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Episode 4

48 The console room as before. Trettan is interrogating the Master. Trettan: Who are you? Master: I am the Master. Trettan: Of what? Master: My own destiny and that of many others. Trettan: Not of mine, at any rate - the rest remains to be seen. Life is so full of little surprises. This planet is supposed to be uninhabited, so I was pleasantly surprised when our detectors noted some extremely coherent high energy activity. Naturally I thought we should come and see the sights. We're tourists, you see. We want a tour. Now. 49 The prison corridor. Romana is trying to reason with Moria. Romana: He's in a lot of trouble, surely you see that? No response. Romana: It's a woman isn't it? A woman with a squad of armed men? The Omarians? A spaceship landed not so far away? And the door doesn't lock quite as well as once it did? Moria hesitates, and then slowly nods her head. Romana: He doesn't know what he's up against. If you release me, I can help him. No response. Romana: But your Master is in danger. You do love him... don't you? 50 The Time Scanner room. Master: This is my black room. Trettan: They're all black. Master: The other rooms only look black. Trettan (indicating the time scanner): And what, pray tell, is this machine? Master: It mixes cocktails. Trettan: Oh really? I think I would like a drink. Could you make me one please? 51 Romana's Tardis console room. K9 is watching the Master and Trettan. Trettan: Go on - start it up. The Master starts it. The radarish thing is showing no trace. A monitor screen displays the message 'TIME SCANNER REGISTERS NO ACTIVITY'. Trettan: I wasn't really thirsty anyway. K9 connects himself to the console. Master: What a pity. Its banana daiquiris are famed throughout the cosmos. Trettan: What exactly does this machine do? 52 The time scanner room. We can see Romana's Tardis behind the Omarians. Trettan is annoyed. Master: I told you. It mixes cocktails. Trettan: You are becoming tiresome. Stand away from that machine. (to her men): Gentlemen. The Master stands in open space and the soldiers point their guns at him. Trettan: Tell the truth or die. We see and hear Romana's Tardis dematerialise. A close-up shows a blip appear on the time scanner. Master: I expect I'll die. Trettan: Very well. Fire when you're ready, men. In the nick of time, the Romana's Tardis rematerialises around the Master. The time scanner emits a loud bleep. The soldiers fire at the Tardis with no effect. Trettan tries to open the cupboard but cannot do so. She thumps it angrily. Trettan: You two, try to break open that cupboard, whatever it is. I'll take a look at this machine. She examines the monitors and reads... Trettan: TIME CAPSULE DEMATERIALISATION DETECTED... TIME CAPSULE MATERIALISATION DETECTED... I think this is a very interesting machine. Get it back to the console room. We're taking it with us when we go. 53 In Romana's Tardis. K9 is still plugged into the console. The Master is fiddling furiously with the controls. K9: Please do not tamper with the controls. Master: We must get out of here before they discover how to use my machine. K9: This capsule will not depart without the Mistress. Master: Don't interfere, you stupid machine. If we don't leave soon, we won't be able to leave at all. K9: Protecting the Mistress is my primary function. Master (pointing the tissue compression eliminator at K9): Do as I command. K9 (sticking his blaster out): That weapon will have no effect on my mechanism. This weapon will, however, be deleterious on yours. You will guide this capsule to Mistress Romana. Master (fiddling more successfully): Very well, though we had better be quick. 54 Romana's Tardis materialises outside the chamber in which she was being held. 55 Romana's Tardis console room. We see the door of the prison corridor on the scanner. Master: You will find her in there. Now be quick about it. K9: Incorrect. If anyone is to find the Mistress in there, then it will be you. Master: If you insist, you insolent heap of scrap. K9: I do not insist. I merely speak the truth. Now go. The Master opens the door and leaves. We see him open the door to the prison corridor. It is empty. 56 The Master's Tardis console room. Trettan is examining the console. Her guards are standing by. Deft, a scientist type is with her. Deft: If I didn't know better, Ma'am, I'd say this machine travels in time, or at least used to. Trettan: Most interesting, Deft. And what about the Time Scanner? Deft: It would seem to be intended to detect vessels like this one and control them remotely. Trettan: Do you think we could operate it? Deft: I expect so, Ma'am. Trettan: Good, Deft. I expect you to have it up and running by the time we arrive on Helox. Deft: I shall do my best. Trettan: You will make it work, Deft. I have every confidence in you. 57 Romana and Moria are approaching the console room, which is just up the corridor leading off to the right. Romana peeks round the corner and sees a guard standing outside the door, then retreats. She gestures to Moria to be silent and ready, and then carefully removes a roundel. Inside is a large red triangular button, which Romana presses. The cloister bell rings distantly from up the corridor and the guard leaves his post to investigate. Moria grabs him from behind and quietly breaks his neck. Romana switches off the cloister bell and then