Doctor Who - [New Adventure 29] - [Vampire Trilogy 2] - Blood Harvest

by Terrance Dicks

  "The Doctor has escaped - again!"

  "Not for long. He goes where Agonal awaits. The Doctor had too many allies on Earth. On this planet he will be almost alone, and Agonal will be the stronger."

  "This time Agonal will surely destroy the Doctor."

  "And we shall take Agonal and use him for our great purpose. Is the device functional?"

  "Fully functional."

  "Excellent! Death to the Doctor!

  "Borusa lives!

  "Rassilon must die!"

  Dekker came back into the TARDIS control room. "Ace is just changing, she'll be along in a moment –" He broke off. "I see you've changed as well, Doc."

  The Doctor had changed out of his tuxedo and was now wearing a crumpled cream linen suit. A battered fedora with a paisley hatband was stuck on the back of his head and a colourful scarf was tucked into the neck of his cream silk shirt. A snazzy pair of two-tone brogues completed the outfit. He was carrying an umbrella with a question-mark handle, and there was a rather tired-looking bunch of white flowers tucked into his lapel.

  "Swell outfit, Doc," said Dekker politely.

  "Oh just a few things I threw together. It's more me, really."

  Ace came into the control room wearing a black leather combat suit with a high collar. She wore gauntlets and knee-high boots. Her belt held a collection of pouches and gadgets Dekker didn't recognize and something he did: a holster and some weird kind of hand-gun. She gave Dekker a challenging look.

  "I guess it's Hallowe'en where we're going," said Dekker.

  "It's practical, Dekker. Maybe you'd prefer a pink gingham dress with a white lace collar?"

  "Depends on the occasion. How about a pair of black silk teddies?"

  "Maybe I'm wearing them underneath."

  Dekker looked at the tight-fitting black-leather outfit and shook his head sadly. "I don't know how a guy would ever find out. Not without a can-opener and a blowtorch."

  "How about you, Mr. Dekker?" said the Doctor hurriedly. "The TARDIS holds a wide variety of clothes and weapons. I'm sure we could find something to suit you."

  "Thanks, but I'll stick with what I'm used to, Doc." Dekker went over to the hatstand, put on his battered soft hat and his shabby trenchcoat. He took out his big Colt .45 automatic, checked it over and put it back under his arm.

  "A hat, a coat and a gun," said Ace wryly. "That's all you need to face the dangers of an alien planet?"

  Dekker shrugged. "Can't be much worse than downtown Chicago on a Saturday night. Ready when you are, Doc!"

  The Doctor looked at the gizmo in the centre of the console. Its rise and fall was slowing down.

  "Good," he said. "We're about to land." He fished a faded bouquet of white flowers out of his pocket, divided it in two and handed one half to Ace, the other to Dekker. "Wear these, will you?"

  Dekker sniffed the flowers. "Don't care for the smell, Doc."

  "Neither do some of our enemies." The centre column stopped moving. "We've landed," said the Doctor. He opened the TARDIS doors.

  The TARDIS had materialized on the edge of a wooded clearing. It was dusk, with the sun just sinking below the trees. Birds twittered, settling down for the night, and there was a distant chittering that might have been bats.

  Dekker looked round. "Like I said, a vacation in the country"

  "I do believe we've landed in the very same spot," said the Doctor delightedly. "Even though she hasn't actually ever been here before." He patted the side of the TARDIS approvingly.

  Shading his eyes, the Doctor peered across a stretch of open country beyond the woods. "Look!" He pointed with his umbrella. Ace and Dekker looked. In the distance they saw an oddly shaped tower with a cluster of low buildings nearby. "The Tower and the village," said the Doctor. "Come on!"

  He led them along the edge of the woods and took a path that led past some agricultural land.

  "I don't understand, Doctor," said Ace. "Where's Bernice? If you homed in on the signal..."

  "Ah, but I didn't, not quite. I thought it might be wiser to find out more about the situation rather than charge right into the middle of it. Bernice is very near, I promise you." He took out a device like an old-fashioned pocket watch and flipped it open. "I took the precaution of bringing a tracer with me. We can find Bernice as soon as we like."

