They're brave enough, and ruthless. Slaughtering a bunch of old women won't bother them. I've got to have control of that Elixir. And I want that Sisterhood out of the way before we land.

They've got some very unpleasant powers.'

The roar of rocket-motors rose over the chanting of the Sisters.

Soon they saw the a.s.sault craft appear over the mountain ridges and head down the length of the narrow valley towards them.

'Concentrate, Sisters, concentrate!' hissed Maren. 'Channel your power through me!'

The a.s.sault craft was a simple enough affair, designed to get troops to the point of battle. Controls and seats for the pilot and navigator, in this case Gorgo and Nate respectively, were at the front. Rows of metal benches, all filled with armed mercenaries, took up the rest of the craft.

Nate and Gorgo peered at the pa.s.sing mountainside on the scanner.

'Should be somewhere here,' said Nate.

Suddenly Gorgo pointed to the scanner. 'Look, there it is!

The old dears are all sitting outside.' He frowned. 'Looks like they're singing!'

'We'll give them something to sing about soon,' said Nate.

'Concentrate!' hissed Maren. She pointed a skinny finger at the approaching a.s.sault craft and a thin ray of light shot from the stone of the ornate ring on her finger.

'Die, thief, die!' she screamed.

Suddenly Gorgo screamed and lurched sideways, hands clamped to the controls.

The a.s.sault craft lurched sideways too. It slammed into the mountainside and exploded. The Sisters watched from their cave mouth as fiery fragments rained down to the valley floor below.

'Come,' said Maren. 'They will not attack for some little time.

When they do, we shall be ready.'

She led them back into the tunnel.

Morbius gave a howl of rage as he saw the explosion on the scanner.

'General fleet order! Bombard the Castle from extreme range. We'll take the Castle first, then flood the Temple with ground troops. They can't jinx us all.'

Grimoire raised a sceptical eyebrow. 'They can't?'

Chapter Two.

Fleet Action Lord Delmar looked up from his soup as the crash of a laser-cannon was followed by the rumble of falling masonry.

'Sounds like the west tower. Pity really, all this. Quite thought the old place would see me out.'

Commander Hawken pushed his soup plate aside and took a swig of wine. He seemed to have lost his appet.i.te.

Lord Delmar, however, seemed quite unaffected. They'd just started dinner when the bombardment began. Apart from allowing Hawken to use the com-unit to issue a string of orders putting the Castle on full alert, he had steadfastly refused to allow the attack to interfere with his meal.

He finished his soup with a noisy slurp and called the trembling servant girl.

'The Commander's finished, my dear. Clear the plates and bring on the next course. You'll enjoy this, my boy, roast boar.'

Hawken half rose. 'My lord, shouldn't we be doing something?'

'My dear fellow, what can we do? No doubt our chaps have wheeled out our ancient cannon. They'll take a pop or two if any of the blighters get near enough. You've got the place on alert, so we'll know to turn out the guard if they start using ground troops.'

'But my lord '

Delmar held up his hand, 'We know from Amba.s.sador Smith's reports that he's bringing troops to reinforce us.

Nothing to do but wait till he gets here. Meanwhile, might as well enjoy our dinner!'

The girl staggered in with an enormous silver platter which held a steaming roast of boar surrounded by a selection of local vegetables. She placed it before Lord Delmar, who seized a huge knife and began carving with enthusiasm.

Hawken drained his gla.s.s and refilled it from the decanter.

'To h.e.l.l with all this aristocratic sangfroid,' he thought. 'I'd sooner be outside shooting back either that, or in a nice deep cellar..'

'Emerging from hypers.p.a.ce now!' called Taro.

Peri winced and gripped her chair again. As the Doctor had predicted, the shifting shifting sensation was the same but different as if whatever had happened before was being reversed. sensation was the same but different as if whatever had happened before was being reversed.

She heard Taro's voice. 'Planet Karn on scanner screen, Supremo!'

'Well done, Taro,' said the Doctor.

They studied the screen, which showed a distant view of Karn hanging in s.p.a.ce. 'Directional magnification,' ordered the Doctor. 'Focus on Castle.'

He reeled off a string of coordinates and Taro's hands moved over the controls. The distant view of Karn was replaced by a closer one, so close that the planet's rocky surface filled the screen. You could even make out the tiny shape of the Castle of Karn. Above it hung a cl.u.s.ter of dots which seemed to emit flashes of blinding light.

'Morbius,' said the Doctor grimly. 'He's reached Karn before us. And he's bombarding the Castle from s.p.a.ce. He'll reduce it to rubble.'

