"Don"t do anything hasty," he implored the stranger who, having now had a chance to look at the Doctor and Zoe, was clearly bemused.
"You"re not Realists," he observed eventually. "Who are you?"
The Doctor gave him one of his most charming smiles.
"We"re visitors here. I"m the Doctor and this is Zoe."
"Now I"ll have something to put on your tombstones," replied the man, threateningly bringing the rifle back to bear on the Doctor.
"Wait, you can"t kill us just like that," complained the Doctor, an edge of panic in his voice now.
"Can"t I?" challenged the man and Zoe could see his finger begin to squeeze the trigger.
"No! Val, no!" A new voice interrupted and another man, older and more weather-worn than the first, appeared from the darkness and battered down the rifle just in time. A shot rang out but the rifle was now pointing away from the Doctor. Unfortunately the bullet ricocheted wildly, causing all four of them to take cover. But when the bullet finally came to rest only three figures got to their feet.
"Zoe!" exclaimed the Doctor, hurrying over to where his young friend was lying motionless on the ground. He saw an ugly red blood stain growing on her tight-fitting silver jumpsuit. "What have you done?"
He turned to look at the two strangers, a sudden anger in him. "If Zoe dies..."
The man who had knocked the rifle away at the last moment, stepped forward.
"We"ve medical facilities in town. Can we move her?"
"I think so."
Tam nodded at Freedom. "Pick her up, Val. I"ll take this."
For a moment Freedom looked like he might have wanted to argue but he took another look at the small figure of the girl he had inadvertently injured and had second thoughts.
"We still need to know who these people are," he reminded Tam as he bent to pick the girl up.
"I"ll answer any question you want to ask me," the Doctor promised, "as soon as we"ve made sure Zoe is all right."
"I"m sure she will be...Doctor, is it?" said Tam. "I"m Tam Kartryte. And this is Val Freedom."
The Doctor looked them up and down, taking in their simple clothing and the anachronistic rifle and gun they carried. "Well then, Mr Kartryte, as is customary in these circ.u.mstances you had better take me to your leader!"
Freedom, carrying Zoe, managed a bitter laugh. "Tam here is our leader. We call him Sheriff," he explained, but the tone of his comment made it clear to the Doctor that he was not a leader with universal support.
Jamie had been amazed at the transformation in Billy Joe.
Now they had managed to hook up with this pair of "Realists"
he seemed much happier and more confident. He had quickly taken them back up a service ladder to the decks of the wreck that he was more familiar with and, once they"d reached those levels, he knew their progress had been much more rapid. Within five minutes of leaving the dark and gloomy depths of the cargo hold they were climbing out of one of the many tears in the fabric of the upper decks and, by way of a rope ladder that Billy Joe had concealed on an earlier visit, they were able to reach one of the nearby trees.
Once they had climbed down through the broad branches of the tree Hali and Saro had kept to their word and had led Jamie and Billy Joe back through the woods to where their horses were waiting for them.
Since they were still very much in Loyalist territory, the group kept speech to a minimum, although Billy Joe was clearly bursting with questions. For his part, Jamie would have liked some questions answered himself, but for now he was happy to go with the flow.
When they came to the horses he found himself grinning.
"Can you ride a horse?" asked Hali as she untied the four horses. Jamie nodded. "Aye, just a wee bit."
In fact, he loved to ride and took the opportunity whenever it arose. His travels with the Doctor had shown him a myriad of exotic creatures and strange vehicles powered by energies Jamie couldn"t dream of understanding, but nothing compared to the feeling of freedom and sheer joy of riding a horse.
The four of them mounted up and began to trot in single file back through the forest, retracing the path Hali and her team had taken some four hours earlier. Hali noted with interest that the stranger calling himself Jamie handled his horse with great confidence and natural ability - perhaps he would be a useful addition to the Realist group after all.
It was getting dark now, however, and the setting sun was struggling to penetrate the trees, making the floor of the forest a carpet of sinister shadows. Billy Joe kept looking behind him, expecting some kind of pursuit.
"I can"t believe no one"s following us," he commented. "My lot may be a bunch of wiped bytes but they don"t usually give up so easily when a raid comes."
"They don"t usually have to deal with the Doctor," answered Jamie with a grin.
