Fifth segment on now, and the last part of the Buken adventure.

Also, I know someone out there is reading this. I want to hear your opinions please!

So let's continue.

Chapter 4: Escape into Danger

As the dust and smoke abated, Martha got to her feet and realized she was alone. The Doctor and Kaliko were nowhere to be seen and the rest of the skeleton crew was knocked out on the sand below.

"Doctor?" she called out uncertainly. Then a figure emerged from the wreckage of the ship, its back to her and she approached cautiously. "Doctor?"

Then the figure turned and Martha gasped as she recognized him. It was Swabb! "You! Where's the Doctor?"

"Forget it," Swabb snapped. "Your friend is gone and Kaliko's been dealt with, but at least I can think of a good use for you."

"Oh really?" Martha asked, disguising her fear.

"Yeah," the mutinous first mate replied darkly. "You see, my five-year-service award from OilCorp is that I get to choose a new body soon. And you know what?" He placed a gloved hand under Martha's chin. "I can see myself wearing yours… so delicate and slinky, yes."

Martha scowled at him but then she saw Kaliko emerge from behind him, nodding at Swabb as if to say 'keep him talking.'

So she pushed his hand away and stared straight at his socket and robotic eye. "Look you, me and the Doctor are not here to cause any trouble, right? We're on a mission, a dead important one, collecting these data-chips, you see, to stop this guy named Baltazar from stealing an ancient ship called the Infinite which will give him, well, infinite power I suppose and that's a bad thing because he's not a nice bloke and…" She trailed off as she realized Swabb wasn't following any of this.

But meanwhile Kaliko had pressed a button on the side of her helmet and a small laser had emerged, aiming at Swabb. Martha saw that and just smiled. "Hey, Swabb, look behind you."

Swabb turned on the spot and his jawbone dropped when he saw Kaliko staring right at him. "Time to die, Swabb… and this time, there be no comin' back!"

"Oi, don't leave me out!" Suddenly, a third figure emerged from the wreckage, a figure which, despite having a ship's wheel stuck on his head and arms, Martha recognized immediately. "Doctor!"

"Hello Martha, are you all right?" the Doctor asked, turning round to face her and smacking Swabb backwards with the wheel. "Oops, sorry."

Swabb stumbled back onto the still extended plank and Kaliko dashed up to the control panel and pulled the switch back, making the plank retract and sending Swabb sprawling into the sand.

Martha glanced over the railing to see and Kaliko joined her. "Will the vile dog live?"

"Well," Martha replied. "The sand seemed pretty soft so it probably broke his fall."

At that moment, Swabb rolled over and shook his fist, yelling, "I'll get you for this!"

Martha cringed at his words then smiled. "Yep, he's okay." Then she turned to see the Doctor struggling with the wheel on his head. "You need some help with that?"

"Yeah, could you?" the Doctor grunted.

With some gentle twisting of the wheel and a few protests from the Doctor, Martha managed to manoeuvre the wheel off the Time Lord's head.

As soon as he was free, Kaliko spoke up. "Doctor, back there, you said you'd come here for me. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Ohhh," the Doctor moaned, rubbing his neck.

"Well?"

"Um, your earring, Captain," he started. "Do you know what that is really?"

Kaliko stared in horror for a second but then smiled and let out a laugh. "Of course, I should have known. You're after the Infinite, you fool!"

Martha gasped as Kaliko turned towards the tower. "Wait, Kaliko, we can explain!"

"No need," the captain called back. "Now I was going to offer you both a berth on my next ship, but seeing as you had an ulterior motive in rescuing me…" She pressed a button on a secret panel and the door closed. Moments later, a large escape pod rose from the top of the tower and Kaliko's voice boomed out from the loudspeakers. "There's only room for one in my lifeboat anyhow."

At once, the pod rocketed into the sky, hidden in the light of the main sun. Then parachutes popped out and the lifeboat floated gently to the ground.

The Doctor and Martha watched its progress from the railing. "Looks like she's coming down near the TARDIS," Martha said grimly.

"We have to get after her," the Doctor said seriously. "If Baltazar gets that data-chip, locates the other two and finds the Infinite…"

"He gets his heart's desire," Martha finished. "The destruction of you, me and Earth!"

Leaving the rest of Kaliko's crew to sort out the mess, the Doctor and Martha left The Black Gold and set off back to the TARDIS. As they spotted it on the horizon, a shadow swept over their heads, but when the Doctor looked up, there was nothing there.

"Look," Martha said then. "There's Kaliko's pod, right next to the TARDIS."

"Come on," the Doctor cried, picking up speed. "We can't let her get away!"

But as they reached the pod, a grim sight was waiting for them. Martha gasped in horror. "Oh no…"

Kaliko was still in the pod, but she was in no condition to go anywhere. Her suit was seared in three places on her chest and her helmet had fallen off her tilted head showing staring, frightened eyes but the data-chip was still on her ear. Martha took the captain's wrist to check her pulse and gasped. "She's… dead. Surely the fall couldn't have done this?"

"No," the Doctor said grimly. "She's been murdered." He let out a deep sigh. "Live by the cutlass, die by the cutlass, it seems."

"Oh, Doctor."

The Doctor stepped closer to the captain's body. "I'm so sorry, Kaliko." Then he reached his hands out to her. With one hand, he gently removed the data-chip and with the other, he slid Kaliko's eyelids shut. Then he stood up and turned to Martha. "We've got what we came for, Martha. Let's get back to the TARDIS and see where we're going next."

Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor plugged in the second data-chip and learned the next one was a distant planet called Myarr. So he set the coordinates and sent his time ship off to their next destination.

As the TARDIS flew on, the Doctor thought back to Kaliko's death. There weren't any footprints leading to and from the pod, so it couldn't have been Swabb but the data-chip hadn't been taken which meant Baltazar couldn't be blamed either. Who else could have killed her then? I wonder…

Just then, the TARDIS landed with a bump, interrupting the Doctor's thoughts. "Right, we've landed."

He grabbed his coat and looked up to see Martha was already running out the doors. "Hang on, hang on!" he called out as he followed here. "There could be anything out there – snakes as long as bendy buses; sabre-toothed gorillas; anything dangerous and-"

"Excellent," Martha finished as she stared at her surroundings.

The TARDIS had landed in the middle of a jungle at night. The trees were lit by the two blue moons and huge spires poked through the canopy like giant's fingers reaching for the stars.

"Right," the Doctor said, pointing to his right. "That way is Main Street, down there…" pointing to his left "…is the city limit, so that…" pointing straight "… is probably downtown. Come on."

As they set off, Martha glanced around her. "Where are the lights?"

"What lights?"

"Come on, a city like this should be full of lights especially at night."

After a few steps, a loud buzzing noise reached their ears and the spires suddenly lit up. Then from one tower, a long stream of green lights flew out towards them. As they got closer, the Doctor saw that the lights were shining on the abdomens of several huge wasp-like creatures.

"Doctor," Martha gasped. "They're bugs!"

"So I see," he whispered back. "And they're about to swarm! Back to the TARDIS, quickly!"

But when they turned round, they saw another swarm of bugs swooping towards them and soon the two swarms collided, trapping the Doctor and Martha in the middle!