Doctor Who_ Curse of Peladon - Brian Hayles [37]
As Jo nodded, he gestured to Ssorg, who stepped forward and presented her with the map. ‘Here is the map that will lead you to him. We will meet you in the throne room. But do not delay...’
By the time they left Jo’s room, Arcturus was nowhere to be seen.
The secret door leading to the castle corridor closed behind him, and the Doctor found himself once more beneath the castle stones. He smiled: the place was becoming quite familiar! He quickly followed the line of wall torches to the limit of their run, then paused. By a simple trick of concentration, he visualised the map in minute detail. Yes, it was the next turning on the left. He moved on, confidently picking up the dim glow of the phosphor streak, and soon his eyes became accustomed to the dim but constant light. Before long, he had come to the point where, according to Hepesh’s map, the TARDIS should be. It wasn’t there. The Doctor smiled to himself, grimly. He’d thought as much. Hepesh really was a tricky customer—but things weren’t so bad if you were prepared. The Doctor took out the gleaming device that he had made. It’d be just as well to have it ready to hand. He was pleased to find that it not only picked up the phosphor glow, but magnified it to an unusual intensity. Then, tightening his grip upon it for reassurance, he strode on.
The message had reached Hepesh in the temple, and he frowned. A change of plan at this late stage was dangerous—the trap the Doctor had entered so willingly was deadly enough.
And even if he had the luck to return alive, who would believe him? But the message was clear—the Doctor was to be hunted, his escape officially made known and, when he was discovered, it would be as Torbis had been found: dead.
Hepesh called the guard captain to him, and gave the necessary commands. ‘Take your men and search all the known tunnels and catacombs beneath the citadel. The alien is armed and dangerous, and will neither expect nor grant mercy. You will bring back his corpse as proof.’
The captain nodded and knelt for blessing beneath Hepesh’s ringed hand.
‘Aggedor go with you!’ said Hepesh.
The hunt was on.
The ringing howl that came from the shadows ahead made the Doctor pause in his stride—but it confirmed his theory about Hepesh. It wasn’t the TARDIS that was to be his meeting place with Jo. It had been an obvious and simple trap. The map had been deliberately drawn to lead him straight to Aggedor, the Royal Beast. That dreadful cry roared forth again, terrifying in its resonance through the confines of the gloomy tunnel. Yes, thought the Doctor, this was to be the moment of truth. Well, so be it. Then, as the great shaggy bulk of the Royal Beast moved forward out of the shadows that had kept its full horror from the Doctor’s sight, it roared again. Raising the spinning mirror of the device that was his only defence, the Doctor spoke with quiet intensity.
‘So there you are, old chap. I rather thought I’d be meeting up with you...’
8
Trial by Combat
‘Lord Izlyr,’ whispered the great warrior Ssorg to his master, ‘there is something unusual about the Doctor’s escape.’
‘For an Earthling,’ hissed Izlyr, ‘the Doctor has a brain of considerable quality.’ He stopped in his stride, and Ssorg halted also. ‘Why do you say unusual, Ssorg?’
‘To escape alone is ingenious, but when we found him, there were no guards.’
Izlyr considered this: Ssorg was right. In their haste to explain the situation to the Earth Princess, the point had escaped his attention. What was the explanation?
‘Perhaps the guard left his post to follow the Doctor,’
suggested Izlyr. ‘It would be his duty to recapture the prisoner.’
‘But no alarm has been raised, Lord Izlyr,’ discreetly pointed out Ssorg. ‘Why should that be? He has been allowed to escape! There can only be one purpose in such a plan.’
‘To kill him,’ agreed Ssorg, dispassionately. ‘But what about the princess? She has gone to find him in the palace catacombs.
She, too, will be in danger.’
‘But she has the only map!’ said Izlyr. ‘We cannot hope to find her without