Prove to my critics that my paint was no gimmick. It was art.'

The Doctor considered. 'So it's not just just about the money, then.' about the money, then.'

'I wanted to unlock patterns that could change a man, reveal such delicate blends of colour. . . ' The Doctor watched, fascinated, as he pulled a small box from his cloak, filled with silver shavings. He applied some to the scarce growth on his cheeks and chin with an enchanting precision.

'Your experiments cost you your sight?'

He nodded. 'The optic nerve was overstimulated. It shut down. Perma-nently, the surgeons said.'

'For 'tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard,' the Doctor murmured. 'Is Sook the only one who knows?'

'She alone.' He brushed a fine metallic dust from his face with firm, precise strokes. 'When we met, I was at the edge of the abyss. She brought me back.

216.

She taught me.'

'Taught you Feng Shui?'

'Gave me a new way of seeing things. A new kind of sight. And in turn, I gave her direction. We are bound together, she and I.' he said, half sadly, half fondly. 'She is my eyes. But I. . . I am her vision vision.'

'So it was that new window on the world she gave you that enabled your great comeback. And now together you use those schools and equations as justification for your egocentric schemes.'

'Not schemes, Doctor. I have a vision vision. A new image of the solar system. A perfectly balanced, cla.s.sical model, made real real.'

'That's not vision, it's illusion,' stormed the Doctor. 'Ancient civilisations saw order in creation because they sought it in their own circ.u.mstances. They were fooling themselves. Tear apart the heavens all you like in your frustration the order you speak of will never exist on a meaningful level.'

Halcyon seemed not to hear him. 'When I went blind. . . For a few moments only, as my eyes died. . . I glimpsed such a pattern, Doctor, in the licht und licht und blindheit blindheit. Such a perfect, chaotic simplicity, it haunts me still. The teasing knowledge of its existence. . . Only through the equations of Feng Shui have I come close to experiencing such perfection again.' He paused. 'And were I to understand the mechanics of your beautiful, humming box. . . '

'Mathematics is a beautiful language,' said the Doctor. 'But as Milton said, "the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heav'n of h.e.l.l. . . "' He smiled sadly. 'Or a h.e.l.l of heav'n.'

'Better to reign in h.e.l.l than to serve in heaven,' said Halcyon. 'Or so I once believed. Egged on by Falsh, and his money. His gifts. His promises. It can seem such an empty world, Doctor, one with no sight. I have done everything I can to fill the void.'

'With a particular focus on making money?'

'Why shouldn't I! Perhaps I have have been exploited by my sponsors, manipulated. . . ' He smiled proudly. 'But I am a personal friend and favourite of the President herself! My name is recognised in every corner of the Empire! I sell, Doctor! I say it unashamedly: I am big!' been exploited by my sponsors, manipulated. . . ' He smiled proudly. 'But I am a personal friend and favourite of the President herself! My name is recognised in every corner of the Empire! I sell, Doctor! I say it unashamedly: I am big!'

'And the bigger you grow, the better your chance of glimpsing your greatness with those ruined old eyes of yours, is that it?'

'You would rather I had thrown myself into that abyss?'

'No.' The Doctor jumped up from his chair. 'The universe is a ghastly mess, Halcyon. It's wild and cruel. It's rarely pretty. But like the life that goes on within it, in spite of it. . . in spite of it. . . it's to be protected. It's to be treasured!' He gripped Halcyon's hands, leaned into his face. 'You talk of visions, Halcyon? I have one for you. Some are witnessing it as we speak. The people on Callisto, everyone in this sector of s.p.a.ce men, women and children alike however 217 it's to be protected. It's to be treasured!' He gripped Halcyon's hands, leaned into his face. 'You talk of visions, Halcyon? I have one for you. Some are witnessing it as we speak. The people on Callisto, everyone in this sector of s.p.a.ce men, women and children alike however 217 they feel about themselves, whatever they're looking for in this life, they'll share a nightmare. It will sweep aside the clutter of thought and experience, cut like a knife to the heart of them. It's already started, this nightmare, and it will grow more and more b.l.o.o.d.y, more and more terrible. These poor people will destroy each other. Destroy themselves. And I have to save them, whatever it takes.' He leaned in, breathed in Halcyon's ear: 'Will you help me?'

