The Horns of Nimon

Part One

[Spaceship bridge]

(A big cable runs head-height round the back of the bridge. The pilot's station is higher than his co-pilot's. An alarm blares.)

COPILOT: When are we going to get modern equipment? Proper battleships? When are we going to fight again?
PILOT: It's only a matter of a short time now.
COPILOT: The computer's malfunctioning again.
PILOT: I warned you, you're overloading it. The instructions are quite clear. Until we get new equipment we must reroute all subsidiary functions through the backup computer.
COPILOT: But that takes hours to do!
PILOT: We're twelve hours out from Aneth. Only another twelve to Skonnos.
COPILOT: Be a lot faster if this equipment worked properly.
PILOT: Nimon will soon fulfil his great promise to us.

(The co-pilot gets up and switches off the alarm.)

PILOT: We must be patient.
COPILOT: Patient? Patience is the virtue of the weak. Skonnons are meant to fight, to conquer, to rule, as in the days when these ships were built.
PILOT: We'll fight, and Nimon will give us all we need.
COPILOT: When?
PILOT: When we have fulfilled our part of the contract.
COPILOT: Oh, really?
PILOT: This is to be the last shipment.
COPILOT: The last?
PILOT: Yes. Our part of the contract will be fulfilled.
COPILOT: With this cargo?
PILOT: Yes.
COPILOT: I'll go and check it's safe.

(He picks up a hand gun and leaves the bridge, passing through a short corridor to -)

[Cargo hold]

(The cargo is a group of seven terrified young men and women in yellow jumpsuits huddled together on the grating that passes for a floor.)

COPILOT: Weakling scum!
[Spaceship bridge}

(The co-pilot returns.)

PILOT: How are they?
COPILOT: Same as the cargo always is. Inferior, craven beings. They'd have to be to surrender to us on an old ship like this.
PILOT: The Anethans remember the old days, when these were the most feared ships in the skies. Before we started fighting amongst ourselves.
COPILOT: Twelve hours to Skonnos. We can do it in six, right?
PILOT: Not without overloading the computer.
COPILOT: It can take it. We could do it in nine hours, okay?
PILOT: Well, it means cutting out the dogleg round sector L seventy five.
COPILOT: It means getting home quickly with this last cargo.
PILOT: Well, double check the programme. We mustn't overload it.
COPILOT: It hardly matters. This ship will never have to fly again. See? No problems at all. We could do it in six hours.
PILOT: Six hours? You said nine hours.
COPILOT: It'll make it.

(Bang! A small fire breaks out behind the big pipe.)

PILOT: You blundering fool! You've wrecked it. The automatic pilot's gone dead.
COPILOT: Well, it'll be all right, won't it? We can fly her on manual.
PILOT: We're off course already.
COPILOT: All we have to do is to find the beacon again. (beep) There, there's the beacon. We can fly back to it.
PILOT: We're moving further away from it.
COPILOT: Well, push the engines up to full power!

(The whole set of control panels and consoles start to shake and creak.)

PILOT: You blundering idiot! The ship's completely out of control!
COPILOT: Steer, blast you! Steer!
PILOT: It's not working. There's nothing we can do.

[Cargo hold 1]

(The cargo are hanging on for grim death. A brunette speaks to a young man. Everyone say Hi! to Janet Ellis, before her days in Blue Peter.)

TEKA: Seth, what's happening?
SETH: I don't know.
TEKA: You'll look after me, won't you?
SETH: Of course I will.

[Spaceship bridge]

PILOT: The engines! They'll blow!

(And so they do. There's a big bang, the bridge fills with smoke and bits of ceiling fall down. The pilot and co-pilot are unconscious, and the spaceship spins briefly on its axis before coming to a dead stop in deep space.)

[TARDIS]

(The time rotor comes to a stop. The rest of the console has equipment on it and wires sticking out.)

DOCTOR: There. That should immobilise her for the moment.
K9: Correction, master. The TARDIS is moving.

(The Doctor reads from 'TARDIS handbook Type 40'.)

DOCTOR: When making modifications, it's extremely important to shut everything down except that which is not necessary to shut down. Well, of course. Terribly easy to damage things otherwise.

(The Doctor gets zapped.)

DOCTOR: Ow! Like me, for instance. I'd better disconnect that. Good, that should hold her steady.
K9: Repeat, master. The TARDIS is moving.
DOCTOR: How can it be? I just completely immobilised her.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Good, good.
K9: Still moving, and accelerating.
DOCTOR: What? But K9, how can it be?

(Romana enters from the interior, dressed in hunting pink jacket complete with cravat, waistcoat, jodhpurs and riding boots.)

ROMANA: He could be right, you know.
DOCTOR: What do you mean, he could be right? How could he possibly be right? He's only a dog, you know.
ROMANA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: We do seem to be moving.
ROMANA: Very fast.
DOCTOR: Yes. But everything's off. Except what's on, of course.
ROMANA: Doctor, what have you been doing?
DOCTOR: Well, I've just been trying out a little idea I had for a slight modification of the conceptual geometer.
ROMANA: (sighs) This is an old ship.
DOCTOR: So what?
ROMANA: Don't you think that's a bit dangerous?
DOCTOR: No, I don't. What could possibly go

(Lurch. The Doctor falls.)

DOCTOR: Ow! Wrong. You know, I've simply got to stop saying that. Every single time I say what could possibly go wrong, something goes

(Lurch.)

DOCTOR: Oh! It's uncanny, isn't it?
ROMANA: A gravitational field?
DOCTOR: There are no planets in the sector.
ROMANA: But Doctor, we are moving.
DOCTOR: Romana, do you think I'd dismantle half the control systems including the conceptual geometer, the dematerialisation circuits
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: The dematerialisation circuits. Do you think I'd do that if there was the slightest risk of our being brought into a gravitational field?
ROMANA: You've immobilised the dematerialisation circuits
DOCTOR: It's all right, it's all right, it's all right. Stay calm. Watch.

(He turns on the scanner. Total blackness, not even any nearby stars.)

DOCTOR: There we are. Look. Nothing. Blackness.
ROMANA: It may be black, but we are moving very fast.
DOCTOR: Romana, we're moving very fast.
ROMANA: Are we falling into a black hole?
DOCTOR: No. It's not pulling hard enough for that. Anyway, there's nothing charted.
ROMANA: I hope you're right, because we can't dematerialise.
DOCTOR: Fascinating, isn't it? I wonder what it would be like to be crushed to a singularity?
ROMANA: Don't stand there wondering, do something.
DOCTOR: Hmm? What?
ROMANA: Put it together again.
DOCTOR: Oh, right, right. K9. We'll put it together again. I need your help, K9.

(The Doctor goes under the console, and there is another bang.)

DOCTOR: Ow! You all right, K9?

(K9's head is pointing muzzle up, not down.)

DOCTOR: K9? K9, are you all right? K9!

(The Doctor tries to give the kiss of life to the robot.)

DOCTOR: K9. Come on, boy. Sorry about this, K9.

(He turns the head round to the way it should be.)

DOCTOR: K9, all you all right?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Good, good.

(Another bang and lots of smoke from the console. There's a genuine little fire under there now.)

DOCTOR: It's all right. It's only the defence shields.
ROMANA: Only? Can you fix them?
DOCTOR: Yes, of course. I can fix anything, given time.
ROMANA: Which is exactly what we don't have.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: Look.

(The spaceship is on the scanner.)

ROMANA: There is something. It's tiny. How can something so minute have such an enormous gravitational pull?
DOCTOR: How interesting. Ha, looks like a spaceship.
ROMANA: And we're heading straight for it.

[Spaceship bridge]

(The co-pilot has regained consciousness, and checks on the pilot. He doesn't move, so the co-pilot uses the communications panel.)

COPILOT: Hello, Skonnos. Skonnos, can you hear me? Skonnos. Come in, Skonnos Control. Can you hear me?

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(Black-clad troops with huge triangular puffed sleeves clomp round grating for flooring, making a lot of noise. All we see out of the picture windows is sky so we must be very high up. A man in a long robe carrying a staff comes through a blue screen, making it look as if he has just magically appeared. It is Graham Crowden, who turned down the role of the Doctor, and went on to be Tom Ballard in Waiting for God.)

SOLDEED: I have spoken with the Nimon.
SORAK: And what does he say, Soldeed?
SOLDEED: He says many things. He speaks of the great journey of life. He speaks of conquest. He speaks of Skonnos rising from its own ashes with wings of fire.
SORAK: Does he speak of the new ships?
SOLDEED: He says we shall have them, and soon. The new sacrifices from Aneth are the last that he demands.
SORAK: Then we really are on the brink of having the promise fulfilled.
SOLDEED: I believe we are, Sorak. I do believe we are. The Second Skonnon Empire will be born.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: It's no good. I can't fix them in time.
ROMANA: You mean we have no defence shields?
DOCTOR: Yes.
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: What is it, K9?
K9: Collision imminent.
DOCTOR: What?

(Bang! More smoke and burning bits of plywood fall from the console.)

DOCTOR: You were right, K9. We have arrived.
ROMANA: Where?
DOCTOR: Well, we're jammed up against that spaceship. Pretty battered old ship. Been here for years. Centuries, probably. I think we'll go and take a look.
ROMANA: It's not going to be easy to get across there.
DOCTOR: No. Ah, here's a notion. The defence shield on the door's on a different circuit. It might be possible to extrude it.
ROMANA: How?
DOCTOR: Watch.

(A forcefield extends from the TARDIS doors down to a nearby airlock.)

DOCTOR: There. What do you think of that?
ROMANA: Well done, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It was nothing, nothing. K9?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Romana?
ROMANA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Let's go.

