Part 4 (1/2)

That's easy to say, he thought, he thought, but where but where? Tegan was ignoring him, pressing all around the frame as she searched for weak spots. There might be an easier way out. What if he presented himself to the Doctor as the only survivor? Tegan had followed him out and he, Turlough, had tried to dissuade her. It had been no use. He'd called to her and after a while he'd followed her. An open door and a deep airshaft, with maybe a conclusive piece of evidence like a sc.r.a.p of material caught on the edge... he knew he could make it sound convincing. He could strike now, while all of Tegan's attention was on the door.

Tegan stopped. She turned as if he'd touched her and she stared at him. She knows She knows, he thought, somehow somehow she senses it she senses it. 'I'm on my way,' he said, backing off. She watched him all the way to the corner.

The engine sounds were much louder here, drumming their way up through the open flooring.

He didn't think that there was much chance of finding anything that resembled a crowbar, but he had to make a show. From now on he would have to try twice as hard to convince Tegan that he was above board, or she'd be watching him so closely that he'd never have an opportunity to get near to the Doctor.

a.s.suming that he needed one. The more Turlough thought about it, the more it seemed that his best opportunity had already been handed to him. His controller had been so quick to order him outside that he hadn't waited to hear the details of the situation.

Take the TARDIS away and the Doctor would be helpless, marooned, as good as dead... and it could be carried off without personal risk to Turlough.

This would be an ideal time to set the plan in motion. It was as he was reaching into his pocket for the contact cube that Turlough saw Nyssa's book.

It was against the wall, just as the Doctor had left it - except then it had been within a few metres of the link to the TARDIS. The door itself was gone. In its place was metal plating that showed no sign of ever having been disturbed.

'Turlough!' Tegan called from around the corner.

'It's moving!'

'I'm on my way,' he replied, but he made no move to return. Instead he approached the book. It might have been reasonable to suppose that a pa.s.sing drone might clear it away as so much litter, but that it should be moved to some other location and placed in exactly the same way would be too bizarre to be expected.

There was only one conclusion: this was the place, but the link to the TARDIS had faded away.

'I could use some help!' Tegan called, and now there was an edge of real annoyance in her voice.

'I'm coming,' Turlough said, with as much intention of carrying this out as before. The throb of the liner's motors had increased so much that it was now shaking the corridor floor. There was also something rather more interesting that was starting to happen.

The TARDIS was coming back.

First came the shadows, then the details. The ma.s.sive door sketched itself in quickly, and then this was followed by a slower filling-out. Turlough was about to call to Tegan, but then he checked himself and smiled. Wasn't this exactly what he'd wanted? He took a step forward, feeling the floor s.h.i.+ver as the liner's engines strained and altered their pitch.

And then, the door began to die away. It was a ghost again before it had even managed to become solid, and then it was gone completely.

He'd been so close! The door had been starting to open for him! Just a couple more seconds and he'd have been inside and on his way. He made a fist and slammed it against the wall in frustration there was no give, and he almost damaged himself.

So now it was back to the original plan, ingratiate and subvert. It would be a lot more difficult, but now he didn't have any choice. Tegan had been silent for a while. She was probably angry at him, and his first job would be to get her confidence back. He looked at his skinned knuckles, and they gave him an idea.

He came back around the corner holding his wrist and making a good show of somebody who's hurt but is trying to ignore the pain. What he saw made him forget the strategy.

Whatever Tegan had managed to release, it wasn't Nyssa and it was pinning her to the door.

A hand wrapped in bandages was over her mouth, and another had a hold on her wrist. The door had been pushed back no more than a few inches, but whatever was behind was now trying to open it further. Turlough stood with an expression of dazed wonder at the scene, but then Tegan managed to shake away the bent claw that covered her face for long enough to shout, 'Don't just watch watch!'

He dived forward, and grabbed the arm before it could get another grip. It quickly withdrew, leaving him with a momentary but unforgettable impression of scales and dirty linen. Tegan tried to pull herself away from the claw that was hooked around her wrist, and Turlough beat at it until it let go. It snapped back as if on a spring, and the door slammed shut.

There were scrabbling sounds for a while, but they died down. After a few moments of silence, the wailing started again; it no longer sounded anything like Nyssa. It didn't even sound like anything human.

'You took your time,' Tegan said resentfully. She was rubbing at her arm, as if she'd never be able to get it clean.

'I found the doorway to the TARDIS.'

The transformation of Tegan's mood was immediate. 'Where?'

'It's gone again.'

'What do you mean?'

'The bridge is only temporary. We're in worse trouble than we thought.'

Tegan eyed the sliding panel, with the horror-show behind it. How many similar doors had they pa.s.sed in their wandering through the liner? She said, 'You're saying that we can't go back.'

Turlough considered for a moment. 'It seems that way,' he said. 'So I think the most important thing for us to do now is to find the Doctor, don't you?'

Find the Doctor. Then wait for the right moment.

'But why run out?' Olvir said for the second time. It went against everything he'd been taught.

Kari had been given the opportunity to see rather more of the Chief's tactics in the field. 'We won't be the first party he's dumped,' she said. 'He's found out something he didn't know before, and suddenly we're expendable.'

Olvir looked towards the Doctor and Nyssa. His burner was still trained in their direction, and he'd made them both spread their hands on the console before them so he'd have warning of any attempts to move. The Doctor seemed to be taking an interest in the console read-outs. Olvir said, 'And what about them? Where do they fit in?'

Kari dismissed them with a glance. 'They're harmless,' she said. 'But we can use their s.h.i.+p.'

Nyssa was keeping her voice almost to a whisper, so that their captors wouldn't hear. 'Where do you think they they fit in?' she said. fit in?' she said.

'Raiders, by the sound of it,' he said. 'You know, kind of high-technology pirates. They'll be a small advance party sent in to open the airlocks for the main forces.'

'But raiding what?'

Nyssa was right. There seemed to be nothing about the liner that was worth a raider's attention. Olvir and Kari were obviously as surprised by this as anyone.

The Doctor said, 'Perhaps they were misinformed.'

The two of them were now on their way over. Kari hefted her burner, just in case it needed bringing to the Doctor's attention again, and said, 'You're taking us away from here.'

The Doctor's reply was fast and firm. 'Not at the point of a gun.'

'I'm not giving you a choice.'

'And I'm not giving you a lift.'