"I"ll get to the comms set-up," she announced and, keeping her head low, she darted out of the building they were in.
Max moved forward to watch with concern as Hali zigzagged across the gap between this prefab and the next. Suddenly there was an explosion - much closer this time, a grenade of some kind. A dust cloud filled the air, obliterating his view of Hali. When the dust cleared there was no sign of her. For a moment Max felt an aching hollow in the pit of his stomach, a sense of unbearable loss but then, joy, he saw a figure roll to its feet and dash into the building that housed their communications equipment. Hali was still alive. Max felt a warm glow of relief and noticed, with some embarra.s.sment, that his cheeks were wet with tears. Feeling ashamed at having let Hali take the lead, he reached for a weapon.
"Forstat? Keneck?" he cried, and was relieved to hear answering cries from not too far away. "Check your weapons; I think it"s time we took some offensive action of our own." He headed out of the building and was quickly joined by the other two men. Forstat, a nervous young man with a mop of wild, black hair, pointed in the direction of the far end of the camp, to the complex of interconnected pods in which they had secured the stranger Jamie. "I think I saw something head in there. There were two of them," he reported.
"Just two?" asked Max.
Forstat nodded.
"Three against two, that"s more like it," muttered Max, grinning now. "Follow me..."
He set off in the direction Forstat had indicated.
For the Tyrenians, surprise had given way to frustration. The human in the skirt didn"t seem to know anything about Dyselt, or anything much else come to that. He claimed to be a visitor himself, and a prisoner of the humans. Zenig guarded the entrance while Lorvalan continued his questioning.
"Where is our comrade?" he demanded again, underlying his unspoken threat by forcing the point of his gun under the human"s chin.
"I"ve already told you. I"ve never seen any one else like you two. Do ye think I could forget seeing a doggie walking on two legs?"
There was a sudden movement from the corridor and Zenig came bolting in.
"They"ve got us surrounded," he said, a note of alarm in his voice.
"What!" Lorvalan was shocked; how could they have lost the initiative like that? He turned back to the human. "You will be our hostage."
Jamie shrugged. "I don"t think that"ll get you anywhere.
They had me as a prisoner here myself."
"Is there another way out of here?" demanded Lorvalan, dismissing the notion of using the boy as a hostage.
"Do you not think I"d have gone if I"d have seen one? Looks like we"re in the same boat. Maybe we can help each other"
The Tyrenian looked at the human for a long moment. The species was notoriously untrustworthy - everyone knew that humans had no concept of honour - but the man was clearly telling the truth: he was a prisoner. Lorvalan came to a decision, raised his gun, aimed and fired.
Hali had reached the communications equipment and was making a general call for help. She spoke into the microphone in her best English, aware that the signal might have to travel a long way before it was received. But surely someone, somewhere, would hear her. She just hoped it would be in time.
"This is Hali Devine of the Earth Colony on Axista Four. We are under attack by hostile unknown forces. Repeat, we are under attack..." She recorded a loop of the Mayday message, attached location markers and sent her signal out on a rotating spectrum of radio frequencies.
Now all she could do was wait. From outside she heard fresh firing, the unmistakable sound of energy weapons. But this time there was return fire, gunfire from revolvers. Some of her fellow Realists were fighting back. Checking that her own weapon was fully loaded, Hali hurried out to join her friends.
The bridge of the ECSV Hannibal Hannibal was as calm and ordered as ever. All the crew members went about their a.s.signed tasks with their normal, quiet efficiency. In the command chair Veena sat and watched as the tractor beam slowly pulled the lifeless fighter craft back into the ship. Readings showed that life support was now at minimal - Veena had decided to override Carter"s orders and had reactivated the oxygen supply. The girl Zoe might have been foolish but she didn"t think she deserved to die, and neither would Cartor when he calmed down. She hoped. was as calm and ordered as ever. All the crew members went about their a.s.signed tasks with their normal, quiet efficiency. In the command chair Veena sat and watched as the tractor beam slowly pulled the lifeless fighter craft back into the ship. Readings showed that life support was now at minimal - Veena had decided to override Carter"s orders and had reactivated the oxygen supply. The girl Zoe might have been foolish but she didn"t think she deserved to die, and neither would Cartor when he calmed down. She hoped.
She looked over at the closed door of the ready room where Cartor and Administrator Green had disappeared moments ago. Raised voices could be heard but she couldn"t make out the words. She wondered what they were arguing about.
The Comms officer swivelled in his chair and caught her eye. She acknowledged him with a nod. "Receiving a signal from the planet," he reported.
"Let"s hear it," she ordered and, through a mess of static and crackles, Hali"s voice filled the room.
Cartor strode on to the bridge just in time to hear the message as it played for the second time. "Okay, I think we"ve heard enough."
"Under alien attack, sir?" questioned Veena.
"Apparently. Take a fighter down there. Lend a hand..."
Veena was already heading towards the lift doors.
Less than ninety seconds later, Veena was running on to the flight deck, zipping up her flight suit as she ran. The recently hijacked fighter had just been re-admitted through the force field and a ground crew was beginning to pull it back to its cradle with a tug.
