Doctor Who_ Curse of Peladon - Brian Hayles [39]
‘Jo? Jo! Oh, good grief, wake up!’
Jo looked up at the Doctor. She didn’t understand.
‘Doctor... what happened?’
‘You’ve just ruined a very promising experiment,’ he replied dryly, ‘that’s what happened!’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Jo angrily. ‘I was only trying to help you! I thought you were going to be killed!’
‘And very brave you were too, Jo,’ the Doctor replied with a smile. ‘But my meeting with our friend Aggedor wasn’t entirely wasted. Come on—lets go and find King Peladon. There are one or two things I think he ought to know... ‘
Izlyr, backed by Ssorg, was being unusually abrupt with the king. Peladon seemed confused by the events that Izlyr described. Hepesh remained cool and said little. The warlord sensed a hint of desperation in the King’s voice.
‘But if the Doctor isn’t in his room,’ queried Peladon, ‘where is he?’
‘In the tunnels beneath the citadel,’ insisted the Martian.
‘But I believe his journey was a trap!’
‘Tunnels?’ remarked Hepesh in disbelief. ‘There are no tunnels.’
‘We found a map,’ hissed the warlord, ‘with secret routes marked to the temple. This will prove the Doctor’s story.’
‘If such a map exists,’ remarked the High Priest, ‘it will prove that he is a spy. I know of no tunnel—but if he had a map his plea of innocence must be false!’
‘Delegate Izlyr,’ requested the king, ‘where is this map?
Show me.’
‘It is in the hands of the Earth Princess, declared the Martian. ‘She is using it to find the Doctor.’
‘They run away like common criminals!’ cried Hepesh. ‘Let both their lives be forfeit. Let them be hunted and destroyed!
They do not deserve an honourable death.’
Suddenly a familiar voice rang out.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, Hepesh, but I’m requesting a personal audience with the King.’
‘Guards!’ shouted the High Priest, with an imperious gesture. ‘Kill them!’
Before the guards could raise their swords against Jo or the Doctor, the King spoke out.
‘Wait!’ he ordered. ‘The king commands you to wait!’ The guards fell back. Peladon turned his troubled face towards the Doctor.
‘Your majesty,’ said the Doctor pleasantly, ‘I bring you a message... from Aggedor, the Royal Beast.’
Hepesh whirled to confront the king. He pointed a condemning finger at the Doctor. ‘The alien commits ever greater sacrilege! No one sees Aggedor and lives!’
‘Well, I did,’ commented the Doctor. ‘And I must say, I found him very pleasant company—for an animal.’ He looked about him shrewdly at the consternation caused by this remark, then added. ‘He didn’t even seem to mind when I scratched him behind the ears...’
Hepesh was almost beside himself with fury. ‘The Earthling defiles all that is sacred to us! He must be silenced!’
‘Yes, old chap,’ remarked the Doctor, ‘that’d suit you very well, wouldn’t it?’
Izlyr spoke up. ‘Let us hear what the Doctor has to say, your majesty.’
‘No!’ cried Hepesh.
All eyes turned to the throne. ‘We will hear him, Hepesh.’
The Doctor smiled gratefully, and approached the throne.
‘Thank you, your majesty,’ he said. ‘I have seen for myself that Aggedor is no ghost or spirit—but a truly magnificent beast, fit to be called royal. I also know that his power is being used falsely: to destroy any future you may have as a member of the Galactic Federation!’
‘You lie!’ exclaimed Hepesh. ‘His manifestation is holy, and he will take a terrible revenge!’
‘Rubbish,’ clipped the Doctor. ‘That manifestation, as you call it, is solid, hairy fact!’
‘It’s true!’ protested Jo. ‘It isn’t a ghost—I’ve seen it, too.’
‘Then produce this creature!’ sneered the High Priest.
‘We can, if his majesty will permit it,’ said the Doctor confidently. ‘Aggedor lives in the tunnels beneath this palace...’
The king looked doubtful. ‘You spoke of tunnels before, Doctor. They are a mystery to me... and to Hepesh.’
‘That’s what he says,’ commented Jo.
‘Hepesh gave me