Doctor Who_ Planet Of Fire Part 8

Turlough grabbed her arm. 'What did you say?'

'A robot who turns into some hoodlum...'

As Peri continued her tale of woe Turlough began to piece together what must have happened in the TARDIS.

It was so obvious. The real professor had never really left the islandit was Kamelion all the time.

'That's him,' agreed Peri. 'But I sure prefer the Tin Man to this Master.'

Turlough's blood ran cold. 'The Master?' he cried.

'Kamelion turned into the Master?'

Peri nodded, ma.s.saging her bruised shoulder.

The horrified Turlough couldn't imagine what had made the Master usurp the robot and bring them all to this Trion colony. But he now realised he had left the Doctor in the most appalling danger.

It was a rare joy for the Master to see the dismay on the Doctor's face as he entered the Hall of Fire. The pleasure was enhanced by the knowledge that the youthful Time Lord had been totally duped by his own robot. He soon found himself enjoying the adulation of the crowd.

Deification, he decided, was no more than his due. Nor would he disappoint his wors.h.i.+ppers.

'Wretched citizens of Sarn!' he thundered at the congregation in the Hall like a h.e.l.l-fire preacher. 'You have turned your backs on the Lord of the Fire Mountain and listened...' He pointed an accusing finger at the Doctor, 'to his enemy!'

The Doctor struggled in vain to explain that this Outsider was no more than a traveller, for the crowd was enthralled by the evil automaton.

'On your knees, miserable people,' cried the Kamelion-Master. 'Abase yourselves before the messenger of Logar.'

And his audience obediently fell to their knees and abased themselves.

'The man's an imposter!' shouted the Doctor.

The Master's surrogate laughed. 'Save your breath, Doctor, to tell me where is the girl from your TARDIS.'

' Peri?' said the Doctor, who had never doubted that his American pa.s.senger was safe with her stepfather in the time machine.

The Master was puzzled by the Doctor's genuine surprise. 'She has joined you here,' he prompted, impatient to regain the vital TARDIS component. 'Where is she?

Where is the comparator?'

The Doctor's mind raced. What had been going on in the police box while he was exploring with Turlough?

Timanov bowed before the man in the dark suit. 'Let us hurl the enemy in the flames, Outsider.'

'Not yet.' The Kamelion-Master smiled. The Doctor would surrender the comparator before he died.

Meanwhile, the rebels, befriended by his adversary could satisfy the bloodl.u.s.t of the old men and perhaps encourage the Doctor to be more co-operative. 'Burn the others first!'

He waved dismissively in the direction of Amyand, Roskal and Sorasta. The Elders raised their staves and the guards marched forward, grabbing the three Unbelievers.

'No!' shouted the Doctor, as the three Unbelievers were frogmarched to the cave where the fire still raged.

Once more they sought judgement of the Chosen One.

'Malkon is not here,' sneered the the Chief Elder. 'It is the will of the Outsider that you all die. The messenger of Logar has supreme authority.'

The Doctor watched helplessly. The Master laughed and whispered in his ear: 'The comparator, if you please.'

'I don't have have the comparator,' protested the Doctor. the comparator,' protested the Doctor.

'Where is the girl?' he pleaded. 'What have you done with Professor Foster?'

'The professor has been eliminated,' announced the Kamelion-Master, learning at once, from the agonised look on the Doctor's face, that Peri had not yet found the Time Lord to give her account of the robot's activitiesor to hand over the comparator. 'Such an absurd capacity for distress.' He mocked the Doctor's concern for his pa.s.sengers in the police box, though of course that inadequate machine was now inoperable without the comparator. But, no matter. Here was an army of slaves to evacuate his buried TARDIS.

'Continue the burning!' ordered Timanov from beside the cave. The guards dragged back the heavy iron grille from the entrance.

'Help us, Doctor!' screamed Roskal and Sorasta. But there was nothing the Doctor could do. Two young Unbelievers ran forward in an impulsive bid to aid their comrades, but even before the guards could grab them, the Elders raised their staves and the youths were felled by deadly rays. The Doctor lowered his head at the carnage.

'You are quite powerless,' jeered the Kamelion-Master, 'and since you do not have the comparator, entirely dispensable. You may join your friends in the incinerator.'

