h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Steven and Sara are led by Chen to a doorway in the cave wall. It opens onto an empty, featureless corridor - Dalek architecture. As Chen leads them down the corridor, Steven tries to reason with him, foolishly hoping there is still some anti-Dalek sentiment in him. This is clearly not the case and Sara dismisses her former boss as mad. This comment hits perhaps a little too close to home for Chen and he threatens to kill them both right here and now.

Steven wants to know why Chen stayed here when he had the chance to escape. The answer is as startling as it is absurd -- Chen believes that they and the Doctor were planning to infiltrate the Dalek hierarchy and usurp his position in the invasion plan! He has only the Doctor's absence and their seeming "knowledge" of the location of the underground base as evidence, but that seems enough for him. Despite Steven's protestations, he sticks with his wild theory. All the machinations have clearly unbalanced the man and now Sara knows he is mad.

Chen goes on to say that by capturing Steven and Sara and handing them over, he will prove his value to the Daleks and retain his position. While he is speaking, focusing his attention on Sara, Steven makes a move toward him, trying to get his gun. But the nervous Chen is too quick and covers them both. He invites them to carry on down the corridor.

In the control room of the underground complex, the Daleks are making final preparations for their invasion. An assault division of 5000 Daleks awaits launch orders. The fully functional time destructor - a smallish machine of immense power - sits on a pedestal in the control room. All that remains is to have it placed in the lead ship before launch. The Dalek Supreme is informed of the arrival of Chen and the two time travellers. All three are classed as "prisoners" and the Dalek Supreme orders them brought to main control.

Chen has been assigned a Dalek escort to lead him to the control room. But Chen wants to escort the prisoners alone, certain that he will be hailed as a hero to the cause for doing so. He refuses to move until the escort confirms that he alone will bring the prisoners. After a moment, the Dalek confirms this. Chen silences Sara's last attempts to convince him of his folly and urges his prisoners forward with a wave of his blaster.

As he goes, secure in his deluded knowledge that he is invaluable to the Dalek plan, the escort Dalek moves forward to follow him at a distance. Chen is no less a prisoner than Steven and Sara. He simply refused to acknowledge it.

Chen arrives at the control room full of arrogance and bravado, but this time there is more than an air of madness to his words and actions. He announces grandly that once again he and he alone has helped the Daleks with their invasion plans. He seems to expect a round of applause, but the Dalek Supreme matter-of-factly announces that their alliance has ended.

Stunned by this, Chen immediately refuses to believe it, shouting wildly. Only he could have helped them get this far in light of their "absurd incompetence". Only he will decide when the alliance is ended. His pronouncement is greeted with inscrutable silence. Unbelievably, Chen orders the Dalek Supreme to tell his Daleks to obey Chen's commands from now on. More silence, which the deranged Chen interprets as evidence that his order has been carried out. However, when he orders a nearby Dalek to fetch him the latest invasion reports, the creature does not move.

Mavic Chen, former Guardian of the Solar System and architect of the great galactic peace, has let his greed and ambition run wild. The duplicity and conniving which have consumed him for the past 50 years or more have finally destroyed his reason and his sanity. That is the only way to explain his behaviour when he condemns the Dalek Supreme for insubordination and orders its death. He levels his blaster and fires. He seems somehow surprised when the beam does no harm whatsoever to the Dalek. A group of Daleks glides toward him, gunsticks ready. He drops his gun, perhaps the last bit of rational thinking he will ever do.

The Dalek Supreme has had enough of this and orders Chen taken out and exterminated. There is to be no firing in the control room for fear of damaging the time destructor. His mind completely gone, Chen shouts that he is the master of the universe and is immortal! He bolts from the room, pursued by a group of Daleks.

In the midst of the chaos, Steven and Sara have been momentarily forgotten. They cannot get out and so shelter in one corner of the control room. They are shocked to see the Doctor sidling up to them from an unknown direction. He is unharmed and free, and he clearly has a plan. He tells them this is no time for questions and gives Steven a key to the TARDIS. He is to take Sara back to the ship for safety while the Doctor deals with the Daleks. He explains that he found this place by following a Dalek and that he now plans to activate the time destructor!

Chen races down the corridor, Daleks in pursuit. With his addled mind, he really has no destination or plan in mind. His flight is cut short when he rounds a corner and comes face to face with more Daleks. He proclaims himself their ruler and says they cannot kill him. He is wrong. All the Dalek guns fire at once and Mavic Chen dies in agony.

In the empty control room, the Doctor succeeds in activating the time destructor. It emits a strange ticking noise and the atmosphere all around is charged and heavy with energy. The Daleks return and discover this situation. They move to surround the Doctor and his friends, but they are too late. The Daleks dare not fire for fear of damaging the vital time destructor and the Doctor knows this. It is a stalemate for the moment, but escape is still his priority and the Daleks are between them and the door.

The Doctor is in control and orders one Dalek forward to use as a shield. Steven clamps down its gun with the Doctor's stick and the Doctor instructs it to move toward the door. The Doctor brings up the rear carrying the delicate time destructor. Once outside, the Doctor orders Steven and Sara back to the TARDIS immediately. He will follow shortly. Steven reluctantly follows the order, dragging a protesting Sara with him.

They don't get very far before Sara stops and wants to go back. She fears not only for the Doctor's life, but also for the possibility that he might fail to stop the Daleks, whatever his plan is. The only thing she wants to do is see the end of the Daleks so she is determined to go back. But Steven trusts the Doctor and is certain he will succeed in his plan. He continues running out of the base, believing that Sara is behind him. But she does not follow him.

