‘No problem,’ she said. ‘I can leap off and catch the rope as I go. Then I’ll just shin along it. Plenty of time.’

The Doctor smiled at her, and then turned to the crowd.

‘Keep as far back as possible,’ he called. ‘When that force-sphere goes, all the javelins, hammers, shots and things will fall to the ground. You don’t want to be below when that happens.’

The students moved back. Holly called over five other gymnasts. Then they all climbed up the stand to where half the tug of war team waited.

The gymnasts pulled themselves along the rope until they were under the force-sphere. Three of them stood up. Two more climbed onto their shoulders.

There were gasps from the students watching below. No one had ever seen a feat like this before. A few let out yells of concern as Holly reached the top of the pyramid. Then she bent her knees – and leapt.

There were more cries from the crowd, but Holly made it. She grabbed a sticking-out javelin with both hands. Then she let go with one hand, and reached up for a pole. Slowly, she made her way towards the top of the force-sphere, and its weak spot.

The other gymnasts were making their way back down. They wanted to be out of the way when the missiles started to fall. This meant they were the only people looking into the arena, not up at Holly.

‘Doctor!’ called one of the gymnasts. The Doctor turned his head, and she pointed towards the Sontarans.

They were still floating along, but their steps weren’t taking them so far off the ground. They were able to bring their arms down lower. They were also heading towards the Doctor, as best as they could.

‘Their suits’ gravity is going back to normal,’ the Doctor said to himself. Any moment now, they could regain control of their guns. Then the Doctor and his friends were all doomed.

He glanced up at Holly. If only they had those missiles, things would be all right. ‘Just put the screwdriver through that hole, Holly,’ he called.

But something wasn’t right. Holly had stopped moving.

‘Are you all right?’ asked the Doctor.

‘I’m so dizzy!’ she cried.

She raised a hand to her head. To the Doctor’s horror, he saw the sonic screwdriver slip from her fingers. It fell down, down to the ground below.

It landed at the feet of Lieutenant Skezz.

Chapter Fourteen

‘NO!’ SHOUTED THE Doctor. Without the screwdriver, they had no hope at all.

Skezz leant over to pick it up.

The Sontaran’s arms went down, and his legs went up. Skezz hung in the air, turning lazy circles, unable to get himself back down. But he was still grabbing at the sonic screwdriver, every time his arms came near the ground. Now the other Sontarans were heading that way too.

There was a gasp from the watching students. Karl, the sprinter, had dashed out from the crowd. He darted past Skezz, and scooped up the sonic screwdriver.

The students cheered. But the other Sontarans were coming towards Karl. They were trying to point their guns at him.

‘One day, Karl might save the world,’ the Doctor said under his breath. Would it be today?

Another man ran out. The Doctor had seen him before. He had been in the one hundred metres sprint. He passed Karl, grabbing the sonic screwdriver like the baton in a relay race. Karl fell to his knees, and the laser beam flew over his head.

‘Go Freddie!’ yelled the crowd.

The Sontarans couldn’t change the way they were going that quickly. By the time they were able to point their guns at Freddie, another sprinter had taken the screwdriver.

The runners were weaving their way across the arena. The trouble was, they were getting further and further away from the Doctor.

Then a voice called out of the crowd near the sprinters. Sid was hobbling down into the arena. ‘To me!’ he shouted.

The Sontarans were still trying to aim at the runner that had the sonic screwdriver. Karl had got up from the ground. He sprinted off again, and grabbed the screwdriver just in time. He hared towards the stands, and passed it to Sid.

Sid raised his arm. ‘Holly, get down from there!’ he called.

‘I can’t!’ The girl was clinging to the force-sphere for dear life.

The Sontarans were heading for Sid. Their strides were getting heavier. Any second now, they would be able to aim at him.

The Doctor looked at Sid. He had grasped what was in the young javelin-thrower’s mind. Then he looked up at Holly. She was frozen with fear.

The Doctor felt a rush of guilt. He should never have asked someone with a head injury to climb so high.

He stood up straight. It was his fault, so he had to put it right.

‘Sid, just do it!’ he yelled.

Sid glanced at the Doctor, and nodded. He raised his arm and threw the sonic screwdriver, as if it were a tiny javelin.

The screwdriver flew into the air, higher and higher. Sid’s aim was true. It hit the sphere’s weak spot, dead on.

The crowd gasped.

Nothing happened.

‘I set a 10-second delay!’ shouted the Doctor.

He had started running almost before the sonic had left Sid’s hand. The force-sphere hung over a spot more than a hundred metres away. He had ten seconds to get there.

If the Doctor made it in time, it would be a new world record.

He sprinted towards the spot. Lieutenant Skezz was still there, going round in circles. The Sontaran tried to aim his gun at the running Doctor.

He was nearly there . . .

There was a fizzing noise from above, and the force-sphere vanished.

The Doctor dodged the missiles as they rained down around him. He caught the falling Holly, and sped away.

The crowd cheered. They cheered even harder when a discus thumped onto the back of the spinning Skezz’s neck. The Sontaran lay flat, still hanging just above the ground. Then all of a sudden, he fell to the floor with a crash.

‘Their gravity’s back to normal!’

The Doctor got to his feet, leaving Holly lying on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the students grabbing weapons.

But he was watching the Sontarans. Major Stenx, Captain Skeed and Lieutenant Slorr were all heading towards the young athletes. They were raising their guns.

‘Sontarans!’ yelled the Doctor, as loud as he could. ‘I have won your Games! I am the victor! I demand the right to face you in combat! If you value your honour – face me now!’

The three aliens turned towards the Doctor. Their guns were pointing straight at him.

But now their backs were to the students.

About fifty missiles hit the Sontarans at once. Some bounced off the backs of their heads, or their armour, but enough found their mark.

Stenx, Skeed and Slorr fell, face down, onto the ground. They didn’t stir.

The crowd went wild.

Chapter Fifteen

WITH THE SONTARANS out of the picture, the force shield vanished. A series of small pops came from the aliens’ suits as controls short-circuited.

The Doctor tried the tunnel door and was pleased to find it was no longer sealed.

The athletes streamed back into BASE. Most didn’t even pause to change, just headed straight out of the front door in their nightclothes. Karl and Sid both insisted on taking Holly to a hospital. The start of a beautiful friendship? Perhaps.

Soon the building was empty. Just the Doctor and the bodies remained.

There had been too many deaths. There were so many families who had been so proud, waiting to cheer on their loved ones at the Globe Games. There would be no medals now, just endless suffering.

The Doctor couldn’t condone what the students had done, covering up the deaths. But he held on to the fact that they hadn’t been the killers. He thought – hoped – things would be better now for them. They’d all learned what they could do when they worked together. Their future would be brighter than their past, whatever it held.