The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are held prisoner by the space pirates while Caven comes up with a plan to throw suspicion onto Clancey.
The Space Pirates 5:25pm - 5:50pm [SCENE_BREAK] 1. TUNNEL (Screwing up his eyes, the DOCTOR sees that the light is a portable searchlight carried by two men. There seem to be other men behind them - men with guns. The little group instinctively backs 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 or 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 - and 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...) [SCENE_BREAK] 2. PRISON SHAFT (The DOCTOR, JAMIE and ZOE land one by one at the bottom of the shaft. ZOE instinctively rolls over as she hits the ground. JAMIE narrowly misses her, falling heavily close to one side. The DOCTOR, however, lands partly on top of JAMIE provoking a yell of protest. Gradually they sort themselves out.) ZOE: Oh Doctor, are you all right? DOCTOR: (Sadly.) No! JAMIE: What's the matter? DOCTOR: Just a minute. (He fishes in the back pocket of his baggy chequered trousers and produces a broken cardboard box of drawing pins.) ZOE: What are you counting drawing pins for? DOCTOR: I like drawing pins - normally. [SCENE_BREAK] 3. TOP OF THE SHAFT (CAVEN stares down into the darkness of the pit.) CAVEN: Right! They won't give us any more trouble. [SCENE_BREAK] 4. PRISON SHAFT DOCTOR: Oh... (JAMIE tries to get up, and winces with pain.) JAMIE: Oh, my leg! ZOE: Are you all right? JAMIE: I must have twisted it when I landed. (The DOCTOR helps him up and JAMIE manages to limp a few paces backwards and forwards.) JAMIE: Ah, now where are we? (They are in semi-darkness. The pit seems to be lit by only the faint light from the tunnel above. They look round, trying to accustom their eyes to the gloom.) ZOE: It looks like some sort of a prison cell. DOCTOR: Yes. (A low moan comes from somewhere in the dark recesses of the pit.) JAMIE: What's that? ZOE: Doctor, there's something over there. (Raising a hand for silence, the DOCTOR moves cautiously forward, JAMIE close behind him. The DOCTOR sees a shadowy figure stretched out in the corner, and kneels beside it. As he comes closer, JAMIE sees that the figure is in uniform.) DOCTOR: Oh dear. JAMIE: What is it? DOCTOR: Look! JAMIE: Hey, it's that chap from the beacon - the one that was shooting at us. ZOE: Yes, he's injured! Look! (The DOCTOR finishes his examination.) DOCTOR: I think it's his shoulder. I... I think it's only a bruise. It's not broken. (To JAMIE.) Lift him up - very gently. (While JAMIE lifts SORBA up, the DOCTOR has a good look round.) DOCTOR: What's this? Ah, wait a minute... (Looking round, the DOCTOR sees an earthenware jug half full of water.) DOCTOR: Yes, that's all right. (He dips his handkerchief in it and uses the damp cloth to moisten the unconscious man's lips and forehead. The man moans and stirs, his eyelids fluttering open.) JAMIE: Ah, he's coming around. [SCENE_BREAK] 5. CONTROL ROOM (From his hidden control room, CAVEN is talking to DERVISH, now reluctantly in space on the pirate's Beta Dart. The face on the vid-com screen is sweating with fear.) CAVEN: Come in, Beta Buccaneer. DERVISH: (OOV.) I want permission to return to base. Caven, do you hear me? I'm bringing the ship in. CAVEN: Calm down man. Report your position. DERVISH: (OOV.) We're forty-three thousand miles out, on course for the beacon sections. CAVEN: You should be among them in twenty minutes. What's wrong? Why the panic? DERVISH: (OOV.) We're running our heads into a trap, Caven. The Space Corp cruiser is less than three hours away, and on a convergent course! CAVEN: Those beacon sections have got to be diverted to Lobos. How long will that take? DERVISH: (OOV.) It will take at least, two hours! We just can't do it on time. CAVEN: You'll have to, Dervish! Just