Crunching heavily across the pebbles, the four mechanical giants made their way up the beach towards the cliff path, their bulky forms greying into the night until all that was visible was the bobbing circles of light that served them for faces.
"Excellent," the Doctor announced loudly. "They're going out in force for safety's sake. What they don't know is, while their backs are turned we're going to have their ship."
He moved out of cover and with an athletic leap plunged down the fifteen foot drop to the hull of the saucer, his coat streaming out behind him and his feet clanging hard against the metal. He straightened and looked back up expectantly at Jasmine.
"I... I can't do that," she called down, hovering indecisively at the top of the cliff in her restrictive formal gown. The Doctor just looked impatient.
"Oh, 'course you can. Now hurry up, we don't have time to mess about."
Jasmine had been brought up to drawing rooms and high tea, and her occasional walks across the moor had been discouraged as being inappropriately physical. She swallowed, peering reluctantly over the edge at the hard metal surface below, and the jet black ocean lapping against its edge, but there was no way out of this. Closing her eyes, she hurled herself into the emptiness, was weightless for a moment, and then felt the metal slamming against her shoes, and the Doctor's hands under her armpits to cushion her fall and bring her to a halt. For a moment she was face to face with him, just inches apart.
"Told you so," he said, and his back was turned again.
"See this?" He was already lecturing when she trailed after him to where he crouched, half way up the slope of the saucer's hull. The opening from which the Klavites had emerged had rolled shut, and its outline was barely visible in the moonlight, but there was a glassy white square just next to it that looked like a chunk of river ice. "Very high tech," the Doctor was saying. "It opens the door in response to one of a possible eighteen billion combinations of sub-etheric signals, and the right combination changes every thirtieth of a second in accordance with a highly complex mathematical algorithm, known only to the Klavites, which allows them to synchronise the signal emitted by their xenosuits with the one expected by the shipboard computer."
There was a pause.
"I didn't understand any of that," admitted Jasmine. "Do you mean we can't get in?"
The Doctor held up the index finger of his left hand, then turned over his right with a flourish as if performing a magic trick, to reveal a jagged lump of rock. Jasmine flinched back as he lifted it and brought it down hard, shattering the opening mechanism into a thousand pieces with a single blow. Tossing the rock away over his shoulder, he reached into the broken hole, twisted something, pressed down on something else, and pulled another thing out, and the ship's door rolled open obediently like an unfurling red carpet.
The Doctor gave her a twisted smile and a shrug.
"Overcomplicated and fragile, as you can see. They would have been better off putting a chair under the handle."
Jasmine leaned over cautiously to look inside, and drew back with a gasp.
"It's full of water!"
It was true. The brightly lit chamber revealed beneath their feet was filled to the very brim with liquid, slopping over the edge a little as the ship rolled in the waves.
"What were you expecting?" The Doctor didn't hesitate, but slipped over the side into the water, which submerged him almost to the chin. "I already told you the Klavites are fish creatures. As far as they're concerned, this is a five-star comfy environment. See there?"
He pointed, and by craning her neck Jasmine was able to see further inside the water-filled room, to where one of the metal giants squatted motionless in the corner. Thankfully its helmet light was dark. It was motionless, and empty.
"One suit means only one crewmember left on board," the Doctor stated. "Shouldn't present you with too much of a problem."
Something distracted Jasmine's attention.
"Doctor! The lights on top of the saucer - they're getting brighter!"
"Ah, right. That means they're getting ready to take off."
"Take off?"
"It's to be expected," said the Doctor calmly. "Every alarm on the ship will have sounded when we opened that door. The pilot's best chance of getting rid of us is to get airborne and try to shake us off. Don't worry. We have a minute or two before he can build up power."
With that he took a deep breath and plunged beneath the surface. As the foam and ripples of his disappearance subsided, he was visible struggling with a square hatch, no more than a foot across, set half way up the wall of the chamber. After a few moments, he dragged the sliding door open with his fingernails and resurfaced, breathing hard.
"Good!" He raked his hands back through his air to push it out of his eyes. "It's as I thought; the internal doors are sturdy enough to stand up to a vacuum in case of hull puncture, but they had no reason to make the locking mechanisms anything special. One good heave to break the magnetic seal and it's like peeling a banana. Now, you remember what the little fellow said about the route to the control room?"
"Yes," said Jasmine, wondering why he was asking her this. "Down the corridor, then third on the left."
"That's right." The Doctor pulled himself up out of the chamber, water streaming from his soaked clothes. "Well, then..." He held out a hand towards the opening as if offering her a seat at the dining table. "In you go."
