pain will increase. Where are they?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

(More static.)

SHADOW: Where are they?
DOCTOR: Lost. Lost!

(More static.)

SHADOW: Open your eyes, Doctor.

(A corner of the room lights up to reveal a blue police box.)

SHADOW: Are they in there?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHADOW: Then you will open it.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHADOW: Release him.

[K block]

ROMANA: Right. We'll just have to work out a way how to get into the transmat shaft. Any ideas, K9?
K9: Mistress, this locking system is complex. It will take time.
ROMANA: As quickly as you can, K9.
MERAK: Listen. The bombing's stopped.
ROMANA: Oh yes.
MERAK: Now that means the Zeons know that we're done for.
ROMANA: Probably.
MERAK: Then why capture Astra?
ROMANA: Because she's somehow involved with what we're looking for.
K9: Almost finished, mistress.
MERAK: Oh, this is hopeless. We've no idea where to look.
ROMANA: Yes, we have.

(She takes the tracer from her dress sleeve.)

ROMANA: This tracer will tell us which direction she's in and how close.
MERAK: I see.

(The wall slides to the side.)

K9: Ready, mistress.
ROMANA: Well done, K9.

(Merak snatches the tracer from Romana.)

MERAK: I'm sorry, Romana.

(And dashes into the transmat. The door closes and the transmat activates.)

[Zeos interrogation room]

SHADOW: Now your quest is over. You have something of, shall we say, interest to me in this machine of yours.
DOCTOR: Oh, you mean the TARDIS? Yes, yes, I expected to find that here. Correct me if I'm wrong. This is Zeos, isn't it?
SHADOW: Don't waste my time.
DOCTOR: And we came up in the transmat shaft, and then, as they say, everything went black.
SHADOW: Open the TARDIS. Bring me the pieces.
DOCTOR: Certainly. Interested in timepieces, are you? Chronostatics, horogenesis, that sort of thing?
SHADOW: You are not dealing with a fool, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, I am. I'm sorry to disillusion you, whoever you are. And you tried breaking and entry into my TARDIS, didn't you, and failed. Covered with automatic defence mechanisms. Very clever, really.
SHADOW: Bring me the first five segments of the Key to Time, or I shall destroy you.
DOCTOR: Well, if you do that, you'll never get them will you. And if you let me go in there, there's no guarantee that I'll come out, is there. It's bigger that it looks, you know. I take it you have the sixth segment.
SHADOW: Destroy him.
DOCTOR: Hold it! There must be some civilised solution to all this without this continued use of brute force.
SHADOW: The Key to Time.
DOCTOR: Look, I'd really like to help you, but I've got a problem. You see, the thing is, the segments are in there and of course I can go in there, but I can't bring them out here.
SHADOW: Why not?
DOCTOR: Well, you see, I've built a fail-safe. The segments are in a sort of limbo closet in, er, in limbo, and the only way to get at them, you see, is with the next piece, so if you'll just let me have it I'll pop in there and fetch them for you.
SHADOW: You think I would trust you?
DOCTOR: No. And I certainly don't trust you. Bit of an impasse, eh?
SHADOW: No, Doctor, there is no real difficulty. I have waited so long, even another thousand years would be nothing for me. But you, I have watched you and your jackdaw meanderings. I know you and I know there is a want of patience in your nature.
DOCTOR: That's right. Fools rush in.
SHADOW: Exactly. Leave him. He will make his own mistake. Then, Doctor, I shall be waiting.

(The lights go down, then up again. The Doctor is alone with his TARDIS. He goes over to it.)

DOCTOR: No. I think I'll have a little look round first, for the sixth segment.

[Outside the Zeos transmat]

(Merak arrives. He staggers briefly then goes out into a corridor area with what might be sawdust on the floor. The tracer ticks away.)

MERAK: Astra? Astra, where are you?

(He goes off in search of his love. We get a view of a space station.)

[Shadow's lair]

(The unhappy Princess is chained to what looks like a rough stone wall. Water drips somewhere.)

ASTRA: I don't know! I don't know, I tell you.
SHADOW: You must know. You are a daughter of the Royal House of Atrios.
ASTRA: Yes, and I tell you, whoever you are, that I've never heard of the sixth segment or the sixth anything!
SHADOW: And I tell you, Princess, the secret has been passed down through generation after generation of the Royal House, and since you are the sole surviving member of the line, you must know and you will tell me, if I have to tear it from the living fibre of your very being. Do you understand?
ASTRA: Yes. And if I knew, I would tell you.
SHADOW: You do know, and you will tell me. Since you care so little for your own life, let us see how you care for another.

(Part of the opposite wall lights up with a view of Merak wandering around.)

SHADOW: Closer.
MERAK [OC]: Astra? Astra, where are you?
ASTRA: Merak! I'm here!
SHADOW: You fool. Do you think I would leave you on Zeos? Shout all you like. You're not within a million miles of your precious Merak.
ASTRA: Not on Zeos? Then what is this place?
SHADOW: This, Princess, is my domain.

[Control area]

MARSHAL: Shapp! Where's Shapp?
MAN: Investigating intruder report in K block, sir.
MARSHAL: What? Our chance to strike a fatal blow at Zeos
MAN: He left this situation report, sir.
MARSHAL: Hmm. I want every available ship made ready.
MAN: There is only one ship left, sir. Your escape, er, your command module, sir.
MARSHAL: Have it made ready.
MAN: Yes, sir.

[K block]

(Shapp is outside.)

ROMANA: Hurry, K9. If the lock's jammed, destroy it.
K9: Affirmative, mistress. (zap) Finished, mistress.

(Romana pushes the door open.)

ROMANA: Right. Quickly, K9, inside. Come along. Hold tight, here we go.

(The transmat takes them away. Shapp enters. He looks around, steps into the transmat and is transported too.)

[Outside the Zeos transmat]

ROMANA: Come on, K9. Listen, I'm going to find Merak and try and get the tracer back. You go find the Doctor, okay?
K9: Affirmative.
ROMANA: Off you go.

(K9 trundles off. Shapp materialises. He steps outside with his weapon ready, and tries his comm. His voice is two octaves high to begin with.)

SHAPP: Shapp. Shapp to control, Shapp to, Shapp, Shapp.

(Nothing. He shakes it then hides when he hears footsteps. The Doctor comes along and looks at the marks in the sawdust on the floor outside the transmat.)

DOCTOR: Romana. Merak. K9.

(He follows K9's marks round a pillar and comes face to face with Shapp's boots.)

SHAPP: That's far enough, Doctor. Turn round. Hands in the air. Straighten up, slowly.

(Shapp frisks the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: I'm not armed, you know.
SHAPP: All right, what happened? How did I get here?
DOCTOR: Well, through the transmat, I imagine.
SHAPP: Transmat?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHAPP: Which section of Atrios is this? I don't recognise any of it.
DOCTOR: Shapp, we're on Zeos.
SHAPP: Zeos?
DOCTOR: Yes. You were transmatted up the transmatter there. Look. Transmat.
SHAPP: Zeos? How can we be on Zeos? No, this must be a prohibited area. Section Eleven B. I mean, it must be Atrios.
DOCTOR: Shapp, old chap, we're on Zeos. Listen. No bombardment.
SHAPP: Well of course there's no bombardment. The Zeon fleet have just pulled out.
DOCTOR: All right, if we're on Atrios, where's the destruction? Look, not a crack. Everything perfect.
SHAPP: Where are we?
DOCTOR: On Zeos! Where the Zeons come from. But there don't seem to be many of them about, which is quite good for us.

(The Doctor walks away with his hands still in the air.)

SHAPP: Er, where are you off to?
DOCTOR: There must be some evidence this way. Anyway, it's time I found the other two.

(The Doctor puts his arms down.)

DOCTOR: Come on. I'll tell you about the theory of particle transmission.

[Zeos corridor]

(Merak finds Astra's bangle on the ground.)

MERAK: Astra.

(He hears footsteps, and prepares to hit the approaching person. Romana grabs his arm and shoulder to try and take the tracer.)

MERAK: Give it to me! I must find Astra!
ROMANA: Listen, Merak, we all want to find her. Now look, if I let you go, do you promise not to interfere?
MERAK: Yes.

(Romana releases his arm and takes the tracer.)

MERAK: But I know she's here.
ROMANA: How?
MERAK: Look.

(He holds up the bangle.)

ROMANA: Is that hers?
MERAK: Yes, I gave it to her.
ROMANA: Where did you find it?
MERAK: There. The tracer picked it up.
ROMANA: The tracer?
MERAK: Try it. See?

(Elsewhere, the Doctor and Shapp dodge from pillar to pillar while following K9's tracks.)

