'That is all I need to know.'
Leela cupped her hands to her mouth and gave a weirdly high-pitched call. 'Over hee... eee... re...'
The sound echoed through the corridors, in such a way that it was impossible to tell where it was coming from. The Sontaran wheeled ponderously round, searching. Leela drew back her knife. The moment the Sontaran's back was fully turned, she threw.
The knife streaked through the air and buried itself deep in the probic vent. The Sontaran fell, dying without a sound.
'Leela,' said the Doctor solemnly, 'that was a prodigious throw!'
'Prodigious?'
The Doctor smiled. 'Amazing! And so was the way you tricked him, that cry...'
'It was nothing, just--'
The Doctor grinned. 'I know, just an old hunting trick. Come on.'
Pausing only to wrench her knife from the Sontaran's neck, Leela followed him.
Since most of Stor's command had yet to arrive, he had relatively few troopers at his command, and those few were dispersed about an incredibly large complex of buildings. He was doing his best to direct them by remote control. 'Unit three seven, report." There was no reply. Stor swung menacingly round on Kelner. 'One of my troopers has failed to report. Therefore he is dead.'
A hand like a clamp grabbed Kelner's arm. 'Where will they be heading?'
'Level three is on the way to level five,' whimpered Kelner. 'They must be making for the president's office.'
Stor spoke into the communicator. 'Units three, five and seven proceed immediately to level five. Intercept the President and his bodyguard. Take him alive.'
'My lord, I don't think you realise--' began Kelner.
'Silence! Do not interfere, Time Lord!'
Kelner fell silent. He had been about to discuss that the President was the Doctor, but he had no intention of arguing with an angry Sontaran.
'Come with me,' ordered Stor.
Meekly Kelner followed him.
The Doctor shot along the corridor and opened the door to his office. Already he could hear the pounding feet of Sontaran troopers. 'Come on now, this is the dangerous bit.'
Leela, Andred, Rodan and the two guards hurried through the door and the Doctor counted them in. 'Five, four, three, two, one... One, two, three, four, five, no more.' He slammed the door behind him and bolted it.
He turned to find his friends huddled together in a group. Cardinal Borusa was covering them, and the Doctor, with a staser-pistol.
'I thought you would never get here,' said the old man in a conversational tone.
'We were delayed,' said the Doctor, equally calmly.
'Nothing too troublesome, I hope?'
The staser was steady in the old man's hand.
Commander Stor, Castellan Kelner, and a squad of Sontaran troopers converged outside the door to the Presidential office. Stor looked at Kelner. 'Is this the place, Time Lord?"
'Yes, Excellency.'
Stor gestured to his troopers, and they raised their blasters.
The Doctor looked thoughtfully at the lead-lined door. 'That's not going to keep them out for long is it Chancellor.'
'Easily fusible, malleable base metal such as lead is not the best defence against heat intensive weaponry,' said Borusa judicially. 'Fortunately, someone had the sense to re-inforce it with a titanium-based alloy.'
'Your recipe, Chancellor?'
'I had a feeling this office might someday need defending,' said Borusa. 'And it is not one of my duties to protect the president?'
'Dereliction of duty is sadly common these days,' said the Doctor. 'Or hadn't you noticed?' He looked pointedly at Borusa's staser.
'I was about to emerge to offer you my congratulations, Doctor. However, this new development--'
'Is even more of a surprise to me than it is to you.'
'And to your companions?'
'I vouch for them.'
'Of your own free will?'
'Yes.'
Borusa considered a moment longer. He handed the staser to the Doctor. 'I am at your command, Excellency.'
Leela scowled at the formidable old man, still not sure if he was friend or enemy. 'Shall I kill him now, Doctor?'
'No! I need all the friends I can get.'
'But he threatened you!'
The Doctor smiled. 'Nevertheless, you are a friend, aren't you Chancellor. The most important friend of all.'
Borusa bowed his head, aware of the hidden significance in the Doctor's words.
Stor glared disgustedly at the door. 'Not even scratched! Bring better weapons. Make sure they are effective, or I will negate you all!'
The terrified Sontaran troopers hurried away.
