The Twin Dilemma

Part One

[Sylvest home]

(Twin boys are playing a cross between chess and backgammon with large pyramidical pieces. Their father enters and takes notes.)

REMUS: Where's mother?
SYLVEST: She's busy.
ROMULUS: Does that mean she isn't talking to us?
SYLVEST: No, she's just busy.
BOTH: We would like to see her.
SYLVEST: She isn't here.
REMUS: She's gone out without saying goodbye?
SYLVEST: Well, yes.
ROMULUS: I suppose you're going out as well.
SYLVEST: In a few minutes.
REMUS: Abandoned again.
ROMULUS: You we forgive, Father, but not Mother.
SYLVEST: Look, Romulus, I wish you would be kinder to your mother. You too, Remus.
BOTH: Why?
SYLVEST: She is your mother.
REMUS: Because Mother happened to give birth to us, does that automatically grant her a place in our affections?
SYLVEST: Yes. Yes, of course.
REMUS: Respect must be earned, Father. Mother is a fool, you know that. Do you now wish us to respect fools? You've always said the contrary.
SYLVEST: Your mother is who she is, whether you think her a fool or not. It's no excuse for poor manners and lack of concern.
REMUS: As you wish, Father.
SYLVEST: I gather there's something you wanted to talk to me about?
REMUS: Not talk to you, tell you. We're going to play Equations.
SYLVEST: Oh, no.
ROMULUS: You know, I sometimes think you're actually scared of us.
SYLVEST: I worry, Romulus. I honestly believe that neither of you has the faintest idea of your real powers. Your mathematical skill could change events on a massive scale. Don't you realise that?
REMUS: Oh, don't be so dramatic, Father.
ROMULUS: Sometimes you sound just like Mother.
REMUS: So why don't you stop worrying? Buzz off and enjoy your evening out.
ROMULUS: We'll still be here when you get back.
REMUS: And so will the universe.

[TARDIS]

(The newly regenerated Doctor is showing off his new face.)

DOCTOR: Well, Peri, what do you think?
PERI: It's terrible.
DOCTOR: Oh, never mind about the clothes, they're easily changed. What about me?
PERI: I meant you.
DOCTOR: Sorry? I'm afraid I don't understand.
PERI: Well, neither do I. I mean, people don't change like that. I mean, physically, just in a flash.
DOCTOR: I'm not people, Peri. I happen to be me.
PERI: But why?
DOCTOR: Natural metamorphosis. A form of rebirth. I call it a renewal, and this time, positive triumph. I can sense it in every fibre of my being.
PERI: Have you the faintest idea what you look like?
DOCTOR: My outward appearance is of no importance whatsoever.
PERI: Well, it is to me. I have to live with it.

(She goes through his jacket pockets and finds a mirror compact.)

PERI: Here, look at yourself.
DOCTOR: Very well, if you insist.
PERI: What do you see?
DOCTOR: Ah. A noble brow. Clear gaze. At least it will be, given a few hours sleep. A firm mouth. A face beaming with a vast intelligence. My dear child, what on Earth are you complaining about?

(He gives her the mirror back.)

DOCTOR: It's the most extraordinary improvement.
PERI: On what?
DOCTOR: My last incarnation. I was never happy with that one.
PERI: Why ever not?
DOCTOR: It had a sort of feckless charm, which simply wasn't me.

(The Doctor goes into the TARDIS interior.)

PERI: Oh, what absolute rubbish!

[TARDIS interior]

PERI: You were almost young. I really liked you. And you were sweet and
DOCTOR: Sweet? Effete. Sweet? Sweet? Sweet? Huh, that says it all.

[Wardrobe room]

DOCTOR: Oh, but this has been a timely change. Change. What change? There is no change. No rhyme, no time.

(The Doctor starts to cringe amongst a rack of clothes.)

DOCTOR: No place for space. Nothing. Nothing but the grinding engines of the universe, the crushing boredom of eternity.

[Syvest home]

(The twins are on wheeled office chairs with a small gridded screen attached. They sit back to back. Large screen on the walls facing them clear, then Remus starts tapping various squared on his screen. What are presumably equations appear on the wall screens. Romulus makes his reply and they continue to build lines of symbols.)

[Wardrobe room]

(The Doctor has recovered from his momentary breakdown and is looking through various outfits. He picks out Patrick Troughton's fur coat.)

DOCTOR: Hmm? No.

(He throws it down and picks up a red velvet jacket a la Jon Pertwee.)

PERI: Are you sure you're all right?
DOCTOR: My dear child, stop worrying. Try to understand. Regeneration in my case is a swift but volcanic experience. A kind of violent biological eruption in which the body cells are displaced, changed, renewed and rearranged.

(He tries on the jacket then discards it.)

DOCTOR: There are bound to be side-effects.
PERI: It won't happen again?

(The Doctor flexes his biceps and sucks in his tummy in front of a cheval mirror.)

DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, may indeed, but each time with diminishing effect. You have nothing to fear.
PERI: Well, next time I'm not going to look.
DOCTOR: Well, if you find it so upsetting, that would be the most sensible thing to do. Ah ha!

(He finds a multicoloured jacket on another rail.)

[Sylvest home]

(The twins finish their input and turn to face each other. An older man in a long cream robe appears.)

REMUS: Fantastic!
ROMULUS: What a super trick.
EDGEWORTH: Oh, I wouldn't impose upon you for a moment. It's no more than a simple illusion.
REMUS: Oh, we know that.
ROMULUS: We've seen it before in the theatre.
REMUS: You did it jolly well.
EDGEWORTH: Thank you. Your own talents are vastly superior. Amazing, quite amazing. A symphony in higher mathematics.
ROMULUS: It just so happened we've had a good evening. Who are you, by the way?
EDGEWORTH: Professor Edgeworth.
ROMULUS: Never heard of you.
EDGEWORTH: No reason why you should.
REMUS: What do you want?
EDGEWORTH: I came to pay my respects to your father, the Professor. A man of great distinction.
ROMULUS: A bit late for social calls.
EDGEWORTH: Yes. I must apologise. I've come a long way.
BOTH: How did you get in here?
EDGEWORTH: How does one enter a dwelling?
ROMULUS: Nobody's allowed in when our parents are away.
EDGEWORTH: Oh, come now, do you think I look as though I'm going to do you harm?
ROMULUS: Beside the point. You oughtn't to be here.
EDGEWORTH: Oh, then I shall leave. When do you expect your parents back?
BOTH: We don't know.
EDGEWORTH: Tell your father I'll call him.
BOTH: All right.
EDGEWORTH: Goodbye, Remus. It's been a privilege and pleasure.

(Edgeworth clamps Remus' hand, and the boy goes very still.)

EDGEWORTH: Goodbye, Romulus. Our paths are bound to cross again.

(He does the same to Romulus.)

EDGEWORTH: Show me your hands.

(The twins hold out their right hands. Each has a green circle on their wrists.)

EDGEWORTH: Now, what are your names?
ROMULUS: I am Romulus.
REMUS: I am Remus.
EDGEWORTH: What is this place?
BOTH: We do not know.
EDGEWORTH: Good. Excellent. Come. Hold onto my sleeve.

(Edgeworth rubs his signet ring, and all three vanish.)

[Wardrobe room]

(The Doctor has changed out of the grubby pastels of the cricket outfit and into a gaudy frock coat where every panel is a different colour and pattern. He picks an enamel cat pin from a small box and fastens it to his lapel. With the mustard and red striped trousers and white spotted teal tie in a loose bow, he is very noticeable.)

PERI: You're not serious.
DOCTOR: I'm always serious.
PERI: You can't go out dressed like that.
DOCTOR: Why ever not?
PERI: You look dreadful.
DOCTOR: My dear, that is what people said about Beau Brummell. Remember him?
PERI: Well, he had taste, a feeling for style.
DOCTOR: And I don't?
PERI: Not if what you're wearing is an example. It's, oh, yuck.

[Freighter]

(The Jacondans are silver skinned birds  with horns.)

NOMA: Right, his time is up. I shall contact Mestor.
DRAK: Too late, he's got them. He's coming now.

(Edgeworth and the twins transmat in.)

EDGEWORTH: Lock them in the bunker.
NOMA: At once.

(The two Jacondans escort the twins out. Edgeworth picks up a small communicator.)

EDGEWORTH: Mestor?
MESTOR [OC]: Yes, Edgeworth.

(This might be telepathic, as a red image of something alien is visible along with Edgeworth.)

EDGEWORTH: I have them on board.
MESTOR [OC]: Are they docile?
EDGEWORTH: For the moment, yes. I gave them a selective amnesia.
MESTOR [OC]: When will they be missed?
EDGEWORTH: Very soon.
MESTOR [OC]: You have no time to lose. There will be hue and cry. I want no trail to Jaconda. Take them to the safe house on Titan Three.
EDGEWORTH: At once.
MESTOR [OC]: You will remain at the safe house until further notice.
EDGEWORTH: As you command, Mestor.

[TARDIS]

(Peri enters, having also changed her clothes to a blue plaid top and green skirt.)

PERI: Ta da!
DOCTOR: Hmm? Yuck.
PERI: Where are we going?
DOCTOR: Vesta Ninety Five.
PERI: And where's that?
DOCTOR: You'll soon find out. It's a marvellous place for a holiday, and you and I both need a rest. I would have taken you to the Eye of Orion, but er, the coordinates elude me at the moment. Peri.
PERI: Yes?
DOCTOR: How did you come by a name like that?
PERI: It's the diminutive of my proper name, Perpugilliam.
DOCTOR: Indeed. One morn, a peri at the gate of Eden stood disconsolate. Who wrote that?
PERI: I haven't the faintest idea.
DOCTOR: Of course you don't. You don't even know what a peri (pronounced peeri) is, do you, Peri?
PERI: No.
DOCTOR: I'll tell you. A peri is a good and beautiful fairy in Persian mythology. The interesting thing is, before it became good, it was evil. And that's what you are. Thoroughly evil.
PERI: Doctor, stop it!
DOCTOR: No. No, not even a fairy. An alien spy, sent here to spy on me. Well, we all know the fate of alien spies.

