'I expect so.'

'I was in such a rush.' Oldeman's voice was cracked and tired, his eyes squinting as he peered into his blurred memory. 'I think.'

'When will you be due for another dose of neurolectrin?'

the Doctor asked.

'What?'

'Neurolectrin. You'll need another dose.'

Oldeman nodded slowly. 'Yes, probably quite soon. I didn't make a note of the time when... when... what time is it, by the way?'

'Time you started giving us some real answers,' said Stoker. 'We need some info that only you can provide, Oldeman.'

'I'm afraid, my girl, that you will have to bear with me a little longer,' he said, peering myopically at Stoker. He tapped the side of his head and added, 'Still waiting for everything to settle down in here. I've had quite a shock, you know! It isn't easy coming round from stasis, but doubtless you know or care little about that. How would you like to go to sleep feeling young and fit, only to wake up old and weak?'

Ravus Oldeman may have been pushing two hundred and thirty, thought Tegan, but he was pretty spry for an old timer.

The Doctor must have been thinking the same thing. He said, 'Come now, Mr Oldeman, you're very well preserved for your age.'

Oldeman smiled thinly. Ah, better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king'

'Ecclesiastes,' said the Doctor.

Oldeman beamed at him. 'At least I find myself in the company of a true intellectual,' he said. 'Last time I was here, I was surrounded by buffoons and ingrates.'

'Your fellow scientists?'

You might call them that,' Oldeman spat derisively. 'I wouldn't. They never could recognise genius when they saw it.'

'And that would be you, would it?' asked Stoker. She fixed him with a measured stare. 'Didn't get on with them much, I take it?'

'Not really. Although I would never have wanted... that... that...

to happen to them.' He frowned, suddenly appearing frail.

'Not to anyone, in fact.'

'But you must have argued?' Stoker pressed.

'Of course, we were all scientists, good or bad,' Oldeman replied testily. 'We fell out regularly over technical problems and research methods. None of them would listen to me. I warned them of the danger, but they didn't want to listen to an old fool.'

'Or maybe it was because you were just a technician,'

Stoker suggested. 'Maybe they felt happier listening to the professors'. professors'. Oldeman responded with a watery glare at Stoker. Oldeman responded with a watery glare at Stoker.

'Pardon me,' the Doctor said, 'but you do seem rather mature for a humble technician.'

Oldeman switched his sharp look to the Doctor. 'It's a question of fields, fields, young man. I was an expert in the field of gene manipulation. The bulk of the research going on here is young man. I was an expert in the field of gene manipulation. The bulk of the research going on here is - was - biotechnology.'

And its application to suspended-animation techniques, I presume,' the the Doctor nodded thoughtfully. Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

'The stasis tank was a working prototype,' Oldeman said.

'It was never meant to be used in anger... but in the end, I had no choice. It was the only way I could think of to...

survive.'

'Tell us about it,' the Doctor urged.

'Very well.' Oldeman sat back and took a sip of his coffee. The cup trembled in his hand. 'I'll start at the beginning, shall I? I actually qualified as a theoretical geneticist at the Human Sciences Academy on Mars. I wrote a paper on biomechanical gene manipulation in long-term stasis when I was a student. It was quite good, even if I say so myself, for someone of such a relatively tender age. But some time later I was working as a senior technician on t.i.tan when I met Professor Garondel. We seemed to hit it off all right then, and he must have been impressed with my paper - or at least simply liked me - because, years later, he invited me to take part in a research project he was heading up. An investigation into the possibility of using genetic manipulation techniques to improve the efficacy of long-term induced animalhibernation systems.'

Tegan stifled a yawn, earning a reproving glance from the Doctor. Jim Boyd smiled and whispered, 'This making sense to you?' Tegan shrugged. She turned to Nyssa and asked her the same question.

'Perfectly,' Nyssa replied quietly.

Something about the way Nyssa spoke made Tegan frown. Was that a tiny, supercilious smile playing at the corner of Nyssa's mouth? She tapped her again. 'You all right?' she mouthed.

'I'm fine,' Nyssa said.'Honestly.'

