'Of course they're linked!' He beamed at her and slapped her hard on the back. 'There were traces of Halcytone in the testing bay at the Inst.i.tute, too.

We know it soothes the human mind perhaps in some way this doctored stuff has a similar effect on what pa.s.ses for the slugs' psyche?'

Trix stared at him. 'He reared super-killer- art-loving art-loving slugs?' slugs?'

'What have you you been taking?' said Roddle enviously. been taking?' said Roddle enviously.

'It's all conjecture, of course,' said the Doctor. 'But think of it. . . Slugs with finer feelings! The understanding could help them obliterate those feelings in their prey!' He actually chuckled. 'Out-think your opponent, that's what Klimt's about.'

'Never mind the art appreciation, we've got to stop these things!' said Trix.

'How? We'd need a slug, paint for testing ' He went suddenly rigid, like someone had pa.s.sed high voltage through him.

Roddle gulped. 'Is he all right?'

'Debatable,' Trix told him. 'Doctor?'

'"We're only just tolerated on their turf as it is",' hissed the Doctor.

Trix stared. 'What?'

'That's what Phaedra said!' He was gripping the bridge of his nose, his eyes tight shut either having a brainwave or a nosebleed. 'Remember? The capsule Torvin took was touching down at wherever Phaedra was based and she said they were on land claimed by Pentagon Central.'

'It could be anywhere!' Trix protested.

The Doctor smiled. 'I know how we might track it down.'

'The TARDIS?'

'Falsh's ship.'

'You can't just leave,' said Roddle nervously. 'What about Sook? And we've got to get help for Halcyon!'

186.

'Come on,' said the Doctor. 'I'll help you carry him, we'll go and find some soldiers. He's a celebrity ought to help him queue jump at the nearest field hospital.'

Roddle nodded. 'We might even find Sook, right?'

The Doctor nodded decisively. 'Mmm.'

'And what about Fitz?' said Trix quietly. 'If he comes back and finds us gone '

'We can't wait any longer,' said the Doctor.

He helped Roddle lift up Halcyon, and led the way off stage.

Falsh picked his way through the mad streets. Ambulances screamed by, lines and lines of sh.e.l.l-shocked survivors clogged the pavements, huddling beneath foil sheets that threw back the blue siren-lights in brilliant coruscations.

His wristguide was leading him through these old, crumbling roads towards the installation. He had to find Phaedra, find out what the h.e.l.l was going on.

It was more than that, he realised. He needed people to tell what to do. He needed to give instruction.

He needed to make things all right again somehow.

Trix reckoned she could feel something in the air as she traipsed along through the stadium labyrinth; something that didn't belong with the quiet and the bright white lighting. A feeling of dread expectation had settled upon her, a sense that things would soon be kicking off.

The Doctor and Roddle carried Halcyon towards the hangar in a gloomy silence. There was no sign of a military presence, and they didn't pa.s.s a single medic presumably they were all trying to cope in the stadium proper.

Only when they reached the hangar did they see a single soldier staggering towards them, face twisted in anger and pain.

The Doctor and Roddle moved to one side.

But the soldier was heading straight for them with shambling, staggering footsteps, levelling his gun.

Trix stiffened.

But then the soldier collapsed to the floor. The back of his head had been blown open. Roddle gave a horrified croak and clung on to Halcyon, while the Doctor quickly crouched beside the soldier to check there was nothing he could do.

'What happened to him?' asked Trix.

A gunshot up ahead reverberated around the hangar. Suddenly Trix saw another soldier swaying drunkenly towards them, a thin coil of smoke bleeding from the nozzle of his gun. His eyes were gla.s.sy, like he hadn't seen them.

'Keep still,' the Doctor hissed.

187.

The soldier shuffled by. But then he stopped. He swung round to face them, raised his gun and pointed with it to Halcyon. Roddle squeaked.

'Is he dead?' the soldier demanded.

'Dead famous,' the Doctor answered. 'Aristotle Halcyon himself. Please put that gun down, he needs care. Perhaps you could help us find '

'He's a t.o.s.s.e.r,' said the soldier. 'I hate him.'

His finger tightened on the trigger.

The Doctor jabbed his elbow into the soldier's chest. With a gasp, the man fell sprawling back down the corridor. Trix swiped his gun from him as he fell.

'What the h.e.l.l's the matter with you, man?' said Roddle, still tumbling.

'You're a soldier, you're supposed to protect us!'

The soldier sat on the floor, tears streaking down his face. 'I didn't. . . I didn't mean mean to. . . ' to. . . '

'He's not in his right mind,' said Trix.