[Cargo hold 2]

(This is a dark and dingy area. The Doctor opens one of a series of triangular cupboards along the bulkhead.)

DOCTOR: Ah ha.

(He takes out a transparent globe, which he opens to inspect the large blue crystal inside.)

DOCTOR: Oh, how commonplace. It looks like a crystalline rock of some kind.
ROMANA: Hymetusite.
DOCTOR: Yes, I do believe it is.
ROMANA: Hymetusite is highly radioactive!
DOCTOR: What?
K9: Master, I detect ultra-radiation level Q seven point three two five.

(The Doctor seals up the globe again.)

DOCTOR: Thank you, K9. And now?
K9: Level falling. Q one point eight six one, falling.
DOCTOR: Good. Now listen, K9. We're going to explore this ship and see what makes it tick.
K9: Source of radiation probably hymetusite crystalline
DOCTOR: Not that sort of ticking, K9.
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Listen, I want you to go back to the TARDIS control room and check out all the damage. Inspect all circuits so we see what we need to put right.
K9: Affirmative, master.
DOCTOR: Off you go then.
ROMANA: I suppose it's some sort of freighter.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. No one in his right mind would mix hymetusite and passengers.
ROMANA: I wonder where it was heading?
DOCTOR: Hmm. Door's locked.

(He opens it with the sonic screwdriver and walks into - )

[Cargo hold 1]

DOCTOR: Hello. How long have you been here, eh? Come, it's all right. Don't be frightened. Don't be frightened. Here, have a jelly baby. Go on, go on.

(Seth snatches Teka's hand away from the paper bag.)

DOCTOR: Oh, it's all right. Go on, you show them.

(Romana eats a jelly baby.)

DOCTOR: There we are. Now you have one. Go on, you can do it.

(Seth takes one and bites its head off then offers the rest of it to Teka. The Doctor takes it from him.)

DOCTOR: No, I'll have that one. Here, pass them round. One each. Now, how long have you been here?
SETH: Who are you?
DOCTOR: Well, I'm the Doctor. This is Romana. Who are you?
SETH: Seth.
TEKA: He is Prince of Aneth.
DOCTOR: Aneth! That's a charming place.
SETH: You've been to Aneth?
DOCTOR: Yes, but not yet.
SETH: Oh.
TEKA: Where are we now?
DOCTOR: Nowhere.
ROMANA: Where were you going?
SETH: Skonnos.
DOCTOR: Skonnos?
SETH: We are the bearers of Aneth's tribute to the Nimon.
DOCTOR: What?
TEKA: We are the bearers of Aneth's tribute to the Nimon.
DOCTOR: No, that's all right. I heard what you said. I was just thinking what a curious thing to be.
SETH: We were on our way to Skonnos when something went wrong with the ship.
DOCTOR: What?
SETH: It felt as if it went out of control. There was a crash, then silence, and here we are.
DOCTOR: Yeah, well, here, as you so rightly say, we are. Huh.

(The ship rumbles.)

SETH: What's that?
DOCTOR: Another thing's been drawn into the ship.
ROMANA: A gravity whirlpool?
DOCTOR: Yes. Sargasso Sea in space. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: Suppose, just suppose, someone were beginning to create a black hole.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: Artificially, I mean.
ROMANA: Can it be done?
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. Fix gravity beam, attract matter to one point in space, and when there's enough it starts to collapse to a singularity. But who'd want to do that?
ROMANA: Is it my imagination, or is the gravity increasing all the time?

(The Doctor lifts his foot and lets it drop.)

DOCTOR: I'd say it was increasing.
SETH: What's happening?
DOCTOR: Unless we find a way of getting out of here, we're all going to be crushed to a singularity.
TEKA: What's a singularity?
ROMANA: A mathematical point with no dimensions.
DOCTOR: Oh, never mind about that. Seth, who's in charge of this ship?

(The door behind the Doctor opens.)

COPILOT: I am.

(The Doctor promptly raises his hands because a gun is jabbed into his back.)

DOCTOR: Ah, pleased to see you.
COPILOT: Who are you? What are you doing with the sacrifices?
DOCTOR: Sacrifices?
COPILOT: Sacrifices to the Nimon. Who are you, space pirates?
DOCTOR: No!
COPILOT: Why should I believe that?
DOCTOR: Well, that's a good question. Er, can you get us out of here?
COPILOT: Can you?
DOCTOR: I might be able to. Why don't you put that thing away and show me your controls?
COPILOT: Through there.
DOCTOR: Aren't you going to put that thing away?
COPILOT: Through there!
DOCTOR: Well, all right, if that's the way you want to play it.

(The Doctor and Romana go through the doorway.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Though how I'm going to mend the controls with my arms up in the air like this
COPILOT: Weakling scum!

[Spaceship bridge]

(The pilot is now on the floor by the far bulkhead.)

DOCTOR: Hello, who's that?
COPILOT: The pilot.
DOCTOR: Ah.
COPILOT: He's dead.
DOCTOR: What?
COPILOT: He crashed the ship.
DOCTOR: But the ship hasn't crashed.
COPILOT: Well, it went out of control. At least the cargo is safe.
ROMANA: He means the hymetusite.
COPILOT: I mean the sacrifices.
ROMANA: Sacrifices?
COPILOT: The Anethans. I have to get them safely to Skonnos, whatever happens. They are our payment in the great contract.
DOCTOR: I don't like the sound of that.
COPILOT: It doesn't matter what you like the sound of.

[Soldeed's laboratory]

(Soldeed is fiddling with a piece of equipment. Behind him is a lovely, large circular piece of wire lacework.)

SOLDEED: Why doesn't it respond?

(Sorak enters.)

SORAK: Soldeed?
SOLDEED: Leave me, Sorak. I'm engaged in important work.
SORAK: But sir, this is very important. I don't know how to tell you.
SOLDEED: Begin at the beginning and end at the end, Sorak.
SORAK: Well, it's the transport from Aneth, sir. The ship bringing the final sacrifices?
SOLDEED: What about it?
SORAK: It's disappeared.
SOLDEED: Disappeared? What are you talking about?
SORAK: Completely vanished, sir. The last two routine signals have not yet arrived. We thought it might be just a communications fault, but nothing we can do can raise them at all. There's absolutely no trace.
SOLDEED: No trace? Do everything in your power to locate that ship.
SORAK: Sir, I have!
SOLDEED: It must be found!

(Soldeed gets his staff.)

SOLDEED: The Nimon will have to be informed.

[Spaceship engine access]

(The short corridor between the bridge and cargo hold 1. The Doctor is standing on a ladder looking into an area above the ceiling.)

DOCTOR: These engines have seen better days.
COPILOT: This is a battleship of the First Skonnon Empire. It will soon be replaced.
DOCTOR: Well, the sooner the better. It's a right hodge-podge up there. Very old engines patched up with new equipment, a lot of it not really compatible.
ROMANA: Sounds like the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: Yes.
COPILOT: Can you make it work?
DOCTOR: The odd thing is, the new equipment seems to be the product of an entirely different technology.
COPILOT: Can you make it work?
DOCTOR: Have to noticed how people's intellectual curiosity declines sharply the moment they start waving guns about?
COPILOT: Can you make it work?
DOCTOR: Yes. Oh yes, I can make it work. The question is, can we generate power soon enough to take the ship to escape velocity before we fall into a black hole with an event horizon.
COPILOT: A what?
DOCTOR: Shush. You just hold the gun steady. Don't tax your mind.
ROMANA: Do you think we have enough power?
DOCTOR: Not with that fuel.
ROMANA: What about the hymetusite? If we could convert the engines, it's an immensely rich energy source.
DOCTOR: Brilliant! I wish I'd thought of that.
ROMANA: Oh, you will, Doctor, you will.
DOCTOR: Ha ha. Take a look.

(Romana goes up the ladder.)

DOCTOR: Now, I've got to go back to my own ship to get some things. I want you to fetch up two pieces of hymetusite to lower into the fuel cell. Look, why don't you give me the gun and then I can keep an eye on myself so that I don't get up to any funny business?
COPILOT: Don't you play the fool with me, Doctor.
DOCTOR: All right. What do you think, Romana?
ROMANA: I think it's possible. You're right, though. It's a strange mixture of technologies up here.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Well, listen. As soon as he brings the hymetusite
ROMANA: I shall know what to do with it.
DOCTOR: Good girl, Romana. Now listen. I'm popping back to the TARDIS to get some gear. Here, take this. You might need it.

(The Doctor offers Romana his sonic screwdriver.)

ROMANA: Er, no thank you. I've made my own.
DOCTOR: Oh, really? Really? You made this? Not bad. Bit basic though. Huh. Thank you.

(The Doctor swaps them and gives Romana his larger screwdriver back.)

ROMANA: Er Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes? Oh. Ha, ha. So sorry.

(He gives her the smaller one back.)

ROMANA: Thank you. Look, don't we both want to get out of here?

[Cargo hold 1]

DOCTOR: Now, be kind to them.

(The Doctor leaves.)

COPILOT: Weakling scum. You two, go on.

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(Soldeed holds the staff out in front of him, crystal point first, as he goes up the ramp to the place where he first appeared.)

SOLDEED: In the name of the Second Skonnon Empire.

(He walks through the wall and disappears.)

[TARDIS]

(K9 is covered in multicoloured tickertape.)

