Part 28 (1/2)

There are forces of evil at work against Him.' The ugly little man picked his head up and rose cautiously. The cultists, though alert, made no move against him. He beckoned the leading figure towards a monitor and she watched as he operated a keypad to bring up an alarming graphic.

'But that means -'

The Security Chief concluded for her. 'There are intruders on Enros's Miracle! They obviously intend to tarnish his glory. But 215 fear not, I have dealt with such situation before.'

The cultist lowered her knife, beginning to see that he was telling the truth. Her fellows hung back, just in case, The Security Chief's hands hovered over the controls. a.s.sume I have permission to instigate my prepared defences?'

The cubicle glowed red and reality faded to white.

An instant later, Mortannis and his six comrades were two hundred and fifty thousand miles away. It took a moment to adjust to the jerking sensation of matter trans. mission and the fact that they were now standing on the most revered object of their culture, apparently open to s.p.a.ce. Only after that did Mort register the presence of the blue box and of the strangers beyond it.

There were three of them: a blond-haired young man in black jacket and shorts, an older, shorter man in a cream suit and a hard-faced woman in a short-sleeved s.h.i.+rt and dark gla.s.ses. It was she who turned and saw them first. 'h.e.l.l!' she shouted.

'Natives!'

She swung up a blaster with incredible speed and fired at the still-disoriented newcomers. One fell, and Mort leap into action, only a nanoseg after his giant comrade, Angh'enna. Darnak had been right: these people meant no good!

'No, Ace!' The Doctor grabbed Ace's blaster, but she resisted him. A second later, she was wrenched away by a ma.s.s of hurtling muscle. The five other men who remained standing leapt into battle also. The Doctor tried to shout something about the futility of war, to explain what he had come here for; but a double a.s.sault from both sides left him winded and when he tried again, his open mouth was rudely filled by knuckles.

He crumpled and felt the crystal's surface sc.r.a.ping his, back.

Four Detrians bore down upon him and he twisted and squirmed from under them, leaving them in an interlocking heap. Of their two fellows, the larger man had be felled by Ace, but she had lost her gun in the struggle. She was wrestling now with a square-jawed, heroic type and neither combatant was giving an inch.

Jason had retreated a short way and was watching, unregarded 216 by all. The Doctor used the time he had bought to shout to him: 'Use your powers. Imprison them so we can talk!'

Jason's mouth worked silently. Two of the Doctor's erstwhile attackers had managed to disentangle themselves: one went for the Time Lord whilst the other thundered towards Jason, who turned tail and ran. Ace threw her foe, who landed on his back and was winded. As she closed in to finish him off, somebody yelled: 'Mortannis!' and two more Detrians seized her arms.

'Fancy your luck then?' Ace hissed.

The Doctor crossed his wrists to ward of punches. There was no time to talk to Jason, but theoretically, any one should be able to use the fictional forces here.

He staggered as a blow penetrated his attempt at s.h.i.+elding.

On his back again, the Doctor closed his eyes and focused his mind on the task of moulding reality. He sensed rather than saw the hurricane which blew his attacker of his feet. He landed, bemused, and the Doctor tried to form a cage around him. But the leader, Mortannis, was up again and springing for him. The Doctor reacted with instinct alone and a battering ram appeared from nowhere, its end cus.h.i.+oned to spare its victim undue harm.

As it shot towards Mortannis, he shrank back in fear . . . and the ram became riddled with rust and disintegrated.

The Doctor and Mortannis stared, each one as surprised as the other. Then the Detrian gave a smile through clenched teeth and snapped his fingers and suddenly there was a cannon between them, a flame sparking along its short fuse.

When the explosion came, it was all the Doctor could do to mentally resist a steel ball impact which was intended to be fatal. He was down for the third time and almost out, his brain aching from effort, cursing himself for being thrown off by Mortannis's manipulation of the Miracle's energies.

