Nothing kills a party like bad news.

The discovery of the door caused mixed feelings: confusion consternation, irritation, even trepidation, and in roughly that order.  All translated into bad news.  Stoker's men were poised to make themselves rich; they didn't want any interruptions.

'I haven't got time for this,' was Stoker's predictable response.

Bunny said, 'We've got to check it out.  You know the regulations'

'Regulations be damned, Bunny!  We've bent all the rules there are to get here and it's paid off.  Don't tell me you're going to throw it all away on this nonsense.'

They were in the comms area, the makeshift office.  Stoker was pacing the floor, Bunny Cheung was leaning against the bank of communications gear.

'The door is there, I've seen it.  We can't ignore it.'

Stoker fumed for half a minute, hands on hips.  'This could ruin everything, Bunny.'

'I know.  I'm sorry.'  Bunny put his hand on her shoulder.  'We have to take a look, at the very least.  It may be nothing.'

'I doubt that,' said the Doctor.

'Who asked you?' snapped Stoker.  'If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess.  No one would've have found it'

'That doesn't make it right.  You can't rip the mineral wealth out of this moon knowing that someone, or something, is buried here.'

'It could be thousands of years old,' Bunny pointed out.

The Doctor shook his head.  'Judging by the corrosion of the metal, I'd say it was no more than a century old, possibly two.'

'Ironic, isn't it?' said Stoker, utterly deflated.  'All that guff about being archaeologists.  What a bloody joke.  All right: what do you think is down there?'

'I'm afraid I'll have to take a look before we can find that out'

She swore, once and with passion.  'Let's get it over with.'


Tegan and Nyssa finally caught up with the Doctor when he emerged from his meeting with Stoker and Bunny Cheung.

'Hey, what going on?'  Tegan demanded to know, falling into step.  'Is there a problem?'

The Doctor was clearly energised and ready for action.  Sometimes it could be exhilarating to ride on his coat tails; other times it could be simply infuriating.  'Nyssa, how are you feeling?' he asked cheerily.  'Bearing up?'

'Just about.'

'Jolly good!'  The Doctor strode on.  'Come on, keep up!'

'Hold on a minute!' Tegan grabbed hold of the Doctor's arm.  'Explanation.  Now.'

The Doctor caught the look in both Tegan and Nyssa's eyes.  'All right...'  He stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets.  'There's a distinct possibility that there is more to this moon than an abundance of lexium.  There's a sign that it could have been previously inhabited, or used for some purpose by intelligent life.'

Tegan said, 'Stoker doesn't look very happy about that.'

'Galactic law states that consecrated planets, moons and asteroids cannot be subject to mining operations.  It's highly illegal.  If this turns out to be a buried crypt or something, Stoker will lose everything:.'

'Looks like her archaeology cover's backfired, then.'

'It would seem so, yes.'  The Doctor was clearly impatient to catch up with Stoker.  'Why don't we all go and take a look?'

'Do you think that's wise?' wondered Nyssa.

'What choice do we have?'  The Doctor stared at her for a moment and then turned on his heel.