by Nick Walters
‘Any chance of putting in a good word for us?’
More Valethske had seen them and a circle of the hunters was closing in, brandishing blasters and knives, their faces alight with lust and hunger.
Veek stepped forwards to meet them. ‘They may know of my heresy,’ she hissed to the Doctor and Aline. ‘I will soon find out.’
‘Hunt Marshal Veek - or should I say, former Hunt Marshal Veek.’ came a gruff voice. The advancing hunters parted ranks to let through a tall Valethske in a more elaborate uniform than the rank and file hunters. ‘And the Doctor.’
‘Vale Commander Kikker,’ said the Doctor graciously, though his eyes were cold. ‘So nice of you to drop in. I’m afraid I’ve got some rather bad news for you.’
Kikker bared his teeth. ‘And I have something for you.’
He gestured to two hunters, who stepped forwards holding between them a human woman wearing a one-piece mud-coloured uniform, her face grimy, hair matted.
It was Peri, Aline realised.
Her eyes lit up like beacons of hope when she saw the Doctor. ‘Let her go,’ said the Doctor, stepping towards Kikker.
Kikker barred his way. ‘Not until I have your guarantee of total co-operation.’
‘All right, all right, yes,’ said the Doctor impatiently.
Kikker gave an order and the two Valethske released Peri.
She fell into the Doctor’s arms, shuddering with relief.
She looked over at Aline. Through her tears, her eyes were hard, dark hollows beneath them. Aline could almost read her thoughts. It’s great to see the Doctor but we’re not out of the woods yet.
Aline looked at the massed hunters. Not by a long chalk.
‘What is this “bad news” you have for me?’ said Kikker, looking at the Doctor with amusement.
‘Oh, just something you really should know,’ said the Doctor with obvious relish. ‘It’s about your Gods, the Khorlthochloi.’
He motioned for Peri to go and stand with Aline.
Aline gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and was heartened to feel her squeeze back.
Kikker leaned towards the Doctor. ‘They’re here? You’ve seen them?’
‘Not quite,’ said the Doctor, with a look at Aline. ‘You see, they’re dead and have been for countless centuries.’
Kikker sneered. ‘A pathetic lie.’
Aline backed the Doctor up. ‘It’s true. I’ve made contact with some of the technology they left behind. The Khorlthochloi no longer exist.’
‘Why should I believe you?’ hissed Kikker.
‘Because she’s telling the truth.’ Now the Doctor had the attention of all the hunters.’ See those insects over there?
They’re all that remains of your Gods.’ She could see him struggling to dumb down the explanation for the benefit of the Valethske. ‘Their minds evolved beyond the need for their bodies, and died. The bodies they left behind carried on their mindless existence, tended by this garden world.’
There was a babble of comment from the hunters.
Kikker drew his blaster and fired at the ceiling.
‘Do not listen to this human!’ he cried. ‘The Gods are here -
I know it!’
‘Doctor,’ whispered Aline. ‘Take him to the plasma strand.
Maybe then he’ll believe.’
‘Good idea,’ said the Doctor. Vale Commander, I can show you proof of this.’
Kikker eyed him suspiciously. ‘How?’
‘Through there.’ The Doctor pointed at the tunnel that led to the cavern of light. ‘They’ve left some of their technology behind. As a warning to the curious.’
Kikker seemed unimpressed. ‘Trickery,’ he said. ‘How can I trust the word of a mere human?’
‘You can trust him, believe me,’ said Aline. She had no fear of the Valethske now, and she could tell that Kikker could see this. ‘I’ve made contact with the thing in there. It told me the truth about the Khorlthochloi. Maybe it will tell you.’
She could see the calculation behind Kikker’s eyes. One part of him wanted to slaughter them all right there on the spot
- but another part seemed to recognise the truth in what she was saying.
There was an agonising silence, broken only by the snarls and growls of the Valethske.
‘Very well,’ said Kikker at last. ‘Take me to it.’
‘What about us?’ said Peri.
The Doctor put an arm protectively around his companion.
‘Yes, they’d better not come to any harm, or else I won’t show you how to operate the TARDIS.’