(The Doctor lunges at Peri and grabs her around the throat. She manages to grab the mirror from the console before he throws her to the floor, then she shows him his reflection. He lets her go, recoiling in tears.)

[Sylvest home]

(Professor Sylvest has returned home to find the boys gone and some residue on the floor. He turns on a small communication monitor.)

LANG [on monitor]: Special Incident Room.
SYLVEST: Professor Sylvest. Security clearance nine four one oblique two nine. They've gone!
LANG [on monitor]: Sir?
SYLVEST: My children have been kidnapped.

[Special Incident Room]

LANG: When did this happen?
SYLVEST [on monitor]: Whilst I was out. Two hours maximum.
LANG: I see. What are the indications?
SYLVEST [on monitor]: I found zanium on the floor. It looks serious.
LANG: Please leave this to us. I'll get the Commander to call you back.
SYLVEST [on monitor]: Are you listening to me?
LANG: Yes, I'm listening, Professor.
SYLVEST [on monitor]: I'm very, very anxious.
LANG: Yes, naturally you're anxious. Please leave this to us. I'll get the Commander to call you back. Goodbye.

(Lang goes over to a woman who has just sat at her desk.)

LANG: Sorry to disturb you, Commander.
FABIAN: What is it?
LANG: The Sylvest twins are missing. The Professor found a dust-like deposit on the floor of their room. He says it's zanium.
FABIAN: Zanium? You know what that means.
LANG: An extraterrestrial kidnap?
FABIAN: If those twins have fallen into alien hands. This is something I've always feared. What's the time factor?
LANG: He says two hours maximum.
FABIAN: Right, they're still within range. I'm ordering First Priority. Full scale search. I want all pursuit crews launched. Briefing will take place in flight.
LANG: Commander.
FABIAN: And I want you flight leader.
LANG: Yes, Commander.
FABIAN: I want a thorough scan. All unidentifiable space vehicles must be investigated.
ELANA: Right.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: What happened?
PERI: You had another of your fits.
DOCTOR: I don't have fits.
PERI: Whatever you call them.
DOCTOR: I told you, manic moments of no consequence. They become less dramatic and less and less frequent.
PERI: Well this was worse. Longer. It was horrible.
DOCTOR: Don't exaggerate.
PERI: Exaggerate? You don't remember what you did, do you?
DOCTOR: I must admit I am a little hazy.
PERI: You tried to kill me.
DOCTOR: Oh, don't be absurd.
PERI: I'm not.
DOCTOR: What you say is impossible. I have an inbuilt resistance to any form of violence, except in self-defence.
PERI: You don't!
DOCTOR: I don't? Upon my word, you really are frightened, aren't you.
PERI: Frightened half to death, and that's only because I'm not dead already.
DOCTOR: Something's wrong. Something's very wrong. Oh no, has it come to that? Regenerate, yet unregenerate. Oh, alas, poor Peri. Not for us the pleasures of Vesta Ninety Five.
PERI: What are you saying?
DOCTOR: I am a living peril to the universe. If this poor hive is to be cleansed, there's only one recourse. Contemplation. Self-abnegation in some hellish wilderness. Ten days, ten years, a thousand years! Of what consequence is time to me? I shall become a hermit, and you, child, shall be my disciple. I know the very place. An asteroid so desolate. Titan Three is where I shall repent!

(The Doctor hits the controls and the TARDIS shakes violently.)

[Bunker]

(Remus has opened up a panel in the wall.)

ROMULUS: What are you doing?
REMUS: We don't know where we're from or where we're going, but one thing's for sure. This is a spacecraft and we're prisoners.
ROMULUS: Then we must try to escape.
REMUS: I might be able to put out some sort of distress signal.
ROMULUS: But who's going to hear it?
REMUS: How should I know? Keep an ear to the door.

(Edgeworth is sleeping, but not well, on a bunk on the bridge.)

ROMULUS: I think someone's coming.

(Remus puts the panel back and leans against it. A Jacondan looks in then leaves again.)

REMUS: That was a bit close, that one.
ROMULUS: Did you do it?
REMUS: I only hope it works.

[Special Incident Room]

(Fabian's intercom beeps.)

FABIAN: Yes?
LANG [OC]: It's Lang, Commander. I'm in visual contact with a Spacehopper mark three freighter, registration number XV773, but I'm unable to make voice contact.
FABIAN: Elena, check it out, will you?
LANG [OC]: The ship is also transmitting an irregular signal. My flight computer is unable to analyse it.
ELENA: XV773 was reported missing, believed destroyed, eight months ago.
FABIAN: Did you get that?
LANG [OC]: Yes, Commander.
FABIAN: Proceed with care, but find out what that freighter's up to.

[Freighter]

(They have Lang's craft on monitor.)

LANG [OC]: This is fighter leader to freighter XV773. This is fighter leader to freighter XV773. Are you receiving me?

(The image on the monitor is ripped apart.)

[Special Incident Room]

LANG [OC]: Lang here. The freighter's gone into warp drive.
FABIAN: Then follow it.
LANG [OC]: No, you don't understand, Commander. The XV class of freighter was never built for warp drive. It must have been modified.
FABIAN: Do you want backup?
LANG [OC]: No, not yet. I'd like to know (static)
FABIAN: Lang? Lang, are you receiving me? Elena, find out what's happened.
ELENA: He's right, Commander. It wasn't built for warp drive.

[TARDIS]

(The scanner shows a desolate, green tinged landscape.)

DOCTOR: Titan Three. Thou craggy knob, which swims upon the oceans of the firmament. Receive this weary penitent.
PERI: I think I'm going to be sick.
DOCTOR: Hmm?
PERI: I'm sorry.
DOCTOR: And why should you be sorry?
PERI: I don't know. I don't know anything any longer. Oh Doctor, please.
DOCTOR: Yes?
PERI: I know what you said, but you weren't serious, were you? I mean about being a hermit.
DOCTOR: Never more so. I've no need to remind you. Now, a hermit needs a hermitage. You and I, Peri, must find one.
PERI: Why bother? Isn't this place good enough?
DOCTOR: Far too good. Quite useless for contemplation. No, what we need is a cave, some utterly comfortless place where you and I can suffer together.
PERI: Why should I be made to suffer?
DOCTOR: Because you have been chosen. It shall be your humble privilege to minister unto my needs. They will be very simple. But nothing must be allowed to interfere with my period of contemplation.
PERI: You said something about a thousand years?
DOCTOR: I was speaking figuratively. It shouldn't come to that. Come along, we're wasting time.
PERI: We can't go out there!
DOCTOR: We must! I must atone for what I have done!
PERI: But we'll die!
DOCTOR: Huh? The instruments say otherwise. The atmosphere, what there is of it, is breathable.

(A loud crash nearly knocks them off their feet.)

PERI: What was that?
DOCTOR: I think we should find out.

[Titan 3 base]

(Edgeworth, the twins and the two Jacondans transmat in to a stepped dome base amongst the desolation.)

EDGEWORTH: Sit them down over there.

(The boys lie down on a pair of settees.)

MESTOR [OC]: Edgeworth. Edgeworth.

(Edgeworth activates his small comms unit.)

EDGEWORTH: Mestor.
MESTOR [OC]: You were careless, Edgeworth.
EDGEWORTH: I make no excuse.
MESTOR [OC]: You say that too easily. I've saved you once. Five ships destroyed, but there may be others. You have betrayed your presence on Titan Three.
EDGEWORTH: Then I'd better start back now.
MESTOR [OC]: No, I wish to see how the Earth fleet reacts.
EDGEWORTH: Of course.

[Throne room]

(What looks like a giant caterpillar is attended by Jacondans.)

MESTOR: Are the Sylvest twins safe?
EDGEWORTH [OC]: They are. They're resting. The poor things are exhausted.
MESTOR: Then give them artificial restoration.
EDGEWORTH [OC]: That could be dangerous.
MESTOR: Nonsense. Take care not to blow their hearts or minds. Once they have served me, I shall have no further use for them.

[Titan 3 base]

EDGEWORTH: Mestor, your great purpose demands the originality of human genius. I have procured that genius. Do not discard it lightly.

[Throne room]

MESTOR: And do not presume upon my patience, Edgeworth. You are my creature, nothing more. Now, do as I command you.
EDGEWORTH [OC]: Very well.
MESTOR: Once you have revived them, put the proposition and let them proceed with the first concept. Whatever time remains to you on Titan Three, do not waste it. Drive them to the limit.

[Titan 3 base]

EDGEWORTH: As you say.
MESTOR [OC]: And one more thing.
EDGEWORTH: Yes?
MESTOR [OC]: Make certain there are no survivors from those ships.

[Titan 3 planet surface]

(Played by the ubiquitous quarry. Rickmansworth, I think. The crash was a spaceship crash-landing nearby. The Doctor and Peri explore the burning wreckage.)

PERI: But Doctor, it's dangerous!
DOCTOR: Of course it's dangerous. We could be blown to pieces at any minute.
PERI: But no one could have lived through this.
DOCTOR: Then stay behind. This is work for heroes, not for faint-hearted girls. So, no one could have lived through it, eh? Well, here's one who did. You would have left one of your own kind to die.

[Special Incident Room]

(Fabian is on the red telephone.)

FABIAN: Of course, Minister. Yes, I understand. At once. Call off the rescue party.
ELENA: Commander?
FABIAN: Until we know more about how our fighters were destroyed, no more lives are to be put at risk.
ELENA: But you can't just abandon the
FABIAN: That is a direct order from the Minister. (sotto) And may my bones rot for obeying it.

[TARDIS]

(The survivor is lying on the floor.)

