Profits of Doom! (comic story)

Summary
Out in space the Mayflower, with its 20,000 crew in cryo sleep, is travelling from the overcrowded 24th century Earth. One of the occupants, Kara, is woken from her sleep by the maintenance computer, Monitor. She begins the routine that every five years she checks out the ship, and fixes any easy faults.

After being stuck in the TARDIS for three weeks, Peri is beginning to feel bored. The Doctor proposes a holiday.

Kara notices two slug like aliens, unrecognisable to Monitor, patrolling the ship. Kara tries to find out how they entered the ship, but Monitor tells her they had the correct entry codes, and arrived from their 85 kilotonne bulk carrier into access bay three quite properly.

The Doctor proposes to Peri and Frobisher a holiday to Arcadia, a paradise planet. They land on the Mayflower, and soon meet up with Kara, who threatens them with her laser welder. When she sees they are mostly people, she relaxes and asks whether they are from the top drawer. Kara explains the situation with the slugs. Monitor soon tells her that the Doctor is not top drawer, he is an intruder. After the Doctor explains who he is, and how he arrived, he persuades Kara to lead them to the top drawer, where the ship's leaders are, believing they can get help. But when they arrive where the top drawer sleep, there's no one there.

The slugs arrive and fire at the group, all the time watched by an unseen figure. The Doctor, and Kara flee with the damaged Monitor, while Peri and Frobisher are captured. While escaping, the Doctor explains that the slugs are a group of space mercenaries known as the profiteers, who ravage planets, engaging in no action without sizeable return, with every world conquered just another credit making endeavour.

While Peri and Frobisher ponder over their fate, the senior Profiteer goes into communication with the unseen figure, whom they address as Seth. Seth asks about the success of their takeover.

Kara explains to the Doctor that the mission of the Mayflower was started by Varley Gabriel, who was a political figure of the 24th century. After finding a suitable planet for the overcrowded humans to live, he called the fittest, smartest and most adept humans to travel, and be the top drawer. Another 20,000 were chosen to work under them.

Seth explains to the profiteers that he wants the top drawer, and all others are their concern. He does demand that they find the Doctor, who he knows is a Time Lord. Seth says that a ship will arrive soon to collect his "cargo".

The Doctor and Kara are heading towards the computer core, so the Doctor can check if someone tipped the profiteers off. Kara dismisses the idea, as anyone who did that would have to have done that 80 years ago. Monitor clears the Doctor to receive all classified information, and the Doctor sets to work, not realising Seth is watching.

Just when the Doctor comes on important information the profiteers arrive and capture the Doctor, Kara and Monitor. Seth watches this with an impassive face, very similar to that of Varley Gabriel.

On Kara's orders, Monitor blinds the Profiteers with a burst of light, enabling the Doctor, Kara and Monitor to escape. Hiding out in the ship's ventilation ducts, the Doctor uses Monitor to instigate the surveillance system's maintenance routines, thus blinding the security cameras to the fact that he, Kara and Monitor are returning to the computer core to complete their work. The Doctor has already learned that "Varley Gabriel" has apparently programmed the navigational system to send the Mayflower to the middle of nowhere, and theorises that this is all part of a plot to lure the "top drawer" into his service.

Once back in the core, the Doctor determines that Peri and Frobisher are still alive aboard the Profiteers' ship, and sends Monitor to rescue them. Frobisher nearly gives their escape away, but bluffs the Profiteers into retreating by threatening to transform into a ravenous monster.

The Profiteers pursue the escaping prisoners back to the core, where the Doctor and Kara have programmed the Mayflower to blow itself up. The image of Varley Gabriel on the computer screen then comes to life and addresses them; he is in reality an amoral immortal named Seth, who has been manipulating human history for his own ends for centuries. He required the "top drawer" for his own purposes on another world, and engaged in the "colonisation" ruse to lure them into his service, always intending to sell the remaining colonists into slavery to the Profiteers.

However, when the Profiteers arrive in the computer core, the Doctor threatens to blow up the ship unless they retreat. Seth knows it's a bluff, but the Profiteers claim that Gallifreyans are "zero tax rated" and refuse to take the risk. Seth vows revenge as the Profiteers retreat, but the Doctor ignores his rantings and reprogrammes the Mayflower`, sending the colonists to the world which will one day become Arcadia.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Frobisher
 * Peri

Continuity
to be added