Part 7 (1/2)

7.

Dungeons and Dinosaurs

The Doctor ran; not because he expected it to help, but rather in the absence of a better plan. Had it wished to, the tyrannosaurus could have outstripped him easily. But luck was with him and the great creature didn't seem interested in making him its dinner.

Which was odd, he thought, although he wasn't prepared to argue about it.

He burst out of the trees and froze at the sight of another beast. A brontosaurus, grazing placidly for now on gra.s.s. Now you,' he muttered, 'don't even exist. You're no more than a mistake made by Earth palaeontologists.'

The dinosaur didn't hear him, or didn't care. It craned its long neck upwards and plucked a red flower from one of the tall trees. The Doctor eyed it warily as he edged stealthily around the clearing.

The brontosaurus was reputed to be a herbivore. But, under the circ.u.mstances, he felt justified in wondering if it knew that.

The bedroom was obviously unused, furnished only with a large, gilt-framed bed and an empty white cabinet beside it. The walls gave its location away, their familiar roundelled design identifying the Doctor's TARDIS as surely as a fingerprint.

The prisoner was stirring and beginning to pull against the thick ropes which encircled her wrists and bound her to the bedstead. Jason ran a hand through his untidy, bleached blond hair, then looked down at her and smiled.

'Enjoy your sleep?' he asked, because he thought that was clever.

She spoke venomously. 'Who are you? What have you done 59 to the Doctor?'

'Why, captured him of course. He's in Galactic Prison, where you'll soon be joining him.'

'What are you babbling about?'

Jason put on a pitying expression. 'You didn't think you could get away with it, did you? We'll get your other four partners-in-crime too, soon. That'll serve you right!' He stuck out his tongue, thinking that was clever too. The door slid open behind him and Dr Who sidled into the room.

Melanie almost exploded with relief. 'Doctor! At last! Will you tell this overgrown schoolboy who I am?'

The newcomer spoke tersely. 'I'm afraid, Miss Bush, you've mistaken me for my own evil doppelganger.'

'Your what?'

'You know him. The result of a tragic experiment gone wrong, my own dark side magnified and given form. He calls himself simply ”The Doctor”. And my companion, Jason, and I have dedicated ourselves to ridding the universe of his malign influence.'

'Which means you,' Jason put in. She gaped at him.

'You will be taken to Galactic Prison and questioned.'

'What are you talking about? What am I supposed to have done?'

Dr Who's face blackened and his voice was a threatening growl. 'You dare ask that? You wiped out the Seven Planets in the Althosian System, left Silurian Earth to a lingering death and, even now, have friends plotting to destroy a civilized world!'

'Wait a minute, I've never even been to this Althosian System or whatever. And I certainly don't know what Silurian Earth is.'

Jason looked expectantly from one to the other; both faces were resolute and angry. But Dr Who gave in first, his manner changing rapidly. When he spoke again, he seemed quite cheerful. 'Oh yes, I remember. You're the first, aren't you?

Those big crimes were after your time.'

Jason joined in. 'But I'm sure you've been just as naughty as the others, all the same.'

60.'Maybe you'll receive a shorter sentence,' Dr Who said kindly.

The abandoned portions of the city had always held an attraction for Kat. Designed in the good old days, when the sun still shone and no one really thought about the practicalities of maintaining an underground civilization, these areas had been evacuated in the Ruling Family's first attempts to save power by keeping the population close. They remained dark but for their own faint luminescence and for the candles and electrical appliances which people brought to them. And, to a barely post-adolescent girl, they carried an aura of excitement and of delicious subversion.

Today, it was different. Today, the disused a.s.sembly hall which was Mortannis's home base this month was playing host to agony and death; to the weeping and shattered remnants of what had once been a proud race.

The surviving lizards were lying on rotten wooden benches sh.o.r.ed up by stones, or on the cold floor, s.h.i.+vering beneath thin banners proclaiming rebellious messages which seemed pointless now. There were few more than a dozen left, many bleeding from their ears and noses, finding scant relief in the meagre medical rations which had been collected thus far.

Mort's people, recalled from their demonstration, stood subdued, still trying to take in the reality of this casual slaughter. There was little they, or anyone, could do. Even Kat was reduced to gripping Thruskarr's hand and praying for his recovery. His eyes were bandaged, but he seemed aware of her presence and she believed he was comforted by it.

'I thought you were dead,' she kept mumbling gratefully. He squeezed her hand tighter and it seemed he was trying to talk.

But his voice was a painful, rasping wheeze and she touched his shoulder gently, a sign that it was okay to just rest.

Kat wiped her eyes and became aware that Mort had approached. He was by her shoulder, looking at Thruskarr sadly. 'He's one of the lucky ones, if that's any consolation.'

She smiled, knowing now that he had been aware of their friends.h.i.+p; knowing also that it didn't change a thing.

61.'What's happening?'

'Bobstan and Haw'ten are trying to get into a lizard hospital and bring medical equipment back. The patrol groups have been calling in and they've found casualties, but . . . well, not many.

It looks like, whatever happened, it happened everywhere.' He looked about the room. 'What you see here is probably the majority of the reptilian race.'

Kat felt as if she couldn't react to that. Not yet. She might cry later, when grief rushed in to fill the gap in her stomach.

Whenever she closed her eyes now, she saw fire and blood.

'We could have more trouble too,' said Mort, the catalogue of horrors continuing to unfold relentlessly. 'Enros's followers are moving. They've got wind of all this and are claiming that Divine Retribution has been visited on the lizards by the Miracle.'

'That's stupid!'

'Whatever. They're canva.s.sing and they seem to be gaining converts. I think they've even got some of our lot. We've had a few missing in the last hour.'

'What happened, Mort? Why has it all gone wrong?'

Mortannis shook his head miserably. Kat turned her attention back to Thruskarr, his survival the only light of this bleak day.

He had settled into a fitful doze.

'I found him out there, you know. He was on his knees like the others, howling and shrieking. I . . . I prayed to the Miracle to save him. I know I shouldn't, but I keep feeling the need recently.'

Mort slipped an arm around her. He knew.

'Funny thing is, I felt like my prayers had been answered.

Most of the others died, but he didn't. It's as though Thruskarr survived because I personally wished for it.'