UNIT returned far more quickly than the Master had expected; only a few minutes after he believed that he had identified the correct artefact taken from the museum, and this time it was clear they were here for more than a polite questioning: three armed soldiers were approaching the house.
Leto had obviously noticed as well, and he heard her quick footsteps upstairs. She ran down the stairs to the cellar, pale but composed.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Stall them," ordered the Master. "If they split up, attempt to incapacitate them."
"What about you?"
He turned to face her. "You are concerned for my safety?" She didn't answer. "Yes, I can see that you are. Has it occurred to you that if UNIT capture me, then you will be free?"
"I gave you my word. I do not know your people, but on my world that is not done lightly."
"Your world is dead."
"Why are you trying to anger me?"
He sighed, and took another glance at the scanner. They had only a few minutes before the soldiers arrived. "Perhaps because I find your concern puzzling, my dear. I am quite capable of taking care of myself. Now, please, go and greet our guests." As she ascended the stairs, he called after her, "And remember, you are a British citizen who finds this violation of her rights quite appalling."
- - -
Leto didn't get the chance to open the door. Captain Yates and the two soldiers accompanying him simply walked into the house. She remembered her accent, her poise and strode into the hallway in a fury.
"How dare you! You are aware that this is private property?"
"Madam, this is a matter of national security," answered the Captain.
"Does that mean that a warrant is not required? Captain, I want the name of your commanding officer, and I want to know what you are doing in this house without permission."
"We do have permission. From Sir Percival Baldwin." He took a step towards her and Leto glanced at the revolver he was carrying. "And he has never heard of you. Nor did he expect to hear that anyone was staying in his home."
"There must be some sort of mistake," tried Leto.
"I'm afraid not. Now, things will be a great deal easier for you if you co-operate."
Leto folded her arms, turned away from him.
"We know you're not here alone. We found the driver that you convinced to take you back here. We know that you're working with the Master."
Leto gave him a dispassionate glance. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Where is he?"
"I am the only occupant of this house, Captain." She spoke quite calmly, but was disturbed by what she felt from Yates at that moment: a sudden, violent stab of hate.
He glanced at one of the soldiers. The shorter one, with fair hair and a snub nose. "Search the house," he ordered. "And be careful."
Leto held her breath, but the soldier walked towards the stairway.
When she looked back to the Captain he was watching her, studying her, but she did not look away. "The telephone, please."
She shrugged. "If you insist."
The closest telephone was located in the library opposite, but since the Captain didn't know that, she didn't tell him. Instead she took the corridor towards the kitchen. It turned a corner twice before it ended, and she thought that would give her enough of an opportunity.
The first turn took them out of sight of the guard. She glanced behind her; he had drawn the revolver. It was a precaution, nothing more; she felt no fear from him, no sense that she was a real threat to him.
Leto moved round the second corner a fraction more quickly, using her speed and body to disguise and hide the fact that she'd grabbed an ornament - a thin, smooth sculpture of a woman - from the side-table in the corridor.
She adjusted her footing and in a single smooth movement swung around and slammed the ornament into the Captain's face. His eyes went wide and he collapsed to the floor.
The gun had fallen from his grasp and she scooped it up, checking with a glance that he was still alive. She aimed the gun, but killing him would serve no purpose. He was unconscious and would be so for some time.
Quickly, Leto made her way back to the front door; the soldier there was already dead. Keller, of course. He would have gone to deal with the one upstairs; she could wait. Or she could run. There was a vehicle outside. She had seen it operated, it wouldn't be impossible to drive.
But where could she go? She knew little of this world and, for Keller, betrayal was a mortal sin. If he ever saw her again, he would kill her.
Leto went through to the front room, waited for Keller. A few minutes past before she heard him at the door, pushing it open.
"Where is Captain Yates?"
"Unconscious. Near the kitchen." Leto turned, raised her gun. Keller wasn't armed, but that gave her little confidence. "Who are you?"
"Do I detect a change in loyalties?"
"Tell me!" She brought a second hand up to the gun, steadying her aim. "He did not call you Keller. And he hated you. Hate, like poison; it was so dark, so putrid. What did you do to him?"
"A lot less than what I did to you."
"We made our own mistakes, and we paid for them."
"What a noble sentiment."
"What I>are /I> you?"
"I am a Time Lord, and I am the Master." As he spoke, she saw it again, the power, the alienness of him. She did not move as he approached her, as he reached out and took the gun from her unresisting hand. "That was a very foolish thing to do, Leto."
"I'll pay for my mistakes too," she said.
"You could only lose your life, and that is not my wish. Now bring the good Captain down to the cellar, and then finish preparations for our departure."
- - -
The Master left Captain Yates tied up in the cellar, with a meticulously set-up poison gas bomb. It would seep slowly into the cellar, only releasing lethal amounts of gas when the door was opened.
To the Master's delight, it seemed that the Doctor had finally shown some interest in UNIT's investigation. As the second car, filled with the Master's equipment, pulled out of the driveway and proceeded along the back road out of the estate, the scanner that Leto was checking identified a ridiculous yellow car heading towards the house.
"It's a shame I won't be able to say hello," said the Master. "But there'll always be another time."
The Master's pleasure was, however, short-lived.
It seemed that UNIT had not been quite so complacent as he had believed and a quarter of an hour after making it to a main road, he noticed that they were being followed. He switched their route, changing back to country roads and hoping to lose them in the twists and turns, however their car was not only distinctive but slow, relative to its modern counterpart.
They were going to be caught.
"These humans," said Leto, "they have a reluctance to kill, don't they?"
"When presented with a choice, they generally prefer to let even their most implacable enemies live, yes." They were driving too fast, and even with the Master's superior hand-eye co-ordination, Leto was afraid that the car would go off the road any moment.
"Then let me jump out. These roads are narrow, and if they do not wish to run me over they'll have to stop. It may give you the time you need to return to the TARDIS."
He glanced at her, frowning. "Is this self-sacrifice or a bid for freedom?"
"If you have another suggestion, I would be happy to follow it."
He nodded. "Alright, Leto. Wait until we reach a corner, keep your head tucked in and roll when you reach the ground." They came to a straight and the Master lifted his hand from the gear stick, touched her cheek. "Do not betray me."
She looked into his eyes. "I won't."
She opened the door, but held it pressed against the car, waiting. As the car swerved, she watched the speedometer drop, and then she jumped.
For a moment, she felt nothing, flying through air, then she hit the ground, hard. She rolled, felt her arms cut against the ground as they protected her face. With a gasp, she realised that she had stopped and, using the last of her strength, she pulled herself onto the road.
There were waves of pain and she wondered if she'd broken any bones. She hadn't heard any cracks, but everything was beginning to look very far away. The UNIT vehicle was drawing closer, she could hear it.
But then everything went black.