by Brian Hayles
"A king can do anything," she said firmly, then dropped her voice so that her plea was directed to Peladon as a person, not as a royal judge. "You asked me once if I believed in you. I want to. Well, if you honestly believe in peace, if you really despise violence and cruelty, this is your chance to prove it. Izlyr gave you the opportunity just now to offer a royal pardon. Think what an effect that would have on the Galactic Commission! But more than that - I'm asking you ... as a friend, a person." She paused, slightly breathless. She was sure there was a new kindness in his eyes; she was certain he would respond. "You want to show yourself a civilised king," she said, "then do it... "
The brief strand of friendship and warmth was severed by the sharp tones of Hepesh's grim voice. "The king can do nothing, he insisted. "He is bound by ancient law."
The face of the young king saddened perceptibly. He knew that by rejecting Jo's plea he would lose all claim to her friendship. But he was helpless.
"Hepesh is right", he said flatly. "I am powerless. The laws of my people must stand."
Hepesh moved forward to pull Jo back from the throne, but still she begged Peladon to act with mercy.
"Peladon ... please!" she cried, "there has to be some other way!"
Looking down at Jo's sweet face, so near to tears and yet so brave, a blinding memory bright as a revelation burst upon the young King's mind. It wasn't Jo's features that he saw before him, but those of his mother, Ellua. It was her voice, not Jo"s, that spoke to him. And yet the words were the same. "There has to be another way ... " It had been a trivial incident, a moment's misuse of power by a boy not yet able to understand that his words held life and death for his people. A word of command and the servant would have been slain; but at his mother's quick intercession, he had held his hand, and decreed a far lesser punishment. Years later, that same servant had died, valiantly defending his royal master against a ravening wolf; a life given up willingly to a purpose - not wasted by a moment's thoughtless anger. The memory came and went in an instant - but it left the knowledge of the one harsh remedy that lay in the young King's power.
"There is an alternative", declared the king, standing and facing the Doctor. "Trial by combat."
To the Doctor, the alternative that Peladon now offered was virtually a reprieve; at least, it meant that he had a fighting chance. To Jo, it seemed to offer the difference between the hangman's rope and the executioner's axe. Hepesh, on the other hand, saw Peladon's decree as a weakening of the throne's authority and yet another concession to the aliens.
"The alternative cannot stand!" he exclaimed. "This alien is not of noble blood!"
"It's barbaric!" Jo protested angrily. She had expected a royal pardon.
"It is all I can offer," said the young king. Couldn't Jo see that he done as much as he dared? Hepesh had not been answered. His objection still stood, and he reasserted it. The Earth delegate cannot be allowed an -honourable alternative! Peladon was becoming irritated by Hepesh's constant and petty objections. He snapped back icily.
"You forget, Hepesh, that the Chairman Delegate is a man of rank and, as such, an honorary nobleman of the Citadel!" He turned to the Doctor. "What do you say, Doctor?"
The Doctor met the young King's gaze proudly, and lifting his head, smiled. "I accept the challenge, your majesty. Who do I fight?"
The King's next words tightened the band of fear around Jo's heart, and wiped the smile from the Doctor's face.
"You will be held captive in your room until dawn. Then you will enter the Pit of Combat and engage in a fight to the death - with Grun, the King's Champion!"
Escape into Danger
The reassuring look from the Doctor as he was marched away had given Jo no comfort. Now the alien delegates had withdrawn to confer amongst themselves, and Jo had been shown to a room cut off from that in which the Doctor was being held. It was while she was sitting there, thinking desperately of ways to effect the Doctor's escape, that Grun knocked at her door and entered at her command. Seeing him there, Jo felt a moment of hope - he could only have been sent by the king. Had Peladon changed his mind? At Grun's mimed gesture that she should follow him, she smiled and did so, without any argument. She had to run to keep up with Grun's vast strides, and it was only a short time later that she once more stood before Peladon.
Her heart sank at Peladon's next command.
"Go, Grun", he ordered. "Prepare for the combat in honour of the Royal Beast."
