Part 30 (2/2)

He laughed. 'The Martian blast destroyed that. I checked it earlier.'

Angrily Bernice tried to fire it but Reece was correct.

Tarrol staggered towards Reece and Bernice saw that his hands were blistered - the Sword absorbed the blast somehow but it also channelled the heat and Tarrol was receiving third-degree burns. She winced at the pain she could only imagine.

Reece sprung up but suddenly froze. Trickles of sand and roak dust ran underfoot. He was too close to the edge of the drop. One more move and he'd drop like a stone.

He grinned and dropped the blaster over the edge. I know when to give up.'

Bernice watched as Tarrol visibly relaxed and the Sword lowered a fraction.

No. Something was wrong.

Reece lunged forward and gripped the blades of the Sword, tugging forward slightly, trying to wrest it from Tarrol's damaged grip. The king yelped as lumps of charred flesh came away from his hands as the Sword moved, but he didn't let go completely. Instead, he caused Reece to tug harder.

And Reece screamed.

Bernice looked on in horror as Reece's fingers, severed by the blades, dribbled to the ground one by one.

Reece's face was a picture of complete amazement, disbelief and pain as he soundlessly pitched backwards over the ravine.

A split second later he apparently remembered to scream but his anguished cry swiftly faded as he plummeted to his death.

Bernice jumped forward as Tarrol staggered, dropping the Sword. He fell to his knees, letting all the pain of the burns finally flood out in wracked sobs.

'Doctor! Savaar! Quickly,' she yelled.

Within moments, the rocks had been pulled back sufficiently to let the guards and the Doctor through.

The king's men extracted his form, stiff with shock, away from Bernice. As he was half-walked, half-carried away, Bernice hugged the Doctor.

He smiled up at her. I'm sorry I had to deceive you about Reece. Or whoever he really was.'

Oh, don't mention it. I've had the time of my life. I don't think.' She pulled away and shook her head at him. 'Sometimes you really push me a bit far.'

I know.'

Suddenly she gripped his arm. 'The Diadem. What about your precious Diadem?' Savaar hauled himself through the rocks in a somewhat undignified manner. If Marshal Hissel is obeying orders, that should have been dealt with by now.'

The shuttle was taking off. Inside, the Ancient Diadem operated its new body, using the new voice to order the computer to fly straight towards Jupiter. From what little information the primitive female had possessed, it knew that the first phase of its plan required total domination over the body known as the Galactic Federation.

A noise alerted it. Nothing inside the shuttle. Using the damaged eyes of the female it stared straight out of the shuttle windows. A ma.s.sive s.p.a.cecraft was descending through the atmosphere towards it at colossal speed.

'Change course,' shrieked the Diadem through Sadler's throat.

'State course and direction,' was the computer's response.

Anywhere. Away from that s.h.i.+p.'

'The Bruk is capable of matching any manoeuvre this shuttle can make.'

'Do it!' screamed the Diadem/Sadler.

'Warning. The Bruk is powering up her forward staser array. This shuttle is unprotected against such firepower.'

Frantically the Diadem used Sadler's rapidly decaying eyes to search for the vacuum case. Inside its adamantium safety, it would be protected from the blast.

The Bruk drew closer.

'Warning. The Brisk . . . '

'Shut up!' screeched the Diadem/Sadler.

The computer fell silent.

The Diadem used Sadler's hands to clasp at the circlet, intending to place itself into the safety of the vacuum case.

It had forgotten that it had destroyed Sadler's own mind. It had nothing to control any more.

As the circlet came away from Sadler's head, Sadler's body simply crumpled, a reflex grasping the circlet tighter.

No! No! No! Sadler's dead body slumped to the side, away from the safety of the case, the Ancient Pakhar Diadem gripped tightly in her dead hands.

I am unprotected. I am The first barrage of fire hit the shuttle head-on.

The shuttle, Sadler's corpse and the vacuum case were hit by a flash of heat that seemed to vaporize everything in less than point five of a second.

Apparently satisfied that not a molecule of the shuttle or any occupants remained in existence, the Bruk headed back to the outer atmosphere of Peladon, to resume its...o...b..t.

PART THREE

THE FUTURE?

1: Dark Mountain

Whether through luck, poetic conceit or the spirit of Aggedor, the following morning a bright if distant sun spread its light and warmth across the plains of Peladon.

Small foraging animals poked their noses out of their burrows and quickly dashed around finding food, relaxed in the realization that they weren't going to drown in the terrible rains or be blown away by harsh winds.

Some of the Pel miners were holding street parties, acknowledging the start of the biennial restatement day vows.

Deep within the cloisters of the Citadel, guards and courtiers tried to rea.s.semble their lives. For some, those lives were irrevocably changed.

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