Part One

[TARDIS]

(Leela, wearing the light coloured leather outfit, is operating the TARDIS controls and humming to herself. The time rotor stops.)

LEELA: We've stopped.
K9: Affirmative.
LEELA: We've stopped dead.
K9: Negative dead.
LEELA: Oh. Doctor!

(The Doctor enters, wearing a smock and beret, and carrying a wall painting brush.)

DOCTOR: Hmm?
LEELA: We've stopped.
DOCTOR: Really?
LEELA: I mean, everything's still working. Nothing's gone wrong, has it?
DOCTOR: Not so far, no.
LEELA: Then why have we stopped? Why are we not going anywhere?

(The Doctor turns on the scanner. It is black.)

DOCTOR: That's intensely interesting. Do you realise there's nowhere to go?
LEELA: What?
DOCTOR: We're on the edge of the cosmos, the frontiers of creation, the boundary between what is and isn't, or isn't yet, anyway. Don't you think that's interesting?
LEELA: I suppose so.
DOCTOR: What? I feel just like a goldfish looking out on a new world.
LEELA: A goldfish?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: But it's just black nothing out there, and being out here on our own is just, just nothing.
K9: We are not alone.
DOCTOR: Nothing?
LEELA: Nothing.
DOCTOR: Nothing? It's magnificent. Any minute, any second, a whole new world could be born and we'd be the first
K9: We are not the first.
DOCTOR: Shush. We'd be the first intelligent and semi-intelligent beings to witness the spectacle.
K9: We are not alone.
DOCTOR: What's he saying?
LEELA: I don't know.
K9: We are not the first. We are not alone. Receptors indicate pulsing. Pulsing characteristic of ion drive system. The inference therefore would be spacecraft in vicinity.
DOCTOR: Shush, shush. Where, K9, where?
K9: Thirty four seven zero one seventeen fifty zero five.
DOCTOR: Thirty four seven? That's beyond visual aid range.

(The Doctor and Leela operate controls.)

DOCTOR: Listen, Leela. Listen! Ion drive, or I'm a budgie's cousin.
K9: Affirmative ion drive. Family grouping negative.
DOCTOR: Shut up, K9. Shut up.
LEELA: Doctor!

(A big red thing appears on the scanner.)

DOCTOR: I can tell him to shut up if I want to.
LEELA: No, no, no. Look!
DOCTOR: What?

(The red thing twirls its way across the screen.)

DOCTOR: Leela.
LEELA: What?
DOCTOR: That's a spiral nebula. A gas cloud coalescing to form a whole new star system. It's sucking in everything around it like a gigantic whirlpool, including us.
LEELA: Is that good?
DOCTOR: No, it's bad. Very bad.

(An alarm starts blaring.)

DOCTOR: Time to get out of here. K9, escape coordinates.
K9: Thirty four seven zero one seventeen fifty zero five.
LEELA: But isn't that where the ion drive is?
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes!

[Flight deck]

(The upper of a two level area, like in Robots of Death, but this time it has comfy chairs instead of the usual hard ones. We hear the sound of the TARDIS materialising. A white haired woman in silver spacesuit is sitting operating a console. Three men are standing.)

TALA: Nothing up front, Captain. Only the spiral nebula on two four zero.
JACKSON: Right, Tala. Stay on watch. Orfe, check the nebula, two four zero.
ORFE: Two four zero, checking. Too far off, sir.
JACKSON: Then what was it? Tala, take out the nebula. Herrick?
HERRICK: Nothing on targeter, sir. There's no blip, nothing.
JACKSON: Right, let's think it again. It wasn't inside, it wasn't outside, none of us saw anything, we've got no trace, but we all heard it, didn't we?
ORFE + HERRICK: Yes, sir.
JACKSON: Let's hear it again, Orfe.

(Orfe plays back the TARDIS' sound.)

JACKSON: Now, was that sound generated inside the ship or outside? Anybody ever hear anything like that before?
ORFE + HERRICK: No, sir.
JACKSON: Run it through ident.
ORFE: Sir. Ident running, sir.

[R1C hold]

(The TARDIS has parked herself in a dusty, cobwebby place.)

LEELA: The air is stale.
DOCTOR: Hmm.
LEELA: The door's locked. Nobody's been in here for years.
DOCTOR: No.

(He picks up a metal item and reads the stamp on the bottom.)

DOCTOR: Made in Minyos. Made in Minyos? Got it! The Minyans of Minyos. This could be a Minyan patrol vessel. Have you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?
LEELA: No.
DOCTOR: Pity, I've often wanted to know who he was. K9, could you give me a date on that, do you think?
K9: Isotope decay rate indicates one hundred K range.
DOCTOR: Yes, that's what I thought.
LEELA: Me too.
DOCTOR: That's a hundred thousand years old. The Minyan civilisation was destroyed a hundred thousand years ago, on the other side of the universe.

[Flight deck]

ORFE: Ident concluded, sir. Signal identified as relative dimensional stabiliser in materialisation phase as used in
JACKSON: As used in what? Orfe, as used in what?
ORFE: As used in the time ships of the gods.

[R1C hold]

DOCTOR: It was what happened on Minyos that led to our policy of non-intervention.
LEELA: Huh?
DOCTOR: Yeah. Well, the Minyans thought of us as gods, you see, which was all very flattering and we were new at space-time explorations, so we thought we could help. We gave them medical and scientific aid, better communications, better weapons.
LEELA: What happened?
DOCTOR: Kicked up out at gunpoint. Then they went to war with each other, learnt how to split the atom, discovered the toothbrush and finally split the planet.
LEELA: So this ship must have got away before the planet was destroyed.
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: That was a hundred thousand years ago. Nobody lives for a hundred thousand years. Do they?

[Flight deck]

(Tala's skin is very creased and dry.)

ORFE: If it is the gods, they'll help us. Help us with the Quest.
HERRICK: Help us? Like they helped us before? Helped to destroy ourselves. No, if it is the gods, and there's no way of telling because that ident is as worn out as everything else on board the ship, but if it is the gods then they're the reason for it all.
JACKSON: The reason for all what, Herrick?
HERRICK: Well, everything! The Quest. They're playing games with us. Oh, they do, you know. The gods use us for their sport. We should have wiped them out when we had the chance.
ORFE: We brought our own destruction on ourselves.
HERRICK: Pacifist! If I get one of them in my sights again, then I'll dematerialise him for good. If they're on board this ship, then I'll sniff them out!
JACKSON: Herrick! Sit down.
HERRICK: Sir? Yes, sir.
JACKSON: Time for the next sweep, Tala. Set up for the next sweep.
TALA: Yes, sir.
ORFE: Two four zero and cubit.
TALA: Four zero and cubit.
ORFE: It's going to take us close to the nebula, Captain.
JACKSON: I know, but we have no choice. The Quest is the Quest.
ORFE: The Quest is the Quest.

(The ship shudders.)

[R1C hold]

(The Doctor and Leela have been thrown to the floor.)

DOCTOR: You all right, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
LEELA: What happened?
DOCTOR: Trouble.
LEELA: I know that.
DOCTOR: Blast the door, K9.
K9: Blaster malfunction. Blaster malfunction. Blaster malfunction. Blaster malfunction.

(Leela uses an arm-held shield-like device she had been cleaning to blast the doors open.)

LEELA: What is this thing?
DOCTOR: It's a Liebermann laser. Fires charged particles along a laser beam. Don't ever play with strange weapons, Leela.
LEELA: No, Doctor.
DOCTOR: And switch the safety catch off.
LEELA: Yes, Doctor.

[R1C corridor]

DOCTOR: Shush.
LEELA: Shush.
DOCTOR: Shush.

[Flight deck]

(Tala has been knocked out against her console.)

JACKSON: Take her off the flight deck!
HERRICK: Yes, sir.
JACKSON: Levelled out.
ORFE: Nothing on rudder, sir. She's stuck, stuck on maximum.
JACKSON: Do what you can. Can you shut down on drive?
ORFE: We can, but it won't reduce her speed. She's already reached maximum.
JACKSON: Reverse thrust?
ORFE: Tear the ship in two, sir.
JACKSON: Right, give her all you can on left main and auxiliaries. Shut down on all right propulsion units.
ORFE: Yes, sir.
JACKSON: We've got to veer off before we hit the gravity field or that thing will suck us down like a whirlpool!

