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[ Index for this story ]
1.BEACON SEGMENT
(Bolts begin dropping from the sealed door, one by one.)
ZOE: Someone's cutting through the bolts in the hull.
(JAMIE staggers to his feet.)
JAMIE: We've been discovered!
(He starts to stagger to the newly-cut entrance.)
DOCTOR: Wait a minute Jamie!
(A bulky space-suited figure appears, covering them with a blaster rifle. JAMIE spots it.)
JAMIE: Oh no you don't!
(He springs to the attack.)
DOCTOR: Jamie! No!
(It is too late, as there is a fierce crackle of energy from the blaster and JAMIE falls to the ground.)
ZOE: (Shrieking.) You murderer!
(The blaster rifle swings round to cover her.)
MILO: Stay still, the pair of yer, unless you want to follow him!
THE SPACE PIRATES
by ROBERT HOLMES
EPISODE THREE
first broadcast - 22nd March 1969
2. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(General HERMACK is talking to the flight deck of his V-ship via the communicator.)
HERMACK: Ah, Penn.
(PENN's face appears on the screen.)
PENN: (OOV.) Sir?
HERMACK: Major Warne needs some assistance. I want you to take the ship out and stand-off at twenty miles, just in case Clancey tries any tricks during the landing.
PENN: (OOV.) Very good, sir.
MADELEINE: Aren't you going with your ship, General?
HERMACK: Err no, I shall be in charge of ground reception.(He turns back to the screen.)
HERMACK: Um, leave a section of guards, Penn, with short-ranged missiles.
PENN: (OOV.) Right, sir. How long shall I keep the ship in stand-off orbit, sir?
HERMACK: You can come in just as soon as Clancey hits the landing pad.
PENN: (OOV.) Sir!(He disappears from the screen.)
MADELEINE: All this for one old man? You aren't taking any chances are you?
HERMACK: That is why I'm a general, madam.
MADELEINE: Well what will happen to him?
HERMACK: Well, he'll be taken back to home planet and tried.
MADELEINE: And end in a Nevan prison chamber.
HERMACK: Well, when Clancey turned pirate, he knew the penalties if he was caught.
MADELEINE: Oh yes I know, but I can't help feeling sorry for him. I offered to buy him out two years ago.
HERMACK: And he refused.
MADELEINE: I offered much more than his worked-out concessions are worth. He could have ended his days in luxury.
HERMACK: Why didn't he accept your offer, madam?
MADELEINE: Who knows? He's a foolish old man.(Major WARNE abruptly comes through on the communicator.)
WARNE: (OOV.) 13:30... X-X 1 to V-Master. I'm receiving no audio response from LIZ 7-9.
(HERMACK moves back to the communicator.)
HERMACK: Is LIZ 79 on thrust or stationary.
WARNE: (OOV.) Stationary, sir. She's berthed against the section of the beacon.
HERMACK: Right, now listen Ian. If you get no reply within two minutes, you are to fire your warning rockets. And then, if necessary, stand off and use the Martian Missiles.
3. LIZ 79's CABIN
(The cabin is empty but over the communicator comes WARNE's voice.)
WARNE: (OOV.) This is Minnow fighter X-X 1 to LIZ 7-9. You have one minute to surrender. I repeat, you have one minute to surrender, Clancey. Are you hearing me?
4. BEACON SEGMENT
(MILO is trying to get answers from the DOCTOR and ZOE, while the DOCTOR is examining JAMIE.)
MILO: Now, come on now! If you don't answer my questions, I'm going to have to start getting tough with you!
DOCTOR: Look, I think he's just stunned, Zoe.(He rounds on MILO.)
DOCTOR: Now, look here my man, I will not be threatened in this bullying manner. Do you understand?
MILO: Oh no! A boy, a girl and a nut-case! You can't be the pirates!
DOCTOR: Pirates?(Understanding comes over his face.)
DOCTOR: Pirates! Oh I see!
(JAMIE starts to groan.)
ZOE: Oh Doctor, he's coming round.
DOCTOR: Oh, Jamie.(He helps the Scot up.)
