The Space Pirates

(Transcriber's note - this story only exists in audio except for episode 2)

Episode One

[Beacon Alpha One airlock]

(Far out in space hangs a segmented structure built solely to receive and transmit data across the space ways. A black dart-shaped craft approaches it and docks. Three men carry boxes of equipment into the beacon. Outside the beacon, two space-walkers attach magnetic charges its hull and finally a rocket propulsion unit.)

CAVEN: Dervish! Dervish!
DERVISH: (a thin man) We've nearly finished.
CAVEN: About time.
DERVISH: My men are just coming. We'll detonate by radio beam.
CAVEN: Right. Hurry it up.

(All the men return to the ship. It undocks and moves away. Shortly afterwards a radio signal is sent and beacon Alpha One goes KaBOOM!)

[V-Ship flight deck]

(Another ship is travelling through space. This one is thin and wide, with military insignia V41-LO. The flight deck is split into an upper command bridge with silver-haired General Hermack in charge, and a lower technical area.)

HERMACK: Everything all right, Penn?

(played by Jack May)

PENN: Fine, sir.

(The young George Layton with a zapata moustache.)

HERMACK: Fine.
WARNE: (American) You sent for me, sir?
HERMACK: Ah yes, Ian. Sit down.
WARNE: Thank you.
HERMACK: Any information on that beacon signal yet?
WARNE: No, sir. There's been no response to the secondary emergency circuits. either.
HERMACK: No, there wouldn't be.
WARNE: Sir?
HERMACK: What do you think has happened to that beacon?
WARNE: Well, it's difficult to say, sir. It could be a failure in the solar energy store.
HERMACK: No. The emergency power would operate and we'd get a may day signal.
WARNE: Well. Oh, you don't think this is a mechanical failure, sir?
HERMACK: No. No, I don't. These beacons are practically fool proof.
WARNE: You got any ideas?
HERMACK: Yes, I have. And I must be right. Argonite! These beacons are almost entirely constructed of argonite.
WARNE: Of course, sir. What are you going to do about it?
HERMACK: Attention all personnel. This is General Hermack. Your V-ship is now fifty days and many billions of miles out from Earth. You're entering the fourth sector of our galaxy. In this sector for some time now, Earth Government has been aware that a highly organised gang of criminals have been roaming the space ways, and preying upon defenceless cargo ships. The main target of these criminals is argonite, the most valuable mineral known to man and so far only found on the planets of the Fourth Sector. A government space beacon marking the approaches to the planet New Sarum has ceased transmitting its navigation signal. These beacons, as you know, are constructed of argonite. It is my belief that the criminals are attacking the government navigation beacons and plundering the argonite. There can be no other explanation for its failure. This being the case, I have decided to abandon our present mission and to investigate the missing beacon in the New Sarum sector. I want all section commanders on the bridge at twenty hundred hours sector four solar time. Resume normal duties until then.
WARNE: There are eighteen space beacons quite scattered across this sector, sir.
HERMACK: Seventeen, Ian, until the one at New Sarum's replaced.
WARNE: Seventeen. And they're millions of miles apart. So how can we be sure which one the pirates are likely to attack next?
HERMACK: We can't.
WARNE: Well, exactly. The odds are seventeen to one against us being in the right place at the right time.
HERMACK: Ah! With our speed, I think we can cut those odds a bit. Now, there are four beacons in the Pliny solar system here. That is where we'll start our patrol.

[Beacon Alpha Seven]

(There is a dart-shaped craft docked to this beacon now. It is the same routine as at Alpha One.)

CAVEN: Come on! Speed it up.
DERVISH: Caven, I don't like this.
CAVEN: Nobody's asking you to like it. Just get those scissor charges laid into position.
DERVISH: If we attack any more beacons, we'll have the whole of the Interstellar Space Corps in this sector.
CAVEN: Look, as of this moment, the Space Corps has its hands full of trouble. Bush fire wars in three different sectors. There's never been a better time for getting rich.
DERVISH: Right, lads. Now, we'll lay four charges along the main axis, then we'll attach booster charges around the hull. Okay.
CAVEN: You're a good engineer, Dervish. Just do your job and leave the Space Corps to me, eh?
DERVISH: Okay. But I worked ten years for Earth Government.
CAVEN: You should've stayed with them. They'd have given you a pension.
DERVISH: Attacking Government property is one crime they make sure never pays.
CAVEN: Sixteen hundred tons of pure argonite pays all right, Dervish. To me this is like a floating bank.

(The charges are laid.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE: What range are the forward scanners set for, Penn?
PENN: Fifteen hundred, sir.
WARNE: Well reset them at two thousand. Right?
PENN: Very good, sir.
WARNE: And keep a sharp eye on that screen. There are lots of rogue asteroids in the Pliny system.
HERMACK: Oh, and one thing more. Make sure the Minnow ships are fully fuelled, and put the detonation heads on their missiles. Report back as soon as that is done.
WARNE: We're approaching the Pliny system now, sir. We've made scanner contact with the four beacons. They're functioning normally.
HERMACK: Ah good. Now this planet Ta, here, is the main one in the system. We'll orbit here for a few weeks and see what happens.
WARNE: So that's Ta, huh?
HERMACK: You've heard of it?
WARNE: Yeah. It's the head quarters of the Issigri Mining Corporation. The most productive planet in the entire galaxy.
HERMACK: Madeleine Issigri has built quite a place there. Which is one reason for basing ourselves in the Pliny system.
WARNE: Why's that a reason, sir?
HERMACK: Well, if we're out here long, Ian, the men will need somewhere for rest and recreation. Deep space sickness is the one thing we can't chance.
PENN: Major Warne.
WARNE: What is it, Penn?
PENN: I've got a contact, sir, at beacon Alpha Seven.
WARNE: Well, hold on it. Any identification?
PENN: No, sir. Too far away.
HERMACK: Ah, it's a space ship right enough. Check Central Flight Information, Ian, and see if anyone should be out there.
WARNE: Right, sir.
HERMACK: Change course for beacon Alpha Seven. Bridge to Power Room, I want ten seconds main boost.
WARNE: According to Flight Information, sir, there should be no ships in the area within the next seventeen days.
HERMACK: Well, whoever they are, they've not yet reported to Central Flight Information.
WARNE: Do you think it's the pirates?
HERMACK: Yes, it could be. Though some of these commercial flights don't always like to report their whereabouts, for reasons of their own. Anyway, we shall soon know. (Meanwhile, the pirate ship undocks from Alpha Seven.)
PENN: She's backing off, sir.
HERMACK: Keep track of her.
PENN: She's moving quite fast, sir.
WARNE: Got a good turn of speed for a commercial.
HERMACK: Is beacon Alpha Seven still functioning?
WARNE: Yes, sir. Very strong signal.
HERMACK: Well, that's something.
WARNE: Maybe they were just picking up emergency supplies, sir. Some of these beacons do carry reserve medical and oxygen equipment.
PENN: Sir, I've got another signal coming in now. It's a UHF!
WARNE: UHF? But that's reserved for demolition teams.
HERMACK: Well, put it on audio.
PENN: Yes, sir.

(Beacon Alpha Seven explodes.)

PENN: Alpha Seven's broken up, sir.
HERMACK: Ah. Right under our noses. Main boost.
PENN: Lost the beacon, sir. No more signal.
WARNE: No, there won't be. It's probably in a dozen separate bits by now.
HERMACK: Keep full contact with that pirate ship.
PENN: Yes, sir.
HERMACK: At least we can be sure they don't get away. Ian, give me a projected arrival time.
WARNE: Three hours, sir. Maybe I can get a visual on the main scanner.

(The pirate ship appears on the viewscreen, towing beacon debris.)

WARNE: There she is sir. And that's what's left of the beacon.
HERMACK: We've got them cold, Ian. We'll be onto them long before they get rid of that salvaged scrap.
WARNE: Yeah, providing she doesn't see us approaching, sir.
HERMACK: They don't know
PENN: That ship looks fast
HERMACK: They don't know we're in the same area. What's wrong with the scanner?
WARNE: Seem to be losing visual contact, sir.
PENN: The ship's moving away, sir.
HERMACK: What?
PENN: Just started to go, and the beacon debris's going with her.
HERMACK: Hold that contact, Penn.
PENN: It's no good, sir. She's going too fast.
HERMACK: They must have twice our speed!
WARNE: Maybe the Minnows could hold her?
HERMACK: Not at this distance. They haven't the fuel.
PENN: Lost contact, sir.
HERMACK: Oh, hold the same course.
PENN: Sir.
HERMACK: Keep searching.
WARNE: They must have attached rocket units to the beacon, sir, the way it moved off.
HERMACK: Yes. They're very well organised. They cut the beacon into several manageable pieces by means of scissor charges, then shoot the bits off to some pre-arranged collection point. Very clever.
WARNE: And quick. It cuts down the time they're at risk. And they just burn out the Argonite at their leisure.
HERMACK: Ian, we shall have to rethink our tactics. We shall never catch them by normal patrol methods.
WARNE: What else can we do, sir?
HERMACK: Man the beacons.
WARNE: Man them?
HERMACK: It's the only answer. We'll drop small parties of four or five men on each beacon and give them rations and supplies for two months. Well, all these mark five beacons were designed as emergency survival centres.
WARNE: Yes sir, but I don't think anybody has ever tried living on them. Some of these beacons are pretty primitive.
HERMACK: I'm not interested in men's comfort, Major. Set course for the nearest beacon.
WARNE: Yes, sir.

[Beacon Alpha Four]

(A Lieutenant and four armed guards enter the beacon with survival packs. Warne follows.)

WARNE: Here's your radio, Lieutenant. It's beamed automatically to main control. All you have to do in the event of trouble is press this button, right?
SORBA: (Dark) Don't worry, I'll press it.
WARNE: Remember your main job here is to give us the earliest possible warning in the event of the pirate ship approaching, right?
SORBA: And after that, we fight them.
WARNE: After that, I think you'll have to, Joe. Good Luck.
SORBA: Thank you.
WARNE: See you in about six weeks.
SORBA: I hope.

[V-Ship flight deck]

HERMACK: Set a course for Alpha Nine.
PENN: Very good, sir.
WARNE: I told Lieutenant Sorba we'd be back in about six weeks. sir.
HERMACK: Or much earlier if the pirates raid Alpha Four. How's morale on the picket?
WARNE: Oh, it's pretty high, sir. I think they're hoping for the chance of a party.
HERMACK: They understand they have to shoot on sight?
WARNE: Yes, sir, I told them. No, anybody poking their nose aboard Alpha Four will find plenty of trouble waiting for him.

[Beacon Alpha Four]

(And with those words, the TARDIS materialises in the beacon's computer bay. The soldiers are on the level below.)

SORBA: Now we're going to be here for about six weeks. Settle down and keep your eyes open. Take care about
GUARD: Sir.
SORBA: What? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the observation tower?
GUARD: There's something in the computer bay, sir.
SORBA: Something? Well, what do you mean by that?
GUARD: I heard something in there, sir. A noise.
SORBA: All right, we'd better check it out then. Come on.

[Beacon Alpha Four computer bay]

DOCTOR: Oh dear.
ZOE: What's wrong?
DOCTOR: Well, I don't think we're quite where I expected. Never mind. This looks very interesting.
JAMIE: Interesting? A piece of old machinery?
DOCTOR: Yes. I've never seen a computer quite like this before, Jamie.
ZOE: It looks like some sort of control room.
DOCTOR: Yes, but what does it control?
JAMIE: Yeah. Well I think we'd better get out of here before somebody catches us.
ZOE: Good idea. There's a door here.
JAMIE: No, Zoe. I meant in the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: Jamie, stop worrying. There's obviously nobody here.
JAMIE: Well, how do you know that?
DOCTOR: Well, this machine is programmed to operate by itself.
ZOE: Yes, but what does it do?
DOCTOR: Well, I'm not sure Zoe, but I think we're on an unmanned spacecraft in a fixed orbit. We're too far away from anywhere to be a weather satellite. Let's see what clues we can find through here, shall we?
JAMIE: What's that?
DOCTOR: What? (A floor panel lifts and Sorba starts shooting as the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie run out of the room.)

[Beacon Alpha Four companionway]

JAMIE: Nobody here, eh?
ZOE: Now what are we going to do? The TARDIS is in there.
DOCTOR: There's only one thing we can do.
ZOE: What?
DOCTOR: Run!
JAMIE: Well, maybe next time you'll listen to me.
ZOE: If there is a next time.

[Beacon Alpha Four computer bay]

SORBA: All right, there are only three of them and they can't get away. Hunt them down and don't forget. Shoot to kill.

[Beacon Alpha Four airlock]

(The pirates have arrived.)

CAVEN: Alpha Four. Another present from the home planet's tax payers.
DERVISH: Same procedure as last time?
CAVEN: Yes, Dervish. But now that you've had a little practice, get those scissor charges laid a bit quicker, eh?

(Energy weapons fire.)

DERVISH: Hey, what's that? Caven, those were blaster guns!
CAVEN: Get the crew in here at the double.

[Beacon Alpha Four]

(Our heroes run along companionways sealing the hatches behind them.)

JAMIE: Are you all right, Zoe?
ZOE: Yes, I think so.
DOCTOR: That should hold them for a little while.
ZOE: But why are they trying to kill us? We haven't done anything.
JAMIE: No.
DOCTOR: I don't know, but we're certainly not stopping to find out.
JAMIE: What's that? Look.

(A welding torch is cutting through the hatch.)

DOCTOR: Come on. Let's find somewhere else to hide.

(They go further on and secure another hatch.)

JAMIE: Doctor, there's no way out of here.
DOCTOR: What?
JAMIE: Look!
ZOE: Oh Doctor, what can we do?
DOCTOR: Well, I don't know. If we go down there we'll bump straight into them. I'm afraid we're trapped.

(Sorba's men have cut through the first hatch.)

SORBA: All right, this way.

(The pirates shoot the soldiers in the back. Sorba is shot and he falls while pressing the call button on his radio.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: Thirty minutes from beacon Alpha Three, sir.
HERMACK: Right. Warn the picket to stand by on C deck, Ian.
WARNE: Right, sir.
PENN: Emergency from Beacon Alpha Four, sir!
WARNE: Sorba's being attacked.
HERMACK: Set course for Alpha Four. Try and get me a visual on the scanner, Ian.
PENN: On course, sir.
HERMACK: Bridge to Power House. I want main boost for as long as you can hold it without vapourising the motors.

[Beacon Alpha Four companionway]

CAVEN: This one's still alive.
DERVISH: So the Space Corps were too busy to bother about us, eh?
CAVEN: Shut up! I'm thinking.
DERVISH: There's no time for thinking. We've got to get out of here.
CAVEN: Four space Guards and an officer. What are they doing here?
DERVISH: There must be a cruiser in the area.
CAVEN: Not a big enough crew to defend the beacon but they must have been put on board for a reason.

(Caven sees a box lying beside Sorba.)

CAVEN: What's this?
DERVISH: It looks like a fixed beam transmitter. Why, that's it. Well, they'll be on their way back here by now.
CAVEN: Then you'd better get moving.
DERVISH: Well, you don't still want the beacon cutting up?
CAVEN: That's what we came here to do.
DERVISH: Think about it!
CAVEN: Don't waste time. Get on with it.

(Caven shoots the transmitter.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE: Could be their radio's packed up, sir.
HERMACK: Yes. Give me a projected arrival time.
WARNE: Two hours twenty minutes.
HERMACK: I should have left a stronger picket.
WARNE: Oh no, sir. We haven't the man power. Besides Sorba knew he could only hope to delay things.
HERMACK: I am going to get that gang of murdering thieves if I have to spend the next ten years out here.

[Beacon Alpha Four companionway]

(Sorba wakes.)

CAVEN: Yes, Lieutenant, you're the last of the toy soldiers.
SORBA: Shot in the back.
CAVEN: You mean we're disqualified. You don't want to play any more?
SORBA: You can laugh now, but you won't get away with this.
CAVEN: Who's going to stop me, Lieutenant?
SORBA: How did you get those decoys aboard?
CAVEN: Decoys?
SORBA: Those three that lead us into your ambush.
CAVEN: Concussion, lieutenant? Or stalling for time?
SORBA: You know who I'm talking about. They ran off into the aft companionway.
CAVEN: None of my men down there. Must be some of yours.
SORBA: Sure. We were having a private training session with loaded thermite guns.
CAVEN: We did hear firing in the airlock. You mean there really is someone else in there?
SORBA: I thought you'd planted them there.
CAVEN: Whoever they are, we've got no time to bother with them now.
DERVISH: I've laid the charges. Just fixing the rockets.
CAVEN: Good. If he can walk, get him out of here. If he can't, leave him.