find some way of cutting the time. DERVISH: (Looking panicked, OOV.) Those minnow fighters will blast us to bits! I'm bringing the ship in! (CAVEN holds up a simple hand control, plugged into the panel.) CAVEN: Now wait, don't be so impulsive. Surely you recognise this, Dervish? You designed it. DERVISH: (Stares at it, OOV.) Well, it's a UHF detonator! What are you playing at, Caven! CAVEN: I'm not playing at all. It is a detonator, and it is keyed to a charge right under the atomic drive to the Buccaneer. DERVISH: (Now shaking, OOV.) I... I... I don't believe it. Why you... you're bluffing. CAVEN: If you think I'm bluffing, just you try turning back. You see Dervish, you've got a fair chance of escaping the V-ship and the minnows, but you've no chance at all of getting away from this. (CAVEN puts his hand on the switch and DERVISH visually collapses on the screen.) DERVISH: (Defeated, OOV.) All right, Caven. CAVEN: I knew you wouldn't let me down. Report as soon as you reach Lobos! (He cuts the link.) [SCENE_BREAK] 6. V-SHIP (HERMACK is now back on the flight deck.) PENN: Major Warne's just come on abroad, sir. He's coming up to the bridge. HERMACK: Good. (He presses his communicator switch.) HERMACK: Bridge to power room. We're under way again. Half-boost. (The engines start to power up.) HERMACK: (To PENN.) Set course for Lobos, Penn. PENN: Very good, sir. (WARNE comes onto the flight deck looking a little abashed.) WARNE: Thanks for the rescue, sir. HERMACK: Ah... What happened to you anyway? (WARNE gives HERMACK one of the copper needles that entrapped him.) HERMACK: Copper needles? WARNE: Yes sir. I warned Clancey I was about to fire with the Martian missiles. I pressed the button and the next thing I ran slap into a cloud of these. The computer blew and the whole machine just stopped. HERMACK: Copper! Of course! Attracted by the argonite hull of the minnow. WARNE: Yes sir! It won't happen again, sir. HERMACK: It had better not! When one old man in a worn out junk-heap like the LIZ, makes a complete fool of a highly trained fighter pilot in a sophisticated flight ship I... WARNE: (Trying to stop the tirade.) Yes sir, well I'll hit him with a deflection shot next time, sir. I worked out how to do it. You see... HERMACK: Never mind the theories, Major. With a bit of luck, Clancey will not be able to exploit your limitations again, because, we shall take him on the ground. WARNE: On the ground, sir? HERMACK: Yes, we're on course for Lobos. The headquarters of the Clancey Mining Company. WARNE: You think that's where he's gone? HERMACK: I'm sure of it. Apart from Ta it's the next nearest planet. Yes, that's where Clancey will be and that's where we shall find our evidence - the sections of Beacon Alpha Four. [SCENE_BREAK] 7. SPACE (We see the V-Ship flying, and then DERVISH's ship carrying the beacon sections further on into space.) [SCENE_BREAK] 8. PRISON SHAFT (ZOE is checking over SORBA.) ZOE: Are you feeling better? (SORBA's eyes start to focus on ZOE.) SORBA: (Dazzled.) You were on the beacon... What are you doing here? JAMIE: Oh look, it's all right. We're friends. SORBA: Friends? You led my men into a trap. JAMIE: Aye we were in the same trap ourselves. The pirates left us for dead. SORBA: I thought you were decoys. ZOE: Oh look we wouldn't be here now if we were helping them. SORBA: Then how did you get off the beacon? DOCTOR: Well... well it's a long story, but the important thing is to ah... to escape from here now. SORBA: You think I haven't tried? That shaft is the only way in. It's impossible to get out. DOCTOR: Oh, there's another entrance here somewhere. SORBA: I've searched every inch of this cell. Solid rock. DOCTOR: There's a hidden door. The problem of course is going to be finding it. SORBA: There's no door, believe me. You're only wasting your