SHAPP: Are you sure this is Zeos?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHAPP: It's very dusty.
DOCTOR: Maybe the Zeons don't use it much.
SHAPP: It's not irradiated.
DOCTOR: How do you know?
SHAPP: I've checked.

(He holds up his wrist with the rad-check bracelet on.)

SHAPP: And the air's clean, but nobody could have been here for years.
DOCTOR: Yes, except K9. Here.

(The Doctor offers Shapp the dog whistle. Shapp blows it.)

DOCTOR: Have you ever seen a Zeon, Shapp?
SHAPP: Not since the war started.
DOCTOR: No, but before the war?
SHAPP: Well, of course. We traded with them.
DOCTOR: What do they look like?
SHAPP: Er, much the same as us. Their clothes are different, but apart from that.
DOCTOR: They're not tall, emaciated creatures in long black robes?
SHAPP: Not the ones I saw.
DOCTOR: No.
SHAPP: No. Why?
DOCTOR: Why? Well, the ones who brought me here were. Very sinister.
SHAPP: Could be the result of biological warfare?
DOCTOR: Yes, but there's no sign of your attacks getting through, though, is there?
SHAPP: They must have been Zeons. I mean, who else could they be?
DOCTOR: Isn't it odd you've never taken any prisoners?
SHAPP: Oh, they use disintegration capsules like we do.
DOCTOR: Yes, I
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: K9, what took you so long?
K9: I have been communicating with the Zeon commandant. It was most interesting.
DOCTOR: Really? We'd like to meet this commandant, wouldn't we, Shapp?
SHAPP: Yes, yes, could be useful.
K9: It can be arranged.
DOCTOR: Good.
K9: Now?
DOCTOR: Well, I mean, I think you'd better trace Romana and Merak first.
K9: Please follow.
DOCTOR: Good.
SHAPP: He seems in good fettle.
DOCTOR: Yes.
K9: Fettle? Define fettle.
DOCTOR: Well, you know, form, condition, tone.

(They go down the corridor.)

K9: It is stimulating to communicate for once with something other than a limited and unpredictable organic intelligence.
DOCTOR: What did you just say? With something other?
K9: Affirmative. I have been communicating with my own kind.

[Control area]

MARSHAL: The day of retribution is at hand. I shall myself lead the final assault upon the very citadel of Zeon might and deliver to it such a crushing blow that the dread spectre of Zeon aggression will never rise again! Victory, my people! Victory or death!

(The broadcast ends.)

MAN: The command module is ready, Marshal. The bombs are loaded and the pilot fully briefed. Good luck, sir.

(The Marshal leaves. The ship takes off.)

[Zeos corridor]

ROMANA: And then Merak said he found this. It's Astra's. The strange thing is, it gives off a very faint signal on the tracer. It's obviously not the sixth segment, so what is it?
DOCTOR: Well, I'd say it's been in touch with the sixth segment, wouldn't you?
ROMANA: Well, yes

(The Doctor and Romana go on ahead.)

MERAK: Shapp, has K9 mentioned Astra? Well, is that where she is, with this Zeon commandant? Oh, for pity's sake, man, tell me!
SHAPP: If I were you, Merak
MERAK: Yes?
SHAPP: I'd try to exercise a little more self-control. Doctor?

(The Marshal's ship speeds through space. K9 leads his group to a closed door with three circuit boards arranged in a triangle design.)

K9: You will remain here, please, in silence.

(K9 starts turning on the spot.)

ROMANA: What's wrong with K9?
DOCTOR: I don't know. I've never seen him do that before. That doesn't mean to say, of course, it isn't normal.
K9: Silence, please. Communicating.

(Beep beep, burble burble, go the two machines. The door opens.)

K9: Wait here, please.

(K9 goes inside.)

ROMANA: I think that was a sort of identification ritual. You know, rather like the dance of the bees. A complicated set of movements to prevent strangers entering the er, whatever it is.
MERAK: What are bees?
DOCTOR: Insects! With stings in their tails.

(K9 circles a three-sided computer with flashing lights in its apex. Cameras on the walls follow his movements. Then they communicate in electronic beeps. K9 leaves the room.)

K9: The commandant will see you now.
DOCTOR: Come on, Romana. You two stay there.

[Zeos computer room]

(The Doctor and Romana look around.)

DOCTOR: Shapp!

(Shapp enters. The Doctor points to the stand-alone machine.)

DOCTOR: There's your enemy, Shapp. Runs everything. Attack, defence, surveillance, production, everything. The ideal war general. No glory, no speeches, no medals and no blood.
SHAPP: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: It's fully automated. There are no Zeons on Zeos.
SHAPP: No Zeons on Zeos.
DOCTOR: No. Just this passionless lump of minerals and circuitry. Highly efficient, doing very well, giving Atrios a battering, killed millions without a flicker. Just doing its job. And totally invincible.
SHAPP: Invincible? Yes, we'll see about that.

(Shapp turns away, then draws his weapon and turns back. One of the cameras in the walls blasts it from his hand.)

SHAPP: I see. Automatic defence mechanism.
MERAK: Doctor, please.
DOCTOR: It's all right, Merak. Be quiet. K9, would you ask your friend here
K9: Mentalis.
DOCTOR: K9, would you ask Mentalis here if the name Astra rings a bell, so to speak?

(Beep, burble.)

K9: Mentalis has instructions that all information regarding Princess Astra is inaccessible.
DOCTOR: And the war?
K9: The war is over. The bombardment is over. The next step is obliteration.
DOCTOR: For whom?
K9: Everything.

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Faster, faster.
PILOT: Target located, sir.
MARSHAL: Excellent. Prepare to attack.
Part Four

[Zeos computer room]

DOCTOR: We have a problem. Well, several problems. Mentalis knows, but won't tell, about Astra. Refuses us access to the memory banks but tells us that the Marshal's on his way here to blow this place to smithereens.
SHAPP: But won't it react?
ROMANA: Oh, yes. Mentalis is convinced it's invincible. It's been programmed not to accept defeat.
MERAK: Then it'll stop him.
SHAPP: It'll counterattack.
DOCTOR: Unfortunately, it's been programmed that the war is over, so it can't attack. It thinks it's won. That's the trouble with machines.
ROMANA: So what will happen?
DOCTOR: Well, it will self-destruct. I think obliteration was the term it used.
ROMANA: So if the Marshal attacks
SHAPP: Which he will.
DOCTOR: There will be a rather large bang, big enough to blow up Zeos, take Atrios with it, and make certain the whole thing ends in a sort of draw. That's the way these military minds work. The Armageddon factor.

[Marshal's module]

PILOT: Target located, sir.
MARSHAL: Excellent. Prepare to attack.

[Zeos computer room]

DOCTOR: Has it ever occurred to you, Shapp, that you and the Marshal and this thing are in an arena, playing out a game for some evil alien spectator?
ROMANA: The third force.
DOCTOR: Yes. I think I've met him. Calls himself the Shadow.

[Shadow's lair]

(Astra's eyes are blank, looking at nothing. The Shadow enters and his minions release her shackles.)

SHADOW: Astra. Princess Astra. Do you hear me?
ASTRA: Yes, I hear you.
SHADOW: Good. There are certain duties you must perform.
ASTRA: Yes.
SHADOW: You will help me in my quest. You understand?
ASTRA: Yes.
SHADOW: Astra, you are to meet your lover. Smile.

[Zeos computer room]

SHAPP: What are you going to do?
DOCTOR: Well, we're going to try and neutralise and dismantle Mentalis here, and it's absolutely essential that while I'm fiddling it doesn't have to be distracted by an attack from the Marshal. Now listen, I want you two to go back to Atrios via the transmat. You, Shapp, are to contact the Marshal. Tell him he's won. Tell him the war's over. Tell him anything you like but stop him taking any further action.
SHAPP: And if I can't?
DOCTOR: Well, then Mentalis
SHAPP: If the Marshal refuses to listen?
DOCTOR: Then Mentalis will
SHAPP: If he insists on going ahead?
DOCTOR: Well, then Mentalis will go into it's Armageddon sequence, we'll be bits of dust flying round the cosmos, including the Marshal. You might even tell him that. What are you waiting for?
SHAPP: Oh, yeah.

(Shapp runs out.)

MERAK: But what about Astra?
ROMANA: Merak, don't worry about Astra. We'll find her. Your duty lies with your patients. You must go back to Atrios with Shapp.
MERAK: Oh, very well.

(Merak leaves.)

[Outside the Zeos transmat]

(Merak follows Shapp, who has is weapon ready.)

