A wave of giddiness washed over the Doctor as the teleport beam took hold of his body, and he squeezed his eyes shut for an instant until it passed. When he opened them again, he found he was standing in a smaller white room lined with humming and ticking machinery. There was a sharp tang of ozone in the air, and another smell, slightly bitter and acrid. The Doctor sniffed cautiously.
"Hmmm, taranium... I'd recognise that odour anywhere. Where in the universe did you find such an amount?"
Lavarre was flexing and stretching after the short teleport journey, and he looked round at the Doctor in surprise. "I congratulate you on your nose, Doctor! I didn't think taranium gave off that much odour."
"It all sort of depends on how much of it you're burning, and for what purpose, of course."
"What else does one use taranium for, Doctor?" Lavarre crossed to a console and examined a readout. "Yes, I think I am burning off a little too much." He turned and gave an ironic smile of gratitude. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. As taranium is highly unstable when bombarded by anti-matter - and I take it that is what you are doing - I'd hate for everything to go up smoke. Just yet, anyway."
"Lavarre..."
Lavarre turned round. The Doctor was pointing a gun at him - the weapon he'd tossed to him just before they teleported. He chuckled.
"You and I both know you'll never use it."
"Are you so sure? I've been known to do rash things in the past."
"But what was it you said earlier, Doctor? Never murder?"
"I don't know if shooting you would qualify for that." Then he smiled tightly. "Besides, I know you'd never give an enemy a loaded weapon. Giving them one with a teleportation signaller, to beam them to a safer location, now that is your style."
Lavarre laughed, then made a beckoning motion. The Doctor looked round and saw Dyane and Jaysen falling into position beside him. Jaysen reached across carefully and plucked the weapon from his grasp. The Doctor didn't resist. Jaysen pulled out the magazine from the weapon and held it up, revealing its true identity. Then he slid a fresh magazine in and levelled it at the Doctor's head.
"How well you know me, Doctor. A pity you were a little slow to realise."
The Doctor made a small gesture of resignation with his hands. "Oh well, it happens. Even to me. And I see you've brought your little friends with you as well. Very good. I'm almost impressed."
Dyane reached out and stroked the Doctor's cheek gently.
"You made me look a fool... a rank amateur. I'm going to make you suffer for that," she stated coldly.
"Dyane..." Lavarre warned. "Leave the Doctor alone. It'll be my pleasure to deal with him, and no one else's. Understand?"
Dyane looked at him sullenly for a moment, then took her hand away. We'll see, she thought.
"What about the others? What about Chlorys?" asked Jaysen.
"What about Chlorys?" a voice giggled, and Chlorys materialised behind them. "Here I am!" she announced.
Lavarre clapped his hands together happily. "Good! Now we can really begin."
Chlorys was looking the Doctor up and down. "Is this him? He don't look so much up close."
"Appearances can be deceptive, young woman," replied the Doctor dryly.
Chlorys giggled, tugging the nuns' habit off and over her head to reveal her shiny black combat suit underneath. She ran her hands over the smooth material, straightening herself. She did so like to look her best. "And don't I know it!"
Lavarre pointed at Dyane and Jaysen. "Dyane, I want you and Jaysen to go and look for Wayne. Lucylla said she'd put him upstairs somewhere. Find him, then go and wait for me in the playroom. And stay there, until I give the all-clear."
"Why the playroom?" asked Dyane. "Why don't we just tool-up and go back to the dining room?"
"Because you'll be safer in the play room," he stated meaningfully.
"Safer?" she frowned.
Lavarre smirked. "You'll see."
"But what about the others in the dining room?" asked Jaysen.
Lavarre shot a glance at the Doctor. "They're being dealt with as we speak."
The Doctor merely raised an eyebrow.
"How?" insisted Jaysen.
Lavarre smiled. "Very painfully, I should imagine."
But Jaysen wasn't convinced. "You're sure?"
Lavarre sighed. "Jaysen, as you're still relatively new to this little group, I'll forgive you for doubting my word this one time. But after this, never question my certainty again. Got it?"
Jaysen stepped back hastily, head bowed. "Yes sir. Sorry, sir."
The Doctor smiled and shook his head, but made no comment.
