Without much success, the Doctor shut off his ‘toy’, returning to true time.
‘So you want to play games, Doctor?’ The Borad’s tone became intimidating. ‘Try using that again!’ he warned.
He prepared to squeeze his time-web trigger once more.
‘Don’t you dare,’ warned the Doctor. ‘You’re aiming at a Kontron crystal. It’s suicide.’
The Borad was unimpressed, ‘Goodbye, Doctor, keep your bluff.’
‘You’ll kill yourself!’ insisted the Time Lord with open sincerity.
A further beam of energy was swiftly despatched from the Borad’s chair, hitting its target squarely on the chest, but nothing happened. The streak of power was simply consumed inside the crystal hanging loosely about the Doctor’s neck. The Time Lord pouted, shaking his head.
The Kontron crystal began to glow brightly, becoming even brighter until it shone a brilliant white. The energy was about to return to its source, and the Borad knew it.
‘Doctor!’ the pathetic mutant screeched. ‘You’ve tricked me!’
The source of energy like a bolt of lightning flashed out from the crystal and boomeranged back to the Borad, slicing into him at the speed of light. A cacophonous noise ended the mutant’s life, leaving a pyramid-shaped pile of dust in the seat of the motor-driven chair. The Doctor passed final judgement. ‘You tricked yourself.’
Herbert still had his eyes closed when he heard his name being called. ‘Who is it?’ he croaked, quaking in his shoes.
‘It’s me! Who do you think?’ growled the Doctor impatiently. ‘Get outside to Peri and try and free her. I’ll try and find the chain release from in here.’
Herbert cautiously opened his eyes and, refusing to look down, slid out of the walkway, obeying the Doctor’s instructions. The Time Lord himself tried various switches, until the third one he pressed was indeed a chain release - but the one that controlled the chain of the Morlox. Glancing sideways at the screen, the Doctor observed the female Morlox break free and lumber towards a screaming Peri.
9
Herbert darted out onto the planet’s parched surface.
Directed by Peri’s shrill cries, he met the full-sized Morlox, not dissimilar in looks to the half-crature he had seen in the vault. Looking around hurriedly he found a large piece of wood once used as a stake and rushed forward, jabbing it into the face of the snarling creature.
The animal, reluctant to be put off its meal, bit at the rescuer’s weapon viciously in an attempt to eradicate it from the duel. Herbert gripped the stake for all he was worth.
The Doctor made his way down the main lower corridor also following his ears, but was stopped in his tracks by the Borad’s personal android programmed to kill. Its bright green eyes ignited like hot coals as the creature raised both arms to attack. Looking behind, there was little to gain by a tactful retreat, especially in the maze of endless corridors.
Fumbling in his pockets, the Doctor pulled out a pocket penknife and removed the Kontron necklace. By a quick two second adjustment the crystals began to heat and smoulder. Thrusting them directly towards the advancing android, the Kontron crystals stuck fast to the chest of the advancing creature and began to eat a hole in its tunic and chest. With a new problem to occupy its program, the Doctor slipped by the smoking android as it fell hard to the ground, wriggling for its existence.
Continuing his path outside, he bolted to help Herbert who was quickly losing ground, as well as his wooden weapon.
The Bandril ships had increased in number on the central scanner. Vena had counted them as twenty-two - a complete battle complement.
‘It’s no use,’ insisted Mykros, ‘they just won’t answer my signals. I’ve tried every channel and frequency. I wish the Doctor would come back and help us.’
‘I’m sure he would if he could,’ replied Katz, who watched the doors in case of a surprise return of guardoliers.
‘Where is everyone?’ Vena asked, strolling over to Katz’s vantage point.
‘Perhaps the Doctor has relieved the Borad of his command. No guardoliers must mean something’s up,’
suggested Katz.
Vena wasn’t so optimistic. She felt it could mean a final regrouping before they were all slaughtered where they stood.
Peri was practically free now, but still pinned down.
Removing his jacket, Herbert wrapped it around the stake.
The Doctor supplied a light and the wooden wrap was used as a flaming torch to be thrust into the jaws of the agitated Morlox. This left time for Herbert to remove the cylinder very carefully from around Peri, and then stand it upright on the ground.
‘Run!’ was the order to Peri who needed little encouragement.
