Part 9 (1/2)

She knew there was nowhere to hide so she stepped from cover. 'h.e.l.lo,' she said, returning her boots to her feet.

He jumped. 'What are you doing here?'

'I've just been having a look around,' she said. 'I'm free to.

This is a public area, isn't it?'

Zy stared up at her, trying to judge the situation. She could see that he was considering what action to take. 'What are you? An investigator? Or one of Stokes's mates?'

'Neither,' she replied.

Zy sprinted for the staircase. He pushed past her and clattered up the steps. Romana pulled herself up and hurried after him. He couldn't be more than ten seconds in front of her. She followed him around the corkscrew staircase without pausing to take a breath.

'Wait! I only want to talk with you!'

The rattle of Zy's footsteps stopped abruptly. She imagined that he must have pa.s.sed through a doorway and returned to the main building. She vaulted the next steps three at a time, wis.h.i.+ng for once that her legs could be as long as the Doctor's.

But there was no sign of a doorway.

She stopped and looked about, confused. Her lungs panted like bellows as she drew short breaths. Zy had disappeared.

Perhaps into a secret pa.s.sage or something? It would be only natural for a building like this to contain several.

Another sound came from the steps above her. A gentle percussion on the edge of her hearing. A dripping noise.

The lights went out, above and below.

Romana gathered her wits and turned the corner. 'Zy?' she called.

No response.

The dripping continued. She climbed another few steps slowly. The toe of her boot nudged something sticky. She knelt down and dabbed at the glutinous patch with a finger.

She let out a cry.

Human blood.

Somebody started to walk down the steps in front of her. In panic, she tried to retrace her route but lost her footing. She tumbled down the staircase. Her head banged painfully against a strut on the landing below and she lost consciousness.

The lights flickered back on.

Standing over the body of Romana was Margo. She stood proud and upright, her hands on her hips. The boots of her uniform were caked with blood.

Clamped over her face was the s.h.i.+ning silver mask of Xais.

Her eyes glinted cruelly through its slanted slits.

5.

The Ghost.

-tokes's consciousness creaked him awake. He blinked and S rubbed away blood that had flowed into his eye from the wound on his brow. The lights of the gallery revealed devastation to his slowly focusing gaze. Pictures were torn from their hangings, sculptures smashed into dusty chunks.

Spilled paints congealed in s.h.i.+ny multicoloured pools.

With an effort he stood up. The muscles in his back wrenched and he immediately toppled down. His bleeding head fell back. 'This will be your undoing, son,' he muttered.

'I'll have the old scratcher throw the book at you.' He pulled himself up again and staggered over to the sink.

His feet crunched over the slashed canvas of Mrs Blakemore. He gasped and picked up the pieces of the splintered frame. 'Priceless,' he whispered. 'My greatest work in oils.' He howled and started to shudder. Patches of deep purple coloured his cheeks. 'You won't be able to walk after I've finished with you!'

The Doctor walked down one of the corridors on level three, looking for the relaxation centre. It had to be around here somewhere, and from there it was only a short distance to the TARDIS. He looked from side to side, weighing the possibilities. His sense of direction really was appalling, but then there had been a lot of corridors in his life.

A familiar whirring came from his left. He turned to see K9 trundling along with customary merriness.

'You took your time,' the Doctor said.

'Delay occasioned by variations in topology of environment, Master,' K9 reported.

'Yes, and I don't suppose all those stairs were too easy, either.' He knelt down to address the dog. 'Listen, K9. What do you know about the Uva Beta Uva system?'

'Uva Beta Uva system. Fourteen planets around torroidal ellipt'

The Doctor put a hand over K9's muzzle. 'Yes, yes, I know all that.'

'Thus request for information illogical, Master.'

The Doctor stood up. 'Let's go and find Romana.' He set off along the corridor.

K9's sensors swivelled and he set off the other way.

'Mistress located in this direction, Master.' He paused before adding, 'Suggest error in your cartographical a.n.a.lysis.'

The Doctor shook his head impatiently. 'No, no. She's on the move. That girl just can't stay still for a moment.'

K9's tinny voice stepped up in pitch. 'Master, alert. Further a.n.a.lysis indicates local release of,' he clicked and ticked, 'radiation in vicinity of the Mistress.'

'What kind of radiation?'

'Spectrum not in my memory. Mistress may be in danger.'

K9 sped off down the corridor. The Doctor hurried after him.

Margo opened her eyes. She felt better than she had for months. Her head was clear of the worries and doubts that had been whispering through it. She was in her bed, in her cabin.

The clock on her bedside table told her that it was 1840 hours.