time. DOCTOR: No, no, no. There's obviously a less painful way of getting in here - so there must be a way of getting out. ZOE: What makes you so sure? I mean it could be a sort of tomb. JAMIE: Aye, a burial pit. DOCTOR: Look. (The DOCTOR taps the earthenware jug.) DOCTOR: Water, in a fragile bowl. Well that couldn't have been thrown down that chute, now could it? (He starts tapping the walls.) [SCENE_BREAK] 9. CONTROL ROOM (DERVISH reports back to CAVEN on the vid-com link.) DERVISH: (OOV.) Caven, I've got the crews out realigning the auxiliary rockets for Lobos, but one of the beacon sections is missing! CAVEN: (Surprised.) That's not possible! DERVISH: (OOV.) Look there's only seven sections here, there should be eight! I checked back right along the flight path, but there's not a sign of it. It's completely disappeared. CAVEN: Nothing disappears in space. Even if the rocket exploded there would be debris along the flight-path. DERVISH: (OOV.) There's no debris, there's nothing! It's completely disappeared! The scanner shows zero hind. CAVEN: But that's crazy! There must be some explanation. DERVISH: (OOV.) Oh yeah, there's an explanation all right, but you're not going to like it! CAVEN: Well, come on, come on! DERVISH: (OOV.) Somebody must have engineered the section out of its flight-path. CAVEN: How could anybody manage that? DERVISH: (OOV.) Well, I don't know... CAVEN: Wait a minute. (CAVEN thinks hard.) CAVEN: That space guard - the one we took off the beacon. DERVISH: (OOV.) Lieutenant Sorba? CAVEN: Yes. He said something about seeing strangers on board. Perhaps he wasn't raving. Perhaps we've got competition, Dervish. Someone trying to cut themselves in, hey? DERVISH: (OOV.) Just a minute. (He looks away from the screen.) DERVISH: Look I've got to go. Once of the spider team wants picking up. CAVEN: Right. I'll question Sorba about these strangers he saw. Call in as soon as you get the sections on the new flight-path. [SCENE_BREAK] 10. PRISON SHAFT (SORBA watches unbelievingly, as JAMIE and the DOCTOR go round the pit, solemnly tapping every inch of wall.) SORBA: You're mad, it's solid rock! ZOE: When the Doctor gets an idea nobody can change his mind. (By now JAMIE is beginning to get discouraged.) JAMIE: Oh look Doctor, this is doing no good at all. DOCTOR: Patience Jamie, patience! (The DOCTOR produces a stethoscope and starts listening to the wall.) JAMIE: We'll not find anything. We've been over it three times already! DOCTOR: It's got to be here - look! (The DOCTOR points to a crack in one of the walls.) JAMIE: Aye I know, cracks in the wall. DOCTOR: Yes, but see the way they run. JAMIE: There are marks like that all over the place. DOCTOR: Yes, well we're going to go on trying. (The DOCTOR starts to bang the walls again. JAMIE sits down with ZOE and SORBA.) ZOE: Now what's he doing? JAMIE: Oh, search me. DOCTOR: There's ah... there's got to be a control unit here somewhere. Just a question of locating it, that's all. ZOE: What sort of control unit? DOCTOR: Shh, Shh. Just a minute. (He produces a piece of chalk and draws a little circle on the wall.) DOCTOR: Yes, yes. It's under there. JAMIE: (Puzzled.) What's under there? DOCTOR: An audio lock. ZOE: (Face clearing.) An audio lock! JAMIE: (Still puzzled.) Oh now, wait a minute, what's an audio lock? DOCTOR: Well ah... they were used in outer space, Jamie. Combination locks became a little too easy to open when burglars took to taking miniature computers with them on their expeditions. (The DOCTOR is searching through his many pockets.) DOCTOR: Now I... I have my tuning forks here somewhere. ZOE: What are you going to do with a tuning fork? DOCTOR: I usually carry them... Ah, yes! Here we are, now then... get these sorted out. Right. (Delightedly, the DOCTOR holds up an old-fashioned tuning fork, and begins tapping it gently against the wall inside the chalked circle. JAMIE turns worriedly to ZOE and whispers: ) JAMIE: Which end did you land on when you fell down that shaft? [SCENE_BREAK] 11. