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But the Headman wasn't interested. Ignoring the Doctor he said, 'Lock them in the harness room.' He pointed to the shabby cupboard at the back of the stable. As he raised his arm, the Doctor noticed he was wearing a control bracelet.

Chapter Seven

It wasn't until she arrived back at the TARDIS that Nyssa realised the size of the task she had agreed to undertake. It wasn't that the sonic booster was heavy. In fact, it was very light. But it was large, and so was the frequency enhancer she had to fit.

Trying to assemble the unit in the console room could cause problems, Nyssa decided, especially if the Doctor were to return and needed to move the TARDIS quickly, so she opted for her room as a more suitable place to work.

Only after she had disconnected the booster from the base of the time rotor's pedestal and dragged it along the corridor did she realise she would also have to run a power cable to the room.

It took a little while before Nyssa was able to find a length of cable both long enough and of the correct rating to carry the heavy amperage the booster would require. Yet more valuable time was wasted as she fought to unwind its thick, python-like coils.

Nyssa groaned inwardly. Her arms ached, her fingers were sore and covered in small cuts. With more energy than was necessary, she thrust the cable into the power outlet at the base of the console's pedestal, and tightened the coupling clamp. But as she stood up, her anger turned to concern as she saw Adric on the scanner-screen running towards the TARDIS.

Quickly she operated the door-opening mechanism. A moment later a breathless Adric rushed in and collapsed in a heap.

Nyssa closed the doors and ran to help him.

'Adric! What's happened?'

But the boy didn't reply. He was very distressed.

Gently she said, 'Come and sit down.'

Adric didn't move, but continued to breathe heavily. At last he said, 'Where's the Doctor?', the words blurting out of his mouth.

'What's wrong?'

'I must talk to the Doctor.'

'He isn't here. He went to find the miller.'

'We've got to get back to the house. Tegan's still there.'

Nyssa placed her arm around his shoulder. 'What happened?'

'The android caught us escaping. And I had to leave her behind.'

'Was she hurt?'

'I don't know. We have to go back and find out.'

Nyssa was less certain. 'We should wait for the Doctor. We can't fight the android by ourselves,' she said.

Adric broke away from her comforting arm. 'Why isn't he here?' He slapped the console in anger. 'Why is he never around when you want him!

With the door shut, the only illumination in the harness room came from the gaps between the shrunken boards of the walls. As though to tantalise them, the sun hurled shafts of white light through the gaps, creating a light/shade zebra-crossing effect on the floor.

The Doctor peered through a gap in the harness-room door at the villagers gathered in the stable, muttering. Although he was unable to hear what they were saying, the tone of their conversation was hostile.

With his back supported against a wall, Richard Mace sat illuminated in a shaft of light, wishing he were somewhere else.

'I have faced some of the most hostile audiences in the world,' he said mournfully.

'Earlier today I met Death in a cel ar...' His mournfulness had now acquired a slightly dramatic tone. '...but I have never been so afraid as when I saw the man with the scythe.'

The Doctor wasn't listening, having heard the performance several times already.

Instead, through his spyhole, he watched the Headman gesticulating wildly, the control bracelet on his wrist pulsating. 'Did you notice what the Headman is wearing?'

Mace looked up, annoyed at being interrupted in full flow. 'Should I care?

He saved our lives.'

'For the Terileptils.'

'I thought you wanted to meet them.'

'Not as their prisoner.

Mace clambered to his feet. 'I tell you, sir, I have reached the end.' This time the tone of his voice was without histrionics.