ASTRA [OC]: Merak!
SHAPP: What are you doing, Merak? Come on!

(Merak isn't behind him. The transmat door opens. One of the Shadow's minions comes along the corridor. Shapp shoots him, but the minion shoots Shapp before he dies. Shapp tumbles back into the transmat.)

SHAPP: Merak!

(Shapp is transmatted away.)

[Zeos corridor]

MERAK: Astra! Astra, it's me, Merak. Astra, where are you?

(He sees her standing nearby.)

MERAK: Astra.
ASTRA: Merak.
MERAK: Astra.
ASTRA: Merak.

(He goes towards her, and she glides right through him. He turns and starts falling, slowly.)

[Zeos computer room]

(Mentalis' security cameras are watching the Doctor working to try and open Mentalis' casing.)

DOCTOR: K9, are you sure this is all right?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: I mean, it doesn't feel threatened or anything?
K9: Negative. Proceed.
ROMANA: Doctor
DOCTOR: Yes?
ROMANA: Do you think it was the Shadow who built this?
DOCTOR: Oh, more than likely, yeah.
ROMANA: Well, since there don't seem to be any Zeons on Zeos, if you know what I mean, presumably it's the Shadow who's got the Princess.
DOCTOR: More than likely. The question is, where?
ROMANA: What about between Atrios and Zeos. Do you remember?
DOCTOR: Romana, that's brilliant. Of course! He's got a third planet all to himself.
ROMANA: Right. All we have to do is find it.
DOCTOR: After I've stopped this.
ROMANA: Well, if you can stop it.
DOCTOR: What?

(The Doctor blows three small holes in the panel with his sonic screwdriver, then takes it off. Mentalis' noise gets loud and they all slide across the floor away from it. The sparkly top turns red.)

ROMANA: What have you done?
DOCTOR: I don't know. K9, what have I done?
K9: You have triggered primary alert function.
DOCTOR: Blast.
K9: Affirmative.
ROMANA: And now it's waiting to blow itself up.
K9: If required, to resist attack.
DOCTOR: Let's hope Shapp reaches the Marshal before he does anything silly. We're very vulnerable till that's done.
ROMANA: Yes, rather like sitting inside a time bomb.

(The Marshal's module continues to approach. Mentalis beeps.)

DOCTOR: What's that, K9? Well?
K9: Assimilating information.
DOCTOR: Sorry. Well?
K9: Hostile craft approaching.
ROMANA: What!

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: There! Zeos at last. I shall crush it like a rotten egg. Faster, man, faster.

[Zeos computer room]

DOCTOR: The Marshal. Shapp must have missed him.
K9: Entering self-destruct sequence. In self-destruct sequence.
ROMANA: It's going to blow itself up.
DOCTOR: Yes, and us with it. Unless.

(The Doctor looks into the open panel. The cameras turn towards him.)

ROMANA: Doctor, look out!

(All three automatic defence mechanisms fire, hitting Mentalis while the Doctor is crouched down on the floor besides it.)

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Arm all warheads.
PILOT: Missiles armed and targeted, sir.

[Zeos computer room]

(Mentalis is a wreck of molten plastic.)

DOCTOR: That was close.
ROMANA: How did they manage to miss?
DOCTOR: They weren't aiming at me, they were aiming at that, the control centre, like a scorpion stinging itself to death. As soon as it sensed I was trying to interfere with the sequence, it destroyed its own control centre. It's mindless now, clicking toward oblivion. How long, K9?
K9: Damage renders data unavailable.
DOCTOR: The TARDIS!
ROMANA: Come on, K9!

(They run for their lives.)

[Marshal's module]

PILOT: Within range, sir.
MARSHAL: Go in closer. As close as you dare.

(The Doctor, Romana and K9 enter the Shadow's lair and enter the TARDIS.)

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor enters with the pieces of the Key.)

DOCTOR: Here, take a look at this.
ROMANA: Ah, you put the five pieces together. Good.
DOCTOR: Have you got the tracer?
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: Lock it in. Lock it.
ROMANA: Now what?
DOCTOR: Well, it was just an idea. I thought if we had five-sixths of the pieces it might give us some power. Obviously Guardian technology doesn't work that way.
ROMANA: If only we had the sixth piece.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Or a sixth piece.
ROMANA: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: What do you see there?
ROMANA: A gap.
DOCTOR: Exactly. A gap the shape of the sixth piece.
ROMANA: Oh.
DOCTOR: We know what it looks like. We can make one.

[Marshal's module]

(Mentalis continues to tick.)

MARSHAL: Steady now.
SHAPP: Atrion control to Marshal. Marshal? Come in, Marshal. This is Shapp. Imperative you abort. Repeat. Imperative you abort mission.
MARSHAL: Turn that thing off.
PILOT: Sir.
MARSHAL: Useless bureaucrats trying to steal our thunder. Now, closer. Closer. Prepare to strike.

(The planet fills the front windows.)

MARSHAL: Wait for it, man. Wait for the order.

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor enters, mopping his brow.)

DOCTOR: Here we are.
ROMANA: Ah. What did you use?
DOCTOR: Chronodyne.
ROMANA: Is that compatible?
DOCTOR: Well, it's as compatible as anything we've got.
K9: Compatibility ration seventy four percent. Component therefore unstable and liable to deteriorate.
DOCTOR: Yes, and so are we if this doesn't work. This should in theory give us powers of balance and stasis. We should be able to create a neutral, timeless zone, for a while. Now, how does it go?
ROMANA: Hang on, let me just.

(Romana takes the Doctor's shiny opaque piece, lifts the tracer a little and slots in into the rest of the clear Key.)

DOCTOR: Lock it, lock it.
ROMANA: All right.

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Fire!

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: We've failed.
DOCTOR: Have we?

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Fire! Fire! Fire!

(Again and again the pilot's hand moves towards the firing button. On a countdown screen in the computer room, the numbers 10, 9, 8 keep repeating.)

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: Doctor, I've got it.

(On the scanner, the Marshal's module approaches, then jumps back and approaches again.)

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Fire! Fire!

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: We did it!
DOCTOR: Well, ninety nine percent.
K9: Correction. Ninety nine point six.
DOCTOR: Even better. We haven't stopped them dead. We got them in a three second time loop. Oh!
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: I've stopped the universe. Still, they'll never notice. Just imagine, somewhere someone's just slipped on a banana skin and he'll be wondering forever when he's going to hit the ground.
ROMANA: Doctor, why isn't it affecting us?
DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Romana! I mean, if it affected the operators, no one would be able to use it. Even the Guardians would think of that.
ROMANA: So at the moment we've got absolute power over everything, everywhere.
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, it's quite a feeling, isn't it. Gods for an hour or two.
K9: Negative. Deterioration rate of chronodyne chip is in direct proportion to area affected.
DOCTOR: Well of course it is. Just imagine the amount of power required to stop the entire universe.
ROMANA: How long have we got, K9?
K9: Insufficient information for accurate prediction.
DOCTOR: Probability, then.
K9: Probability is for maximum three point two five minutes.
DOCTOR: Three and a quarter minutes?
K9: Maximum. Now three point one three minutes.
ROMANA: Hang on. If we've got so much power, we ought to be able to localise it in some way. That should help.
DOCTOR: Yes. How do you set about localising a time loop?
ROMANA: Well, if one has god-like powers, one ought to be able to use them, oughtn't one?
DOCTOR: Eh?
ROMANA: Command it.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. Yeah. Stand aside. I. Hey, I'd better get this right.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: I command that the spatio-temporal loop be confined to the vicinity of the Marshal's vessel, the coordinates of which are already known. There.
ROMANA: And the Zeon computer room!
DOCTOR: And the Zeon computer room. Let it be done. I thought I handled that rather well.
ROMANA: All power corrupts, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on. It's only a three second time loop.
K9: Negative. Time loop stretching.
DOCTOR: Already? How much?
K9: Point three milliseconds per second.
DOCTOR: And the chronodyne chip?
K9: Now deteriorating.
DOCTOR: Yes, I thought you'd say that.
ROMANA: I think we should move.
DOCTOR: Yes. Nothing lasts forever.

[Shadow's lair]

SHADOW: The Doctor has been forced to use the Key to Time. It is no longer in a place of safety. You will lure the Doctor here and help me gain access to the TARDIS. You understand?
ASTRA: I understand.
SHADOW: Go with her. Bwahahahahaha!

[Outside the Zeos transmat]

DOCTOR: Come on, quickly. Remember that time loop's stretching.
ROMANA: Doctor, come on! The time loop's stretching.

(They walk on. Astra and two of the Shadow's minions appear in the transmat and step outside. She leads them off.)

