Doctor Who_ Theatre Of War Part 25

The Doctor nodded, and they ran up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, Fortalexa was standing with his back to them, looking back into the room. His hands were on his hips and he was watching intently what was happening on the other side of the box. The Doctor reached him first, took one look at the scene in the room, dropped his shoulder and without slowing his speed crashed into Fortalexa. The Doctor's soulder caught the man in the small of the back and sent him sprawling across the room. The Doctor continued for a few paces, then skidded to a halt.

Bernice was just behind him and like the Doctor took in the scene at a glance. Ace was backed into a far corner of the box, almost pressed up against the gla.s.s wall. A large metal figure was walking slowly but steadily towards her, robotic arms extended, servos whirring as its legs smoothly inched forward. The whole construction looked like a man the size of an Ice Warrior had been stripped to the muscle and bone, then encased in metal and sent on a body building course.

Ace was throwing anything to hand at the robot which now meant very little. But judging by the trail of electrical components and broken furniture, she had been holding off the inevitable for a while. Now she was almost out of ammunition.

The Doctor used the weapon he had immediately available: his umbrella. He smashed the robot across the head with it. His umbrella was bent almost double; the robot seemed not to notice. Its right hand closed on Ace's neck.

'Stop,' shouted the Doctor, but his cry had no effect. The robot's fingers were touching the gla.s.s wall, its palm and te crook between thumb and forefinger tight against Ace's neck. Benny could see Ace's eyes begin to glaze over as the robot arm moved slowly up the wall.

Benny ran over and grabbed the robot's arm with both hands, trying to pull it away from Ace's throat. Ace was on tiptoes now. Another inch and her feet would leave the floor. The robot's left hand connected with Benny's head as it swatted her, and she went spinning across the room, crashing into the wall and collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Fortalexa was watching, silent. He had picked himself up after the Doctor had knocked him over, but he made no attempt to help either the robot or Ace. His lips were curled into a set smile.

'Do something!' Benny screamed at him, but he didn't move.

'Stop.' The Doctor's voice was quieter this time, but somehow more authoritative. He was standing beside the machine, his bent umbrella poised above the main control panel. 'Stop, or I destroy the machine.'

The robot froze. One of Ace's feet was off the floor, braced against the gla.s.s wall. The other was on its toes ballet*style.

'That's better. Now let her down slowly. Then release her.'

Ace collapsed to her knees as soon as the pressure of the hand was released. She gasped in air and clutched her throat, pulling open her collar. Benny could see her neck beginning to discolour as the bruising surfaced.

The robot remained frozen in position, its red eyes glowing but otherwise inanimate. By contrast, Fortalexa was exasperated. He stayed clear of the Doctor and the machine, but his hands were clenching and unclenching, his head swaying to and fro.

'Now,' said the Doctor, holding his umbrella above the machine with one hand and adjusting controls with the other. 'Let's see just how good this dimensional osmosis really is, shall we?' He winked at Benny and jabbed at a final sequence of b.u.t.tons.

A red glow seeped across the room from the machine. It wafted towards the silent metal figure by the wall, paused, then slowly surrounded it. It spread like a mist over the area of the room where the robot stood. Ace crawled away as it expanded, enveloping the robot completely, thickening until the shape of the figure was longer discernible. Then it faded, thinned and disappeared. The robot was gone.

'I wish I'd known about that,' croaked Ace.

The Doctor smiled and shouldered his battered umbrella. 'All part of the service.' He turned back to the panel.

But before he could operate another control, Fortalexa was on him, dragging him away. Benny ran across to help, aware of Ace pulling herself to her feet behind her. Fortalexa pulled the Doctor clear of the machine and hurled him at Benny. They collided and fell in a tangle of limbs and umbrella. Ace, just behind Benny, tripped on the Doctor's thrashing arms and joined the melee.

'You're clever, Doctor,' Fortalexa was tapping a command sequence into the machine. 'Clever, but too late.' And for the first time since they had arrived on Heletia, he laughed.

Benny, Ace, and the Doctor were managing to extricate themselves from their scrum on the floor. Now they all watched in amazement as Fortalexa's body rocked with mirth. Tears began to roll down his cheeks and he gasped for breath between bouts of laughter.

