The Daleks didn’t follow. They moved to try to assess the damage to the array. Barlow grinned nastily.

‘I’d like to see you repair that,’ he said happily. There was no way the Daleks were moving out of this area. But that meant only that they were delayed – not stopped. Unless he could get some serious weapons into this area as fast as possible, the problem could only get worse. ‘Back to the runabouts,’ he ordered his men. ‘We need reinforcements badly.’ He nodded to one man. ‘Hurry. I want every trooper we can spare in this area as soon as possible.’

‘But what about the assault on London?’ the man asked.

‘Sod London,’ Barlow snapped. ‘If we don’t stop the Daleks now, it’ll be the whole human race that dies. Move!’

The man moved.

The Black Dalek saw the warning lights flicker on and stay on. ‘Report!’ it demanded.

‘Human forces have destroyed the communications equipment,’ the technician answered. ‘it is nonfunctional.’

The Black Dalek considered. It would be impossible to revive the other units or to raise Skaro to request reinforcements, but that could be taken care of later. ‘Begin assembly of a new unit,’ it ordered.’ We have only been delayed.’

‘I obey!’

The Black Dalek turned to study the panel, with the warning lights burning. There hadn’t been time yet to establish a video link to the surface. ‘Have the humans been destroyed?’ it demanded.

Another technician spun around. ‘Most have been killed,’ it grated. ‘Several have retreated and are non‐hostile. All surface Robomen are dead.’

The humans would be back. They would not concede that the Daleks were superior, and would try again. ‘Order all remaining Robomen to the surface,’ it decided. ‘Priority is to guard the new communications device. It must be functional as soon as possible.’ It turned to the duty officer. ‘Is the transmuter ready?’

The Dalek studied its instruments. ‘Countdown has reached zero,’ it reported.

‘Has target been destroyed?’ the Black Dalek demanded.

‘Negative,’ the officer replied. ‘There has been a malfunction.’

‘Malfunction?’ The Black Dalek spun about. ‘Order the technicians to report.’

A moment later, the duty officer replied, ‘Unable to contact laboratory technicians. Their life signs do not register.’

‘There are intruders in the complex,’ the Black Dalek announced ‘All available Daleks, seek and destroy.’

The other Dalek relayed the order, and the Black Dalek whirled around as several more warning lights started to flash.’ What is happening?’ it demanded.

The officer studied the panel. ‘There is another malfunction. This one is in the hatching area,’ it reported. ‘Power drain is rising.’

‘Stabilise,’ the Black Dalek commanded.

‘Impossible,’ the officer answered. ‘I am dispatching a repair crew immediately.’

The Black Dalek studied the panels once again. This was clearly sabotage, and must be corrected immediately. The Daleks’ plans would continue once this was settled.

Susan moved out of hiding, and continued slowly down the corridor. The Master stayed close beside her, the transmuter clutched in one hand, his TCE in the other. He was almost seething with frustration.

‘My TARDIS is just up ahead,’ he informed her. ‘We’ll be out of here in a few minutes.’

Their journey had taken them longer than he’d expected. Several times they had been forced to hide from either Robomen or passing Daleks. Something was clearly bothering the inhabitants of the complex, and she suspected that some of it, at least, was her doing. The rest… Well, she could only hope!

Fumbling the transmuter into the same arm as held his TCE, the Master fished out his TARDIS key. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘you no doubt know how to use one of these. You’ll open the door for me.’ Susan took the key with only slight reluctance. It had been thirty years since she’d held one, her own key long lost in the rubble of old London. She felt a faint thrill at having one in her possession again, even if only for a short while. She considered it highly unlikely that the Master would allow her to live for very long once they had left Earth. Her only hope was that he would decide to try to kill her wherever he stopped next. That way, she at least had a chance of regenerating…

Just when Susan could have done with another delay, there was none. They reached the Master’s TARDIS quickly. Its chameleon circuit was obviously functioning perfectly, because it was disguised as a computer station, but her eyes could see the TT capsule for what it was.

‘Hurry!’ the Master snarled. ‘Try to delay me, and I’ll use this on you here and now.’

The key slid into the lock, and Susan reluctantly pushed the door open.

‘That’s far enough!’

Susan and the Master both spun round, and Susan felt a giddy relief. Though the face and body were completely different, there was no mistaking the person. She almost cried ‘Grandfather’, but bit her tongue just in time.

‘Doctor!’ The Master sounded almost pleased. ‘And you’ve brought along your little band of disciples. How charming.’ He held the TCE to Susan’s head. ‘And I believe you know this human, too? Don’t take another step if you want her to remain alive.’

David was with the Doctor, along with some girl whom Susan found vaguely familiar. For a ludicrous moment she felt her heart lurch as she realised this girl was seeing her without her disguise in place, seeing her as a girl barely out of her teens. She looked apologetically at David in spite of everything. Both he and the girl tried to move forward, but the Doctor held them back.

‘Don’t,’ he said quietly ‘That’s a very lethal weapon he’s got there.’ Then he blinked. ‘And something else…’

‘It’s a matter transmuter!’ blurted Susan.

The Doctor’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Of course…’

The Master smiled, agreeably. ‘My key to achieving all I desire.’

The Doctor’s face hardened. ‘I can’t allow you to take that,’ he said quietly ‘David, your gun.’ David clearly didn’t want to obey, but, as usual, the Doctor’s will won out, and David handed it over. ‘You know how much I dislike using weapons,’ the Doctor said. ‘But I won’t hesitate here. I can’t. Drop that device, or I shoot.’

‘I’ll kill the girl,’ the Master promised.

The Doctor hesitated, the gun half raised.

The Master dropped the TCE, and instead brought up his own pistol, firing before the Doctor could bring himself to do so. Susan screamed as the bullet tore into the Doctor’s shoulder, sending him crashing back to the floor, a stunned and pained expression on his face. Blood began pooling on his coat.

Susan struggled to move towards her grandfather. The Master slammed the barrel of the pistol across the back of her neck, and she fell, half inside the door to his TARDIS.

‘Enough games,’ the Master decided. He raised the gun again and fired the rest of the clip at the Doctor.

14

The Gates of Hell

Susan’s blurred vision caught what happened next in shock. David flung himself to cover the Doctor. The bullets tore into him, throwing him back against the Doctor, blood flowing Susan whimpered, trying to get to her feet to run to the aid of her husband and her grandfather. Her fingers clutched the TCE that the Master had dropped.

Cursing, the Master flung the useless gun away, and again grabbed Susan, shoving her further into his TARDIS. Susan saw the girl with the Doctor snatch up the fallen revolver, and she heard shots as the Master’s TARDIS doors slid closed. Susan crumpled to the floor, her world a mass of pain and shock as she tried to focus her thoughts. The Master strode to his console, and started to slam home switches.

‘You haven’t won, Doctor,’ he sneered. ‘I have the transmuter – and you have nothing!’ He shot home the last controls, and Susan looked up in despair as the time rotor began to rise and fall…