"They're leaving Beacon Alpha 4, sir." " It's exactly like before." " What is our arrival time?" "Still 90 minutes to go, sir." "We are going to be too late again!" "The beacon should blow any second now." " Penn, give me a bearing on that pirate ship." " I can't pick her up, sir." " The debris has jammed the signals." " You are an incompetent, useless..." " Keep trying, Penn." " Yes, sir." " Ah, coffee?" " Yes, please, sir." "Thank you." "All right." "I know." "The men are doing their best." " General?" " Isn't that what you were going to say?" "Something like that, yeah." "You see?" "They're moving out of range already." "If we could have sustained continual main boost, it might have been a different story." "They must have a base in this system." "We're more than 50 days out from home planet." "They can have main boost the whole time." "We have to launch the minnows." "Or locate their base." "They must have dispatched pieces of that beacon to it." " If we could locate one of the pieces..." " Can't be done." "If those auxiliary rockets cut out, we've nowhere to track on." " There's nothing left now." " We've got the tactile scanner." "That would be like looking for a single speck of dust at the bottom of an argonite mine." " Do you think they're still alive?" " Sorba's men?" "I doubt it." "I doubt if anyone's alive on that beacon now." " Major Warne!" " What is it, Penn?" "A rocket ship, right where Beacon Alpha Four went up." " Can I get it on the TS?" " Bear starboard 19 from SDC." " 19 SDC..." " What is it?" " Something on the radar." " The pirates?" " If it is, they're hardly moving." " But they don't know we're here." "They know there's a V-ship in the system." "They ran into our picket on Alpha Four." "I don't think it's them." "There should be nothing in this solar system for the next 80 hours." "There she is." " That isn't the ship we saw before." " No, it isn't." "Can you get a closer shot?" "An old C-class freighter!" "I didn't know they were still flying." "The last of me nutty sliced bread." "Rubbishy newfangled solar toasters!" "Ah..." "That's better." "This is V-41 calling LIZ-79." "LIZ-79." "Can you hear me?" "LIZ-79." "I can hear you, V-41." "Go away!" "What?" "I This is General Nikolai Hermack, Commander of the Space First Division." "Give me your identity registration." "A real general!" "General, why don't you take yourself off?" "I'm trying to have my breakfast." "LIZ-79, give me your identity registration." "That is an order." "Come on, General." "I lost that thing about 30 years ago." "Why don't you leave me alone?" "That's LIZ-79's registration." "She's a real old-timer." "She's been afloat about 40 years." "Milo Clancey!" "I might have known." "You know him, sir?" "In Reja Magnum where I did my first tour, he was something of a legend." "Milo Clancey, I have your identity registration here." "That's great work." "That's very good." "Now, good day." "Where are you from and where are you bound?" "Might I ask, General, what business that might be of yours?" "I'm coming alongside with a boarding party." "I warn you, don't try and resist." "I won't tangle with you." "Come and join the party." "Mind you don't scratch your shiny white paint" "Jamie..." "Jamie..." "I've sent a guard to pick up Clancey." "I don't think he'll give us any trouble." "He won't co-operate, though." "Have you ever run across any of these old-timers?" " No, sir." " They're a law unto themselves." " They don't like the Space Corps either." " Why?" "Mining prospectors like Clancey were the first men to go out into deep space." "They had it to themselves - looking for planets, jumping each other's claims." "They were a wild breed." "They learnt to live without the law." "Then the Space Corps started to enforce law and order." "Much to their resentment." "Clancey must be the last of the type." "They certainly do you slickers proud, don't they?" " It's like a floating fun palace up here!" " Clancey..." " I am General Hermack." " Howdy." " This is Major Warne." " Major?" "Why are you not on feedback to Central Flight Information?" " Oh, am I not, General?" " No." "You're right." "I remember now." "That old feedback of mine just fell to bits about five year ago now." " Five years?" " Could it be ten?" "It could be ten." "I've been meaning to get it fixed." " It's an offence to operate without feedback." " An offence?" "I didn't realise that." "Dear, oh, dear." "There are so many offences these days!" "What are you doing in this system?" "I am the head of the Milo Clancey Space Mining Company..." " We know." "Your identity registration is here." " It must be great" " to have all those facts at your fingertips." " Get to the point, Clancey." "You'd know the point if you'd read the reports I've sent for two years." " What do you mean?" " Argonite pirates is what I mean." "Go on, Clancey." "Over the last two years, I've lost five floaters carrying argonite ore back to home planet." "They were hijacked and brought into this system." "You reported this, you say?" "About a dozen times I reported it, but it didn't do me any good, did it?" "So I said to myself, "I'll just have to do something about this myself!"" "How much argonite did you have on each