The Ribos Operation, Part Three - Recap

The Graff’s men prepare to execute the Doctor, Romana, and Garron. The Doctor engages the Graff in a slapping match and delays him long enough for Sholakh to convince his master to interrogate the prisoners before killing them.

The Captain discovers that the gold is missing and the case has a hole in it. Since he was unaware that the jethrik was ever present, he’s unaware that it was taken. The Graff arrives and the Captain informs him that he has summoned the Seeker, an infallible tracker. The Graff wonders where the jethrik is and then realize that Unstoffe was a plant.

In the Graff’s quarters, Sholakh demands answers. Garron’s wrist communicator activates and Garron quickly crushes it before Sholakh can track the signal. As Unstoffe waits for Garron to respond, Romana tends to Garron’s bleeding wrist. The conman assumes that the Doctor and Romana are police. The Doctor uses his ultrasonic whistle to summon K-9, who trundles out of the TARDIS in response.



Unstoffe hides as the Captain and the Shrieves search the concourse. An old man, Binro, gives Unstoffe refuge and then stalls the Captain. The Captain recognizes the old man as Binro the Heretic and notes he won’t be missed. Once the Captain goes, Binro assures Unstoffe he’s safe.

The Captain takes the Graff and Sholakh to the Seeker, an old woman who directs them to the concourse. She insists on going with them and the Graff has Sholakh bring their own men to take the jethrik, fighting their way out if necessary.



Garron reveals that he left Earth early in his career after one of his clients learned he was running a con. The Doctor is amused to compare notes and tells Romana to be patient. Garron finally gets around to explaining that he stole the jethrik and has been using it to sell planets ever since. He tells them that the Graff left his half-brother on the throne to fight a border war, and his people refused to let him return. Now the Graff plans to raise a battle fleet to force his people to take him back.

Sholakh briefs the Graff’s men on the plan to shoot everyone at dawn: Unstoffe, Garron, the Shrieves, everyone. He puts one guard at the door to kill the prisoners when he hears shooting. The Doctor overhears the orders and realizes the Graff has to be stopped. Garron removes the listening device and the Doctor uses that and the shattered wrist communicator to try and contact Unstoffe.



Unstoffe thanks Binro for his help and Binro explains he knows what it means to have every man against you. He explains that he was an astronomer who concluded that the “ice crystals” in the sky were stars were planets similar to Ribos around them. Unstoffe cautiously agrees, much to Binro’s pleasure. He insists that he can prove that Ribos orbits its sun. However, when he initially refused to cant his beliefs, they crushed his hands, forcing him to live in the concourse. Unstoffe confirms that everything Binro believes is true, and that he is from one of those other worlds. Binro is ecstatic at the proof of his theories.



As the Doctor continues his work on the communicator, K-9 arrives and stuns the outside guard. The Doctor finishes repairs and has Garron contact Unstoffe. Garron warns his partner that he’s been traced to the concourse and he has to get out. Binro says his only chance is to take refuge in the catacombs. As they depart, the Doctor and the others escape.

The Seeker performs her ritual at the concourse and closes in on Unstoffe. Unstoffe and Binro enter the catacombs through the Hall of the Dead. Outside, Romana wonders why they’re wasting time on Unstoffe, believing the crown is the Key of Time segment. The Doctor has her use the tracer, which points toward Unstoffe. He reminds her that the coordinates changed but the crown had been in the relic room for centuries. The Doctor tells Garron that the locator can track the jethrik that Unstoffe is holding.



The Seeker tells the Captain, the Graff, and Sholakh that Unstoffe is in the catacombs and there’s no point in pursuing. The Graff demands his gold but the Captain tells him that the Shrieves won’t go into the catacombs, which are filled with the long dead and the ice gods.

Binro leads Unstoffe through the catacombs and they hear the roar of Shrivenzales. The astronomer explains that a colony of the creatures live there, and the one in the relic room is a small one. Binro insists their existence means there is another way out to the surface and they’ll have to sneak past the beasts.



The Doctor, Romana, K-9, and Garron enter the catacombs and K-9 detects approaching life forms. They hide in the crypts while the Graff and his men come in. The Doctor knocks a skull to the ground and the Graff realizes that he’s close…

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