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK (PENN looks up from his scanner screen.) PENN: Contact ahead, sir! HERMACK: What contact? PENN: It could be the sections of Alpha Four, sir. There are seven objects moving quite slowly. WARNE: If it's the beacon sir, there should be eight sections. HERMACK: What's their course, Penn? WARNE: Approximately the same as ours, sir. The convergence is less than half a degree. HERMACK: Then the flight destination must be Lobos! Clancey's home planet. We've got him, Ian! WARNE: We can't be sure it is the beacon, sir. Well we counted eight sections originally. (HERMACK points at the scanner.) HERMACK: Just a minute! What's that, on the edge of the scanner? PENN: I'm trying to get a fix on it now, sir! It's just come into frame. HERMACK: It must be the missing section. PENN: No sir, it's too big and it's moving too fast. I think it's some kind of ship. HERMACK: Out there! No, with any luck it's the pirates. WARNE: He seems to be circling. HERMACK: Can't you magnify that signal, Penn? PENN: No sir, she's right out on the fringe. HERMACK: Ian, get down to the minnow deck. I want you ready to go as soon as we've got an identification. WARNE: Right, sir. (As WARNE hurries away, HERMACK turns to the communicator.) HERMACK: Power room! I want main boost for as long as we can hold it. (To PENN.) Don't worry about those beacon sections Penn - that ship is our target! (We hear the power building up.) PENN: Right sir. Shall I get those wreck simmers? HERMACK: Not yet. Go to half-speed. (Into the communicator.) General Hermack. I want all crews at emergency stations. I repeat, all crews at emergency stations. [SCENE_BREAK] 12. SPACE (We see the V-Ship fly off in space at an increased speed.) [SCENE_BREAK] 13. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK (A few minutes later WARNE comes through from the minnow deck.) WARNE: (OOV.) X-X 2 ready to go. Any news yet V-Master? HERMACK: The range is down to forty minutes. Penn has just made a positive identification. It is a Beta Dart, so they can still outrun us. WARNE: (OOV.) He won't outrun a minnow, sir. PENN: Sir, she's boosting. She must have spotted us! (HERMACK leans forward eagerly.) HERMACK: Right! (Into communicator.) V-Master to X-X 2. Blast away! WARNE: (OOV.) Right, sir. I'll bring back a chunk of her. [SCENE_BREAK] 14. SPACE (Seconds later, the sleek, deadly minnow blasts away from the mother ship into the blackness of deep space.) [SCENE_BREAK] 15. CONTROL ROOM (CAVEN summons a guard into the control room.) CAVEN: There's a Space Corps lieutenant in the punishment cell under tunnel nine. He's injured. I want him brought here for questioning. GUARD: Yes, sir. CAVEN: Here's the audio-lock tuner key. (The GUARD hurries away just as DERVISH's worried face comes up on the vid-com.) DERVISH: (OOV.) This is Beta Buccaneer. Caven! There's a minnow-fighter on our tail. CAVEN: Only one? What's his range. DERVISH: (OOV.) Thirty minutes, but closing fast. And we're on maximum boost. CAVEN: Can't you hold him off long enough to reach the camouflage cone? DERVISH: (OOV.) That's just what I'm going to try and do. [SCENE_BREAK] 16. