Leto considered the Doctor to be a far more valuable hostage, but he was the one that the Master released. The cuffs were unlocked and as he stood up he exchanged a glance with Jo, just a moment, but Leto felt the comfort that the young woman drew from that brief acknowledgement.
"Well?" demanded the Doctor, turning to the Master.
"You're going to go back to your UNIT friends."
"Buying you time?"
"Precisely, Doctor. And I expect you to do as you're told, or Miss Grant will be the one to suffer."
The Doctor glared at his adversary, but said nothing. The Master opened the door and invited the Doctor to leave the house. He pulled his velvet jacket straight and, with a final glance at Jo, stepped outside.
The Master turned to Leto. "Take one of the guns, and make your way out by the gardens. They're overgrown enough to give you cover. Create a distraction then make your way round the vehicles as best you can. I'll meet you there."
"Right."
Leto sped away, picking up her gun and darting out the kitchen door. There were no shots as she dived into the undergrowth. Staying perfectly still she counted away the seconds until a minute was up and then began to make her way towards the woods that lay some hundred metres hence.
For the first time since she had arrived on Earth she let down her mental shields and tried to sense where the soldiers were. The sting in her head was immediate, and she bit down on her lip to stop herself crying out. But she could feel them now; she knew where they were and she knew that she could get to the cover of the trees without being detected.
Once past the tree line, she saw the first soldier and raised her gun, firing twice in quick succession. At least one of the bullets hit him and he went down. Leto moved on.
Her gunfire had caused quite a commotion and whatever attention had been given to the Doctor's departure from the house now seemed to be refocused on her. She increased her speed, circling as best she could and thankful that, though alien, these humans had minds that she was capable of seeing.
She had made it back to the edge of the woods, around her she heard the echo of minds and the shouting of orders; men running as they were hastily redeployed.
Too much noise, she thought, trying to see the best route to where most of the vehicles were.
Then there was another gunshot. And Leto didn't realise that it had been aimed at her until she saw the blood spreading out across her clothes.
She tried to move, but her body refused to co-operate and she fell back against the trunk of a tree.
Her eyes closed.
- - -
There was nothing to do in the cell and the boredom was beginning to grate. Her shoulder had been bandaged, but whatever painkillers Leto had been given were beginning to wear off and the ache was terrible.
She lay on the thin bunk, her eyes closed, trying to sleep.
"Good afternoon."
Some time later, she didn't know how long, but it was the Doctor and not one of the humans whose questions she'd been studiously ignoring. Leto sat up, wincing a little as she shifted her weight.
"How long am I going to be kept here?"
"Until your trial, I expect."
"Ah." She nodded and stood, facing the Doctor, quite calm. "But they don't kill their criminals."
"No, but the soldier you shot died, and murder is still a very serious crime."
"What happened to him?" She didn't need to say his name; the Doctor wasn't stupid.
"Gone. With that artefact, whatever it was."
"Good."
The Doctor took a step towards the bars, his expression serious. "Leto, you are going to be on this planet for a long time, if you co-operated it would be easier for you."
"I don't know what the Master was doing."
"I see." The Doctor turned to go.
"Wait!" She approached the bars. "I really do not. But if I'm going to be locked up anyway…"
"…something more isolated could be arranged."
"But only if I co-operate with you."
The Doctor shook his head. "No, I'd try to convince the Brigadier anyway. But he'd be more amenable if you co-operated."
Leto brushed a hand against her forehead, suddenly very tired. "I saw the artefact, as it really was. Just for a few seconds. And there were symbols. I don't know what they meant, but I do remember what they looked like." She reached a hand through the bars. "Let me show you, Time Lord."
He took her hand, and still it was like he was some particularly convincing hallucination, but she sent the memory anyway. He closed his eyes and she let go.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it to hurt."
"No, I'm fine. It's just been a long time since…yes, I recognise those, an old dialect." He frowned, eyes distant.
"What do they mean?" she asked.
"Kingmaker."
- - -
So ends The Other Side of the Coin.
The next story in the cycle, Kingmaker, follows the Master as he discovers the secrets of the artefact.