‘Estro!’ the man exclaimed, breathing hard. ‘It’s Lockwood and his men – they missed their report. I tried accessing DA‐17, but there’s no reply.’

‘What did I tell you?’ the Doctor asked, crossing his arms. ‘Your best‐laid schedules always gang a-gley.’

‘Be silent!’ the Master snarled, his urbanity gone now ‘This is merely a slight glitch in my plans. I shall go there and take charge myself.’

‘You do that,’ the Doctor agreed cheerfully. ‘But I imagine you’ll be in for a shock.’

There was further noise in the corridor, and this time it was Downs returning. ‘I’m ready for them now,’ the soldier stated, ‘You’d better be done with them.’

‘I am,’ the Master agreed. ‘Take them, and kill them – the more slowly, the better.’

‘Believe me,’ Downs assured him, ‘I have no intention of allowing them to die quickly.’ He moved over to Donna. She couldn’t stop herself from trembling. He stroked her cheek. ‘This one I am especially looking forward to. This is going to be exquisite pleasure… for me, at least.’

Donna closed her eyes, felt her heart freeze with fear. She knew that he meant every word he said.

10

The Trap

As the Master strode away down the corridor, Donna glared at the Doctor, her expression half pleading, half accusing. ‘You promised,’ she whispered.

Somehow he heard her, or simply understood her ‘I always keep my promises,’ he said. Glancing at David, he added, ‘Eventually.’ He cleared his throat and stepped forward. ’Really, there’s no need for any violence,’ he said, smiling. ‘I’m quite willing to tell you anything I know.’

‘Really?’ Downs asked, smiling back. ‘And who are you?’

‘I’m the Doctor.’ He held out his hand, which Downs ignored. ‘So, where shall we start?’ He moved to put his arm around Downs’s shoulder. Angrily, the soldier slapped it off.

‘We start with you all screaming a lot,’ Downs snapped. ‘Do you think I’d trust anything you said unless it was dragged out of you?’

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. ‘You’re determined to have your sick fun, aren’t you?’ he said mildly. ‘I’m afraid I can’t allow that. You see, I promised Donna that she wouldn’t be hurt again, and you wouldn’t want to make me a liar, would you?’

‘I’ll make you a dead man – eventually,’ Downs vowed. He gestured to the two guards. ‘Escort them to the dungeon.’

‘Sorry,’ the Doctor said, shaking his head. ‘I have a prior engagement.’ He tipped a nonexistent hat, and started to turn his back on Downs. Furious, Downs grabbed his arm and spun him around, lashing out with his fist. The blow caught the Doctor on the right cheek, and sent him stumbling back with a cry. He collided with one of the two guards, and both of them crumpled in a heap on the floor.

The next few seconds were very confused. The second guard turned to where the Doctor was struggling to get back to his feet, and David took his opportunity. He leapt for the distracted soldier, and slammed him against the wall. Downs snarled again, clutching for the holster and his revolver. Which, somehow, wasn’t there.

He didn’t have time to figure out what had happened before something flew through the air from the Doctor towards Donna. She grabbed it automatically, and realised that it was Downs’s missing weapon. The Doctor must have lifted it when he was greeting the maniac. Donna spun the gun to hold it correctly, but in the moment that took, Downs launched himself at the Doctor, a knife in his hand.

Donna didn’t need to think. All of her fear and rage welled up inside her and exploded as she pulled the trigger. The shot caught Downs in the back of the neck, exploding through his face. He didn’t even have time to scream before he collapsed, dead, across the Doctor.

Pushing the body away, the Doctor managed to stand up. The guard he’d ‘accidentally’ collided with was unconscious. David had managed to subdue the one he’d jumped, and he, too, was out cold on the floor.

The Doctor glanced down at Downs’s still form, blood puddling beneath it. ‘Did you have to kill him?’

‘No, Doctor,’ Donna said, her voice steady at last. Seeing the bastard die had managed to exorcise some of her demons. ‘I could have let him kill you instead.’ She bent and wrenched the knife from the corpse’s hand.

The Doctor said nothing, and David looked up from the guard he’d felled. ‘Now what, Doctor? How do we get out of here?’

‘We don’t,’ Donna said firmly, before the Doctor could reply. ‘We’ve got work to do here. Haldoran has more of those Dalek guns the Master gave him.’

The Doctor looked at her with sympathy. ‘Donna, there’s trouble at DA‐17. I hate to say it, but I suspect it must be Daleks. And they’re more important than anything else right now.’

‘Maybe to you,’ Donna growled. ‘But those guns are going to be used against my family and my one‐time friends. They may all despise me, but I can’t let Haldoran murder them. We have to destroy the guns.’

The Doctor was obviously torn. His fingers twitched, and he blinked rapidly. ‘The Daleks are the most urgent,’ he insisted. ‘Haldoran may kill a few people, but the Daleks will wipe out the human race. They lost the last battle, and they’re unlikely to be calling it a day.’

‘They’re also stuck down a sodding pit!’ Donna yelled ‘Go after them if you must, but I’m going to destroy those weapons first. If you won’t come with me, then fine. I’ll do it alone.’ She started to brush past him, but he grabbed her arm.

‘You’ll never manage it alone,’ the Doctor said gently. ‘So I suppose I’ll have to come with you.’ He shook his head. ‘What we need is a plan.’

‘Doctor, Donna,’ David said urgently. ‘What about Susan? You said she was down DA‐17.’

The Doctor nodded. ‘She is. But there’s nothing we can do to help her for the moment. Courage. David. Perhaps Donna’s right, and those guns are the most important thing.’

Donna saw David agonising over the decision. ‘You’re a Peace Officer,’ she said softly. ‘I know you’re scared about your wife. But wouldn’t she want you to save as many lives as possible, and not just one?’

‘That’s easy for you to say,’ David complained.

‘No,’ she answered. ‘It isn’t. I know you must be hurting. But, please…’

Swallowing, David nodded at last.

‘A plan…’ the Doctor mused. ‘The Master said he’d just handed over the latest consignment. Haldoran will have those guns wherever he is; he won’t trust anyone else with them yet.’

‘His war room,’ Donna said firmly. ‘He’s been planning this takeover for a long time. That’s where he and they will be.’

‘Marvellous,’ David said. ‘Right in the heart of his castle. And how are we supposed to get there? Everybody here seems to know what you look like.’

Donna’s stomach churned again. ‘Then let’s make the most use of it,’ she suggested, hating herself as she said it. ‘You two can be guards bringing me back for Haldoran to play with.’ She was deathly pale as she said this. It would be the hardest thing she could ever do in her life.

The Doctor gave her a sharp stare.’ Are you sure you can do this?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ she insisted. ‘And I won’t have to fake the fear, either. That should greatly amuse him. But how do we destroy the Dalek guns when we’re there?’

‘Leave that to me,’ the Doctor answered.

‘And what about getting out again afterwards?’ David asked, checking the rifle he’d taken from the fallen guard.

‘Let’s improvise,’ the Doctor suggested. ‘Overplanning never works. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that.’

‘And does improvising work?’ David insisted.

‘Mostly,’ the Doctor assured him. ‘Come on, let’s get moving before we come to our senses.’

Susan stood shivering in the centre of the Dalek control room. It was some twenty feet long and ten high and wide. Computer banks and monitors lined both walls. There were doors in both end walls, both with Daleks on guard. In the room, most of the Daleks were operating the control systems. Only two were paying attention to her. The deep, metallic throbbing in the complex sounded like a vast electronic heartbeat, the pulse of the Daleks.