[Zeos]

(Merak wakes with a cut on his forehead. Astra looks at him through a round opening.)

ASTRA: Merak! Merak, I'm here. Are you hurt?
MERAK: My leg, it's twisted. What happened?
ASTRA: You fell. I tried to save you, but
MERAK: I thought you were
ASTRA: Can you stand?
MERAK: I think so.
ASTRA: Here, let me help you.

(She reaches through the opening.)

[Zeos computer room]

(The Doctor and Romana look at the pile of wires that is Mentalis.)

ROMANA: Not very hopeful, is it? Whoever built this had a very twisted mind.

(The countdown screen goes 10, 9, 8, 7.)

[Outside the interrogation room]

(Astra helps Merak while the minions follow at a discreet distance. She has a control device on her throat.)

K9: Halt, who goes there? Identify.
MERAK: K9, it's me, Merak.
K9: Affirmative. You may enter. Stop. Identify second unit.
ASTRA: What is it?
MERAK: It's called K9. It belongs to the Doctor.
K9: Affirmative. Repeat, identify second unit.
MERAK: K9, this is Astra. Princess Astra. The Doctor thinks that she may be able to help him.
K9: Hostile presence detected.
MERAK: Where?
K9: Hostiles approaching. Take cover.
MERAK: Quick, hide.

(K9 drives the minions back, or is lured away by them. Whichever.)

[Zeos interrogation room]

(Astra goes up to the TARDIS.)

ASTRA: What's this?
MERAK: It belongs to the Doctor.
ASTRA: What's inside? I must see inside.
MERAK: It's no use, Astra. Only the Doctor and Romana can get in. What's the matter?
ASTRA: It's the air in here.
MERAK: Perhaps we should go back to Atrios.
ASTRA: No, we must go on. We must find your friends.

[Outside the Zeos transmat]

(The minions enter the transmat and the doors close.)

K9: Hostiles repulsed. Most satisfactory.

(The transmat doors open. There is a small device on the floor with a flashing light. It beeps at K9.)

K9: Who is there? Identify. Galactic computer distress call received. Please identify. K9 answering computer distress call. Please identify.

[Transmat]

(K9 enters.)

K9: Please identify source of distress.

[Outside the Zeos computer room]

MERAK: Doctor, I found her. This is Astra. She was captured by the Zeons.
DOCTOR: Was she, now. How do you do? I'm delighted to see you. I'm the Doctor, this is Romana.
ROMANA: Hello.
ASTRA: Merak's told me about you.
DOCTOR: So you rescued her from the Zeons?
ASTRA: I escaped.
DOCTOR: How did you manage that?
ASTRA: Through a tunnel of light.
MERAK: I was on my way to the transmat when I heard her calling. Then I fell and hurt myself.
ASTRA: I think one of the guards who was after me took a shot at him.
DOCTOR: Very likely, very likely. Where are they now?
MERAK: Well, they were coming after us, but K9 chased them away.
DOCTOR: Good, good.
ROMANA: I think Merak needs some medical attention.
DOCTOR: Yes. Look, Astra, why don't you and Merak go back to Atrios via the transmat? He'll show you the way.
ASTRA: I'd feel safer with you.
DOCTOR: Well, I dare say, but we've got a few complicated things to do and Merak does need attention. I think the thing you should do is go back and show your people that you're free.
MERAK: He's right, Astra.
DOCTOR: Of course I'm right. Off you go now. Hope to see you soon.
MERAK: Come on, this way.

(Astra and Merak leave.)

DOCTOR: Odd.
ROMANA: Very odd.
DOCTOR: I think we should concentrate on the Shadow and the third planet.
ROMANA: All right.

[Shadow's lair]

(K9 backs out of the transmat into a rocky looking place.)

K9: This is not Atrios. Neither is this Zeos. What is this place?

(He goes exploring.)

[Outside the Zeos transmat]

MERAK: It's not far now. Just over there.

(Astra lets Merak fall.)

MERAK: Oh, my leg. You'll have to help me up, Astra.
ASTRA: I have more important work to do.
MERAK: What do you mean?
ASTRA: I'd stay and watch you die, but I haven't the time.
MERAK: You're, you're not Astra.
ASTRA: You fool.

(Two minions come out of the transmat. She leads them away. Merak gets up and staggers inside. He is beamed away as the Shadow laughs evilly.)

[Zeos interrogation room]

DOCTOR: K9? K9?
ROMANA: He was on guard.
DOCTOR: Yes. Something must have happened.
ASTRA [OC]: Doctor!
ROMANA: What's that?
ASTRA: Doctor!

(Astra runs to the TARDIS.)

ASTRA: Help! They're after me! Doctor!
DOCTOR: Yes, what is it? What is it? Quick into the TARDIS. Key?
ROMANA: Doctor, quickly.
DOCTOR: All right, all right.
ROMANA: Come on.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Where's Merak? Is he all right?
ASTRA: I got him into the transmat shaft but they were on me before I could follow. He's safe, though.
DOCTOR: Good.
ROMANA: Doctor, the time loop. It's stretched to about five seconds by the look of it.
DOCTOR: Yes. That gives us about an hour of real time.
ROMANA: If it goes on stretching and if the false piece lasts long enough. Listen, I'll get a fix on the third planet.

(Astra is staring at the Key.)

DOCTOR: It's a pretty little thing, isn't it.
ASTRA: What is it?
DOCTOR: It's the Key to Time. Are you all right, Astra?
ASTRA: Yes, perfectly.
DOCTOR: Well, now you've seen it, does it trigger off any hidden memories?
ASTRA: No, it means nothing to me.
DOCTOR: That's a pity. I was hoping you'd be able to tell us where the sixth piece is.
ASTRA: The sixth piece?
DOCTOR: Yes. Look. We have the other five segments. Now we're looking for the sixth and final one. Think, Astra, think.

(The Doctor reaches for her collar to check her throat as she reaches out for the tracer. He takes her hand.)

DOCTOR: I wouldn't touch it. It's hot.
ROMANA: Got it!
DOCTOR: Good, good. Set the coordinates. Let's get on our way.

[Shadow's lair]

(The TARDIS materialises on the space station, whose interior decor resembles a cave. The Shadow watches on a screen.)

SHADOW: Your friends have arrived. We must greet them.
K9: Affirmative, master.
SHADOW: You fool, Doctor. The Key to Time is mine! Bwahahahahahaha!
Part Five

[Shadow's lair]

SHADOW: And you shall be my eyes and ears.
K9: Affirmative, master.
SHADOW: Go now.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Well, here we are. We've tracked him to his lair.
ROMANA: Yes, we've got him exactly where he wants us.
DOCTOR: All we have to do is find the sixth piece and stop the Shadow taking those other five.
ROMANA: How can we get the sixth piece without using the tracer? Or had you forgotten the tracer's holding the Key together, and if we take the tracer out, we break the time loop, and without the time loop millions of people on Zeos and Atrios will die, to say nothing of ourselves. And the time loop's stretching already. It's up to six seconds now. That's four seconds left. And how long will that thing last?
DOCTOR: Diagonal thinking, that's what's required, isn't it, Astra?
ASTRA: What? I'm sorry, I was lost.
DOCTOR: Astra, we need you to help us to find the Shadow.
ASTRA: I shall stay here.
DOCTOR: No, no, Astra, no. You're the only one who's ever been to the third planet before. Come on.
ASTRA: I want to stay here.
ROMANA: Astra, you said you wanted to come with us. Don't you want to save Atrios?
ASTRA: My destiny no longer lies on Atrios.
ROMANA: What do you mean?
SHADOW [OC]: (in Astra's head) Go with them. Bring me Romana.
ASTRA: I understand.
ROMANA: What did you say? Are you all right?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, everything's perfectly all right. Everything's wonderful, isn't it, Astra?
ASTRA: What? Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking about Merak. Yes, of course we must do everything we can to destroy the Shadow.
ROMANA: Do you know where he is?
ASTRA: I think so.

(The Doctor opens the door for Astra.)

DOCTOR: Go on. I'll catch you up.
ROMANA: Right.

(Astra and Romana leave. The Doctor picks up the beeping sound.)

DOCTOR: Intergalactic computer distress signal? How very odd. How strange. Here? K9.

(The Doctor leaves the TARDIS.)

[Tunnel]

(Astra and Romana head off down what looks like a rocky tunnel. K9 appears in the foreground.)

K9: Master.

[Shadow's lair]

(The Shadow watches the women on the screen.)

SHADOW: Leave her to Astra. Follow the Doctor.
K9 [OC]: Affirmative, master.

[Outside the TARDIS]

(The Doctor locks the door and adjusts at a device he's brought with him.)

