Doctor Who - [113] - [E-Space 2] - [Vampire Trilogy 1] - State Of Decay

by Terrance Dicks

  Adric was appalled. `Not for me,' he said firmly.

  The doors burst open and Habris marched in, a squad of guards at his heels. `All right,' he barked. `Into line. All of you, this time.' The guards began shoving the astonished peasants, forming them into a line down the centre of the hall.

  Ivo grabbed Habris by the shoulder. ` What are you doing, Hubris? We've just had a Selection.'

  'Well, you're having another.'

  'So soon?' protested Marta. `It's against all custom.'

  'The orders come from the Tower. Lord Aukon himself is here. Do you wish to argue with him?' Habris caught sight of Adric. `You, get over with the others.' Reluctantly Adric found himself a place in the centre of the line. He didn't want to draw attention to himself by making a fuss. Maybe there would be safety in numbers, he thought.

  Suddenly the room was completely silent. A man was standing in the doorway. He was nothing very impressive to look at, thought Adric. Medium size, a plain robe, a fringe of beard. Then Adric caught sight of the deep-set burning eyes, and hurriedly revised his opinion. This man positively radiated power.

  Aukon walked slowly along the straggling line, pausing to stare intently at everyone in turn. Each time he moved on, as if he had not found what he was looking for. Halfway down the line he came to Adric, who stared blankly at him.

  His glance flicked briefly over the boy, and Aukon passed on. Then he stopped, paused and came back to Adric, staring deep into his eyes. `Interesting. A mind that shields itself. One who pretends to be a dull and stupid peasant, but who is - different.'

  Adric looked up at him with big, round eyes. `Who me?'

  'You. You will come with me.'

  'Why?' said Adric boldly.

  There was a murmur of horror from the peasants.

  Aukon smiled. `You have spirit, too, I see. Excellent. Now, come.'

  'Why should I come with you?' persisted Adric. `What's in it for me?' Aukon came closer, staring deep into Adric's eyes until the burning eyes seemed to swallow up his will.

  `Wealth,' whispered Aukon. `Power. Dominion over this world-and many others. Come!'

  Walking like someone in a trance, Adric followed Aukon from the Centre.

  Tarak's Plan

  Their little chat with Lord Zargo and Lady Camilla, thought Romana, was turning out to be one of the least successful social occasions of all time.

  The Doctor seemed to have taken a positive dislike to his two hosts and was showing his feelings by a series of increasingly tactless remarks. At this particular moment he was striding up and down the State Room, lecturing Zargo and Camilla about the problems of the society over which they ruled. 'Surely you realise that something here is wrong?'

  Zargo did not care for the Doctor's tone. `Wrong, Doctor?'

  'Yes. Something is very definitely wrong.'

  'What is - is,' said Camilla, as if that explained everything.

  'Ah yes,' said the Doctor argumentatively. `But what is - is wrong. Look, societies develop in varying ways, but they all develop. Yours seems to be sliding back into some sort of primitivism. Don't you agree, Romana?'

  'Oh yes. In terms of applied socio-energetics, it's losing its grip on level-two development. A society that evolves backwards must be subject to some exceptionally powerful force.'

  'Some exceptionally powerful force,' repeated the Doctor.

  Zargo frowned. `How very mysterious, Doctor.'

  'Mysterious or not, the rebels seem to think that power emanates from this Tower - from you.'

  'They flatter us,' said Camilla.

  `After all,' said Zargo smoothly. `In any society there is bound to be a division between the rulers and the ruled.'

  'A division!' The Doctor was indignant. `More of a yawning chasm, I'd say, wouldn't you, Romana?'

  'I'd say a sociopathic abscess, to be precise.'

  'A very good diagnosis, couldn't have put it better myself. Yes, a sociopathic abscess. I've never seen such a state of decay.'

  'Be careful, Doctor,' hissed Camilla. `We have acquired great powers.'

  'After all, there must be rulers,' said Zargo in a tone of forced reasonableness. `The ship of state must have its pilot.' The Doctor stared at Zargo as if some great light had suddenly dawned. `What did you say? The ship of state?' Camilla caught her breath, and suddenly Zargo seemed uneasy. `Merely a metaphor, Doctor.'