(We'll call it the Charybdis nebula, then, shall we?)

[Command deck]

(Jackson runs down the step to where Herrick has laid Tala on a couch.)

JACKSON: How is she?
HERRICK: She's not good, sir. She's gone past her regeneration point deliberately, just like all the others.
JACKSON: None of us likes it, but the Quest is the Quest.
DOCTOR: Anything I can do? How do you do?
JACKSON: Who are you?
DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor.
HERRICK: How did you get here?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Well, through the door.
HERRICK: He's one of them!

(Herrick grabs the Doctor.)

LEELA: Stop!
HERRICK: See, sir? They're on board. I warned you, they're on board!
JACKSON: Orfe.

(Orfe aims a beam at Leela from a small cannon on the flight deck railing. She smiles and lowers the laser.)

LEELA: Thank you.

(Herrick grabs the laser from Leela.)

HERRICK: Go on, get back! Get back to that panel. And you, too, get back. I'll take them out now, sir. Just one quick blast.
JACKSON: Calmly, Herrick. Wait for the word of command. Just a minute. You, Doctor, you said you wanted to help?
DOCTOR: Yes, if I can, yes.
JACKSON: Are you a Time Lord?
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm a Time Lord.
HERRICK: It was lies, all lies. He said he was a doctor!
JACKSON: Orfe.

(Orfe gives Herrick a go with the cannon and he calms down.)

HERRICK: Thank you, Orfe.

(Herrick hands the laser to the Doctor.)

HERRICK: I'm sorry, friend.
DOCTOR: That's all right. What happened to her?
JACKSON: She collapsed. We know what to do.
DOCTOR: Well, if you know what to do, why don't you do it?
JACKSON: Herrick, take Tala to regen now.
HERRICK: Yes, sir.

(Orfe comes down from the flight deck as Herrick picks up Tala.)

LEELA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes?
LEELA: His name is Orfe.
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: What a beautiful name.
JACKSON: Orfe, look after her then get back to your post.
ORFE: Yes, sir.
LEELA: Orfe.

(Orfe leads Leela away to the flight deck.)

DOCTOR: So you did develop the pacifier.
JACKSON: Very few, and too late.
DOCTOR: How long does the effect last?
JACKSON: Is she a primitive?
DOCTOR: Oh, very, very.
JACKSON: Well, several hours then.
DOCTOR: Really.
JACKSON: You say you're a doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes.
JACKSON: Of medicine?
DOCTOR: Oh, many things, many things.
JACKSON: Crystalocybernetics?
DOCTOR: My dear chap, what's the problem?
JACKSON: That is.

(The nebula fills the windows.)

JACKSON: And this. It's worn out.
DOCTOR: How much time have we got?
JACKSON: We haven't. We're already in the gravitational field. We could burn our way out if we had the main systems working. That's the problem. Terminal cores are fragmented.
DOCTOR: Mind if I take a look?
JACKSON: We've been in mission a hundred thousand years, Doctor. The ship wasn't designed for that. Neither were we. Each one of us has regenerated a thousand times. Have you any idea what that means?
DOCTOR: Well, I've been through it two or three times. Not pleasant.
JACKSON: A thousand times plus, Doctor. None of us wants to go on, but we must. The Quest is the Quest. But now we're like the ship, degenerating faster than we can regenerate ourselves. Not the body, not the mind, but the spirit.

(Meanwhile, Herrick has placed Tala on one of hundreds of regen couches somewhere else on board. He switches on the machine, and her skin smoothes out. Her hair becomes long and blonde again, and she sits up.)

JACKSON: A ship of ghosts, Doctor, going on and on and unable to remember why.

(A crystal falls in two in the Doctor's hands.)

DOCTOR: It's had it, I'm afraid.
JACKSON: What?
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
JACKSON: Then it's over. It's over at last.
DOCTOR: Tell me about this Quest.
JACKSON: It was a missing spaceship, the P7E. We get signals from it, we track it and lose it, track it and lose it.
DOCTOR: But surely after all this time there won't be any survivors.
JACKSON: Probably not.
DOCTOR: So?
JACKSON: It was carrying colonists.
DOCTOR: Ah. Does the P7E have regeneration too?
JACKSON: No, the P7E was carrying something much more important, at least to us. The future of the Minyan race, our genetic inheritance.
DOCTOR: A race bank. Hmm.
JACKSON: The chance for a new people on a new planet. Minyos Two. Well, that was the theory.
DOCTOR: Hmm. Well, it seems a pity to give up now, after all you've been through. Do you know, there just might be the ghost of a chance, if it's at all compatible.
JACKSON: Compatible?
DOCTOR: You'll see. K9? Where are you, boy? Come on, heel! K9!

(K9 enters, noisily, passing over access points on the floor labelled GC3, IC7, YU1, ZY9.)

JACKSON: What's this?
DOCTOR: He's my second best friend, aren't you, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Try this.

(The Doctor uses bulldog clips to fasten wires from the crystal using control unit to K9's ears.)

DOCTOR: Here, K9, feel anything?

(K9 yelps.)

DOCTOR: Right. From now on, you're in charge. K9, we want to avoid the nebula. It's all yours, K9. You're on. What?
K9: On line. In link up. Rudder control positive. Accelerator positive. Ident nav control. All systems ready.

(Lights start spinning on the various large wheel devices nearby.)

K9: Stand by for G loading. All systems positive.

(The Argo flies away from Charybdis.)

[Flight deck]

ORFE: We made it. We've made it, Captain!

[Command deck]

DOCTOR: Well done, K9. What?
JACKSON: Tala. Regen was all right, after all. Don't do that again. I know you're exhausted, but the Quest
TALA: Is the Quest. Yes, Captain.
JACKSON: Right, everybody back on station. Tala, take over from Orfe. Continue with the sweep.
HERRICK: Is it a trick, Captain?
JACKSON: I don't care what it is. We've got full power on all stations for the first time in I don't know how long.
HERRICK: But you know what they're like. He's just setting us up for something worse.
JACKSON: Orfe, bring in that signal boost. Tala, two four zero and cubit. Herrick, on tracking.
HERRICK: Sir.
JACKSON: Full power on two!
DOCTOR: Leela.
LEELA: What a beautiful man.
DOCTOR: Leela! Leela, listen to me. You're primitive. Wild, warlike, aggressive and tempestuous, and bad tempered too.
LEELA: I am?
DOCTOR: Yes. You're a warrior leader from a warrior tribe. Courageous, indomitable, implacable, impossible
LEELA: Right, that's far enough! You stay where
DOCTOR: Oh, put it away. You were pacified.
LEELA: Pass?
DOCTOR: Pacified.
LEELA: Pacified? Who did it, hmm? Who did it? I'll kill them. I'll kill them! It was him, wasn't it? (Herrick)
ORFE: It was me.
LEELA: You?
DOCTOR: It's all right, Leela.
LEELA: You're laughing at me.
DOCTOR: No.
LEELA: You're all laughing at me. I'll smash your stupid grins off your stupid faces.
HERRICK: Signal on tracker two seven, sir!
JACKSON: Boost and ident, Orfe.
ORFE [OC]: Boost and ident, sir. That's it! That's P7E!
JACKSON: Lock on nav system. Keep tracking. What bearing?

[Flight deck]

ORFE: Two four zero, sir.
TALA: Four zero, thrust on maximum.