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK WARNE: (OOV.) X-X 2 to V-Master. I seem to have lost contact. Can you steer me in please? HERMACK: Stand by. (PENN looks at the scanner screen, where the two blips are slowly moving apart.) HERMACK: (To PENN.) Major Warne's lost her. PENN: I thought he would sir, she's doubled round. HERMACK: I'll switch it through on audio. You get an RT track for him to track on. PENN: Very good sir. (Into the communicator) This is Navigator Penn to X-X 2. Are you reading me? WARNE: (OOV.) Yes, I just don't have a nice picture of that Beta Dart any more. PENN: OK sir. Now, if you steer round seven under TDC. Now thirty-seven degrees up. (As Penn reels off the string of co-ordinates, steering the minnow by remote control, the blips started to converge.) [SCENE_BREAK] 17. SPACE (A striped nose-cone hangs in space ahead of the frantically-twisting Beta Dart. The Beta Dart manoeuvres straight onto it, so that the nose-cone locks onto the front of the ship.) [SCENE_BREAK] 18. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK PENN: Should be in range now sir. WARNE: (OOV.) Right. I can see her on the visual scanners. HERMACK: (To PENN.) Switch video through Ian, we might as well all enjoy this. WARNE: (OOV.) Cutting you in now, sir. (Relayed from the minnow, the image of the Beta Dart comes up on the battle- cruiser's screen. HERMACK stares unbelieving at the striped nose-cone.) HERMACK: That's an Issigri ship! Flash out! Flash out! [SCENE_BREAK] 19. SPACE (WARNE's ship pulls out and the contact is lost.) [SCENE_BREAK] 20. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK WARNE: (OOV.) Contact broken. HERMACK: You didn't fire at her?! WARNE: (OOV.) No, sir. I was just in range when I got the flash out. What's gone wrong? HERMACK: We nearly wiped out one of the Issigri Mining Company's new freighters! WARNE: (OOV.) You mean to say that wasn't the pirate ship? Then where's it got to? (HERMACK wearily shakes his head.) HERMACK: I don't know. Anyway, we'll abort the mission. You'd better return. (Turning away from the screen, HERMACK stares thoughtfully into space.) [SCENE_BREAK] 21. PRISON SHAFT (The steady "Ping! Ping! Ping!" of the DOCTOR's tuning fork is beginning to drive his fellow prisoners crazy.) JAMIE: Oh Doctor, will you stop it! ZOE: What's that noise? It's getting on everybody's nerves. (The DOCTOR is indignant.) DOCTOR: You want to get out of here, don't you? JAMIE: Oh, that's not going to get us out! DOCTOR: Yes Jamie it is! An audio-lock is a simple solenoid switch which is only activated by a particular sound. It's just a question of finding it, that's all. (He gives a further succession of twangs.) JAMIE: Oh look, I can't stand any more! DOCTOR: Jamie! Jamie! (Snatching the tuning fork from the DOCTOR's hand, he hurls it at the rock wall. The tuning fork gives out a particularly jarring twang, there is a heavy grating sound, and a section of wall slides back before their astonished eyes.) DOCTOR: Jamie, you found the right note! ZOE: (To SORBA.) Oh come on, we can get away now! DOCTOR: Oh no we can't. JAMIE: What? (ZOE and JAMIE turn to see that there is an armed man on the other side of the door. The man steps forward. To their utter astonishment it is MILO CLANCEY.) MILO: I've been trying to find my way in here for the last hour. Now come on now! (Nobody moves, and MILO glares indignantly at them.) JAMIE: Come on where? MILO: What's the matter with you boy? You don't think I'm in cahoots with the pirates, do you? DOCTOR: Well they're here, you know. We've seen them. MILO: I know. They've got nothing to do with me. DOCTOR: Well it might help if you didn't point that thing in our direction. (MILO slings the blaster rifle over his shoulder.) MILO: Oh come on now! If I was in cahoots with the pirates, why would I be trying to rescue you. ZOE: We don't know that you are trying to rescue us. JAMIE: No. (MILO laughs.) MILO: That's a fine thing to say, isn't it. Didn't I get you off that beacon? You would have died if I hadn't helped you then. JAMIE: Aye, you only got us off of there because you were curious to know who we were. ZOE: And that Space Corp ship opened fire on you. JAMIE: Hmm. MILO: If that don't beat jumping grasshoppers! Now you listen to me, you three sourpusses. You're only in this pickle now because