MILO: Yes, I think he is coming round girl. I only give him a quarter blast.
(He turns to the DOCTOR.)
MILO: Hey listen, you there! Listen, she calls you "Doctor". "Doctor" she call you, now why did she say that?
DOCTOR: Sheer politeness.
ZOE: Are you all right, Jamie?(JAMIE groans in reply.)
DOCTOR: Come on.
JAMIE: (Struggling to stand.) Oh, help me!(The other two help him over to one of the steps to rest.)
MILO: Now look, I'm not going to stand any more of this nonsense. Now, I want to know who you are and where you come from? Now come on!
(He waves the blaster rifle threateningly.)
ZOE: (Severely.) It's very rude to point, you know. Especially with a gun.
DOCTOR: (To MILO.) I told you she was polite.
MILO: (Exasperatedly.) How did you get here?
DOCTOR: Oh we just arrived.
MILO: Oh you mean you got some sort of ship you docked on the beacon?
DOCTOR: (Cautiously.) Not so much on it as um...
ZOE: ...In it.
MILO: Inside! Now how could you be doing that? Look, that is not possible!(Painfully, JAMIE sits up.)
JAMIE: Anything's possible in the TARDIS, especially when he's (Pointing to the DOCTOR.) at the controls.
DOCTOR: Jamie, you're better.
MILO: You really expect me to swallow a story like that! Now look, if I don't get the truth out of you three comics in about ten seconds....
ZOE: But it is the truth!
MILO: One...
ZOE: Everything we've told you is true.
MILO: Two...
DOCTOR: (Counting with MILO.) Three...
MILO: Three...
5. SPACE
(WARNE, in his minnow-ship, fires the first of the warning shots.)
6. BEACON SEGMENT
MILO: Nine... Ten! Now, come on, the truth - I want the whole truth!
(The whole beacon segment is rocked by a shattering explosion from the first of the minnow-ship's warning shots.)
DOCTOR: Oh what... what on Earth's that!?
MILO: Someone's firing at us. Come on, let's get out of here!(He turns and dashes through the gap he earlier cut in the wall.)
DOCTOR: Hey, wait for me!
(He pushes JAMIE and ZOE out after MILO.)
7. LIZ 79.
(MILO leads the TARDIS crew on board the ship. He closes the airlock behind them, and the crew follow MILO as the pilot runs into the flight cabin.)
DOCTOR: Oh, there you are! Now who's firing at us?
(Everybody starts to speak, but MILO's voice is the loudest.)
MILO: (Shouting.) No, no! Now quiet, I want to hear this! Listen!
(From the communicator speaker WARNE's voice is crackling into the cabin.)
WARNE: (OOV.) That was a warning shot, Clancey. You've no hope of getting away.
(MILO laughs.)
WARNE: Surrender or I'll put the next missile through your hull.
MILO: My, my, my! It's that soft-faced puppy from the Space Corps. (To the TARDIS crew.) Hang on to something everyone, while I gotta... try to do a trick or two on that boy.(He heaves and thumps at the controls, and the ancient rocket motors roar into life and everybody, except MILO who is in his pilot seat, is thrown violently about.)
WARNE: (OOV.) I can see you moving, Clancey. I'll give you ten seconds to turn-about. Ten seconds then I'm sending a missile in!
MILO: Ten seconds! The nerve of that green-horn, saying things like that to me!
WARNE: (OOV.) One... two... three...
DOCTOR: Well don't you think it would be wiser to parley with him?
MILO: Hold on now, Doctor. Milo Clancey don't take ultimatums from no body!
JAMIE: Well, you can at least do what he wants!(ZOE looks at MILO in horror.)
ZOE: He's going to fire a missile onto us!
MILO: I got a trick here worth ten missiles.(He heaves on a rusty lever.)
WARNE: (OOV.) Eight... Nine.. Ten... All right, Clancey, you had your chance!
(CLANCEY laughs.)
