The Caves of Androzani

Part One

[Planet surface]

(The TARDIS materialises in a dry, sandy place, played by a quarry at Stokeford Heath, Dorset. Off in the distance, buttes of harder rock stand proud in the eroded landscape.)

PERI [OC]: The tide's out.
DOCTOR [OC]: Hmm?
PERI [OC]: When you said sand, I thought maybe I could take a dip.
DOCTOR [OC]: You're a little late, Peri. It's about a billion years since there was any sea on Androzani Minor.
PERI [OC]: You're such a pain, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Come on. Well, well, well. The old place hasn't changed at all. Still nothing but sand.
PERI: Oh, wow! This place, Doctor, it's just unbelievable! Doctor, look!
DOCTOR: What?
PERI: Glass.
DOCTOR: Almost, anyway. It's fused silica. And I'm not a pain. Here's some more. Now, why would anyone come here?
PERI: Who said they have?
DOCTOR: These patches were fused by the rocket pads of a spacecraft. Too small for interstellar travel, so it obviously came from the twin planet of Androzani Major. The interesting question is, why?
PERI: Maybe someone wanted some sand to make some glass so they could blow a new vacuum tube for their reticular vector gauge.
DOCTOR: Hmm. Sarcasm is not your strong point, Peri. If I were you I'd stick. Ah-ha! What have we here?
PERI: Ah-ha? I'm looking. Why am I looking?
DOCTOR: A monoskid. You can see the deep furrow where it left the ship then the shallower one when it returned.
PERI: Or vice versa.
DOCTOR: No, no, no. You can see where the light track sometimes crosses the heavy one. So, someone came here with a heavily laden monoskid, unloaded it somewhere and then returned to the ship.
PERI: So you got a merit badge in tracking when you were a boy scout. I'm suitably impressed. Can we go now?
DOCTOR: Er, one moment. Looks as if the tracks lead to those caves over there.
PERI: Is this wise, I ask myself? Oh well.

(They follow the tracks some way.)

DOCTOR: Ah, blow holes.
PERI: What?
DOCTOR: Now we're near you can see they're not caves, they're blow holes.
PERI: Well, same difference.
DOCTOR: Not to a speleologist. And not if you're stuck in one of those things at high tide.
PERI: High tide? I thought you said that
DOCTOR: It's a figure of speech. You see, the core of this planet is superheated primeval mud. When its orbit takes it close to Androzani Major, the gravitational pull
PERI: Oh, I get the picture. Mud baths for everyone. Well, it's a change from lava.
DOCTOR: Hmm. Presumably why the planet was never colonised. Androzani Major was becoming quite developed the last time I passed this way.
PERI: When was that?
DOCTOR: I don't remember. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the future.
PERI: You're a very confusing person to be with, Doctor, you know that?
DOCTOR: I tried keeping a diary once. Not chronological, of course, but the trouble with time travel is one never seems to find the time.

[Underground]

(Somewhere, three men are measuring and mapping a tunnel when one of them is attacked by something very large. The other two fire automatic weapons at it then run.
The Doctor and Peri pick their way carefully down one of the blow holes.)
PERI: Where's the light coming from?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, natural phosphorescence. There's a crystalline material in these walls. It's polished smooth as glass.
PERI: Which reminds me why we came here, and it wasn't to go Argh!

(Behind the Doctor, Peri slips on the glassy surface and disappears down a hole.)

DOCTOR: Be careful not to slip. Oh.

(He goes to help her. Peri has landed with a leg in some yukky goo.)

DOCTOR: Keep still. All right, give me your hand. Come on, up.
PERI: It's horrid. What is it?
DOCTOR: It's not edible, by the smell of it. It's probably quite harmless.
PERI: It's stinging.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, don't fall into any more, hmm?

(They follow this new tunnel into a narrow cavern.)

PERI: Doctor, why do you wear a stick of celery in your lapel?
DOCTOR: Does it offend you?
PERI: No, I'm just curious.
DOCTOR: Safety precaution. I'm allergic to certain gases in the praxis range of the spectrum.
PERI: How does the celery help?
DOCTOR: If the gas is present, the celery turns purple.
PERI: And then what do you do?
DOCTOR: I eat the celery. If nothing else, I'm sure it's good for my teeth.

[Smuggler's cave]

(A man in what could be a light-coloured uniform is cleaning a weapon which includes three small canisters fastened together.)

KRELPER: The dummies should have been here yesterday.
STOTZ: The last time we made a drop, we had to wait three days. So what? It sure beats picking chacaws.
KRELPER: Chacaws. I don't pick chacaws, Stotz. I've never been confined, and you know why? Cos I'm smart.
STOTZ: You, smart? Krelper, the wind whistles through your ears.
KRELPER: Yeah?

(Beep, beep.)

STOTZ: Someone's coming.
KRELPER: Should be the droids. Come on, belt plates.
STOTZ: Krelper, it could also be the army. Let's move out of here.
KRELPER: Come on!

(Three more men follow the pair out. A little while later, the Doctor and Peri stroll in. They are watched by people in uniform.)

PERI: End of trail.
DOCTOR: Gas carbines.

(Peri opens a box.)

PERI: Bombs.
DOCTOR: Poison volatisers. Nasty little objects, aren't they. There are enough hand weapons here to equip a small army.
PERI: What do you make of it? You said nobody lives here.
DOCTOR: I was wrong. This dice is still warm.
PERI: Listen.
DOCTOR: Boots coming this way. Quickly, over here.

(They try to hide behind some munitions crates as a troop of men in red and grey overalls, metal hard hats and carrying automatic weapons enter. It is to no avail. The Doctor is quickly frisked.)

PERI: Now what do we do?
DOCTOR: Surrender.

[Operations room]

(A man in the same design overalls but with yellow shoulders, is putting markers on a wall map. There is a knock at the door.)

CHELLAK: Yes?

(A young man in blue-shouldered overalls enters. Everyone say Hi! to Robert Glenister.)

SALATEEN: A message from Captain Rones, sir. His men have just taken two gun runners.
CHELLAK: Good. Good. That's excellent. Well done Rones, eh? He's B group, I think.
SALATEEN: Yes, sir.
CHELLAK: High time we had some success. Did they resist?
SALATEEN: Apparently not. The patrol also captured a dump of gas weapons.
CHELLAK: Gas?
SALATEEN: Rones suspects there are other runners in the area. He wants to know if he should set up an ambush.
CHELLAK: I think it's more important we should seize these weapons, Major Salateen.
SALATEEN: Very good, sir.
CHELLAK: If Sharaz Jek gets his hands on gas weapons, we'll be in a devil of a stew. Could pin our fellows down for weeks.
SALATEEN: We have gas suits in the stores, General.
CHELLAK: A bad design. I've always said so. A few hours in one of those things, you start to cook. Still, better have them checked ready for issue.
SALATEEN: It's being done, sir.
CHELLAK: Ahead of me as usual, eh, Salateen. What about these prisoners?

[Morgus' office]

(The Chairman of the board summons his personal assistant. She enters.)

TIMMIN: Yes, sir?
MORGUS: Krau Timmin, copper output has risen by thirteen percent. That should not have occurred.
TIMMIN: Head of Minerals sent out a limiting order last month, sir.
MORGUS: Too little, too late. Tell him to fly out immediately to our Northcawl mine. I want a feasibility study on the possibility of closure.
TIMMIN: Yes, sir.
MORGUS: That is all, Krau.
TIMMIN: There has been a message from General Chellak, sir.
MORGUS: Yes?
TIMMIN: The General wishes to inform you that his men have captured two gun runners and intercepted an arms delivery to the android rebels.
MORGUS: Ah, taken two runners alive? Get me Chellak on vision.
TIMMIN: Yes, sir.
MORGUS: The spineless cretins.

[Underground]

STOTZ: They're beginning to move the stuff out. Now men, if we double round, we can cut them off here.
KRELPER: How many?
STOTZ: Ten, maybe a dozen. Come on, let's fumigate some squaddies.

[Operations room]

CHELLAK: The survey team were charting Blue level, weren't they? Did anyone see anything?
SALATEEN: Apparently not, sir. They heard Trooper Boze cry out and ran back, but it was like the others. The thing hadn't left much of him.
CHELLAK: That's five men now. Always on Blue level. If we had the time and the manpower, I'd send a squad down there to find it and destroy it.
SALATEEN: Nice trophy for the mess, sir.

(Knock at the door.)

CHELLAK: Yes.

(The door opens, and the Doctor and Peri are pushed inside.)

TROOPER: Stand there.
DOCTOR: Couldn't we have a chair? It's been a rather strenuous day.
CHELLAK: You will stand there until I've finished with you, and when you address me, you will call me sir.
DOCTOR: May I ask who you are, sir?
CHELLAK: I am General Chellak, Commander of all Federal forces on this planet.
DOCTOR: Well done, sir. I suppose you started in the ranks.
CHELLAK: Under emergency regulations, anyone caught supplying arms to the android rebels faces summary execution.
PERI: But, but, we weren't supplying arms. We were, well, we just found them.
DOCTOR: Sir.
PERI: Sir.
CHELLAK: If you cooperate, I'm prepared to extend clemency. If you don't cooperate, you'll be shot. Is that clear?
DOCTOR: Couldn't put it more plainly. Exactly how do we cooperate?
PERI: Sir.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
CHELLAK: Do not provoke me.
DOCTOR: Sorry.
CHELLAK: I want to know your names and the names of your confederates. I want full details of all armaments deliveries, where and how they are brought in, who supplies them back on Major, and what your communication arrangements are with Sharaz Jek.
DOCTOR: Well, I am generally known as the Doctor. My young friend here is known as Peri, that is, Perpegillium Brown.
CHELLAK: Don't waste my time.
DOCTOR: You know, if we could just sit down and talk about this little misunderstanding in a civilised manner. My young friend here has been complaining of pains in her legs. You can see for yourself she's suffering from some sort of urticaria.
CHELLAK: Silence.
DOCTOR: Come to that, I don't feel too well myself.

