Doctor Who - [061] - The Curse of Peladon

by Brian Hayles

  "There has obviously been a new development," replied Arcturus, adding maliciously, "I doubt if it will be beneficial to our mission."

  "Oh," sighed Alpha Centauri despondently, "what a barbarous planet this is!"

  Izlyr returned to his colleagues, with Ssorg at his side. At his silent command, Ssorg presented his find to the other delegates. There followed an ominous silence.

  "The missing servo-link has been found by sub-delegate Ssorg," whispered Izlyr, indicating the precious object.

  "Where was it?" demanded Arcturus sharply.

  "In the hands of the Earthling princess. Alpha Centauri, perhaps you will assist our friend Arcturus by replacing it."

  "Of course," trilled Alpha Centauri, and quickly set about the task.

  "But why should the Earth princess wish to harm me?" grated Arcturus. Izlyr paused at the doorway.

  "That is what I intend to find out," hissed the warlord. "Come, Ssorg." And, together, the two Martians moved purposefully towards the room where Jo had been left prisoner.

  At last Jo's hand felt the welcome shape of the window edge. Relieved, she lowered herself down and through the narrow opening. For a moment she sat, quite still, on the interior window ledge, and looked about her. It wasn't a room, but a section of corridor. Gloomy and poorly lit by flickering torches, it made her shiver! But she had escaped from the Ice Warriors! Jo lowered herself gingerly, then dropped the remaining distance and landed lightly on her toes. She looked about her, and knew she was lost. She frowned, not frightened, but thinking hard. First, she had to get to the Doctor, and tell him what had happened. Secondly, she had to make sure she avoided Izlyr and Ssorg. But which way was she to go? Keeping to the shadows, she moved along the corridor, and tried to get her bearings. It was useless. The only distinguishing feature about the various castle passages was the difference in the tapestries that hung here and there. All Jo could say for certain was that she hadn't seen any of these particular wall hangings before. But the corridor had to lead somewhere, she thought to herself desperately. She remembered how huge the citadel had seemed from outside, and groaned inwardly. She could probably walk for days and still be lost! Coming to a junction of three corridors, she paused. The darker, less well-lit ones offered more safety in their shadows. But the brighter one might lead her to safety! Jo set off down this corridor with a new spring in her step.

  The Doctor watched Grun's broad back warily. He had followed the burly warrior for what seemed ages, doubling and twisting through the labyrinth of castle corridors until in the normal course of events, the Doctor would have been well and truly lost. Which was precisely what was intended, the Doctor decided. He chuckled to himself. Someone, somewhere must think he was a fool. He had carefully memorised the route by a simple method-the tapestries they had passed on their way. Each one had featured a different combination of designs, and the Doctor's remarkable memory had carefully stored these images in precisely the correct order. Grun might think he was being rather clever, and the Doctor wasn't going to disillusion him ... yet. First, the Doctor wanted to see just where Grun was leading him. He was sure it wasn't to Jo.. Pretending to be duped was taking a dangerous chance, he knew. But if it brought him closer to the power behind the threat to the delegates, it would be worth it.. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Grun stopped. The Doctor tensed, ready for trouble. Grun, however, merely pointed to a tapestry before them which was set in a dark alcove of the passage. With a quickening of his pulse, the Doctor recognised it. It was identical to the one he and Jo had seen when they had first entered the palace! Grun pulled the tapestry to one side. He gave a twist to the nearby torch holder. With a low groan of rarely used hinges, the wall slowly opened-but only wide enough for a man to squeeze through. Inside the secret tunnel which was now revealed, the Doctor saw the flicker of more torches. Grun mined that the Doctor should go in.

  "This way?" queried the Doctor pleasantly, alert to the slightest move that Grun might make to attack him. Grun nodded, motioning for the Doctor to go first. With a charming smile, the Doctor indicated that Grun should lead the way.

  "Not at all, my dear chap, after you," he said, miming his words to reinforce the point. Surprisingly, Grun made no further objection. He squeezed his muscular bulk into the tunnel beyond. With a slight frown, the Doctor followed. A second later, the wall panel closed, the tapestry fell back into place, and they had gone from sight. It was as though they had never been there at all.

