Doctor Who_ The Paradise of Death - Barry Letts [63]
He put half a walnut into his mouth and chomped it up.
Chapter Twenty-One
‘Can’t think what they’re waiting for,’ said the Brigadier.
Jeremy was finding it difficult to concentrate. Although the disorientating effects of the blip-juice were starting to wear off, they were being replaced by a throb-throb-throbber-throb behind the eyes which felt as if there were a drig-ball in progress inside his head.
Having been hustled from the courtyard back to the suite, they had been locked in, with a guard outside the door and a promise from Freeth that he would return.
‘Now, you won’t go away, will you?’ he’d said, winsomely. ‘Do forgive me for deserting you. I’m sure you’ll find some way of amusing yourselves.’
Quite a decent chap really, thought Jeremy. Not like that other gink with the wobbly blue face.
‘It’s quite clear that they’re frightened of the power that the President still has,’ said the Doctor in reply to the Brigadier. ‘Freeth has to convince his father that we’ve left Parakon before he can do anything final. It’s probably too late tonight, so I expect we’ve got a few hours.’
Sarah seemed to be in a bit of a state, thought Jeremy.
‘Doctor, please!’ she said. ‘We’ve got to do something about Captain Rudley. They’re going to kill him!’
Oh, Lor’. Yes, of course, Waldo. Forgotten about him.
‘They’re going to dispose of all of us,’ replied the Doctor.
What? What! Whatever for?
‘Why?’ said Jeremy, pressing a hand to his forehead to steady the beat.
‘We have it in our power to stop the Parakon Corporation operating on Earth. They’re not going to give up a treaty worth billions without a murmur,’ answered the Doctor. As he spoke, he was inspecting the windows, which were similar to the ones in the other suite, showing the view of the lake.
‘Not even real windows,’ he said. ‘In any case, we’re on the fourth floor and, as I remember, it’s a sheer drop. Have a look round, all of you. See if there’s another way out: a fire escape, a ventilator shaft, anything.’
They scattered into the surprisingly large number of rooms. Jeremy found himself in a sort of sub-suite, like a little flatlet. Probably intended for a valet or ladies’ maid or whoever, thought Jeremy, as he ferreted through the cupboards.
A quick search revealed nothing helpful. He sat down on the bed. If he held his head very still, it settled to a steady ache which was almost tolerable.
He heard the murmur of voices. Evidently the others had had no more success than he had. ‘We shall have to think of something else,’ he heard the Doctor saying.
‘For instance?’ That was the Brigadier.
‘Well, we could...’ The Doctor’s voice trailed away.
‘Yes?’ said Sarah.
‘If we...’ the Doctor started again; and stopped again.
‘What?’ The Brig.
A minor explosion from the Doctor: ‘Look, it’s all very well gazing up at me like spaniel puppies waiting for a lump of sugar. Everybody’s blessed with a modicum of cerebral tissue, after all.’
Eh?
‘Now, come on! Think!’
Good idea. Trust the Doctor. If they all had a bit of a think... Jeremy lay back onto the bed and closed his eyes in order to concentrate better.
Now then, to assess the position: they were locked in upstairs with the TARDIS downstairs; though come to think of it, there didn’t seem to be any stairs. Only lifts.
The fourth floor was connected to the ground floor by one set of lifts, and the ground floor was connected to the knee-bone and the knee-bone was connected to the leg-bone...
Night-night, Jeremy.
The chamber in which Waldo Rudley was incarcerated was not the traditional dungeon of the fairytales or even the bleak brick cell of a long-term prison. Having other methods – more efficient and more permanent – of dealing with their delinquents, the Parakonian security forces were content to contain their temporary prisoners in rooms not unlike those of a cheap rooming house. True, there were bars on the windows and manacles chained to the wall ready for the potentially violent, but the decorations were clean and simple and the furnishings adequately comfortable.
There were even pictures on