"Abort that," Veena shouted at them. "I"ll take that one out.
She"s warmed up, isn"t she?"
It was also blocking the launch route for any of the other fighters; if she was to get down there quickly it had to be this one. The section leader of the ground crew nodded in acknowledgment of her order and signalled the tug driver to pull the ship around.
"What about the hostile?" asked the man as Veena joined him. She glanced at his overalls, which bore the name "Rachird".
"Have you been inside, Rachird?"
"No sir!"
Veena pulled her helmet on to her head. "I"ll deal with the hostile," she said and began to climb into the fighter craft.
Inside she found Zoe unconscious in the pilot"s seat. She picked the girl up and placed her on one of the three pa.s.senger couches. She didn"t know what to do with her but was sure that leaving her exposed to Cartor"s anger would be a bad thing. And furthermore she didn"t trust the mysterious Greene to treat her with any respect either. In time, Veena was sure that she could calm Cartor down and point out that the girl was merely scared, rather than some malicious agent, but for now she"d be safer where Veena could keep a personal eye on her. She sat down in the pilot"s chair, hooked herself up to the controls and activated the launch sequence.
The Doctor was worried: Kirann"s explanation for recognising him had created more questions than it had answered. She had explained that the last person to see her before she"d gone under had been a stranger, a VIP visitor doing a tour of the ship before it left on its long voyage. A small man in an old-fashioned pale suit. A man who"d given her some bizarre last-minute instructions and something else.
"It was you. Sort of. And you told me to expect you," she continued. "Of course you looked a little different back then..."
"I did? Let me guess... same sort of build, white linen suit, straw hat?"
"Umbrella with a red question-mark handle. Yeah, that"s the guy. Quite stylish in an understated sort of way," Kirann added with a smile.
The Doctor bristled. "I"ve never been too concerned with matters of appearance," he muttered.
Kirann gave him an appraising look. "No, I can see that,"
she said.
The Doctor, however, was more concerned about greater issues. "But what was he - I - thinking of? It"s a flagrant breach of the Laws of Time!"
"All he said," Kirann explained, "was that he needed to make sure that I knew who you were when the time came. He said there wouldn"t be time for you to earn my trust."
The Doctor nearly exploded, a rare fury on his features.
"He told you?! About what was going to happen? About us reviving you. About what was going on here on Axista Four?"
"No, not in any detail. In fact he was extremely vague. Said too much foreknowledge was a dangerous thing."
"I should coco," the Doctor commented bitterly. "What manner of man am I to become? Playing hop, skip and jump with the Laws of Time. They won"t stand for it, will they, he must know they won"t!"
"They?" Kirann asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
The Doctor, his anger waning, moved away so that the shadows of the trees covered his face. He had lowered his voice. "My people. I"m something of a runaway, you see..."
"He asked me to give you this," Kirann added, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a small crystal. "He said you"d know what to do with it."
"Oh, did he?" replied the Doctor in a rather unimpressed tone, as he took the crystal carefully. He gave it a quick appraisal, then slipped it into his top pocket. "Well, no doubt I will when the time comes..."
After that they walked on in silence for a while. Eventually they reached the edge of the forest and began the slow descent into Plymouth Hope. Finally the Doctor broke the silence. "I don"t suppose my future self said anything more useful about what"s going on here. Like the ident.i.ty of the alien creature that attacked the medical centre?"
Kirann shook her head. "I"m afraid not. But we"ll soon find out when we study the security footage of the raid."
"What security footage?" asked the Doctor.
Kirann smiled. "The medical centre is the original building?"
The Doctor nodded. "Then there"ll be no problem. There are hidden cameras in all the rooms, basic security measures. No doubt our Back to Basics Back to Basics friends have forgotten all about them but I haven"t." friends have forgotten all about them but I haven"t."
Dee Willoughby was not impressed when she heard the news.
"Security cameras?! Recording everything that I"ve been doing?"
"The AI on the security system is pretty sophisticated. It automatically wipes routine matters after a time delay. Don"t worry - your life isn"t all on file!" Kirann a.s.sured her.
Dee didn"t look too mollified. The idea that her home had been spying on her was deeply unpleasant.
The Doctor and Kirann had asked Dee and Freedom to meet them in the medical centre as soon as they had arrived in town. Some effort had been made to clean up the mess from earlier but it still looked like a bombsite. Kirann confidently walked over to a wall-length cabinet of equipment that Dee had never even touched. There was a screen, and some kind of computer, but under Back to Basics Back to Basics rules it had never been something she"d thought about using. Now Kirann was flicking switches on it and powering up the system as if it was the most normal thing in the world. rules it had never been something she"d thought about using. Now Kirann was flicking switches on it and powering up the system as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Does none of you know how this works?" she asked, a little incredulously.
Dee and Freedom exchanged embarra.s.sed looks. "Tam, the Sheriff, knows a little, I think, but he was injured in the attack," explained Freedom.
"Let"s see what it was that attacked him, shall we?"