Kikker beckoned two hunters over. ‘Guard these two humans.’ He turned to face the crowd of Valethske, raising his voice. ‘Hunters, do not harm these humans - for now, anyway.’ He gestured to the Doctor. ‘This human tells us that the Gods are long-dead.’
There were hisses and howls of bemusement from the massed hunters. They seemed more ready to believe their leader than the Doctor.
‘I do not believe him. However, I will return with proof, or otherwise.’ The Doctor led Kikker away, giving Aline and Peri a smile and a wave of reassurance.
Peri and Aline allowed themselves to be ushered away so they were standing at the edge of the cavern. Aline had no illusions that the hunters would obey their Commander and fully expected to be torn to ribbons at any second.
The Valethske hunters - there must have been a hundred or so - started checking their weapons, sharpening their claws or engaging in one-to-one mock-tussles. Aline had never been this close to so many Valethske and the musty smell coming from them was almost overpowering. As was the sense of feral power she could see in their rippling muscles, the hunger in their eyes. Aline could just see the TARDIS over the heads of the hunters. They’d never be able to reach it. It may as well have remained on the Valethske ship.
She saw Veek approach the two beasts guarding them. They stepped aside to let her pass, hissing at her behind her back.
Spurning her. Aline realised that Veek must have sacrificed a lot to help the Doctor.
‘I recognise that one,’ muttered Peri. ‘It’s their Hunt Marshal or something. It’s the one that shot me back at the party.’
‘She’s called Veek. She’s friendly - as far as a Valethske can be,’ whispered Aline. ‘The Doctor’s formed some kind of alliance with her.’
Peri stared at her as if she was mad. No Way!’
Veek stood in front of them, arms folded, eyes narrow, calculating. ‘You are Peri? The Doctor’s friend?’
Peri scowled at her. ‘Yeah, what of it?’
Veek crouched down. Aline could smell her rancid breath. ‘We must leave as soon as the Doctor returns. I will help you reach the TARDIS.’
‘Veek!’ came a hoarse cry. Aline looked beyond Veek to see another Valethske approaching. This one had a white stripe across its face.
‘That one’s called Flayoun,’ muttered Peri. ‘He rescued me -
sort of. Wanted me as a gift for Kikker.’ Peri smiled tightly.
‘And he’s no way on our side.’
Veek stood up and whirled round. ‘Flayoun!’ Her voice was sibilant with malice. ‘Still following Kikker around like a lost cub?’ Flayoun drew himself up proudly. ‘I am now Hunt Marshal.’
Veek growled. ‘Not while I’m still alive.’
Flayoun drew a blaster.
‘Not this way,’ said Veek. ‘I challenge you to single combat.
To the death.’
There were shrieks and howls of enthusiasm from the other Valethske.
Veek and Flayoun prowled to the centre of the cavern, growling at each other. The Valethske scrambled aside to form a ragged circle around the two combatants. Peri and Aline were herded back into the shadows by the two hunters Kikker had ordered to guard them.
‘Ringside seats,’ said Peri. ‘Great.’
Vale Commander Kikker stood before the plasma strand, the Doctor’s voice a distant buzzing in his ears, and felt nothing.
No sense of victo
ry, no feeling of triumph swelling his heart, no fanfares, no calls to glory. Just this golden void and the looming mass of alien matter. The sense of desolation was so great that Kikker knew that the Doctor had been speaking the truth. The Gods were dead, and in death they had evaded the vengeance of the Valethske.
It had all been for nothing.
The Doctor’s babblings were beginning to annoy Kikker.
‘And so you see, poor Aline thought she was going to make contact with a higher evolutionary, when all it actually is, is a machine. An immensely sophisticated and powerful machine, I’ll grant you that, but a machine nonetheless.’
‘Be silent!’ hissed Kikker. ‘Have some respect for this moment, Doctor. I have searched for centuries only to have victory snatched from my jaws. Have you any conception of how that feels?’
‘Have you any conception of the trail of suffering you’ve left across the galaxy?’ said the Doctor calmly.
Kikker sneered. ‘I care nothing for that. They were only prey? He drew his blaster and levelled it at the Doctor’s chest. ‘As are you.’
