Timewyrm: Genesis Part 19

"Doctor," the snakewoman laughed, "you claim to have compa.s.sion for these pitiful creatures. Yet you ask me to let the harlot live, so I may inflict further cruelties on her later. How insensitive of you. But very well - have it your way."

Ninani let En-Gula's neck go. Red marks were burned into the young girl's throat. Hacking and straining, she managed to take in a coughing breath, and then another. As soon as she was breathing normally again, the guard grabbed her and hauled her to her feet once more.

"Why are you doing this?" the Doctor demanded. "Isn't it enough for you to win?"

"No," Ishtar said icily. "Winning is never enough. You must also savour the defeat of those who opposed you. They must acknowledge that you have won and they have lost." She didn't look around as Dumuzi entered the room. The high priest was blankly under her control once again. "Take Dumuzi there. He was kind enough to find me in the hills, and to give me the initial energies I needed to reach this dunghill of a city. But he has struggled against me all the time I have been in his mind. If he had been kinder, perhaps I would have been generous to him."

"Perhaps," said Ninani, in Ishtar's tones, "I would have let him use this pretty body for his pleasures. But it's too late for that."

"It's not enough simply to have power, Doctor," continued Ishtar, grimly.

"One must also use that power. And when you hold the power of life and death as I do, then sometimes I grant life. And other times . . .

"No," he contradicted her. "One must decide that there are times where it is wrong to use all the powers one possesses. A person must learn restraint."

"Perhaps you have had to," she agreed, perceptively. "You with your powers of temporal travel and that brain of yours -you could easily have ruled this pitiful world instead of protecting it."

"Maybe," the Doctor said cautiously. He remembered others of his race who had tried to accomplish exactly that. "But it never works. Power engenders a thirst that some insist on attempting to slake. But it becomes an insatiable master."

"Quaint moralizing," sneered Ishtar. "I have the power to do as I will. And my will is - to free Dumuzi."

Puzzled by this apparently aberrant behaviour, the Doctor stared at the high priest. As Ishtar spoke he convulsed, and gave a loud scream. Then, finally, the intelligence seemed to awaken within him. his eyes met those of Ishtar, and he scowled. For the first time in weeks, his mind was entirely his own, the link with Ishtar quiescent.

"You lied to me and used me," he said in a little more than a whisper.

"Yes," Ishtar agreed calmly. "And you still have one further use, priest."

She turned her back on him, and coiled to face the Doctor. "His mind is his own again, for all the good it will do him. I have already drunk from him all the knowledge that I desire. But there is one more way in which he can sere me, one more thing he had that I want - his life." She clutched her metal hand into a ball.

Dumuzi felt the fire pour through the link that had so long controlled him.

Screaming, he fell onto his knees, pounding at his temples, fighting the waves of agony that thundered through his entire body. With one final, drawn-out scream, his mind dissolved, and his limp body fell to the floor.

The Doctor dragged his appalled gaze from the wreckage of what had been a human being, and stared at Ishtar. Her face showed delight, sickeningly mirrored in that of the princess. With a long, satisfied sigh, the metal face turned back to look into the Doctor's.

"Most enjoyable," she crooned. "And utterly delicious."

"There was no need for that," the Doctor replied.

"Oh, but there was," Ishtar said. "As a demonstration for the rest of you.

And simply because I wished to do it. My will is all that counts here, Doctor.

But enough of this." She started to slither across the floor. "Prepare yourself, Doctor. Your mind is next." Her right palm came up, and with a whirr the probe extended and dilated, ready to consume his mind.

A m.u.f.fled boom broke the silence.

20: ACE'S HIGH.

The temple shook; dust and fragments of stone fell into Ishtar's chambers.

The electronics faltered for a second, then sprang to life again. From outside came the sound of another dull explosion.

Ishtar swivelled to face the source of sound. "What was that?" she hissed furiously.

"Sounds like a friend of mine," the Doctor replied. "It has all of Ace's subtle undertones."

