10—Three Times the Charm

After twenty-nine minutes the Doctor roused everyone and had them load up. "Papa, we remembered to grab the anti-venoms and antidotes, right?"

"I think they're in your pack, Adora. That reminds me; we'll need to find a way to avoid stepping on any of the traps. How many magnets do we have left?"

"We've only used one of the small ones, Father," Kenarn reported.

"And cable?"

Thalmidor looked and said cautiously, "We used about twenty feet to tie up the Ravenous, Bugblatter Beast of Traal, so maybe 180 feet . . ."

The Doctor declared, "We may need all of both to get through. We can shoot a magnet up to the ceiling and attach a length of cable to it, then swing over to safety."

"How will we get them to the ceiling, Papa?" Adora wanted to know.

"Do we have a lot of flares, Kenarn?"

Kenarn looked and replied, "One hundred. That should give us plenty to fire and still be able to light up a room."

The Doctor smiled. "We can attach small magnets to the flares with the hyper-duct tape. Adora, you have the map; does it show how many traps there are?"

Adora tapped on the screen, frowning. "It isn't coming up; maybe we can't see until we start. I hope it gives us a good bit of map at a time rather than square by square; it'll go faster. How much time do we have left, anyway? Do we know?"

Kenarn looked at the wrist-strap and shrugged. "It's navy blue now, but that doesn't really give us a time frame. It started at a robin's egg blue, so . . ."

"That's not encouraging," the Doctor commented. "Still, we're doing the best we can."

The unseen voice announced, "Who Family, get ready for Level Three—more dangers, yet closer to the goal of freedom. Here comes the final section of—The Game!"

The Doctor went first, following Adora's direction, and the twins went last. They were able to jump over most of the traps, but others they had to bypass by using cable and magnets. They traveled for about twenty minutes before the way in front of them became pitch black. The unseen voice announced, "The Who Family is now in a position to show their true strength and cunning against our Special Challenge. Is it an Ice Warrior, a troop of Cybermen, a Dalek? No, this challenge is far more difficult; they will be going up against three, yes three—Raston Warrior Robots! Will the Who Family survive—Man Versus Machine?"

A door opened in front of them to reveal a brightly lit, large, triangular-shaped empty room. They were at the top corner of the triangle. Far to the left and right and straight across from them at the other end of the room were three figures, all motionless. They were smooth and lithe, as though someone had sanded all the features off a human and dipped it in silver. Beyond the robots was a door, presumably to the end of the challenge.

The Doctor looked very grave. "Raston Warrior Robots are the deadliest androids in the Universe. They react to any movement at all. They have armaments built in that shoot from their arms—metal arrows with sharp edges. They can teleport in an instant and are impervious to energy weapons, including plasma rifles. I'll demonstrate what they're capable of."

He rolled the ball into the left side of the room. Instantly the three androids appeared around the ball and shot at it with their arrows. One of them hit the ball dead-on and stopped its motion, pinning it to the floor. The three teleported to the door, stood for a minute, then instantly appeared back at their posts, appearing to freeze into position once more.

Kenarn frowned. "What can we do, Father?"

The Doctor started pacing. "I have no idea."

Thalmidor thought for a moment and asked, "You rolled the pool ball pretty slowly; would they be able to react to something faster?"

"What did you have in mind, Thalmidor?" Kenarn asked.

"I was wondering if we could trick them into firing at one another, or something. Kenarn, humor me—shoot a flare at the one straight across from us, and see what happens."

Kenarn took the gun and fired. The two farthest robots closed in on the one in the middle, but did not fire. The flare hit the middle android and blew up, smoking, but did not damage it. "Doesn't look like they consider themselves to be targets," he commented.

"But did you notice, Kenarn, they didn't react quickly enough to fire on the flare. They're speedy, but they can be outrun."

"Not by us," the Doctor said. "But there must be a way!"

"I have an idea, Father, but it involves a big risk," Kenarn said earnestly. "I need to enter the room for just a second. If I die . . . you can't blame yourself, you just can't . . . everyone move back into the hall, just in case."

He dashed into the room. He went only far enough to step in, then was out again. An arrow shot past him as the robots converged, but he got out in time.

Kenarn smiled and said, "Good, I got one of the arrows! Now, let's see . . ."

He took a magnet and activated it. The arrow pulled itself out of the wall and stuck fast to the magnet in his hands. Kenarn whooped, crying out, "It'll work! All we need to do is get a magnet toward the center of the room and they'll all get stuck."

"But how do we get something fast enough?" Thalmidor asked. "The flares are fast, but you can't attach a big enough magnet to one. If we had a rocket . . ."

The Doctor stood to his feet, a light in his eyes. "We do have one—the champagne! Shake it up and uncork it and it'll act like a rocket. But how do we uncork it fast enough?"

"Father," Kenarn responded, "remember the disintegration mines? We can blow up the cork without damaging the bottle, and it'll shoot into the room. All we have to do is attach a big magnet to the bottle and we've got them all!"

Quickly the three men set to work. The Doctor used the hyper-duct tape to attach the biggest magnet to one side of the bottle. Kenarn set a disintegration mine on the cork, and Thalmidor sprayed the bottom of the bottle with the friction-removing spray. Adora went through their items and removed everything the magnets might influence. The Doctor shook the bottle of champagne vigorously for several minutes, then set it on the floor and told Kenarn, "Now!"