(The communications panel beeps.)

CHELLAK: Yes?
TROOPER [OC]: Signals, sir. Trau Morgus is on Vid. He wants to speak to you immediately, General.
CHELLAK: I'll take it. Put them in there.

[Chellak's quarters]

(The Doctor and Peri are pushed into a small room behind the map wall.)

PERI: I don't think he likes us very much.

[Morgus' office]

MORGUS: Take my private lift and make sure you're not seen on the way out. Remember, I want the operation at Northcawl to be completed by the morning.
MAN: Yes, Trau.

(The tall blond man steps into an external lift and the door slides down. Trau Morgus turns on the holographic vid-screen.)

MORGUS: The gun runners. What information have you obtained?
CHELLAK [on screen]: Nothing as yet, only their names, sir.
MORGUS: What are their names?
CHELLAK [on screen]: One calls himself the Doctor, the girl's name is Peri.
MORGUS: A girl? Bring them to the screen.
CHELLAK [on screen]: I've only just begun the interrogation. I hope to get enough out of these two to be able to round up the rest of the gang.
MORGUS: I hope so too, General, for your sake. Your operation so far has been a dismal failure.
CHELLAK [on screen]: With respect, sir, I don't believe you fully understand the difficulty of the conditions here.
MORGUS: All I understand is you're supposed to be trained soldiers, and yet one renegade and a handful of mindless androids has been dancing rings round you for six months.
CHELLAK [on screen]: I might remind you we captured the Spectrox refinery in our first assault.
MORGUS: And allowed Sharaz Jek to spirit away the entire stockpile from under our noses. I warn you, General. People here are in no mood to tolerate your blundering much longer.

[Jek's headquarters]

(The communications are being intercepted by a man in a leather suit which covers everything except one hand, one eye and his lips. Everyone say Hi to Christopher Gable underneath that lot.)

CHELLAK [OC]: I will not accept criticism from a civilian, no matter how rich and powerful he is. The captives are here.
DOCTOR [OC]: Tempers getting a little frayed, are they?
MORGUS [on monitor]: Obviously you are the one who calls himself the Doctor.
DOCTOR [on monitor]: And you are?
MORGUS [on monitor]: Chief Director of the Sirius Conglomerate.
JEK: Beautiful.
DOCTOR [on monitor]: And we are to address you as sir?

[Morgus' office]

MORGUS: Better if you do not address me at all. I merely wish to inspect you, to see the kind of creatures capable of betraying the golden vision of our glorious pioneers. Already I feel contaminated. Get rid of them.

(The Doctor and Peri leave the screen and Chellak returns.)

MORGUS: You have done well, General. I apologise if my earlier remarks seemed intemperate. It's just the frustration I feel here when I long to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. All right minded people feel the same. And so to boost morale, I will arrange for the execution.
CHELLAK [on screen]: But I've already told them their lives will be spared if they collaborate.
MORGUS: No collaboration, General. No deals with traitors. The public will not stand for it.
CHELLAK [on screen]: If they're shot out of hand, we lose the chance of valuable information.
MORGUS: That may be true, but it is not of prime importance. These people are the lowest type of human being. One only has to look at them to realise the extent of their depravity. Get rid of them, General.

(Morgus turns the screen off.)

MORGUS: And we shall all feel a lot better.

[Underground]

KRELPER: Here they come.
STOTZ: Masks.

(The smugglers put on small oxygen masks. The troopers come into view.)

STOTZ: Now!

(The smugglers throw the small gas grenades at the troopers, who start firing, but succumb to the gas very quickly.)

STOTZ: Quick. Come on.

[Operations room]

CHELLAK: You heard Morgus. He wants you executed.
PERI: That's barbaric.
DOCTOR: You take orders from a civilian? Weren't you telling us you command Federal forces here?
CHELLAK: I could appeal the order, but it'd be pointless. Morgus has the Praesidium in his pocket.
DOCTOR: We're quite innocent, you know. This is all a mistake.
CHELLAK: Yes, I think I'm beginning to believe you, Doctor, but in times of war the innocent die too.
PERI: Is that all you can say? We're about to be killed

(Salateen enters.)

SALATEEN: Message from Captain Rones, sir. His men are under gas attack.
CHELLAK: Where?
SALATEEN: They were ambushed in the narrows.
CHELLAK: That's barely six hundred metres from here! Muster HQ platoon.
SALATEEN: They're falling in now, sir.
CHELLAK: I'll take them out. These two, detention cells, and get them ready for execution.

(Chellak leaves.)

SALATEEN: You have heard of death under the red cloth?
DOCTOR: Afraid not.
SALATEEN: It is a military procedure. After death, your bodies are taken to the Field Cremation Unit. Your ashes are wrapped in the red cloth of execution and will be disposed of according to your directions.
DOCTOR: Doesn't sound any more enticing than any other form of death.
SALATEEN: Place these two in detention.

(Troopers hustle the Doctor and Peri away.)

[Morgus' lift]

MORGUS: I think I have made the right decision. I only wish the execution could be made public.
TIMMIN: That is impossible, sir.
MORGUS: I know, but think of the prestige it would bring the Conglomerate. To witness the punishment of wrong-doers is excellent moral reinforcement, don't you agree?
TIMMIN: Oh yes, sir.

[Morgus' office]

MORGUS: Now, what else is there?
TIMMIN: The President is coming to see you at five, Trau Morgus.
MORGUS: Ah, yes. Take ten centilitres of Spectrox from my private stock. Even his Excellency cannot expect more than ten centilitres in these difficult times.

[Underground]

STOTZ: Right, men, move it!

(The smugglers are throwing boxes of weapons off a small walkway through a chasm in the rocks. A proximity alarm goes off.)

STOTZ: Quick, come on!

[Underground]

(Chellak and his men in gas suits find the dead troopers. Chellak removes his helmet.)

CHELLAK: Every last man. They killed the whole patrol. Check the other areas are free of gas and get the stretcher parties down here.

[Detention cell]

DOCTOR: There was something very funny about that Major.
PERI: Didn't make me laugh.
DOCTOR: Chellak said they were fighting android rebels.
PERI: Who cares who they're fighting. We seem to be the fall guys.
DOCTOR: Yes, do try and speak English, Peri, hmm?
PERI: Doctor, we've got about an hour to live. That Morgus wants us dead.
DOCTOR: Yes, that's another odd thing. He had us paraded up and down in front of him, then once he'd seen us he seemed to lose all interest. I find that rather insulting.
PERI: I can take an insult. I, I just don't want to be shot. Doctor, what are we going to do?
DOCTOR: I've really no idea. I'm sorry I got you into this, Peri.
PERI: It's all right. It wasn't your fault. I mean, it's as much my fault as yours.
DOCTOR: Yes, I should never have followed those tracks. Curiosity's always been my downfall. How's your rash, by the way?
PERI: It seems to be coming out in blisters now.
DOCTOR: Me too. That fungus obviously had some very toxic properties.
PERI: Well, I don't suppose we'll die of it inside the next hour.

(The Doctor looks through the small grill in the door.)

PERI: Anything interesting?
DOCTOR: No. It's like a graveyard.

[Jek's headquarters]

(After looking at the image of Peri and the Doctor on his monitor, Sharaz Jek gathers some equipment then uses his comms.)

JEK: Base defence group numbers four and nine, report to me. That is all.

(A monitor shows the activity in the Narrows.)

JEK: Stotz must have had a good day.

[Detention cell]

DOCTOR: Morgus said that Spectrox was the most valuable substance in the universe. I wonder what it can be?
PERI: I thought you knew everything.
DOCTOR: Ah, not quite. It's going to worry me until I find out what it is.
PERI: I don't think you need worry for very long. They seem to be about ready for us.

(As the Doctor and Peri look out through the grill, a figure somehow enters the cell behind them.)

[Morgus' office]

(Morgus hands over a small glass bottle containing a white liquid.)

PRESIDENT: Ah. Morgus, I can't thank you enough.
MORGUS: My pleasure, Trau President. How much do you take?
PRESIDENT: My apothecary recommends point three of a centilitre per day. I've been without for three weeks now and have begun to feel my age.
MORGUS: It is a wonderful restorative.
PRESIDENT: The greatest boon ever bestowed on humanity, offering us at least twice normal lifespan. Would you think I was eighty four?
MORGUS: Fifty, at the most.
PRESIDENT: Quite. That is why this war must be brought to a conclusion soon, Morgus, one way or another.
MORGUS: There is only one honourable way, sir. Sharaz Jek must be crushed.
PRESIDENT: Of course. But our forces are making such poor progress and meanwhile people here are clamouring for supplies of Spectrox to be resumed. It's understandable.
MORGUS: That is the razor's edge Jek is holding to our throats, but we cannot accede to criminal blackmail.
PRESIDENT: My dear Morgus, I agree entirely, but we are forced to see the matter from different viewpoints.
MORGUS: Patriotism is the only viewpoint.
PRESIDENT: A businessman's patriotism may differ from that of a politician. I am forced to take account of the mood of the people, and it is becoming ugly. Whereas you need only take account of a balance sheet, which since the market value of Spectrox has risen so astronomically, must look much healthier now than it did at the start of this conflict.
MORGUS: My Conglomerate is contributing handsomely towards the cost of operation on Androzani Minor.
PRESIDENT: Yes, the Praesidium is duly grateful, but as your Conglomerate owns that planet, it is perhaps no more than might be expected.
MORGUS: Trau President, am I to understand the Praesidium is considering ending the war, offering Sharaz Jek an armistice?
PRESIDENT: Not immediately. However, if the military stalemate continues. The public want their Spectrox, Morgus.

