'It's your money that b.a.s.t.a.r.dizes everything that we hold holy and just,' snapped Colonel Ross. 'This perversion is sickening, and must be destroyed.'

'No!' snapped the Doctor. 'Ross, try and control that indignation of yours.' He pointed out of the window. 'Those are children out there. They never asked for the fate they've been given, and they're innocent of any blame.'

'Whatever they may once have been,' countered Ross, 'they are abominations now.'

'If you touch one of those children,' the Doctor vowed, 'I shall personally take great pleasure in breaking every bone in your body commencing with those in your inner ears.'

Breckinridge laughed. 'Come now, gentlemen,' he said. 'Please don't argue about this. After all, you seem to forget who is in charge here. It is I, not you, who decides what shall happen. You are both powerless.' He smirked at all his captives.

'The future belongs to me, not to any of you, because none of you has a future.'

'You're wrong,' said Sarah flatly. 'You don't have a future. I know, because I'm from it.'

'What?' Breckinridge stared at her, his face a twisted ma.s.s of emotions. It was clear that he didn't quite believe that claim, but also that he wasn't certain what she was up to. His eyes narrowed. 'You expect me to believe that? You're just trying to '

'Believe it,' Sarah told him. 'I'm not due to be born for over sixty years yet. I'm from that future you're talking about, and I can tell you that nowhere are you mentioned. Oh, everything you've talked about is there, and more. But there's no genius named Breckinridge anywhere in it.' She gestured towards Kipling. 'In fact, he's going to become far more famous than you could ever be. He's going to become a great writer.'

'That snotty-nosed little schoolboy?' sneered Breckinridge. 'You're trying to say that he will be known and I won't?'

'Yes.' Sarah glared at him. 'So believe me: you may think you're winning, but you're doomed. Your insane plan can't succeed, because I'm from the future where it hasn't succeeded.'

Anger and disbelief waged war for the businessman's features. Anger finally won. 'I'm still not sure that I believe you, Miss Smith, even though you are like no other woman I've ever met. But I can disprove your little theory quite simply.' He glared at Ross. 'Take Kipling there to your laboratory now, and give him a dose of the salve.' He smiled tightly at Sarah.

'Let's see if he can still become a great writer when he has to spend the rest of his life underwater. His paper is liable to get a trifle damp, I fear.'

Sarah gasped with shock. 'No,' she said. 'You can't do that. You can't change history.'

'Your history, Miss Smith, not mine.' Breckinridge smiled, self-a.s.sured again. 'And if I change that small detail, then everything else will change as well, won't it?'

'Yes,' agreed the Doctor darkly. 'If you can change one brick, the wall of recorded human history will tumble down.'

Breckinridge nodded happily. 'Then do it,' he ordered Ross.

Sarah watched in horror as the scientist crossed to the unconscious schoolboy and started to unfasten him from the table.

She'd really done it this time! She'd hoped to convince Breckinridge to give up, but all she'd managed to do was to make him grimly determined to change the course of history as she knew it.

Was it possible? Could he somehow succeed? The Doctor seemed to believe it could happen. Was Sarah about to be the unwitting pivot about which history would s.h.i.+ft and change?

Lucy pulled another strand of seaweed from the vegetable patch and slipped it into the collecting bag that she carried slung across her shoulders. As she did so, she glanced at the observation room in front of her. Sometimes she had seen Ross in there, watching his 'creations'. At others, Breckinridge would be there, staring out at the empire he was hoping to create for himself. Lucy stared in astonishment as she saw that the viewing room was almost overflowing with people.

And she recognized two of them. One of them was definitely the young woman she'd prevented from drowning. The other one was the man who had helped the woman back to the surface.

What were they doing here? She swam closer to the gla.s.s wall to get a better look. Then she saw that Brogan and Raintree were there, the two men who'd captured her in the first place, and three other men that she didn't recognize. And there was another person strapped down to a table. Brogan and Raintree had guns, so the two people she knew and the other three had to be prisoners. What was going on?

'Joshua,' she called to the newcomer. He'd been with them only a little while, but he seemed to be filled with fire and intelligence. She liked him, and felt that she could rely on him. 'Look at the viewing room.'

Joshua swam slowly to join her. His eyes narrowed and he frowned. 'What's going on?' he asked softly.