The Doctor sat on his desk and swung his legs. 'I imagine they'll be bringing up the heavy artillery pretty soon.'
'It would seem to be the next logical step,' agreed Borusa.
'And our most logical step would appear to be evacuation. I believe the exit through your office would be best, Chancellor. There's something in there I need rather badly.'
Borusa led the way to the door, and repeated the pass-word. The door swung open and they all filed through.
The Doctor tip-toed across the office and unbolted the main door. Picking up Borusa's staser he followed the others.
Stor heard a faint click and cocked his massive head. 'What is that?' Blaster in hand he moved cautiously forward and tried the door. It swung open. 'What trick is this?'
'I have no idea, sir,' quavered Kelner.
Stor shoved the door fully open and marched through. The room was empty.
In the Chancellor's office, the Doctor lifted K9 down from the desk. 'Leela, take K9 and the others back to the TARDIS. The Chancellor and I have vital matters to discuss.'
'Doctor, I will not leave you again,' said Leela fiercely. 'Every time I do, you get into trouble.'
'Quite right,' agreed the Doctor cheerfully, 'but just do as I ask.'
Leela knew there was no arguing with that tone. She led the others from the office.
'Activate, K9,' said the Doctor and the little automaton glided after them.
The Doctor handed the staser butt-first to Borusa. 'Well, Cardinal, it's time you made up your mind. Do you intend to help me-or kill me?'
The Key of Rassilon
'I have no idea what you are talking about,' said Borusa calmly. 'I have already assured Your Excellency of my loyalty."
'But you're still not quite sure, are you Chancellor? There's still some lingering vestige of doubt in the back of your mind, eh?'
'That is not so, Your Excellency.'
'Isn't it? Then give me the Great Key of Rassilon!'
Borusa was silent.
'Well?' snapped the Doctor. 'Where is it?'
'You ask for the impossible.'
'I ask for the Great Key-the true Great Key,' said the Doctor implacably.
'You already have all the Circlet presidential regalia--'
'I have the Rod of Rassilon, and the Sash. I do not have the Key itself.'
'The Key was stolen by the Master, when he escaped from Gallifrey...'
'The Great Key of Rassilon, lying unguarded in a museum?" The Doctor shook his head. 'That was a facsimile, a lesser key. Good enough for the Master's purposes-but not the Grey Key itself.'
The old man was silent.
'Listen to me, Borusa,' said the Doctor fiercely. 'People are dying in this battle. Isn't that important to you?"
'Should it be?'
'It leaves you unmoved, doesn't it?" said the Doctor softly. 'That's the difference between us, Chancellor. I am concerned, very much concerned.'
'Then perhaps you should remember your training in detachment.'
'I do-but I prefer to care. Don't you care about the invasion of Gallifrey by Sontaran shock troops. Just a few of them now, but soon there will be millions, invading time itself.'
The Doctor's angry words produced an equally fierce response. 'They cannot invade time. Not while I--' Borusa bit off his words.
>
'Not while you have the Great Key,' completed the Doctor softly. 'Where is it, Chancellor?'
Borusa rose stiffly, and touched a control on his desk. A screen slid back to reveal a velvet display case, holding not one but at least a hundred keys. The keys were of all shapes and sizes, some huge and ornate, others hardly more than plain metal rods.
The Doctor smiled. 'If you wanted to hide a tree, where better than in a forest? I remember that from one of your lectures. Which one is it?'
Unable to face the surrender of this last secret, Borusa did not reply.
'I understand how you feel," said the Doctor gently. 'Rassilon was a wily old bird, wasn't he? No president can have total power without the Great Key, isn't that so? To protect the Time Lords from dictatorship, he gave the Great Key into-other hands."
'None of this information is in the Matrix,' protested Borusa.
'I know, I've been there, remember? There is no record in the Matrix of any president knowing the whereabouts of the Great Key. So who does know? Not the Castellan, he's only a jumped-up guard. And who guards the guards?'
Borusa bowed his head in assent. 'The Chancellor.'
'That's right,' said the Doctor quietly. 'It had to be you. It is my duty to kill you, if it will prevent that Key falling into the hands of the Sontarans.'