  They left the cultivated land and came to a crossroads. "This way, I think," said the Doctor. The road he chose led them to a village, silent buildings lining the one central road. There was no one about.

  "Nice peaceful spot," said Dekker. An arrow whizzed into the ground before their feet. From somewhere ahead a voice called, "Halt! Who are you?"

  Ace and Dekker had already drawn their guns but the Doctor held up his hand. "Please, don't kill anyone, it's not the best way to make friends." He raised his voice. "It's the Doctor and two friends. We are all wearing garil. Is Ivo in the village?"

  Grey-cloaked figures appeared from between the huts and surrounded them. They carried bows with arrows already on the strings. One of them who wore the tattered remnants of a guard's uniform had a blaster.

  "Best take 'em to the inn," he said.

  The Doctor and his friends were marched to a bigger building further down the street. It looked more like a field-hospital than an inn. A fire burned in the big fireplace and wounded men lay on improvised beds. Others, with arms, legs and heads bandaged, sat at long wooden tables while peasant girls served them with soup and bread.

  "Strangers, Ivo!" called the man with the blaster.

  A white-haired giant of a man came forward, carrying a massive tureen of soup. He put it down and advanced on them, looking suspiciously at the odd trio. "Who are you? What do you want?"

  The Doctor seized his hand. "Ivo! How are you? I'm the Doctor. This is my friend Ace, and this is Mr. Dekker."

  Ivo just stared at him. "The Doctor? You?"

  "Don't you remember the night we took the Tower? And the way you were rude to K-9 and I made you apologize?"

  It took a lot more reminiscence before the Doctor's identity was established, but eventually Ivo accepted him.

  "Where's Romana?" asked the Doctor.

  "The Lady Romana was here until just a short time ago. She has hardly changed at all." Ivo looked at the Doctor in sorrowful amazement. "But you, Doctor ... What have the years done to you? Your curly hair, and flashing teeth, all gone! And your fine clothes. And you've even shrunk!"

  "Looks aren't everything, you know," said the Doctor impatiently. "There's a lot to be said for being inconspicuous. Now, I think you'd better tell me what's been going on around here. And how about some of that delicious soup?"

  Dekker and Ace drank their soup and listened while Ivo told the Doctor of recent events, and of Bernice and Romana's part in them. His story ended with the failed peace conference and the bloody battle in the woods. "We have been searching for the dead and wounded and bringing them in," said Ivo. "It has taken us most of the day."

  The Doctor looked at the mixed group of guards and guerillas. "At least you're all working together."

  "At the end of the battle we joined forces and fought together against our common enemy. It was what saved us - that and the rising of the sun."

  "This guy Ivo's story reminds me of Chicago; said Dekker. "There's these guys trying to make peace but every time they get near it something happens, and always the worst possible something. Don't it strike you as kinda familiar, Doc?"

  "Yes it does, Mr. Dekker - which means my friends are in worse danger than I thought. Oh dear." The Doctor took out his tracking device, studied the quivering needle and then pointed. "What lies over that way, Ivo?"

  "The castle of Lord Sargon."

  "Have you ever seen him?"

  "He passed through the village once. A tall man, very thin."

  "That's our man. Can we raise a rescue force from this lot?"

  "We can try, Doctor." Ivo's voice became a bellow. "Listen to me, all of you. This is the Doctor. Some of you will have heard
of him. He helped us before. Now he needs help from us."

  The Doctor stood up. "I believe Lady Romana and Lady Bernice are being held prisoner at the castle of Lord Sargon. If we can defeat him you'll have a real chance for peace, especially now you're working together. I'm looking for a few good men - a commando force, not an army. If anyone has the strength for one last fight, will they please come forward?"

  For a moment no one moved. Then one by one, weary and wounded as they were, a handful of guards and guerillas came forward.

  Ace surveyed them with a professional eye. "Bit of a scratch lot, Doctor," she whispered.

  "They're all brave men, Ace, and they're all we've got."

  At sunset, Romana and Bernice were taken from the dungeon and brought back into the laboratory to stand before Lord Sargon.

  Flanked by castle guards, he waited for them beside the great tank, looking proudly up at the winged horror that floated within.

