Part 9 (1/2)

'Oh I wouldn't bother,' the Doctor told her in a dismissive tone. 'After all, it's only a Terran twentieth*century police telephone box.'

The fact that he failed to convince Lannic and she insisted on dragging it into the lander's hold made Bernice wonder if that had not been his intention all along.

But whatever the Doctor's intentions he was soon sitting in the lander, perched on a crate with Benny and Ace just outside the TARDIS. From somewhere in his voluminous pockets he had produced several crumpled teabags and three sachets of powdered milk. Now Benny was drinking what she reckoned was the worst*tasting cup of tea ever made, listening to the Doctor telling her she was on a badly organized treasure hunt rather than a serious archaeological expedition. As if she didn't know.

'So why don't we just slip away?' asked Ace.

No. The Doctor shook his head. 'There's something happening here something rather odd.'

'You're telling me,' muttered Benny.

'The dream machine?'

'Yes, Ace. It's not as simple as it looks.'

Benny frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'The componentry is too sophisticated for a glorified magic lantern. There's more to it than that. Then there are these deaths. And Ace's ear.'

'My ear?'

'Yes. Somehow the TARDIS got caught inside one of the what did you call it, Ace?'

'The dream machine.'

'Hmm. Very precise. Anyway, we got caught up inside one of its performances. That's theoretically possible. It's obviously theatrically possible. We were in amongst the holograms, except they're more than that there's a virtual reality element to it. We could touch the characters, feel the texture of the set walls.'

Bernice shrugged. All that was feasible: she knew that from her own experiences, just as Ace knew from her s.p.a.ce corps training exercises.

'But it doesn't matter how real you make such a scripted projection, how much you think think you feel and experience, you are not actually there it never you feel and experience, you are not actually there it never really really happens.' happens.'

'Obviously.' Ace could not see the point either. 'Otherwise you could die in one of those training similarities. And that's not how they work.'

The Doctor nodded. 'That's right. You can't get shot. You can't get bombed. You can't get killed. And you can't get your ear sliced by a non*existent dagger.'

Ace's hand went instinctively to her left ear, and Benny could see the thin trail of dried blood that ran down the back of it.

Tashman and Krayn still had not decided what to do to enhance their makes.h.i.+ft staircase. They were wandering round the stage area, occasionally making each other laugh with frivolous suggestions. Krayn was in favour of blasting the corners and edges off the steps and converting it into a steep ramp. Tashman suggested trying to precision*blast smaller steps out of each of the large ones. Neither of them thought either would work.

Tashman leaned heavily against the dried edge of the ma.s.s of mud on the stage. Chunks of it crumbled away under his weight and he rubbed his back against it in an attempt to get comfortable. There was still a solid lump sticking in his spine. It refused to break loose. He turned to examine it, perhaps he could smooth it down with the heel of his hand.

But what he found was not a lump of mud. It was more rigid; colder. It felt like stone, and what little he could see of it looked as if it had been deliberately shaped into a rounded comer. 'Hey, Krayn there's something in here. Buried.'

Krayn came over and they tried to push the mud back from the edges of the lump. It was soon apparent that this was the tip of a larger structure.

'What is it, do you reckon?'

'I don't know.' Krayn considered for a while. 'I'll go and find Lannic, she'll want to see this and it might take her mind off the steps.'

'Right. What shall I do?'

'See if you can clear some more of it. Try the water cannon, but keep it very gentle we don't want to break anything.'

Tashman smiled. 'No chance of that,' he called after Krayn, 'she'd kill us.'

Krayn smiled, reflecting as he pulled himself up on to the tunnel floor that the steps were were actually a bit too steep. But that was hardly important now. He peered down the gloomy tunnel. He could just make out the pale pool light spilling from the nearest lamp. Beyond it the tunnel curled slightly as it rose towards the lander. Still out of breath from the climb, Krayn set off up the tunnel towards the lamp. actually a bit too steep. But that was hardly important now. He peered down the gloomy tunnel. He could just make out the pale pool light spilling from the nearest lamp. Beyond it the tunnel curled slightly as it rose towards the lander. Still out of breath from the climb, Krayn set off up the tunnel towards the lamp.

