"Are they dead?" "No." "They seem to be in some sort of suspended animation." "This must be the Nimon's deep freeze." "What's that?" "Well, by the look of that poor husk in there," "I'd guess that the Nimon feeds by ingesting the binding energy of organic compounds, such as flesh." "This must be his storeroom, his larder." "This poor thing must be waiting her turn." "That's horrible." "Look, what are we going to do?" "Well, there's no point hanging around here." "Let's see if we can find a way out." "Oh, no, you don't." "Stay where you are." "And what are you doing?" "We're in this together, you know." "You may be, but I'm going to get out of here." "Now, get through there." "I want you all together." "Go on." "That's better." "Nimon!" "Nimon!" "They're here." "I brought you the tribute from Aneth." "Who dares call the Nimon?" "It's..." "It's me." "I do, sir." "I brought you the latest sacrifices." "I need no one to bring the sacrifices to me." "They were very rebellious, sir." "I brought them all the way from Aneth." "There were trouble, sir." "Soldeed thought..." "He did not send you to bring me sacrifices." "He sent you to be executed." "No, really!" "You are a liar, and a coward." "You shall die." "Mercy, Lord Nimon!" "I brought you the tribute!" "Hello, is this a private party?" "Or can anyone join in?" "So you're the mighty Nimon, eh?" "Tell me, Nimon." "Tell me, are you really terribly fierce, hmm?" "Is it true that you're very, very, very fierce, hmm?" "Get out, everybody!" "Go!" "Go!" "The fools!" "Did they think they could change the course of the great journey of life like this?" "These can be replaced very simply." "The programme will continue." "So, you bring me a mere five crystals?" "It will suffice." "Doctor?" "Doctor!" "Perhaps he went a different way with the others." "Perhaps the Nimon got him." "Thank you for that thought." "The Doctor will wait for the Tardis." "Let's find the way out." "Have you any idea where it came from?" "It is very strange." "It has the external appearance of something from a fairly primitive society, and yet, quite obviously, it is some form of travel space capsule." "If we could dismantle it, strip it down..." "Uh, no, Sorak, no." "It may be a booby trap." "You can never tell with mysterious contraptions such as this." "Dead end!" "Oh, we'll never find a way out, even if there is one." "There must be!" "Soldeed can come and go." "Won't be long before the Nimon finds us and kills us." "He's coming." "Give me the blaster, quick!" "It's no use." "It had no effect on the Nimon." "Hello." "What are you doing skulking down here?" "It's a dead end." "Oh, yes, of course, yeah." "What about the way you've just come?" "Oh, I don't know." "You call this a maze?" "It's a cheat!" "Shh!" "Well, the walls keep changing." "There must be some sort of..." "Wait a minute!" "I saw this place from above before I landed." "I reminded me of something." "What?" "I can't think what." "If the Nimon comes along, we're trapped." "No, no, no, he'll be too busy repairing his furnace." "Furnace?" "What's that for, burning the bodies?" "No, no, he has another use for those altogether." "Sustenance." "What's the furnace for, then?" "Looked like a nuclear dinner to me." "Fuelled by your crystals." "Your tribute had a very practical purpose." "I knew there was something horribly evil going on here." "Let's go, shall..." "Where are the others?" "Well?" "They're with the Nimon." "What?" "Come on!" "Come on!" "You may approach with your tribute." "Come!" "You do not wish me to destroy Aneth?" "It's this way, I think." "Surely not." "Why not?" "Well, that must lead deeper into the complex." "That's right." "We'll never get out that way." "Well, of course not." "Whatever gave you that idea?" "What idea?" "That I was trying to find a way out?" "Oh, no, we've got to go deeper into the complex." "We've got to find the others." "Right, come on." "This way." "Maybe it's this way." "We have achieved operational power level." "The next step in the great journey of life will soon be accomplished." "A-ha, this is more like