you did the very thing I told you not to do - you went wandering off into these mine workings. I've had a whale of a time trying to find you, and if you want to get out of here alive, Milo Clancey is the only person who can show you the way! (The DOCTOR starts to speak.) MILO: Now, you either come with me, or am I going to leave you here to rot? DOCTOR: Well well, well yes, yes if you put it that way... MILO: Right. Good thinking. It's about time one of you showed a bit of sense. (MILO looks at SORBA.) MILO: Who's this? SORBA: My name is Sorba. Lieutenant Sorba. JAMIE: The pirates took him prisoner when they attacked the beacon. MILO: Oh, there's no love lost between me and the Space Corp, Sonny Jim, but, well you'd better come with us I guess... DOCTOR: Shh! Shh! Somebody's coming! (They hear heavy footsteps coming towards them.) MILO: Keep back there! (He enters the cell and hides behind the open door.) GUARD: (OOV.) The door's open! (An armed guard appears out of the darkness. MILO swings the rifle from his shoulder and shoots him down.) SORBA: (To JAMIE.) Take his gun, it might come in useful. JAMIE: Right. (MILO fires at another guard and misses; the man turns and flees down the corridor. JAMIE picks up the gun.) MILO: ... ... ! A couple of years ago I'd have nailed him before he got ten yards. DOCTOR: What, you mean he got away? MILO: Aye he did. It means we're in real trouble. There... there'll be guards swarming round that tunnel now like a buzz of bees! ZOE: Oh, we'd better get away. hadn't we? MILO: We sure had, come on! (They hear the distant wailing of a siren as they exit the cell.) JAMIE: What's that? MILO: I told you, that's the alarm signal! Now come on, let's get out of here. [SCENE_BREAK] 22. CONTROL ROOM (CAVEN is directing the hunt from his control room.) CAVEN: Where are they now? VOICE: (OOV.) They've gone through into the small bore workings on level eight. I've sent five men after them. CAVEN: I thought I told you to cordon off those lower caverns. VOICE: (OOV.) Yes, well they got through somehow. They must have used one of the old ventilators. They seem to know their way better than our own guards. (CAVEN thinks, and then speaks in a low voice.) CAVEN: Milo Clancey! VOICE: (OOV.) What was that Chief? CAVEN: There's only one man who can get through these tunnels like that. All right Jupiter, I'm coming down! I want these people either caught or killed, I don't care which, you understand? VOICE: (OOV.) Just a minute Chief... (Another voice can just be heard talking to the first voice.) VOICE: They've just passed the perimeter eye on level six! CAVEN: Level six already?! All right, listen! I want every man up to level three. Use the elevators. I want every inch of that level sealed off. And it had better done by the time I get there. (CAVEN storms out of the room.) [SCENE_BREAK] 23. SHAFT (MILO is setting a cracking pace through the tunnels, up cramped iron ladders and along disused ventilator shafts. His followers are soon exhausted and SORBA, still weak from his wound, has to be almost carried.) SORBA: Milo! MILO: What? JAMIE: Can we rest a moment? MILO: Why? (SORBA thinks that they are thinking of him.) SORBA: Oh no, don't bother with me, I'm all right. ZOE: Oh, well I want a rest anyway. It's this climate. MILO: Well just for a minute then, but remember they're closing in on us all the time we stay here. DOCTOR: Oh dear! Where are we... where are we heading for, Milo? MILO: The... the Issigri Mining Company. We got to get to their headquarters. It's only a couple of levels from here now. (Boxes of abandoned equipment provide seats, and they settle down to rest.) ZOE: But didn't you say that Madeleine Issigri was your sworn enemy? MILO: Yeah, well I ah... I thought she was. I thought it was her lot that was behind all this piracy - trying to do me out of