(Timmin appears in the doorway.)

MORGUS: Yes? What is it?
TIMMIN: The execution, sir.

[Detention cell]

(Salateen enters. The Doctor and Peri are standing still, facing each other.)

SALATEEN: Are you ready?

(The Doctor nods. Salateen leads them out. Jek watches on a monitor and chuckles to himself.)

[Morgus' office]

(Morgus and the President watch as Salateen drapes red cloths over Peri and the Doctor.)

PRESIDENT: The red cloth? It's disgraceful.
MORGUS: It is a military execution, sir.
PRESIDENT: In my day we had filthy little swine like that shot in the back. The red cloth was for soldiers.

[Outside the Detention cell]

(the Doctor and Peri are fastened to some scaffolding.)

CHELLAK: Have you a last declaration?
DOCTOR: Nothing special. We're innocent, we've had no trial, we've had no opportunity to defend ourselves. In short, this is a mockery of justice.
CHELLAK: Do you have any last declaration?
PERI: Just get on with it.

(Chellak nods to a Trooper, who pulls a fold of cloth down over the Doctor and Peri's faces.)

CHELLAK: Firing squad. Firing position. Take aim. Fire!

(Five automatic weapons empty their clips at the Doctor and Peri.)

Part Two

[Outside the Detention cell]

(The two figures in the red cloth slump forward as the firing finishes.)

CHELLAK: Check weapons.

[Morgus' office]

CHELLAK [on screen]: Dismiss.

(Chellak cuts Peri free from the scaffold pole and she falls to the floor. Morgus turns off the screen.)

MORGUS: Whatever his defects as a Commander, Chellak certainly brings a certain style to these things, does he not?
PRESIDENT: Indeed, though I feel the decision to execute was precipitative. Some useful information might have been extracted from them.
MORGUS: They were merely ignorant handlers, Excellency. The stews of the city are full of such unemployed riff-raff.
PRESIDENT: Most of them unemployed, Trau Morgus, because you have closed so many plants. It's caused great unrest.
MORGUS: Easily settled. Those without valid employment cards will be shipped off to the eastern labour camps.
PRESIDENT: Yes, we might make that seem morally justifiable. I'll put your interesting suggestions to the Praesidium tomorrow.
MORGUS: Naturally, should any special funding be required?
PRESIDENT: Most generous. Of course, the irony is while you've been closing plants here in the west, you've been building them in the east. So if the unemployed were sent to the eastern labour camps, a great many of them would be working for you again, only this time without payment.
MORGUS: I hadn't thought of that.
PRESIDENT: Of course you hadn't.

[Jek's headquarters]

DOCTOR: Ahem.
JEK: Ah, Doctor. And Peri. Welcome, indeed. I've been so looking forward to this meeting.
DOCTOR: Sharaz Jek, I presume.
JEK: What remains of him.

(Jek goes over to Peri.)

JEK: Sit down. You must be tired.
DOCTOR: Thank you.

(Armed androids stand around. Their 'heads' are blank, with a round sensor cluster in the middle.)

[Outside the Detention cell]

(Chellak examines the bodies of his dead prisoners.)

CHELLAK: Androids! But so lifelike. I could have sworn they were human.
SALATEEN: Sharaz Jek is improving.
CHELLAK: His creatures? Do you think he's using them now for gun-running?
SALATEEN: He must be, sir. They'd have to pass for real back on Major, that's why
CHELLAK: Yes, of course. The man must be a genius in his way.
SALATEEN: Shall you inform the Praesidium?

(Chellak leads Salateen out of earshot of the Trooper.)

CHELLAK: Salateen, how can I? If it ever gets out that I executed two androids, I'd be the butt of the army. I'd be finished.
SALATEEN: It needn't get out, sir. Apart from ourselves, only Ensign Cass is aware of this.
CHELLAK: Cass?
SALATEEN: He could be sent on a deep penetration mission. Very few return.

[Jek's headquarters]

JEK: Then if you're not from Androzani Major, where are you from? Earth?
PERI: Yes.
DOCTOR: No.
PERI: Er, not exactly.
DOCTOR: We travel a lot.
JEK: Interesting. We shall have a lot to talk about. I was a doctor myself once, before the study of androids took over my life.
DOCTOR: Really. Well of course it would be fascinating to stay and talk, but actually once we've rested, if you could just point us towards the surface?
JEK: No, Doctor. You must stay here now.
PERI: Stay? For how long?
JEK: I shall make you comfortable, and after a few years you'll be quite content living here with me. Quite content.

(Jek walks behind Peri and gently puts his gloved hand on her shoulder. )

[Planet surface]

(Stotz is lying on the ground, resting, when a man walks up quietly and stands over him.)

KRELPER: Stotzy? The guys ain't taking no more of this.
STOTZ: No more of what?
KRELPER: We want paying and we want out.
STOTZ: Do you?
KRELPER: According to contract.
STOTZ: According to contract, huh? The contract says you'll get paid back on Major.
KRELPER: A two day job, you said.
STOTZ: A two day job, I said, if we was lucky. But we weren't lucky, were we, Krelper, and your luck's run out right now.

(Stotz grabs Krelper and puts his knife to his throat.)

KRELPER: Hey, take it easy, take it easy.

(Stotz's man holds of two others back with his gun.)

STOTZ: You guys have got one option. You can either stick with me or you can stay here.
KRELPER: Hey, cut it out, Stotzy.
STOTZ: It's your rotten black heart I'm going to cut out.
KRELPER: No! For pity's sake, Stotz.

(Krelper has crawled to the edge of a cliff.)

STOTZ: The boss gave me one of these. (a small tablet) Ten seconds, he said. Let's see if it works.
KRELPER: Oh no, Stotzy, no!

(Stotz stuffs the tablet into Krelper's mouth.)

STOTZ: Come on, you slat, bite. Come on, bite! Bite!

(Then Stotz gets off him.)

STOTZ: Next time, it'll be for real.

(Stotz walks away and Krelper spits the tablet out.)

STOTZ: Oh, and in case you lunkheads get any other ideas, there's something I haven't told you. That ship we've got out there on autohold? It won't take an order without a release code. So if you guys want to see Major again, you'd better make pretty certain nothing ever happens to me.

[Jek's headquarters]

(An android stops a limping Peri from approaching a door.)

DOCTOR: What is the matter?
PERI: Cramp.
DOCTOR: Try touching your toes. That's it. And again.
JEK: Working up an appetite? Salateen is bringing your food shortly.
DOCTOR: Salateen? We've not met him yet. Where's he chained up?
JEK: Chains are unnecessary, Doctor, as you will discover.
PERI: Why are you keeping us here?
JEK: Oh, my exquisite child, how could I ever let you go? The sight of beauty is so important to me.

(The Doctor moves between Jek and Peri.)

JEK: And the stimulus of a mind nearly equal to my own.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
JEK: I've missed so much of life these last lonely years, but your arrival has changed all that. We shall become the best of companions.
DOCTOR: What do you say, Peri? We can go on nature walks, have picnics and jolly evenings round the camp fire.
JEK: Don't mock me, Doctor. Beauty I must have, but you are dispensable.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
JEK: You have the mouth of a prattling jackanapes but your eyes, they tell a different story. It's of no matter. I shall break you to my will. And if I can't break you, I shall kill you, while you, my child, shall live forever.
PERI: Nobody lives forever.
DOCTOR: He means it will seem like forever.
JEK: Spectrox is the key to eternal youth, holding at bay the ravages of time. The flower of your beauty will be as permanent as a precious jewel, untarnished by the passing centuries.
DOCTOR: Well, now we know why Spectrox is the most valuable substance in the universe.
JEK: And it's mine, all of it!
DOCTOR: Until the army take it away from you.
JEK: The possibility does not exist. I know every move they make.
PERI: Knowing what they're doing and stopping them are two different things.
DOCTOR: Exactly. This General is working to a plan. I've seen his operations board.
JEK: Then see mine.

(Jek leads them to a console with a pair of monitors above it.)

JEK: The green area is held by the army.
DOCTOR: So, they've already sealed you off to the north.
JEK: Already? To get that far it has taken Chellak six months and hundreds of casualties. Computing that rate of advance, it will be another five years before I'm seriously threatened.
DOCTOR: Oh, what's five years when you're having a good war?
JEK: The people of Androzani Major will not wait for their Spectrox. Long before then, they will rise in protest and the Praesidium will be forced to agree to my terms.
PERI: What are your terms, Sharaz Jek?
JEK: They can have all the Spectrox they want when I have the head of Morgus here at my feet. I want the head of that perfidious, treacherous degenerate brought to me here, congealed in its own evil blood.

[Morgus' office]

(Morgus is deep in thought when Timmin enters.)

TIMMIN: Trau Morgus?
MORGUS: Yes, what is it?
TIMMIN: The Northcawl copper mine, sir. There's been a disaster. I thought you should know.
MORGUS: What kind of disaster?
TIMMIN: An explosion, sir, early this morning. The mine has been completely destroyed.
MORGUS: How sad. However, the loss of Northcawl eliminates our little problem of over-production. The news should also raise the market price of copper.
TIMMIN: Undoubtedly, sir.
MORGUS: As they used to say on Earth, every cloud has a strontium lining, Krau Timmin.
TIMMIN: Yes, indeed.
MORGUS: As a mark of respect for one of our late executives, I want every employee to leave his place of work and stand in silence for one minute.
TIMMIN: I'll network that order immediately, sir.
MORGUS: No, on second thoughts, make that half a minute.
TIMMIN: Half a minute?

[Jek's headquarters]

(Jek leaves, laughing.)

PERI: He's mad, Doctor. Utterly mad.
DOCTOR: And a raving egoist. Said my mind was nearly the equal of his. Incredible conceit.

(Salateen enters with bowls of gruel.)