(Caven shoots the lock of the hatch.)

DERVISH: What are you doing?
CAVEN: Just sealing a coffin, Dervish.

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

.

(On the other side of the hatch.)

JAMIE: I wish I could hear what they're saying.
ZOE: I think they're trying to burn through it.
DOCTOR: Just a minute. I think they've gone away.
ZOE: I don't understand. Why didn't they come in here after us?
JAMIE: Aye, they must've known we were trapped. Why not finish us off?
DOCTOR: They didn't seem very friendly, did they? Oh!
JAMIE: What's the matter?
DOCTOR: Well, it's hot. You try.
JAMIE: Ah. No, thank you.
ZOE: I told you they were trying to burn through it.
JAMIE: Well, why haven't they?

(They hear a clang.)

ZOE: What's that?

(Another clang.)

DOCTOR: There's something moving out there.
ZOE: It sounds as if somebody's on the hull.

(The pirates are fastening the charges and propulsion units.)

JAMIE: What are they doing?
DOCTOR: I don't know Jamie. Perhaps they're cleaning the windows.
JAMIE: Oh. Eh?
ZOE: Look, why don't we sneak back to the TARDIS and get out of here?
JAMIE: Aye, while we've still got the chance.
DOCTOR: A sensible idea, Zoe. You're sure there's nobody out there?
ZOE: I haven't heard anybody for ages. Come on.
DOCTOR: Mind out, it's hot.
ZOE: Well, it's not hot any more.
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: I can't unlock it.
JAMIE: Let me do it, Zoe. You'll have to eat more porridge.
DOCTOR: Jamie, I don't think it's any use. You know what I think they've done?
JAMIE: What?
DOCTOR: They've welded the lock! We're prisoners!

(The pirate ship leaves the beacon.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: They're leaving beacon Alpha Four, sir.
WARNE: It's exactly what happened before.
HERMACK: What is our arrival time?
PENN: Still ninety minutes to go, sir.
HERMACK: We are going to be too late again!
WARNE: The beacon should blow any second now.

(KaBOOM! The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are sent flying across their sealed compartment.)

Episode Two
From the Lost In Time DVD

[V-Ship flight deck]

HERMACK: Penn, give me a bearing on that pirate ship.
PENN: I can't pick her up, sir.
HERMACK: What?
PENN: The debris from that beacon's jammed the signals.
HERMACK: Oh Penn, you are an incompetent, useless
WARNE: Keep trying, Penn.
PENN: Yes, sir.

(Warne joins Hermack at the coffee machine at the side of the bridge section.)

HERMACK: Ah, coffee?
WARNE: Yes please, sir. Thank you.
HERMACK: All right, I know. The men are doing their best.
WARNE: General?
HERMACK: Isn't that what you were going to say?
WARNE: Something like that, yeah.
HERMACK: You see? They're moving out of range already.
WARNE: If only we could have sustained continual main boost, it might have been a different story. They must have a base somewhere in this system. We're more than fifty days out from home planet.
HERMACK: Quite. They can have main boost the whole time. Our only chance is getting close enough to launch the Minnows.
WARNE: Or locate their base. They must have dispatched pieces of that beacon to it. If we could just locate one of the pieces.
HERMACK: Can't be done. If those auxiliary rockets cut out, we've nowhere to track on. You see? There's nothing left now.
WARNE: We've got the tactile scanner, sir.
HERMACK: That would be like looking for a single speck of dust at the bottom of an argonite mine.
WARNE: Do you think there's any chance they're still alive out there?
HERMACK: You mean Sorba's men?
WARNE: Yeah.
HERMACK: I doubt it. I doubt if anyone's alive on that beacon now.

(As the sections of the beacon float along in formation, three figures lie unconscious in the rearmost one.)

PENN: Major Warne!
WARNE: What is it, Penn?
PENN: Rocket ship, sir.
WARNE: Are you sure?
PENN: No doubt of it, sir, and she's right in the area where beacon Alpha Four went up.
WARNE: Right, can I get it on the TS?
PENN: We should be able to, sir. Bearing starboard nineteen from SDC.
WARNE: Nineteen SDC.
HERMACK: What is it, Ian?
WARNE: Something on the radar, sir.
HERMACK: The pirates?
WARNE: Well, if it is, there's something wrong with their ship. She's hardly moving.
HERMACK: But they don't even know we're in the same area.
WARNE: Oh I don't know, sir. They must be aware that there's a V-ship in the system. They ran into our picket on Alpha Four. Which is why. somehow, I don't think this could be their ship.
HERMACK: But according to flight information, there should be nothing in this solar system for the next eighty hours.

(Warne gets an image on a rear monitor.)

WARNE: There she is, sir. And that isn't the ship we saw before.
HERMACK: No, it isn't. Can you get a closer shot?
WARNE: That's one of the old C-class freighters, sir. I didn't know they were still flying.

[LIZ 79]

(This ship is homely, with a jacket slung over the back of the captain's chair. A hot hard-boiled bell rings and an egg drops out of a dispenser chute. A space cowboy in checked shirt and neckerchief enters singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. Think the sort of character Gabby Hayes used to play. He puts the egg in an egg cup and sits in his chair with the full breakfast tray on his lap. Smoke comes out of a toaster. He throws away the charcoal offering.)

MILO: The last of me nutty sliced bread. Rubbishy new-fangled solar toasters!

(The lights go dim. He thumps a panel and they come up again.)

MILO: Ah. That's better.

(Just as he is taking the top off his egg, the Call light flashes. Milo puts on a headset.)

HERMACK [OC]: This is V forty one. V forty one calling LIZ seventy nine. LIZ seven nine, can you hear me?
MILO: LIZ seventy nine. LIZ seventy nine. I can hear you, V forty one. Go away!
HERMACK [OC]: What? Now listen. This is General Nikolai Hermack. Commander of the Space First Division. Give me your identity registration.
MILO: A general, a real general. Oh, General, why don't you take yourself off? I'm trying to have my breakfast.

[V-Ship flight deck]

HERMACK: LIZ seventy nine, give me your identity registration. That is an order.
MILO [OC]: Oh come on, General, I lost that thing about thirty years ago. Why don't you go about your business and leave me alone.

(Warne gets the data up on a monitor.)

WARNE: That's LIZ seventy nine's registration, sir. She's a real old-timer. She's been afloat for about forty years.
HERMACK: Milo Clancey! I might have known.
WARNE: You know him, sir?
HERMACK: Of him. Out in Reja Magnum, where I did my first tour, he was something of a legend. Milo Clancey! I have your identity registration here.
MILO [OC]: I'm very glad for you, General. That's great work. That's very good. Now, good day.
HERMACK: Listen, Clancey. Where are you from and where are you bound?

[LIZ 79]

MILO: Might I ask, General, what in tarnations business that might be of yours?
HERMACK [OC]: Clancey, I'm coming alongside with a boarding party. I warn you, don't try and resist.
MILO: I won't tangle with you, General. You come on in and join the party. Oh, and mind you don't scratch your nice shiny white paint.

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

(The Doctor wakes, and shakes Jamie.)

DOCTOR: Jamie, Jamie.

(The Doctor drags one of a pair of gas cylinders over to Zoe and Jamie.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE: I've sent a guard aboard, sir, to pick up Clancey. I don't think he'll give us any trouble.
HERMACK: Yes. Well, he won't co-operate though. Ian, have you ever run across any of these old-timers?
WARNE: No, sir.
HERMACK: They think they're a law unto themselves. They don't like the Space Corps either.
WARNE: Why?
HERMACK: Well, these old mining prospectors like Clancey were the first men to go out into deep space. For a time they had the place to themselves, roaming the spaceways, looking for planets, jumping each other's claims. They were a wild breed, Ian, and they learned to live without the law.
IAN: And then the Space Corps came along and started to enforce law and order, right?
HERMACK: Yes, much to their resentment. Clancey must be the last of the type.

(Milo enters.)

MILO: My, my, my. Well, they certainly do you slickers proud, don't they. It's like a whole floating fun palace up here.
HERMACK: Clancey, I am General Hermack.
MILO: Howdy!
HERMACK: And this is Major Warne, my ADC.
MILO: Major?
HERMACK: What are you doing in this system and why you are not on feedback to Central Flight Information?
MILO: Oh, am I not, General?
HERMACK: No.
MILO: Oh, no, you're right. You're right. I remember now. That old feedback of mine, it just sort of fell to bits about five year ago now.
HERMACK: Five years?
MILO: Or could it be ten? Yep. Certainly could be ten. I've been always meaning to get that thing fixed.
WARNE: You know it's an offence to operate without a feedback to CFI?
MILO: An offence?
WARNE: Right.
MILO: I didn't realise that, sonny, no. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. There are so many offences these days.
HERMACK: Clancey, what are you doing in this system?
MILO: Well, I am the head of the Milo Clancey Space Mining Company.
HERMACK: Yes, we know all about that. We have your identity registration here.
MILO: Oh, that must be great for you, General, to have all of those facts at your fingertips like that.
HERMACK: Get to the point, Clancey.
MILO: You would know the point if you'd been reading my reports I've been sending to you the last two years.
WARNE: What do you mean?
MILO: Argonite pirates, that's what I mean, sonny.
HERMACK: Go on, Clancey.
MILO: Over the last two years, I have lost five floaters carrying argonite ore back to home planet. They were hijacked, General, and they were brought into this system.
WARNE: You reported this, you say?
MILO: Ah, aye, I reported this, sonny. About a dozen times I reported it but it didn't do me any good, did it. So I said to myself, all right, all righty, I'll just have to do something about this myself.
HERMACK: How much argonite did you have on each floater?
MILO: I had a full load. Fifty thousand tons unrefined ore.
WARNE: What makes you so sure your floaters were bought into this system?
MILO: Time, sonny, time. This system is the closest to where they left the spaceway. And my old floaters, they've got no propulsion units. They're unmanned. They don't move very fast, sonny.
WARNE: I know that!
MILO: Oh, he's a good lad. He's a bright lad, this boy of yours. Good thinking. Is it all right if I blow my nose, or is that another offence? My old nose. I can't get used to all your fancy air-conditioning.
HERMACK: That's a pity, Clancey, but I'm afraid you'll have to put up with it a bit longer. Now, how long have you been in the area of beacon Alpha Four?
MILO: Beacon Alpha Four?
HERMACK: Yes.
MILO: Oh. Have you a chart, General?
HERMACK: Here.
MILO: Oh, that's where we are. Well, well, well. You see, my charts don't pick up these new fanged beacons. I don't trust them.
WARNE: Just an astral pointer and a piece of string, huh?
MILO: That is right, sonny. Hey listen, I can't see beacon Alpha Four here either. That's what I'm telling you. They're unreliable. They're a waste of public money.
HERMACK: Beacon Alpha Four is not registering because it's not there any more.
WARNE: The argonite pirates blew it up three hours ago.
MILO: Oh, did they so. That'd be for salvage I guess. Yeah, that would be it.
HERMACK: You don't seem very surprised, Clancey.
MILO: No, no, I'm not, General. This is clearing up a whole heap of things in my head. I can lose every floater I've got and your fancy Space Corps won't do a thing about it. But the government loses one government beacon and that's a different matter. Then you come running. That's what you're here now for
HERMACK: Well, if there is any truth in your story, Clancey, and we do catch up with the pirates, you'll be entitled to put in a claim for compensation.
MILO: If I waited for you to catch these critters, I'd catch my death of cold waiting forever. I should think this old crate of yours has about half the speed of a Beta Dart, right?
WARNE: Our speed is classified information.
MILO: Oh, that may be, sonny, but this marauding band of sharks, you know they're using Beta Darts, one of the latest. You're in the wrong league, boys. Why don't you just go home where you came from.
WARNE: How do you know what ship they have?
MILO: Because I crossed their thieving flight path a couple of times. And if my old Liz had any speed about her, I'd have rammed them.

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

(The Doctor is standing on a box and looking through a porthole in the ceiling.)

ZOE: Can you see anything, Doctor?
DOCTOR: I'm coming down. Look out.
JAMIE: Well, what's on the other side? Could you see?
DOCTOR: Jamie, I'm afraid that there's nothing on the other side. Just space. It appears that this machine we're on has been blown into about eight separate pieces.
ZOE: Are you sure?
DOCTOR: Well, of course I'm sure. Get up and look for yourself if you don't believe me.
ZOE: Then that must have been the explosion.
JAMIE: Doctor, does that mean the TARDIS is gone?
DOCTOR: Yes, Jamie.
JAMIE: That means we'll never get it back.
ZOE: I don't understand. Why would anybody want to blow up a space machine?
DOCTOR: Sabotage perhaps.
ZOE: But what about those men that tried to killed us?
DOCTOR: I think they were here to defend the machine. That would explain why they were so unfriendly towards us.
JAMIE: Well, what you're saying is that we've landed ourselves in the middle of some sort of war in space.
ZOE: Now we're just floating aimlessly on a bit of debris.
DOCTOR: No, Zoe, not aimlessly. There appear to be rockets attached to each part of the machine. And they're all moving along together.
JAMIE: Hey?
DOCTOR: Well, as you know, Jamie, when something explodes in space, all the pieces separate and go on separating indefinitely, but this machine has separated just so far, perhaps a mile, and now, as I say, they're all moving together at the same speed.
ZOE: Because of the rockets. Oh, I see. So whoever broke up the machine is sending all the pieces to the same place?
DOCTOR: It looks like it, Zoe.
JAMIE: Oh, so we can get back to the TARDIS then? If it's only a mile away.
DOCTOR: A mile in space, Jamie, with no oxygen or means of propulsion.
ZOE: It might just as well be a thousand miles.
JAMIE: Oh, that's just fine then.
ZOE: Have you got an idea, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Shush, shush. Just a minute.

(There is a buzzing sound.)

DOCTOR: Now what on earth is that?

[V- Ship flight deck]

MILO: Oh lookie here, General. If you've finished with all your fool questions, I've got work to do. I want to get back to my ship.
HERMACK: All right, Clancey, I'm sorry to have detained you.
WARNE: Sir?
MILO: What? What, you mean I can go?
HERMACK: Of course.
MILO: That's great. That's very kind of you. I'll just say goodbye then, General. Goodbye.

(Milo leaves with an escort.)

WARNE: The navigators are standing by for orders, sir.
HERMACK: Obviously you think I've done the wrong thing.
WARNE: It's not for me to say, General.
HERMACK: You think I let Clancey go too easily.
WARNE: I would have put him through the mind probe, sir.
HERMACK: That did occur to me. He does seem to be mixed up with these argonite pirates.
WARNE: Too much.
HERMACK: You think he's in league with them?
WARNE: It's possible, sir. You said he's no respecter of the law. That story about floaters and pirates could have just been a cover story.
HERMACK: I quite agree.
WARNE: You agree, sir?
HERMACK: Oh yes, Ian. Not only do I think that Milo Clancey is in league with the argonite pirates, I think he is the mastermind behind the whole organisation, which is precisely why I let him go

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

(The Doctor prises open an equipment cover and frowns.)

JAMIE: Oh, what's he doing now?
ZOE: I've no idea. Ask him.
JAMIE: Oh, what's the use? He's got his mysterious face on.
ZOE: Well, I think he's just trying to keep our hopes up.
JAMIE: Hopes?
ZOE: By looking busy. There's nothing anyone can do now. I'd say we've got a few hours at the outside.
JAMIE: What do you mean by a few hours?
ZOE: Well, haven't you noticed, Jamie? Haven't you noticed how difficult it is to breathe properly now?

[V- Ship flight deck]

WARNE: Bridge to armoury, this is Major Warne. I want a Minnow readied for immediate launching. Fit contact warheads to the Martian missiles.

(A hatch opens in the 41 painted on the starboard wing, and a little ship that looks more like a mosquito than a minnow comes out. M5-V2 launches.)

