Doctor Who_ Curse of Peladon - Brian Hayles [26]
It wasn’t easy, and more than once she nearly toppled and fell. Finally, she managed to scramble on to the window ledge.
She found it surprisingly broad—from below it had seemed much smaller. And the window itself was wide enough for her to squeeze through. It wasn’t until she saw just how high up she was, and that her escape, would entail edging along a foot-wide band of stone on the wall outside, that Jo began to have second thoughts. The wind had subsided, but the distance to the courtyard far below seemed immense. Her plan was to creep along until she came to a window opening into another room, and then find her way back to the Doctor. Taking a deep breath, she wriggled outside. The cold night air made her gasp. Then, flattened hard back against the wall of the citadel, poised high above the stone courtyard, Jo began to inch along to her left.
Her eyes closed tight to prevent even the briefest glance below, and her hands spread wide feeling for the opening she needed, she had a sudden flicker of memory: the Doctor, telling her to let him do things his way. Well, he wasn’t around to help her now!
Deep in thought, the Doctor was hardly aware of his surroundings as he paced along the castle corridor. His total concentration on the problem of who was where when the incident that nearly killed Arcturus happened, had made him forget the possible dangers of the shadowy passage. But when a huge fist gripped him by the shoulder and turned him from his path, he was instantly alert, hand raised to defend himself with the famous Venusian ‘loxka’—the straight-fingered jab at the carotid throat artery that could, if necessary, prove fatal. The face before him showed surprise at his speed of movement.
Recognising the muscular figure of the King’s Champion, the Doctor checked the blow, inches from its target.
‘You really shouldn’t creep up on a chap like that, Grun’, the Doctor reproved mildly. ‘What d’you want?’
The mute warrior could only grunt. But his mimed gesture was clear enough for the Doctor to understand.
‘You want me to go with you, is that it?’ translated the Doctor as Grun beckoned him, nodding to indicate that the Doctor had interpreted correctly. ‘But why?’
With deft movements of hands and fingers, Grun indicated Jo’s long hair and height. For a moment, the Doctor looked mystified. Then realising, he frowned.
‘You mean Jo—the princess? Is something wrong?’
Grun nodded vigorously, but his face was serious. He beckoned again, more urgently, and started to move away.
‘Then she’s in trouble?’ Grun’s hand pulled at the Doctor’s arm, and now the Doctor didn’t resist, but urged the burly warrior to lead on.
‘Alright, old chap, I get the message. But where are we going?’
Grun paused to indicate a shadowy passage leading from the main corridor. Convinced by his emphatic gesture, the Doctor nodded and followed the King’s Champion into the darkness beyond. He did not see the figure in the shadows that watched him go. It was Hepesh the High Priest. And he was smiling...
6
The Temple of Aggedor
Arcturus, although recovered and fully functional, could still not remember clearly what had happened to him. Izlyr, however, was growing increasingly suspicious of the Doctor.
‘I saw no one, delegate Izlyr’, clipped Arcturus. ‘The attack was too sudden.’
‘The Doctor claimed to be saving your life,’ insisted the warlord, ‘but he could just as easily have been destroying your life-support system.’
Alpha Centauri was less convinced. ‘But what motive could he possibly have?’
‘Ask his masters on Earth!’ retorted Izlyr. ‘They are devious men!’
‘And why has he brought this princess?’ rapped