Grun saluted, bowed, and left. When the throne room doors closed after him, Jo and Peladon were left alone together. Jo could hide her anger no longer. "Why have you had me brought here?" she asked. "To show me how clever you are at giving stupid orders?"
"I had to talk to you -" pleaded Peladon.
Jo wasn't impressed. "Don't expect me to believe you, your majesty," she replied sarcastically, shaking her head in a firm negative when the young king indicated that she should be seated beside the throne.
"I'm sorry," murmured Peladon, "but there are some things I cannot change ... even for you."
"Did you ever want to? What do mercy and compassion mean to you? You need someone to die to justify your stupid superstition!"
Peladon stiffened. No one normally offered a rebuke like this to the throne and remained free. Were Hepesh here now, he would be quick to act on the old harsh laws. Jo did not know that by allowing her to spill her understandable anger against the king without witness, he was protecting her life.
"I want no one to die," he said. "I've done all I can. I've given the Doctor the only chance that lay in my power."
Jo turned away, too moved even to sneer. Peladon saw this, and waited - but made no move to comfort her. She was so like Ellua, he thought. Grief brought out the warrior in her soul and she would defend the Doctor to the end.
"He means a great deal to you, this Doctor." the king observed.
She nodded. "Yes ... he does."
"I respect him as a man," admitted the king. "And I have no reason to call him my enemy."
At this, Jo turned, her face ever hopeful; but Peladon raised his hand to check what he knew she would say. "But please - do not hate me for being forced to do my duty as a king."
"But I don't hate you," said Jo, irritated. "Why can't you see?"
"Let me explain," interrupted the royal youth. "Both Torbis and my father died before they could break the centuries of tradition that bind us. But my mother taught me all she could of those qualities she brought from her own planet, Earth: justice, compassion - and love. She knew the time would come -"
"Then make it now!" exclaimed Jo. "Be the king she wanted you to be!" She paused. "The king I want you to be... "
"I cannot achieve that alone." the king said, frankly.
"But that's what the Federation's for - they will help you!" cried Jo excitedly, not yet realising the line of Peladon's thought.
"They are outsiders - politicians", he insisted. "I need someone at my side with those same qualities that she had... "
Suddenly, as the young king took her hand, Jo knew what he was getting at - and gaped, almost comically, in amazement. The question, when it came, was polite and formal.
"Princess," said Peladon gently, "will you give your agreement to an interplanetary alliance - by marriage to me?"
The Doctor was surprised. No sooner had he arrived in his room, than Hepesh had dismissed the armed escort. But listening to their feet march away into the distance, the Doctor suddenly understood what Hepesh was up to.
"Yes," he mused aloud, "you're a wily old bird, aren't you, Hepesh? The door will be left conveniently open and Ill be killed while trying to escape. Is that it?"
"No one will stand in your way", replied the High Priest.
"Which probably means an arrow in the back", observed the Doctor drily. "You do realise, don't you, that my death will certainly create an interplanetary scandal?"
"I know the consequences, alien," answered Hepesh. "And I do not want your death."
The Doctor frowned
as Hepesh pointed to the open door. "That is your route to freedom. Trust me, and take it. Leave this planet, and live!"
The offer was tempting, but the Doctor wasn't satisfied with the High Priest's apparent honesty. He decided to test just how far Hepesh was prepared to go in order to get rid of an unwanted guest, without violence.
"I'm afraid I can"t, old chap," apologised the Doctor. "You see, I still haven't got my space shuttle back."
"A blue box was found on the lower slopes of this mountain," replied the High Priest. "It is being brought to the Citadel now."
"And what about the Princess Jo?" queried the Doctor, warily. Hepesh paused before answering.
"She will be allowed to leave with you, of course."
Such a glib reply bothered the Doctor. Promises were easy if you didn't intend keeping them. Hepesh was almost too eager.
"But why go to all this trouble, old chap?" demanded the Doctor, shrewdly. "You could simply have me killed ... "
Hepesh faced him proudly. "I don't want this planet destroyed in retaliation, by Federation warships. I seek only an honourable peace."