HERMACK: Navigator Penn.
PENN: Sir?
HERMACK: Keep contact with Major Warne in the Minnow until he reports he's within visual range of LIZ seventy nine.
PENN: Very good, sir.
HERMACK: V-Master to X X one. Come in, Ian.

[Minnow]

WARNE: Okay, General. I'm following Clancey without his knowing.

[V- Ship flight deck]

HERMACK: Yes, but remember he's no fool. If he suspects he's being followed, you'll be in trouble. Meanwhile I'm going in to land on Ta. Relay reports to the nearest beacon.

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

ZOE: Oh Doctor, can we have some more oxygen?
DOCTOR: I'm afraid not, Zoe. We've got to conserve it.
JAMIE: Oh, what's the use. We'll never get out of this.
DOCTOR: Come here, both of you. Look. Look at these.
JAMIE: What are they?
DOCTOR: They're solar powered magnets. It's a force field.
JAMIE: Hey?
DOCTOR: Well, don't you see. The explosive charges that blew this machine apart didn't damage its structure. They simply divided it along the lines of its electromagnetic fields.
ZOE: How do you know?
DOCTOR: Because there was no damage to the structure.
ZOE: You mean the machine was built in separate sections and assembled in space by magnetism.
DOCTOR: Yes, you see, Jamie, opposite poles attract and the same poles repel.

(The Doctor demonstrates with a pair of magnets on strings from his pocket.)

DOCTOR: You see? Try it. There.
ZOE: Oh, so the explosion was just strong enough to break the magnetic attraction between each section?
DOCTOR: Yes.
JAMIE: But that doesn't do us any good, does it?
DOCTOR: But it just might, Jamie. Supposing I could step up the electromagnetic power enough to bridge the space between this section and the next.
ZOE: You mean draw it towards us.
DOCTOR: Yes, and then repeat the process with each section and so on until we reach the TARDIS!
JAMIE: Hey, well, do you think you could do it?
DOCTOR: Well, I've got a screwdriver.
JAMIE: Oh.
DOCTOR: And I've got a slight knowledge of electromagnetism.
ZOE: Yes, there's just one thing, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, Jamie, would you move this cylinder out of the way?
ZOE: How do you know the next section to this one is an opposite pole?
DOCTOR: Well I don't, Zoe.
ZOE: Well, if it's similar, your idea won't work, will it? We'll just shoot off in the opposite direction.
DOCTOR: Zoe, don't be such a pessimist.

(Meanwhile, the V ship heads towards a planet.)

[Issigri Mining office]

WARNE [on monitor]: Thirteen hundred. X X 1 to V Master. I have made visual contact with LIZ seven nine. We're still orbiting in the same dimensional plane. Nothing further to report.

(Transmission ends.)

MADELEINE: It must be very uncomfortable after a few hours in one of those Minnows, General.

(She tops up his glass.)

HERMACK: It is. Thank you. But then after a week you get quite used to it.
MADELEINE: I thought so. LIZ seventy nine is Milo Clancey's ship.
HERMACK: Your records are very comprehensive.
MADELEINE: Why is he being followed?
HERMACK: Well, I explained to you the purpose of this mission. I believe that Clancey has connection with the argonite pirates.
MADELEINE: That seems unlikely.
HERMACK: Oh, why?
MADELEINE: He has argonite mines on the planet Lobos.
HERMACK: Which I hear are pretty well worked out.
MADELEINE: They used to say this planet was worked out, but I brought in new machinery and today it's the most productive in the galaxy.
HERMACK: I must say, I'm surprised to find you of all people defending Clancey.
MADELEINE: Why?
HERMACK: Well, because of the rumours connecting him with the death of your father, Dom Issigri.
MADELEINE: Well, I tried to prove that at the time but nobody knows what happened between them, so now I prefer to forget it.
HERMACK: But you took over the argonite holdings from your father and split away from Clancey.
MADELEINE: Yes.
HERMACK: And now you run the most successful argonite mining business in the galaxy, while Clancey, because of your competition must be pretty nearly bankrupt.
MADELEINE: Is that why you think he's taken up with piracy?
HERMACK: Well, jealousy of your great success would be a pretty strong motive. Unless of course, you disagree.
MADELEINE: Oh, you may be right. But I haven't seen him since the day the partnership was dissolved, so well, I don't know what he feels.
HERMACK: Well, I can understand it. For a man like Clancey to be defeated by an attractive woman like you at his own game, he'd take any risk to get his revenge.
MADELEINE: Well, I wouldn't like to think that that was true.
HERMACK: Your concern does you credit, but I'm convinced I shall have the proof I need within a few hours.
MADELEINE: Really? How?
HERMACK: Warne has reported that Clancey is still on the same dimensional orbit as he was when we left him. Obviously he's expecting a rendezvous.
MADELEINE: With a pirate ship?
HERMACK: I think so.

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

(The Doctor lets some gas out of a cylinder.)

DOCTOR: I think that's all we can spare.
JAMIE: How much longer?
DOCTOR: I've nearly done it, Jamie. I've just got one more connection to make.
JAMIE: I hope it works.
DOCTOR: Of course it will work. The theory is perfectly sound.
JAMIE: Aye, maybe. That wiring looks like a cat's cradle to me.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, it's a little bit of a mess, Jamie, but I can assure you it's thoroughly functional. Thoroughly functional. Here we are. Now you two had better hold on. Are you ready?
ZOE: Yes, ready, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Hold tight. Here we go.

(The Doctor pulls a lever and they are all pushed back.)

JAMIE: What's happened?
ZOE: Oh Doctor, you've got it wrong! We're gathering speed!
DOCTOR: I know! I know! I can't turn it off!
ZOE: What?
DOCTOR: Ah! No! I'm stuck. The power's too great.
JAMIE: Well, isn't it working?
ZOE: Oh yes, it's working all right, but the wrong way! We're being sucked further into space!

(And to prove it we see one segment go hurtling away from the other seven.)

ZOE: Oh Doctor, for goodness sake do something!
DOCTOR: I'm trying to, Zoe. I'm trying to.

(The Doctor manages to push the lever back up again. They all fall to the floor, exhausted.)

ZOE: Oh thank goodness.
JAMIE: Are we all right now?
ZOE: Doctor?
DOCTOR: No, Zoe, I'm afraid we're not. Even if I could reverse the magnetic field, I'm afraid we're too far away from the next section.
ZOE: Then we're worse off now. Just floating hopelessly in space.
DOCTOR: Yes. Oh, dear. What a silly idiot I am.

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: Well naturally, General, I'm prepared to give all the help I can.
WARNE [on monitor]: Thirteen ten. X X One to V-Master.
HERMACK: Something must be happening. He's not due to report.
WARNE [on monitor]: LIZ seven nine is now on retro-drive. She's linking with a section of Alpha Four. Standing by for orders.
HERMACK: You see? Clancey's in the collection area. He's awaiting the beacon sections.
MADELEINE: It could be coincidence. He's seen the drifting wreckage and he's curious.
HERMACK: Madam, you'd need a ITM computer to work that out. No, this is the proof I need.
MADELEINE: What are you going to do? Arrest him?
HERMACK: Could I use your audio board?
MADELEINE: Of course.
HERMACK: V-Master to X X One. Can you hear me, Ian?

[Minnow]

WARNE: Yes, sir. LIZ seven nine is now completing the link-up. I'm standing by for orders.

[Issigri Mining office]

HERMACK: Good. That means he can't make a sudden move. I want you to go in and arrest him.
MADELEINE: Tell your man to be careful, General. Clancey has a terrible temper. He's likely to explode like glycerol trinitrate.
HERMACK: Ian, if he shows any sign of resistance, use your missiles. Otherwise, escort him back here.
WARNE [on monitor]: I understand, sir.
HERMACK: Report back when the arrest is made.

(Behind Hermack's back, Madeleine looks pleased.)

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

(Everyone is lying down. The Doctor opens the cylinder valve.)

DOCTOR: Here you are.
JAMIE: Empty.
ZOE: Oh Doctor, what about you?
DOCTOR: I don't need so much as you.

(There's a noise outside.)

JAMIE: What's that?
DOCTOR: Just a minute, Jamie. Listen.

(Sparks fall from points in the wall.)

ZOE: They're cutting through the bolts in the hull.
JAMIE: We've been discovered.
DOCTOR: Wait a minute, Jamie.

(A section of wall is pushed in and Milo enters holding his cutter like a gun.)

JAMIE: Oh no, you don't.
DOCTOR: Jamie, no!

(Milo shoots Jamie.)

ZOE: You murderer!

(The blaster rifle swings round to cover her)

Episode Three

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

MILO: Stay still, the pair of you, unless you want to follow him.

[Issigri Mining office]

HERMACK: Ah, Penn.
PENN: Sir?
HERMACK: Major Warne needs some assistance. I want you to take the ship out and stand off at twenty miles, just in case Clancey tries any tricks during the landing.
PENN: Very good, sir.
MADELEINE: Aren't you going with your ship, General?
HERMACK: No, I shall be in charge of ground reception. Leave a section of guards, Penn, with short-ranged missiles.
PENN: Right, sir. How long shall I keep the ship in stand-off orbit, sir?
HERMACK: You can come in just as soon as Clancey hits the landing pad.
PENN: Sir.

(Penn leaves.)

MADELEINE: All this for one old man. You aren't taking any chances, are you.
HERMACK: That is why I'm a general, madam.
MADELEINE: Well, what will happen to him?
HERMACK: Well, he'll be taken back to home planet and tried.
MADELEINE: And end in a Nervan prison chamber.
HERMACK: Well, when Clancey turned pirate, he knew the penalties if he was caught.
MADELEINE: Oh yes, I know, but I mean, I can't help feeling sorry for him. I offered to buy him out two years ago.
HERMACK: And he refused.
MADELEINE: I offered much more than his worked-out concessions are worth. He could have ended his days in luxury.
HERMACK: Why didn't he accept your offer, madam?
MADELEINE: Who knows? He's a foolish old man.
WARNE [on monitor]: Thirteen thirty. X X One to V-Master. I'm receiving no audio response from LIZ seven nine.
HERMACK: Is LIZ seventy nine on thrust or stationary?
WARNE: Stationary, sir. She's berthed against a section of the beacon.
HERMACK: Right. Now listen, Ian. If you get no reply within two minutes, you are to fire your warning rockets. And then, if necessary, stand off and use the Martian missiles.

[LIZ 79]

WARNE [OC]: This is Minnow fighter X X One to LIZ seven nine. You have one minute to surrender. I repeat, you have one minute to surrender, Clancey. Are you hearing me?

[Beacon Alpha Four compartment]

MILO: Now come on, now. If you don't answer my questions, I'm going to have to start getting tough with you!
DOCTOR: Look, I think he's just stunned, Zoe. Now, look here, my man, I will not be threatened in this bullying manner! Do you understand?
MILO: Oh, no. A boy, a girl and a nut case. You can't be the pirates.
DOCTOR: Pirates? Pirates! Oh, I see!
ZOE: Oh Doctor, he's coming round.
DOCTOR: Oh, Jamie.
MILO: Yes, I think he is coming round, girl. I only give him a quarter blast. Hey, listen, you there. Listen, she calls you Doctor. Doctor she called you. Now why did she say that?
DOCTOR: Sheer politeness.
ZOE: Are you all right, Jamie?
DOCTOR: Come on.
MILO: Now look, I'm not going to stand any more of this nonsense. Now, I want to know who you are and where you come from? Now, come on!
ZOE: It's very rude to point, you know. Especially with a gun.
DOCTOR: I told you she was polite.
MILO: How did you get here?
DOCTOR: Oh, we just arrived.
MILO: Oh you mean you got some sort of ship you docked on the beacon?
DOCTOR: Not so much on it as
ZOE: In it.
MILO: What, inside? Now how could you be doing that? Look, that is not possible.
JAMIE: Anything's possible in the TARDIS, especially when he's at the controls.
DOCTOR: Jamie, you're better.
MILO: You really expect me to swallow a story like that? Now look, if I don't get the truth out of you three comics in about ten seconds.
ZOE: But it is the truth!
MILO: One
ZOE: Everything we've told you is true.
MILO: Two. Three (Warne launches two rockets.)
MILO: Nine Ten! Now, come on, the truth. I want the whole truth.

(Boom.)

DOCTOR: Oh, what on Earth's that?
MILO: Someone's firing at us. Come on, let's get out of here!
DOCTOR: Hey, wait for me!

[LIZ 79]

(Milo undocks from the compartment.)

DOCTOR: Oh, there you are. Who's firing at us? Is it those pirates?
MILO: No, no! Now quiet, I want to hear this! Listen!
WARNE [OC]: That was a warning shot, Clancey. You've no hope of getting away. Surrender or I'll put the next missile through your hull.
MILO: My, my, my! It's that soft-faced puppy from the Space Corps. Hang on to something, everyone, while I got to try a little trick or two on that boy.

(Milo does some sharp manoeuvres, throwing everyone to the floor. A china teapot falls out of a cupboard and breaks.)

WARNE [OC]: I can see you moving, Clancey. I'll give you ten seconds to turn about. Ten seconds then I'm sending a missile in.
MILO: Ten seconds! The nerve of that green-horn, saying things like that to me.
WARNE [OC]: One, two, three
DOCTOR: Don't you think it would be wiser to parley with him?
MILO: Hold your hiccups, Doctor. Milo Clancey don't take ultimatums from nobody.
WARNE [OC]: Five.
JAMIE: Well, you can at least see what he wants.
ZOE: He's going to fire a missile onto us!
MILO: I got a trick here worth ten missiles.
WARNE [OC]: Nine. Ten. All right, Clancey, you had your chance.

(Milo grabs a large lever and pulls, releasing a cloud of particles from Liz's stern.)

MILO: That's for that young green-horn and his new-fangled toy. Get yourself out of that one, boy.
ZOE: What happened? What did you do, Mister Clancey?
MILO: My own invention, my little chickabiddy. Two tons of copper needles I just lay out beside me when one of those new-fangled spaceships gets too close for comfort.
ZOE: But how do copper needles stop a spaceship?
JAMIE: Aye, and a missile?
MILO: Well, you see, they've all got those new-fangled computer guidance systems, you see? The argonite in the spaceship, that attracts all the copper, then all those thousand little needles, they all jigger up all their computer scanners.
ZOE: What's argonite?
MILO: What is argonite?! Don't they learn you nothing at school, girl?
ZOE: They didn't teach me anything about argonite.
MILO: Oh!
ZOE: Have you ever heard of argonite, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well, from what Mister Clancey was saying, I imagine it's a metal that's used in the construction of spacecraft. Am I right?
MILO: Argonite is used for, well, it's used for practically everything. It's ductile, it's tensile, it's heat-proof, it's practically indestructible.
DOCTOR: Magnetically polarised for copper.
MILO: Ah. You mean to say that you have honestly never heard of argonite? It's the most expensive mineral in the galaxy.
DOCTOR: I told you already. We don't come from this civilisation. We are visitors.
JAMIE: Aye, and I hope we're not stopping long.
MILO: Well, if that doesn't beat jumping grasshoppers. You mean to say you travel around in time as well as space?
DOCTOR: Well, yes, yes. You've grasped the principle very well.
MILO: Hey, hey! That must be a mighty interesting thing to do.
JAMIE: Aye, it would be, if we knew where we were going to land up every time.
DOCTOR: It's just a minor fault in the system. I shall
DOCTOR + JAMIE: Put it right in time.
JAMIE: Aye.
ZOE: If we ever see the TARDIS again.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. By the way, Mister Clancey, would it be going out of your way to drop us off at the space station, please?
MILO: I can't do that. It's all in bits, isn't it.
DOCTOR: Oh, dear. Oh, my word. Do you know where they are?
MILO: No, no, no. Only the argonite pirates know that. They're toting them off for salvage.
DOCTOR: Oh dear, well, that will be difficult, won't it.
MILO: Hey, we shouldn't be sitting around here. We should be get getting the heck out of here before that General Hermack starts to send some more Minnows out, and I've used up all my copper needles.
JAMIE: Well, who's General Hermack?
MILO: General Herm? He's the Space Corps. He's trailing those pirates. He thinks I'm one of them. That's why I say he's bone-headed. Now look, let's move out of here. Excuse me. Watch out. That's it, get over there. That's it, over there. Come on, boy.
ZOE: Mister Clancey.
MILO: Look, you're a good girl and you promise not to cause me trouble, you can call me Milo.
ZOE: Oh, well Milo. There's one thing I don't understand.
MILO: Well you're very lucky, girl. There's about a hundred thousand things I don't understand, but I don't stand around asking fool questions about them, I do something useful. Why don't you do something useful. Why don't you make us all a pot of tea or something?
JAMIE: The pot was broken.
DOCTOR: That would be lovely.
MILO: Well, there's a metal pot in that cupboard there, made of tillium.
DOCTOR: Tillium?
MILO: Yah, that's what this whole spaceship's made of, tillium. Lasted me a lifetime round the galaxy. Makes a lousy cup of tea.
ZOE: Oh, that's what I couldn't understand. Why your space ship wasn't affected by the copper needles.
JAMIE: What'll happen to us if one of those wee minnow things catches up with us?
MILO: Ah, don't worry lad, they won't. I'm going to go to the one place that General will never think of looking.

