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‘What are you doing?’ hissed Ace as the Doctor swung aside the block of Bakelite switches that covered the transmat controls.

Was he planning on them all going through the transmat and switching it off from the other side, leaving the Annarene trapped here? Good idea – only then they’d be trapped on the other side. The Doctor ignored her, his lips still moving. It looked like he was repeating a number – a long number – over and over again.

‘Drop the weapon,’ came a musical voice from the foot of the stairs. Ace spun around to see the other Annarene and the tweedy woman, with a bag over her shoulder, aiming a gun at them. ‘And distance yourself from the controls,’ it added, jerking the gun at the Doctor.

Michael paused briefly before letting the Annarene’s gun fall to the tiles.

‘I suppose,’ the Doctor said grimly, ‘that it’s a waste of time telling you that you really shouldn’t do this?’

The male Annarene inclined its head to one side, its eyes glinting red and orange. ‘Of course,’ it replied.

‘Then I won’t bother,’ answered the Doctor. He closed his eyes momentarily, his brow furrowing.

What was wrong with him? wondered Ace.Was it just a hangover from the effects of Sooal’s machine? Or was there something else wrong with him? She placed a hand on his arm.

‘Professor...?’

He waved her away, taking a breath and straightening up.

‘After all you have done to cause interference with our plans,’ the Annarene said, ‘it must be particularly galling to you to know that in a few hours, we will begin our conquest of this world.’ The Annarene raised a slender hand, almost gracefully, and made a short, sharp gesture to Sooal who stepped forwards.

‘Activate the transmat,’ it ordered.

Sooal glanced at Ace and the Doctor and gave a tiny, smug smile. Ace had to stop herself from punching him.

‘He’ll betray you,’ was all she could think of to say to the Annarene as Sooal crossed to the control panel. The Annarene observed her coldly and said nothing as Sooal activated the transmat. There was a brief, almost-not-there shimmering of air in the centre of the room. Sooal returned to stand alongside the Annarene.

‘He betrayed the Tulks, and he’ll betray you too,’ Ace repeated.

‘We have witnessed his duplicity,’ the female Annarene said.

‘We will not be so easily fooled.’ She angled her head towards Sooal. ‘And he would not be stupid enough to consider subjecting us to betrayal. Would you?’

Sooal said nothing, but it was clear from the way he couldn’t hold the Annarene’s gaze that such thoughts were already twitching in his nasty little head. Ace wondered why she cared: if Sooal was going to double-cross them, let him. She looked towards the door as the third Annarene entered the room; the one that had been guarding them that Michael had knocked out, its arm hanging limply at its side.

At her side, the Doctor staggered, and she rushed to support him. Again, he waved her away, his face tight and intense. ‘And how exactly do you intend to get your grubby little claws on the weapons?’ he asked through gritted teeth. ‘I take it you’ll use the last of the ship’s power to lift it from the water – then what?’

Sooal grinned. ‘The ship will generate a traction field, bring the sphere onto the island –’

‘– and then you’ll reattach the control sphere, input the codes and –’ interrupted the Doctor, as if he’d thought this all along.

‘– and this world will be ours,’ the Annarene finished coldly.

The Annarene still in the guise of the tweedy woman from the Orkneys reached into its bag and pulled out the control sphere that Ace remembered from John and Alexander’s boat.

She had a cold, stupid feeling in her chest: if she’d kept her mouth shut, they might not have found it. The Doctor nodded, glancing at the pewter sphere, held firmly in the Annarene’s pudgy, pale fingers.

Ace turned as she heard footsteps on the stairs – shuffling, uncertain footsteps. The Annarene followed her gaze: standing in the doorway were Jessie and Connie.

Ace threw a worried look at the Doctor. ‘I don’t think you should be here,’ she said