"How long do you suppose they'll be searching for us?"
"I cannot say," said Alendar. "Lady Victoria, you are tired. You need rest and food..."
"I need to get back to the TARDIS."
"Tomorrow we can try to get past them."
"Oh, tomorrow," said Victoria angrily. "My only friends in the world have been captured by a lot of mysterious soldiers, and we have to wait till tomorrow." After a moment she added, "And you don't have to call me Lady anymore, I'm just Victoria."
The guards nodded politely. They had never been less than polite.
The hoverboat was resting about an inch above the lake's surface, under a shelf of rock that effectively hid it from anyone in the vicinity of the palace. There was a nice view of the lake, and the city on the hill in the distance.
Victoria folded her arms and glared out at the reflected sunset on the water. "Who are all those soldiers, anyway?"
Alendar, the unofficial answer man, gave her a short summary of the death of the Emperor and the Regent's treachery. "The soldiers in brown have been in the garden ever since. We can't figure out where they come from, or why they are here of all places."
The sun was slipping past the horizon. It was less than two days now before the TARDIS was due to appear on the barren landscape of the future Efes. Victoria fidgeted. Then she thought of something else.
"Alendar, do the soldiers stay out all night?"
Alendar looked pensive. "Yes. But there is a change of the guard, at around eight..."
Gamra turned to him. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting? It will be difficult."
"But possible."
"I should have said difficult if not impossible. And how should we get her out again if the alarm is raised?"
"I'll be safe in the TARDIS," broke in Victoria. "All I've got to do is get in, and you can leave if you want to. And the Doctor said the book was essential."
"The TARDIS is no doubt heavily guarded by now," objected Gamra. "Even if we manage to get there what good would it do?"
"Nothing," said Alendar, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Without the proper diversion."
-
An hour or so after the escape, a soldier came to relieve the prison guard. He rounded the corner whistling, and the whistle died away as he saw the open doors, the abandoned handcuffs, and the unconscious guard.
General Sode was not pleased. When Tellisn came before him, mostly recovered from Cerf's stun, the General had not just forgotten why he had ordered Tellisn's arrest. He had forgotten that it had happened at all. He had only one thing to say to the subcommander.
"Find them."
-
It was indeed difficult to avoid all the soldiers in the Emperor's garden, but it was not impossible. By two minutes to eight, as minutes are reckoned on Efes, Victoria was peering over the top of a large boulder, watching the platoon of soldiers in the vicinity of the TARDIS. It was difficult to tell in the dark, but they seemed tired and bored. Understandable; it was the end of their watch, and they weren't expecting anything to happen.
That was when something happened. The little red hoverboat came overhead with a loud roaring noise, as if Alendar were gunning the engines. A sharp spotlight focused on a brown-uniformed soldier hiding behind another boulder and Gamra's voice rang out over some sort of speaker system.
"Drop your weapon and put your hands above your head! You are completely surrounded! Do not move! Resistance is useless! Surrender now!"
The spy fired a brief burst of flame at the hoverboat and fled the scene, chased by seven thoroughly astonished guards. As the hoverboat's spotlight followed them, Victoria ran across the grass to the TARDIS and flattened herself against its back. She peeked around the corner; the path seemed deserted, so she slid over to the doors. She had just turned the key when some more soldiers, evidently the relief guard, came running up the path
Very, very quietly, Victoria slid one of the doors open. Halfway, it creaked.
The lead soldier immediately shone his flashlight on the TARDIS. "Hey! You there, stop!" Victoria ducked inside, seconds ahead of the soldier, and slammed the door shut. The guard rattled the handle, and then started pounding. "Open up!"
Inside, Victoria watched the man on the viewscreen turn to another guard and say, "Go to stores and get a crowbar." She wasn't worried. Despite the fragile outward appearance of the TARDIS, nothing could get in once the doors were locked and the force field on.
There was more shooting.
She found the control for the viewscreen and turned it toward the last location of the hoverboat. There – way off at the peak of the hill, the little hoverboat was surrounded by six bigger craft, being herded down to the castle.