"Excellent," the Doctor announced loudly. "They're going out in force for safety's sake. What they don't know is, while their backs are turned we're going to have their ship."
He moved out of cover and with an athletic leap plunged down the fifteen foot drop to the hull of the saucer, his coat streaming out behind him and his feet clanging hard against the metal. He straightened and looked back up expectantly at Jasmine.
"I... I can't do that," she called down, hovering indecisively at the top of the cliff in her restrictive formal gown. The Doctor just looked impatient.
"Oh, 'course you can. Now hurry up, we don't have time to mess about."
Jasmine had been brought up to drawing rooms and high tea, and her occasional walks across the moor had been discouraged as being inappropriately physical. She swallowed, peering reluctantly over the edge at the hard metal surface below, and the jet black ocean lapping against its edge, but there was no way out of this. Closing her eyes, she hurled herself into the emptiness, was weightless for a moment, and then felt the metal slamming against her shoes, and the Doctor's hands under her armpits to cushion her fall and bring her to a halt. For a moment she was face to face with him, just inches apart.
"Told you so," he said, and his back was turned again.
"See this?" He was already lecturing when she trailed after him to where he crouched, half way up the slope of the saucer's hull. The opening from which the Klavites had emerged had rolled shut, and its outline was barely visible in the moonlight, but there was a glassy white square just next to it that looked like a chunk of river ice. "Very high tech," the Doctor was saying. "It opens the door in response to one of a possible eighteen billion combinations of sub-etheric signals, and the right combination changes every thirtieth of a second in accordance with a highly complex mathematical algorithm, known only to the Klavites, which allows them to synchronise the signal emitted by their xenosuits with the one expected by the shipboard computer."
There was a pause.
"I didn't understand any of that," admitted Jasmine. "Do you mean we can't get in?"
The Doctor held up the index finger of his left hand, then turned over his right with a flourish as if performing a magic trick, to reveal a jagged lump of rock. Jasmine flinched back as he lifted it and brought it down hard, shattering the opening mechanism into a thousand pieces with a single blow. Tossing the rock away over his shoulder, he reached into the broken hole, twisted something, pressed down on something else, and pulled another thing out, and the ship's door rolled open obediently like an unfurling red carpet.
The Doctor gave her a twisted smile and a shrug.
"Overcomplicated and fragile, as you can see. They would have been better off putting a chair under the handle."
Jasmine leaned over cautiously to look inside, and drew back with a gasp.
"It's full of water!"
It was true. The brightly lit chamber revealed beneath their feet was filled to the very brim with liquid, slopping over the edge a little as the ship rolled in the waves.
"What were you expecting?" The Doctor didn't hesitate, but slipped over the side into the water, which submerged him almost to the chin. "I already told you the Klavites are fish creatures. As far as they're concerned, this is a five-star comfy environment. See there?"
He pointed, and by craning her neck Jasmine was able to see further inside the water-filled room, to where one of the metal giants squatted motionless in the corner. Thankfully its helmet light was dark. It was motionless, and empty.
"One suit means only one crewmember left on board," the Doctor stated. "Shouldn't present you with too much of a problem."
Something distracted Jasmine's attention.
"Doctor! The lights on top of the saucer - they're getting brighter!"
"Ah, right. That means they're getting ready to take off."
"Take off?"
"It's to be expected," said the Doctor calmly. "Every alarm on the ship will have sounded when we opened that door. The pilot's best chance of getting rid of us is to get airborne and try to shake us off. Don't worry. We have a minute or two before he can build up power."
With that he took a deep breath and plunged beneath the surface. As the foam and ripples of his disappearance subsided, he was visible struggling with a square hatch, no more than a foot across, set half way up the wall of the chamber. After a few moments, he dragged the sliding door open with his fingernails and resurfaced, breathing hard.
"Good!" He raked his hands back through his air to push it out of his eyes. "It's as I thought; the internal doors are sturdy enough to stand up to a vacuum in case of hull puncture, but they had no reason to make the locking mechanisms anything special. One good heave to break the magnetic seal and it's like peeling a banana. Now, you remember what the little fellow said about the route to the control room?"
"Yes," said Jasmine, wondering why he was asking her this. "Down the corridor, then third on the left."
"That's right." The Doctor pulled himself up out of the chamber, water streaming from his soaked clothes. "Well, then..." He held out a hand towards the opening as if offering her a seat at the dining table. "In you go."