" We've stopped." " Affirmative." "We've stopped dead." " Negative dead." " Oh." "Doctor!" " Hmm?" " We've stopped." "Hey?" "I mean, everything's still working." "Nothing's gone wrong, has it?" "Well, not so far, no." "Then why have we stopped?" "Why are we not going anywhere?" "That's intensely interesting." " Do you realise there's nowhere to go?" " What?" "Ah." "We're on the edge of the cosmos, the frontiers of creation, the boundary between what is and isn't, or isn't yet, anyway." "Don't you think that's interesting?" " I suppose so." " What?" "I feel just like a goldfish looking out on a new world." " A goldfish?" " Yes." "But it's just black nothing out there." "And being out here on our own is just..." " just nothing." " We are not alone." " Nothing?" " Nothing." "Nothing?" "Well, it's magnificent." "Any minute..." "Any second, a whole new world could be born" " and we'd be the first..." " We are not the first." "Shh!" "We'd be the first intelligent and semi-intelligent beings to witness the spectacle." "We are not alone." " What's he saying?" " I don't know." "We are not the first." "We are not alone." "Receptors indicate pulsing, pulsing characteristic of ion drive system." "The inference therefore would be spacecraft in vicinity." "Shh." "Where, K9, where?" "34-7-0-1-17-50-0-5." "34-7?" "That's beyond visual aid range." "Listen, Leela." "Listen!" "Ion drive, or I'm a budgie's cousin." "Affirmative, ion drive." "Family grouping, negative." " Shut up, K9, shut up." " Doctor!" "I can tell him to shut up if I want to." " No, no, no, look!" " What?" " Leela." " What?" "That's a spiral nebula, a gas cloud coalescing to form a whole new star system." "It's sucking in everything around it like a gigantic whirlpool, including us." " Is that good?" " No, it's bad." "Very bad." "Time to get out of here." "K9, escape coordinates." "34-7-0-1-17-50-0-5." " But isn't that where the ion drive is?" " Yes." "Yes!" "Nothing up front, Captain." "Only the spiral nebula on 2-4-0." "Right, Tala, stay on watch." "Orfe?" "Check the nebula. 2-4-0." "2-4-0." "Checking." "Too far off, sir." "Then what was it?" "Tala, take out the nebula." "Herrick?" "Nothing on Targeter, sir." "There's no blip, nothing." "Right, let's think it again." "It wasn't inside." "It wasn't outside." "None of us saw anything." "We've got no trace." " But we all heard it, didn't we?" "Yes, sir." "Let's hear it again, Orfe." "Now, was that sound generated inside the ship or outside?" "Anybody ever hear anything like that before?" "No, sir." " Run it through Ident." " Sir." "Ident running, sir." " The air is stale." " Mmm." "The door's locked." "Nobody's been in here for years." "No." ""Made in Minyos."" "Made in Minyos?" "Got it!" "The Minyans of Minyos!" "This could be a Minyan patrol vessel." "Have you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?" "No." "Pity, I've often wanted to know who he was." "K9..." "Could you give me a date on that, do you think?" "Isotope decay rate indicates 100k range." " Yes, that's what I thought." " Me, too." "That's 100,000 years old." "The Minyan civilisation was destroyed 100,000 years ago." "On the other side of the universe." "Ident concluded, sir." ""Signal identified as relative dimensional stabiliser" ""in materialisation phase as used in..."" "As used in what?" "Orfe, as used in what?" ""As used in" ""the time ships of the gods."" "It was what happened on Minyos that led to our policy of non-intervention." " Oh?" " Yeah." "Well, the Minyans thought of us as gods, you see, which was all very flattering and we were new at space-time explanation, so we thought we could help." "We gave them medical and scientific aid, better communications, better weapons." " What happened?" " Kicked us out at gunpoint." "They went to war with each other, learned how to split the atom, discovered the toothbrush and, finally, split the planet." "So this ship must have got away before the planet was destroyed?" "Yes." "That was 100,000 years ago." "Nobody lives for 100,000 years." "Do they?" "If it is the gods, they'll help us, help us with the quest." "Help us?" "Well, they helped us before." "Helped to destroy ourselves." "No, if it is the gods, and there's no way of telling, because that Ident is as worn out as everything else on board this ship, but if it is the gods, then they're the reason for it all." "The reason for all what, Herrick?" "Well, everything!" "The..." "The quest." "They're playing games with us." "Oh, they do, you know." "The gods use us for their sport." "We should have wiped them out when we had the chance." "We brought our own destruction on ourselves." "Pacifist!" "If I get one of 'em in my sights again, then I'll dematerialise him for good!" "If they're on board this ship, then I'll sniff them out!" "Herrick." "Sit down." