Part 11 (1/2)

The Doctor ran along the corridors towards the Special Wing. 'Our best cell' could only mean the condemned cell, and that was close to the Process Chamber.

'Jo,' he called. 'Jo, are you there?'

In the condemned cell, Jo and Doctor Summers were listening at the door.

Jo looked up at Summers. 'I'm sure I heard gunfire.'

'Perhaps some of the prison officers are still holding out.'

'Either that, or the Doctor's arrived!'

They heard the Doctor's voice.

'Jo! Jo, are you there?'

Jo put her lips to the peephole in the door. 'Is that you, Doctor? We're here in the condemned cell.'

Faintly the Doctor heard Jo's voice. 'All right, Jo,' he called. 'I'm coming!'

Just as the Doctor was pa.s.sing the Process Chamber, Mailer appeared at the end of the corridor. He saw the Doctor, raised his rifle and fired.

The Doctor ducked, spun to one side, and shot through the open doors of the Process Chamber.

In the condemned cell, Jo heard the shot. 'Doctor,' she called. 'Doctor, are you all right?'

Silence.

In the Process Chamber all was dark and silent.

The squat, sinister bulk of the Keller Machine dominated the far end of the room. The Doctor took a few steps towards it.

A voice behind him said, 'I rather thought you'd make for here, Doctor.'

The Doctor turned and saw the Master stepping from behind the door.

'Did you now?' said the Doctor coolly.

Mailer ran through the doorway. At the sight of the Doctor, he raised his rifle...

'No, no, Mailer,' said the Master reprovingly. 'Give me that.' He took the rifle from Mailer's hands. 'Now, show our patient to the chair, and handcuff him in.'

The Doctor considered resistance, but the combination of Mailer, the Master and the loaded rifle was just too formidable. And as long as the Master wanted him alive...

The Doctor sat in the Keller Machine chair, and Mailer handcuffed his wrists together behind him.

Satisfied that the Doctor couldn't move, Mailer stepped back.

'Thank you, Mailer,' said the Master urbanely. 'Now then, Doctor, I've effected some necessary repairs and adjustments to the Machine, and I'm about to try an experiment. I believe you can resist the influence of my Machine at least for a time.'

'May I ask the purpose of this charade?'

'A test, Doctor, to see how long you can hold out.' The Master began searching the Doctor's pockets. 'Now, I'm sure you'll have it here somewhere... ah, good.' He produced the telepathic amplifier that the Doctor had taken from Chin Lee. 'This device, as you know, transmits and amplifies the power of the Machine. It can also be adjusted like this to turn that power against the wearer.'

Making a quick adjustment to the device, the Master slipped it behind the Doctor's ear.

The Master went over to the control console. 'You'd better get out, Mailer.'

Thankfully, Mailer left the room. For all his toughness, Harry Mailer was suddenly very scared. There was something about the Master which made him feel that his own criminal career was no more significant than the tantrums of a child.

The Master's hands moved over the controls, and the Keller Machine began throbbing with life.

The Master backed away. 'I should like to stay and witness your nightmares, Doctor.'

'Then why don't you?' taunted the Doctor.

'I have business elsewhere,' said the Master, and hurried from the room.

'Too scared to stay,' thought the Doctor, then winced as his mind was engulfed in a sudden wave of fear.

The box was throbbing with energy now, and its electronic pulsing shook the entire room.

First came the flames. The Doctor braced himself. The flames weren't real, the terror of the Inferno was past.

A huge-eyed reptilian snout swam towards him out of the fire. A Silurian... Instinctively the Doctor shrank back.

The Silurian faded and a Dalek swum towards him... its harsh metallic voice grating inside his head. ' Exterminate! Exterminate!

Exterminate! Exterminate! ' '

It too faded, only to be replaced by the tall silver form of a Cyberman... then a War Machine...

Monster after monster, terror after terror from the Doctor's past loomed up to attack him.

The Doctor could have dealt with any one of them, after all he'd met and defeated them all before... But the steady, unremitting parade of horrors, combined with the atmosphere of pure fear generated by the Machine was eventually too much even for the Doctor...

Suddenly panic overtook him. For a moment he writhed in vain against the bondage of the steel handcuffs then his body gave a convulsive jerk and his head fell back.

10.

The Mind Parasite The terror generated by the Keller Machine was spreading through the prison in waves.

The Master forced his way through a little group of escaped prisoners. They had dropped their weapons and were crouched on the floor, moaning with terror.