At least she was looking better, Tegan thought. This science stuff must be a real tonic for her.

'It seemed like an interesting thing to do at the time,'

Oldeman continued without a trace of irony, 'and I welcomed the opportunity to prove myself. Garondel had recruited a small band of specialists to form a research team and set up this facility. I can see you're all wondering why we ended up here, of all the places in the galaxy... and it's a good question. I asked the same question back then, right at the beginning. Garondel wanted the research to be conducted in secret, you see. There was a lot of compet.i.tion in the scientific community and Garondel was determined to be the first to pull off this little trick, as this little trick, as he called it. This little trick, he called it. This little trick, I I must add, being the eventual and complete b.a.s.t.a.r.disation of the original aims and intentions of the project I had signed up for. I'll never forgive Garondel for that. must add, being the eventual and complete b.a.s.t.a.r.disation of the original aims and intentions of the project I had signed up for. I'll never forgive Garondel for that.

'Little did I know then, to use a popular and well worn phrase, that I was to be engaged in work that would result in the creation of a monster...' monster...'

At that moment Tegan was distracted by Jim, who was surrept.i.tiously pointing across the lab to the exit. Bunny Cheung was just slipping out through the door without anyone else noticing, which was quite a feat for someone of his stature. But everyone else was concentrating on Ravus Oldeman.

'Where's he off to on the quiet?' Tegan wondered.

'He shouldn't go up there on his own,' Jim said.

Tegan whispered, 'I'm going after him.'

'Wait for me!' Jim mouthed, and quickly followed her.

Ravus Oldeman, meanwhile, was warming to his theme and the little crowd of interested faces surrounding him. 'The first thing that struck me as odd about Professor Garondel was his insistence that we adhere to the genetic matrix of Akoshemon.'

'The planet itself?' queried the Doctor.

'Samples taken from the surface, yes. Rocks and minerals mostly.'

'Whoa,' said Stoker, raising a hand. 'Akoshemon has got one h.e.l.l of a reputation in these parts. It's never been a good place to be: in fact its name is a byword for depravity and wickedness of every kind. Whatever it was they did on that planet when there were people there - and I use the word people people loosely - it wasn't in the best interests of humankind.' loosely - it wasn't in the best interests of humankind.'

Stoker paused, aware that she had the full attention of the Doctor, Nyssa and Oldeman. 'I mean, I'm not really into all that superst.i.tion c.r.a.p but everyone everyone knows about Akoshemon. knows about Akoshemon.

The problem being that whatever it was that went on down there killed the whole d.a.m.n planet stone dead. There's nothing there but poisonous mud and an atmosphere that can, at best, be described as highly toxic.'

Oldeman nodded and looked regretful. 'The specimens were collected by robot landers and transferred directly to this laboratory on the moon. I was not unaware of the planet's unsavoury moral reputation. But Garondel insisted: whatever had happened on Akoshemon in the distant past, good or bad, its people were also ' renowned for their physical longevity.'

'That could have been the result of regular cellular regeneration,' commented the Doctor.

'It was the result of controlled cellular stasis,' Oldeman corrected him gently. 'Garondel wanted to use genetic material from the planet Akoshemon as a baseline const.i.tuent of an artificially generated organism, one that could carry within its genetic code the secret of cellular stasis: the ability of living tissue to enter a completely dormant state and then revive itself naturally without any harmful decay.'

'Yes, that might be useful,' said the Doctor. 'But extremely hazardous Without a full breakdown of the Akoshemon genome.'

'I know, Doctor,' Oldeman nodded sadly. 'I know. I did try to warn Garondel, but he was an arrogant fool. He insisted on going ahead with only a basic understanding of Akoshemon microbiology.'

'That doesn't sound very intelligent,' said Nyssa.

Oldeman smiled at her. 'Intelligence was never his strong suit, my dear. Knowledge and practical expertise, yes, but not intelligence.'

'So what happened?' asked Stoker.

'Garondel tried to combine the Akoshemon material with human DNA. He then force-generated the resultant life-form in the hope of using it as a viable test subject for experimentation,' Oldeman looked down in contrition at this point. He had to take a deep breath before he could continue.