‘What about you two?’ asked the young American.
‘We’ll be along,’ shouted Herbert, who noticed the flames were nearly out. ‘Now what, Doctor?’
The Doctor lifted the M80 cylinder and unscrewed the top very slowly. Getting Herbert to drop the wooden stake, he sprayed the length of it with the dangerous element, leaving one end free from the unstable chemical.
Containing the cylinder once more, he lay it to one side, lifting the stake like a javelin; and with one almighty lunge projected the wooden stick straight into the open mouth of the snapping Morlox.
What happened next was quite remarkable. The Morlox amalgamated with the wood, the latter growing and expanding in every direction. Large stakes protruded from every part of the animal’s body like a vast network of new bones. The effect meant instant death for the Morlox and a reminder to the Doctor of mustakozene’s power and instability.
Herbert’s colour lightened, as he tried not to look at the contorted mess left behind at the cave’s entrance.
‘Sorry, old boy, but I had to do it. It was her or us. She would have stopped playing with us and made me the main course, and you the dessert,’ said the Doctor. Herbert nodded and they rejoined Peri inside the lower corridor.
‘Am I pleased to have you back, Doctor,’ Peri said, delighted.
‘The feeling’s quite mutual. Now come on, back to the Inner Sanctum. We’ve a war to stop.’
Mykros and the others welcomed the Doctor back, though any smiles were shortlived as all that filled the minds of those in the Inner Sanctum chamber were the flashing symbols representing battleship positions. It would only be a matter of time now before missiles were launched and Karfel’s inhabitants destroyed. All because of a ruthless dictator’s mental state of balance. A ruler who no longer existed.
A chorus of invasion alarms echoed repeatedly around the chamber as an array of warning lights signalled danger for the Citadel.
‘I forgot about those,’ noticed Vena, ‘though they’re a bit late.’
Mykros wasn’t so sure. ‘Aren’t they warning of an attack on the key areas of the Citadel?’
Vena nodded. But from
within
Karfel?’ There was an elongated pause. ‘You’re right. An attack has been launched on our doorstep. It can’t be Bandrils surely?’
The Doctor edged over to see what the commotion was about. ‘Looks like a large detachment of soldiers is about to attack this area. Could there have been an advance party?’
‘Impossible,’ concluded Mykros, who was now checking for more details, ‘Look!’
There on the internal tracking system about fifty troopers were moving into the Inner Sanctum area.
‘Guardoliers?’ queried Herbert.
‘These are androids.’
‘All fifty of them?’ declared the Doctor with surprise. ‘I thought the Borad only had a handful.’
‘So did we all.’ Mykros looked around the chamber.
They had little to fight with now. It seemed the Borad had organised a large battle reserve to polish off all the Karfelons in the Citadel if ever he was outwitted by the rebels.
‘His legacy to us all,’ thought Vena soberly.
‘How long have we got?’
‘Ten minutes if that. They’re marching from the western perimeter. He must have had them in silos deep underground.’
It was certain that these androids would be killers shaping the fate of all those present. The choice was clear: assassination by androids or bombing by invaders. The Doctor knew the TARDIS could save them, but what of all the other inhabitants of the planet? There had to be a way out.
10
Citadel dwellers scattered in droves as the ominous marching sound of military might surfaced from the western perimeter. Well-armed androids in silver suits crashed their way on a direct route to the Inner Sanctum chamber. There was no resistance, and the sight of the tightly knit unit of killers was ample reason for any Karfelon to retreat or escape from their line of approach.
The Doctor had already attempted to find a solution by returning to the Borad’s vault. He was only able to discover that the fifty-strong detachment were programmed to destroy all living creatures in their path in or out of the Citadel. Even if it took them a thousand cycles of the planet’s galactic orbit, the troops would continue to hunt, seek out and destroy.
Sezon and Katz tried to organise some weapons, the former still recovering from a blast injury to his right shoulder. They were trained to fight to the last, and that is precisely what they intended to do. Vena still tried to contact the Bandril, but with little success.
Mykros ran with the Doctor to try and find more weapons, but the Time Lord knew that not to be the answer.
‘How about some more of your Kontron crystals, Doctor?’
‘Impossible.’ The Doctor was quite definite. ‘After removing two of them the corridor will be totally unstable.
