"I"m sorry, Bill. You"ll have to hand him over. The only way I can defeat Axos is by using the TARDIS. To do that I must have the Master"s help. He has certain knowledge that is no longer available to me." The Doctor smiled. "Anyway, he"s quite a competent mechanic.
He may as well earn his keep! "
The Master shot him a murderous glance, but said nothing.
Reluctantly, Filer unlocked the Master"s handcuffs. Jo leaned closer to the Doctor. "How can you possibly trust him?" she whispered. "You know he"ll kill you first chance he gets."
The Doctor gave her a rea.s.suring pat on the head. "Don"t worry, Jo. The Brigadier"s given me this." He produced the Master"s laser gun. "That"ll keep him in order."
But Jo wasn"t rea.s.sured. The Doctor was quite unused to carrying weapons, let alone using them. She couldn"t help feeling that his nature was no match for the Master"s evil cunning. Like Filer, she was very worried as she watched the Master follow the Doctor from the room.
Loaded down with camera equipment, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton struggled to the top of a low wooded rise and peered over the edge. Benton said, Right on target." There below them was the low mound which was all that could be seen of Axos.
"It doesn"t seem to be doing anything, sir. Just sitting there."
"Let"s hope it goes on doing just that, Sergeant," whispered Yates. "Well, on with the show. Our viewers are waiting!" They set up the camera at a convenient vantage point, camouflaging it as best they could with rocks and branches. Then they moved carefully back down the ridge, laying cable behind them, until they reached their Land Rover which was hidden in a clump of bushes.
Quickly Benton connected up the cable to the one in the Land Rover. Yates meanwhile was on the R/T. "Trap One to Greyhound over..."
They heard the Brigadier"s voice. "Receiving you loud and clear, Trap One. Over."
Yates glanced at Benton who nodded. "All fixed up, sir."
Yates spoke into the R/T. "Eyes down, look in!"
The Brigadier"s voice crackled back. "Never mind the comedy, Captain Yates. Are you ready or aren"t you?"
"Sorry, sir. You should be getting a picture now...
The Brigadier was watching a small monitor screen in the main control room. On it appeared a clear picture of Axos-doing, as Benton had just observed, precisely nothing. "Affirmative, Trap One.
Maintain surveillance."
The Brigadier put down the R/T set as Chinn bustled into the control room, a chicken sandwich still clutched in his hand.
"Brigadier, I demand full access to the communications equipment.
Unless I"m allowed to send reports to the Minister, to the country, Britain will get the blame for all this."
"You mean you"ll you"ll get the blame," said the Brigadier unpleasantly. "And quite right too, Mr Chinn." get the blame," said the Brigadier unpleasantly. "And quite right too, Mr Chinn."
"If you don"t allow me access to the Ministry..."
The Brigadier lost patience. "We are in the middle of a major crisis, Mr Chinn, and I have more to worry about than your desire to whitewash yourself. Now, stay out of my way or I"ll have you put under arrest."
Chinn lapsed into an offended silence, wandering over to the picture window. In the laboratory below, the Doctor and the Master were busy dismantling the Particle Accelerator. Perched on laboratory stools, Jo and Filer were chatting quietly.
Jo couldn"t help smiling at Filer"s gloomy face. "Cheer up, Bill!
You look like a disappointed bloodhound."
"All bloodhounds look disappointed. It"s an occupational disease."
"Why so gloomy? You"ve got your man! "
"Have I? I don"t like it, Jo."
"Nor do I. But all we can do is wait."
Filer shook his head. "I don"t mean the hanging around-I"m used to that. Or even the Axos business. That seems to be out of our hands..."
"Then what is is worrying you?" worrying you?"
" They They are." He nodded across the laboratory. "Look at "em! are." He nodded across the laboratory. "Look at "em!
Thick as thieves."
The Master and the Doctor stood by the Particle Accelerator, talking in low voices as they worked. Filer muttered, "I"ve got a feeling there"s something going on. Something we"re not supposed to know about."
Jo said, loyally. "Don"t be silly, Bill. The Doctor"s using the Master because he needs his help, that"s all."
Inwardly she wasn"t so positive. She remembered her own early suspicions when the Doctor had taken such a sudden interest in Winser"s work. And why had had the Doctor wanted the TARDIS the Doctor wanted the TARDIS brought down to Nuton? She knew how bitterly he resented his exile to Earth. Any chance of escape would present a tremendous temptation. Was the Doctor ready to buy his freedom at any any price? price?
Even if it meant making a deal with the Master? The dismantling process completed, the Doctor and the Master carried a pile of electronic parts into the TARDIS, closing the door behind them. Filer looked at Jo. Her face was as worried as his own.