8. SPACE
(WARNE's thumb stabs the firing button; the slender-finned missile streaks away from his ship straight towards LIZ 79. It is point black range; there is no possibility of a miss. Suddenly, the astonished WARNE sees a dense cloud of needle-like particles streaming from under the tail of the fleeing vessel. He watches in amazement as the missile enters the cloud and begins pitching and rolling uncontrollably, deviating from its course and streaking uselessly into space. He is even more amazed when his minnow-ship enters the cloud and begins behaving in the exactly the same way. He starts to wrestle furiously with the controls.)
9. LIZ 79
(MILO CLANCEY brings the rear scanner into focus and chuckles gleefully at the sight of the wildly-spinning minnow-ship.)
MILO: That should test young green-horn and his new-fangled toy. Ha, ha! Get yourself out of that one boy!
ZOE: What's happened? What did you do, Mr Clancey?
MILO: (Chuckles to himself.) My own invention, my little chicken-biddy. That's two tons of copper needles - I just lay out beside me when one of those new-fangled space ships gets too close for comfort!
ZOE: But how do copper needles stop a spaceship?
JAMIE: Aye, an... and a missile?(MILO sprawls back in his chair.)
MILO: Well you see, they've all got those err new-fangled computer guidance systems, you see? The argonite in the space ship - that attracts all the copper, then all those thousand little needles, they all jigger up all their computer scanners!
ZOE: (Puzzled.) What's argonite?
MILO: (Shocked.) What is argonite?! Don't they learn you nothing at school girl?
ZOE: They didn't teach me anything about argonite.
MILO: Oh!
ZOE: Have you ever heard of argonite, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well, from what Mr Clancey was saying, I imagine it's a metal that's used in the construction of space craft.(He turns to MILO.)
DOCTOR: Am I right?
MILO: Argonite is used for... well it's used for practically everything. It's ductile, it's tensile, it's heat-proof, it's practically indestructible.
DOCTOR: And magnetically polarised for copper!
MILO: Ah.(MILO looks at ZOE.)
MILO: You mean to say that you have honestly never heard of argonite? It's the most expensive mineral in the galaxy!
DOCTOR: We told you already. We don't come from this civilisation. We are visitors.
JAMIE: (Low.) And I hope we're not stopping long.
MILO: (Very excited.) Well, if that doesn't beat jumping grasshoppers. You mean to say you travel around in... in time as well as space?
DOCTOR: (Pleased.) Well, yes, yes. You've grasped the principal very well.
MILO: Hey, hey! That must be a mighty interesting thing to do.
JAMIE: Aye, it would be, if we knew where we were going to land up every time!
DOCTOR: It's just a minor fault in the system. I shall put it right in time.
ZOE: If we ever see the TARDIS again!
DOCTOR: (Remembering.) Oh yes, err... by the way. Um... Mr Clancey, err... would it be going out of your way to drop us off a... at... at... at the space station please?
MILO: I can't do that. It's all in bits, isn't it!
DOCTOR: Oh dear, oh my word! Do you know where we are?
MILO: No, no, no! Only the argonite pirates know that! They're taking them all off for salvage.
DOCTOR: Oh dear, well that will be difficult, won't it?(MILO turns his mind back to the present problems.)
MILO: Hey, we... we shouldn't be sitting 'round here. We should be get... getting the heck out of here before that General Hermack starts to send some more minnows out, and I've used up all my copper needles!
JAMIE: (Puzzled.) Well who's General Hermack?
MILO: General Herm... He's the Space Corps. He's trailing those pirates - he thinks I'm one of them! That's why I say he's bone-headed, now look, let's move out of here... Excuse me.(MILO starts pressing buttons and the others start to move out of the way.)
MILO: That's it, get over there. That's it, over there. Come on boy.
ZOE: Mr Clancey...
MILO: Look, you're a good girl and you promise not to cause me trouble, you can call me Milo.
ZOE: Oh, well Milo. There's one thing I don't understand.
MILO: Well you're very lucky girl. There's about a hundred thousand things I don't understand, but I don't stand around asking fool questions about them, I do something useful - why don't you do something useful - why don't you make us all a pot of tea or something?
JAMIE: I thought the pot was broken?
DOCTOR: (Speaking over JAMIE.) Oh yes, that would be lovely.
MILO: Well, ah there's a metal pot in that cupboard there, made of tillium.