'You can't stop it now,' Fortalexa gasped between snorts of laughter. He wiped a tear from his eye. 'The programme's running on the timer the reality envelope is already forming down there, in the theatre. There's nothing even you, Doctor, can do to change that.'

'Hmmm big joke.' Benny pulled herself to her feet and helped Ace up. 'Is he right, Doctor?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Yes and no. He's right that I can't stop it. But then again, I don't want to.'

Ace was still wheezing and rubbing her neck, as she staggered towards the machine. And Fortalexa's laughter turned into a cry of pain.

The red mist drifted out of the machine again. Ace was silhouetted against it as the thin cloud curled round Fortalexa, seeming to grab at his arms and legs. He was screaming now, his cries m.u.f.fled by the mist as it pulled at his limbs, dragging his arms and legs apart, seeming to snap his head backwards.

'Doctor?' But the Doctor shook his head in answer to Benny.

The red of the glow deepened, becoming more opaque. Ace stepped back, away from it, affording Benny a clear view as it closed over Fortalexa just at the moment it looked like his arms and legs must tear away from his body. His screams became more distant, then suddenly they cut off. When the red mist cleared, he was gone.

'Fascinating.' The Doctor seemed not at all worried by the strange events.

'What where did he go?'

'Go, Ace? Back inside the machine.' The Doctor wandered over to where the last vestiges of the mist were dissipating. 'In a sense, you see he was never really really here he was a projection of the machine.' here he was a projection of the machine.'

'No, Doctor. Benny shook her head. 'He was on the mission before we even reached Menaxus.'

'Oh I've no doubt the real person was on the mission, and we met him and joked with him. This Fortalexa, the one who faded away so dramatically, was a copy. At some stage on the journey home, the machine replaced him with its own version.'

Ace nodded. 'That would explain why he lost his sense of humour.'

'Yes he had to follow a script written to accommodate his character. The instincts and wit were not part of this role. Though judging by the surprise he showed at the end you saw how he screamed I don't think the copy even realized he wasn't real. He actually believed he was was Fortalexa. Fortalexa.

'Must have been quite a shock when he found out he wasn't.' Benny had another question: 'Doctor, how did you know that threatening to destroy the machine would stop the robot? Lucky guess?'

'No, Benny. You told us.'

'I did?'

'Yes. Remember when you first found the machine. It tried to kill you; you thought someone had grabbed you from behind But when you were about to damage the machine, it stopped. The machine stopped attacking you in order to defend and protect itself. It seemed reasonable to expect the same behaviour again.'

'Well, whatever the explanation, thanks Doctor.' Ace joined him by the machine. Now can we destroy this thing and get out of here?' She reached out for the control panel, but the Doctor slapped her hand away.

'You're forever trying to destroy things, Ace. This time I think it's better for all of us if we leave it be. Besides,' he went on, 'I doubt we can stop it I think Fortalexa was right about that.'

The Doctor reached out to the control panel and experimentally pushed a b.u.t.ton. Almost as soon as it touched the control, he whipped his finger back with a cry. Benny heard the faint crackle, like a static discharge, from across the room. 'What is it, Doctor? Static?'

'I don't know.' He held his hand up level with his eyes, palm facing down. 'It's made the hairs on the back of my hand stand on end look,' he laughed. Then he cautiously jabbed at the b.u.t.ton again. This time there was no noise, and he rested his hand on the panel. He thought for a moment. 'Probably a residual energy image of Fortalexa. The machine retrieved him in something of a hurry; bound to be something tangible left behind.'

'I still say we smash it up.' Ace was hunting through the mess of broken equipment and furniture on the floor. Benny a.s.sumed she was looking for a suitable implement to break up the machine. Ace worked her way across the floor, head down, scanning the debris. As Benny watched her progress towards the door, she realized that there was a figure standing in the doorway, watching the proceedings.

But before she had time to comment, Ace had picked up the broken metal leg of a chair and returned to the machine. The Doctor rushed round from behind it, but he was not in time to stop Ace bringing the leg clanging down on the side of the machine. It connected with a flat area of the side plate, denting it and deflecting off sideways and downwards. Ace raised the metal bar again, but the Doctor caught her hands as they reached the top of her upswing. His eyes were level with Ace's and Benny could see them burning with anger.

Marlock coughed: 'Smash it up? So, sabotage as well as espionage.'

