The Doctor lands on what he believes to is a sea-bering vessel, shortly after a mysterious warning from the White Guardian. The Edwardian ship, however, is in a race amongst the planets, sailing through space and captained by Eternals, powerful beings from beyond the dimension of time. At the end of the race stand the White and Black Guardians, ready to hand out the prize to the winner: Enlightenment. Wrack, captain of the Spanish ship the Buccaneer, will stop at nothing to win the prize. Given the power of Enlightenment, the winner will have power over the entire Universe. Wrack places a jewel on Tegan's Terra when she went to the party held on Wracks ship, this jewel is actually a focus point for a powerful weapon aboard her ship. The Doctor realises this and trys to smash the jewel to bits, however, this just amplifies it's powers. He quickly tries to grab all the pieces and throws them overboard. The Doctor travels to the Buccaneer to try and stop Wrack from winning the race. He succeeds and sends the Eternals back to the relm of eternity. Toulough is asked to make the choice of having Enlightenment, and giving the Doctor to the Black Guardian, or give Enlightenment to the Black Guardian. Toulough gives the Black Guardian Enlightenment back and the Black Guardian is defeated, only to return later....
This is a great story. It really expands the thought of having old ships flying through space and winning the ultimate treasure. Ironically enough, this is similar to the Bhuddist beliefs, to reach Enlightenment. A well thought out story and very entertaining. |