grabs the gun. 58 K9 and the Master, where we left them. The cloister bell starts to ring. Master: The cloister bell? It's time to leave, K9. K9: You have not yet located the Mistress. Master: It's too late for that now, K9 - the cloister bell - we must go. K9: The cloister bell can be operated manually. It is probable that the Mistress has done so to attract our attention. The cloister bell stops. Master: Yes, and everybody else's. K9: The console room. Now. 59 The console room. The cloister bell starts. A red triangular light starts flashing on the console. Trettan: What's happening? What's that ringing? Deft: I don't know, Ma'am. Trettan: It sounds like a summoning bell, but who or what is it summoning? The cloister bell stops. Trettan (to some soldiers): Take a look. 60 Outside, the soldiers find Romana grabbing the gun. They point their guns at her and she drops her gun. Moria, who is behind her, makes a break for it. They shoot at her, but she is too quick. One of the guards chases after her, the other brings Romana into the console room. 61 The console room. The soldier marches Romana in. Trettan: Who's this? Romana: I'm Romana. Trettan: Well, Romana, I hope you can be of assistance to me. Romana: I am at your disposal. Trettan: Marvellous. (to the soldier): What happened to your friend? Soldier: The prisoner's robot companion escaped, Ma'am. Avers is in pursuit. Romana: I expect he's dead by now - he'll be no match for Moria. A regrettable misunderstanding, Trettan, of course. Trettan: I don't recall having told you my name. Romana: I'm very good with names. Trettan: You don't, by any chance, know what caused that ringing noise? Romana: Seek not to know for whom the bell tolls. Trettan: Humour me. Romana: It tolls for thee. The cloister bell is part of the Tardis's automatic defence system. If the Tardis detects an emergency, it uses the cloister bell to summon assistance. Trettan: Then why did it stop? Romana: Presumably assistance is on its way. The Tardis isn't stupid. Trettan: You mean this thing is alive? Romana: I suppose I do, though it doesn't look very well to me. Trettan: Then it needs the doctor. Romana: Well, yes, the Doctor would undoubtedly be of assistance. Trettan: Meanwhile, how would you feel about a little first aid? Romana: It beats being shot. Trettan: That's what I like to hear, Romana - positive thinking. 62 Corridors. The soldier is chasing Moria. She is approaching a T-junction. He gets a shot out, but she has just turned left. He runs after her, but we see the distinctive blaster shot of K9 gunning him down from the right (accompanying scream). 63 Same place, but viewed from the corridor which Moria went down. She turns around to see the Master and K9. She runs past the body and embraces the Master briefly. Master: It's good to see you, Moria. K9: Where is the Mistress? Master: Moria cannot speak. The Master places his lips to Moria's forehead as before. Master: Come with me. They hurry down the corridor with the body in it. 64 The console room. Romana is embroiled in mechanism. Romana: Ah, no wonder it isn't working. The dimensional stabiliser is broken. Trettan: Is that vital? Romana: Well, it is rather hard to do without, but... Trettan: But what? Romana: No, it won't work. Trettan: It's worth a try. Romana: What's worth a try? Trettan: Whatever it was you were thinking of. Romana: The thing I said wouldn't work? Trettan: Yes. Romana: It won't work. Trettan: Surprise yourself. Romana: If you insist. Trettan: Ah, but I do. I'm dying to hear your idea. Romana: Well, I was wondering if you had, by some chance, relieved the Master of a sort of squat black tube-like thing. Trettan: Deft? Deft: Yes, Ma'am. Deft hands Trettan the tissue compression eliminator. Trettan: You mean this? I thought it was some kind of weapon. Romana: Oh no. I can see why you might think that, but it's really a sort of sophisticated key. Some complex robotic circuits can only operate in rather abstract topological spaces. That key lets you open them up and fiddle with them - it's one of the tools of the trade. Trettan: So this will let you fix the dimensional stabiliser. Romana: If only it were that simple. I'm afraid the dimensional stabiliser is beyond repair. Trettan: Then what were you thinking of? Romana: The key works by dimensional contraction. I thought it might be possible to adapt it. Trettan: You think you can turn this into a sort of makeshift spare part? Romana: That was the idea, but it's too dangerous. The person making the repair would almost certainly get caught in a topological anomaly - the whole thing's very unstable, a local collapse is almost inevitable. Trettan: How local? Romana: I daresay if I was standing against the wall I'd be fairly safe, but I wouldn't be able to reach anything from there. Trettan gestures to her men. The Omarians all stand against the wall and point their guns at Romana. Trettan: Why don't you try it anyway? 