Trial Of A Time Lord _ Mindwarp Part 7

The Doctor shrugged. 'The odds were against us. Why should I risk my life over a savage and a stupid girl?'

Sil s...o...b..red; an expression of pure pleasure. 'So you betrayed your friends. How wonderfully wise of you, Doctor.'

'I think so.'

The chuckle in Sil's throat was one of satisfaction but his cunning deep-set eyes never left the Doctor's face.

'You are planning some trickery, of course. I remember you are most ingenious. This is a ploy, yes?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'Why should I follow a mad Warlord of Thordon. What's in it for me?'

'You prefer to live?'

'I'm no hero.'

Sil gloated and leered. 'I could have sworn you belonged to that stupid breed.' The mad laughter echoed around the cavernous chamber.

The Doctor did not join in but earnestly replied to Sil's observation, 'I don't wish to help anyone any more. Now I'm just like you, Sil.'

'How nice for you.' The Mentor turned to his guards, his voice dripping with satisfaction.

'Inform Crozier and the Lord Kiv that I, Sil, have captured the Doctor... the turncoat Doctor, it seems.' Again the manic laughter spilled out. The Doctor licked his dry lips and stared s.h.i.+ftily round him, looking exactly what Sil had called him, a turncoat who had just saved his own skin by betraying his friends.

Eight.

'The truth of what you really are can now be seen by all, Doctor,' the Valeyard's voice rang out while the Doctor stared unbelievingly at himself up on the Matrix screen.

'That is not me. I would rather be dead than live like that!'

The laugh of the Valeyard was harsh. 'Like so much of what you have said to this court, they are hollow words.

What we have just witnessed is but a glimpse of your later treachery.'

'No!' the Doctor cried out in desperation. 'I must have suffered displacement of my reasoning faculties.'

'You were overcome by fear, Doctor. Your one aim was to escape unscathed. Just you only. Your friends did not matter.'

'Never!'

'You realise the Matrix of Time cannot lie?'

'Can't it?'

'I suggest you confess to your crimes and throw yourself on the mercy of this court.'

An ominous silence spread through the Supreme Court of Gallifrey. Miserably the Doctor stared around at the disapproving faces of his fellow Time Lords.

Maybe it was true, the thought entered the mind of the Doctor. Should he beg for mercy? No. No. There was something wrong, he told himself. Something something...

ah, yes, of course. The Doctor clutched at a possible explanation. 'Sil was right a ploy to fool the Mentors.

Yes, clever old me...' A wave of relief washed through the Doctor's being. 'Let the Matrix show what it will'. His right hand made a gesture of invitation. 'A clever ploy, you'll see.'

The smirk on the face of the Valeyard was worrying to the Doctor.

'Do you really believe that Doctor?'

'Of course,' the Doctor replied, boldly.

'Then let us see.' With a swirl of black gown the Valeyard turned his back on the accused Time Lord and strode back to his seat. With that irritating smile still evident he leaned back and awaited the next segment of the Matrix visual record.

The scene that appeared was set in the wrecked lab with Crozier trying to mend the damage done during the escape of King Yrcanos. The court saw a guard with a phaser covering not only Crozier but a familiar figure who was a.s.sisting the scientist in the repair of a Nerve Impulse Modifier. With a shock of recognition the Doctor realised that it was he who was helping Crozier. The images on the screen moved around to allow Sil to appear. His face muscles working in unison with the clenching and unclenching of his hands he was obviously in the grip of the darkest suspicions of the Doctor's motives in offering to help Crozier and the Mentors. Sil could contain himself no longer. 'I do not trust the Doctor!'

The Doctor melded a transistor to a matching terminal then straightened. 'What I have told you is the truth. I don't lie, it is not in my nature.'

Crozier looked up annoyed that the work of repair was being halted.

'He cannot know our reasons for questioning him about the Raak, Sil.'

'The Raak attacked us, without warning.' The voice of the Doctor was sincere.

'I believe him. Now can I please be allowed to redesign the Behavioural Ultrasonic Input Codifier?'

'Do you have time?' Sil asked.

'Not really. The help of the Doctor might just make it a possibility.'

The dilemma of whether or not to trust the Doctor made Sil itch all over. 'Water me!' he yelled at his bearers, who hurried to their scoops and began to dip into the tank that contained the cooling liquid of Sil's home waters. The soothing balm on his dehydrated, scaled skin made Sil relax a little. He decided to share his worries.

'If the Lord Kiv dies, his bodyguards have instructions to destroy us. You must operate to save his life. Not only his ours! ours! There's no time for anything else, Crozier. You must operate and successfully, tomorrow!' There's no time for anything else, Crozier. You must operate and successfully, tomorrow!'

Crozier looked contemptuously at Sil.

'What else have I been saying?'

'What do you need?'

'You well know a donor able to accept the brain of Kiv.'

'I will find you one!' Sil promised wildly, agitated the awful thought that he might be experiencing his last few hours of precious life.

'I could attempt a temporary transfer. Someone with a suitable cranium size would give us a few extra weeks...'

'Right,' Sil started then stopped as the Doctor had begun fiddling with a jumble of wired electrodes.

'Is there a microcircuitry diagram?'

'Stop him, it's a trick!' Sil started to shout.

'What have we to lose? Let the Doctor help if he wants.

Here...' Crozier pa.s.sed a programme disc to the Doctor.

'Be certain you are right, Crozier,' Sil began but the scientist and the Doctor were absorbed in the process of repairing the Brain Transposer.