"Stop them," Ishtar commanded her guards. Glaring at the Doctor, she added: "This is at best a temporary reprieve."

"I'll take what I can get," he a.s.sured her. His eyes scanned the room, seeking any advantage. With the guards despatched to stop Ace, there were left only two holding Enkidu, and one each for himself, En-Gula and Agga. The odds were improving slightly.

Another explosion rocked the room. Enkidu seized his own chance as the blast put his captors off-balance. A quick throw flung one of them across the room. Enkidu turned, raking his fingers across the face of the second guard. As the man screamed, Enkidu grabbed the guard's sword, reversed it and gutted him. Kicking the body aside, he attacked the guard holding Agga.

"Incompetents!" screamed Ishtar, momentarily distracted by the fighting.

Her mental hold over the remaining guards faltered slightly. The Doctor, feeling the grip of his arm loosen a little, jammed his umbrella down hard on his captor's foot.

The soldier yelped, and the Doctor reversed his umbrella, hooked the handle about the man's ankle, and then jerked. The guard topped over, and the Doctor was free. He launched himself across the room at the computers.

Enkidu was in his element now. The guard pinioning Agga had no chance of matching the fury of the Neanderthal fighting demon. Enkidu hacked him down, then threw the dead man's sword to Agga. The king stared into two burning eyes. "For the moment," Enkidu told him, "we fight a common foe."

Nodding, Agga joined him to attack the two surviving guards.

Seeing her plans crumbling, Ishtar sent a mental command for more troops to come to her aid. This was irritating, but hardly fatal. The guards might be susceptible to the edge of a sword, but primitive weapons could not harm her metallic form. She twisted and saw the Doctor fiddling with the control panels. That was more dangerous! Hissing, she coiled and sprang.

The Doctor was still trying to get the hang of the alien programming when the metal fury smacked him aside. The coils of Ishtar's tail wrapped round him. Her face suddenly appeared in front of his and grinned wickedly down at him. "That was a pointless attempt," she whispered, and began to tighten her grip. The Doctor could feel his body being crushed in the metallic embrace. He shut out the pain and began to close down areas of consciousness.

There was a sudden smell of ozone, and an explosion from the panels behind him. A bolt of light had glanced off Ishtar's left arm, leaving a trail of liquid metal. For the first time, uncertainty and pain appeared on Ishtar's face.

"Back off, b.i.t.c.h!" Ace yelled, doing her best Sigourney Weaver impression.

She was hefting a needle gun cannibalized from an unused Guardian robot. She fired again. Worried about a ricochet from the metal body hitting the Doctor, she was aiming high. Another of the computer panels behind Ishtar exploded, showering fragments of circuits and tape everywhere.

"No, Ace, don't!" the Doctor yelled, prising himself free from the metal coils.

Ishtar reared up, ready to spring at this new interloper. Ace dropped to one knee to fire again. The Doctor had no option but to use his umbrella. He flung it as hard as he could.

It hit Ace in the stomach, and she doubled over with a yell. The needle gun clattered to the floor. Ishtar sprang over Ace's p.r.o.ne form, and the Doctor managed to grab his companion's arm and pull her towards him.

"Why'd you do that?" Ace gasped, fighting to get her breath back. "I could have ended it right then!"

"You'd have ended more than you thought," the Doctor told her grimly. He pointed to the cobalt bomb. "That's the grandfather of all atomic bombs there, and it will be triggered by Ishtar's death."

Realizing what she had almost done, Ace paled. "Then what can we do?"

she asked.

"Think!"

Urshanabi brought the flitter in low again. This time he cut the restraining field. Gilgamesh leapt from the back with a howl of joy, swinging his battle axe as he dropped towards the waiting troops. The weapon cut a b.l.o.o.d.y pathway through the men. Screams of agony joined Gilgamesh's wild war chant. Urshanabi flew on, deeper into the temple. Ace had gone ahead of them, worried for the safety of her friend the Time Lord.

