Part Two
[Cheetah World]
(Ace is watching some black cats scavenging a carcase.)
SHREELA: They don't bother us. They only eat us when we're dead. It's like they're watching us.
ACE: Yeah.
SHREELA: Come on, Ace. We're not safe in the open.
ACE: You're telling me.
[Cheetah camp]
MASTER: Run, Doctor. Run.
DOCTOR: Don't run!
(The Master comes out of the tent and throws a shiny ball at Paterson's feet. The Cheetahs pounce on it and Paterson moves away quickly.)
DOCTOR: No, Paterson!
(The Cheetahs surround Paterson.)
MASTER: I was relying on your intelligence, Doctor. It would be such an uncivilised death.
DOCTOR: They're just playing with him.
MASTER: They're essentially a fun-loving species. Now, Doctor, there are things I must discuss with you.
[Forest track]
ACE: Okay, so what do we do?
MIDGE: Do? We die. Maybe today, maybe next week. We could hurry things up a bit, go and find one of those big pussy cats. That what you want to try?
SHREELA: We tried to fight one once. It caught Stevie.
MIDGE: She threw sticks at it.
ACE: Oh yeah? And where were you, Midge?
SHREELA: You can't hurt them.
DEREK: They're invincible.
ACE: Nothing's invincible.
MIDGE: That's right, Ace, you tell us. You sort us out.
SHREELA: Better get back to camp. We're not safe in the open air.
ACE: Well, are we any safer back there? At least out here in the open you can see them coming.
SHREELA: They usually don't bother us in there. They only hunt in the open, unless they're hungry, then they take us anywhere.
ACE: Why do they only hunt in the open?
MIDGE: What do you think this is, The Wonderful World of Wildlife? Who knows? Why do they always ride through here? Why do they always eat us up without ketchup?
ACE: They always ride through here?
MIDGE: So what?
ACE: So let's get one.
MIDGE: You what?
ACE: Nothing's invincible. We've got to fight back!
[Cheetah camp]
DOCTOR: That was a useful trick before.
(The Master takes more shiny balls from his pocket.)
MASTER: Pretty, aren't they? They're a useful distraction.
DOCTOR: Charming.
(The Doctor grabs the balls, runs over to the Cheetahs and starts juggling.)
DOCTOR: Come on, pussycats! Come on! (Then he throws them over his shoulders.) Fetch! Come on, fetch!
(But they don't leave Paterson alone.)
MASTER: I'm afraid they're not so easily distracted. They're more interested in him.(The Doctor runs for a horse and mounts it. This gets the Cheetahs attention.) Stay! Stay! Doctor, why don't we leave these animals to their meal?
DOCTOR: Come on, Paterson!
(Paterson jumps up behind the Doctor and they ride around the group of Cheetahs.)
MASTER: No!
DOCTOR: A bit of healthy exercise, Paterson! Do you a world of good!
MASTER: Doctor, I'm warning you. I control these animals. They're mine to command. I control them! (The Doctor and Paterson ride away. The Cheetahs turn on the Master) Very well. I'll find some other food for you.
[Forest track]
(Ace and Shreela are setting up a wire between two trees at head height across the track.)
ACE: Come on, Shreela!
SHREELA: Shush.(A Cheetah rides up and sees the wire. It unsheathes its claws and cuts it, looks at Ace and rides on.) Plan B?
[Cheetah World]
PATERSON: It's just not like me, you know. You ask anyone, Sarge'll keep his head in a crisis. You ask any of the lads. I don't scare easily, Doctor, believe you me.
DOCTOR: Hmm.
PATERSON: I was on one of those survival courses, you know, SAS style of thing. I was the only one that ate the worm stew.
DOCTOR: Very impressive.
PATERSON: But this, this is just. Where the hell are we, anyway?
DOCTOR: We're on the planet of the Cheetah People, intelligent carnivores. No one knows much about them. They don't survive long enough to find anything out.
PATERSON: You're trying to tell me we're on another planet?