DOCTOR: Tillium?(MILO slams a fist down on the control console.)
MILO: Yeah, that's what this whole space-ship's made of, tillium. Lasted me a life-time round the galaxy. Makes a lousy cup of tea.
ZOE: Oh, that's what I couldn't understand. Why your space ship wasn't affected by the copper needles.(Her scientific curiosity satisfied, ZOE heads off to look for the teapot.)
JAMIE: Err, what'll happen to us if one of those wee minnow things catches up with us?
MILO: Ah, don't worry lad, they won't. I'm going to go to the one place that General will never think of looking.
10. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(WARNE is reporting back to HERMACK.)
WARNE: (OOV.) He used some kind of anti-missile device, sir. It jammed out my controls.
HERMACK: Major Warne, can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?
WARNE: (OOV.) Just about, sir?
HERMACK: (Furious.) You let Clancey make a complete fool of you! Are you still tracking his ship?
WARNE: (OOV.) No, sir. My radar and sonar screens are out of action.
HERMACK: WHAT?!
WARNE: (OOV.) I can't sit here with just... I request assistance immediately, sir.
HERMACK: (Coldly.) Your request is noted.(The crest-fallen figure on the screen disappears. MADELEINE is handing a stack of cassettes to her secretary.)
MADELEINE: These are the shipping times. Send them out on clans printer to all branch stations. These are production figures and loading dates - code them and send them to head office right away. Priority clear.
(She turns to General HERMACK as the secretary leaves.)
MADELEINE: Anything wrong, General?
HERMACK: Yes. Clancey has escaped.
MADELEINE: How did that happen?
HERMACK: I don't know yet but I mean to find out. May I monopolise your video channel a while longer?
MADELEINE: Of course.
HERMACK: Thank you.(HERMACK turns some knobs on the communicator.)
HERMACK: General Hermack to V-41.
(PENN's face is now on the screen.)
PENN: (OOV.) Yes, general?
HERMACK: Ah Penn. Did you pick up Major Warne's last report on your monitor?
PENN: (OOV.) Some of it, sir. There was lots of interference.
HERMACK: Right, now I want the rest of the minnow fleet launched and I want LIZ 79 found and destroyed! Is that understood?
PENN: (OOV.) Yes, sir.
HERMACK: Report back as soon as the minnow fleet is clear.(The screen goes dead.)
HERMACK: I am not giving Milo Clancey any more chances!
11. V-41 SHIP
(We see the Space Corp Ship launch their minnow fleet.)
12. LIZ 79
(The old ship is roaring through space and, from the noise of the engines, it seems to be vibrating so fiercely that it seems in danger of shaking itself to pieces.)
JAMIE: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, Jamie?
JAMIE: I think I'm going to be sick.
DOCTOR: Now, now now Jamie. Will power, will power.
ZOE: Any more tea anyone?(MILO looks up from the controls.)
MILO: I'll have another cup if there's some there Zoe.
(ZOE gets a battered cup.)
MILO: There you are, that's as good as new.
(ZOE pours some tea into his battered mug, and the DOCTOR passes it to him.)
DOCTOR: Milo?
MILO: Hello.
DOCTOR: Err I've... I've been watching this pressure gauge. It is err, just a little bit high, isn't it?
MILO: Yeah, it is a bittie. That's the thermo-nuclear power you see.(He taps the gauge.)
MILO: Yeah, it's wearing out a bit, nothing you can do about that.
DOCTOR: Well except slow down. I... I mean, there could be a nasty explosion, couldn't there!
MILO: Ah, don't you worry, Doctor. It's a mighty strong little ship this. They don't make ships like this these days, you know!
JAMIE: (Muttering.) You can say that again!
MILO: Ah don't you worry, lad. We haven't got far to go.
ZOE: Where are we going? You haven't said.
MILO: Well now, I'll tell ya. We're going to the one place where they'll never think of looking for us.(He punches a control and a mist-shrouded planet emerges on the scanner screen.)
MILO: There! That's the planet called Ta!
DOCTOR: (Peering at the screen.) Oh, oh yes! Is it ah... is it inhabited?