DOCTOR: K9?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Ah, there you are. How's it going, K9?
K9: Damage report almost complete, master.
DOCTOR: And?
K9: Defence shields are inoperative.
DOCTOR: Well, I know that.
K9: Dematerialisation circuits inoperative.
DOCTOR: We're up a gum tree without a paddle.
K9: Define gum tree.
DOCTOR: Well, it's a tree that gives gum.
K9: Explain use of paddle in gum tree.
DOCTOR: You wouldn't understand, K9.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: How's the dimensional stabiliser?
K9: Fused, master.
DOCTOR: Gravitic anomoliser?
K9: Functioning normally, master.
DOCTOR: Good, good. I'll take that, then, and one or two other bits and pieces. Oh, by the way, K9. Skonnon Empire. Does that mean anything to you?
K9: Skonnon Empire. Military dictatorship extended over one hundred star systems. Lost in civil war.

[Complex corridor]

(Soldeed is walking along carefully, with his staff held like a spear in front of him.)

SOLDEED: Lord Nimon? Lord Nimon? It is I, Soldeed.

[Spaceship engine access]

(Everyone's voices are distorting as gravity increases. Movements are slightly slower, too.)

ROMANA: It's getting worse.
DOCTOR: We're almost there. Get back to the flight deck and switch on the engines.
COPILOT: Then what?
DOCTOR: Then you wait until I come and give you the signal to start building up power. Hurry! And don't forget to wait for the signal.
COPILOT: All right.

(The co-pilot leaves. The Doctor adjusts the gravitic anomoliser.)

DOCTOR: Right, now as soon as he switches on the power, you know what to do.
ROMANA: Plug the gravitic anomoliser into the main circuit.
DOCTOR: Good girl.
ROMANA: What are you going to do?
DOCTOR: I'm going to move the TARDIS into the hold of this ship, then we can ride out with it, park somewhere and repair it with as much time as we like.
ROMANA: Is that safe?
DOCTOR: Well, it would be if the dimensional stabiliser was working. It's all right, it's all right. K9 said it's just fused.

[Cargo hold 1]

DOCTOR: Hello. Have some more jelly babies.

(On the bridge, the co-pilot turns on the power, and the lights come on.)

ROMANA: It's going to be all right. We just have to wait for the Doctor.

(The co-pilot smiles and closes the airlock door. The forcefield between the TARDIS and the Skonnon ship disconnects.)

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Not that bit, K9, that bit.

(K9 fires a quick laser burst, catching the Doctor's fingers.)

DOCTOR: Ow!
K9: Apologies, master.
DOCTOR: What is it, K9?
K9: Gravity still increasing, master.

(The Doctor tests it by lifting his chin with his hand.)

DOCTOR: Yes, that's just what I thought.

[Cargo hold 1]

(As the Skonnon ship moves away, leaving the TARDIS alone with a bunch of small meteorites.)

ROMANA: I don't see why.
SETH: Because if we don't send a tribute every year, Skonnos will come and destroy Aneth.
ROMANA: With ships like these?
SETH: The Skonnon battlefleet is an awesome sight.
ROMANA: Have you seen it?
TEKA: Our grandparents did, in the days of the first conquest. They say it blotted out the daylight.
ROMANA: Well, if the whole fleet's in this condition, a good shout would see the lot of them off.

(The co-pilot shuts all the bulkhead doors.)

ROMANA: What's that noise?
SETH: Must be the ship in flight.
ROMANA: In flight? But the Doctor isn't back on board yet. The pilot was meant to wait! Oh, why didn't you tell me we were moving?

(Romana uses her screwdriver to open the door.)

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: We've been abandoned, K9!
K9: Affirmative, master.
DOCTOR: The co-pilot.

[Spaceship bridge]

(Romana enters.)

ROMANA: Despicable worm! Turn back!
COPILOT: My duty is to get my cargo to the Nimon. We're late already.
ROMANA: Your duty is to save the life of the man who's just saved yours.
COPILOT: We must fulfil our part of the pact.
ROMANA: Turn back!
COPILOT: The Nimon waits for no man!

[Nimon's laboratory]

(Full of banks of equipment and consoles. Soldeed enters carefully. A pair of large horns enter, followed by the big black head to which they are attached. It is a vaguely half-bull, half humanoid being, and Soldeed is afraid.)

NIMON: You dare disturb me at this time?

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: The weasel.
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Poor Romana.
K9: Master!
DOCTOR: What is it, K9?
K9: Scanner detects large object approaching at great speed.
DOCTOR: Looks like an asteroid. What do you make of it?
K9: Estimated mass equivalent to two hundred and twenty million tons.
DOCTOR: Two hundred and twenty million tons? That's not an asteroid, that's a planet!
K9: Diameter nine six point four kilometres, approaching at a speed of mach nine point three.
DOCTOR: Nine point three? It's coming right for us!
Part Two

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor is clutching K9.)

K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Estimated time to impact?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: How long have we got?
K9: Estimated time to impact
DOCTOR: That's what I said.
K9: Eighty nine point four seconds.
DOCTOR: Eighty nine point four seconds. No dematerialisation, no defence shields, and only half power on full drive. K9, I think we're going to find out what it's like to be a cricket ball. Well, it's been a great, great partnership, old girl.
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on, K9. This is no time for emotional quibbling, you two. You've been a good dog to me, K9.

(The Doctor puts a red rosette on K9's ear. First prize.)

DOCTOR: The best I ever had.
K9: Thank you, master.
DOCTOR: It's a pleasure.
K9: Time to impact now fifty eight seconds dead.
DOCTOR: I wish you wouldn't say things like that, K9. Fifty eight seconds dead. Did I say cricket ball?

[Spaceship bridge]

(Beep!)

COPILOT: The beacon! We've made it. We're back on course.

(The co-pilot leaves the pilot's seat, and Romana get into it.)

ROMANA: We must go back.
COPILOT: Get away from those controls!
ROMANA: We can't just leave the Doctor back there!
COPILOT: Get up! Get up. Into the hold. Move!

(The co-pilot points his gun at Romana. She slams down her screwdriver and obeys.)

COPILOT: Your friend can rot in his black hole for all I care.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Brace yourself, K9. This is it.

(The Doctor hits a control on the console. The TARDIS starts spinning. The massive asteroid touches it and sends it hurtling away. A few moments later, both the Doctor and K9 are lying on their sides.)

DOCTOR: K9? K9? Are you all right, K9?
K9: (cough) Affirmative.
DOCTOR: How am I, K9?
K9: There appears to be no damage to your circuits.
DOCTOR: Oh. Oh, good! Good, good. Well, let's hope the same is true of the TARDIS. You're a good boy, K9.

(The Doctor puts K9 back on his wheels and checks on his best lady.)

DOCTOR: Ha ha! We did it!
K9: Please clarify.
DOCTOR: Well, I just put a lot of spin on the TARDIS, and the asteroid simply sliced us up out of the gravity whirlpool. Oh, you know, K9, sometimes I think I'm wasted just rushing around the universe saving planets from destruction. With a talent like mine, I might have been a great slow bowler.

[Nimon's laboratory]

NIMON: You dare to speak to me of failure? Be mindful of the terms of the pact, Soldeed.
SOLDEED: I am, Lord Nimon.
NIMON: Be mindful of what you have undertaken to perform. The tributes must be brought before me.
SOLDEED: They will be, Lord Nimon.
NIMON: There can be no stumbling in the great journey of life.
SOLDEED: Indeed not, Lord Nimon. We shall trace the ship. It is just possible the Anethans have attacked her to rescue the prisoners.
NIMON: And what have you done to exact vengeance and reparation for such a deed?
SOLDEED: Nothing as yet, Lord Nimon. I came to you as soon as I heard the news.
NIMON: You are idle, Soldeed. Neglectful of your undertakings.
SOLDEED: No, Lord Nimon. We have very nearly fulfilled our half of the contract. The condition of our ships makes it difficult for us to attack Aneth. If you would advance us a little of that technology you have promised us, we could complete our agreement and claim reparation from Aneth for both of us.
NIMON: No, Soldeed. The terms of our agreement are very clear. You are buying from me the power to conquer a galaxy. I will be paid in full.
SOLDEED: But, Lord Nimon
NIMON: In full!

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(Soldeed returns.)

SORAK: Soldeed?
SOLDEED: I have spoken with the Nimon.
SORAK: And what does the Nimon say?
SOLDEED: He speaks of many things. He speaks of the great journey of life.
SORAK: Again? What does he mean by the great journey of life?
SOLDEED: Mean? It is, it is a metaphor.
SORAK: For what?
SOLDEED: He also speaks of a retribution he shall exact from you, Sorak, if you do not find that ship or get a fresh shipment of sacrifices from Aneth immediately. We must attack Aneth.
SORAK: But Soldeed.
SOLDEED: We must do it, Sorak.

[Cargo hold 1]

ROMANA: With eight of us it should be possible to overpower him and take over the ship.
SETH: It would be no use.
ROMANA: Of course it would! I can fly the ship. We go back for the Doctor then we take you all home, back to Aneth and your families.
TEKA: No!
SETH: We must go to Skonnos for the sake of Aneth and our families.
TEKA: If we don't go, the Nimon will destroy Aneth. The only way we can be free and our people stop living in fear is to defeat the Nimon.
SETH: Quiet, Teka. No one must know.
ROMANA: No one must know what?
TEKA: Seth is going to destroy the Nimon and take us home in triumph! His father's keeping a lookout so that he can have a welcome party ready.
ROMANA: He might not be so optimistic if he could see this lot. Well, you can hang around. I'm going to find a way out.
SETH: What's the matter?
ROMANA: The sonic screwdriver. I must have left it behind.

[Soldeed's laboratory]

SORAK: Soldeed.
SOLDEED: Well? Have you arranged for another ship to attack Aneth?
SORAK: No, sir. It's the lost ship. We've located it!
SOLDEED: What?
SORAK: It's reappeared on the scanners. We've just had a signal. Apparently they had some sort of accident. The captain was killed, but it's all right now. And they're due to dock in two hours.
SOLDEED: Prepare for the ceremony at once.
SORAK: Yes, sir.
SOLDEED: The great pact nears it's completion! The Nimon be praised! Skonnos shall rise and conquer!

