'Clever, that. I like it.'

The Doctor sighed. 'Don't like it too much, Glitz. That is, after all, what Mandell is trying to do to us.'

'Yeah, he's a real sneak is your pal Mandell,' Frobisher agreed, coming in with the stiff gait of the very tired.

The Doctor visibly relaxed. 'I was beginning to worry about you. How did you get away?'

Frobisher gave a penguin shrug that saw his head almost disappear between his shoulders. 'Nothing fancy. I just used the four-sprung duck technique.'

From outside there was the whine of a flier coming in to land. The group exchanged glances.

'Cops?' Chat asked.

'Probably.' Glitz agreed. 'They don't seem able to take a hint, do they?' He nodded to Dibber, who hefted one of the large multi-blasters, which was easily capable of blowing a flier to shreds with one shot. 'Well, then? Have a look!'

Dibber sighed, and peered round the edge of the hatch, only to have a hand shove a blaster muzzle into his cheek.

Dibber backed into the ship slowly, and Glitz decided that if push came to shove, he would take a chance at shooting past Dibber.

His finger tightened on the trigger, as first an arm, then a figure, followed the hand with the blaster into the ship after Dibber.

'So, this is what you're calling home these days, is it?'

It was Jack Chance, now wearing calf-length fancy boots and a knee-length leather jacket that almost concealed the shortened plasma rifle strapped to his thigh. He lowered the blaster pistol, and looked around at the furry seat covers and chromed bar fittings in the crew area. 'What is it? A flying pimpmobile?'

'Call it more a mobile headquarters,' the Doctor Doctor answered. answered.

'Now, are you here to finish the conversation about setting people up, or...?'

'To be continued, Doctor. Right now I came to join your little party.'

'I knew you'd see reason,' Glitz said proudly. 'You know what makes sense.' He gave Chance a cheery grin.

'Think again, Glitz - I ain't coming along for loyalty or the money, OK? I'm coming because I owe somebody a beating.'

'Er, yeah...' Glitz agreed nervously. He had nothing against violence per se, per se, just so long as he wasn't on the receiving end. just so long as he wasn't on the receiving end.

'Not me, I hope?'

'I haven't decided yet,' Chance deadpanned. 'When I do, you'll be the first to know.'

Chapter Eleven.

Pack-Leader Hyskanth looked at the blackness in the viewing cube attached to his command couch. 'The distress signal came from here?'

The Thazrakh's Thazrakh's lead prospector gestured an affirmative. 'The signal was weak; a freighter reporting that another vessel was colliding with it.' lead prospector gestured an affirmative. 'The signal was weak; a freighter reporting that another vessel was colliding with it.'

Hyskanth glanced at the reading that threaded along the edges of the display. No sign of wreckage. 'Are there any vessels in detector range?'

'Two Vandorian patrol vessels, a frigate and corvette. They are undoubtedly responding to the distress signal. We are scanning for residual weapons signatures; no result so far.'

Hyskanth started sharpening his foreclaws on a small whetstone. 'Continue the search, and let me know when it is complete.'

The two new ships slowed as they entered the area, the stretched bar-bell form of the Cobb Cobb coming alongside the small angular corvette coming alongside the small angular corvette Mead. Mead.

Aboard the Cobb, Cobb, the lanky and unshaven Captain Franke was surprised to see an unshrouded Veltrochni Dragon show up on the navigational sensors. It seemed to be quartering the area, conducting a search of some kind. They must have picked up the same transmission that his own ship had, he realised. the lanky and unshaven Captain Franke was surprised to see an unshrouded Veltrochni Dragon show up on the navigational sensors. It seemed to be quartering the area, conducting a search of some kind. They must have picked up the same transmission that his own ship had, he realised.

The Captain of the Mead Mead also saw the Dragon in her main display tank, but came to a quite different conclusion. also saw the Dragon in her main display tank, but came to a quite different conclusion.

'Hail the Veltrochni. Tell them to stand down and prepare for boarding.'

The communications officer obeyed, and in a (few moments, a Veltrochni face appeared on a small monitor.

'This is Pack-Leader Hyskanth. We are responding to a distress signal.'

A likely story. 'Pack-Leader, I receive a distress signal in time of crisis from a Vandorian freighter, and arrive to find a Veltrochni warship and no freighter. What am I supposed to think?'

'You are supposed to think that we are searching for your missing ship,' Hyskanth growled. 'Since you seem incapable of doing so.'

So, the Captain thought, they were admitting already that their story was a bluff... 'Pack-Leader, I must insist that you stand down and prepare for boarding. I do not wish to fire upon your ship, but I will if I have to.'

'What the fipe is she doing?' Franke breathed. Her first command, and she was going to screw it up. She probably believed all that guff the newscasts put out, criticising the Veltrochni and going on about how warlike and expansionist they were supposed to be. Hell, he'd be pretty warlike himself if he thought someone had stolen his property. 'Get me an open line to Hyskanth.'

'I'm trying, but they're not responding.'

'This is free space, Captain,' Hyskanth rumbled ominously.

'Do not attempt to disrupt our operations.'

The Captain of the Mead Mead then made a very small, predictable and foolish mistake. 'Starboard weapons array: ten per cent burst across their forward shields. Let them know we mean business.' then made a very small, predictable and foolish mistake. 'Starboard weapons array: ten per cent burst across their forward shields. Let them know we mean business.'