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "Time for the next sweep." "Tala." " Set up for the next sweep." " Yes, sir." "2-4-0 and cubit." "4-0 and cubit." "It's going to take us close to the nebula, Captain." "I know, but we have no choice." "The quest is the quest." "The quest is the quest." " You all right, K9?" " Affirmative." " What happened?" " Trouble." "I know that." "Blast the door, K9." "Blaster malfunction." "Blaster malfunction." "Blaster malfunction." "Blaster malfunction." "Yes, try." "What is this thing?" "It's a Liebemann laser." "Fires charged particles along a laser beam." "Don't ever play with strange weapons, Leela." "No, Doctor." "And switch the safety catch off." "Yes, Doctor." " Shh!" "Shh!" " Shh!" " Take her off the flight deck!" " Yes, sir." "Levelled out." "Nothing on rudder, sir." "She's stuck." "Stuck on maximum." "Do what you can." "Can you shut down on drive?" "We can, but it won't reduce her speed." "She's all ready reached maximum." " Reverse thrust?" " Tear the ship in two, sir." "Right." "Give her all you can on left main and auxilliaries." "Shut down on all right propulsion units." "Yes, sir." "We've got to veer off before we hit the gravity field or that thing will suck us down like a whirlpool!" " How is she?" " She's not good, sir." "She's gone past her regeneration point." "Deliberately, just like all the others." "None of us likes it, but the Quest is the Quest." "Anything I can do?" "How do you do?" " Who are you?" " I'm the Doctor." " How did you get here?" " Hmm?" "Well, through the door." "He's one of them!" " Stop!" " See, sir?" "They're on board." " I warned you, they're on board!" "Orfe." "Thank you." "Go on, get back!" "Get back to that panel." "And you, too, get back." "I'll take them out now, sir." "Just one quick blast." "Calmly, Herrick." "Wait for the word of command." "Just a minute." "You, Doctor." "You said you wanted to help." "Yes, if I can, yes." "Are you a Time Lord?" "Yes, I'm a Time Lord." "It was lies, all lies, he said he was a doctor!" "Orfe." "Thank you, Orfe." " I'm sorry, friend." " That's all right." " What happened to her?" " She collapsed." "We know what to do." "Well, if you know what to do, why don't you do it?" "Herrick, take Tala to regen now." "Yes, sir." " Doctor?" " Yes." " His name is Orfe." " Yes." " What a beautiful name." " Orfe, look after her," " then get back to your post." " Yes, sir." "So you did develop a pacifier." "Very few, and too late." "How long does the effect last?" " Is she a primitive?" " Oh, very, very." " Well, several hours, then." " Really?" " You say you're a doctor?" " Yes." " Of medicine?" " Oh, many things, many things." "Crystalocybernetics?" " My dear chap, what's the problem?" " That is." "And this." "It's worn out." " How much time have we got?" " We haven't." "We're already in the gravitational field." "We could burn our way out if we had the main systems working." "That's the problem, terminal cores are fragmented." "Mind if I take a look?" "We've been in mission 100,000 years, Doctor." "The ship wasn't designed for that." "Neither were we." "Each one of us has regenerated a thousand times." "Have you any idea what that means?" "Well, I've been through it two or three times." "Not pleasant." "A thousand times plus, Doctor." "None of us wants to go on, but we must." "The Quest is the Quest." "But now we're like the ship, degenerating faster than we can regenerate ourselves." "Not the body, not the mind, but the spirit." "A ship of ghosts, Doctor, going on and on, and unable to remember why." " It's had it, I'm afraid." " What?" "I'm sorry." "Then it's over." "It's over at last." "Tell me about this Quest." "It was a missing spaceship, the P7E." "We get signals from it, we track it and lose it, track it and lose it." "But surely after all this time, there won't be any survivors." " Probably not." " So..." " It was carrying colonists." " Ah." "Does the P7E have regeneration, too?" "No, the P7E was carrying something much more important, at least to us." "The future of the Minyan race, our genetic inheritance." "A race bank." "Hmm." "The chance for a new people on a new planet." "Minyos 2." "Well, that was the theory." "Hmm." "Well, it seems a pity to give up now, after all you've been through." "Do you know, there might be just a ghost of a chance?" " If it's at all compatible." " Compatible?" "You'll see." "K9!" "Where are you, boy?" "Come on, heel." "K9!" "What's this?" "He's my second-best friend, aren't you, K9?" "Affirmative." "Try this." "Here, K9, feel anything?" "Right." "From now on, you're in charge." "K9, we want to avoid the nebula, hmm?" "It's all yours, K9, you're on." "What?" "On-line." "In link-up." "Rudder control positive." "Accelerator positive." "Ident nav control." "All systems ready." "Stand by for G-loading." "All systems positive." "We made it." "We