Ace was startled dropped her weapon and backed away towards the machine.

The Doctor stepped forward and grabbed her wrists. 'Perhaps, Marlock, you would be good enough to lock her away again before she can do any more damage.'

Ace looked startled. The other woman, who Marlock had not seen before, stood her ground. He thought for a moment she might cause trouble too, but a look from the Doctor stayed her. The Doctor Marlock was still not quite sure about him. But Ace certainly needed attention. Marlock stepped into the room and gestured for his bodyguards to restrain her.

'It is unfortunate that we cannot execute you twice, so I suppose once will have to make do for both crimes.'

The bodyguards dragged Ace over to him. She was strangely pa.s.sive, staring at the Doctor with a mixture of surprise and worry. Eventually she looked away from the Doctor and stared at her feet.

Marlock grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it upwards so she was forced to look him in the eye. 'You really should stop pretending to be things that you are not. Such deceptions are always detected.' He chuckled; it was a chilling, throaty vibration. 'Had Lannic not been with the Exec, she might have had considerable difficulty getting to see the performance. But you will be pleased to know that I have arranged for you to have no such problems.' He raised his voice and threw the Doctor a quick glance. 'Or you, for this matter, Doctor.'

'Thank you, Marlock. Got us good seats, I hope.'

'The best in the house. Although I was not aware that you had another colleague with you.' He gestured at the other woman.

'My name's Benny,' the woman offered. 'But you can call me Professor Summerfield.'

Marlock nodded to her in mock grat.i.tude. Another insolent friend of the Doctor's. 'I think we can find seats for all three of you. But quite what I am to do with you after after the performance is another matter.' the performance is another matter.'

'Why not just let us go?' Ace suggested.

Marlock ignored her. 'As I said, Doctor, I have reserved seats for you. In the front row in fact. That should afford an excellent view of the play, which I am a.s.suming will go ahead with no problems.'

'Oh yes.' The Doctor patted the machine affectionately. 'No real damage done. The timer's set so it will start right on cue. All running according to plan. Tickety*boo.'

'Good. I've also ensured that you and Professor Summerfield will have an excellent view of the execution that will take place immediately after the performance, Doctor. I doubt you will want to miss that. Your friend Ace will of course have a somewhat more prominent role to play then. For that reason I fear that while yourself and the Professor here will be able to avail yourselves of the excellent refreshments service both before the play and during the interval, Ace will have to be restrained. I hope that will not be too much of an inconvenience and will not mar her enjoyment of this unique occasion too much.'

'She's a bit old for ice*cream and popcorn,' the Doctor observed. 'She'll live with it.'

Marlock waved for the Doctor and Professor Summerfield to precede him down the stairs. The bodyguards dragged the protesting Ace after them.

'I doubt it, Doctor,' Marlock said as they descended. 'I doubt it very much.'

Ace had rarely been to the theatre, but the seat she had was wider and more comfortable than any cinema seat she had tried. But then again, she had never been strapped into a cinema seat; her wrists tied to the arm rests and a leather band holding her round the waist. Even her feet were restrained. Coupled with the threat that if she did anything to disturb the performance whisper even then she would be shot somewhere painful but not fatal by the guard positioned three seats away for precisely this purpose.

The upshot of this was that Ace was not about to disturb the performance. Not unless and until she could get free. They would have to release her to get her up on stage to be executed at the end of the play anyway. And at that point she would be released from the chair, and she would have precious little to lose.

It had occurred to her that the Doctor had some master plan up his sleeve. But he was sitting, apparently sulking in the next seat. She reckoned he was just as stuck for ideas as she was. She guessed he had only prevented her from smashing the machine because he realized Marlock was watching.

On the other side of Ace, Benny was looking back up the auditorium. 'I shouldn't worry,' she said, turning round to look at Ace. 'Something will turn up relax and enjoy the play.'

Ace glared at her. 'You try relaxing strapped in like this.'

'No thanks. Anyway, I must be off things to do. Right Doctor?'

The Doctor nodded without acknowledging in any other way that he had heard.

'Not staying for the historic performance? Who knows what that crazy machine will throw at us?'

Benny laughed. 'Not a lot, I think. It feeds on action mainly. Dialogue isn't its forte.'

Ace didn't follow. 'So what?'

Benny sighed and put on her professor's voice. 'All right, there's just time before I have to go, I guess.'