PERI: Why do you think he hates Morgus so much?
DOCTOR: Not just Morgus, probably one amongst a vast majority. Ah, Salateen. I'd know you anywhere. I'm the Doctor, this is
SALATEEN: I know who you are.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I've been looking forward to this meeting.
SALATEEN: Why?
DOCTOR: Well, fellow prisoners. How long have you been here?
SALATEEN: Months.
DOCTOR: That's right. You see, you're an old lag, Salateen. You know the ropes.
PERI: What is this stuff?
SALATEEN: Nutrition.
PERI: Does it taste as bad as it looks?
SALATEEN: Worse.
DOCTOR: And you probably know the best way out of here.

(Salateen shakes his head.)

DOCTOR: You mean you don't, or you won't tell us.
SALATEEN: It's impossible.
DOCTOR: Do you detect a certain coolness?
PERI: Ice cold. I don't think anybody likes us.
SALATEEN: Like you? Now he has you for company, he will kill me.
DOCTOR: Kill you? Ow!

(The Doctor grips the back of his neck in pain.)

PERI: Doctor, what's wrong?
DOCTOR: Cramp, same as you had.

(Peri massages his shoulders.)

PERI: Hold on, is that better?

(Salateen pulls her off.)

SALATEEN: You both have cramp?
PERI: Yes.
SALATEEN: You haven't touched a Spectrox nest, have you?
DOCTOR: A Spectrox nest? If you mean a large fuzzy, sticky ball
SALATEEN: You have.

(Salateen laughs.)

PERI: What's so funny?
SALATEEN: You're dying.
DOCTOR: Oh, marvellous sense of humour. Try not to get hysterical. What do you mean, we're dying?
SALATEEN: And Sharaz Jek thought he had company for life. Cramp is the second stage. First a rash, then spasms, finally slow paralysis of the thoracic spinal nerve and then TDP.
PERI: TDP?
SALATEEN: Thermal death point. It's called Spectrox toxaemia. I've seen dozens die from it.
DOCTOR: What's the cure?
SALATEEN: Oh, there's no cure. Wait till Jek finds out.
PERI: He's kidding, isn't he? No, I guess not.
SALATEEN: I'm sorry. I don't suppose you see the funny side of it.
DOCTOR: What is a Spectrox nest?
SALATEEN: Deposits left by the bat colonies. Raw Spectrox contains a chemical similar to mustard nitrogen. It's deadly to humans, so they use the androids to collect the stuff and take it to the refinery.
DOCTOR: We haven't seen any bats.
SALATEEN: The androids probably destroyed most of them. They spend a chrysalid stage in the nest. Three year life cycle.
PERI: There has to be an antidote to this Spectrox toxaemia. I mean, if it's a snake venom effect, there has to be a serum or antitoxin.
SALATEEN: There is. It was discovered years ago by Professor Jackij.
DOCTOR: Well, don't keep us in suspense.
SALATEEN: You need the milk from a queen bat. Trouble is, they've all gone down to the deeps to die, so you can't reach them.
PERI: Why not?
SALATEEN: Well, for a start, there's no oxygen down there.
DOCTOR: What else? You said, for a start.
SALATEEN: There's some kind of creature down there. Probably lives in the magma and comes up to the surface to hunt. It's a carnivore.
PERI: What's it like, this creature?
SALATEEN: Nobody's ever run into one and lived to talk about it. All they ever find are its table leavings.

(Elsewhere, a big bulb flashes and Jek answers the communications unit.)

JEK: Yes?
STOTZ [OC]: Jek? Stotz. I want an RV.
JEK: Why? You lost the delivery.

[Underground]

STOTZ: Jek, your people fouled up, not ours.

[Jek's headquarters]

JEK: I don't pay for undelivered goods.
STOTZ [OC]: Now listen, Jek. If you don't pay for this consignment, we don't come back again ever. Understand?
JEK: I can't keep this line open. I'll meet you. Shaft twenty six, yellow level, in one hour.

(Meanwhile.)

DOCTOR: This delightful process you describe so graphically, how long does it all take?
SALATEEN: You're in the second stage now. You'll be dead in another two days.
DOCTOR: Can't waste any more time here.
SALATEEN: Go through that door, Doctor, and you'll be dead in two seconds.
PERI: Why?
SALATEEN: There's an android permanently on guard out there. Jek's androids are programmed to kill humans on sight.
PERI: We were brought here by two of Jek's androids.
SALATEEN: Oh, they can follow orders, but normally all humans without belt plate rank as targets. He even wears one himself.
DOCTOR: How do these belt plates work?

(Salateen shrugs.)

DOCTOR: Yes, probably they emit some low frequency magna waves or even a neutrino pattern keyed to the android's spectrum length.

(The Doctor goes to Jek's operations console as Jek enters. The two guard androids do not move.)

JEK: Congratulations, Doctor. You're very close. You understand something of android engineering.
DOCTOR: Something.
JEK: In that case you will appreciate what a masterpiece my facsimile of Salateen is. The perfect android.
DOCTOR: Nearly perfect.
JEK: Entirely perfect.

[Operations room]

CHELLAK: What a planet! Very well, set a party to work checking the mud barriers.
R-SALATEEN: I took the liberty of ordering that to be done, sir.

(The android Salateen leaves. I'll use Isaac Asimov's convention of prefix R- for robot or android, because it looks better than A- in print.)

[Jek's headquarters]

DOCTOR: What happens now?
JEK: Well, I have to negotiate with my arms suppliers. They want full payment in Spectrox. I shall offer them half.
DOCTOR: Well, if you have to go to arbitration, I have had some experience.
JEK: Your sense of humour will be the death of you, Doctor. Probably quite soon.

(Jek goes to a computer bank.)

DOCTOR: Emotional sort of fellow.
PERI: Why does he always wear that hood?
JEK: You want to know why? You, with your fair skin and features, you want to see the face under here? Do you!

(Peri squeals and runs into the Doctor's arms.)

JEK: You're wise. Even I can't bear to see or touch myself. I, who was once, once comely, who was always a lover of beauty. And now I have to live in this exile. I have to live amongst androids because androids do not see as we see.
DOCTOR: What happened?
JEK: Morgus. Why I ever trusted that fescennine bag of slime. I built an android workforce to collect and refine the Spectrox. We'd agreed to share the profits, but he'd already planned my death. When the mud burst caught without warning, how he must have gloated. But I tricked him. I reached one of the baking chambers and I survived, just.
PERI: You were burned?
JEK: Scalded near to death. The flesh boiled, hanging from the bone, but I lived. I lived so that one day I could revenge myself on that inhuman monster. And I shall.

(Jek leaves.)

DOCTOR: More of a tennis player than a cricketer.
PERI: He didn't say why he blames Morgus.
SALATEEN: I've heard the story fifty times. Morgus supplied faulty detection instruments so the mud burst caught Jek by surprise. He didn't have time to get the barriers down.
DOCTOR: I see. Well, Peri, I think it's time we were toddling along.
PERI: Well, how can we, with an android guard outside?
DOCTOR: Well, let's take a look.

[Shaft 26 yellow level]

STOTZ: Jek!
JEK: Ah, so there you are, Stotz. I thought that you could make it.
STOTZ: Damn you, man. This is the second time you've made me wait for three days, and then you only give me an hour's warning for a meet.
JEK: I'm a busy man.
STOTZ: Okay, so where's the Spectrox?
JEK: In my strongroom.
STOTZ: Now listen, Jek. Five kilos was the price we fixed, and five kilos is what we're taking back to Major.
JEK: Why should I pay for weapons I never received? Why should I pay because you blundering idiots let the army take them?
STOTZ: You'll pay, Jek, because we took the risk to get them here on time. You'll pay because if you don't, we won't be doing business no more. Not so much as a single bullet.

[Jek's headquarters]

(The guard android points his weapon at the Doctor, who slams the door shut.)

PERI: Satisfied?
DOCTOR: Hmm. The androids are programmed to kill humans. Well, my physiology is quite different. The question is, will it know that?
PERI: Don't try it, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Sorry, Peri, no alternative. Just keep back.
SALATEEN: What does he mean, he's not human?
PERI: Shush.

[Corridor]

(The Doctor closes the door behind him.)

DOCTOR: Hello.

(The android scans him, notes the two hearts and lowers its weapon.)

DOCTOR: What a clever little android you are. Now, we'll just cut your solenoids.

(The Doctor goes round the back of the android and opens it up. Peri watches through a crack in the door.)

DOCTOR: Won't hurt a bit.

(The android slumps.)

DOCTOR: It's all right, you can come out now.
PERI: Oh, Doctor. For a minute there I thought
DOCTOR: Yes, well, never mind. It's all over now. Ah, what have we here? This might be useful if we come across any more androids.

(It's a circular plate. Peri fastens it to her belt.)

SALATEEN: Where are you going?
DOCTOR: To find the queen bat.
SALATEEN: I told you, there's no oxygen down there.
DOCTOR: We'll collect some oxygenators from the TARDIS. Come along.

(The Doctor and Peri leave. Salateen grabs a weapon from the shelf and follows them.)

[Shaft 26 yellow level]

(Jek's androids and Stotz's smugglers all cock their weapons.)

JEK: Two kilos, Stotz.
STOTZ: Five.
JEK: It seems we're unable to reach an agreement. Try somewhere else for your Spectrox.
STOTZ: Oh, come on, Jek. Be reasonable.
JEK: Two kilos is very reasonable.
STOTZ: You're sitting on tons of the stuff.
JEK: And I know what it fetches per ounce. That's why your threat to cut off my arms supply carries no weight. I can obtain weapons anywhere.
STOTZ: The boss isn't going to like this.
JEK: That is your problem, Stotz.
STOTZ: Okay, so where's the two kilos?
JEK: I'll bring it. Wait here.
STOTZ: Be quick. I've got to call the ship down before sunrise.
JEK: Twenty minutes.

