Part 28 (1/2)

'What about the Relic?' asked the Doctor's pet.

The Doctor looked pleased with her. He was probably training the girl, thought Qixotl. 'I hadn't forgotten, Sam. We can collect the Relic before we leave.'

'Who can collect it?' demanded Homunculette. can collect it?' demanded Homunculette.

The Doctor sighed. 'We can all do it together, if you like.'

'Just as long as the Krotons don't take it,' Sam added. Qixotl got the impression she'd only said it to make herself feel like she was part of the conversation. The Doctor gave her an encouraging smile.

'Yes. Although, to be precise, there is only the one Kroton here '

He froze in mid-sentence. The smile dropped off his face.

'Qixotl,' he said.

'Er, yeah?'

'Do you remember what E-Kobalt said, when he arrived?'

Qixotl blew through his lips. 'Don't ask me. I didn't understand most of it. Oh, yeah, I know. He said he'd intercepted that black s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, but he'd already sent for... oh, h.e.l.l.'

'I knew we'd forgotten something,' the Doctor muttered.

And at that moment, with a sense of timing that could only have been called impeccable, there was an ominous rumbling from outside the ziggurat.

E-Kobalt ceased its reminiscing, and listened to what the control growth had to tell it.

Kilometres above the surface of the planet, the sky was unfolding, revealing things that had travelled here under the skin of s.p.a.ce-time, unseen by the universe-at-large. The s.h.i.+ps were made of crystal, grown on the looms of Quartzel-88, their shapes unmistakable. As they came into contact with the Earth's atmosphere, their engines caused wild fluctuations in the planet's psychic aurora, as superspatial drives often did. E-Kobalt thought of the effects the disturbances might have on the bipeds here, and found the notion amusing. As much as anything could be found amusing by a Kroton.

The s.h.i.+ps the dynatropes descended. They moved fast, faster than the vessel E-Kobalt had arrived in. Soon, they were within visual range. E-Kobalt watched them through the sensory apparatus of the control growth.

There were ten of the dynatropes, arranged in an upside-down tetrahedron, with the spearhead craft at the bottom of the formation and the six long-range artillery craft at the top. They were pale and jagged, like enormous pulled teeth, and they spun as they fell, filling the air with a deep, discordant warbling, loud enough to shake the walls of the City below.

Ten s.h.i.+ps. A Warspear. The dynatropes unfolded their probe limbs, sweeping the atmosphere, searching for information. E-Kobalt let a little more of his consciousness seep into the control growth, then warbled back to the Warspear on the standard communications frequency.

It was ready to make its report. And, as the commander of this unit, it knew the others would listen to any ideas it might have about how to deal with the alien bipeds.

'A Kroton Warspear,' the Doctor explained.

Sam bounded along by his side, inquisitive as ever. She'd all but forgotten what had happened the last time she'd gone down to the vault, the Doctor realised. One whiff of action, and she was her old self again. The perfect companion.

The perfect companion...

They were hurrying down the steps now, Qixotl, Kortez, Homunculette, and the two Paradox cultists in tow. n.o.body trusted anybody else to take care of the Relic, so they were all heading for the lowest level together. Homunculette and Manjuele never took their eyes off each other, while Kortez spent most of the time staring at the broken skin on his hands and humming something that sounded slightly Tibetan. Of all the surviving bidders, only Trask was absent. The dead man had vanished at some point; n.o.body had spotted where or when, exactly, but the Doctor doubted it mattered. Even if he was faster than the average corpse, he was hardly likely to get to the vault before them and make off with the Relic.

The Doctor tutted to himself. Once they reached the Faction's shrine, they'd be safe from the Krotons, but he had no idea what would happen then. He imagined the bidders sharing out the Relic between themselves. An arm for the Celestis, a leg for Homunculette, a pancreas for the Faction...

'What's a Warspear?' Sam queried.

The Doctor stopped pontificating. 'I'm not sure. I've met the Krotons before, but only isolated units. I think it's safe to a.s.sume the reinforcements are going to be heavily armed, though.'

'What about Kathleen?' Sam asked.

'And what about Marie?' wheezed Homunculette.

The Doctor waved the questions aside. 'We'll pick them up as we go. But we're running out of time. Keep moving.'

The Relic is the important thing.

The Doctor nodded. 'Exactly. The Relic is the important thing.'

The Relic has a message.

'The Relic has a message,' the Doctor repeated.

'Sorry, what?' said Sam.

'I said, the Relic '

The Doctor stopped. Stopped dead. Stopped dead? Stupid expression to think of, at a time like this.

The Relic has a message, and it's very important.

The Doctor shook his fist in front of his face. 'Stop it,' he insisted.

'Stop what?' asked Sam.

'Not you.'

The Relic is...

'I said, stop it!' He closed his eyes, and started walking again, letting his feet find the steps on their own. He felt himself cross the landing on the first floor down, then move down the staircase towards the lowest level, brus.h.i.+ng aside the remains of the retinal webs on the way.

Sam's voice drifted back into his consciousness. 'Doctor? You're picking up telepathic stuff again, aren't you?'

'Yes. Yes, I am.' The Doctor slipped, almost fell down the steps, but he recovered himself in the nick of time. Behind him, the bidders started muttering anxiously. 'Sam, please. Don't talk to me. It's hard keeping the voice out of my head. The closer I get to the casket...'

The closer you get to the casket, the closer you get to the future. I don't know why you're so afraid of your own body, Doctor. Think of it as a point of certainty in your life. A cornerstone. Everything else is so vague, these days. So changeable...

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

I think you do. You used to be so careful, as well. You always did your best to stop anything happening to the timeline. Remember when Adric drove that freighter full of antimatter into the Earth, and wiped out the dinosaurs for you? You felt like you'd lost so much, but let's be honest, you won that day. You did what you always do. You looked after history. You made sure the dinosaurs died out, dead on schedule.