'Gone back to report failure,' said the Doctor, still busy with his model. He was a.s.sembling the different steel pieces into a weird-looking metal framework. 'There must be some kind of mothership close by. Won't be too long now.'

Some time later they heard the ship return. Soon afterwards, a Sontaran officer appeared in the doorway.

'You will be held prisoner here for a short time longer. As soon as this operation is concluded, you will be released.

Meanwhile, remain here quietly, obey all Sontaran orders, and you will not be harmed. The sentries have orders to shoot any troublemakers.'

There were no questions. The Sontaran didn't expect any.

He turned and marched out, leaving only two sentries on the door. Before long they heard the sound of a ship taking off.

'All right,' said the Doctor quietly. 'I think most of the Sontarans must have gone. Stand by to move when I say "Now!" '

'When will that be?' asked Roz.

'As soon as I've finished this piece of artwork.'

The Doctor went on working on his metal frame.

Roz looked at him worriedly, wondering if he was cracking up.

'What's it supposed to be, Doctor?' asked Chris, in the soothing tones of someone humouring a hopeless case.

'It's an abstract,' said the Doctor. 'I think I'll call it "Sudden Death".'

Chris studied the contraption in puzzlement. The Doctor had used the steel wire of the model solar yacht's cables to put several of its metal masts under tension. Now he was turning an improvised handle to wind in the cables and bend the masts, increasing the tension still further.

One of the Sontaran sentries made occasional patrols of the room, leaving the other to guard the door.

'Look out, Doctor, he's coming round again,' warned Roz.

'Let him,' said the Doctor.

The Sontaran came nearer and paused by the Doctor's device.

'What is this?'

'Abstract sculpture,' said the Doctor proudly.

'What is its purpose?'

'It's a work of art,' said the Doctor. 'It has no purpose.'

He tightened the cables another notch, and inserted a steel rod, formerly the model yacht's mainmast, into a groove in the centre of the contraption.

'If it has no purpose, why make it?' asked the Sontaran.

'To express myself,' said the Doctor loftily.

Obviously feeling himself in the presence of some obscure alien ritual, the Sontaran moved away.

'Now!' whispered the Doctor. He hunched over his model, sighted along it and touched a lever. There was a metallic tw.a.n.g and the steel rod shot from the device, thudding home into the departing Sontaran's probic vent.

The sentry stiffened and fell forwards with a bubbling scream.

The second sentry ran from the door, blaster in hand. 'What has happened?'

'I think he must have fainted,' said the Doctor.

'Sontarans do not faint!' The sentry looked down and saw the steel rod projecting from the back of the dead trooper's neck.

'You have killed him!'

He aimed his blaster at the Doctor, but before he could fire, Chris shoulder-charged him, knocking him off his feet.

They rolled over and over, struggling furiously, sending chairs and tables flying. Their fellow prisoners pa.s.sengers and technicians gathered round, cheering Chris on but powerless to help.

Chris was exceptionally strong and for a time he actually held his own. For one glorious moment he found himself sitting on the Sontaran's barrel chest and thumping its head on the floor.

It couldn't last. Sontaran muscles can exert incredible strength, far beyond that of any human. All too soon positions were reversed. Chris found the immense weight of the Sontaran pinning him down, while two huge hands tightened about his neck. A roaring blackness started swallowing him up, and the last thing he was aware of was the red glare of the Sontaran's eyes, staring down into his own.

Suddenly the Sontaran screamed. Its body convulsed and the huge hands released their grip.

Chris scrambled from beneath the crushing weight and saw the steel rod projecting from the Sontaran's probic vent. He looked up and saw Roz beaming down at him.

'It worked once, so I thought it might work again,' she said.

Chris realized she must have s.n.a.t.c.hed a second rod from the Doctor's model and rammed it home. He scrambled to his feet.

'Thanks!' He looked at the model, which had now collapsed into its component parts. 'What is that thing, Doctor?'

'Oh, it's nothing really,' said the Doctor modestly. 'I just reinvented the crossbow!'

'You might have given us a bit more warning,' protested Roz.

'Sorry. I had to fire as soon as I realized I had him in my sights. You only get one shot with this thing, and it takes hours to reload.'

The Doctor took the blasters from the dead Sontarans, and handed them to Chris and Roz. Their fellow prisoners gathered round, all talking excitedly.

'Well done,' shouted one of the technicians. 'What do we do now?'

'I'd advise you all to stay here for the moment.'

'Come on, can't we all join in? We're dying to take a crack at them.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'There are probably a few more Sontarans still on the station and they won't be too happy about all this.'

'So what are you going to do?'