[Issigri Mining office]

(The cloud of copper needles is creating interference with the communications.)

WARNE [on monitor]: He used some kind of anti-missile device, sir. Jammed all my controls.
HERMACK: Major Warne, can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?
WARNE [on monitor]: Just about, sir.
HERMACK: You let Clancey make a complete fool of you! Are you still tracking his ship?
WARNE [on monitor]: No, sir. My radar and sonar screens are out of action.
HERMACK: What?
WARNE [on monitor]: Well, I can't sit here with just (static) I request assistance immediately, sir.
HERMACK: Your request is noted.

(Transmission ends. Madeleine enters with a secretary.)

MADELEINE: These are the shipping times. Send them out on transprinter to all branch stations. These are production figures and loading dates. Code them and send them to head office right away. Priority clear. Anything wrong, General?
HERMACK: Yes. Clancey has escaped.
MADELEINE: How did that happen?
HERMACK: I don't know yet but I mean to find out. May I monopolise your video channel a while longer?
MADELEINE: Well, of course.
HERMACK: Thank you. General Hermack to V forty one.
PENN [on monitor]: Yes, General.
HERMACK: Ah, Penn. Did you pick up Major Warne's last report on your monitor?
PENN [on monitor]: Some of it, sir. There was a lot of interference.
HERMACK: Right. Now I want the rest of the minnow fleet launched and I want LIZ seventy nine found and destroyed. Is that understood?
PENN [on monitor]: Yes, sir.
HERMACK: Report back as soon as the Minnow fleet is clear. I am not giving Milo Clancey any more chances.

(The Minnow fighters are launched.)

[LIZ 79]

JAMIE: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, Jamie?
JAMIE: I think I'm going to be sick.
DOCTOR: Now, now, now, Jamie. Will power, will power.
ZOE: Any more tea anyone?
MILO: I'll have another cup if there's some there, Zoe. There you are, that's as good as new.

(Milo has been making adjustments with a spanner.)

DOCTOR: Milo?
MILO: Hello.
DOCTOR: I've been watching this pressure gauge. It is just a little bit high, isn't it?
MILO: Yeah, it is a bittie. That's your thermonuclear power, you see. Yeah, it's wearing out a bit. Nothing you can do about that.
DOCTOR: Well, except slow down. I mean, there could be a nasty explosion, couldn't there?
MILO: Ah, don't you worry, Doctor. It's a mighty strong little ship, this. They don't make ships like this these days, you know.
JAMIE: You can say that again.
MILO: Ah, don't you worry, lad. We haven't got far to go.
ZOE: Where are we going? You haven't said.
MILO: Well, ma'am, I'll tell ya. We're going to the one place where they'll never think of looking for us.

(Milo turns on a scanner.)

MILO: That's the planet called Ta.
DOCTOR: Oh? Oh yes. Is it inhabited?
MILO: Yeah, it is these days. It's the headquarters of the Issigri Mining Corporation.
JAMIE: Why do you say they won't bother to look for us.
MILO: Well, you see, Madeleine Issigri, who runs that show now, she's a sworn enemy of mine. Well, so I've been told. Anyway, General Hermack will think I'll go anywhere else rather than go there.
DOCTOR: Yes, but if she's a sworn enemy, won't she give you away?
MILO: We won't be announcing our arrival, Doctor. We'll just lie low there until that old Space Corps gets tired of looking for us.
ZOE: It doesn't look as though there's anything there. This side is just desert.
MILO: No, no, there's no surface life on Ta, girl. There's too much ultra-violet radiation. Don't you worry, don't you worry. We'll be all right. We'll be a mile underground as long as I can fall into my old landing pad.
DOCTOR: Oh, you've been there before, have you?
MILO: Certainly have, certainly have. Me and my old partner, Dom Issigri, god rest his poor tired old soul, we turned that whole planet into a piece of Gruyere cheese between us.
JAMIE: Gruyere cheese.
DOCTOR: Jamie, here. Mining! I see. For argonite, presumably.
MILO: Yeah, that's right, argonite. One of the richest strikes we ever found. Took us about ten years to drill that clean. Well, I'd better try to find this old entry shaft then. Now, you'd better brace yourselves. Hang onto something. My landing pad's ain't as good as they used to be.
JAMIE: Who cares as long as it's quick.

[Issigri Mining office]

HERMACK: Bring the ship in on pad three. I'll join you there, Penn.
PENN [on monitor]: Yes, sir.
MADELEINE: I'm sorry your stay was so short, General.
HERMACK: Well, I hope on my next visit, my duties will be less pressing.
MADELEINE: So do I. Where do you go from now?
HERMACK: Well, first of all I must get young Warne out of that fix he's got himself into. Then I must collect my pickets from the beacons. And after that, Lobos.
MADELEINE: Lobos!
HERMACK: Hmm mmm.
MADELEINE: Milo Clancey's base?
HERMACK: The pirate's base. Those beacons they've been breaking up will be heading there. With a little bit of luck, we shall be able to wipe out the whole nest in one operation.
MADELEINE: Well, I hope you do. Some of my crews are demanding arms in case they're attacked.

(On his way to the door, Hermack notices a model of a sleek black spaceship.)

HERMACK: Is that a, is that a Beta Dart?
MADELEINE: Yes. Yes, our company's just bought two. They're our fastest freighters.
HERMACK: Ah. I must bear that in mind. The pirates have a Beta Dart. I should hate to knock out one of your ships by mistake.
MADELEINE: Well I don't think that's likely. All our freighters show the Issigri nose-cone when they're in commission.

(She slides a pattern nose cone onto the model.)

MADELEINE: I designed it myself.
HERMACK: Ah, very distinctive. How much does it cost?
MADELEINE: Oh, a hundred million credits upwards. Depends on the fittings. Why do you ask?
HERMACK: I was just wondering where Milo Clancey got a hundred million credits.
MADELEINE: I see. You think he got it by selling the stolen argonite.
HERMACK: Why not? It's logical. There's an illicit market for them on Rita Magnum, I hear.
MADELEINE: Yes, but I'm sure you're wrong about Milo Clancey.
HERMACK: Are you? I'm not. He's selling the stuff and professing poverty as a cover. If I find those beacons sections on line for Lobos, he'll not live to enjoy his money.
MADELEINE: Goodbye, General.
HERMACK: Goodbye, Miss Issigri. Thank you for your hospitality.

[LIZ 79]

(The Liz lands with a big bump, throwing everyone around again.)

MILO: Nice smooth landing, after all.
JAMIE: Smooth? What do you call a rough landing?
MILO: What's the matter with you, sonny? Are you getting soft or something?
JAMIE: Just let me get my feet back on the ground, that's all.
MILO: You stay right here where you're safe, boy.
JAMIE: Safe? Is that what you call this?
DOCTOR: You want us to stay here?
MILO: Yeah. I'm thinking of your own safety.
JAMIE: Why?
MILO: Well, we're a mile underground here. This is the old freighter dock. And there's nothing to see, there's nowhere to go, it's just a whole maze of argonite tunnels, and if you go in there, well, even I mayn't be able to find you again. You stay right here in this ship.
DOCTOR: Just a minute, where are you going?
MILO: I've got to go to the generator room. I think one of their rockets must have gone through my transmitter unit. That radio there's whistling like some sort of hysterical canary.

(Milo leaves with his tool bag.)

JAMIE: Doctor, do you believe him?
DOCTOR: I don't know, Jamie. What do you think?
JAMIE: Well, he never did explain how he turned up the way he did, did he? And that Space Corp ship was chasing him.
DOCTOR: True. But I think we've got to trust him, Jamie. If we leave this ship, we'll never ever have a chance of finding the TARDIS again.
JAMIE: Well I don't see we've got much of a chance anyway. Look, it's up there in space somewhere on a bit of that beacon heading for I don't know where.
DOCTOR: A blast furnace, I imagine. I think I think the pirates are probably going to take the pieces and melt them down for the for the argonite. The trouble is, we can't guess where their headquarters is.
ZOE: There's no need to guess, Doctor. It's easy enough to work out.
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: Applied mathematics.
DOCTOR: Applied? Oh, I see. You've been messing about again, have you?
ZOE: Oh well, if you don't want to know what I've discovered.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. Come along, surprise us.
ZOE: This was the position of our bit of beacon when Milo first saw us. I got the figures from the computer.
DOCTOR: Oh yes.
ZOE: And this was our position eight minutes later when he docked along side.
DOCTOR: Yes, circle fourteen. Yes, go on.
ZOE: Well, from this data it was simple enough to work out our original position and course. Do you see?
DOCTOR: Yes, except that after my little experiment, we veered rather violently off that course.
JAMIE: Ah yes
ZOE: Yes, but I allowed for that. Look!
DOCTOR: Oh.
JAMIE: Oh.
ZOE: Electromagnetic waves are always at right-angles to the direction of propagation, and, as you know, travel at one hundred and eighty six thousand, two hundred and eighty two miles per second.
DOCTOR: Do they really? How interesting. Well, what's the answer?
ZOE: Here!
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: If we'd stayed on our original course, the TARDIS would have landed within ten miles of where we are now. Except, of course, it would still be up there because we weren't travelling quite so fast.
DOCTOR: Oh, bless my soul! Yes, of course. Yes, as you say, a simple calculation. I should have thought of that myself.
ZOE: Yes, I wonder why you didn't?
JAMIE: Did all that talk mean that the TARDIS is going to land somewhere around here?
DOCTOR: Jamie, it's all here, written down. It's as plain as a pike-staff.
JAMIE: Aye, well, in that case, the pirates are going to be round here too!
DOCTOR: Yes, Jamie, you're right.
ZOE: Do you think Milo's one of them and that's why he landed here?
DOCTOR: Yes, I think it's possible.
JAMIE: Aye, he seemed to know all about them, didn't he? Look, I think we ought to get out of here before he comes back.
ZOE: Yes, so do I. We don't even know if he has gone to the generator room. He might just have gone to get his gang.
JAMIE: Aye.

(The Doctor checks outside the cabin.)

DOCTOR: All right. All right, but if the TARDIS has landed here we'll have to find it anyway. Come on, you two, but for heaven's sake don't make a noise on the ladder.

(Jamie falls over something.)

ZOE: Jamie!
JAMIE: We're not on the ladder yet, are we.

[Mine shaft HQ]

(In a nearby tunnel, Dervish approaches a door with two other pirates.)

CAVEN: Wait here!

(He enters the cavern HQ where Caven is at a communications desk.)

DERVISH: What's the panic, Caven?
CAVEN: No panic.
DERVISH: Well, you know what I mean. I got a Red emergency flash.
CAVEN: I wanted to talk to you, Dervish.
DERVISH: Well?
CAVEN: What's the position at the plant?
DERVISH: We've just started on the last section of Alpha Two.
CAVEN: Leave it.
DERVISH: Leave it?
CAVEN: Suledin's capable of taking change down there, isn't he?
DERVISH: Well yes, but
CAVEN: Right, when you've finished your flight service, I want you to take the ship out.
DERVISH: Me? Where?
CAVEN: The Alpha Four sections are being re-routed.
DERVISH: Re-route?
CAVEN: To Lobos.
DERVISH: Lobos? But that's impossible!
CAVEN: When I give an order, nobody says it's impossible, Dervish.
DERVISH: Well, do you know how far Lobos is? I mean, the beacon rockets will have to be re-fuelled.
CAVEN: That's right. That's exactly what I want you to do.
DERVISH: Yeah, but the Space Corps have got a V-ship and a flight of Minnows up there. It's too dangerous!
CAVEN: It has to be done. They've got to be drawn off.
DERVISH: Well, why can't you do it, then? You're the master pilot. I'm only supposed to be the engineer.
CAVEN: I've got to do things down here.
DERVISH: Yes, so I've got to go and risk my life while

(Caven draws a gun.)

CAVEN: You keep arguing, Dervish, and Suledin will be having your job permanently. Now are you going to take that ship out or aren't you?
DERVISH: Yes, of course, Caven. I was only just trying to point out the dangers, that's all.
CAVEN: Well, now you're in more danger here than you ever will be in space.

(An alarm sounds.)

DERVISH: It's the perimeter alarm.
MAN [OC]: Intruders in perimeter tunnel nine. Perimeter tunnel nine.
CAVEN: Alert the guards. I'm coming down.
DERVISH: Is it the Space Corps?
CAVEN: I don't know, but whoever it is, we can deal with them in the tunnel complex. Now get moving!
DERVISH: Right

[Mine shaft]

(The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe have arrived in the dark, dank, fissure-strewn lower tunnels.)

ZOE: I'm sure we should have turned right back there.
JAMIE: We did turn right.
ZOE: I mean earlier. We seem to be getting deeper.
JAMIE: What do you think, Doctor? Should we go on or turn back?
DOCTOR: I think we should have done as Milo told us. He said we'd get lost.
ZOE: The tunnels probably run for hundreds of miles.
JAMIE: Well, if they do, we'll never get ourselves out.
DOCTOR: Shush. Just a minute, Jamie.
ZOE: What?
DOCTOR: I can hear something.
JAMIE: There it is. A buzzing noise.
ZOE: Where's it coming from?
DOCTOR: Seems to be up ahead there.

[LIZ 79]

MILO: Well, that's all right again, right as rain. Hey, where are you? Zoe? Doctor? They ain't here. Oh, why can't some people do what they're told. I guess I'd better go out and try and find them.

(Strapping on his gun and taking a haversack from a cupboard, Milo leaves.)

[Mine shaft]

JAMIE: Hey, Doctor. There's a wee light there, look.
DOCTOR: Where?
JAMIE: Just shining through a crack in the wall.
ZOE: You're right, it is a light.
DOCTOR: Yes, it's reflected through from the other side. I wonder if we can
JAMIE: Too high to see anything.
ZOE: I'm the lightest. If you can lift me up perhaps I could see through.
DOCTOR: All right. You jump onto Jamie's back.
JAMIE: What? Oh.
DOCTOR: There we are. Can you see anything?
ZOE: A bit higher.
JAMIE: Hurry up.

(Peering through to the cavern beyond, Zoe sees three figures in welding suits using thermal lances to cut chunks from a large metal structure.)

DOCTOR: Well?
ZOE: There are three men in there and I think they're pirates.
JAMIE: How do you know? They could be miners.
ZOE: No, they're cutting up bits of scrap and it looks like part of the beacon.
DOCTOR: It looks as though we've stumbled on their headquarters. Yes, of course. That noise is an electrical furnace.
JAMIE: Did you see the TARDIS?
ZOE: No, just the three men.
JAMIE: Doctor, we've got to try and stop them before they start cutting it up.
DOCTOR: Yes. Now the first thing we'd better do is

(A blaze of light hits them and they turn to see a portable floodlight coming their way. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe retreat, encouraged by gunfire.)

CAVEN: Keep moving!
DOCTOR: All right! There's no need for that!
CAVEN: Back! Back! Back! Back!
ZOE: Quick! Down this passage!
DOCTOR: Run!

(Zoe dives through a crevice. Jamie and the Doctor follow, screaming as they fall.)

Episode Four
  [Mine chamber]
 (Zoe, Jamie and the Doctor have landed in a heap on a hard surface.)
ZOE: Oh Doctor, are you all right?
DOCTOR: No.
JAMIE: What's the matter?
DOCTOR: Just a minute.

(The Doctor takes a broken packet from his back trouser pocket.)

