"Bombay-Tokyo shipment activated." "Bombay sending now." "Tokyo receiving now." "Dispatch completed." "New York to Moscow delayed, Moonbase clearance awaited." "Stockholm-Washington personnel transportation, Stockholm sending now." "Dispatch completed." "Non arrival, shipment of synthetic protein," "New York to Moscow," "Moonbase clearance awaited." " Brent." " Yes, Miss Kelly?" " Why the delay at Moon Control?" " There's been a mix-up." " The Moscow shipment's in Canberra." " Fewsham again, I suppose!" " Take Moscow out of phase." " Moscow pending." "Moonbase clear." "Toronto-Calcutta shipment activated." "Calcutta receiving now." " Dispatch completed." " Moscow's ready." " Report Canberra-Moscow." " Canberra-Moscow clear." " Tell them to activate." " Go ahead." "Canberra sending now." "Moscow receiving now." "Dispatch completed." " Good morning!" " Morning." "Just as well you've arrived!" "The sooner you take over from Fewsham on Moon Control the better!" "All T-Mat consignments are five minutes behind schedule." "Fewsham routed a Moscow consignment through to Canberra." " He's a lunatic!" " You shouldn't have recommended him for an assistant controller's job." "Yes, I know now, but I thought he deserved a break." "He'll do something disastrous one day and you'll have to answer for it!" " So, I'll work in a synthetics factory!" " It's your career!" "So it is!" "Have you a T-Mat cubicle ready for me?" " Yes, Number 6." " See you later." "Prepare lunar cubicle Number 6 for transport to Moon Control." "Ready and waiting." "Activate." "It's lucky he got here before your man arrived." "Yes." "He's late." " Keep a T-Mat cubicle open." " Right." "Local cubicle two holding open." " Report Moonbase situation." " Moonbase clear." "Routine shipments transferring on automatic control." "Local arrival." "Cubicle two activating." "Good morning, Brent." "Good morning, Gia." "All functioning well?" "Of course, Commander Radnor." "In your case, efficiency and charm go hand in hand!" " I try to run things smoothly." " Nothing goes wrong while you're on duty!" "I don't allow it!" "You may have been on duty all night, Fewsham, but that's no excuse for slipping up!" " They weren't major hold-ups." " Kelly was going mad on Earth Control!" "She would!" "It's my head in the noose as well, you know!" "I know!" "I'm sorry." "Oh, all right." "All right, go on." "You'd better get back to Earth." "Now what?" "!" "It has no air locks." " Who's there?" " No one." "Then how come the air locks are in use?" "Phipps!" "What's happened?" "Come on, man!" "Close the door!" "Don't move, anybody!" "Harvey, don't!" " Not again!" " The second Moscow consignment?" "They'll think it's deliberate if this goes on." "T-Mat Reception, Earth to moon." "Controller Kelly calling." "Switch your communication links to video." "Osgood's gone too far this time!" "There'll be trouble!" "No!" "I refuse!" "You will be wise to co-operate at once, otherwise you will be destroyed!" "Well, I suppose that leaves me no alternative." "Don't do it, sir!" "Silence!" "There's a certain element of risk." "You are wasting time!" "What is happening?" "I'm afraid there's been a fault." "The circuit's overloaded." "Very unfortunate." "You deliberately sabotaged this apparatus!" "Kill him!" "I thought the system was infallible." " It won't be anything serious." " I'm glad you think so!" " Brent, is there any obvious damage?" " None reported." "All links stable." " That's only local." " It's part of the checking process." " Report on T-Mat breakdown." " Complete power phase blank." " The materialisation pulse generator?" " Overloaded." "No damage this end." " Check with Moonbase." " Primary video link dead." " Cause?" " Being investigated." " Are you sure it isn't serious?" " My staff are running a thorough check." " Until I have the report, I can't answer." " I want that report soon!" "Doctor, if we've landed, where are we?" "That is what I'm trying to find out, Zoe." "A rocket?" "We're just hanging in space!" "Well, we can't be!" "Let's try and find a star we know." "There we are." "What in heaven's name...?" " What's he up to?" " He's trying to climb aboard." "Just a minute..." "Just a minute." "Oh, this control is..." "There we are." "Now that's an ion-jet rocket of the 21st century, but... but... .. this helmet, if I can..." "There we are!" "That's not nearly so sophisticated." "It's certainly not later than 1960." "The letters on his helmet?" "C-C-C-P." "Of course!" " What?" " Just a minute." "Yes, I think that explains it!" "Well, Doctor, what is it?" "It's a flying machine, designed by a gentleman by the name of Leonardo da Vinci in about 1500." " Well, what's it doing up here?" "!" " Doctor, where are we?" " We're in a museum!" " A what?" "A space museum!" "Look!" "There you are." "A balloon..." "That's a transport plane." "Now, those initials stand for Russia." "That's Gagarin, the