"The tide's out." "Mmm?" "When you said sand, I thought I could take a dip." "When you said sand, I thought I could take a dip." "You're too late, Peri." "It's a billion years since there was any sea on Androzani Minor." "You're such a pain, Doctor." "Come on!" "Well, well, well." "The old place hasn't changed at all." "Still nothing but sand." "Oh, wow!" "This place, Doctor, it's just unbelievable!" " Doctor, look!" " What?" "Glass!" "Almost, anyway." "It's fused silica." "And I'm not a pain!" "Here's some more!" "Now, why would anyone come here?" "Who said they have?" "These patches were fused by the rocket pods of a spacecraft." "Too small for inter-stellar travel, so it must have come from the twin planet, Androzani Major." "The interesting question is... ..why?" "Maybe someone wanted some sand to make glass to blow a new vacuum tube for their reticular vector gauge" "Sarcasm isn't your strong point, Peri." "If I were you I'd..." "Aha!" "What have we here?" "Aha!" "?" "I'm looking." "Why am I looking?" "A mono-skid!" "There's a deep furrow as it left the ship and a shallower one as it returned." " Or vice versa." " No, no." "The light track crosses the heavy one." "Someone came here with a heavily-laden mono-skid, unloaded it somewhere, then returned to the ship." "So you got a merit badge in tracking when you were a boy scout." "I'm suitably impressed." " Can we go now?" " One moment." "The tracks lead to those caves over there." "Is this wise, I ask myself?" "Oh, well." " Ah!" "Blow-holes!" " What?" "You can see that they're not caves but blow-holes." " Same difference!" " Not to a speleologist." "Nor if you're stuck in one at high tide." " High tide?" " It's a figure of speech." "The core of this planet is super-heated primeval mud." "When its orbit takes it close to Androzani Major, the gravitational pull..." "I get the picture, mud baths for everyone." "Well, makes a change from lava." "Presumably why the planet was never colonised." "Androzani Major was quite developed, last time I passed." "When was that?" "I don't remember." "Pretty sure it wasn't the future." "You're a very confusing person to be with, Doctor." "I tried keeping a diary once." "Not chronological, of course." "Trouble with time travel is one never finds the time." "Aarghhh!" "Where's the light coming from?" "Natural phosphorescence." "There's a crystalline material in these walls." "It's polished smooth as glass." "Which reminds me why we came here." "And it wasn't to go..." "Aieee!" "Be careful not to slip." "Keep still!" "Give me your hand." "Come on!" "It's horrid!" "What is it?" "It's not edible by the smell of it." "It's probably quite harmless." "It's stinging." "Don't fall into any more, eh?" "Doctor, why do you wear a stick of celery in your lapel?" " Does it offend you?" " No, just curious." "I'm allergic to gases in the praxis range of the spectrum." "How does the celery help?" "If gas is present, the celery turns purple." "Then what do you do?" "I eat the celery." "If nothing else, I'm sure it's good for my teeth." "The dummies should have been here yesterday." "The last time we made a drop, we waited three days." "So what?" "It sure beats picking chacaws." "Chacaws!" "I don't pick chacaws, Stotz." "I've never been confined." "You know why?" "'Cause I'm smart." "You, smart?" "Krelper, the wind whistles through your ears." " Yeah?" " Someone's coming." "Should be the droids." "Come on, belt-plates." "Krelper, it could also be the army." "Let's move out of here." "Come on!" "End of trail." "Gas carbines." "Bombs!" "Poison volatisers." "Nasty little objects, aren't they?" "There's enough weapons to equip a small army." "What d'you make of it?" "You said nobody lives here." "I was wrong." "This dice is still warm." "Listen!" "Boots coming this way." "Quickly, over here." "Now what do we do?" "Surrender." "Yes?" "Message from Captain Rones, sir." "They've taken two gun-runners." "Good, that's excellent." "Well done, Rones." " He's B Group, I think." " Yes, sir." "High time we had some success." " Did they resist?" " No." "The patrol also captured a dump of gas weapons." " Gas?" " Rones suspects there are others." "He wants to know if he can set up an ambush." "It's more important that we see these weapons, Major Salateen." "If Sharaz Jek gets gas weapons, we'll be in a stew." "Could pin our fellows down for weeks." " We have gas suits, General." " Bad design, I've always said so." "Few hours in one of those and you start to cook." "Still, have 'em checked ready for issue." "It's being done, sir." "Ahead of me as usual, Salateen." "What about these prisoners?" "Yes, sir?" "Copper output has risen 13%." "That should not have occurred." "Head