(Out of the window we see an image of a giant bull's head with golden horns. I take it that by now everyone has worked out Skonnos/Knossos, Aneth/Athens, Seth/Theseus, Nimon/Minotaur, Soldeed/Daidalos.)

[Cargo hold 1]

ROMANA: So what is this Nimon?
TEKA: The great god of Skonnos. They say he's a terrible creature with awesome powers.
SETH: If we don't pay tribute, the Nimon will destroy us.
ROMANA: Sounds like an insecure personality to me.
SETH: He lives in the power complex.
ROMANA: That fits.
SETH: Anyone who enters never returns, except the one called Soldeed.
ROMANA: Soldeed?
SETH: Well, yes. The great scientist and engineer of Skonnos. It is he who built the complex for the Nimon.
TEKA: They say he's the only scientist left on Skonnos.
ROMANA: Really? Why is that?
SETH: The great Civil War. Only the army survived.
ROMANA: That sounds like a well-organised war.
SETH: It was then that the Nimon arrived.
ROMANA: And started demanding tributes?
TEKA: Yes, but Seth's going to change all that, aren't you.
SETH: Yes. Yes.

(Romana and Seth speak quietly.)

ROMANA: You seem to have taken on quite a task.
SETH: It is.
ROMANA: Well, you don't sound awfully confident about it. I thought you were meant to be the great hero of Aneth.
SETH: But I'm not. I don't want to be a hero. I've never wanted to be. It's just that I've chanced to be around when things have happened. I'm not even a prince. I'd run away from home. I was on the road. They found me, and rather than be sent back, I made up some story. The King believed it and, well, here I am.
ROMANA: You have got problems, haven't you.
SETH: Look, I just have to do what I can. Please, don't tell Teka.
ROMANA: Don't worry, Seth. Your secret is safe with me.
SETH: Promise?
ROMANA: Cross my heart. Both of them.

(The co-pilot enters.)

COPILOT: You! I need you to help me land the ship. We're nearly there. Through there.

(Romana leaves.)

COPILOT: Weakling scum!

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor has a new arrangement of the equipment and wires linked into the time rotor.)

DOCTOR: Right, K9. Without our gravitic anomoliser, this is the best we can do. Let's give it a try, shall we? Ah, come on, old girl.

(The time rotor goes up, down then something goes Bang! A bit of flame and the full BBC sound effects of something going boing, whiz, crash, whoop, pop. Very Goon show.)

DOCTOR: That's very odd. Wouldn't you say that was odd, K9?
K9: Odd not computable, master.

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(Seth and the six young people enter from one side, five of them carrying globes of hymetusite. The Co-pilot and Romana enter at gunpoint opposite the ramp.)

SORAK: I have the honour to present the tribute from Aneth.
SOLDEED: Why have they brought only five crystals? There are two missing. Where are they?
ROMANA: I can answer that.
SOLDEED: Who are you?
ROMANA: I'm Romana. Who are you?
SORAK: How dare you speak to the great Soldeed like that!

(Romana walks forward.)

ROMANA: I have a complaint to make.
SOLDEED: What?
ROMANA: Yes, that pilot of yours
SOLDEED: Who are you?
ROMANA: I've told you. Now where's the Doctor?
SOLDEED: Doctor? What doctor?
ROMANA: The one that creature left behind.
SOLDEED: Who is this woman and where does she come from?
ROMANA: I come from Gallifrey, if that means anything to you.
SOLDEED: If you speak again, I shall have you eliminated on the spot. Now you, tell me.
COPILOT: She's a space pirate, sir. She and her companions attacked our ship. They killed the captain but I managed to drive them off.
SOLDEED: Go on.
COPILOT: I captured this one, sir, at great personal risk.
SOLDEED: Yes, I'm sure.
COPILOT: Unfortunately, our engines had been damaged in their attack and I had to repair them.
ROMANA: That's a lie. We crashed into his ship, but it had already stopped and the captain was already dead.
SOLDEED: Silence. You have been warned. (to the co-pilot) How did you repair the damage?
COPILOT: I had to adapt the engines to use hymeTUsite, sir.

(Wrong syllabic emphasis.)

SOLDEED: HyMETusite.
COPILOT: HyMETusite. That's where the other two crystals went.
SOLDEED: You had to adapt the engines?
COPILOT: Yes, sir, or we'd never have got home at all. And I thought five crystals were better than none. And then there were the Anethans.
SOLDEED: Exactly how did you adapt those engines?
COPILOT: Well, sir. (silence)
SOLDEED: Go on.
COPILOT: The fuel cells, sir. I modified the fuel cells.
SOLDEED: You are a liar.
COPILOT: No, sir. Truly.
SOLDEED: You wouldn't have the skill or the intelligence to adapt those engines in a million years. You deviated from the set course, didn't you. Didn't you?
COPILOT: It was a computer malfunction, sir.
SOLDEED: Your story alters by the second. You endangered the tribute to the Nimon.
COPILOT: It was a computer malfunction, sir!
SOLDEED: You know the penalty.
COPILOT: No, sir!
SOLDEED: The Nimon shall deal with you.
COPILOT: But sir!
SOLDEED: Into the complex!

(Soldeed drives the co-pilot backwards up the ramp.)

SOLDEED: In the name of the Second Skonnon Empire!

(The co-pilot falls backwards into the Complex with a scream.)

SOLDEED: And now, the rest of them. Including her.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Right, here we go again. After five, four, three, two, one. (nothing) Come on.

(The time rotor goes up and down smoothly.)

DOCTOR: Ah ha! Success at last, right, K9? Let's try and find our way to Skonnos and recover our gravitic anomoliser.
K9: Ahem. Master?
DOCTOR: And Romana. Don't forget Romana. Tut, tut, tut.

[Council room]

(Soldeed addresses twelve black-clad men sitting on a pair of horseshoe-shaped benches.)

SOLDEED: The final tribute at this very moment, gentlemen, is being paid to the Nimon!
ALL: The Nimon!
SOLDEED: I think you all appreciate the irony that in providing these tributes for us, the planet Aneth has given us the power with which we shall reconquer them and from there go on to build the Second Skonnos Empire!
Even now our factories await the secrets the Nimon shall unfold to us. Secrets that will give Skonnos the most powerful fleet of ships this galaxy has seen. The galaxy shall shudder at the name of Skonnos!
ALL: Skonnos!
SOLDEED: Our fire shall infest their heavens. It shall be the greatest empire the galaxy has seen. An empire of fire, steel and blood! Skonnos shall rule!

[Complex corridor]

(The co-pilot is still alive, and walking along the corridors of the complex. He gets his gun out of his inside pocket when he hears a growl. There are footsteps behind him and he hides. It is Romana and the Anethans. They walk past him. He tries to retrace his steps but there is a wall in the way now, so he has to follow the group.)

TEKA: What was that?
SETH: Must be the Nimon.
ROMANA: He doesn't sound very happy, does he.
SETH: I wonder where he is? All these corridors look the same.
ROMANA: Don't worry. I have a feeling if we don't find him, he'll find us.
SETH: That's what I'm worried about.
TEKA: How can you joke about it?
ROMANA: Come on.

(But a wall has suddenly appeared in front of them. They go back and discover a new corridor off to the side.)

SETH: But, there was a wall here.
ROMANA: Yes.

[TARDIS]

(The scanner shows an aerial view of a collection of tall buildings arranged with a long central grouping and four small outposts.)

DOCTOR: There we are. Hello, that looks interesting. Reminds me of something. Yes, I think we'll take a look in there to start with.
K9: Sensors detect hemispherical defence shield.
DOCTOR: Why should that be, I wonder, K9?
K9: Strength, seven thousand three hundred megazones.
DOCTOR: Yes, just as I thought. Oh well, never mind. We'll just have to land somewhere near it. Somewhere unobtrusive.

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(So the TARDIS materialises in the room with the entrance to the Complex. Two council members approach.)

DOCTOR: Ah, good morning. Or is it evening here? Lovely day, isn't it? Wasn't it? No?

(Armed guards come up behind him. He turns.)

DOCTOR: Oh no, not again. How is it wherever I go in the universe there are always people like you pointing guns or phasers or blasters? Now don't do anything hasty. It's just a flying visit. Take me to your leader.

(The Doctor is lead away at gunpoint.)

[Complex]

(The group arrive at a small room with a mummified Anethan lying on a table.)

SETH: What is it?
TEKA: Is it dead?
ROMANA: Yes. It's as though something has sucked the life force out of it and left just a husk.
TEKA: That's what's going to happen to us, isn't it? It isn't just the hymetusite that's the tribute, it's us as well.

(Teka touches the skull, and the whole thing crumbles to dust with a thud.)

TEKA: The Nimon did this, didn't he? Seth will kill him.
SETH: If he can be destroyed.
TEKA: You'll destroy him.
ROMANA: He'll be waiting for us somewhere.

[Soldeed's laboratory]

(The Doctor backs in.)

SOLDEED: What is this?
DOCTOR: Ah, hello. I'm the Doctor.
SOLDEED: The Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes. I just dropped in.
SOLDEED: Dropped in?
DOCTOR: Mmm. You must be Soldeed.
SOLDEED: I am.
DOCTOR: I thought so.
SOLDEED: Release him.
DOCTOR: Thank you. I say, that looks interesting. Very interesting.

(The Doctor looks at the tall device on Soldeed's desk.)

