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The two women ran through the gap in the cordon created by the Doctor's intervention, while the Doctor calmly moved his device in an arc against the remaining Waro.

'I'll catch you up in a moment.' urged the Doctor as they ran past him and deeper into the forest.

Liz risked a glance behind, and saw that the Doctor's device was becoming increasingly ineffective against the Waro. Perhaps they were reprogramming the software that controlled the wings to override the effects of the Doctor's interference. 'Come on, Doctor!' she shouted.

The Doctor had clearly come to a similar conclusion. He made a final adjustment to the jamming device, then threw it at the onrushing Waro before turning to run. Soon he was alongside Liz and Shuskin. 'I'm not sure we'll be able to use that trick again,' he said. His limbs were a blur, but he wasn't out of breath.

'They're... not... stupid,' agreed Liz, panting.

'No.' said the Doctor. 'They're evil, egotistical and depraved.

'But they're certainly not stupid.'

Suddenly there was an explosion, just to their left. A fir tree flowered into a ball of flame that threatened to knock them off their feet. The Waro had started to use their hand weapons.

'We must have riled them,' said the Doctor brightly.

'I'm so glad.' said Liz.

'Well, if they're concentrating on three small targets on the ground.' said the Doctor, 'it means they're slightly more likely to miss a whacking great thing like that' He pointed upward, at the enormous green helicopter that was descending towards them out of the dull grey sky.

'They got it going again!' exclaimed Shuskin in delight.

'With a little help,' added the Doctor. 'I can honestly say that it's twice the helicopter it was.'

With surprising grace the craft landed on the snowy soil, the rear door already open to receive them. A number of Soviet soldiers jumped down to give covering fire.

'Really?' said Liz, still running fit to burst. If the Waro didn't get her, heart failure was sure to.

'I've improved the shielding against the Waro's energy weapons.' said the Doctor proudly. 'There's every chance we shall escape from here in one piece.'

'Excellent.' said Shuskin, without a trace of irony as she clambered on board. 'I must report to my superiors' She ran towards the cockpit without a backward glance at the creatures that had pursued them.

When the helicopter was safely in the air, and the Doctor was watching the Waro flit around the craft with unnerving detachment, he finally asked Liz what they had seen at the mining centre.

'There's nothing there,' said Liz, her heart still pounding.

'It's all a sham. It looks like a mine from the air, but it's nothing of the sort. You could put two hundred and forty volts through those "motors" and you wouldn't get a dicky bird in response.'

'That must be what the Waro was hiding from me when I performed the soul-catching,' said the Doctor.

'But I still don't understand.'

'You're not thinking of these things in military terms,' said the Doctor. 'Standard invasion procedure.' establish a false bridgehead in order to divert attention.'

'So all of this... all the destruction... '

'Was just to distract us, yes. Perhaps they wanted us to go halfway around the world on a wild-goose chase.' The Doctor turned to look at Liz for the first time, his voice now sombre. 'So the question we now need to ask ourselves is.'

where is the real invasion?'

If Hayes had hoped that the Brigadier would hand himself over without a fight, then he'd underestimated Lethbridge-Stewart for perhaps the last time. The Major-General must have pulled all sorts of strings to get the local police force involved, thought the Brigadier. The last thing his friends would have wanted was an undignified chase through the shopping centre.

Which is exactly what Houghton and Lethbridge-Stewart had just given them. Now they were clear of the city, heading towards the Alps. All the while their pursuers drew closer.

The Brigadier knew their plight was still hopeless, but the fighter in him wouldn't countenance surrender. The