Martin Cochrane

Greengrass becomes the recipient of stolen cigarettes and Jo receives some tragic news.

Military captive Salateen tells Peri and the Doctor they are dying from spectrox tomaemia and the only cure is the milk of the queen bat, who sleeps deep below the caverns.

The planet Androzani Minor, the distant future. In the planets' caves war rages between government troops and the android warriors of the mysterious Sharaz Jek. But what makes spectrox, the substance they battle to control, so valuable? And how far will the Doctor go to protect his companion?

Events on Androzani reach a bloody climax. Morgus is ruined, exposed as the one funding Jek’s gunrunners, and Jek himself goes on a murderous rampage. Will the Doctor and Peri survive the carnage? And at what cost?

As Morgus continues to plot his political future on Androzani Major, Sharez Jek insanely believes Peri will fall in love with him. The situation on Androzani Minor is building toward a violent confrontation. And the Doctor and Peri are slowly succumbing to spectrox toxemia.