Borusa gave him a wintry smile. 'That will not be necessary.' He took a key, by no means the largest or the most impressive, from the forest of keys in the case and handed it to the Doctor. 'You are the first president since Rassilon himself to hold the Great Key.'
Leela and her friends were fighting their way towards the TARDIS. Just before they reached the antechamber they had run straight into a Sontaran patrol. Both sides took cover, and stasers crackled and blasters roared as both sides opened fire.
Leela and her Gallifreyans fought gallantly, but the Sontarans were trained shock troops, they had heavy-duty blasters, and the stasers carried by Leela and her friends were ineffective against Sontaran space armour.
Only K9 had the necessary fire power. Methodically, he blasted down one Sontaran after another.
Nevertheless, the Gallifreyans were being defeated. Leela decided there was only one thing to do-attack. Using K9 as a spearhead, she and Andred led a desperate charge in an attempt to break through the Sontaran cordon and reach the safety of the TARDIS.
Andred and Rodan managed to follow K9 to safety, but the loyal guards were shot down in the fighting, and Jablif, the Outsider fell, badly wounded.
Leela had been holding back acting as a rearguard. She hurried to Jablif's side, pulling him back into the shelter of an alcove. 'Leave me, Leela,' he growled. 'Save yourself!'
Leela tried to drag him after the others. But Jablif was a heavy man, and he was too badly wounded to help her.
'You can't help me now, Leela, and they need you,' he gasped. 'Now go!'
Reluctantly Leela left him, and ran after the others.
Jablif slumped back as if unconscious, but as the Sontaran troopers ran past him in pursuit of Leela he raised himself upon one elbow. His arm flashed back, and a Sontaran fell, Jablif's knife embedded deep in his probic vent.
The next Sontaran finished Jablif off with a burst of blaster fire and ran on leaving Jablif dead beside the Sontaran he had killed.
The surviving Sontarans thundered after Leela but they were too late. Andred, Rodan, K9 and Leela were already safe inside the TARDIS.
In the President's office Kelner had finally succeeded in impressing Stor with the fact that the missing president was also the 'Dok-tor!' he sought.
'Why did you not tell me this before, Time Lord,' growled Stor menacingly.
'I tried, but you wouldn't listen,' babbled Kelner. 'He called himself the Doctor for many life-spans, even before he became president... I never trusted him, even when your friends the Vardans paid us their all-too-brief visit. It was the Doctor who got rid of them you know, trapped them in a time loop...'
'The Vardans were fools,' said Stor dismissively. 'But they had their uses-for a time.' The massive hand clamped onto Kelner's arm. 'And so may you, Time Lord.'
They were interrupted by a bleep from Stor's communicator. He listened to the message in mounting rage, and when he turned on Kelner, his voice was throaty with anger. 'The gap in the force-field is reclosing. My ship is trapped-it cannot land on Gallifrey!' As the Doctor had prophesied, the quantum force-field was regenerating itself.
Stor advanced menacingly on Kelner. 'You will reopen the gap in your force-field.'
'But I can't Excellency.'
'Liquidate him,' ordered Stor and turned away. A Sontaran trooper advanced on Kelner, blaster raised.
'Please, no,' screamed Kelner. 'I'd help you if I could, but it's impossible. No one can connect with the Matrix without the Circlet, and the Doctor has that.'
'Bypass the Matrix! You must re-establish the gap in the force-field, widen it so that our battle fleet can come through.'
'But it's impossible...'
'To the strong, everything is possible,' said Stor. 'I must have my reinforcements. I shall seek out "Dok-tor", he will lead me to the Great Key!'
'The Doctor has the Great Key? That's not possible!'
'What?' roared Stor.
'Well of course, everything's possible,' said Kelner hurriedly. 'And if you can find the Great Key-then I may be able to find a way to do what you ask...'
The Doctor and Borusa strolled calmly towards the TARDIS, a couple of Time Lords out for a little stroll.
A Sontaran trooper tried to bar their path. 'Ah, there you are,' said the Doctor breezily. 'Got your new orders yet? Check with Commander Stor, he'll put you in the picture.'