first earthman in space." "Look." "Come on, let's have a look round, shall we?" "Wait for me!" "Hey!" "Quite a place, isn't it?" "Oh, my word!" " Look at the size of this one, Doc!" " Yes!" "Oh, Doctor, look!" "Doctor, look." "Now, Zoe..." "What's that?" "Travel Mat is the ultimate form of travel." "Control centre is the moon, serving all major cities on Earth." "Travel Mat is an instantaneous means of travel, and transports raw materials and food to all parts of the world." "Travel Mat?" "Sounds like a flying carpet!" "Travel Mat uses the principle of dematerialisation at the point of departure, and rematerialisation at the point of arrival." "Departure and arrival are almost instantaneous." "Faster than light!" "The system is automated and fool-proofed against power failure." "Well, we have our own system, thank you, only it isn't foolproof!" "Jamie, I think that's just a tiny bit..." "You saw what happened to your superior." "You would do well to co-operate." "Killing him didn't do you any good." " Would you do as I ask?" " There is nothing I can do!" " You do not want to die?" " I'm not that good enough a technician!" " It needs an expert!" " But you are second in command." " Yes, but..." " You must have certain abilities." " You must know what needs to be done." " In theory, yes." "Then you will do it!" "He'll only make it worse!" " What is their status here?" " Maintenance." "Second-class technicians." " The person you need is at Earth Control." " Without her, it can't be done!" " Who is this specialist?" " Miss Kelly, technical co-ordinator." "But we can't reach her." "T-Mat is not working." " But you have a video link." " Osgood wrecked that, too!" "So, there is no means to communicate with Earth?" "No, you've cut us off completely!" "In that case, you are useless!" "You will all be destroyed!" "There's the emergency T-Mat link!" "It only operates from here to Earth!" "Then you will activate the apparatus... .. at once!" " It's damaged, too!" " The technicians will help repair it." " We won't help you." "Neither will he!" " Then he will die!" "You will start work at once!" "There will be a guard at the door." "When I return... .. you will have the T-Mat link ready for operation." "Don't be a fool, Fewsham!" "If we repair the emergency link, these creatures can travel to Earth!" " What about us?" " As soon as he gets what he wants, we'll mean nothing to him!" " If we co-operate, we've got a chance!" " Osgood didn't take it!" "Do you think I want to die like that?" "I want to live!" "Brent, is there any trace of a reason?" "We've double checked." "This end is functioning normally." "Then it must be Moonbase!" "We've no way of checking their apparatus from this end." " Commander Radnor's at a meeting." " He'll expect a full report." "There it is." "We've even checked the computer." "Have you located the cause of the breakdown?" " This end is clear." " That isn't what I want to know!" " We cannot trace the fault." " Miss Kelly!" "I have senior government officials hounding me." "They expect a more informative answer, and so do I!" "There isn't one." "The trouble is at Moonbase." " Why can't you deal with it?" " We can't get there." "We can't even talk to them." "You mean there's no other way of contacting them?" "Only by rocket" "That could be our only answer!" "The only place you'll find a rocket is in a museum!" " Exactly!" " Even if one could be made operational," " no one could control such a project." " You're wrong." "There is one man, one man alone who can help us now." "For the last time, who are you and why are you in my private workshop?" "Now there really is no need for all these... these histrionics." " We are perfectly harmless!" " How did you even get in here?" "The usual way." "We just materialised." "The T-Mat cubicle didn't give automatic warnings this time." "That's not our fault, is it?" " Why did you come?" " Well, this is a museum!" "The museum is..." "What on earth's that?" "It's a 20th-century police box, isn't it?" "Well, yes, in a way." "Well, how did it get in my museum?" "You could say it was a form of spaceship." "We owe this gentleman an apology." "We really are most interested in the museum, Mr, um...?" "Eldred." "Professor Eldred." "The museum is closed to the general public." "Please leave." " Are you in charge of this place?" " I own it!" "I have the right" " to ask you to leave!" " There's no need to threaten us." " Trespassers are not welcome!" " We're not trespassers!" " We're very interested!" " Interested in these antiquated machines?" "Come for a good laugh, I suppose, like the rest of them!" "Laugh?" "!" "You mean people laugh at this?" "It's a magnificent exhibition!" " We've had enough souvenir hunters!" " We're not thieves!" "We haven't come to take anything!" "We genuinely are interested in space travel!" "Why, especially a thing like this!" " This is superb!" " Yes, magnificent!" "It