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Chapter Nine
Goodbye To The Alphabets

Because of the interruption from his companion, the Doctor had not opened the hatchway. He had, however, left it ajar, much to the delight of the KGB.

After some struggling with the frozen hatch, it was finally levered open. The KGB men were beside themselves when they saw that the artefact actually contained something of value. The unfortunate Agents A and B had to struggle again to remove what appeared to be a robot from inside the cramped interior of what could only be a space ship.

After much grunting and groaning, the frozen robot was out and being carried, with more grunting and groaning, back to the base camp. As the group was climbing out of the fissure, they saw the helicopter carrying Mischa the Cub and the body of the downed agent fly overhead. The KGB men waved frantically to their superior in a futile attempt to signal him of their discovery

Mischa saw his men waving and simply waved back, thinking they were making their way into the fissure rather than out again.

It was not until one of the men remembered the R/T in his pocket that he was able to contact the helicopter with news of the robot. The Russian told them he would send the helicopter back for them at the hut. Since there would not be room for the alphabets, he gave orders for them to be eliminated once they reached base camp.

* * *

At the base camp, the Mischa the Cub had scarcely left the building when a small sack under a table came to life. Eroica had looped the chain of the dog whistle over a small button on the front, hoping this would keep him from getting lost inside the pocket dimension. To his delight, it had.

As he crawled out of the sack, he reflected that there were no words in his considerable vocabulary to describe the interior of the pocket dimension. The only thing that came to mind was that it was very, very big.

Eroica took a moment to get his bearings again. He watched as the helicopter took off and inwardly wished he had an anti-aircraft missile to launch at it—and the skill to actually hit it.

Turning from the window, he smiled as he took in the contents of the room. This was going to be fun. “Like taking candy from a baby,” he said as the first item vanished into the sack.

Within an hour, Eroica had stripped the hut clean. The only thing left standing was the stove in the center of the room, which he had left because he preferred not to freeze while he worked.

The sound of voices alerted him to the return of the KGB and he looked out a window, seeing Agents A and B carrying what looked like a frozen body between them. The two remaining KGB men were following behind with their guns out.

Eroica turned and took in the completely empty room. Then he looked at the sack in his hand and an evil smile came to his face.

* * *

Agents A and B entered the hut and stopped dead.

“Don’t stop, you two,” came an angry voice from behind them. “Move.”

“It’s empty,” A said, turning to the KGB man behind him. He was rewarded with a shove that sent him staggering further into the room. It also caused him to lose his grip on the robot and it fell to the floor with a loud clang.

“What do you mean empty?” the man snarled. “It can’t be—” He broke off, looking around in blank astonishment. “What the hell?”

His partner found a small sack lying on the floor and opened it.

What happened next shocked them all.

A blond vision in white suddenly sprang from the sack like a genie from a bottle. He had an enormous smile on his face. He also had a wooden chair in his hands, which he promptly brought down onto the head of the nearest KGB man, knocking him into an unconscious heap on the floor.

Taking their cue, Agents A and B sprang at the other KGB man, dragging him to the floor and sending his gun spinning across the room.

Eroica used what was left of the chair to subdue the struggling agent before finally greeting the stupefied alphabets. He told them what he had done and they in turn told him of the discovery of the robot. They also told him that the helicopter was due to return for the KGB men, who were supposed to eliminate them before leaving. Eroica suggested that they hijack the helicopter themselves and use it to return to Reykjavik.

“Do you know how far away that is?” Agent B protested.

“Not really,” Eroica replied breezily. “At least it’ll get you off this bloody glacier.”

Agent B was forced to agree with this. He was not all that pleased when the thief announced he was keeping the robot. Before he could stop him, Eroica had slipped it into the magic bag from which he had appeared. Since B had no idea how the thing worked, he doubted he would be able to retrieve it. His only consolation was the fact that the Major was dead and therefore could not scream at him for letting Eroica spirit away the artefact they come after right under his nose.

* * *

Eroica watched in some satisfaction as the helicopter lifted off, bearing the alphabets to safety. That was for you, Major, he thought. For all his show of disapproval, he knew the officer would have wanted his agents safely away from the KGB.

Eroica turned, looking back at the inert forms on the floor. Before leaving, the alphabets had taken great pleasure in binding the KGB man together.

“Let them get out of that,” Agent A had said, giving one of the men a savage kick. It was all too obvious that none of them cared for these men.

As the helicopter vanished over the horizon, Eroica started back toward the TARDIS with his booty, and the added bonus of the robot from within the alien ship.

* * *

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