DOCTOR: Yes. The trouble is, I've never heard of the Cheetah People hunting so far away from their feeding grounds before. And the kitling
PATERSON: The what?
(A black cat is sunning itself.)
DOCTOR: That. A kitling. A feline vulture. It's got the power of teleportation. It can jump from world to world hunting for carrion.(A volcano rumbles.) I think we're going to be in big trouble, Sergeant.
PATERSON: You're the one who's on another planet, aren't you.
(Back in Medway Drive, the milk in glass bottles is being delivered. A black cat watches the milk man take the empties back to his milk float)
[Camp]
MIDGE: He's going to get us all killed. He's going get us all killed!
(Midge attacks Derek as a twig snaps.)
DEREK: No! Get off me!
(Ace pulls Midge off Derek.)
ACE: Sit down and shut up!
SHREELA: Listen!
(Horses hooves. Ace lights a brand from the fire. The horse trips a wire close to the ground and two saplings spring upright. Ace rushes out with the burning brand to discover Paterson on the floor and the Doctor dangling by his ankles from the snare, holding his hat on.)
DOCTOR: Ahem.
ACE: What kept you?
DOCTOR: How many times have I told you about playing with fire?
[Tent]
(The Master hand-feeds a Cheetah a sliver of meat. A kitling enters the camp.)
MASTER: Where are you, Doctor? What's your plan? You mustn't die.
[Cheetah World]
(The Earthlings are making their way through the parched desolation. They lie down at the top of a ridge and look down on a group of Cheetahs.)
PATERSON: Got to stick together, lads. That's the way. Stealth, that's what's needed here. Stealth and surprise. You follow me and I'll get us through this. I'm a hunting animal. I've got instinct for it.
DOCTOR: Oh, do shut up. This planet's disintegrating. According to my calculations, the safest place at the moment is over there.
(A volcano range beyond the Cheetah people.)
DEREK: Yeah, but what about them?
DOCTOR: We have to make our way through.
PATERSON: This disintegration, you think we're going to blow up?
DOCTOR: Well, it is an old planet, a bit frayed at the edges. We'll be safe over there. Safe from the Cheetahs, and the Master.
ACE: Master? Who's he?
DOCTOR: An evil genius. One of my oldest and deadliest of enemies.
ACE: Do you know any nice people? You know, ordinary people, not power-crazed nutters trying to take over the galaxy?
DOCTOR: I don't think he's trying to take over the galaxy this time.
ACE: So what's all this in aid of?
DOCTOR: He's got some mind-link. The cats, the kitlings.
ACE: And they find things for the Cheetah People to eat.
DOCTOR: Yeah.
(Meanwhile, the Master has brought a kitling out from the camp.)
MASTER: Hunt him. Seek him out. Find him for me. Hurry. Must keep control. I must keep control.
[Cheetah World]
(The Doctor leads the group slowly past the basking Cheetahs. One hisses at them and makes Derek jump)
DEREK: Oh!
MIDGE: No sudden movements.
DOCTOR: They won't bother you unless they're hungry.
ACE: Well, these Cheetahs look hungry.
DOCTOR: They're essentially a fun-loving species. (The Doctor picks up a human skull.) Is it my imagination, or am I getting hot?
ACE: Doctor, I think we'd better keep moving.
(He puts the skull down.)
DOCTOR: Yes. Quietly, gently. Just taking a nice little stroll.(They get past and to an area of large skeletons.) You see? It's all a matter of keeping your head and allowing for the unexpected. (Flash! and the milkman appears on the ridge ahead.) Oh no.
(The milkman runs through them, screaming, straight into the Cheetahs. He is pounced on immediately. Ace picks up a stone.)
DOCTOR: Don't move!
ACE: What?
DOCTOR: There's one thing more dangerous than being attacked by a Cheetah, and that is attacking a Cheetah. You do not know what it will do to you!
ACE: But Doctor!
DOCTOR: Don't move!
