Chapter Eight
Benny's feet were still trying to find the ground when she felt the Doctor's hands on her hips, lifting her down.
'Come on!' the Doctor shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her along.
Benny looked up. The Martian ship was still only travelling at walking pace, but it drifted over the rooftops with the inevitability of a thundercloud. The whole sky was dark metal, twisted into alien shapes. They jogged underneath it, clearing its underside.
'Don't look back!' the Doctor yelled at her.
Benny swung her head forwards. 'The UNIT office!' she shouted. The ship was heading straight for UNIT. Half a dozen troops in body armour and powder-blue helmets were coming out of the door, setting up position.
'Halt or I fire!' one shouted, until the Doctor waved a UNIT pass underneath his nose.
'Get clear, Lieutenant, there's nothing you can do,' the Doctor bellowed, still moving for the door.
The sound of hatchways retracting, metal grinding against metal.
The soldiers stood their ground, levelling their machine guns.
'They're using sonic cannons!' Benny called back. 'You haven't a chance.'
She was through the door, now, into the deserted reception. It was brightly-lit, with a reception desk that curved smoothly around. Large pot plants were placed around the area to reinforce the impression that this was just another governmental agency. The illusion was spoilt when the Doctor reached over the desk and flicked the switch that opened the entrance into the rest of the building - there weren't many quangos whose office doors were built from three-inch armour-plating.
