Doctor Who_ Warmonger Part 32

'You'll miss pudding!'

'Can't be helped,' said Hawken, and ran from the room.

A chunk of masonry, weakened by the recent bombardment, dropped from the ceiling, missing Lord Delmar by centimetres.

He brushed the dust from his shoulders, pushed back his empty plate and looked for the servant girl. She was crouching in the corner, almost hysterical with fear.

'Come along, my dear,' said Lord Delmar encouragingly.

'What have we got for pudding?'

As Hawken ran along the castle corridors, the air was suddenly filled with the thunder of retro-rockets. Hawken followed the sound to the main courtyard, where he was astonished to see an enormous s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p emblazoned with a giant golden 'A', settling to rest.

He joined the nervous party of armed guards watching the landing.

'Surely they must be friends, sir?' whispered the Guard Captain. 'I mean, they chased off the fleet that was bombarding us.' 'They might be friends,' said Hawken cautiously. 'Or the more successful of two rival groups of enemies. Keep them covered and don't take any chances.'

They watched as the landing ramp was lowered. Two black-clad figures appeared at the top of the ramp. To his astonishment, Hawken saw that one was his old friend Smith, got up in some kind of fancy military uniform. The other was his companion, the girl Peri. She too looked very warlike. She wore black overalls, a belt with holstered blaster and fighting knife, and had a laser-rifle slung over her shoulder.

Behind them came two enormous gorilla-like creatures. They wore rough leather jerkins and carried ma.s.sive blaster-rifles.

Followed by their strange attendants, the Doctor and Peri came down the ramp.

Commander Hawken came forward to greet them. 'Smith, my old friend! And Peri! Welcome back to Karn!'

Peri nodded towards the squad of castle guards with their levelled blaster-rifles. 'Your welcoming party doesn't look too friendly.'

'What? Oh, at ease men, they're friends. Very old friends.'

He shook hands with them both. 'I take it that was Morbius you saw off for us?'

The Doctor nodded. 'The seeing-off was only temporary, I'm afraid. We mauled his fleet a bit, but we couldn't destroy it. I imagine he'll try a ground attack next time. Now, I must make a quick tour of inspection and check the situation with my staff officers, then we'll have a conference.' He marched off, barking orders into a wrist-com. 'Supremo to Staff, Supremo to Staff.

Complete the disposition of your forces on the perimeter, then rendezvous in Castle Karn. Supremo out.'

'Smith, wait!' called Hawken, but the Doctor had gone, followed by one of the gorilla-like bodyguards.

'You'll find he's changed a bit,' said Peri. 'We both have.'

She hurried after the Doctor.

Hawken was about to follow the Doctor, when a huge, hairy hand gripped him by the collar and lifted him clean off his feet.

Commander Hawken was an unusually big and powerful man, but he found himself dangling as helplessly as a child.

Bloodshot eyes glared at him out of an ape-like face.

'Not Smith Smith,' said the monster reprovingly. ' Supremo Supremo! Show respect!'

'Right,' said Hawken faintly. 'I'll remember that.'

Returning him gently to the ground, the creature strode off after Peri.

As the Doctor crossed the half-ruined castle hall, a black-robed figure emerged from the shadows. It was Maren.

'So!' she said accusingly. 'You bring fire and slaughter to Karn!'

'I didn't bring evil here,' said the Doctor. 'I followed it. I intend to destroy it if I can. Will you help me?'

'Your petty squabbles are no concern of the Sisterhood,' said Maren.

'You're wrong, Reverend Mother,' said the Doctor. 'Morbius will make them your concern. He has come to Karn for your Elixir, and he means to have it.'

'He has tried,' said Maren fiercely. 'He sent one of his little s.h.i.+ps against us and where is it now? In burning fragments on the mountainside!'

'You destroyed one one scouts.h.i.+p?' said the Doctor. 'And you think that makes you safe? Reverend Mother, Morbius has fifty scouts.h.i.+ps. Can you destroy them all?' scouts.h.i.+p?' said the Doctor. 'And you think that makes you safe? Reverend Mother, Morbius has fifty scouts.h.i.+ps. Can you destroy them all?'

'If need be, yes.'

'He has battlecruisers in the sky and soon he will have men on the ground, mercenary killers, swarms of them. If they succeed in defeating us, they will turn their attentions to you.'

'They cannot harm us.'

'They can overwhelm you, kill you all and take your precious Elixir. And believe me, they will. Help us, Reverend Mother, for your own sakes. We are here to help you.'

'We do not need your help, nor will we give you ours. We have meddled too much in the affairs of the galaxy and it has brought us nothing but sorrow. From now on we look to ourselves. And mark this, stranger. Who comes to steal the Elixir of Life will find only death.'

Maren stepped back into the shadows and vanished.

'Silly old bat,' said Peri, who had heard the conversation from a discreet distance.

'She'll soon be a dead old bat, unless our luck holds,' said the Doctor. 'Ah well, I tried. Come on, Peri.'

The Ogron bodyguards were staring into the shadows with wide frightened eyes.

'Bad old woman,' grunted one of them.

'Witch!' agreed the other.

They hurried after Peri and the Doctor, staying close to them for safety.

Chapter Three.

a.s.sault-at-Arms 'Once we were warned of Morbius's plans, we evacuated the Hospice and stopped taking new patients,' said Lord Delmar.

The promised conference was taking place in the room where Morbius had once made his evil plans largely because it was one of the few rooms in the castle still undamaged.

Lord Delmar and Hawken sat at one end of the table, the Doctor and Peri at the other, two Ogron bodyguards behind them.

High Commander Aril, Battle-Major Streg and Vogar, the Ogron chief, sat on one side of the table. General Ryon and the Cyberleader sat on the other, one empty chair between them.

