Doctor Who_ Head Games Part 12

93.'They didn't need to,' Chris put in. 'I spoke to Enros telepathically. We all believe in him on the planet Wolsey.'

The guard shifted uncertainly. 'If you're telepathic, prove it.

Put something in my mind.'

'Don't be stupid!' Kat snapped. 'He can only commune with the Undying One. You have heard His Word, I hope? And His prediction of the coming of the pink-skinned offworlders?' The guard nodded hastily. Chris put on his best look of wide-eyed innocence.

Kat reached through the bars and clasped a hand onto the guard's shoulder. 'Now are you going to let us out of here or would you prefer to burn in Purgatory?'

He pulled away from her, gave a derisory snort which wasn't as confident as it might have been, then turned and swept away.

Chris sighed. 'I thought you said that would work.'

Kat grinned and dangled the guard's key in front of his eyes.

It did. Now all we have to do is let ourselves out of here and free the other rebels before the crackbrain thinks to check his pockets.'

Mel plugged her ears as the Doctor's force-field device emitted a shrill whine. 'What's going on?' she cried. The question was given more relevance by a stirring in the forest across the clearing. They hadn't heard anything in minutes and this activity seemed too well-timed to be coincidental.

The Doctor seemed worried too. He dug into the green box's innards, tearing out and reconnecting wires urgently.

The forest was fairly crying out now with the crashing movements and hunting roars of a dozen beasts. 'Turn that thing off,' Mel shrieked, 'you're attracting them!'

'That's it,' the Doctor was grumbling to himself, 'I've allowed my neutron flow to take on the wrong -'

Mel screamed as a tyrannosaurus burst out of the trees opposite and thundered towards them, its great head down, its mouth s...o...b..ring. The Doctor only glanced up briefly before returning to his work. Mel buried her head in her knees, eyes closed. Then, unbelievably, she heard a guttural cry of surprise, and she looked up to see the dinosaur backing away, 94 bewildered, from the shimmering, transparent dome which now surrounded them.

She wiped her brow and tried to stop her hands from shaking.

'Why is it, Doctor, that everything has to be on the last second with you?' Then her relief was cut short as the tyrannosaurus swooped down and made another attack, its head bouncing of the field with a percussion that made the ground quake savagely.

'How long have we got before that thing breaks through?'

'The barrier is quite solid, but of course it was a rush job.'

'How long?' she demanded.

The Doctor shook his head gravely. 'That depends on how strong Jason thinks his dinosaurs are.'

The following ten minutes numbered amongst the most unpleasant of Mel's life. Much as she prayed it might, the tyrannosaurus didn't lose interest. It hammered against the force field time and again, and each time she thought its grinding teeth came just a little closer to its prey. Worse still, more monsters had entered the clearing, drawn by the noise. A triceratops and a velociraptor fought savagely, whilst a pterodactyl circled the treetops and squawked in hunger. A creature which Mel didn't recognize had made a few spirited attempts at levelling the barrier itself. Its charge was like that of a rhino and she had screamed each time its horned head had impacted with the solid air right next to her.

'Get ready to run,' the Doctor muttered, and her heart dipped to somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach.

'You don't mean -'

It's about to collapse.'

'But what chance have we got of escaping?'

'An incredibly small one. Sorry.'

Mel tensed to make a spring for it, but her body sagged as her brain informed it that flight was hopeless. She could but wait.

The field collapsed.

Mel lost all self-control and screamed.

She was still screaming when, some five seconds later, it occurred to her that she wasn't dead. She opened her eyes to see 95 the Doctor looking apologetically down at her. The undergrowth was broken and trampled, but beyond that there was no sign of their attackers.

'As I said,' she panted, climbing giddily to her feet, breathless from emotional extremes, 'always the last second.'

Then eight men leapt out from the trees, clad only in simple gra.s.s skirts and wielding wooden staffs, which they had sharpened to vicious points. Mel spun round but the men has closed in and formed a circle about them. Their expressions of anger did not bode well.

'And why is it,' Mel sighed, 'that, with you, it's always out of the frying pan and straight into the nearest, hottest and most lethal fire?'

