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

by Terrance Dicks

  The Doctor whistled and K9 glided out of the TARDIS.

  `Prepared to assume aggression mode, Master.'

  'Well, take care - and look out for those guards. Quite a few of them have got blasters. I'd take care of them first if I were you!' The Doctor looked around. `Very well then, gentlemen, let's be on our way!'

  Weapons were checked, wound-dressings and provisions packed and after a certain amount of wrangling about who was coming and who was not, the Doctor and his little band set off.

  It was an eerie journey through the owl-haunted forest, but not long afterwards they were lurking outside the door which Tarak had used. By now it was guarded again - at least until the patrolling sentry spotted Ivo. He opened his mouth to yell - and a spear whizzed out of the darkness, and thudded home into his ribs. He fell to the ground.

  Two more guards appeared. One of them was brandishing a blaster, and immediately K9 glided forward and shot him down.

  'Come on, Doctor,' called Ivo and the Doctor was swept along in the mad rush to the door.

  Stage by stage they fought their way up the Tower towards the State Room. The pattern was repeated time and again, Squads of guards rushed forward, K9 shot down the leaders. Some of the guards fled in panic, and the rebels soon dealt with the rest. Before long they were stepping over the bodies of the door guards and crowding into the State Room.

  The Doctor looked round in anguish. 'Too late, they've all gone!'

  `Stay calm, Doctor,' urged Kalmar. Despite the fact that he was far too old to fight, he had insisted on coming along as a scientific observer.

  'The ceremony must be about to start,' said the Doctor. 'There's no time to lose. Listen to me, all of you. You've got to hold the Tower until K9 gives the signal.'

  'Doctor,' said Ivo explosively. 'Much as we appreciate your help, I am not taking orders from a metal dog!'

  'One day you'll apologise for that,' said the Doctor severely.

  `Never!' scoffed Ivo.

  'Never mind the arguments,' said the Doctor, 'just trust me and things will work out. After K9's signal, evacuate the Tower and make your way to the caves below. Find Adric and Romana and rescue them. Once you've done that, get away from here as far and as fast as you can. Got it? Good! Now, don't forget K9 gives the signal!'

  It was the crowning moment of Aukon's life as he led his little procession to the altar. He was flanked by Zargo and Camilla. Behind them came Romana, dressed in a white sacrificial gown that left her arms and shoulders bare. She walked along unresistingly.

  Behind Romana walked Adric, uneasy in the gorgeous robes of the Chosen One. Behind Adric marched two guards.

  Adric tried to edge closer to Romana. 'Listen, can you hear me? That was all a bluff,' he whispered. 'Watch out for any chance to escape.'

  Romana did not respond and Adric realised that Aukon had put her into some kind of hypnotic trance.

  Habris came running through the caves and threw himself on his knees at Aukon's feet. Aukon glared furiously down at him. `What is the meaning of this, Habris? How dare you interrupt us!'

  Habris was almost babbling with fear and panic. `We are attacked, my Lord. Rebels and villagers together. The Doctor is with them, and some strange mechanical-beast that shoots men down.'

  'We must go back,' said Zargo.

  'No,' snapped Aukon. 'The Time of Arising is now! It cannot be postponed.'

  'Then send your winged servants to aid us, my Lord,' begged Habris. 'Send the bats.'

  Aukon shook his head. 'No. I have need of them here. Habris, you and your guards must hold the Tower to the last man. We must have time.'

  `But we are outnumbered, my Lord. Unless you help us, we shall all be killed.'

  'Then die!' snarled Aukon. 'That is the purpose of guards. Now go!' Terrified, Habris stumbled away.

  Camilla said, 'Is this wise, Aukon? When they have captured the Tower, they may come on to attack us here.'

  As always, Aukon was totally confident. 'By the time the Tower falls, the Great One will have arisen. We shall be invincible!'

  The Doctor was inside the long metal tube again, shinning up that seemingly endless ladder. He reached the junction point where the ladder divided into three. `Now then, three scout ships, three chances. Which one first? This one!'

  The Doctor pointed to the left, changed his mind and dashed up the right-hand ladder. It was a bad decision.