'Do you have a module unit replacement or is this ganglion separator adaptable?'

'It's multifunctional, Doctor.'

'Good. The switches...'

'I'll try them...'

The display screen showed some basic data of plasmapheresia that had not been there before. Crozier and the Doctor looked at each other. Was there some hope of success?

'If we can get the Lexifier to function...' they both started the same sentence.

The sudden onset of co-operation irked Sil. 'I still suspect a trick...'

'Go and find me a donor, Sil.' Crozier said. 'There is a chance I might save Kil's life and ours if you find me a suitable head.'

'All right. I will search and if I fail we can always use the Doctor!'

Sil grinned and signed to his bearers. Before the door closed the Doctor heard Sil giving orders that two guards were to remain outside the laboratory. The Doctor concentrated on repairing the BTV, dutifully following the instructions that Crozier occasionally issued.

With the mist making a pink haze before her, Peri plodded on alone. She felt constantly on the verge of tears. Lonely and lost, she felt anything that happened would be preferable to the solitude of the dank gloomy tunnel.

Eventually, after what seemed a very long march, she came to a series of chambers filled with electronic equipment that glowed and buzzed, busily fulfilling some mysterious function of Thoros-Betan engineering.

Wandering from chamber to chamber Peri felt a sense of shock when she saw a greenskinned Mentor sitting with his back to her. Before him lay a bank of monitors that showed various views and aspects of the sh.o.r.eline of the pink ocean. Peeping into the room, Peri's eyes scanned the screens, looking for a clue as to where she might be. Her gaze rested on a screen that showed a familiar buoy-shaped auxiliary unit.

Peri recognised the point where she and the Doctor had battled with the Raak. Her eyes s.h.i.+fted to the next screen and saw herself from an angle of a camera above her in the corridor. The Mentor turned to her. Peri took a step backwards preparing to make herself scarce and cannoned into Officer Frax who, alerted by a signal from the Mentor, had come to investigate the alarm.

'I see you have discovered the heart of our energy supply,' Frax said.

Peri nodded. 'Very impressive. Although I should have thought it qualified for a guard.'

'As a rule intruders never reach this far but I will pa.s.s on your suggestion to the great Kiv.'

'Do that,' said Peri. 'And pa.s.s this on at the same time!'

'Ow!' Frax cried out as Peri stamped her foot down on to his.

Surprised by the sudden attack Frax moved a vital couple of hops away, aliowing the girl the opportunity to dart away into the mist-filled pa.s.sageway. Unknown to Peri she was very near to the route that she had followed once before, for parallel to the course she was running, was the tunnel where sat the Lukoser.

Shaking his chain the Lukoser began to whine softly, a keening sound that rose and fell, sounding more human than canine. Hearing footsteps the Lukoser bared his teeth, crouched and prepared himself. This time, he thought, I will wait and pounce and rip and tear. A figure, wearing a breastplate, short fighting tunic, and a bristling black beard appeared. A growl started in the throat of the Lukoser but the sound quickly turned into a croak of recognition. 'Yuh... yo... your Majes... Majest...'

Yrcanos, seeing the animal rise before him, adopted a fighting stance, arms raised to defend himself. He stared into the wolflike face with dawning comprehension.

'Dorf? My equerry, Dorf... not you?'

The wolf head moved up and down in abject misery.

'What have they done; what!' Yrcanos bellowed, his roar of rage resounding round the tunnel.

'Huh... help me.'

'Yes, yes, yes!'

Yrcanos turned his rage on to the chain that restrained the Lukoser. The Wolfman also began to heave on the chain and under their combined strength the ring driven into the rock began to s.h.i.+ft, then loosen and finally pull clear.

Yrcanos and the Lukoser embraced, pounding each other's shoulders and pausing only to look at each other.

Finally, Yrcanos could contain himself no longer. His deep voice rolled out in a long vow of intent.

'We will kill the sorcerers who did this to you. I swear by the great jewelled sword of Krontep that you will be revenged! Come!'

Yrcanos strode purposefully away with his equerry loping along beside him.

Peri had heard the echo of the shout of Yrcanos and hope of finding him had made her retrace her steps, which almost brought disaster for she nearly ran into a group of marching guards. Hearing their steps she had time to turn, but the clearing mist betrayed her and Peri heard Frax shout, 'There she is!'

There was nothing for it but to run, although Peri felt she could not keep up any pace for more than a short distance of ground. Turning a comer she saw a small spill of light from under the closed door of a chamber. Taking a chance she reached the entrance, pushed against the door, which opened and she slipped inside. Behind the door a yellow silk curtain was draped from hangings above the frame. Peri, heart jumping, stayed behind door and drape, not knowing what was beyond the saffron curtain but realising that capture was imminent from the guards whom she could hear approaching from outside.

Frax gave an order to his men to halt outside the wooden door. Stepping forward he raised a gloved hand to push the door open. Yrcanos and the Lukoser entered the same pa.s.sageway. Seeing the Lukoser at liberty panicked the guards. Without waiting for an order they began to open fire. Turning tail the Lukoser and Yrcanos evaded the phaser bolts and disappeared the way they had come.

Meanwhile Frax and his guards broke ranks and set off in pursuit.

On the other side of the door Peri wondered at the shots being fired, but after a time the silence outside seemed to warrant her once more venturing forth.

As she reached for the handle of the door, the curtain was pulled aside behind her and a woman's voice said, 'Don't go, not yet.'