Thinking at human speed was wearing, as was the mere observation of their rapid motion. It was in no way surprising that they wore out their bodies in such a short space of time. Perhaps eventually they would learn the true value of conserving energy, rather than needlessly expending it in unnecessary effort, though he thought possibly not. Perhaps without the expenditure something went wrong with their bodies. He did not know.
But they thought well enough, he had noted, and their social order was clear and conscientiously observed. The Doctor had been quick to find an answer to their power deficiency and the other two constantly deferred to him, though without surrendering their individuality. He was their leader, their superior. Much the same order prevailed on his home planet, but since there was so little activity it was seldom called for. Thought was their pleasure, sometimes on corporeal matters, more often on the abstract. What need was there for physical exertion when a gentle stretching of the mind served as well or indeed better? Anyway, it was simple enough to design machines capable of tending to the more mundane tasks. What was it the girl had called them? Chumblies? He converted it into a thought pattern and found it pleasing. He must communicate it to his fellow Rills as soon as the opportunity offered. They would be interested and might even find it as amusing as he did.
The human being was restless, fidgeting here and there about the chamber. He looked up at the Rill. ‘There’s something you should know.’
‘What is that?’
‘While I was in the Drahvins’ ship they said they were determined to leave in yours.’
‘We are prepared to take them with us.’
‘That’s not what they meant. They want to take your ship and leave you here.’
‘We must hope they do not succeed.’
‘With time running out they’ll be desperate. You’d better let me fix the Doctor’s cable at this end.’
‘Thank you. I will inform the Doctor of what you are doing. One of the machines will help you. It will be quicker.’
Steven made for the cable. ‘It’ll need to be.’
Drahvin Three crawled on all fours to the escape hatch, Maaga behind her. Once there, she grasped the locking wheel and strained to open it. At first it looked as though it was going to refuse to budge, but finally it broke free and she was able to spin it. She eased the hatch down and open. ‘I am ready, Maaga.’
‘Then go.’ Maaga reached forward and placed a thick metal bar in her waiting hand. ‘And do not fail.’
‘I shall not,’ Three said and wriggled through the hatch and along the short entry tunnel. The bar clinked once, but otherwise she moved in almost complete silence, to drop gently to the ground outside.
It was dusk now, but she knew that complete darkness never fell because the two rogue suns, shooting off into their own orbits, were never so far away as to leave the planet in blackness. She heard Maaga closing the hatch door behind her and turning the wheel only twice to barely hold it shut. She struck off to the side, away from the ship and, more importantly, away from the Chumbley guarding it. The going was not too difficult, but she had to keep a sharp eye out for the unexpected cracks in the surface. Her dainty feed trod light and her delicate hand firmly clasped the murderous-looking metal bar.
Behind her, Maaga turned away from the viewport and spoke to the two remaining soldiers seated dumbly at the table. ‘I cannot see her any more.’
‘She will die willingly,’ Drahvin One said.
‘She will not die until she eliminates that machine,’ Maaga snapped.
‘And shall we escape, Maaga?’ Drahvin Two wanted to know.
‘Once the robot is gone, yes.’
There was a dangerous rumbling. The ship began to tremble about them. It grew to a roar, then slowly faded, but not completely. It tingled somewhere and spiked the air with a menace that Maaga could feel physically. Her face was grim.
Drahvin Two turned her empty face to her leader. ‘What is happening?’
‘It’s the first warning of the explosion to come,’ she replied. ‘There are only hours left. Soldier Three must work quickly.’
Drahvin Three could see the guardian Chumbley clearly now. It had not moved so much as a fraction, but she knew that caution was called for and bore its warning well to the fore of her mind. If it once detected her she was as good as dead. That in no way disturbed her; it was an honour to die in battle. What did was that she would be wasted and Maaga disappointed. She could not allow that to happen. Hardly daring to breathe, she slipped forward, a lovely killer flitting through the half-light of a foreign planet. She was almost upon the machine when she stopped. For no apparent reason the Chumbley tweeted quietly to itself, then fell silent again.
