"You traitor!" he hissed.
Vap Oppat Pol was standing just inside the cell door, holding a box with rough holes punched in the lid. holes punched in the lid.
"Call me all the names you wish," Vap said. "Pull my eyestalks out by the roots.
Tear my sh.e.l.l from my tail. You cannot do worse than I would do myself My shame could obliterate an entire Guild of sacrificial scapegoats." shame could obliterate an entire Guild of sacrificial scapegoats."
"Why?" Daph shook his head in disgust. "Can you tell me? Do you know why you betrayed your own race?" you betrayed your own race?"
Vap Oppat Pol shrugged: a long shudder that ran the length of his body.
"Money, my friend. What else is there?"
"You did this for money money !" !"
"We were losing the war. The Skel"Ske Skel"Ske would have staved off the inevitable for would have staved off the inevitable for a month, perhaps two. We would have been wiped out. Hithis was lost, whatever a month, perhaps two. We would have been wiped out. Hithis was lost, whatever I did." Vap Oppat Pol looked away. "I wanted to survive, so I offered the humans I did." Vap Oppat Pol looked away. "I wanted to survive, so I offered the humans a deal. What was wrong with that?" a deal. What was wrong with that?"
"And now? Have you come to watch me bleed for them too? Isn"t the knowledge that you have betrayed Hithis enough?" that you have betrayed Hithis enough?"
Vap glanced around, furtively. "I"ve been betrayed too!"
"Really?" Daph ladled his voice with irony, but Vap didn"t seem to notice.
"Yes! I overheard a conversation. They"ve just been stringing me along. They have no intention of paying me at all. They"re going to torture me!" have no intention of paying me at all. They"re going to torture me!"
"How terrible." This time, even the thick-skinned Vap must have realized that he wasn"t being taken seriously. he wasn"t being taken seriously.
"I"m getting out," he said. "I"ve booked pa.s.sage on a ship leaving Earth with the little money that they did pay me. I"ll make a new life for myself somewhere out little money that they did pay me. I"ll make a new life for myself somewhere out in the galaxy. There"s a planet named Oolis I"ve heard about. I could make a life in the galaxy. There"s a planet named Oolis I"ve heard about. I could make a life there." there."
Hope washed through Daph"s body, washing away the pain and the weakness.
"And me . . . ?" he whispered, hardly daring to hope.
Vap Oppat Pol handed him the box.
"There"s an electronic key here that will open all the doors between here and freedom, and a map of how to get from here to the Undertown. You"ll be safe freedom, and a map of how to get from here to the Undertown. You"ll be safe there." there."
"I can"t stay on Earth!" he said, shocked. "They"ll spot me instantly. I"m a Hith!
We"re at war!"
148.Vap shook his head sadly.
"The war"s over, my friend," he said. "They don"t like us, but they tolerate us."
He laughed mirthlessly. "Humans are magnanimous in victory. They can afford to be." to be."
"Does that mean . . . I can go home? To Hithis?"
Vap Oppat Pol opened his mouth to answer, but his skin flushed grey with shame and he turned away. shame and he turned away.
"Good luck," he said, and slithered towards the door. Before he reached it, he turned his eyestalks to say: "Three last things. Firstly, I"ve rescued the control turned his eyestalks to say: "Three last things. Firstly, I"ve rescued the control nexus and put it in the box with the key and the map. They can"t operate the nexus and put it in the box with the key and the map. They can"t operate the Skel"Ske Skel"Ske properly without it. Keep it safe. Secondly, if I"m ever back on Earth, I"ll properly without it. Keep it safe. Secondly, if I"m ever back on Earth, I"ll leave a message for you written on the wall outside the s.p.a.ceport Five Offworld leave a message for you written on the wall outside the s.p.a.ceport Five Offworld Zoo. Remember that: the s.p.a.ceport Five Offworld Zoo. Thirdly, I"m changing my Zoo. Remember that: the s.p.a.ceport Five Offworld Zoo. Thirdly, I"m changing my name. Word has gone out that all Hith must do the same, to remind the humans name. Word has gone out that all Hith must do the same, to remind the humans of what they have done to us. I am going to call myself Homeless Forsaken of what they have done to us. I am going to call myself Homeless Forsaken Betrayed And Alone, because I am. If you ever need me, that"s the name I"ll be Betrayed And Alone, because I am. If you ever need me, that"s the name I"ll be living under on Oolis." living under on Oolis."