DOCTOR: Having a little trouble with the neutrino converter?
SOLDEED: Neutrino converter?
DOCTOR: Neutrino converter.
SOLDEED: What do you know about such matters?
DOCTOR: Oh, I've seen similar things here and there.
SOLDEED: Oh, come now, Doctor. This is my invention.
DOCTOR: How very odd, how very extraordinary, then, you don't know what a neutrino conversion is. Did you know that someone's building a black hole on your doorstep?
SOLDEED: What?
DOCTOR: Yes. I got stuck in it, along with one of your spacecraft.
SOLDEED: Digging a black hole on my doorstep.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes. A good thing I got stuck in it, too, otherwise your ship would still have been there.
SOLDEED: So it was you that rescued my ship?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, with a little help from my friend. Nice girl. I don't suppose you've seen her, have you? Blonde, about so big, always sticking her nose in things that don't concern her.
SOLDEED: No. Why should I have seen her?
DOCTOR: I just thought she was heading this way.
SOLDEED: I haven't any idea what you're talking about.

(Sorak enters.)

SORAK: Soldeed, I searched that ship as you ordered, and I found this.

(The gravitic anomoliser.)

SOLDEED: Oh.

(The Doctor snatches it.)

DOCTOR: Oh, no idea what I'm talking about? How do you explain that, Soldeed?
SOLDEED: What is it?
DOCTOR: It's my gravitic anomoliser from my TARDIS. (to Sorak) Now, where's Romana?

(Soldeed gets his staff from the umbrella stand.)

SOLDEED: Out of harms way, where you should be, you meddling fool.

(The Doctor backs away to the door. A beam of energy comes from Soldeed's staff but bounces off the anomoliser. The Doctor hits the door mechanism and runs out.)

SOLDEED: After him, you fools, you dolts!

(The door closes on them.)

[Council room]

DOCTOR: Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I'd like to say one thing and let me make it perfectly clear, I stand before you desperate to find the exit. Can anybody help me?

(The Doctor joins a huddle of council members. Guards run straight past and the Doctor goes into -)

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(Soldeed runs in, firing his staff, followed by Sorak. The Doctor stands in front of the entrance to the Complex.)

SOLDEED: Doctor, in the name of the Second Skonnon Empire

(And the Doctor tumbles backwards.)

SORAK: He went into the Complex.
SOLDEED: But of course. All according to plan. The Nimon will take care of him. Ha ha. Goodbye, Doctor. Bwahahahaha!

[Nimon's larder]

(The Doctor puts sticky gold stars on the wall panels as he passes them. There's a whirr sound, he backtracks and discovers that previously marked panels have vanished. He goes forward again.
Meanwhile, Romana and the Anethans have arrived in a different area, where other young people are stored in clear plastic units on the walls.)
SETH: Are they dead?
ROMANA: No. They seem to be in some sort of suspended animation. This must be the Nimon's deep freeze.
TEKA: What's that?
ROMANA: Well, by the look of that poor husk in there, I'd guess that the Nimon feeds by ingesting the binding energy of organic compounds such as flesh. This must be his storeroom, his larder. This poor thing must be waiting her turn.
TEKA: That's horrible!
SETH: Look, what are we going to do?
ROMANA: Well, there's no point hanging around here. Let's see if we can find a way out.
COPILOT: Oh no you don't. Stay where you are.
ROMANA: And what are you doing? We're in this together, you know.
COPILOT: You may be, but I'm going to get out of here. Now, get through there. I want you all together.

[Nuclear furnace]

(They all go into the next section of this area.)

COPILOT: Nimon! Nimon! They're here! I've brought you the tribute from Aneth!
NIMON: Who dares call the Nimon?
COPILOT: Er, it, it's me, I do, sir. I've brought you the latest sacrifices.
NIMON: I need no one to bring the sacrifices to me.
COPILOT: They were very rebellious, sir. I brought them all the way from Aneth. They were trouble, sir. Soldeed thought
NIMON: He did not send you to bring me sacrifices. He sent you to be executed.
COPILOT: No, really!
NIMON: You are a liar and a coward.

(The co-pilot fires his gun. It has no effect on the Nimon.)

NIMON: You shall die.

(The co-pilot falls to his knees.)

COPILOT: Mercy, Lord Nimon. I brought you the tribute!

(The Nimon bends forward and zaps the co-pilot with energy from his horns, then advances on Romana and the Anethans.)

Part Three

[Nimon's larder]

(The Nimon advances on the Anethans and Romana.)

DOCTOR: Hello, is this a private party?

(The Doctor waves a large red kerchief and attracts the Nimon's attention.)

DOCTOR: Or can anyone join in? So you're the mighty Nimon, eh?

(He lures the Nimon into the 'larder' area.)

DOCTOR: Tell me, Nimon. Tell me, are you really terribly fierce. Hmm? Is it true that you're very, very, very fierce?

(Romana sneaks forward and gets the co-pilot's gun. The Doctor holds his improvised cape in front of one of the inanimate sacrifices, the Nimon lowers its head and zaps it, causing the young man to tumble out. Romana then shoots at the floor to cause a smoke screen and at a panel in the wall.)

ROMANA: Get out, everybody!

(Seth and Teka run, but the rest remain frozen to the spot.)

ROMANA: Go! Go!

(Romana follows Seth and Teka. The Nimon returns and thinks about following them while the Doctor makes his own escape. The Nimon checks the damage.)

NIMON: The fools. Did they think they could change the course of the great journey of life like this? These can be replaced very simply. The programme will continue. So, you bring me a mere five crystals? It will suffice.

[Complex corridor]

ROMANA: Doctor? Doctor?
TEKA: Perhaps he went a different way with the others.
SETH: Perhaps the Nimon got him.
ROMANA: Thank you for that thought. The Doctor will make for the TARDIS. Let's find the way out.

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(Soldeed is examining the TARDIS.)

SORAK: Have you any idea where it came from?
SOLDEED: It is very strange. It has the external appearance of something from a fairly primitive society, and yet quite obviously it is some form of travel space capsule.
SORAK: If we could dismantle it, strip it down.
SOLDEED: No, Sorak, no. It may be a booby-trap. You can never tell with mysterious contraptions such as this.

(K9 is watching them on the scanner.)

[Complex corridor]

SETH: Oh, dead end!
TEKA: We'll never find our way out, even if there is one.
ROMANA: There must be. Soldeed can come and go.
TEKA: Won't be long before the Nimon finds us and kills us.

(Footsteps.)

SETH: He's coming. Give me the blaster, quick!
ROMANA: It's no use. It had no effect on the Nimon.
DOCTOR: Hello. What are you doing skulking down here.
TEKA: It's a dead end.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, of course, yes.
ROMANA: What about the way you've just come?
DOCTOR: Oh, I don't know. You call this a maze? It's a cheat!
ROMANA: Shush!
DOCTOR: Well, the walls keep changing.
ROMANA: There must be some sort of
DOCTOR: Just a minute. I saw this place from above just before I landed. It reminded me of something.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: I can't think what.
TEKA: If the Nimon comes along, we're trapped.
DOCTOR: No, no, no. He'll be too busy repairing his furnace.
SETH: Furnace?
TEKA: What's that for, burning the bodies?
DOCTOR: No, no, he has another use for those altogether.
ROMANA: Sustenance.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SETH: What's the furnace for, then?
DOCTOR: Looked like a nuclear reactor to me.
ROMANA: Fuelled by your crystals.
DOCTOR: Yes, your tribute had a very practical purpose. I think there's something horribly evil going on here. Let's go, shall we? Where are the others? Well?
ROMANA: They're with the Nimon.
DOCTOR: What! Come on. Come on!

[Nuclear furnace]

(In the area just past where the young people are stored, the Nimon pulls down a couple of levers high on the wall above a semicircular ledge.)

NIMON: You may approach with your tribute. Come. You do not wish me to destroy Aneth.

(One young man puts his globe on the ledge. It swivels round out of sight. A young woman does likewise, then the rest. All five crystals vanish into the mechanism and the needles on gauges swing wildly. Up near the ceiling, a red light throbs.)

[Complex corridor]

DOCTOR: It's this way, I think.
ROMANA: Oh, surely not.
DOCTOR: Why not?
ROMANA: That must lead deeper into the complex.
DOCTOR: That's right.
SETH: We'll never get out that way.
DOCTOR: Well, of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?
SETH: What idea?
DOCTOR: That I was trying to find a way out. Oh no, we've got to go deeper into the complex.
ROMANA: We've got to find the others.
DOCTOR: Right. Come on, this way.

(He turns the opposite way, but it is a dead end, so returns to his original direction.)

DOCTOR: Maybe it's this way.

[Nuclear furnace]

NIMON: We have achieved operational power level. The next step in the great journey of life will soon be accomplished.

(He zaps a young man.)

[Nimon's laboratory]

DOCTOR: Ah ha! This is more like it.
ROMANA: Doctor, look at this.
DOCTOR: Just as I thought.
ROMANA: It's quite a powerhouse, isn't it.
DOCTOR: It certainly is. What do you make of it?
ROMANA: Well, it seems to be some form of transmitter.
DOCTOR: Yes, of course, with the horns on the top as the antennae.
ROMANA: But transmitting what?
DOCTOR: Energy.
ROMANA: Of course! That would account for the hymetusite in the nuclear furnace. It's immensely powerful. An amazing bit of engineering.
DOCTOR: Yes, but for what purpose?
ROMANA: Only the Nimon knows that.
DOCTOR: Yes. I think it's about time someone else found out.

(The Nimon has put all the newcomers into his 'larder'.)

DOCTOR: Give me that.

(He takes the blaster.)

DOCTOR: Seth and Teka, come here. Take that. I want you to guard the door and look out for the Nimon, hmm?
SETH: Right. What do we do if he comes?
DOCTOR: Tell me and then run, in that order.
SETH: Right-o.

