Segment 9 now and our friends are about to get a literally chilly reception.

Chapter 8: Peril in the Prison

"Come on, you!" the Doctor called over his shoulder as he marched on.

With a shiver, Martha struggled to keep up. The TARDIS had arrived on the edge of a great snowy forest but before she could consider getting a warmer jacket, the Doctor had bundled her outside, locked the TARDIS and set off across the fields.

Now she caught up with him as he stopped in the middle of the field. "Where are we going?" she shouted. "Where are we, full stop?"

The Doctor turned to his friend as he took out his sonic screwdriver. "Well, our friends Baltazar and Captain Kaliko wound up in the prison on Volag-Noc, right?"

"Right," Martha replied.

"And Mergrass said he used to work for the governor of that same prison, right?"

"Right."

"Well, that's where the next data-chip is, so here we are." The Doctor then started scanning the area with his screwdriver.

"Really?" Martha gasped. "But there's no prison here."

Right on cue, a circle of laser bars burst out from the snow to trap the Doctor but before Martha could react, she was surrounded by another circle.

"You were saying?" the Doctor asked cheerfully before disappearing into the ground.

"Doctor!" Martha cried out.

But then she felt herself get lowered down. She looked down and saw that she was standing on a small podium which sped through the darkness for a while before coming to a stop.

"I thought you'd never get here," the Doctor called out.

Martha turned and saw him standing on a similar platform. Then the area lit up and she got a good view of her surroundings. They were floating in the middle of a vast chamber with walls covered with big vault doors. Hanging from the ceiling was a huge globe from which the light shone out. "So this is Volag-Noc?"

"Oh yeah," the Doctor nodded. "And here come the warders."

As he spoke, three large robots flew out from the globe and hovered in front of the podiums. Each robot had one large red eye and a smaller red eye, long arms with a claw on one hand and what looked like a welding tool on the other and a hover pack in place of legs.

As the robot warders drew closer, the Doctor held up his hands to show he meant no harm. "Ah look, we're visitors. Visitors, mind. We just want to talk to your governor."

The nearest robot checked him over and then it thrust its claw through the bars and snatched the sonic out of the Doctor's hand. "Oi!"

"This item is confiscated," the warder stated in a mechanical monotone.

Then another warder flew over to Martha, who was feeling very uncomfortable. "What?"

"Scanning for malfeasance…" The robot's eye flashed brighter and a beam of light swept over Martha. She cringed as she felt a tickle in her mind then the robot spoke again. "No convictions and no confirmation of criminal activity."

"Well, obviously," Martha replied.

Then the robot turned to the Doctor. "Scanning…" The beam swept over him then the robot spoke. "Three thousand and five outstanding convictions, with six thousand more crimes to be considered."

"Oh, that many?" the Doctor winced.

Martha stared at him in disbelief. "Doctor?"

"It's an unfair cop," he replied with a shrug.

"Temporary confinement in Prison Cell 8-4-4-7," the first warden stated.

At once, the Doctor's podium shot downwards, followed by the third warder, into the lower cells.

"Doctor!" Martha called out.

She could hear him shout back but he was too far down for her to hear him properly.

"The governor will see you now," the scanner warder told her.

"Oh, good," Martha grunted. "I think…"

The two warders flew back towards the globe and Martha felt her podium move and set off after them…

Far below, the Doctor's podium eventually stopped by one of the vault doors and the lasers faded. The warder swooped beside the door and pressed some buttons. With a loud hiss, the door shifted forward before swinging up, revealing a darkened room.

"Please enter the cell," the warder told the Doctor. "You will remain here until the governor delivers your appropriate sentence."

As it spoke, the warder pushed the Doctor into the cell and then pressed the buttons.

"Don't bother closing the door," the Doctor called. "I won't stick around long."

But the door closed anyway and then a light switched on, showing the room's detail. There wasn't much to see, just a stool and a bed. And sitting on the bed…

"Oh, hello," the Doctor said in surprise as he stared at the figure. It was at least three feet taller than the Doctor and made of metal. One arm looked a lot like a small cannon. It turned its head to look and he could see that its face was completely robotic. Its mouth was more like a set of lights and its one red eye was smaller than the other.

The Doctor gave a friendly smile. "Well, you're clearly an android and I'm your new cellmate… temporarily at least."

The android's mouth started flashing and a stuttered voice came out. Clearly it was trying to speak, but was struggling.

The Doctor's smile faded and he knelt by the droid. "Are you alright?"

"It… hurts," the robot managed to say in a strained voice.

"Well, don't worry." The Doctor took out his glasses and placed them on the end of his nose. "I'm the Doctor, now tell me the trouble."

Meanwhile, Martha had arrived at the globe in the centre of the room. The door swung open to reveal a small office. She could see a desk in the centre with a set of files and a computer, and she could see the man sitting behind it. He had a grumpy looking face, a receding hairline and a ginger beard edged with grey. He wore dark-grey overalls and a small nametag that read 'Gurney'.

As the warders escorted Martha into the office, Gurney looked up with a scowl. "What's going on, warder? Who's this?"

"Apologies for disturbing you, governor," the scanner warder replied. "But this young lady wanted to see you."

"She was accompanied by another man wanted for several convictions," the other warder added. "We've scanned his mind and confiscated his machine."

The scanner robot took out a small cable from its arm and plugged it into the computer while the other handed Gurney the sonic screwdriver which he glanced at with intrigue. "Interesting… This must be what caused the earlier disturbance."