PATERSON: I'm not putting up with this. I'm not standing here and getting eaten alive!
DOCTOR: Idiot!
PATERSON: Come on, then! Come and fight!
(Paterson and Midge start throwing rocks at a group of Cheetah people on the other ridge. One rides past Ace and she start to runs after it.)
DOCTOR: Don't' move!
(Two Cheetahs start playing with Derek.)
DEREK: No! No!
MIDGE: Come on!
DOCTOR: Stay still!
(A kitling watches it all from vantage point above the action.)
DEREK: Help me!
(The Master joins it.)
DOCTOR: Don't run! Stay still!
DEREK: Help me! No!
(Ace shouts at the horse rider.)
ACE: Get off! Get off! Come on, then! (She throws a rock which hits the Cheetah on the head. It falls off the horse.) Doctor!
(Shreela grabs one of the Cheetah's playing with Derek from behind, pulling it down.)
SHREELA: Get off!
(Derek and Shreela run.)
DOCTOR: I told you to stay still !(The Doctor trips up a Cheetah with his umbrella.) Stay still! Don't run!
PATERSON: Come on!
(Paterson leads Midge, Shreela and Derek out of the area, with the rider following them.)
DOCTOR: Ace? Ace?
(Ace has run another way, and is by a lake. A Cheetah rides up to the other side on a black horse, and gets down. Ace ducks down as the Cheetah goes to the water, and collapses, its face in the water. She runs round and pulls it out. The Cheetah's eyes open.)
[Ruins]
(The remains of stone buildings.)
DOCTOR: Ace. Oh, Ace.
(A kitling meows.)
MASTER: Good hunting, Doctor?
(Two Cheetahs start fighting over which one of them will kill Midge.)
MASTER: They're fighting again in the dead valley.
DOCTOR: It's breaking up.
MASTER: This planet's alive. The animals are part of the planet. When they fight each other, they trigger explosions. They hasten the planet's destruction.
DOCTOR: How long before it blows up?
MASTER: Not long. They've been fighting a long time.
DOCTOR: Why did you bring me here?
MASTER: I need your help.
(A Cheetah likes Ace's shiny Soviet WW2 badge.)
(The winning Cheetah has left, and Midge pulls a large sabre tooth from a skull then goes over to the loser. He kneels and stabs the tooth into it.)
DOCTOR: You're trapped. You can't escape.
MASTER: Just so. It seems the creatures of this world can't take us away from here, they can only bring us to this place.
DOCTOR: Yes. They can only return home with their prey.
MASTER: I never thought of it quite that way.
DOCTOR: But now that we're both trapped, what good is it to you?
MASTER: You'll find a way out, Doctor. You must.
DOCTOR: Why should I help you?
MASTER: It's not just death we're all facing. This place bewitches you. If we stay here, we'll be like the people who built these. They thought they could control the planet, the wilderness. They were the ones that bred the kitlings. Creatures with minds they could talk to, eyes they could see through the way I do. It only led to their corruption. We shall become like them. (The Master displays yellow eyes and large canine teeth.) We shall become animals.
(The kitling howls and the Master joins in.)
[Cheetah World]
(Derek collapses, exhausted.)
PATERSON: You all right, lad, eh?
DEREK: Yeah.
(Midge appears, holding the tooth. It has blood on it.)
[Lakeside]
KARRA: I want water.
ACE: What?
KARRA: Want water. It will make me well very fast.
(Ace scoops up some water in her hands. It glows. She brings it back to Karra, who laps it up.)
DOCTOR: Ace?
ACE: What is it? Should we leave it, Doctor?
DOCTOR: They're extremely dangerous creatures. They could eat you. Or..
ACE: Or what?
DOCTOR: Worse.
ACE: What's worse?
DOCTOR: Let's just say they are dangerously attractive.
ACE: I think it's the one that chased me, that killed that boy.
DOCTOR: It could be useful to us.
ACE: You mean it could help us get home?
DOCTOR: They're hunting animals, Ace. We're their prey. They bring their prey home.