Kenarn activated the mine and the champagne bottle shot into the room. Thalmidor watched as the three androids converged on the bottle, then activated the magnet. The three machines were slammed into the side of the wall as the magnet pulled them to itself and the wall.

"There's one more problem," the Doctor observed. "They can still shoot us."

"I think the magnet's strong enough to redirect the arrows, but there's only one way to know," Thalmidor told them. "I'll be careful, Father, I will . . ."

Thalmidor came in cautiously. An arrow whizzed out, but got captured by the power of the magnet and bent back on itself and the mass of metal. "We've got it! Let's hurry . . ."

The four ran across the room and made it to the door, closing it behind them. There was a short tunnel in front of them, with a bright light at the end. As they stepped out the unseen voice boomed, "Congratulations, Who Family! There is one Challenge Question left before you can take on the Final Challenge! The Question is—"

"Wait just a moment!" The Doctor interrupted. "What about our clue?"

"The clue will be revealed at the end of the question. You have one minute, and again Doctor will speak for the family."

"Do we still get three questions?"

"Yes. Now, the final Challenge Question: A woman was locked in a room with a calendar, a bed, and a piano. How did she eat, drink, and get out of the room? Each item is tied to one goal. Your clue is—the calendar provides food. Your time starts—now!"

Adora shook her head. "I don't know about this one . . ."

Thalmidor looked puzzled. "I have a question . . . would we be able to do what she did? Maybe there's something special about her . . ."

The Doctor asked, "Would we be able to do the same as the woman did—eat, drink, and get out, using the same equipment?"

"No. Two more questions."

"Is the woman a normal woman?" the Doctor questioned.

"No. One more question."

"Is the woman the key to the puzzle?" the Doctor asked.

"No. No more questions. Forty seconds."

"I can't think," Adora muttered. "We're missing something . . ."

"What food can a calendar give anyone?" Kenarn asked. "It's just a bunch of dates . . ."

"Exactly!" the Doctor exulted. "It's not real, it's a word puzzle. She ate dates off the calendar. Now, what in a bed can get you out of a room?"

"I don't know . . ." Thalmidor mused. "Wire to pick the lock?"

"You're going about it wrong, Thalmidor," Adora corrected, "it's a word puzzle. A bed has a mattress, coiled springs . . ."

"Springs!" the Doctor exulted. "The woman drank water from the springs. And now, the piano . . . the piano . . . keys! It's the keys!" He announced, "The woman ate dates off the calendar, drank water from the bed springs, and used the piano keys to get out."

"Impressive, Who Family—you are correct! You have successfully answered Challenge Question Three. Now, for the Final Challenge—the Mile Mirror Maze! You have eleven minutes to get from this spot to your vehicle at the other end. There are no traps or tricks, simply a labyrinth of mirrors, and all of you must be at the other side before time runs out. You start—now!"

"We have to hurry!" Adora called out. "The walls aren't that high so we can . . ."

"Hang on," Thalmidor said. "Father, can I stand on your shoulders?"

The Doctor was puzzled, but boosted Thalmidor up. "What do you see?"

"I was afraid of that," Thalmidor said grimly, climbing down. "The Mile Mirror Maze is just that—a mile long. We don't have a chance without—"

"I've had about enough of this," the Doctor declared. "Boys, we're going to get to the middle of that maze as quick as we can. Dead ends don't matter as long as you're near the center. Adora, stay with me."

The family wound through the maze as quickly as they could. The voice from above intoned, "Three minutes remaining."

"Boys?" the Doctor called out, "Set your sonics to setting twelve and hold on!"

Adora could hear a ringing getting louder and louder. The Doctor turned on his sonic and set it to a high pitch. The mirrors shook, hummed loudly, and shattered into fragments.

"Make a run for it!" the Doctor yelled.

Everyone went racing toward the TARDIS as fast as they could, the Doctor scooping up Adora as she would never make it on her own. The voice counted down, "Thirty seconds . . . twenty . . . congratulations, Who Family, you have completed the Final Challenge. Unfortunately, you have violated the last rule of The Game as you have significantly damaged the playing field."

"I can't get in," the Doctor called, trying to fit his key into the TARDIS lock. "There's a force field . . ."

The voice boomed, "You will therefore be executed by your choice of method, no limitations or exceptions. You can choose to die in separate ways, or all the same, as you see fit. The little one will be first so she does not have to see the rest of her family meet their ends. You have two minutes to decide on your method of death. Feel free to discuss your choices and anyone can speak for the family or themselves."

The crowd gasped, then started "booing" their displeasure.

The Doctor sank to the ground. Adora went to him and put her hands on his shoulders telling him, "It's all right. You did the best you could; we all did. Boys, come here and . . . boys?"

Thalmidor and Kenarn were having a frantic, whispered conversation in front of the TARDIS with a lot of pointing and wild gesticulations. Kenarn turned partway around and asked, "Anything? Absolutely anything?"

"Yes," the voice rang. "There are no limitations or exceptions."

The twins talked a few seconds more, then turned around, grinning. "Then we all want to die . . . of natural causes!" they announced in unison.

The arena went utterly silent.