2. EVA.
Angel is due out first for her Extra-Vehicular Activity. She is wondering how one should greet an alien species. They have had little training in this. Ben thinks she should show them kindness, and maybe they will show kindness in return. He is guessing, too. He relays his thought to the Orbiter. Neville agrees.
Angel must have the module lowered so that she can get down onto the planet surface. She asks Ben to lower it just when she needs to climb down to the surface, then raise it again as a precaution, after she has extracted the experiment box. There is a double air lock that she must go through. She closes the inner air lock door after her and closes the outer air lock door as she stands on a small foot platform just outside the air lock. She makes her planned speech before descending to the surface as she is fairly sure she will be busy with the crabs when she gets down there. "This is an auspicious moment for humankind, laying the foundations for future generations in aeons time."
As she stands on the surface of Europa, the crabs back off.
Angel bends and strokes a crab leg to show that she means no harm. Then she must carry on with the duties of her EVA. She walks slowly from the Lander carrying a large boxed experiment. She sets it up on the surface as planned. Gravity on Europa is only a seventh of the Gravity on Earth, so she has no difficulty carrying very large things.
Ben is watching the crabs. He tells Angel that some of the crabs have reached the airlock. Angel advises Ben to complete suiting up just in case the crabs get in.
Ben tells Angel that the crabs have opened the outer air lock. He informs the Orbiter, too.
Not long after, the crabs open the inner air lock and they are into the Lander. Both air locks are open. The Lander air all escapes. Ben keeps all informed. Neville requests abort mission. They can't wait two hours for Earth response. Neville has the authority and can tell that there is something seriously wrong down there.
A crab approaches Ben. He look around for something like a brick to defend himself with. There really isn't much loose like that in the Lander. He notices a flight control handheld unit. They will need this to get off the planet, but it is the only thing to hand. Misusing it is very risky!
The crab starts to nip at his boot. It isn't being friendly. Ben brings the flight control unit down on the crab. It flattens and stops moving. He starts to destroy each crab one at a time.
Angel returns to the Lander and enters through the airlock, closing the already open outer airlock from the inside. As she emerges from the inner airlock, she sees a crab cutting Ben's space suit. A rush of air confirms that the integrity of his space suit is lost. Ben will die in seconds. He stoops to plug the hole with a gloved finger. It isn't very successful. Another crab cuts another hole in his space suit.
Angel closes the inner airlock and starts the slow process of re-pressurising the Lander. It will be too late for Ben. She can't even share her own air with him - its integral to the suit. She races to get a patch for the holes, but she knows that by the time she has even just retrieved the patch it will be too late.
Ben dies of lack of oxygen rather than total loss of pressure as trying to plug the hole did slow the air loss until he fell over, well before the Lander air pressure returned to normal.
Angel sees the Flight Control falling from Ben's hand and catches it. Then she raises the Lander on its hydraulic legs so more crabs can't gain access to the outer air lock. Angel reports to the Orbiter. Then she starts to misuse the Flight Control box to smash crabs.
Commander Neville Green requests that she rejoins the Orbiter. A full mission abort. One crew member dead. He doesn't want to lose another. He has authority to do anything, but he must keep an eye on the home audience. Lack of copious samples will just have to be. At least the experiment box was set up.
Angel checks for any remaining crabs before strapping herself down and clicking the handheld Flight Control into place. She activates the launch. Ascent isn't as comfortable as the descent, but she is prepared for this.
Two hours later, will Earth command belatedly agree with Orbiter Commander Neville Green? Was he right to abort? What would you have done?
Orbiter Panic.
The panic in the Orbiter alerts the Tardis. The Tardis grinds. And keeps on grinding.
The Doctor looks urgently at the Tardis monitor nearest to him. The monitor clearly shows that the Tardis can't land inside the Orbiter as the internal volume is too small.
The Doctor voices this. "We can't land in the Orbiter and we can't surround it as there is a Lander on its way to dock. I have to park the Tardis out of the way." He types some keys and directs the Tardis to land on the outside of the Orbiter, still in open space. This is a difficult place. They aren't inside the small spacecraft. How will they achieve anything?
The Doctor asks Ommera to stay in the Tardis. He asks Crystelle if she would accompany him on this occasion as it isn't particularly dangerous. There are no aggressive enemies. Crystelle can't see any danger from where she is.
Can you see any danger? How will they achieve anything?