DOCTOR: Two six zero. (beep) Ah.

[Cave]

(He sees Romana and Astra standing still.)

DOCTOR: Ah, girls.

(Then he looks behind him and they vanish.)

DOCTOR: Shush. I think someone's trying to play tricks on us. You girls better stick with me, or we'll all get lost. I

(He notices they are no longer there. The beep coming from his device gets fainter. He moves on.)

ROMANA [OC]: Doctor! (echoes) Doctor. Doctor.

(Multiple images of Romana appear.)

ROMANA [OC]: Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor.

(Then they all vanish again.)

ROMANA [OC]: Doctor.

[Tunnel]

ROMANA: Doctor. Doctor! Oh, what does he think he's doing, going that way. I shouted at him. He must have seen us.
ASTRA: I think I remember now. Yes, all these passages link up further on. Come on, Romana, we shall meet him.

(Further on, the Doctor passes an image of himself going the other way. It waves to him. Red lights glow in the wall.)

DOCTOR: Ah, I see what you're at, splitting us up. Divide and conquer, is that it? You didn't really imagine we were taken in by Astra, did you?

[Shadow's lair]

DOCTOR [on screen]: No. She's in your power, your employ. Little something on the neck, is it? Very crude, technically.

[Tunnel]

DOCTOR: Like all this amusement arcade rubbish.

[Shadow's lair]

DOCTOR [on screen]: No, Shadow, or whatever you're called. I'm sorry to tell you

[Tunnel]

DOCTOR: That Romana can look after herself. We are Time Lords

[Shadow's lair]

DOCTOR [on screen]: Not like those innocents back on Atrios, you know. Time Lords sent by the Guardian to recover the Key to Time.
SHADOW: I know who you are, Doctor.

[Tunnel]

SHADOW [OC]: I have always known.

(An image of Shadow's face fills the tunnel.)

SHADOW [OC]: I have been waiting for you. I too serve a Guardian. A Guardian equal and opposite in power to the one who sent you. The Black Guardian, he who walks in darkness, and you are in the valley of the Shadow.
DOCTOR: No, no, no! No!

(The Doctor appears to fall down a hole.)

[Shadow's lair]

K9 [on screen]: The Doctor is captured, master.

[Tunnel]

ASTRA: Come, Romana. You'll be safe here.

(The wall behind Astra slides aside. They enter, and a minion comes up behind Romana.)

[Doctor's cell]

(In a large room, something beeps, and the Doctor wakes. It's the distress beacon that lured K9 into the transmat. He thumps it on the ground to shut it up. There is a tapping sound on the 'rock' wall, and a part starts to open. A man's head pokes through and they stare at each other then the new man speaks. He's a bit of an East End barrow boy.)

DRAX: Hello, Theet. How you been, boy?
DOCTOR: What?
DRAX: It is Theet, innit? Theta Sigma? Yeah, 'course it is. Remember me, ay?

[Shadow's lair]

(Romana is in an interrogation booth like the one on Zeos.)

SHADOW: Begin.

(Static electricity zaps Romana.)

[Doctor's cell]

DRAX: Drax is the name.
DOCTOR: Drax?
DRAX: Come on, Theet. Class of ninety two?
DOCTOR: Not
DRAX: Yeah?
DOCTOR: Drax.
DRAX: Yeah. We was on the tech course together. Long time ago now, Theet, eh? Must be what, four hundred and fifty years? And a long way from Gallifrey.
DOCTOR: Yes, Gallifrey. Of course! Ha, ha! Drax.
DRAX: Yeah, I was all right at practical, remember?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
DRAX: Temporal theory did me. Still, you did well, mind, getting your doctorate and all that.
DOCTOR: What happened to you?
DRAX: I failed, didn't I. Still, not to worry. I was doing all right till this lot. I went into repair and maintenance. Do anything, anytime, anywhere. I've been all over the galaxy. Buy a bit, do it up, sell it.
DOCTOR: Yeah. What sort of things?
DRAX: Cybernetics, guidance systems, you name it.
DOCTOR: Armaments?
DRAX: Yeah, and that. Not on a regular basis, of course.
DOCTOR: Drax, I was introduced to a computer on Zeos. Called itself Mentalis. Did you by any chance have anything to do with the installation?
DRAX: Strictly under duress. That's why I'm here. The minute I finished the job, wham. Feet never touched the ground.
DOCTOR: The Shadow?
DRAX: I didn't know who he was, did I. Just another customer, I thought. And then he puts the heavy word on. Do it or die. I mean, what would you have done?
DOCTOR: Yes, very tricky.
DRAX: Yeah.

(Drax spots the broken distress beacon.)

DRAX: So that's where it was. I thought somebody'd nicked it. Huh, not a lot of bottle now, is it.
DOCTOR: Did you make that?
DRAX: Knocked it up, yeah. Well, you gotta do something. There's always a chance some geezer would pick up the distress call.
DOCTOR: You made this here?
DRAX: I never go nowhere without me tools. Fat lot of good it did, though, eh? Got us both in nick together.
DOCTOR: Drax, I don't want to pry, but where did you acquire this peculiar vocabulary?
DRAX: Brixton, weren't it?
DOCTOR: Brixton?
DRAX: Brixton. London. Earth.
DOCTOR: I've been to Earth.
DRAX: Yeah, me transport broke down. Hyperbolics, as usual. And I was investigating certain possibilities with regard to replacements. I got done, didn't I. Ten years I got. Well, I had to learn the lingo, didn't I, to survive. Why, is there something funny about the way I talk?
DOCTOR: No, no. It's very colourful. Very demotic.
DRAX: Yeah, well thanks, Theet.
DOCTOR: Doctor.
DRAX: Oh yeah.
DOCTOR: No offence.
DRAX: None taken.
DOCTOR: Drax?
DRAX: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Drax?
DRAX: Yes?
DOCTOR: That hole in the wall?
DRAX: Yeah?
DOCTOR: Might that, might it lead to a way out?
DRAX: No. Not yet, anyway. I dunno, I've got tunnels all over the place, but I can't seem to find it.
DOCTOR: Find what?
DRAX: The transmat shaft. They all use it. The Shadow and all his horribles. The trouble is, you see, my TARDIS is back on Zeos.
DOCTOR: Yes, but where does it lead?
DRAX: Have a look.

[Drax's cell]

DRAX: Well, Doctor, welcome to my world.

(The Doctor picks up some bits and pieces that Drax has lying around.)

DOCTOR: Aren't they stabiliser components?
DRAX: Yeah, they are.
DOCTOR: But you said your TARDIS was parked on Zeos.
DRAX: Yeah, well, I took the stabiliser out. Needs a bit of work.
DOCTOR: How long have you been here?
DRAX: About five years. After the war started.
DOCTOR: Five years? For five years you've had a dimensional stabiliser virtually intact and you haven't managed to escape?
DRAX: I told you, it needed work.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Drax! You could have repaired that and long-dogged it out of here years ago.

(The Doctor tries to look inside his collar.)

DRAX: Here, what's the game? Oh, I get it. You think I'm in with the Shadow, don't you.
DOCTOR: Aren't you?
DRAX: Now would I.
DOCTOR: Yes, you would. What's he offered you?
DRAX: Nothing.
DOCTOR: Are you about to suggest that you and I make a run for it out of here in my TARDIS?
DRAX: Well, it's a good idea.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, it's a very good idea, you and me in my TARDIS. And what happens then when we're inside, eh? Sock full of sand, lead pipe and you away with the Key to Time, am I right, Drax?
DRAX: Look, I didn't know it was going to be you, did I. He threatened me with the chop, didn't he. He said I was the only one who could get hold of it.
DOCTOR: If you had, do you think he'd let you get away? You'd be in for the chop, too.
DRAX: Yeah, I would, wouldn't I.
DOCTOR: Of course you would. So why don't you help me? I mean, together we stand a slight chance. And after all, we are Time Lords, you and I. Class of ninety two. If we don't stick together, who will?

[Shadow's lair]

(Astra watches impassively while Romana is tortured.)

SHADOW: Enough.

(Romana falls out of the interrogation booth.)

SHADOW: She has told me everything she knows, and it is not enough. Still the cursed Doctor stands between me and the Key. We shall see what the Doctor is prepared to offer for your life.
ROMANA: I'm not afraid to die.
SHADOW: K9?
K9 [on screen]: Master.
SHADOW: To the Doctor.
K9 [on screen]: Affirmative, master.
ROMANA: No, K9!

[Drax's cell]

(Drax is trying to repair the distress beacon with the Doctor looking over his shoulder.)