Ace pulled at the cord holding her right wrist. Then she caught the eye of the guard, smiled innocently and relaxed back into the chair. 'Don't feel you have to spend any time here on my account,' she told Benny.

'No, no I insist. Now then, by the start of the twenty*third century, Earth and her colonies were getting pretty depleted in terms of technology and the recession was well under way. The Dalek invasion and the Cyber wars hadn't helped any. And all this had a serious effect on the theatre no money, no spectacle. And no spectacle meant the scripts had to be rather better and what action and excitement there was in the story had to be pretty basic and cheap.'

'Great. This'll be dead boring.'

'Probably,' Benny conceded. 'But follow me carefully, it may prove a comfort. Come Osterling's time mid to late twenty*third century drama had found a solution. It had reverted, broadly, to the Greek model.'

'Of course obvious solution.' Ace was not at all sure she was any encouraged by Benny's lecture.

'Absolutely. So, loads of dialogue and in*depth arguments going on. But the action all happens off*stage. In ancient Greece, Agamemnon goes off stage to be murdered and Clytaemnestra comes out afterwards to describe the scene in vivid detail. Same in Osterling's The Mercenary The Mercenary the whole play is about the battle, but the audience is stuck in a wood nearby with the women from the town and gets to hear reports from messengers. Great dialogue and description, but no action. the whole play is about the battle, but the audience is stuck in a wood nearby with the women from the town and gets to hear reports from messengers. Great dialogue and description, but no action.

Ace considered. 'This is supposed to make me feel better, is it?'

'Should do. What do think will happen if the dream machine brings the play to life? In the worst case some guy in armour will come over and shout at you about how terrible things are getting in the next room.'

Ace considered again. 'I can handle that,' she said.

'Good,' said Benny. 'Got to dash now. If I'm back in time, I'll buy you a drink in the interval.' Benny gave a cheery mime of raising a gla.s.s and an exaggerated point towards the refreshment area at the back of the auditorium. She aimed at the Doctor, but it was really for the benefit of the guard cradling a disruptor two seats away. Then Benny stood up and left.

The Exec scanned the audience below him, the theatre was packed. Only the front row was almost empty. By tradition it was reserved for visiting dignitaries from foreign worlds, and Marlock had accorded the strange Doctor and his companions that privilege. One of the women was secured by a seat restraint brought specially from the interrogation suites, and the other had already left. There was a guard watching the Doctor and the restrained woman. Three less people to worry about.

'That guard,' Lannic whispered in his ear, 'he has a disruptor, so he must be trustworthy. And he can see if there is any trouble.'

The Exec agreed. Then a thought struck him. 'He is one of Marlock's guards.'

Lannic smiled. 'So we have nothing to worry about.' The Exec nodded glumly. Of course there was nothing to worry about just a guard with a gun. In the theatre, where no weapons were allowed. Even Lannic had been scanned for energy sources. The detectors in the barrier had only been switched off for the Exec himself. Although Marlock had kept pace with him as they pa.s.sed through.

Lannic leaned closer and took his hand, patting it gently.

The Exec took the opportunity to admire her blouse. Above the simple black skirt she was wearing a low*cut blouse of tight black gauze. It showed off her figure to its best. Only the strategically placed patterns woven into the diaphanous material obscured the view. He examined one of the patterns closely it was identical to the others, a cl.u.s.ter of small leaves splaying out from a central branch.

The Exec looked back down at the audience, recognizing the tops of the heads of people whose brothers, sisters, parents and lovers he had had executed. He sat back in his chair and tried to think about something else. The performance would start soon. He had been looking forward to it.

Benny made her way back to the Doctor's room. She needed a few minutes to decide how exactly to achieve her objective. She would not be back in time for the interval she could not even start until the performance was well under way. Her action had to coincide with the climax of the play, that was the whole point.

Benny hoped her short lecture had soothed some of Ace's fears. She also hoped Ace would forgive her If they survived the evening after all, nothing Benny had told her was untrue. Two days ago she would even have believed it herself.

'Ace?'.

When he said her name the second time, Ace deigned to look at him. The Doctor was leaning towards her in a theatrically conspiratorial fashion.?'

'What is it, Doctor? Words of comfort from you too?'

'Sort of. Everything's under control, If that's what you mean.'