Part 8 (1/2)

Turlough grabbed her arm. 'What did you say?'

'A robot who turns into some hoodlum...'

As Peri continued her tale of woe Turlough began to piece together what must have happened in the TARDIS.

It was so obvious. The real professor had never really left the islandit was Kamelion all the time.

'That's him,' agreed Peri. 'But I sure prefer the Tin Man to this Master.'

Turlough's blood ran cold. 'The Master?' he cried.

'Kamelion turned into the Master?'

Peri nodded, ma.s.saging her bruised shoulder.

The horrified Turlough couldn't imagine what had made the Master usurp the robot and bring them all to this Trion colony. But he now realised he had left the Doctor in the most appalling danger.

It was a rare joy for the Master to see the dismay on the Doctor's face as he entered the Hall of Fire. The pleasure was enhanced by the knowledge that the youthful Time Lord had been totally duped by his own robot. He soon found himself enjoying the adulation of the crowd.

Deification, he decided, was no more than his due. Nor would he disappoint his wors.h.i.+ppers.

'Wretched citizens of Sarn!' he thundered at the congregation in the Hall like a h.e.l.l-fire preacher. 'You have turned your backs on the Lord of the Fire Mountain and listened...' He pointed an accusing finger at the Doctor, 'to his enemy!'

The Doctor struggled in vain to explain that this Outsider was no more than a traveller, for the crowd was enthralled by the evil automaton.

'On your knees, miserable people,' cried the Kamelion-Master. 'Abase yourselves before the messenger of Logar.'

And his audience obediently fell to their knees and abased themselves.

'The man's an imposter!' shouted the Doctor.

The Master's surrogate laughed. 'Save your breath, Doctor, to tell me where is the girl from your TARDIS.'

' Peri?' said the Doctor, who had never doubted that his American pa.s.senger was safe with her stepfather in the time machine.

The Master was puzzled by the Doctor's genuine surprise. 'She has joined you here,' he prompted, impatient to regain the vital TARDIS component. 'Where is she?

Where is the comparator?'

The Doctor's mind raced. What had been going on in the police box while he was exploring with Turlough?

Timanov bowed before the man in the dark suit. 'Let us hurl the enemy in the flames, Outsider.'

'Not yet.' The Kamelion-Master smiled. The Doctor would surrender the comparator before he died.

Meanwhile, the rebels, befriended by his adversary could satisfy the bloodl.u.s.t of the old men and perhaps encourage the Doctor to be more co-operative. 'Burn the others first!'

He waved dismissively in the direction of Amyand, Roskal and Sorasta. The Elders raised their staves and the guards marched forward, grabbing the three Unbelievers.

'No!' shouted the Doctor, as the three Unbelievers were frogmarched to the cave where the fire still raged.

Once more they sought judgement of the Chosen One.

'Malkon is not here,' sneered the the Chief Elder. 'It is the will of the Outsider that you all die. The messenger of Logar has supreme authority.'

The Doctor watched helplessly. The Master laughed and whispered in his ear: 'The comparator, if you please.'

'I don't have have the comparator,' protested the Doctor. the comparator,' protested the Doctor.

'Where is the girl?' he pleaded. 'What have you done with Professor Foster?'

'The professor has been eliminated,' announced the Kamelion-Master, learning at once, from the agonised look on the Doctor's face, that Peri had not yet found the Time Lord to give her account of the robot's activitiesor to hand over the comparator. 'Such an absurd capacity for distress.' He mocked the Doctor's concern for his pa.s.sengers in the police box, though of course that inadequate machine was now inoperable without the comparator. But, no matter. Here was an army of slaves to evacuate his buried TARDIS.

'Continue the burning!' ordered Timanov from beside the cave. The guards dragged back the heavy iron grille from the entrance.

'Help us, Doctor!' screamed Roskal and Sorasta. But there was nothing the Doctor could do. Two young Unbelievers ran forward in an impulsive bid to aid their comrades, but even before the guards could grab them, the Elders raised their staves and the youths were felled by deadly rays. The Doctor lowered his head at the carnage.

'You are quite powerless,' jeered the Kamelion-Master, 'and since you do not have the comparator, entirely dispensable. You may join your friends in the incinerator.'

He called once more to Timanov. 'Continue with the burnings, Chief Elder. See that this Doctor burns slowly!'

The old man turned towards the mountain. 'Great Logar!' he cried. 'Receive these mortals as an oblation from your faithful people.'

The flames burned even more brightly and the Elders raised their lasers to drive the Doctor and the Unbelievers into the cave.

'Journey's end, Doctor,' said the Master. 'I'm sorry your cremation will deprive me of our periodic encounters.' The words of valediction over, he gestured to the guards.

'Quickly, my time is short.'

'No!' shouted the Doctor as he was manhandled towards the fire. 'You know the laws,' he cried in a desperate effort to gain time. 'A burning cannot take place without Malkon's consent.'

'I overule the Chosen One,' said the would-be Outsider dismissively. 'Do not delay!' he barked at the Elders.

The crowd were so enthralled by the spectacle at the cave that the arrival of Turlough, Malkon and Peri at the entrance of the Hall went entirely unnoticed. Turlough peered from behind a pillar towards the martyrs' cave, where the Doctor was on the point of execution. 'What are you waiting for?' he hissed at Malkon. 'Get in there and stop them!'

'But I'm a Trion, not a Chosen One,' protested the confused child.

'They don't know that,' shouted Turlough, and pushed Malkon out into the crowd. He grabbed Peri by the hand.

'Quickly,' he whispered, dragging her back to the portico.

'We can't leave the Doctor,' complained the girl as she stumbled down the steps into the street.

'I think I know how to stop the fire,' cried Turlough, running as fast as he could in the direction of the bunker.