Astrid finds the dying Swann in the woods and he points to a nearby cave entrance, telling her that Salamander is down there.
Inside the research center, the Doctor tells Donald that Salamander is somehow engineering the natural disasters striking the planet, and that the evidence is in the records room. As they discuss the situation, Benik comes in.
Astrid gets the dying Swann into the cave and he begs her for water. She goes to get some from the condensation further in the cave and finds a stone plug.
The Doctor tries posing as Salamander again and Benik insists that he sign on the food supply deliveries. Realizing that he has no choice, the Doctor takes the papers. Benik claims that the door to the records room is jammed and asks for his key, and the Doctor says that he left it in the records room and dismisses him. Once the administrator leaves, the group wonders if Benik overheard them. The Doctor examines the food supplies and tells Donald that there is enough for three times the known staff.
Astrid returns to Swann with the water and he asks how bad the war is. She has no idea what he's talking about and Swann tells her that there are more people down the shaft. Swann makes Astrid promise that she'll bring them to the surface and then dies.
The Doctor calls a security escort to the interrogation room to conduct Jamie and Victoria to the main gates. Donald tells them to call his local deputy, Forrester, and give him the pre-arranged emergency call. The Doctor receives another call and tells the caller to pass him through. He hangs up and tells Donald that he'll soon have all the proof he needs. However, he wants the security chief to make sure that his companions are released and tells them to go to the TARDIS and wait for him.
In the shelter, the workers are eating when the arrival signal goes off. Mary and Colin assume that it's Salamander... unaware that Astrid has come in through the shaft. She looks around Salamander's office and inadvertently unlocks the door to the main room. The workers scurry back in fear and grab weapons, and then advance on Astrid when she says that she's there to help them. Colin and Mary order their fellow workers back and wonder if she's contaminated. When they ask about Salamander and Swann, Astrid tells them that Swann is dead and Salamander murdered him. Colin says that they have to decontaminate her first and leads her to the chamber in Salamander's office. She enters the chamber and the gauge goes off at a high reading and then drops when they activate the procedure. However, Astrid demonstrates that it's a fake and tells them that there has been no global war. Colin demands to see Salamander and Astrid echoes his demand.
While the Doctor goes to the records room, Donald leads Jamie and Victoria out. The guard captain challenges them but Donald overrides him. Realizing something is wrong, the captain tells a guard to find Benik.
Colin and Mary organize their fellow workers for transit to the surface, two at the time. While Colin goes to find Salamander, Astrid tells Mary that they must confront Salamander.
Giles sneaks into the research center and confirms that there's no one in the records room. He overhears the guard captain guard reporting to Benik that Salamander is now outside of the records room and the door is still jammed. Once Benik leaves, Giles bypasses the primary lock on the records room door, goes inside, and double-locks the door. He finds Salamander there and boasts that he has friends now. Salamander dismisses him as tireless but Giles says that he should have killed him when he had the chance and draws a gun.
Donald has found Benik and they both watch Giles confront Salamander on the monitor. Benik says that there's no way in but Donald tells the guard captain to get an acetylene torch.
Giles tells Salamander that he's disposable, and hears them burning through the door. Outside, Benik tries to go for his gun but Donald easily disarms him.
The shelter workers watch on the monitor as the capsule ascends up the shaft.
When Salamander warns that Giles is trapped, Giles activates the secret door for the capsule. He knows all about a secret passage halfway down the shaft and plans to use it, along with the explosives that will destroy the center. At that point, the Doctor drops his impersonation and Giles realizes that he's been tricked. An armed Astrid steps out of the capsule with Mary and Colin, who confirm that Giles was the one who took them down to the shelter in the first place. Astrid knows that Giles and Salamander were in on it together, and took the workers down to the atomic shelter for what they claimed was an endurance test. As they talk, they're unaware that Salamander is watching on a monitor.
Giles grabs the Doctor as a hostage and Colin demands to know why Giles kept them imprisoned like animals. He boasts that he fooled them all, but the Doctor says that he was never fooled and that he realized Giles wanted to kill Salamander and take his place. Giles runs into the capsule and makes his escape, and the Doctor warns Astrid not to touch the now-red-hot door leading to the hallway. They activate the monitor and spot Salamander using the escape route that Giles is heading for.
Benik grabs the guard captain's gun and orders Donald to stay back. However, Forrester and his men arrive and capture Benik, and Donald tells them to confine all of the center personnel. The Doctor calls over the monitor and warns Donald to evacuate the research center. When the security chief warns that they can't get through the door, the Doctor tells him to save himself and the others.
Salamander ambushes Giles in the caves and takes his gun. Giles warns that they're onto both of them and says that they can still work together, setting off the explosives and burying the evidence. Salamander says that Giles is no longer of use to him and shoots him in the chest, and Giles staggers off. He makes his way to the escape tunnel as the Doctor and Astrid watch on the monitor, and a chuckling Salamander comes after his former partner to finish him off. Salamander fires again and with his dying breath, Giles triggers the explosives.
As the research center starts to come down, Donald and his men finish burning through the door to the records room. They get everyone out but Astrid is concerned for the people she promised to help escape. They go to the monitor and confirm that they're alive, and Astrid tells Donald that they can get to them through Salamander's cave system. The security chief agrees to go with her and take some of his men. When the Doctor offers to go as well, Astrid advises against it since they might mistake him for Salamander.
On the beach, Jamie and Victoria wait for the Doctor to return. The Doctor finally staggers up, badly bruised from the collapse at the research center. Dazed, he's unable to speak and Jamie helps him into the TARDIS. The Doctor stares at the controls and then gestures at Jamie to activate them. The Scotsman points out that the Doctor told him to never touch the controls... and the real Doctor enters the TARDIS. He tells Salamander that they're going to put him out and that he has nowhere to run.
Desperate, Salamander lunges for the controls and the Doctor tries to stop him. Salamander shoves him against the console and prepares to kill him. When Jamie lunges at him, Salamander throws him off and activates the controls. The TARDIS dematerializes and careens out of control with the doors still open. The Doctor grabs Victoria and holds on, and Jamie clutches to a column. Salamander is unable to maintain his grip and plunges out the doors to be torn apart in the Time Vortex.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 25, 2015