"Nice to meet you too," said the Doctor. He turned and ran swiftly up the metal steps.
It was almost dawn when the Doctor came out of the castle. At the foot of the hill he found Ace, Bernice, Romana and Ivo, and a mixed band of guerillas and guards. The four castle-guard prisoners were holding a rough stretcher on which lay Dekker's body. Ace had pulled open his shirt and was clamping a flat metal disc onto his chest, close to the wound. Dekker's body arched for a moment and then slumped back, motionless. A thin rime of frost began spreading over his face.
"Field cryogenics," said Ace, in answer to Bernice's enquiring look. "He's in stasis now. He'll stay like this, no better no worse till we can get him proper medical attention."
"We'll get him the best, Ace," said the Doctor.
"He won't die," said Ace fiercely. "I won't let him."
"Look!" shouted Ivo. "The castle!"
The castle was shaking itself apart. A spider-web network of splits appeared across the main facade. Turrets crumbled and fell, their masonry crashing into the courtyard.
As the main building fell in upon itself a great fountain of blood arose, shooting many hundreds of feet into the air. Borne aloft on that fountain was the hideous form of the Great Vampire.
As the fountain fell, the immense blood-stained form of the Great Vampire stayed aloft, unfurling its great leathery wings and flapping them in triumph. The green eyes glared down at them and it gave a loud, hissing cry. In a moment it would swoop down and choose its prey.
Bernice grabbed the Doctor's arm. "You've revived it, not destroyed it!"
"Wait!" said the Doctor. But he looked a little worried all the same.
The sun rose over the hill and its first rays touched the Great Vampire's bloody wings. It shrieked, flapped its wings and rose higher - and began to disintegrate like the castle from which it had arisen.
Its body melted into shapeless globs of rotting meat, and its bloody remains showered down upon the ruins of the castle.
Romana swallowed hard. "What was it, Doctor, the sunlight?"
"Not entirely, though it helped. I forced the regeneration-and besides it was inherently unstable. Agonal was using borrowed technology. He didn't really know what he was doing."
The ground began to shake beneath their feet and the Doctor yelled, "Quick everyone, move!"
As they hurried away from the castle a great pillar of fire erupted from the ruins and rose high into the sky. "That's the main power source," said the Doctor with satisfaction. "Fire's a great cleanser."
The little procession hurried away.
Lord Yarven staggered wearily towards the inn. He had plucked Tarak's arrow from his heart, and the wound was healing well. He had feasted on the blood of the dying with his fellow vampires and he knew he would soon regain his strength. But at the moment he desperately needed rest. Rest and darkness.
Thankful that the place seemed deserted, he lurched into the dark shadows of the barn behind the inn.
"There are probably still a few of the old true vampires left," said the Doctor. "Apart from those ersatz creations of Sargon's, I mean. But without Sargon stirring up trouble all the time, you should be able to hunt them down. The important thing is for peasants and Lords and Black Guards all to work together."
He was standing with Romana and Ivo outside the inn, waiting for Bernice to get her things together so they could leave. At Ace's insistence they had carried Dekker straight to the TARDIS. She was waiting there for them now.
"We'll try, Doctor," said Ivo wearily. "It means going back to the beginning."
"Not quite," said the Doctor. He raised his voice so that those around them could hear. "You've worked together already, guards and peasants in alliance, to defeat Sargon. That's something to build on." He looked round impatiently. "What's keeping Bernice?"
"I'll find her for you, Doctor," said Ivo and hurried away.
Romana looked round at the weary little group of men, drinking Ivo's rough wine and talking over their victory. "That's why you asked for their help, isn't it Doctor?" she said quietly.
The Doctor smiled. "My half-crippled commandos? Maybe I didn't really need them. I had Dekker, and Ace is a one-woman army in herself. But now they've got a victory to share."
Bernice came round from behind the inn. She had her pack on her back and she was followed by Ivo and the four castle-guards who were carrying an enormous wooden packing case between them.
"What's that?" demanded the Doctor.