business. DOCTOR: You've changed your mind. Why? MILO: Well, I... I thought Madeleine blamed me for her father's death. Poor old Dom. He just disappeared - years ago now - I wasn't even here at the time. Then all this piracy started and Madeleine started to find argonite in workings that Dom and I had abandoned years ago. Well it all seemed to fit together somehow. ZOE: Yes, well it fits together a bit too well, if you ask me. Aren't we jumping out of the frying pan into the fire? MILO: No! No! When I found you down that shaft I recognised the leader of these pirates - he's a murderous criminal called Maurice Caven! (The DOCTOR frowns.) DOCTOR: You know this man? MILO: Yeah, I've seen his picture on home planet. He's notorious. (JAMIE hears footsteps.) JAMIE: Someone's coming. MILO: Come on, let's get out of here. (They all jump up and run.) [SCENE_BREAK] 24. CORRIDOR, JUNCTION BOX (He leads them down to a side tunnel, where an old electrical junction box hangs drunkenly from the wall. Its door is dangling from one hinge, revealing a jumble of rusty electronic circuits. SORBA collapses by the wall. He tries to struggle to his feet, but slumps back.) MILO: Hey, come on there. Come on. SORBA: It's no use. MILO: Oh come on, we're almost there now! SORBA: I'll never make it. You go on. MILO: No, we've got you this far, we're not going to leave you here. DOCTOR: We could carry him Milo. (ZOE is listening to the sounds coming from down the tunnel.) ZOE: Oh Doctor, they're not far behind us! (JAMIE's face is full of the joy of battle.) JAMIE: Aye, well they won't get much further, don't worry. (Clutching the blaster rifle he took from the guard, he runs back down the tunnel.) DOCTOR: Oh Jamie, come back! MILO: He won't hold them off for long. He got no recharge units for that gun. ZOE: Oh Doctor, can't you think of something. DOCTOR: (Looking annoyed.) I'm not a magician Zoe, I... (He spots the box on the wall and starts to study it.) DOCTOR: What's this? MILO: (Glances at it.) An old power distributor box, we got one on every level. DOCTOR: Really, oh well I... I wonder if it's connected up. (The DOCTOR jiggles some wires, producing a bang and a flash and a shower of blue sparks.) DOCTOR: Oh! Oh, ooh, ooh! (The DOCTOR waves his burned fingers.) ZOE: (Trying not to laugh.) Yes, it's connected. (The DOCTOR begins rummaging through the boxes of equipment. Meanwhile, JAMIE sets the power of his blaster to maximum, takes cover behind a convenient pile of rocks and waits for his foes to come within range. The first shadowy figure appears down the tunnel. JAMIE fires, and the man drops with a yell. The others fall back. JAMIE fires again. This time his fire is returned and a chunk of rock explodes by his head. He ducks back into cover, then pops up and fires again. Back at the junction box, the DOCTOR has found a coil of metal cable and is frantically connecting one end to the junction box while ZOE unwinds the rest of the wire across the tunnel.) DOCTOR: Zoe, attach these (Pointing to her rope.) to that metal ring there. D'you see? ZOE: Yes, all right, but hurry Doctor! DOCTOR: I AM hurrying! (MILO looks on in amazement.) MILO: Wh... what's this contraption supposed to do Doctor - trip them up? (Back at the battle, a guard tries to wriggle forwards; JAMIE stops him dead with a blaster-bolt. Another tries a charge, and JAMIE drops him on the run. CAVEN rises to wave his men on. Jamie takes careful aim - and finds to his disgust that the gun is dead. Tossing it aside, he runs back down the tunnel to rejoin the others. By the time he arrives, the DOCTOR has completed his work.) DOCTOR: Right, step over the wire. MILO: What? (To SORBA.) Come on. That's it. (They both step over the wire so that it is between them and pirates.) DOCTOR: Now I'm going to... I'm going to test this, so stand clear. (He