LANG: My ship. The squadron. The children.
PERI: Will he live?
DOCTOR: Yes. Small thanks to you. Poor pusillanimous Peri. What a pitiful performance.
PERI: How can you be so pathetic? Well, talk about me giving a performance. You never stop giving them. When you're not really mad and trying to kill me, that is. Look at you now.
DOCTOR: What do you mean?
PERI: I never saw anyone who loved himself so much with less reason. You've forgotten all about him. By the time you've stopped congratulating yourself, he'll probably be dead.
DOCTOR: Peri!
LANG: Murderer!

(Lang points a small handgun at the Doctor.)

LANG: You destroyed my entire command. Now I'm going to kill you.
Part Two

[TARDIS]

PERI: We didn't do it. The Doctor rescued you. Please, put down the gun. Please put it down.
LANG: No. He deserves it.

(Lang collapses. Peri takes the gun.)

DOCTOR: He was going to kill me, Peri.
PERI: I guess he was. Poor guy.
DOCTOR: Peri!

(Peri puts the gun on the console.)

PERI: He didn't know what he was doing. I mean, think what he must have suffered to act like that.
DOCTOR: Quite beside the point. For all you seem to care, I could be lying dead at your feet this very moment.
PERI: But you're not. You're safe. The point is, can you save him?
DOCTOR: Easily, but I'm not going to.
PERI: Well, you must.
DOCTOR: You never cease to amaze me. All you're asking me to do is revive a man who had every intention of murdering me.
PERI: We can't let him die.
DOCTOR: If it's a question of his life or mine, I certainly can.

(Peri takes Lang's ID from his top pocket.)

PERI: Lieutenant Hugo Lang, Interplanetary Pursuit, A Squadron.
DOCTOR: Oh, a sort of policeman.
PERI: Which hardly makes him a homicidal maniac.

(Lang stirs and Peri gets the gun then gives it to the Doctor.)

PERI: Here, disarm the gun. I'll hide the powerpack. He can't do much harm then.
DOCTOR: I wouldn't like to count on it. Oh, all right, have it your own way. Fetch the medical kit.

(The Doctor gives Peri the tiny powerpack.)

[Titan 3 base]

(The two Jacondans enter.)

EDGEWORTH: Well?
NOMA: We found the remains of two bodies. The others must have been destroyed with their ships.
EDGEWORTH: Hmm. What about our own ship?

(Edgeworth calls it up on a monitor. It is also on the planet surface.)

NOMA: No sign of damage.
EDGEWORTH: No. All the same, you'd better go out and check it. I don't want to be stuck here with a malfunctioning ship.
DRAK: At once. We can't use the transmat, the radiation level is too high.
EDGEWORTH: Oh, it's only the side-effects of the energy beam that Mestor used to destroy the fighters. It'll clear soon.
NOMA: If we go out again, we risk radiation sickness.
EDGEWORTH: Use the service ducts. They'll provide protection for most of the way to the ship.

(Edgeworth opens the doorway and the Jacondans leave. Then he goes to the twins, who are writing equations on a piece of glass.)

EDGEWORTH: Is that the best speed you can manage?
ROMULUS: Is this the best speed we can manage?
REMUS: As it happens, yes.
EDGEWORTH: Not good enough.
ROMULUS: How do you expect anyone to work like this?
REMUS: Our arms are practically dropping off.
ROMULUS: My fingers are so sore I can hardly hold the pen.
EDGEWORTH: Look, don't expect any sympathy from me. You brought this on yourselves. If you hadn't rigged that stupid distress beacon when we came here, I would have let you use electronic equipment. As it is, I can't trust you. Now get on with your work.

(The boys put the tops back on the pens and throw them away.)

BOTH: No.
EDGEWORTH: Pick them up!
BOTH: No!
EDGEWORTH: I warn you.
REMUS: Warn away.
ROMULUS: You can't force us to work.
EDGEWORTH: I can if I have to.
REMUS: Why don't you tell us what this is all about?
ROMULUS: If we knew, then we might cooperate.
EDGEWORTH: It's too soon to tell you everything. Have you heard of a planet called Jaconda?
REMUS: No. What happens there?
EDGEWORTH: Its new master, its new master is a creature of infinite ambition. He requires the gifts of your genius to further that ambition. I cannot say more.
MESTOR [OC]: But I can. Professor Edgeworth is a merciful being.

(An image of Mestor appears in a doorway.)

MESTOR: He believe in the sanctity of life. I do not. Fail to obey him once more and I will have your minds removed from your bodies and use them as I wish. Have you understood?

(The twins nod.)

MESTOR: I see that you have.

(Mestor vanishes.)

EDGEWORTH: Pick up your pens.

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor uses a hand-held gizmo on Lang's skull.)

DOCTOR: Post-operative shock occluded, wounds closed, no internal haemorrhage. This deep healing beam's a small marvel. Great improvement on the old laser scalpel. Did you hide the powerpack to his gun well?
PERI: In the wardrobe room.
DOCTOR: Excellent. Oh, the satisfaction, Peri, knowing one has saved the life of a brave young man.
PERI: Or anyone, come to that. Is he going to be all right?
DOCTOR: Are you questioning my skill?
PERI: No, not your skill, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh. In that case, the short answer is yes.

(Peri puts the medical kit back inside the console pedestal.)

DOCTOR: His heartbeat's slow but steady as a drum. An hour's rest, he'll be right as rain, whatever that means. An hour. An hour to kill. How to turn it to account? We must make plans, Peri. My full powers are returning.
PERI: Plans? Do you think that wise?
DOCTOR: My perception's sharpening. I can sense some massive danger threatening the universe.
PERI: I thought you were the danger to the universe.
DOCTOR: Me?
PERI: That's what you said. That's why we came here, so that you could meditate.
DOCTOR: Words spoken in the sickness of transition. Now, there is a sickness in the air. I can feel the vibrations. I cannot yet detect their source, but it is there. I am never wrong. The life force itself is in danger of extinction. We must find this evil and destroy it.
PERI: How?
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, that is the problem. It's odd, Peri. The indications are very strong. I think the clue we need is here on Titan Three. That's it, of course, the children.
PERI: Children?
DOCTOR: He said something about children.
PERI: So he did.
DOCTOR: An interplanetary spaceman on a mission. His spacecraft crashes, he talks about children. Abducted children. That's it, Peri. Children of great importance kidnapped by aliens, brought here to Titan Three, held for a king's ransom.
PERI: That's absurd.
DOCTOR: It's nothing of the kind.
PERI: Well, you said yourself there wasn't any life here.
DOCTOR: There wasn't. But we're here, he's here. Things change, Peri.
PERI: You think so?

(Peri turns on the scanner and it sweeps across the surface.)

DOCTOR: Hmm, what's that?
PERI: What?
DOCTOR: That.
PERI: What?
DOCTOR: That.

(The base is almost like the surrounding rocky outcrops.)

PERI: A bump.
DOCTOR: A bump? A bump? A bump? That is something which has no business on an uninhabited asteroid. Look at that symmetry. That's no part of nature's handiwork.
PERI: Is it far?
DOCTOR: Quite a distance. Let's get going.
PERI: Have you noticed the radiation level?
DOCTOR: What's a little radiation when we have a purpose, a mission in life?
PERI: Silly me. What's a little radiation sickness between friends.
DOCTOR: Brave heart, Tegan. Tegan?
PERI: I'm Peri.
DOCTOR: Yes, of course.
PERI: Look, Doctor, even if you are right about the radiation level, even if there are abducted children, you're talking about aliens. I mean, we can't even defend ourselves.
DOCTOR: Don't worry, Peri. I won't be putting your life at any risk. Or mine either, for that matter. This is just a simple reconnaissance.
PERI: But, Lieutenant Lang?
DOCTOR: Who? Oh. Oh, the patient. Well, don't worry, he'll still be here when we get back. Come along, Peri. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Titan 3 base]

(The twins have completed the equations.)

EDGEWORTH: I'm about to transmit.
ROMULUS: Do you know what you're doing?
EDGEWORTH: Yes.
REMUS: If you transform all those equations into terms of power, you'll have enough energy there to generate a small sun.
EDGEWORTH: I know, but this is passive power for transportation. Now, you've done extremely well. Go and rest.

(The boys go into an alcove.)

[Titan 3 planet surface]

DOCTOR: The shades of night were falling fast, as through an alpine village passed, a youth, who bore midst snow and ice, a banner with a strange device. Excelsior!
PERI: Oh Doctor, stop it.
DOCTOR: I was only trying to cheer you up. One of your primitive American versemakers. Longfellow, wasn't it?
PERI: Who cares? You're making enough noise to raise the dead. I'm so tired.
DOCTOR: Courage, Peri. Just follow in my footsteps. Aprs nous, le deluge!

(At the top of a slope is a skylight.)

DOCTOR: Right on course. Hello? Perhaps a way to enter the dome undetected.
PERI: Are you sure?
DOCTOR: Would you rather I went round and knocked on the front door? I'm a Knight Errant, not an errant fool.

(The Doctor removes the skylight and gestures for Peri to go first. She gestures for him to go first, so he does.)

[Titan 3 base - sleeping alcove]

REMUS: It's something to do with these circles. That's how he must have done it.
ROMULUS: What?
REMUS: Taken our memories away.
ROMULUS: Hmm, I suppose so.
REMUS: I'm scared, Romulus.
ROMULUS: That awful creature. I've never been so frightened in my life.
REMUS: Same here, but it's everything else as well. This place, what they're forcing us to do, and whatever it is they aim to do with it when we've finished. I feel, well, I don't feel grown up any more.
ROMULUS: There's nothing we can do, Remus. Just carry on. We daren't stop now.

[Titan 3 base]

EDGEWORTH: Transmission completed. Any problems?
MESTOR [OC]: None. You have done well.
EDGEWORTH: Thank you.