Kirann activated a control and a small device unfolded itself from the wall and extended towards her. Dee felt herself tense; there was something threatening about the small black box with a gla.s.s lens at the front that reminded her of a weapon. The device stopped just in front of Kirann"s face.
Kirann stepped forward, pressing her eye into the lens which, Dee now noted, had a shaped rubber cover to accommodate just such a move.
"Iris-recognition," murmured the Doctor in what might have been a helpful manner if either Dee or Freedom had known what he was talking about. Dee watched in wonder as the device scanned Kirann"s eyeball and then bleeped in approval. The screen that was part of the equipment flickered into life. Dee was astounded; it showed an image of the room they were standing in, but as it had been before the attack.
She found herself looking from the wreckage of the room to the image on the screen and back again.
"Let"s see if we can find the relevant footage," muttered Kirann, sitting at the console and beginning to adjust various controls. The image on the screen blurred and when it stopped again the view was markedly different; now smoke filled the room and a ma.s.sive creature was striding through the smoke.
Dee gasped. It was every bit as horrific as the fleeting glimpse she had had before. A large, powerfully built humanoid creature but with savage canine features, pointed ears high on the head, a p.r.o.nounced jaw and clawed paws.
"A Tyrenian," whispered the Doctor.
Kirann whirled round.
"You know these creatures, Doctor?"
The Doctor looked grim.
"Only by reputation. And it"s not a particularly nice reputation I"m afraid."
Chapter Twelve.
The sound of the energy weapon was all too familiar to Jamie. Once he had known nothing more dangerous than an English musket, but in his travels with the Doctor he had discovered far greater horrors: machine-guns, laser weapons, disintegrators. It seemed to Jamie that, as he travelled further into the future, weapons became more brutal, more destructive and more deadly. At the same time, however, some things remained as true in the far reaches of s.p.a.ce and time as they had been in the Highlands of his youth; a weapon fired at you was only dangerous if the aim was true.
Lorvalan"s shot pa.s.sed clean over Jamie; partly this was due to Jamie hurling himself towards the floor but mostly it had to do with the small but critical weight of Billy Joe Kartryte dropping directly on to the alien from a hole in the ceiling. As he jumped Billy Joe reached out and pulled the energy weapon out of the hands of the dog monster. Lorvalan reacted with a snarl and threw the human boy off like a rag doll. Jamie, rolling for cover on the floor, had a fleeting glimpse of the startled expression on the boy"s face as he flew through the air and then there was a sickening thud as he hit the wall at speed. Jamie stretched for the weapon that Billy Joe had managed to separate from its owner. His hands grasped it by the barrel and pulled it towards him just as Lorvalan leapt for the spot where it had been lying. Jamie pulled the weapon to him and felt for the trigger. The second alien was aiming his own weapon at him. Next to him the crumpled figure of Billy Joe stirred. A hand reached out and yanked at the canine"s leg, jerking his aim high just as Jamie located the firing mechanism on the weapon he held. The second creature took the impact in the shoulder. Vivid red blood splashed the wall as the impact of the bullet tore a hole in the creature"s body. With a howl of pain he fell to the floor, right on top of Billy Joe.
Jamie felt sick - he hadn"t realised how powerful the gun was. He hadn"t wanted to cause so much damage. All he had wanted was to escape in peace. He looked at the crumpled figure of the alien. Had he killed it? And how was Billy Joe?
The local boy had just saved his life twice. Before Jamie could check on him, however, the first creature had recovered and dealt him a sharp blow to the back. Jamie stumbled forward, dropping his weapon. And then the creature was on his back; he could feel his hot breath on his neck. Jamie pushed back, using the floor for leverage, but the creature kept hold of him. Together they rolled backwards and their fight continued.
Inside the Medical Centre, the freeze-frame image of the mysterious Tyrenian was still in place on the screen. Kirann, Val Freedom and Dee Willoughby stood around looking at the savage beast, while the Doctor sat cross-legged on a table and told them everything that he knew about the Tyrenians.
It didn"t amount to very much. A few rumours here and there, tall tales told in s.p.a.ceport bars by traders and soldiers-for-hire, the occasional reported confrontation, rarely verified.
"The Tyrenians are said to be a fiercely proud warrior race,"
the Doctor concluded. "Humanoid but, as we saw, distinctly canine in appearance."
"But where do they come from?" asked Freedom.
The Doctor threw up his hands in defeat. "No one knows, I"m afraid," he said. "They appeared as if by magic towards the end of the last century. But no one has any idea where from."
"Perhaps it was here that they originated," speculated Kirann in a quiet voice.
The others looked at her, aghast.
"You think they might be natives of Axista Four?" asked Dee.
Why not? They had to originate from somewhere," replied Kirann evenly.
"But the colony... It"s not possible..." Freedom was finding it hard to put his thoughts into words.
Dee came to his rescue. "We wouldn"t have been allowed to colonise this planet if it was already inhabited by intelligent life. It"s against all the rules."
The Doctor and Kirann exchanged a fleeting but knowing look.