'Or rather, something else is is. Lock yourself away somewhere safe,' the Doctor told him. 'Don't open the door to anyone, understand? Anyone!'

'For their sake as much as yours,' Trix added.

'Come on,' said the Doctor. 'There's nothing we can do for him. We have to get on.' He took the gun from Trix, yanked out the clip and threw both away angrily. Then he stormed off towards Falsh's ship.

'What's happening?' Roddle wailed, still clutching hold of Halcyon. 'What's wrong with everybody?'

Trix shouldered some of Halcyon's weight and led the way after the Doctor.

'You ain't seen nothing yet,' she said.

188.

Chapter Twenty-four.

Fitz was carrying Sook in both aching arms, looking around madly for medics.

She'd lost a lot of blood, kept slipping in and out of consciousness. He didn't want her to die. He'd only just met her; so many people he'd got to know vaguely just died in the course of his life with the Doctor. But not this one.

Not Sook.

There was death all around him under that endless springtime sky, but he was b.u.g.g.e.red if he was letting Sook go the same way.

The alarms had stopped. The sprinklers were down to a drizzle, and soldiers were moving through the great arena now, brisk and smart in grey meshy uniforms, harbingers of order.

'Excuse me, mate,' he shouted at a pair of young lads marching between the harried crowds of survivors. Surely they should be at school, not in the army?

'I need help for this woman!'

'First-aid checkpoint out back,' one responded smartly, and pointed.

Some way off, Fitz saw a ma.s.sive sprawl of tussling people vying to be seen.

'You're kidding! This is serious, she needs help!'

'Med-droids and stretchers are shipping in,' said the other soldier stonily.

'Till then, wait your turn. Lot of people hurt today.'

'Oh thanks, I hadn't noticed,' muttered Fitz. He turned back the way he had come. 'Better go see what my own Doctor can do.'

But as he approached the sickly yellow forcefield, he saw soldiers spilling out from the side entrance, erecting a blockade.

Wait,' he shouted, 'I need to get through there!'

'Proceed to any main exit,' a tired-looking soldier told him. 'You will be escorted to a place of safety.'

Fitz looked around wildly. There were still hundreds of people trying to get out. 'Please! We're staff! With Halcyon! We have pa.s.scards!'

The soldier shifted off with a look that said, How many times have I heard How many times have I heard that in the last hour? that in the last hour?

Fitz could feel panic start to prod at the back of his mind. 'Sook,' he whispered. 'Do you know a way back to the stage? Or a quick way out of here?'

She stirred a little. 'I thought you were trying to stop me taking the quick way out of here?' She stared around vacantly. 'There's a drone hatch around somewhere. . . '

189.

'A drone hatch! Now you're talking.' Fitz sighed. 'I think.'

'You're so weird, Kreiner,' she whispered.

'Tell me what this thing looks like and I'll find it,' he told her. 'Promise.'

There was standing room only for Trix in Falsh's c.o.c.kpit.

Halcyon was slumped unconscious in one chair, Roddle sat in another, and the Doctor had the hot seat, riffling through pages in a bubblescreen.

'Sure you should be doing that?' said Roddle. 'This is, like, Falsh's ship.' A pause. 'What are are you doing?' you doing?'

'You're tracing Phaedra's call to Falsh, aren't you?' Trix deduced.

'Right. She routed that transmission through from somewhere. The actual information would have been encrypted, but in theory the location should be traceable.' He peered at the data on the screen, then smashed his fist down on to the console.

'Theory's hard to prove?' Trix ventured.

'The encryption's too complex. And if I push too hard, too fast, I'll crash the systems like I did on the Polar Lights Polar Lights.' A glowing 3D map appeared on the bubblescreen. The Doctor waved an arm to enlarge it. 'This is the general area.'

'Hey, that's southside on Callisto City.' said Roddle. 'I took my flyer for a spin around there this afternoon. . . '

'I've got a rough geographical fix, but it's too too rough,' said the Doctor, intent on the screen. 'About a ten-mile radius.' rough,' said the Doctor, intent on the screen. 'About a ten-mile radius.'

'Great,' said Trix. 'What do we do, cruise round the neighbourhood till we see a tank parked in the driveway, then knock on the door and ask?'

The Doctor whirled around to face Roddle. 'A flyer, you said? You have transport?'

'Uh-huh. She's amazing,' grinned Roddle.

'I'm sure she is. Can you show us? You could take Trix for a little ride!'

Trix almost choked. 'What?'

'I'll keep working on pinpointing the transmission coordinates. If you're out there already, and mobile, we'll find the place much sooner. Then I can come out and meet you.'

She nodded. 'OK. Halcyon's got a wrist-thingie and so has Roddle. We can keep in touch through them.'