Doctor Who_ The Twin Dilemma - Eric Saward [44]
As the Doctor had only seen and heard Mestor via a hologram projection, he was surprised by the deepness and richness of his voice. Gone was the marked sibilance and slight cackle the hologram had created. Gone, for the time being, was the melodramatic postering and ranting.
Yet none of these small refinements did anything to compensate for meeting Mestor in the flesh. From any point of view, he was disgusting. And what's more, he stank.
The Doctor hoped they could conclude their business as soon as possible and be gone. The throne room wasn't a pleasant place to be.
'Look, Mestor, Azmael and I have worked out what you're up to and it's got to stop!'
The gastropod gave a small, involuntary laugh, then belched. He suddenly found the Doctor amusing. It took courage to threaten Mestor in his own throne room, and the gastropod was mildly titillated by it.
'Are you listening to me, Mestor?'
The gastropod belched again.
'You'd better be!' The Doctor sounded more like a street bully than a Time Lord negotiating with a creature capable of taking over the universe. 'Because I'm not having your sluggy eggs spread all over the place, causing havoc. Do you understand?'
He understood perfectly, but there seemed little point in taking any notice. 'It seems that you are not only mad, but a buffoon, Doctor!'
This didn't please him at all. 'I'm warning you. Will you give up this nonsense?'
'No, Time Lord.'
Then take the consequences.'
Briskly, the Doctor removed one of the flasks of Mosten acid from his pocket and threw it at Mestor. But he wasn't fast enough.
Instantly a blue barrier of energy surrounded the gastropod and the flask smashed harmlessly against it.
As the barrier faded, Mestor growled. 'You think that I would be so vulnerable?'
The Doctor shrugged. What could he say? He had failed.
'I thought, Doctor, that you would be interesting to know. But like so many humanoid life forms, you are totally preoccupied with your own pettiness.'
Carefully Mestor altered his position. He found it difficult to maintain the same posture for long, chairs being unnatural for his body shape.
'I think it's time I dealt with you, Time Lord.'
'Please, Lord Mestor,' pleaded Azmael. 'The Doctor has been ill.
His mind is muddled. It's affected his reasoning. I'm sure, with rest, he will learn to appreciate the respect due to you.'
'He has tried to kill me. He must therefore forfeit his own existence.'
While Azmael continued to plead for his friend, the Doctor glanced over his shoulder and wondered whether he could make it to the door before Mestor had time to unveil another of his tricks.
The thought of dying didn't very much appeal to him. But to be murdered by a slug with pretensions way beyond its cabbage patch would be too much.
'I said, Azmael, that the Doctor would cease to exist. I did not say he would die. If I were to kill him, how would I be able to take over his body and mind?'
The Doctor let out an involuntary snigger.' You take over my mind. It would be like throwing a pebble into a lake. It would sink without trace.'
'Please, Doctor. The Lord Mestor is quite capable of doing what he says,' said Azmael.
'A Jacondan mind, perhaps. But I am a Time Lord.'
Mestor laughed loudly, this time without managing to belch.
'Perhaps you would like me to demonstrate how feeble a Time Lord's mind really is?'
As the question was a rhetorical one, Mestor did not wait for an answer. Using nothing but pure thought he operated a control built into the arm of his throne. Suddenly Mestor was shrouded in a green, ethereal light. Then without warning, a vicious, luminous green finger of concentrated energy shot out and locked on to Azmael's forehead.
The elderly Time Lord screamed.
This wasn't what the Doctor had expected. But then Mestor was rarely predictable. That's how he managed to survive.
As the Doctor continued to watch, a small black blob seemed to work its way along the finger of light.
As it reached Azmael's forehead, the blob spread across his face, then slowly it began to permeate the skin. A moment