Doctor Who_ Space War - Malcolm Hulke [24]
‘No General. She’s no more than a child. Perhaps there are other ways of getting the truth from her.’
‘What other ways? Madam, if you won’t let me use the mind probe
She raised her hand for silence. ‘We could try kindness. It’s that man’s influence that’s making her stick to her story. I want to talk to him, to try to make him see reason, for the girl’s sake.’
The Doctor stood before the President’s desk, flanked by armed palace guards.
‘This is your final chance,’ said the President, ‘to tell the truth.’
‘I have told you everything truthfully, Madam President,’ the Doctor replied. He turned to General Williams. ‘Sorry about your mind probe machine, old man.’
The General coughed and looked away.
The President continued. ‘If it’s a question of money, I will double any offer the Draconians made to you, and guarantee you and your companion freedom and a new identity on one of the colony planets.’
The General couldn’t contain himself. ‘Really, Madam President, this man’s a traitor! We should make no trade with him.’
She politely ignored the outburst. ‘Well, what do you say?’
‘I can only repeat that I am not a Draconian agent, that so far as I know the Draconians do not intend to start a war, that the people who boarded the cargo ship were—’
She raised her hand. ‘That’s enough. We’ve heard it all before. Under the powers invested in me by the Special Security Act I am sending you to the Luna Penal Colony, the prison on the Moon.’
‘Without a trial? With no chance to state my case? I thought Earth was a democracy.’
‘The public trial of a Draconian agent,’ said the President, ‘will only increase the existing demand for war with Draconia. If at some later time you decide to help us by confessing everything, I may consider releasing you.’
The Doctor looked about himself. Surrounded by armed guards, there was no chance of escape from this place. ‘What about my companion?’
‘She will remain here,’ said the President. ‘Without your influence, I hope to make her see the error of her ways. General Williams, when is the next ship to the penal colony?’
‘In half an hour, Madam President.’
‘Good.’ She turned back to the Doctor. ‘This is your last thirty minutes on the planet of your birth, which you have tried to betray. You still have time to re-consider.’
The Doctor said, ‘I don’t wish to seem rude, Madam President, but since your mind is closed to anything beyond your immediate understanding, nothing that I say will be of the slightest interest to you. This is a great pity, since thousands of millions may die and two great empires will be destroyed through your unwillingness to grasp that I may have been speaking the truth.’
The General exploded. ‘He’s raving mad!’
‘Then best that he go to the Moon,’ said the President, averting her eyes from the Doctor’s, ‘for the rest of his life.’
7 The Master
The Doctor saw neither Earth nor the Moon on the short journey to Earth’s satellite. The penal spaceship shuttle was windowless, a series of tiny cells just large enough for a prisoner to sit clown, knees touching the metal door. From the ship the prisoners were shuffled through a narrow corridor that led directly into the prison. The Doctor’s first sight of the Moon was when they were taken into a huge room with metallic walls, and here a big window looked out on to the bleak rocky moonscape. the airless world where any escaping prisoner would die instantly through lack of oxygen.
A Security guard lined the newly arrived prisoners against the wall facing the big window. Except for the Doctor, they all wore the prison uniforms issued to them before the journey.
‘Don’t move and don’t talk,’ said the guard before leaving.
The moment the guard had left, all the prisoners stretched and shuffled cramped feet. A young, fair-haired man with a keenly intelligent face turned to the Doctor. ‘My name’s Doughty. What did they get you for?’
The Doctor smiled. ‘You’d never believe me.’
‘But you’re political, aren’t you?’
This interested the Doctor. ‘Are there many political prisoners here?’
Doughty shrugged.