I’d never get out of there alive a second time. No, there’s got to be another way.’
‘But what? How can we stop these powerful creatures, Doctor? They have the might of ten of us.’
Both of them thought deeply of the predicament and it took a few pensive moments for the Doctor to finally sparkle with an idea that had some small hope.
‘Mykros - the power vaults. Where are they?’
‘I can take you there, Doctor, if it’s not too late.’
‘Explain.’
‘Well, they’re in the central sector. The androids will be near to that area now.’ It sounded very risky.
‘If we get into the vaults – can they break in?’
‘No way, Doctor. The vault doors are totally impregnable. The Borad saw to that.’
It seemed the only course of action, but Mykros knew that the only way in meant the use of the amulets, a fact that he was quick to point out to his ally.
‘Is that all we need?’ muttered the Doctor in a glib tone.
‘You forget I have spent at least twenty minutes and two visits in the Borad’s vault. I have both the amulets with me.’
The Time Lord nodded Mykros forward and the pair rushed through the range of corridors at speed. Mykros knew the Citadel very well and used a few short cuts to reach the power vaults quickly.
The power area was a relatively tiny complex andonce the amulets had been inserted into their respective slots at the doors, the sturdy metal portals whisked open to allow them access. As soon as the two intruders had crossed the threshold, once again the thick metallic doors sealed them inside.
Mykros tried to remember the sequence of events when he was last in the chamber with Maylin Renis. He allowed himself a split second to reflect on that time, sad that his would-be father-in-law had been assassinated by the force that thrived on the energy that flowed from the bowels of that very room.
‘Come on, Mykros,’ rattled the Doctor impatiently. ‘we haven’t got all day.’
The young Karfelon blinked and set his mind to the task of opening the power panels by simultaneous use of the amulets. As with the Timelash, he was overawed by the sight that presented itself to him. Shimmering lights in multi-colours and effects - the tip of gargantuan reserves of power all held compactly below the level of this control room.
‘My, my,’ commented the Doctor, who was also impressed. ‘Our departed leader had been busy.’
‘But also very greedy, Doctor. Did you know he even made Remis switch all power from the hospitals?’
The Time Lord nodded. ‘He became hungry. Power was a drug he could not relinquish. But we haven’t come here to spout the evil-minded dicatator’s epitaph.’
Mykros shook his head in agreement, but was now very much out of his depth as the Doctor began removing one of the panels.
‘Are you sure you know what you are doing?’ asked Mykros.
The Doctor failed to answer the question and continued his task, grunting as he broke into a sweat which was mainly due to the intense heat generated by the open panels. ‘If I can short-circuit these power lines ...’ The Time Lord stopped to catch his breath, realising the extreme danger involved in his risky endeavours. Mykros could sense the gamble but with the entire planet’s population on the brink of total annihilation, the prevailing dangers seemed of little consequence.
‘Is there anything I can do, Doctor?’
‘Yes, tell me how far the android battalion is from their target.’ Frantic activity at the open panel continued as Mykros worked out some figures with his chronographer.
His conclusion was approximately three minutes. The android army would probably be visible now in the Citadel’s central corridor.
Peri armed herself with a blaster, tucking herself tightly into a corner of the Inner Sanctum near the Timelash. She reasoned that a flight in the vortex with the prospect of twelfth-century Earth as the final resting place for the remaining years of her life, was a preferable option to death by strangulation.
Katz joined her, also armed to the teeth. ‘I pray our weapons will work,’ she said.
Peri forced a smile. ‘We’ll be all right.’
Katz cocked her weapon in readiness. ‘Mind you, Peri, I must be honest and tell you we only have enough ammunition to stop the first dozen or so. Then -’
Peri held her hand in front of Katz’s mouth, who took the hint and changed the subject.
‘Listen!’ Sezon commanded silence in the chamber as all the rebels stopped their activity. The beat of marching filtered through the air, growing progressively louder and more threatening. No comments were necessary as the small unit of freedom fighters positioned themselves for the final conflict. Sezon slid beside Katz, recognising her as an equal. They shared the same thought of respect and friendship, joining hands in a gesture of unified camaraderie, while the rhythmic drone of impending doom pulsated in the ears of the waiting fighters.