[Command deck]

JACKSON: This time we've got a chance. Don't lose her, Tala. Don't lose her now.
DOCTOR: Listen, Jackson. Listen.
JACKSON: Quiet, please. Don't lose her now, Tala.
DOCTOR: Jackson, two four zero takes us right back into the nebula.
JACKSON: That's right. If that's where P7E is, that's where we go.
DOCTOR: But that could mean destruction.
JACKSON: No, Doctor, it'll mean the end of the Quest. If P7E went in there, so can we.
DOCTOR: But P7E didn't go in there. She couldn't have! She must have been there at the beginning and the nebula formed around her.
HERRICK: How does he know that?
DOCTOR: It's elementary physics. The still centre of a raging storm. P7E might be in there and she might be safe, but if you go in after her, it could mean destruction.
JACKSON: Doctor, if P7E is there, we must find her. That is our purpose. Destruction is a chance we take. The Quest is the Quest.
DOCTOR: Jackson, I can't allow that.
JACKSON: You can't allow it? You have no choice.
DOCTOR: What? K9, stop.

(Herrick grabs the Doctor.)

LEELA: Let him go!
JACKSON: Don't move.

(Jackson has the laser.)

K9: Query stop. Stop what? Instruction, please. Instruction.
JACKSON: Doctor, tell it we're going on.
DOCTOR: We're going on, K9.
K9: Affirmative.
JACKSON: Right, everybody up on the flight deck. Move.
HERRICK: You. Quickly.
JACKSON: Herrick, carbo-magnetic seat lock.
HERRICK: Sir.

(The Doctor and Leela are fastened into comfy leather armchairs.)

JACKSON: Now, Tala, don't lose that signal. Don't lose it now.

[Flight deck]

(The crew are all strapped in, too.)

JACKSON: Heat shield.

(Metal shutters rise over the windows.)

DOCTOR: Jackson, listen to me. This is hopeless.
LEELA: What's happening?
DOCTOR: We're being sucked through a layer of meteorites. They're smashing us to pieces.
LEELA: What?
DOCTOR: I said they're smashing us to piece

(It goes quiet. The Argo is through the clashing rocks, or Symplegades.)

LEELA: (sotto) They are?
JACKSON: Damage report?
TALA: I think we've lost left and right ancillaries.
ORFE: And solar sail, plus all external antennae, sir.
HERRICK: The hull's taken a battering, but the self-sealer pumps are still working.
TALA: Main drive's positive.
ORFE: On course and signal holding.
TALA: Major systems functional.
JACKSON: Right, we go on. Lower heat shield. Take her on manual.
ORFE: Signal fading, sir.
TALA: No visibility. We're losing acceleration.
JACKSON: Full boost on both.
TALA: Full power and we're still slowing down.
ORFE: Signal going. Signal gone.
TALA: We've lost acceleration. Maintaining orbital speed. No acceleration. We're drifting.
JACKSON: Main systems functional. Then why aren't we moving?
DOCTOR: Don't you know? What's the normal hull thickness?
JACKSON: Three metres twenty.
DOCTOR: K9! Present hull thickness?
K9 [OC]: Hull thickness seventy metres, increasing.
JACKSON: Seventy metres!
DOCTOR: We're being turned into a planet.
JACKSON: But that's impossible!
DOCTOR: No, it's not impossible, Jackson. It's simply gravity. This ship's a large, heavy object surrounded by smaller, lighter, objects. Our gravitational pull is greater than theirs. We attract them. They stick to us. It all snowballs.
K9 [OC]: Eighty metres, increasing.
DOCTOR: We're being buried alive. If it wasn't for this layer of debris, the asteroid belt would have smashed us to pieces. Still, you can't have everything, can you.
HERRICK: Look at him, sir. He's just laughing at us.
JACKSON: Is there a way out?
DOCTOR: I don't know. You could try the laser cannon.
JACKSON: Blast a tunnel and blow our way out on ion drive?
DOCTOR: Mmm.
JACKSON: Tala?

(Tala does the sums on a hand calculator.)

TALA: It'll take up all our reserve fuel.
JACKSON: It's either that or we're stuck here for the rest of eternity. We'll try it. Herrick?
HERRICK: Sir. Fire one. Fire two.

(The pieces of rock glow, but continue to fall onto the spaceship.)

K9 [OC]: Ninety metres, increasing. Ninety five metres, increasing.
DOCTOR: Carry on, Herrick.
TALA: Skin's overheating. The forward hull's buckling.
DOCTOR: Carry on, Herrick.
TALA: We're melting our own hull.
DOCTOR: Herrick, keep on!
HERRICK: It's no use! The cannon's disintegrating!
Part Two

[Flight deck]

K9 [OC]: One hundred metres. Penetration. You have penetration.
JACKSON: Now, Tala. Full acceleration.

(The Argo blasts out of the accretion towards another ball of rock.)

DOCTOR: That's the P7E.
TALA: Captain, the fuel's going.
JACKSON: What do you mean? That's a planet.
DOCTOR: That's where the signal's coming from.
JACKSON: Where?
DOCTOR: Right in the middle. The planet formed around it.
TALA: Captain, the fuel's gone.
JACKSON: That's it, then. There's nothing else we can do.
LEELA: Sit down! We're going to crash!
DOCTOR: Full speed!
K9 [OC]: Mach twelve. Impact in eleven seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
DOCTOR: Hold tight.
K9 [OC]: Four, three.
LEELA: Hold tight?
K9 [OC]: Two, one, zero. Stand by for impact.

(Leela hangs on to the Doctor as the Argo ploughs into a liquid surface.)

DOCTOR: You can relax now. Relax, everyone. It's a soft planet in the process of formation. Only the core will be solid and with any luck this stuff should slow us down so we don't hit it with too much of a bang.

[Command deck]

K9: Two hundred and fifty kilometres below planet surface. Speed mach point three, decreasing.

[Flight deck]

JACKSON: Orfe, the signal. Tune in on the signal!
ORFE: That's it!
JACKSON: We've got it!
DOCTOR: Fascinating. The Quest and nothing but the Quest.
ORFE: Contact. R1C to P7E. R1C to P7E.
JACKSON: We must be right on top of it!

(Bump!)

[Cavern]

(Men and women in sackcloth shifts run barefoot through the rocky tunnel in terror.)

MAN: The sky is falling!

(An old man and a young one are digging at a rock fall while others just watch.)

IDMON: Help, damn you. Help us!
SON: They won't, father, they won't. Don't say any more.
IDMON: Then may the sky fall on them. May the sky fall on your families.
IDAS: No, father. The guards. They'll tell the guards.
IDMON: May the sky fall on yours as it has on mine.
IDAS: Please, father, dig.
IDMON: My children, my children.

(A camera travels along a rail to watch them.)

[Control room]

(A man clothed in black is watching on a monitor.)

TARN: Skyfall on eight and a Trog making trouble.
RASK: Many dead?
TARN: Not enough. There were two more bursts yesterday. What we need is a good sacrifice. Trogs always work harder after a good sacrifice.
RASK: I'll take a patrol out, pick him up.

(He leads out a grey clothed patrol of four.)

[By the airlock]

ORFE: Ready, sir?
DOCTOR: Well, Jackson?
JACKSON: Right, Orfe. Open up.

(Jackson and Herrick put on helmets and enter the airlock. The door closes behind them and they walk forward, then open the outer hatch. They look at the rock face, close the door and walk back to remove their helmets and reenter the ship proper.)

DOCTOR: Solid rock?
JACKSON: Yes, solid rock. Igneous hematite, I should imagine.
DOCTOR: Igneous hematite? That means we're at the core.
LEELA: But I thought planets had fire in the middle.
DOCTOR: Well, old ones like Earth, yes, but new ones have a molten slurry round a solid core. All we have to do is burrow our way out of here and enter the core.
LEELA: Oh, is that all.
JACKSON: But we've no power, no energy source to recharge.
DOCTOR: I don't know about that. What about a shield gun?
JACKSON: Yes, a shield gun. Herrick, jump to it.
HERRICK: Sir.

[Cavern]

IDMON: We all know we're slaves to the guards as the guards are slaves to the Seers.
IDAS: Don't say any more, father.
IDMON: And the Seers to the Oracle. We're all slaves, all of us, of every class. Slaves to the Oracle.
IDAS: They're coming, father.

(Rask and the guards arrive.)

IDMON: But we all know the answer, don't we? We all know the answer because it was prophesied. And the answer is to escape!
IDAS: It isn't, father.
IDMON: Escape through there, through the sky to the stars!
RASK: Now!

