Dead He was dead How the hell was she supposed to CPR on a man with two hearts? There’s a rip in the fabric of space and time Passenger ships are disappearing from the interstellar traffic lanes In an attempt to find out who’s behind the disappearances, the Doctor and Ace allow themselves to be captured But when Bernice’s rescue attempt goes terribly wrong, the time travellers find themselves scattered throughout history Ace, stranded in Ancient Egypt, struggles to survive in an environment as alien as a distant planet: the Earth 3000 years before she was born She manages to find employment as a nobleman’s bodyguard And then she comes face to face with the metal horrors which have pursued her through time – the creatures she saw kill the Doctor Full-length, original novels based on the longest running science-fiction television series of all time, the BBC’s Doctor Who The New Adventures take the TARDIS into previously unexplored realms of space and time Kate Orman reckons it’s about time she wasn’t the only woman and the only Antipodean writing for the New Adventures Her first book in the series, The Left-Handed Hummingbird, is consistently voted one of the most popular by fans SET PIECE Kate Orman First published in Great Britain in 1995 by Doctor Who Books an imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd 332 Ladbroke Grove London W10 5AH Copyright © Kate Orman 1995 The right of Kate Orman to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 ‘Doctor Who’ series copyright © British Broadcasting Corporation 1995 Cover illustration by Tony Masero ISBN 426 20436 Typeset by Avocet Typeset, 19 Church St, Brill, Aylesbury, Bucks Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd., Reading, Berks All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser For James, Laurena, Andrew, Edward, and Amy Thanks to: Nathan Bottomley for French translations – absolument fabuleux! Kyla Ward for permission to quote from The Traveller Niall and Craig, whose joke it was in the first place The House has set the rules for this, the game is very sure Air to kiss your fingers, cooled in cavern darkness sweet The memory of a feather-moon within the deep azure and dreams lose their distinction as the trees in shadows meet But still the travel keeps you from becoming lost as well you go and you keep going, going, closer than you tell (Kyla Ward, The Traveller) Contents Introduction First Piece: To Break a Butterfly upon a Wheel 1: Initial Conditions 2: Run! Run! As Fast As You Can! 15 3: Interesting Times 27 4: Rent 37 5: Yesterday, When I Was Mad 53 6: In Taberna 65 Second Piece: Butterfly Wings 81 7: Opening Flower 83 8: Mandelbrot Set Piece 97 9: Raiders of the Lost Akhetaten 109 10: Please Do Not Step on the Butterflies 119 11: Open Wide! Come Inside! 127 Third Piece: On a Wing and a Prayer 145 12: In which Ace Traverses a Tunnel Through the Space-Time Vortex 147 13: Intersection of Three Sets 149 14: The Oncoming Storm 163 15: Hurt/Comfort 181 16: Set, Game, and Match 191 17: Exit the Warrior 195 18: The New Adventures 201 Afterword 207 Introduction ‘Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin ‘Once upon a time, the mighty and wise general, Sun Tzu, made an unusual proposal to the Emperor of China Sun Tzu claimed that he was so wise and so mighty that he could teach anyone to be a soldier, no matter how weak or foolish they were Why, even the Emperor’s own harem could become a crack fighting squad ‘The Emperor, laughing at his general’s folly, ordered the one hundred and eighty ladies of the court to attend Sun Tzu’s military lessons The general lined the women up in the palace courtyard and began to teach them how to respond to the drums of war One drumbeat meant they should stand at attention, two drumbeats meant a turn to the right, three meant a turn to the left ‘No, no, no This is relevant ‘When he had finished explaining, Sun Tzu gave the signal for the practice to begin But as soon as they heard the drums, the courtesans started laughing ‘Sun Tzu, managing to stay calm, explained everything to them again Once again the drums began And once again, the harem fell about laughing ‘Still calm, Sun Tzu announced that the courtesans had broken the rules of war, and that he would execute the Emperor’s favourite concubines as punishment He cut off the two princesses’ heads with his own sword ‘Now, when the drumbeats started, the concubines marched in silence ‘Yes I have finished ‘Now tell me: what you think is the moral of the story?’ ... popular by fans SET PIECE Kate Orman First published in Great Britain in 1995 by Doctor Who Books an imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd 332 Ladbroke Grove London W10 5AH Copyright © Kate Orman 1995... The New Adventures take the TARDIS into previously unexplored realms of space and time Kate Orman reckons it’s about time she wasn’t the only woman and the only Antipodean writing for the New Adventures. .. Vortex 147 13: Intersection of Three Sets 149 14: The Oncoming Storm 163 15: Hurt/Comfort 181 16: Set, Game, and Match 191 17: Exit the Warrior 195 18: The New Adventures 201 Afterword 207 Introduction