Doctor Who - [061] - The Curse of Peladon

by Brian Hayles

  Until now, the king's men, a bare six in number, had more than held their own. In the confined space of the doorway, their trained movements, ruthlessly executed, had begun to drive the black helmets back. The cries of dying men and the clash of armour and swords, in turn almost drowned by the fierce shouts of the victorious Royal Guards, almost swamped Hepesh's clarion call. At first there was no pause, but he called again in a voice that had so often before proclaimed the message of Aggedor: "Surrender-or your king will die!" The second command had a greater effect, and the captain of the Royal Guard turned his head to check whether what Hepesh had said was true.

  "Aggedor commands you. Throw down your arms, or the king dies!"

  The sword points pricked the king's throat. The eyes of the men standing at the king's side glowed with a fanatic intent. They would not hesitate to kill! There was no alternative for the Royal Guard but to obey - and it was the last command they ever heard. Hepesh had no intention of taking prisoners. The defenders swords had scarcely left their hands before six bodies fell lifeless to the ground, struck down without mercy. Peladon flinched, closing his eyes to the brief slaughter. This was tradition at its most bloody. The fire in Hepesh's eyes promised little mercy even to Peladon himself. With a bold step, the High Priest strode to the throne, and there confronted his king and one-time ward. He paused there, and their eyes met.

  "Is this the crown of Kingship, Hepesh?" asked Peladon bravely, "Or do you bring me death instead?" Hepesh stared at the tense young face before him, and a distant memory returned to his mind: a boy whom he had once dandled on his knee, as a father might play with his son. But those days were past.

  "You, Peladon, have become a stranger to the ways of Aggedor!" declaimed the haughty priest. "You will be given the chance to return to our ancient ways, and in doing so you will live, a glorious and revered figurehead of state."

  "Hepesh can never be king!" snapped Peladon.

  "But as High Regent, I can guide this nation towards the destiny that it deserves!" retorted Hepesh. "Deny that, deny Aggedor, and the royal line of Peladon is ended with the taking of your life!"

  "The aliens will destroy you, Hepesh," said the king calmly. "You and all your people will be crushed in retribution. You cannot fight them and win."

  Hepesh smiled cruelly. He knew just how helpless the aliens were without their spaceships. His stealthy agents had seen to that. And there was still one more card that he would play against them.

  "I am not a fool, Peladon," he said. "I do not intend to fight them and draw the vengeance of their fireships upon us. But they will listen to me. I have a weapon to which they have no answer." He gestured brusquely. "When I command, they will obey. And this nation will be free at last!"

  The blow that had struck Grun down would have crushed the skull of a lesser man. But the same lunge that had left Grun open to the blow from Hepesh had also pulled him out of its direct line of impact. Badly dazed, he was just beginning to come round when the Doctor arrived. Kneeling by the fallen King's Champion, and witnessing the dead bodies of the soldiers slain by Grun, the Doctor quickly put two and two together - and his face was grim.

  "Grun, what's happened? Who do these soldiers belong to? Tell me!"

  With an effort, the King's Champion pulled himself together, and focused on what the Doctor was asking him. His clumsy mime left the Doctor even more puzzled until Grun started scrawling an initial in the dust. As the letter "H" was formed, the Doctor knew his suspicions were true. But if two soldiers were killed, how many more did Hepesh have with him? When asked, Grun put up his fingers again and again for the Doctor to count. The High Priest was moving too fast for the delegates to obtain sufficient help from Federation sources. Only direct action against Hepesh himself would do any good now.

  "It's not good, Grun old chap. If Hepesh gains control of the citadel, I don't think we stand much chance."

  Grun grunted desperately and tried to make the Doctor understand that it wasn't the citadel that Hepesh hoped to take. He drew a circlet about his brow. Suddenly the Doctor understood. "The king!" he exclaimed. "Of course! Take the king and he's won everything!" Grun lurched to his feet, grabbing up his fallen sword as he did so. He stood, swaying, a battered giant ready to take on Hepesh in a desperate attempt to save his king. The Doctor placed a hand on Grun's right arm, and shook his head. "No, Grun, that isn't the way."

