'What were you looking for?' Rhun wondered aloud.

'The mark of the NERGUZ-I-NUEN. The module has a tiny needle that pierces the skin and leaves a tiny mark, similar to that of an insect bite.' She stood. 'Your kin are clean, however. How long will this coma last?'

'About six or seven hours.' Rhun spied the bodies in the shadows further up the tunnel and ran to investigate.

'Then I should really get them to a safe place to recover.' Neraida knelt between Tory and Brian placing a hand on each of their foreheads.

Upon discovering neither of the bodies was the one he sought, Rhun waved Neraida on. 'I must find my sister. I'll catch you up.'

'Good luck, little dragon.'

This had been Vortipor's pet name for Rhun, and it made him smile to hear it again.

'Beware of the NUEN.' Neraida's expression became more serious, as she disappeared with Tory and Brian.

'Huh!' Rhun scoffed, 'I'm more worried about what Murdock will do to me should I return without his girlfriend.'

Rhun cleared his mind to focus on Rhiannon. With one hand rested on his Stormer, he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst upon joining her.

The one thing Rhun had not planned on was being unable to locate her. He opened his eyes a few moments later to discover he hadn't moved, and cursed what he suspected had come to pass. 'No, damn it. Doc's will is not stronger than mine, how can it be?' He closed his eyes, trying harder this time, but Rhun's efforts only exhausted him. There was one other avenue he could try, so Rhun stood tall to evoke the Goddess and her elements: I am the master of my reality, and no will be stronger than my own.

I am your devoted servant, great Goddess, the eyes of the Dragon on this Earth.

Advise the four winds and their elements, that are the source of all creation, to speed me to my sister's side.

I ask this in the name of my illustrious forefathers, and the great houses, Don and Llyr!

When even the Otherworld failed him, tears of remorse filled his eyes. 'Goddess have mercy.' Rhun fell to his knees in a desperate appeal. 'Do not punish Rhiannon because I got careless.'

'The Goddess you summon has long been banished from this place. She cannot aid you here,' a sinister voice advised. 'Now, leave! Before I have your body dismembered and sent to the four corners of the Earth to be laid to rest in cement.'

Rhun stood in defiance of the threat. 'I will not leave without Rhiannon. What have you done with her?'

'It's what I plan to do with her that should concern you more.' The voice was heard to laugh, but there was not much humour in it.

The vicious overtone of the statement made Rhun furious. He knew he was losing control as his own imagination had started working against him.

Leave, now! Rhun fought his desire to retaliate, turning all conscious thought to Neraida.

In the wee hours of the morning, when Teo still hadn't heard from anyone, he started to really worry. What was worse was how wired he'd become due to the numerous cups of coffee he'd consumed to keep himself awake. He couldn't think straight; he was mortal, he needed sleep.

'I'm going in,' he decided firmly, taking his Stormer in hand. Almost immediately he changed his mind and sat down in the pilot's seat. 'Maybe that's the coffee talking?'

He thought about checking in with the base, but that could be dangerous. If Doc had discovered any of the intruders he would now be on the alert. No matter what happened, Watarrka must remain a secret.

'Come on, Teo,' he scolded himself, 'think of something. If Tory was here she'd know what to do.'

The thought that she may be caught up in foul play made Teo even more irrational. 'Dear Goddess, if you do exist, please send me a sign,' he begged, feeling stupid in doing so. 'Tell me what I should do.' When no mysterious voice of guidance spoke, Teo collapsed with a sigh onto the control panel.

Then the sound of a car, some distance away and getting closer, urged him to his feet.

Through the front porthole Teo spotted the headlights of a car speeding out of the cavern road.

'Instruction received and understood,' Teo advised the heavens, strapping himself into the pilot seat and firing up the hover blasters on Merlin II.

As consciousness beckoned, Tory's head began to throb.

'Ouch ...' she moaned, resisting consciousness.

'Mother ...' Rhun encouraged her to wake up.

'Come on, Tory.' Brian propped her head up. 'Drink this.' He trickled the cool water into her mouth. 'It's the good stuff ... from the fountain of rejuvenation, or some shit like that.'

Brian had awoken with a splitting headache himself, yet after drinking the water supplied by Neraida he felt like a new man.