Martha then decided to speak. "So you're the governor here? There's been a terrible mistake."

"We don't make mistakes on Volag-Noc, my dear." Gurney then turned to a wall behind him. "Safe, open!"

"But my friend's been…" Martha's voice trailed off as she saw the contents of the safe. There were many gold bars, bags of coins and a laser pistol. But her eye was on a now familiar piece of metal, with the infinity symbol etched on one side; the last data-chip!

Gurney placed the screwdriver inside the safe next to the pistol then commanded, "Safe, close!"

He then turned back to Martha. "You were saying?"

"Um," Martha muttered, still amazed at what she'd seen.

"Ah yes, your friend," the governor purred as he glanced at the computer screen. An image of the Doctor appeared and next to it, a list of crimes rolled past. "We're still collecting charges on him, but he's been a very naughty boy. Minor traffic violations, fourteen hundred counts; evading library fines, two hundred and fifty counts…"

"Oh come on," Martha scoffed. "That's nothing serious."

"Planetary demolition?" Gurney added.

Martha gulped. "How many counts?"

Gurney looked back at the computer. "Seventeen- no wait, eighteen."

"Ouch," Martha winced.

"And all dating back three thousand years," Gurney breathed. "My, he's been busy."

"Well, I'm sure he has his reasons," Martha mumbled.

"Maybe so," Gurney agreed. "But these charges have been extracted from his brain. He knows what he's guilty of. And they've earned him…" He tapped on the keyboard for a bit. "Let's see now… Two billion years in prison."

Martha gasped. "Two billion?!"

"He really should have taken back those library books," Gurney grinned then a message flashed up on his screen. "Hang on, there's more." He clicked on the message which showed the video of the Doctor's message to Earth Command. "There's something here about a Doctor Vile, wanted for piracy, as well as his accomplice…" He looked at Martha with narrowed eyes. "You!"

Martha gulped as the warders surrounded her…

In the cell, the Doctor let out a sigh as he closed the panel on the droid's chest. If he had his sonic screwdriver on him, he would have found the problem in no time. No matter, he'd have to find it the hard way. So far, he hadn't learnt much else about his cellmate, only that his name was Locke and he wasn't sure why he was here.

Carefully, the Doctor lifted the cover of Locke's head and began to gently fiddle with the wires, continuing with the story he was telling the droid. "So anyway, Caw then said… Uh, did I mention Caw before? Big metal bird, eats gold for breakfast? Anyway, he told us that Baltazar is after the Infinite, the legendary starship with the power your heart's desire. I think you might know Baltazar, nasty fella. He used to live here apparently… Anyway, we're having to chase around the galaxy stopping him from-"

"OW!" Locke suddenly yelped.

"Oh, so sorry," the Doctor cried as he moved his hand away, but as he did, his hand brushed against something hot. "Hang on…" He moved his hand back and then took a look. It was then that he spotted a small flashing diode plugged into Locke's main circuitry. "Wait a minute, I know that thing… You've been inhibited!"

"I… have?" Locke stuttered.

"Yes, you have," the Doctor muttered. "This device holds back any negative emotions and deadly actions. Basically, you couldn't commit a crime if you tried."

"I could… not?"

"Then you shouldn't be here at all. You must have been set up somehow. Oh, I'm not having this!" With that, the Doctor grabbed the diode and yanked it out.

"Ah!" Locke cried as his eyes flicked off. Seconds later, they switched on again and Locke spoke in a clearer voice, "Thank you."

"Right then," the Doctor proclaimed as he pocketed the diode and his glasses then got to his feet. "Time we got out! Oh right," he remembered, "no screwdriver, guess we'll have to dig our way out." He started patting the pockets of his overcoat. "Don't suppose you concealed a teaspoon on you? I lost mine earlier."

"There is a more direct way," Locke stated as he stood up and raised his gun-arm.

At once, an orb of light shot out the end and blasted the door away. Locke then turned to the Doctor. "Let's get going!"

With a grim nod, the Doctor set off after the droid, wondering if he had done the right thing…

In the governor's office, the warders quickly surrounded Martha but before she could say anything, the lights began to flicker and the computer's humming faded briefly. She looked up in confusion. "What was that?"

"No idea," Gurney muttered. "Warder, what's up with the lights?"

"Scanning…" The scanner robot glanced around for a moment before responding. "Power fluctuations have been detected, Governor. A cell has been opened from the inside."

"Opened?" Gurney hissed. "Which cell? Where?"

"Prison Cell 8-4-4-7."

"What!?" Gurney exploded as he leapt to his feet, knocking his chair back. "That cell is off-limits!"

"Wait," Martha cried. "Didn't your tin pet put the Doctor in Cell 8-4-4-7?"

"No, that's impossible! I gave explicit orders that no one was to be put in there with the govern-um…" Gurney cut himself off.

But Martha caught him out. "The governor, were you going to say?"

"No, I um…"

Martha glowered at him. "I should have known you were a phony when I saw that data-chip in your safe! So if you're not the governor, who are you?"

Gurney sneered back at her. "Don't you get it? He's escaped. Your fugitive friend has let him out."

"And we've only been here five minutes," Martha chuckled to herself. "Nice one, Doctor."

Suddenly there was a loud thumping on the door and Gurney looked up in horror. "No…"

Martha turned round as the thumping stopped then a glowing light appeared at the top and began to sear its way around the door. "What's doing that?"

Gurney stepped back in anger and slight fear. "Locke… he's coming to get me."