Menagerie - Martin Day [76]
The Brotherhood of Rexulon gasped, but there was no blood. Still the man laughed, the headless body gesticulating wildly.
The Doctor pushed his way through the uncomprehending Taculbain and joined Jamie at the girl's side. 'Doctor!'
exclaimed Jamie happily.
The Doctor beamed. 'Hello, Jamie. Now, what have we here .. ?' He bent down to examine the severed head, and prised off the golden mask to reveal the blank visage of a plaster face.
The arms of the body twitched into life once again, raising hands towards the heavens. The Doctor gritted his teeth and yanked hard at the shoulder joint. The arm came away in his hands. Inside the body he could see gears, cogs, coiled springs. 'Nothing more than glorified clockwork,' he said, incredulous, turning to Jamie.
'Clockwork?' said Jamie. 'But that's so basic.'
'As far as this planet is concerned, this is state-of-the-art!'
said the Doctor. 'And this man is supposed to hate technology.'
'You foolish young man,' came the voice from somewhere in the chamber. It echoed and flowed around the rough stone walls. 'I lured you here when I needed time, and you attacked like a blind beast. Did you expect to be any more successful today?'
The Doctor pointed to a gallery high above their heads where Zaitabor stood, triumphant. He stared down at Jamie malevolently. 'I've been playing games with you and your friend the Doctor ever since you came to this world. And it is on this world that you will die.'
'Listen to me!' shouted the Doctor. 'You don't know what you're doing. The Mecrim creatures must not be freed!'
'It's too late, Doctor,' said Zaitabor. 'You have been running after that wizard when you should have paid attention to me!' He nodded curtly in the direction of the moth-creatures. 'Deep in the Menagerie of Ukkazaal the Taculbain followed my orders without hesitation. The Mecrim have already been released.'
Fifteen
Oiquaquil, Captain of the City Guard, marched into the brotherhood's chamber at the head of his men with as much dignity as he could muster. He strode through the unresisting ranks of moth-men and towards the altar. Facing the Brotherhood of Rexulon, Oiquaquil drew his sword. For the first time in his life he was seizing an opportunity.
'With the authority vested in me I arrest you all for high treason,' Oiquaquil announced as loudly as possible. All eyes turned to him, but his voice remained strong. 'I hope that you will not exacerbate your cowardice by fighting. I know that many of you think that we guards are a joke. But what little respect you have will evaporate if you turn upon the City Guard.'
One of the brothers walked towards the guards, his eyes flicking all the time to the twitching clockwork figure by the altar. The guards behind Oiquaquil reached for their weapons uneasily.
'Captain,' said the man, pulling the red robes of Rexulon from his shoulders to reveal the bright armour of a knight. 'I do not know if I speak for all the Knights of Kuabris involved with the brotherhood but . . . We had no idea that our leader was working with creatures from the menagerie.'
His voice began to falter, his face showing simple bewilderment at events. 'We certainly did not know that our leader was so . . . tainted by science himself'
Oiquaquil sighed. 'It seems that Commander Zaitabor deceived many of us with his pious proclamations of devotion,' he said.
'Then I humbly ask, Captain,' continued the knight, 'that you allow us to help defend all that we hold true. The brotherhood exists only to restore the Knights of Kuabris to the true way. We want no part in the wholesale destruction that Zaitabor talked about.'
'There is some sense in what you say,' said Oiquaquil.
'We must dedicate ourselves to defending our city from the evil this man has planned. However, mark my words, when the time is right I shall sift you all like grain. I believe the brotherhood to be guilty of kidnapping and murder. The prime movers in this shall not escape justice.'
'Very well, Captain,' said