Forcing their way through the b.l.o.o.d.y shambles left by its pa.s.sing, Roz and Chris hurried after it.
As they burst out of the door at the top of the stairs, they saw the hovering sphere surrounded by a semicircle of cloaked and hooded figures. Fierce red eyes glowed beneath the hoods and they saw long muzzles and the flash of sharp white fangs.
"Wolverines!" whispered Roz.
Laser carbines appeared from beneath the cloaks, all trained on the glowing shape that hovered before them. Laser-fire crackled from a dozen carbines. Sizzling with energy, the glowing sphere grew larger, brighter. It whirled into the semicircle of Wolverines like a wheel of knives, the deadly tentacles lashing out and cutting them to pieces. Arms and legs flew in all directions, and they saw one Wolverine sliced totally in half.
Leaving dead and dying Wolverines in its wake, the sphere vanished down the alley in a storm of energy.
Silence fell on the alleyway, though you could still hear m.u.f.fled screams and shouts from the nightclub below. Half a dozen Wolverines were still alive and on their feet and their laser carbines were trained on Roz and Chris.
"One has escaped us, but we can still carry out two-thirds of our contract," snarled their leader. "Kill them."
Roz glanced quickly at Chris. They had blasters in their hands but they were seriously outnumbered. They"d take a few Wolverines with them, but they"d be lucky to survive.
There was a sudden fierce crackle of blaster-fire but it came from behind behind Roz and Chris behind them and over their heads. One of the Wolverines staggered and fell. Chris and Roz who managed to shoot straight for once shot down two more. The three survivors turned and fled down the alleyway only to find it blocked by an Ogron police patrol. Roz and Chris behind them and over their heads. One of the Wolverines staggered and fell. Chris and Roz who managed to shoot straight for once shot down two more. The three survivors turned and fled down the alleyway only to find it blocked by an Ogron police patrol.
Two of the Wolverines opened fire and were immediately shot down. The third, their leader, veered to the left, ran straight up a rough stone wall, and disappeared over the top.
Roz and Chris swung round to look at their unknown rescuer. To their astonishment it was the Ogron they"d knocked out and left by the door.
"Thanks," said Roz. "We don"t deserve it, but thanks."
She turned to Chris. "Come on, we"ve got to get after Karne."
The blaster in the Ogron"s hand swung to cover them. "No.
You stay."
"But we must go "
"On the contrary, dear lady, you must stay," said a familiar voice behind them. "You"re both under arrest. Good work, Murkar."
They turned and saw the approaching police squad was led by Garshak himself.
"Well, well, quite a night out," said Garshak.
It was some time later and they were back in his office, only this time there were no tea and cakes.
"A nightclub wrecked, half a dozen dead citizens, a dozen more shocked, seared and wounded and poor old Raggor gutted like a Fugora-fish. Oh, and about a dozen dead Wolverines, though they"re no loss. What have you got to say?"
"Not guilty," said Roz.
"That"s right," said Chris "We didn"t commit any crimes, we were trying to prevent one."
"There"s always a.s.sault on the police," said Garshak. "You two laid out one of my officers."
"We didn"t know he was one of your officers when we laid him out," said Chris. "What was he doing there anyway?"
"Looking for this criminal of yours. I put someone in all the places on that list I gave you. Apparently Sakis or whatever that thing was that looked like Sakis started coming to the club a few nights ago, spread a lot of credits around, and convinced Raggor that he had some shady scheme that was going to make them both rich. He had an appointment to discuss it tonight."
"The only scheme was the one he used in the change bureau," said Roz. "To get into his office and rob him."
"Old Raggor had plenty too," said Garshak. "Richest crook in Megacity. No use to him now, with all his insides outside."
"Listen," said Roz urgently. "You"ve got to let us get after him. We stopped him from robbing the nightclub manager, so his resources are limited, and he won"t have changed his disguise. It"s the best chance of catching him we"ve ever had."
"I"m afraid you"re already too late," said Garshak. "I checked. Someone answering Sakis"s description turned up at the s.p.a.ceport right after that business at the club. They noticed him because he looked odd. He booked pa.s.sage off-planet on the first ship that was leaving. Didn"t seem to care where it was going."
"Where was it going?" asked Chris.
"Place called s.p.a.ce Station Alpha. It"s a way-station somewhere out in deep s.p.a.ce. Transit point for a lot of the transgalactic lines."
Roz groaned. "He could go anywhere from there." She looked appealingly at Garshak. "Please, you"ve got to let us go after him." She hesitated. "I imagine you realize we haven"t been telling you the whole truth about all this."
Garshak gave her an impa.s.sive look. "The thought had occurred to me."
"Well, I still can"t and even if I could, you probably wouldn"t believe me. But if we don"t find Karne the consequences will be terrible. Not just more killings, but a war that could devastate all the galaxy this planet included."
Garshak sat for a moment, drumming his long hairy fingers on his desk. Then he looked up. "I"m going to do something very stupid. I suppose that"s what you"d expect from an Ogron. I"m going to believe you, and let you go. But I want you off this planet and don"t come back."
"Don"t worry," said Chris.
