Part 7 (1/2)

Despite his struggles, the Doctor failed to loosen the straps. A change of tack. A critical appraisal of the Rani's costume.

'Can't say I approve of your taste in clothes. Doesn't do a thing for you, that outfit.'

'Your regeneration's not too attractive either!'

'Brain regeneration's what I need!' The Doctor meant what he said. He should have been able to pin this down to the Rani. Personality changes probably due to the imbalance of body chemicals ought to have led him to suspect the Rani. Her knowledge of chemistry was second to none. What's more, he knew she'd been banished from Gallifrey and was roaming the Universe. But what was she doing here? Pointless to ask. She'd never tell him. He was going to have to elicit the information by more subtle means.

'Well, you had me fooled if that's any consolation.'

'It isn't.'

His opinion was a matter of indifference to the Rani. All that disturbed her was his limitless capacity for meddling.

She needed the brain fluid. He, with his sentimental affection for the earthlings, was bound to try and impede her.

'Of course you'd have been discovered eventually,' the Doctor persisted. 'Even without my intervention.'

'I never have.'

'Oh, this isn't your first visit then?'

'I've been coming to this wretched planet for cenrunes.'

'Without being caught? I'm impressed. You must be a brilliant tactician as well as a brilliant chemist.'

'It isn't difficult. These h.o.m.o sapiens you so admire are a f.e.c.kless lot. Always in disarray. The Trojan Wars, Julius Caesar, the American War of Independence.'

'And now the Luddite Riots.'

'Perfect cover.' For what? He looked about the laboratory, a.s.sessing then diagnosing the Rani's impedimenta: the monitor with a bisection of a skull representation, the pulsating tubes linked to the miner, and then the crystal flagon receiving miniscule droplets.

While he was marshalling his thoughts, the Rani was punching up the scanner. On the screen was a deserted meadow. This was not what she wanted to see. Impatiently she altered the co-ordinates.

'I think I've got it!' By collating the data he'd resolved the conundrum. 'You're extracting a chemical from the brain. The result is the victims become aggressive, violent.

Can't rest that's it! The chemical that promotes sleep!'

The deduction aggravated the Rani. 'I begin to understand why the Master finds you such a menace!' She jabbed at the scanner again. An empty approach road filled the screen. 'Where is the idiot?'

'I presume you're referring to the Master.' The Doctor's jovial tone belied his mounting sense of desperation. His voyage of discovery had brought to light a gruesome situation; one that he could do nothing to reverse. He was a prisoner.

'Well, since I don't want to be a nuisance to you, why not release me?'

It was a fatuous try and was treated with disdain. The Rani continued her search for the Master.

'Traditionally you've wished this planet no ill.' This is what puzzled the Doctor. The Rani, unlike the Master, had never deliberately set out to be destructive. If anything or anyone got in the way of her experiments, she would remove it, or them. But there would have to be a reason.

'I don't now. It's simply that they've got the sole source of supply '

'Source of supply!' The Doctor's anger exploded. 'These are human beings, Rani. Living creatures who've done you no harm!'

'What harm have the animals in the fields done them?'

The Rani was stabbing the vermilion tabs on the scanner.

'The rabbits they snare? Sheep they nourish to slaughter?

They're carnivores. Do they worry about the lesser species when they sink their teeth into a lamb chop?'

The barren logic of the scientist seemed faultless. Before the Doctor could deploy his facility for exhuming fallacy, he was thwarted. The Rani had located the Master in the vicinity of the pit. Quickly donning her shawl, she turned to the nearest a.s.sistant. 'Josh, guard him!'

The Doctor glanced at the muscular individual who moved in response. So, this was the missing Josh who had not been seen since he came off s.h.i.+ft.

The Rani concluded her directive. 'If he tries to escape, kill him.' About to leave, she had a better idea. 'No, Josh, don't kill the Doctor.' She indicated the miner on the adjacent trolley. 'Kill him him.' A smile. 'Touche 'Touche, Doctor?'

It was indeed a clever ruse. The Doctor would now do nothing while she was away for fear of jeopardising the miner's life.

'Don't hurry back,' he called to her retreating figure.

Peri saw the old crone hobble from the bath house.

Exhortations to stay put had gone unheeded. She had followed the Doctor.

It had not been the happiest of experiences. She felt like a leper. The besieged villagers, normally friendly, were hostile. A sensitive girl, she did not blame them. n.o.body could cope with the trauma of having husbands and sons mutated into marauding savages. Shattered windows were a stark reminder of the mindless terror a.s.sailing Killingworth.

When the old crone reached the bottom of the hill, Peri abandoned the shelter of an alley and crossed the street.

Tentatively, she entered the hallway. 'Doctor?'

No reply.

She advanced into the bath chamber. 'Doctor?' I know you're here. I'd've seen you leave otherwise ' Shocked, she saw the two drugged bodies sprawled on the reed mats...

the parted wall at the far end... Nervously, she skirted the unconscious men and apprehensively ventured through the wall.

The scene that greeted her was even more distressing; the Doctor shackled to a trolley. 'Doctor !' She started forward.

'Stop!' The bellow halted Peri in her tracks.

'What d'you mean, stop? I'm going to free you.'