  Jo paused, telling herself not to panic. The corridor swept ahead in a great unending curve. Surely she would recognise something or someone soon! She shivered. For some reason, it grew suddenly cold. The torch flames flickered and leaned, as though a wind was passing over them, or a great door had been opened in the darkness beyond. Jo shrugged, took a step forward, then froze in terror. From somewhere along the corridor-impossible to tell yet whether from in front or behind her-came the deep throbbing howl she had heard when she and the Doctor had first entered the citadel! Alert, she stood uncertain which way to run. Then, when she saw the looming shape that came towards her from the corridor ahead, she screamed. As though in answer, that hideous cry rang out again. Into the full fight of the wall torches stepped Aggedor.

  The images and the carving that Jo had already seen were like picture postcards in comparison. The jet-black, silky hair that covered the monster, curled and twisted into bizarre shapes, seemed to add to its huge dimensions. From deep in the skull, two flashing, bloodshot eyes stared and glittered in bestial fury. Above the nostrils a ferocious white tusk gleamed. Two tusk-like fang teeth projected from the ferocious mouth. The great beast reared above her, seeming to fill the whole passageway. In one split second, Jo took in all this-and, turning, ran for her life! Jo knew that her cloak would only hinder her escape. She let it fall to the ground behind her, and continued running. She began to sprint more rapidly to put a greater distance between herself and the beast and, turning a corner, cannoned into Ssorg! Held fast in his mighty arms she could do nothing but point to the corridor behind her. Izlyr, motioning for Ssorg to release her, questioned Jo sternly.

  "You were a prisoner in our room. How did you escape?"

  Gulping for air, Jo struggled to reply. "Never mind ... about that!" she gasped. "The monster, Aggedor ... He's coming this way!"

  Izlyr's mask-like face showed no response, but his voice was full of mistrust.

  "We shall see," he said, and gestured for Ssorg to investigate, while in turn held Jo captive.

  "But he'll be killed!" protested Jo feebly.

  "Do not be afraid for Ssorg," retorted the proud warlord, "his sonic weapon can destroy any living creature - if it actually exists!" But Ssorg was only paces from them when, more distant now but just as menacing, came the fearsome cry of Aggedor, the Royal Beast, yet again.

  At the first distant howl, Grun had faltered, but as it rang out again, closer and more terrible, he stopped altogether. Unable to see the warrior's rugged face in the half-darkness, the Doctor assumed that Grun was merely being careful. But when he came closer, and looked into the eyes of the King's Champion, he saw the deep terror.

  "Grun," asked the Doctor quietly, "what is it?" Grun looked at him and grunted his fear. Again, the sound rang out, nearer this time. With a bellow of dismay, Grun broke away from the Doctor and ran. Within seconds, he was lost to sight in the gloomy shadows of an unlit side tunnel. The Doctor's voice echoed after him.

  "Grun! Wait!" It was no use. Grun had vanished. The Doctor was completely alone.

  The Doctor stood quite still, carefully taking in his bearings and listening keenly for any further sounds of what must be Aggedor. This explanation fitted with what he had already been told about the death of Torbis. It would also account for Grun's desperate fear. Only a so-called ghostly being could terrify a man like Grun to that extent-and, perversely, made the Doctor all the more determined to see the apparition for himself. He wondered if this was the reason for Grun leading him to this secret place-to meet Aggedor and
suffer the same dreadful fate as Torbis. But why, if Grun was leading the Doctor to Aggedor, did the warrior bolt in terror? Was there something yet more terrible in store which Grun had not foreseen? There was only one way to find out. His eyes glinting with determination, the Doctor moved forward. Aggedor permitting, he would know the answers very soon.

  The tunnel had now become a shallow staircase, turning in a broad spiral higher and higher. The torches here, more ornate and worked in a rarer metal, were in better condition than those in the lower tunnels. The Doctor moved slowly forward, careful of ambush or a trap. If the Pels were anything like Earthlings of the fifteenth century, they'd be certain to think up something clever-and unpleasant ! But the journey ended safely in a blank stone wall similar to the one previously encountered by the Doctor and Jo. Casually, he looked for and found the wall torch that controlled the secret door. It opened and he went through. Immediately, he knew that he had come to a very special place.