'It looks like the woman I helped last night is in trouble again,' Lucy explained. 'I think she and her friends are trying to stop Ross and Breckinridge.'

'It does look like that,' Joshua agreed. 'In fact . . .' He gave a little jump of shock. 'That boy on the table! I know him!

That's Gigger!'

'Who?'

'Someone from my school,' Joshua explained, excited. 'He must have been looking for me. These people are trying to fight those villains, I'll bet!'

'Then they're not doing very well,' Lucy observed. 'They're in serious trouble, by the looks of things.'

'Then we have to try and help them, Lucy,' said Joshua eagerly. 'If they can manage to stop Ross and Breckinridge, then we'll be free.'

'Do you think so?' She wanted so desperately to believe that. But One of the Guards swam swiftly over, squealing a warning at them. Lucy knew that it meant return to work return to work. The seal's mouth opened to show its cruel fangs. She knew that it was hoping for some excuse to attack. It loved to maim and kill, and with the slightest excuse it would rip into them all.

'We'd better do as it says,' she told Joshua.

'No!' he yelled. 'I won't! You said that you were waiting for the best time to break free. Well, this is it! There are only three Guards left, and it looks like Ross has his own troubles.'

'Joshua!' she yelled, but it was too late. He ripped the collecting bag from his shoulders, and threw it in slow-motion to the sea bed.

'I'm not not going back to work!' he yelled at the Guard. 'What are you going to do about that?' going back to work!' he yelled at the Guard. 'What are you going to do about that?'

Horrified, Lucy saw exactly what the Guard intended to do. It swam away slightly, and then whipped around, teeth bared.

It was going to kill Joshua!

Without hesitation, she s.n.a.t.c.hed up Joshua's discarded bag. As the Guard shot past her, she threw the strap from the bag about its neck and then hung on grimly. The strap tightened about the Guard's throat, cutting deeply into its windpipe.

Unlike the merfolk, the Guards still needed to breathe air from time to time. Even though the Guard could go for half an hour between breaths, its instincts told it that it was being strangled, and it panicked. The raking teeth missed Joshua entirely as the Guard twisted, trying to get Lucy off its back. She held tight to the straps, twisting them in her hands to get more leverage.

She'd almost forgotten that the Change had increased her strength until she heard the snap of the Guard's neck, and felt its death throes. In shock, Lucy let go of the straps. The broken body of the dead Guard sank slowly to the sea bed. She could do nothing but stare at it, hardly able to understand what she had done.

'Lucy!' cried Joshua happily. 'You did it! You killed the Guard!' He whirled about to face the other children. They had stopped working to watch what they had felt certain would be Joshua getting killed. Instead they had witnessed the unexpected a miracle.

'They're vulnerable!' Joshua yelled, pointing to the fallen Guard. 'And there are only two of them left!'

The children needed no further urging. As one, they went for the two remaining Guards. The seals had been bred to be killers, but even they couldn't stand against this force. One of them fastened its teeth onto Patrick's arm and tore the limb apart in a spray of blood that clouded the water. Patrick screamed and went rigid in death. The Guard didn't even have the time to spit out the arm before six of the children, wielding stones torn from the sea bed, battered it into pulp.

The final Guard tried to flee, but the children were faster. Two of them grabbed the Guard's flukes and the rest of them descended on it like locusts, hammering away at it, not letting up until it was a b.l.o.o.d.y smear in the dark sand.

'We did it!' Joshua cried triumphantly. 'We're free!'

Sarah watched numbly as Ross loosened the straps on Kipling. The boy, thankfully, was still unconscious and thus unaware of what was in store for him.

'Are you still so certain that I cannot change the future?' asked Breckinridge.

'Yes,' the Doctor broke in. 'I think you'd better take a look behind you.'

Breckinridge laughed. 'Come, Doctor! How naive do you think I am?'

The Doctor shrugged. 'What are my choices? But this is no bluff. Your undersea slaves are revolting. And they appear to be winning.'

With a cry, Breckinridge glanced over his shoulder. He saw in horror what Sarah saw in hope: the merchildren had turned on the Guards and were beating the living daylights out of them. Ross stared at the scene too, transfixed, supporting Kipling with his one good hand.

