Sharez Jek and his androids save the Doctor and Peri from execution when he rescues them. Then he takes a shine to Peri and wants her with him forever. Later the Doctor and Peri find out they are dying from Spectrox Toxemia, having been poisoned when they handled the Spectrox nest upon first entering the cave system.
THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI BY: ROBERT HOLMES Part Two Running time: 25:00 [SCENE_BREAK] CHELLAK: Check weapons. [SCENE_BREAK] CHELLAK (on screen): Dismiss. MORGUS: Whatever his defects as a Commander, Chellak certainly brings a certain style to these things, does he not? PRESIDENT: Indeed, though I feel the decision to execute was precipitative. Some useful information might have been extracted from them. MORGUS: They were merely ignorant handlers, Excellency. The stews of the city are full of such unemployed riff-raff. PRESIDENT: Most of them unemployed, Trau Morgus, because you have closed so many plants. It's caused great unrest. MORGUS: Easily settled. Those without valid employment cards will be shipped off to the eastern labour camps. PRESIDENT: Yes, we might make that seem morally justifiable. I'll put your interesting suggestions to the Praesidium tomorrow. MORGUS: Naturally, should any special funding be required? PRESIDENT: Most generous. Of course, the irony is while you've been closing plants here in the west, you've been building them in the east. So if the unemployed were sent to the eastern labour camps, a great many of them would be working for you again, only this time without payment. MORGUS: I hadn't thought of that. PRESIDENT: Of course you hadn't. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Ahem. JEK: Ah, Doctor. And Peri. Welcome, indeed. I've been so looking forward to this meeting. DOCTOR: Sharaz Jek, I presume. JEK: What remains of him. JEK: Sit down. You must be tired. DOCTOR: Thank you. [SCENE_BREAK] CHELLAK: Androids! But so lifelike. I could have sworn they were human. SALATEEN: Sharaz Jek is improving. CHELLAK: His creatures? Do you think he's using them now for gun-running? SALATEEN: He must be, sir. They'd have to pass for real back on Major, that's why CHELLAK: Yes, of course. The man must be a genius in his way. SALATEEN: Shall you inform the Praesidium? CHELLAK: Salateen, how can I? If it ever gets out that I executed two androids, I'd be the butt of the army. I'd be finished. SALATEEN: It needn't get out, sir. Apart from ourselves, only Ensign Cass is aware of this. CHELLAK: Cass? SALATEEN: He could be sent on a deep penetration mission. Very few return. [SCENE_BREAK] JEK: Then if you're not from Androzani Major, where are you from? Earth? PERI: Yes. DOCTOR: No. PERI: Er, not exactly. DOCTOR: We travel a lot. JEK: Interesting. We shall have a lot to talk about. I was a doctor myself once, before the study of androids took over my life. DOCTOR: Really. Well of course it would be fascinating to stay and talk, but actually once we've rested, if you could just point us towards the surface? JEK: No, Doctor. You must stay here now. PERI: Stay? For how long? JEK: I shall make you comfortable, and after a few years you'll be quite content living here with me. Quite content. [SCENE_BREAK] KRELPER: Stotzy? The guys ain't taking no more of this. STOTZ: No more of what? KRELPER: We want paying and we want out. STOTZ: Do you? KRELPER: According to contract. STOTZ: According to contract, huh? The contract says you'll get paid back on Major. KRELPER: A two day job, you said. STOTZ: A two day job, I said, if we was lucky. But we weren't lucky, were we, Krelper, and your luck's run out right now. KRELPER: Hey, take it easy, take it easy. STOTZ: You guys have got one option. You can either stick with me or you can stay here. KRELPER: Hey, cut it out, Stotzy. STOTZ: It's your rotten black heart I'm going to cut out. KRELPER: No! For pity's sake, Stotz. STOTZ: The boss gave me one of these. (a small tablet) Ten seconds, he said. Let's see if it works. KRELPER: Oh no, Stotzy, no! STOTZ: Come on, you slat, bite. Come on, bite! Bite! STOTZ: Next time, it'll be for real. STOTZ: Oh, and in case you lunkheads get any other ideas, there's something I haven't told you. That ship we've got out there on autohold? It won't take an order without a release code. So if you guys want to see Major again, you'd better make pretty certain nothing ever happens to me. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: What is the matter? PERI: Cramp. DOCTOR: Try touching your toes. That's it. And again. JEK: Working up an appetite? Salateen is bringing your food shortly. DOCTOR: Salateen? We've not met him yet. Where's he chained up? JEK: Chains are unnecessary, Doctor, as you will discover. PERI: Why are you keeping us here? JEK: Oh, my exquisite child, how could I ever let you go? The sight of beauty is so important to me. JEK: And the stimulus of a mind nearly equal to my own. DOCTOR: Thank you. JEK: I've missed so much of life these last lonely years, but your arrival has changed all that. We shall become the best of companions. DOCTOR: What do you say, Peri? We can go on nature walks, have picnics and jolly evenings round the camp fire. JEK: Don't mock me, Doctor. Beauty I must have, but you are dispensable. DOCTOR: Thank you. JEK: You have the mouth of a prattling jackanapes but your eyes, they tell a different story. It's of no matter. I shall break you to my will. And if I can't break you, I shall kill you, while you, my child, shall live forever. PERI: Nobody lives forever. DOCTOR: He means it will seem like forever. JEK: Spectrox is the key to eternal youth, holding at bay the ravages of time. The flower of your beauty will be as permanent as a precious jewel, untarnished by the passing centuries. DOCTOR: Well, now we know why Spectrox is the most valuable substance in the universe. JEK: And it's mine, all of it! DOCTOR: Until the army take it away from you. JEK: The possibility does not exist. I know every move they make. PERI: Knowing what they're doing and stopping them are two different things. DOCTOR: Exactly. This General is working to a plan. I've seen his operations board. JEK: Then see mine. JEK: The green area is held by the army. DOCTOR: So, they've already sealed you off to the north. JEK: Already? To get that far it has taken Chellak six months and hundreds of casualties. Computing that rate of advance, it will be another five years before I'm seriously threatened. DOCTOR: Oh, what's five years when you're having a good war? JEK: The people of Androzani Major will not wait for their Spectrox. Long before then, they will rise in protest and the Praesidium will be forced to agree to my terms. PERI: What are your terms, Sharaz Jek? JEK: They can have all the Spectrox they want when I have the head of Morgus here at my feet. I want the head of that perfidious, treacherous degenerate brought to me here, congealed in its own evil blood. [SCENE_BREAK] TIMMIN: Trau Morgus? MORGUS: Yes, what is it? TIMMIN: The Northcawl copper mine, sir. There's been a disaster. I thought you should know. MORGUS: What kind of disaster? TIMMIN: An explosion, sir, early this morning. The mine has been completely destroyed. MORGUS: How sad. However, the loss of Northcawl eliminates our little problem of over-production. The news should also raise the market price of copper. TIMMIN: Undoubtedly, sir. MORGUS: As they used to say on Earth, every cloud has a strontium lining, Krau Timmin. TIMMIN: Yes, indeed. MORGUS: As a mark of respect for one of our late executives, I want every employee to leave his place of work and stand in silence for one minute. TIMMIN: I'll network that order immediately, sir. MORGUS: No, on second thoughts, make that half a minute. TIMMIN: Half a minute? [SCENE_BREAK] PERI: He's mad, Doctor. Utterly mad. DOCTOR: And a raving egoist. Said my mind was nearly the equal of his. Incredible conceit. PERI: Why do you think he hates Morgus so much? DOCTOR: Not just Morgus, probably one amongst a vast majority. Ah, Salateen. I'd know you anywhere. I'm the Doctor, this is SALATEEN: I know who you are. DOCTOR: Yes, well, I've been looking forward to this meeting. SALATEEN: Why? DOCTOR: Well, fellow prisoners. How long have you been here? SALATEEN: Months. DOCTOR: That's right. You see, you're an old lag, Salateen. You know the ropes. PERI: What is this stuff? SALATEEN: Nutrition. PERI: Does it taste as bad as it looks? SALATEEN: Worse. DOCTOR: And you probably know the best way out of here. DOCTOR: You mean you don't, or you won't tell us. SALATEEN: It's impossible. DOCTOR: Do you detect a certain coolness? PERI: Ice cold. I don't think anybody likes