Utnapishtim and Avram followed on the second sky scooter. The two small flyers zipped through the vast doorway and into the temple building. Inside, it was chaos. The priests and wors.h.i.+ppers alike had given up any attempts at devotions, and were cowering in whatever safety they could find. Ishtar's guards were kicking aside anyone in their way as they hurried towards the back rooms to aid their mistress. Urshanabi, infected by the fighting spirit, yelled out wordlessly and drove the flitter into them. Men flew aside and many of them didn't get up again.

"A glorious fight!" Avram howled over the noise. Utnapishtim snorted.

"And senseless! These men fight because they are forced to, not because this is their battle. But that was ever Qataka's way."

Within her holy of holies, Ishtar once again held sway. Enough of her fighting men had piled in to wear down Enkidu at last. Struggling, he was held and forced to his knees, a sword at his throat. Agga, dispatching what had once been one of his loyal guards, spun to help his one-time enemy.

Standing between them was Ninani. With an evil smile on her face she leapt at her father. Though he knew she was possessed by Ishtar, he could not bring himself to strike at his favourite child. As he fell backwards, powerless to defend himself, his head hit the metal of the monitoring stations, and he collapsed. Ninani s.n.a.t.c.hed the sword from his nerveless fingers and held it over his heart.

"Weakness," she hissed. "Compa.s.sion!" But she did not drive the weapon home. Agga, stunned by the blow, simply stared up into the face he had always loved, his heart broken.

The fighting was over. Ishtar slithered from behind a pillar and approached the Doctor. "It was wise of you to stop this child from attacking me," she told him, glaring venomously at Ace. "But, as you see, her futile gesture has won you nothing."

"Not nothing." Utnapishtim's voice came from behind her. "She has gained us time."

Ishtar hissed in disbelief and fury as her old foe walked through the doorway, flanked by Urshanabi and Avram. Utnapishtim moved grimly towards the computers.

"Stop!" yelled Ishtar. "You can accomplish nothing!" Despite her words, there was panic in her voice.

Utnapishtim withdrew a small device from his tunic. It was a box a few inches across, and flat. Two mandible-like p.r.o.ngs projected from the front.

He smiled thinly. "My computer virus," he told her. "And your doom!" He thrust the device towards the closest panel.

Ishtar didn't hesitate. Even with her superhuman reflexes she could not reach him in time. Instead she raised her right hand, and the linkage she had readied for the Doctor's mind flew towards her enemy. The needle sharp implant slashed across Utnapishtim's wrist in a spray of blood.

Screaming, he dropped the software insert. As it hit the floor, Ishtar pounced and slammed her tail down on it. Stunned by her speed, the others could do nothing but watch as she crushed the device into twisted metal fragments.

"So much for your virus!" she sneered, backhanding Utnapishtim across the room. He lay groaning where he fell, his face bruised, his wrist still bleeding. Avram jumped to his aid, tearing a strip from his own tunic to bind the gash.

Ishtar looked triumphantly about the room. More of her guards had arrived, and the day was clearly hers. "What stupidity!" she snarled. "You were all doomed to failure before you began. Accept your fate."

"Get stuffed," Ace said. She was held by two of the guards, her arms behind her back, twisted painfully. "There's still Gilgamesh."

"Yes," agreed Ishtar, licking her lips in antic.i.p.ation. "There's still Gilgamesh. And I have a score to settle with that one!" She gestured at the doorway, through which the struggling king of Uruk was dragged to join the rest of the captives.

He was red with blood, but it seemed to be mostly that of his opponents.

He had several cuts from blows he had taken, but none were serious. It took three guards to drag him into the room and kick his legs from under him, forcing him into a position of respect before Ishtar. With hatred in his eyes, he looked up at her, and spat.

Ishtar laughed. "Poor Gilgamesh - is that the only weapon you have left?"

She reached out to stroke his matted beard. "Once, you refused my embrace, O king. But this time, you will have no choice in the matter. This time, you will feel my arms about you - crus.h.i.+ng the life out of you." But instead of carrying out her threat she turned to survey the room, a smug smile on her face. "Well, Doctor, I owe you a debt of grat.i.tude."

