"I, Marco Polo, venetian explorer and adventurer, have kept this journal for many, many years." "Within these pages are maps and accounts of the many journeys that I undertook as a young man." "As I reflect on my life," "I have accomplished so much..." "I've travelled to the four corners of Asia, and walked more miles that I can't mention." "I have seen sights and wonders in my many years that no one could ever dreamt of." "The magic of the Buddist monks, strange unearthly creatures, black stones that burn, to name but a few." "Strangest of all, was the time I encountered four travellers with their strange caravan." "Yes..." "I remember now." "Let me tell you about the strangest of all adventures." "That's all started 25 years ago, in 1289, on the plane of Pamir." "Yes, that's right." "The plane of Pamir." ""The roof of the World."" "Must've been made by a giant." "What do you make of this?" "Well, it could be a perfectly ordinary footprint, Susan, and the Sun's melted the edges and made it look a bit bigger." "You alright, Doctor?" " Yes... a little bit out of breath." "That's quite understandable." "After all, we're several thousand feet above sea level." "Do you know where we are then, Grandfather?" "Well, I directed the ship towards Earth and it looks as though I've been successful." "But what about that?" "That?" "I can't see anything without my glasses." "Anyway, I don't like this place." "You'll have to excuse me." "I've got a lot of work to do first." "Barbara, I wonder... do you think it could be the Earth?" "If it were, where do you think we could be?" "In the Alps?" "Or it could be the Andes..." "Himalayas." "The roof of the world." "The roof of the world?" "I wonder..." "If only..." "Well... the Doctor isn't very reliable, you know." "Mustn't count on it." "Dear, dear, dear, dear." "We're always in trouble." "Isn't this extraordinary?" "It follows us everywhere." "What's the matter?" " All the lights in the ship have gone out." "The whole circuit has burned itself to a cinder, and added to that it affected the water, we haven't got any." "Well, the water's no bother, Doctor." "I mean, we've got snow, plenty of it, but how about the heating?" "The heating as well." "Everything's gone to pot." "But that's serious, we could freeze to death." "Serious...." "Are you telling- there's no need for you to tell me that, really." "I think I'd better try and find some fuel." "Fuel?" "Now where on Earth do you expect to find fuel here?" "Well, I must try, mustn't I?" " Well, I wish you luck." "I'll come with you, Ian." "Thank you." " Yes, me too." "No, Susan, you stay here." "You stay with me, child." "You might be able to help me." "Come on, Barbara, we haven't much time." "Now, Susan, go into the ship and fetch me the 2-L-O, will you?" "You know what it is." "Even if I do find the fault, I don't suppose I shall be able to repair it before it gets dark, and then we shall all freeze to death." "Ian, wait a minute." "I must rest." "Come on, Barbara." "We haven't found anything yet." "We must find something." "Alright then, you go on..." "I'll catch up with you." "Alright." "It's hopeless." "Ian." "What is it?" "What's the matter?" " I there was an animal or something." "Just standing there staring at me." "You don't believe me, do you?" "Well, look at these footprints." "I'd better take you back to the ship." "Can you mend it, Grandfather, or have you got to make a new one?" "I'm afraid it's going to need a new one, dear, and it's going to take me days." "Well, I don't know, really, I always seem to..." "Well, Chesterton?" "Just as you predicted, Doctor, nothing but snow and ice." "Yes." " Have you found the fault?" "Yes, yes, yes, but it's going to take such a long time, and time we don't have." "Now the only chance is to try and get down to a lower altitute and, you know, before it gets cold, and we..." "Doctor, there are strange things on the mountain." "I saw one of them." "What's she talking about now?" " Well, I only saw a print." "Print?" "What sort of print paws, hooves, what?" "To tell you the truth, I thought it was made by a fur boot," "No, Ian, I'm sure it wasn't human." "And if it were, that means there's shelter nearby." "Look." " Look, there it is." "Quick, after it." "It's our only chance of shelter." "Come on, Grandfather." " Alright." "Yes, yes, yes, yes." "Which way'd it go?" "Grandfather." " Keep still." "We're travellers, lost on the mountains." "Will you give us shelter?" "Hear me, Mongols, in these parts live evil spirits, who take our likeness to deceive us and then lead us to our deaths." "Let us therefore destroy these evil spirits before they destroy us." "We're not evil spirits." "We are people like yourselves." "Destroy them." " Stop." "Put up your swords." "Would you have us killed?" "These are evil spirits." "I command you in the name of Kublai Khan." "The old man has the mountain sickness?" " Yes, he has." "My caravan is further down the pass." "Come." "Come on, Doctor." "Who is he, Barbara?" " I was asking myself the same question." "We have guests, Ping-Cho." "They are cold and hungry." "Yes, Messr." "Marco." "Sit down, Doctor." " Yes, yes..." "Thank you, my dear." "Not like her, or any of the others." " No, he's a European, Susan, and he mentioned Kublai Khan." " Kublai Khan?" "He was a great Mongol leader, who conquered all of Asia." "He had a European in his service." "He was a Venetian and his name..." "I'm afraid the liquid is not too warm, but the cold here is so intense, it even robs a flame of its heat." "It's