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himself the greatest and be master of them all. But the Doctor had
always been one degree better, one step ahead; worse, the Doctor did
not care whether he won.
In all their subsequent encounters, the Master had sought to destroy
the Doctor while the Doctor tried only to prevent the Master from
harming others. The Master pursued the Doctor across the universe.
The Doctor did not care whether he ever saw the Master again. It was
this, he realized, that was unforgivable.
In the early days he had carried off the prizes and the praise that the
Master so desperately wanted from their teachers, but the Doctor had
not valued the prizes and he was indifferent to the praise. He had
robbed the Master of his position at the top and he had humiliated him
by his casual attitude to what was the other Time Lord's whole reason
for being.
Now the Master pursued him with hatred, continually forcing him into
confrontations, power struggles and duels to the death. The Master
had spent hundreds of years plotting the Doctor's destruction, but the
Doctor gave no indication that he ever thought of his enemy unless he
had to. What his attitude implied was that he had more important
things to think about, and that was unforgivable.
The Doctor sighed. It was probably unfortunate that he had not
considered all of this several millennia earlier when he could simply
have let the Master beat him at chess.
He waited for the other to speak again. The Master simply stood for a
long moment, petting the heavy kitling that had climbed into his arms.
He watched the other Time Lord. The Doctor could not read his
expression but he could swear that the Master was gloating.
Ace had finally started to breathe normally. She lay still at the edge of
the water, her head pillowed on her arms. As her breathing slowed and
quietened she felt exhaustion creeping along every bone and muscle.
The sun steamed the moisture out of her clothes. She couldn't move;
she just lay there blinking sleepily at the pattern of light on the water.
The sun glinted off each wavelet in a pattern that blurred to a sparkling
dazzle as Ace's eyes focused and defocused. She did not know how long
she had lain there before she noticed the colour of the light had
changed. A warm, pink light made a path across the water. Slowly, Ace
raised her head and looked up.
The planet's moon was rising, a soft globe of peach-coloured light. Ace
gazed up for a long moment. In her exhaustion the moon seemed the
most peaceful, soothing thing she had seen for as long as she could
remember.
She heard hoofs approaching and staggered to her feet. She darted into
the shelter of nearby boulders and crouched there, peering out.
On the other side of the lake a Cheetah Person on a horse was
approaching. It seemed as if it was barely conscious; the creature
slumped forward in the saddle. The horse headed to the water's edge
to drink, carrying its rider with it. As the horse's head dropped to the
water, the Cheetah roused slightly. It looked round blearily before
dismounting - it almost fell in the attempt. It slid on to all fours and
crawled to the water to drink in its turn. Its head bent, it lapped a little
water. Slowly its head came up again. It seemed to be staring straight
across the lake at Ace.
Ace caught her breath and tried to flatten herself further into the
boulders. The Cheetah had a dark blaze of fur on its face. It was the
animal that had eaten Stuart, the Cheetah that had led the attack on
the milkman. It was the same creature that Ace had struck with her
second rock; she could see the wound on its head.
The Cheetah's gaze shifted. Ace realized it was looking past her into the
sky. She turned.
Another tranquil moon was rising in the sky behind her, spreading more
warm light over the water. As Ace gazed at it she heard an unearthly
yowl. Her head snapped round again.
The Cheetah was baying at the moon. Its head was thrown back and its
furry throat throbbed with the cry. Ace watched wide-eyed. The animal
threw back its head to howl again but the sound changed to a choking
cough. Panting, it lowered its head and tried to lap again at the lake.
There was blood in the water where its mouth had been. Its eyes were
half-closed; it breathed in quick shallow breaths, its sides heaving. For a
third time it lowered its head. This time it slipped under the water up to
its shoulders. It didn't move again.
Ace peered further out of her hiding place. The Cheetah still didn't
move. Slowly Ace stood up. She was poised to run.
A few bubbles of air broke the surface beside the animal's head. Ace
began slowly to walk towards the creature but quickly broke into a run.
She hestated once she reached the motionless Cheetah.
Its horse cropped grass peacefully beside them,
undisturbed. The Cheetah lay submerged, there were no air-bubbles
now. Bending abruptly Ace heaved at the body and pulled it clear of the
water. She rolled it onto its back.
The Cheetah lay with its eyes closed; it did not appear to be breathing.
Ace studied it. It had been lighter than she expected and its fur was soft
to the touch. Looking at it now she saw how human its shape was. It
was a female, like a woman covered in short-haired fur. The ears were
flat to its skull, its terrifying yellow eyes hidden. It seemed smaller too,
hardly any taller than Ace.
Curiously Ace leaned over to touch it again. Like a cat, its fur ran in one
direction. She stroked it down, feeling its smooth softness under her
hand.
The Cheetah's eyes opened and it stared up at her.
Midge was crawling along the ground. The heat of the sun hammered
in his head like the pounding of his heart. His knees and the palms of
his hands had been torn by the rocks. He no longer knew why he was
moving. He could hear the hoofbeats, slow now behind him and the
sound still drove him forward.
At last he raised his head. He was back in the valley he had first run
from. Blinking dazedly he recognized the slope the milkman had run
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