"Ah. Finally."
Revealed beneath the padding, set into the floor, was a ventilation duct. Not big enough to crawl down unfortunately, barely six inches across, but large enough that having twisted off the protective grill the Master was able to push his left hand down into the channel below. He tapped his fingers in a fast drumbeat against the metallic interior.
"Come along now," he said softly. "Rodent or similar scuttling thing alert. Do your duty."
Keeping up the tapping, he closed his eyes, and listened. A stillness came over him, until a faint hiss heralded the approach of something very small and very fast hurtling towards him along the pipe. With a snarl he whipped his left hand clear and plunged his right down into the aperture to jam down savagely on a compact little metal body. With a fast scrabbling motion he found its edges with his fingers before it could slip away. It pulled strongly but futilely against his grip.
"Got you."
Careful not to scrape it against the rim of the vent, he drew the tiny robotic vermin killer slowly out of its natural environment in the ventilation system up into the room. Its propulsion fields drove aimlessly in one direction then the other in its programmed desire to be constantly on the move. It had the appearance of a huge, legless insect, its deadly antennae waving steadily and glowing bright white at the tips with a charge capable of killing a dozen rats from a single touch. The Master stroked its head absently with the index finger of his left hand.
"Stay calm. I just need your assistance for a moment."
He rose to his feet, moving a little stiffly, and walked over to his cell door. For a moment he just stood there, running his eyes around the barely visible frame, squashed deeply into the padding of the wall. Then with deliberate slowness he leaned forward and allowed the little robot's antennae to make contact, just once, about three quarters of the way up the door's edge.
There was a spark and a crackle, and the Master allowed himself a little smile as the door swung obediently open.
--------------------
The Doctor kept his eyes open on the way back to the Tardis. The sentinels might not be looking for him, but he was well aware of the danger of being caught in the crossfire, or of meeting one which, by now, had become so damaged that it was incapable of understanding its own wrong orders. He slipped into the storage room and found himself staring at a strange robot, blocking the way to the Tardis.
He started back, and stood poised, alert for any hostile move from the android. After a few moments it became obvious it wasn't going to do anything except stand there staring at him and the Doctor straightened, puzzledly meeting the gaze of its dully glowing red eyes.
"Oh..." He gave it a dismissive wave and turned away to squeeze past the Tardis to his computer network linkup. "Later, later."
In the confined space at the back of the storeroom, he immediately knew something wasn't right. The handheld communicator was missing, so were some of the floorplans, the image on the viewscreen had changed and... someone had been writing on the front page of his notebook. The Doctor snatched it up, read quickly, and his eyes grew wide and his hand pressed over his mouth.
--------------------
Crouched in her hiding place in a storage closet, Jasmine winced at the blast of a violent explosion just yards away which rattled her teeth and stabbed into her eardrums. The flimsy door crumpled under the impact, affording her a view of a battered, barely recognisable sentinel, missing a leg and an arm, its remaining bodywork a blackened wreck, hopping determinedly forward and blazing away at a similarly ruined droid at the other end of the corridor. She gave it a few more seconds to get clear, then bolted, out of the closet and into the side passage opposite.
She raised a brisk run, putting the sounds of battle behind her, but she hadn't got far when the communicator she clutched in her right hand along with a sheaf of floorplans started a furious, insistent beeping. She looked down.
"Doctor! You're safe!"
Her face lit up at the sight of him on the little three inch screen, only to fall when she saw his expression.
"Safe? Safe? This station's on the verge of disintegrating around us, it's overrun with crazed killer androids, and who knows what other nasties are out there? Is this really the time to go exploring?"
"I have to get the Master out of..."
"No! No you don't. The Master can take care of himself and he doesn't deserve your help anyway. Have you forgotten he's the one who got you into this?"
"I know, I know. But... this past day... in his way, he's been good to me."
"He has not! Everything he's done has been in his own self interest."
"Yes, but..."
"Jasmine." On the screen the Doctor leaned forward intently. "What happens when you don't do as I say?"
She felt a flare of temper, but swallowed, and with a sigh recited obediently:
"I get into trouble and end up having to be rescued."
"Exactly. So do as you're told, stop being childish, and come back to the Tardis."
She grimaced, and restlessly looked along the corridor down which she had been heading. She found herself lowering the communicator so she wouldn't have to look in his eyes.
"No, I'll be back soon," she said. "I'm more than half way there now. Two thirds, probably."
She set off again, one step, two steps, and then his voice came:
"Jasmine, don't do this to me!"
She'd been promising herself she wouldn't let him bully her, but the note of pleading in his voice made her stop, and lift the communicator to eye level once more.
"Jasmine." His face was pale and strained with emotion. "Jasmine, please, if you ever had the slightest affection or regard for me, please come back to the Tardis."
For a moment they both stood gazing at one another in silence through the medium of a tiny handheld gadget. Finally Jasmine spoke.
"All right. All right, I'll come back."
--------------------
Weak with relief, the Doctor leaned heavily forward on the flimsy table and watched the jolting, ever changing view of the walls and floor as Jasmine headed back towards him at a steady light-footed run through the deserted corridors. She'd made good progress, met no sentinels, and could only be a few minutes away now.
"Once we're back together," he said, "We'll talk about what to do about the Master. You show me where you saw him, perhaps we can help him from here if the computer network's not too badly damaged."
Jasmine's voice was a little breathy from the exercise.
"Well, you should be able to see him, he..."
The picture on the viewscreen jumped wildly, and the Doctor flinched along with it. Next instant the image showed the floor flying up towards the communicator, there was a bounce, and then he could see nothing except an unmoving worm's eye view of the plastic carpet stretching out ahead.
"Jasmine?" Tensely he gripped the edges of the screen. "Jasmine!"
There were sounds, just barely audible. A scuffle, a dull, solid impact, a few grunts, a whimper.
"Jasmine?"
At last the image moved again. The communicator was lifted, turned around, and Feigle's twitching, grinning, wild-eyed face came into view.
"Hello, Doctor. I'm afraid Jasmine's indisposed just now. Can I take a message?"
His high pitched cackle rang out piercingly from the speakers.