DOCTOR: Try synaptic adhesion.
DRAX: Synaptic adhesion? It's the chronostat. Always is.
DOCTOR: I think it's synaptic adhesion.
DRAX: Look, I've done thousands of these. Thousands.
DOCTOR: All right. Got to be synaptic adhesion. All right, all right, I'll leave it to you, shall I.
DRAX: Yeah.

(The Doctor removes the cover to another small tunnel.)

DOCTOR: Drax, where does this lead?
DRAX: Upper level. Watch out for the mutes.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Yeah, of course.

(The Doctor crawls out.)

[Small tunnel]

K9 [OC]: Doctor? I have you on scan, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Doctor?

[Tunnel]

K9: Turn left now. Turn right now.

[Small tunnel]

(The Doctor arrives at a grating in the tunnel wall.)

K9: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, old friend?
K9: I have a message for you.
DOCTOR: I can't hear. Can you come a bit closer?

(The Doctor hits the grating, which hits K9 on the nose.)

K9: Such actions warrant immediate death, which I shall execute.
DOCTOR: Oh, K9.
K9: Here is a message for you. Doctor, Romana is with my master.
DOCTOR: Ah.
K9: He wishes to know if you will exchange the Key to Time for the life of Romana. End of message. Your reply, please. Waiting.
DOCTOR: Tell your master I shall give his offer serious consideration.

(The Doctor pushes the grating aside, goes behind K9 and pushes him down the small tunnel into Drax's cell. Crash.)

DRAX [OC]: Hey!
DOCTOR: Yes?
DRAX [OC]: What's this heap of junk?
DOCTOR: That's my computer.
DRAX [OC]: Eh?
DOCTOR: Drax, I've got no time to explain. Remove the control device from under his chin, all right?
DRAX [OC]: Oh, er, ah, right. Done it. Now what?
DOCTOR: Now nothing. Carry on with the stabiliser. I'll be back soon, I hope. Bye.

(Exploring a tunnel, the Doctor is taken prisoner by one of the Shadow's minions.)

[Drax's cell]

(K9 is lying on his side.)

K9: Attention! Attention!

(Drax jumps onto his 'work bench'. )

DRAX: What's that?
K9: Malfunction in drive systems. Attention required immediately.
DRAX: Oh, it's you. I'm busy.
K9: Essential restored to vertical position. Alternative is your obliteration.
DRAX: Leave me alone.

(K9 starts emitting a distress sound.)

DRAX: All right, all right.

(He puts K9 back on its wheels.)

DRAX: That better?
K9: Affirmative.

(K9 sucks his laser back in.)

DRAX: Blimey, it's a dog. Who's a little tin dog, then?
K9: Your silliness is noted. Drive systems regenerating.

(Drax returns to his repair work.)

DRAX: I don't get it. It's the chronostat. It always is.
K9: Negative. It is a question of synaptic adhesion.
DRAX: Not you and all.

[Shadow's lair]

(Romana is back in the interrogation booth.)

SHADOW: The Key to Time, Doctor. (silence) Then you can watch your assistant suffer.
DOCTOR: I refuse to negotiate in an atmosphere of threat.

(Romana gets zapped.)

DOCTOR: No, no, stop! Stop!
ROMANA: Doctor, no. Don't give in to him. It doesn't matter what happens to me.
DOCTOR: Well of course it matters. You have the sixth piece, I take it?
SHADOW: It is here.
DOCTOR: Well, I'd like to see it, if it's possible.
SHADOW: You have already seen it.
DOCTOR: Ah. Yes. If I bring the other five pieces
SHADOW: Yes?
DOCTOR: What is it you have in mind? I mean, what do you intend to do?
SHADOW: Come now, Doctor, you know who I am.
DOCTOR: Yes. I suppose you realise I've rigged things so that Atrios and Zeos are protected.
SHADOW: Your puny time loop.
DOCTOR: Yes, my puny. Well, it may be puny but it works. If you break that, millions of people will die.
SHADOW: That has always been our intention. This pathetic little war is but a rehearsal for our grand design.
DOCTOR: Our?
SHADOW: You have your Guardian and I have mine. You and I are on the same quest, Doctor, but whereas you have been scavenging across space and time, I have located the sixth piece here.
DOCTOR: Oh.
SHADOW: Your are inferior, just as your powers are inferior. Once we have the Key to Time, we shall set not two small planets but the two halves of the entire cosmos at war, and their mutual destruction will be music in our ears. Unlike others, it is not power we seek, but destruction that we glory in. Fetch the Key.
DOCTOR: Very well.
ROMANA: No! Doctor!
SHADOW: Bwahahahahahahaha!

[Drax's cell]

(Repairs are complete.)

DRAX: It's working. You were right, Doc. Synaptic adhesion.
K9: Correct.
DRAX: You don't know what the Doctor wants it for, do you?
K9: Negative.
DRAX: Well, I'd better go and find out. Stay, boy.

[Shadow's lair]

SHADOW: Now, my Princess, your work is done. Your destiny is at hand.

(The Shadow removes the control device from Astra's throat, and she comes to herself again.)

ASTRA: Who are you?
ROMANA: The Shadow.
SHADOW: The Shadow that accompanies you all.

(Drax waits until the Doctor and his escort passes the top of the little tunnel, then follows them at a discreet distance.)

[Outside the TARDIS]

(The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and speaks to the minion.)

DOCTOR: I suppose you realise that once I give the Shadow the Key to Time, that you and your colleagues will be superfluous.

(Drax creeps up and gestures for the Doctor to move aside.)

DOCTOR: What I mean was that, you see, after I've given the Shadow the Key to Time, he'll kill you and then he'll kill me, and perhaps you don't care.
DRAX: Right, Doctor, I'm ready for you.
DOCTOR: No, Drax, no. No!

(Drax fires his dimensional stabiliser or whatever it is, and the Doctor fades away. )

Part Six

[Outside the TARDIS]

(Drax turns the device on himself, and shrinks. The minion looks round for them.)

DRAX: Over here, Doctor!

(A tiny Doctor runs towards where Drax is hiding in a little crevice, avoiding being stamped on by the Shadow's minion.)

DRAX: Doctor, over here! Look at that.
DOCTOR: You shrank the wrong man, Drax.
DRAX: No, I was aiming at you.
DOCTOR: Why didn't you shrink the mute? The TARDIS door's open.
DRAX: Right, I've got it. Now listen. One of us creates a diversion and you fly over there and shut the door.

(The mute's giant feet pass the little men.)

DRAX: Nasty. Yeah, and we can't use the dimensional stabiliser in here 'cos there's not enough room for when we get back to normal size. We'd just fill up the crack.
DOCTOR: Like putty.
DRAX: Do you mind? Yeah, you've got problems.
DOCTOR: Yes. The door's open so the Shadow can go in there and take the Key to Time. Romana can't help and the time loop must be at breaking point by now.

(Steam is coming out of the Key. Mentalis' countdown is running from 10 to 3 before repeating.)

DOCTOR: When the countdown reaches zero, up goes Atrios, Zeos and all.
DRAX: Life presents a dismal picture, you might say.
DOCTOR: Yes, you might say that. And of course there's the Marshal.
DRAX: The Marshal? He's on our side.
DOCTOR: No.
DRAX: No. Oh well. Where's he fit in?
DOCTOR: He's in the time loop as well, making a rocket attack on Zeos. Unless, of course, Shapp and Merak get in contact with him.
DRAX: Where are they?
DOCTOR: Back on Atrios, I hope.

[Control area]

(The technicians have all left. Merak's head has been bandaged and Shapp has his left arm in a sling.)

SHAPP: Atrios control to Marshal. Marshal? Come in, Marshal. Oh, it's useless. He either can't or won't answer. And this time loop device isn't going to hold things back for ever, is it.
MERAK: No, not unless the Doctor can find the sixth piece, and the sixth piece is somehow connected with Astra.
SHAPP: But she denies all knowledge of it?
MERAK: All conscious knowledge, yes. But if she's the only one who knows then secret, and if the knowledge is implanted, then it must have affected her, made her different in some slight way that might just show up in analysis.
SHAPP: Yes, but she's not here.
MERAK: But her records are, on your computer.

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Fire!

(The pilot's hand reaches the firing button, then the whole lowering missiles cycle begins again.)

MARSHAL: Fire!

[Outside the TARDIS]

DRAX: Well, we've got one thing in our favour.
DOCTOR: Oh?
DRAX: Mobility.
DOCTOR: Mobility.
DRAX: Well, if we're only this high, we're practically invisible, aren't we?

(The mute is still pacing.)