  "I rather think it's gloat time," whispered Romana. "Try to keep him talking. Lay the flattery on with a trowel." Raising her voice she said, "Congratulations, Lord Sargon. I thought only Time Lords had mastered regeneration technology to this extent."

  "A simple matter," said Sargon. He pointed to the glass coffins holding Zargo, Camilla and Aukon. "These three old friends of yours, Lady Romana, I regenerated from three piles of dust I found in the caves beneath the ship."

  Romana shuddered, remembering how the three vampires had crumbled to dust when the detached scout ship, the Doctor's "mighty bolt of steel", had plunged down to pierce the Great Vampire's heart. Now here they were again, as large as death, and the Great Vampire was about to be restored as well.

  "The experiment was not a great success," Sargon went on. "It appears that much of the brain tissue did not survive the regeneration process. These three are no longer the Zargo, Camilla and Aukon that you knew. They live only to kill, to feed ... A few basic thought and speech patterns seem to remain. Camilla cut the throat of a soldier near the village with that little dagger of hers. Zargo killed some unfortunate village girl and drained her of blood in the Tower. Harking back to the good old days, you see."

  "And I suppose you brought the poor girl back to life as a vampire?" said Bernice.

  "Of course." Sargon waved at the other cases. "It amused me to recreate still more vampires, from such remains as I could find. I tried them out last night, not without some success. One or two were lost." He indicated a row of empty coffins. "However, it will be easy enough to make more."

  "And what about the Great Vampire himself?" said Bernice. "He can't have been easy. That really is an achievement."

  "You're very kind. Of course, I did have better material to work with."

  "The bits of the original body you took from the burial ground?"

  "Exactly. I have hopes that my recreation of the Great Vampire will be a complete success. He will arise in all his former glory to rule this planet. I will make more and more Great Vampires. They will swarm out of E-Space and overrun galaxy upon galaxy."

  "Why?" asked Bernice. "Why do all these horrible things?"

  Sargon seemed to grow taller and stronger, glowing with evil energy. "Because it amuses me, just as it amused me to encourage the miserable criminals of Earth to slaughter each other. Because I choose to feed upon the pain and death of inferior beings. Because I am Agonal!"

  The Doctor's commando force met with surprisingly little resistance - which, as Ace pointed out, was just as well considering the shape it was in.

  Limping and lurching along, they staggered through the night, reaching the outskirts of Sargon's castle just before dawn. A near-silent bolt from Ace's blaster disposed of the guard outside the main gate. She produced a rocketgun with line and grapnel from a belt pouch, shot the grapnel over the wall, climbed the line and opened the gate from the inside. The little party crossed the courtyard to the inner door, which was locked. Another of Ace's pouches produced a silent plastic explosive which blew open the main door with a low thump.

  The commandos staggered inside the main hall. An astonished guard opened his mouth to give an alarm and dropped with an arrow through his chest. Two more appeared and fell, one to Ivo's club and the other to the barrel of Dekker's Colt automatic.

  The Doctor studied his tracer. "This way!"

  The device led them to the museum and straight up to the portrait of the Great Vampire. It took the Doctor only a moment to find the secret door. He turned to Ivo. "You and the others stay here and guard our backs. Ace, Mr. Dekker, come with me."

  As the Doctor went through the door he heard a hateful voice saying, "And now we come to your part in our ceremony, ladies. It is time for the Great Vampire to arise. But first he must feed, not upon artificial nutrients, but upon his natural food - blood. I have a large quantity in store, but I propose to add an extra delicacy: your blood, ladies. The blood of a Time Lady will be particularly nourishing."

  From the top of the stairs, the Doctor saw Romana, Bernice and the tall figure of Agonal. All stood with their backs to him, staring at the floating horror in the tank. They were surrounded by a semicircle of armed guards - four of them.

  The Doctor heard Romana's high clear voice. "Exactly what are you planning to do?"

  "I shall revive the Great Vampire and drop you into the tank with him. He will react to your movements, clasp you in his claws and feed. It should be an interesting spectacle."

  "Ace, take out the guards," whispered the Doctor. "Blaster on stun, please - as quick as you can. Mr. Dekker, come with me." The Doctor and Dekker clattered down the staircase. "Romana, Bernice, this way!" yelled the Doctor. Even as the little group started to turn, Ace began a deadly accurate fire over the Doctor's head. One of the guards dropped before he could reach his blaster. Of the remaining three, two fell with blasters half-drawn. Only the last guard got off a shot, and that went into the ceiling.