Carefully selected by Aril and Streg, it was an extra large chair.

'Have all the patients gone?' asked the Doctor. 'What about the medical staff?'

'Gone too, most of them. There were a few patients too ill to be moved. Doctor Solon insisted on staying to look after them. A few junior doctors and nurses stayed on as well.'

'Very n.o.ble of them,' said Peri.

To herself she thought, 'Suspiciously n.o.ble, as far as Solon's concerned. Doesn't sound like him at all.' She looked quickly at the Doctor, but he didn't seem concerned. 'Too much on his mind,' she thought. 'I'll mention it later.'

The conference-room door opened, revealing a terrifying figure. Immensely tall, it was covered with scaly green hide, ridged and plated like that of a crocodile. It had a ma.s.sive, helmet-like head with a lipless, scaly-skinned lower jaw and two huge eyes like black metal screens. Its enormous hands were like crude, powerful clamps.

It moved forward, ponderously yet smoothly, and its voice, when it spoke, had a hissing quality.

'My apologies, Ssupremo, I had far to come. I have sstationed my troops on a small peak overlooking the Ca.s.stle. It provides a good vantage point. Besidess, the cold mountain air ssuits them.'

The Doctor said, 'Allow me to introduce Ice Lord Azanyr, another of my staff officers.'

Azanyr went to the vacant chair and settled cautiously into it.

Big as it was, it creaked beneath his weight.

'Well, now we're all here,' said the Doctor. He delivered a brief summary of his campaign against the armies of Morbius, and of the events that had brought them both to Karn.

'Why is he so keen to take this planet?' asked Hawken.

'He wants control of the Elixir,' said the Doctor. 'He has to have it, he's promised it as a bribe to all his more important followers. Now he's here, he'll stay because I'm here. I've caused him considerable annoyance and he's desperate for revenge.' He paused. 'Anyway, we're here now and so is he and we've got to deal with him. There's no escaping the fact that we're badly outnumbered. But Morbius leads an army of mercenaries, the sc.u.m of the galaxy. The quality of my army is vastly superior, and they fight for a cause.'

'I think they fight for you, Supremo,' said High Commander Aril.

'Perhaps that too, a little. At all events, I think we can hold Morbius back and with just a little luck we can defeat him.'

Hawken's wrist-com beeped and he held it to his ear. He listened for a moment, then turned to the Doctor.

'Smith ' He looked quickly at the Ogron bodyguards. 'Sorry Supremo.'

'Yes?'

'Morbius's battle fleet is back in close orbit and they're sending down a.s.sault craft. I think the battle's about to begin.'

The Supremo rose and strode from the room, followed by his staff officers.

Peri stood with the Doctor and his Ogron bodyguards at the Castle gate and watched the a.s.sault craft drifting down like a swarm of killer bees. The castle stood in the middle of a sizeable rocky plateau. This would be the battleground.

As each craft touched down, its doors burst open, landing ramps lowered and Morbius's mercenaries swarmed out, firing as they ran. Soon the air was filled with the thud of blaster-fire, the thud of field-cannon and the fierce crackle of laser-rifles.

Confident in their superior numbers, they didn't seem to have any sort of battle plan. Yet for every a.s.sault squad, Alliance soldiers seemed to rise out of the ground to check them.

'You seem to be more than ready for them,' said Peri.

The Doctor smiled. 'We were here first, Peri, and Aril and Streg and the others are all very professional. They've got every possible landing site covered, some of them in a crossfire. Come on!'

He set off at a run, Peri and the Ogron bodyguards behind him.

More by luck than judgement, two of Morbius's a.s.sault craft had landed very close together, on a rocky plain close to the castle gates. The Alliance forces, a group of Ryon's irregulars, were outnumbered, being driven back under heavy fire.

'They mustn't get through the perimeter,' shouted the Doctor. 'If they do, more will follow.' He ran into the middle of the beleaguered group, forcing his way to the front, Peri and the Ogrons behind him; 'Rally and hold!' he shouted. 'They mustn't pa.s.s!'

'It's the Supremo!' someone shouted.

Other voices took up the cry. 'Supremo! Supremo!'

The irregulars redoubled their efforts. Peri unslung her laser-rifle, found cover behind a rock and started picking off mercenaries one by one.

But it was the Ogrons who saved the day. Roaring ferociously, firing their ma.s.sive blasters, they advanced upon the mercenaries. The very sight of them struck fear into the enemy.

When more Ogrons, led by Vogar, came up in support, the mercenaries turned and fled.

Peri saw a good deal of the battle that followed. She stayed close to the Doctor, and the Doctor seemed to be everywhere.

He moved around the perimeter line checking for weak points, ordering reinforcements just when they were needed.

Wherever he appeared, the cry of 'Supremo!' went up, and the Alliance troops fought harder.

One completely unexpected factor worked in their favour.

Morbius despised non-humanoid life forms, and his mercenaries were human, or humanoid, to a man. The very sight of any of the Doctor's varied a.s.sortment of alien allies seemed to unnerve them.

'Not that you can blame them,' thought Peri, as she watched Azanyr and his Ice Warriors smash through the mercenary ranks like walking tanks.

Then there were the Sontarans, fighting with savage, dedicated joy.

She saw Streg, eyes s.h.i.+ning with the thrill of battle, lead a charge against a squad of mercenaries twice the size of his own, encouraging his troops with a hoa.r.s.e cry of, 'Do you want to live forever? Die like Sontarans, d.a.m.n you!' and driving the enemy back by the sheer fury of his attack.

She saw the Doctor run to his side, ignoring the blaster-bolts that sizzled around him.

'Good work, Battle-Major Streg,' he shouted, 'but keep your men back. If they chase a retreating enemy, they leave a gap for someone else to come through.'