The Doctor showed no fear. Instead he sighed and turned away, his face bathed in the glow of the plasma strand.
A surge of anger rushed through Kikker’s blood, and his finger tightened on the trigger.
‘Killing me won’t make an iota of difference, Kikker,’ said the Doctor. ‘0h, it will make you feel better, for a very short while.
But it won’t bring the Gods back.’
He was right, of course - but his words sparked an idea in Kikker’s mind. His back-up plan, of course! He’d been so blinded by anger that he had forgotten about it. So he would get his revenge and his glory after all.
‘Won’t you please go now, leave this beautiful planet in peace?’
Now he had a plan, Kikker found himself grinning.
‘Beautiful no longer, Doctor - we have sterilised the surface with fire!’
‘I was wondering how you’d got past the plantibodies,’
muttered the Doctor. ‘Do you realise that now you’ve destroyed the Garden you’ve cut off the insects’ only source of food?
That you’ve committed double genocide?’
Kikker sneered. ‘Yes, Doctor, I realise. Do you really expect me to care?’
The Doctor turned his gaze on Kikker. ‘I’ve met many murderous alien species in my time but you Valethske take my breath away. Is there nothing you care about other than satisfying your own grotesque appetites?’
Kikker stared up at the plasma strand. ‘No, Doctor, there is not. We are Valethske.’
‘As if that explains everything.’
Kikker reached out and grasped the Doctor’s upper arm, relishing his cry of pain. ‘I will soon sate all my appetites, Doctor - for you are going to take me back through time, to when the Gods lived, so I can destroy them!’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Superiority Complex
Veek was glad she hadn’t killed Flayoun when she’d had the chance. It would have denied her the honour of dispatching him in single combat. They had discarded their guns, knives and uniforms and now faced each other naked across a makeshift arena. The only weapons they had now were tooth and claw, backed up by strength, agility and determination.
Veek circled Flayoun, keeping her eyes locked on his, ready to spring. The hunters Veek had travelled with for centuries stood around her, haying for blood.
Veek forced all memories of Flayoun as her mate from her mind. Now he was just an enemy, an enemy she had to destroy. She forgot, for the moment, all about the Doctor and the TARDIS, all about going home. All that mattered, for now, was this fight. Veek licked her lips, mentally mapping her opponent’s weak spots: the white-furred, tautly muscled belly, the soft triangle of the groin, the skin under the jaw, the tendons at the backs of the legs.
Suddenly, Flayoun lunged for her. Veek sprang to one side in a feint, reaching round and clawing at his back. He stumbled, but rolled over and was back on his feet in a flash, facing her once more, the pain drawing a snarl from between his bared teeth.
Before he could regain his balance Veek threw herself at him, coming in low, claws outstretched, reaching for his belly. He stepped aside - as she’d anticipated, and she swung a foot up sharply into his stomach. In an instant she was on him, her powerful knees pressed into his guts, arms raised to keep off his slicing blows. Wincing as he raked her forearm with his sharp claws, she lunged forwards, trying to lock her jaws around his throat. But this movement put her off-balance and he twisted beneath her, sending her sprawling to the smooth rock floor. She landed face-down, rolling over just in time to avoid his lunging body.
Veek scrambled to her feet, breathing hard, her arm-muscles spasming where he’d cut her. Flayoun stood and faced her again, his chest rising and falling with exertion.
She saw his legs tense for a leap, and at the same moment she sprang. They slammed together in mid-air like a thunderclap, claws slashing savagely at each other, hissing and screaming. Veek slashed and hit and bit, feeling as if she was dissolving in a whirlwind of fury, oblivious to the blows he rained down on her. With a final lunge she bore the hunter to the ground and sunk her teeth into his neck, biting hard and twisting. She pressed down and down on to him as if she was trying to get through him to the rock beneath, his gargling screams sending a thrill of pleasure through her. She worried at his throat, dimly aware of his increasingly feeble body-blows, and then ripped out his larynx, leaning back and shrieking in triumph as a fountain of her former mate’s blood splattered over her white-furred belly. She rubbed it in with both hands, her fingers running over her teats, exciting her. She drank down the cheers and howls of the hunters.