[Tunnel]

PERI: This is madness. You've no idea where we're going.
DOCTOR: To our destiny.
PERI: Can't we rest? Our destiny can wait a moment.
DOCTOR: Peri, quickly. Now what did I tell you? Listen.
PERI: Machinery. Oh, let's get out of here.
DOCTOR: The perpetual cry of all cowards. We must investigate.
PERI: But, do you think that wise? There could be enormous danger, even worse.
DOCTOR: Worse? Yes. Yes, well, perhaps you're right. The purpose of reconnaissance, after all, is to gather information, not to finish up face down in a pool on one's own blood. Especially blood as noble as mine. We've found out what we want to know.
PERI: There is one thing, though.
DOCTOR: What?
PERI: The children Lieutenant Lang mentioned.
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, of course, but, well, children are such survivors. Besides, we have only the words of a delirious man that there are any children.
PERI: If you didn't believe him, what are we doing here?
DOCTOR: An unthinking act of foolish bravado. You know my current state of mind.
PERI: Don't you think we should just look, just in case?
DOCTOR: No, Peri. Discretion is always the better part of valour. We should return to the TARDIS and rethink the situation.
PERI: If that's what you want.

(The Doctor scurries off, then the Jacondans arrive and point guns at Peri.)

PERI: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Whatever is it now? Aliens? No, no. No, no, don't shoot. It's not my fault. I'm just a poor pilgrim. It's all her fault. Mercy, mercy, mercy. Don't shoot me. Don't shoot me.

[Titan 3 base]

MESTOR [OC]: The loss of five ships was sufficient. They've called off the search. You will return at once.
EDGEWORTH: Very well. I must revitalise.

(The tired old man adjusts some controls and steps yet another alcove. A purple flashing light reveals his circulatory system.)

[Tunnel]

(The Doctor and Peri are being marched along at gunpoint.)

DOCTOR: Look, I'm sure we can sort this out amicably.
DRAK: Move.
DOCTOR: Look, none of this is my fault. I'm the innocent party. It's all her fault. She's forever leading me off the straight and narrow.
PERI: Oh, thanks a lot, Doc.
DOCTOR: And kindly refrain from addressing me as Doc, Perpugilliam.

[Titan 3 base]

(The Doctor and Peri are brought in as Edgeworth's revitalisation ends.)

DOCTOR: Some of this technology looks familiar.
PERI: Why don't you just keep your big mouth shut.
DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, my sincere apologies. A momentary lapse. I am now in total control. Leave everything to me.
EDGEWORTH: Who are these?
DRAK: Survivors.
EDGEWORTH: You said there were none.
DRAK: I can't explain it.
DOCTOR: But I can. We are in no sense survivors. We came to Titan Three of our own free will.
EDGEWORTH: Who in their right minds come to Titan Three of their own free will?
DOCTOR: Pilgrims, in search of peace.
NOMA: They were spying.
DOCTOR: Silence, wretch!
NOMA: I will not be silent. Look at them. Unmarked, unhurt. They're not survivors from the wreck, they're spies. Put them to death.
EDGEWORTH: Hold your tongue, Noma. You say you're pilgrims?
DOCTOR: Yes. And pilgrims need a place in which to meditate. We were searching for a cave when we happened to stumble into your service duct.
EDGEWORTH: And your companion?
DOCTOR: My disciple.
EDGEWORTH: A pretty one.
DOCTOR: A most devout young person. Now sir, whoever you are, I demand a full explanation of this disgraceful treatment. Now there's a face that floats upon my memory. Impossible. I'm hallucinating. As I live and breathe, Azmael, you old dog!

(The Doctor hugs Edgeworth and twirls him round.)

DOCTOR: What in the name of wonder are you doing here? Peri, he's my old friend and mentor, the Master of Jaconda.
EDGEWORTH: I am nothing of the kind. I never saw you in my life.
DOCTOR: Oh, forgive me, old friend. Of course you don't recognise me. I've regenerated twice since our last meeting. Look, the twin hearts that beat as one? I'm a Time Lord, just as you are, and in case you still pretend not to know who I am, let me remind you. The last night I stayed, that last night, when you drank like twenty giants and I had to push you in the fountain to sober you up.
EDGEWORTH: I must concede you have to be the Doctor.
DOCTOR: Thank heaven. For a minute you almost had me worried there. You don't seem overjoyed.
EDGEWORTH: There's nothing to rejoice about. I wish I could extend the hand of friendship.
DOCTOR: Then why don't you?
EDGEWORTH: Well, the old times are gone, forever.
PERI: Oh Doctor, look.

(The twins have entered.)

DOCTOR: Earthlings. Children. By heaven, Peri, I was right.

[TARDIS]

(Lang wakes up and looks around.)

LANG: My ship. My ship. Oh, no. No.

(He takes his gun from the console and sees that the powerpack is missing.)

LANG: What have they done with it?

[Titan 3 base]

DOCTOR: I see. You abduct these children, deprive them of their memories, bring them to this screaming wilderness and won't disclose your motives? That hardly sounds in character.
EDGEWORTH: You're wasting time.
DOCTOR: Oh, what's time to us? You're in trouble, Azmael, grave trouble.
EDGEWORTH: There is a point beyond trouble. You can't help me now.
DOCTOR: Don't be absurd. You and I together? What an infallible combination.

(Noma sneaks off and arms something that has No Cancel Function and flashes red to tell you so. Start time is 9.44, end is apparently 12.10.)

EDGEWORTH: Let this at least be clear, Doctor. I am no longer Master of Jaconda, but I can still save my people. I will do so, whatever the cost, even the price of friendship. You were always full of good intentions, Doctor. I cannot risk you interfering now.
DOCTOR: What does that mean?
EDGEWORTH: You must stay here.
DOCTOR: As prisoners?

(Lang's search for the powerpack has brought him to the wardrobe room. He decides to change his torn tunic for a new one.)

EDGEWORTH: The lock on the main door has ten million million combinations. Now, will you please move over there? You too. (to the twins) Into the transmat area. Don't try to follow us. Once we've gone, the transmat will become random. Try to use it and your remains will be spread across the surface of this miserable rock. If it's of any comfort, Doctor, I too remember that evening by the fountain. Farewell.

(Edgeworth joins the twins and Jacondans in the transmat alcove. They all join arms and disappear.)

DOCTOR: Poor fellow. He's not a bit like that really.
PERI: Don't care what he's like. He's left us here forever.
DOCTOR: No, Peri, a few days at most.
PERI: Did you hear what he said? Ten million million combinations.
DOCTOR: That's what I mean. It may take even me a few days. Well, no time like the present. Let's get started.
(Lang has picked just the shiny, gaudy tunic that Peri hid the powerpack in.
While the Doctor uses the computer terminal, Peri explores and finds the red flashing thing that Noma set going.)
PERI: Doctor? Doctor! Doctor, quickly!
DOCTOR: It's vital you don't interrupt the sequence.
PERI: Well, it's vital you see this. I don't like the look of it one bit.
DOCTOR: All right, all right, I'm coming.

(After a few moments he joins her in the alcove.)

DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, no. He can't, he wouldn't have. We haven't got a few days, or even a few hours. In fact, we haven't got that many minutes.
PERI: It's a self-destruct mechanism, isn't it.
DOCTOR: That I can't switch off.
PERI: Are we going to die?
DOCTOR: Not yet. It means we've got to find another way out of here, and very quickly indeed.

[TARDIS]

LANG: Now, how do I get out of here?

[Titan 3 base]

(The Doctor sees the twin's equations.)

DOCTOR: Eureka! I can do it, Peri. I can do it.

[Freighter]

EDGEWORTH: Everything in order?
NOMA: Everything in order.
EDGEWORTH: Stand by for take off.
NOMA: Standing by.

(The spaceship leaves Titan 3.)

[Titan 3 base]

DOCTOR: That should do the trick.
PERI: What trick?
DOCTOR: I'll be brief. I must be very brief. That is known as a revitalising modulator. It breaks down your molecular structure and puts it back together again. A most refreshing process. Until now, that's the only purpose it's served. I have improvised. It will take you back in time.
PERI: What?
DOCTOR: Ten seconds, to be precise. You'll find yourself in the TARDIS.
PERI: Are you sure?
DOCTOR: Absolutely. In you get. Oh, no, wait a minute. Awkward. I won't be able to see the computer clock when it's my turn and I need to be able to compensate for the time factor so I arrive back at the TARDIS at the same time as you do. Your watch, Peri. Lend me your watch. Come on, quickly. Now, when I stand clear, press the internal button. Do hurry, Peri. In precisely one minute I'm going to be blown to pieces.

(Peri presses a button and vanishes.)

DOCTOR: It worked! It actually worked!

(He shakes Peri's tiny wrist watch.)

DOCTOR: Oh no, it's stopped.

(The Doctor makes an adjustment to the console, steps into the alcove, presses the button and strokes his cat brooch for luck. He vanishes.)

[TARDIS]

(Peri appears.)

PERI: Doctor?
LANG: Who are you?

(Peri ignores Lang's gun.)

PERI: Doctor, where are you?

(She turns on the scanner and watches the base explode.)

PERI: Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no, Doctor.

(Peri bursts into tears.)

Part Three

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor appears briefly then disappears again.)

PERI: Did you see that?
LANG: I think so.
PERI: Doctor, are you here?
LANG: What in heaven's name is going on? You're flesh and blood, at least.
PERI: Leave me alone.

(The Doctor materialises in front of the scanner. There is no one else present.)

DOCTOR: That stupid girl's watch. How I hate these hit or miss performances.

(He adjusts some console controls then appears in the same time frame as Peri and Lang, stroking his cat like he was when he first transmatted from the base.)

PERI: Oh, Doctor, thank heavens! Whatever happened?
DOCTOR: Your watch stopped. I over-compensated, ended up in the wrong time zone, ten seconds into your future.
PERI: I thought you'd been killed.
DOCTOR: You cared?
PERI: Of course I did.
DOCTOR: You know, I'll never understand the people of Earth. I have spent the day using, abusing, even trying to kill you. If you'd have behaved as I have, I should have been pleased at your demise.
PERI: It's called compassion, Doctor. It's the difference that remains between us.
DOCTOR: Earthlings.
LANG: Would someone like to tell me what is going on?