"What about Lucylla, and Chayni?" asked Chlorys.
"And Hayzel," added Dyane. Lavarre shook his head.
"No," he said.
Chlorys shrugged. "Pity," she said. She rather liked Lucylla, though Chayni was always a bit snotty, and Hayzel made her nervous in a way nobody else ever could. Her she wouldn't miss. Even so...
Dyane turned away. She had no great liking for any of her three former compatriots' left in the dining room, but she felt slightly aggrieved at the manner and haste of Lavarre's dispatch of them for a reason she couldn't quite specify to herself. "That'll leave us a little short, won't it?" she added quietly.
"You three will make do, until I get back. And of course, Wayne will make four. That's plenty for now."
"I admire your confidence," said the Doctor.
Lavarre sighed. "Dyane, if the Doctor opens his mouth again, you have my permission to shut it for him. I'm getting a little tired of your constant asides."
Dyane faced the Doctor, the corners of her mouth twitching up into a cruel smirk. The Doctor winked mischievously, and the smirk vanished.
"What do you want me to do?" asked Chlorys.
"Chlorys, I want you to stay right here and guard the jump room. Just in case," he added.
"I see. And what about..." she indicated the Doctor.
Lavarre smiled. "We're going on a little trip. Just him, and I." He leaned forward towards the Doctor. "And only one of us is returning."
"Good," replied the Doctor. He turned to look at Chlorys. "Have a pot of tea ready for when I get back then, young lady."
Chlorys laughed despite the black look on her leader's face, and Dyane scowled and raised a fist to strike. Lavarre halted her.
"No! I'll allow the Doctor one last witticism before his death. Such as it was. Speaking of which," Lavarre tugged an old fashioned pocket watch from beneath his robe and studied it intently, "it's time we were off."
"So soon?" said the Doctor.
"Oh yes!" Lavarre grinned. He nodded to the others. "You have your orders."
Chlorys pulled a face. "Awww, don't we get to watch?"
Lavarre's face became deadly serious. "No. This is between him and I. No one else."
Chlorys kicked at a console, sulking. "You're no fun any more."
Lavarre patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, when I get back, we'll have lots and lots of fun together!"
Chlorys looked at him and grinned. "Thanks!" She leaned forward and pecked him on the forehead, leaving a distinctive red lipstick mark. "Have fun!" she giggled.
"Oh, I will!" he promised, then pushed the Doctor towards a set of heavy double doors at the far end of the room. They slid apart with a low rumble as they approached, and the two men stepped inside. The doors crashed shut behind them. Chlorys turned to Dyane and Jaysen.
"Well then... let's get going!"
Dyane and Jaysen hurried from the room, and Chlorys locked it behind them. She turned and looked at the big double doors thoughtfully.
"Good luck, jefe..." she murmured thoughtfully. "I think you're gonna need it..."
She drew a weapon, and settled down to wait, pondering on an issue that had suddenly entered her mind.
Supposing the Doctor did win?
***
Things were going from bad to worse in the dining room.
Hayzel leapt forward and rolled between two of the approaching robots, seizing the particle beam cannon. Crouching low on the floor, she swung it round to point at the advancing metallic horde and squeezed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"Cruk!" she swore, speedily checking the weapon over. Power pack was fully charged, safety catch off, all connection lights green...
A robot swung a metal fist in her direction and she somersaulted back away from it, still grasping the seemingly useless cannon.
She wasn't the only one affected. Chris and Chayni levelled their weapons to fire and again, nothing happened. "He must have activated a dampening field!" Chayni cried.
"You mean these guns don't work?" Hilda had scooped up one of the pistols Jaysen had dropped and was looking at it anxiously.
"Energy weapons won't," replied Chayni, backing away. "But good old fashioned gunpowder will!"
To Chris' astonishment, she tugged a large nickel-plated revolver from inside her tunic. "Where'd you get that?" he gasped. "And more importantly, have you got another?"
"Found it in one of the Doctor's storerooms," she said, drawing a bead on SV17 at the head of the horde. "It was in some fancy display case." She squeezed the trigger. The gun went off with a satisfyingly loud report and Chayni was rewarded with the sight of the robot's head exploding in a shower of sparks. SV17 collapsed to the ground. She whooped, then took fresh aim at another robot. "Must have been a present from someone. Do you know who Sam Peckinpah is? It was his signature on the gift tag."
