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'Xznaal's going to release the gas once the warship is ten kilometres up. The Doctor's onboard.' I explained.

'Yes I know.'

'T minus one minute,' Bambera said. 'If you're going to abort the airstrike, you'll have to do it now.'

The Brigadier peered up at the ship. 'It's stopped firing.'

I brightened. 'The Doctor must be in control up there. Cal off the attack.'

Lethbridge-Stewart nodded slowly. 'I think you're right.' He unclipped his radio. 'Greyhound to Eagle. Hold your fire.

Await further orders.'

End of extract

117

***

The Doctor was looking up at the vast metal tank again, clearly in awe. The vast tank above him clattered.

'Lord Xznaal,' the intercom barked, 'we have reached the optimum altitude for dispersion.'

Xznaal maintained his position at the release controls, but he didn't pull the lever, not yet. Instead he stabbed at the control that opened the inspection hatches. The metal panels rolled back, revealing the Red Death. It boiled and bubbled like a giant kettle or a witch's cauldron. Eyes and fangs were forming in there, barbed limbs and spines the size of telegraph poles. It hissed and popped and wheezed. It growled and snarled and grunted. Limbs and appendages sprouted and withered as it tried and failed to find a break in the vessel that kept it contained.

The Doctor was standing alongside him.

'It is a thing of beauty,' Xznaal shouted over the din. 'Does it scare you?'

The Doctor turned to the Martian, and without saying a word he stretched out his paw and held it up against the glass. For the first time, the Red Death withdrew, frightened of what it had discovered.

'I've gazed into the abyss already, Xznaal, and the abyss gazed into me. It fled from what it saw. Monsters who fight with me should take care.'

Xznaal lurched at him, al owing the Doctor plenty of time to pull back. Xznaal swiped again, an inch from the Doctor's face this time. The Martian wheezed with pleasure, his jaws opening wide.

'You have lost, Time Lord. This precious Earth will die, al the human animals wil die.'

'No,' The Doctor replied simply.

In a lesser lifeform it would be stupidity, but here it was the legendary Time Lord arrogance. Before the Doctor died, he would have to be taught humility. Xznaal opened his claws and began to advance. The Doctor stood his ground as the Martian loomed over him, his tiny form framed by the writhing mass of the Red Death above him.

Xznaal found it apt that a creature as brave as the Doctor would meet his fate at the claws of one as noble as himself.

He reached out, placing a pincer delicately around either side of the Doctor's neck. The Doctor lifted his head slightly to accommodate the vast claw. And then Xznaal yanked the Time Lord ten feet into the air, slamming his head against the plate glass of the inspection hatch. The cloud shied away at first, but was soon beginning to gain in confidence. Tentatively, a tendril of red vapour inched towards the glass.

'Will you stop me?' Xznaal roared disdainful y.

The Doctor's squashy human face was pressed tight to the glass. He struggled to draw breath. 'No. I'm just a distraction. Something to keep you occupied.'

The intercom began barking. 'My Lord, a flock of human aerocraft are approaching. They are heavily armed and on a direct intercept course.'

A hologlobe materialised in front of Xznaal. He released his grip on the Doctor to study the display. There were three attack groups, al approaching from the west.

'Without its sonic cannons, this warship is a sitting duck, Xznaal,' the Doctor said, rubbing his throat.

The radio crackled. 'This is Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, commanding officer of the British forces to the Martian vessel. I have just received the unconditional surrender of the Provisional Government. Your occupation of our territory is over. I give you three minutes to withdraw your forces from British airspace or to signal your surrender. Lethbridge-Stewart out.'

Xznaal