It flickered as he got closer. Typical probably the fuel cell. They had skimped on that as well as everything else on this lousy expedition. If it were not for the Exec's obsession with their theatrical past they would not be here at all. They would be fighting the Rippeareans on the front lines, taking orders from losing direkters who had no time to send for more experienced advice, or even co*ordinate responses between each other. Krayn had been there, had seen it, and was glad he was stuck on a lousy, skinflint archaeology mission. He had fought in s.p.a.ce battles where he never even saw the enemy, and in the streets of Flastapor where he had stared his enemy and death in the face.

The light went out. He was almost at it when it guttered and died, almost as if a huge dark hand had grasped it. The bend in the tunnel meant he could see nothing ahead, and behind him the tunnel mouth was a torn grey oval a lifetime away. But when the arm grabbed him from behind, the crook of the elbow locking round his throat, it was all he had to turn to.

Krayn swung savagely back at his a.s.sailant, unable to break the grip round his neck. But his fists failed to connect and he flailed uselessly in the air. He staggered back towards the mouth of the tunnel, trying to free enough breath to shout perhaps Tashman would hear. But just as he began to think he might manage to slither back down the tunnel dragging his attacker with him, his legs were kicked away at the knees and he fell forward into the darkness.

The clammy arm tightened its grip as Krayn's fingernails tore away at the mud floor and the grey of the tunnel mouth misted over with red.

Tashman found the body. He was so excited by what the water cannon had revealed that he decided not to wait for Lannic and the others, but to meet them in the tunnel. Instead he found Krayn. He could see him immediately since the body was lying almost directly beneath the first of the lights. Krayn's eyes were bulging, his throat crushed. The tips of his fingers were almost embedded in the tunnel floor.

There was no sign of anyone else. Tashman was alone with his comrade's body, and a mud*spattered lamp.

When he broke the news to Lannic and Bannahilk in the operations room, their reactions were not what he expected. Tashman had a.s.sumed that they would both decide that enough was enough and they should exit straight away. But he had overlooked one fact which struck both of them immediately. Krayn was the pilot.

Ace listened to the conversation with increasing amazement. She had gathered from Benny and the Doctor that the archaeological side of things was pretty messed up. Now it seemed like the military were equally disorganized.

'Can you help, Doctor?' asked Gilmanuk once the initial noise had abated.

'Well, we landed with quite a splash,' the Doctor answered without missing a beat. 'And even if we can find where our vehicle sank, you'd soon see that it looks like it can only carry two at most.'

Ace wondered why he was avoiding helping them no doubt he had reasons.

As if in answer to Ace's thoughts, the Doctor said, 'You must help yourselves. Why don't you ask your friend in orbit to come and get you?'

'He can't,' Lannic admitted. 'This is the only lander.'

'And Lefkhani hasn't piloted a lander, so far as I know,' Bannahilk added. 'Big stuff like the orbiter, yes. Lander no chance. I doubt he's ever flown in an atmosphere let alone the sort of weather out there. It's quite a skill.'

That was enough for Ace. 'Doesn't look too difficult,' she said confidently. 'Give me a couple of hours and I'll figure out how to get this heap off the planet.'

The Doctor frowned at her, and she smiled back. 'I'm going to do it, Doctor,' she whispered to him as the others launched into a round of self*congratulation and relief.

He nodded. 'I know, Ace. I know.' He beckoned Benny over and latched an arm round the neck of each of his companions. 'Ace, you keep everyone out of here for a while if you can at least, away from the area where the TARDIS is parked. Benny, you and I are going on a little journey.'

Ace led Bannahilk off to the flight deck, the others following behind. They were still not sure that Ace was serious and wanted to see how confident she was once she had seen the control systems.