"I've no idea," replied Chris hastily, backing away as the robotic tide pouring into the room increased. "But I thank him just the same! It's just a pity he couldn't have provided the Doctor with a pair."
"That's gratitude!" said Chayni, firing again. Another robot dropped, but there were still more behind it.
"What are we going to do?" cried Jo. Lucylla looked round at her.
"Fight. What else?" she said simply.
At that, Lucylla leapt forward, and launched a devastating kick at the head of the robot advancing on her, arms outstretched. It flew backwards into its fellows, smoke streaming from a large dent in its face.
"Look out!" Grace pulled Vicki aside as a robot lunged at them. Vicki thumped into the wall, something rattling above her head. She looked up to see two swords crossed on the wall. She reached up and tugged at the handle of one of them. Stubbornly, it began to give.
Grace ducked a swinging arm and grabbed a chair, holding it out in front of her. A vicious blow reduced the chair to matchwood and she stumbled backwards into the dining room table. The robot raised its arm for a killer blow... then something swished through the air and the arm clattered to the floor, severed at the elbow.
"Ha!" cried Vicki, bringing the sword back above her head in a two-handed grasp for a second strike. The robot swung round almost drunkenly, white hydraulic fluid spurting from the 'wound'. Vicki swung the heavy blade round again, aiming for its neck. With a solid whunk the robots head was dispatched from it's shoulders and bounced to the floor, rolling beneath the dining room table. The decapitated robot fell drunkenly to the floor; it's single remaining hand twitching spasmodically. Vicki reached out and pulled Grace forward.
"Where did you learn to handle a sword like that?" Grace gasped.
"My husband taught me," she declared proudly. "He was one of the finest warriors in Troy!"
"Watch it!"
Another robot lunged at them, before Vicki could raise her sword in defence. But with a sudden popping and tearing sound a long blade emerged through the centre of it's chest. Sparks flew and smoke billowed out as it staggered forward past the women and crashed to the floor.
Hilda stepped forward and blew at the smoking tip of her sword. "Not bad, eh? I was the Captain of the Great Britain women's fencing team at the 1980 Olympics, y'know."
"Did you win?" gasped Grace, falling in between the two women as they backed away again.
"No," she said regretfully. "Something else came up. Some damn fool trying to set off an atomic bomb in Moscow, right in the middle of the quarterfinal. You know, that 007 feller is never around when you need him..."
Jo was swinging a candlestick with much feeling but little effect at a robot advancing steadily upon her, and didn't notice the chair Lavarre had tipped over in his rage earlier lying on the floor. She went sprawling, the candlestick clattering to the floor.
"Hi-ya!" Benny leapt into the robot's path and struck a martial arts pose, arm raised to deflect a clubbing blow aimed at her head. It certainly saved her skull, but didn't do much for her arm. There was a sickening crunch and Benny howled, falling to the ground in agony on top of Jo. The robot reached down for the helpless women...
"Benny!" yelled Chris. He grabbed Chayni's arm. "Shoot that robot!"
"What?" Chayni pivoted and drew a bead on the robot trying to get hold of Benny. "Chris, who is that woman?" she purred.
"That's Benny! One of my best friends! Quick, Chayni!"
"She's just a friend, right?" Chayni glanced at him meaningfully.
"Yes, yes, just a friend!"
"Good!" She blew the robot's head off with one shot. Chris vaulted over the table and went to Benny's aid. She was, as usual, swearing her head off.
"Of all the stupid!" she hissed through clenched teeth, clutching at her broken arm. "I forgot to never, ever deflect a blow from a robot without wearing arm protection! My old drill sergeant would kill me!"
"He isn't going to get the chance!" Chris tugged her and Jo up and away just as two more robots converged on their position. He looked round. The situation was getting more hopeless by the minute. Chayni's marksmanship was having a deadly effect on the robots, but she was running out of manoeuvring space - and ammunition. Lucylla and Hayzel were athletically fending the machines off with a dazzling array of martial arts techniques, and two of the older companions seemed to be holding their own with a pair of swords they'd stripped from the wall.