ZOE: What are you carrying drawing pins for?
DOCTOR: I like drawing pins. Ouch. Normally.

[Mine chamber]

(Caven puts his gun away.)

CAVEN: Right. They won't give us any more trouble.

[Lower mine shaft]

JAMIE: Oh, my leg!
ZOE: Are you all right?
JAMIE: I must have twisted it when I landed. Oh, now where are we?
ZOE: It looks like some sort of a prison cell.
DOCTOR: Yes.

(Someone groans in the gloom.)

JAMIE: What's that?
ZOE: Oh, Doctor, there's something over there.

(Up above, Caven and his men leave, and Milo appears to go and look down into the shaft. The Doctor investigates the groaning and finds someone lying against the wall.)

DOCTOR: Oh dear.
JAMIE: What is it?
DOCTOR: Look.
JAMIE: Hey, it's that chap from the beacon. The one that was shooting at us.
ZOE: Yes, he's injured. Look.
DOCTOR: I think it's his shoulder. I think it's only a bruise. It's not broken. Lift him up, very gently. What's this?

(The Doctor sniffs at an earthenware bowl.)

DOCTOR: Yes, that's all right.

(The Doctor wets his handkerchief in the water and puts it to Sorba's forehead.)

JAMIE: Ah, he's coming around.

[Mine shaft HQ]

(Caven is using his transmitter.)

CAVEN: Come in, Beta Buccaneer.
DERVISH [on monitor]: I want permission to return to base. Caven, do you hear me? I'm bringing this ship in.
CAVEN: Calm down, man. Report your position.
DERVISH [on monitor]: We're forty three thousand miles out, on course for the beacon sections.
CAVEN: Well, you should be among them in twenty minutes. What's wrong? Why the panic?
DERVISH [on monitor]: We're running our heads into a trap, Caven. The Space Corp cruiser is less than three hours away, and on a convergent course.
CAVEN: Those beacon sections have got to be diverted to Lobos. How long will that take?
DERVISH [on monitor]: It will take at least two hours. We just can't do it on time.
CAVEN: You'll have to, Dervish. Just find some way of cutting the time.
DERVISH [on monitor]: Those Minnow fighters will blast us to bits. I'm bringing the ship in!
CAVEN: Now wait, don't be so impulsive.

(Caven holds up a wired cylinder.)

CAVEN: Surely you recognise this, Dervish? You designed it.
DERVISH [on monitor]: Well, it's a UHF detonator. What are you playing at, Caven?
CAVEN: I'm not playing at all. It is a detonator, and it is keyed to a charge right under the atomic drives of the Buccaneer.
DERVISH [on monitor]: I don't believe it. You you're bluffing.
CAVEN: If you think I'm bluffing, just you try turning back. You see, Dervish, you've got a fair chance of escaping the V-ship and the Minnows, but you've no chance at all of getting away from this.
DERVISH [on monitor]: All right, Caven.
CAVEN: I knew you wouldn't let me down. Report as soon as you reach the sections.

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: All set. Operational? Right. Thank you. Major Warne's just come aboard, sir. He's coming up to the bridge.
HERMACK: Good. Bridge to Power Room. We're under way again. Half boost. Set course for Lobos, Penn.
PENN: Very good, sir.

(Warne enters.)

WARNE: Thanks for the rescue, sir.
HERMACK: Ah. What happened to you, anyway?

(Warne shows him a piece of metal.)

HERMACK: Copper needles?
WARNE: Yes, sir. I warned Clancey I was about to fire one of the Martian missiles. I pressed the button and the next thing I ran slap into a cloud of these. The computer blew and the whole machine just stopped.
HERMACK: Copper! Of course! Attracted by the argonite hull of the Minnow.
WARNE: Yes, sir. It won't happen again, sir.
HERMACK: It had better not. When one old man in a worn out junk-heap like the Liz makes a complete fool of a highly trained fighter pilot in a sophisticated flight ship I
WARNE: Yes, sir. Well, I'll hit him with a deflection shot next time, sir. I worked out how to do it. You see
HERMACK: Never mind the theories, Major. With a bit of luck, Clancey will not be able to exploit your limitations again because we shall take him on the ground.
WARNE: On the ground, sir?
HERMACK: Yes, we're on course for Lobos, the headquarters of the Clancey Mining Company.
WARNE: You think that's where he's gone?
HERMACK: I'm sure of it. Apart from Ta, it's the next nearest planet. Yes, that's where Clancey will be and that's where we shall find our evidence. The sections of Beacon Alpha Four.

[Mine chamber]

ZOE: Are you feeling better?
SORBA: You were on the beacon. What are you doing here?
JAMIE: Oh, look, it's all right. We're friends.
SORBA: Friends? You led my men into a trap.
JAMIE: We were in the same trap ourselves. The pirates left us for dead.
SORBA: I thought you were decoys.
ZOE: Oh look, we wouldn't be here now if we were helping them.
SORBA: Then how did you get off the beacon?
DOCTOR: Well, well, it's a long story, but the important thing is to escape from here now.
SORBA: Do you think I haven't tried? That shaft is the only way in. It's impossible to get out.
DOCTOR: Oh, no. There's another entrance here somewhere.
SORBA: I've searched every inch of this cell. Solid rock.
DOCTOR: There's a hidden door. The problem of course, is going to be finding it.
SORBA: There's no door, believe me. You're only wasting your time.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no. There's obviously a less painful way of getting in here so there must be a way of getting out.
ZOE: What makes you so sure? I mean, it could be a sort of tomb.
JAMIE: Aye, a burial pit.
DOCTOR: Look. Water, in a fragile bowl. Well that couldn't have been thrown down that chute, now could it?

[Mine shaft HQ]

DERVISH [on monitor]: Caven, I've got the crews out realigning the auxiliary rockets for Lobos, but one of the beacon sections is missing.
CAVEN: That's not possible.
DERVISH [on monitor]: Look, there's only seven sections here. There should be eight. I checked back right along the flight path, but there's not a sign of it. It's completely disappeared.
CAVEN: Nothing disappears in space. Even if the rocket exploded there'd be debris along the flight path.
DERVISH [on monitor]: There's no debris, there's nothing. It's completely disappeared. The scanner shows zero find.
CAVEN: But that's crazy. There must be some explanation.
DERVISH [on monitor]: Oh yeah, there's an explanation all right, but you're not going to like it.
CAVEN: Well, come on, come on.
DERVISH [on monitor]: Somebody must have engineered the section out of its flight path.
CAVEN: How could anybody manage that?
DERVISH [on monitor]: Well, I don't know.
CAVEN: Wait a minute. That space guard. The one we took off the beacon.
DERVISH [on monitor]: Lieutenant Sorba?
CAVEN: Yes. He said something about seeing strangers on board. Perhaps he wasn't raving. Perhaps we've got competition, Dervish. Someone trying to cut themselves in, hey?
DERVISH [OC]: Just a minute. Look, I've got to go. Once of the spider teams wants picking up.
CAVEN: Right. I'll question Sorba about these strangers he saw. Call in as soon as you get the sections on the new flight path.

[Mine chamber]

(The Doctor and Jamie are carefully checking the walls.)

SORBA: They're mad. It's solid rock.
ZOE: When the Doctor gets an idea, nobody can change his mind.
JAMIE: Oh look Doctor, this is doing no good at all.
DOCTOR: Patience, Jamie, patience.
JAMIE: You'll not find anything. We've been over it three times already.
DOCTOR: It's got to be here. Look.
JAMIE: Aye, I know. Cracks in the wall.
DOCTOR: Yes, but see the way they run.
JAMIE: There are marks like that all over the place.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, we're going to go on trying.
ZOE: Now what's he doing?
JAMIE: Oh, search me.

(The Doctor is listening to the wall through his stethoscope.)

DOCTOR: There's got to be a control unit here somewhere. Just a question of locating it, that's all.
ZOE: What sort of control unit?
DOCTOR: Shush, shush. Just a minute.

(The Doctor taps one piece of wall.)

DOCTOR: Ah ha. Yes. Yes, it's under there.
JAMIE: What's under there?
DOCTOR: An audio lock.
ZOE: An audio lock!
JAMIE: Oh now, wait a minute, what's an audio lock?
DOCTOR: Well, they were used on safes, Jamie. Combination locks became a little too easy to open when burglars took to taking miniature computers with them on their expeditions. Now I have my tuning forks here somewhere.
ZOE: What are you going to do with a tuning fork?
DOCTOR: I usually carry them with. Ah, yes. Here we are, now then, get these sorted out. Right.
JAMIE: Which end did he land on when you fell down that shaft?

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: Contact ahead, sir!
HERMACK: What contact?
PENN: It could be the sections of Alpha Four, sir. There are seven objects moving quite slowly.
WARNE: If it's the beacon, sir, there should be eight sections.
HERMACK: What's their course, Penn?
WARNE: Approximately the same as ours, sir. The convergence is less than half a degree.
HERMACK: Then the flight destination must be Lobos. Clancey's home planet. We've got him, Ian.
WARNE: We can't be sure it is the beacon, sir. Well, we counted eight sections originally.
HERMACK: Just a minute. What's that on the edge of the scanner?
PENN: I'm trying to get a fix on it now, sir. It's just come into frame.
HERMACK: It must be the missing section.
PENN: No, sir, it's too big and it's moving too fast. I think it's some kind of ship.
HERMACK: Out there? No, with any luck it's the pirates.
WARNE: She seems to be circling.
HERMACK: Can't you magnify that signal, Penn?
PENN: No, sir. She's right out on the fringe.
HERMACK: Ian, get down to the Minnow deck. I want you ready to go as soon as we've got an identification.
WARNE: Right, sir.
HERMACK: Power room? I want main boost for as long as we can hold it. Don't worry about those beacon sections, Penn. That ship is our target.
PENN: Right, sir. Shall I get your (unintelligible) sir?
HERMACK: Not yet. Go to half speed. General Hermack. I want all crews at emergency stations. I repeat, all crews at emergency stations.
WARNE [on monitor]: X X 2 ready to go. Any news yet, V-Master?
HERMACK: The range is down to forty minutes. Penn has just made a positive identification. It is a Beta Dart, so they can still outrun us.
WARNE [on monitor]: She won't outrun a Minnow, sir.
PENN: Sir, she's boosting. She must have spotted us.
HERMACK: Right! V-Master to X X 2. Blast away!
WARNE [on monitor]: Right, sir. I'll bring back a chunk of her.

[Mine shaft HQ]

CAVEN: There's a Space Corps lieutenant in the punishment cell under tunnel nine. He's injured. I want him brought here for questioning.
GUARD: Yes, sir.
CAVEN: Here's the audio-lock tuner key.

(The guard leaves.)

DERVISH [on monitor]: This is Beta Buccaneer. Caven! There's a Minnow fighter on our tail.
CAVEN: Only one? What's his range?
DERVISH [OC]: Thirty minutes, but closing fast. And we're on maximum boost.
CAVEN: Can't you hold him off long enough to reach the camouflage cone?
DERVISH [OC]: That's just what I'm going to try and do.

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE [on monitor]: X X 2 to V-Master. I seem to have lost contact. Can you steer me in, please?
HERMACK: Stand by. Major Warne's lost her.
PENN: I thought he would, sir. She's doubled round.
HERMACK: I'll switch it through on audio. You get an RC track for him to track on.
PENN: Very good, sir. This is Navigator Penn to X X 2. Are you reading me?
WARNE [OC]: Yes, I just don't have a nice picture of that Beta Dart any more.
PENN: Okay, sir. Now, if you steer round seven under TDC. Now thirty seven degrees up.

(There is a detached rocket nose cone with the livery of the Issigri mining company floating in space. The Beta Dart lines up with it and drifts forward so it locks onto it.)

PENN: She should be in range now, sir.
WARNE [OC]: Right. I can see her on the visual scanners.
HERMACK: Switch video through here. We might as well all enjoy this.
WARNE [OC]: Cutting you in now, sir.

(Hermack is aghast.)

HERMACK: That's an Issigri ship! Flash out! Flash out!
WARNE [on monitor]: Contact broken.
HERMACK: You didn't fire at her?
WARNE [on monitor]: No, sir. I was just in range when I got the flash out. What's gone wrong?
HERMACK: We nearly wiped out one of the Issigri Mining Company's new freighters.
WARNE [on monitor]: You mean to say that wasn't the pirate ship? Then where's it got to?
HERMACK: I don't know. Anyway, we'll abort the mission. You'd better return.

[Mine chamber]

(The Doctor is busy with his tuning fork.)

JAMIE: Oh, look, Doctor, will you stop it?
ZOE: What's that noise? It's getting on everybody's nerves.
DOCTOR: You want to get out of here, don't you?
JAMIE: Oh, that's not going to get us out.
DOCTOR: Yes, Jamie, it is! An audio lock is a simple solenoid switch which is only activated by a particular sound. It's just a question of finding it, that's all.
JAMIE: Oh look, I can't stand any more!
DOCTOR: Jamie! Jamie!

(Jamie snatches the tuning fork and throws it down. A section of wall slides open.)

DOCTOR: Jamie, you found the right note!
ZOE: Oh come on, we can get away now.
DOCTOR: Oh no, we can't.
JAMIE: What?

(Milo Clancey is on the other side, with his gun.)

MILO: I've been trying to find my way in here for the last hour. Now, come on now!
JAMIE: Come on where?
MILO: What's the matter with you, boy? You don't think I'm in cahoots with the pirates, do you?
DOCTOR: Well they're here, you know. We've seen them.
MILO: I know. They've got nothing to do with me.
DOCTOR: Well, it might help if you didn't point that thing in our direction.

(Milo lowers his gun.)

MILO: Oh, come on now. If I was in cahoots with the pirates, why would I be trying to rescue you?
ZOE: We don't know that you are trying to rescue us.
JAMIE: No.
MILO: Oh, that's a fine thing to say, isn't it. Didn't I get you off that beacon? You would have died if I hadn't helped you then.
JAMIE: Aye, you only got us off of there because you were curious to know who we were.
ZOE: And that Space Corp ship opened fire on you.
JAMIE: Hmm.
MILO: If that don't beat jumping grasshoppers. You listen to me, you three sourpusses. You're only in this pickle now because you did the very thing I told you not to do. You went wandering off into these mine workings. I've had a whale of a time trying to find you, and if you want to get out of here alive, Milo Clancey is the only person who can show you the way. Now, you either come with me, or am I going to leave you here to rot?
DOCTOR: Well, well, well, yes, yes, if you put it that way.
MILO: Right. Good thinking. It's about time one of you showed a bit of sense. Who's this?
SORBA: My name is Sorba. Lieutenant Sorba.
JAMIE: Aye. The pirates took him prisoner when they attacked the beacon.
MILO: Oh, there's no love lost between me and the Space Corp, Sonny Jim, but, well, you'd better come with us, I guess.
DOCTOR: Shush, shush, there's somebody coming.
MILO: Keep back there.

(They all crouch against the wall as the footsteps come closer.)

GUARD [OC]: The door's open!

(Two guards rush in. Milo shoots one.)

SORBA: Take his gun. It might come in useful.
JAMIE: Right.

(The other guard escapes.)

MILO: Tarnation take it! A couple of years ago I'd have nailed him before he got ten yards.
DOCTOR: What, you mean he got away?
MILO: Aye he did. It means we're in real trouble. There'll be guards swarming round that tunnel now like a buzz of bees!
ZOE: Well, we'd better get away. hadn't we?
MILO: We sure had. Come on!

(An alarm sounds.)

JAMIE: What's that?
MILO: I told you. That's the alarm signal. Now, come on, let's get out of here. Quick.
DOCTOR: Yes, all right.

[Mine shaft HQ]

CAVEN: Where are they now?
GUARD [OC]: They've gone through into the small bore workings on level eight. I've sent five men after them.
CAVEN: I thought I told you to cordon off those lower caverns.
GUARD [OC]: Yes, well, they got through somehow. They must have used one of the old ventilators. They seem to know their way better than our own guards.
CAVEN: Milo Clancey.
GUARD [OC]: What was that Chief?
CAVEN: There's only one man who can get through these tunnels like that. All right, Joubert, I'm coming down! I want these people either caught or killed. I don't care which, you understand?
GUARD [OC]: Just a minute, Chief. They've just passed the perimeter eye on level six.
CAVEN: Level six already? All right, listen. I want every man up to level three. Use the elevators. I want every entrance to that level sealed off, and it had better done by the time I get there.