"My archeological specimens," said Bernice defiantly. "I did manage to collect a few interesting local artefacts before I got involved with vampires. That's why you sent me here, remember? What's the matter, not enough room in the TARDIS?"
"All right, all right," said the Doctor.
He held out his hand. "Goodbye, Ivo. Good luck."
The Doctor and Ivo shook hands.
Romana held out her hand graciously and Ivo went down on one knee and kissed it. While he was down there, Bernice flung her arms round his neck and kissed him, making him blush furiously.
They set off for the TARDIS.
The TARDIS was in flight and there was little to do but wait. Ace came back into the control room and found Bernice sitting on her packing case, which she couldn't be bothered to move. The Doctor and Romana were standing on the other side of the console.
"How is he?" asked Bernice.
Ace sat down the packing case beside her. "Much the same, but that's the idea. The Doctor says the Time Lords have the finest doctors in the galaxy on Gallifrey."
"Well, they would, wouldn't they?" said Bernice.
"Talking of Time Lords.. "
Ace looked across the control room. The Doctor and Romana were standing face to face, arms outstretched, fingertips resting lightly on each other's temples.
"Sickening isn't it?" said Ace. "She's not staying, is she?"
Bernice shrugged. "She might. She's the only one of the Doctor's companions who's not - ordinary."
"I'm not ordinary," said Ace. "Neither are you." She stood up. "I've got a bottle of bootleg booze in my room. Come and have a drink and I'll tell you about Chicago."
As they left the room the Doctor and Romana lowered their arms and stepped back. They stood silent for a moment, each absorbing the flow of information.
"Well," said the Doctor at last. "You have had a time."
"So have you, Doctor. Several times in fact."
The Doctor smiled. "So the Tharils are all free?"
"Most of them. Now the ones that are free are busy freeing the rest of them."
"And you discovered they didn't need you?"
"I discovered they needed to do it on their own."
"That's the hardest lesson - learning to walk away. And K-9? "
"He's Biroc's Lord High Administrator. He runs things on very logical lines." Romana studied the controls. "We seem to have left E- Space. Isn't that a problem?"
"Not any more. K-9 worked out the mathematics just before you both left. Then we got blasted back into normal space, and I didn't need to use them. It's easy enough once you know how."
"Most things are."
"Did you ever build another TARDIS to K-9"s specifications?"
"I was very busy," said Romana a little defensively. "I never quite got round to it. Still it doesn't matter now does it, Doctor? Now we're going home."
"Gallifrey?" said the Doctor. "Home?"
"Agonal is ours at last!" The speakers voice was exultant.
"But can we hold him?" asked the second figure.
"Long enough - at least until the Doctor arrives."
"Ah yes, the Doctor," said the third speaker. "He will be here soon. We must arrange for his reception."
"Death to the Doctor!
"Borusa lives!"
"Let's dispense with the ritual chant for once, shall we?" said the first speaker irritably. "It's beginning to get on my nerves."
The approach of the TARDIS had been registered on one of the most advanced security scann
ing systems in the universe. Since it was undoubtedly a Time Lord craft, and it was transmitting an emergency distress signal the transduction barriers were lowered and it was allowed to land. Now two puzzled technicians in Security Control were wondering what to do next.
"It's a Type Forty," said one of them. "A Type Forty and still operational!"
The other was hastily skimming the flow of data across a screen. "According to this, there's only one Type Forty still in use - by someone known as the Doctor."
"And who's he, when he's at home?"
"He isn't very often, seems to spend most of his time roaming the universe. As to who he is, the records are rather confusing. At one time or another he's been a wandering fugitive, a suspected traitor and assassin, and Lord President of Gallifrey. Present status and whereabouts uncertain."
"I don't know about status," said the first technician. "But I can tell you his current whereabouts - right in the centre of the Capitol. He's just landed."
"Better call out the guard then."
"1 already have."
"Hang on, there's a fresh note on the file. Any information regarding the Time Lord known as the Doctor is to be reported immediately to the Committee of Three."