MILO: Yea it is these days. It's the headquarters of the Issigri Mining Corporation.
JAMIE: (Skeptically.) Why do you say they won't bother to look for us.
MILO: Well you see, Madeleine Issigri, who runs that show now, she's a... sworn enemy of mine. Well, so I've been told. Anyway, General Hermack err... will think I'll go anywhere else rather than go there.
DOCTOR: (Puzzled.) Yes well, if she's a sworn enemy, won't she give you away.
MILO: (Laughing.) We won't be announcing our arrival, Doctor. We'll just lie low there until that old Space Corps gets tired of looking for us.(ZOE studies the image of the planet on the scanner. It is much closer now, and she can make out more surface details.)
ZOE: It doesn't look as though there's anything there. This side is just desert.
MILO: Oh no, there's no surface life on Ta girl - there's too much ultra-violet ra... radiation. Don't you worry, don't you worry- we'll be all right. We'll be a mile underground as long as I can fall into my old landing pad
DOCTOR: Oh, you've been there before, have you?
MILO: Certainly have, certainly have. Me and my old partner, Dom Issigri, god rest his poor tired old soul, we turned that whole planet into a piece of Gruyere cheese between us.
JAMIE: (Looking greener.) Gruyere cheese...
DOCTOR: (Passing his handkerchief so that JAMIE can cover his mouth.) Jamie, yes... (To MILO.) Err mining, I see. Umm of argonite err... presumably .
MILO: Yeah that's right, arg... argonite - one of the richest strikes we ever found. Took us about ten years to drill that clean.(MILO bends over the scanner, which shows the dusty, cratered surface of the planet.)
MILO: Well, I'd better try to find this old entry shaft then. Now you'd better brace yourselves, hang onto something. Landing pad's ain't as good as they used to be.
(The TARDIS crew again holds onto something.)
13. SPACE
(We see the LIZ close in on Ta.)
14. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
HERMACK: Bring the ship in on pad three. I'll join you there Penn.
PENN: (OOV.) Yes, sir.
MADELEINE: I'm sorry your stay was so short, General.
HERMACK: Well, I hope on my next visit, my duties will be less pressing.
MADELEINE: (Warmly.) So do I. Where do you go from now?
HERMACK: Well, first of all I must get young Warne out of that fix he's got himself into. Then I must collect my pickets from the beacons. And after that - Lobos!
MADELEINE: Lobos!
HERMACK: (Nodding.) Hm hm.
MADELEINE: Milo Clancey's base?
HERMACK: The pirate's base. Those beacons they've been braking up will be heading there. With a little bit of luck we shall be able to wipe out the whole nest in one operation.
MADELEINE: Well I hope you do. Some of my crews are demanding arms in case they're attacked.(HERMACK's eye is caught by a beautifully made model of a spaceship mounted on a stand.)
HERMACK: Is that a... Is that a Beta Dart?
MADELEINE: Yes. Yes, our company's just bought two. They're our fastest freighters.
HERMACK: Ah. I must bear that in mind. The pirates have a Beta Dart. I should hate to knock out one of your ships by mistake.(MADELEINE smiles, tapping the striped nose-cone of the Dart.)
MADELEINE: Well I don't think that's likely. All our freighters show the Issigri nose-cone when they're in commission, see?
(She points to the nose-cone on the model.)
MADELEINE: I designed it myself.
HERMACK: Ah, very distinctive. How much do they cost?
MADELEINE: Oh, a hundred million credits upwards - depends on the fittings. Why do you ask?
HERMACK: I was just wondering where Milo Clancey got a hundred million credits.
MADELEINE: I see, you think he got it by selling the stolen argonite.
HERMACK: Why not? It's logical. There's an illicit market for them on Rita Magnum, I hear.
MADELEINE: Yes, but I'm sure you're wrong about Milo Clancey.
HERMACK: Are you? I'm not. He's selling the stuff and professing poverty as a cover. If I find those beacons sections on line for Lobos, he'll not live to enjoy his money!(HERMACK prepares to leave.)
MADELEINE: Goodbye, General.
