Doctor Who_ The Caves Of Androzani Part 3

Ch.e.l.lak jumped up. 'Where?'

'They were ambushed in the narrows. The message broke off, sir...'

'That's barely six hundred metres from here. Muster HQ Platoon.'

'They're falling in now, sir. Shall I take them out?'

'No, I will. Put these two in the detention cells, and get them ready for execution.'

Ch.e.l.lak turned and hurried away.

Salateen looked curiously at the two victims. 'You have heard of death under the red cloth, Doctor?'

'I'm afraid not.'

'It is a military procedure. After death, your bodies will be taken to the Field Cremation Unit. Your ashes will be wrapped in the red cloth of execution and disposed of as you direct.'

'It doesn't sound any more enticing than any other form of death,' said the Doctor wearily.

Major Salateen beckoned to the guards at the door.

'Place these two in detention.'

The guards took the Doctor and Peri away.

Morgus sat at his enormous desk, gazing out of his picture-window at the mist-shrouded towers of Androzani City. 'I think I made the right decision. I only wish the execution could be made public.'

'That isn't possible, sir,' said Krau Timmin regretfully.

'I know. But think of the prestige it would bring the Conglomerate.' He swung round and looked sharply at her.

'To witness the punishment of wrongdoers is excellent moral reinforcement, do you not agree?'

'Oh, yes indeed, sir!' Krau Timmin always agreed with everything her employer said, outwardly at least. Her private thoughts she kept very much to herself. 'The President is coming to see you at five, sir.'

'Ah yes. Take ten centilitres of spectrox from my private stock. Even His Excellency cannot expect more than ten centilitres in these difficult times.'

Krau Timmin made rapid notes on the miniaturised computer-terminal that was always in her hand, and hurried away.

Morgus resumed his thoughtful staring out of the window.

By now the gas had cleared in the narrows. Stotz and his gun-runners were moving amongst the bodies of the soldiers recovering the captured crates of weapons.

There had been a brief but vicious argument about their disposition. Krelper had been in favour of repossessing the weapons and making another attempt to make contact with the elusive Sharaz Jek.

Stutz however had pointed out that very soon the caves would be swarming with yet more Federal troops. The captain of the ambushed patrol had got some kind of message out, and Ch.e.l.lak would certainly send more soldiers to investigate. If the gun-runners tried to move about the caves burdened by the arms crates, their capture and summary execution was certain. With the arms abandoned they could travel light and make a quick getaway. Even if they were captured it would be a lot harder to prove anything against them, with the evidence destroyed.

As usual, Stotz had had his way. At this point the narrows bordered a deep gully, an apparently bottomless ravine which disappeared into the depths of the planet.

The gun-runners were dragging the weapon crates towards it, and pitching them over the edge, one by one.

'Come on,' yelled Stotz. 'Move it!'

As the last crate tumbled over, Stotz alerted. Listening like a hunted animal, he could hear the faint jingle of equipment, the sound of booted feet on rock. 'Soldiers!

Come on, hurry!'

The gun-runners fled, disappearing round a bend in the narrows.

Seconds later, General Ch.e.l.lak appeared with his patrol.

For a moment he stood gazing in horror at the scattered corpses. He checked a wrist-gauge then slowly removed his protective mask.

He moved amongst the scattered bodies, checking them one by one. 'Dead, every last man,' he said bleakly. 'They killed the whole patrol.' He turned to his second-in-command. 'Check that the other areas are free of gas and get a stretcher party down here.'

The trooper saluted and moved away.

General Ch.e.l.lak stood staring down at the dead bodies of his men.

The cell into which the Doctor and Peri were thrust was just that, a cell. A square metal box without even a hunk or a chair, with the usual eye-grille set into the heavy door.

The Doctor and Peri were sitting on the floor, backs to the wall, arms hugging their knees.

'There was something very funny about that Major Salateen,' said the Doctor broodingly.

Peri recalled her impressions of the cold-faced, impa.s.sively handsome young Major. 'There was? He didn't make me laugh.'

The Doctor seemed to be pursuing some train of thought. 'And Ch.e.l.lak said they were fighting android android rebels...' rebels...'

'Who cares who they're fighting? We seem to be the fall guys.'

'Yes... do try to speak English, Peri.'

'Doctor, we've got about an hour to live. That Morgus wants us dead.'

'That's another odd thing,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'He had us paraded up and down in front of him and then he seemed to lose all interest. I found that rather insulting.'

'I can take insults,' said Peri dismissively. 'I just don't want to be shot. Doctor, what are we going to do?'

'I've really no idea. I'm sorry I got you into this, Peri.'

'It's all right. It was my fault as much as yours.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'No, I should never have followed those tracks. Curiosity has always been my downfall. How's your rash, by the way?'

Peri looked at her legs. 'I seem to be corning out in blisters now.'

The Doctor studied his own hands, and pushed back his sleeves to look at his wrists and arms. 'Me too. That fungus must have had some very toxic properties.'

Peri made a brave attempt at a black joke. 'Well, I don't suppose we'll die of it not within the next hour anyway.'

The Doctor rose and peered through the grille in the cell door. It looked out onto a quite sizeable cave, a kind of natural hall. In the centre of this open s.p.a.ce a squad of soldiers were fitting heavy wooden posts into sockets carved in the rock floor. The posts were big and heavy, made of scarred and pitted wood, with leather straps dangling from the sides. Execution posts, thought the Doctor.

