Part 4 (1/2)

A very tall white-faced youth was staring superciliously down at him. Like the rest of the Doctor's attackers, he wore yellow coveralls and a sort of white linen helmet, shaped like a balaclava.

No wonder they all looked so eerily alike, thought the Doctor.

The tall youth said, 'Where are you from, old one?'

'Old one?' The Doctor glared indignantly at him.

'What station did you disgrace with your miserable presence, water thief?'

'Look, I may look old to you, whiskerless youth, but I'll have you know I'm in the prime of life. I'm not a day over nine hundred years old. Now, untie me at once.'

'You will be untied as soon as we are ready for the stoning.'

The Doctor noticed that quite a little crowd was gathering. They all seemed to be carrying baskets, the Doctor realized. And the baskets all seemed to be filled with rocks.

The Doctor turned back to his interrogator, who seemed to be in charge. 'Just who are you?'

'My name is Balazar. I am the reader of the books.'

'What books are those?'

'Ancient books from the world before the Fire.

They contain much wisdom for those who can interpret their meaning. Here in Marb Station we have three.'

'Three? That's splendid! What are they called?'

'They are called the Books of Knowledge.'

The Doctor sighed. 'Each book must have its own name, Balazar. It's usually written on the front.'

Importantly Balazar cleared his throat. 'One of our books is called Moby d.i.c.k Moby d.i.c.k, by Herman Melville. It tells of a great white water G.o.d, and has many mystical pa.s.sages.'

'Yes, I've read it,' said the Doctor intrigued. 'What about the others?'

'How can you have read it?' demanded Balazar.' The sacred books belong to Marb - old one!'

'Will you stop calling me old one? I am known as the Doctor. What other books do you read?'

' The Water Babies The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley. This tells of life long before the Fire.' by Charles Kingsley. This tells of life long before the Fire.'

'Sounds a rum sort of library to me. What's your third book?' Balazar lowered his voice. 'It is the most mysterious of all. It is called. ”UK Habitats of the Canadian Goose”. It is by HM Stationery Office.'

'What do you call this place?' asked the Doctor suddenly.

'Marb Station.'

'No, I mean the whole world, everything?'

Balazar gave him a puzzled look. 'It is called UK Habitat.'

Dibber stared moodily out of the barred window of the but in which he and Glitz had been confined and saw a dishevelled, struggling figure being dragged through the village by two masked warriors.

'They've got that woman we saw earlier.'

Glitz wasn't interested. He was still brooding over his capture.

I don't understand it, Dibber. They're savages.'

'Well, don't let it get you down, Mr Glitz.'

'What went wrong? That old hag took our guns away, just like that. How can we we be be their their prisoners?' prisoners?'

Dibber shrugged philosophically. 'Told you it was risky, coming here.'

'Now you know what I mean about compet.i.tion,' said Glitz bitterly. 'It gets you nowhere.'

'Told you we should have blasted them, Mr Glitz.'

'All right, Dibber, you've made your point!' snarled Glitz.

Dibber relapsed into an offended silence.

Balazar untied the Doctor and led him solicitiously to the centre of the open area, well away from the water vials. 'I think it best that you stand here.'

The Doctor looked round. 'Why?'

'In case some stray stone breaks the water vessels,' said Balazar reprovingly. 'People get very excited at these stonings.'

'I'm not excited,' said the Doctor.

Picking up his umbrella he turned to face the stoning squad.

Salazar stepped to one side. 'Ready?'

An excited murmur went up from the crowd. A good stoning was almost the only bit of entertainment they ever got.

'Steady... go!' shouted Salazar.

As the first stones were hurled, the Doctor snapped open his big umbrella, using it as a s.h.i.+eld. 'Roll up, roll up!' he taunted.