The Dominatrix

Part 5

"Blimey, that was close!" gasped the Doctor, dodging an enormous expulsion of energy as a group of Gimps fired upon the fleeing Chronolord and his Dulsvilian companion; scattering for safety across the dunes.

"They're all around us!" exclaimed Scally, eyeing the advancing robots, "Let's hurry back to the safety of the shelter!"

Presently, the pair returned to the ruins of the war museum; pausing to ensure the ventilation ducts were free from debris before clambering down the ladder to safety once more.

"Phew, it was touch-and-go for a while out there, Doctor - I thought we were goners for sure!" panted Scally, slouching exhausted upon the floor of the fallout shelter.

"Touch-and-go? I was practically touching cloth!" confessed the Chronolord, reclining upon a bunk, "Still, I suspect the Gimps lack the imagination to search for us down here!"

"I haven't run that far in years!" panted Scally, seating himself exhausted upon the floor of the fallout shelter.

"Believe me, it shows!" observed the Doctor, gazing upon the Dulsvilian's fairly flabby frame.

"So what are we going to do now?" wondered the scoundrel, struggling somewhat to catch his breath.

"Well, I daresay the Dominatrix are aware of our handiwork by now, so the shit's probably already hit the fan!" concluded the Chronolord, "I suggest we lay low for a while, before tackling any more Gimps! Also, we need to think of a way of rescuing Honey and the others!"

"Let's take a look outside! See if we were followed!" suggested Scally, staring through the periscope, "Yes, the Gimps are here, alright - only they don't seem to be searching for us!"

As the Doctor took his turn to observe the area outside the fallout shelter, he witnessed a pair of the robots returning to the bore site; immediately the operation recommenced as a laser-powered drill was positioned above the earth, soon cutting into the thin crust of the planet...

*   *   *

"Probationer Virago, what is the meaning of this? Explain!" roared Beldam in rage, returning from the capital; eyeing the smoking body of Bland upon entering the spaceship.

Honey breathed a huge sigh of relief at this temporary reprieve, as the navigator angrily addressed her scowling subordinate.

"We were attacked! Three Gimps have been destroyed!" revealed Virago defensively, "I was merely undertaking essential disciplinary action to determine the identity of the culprit!"

"Essential?" snapped Beldam, "You willingly expend energy, knowing full well our reserves are low - just for the sake of petty vengeance against a hostile primitive! Tell me, Probationer - why has drilling ceased?"

"All four perimeter boreholes are complete!" assured Virago.

"And the central shaft?" questioned the navigator.

"The central shaft is..." began the probationer, before Beldam interrupted her words.

"Is barely even begun! The Gimps' energy is running perilously low, yet you send them searching all over the island!" she accused angrily, "Have the rockets been inserted into the perimeter boreholes yet?"

"There has not been time!" replied the petulant probationer.

"Time?" roared the Navigator, rounding on her subordinate, "Clearly you have time to remove the workforce from their duties, threatening them with destruction - all for the sake of one or two hostiles who have so far eluded us! The central shaft must be completed before we can sow the atomic seed device!"