made it, Captain!" "Well done, K9." "Tala." "Regen was all right after all." "Don't do that again." "I know you're exhausted," " but the Quest..." " Is the Quest." "Yes, Captain." "Right." "Everybody back on station." "Tala, take over from Orfe." "Continue with the sweep." " This is a trick, Captain." " I don't care what it is." "We've got full power on all stations for the first time in I don't know how long." "But you know what they're like." "He's setting us up for something worse." "Orfe, ring in that signal boost." "Tala, 2-4-0 and cubit." "Herrick, on tracking." "Sir." "Full power on two!" "What a beautiful man." "Leela." "Leela, listen to me." "You're primitive." "Wild, warlike, aggressive and tempestuous, and bad-tempered, too." " I am?" " Yes." "You're a warrior leader from a warrior tribe." "Courageous, indomitable, implacable, impossible..." "Right, that's far enough!" "You stay where..." "Put it away, you were pacified." " Pac..." " Pacified." "Pacified?" "Who did it, hmm?" "Who did it?" "I'll kill them." "I'll kill them!" " It was him, wasn't it?" " It was me." " You?" " It's all right, kid." " You're laughing at me." " No." "You're all laughing at me." "I'll smash your stupid grins off your stupid faces." "Signal on tracker 2-7, sir!" "Boost and Ident, Orfe." "Boost and Ident, sir." "That's it!" "That's P7E!" "Lock on nav system, keep tracking." "What bearing?" "2-4-0, sir." "4-0." "Thrust on maximum." "This time we've got a chance." "Don't lose her, Tala." "Don't lose her now." " Listen, Captain, listen." " Quiet, please." "Don't lose her now, Tala." "Jackson, 2-4-0 takes us right back into the nebula." "That's right." "If that's where P7E is, that's where we go." "But that could mean destruction." "No, Doctor, it will mean the end of the Quest." "If P7E went in there, so can we." "But P7E didn't go in there, she couldn't have!" "She must have been there at the beginning and the nebula formed around her." " How does he know that?" " It's elementary physics." "The still centre of a raging storm." "P7E might be in there and she might be safe, but if you go in after her, it could mean destruction." "Doctor, if P7E is there, we must find her." "That is our purpose." "Destruction is a chance we take." "The Quest is the Quest." "Jackson, I can't allow that." "You can't allow it?" " You have no choice." " What?" "K9, stop." " Let him go!" "Don't move." "Query." "Stop what?" "Instruction, please, instruction." "Doctor, tell it we're going on." " We're going on, K9." " Affirmative." "Right." "Everybody up on the flight deck." " Move." " You." "Quickly." "Herrick, carbo-magnetic seat lock." "Sir." "Now, Tala, don't lose that signal." "Don't lose it now." "Heat shield." "Jackson, listen to me, this is hopeless." "What's happening?" "We're being sucked through a layer of meteorites." "They're smashing us to pieces." " What?" " I said they're smashing us to p..." "They are?" "Damage report." "I think we've lost left and right ancillaries." "And solar sail, plus all external antennae, sir." "The hull's taken a battering, but the self-sealer pumps are still working." "Main drive's positive." "On course and signal holding." " Major systems functional." " Right, we go on." "Lower heat shield." "Take her on manual." "Signal fading, sir." "No visibility." "We're losing acceleration." "Full boost on both." "Full power and we're still slowing down." "Signal going." "Signal gone." "We've lost acceleration." "Maintaining orbital speed." "No acceleration." "We're drifting." "Main systems functional." "Then why aren't we moving?" "Don't you know?" "What's the normal hull thickness?" " Three meters, 20." " K9!" "Present hull thickness?" "Hull thickness 70 metres, increasing." "Seventy metres!" "We're being turned into a planet." " But that's impossible." " No, it's not impossible, Jackson." "It's simply gravity." "This ship's a large, heavy object surrounded by smaller, lighter objects." "Our gravitational pull is greater than theirs." "We attract them, they stick to us." "It all snowballs." "Eighty metres, increasing." "We're being buried alive." "If it wasn't for this layer of debris, the asteroid belt would have smashed us to pieces." "Still, you can't have everything, can you?" "Look at him, sir, he's just laughing at us." "Is there a way out?" " I don't know." "You could try the laser cannon." "Blast a tunnel and blow our way out on ion drive?" "Mmm." " Tala?" "It'll take up all our reserve fuel." "It's either that or we're stuck here for the rest of eternity." " We'll try it." "Herrick?" " Sir." "Fire one." "Fire two." "Ninety metres, increasing." "Ninety-five metres, increasing." "Carry on, Herrick." "Skin's overheating." "The forward hull's buckling." "Carry on, Herrick." "We're melting our own hull." "Herrick, keep on!" "It's no use." "The cannon's disintegrating!"