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'I'm fine. Just a little sad... it was such a magnificent machine.'

Adric was amazed. 'That machine tried to kill you!'

'It was a slave. It was only doing what it was told.'

Nyssa stood up and started to brush the dust from her tunic. 'I think we should check to see how much damage has been done to the TARDIS.'

Unable to comprehend why Nyssa should be so depressed, he followed her into the corridor. 'What about the Doctor and Tegan?' he said as they entered the console room.

'Where do you think we should start looking?' said Nyssa as she examined the console.

Adric felt the bump on his head again. It was beginning to throb. 'Tegan must still be at the house. And with that thing destroyed,' he said, indicating a piece of the android which had been blown into the console room, 'it's safe to go back there now.'

Nyssa pointed at the scanner.

'It's dark. Aren't you forgetting the woods are full of your friendly villagers?' She looked pointedly at Adric. 'I would have thought you'd had enough of their company for one day.' Nyssa continued to move around the console removing fragments of metal and examining the switching mechanisms for damage.

Adric watched. He knew what he was about to say would not meet with her approval.

'There is a fast way of getting to the house,' he said quietly. 'We could go in the TARDIS.'

Nyssa looked up, her face flushed with anger. 'No!' she shouted. 'If you move this ship, we could finish up anywhere.'

'And if we don't,' he said solemnly, 'the Doctor and Tegan could finish up dead.'

Chapter Eleven

At the manor house the Doctor examined the heavy lock on the front door.

'Wel ?' said Tegan.

He shrugged. 'Without the sonic screwdriver, there's little I can do.'

'Maybe our actor friend could pick it.'

The Doctor stood up. 'Not this time... We'll have to use the window.'

Quickly they made their way back into the main hall. As the Doctor tried the window, Richard Mace appeared at the landing door, loaded down with weapons and flasks of gunpowder.

Tegan was amazed. 'Where did you find those?'

'In a cupboard on the landing,' said Mace, somewhat embarrassed, 'I felt that as the owners are no longer of this world, they wouldn't mind a poor thespian borrowing them.'

The Doctor smiled to himself as he struggled to open the window.

'Is that the way you propose to leave this building?' Mace asked.

'The main door's locked,' said Tegan.

Mace waved a hand over his portly frame, now made even larger by an array of pistols protruding from his waistband. 'I would never get through.'

'You might if you abandoned some of that junk,' said Tegan tartly.

'Junk!' screamed Mace theatrically. 'This, madam, is our insurance!'

The Doctor jumped down from the sill. 'You can stop arguing. None of us will be able to get through the window. It's been sealed.' Mace held up one of the powder flasks draped across his broad chest and said, 'I could blow out the main lock.'

'It would be quicker and safer to find the back door,' said the Doctor, making for the landing.

Suddenly they heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS.

Mace unshouldered his musket. 'What's that?' he said, ready to fire his weapon.

The Doctor smiled. 'It's all right. It's help, if we're lucky.'

But something was wrong. The TARDIS had almost materialised when it started to fade again.

'What's wrong?' said Tegan.

'I don't know.' The Time Lord looked worried.

'What's this?' said Mace, watching the fading blue shadow in amazement.

The Doctor and Tegan exchanged worried glances.

'It may be the only glimpse you'll get of my TARDlS,' the Doctor said quietly.

Inside the TARDIS, some very strange noises were coming from the console.

Although she felt on the verge of hysteria, Nyssa said, 'We must try and stay calm.'

The TARDIS creaked and lurched. Nyssa looked around the console room, worried that it might be about to break up.

'I should never have allowed you to talk me into moving the TARDIS.' Adric flicked more switches, which only seemed to aggravate