The Type Forty capsule, in the form of a large blue box, was located at a corridor junction close to the centre of the Capitol. It was immediately surrounded by a squad of Chancellery Guards under Commander Leran, young, keen and desperately determined to do the right thing.
The door of the blue box opened and four strangely dressed people emerged, carrying a stretcher between them. On the stretcher lay a large man covered with the white rime of cryogenic stasis.
As Leran opened his mouth to bark commands and questions, the man at the front of the stretcher said, "Well done, you've wasted no time. Have four of your men take this stretcher and conduct us immediately to the Chief Hospitaller. If I got the landing details right, we should be very close."
Commander Leran shut his mouth, opened it again and said, "I must insist - "
There was a blur of movement at his side. The tall girl in black leather, who was holding her corner of the stretcher with her left hand, drew a laser-gun with her right and stuck it in Leran's ear.
In a voice colder than the cryogenic rime she said, "Do as the Doctor says."
"It's all right, Ace," said the Doctor. To Leran he said, "I am the Doctor, one-time President of Gallifrey and Special Envoy of the High Council." With his free hand he fished a gleaming gold badge from his pocket and showed it briefly to the bemused young man. "Just take us to the Hospitaller. I take full responsibility."
The magic words did the trick. At a barked order from Leran four of his men took over the stretcher and he led them away down the corridor. The four strangers followed, and the rest of the guards fell in behind.
Ace holstered her blaster. "What did you show him, Doctor?"
"My old Reichsinspektor General badge. In an authoritarian society "
"- people obey the voice of authority. Yes, I know, Doctor. This had better work."
They marched along an immense echoing marble corridor, passed through an archway and entered into an area of high-ceilinged white-walled rooms filled with quietly humming machinery. A white-robed meditech appeared and Leran barked, "The Chief Hospitaller, please. Immediate and urgent."
After a wait which had Ace reaching for her blaster again, a tall beaky-nosed old man in a high-collared white robe appeared, followed by a large and respectful entourage of meditechs.
The Doctor stepped forward. "Chief Hospitaller, I have a patient for you."
"Good grief," said the old man mildly. "An actual patient - a live one?"
"That's right," said Ace. "And he'd better stay that way."
Ignoring her, the old man snapped, "Details?"
"Adult male human, thirties, knife wound close to heart, dealt by vampiric entity, field cryogenic pack applied soon after wounding," said the Doctor rapidly.
The old man sniffed. "Sounds straightforward enough."
"Recovery estimate?" "Oh, eighty per cent, maybe eighty-five. Slightly lower if the blade was poisoned." The old man peered at him, making brief mental contact.
"It's the Doctor, isn't it? Another regeneration I see, and in trouble as usual."
"I'd like to ask a favour, Chief Hospitaller. This man has done me and Gallifrey great service on a dangerous mission - which is not yet concluded. If anything happens to me, I'd be grateful if you'd see that he's cured and sent home to his own time."
"Very well, Doctor, I'll attend to it."
"Word of a Prydonian?"
"Word of a Prydonian." As the old man and his entourage bore Dekker away, the Doctor said, "He'll be all right now, Ace, whatever happens. That's an unbreakable oath."
"Isn't it time we made contact with the authorities, Doctor?" asked Romana.
Bernice pointed down the corridor. "I think the authorities are about to make contact with us."
A squad of six black-clad soldiers was marching down the immense corridor towards them. They looked a very different kind of soldier from the first lot. The elaborate red, white and gold uniforms worn by the aristocratic young men of the Chancellery Guard had a reassuringly comic opera look about them. These hard-faced troopers reminded Ace of the SS.
Their leader handed Commander Leran a scroll. "I am Lieutenant Zorell of Special Security, Commander. You will hand your prisoners over to me - by order of the Committee of Three." As Leran and his guards marched away, Zorell beckoned the young meditech who had first received them. "I understand there is a fifth prisoner. Fetch him out."
Ace tensed, but the Doctor patted her arm reassuringly.
