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.Professor Shaw will probably be there tonight too, and that’s the other reason I ask this of you – you can also warn her, if there is any danger.’Jo thought hard.If Liz was in danger and the Doctor was out of the way.‘All right,’ Jo agreed, finally.‘But how will I get in?’Anya considered a moment.‘Naturally, you will need to look inconspicuous.Perhaps you could dress as a nurse –most of the palaces in St Petersburg have had some wings converted into hospitals.The nurses’ uniforms we use here at Tsarskoe Selo are just the same as the ones used in the hospital wing at the Moika.’Jo looked doubtful.‘I might be asked to do something actually medical, and I’m not sure.’ she demurred.Anya nodded decisively.‘In that case, it would be safer if you appeared to be just a member of the domestic staff.If you are dressed as a maid, you should not attract any undue attention.’The icy wind threatened to freeze Kuznetzov to the spot, as he lay flat on the roof, hanging on for dear life.His eyes were stinging from the smoke and steam flowing along the rooftops, and he could barely make out the dead trees that lined the track on either side.This wasn’t the way he had anticipated making the journey, but he wasn’t going to let the Ochrana take him, not while there was a breath left in his body.There was a clatter from the front end of the carriage, next to the coal tender.To Kuznetzov’s dismay, the Doctor pulled himself up onto the roof.He adopted a cautious defensive stance as Kuznetzov rose.‘Yes,’ the Doctor said in self-satisfaction.‘I thought you might be up here.’‘You are not calling for your friends?’‘We’re both scientists, Academician –’‘Besides,’ Kuznetzov went on mockingly, ‘you want your police box back.’‘Yes,’ the Doctor admitted.‘It contains some very important equipment of mine.’‘I’ll wager it does.I’ll tell you what, Doctor, give me the key, and tell me how it transports itself from one place to another, and I’ll provide evidence that you and your friends are innocent.’‘I’m afraid any evidence you produce now wouldn’t be believed anyway.You’ve cried wolf once too often.’Kuznetzov nodded.‘Then I’ll just have to take it from you.’He lashed out with a hand, but the Doctor dodged, bringing up his own hands.Kuznetzov ducked, sweeping his leg round to knock the Doctor’s feet out from under him.The Doctor let himself roll aside, out of Kuznetzov’s way, and got back to his feet.‘I must say you’re keeping spry for your age.’‘You forget, Doctor, I’ve been travelling along the trans-Siberian railways for years.I’ve been all over Mongolia and northern China, with and without official permission.’ He lunged again, aiming the heel of his hand for the Doctor’s nose.The Doctor ducked so that the blow merely grazed the side of his head, and struck back at a nerve cluster.Kuznetzov’s whole right side suddenly went numb, and he could feel himself fall backwards.An instant before he fell off the edge of the carriage roof, the Doctor grabbed his jacket, and pulled him to safety.‘And perhaps you don’t realise that I was once a student of Wong Fei Hung himself,’ the Doctor said.The numbness faded as Kuznetzov coughed through the smoke that was enveloping them from the engine.His mood suddenly lifted, as he recognised the flaw in the Doctor’s strategy.He was trying to merely subdue his opponent, and also making efforts to ensure that Kuznetzov didn’t fall off the train.Since Kuznetzov had no such qualms about the Doctor’s wellbeing, the advantage was all his.Reinvigorated by his realisation, Kuznetzov lunged forward, carefully keeping his balance against the juddering of the carriage and the icy wind, pummelling the Doctor with rapid punches.The Doctor blocked them all well, as Kuznetzov had expected.Without breaking the rhythm of his movements, he swung around, spinning a reverse kick at the Doctor’s head.The Doctor swayed aside and jabbed at a nerve point on Kuznetzov’s knee.Kuznetzov landed painfully on his back, icy fire blooming throughout his left leg.The Doctor looked down at him disparagingly, his hair whipping back in the chill wind.‘You know, there’s really no need for all this.’ Behind the Doctor, Kuznetzov could see a low bridge approaching.Kuznetzov got a foot under the Doctor’s chest, and grinned, grabbing the Doctor’s throat.All he had to do was hold the Doctor’s head up a little, and the bridge would take it off.The Doctor stopped struggling, and must have realised that something was up.He couldn’t press himself flat, or pull away, but at the last moment he flung himself sideways.They broke apart, the Doctor rolling across the carriage roof, and over the edge.Kuznetzov saw his hands grab at the roof, and heard the meaty sound of the Doctor slamming into the carriage wall.Carefully, not wanting to overbalance or be hit by a branch,.Kuznetzov pulled off a shoe, and with a grip around its toe smashed its heel down on the Doctor’s hands in turn.The Doctor was being constantly buffeted by the wind, as well as choked and blinded by smoke, and knew he couldn’t hang on much longer.Especially under the pounding from Kuznetzov’s shoe on his knuckles.He also knew it was surely only a matter of time before a tree branch clipped him.Holding on as tightly as he could, he pushed himself out from the side of the carriage with his legs, and kicked out sharply at the window.The astonished passengers who had been watching him shielded their faces against the flying glass as the Doctor swung inside feet-first, moments before a gnarled set of branches seemed to claw the side of the train.Kuznetzov pulled his shoe back on, and started along the train’s roof, trying to get as far as possible from the carriage which held the Doctor.He knew that in minutes his pursuers would come up here after him.Up ahead, he could see the approaching lights of the Tarkhova Halt.It was just a small local station serving the town of Razliv, but he knew the train would stop there.Already, he could hear the brakes start to screech as the train slowed.Kuznetzov flexed his muscles slowly, trying to bring them back to life without cramps.It didn’t help that his lungs and eyes were full of smoke from the engine.The train slowly ground to a halt, and finally bumped to a full stop.Carefully, so as not to make any sound in the carriage below, Kuznetzov made his way along the roof of the train, to the last carriage.There, he climbed down the door jamb, and on to the platform.There were some sympathisers in this town, he recalled, who had a house with a barn.If he could just find that, they’d be able to get him across to Finland, and safety.Not to mention a warm welcome for the success – mostly, in all the important areas – of his mission.The train was starting to pull out of Razliv when the Doctor burst into the compartment with Kit and Vasiliyev [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]