"Yet you slap the Federation in the face", said the Doctor, "by sabotaging the Commission. Why?"
"Because I am afraid" confessed the High Priest, not flinching from his opponents stare, "as you would be ... "
Was he sincere, wondered the Doctor? Patriotism was often a genuine motive in driving men to commit the most violent acts to preserve their nation's freedom. If this was the case with Hepesh, he might have a point - though it still didn't make his methods anything but wrong.
"Afraid of what? Joining the Federation is a safeguard - a protection needed by a developing planet like yours."
"That is not true!" retorted Hepesh sharply. "I know the Federations true intent!"
"It's only purpose is to help you," insisted the Doctor.
"No!" cried the priest. "If you think that, you are blind! They will exploit us for our minerals, enslave us with their machines, corrupt us with their glittering technology! The face of this planet will be changed. The past will be swept away!" He paused, his face tragic. "Nothing that I know, or value, will remain."
Yes, thought the Doctor, Hepesh is sincere all right. He's also highly dangerous. A fanatic set against progress. Obsessed with the traditions of the past, to the point where individual deaths are simply stepping stones to success. But was Hepesh alone in his campaign against the Federation? Somehow, the Doctor had to find out.
"My dear Hepesh," remarked the Doctor condescendingly, "the progress offered by the Federation isn't like that at all. And hiding behind the traditions of the past won't solve anything."
"Our roots are in the past," growled Hepesh. "I would rather be a cave dweller, and free, than a city slave, civilised to the point of mindlessness!"
"Do you call holding your people prisoner by ritual and superstition, freedom?"
"The people need Aggedor. He is our protector!"
The Doctor smiled, tauntingly. He had to provoke the High Priest into admitting the truth. "And do you seriously expect your pet ghost to take on the whole Federation single-handed? My dear chap, you haven't a hope!" The trick worked. Hepesh's eyes flared with anger.
"You are a fool, alien!" he snarled fiercely. "We do not stand alone!"
"Oh?" queried the Doctor. "And who exactly is standing with you?"
Hepesh did not answer. His eyes narrowed and his face grew bitter at finding himself caught out by the Doctor. When at last he spoke, he chose to ignore the Doctor's last question, as he moved to the doorway.
"Take your chance while you can, alien", the High Priest snarled. "It isn't long till dawn!"
Jo had left the throne room in something of a daze. She had not given Peladon an answer to his formal proposal of marriage. Despite his obvious sincerity, she couldn't be sure that his real purpose wasn't mainly political - and that was no basis for a wedding in Jo's book! Walking back to the delegates" conference room, Jo reflected on Peladon's personality. She found him almost impossible to understand. One moment he was condemning the Doctor to certain death; the next he was proposing not just a marriage, but an interplanetary blood alliance! To Jo, the events just couldn't be separated, but Peladon had insisted they had no connection. His judgement of the case against the Doctor fell under his duty as a king; his offer of marriage to Jo sprang from his feelings as a man. In spite of this, Jo couldn't help wondering what he would say if he ever discovered she wasn't of royal blood at all!
In her absence, the delegates were speculating about Jo's all too obvious attraction for Peladon. Although they didn't yet know of the proposal, they suspected that it was almost bound to happen, sooner or later.
Arcturus, in particular was bitterly concerned that their mission was being so deliberately misused. "The facts point to only one conclusion, grated his mechanical voice. "An attempt is being made to establish a unilateral blood alliance between the planets Peladon and Earth!"
Although sentimentally attracted to the idea, Alpha Centauri was confused by the related events. "But if a marriage is to occur," shrilled the over-excited hexapod, "why is the Doctor to be executed?"
"It is unusual," hissed Izlyr, "to celebrate such an event with the execution of a planetary ambassador."
Arcturus was not to be deflected from his theory.
"That is obviously designed to confuse us," he said coldly. "There is a conspiracy!"
"A conspiracy!" repeated Alpha Centauri, waving dark blue tentacles in panic. "Izlyr - Arcturus - tell me what is happening. I do not understand!"