HERMACK: Goodbye, Miss Issigri. Thank you for your hospitality.
15. LIZ 79
(LIZ 79 thumps to the bottom of the underground landing shaft with all the grace of a lead balloon, which means that the TARDIS crew meet up with the floor again.)
MILO: Nice smooth landing, after all!
(The DOCTOR and his companions pick themselves up.)
JAMIE: Smooth? What do you call a rough landing?
MILO: (Laughing.) What's the matter with you sonny? Are you getting soft or something?(JAMIE glares furiously at him.)
JAMIE: Just let me get my feet back on the ground...
MILO: You stay right here where you're safe, boy.
JAMIE: Safe! Is that what you call this?
DOCTOR: You want us to stay here?
MILO: Yeah. I'm thinking of your own safety.
JAMIE: Why?
MILO: Well, we're a mile underground here. This is the old freighter dock. And there's nothing to see, there's nowhere to go, just a whole maze of argonite tunnels, and if you go in there well even I mayn't be able to find you again. You stay right here in this ship.(Grabbing a tool-bag, MILO heads for the door.)
DOCTOR: Just a minute, where are you going?
MILO: I've got to go to the generator room. I think one of their rockets must have gone through my transmitter unit. The radio there's whistling like some sort of hysterical canary.(He disappears through the doorway.)
JAMIE: Doctor, do you believe him?
DOCTOR: I don't know, Jamie. What do you think?
JAMIE: Well he never did explain how he turned up the way he did, did he? And that Space Corp ship was chasing him.
DOCTOR: True. I think we've got to trust him, Jamie. If we leave this ship, we'll never ever have a chance of finding the TARDIS again.
JAMIE: Well I don't see we've got much of a chance either way. Look, it's up there in space somewhere on a bit of that beacon, heading for I... I don't know where.
DOCTOR: A blast furnace, I imagine. I think... I think the pirates are probably going to take the pieces and melt them down for the... for the argonite. The trouble is, we... we can't guess where their headquarters is.(ZOE, who has been sitting quietly in a corner, working on a sheet of calculations, now looks up with an "I've done it" look on her face.)
ZOE: We don't need to guess, Doctor. It's easy enough to work out.
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: Applied mathematics.
DOCTOR: Applied... oh, I see. You've been messing about again, haven't you.
ZOE: (Starting to crunch up the paper with her calculations.) Oh well, if you don't want to know what I discovered....
DOCTOR: (Stopping her.) Oh no, no, no, no. Come along, surprise us.
ZOE: (Showing him her calculations and a map.) This is the position of our bit of beacon when Milo first saw us, I got the figures from the computer.
DOCTOR: Hmm.
ZOE: And this is our position eight minutes later when he docked along side.
DOCTOR: (Muttering to himself as he double checks the figures.) Mmm.... Yes, go on.
ZOE: Well, with this data, it was simple enough to work out our original position and course. D'you see?
DOCTOR: Yes, except that after my little experiment we veered rather violently off that course.
JAMIE: Ah yes...
ZOE: Yes, but I allowed for that. Look!
JAMIE & DOCTOR: Oh...
ZOE: Electro-magnetic waves are always at right-angles to the direction of propagation, and, as you know, travel at one hundred and eighty six thousand, two hundred and eighty two miles per second.
DOCTOR: (Looking proud of ZOE but also a little lost.) Oh really? How interesting. Well, what's the answer?
ZOE: Here!
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: If we'd stayed on our original course, the TARDIS would have landed within ten miles from where we are now. Except of course, it would still be up there because it wasn't travelling quite so fast.
DOCTOR: (Excited.) Well, Bless my soul! Yes, of course. Yes as you say, a simple calculation. I should have thought of that myself!
ZOE: Yes. I wonder why you didn't.(The DOCTOR gives her a grumpy look and walks off thinking, while JAMIE tries to work out what has been going on.)
JAMIE: Did all that talk mean that the TARDIS is going to land somewhere around here?
DOCTOR: Jamie, it's all here, written down. It's as plain as a pike-staff.
JAMIE: Aye, well in that case, the pirates are going to be round here too!
DOCTOR: Yes Jamie, you're right!