"There are no prisoners here, only patients," said the meditech. "Your committee holds no authority over them. You will please leave this area immediately."
After a very long pause Zorell said, "Very well. Your attitude will be reported to the committee." He turned to Ace. "Your weapon please. The belt as well. It is illegal for aliens to carry arms in the Capitol."
Ace took off the belt with its holstered blaster and passed it over.
"Before you ask, the rest of us aren't armed," said the Doctor. "Now, Lieutenant, I need an audience with the President immediately. If she's not available, take me to a senior member of the High Council."
"All in good time, Doctor."
The Doctor glanced at Ace, raising his voice. "I tell you I must see the President!"
Zorell ignored him and Romana stepped forward. "Lieutenant, I am the Lady Romanadvoratrelundar and I should like to know the meaning-"
"We know who you are," said Zorell. "You defied an order to return to Gallifrey, did you not? You are a renegade and a fugitive like the Doctor."
"What about me?" asked Bernice.
Zorell looked disparagingly at her. "Omega knows. You look like one of those Shobogan bitches to me."
"Thanks very much. Is that a crime?"
"Unfortunately not. But consorting with known felons is - not to mention unauthorized entry to the Capitol precincts. Sergeant, take two men and put these women in the custody suite." Zorell turned back to the Doctor. "As for you, Doctor, you are summoned to appear before the Committee of Three - immediately."
Separated from his companions, and flanked by two black-uniformed soldiers, the Doctor was marched away.
29 THE THREE
The custody suite turned out to be a large, luxurious room, elaborately over-decorated in typical Time Lord style. There were ornately designed chairs, tables, couches, lamps and mirrors. There was a wallscreen and audio unit. There was even a dial-anything-you-like food and drink dispenser much like the one on the TARDIS.
Ace's quick check of the rooms off the main area revealed bedrooms, bathrooms, a gymnasium and a small swimming pool. Everything except a way out.
"What is this place?" she asked disgustedly. "The Gallifrey Hilton?"
Romana went over to the wallscreen and switched it on. It was showing a Public Record Video prog
ramme, the ceremonial inauguration of President Flavia. The President, a small, neat woman, looked lost in the middle of the swirling crowd of tall colourfully robed Time Lords. Romana switched off the wallscreen and threw herself gracefully onto an overstuffed couch.
"Beats the last place we were locked up in," said Bernice. She went over to the dispenser and dialled herself a large brandy. "What do you think, Romana?"
"I think it's an oubliette."
Bernice frowned. "Like those tiny cells in castles? Chuck in awkward prisoners and forget all about them?"
"Yes, only we Time Lords are so much more civilized. We provide food, drink, sanitation, entertainment, exercise ... Don't you see, this isn't just some temporary holding area, they can leave us here forever."
Bernice sipped her brandy. "Like Huis-Clos."
Ace was studying the double doors by which they'd entered. "Come again?"
"An Old Earth play I read once. Somebody dies and goes to hell and finds it's this room with two other people in it - forever!" Bernice swigged down the rest of her brandy and shuddered. "They wouldn't do that to us, would they?"
Romana shrugged. "I'm not sure what they might do. Things seem to have changed for the worse since I was last on Gallifrey."
The doors were made of some gold-coloured metal, decorated with elaborate scroll-work. They were designed to slide apart, only there was no control on the inside. They were in a very superior prison.
"Well, I don't know about you two," said Ace, "but I'm not stopping. You heard the Doctor. He said he had to see the President, and he was looking at me when he said it."
She reached up to her high collar and began peeling off the edging.
The Doctor had been taken to a small windowless conference chamber somewhere deep beneath the Capitol. The room held a long table on a raised dais at one end, with three high-backed chairs behind it, and one uncomfortable-looking metal one in front of it. The metal chair was fastened to the floor.
The Doctor was thrust into the metal chair. Wristclamps slid out from the arms, holding him fast. Zorell and the black-clad guards took up positions by the door.
Doctor Who - [New Adventure 29] - [Vampire Trilogy 2] - Blood Harvest Page 24