96.

11.

Escape to Danger

Bernice closed her eyes and tried to chase the stars from her vision. 'You could have stepped in before I got conked,' she complained to Roz. 'I'm turning into a phrenologist's nightmare here.'

Her companion tutted as she worked on the knots binding Benny to the bed. 'We don't have time for your witticisms.' She pulled the ropes free and Bernice rubbed her aching arms. 'No time for that either. Stay as you were, pretend to be tied up.'

'I see. You rescue me from sitting against the bedpost with my hands behind my back so I can sit against the bedpost with my hands behind my back.'

'The difference is,' said Roz, 'you'll have this.' She pushed a snub-nosed pistol into Benny's hand and brandished her own weapon. 'I'll be behind the door. Whoever comes in gets the full stun blast. If I miss -'

'Which is a distinct possibility,' Benny interjected unkindly.

'- you get your chance. But make sure you take it fast. From what I've seen, this Dr Who guy can do most anything. Give him a second to think and we're both cinders.'

'More like the ugly sisters,' Benny muttered half-heartedly.

'Can't you talk to these people?' Mel pleaded as she and the Doctor were herded relentlessly through the forest. She stumbled and almost fell, but a sharp stick poked her in the back, persuading her to keep going.

'I'm afraid their language is not developed enough for even a Time Lord's telepathic abilities to translate,' the Doctor said.

He seemed to be coping easily with the enforced march.

Mel sighed hopelessly, but her not inconsiderable discomfort 97 was forgotten a second later. The entourage had left the forest and she was confronted by the shattered remains of what had obviously been a primitive village. Crude log cabins had been demolished or crushed and the ground had been flattened. Her stomach turned as their journey took them past the trampled and mauled corpses of men, women and children alike. The scattered survivors greeted them with sneers and fell in with the escort party, thrusting spiked weapons towards the prisoners in accusatory gestures. Mel flinched and sought protection against the Doctor's steadfast form.

'The tribespeople must a.s.sociate our arrival with the creatures that destroyed their settlement,' he said sadly. 'An understandable misapprehension in the circ.u.mstances.'

They were being pushed towards a definite destination now.

Mel's heart sank as she saw the charred circle of ground awaiting them. Two st.u.r.dy tree-trunks were being manoeuvred into upright positions and tribesmen were gathering red creepers and testing their strength.

Sometimes, she realized, an absence of language need not be a barrier to communication.

Jason beamed as his loyal friend and super-pet padded down the corridor. Inexplicably, when it saw him, the cat froze and gave him a suspicious look. His smile turned into a frown of consternation. 'What's happened to your lovely costume, Power Puss?'

'I'm spending some time in my civilian ident.i.ty,' the cat explained in the languid voice which sounded so much like a slowed-down version of Jason's own.

'Well, you'd better change back if you want to come out to Galactic Prison with us.'

'Ooh yes, I'd like that,' the cat said. But, as it spoke, it turned and scampered away. 'I'm looking forward to an adventure with -' Its voice broke of as the animal left Jason's line of sight. He glared at the s.p.a.ce where it had been and fire flashed in his eyes.

Dr Who was at his shoulder, although he had never approached. 'We're landing,' he said. Jason nodded and 98 accompanied his companion to the console room, where he tried to forget about his pet's betrayal.

The rough bark of the trunk rubbed against Mel's back as she struggled to break through the creepers which bound her.

Beside her, the Doctor wasn't moving at all. That made sense, she thought gloomily. What point was there? Even if they got free, they couldn't break through the circle of tribesmen.

There were dozens of them now, marching around the stakes and chanting in a low monotone. Their movements were tightly orchestrated: each time the group completed a revolution, one member would caper forward and drop sticks onto the burnt ground under the captives' feet. There was quite a pile forming now, and Mel was dreading its eventual completion.

Although she detected no signal, the tribesmen halted together and turned to their prisoners. The one who faced her barked an untranslatable order. Mel couldn't see behind her, but someone there must have collected two branches and, somehow, lit the ends of them. The torches were pa.s.sed each way around the circle until they reached the leader simultaneously. He held them over his head and gave another warbling cry as they sent red smoke into the sky.