floater?" "50,000 tons." "Unrefined ore." "Why would your floaters be in this system?" "Time, sonny." "Time." "This system is the closest to where they left the spaceway." "And my old floaters have got no propulsion units." "They're unmanned." "They don't move very fast." " I know that." " He's a bright lad, this boy of yours!" "That's good thinking." "Is it all right if I blow my nose, or is that another offence?" "My old nose!" "I can't get used to all your fancy air-conditioning!" "You'll have to put up with it a bit longer." "How long have you been in the area of Beacon Alpha Four?" "Beacon Alpha Four?" "Can I have a look at your charts, General?" "Here." "Oh, that's where we are!" "My charts don't pick up these newfangled beacons." " I don't trust them." " Just an astral pointer and some string, eh?" "That is right, sonny." "I can't see Beacon Alpha Four here either." "They're unreliable." "They're a waste of public money!" "Beacon Alpha Four is not there any more." " The argonite pirates blew it up." " Did they?" "That'll be for salvage, I guess." "That would be it." " You don't seem very surprised." " No, I'm not, General." "This is clearing up a heap of things in my head." "I could lose every floater I've got and your fancy Space Corps would do nothing, but the government loses one beacon and you come running." "If there is any truth in your story and we do catch the pirates, you can put in a claim for compensation." "If I waited for you to catch these critters, I'd wait for ever." "I should think this old crate has about half the speed of a Beta Dart, right?" "Our speed is classified information." "That may be, but this marauding band of sharks are using Beta Darts - one of the latest." " You're in the wrong league, boys." "Go home." " How do you know what ship they have?" "I've crossed their thieving flight path." "If my old LIZ had any speed, I'd have rammed them!" "Can you see anything, Doctor?" "I'm coming down." "Look out." "Well, what's on the other side?" "Could you see?" "Jamie, I'm afraid that there's nothing on the other side." "Just space." "It appears that this machine we're on has been blown into about eight separate pieces." " Are you sure?" " Look for yourself if you don't believe me." " That must have been the explosion." " Does that mean the Tardis is gone?" " Yes." " That means we'll never get it back!" " Why blow up a space machine?" " Sabotage, perhaps?" " What about those men that tried to kill us?" " They were defending the machine." " That's why they were so unfriendly." " We've landed in the middle of a war in space." "Now we're just floating aimlessly on a bit of debris." "Not aimlessly." "There are rockets attached to each part of the machine." "And they're moving together." "When something explodes in space, the pieces go on separating indefinitely, but this machine has separated just so far - perhaps a mile." " They're all moving along at the same speed." " Because of the rockets." "Oh, I see!" "Whoever broke up the machine is sending all the pieces to the same place." "It looks like it." "We can get to the Tardis if it's only a mile away." "A mile in space, with no oxygen or means of propulsion." " It might just as well be 1,000 miles." " That's fine, then" " Have you got an idea, Doctor?" " Just a minute." "Now, what on earth is that?" "If you've finished with all your fool questions, I want to get back to my ship!" " All right." "I'm sorry to have detained you." " You mean I can go?" "Of course." "That's great." "That's very kind of you." "I'll just say goodbye, then, General." "Goodbye." "The navigators are standing by, sir." " You think I've done the wrong thing." " It's not for me to say." "You think I let him go too easily." " I'd have put him through the mind probe, sir." " That did occur to me." "He seems to be mixed up with these pirates." " Do you think he's in league with them?" " It's possible." "He has no respect for the law." "That story about floaters and pirates could be a cover story." " I quite agree." " You agree, sir?" "Oh, yes." "Not only do I think that Milo Clancey is in league with the argonite pirates," "I think he is the mastermind behind the whole organisation, which is why I let him go." " What's he doing now?" " I've no idea." "Ask him." "What's the use?" "He's got his mysterious face on." " He's just trying to keep our hopes up." " Hopes?" "By looking busy." "There's nothing anyone can do now." " I'd say we've a few hours at the most." " What do you mean, a few hours?" "Haven't you noticed how difficult it is to breathe properly now?" "Bridge to armoury, this is Major Warne." "I want a minnow readied for immediate launching." "Fit contact warheads to the Martian missiles." "Navigator Penn, keep contact with Major Warne in the minnow" " until he's within visual range of LIZ-79." " Very good, sir." "V-Master to X-X-1." "Come in, Ian." "OK." "I'm following Clancey without his knowing." "Remember, he's no fool." "If he suspects he's being followed, you'll be in trouble." "I'm going in to land on Ta." "Relay reports to the nearest beacon." " Doctor, can we have some more oxygen?" " I'm afraid not." "We've got to conserve it." " What's the use?" "We'll never get out of