Milo Clancey

The TARDIS materialises in Earth's future on a space beacon. As The Doctor and his two travelling companions, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot, investigate they are unaware that they have arrived at a time when there has been a spate of beacons being stolen by a band of space pirates, who are after a valuable mineral called Argonite which is used in the construction of the beacons. They also don’t realise, yet, that the beacon they have arrived on is next on the pirates’ hit-list.

The travellers find themselves trapped in a sealed section of the beacon, when it is blown apart, and sent drifting in space. They soon realises though that all the sections of the beacon are drifting in the same, but unknown direction, rather than apart as they should in a normal explosion. The Doctor therefore correctly deduces that they must be being controlled by small rockets fixed to each section. Worse still they are unable to leave in the TARDIS as it is inside a different fragment of the beacon which they can’t reach due to the vacuum of space. They can see the section that holds the time machine but it might just as well be a million miles away.

The destruction of the all beacons is not going unnoticed – the Interplanetary Space Corps are observing their demise and are determined to catch those responsible. The ICS are convinced that the pirates' mastermind is an eccentric, old-style frontier space mining pioneer named Milo Clancey, while the pirate’s true leader is a man named Caven. Unknown to the Interplanetary Space Corps, Caven has a secret base on the planet Ta and is assisted by Madeleine Issigri, daughter of his ex-partner Dom, who unknown to her is being held a prisoner by Caven.

The Beacon Destroyed

While looking for the pirates Interplanetary Space Corps Cruiser, V41, commanded by General Hermack, locates an unregistered ship which is identified as a decrepit C-class freighter. Named LIZ 79 this old spaceship is piloted by non-other than Milo Clancey. Believing him to be one of the pirates General Hermack orders Milo Clancey to be brought on board the V41. Milo Clancey though does not realise he is suspected of being one of the pirates. Oblivious to this fact he demands to know what the Interplanetary Space Corps is doing about the pirates especially after the number of reports he has raised about the pirates and the warnings that they are in possession of a Beta Dart, one of the fastest spaceships in the Galaxy.

Convinced that Milo Clancey is the ring leader of the pirates General Hermack allows Milo Clancey to go on his way hoping that he will lead them to the pirates’ secret base. A minnow ship is launched - piloted by Major Warne - with orders to follow Milo Clancey's ship to see where he goes and who he meets – and it is not long before it seems that General Hermack’s suspicions about Milo Clancey are confirmed.

Zoe and Jamie

Meanwhile back on the beacon The Doctor is concerned by the falling levels of air in their section of the beacon and plans to pull the sections of the beacon back together using magnetism. Unfortunately, the magnets repel each other and they end up shooting off in the wrong direction. Fortunately Milo Clancey comes across the section of the beacon and decides to board it in the hope he will capture the pirates. Instead he discovers The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe who are nearly out of oxygen. At first he thinks they are the pirates and so holds them at gunpoint. He soon realises that he is mistaken and so they all board Milo Clancey’s spaceship. Without any warning, Major Warne, in the minnow that has been following Milo Clancey, begins to fire warning shots at them. Convinced that Milo Clancey is about to steal part of the beacon he has all the evidence he needs to prove Milo Clancey’s involvement with the pirates. Milo Clancey manages to escape and heads for the planet Ta – where he has a personal dock so his ship can be repaired. Angered by their escape General Hermack orders the launch of all the remaining minnows to hunt for Milo Clancey.

On arriving on Ta, Zoe uses her mathematics skills to work out the location of the pirate base and deduces that it must also be on Ta. They are soon to discover that Zoe is correct and that the pirates are determined to keep their base on Ta a secret. With the Interplanetary Space Corps hunting them down and the pirates determined to steal more beacons The Doctor and his companions have to find a way to stop the pirates and to clear Milo Clancey's name.

They are soon to gain an ally in the form of Madeleine Issigri. Milo Clancey had believed that Madeleine Issigri was behind the raids but on discovering Caven's full treachery regarding her father, Dom Issigri - who she thought had died - she decides to change sides and help The Doctor bring Caven and his pirates to justice. With The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe held captive Milo Clancey and the newly discovered Dom Issigri manage to escape in Milo Clancey’s spaceship. After nearly suffocating to death, when Caven uses a remote control unit fitted to the ship to turn off the oxygen supply, they are rescued by General Hermack. When it is explained what has been happening on the planet Ta the General realises they are telling the truth, and that Milo Clancey has nothing to do with the pirates, he sends a rescue force to land on Ta.

Milo Clancey Receives a Call

On realising that the Interplanetary Space Corps are arriving in force Caven makes his escape in the Beta Dart ship – but not before he sets off the trigger mechanism on a bomb that has been planted an atomic fuel dump. The Doctor though is able to defuse the bomb at the last second. Caven though is being pursued by Major Warne in his minnow. Major Warne manages to catch up with Caven’s Beta Dart and then successfully attack it - causing Caven’s Beta Dart ship to explode. As General Hermack’s ship lands on Ta, Madeleine Issigri realises that her reunion with her father will be short lived as she knows she will be imprisoned for her part in the piracy.

With Milo Clancey no longer being accused of being a pirate he offers to give The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe a lift, in his rickety old ship, the LIZ 79, back to the TARDIS which is still inside one of the sections of the destroyed beacon.