  Romana and Bernice were running towards the bottom of the steps. For a moment Agonal watched them, frozen in disbelief. Then he swung round, pointing a long white finger, and hissed a command. The lids of the upright glass coffins holding Zargo, Camilla and Aukon swung open. The three vampires stalked forth, eyes glowing, fangs bared, claw-like hands reaching out.

  28 GALLIFREY

  The three vampires glided after Romana and Bernice with incredible speed. By the time the two women reached the bottom of the stairs their ghastly pursuers were close behind them.

  The Doctor heard Ace coming down the steps.

  "Don't shoot," he called. "Energy weapons don't work. It's up to you, Mr. Dekker. In the heart, remember - it must be in the heart!"

  "Okay, Doc." Dekker raised his .45, the heavy automatic steady in his big hand. "Get down, ladies!"

  As Romana and Bernice flung themselves down at the foot of the steps, Zargo sprang. Dekker fired twice, Blam-blam and Zargo was slammed back, a red stain spreading on the breast of his robe.

  Aukon attacked next. The gun roared twice in quick succession and Aukon fell, his white robe flooded with red.

  Camilla sprang - and just for a moment, Dekker hesitated. In that moment Camilla was upon him, white arms clasping him with incredible strength, long fangs lunging for his throat.

  "Shoot, Dekker!" shouted Ace. "She's not human!"

  With a mighty effort, Dekker flung the vampire away from him, and as she sprang back to the attack he fired twice, blam-BLAM! The impact flung the vampire across the laboratory, and she crumpled and fell in a bloody heap.

  Some people say the old 1911 Model Army Colt Automatic is big and clumsy and noisy. Maybe it is. But hit them in the heart with two slugs from a .45 and they go down and stay down. Even if they're vampires.

  All this happened so quickly that Agonal had no time to react. The Doctor stepped forward quickly, tossing the glowing crystal sphere in the air. "Agonal - look!" Agonal's eyes fastened on the sphere, and he froze.

  The Doctor tossed the sphere, up and down, up and down. Agonal began taking slow steps towards him,
drawn by a force he could not resist.

  Then something extraordinary happened. A pyramid of blackness appeared in the laboratory. Spinning over and over, it engulfed Agonal and whisked him away.

  For a moment the Doctor stood there, amazed and enraged.

  "Timescooped!" he yelled. "Of all the interfering..."

  With an effort, he dragged his mind back to present problems. He whirled round. "Ace! Get everyone out of here - those guards as well. Tell Ivo to get everyone else out he can find, friend or foe. You've got about five minutes!"

  "What are you going to do?"

  "Turn up the pressure cooker. Move!"

  No situation, however urgent, could override Romana's aristocratic politeness. She paused at the bottom of the steps looking at the odd-looking little man who had turned up to save her. "I really must thank -" Her eyes widened. "Doctor?"

  Briefly the Doctor smiled. "Later, Romana. Now go!"

  Romana turned to Dekker, who was holding onto the rail of the metal steps. "I must thank you too."

  "My pleasure, lady," said Dekker, and slid gently to the ground. Only then did they see the handle of Camilla's little silver dagger projecting from his left side.

  The Doctor took in the situation in one quick glance and gave a stream of orders. "Don't touch the dagger. Find a stretcher, get him back to the TARDIS. Everyone out. Now!"

  Ace took charge. "Hello Benny!" She kicked the stunned guards into consciousness. "You lot, move - help me to get him up the steps."

  Romana and Bernice hurried away while Ace chivvied the dazed guards into carrying Dekker's body up the metal staircase.

  The Doctor hurried over to the bank of controls. Their function was quite familiar to him, he'd done some work in this field himself a long time ago. This was Time Lord technology.

  It didn't take the Doctor long to achieve the results he wanted. It was basically a matter of turning everything up to maximum. As the control room started to shudder and throb he turned to look at the thing in the tank. It was stirring, flexing its great leathery wings. The green eyes opened and glared at him with unutterable malevolence.