Tory's being began to tingle, and a second later it felt as if every molecule in her body was bursting with energy. 'Whoa!' She sat upright, raring to go. Tory cast her eyes around the room, thinking perhaps they'd been captured by the Unken. The architecture was very strange; the walls were of a bizarre, black metal. The curved aerodynamic design gave the chamber an unearthly quality, but there wasn't anything of interest to investigate. 'Where on earth are we?'

Rhun's expression was grave, and yet Brian was absolutely bursting with excitement.

'We're inside an honest to God spaceship, Tory!'

Brian couldn't hold back.

Tory freaked, shoving him aside to get to her feet.

'How the hell did we end up in space?'

'We're not in space.'

The tone of Rhun's voice cautioned her to calm, and Tory turned to hear him out.

'We're deep underground, somewhere in the vicinity of Babylon. This is where your dream was supposed to lead you. We interpreted it wrong.'

'How do you know that?'

'Hello, Tory.'

Tory spun around to find a woman clad in a tight-fitting black bodysuit that reminded her of Maelgwn's new interstellar attire.

'Cara?' Tory peered hard at her. This could not possibly be her deceased pupil and dear friend, but it was surely Cara's perfect incarnation.

'Neraida these days,' she stated, holding out both hands.

Tory dispensed with the formalities, overwhelming Neraida with a hug. 'How wonderful. I knew you'd show up sooner or later.'

'We're cousins,' Brian informed his sister, as she and Neraida stepped back to hold each other at arm's length.

'Really!' Tory figured their mutual ancestor at once.

'Marduk ...?' Neraida nodded.

'So, that's the good news.' Rhun hated to break up the merry scene, but there wasn't a moment to waste.

'Now you'd best brace yourself for the rest.'

Rhun enlightened his mother as to the power of the NERGUZ-I-NUEN, and Neraida filled Tory in on the weapon's short, but colourful history. The news of Rhiannon's abduction was not as easy to convey.

'Are you telling me that Doc has brainwashed my daughter?' Tory was overcome by the news, and the shock of it forced her to take a seat.

'We don't know that for certain.' Rhun attempted to put forward a positive view, looking to Neraida to break the bad news.

'The NERGUZ-I-NUEN casts a protective barrier automatically, thus isolating the subject from any outside stimuli. This is why I have been unable to rescue my people,' Neraida sorrowfully informed her.

'They are impossible to locate.'

In one sense Rhun thought this good news, as Doc might not have become as psychically powerful as he'd first feared. His mother did not share his optimism, however, and the rage inside her was building rapidly.

'That won't help us,' Rhun said, bluntly. Deep down he knew that his caution would only infuriate his mother more, but perhaps it was better that she release her frustration now.

Tory raised her stormy eyes to her son. 'Leave me,'

she instructed. She looked at Brian and Neraida, indicating with a movement of her head that they should do the same.

As her brother, Brian felt obliged to at least try and console her, 'Now, Tory -'

'Out, Brian,' she barked, staring him down. 'If you know what's good for you.'

Neraida encouraged both men to comply with Tory's wishes. The chamber door slid open as they approached it, closing again in their wake without a spoken command being uttered - psychokinetic control, Tory noted. Neraida then bowed to Tory in the same fashion as she had when Tory was her Sensei and vanished.

Alone now, Tory unleashed her anger by furiously clearing a space in the centre of the chamber. She knelt down and breathed deeply, summoning up all her hatred, all her pain, all her fear. As the dark ball of evil energy massed inside her it caused her to quiver and she struggled to contain it. The room also seemed to shake, though Tory was too distraught to care as she bowed her head to have a few quiet words with the cosmos ...

I thank the universe for allowing me to experience these emotions, but they do not serve my path to righteousness.

Therefore, it is by my own will that I release them back to the universe, to be dispersed or re-channelled to serve the greatest good as you see fit.

On the other side of the door Brian and Rhun had heard Tory recklessly rearranging the decor, but now all had gone silent.

'Do you think it's safe to go back in?' Brian asked.

Rhun cocked an eye. 'I fear not.'

A loud cry of anguish was heard from within the chamber. This was immediately followed by a huge explosion, the force of which caused the very walls of the chamber to buckle outwards.

The noise of impacting metal was deafening. Both Brian and Rhun were startled into backing off a few paces, and said nothing as they waited for the rattling and crashing of the interior damage to settle.

Holy shit - Brian could only mouth the words as it seemed he'd lost his voice.