Then Mortannis's head tilted back, alarmed, and the Doctor became aware of the roaring of a stars.h.i.+p drive, The Detrian gave a warning shout: 'The Morningstar Morningstar!' and threw himself to the ground, an arm curled over his head in a futilely protective gesture. The Doctor, face up, had a perfect view of the battles.h.i.+p's underside as it screeched overhead on a 217 dangerously low pa.s.s, blowing his hair back and searing his eyeb.a.l.l.s.

Above the racket, he could hear Ace screaming: 'Who the h.e.l.l thought up that thing?!'

'Why didn't you tell me this before?' asked Thruskarr.

'I don't know,' said Kat. 'I was . . . embarra.s.sed, I suppose.

That humans made the Miracle to discriminate against lizards.'

He touched her cheek softly. 'I cannot blame a whole race for the actions of a handful, Kat. It is because of such att.i.tudes that your Superior has so long persecuted my people.'

'But do you see now why we have to stop Rokk?'

Thruskarr looked blank. Kat sagged. 'No, I don't suppose you would. I've only just worked it out myself. But think of it: if the Miracle does exist because of our beliefs, then what happens if ninety per cent of the people on this planet all believe at once that the planet is going to die?'

Thruskarr was beginning to understand. 'You mean that, if Enros is killed -'

'Then almost everyone will think that the universe is about to go with him! Most will have doubts, at least.'

'And you think the Miracle will disappear?'

'If enough believe it will, yes.'

Thruskarr mulled that over. 'That might not be such a bad thing,' he said finally.

Kat stared at him aghast. 'Look, I know it's not perfect, but it is the only power source we have!'

'We can do better,' Thruskarr said firmly. 'But that's not the issue, is it?'

'It isn't?'

'If the Miracle dies with Enros, then that will be seen by many as final proof of his holiness. He may be gone, but his High Priests will no doubt take over with majority support. And there will be no way of proving that they are mistaken!'

'You mean you agree with me? That we have to do something?'

'I agree,' Thruskarr confirmed. He peered myopically down the dark street which led deeper into Enros's domain, and he 218 spoke gloomily. 'We have to prevent the ”Undying One's”

death - although it will mean our own capture and execution.'

Those who would face the most immediate consequences, should the Miracle vanish, were occupied by other concerns.

Ace was left breathless by the pa.s.sage of the Morningstar Morningstar.

But she was used to ignoring the demands of a combat-battered body. She scrambled and reached her gun, then rolled up onto one knee and began to pick of the rising Detrians, like military range target. One, two . . . then the Doctor's body hit and flattened her and, as Ace tried to protest, her eardrums informed her that the s.h.i.+p had circled and was on a second run.

'We're sitting ducks if it fires!'

'It won't,' the Doctor shouted over its engines. 'This is just to frighten us. The Detrians won't risk harming the crystal. Not, at least, while they think their soldiers have a chance.'

He whooped almost comically and held onto his hat as the air above them sizzled and a hole was blown out of the Miracle, two feet to their right. Ace thought she heard him mutter 'Wrong again', but with all the noise and Panic, she couldn't be sure. She did know that, if she didn't present a moving target, she might end up on the receiving end of the next beam. But, as she and the Doc-tor separated, Ace realized that moving in the blast zone of the s.h.i.+p's incredible downdraft was as difficult as it looked.

The Security Chief was hunched over the communications console in his office. The invading cultists were gathered behind him, convinced of his integrity by the images which the Morningstar Morningstar relayed to his commu-screen. They still didn't wholly trust him, though. As he leaned forward to give the order to fire again, the female leader of the group clasped a firm hand over the voice grille. 'You must not harm the Miracle.' relayed to his commu-screen. They still didn't wholly trust him, though. As he leaned forward to give the order to fire again, the female leader of the group clasped a firm hand over the voice grille. 'You must not harm the Miracle.'

'I've no choice!' A fanatical glint lit the Chief's eye. He indicated the screen and its panoramic view of the crystal's surface. 'Only two of the rebel sc.u.m are left standing. But they did give us time to get the Morningstar Morningstar there. We have to use it to kill the heathen offworlders! The Undying One will ensure 219 there. We have to use it to kill the heathen offworlders! The Undying One will ensure 219 that our good intentions do not do his creation harm.'