(Jek and his androids leave.)

KRELPER: Oh, you really screwed him down, eh? Two kilos. What a deal.
STOTZ: Don't you try and get smart with me again, Krelper. One thing I do know, that Spectrox is stored somewhere within ten minutes from here.
KRELPER: Yeah.
STOTZ: Yeah, Krelper. Tons and tons of Spectrox, just waiting for guys like us to help ourselves, eh?
KRELPER: We'd have to blow Jek and his dummies first.
STOTZ: We've got these protective belt buckles, haven't we. I think Sharaz Jek has fouled up in a big way this time.

[Underground]

DOCTOR: First of all, we need to find our way to the TARDIS.
PERI: Doctor, look out!

(They dive for cover as an android starts shooting. The Doctor is grazed on the temple and is unconscious.)

PERI: Doctor!

(Salateen holds her back then uses her as a human shield so he can shoot the android, which bursts into flames. Then he drags Peri away.)

PERI: Let me go!

(The Doctor wakes.)

DOCTOR: Peri? Peri, where are you? Peri! Salateen! Peri! Peri!

[Jek's headquarters]

(Jek discovers the Doctor, Peri and Salateen are gone, and flies into a rage.)

JEK: She has been taken from me!

[Blue level]

(The Doctor hides from Stotz and his men.)

KRELPER: I reckon we've lost him.
STOTZ: No, he went this way.
KRELPER: No, he wouldn't have come down this deep.
STOTZ: Come on, help us find him.

(The Magma creature appears and grabs a man. The others start shooting as it moves towards where the Doctor is hiding.)

Part Three

[Blue level]

(The weapons fire draws the Magma creature away from the Doctor and towards the smugglers, but has no effect on it. It grabs someone, the firing stops as the rest of the men flee. The Doctor takes the opportunity to run in the other direction.)

[Operations room]

(Salateen pulls Peri in.)

CHELLAK: Salateen, what in thunder?
SALATEEN: I'll explain later, General. One escaped prisoner, sir.
CHELLAK: The android?
SALATEEN: She's real enough. Android's legs don't blister. Sharaz Jek smuggled in copies of this girl and her friend, the Doctor, and I'm afraid, sir, that he also copied me.
CHELLAK: Copied you?
SALATEEN: I've been held prisoner at his camp for months now, sir, and what you thought was me is in fact an android, a spy for Sharaz Jek.
CHELLAK: You mean I've had an android as my ADC without knowing it?
SALATEEN: When he made that copy of me, sir, it was like looking into a mirror. He's incredibly clever.
CHELLAK: What a blind fool I've been.

[Underground]

(Stotz and his remaining men run up to Jek and his androids.)

JEK: So, you thought to follow me. I expected that you would, and now you've learned the price of your curiosity.
STOTZ: Is that think back there one of your pets?
JEK: The Magma creatures never ascend above Blue level, and they have, in any case, no taste for my androids, only flesh and blood.
KRELPER: You tricked us into that!
JEK: No, you were led by your own cupidity. Greed, heedless of caution, lures many a man to his death.

(The Doctor appears above and behind the group. The androids turn.)

JEK: Whoever you are, come out. Doctor! I hadn't expected to see you again so soon.
DOCTOR: Life often springs these little surprises.

[Operations room]

SALATEEN: The android has a cortex with over five million responses programmed in. Jek boasts about it as his finest creation.
CHELLAK: So Jek has known every move, every plan we've made for months now.
SALATEEN: Within seconds, sir. The android is linked to his main computer.
CHELLAK: We'll soon put a stop to that. (into comm.) Major Salateen!
SALATEEN: There is a better way, sir.
CHELLAK: What?
SALATEEN: I thought of it on the way back.
R-SALATEEN [OC]: Salateen here, sir. You called me?
CHELLAK: It's all right, Major. I've found what I wanted.
R-SALATEEN [OC]: Very good, sir.
CHELLAK: You said there was a better way?
SALATEEN: Disinformation.
CHELLAK: Using the android.
SALATEEN: So long as Jek doesn't discover I've made it back here, he'll believe everything the android relays him to the terminal.
CHELLAK: You're a wily fellow, Salateen, I've always said so. But how will that help?
SALATEEN: We can make him think we're moving in one direction when in fact we'll be moving in on his base. I know the way to it.
CHELLAK: I like that idea. It means you and the girl will have to stay out of sight, of course. You can use my private quarters.

[Jek's headquarters]

JEK: How is it that you were able to walk past my androids?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Maybe they just liked my face?

(An android enters with four plastic bags of white powder.)

JEK: Well? Take your Spectrox.
STOTZ: The suppliers aren't going to like this, Jek.

(Krelper takes the bags.)

JEK: Tell them if they will supply gas weapons as agreed, and deliver them safely, I will pay eight kilos for the next shipment.

(Jek hits the Doctor backhanded.)

JEK: When I ask a question, I do not expect flippancy. Where's the girl? Where's Peri?
DOCTOR: I wish I knew.
JEK: Take him.

(Two androids take hold of the Doctor's arms, and stretch them out.)

JEK: Tear his arms out slowly. You know the power an android can exert, Doctor. After your arms, they will remove your legs. Now, where's the girl?
DOCTOR: I don't know. We got into a shoot-out with one of your androids and then she disappeared.
JEK: You can't protect her. I shall tear the truth out of you.
DOCTOR: I think she's with Salateen.
JEK: Salateen? In that case they've probably reached the army camp. Release him.
DOCTOR: If they have, it's round two to the army, I'd say.
JEK: You know nothing. I must get the girl back, I must.
STOTZ: Jek, what about him.
JEK: He's no further use to me now.
STOTZ: I'd like to take him back to Major. I think the boss might want to question him.
JEK: Why?
STOTZ: We think he's a spy. I mean, why else should he be snooping around?
JEK: He told me he was, it's no matter who he is. Take him. I must find the girl.

(Jek leaves.)

STOTZ: When we get back to Major, you're going to wish those androids had finished the job. You'll be worked over by experts there.

[Chellak's quarters]

(Salateen gives Peri an injection, and she wakes. He covers her mouth.)

PERI: What
SALATEEN: Shush.

[Operations room]

(R-Salateen's head turns as if he's heard something.)

CHELLAK: No further orders, Major.

(R-Salateen's infra-red vision sees the two figures in the next room.)

CHELLAK: I said, there are no further orders, Major.
R-SALATEEN: Very good, sir.
CHELLAK: Was there anything else?
R-SALATEEN: The magma pressure is still increasing, sir.
CHELLAK: Yes, well, it's been high before and nothing happened. I'm sure if there's a mud burst on the way the engineers will give us ample warning.
R-SALATEEN: There will be time to get the barriers down, but a sudden burst could wipe out our forward patrols.
CHELLAK: Well, that's a calculated risk. We can't suspend operations because some time in the next month there might be a mud burst.
R-SALATEEN: No, sir.
CHELLAK: Very well. Carry on, Major.

(R-Salateen leaves and Chellak goes into the small room.)

[Chellak's quarters]

CHELLAK: That android suspects something.
SALATEEN: They can detect human body heat even through a wall.
CHELLAK: I'll have to get it off the base, it's the only thing for it. How are you doing now?
PERI: Pretty awful, not that you care.

(Chellak checks Peri's eyes.)

CHELLAK: I don't think she's any use to us.
SALATEEN: I'll give her another injection in an hour. She'll make it.
PERI: You're all heart, you two.
CHELLAK: If you weren't dying, I'd have you shot anyway. You may not have been gun-running, but treating with the enemy is punishable by death.
PERI: Treating with the enemy?
CHELLAK: Sharaz Jek went to great lengths to save you and your friend the Doctor from execution. He didn't do that out of kindness.
PERI: Look, the Doctor and I were just as much Sharaz Jek's prisoners as he was, and if it hadn't been for the Doctor, we'd all still be there.
SALATEEN: That is actually true, sir.
CHELLAK: Yes, well, it's academic now, anyway. I just want her fit enough to guide the first assault.
PERI: Some hope, the way I feel.

[Underground]

(The Doctor collapses.)

STOTZ: Come on, keep moving, you.
DOCTOR: What's that?
STOTZ: My ship, right on time, so hurry it up.
DOCTOR: My legs are going numb. I suppose that's stage three.
STOTZ: Stage three of what?
DOCTOR: I believe it's called Spectrox toxaemia.
STOTZ: You've been messing around with raw Spectrox?
DOCTOR: Yes.
KRELPER: Come on!
DOCTOR: Why don't you leave me here to die?
STOTZ: You'll last long enough for questioning. Take his arm, Krelper. We'll be at the ship in three minutes.
KRELPER: Come on.

[Operations room]

(Salateen hands over the belt plate.)

CHELLAK: How does it work?
SALATEEN: Apparently it emits some low frequency signal that the androids recognise as friendly.
CHELLAK: Seems simple enough. If our artificers could knock up a couple of hundred of these
SALATEEN: That's what I thought, sir.
CHELLAK: Yes, well, we'll attend to that just as soon as I've got that android off the base.
SALATEEN: How do you intend to do that?
CHELLAK: Send it on a fools errand well out of the way.
SALATEEN: Anything you tell the android will be known to Jek within seconds. It will have to sound convincing or he'll get suspicious.
CHELLAK: Yes, I realise that.
SALATEEN: You could reinforce it, perhaps, by putting a call through to Trau Morgus.
CHELLAK: Morgus?
SALATEEN: If you tell Morgus that you've located Jek's headquarters and give him a set of bogus coordinates.
CHELLAK: Yes, then we circle around and catch the beggar napping. That's very good, Salateen.
SALATEEN: Well, I think Jek will automatically believe anything he hears you discussing with Morgus. He has a tap on the interplanetary vid. He can pick up all the transmissions between here and Major.
CHELLAK: How long has he been intercepting our vid transmissions?
SALATEEN: I think the android put the tap in, sir.
CHELLAK: It's little wonder this campaign has got nowhere. Jek has had advanced warning of every operation we've planned.
SALATEEN: You'll catch him cold this time, though.
CHELLAK: I think so, Salateen. And before he's executed, I'll see that evil renegade is dragged in chains through every city on Major.

