Doctor Who_ Curse of Peladon - Brian Hayles [48]
Peladon had heard tales of what alien weapons could do.
There was no escape from the invisible clouds that brought disease or radiation sickness. It would be not merely the land and the buildings standing upon it which would be destroyed by the first fire-blasts. In time, the people too—those who escaped the initial destruction—would be swept away utterly by the sickness of the bone, or a plague to end all plagues. There would be no more children and no more beasts born. No seeds would ever grow to fruit again. The planet would become first sterile, then a living tomb, then as cold and barren as the three moons that circle Peladon. In the end, Hepesh would have won nothing but death. But to him, even this would be better than enslavement by the aliens. The old man must be blind not to see that, in time to come, the aliens would return to tear the heart out of the dead planet. And not a soul would be alive to prevent it.
Peladon looked at the Doctor with haunted eyes. His voice was low. ‘Tell me...what should I do?’
‘You must remove Hepesh from office by a royal decree and replace him with someone you can trust.’
Izlyr nodded in agreement.
Peladon brooded. ‘The shame will destroy him.’
‘It isn’t easy being a king, your majesty,’ observed the Doctor sympathetically. ‘But unless you remove Hepesh, everything you have worked for will be ruined, You must choose... now!’
Peladon had to think rapidly. Jo watched him, and knew something of what he felt. Hepesh, enemy though he might now be, had once been a dear friend. If Peladon chose to withdraw, he would forfeit any hope of future Federation help. If he decided to go ahead with negotiations, he would have to eliminate the destructive influence of Hepesh. Either way, the loss to his planet would be immense. Which would he take? All eyes were on the frowning face of the young king. Only the Doctor let his gaze be caught by a nearly imperceptible gesture from Grun. The Doctor questioned the hovering form of the King’s Champion with a silent glance. The reply came in a subtle series of mimed gestures. And before he had the chance to deduce what Grun was trying to communicate, the king was speaking again. Before the youth on the throne had finished, Grun had slipped away, unnoticed.
‘If there should be civil war,’ asked Peladon, sharp-eyed,
‘will I receive the full backing of the Federation?’
The Doctor and Izlyr were about to give their consent but it was the desperately anxious voice of Alpha Centauri that answered the king. ‘The Federation charter does not permit our involvement in internal politics.’
Izlyr turned on Alpha Centauri, his voice and gaze stern. ‘A unanimous decision can summon emergency powers and, if necessary, call on our orbiting spacecraft for technical assistance!’
‘It would be a break with all precedent!’ protested Alpha Centauri.
Jo remonstrated. ‘Alpha Centauri, the circumstances are unique! And your own safety is involved, don’t forget.’
The hexapod was adamant. ‘I can’t persuade myself that interference of this kind is legally justified.’ The shrill voice trailed away to a plaintive squawk as the hexapod swung its great and lustrous eye from Izlyr back to Ssorg. They were advancing upon Alpha Centauri in a most threatening fashion! ‘There are principles involved...’ the squeaking voice tried to sound majestic and determined. Instead, Jo thought, it sounded more like a squeezy doll.
‘Principles, eh?’ smiled the Doctor, with a nod to Izlyr and Ssorg. ‘A private conference should settle those...’
As Ssorg and Izlyr closed in on Alpha Centauri, and firmly but politely escorted the hexapod out of the throne room, the Doctor turned to Peladon, and bowed. ‘Will you excuse us, your majesty,’ he said drily, ‘while we reach a unanimous decision... in private...’
Peladon stood, his head proud and erect, a slight smile on his lips. ‘Give me that reassurance, Doctor—and I shall act without hesitation!’
Where once before he had been a civic dignitary, richly clothed for the King’s court, Hepesh now wore light armour beneath