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"Ha," he exclaimed as the truth hit like a lightning bolt. The new form that his ship had taken depended on the power that sustained it. The City was constructed on the confused memories of the Gallifreyan crew. Their mental artron energy hijacked by the invading Process. That was how the leech got its power. The more Phazels the monster subjugated or absorbed, the stronger it became. He wondered if it knew that.

Another crash and a scream from Chesperl. The Process was forcing its way out of its prison. The last minute that the Doctor always left things until was already up.

The younger Process spat Shonnzi Phazel's scream of anguish out of its mind like chewed bones. It pulverized his thoughts with its own. Their content was irrelevant. It was still hungry. A bloated presence in the safety of its Watch Tower, already gorged on thoughts and flesh, it was fed images from its new guards.

Through the insect-eyed helmets, it looked into the arteries and streets of its World City. Two near-identical images in its mind converging with two more. At the entrance to the Dial Square on the Middle Phase, the other recruits waited. The recruits held in the Tower, awaiting the Guard Captain and the Shonnzi guard.

"Once a crew, always a crew."

Occasional memories surfaced from the guards' crushed minds. But the crew was how they were bound. The summons was inescapable.

Two more Phazels to recruit.

And when they were all summoned, there were more guards to recruit on the first Phase. All Now would be the same from the Beginning. All alternatives would be levelled. There would be no Future to be stolen.

The older Process's huge head squirmed through the gap in the wall, forcing back the women's attempts to close the opening. Its lamprey teeth flexed with its effort.

The Doctor advanced on the emerging creature. "So you've decided to show yourself then," he called. "It's a long time since our first talk was interrupted."

The Process stopped moving for a second. "Stolen Future. Where is it?"

"None of your business!"

The bloated parasite snarled and renewed its struggle, almost catching Ace off her guard. "Keep pushing," she yelled to the Phazels.

The Doctor was alarmed to see both women turn their heads in unison and look past him down the street.

"I said, push!" Ace yelled again as their resistance faltered. The gap pushed wider.

Four guards stood at the far end of the artery. Helmets chittering, eyelets writhing. One wore Captain Pekkary's maroon jacket, the second, Pilot Shonnzi's red tunic. The third was dressed in black. Tattered silver overalls hung on the near skeletal body of the fourth.

Amnoni's face drained of any awareness. The Doctor slammed himself against the wall as she slid from her place. "Amnoni! Don't listen to it! Don't answer!" He pushed against the Process's weight, unable to reach the woman as she was drawn away to answer the recruiting summons of her Captain.

Ace was blinking with tears of anger and determination. She yelled a protest as Chesperl swayed back from her position.

"Chesperl!" The Doctor's voice came like a sharp military command. "Your future isn't there. Don't listen. You carry the future with you!"

There was no response.

"Remember Reogus! Remember your baby!"

Chesperl's hand linked with Amnoni's. They walked on together towards the waiting guards. The Doctor and Ace were trapped, hands and shoulders scraped by the wall, muscles aching, powerless to save the two women from a reunion with their crew and their fate.

The guards enfolded them and led them from the street.

The Process had also watched the summons. It spat angrily and began to force forward with fresh vigour. The whole wall was splitting open, pushing the Doctor and Ace further and further back. They could no longer hold the monster alone.

With a crash, another figure hurled itself at the wall. Vael had appeared between them. He was striking repeatedly at the Process's head with an umbrella, using it like a goad.

The monster shrieked as black blood spurted