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sighed, backing away from her.
Adric leapt between the two of them, shooting a jet of oxygen up towards Romana's face. She
swiped at him, annoyed by the blast, but Adric avoided her attack and continued to direct the
oxygen at her.
Romana's arms waved feebly, her eyes started to flutter. Without a sound, she collapsed on the
floor.
Adric switched off his cylinder.
The Doctor patted the youngster on the back. 'Well guessed, Adric. Obviously her affinity with the
Marshmen is more than just psychological.' He turned to Keara. 'Quick - the serum.'
Keara found it on the workbench and stood ready with it.
'Adric. Varsh,' said the Doctor. 'Go and find Login for me, and bring him here. It's very important. If
you come across any Marshmen, use the cylinders on them. On you go, now, hurry.'
The two brothers started towards the doors. 'What if the Marshmen come back for you?' Varsh
asked.
'We've plenty of oxygen here. Don't worry about us. On you go.'
'We'll be back as fast as we can!' Adric promised.
The two boys hesitated in the doorway, making sure the coast was clear, then sprinted away down
the passageway.
'Now, Keara, the serum, if you please?' The Doctor held out his hand and Keara gave him the
serum. He selected a hypodermic syringe from a tray of equipment attached to the operating couch,
proceeded to fill it with the serum, then said, 'Now. Help me get Romana up here onto the couch,
would you be so kind?'
Login led his small party of men along a totally silent, unsettingly deserted passageway, gesturing
them to caution and quiet.
At the corridor junction ahead of them they heard the roars of Marshmen. With urgent waves of his
hand, Login directed the others to press themselves back against the wall. They held their breaths
as the Marshmen appeared from around the corner.
There were two of them, staggering backwards, retreating from the oxygen being directed at them
by Varsh and Adric.
Login's eyes lit up as he saw the youngsters. 'Adric!' he cried. 'What's happened to Keara?'
'She's safe, sir,' Adric assured him. 'She's with the Doctor in the Science Unit.'
'Can you take us to him?'
'Follow us. Come on, Varsh!'
They gave the Marshmen another burst of gas, then turned and hurried away along the
passageway, Login, Garif and the citizens running with them.
Romana lay inert on the Science Unit's operating couch as the Doctor inserted the needle of the
syringe into her left arm. Keara watched intently as the Doctor eased the emerald-coloured serum
into her blood system.
'Suppose it doesn't work?' she asked.
The Doctor carefully withdrew the needle from Romana's arm. 'Then she's dead.'
The Doctor handed the syringe to Keara and she placed it on the tray next to the couch. 'Keara...
how long is it supposed to be since the starliner crashed?'
'Forty generations.'
'Forty generations. That's a good round figure.' The Doctor frowned and moved quickly across to
the microscope. 'Can't be right, though.'
Keara crossed towards him. 'Why not?'
The Doctor bent over the microscope again. 'Evolution goes in quantum leaps,' he said. 'But it
doesn't happen that fast.'
Keara frowned. 'What are you doing?'
'Karyotype comparisons. Analyses of the cell nuclei of these various specimens.' He stood aside to
make way for her. To be polite, she bent towards the eyepieces.
Keara saw a microscopic view of the cell nucleus of the tissue specimen, the light and dark bands of
the stained chromosomes showing up clearly.
The Doctor removed it, replaced it with another specimen. Keara could notice little or no difference.
'Definitely morphologically similar karyotypes, wouldn't you say?' he asked.
'Em... yes,' said Keara uncertainly, stepping back from the microscope and allowing the Doctor in
again.
'Of course,' the Doctor went on, effecting minute adjustments of the magnification, 'these inversions
in bands eight to ten might be significant... we need to establish how long the evolutionary process
has taken.'
'From spiders to marsh creatures?'
'From spiders to marsh creatures... and beyond.'
Before Keara could query the Doctor's cryptic remark, a figure moved between them and bent
interestedly towards the microscope.
'You could try gel electrophoresis,' Romana suggested, lifting her head to smile widely at them.
Quite her old self.
Silently, carefully, Adric and Varsh led Login and the others into the boarding area. At the sight of
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