In the shadow of the wrecked colony ship the Loyalist posse had a handful of horses waiting for them, and Tarn"s wagon.
Freedom had carefully placed Zoe on a blanket in the cart and had gone on ahead to get her some medical attention, leaving the Doctor and the three other colonists to follow on the horses. The Doctor rode behind Tam, holding on awkwardly and looking more than a little uncomfortable.
It was growing dark now, and he could feel the chill in the air getting into his bones, but the Doctor had still looked about him with great interest as they left the wreck behind them and began to pa.s.s the cultivated fields of the outlying farmsteads. The Doctor noted that the farm machinery he saw was all fairly primitive: mechanical horse-drawn harrows and ploughs. There were also no power lines visible on any of the houses themselves. It didn"t really add up - the Doctor was quite sure that these colonists were humans from Earth and both the ship and the boy"s slang had suggested the twenty-sixth century but the colony itself seemed to be from another era.
After a short ride they reached the town itself and the Doctor"s confusion continued to build as he recognised the style of the place. To all intents and purposes it was a town of the American West, an old-fashioned frontier settlement. He remembered visiting something similar in his previous body, a rather unpleasant spot called Tombstone, he recalled with a shudder. This place was on a larger scale but very much of the same ilk. There were differences he noted as the posse pulled up outside Tarn"s office and they all dismounted.
There was more artificial light than he would have seen in Tombstone, streetlights that appeared to be powered by solar batteries and internal lights powered, he suspected, from the solar panels that covered each roof. The town was not quite as primitive as a first glance might suggest. In addition, at one end of the town there was a building that stood out like a sore thumb. Although partially clad in wood it was clearly constructed in metal and high-grade plastic and it just didn"t fit in. It was all very interesting...
Tam led the Doctor into one of the two holding cells in the back of the building. The Doctor was delighted to see a small barred window in the back wall and the fact that the entire front wall of the cell was given over to floor-to-ceiling bars. In addition the lock was an old-fashioned affair, secured with a large metal key. The Doctor considered himself somewhat of a connoisseur when it came to secure cells and this, although old-fashioned, was a cla.s.sic. It made a nice change from sliding doors and motion detectors. Of course it meant that the sonic screwdriver might struggle to get him out of there but for the moment the Doctor was happy to wait where he was.
"I"ll be back to get some answers shortly," Tam explained before leaving. The Doctor nodded at his retreating back. I wouldn"t mind some of those myself," he called after him.
Back in the safety of his own office Tam sat at his desk and considered for a moment what to do next. Where had the strangers come from and what did they want? The man calling himself the Doctor had an air of harmlessness about him, but was it an elaborate sham to fool him into a false sense of security? In a hundred years of its existence the colony had only ever had one set of visitors and that had been a standard Earth Colony Support Vehicle check-up some fifty years ago. Were they due another one? Did Earth Gov want to keep tabs on their outlying colonies? Tam shook his head. From what he could gather from the records the colony here on Arista Four had been set up as a fully independent state. The visit from the ECSV had been a courtesy call; it hadn"t been an emissary from home. For a moment, Tam was tempted to consult the surviving part of the ship"s computer, which as Sheriff he alone had access to.
It would have been a direct violation of Back to Basics Back to Basics principles, to make use of such high technology, but, as he had learned when he had first been elected to high office, sometimes a leader had to break his own rules. He remembered the day well: exhilarated after the excitement of the vote he had slipped away from the inevitable party and gone to see his predecessor here, in this very office. principles, to make use of such high technology, but, as he had learned when he had first been elected to high office, sometimes a leader had to break his own rules. He remembered the day well: exhilarated after the excitement of the vote he had slipped away from the inevitable party and gone to see his predecessor here, in this very office.
Myles Boole was an old man then, one of the last surviving Gen-Ones. He congratulated Tarn on winning the election and then surprised the newly elected leader by activating a hidden control on his desk, causing a panel in the wall behind the Sheriffs desk to slide open to reveal a secret room containing a computer console and screen. Myles invited Tarn into the room and activated the screen. To Tarn"s amazement, a recording of Stewart Ransom himself had appeared.
