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Cobra from his shoulder holster into his hand. Taking careful aim he
fired at one of the tentacles holding him captive. His second bullet
severed one tentacle, but the others tightened their grip.
'That won't help you, Filer.'
Filer said nothing. He knew the Master was right. Even if he
scored a hit every time which he wouldn't there were still too
many tentacles and too few bullets. Persuasively the Master
continued, 'If you'll only listen to me, we can both escape.'
'Oh, sure.' Filer gave a scowl of frustration. Here he was just a
few feet from the man he'd been hunting and he couldn't do a thing
about it.
The Master went on talking. Despite himself Filer found his
attention caught and held by the deep, persuasive voice. 'Listen,
Filer! We are both prisoners of Axos. Whatever our differences we
must join forces.'
'What is Axos? Where do they come from?'
'Nowhere.'
Filer said stubbornly. 'Everything's gotta come from
somewhere.'
'No, Filer. The Axons have no home planet. If you like, this
ship is their planet. They float in space, searching for food, for
energy. They are scavengers of the universe...'
'So how come they chose Earth? Did you bring them here?'
'I had no choice. They captured me, absorbed me. They forced
me to bring them to a living planet. It was the price of my freedom.
And then they tricked me. If you don't help me, Filer, this whole
world, your world, will be doomed.'
Filer considered. 'O.K. I can't get in any worse mess. What do I
do?'
'You see that small nodule, high up in the wall? It is the nerve
centre of this cell. If you can hit it, the shock will disorientate it, at
least temporarily.'
'And that'll give us our chance?'
'Our only chance! '
Filer looked doubtfully at the tiny projection. He was a fine
pistol shot, and under normal conditions he would have felt pretty
confident. But conditions were anything but normal. Trussed hand
and foot, in poor light. he would have to shoot at a half-seen target
with his hand stretched awkwardly across his body. Taking the best
aim he could, he fired. A tiny hole appeared at the edge of the
nodule. Filer looked at the Master. 'So? Nothing happened.'
'You must hit the centre, Filer. The exact centre.'
Filer fired again and again. The shots were close but not
close enough. He looked at the Master. 'Last chance!' Taking careful
aim, he squeezed the trigger with agonising slowness. The revolver
cracked and a hole appeared in the very centre of the nodule.
Immediately there was chaos. The tentacles loosened their grip
and lashed aimlessly about. Lights flickered madly and even the
walls and floor seemed to ripple with shock. The Master gripped the
inter-twined tendrils that formed one wall and ripped them apart.
When the gap was big enough, they forced their way through it and
tore off down the corridor.
Jo was still trying to convince the Brigadier of the Doctor's
treachery. 'You know how obsessed he is with getting the TARDIS
going again? Well, he's talking Time Travel with Winser. He's got
the idea that Axonite will help him to get away from Earth.'
The Brigadier looked doubtful. It was true enough that escape
from Earth in the TARDIS was the Doctor's prime concern. He'd
only taken the job with UNIT in return for laboratory facilities to
work on his TARDIS. Even so, he'd given valuable help in the past
and the Brigadier found it hard to accept that his old friend was
planning to betray him. Worriedly he said, 'Keep an eye on the
Doctor by all means, Miss Grant. It's Chinn I'm worried about. He's
been away for ages now. What's he up to?'
As if on cue Chinn bustled back into the chamber, the Axon
leader beside him. Chinn was in high spirits. 'It's all over, Brigadier.
I've reached full agreement with our friend here.'
The Brigadier realised that he'd been outflanked. Chinn had
been back in the Axon ship for some time engaged in a private
conference with the Axon leader. Importantly Chinn went on, 'Britain
now has the world rights to Axonite.' He took the casket from Winser
and tucked it possessively under his aim.
The Brigadier's voice was cold. 'You leave me no alternative,
Mr Chinn.' He drew his revolver and levelled it at the astonished civil
servant. 'I'll take charge of that.' Taking the casket from Chinn the
Brigadier gestured with the revolver. 'Now then everyone shall we
go?'
Herding Chinn ahead of him, the Brigadier led them from the
chamber. The Axon stood silently watching, making no attempt to
stop them. When he stood alone in the chamber a sibilant voice filled
the air.
'Energy crisis in cell area. Investigate.'
The Axon turned to leave. Before he did so he spoke to the
Axon woman. 'Further personalisation unnecessary. Commence
reabsorption.' He hurried away.
The beautiful golden-skinned woman stepped back against the
wall. Her beauty dissolved into a mass of writhing tentacles which in
turn merged into the wall of the ship. Now she was once more part of
Axos.
The journey back to the Mobile H.Q. was made in an awkward
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