(Seth leaves with the blaster.)

TEKA: Don't worry, Doctor. If the Nimon comes, Seth will deal with him.
SETH [OC]: Teka, come on!

(Teka leaves.)

DOCTOR: Got it!
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: Now I know what this place reminded me of when I saw it from the TARDIS.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: A giant positronic circuit.
ROMANA: Of course.
DOCTOR: And the reason why the walls keep changing is when the circuit's in operation
ROMANA: They keep switching.
DOCTOR: Exactly.
ROMANA: But why? We still don't know what it's transmitting or where to.
DOCTOR: Need a computer to find that out.
ROMANA: K9?
DOCTOR: Got it! K9.
ROMANA: But will he be able to find us?
DOCTOR: Certainly, certainly. Well, I should think so. I mean, he could follow our psychospores, couldn't he?

(The Doctor blows the dog whistle.)

[TARDIS]

K9: Master.

[Skonnos complex entrance]

SOLDEED: It is very strange. It resists everything. It is totally impossible to open.

(Soldeed hits the TARDIS and the door opens.)

SORAK: You did it!
SOLDEED: Yes.
SORAK: Look out!
K9: Master?
SORAK: What is it?
SOLDEED: Some kind of machine.

(The TARDIS door closes behind K9 as he trundles out.)

SORAK: It's alive! Stop it.

(A guard fires at K9. Electricity dances over his body then he turns and stuns the guard. Soldeed uses his staff on K9, who glows briefly.)

SOLDEED: As I thought. Some form of electronic device. Go and see if there are any more inside that mysterious contraption.
SORAK: The door appears to be closed again, Soldeed.
SOLDEED: Very well. Leave the guards to watch that, and bring this machine to my to my laboratory and have it guarded.

[Nimon's laboratory]

DOCTOR: Got it! No, I haven't.
ROMANA: I've never seen anything quite like this before.
DOCTOR: No. I thought for a moment it was a giant transmat.
ROMANA: No transmat pad.
DOCTOR: That's right. It's a direction beam of some kind, though.
ROMANA: Hmm. It seems to be pumping out energy over vast distances.
DOCTOR: Yes. Wait a minute. That's some kind of bearing. Of course! It's focused on the black hole.
ROMANA: Our black hole?
DOCTOR: Well, we said it was artificially created.
ROMANA: From here?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: But why? What good is a black hole to anyone?
DOCTOR: It could be a gateway towards hyperspace.
ROMANA: With an exit somewhere else.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Where?
DOCTOR: I don't know, but I'll tell you something interesting. When I mentioned the black hole to Soldeed, he didn't seem to know what I was talking about.
ROMANA: Ah, well, people often don't know what you're talking about.
DOCTOR: Exactly. If Soldeed doesn't know about the black hole, what does he think all this if for?

[Council room]

SOLDEED: Power, drawn from the distant stars themselves, to power the new generation of Skonnon ship with which we shall conquer these stars! This is what the Nimon gives us.
ALL: Hail Nimon!
SOLDEED: Each of you shall command your own fleet and I, Soldeed, shall lead you into battle.
ALL: Soldeed!
SOLDEED: Skonnos shall rule the heavens!
ALL: Skonnos!
SOLDEED: Go now, and await your orders.
ALL: Skonnos.

(The councilmen leave, some kissing Soldeed's hand.)

SOLDEED: To the Second Empire.

[Outside the Council room]

SORAK: Soldeed, it sometimes occurs to me to wonder exactly why the Nimon is doing this for us. I mean, to be blunt, what's in it for him?
SOLDEED: Sorak, you dare to question?
SORAK: Well, to speculate, Soldeed. Not to question, merely to speculate.
SOLDEED: Sorak, you must understand the Nimon. The Nimon is as a god to us. It pleases him to be godlike, to receive tribute and to grant us power. We want that power, so we give him the tribute he asks, or rather, we get Aneth to do it for us.

[Soldeed's laboratory]

(K9 is on a table.)

SORAK: Something for nothing, in fact. That always makes me feel uneasy.
SOLDEED: Sorak, you are too scrupulous. You get what you want by giving people what they want. If there happens to be a little imbalance, make sure it's in your favour. The Nimon is simple. Powerful, brutal, yes, Scientifically advanced, yes, but simple in his desires. I fawn to him a little. That satisfies his bestial ego and he gives us what I ask. I play the Nimon on a long string.

[Outside Nimon's laboratory]

TEKA: What was that? I think I heard something.
SETH: No. No, I didn't hear anything.
TEKA: Seth, what are we going to do?
SETH: I'll think of something.
TEKA: You'll get us out of this, won't you?
SETH: If I can think of a way.

(Growl.)

TEKA: Listen. That was something. It's coming this way.
SETH: Go and warn the Doctor. Go and warn the Doctor now!
TEKA: Aren't you going to fight the Nimon?
SETH: Yes, but not now. Go on!

[Nimon's laboratory]

DOCTOR: Come on, K9.

(He blows the whistle again. Teka runs in.)

TEKA: Doctor, there's something coming.
DOCTOR: That was quick. Good old K9.
TEKA: No, I think it's the Nimon.

(Growl.)

ROMANA: Come on, let's get out of here.
SETH: It's too late. It's coming.
DOCTOR: Quick, come on. Hide! Hide!

(Everyone conceals themselves behind large racks of equipment just before the Nimon enters. Romana is nearest the door, then the Doctor. Seth and Teka are at the far end of the room. The Nimon checks dials and makes some adjustments, then goes to a large lever in the middle of the room.)

ROMANA: Doctor, don't.
DOCTOR: I want to find out what he's doing.

(The Doctor gestures Seth to go back, then sneaks up behind the Nimon to look at the equipment. He ducks back behind cover as it turns round.)

ROMANA: Well? What is he doing?
DOCTOR: I don't know what he's doing. Whatever it is he's doing, I think we're too late to stop him doing it.

[Soldeed's laboratory]

SOLDEED: So you see, Sorak, I have used the Anethans, I have used the Nimon, and I'd use this creature too if I knew how the infernal thing worked. There is power in this, Sorak. Power. It is a monumental piece of electronic engineering.
SORAK: But surely, Soldeed, with your skills?
SOLDEED: My skills, yes.

(A throbbing red light fills the room.)

SORAK: Soldeed, look! The complex.

(Out of the window, the two horns pulse with light, turning the air red.)

SOLDEED: Sorak, the time has come. From this moment, mark the beginning of the Second Skonnon Empire. With that power, let the onslaught begin!

[Skonnos complex entrance]

SOLDEED: Calm yourselves, you craven fools. I shall speak to the Nimon.
SORAK: Take care, Soldeed.
SOLDEED: Sorak, you know I have nothing to fear. In the name of the Second Skonnon Empire!

(Soldeed transmats to the Complex.)

[Nimon's laboratory]

ROMANA: Look!
DOCTOR: What?

(The Nimon pushes the main lever further forward.)

TEKA: What's happening?
SETH: I don't know.
TEKA: Why don't you know?
SETH: I don't know.

(A wall panel slides open to reveal a transmat pad. An egg-shaped object appears. Everyone comes out of hiding to watch as the Nimon goes to it and opens the door in its side.)

NIMON: Welcome to Skonnos, my friends. Welcome to the new home of the Nimon race, the next step in the great journey of life.

(Two more half-bulls have arrived.)

NIMON 2: You have done well, but you're only just in time. Crinoth is finished.
NIMON: Now that you're here, come. We can begin the migration with all speed.

(The Nimons leave. Romana goes to look our of the doorway while the Doctor, Seth and Teka go to the capsule, then she joins them.)

ROMANA: It's a space capsule.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SETH: I don't understand. There's no engines.
DOCTOR: It wouldn't need engines, would it, Romana.
ROMANA: The energy beam. The black hole.
DOCTOR: Two black holes. One at the beginning of the journey, one at the end, and a hyperspatial tunnel in between.
ROMANA: And that beam providing the motive power.
DOCTOR: Yes.
TEKA: I don't understand.
ROMANA: The Nimons have found a way of leaping across the universe as far as they want, instantaneously.
DOCTOR: That's right.
TEKA: I thought there was only one Nimon.
DOCTOR: So did Soldeed. They've been terribly clever. Fiendishly clever.

(They go back to the main lab.)

TEKA: Seth, what's happening?
DOCTOR: Invasion.
SETH: Invasion.
DOCTOR: Yes, it happens all the time. When a race runs out of space or destroys its home, it has to find somewhere else to live.
SETH: Skonnos?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SETH: But it's already inhabited.
DOCTOR: Yes.
TEKA: Then how many more are coming?
DOCTOR: Well
ROMANA: To make all this worthwhile, there must be thousands.
DOCTOR: Millions.
TEKA: What, two at a time?
DOCTOR: Well, as more arrive, they'll build more transmats and increase exponentially. You don't imagine this is the only planet that's been tricked, do you? We've got to stop them.
SETH: How?
DOCTOR: Seth and Teka
SETH: On guard again.
DOCTOR: Right.

(Seth and Teka leave.)

DOCTOR: We're going to have to be very clever. Power on this scale could blow the whole planet to bits if I touch the wrong thing. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: I want to know everything about that capsule.
ROMANA: Everything?
DOCTOR: Everything.

(Romana takes his proffered sonic screwdriver. A little while later, Romana is working inside the capsule when an alarm sounds. She runs out.)