ZOE: Do you think Milo's one of them and that's why he landed here?
DOCTOR: Yes, I think it's possible.
JAMIE: Aye, he seemed to know all about them, didn't he. Look, I think we ought to get out of here before he comes back.
ZOE: Yes, so do I. We don't even know if he has gone to the Generator room. He might just have gone to get his gang.
JAMIE: Aye.(The DOCTOR comes to a decision.)
DOCTOR: All right... All right, but if the TARDIS has landed here we... we have to find it anyway. Come on you two, but for heaven's sake don't make a noise on the ladder.
(JAMIE dashes for the door, trips over a chair and falls down with a crash.)
ZOE: Jamie!
JAMIE: (Defensively.) We're not on the ladder yet, are we!(They creep out of the cabin.)
16. PIRATE CONTROL ROOM
(In an underground chamber filled with communications equipment, CAVEN sits watching a bank of monitor screens. He swings round in his chair as DERVISH hurries into the room.)
CAVEN: Wait here!
DERVISH: What's the panic, Caven?
CAVEN: No panic.
DERVISH: What, you know what I mean? I got a red emergency flash.
CAVEN: I wanted to talk to you Dervish.
DERVISH: Well?
CAVEN: What's the position at the plant?
DERVISH: Just started on the last section of Alpha Two.
CAVEN: Leave it.
DERVISH: Leave it?!
CAVEN: Suledin's capable of taking change down there, isn't he?
DERVISH: Well yes, but...
CAVEN: Right, when you've finished your flight service, I want you to take the ship out.
DERVISH: Me! Where?
CAVEN: The Alpha Four sections are being re-routed.
DERVISH: Re-rout...
CAVEN: To Lobos.
DERVISH: Lobos? But that's impossible!
CAVEN: When I give an order, nobody says it's impossible Dervish.
DERVISH: Well do you know how far Lobos is? I mean the beacons rockets will have to be re-fuelled.
CAVEN: That's right. That's exactly what I want you to do.
DERVISH: (Pleading.) Yeah, but the Space Corps have got a V-ship and a flight of minnows up there. It's too dangerous!
CAVEN: It has to be done. They've got to be drawn off.
DERVISH: (Shouting.) Well why can't you do it then? You're the master pilot! I'm only supposed to be the engineer.
CAVEN: I've got to do things down here.
DERVISH: Yes, so I've got to go and risk my life whi...(CAVEN draws the holstered blaster that never leaves his side.)
CAVEN: You keep arguing Dervish, and Suledin will be having your job permanently. Now are you going to take that ship out or aren't you?
DERVISH: (Breaking down.) Well yes, yes. Of course Caven. I... I was only just trying to point out the dangers.
CAVEN: Well now you're in more danger here than you ever will be in space.(Suddenly a light flashes and the sound of a warning siren comes from the speakers.)
DERVISH: It's a perimeter alarm!
VOICE: (OOV.) Intruders in perimeter tunnel nine. Perimeter tunnel nine.(CAVEN flicks a switch.)
CAVEN: Alert the guards. I'm coming down.
DERVISH: Is it the Space Corps?
CAVEN: I don't know, but whoever it is, we can deal with them in the tunnel complex! Now get moving!
DERVISH: Right!(They both rush out.)
17. TUNNEL
(The DOCTOR, JAMIE and ZOE are making their way along a dark, dank tunnel. The walls are rough-hewn, with many cracks and fissures. From somewhere in the distance comes the sound of dripping water.)
ZOE: I'm sure we should have turned right back there.
JAMIE: We DID turn right!
ZOE: I mean earlier. We seem to be getting deeper.
JAMIE: What do you think, Doctor? Should we go on or turn back?
DOCTOR: I think we should have done as Milo told us. He said we'd get lost.
ZOE: Tunnels probably run for hundreds of miles.
JAMIE: Well if they do, we'll never get ourselves out. Feels like I'm going to sneeze.
DOCTOR: Shh, just a minute Jamie.(He stops when he hears a kind of buzzing noise.)
ZOE: What?
(All three can now hear the noise.)
JAMIE: I can hear something. There it is. A buzzing noise.