was to have been the vehicle to take man beyond the moon." " T-Mat put an end to all that!" " You mean this model's been abandoned?" "But its speed and stability are a tremendous advance in rocket design!" "Exactly!" "Here, let me show it to you!" "Oh, yes, this is superb." "My word!" "The real breakthrough was a compact generator of enormous power!" "And these must be the secondary electrode accelerators." "Yes, you see, it beat the problem of the neutral caesium ions." "It magnified the G-thrust, too." "Fantastic proportions!" "That was awkward!" " What did you do about that?" " I'll show you." "What have we got here?" "Look at them!" "They're like a couple of kids!" "Yeah, he's almost in love with that rocket!" "Well, that's not surprising" " I designed it!" "I've been in rocketry all my life." "My father engineered the first lunar passenger module, and I travelled on the last trip back to Earth before it finished." " Before what finished?" " Space travel." "But if the rocket was so good, why did you stop at the moon?" " Aye, why end there?" " Because of T-Mat." "T-Mat, the ultimate in travel, with as much sense of adventure as a synthetic carbohydrates factory!" "Surely rockets would still be useful as an auxiliary means of transport?" "Besides, how would man get beyond the moon?" "Nobody cares any more about exploring space." "Life's made..." "Well, it was made too easy by T-Mat." "I see." "So you lost government backing?" "The project was abandoned... except by me." "You've got to help me!" "If we don't repair it, we'll all be killed!" "Maybe we could repair it and T-Mat back to London?" "With that thing guarding the door?" "I'll keep on trying." "Maybe there is something we can do." " What?" " I knew you'd see reason!" " What are you doing?" "!" " The video link with Earth." "It's not so badly damaged as the T-Mat." "We're supposed to repair the T-Mat link!" "Maybe we can get a message through by video." "A guard will see what we're doing!" "He'll kill us!" "You play your game, we'll play ours." "No more money, no more facilities." "A life's work abandoned thanks to T-Mat!" "Very short-sighted of the government to put all their eggs in one basket!" "You still haven't told me who you are and why you're here!" "That's the main door alarm!" "What's going on?" "Professor Daniel Eldred, well, well, well!" "Radnor, come to see how your spies are getting on?" "I'm sorry?" "We've not met." "My name's Radnor." "This is Miss Kelly." "Oh, how do you do?" "This is Zoe, Jamie, and I'm the Doctor." "Don't pretend you don't know them!" "I can assure you I've never met them before in my life." "I see." "I find three strangers prowling around, and by the merest coincidence, you turn up on their heels!" "I merely wanted a chat with a very old friend." "Well, you've done without a chat for a good many years." " Old times." "Friendships don't die." " Our friendship ended the day that you walked out of my laboratory to join T-Mat!" "Different men, different careers!" "Yes, but you knew which career would be financed" " by government funds!" " You could have come over." "Yes, and worked as Miss Kelly's assistant perhaps" "You know I respect your work." "We would have welcomed you." "I prefer rockets, obsolete as they are!" "Not so obsolete as all that, eh?" "We don't miss very much, you know." " You've been spying on me!" " No, we stopped that a long time ago." "What's wrong with running a private museum?" "Nothing, but you're doing rather more than that." "What if I am?" "What's wrong with having a hobby?" "Rather more than a hobby - preparing an ion rocket for an unauthorised journey into space!" "All right, so you know." "What do you intend to do?" " My dear fellow, help you, of course!" " What?" "You can make your trip" " as long as it's to the moon." " Why the moon?" "There's a minor fault developed at T-Mat Control at Moonbase." " It has to be put right." " I thought T-Mat was infallible!" "It will be eventually, but we are unable to reach the moon." "Except by out-of-date rocket!" "Oh, that's perfect!" "You need me after all" "I thought you'd like the idea, and a large sum of government funds wouldn't come amiss, would they?" "Now, how soon can you be ready to... blast off?" "Well, come on, it's urgent!" "Can you give me an approximate ETD?" "I could, but I won't." "Why?" "There are no strings!" "I'm just telling you that I refuse!" " Right, that should do it." " I'll switch on the power." "You fools!" "When they find out, we'll all be killed!" "Moonbase to T-Mat Reception Earth." "Moonbase to Earth." "Emergency!" "Emergency!" "You can't refuse because of an out-of-date rocket programme!" " Commander Radnor." " Excuse me." "Radnor." "Emergency message from Moonbase linking through now." "Commander Radnor, Miss Kelly... .. we are in desperate trouble!" "Osgood is dead and we are..." "Locke!" "Locke!" "Guard!" "Kill him!"