of Minerals sent out a limiting order last month." "Too little, too late." "Tell him to fly to our Northcawl mine." "I want a study on the possibility of closure." " Yes, sir." " That is all, Krau." "There has been a message from the General." "He and his men have captured two gun-runners and intercepted an arms delivery to the android rebels." "Two runners alive?" "Get me Chellak on vision." "Yes, sir!" "The spineless cretins!" "They're beginning to move the stuff out." "If we double round, we can cut them off here." " How many?" " Maybe a dozen." "Come on, let's fumigate some squaddies." "The survey team were charting Blue Level?" "Anyone see anything?" "Apparently not, sir." "They heard Trooper Boze cry out and ran back, but it was like the others, the thing hadn't left much of him." "That's five men now." "Always on Blue Level." "If we had the time and manpower, I'd send a squad to find it and destroy it." "Nice trophy for the mess, sir." "Yes?" "Stand there!" "Could we have a chair?" "It's been a strenuous day." "You will stand there until I've finished." "When you address me, call me sir." "May I ask who you are, sir?" "I am General Chellak, Commander of all Federal Forces on this planet." "Well done, sir." "I suppose you started in the ranks." "Under emergency regulations, anyone caught supplying arms to the android rebels faces execution." "But we weren't supplying arms, we found them." " Sir!" " Sir." "If you co-operate, I'll extend clemency." "If you do not, you will be shot." "Is that clear?" "Couldn't put it more plainly." "Exactly how do we co-operate?" " S..." "Sir!" " Thank you!" "Do not provoke me." "Sorry." "I want your names and those of your confederates." "I want details of all armaments deliveries, where and how they're brought in, who supplies them on Major, and how you communicate with Sharaz Jek." "I am known as the Doctor, my friend is Peri..." " Perpeguillian Brown." " Don't waste my time!" "If we could just sit down and talk about this little misunderstanding in a civilized manner." "My young friend has pains in her legs." "You can see she's suffering from some sort of urticaria." "Come to that, I don't feel too well myself." " Yes?" " Signals, sir." "Trau Morgus is on vid." "He wants to speak to you, General." "I'll take it." "Put them in there." "I don't think he likes us very much." "Take my private lift." "Make sure you're not seen as you go." "I want the operation at Northcawl completed by the morning." "Yes, Trau." "The gun-runners." "What information have you obtained?" "Only their names, sir." "What are they?" "One calls himself the Doctor, the girl's called Peri." "A girl?" "Bring them to the screen." "I just began the interrogation." "I hope to get enough from these two to catch the whole gang." "I hope so, too, for your sake." "Your operation so far is a dismal failure." "With respect, you don't understand the difficulties here." "You are supposed to be soldiers, yet one renegade and a few androids have been dancing rings round you for six months." "Might I remind you we captured the Spectrox refinery in our first assault." "And allowed Sharaz Jek to spirit the entire stock from under our noses." "People here are in no mood to tolerate your blundering much longer." "I will not accept criticism from a civilian, no matter how rich and powerful he is." "The captives are here." "Tempers getting a little frayed?" "Obviously you are the one called the Doctor." "Beautiful." "Do we address you as sir?" "Better if you do not address me at all." "I merely wish to inspect you, to see what kind of creatures would betray our glorious pioneers." "Already I feel contaminated." "Get rid of them!" "You have done well, General." "I apologise for my earlier remarks." "It is just the frustration I feel when I long to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you." "All right-minded people feel the same." "To boost morale, I'll arrange their execution." "I told them they would be spared if they collaborate." "No collaboration." "No deals." "The public will not stand for it." "If they're shot, we lose valuable information." "Maybe, but it is not of prime importance." "These people are the lowest type of human being." "To look at them is to realise the extent of their depravity." "Get rid of them, General." "And we shall all feel a lot better." "Here they come!" "Masks!" "Now!" "Quick!" "You heard Morgus, he wants you executed." "That's barbaric!" "You take orders from a civilian?" "Didn't you say you commanded here?" "I could appeal, but it's pointless." "He has the Praesidium in his pocket." "We're quite innocent." "This is a mistake." "I'm beginning to believe you, Doctor." "In times of war, the