But they were all getting tired, and the horde of robots didn't seem to be decreasing. Sheer determination - and luck - had kept them alive until now, but it was only a matter of time before one of them fell...
"Onto the table! Quick!"
Jo scrambled up and helped Chris haul Benny up. The table was wide and long, and the centre of it was just out the robot's deadly grasp. But they had their own way of dealing with that problem, steel fists lashing down to smash through the heavy wood, tearing a path for themselves towards the cowering humans.
Hayzel leapt under a swing arm and kicked a robot's legs away, then stood up beside Lucylla. She realised the situation was grim as well. "Luce, we're gonna have to abandon this lot!"
"What?" Lucylla ducked and slammed a palm into a metal face. Her hands were beginning to ache under all the blows she was inflicting. Even her remarkable physiognomy couldn't dish out this sort of punishment for long. "I'd prefer not to, Hayze."
"Lucylla, we're outnumbered! Forget your plan! Let's get out of here while we've still got the energy. Look, we can fight our way to the playroom and come back with some artillery that will really waste these metal mothers..."
Lucylla sighed, weighing up the alternatives. Her plans were worth nothing if she was dead, after all...
Hilda and Vicki found themselves backed into a corner, Grace behind them. Vicki fended off a blow and looked at the older woman beside her.
"Can't keep this up!" she cried.
"Brave heart, as the Doctor always used to say!" Hilda puffed back, swinging her sword desperately.
"Used to?" snapped Grace. "He ain't dead yet!" I hope, she didn't add... Doctor, where the hell were you!
Chris scooped up the large silver platter in the centre of the table and swung it like a club, sending another robot spinning backwards. He looked at the large robot-face shaped dent in it and grinned. Chayni hopped up beside him and held up her pistol.
"Two bullets left..." she looked at him and grinned. "Should I save them for us?"
Chris looked at her defiantly. "Save them for the first two metal gits that get within killing range."
"Sure!" Chayni whipped round and fired twice. Two robots crashed to the ground. "Satisfied?" she grinned.
"With you? Never!" he winked, grinning back.
"I thought that was supposed to be my line!" she laughed.
He reached out to touch her cheek. A metal fist closed around his ankle, and suddenly he was yanked backwards. He heard Chayni scream his name...
Benny snatched up the brandy decanter just as a robot fist ploughed through the space it previously occupied and scooted back down the table. They were running out of space. She pulled the stopper out with her teeth and spat it out at the robot. "No way am I going to die like this sober!" she yelled, tipping the bottle to her mouth.
Behind her, Jo squeezed her arm, looking around her fearfully. She swallowed. This really was it, then. Oh Doctor... She closed her eyes tightly shut as she felt cold metal touch her neck...
Abruptly, the robots stopped.
Chris looked up from where he lay on his back on the floor. "They've stopped!" he whispered with heartfelt relief.
"Obviously!" snapped Chayni, crouching over him and the robot on top of him, tugging at the metallic fingers locked around his throat. "A little help here?"
"Jo, open your eyes! They've stopped!"
Jo reluctantly opened her eyes a crack, then surprise hit and they went wide open with shock. What had happened?
Benny's jaw dropped almost comically down, spilling the last mouthful of brandy she'd taken down her front. "I feel peculiar," she wavered, to no one in particular, and slipped from the table to sink slowly to the carpet. Jo collapsed beside her and wrapped an arm round around her shoulder in silent comradeship, gazing up at the statue-like figures around them, just glad to be alive.
Jo indicated to the bottle still clenched in Benny's hand.
"Any more left in there?"
"Flat batteries?" suggested Hilda, emerging from her corner beneath a forest of raised fists.
"Hardly!" retorted Hayzel, examining the robots carefully. They displayed no sign of life at all.
Grace pushed at one of the still figures and it toppled to the floor. She giggled suddenly. "You know, if we lined all these guys up, we could push 'em down like a stack of dominoes..." her giggling started to develop it high-pitched laughter and she began to shake.
Vicki turned around and slapped her across the face. Grace's laughter ceased instantly and she blinked at Vicki for a moment. "Thanks," she said shakily, rubbing her hands across her face. "Thought I was losing it there for a minute."
