Part 13 (1/2)

They halted.

'I fear the worst,' said Broken Tooth gloomily.

'What is wrong?' asked Katryca. 'Are we lost?'

Broken Tooth nodded sadly. 'Marti Station is back this way.'

'It is forward,' said Balazar confidently. 'And thence to the castle of the Immortal.'

'We must have no indecision in the Tribe of the Free,'

shouted Katryca. 'Long have we waited for this moment.

The Immortal is dead and we shall plunder his castle. The spoils of triumph are ours. Now - which way is it? which way is it? ' '

'This way,' shouted Broken Tooth and Balazar in unison.

Balazar pointed forward, and Broken Tooth back. 'Am I surrounded by fools?' shrieked Katryca. 'We shall go forward!'

'But Katryca,' protested Broken Tooth.

'Forward, I say! I have read it in the flames, many times.

We go forward!'

A flas.h.i.+ng arc of electricity sizzled through the console that the Doctor had dismantled.

'That is not correct,' said Humker suspiciously.

Tandrell sighed. 'There is clearly a mechanical defect.'

'An electronic malfunction,' said Humker sagely.

Tandrell nodded. 'Perhaps the Doctor created the problem?'

Humker turned to their master. 'Have you seen this, Drathro?'

Drathro came over to them. To their horror he staggered a little and his voice was blurred.

'I do not need to. My condition tells me of the failure of the black-light system.'

'What can have caused it?' asked Humker.

'There were no warning signs,' said Tandrell.

'It was accelerated by the destruction of the black-light convertor,' said Drathro thickly.

'Destruction?' breathed Tandrell.

'The Service Robot relayed the information as it entered the village.'

'Can we not repair it?' suggested Tandrell hopefully.

Drathro's voice dragged wearily. 'No. Soon the black-light system will collapse in upon itself, and we shall all cease to function.'

Drathro sounded resigned to his fate.

The Doctor and Peri were hurrying along one of the lower tunnels.

'The trouble is, his refraction dipoles are worn out,' said the Doctor. 'Nothing for it now but to shut the whole black light system down.'

'That sounds simple enough,' said Peri hopefully.

'Oh, it is. But if I shut the system down I shut Drathro down as well, and I can't see him agreeing to that!'

'So what happens if he won't let you?'

'Then the black-light system will explode and destroy everything in these tunnels.'

'Oh great. So that's why we're going in?'

'I can't let people die, Peri,' said the Doctor soberly.

'Not if there's a chance of saving them.'

They hurried on.

Glitz was waiting by the entrance as Dibber staggered up with the two multi-blasters, weapons that were a sort of portable laser-cannon. 'You got the guns then?'

'Looks like it, Mr Glitz.'

'I tell you something funny Dibber. I popped back to check on the Doctor. We was wrong about him. He's bunked off.'

'He hasn't bunked off, Mr Glitz. He's gone down below.

I caught a glimpse of him from a distance. He has Peri with him.'

'So he is after the same as we are then!'

'Could be.'

'Course he is,' said Glitz confidently. 'I knew it all along. He's got no more interest in the scientific side than I have!'