innocent die, too." "That's all you can say?" "We're about to be killed." "Captain Rones' men are under gas attack." " Where?" " The Narrows." "That's barely 600 metres from here!" " Muster HQ platoon." " Falling in now, sir." "I'll take them out." "These two, detention cells." "Get them ready for execution." "You've heard of death under the red cloth?" "'Fraid not." "It is a military procedure." "After death, your bodies go to the Field Cremation Unit." "Your ashes are wrapped in a red cloth and disposed of according to your direction." "Doesn't sound any more enticing than any other form of death." "Place these two in detention." "I think I've made the right decision." "I only wish the execution was public." "That is impossible, sir." "Think of the prestige it would bring the conglomerate." "To witness the punishment of wrong-doers is excellent moral reinforcement." " Don't you agree?" " Oh, yes, sir." "Now, what else is there?" "The President is coming at five, Trau Morgus." "Ah, yes." "Take 10cl of Spectrox from my private stock." "Even His Excellency cannot expect more than 10cl in these difficult times." "Move it!" "Quick, come on!" "Every last man." "They killed the whole patrol." "Check that the other areas are free of gas." "Get the stretcher parties down here." "There was something very funny about that major." "Didn't make me laugh." "Chellak said they were fighting android rebels." "Who cares?" "We seem to be the fall guys." "Do try to speak English, Peri." "Doctor, we've got an hour to live." "Morgus wants us dead." "That's another odd thing." "He had us paraded in front of him, then once he'd seen us, he lost interest." "I find that rather insulting." "I can take an insult, I just don't want to be shot." "Doctor, what can we do?" "I've really no idea." "I'm sorry I got you into this, Peri." "It's all right." "It wasn't your fault." "It's as much my fault as it is yours." "I should never have followed those tracks." "Curiosity's always been my downfall." "How's your rash, by the way?" "It's coming out in blisters now." "Me, too." "That fungus obviously had some very toxic properties." "Well, I don't suppose we'll die of it in the next hour." "Anything interesting?" "No." "It's like a graveyard." "Base Defence Group." "Numbers Four and Nine report to me." "Stotz must have had a good day." "Morgus said Spectrox was the most valuable substance in the universe." "I wonder what it can be?" "I thought you knew everything." "Ah, not quite." "It's going to worry me until I find out what it is." "I don't think you need worry for very long." "They seem to be about ready for us." "Aah!" "Morgus, I can't thank you enough." "My pleasure, Trau President." "How much do you take?" "My apothecary recommends 0.3cl a day." "I have been without for three weeks and begin to feel my age." "It's a wonderful restorative." "The greatest boon bestowed on humanity, offering us at least twice normal lifespan." "Would you think I was 84?" "50, at the most." "Quite." "That's why this war must be concluded soon, Morgus." "One way or another." "There is only one way, sir - Sharaz Jek must be crushed." "Of course!" "But our forces aren't making progress and people are clamouring for Spectrox." "It's understandable." "That is the razor Jek holds to our throat." "But we cannot accede to blackmail." "My dear Morgus, I agree entirely." "But we are forced to see the matter from different viewpoints." "Patriotism is the only viewpoint." "A businessman's patriotism may differ from a politician's." "I am forced to listen to the mood of the people, and it is becoming ugly." "Whereas you need only take account of the balance sheet." "Since the value of Spectrox has risen so much, it must look healthier now than at the start of the conflict." "My conglomerate contributes to the cost of operations on Androzani Minor." "Yes, the Praesidium is duly grateful." "As your conglomerate owns the planet, it is no more than to be expected." "Am I to understand that the Praesidium is considering ending the war?" "Offering Sharaz Jek an armistice?" "Not immediately." "However, if the military stalemate continues..." "The public want their Spectrox, Morgus." "Yes?" " What is it?" " The execution, sir." "Are you ready?" "The red cloth." "It's disgraceful." "It is a military execution, sir." "In my day, filthy swine like that were shot in the back." "The red cloth was for soldiers." " Have you a last declaration?" " Nothing special." "We are innocent, we've had no trial, we've had no chance to defend ourselves." "In short, this is a mockery of justice." "Do you have any last declaration?" "Just get on with it." "Firing squad!" "Firing position!" "Take aim!" "Fire!"