It took a few minutes of his sonic screwdriver wailing like an off-key Freddie Mercury, but the Meddler soon had the initial modifications in place. "It won't hold up for long," he said, thinking he was still speaking to Sarah Jane. "Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. But that should be all we need to get to the mothership." A little more wailing. "Hand me three squares, would you?"
He held his left hand out, expectantly. Nothing happened. "Squares?" he asked again, wiggling his fingers. "Three of them? I need to start assembling the thermal sorter."
Nothing.
With an irritated grunt, he pulled himself out of the blower. There, nearby, stood Sarah Jane talking to her daughter. And an older iteration of her daughter.
Just then, the man calling himself the Inventor scampered up, followed by one of the Specters. "
Okay, here's the remote to the electromagnetic pulse, just push that button and it turns off, push it again and it ill turn off. Now, would you please catch me up to speed on the hot-air balloon?"
"Right, uhm..." he stared at the excitable young man. "What's the range on this remote?" The Meddler pushed the button experimentally, and smiled with satisfaction as the 'converted' collapsed.
Hoaloaka was
not having a good day. He was a soldier - an infantryman, highly trained to break things and kill people, and part of an experimental project that made him
superhuman. But he hadn't signed on to kill or break civilians.
And the 'cybermen' were sending a hoard of civilians at them.
"Never got that much 'incapaciatate without harming' training, Captain," he complained, lifting one of the converts and - as gently as possible - tossing him into an oncoming group. They went down like tenpins, only to struggle to their feet again.
"Welcome to the club, Ho," Captain Hayes grumbled back, tucking two converts under his left arm and trying to decide what to do with them. "Here's hoping Chris wasn't trusting that other guy for no reason."
There were two thunderclaps as Copeland and Dibney took shots on the 'cybermen'. And then Washburn swore. "MacGuyver's rabbiting!"
Hoaloaka said something lengthy, convoluted, and profane as Washburn pounded after the Inventor. "Is it too late to volunteer for the cyborg super-
chef program?" he finished.
Not having come up with a better idea, Captain Hayes tossed the struggling converts at the approaching mob. "You know they make you kill your own ingredients in that program?" he said, "Iron Chef-style?"
"Hell, yeah!" Hoaloaka responded. "Hook me up with a knife and some octopus!"
And then the converts staggered and slumped to the ground. The Cybermen and the Specters stared at each other over the unconscious humans.
"Huh," Hoaloaka said, unslinging his rifle. "Wierd little dude came through after all."
"Yeah," agreed Captain Hayes, unslinging his rifle as well. "Specters? Fire at will."
"Excellent job!" declared the Meddler, clapping the Inventor on the shoulder. "Now, you're familiar with a
Maxwell's demon, right? Get one installed on that blower over there, then join me and..."
The Inventor had wandered over to the balloon to introduce himself to Sarah Jane and her daughters. The Meddler huffed. "A little help?" he shouted. "I'm just
trying to save your planet here! Nothing important!"
"Anything I can do to help, Chris?" asked Washburn.
The Meddler stared up at the Specter's mirrored visor. "Any good at athermodynamic engineering?"
"I'm gonna say... no," Washburn decided.
"Right, then," the Meddler grabbed the discarded lid of the blower, and began cutting it into squares with his screwdriver. "Kill any Cyberman that looks like it's planning to interfere with me, then."