She stole forward and found herself directly behind it. Hefting the bar in two hands, she raised it high above her head, reared up as far as she could, made sure that there was no possibility of missing, and brought the bar smashing down onto the Chumbley’s head.
The Doctor and Vicki reached the Rills’ outbuilding and went straight inside, a Chumbley with them. Wordlessly the Doctor crossed to where Steven had affixed the cable where the Rills had instructed him. It,was surrounded with other terminals. The Doctor could only assume that the Rills knew what they were about. ‘I’ve got the TARDIS end on a time switch,’ he said, taking his fob-watch from his pocket and studying it. ‘You’ve got one minute from... now.’
‘We do not know your measure of time. We await your instruction.’
The Doctor dipped his head and watched the seconds nudge away. All were tense. A Chumbley moved to the panel and extended a claw out to a heavy lever. It waited. The Doctor allowed five reserve seconds to pass beyond the minute, then said, ‘Go,’ and watched the panel.
‘Starting control,’ the Chumbley said and pulled the lever down. An ear-splitting scream filled the air as power from the TARDIS burst through the cable and into the ship’s power centre. Vicki and Steven clapped their hands over their ears, but the Doctor was too occupied watching the panel to even notice. As the sound died away he sighed with relief to see that nothing had burnt out.
‘Full intake,’ the Chumbley said. ‘Damage nil. You are to be congratulated, Doctor.’
‘So are you, on the strength of your cable,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Three or four hours should do it. Kindly let me know when you’re fully charged.’
‘But the planet’s going to explode in less than five hours,’ Steven protested. ‘You’re cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?’
The Doctor gave him a beady look. ‘Would you have me abandon our friends who, I would remind you, recently saved your life? A little more forethought, young man, before you hurl yourself bodily into a panic. Others are not as tolerant as I am.’
‘Quite,’ Vicki agreed without hesitation, feeling protective toward both the Rills and the Chumblies.
Steven looked suitably ashamed, as he deserved to. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘I didn’t mean to–’
But he was interrupted by the sounds they knew by now to herald an urgent message coming in from one of the Chumblies. It ceased.
‘The Drahvins have escaped and destroyed the machine we left on watch at their ship,’ the Chumbley nearby said.
Vicki gasped. ‘Oh, no.’
‘What about the one outside the TARDIS?’ The Doctor demanded.
‘We have positioned him safely. He will come to no harm. Meanwhile we shall take steps to intercept the Drahvins. Please continue with the transfer, Doctor.’
‘There’s nothing to do now but wait.’
‘I wish there were,’ Steven said. ‘This sort of situation makes me restless.’
‘Stand still and think of your mother,’ Vicki suggested.
Steven gave her a withering smile. ‘What a great idea. Did anyone ever tell you you have a marvellous sense of humour?’
‘Several people,’ she answered brightly.
‘They lied.’
Several Chumblies emerged from a doorway, bustled this way and that about the trio, then streamed out through the exit. ‘What was all that about?’ the Doctor asked the eye still visible through the window.
‘They are going to repel the Drahvins, should they attempt to attack the ship. Do not concern yourself about them. They are on full alert now. We would be most surprised if anyone should succeed in catching them unawares.’
‘I’m more worried about the cable,’ the Doctor said. ‘If they cut that you’re finished.’
‘Have no fear. It is well guarded.’
‘It had better be, because if they use the wrong instrument for severing it they’ll be blown to eternity.’
‘On just a one-way ticket,’ Steven added, knowing that the Doctor was not given to exaggeration in matters scientific.
‘Calm yourselves,’ the voice told them. ‘Try to adjust your thought pattern to the time required for waiting.’
Vicki shook her head. ‘Maybe you can do that, but we can’t. We’d need a course in meditation first.’ ‘Then I regret I cannot help you.’
Steven thought that a pity. He could have used a little repose right then. The whole thing was becoming too dicey. He was concerned that the Doctor might have bitten off too much this time and could end up in Kingdom Come or wherever it was he had originated. Whatever was to become of Vicki and himself, he had developed a warm affection for the old man and did not want any harm to befall him. Not that there was much he could do. The Doctor knew his own mind and invariably followed it. All that was possible was to watch and wait.