it." "Doctor, look at this." "just as I thought!" "It's quite a powerhouse, isn't it?" "It certainly is." "What do you make of it?" "Well, it seems to be some form of transmitter." "Yes, of course, with the horns on the top as the antennae." "But transmitting what?" "Energy." "Of course!" "That would account for the hymetusite in the nuclear furnace." "It's immensely powerful." "An amazing bit of engineering." "Yes, but for what purpose?" "Only the Nimon knows that." "Yes." "I think it's about time someone else found out." "Give me that." "Seth and Teka, come here." "Hold that." "I want you to guard the door and look out for the Nimon, hmm?" "Right." "What do we do if he comes?" "Tell me and then run, in that order." "Right-o." "Don't worry, Doctor, if the Nimon comes, Seth will deal with him." "Teka, come on!" "Got it!" "What?" "Now I know what this place reminded me of" "when I saw it from the Tardis." "What?" "A giant positronic circuit!" "Of course!" "And the reason the walls keep changing is when the circuit's in operation..." "They keep switching." "Exactly!" "But why?" "We still don't know what it's transmitting or where to." "Need a computer to find that out." "K9?" "Got it!" "K9!" "But will he be able to find us?" "Certainly!" "Certainly!" "Well, I should think so." "I mean, he could follow our psychospoors, couldn't he?" "Master?" "It is very strange." "It resists everything." "It is totally impossible to open!" "You did it!" "Yes..." "Look out!" "Master?" "What is it?" "Some kind of machine." "It's alive!" "Stop it!" "As I thought." "Some form of electronic device." "Go and see if there are any more inside that mysterious contraption." "The door appears to be closed again, Soldeed." "Very well." "Leave the guards to watch that and bring this machine to my laboratory and have it guarded." "Got it!" "No, I haven't." "I've never seen anything quite like this before." "No, I thought for a moment it was a giant transmat." "No transmat pad." "That's right." "It's a direction beam of some kind, though." "Hmm, it seems to be pumping out energy over vast distances." "Yes." "Wait a minute." "That's some kind of bearing." "Of course!" "It's focused on the black hole." "Our black hole?" "Well, we said it was artificially created." "From here?" "Yes." "But why?" "What good is a black hole to anyone?" "It could be a gateway to a hyperspace." "With an exit somewhere else." "Yes." "Where?" "I don't know, but I'll tell you something interesting." "When I mentioned the black hole to Soldeed, he didn't seem to know what I was talking about." "Oh, well, people often don't know what you're talking about." "Exactly." "If Soldeed doesn't know about the black hole, what does he think all this is for, hmm?" "Power, brawn from the distant stars themselves, to power the new generation of Skonnon ships with which we shall conquer these stars." "This is what the Nimon gives us." "Hail, Nimon!" "Each of you shall command your own fleet, and I, Soldeed, shall lead you into battle." "Soldeed!" "Skonnos shall rule the heavens!" "Skonnos!" "Go now, and await your orders." "Skonnos." "Skonnos." "To the second Empire." "Soldeed, it sometimes occurs to me to wonder exactly why the Nimon is doing this for us." "I mean, to be blunt, what's in it for him?" "Sorak, you dare to question?" "Well, to speculate, Soldeed." "Not to question, merely to speculate." "Sorak, you must understand the Nimon." "The Nimon is as a god to us." "It pleases him to be godlike, to receive tribute and to grant us power." "We want that power, so we give him the tribute he asks, or rather, we get Aneth to do it for us." "Something for nothing, in fact." "That always makes me feel uneasy." "Sorak, you are too scrupulous." "You get what you want by giving people what they want." "If there happens to be a little imbalance, make sure it's in your favour." "The Nimon is simple." "Powerful, brutal, yes." "Scientifically advanced, yes." "But simple in his desires." "I fawn to him a little, that satisfies his bestial ego and he gives us what I ask." "I play the Nimon on a long