Tam learned later that this message from Ransom was played to every incoming leader and that he was the third such to hear the words of the colony"s founder since his death. Ransom, speaking to as yet unborn descendants, kept his speech simple and brief, repeating his reasoning for applying Back to Basics Back to Basics principles to the colony, explaining his decision to draw the technological cut-off line at pre-twentieth-century levels, and advising those who came after him that there might be times when, in certain circ.u.mstances, the colony might need to turn to more contemporary technology and where, in the ship, certain items had been hidden for just such an occasion. Of course Ransom had no way of knowing that much of the ship would be destroyed during landing. Tam later learned that quite a bit of high technology had survived and much of it was for the private use of the leader alone. When he took office, Tam had made a personal vow to leave as much of it as possible to gather dust: he couldn"t face the idea of being a hypocrite. principles to the colony, explaining his decision to draw the technological cut-off line at pre-twentieth-century levels, and advising those who came after him that there might be times when, in certain circ.u.mstances, the colony might need to turn to more contemporary technology and where, in the ship, certain items had been hidden for just such an occasion. Of course Ransom had no way of knowing that much of the ship would be destroyed during landing. Tam later learned that quite a bit of high technology had survived and much of it was for the private use of the leader alone. When he took office, Tam had made a personal vow to leave as much of it as possible to gather dust: he couldn"t face the idea of being a hypocrite.
Now, deciding against an immediate move to consult the ship"s computer, he headed over to the medical centre to see how the patient was doing. Dee Willoughby lived and worked in the odd-looking building at the end of town. Dee was an important member of the community, fulfilling the roles of dentist and nurse, and by some strange tradition that no one could explain she was also the town"s barber. At least she was now, since the Realist split four years ago. Before then the town had enjoyed the services of a proper doctor, a qualified surgeon, who had received a full medical education from his father (who himself had been trained by his father, the Chief Medical Officer on The Big Bang). The Big Bang). But Dr Forde had been a prime mover in the Great Split and, with him gone, the townspeople had turned to his occasional a.s.sistant, Dee, to fill his shoes. But Dr Forde had been a prime mover in the Great Split and, with him gone, the townspeople had turned to his occasional a.s.sistant, Dee, to fill his shoes.
Dee was a small woman in her forties, with sharp features and a sharp mind to match. Her real interest was in herbal remedies and non-traditional medicine; she considered herself a healer rather than a doctor. Right now, though, she was acting more like a nurse. She had bathed and dressed the stranger"s wound but there wasn"t much else she could do.
The girl had regained consciousness briefly and had called for a Doctor. "You"ll have to make do with me, dear," Dee had begun but the girl had already lowered her head and lapsed back into a deep sleep.
"Another patient saved from certain death?"
Dee looked up and saw that Tam was standing in the doorway. Well?" he added with a smile.
"No call for sarcasm, Sheriff."
"I was only teasing you, Dee. How is she, really?"
Dee glanced back at her patient, considering her answer carefully.
"We"ll have to wait. I"ve done what I can," she told him simply. "The wound wasn"t bad but she may have picked up an infection - you know how unhealthy the wreck is."
"Any idea who who she is?" she is?"
Dee shook her head. "Sorry. Nor where she came from."
Tam looked disappointed. "Shame. It might have helped when I question her friend, the Doctor."
Dee perked up, a sudden hope in her eyes.
"The man you brought in is a doctor?"
Tam smiled, knowing what she was thinking. "He a.s.sures me it"s merely an honorary t.i.tle."
Dee shrugged. "Now that is a shame!" She grinned and glanced back at her charge, who moaned and shuddered on the bed. "I"ll let you know if there"s any change," she promised.
Returning to Zoe"s bedside, she placed a cool, wet cloth on the sleeping girl"s brow. Tam hovered in the doorway for a moment, watching, then turned and left.
When Tam returned to the jailhouse he found Val Freedom waiting for him. The excitement of the past few hours had clearly sobered the man up. As Tam sat at his desk Freedom nodded in the direction of the cells.
Have you interrogated him yet?" he enquired. Tam shook his head. "I was just about to. You want to sit in on it?"
"I thought you"d never ask, Sheriff." That was when Tam knew for sure the man was no longer the worse for drink; he"d never attempt something as subtle as irony when he was two sheets to the wind. Taking the keys from the nail where they hung behind his desk, Tam led the way down the corridor to the cells. "I"m asking the questions, though," he pointed out.