  His words were interrupted by a distant, echoing roar. Grun dropped to his knees and hid his face in the crook of his arm. He knew that cry: it was the Royal Beast, the mighty Aggedor!

  "It's Aggedor," murmured the Doctor, looking down the dark tunnel in the direction of the sound. That terrifying howl, far from striking terror into his heart, had given him an idea.

  "Grun," he said with a chuckle of delight, "I think we may have a chance after all!"

  The King's Champion looked at the mad alien in dumb amazement as the Doctor pulled him towards the eerie animal howl. Grun drew back. "Come on, Grun," coaxed the Doctor. "You're not frightened, are you? You're the King's Champion, remember!" Grun wasn't impressed with his own reputation - at least, not when it was a matter of confronting Aggedor. But the Doctor insisted. "It's our only chance, Grun. And don't you worry - just leave everything to me." Grun stared into the Doctor's eyes, uncertain. "Its not for our sake, old chap, it's for the king," said the Doctor firmly.

  Grun took a deep breath, gripped his sword more tightly, and pointed the way ahead. The Doctor smiled. "That's a good chap. I think you'll find that Aggedor will think on exactly the same lines as you do. Let's go and find out, shall we?"

  When the knock on the delegates' room finally came, Izlyr and Ssorg were prepared. With Jo and Alpha Centauri safely out of the line of fire, the two Ice Warriors took up positions that commanded not only the door but the angle of the corridor outside that would be bound to contain the reinforcements. The door opened inward. Izlyr had worked out that against the primitive weapons of the Pels they could hold the room indefinitely. Food and water was a different matter. But if they could hold out for long enough, there was always the chance that the orbiting spacecraft would become suspicious and send down a scouting party. The knock came again, sharper, and with authority.

  "Enter," hissed the warlord, and prepared to fire.

  There was only one man standing in the open doorway. It was Hepesh. He did not seem afraid.

  "If you have men hidden outside, Ssorg will destroy you," whispered Izlyr coldly. "I warn you - do not attempt to harm us."

  "I am unarmed and alone." retorted the High Priest. "Where is the Doctor?"

  "Somewhere you can't find him!" shouted Jo defiantly.

  "He will not escape capture for long," replied Hepesh, arrogantly. "The heart of the citadel is under my control. You will all come with me to the throne room-now!"

  "It's a trap!" shrilled Alpha Centauri, quivering in alarm. "He will kill all of us!"

  "You will not be harmed," said Hepesh. "I give you my word. We do not need you as hostages, if that is what you're afraid of."

  Ssorg lumbered forward, and spoke to his master. "Lord Izlyr, let us take this one hostage in return for our safety."

  "Do not be so foolish," Hepesh said haughtily. "My men hold the king prisoner. If I do not return with all of you immediately, King Peladon will die. Is that what you wish?" The High Priest smiled cruelly. His remark had caused consternation amongst the aliens. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and walked out. He knew they would follow. They couldn't afford not to …

  The King's Avenger

  From the depths of the tunnel ahead, the cry of Aggedor rang out again. Grun stopped in his tracks. He had come face to face with the Royal Beast once already in his life. To survive a second time was surely tempting Fate too far! The burly warrior gave a low growl of discouragement; The Doctor turned and walked back to the awestruck King's Champion. Before the Doctor could speak, Grun was pointing ahead and shaking his head vehemently. But the Doctor's voice was calm and re
assuring. He took the peculiar mirror device from his pocket, and showed it to Grun.

  "Grun, you're a brave warrior, I know," he said. "What you're going to see may amaze you - but trust me."

  Grun looked from the Doctor's confident face to the gleaming mirror, now still. What did it mean? Was this mad alien going to face the being that had so easily destroyed Torbis with nothing more deadly in his hand than a child's toy? He shook his grizzled head again, more uneasy still. Aggedor could be merciful to heroes, but to fools - never!

  "It's alright, old chap," insisted the Doctor. "There's no need to get upset. This won't be as difficult as you think." Then he added, under his breath, "As long as Aggedor doesn't have too short a memory."

