Cirrus@Austlit

'Bev wakes up one morning to find that most of the Collection has disappeared, and it's Jason who points out that the only items that remain are the ones that weren't quantum-tagged by the Chester Industries inventory drones. While Jason puts about a temporary cover story, Bev contacts Lord Chester and is invited to a meeting of the Collectors' Guild, obsessives who have taken offence to the fact that Braxiatel entrusted his Collection to someone who doesn't place collecting above all other priorities. The Guild's chairman, Ori, gives Bev an ultimatum: the Guild also have a mission to taste the flesh of rare and exotic creatures, and unless Bev delivers one of the Quire to the Guild so they can slaughter and eat him or her, she'll never see the stolen artefacts again. Bev returns to the Collection, but Dorso realises that she's plotting something and confronts her, using specialised hands with stinging tentacles to get her point across. Bev and Dorso come up with an alternative plan, and Bev returns to the Guild with one of Dorso's hands, claiming that she cut it off and has brought it to bargain with. Ori agrees to return 30 percent of the Collection in exchange for the hand, but once the Collectors have sampled it, he reveals that they've already inoculated themselves against all known poisons in the Universe. He admits that they had no intention of going through with the deal; rather, they intend to capture the rest of the Quire, eat some of them and sell the others on the open market. But Bev then reminds the Collectors that she's from 2,000 years in the future, and that Dorso is from even further ahead -- and they've developed a semi-sentient type of poison that even the Guild isn't protected against. Bev causes two of the Collectors to explode from the inside out simply by speaking a command to the poison now in their bodies, and orders the terrified Ori to return the stolen artefacts within six hours. He does so -- but Bev hasn't forgiven him for what he did, and once the Collection is back in place, Bev opens her communicator and speaks a single word. She also hasn't forgotten how Dorso got the drop on her, and thus has the Collection's security system adjusted to alert her if any of the Quire go near the dangerous specialised hands again...'

Source: drwhoguide.com (http://www.drwhoguide.com/bs_n16.htm). Sighted: 19/5/11

'Peter discovers that Wolsey's old collar, which Benny kept as a memento, contains an electronic pass that allows him to enter forbidden areas of the Collection. Deciding to have an adventure, he takes his friend Keith to the Mansionhouse, "Uncle Brax's Palace," and uses the key to enter the Stacks. He and Keith spend the afternoon exploring the Stacks' contents, which include a statue of a naked lady with no arms, and a box labelled "Ark of the..." and a word that Peter doesn't understand. However, while they are investigating the inside of what looks like an alien war machine, an inventory droid passes by and lowers the lift, leaving them stuck inside. Jason eventually finds Peter calling for help and rescues him, but is terrified by the thought that the Martian ship's defences could have sucked out Peter's mind; however, while Benny agrees that her son must be punished for running off without telling anyone where he was going, she refuses to frighten him into believing that the world is a scary place that must be avoided. She's a bit worried that Peter has apparently been hanging around with his future half-brother, but Peter assures her that "Keith" really is just an imaginary friend. For his part, Peter accepts his punishment, and begins to realise that his mother's fantastic tales of adventure and wonder are all true.'

Source: drwhoguide.com (http://www.drwhoguide.com/bs_n16.htm). Sighted: 19/5/11

'Peter and his Zenbrouli friend Wajiwaj find the crying Incunabula abandoned in a deserted building site and take her home to Benny. Although upset that the child was left on her own, Benny tells Peter that she'll have to punish him for going onto the building site without permission, and thus tells him to hand over Wolsey's pass-tag. Strange things are happening on the Collection, and Benny wants Peter to stay where it's safe until they're all sorted out. However, Peter then swaps his own pass-tag for his mother's and wanders into the bar run by Wajiwaj's mum-dad, who finds him and threatens to eat him all up for being a bad boy. When Jason and Benny find Peter, Wajiwaj's mum-dad claims that s/he was just trying to scare the boy, but Peter isn't entirely convinced. Benny is upset at first that Peter stole her tag, until Peter explains that he's never seen anything dangerous on the Collection; he thus assumed that it was his pass-tag that was protecting him, and he gave it to his mother to keep her safe.'

Source: drwhoguide.com (http://www.drwhoguide.com/bs_n16.htm). Sighted: 19/5/11