Aboard the Cobb, Cobb, Franke saw the flash out of the corner of his eye, and cursed. Franke saw the flash out of the corner of his eye, and cursed. 'Mead, 'Mead, take evasive action!' He gestured to his own communications officer. 'Hail the Veltrochni, and tell them -' take evasive action!' He gestured to his own communications officer. 'Hail the Veltrochni, and tell them -'

A stroke of green lightning swept through the Mead Mead as easily as if it wasn't even there. The Vandorian ship was reduced to a few pieces of scorched metal even before the flash imprinted its purple afterimage on Franke's retinas. as easily as if it wasn't even there. The Vandorian ship was reduced to a few pieces of scorched metal even before the flash imprinted its purple afterimage on Franke's retinas.

'Tell them it's a mistake,' he finished in a whisper. Almost a hundred people had simply been removed from life, their very molecules stripped away from each other. Only their computer records and the tears of their friends and families would be left to show that they ever existed.

'Captain,' Lambert asked, 'do we return fire?'

In many ways he should, of course. The Veltrochni had just destroyed a Vandorian ship in free space while on a rescue mission. He was not stupid, though. It was the Mead's Mead's Captain who had killed her crew by firing first without cause. Captain who had killed her crew by firing first without cause.

'No. Hail them.'

Liang had lain awake for some time, but given up attempting to sleep. It felt vaguely as if this city block was also sliding on a journey to somewhere. He told himself it was just nervousness, or perhaps the result of some of Glitz's gut-rot.

As far as he was aware, this block was an older one, simply built on to the ground.

Or maybe it was his subconscious telling him that this whole set-up was something he should have backed out on.

Glitz and the Doctor had admitted that the government was involved, so even if they towed the line, how long would it be before the police were banging on the door?

Liang wasn't so worried about himself, but Chat was his responsibility, wasn't she? She may be his older sister, but he still had to look out for her, much as he assumed she felt she had to look out for him.

He knew he had to sleep, though. If he was to be alert to look after her properly, he had to sleep tonight.

Jack Chance poured drinks for the Doctor and himself. When the Doctor waved away the offer, Chance poured the contents of that glass into his own with a satisfied smile. They were sitting in the Nosferatu's Nosferatu's cockpit, and Chance had turned the pilot's and co-pilot's seats around to face each other. 'So, Glitz tells me you got some sort of bounty hunter trouble?' cockpit, and Chance had turned the pilot's and co-pilot's seats around to face each other. 'So, Glitz tells me you got some sort of bounty hunter trouble?'

'A very odd pair of bounty hunters,' the Doctor agreed. 'A S'Raph Tzun and Veltrochni warrior, working together.'

Chance's features briefly quivered. 'It sounds like Sha'ol and Karthakh.' Jack glared at the Doctor. 'They've never failed in a hunt. Sooner or later they'll find you. And that means they find us.' Dammit, he thought; just when he thought this couldn't get any worse, now it turns out those two are prowling around. What gods had he lost any bets with recently?

'OK, let's start it this way - who could have hired them?

Who wants you dead badly enough that they'd fork out enough mazumas to buy their services?'

The Doctor pursed his lips. 'I'm afraid there would be rather a long list. In spite of my obvious charm, there are those maladjusted types who seem to think that the universe would be better off without me.'

'I bet. I've only known you for a day, and I could think of worse things than tossing you off the roof of this building. No offence, by the way.'

'None taken,' the Doctor said, with heavy irony.

'Are you sure they're only after you? I mean, you said they wanted "the Time Lord known as the Doctor..." Could somebody be trying to take down a bunch of Time Lords? I mean, you guys do have enemies, right? Everybody has enemies.'

' "Guys"?' The Doctor echoed. 'The Time Lords are not just "guys"! Ten million years of time travel isn't common.' He shook his head, then hesitated. 'There are... those who consider themselves champions of reality. Groups who despise time travellers for polluting the very essence of causality... I suppose some of them might have tried something like this. It would certainly be a lot easier for them to kill travelling Time Lords such as myself than it would be to attempt any assassinations on Gallifrey.'

'Ordinarily my advice would be to find them first. You know what they say, "Do unto others as they would do unto you, but do it first." '

'That is more or less why I'm here. Someone on this planet knows what's going on, and it must be someone very rich and very powerful.'

'Unfortunately we all seem to be a little busy right now...'

Jack tossed the Doctor the blaster pistol he had been carrying. 'This might help if they show up again.'

The Doctor gave it back. 'It might, but I doubt it. I imagine that's exactly the sort of defence that they're used to, and plan for. Sha'ol is a S'Raph Tzun, Chance; they are to planning what beavers are to dam-building.'

'So what are you going to do when they come to give you a plasma sandwich? Offering them more money to let you go will just piss them off, if that's what you had in mind.'

'I'm a Time Lord, Chance. I've faced down entire Dalek armies, so I think I'm perfectly capable of handling those two individuals. They're not the most violent entities I've met, you know.'

'Why am I not surprised?' He shook his head, and tapped the datapad. 'The next question is, how we case the joint. I don't trust this data of Mandell's for a moment. I ain't going in on this job unless I know what's really in there.'

'On that we most definitely agree,' the Doctor said heartily.

'Somehow I have to get into this "Thor Facility" and scout the place out.'