It was at this point in the discussion that Jo entered, and heard Arcturus next ominous words.
"It is a plot to destroy Federation unity. If we remain, we shall be the next victims. We must withdraw from Peladon immediately!"
"No!" shouted Jo as she entered the room and heard Arcturus's remark, "you can't do that!" What about the Doctor?"
Alpha Centauri was sympathetic - but cowardly. "But Princess, we must leave - if only to avoid further violence. We cannot interfere in local politics. What would the Galactic Council say?"
"Probably that you've got no power to cancel the mission," said Jo firmly, "have you?"
Izlyr spoke thoughtfully. "The Princess is correct. Federation authority is required. We cannot act alone."
"We have full powers in an emergency," rapped Arcturus. "If we stay, we risk being taken as hostages, or worse. Such a situation calls for emergency procedures!"
"It's true," wailed Alpha Centauri. "We're in terrible danger! We must leave while we have the chance!"
"And leave the Doctor behind to die?" stormed Jo. "What sort of politicians are you? Cowards, the lot of you!"
"This is a very delicate political situation," grated Arcturus. "Your immature emotional response does not help."
"Well, let me tell you," retorted Jo, "it'll be worse than delicate if the Doctor is killed! What will the Galactic Council say to that?"
It was Izlyr that gave the only possible answer to Jo's angry question. "It would amount to a declaration of war. The Federation would be compelled to retaliate. The planet of Peladon would probably be destroyed."
"Any action on our part could precipitate a worse conflict," stated Arcturus. "Therefore, we must do nothing to interfere!"
Jo could hardly believe her ears. Even when the so-called leader of the group was in deadly danger, they wouldn't raise a finger or a tentacle to save him! "That's marvellous!" exclaimed Jo, scathingly. "Your recipe for peace - do nothing, and let the other clods die! Well thanks for nothing!"
And with that, she rushed blindly from the room.
The door to the Doctor's room was still open, but he remained inside. The guard captain that Hepesh had planted to observe the Doctor still waited, patiently lurking in the shadows. The moment the Doctor left his chamber and took advantage of Hepesh's offer of freedom, the captain was to report it immediately to the High Priest. He was beginning to wonder whether the alien intended to take his
chance with Grun instead.
In fact, the Doctor was rather busy. As his deft fingers constructed the small but intricate device he needed for his journey, he studied the map that Hepesh had so thoughtfully left him. It showed a short, direct route to the entrance of the secret tunnel used by the Doctor previously. The route to the temple was indicated, but marked boldly with an "X". The Doctor smiled wryly he wasn't likely to chance trespassing there again! The route shown on the map lead to an area marked "BLUE BOX". This, then, was where the TARDIS would be waiting - or would it? The Doctor had his own ideas about that. For now, it was enough to concentrate on reaching the secret passage. He stood, and considered the spinning, glittering construction he had just made. Yes, it should do the trick nicely. He stilled its movement, and slipped it into a convenient pocket. Then, without any attempt at concealment, he walked outside. A faint flicker of movement in the shadows brought a grim smile to his lean face. Hepesh didn't believe in leaving anything to chance, obviously. The hidden watcher would now report to the High Priest that the bait had been taken - and then what would Hepesh do, the Doctor wondered. Perhaps he wouldn't have to do anything. Perhaps what lay in store for the Doctor was already there in the tunnels, waiting. If it was, the Doctor thought, he was ready for it; and if he came through that meeting alive, he suspected he would know enough to make Peladon reject Hepesh, and see reason. If, he reminded himself, he came out of it alive ...
The knock on Jo's door seemed to herald even more trouble. In fact, it was Izlyr and Ssorg who stood outside, and they didn't look any more threatening than usual. "What do you want?" demanded Jo, irritably.
"I wish to talk with you," whispered Izlyr. "May we enter?"
"Be my guest," said Jo acidly, and moved into the room. Izlyr and Ssorg entered and closed the door, then stood, slightly uneasily, Jo thought. "Well?" she demanded.