Garshak smiled. "There"s another shuttle for Station Alpha leaving late tonight. I imagine you"ll want to be on it. I"ve laid on transport to take you straight to the s.p.a.ceport. Your luggage is being sent from the hotel."
"You"re in a great hurry to be rid of us," said Chris.
"I"ve a great deal of investigation to do," said Garshak blandly. "That terrible business at poor Raggor"s club. All his loot stolen by some interplanetary criminal "
"But Karne didn"t get hold of the money this time,"
protested Chris. "We stopped " He broke off with a grunt as Roz"s elbow took him in the ribs.
She stood up. "We"ll be on our way, then. I hope you manage to get your hands on those missing credits."
Garshak rose as well. "I shall do my best," he a.s.sured her.
Chris got up too. He opened his mouth, caught Roz"s eye, and then closed it again.
"Goodbye then and thanks," said Roz.
Garshak bowed. "A pleasure to meet you, dear lady," he said.
Roz had a strange feeling that he meant it.
The Ogron at the door opened it and stood aside.
Chris and Roz went out, leaving Garshak standing alone in the incongruous luxury of his office.
Roz and Chris were driven to the s.p.a.ceport in a sleek police hovercar, presumably the property of Garshak himself.
The driver was Murkar, the Ogron who had posed as a bodyguard in the club. He parked outside the main entrance and led them into the vast metallic dome of the s.p.a.ce terminal, where a port official was waiting with their travelpacks.
Murkar stood by while they bought shuttle tickets for Station Alpha and saw them to the landing bay. With an Ogron policeman for escort, service was excellent. There were no delays, no customs examinations, no formalities.
Roz was quite glad of the Ogron"s presence. She"d noticed one or two cloaked figures lurking in the s.p.a.ceport"s dark shadows.
Murkar was still with them as they stood by the entry ramp to the shuttle, waiting for the barrier to open.
"I get the impression Garshak ordered him to make sure we really go," said Chris.
"Garshak good Chief," rumbled Murkar.
Roz looked up at him in surprise. It was rare to hear an Ogron speak. She wondered if he was one of the partial successes in the experiment that had produced Garshak.
"Not much law in Megacity," growled Murkar. "What there is us!" He tapped his chest. "Ogrons do good get respect.
All because of Garshak."
"Well, they say every city gets the police it deserves," said Roz. The barrier rose and she held out her hand. "Goodbye.
Thanks for saving our lives."
Murkar"s great paw took her hand with surprising gentleness.
Chris held out his hand as well. Murkar took it in a bone-crushing grip that Chris did his best to match.
Murkar bared long yellow fangs in a grin. "Strong!" he said approvingly. He rubbed his own skull. "Hit hard! You get tired of Pinks I give you job with us."
"There"s a career opportunity," said Roz.
They picked up their packs and filed on board the shuttle. It was bare and functional, half-filled with weary engineers and technicians, going back to work on Station Alpha after a spell of debauchery in Megacity.
When they were settled in their seats, Roz produced a small crystal cube and spoke quietly into it.
"This is Roz. Positive ID Karne, now heading for s.p.a.ce Station Alpha. In pursuit. Ends."
The cube glowed for a second then disappeared from the palm of her hand.
"What the h.e.l.l was that?" demanded Chris.
"T-mail. Time Lord technology. The information goes into the s.p.a.ce-time continuum and reappears in the TARDIS data-banks."
Chris nodded. "Let"s hope the Doctor keeps up with his T-mail."
Lieutenant Gorsk listened impa.s.sively as the Wolverine leader came to the end of his account. "Total disaster, in fact. Is it too much to hope that you know where they are now?"
"We have watchers at the s.p.a.ceport," growled the Wolverine. "The ones you seek and the one they they seek took the shuttle for s.p.a.ce Station Alpha." seek took the shuttle for s.p.a.ce Station Alpha."
"And is that all you have for me?" said Gorsk angrily. "One small nugget of information in all the dross of failure!"
Actually Gorsk was quite pleased. This one piece of vital information was all that he needed.
"Now it is finished for us," growled the Wolverine leader.
"You must pay."
"Pay for what? I ordered you to kill these people and they still live. I asked you to follow them, and they got away.
You"ve done nothing, achieved nothing."
"You must pay as you promised," said the Wolverine menacingly. "I have lost many pack-brothers. The failure was not our fault. The police interfered."
"The police interfered!"
Although he was quite adequately funded, Gorsk was proceeding according to another aspect of Sontaran policy.
Not only did you employ alien species to do your dirty work, you cheated them, lied to them and betrayed them whenever possible. Just because the necessities of Intelligence work forced you to a.s.sociate with inferior species, there was no need to treat them fairly.
"We made a contract," growled the Wolverine. "Do not try to cheat us. If you do, you will not leave this planet alive."
In Gorsk"s mind the threat justified the course of action he planned to follow anyway.
"Of course I won"t cheat you," said Gorsk indignantly. "I am a Sontaran officer. I give you my word of honour. You shall have everything you deserve. I have your payment here."
He turned to a fieldpack in the corner of the cellar, straightened up with a blaster in his hand and shot the Wolverine dead.
Booting the still-twitching body into a corner, Gorsk powered up the generator and sent a brief message via sub-s.p.a.ce radio.