ROMANA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: It's all right.
ROMANA: Oh, I wish you wouldn't do that.
DOCTOR: I think I've found the main power control.
ROMANA: Really?
DOCTOR: Yes. If I can reverse the flow, the energy will go back to where the space-time tunnel begins.
ROMANA: Crinoth.
DOCTOR: Yes. I might even be able to send the Nimons back again.
ROMANA: Brilliant.

[Complex corridor]

SOLDEED: Lord Nimon? Lord Nimon? It is I, Soldeed.

[Outside the Nimon's laboratory]

SOLDEED [OC]: Lord Nimon?
SETH: Listen.
SOLDEED [OC]: Lord Nimon, are you there?
SETH: Come on.

[Nimon's laboratory]

SETH: Doctor, there's someone coming.
DOCTOR: There, that should do it.
SETH: I said there's someone coming!
DOCTOR: I said that should do it.

(The Doctor pulls the power lever back.)

DOCTOR: Come on. Ah ha. Romana? You're

(The transmat capsule has vanished.)

SETH: Where is she?
DOCTOR: She must have been inside the capsule.
TEKA: What are you going to do?
DOCTOR: Well, I'll have to switch the whole thing back. Let's hope we've got time.

(The Doctor pushes the lever forward.)

SOLDEED: You, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It's all right, I can explain everything.
SOLDEED: Leave that alone!
DOCTOR: No, well, you see what happens is

(Soldeed fires his staff and the equipment goes Bang! Alarms blare.)

DOCTOR: Romana.
SOLDEED: You meddling fool. You shall die.

(The Doctor stares at the tip of Soldeed's staff, inches from his face.)

Part Four

[Nimon's laboratory]

(Seth fires the blaster, stunning Soldeed so the Doctor can grab the staff from him.)

DOCTOR: Seth, well done!

(The Doctor hands the staff to Seth, who gives the blaster to Teka.)

SETH: Is he dead?
DOCTOR: No, just knocked out. Right, now let's see what the damage is. Oh, I don't like the look of that. Sorry, Romana.

[Crinoth transmat area]

(Romana climbs out of the space capsule in to a place with lots of large silver tubes lying around.)

ROMANA: Doctor, I. Doctor? Doctor, where are you?
NIMON 3: You.

(Romana runs.)

NIMON 3: Stop! Pursue her.

[Nimon's laboratory]

SETH: Is it very bad?
DOCTOR: It's very bad. I might just be able to fix it if I can cannibalise one of the other circuits.
SETH: Is there anything I can do?
DOCTOR: No, no. You've done enough. It's K9 I need now.

(But K9 still sits on the table in Soldeed's laboratory, immobile. Sorak enters. Meanwhile, Romana has found the Nimon larder.)

DOCTOR: Oh, my gravitic anomoliser.
SETH: Will it help?
DOCTOR: It might help. You see, it's an entirely different system but it just might be compatible.

(Soldeed has woken up and sneaks out of the room.)

TEKA: Will it work?
DOCTOR: Well, if it's compatible it'll work better than the original. On the other hand, if it's not compatible
SETH: What?
DOCTOR: There'll be a bang so big you won't even hear it.
TEKA: Oh, Doctor, look!
SOLDEED [OC]: Bwhahahahahaha!
DOCTOR: He'll warn the Nimon. Quick, after him!
SETH: Come on!

[Complex corridor]

(Seth and Teka run after Soldeed.)

SETH: Down there, come on.

[Crinoth]

(Romana has been cornered by the Nimons when someone shoots them in the back with a staff just like Soldeed's. Her rescuer is a haggard old man in dirty robes.)

ROMANA: Who are you?
SEZOM: I am Sezom.
ROMANA: You just saved my life. Are they dead?
SEZOM: Alas, no, but they will be unconscious for a while. Who are you? Why are you here?
ROMANA: I'm Romana. I'm here by accident. Where are we?
SEZOM: This is Crinoth, what's left of it.
ROMANA: Why, what happened?
SEZOM: The Nimons happened. They have destroyed everything, everyone. Everyone but me.
ROMANA: Are you all right? You look awful.
SEZOM: My time is almost up.
ROMANA: Here, sit down.
SEZOM: Thank you.
ROMANA: There, how's that?
SEZOM: Better. You're very kind.
ROMANA: You did just save my life.
SEZOM: But I have caused the deaths of so many others. The total destruction of our planet and all its people. I am to blame.
ROMANA: Why? What did you do?
SEZOM: I allowed the Nimons to come here. I worked for them, became their creature. They promised us technology, peace, prosperity. It
ROMANA: Go on.
SEZOM: It seemed so easy. Such a small price.
ROMANA: Did you have to provide them with some sort of tribute?
SEZOM: How did you know that?
ROMANA: I've seen something similar.
SEZOM: There was only one of them to start with. I never knew what was to come. I swear, I never knew what was to come. It seemed such a small price to pay.
ROMANA: It always does.

[Complex corridor]

(Seth and Teka come to a T junction.)

SETH: You stay here. I'll check.

(Seth goes to the end of the junction, leaving Teka out of sight.)

SETH: Yes, come on. It's this way. Teka. Teka?

(There is now a wall between him and Teka.)

SETH: Teka!
TEKA: Seth? Seth!

(Seth runs to find a way around the wall.)

[Nimon's laboratory]

(The Doctor finishes wiring up the gravitic anomoliser, and then uses his sonic screwdriver on it. Nothing happens.)

DOCTOR: Ah.

[Soldeed's laboratory]

(Sorak is fiddling with K9's innards.)

SORAK: So you have power, do you? Power that even Soldeed cannot understand.

(K9 raises his head.)

[Crinoth]

SEZOM: They're like a plague of locusts. They seem harmless enough
ROMANA: Till they start to swarm.
SEZOM: Yes, from planet to planet, sucking each one dry then moving on to another and another and another. Their numbers are multiplying.
ROMANA: I've got to get back to Skonnos.
SEZOM: Where's Skonnos?
ROMANA: It's their next victim planet. I've just come from there.
SEZOM: Then you must get back and warn them.
ROMANA: It could be easier said than done. Can you help me get back to the capsule.
SEZOM: I will try.

[Complex corridor]

SETH: Teka! Where are you?

(Teka has found the Nimon's dining room, with the co-pilot laid out on the table. She backs into the larder to discover her companions, then Soldeed approaches her. She tries to fire the blaster, but fails, and he easily takes it from her. The three Nimons arrive, and Soldeed is gobsmacked.)

[Nimon's laboratory]

(The Doctor gets the transmat working, and brings the capsule back. He goes to open it.)

DOCTOR: Welcome back, Romana.

(And opens the door to reveal two more Nimon. He slams it shut again.)

DOCTOR: Oh, my prophetic soul!

(He seals the door and sends the capsule back to Crinoth.)

[Crinoth transmat area]

(The two Nimon get out of the capsule.)

NIMON 6: This is Crinoth.
NIMON 7: We have not moved. Stay.

(One Nimon stands guard on the capsule. Romana and Sezom take cover as the other one walks past along a narrow corridor.)

[Soldeed's laboratory]

K9: What is this place?
SORAK: It's. You can speak.
K9: Affirmative. What is this place?
SORAK: It's Soldeed's laboratory.
K9: What am I doing here?
SORAK: Soldeed brought you here.
K9: Kindly remove me from this surface.
SORAK: First, give me a demonstration of your power.

(K9 gives Sorak a light zap.)

K9: That was merely a warning. Kindly remove me from this surface.

(Sorak puts K9 on the floor. K9 heads for the door, which opens for him.)

SORAK: Wait a minute!

(The doors shut. Sorak cannot open them.)

[Crinoth]

(Three Nimons confer near Romana and Sezom.)

NIMON 7: Something has gone wrong on Skonnos.
NIMON 8: The way is blocked?
NIMON 9: Prepare the final contingency plan.
NIMON 8: That is too dangerous. There are too many of us still on this planet. If it explodes too soon
NIMON 9: We have no choice. The great journey of life must continue.

(The Nimons leave.)

ROMANA: What do they mean, final contingency plan?
SEZOM: There is no energy left here. They rely on the power plant on the next planet to pull them through.
ROMANA: So if anything goes wrong there
SEZOM: The only way they can escape is to convert the matter of this planet itself into energy.
ROMANA: Can they do that?
SEZOM: Yes, but it's a chain reaction. Once it starts, there's no way of stopping it, and the whole planet will explode.
ROMANA: After they've gone, presumably. Poor Crinoth.
SEZOM: I wonder what's gone wrong on Skonnos?
ROMANA: Don't worry about that. If I know anything about the one who caused it, he'll find a way of undoing it.
SEZOM: Then you'll be able to get back and warn them?
ROMANA: Well, first I have to get back to the capsule. How are we going to deal with the Nimons?
SEZOM: I have my staff.
ROMANA: Can you kill them with that?
SEZOM: No, I can only stun them.
ROMANA: And they let you keep it?
SEZOM: It couldn't do them any harm when they gave it to me, but they overlooked the fact that I might be clever enough to modify it.

(There is a second coloured stone jammed into the tip, above the cut diamond.)

SEZOM: I discovered that Jasonite increased the power considerably.
ROMANA: Jasonite?
SEZOM: It's a type of rock which carries a powerful electromagnetic charge. I've been experimenting with possible uses for it for years.

(Sezom gives Romana a second piece.)

SEZOM: I even tried to get the Nimons to help, but they weren't interested.
ROMANA: Can I have this?
SEZOM: Yes, of course.

(They hide as two Nimon go past.)

ROMANA: How are we going to get past them?
SEZOM: Subterfuge.

[Crinoth transmat area]

(The Nimon is still guarding the capsule.)

SEZOM: Wait.

(The Nimon disappears from view.)

SEZOM: Right.

(Sezom gives Romana his staff. She hides while he approaches the capsule.)

