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By Root 220 0

safe,' said the Master, ' and secure. In a short time she'll sleep off that whiff of gas and wake up. However,' he continued, producing his bleep-bleep box, 'this little gadget has more than one control. The black button is for sleeping gas. But the red button, once pressed, would fill Miss Grant's glass case with nerve gas. She would die within a few minutes of total paralysis.' He put the little black box into his tunic pocket. 'Now Doctor, I understand you've visited the Primitives' underground city. I want you to take me there.'

The Doctor slowly got to his feet. ' That's the real reason for your coming to this planet, isn't it?'

'Possibly,' said the Master. 'Shall we go?'

'The Primitives don't like intruders,' said the Doctor. 'It may be dangerous.'

'You've been there and come out alive,' said the Master. 'In any case, concern yourself solely with Miss Grant's welfare. And mine. So remember, if any harm comes to me, I shall press that red button.' He went to the door and held it open for the Doctor. 'One thing puzzles me, though. How did you get into my TARDIS?'

'Without difficulty,' said the Doctor, avoiding a direct answer, and hoping that the Master wasn't going to press the point.

'Well,' said the Master, 'you were still caught by the burglar alarm, so not to worry.' They were outside now and he stopped to close and lock the hatch. With the Master's back turned, the Doctor quietly dropped the key on the soft dusty soil at his feet, in the hope that someone might find it. The Master turned back to him, pocketing his own key. 'All right then, Doctor, lead me to the Primitives' underground city!'

'What is it you want there?' asked the Doctor, genuinely puzzled.

'What have I ever wanted?' replied the Master. 'Power! Complete and total power! And through you, Doctor, I am going to get it.'

19 The Return of Captain Dent

John Ashe lay in bed, trying to read in order to calm his troubled mind. He had brought two books with him from Earth, one was on agriculture, from the days before all Earth's food was taken from the seas; the other was copy of something written thousands of yews ago, and was largely about someone called God. It was this second book he now tried to read, not because he really understood it, but because the strange language fascinated him. It contained four versions of a story about a man who sacrificed his own life for the the sake of others. It was this part of the book that most interested Ashe, because it was so difficult to understand. Why, he asked himself, should anyone willingly give his own life for other people? His thinking as interrupted by Winton and Smedley entering his sleeping quarters.

'Where's the Adjudicator?' said Winton.

Ashe put down the book. 'Why do you want him?'

'We're sending him back to Earth,' said Smedley, 'right now.'

'But he may be able to help us,' Ashe said. 'Although he took a decision against us, he is really a fair man. He believes we may have grounds for an appeal.'

'He's twisted you round his little finger,' Winton said. 'Where's he gone?'

Ashe knew it was no good arguing. 'To his spaceship. He said he was going to meet the Doctor there.'

'That's another one we want off this planet,' said Smedley. 'We've never really known where he came from.'

Ashe hoped they would leave him now, but they had other pressing business. 'We want those IMC guns,' said Winton. They lay in a crate next to Ashe's bed.

'You've no need for them,' said Ashe. 'You've already got your own guns'

'Ours are like pea-shooters compared with the IMC guns,' said Winton. 'What if Earth Government sends soldiers? - we'll need high-powered guns then.'

'If that happens,' Ashe said, 'I'll issue them. But if the Adjudicator helps us it will never come to that.'

'Yes,' said Smedley, ' if. '

'You know I'm the leader now,' said Winton. 'Those guns should be under my authority!'

'Except,' said Ashe, 'I happen to have them in here. So get out of my quarters!'

Winton and Smedley turned and went away, slamming the door of Ashe's sleeping room. Ashe got up from his bed to lock the door,