The door to the chamber opened, and as Tory approached she appeared to be at peace, focused and very determined. 'How long have I been out?'

'About seven or eight hours,' Rhun advised.

'Where is Teo?'

'I left him guarding our transport.' With all that had happened, Rhun had forgotten all about him.

'We should get back there immediately,' she instructed.

Rhun and Brian obeyed without hesitation, transporting themselves back to where they'd left Merlin I and II.

Then, Tory vowed, I'm coming for you, Cadwaladr.

Teo trailed Doc back to the hotel, and was flabbergasted when he spied Rhiannon hop out of the same car. The character she accompanied was a huge, brawny, dark-haired fellow. Teo recalled Rhiannon mentioning Doc had taken on a new guise - Teo assumed he was looking at it. What Teo couldn't figure out was what Rhiannon was doing with him. Perhaps she was working undercover? And yet, she hadn't altered her appearance as she had last time.

Teo had parked on the same rooftop that Rhiannon and Rhun had occupied when they had been on surveillance duty.

'Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?' Teo plaintively demanded of empty space, as he watched Doc and Rhiannon enter the hotel.

As Rhiannon didn't appear to be in any danger, Teo thought it wise not to do anything rash. If she was on a mission, he didn't want to be the one to stuff it up. Best to keep trailing her, and wait for word from the others.

At dawn, Doc left the hotel with his entire entourage in tow.

'Aw, wow, this is too weird,' Teo mumbled as he observed the scene below.

Doc had resumed his normal persona, while Rhiannon had switched to her undercover identity. She was attired as one might expect the personal secretary of a prominent diplomat to be dressed, complete with briefcase and computer. Her fair hair was rolled up into a neat bun, and she wore glasses to complete the disguise. Teo almost didn't recognise her as she climbed into the limousine with the other members of Doc's team, for she blended in well amongst them.

The limousines led Teo to the airport, which was not as crowded or as well-guarded as might be expected at a later hour. The vehicles passed straight through the airport security gates that gave direct access to the runway.

Teo parked Merlin II in an out of the way corner of the airstrip and, as he removed his seatbelt, he considered his attire: an unfamiliar army uniform was probably not the best camouflage in this instance. He had a root around in the cabin and, besides a couple of wetsuits that were unsuitable, he found a greasy pair of overalls.

'Perfect.' He pulled them on. 'I'll just look like another technician.'

With his Stormer in his pocket, Teo checked to make sure the coast was clear and then leapt down onto the tarmac.

Nobody gave Teo a second glance as he strolled towards the parked private plane. Everyone's attention was focused on the limousines. For some reason, Doc's party had yet to board the plane. One of his officials was yelling at the ground crew.

'This is a matter of international security. Do you understand? If there is something wrong with the plane, you find us another one. Now! '

Doc Alexander stepped out of the car. 'Now, Stanley, we have time for a drink. I'm sure these good gentlemen can have a plane ready to depart in twenty minutes.' Doc stared hard at the man in charge, who humbled himself to assure them that it would be done. 'Come, my dear ...'

Doc reached into the limousine to assist Rhiannon out, whereby she took his arm and escorted him to the VIP lounge. Doc's security team surrounded the couple at a comfortable distance, and were on the lookout for any signs of trouble as they entered the terminal.

Near the entrance doors, a couple of guards were stopping the service staff to check their identification before allowing them to enter. Teo swiped himself a roll of electrical tape from one of the many tool boxes scattered about underneath the aircraft and headed off towards the staff toilet block to see if he couldn't procure himself an ID card.

He didn't have to wait long for a suitable victim and the knock-out procedure Teo employed was quick and virtually painless. He used the electrical tape to bind the man's feet and hands to the toilet bowl. He then bound the man's mouth with tape to ensure his silence even after he'd regained consciousness.

The ID card featured a small head-only photo. Teo was thankful that it was overexposed. The fellow was middle-aged like himself and the head-shot hid the vast difference between his own athletic build and his victim's rather frail one. He tucked his long, dark ponytail, streaked with grey, down the back of his overalls, pulling the collar up high round his neck. Then, as an afterthought, he pinched the technician's cap which featured an airline logo.

The two guards were engrossed in conversation now, smoking cigarettes and having a laugh. Just ahead of him, a few members of a ground crew strode towards the entrance to the terminal. Teo hastened his steps to situate himself five or so paces behind the group of men.