He called once more to Timanov. 'Continue with the burnings, Chief Elder. See that this Doctor burns slowly!'

The old man turned towards the mountain. 'Great Logar!' he cried. 'Receive these mortals as an oblation from your faithful people.'

The flames burned even more brightly and the Elders raised their lasers to drive the Doctor and the Unbelievers into the cave.

'Journey's end, Doctor,' said the Master. 'I'm sorry your cremation will deprive me of our periodic encounters.' The words of valediction over, he gestured to the guards.

'Quickly, my time is short.'

'No!' shouted the Doctor as he was manhandled towards the fire. 'You know the laws,' he cried in a desperate effort to gain time. 'A burning cannot take place without Malkon's consent.'

'I overule the Chosen One,' said the would-be Outsider dismissively. 'Do not delay!' he barked at the Elders.

The crowd were so enthralled by the spectacle at the cave that the arrival of Turlough, Malkon and Peri at the entrance of the Hall went entirely unnoticed. Turlough peered from behind a pillar towards the martyrs' cave, where the Doctor was on the point of execution. 'What are you waiting for?' he hissed at Malkon. 'Get in there and stop them!'

'But I'm a Trion, not a Chosen One,' protested the confused child.

'They don't know that,' shouted Turlough, and pushed Malkon out into the crowd. He grabbed Peri by the hand.

'Quickly,' he whispered, dragging her back to the portico.

'We can't leave the Doctor,' complained the girl as she stumbled down the steps into the street.

'I think I know how to stop the fire,' cried Turlough, running as fast as he could in the direction of the bunker.

'Stop!' Malkon marched bravely through the crowd.

'There will be no sacrifice.'

All heads in the crowd turned while the Elders and the guards frozeto the fury of the Master. 'What are you waiting for?' he shouted. 'Continue the burnings!'

Still no one moved.

'That man is an imposter!' Malkon pointed to the metal Master.

'Who is this boy?' raged the false Outsider, furious at the delay.

The Doctor, making the most of Malkon's timely interruption, pushed aside the guards and turned to his enemy. 'Don't you know?' He gestured towards the young man. 'Allow me to introduce Malkon, Chosen One of the Sarns.' Giving the Master no time to reply, the Doctor moved to the Elders. 'You see,' he continued, anxious to discredit the Time Lord, 'this so-called Outsider doesn't even recognise your leader. And he doesn't understand the laws of the city.'

The old men mumbled uneasily amongst themselves, each one reluctant openly to defy the Chosen One. They looked towards their Outsider for some sort of lead.

The metal Master, inadequately briefed, bl.u.s.tered like an actor unsure of his lines. 'Obey me, or there will be no gifts!' He raised his arm towards the mountain. 'I will call down the wrath of Logar on you all!'

The Elders looked at Timanov. 'The boy is overruled,'

he announced arbitrarily. 'Continue the burnings.'

'No!' Malkon stepped forward to protect the Doctor.

One of the old men raised his laser, the ray darted like a snake's tongue, and the boy fell senseless beside the flames.

The Doctor groaned, the crowd gasped and the Elders stared in horror at the Sarn who had dared to take the life of a Chosen One. Only the Master was unmoved. 'Never mind the boy. He has sided with my enemies. It is Logar's will that he should die.' He pointed impatiently to the cave. 'To the fire with the Unbelievers!'

The fire promply went out.

There was an awful silence, broken finally by the voice of Timanov. 'Logar refuses the sacrifice.' He turned accusingly to the a.s.sa.s.sin. 'He is angry that his Chosen One was struck down!'

Turlough and Peri ran as fast as they could down the narrow streets, praying that they would not lose their way in the half-ruined city.

'That kid won't hold them off for long,' said Peri, who had no idea what the Doctor's companion was up to.

'There!' Turlough had spotted the derelict building and dashed forward into the open courtyard where he stared tugging at the stone. 'Help me!' he called to the girl.

'Looks like Houston Control,' exclaimed the American as they descended the metal stairway to the bunker.