excellent nourishment, sir." "The cold can't affect the heat of the flame, sir." "The liquid boils at a lower temperature, because there's so little air up here." "You mean, the air is responsible?" "Well, the lack of it." "Just as the lack of it is responsible for the Doctor's mountain sickness." "Is your name Marco Polo?" " It is, my lady, and may I ask who you are?" "We're travellers... yes." "That's my grandchild, Susan, and that's Miss Wright, and that's Charlton." "Chesterton." "Ian Chesterton." "My companions are the Lady Ping-Cho and the Warlord Tegana." "We travel to Shang Tu." "Shang Tu?" "That's in China, isn't it?" "China?" "I do not know this place." "Shang Tu is in Cathay." "Silly of me." "Yes, of course, Cathay." "Well, you must all be very tired." "Ping-Cho, you will share your quarters with..." "Susan." " Susan." "I will sleep here with the others, and Lady...?" "Miss Wright." " Miss Wright, you will have mine." "Thank you." " Thank you, you saved our lives." "I am rather curious to know why you were wandering around the mountainside at night, but questions can wait until morning." "There were two, young man, that I would like to ask." "Well, ask them." " What year is this and where are we?" "You do not know?" " That is why I'm asking you." "How long have you been travelling?" "It is 1289 and this is the Plain of Pamir, known to those who travel to Cathay as The Roof of the World." "The Roof of the World?" "1289." "Are you asleep, Susan?" " No." "Where are you from?" "That's a very difficult question to answer, Ping-Cho." "You do not know where your home is?" "Well, I've had, many homes, in many places." "What about you?" "I come from Samarkand." "My father is government official there." "But I thought Mr. Polo said that..." " Messr Marco." "That's what we call him in Cathay..." "Well, I thought Ms..." "Messr." "Marco said that you were going to Shang Tu." "Are you on holiday?" "No." "Kublai Khan's summer palace is in Shang Tu." "I am going there to be married." "What?" "But how old are you?" " I am in my sixteenth year." "Well, so am I." "Do you marry at our age in your land?" "Here it is the custom." "Is your fiance handsome?" " My what?" "Your... the man you're going to marry." " I have never seen him." "What?" " The marriage has been arranged by my family." "I know only two things about him." " Well, what are they?" "He is very important man." " That's a good start." "...and he's seventy-five years old." "You should have let me kill them." "Why?" "Because their clothes are different from ours because their words are unfamiliar to our ears?" "No, Tegana, they are travellers." "They are evil spirits..." "sorcerers... magicians." "Tomorrow, if we live until then, you may see that I speak the truth." "I think the Sun's rays will dispel the shadows from your mind, Tegana." "Is that what you believe." "Listen, the carriage they travel in has no wheels." "It just stands there like a warlord's tomb on one end." "And another thing... it is not large enough to carry four people." "It must be." " I say it is not, and yet, I saw all four walk from it." "Upon my sword, I swear it to you." "So, this is your caravan?" "Yes, the Doctor calls it the TARDIS." " Where are the wheels?" "It doesn't have any." " Then how does it move?" "Through the air." " Did I not say they that they were evil spirits?" "Are you of the Buddhist faith?" " No, why?" "Well, at the Khan's court in Peking," "I have seen Buddhist monks make cups of wine, fly through the air unaided and offer themselves to the Great Khan's lips." "I do not understand it, but I have seen it." "There is room for all of you inside here, Miss Wright?" " Yes." "And one enters here?" "It's locked." " Where is the key?" "The Doctor has it, and you wouldn't let him come up here." "Yes, he has the mountain sickness." "Have you the power to make it fly?" " No, only the Doctor has that power." "Why is it here?" " It's damaged." "What?" " Part of it is broken." "But it could be moved by hand?" " Yes, if you had sufficient men." "Well, we'll make a sledge and take it down the pass then we shall see." "Ping-Cho, this smells very, very good." "What is it?" "Bean-sprout soup, my lord." "Allow me." "It's delicious, delicious." " My lord is kind." "You know, it's rather surprising to find the daughter of a high government, official working as a servant in Marco Polo's caravan." "I wish to serve, my lord, although, among Messr." "Marco's retinue, there is a man who calls himself a cook." "His name wouldn't be Tegana, would it?" " No, my lord." "The Warlord Tegana is a special emissary, from the camp of the great Mongol Lord Khan Noghai, who has been at war with Kublai Khan." "Mongol fighting Mongol." "The war is over, my lord." "Noghai has sued for peace, and Tegana travels to Kublai's court to discuss the armistice plans." "Yes... oh well..." "For an emissary of peace," "I must say he has rather bloodthirsty habits, doesn't he?" "I find your caravan most unusual, Doctor." "Yes, Messr." "Marco, it is different." "And in need of repair?" " That is true." "Messr." "Marco has ordered a sledge to be made." "He's going to bring the TARDIS down here." "Indeed?" "That's charming of you, very charming of you." "It won't take me very long to repair, a day or two." "But I assure you that I shall not hold up your journey any longer than is necessary." "I'm afraid we can't stay here, one crosses the Plain of Pamir as quickly as possible." "However, we will be spending a few days at Lop." "Lop?" "Where is that?" "It's