DRAX: Except we daren't move.
DOCTOR: Yes. If the Shadow gets the five pieces from the TARDIS, which he undoubtedly will, it's up to us to get the sixth piece.
DRAX: Yeah, but you don't know what it looks like, do ya? I reckon you're banjaxed, my old son. End of the road. Finito.
DOCTOR: The Shadow said I'd already seen it. It must be Astra.
DRAX: Astra?
DOCTOR: She must have it. Let's see where this crack leads, shall we?
DRAX: It's better than getting the boot.

[Shadow's lair]

(The open TARDIS is on his screen.)

SHADOW: The Doctor has eluded me, but he has made his last mistake. See, the door is open! The Key to Time is mine! Enough! Bwahahahaha!

(The Shadow leaves, cackling.)

ROMANA: He thinks we're just going to stand by and let him walk away with everything we've worked for. Come on, let's get out of here.
ASTRA: In this place.
ROMANA: What?
ASTRA: My destiny is here, in this place. Not on Atrios, not on Zeos. Here.
ROMANA: Astra, listen. You're not under the Shadow's influence any more. Now, let's get out of here before he comes back.
ASTRA: No, I must stay. I am the sixth princess of the sixth dynasty of the sixth Royal House of Atrios.
ROMANA: Yes, yes, but we must get out of here before the Shadow comes back!
ASTRA: This is the time of my becoming, my transcendence.
ROMANA: What are you talking about?
ASTRA: Metamorphosis.

[Tunnel]

(Drax gets a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.)

DRAX: Yeah, here we are. Right, now, there's the T junction. Right down to the dungeon, left onto the Shadow's lair.
DOCTOR: What? You mean there's a way in he doesn't know about?
DRAX: Well, it will be when it's finished, but a couple of midgets like us won't be much good on a pick and shovel, will we?
DOCTOR: No. No, no. no. But if we get K9 up there, we won't need a pick and shovel, will we. We can still give the Shadow a surprise.
DRAX: Well, let's normalise then, shall we?
DOCTOR: No, no, Drax, no. Small is lovely.
DRAX: Big is better, though, innit?

[Outside the TARDIS]

SHADOW: Now, the moment I have waited for! Open the door.

(The mute pushes the TARDIS door, and a bright light shines inside.)

SHADOW: Light! Too much light! You, fetch me the Key. Hurry.

(The mute enters the TARDIS.)

SHADOW: When the Key is mine, I shall dispel the light, and darkness and night shall reign.

(The mute returns with the Key, and the TARDIS door closes.)

SHADOW: Ah.

(There is a hole in the fake sixth part, as if it is disintegrating. The Shadow takes it and leaves.)

[Shadow's lair]

ASTRA: Destiny. My destiny is near.
ROMANA: Astra, remember you're the sixth princess of the sixth Royal House of the sixth dynasty.

(The penny finally drops.)

ROMANA: And we're looking for the sixth segment of the Key to Time. Oh, you're in greater danger even than we imagined.

[Control area]

SHAPP: Have you found it?
MERAK: I think so, yes.
SHAPP: What is it?
MERAK: A molecular anomaly buried in the genetic structure of the Royal House of Atrios and passed from one generation to the next, until finally, Astra.
SHAPP: What's it mean?
MERAK: I imagine it means that her every living cell is part of this Key of Time, and that to save us, Astra must be destroyed. You see?
SHAPP: Hey, where are you going?

[Tunnel]

(We can hear the Doctor and Drax, but not see them.)

DOCTOR: Everything all right, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Control box in position?
K9: Control box in position.
DOCTOR: Batteries charged?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Test the blaster, K9.

(K9 fires his laser.)

DRAX: Ow!
DOCTOR: Blaster working, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: You all right, Drax?
DRAX: Just about. That bit gets hot.
DOCTOR: I'd sit somewhere else, if I were you. Ready, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Now remember, it's absolutely vital to convince the Shadow that you're still under his control. This whole plan depends on how well you can act. Got it?
K9: Affirmative, master.
DOCTOR: Keep it simple, K9.
K9: The Doctor and Drax have been eliminated.
DOCTOR: Okay, K9. Now forward. You're on.
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Did you ever get to Troy, Drax? Little place in Asia Minor.

[K block]

(A mute is on guard outside the transmat cubicle when Astra's circlet is thrown to the floor. It bends, and Merak jumps it from behind, with a weapon.)

MERAK: The third planet. Show me.

[Shadow's lair]

(Merak comes out of the transmat wearing the mute's cloak. He hides as the Shadow processes along with the Key and a train of mutes. He tags on behind and they all enter the lair. The Shadow places the Key on a sort of table, which then lights up a bit.)

SHADOW: The fulfillment of that for which I have waited since eternity began.

[Tunnel]

K9: Preparing for blasting.

[Shadow's lair]

SHADOW: You see, Princess, you cannot escape your destiny.
ASTRA: My destiny.
SHADOW: It is for this that you were born. The sixth child of the sixth generation of the sixth dynasty of Atrios. Born to be the sixth and final segment of the Key to Time. Come, Princess, prepare yourself.
ASTRA: I am ready.

(Astra reaches for the tracer, and turns into the segment.)

SHADOW: Ah!
MERAK: Astra!

(K9 blasts through the wall, disrupting the Shadow's ecstasy.)

SHADOW: What is this?
K9: Apologies, master.
SHADOW: You mechanical idiot.
K9: But there is an intruder here.
SHADOW: I ordered her to eliminate him.
K9: It shall be done.
SHADOW: Wait. Where is the Doctor?

(K9 trundles past the Key and turns to face the Shadow.)

K9: Ahem. The Doctor and Drax have been eliminated.
SHADOW: Good. Then these two shall stay and witness my moment of glory, my apotheosis.
K9: (sotto) Master.
SHADOW: Mine at last!

(The Shadow reaches for the tracer.)

K9: Now, master.

(A panel opens in K9's side, and the Doctor and Drax jump out.)

ROMANA: No, you'll break the time loop!
MERAK: Millions will die!
SHADOW: A small beginning. Bwahahahahaha!
DOCTOR: The stabiliser, Drax, now!

(Drax restores the Doctor to normal height, then himself. The Doctor pounces on the sixth segment.)

SHADOW: You interfering fool. No one can resist the power of darkness!

(The Doctor shines the light of the Key into the Shadow's eyes, and he recoils.)

DOCTOR: Quick, back to the TARDIS! Quick!

[Outside the Shadow's lair]

DRAX: You go on, Doctor. I'll hold them off.
DOCTOR: How will you get back?
DRAX: The transmat shaft. See you on the TARDIS.

[Shadow's lair]

SHADOW: Stop him! He must be stopped! Stop him!

[Outside the TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Good.

(The Doctor goes inside.)

ROMANA: Come on, Merak.
DOCTOR: Come on, Romana. Merak, get inside!
MERAK: No!
DOCTOR: Quick, get inside, man!
MERAK: No, Doctor, I'm staying here.
DOCTOR: What!
MERAK: I'm staying here to look for Astra.
ROMANA: But what about the Shadow?
MERAK: Astra! Astra!

(Merak leaves.)

DOCTOR: No, Romana, come on.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Set the coordinates for Zeos.

(The hole in the fake piece has grown.)

ROMANA: We're murderers. First Astra and now Merak.
DOCTOR: Romana, it wasn't our idea to use the Royal House of Atrios as carriers, was it?
ROMANA: No, but what happened to Astra was our fault. We're just pawns here to do the Guardian's dirty work.
DOCTOR: I don't like it any more than you do, but it's done. Have you set those coordinates yet?
ROMANA: Is that all you can say? She was a living being, and now what is she? A component. And Merak thinks she's still alive. No power should have that right, not even the Guardians. We must do something!
DOCTOR: Well, you could start by setting the coordinates for Zeos.
ROMANA: Why?
DOCTOR: Romana, you get carried away. If you don't set those coordinates, millions of people will die and this time it really will be our fault. Have you forgotten the time loop?
ROMANA: No, I hadn't forgotten the time loop. Can't you put the new segment in?
DOCTOR: In less than a second?

[Zeos computer room]

(The countdown has reached 1 when the TARDIS materialises. The Doctor and Romana rush out.)

DOCTOR: Quick, cutters. Cutters!

(Drax runs in.)

DRAX: Here, what a mess in here.
DOCTOR: Listen, Drax. Drax, don't just stand there. What colour?
DRAX: Green, I think.
DOCTOR: What?
DRAX: Well, it's a long time since I done it. Er.

(He searches his pockets.)