'Older, but hardly as crude,' said Turlough, ever contemptuous of Earth technology. He hurried to the control panel of the machine. 'It's part of an ancient flow system,' he explained as he scanned the k.n.o.bs and dials he had scrutinised earlier. 'If I hit the right circuit...' His fingers hovered over the green b.u.t.ton on one of the side decks. '...I can cut the gas supply to the cave.' He stabbed hopefully at the regulator. As he withdrew his hand from the switches, Peri noticed his fingers were crossed. 'Let's have a look.' Turlough transferred his attention to the surveillance unit. A view of the Hall of Fire appeared on the screen where Roskal had first spotted the explorers from the TARDIS.

'You've done it!' yelled Peri as she caught sight of the dark, unlit cave.

Turlough grinned, feeling rather pleased with himself.

'Second rescue of the day,' he thought. But the Doctor wasn't out of danger yet. They could see him arguing with the imitation Master, and at the mercy of five menacing laser guns.

'Seems like the Doctor could use some help,' said Peri, already rattling up the spiral staircase.

The Doctor and Amyand knelt beside the body of Malkon in the entrance of the cave. 'He's not dead,' whispered the Doctor with relief as he felt the faint pulse. He glanced towards the shocked and demoralised Elders. 'But let them think he is,' he added. anxious to exploit the confusion caused by the Chosen One's apparent demise.

The boy stirred. 'Warn the Doctor...' The Doctor leaned lower. 'Kamelion...The Master...' he muttered feverishly.

The Doctor cursed himself for not taking Kamelion's odd behaviour in the TARDIS more seriously. It should have been obviousthe Professor had been a robot all along. And so was the Master!

He got slowly to his feet, planning his next move. The danger was still very real. The man in the Burtons suit might well be no more than a sophisticated machine, but he embodied the mind, the will and the evil purpose of the renegade Time Lord, who even now must be watching him through Kamelion's eyes. 'You're not the Master at all,' he challenged the would-be Outsider. 'It's not even a man, it's a thing! A machine!' he proclaimed, to the whole a.s.sembly of the Sarns.

The thing thing snarled. snarled.

'We can fight it,' the Doctor shouted to the startled trio of Unbelievers. 'Just concentrate your minds on destroying it.'

'A mortal destroy the Messenger of Logar?' replied the angry voice of the Master. 'hnpossible!' The black-suited robot rounded furiously on the Chief Elder. 'Kill these insolent heretics!'

For a fleeting second the Doctor caught the robot's eye.

The creature turned defensively from the Time Lord's knowing gaze. 'Don't look away, Kamelion,' commanded the Doctor. 'You will accept my will,' he continued hypnotically. 'I am the Doctor... You are mere metal, base, deadweight, solid...' The robot's jacketed arms began to flap like semaph.o.r.e flags as the Master's persona struggled with the authentic Kamelion. 'You're a ma.s.s of printed circuits. You're Kamelion... Reject control!'

A gurgling carne from the creature's throat. 'Will you allow my enemy to torment me?' gasped the Master's voice, while the Doctor continued his remorseless evocation of the true Kamelion.

'You're no more than the sum of your parts, a million minature bits and chips...'

'Kill him...' The Master was choking.

'He likes killing,' said the Doctor bitterly. 'He reneged on your Chosen One. Next time it will be you. Chief Elder.'

Timanov did not know which way to turn.

'Kill!' spluttered the Master.

'Logar must decide,' said Timanov with the wisdom of Solomon. 'Let the Fire Lord give us a sign.'

'You'll have a sign alright,' cried the Doctor, confident now that he could demolish Kamelion's evil control. 'If we break the link with the Master, your so-called Outsider will be nothing but a heap of spare parts.' He spoke again to the automaton. 'You're on your own, Kamelion. Your control is weakening, turning to silver... Silver puppet jumping on a string...' The creature's body jerked. 'String cut!' snapped the Doctor. The Master groaned. 'Stricken mannikin,'

continued the Doctor mercilessly. 'Broken toy... No more playing the Grand Panjandrum!'

The Doctor smiled. The Master had started to fizz. The pure Kamelion was about to break through. The citizens were astonished. 'The s.h.i.+ning! The s.h.i.+ning!' they cried.

'I don't believe it,' whispered Roskal, appalled.

'Psych.o.m.orphic fringing,' said the Doctor without taking his eyes off the now radiant figure. 'Nothing supernatural about that. It's an intermediate stage between anthropoid and robotic ident.i.ty.'