"Don't worry," reassured Vicki softly, squeezing her arm. "I know what it's like. This is almost as bad as what happened at Troy," she added, looking around her. But not quite. There were no children screaming here. Vicki squeezed her eyes shut and forced that particular memory back into the dark side of her mind.
Lucylla looked at Hayzel. "You know what it looks like..."
"Yeah. But who did it?"
As if in answer to her question, a low grinding sound started to come from one of the walls, and a small panel gradually opened to reveal a dark hole in the wall. Something slowly emerged.
"It's another one of them!" cried Jo. Lucylla and Hayzel joined Hilda and Vicki as they rushed over, swords raised.
A black-masked robot face peered round the room. At the sight of the quartet rushing over with murderous intent, it frantically waved its arms at them and shouted quickly, voice muffled by the mask.
"Hold your fire! I'm quite friendly, I assure you!"
"Prove it!" snapped Vicki, thrusting her sword point under its chin.
"I'm not a robot... look!" It reached up and pulled the mask off. The others crowded round in astonishment.
A perfectly normal human face was beneath it. He smiled reassuringly. "I'm John Newman, I've been sent here by the Doctor!"
"John who?" asked Hilda, as they helped him out from the secret passage.
"John Newman. But please, call me Jack," he smiled. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get to the robot deactivation switch, but I was, er, a bit caught up." He flexed his shoulders gingerly. Those robots had been more than a little heavy handed before he managed to give them the slip after being led away from Lavarre's office.
Lucylla peered at Jack suspiciously. "You were... pretending to be a robot?"
"Yep." He tugged his ID tag away, and then bowed subserviently. "D41, at your service, ma'am."
"And you've been here all along?"
He shrugged. "More or less."
Hayzel nodded in recognition. "He was the robot that brought me the keys."
"Hmmm..." Lucylla shook her head and chuckled. "Lavarre said he thought we'd been infiltrated, but he hadn't reckoned on it being one of his own serving robots!"
"More fool him," grunted Chayni. "That's the first place I would have looked."
"And you've been helping out here? I mean, the Doctor?" Grace asked.
"Yeah, or at least as much as I was able. The Doctor just had me, well, interfering a little."
Benny flung her good arm around Lucylla's shoulder. "Like I said, the Doctor always has a contentgiously - convictuously-" she paused, suddenly unable to say the right word, for no reason she could think of - "The Doctor always has an ace up his sleeve," she settled for. "Except you weren't the Ace I was expecting!"
"That's very brave of you," declared Grace, clearly impressed with the newcomer.
Lucylla looked at Chayni and Chris. "Did either of you know about this?"
"Nope. It's a new one on me," admitted Chris.
"But we're damn glad all the same." Chayni smiled radiantly at Jack. "Thanks, friend."
Chris scowled.
Benny squinted at Lucylla. "How come you didn't know about this secret passage, then?"
Lucylla shrugged Benny's arm away irritably. "I don't know everything about this house. Lavarre never took me fully into his confidence on such matters," she snapped.
"Where does it lead?" asked Hilda, peering into it.
"It goes all over the house. Lavarre uses it all the time," said Jack.
"Would it lead, say, to... this jump room place?"
"Yes!" Hayzel snapped her fingers. "Of course! Lavarre's likely to have left someone guarding the way. Using the tunnel we can slip in quietly, take them by surprise and-"
Jo held up a hand. "Listen!" she hissed urgently.
"What is it?" said Hilda.
"I can't hear anything," said Chayni. "Chris?"
"No... no, hang on. There's something..."
"Hayze..." Lucylla and Hayzel rushed across to the main door and looked out through the bevy of motionless robots. Everyone else crowded behind them. "I can hear something now."
There was a thumping, and clattering, muffled, sounding quite distant.
"It's almost... beneath us," breathed Vicki.
"Lavarre?" asked Hilda.
"It's got to have something to do him," admitted Hayzel.
"Yeah, but what?" Grace looked around anxiously. "Jack, there's not a chance these things could come back to life, is there?"
"No," he shook his head firmly. "The Doctor told me how to make sure of that."
"Chlorys, or the others maybe..." Chayni considered.
"I don't think so," said Lucylla quietly. The thumping was becoming more rhythmic, and orderly. "That's not a human sound."