(Lang finally puts his gun away.)

DOCTOR: Ah, Corporal Lang, how are you?
LANG: Lieutenant. I was fine. I'm not sure any more. My ship
DOCTOR: You were lucky to escape. No one else did.
PERI: I'm sorry. What went wrong?
LANG: I don't know. The controls seized. After that I don't remember anything until I came to in here. What is this place? Who are you?
PERI: I'm Peri and this is the Doctor. He saved your life.
DOCTOR: And we did not abduct the twins.

(Lang gets his gun out again and puts it to the Doctor's head.)

LANG: The twins, what do you know about them?
DOCTOR: Never mind about that now. Look, do put that thing away, will you? If you ever hope to see them again, your only chance is to come with us.
LANG: Where to?
DOCTOR: Well, at a guess, Jaconda.
LANG: Well, all right. You don't leave me very much choice, do you.
DOCTOR: Not really.

(He sets the TARDIS in motion.)

[Freighter]

(The Time Lord we formerly knew as Professor Edgeworth is pacing up and down.)

ROMULUS: He was your friend.
REMUS: That girl did you no harm.
ROMULUS: You've left them there to die.
AZMAEL: They will survive.
REMUS: And your name isn't Edgeworth.
ROMULUS: It's Azmael.
AZMAEL: Yes, yes, I agree. A small deception. Now, be patient and sensible.
DRAK: Master.
AZMAEL: What is it?
DRAK: That blip on the scanner.
AZMAEL: Yes. Very far ahead.
DRAK: We're on the same course.
AZMAEL: Oh, some merchantman. No concern of ours.
NOMA: They will not survive.
AZMAEL: I don't understand.
NOMA: The safe house. I set it to self-destruct.
AZMAEL: You mad man! I gave no orders!
NOMA: That is perfectly correct.
AZMAEL: But it's murder! Why, Noma, why?
NOMA: It is what the Lord Mestor would have wished.

[TARDIS]

PERI: But why would he want to kill us?
DOCTOR: I don't know.
PERI: And if he's going to Jaconda, why stop off at Titan Three?
LANG: Oh, that was just to put us off the scent.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. No, no. No, no, no, no, no. Look, consider what we know. Azmael, or whatever he happens to call himself, need the genius of the twins. He crosses galaxies to possess their minds. He says he's no longer master of his planet, but he wants to save his people, and that I cannot help him to do so! Well, if he really does believe such unimaginable rubbish, he must be faced by some unimaginable disaster which has unhinged his mind. Well, we shall soon discover what it is.

[Throne room]

(A hapless being is thrown to the floor by a pair of guards. Mestor's Chamberlain is a Jacondan with a magnificent head of plumage.)

MESTOR: Who is this creature?
CHAMBERLAIN: A porter from the Royal Hatcheries, master.
MESTOR: What is his crime?
CHAMBERLAIN: After a routine search following his tour of duty, he was found to have this concealed on his person.
MESTOR: What does it contain?
CHAMBERLAIN: Vegetables from the Royal Hatcheries, master.
MESTOR: The penalty is death. Have you anything to say?
PRISONER: Mercy, great master, mercy. My family are starving.
MESTOR: Here, many are starving. It is no different. Now your family will have to starve without your company. Stand aside, guards. You will suffer the maximum penalty, death by embolism.
PRISONER: No, not that. Please, shoot me!

(Mestor's antennae project a green beam onto the prisoner. He stiffens, then tumbles sideways screaming, twitches and dies.)

MESTOR: Cold storage. The carcase may be of use to our slaves if this famine continues. Azmael will soon be here.
CHAMBERLAIN: Yes, master.
MESTOR: When he arrives, have him escorted to his laboratory with the Earthlings. I will see him there.

[Jaconda]

(Dead sticks that once were trees protrude from the brown bare land. The TARDIS materialises in Gerrard's Cross Quarry, I think.
Peri puts on a cape and the Doctor snaps his fingers to open the doors for him. He leads them out with his arms across his chest and nose held high. He takes in the air in deep breaths without opening his eyes.)
DOCTOR: Jaconda the beautiful.
PERI: You call this beautiful? Doctor, it's absolutely ghastly.

(The Doctor takes his first look.)

DOCTOR: Oh, no. Let it not be true.

(He goes over to a long shiny ribbon through the sand.)

DOCTOR: The giant gastropods.
LANG: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: Half humanoid, half slug. Part of Jacondan mythology.
PERI: So?
DOCTOR: Just look around you. Look at the devastation.
PERI: Gastropods did this?
DOCTOR: What else?
PERI: Are you sure your mind isn't wandering again?
DOCTOR: Of course not. So, it wasn't a myth after all. Somewhere, somehow, their seed survived, and now they have returned.
LANG: Nonsense.
DOCTOR: You think so?
LANG: Well, of course it is.
DOCTOR: I wish I could agree with you. This was once a forest grove. Look at the trees. Not a trace of foliage. The very bark stripped from the trunks. And the soil, barren. Nothing but these tell-tale tracks, the slime trails of the giant gastropods. I fear the evidence is quite conclusive.
PERI: Doctor, you're beginning to scare me.
DOCTOR: I'm beginning to scare myself, Peri.
PERI: Now what?
DOCTOR: Into the TARDIS. I must think.

[Freighter]

AZMAEL: Freighter to Jaconda control. Freighter to Jaconda control.
CONTROL [OC]: Receiving you, freighter.
AZMAEL: Approaching re-entry. Permission to touch down at Omega Intersection.
CONTROL [OC]: You are clear to approach.
AZMAEL: Thank you, control.
CONTROL [OC]: On arrival, report to palace. Transport will be waiting. Out.

(The freighter lands.)

[TARDIS]

PERI: What are you going to do?
DOCTOR: Panic at any moment.
LANG: Where is Edgeworth likely to have taken the twins?
DOCTOR: The palace.
LANG: Well, shouldn't we go there?
DOCTOR: And be killed?
LANG: Just give me directions and I'll go alone if you're afraid.
DOCTOR: Me, afraid?
LANG: Well, aren't you?
DOCTOR: You have a nasty habit of pinpointing the truth, young man.
PERI: We can't let him go alone.
DOCTOR: Watch me.
PERI: Well, you know what's out there, he doesn't.
DOCTOR: Well then, let him go to the palace and he'll know as much as I do.
PERI: Oh, Doctor, you must help.
DOCTOR: Oh, is this another attempt to teach me compassion?
LANG: Just tell me where it is and I'll be happy to go alone.
DOCTOR: Oh, it's all right for you. You're young, strong, fit of limb. You're confident in your mission, your energy's boundless, you're highly motivated to success. You even have a gun to enforce your will upon others. But look at me. I'm old, lacking in vigour. My mind's in a turmoil. I no longer know if I'm coming, have gone or have even been. I'm falling to pieces. I no longer even have any clothes sense.
PERI: Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself.
DOCTOR: Self-pity is all I have left.
PERI: You've got the TARDIS. You still know how to operate it. Take the Lieutenant to the palace!

(Lang puts the gun to the Doctor's head, again.)

LANG: Now, if you please.
DOCTOR: As you wish.

(The TARDIS relocates to a dingy tunnel or dungeon.)

PERI: That's the seediest looking stately home I've ever seen.
DOCTOR: Well, you didn't expect me to materialise in the throne room?
LANG: Where are the twins likely to be?
DOCTOR: Anywhere.
LANG: Well, I won't find them waiting around here.
DOCTOR: I'll come with you.
LANG: No need. Thank you for bringing me here.
DOCTOR: You didn't give me much choice. Now look, Sergeant.
PERI: Lootenant.
DOCTOR + LANG: Lieutenant.
DOCTOR: Don't be smug with me. Now, I've already explained my condition. I may be behaving like a manic barometer, but don't shrug off help when it's offered. You can't afford to.
LANG: I thank you for your offer, Doctor, but frankly, I find you unreliable.
DOCTOR: So's most currency. Doesn't stop people spending money wisely.
PERI: The Doctor might be useful.
LANG: Well, all right. But if you become unstable again, Doctor, I won't hesitate to kill you.

[Corridor]

ROMULUS: Where are you taking us?
AZMAEL: You'll see.
REMUS: Why do you like to play the man of mystery?
ROMULUS: It's a role you play very badly.
REMUS: You're so blatantly transparent.
AZMAEL: Continue to provoke me, and the matter that contains your genius will finish up as so much animal fodder.

[Outside the TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Hideous. Utterly hideous.

(He hits the TARDIS door.)

PERI: Are you sure this is the right place?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, absolutely. Azmael showed me once. This passage leads to the centre of the palace. Used to be an underground bolt-hole in times of danger. Seems to be clear. Shall we go?
PERI: I just hope you don't get us lost.
DOCTOR [OC]: Oh, there's every possibility of that.

[Laboratory]

AZMAEL: This is where I work. The palace laboratory.
CHAMBERLAIN: Greetings.

(They look through a transparent doorway.)

ROMULUS: What's in there?
AZMAEL: Eggs. You're looking at Lord Mestor's incubator. The future citizens of Jaconda.
REMUS: They're gastropod eggs.
CHAMBERLAIN: Oh, such knowledge.
ROMULUS: And who is this?
AZMAEL: One of Lord Mestor's lackeys.
CHAMBERLAIN: Not quite, Azmael. I am a humble servant of the Lord Mestor. I'm his Chamberlain. Welcome to the planet Jaconda. I will inform the Lord Mestor of your safe arrival.
AZMAEL: If you must do so.
CHAMBERLAIN: It's my duty. He's commanded me.
AZMAEL: Well, hurry, then. And you too, Noma.

(The Chamberlain leaves.)

NOMA: No, I must remain. I too have been commanded.
AZMAEL: One day you will discover for yourselves that treason is universal. Let it not concern you now. And don't be afraid of what lies in store for us.

[Passageway]

(There is no light.)

