On to the third segment and things are about to get interesting.

So here we go.

Chapter 2: Attack of the Oil Pirates

Sometime later, the TARDIS landed on Bouken and the Doctor and Martha stepped out onto the planet's surface. They found themselves on a vast desert plain under a partly cloudy sky.

Martha let out a sigh and wiped her forehead. "Blimey, it's roasting out here."

"And no wonder," the Doctor replied, looking up at the three suns overhead. "See that? That sun in the middle is real, but the others are artificial."

"Never!" Martha breathed.

"Oh yeah, someone wanted the planet Bouken warmed up."

Then a loud hooting noise rang out and Martha looked round. "What are those?" she asked, pointing to the horizon.

The Doctor turned to have a look and spotted several large structures that looked like giant insects. They stood on tall thin legs, their bodies were blowing smoke from chimneys on their backs, large sacks like an ant's abdomen hung from their behinds and a long tube snaked down from their heads into the ground. "Those are oil rigs."

"Oil rigs?!" Martha repeated in disbelief. "Hang on; we still needed oil in the future?"

"They ran out on Earth," the Doctor replied. "The major oil corporations went drilling elsewhere."

Martha shook her head in amazement as she stared at the rigs. "Wow, to look at them, you'd think they were alive."

At that very moment, one of the rigs turned its head round and gave a creak of alarm. At once the other rigs retracted their tubes, raised their abdomens, spread their legs out and turned to face them.

"You think?" the Doctor murmured. "Well, I think they actually ARE alive!"

As the rigs stomped towards them, Martha wanted to run back to the TARDIS but she and the Doctor were frozen in fear. "What do we do now?"

"Um…" the Doctor muttered, fear in his eyes. "I'm actually open to suggestions."

Martha stared in alarm but before she could say anything, a huge harpoon shot over their heads and stuck into one front leg of the nearest oil rig.

"How did you do that?" the Doctor cried out.

Seconds later, another harpoon flew out and attached onto the other front leg of the same rig.

"Oh, Martha, you are brilliant!" the Doctor cheered.

Martha was about to say she wasn't doing this when the ground started to shake beneath their feet.

"Oh yeah," the Doctor beamed. "Now you're just showing off."

Then they were suddenly lifted off the ground and up into the air. "WHOOOOAAAAA!"

A loud klaxon rang out behind them and Martha quickly assessed the situation. They were standing on the deck of a vessel that was part ship, part submarine. At the back stood a tall tower with a big TV screen on the front and on either side were the harpoon guns holding the ropes back.

Then Martha realized they weren't alone on the deck. Several figures in futuristic spacesuits and helmets that obscured their faces were standing in front of the tower. The largest of the figures was behind the steering wheel and a control panel. At first she thought that was the captain of the ship, but that thought was dispelled seconds later.

"Hoist the colours, Mr. Mate," a loud female voice called down from the tower. "Let OilCorp see that The Black Gold is in business."

"Aye aye, Captain," the figure behind the wheel replied. He pressed a button on the control panel and the TV screen lit up into a shape that sent shivers down Martha's spine; a big skull on top of two crossed bones.

"Pirates!" she and the Doctor gasped.

"Aye," the figure bowed his obscured head. "The name's Swabb, first mate aboard The Black Gold. And who are-"

"That's enough prattling, Swabb," the captain's voice called from lower down the tower.

Martha looked up to see a curly-haired woman in her mid-forties standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a black outfit and wore a helmet that covered one eye. Then she spotted a piece of metal hanging from her ear. As the captain turned her head, Martha saw a familiar symbol on the metal, an upended number eight. It was the second data-chip!

"Now then, Mr. Mate," the captain's voice interrupted Martha's thoughts. "Put her in reverse."

"Aye aye, Captain," Swabb replied, pulling a lever on the control panel.

As the ship began to reverse, the captain turned to her stowaways. "You two might want to hold on tight."

Martha quickly grabbed the Doctor in a tight hug.

"To the rail!" the captain finished with a sigh.

"Aye aye, Captain," the Doctor replied, wriggling out of Martha's grip and grabbing the rail. Martha sighed and followed suit.

As they did, the ropes holding the harpoons tightened and the rig started to pull backwards, turning the struggle into an oversize tug-of-war.

"Take the strain, me hearties," the captain commanded.

"Heave, lads!" Swabb added.

Then just as the battle reached an impasse, the captain yelled, "All right Swabb, MAXIMUM POWER!"

"Aye!" Swabb cried out and thrust the lever forward.

Suddenly, the ship shot forward like it was fired from a slingshot and zoomed between the oil rig's legs, the ropes trailing behind. Before it knew what was happening, the rig's front legs were pulled underneath it and the whole thing toppled face-first into the sand.

The Doctor let out a whistle of admiration. "Well, that I didn't expect."

"Cut the thrust, Mr. Mate," the captain called out.

"Aye," Swabb replied, slowing The Black Gold to a standstill. "Shall I pull the rig in?"

"And siphon it, Swabb," the captain nodded.

The Doctor then stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Hello there, captain…?"

"Kaliko," she replied simply, not taking the Doctor's hand. "Captain Kaliko."

"Hello, I'm the Doctor and that's my friend Martha Jones over there. We need to tell you-"

"Doctor," Martha called out, still gazing at the fallen oil rig. "Why are they attacking the rigs?"

The Doctor returned to his friend's side. "I have told you this is the 40th century. With no oil left on Earth, the last great oil corporations are sucking the solar systems dry to feed demand. Petrol prices have gone through the roof of course, and the colonies that can't afford to pay are dying."

"Aye," Kaliko agreed. "And the oil companies call us pirates."

"So you're smashing the oil rigs and…" The Doctor gasped in realization. "Oh I see… you're siphoning the petrol inside to sell to the colonies at cheaper prices!"

"Robbing the rich to fuel the poor," Martha added. "But that's brilliant!"

But Kaliko didn't smile back and turned to her first mate. "What do ya think we should do with 'em, Swabb?"

"I don't know, Captain," Swabb murmured.

"Can't hear ya! Turn on yer lights."

At once, Swabb's darkened helmet lit up inside… to reveal a sinister skull glaring at her, a robotic eye built into one socket! Martha gasped in horror and the Doctor stared round as the rest of crew lit up their helmets showing skulls inside, each more gruesome than the last. "A skeleton crew."

"Literally," Kaliko agreed. "It means less of a drain on rations."

Then she turned to the Doctor and Martha. "Now what I reckon is, to land up in a place like this, you dogs are either OilCorp spies…" Swabb's robotic eye narrowed at this. "…or planning a spot of pirating yerself."

"Or indeed, um none of the above," the Doctor added.

"Either way, I don't want ya aboard The Black Gold," Kaliko sneered. "So, ahoy there, me heartless hearties, throw these sand-lubbers overboard!"

Martha grabbed the Doctor's arm as the crew held up laser pistols and light-swords and slowly advanced on them…