"A machine?" Hilda strained to listen.
"That's no machine... no single one anyway," said Chayni. "It's more like..." she looked up at Chris, fear starting to show in her eyes. "Footsteps..."
"Big footsteps!" he said.
"A lot of big footsteps!" added Hilda.
"Whatever they are, or it is," declared Benny carefully, trying not to slur her words, "it probably isn't friendly. What say we..."
"...Get out of here?" finished Jo, hopefully.
"Yes!" nodded Benny definitely.
The rhythmic pounding was getting closer, and closer. It was almost hypnotic. Chayni suddenly gasped.
"Goddess, I know what it is now!" She grabbed Chris's hand and started to pull him away from the dining room, towards the main staircase.
"Chayni, what... hang on!"
"What is it, Chayni? What do you know?" demanded Lucylla.
With a splintering crash one of the wooden panels in the wall opposite burst open and a tall silver figure marched into the hall. Behind it, they heard the heavy tread of others of its kind.
"It's them! I knew Lavarre didn't get rid of them!" Chayni cried, dragging the open-mouthed Chris up the stairs with her.
The silver figure turned to face the group in the dining room doorway. More of them appeared through the hole it had made.
"A Cyberman!" whispered Hilda, horrified.
"Lavarre's reconditioned Cybermen servants..." Lucylla muttered. "They must be some sort of last line of defence."
"Is it a robot?" asked Vicki, eyeing the gleaming spectre apprehensively.
"A cyborg," corrected Hayzel. "Quite ruthless. They ruled a quarter of the cosmos at one time." She shook her head. "But they're pretty slow, and stupid. Just very strong." Hayzel appeared to be fascinated by the creatures, gazing at them in a mixture of horror and awe. "I fought them for a while, before Lavarre found me... never did like them."
It stepped forward, sweeping motionless robots aside from its path with an easy sweep of its arm.
"It is big, isn't it?" said Vicki, starting to sidle backwards warily.
"But they're not affected by the deactivation switch!" cried Jack.
"They wouldn't be," said Hayzel, shaking herself from her revery. "Cybermen don't have a deactivation switch."
Lucylla shot a look towards the stairs after Chayni and Chris, but the creatures were starting to fan out and effectively blocked that escape route. She started to shove everyone back. "Back into the dining room, quick!"
Hayzel turned to look at her. "No way! I'm heading for the playroom to get me some proper weapons!"
"Don't be a fool, Hayze! You'll never make it!"
She grinned, starting to edge around the room to make a dash for the stairs. "Like I said, they're very slow and- argghhh!"
A massive steel hand smashed the wall opposite and clamped down on Hayzel's shoulder, squeezing hard. They heard the crack of bones splintering from the dining room doorway. The hand began to pull her back, as a second fist began to make short work of the rest of the wall to make a gap to pull her through with.
"Give me that!" Lucylla snatched the sword from Hilda's grasp, raised it above her head and brought it down on the grasping arm in one smooth motion. The blade sliced through the elbow joint, not quite severing the arm, but unleashing a torrent of sticky white goo. The creature uttered a dismal electronic howl and let go. Hayzel fell forward in a swoon, her face a mask of agony. Hilda and Grace caught her and pulled her back into the dining room, while Jack and the others booted the robots blocking the doorway aside and slammed the doors shut, Lucylla nipping in behind them just as the first wave of Cybermen reached the threshold...
The door began to shake and rattle under the impact of heavy fists. The heavy panels began to splinter and buckle under the onslaught.
"That won't hold them long," cried Jack, backing away.
Hilda pointed. "Quickly - into Jack's passage!"
"Would you mind rephrasing that?" asked Benny archly.
"Still got your sense of humour, Professor?" asked Lucylla as they rushed over to the hole. Jack and Grace supported the wounded Hayzel between them.
"Wouldn't be without it!" replied Benny. "Ouch! Mind my arm..."
"Watch the steps..." he warned, leading the way. They disappeared, closely followed by Jo, Vicki and Benny.
Hilda looked back. The door was beginning to buckle and splinter under the weight of a terrible battering. The noise it made was terrifying. "What about the other two?"