  He had entered the inner sanctum of a temple dedicated to the Royal Beast. As the secret door closed after him, the Doctor took in the eerie majesty of the great statue, the acrid tang of the incense smoke, and the weird music of unseen instruments. For a long moment, he stood before the statue, admiring the workmanship and engineering of the massive replica. It was comparable to the huge statues of the Egyptian pharaohs. In the hazy light, it was difficult to see just what it was carved from. He moved closer to examine and touch. He had barely passed the simple stone altar, and laid his hand on the granite of the statue, when a sharp voice, distorted by the acoustics of the temple walls, rang out accusingly.

  "Sacrilege! An unholy intruder!"

  The Doctor spun about, and saw his accusers jewelled finger pointing accusingly. It was Hepesh.

  "Grun", he shouted jubilantly, "seize him!"

  From a shadowed doorway on the far side of the altar, Grun strode forward, sword in hand. He had been waiting, realised the Doctor. This was the trap. He turned to Hepesh to explain but one glance at his face told the Doctor that he could expect no mercy there. The triumph in his voice told the Doctor more than the formal horror of his words. Hepesh had not merely sprung the trap; he had planned it. The brain behind the curse of Aggedor was that of the High Priest, not an alien. But speculation was useless without proof; and the Doctor was Grun's prisoner.

  The Doctor saw at a glance that Grun was in an induced trance. The sword in his hand was no ornament - any sign of resistance and it would be used, ruthlessly. The Doctor had no intention of presenting Hepesh with a convenient excuse for killing him. It would be better not to struggle. He spread his hands, showing that he was unarmed.

  "Hepesh", said the Doctor, "there has been a terrible mistake. Let me explain!"

  But Hepesh was not there to listen. As Grun deftly tied the Doctor's wrists with a silken cord, the High Priest stood closer, gloating before the Doctor's face.

  "Alien!" spat the bearded priest. "You have defiled the inner sanctum of the Temple of Aggedor. Your mind, your words, your being, all are evil!"

  "You're being a fool, Hepesh," snapped the Doctor. "Let me speak to the king!"

  "You go to him now," replied the priest, "It is his task to cast judgement upon you. But for what you have done, there is no defence, and only one punishment: your destruction! Grun, take him away!"

  Ssorg had found no sign of Aggedor and had returned to Izlyr with only Jo's cloak in his great hands. It had been torn to shreds as though by a wild animal.

  Without further discussion, Jo had been taken back to the Martian quarters for interrogation. Strangely enough, she felt less afraid than angry. To her, it was obvious that Izlyr already thought her guilty of some terrible crime.

  "I tell you I saw the monster - he was there," she insisted. "You heard him, too, and you can see what he did to my cloak!"

  "Ssorg, what else did you find?" demanded the warlord.

  "Nothing, Lord Izlyr."

  "I'm not making it up," cried Jo. "Those cries - my cloak - why won't you believe the evidence?"

  "True, we heard sounds," admitted Izlyr with chilling preciseness, "and we discovered your torn cloak. But only you have seen this monster - not us. It could be a clever trick!"

  "It isn"t!" exclaimed Jo furiously. "I'm telling you the truth!"

  "Yet you also entered our room, secretly. It was you that Ssorg found holding the servo-unit belonging to Arcturus. And you did not wait to be questioned as an innocent person would. You escaped!" accused Izlyr.

  "I found Arcturus thingamajig-in your room! It was you that must've taken it! And I escaped so that I could tell the Doctor and King Peladon!" Izlyr didn't answer immediately. He studied Jo's face and paced before her, thinking. Eventually, he spoke.

  "So, you believe that we tried to kill Arcturus."

  "If not, what was that servo-unit doing locked away in your room?" retorted Jo.

  "Placed there by you, Princess, to cause trouble," hissed the Martian.

  "That's just not true!" cried Jo. "We discovered Arcturus, nearly dead!" There was a pause. Jo waited for Izlyr to rage with anger but instead he gave a dry staccato cough, a sound that she later came to understand as the Martian equivalent of a laugh.

  "You are mistaken," continued the warlord. "Nobody tried to kill Arcturus."

  Jo blinked. "What?"

  "To kill a creature like Arcturus, the helium regenerator must be de-activated", hissed the Martian. "This was not attempted."

  "But..." Jo groped for the question, her mind racing, "-the missing unit..."

  "Merely sensor equipment", said Izlyr. "Disconnection only produces a metabolic coma."

  "You mean ... it couldn't be fatal?"

