Doctor Who_ War Games - Malcolm Hulke [46]
Guards moved into the group, taking rifles and pistols.
‘I shall kill him,’ said Villar. ‘The Doctor I shall stake out in the sun and leave him to the ants. I shall bury him up to his neck and ride my horses over his head!’
‘I don’t understand the situation,’ said Lieutenant Carstairs. ‘You seemed a perfectly decent chap, Doctor.
What’s made you change sides in this reprehensible manner?’ As he spoke a security guard relieved Carstairs of his revolver.
‘We were idiots to trust him,’ said Sergeant Russell. ‘If we ever get out of this alive, Doctor, I’m going to—’
‘Silence!’ The War Chief’s voice boomed down the corridor. ‘If you prove to be courageous fighters none of you will be killed. But you are going to be re-processed, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ He raised his voice again. ‘Take them all away.’
‘Take him, too,’ the Security Chief said.
A security guard moved in on the Doctor, stun-gun raised.
‘No,’ protested the War Chief. ‘He is working for us now.’
‘He’s done his job,’ objected the Security Chief. ‘He’s no further use.’
‘He has great knowledge of time travel mechanics, Security Chief.’ The War Chief’s voice was firm. ‘He is now my personal assistant.’
The Security Chief wavered. ‘The War Lord shall decide his fate.’ He swung round to his guards. ‘Get these prisoners to the processing room. If any try to escape, shoot to kill.’ He turned back to the War Chief. ‘I shall speak with the War Lord now about this special prisoner of yours.’ He stalked off down the corridor.
The Doctor waited until the disarmed prisoners had been herded away before saying, ‘Why do you so obviously need me?’
‘We surely need each other,’ said the War Chief.
‘It’s something to do with your travel machines, isn’t it?’
‘How intelligent of you,’ said the War Chief. ‘The sidrats that I designed for the War Lords have a limited life. The green crystal, which is the basis of our time control units, is unobtainable anywhere in the galaxy except on our planet of the Time Lords. For these sidrats I have had to use other materials. In time they will all wear out.’
‘Now I understand,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s my TARDIS
that you want. But surely you have one of your own?’
The War Chief smiled. ‘No more mine than yours is really yours! We are both thieves, Doctor. Yes, I do have a TARDIS hidden away. But are not two better than one?
While I rest and enjoy the spoils of victory, you can patrol our empire. And I shall do the same for you.’
‘ Our empire?’
‘We shall rule the galaxy without fear of opposition,’ the War Chief said confidently. ‘For we shall be the only two who can travel through both space and time.’
A voice spoke from concealed loudspeakers. ‘ War Chief and his prisoner to report to the War Lord immediately! ’
‘No doubt my dear friend the Security Chief stirring up trouble,’ said the War Chief. ‘Shall we, go? It wouldn’t do to keep the War Lord waiting.’
‘You have done well,’ said the War Lord. ‘Yet your sudden decision to join us worries me.’
The Security Chief nodded smugly. ‘Exactly my point, sir.’
‘I have heard your side of the argument,’ said the War Lord. ‘Now let me hear theirs.’ He looked to the Doctor to answer.
‘I like to be on the winning side,’ said the Doctor. ‘The resistance has no chance against your might and power.’
The War Lord looked pleased by the compliment. ‘Like your friend, the War Chief, you have a silver tongue. But now that we have the resistance leaders in our hands, what contribution can you make?’
‘I could make your processing machines work effectively. Ask your scientist.’
‘He is on our home planet,’ said the War Lord,
‘producing a new and better machine.’
‘Given the chance,’ said the Doctor, ‘I can make the old one work with a hundred per cent success.’
The War Lord considered. ‘You will have the opportunity to prove your skill. You will adjust the existing machines and re-process your resistance friends.’
‘They are losers,’ said the Doctor. ‘They are no friends of mine!’
‘Of course,’ said the War Lord. He turned to the Security Chief. ‘Take