DOCTOR: This way, come along. Ah, there we are. I don't know how old they are, but they tell the whole story.

(The Doctor shines a torch on some wall carvings.)

DOCTOR: The Queen of Jaconda offended the Sun God. This way. He inflicted a terrible revenge. He sent a creature, half humanoid, half slug. This creature's offspring were numberless. They ravaged the planet. The population starved. When he saw what he'd done, the Sun God relented. He sent a drought, which destroyed the slugs. The people of Jaconda survived. Well, that's the story as Azmael related it.
PERI: And now what do you think?
DOCTOR: It was more truth than myth. I think some dormant egg survived.
PERI: For how long?
DOCTOR: Too long, it seems. Switch off the torch. Listen.
PERI: What is it?
DOCTOR: The sound of giant slugs.

(They hide as a pair of the yucky things waddle past.)

LANG: What a stench.
DOCTOR: Their gastric tracts. Rotting vegetables.
PERI: Or rotting flesh.

(Lang steps forward and his foot gets stuck.)

LANG: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Whatever is it now?
LANG: I'm, I'm stuck.
DOCTOR: Oh no, I should have thought of that. Their slime trails harden like concrete, only far faster.
LANG: Well, never mind that, just get me out, would you?
DOCTOR: Easier said than done.
PERI: We can't leave him here.
LANG: Maybe if I turn my gun down low I can melt the stuff.
DOCTOR: Oh, if you like, but try not to burn your feet off.

[Laboratory]

MESTOR: So these are your prodigies. They seem quite insignificant.
AZMAEL: Their brains are not.
MESTOR: Well, we shall see. Have you told them why we need them?
AZMAEL: Not in detail. So far they've simply worked to orders.
MESTOR: I suggest that you do tell them. If they know that our purpose is benevolent, they may prove to be less intransigent.
AZMAEL: Very well.
MESTOR: How far advanced are you?
AZMAEL: We need another day.
MESTOR: Very well, I will leave you.
AZMAEL: Mestor?
MESTOR: What is it?
AZMAEL: Do not monitor my thoughts.
MESTOR: Why not?
AZMAEL: It interferes with my concentration.
MESTOR: They may be treasonable thoughts.
AZMAEL: There can be no treason without fellow conspirators, and I have none. You control the minds of all my most faithful subjects.
MESTOR: I do not trust you.
AZMAEL: A mistake, Mestor. The last hope for my people is the success of this undertaking. I wouldn't allow my personal loathing for you to interfere with that.
MESTOR: Very well.
AZMAEL: Remove Noma, too.
NOMA: Master.
MESTOR: Until your work is done.

(Noma and the Chamberlain help Mestor up the step and out of the laboratory. Azmael goes to Drak.)

AZMAEL: They don't trust you, either. That's why they've left you here, to see the measure of your treachery.
DRAK: But I'm not a traitor.
AZMAEL: True, but I believe they think you are my fried.
DRAK: I would value your friendship.
AZMAEL: It might cost you your life.
DRAK: I can think of worse reasons for dying.
AZMAEL: Thank you. (to the twins) Now, pay attention.

(Azmael points out items on a star chart on the wall.)

AZMAEL: That is our sun. That is Jaconda. Those are two lesser planets. Now I once ruled Jaconda, but now Mestor has usurped me. His kind takes all and gives nothing. There's nothing left for my people.
REMUS: What are we supposed to do?
AZMAEL: Help me to provide the only possible solution.
ROMULUS: You'd better tell us what it is.
AZMAEL: We need new sources of supply. Now, we're going to bring those two planets into orbit around Jaconda.
BOTH: What?
AZMAEL: Oh, yes. And then they will have the same atmospheres and climates. They will be the larders of Jaconda. Everything is in readiness. All we lack is what you two possess. That mathematical delicacy that will stabilise those two planets in their new orbit.

[Passageway]

(Lang is still trying to free his feet.)

DOCTOR: Now, let me see. We follow this passage to the end, flight of steps up to the palace hall, doorway at the left just before the top. Yes, that's it. Private doorway to the back of his laboratory. That's where he's bound to be.
PERI: Who?
DOCTOR: What?
PERI: Who'll be there?
DOCTOR: Me, once I can get away from this fool. Will you hurry up?
LANG: I'm doing the best I can.
DOCTOR: Well, it's not good enough. Oh, look what you've done, you stupid girl. You've ruined everything!
PERI: It wasn't my fault.
DOCTOR: Of course it was your fault. Sheer carelessness, switching off the torch when you did. Don't argue with me.
PERI: I will! I'm not letting a manic depressive paranoid personality like you shut me up.
DOCTOR: Manic depressive? Me?
PERI: Well, can't you hear yourself? You're having another of your fits.
DOCTOR: Right, that's it, I'm off.
LANG: Calm down, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Calm down? Calm down? Calm down? The fate of a whole planet is hanging in the balance and he tells me to calm down?
LANG: Look, I'll be free in a moment.
DOCTOR: Oh, fend for yourselves.

(The Doctor stalks off.)

PERI: Oh, Doctor!
LANG: Don't waste your breath. We'll manage.

[Laboratory]

AZMAEL: Everything is controlled from this panel. When the information you provide has been fed into the computer, we shall operate this switch.
REMUS: What happens if we refuse to help?
AZMAEL: Then I shall have to kill you. I've already told you that it is the only way we can save my people.
ROMULUS: Aren't you forgetting the consequence of what you're asking?
AZMAEL: Look, everything has been considered. How many times must I tell you.
REMUS: He's mad.
ROMULUS: Quite mad.

[Outside the laboratory]

DOCTOR: Azmael, Edgeworth
BOTH [OC]: We won't do it!
AZMAEL [OC]: You'll do as I tell you.
DOCTOR: Still bullying children, eh?

[Laboratory]

(The Doctor enters and points at Azmael.)

DOCTOR: Villain! Murderer!
AZMAEL: Doctor!
DOCTOR: A thousand murrains on your head.

(The Doctor leaps over a piece of equipment and gets his hands round Azmael's throat. Romulus, Remus and Drak try to pull him off.)

REMUS: Stop it!
DRAK: Get out of the way!

(Drak separates the Time Lords.)

AZMAEL: Now, that's enough, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I apologise. However, I still would like to know why you tried to murder us.
DRAK: He didn't.
ROMULUS: He didn't know.
REMUS: It was Noma.
AZMAEL: Look, I can't believe it. How did you escape?
DOCTOR: Oh, that doesn't matter now. I think you'd better tell me what's going on here.

[Passageway]

(Lang has freed his boots from the hardened slime.)

PERI: Pity about your boots.
LANG: Never mind. Where to now?
PERI: Find the Doctor.
LANG: All right.

(They walk on. A Jacondan hits Lang over the back of the head, knocking him out, while another grabs Peri.)

PERI: No! Let go! No, no, no! No, no, no.

[Throne room]

MESTOR: Who were these aliens on Titan Three?
NOMA: A Time Lord and an Earth girl.
MESTOR: And Azmael would have let them live?
NOMA: Yes.
MESTOR: But now he knows them to be dead?
NOMA: He does. I told him so.
MESTOR: You have done well, Noma.
NOMA: No more than is my duty.

(Peri is brought in.)

MESTOR: What have we here?
NOMA: Impossible! She must have died.
MESTOR: Is this the Earth girl you say you killed? It seems you have not done so well after all. Where did you find her?
GUARD: In a passage underneath the palace.
MESTOR: Alone?
GUARD: There was another with her. We left him half dead.
MESTOR: This is a dangerous complication. Fetch him to me. At once! At once!

[Laboratory]

AZMAEL: That is the plan. Now what is your opinion?
DOCTOR: You really intend to put it into operation? You know what will happen, don't you?
ROMULUS: We've already told him.
AZMAEL: But risks must be taken.
DOCTOR: This is not a risk, Azmael, this is Doomsday. One tiny error in your calculation, you'll blow a small hole in the universe!

(Lang stumbles in.)

LANG: Doctor! Doctor, they've got Peri.

(Lang collapses.)

DOCTOR: Peri? They'll kill her!
AZMAEL: Stop him!

(Drak grabs the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: Leave me! I must go to her!
AZMAEL: And tell Mestor everything, condemn my planet to certain death?
DOCTOR: But I must help her.
AZMAEL: No, Doctor. If necessary, she must die.
DOCTOR: No. Peri!
Part Four

[Throne room]

NOMA: Why don't you kill her?
MESTOR: I find her pleasing. Pleasing!
NOMA: She's better dead.
MESTOR: This creature offers no threat.
PERI: That's right.
MESTOR: Be silent. But her companion, they should have found him by now. I sense danger.

[Laboratory]

DRAK: Be at peace, Doctor.
DOCTOR: How? The very core of my being is on fire with guilt and rage. How is he?

(Lang has been laid out on a couch, without the bright sparkly jacket.)

AZMAEL: Superficial damage. He'll be all right.

(Noma enters with two guards.)

NOMA: He's the one.

(The guards seize the Doctor.)

AZMAEL: But Noma, he is a friend. He will save us from Lord Mestor.
NOMA: The Lord Mestor is our friend. He is our enemy.

[Throne room]

MESTOR: They have him. Yes, Earthling, they have your friend.
PERI: He came here to help.
MESTOR: Did he?

(The Doctor is brought in.)

DOCTOR: Peri, you're alive!
PERI: Oh please, release him.
MESTOR: And have the fool wreck a scientific project of vast consequence?
DOCTOR: It's debatable who the fool is, if you intend to blow up this corner of the universe.
MESTOR: Are you challenging my calculations?
DOCTOR: Not at all. In fact, if I can hold my mind together, I might even be able to help you.
MESTOR: What can you offer me?
DOCTOR: Well, moving planets around is not for amateurs, you know. I mean, the twins may have the mathematical skills, but I have the empirical knowledge. The practical experience that can guarantee success. I mean, one tiny error in your calculations, the planets you're trying to shift could fly off in any direction.
MESTOR: You are telling the truth, Time Lord.
DOCTOR: You should know. I can sense your presence in my mind.
MESTOR: Then why do you resist me?
DOCTOR: I'm secretive by nature. Besides, if you were to learn everything too quickly, you'd have no reason to keep me alive.
CHAMBERLAIN: He's playing with us, master. Azmael has often spoken of this Time Lord. He's not to be trusted.

