Part 12 (2/2)

Submit! Submit! Submit!'

The age-old terror of the Mara had been domesticated, turned into a comfortable, familiar ritual.

What no one realised as yet was that the Mara, the real Mara, was very close to its long-planned return.

The great snake coiled slowly round Tegan's arm. Its time was near.

The Doctor, Nyssa and Chela were clambering up the rockface above the Cave of the Snake. The Doctor seemed determined to reach the summit of the hill behind the caves. He leaned down and pulled first Nyssa and then Chela on to a ledge beside him, and they paused for a moment to rest.

From the city spread out below them, there drifted the buzz of the crowd and the faint tinkling of bells, the low drone of the megaphone-amplified voice.

'Come on,' said the Doctor. 'On we go.'

Chela didn't move. 'If you'd let me steal the Great Crystal when we had the chance this trek wouldn't be necessary.'

'You'd only have got yourself killed,' the Doctor pointed out. 'Besides, it's not as simple as that.'

'Why not?' asked Nyssa.

'We wouldn't be preventing the Mara's return, only postponing it. It would continue to exist as a mental force. No, this time we must destroy it completely.'

Nyssa gave him a despairing look. 'How?'

'I don't know.'

'But you think Dojjen will be able to tell us?'

'I can only hope so.'

'But I told you, Doctor,' protested Chela. 'Dojjen hasn't been seen for years. He could be anywhere. We don't even know if he's still alive.'

The Doctor held up the Snakedancer pendant. 'You're forgetting, we have this!'

'How will that help us find him?'

'It won't! But it will help him to find us. Now, trust me - and keep moving!'

They resumed their laborious climb.

Lady Tanha stood at the window, gazing out at the crowded city streets.

Lon lay on the couch, brooding. It was some time since they had spoken.

There was a discreet tap on the door, and Ambril entered, a neatly-folded pile of garments in his hands. 'I have taken the liberty of bringing the clothes you must wear for the Ceremony, my Lord. The costume of the Sky Hero.'

Lon sprang to his feet. 'Oh good! Look, Mother.'

Tanha didn't move.

'It is an exact replica of the costume worn by your ancestor, the Founder of the Federation, who destroyed the Mara five hundred years ago.'

'How very appropriate.'

'I beg your pardon, my Lord?'

'Don't you think so, Mother?' asked Lon.

Tanha ignored him.

Lon took the costume from Ambril's arms. 'Well, I'm going to try it on.

Mother, are you coming?'

Still there was no reply.

Lon shrugged. Tucking the costume under one arm, he scooped up the little chest containing the Great Crystal with the other, and left the room.

There was a shallow depression at the very top of the hill, rimmed with huge boulders.

The Doctor regarded it with satisfaction.

'Right. Here will do very well.' The Doctor sat down, reached for the crystal around his neck, and held it up before his eyes.

Nyssa looked at him. 'What now?'

'Sympathetic resonance!'

'Sympathetic what?'

'Thought, directed at this crystal, should set up a resonance which is picked up and echoed by others.'

Chela sat cross-legged beside the Doctor. 'So?'

'Well, the Snakedancers wear these crystals, don't they?'

'I believe so.'

Nyssa sat down as well. 'Of course. The crystal will act like a radio wave, transmitting thoughts instead of words, establis.h.i.+ng a mental link.'

'With Dojjen?' asked Chela.

The Doctor nodded. 'I very much hope so.'

'But will it work?'

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