He sat very still for a moment, thinking furiously. Peri glanced at his hard, set face and saw the face of the Supremo.

Then he leaned forward and tapped Taro on the shoulder. 'If you'll excuse me for a moment?'

Taro rose and the Doctor took his place. He stood watching as the Doctor's hands flickered over the controls, punching in strings of complicated coordinates.

The Doctor rose and Taro resumed his place.

'Transmit those coordinates to the fleet, Taro, and have everyone lock on. I want an almost simultaneous jump and exodus.'

Taro looked at the coordinates and his face paled. 'Supremo, we can't can't! It's suicide. .'

The Doctor put a hand on his shoulder. 'I trusted you, Taro.

Now you trust me.'

Taro turned back to his controls, sitting up very straight.

'Supremo.'

He looked, thought Peri, like someone who knew he was going to die and was determined to do it heroically.

She looked at the Doctor and whispered, 'Doctor, what '

He waved her to silence.

Taro's voice again. 'Fleet locked on to jump coordinates.

Stand by.'

A brief, tense silence, then, 'Entering hypers.p.a.ce now!'

The nauseating shifting shifting sensation yet again. sensation yet again.

It began to fade and then returned full force.

'Emerging from hypers.p.a.ce now!'

Then the Doctor's harsh voice. 'This is the Supremo.

General fleet action! Engage! Engage! Engage!'

Suddenly the scanner screens were filled with s.p.a.ceships, hurling fiery streaks of light. A ship exploded, then another and another...

Morbius stared at his scanner screens in astonishment. 'What the h.e.l.l's happening?' he screamed.

There was something very like admiration in Grimoire's voice. 'He jumped jumped Marshal! He jumped Marshal! He jumped through through us, just beyond us. us, just beyond us.

He's cut us off from Karn.'

Morbius studied the chaos on his scanner screens. Confused and disorientated, his fleet was getting very much the worst of the engagement.

'We'll lose half the b.l.o.o.d.y fleet if things go on like this!' He leaned forward and screamed into the com-unit. 'Disengage!

Disengage! Return to long-range geo-stationary orbit and regroup.'

'They're retreating, Supremo,' said Taro exultantly.

'Not for long, I fancy,' said the Doctor. 'Still, it buys us a little time.' He spoke into the com-unit. 'This is the Supremo!

General fleet order, prepare for planetary landfall. Use Castle s.p.a.ceport. Immediately upon landing, all units will disembark and deploy to form a close and secure perimeter around the castle.' He paused. 'My congratulations to you all on the recent fleet action. We have dealt the enemy a savage blow, but we're still outnumbered and we still have a battle on our hands. And we all know where battles are won on the ground! Supremo out.' He turned to Taro. 'There's a pretty large courtyard in the centre of that castle complex. Do you think you could put us down there?'

Taro's face was alight with the exultation of victory.

'I could put her down on a Denali minim, Supremo.'

'I believe you could, Taro. Congratulations, you did very well.'

'With respect, you're the one who deserves congratulations, Supremo.' He shook his head. 'That second jump I didn't think it was possible. It shouldn't shouldn't have been possible.' have been possible.'

The Doctor grinned. For a moment, thought Peri, he looked like his old self again.

'Don't worry Taro,' he said solemnly. 'I won't make a habit of it! Now, take us down!' He turned to Peri. 'Maybe you'd better stay on board. Things may still be a bit tricky down there.'

'Bulls.h.i.t!' said Peri, provoking shocked looks all round.

The looks disappeared when the Supremo smiled.

'I take it you want to come with us?'

'd.a.m.n right,' said Peri. 'You're talking to a cut-throat guerrilla leader, remember. They used to call me the Scourge of Sylvana. Somebody get me a hand-blaster, a laser-rifle and a knife!'

Lord Delmar was disposing of his third slice of roast boar and Hawken still wrestling with his first when the com-unit in the corner crackled into life.

'Guard Captain to Commander Hawken! Guard Captain to Commander Hawken!'

With a muttered apology, Hawken jumped up and ran to the unit.

'Commander Hawken here.'

'There's been some sort of s.p.a.ce battle sir,' said the voice from the unit. 'A second fleet turned up and clobbered the one that was bombarding us. Now it's landing, the second fleet, I mean. What do we do?'

'Nothing till I get there,' ordered Hawken. 'On my way.' He turned to Lord Delmar who was placidly wiping up his boar gravy with a chunk of bread. 'Have to go, I'm afraid, my lord.

Things seem to be happening.'