(Mestor punishes his Chamberlain with a painful green beam.)

MESTOR: Never argue with me again.
CHAMBERLAIN: No, master.
DOCTOR: Good heavens. You are rather hot-tempered.

[Laboratory]

REMUS: We would work much more effectively if we had them.
AZMAEL: What?
ROMULUS: Our memories.
REMUS: It's very disconcerting to have a large void in the middle of one's mind.
DRAX: We have little to lose.
ROMULUS: And our full cooperation to gain.
AZMAEL: Give me your right hand.

(Azmael removes the ring from Romulus' right wrist.)

AZMAEL: Now yours.

(Likewise.)

AZMAEL: Well, do you remember?
ROMULUS: Yes. Everything.

(Lang gets up from the couch.)

AZMAEL: Good.
LANG: Which is more than I do.
AZMAEL: Back to work.

(The twins and Drak move to a table.)

AZMAEL: You took a heavy blow.

(The Doctor and Peri are brought in by Noma and two guards.)

AZMAEL: Doctor!
PERI: Oh, Hugo, are you all right?
DOCTOR: I've agreed to help you.
LANG: Help?
DOCTOR: With this ridiculous scheme of Mestor's.
REMUS: We can't work like this.
ROMULUS: There are too many interruptions.
NOMA: You will do exactly as you are told.
ROMULUS: Then we won't do our best.
DOCTOR: And how do you think the Lord Mestor would feel about that?
PERI: He might show us that great little trick again. You know, the one with the green ray.
DOCTOR: Embolism, isn't it? Let me tell you. Little tiny bubbles go very well in champagne and purgatives, Noma, but not in the blood.
NOMA: Wait outside.

(The guards leave.)

AZMAEL: You too, Noma.
BOTH: Especially you.
DRAK: You don't seem very popular.
DOCTOR: Have you got fowl pest?
NOMA: You will suffer for this humiliation, all of you.
DRAK: Childish threats are best left to children, Noma.
AZMAEL: Now go away. We have a lot of work to do. Come.

(Noma leaves.)

[Throne room]

MESTOR: What do you know of this Doctor?
CHAMBERLAIN: Only what Azmael has said. He's supposedly a man of great cunning.
MESTOR: He's also egocentric, wilful and quite mad. Once my work is completed, I shall take great delight in examining this Doctor more closely. Meanwhile, find the Time Lord's TARDIS.
CHAMBERLAIN: Yes, master.

[Laboratory]

(The twins are doing their equations on a pair of desktop computers. The Doctor gets an orrery of the Jaconda system down from the ceiling.)

DOCTOR: How does Mestor plan to bring the other two planets into the same orbit as Jaconda.
AZMAEL: A tractor beam.
LANG: Does he have enough power for such a thing?
AZMAEL: Oh, yes.
DOCTOR: Well, how will he stabilise Jaconda? Three planets in the same orbit will exert enormous gravitational pressure on each other.
AZMAEL: By placing them in different time zones. You see, each planet will occupy the same space, but will be one Jacondan day ahead of the other.
DOCTOR: Very neat.
PERI: Mestor can travel in time?
AZMAEL: Thanks to me.

(Mestor laughs. A few minutes later, the Doctor is sitting cross-legged on the table, meditating.)

PERI: Doctor? Doctor?
DOCTOR: What?
PERI: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: Of course I'm all right. I'm certainly all right. It's the situation that's all wrong.
AZMAEL: In what way is it wrong?
DOCTOR: Both the outer planets are smaller than Jaconda.
PERI: That's obvious.
DOCTOR: Well, so is the consequence if they're brought any nearer the Jacondan sun.
AZMAEL: But you're right. Why didn't I realise?
DOCTOR: Your mind was on other things, my friend.
AZMAEL: Yes, but to overlook something so simple.
PERI: What are you two talking about?
DOCTOR: A matter of simple physics. The gravitational pull of the sun on Jaconda is more or less consistent, yes?
PERI: I'll take your word for it.
DOCTOR: The outer planets are smaller. Place them where Jaconda is, how long do you think they'll last?
AZMAEL: No time at all. Their orbit would rapidly decay and they'd crash into the sun.
REMUS: Causing an enormous explosion.
ROMULUS: It'd be wondrous to see.
AZMAEL: Now be quiet and get on with your work.
LANG: Does Mestor know this could happen?
DOCTOR: Of course.
PERI: So why do it?
DOCTOR: I don't know, but there's method to his madness, of that I'm certain. In the meantime, carry on with your calculations. We don't want to arouse Mestor's suspicions.

[Outside the TARDIS]

(The Chamberlain has found the TARDIS.)

CHAMBERLAIN: Master.

(A green glow opens the TARDIS door.)

MESTOR [OC]: Enter!
CHAMBERLAIN: Well, after you, gentlemen.

(The guards enter the TARDIS reluctantly.)

[Laboratory]

BOTH: We've finished.
AZMAEL: Well done.
PERI: Now what?
LANG: We can't give those calculations to Mestor.
AZMAEL: No. Doctor?
PERI: Doctor?
AZMAEL: He worries me.
PERI: He's not himself.
DOCTOR: Then who am I?
PERI: I wish you wouldn't keep wandering off like that.
DOCTOR: See it more as a mental stroll in a park of psychic tranquillity.
AZMAEL: But what do we do next? The twins have finished their calculations.
DOCTOR: Who? Oh. Oh, very good. Excellent. Ten out of ten. Alpha plus.

(The Doctor gets off the table and turns on the light in the hatchery.)

DOCTOR: Interesting. Gastropod eggs.
PERI: Oh, Doctor, we're wasting time.
DOCTOR: Is it possible to get into the hatchery?
PERI: Whatever for?
DOCTOR: I sense the answer is in there. Azmael?
AZMAEL: Well, look, but please be quick.
DOCTOR: Of course.

(Azmael opens the door.)

DOCTOR: Excellent.

[Hatchery]

DOCTOR: Now, the answer must be in here somewhere. Mestor hasn't gone to all this trouble. The egg of a slug. But where's the mucus? The jelly, the food that feeds the young within?
PERI: Does it matter?
DOCTOR: Of course. These eggs are dry and rubbery. Let's see what's inside. A laser cutter. I must have a laser cutter.
AZMAEL: I'll get one for you.
LANG: What is it that's worrying you, Doctor?
DOCTOR: I don't know, but something's wrong.

(Azmael returns with the laser cutter.)

DOCTOR: Ah!

(He draws the laser down the egg, lengthways.)

LANG: What were you trying to do, hard boil it?
DOCTOR: It should at least have scratched the surface.
PERI: Well, if it's that tough, how do the young break out?
DOCTOR: How indeed?
AZMAEL: It's reacted to the heat of the laser.

(The baby slug has started gurgling inside its egg.)

DOCTOR: Precisely what it's supposed to do, only it isn't anything like hot enough yet.
PERI: Doctor, you're talking in riddles.
AZMAEL: No, no, no, he isn't, and I fear he might be right.

(The twins enter.)

DOCTOR: Are these all the eggs?
AZMAEL: No, there are more through there.

(Azmael slides back the screen on a viewport to reveal rank upon rank of eggs on shelves reaching off into the distance.)

DOCTOR: So many. Ah, it all begins to make sense.
PERI: Not to me. You still haven't explained why the eggs are so tough.
DOCTOR: They were designed to withstand the temperatures of an exploding sun.
LANG: Nonsense.
AZMAEL: I wish it were.
DOCTOR: Mestor's colonisation is not of this planet, but the universe.
AZMAEL: The exploding Jacondan sun would scatter the eggs, and nowhere would be safe from invasion.
REMUS: We've made that possible.
ROMULUS: Our genius has been abused.
LANG: But could such a scheme work?
DOCTOR: It's so simple, it's mind-boggling. Of course it could work.

[Throne room]

MESTOR: Now you know everything, Time Lord.

[Laboratory]

DOCTOR: Right, what we need is a plan of action. Now, you've still got your gun. Take Peri and the twins back to the safety of the TARDIS.
LANG: Noma and the guards might still be outside.
DOCTOR: Then deal with them. You are supposed to be an Interplanetary Pursuit Officer.
AZMAEL: Well, what should we do?
DOCTOR: Deal with Mestor.
AZMAEL: Are we capable? I mean, look at us, Doctor. I'm old. I've even used up my ability to regenerate. And you, well, your mind could cloud at any moment.
DOCTOR: I am fully alert and ready for action.
AZMAEL: Mestor will destroy us, you know.
DOCTOR: Better we die in harness, battling against the odds, than die in fear, finding menace in our own shadows.
REMUS: What do we do about our calculations?
DOCTOR: Can you carry them in your head?
ROMULUS: Of course.
DOCTOR: Then destroy all the notes you've made.
ROMULUS: That's simple.

(The twins press a few buttons on the computers.)

REMUS: It's done.
DOCTOR: Good. Drak, you go back to the TARDIS with the others.
AZMAEL: Drak?

(Drak slides down the wall to the floor, eyes staring.)

AZMAEL: He's dead! His mind has been burnt out.
DOCTOR: Mestor!
AZMAEL: He's used him as a monitor. He must know everything that's been said in this room.
DOCTOR: There's no time to waste. Check the corridor.

(Lang goes out. The Doctor put a couple of bottles of orange liquid in his jacket inside pocket.)

[Outside the laboratory]

LANG: It's clear.
DOCTOR: Now, back to the TARDIS. Be careful and good luck.
LANG: Thanks. Follow me.
PERI: Good luck, Doctor.

(The Doctor and Azmael are left alone.)

