Salamar
Controller Salamar captained a Morestran probe ship sent to Zeta Minor in 37166 to make contact with Professor Sorenson's expedition.
Biography
Upon arrival, Salamar put the ship into orbit around the planet. He refused to perform a low level scan ahead of sending down Vishinsky with a landing party, citing the conservation of fuel. After the expedition's base was found, he landed the ship and joined the advance party.
After finding that several of the expedition's members had been killed, Salamar blamed the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, whom they had found within the base on their arrival. Salamar ordered for the Doctor's TARDIS to be brought on board his probe ship and quarantined.
When the Doctor and Sarah escaped captivity, he had an oculoid scour the jungle for them and sent out a team to retrieve them when they were found. They were brought onto the probe ship. When they tried to take off, Salamar found that the cyclostimulators malfunctioned. The anti-matter creature attacked and began killing members of the crew.
Under pressure from Vishinsky, Salamar followed the Doctor's advice and linked the force field to the atomic accelerator, repelling the creature. This engendered some trust for the Doctor in the Controller, but when Morelli and De Haan were killed, Salamar was quick to blame the two time travellers. He ordered their execution by ejection into space. Vishinsky rejected the command, believing in their innocence, but Salamar used his subordinate's own hand to move the switch that set their ejection in motion.
Hearing Reig scream as he came under attack, Salamar hurried to the command deck, allowing the Doctor and Sarah to be freed by Vishinsky who then took control from Salamar, declaring that his mistakes had been too costly.
Salamar heckled Vishinksy as he made his commands and, declaring that a real controller performed strong actions, shot a member of the crew and forced Vishinsky to open the doors, allowing him to set off after Sorenson, who it was the judged to have been infected by anti-matter minerals, causing him to attack the crew. Salamar found him in the quarantine bay and was killed — his desiccated corpse being left behind. He dropped a neutron accelerator as he died, which empowered Sorenson, causing the creation of several duplicates. (TV: Planet of Evil)
Despite his actions, he was revered as a prophet by the Morestrans in the 392nd century. (PROSE: Zeta Major)