string." "What was that?" "I think I heard something." "No." "No, I didn't hear anything." "Seth, what are we going to do?" "I'll think of something." "You'll get us out of this, won't you?" "If I can think of a way." "Listen." "That was something." "Go and warn the Doctor!" "It's coming this way!" "Go warn the Doctor, now!" "Aren't you going to fight the Nimon?" "Yes, but not now!" "Go on!" "Come on, K9." "Doctor, there's something coming." "That was quick!" "Good old K9!" "No, I think it's the Nimon." "Come on, let's get out of here." "It's too late!" "It's coming!" "Quick, come on!" "Hide!" "Hide!" "Doctor, don't." "I want to find out what he's doing." "Well, what is he doing?" "I don't know what he's doing." "Whatever it is he's doing, I think we're too late to stop him doing it." "So, you see, Sorak, I have used the Anethans," "I have used the Nimon, and I'd use this creature, too, if I knew how the infernal thing worked." "There is power in this, Sorak, power." "It is a monumental piece of electronic engineering." "But surely, Soldeed, with your skills..." "My skills, yes." "Soldeed, look, the complex!" "Sorak, the time has come." "From this moment, mark the beginning of the second Skonnon Empire." "With that power, let the onslaught begin!" "Calm yourselves, you craven fools." "I shall speak to the Nimon." "Take care, Soldeed." "Sorak, you know I have nothing to fear." "In the name of the second Skonnon Empire..." "Look!" "What?" "What's happening?" "I don't know." "Why don't you know?" "I don't know." "Welcome to Skonnos, my friends." "Welcome to the new home of the Nimon race, the next step in the great journey of life." "You have done well, but you're only just in time." "Crinoth is finished." "Now that you're here, come." "We can begin the migration with all speed." "It's a space capsule." "Yes." "I don't understand." "There's no engines." "It wouldn't need engines, would it, Romana?" "The energy beam, the black hole." "Two black holes." "One at the beginning of the journey, one at the end and a hyperspatial tunnel in between." "And that beam providing the motive power?" "Yes." "I don't understand." "The Nimons have found a way of leaping across the universe as far as they want," "instantaneously." "That's right." "I thought there was only one Nimon." "So did Soldeed." "They've been terribly clever." "Fiendishly clever." "Seth, what's happening?" "Invasion." "Invasion." "Yes, it happens all the time." "When a race runs out of space or destroys its home, it has to find somewhere else to live." "Skonnos?" "Yes." "But it's already inhabited." "Yes." "Then how many more are coming?" "Well..." "To make all this worthwhile, there must be thousands." "Millions!" "What, two at a time?" "Well, I mean, as more arrive, they'll build more transmats and increase exponentially." "You don't imagine this is the only planet that's been tricked, do you?" "We've got to stop them." "How?" "Seth and Teka..." "On guard again." "Right." "We're going to have to be clever." "Power on this scale could blow the whole planet to bits if I touch the wrong thing." "Romana?" "Yes?" "I want to know everything about that capsule." "Everything?" "Everything." "Doctor?" "It's all right." "Oh, I wish you wouldn't do that." "I think I've found the main power control." "Really?" "Yes." "If I can reverse the flow, the energy will go back to where the space-time tunnel begins." "Crinoth?" "Yes." "I might even be able to send the Nimons back again." "Brilliant!" "Lord Nimon!" "Lord Nimon!" "It is I, Soldeed." "Lord Nimon!" "Listen." "Lord Nimon!" "Are you there?" "Come on." "Doctor, there's someone coming." "There, that should do it." "I said there's someone coming!" "I said that should do it." "Come on." "A-ha!" "Romana?" "You're..." "Where is she?" "She must have been inside the capsule." "What are you going to do?" "Well, I'll have to switch the whole thing back." "Let's hope we've got time." "You, Doctor!" "It's all right, I can explain everything." "Leave that alone!" "No, when you see what happens..." "Romana." "You meddling fool." "You shall die!"