Lucylla shook her head. "Forget them. If they make it, they make it."
Hilda shrugged. What more could they do, after all? "Fair enough."
Benny popped her head back out. "Are you two coming?"
***
They stooped to make their way down a low and small flight of stairs and emerged into a narrow darkened corridor lit by flickering lanterns. The others were grouped around Hayzel, setting her down carefully on the floor.
"Very atmospheric," observed Hilda.
"Is the door shut?" asked Jack, looking round.
"Yes, Lucylla is right behind-" she looked around, discovered she wasn't. "Well, she was right behind me."
"Where did she go? Surely she didn't stay in there with those creatures," said Vicki.
"She must have slipped past me somehow."
"I didn't see her go..." replied Jo.
"It must have been while we were settling her friend down," suggested Vicki.
Hilda slapped her hands in exasperation. "Damn! I never should have let that girl out of my sight!"
"Where could she have gone, then?" asked Jack.
"After Lavarre," murmured Hayzel. The pain was tremendous, and it was all she could do to remain conscious. "That's what I would have done..."
Hilda looked at Grace, who was bent over the girl examining her wound. "How is she?"
Grace pulled a face. "Pretty bad. She needs proper treatment ASAP. And Benny's arm is gonna need looking at too."
"It's just a flesh-wound!" insisted Benny bravely, though the alcohol was starting to wear off and the arm was beginning to throb.
Grace shook her head in frustration. "There's not much I can do like this!"
"Will this help?" Jack reached into his robot tunic and passed down a small, old-fashioned medical kit to her. "The Doctor said you might need it."
Grace gave him a radiant smile. "Why Jack, you're full of surprises!" Grace rummaged through the bag and found bandages, splints, and several hypodermics and ampoules of morphine. "Just what the doctor ordered!"
Jack was glad the light was so dim, so she couldn't see him blushing.
"We've got to get after him as well. I don't trust that girl's motives," said Hilda. "Jack, could you find your way to this jump room?"
"Easily. I've been there a few times already."
Hilda nodded. "Good man! Now then..."
She looked around her. There was no way she was going to go on her own, so it was a case of determining who to take with her. This chap Newman, for a start. Hayzel was the best fighter, obviously, but she was too badly wounded, and anyway, Hilda trusted her about as much as she trusted Lucylla. Grace would be needed to stay here to look after her, and Benny had a broken arm. A pity. Uninjured and sober, or even just uninjured, Hilda had an idea that Benny was exactly the sort of person she'd like by her side in a fight. After all, the Doctor thought so.
That left Jo and Vicki.
She could see Jo shivering in the gloom, a tired and frightened woman approaching early middle age who wanted nothing more than to be back with her family. From what she remembered from her dossier, the Jo Jones - or Grant, as she was then - of old would have been a handful, but now...
Vicki. There was a mystery. She knew nothing about this young woman at all, beyond the fact that she came from ancient Greece. Someone else from the Doctor's past. Long past, probably. She was still looking fairly fresh and determined, and had put up a formidable fight in the dining room, despite her diminutive stature.
"Vicki?"
"Yes?"
"Would you come with Jack and I? I'd appreciate some support, if need be."
She hesitated for just an instant, then nodded. "Of course. If it'll help the Doctor..."
"I'll go!" declared Benny, standing up. Then she caught her arm on something and wailed. "Bugger! Stupid useless arm... no, really, it's no bother! I can still fight!" Benny clenched her good fist and waved it in the air. Then her face fell. "I'm fooling no one, am I?"
"You're no fool, Benny," said Hilda dryly. "And that's why I'm leaving you here with the others to help them fight. Jo, will you stay here too, and help Grace?"
Jo nodded, gratitude in her eyes. "Yes, sure..."
She squeezed Jo's arm and smiled reassuringly. "Good! Jack?"
"Yes." He pointed into the gloom. "This way!"
The trio made off, to a chorus of "good lucks" from the others.
"You'll need it," Benny added softly.
***
Benny fiddled with the sling Grace had improvised from the bandages in the Doctor's first-aid kit. She'd turned down the offer of some morphine. She'd never liked needles, and besides she knew she had to keep frosty for the sake of the others. Not that there was much she could do...
