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By Root 386 0

Doctor valued — his friends and his freedom — was being crushed. The past rose in phantom form to mock him. The future, like the great Gate of legend, slammed in his face. Nothing went right any more. His own process was still not complete. He was still only Will be the Doctor, or May be or Perhaps. Just another possibility. Only the iron mountain was stable in the crumbling world of his SARDIT/TARDIS, and that was sustained by the tenuous power leeched by the Process from its Phazel slaves. The final chance, which he recognized but did not understand, was descending from the sky upon them all. Viewed objectively, it could be the most momentous impact event since Adric hit Mexico. He reached out to reassure himself that Ace was still there. She squeezed his hand.

Across the well on another walkway stood a silhouetted figure. Its black cloak billowed about it, but there was no wind. Its invisible eyes transfixed the Doctor. His ship awaited its release. So do I, he thought. That was the trouble with machines —however bio-complex they were, they always stated the obvious. The endless nagging threat in his head was quite enough to be going on with. Just don't howl, he thought. His nerves couldn't stand it.

He measured out a length of filament cut from the cocoon and hitched it round a girder. "You were in the Brownies, Ace," he said, raising his voice above the head of steam. "What did they teach you about knots?"

The Process's platform had reached the main level. The creature lurched off, footmouth over footmouth, between the ranks of its subjects.

"There is only Now," it declared. "The disruption, the alternatives, they will cease."

The guard Shonnzi deposited its burden on to the trembling floor. The kid aimed a well-aimed kick at its captor and pulled free, scrambling for shelter into Amnoni's arms.

A throaty gurgle, which could have been laughter, emanated from the Process. "The recruitment," it croaked. "Complete it."

The guards, each carrying a new insect-helmet, advanced on their victims.

"Stand back," warned the younger Pekkary. He walked unsteadily forward, fighting back the pain in his eye. "We are still a crew. We have possibilities of our own to fulfil."

The huge head swung to look at him. "Not any more. All possibilities, they are mine.

Reogus stepped up beside his Captain. "Where's my future, you filthy object? Have you bungled that as well?"

"The new Now, it is decreed already." The monster turned to its guards. "Take them all!"

The Phazels stood their ground. A telepathic nod of readiness. With one cry, the youngest and oldest Pekkarys launched themselves at the Guard Captain. Amnoni abandoned her decorum and barrelled into her older self. Chesperl hurtled at her counterpart. Reogus eagerly grabbed the guard that had once been Vael.

With a scream of hatred, the little Pilot threw himself at the Shonnzi guard. The creature, nearly twice his size, caught the child easily. It swung him down to the floor and began to force a helmet over his head.

"No!" yelled Ace from the walkway high above.

Somewhere in the frame of the Tower, the bells attempted their broken chimes.

"That's enough!" The Doctor's voice echoed out its order. "How dare you brawl in my TARDIS!"

The guards and Phazels stopped the attack where they stood. The Process craned its head upwards at the intruder.

He was dangling high above them like a trapeze artist. He clung to the unwound filament, his foot resting on a Brown Owl's Triple Reefer that Ace had knotted into the strand for him.

"Well, the gang's all here," he said. "Excuse me for gatecrashing your party, Process, but I thought you'd forgotten to invite me. And I did provide the venue, after all."

The Process hissed angrily. Steam jetted from the gantries. Iron clanked as the Tower's structure began to move.

The Doctor twirled gracefully on his filament. "You see, I want a little chat about your future."

The monster tried to squint with its circle of eyes, but evolution had not allowed for such a function. The Doctor was a spindly black shape among the crisscross of