[Mine shaft]

(Milo is leading everyone up a steep narrow section.)

JAMIE: Milo?
MILO: What?
JAMIE: Can we rest a moment?
MILO: Why?
SORBA: No, no, don't bother with me. I'm all right.
ZOE: Oh well, I want a rest, anyway. It's this climbing.
MILO: Well, just for a minute, then. Remember, they're closing in on us all the time we stay here.
DOCTOR: Oh dear. Where are we heading for, Milo?
MILO: The Issigri Mining Company. We got to get to their headquarters. It's only a couple of levels from here now.
ZOE: But didn't you say that Madeleine Issigri was your sworn enemy?
MILO: Yeah, well, I thought she was. I thought it was her lot that was behind all this piracy trying to do me out of business.
DOCTOR: You've changed your mind. Why?
MILO: Well, I thought Madeleine blamed me for her father's death. Poor old Dom. He just disappeared. Years ago now. I wasn't even here at the time. And then all this piracy started and Madeleine started to find argonite in workings that Dom and I had abandoned years ago. Well, it all seemed to fit together somehow.
ZOE: Yes, well, it fits together a bit too well, if you ask me. Aren't we jumping out of the frying pan into the fire?
MILO: No! No! When I followed you down that shaft I recognised the leader of these pirates. He's a murderous criminal called Maurice Caven.
DOCTOR: You know this man?
MILO: Yeah, I've seen his picture on home planet. He's notorious.
JAMIE: Someone's coming.
MILO: Come on, let's get out of here. Come on.

[Another mine shaft]

(Milo and the Doctor are almost carrying Sorba. Jamie is bringing up the rear, carrying the guard's gun.)

MILO: Hey, come on there. Come on.
SORBA: It's no use.
MILO: Well come on. We're almost there now.
SORBA: I'll never make it. You go on.
MILO: No, we've got you this far, we're not going to leave you here.
DOCTOR: We can't carry him, Milo.
ZOE: Oh Doctor, they're not far behind us!
JAMIE: Aye, well they won't get much further, don't worry.
DOCTOR: No, Jamie. Come back.

(Jamie goes back down the tunnel)

MILO: He won't hold them off for long. He got no recharge units for that gun.
ZOE: Oh Doctor, can't you think of something?
DOCTOR: I'm not a magician Zoe, I. What's this?
MILO: It's an old power distributor box, I think. We got one on every level.
DOCTOR: Really? Oh. Well, I wonder if it's connected up? Oh!
ZOE: Yes, it's connected.

(Jamie takes cover behind a boulder and shoots an approaching pirate. Caven and the others take cover.)

DOCTOR: Zoe, attach these to that metal ring there, do you see?
ZOE: Yes, all right, but hurry, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I am hurrying!
MILO: What's this contraption supposed to do Doctor, trip them up?

(Caven waves his men forward. Jamie shoots another pirate. Then he runs out of power so he throws the gun away and creeps back along the tunnel carefully. The power cable runs across the tunnel floor.)

DOCTOR: Right. Right, over the wire.
MILO: What?
DOCTOR: Come on. That's it. Now, I'm going to I'm going to test it, so stand clear.

(The Doctor flicks a switch.)

MILO: Is that all?
DOCTOR: Yes, I think it's working. Right, now you two, you carry along. I'll stay here and help Jamie.

(Zoe and Milo leave, supporting Sorba.)

JAMIE: Doctor! They're right behind me.
DOCTOR: Jamie, wait!
JAMIE: What?

(The Doctor turns off the power.)

DOCTOR: Right. Look! Stand clear.

(Jamie steps over the cable and the Doctor switches the power back on.)

JAMIE: Here they come!

(The Doctor and Jamie run after Milo and Zoe. The first pirate reaches the cable. There is a flash and he falls.)

CAVEN: What is this?

[Issigri Mining office]

(The Doctor, Milo, Zoe, Jamie and Sorba enter.)

MADELEINE: I thought it was some sort of joke when my company guards told me that Milo Clancey was on his way up in the main elevator. Who are your friends?
MILO: No joke, girl. Now look, will you do one thing for me before you start asking me any fool questions?
MADELEINE: What?
MILO: I want you to get onto General Hermack, and get him to get that V-ship here as soon as he can.
MADELEINE: Why?
MILO: There you go, asking questions! Because you're harbouring a nest of vipers down there in those mine workings, and they're on their way up here at this very moment.
DOCTOR: He means that the argonite pirates are using the old mine workings as a secret hideout.
MADELEINE: Argonite pirates? Oh really.
MILO: Oh, child, will you listen to me!

[Another mine shaft]

(Caven destroys the power box.)

CAVEN: Right, come on!

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: If what you say is true, and I don't believe it for one moment.
MILO: Mean to say that you don't know of this fiend Caven? You don't know what kind of villain he is?
MADELEINE: Well, if he is using the old mine workings as you say, then my company guards can perfectly easily take care of him.
MILO: Look, child, he's got a whole army of thugs out there!
MADELEINE: I assure you there's no need to call in the Space Corps. I can deal with it.
MILO: You're an idiot, girl. She's as stubborn as her old man. Now look here child! Your guards wouldn't last five minutes against that gang of thugs out there. Now look, I am going to contact General Hermack whether you want me to or not!
MADELEINE: Stop! Don't touch that call button, Milo.

(Caven and his men burst in. Sorba goes for them and is shot down.)

CAVEN: Anybody else want to die like a hero? You must have walked in here with your eyes wide open, Clancey. How very naive of you.
Episode Five

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: Wait! I never agreed to anything like this.
CAVEN: If you don't like it, step outside for a moment.
MADELEINE: I don't want any more killing.
CAVEN: Too bad.
MADELEINE: I warn you, Caven, don't overreach yourself.
CAVEN: I never do that.
MADELEINE: Well then, just remember I'm still running this operation.
CAVEN: Are you? I do all the dirty work. The space piracy, the capital larceny
MILO: The first degree homicides!
CAVEN: Right, Clancey. While all you do is sit there looking pretty and count the money. But that doesn't mean to say you're not guilty.
MADELEINE: Maybe, but I never agreed to murder.
CAVEN: Well, you'd better agree to it, because if we don't get rid of these snoops, we'll both end up in a nirvan chamber.
MADELEINE: I don't want them killed! There must be some other solution.
DOCTOR: Yes, there's just got to be.
CAVEN: Dyce.

(Caven turns away, and the Doctor and Milo realise Jamie is going to attack a guard. They grab him.)

DOCTOR: Jamie!
JAMIE: Let go of me!
ZOE: You don't stand a chance.

(Jamie relaxes. Caven whispers to one of his men, who goes over to the prisoners.)

GUARD: Come on, hurry up. Out of the line. Move yourselves.
DOCTOR: All right, there's no need to shout.
MADELEINE: What are you going to do with them?
CAVEN: Don't worry, they're not going to be shot.
MADELEINE: I don't trust you, Caven.
CAVEN: I told Fraze to lock them away under the dock complex. Ask him if you don't believe me.

(The Doctor and Co. are taken from the room.)

MADELEINE: What made you change your mind all of a sudden?
CAVEN: I had a better idea, that's all.
MADELEINE: Oh yes?
CAVEN: That Space Corps ship is becoming a nuisance. I've thought of a way of getting rid of it.

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE [on monitor]: I tracked the sections of the beacon right into Lobos, sir.
HERMACK: Were they being collected?
WARNE [on monitor]: No, sir. They were in orbit round the planet. I made a landing at Clancey's base but it looked pretty derelict to me.
HERMACK: No sign of Clancey himself?
WARNE [on monitor]: No, sir. I talked to some of the mining crew. They said he took off several weeks ago. They haven't heard from him since.
HERMACK: Are you sure they're speaking the truth?
WARNE [on monitor]: I'm sure they are, sir. I made a pretty close reconnaissance of the area, and there's no pad installation big enough to take a Beta Dart the size the pirates use, sir.
HERMACK: If there is one, it's certain to be camouflaged.
WARNE [on monitor]: Well, I checked for radiation traces, sir. No, I'd say that that planet has not been used by a ship with atomic drive.
HERMACK: But the sections of Alpha Four are in collection orbit around Lobos? How do you explain that?
WARNE [on monitor]: Well, it's possibly been done to side-track us, sir, to put us off the pirates' real base.
HERMACK: All right, Ian. We'll move in and find them. Bring that Minnow in.
WARNE [on monitor]: I'm on my way home, sir.
HERMACK: Penn!
PENN: Sir?
HERMACK: I've called in X X 2. Give Major Warne a beacon signal to home on.
PENN: Yes, sir.
HERMACK: Penn, Major Warne thinks those beacon sections were diverted to Lobos to mislead us. What was their course when our scanners first picked them up?
PENN: I've got the plots on the computer, sir. That's their original course.
HERMACK: Hm. Can you project a destination from that data?
PENN: I'm just doing that sir. On that course, the beacon sections would eventually have been drawn into an elliptical orbit around the planet of Ta.
HERMACK: Ta! I see. Thank you, Penn.

[Corridor]

(The prisoners are being taken along a metal corridor lined with pipes and cables.)

ZOE: Where are you taking us?
GUARD: Shut up!

(A guard unlocks a heavy metal door and gestures for them to go in.)

DOCTOR: Has anyone got a light? It's very dark in there.
MILO: We're right under the freighter dock.
GUARD: Hurry up! Inside!

[Issigri's study]

(The room has been decorated like an Edwardian study. A light from a ventilation grille illuminates a portrait.)

MILO: Land sakes alive! It's Dom himself!
DOCTOR: What?
MILO: That picture. It's Dom Issigri!
ZOE: Madeleine's father?
MILO: Yeah. Well, wait a moment now. This. Yeah. This is the old fellow's private study. Land sakes, it's years since I've been in here.
DOCTOR: You don't happen to remember where the light switch is, do you Milo?
MILO: You won't find a light switch, Doctor. You might find some candles, or something.
JAMIE: Candles?
MILO: Yeah.
JAMIE: In this day and age?
MILO: Or an oil lamp or something. Hey boy, look in that cupboard, you might find something. Yeah, yeah. He was an old-fashioned romantic old critter, was old Dom. He brought all this furniture, he brought all them books and everything from Earth, you know.
ZOE: Are these candles?
DOCTOR: Ah, well done, Zoe. Yes, a whole box of them.
ZOE: Well, how do they work?
JAMIE: How do they work?
DOCTOR: You take them and I'll show you.
JAMIE: Hey, we need a flint box.
DOCTOR: All right, Jamie, I've got some matches. Now, you just light the wick, you see, Zoe, and the wax allows the wick to burn fairly slowly. There we are. My word. Good lord! This is very interesting.

(There is a gramophone player, an old radio set and a grandfather clock ticking away to itself.)

MILO: Hey, Doctor. You know there's one thing I can't quite understand. It is why Madeleine let Caven put us in here.
ZOE: Why?
MILO: Well, like I said, this used to be the old fellow's private study, and she had it all locked up, so I was told, when he disappeared. She swore that nobody would ever come in here again.
JAMIE: Nobody has. Look at the dust everywhere. Look.
DOCTOR: I think somebody's been in here quite recently.
JAMIE: Eh?
MILO: Well, why do you say that, Doctor?
DOCTOR: This clock.
JAMIE: Well, what about it?
DOCTOR: It's an eight day movement, Jamie.
MILO: Well, why would anyone come down here just to wind a clock?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's what I'm wondering.
ZOE: Oh! Oh, Doctor!
DOCTOR: What is it?
ZOE: Doctor, look!

(A bare foot is sticking out from beneath a covered table. The Doctor removes the cloth to reveal a frightened old man.)

DOM: Don't hurt me, please.

[Issigri Mining office]

DERVISH [on monitor]: Beta Buccaneer to Control. We are now in landing orbit. Give me clearance to pad.
CAVEN: Hello, Dervish. Bring the ship down on Pad three. Got that?
DERVISH [on monitor]: Pad three. Right.

(Transmission ends.)

CAVEN: The nose cone worked, by the way. It put the Space Corps right off the scent.
MADELEINE: Hermack's men'll be back though. I mean it's only a matter of time before he realises there's nothing on Lobos and the pirates must be based here.
CAVEN: Do you think I haven't anticipated that?
MADELEINE: Oughtn't we to put our emergency plan into operation?
CAVEN: Flood the workings, lose all our equipment?
MADELEINE: We've got no alternative. Hermack's men will find our argonite smelting plant, and we'll be ferried back to home planet to face a capital charge.
CAVEN: I think we do have an alternative, and if it works we'll be in a position to re-start operations. After a discreet interval, of course.
MADELEINE: What exactly did you have in mind?
CAVEN: Hermack thinks that Clancey is behind the space piracy. We found his old ship, the Liz, in an abandoned freighter dock. I'm going to have it fitted with an overriding remote control. Then we'll put Clancey and his friends aboard, and boost them into orbit just when Hermack's V-ship comes into scanner range.
HERMACK: So that they pick Clancey up? But that's crazy! He'll tell him everything, he'll blow the
CAVEN: Don't worry. The Space Corp won't get a word out of Clancey, or those friends of his.
MADELEINE: No! I will not be party to murder. When all this started it was going to be a salvage operation. Space flotsam, you said. But then piracy and now murder?
CAVEN: You're taking a cut out of the profits.
MADELEINE: Yes, but because it's too late. I'm involved.
CAVEN: You wanted to get rid of Clancey. I'm proposing to do it permanently.
MADELEINE: By cold blooded, deliberate murder. No! I will not let you do it!
CAVEN: I don't think you've got much choice.
MADELEINE: Are you threatening me?
CAVEN: You may be the head of the Issigri Mining Company and very important back on Earth, but on this planet I have twice as many men as you and mine are all armed. I don't have to make threats. I'm telling you not to interfere.

(Dervish enters.)

CAVEN: Ah, Dervish, we're discussing a space accident.
DERVISH: Oh, where?
CAVEN: I haven't quite decided where it'll take place yet.
DERVISH: I'm sorry, I don't get it.
CAVEN: Don't worry. I want you to go down to the abandoned freighter dock, Dervish. You'll find an old C class ship there on the pad. Take some men with you and fit it out with a remote control guidance unit.
DERVISH: What, now? But look, Caven, I've only just got back.
CAVEN: This is important, Dervish.
DERVISH: All right, if you say so. What's it for?
CAVEN: Don't ask questions. Get on with it.
DERVISH: Right.
CAVEN: Oh, and by the way.
DERVISH: Yes?
CAVEN: It's a very old ship, did I say that? Practically falling apart. I want the oxygen pump rigged so that it does full apart, say about five minutes after blast off.

[Issigri's study]

(Jamie restrains the old man, who is thrashing in terror.)

MILO: Dom. Dom, look at me. Don't you know me, Dom? It's me, Milo. Milo Clancey, Dom. I'm your old partner.
DOM: No! Leave me! Leave me be! No! Don't hurt me! Not again! Please!
ZOE: Are you sure it's Dom Issigri?
MILO: Of course it's Dom Issigri. I was closer to that man than a brother for fifteen years. It's Dom, all right. What in the world have they done to him?
DOCTOR: Jamie? Jamie, let him go.
JAMIE: What?
DOCTOR: Well, he's obviously so frightened. We can't make him worse. Look out.
MILO: Dom. Dom.

(Issigri backs into a corner.)

MILO: What in the world has happened to him?
DOCTOR: Well, you can't expect him to behave normally. We don't know how long he's been down here.
MILO: But listen, Maddie wouldn't have done a thing like this to him.
JAMIE: Not her own father.
DOCTOR: Milo, go and talk to him quietly.
MILO: Ah, well yeah. Yeah, yeah, all right, I'll do that. Hey listen, what am I going to talk to him about?
DOCTOR: Talk to him about the things that he might remember.
MILO: Well, oh yeah. Yeah. Now, Dom. Now, now, it's only Milo, Dom. It's Milo, your old partner, Dom. All right. Hey listen, Dom. I've still got the Liz. You know, Dom? Remember the old Liz we used to thrash from here to home planet in? Remember that time we had to race those three ships in order to register our stake on Lobos? You remember that race, Dom?