  'Ah, I see. Only it's odd you should mention a ship, because Romana and I have just been looking at an old ship's manifest. I can't seem to remember what the ship was called. Do you remember, Romana?'

  'Hydrax.'

  'That's right Hydrax.' The Doctor. swung round on Zargo and Camilla. `Does that name mean anything to you-Hydrax?'

  It was clear from Zargo's reaction that it meant a great deal. `Where did you see this manifest? Those old records were all destroyed-'

  'Be silent,' ordered Camilla, and it was suddenly clear that she was by far the stronger of the two.

  `Please, don't be silent,' urged the Doctor. `It's all rather fascinating.' Zargo stared at him white-faced, but made no reply.

  They were interrupted by Habris who marched into the room and bowed before the twin thrones. `My Lord, my Lady-'

  Camilla rounded on him. `How dare you break in on us!'

  Habris's excitement overcame his fear. `My Lord, it is time! Lord Aukon has seen the sign. The Time of Arising is at hand.'

  'Leave us,' ordered Camilla. `Tell Lord Aukon we will join him immediately.' Habris bowed again, and hurried away.

  Camilla turned to her guests. `We shall resume this discussion soon, Doctor--tend next time we will ask the questions. There are guards outside the door. Many guards.' Zargo and Camilla swept out.

  Thoughtfully the Doctor watched them go. `Let's take a seat, shall we, Romana?' Coolly he wandered over to Zargo's throne and sat down. Feeling rather foolish, Romana came and sat beside him.

  The Doctor yawned and stretched. 'Ah, yes, this is much more comfortable. What were the names of the Hydrax's ship's officers?'

  'Captain: Miles Sharkey. Navigation Officer: Lauren Macmillan. Science Officer: Anthony O'Connor.' The Doctor brooded for a moment. `Ever heard of the Brothers Grimm?'

  'This is no time for fairy stories, Doctor.'

  'They didn't just write fairy stories, they discovered the Law of Consonantal Shift, the way language changes down the centuries.' Romana wasn't to be outdone on points of scholarship. `Oh yes, I remember, b's to v's, that kind of thing?'

  'Exactly. And over a thousand years, Macmillan could become . . . ?' The Doctor paused encouragingly.

  `Of course! Camilla!'

  'And O'Connor ...?'

  'Aukon.'

  'That's right. And Sharkey, of course, turns into Zargo.'

  'You mean the names have been passed down through generations? Zargo and Camilla are descendants of the original ship's officers!'

  'Well, that's one explanation,' said the Doctor evasively. `And then there's this Tower of theirs ... Take a look round this room, Romana, what does it remind you off?' The Doctor patted his throne. `Pilot's seat here, co-pilot's seat next to it. Instrument banks there, control panels there. All been ripped out and dumped, of course.'

  'You mean this Tower is Hydrax, the original explorer ship?'

  'Yes. What do you say we explore it?' The Doctor jumped up and started prowling round the walls of the room.

  `What are you looking for?'

  'You saw the way those two just popped up - there's got to be another entrance somewhere.' The Doctor began rapping walls, looking for a secret door.

  Romana had a sudden inspiration. She got off her throne and began examining it.

  She lifted the drapes that covered the back and found a small hatch beneath the chair. `I thought so-an inspection hatch.' Romana touched a control and the hatch-cover slid open, revealing a kind of metal chimney, with a ladder fixed to the side. `Doctor!'

  'Sssh, I'm busy,' said the Doctor severely. He completed his study of the wall, came
back to the thrones, noticed the open hatchway, and promptly squeezed himself through it. After a moment his head popped out. `Come on, Romana, what are you waiting for? I've found the inspection hatch!'

  'Yes, Doctor,' said Romana patiently, and followed him through.

  In the caves below the Tower there was an altar. Adric stood before it, gazing blankly into space. Grouped around him stood Aukon, Zargo and Camilla.

  Camilla stared hungrily at the boy. `Where did you find him, Aukon?'

  'When my servants were seeking the Doctor and his companion, I sensed the presence of another alien mind not far away. I traced it to the Village, and here he is - the Chosen One.'

  'But he is an alien,' insisted Zargo. 'He must have come to this planet with the two strangers.'

  Camilla said, `Surely the Chosen One was to be found amongst the peasants?' Aukon shrugged.