Halcyon was quiet for a while, his hands unmoving under the Doctor's own.

'Couldn't we talk about those dimensional anchors now?' he said.

So far, so good, thought Trix. Tinya had walked and kept on walking into the Pent Cent compound, and nothing had come running at her yet. Nothing had come fainting at her feet, either although frankly, in those those pants. . . pants. . .

'Falsh, you check that building for signs of slugs,' Trix said, pointing the way. 'I'll check this one. Tinya, you '

But she'd walked as far as she could, and had come up short against a wall with dusty windows. 'The slugs are in here,' she said, her voice alarmingly loud in the silence that cloaked the old industrial park.

'Shh!' hissed Trix, hurrying towards her and beckoning Falsh to do the same. 'There could still be soldiers inside there '

The brickwork beside her smoked and chipped as gunfire smashed into the wall, and windows shattered. As one, the three of them dived to the ground, their paint pots clattering, and rolled for the cover of some nearby metal crates.

'Well, all right, there could still be soldiers outside outside too.' Trix peered around and saw two soldiers approaching, their guns raised. too.' Trix peered around and saw two soldiers approaching, their guns raised.

'Whoever you are, throw down your weapons!' one of them called.

'Raise your arms and move into the open,' shouted the other one. 'Or we will shoot to kill.'

Trix swore under her breath. The men were clearly terrified, there was no chance of sweet-talking them. Could they be the only ones left unaffected here?

'I'd welcome suggestions,' Trix whispered. 'Oops, I forgot. You're my mindless slaves, aren't you. Terrific.'

Falsh produced something from his pocket, and showed her. 'Gas capsule,'

he said.

Trix winced as a fresh round of gunfire blew the slug-shack's windows to pieces. 'I thought I heard Tinya confiscate that?'

'I grabbed it back,' said Falsh.

She stared at him. 'You're not my mindless slave at all, are you?'

218.

'You can't play a player,' he smirked. 'That paint was developed on my behalf.'

'So you've got immunity.'

'But not against those slug things.' He took careful aim and tossed the gas cap over the crates. They shook under a fresh volley of gunfire, but the gas was already hissing out, overpowering the two soldiers. 'They'll send me crazy as quick as they will you. So I'm with you wanting them blitzed.'

Trix watched as the soldiers collapsed, clutching their throats.

Falsh put his hand on hers. 'When we've accomplished that, this truce is over.'

Trix half smiled, didn't remove her hand. 'When, not if? I admire your optimism.'

Falsh smiled back at her. 'If we don't accomplish it, nothing else will matter a d.a.m.n. Now come on.'

Tinya just behind them, they climbed in through the shattered windows together.

Fitz had found the Rapier Rapier's first-aid room and under Mildrid's direction had manhandled Sook into some kind of intelligent couch. He glared at it as it went to work. At least he hoped hoped it was working. The d.a.m.ned thing was so quiet it was hard to tell. But every now and then it beeped or boinked and he supposed that was good. it was working. The d.a.m.ned thing was so quiet it was hard to tell. But every now and then it beeped or boinked and he supposed that was good.

But why couldn't it just tell him she was going to be all right? Hateful b.l.o.o.d.y machine. . .

'S'all right,' said Sook faintly. 'It's giving me treatment.'

'It is?'

'It helps get rid of the pain.' She half smiled. 'You'll be gone any minute.'

'Ha, ha. I will will be gone, too,' he said. 'Wasted away under the strain of carting your fat b.u.m about.' be gone, too,' he said. 'Wasted away under the strain of carting your fat b.u.m about.'

'If hers is fat, what hope for me?' said Mildrid, folding her arms in a surly fashion. She'd put some burn cream on her face and was looking quite frightening.