He slithered away, leaving nothing behind him but bad memories and a box.
Daph"s pseudo-limb hovered indecisively over its lid before reaching out to flip it open. He gasped, and flinched as . . . open. He gasped, and flinched as . . . the time tank hissed open and Dantalion"s soggy face loomed over him. the time tank hissed open and Dantalion"s soggy face loomed over him.
"Powerless Friendless," he said, "my friend, how do you feel? Hold nothing back, describe every ache and every pain."
"I . . . " He paused, thinking So much information. So many memories. He extruded a fine pseudo-limb and traced the pattern of scars along his side, remembering every cut, every burn, every last inch of pain.
How stupid could he have been? All that time spent hiding down in the Undertown. All that money so carefully saved up so that Dantalion could rip out the memories of his humiliation like human dentists would remove a rotten tooth. All for nothing. Time and time again he"d busked outside the s.p.a.ceport Five Offworld Zoo, not knowing what residual memory drove him there. Time and time again he had crept into the INITEC building through the unlatched window in the lower level to clean himself, not knowing that it was from there that he had escaped in the first place. He had a score to settle. Oh yes, by the G.o.ds of Hithis, he had a score to settle.
"My name isn"t Powerless Friendless," he said quietly. It"s . . . " The knowledge welled up within him: familiar, yet new. "It"s Daph Yilli Gar!"
Dantalion nodded, unsurprised.
"I will have to ask you to remain quiescent for the nonce, whilst I perform numerous but painless checks upon your newly restored psyche. However, I 149would be interested to ascertain what your intentions might be once you leave my humble abode?"
Powerless Friendless lay back, settling into his personality as he might slip on an old but much loved tunic.
"I have some unfinished business," he said.
While Bernice tried to make Cwej more comfortable, Forrester hot-wired another flitter. Bernice could see she didn"t have Cwej"s skill at it, managing to lock the security systems on five of them before she hit on the right combination of wires, keys and brute force. The canopy on a dark grey company rental model sprang open.
"Come on," she said eventually, "let"s get him in."
Finding an area of unburned skin to pick Cwej up by was almost impossible.
In the end Bernice slid her hands under his shoulders and Forrester grasped his half-melted boots. He groaned. His skin was feverishly hot and sticky, and smelled of roast pork. Bernice felt her stomach churn.
"Do you have any destination in mind?" she asked as they manoeuvred Cwej across to the flitter"s open door, "or are we just winging it from here?"
"There"s a medic down in the Undertown. Dantalion"s his name. He"s an alien: a Birastrop. I"ve pulled him in on umpteen occasions for unauthorized brainwipes and unlicensed beppling, but he"s under the wing of one of the crime lords so there"s always plenty of witnesses to say he was somewhere other than where we say he was. He used to be Surgeon Imperialis, so the rumour goes, despite the fact that the Empress hates aliens. The rumours don"t say why he"s down here now. He"s a juke addict, but he"s good."
They laid Cwej down in the back of the vehicle, accidentally smearing the covers with blood and flakes of burned skin.
"And we"re going to him?"
"You have a better idea?"
"Loads," Bernice muttered to herself, "but this is your century."
Forrester took the flitter up on a spiral path that would bring them out of the upper entrances. Daylight streamed in like the beam of a searchlight. Bernice shut her eyes against the glare, suddenly realizing how tired she was.