throws the switch and powerful roar can be heard.) MILO: Is that all? DOCTOR: Yes, I think it's working. (He turns to MILO and ZOE.) DOCTOR: Right now, you two, you carry along. I'll stay here and help Jamie. MILO: Right now, come on. (As MILO and ZOE help SORBA down the corridor, JAMIE comes hurtling down the tunnel towards him.) JAMIE: Doctor! DOCTOR: Now wait Jamie, wait! JAMIE: What? (The DOCTOR leaps for the switch, throwing it seconds before JAMIE hits the cat's-cradle of wire laced across the tunnel floor.) DOCTOR: Right. Look! (Pointing at the wire.) Stand clear. (The DOCTOR throws the switch again and retreats down the tunnel.) DOCTOR: Here they come! (They both run down the corridor. Realising that JAMIE's weapon is exhausted, CAVEN's guards dash confidently down the tunnel. The guard in the lead suddenly twists and falls in mid-air, sparks playing about his body. Terrified by this new, unknown danger, the guards fall back.) [SCENE_BREAK] 25. MADELEINE'S OFFICE (MADELEINE rises from behind her ornate desk in amazement as MILO Clancey and his motley companions are shown into her office by one of her guards.) MADELEINE: I thought it was some sort of joke, when my company guards told me that Milo Clancey was on his way up in the main elevator. Who are your friends? (MILO strides masterfully forwards.) MILO: No joke doll. Now look, will you do one thing for me before you start asking me any fool questions? MADELEINE: What? MILO: I want you to get onto General Hermack, and get him to get that V-ship here as soon as he can. MADELEINE: Why? MILO: There you go, asking questions! Because you're harbouring a nest of vipers down there in those mine workings, and they're on their way up here at this very moment. (MADELEINE still looks baffled; the DOCTOR intervenes.) DOCTOR: He... he means that the argonite pirates are using the old mine workings as a secret hideout. MADELEINE: (Laughing.) Argonite pirates? Oh really... MILO: (Upset.) Oh child, will you listen to me... [SCENE_BREAK] 26. CORRIDOR, JUNCTION BOX (A shot from CAVEN blows the force field and the way is clear again.) CAVEN: Right, come on! (They run on down the corridor.) [SCENE_BREAK] 27. MADELEINE'S OFFICE (MADELEINE has just been told the full story.) MADELEINE: If what you say is true and I don't believe it for one moment... MILO: (Looking very panicked.) Mean to say that you don't know of this fiend Caven? You don't know what kind of villain he is? (MADELEINE seems to realise that he is serious.) MADELEINE: Well if he is using the old mine workings as you say, then my company guards can perfectly easily take care of him. MILO: Look child, he's got a whole army of thugs out there! MADELEINE: I assure you there's no need to call in the Space Corps. I can deal with it. MILO: Ah! You're an idiot girl! (To the others.) She's as stubborn as her old man! (To MADELEINE.) Now look here child! Your guards wouldn't last five minutes against that gang of thugs out there. Now look, I am going to contact General Hermack whether you want me to or not! (MILO strides towards the vid-com console beside the desk. MADELEINE's guard pulls a gun our and aims it at MILO. He and the others look on in shock.) MADELEINE: Stop! Don't touch that call-button, Milo. (CAVEN suddenly bursts in, flanked by two armed men. SORBA is the first to react. He snatches the blaster-rifle from MADELEINE's guard and swings it round to cover CAVEN, who promptly blasts SORBA down before he can fire. CAVEN smiles coldly.) CAVEN: Anybody else want to die like a hero? (He walks over to MILO.) CAVEN: You must have walked in here with your eyes wide open, Clancey. How very naive of you. (And as his men aim their guns at the DOCTOR and crew, CAVEN points his gun squarely at MILO's head. If he fires it will be impossible for him to miss...)
The Space Pirates - part 4