a town on the edge of the Gobi Desert, beyond Kashgar and Yarkand." "I see, and you will be taking us along with you, including the TARDIS?" "Doctor, I once transported an entire army and its equipment, from Cathay to India, all without loss." "Good.... good..." "then I can work as we proceed." "No." " Why not?" "The Mongol bearers still half believe that you are evil spirits." "They also believe that outside your caravan, you are harmless." "However, should any of you attempt to enter, there would be trouble." "I see." "You saved our lives, Messr." "Marco, and the least we can do is to respect your wishes." "No one will enter the TARDIS until we reach Lop." "Good." "Success... my plan has worked." "The strangers and their unusual caravan accompany me to Lop." "Our route takes us across the Roof of the World, down to the Kashgar Valley and southeast to Tarkand." "Here, we join the Old Silk Road, along which the commerce, and culture, of a thousand years has travelled to and from Cathay." "I wonder what the strangers' reaction will be when I tell them what I propose to do?" "My caravan is large, Yeng, so I shall need plenty of food and water, before venturing out into the Gobi Desert." "Is the accommodation to your liking, Ping-Cho?" "Thank you, Messr." "Marco." "It is most comfortable." "I think it's fab." " Fab?" "What is that, Susan?" "Well, it means wonderful." "It's a verb we often use on Earth." "Messr Marco, these way-stations, do you have many of these in Cathay?" "Yes, the Khan has them dotted at regular intervals throughout his domain." "Those who work in his service and wear the Khan's gold seal, have the right to demand anything they may require, provisions, horses, shelter." "May I have a look, please?" "Of course." " Thank you." "Doctor." " Yes." "They've set the TARDIS up in the courtyard." "Excellent, excellent." "Yes, well, if you'll pardon me, I have a lot of work to do and..." "What does this mean?" " Please sit down, Doctor." "I don't wish to sit down, I want you to call your guards off." "Please, be seated." " No." "I beg you to hear me out." " But I have work to do." "I think, perhaps, we should listen to him, come on." "Very well." "My home is Venice," "I left there with my father and my uncle to come to Cathay in 1271." "The journey to Peking took us three and a half years." "When I arrived at the Khan's court, I was 21." "I was an alert young man, good at languages, and willing to learn." "The Khan liked me." "Really?" "On my twenty-fifth birthday, I was given an appointment in the Khan's service." "1277?" " It was, as you say, 1277." "Since then, I have travelled to every corner of his domain and beyond it." "Two years ago, my father, my uncle and I asked the Khan for permission to go home." "He refused." "I think we had all served him too well." "Well, I really don't see what this has to do with my repairing the TARDIS." "Doctor, I have not seen my home for eighteen years." "I want to go back." "Well, ask the Khan again." " I intend to." "But this time, I shall offer him a gift so magnificent, that he will not be able to refuse me." "You mean to give the Doctor's caravan to him?" "Yes." "You're mad." "You can make another." " What." "In Peking, or Shang Tu?" "You do me an injustice, Doctor." "I will not leave you stranded in Cathay, just as I did not let you die on the mountain." "No, you will come with me to Venice and make another one there." "You think so, really?" "No, no." " Marco, it's impossible." "Surely, for a man who possesses a flying caravan, all things are possible?" "No." "We need special metals, materials, things that don't exist in Venice." "I'm afraid you don't understand all the problems involved." "And neither do you, young man." "Well, travel home by ship." "We trade with every port in the world." "It may take you longer, but you'll get there eventually." "Eventually?" "He doesn't know what he's talking about." "The man's a lunatic." "No, Doctor... desperate." "There are many men who are jealous of the Polo influence at court, and the Khan suffers from an affliction for which there is no cure." "What's that?" " Old age...." "If he dies, I may never see Venice again." " Well, that is your problem, not mine." "I have just made it yours, Doctor." "But you do see Venice again, Marco, I know you do." "What makes you so sure that the Doctor's caravan is a suitable present?" "The Doctor is the only one who can fly it." "I told you about the Buddhist monks, they will discover its secret." "A caravan that flies, do you imagine what this will mean to the Khan?" "It will make him the most powerful ruler the world has ever known, stronger than Hannibal, mightier than Alexander the Great." "Marco, you don't understand." " I refuse to listen to any more." "My mind is made up." "Your caravan goes with me to Kublai Khan." "Doctor, come on." "Come and sit down." "Well, what a mess." " Grandfather." "Grandfather." "Yes." "Go by sea, he says." " Why are you laughing?" "He means it." "Doctor, he's serious." " I know he is." "Yes." "But what are you going to do?" " I haven't the faintest idea." "Be careful, my lord." "One drop will poison an army." "I will use it well on all but the first of Marco Polo's water gourds, for tomorrow, the caravan sets out to cross the Gobi Desert." "Now, you will follow us and on the third night, I will walk back to you, then we're gonna ride back here to Lop, wait for two days and then, return to the caravan," "to collect the thing of magic, that will bring the mighty Kublai Khan to his knees."