(The guards grab the old man.)

IDMON: No, Idas. Idas, run! Run!
RASK: Two of you, after him!

(Two guards chase Idas down a small round tunnel. He ducks down a right hand side tunnel.)

RASK: Heresy! Treachery! Incitement to escape.
IDMON: There's nothing you can do to me now, Rask.
RASK: You know the penalty, Idmon.

(Rask shoots Idmon.)

[Tunnel]

RASK: Stop, Trog, or I'll fire.

(He misses.)

RASK: Suspect sighted on eight, moving nine.

[Airlock]

DOCTOR: Herrick!

(The Doctor goes into the airlock with Herrick and puts his helmet on him.)

DOCTOR: Give it a blast. Hold it. Like that, I think.
HERRICK: Fire!

(The laser blasts through the rock face.)

[Green cavern]

(The floor glows green here.)

HERRICK: We're through, Captain! It looks like a cavern or a tunnel or something.

[Control room]

TARN: Skyfall on nine. Rask, we have skyfall on nine.
RASK [OC]: Approaching nine.
TARN: Remain in position till skyfall investigated.

[Green cavern]

HERRICK: It's hacked out of solid rock.
JACKSON: Hacked out by what, I wonder? Get down, Herrick!

(A camera moves along a rail.)

[Control room]

TARN: Minor fall. No structural collapse. I'll check out the rest, then you go ahead, Rask. Checking now.

[Green cavern]

(Herrick and Jackson come out of hiding.)

HERRICK: It's moving on. Do you think it was looking for us?
JACKSON: It was looking for somebody. This planet is inhabited, all right.

[By the airlock]

JACKSON: There's a tunnel and a surveillance system, so whatever life there is is intelligent and we must be on our guard.
DOCTOR: Get on with it, Jackson.
JACKSON: All in good time, Doctor. Our objective is to locate the P7E and remove the race bank cylinders to a place of safety. The Quest is the Quest.
ALL: The Quest is the Quest.
JACKSON: Shield gun.

(Orfe hands one to Jackson.)

JACKSON: Silent routine.
HERRICK: Sir.
JACKSON: No, Doctor.
DOCTOR: The Quest is the Quest.
JACKSON: Our Quest, Doctor. Not yours.
DOCTOR: Of course.

(Leela and the Doctor wait until the four Minyans have left, then follow.)

[Green cavern]

DOCTOR: Welcome to the underworld.
LEELA: Are we going to follow them?
DOCTOR: Of course.
LEELA: Good. Oh, what about K9?
DOCTOR: Oh, he'll be all right. He's building up his strength.
LEELA: Well, how? There's no power source.

(The Doctor uses a scanner on the green rocks.)

DOCTOR: Hmm, radiation.
LEELA: Radiation. That is lucky.
DOCTOR: Not at all. Igneous rock core, new planet, bound to be radiation. Luck? Physics isn't luck, physics is fact. Are facts. Is fact. Anyway, why do you think these tunnels were dug out?
LEELA: I don't know.
DOCTOR: Exactly. Energy. Can't survive on a new planet with a soul full of hope and fresh air, you know.
LEELA: Shall we go?
DOCTOR: Shush. Shall we go?

[Tunnel]

(Idas is still running from the two guards.)

DOCTOR: Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Aberdeen?
LEELA: Yes, the Granite City.
DOCTOR: That's right. Did you know, the people there absorb more radiation from the granite than people who work every day in nuclear power plants.
LEELA: Is that good for them?
DOCTOR: Well, of course it is. It shows that organisms can adapt to any kind of environment, even one like this with a high radiation count.
LEELA: Look out!

(Leela pushes the Doctor into hiding as Idas runs towards them, then on again. The guards stand at the corner.)

LEELA: (sotto) He looks like a wounded animal. Why's he so frightened?
DOCTOR: I don't know. I'll ask him.
LEELA: (sotto) Look! Get back.

(Rask and the guards walk slowly forward. The Doctor and Leela move away round a large rock.)

RASK: You two. That pile of rubble.

(The guards go on. The Doctor and Leela sneak round behind Rask. The Doctor whistles and they run back down the tunnel.)

RASK: After them!

(As Rask and the guards chase the Doctor and Leela, Idas runs through the green cavern and finds the airlock entrance to R1C. He goes inside. The Doctor and Leela come across a mine cart with a tarpaulin over it.)

DOCTOR: Quick, in here.

(They climb in and cover themselves with the tarpaulin.)

LEELA [OC]: Keep still. Keep still! Oh, for a weapon.
RASK: Not here. Must have doubled back, damn Trogs. Know these warrens like the back of their hands. Security, not enough men. We're clearing out. I want tunnel nine, main and ancillary workings closed down once we're clear. Stand by for fumigation.

(Rask and the guards leave. The Doctor pushes the tarpaulin aside.)

DOCTOR: Fumigation? I don't like the sound of that. They're going to smoke us out like badgers. Come on.

[Airlock]

LEELA: Look, Doctor. Blood.

(Leela enters the airlock, knife drawn, and sees Idas sitting there. His right ankle is bleeding.)

IDAS: No, no!
LEELA: Surrender or die!
DOCTOR: No, no! Don't, don't, don't. Get off him, Leela. You're terrifying the poor fellow.
LEELA: Oh.
DOCTOR: He's wounded. It's all right, we're friends. She won't hurt you.
IDAS: She?
DOCTOR: Leela.
IDAS: She is like the guards.
DOCTOR: Really?
LEELA: Is it bad?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Fetch me a tissue, Leela, from the command deck.
LEELA: Tissue. Tissue from the command deck. Tissue from the command deck.

(Leela leaves the airlock and goes into R1C.)

DOCTOR: What's your name?
IDAS: Idas.
DOCTOR: Idas? Hello, Idas.
IDAS: Hello.
DOCTOR: Are you frightened?

[Tunnel]

JACKSON: These tunnels could stretch for miles. P7E must be at the end of one of them, but which one?
ORFE: Split up, sir? Two pairs?
JACKSON: No. Herrick?
HERRICK: Sir.
JACKSON: Reconnoitre.
HERRICK: Yes, sir. I'll just put a marker here, sir.

(He puts a round sticker on the rock that the Doctor and Leela were hiding behind a little earlier.)

JACKSON: We three stay here.

(Herrick goes on. A black guard arrives at the marked rock, but the three are not seen.)

KLIMT: Klimt here. Possible suspect on nine.

(Further on.)

HERRICK: Now where in Heed is?

(Someone removes the marker from the rock.)

KLIMT: Stop, Trog. Stop, Trog, or I'll fire.
HERRICK: Hey, who are you?
KLIMT: Stop, Trog!
HERRICK: Don't Trog me, you

(Klimt fires. Herrick reflects the beam back to him with his shield.)

BLACK [OC]: Officer Klimt? Officer Klimt? Clear tunnel nine. Clear tunnel nine.

(Herrick picks up Klimt's communicator.)

[Control room]

TARN: Tunnel nine is being cleared for fumigation. Officer Klimt?

(For the first time, we see the faces of these black-clad guards without their helmets as Rask returns.)

TARN: Officer Klimt! Officer Klimt!

[Tunnel]

BLACK [OC]: Klimt! Come in, please.
HERRICK: Oh, Officer Klimt has retired, suddenly.
BLACK [OC]: Who is that? Who is that?
HERRICK: Well, this is Trog Herrick, here. Who's that?

[Control room]

TARN: A Trog, and he's armed. Close down tunnel nine for fumigation!
RASK: Tunnel nine closing down.

[Tunnel]

HERRICK: Captain!
JACKSON: Herrick!

(A bulkhead door closes the tunnel between them.)

[Control room]

RASK: Tunnel nine closedown completed.
TARN: Fumigate!
RASK: Fumigating now.

(Heavy gas flows in from vents near the floor.)

[Airlock]

DOCTOR: Well, that shouldn't take much fixing.
IDAS: Are you a Seer?
DOCTOR: What? Oh, Leela. Thank you.

(Leela hands over two small aerosol cans.)