  "Only uncomfortable," whispered Izlyr.

  For a moment, Jo was speechless. When at last she spoke, it was with a genuine note of apology in her voice.

  "I'm sorry," she said, "it looks as if we've misjudged you, Izlyr. But the Doctor only knows your planet as bearing a race of warriors."

  "That was so - once," conceded the Martian warlord. "But we have learned to reject violence, except in self-defence."

  Jo pointed at Ssorg's arm, and the strange weapon there. "What about Ssorg's gun? This is supposed to be a peaceful mission, isn't it?"

  "Unfortunately, in order to spread peace, it is necessary to survive."

  Jo nodded. She could see the point. But she was still puzzled. "If it wasn't you, who was it? Who could possibly benefit from all this troublemaking?"

  Izlyr had no chance to offer any theories. With a flurry of tentacles, Alpha Centauri entered the room, and squeaked in panic: "Izlyr - Ssorg - Princess - come quickly! The Doctor has been taken prisoner! He is in the throne room. We must go to him. He is on trial for his life!"

  Peladon prepared to speak. He had heard Hepesh out and the essential fact of the Doctor's presence in the sacred temple could not be denied. The time had come, therefore, for judgement to be cast.

  "Doctor, Federation delegates", Peladon said, his face clearly showing his unhappiness at the situation, "the charge is extreme sacrilege. You are accused - by Hepesh the High Priest and his witness Grun, the King's Champion - of desecrating our holy of holies, the Inner Sanctum of the Temple of Aggedor. Even as supreme ruler, I have no alternative. To this charge, the laws of Peladon allow of no defence, and of one punishment alone - death!"

  Jo, watching the Doctor face the court with a quiet dignity, bit back a cry at Peladon's doom-laden words. It had been explained to her that any interference, verbal or otherwise, would only make matters worse. Hepesh had ensured that none of the delegates had been given the chance to discuss the case with the Doctor. But now, at last, came his chance to speak.

  "Your Majesty," declared the Doctor with complete sincerity, "there was no sacrilege intended. I assure you of that!"

  "Only the death of the intruder can purify the sacred temple of Aggedor!" cried the High Priest.

  The Doctor was prepared to explain - if he got the chance. "You see, I had no idea
that the tunnel would lead there."

  Peladon threw a sharp glance at his High Priest, and leaned forward. "I know of no tunnels, Hepesh."

  "Both Hepesh and Grun know that below this citadel there exists a whole network of secret passages," insisted, the Doctor. "But I doubt if he'll admit the fact. "

  "Why should I admit to what doesn't exist?" sneered Hepesh. "The alien is lying. There are no tunnels!"

  The Doctor turned to the young king. "King Peladon, I swear to you that I'm telling the truth. I'm innocent!"

  "He was there," growled Hepesh. "Not only did he gaze upon the holy image, but he laid his foul alien hands upon him! Is this innocence? No! There is but one consequence, Majesty. Name it!"

  Jo could keep silent no longer. "He is innocent! You must believe him!"

  Izlyr stood forward proudly. Jo held her breath. What would he say? With one word, he could eliminate the Doctor as an enemy of his race, and yet remain outside the event as a guiltless bystander. But his words surprised her.

  "Peladon, this Earthling is a stranger to your planet. His ignorance of the law deserves consideration."

  "The crime is too great!" snapped Hepesh quickly.

  "Then a royal pardon would count all the more highly with the Federation," whispered Izlyr.

  Hepesh was quick to interject again, his tongue as sharp as his wits. "The Federation cannot over-ride our holy laws!" he declared boldly. "Such action is forbidden by its Charter of Freedoms!"

  Arcturus, silent until now, glided forward slightly.

  "That is correct," the metallic voice confirmed. "The Galactic Articles of Peace, paragraph 59, subsection 2 . . "

  "The law is against us," wailed Alpha Centauri. "We are powerless to interfere!"

  "The law isn't always right," cried Jo. "You can't just let an innocent man be executed!"

  "No one can prevent it, Earthling," murmured Hepesh smugly, then turned to his king. "Let it be done."

  But Jo was not yet beaten. Pushing her way past Hepesh, she threw herself at the foot of the throne, her desperate face uptilted to the young king sitting there. Their eyes met, as Jo put all her pleading into words.