Maaga halted her soldiers on a ridge and lay flat to look down. She could see a Chumbley almost directly below them and others posted at regular intervals, fading into the semi-darkness. There was going to be no easy way to reach the ship, that much was obvious. But she was undeterred. She had fought tougher battles than this promised to be. And probably against worthier opponents, she thought acidly, measuring the strength of the metal patrol and recalling the repulsive sight and smell of their masters. Not only was she a space-Drahvin. Her generalship was considered to be of a high order. She was about to prove it yet again, or willingly die in the attempt. Not for her or her soldiers such a sorry death as to be still on this world when it went nova. That was inconceivable.
She could not immediately see any way of getting one of her soldiers through the screen. The machines would detect her without effort. But there was an alternative. Being only mechanical, as she knew, she suspected that their powers of reasoning were limited, if they existed at all. The question was: how far into them did the Rills exert their control? She had no way of answering that, so was left with no alternative but to act. She turned her head toward Drahvin Two and pointed. ‘You go over there and get as close to the third machine as you safely can. Then keep out of detection range and wait.’
‘Yes, Maaga.’
‘We shall create a diversion to try and draw them away from their positions. The moment you see an opportunity, get through and attack. Do not be diverted by the machines. Our target is the Rill ship. Is that clear?’
‘Yes, Maaga.’
‘Then go. We shall be with you as soon as we can.’
Drahvin Two backed away from the ridge and made her way in the direction she had been ordered to take. All that occupied what there was of her mind were Maaga’s instructions. She would obey them un-questioningly; she was every battle commander’s dream, a soldier with no aim other than that which had been drilled into her. She quickly checked the power pack on her gun, then moved on.
Maaga watched her blonde head disappear into the murk, then settled down to wait. She would give her time to get into position before launching her attack. The anticipation would prove trying, but there was nothing else to be done. She glanced at her watch. She would give her soldier ten decilons, Drahvin time, to locate herself and then she would act.
Gun before her, Drahvin Two crouched behind some vegetation and surveyed the Chumbley. It looked a silly machine, but she had experienced its capabilities and knew that caution was called for. Maaga’s signal would come soon, then she would take action, which was what she longed for. She wanted more than anything to see people die. She hoped her wish was about to be realised. Knowing Maaga, she thought it highly likely.
The rumbling returned, deep in the bowels of the planet, rising in volume, shuddering the surface as though it were nothing more than the most fragile of tissue paper, turning the sky a dull, threatening orange colour, pressing suffocatingly down on all life forms and seeming to crush the very soil itself. At the peak of its raging, crevices opened up everywhere about the terrain and searing steam screamed up into the sky, to fall back and turn the last night into one of mist and terror. Only reflex action had saved Maaga as she thrust herself away from a jet that sliced its bellowing way upward right beside her. She propelled herself even further from it as she saw the crevice from which it sprang widening itself in her direction like the mouth of a beast gaping for its prey. She knew that the jet was of such a ferocious temperature that it would cut through flesh as though it did not exist and she had no intention of being injured and rendered a burden when their very survival depended upon their taking the Rill ship, no matter what was happening about them. Not that she would long be a burden; the soldiers would kill her without hesitation. They were fighters who travelled light. No excess baggage was allowed to hinder them, not even an injured commander. Through the falling mist she saw their eyes upon her and tightened her grip on her gun.
The sound began to fall away, the jets to drop slowly back. Finally silence fell, but the steam remained, puffing up here and there like passing ghostly trees and pluming the black land with its foggy hint of death to come. Eternity had finished with this place. There was no further use for it.
Maaga raised her gun and sighted at the machine below. ‘Stand by.’
The Drahvins also aimed their weapons.
‘Fire!’
Three beams lanced out at the Chumbley and bathed it in a smouldering glow. They washed up and down the machine, but its visor was closed tight, almost as though it had known what was going to happen. The Drahvins ceased their fire and immediately the visor was up and the gun trained upon them. Barely in time they pressed themselves down as the Chumbley’s ray sliced into the ridge and cracked through the air above their heads. Red-hot pieces of rock rained upon them, scorching their clothes and pitting their hands and faces. Their hands furiously beat away the danger.