DOCTOR: Such a nice girl. Hope I see her again.
AZMAEL: I'm sure you will, my friend. This way.
DOCTOR: Yeah.

[Corridor]

MESTOR [OC]: Noma!
NOMA: Yes, master.
MESTOR [OC]: Find the twins and bring them to me.
NOMA: Yes, master.
MESTOR [OC]: They must not be harmed.
NOMA: And the others?
MESTOR [OC]: Kill them.

[Passageway]

PERI: This is ridiculous. How can we have got lost? There's only one passageway.
LANG: Well, apparently not.
PERI: Okay, well, let's try along here.

[Throne room]

DOCTOR: Ah, there you are. I've been looking for you.

(The Doctor holds one of the bottles behind his back.)

DOCTOR: I've worked out what you're up to and it's got to stop.
MESTOR: Control your arrogance, Time Lord.
DOCTOR: I'm not having your sluggy eggs spread all over the universe, causing havoc. Nor will I allow you to destroy what was once a very beautiful planet.
MESTOR: You really are mad. You dare to threaten me in my own throne room.
DOCTOR: Did I threaten him? Did you hear me threaten him?
MESTOR: Be silent.
DOCTOR: Watch it, Mestor!
AZMAEL: Please, Doctor.
MESTOR: You do well to warn him.
DOCTOR: I'm the one who's doing the warning. Now, will you give up this nonsense?
MESTOR: No, Time Lord.
DOCTOR: Then take the consequence!

(The Doctor throws the bottle, which shatters against a screen of beams protecting Mestor.)

MESTOR: You think that I would be so vulnerable? You're an interfering fool.
DOCTOR: No, just a rotten shot.

[Passageway]

LANG: Well, this looks more like it.
PERI: You said that about the last passage we were in.
NOMA: This time he's right. You almost made it. What a pity.
LANG: Leave them to me.
ROMULUS: No.

(The twins stand in front of Lang and Peri.)

REMUS: They want us alive. Mestor needs our calculations.
NOMA: Don't push your luck.
LANG: Down!

(The twins duck and Lang shoots the gun out of Noma's hand, and kills the second guard.)

NOMA: Kill him.

(The other guard shoots. Lang falls back but when the guard goes in for the coup de grace, Lang kills him.)

LANG: You might just reach that gun before I can kill you, but I doubt it.

(Peri picks up Noma's gun.)

[Throne room]

(Mestor has picked up Noma's pain.)

DOCTOR: Indigestion? Or is it bad news?
MESTOR: It does not concern you.
DOCTOR: Perhaps your plan to recapture the twins has failed.
MESTOR: A small set-back, Time Lord.
DOCTOR: Be careful of Lieutenant Lang. He's been dying to kill someone ever since he got here, and after all, you did destroy his entire squadron. Earthlings have an unquenchable thirst when it comes to revenge.
MESTOR: Be silent!
AZMAEL: Lord Mestor, the Doctor has been ill. It's affected his reasoning.
MESTOR: He has tried to kill me. He must therefore forfeit his own existence.
DOCTOR: Oh, thought we'd come to that. Embolism time, is it? Oh, don't tell me. My blood will bubble like a raging stream? I will beg to die? And in so doing I will crave your indulgence and forgiveness?
MESTOR: Not quite, Time Lord.
DOCTOR: Good, because in my time I have been threatened by experts. I don't rate you very highly at all.
AZMAEL: Doctor.
MESTOR: I have said you will cease to exist, but you will not die.
AZMAEL: No, please, Lord Mestor.
MESTOR: I tire of the disadvantages of my own being.
DOCTOR: Ha! I don't blame you.
MESTOR: So I intend to take over your mind as well as your body.
DOCTOR: You? Take over my mind? Ha! It would be like throwing a pebble into a lake. It will sink without trace.
AZMAEL: But he can do it.
DOCTOR: A Jacondan mind, maybe, but I am a Time Lord.
MESTOR: Perhaps you would like be to demonstrate?
DOCTOR: Indeed.

(A yellow beam lances from Mestor's head to Azmael's.)

DOCTOR: Azmael?

(Mestor speaks through Azmael's mouth.)

MESTOR: Azmael is now my slave.
DOCTOR: That's not fair. He's an old man.
MESTOR: Do you think I could not do this to you?
DOCTOR: Well, why don't you try?
MESTOR: Simplicity itself. All I need is
AZMAEL: He's weakening. He's trying to control too much. All Jaconda is affected by his thoughts. Help me, Doctor. I cannot contain him for long.
DOCTOR: We must mind-link. Together we can destroy him.
AZMAEL: No, no, no, no. Otherwise he will pass to you and you will be lost.
DOCTOR: I can contain him.
AZMAEL: No, quickly. You must destroy his body, otherwise he will return to it.

(The Doctor throws the second bottle. There is a bright orange flash, then we see Mestor's body dissolving like a slug which has had salt poured on it. He still speaks through Azmael.)

MESTOR: Too late, Time Lord. Now we must mind-link.
AZMAEL: No!

(The Doctor catches Azmael as he collapses.)

MESTOR: What is happening?
AZMAEL: You are lost, Mestor.
MESTOR: What are you doing?
AZMAEL: The one thing that you cannot control. I am dying. I am regenerating.
DOCTOR: You can't. You've used up your allotted number of lives.
AZMAEL: Don't you think I do not know that, Doctor?

(A black spirit leaves Azmael.)

AZMAEL: He is exorcised, my friend.

[Passageway]

(Noma screams.)

PERI: What's happening?

(Lang punches Noma in the belly.)

PERI: What's going on?
NOMA: Mestor is dead.

[Throne room]

DOCTOR: You fool, why did you do it?
AZMAEL: I had no other choice.
DOCTOR: You should have left him to me.
AZMAEL: Dear friend, you are too unstable. He would have swamped you. You would have been the pebble drowning in his lake.
DOCTOR: But to throw away your own life?
AZMAEL: Oh, it was nearly at an end anyway.
DOCTOR: Oh, you had so much to give. You were the finest teacher I ever had.
AZMAEL: You've learned all I know, and much besides.

(Azmael takes a large ring from his finger.)

AZMAEL: My only regret is leaving Jaconda. Gave me a good life. Many great moments. One of the best, my friend, was that time by the fountain.

(Azmael dies.)

DOCTOR: Azmael. Azmael. I shall miss you, old friend. I shall indeed.

[Outside the TARDIS]

PERI: I don't want to worry you, but the TARDIS door's open.
LANG: You stay here.
PERI: No, I've got to find the Doctor.
LANG: All right, but be careful.
PERI: Look after him, will you?
ROMULUS: Yes.
BOTH: Good luck.

[TARDIS]

(Lang finds the Chamberlain and his guards cowering by the far wall.)

LANG: Outside.

(Lang takes the guns from the guard as they pass him.)

[Outside the TARDIS]

CHAMBERLAIN: Listen, young sir. This planet's finished. There's no future here.
LANG: Shut up.
CHAMBERLAIN: But you don't understand. Here we have a fine craft to take us away from here. Far away.
LANG: I said, shut up.

[Passageway]

(Peri is lost. She tries one passage and the Doctor grabs her from behind.)

DOCTOR: Sorry about that.
PERI: Don't ever do that again!
DOCTOR: Of course not.
PERI: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: Do I look otherwise?

[Outside the TARDIS]

CHAMBERLAIN: But we must get away from here!
ROMULUS: He can't fly the TARDIS.
REMUS: But we could learn.
DOCTOR: I'll take you all.

(The Chamberlain falls to his knees.)

CHAMBERLAIN: You're a true gentleman, sir.
DOCTOR: Wait a minute, I remember you. You're the Chamberlain.
CHAMBERLAIN: Yes, that's right, sir.
DOCTOR: I don't like you.
CHAMBERLAIN: Oh, but sir, I must get away from here.
DOCTOR: Then I suggest you start walking. Right, let's get you and the twins back to Earth.
PERI: What about the rest of the people on this planet?
DOCTOR: They'll survive.
LANG: Who'll lead them?
DOCTOR: Well, certainly not that thing. Neither will Azmael, he's dead.
PERI: Well, then you must help, Doctor.
DOCTOR: They're quite capable of looking after themselves. Listen.

(Distant weapons fire.)

DOCTOR: They've already started mopping up.
LANG: I'd rather stay. I think I could be some use here.
DOCTOR: As you wish. Although I think you're mad.

(The Doctor gives Lang Azmael's ring.)

LANG: No, I've nothing to go back to Earth for. I've no one there.
DOCTOR: That I can believe.
PERI: I'm sorry about that. He never used to be so rude.
BOTH: Can we stay?
PERI: No. Into the TARDIS.
LANG: It was, er, it was nice to have met you, however strange the circumstances.
PERI: Good luck.
LANG: Thanks, I think we'll need it.
CHAMBERLAIN: Please take me. They'll kill me if I stay here.
LANG: No, they won't. Goodbye.
PERI: Bye.
LANG: Oi! Move. Go on.

(Lang takes the Chamberlain away at gunpoint.)

[TARDIS]

(The twins watch the Doctor set the coordinates.)

PERI: Did you have to be so rude?
DOCTOR: To whom?
PERI: Hugo. You could at least have said goodbye.

(The time rotor starts moving and the Doctor heads for the inner door, sighing.)

PERI: Are you having another of your fits?
DOCTOR: You may not believe this, but I have fully stabilised.
PERI: Then I suggest you take a crash course in manners.
DOCTOR: You seem to forget, Peri, I'm not only from another culture but another planet. I am, in your terms, an alien. I am therefore bound to different values and customs.
PERI: Your former self was polite enough.
DOCTOR: At such a cost. I was on the verge of becoming neurotic.
PERI: We all have to repress our feelings from time to time. I suggest you get back into the habit.
DOCTOR: And I would suggest, Peri, that you wait a little before criticising my new persona. You may well find it isn't quite as disagreeable as you think.
PERI: Well, I hope so.
DOCTOR: Whatever else happens, I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not.

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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