  `We have bred dullness, conformity, and obedience into those clods for generations. Unfortunately, we have bred out just those qualities needed in the Chosen One.'

  Zargo shook his head. `I do not like this, Aukon. It disturbs me. I have been talking to the Doctor and his companion. The Doctor's mind is powerful, but he is dangerous. I sense it. He must die. We should kill the boy, too. We need no aliens to join us.' He drew his dagger and put it to Adric's throat. `Let him feed the Great One with his blood.'

  Aukon thrust the dagger aside. `I tell you the boy is valuable. He is young, his mind is strong and clear but still malleable. We can make of him what we wish.'

  Camilla came forward. 'Aukon is right. What does it matter where he comes from? Once he is initiated, he is ours! We must find the Chosen One as the Great One commanded, or he will be angry.' She stroked Adric's hair. `Besides, he is such a handsome child. It would be a pity to waste him.'

  Aukon took Adric's arm. `I will take him to be prepared. Come!' Unresisting, Adric allowed himself to be led away.

  Kalmar had just received a communicator message from Ivo in the village. He looked despairingly around his fellow rebels. 'Ivo says they are all three taken. They are captives in the Tower.' It was Tarak who broke the gloomy silence. `What are we going to do about it?'

  'What can we do?'

  'This Doctor is our only gleam of hope in a thousand years. Are we going to let Zargo and those others destroy him?'

  'Maybe they won't harm him,' said Kalmar feebly.

  `They'll kill him, Kalmar, him and the boy and the girl as well. You know their powers. The Lords will sense that the strangers are a danger to them, and they'll destroy them.'

  'Perhaps. But what can we do? The fate of the Doctor and his friends is out of our hands now.'

  'It needn't be.'

  'What can we do? '

  'Attack the Tower,' said Tarak fiercely. `Rescue them.' Kalmar looked round the little group. `A handful of us, with knives and bows and spears? With the blasters of the guards to deal with - and the powers of the Three to face if we get past them?' Tarak gave the video console a great blow with his fist. `Will you stay here in this hole forever, fiddling with your technological junk?' Kalmar was unmoved.

  `We need knowledge to attack the Lords. We must wait until we are ready.'

  'For how long?' asked Tarak bitterly. `A few more generations?'

  'If necessary, yes.'

  Tarak looked at the others. `What about the rest of you? Will anyone come with me to the Tower?' Tarak turned to his closest friend, a tough, wiry man called Veros. ` What about you?' For a moment Veros looked tempted, then he shook his head. 'Kalmar is right. It's too soon.'

  'Too soon!' Tarak turned away in disgust. He stood brooding for a moment, and then turned back to Kalmar. `You're right, Kalmar.' Kalmar was puzzled. `I am? How unlike you to admit it.'

  'To make a mass attack on the Tower now would be suicide.'

  'I'm glad you realise it.'

  'But suppose I go in alone, and rescue the Doctor? He'll have discovered their weaknesses, and he has the knowledge we need to make weapons. Then will you attack?'

  'It is possible,' said Kalmar cautiously. 'If the Doctor will agree to help us ... How will you gain entrance to the Tower?' With a grim smile, Tarak said, `I was a Tower guard once, remember? I can always be one again.'

  Zargo glared angrily round the empty State Room. 'Where are they?' Habris backed away in terror. 'I swear to you, my Lord, the door was heavily guarded at all times.'

  'Then where are the Doctor and the girl?'

  'They are aliens,' babbled Habris. 'Who knows what strange powers they may have. Some alien magic.'

  'Do not be absurd. They have no powers, and moreover they are weaponless. Find them, Habris, or I swear you shall go to feed the Great One before nightfall. Search the Tower, and search the lands all around.'

  'At once, my Lord.' Habris fled in terror.

  Camilla meanwhile was inspecting the twin thrones. 'You are wrong!'

  'Wrong? About what?'

  'About the Doctor being weaponless.' Camilla beckoned, and Zargo moved to stand beside her. She pointed to the drape, which was still pulled back to reveal the hatch-cover. `I think the Doctor has the greatest weapon of all - knowledge.'

  Zargo's eyes glowed red with anger. `We must find him. The Doctor and his companion must be found - and killed!'

  The Secret Horror

  The Doctor and Romana were climbing, endlessly climbing, up and up and up, until Romana began to feel there was nothing real in the world but the Doctor's bootsoles receding above her.