They all looked up suddenly at a thumping noise above them. "I think our friends are about to make a return appearance," Benny ventured nervously.
Hayzel looked up and licked her lips. "I know where we can go... we should be safe there."
"Can you move all right?" asked Grace. She grimaced at her own handiwork. "I'm afraid this is only a patch-up!"
"I'll crukking well run out of here if I have too!" Hayzel managed to grin painfully.
Grace and Jo bent and helped Hayzel to her feet, half carrying, half walking her down the passage. Benny trailed behind, watching the rear. She chuckled to herself at a thought. "Boy, this is gonna be some diary entry!"
The foursome shuffled slowly through the winding passages, pausing every now and then as Hayzel faltered or the banging and thumping around them got closer. The noises seemed to be above them, but the acoustics in the tunnel played nasty tricks on their ears.
Jo gazed around her fearfully. She would be glad to get out this place. "How much further?"
Hayzel jerked her head up and looked at her blearily for a moment. "Uhhh... nearly there. Up a bit further, then there's an alcove. I've used it before."
"Where does it lead?" asked Grace.
"Somewhere with a nice strong door and a fully equipped armoury, I hope!" replied Benny. And a well stocked bar, she didn't add.
Hayzel managed a drugged smile. "Somewhere safe... somewhere they'll never think of looking!"
"Is this it?" Benny pointed at a low arch set into the wall.
"Yes. You'll need to push hard..."
With a low grinding noise, Benny and Jo managed to push a panel hidden in the wall forward, and then to the side. They emerged in a darkened room lit only with flickering torches and what looked like a brazier burning in the centre of the room. There was the sound of dripping water and sounded like chains clanking softly together. There was a musty, dank smell in the air. And something else. Something... unpleasant. The heavy coppery odour of blood, burnt meat, and something corrupt, the high sweet stench of decay. Jo shuddered. It was an intensely evil atmosphere. On reflection, she preferred the passageway.
Grace peered around her, trying to adjust her eyes to the gloom. "Where are we?" There was quite an echo with her voice as she spoke.
"The dungeon," replied Hayzel.
"What?" exclaimed Jo.
Hayzel shook her. "Don't worry. It's perfectly safe. The Cybermen will be too busy looking upstairs and in the passages to look for us here. And it's got a good, strong door - and plenty of weapons lying around."
Benny examined a manacle hanging from the wall and shuddered. It brought back old memories. "That's something, though I can think of cheerier - hey, did you hear that?"
They heard soft footsteps in the darkness. "There's someone there!" hissed Jo.
"A Cyberman?" whispered Grace nervously.
"It's too soft for a Cyberman..." murmured Hayzel.
Something tinkled to the ground to their left and they all swung round. As they did, a man's voice spoke from their right, and they swung back round, taken in by his little decoy. They made out a dim figure standing just before them, its features obscured by the dark.
"Bernice Summerfield?"
"Ye-es...?" replied Benny cautiously. "Say, wait a minute... I know that voice..."
The figure stepped forward, his boyish face revealed a little more clearly by the flickering torchlight, though his expression was unreadable. Benny and Hayzel recognised him at once.
"Wayne!" declared Benny happily. She made to step forward but Hayzel stopped her.
"Hold it... Wayne, what are you doing down here? I thought Lucylla had you locked away somewhere upstairs?"
"She had." He held up an open vellum envelope. "When I woke up a short time ago, I discovered that someone had pushed this under my door. It contained a key, and a rather interesting note."
Benny looked from Hayzel to Wayne, realisation slowly dawning. "Locked up? Wait a minute..."
"Who was the note from, Wayne?" interrupted Hayzel softly.
"Who indeed. Suffice to say, they've put me back into the picture."
"Is he on our side?" breathed Grace, edging a glance around for a weapon of some sort. Hilda had left Benny with one of the swords from the dining room, but it hung limply from her grasp as she stared in confusion at the young man confronting them. Grace readied herself to make a grab for it.
"That's what I was just about to ask," said Hayzel. "Tell us, Wayne."
He smiled slowly. "Very well..."
Slowly he raised his right arm and pointed a large pistol towards Benny's face. Her eyes widened in disbelief as his finger tightened on the trigger...
To be concluded in: The Last Battle
