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aliens.’
    The sharp reaction betrayed her surprise.
    ‘On Miasimia Goria.’ He was savouring her confusion.
    More than just pique caused the flush on her cheeks at the mention of Miasimia Goria. She had striven to keep her conquest of the planet concealed.
    He could not resist needling her. ‘Oh, I dropped in on your domain before following you here. Chaos! Complete mayhem! What went wrong?’
    ‘Wrong? Who said anything went wrong?’
    ‘You rule there. Absolutely. I assume one of your schemes didn’t turn out quite as you expected.’
    The Rani was defensive. ‘An insignificant affair. In the process of heightening the awareness of my aliens, I lowered their ability to sleep. They became –’
    ‘– difficult to control. On the other hand, with this...’ –
    he jiggled the precious brain fluid – ’and those impregnated parasites, their talents are yours to command.
    Such power...’ Intoxicating possibilities presented themselves. ‘Is that a scanner?’ He rapped an opaque screen on an intricate display deck.
    The Rani was still smarting, ‘Find out!’
    Deliberately, he unsealed the phial, allowing a droplet of the fluid to teeter on the brink. It was enough. The Rani switched on the scanner. ‘Who do you want?’
    ‘The Doctor.’
    ‘Where did you see him last?’
    ‘At the pit.’
    She pressed three tabs, setting the co-ordinates. A magenta corona outlined the circumference, bathing the screen in a rosy hue. But the image that hardened into detail was that of a sad cortege.
    Stretcher borne, draped in a blanket, Rudge’s corpse was being carried from the pit shaft when the Doctor halted its progress.
    Deferentially, he raised the blanket to inspect the left side of Rudge’s neck. Then, while the bewildered Lord Ravensworth and Peri watched nonplussed, he inspected the necks of the stretcher bearers.
    ‘What the blazes are you doing?’
    His lordship’s exasperation simmered over. Peri could have told him to save his breath!
    ‘Do you hear me? What was that all about, man?’
    ‘Later. You said the son of one of my attackers worked here?’
    The request, without a trace of rudeness, disconcerted Ravensworth. ‘Yes. Yes. Luke Ward. George Stephenson’s apprentice. Very capable young man. Spotted him when he was just a lad. My protege, as it happ –’
    The Doctor cut in. ‘Find him for me, there’s a good chap.’
    The novel role of errand boy flabbergasted the peer of the realm. He glared after the receding figure in the multicoloured jacket making for his office.
    ‘The dratted man’s a positive law unto himself!’
    The Master and the Rani had observed all this on the scanner.
    ‘You see, we do have an allied cause,’ he said to her.
    ‘Unless you eliminate the Doctor, he’ll bring this cosy operation to an end.’
    She accepted the analysis. The Doctor would dig and delve until he’d solved the puzzle. She would have to get rid of him. ‘Then let’s get on with it!’
    ‘My way!’ The Master’s tone was firm. ‘We do it my way!’ He intended to impose the strategy. The precious phial that she had treasured was going to ensure his domination. ‘Any idea where those morons you created might be?’
    She jabbed the tabs to reset the co-ordinates.
    The scene changed from the pit to a dark, disused mine.
    Crawling along the low tunnels were Jack Ward, Edwin Green and several miners. Every now and then, with grubby knuckles, they rubbed the crimson marks that scarred their necks.
    Having noted the co-ordinates and seen all he wanted, the Master abruptly strode from the laboratory into the bath chamber.
    ‘Where are you going?’ No reply. ‘The brain fluid!’
    ‘Perfectly safe.’ Ostentatiously, the Master tucked the phial into his breast pocket. ‘Next to my hearts. Both of them.’ He disappeared into the hallway.
    Extracting something from her skirt pouch, the Rani stalked furiously across the chamber. As she flounced into the hallway – a hand clapped onto her wrist.