(Milo takes a crumples photograph from his pocket.)

MILO: Wasn't that when little Madeleine was born?
DOM: Maddie?
MILO: Yeah. Remember that? We made that record return trip. It took them it took them fifteen years to beat the time we did then, Dom. I thought the old Liz was going to split into two. Remember, Dom?
DOM: Maddie. Madeleine.
MILO: That's her, Dom. That's her. That's your daughter, Dom. Why, she must have been about six year old when that was
DOM: Five. Only five. Ah, poor Madeleine. Madeleine.
MILO: Ah, well Dom. What about that other picture you had? That coloured picture you had of her. You know, Madeleine in a in a red dress? Have you still got that picture, Dom?

[Corridor]

(Outside, Madeleine walks up to the guard.)

MADELEINE: Where are those prisoners?
GUARD: Safe and sound.
MADELEINE: In there? What are they doing in there? That is my father's study! I gave orders for that door to be kept locked!
GUARD: Chief said to put them in there.
MADELEINE: Caven? Give me the key.
GUARD: Chief says nobody's to enter.
MADELEINE: Look, you know who I am. I'm ordering you to give me that key.
GUARD: I can't do that. Sorry.
MADELEINE: You will be. (Madeleine leaves. The guard calls to a colleague.)
GUARD: Fraze, here a minute. Go and tell the chief Miss Issigri's been down here trying to get in to see the prisoners. And tell him she's in a flaming temper about it!

[Issigri's study]

DOM: It is. Milo Clancey! It's Milo!
MILO: It is, Dom, it is. Old Milo, Dom. Hey, come on, come on, old fellow. You sit down here where you'll be nice and comfortable. Now there you are, come on. I'll tell you something, Dom. We're all friends here.
DOM: Friends? So he's caught you too. He's caught us all of us.
DOCTOR: You mean Caven?
DOM: You'll never get out of here. Never. You'll all die here, I tell you.
DOCTOR: I think we shall get out of here. How long have you been down here?
DOM: How long? I don't know how long. Years! They came for me by night, with guns.
ZOE: Who did?
MILO: Dom, now, was it Caven, Dom?
DOM: You know Caven?
MILO: Yeah.
DOM: He's evil. Ruthless. They brought me down here and kept me like a rat under ground.
MILO: That explains how he disappeared. Caven kidnapped him.
JAMIE: Well, why do that?
MILO: Because he wanted to drive a wedge between Madeleine and me. He wanted to take over the company.
JAMIE: I know, but why keep him prisoner all this time? I mean, surely it would be easier for them to have killed him and be done with it.
DOCTOR: Well, from what we've seen of Caven, I think he always has a good reason for doing things, Jamie.
ZOE: You mean Mister Issigri is still of some value to Caven in some way?
DOCTOR: Yes, I think so, Zoe. Well, Dom, we shall just have to escape, won't we?
DOM: Escape? That door's the only way out of here.
DOCTOR: Are you quite sure?
MILO: What? Of course he's quite sure. Old Dom, he built this room.
JAMIE: Aye.
MILO: He hacked it out of the living rock. That door's the only way out.
DOCTOR: Yes, but it's also the only way in.

[Issigri Mining office]

DERVISH: You'll find this ship out at the old freighter dock beyond the perimeter. Use one of the tractors to get the stuff out there and hurry. I need it quickly. And don't forget the thermic capacitators.

(Madeleine enters.)

MADELEINE: Where's Caven?
DERVISH: Oh, he's on level three, I think. One of the guards just came in asking for him.
MADELEINE: Guards. Moronic brutes.
DERVISH: Well.
MADELEINE: Look, Dervish, you're an intelligent man, a qualified astroengineer. How did you get mixed up with a criminal like Caven?
DERVISH: I made a mistake once. Just once. Caven found out about it.
MADELEINE: There must be a way. There must be a way of fighting him. I didn't realise what I'd got involved with until I saw him shoot that man today.
DERVISH: Oh, you can't fight Caven.
MADELEINE: Not alone, but if you help me we might be able to
DERVISH: No! Look, I don't want to talk about it. I know Caven. I know what he's capable of. And believe me, he'd kill us both if he even suspected we were talking like this.
MADELEINE: You've got to help me! We're the only two who could stop him!
DERVISH: I'm sorry.
MADELEINE: He's planning to kill those prisoners, Dervish! We can't let him murder four innocent people.
DERVISH: Oh please, let me go! I've got work to do.
MADELEINE: You'll be as guilty as he is!

(Dervish leaves. Madeleine goes to the video communicator.)

MADELEINE: This is Issigri Control to V-ship forty one. Issigri Control to General Hermack. Hello, Space Corps. If you hear me, please come in on band three nine six. This is Issigri Control.

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: Sir!
WARNE: What is it, Penn?
PENN: Radio call from Issigri Control.
HERMACK: What do they want?
PENN: It's a woman's voice, sir. Very faint. I'll put it through the amplifier.
MADELEINE [OC]: Issigri Control calling General Hermack. Please come in! Band three nine six! Issigri Control calling Space Corps.
HERMACK: Did you get that band, Penn?
PENN: Coming up on the video, sir.
HERMACK: V-Master to Issigri Control, receiving you now.
MADELEINE [on viewscreen]: Listen, General. You must get

(Transmission ends.)

HERMACK: What the blue blazes? Open that connection again, Penn!
PENN: It's still open, sir. Somebody's pulled the plug at the other end!

[Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: Obviously I got here just in time. And why did you try to see the prisoners?
MADELEINE: Why'd you think? To tell them what you're planning.
CAVEN: So, I can't rely on you any more.
MADELEINE: No. You'd better put me in with them.
CAVEN: Oh, no. You've not yet outlived your usefulness.
MADELEINE: If you think, if you think for one moment that I'm going to help you in any way.
CAVEN: You are going to do exactly as I tell you, Madeleine.
MADELEINE: You really are mad, aren't you.
CAVEN: Because if you don't, I'll have your father flogged. And I ought to tell you that he's not in the best of health.
MADELEINE: Oh, but my father's dead!
CAVEN: He's alive. As you can perhaps see from this photograph taken only a few weeks ago. I thought I might need a lever to help you to co-operate.
MADELEINE: Where is he?
CAVEN: In his study, where else? When you ordered that room to be kept locked, I thought it'd be the safest place to put him.
MADELEINE: You? Let me through! What have you done with my father? Let me see him! Let me see him. Please let me.
CAVEN: Before we get that far, let's talk about how you're going to help me, shall we? Because that's much more important.

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: It's no use, sir. There's not a peep out of Issigri Control.
HERMACK: What do you think, Ian?
WARNE: I'd have given a lot to have held that contact for another ten seconds, sir. I wonder what she was going to say?
HERMACK: She looked worried.
WARNE: Sir, if those sections of the beacons were originally on course for Ta.
HERMACK: So they were, according to our computer readings.
WARNE: Well, suppose Clancey diverted them to Lobos, to get us out of the way so that his gang could raid the Issigri Headquarters.
HERMACK: That would be a big operation, even for a crew as well disciplined as the pirates appear to be.
WARNE: Well, not if he had a base on another planet, sir.
HERMACK: I suppose it's possible. Penn, set course for Ta.
PENN: Right, sir.
HERMACK: We can swing back there and make sure that everything's in order anyway.

[Issigri's study]

DOCTOR: Dom, the grille over the door.
DOM: Leads out to the passage outside. And that steel is three inches thick. I tell you it's hopeless. I spent my first year down here working on that hinge. You can see it's hardly marked.
DOCTOR: I wasn't thinking of brute strength. Well, well not much brute strength.
JAMIE: It's not an audio lock, is it?
DOCTOR: No, Jamie, it isn't.
JAMIE: Ah, that's a relief.
DOCTOR: Jamie, I think you don't appreciate all I do for you. Milo?
MILO: Yeah?
DOCTOR: Supposing we could get out of this room, do you think you could find your way back to your spaceship?
MILO: Well yeah, if you want to get me out of this room.
DOCTOR: Shush!
MILO: What? Ah, well, that's what I was going to say. You see, apart from these guards there. If we can get past those guards, well, they wouldn't track us down in those tunnels. I know those tunnels like the back of my hand.
DOCTOR: Splendid! Right, Zoe, hand out those candles. Two at a time will do.
JAMIE: What for?
DOCTOR: Just a minute, Jamie. I'll tell you. Now, where did I put my bag of marbles?

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: I'm sorry, General. We had a technical failure.
HERMACK [on monitor]: Is that what happened. You went out in mid-message.
MADELEINE: Yes, I was just saying that you must get these pirates soon, General. One of my freighters has just landed, and the Captain says that his ship was attacked.
HERMACK [on monitor]: Really? Where was this?
MADELEINE: Just on entering the sector, he tells me, but he was able to out-run them.
HERMACK [on monitor]: Ah, you had us worried. We're heading back to your planet now.
MADELEINE: That's quite unnecessary, General. There's nothing wrong here.
HERMACK [on monitor]: Oh, I'm glad to hear it. Well, we've got some checking to do there anyway.
MADELEINE: I see. Well then, I'll get a landing pad cleared for you.
HERMACK [on monitor]: Fine. And thank you for contacting us.

(Transmission ends.)

MADELEINE: Satisfied?
CAVEN: Yes, but you shouldn't have tried to divert them. I'm counting on that ship returning. Dervish, how are things coming along?
DERVISH [on monitor]: We've completed installation. I'm running a test on it now.
CAVEN: Good, let me know as soon as you're ready.

[Issigri's study]

(Just inside the study doorway, a layer of candle wax has been smeared across the floor. Then the Doctor pours his bag of marbles onto it.)

DOCTOR: Right, there we are. I think that should be enough wax.
ZOE: Are you sure it'll work?
DOCTOR: Well, it usually does. Jamie, Jamie, pass me that marble will you?
JAMIE: This one?
DOCTOR: The green one. Thank you very much. It's one of my favourites. Now, what have you got, Dom?
DOM: An old shirt and an old aeronautical journal.
DOCTOR: That should make plenty of smoke. Right then, is everybody ready?

(The Doctor takes the tray of articles and stands on a chair beside the door. He strikes a match while the others arm themselves.)

DOCTOR: You all know what you have to do?
MILO: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Ready?

(The Doctor sets fire to the shirt and book.)

[Corridor]

(Smoke pours from the grille.)

GUARD: Quince! Here quick!

(Two guards charge into the study and skid on the wax and marbles, sending them tumbling face down. Zoe smashes a vase on one while Milo and Jamie take care of the other.)

[Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: Useless fools! You'll be punished for this!
GUARD: It wasn't our fault, Chief.
CAVEN: Go on! Get moving! Get after those prisoners! With any luck you'll be shot! Incompetent idiotic. Don't imagine they can get away. There's nowhere for them to go!
MADELEINE: If you haven't caught them by the time the Space Corps get here, then you really are in trouble, aren't you.
MULLER [OC]: Hello, Chief. Muller here. The prisoners have just been spotted on level three.
CAVEN: Which way are they heading?
MULLER [OC]: Towards the old freighter dock.
CAVEN: Clancey's old space-ship, of course. Listen, Muller, don't try and stop them, you understand? Let them reach the freighter dock.
MULLER [OC]: Okay, Chief. I'll call the patrols in.
CAVEN: I think your friends intend to save me a lot of trouble. Once they get that old crate up into space, I can cut in the remote control any time I like. Stop their oxygen and deliver a cargo of dead pirates to General Hermack.
MADELEINE: Caven, you can't do that! My father's with them!
CAVEN: Yes. He'd have been better off staying where he was, wouldn't he?

[LIZ 79]

MILO: Come on, Dom. Come on, Doctor. Come on, Dom, in you go.
DOCTOR: What's happened to Jamie and Zoe? I think I ought to go back for them
MILO: Don't you worry about them. They're probably just checking up we haven't been followed.
DOCTOR: What are you doing?
MILO: Just getting ready for take-off.
DOCTOR: But
MILO: Don't worry. Come on, I won't go without them.

[Issigri Mining office]

DERVISH [on monitor]: Control reports that the V-Ship's on an approach path.
CAVEN: Already? All right, listen. We can't afford to wait for Clancey to take that ship up. Activate the overriding unit now.
MADELEINE: No!
CAVEN: You understand, Dervish? Boost that crate into orbit! Immediately!

[LIZ 79]

DOCTOR: I can't understand what's happened to them. I'm going back.

(The Doctor leaves.)

MILO: Don't be long. Tell them to hurry! Well, heck.

(The Liz's engines start up and the ship begins to shake.)

MILO: That's the rocket drive! We're taking off!

(Milo wrestles with the controls.)

MILO: The Doctor will be burned to a frazzle in the blast!

[Mine tunnel]

(The Doctor is caught in the back blast from the rockets.)

DOCTOR: Oh no!

(He falls to the ground, overwhelmed by the fumes.)

Episode Six

[Mine tunnel]

(Nearby -)

JAMIE: What's that?
ZOE: The rocket! The Doctor's going without us!
JAMIE: He wouldn't do!
ZOE: Oh, come on!

[LIZ 79]

(Milo wrestles with the controls.)

MILO: It's no good, Dom. Damn thing won't respond at all!
DOM: What is it, Milo? What's happened?
MILO: We've walked right into Caven's trap.
DOM: Caven! Of course.
MILO: The Liz is being operated by remote control. He must have installed an override unit in here somewhere.

[Mine tunnel]

JAMIE: Doctor!
ZOE: Oh, don't lift him, Jamie. Oh, don't touch him at all.

(The Doctor is still sprawled on the floor.)

JAMIE: Is he all right? Zoe, is he all right?
ZOE: His pulse is weak. He must have been caught in the blast of those rocket boosters. Oh, these fumes! Come on, let's get him out of here.

[Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: Cut their oxygen supply.
MADELEINE: Caven, no!
CAVEN: You heard me, Dervish. Cut the oxygen. Kill them!
DERVISH [on monitor]: Oxygen cut.
MADELEINE: Please, please, I'll help you! I'll do anything.

[LIZ 79]

(The Liz is venting oxygen.)

MILO: Hey, Dom. This must be it. These screw heads have been loosened recently.
DOM: Milo! It's so hot. I can hardly breathe!

(Milo glances at the air-conditioning grille.)

MILO: The airflow.
DOM: Huh?
MILO: It's been cut!

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: Bring that ship down, please. Please, I'll do anything. I'll
CAVEN: Sit down. Stop that yapping.

(Dervish brings his remote control unit into the office where Caven is watching Milo and Dom on the monitor.)

DERVISH: All set, boss.
CAVEN: Still breathing.
DERVISH: Well, they'll have enough oxygen left to last another ten minutes or so.
CAVEN: Milo doesn't give up too easy. He's looking for the control unit.
DERVISH: He won't find it. It's a microcircuit. It's only an inch square and it's well hidden.

(Dom slides from his chair to the floor.)

CAVEN: One down, one to go.
MADELEINE: Father!
CAVEN: Where's the Doctor and his friends?
DERVISH: They're not there.
CAVEN: Where are they!

[Mine tunnel]

(In a sheltered tunnel, Jamie and Zoe put the Doctor down.)

JAMIE: That's it. Easy now.
ZOE: That's better, the air's clearer here. Doctor? Doctor?

(The Doctor's eyes open.)

ZOE: Take deep breathes. And again, come on.
DOCTOR: (coughing) Oh dear.
JAMIE: Thank goodness for that. For a moment I thought you'd had it.
DOCTOR: It's all right Jamie, I'm perfectly all right.
ZOE: What happened? Why did Milo take off without us?
DOCTOR: I don't think he intended to, Zoe.
ZOE: Oh but he must have. How could the Liz take off otherwise?
DOCTOR: Milo wasn't anywhere near the controls when it all happened.
ZOE: But surely? Of course. Remote control.
DOCTOR: Yes, I think it's the only answer.
JAMIE: What good would it do Caven, shooting you off into space in a rocket?
DOCTOR: I'm not sure, Jamie, but we've got to find that remote control unit and save Milo and Dom. Come on. Oh.
ZOE: Oh, now steady, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It's all right, Zoe. I'll be all right if you don't fuss me. Come along.

[Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: They'll be unconscious in five minutes, and dead in fifteen. The V-ship should drop alongside some ten minutes after that. Nice timing, Dervish.
MADELEINE: Why don't you just kill them off now? Explode the rocket and have done with it.
CAVEN: Wouldn't suit my purpose.
DERVISH: Caven, do we have to go through with this?
CAVEN: What's the matter, cold feet suddenly?
DERVISH: Why can't we get away now while we've still got the chance?
CAVEN: Hermack thinks Clancey's the man he wants. We're giving him Clancey, dead so that he can't talk and with a load of stolen argonite in his cargo bay.
MADELEINE: Oh you've got it all worked out, haven't you.
CAVEN: Down to the last detail.
DERVISH: Yeah, but what about the Doctor and his friends? Suppose they get in touch with the Space Corps?
CAVEN: They won't. I'll find them now and take care of them. And don't take any lip from her. If she gives you any trouble, kill her!

(Caven leaves.)

DERVISH: I don't want to, but if I have to, I'll kill you.

(On the monitor, Milo collapses.)

DERVISH: I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry.
MADELEINE: They don't stand a chance, do they? By the time the Space Corps gets here, they'll be dead.

[V-Ship flight deck]

(The radar screen has a blip on it.)

HERMACK: Well, what is it?
WARNE: Is it one of the pirate ship, a Beta Dart?
PENN: Can't make it out yet, sir. It's too far away.
HERMACK: Right. Full boost. Let's get in closer and have a look.

[Issigri Mining office]

DERVISH: Don't you understand? There's nothing I can do. Nothing!
MADELEINE: This is your one chance to get free of Caven. Help me. We can get the Space Corps out so that
DERVISH: No. I daren't. Don't move.

(Behind Dervish, Madeleine sees the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe enter.)

MADELEINE: All right. I can see it's pointless arguing with a gutless fool like you. You don't care about anything except your own skin.
DERVISH: Shut up. Shut up!

(As Dervish raises his gun, Jamie jumps him. The shot hits the remote control unit and Jamie knocks Dervish out with one punch.)

MADELEINE: Quickly. We must do something. They've cut off the air in the Liz and my father's in there. He's dying. This is the remote control unit.
DOCTOR: Oh my word! I'm afraid the blast from the gun has fused the wires together.
MADELEINE: Can't you do something?

[Corridor]

CAVEN: Well?
GUARD: There's no sign of them on this level, sir.
CAVEN: Right, spread down on the next level by the old workings.
GUARD: Right, sir.
CAVEN: And if you see any sign of that Doctor and his friends, you shoot to kill.
GUARD: Right, sir.
CAVEN: I'll be back in the Issigri HQ.
GUARD: Right sir.

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: Come on! Come on, please!
DOCTOR: I think I think that's the air-conditioning circuit reconnected. Now then, the radio link.

(Dervish wakes and starts to edge towards the door.)

[LIZ 79]

(Oxygen starts to come in through the grille.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Hello LIZ 79. Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Dom? Dom Issigri?
MADELEINE [OC]: Father? Father, this is Madeleine. Can you hear me?

(But the two men are unconscious.)

[Issigri Mining office]

(Dervish hurries down a corridor.)

MADELEINE: Are you sure the radio link's working?
DOCTOR: Well, I think so.
MADELEINE: What about the video?
DOCTOR: No, this is much more difficult, I'm afraid.
MADELEINE: How can we tell whether they're all right or not?
DOCTOR: Well
JAMIE: Hey, Doctor!
DOCTOR: What is it, Jamie? I'm busy.
JAMIE: It's Dervish. He's gone!
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: Well, he's bound to bring Caven and the guards back.
JAMIE: Aye.
MADELEINE: I'll close the main doors, then we'll be safe.

(She operates the door controls.)

MADELEINE: Let's try and contact the Liz again, please.

[LIZ 79]

MADELEINE [OC]: Father, Milo, can you hear me? Milo, Father, please answer if you can hear me!
MILO: Hey, girl! Stop screeching like a banshee, will you?
MADELEINE [OC]: Milo? Milo, is that you?
MILO: I'll tell you. Just let me clear the fog from me ears and I'll tell you.
MADELEINE [OC]: Is my father all right?
MILO: Yeah, I think he's all right, Maddie.
HERMACK [OC]: LIZ seventy nine, this is General Hermack.
MILO: Oh! Not another banshee! Take your volume down, will you, General? You're blasting me ears off!
HERMACK [OC]: Clancey, cut your motors. We're coming alongside.
MILO: Look, General, will you just shut up and let me get a word in edgeways? I've got something to tell you that'll make your hair curl. Now just for once in your life, will you listen to me?

[Corridor]

CAVEN: Dervish, I thought I told you to
DERVISH: Caven! The Doctor and his friends, they attacked me. I was lucky to get away with my life.
CAVEN: You fool! They'll bring the Space Corps down on us. Oh you! Come on!

[V-Ship flight deck]

HERMACK: Is this true, Clancey?
DOM [OC]: General Hermack, this is Dom Issigri. What Milo has told you is true. Caven has engineered this whole thing.
MILO [OC]: And if you don't stop yabbing General, he's going to get clean away with it.
HERMACK: All right Clancey, that's quite enough of that. Get me Issigri Headquarters on the video.
PENN: Yes, sir.
HERMACK: Miss Issigri, we are coming to your assistance. We are going to launch a full scale attack in approximately
PENN: Fifty five minutes, sir.
HERMACK: Fifty five minutes.

[LIZ 79]

MADELEINE [OC]: All right, General. Thank you.
MILO: Hey! Hey! Hey wait on, Maddie! Hey, General, wait on! What about us? You can't leave us here like flies on fly-paper.
DOCTOR [OC]: Hello, Milo. Now listen.
MILO: The Doctor!
DOCTOR [OC]: I think I can help you dismantle the remote control device and regain control of the Liz.
MILO: Get control of the Liz? That would be something.
DOCTOR: I think the remote control unit will be probably situated somewhere in the computer preselector. Now do you know where that is?
MILO: Well, of course I know where it is. I know the Liz like the back of my hand. Now that computer thingummy, that should be, well, somewhere about here, I guess. Ah ha!
DOCTOR [OC]: What's happened? Have you found it?

(Milo has tilted too far back on his chair and fallen on the floor.)

MILO: Ah! There you go. Maybe it'll be somewhere behind here, Dom.

[Outside the Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: They're locked from the inside.

(Caven uses a comm link.)

CAVEN: Madeleine.

[Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN [on monitor]: Can you hear me? This is Caven.
MADELEINE: He's probably outside the main door. That's where the internal video is. You can't get in, Caven. By the time you cut through that door, the Space Corps will be swarming all over Ta.

[Outside the Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: Oh dear, Madeleine, you've disappointed me. We could have made a fortune together, instead of which I have to leave and you have to die.

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: Empty threats, Caven.

[Outside the Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: Oh no. Dervish, you'll need eighteen to twenty demolition charges.
DERVISH: What for?
CAVEN: Connect them in series to the atomic fuel store.
DERVISH: But that's madness, Caven. There isn't time. The Space Corps will here before we're finished.
CAVEN: We will finish, don't worry.
DERVISH: Yeah, but
CAVEN: Do as I say!

(Dervish leaves.)

CAVEN: Should be quite a bang. The equivalent of about eighty old-fashioned hydrogen bombs.

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: You'd never do that. You'd blow yourself sky-high as well!

[Outside the Issigri Mining office]

CAVEN: Oh no. We shall explode it when we're a safe distance away, and the V-Ship is right in the flash zone. You have about forty minutes. Oh, don't try to leave. I'm turning the manual lock on this side. Enjoy the big bang!

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: That's it. I don't think he's bluffing. And if he sets off an explosion in the atomic fuel store
DOCTOR: Then we must see to it that he doesn't.
JAMIE: Well, how? We can't stop him if we're locked in here.
ZOE: What about the Space Corps? Can they get here in time?
MADELEINE: No, V-ships require a complicated landing technique. They're so large.
DOCTOR: Besides, we shall have to warn them of Caven's intended escape.
JAMIE: Then who's going to get us out of here?
DOCTOR: There's only one man who can, Jamie. Milo.
ZOE: But the Liz is still jammed on remote control.
DOCTOR: I know, I know, but we shall free it.
JAMIE: You hope.
DOCTOR: Get on to the space patrol. Tell them what's happened. I'd better see how Milo's getting on with that bird's nest.

[Atomic fuel store area]

(A long narrow corridor with lines of huge cylinders in racks. In a radiation suit, Dervish attaches tiny canisters to each cylinder. Caven watches through an inspection window. After linking each canister to a main cable, Dervish leaves the store. A clock on the wall says 11:25.)
CAVEN: You're taking your time.
DERVISH: Only the detonator to connect up now.
CAVEN: Well get a move on!
DERVISH: Do you mind?
CAVEN: What?
DERVISH: This is something that can't be rushed.

(Dervish opens the box with the detonator in it. Caven grabs his shoulder.)

DERVISH: Do that again, and we won't have half a second left. I've known one of these things go up if somebody so much as coughed!
CAVEN: We've got half an hour before that V-ship drops on us.

(Dervish hands the detonator to Caven, then puts on his protective gear again and takes it back. He re-enters the store.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

MADELEINE [on viewscreen]: He's planting some sort of explosive device in the atomic fuel store, with a radio control detonator.
HERMACK: He intends to leave Ta in a Beta Dart and explode out of range.
MADELEINE [on viewscreen]: Yes.
HERMACK: Then we must try and intercept him before he has the chance to transmit the triggering pulse. We'll let you know, Miss Issigri, don't worry.

[LIZ 79]

(Milo is dealing with a mares nest of wires.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Milo? Have you found that little red wire leading into the neuristor bank?
MILO: Huh! Little red wire, he says. There's about a thousand little red wires here. You hold that bunch, will you, Dom? Now, neuristor bank? Ah, well that might be this one here. I'll give that a go there.

(Electric shock. Milo yelps.)

DOCTOR [OC]: It sounds as if you've found it.
MILO: Jumping galactic gob-stoppers, why didn't you tell me it was alive! My fingers.
DOCTOR [OC]: Now, somewhere near that neuristor bank, there should be the implanted overriding unit. It's probably transistorised. Very small.
DOM: Is that it?
MILO: Yeah?
DOM: Is that it?
MILO: Could be, Dom. We'll try that one, shall we? Right. Good.

(Milo yanks the little device out and the Liz veers to the side.)

DOCTOR [OC]: What's happening?
MILO: I found it!
DOCTOR [OC]: Right. Now, dismantle it carefully.
MILO: I just have. Hold on a second, Dom. We're on our way!

[Atomic fuel store area]

(Dervish has connected the main cable to the detonator unit. He wires that to a radio control box and comes out of the fuel store proper.)

DERVISH: All fixed.
CAVEN: Good! By twelve hundred hours we'll be far enough away to escape the blast.
DERVISH: Is the ship ready?
CAVEN: On the pad. Come on, let's go.
(The clock on the wall says 11:40.)

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE: That's a Beta Dart on the scope now, isn't it, Penn?
PENN: Must be, sir. She's boosting off fast.
HERMACK: Get a Minnow, Ian, and get after them.
WARNE: Right, sir.
HERMACK: Lock onto an intercepting course.
PENN: Yes, sir.

[LIZ 79]

MILO: This is just like old times, hey, Dom? You and me scuffling along in the old Liz.
DOM: If I were a little less old, I
MILO: Hold on, Dom. You'll be all right. Look, in a minute or two, we're going to land on Ta. You'll see little Maddie again, Dom.
DOM: Little Maddie?
MILO: Maddie.
DOM: Yes, yes, Maddie. Maddie.
MILO: Hold onto something, Dom. Hold on, I'm going to try and approach orbit. Come on, old girl. Don't let me down now.

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE [on monitor]: I shall be in striking range in about thirty seconds, sir.
HERMACK: Right! Don't fire until I give the word. No, wait a minute, there's an audio contact.
CAVEN [OC]: Beta Dart to V-forty one. Call that Minnow off our tail, Hermack. I'm warning you, if he comes any closer I'll pull this switch and we'll all die together.
HERMACK: You'd better pull back, Ian.
WARNE [on monitor]: Okay, sir, if you say so.
HERMACK: Twelve minutes. Give me Issigri Headquarters. I'd better break the news to them.

[LIZ 79]

MILO: We did it! We did it, Dom. We're all right. We're down, Dom.
MADELEINE [OC]: Hello, LIZ seventy nine. Milo, can you hear me?
MILO: Yeah, loud and clear. We'll be seeing you in a minute, Maddie girl, because we've landed.
MADELEINE [OC]: Thank goodness for that. Now listen, Milo, there isn't much time. You've got to get over to Headquarters and release us quickly.
MILO: But why? What's going on?
MADELEINE: There's no time for questions! Hurry!
MILO: Righto! You'd better stay down there, old timer. I've got some running to do, and I don't think that you're really up to it. All right?

[V-Ship flight deck]

MADELEINE [on monitor]: The Doctor thinks that he might be able to defuse this explosive.
HERMACK: You haven't much more time. Eight, perhaps ten minutes. I've got to launch that Beta Dart at twelve hundred.
MADELEINE [on monitor]: All right, but give us as long as you can.
HERMACK: Good luck. You'll need it.

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: Milo!
MILO: I haven't run so far since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Hey, what going on here? Where are you all going?
JAMIE: To turn off a bomb.
MILO: Oh my. A bomb?! Hey, wait for me!

[V-Ship flight deck]

WARNE [on monitor]: I could creep the Minnow in, sir, and get a salvo in before they knew what had happened.
HERMACK: No, wait. They've got seven more minutes.

[Atomic fuel store area]

(Milo helps the Doctor into a radiation suit.)

MADELEINE: You've got about six minutes.
DOCTOR: Right, open the doors.

(The Doctor goes inside and finds the detonator unit. He looks closely at it, then at the cable, then the radio control box and aerial. Then he stands still and thinks.)

JAMIE: Look, he's not doing anything.
ZOE: Oh, Doctor, hurry!
MILO: Land sakes alive, girl, he's got to find the right one. He'll blow us all to bits if he moves the wrong wire.
(Madeleine looks at the clock. 11:55. The Doctor unscrews the inspection cover of the detonation unit. 11:56. The Doctor reaches inside the remote unit and removes a waxed cartridge with wires running from it to the radio control box. )

[V-Ship flight deck]

PENN: One hundred and fifty seconds, sir.
HERMACK: We've got to take the risk. Attack, Ian, attack!

(The Minnow homes in on the fleeing Dart. The Doctor is probing the detonator with a pair of tweezers.)

HERMACK: Fire!

(Two missiles streak from the Minnow towards the Beta Dart.)

[Beta Dart]

CAVEN: I warned you, Hermack.
DERVISH [OC]: No, Caven, no! We're still in the blast area!
CAVEN: Then we'll all die together!
DERVISH: No!

(A tiny light flashes on the radio control unit, but the Doctor is holding the dismantled detonator in his arms. The missiles make contact and the Dart goes KaBOOM.)

[Issigri Mining office]

MADELEINE: I've just heard that the Space Corps has destroyed the Beta Dart.
MILO: Well, at least those varmints have done something right for a change, hey?
MADELEINE: General Hermack is coming back here to pick me up. I have to go back to home planet.
ZOE: What for?
MADELEINE: To stand trial.
MILO: To stand trial? Now listen, don't you worry about that, little Maddie girl. I'll have a few words with those fangdanglers about that.
MADELEINE: Don't worry. The General doesn't seem to think that the outcome will be disastrous, and my father's evidence will help.
MILO: Yeah, damn tooting it will. Poor old critter. Hey, would you like to go and have a have a word with him, Maddie girl? He's only out there on the Liz.
MADELEINE: Yes, yes. It'll be strange seeing him after all these years.
MILO: Go on. You go and have a word with him all by yourself. Go on.
MADELEINE: I don't know how to thank you.

(Madeleine leaves.)

ZOE: Doctor? Doctor, what about the TARDIS?
JAMIE: Hey, that's a point. Where is it?
DOCTOR: Oh, the TARDIS. Well, that's no problem. It's orbiting Lobos, Milo's home planet, in one of the beacon sections.
ZOE: Oh no problem, hey? Well, how are we going to get to it?
DOCTOR: Milo's very kindly offered us a lift in the Liz.
JAMIE: Oh no, not the Liz again. Frankly, I'd rather walk.
MILO: You what?
DOCTOR: You never know. You might have to.

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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