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By Root 356 0

Overhead, a dragging sound, metal on metal. The sound of someone grunting and straining. And then, a furious blast of cold air, a glimpse of something huge and grey cannoning down from above. Ace dived to one side, skidding across the metal floor. The thing a huge, obviously full oil drum crashed on to the walkway, which rocked and buckled beneath the impact. The drum continued to fall, exploding on the stone floor far beneath. Ace felt the metal grille tilt beneath her. She was falling. Hands flailed at the air. With the tips of her fingers she caught one of the poles that supported the handrail. Her fingers burned with pain as she clawed a better handhold for herself. Above her she heard the sound of running footsteps. Breathing fast, panting, jagged and visceral. A face loomed out of the darkness above her pale, gaunt, grey with stubble, eyes darting nervously. He stared down, a look of bitter disappointment on his face.

'Pleh... Please... Help me...' Ace gasped. 'I can't hold on much longer.'

His mouth curled into a snarl. He moved a foot lightly on top of one of Ace's clinging hands.

'Why should I? You've ruined my plans. Did they send you up here to get me?'

'Please... ' Her hands were slipping now 'No one sent me...' Slipping. 'I'm just trying to find a way... 'The bar wrested itself free. Her hands closed on air. ' ... out...'

She fell. A split second later she was dangling again, held hard in the man's grip. Straining, he hauled her back on to the narrow balcony. Steadying herself on hands and knees, she felt the ironwork again beneath her, then slowly clambered to her feet, dusting herself down indignantly.

'What did you want to do that for?' she barked. 'Ssssh... !The man looked around him in fear. 'Keep it down, will you They'll hear.' 'I don't care!' snapped Ace. 'I'm getting out of here.'

There was no doubt the wind was coming from somewhere behind the creep, from the level above. Angrily she pushed past him. 'No... She ascended the next stairway quickly, ignoring his protests. 'No way out up there... No escape from the Cybermen...' The wind was actually quite strong now. Ace climbed a final, short set of steps, and found herself reassuringly on stone again. The corridor was narrow, low and dark. She edged along it, heart soaring. She felt the crunch of twigs under her feet. Bird droppings. She never thought she'd be so glad to step in bird crap. After several yards the corridor opened up into a wide stone atticspace.

Overhead in the stone eaves a benighted pigeon cooed. At the end of the sudden expanse of moonlight were two huge semicircular openings windows on to the sky, vast and glassless. She ran up to them and threw herself against the bars that covered them. She shook the bars, then banged on them. Her heart sank. They weren't going to budge only the pigeons could come and go this way. Ace slumped on to a pile of leaves and litter beneath the window. She felt like crying. 'No escape that way, I told you. When did they bring you here?' She spun around. Him again. She could see him better now; he must be about fifty, tallish, his clothes, filthy, torn, a battered donkey jacket covering what was once perhaps a white shirt. Pathetically, what must recently have passed for a tie a limp, strangled, knotted strip of cloth hung about his neck.

'They didn't, as such. I followed them in. Now I want to get out. Did you drop that drum on me?'

'Yes. Sorry.'

'Sorry! I was nearly killed!'

'Three days I've been locked in here with those monsters. It's driving me mad. I've been hiding up here, mostly. My plan was to lure the two big ones up here then drop the drum on them. I thought you were one of them. Like I said, sorry.'

'Mmm.' Ace had to admit, on paper it wasn't a bad plan.

'Trouble is, they'll be up here like a shot now, the noise the drum made.' He let out a troubled sigh. 'Why did they bring you here, anyway?'

'They didn't,' Ace replied. 'I told you, I followed them.'

'Mad. You don't know what you're up against.'

'I do,' said Ace, hollowvoiced. 'Cybermen. Horrible. I've come across them before.'