The Doctor moved slowly, uncurling several lengths of his scarf. Then, while even Brogan and Raintree were distracted by the battle beyond the gla.s.s, he whipped out a length of the scarf, looping it neatly about Raintree's gun hand, and jerked the thug off-balance.

'Now would be a good time to use that stick,' he snapped at Colonel Ross.

Ross smiled and whipped up his walking stick. Sarah recalled his use of the stick during the hunt, and that it was actually a single-shot air rifle. There was a loud hiss of the compressed gas going off. Ross had aimed at Breckinridge, but the industrialist either through luck or some preternatural instinct had moved slightly. The bullet missed him and slammed into the gla.s.s wall beyond.

Instantly, spider-webbed cracks started to form in the gla.s.s.

'Dear G.o.d!' cried Doctor Ross. 'The pressure outside!'

It was obvious what he meant: they were way down below the water level here, and the crack in the gla.s.s gave it a terrible weak spot. In seconds, the wall could collapse.

Sarah slipped the scalpel she'd hidden into her hand and stabbed at Ross with it, striking his good hand. Ross screamed as blood bubbled up, and let Kipling fall. Sarah grabbed for the boy, managing to hold onto him. As she tried to straighten up, the room degenerated into mad confusion.

Raintree had staggered aside as the Doctor jerked him off-balance. Panicking, he fired. The bullet slammed into the gla.s.s wall, creating another series of growing cracks before the Doctor could wrest the gun from his hand. Brogan whirled around and brought his gun up, centring on the back of the Doctor's skull. Sarah cried out, but there was nothing she could do.

The revolver that had somehow appeared in Doyle's hand spat fire. Brogan was thrown backwards, his chest a ma.s.s of blood. He was either dead or dying. Colonel Ross spun about and reversed his grip on his walking stick. He whirled it in a lethal arc that finished in Raintree's skull, splattering blood and bone about.

'You've got to stop this habit of killing,' the Doctor snapped.

'We've got to get out of here,' Ross countered. 'That gla.s.s won't hold for much longer. Abercrombie!' he yelled. 'The boy!'

Sarah was still trying to get Kipling up when Abercrombie gently but firmly pushed her aside and scooped the boy up.

He flung Kipling over one shoulder, giving her a quick grin. 'Time for the better part of valour,' he grunted, scuttling off under his burden. Sarah didn't need any further encouragement. Over the groans and yells she could hear the sound of cracking, and that meant that the water was about to break through.

As she sprinted out of the room, she saw she was behind Abercrombie and Doyle, who were both haring down the dank corridor ahead of her. Despite his load, Abercrombie was managing a respectable speed. Sarah glanced back and saw that Ross and the Doctor were hard on her heels.

How far did they have to get to be safe? She had no idea. And how long did they have before the gla.s.s wall gave way and the sea rushed in? It couldn't be more than minutes, and possibly not even that long. Once the water came through, it would flood the corridors in next to no time. She tried to remember her hydrodynamics, but science had never been her strong point. Didn't water speed up when faced with a constriction? If so, then as soon as the ocean broke into the corridor, it would send a killer wave after them all.

Talk about encouragement for speed! Sarah's ribs ached, and her lungs felt as if they were on fire as she ran for her life.

Breckinridge glared about the viewing room, fury eclipsing every other emotion, even his drive for self-preservation. His prisoners had escaped at least for the moment and his world was crumbling. Raintree lay dead on the floor, his blood and brains leaking from his shattered skull. Ross had vanished with the others. His slaves outside in the ocean had finished killing the guards and had vanished into the darkness beyond.

Cold rage building inside him, he started for the door. As he pa.s.sed Brogan, the injured man reached out a trembling hand.

'Help me,' he gasped. Blood was frothing up in his chest wound, and he was desperate.

'Go to h.e.l.l,' Breckinridge growled, kicking away the groping hand. Ignoring the weakening pleas of the dying thug, he left the viewing room and ran up the corridor to where the final Guards were kept. He unlocked the door and threw it open.

Snarling, the four enhanced dogs strained at their chains. They were monsters of their kind, taken from attack dogs bred in Europe and given extra cunning and a drive to kill by Ross's salve and human fluid implants. All four were ready to do his bidding, desiring nothing more than to kill. Breckinridge crossed to the main link of the chain and unlocked it. As the heavy chains fell away, he gestured at the door.