'To my lasting shame, the experiment was an unqualified success... and completely uncontrollable.'

Bunny Cheung was doing something very stupid, and he knew it. Or rather, he was doing two very stupid things.

Firstly, he had left the relative safety of the lab complex and headed back up to the caverns on his own: clearly a stupid thing to do. Somewhere in these caves was a killer, probably lurking in the shadows or waiting just around the next corner to strike. Bunny didn't fancy being drained of all his blood by an unseen monster, but he really had no choice.

He had had to come up here: he had to get to the comms unit. to come up here: he had to get to the comms unit.

Which was the second stupid thing. Even if he managed to bypa.s.s the killer, even if he managed to reach the comms unit safely and use it, and then get back to the lab complex still without being killed... then then he would have to face the wrath of Jyl Stoker. he would have to face the wrath of Jyl Stoker.

But he had done that before, and lived. And living, for Bunny, was the most important thing right now. Living, staying alive, getting back home to his family. Nothing else mattered to him any more. Not Stoker, the Doctor, the lexium, the lab, the killer, anything. All he had to do was get out of here alive and get home.

He kept picturing Rosie, smiling, calling him home.

Holding out her cuddly Earth Reptile for him to fix again. A new arm for Kooky. Bunny almost laughed, clenching his right fist and looking at the holograph ring. 'Not long now, Rosie, I promise,' he whispered.

He was breathing heavily by the time he reached the main cavern. The sound of his boots on the ground was echoing loudly through the tunnels, and Bunny suddenly realised that he wouldn't be able to hear anything that might be trying to sneak up on him.

He forced himself to stop and listen, holding his breath.

He strained to hear anything that might indicate he was being followed, or tracked, or watched. But he could hear nothing over the sound of his own heartbeat.

He was about to press on when he thought he saw something up ahead: something moving in the shadows. He took a step forward. 'Who's there?' he croaked.

The shadow moved again. Bunny's heart missed a beat until he realised that it was his own shadow, cast ahead of him by the lamps on the cave wall behind. 'b.l.o.o.d.y idiot,' he sighed, and moved on.

'Garondel had created a terrible creature,' Ravus Oldeman said with a slight tremor in his voice. 'An inhuman monster.'

'With an unbelievable appet.i.te for human blood,' the Doctor noted.

Oldeman nodded. 'We didn't know that at the time of course. But eventually the... animal... broke free and attacked anyone it came into contact with.'

'Hold it,' snapped Stoker. 'Broke free? How?'

'We grew it in a containment vessel following the normal procedure for such an experiment. We did not reckon on its immense physical strength.' Oldeman shuddered at the memory. 'One night, it simply smashed its way out.'

And the blood hunt began,' said Nyssa.

The Doctor looked at her quizzically. 'Blood hunt?'

'I mean killing. The killing began.'

'Yes, my dear,' Oldeman said. 'The killing began. I can't even remember who was the first to die. It was all so fast, so unbelievable. In the end there were only two of us left: Garondel and myself. We had a bitter argument, the kind of argument men have when they are scared out of their wits.

We were trapped. We knew it would track us down and kill us both before a relief ship could be sent to rescue us. Neither of us could agree the best way to deal with the creature.'

Oldeman's eyes glazed over at the memory. With difficulty, he continued, ' I fear that I chose the coward's way out: I used the prototype stasis tank in a desperate attempt to escape. I thought that if I could hide from the creature, enter a state of suspended animation, then I might just survive.'

'And you were right,' said Nyssa.

'But you took a terrible risk,' Stoker said. 'You couldn't have been sure that anyone would come by and wake you up. It's only by chance that we found you one hundred and sixty years on.'

'In the circ.u.mstances,' Oldeman told her simply, 'it was no risk at all. Not to enter the stasis tank would have meant certain death.'

'We're overlooking something here,' the Doctor said. 'The creature sucked its victims completely dry of blood...'

'An incredible biological machine in many ways,' Nyssa said. Oldeman glared at her. 'My dear, it is much more than that. It is frighteningly powerful, totally unique, utterly alien.'

'And pointless,' remarked the Doctor, frowning deeply.