She couldn"t remember the last time she"d slept; even on the Imperial shuttle to Earth she had lain awake, staring at the ceiling, worrying about being separated from the Doctor and the TARDIS. The moment when she knew things were getting on top of her was when she realized she was missing Ace.
Whose stupid idea had it been to come to Earth in this era in the first place?
Oh yeah. Hers.
The flitter emerged into a rainstorm at the bottom of an immense inverted cone. Clouds diffused the sunlight into a pearly glow. Forrester angled their 150path to hug the block"s sides as they headed downwards. Within moments they were clear of the block and heading down towards the darkness, the ca.n.a.ls, bridges, old buildings and perpetual rain of the Undertown.
Forrester took them down as fast as she could, plummeting like a hawk after a mouse until she was barely ten metres from the surface of the ca.n.a.l. Just as Bernice was about to suggest that it might be a good idea if they levelled out NOW! NOW! thank you very much, she pulled them out of the dive and screamed left into an alley perpendicular to the one that they had been heading for. thank you very much, she pulled them out of the dive and screamed left into an alley perpendicular to the one that they had been heading for.
"Should shake off anybody watching," she shouted over her shoulder.
"Fooled me," Bernice yelled back, "and I was sitting here."
The walls of the alleyway were buildings that Bernice dated to the late twenty-first century. It was a shame her first close-up view of the Undertown was under circ.u.mstances where she couldn"t really stop to sightsee. A domed church that must have been seventeenth-century at the latest flashed past, followed by a stretch of transparicrete webbed with fine cracks. This place was an architectural archaeologist"s vision of heaven.
"How"s Chr Cwej?"
Bernice forced herself to look down. His exposed skin was blistering almost as she watched, and the cracked areas were weeping a clear fluid. She didn"t dare remove any of the ragged remnants of his robes or armour they looked as if they"d melted into his flesh.
"I"ve seen worse," she replied, and then, quieter, "but not recently."
"Not long now."
The flitter was skimming so close to the surface of the water that it was throwing up arcs of silver spray. Privately Bernice wondered if that wasn"t likely to draw attention to them, but Forrester seemed to know what she was doing. Of course, the Doctor always seemed to know what he was doing, but Bernice knew how deceptive that was.
The flitter slowed, settling onto the water. Forrester coasted up to a metal jetty that projected out from a brick walkway beneath an arched bridge. She opened the canopy. Keeping the engine running, she said, "Quick, pull him out. I want to set this thing going as fast as possible."
"Look, he"s inju"
"I know what he is, but if you don"t get him out fast then we"ll all be dead.
Would that improve his condition?"
"It couldn"t make it much worse," Bernice muttered as she carefully lifted Cwej onto the jetty. Forrester ran her hands quickly over the controls, then leaped out to join Bernice.
"That should help," she said as the flitter"s engines roared, and it rose steadily into the sky. "I"ve set it on a random flight plan. With luck, n.o.body will ever be able to track us back here."
151."Where"s this Dantalion then?"
Forrester glanced around, orienting herself, and then pointed to a small side alley.
"Right now? Down there."
Beltempest dreamed.
After entering the unreal realm of hypers.p.a.ce and setting the controls to automatic, he had darkened the visor of his s.p.a.cesuit and turned off the external audio sensors. The flickering lights, the little noises, they had all been bothering him. He"d lost count of the number of times he had whirled around, screamer rifle at the ready, just knowing that Pryce was behind him, long fingernails extended towards his eyes. Twice he had only just managed to stop himself blasting a hole in the door. He kept telling himself how stupid he was being there was no way that Pryce could get through the bulkhead to him but it did no good. He was so much on edge he was becoming a safety hazard.
Eventually he had realized that the only answer was to turn off every source of disturbance, and drift. Meditate. Relax.