  Reluctant to return to the battle, but too frightened to disobey Aukon, Habris stumbled along the corridors of the Tower.

  He turned a corner, and found himself facing Ivo.

  'Habris!' said Ivo softly. 'I have found you at last.'

  Habris backed away. 'I tried to help your son Karl- but it was hopeless. He rebelled against the Lords, refused to serve them. Lord Zargo ordered his death.' Habris saw a gleam of hope. 'Zargo is in the caves below. I can take you to him...'

  'I shall find Zargo for myself,' said Ivo. 'But first I shall deal with you!'

  His hands closed around Habris's throat.

  The Doctor laboured over the scout ship's control panel. 'Dead as a dinosaur,' he muttered. 'The circuits must be corroded. Have to try one of the others.'

  He disappeared down the ladder.

  The little procession halted in front of the altar.

  `Let the sacrifice be made ready,' ordered Aukon.

  The two guards lifted Romana's unresisting body and laid her on the altar.

  At a sign from Aukon, they moved away.

  Seizing his moment, Adric drew the ornamental dagger from his belt. He raised it to strike Aukon but, warned by some uncanny instinct, Aukon whirled round, shot out one hand and gripped Adric's wrist with such terrific force that the dagger dropped to the ground.

  The little scuffle had alerted the departing guards, and, they came running back.

  Aukon threw Adric towards them. 'Seize him!'

  The guards grabbed Adric and dragged him to one side.

  The Doctor was wrestling desperately with the control panel of the central scout ship. The flicker of energy he had observed on his first visit seemed to have drained away, and the instruments were now completely dead.

  The Doctor gave the console a vicious kick, yelled in pain as he hurt his foot, and slid through the hatch.

  'Just one more to go!'

  Aukon stood over Romana his hands held high. 'O Great One, hear us. We celebrate your Arising with the sacrifice of a Time Lord, one of the race of your ancient enemies. Drink her blood and her soul, and grow strong.'

  Aukon made a ritual gesture and suddenly the sky above the amphitheatre was dark with bats. They streamed into the cavern, filling the air with their chittering, and swirled around Romana's body.

  Aukon's voice rose louder. 'Come, O servants of the Great One. Drink! Drink the blood of the sacrifice.'

  A bat settled for a moment on Romana's bare shoulder and then fluttered away, leaving a smear of blood behind it.

  Frantically the Doctor laboured over the controls of the third and final scout ship. This was his last chance to put his plan into operation.

  'Come on, come on,' he begged. 'What happened to all that Earth craftsmanship, eh? Just because you've been laid up for a thousand years ...'

  The scout ship's engines gave a faint, protesting murmur. 'That's it! All I need is a scintilla of power in the energy-cells, a few drops of fuel in the emergency tank. O lovely Earth craftsmanship!'

  The sound of the engines rose to a steady roar.

  Perched on Zargo's throne, K9 picked up the faint vibration from above.

  `Evacuate!' he commanded. `Leave the Tower at once. Evacuate!'

  The rebels began running from the room. Two of them lifted K9 down and he glided away.

  The Arising

  The engines of the little scout ship were roaring confidently now, as the Doctor made a few final adjustments to the remote-control circuits, which he had re-programmed for a most unusual manoeuvre.

  `That should do it,' he said at last. 'A short tr
ip, and a quick flip. Time to be going, Doctor!'

  Swinging his long legs through the hatchway, the Doctor disappeared down the ladder.

  By now a number of things were happening more or less at once.

  The rebels were haring along the corridors of the Tower, heading for the lower-level exits that led to the caves, K9 gliding along behind them.

  Romana lay still on the altar, surrounded by a swirling crowd of bats. Another bat swooped for her neck.

  Zargo and Camilla looked on in feverish anticipation, waiting for the moment when Aukon would command all the bats to swoop down at once, draining the blood from Romana's body.

  Adric watched in anguish, helpless between his guards. Suddenly he tensed, as he saw Romana's eyes flicker open, just for a second.

  The Doctor was still shinning down his ladder at tremendous speed, the whole ship shaking and rumbling above him.