'What can you see?' asked Peri. 'Anything interesting?'

The Doctor turned away from the door. 'No, no,' he said hastily, 'everything's very quiet. It's like a graveyard out there.'

He caught Peri's gaze, and immediately wished that he'd chosen some other image.

In his underground workshop, the masked figure of Sharaz Jek was crouched over a communications console.

He was studying a video recording of the interview between the Doctor and Peri and Morgus, running it through the machine, over and over again.

As he watched, his black-gloved hands were busy on a neighbouring scanner-console, feeding graph-lines, contours, measurements and a flood of other data into its memory banks.

When he was satisfied, he unplugged the scanner, moved across the workshop and plugged the scanner into a long, coffin-shaped container filled with a bubbling fluid, so thick and viscous as to be almost solid.

The black-gloved hand reached out and pulled a lever.

Sharaz Jek returned to his communications console.

'Sharaz Jek calling Base Defence Group. Numbers Four and Nine report to me immediately.'

He operated more controls, and somewhere in General Ch.e.l.lak's HQ a tiny panel slid back high in the rock wall, revealing a telescopic camera lens.

On one of Sharaz Jek's screens a picture appeared, showing a file of soldiers bearing dead bodies on stretchers.

The black-clad figure chuckled hoa.r.s.ely. 'Stotz must have had a good day...'

The Doctor was pacing up and down the detention cell.

'That fellow Morgus said spectrox was the most valuable stuff in the universe. I wonder why? What can it be?'

'I thought you knew everything, Doctor.'

'Ah, well, not quite. It's going to worry me until I find out what it is!'

Peri had been looking through the grille. She turned away from the door. 'I don't think you'll have to worry long, Doctor. They seem to be about ready for us.'

The Doctor went to look.

The posts were firmly in place now, and a squad of soldiers was falling in under the orders of an officer.

Absorbed in the sinister scene, neither the Doctor nor Peri noticed that behind them in the cell a hidden panel was slowly sliding open...

Morgus held out a small silver phial and the President reached for it, trying not to appear too eager. 'My dear Morgus, I can't thank you enough.'

The President was a tall, silver-haired man in the cloth of gold worn only by those of the highest rank. Like many politicians he was handsome in a rather actorish way. The tanned, youthful features contrasted with the mane of silver-grey hair.

Morgus bowed deeply, striving to conceal the contempt he felt for this posturing jack-in-office. 'My pleasure, Trau President. How much do you take?'

'My apothecary recommends a dose of zero point three centilitres a day.' The President smiled confidentially. 'I've been without for three weeks now, and between you and me, I was beginning to feel my age.'

'Spectrox is indeed a wonderful restorative.'

'The greatest boon ever bestowed on humanity. After all, it offers us at least twice the normal life-span.'

The President preened himself brus.h.i.+ng back the silvery hair. 'Would you ever think I was eighty-four?'

'Fifty at the most,' said Morgus, and he was speaking the truth.

This was the secret of spectrox, the reason for its extraordinary value. It gave, if not immortality, the next best thing, a prolonged and healthy middle age. It enabled men like the President to lead active, enjoyable lives, remaining in office when they might otherwise have been in wheelchairs or in hospital beds waiting for death.

Spectrox could be produced only in relatively small quant.i.ties, and it was so costly that only those of the highest rank and the greatest wealth could be a.s.sured of regular supplies. Men like the President, and Morgus himself, together with a select group of politicans and business tyc.o.o.ns of Androzani Major.

A small, a very small amount was exported to similarly powerful figures on the rest of the Five Planets. Spectrox had been in production for some years now, long enough for its effect to be seen and its fame to spread. It had always been enormously expensive, but the rebellion on Androzani Minor and the consequent shortage of supply had driven the price higher still.

The President said impressively, 'This war must must be brought to a conclusion soon, Morgus. One way or another.' be brought to a conclusion soon, Morgus. One way or another.'

'There is only one honourable way, sir,' said Morgus quickly. 'Sharaz Jek must be crushed.'

'Of course. But our forces are making such poor progress, and meanwhile there is a clamour for the supplies of spectrox to he resumed. It is understandable.'

'That clamour is the razor's edge that Sharaz Jek is holding to our throats. We cannot accede to criminal blackmail!'

The President spread his hands in a politician's gesture.

'My dear.Morgus, personally speaking I agree entirely. But we in the Praesidium are forced to look at the matter front a different viewpoint.'

'Patriotism is the only viewpoint.'

The President rose and moved to look out of the window. 'A businessman's patriotism may be different to that of a politician. I am forced to take account of the mood of the Praesidium, of people of influence. That mood is becoming ugly.' He swung round upon Morgus. 'Whereas you, my dear Morgus, need only take account of your balance sheets which, since the market value of spectrox has risen so astronomically, must now look even healthier than they did at the start of the conflict!'

Morgus was quick to defend himself. 'My conglomerate is contributing handsomely towards the cost of operations on Androzani Minor.'

'Yes indeed, and the Praesidium is duly grateful. 'But as your congromerate owns that planet, such a contribution is, perhaps, no more than might be expected.'

Morgus decided it was time to confront the issue. 'Trau President, am I to understand that the Praesidium is considering ending the war offering Sharaz Jek some kind of armistice?'