‘I triumph!’ she screamed, glaring around the circle of bared teeth and gleaming eyes. About half the hunters were howling and clawing the air; the other half looked sullen. She had to try to win them all over to her side, strengthen her position.
‘Hunter Trenex - throw me your knife.’
Veek reached out and caught the blade that flew through the air towards her. She spun the blade deftly on her fingertips, tossed it upwards, caught it by the handle and in a smooth movement slit Flayoun’s abdomen from groin to sternum. Blood seeped rapidly from the incision into his white chest-fur.
Flayoun was almost dead. She bent down and whispered in his ear. ‘I’ll take a bite out of you, hunter.’ She’d said it many times in jest. How strange that it had actually been a premonition...
Veek slipped her free hand into Flayoun, her fingers finding purchase on his slippery innards, and tugged free a loop of intestine. Trenex’s knife was good and sharp and she quickly and smoothly cut free a length of purple gut.
As she did this she kept her eyes locked on Flayoun’s, and fancied she could see the exact moment when life went from him.
Veek stood over the corpse, raising the knife high in one hand, the portion of intestine in the other. She could smell her own sweat rising from her body, mingling with the metallic tang of Flayoun’s blood and the steamy, tropical odour of his exposed guts. She raised her head and slipped in the morsel, chewing and swallowing with exaggerated movements. This was the worst thing a hunter could do to a defeated enemy, reducing them symbolically to the level of prey.
She swallowed and wiped the blood from her lips. ‘I am Hunt Marshal now.’
She glared at the ring of hunters, daring any to challenge her.
Veek’s victory had an unforeseen side-effect. The two hunters guarding Peri and Aline had been performing their duties with relish, keeping their guns trained on the women and one eye on the fight. But when Veek had eviscerated Flayoun, they had turned to watch, their whole attention taken up by the grotesque spectacle.
Seeing their chance, Peri and Aline edged slowly along the cavern wall and slipped inside the nearest tunnel entrance.
Once they were a good way in, and the curve of the tunnel blocked the entrance from view, Aline sank down against the smooth rock wall. She coughed, doubling up, her wh
ole body shaking in a fit.
Peri crouched down beside her. ‘Hey, you OK?’ she whispered.
‘No, I’m bloody well not.’ A trickle of blood ran from the corner of Aline’s mouth and Peri could see a vein pulsing in her throat like something trying to escape.
Peri looked along the dimly glowing tunnel. ‘We’ve got no idea where this leads.’ It wasn’t the tunnel the Doctor and Kikker had taken.
‘Away from the Valethske,’ gasped Aline, in between struggles for breath.
‘And away from the TARDIS,’ muttered Peri. The Doctor would probably be back with Kikker quite soon. What happened then, she couldn’t guess, but she wanted to be with the Doctor when it did.
‘Come on, let’s go back.’ She moved to help Aline stand.
‘No,’ said Aline, shrugging off her assistance and standing up by herself. ‘We go on.’
Peri sighed. ‘Look, I wanna help the Doctor. We’re doing no good by running away.’
‘On the contrary,’ said Aline, her haughty tones setting Peri’s teeth on edge. ‘I have a plan. Come on.’
Aline set off, leaning on the mossy tunnel wall for support.
Peri sighed, went up to Aline and made the woman lean on her instead. Together they went on down the tunnel. Peri could see that it was getting lighter - up ahead, was that sunlight?
Couldn’t be - they were underground.
At the sight of this Aline seemed to relax. ‘It’s close. Thank heavens. More than one tunnel must lead to it... I don’t think I can go on for much longer?
Wary of what the light might signify, Peri made Aline stop.
‘Any chance of telling me your great plan?’
‘No,’ Aline smiled. There were big hollows below her eyes and her white hair was beginning to fall out. ‘If I tell you it might not work.’
‘Superstitious crap,’ muttered Peri.
Aline coughed, the sound echoing up and down the tunnel like a gunshot. Peri winced, expecting the clatter of pursuing Valethske at any second.
They moved off again. ‘What the hell happened to you, anyway?’