65 K9, the Master and Moria are wandering around lots of corridors. The Master is looking purposeful, but they do not seem to be going anywhere in particular. K9: Where are we going? Master: Never mind. Just keep moving. K9: The Mistress is being held captive in the console room. We must go there and release her. Master: But that's what they're expecting us to do, you stupid rusty old tin can. K9: It is the only course of action logical within my operational parameters. Master: Exactly. Do you think that isn't obvious? My plan is altogether more devious. K9: Please explain. Master: You wouldn't understand. Now come on. 66 The console room. Romana at work under the console. Romana: Nearly there, but the next bit is the really dangerous part. Are you sure you want me to do this? Trettan: I'm sure you can manage it. Romana fiddles with something. Suddenly there is a harsh glow surrounding Romana. She writhes as if in agony and shrinks to a point in a rather warped way, with a sort of dematerialising sound. Deft: Well, Ma'am, I suppose it was worth a try. Trettan: And we were getting on so well. 67 Corridors. The Master leads K9 and Moria round another corner, and they arrive back at Romana's Tardis. K9: Why have you brought us back here? Master: Let me in and I'll explain. K9: I will not permit you to move the Tardis without the Mistress. Master: I have no intention of moving the Tardis. I just want to fiddle with the conceptual geometer. K9: Very well. The Tardis door opens and they enter. 68 Romana's Tardis console room. Master: Right, K9, plug yourself in. K9 connects himself up. K9: What is your plan? Master: I want you to reconfigure the external topology of this Tardis so that it forms a Klein bottle, both containing and contained in my Tardis. Can you do it? K9: Plan has low probability of success. Master: Nonsense, K9. I've done it before. K9: The resulting configuration is unstable. There is the distinct possibility of infinite regress. Master: Just do it. K9: Very well. A very odd warpy special effect happens, and the outside of the Master's Tardis appears in the console room. Then Romana appears, growing from a point in a harsh glow of light, with the materialisation sound. Romana has the tissue compression eliminator and lots of other junk from the Master's Tardis. Romana: Hello everyone. Master: How did you get here? Romana: Same as you - by topological anomaly, narrowly mising an infinite regress. I suggest we leave. K9? K9: Affirmative. The time rotor rises and falls, and we hear a cross between the dematerialisation noise and a car failing to start. It's not working. Master: They must be using the Time Scanner. Romana: K9 can jam it. Master: There isn't time. We'll just have to go in there and put it out of action. K9: It would be advisable for you and the Mistress to remain here and prepare to dematerialise. Moria and I will disable the Time Scanner. Romana: Good boy, K9. K9 and Moria enter the Master's Tardis. 70 The Master's Tardis console room. K9 and Moria enter. K9 shoots at people while Moria rushes to the Time Scanner and turns it off. K9 is shot and totally destroyed. Moria makes for the door and as shot while she exits. We hear the dematerialisation noise, and Deft runs out the door after Moria. 71 We see the exterior of Romana's Tardis in the same place we last saw it. It is dematerialising. As it vanishes, Deft comes running out of the space were it was. He stops abruptly, looking very confused. 72 Romana's Tardis console room. Romana is fiddling with some contraption with a sort of headset. The heloxite goblet is to hand. The Master is helping. The charred remains of Moria are lying about. Master: Are you sure you need to return to N-space? Romana: Heloxite is just too powerful to keep in E-space. Its properties are becoming too well known, and this universe is far too small - it will never remain hidden for long. Master: But this contraption is preposterous. It'll never hold up. And it's about as accurate as a blunderbuss. Romana: The total spatial and temporal accuracy depends on the available artron energy - we can distribute it between the two in any proportion. Master: I don't see how that helps particularly. Romana: With a bit of amplification from the heloxite itself, I should be able to land on Earth sometime civilised. Master: Not Gallifrey? Romana: Would you go to Gallifrey? Anyway, if I go to Earth, I'm bound to bump into the Doctor sooner or later - I can afford to wait. Master: I'm not convinced. Romana: It's not you who's going. Just pass that neutron diode. The Master hands Romana a component with a large arrow on it. Romana slots it into her device. The Master shakes his head, takes it out and puts it back in the other way round. Romana puts on the headset and picks up the heloxite. Master: Give my regards to the Doctor. Romana: I shall. You know what you have to do. The Master connects two wires together and Romana dematerialises with a strange high pitched whine. 73 A sort of faded upside-down Romana is whizzing unconvincingly across a whirly green background collapsing in towards a point. She then appears the right way up on a whirly black background with stars. The contraption is beginning to slip apart. As she is hurtling towards what is obviously Earth, the whole thing falls to pieces and the heloxite flies out of Romana's hand. Romana slows down, but the heloxite whizzes on backwards in time. We see a slow motion faded image of Romana crashing to Earth and going plop into a lake. 74 We see the shop which we recognise as Pygmalion Robotics, except that it is called Pygmalion Records, is empty inside and has large posters in the window saying 'CLOSED'. 75 We see the upstairs landing of the shop. No dead robot. No clock. Well, actually, a grandfather clock materialises in the position we saw before.
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