I didn't mean anything,' Fitz said quickly. 'Don't do any of those killer moves on me!' He paused. 'Where'd you learn that stuff, anyway?'

'I teach Kung Fu. Preserving the Wing Chung system.' She shrugged. 'Speed and style over physical strength. A system designed for and perfected by women over eight hundred years ago.'

'Something old worth preserving,' he said.

'Yes, it certainly is.'

He grinned and took her hand gently. 'I was talking about you. Thanks for what you did.'

219.

'Old!' She pulled back her hand, waved it about dismissively. 'I was an old fool fool to let down my guard with those maniacs out there. I just. . . ' The hand went to her bruised and sticky face, and there were tears in her eyes. 'I just couldn't believe Gaws could ever act that way.' to let down my guard with those maniacs out there. I just. . . ' The hand went to her bruised and sticky face, and there were tears in her eyes. 'I just couldn't believe Gaws could ever act that way.'

Sook spoke up from her couch. 'Scary thing is. . . If it happened to him to all those people. . . ' She looked up at Fitz worriedly. 'It could happen to any one of us, too.'

'Nice thought,' said Fitz. 'I'd better go back out, try to find the Doctor.'

'Out there?' Mildrid frowned. 'Do you have a death wish?'

'The Doctor may have an idea of what's going '

'You're going nowhere, Kreiner,' hissed Sook. 'Feel that?'

Fitz paused for a few moments. 'What?'

'This ship's moving,' said Mildrid slowly.

Fitz could feel it now, a vibration in his aching feet, a quiet rise in the back-ground whine of the Rapier Rapier's systems. Like the ship was leaving the stadium launchpad and taking off for somewhere in a hurry.

220.

Chapter Twenty-eight.

Trix looked around the warehouse. Tinya had been right, the slugs were here all right in pieces, laid open on various scientific slabs with an exotic collection of electrodes sticking out from all the soft bits.

'Let's get redecorating, people,' said Trix. Falsh was already slopping multi-coloured gloop over the specimens. Tinya snapped into life at her instruction and got busy too. They soon had every last slug sloshed and glittering with pulsing patterns.

'As easy as that?' Trix wondered. It was all a bit anticlimactic in a way.

'Maybe not,' said Falsh, pointing behind her. 'We don't know what's in there there.'

She turned and took in properly a large, cylindrical structure like a high-tech dustbin balanced between the pointy hits of three metal cones. 'What is that, a centrifuge or something?'

'Maybe,' said Falsh.

'Tinya?'

'I don't know what it is,' she said.

Trix looked at the could-be-a-centrifuge. It stood at least five metres high, and there was no way of knowing what it contained. 'Could there be more slugs in there?'

'Who knows?' said Falsh. 'Maybe we've covered all of them. Maybe there are another half-dozen in that thing.' He gestured around the large room. All around, in the shadows, corpses sat twisted in unnatural positions. 'They're the only people who could tell us.'

'There must be a way of seeing inside that thing,' said Trix, her already frayed nerves jangling with stress. 'Tinya, bring up a bubblescreen, let's see the controls.'

Tinya did as she was bid. The first thing the screen did was ask them for a cla.s.sified ID code. They didn't have a hope.

'There's another way,' said Falsh. Trix followed his finger. . . upward?

To the rafters.

'Approaching orbital target,' breathed Falsh's flight computer.

'Any signal traffic?' asked the Doctor. He'd been trying to contact NewSystem since they'd left Callisto orbit, with no success.

'No signal traffic detected.'

221.

'A communications breakdown, perhaps,' said Halcyon.

'The instruments are picking up ion trails in the vicinity. s.p.a.ceships have recently launched from this station.'

'Some sort of emergency evacuation?'

'I suspect that those crewmembers still able to run have done so,' said the Doctor unhappily. 'The rest are dead. Or in the throes of killing each other.'

Halcyon stared at him, agog.

'Would you like me to dock with target?' the computer enquired.

'With all possible speed,' said the Doctor.