DOCTOR: This is the one. Go back and unplug K9.
LEELA: Go back? But I've only just been
DOCTOR: Yes. Linked up like that, he's recharging the whole ship. I'll need him soon. The ship can look after itself.
LEELA: Yes, Doctor.

(Leela leaves. The Doctor sprays Idas' wound.)

DOCTOR: Sting, did it? That's good. Now, what was it you wanted to know? Hmm?
IDAS: Are you a Seer?
DOCTOR: No, no, I'm just a traveller.
IDAS: Where? Where'd you come from?
DOCTOR: The sky.
IDAS: You lie!
DOCTOR: What?
IDAS: There's nothing but chaos above the sky.
DOCTOR: The stars, then?
IDAS: Stars?
DOCTOR: Yes, Idas. This ship comes from the stars.
IDAS: My father. My father talked of the stars. There's a prophecy amongst the slaves that one day gods will come and set us free. Are you a god?
DOCTOR: Well, no, but could you take me to your father? Why not?
IDAS: There was a skyfall. All our family were buried. My father said we should try and escape, but the guards have taken him and he's going to be sacrificed to the Oracle. There's nothing any one can do.
DOCTOR: We'll see about that. Come on, get up.
LEELA: I've unplugged K9.
DOCTOR: His name's Idas.
LEELA: Hello, Idas. Doctor! Doctor, look!

(Fumigation gas is coming into the airlock.)

IDAS: A trap. A trap to kill me!

(Idas grapples the Doctor as the gas gets thicker.)

LEELA: Doctor? Doctor? Doctor, where are you?

[By the airlock]

(Leela helps the Doctor carry an unconscious Idas into R1C.)

DOCTOR: Get him to the command deck. He'll be all right there.
LEELA: Where are you going?
DOCTOR: Out.
LEELA: Out there? You'll suffocate!
DOCTOR [OC]: Get him to the command deck!
LEELA: Yes, yes.

[Tunnel]

(Gas is still pouring in through the vent as the Doctor makes his way through, scarf over his face and waving the ends around so he can see where he's going. Leela gently lays Idas down on the lower level floor where he wakes. The Doctor arrives at the vent. The gas is up to his neck, so he can still take gulps of air. There is a control unit nearby, and he takes out his sonic screwdriver.)

DOCTOR: Whatever blows can be sucked.

(The Doctor works on the mechanism, but begins to succumb to the gas which is still pouring in just across the tunnel from him.)

Part Three

[Tunnel]

(But the Doctor has succeeded, and the fumigation gas is sucked out a lot quicker than it entered the tunnel. Behind the bulkhead - )

JACKSON: Right. Blast it.

(The three Minyans demolish the bulkhead to reveal Herrick, safe and sound.)

[Control room]

(Outside, unnoticed, the gas is pouring in and felling guards.)

TARN: Yes, I will immediately. Thank you, Master. (to Rask) Round up the slaves to watch the sacrifice.

(Then he notices what is going on as the gas seeps into the room.)

TARN: Gas! Shut down the gas! Fumigation! Shut down the fumigation!

[Tunnel]

DOCTOR: I wonder where it all went?

(Meanwhile, further on.)

JACKSON: Did you find it? Did you find the way to the P7E?
HERRICK: No, sir, but this man tried to kill me. Look at this.
TALA: Who was he?
HERRICK: I don't know, but the communicator kept calling him Officer Klimt.
JACKSON: Looted from the P7E.

[Command deck]

IDAS: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Shush.
LEELA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Hmm?
LEELA: I found another weapon.
DOCTOR: What? Good.
LEELA: Well, we've got to protect ourselves somehow.
DOCTOR: Hmm.
IDAS: Are you, are you really from the stars?
LEELA: Yes.
IDAS: The stars really exist, then?
LEELA: Of course they do.
IDAS: And that is not the sky?
LEELA: That is the roof.
IDAS: Roof?
LEELA: Yes.
IDAS: Will you take me with you when you return to the stars?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: No.
DOCTOR: But we've got problems with the ship.
IDAS: Ship?
LEELA: Yes. With this, here.
IDAS: Yes, your citadel. Yes, we have a citadel, too.
DOCTOR: You do?
IDAS: Yes.
DOCTOR: Where is it?
IDAS: It's where the Seers live, in metal rooms like this. It's where they hold the sacrifices. It's where my father is.
DOCTOR: Could you take us there?
IDAS: No.
DOCTOR: Why not?
IDAS: There's no time.
DOCTOR: No time? Don't say that to me, I'm a Time Lord. Come on!
LEELA: Do not worry. He has saved many fathers. Come on!

[Citadel]

(Idmon is gagged and fastened down with metal bands.)

ANKH: Slaves must see the sacrifice, to show them who rules. See to it, Tarn, or you will be next.
TARN: Yes, Master.
RASK: Make the most of these few moments, slave. Enjoy them to the full. They are your last.

[Tunnel]

DOCTOR: I see. The Oracle tells the Seers.
IDAS: And the Seers tell the guards, and the guards tell us.
DOCTOR: Ah.
LEELA: And you do the work?
IDAS: Yes.
LEELA: Revolution! Wait, Idas. Has no one ever thought of revolution? Has no one ever rebelled?
IDAS: My father did.
LEELA: And?
DOCTOR: Shush, shush.

(The Doctor whispers to K9.)

K9: Ready.

(The Doctor takes a printout from K9's side.)

DOCTOR: Yes, good. Idas, K9 has made us a map of the tunnel. K9, find Jackson, bring him back here then follow us. Off you go.
K9: Retrieve and follow. Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Recognise that?
IDAS: The Tree. We call it the Tree.
DOCTOR: The Tree at the End of the World. Where are we?
IDAS: Here.
DOCTOR: Where's your father? I see. Can we get from there to there quickly?
IDAS: No.
DOCTOR: Why not?
IDAS: It's forbidden.
DOCTOR: Why?
IDAS: It's guarded by invisible dragons. Not even the guards can use it, only Seers. They have special powers.
DOCTOR: So do I, Idas. So do I. The Tree at the End of the World's always guarded by dragons. They're fire dragons, aren't they, with tongues of flame.
LEELA: Do not worry. Come on.

(Further on.)

IDAS: No, Doctor. That's where the dragons live.
DOCTOR: Really? We'll see if they're at home, shall we? Here, try that.

(The Doctor gives Leela an apple. She bites into it.)

DOCTOR: No, throw it, don't eat it.
LEELA: Oh.

(Energy arcs across the tunnel as the flying apple passes through.)

DOCTOR: See the source?

(He throws another one.)

DOCTOR: Got it with that one?
LEELA: Got it.
DOCTOR: Give it a blast.

(Leela fires her shield gun.)

DOCTOR: Now the door.

(Bang!)

DOCTOR: Phew.

(The Doctor runs up a few stone steps to an area of blackness and back.)

DOCTOR: In you go.
LEELA: Oh, no. There's nothing there.
DOCTOR: Yes, there is.
LEELA: No, there isn't.
DOCTOR: Yes, there is. Gravity.
LEELA: Gravity makes things fall.
DOCTOR: Towards the centre. This is the centre. Centre of the planet. Zero gravity, as in space. Watch.
LEELA: Come on. How do we move?
DOCTOR: Just push.
LEELA: Just
DOCTOR Push.

(A camera watches them step into a small area.)

DOCTOR: Ready?
LEELA: Yes.
DOCTOR: And push.

(They all push upwards with their arms.)

DOCTOR: And push.

(The invisible lift slides gently downwards.)

DOCTOR: You all right, Idas?

(They float down a metal framed column, watched as ever on the monitor.)

[Control room]

TARN: Gate patrol! Alert! Alert!

(An alarm sounds.)

[Citadel]

(This is just like R1C's command deck, but with red lighting. Idmon is wheeled in to where the crystal control device that K9 was fastened to should be. The people on the flight deck are in darkness from below.)

ORACLE: Is the time right?
ANKH: The time is right.
ORACLE: Is the slave ready?
ANKH: He is ready.
ORACLE: And those who watch?
ANKH: They are full of fear.
ORACLE: Then shall not the sword ask its question?
ANKH: It shall be done.