'Oh, we'll just go and mop them up,' said the Doctor confidently. 'I know you mean well, but please don't try and help. My friends are professionals, and you'd only get in their way.'

'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' said Roz, as they headed for the door. 'Personally, I'll take all the help I can get.'

'There won't be many more,' said the Doctor rea.s.suringly.

'No point in getting innocent people killed. Now, the communications room is this way, I think.'

The Doctor led them along bare metal corridors to a set of open double doors. A shaky voice came from inside.

'This is an all channels announcement from s.p.a.ce Station Alpha. We have had an accident in the power area and we are leaking dangerous amounts of radiation. We can accept no further dockings until the situation is under control. All vessels are requested to divert to Stations Beta, Gamma or Delta.'

A Sontaran voice said, 'Excellent. Continue to transmit this announcement at frequent intervals.'

'That won't be necessary,' said the Doctor, strolling casually into the communications room. He saw a Sontaran officer standing over a tall, thin and terrified technician.

Another technician lay dead in the corner.

'I'm happy to tell you that the invasion's over,' said the Doctor. 'Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.'

He turned to the Sontaran. 'I don't suppose you'd care to do anything sensible like surrendering?'

The Sontaran officer drew the blaster in his belt.

'No, I thought not,' said the Doctor regretfully. He leaped nimbly aside and the Sontaran fired at him and missed. The technician s.n.a.t.c.hed up a chair and hurled it at the Sontaran. It did no damage at all, but it distracted him while Chris and Roz came through the doors, blasters in their hands. At this range even Roz couldn't miss, and they caught the Sontaran neatly in a crossfire.

Roz nodded to the technician as the dead Sontaran crashed to the ground. 'Thanks.'

'You take some chances, Doctor,' said Chris. 'How did you know we'd be ready to back you up?'

'Because we're professionals,' said Roz. She booted the Sontaran's body, making sure he was dead. 'Any more, Doctor?'

'I doubt it,' said the Doctor. He turned to the technician.

'Are there?'

'They only left three behind,' said the shaken technician.

'Two guarding the prisoners in the refectory, and this one here.' He gave the Doctor an anguished look. 'That's Ferris in the corner there, Station Manager. That Sontaran told him to transmit a fake message, to keep people away. He refused, so the Sontaran killed him and then asked me. I transmitted it all right, over and over again.' He began to shake.

'Very sensible too,' said the Doctor. 'There's never much point in arguing with Sontarans.'

'We did,' said Roz.

'I know,' said Chris. 'But we talk their language.' He grinned rea.s.suringly at the trembling technician. 'No need to worry any more. They're all dead.'

'We've got to get this place working normally again,' said the Doctor. 'Who's second in command?'

'I am, I suppose.' The technician looked down at himself, as if surprised to find himself still there. 'My name's Dobbs.'

'Well, Mr Dobbs, now you're in charge.'

'Me?' said Dobbs worriedly. 'Forget it, I'm an administrator, not a leader. Ferns was the one with leadership qualities, and look where it got him. You take over, you seem to know what you're doing.'

'We've done our bit,' said Roz. 'We've seen off the Sontarans for you.'

'And you helped,' said Chris, giving the technician a slap on the back that made him stagger. 'If you hadn't been so handy with that chair, he might have got one of us.'

'We haven't the time or the training to run your s.p.a.ce station for you,' said the Doctor. 'All you've got to do is get your staff together and get this place working normally again.

Come along to the refectory and we'll give them the good news.'

'It's old Dobbsy,' shouted one of the technicians as they re-entered the refectory. 'Where's Ferris, Dobbsy?'

'Dead,' whispered Dobbs. 'They killed him.' He started shaking again.

The Doctor raised his voice. 'The Sontaran who killed Mr Ferris is dead Mr Dobbs knocked him down with a chair and my friends finished him off.'

There were cheers and someone shouted 'Good old Dobbsy! Well done!'

'Mr Dobbs will be taking over command of the station,'

said the Doctor. 'Mr Dobbs?'

For a moment Dobbs seemed unable to speak. Then he swallowed and said, 'All communications staff back to the com-room. We've got to get a considerable number of warning messages out.' His voice grew stronger.

'Maintenance and technical staff get back to your station. I want damage reports right away.'

A wealthy-looking pa.s.senger said, 'What about us? It's disgraceful the way we've been treated!'

By now Dobbs was into his stride. 'The management apologizes for any inconvenience which, I think you must admit, was caused by circ.u.mstances beyond our control.'

There was some rueful laughter. Encouraged, Dobbs went on, 'Our aim is to get this station back working normally again so we can get you on your way.'