Doctor Who_ Space War - Malcolm Hulke [38]
‘Soldiers from Earth!’ shouted the Draconian Prince. ‘This is war!
‘They’re Ogrons,’ screamed Jo. ‘And don’t tell me to shut up.’
‘They are Earthmen.’ said the Prince, firing at the Ogrons with a small blaster gun plucked from his sleeve.
The Doctor grabbed Jo’s arm. ‘Don’t stop to argue. Get out of the crossfire! ‘
The Master saw the Doctor propelling Jo to a point of safety behind the Emperor’s throne. ‘Get them,’ he shouted at the Ogrons. ‘Get my prisoners.’
But other Draconian Palace guards had now entered the battle, outnumbering the Ogrons. The Doctor looked out from their point of hiding. ‘They’re being driven off, but the Master’s getting away with them.’
‘Then let him go,’ said Jo.
‘My prisoners,’ shouted the Master, now nearing the door to escape. ‘You must get them. That is a command.’
A huge, lumbering Ogron caught sight of the Doctor’s head and marched across to him, shooting down a Draconian guard in the way. Another Draconian opened fire on the Ogron and he turned to fire back. The Doctor seized his opportunity to attack. Coming up behind the Ogron he applied a Venusian Karate hold to the monster’s thick neck. With painful slowness, the Ogron sank to his knees and finally fell in a faint on the floor. The Doctor looked up to find himself surrounded by menacing Draconian guards. The other Ogrons, with the Master, had disappeared. From the Palace grounds came the roar of a spaceship taking off.
The Prince looked up to his father. ‘Now will you believe in the treachery of Earthmen? They attacked our palace to rescue their agents.’ He turned to the guards surrounding the Doctor. ‘Destroy him! ‘
The guards raised their blaster guns to kill the Doctor.
‘No!’ screamed Jo, with such power that even the guards paused to turn to her. ‘Your Majesty, what do you see lying on the floor here?’
Forgetting the rule that no female might speak in his presence, the old Emperor looked at the prostrate Ogron. ‘I see one of your Earth soldiers, though why your companion attacked him I do not fully understand.’
‘Because he is not an Earth soldier,’ said the Doctor. ‘Jo, can you still hear that sound?’
She listened. ‘Yes, but it’s fading. It’s almost gone.’
‘Your Majesty, I beg you,’ said the Doctor. ‘Look again.’
The Emperor blinked and turned back his gaze to the huge form lying unconscious on the throne room floor. The strange sound no longer affected his mind and he saw what he believed to be an Earth soldier turn into an Ogron. ‘Do not destroy him,’ he said, indicating the Doctor who was still threatened by Draconian blaster guns. ‘He has spoken the truth. Now we shall listen to more from him.’
10 The Verge of War
The Master sat at the controls of the Ogrons’ spaceship as it zoomed away from the Planet of Draconia. ‘Not a bad operation,’ he said to the Ogron seated in the co-pilot’s position. ‘But unfortunately you bungled the most important part. You allowed the Doctor to escape.’
‘We rescued you,’ mumbled the Ogron. ‘That important.’
The Master laughed. ‘To me and to you! Without me you wouldn’t have enough brains between you to make a wheelbarrow. Anyhow, there is one consolation. The Draconian Emperor is now convinced of the wickedness of Earthmen. With any luck he’ll have the Doctor executed.’
A second Ogron entered the flight deck, his thick-set semi-human face twitching with worry. ‘I count us,’ he said, as though this conveyed all that was on his mind.
‘Marvellous,’ said the Master. ‘Soon you’ll learn to read.’
‘I count us,’ the Ogron repeated. ‘One of us is missing.’
The Master turned. ‘Missing where?’
‘He left behind. Doctor got him.’
‘The Master’s face was suffused with anger. ‘And you let it happen? You great dolts! Once the hypno-sound has faded the Draconians will know who really attacked them.’
‘What must we do?’
‘There’s only one thing we can do.’ replied the Master. ‘The Doctor and his captured Ogron must never reach Earth.’
The Ogron captured by the Doctor lay bound hand and foot on the throne