[Spacecraft]

(The Doctor is chained to a grill. Stotz is in the pilot's seat of the tiny cabin whilst Krelper and the other smuggler stand at wall consoles.)

STOTZ: Height?
KRELPER: One twenty metres.
STOTZ: Lock on course.
KRELPER: Course set.
MAN: Lock on.
STOTZ: Okay, close the jumps.
KRELPER: Closing jumps. Androzani Major, here we come.
STOTZ: You lads go and get some rest.
KRELPER: Well, I reckon we deserve that.
STOTZ: I'll just tell the boss we're on our way.

(Stotz closes the door behind Krelper and the other man, then uses his bandana to blindfold the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: Are you afraid of intruders?
STOTZ: When I talk to the boss, it's got to be just the two of us. That's the way he likes it.
DOCTOR: Something wrong with his face, or mine?
MORGUS [on monitor]: You're late, Stotz.

[Morgus' office]

STOTZ [on screen]: We ran into some trouble, sir. The army intercepted the consignment.
MORGUS: I know that, but the weapons were untraceable.
STOTZ [on screen]: I made doubly sure. Anyway, we attacked them and wiped them out. But then we had trouble with Sharaz Jek.
MORGUS: He refused payment, I suppose.
STOTZ [on screen]: Two kilos instead of five.
MORGUS: It should have been four, at least.
STOTZ [on screen]: I forced him to agree more for the next delivery, sir. He's desperate for those gas weapons, so I said eight kilos or no deal.

[Spacecraft]

MORGUS [on monitor]: Eight? Did he agree?
STOTZ: Oh, of course. He could see I meant business. And another thing.

[Morgus' office]

STOTZ [on screen]: I think I've got a fix on where that Spectrox is stored.
MORGUS: Ah, that information be very valuable. Who is that?
STOTZ [on screen]: Government snoop, sir.
MORGUS: Take off the blindfold.
DOCTOR [on screen]: Ah, I thought I recognised the voice.
MORGUS: Something is happening I don't quite understand.
STOTZ [on screen]: He calls himself the Doctor, sir.
MORGUS: I know that, Stotz. Be quiet. I need time to think.

(Morgus turns to camera.)

MORGUS: The execution was a hoax. The General is obtuse, but he is a loyal Government servant. He would not have deceived me unless, unless his orders came from a higher authority.

(Morgus turns back to the vid-screen.)

MORGUS: Who's your employer, Doctor? Who are you acting for?
DOCTOR [on screen]: I'm not acting for anyone. I was just passing through. I happened to get mixed up in this pathetic little local war.
MORGUS: I am the richest man in the whole of the five planets. You tell me the truth and I will reward you beyond your wildest dreams.
DOCTOR [on screen]: I am telling the truth. I keep telling the truth. Why is it no one believes me?
STOTZ [on screen]: He's a Government snoop, sir. Stick a few electrodes in him, he'll soon talk.
MORGUS: If he'd been sent by the Government, I'd know. My people on the Praesidium would have told me. No, somebody in a very high position told Chellak to fake the execution.
DOCTOR [on screen]: How do you know it was faked? Maybe they were just bad shots.

(Morgus talks to us again.)

MORGUS: It could only have been the President. Something must have aroused his suspicion. Stotz, I want you to lock your ship in geostationary orbit, and I don't want you back here until I've had time to consider the implications of this.

[Space]

STOTZ [OC]: Geostationary orbit! If it wasn't for you we'd be well on our way home.

[Spacecraft]

STOTZ: I should have wiped you out the minute I first saw you.

(Stotz takes his bandana and a weapon, and leaves. The Doctor starts trying to free his wrists.)

[Operations room]

CHELLAK: Ah, Salateen. I have a treat for you. It's some time since you've been out on field operations, isn't it?
R-SALATEEN: Yes, sir.
CHELLAK: I know how bored an officer of your temperament gets with HQ duties. Now, as you know, we've had a satellite monitoring radio signals here for some time. We've now located a transmitter, must belong to the rebels, just here. Make a note of the coordinates.
R-SALATEEN: That's several miles, sir, and bad narrows all the way.
CHELLAK: Probably the reason Jek chose it. Anyway, I'm sure it's his main base. Take a small team, good men, do a quiet recce. As soon as I receive confirmation, I'll follow up in force. All right?
R-SALATEEN: Of course, sir.

(The Doctor breaks one metal loop on the grill. Just one more to go and he is free.)

[Underground]

R-SALATEEN: Keep the men moving, Sergeant. I'll catch you up.

(The Troopers move off and R-Salateen goes back to talk to Jek.)

JEK: Chellak is sending you north. He's trying to deceive me as to his intentions.
R-SALATEEN: Yes, master.
JEK: Have you seen the girl?
R-SALATEEN: Chellak has her hidden in his private quarters. And Major Salateen.
JEK: But now that you are out of the camp, Salateen will be free to move about. Excellent. The girl will be alone.

[Morgus' office]

(Morgus turns on the vid-screen then keeps his back to it.)

MORGUS: Yes, General, what is it?
CHELLAK [on screen]: Good news, Trau Morgus. Our radio satellite has pinpointed Sharaz Jek's base.
MORGUS: Are you certain?
CHELLAK [on screen]: I'm mobilising to attack now. In approximately six hours, we'll be in a position for a full-scale assault.
MORGUS: If you know where Jek's base is, why wait six hours?
CHELLAK [on screen]: There are many difficult narrows to traverse. It'll take that time to assemble our men.
MORGUS: Have you informed the President?
CHELLAK [on screen]: Not yet. I believe his Excellency is at a meeting of the Praesidium.
MORGUS: Yes, he is. I'm seeing him myself after the meeting. I will tell him the good news. Thank you for reporting, General.
CHELLAK [on screen]: Thank you, sir. (On the spacecraft, the Doctor is free of the grill. He has a look around the little bridge then spots a laser beam running behind Stotz' chair. He opens the protective shield and carefully moves the chain between his wrists into it, only burning himself once. The chain instantly breaks.)

[Chellak's quarters]

(Jek enters and puts a cloth over Peri's mouth as she screams.)

JEK: You must come with me.

(She passes out and he carries her away.)

[Spacecraft]

DOCTOR: Autohold, off. That's it. Now, vertical descent pattern.

(The engines fire briefly. As the ship starts to return to Minor, the Doctor returns to the laser to remove the manacles from his wrists.)

[Morgus' office]

PRESIDENT: An attempt to assassinate me? Who told you this, Morgus?
MORGUS: A man in my position, I have sources all over the world. It is of course only a whisper, but I think it would be wise to act with caution.
PRESIDENT: Yes, indeed. You've no idea who the miscreants are?
MORGUS: Not at the moment, Excellency, but I'm hoping to have more information soon.
PRESIDENT: I must strengthen my bodyguard.
MORGUS: I would take other precautions, sir. Vary your routine, stop announcing forthcoming engagements. In fact, for the time being, it might be well for you to cancel all public appearances.
PRESIDENT: Yes. Yes, that might seem prudent in the circumstances.
MORGUS: I'll have your floater brought round to the side entrance. You may leave the building by my private lift.
PRESIDENT: Thank you, Morgus. I cannot say how much I appreciate this.
MORGUS: Your Excellency's safety is my sole concern.

(Morgus looks as if he is about to shake the President's hand, but then he pushes him back into the empty lift shaft. As the President screams his way to his death, Morgus summons Timmin.)

TIMMIN: Sir?
MORGUS: Krau Timmin, the most appalling thing has happened. His Excellency
TIMMIN: Not the President?
MORGUS: Yes, it was all over in a second. I had no time to stop him. This is a tragic loss to the world.
TIMMIN: It's dreadful, sir. And that it should have happened in this building.
MORGUS: Yes, yes, I am deeply distressed, Krau Timmin.
TIMMIN: Naturally you must be, sir.
MORGUS: Still, it could have been worse.
TIMMIN: In what way, Trau Morgus?
MORGUS: It could have been me. You had better tell the members of the Praesidium the sad news.
TIMMIN: Yes, sir.
MORGUS: In the absence of the President, I am myself flying off immediately to Androzani Minor on a peace mission.
TIMMIN: Peace mission, sir?
MORGUS: Yes. As Chairman of the Conglomerate, I will negotiate with Sharaz Jek to try to end this horrible carnage.
TIMMIN: The world will be for ever in your debt, Krau Morgus.
MORGUS: Yes, quite so. Have my private jet ready in ten minutes.
TIMMIN: Yes, sir.
MORGUS: Oh, and Krau Timmin? Have the lift maintenance engineer shot.

[Jek's headquarters]

(An android lays Peri on a bench.)

JEK: Good. Return to your positions.

(Jek goes to his communications array and turns on a CCTV camera. He watches the real Salateen handing out belt plates to troopers, then picks up a vial and returns to Peri.)

JEK: Drink this. You'll feel better.
PERI: Back again?
JEK: I'm sorry it was necessary to drug you. The aftereffects will soon pass.
PERI: Have you seen the Doctor?
JEK: The Doctor? Yes, he's gone to Androzani Major.
PERI: What? I don't believe you.
JEK: You'll soon forget him, Peri.
PERI: But he wouldn't leave me here. He wouldn't.
JEK: He had no choice. Some people I do business with decided to take him with them.
PERI: Why?
JEK: They believed he was spying for the Government.
PERI: That's ridiculous.
JEK: These petty criminals are invariably paranoid, their twisted little minds infested with distrust and suspicion.
PERI: You didn't have to let them take him. You could have stopped them.
JEK: To think that I, Sharaz Jek, who once mixed with the highest in the land, am now dependent on the very dregs of society, the base perverted scum who contaminate everything they touch. And it is Morgus who's brought me to this! Morgus destroyed my life! Do you think I'm mad?
PERI: No.
JEK: I am mad. Do I frighten you?
PERI: N-no.
JEK: You're so important to me. I've lived so long in these caves, alone, like an animal. Now I can feast my eyes on your delicacy. I can forget the pain and blackness in my mind. It's all in the past. We could think of the future.
PERI: What future?