  By now the roar of the scout-ship engines was making the whole of the Tower tremble, and the noise was clearly audible in the caves below.

  Maddened by the distraction, Aukon swung round. 'The ship! What's happening to the ship?' Billowing clouds of black smoke came drifting downwards.

  The engine roar grew louder, louder, until the whole place was shaking. Adric's guards fled in terror. Even the altar was vibrating furiously now, and suddenly Romana woke up and screamed.

  Seizing his opportunity, Adric dashed forward and lifted her from the altar, dragging her to the shelter of an alcove at the side of the cave.

  Zargo, Camilla and Aukon didn't even notice. Their attention was fixed on the amphitheatre beyond the arch. The ground was heaving and bubbling, as if in the throes of an earthquake.

  But this was no earthquake.

  Aukon stared fixedly at the seething ground, his voice hoarse with passion. 'Rise, O Great One, rise!' he begged. 'Rise and lead your servants into your new glory!'

  The Doctor reached the final stage of his journey: He slid down the main rocket tubes, and dropped down into the caves, which were filled with noise and smoke and confusion. For a moment he paused, looking back at the rocket. Now, if only everything was going according to plan . .. If only the long-disused control circuitry was still operational ... If only ... Crossing his fingers, the Doctor hurried across the cave.

  The villagers who had refused to join Ivo's rebel band were all locked into their huts, doors barred and windows shuttered, hoping that the terrifying events of the night would pass them by.

  This was unfortunate, because if any of them had been bold enough to be out and about on this extraordinary night, they would have seen a truly amazing sight.

  The Tower which had dominated their village for so long was changing shape. One of the triple turrets that were the Tower's most remarkable feature was rising slowly in the air on a pillar of flame.

  One of the Hydrax's three Arrow-class scout ships was making its first trip for a very long time.

  The Doctor ran across the cave and found Romana and Adric hiding in their little alcove. 'This will teach you to stow away, Adric. Are you all right, Romana? '

  Romana said shakily. ' I think so, Doctor.'

  'Well, don't be frightened, I'm going to tell you what's happening.'

  'Don't bother, Doctor. I think I know already.'

  'You do?'

  'Yes. You've just sent one of the scout ships on a little trip?'

  `You guessed! I wanted it to be a surprise!'

  Romana grinned. 'Don't worry, Doctor. It'll be a surprise for those three all right!'

  Aukon, Zargo and Camilla were staring raptly through the arch, completely absorbed in what was happening in the amphitheatre. The ground was rippling like the sea now, and great cracks were appearing.

  'He rises,' screamed Aukon. `See, the Great One rises!'

  'If anything, anything at all goes wrong with that scout ship,' said the Doctor grimly. `If I've made even the tiniest of errors in the directional co-ordinates - we're the ones who will be in for a nasty surprise!'

  Suddenly the ground cracked open in an enormous chasm and a giant, clawed hand burst through the soil. It waved blindly to and fro, as if searching for prey, and all about it the ground heaved and surged as the giant creature below struggled to free itself.

  In the night skies far above, the little scout ship, its fuel tanks almost drained, carried out one final manoeuvre. Slowly it turned completely over, so that its sharply pointed nose-cone was pointing downwards.

  It seemed to hover motionless for a moment, and then began its descent.

  Aukon, Zargo and Camilla looked on in ecstacy as the great clawed hand lashed to and fro. They watched eagerly as part of the massive arm appeared, then saw the curve of one mighty shoulder ...

  The Doctor waited calmly in his alcove, his arms resting protectively around the shoulders of Adric and Romana. The creature was almost on the point of freeing itself, he thought. If it became too mobile too soon, if it managed to move clear, his whole plan would come to nothing. Most of the immense sinewy arm was free by now, and more cracks were appearing.

  `He comes!' screamed Aukon. 'He comes!'

  Romana looked worriedly at the Doctor.

  He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. `Don't worry. `I'm banking on a very ancient scientific law.'

  `What's that?'

  'What goes up must come down!'

  A whistling roar came from above their heads. `Down,' yelled the Doctor. `Get down!' He bore Romana and Adric to the ground, then cautiously raises his head to see what was happening.

