"There you go. Perfect! Not twenty feet from the saucer."
"Thanks to my calculations," the Master stated blandly.
"And my piloting! Anyway, never mind that..." He winced and pressed his hands over his ears. As if sensing its proximity to its nest, the captured vampire lifted the pitch and volume of its distress cry to the barely audible but piercing level of a thousand separate dog whistles. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"No," the Master said. He dimmed the console room lights almost to nothing.
"Hm. Wonderful things those mechanical ears of yours."
Shackled securely to a wall down in the depths of the Tardis, the vampire maintained its scream. The Doctor kept his hands over his ears and operated the door control with his elbow.
"Right. All going well I'll see you in a couple of hours. Good luck."
"Likewise, I'm sure," the Master responded while the Doctor dashed out, across the surface of the saucer and went leaping into the cover of the rocks on the far side. Released from the soundproof confines of the Tardis, the creature's call rippled out across the countryside, echoing off the clustered rocks and vibrating the metal of the saucer's hull. It was a matter of seconds before the first movement was visible at the hatch.
Poking its head out into the unfamiliar and threatening environment of daylight, the creature was hesitant at first, pawing vaguely at its great lidless eyes, but the scream drew it like a leash, and with each passing moment it could be seen to be jostled more and more violently by those milling behind it inside the ship. At last with a frantic dash across open ground it galloped on all fours at high speed straight through the Tardis doors and into the welcoming gloom beyond. Emboldened by its lead, the rest of the creatures came surging out of the hatch like a bubbling geyser, pouring into the Tardis in a single living wave.
From his hiding place the Doctor watched with satisfaction the last straggler rush after its fellows, and the doors swing shut at its back. The sound of the creature's distress call and the thundering footsteps of those heading to its rescue were cut off as if they had ceased to exist and silence descended over the landscape.
"There," he said smugly, ignoring the fact that there was no one here to observe his success. "Was that difficult?"
--------------------
Eventually the creatures had succeeded in freeing the prisoner from its shackles and had come rushing en masse back to the darkened console room where with an air of blank incomprehension they had found the immoveable doors securely closed. Now they prowled around aimlessly, not panicked, not violent, but exploring their new environment with wary curiosity. The Master stood in their midst and disapprovingly watched one clambering about on the rotor.
"Well, this is quite a good plan, I suppose, but I still prefer my idea. Much less untidy. I hope you're all house trained."
He frowned impatiently at the impact of one of them leaping onto his back. It wrapped its spindly arms about him and with the chitinous edges of its wizened mouthpiece started trying to get purchase on the synthetic material of his throat in a fruitless quest for blood.
"Ah," he remarked, shrugging his shoulders in a lethargic attempt to shake it off. "I can see you were one of the stupider members of the crew. You were probably captain."
--------------------
Alison had just about managed to get her boots off before collapsing exhausted on top of the bed covers. It seemed just seconds later that she was being shaken awake and Jenny's voice was whispering urgently in her ear:
"Please, miss, you have to wake up! Something terrible's happened."
"Stop shaking me," she mumbled. With an effort she managed to stretch her eyes open and focus on Jenny's anxious, furtive face.
"It's his lordship," Jenny hissed. "He heard us! He heard us talking about where the goblins live. He's taken his gun and he says he's going up there to finish them off once and for all."
"What?" Alison slumped her head back against the pillow in weary disgust. "Oh God, he'll mess everything up! We'd better get after him."
She struggled about clumsily on the bed and managed to topple herself off the side onto the floor where she groped for her boots. By the time she had finished lacing them on, her head was starting to clear and in making for the door she managed to brake to a halt without blundering into the two women who stood there.
Lady Carstairs was in her dressing gown as usual but had straightened it about her waist and shoulders and inserted a few pins to bring some order to the disarray of her hair. While Charlotte hovered wanly, a limpid presence at her shoulder, she gave Alison a haughty look.
"And where do you think you're going, young woman? Don't you think his lordship will be better off without you to worry about while he engages on this dangerous expedition?"
Tired, harassed and ill-tempered, Alison folded her arms.
"No, I think the Doctor will be better off without having to worry about his lordship charging around waving his gun about. Can you get out of the way, please?"
Lady Carstairs' nostrils flared.
"Who on earth do you think you're talking about? He is Lord of the Manor, Justice of the Peace, his family has owned this land for three hundred years. You're nothing but a..."
"Don't say it," said Alison with a scowl. "Now shift yourselves."
She brushed between them and they parted for her unresistingly, unprepared to deal with such a contingency. She looked back at Jenny.
"Coming?"
Lady Carstairs turned on the maid, eyebrows arched.
"I think not, Jenny."
Jenny looked straight at Alison, then with widening eyes like a trapped animal switched her glance between the two women in the doorway. She lowered her head shamefacedly.
"No," she murmured.
"Fine."
Alison turned abruptly and marched off down the landing.