ROMANA: Quickly, Drax.
DRAX: Just a minute. Don't fluster me.
ROMANA: Hurry!
DRAX: I've got a diagram somewhere.
DOCTOR: Drax!
ROMANA: Drax!
DOCTOR: Drax!
DRAX: Right.
ROMANA: Drax!
DOCTOR: Drax!
DRAX: Pyramid, green! I told you.

(The Doctor cuts the wire. The countdown goes to zero. And nothing happens.)

DRAX: Well, you didn't have to make such a mess of it all.
DOCTOR: Drax. You took your time. Where's K9?
DRAX: We found young Merak lying there dead to the world. Carrying him slowed us right down.
DOCTOR: Really. How is he?
DRAX: Well, he'll live.
ROMANA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Aren't we forgetting something?
DOCTOR: I don't think so.
ROMANA: The Marshal!
DOCTOR: What? The Marshal.
ROMANA: Come on!
DOCTOR: Quick!

(They all dash into the TARDIS.)

[Marshal's module]

MARSHAL: Fire!

(Missiles away.)

MARSHAL: Taste the moment of victory. Any second now, beautiful mushrooms will blossom and burst.

(The missiles streak past the planet.)

MARSHAL: No! No, it's the wrong target!

(And blow up the Shadow's satellite instead. KaBOOM!)

[Space]

SHADOW: Sire. Sire. I have failed. The Doctor has accomplished his purpose. He has the Key to Time. I have failed.
GUARDIAN: I expected no less of you, you whimpering wraith.

(Those deep, full tones are those of Valentine Dyall, voice of Gargravarr, then Deep Thought, and the original Man in Black.)

GUARDIAN: But your death is already encompassed in my designs, for now the Doctor shall release the Key to me, and chaos shall break upon the universe!

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: What a shot, Marshal! Ha, ha, well shot!
ROMANA: Doctor, he hit the planet of evil and he was aiming at Zeos!
DOCTOR: Well, I can't help what he was aiming at.
ROMANA: What did you do?
DOCTOR: A mere nothing. A mere deflective forcefield set up for a millisecond set up between the Marshal and Zeos, bounced the missiles smack onto the planet of evil.
ROMANA: Is that all?
DOCTOR: Yes.
DRAX: Well, he might have told us, mightn't he, dog? We was expecting to get blasted into infinity.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Well, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what I'm apologising for. I just saved your lives! Can I drop you somewhere, Drax?
DRAX: No thanks. I've got a contract job on down there.
DOCTOR: Contract job? No armaments, I hope.
DRAX: No. Reconstruction, war damage, scrap and that. Me and the Marshal's going fifty-fifty.
ROMANA: You and the Marshal?
DRAX: Yeah, well, he's out of a job now, isn't he. I mean, no war, no job, so I took him on.
DOCTOR: When did you arrange this?
DRAX: In about half an hour's time, I should think.
DOCTOR: I see. Fifty-fifty?
DRAX: Well, sixty-forty, know what I mean?
DOCTOR: Ah.
DRAX: And if you ever want to get rid of that thing (the complete Key) just let me know, won't you.
DOCTOR: I'll let you know. Bye, bye, Drax.
DRAX: Right then. Bye all.
ROMANA: Goodbye.
DRAX: Remember me to Gallifrey.
DOCTOR: Bye, bye, Drax.
ROMANA: Goodbye.

(Drax leaves. Romana closes the doors.)

ROMANA: Right, I'll set the coordinates for Gallifrey, shall I?
DOCTOR: Why Gallifrey?
ROMANA: Well, that's where we're going, isn't it?
DOCTOR: We have the power to do anything we like. Absolute power over every particle in the universe. Everything that has ever existed or ever will exist. As from this moment are you listening to me, Romana?
ROMANA: Yes, of course I'm listening.
DOCTOR: Because if you're not listening I can make you listen, because I can do anything.

(The Doctor rolls his eyes back like a maniac.)

DOCTOR: As from this moment there's no such thing as free will in the entire universe. There's only my will, because I possess the Key to Time!
ROMANA: Doctor, are you all right?
DOCTOR: (normal) Well of course I'm all right. But supposing I wasn't all right. This thing makes me feel in such a way I'd be very worried if I felt like that about someone else feeling like this about that. Do you understand?
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: What do you understand?
ROMANA: That the sooner we hand this over to the White Guardian
BOTH: The better!

(Dramatic organ chords, and the Guardian appears on the scanner, dressed in white.)

GUARDIAN [on scanner]: My congratulations to you, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, thank you, sir, thank you.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: You performed your task with admirable dispatch. The universe has much to thank you for.
DOCTOR: Well, it was a pleasure, sir. Wasn't it a pleasure, Romana?
ROMANA: Doctor, that's not the President.
DOCTOR: What's the President got to do with it?
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: I can change my form or shape at will, my dear child. I appeared to you as the President so as not to alarm you.
DOCTOR: Just be careful who you're talking to.
ROMANA: Sorry, I
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: You have the Key to Time, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Ah. Oh, I have, I have indeed, sir. Do you like it?
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: Do I like it? Yes, yes, I suppose you could say that I like it.
DOCTOR: Yes, we're very proud of it, sir. Aren't we, Romana, proud of it?
ROMANA: What? Oh, yes, yes.
DOCTOR: What happens now, sir? You said, if I remember in our first conversation, that once it was assembled it would stop the entire universe and enable you to restore the natural balances of good and evil throughout the whole of the universe.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: That is correct, Doctor. So, will you release the Key to me that I may do this?
DOCTOR: Certainly, sir, yes, certainly, of course. Key to Time, I command you. Could I ask you something, sir?
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: Yes, Doctor?
DOCTOR: It's just that, well, the Key is already assembled, sir. I mean, couldn't you restore the balances now?
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: Yes, Doctor, but I must have the Key for safe keeping. It is an awesomely powerful key.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, sir, yes, and mustn't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. I quite understand, sir, yes. Key to Time, I command. What about the sixth segment?
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: What about it, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well, I mean, as you know, sir, the sixth segment was in fact a human being, and I mean, if the pieces are maintained in their present pattern it means that she'll be imprisoned forever, sir.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: That is, of course, regrettable.
DOCTOR: Very regrettable.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: But with the fate of the universe at stake.
DOCTOR: Quite. You can't be too careful. I quite understand. Key to Time, I command that you stay exactly where you are!

(The Doctor hits a TARDIS control.)

GUARDIAN [on scanner]: Doctor! You have fully activated all the TARDIS' defences!
DOCTOR: We can't be too careful, can we? And it would be a terrible tragedy for the universe if it suddenly turned out that I was colour blind.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: Doctor, release the Key to me immediately!
DOCTOR: Unable to distinguish between the White Guardian and the Black Guardian.
ROMANA: Doctor, what do you mean?
DOCTOR: Look.

(The Guardian snarls and turns into a negative of its former image.)

DOCTOR: Don't you see? The White Guardian would never have had such a callous disregard for human life.
ROMANA: Of course. Astra, the sixth segment. He would have dispersed it immediately.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: Doctor, you shall die for this!
DOCTOR: I think not. Remember, the Key to Time is still mine, rage all you like.
GUARDIAN [on scanner]: I shall destroy you for this! I will disperse every particle of your being to the furthest reaches of eternity!
DOCTOR: Ah well, I wish I could stay and watch you try, but you know how it is. Places to go, people to see, things to do. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: When I give the signal
ROMANA: Yes?

(The Doctor reaches for the tracer.)

DOCTOR: Dematerialise.

(He takes the tracer from the Key.)

DOCTOR: Now!

(And snaps the tracer in two. The first five pieces of the Key hurtle off into time and space, and the sixth becomes Astra again.)

[Hospital ward]

ASTRA: Hello, Merak.
MERAK: Astra? Astra, where are you?
ASTRA: I'm here.

(She takes his hand.)

MERAK: Astra.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: You see? I think of everything.
ROMANA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Hmm?
ROMANA: What exactly have you done with the Key to Time?
DOCTOR: Key to Time? Oh, well, I just scattered it round through space and time.
ROMANA: I see. So where are we going?
DOCTOR: Going? I don't know.
ROMANA: You have absolutely no sense of responsibility whatsoever.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: You're capricious, arrogant, self-opinionated, irrational and you don't even know where we're going.
DOCTOR: Exactly.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: Well, if I knew where I was going, there'd be a chance the Black Guardian would, too.
ROMANA: Oh.
DOCTOR: Hence this new device.
ROMANA: What is it?
DOCTOR: Well, it's called a randomiser and it's fitted to the guidance system and operates under a very complex scientific principle called pot luck.

(The Doctor sets the TARDIS going.)

DOCTOR: Now no one knows where we're going. Not even the Black Guardian.
ROMANA: Not even us.

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

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