Doctor Who_ The Paradise of Death - Barry Letts [40]
‘I shan’t keep him a moment,’ replied Tragan.
‘I must apologize for cutting you short so impolitely.’ he said as he muffled Sarah’s protests. The taste of the cloth in her mouth was alien and nauseating. ‘I’m sure you understand the necessity,’ he went on. ‘Right, Crestin. Let us discover what our esteemed chairman wants.’
Freeth’s concern became apparent very quickly. He knew already that Sarah was with Tragan.
‘Let me speak to her,’ he said.
Tragan paused briefly and then said, ‘I’m afraid she’s a little tied up at the moment.’
Sarah tried to shout through the thick folds of the gagging cloth, but if Freeth heard the muffled sounds, he preferred to ignore them.
‘Up to your old tricks, are you?’ he said. ‘Well, I’m sorry to spoil your fun, but I’ve had a call from the Brigadier. He claims to know that you have Miss Smith on board’
Oh, dear old Jeremy! Well done!
‘I denied all knowledge of you and your disgusting doings, of course, but since we are “the goodies” at the moment, it might be as well if she were to remain, er, intacta. So to speak.’
‘She’s seen one of the guards,’ said Ragan, in his flattest voice,
‘I see. Pity. Very well, keep her incommunicado, but safe. She’s more useful to us alive – and well. You understand me? But of course you do.’
Tragan started to protest. At once Freeth’s voice hardened. ‘No argument. No discussion. You will do as I say. The situation has changed now that we know the Doctor is still alive.’
What! Not dead? But that was impossible!
‘You said yourself that we should he safe provided I removed the guards,’ said Tragan.
‘I’ve had a long talk with the Doctor. He is even more dangerous than I thought. We must tread very carefully.’
Oh, blessed be! The world was in step again! Even her sinister prison with its dark walls and black furniture had changed its dull threat to a brightness of aspect that almost sparkled.
Now Ragan was wheedling, trying to make Freeth change his mind about Sarah.
‘After all, Chairman,’ he was saying. ‘They’ve no way of following us to Parakon. They’ll have to believe whatever tale we choose to tell.’
‘You’re greedy, Ragan. You know that?’
‘I do. I am.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Freeth, in a kindly voice. ‘Once the hue and cry has died down, you can have her back. You can play even better games with her at home, now can’t you? I might even join you. We could have one of our special parties, with Miss Smith as our star guest. Now, wouldn’t that be fun?’
The intercom switched off. Removing the gag. Tragan sat down opposite her once more and stared at her as he had earlier. The movement of his face under the skin was like the slow rolling swell of the ocean after a storm.
This time, Sarah stared back at him. Forcing himself to speak coolly, she asked if there were now any reason to keep her tied up. A safety precaution, he answered.
His answer was a lie, she was convinced of that. Her discomfort and the demonstration of his power over her were a small compensation for losing his ‘little games’.
He’d have to untie her when they arrived on Parakon, after all.
‘I presume that we shan’t be landing at your equivalent of Heathrow.’ she said.
‘I have my own facilities in my own – backyard. I think you could call it.’
‘Fortress Tragan. With a nice selection of hungry beasties roaming the grounds?’
‘One might almost think you’d been there,’ he said, and licked his thin lips.
All at once, Sarah was filled with anger. That this – this creature should dare to treat her so! ‘I’ll tell you this,’ she said, filled with the righteous courage that rage bestows, ‘I nearly lost my bottle back there, I freely admit - ’
‘Your bottle?’
‘It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the Doctor is still alive. I don’t know what your game is, but you’re evil through and through, and I give you my word that I’ll go on fighting you to the end, whatever that might be.’
Tragan sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction. His face had come alive: bumps of fluid-filled skin appeared and disappeared, bubbling like