Doctor Who_ Space War - Malcolm Hulke [28]
The Doctor had his first taste of prison soup and found it had no taste at all. Since the visit of the soup trolley a minute ago, all the prisoners sat quietly, some alone with their soup and their thoughts. others in small groups. The Doctor was with Professor Dale and the young man called Doughty. Dale, impressed by what the Doctor had to say, had brought Doughty into the conversation.
Doughty said, ‘It’s fantastic. Our seeing Draconians --Draconians seeing Earthmen. I can’t believe it.’
Dale took his soup hungrily. ‘Well I can. At last things make sense.’
‘Thank you.’ said the Doctor, keeping his voice low. ‘You are the first person who’s believed me.’
The professor continued. ‘After the war we had years of peace with Draconia. In the past twenty years we’ve made trade treaties and many cultural exchanges. Then for no reason at all, these acts of piracy.’
Doughty tasted his soup and grimaced. ‘Why should anyone try to start a war between the two empires?’
Before either the Doctor or Professor Dale could try to answer Doughty’s question, their thoughts were interrupted by a shout.
‘Hey! You over there!’ Cross stood some distance from them, pointing at Professor Dale. ‘Spot check. Over here on the double.’
Dale put down his soup bowl. ‘Excuse me. One of our little prison rituals. Every now and then they decide to search us.’
As the Doctor watched with interest, Dale walked up to Cross and posed in what was clearly the approved stance for a prisoner about to be searched—feet apart, arms outstretched. Cross started to systematically feel Dale’s uniform for anything that might be concealed on him.
Doughty turned back to his soup. ‘It’s humiliating to see a petty criminal like Cross in authority over someone like Professor Dale. I think I’ll go mad in this place.’
But the Doctor didn’t find the spectacle humiliating. On the contrary, he watched Cross and Dale with mounting interest. When Dale returned, the Doctor asked: ‘What’s happened?’
Dale picked up his soup bowl. ‘What do you mean —what’s happened? It was a routine search, that’s all.’
‘Come off it, man,’ said the Doctor. ‘I could see that fellow Cross talking all the time out of the side of his mouth. The two of you were giving off conspiracy in waves! What are you up to?’
Dale considered. ‘An escape plan. It’s now.’
Doughty was instantly alerted. ‘How many going?’
The professor looked round to make sure no other prisoners were within earshot. ‘Only two. We have to walk from the air-lock across the Moon’s surface. There will be two space suits in the air-lock. We’re going to steal some VIP spaceship that’s just about to arrive from Earth.’
The Doctor asked, ‘Who are you taking?’
‘I’d planned to take another member of the Peace Party Central Committee with me. But now...’ Dale seemed to take a big decision. ‘Doctor, I want you to come with me. We must get you back to Earth so that you can tell your story.’
The Doctor laughed. ‘It was telling my story on Earth that got me sent here!
‘This time it will be different,’ said Dale. ‘We have important contacts everywhere. Journalists, broadcasters, even some friends in the Government. I’ll make them believe you.’
Jo looked out at the bleak, forbidding moonscape as the Master’s spaceship, which he had stolen from the Interplanetary Police, slowly sank down on to the illuminted landing pad. ‘What are those domes?’ she asked, pointing.
The Master glanced up from the instrument panel at the series of huge domes standing out from the rocky Moon surface. ‘The prison, I imagine. What a wretched place to send people for the rest of their lives.’ He chuckled, amused by the thought of other people’s misery.
‘Why are you always so nasty?’
‘I thought I was charming!’ He laughed, a quick, hard laugh.
‘You are cruel and unkind and never think about anyone but yourself,’ she said emphatically. ‘You’re bad and you know it.’
The Master touched one of the landing controls. The thrust of the retro-rockets increased to soften their landing. ‘Miss Grant, try to see the overall