(A sword is hanging from a piece of embroidered fabric.)

ANKH: Let the Lamp of Life be lit.

(A brass cup hanging from chains is lit, and raised until it meets the fabric holding the sword up.)

ANKH: Lamp, burn.
ALL: Lamp, burn.
ANKH: Sword, fall.
ALL: Sword, fall.
ANKH: Ask the question that hangs over all.
ALL: Ask the question that hangs over all.

[Zero gravity lift]

(Still floating downwards.)

IDAS: And then the sword falls.
LEELA: Why go to so much trouble?
DOCTOR: Intimidation. The more ritual and mumbo-jumbo, the greater deterrent. That's the whole point of official sadism.

[Tunnel]

(K9 has found the Minyans and let them to the top of the shaft.)

K9: Faster. Imperative move faster.

[Gate]

(Meanwhile, our party have arrived at the bottom and walked onto a little wooden bridge. They are surrounded by guards.)

RASK: Don't move! Throw down the weapon.
DOCTOR: Throw it down.
RASK: Move!

[P7E airlock]

RASK: Inside! Just in time to follow your father. Move!

[Citadel]

(The fabric is proving remarkable flame resistant. A black guard approaches and raises his hands.)

ANKH: Ask.
RASK: The intruders, Master. Captured.
ANKH: Bring them forward.

(The flame is lowered from the fabric.)

RASK: In.
ANKH: They too will answer the question of the sword. Continue.

(The flame is raised back up.)

IDAS: No!

(He pushes Idmon clear just as the sword falls. Consternation!)

ANKH: Kill him! Kill him!

(Leela deals with the guards, with a little help from the slaves.)

LEELA: Go! Come on.
IDAS: Yes.
DOCTOR: Into the tunnels! You'll never beat them here!
LAKH: Kill her!
ANKH: Kill them!

(Idas frees his father.)

DOCTOR: Into the tunnels.

[P7E corridor]

RASK: Gate control! Breakout! Slaves! Stop them!

(Two slaves are shot dead in front of the Doctor.)

[Gate]

(The Minyans have arrived at the bottom of the column.)

HERRICK: This is more like it! Come on!

(Herrick runs across the bridge towards the sound of fighting.)

JACKSON: Herrick, come back!

[P7E corridor]

LEELA: They've got us on both sides.
IDAS: We could try a rush. Well, we must do something.
IDMON: We must, son. We must.

[Gate]

JACKSON: Cover him!

[By P7E airlock]

(Up the corridor, Leela's weapon runs out of energy. She retreats. Herrick comes through the airlock.)

HERRICK: Hey!

(He kills two guards and moves on, laughing. The escapees come round the corner and he kills the guards who are chasing them.)

[Gate]

(Everyone runs across the bridge.)

JACKSON: Come on, Tala. Herrick?
HERRICK: No, Captain. No, you go on. I've waited a long, long time for this. I'm not going to miss it now. Go back, Captain! Goodbye and good luck.
JACKSON: Goodbye, Herrick.

(Heracles defends the bridge until he is finally shot down. Rask walks up and kicks him.)

RASK: Good. Not dead yet. Take him inside for questioning.

[Cave]

(K9 leads the group in, and the Trogs rest. A young woman explains what is going on to Leela.)

NAIA: We are born, live and die in the tunnels, until now.
LEELA: There is nothing else?
NAIA: Nothing but the quota. This rock for the crushers.
LEELA: Rock?
NAIA: For fuel. For reprocessing into food so that we can go on working to get more rock. And then there are the skyfalls.
IDMON: Yes. They say they're accidents, but they're not. They can't be. It's the way they keep our numbers down so there's just enough of us to do the work, and no more.
IDAS: (holding a shield gun) If only we had more of these.
JACKSON: (holding the sword) We can't use the shaft again. They'd wipe us out before we got to the bridge. Is there another way?
IDAS: To the Tree? No.
LEELA: Doctor, Naia says they eat rock. Processed rock.
DOCTOR: Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Blackpool, hmm? If they process rock, they must take it in somewhere. Into the ship, the P7E, mustn't they?
LEELA: Crushers. Naia said something about crushers.
DOCTOR: Crushers. Yes. Yes, there must be another way. Tell me, why do you think Idas calls the tunnel system the Tree?
LEELA: Why shouldn't he? Idas has never seen a tree, has he. Why would he call it a tree?
DOCTOR: The Tree of Life. The race bank. The gift of immortality on the Tree of Life guarded by the dragon.
LEELA: The Oracle?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: Oh, that's just a myth, a story.
DOCTOR: Ah, myths often have a grain of truth in them, if you know where to look. Everybody here, except us, comes from the same stock as Jackson and company.
LEELA: The same stock?
DOCTOR: Yes. How else do you think they got here on the middle of a new planet?
LEELA: I don't know.
DOCTOR: They're the descendents of the people who came on the P7E. Jackson's probably Idas' great-great-great-great-great-great- grandfather a few times back.
LEELA: Great, great, great
DOCTOR: Yes. Don't worry about it.
LEELA: Great, great

(The Doctor goes over to Idas and Jackson, leaving Leela counting on her fingers.)

DOCTOR: There is another way into the Citadel, you know.
JACKSON: The bridge'll be guarded.
DOCTOR: But not the goods entrance. They still need fuel, don't they? And they need food and they need rock, and the rock has to be crushed somewhere. Isn't that wonderful? Bring that sword.

[Mine working]

(The Doctor, Jackson, Idas and Leela watch a slave push an ore cart along the track.)

DOCTOR: What do you think, Jackson?
JACKSON: It must be done in silence, without giving them a chance to use their weapons. One shot and the alarms'll go and they'll know we're in. It's difficult.
LEELA: But possible, if we can get behind them.
JACKSON: Possible if we can get the maximum of surprise, and if the Doctor's plan works.
DOCTOR: Well, it's not my plan exactly, but it has worked before. A fellow called Ulysses pulled it off a little while ago.
JACKSON: Who?
LEELA: Ulysses. Come on.

[P7E]

(Herrick is strapped into a chair, and wearing a metal headpiece with cups over his ears. He stiffens in pain. The two seers are standing over him, completely masked like the guards, but in brown instead of black.)

LAKH: Where are you from?
HERRICK: Minyos.
ANKH: Liar.

(Herrick gets a jolt through the headset.)

ANKH: Minyos was destroyed a hundred thousand years ago.
LAKH: Where are you from?
HERRICK: Minyos.
ANKH: Liar!
TARN: He tells the truth, Master.
LAKH: Silence! We are the only survivors of Minyos.
HERRICK: You? Never.
ANKH: What do you seek here? Why have you come?
HERRICK: I seek the future.
TARN: There is more, Master. He is holding back.
LAKH: What else? We can make your brain boil inside your skull. What else?
HERRICK: There's no reason why you should not know. We are Minyans. We're in search of the cylinders containing the race bank.
ANKH: Race bank?
LAKH: What cylinders?
HERRICK: The cylinders containing the genetic inheritance of the Minyan people. It was placed on board your ship, the P7E.
ANKH: You are mistaken.
LAKH: He is lying. More.

(Yet another jolt.)

TARN: There is no more, Master. He speaks the truth.
HERRICK: The Quest. The Quest.
ANKH: This is not a ship. Not your P7E. And there is no such thing as this race bank you describe.
HERRICK: If you were Minyans,
LAKH: The guards and slaves are the only people of true Minyan descent. We have evolved far beyond them.
HERRICK: Then who are you?
ANKH: The servants of the Oracle. Seers of the realm of Hedas.

(Ankh and Lakh remove their fabric hoods to reveal metal heads with three 'eyes', grills for nose and ears, and no mouths. Appropriate dwellers of Hades where Persephone is held captive during winter.)

[Mine]

(Meanwhile, up in the mine, a slave pushes an ore cart up to where two guards stand by the monorail. It tips out its cargo. Behind him, Idmon and Idas are pushing carts too, one containing the Doctor and Leela. Idmon falls at the end of the track.)