"Why?" he asked, struggling helplessly in the grip of two impa.s.sive guards.

She gestured at the captives. "Why? Because you have a.s.sembled all of my enemies for me to take my slow, slow revenge upon. Utnapishtim, who sought to destroy me. Gilgamesh, who mocked and spurned me. Agga, who fought against me. And you, Doctor, who can provide me with the knowledge of temporal control! How delightful!" She gave a sibilant purr of pleasure. "Freed from the restraint of time, who knows what I can accomplish?"

"Don't even think about it," the Doctor warned her. "You've got no chance at all."

"On the contrary!" she replied. "I cannot be defeated now. Who is there to fight me? Don't be foolish, Doctor. I am the future, and nothing can stop me now. Earth first, and then perhaps all of time and s.p.a.ce will become mine.

Think about it: there will be no crime, no pain, no dissent. There will be one mind and one aim for the whole human race."

"Your mind," the Doctor said. "Not theirs. Don't try and paint a picture of Utopia, Ishtar - what you envision is slavery and h.e.l.l."

"Ah!" Ishtar smiled again, revelling in her glory. "But your h.e.l.l is my heaven.

My mind will become omnipotent, Doctor, filling the reaches of time and s.p.a.ce. I may be posing as a G.o.ddess now, but soon I shall become one in fact!" "She's flipped her metal lid," Ace said loudly. "She's completely mad."

"Mad?" Calmly, the snakewoman considered the point. "No, not mad, child. I am completely sane. It is you and your friends who are mad, for thinking that you could stop me. Now, I am ready to enter into my glory."

She held up her right hand, extending the probe. The gleam of one of her implants caught Ace's eye. "And I shall begin with you." She smiled at the Doctor. "You will be next, Time Lord. But, before your mind is sucked into nothingness as I feast upon it, I want you to see your final failure - as your companion dies!" Bringing up her hands, Ishtar caught Ace's head in her metallic grip. Then, with a laugh of cruel pleasure, she injected the implant into Ace's temple.

21: ARMAGEDDON.

Ace screamed in agony, and kept on screaming. The Doctor screwed his eyes tightly shut, appalled. Another of his companions doomed, and nothing that he could do to stop it. Silent accusers, memories of Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric and others pa.s.sed through his mind. And now Ace would be one of their number.

He realized that it wasn't only Ace who was screaming. The arms holding him loosened their grip. He saw that Ishtar, too, was writhing, in pain. So was Ninani, and several of the guards. Other temple soldiers were simply stationary, gazing helplessly.

"It worked!" Utnapishtim breathed, struggling to his feet. "We tricked her!"

"What worked?" The Doctor rushed over to check on Ace. The entry of the probe into her skull had left a red mark, scarred and bruised, but despite her obvious pain she was alive, and not weakening.

Urshanabi kicked Ishtar's writhing metal coils, and laughed. "That device she destroyed was just a dummy. We knew she'd attack it. The real virus was overlaid on our minds. As soon as she tried to take over any one of us, she would trigger the real virus and suck it into her intelligence circuits."

In horror, the Doctor realized what was happening. "It's attacking her circuitry now?"

"Of course," Utnapishtim said, extending his good hand. "She'll be finished soon, and her slaves will be free. You must be the Doctor. I'm Utnapishtim."

"You're an idiot!" the Doctor yelled back. "Take a look at what's in front of her throne" He turned away, bent down and, with regret, punched Ace sharply on the jaw. She stopped screaming and rolled over, unconscious.

Utnapishtim had followed the Doctor's instructions. His face paled. "This is the same kind of bomb she used to destroy Anu!"

"And it's tied into her mental processes," the Doctor added. He managed to drag Ace to her feet, one arm slung over his shoulders. "The second your virus kills her, that bomb will go off. And it's the end of human civilization and a good portion of this planet."