Doctor Who_ Prime Time - Mike Tucker [62]
Vogol Lukos sat at the head of the conference table, staring arrogantly at the governors. Treeb had called the meeting.
There was concern on the ancient, lined faces.
‘Are you planning on ruining us, Lukos? Just as we’ve got the best ratings this company has ever seen you put in an extended break. What the devil are you playing at?’
Lukos glared at the governor. ‘You may have a vested interest in this company Governor Treeb, but you have no experience of broadcasting. Now sit down and listen.’
Treeb shook with indignation. ‘I’ve never been...’
‘Sit down!’ Lukos’s voice was like a gunshot. Treeb sat back in his seat, shocked and angry.
Lukos took a deep breath.
‘The hiatus in the Doctor’s adventures will only serve to increase our audience share. The switchboards are already jammed with callers wanting to know when the saga will continue, and our advertising premiums are about to go up again.’ He snapped on the screen. Saarl was still on air, whipping his audience into a frenzy.
‘As you can see, dear Roderik is keeping our profile high with his excellent expose of the Doctor’s companion, and we are about to start advertising a documentary showing the inside of the Time Lord’s machine within the next hour. The computer predictions are of 100 per cent of the audience share when we finally announce the continuation of the Doctor’s exploits with the Zzinbriizi. Everyone in this galaxy will be watching Channel 400.’
Lukos paused, letting his words sink in.
‘All right Lukos, it’s a clever plan.’ Treeb gave his praise grudgingly. ‘But what about these mysterious partners of yours, they seem to have rather too much control of this enterprise.’
‘Yes, Governor Treeb, something that has bothered me as well. Fortunately I have made arrangements with our jackal friends.’
‘A deal, with those animals?’ Treeb snorted,‘Your brain’s addled Lukos.’
‘These are no ordinary Zzinbriizi,’ snapped Lukos. ‘Their leader is a creature with distinct possibilities.’ A smile played across his face. ‘I am so looking forward to seeing how their contribution to our programming turns out.’
The Zzinbriizi huddled in the shadowed cloisters of Scrantek snarling at any of the Fleshsmiths who came too near.
‘So now what, Barrock? There is nothing for us here.’
Kreeth’s , pose wrinkled. ‘It smells of death here, death and old meat.’
‘Patience, Kreeth. Use the brain you’ve been given. The creatures here are old and weak. They’ll die easily enough when the time comes and then we can move on.’
Barrock rubbed at the implant in his temple, the thing that had given him so much pain. When the time came he would rip out the surgeon general’s throat himself, bad meat or not.
‘So why do we wait? You’re not acting like one of us any more, Barrock. You’ve forgotten who you are.’
‘I know exactly what I am!’ Barrock’s lips curled into a vicious snarl. ‘I’m your pack leader and when this is over I will be leader of all the Zzinbriizi, and then, Kreeth, then we will show this galaxy what terror is.’
He caught Kreeth by the throat. ‘But if we get this wrong we’ll be left here to rot, so you do as I say.’
The two jackals snarled at each other. A cowled figure approached them.
‘The arena is ready.’
Barrock smiled. ‘Time to fight.’
Chapter Seventeen
The surgeon general pushed open a metal door and ushered the Doctor inside.
‘Welcome, Doctor, to the forge of the Fleshsmiths.’
The Doctor said nothing, stepping through on to a balcony overlooking another vaulted room. The gallery was packed with control panels and monitors, technicians monitoring blood flow and DNA sequences. In the chamber below vast machines lined the walls, pipes and cables snaking off into the shadows. Operating tables stood in ordered ranks, black-robed figures shambling between them.
In the centre of the room a huge, ugly device stretched towards the ceiling, a vast collection of tubes and cylinders clustered around a great torus that glistened like wet coal. In its centre, stretched out and pinioned, was the Master, a million needles piercing his flesh, wires and pipes trailed