'After them!' he screamed. 'Instruments of my vengeance! Kill!'

Three of the beasts leaped to obey him instantly, das.h.i.+ng through the door.

The fourth whipped around and bared its teeth. Breckinridge barely had the time to realize that Ross had made these dogs too well. Their only drive was to kill, and they didn't care who their victims were. He backed away as the hound jumped. Teeth raked through his upraised arm, shredding flesh and bone alike.

He had time for one last scream before the dog's teeth fastened onto his throat.

Doctor Ross, whimpering and racked with pain from his injured hands, staggered into his laboratory. Everything had gone wrong! Breckinridge had ruined it all, insisting on boasting and playing games with his captives. The man's ego had brought everything cras.h.i.+ng down about them and in seconds that could become more than just a metaphor. Ross saw that his plans were finished, and everything had crumbled. Once again, his accursed brother had beaten him.

He whimpered from the agony in his hands, caused by Sarah. One hand was broken, the other ripped apart from the scalpel she'd wielded. He couldn't bear the pain any more, and he staggered across to plunge his hands into the healing salve. In seconds, most of the pain was gone and he felt the gel soaking into his body.

And then the world exploded. He heard the shattering of the gla.s.s in the viewing room even from this distance. Blindly he looked around, wondering where he could run or hide, but there was nowhere left. A roaring sound filled the corridors as the waters crashed in, flooding through in a wave of tidal fury.

It slammed into the laboratory like a hammer, shattering equipment, splintering the tables, and then soaking him, throwing him back against the wall. It felt as if his spine had been crushed, and pain and fire filled his ravaged body.

The gel was still working, however. Even as he fought against the rising water, struggling for breath, he felt the burning within his limbs as the salve took control of his body. Would he drown, or would the cream cause some mutation that might enable him to somehow survive?

There was no way to tell, and no time left. As he lost consciousness, his body burned about him.

Sarah ran as fast as she could, trusting that Doyle and Abercrombie knew the route back. She'd not seen it, of course, as she'd been insensate when she was brought here. Dimly, in the distance behind her, down the twists and turns of the pa.s.sageway, she could hear something. Even over the pounding of blood in her ears, there was no mistaking the howl of a dog.

Several dogs.

The guardians are out! she realized desperately. There was no doubt that they'd be coming down the pa.s.sageway after them to get away from the water, if nothing else. And they had been bred to kill . . . she realized desperately. There was no doubt that they'd be coming down the pa.s.sageway after them to get away from the water, if nothing else. And they had been bred to kill . . .

She simply couldn't move any faster. As it was, she didn't know how much longer she could keep up her current pace.

She ached terribly, her lungs felt like they were burning inside her, and her legs were almost ready to seize up.

'We're here!' Doyle gasped back to her as they came to the bottom of a flight of steps that appeared suddenly from the gloom. He was still holding his revolver, and he stopped, waving her on with it. 'I've got a couple of bullets left,' he panted.

'Go on. I'll cover us.'

Sarah didn't waste time or breath arguing. Instead she started up the stairs, every step jarring and painful. After what felt like minutes she saw Abercrombie shoot out of sight at the top, and then Sarah plunged onto the factory floor right behind him.

'Out the door,' he gasped, leading the way. She saw that he was almost on the verge of collapse, so she went to offer him help with Kipling. 'Move it,' he sighed. Together they half-carried, half-dragged the boy to the doorway. Behind them they heard rapid footsteps, and then the Doctor, Ross and Doyle were with them. The Doctor wasted no time or words, but simply kicked open the factory door.

And then the dogs bounded out of the gap in the floor. There were three of them, and in the dim light all Sarah could make out was powerful bodies and rows of sharp, drooling fangs.

Suddenly there were hands helping her through the doorway. Through the red haze that had settled over her eyes she could make out several people.

'Get them out of the way!' Sir Edward Fulbright snapped. He had a rifle at his shoulder, and was poised to fire.

Sarah accepted the help without question, and she was dragged aside by two people. She fell against one, and realized that it was Alice.

'Thank G.o.d we got here in time!' exclaimed the girl.