4. Finding the Plan.
Arrival.
There is a heavy thud and the ground shakes.
"What was that?" Devyon asks. No-one is likely to know. He opens the Tardis door. "I'll go and see."
He sets out in the direction of the log cabin. He has tree cover for most of the way. Although this is useful to keep him from being readily seen or detected, the downsides include being unable to see the log cabin. One of Crystelle's clones catches up with him. "It's ok, we know what the thud was. The Master has arrived. All of our bugs show him. Come back now."
Devyon turns. In front of him he sees Crystelle. Whether clone or not he isn't sure. Crystelle's make-up pen has worn off her clone's face. He embraces Crystelle and kisses her. Her clone is glad of the attention. It's been like stopping having a relationship but seeing another copy of herself, the master copy, continue where she wanted to carry on. "Thank you," she says. They hold hands as they happily return through the woods to Crystelle's Tardis.
"I must make some more clones of myself so you can have one of me, too," Devyon says.
"Thank you," Crystelle's clone says. "I'll really look forward to that." She is unsure what to say, but this will definitely be welcome.
Devyon pauses. He recognises that all of Crystelle's clones must feel lonely or sad. "I'm really sorry. I had thought that only the master Crystelle had feelings. I'm sorry, I was clearly very wrong. I'll make it a promise to make more clones of me. You are identical. How can I love one of you and not the others?" He kisses the clone again before they go into the Tardis and resume their posts.
The Master is making a plan to team up with the Cybermen. "Cyberium Twelve. Koshan ought to be the best unit to speak to. Commander of the Cyber Fleet. A very capable unit."
The Master keys in an entry code and an in-air display opens up. It shows twelve entries, one for each Cyberium planet. "Cyberium Twelve," the Master says as he selects from the list.
The next display page shows commanders on Cyberium Twelve. He selects Koshan.
No communications happen. He tries Cyberium Eleven. "They were active even fairly recently".
The display fades away. No communications ensue. "Just as if they aren't there," he says. "Oh, waste of time." Suddenly impatient, he thuds his fist down on the table. All the equipment jumps as the table isn't very strong!
Listening in, Crystelle knows exactly why there is no response. "I obliterated the Cybermen not long ago," she boasts. This isn't quite true. Obliteration wasn't actioned. But she thinks she defeated them!
The Master displays his bitterness in a snarl. "Even the Daleks won't dare to fail to respond to my plan."
Crystelle feels that the communications need to be inhibited. There might be some Dalek base that the Master might be able to reach. Most undesirable!
The Master opens up the in-air display again. It shows fewer entries.
Crystelle photo-records the contact options. "That might be very interesting," she says.
The Master leaves a message for Dalek Fleet to meet him above Earth. "I have a most advantageous plan for both of us," he promises.
"Just as well we have his communications inhibited," Crystelle says. "He is likely to go to Earth to try to meet the Daleks there." She addresses the Tardis. "Tardis, can we follow the Master without him knowing, please?" This is a stealth move, but they must never be detected. "Fasten your seat belts!"
Turbulence.
The Tardis zizzes. Suddenly they all have to hang on and rely on their seat belts. It is as if there is severe turbulence.
"Tardis, can you scan where we are to see what's wrong?" Crystelle says.
The Console monitor shows… they are on an aeroplane. "What?" Crystelle has read about these things. "Why are we on an aeroplane?" She heads for the Tardis door. When she opens it, she finds she is alone in a small room with a metallic door. "I'll go and investigate," she says, holding on to a tap. Water splashes everywhere and she finds another thing to hang on to. Her hands now feel sticky. She is damp but not soaked. She opens the metallic door.
The aeroplane has a full load of passengers as she clings to each seat as she makes her way along the aisle. She looks out of the window. There is the Master's Tardis hovering just out there.
A stewardess approaches her. "Please make your way to your seat immediately. What are you doing out of your seat?"
Crystelle hasn't got a seat. She mustn't be detained by on-board security, if they have any. "I'm sorry, I was in the loo," she says.
"I can see you had an accident in there," the stewardess says sympathetically.
The turbulence ceases, the seat belt signs go off, and there's a queue to join before she can rejoin her Tardis.
"I'm sorry, I must return to the loo," Crystelle says to the stewardess. She joins the queue. So frustrating to have to queue to get back to her Tardis!
Crystelle has a thought for the passenger behind her in the queue. She turns and says, "if I don't come out in under a minute, could you just open the door and carry on?" How else can she let the queue resume using the facilities? "Promise me you won't worry about me?"
She is very relieved to get back to the Tardis. She has left the loo door unlocked for the next passenger. Too bad if they make a fuss about a disappearing woman in her early twenties!
"Tardis, can we follow the Master again, please?" But the Tardis just stays there.
Has she missed the Master getting too frustrated with the Dalek non-appearance to stay around?
Then the Tardis zizzes. Finally, the Master has got fed up and moved on.
The Master has never been stalked before. No one person would be able to do it. No-one would have dared! Certainly, no Gallifreyan would have dared, knowing what the Master was like. And no-one else would have a Tardis. Yet Crystelle feels that it is the only way to successfully outwit him. She has some backup plans if things go wrong, but nothing very much. Nothing ever goes perfectly.
Should Crystelle be stalking the Master? Will her mission be successful or even useful? Is Crystelle crossing too may boundaries? What danger is she in?
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