The Doctor unloaded his collection of electronic oddments onto the console and started sorting through them. "The Master watched sardonically. "I"m still waiting to hear this brilliant scheme of yours, Doctor."
The Doctor looked mildly surprised. "Don"t tell me you fell for that too? There isn"t one. There"s no way of stopping Axos now.
Things have gone too far."
"Indeed? Then may I ask what we"re doing here?"
"Isn"t it obvious? If you can help me to get my TARDIS going, we can both escape."
"Doctor! Are you actually suggesting an alliance?"
The Doctor whirled round. "Why not?" he demanded with sudden pa.s.sion. "Do you really think I intend to end my days as a heap of dust-on the second rate planet of a third rate star?"
"What? You mean you"re prepared to leave your precious Earth to the tender mercies of Axos?"
"Certainly. You know why why I"m on Earth. My fellow Time Lords exiled me here." I"m on Earth. My fellow Time Lords exiled me here."
The Master stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I see. But why should I I help you?" help you?"
"Well-we are are both Time Lords." both Time Lords."
"And mortal enemies, as you very well know! I"ll need a better reason than that, Doctor."
"Very well." The Doctor"s voice hardened. "If you don"t help me, I"ll hand you back to UNIT. You"ll be a prisoner on a doomed planet."
"And you"ll be doomed with me!"
The Doctor nodded. "I"m very well aware of it. We escape together-or we die together 1 "
The Master was still unconvinced. "Why so generous, Doctor?
Why not hand me over to UNIT and escape yourself?"
The Doctor looked shamefaced. "I can"t. The Time Lords have put a block on my knowledge of Dematerialisation Theory."
"Ah, I see. How very unfortunate."
"Well," said the Doctor. "Make up your mind. Time"s running out you know-for both of us. Death-or freedom? Which is it to be?"
11.
The Feast of Axos The Master looked thoughtfully at the Doctor. Was he really capable of such ruthless realism? But the logic of the Doctor"s arguments was unanswerable. It pleased the Master to think that even the Doctor was ultimately selfish. "Very well, Doctor. I accept."
"Good. Well now, you"re the mechanic. How do do we get the TARDIS going again? What"s the answer?" we get the TARDIS going again? What"s the answer?"
The Master held up a complicated section of machinery. "The answer, Doctor, is here-the trigger mechanism from the Particle Accelerator. It has the potential to supply the deficient elements of your dematerialisation circuit. With a little ingenuity I may be able to combine one with the other to produce a functioning whole. But it will take time."
"Not too much time. I hope," snapped the Doctor. "Right, you get on with the repairs. I"ll look after the s.p.a.ce/Time Co-ordinates.
I"ve already fed the equations into the computer."
"Once you"d have worked them out in your head, Doctor,"
mocked the Master.
"Once I didn"t need your help for anything," said the Doctor bitterly. "But times change." He started to leave the TARDIS, returned and removed a component from the console. "In case you finish before before I get back. You might be tempted to leave without met" I get back. You might be tempted to leave without met"
The Doctor left the TARDIS, slamming the door behind him.
The Master chuckled, and started work.
Inside Axos, all was calmness and order once more. The attempt to conquer Time travel had been abandoned. Axos was going about its normal business-the total absorption of all life and energy from a living planet. The Voice whispered, "Data indicates distribution now complete. Activate Nutrition Cycle."
All over the world, scientists watched in horror as the Axonite they were studying began to grow... soon it was smashing its way out of their laboratories and destroying all in its path. Now people remembered the warnings sent out by UNIT. But it was too late. The Axonite was on the move...
"It"s surfacing, sir. The whole thing"s just... coming up out of the ground!"
As Yates"s voice crackled over the R/T Chinn, the Doctor and the Brigadier watched the scene on the monitor in fascinated horror.
Like a gigantic jellyfish, the heaving, quivering bulk of Axos was rising out of the ground. The mound had become an enormous hill, and it was still growing. Soon it would be as big as a mountain, big enough to engulf the whole Nuton Complex.
The Brigadier grabbed the R/T. "Yates, Benton, pull out at once. Back to the Complex on the double."
Yates"s voice was more than a little shaky. "With the greatest of pleasure, sir. Trap One out."
The Brigadier put down the receiver. "Well, Doctor, what happens now?"
The Doctor studied the swelling horror on the screen. "Axos will begin feeding. First on direct energy sources, like this Complex, then on anything in its path. It will grow even more, and become more mobile. It will probably send out smaller units to protect itself..
The R/T crackled into life again. The Brigadier picked it up, and listened to the frantic voice on the other end. Then he said curtly, "We"re doing all we can. I"ll keep you informed." He flicked a switch and the set went silent. "That was UNIT H.Q., Doctor. This stuff"s on the rampage all over the world."
Chinn was shaking with fright. "Where will it end, Doctor?