"Whatever you say, Sheriff."
Tam decided he preferred Freedom when he was drunk - he knew where he was then.
As they approached, the strange little man leapt to his feet.
He had been sitting cross-legged on the floor but he managed to get up in one fluid movement. He was clearly a lot more agile than a first glance would suggest. His face was well lined but not sun-beaten like many of the colonists"; the lines suggested intelligence and a sense of fun rather than a lifetime working in the great outdoors. His dress was peculiar too. The colonists wore simple, practical clothes - plain trousers, cotton shirts, leather waistcoats and jackets and hard-wearing boots - but the stranger seemed to be in some kind of fancy dress. He wore checked baggy trousers, a black jacket that seemed too big for him, a scruffy-looking shirt, a spotty and rather ragged bow tie, and could that really be a half-eaten banana sticking out of his breast pocket? If Tam had been on a more populated planet he would have thought the man a vagrant of some kind but here, on Axista Four, he was just an impossibility.
"Who are you and where do you come from?" Tam began, hoping to get a few basics sorted at least.
"I"ve already told you, I"m the Doctor. And I"m a traveller.
Now please, tell me how Zoe is. And Jamie."
"There"s another of you?" rumbled Freedom.
The Doctor nodded vigorously. "Well, yes, of course there is.
Jamie"s a big lad, about Zoe"s age, dark hair..." the Doctor floundered as he considered how best to describe his friend, "Oh yes... and he"s wearing a kilt. Like a skirt. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. We must have left him in that wreck of yours. I insist you organise a search for him at once."
Tam shook his head. "It"s late. It"ll have to wait until the morning."
The Doctor didn"t look too happy about this but decided not to argue. "So tell me where we are, then?" he asked, changing the subject.
"How can you not know where you are?" asked Freedom, suspiciously.
"My, er, s.p.a.cecraft suffered some damage in landing. My navigational instruments weren"t working," he lied, hoping they wouldn"t see his fingers crossed behind his back. The Doctor didn"t like to tell untruths but experience had taught him that, occasionally, a white lie could save a lot of trouble.
"This is the Independent Earth Colony Plymouth Hope on the planet Axista Four," Tam told him. The Doctor smiled as if he"d suspected as much all along.
"And very nice it is too. Have you been here long?"
And to their great surprise Tam and Freedom found themselves telling the stranger all about the colony and its peculiar history late into the night. Finally, the Doctor had suggested that they should perhaps get some sleep and the two colonists went to their beds, leaving the Doctor to sleep in the cell.
Far above the settlement, on board the ECSV Hannibal, Hannibal, Jonn Cartor was looking over some papers when there was a knock at the door to his ready room. He barked "Enter," and the door slid open to admit Veena. Jonn Cartor was looking over some papers when there was a knock at the door to his ready room. He barked "Enter," and the door slid open to admit Veena.
"Any response at all to our signals?" he asked.
Veena shook her head. "Nothing at all," she reported. "Shall I prepare a landing party?"
Cartor considered for a moment. "It is night-time, isn"t it, where the colonists are?"
"They call it Plymouth Hope, sir".
"Then we"ll pay the good citizens of Plymouth Hope a visit first thing in the morning. See to the arrangements. Nothing too over the top but I will want to make an entrance. Armed escort of course."
"Are you expecting trouble, sir?"
Cartor shook his head and grinned. "Not unless I decide to make some."
Veena shivered. She had a nasty suspicion that making trouble was exactly what they were there to do. A slight movement at the edge of her peripheral vision made her look over to the side of the room. A figure stood there in the shadows. With a start Veena realised that it was their mystery pa.s.senger, now revived from suspended animation.
Cartor saw her expression.
"Administrator Greene," he announced, "this is my First Officer, Veena Myles."
The stranger stepped forward, revealing himself to be a small, sallow-skinned man with cold, dark eyes. "Delighted to meet you," he said, offering his hand in greeting. Veena swallowed hard and shook his hand; his grip was weak and limp.
There was something about the administrator that made her blood run cold.
Chapter Five.
Jamie woke and for a moment he had no idea where he was.
A groan from the other side of the room soon reminded him.