[Chellak's quarters]

CHELLAK: She's gone!
SALATEEN: She must have been stronger than I thought.
CHELLAK: Well, she can't get far, can she? We'll pick her up again, unless she dies first.

[Jek's headquarters]

PERI: You know the army are planning to attack?
JEK: I know.
PERI: But your androids won't fire back because the soldiers will be wearing belt plates.
JEK: The belt plates are emitting a signal on eighty beta-cycles. I've changes the recognition code to fifty beta-cycles. General Chellak, my dear, is in for a shock.

[Spacecraft]

(The ship is shuddering in reentry.)

STOTZ [OC]: Doctor, unlock this door! What are you doing in there?

[Outside the bridge]

STOTZ: Are you going to open this door or not?

[Spacecraft]

DOCTOR: Ah, Stotzy, have you had a good rest?
STOTZ [OC]: Damn you, Doctor, open this door!
DOCTOR: Sorry, seems to be locked.

[Outside the bridge]

STOTZ: Krelper, go and get the cutting gear. Now listen, Doctor.

[Spacecraft]

STOTZ [OC]: Be reasonable. This won't do you any good.
DOCTOR: Stotzy, we'll be touching down in a couple of minutes, or more likely crashing down. You see, I'm a bit out of practice with manual landings, so if I were you, I'd find something firm to hang on to!

[Outside the bridge]

(Krelper brings the cutting gear.)

STOTZ: I'll murder you when I get in there, Doctor!

[Spacecraft]

(As the planet grows larger on the monitor, Krelper makes quick work of cutting through the metal door.)

STOTZ [OC]: That'll do.

(The hole is too hot to go through, but Stotz has a clear shot at the Doctor in the pilot's seat.)

STOTZ: All right, snoop. Hands in the air and over here.
DOCTOR: Why?
STOTZ: Because I'll kill you if you don't.
DOCTOR: Not a very persuasive argument actually, Stotz, because I'm going to die soon anyway. Unless, of course
STOTZ: I'll give you to a count of three.
DOCTOR: Unless, of course, I can find the antidote. I owe it to my friend to try because I got her into this. So you see, I'm not going to let you stop me now!
STOTZ: Three!

(As the planet surface fills the screen, the Doctor shuts his eyes.)

Part Four

[Spacecraft]

(Stotz and Krelper are thrown to the floor as the retro-rocket fires and the ship lands. The Doctor unbuckles his seat belt and leaves the bridge as the smugglers get in.)

STOTZ: After him!

[Planet surface]

(The Doctor runs for his life in a hail of bullets.)

MAN [OC]: Over this way! He went down that ridge!
KRELPER: Come on, get after him!

(The Doctor is a clear target as he runs across a piece of flat sand, but the bullets still only hit the ground near his feet.)

[Space]

(The Chairman of the Conglomerate's private spacecraft is heading for Androzani Minor.)

MORGUS [OC]: Stotz, why have you disobeyed my orders?
STOTZ [OC]: I'm sorry, sir.
MORGUS [OC]: I told you to stay in orbit.

[Spacecraft]

STOTZ: The Doctor tricked us. Somehow he got control of the ship.
MORGUS [OC]: I don't want excuses.

[Space]

MORGUS [OC]: I'm on my way to join you. Put out a homing beacon.

[Spacecraft]

STOTZ: Coming here?
MORGUS [on monitor]: Yes. My plans may have to change drastically. I'm in beta-drive, so expect me shortly.

(Transmission ends.)

STOTZ: Something's wrong.

[Cave 26 yellow level]

(Chellak and the real Salateen lead a troop through the passageways, then stop in the cave where Jek met Stotz. They are all wearing belt plates.)

CHELLAK: Trouble, Major?
SALATEEN: Not sure of the route here, sir. I thought I'd memorised it.
CHELLAK: Just take your time.
SALATEEN: I remember this cave well enough. The vaulted roof and those pillars. Yes, we're only a few minutes away from Jek's headquarters now.
CHELLAK: Safety catches off.
TROOPER: Right, sir.
SALATEEN: Problem is, I was coming out of those tunnels, one of them, trying to keep one eye on the girl.
CHELLAK: I think we came this way when we first landed. There's a ventilation shaft on the left that runs through to the old refinery. The rest is unknown territory. We haven't surveyed this level yet.
SALATEEN: I'm fairly sure it's that opening there on the left.
CHELLAK: You go forward and recce. I'll call Red Force to get them to hold their advance. I don't want them leap-frogging us.
SALATEEN: We'll go left, sir. I remember dragging the girl over that rockfall.
CHELLAK: Very good, Major. Carry on.

(Salateen walks forward, and an android appears.)

SALATEEN: Come on, keep moving. It won't fire at the belt plate.

(The android shoots Salateen. The other troopers open fire. Several are killed before one shot makes its head explode. Chellak checks Salateen. He is dead.)

CHELLAK: Forward!

[Planet surface]

(The Doctor is still avoiding Krelper and the smuggler's bullets.)

KRELPER: Come on, come on. Keep up, keep up!

(The Doctor rolls down a steep slope.)

KRELPER: It's all over, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Sorry, Peri. I can't make it.

(There is an explosion near Krelper.)

KRELPER: Mud burst! Let's get back to the ship!

(More explosions force the Doctor back onto his feet to stagger towards the next ridge.)

DOCTOR: Not enough time.

[Cave 26 yellow level]

(Chellak is using the R/T as another android holds the troopers at bay.)

CHELLAK: Chellak to Red Force. Do you receive me, over? Our support group must have hit trouble.

(The ground trembles and the android is suddenly gone.)

TROOPER: There's a mud burst coming, sir!
CHELLAK: There's no time to go back.

(Chellak blows a whistle.)

CHELLAK: Follow me!

[Jak's headquarters]

JAK: Chellak has too many troops. The androids are being overrun. Numbers four and nine, fall back to final defence posts. Four! Number four!

(The final android indicator on the monitor goes out.)

[Underground]

DOCTOR: Oxygen. No time. I must find Peri.

(There is gunfire nearby. The Doctor continues down the shiny mud chute.)

[Jek's headquarters]

(An explosion wakes Peri.)

PERI: What was that?
JEK: It's the start of a mud burst. You'll be safe here.
PERI: Oh. I thought it was the General bringing up his artillery.
JEK: I have to see if any of the androids can be repaired. We need to hold Chellak back just a little longer.

[Corridor]

JEK: The mud burst will sweep them away.

[Outside Jek's headquarters]

(Jek checks a headless android then hides.)

CHELLAK: All right, Jek, the war's over. Will you surrender?
JEK: Never!

(Jek fires then runs. Chellak chases him.)

[Spacecraft]

KRELPER: Mud burst! Quick, it's started. Let's get out of here!

(Morgus is in the pilot's seat.)

STOTZ: What about the Doctor?
KRELPER: Oh, we lost him.
MORGUS: Lost him? Why are you staring at me? Perhaps you think you recognise me?
KRELPER: No, sir.
STOTZ: Even if he does, Krelper won't say anything.
MORGUS: It wouldn't be wise. Stotz, I want to speak to you. Alone.
STOTZ: You two, out.
KRELPER: Come on.

(Krelper and the smuggler leave.)

MORGUS: Well, Stotz, no doubt you're wondering why I'm here.
STOTZ: Hey, you're the boss.
MORGUS: Yes, well, there's a possibility, I wouldn't put it any stronger than that, that my part in all this has been discovered.
STOTZ: You mean the gun running and collecting?
MORGUS: Exactly. But my conscience is clear. I had to keep the supply of Spectrox flowing, and if I hadn't provided Jek with the arms, he would have found some other source. But the Praesidium will find my actions treasonable.
STOTZ: Yeah, well, I guess they'd execute us all if they could catch us.
MORGUS: Yes. Well, I have a contingency plan. There's a possibility that my part in all this was suspected only by the President. That's why he sent the Doctor here. But the President is dead, and if he shared his suspicions with anyone else, I shall know within a few hours. In which case, I shall not be able to return to Androzani Major. I have a considerable private fortune invested in other planets in the Sirius system, but before I go I want to take with me Jek's private hoard of Spectrox. That is the key to unlimited power.
STOTZ: (laughs) Jek isn't going to let that go easily.
MORGUS: Yes, but you know where it is.
STOTZ: Well, sort of. It must be close to cave twenty six on yellow level.
MORGUS: Stotz, before I left, Major was informed the army intended to attack Jek's headquarters in strength, tonight. Now, while he's fighting the army, we could locate the Spectrox store. What do you think?
STOTZ: Maybe. Yellow level isn't too deep. But what about these mud bursts?
MORGUS: If we go into the cave rigs after the first one we could be back here before the major explosion, as long as we don't waste time trying to locate the Spectrox store.
STOTZ: Yes, well, that's the point. We don't know exactly where Jek has stored it.
MORGUS: I'm relying on you, Stotz. What about the others?
STOTZ: They'll want their cut.
MORGUS: Yes. Well, if they can carry fifty kilos each, that's a hundred to share between us.
STOTZ: You mean, us?

[Jek's headquarters]

(Underground, the Doctor scrambles up to a ledge on the rock wall as a river of hot mud passes below him.
Jek runs in and grabs Peri.)
JEK: The mud!