  But the Doctor could see that Grun wasn't going to be convinced. Then, as the warrior looked past him, jaw slack with fear, the Doctor knew the decision was no longer in their hands. At that awful, animal roar, the Doctor turned to find Aggedor only yards away, rearing high above them, claws and tusks gleaming wickedly in the eerie phosphor light of the tunnel. It cried out again, and Grun dropped to his knees. Spreading his palms flat on the ground, the mighty warrior lowered his blood-caked forehead to the dusty earth in abject surrender. The Doctor stood firm.

  "Now, Aggedor..." he said firmly, but in the crooning voice he had used when he and the monster had last met, "you remember me, don't you?" The great beast roared even louder, and advanced with a swift, shambling gait. Suddenly it slowed, halted and stood still, fascinated. The Doctor had started the hypno-disc spinning, and its spell was having an almost immediate effect ... As the dancing flecks of light spun across the eyes of the monster, it stood swaying and softly purring. The only other sound was the Doctor's gentle crooning of the Venusian lullaby, its words incomprehensible but its power over the beast complete ... Grun, expecting only a hideous death, felt nothing and looked up. First he glanced at the Doctor, and then at the beast which had once been so terrifying, and which was now purring with pleasure. It seemed unbelievable! What was the magic in the toy that the Doctor held? With Aggedor under control, the Doctor was able to look at his warrior companion. He smiled. Grun, too, was rapidly succumbing to the influence of the spinning disc.

  "Grun!" the Doctor quietly commanded as he shielded the device from the King's Champion. "Look away. Look at Aggedor!" The pattern of light cut off from his fascinated eyes, Grun came back to reality, and looked at the Doctor with a new respect. What sort of a being was it who could defeat the greatest of the king's warriors in single-handed combat and subdue the Royal Beast without even a weapon in his hand? Paying no attention to the beast that had once threatened them, Grun suddenly knelt before the Doctor and placed his cropped head beneath the aliens hand. It was a dedication of the simplest kind, and the Doctor was both moved and pleased. He then insisted, having persuaded Grun to rise, on a more equal dedication, man to man. Extending his open hand, the Doctor clasped Grun's mighty wrist-and after a moment's hesitation, the warrior met his grasp with crushing power.

  "I'm not your master, Grun," declared the Doctor, "but I'd be happy to be your friend. Blood brothers, as you might say."

  They smiled into each other's eyes, and a gentle roar from Aggedor seemed an apt comment on the Doctor's words. It also served to remind him of what they must next do.

  "Aggedor is with us, Grun," said the Doctor, and Grun, able now to control his fear, nodded in agreement. The Doctor moved to the friendly beast, and stroked its mighty neck. The hypnotic device was slipped back into his pocket, its work now done. "You see, Grun, Aggedor isn't such a terrifying fellow after all. But I think we need him to convince Peladon - and his people - that Hepesh is the evil genius that could wreck their whole future, don't you?" Grun nodded again, and gripped his sword, as though hungry for the chance to confront the High Priest. The Doctor smiled, and indicated that he should put down his weapon. "I don't think anybody will argue with us," he said, with a nod towards Aggedor. "Not with our friend here to accompany us! But we must move quickly - come!" And they started off along the tunnel that would take them into the heart of the Citadel of Peladon.

  From his seat on the throne, Peladon saw Jo and the aliens enter, following Hepesh. He could make no move to greet them, however. The sword points that held his life in the balance were still poised at his throat, ready to act at the slightest sign of trouble. Hepesh studied the aliens and was satisfied from their reactions that they fully understood the danger of the situation. He smiled. Jo turned towards him, her eyes wide with concern for the young king His face was pale, but otherwise showed no sign of fear. "What are you going to do with him? she demanded. "He's done nothing to harm you. Let him go!"

  "That is up to the delegates," pointed out Hepesh, "If they will cooperate ..."

  "You will answer to Federation justice," hissed Izlyr fiercely. But he could do nothing.

  "Your Federation has no jurisdiction over me or this planet", corrected Hepesh. "It is you that must answer to your superiors for your interference!"

  Alpha Centauri, though far from brave, was prepared to defend his bureaucratic privileges to the letter of the law - within reason. "You are holding us here by force.. You will answer for that!" Supremely confident, Hepesh gestured amiably at the soldiers which were scattered about the room. Apart from the two swords at the king's throat, all weapons were sheathed.