ACE: So what?
DOCTOR: We need an animal whose home is Earth.
ACE: Better keep it alive, then.
DOCTOR: Ace.
ACE: What?
DOCTOR: It could be very dangerous for you.
ACE: Don't worry, Professor. I'm no one's bowl of cat food.
(The Master watches from the trees.)
MASTER: Whose home is Earth.
[Cheetah World]
PATERSON: Right, you just follow the Sarge and I'll get us all through this. There's nothing I don't know about survival. It's kill or be killed, right? Kill or be killed.
MIDGE: Kill or be killed.
PATERSON: Good lad. You'll come through. We'll come through, if you just follow the Sarge. Are you with me?
MIDGE: Yes.
PATERSON: Are you all with me?
MIDGE: Yeah!
PATERSON: Well, you'd better get with me, because if we're going to survive we can't carry shirkers and we can't carry deadwood!
MIDGE: (to Derek) No deadwood.
[Lakeside]
(The Master is cutting strips of leather from a carcase as Ace throw stones into the lake. Karra begins to recover and growls at the Doctor.)
ACE: Where are the others?
DOCTOR: I don't know. We'll have to find them, and soon.
ACE: It's weird, Doctor. I think I like this place. I like it. I feel like I belong here.
DOCTOR: Connected.
ACE: I'm a bit scared. It feels exciting.
DOCTOR: What do you feel?
ACE: Like I could run forever. I can smell things as clear as pictures.
DOCTOR: Anything else?
ACE: Well, I'm starving, Professor.
DEREK [OC]: Help!
(On the other side of the lake, Midge has attacked Derek. Paterson is trying to pull him off.)
SHREELA: No!
PATERSON: Don't be a fool!
SHREELA: No! Get off him!
PATERSON: Stop it!
SHREELA: No!
DEREK: Help!
SHREELA: Leave him alone!
PATERSON: Midge!
DOCTOR: Midge!
MIDGE: He's going to get us all killed less someone sorts him out.
DOCTOR: Sorts him out?
MIDGE: Yeah!
DOCTOR: Where did you get this?
(Midge is wearing a Cheetah People trophy necklace.)
MIDGE: I killed it. I killed it.
PATERSON: Now then, son, why don't you just give me the weapon, eh?
(Midge walks away.)
DOCTOR: Midge! It's not too late to go home.
SHREELA: Home?
(Midge's eyes turn yellow. He hisses, showing his large canine teeth, then runs.)
DOCTOR: Come on. We'd better follow him.
(The kitling watches Midge's route, and the Master sees it too through the telepathic connection. He tests the leather strap he has made.)
DOCTOR: This way.
(The Master gets to Midge first. He pulls the leather strap, and Midge falls because his feet are caught in a noose hidden in the sand. The Master then loops the other end of the strap around Midge's throat. The Doctor, Shreela, Ace and Paterson run up.)
MASTER: Go hunting. Go home.
DOCTOR: Midge!
MASTER: You see, Doctor, you did help me. You kept these others alive just long enough to serve my purposes.
DOCTOR: Midge, wait.
MASTER: Don't worry, one of these others will become a Cheetah animal before you. You can escape in your turn. Or are you too squeamish? Only the animals of this place can leave, Doctor, because they carry it with them.
DOCTOR: Midge, listen to me.
MASTER: He doesn't remember his name. (to Midge) Go home.
(Midge turns and takes a step. Flash! and Midge and the Master have vanished.)
SHREELA: So there is a way out.
DOCTOR: A way out? Yes. We wait for one of us to change and then we use them, before they try to escape or kill us all.
PATERSON: Well, there's no telling who'll be next, is there? Just get a grip and (to Derek) What are you looking at? It's him, isn't it? He's the one! You stay away from me!
SHREELA: Look!
(Karra has arrived on her horse.)
ACE: Oh, yeah. She's better. Doctor, look!
(When Ace turns back to the Doctor, her eyes are yellow.)