IDMON: The crusher!
Part Four

[Mine]

(The Doctor and Leela hang onto the edge of the cart as it dangles over the crusher. Tala runs in and shoots a guard as Jackson and Orfe leap out of the second cart. Idas runs forward.)

JACKSON: Cover him!
TALA: Captain.
JACKSON: Go on, Tala. Forward, Tala.

(The second guard sounds the alarm.)

JACKSON: Withdraw!

(Jackson and Idas pull the Doctor and Leela back up.)

JACKSON: Come on, pull! There we are.

[Cave]

(They return to the cave where K9 and the other Trogs are waiting.)

DOCTOR: Quickly now. Stay calm. Everybody stay quite calm. Calm. K9, back to the ship. Check all the systems. We're leaving in a hurry.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: There must be another way back to the Oracle. Jackson? Jackson, can you and the crew hold them off?
JACKSON: We'll certainly mount an attack, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good. Leela?
LEELA: Hmm?
DOCTOR: You come with me.
LEELA: I'm staying to fight.
DOCTOR: You'll come with me. Idas, you too. Have you got a sword?
IDMON: Take care, son. Take care.
DOCTOR: Jackson. Right, Jackson.
JACKSON: Ready. Now!

[Tunnel]

(The crew run into the tunnel and start shooting guards while the Doctor, Leela and Idas duck behind them and go the other way.)

JACKSON: Forward.
RASK: Security. They're driving us back.

(Further on, with the sounds of the fighting echoing all around.)

DOCTOR: This way.
LEELA: No.
DOCTOR: What?
LEELA: Something's there.
DOCTOR: What?

(The Doctor points to a large grill in the side of the tunnel.)

DOCTOR: Where does that lead?
IDAS: I don't know.

(By the time more guards run past, the Doctor and co are no longer there.)

[P7E]

RASK [OC]: They are too strong for us! I need reinforcements.
TARN: Hold them. You must hold them.
LAKH: I order you to stand and fight. We must protect the Oracle.
RASK [OC]: But Master, we cannot hold for very much
LAKH: No excuses! Stand and fight.
HERRICK: There's no stopping us now. A hundred thousand years of searching, General. There's no stopping us now. I smell victory.

(Tarn sends a jolt through Herrick.)

ANKH: Wait. Let us consider which is more important, the Oracle or these cylinders.
LAKH: The Oracle.
ANKH: Then should we not give them what they want and let them depart?
LAKH: But what they want does not exist.
ANKH: The Oracle will know. Why should we destroy each other?
LAKH: Very well.
ANKH: These cylinders you speak of, tell us what they look like. If they are indeed here, you shall have them and take them to your comrades.
HERRICK: You would set me free?
ANKH: Yes.
HERRICK: Well, there are two of them. Solid gold, stamped with the mark of Minyos, the length of a man's hand.
ANKH: Good.
LAKH: Tell Rask to arrange a truce.

[Shaft]

LEELA: Doctor, we're here. Look.

[Citadel]

ANKH: The intruders are defeating us. They will destroy us, destroy you, unless they are given these cylinders.
ORACLE: Then shall not they be destroyed by that which they so desperately desire?
ANKH: Can it be done?
ORACLE: Cannot all things be done?

(Two small gold cylinders rise from a control system unit.)

[Shaft]

(The Doctor and Leela watch this through the grille.)

LEELA: They have given up without a fight.
DOCTOR: Yes, it certainly seems like it.
LEELA: Why?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

(The two Seers bow to the Oracle and leave with the cylinders.)

DOCTOR: Let's take a look.

[Tunnel]

(Jackson, Orfe and Tala meet a grey guard, and a black one kneeling with his hands raised. Orfe shoots over his head.)

JACKSON: No return of fire. What's going on?
ORFE: There are two of them.
JACKSON: No, wait. Could be a trick. Be ready.
RASK: I have been ordered to speak with you.
JACKSON: Surrender?
RASK: Truce.
JACKSON: On what terms?

(Jackson hands his shield gun to Orfe and walks forward to meet Rask.)

RASK: The terms are that you take what you came for and depart, leaving us to our way. If not, your comrade will be executed.
JACKSON: What comrade? Herrick is dead.
RASK: You think so, Captain?

(Herrick walks forward, holding two gold cylinders.)

HERRICK: I got them. The Quest is over. The Quest is over.

(Herrick gives the cylinders to Jackson and walks on.)

HERRICK: The Quest is over.
JACKSON: At last.

(Jackson, Orfe and Tala follow Herrick. Tarn watches in the monitor room.)

[Citadel]

(Leela, Idas and the Doctor have removed the grille, and enter the P7E command deck.)

DOCTOR: Stay here.

(The Doctor goes over to the control unit.)

ORACLE: What is it that you want?
DOCTOR: The cylinders. The race bank of the Minyans.
ORACLE: Have they not been given?
DOCTOR: Well, that's what I'm asking.
ORACLE: Who are you to dare question my word?
DOCTOR: Well, who do I have to be to dare question your word? I'll give you a clue, shall I? If it wasn't for my people, you wouldn't have seen the light of day.
ORACLE: People? What people?
DOCTOR: The ones the Minyans call the gods.
ORACLE: Gods? There are no gods but me. Have I not created myself? Do I not rule? Am I not all-powerful?
DOCTOR: Well, yes, here you are, yes, but nowhere else. You're just another machine with megalomania. Another insane object, another self-aggrandising artefact. You're nothing. Nothing but a mass of superheated junk with delusions of grandeur.
ORACLE: Nothing? Am I not the keeper of the race bank?
DOCTOR: What did you say?
ORACLE: I am the keeper.
DOCTOR: Ah ha! Then you've still got them.
ORACLE: I am the keeper.
DOCTOR: Keeper? You're nothing but a box, and I've got the key. (to Idas) Give me that.
ORACLE: Destroy! Destroy!

(The Doctor inserts the sword into a slot in the control unit, and turns it clockwise. Idas helps him.)

ORACLE: No! Destroy!
LEELA: Doctor, they're coming. Come on!
ORACLE: Destroy!
LEELA: Doctor, leave it! Come on!
ORACLE: Destroy!
LEELA: Doctor, hurry! Come on now!
ORACLE: Destroy him!
LEELA: Hurry, Doctor!
DOCTOR: Almost there.
LEELA: Hurry, they're coming.
ORACLE: Destroy him!

(Two more gold cylinders rise from the unit.)

LEELA: Doctor!
ORACLE: Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy him!

(Idas, Leela and the Doctor with the gold cylinders go back through the grille into the shaft before the guards arrive.)

DOCTOR: No hard feelings.
LEELA: Come on!
ORACLE: Destroy him!
ANKH: After them. They must not meet the others.

[By P7E airlock]

LEELA: Which way? Which way?
DOCTOR: They know this place better than we do.
IDAS: The tunnels! Through there. They'll never find us through there.

[Control room]

TARN: They've reached tunnel seven, Master.
ANKH: Good. Close it down and collapse it.

[Cavern]

IDAS: Quickly, through here. This was formed by the last skyfall. We should be safe in here.

(There are rock falls behind and in front of them.)

LEELA: Safe?

(The Doctor strikes the cylinders together and listens to one, like a tuning fork.)

LEELA: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: I'm just wondering what they've given Jackson.

[Command deck]

(Back on the R1C, or Argo, Jackson is about to put his cylinders back into the control unit.)

JACKSON: The Quest is over. Set course for Minyos Two. K9, how do we stand for launch?
K9: Fuel absorption incomplete.
TALA: We've enough to get away, but it'll be a slow journey.
HERRICK: I say we go.
ORFE: We've got what we came for.
JACKSON: Right, prepare to launch.
K9: Negative.
JACKSON: What?
K9: Personnel incomplete. Doctor and the mistress not on board.
JACKSON: Find them. Tell them we're going. Now!
K9: Affirmative.

[Cave]

IDAS: We're trapped. Don't you understand, Doctor? We're trapped.
LEELA: Yes, we're going to be here for ever.
DOCTOR: No. They'll come and dig us out.
LEELA: Who?
DOCTOR: Well, whoever it was buried us.
LEELA: Why should they bother?
DOCTOR: Because we've got something it wants. The Oracle, remember?