this." " Come here, both of you." " Look..." "Look at these." " What are they?" "They're solar-powered magnets." " It's a force field." " Eh?" "The explosive charges that blew this machine apart didn't damage its structure, but divided it along the lines of its electromagnetic fields." " How do you know?" " Because there was no damage to the structure." "So the machine was built in separate sections and assembled in space by magnetism?" "Yes." "You see, Jamie, opposite poles attract and the same poles repel." "Try it." "The explosion was just strong enough to break the magnetic attraction between each section." " That doesn't do us any good." " What if I step up the electromagnetic power and bridge the space between this section and the next?" " Draw it towards us?" " Yes." "And do that with each section until we reach the Tardis." " Can you do it?" " Well, I've got a screwdriver." "And a slight knowledge of electromagnetism." " There's just one thing, Doctor." " Would you move this?" "How do you know that the next section to this one is an opposite pole?" " I don't, Zoe." " If it's similar, your idea won't work." "We'll just shoot off in the opposite direction." "Zoe, don't be such a pessimist." "1300." "X-X-1 to V-Master." "I have made visual contact with LIZ-79." "We are still orbiting in the same dimensional plane." "Nothing further to report." "It must be very uncomfortable after a few hours in one of those minnows." "It is." "But then after a week you get quite used to it." " I thought so." "LIZ-79 is Milo Clancey's ship." " Your records are very comprehensive." " Why is he being followed?" " I told you the purpose of his mission." " I believe he's linked to the argonite pirates." " That's unlikely." " He has argonite mines on the planet Lobos." " Which are worked out." "They said THIS planet was worked out." "I brought in new machinery and today it's the most productive in the galaxy." "I must say I'm surprised to find you, of all people," " defending Clancey." " Why?" "He's been connected with the death of your father, Dom Issigri." "I tried to prove that at the time, but nobody knows what happened between them, so I prefer to forget it." "You took over the argonite holdings from your father and split away from Clancey." "You run the most successful argonite mining business in the galaxy." " And Clancey must be bankrupt." " So you think he's turned to piracy?" "Jealousy of your great success would be a strong motive, unless you disagree." "You may be right." "I haven't seen him since the partnership was dissolved." " I don't know what he feels." " I can understand it." "For Clancey to be defeated by an attractive woman at his own game..." " He'd take any risk to get his revenge." " I wouldn't like to think that that was true." "Your concern does you credit, but I believe I shall have proof within a few hours." "Really?" "How?" "Clancey is on the same dimensional orbit he was when we left him." "He has a rendezvous." " With a pirate ship?" " I think so." " That's all we can spare." " How much longer?" " I've just got one more connection to make." " I hope it works." "Of course it will work." "The theory is perfectly sound." "Maybe, but that wiring looks like a cat's cradle to me." "It's a little bit of a mess, but it's thoroughly functional." "Thoroughly functional." "Here we are." "Now, you two had better hold on." " Are you ready?" " Ready, Doctor." "Hold tight." "Here we go." "You've done it wrong." "We're gathering speed!" " I know." "I can't turn it off." " What?" "!" "It's stuck!" "The power's too great." " Isn't it working?" " It's working, but the wrong way." "We're being sucked further into space!" "For goodness sake, do something!" "I'm trying to, Zoe." "I'm trying to." "Oh, thank goodness!" "Are we all right now?" "Doctor?" "No, Zoe." "I'm afraid we're not." "Even if I could reverse the magnetic field, we're too far away from the next section." "Then we're worse off now." "Just floating hopelessly in space." "Yes." "Oh, dear." "What a silly idiot I am." "I'm prepared to give all the help I can." "1310." "X-X-1 to V-Master." "Something's happening." "He's not due to report." "LIZ-79 is now on retro-drive." "She's linking with a section of Alpha Four." "You see?" "Clancey's awaiting the beacon sections." "It could be coincidence - he's curious about the wreckage." "You'd need an ITM computer to work that out." "No, this is the proof I need." " Are you going to arrest him?" " Could I use your audio board?" "V-Master to X-X-1." "Can you hear me, Ian?" "Yes, sir." "LIZ-79 is now completing the link-up." "I'm standing by for orders." "Good." "That means he can't make a sudden move." "I want you to go in and arrest him." "Tell him to be careful." "Clancey has a temper." "He's likely to explode like glycerol trinitrate." "Any sign of resistance, use your missiles." "Otherwise, escort him back here." "Report back when the arrest is made." "Here you are." "Empty." "Doctor, what about you?" "I don't need so much as you." " What was that?" " Just a minute, Jamie." "Listen." " They're cutting through the bolts in the hull!" " We've been discovered." "Wait a minute, Jamie." " Oh, no, you don't!" " Jamie, no!" "You murderer!"