For a while, as he sat listening to the rasp of his breathing and the inter-mittent beep of the life-support system, he had imagined he could hear a faint giggling in the distance, or feel thuds and crashes transmitted through the bulkhead as Pryce dismembered the Doctor, but gradually his fingers had relaxed their grip on the guns, and his mind had let go.
And he dreamed of a time before his name was Beltempest.
Sunset was a crimson slash across the soft underbelly of the clouds as he approached the cliff-faced rear of the laboratory.
"Ready?" he snapped.
"Ready, sir," the under-sergeant said behind him. He turned. The troops were already in attack formation, spread out across the albino lawn with their weapons at the ready. Stunners only, of course. They wanted the professor alive. at the ready. Stunners only, of course. They wanted the professor alive.
He checked his chronometer. Perfect timing. The captain should be on the simcord to Pryce, keeping him occupied while the Landsknechte went in through the back. He didn"t like sneaking around, but n.o.body knew what sort of weaponry back. He didn"t like sneaking around, but n.o.body knew what sort of weaponry Pryce had been working on in there. Pryce had been working on in there.
"Okay, let"s go."
He had the only destructive weapon: an industrial blaster with a beam focus point six feet from the barrel. Quickly he made four precise cuts in the shape of point six feet from the barrel. Quickly he made four precise cuts in the shape of a door. The adamantium wall glowed, and a rectangular section fell, towards a door. The adamantium wall glowed, and a rectangular section fell, towards him. Two Landsknechte ran in to catch it before it hit the lawn. A third took the him. Two Landsknechte ran in to catch it before it hit the lawn. A third took the blaster. blaster.
He led the way into the darkened building.
That was a mistake.
152.His bepple-enhanced infrared vision scanned the darkness, picking out hot spots. Human-shaped hot spots. He unholstered his stunner, but they weren"t spots. Human-shaped hot spots. He unholstered his stunner, but they weren"t moving. There was something odd about them; they looked like bundles of moving. There was something odd about them; they looked like bundles of spaghetti wrapped around narrow, rigid tubes. Moving closer, he switched his spaghetti wrapped around narrow, rigid tubes. Moving closer, he switched his flashlight on. flashlight on.
Blood pumped through sagging arteries that were draped around human skeletons. Black nerve fibres like spiders" webs enveloped the bodies. Eyeb.a.l.l.s rolled in soundless agony. soundless agony.
He didn"t hear the sound of the stunners behind him, or realize until much, much later quite how close Professor Zebulon Pryce and his vibroknife had got to much later quite how close Professor Zebulon Pryce and his vibroknife had got to the back of his neck. All he did was scream as he realized what Professor Zebulon the back of his neck. All he did was scream as he realized what Professor Zebulon Pryce had done to his friends. And scream. And . . . Pryce had done to his friends. And scream. And . . .
. . . Screaming an alert signal into his ear. Beltempest jerked awake, flailing his four arms for a moment, dropping his guns all over the floor. He whirled, expecting Pryce to be standing behind him, but the cabin was empty. The alarm shrilled on. His eyes scanned the controls, desperately searching for the problem. Life-support okay. Power levels okay. Hypers.p.a.ce engines . . . off line.
He raised his eyes to the simcord screen, dreading what he would find.
Black s.p.a.ce, and stars.
They had left hypers.p.a.ce.
And directly in front of them sat an old, battered warship of very alien design.
Beltempest flicked on the switch that patched him into the ship"s communications net. "Doctor?" he said. "Prepare yourself. We have guests."
153.
Chapter 11.
"ease do not adjust your receiver. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Please do not adjust your receiver. Normal service soon as possible. Please do not adjust your receiver. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Please do not adj" will be resumed as soon as possible. Please do not adj"
Dantalion"s lair was a sixteenth-century church sandwiched between two late twenty-seventh-century oxygen factories. Forrester didn"t bother knocking.
Instead she just kicked the rotting wooden door in. Or, at least, she tried to kick the rotting wooden door in. The door stayed where it was, while she rebounded, swearing.