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'Varsh!' Keara screamed, flinching, arms raised pathetically over her face as the Marshmen
advanced. Had the Doctor observed her, he might have considered the irony in that her stance
almost exactly mimicked that of the Marshchild when faced with Omril and the other citizens earlier.
Varsh still carried his satchel. In a vain effort, he removed it and threw it at the nearest of the
Marshmen. It did little to harm the creature, but the bag's contents - components of all kinds -
spilled out across the floor.
Amazingly, the Marshmen seemed to lose interest in the youngsters. They lowered themselves to
the floor to examine these strange objects, intrigued by them, trying to deduce their functions.
Varsh remembered what Romana had said about their intelligence.
Keara grabbed his arm and started to pull him with her towards one of the passageways. 'Varsh,
come on, let's go!'
Varsh went with her. 'Move, Tylos!' He and Keara ran off.
But Tylos remained where he was, staring across at Rok. The foreman was cowering by the
entranceway, one of the less inquisitive of the Marshmen towering malevolently over him. He was
whimpering with fright.
For a moment Tylos was undecided, then he committed himself. He sprinted across to the
entranceway, grabbed Rok's arm and pulled him out from in front of the Marshman. 'Run!' Tylos
urged him.
Tylos watched as Rok made his dash for the safety of the passageways, and then the Marshman's
arm closed around the young hero's neck. Tylos felt himself being bent backwards by the creature,
hardly able to breathe, totally helpless.
Rok hesitated by the entrance to one of the passageways, considering Tylos's plight, his strong
instinct for survival battling with his weak conscience.
Casting the youngster from his thoughts, he turned and ran from the boarding area just as fast as
his legs could carry him.
'She could be anywhere.'
The Doctor made this observation as he and Adric came to a halt at yet another passageway
junction, having well and truly lost the flimsy trail offered by the objects they had found scattered
around the passageways. 'There must be a better way of doing it than this,' said the Doctor and,
looking round, recognised the passageway designation notice on the wall next to him. They had
been here before. 'We've come full circle,' he sighed, then walked on regardless. Adric followed.
'That's what the Decider said,' Adric piped up after a moment.
'Decider?'
'Decider Draith. At the marsh. His last words.'
The Doctor stopped dead. 'What words? Tell me what he said - exactly.'
'There's really not much to remember. He just said, "Tell Dexeter we've come full circle."'
'"Tell Dexeter we've come full circle"?' The Doctor reflected on this, then gave Adric a sideways look.
'How's your knee, by the way?'
'Oh, that was hours ago,' Adric said lightly, and lifted his knee. The Doctor frowned at the sight of
the healed flesh through the tattered hole in the knee of the trousers.
'This is typical, is it?' he asked. 'Wounds healing at this speed?'
'Old people take a bit longer - sometimes a whole day.' There was a gleam in the Doctor's eyes
now. 'Rapid cellular adaptation - that settles it.'
'Settles what?'
'Back to the Science Unit.' The Doctor whirled round and headed back along the passageway at a
brisk pace. Adric raced to catch up.
At the passageway junction, they stopped as the starliner's address system crackled into life. The
Doctor recognised Login's voice.
'All citizens remain in your quarters. All citizens remain in your quarters. The starliner has been
boarded by hostiles. Steps are being taken...'
'Varsh!' Adric cried.
The Doctor turned to see Varsh and Keara running along the passageway towards them, out of
breath.
'What's going on?' the Doctor wanted to know.
'It's the Marshmen!' Keara gasped.
Varsh was looking round. 'Wait - where's Tylos?' Suddenly aware that Tylos was most likely still
trapped in the boarding area, he looked Keara in the eye and said, 'I'm going back.'
'No!' Keara begged, afraid for him.
'I'll see to Tylos,' said the Doctor, and he started to usher them off down another passageway. 'All
of you take cover. In the Science Unit. Wait for me there.'
'Doctor, I want to come with - ' Varsh began.
'In the Science Unit!'
Aware that the Doctor would not be swayed, the youngsters submitted, and started on their way
to the Science Unit.
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