3. Disaster.
As they trudge along the guide rope towards the ladder, a discarded fishing net tugs at Crystelle's foot. She looks down and finds her foot ensnared in the net. She begins to panic. She tugs hard at the guide rope to alert the Doctor and the Doctor turns to see Crystelle falling into a swirling net.
They are nearing the start of the ladder; the other end of the net is close to the open rocky cavern where the water is cascading downwards. The net is already starting to get pulled along by the force of moving water. He suddenly recognises that he has moments to rescue Crystelle before she is pulled through the rocky cavern at speed by the ensnaring net.
Quickly he snags the net on the fastening point of the start of the ladder. This buys him time while he tries to disentangle Crystelle. It all seems hopeless. The net is swirling and wrapping her all the more firmly in more and more layers. How can he hope to free her? He has no knife to cut the net.
"Hold on here!" the Doctor tells Crystelle. But his Oxygen sweet escapes from his mouth and ascends rapidly to the surface emitting bubbles all the way. The Doctor drops his stone and darts up to catch it, but finds himself at the surface, being dragged towards the vortex entry. Without the ladder he can't hope to survive the battering from the water and rocks as he flushes down through the linking rocky cavern. He grabs his sweet, dives and sees the ladder, but it is curling up on itself as the net that Crystelle is in has pulled the fastening of it away from the lake bed. Her net snags briefly on a rock. The ladder has other points where it is pinned and they, too, start to gradually pull away in turn.
The Doctor catches hold of the ladder and forces his feet to climb down the ladder while there are still places left where it is pinned. Crystelle, still enshrouded by the net is briefly held in the water stream just above him. The Doctor reaches up and tugs. The net rips under the strain of the rushing water and he holds the cocoon of netting with Crystelle at its centre.
The Doctor climbs slowly but steadily down the ladder and swims back to the Tardis holding Crystelle in the net.
Forcing the Tardis door open, he pulls the cocooned Crystelle into the Tardis and is very thankful of the air in the Tardis. He contemplates how to do anything for Crystelle.
Crystelle's Oxygen sweet has already run out and her lifeless body is still enwrapped in the net.
The Doctor pulls the rest of the net into the Tardis and closes the door. Then he finds a suitable knife and cuts Crystelle free from the net.
He checks her lifeless pulse. Zero.
"How many companions must I lose?" the Doctor screams at no-one.
The Doctor leaves Crystelle by the Tardis door and hoists himself up to the Console. He contemplates his next move.
What can he do? There are so many things to put right. Everything that the Silurians have done needs to be undone. The rift needs to be closed. The damage to the Time Vortex... so much water. Creatures to return... or not? He can't leave them in the Time Vortex!
What a disaster! What can the Doctor do?