[Control room]

ANKH: The cylinders must be replaced. Order a party of slaves to tunnel seven.
TARN: And the bodies of the intruders, Master?
ANKH: Into the crusher.

[Flight deck]

(R1C prepares for take off.)

TALA: Five, four, three, two, one.
ORFE: Secondary check complete.
JACKSON: Third and final check. Commence countdown. Come on, Doctor, come on.
ORFE: Forty to launch.

[Cave]

(A red glow appears on the rockfall behind them. Bang, and K9 has blasted them free.)

DOCTOR: What kept you, K9?
K9: Gratitude is unnecessary. Speed is vital.

[Flight deck]

ORFE: Ten, nine
JACKSON: Run up on drive.
ORFE: Eight.
TALA: Drive running.
ORFE: Seven, six.
JACKSON: Pressurise.
ORFE: Five, four, three, two
JACKSON: Prepare to blast out.
ORFE: One.
DOCTOR [OC]: Stop!

[Command deck]

DOCTOR: Here are your race banks.
JACKSON: (coming down the stairs) Then what are those?
DOCTOR: That's what I intend to find out.

(The Doctor takes the cylinders from the unit and holds them in front of K9's 'ears'.)

DOCTOR: K9, what do you make of these?
K9: Analysis indicates fission grenades.
DOCTOR: What?
K9: Do not proceed. Impossible to defuse. Explosive contents in excess of two thousand megatons.
DOCTOR: Two thousand megatons?
JACKSON: How much time have we got?
DOCTOR: I don't know.
JACKSON: What are we going to do?
DOCTOR: I think I'd better get rid of them, don't you?
K9: Affirmative.

(The Doctor runs.)

LEELA: Doctor, wait!

(Leela and Idas follow.)

[Green cavern]

LEELA: Which way did he go?
IDAS: I don't know.
LEELA: He may have need of us. We'll try this way.

[Citadel]

ORACLE: Why? Why have they not been found?
ANKH: The slaves are digging.
ORACLE: Shall they not be found? Are they not my purpose?
LAKH: They shall be found. It shall be done.

[Tunnel]

IDAS: It's no good. We've lost him.
LEELA: Come on.

[Diggings]

(The Doctor arrives at where the slaves are trying to dig him out of the rockfall. He speaks to the black guard.)

DOCTOR: Excuse me, I'm a stranger here myself. Could you direct me to the Oracle?
RASK: Guards! I'll take those, Doctor.
DOCTOR: What, those? I wouldn't if I were you. They won't do you any
RASK: Give them here. You, take care of him. And make sure you finish him off this time. Then bring this lot back to the Citadel.
DOCTOR: You're making a terrible mistake. Those are the wrong ones.
RASK: You can do better than that, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Ah, well, er.

(Rask leaves.)

DOCTOR: Look, getting rid of me isn't going to solve anything. Those cylinders were bombs. Why don't we just wait a few minutes and then we can all go together, hmm?

(Leela shoots a guard.)

LEELA: Doctor! Doctor, are you all right?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, I think so. Come on, let's get out of here. We've got no time. Tell them they've got no time.
IDAS: Listen to me! The prophecy's being fulfilled. Our god has come to save us. We can escape to the stars. Hurry!
LEELA: We must hurry!
IDAS: Yes, come on, come on.
LEELA: Come on!

[Citadel]

TARN: You have found them. Well done, Rask. Quickly.
ANKH: They have been found.
ORACLE: Replace them, quickly.

(The cylinders descend into the control unit.)

ORACLE: They must never leave my keeping again.

[Outside R1C]

(It looks like all the Trogs have gathered.)

DOCTOR: Quiet! Quiet, everyone. Come on, here.

(He picks up a little girl.)

DOCTOR: Now listen to me. I want you to stay calm, and when I say, go quickly but quietly. Ready? Take this little one. Off you go now. Come on. Come on.

[By the airlock]

(The Trogs enter R1C.)

DOCTOR: Come on, come on. Plenty of room for everyone. Everything's going to be all right. All right, all right.
JACKSON: What's going on? Get off, all of you. Off the ship! Get out!
DOCTOR: What are you doing? Never mind that!
JACKSON: What are you doing? We can't take all these people!
DOCTOR: No! Come on.
JACKSON: We can't. We're too low on fuel.
DOCTOR: This planet's going to explode.
JACKSON: Then get them off. Get off!
DOCTOR: Why?
JACKSON: I must safeguard the race bank.
DOCTOR: Why?
JACKSON: Why? The future of our people.
DOCTOR: Listen, Jackson. This is your people. This is your race. Descendents of the people who came on the P7E.
JACKSON: But we can't take the extra weight.
DOCTOR: Look this planet is going to explode, Jackson. Your only hope is to go, and go now. Go, Jackson, go!

(Jackson leaves.)

DOCTOR: Right. Sit down, everybody. Sit down. Now, stay very calm.

[Flight deck]

HERRICK: Outer section sealed.
JACKSON: Run up on drive.
TALA: Drive running.
JACKSON: Pressurise.
ORFE: Check.
JACKSON: Prepare to blast out.

[By the airlock]

DOCTOR: Get down. Right down, right down.

(Everyone lies on the floor as R1C pushes out of the sludgy outer layer of concretion.)

[Control room]

TARN: They've cleared the surface. Not long now and they'll all be blown to bits.

(An alarm sounds.)

[Citadel]

ORACLE: These are not the cylinders! Get rid of them or we shall all be destroyed.
ANKH: Where?
ORACLE: Get rid of them! Get rid of them!
ANKH: But where? There's no time.
ORACLE: Get rid of them! Get rid of them!
ANKH: We can't.
ORACLE: Then defuse them!
ANKH: How?

[Flight deck]

JACKSON: More power!
TALA: I'm trying.
ORFE: We're falling back.
JACKSON: More power!
TALA: There is no more.
ORFE: The planet's gravity's pulling us back, sir.
DOCTOR: Everything all right, Jackson?
TALA: We don't have enough power to reach escape velocity.
JACKSON: You know why, don't you, Doctor? It's the extra weight, isn't it, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Jackson, be brave. Sit down.

[Citadel]

ANKH: It is not possible.
ORACLE: Why? Why?
LAKH: You made it so.
ORACLE: Then I have failed in my duty, and deserve destruction.

(Ankh removes the top of a cylinder. Three pulses, a pause, then planet Persephone goes KaBOOM!)

[Flight deck]

DOCTOR: There she goes. If you wanted power, Jackson, get ready to ride out the blast.

(The shockwave takes Argo away. As the crew celebrate, the Doctor and Leela sneak away down the stairs.)

ORFE: We made it!
JACKSON: Speed?
TALA: Four sevenths light.
JACKSON: Course?
ORFE: One two zero, sir.
JACKSON: How long to Minyos Two?
HERRICK: Three hundred and seventy years, sir. That's nothing, is it?
JACKSON: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Yes?
JACKSON: Aren't you coming with us to Minyos Two?
DOCTOR: No, no, no time. I'm very busy. Goodbye, Jason.
ORFE: Goodbye.
HERRICK: Goodbye!

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor puts his painting smock on again.)

LEELA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Hmm?
LEELA: Why did you call him Jason?
DOCTOR: Who?
LEELA: Jackson.
DOCTOR: What? I called Jackson Jason?
LEELA: Yes. Is Jackson Jason?
DOCTOR: No, Jackson isn't Jason.
LEELA: Well, is Jason Jackson?
DOCTOR: No, no, no. Jason was another captain on a long quest.
LEELA: I don't understand.
DOCTOR: Ah. He was looking for the Golden Fleece.
LEELA: Did he find it?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes. He found it hanging on a tree at the end of the world. Perhaps those myths are not just old stories of the past, you see, but prophecies of the future. Who know? What do you think, K9?
K9: Negative.
DOCTOR: What did he say?
LEELA: Negative.
DOCTOR: Negative? Can he paint? Hmm? Negative.
LEELA: Negative.

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.