us. SALATEEN: Like you? Now he has you for company, he will kill me. DOCTOR: Kill you? Ow! PERI: Doctor, what's wrong? DOCTOR: Cramp, same as you had. PERI: Hold on, is that better? SALATEEN: You both have cramp? PERI: Yes. SALATEEN: You haven't touched a Spectrox nest, have you? DOCTOR: A Spectrox nest? If you mean a large fuzzy, sticky ball SALATEEN: You have. PERI: What's so funny? SALATEEN: You're dying. DOCTOR: Oh, marvellous sense of humour. Try not to get hysterical. What do you mean, we're dying? SALATEEN: And Sharaz Jek thought he had company for life. Cramp is the second stage. First a rash, then spasms, finally slow paralysis of the thoracic spinal nerve and then TDP. PERI: TDP? SALATEEN: Thermal death point. It's called Spectrox toxaemia. I've seen dozens die from it. DOCTOR: What's the cure? SALATEEN: Oh, there's no cure. Wait till Jek finds out. PERI: He's kidding, isn't he? No, I guess not. SALATEEN: I'm sorry. I don't suppose you see the funny side of it. DOCTOR: What is a Spectrox nest? SALATEEN: Deposits left by the bat colonies. Raw Spectrox contains a chemical similar to mustard nitrogen. It's deadly to humans, so they use the androids to collect the stuff and take it to the refinery. DOCTOR: We haven't seen any bats. SALATEEN: The androids probably destroyed most of them. They spend a chrysalid stage in the nest. Three year life cycle. PERI: There has to be an antidote to this Spectrox toxaemia. I mean, if it's a snake venom effect, there has to be a serum or antitoxin. SALATEEN: There is. It was discovered years ago by Professor Jackij. DOCTOR: Well, don't keep us in suspense. SALATEEN: You need the milk from a queen bat. Trouble is, they've all gone down to the deeps to die, so you can't reach them. PERI: Why not? SALATEEN: Well, for a start, there's no oxygen down there. DOCTOR: What else? You said, for a start. SALATEEN: There's some kind of creature down there. Probably lives in the magma and comes up to the surface to hunt. It's a carnivore. PERI: What's it like, this creature? SALATEEN: Nobody's ever run into one and lived to talk about it. All they ever find are its table leavings. JEK: Yes? STOTZ (OOV.): Jek? Stotz. I want an RV. JEK: Why? You lost the delivery. [SCENE_BREAK] STOTZ: Jek, your people fouled up, not ours. [SCENE_BREAK] JEK: I don't pay for undelivered goods. STOTZ (OOV.): Now listen, Jek. If you don't pay for this consignment, we don't come back again ever. Understand? JEK: I can't keep this line open. I'll meet you. Shaft twenty six, yellow level, in one hour. DOCTOR: This delightful process you describe so graphically, how long does it all take? SALATEEN: You're in the second stage now. You'll be dead in another two days. DOCTOR: Can't waste any more time here. SALATEEN: Go through that door, Doctor, and you'll be dead in two seconds. PERI: Why? SALATEEN: There's an android permanently on guard out there. Jek's androids are programmed to kill humans on sight. PERI: We were brought here by two of Jek's androids. SALATEEN: Oh, they can follow orders, but normally all humans without belt plate rank as targets. He even wears one himself. DOCTOR: How do these belt plates work? DOCTOR: Yes, probably they emit some low frequency magna waves or even a neutrino pattern keyed to the android's spectrum length. JEK: Congratulations, Doctor. You're very close. You understand something of android engineering. DOCTOR: Something. JEK: In that case you will appreciate what a masterpiece my facsimile of Salateen is. The perfect android. DOCTOR: Nearly perfect. JEK: Entirely perfect. [SCENE_BREAK] CHELLAK: What a planet! Very well, set a party to work checking the mud barriers. R-SALATEEN: I took the liberty of ordering that to be done, sir. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: What happens now? JEK: Well, I have to negotiate with my arms suppliers. They want full payment in Spectrox. I shall offer them half. DOCTOR: Well, if you have to go to arbitration, I have had some experience. JEK: Your sense of humour will be the death of you, Doctor. Probably quite soon. DOCTOR: Emotional sort of fellow. PERI: Why does he always wear that hood? JEK: You want to know why? You, with your fair skin and features, you want to see the face under here? Do you! JEK: You're wise. Even I can't bear to see or touch myself. I, who was once, once comely, who was always a lover of beauty. And now I have to live in this exile. I have to live amongst androids because androids do not see as we see. DOCTOR: What happened? JEK: Morgus. Why I ever trusted that Fescannine bag of slime. I built an android workforce to collect and refine the Spectrox. We'd agreed to share the profits, but he'd already planned my death. When the mud burst caught without warning, how he must have gloated. But I tricked him. I reached one of the baking chambers and I survived, just. PERI: You were burned? JEK: Scalded near to death. The flesh boiled, hanging from the bone, but I lived. I lived so that one day I could revenge myself on that inhuman monster. And I shall. DOCTOR: More of a tennis player than a cricketer. PERI: He didn't say why he blames Morgus. SALATEEN: I've heard the story fifty times. Morgus supplied faulty detection instruments so the mud burst caught Jek by surprise. He didn't have time to get the barriers down. DOCTOR: I see. Well, Peri, I think it's time we were toddling along. PERI: Well, how can we, with an android guard outside? DOCTOR: Well, let's take a look. [SCENE_BREAK] STOTZ: Jek! JEK: Ah, so there you are, Stotz. I thought that you could make it. STOTZ: Damn you, man. This is the second time you've made me wait for three days, and then you only give me an hour's warning for a meet. JEK: I'm a busy man. STOTZ: Okay, so where's the Spectrox? JEK: In my strongroom. STOTZ: Now listen, Jek. Five kilos was the price we fixed, and five kilos is what we're taking back to Major. JEK: Why should I pay for weapons I never received? Why should I pay because you blundering idiots let the army take them? STOTZ: You'll pay, Jek, because we took the risk to get them here on time. You'll pay because if you don't, we won't be doing business no more. Not so much as a single bullet. [SCENE_BREAK] PERI: Satisfied? DOCTOR: Hmm. The androids are programmed to kill humans. Well, my physiology is quite different. The question is, will it know that? PERI: Don't try it, Doctor. DOCTOR: Sorry, Peri, no alternative. Just keep back. SALATEEN: What does he mean, he's not human? PERI: Shush. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Hello. DOCTOR: What a clever little android you are. Now, we'll just cut your solenoids. DOCTOR: Won't hurt a bit. DOCTOR: It's all right, you can come out now. PERI: Oh, Doctor. For a minute there I thought DOCTOR: Yes, well, never mind. It's all over now. Ah, what have we here? This might be useful if we come across any more androids. SALATEEN: Where are you going? DOCTOR: To find the queen bat. SALATEEN: I told you, there's no oxygen down there. DOCTOR: We'll collect some oxygenators from the TARDIS. Come along. [SCENE_BREAK] JEK: Two kilos, Stotz. STOTZ: Five. JEK: It seems we're unable to reach an agreement. Try somewhere else for your Spectrox. STOTZ: Oh, come on, Jek. Be reasonable. JEK: Two kilos is very reasonable. STOTZ: You're sitting on tons of the stuff. JEK: And I know what it fetches per ounce. That's why your threat to cut off my arms supply carries no weight. I can obtain weapons anywhere. STOTZ: The boss isn't going to like this. JEK: That is your problem, Stotz. STOTZ: Okay, so where's the two kilos? JEK: I'll bring it. Wait here. STOTZ: Be quick. I've got to call the ship down before sunrise. JEK: Twenty minutes. KRELPER: Oh, you really screwed him down, eh? Two kilos. What a deal. STOTZ: Don't you try and get smart with me again, Krelper. One thing I do know, that Spectrox is stored somewhere within ten minutes from here. KRELPER: Yeah. STOTZ: Yeah, Krelper. Tons and tons of Spectrox, just waiting for guys like us to help ourselves, eh? KRELPER: We'd have to blow Jek and his dummies first. STOTZ: We've got these protective belt buckles, haven't we. I think Sharaz Jek has fouled up in a big way this time. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: First of all, we need to find our way to the TARDIS. PERI: Doctor, look out! PERI: Doctor! PERI: Let me go! DOCTOR: Peri? Peri, where are you? Peri! Salateen! Peri! Peri! [SCENE_BREAK] JEK: She has been taken from me! [SCENE_BREAK] KRELPER: I reckon we've lost him. STOTZ: No, he went this way. KRELPER: No, he wouldn't have come down this deep. STOTZ: Come on, help us find him.
The Caves of Androzani - part 2