By the time the trooper had got through to Stor, the Doctor and Borusa had disappeared.
Appalled, the trooper heard Stor's angry voice over his communicator, 'Of course there are no new orders! Follow, and destroy them.'
The Sontaran ran after the Doctor and Borusa. By now they were at the far end of the long corridor. 'Stop!' he called.
The two Time Lords strolled on, paying absolutely no attention. The trooper raised his blaster and fired. Blaster bolts roared down the corridor-with absolutely no effect on the departing figures.
As they turned the corner, the Doctor said, 'The Great Key seems to have some unusual properties.'
'It has,' agreed Borusa, 'but not against elementary energy-particle assault.'
'Then why are we still alive?'
Borusa tapped a complex device attached to the belt of his robe. 'The chancellor's personal force-shield. Unfortunately it hasn't been used for generations, and the power-pack has run dangerously low. What do you think we should do now, Doctor?'
'Run!' said the Doctor simply, and they tore off down the corridor.
'This is really most undignified,' protested Borusa as they ran. 'I haven't run like this for centuries.'
'Out of condition, that's your problem,' puffed the Doctor. Wryly he noticed that old Borusa was running smoothly and easily, and didn't seem in the least out of breath.
They slowed their pace, and by the time they neared the anteroom, they were moving in cautious silence.
The Doctor peered cautiously into the anteroom. There was the TARDIS-and there was a patrol of Sontaran troopers, posted in ambush around the edge of the room.
The Doctor pointed. 'Can you make it across there?'
'I believe I am still capable of running a little further.'
'I don't mean you Chancellor, I mean the power-pack on that force-field.'
Borusa studied the readings. 'We might-with luck.'
The Doctor crossed his fingers. 'One, two, three-go!'
They sprinted across the anteroom towards the TARDIS. By the time the astonished Sontarans reacted they were there. Blaster fire crackled around the force-field as the Doctor fumbled for his key. 'Maybe I'm still too young for this sort of thing,' he panted.
'If you could hurry up and open the door,' suggested Borusa mildly.
'I can never find that wretched key when I need it-ah here we are!'
The Doctor opened the TARDIS door, and they disappeared thankfully inside.
Leela, Andred and Rodan rushed forward to greet them. There was a hurried exchange of news and greetings, which the Doctor soon cut short. 'Rodan, you're a technician, so you stand right there. Andred you go to room 1207. Straight out that door and it's the sixty-second on the right. You too, K9. I want you fully re-charged. Leela, take our guests to the VIP lounge, down the stairs, third level, sharp right and through the door marked, "No Entry". You can't miss it.' As Leela headed for the inner door the Doctor said, 'Oh, and Leela?'
'Yes, Doctor?'
'Look after this for me, will you?' He tossed her the Great Key.
Borusa was horrified. 'You can't give the Great Key into the keeping of an alien savage.'
'I just did.'
'You trust her so much?'
'Yes, I do. Be careful with that Leela, it's important.'
'I shall guard it with my life,' said Leela matter-of-factly, and disappeared.
The Doctor turned to Rodan. 'Now, what did you say your name was?'
'Rodan, Your Excellency.'
'How do you do?'
'As well as I can, Excellency.'
The Doctor grinned. 'Who could ask for more! What's your speciality?"
'Quasitronics.'
'Ah,' said the Doctor. 'I'm afraid I don't know much about that.'
'It's just a simple field study, Excellency,' began Rodan.
'I dare say it is a simple field study,' said the Doctor impatiently, 'but it's no use to us here. You wouldn't have a glimmer of astrophysics, would you?'
'Only a glimmer, Your Excellency.'
'Well, we're going to break all the rules, so you can forget all you ever learned. I want you to switch the primary and secondary stabiliser circuitry of my TARDIS into your secondary defence barrier.
Rodan was shocked. 'You actually want me to link your control to the main defence mechanism of Gallifrey?'
'That's right. Then we can close up the hole I made, and stop any Sontaran ships from coming through.'
Doctor Who - [093] - The Invasion Of Time Page 9
