Part 8 (1/2)

'You're quite wrong, young man,' the Doctor said, vehemently. 'Dangerously wrong! Oh, certainly, we've got this...'

He tapped the core carefully. 'And because we have it, the Daleks will go to any lengths to recover it.' Dawning awareness showed on the faces of the others, and the Doctor nodded grimly. 'We haven't escaped from danger in fact, the danger has barely begun!'

The conference room had calmed down somewhat since the launch of the Spar Spar. Unable to think of anything else to do, the delegates cl.u.s.tered about the table, muttering to themselves, and watching the Daleks' activities. Both Mavic Chen and the furious, humiliated Zephon kept to themselves, though. Eventually, the door to the control centre hissed open, and the Black Dalek glided back into the room, followed by six others. They took their places about the table, and the delegates understood that they were expected to do likewise. As soon as everyone was standing at their lecterns, the Black Dalek scanned them all.

Finally, it spoke.

'The core has been stolen by enemy agents. The council must determine who is at fault here.' The eye-stick rested firmly on Zephon. 'It was through your negligence that the intruders entered the conference.'

That was too much for Zephon's pride to bear. 'Had the Daleks made complete security arrangements,' he retorted hotly, 'then the intruders would never have reached the city!'

'Had the Master of the Fifth Galaxy been less arrogant,'

Chen suggested, carefully, 'they would not have found a means of access so... conveniently waiting.' He laid a slight stress on the last words, implying that Zephon knew more than he was telling.

Zephon realized this, and scowled. 'I believe the intruders came from the Solar System,' he accused.

'Indeed!' Chen calmly raised an eyebrow. 'Did you see them?'

'No.'

'Then your allegation is preposterous.'

The silky, obsequious human was getting on Zephon's nerves. He pointed at the man, trembling in fury. 'How did the intruders know that the Taranium was here, and that it was to be handed over, if they were not from the Solar System?'

Dramatically, he spread his arms to include the other members of the panel. 'None of the other representatives here knew what Mavic Chen was bringing.'

The Black Dalek's eye-stick moved to cover Chen. 'Explain,'

it commanded.

Chen looked carefully about. 'This is ridiculous,' he said, finally. 'Why should I arrange for the mining of the mineral to be carried out in secret for fifty years only to have it stolen?'

'A thirst for power!' exclaimed Zephon, accusingly. 'Perhaps you wanted to use the core for yourself!'

'How?' Chen countered. 'Only the Daleks know how to a.s.semble the Time Destructor. I only provided the vital ingredient.'

Zephon knew that the other delegates were becoming more and more convinced of Chen's innocence. He realized that the Black Dalek was looking at him again. 'I did not know about the core!' he cried. 'How could I?'

'You knew about the intruders,' the Dalek pointed out.

Looking about wildly, Zephon retorted: 'We all did! You You were going to deal with them! You said...' were going to deal with them! You said...'

'Silence!' The Black Dalek had had enough of this foolish prattling. 'It is agreed that you are guilty of negligence.'

His influence now strangled, Zephon drew himself up to his full height. 'You cannot do without me,' he said, coldly. 'If I go, the Masters of Celation and Beaus go with me!'

'You threaten our unity?' the Black Dalek asked.

'I have nothing to say,' Zephon anwered, summoning all of his tattered pride about himself. 'I will leave now.' He cast one final stare of disgust at his fellow delegates about the table, and then turned his back on them.

The way to the s.p.a.ce-port was blocked by four Daleks. For the first time, Zephon had a twinge of fear. His arrogance drained away, and he turned back to see six impa.s.sive faces and seven eye-sticks regarding him.

'Destroy him!' the Black Dalek ordered.

The four Daleks fired. Zephon screamed, twisted and fell, a smoking corpse. The other delegates carefully looked away from the body. The Black Dalek studied each one in turn, then spun to face the supervisor.

'Where is the s.h.i.+p now?'

'Course seven area seven. It is approaching the influence of the planet Desperus.'

'Order the pursuit s.h.i.+ps to positions,' the Black Dalek commanded. 'Prepare the randomizer.' It turned back to the delegates. As expected, they were trying to pretend that the death of Zephon had had no effect on their unity. 'The core will be recovered,' it promised. 'The intruders will be annihilated!'

The Doctor replaced the Taranium core in his pocket and smiled at Katarina, Steven and Bret. 'You young people are very fortunate,' he informed them. 'Very few people have ever seen this much Taranium.'

Steven wasn't all that impressed. 'Well, now that we've seen it, what do we do?'

'We do nothing,' the Doctor replied airily. 'And by doing nothing, we do everything. Do I make myself clear?'

'Not at all,' Steven said. The Doctor was hardest to deal with when he was feeling smug. 'What was all that supposed to mean?'

'My dear young man,' the Doctor smiled, 'you ask so many questions. Why not be like Katarina over there? She doesn't ask hundreds of questions she simply looks and learns. Why don't you try the same thing?'

Katarina was seated by Bret at the controls. She stared at a small, milky-looking globe on the main screen. This business of pictures that moved was very strange to her. She reached out, and her fingers touched something smooth. 'What is this?' she asked.

Thinking she was referring to the planet, Bret looked up.

'Oh, that's the planet Desperus,' he explained. 'We have to pa.s.s close by it. It's called the Devil's Planet.'

'Anybody live there?' asked Steven, interestedly.

'Live?' Bret snorted. 'Exist would be a better word for it.

Haven't you ever heard of that place?'

'We've ah been out of touch with things for a while,' the Doctor explained hastily, to stave off further questions. He knew that Bret would not believe the truth about the TARDIS.

'Oh.' Bret shrugged. 'Well, about fifty or sixty years ago, the crime rate was getting rather out of hand on Earth. Prisons became pretty full, and the towns were getting quite dangerous places to live. You risked your life walking alone in the streets.'

'The pleasures of civilization,' the Doctor interposed, caustically.

'Quite. Then Mavic Chen was elected as Guardian of the Solar System, promising sweeping reforms.' Bret considered what they now knew of Chen's motives. 'Anyhow, one of his ideas was borrowed from the primitive past. In the 20th century, one of the nations used to send its criminals to an island.

Virtually no one ever escaped. And civilization was free of such men. Well, Chen used Desperus for something like that.

Murderers, the criminally insane, those sorts of people, were all s.h.i.+pped here and left to fend for themselves. No wardens, no guards and no escape.'

'Poor things,' the Doctor observed.