Mel found that her eyes were glued to the flames. She fancied she could feel their heat already.

Roz tensed at the sound of footsteps. Bernice had heard them too; Roz wished the archaeologist could at least try to look natural, instead of staring wide-eyed at her with such obvious apprehension.

The door was pushed open, so that Roz was hidden behind it.

As it closed behind the newcomer, she recognized the back view of the Doctor's double. 'We've arrived at the jail,' he told Bernice.

Roz stepped out behind him and fired.

Dr Who crumpled with a gasp and she leapt into the corridor, alert for an attack. She relaxed when she saw that n.o.body was there. 'One down,' she announced with satisfaction.

Benny was kneeling on the floor by the s.p.a.ce where Dr Who 99 had fallen. He was nowhere in sight. 'Or not,' she countered.

'I thought you were going to get the prisoner,' said Jason, turning in surprise as Dr Who emerged from the TARDIS. 'In a moment,' he said. 'What's wrong?'

Jason scowled and indicated the silent prison guard who stood nearby. 'According to this man, the Doctor and his girl have gone.'

'We don't know what happened sir,' the hapless officer put in. 'Their cells are locked but they aren't in them.'

'Don't talk nonsense,' Dr Who snapped. 'People don't just vanish.'

'I suppose not, sir.'

'What is the problem with this place?' Jason shouted. He clenched his fists and fought down the tide of anger which rose in his chest. He looked to Dr Who imploringly. 'Why can't anything go right?'

'Steady on Jason,' Dr Who said. 'They can't go far, can they?

There's nowhere to run to.' The faint roar of a tyrannosaurus drifted into their hearing. 'And if they've been foolish enough to try, then they've probably been eaten.' He smiled encouragingly.

Jason was only slightly consoled. 'I want to look for them,'

he said, and Dr Who nodded understandingly. With a determined expression, Jason headed for the exit and his favourite creation followed.

Behind them, the prison guard vanished.

Mel screamed as the ground shook and something bayed in the forest. The circle of tribesmen broke apart, fear showing on each of its const.i.tuents' faces. 'Those creatures,' she said weakly. 'The dinosaurs . . .'

'Our friend must be back.'

Mel strained to see behind her and screamed again. A great tyrannosaurus head loomed over the treetops and glared at the village balefully. Their captors were fleeing the already decimated settlement, or in some cases just running in aimless panic. Mel tried to take comfort, at least, from the revocation of 100 one unpleasant fate. She needn't have. The tribe leader was before them again, and although he had dropped one torch, the other still blazed fiercely in his grasp. He yelled incomprehensible, defiant words and flung the makeshift lighter into the kindling before joining the evacuation.

'Doctor . . .' Mel moaned, as the wood began to smoulder.

He didn't say anything. Mel heard the dinosaur stomp closer, felt the creepers chafing at her wrists and realized that she probably wouldn't even have time to burn to death.

'Grey corridor,' Benny muttered. The scanner image completed its rotation. 'And more grey corridor!'

'We're in the Galactic Prison building,' said Roz.

'The what?'

'It's where the Doctor is.'

'Well let's go and find him.'

'No, wait a minute. What about the two weirdos?'

Bernice shrugged. 'Dr Who could be out of the picture.'

'I doubt it. He disappeared on me once before. And if he might still be in the TARDIS, we can't risk leaving.'

'Tell you what, you stay on guard, I'll scout round and see if I can find anyone.' The older woman made to protest, but Benny's confinement had left her itching for action - especially if it involved revenge for her latest bruise. 'I won't be long! Not much can happen in an empty grey corridor.' She opened the door and strode outside.

Bernice emerged into a forest clearing and froze at the sight of ten tons of velociraptor bearing down on her.

Mel coughed as a wisp of smoke reached into her throat. Her right foot was hot and she tried to curl it around the stake for protection. The fire was definitely starting to take.

'It's the heat, you see,' the Doctor said. 'It dries the creepers and makes them contract. The nearer we come to death, the harder it is to escape.'

'I don't need chapter and verse, Doctor.'