  They came at last onto a metal platform, where the main ladder divided into three small ones.

  Choosing the central one, the Doctor climbed up it, opened a small hatchway, and emerged into a tiny circular control room, jammed with instruments.

  Romana squeezed through beside him and looked around her. She looked up to the roof, which rose to a sharply pointed dome. 'We must be right inside one of those turrets at the very top.'

  'We're inside an arrow class scout ship,' corrected the Doctor. 'It detaches from the main vessel for local exploration.'

  'I wonder why they didn't rip out all these instruments, too?'

  'Why bother? No-one ever comes here. Perhaps they thought they'd need it some day.' The Doctor jabbed a control at random, and a needle quivered on a dial.

  'Look, there's even a bit of power left in the energy cells.'

  'Could it still fly?'

  'Possibly - not very far, though.'

  'Far enough to get us clear of the Tower, and back to the TARDIS?'

  'Getting away from the Tower isn't the point, Romana. Not till we find out what's going on here.' Not for the first time, Romana thought that the Doctor's insatiable curiosity would be the death of him, and very probably of her as well.

  Suddenly the Doctor cocked his head. 'Sssh! Listen!' Romana listened. There was a kind of thump-thump, thump-thump, coming from somewhere below. 'It could be engine noise ...'

  'I don't think so.'

  'What is it, then?'

  'More evidence,' said the Doctor mysteriously.

  `Evidence of what?'

  'Something too horrible to think about. Come on!'

  'Where are we going now?'

  'Down!' The Doctor disappeared through the hatch.

  Tarak found it easy enough to elude the patrols around the Tower. They had followed the same set routes for as long as he could remember.

  There was a small rear entrance used for carrying in the endless supplies that fed the Tower. Tarak knew from experience that it was often left unguarded between patrols. Choosing his moment carefully, he slipped inside, and moved along a narrow service corridor.

  He was hurrying towards the ramp that led to the upper areas, when he heard rapid footsteps. Tarak ducked into a storage area and waited.

  A guard came hurrying along the corridor, presumably the rear-door sentry, heading belatedly for his post As the guard passed the door to the storage area, Tarak sprang out behind him, slid an arm around his throat and dragged him inside. There was a cho
king sound-then silence.

  A few minutes later, Tarak came out of the storage room, adjusting the belt of a long-unfamiliar uniform. Marching along with an air of brisk military efficiency, he headed for the upper levels.

  The Doctor and Romana, however, were going not up but down. Having been to the very top of the ship, the Doctor now seemed determined to reach the very bottom.

  Instead of his boot-soles, Romana now had the seemingly unending view of the top of his head. But, the ladder came to an end at last and the Doctor dropped the last few feet into the semi-darkness.

  He turned and helped Romana down. Romana's voice had a faint metallic echo.

  `Where are we, Doctor?'

  'Right at the bottom of the ship. Somewhere near the disused fuel tanks, I imagine.'

  'That sound is much louder now.' The thump-thump, thump-thump filled the chamber. It sounded not unlike someone tapping softly on a giant drum.

  `What are we looking for?' asked Romana uneasily.

  'A way out.'

  'Good. '

  'You see,' said the Doctor, as if continuing some previous discussion, `I doubt very much if the creature lives in the Tower. But since the Tower feeds it, I imagine it lives close by.'

  'Creature?' Romana was appalled. `What creature?'

  'We'll know that when we find it.'

  'How nice!' Groping around the metal walls, the Doctor found his hand was on some kind of switch. He pressed it, and the area was filled with subdued light.

  It might have been better if they had stayed in darkness.

  Romana caught her breath in horror. They were in a long narrow chamber. Its walls were lined with metal racks, and on the racks lay bodies, row upon row of them. Romana forced herself to look more closely. They were the bodies of young people, both boys and girls, and their skins were all a ghastly white.

  The Doctor was making a quick examination of the nearest bodies. 'They've all been completely drained of blood.' He bent down to examine the bottom of the racks. 'There's a kind of trough at the bottom here-and a pipe leading downwards.' The Doctor knelt by a hatch-cover set into the floor and lifted it open. It gave onto the top of a vast under-floor tank, filled with some reddish-black fluid.