ZOE: Well where's it coming from?
DOCTOR: Seems to be up ahead there.(They walk towards the noise.)
18. LIZ 79
(MILO comes back onto the bridge.)
MILO: Well that's all right again, right as rain.
(He sees that he is alone.)
MILO: Hey where are you? Ah...
(He calls down the corridor towards the kitchen.)
MILO: ZOE!? DOCTOR!?
(There is no answer.)
MILO: They ain't here. Oh, why can't some people do as they're told. I guess I'd better... better go out and try and find them.
(He stomps down the ladder.)
19. TUNNEL
(The TARDIS team arrives to find a crack from which light is pouring through.)
JAMIE: Hey Doctor! There's a wee light there, look! Just shining through a crack in the wall.
ZOE: You're right. It is a light!
DOCTOR: Yes, it's... it's reflected through from the other side. I... I wonder if we can...
JAMIE: (Trying to peer into the crack.) Too high to see in.
ZOE: I'm the lightest, if you can lift me up - perhaps I can see through.
DOCTOR: All right. You jump onto Jamie's back.
JAMIE: What?(He bends down and the DOCTOR helps ZOE climb first onto JAMIE's back and then onto his shoulders. JAMIE slowly stands up. ZOE supports herself against the wall and puts an eye to the fissure.)
DOCTOR: Can you see anything?
ZOE: (Blinking in the light after being in the darkness for so long.) It hurts...
JAMIE: (Groaning.) Well hurry up!(ZOE peers through and sees three men with machinery. One of the men is cutting up a big piece of metal. A moment later the DOCTOR helps her scramble down.)
DOCTOR: Well?
ZOE: There are three men in there and I think they're pirates.
JAMIE: How do you know?
DOCTOR: They could be miners?
ZOE: No, they're cutting up bits of scrap and it looks like part of a beacon!
DOCTOR: It looks as though we've stumbled on their headquarters. Yes, of course! That noise is an electrical furnace.
JAMIE: Did you see the TARDIS?
ZOE: No, just the three men.
JAMIE: Doctor, we've got to try and stop them before they start cutting it up.
DOCTOR: Yes. The first thing we'd better do is...(A beam of light suddenly strikes them.)
DOCTOR: Hello? What's happening?!
(Screwing up his eyes, the DOCTOR sees that it is a portable searchlight carried by two men. There seem to be other men behind them - men with guns. The little group instinctively back away.)
CAVEN: (Over the speakers.) Keep moving!
(The DOCTOR stops and stands his ground.)
DOCTOR: All right! There's no need for that!
(A blaster chips a chunk of rock from the wall by his feet. The DOCTOR skips back. Another bit of rock splinters from the rock wall by JAMIE's head.)
CAVEN: (OOV.) Back! Back! Back!
(ZOE turns and sees a small round hole in the wall behind her.)
ZOE: Quick! Down this passage!
DOCTOR: Run!(All three start to run through the opening. ZOE gives a yell of alarm. JAMIE runs after her and then teeters on the edge of the opening - beyond it is a sheer drop into darkness. JAMIE tries to give a warning to the DOCTOR but it is too late. ZOE is going too fast to stop and with a scream, she dives into the pit. The DOCTOR is already on JAMIE's heels. He grabs JAMIE's hand just as the young Highlander loses his balance and falls, yelling. The DOCTOR is dragged after him. Struggling furiously and screaming, they drop down into the darkness...)
The Doctor
PATRICK TROUGHTONJamie
FRAZER HINESZoe
WENDY PADBURYGeneral Nicolai Hermack
JACK MAYMajor Ian Warne
DONALD GEETechnician Penn
GEORGE LAYTONMaurice Caven
DUDLEY FOSTERDervish
BRIAN PECKMilo Clancey
GORDON GOSTELOWMadeleine Issigri
LISA DANIELY
Title Music by
RON GRAINER
and the BBC Radiophonic WorkshopIncidental Music by
DUDLEY SIMPSONDesigner
IAN WATSONProducer
DERRICK SHERWINDirector
MICHAEL HART
Transcribed by
LEE HORTON