  Too astonished to take shelter, Aukon and his two companions saw the scout ship streak down, out of the night sky, and bury itself like a huge steel arrow in the very centre of the amphitheatre.

  There was a single colossal scream of agony, unbearable in its intensity, and then silence.

  The giant hand blackened and twisted and seemed actually to disintegrate as it was absorbed back into the soil. Zargo, Camilla and Aukon turned slowly round - and saw the Doctor getting to his feet.

  Hissing with rage ail three vampires moved toward him. Their eyes glowed red, their hands went; like claws, and pointed canine teeth gleamed at the corners of their snarling mouths.

  The Doctor edged to one side, hoping to lure the vampires away from his companions. They at least might manage to escape. Ivo and the rebels should be here soon.

  The Doctor didn't give too much for his own chances - not with three of them, and at such close range. 'Overconfidence, that's always been your trouble, Doctor,' he thought. He felt the rocky wall of the cave against his back, and realised he could retreat no further.

  Grouped in front of him in a semi-circle, the three vampires paused for a moment, as if to savour their final triumph. Eyes flaring red, teeth gleaming, hands outstretched like claws, they lunged forwards in unison-tend then froze.

  Their faces seemed to dry up, to wither and crack, like sun-baked earth.

  The dessicated flesh crumbled from their bodies and for one horrible moment, three gorgeously robed skeletons stood leering at the Doctor, bony fingers reaching out, as if to rend him. Then the skeletons, too, crumbled, leaving three huddled heaps of clothes resting on scattered dust piles on the floor of the cave.

  The Doctor drew a long, shuddering breath and walked slowly back to Romana and Adric.

  Romana said shakily, `Are you all right, Doctor?'

  `There wasn't anything to worry about really,' said the Doctor cheerfully.

  'Their time was over. Once the Great Vampire died ...' He patted Romana and Adric on the back. 'Well done, both of you, you've come through a very nasty business indeed.'

  Adric looked at the three robes on the floor and shivered. 'So that's what happens to vampires when they die!'

  `Glad you didn't join them, Adric?' asked Romana.

  `Look, that was all just a bluff, you know, a trick to gain their confidence. It just so happens I was trying to rescue you.'

  'Ah, but you didn't, did you?' said Romana infuriatingly.
<
br />   K9 appeared, followed by Ivo, Kalmar and a handful of rebels. The others were hunting down the rest of Zargo's guards.

  `Well, we dealt with the Tower, Doctor,' said Ivo happily. `Now, where's this monster of yours?' He looked ready to throttle it with his bare hands.

  The Doctor pointed through the arch, and the rebels crowded forward, gazing in amazement at the scout ship which was buried for half its length in the ground. Wisps of smoke curled about the hull.

  'So you found your mighty bolt of steel after all, Doctor,' said Kalmar. `What did you do exactly?'

  'Oh, I just fired off one of the scout ships,' said the Doctor casually. `Then I arranged the remote control, so that the ship went straight up-'

  'And came straight down again,' concluded Romana, smiling at the Doctor. `It's a very old scientific law!'

  `But what happened to the Lords?' asked Ivo. `Where are Zargo and the others?'

  The Doctor pointed to the three robes on their three piles of dust. `When the Great Vampire died, I'm afraid they just went, to pieces.'

  'As one scientist to another, Doctor,' said Kalmar solemnly, `congratulations!'

  'Oh, it was nothing,' said the Doctor modestly.

  Ivo cleared his throat. 'There is just one thing, Doctor.'

  `Yes?' said the Doctor encouragingly.

  `Those things I said about K9. He was really invaluable, in the attack and when we left the Tower. I feel I really must apologise.'

  `Go on then,' said the Doctor.

  Ivo gaped at him, and the Doctor nodded, downwards, to where K9 waited for instructions at his feet.

  'Ah, I see,' said Ivo. You really think I ought to-'

  `Yes,' said the Doctor sternly. `He's very sensitive.'

  Ivo bent on one knee beside K9. 'Sorry, dog,' he said gruffly. 'Well done!'