SEZOM: Alarm! Alarm! Crinoth is being invaded!

(The Nimon returns.)

SEZOM: The complex is in danger!

(The Nimon bows his head, Sezom rolls to the side to avoid the blast, and Romana shoots the Nimon. It staggers a lot and falls off camera.)

SEZOM: Well done. Now quickly, into the capsule.

(Romana starts to open the capsule when another Nimon zaps Sezom from behind. Romana shoots it.)

ROMANA: Sezom!
SEZOM: I, I'm done for.
ROMANA: Come with me.
SEZOM: No, it's too late for me.
ROMANA: Listen. More Nimons.
SEZOM: Hurry then, hurry.
ROMANA: I can't leave you!
SEZOM Get into the capsule. It's your only chance. Give me my staff. I'll try to hold them off as long as I can. Hurry now.
ROMANA: Thank you, Sezom.
SEZOM: Go! Go and warn Skonnos and the rest of the universe!

(Sezom shoots another Nimon as Romana gets into the capsule, then gets killed himself.)

[Capsule]

ROMANA: Come on, Doctor. Come on!

[Nimon's laboratory]

NIMON: Leave those controls.
DOCTOR: Ah, hello there. I was just
NIMON: Stand aside.
NIMON 2: Kill him. But not yet. We need to know who he is and what he is doing here.
DOCTOR: Well, really, I was just standing admiring the view.
NIMON 2: Silence. Later you will be questioned, tortured and killed.
DOCTOR: Well I hope you get it in the right order.

[Capsule]

ROMANA: Come on, Doctor! Come on!

[Crinoth transmat area]

NIMON 6: There is an alien creature inside the capsule.
NIMON 7: Very well, prepare to blast it open.

[Nimon's laboratory]

NIMON: He has reversed the flow of the tunnel.
DOCTOR: Yes, you see, well, that's what I was trying to explain. When I
NIMON 2: Silence, Skonnon. Did you imagine you could you could prevent the great journey of life?
DOCTOR: No, but what I thought was
NIMON 2: Switch it back.

(The Nimon operates the lever.)

DOCTOR: Thank you.

(The capsule disappears from Crinoth just as the Nimons try to blast it.)

ROMANA: Doctor, I don't know what you think you're playing at, but. Oh! Help.
NIMON 2: Another of the creature. Kill her!

(The Doctor tries to knock over the Nimon, but fails. Romana backs away towards the door, just as Seth runs in with Soldeed's staff.)

SETH: Doctor, I've lost Teka.
ROMANA: Seth, catch!

(Romana tosses the Jasonite to Seth.)

SETH: What?
ROMANA; Jam it between the prongs.
SETH: Ah.
ROMANA: Now shoot it!
SETH: What?
ROMANA: Shoot!

(Seth takes down both Nimons.)

SETH: What's going on?
DOCTOR: Thank you, Seth.
ROMANA: The invasion's started from Crinoth. Doctor, switch it back.
DOCTOR: I'll do better than that. I'll lock it off for good. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: I think we're going to be all right.
ROMANA: Doctor!

(The third Nimon zaps the staff, and Seth falls. Then the Nimon gets a laser in the back of the head.)

DOCTOR: K9!
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Well, you took your time getting here. Never mind, now you're here you can make yourself useful.
SETH: What is it?
DOCTOR: What do you mean, what is it? It's my dog.
SETH: Oh.
DOCTOR: He's called K9. K9? I want to modify the controls. I want to divert the space-time tunnel and send the Nimons back into the middle of nowhere. What do you think?

(K9 connects with the gravitic anomoliser.)

K9: Affirmative, master.
DOCTOR: Good, good.
SETH: What about Teka?
DOCTOR: Well, if the Nimons got her, she'll be in the larder.
SETH: Larder?
ROMANA: The room with the nuclear furnace.
DOCTOR: I'll meet you both there. Go on, off you go.
ROMANA: Right. Come on, Seth.

(Seth and Romana run out.)

DOCTOR: K9, this is going to be a bit sticky.

[Nimon's larder]

(Teka has joined her friends in suspended animation.)

SETH: Teka!

(Romana goes to the controls.)

SOLDEED: You, you meddlesome hussy. Do not touch the sacrifices!
ROMANA: It's all over, Soldeed. You're finished.
SOLDEED: No, the Nimon will fulfil his great promise! The Nimon be praised!
ROMANA: The Nimon be praised? How many Nimons have you seen today?
SOLDEED: Don't dare blaspheme the Nimon.
ROMANA: How many!
SOLDEED: Skonnos will
ROMANA: How many Nimons?
SOLDEED: Three. I have seen three.
ROMANA: Well, I've just seen a whole lot more rampaging down the corridor. Face it, Soldeed, you're being invaded.
SOLDEED: He said he was the only one. The last survivor of his race.
ROMANA: He told you what you wanted to hear, promised you what you wanted to have.
SOLDEED: So this is the great journey of life?
ROMANA: They're parasitic nomads who've been feeding off your selfishness and gullibility.
SOLDEED: My dreams of conquest. You have brought this calamity upon me!
ROMANA: You've brought it on yourself!
SOLDEED: You will die for your interference!

[Nuclear furnace]

(Soldeed runs through to the furnace and pulls the lever.)

ROMANA: Stop him!

(Seth shoots Soldeed as the alarm starts to sound.)

SOLDEED: You fools. You are all doomed. Doomed.

(Soldeed dies with a manic laugh.)

SETH: Teka!
ROMANA: Get the others out of here.
SETH: But they're dead!
DOCTOR: No, they're not, they're just paralysed. K9, get them out quickly.
K9: Master.
ROMANA: The controls, they're jammed. It's gone critical. It's turned into a bomb and there's nothing we can do about it.

[Nimon's larder]

(The Anethans are all out of the pods.)

TEKA: I knew you'd save me, Seth. I knew it.
DOCTOR: Well, you're not saved yet. Come on, let's get out of here before the whole place explodes. Come on!

[Complex corridor]

(At a junction.)

DOCTOR: Halt. Shush.
TEKA: You defeated the Nimon, Seth.
SETH: Not entirely.
TEKA: I knew you would. Now you'll get us out of this maze, won't you?
SETH: Doctor, how are we going to get out of this place if no one else has ever managed it before?
DOCTOR: Ah, but they didn't have a brilliant tracker dog like K9, did they. He can follow the scent all the way to the exit. Come on, K9. Come on.

[Nimon's laboratory]

(The three Nimons wake.)

NIMON: Pursue them!

[Complex corridor]

(K9 stops and turns round.)

DOCTOR: What is it, K9?
K9: Configuration has changed. It will be necessary for me to compute a suitable route as we proceed.
DOCTOR: What? Come on, K9. You can do it.

(They set off again. Meanwhile -)

NIMON: Pursue them!

[Skonnos complex entrance]

(The council have gathered.)

MAN: There he is.
SORAK: What is going on here?
MAN: We don't know.

[Complex corridor]

(The low speed pursuit continues, as the furnace keeps going critical and the alarm blares. K9 stops by a wall panel identical to all the rest.)

K9: This is the exit, master.
DOCTOR: What? But it can't be. Try pointing the staff.
SETH: Nothing.
DOCTOR: In the name of the Second Skonnon Empire!
SETH: Nothing.
TEKA: We're trapped.
DOCTOR: K9, what do you make of that wall in front of you?
K9: Question not understood.
DOCTOR: There! There in front of you.
K9: That is the exit, master.
DOCTOR: No, no, the wall.
ROMANA: Come on, Doctor. Hurry up.
DOCTOR: Shush. Just a minute. K9, is that a wall in front of us?
K9: Negative, master.
DOCTOR: Then off you go, then.

(K9 trundles through the wall.)

DOCTOR: Ah, a very clever illusion. Quick, everybody through. Quick! Quick!

[Skonnos complex entrance]

SORAK: This is not possible! Where is Soldeed?
SETH: Soldeed's dead.
TEKA: And the Nimons are finished. Seth defeated them. I knew he would. He's the hero of Aneth.
SETH: Teka, please.
ROMANA: Get away, everybody. Get away!
DOCTOR: Everybody take cover. The whole place is about to explode!

(They do, and the complex goes KaBOOM!)

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: Oh, no, not again.

(K9 is sitting on the console, wired up.)

DOCTOR: Well, I never finished the modifications to the conceptual geometer.
ROMANA: Immobilised again?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, what could possibly go wrong out here?
ROMANA: You said that once before, remember?
DOCTOR: I've said it hundreds of times before.
ROMANA: And how may times have you been right?
DOCTOR: Oh, four or three.
ROMANA: What do you think Skonnos will be like with Sorak in charge?
DOCTOR: Oh, not much better. Nasty race of people. Still, they're too busy fending for themselves to bother anyone else now.
ROMANA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Hmm?
ROMANA: Look.

(There's a distant explosion on the scanner.)

DOCTOR: Crinoth.
ROMANA: And the end of the Nimons.
DOCTOR: Good job, too.
ROMANA: I hope Seth and Teka and the others get back to Aneth safely.
DOCTOR: I should hope so. I made Sorak give them a ship.
ROMANA: Look, there they are.
DOCTOR: Poor old Seth.
ROMANA: Poor old Seth?
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, just imagine the legends Teka's going to build up around him. He'll have to spend the rest of his life trying to live up to them. It's terrible.
ROMANA: I suppose that's how legends are made.
DOCTOR: Yes. I'm glad this time I reminded them to paint their ship white. The last time anything like this happened, I completely forgot. Caused quite a hoo-ha.
ROMANA: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, other times, other places. Well, come on, old girl. There's quite few millennia left in you yet.
ROMANA: Thank you, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Not you, the TARDIS.

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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