Part 9 (1/2)

The Doctor reached his erstwhile companion. He regarded her for a long time without speaking. Then he gripped her arm, hard.

'Ow!'

'Mentor Sil fears conspiracy against the Lord Kiv. You are a spy for the Alphan terrorists!' Slowly the grip of the Doctor exerted pressure on her inner arm.

'What? Ow, stop that!'

The Doctor put his lips next to Peri's left ear. 'We can speak now,' he whispered. 'No one can hear.'

Relief lifted Peri's spirits. 'Oh, Doctor, I thought that transference pulse had made you crazy.'

'I'm your friend, you know that.'

'I began to wonder.'

'I only want to help you, Peri.'

The Doctor's voice seemed smooth and sincere. Peri looked down at the sea now swirling round her knees and tugged at the chains. 'How do I get out of here?'

'Easy.' The Doctor stepped away from an incoming wave.

'How?' Peri asked eagerly.

'By simply telling me who are the Alphans leading the unrest and how we can annihilate them!'

The Doctor's words sent Peri's heart tumbling down into despair. 'What?' her voice faltered. 'Alphans... I don't...'

The face of the Doctor was seized by a terrible rage.

'Answer me! Can you not feel the tide rising all around you. Unless you wish to add your despair to all those who have perished in the Sea of Sorrows I suggest you tell me everything!'

In the Tidal Control chamber, Sil, Kiv and Crozier watched Peri and the Doctor on a monitor screen. As the Doctor's last words brought terror to Peri, Sil cackled, 'Just like the old days. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching other people suffer!'

The mad giggle was only stemmed by Sil pa.s.sing a Marsh Minnow from a nearby plate to his mouth. Crozier watched the green creature wriggle on Sil's dark tongue and then turned away in disgust.

'Confess!' the Doctor demanded.

'To what?' Peri yelled at him, the water now around her waist.

'Your guilt, your bungling. Your Alphan friends, everything, you must help the Mentors; you must help me!'

'Doctor, what's happened to you?'

'I see my own interest, I place myself first!'

'What about me?'

The expression of the Doctor became even more malevolent. 'You are expendable. You have no value.

Tomorrow they plan to take the brain of Kiv and transfer it into my skull. He will possess my body. I will be no more. To prevent that I must please the Mentors, and if that means you must be sacrificed in my place that is how it must be!'

Then the Doctor raised his fist.

'Tell me everything you know!'

Peri tried to cower away from the blow that was coming.

She looked into the eyes of the Doctor and saw only manic rage. She braced herself to receive blows from the Time Lord she had once admired and loved.

Ten.

'Enough!' Crozier's voice crackled from a voice relay unit hidden in the mouth of the cave.

Just about to launch a savage attack the Doctor hesitated then called back, 'I won't kill her. Just a little a.s.sault and battery to help her memory.'

'You will not damage her. This exercise was as much to test you as her. Release the girl, Doctor, at once!'

Sullenly, the Doctor did as he was ordered. Taking out of his pocket a small key, he waded out into the water to unlock the metal clasp that held the chains.

Peri, feeling the links loosen and fall from her, tried to dash away but the tide hampered her efforts and allowed the greater strength of the Doctor to wade at a faster rate through the sea. He soon caught up with Peri and subdued her by twisting an ann behind her back. This accomplished, he began to march the wet and miserable girl towards the mouth of the cave.

In court, the Doctor jumped to his feet.

'It was never like that!'

'How can you be certain?' the Valeyard rose quickly to the challenge. 'You have no clear memory of the incident and the Matrix never lies.'

'I wonder,' the Doctor muttered.

The Inquisitor interrupted. 'May we continue? I grow tired of these constant interruptions.'

'I am at your disposal, Sagacity.'

The Valeyard bowed. His black gown hanging to the floor, made him look like a giant crow reaching to pull a worm up from the ground.

'It was never like that!' the Doctor yelled again. Even to his ears his cry seemed desperate; bl.u.s.tering; hysterical.

The Inquisitor took the same view. 'Enough, Doctor!

The Matrix does not lie, cannot lie. You are aware of that fact. Why persist in contradictory statements?'

The Doctor felt that all was lost. He could feel the jury of Time Lords staring curiously at him. They revealed the fascination that all juries are supposed to show for the demeanour of a person they have decided is guilty.