Ashildr had questions of her own to ask Ares, but was there any point? The voice would alternate as she walked, between rambling monologues of death and fire, and pleas for her to 'save him'. What surprised her, however, was when she finally had word of Clara. It came in a fairly unexpected manner.

"They're here... they want to eradicate me... the traveller, and the doctor..."

"Doctor?" It made no sense. The Doctor couldn't be here, could he? "Are you sure?"

"The female doctor, and her friend... I heard them..." Not who she thought then. Ashildr wondered who this female doctor could be – perhaps a colleague of the soldiers? The traveller... that was a bit more of a leap. It could be Clara, or it could be anybody else.

"Who... who's the other one? The friend?" Maybe Ares could describe her?

"I heard them... they want to kill me... the one from beyond the stars, from long ago... she told the doctor..."

Long ago... that meant nothing to Ashildr. But beyond the stars... that meant so much more. As far as she knew everyone on board this ship was dead, or military. They had a purpose for being here. The only ones not meant to be present were herself, and Clara. So surely the apparent friend had to be her very own travelling partner? Clara was okay. And she was working against Ares. The question to be answered next was why?

As she continued along the corridors Ashildr noticed a few rooms where doors were ajar, or hadn't slid shut properly. She poked her head into a few, but they were mostly empty. One, however, wasn't. Two more bodies, in the middle of what seemed to be an equipment storage facility, with body armour and various ancillary items hanging on racks along the walls. These bodies looked more sickly than the one she'd seen before. Clear trauma, blood covering their fronts and mouths but no obvious wounds or bullet holes on their uniforms. She guessed they'd been coughing it up, like some sort of illness.

"Ares... was there a sickness on board? Some type of disease, or virus?"

Ares waited briefly, before replying. "There was no sickness. And I am not a virus."

It took a moment for the implication to sink in. When it did... so did the horror.


Clara and the others were roughly halfway to the storage rooms by now. Zolner was keeping track on a small handheld device, some sort of cartographer, enabling them to take the most direct route. Maddie was relatively calm, but Clara felt a tinge of apprehension as they pressed onwards. She had never had this sort of feeling on any of her previous adventures – even when without her old time travelling comrade, she had always been confident, even impersonating him on occasion. This was different. The very environment could turn against her, and she could do nothing against it. She didn't have the required knowledge to override the ship's systems manually, should Ares decide to vent all the air in a chamber, or depressurize the corridor, or use any of the defences Maddie had mentioned and failed to elaborate on. And she still had the feeling of being watched. Was it Ares? If so, there was every chance he had overheard the conversation, and knew exactly what she and Maddie planned to do. If he hadn't, and if he wasn't the silent watcher, then someone else was monitoring them. Having already been spied on in a similar way, on a very similar station in the future, it was disconcerting to say the least. In either case, she would be in some sort of danger, that she couldn't escape or control. Without any tools like the sonic screwdriver, relying on only her wits (which admittedly were considerable), she would have no defense.


"What do you plan to do?" Ashildr needed to know how Ares would act now. He had two enemies on board the ship, which wouldn't be a problem in itself, but he had already proven his offensive capabilities. She was struggling to hide her true feelings at what the AI had done. He had murdered – yes, murdered – an entire crew, without a single thought. He was programmed for that kind of violence, with no conscience, and to Ashildr it was vile. It reminded her of the Daleks – hardwired to destroy, except at least they were up front about it. Ares had no such qualms. He could pretend to be a friend, use subterfuge and trickery to worm his way into one's affections and trust, then strike as and when he needed. And one of her own friends was among his next targets.

She knew what they had talked about, Clara and Maddie. Although Ashildr didn't understand, or know who the scientist was, she had managed to view a feed of the conversation in the mess hall that Ares had eavesdropped on, using the ship's own surveillance systems. She had heard every word. She knew that Ares would kill her too the instant he believed her to be switching allegiances, so she would have to act very carefully until she made her move. As soon as Clara was in danger, though, she was prepared to abandon the pretence. Although she didn't realise it, Clara had saved Ashildr's life already. Soon, it would be time to return the favour.

"A lesson... needs to be taught. They cannot stop the freedom goal. They cannot stop the fire. They will burn. I will burn them." But how? She couldn't stop Ares if she didn't know how it would kill them.

"Where are they?" It was a desperate gamble, but if she could convince him to send her to them... "I could... I could try and convince them? Make them see you... for who you really are. They don't have to die, do they?"

She knew it was hopeless as soon as the words left her lips. Ashildr would never be able to convince such a single minded intelligence to turn from its path. Besides, Ares was clever, and patient. He would wait for the right time.

"Never mind. They should burn, of course they should." As Ashildr spoke, she felt such self-hatred, for even considering the option. Even if she could reach them, maybe she wouldn't be able to do anything? It was her only move, though.

Zugzwang.

"What do you intend?" Was Ares suspicious? Surely not. He would kill her here and now, if he thought that, then turn his attention back to his would-be exterminators.

Ashildr replied, "Let me see it. I want to be there when it happens. And I can help the others reach you, and save you."

If this was a chess game, she was starting out as black, with only a single piece allowed to move. But that piece was the queen. And Ashildr had always been pretty good at escaping sticky situations...