  "I am not holding you," replied the High Priest blandly. "There are no swords or spears held against you. You came to this throne room at your own free will."

  "We didn't have much choice!" cried Jo, but Hepesh only gave her a cold glance before continuing, "You are not wanted here, either as guests or hostages", he said. "I know the retribution this planet would suffer if any of you were harmed - so go in peace. Tell your masters that Peladon wants nothing of their Federation. But go - now!"

  Hepesh had won. Or so it seemed to Jo and the aliens as they faced the defeated king in the silence that followed. A split second later, a series of terror-stricken shouts heralded the opening of the throne room doors with a mighty crash-and standing there were the Doctor, Grun ... and Aggedor. The first reaction of Hepesh's men was to seize arms and attack the intruders, but at the sight of the Royal Beast, they dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in awe. Hepesh alone stood his ground. The two fanatics, now in a cold sweat of fear, continued to hold the king at point of death.

  "Who dares to challenge Peladon of Peladon? Kneel and pay homage to his sacred guardian!" cried out the Doctor.

  The tables were turned - but Hepesh was not beaten yet. The king was still his hostage, and he knew that Aggedor was no unearthly spirit. "Do not listen to this alien heretic!" he cried. "I am the High Priest of Aggedor and Regent to the kingdom of Peladon!"

  "But you no longer speak for Aggedor, Hepesh!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Aggedor stands by those who recognise the rightful king. Here is Grun, his Champion, as witness! And I condemn Hepesh as a traitor to his ruler, and to his sacred trust as guardian of the holy temple!" The Doctor paused, but Hepesh would not bow. He stood erect and haughty, eyes blazing in defiance. "Be sensible," said the Doctor quietly. "You're beaten, Hepesh. Just surrender before anyone else gets killed."

  Hepesh gathered his cloak about him and strode forward, at the same time addressing his scornful words to the black helmets who so easily outnumbered the aliens. "Do not believe his trickery!" he shouted, and moved amongst his men as though haranguing them into bravery. In fact, he had a purpose in his movements which was not made clear until he came close to the buttressed doorway. "You know the aliens. Their machines and their magic do not fool us! The beast is not the Royal guardian - it is a common animal!" Suddenly he sprang to the wall and, seizing a flaming torch from its wall bracket, held it high. "I will show you. It is a living monster, and not a holy spirit!" Hepesh took a step towards Aggedor. The torch in his outstretched hand flared menacingly in the creatures face, A low growl of fear came from its shaggy throat. As the beast reared, the Doctor and Grun fell back. Rolling its h
ead away from the threatening firebrand, Aggedor gave a fearsome howl. Hepesh lunged at it again, his face alight with cruel jubilation. "I am its master!" he cried. "When I command, it obeys!" Then, with a fierce gesture towards the Doctor, his voice rang out like the crack of a whip: "Aggedor - kill!"

  At the final thrust of flame, the great beast reared to its full height, its upraised claws thrashing the smoke-dim air. Then, with that terrifying howl of vengeance, it struck. - but not at the Doctor. Brushing aside the torch as though it were a fly, the other mighty paw dealt a crushing blow on to Hepesh's bare head, and in an instant he was sprawled upon the blood-soaked ground. Jo's scream died in her throat. The Doctor quickly brought out the hypno-disc and soothed the beast back into an uneasy calm. The black-helmeted temple troops prostrated themselves before the Royal Beast, and moaned in terror. It was the King who reached the fallen figure of Hepesh first, and he crouched low over him, cradling the dying old man in his arms. He wept openly.

  Peladon knew that whatever the old priest had done, had been done for love of his people. There was only love and pity in his voice - not condemnation.

  The old man opened his eyes. They were dark with pain. He spoke proudly, his failing voice reaching only the King's ears. "I meant... to save our world ..." the old man whispered. "The old ways ... perhaps I was wrong ..." He strained to look his young master in the eye for the last time, and his voice grew clearer for an instant. "You are the king. Rule wisely ... my son. The future ... that you desire so greatly ... will be yours ... "