(Chellak comes through the door while Jek has his hands full. He grabs Jek, who drops Peri. They wrestle until Chellak pulls Jek's mask off. The shock of what he sees gives Jek the chance to push Chellak back outside into the path of the mud.)

[Outside Jek's headquarters]

CHELLAK: Jek! Jek!

(The hot mud engulfs him.)

[Jek's headquarters]

JEK: Nothing can hurt you now.

(Jek turns Peri's face to look at him. She screams. He screams and crawls under a table, crying.)

[Spacecraft]

(Morgus uses the comms. while Stotz, Krelper and the smuggler stand at the back of the bridge.)

MORGUS: Ah, Krau Timmin. I would like you. Are you sitting at my desk?
TIMMIN [on monitor]: Yes, this call is on the secret line. I'm endeavouring to maintain your traditions.
MORGUS: Krau Timmin, I don't like your tone.
TIMMIN [on monitor]: I wish that was all I didn't like about you.
MORGUS: How dare you speak to me like that. I'll have you punished for this insolence.
TIMMIN [on monitor]: I don't think so, Morgus. You're finished.
MORGUS: What do you mean?
TIMMIN [on monitor]: Washed up, Morgus. Kaput. The Praesidium has issued warrants for your arrest on seventeen counts, ranging from the murder of the President, to treason, grant fraud, embezzlement. Oh, and that little business at the Northcawl copper mine. They know about that.
MORGUS: Falsehoods, fabrications, malicious lies. They can't possibly have any proof.
TIMMIN [on monitor]: It's all fully documented. They have an excellent witness.
MORGUS: Impossible. Who is this foul slanderer?
TIMMIN [on monitor]: Me.

(Stotz laughs.)

TIMMIN [on monitor]: Does that surprise you, Morgus? Do you think I didn't know what was going on here?
MORGUS: You betrayed me after all these years?
TIMMIN [on monitor]: Think of it this way, Morgus. I deposed you. I am now Chairman and Chief Director of the Sirius Conglomerate. Oh, and incidentally, the Government have also sequestered all your private assets, including those secret funds you'd salted away on the outer planets. Goodbye, Morgus.

(Transmission ends.)

MORGUS: I'm not beaten yet. There's still the Spectrox. There's four of us, that's enough to handle Jek. Now, pick up your guns. Let's go. Did you hear what I said? I said, let's go.
KRELPER: We ain't going anywhere, except back to Major.
MORGUS: I paid you well for those trips. Now do as I say.
KRELPER: The way we see it, we already got two kilos. That's enough for us.
MORGUS: Two kilos. Jek's got tons of it stored away.
KRELPER: Yeah, well, we ain't getting our heads blown off by Jek's dummies, or boiled in that mud. Not for twenty tons, we ain't.
MORGUS: You cowardly, miserable curs. What about you, Stotz? Are you staying here with this gutter trash?
STOTZ: Yeah, I'll go with you, Morgus. I have a few old scores to settle with Sharaz Jek. Bye, Krelper.

(Stotz leaves, then comes back and shoots the two men.)

[Underground]

(The Doctor stumbles over a wrecked android. Meanwhile -)

MORGUS: Stotz, you lead. You know the way.
STOTZ: Sure. But before we go any further, Morgus, let's get a couple of things straight.
MORGUS: What kind of things?
STOTZ: Well, an hour ago you were the boss. Now that's all changed. You're the same as me, just a man with a gun.
MORGUS: I the same as you? I am Morgus. I'm descended from the first colonists.
STOTZ: You're also wanted for murder and treason. You're on the run, Morgus.
MORGUS: And you are wasting time, Stotz.
STOTZ: You want me to help you, right? Well, if we do happen to come out of this place with any Spectrox, there's going to be none of that four parts for you and one part for me stuff. This time we split right down the middle, okay?
MORGUS: Of course. Now, lead the way.

[Jek's headquarters]

(Jek has put his mask back on and is pacing up and down with Peri in his arms.)

JEK: She's so beautiful, so very beautiful. So beautiful, so beautiful.

(The Doctor enters.)

DOCTOR: Jek, how is she?
JEK: She's dying, Doctor. She has Spectrox toxaemia.

(The Doctor takes Peri.)

DOCTOR: I know.

(He puts her on the bench and holds his celery under her nose.)

PERI: Celery soup.
DOCTOR: Come on, Peri.
PERI: Hello, Doctor.
DOCTOR: That's more like it.
PERI: Goodbye, Doctor.
DOCTOR: No, no, Peri, don't give up. You mustn't give up!
JEK: What was that?
DOCTOR: Celery. It's a powerful restorative where I come from. Unfortunately, the human olfactory system is comparatively feeble. Jek, you know this cure Professor Jackij discovered?
JEK: The milk of the queen bat? Of course, but the dormant queens cannot be reached. There's little oxygen in those levels.
DOCTOR: It's her only chance. Jek, do you know where the queen bats are?
JEK: Of course. When I first came here, my androids surveyed and mapped the whole system. If only Salateen were here, I could send him down and possible save her life.
DOCTOR: I'm going down. Now, show me the route.
JEK: It's here, two hundred metres down, but you'll collapse before you get there.
DOCTOR: I can store oxygen for several minutes, Jek. Now, you must do everything you can to keep her temperature down until I get back.
JEK: Doctor, wait! I have just one oxygen cylinder left. I used it when I went into the baking chambers of the refinery. It will run out in minutes, but it might help.
DOCTOR: Thank you.

[Cave 26 yellow level]

STOTZ: This is cave twenty six, yellow level, where we first met Jek. Down! Looks like the army got here first.
MORGUS: I didn't hear any firing.

(The bodies of Salateen and other troopers are on the cave floor.)

STOTZ: Reckon the firing's over.
MORGUS: Where to now?
STOTZ: Down to blue level.

(He gives Morgus Salateen's belt plate.)

STOTZ: From there it's anyone's guess. That's where Jek came from, so let's go.

[Blue level]

(As Jek bathes Peri's face with a damp towel, the Doctor comes across the dead Magma creature.)

DOCTOR: It's not your lucky day, either.

(Elsewhere)

STOTZ: Come on, Morgus. Move it! That main burst can't be too far away.
MORGUS: Listen, what is that?
STOTZ: Sounds like a motor. This way.

[Bat caves]

(The Doctor goes further down.)

JEK [OC]: She's dying, Doctor. She's dying, Doctor. She's dying, Doctor.

[Jek's headquarters]

JEK: Peri, can you hear me?

(Peri gasps for breath. Gently, Jek takes her hand. )

(The Doctor finds the hibernating bats. They are huge! He collects a vial of milk and starts back up the slope to blue level, pausing only to get the last bit of oxygen from the small cylinder.
Stotz and Morgus enter.)
MORGUS: Jek, where's the Spectrox?
JEK: Morgus.
MORGUS: You take one more step and we shoot.
JEK: Do you think bullets could stop me now? You stinking offal, Morgus!

(He rips off his mask. One eye glares out through the melted flesh.)

JEK: Look at me! Look at me.

(Jek knocks Stotz aside and goes to strangle Morgus. Stotz shoots Morgus, then R-Salateen shoots Stotz. Jek kills Morgus by putting his head into a machine that starts up. A small fire breaks out in the room.)

JEK: Salateen, hold me.

(Jek collapses into the stiff arms of the now-defunct android. The Doctor enters, grabs Peri, and leaves.)

[Planet surface]

(The Doctor weaves his way past new mud geysers towards the TARDIS. He puts Peri down to get the TARDIS key out of his pocket, and nearly drops the vial of bat milk, spilling some of it.)

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor and Peri tumble into the console room. The Doctor closes the doors and sets the TARDIS in flight just before more mud geysers burst up through the ground where it had been parked.)

DOCTOR: Peri? Peri, can you hear me? Open your mouth. You must drink this.

(He pours the remains of the milk into Peri's mouth and drops the vial.)

DOCTOR: Is this death?

(The Doctor lies on the floor as Peri recovers.)

PERI: Doctor, what's happened?

(She cradles his head in her lap.)

DOCTOR: Peri, I see Professor Jackij knew his stuff. Good old Jackij.
PERI: Jackij? You got the bat's milk?
DOCTOR: Contains an anti-vesicant, I imagine. Interesting.
PERI: Where is it?
DOCTOR: What?
PERI: The bat's milk!
DOCTOR: Finished. Only enough for you.
PERI: There must be something I can do. Tell me!
DOCTOR: Too late, Peri. Going soon. Time to say goodbye.
PERI: Don't give up. You can't leave me now!
DOCTOR: I might regenerate. I don't know.

(She lays his head down on the floor.)

DOCTOR: Feels different this time.
TEGAN: What was it you always told me, Doctor? Brave heart? You'll survive, Doctor.
TURLOUGH: You must survive. Too many of your enemies will delight in your death, Doctor.
KAMELION: Turlough speaks the truth, Doctor.
NYSSA: You're needed. You mustn't die, Doctor.
TURLOUGH: Too many enemies would be delighted.
ADRIC: You know that, Doctor.
NYSSA: You mustn't die, Doctor.
ADRIC: You know that, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Adric?
NYSSA: You mustn't die, Doctor.
MASTER: No, my dear Doctor, you must die! Die, Doctor! Die, Doctor. Bwahahahahahaha!

(As the images of his companions and his laughing enemy circle his mind, the Doctor's features change. Back comes the curly hair. Suddenly a slightly older man sits up and looks at his hands.)

PERI: Doctor?
DOCTOR: You're expecting someone else?

(Everyone say Hi! to Colin Baker, channelling William Hartnell in spades.)

PERI: I, I, I.
DOCTOR: That's three I's in one breath. Makes you sound a rather egotistical young lady.
PERI: What's happened?
DOCTOR: Change, my dear. And it seems not a moment too soon.

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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