The Doctor manages to shove the escort Dalek back inside the control room, then he closes the door and uses his stick to damage the contact mechanism which controls it. The Daleks are locked in as he runs for his life. The Dalek Supreme activates a base-wide alarm and sets about getting the door unjammed.

Heading out, the Doctor runs into Sara returning for him. He is at first angry with her, knowing he now has one more problem to worry about. But he quickly softens, thinking she may be of help. But he warns her that the time destructor will start to affect her soon. Even on low power, it is very dangerous. They resume their escape, hoping Steven has carried on toward the TARDIS.

Indeed he has already reached the exit and emerged into the jungle. He is safe, but realizes that Sara has not followed him. As he calls for her, he also notices something else -- the jungle is beginning to change. There is a strong wind blowing through the foliage, bending it alarmingly. The jungle seems somehow less alive than before. He continues on toward the TARDIS as the Doctor instructed.

Sara and the Doctor also escape the base, emerging at a different exit than Steven. Sara seems to be wearing down quickly. She looks more haggard and feels more tired than usual. The Doctor worries that she is being affected by the time destructor already, which is accelerating time all around them. They both notice the wind and the change in the foliage. The jungle is less green than it was and many leaves have fallen dryly to the ground. Sara suggests destroying the time destructor but the Doctor knows that is impossible. The machine once activated will continue until the taranium core is finally burnt out. But he does think he might be able to neutralise the effect, if they can reach the TARDIS in time.

The Daleks are able to fix the door circuit and open it. They all pour out of the control room in pursuit of the Doctor.

The effects of the time destructor are increasing all around the Doctor and Sara. The jungle is dying rapidly, turning to dust. All sounds of animal life are gone. There is only a howling wind. It is also affecting the Doctor, who looks much older than usual. He is having trouble running now. But Sara, a mere human being, is having the worst of it. She is ageing rapidly. Her hair has already turned white and her joints ache with the effort of running. The Doctor stops to try and help her, but she urges him on. They are racing against the Daleks as well as the time destructor.

Indeed, the Daleks pour out of the base and into the dying jungle, determined to destroy the Doctor once and for all. However, they too are being affected by the time destructor as they go.

As Sara and the Doctor struggle on, they fight against the howling wind and their own ageing limbs. Both of them are walking, and barely at that. The Doctor seems to be faring a bit better, but is slowing nonetheless. The wind whips fine particles of dust into their faces. Sara falls, but struggles to her feet. She must keep going.

Steven has reached the TARDIS and is safe inside. He has guessed that the time destructor is accelerating the life and death of the planet. He activates the scanner to see once-rich soil turning to dust and sand. There is no sign of his friends and nothing he can do.

Sara and the Doctor can at last see the TARDIS ahead, but it might as well be miles away for all the progress they are making. The Doctor falls, the time destructor falling from his numbing hands. Sara helps him up and tries to move on. But Sara falls once again and this time cannot get back up. She knows she will never get up again. The sand pours over her and she recalls an old proverb she read once -- "dust to dust". It is her last thought as she collapses, her face and limbs thin and skeletal. Steven sees this on the scanner and goes out to try and get to her, but the effects of the time destructor hit him hard and he tires rapidly. He can only watch helplessly as Sara's body disappears, buried in and merging with the dust and sand that was once lush jungle soil.

Steven finds the time destructor on the ground where the Doctor dropped it and frantically adjusts its controls. Nothing seems to change and so he leaves the machine and turns to look for the Doctor, who is now on his knees. The Doctor warns Steven not to touch him; it is too dangerous. He orders Steven to go back to the ship in a strangled yell full of age, pain, and anger. It is a frightening sound.

But Steven will not leave his friend and mentor to die, the man who rescued him from captivity on Mechanus and saved his life more than once. He cannot. Feeling a renewed strength somehow, he grabs the Doctor and together they struggle to reach the TARDIS.

Once inside, the Doctor seems to recover slightly, although his voice still sounds old and far away. He thanks Steven for saving his life, explaining that his adjustment to the time destructor changed its function. Instead of pushing time forward, it is now pushing time backward. That was enough to allow the Doctor to survive. But it was not enough for Sara - or for the jungle outside. Time can go backward for those still alive, but those that are dead stay dead. Sara risked her life to come back and save the Doctor. She died in the effort and no tricks of time can bring her back.

On the scanner, they can see a group of Daleks come into view across the dusty plain. They are struggling against the effects of the time destructor, which only increase as they near it. They try firing but cannot damage the machine. Soon they can no longer control their function as both their metal casings and their organic components are forced to devolve into nothingness. The creatures die with screams of primal agony.

Some time later, the Doctor and Steven exit the TARDIS. All is quiet. The wind has died and the time destructor has ceased functioning - its taranium core finally burnt out. The Daleks have been completely defeated, their "indestructible" armour plating and even their mutated physical bodies reduced to dust mixed with all the other dust on the now-barren planet of Kembel.

But Sara is not here to see the victory she fought so hard for - victory over Chen and the Daleks. But in victory the Doctor and Steven must remember the others who have given their lives for it - especially their friends Brett Vyon and Katarina, along with Sara. The "victory" weighs heavily on both of them as they return to the TARDIS. The Doctor laments the "terrible waste" of it all as he closes the door on this epic battle.

The TARDIS dematerialises once again.