"Why ever not?" retorted the Doctor. It"s the usual method. I don"t have any calling cards to leave, unfortunately, but I"m sure that our host will overlook that, under the circ.u.mstances."
"You mean you"re going to tell the Master who we are and expect him to invite us in for a nice, cosy cup of tea?"
"Not quite that, my dear... I"m not quite as green as as your friend, Mr Karkus! I"m well aware that we are in a world of fiction: so we must announce ourselves accordingly.
Now then if I might suggest that you make yourself scarce for a moment... ?"
He held out the voluminous cape, flinging it around Zoe"s shoulders, and drawing her close to him so that she was completely hidden.
From the depths of the cloak, her voice sounded m.u.f.fled and uncertain: "Are you really sure this is a good idea?"
By way of reply, the Doctor pulled the bell: and they both heard the sonorous clanging of an old-fashioned bell as it pealed somewhere within the building. For a few seconds, nothing happened: and then a small metal grille slid open in one of the wooden door-panels, and a harsh voice demanded: "State your name and attribution."
The Doctor took a deep breath, then replied in a pa.s.sable impersonation of the comic-strip character: "I...
am... the... Karkus."
"And your attribution?"
("What"s that?" whispered Zoe but the Doctor silenced her swiftly.) "From... year... 2000... Comic... strip... in... Hourly Hourly...
Telepress."
There was another short wait, and then the voice responded: "Authenticated... You may enter the Citadel."
The grille slid shut, and the huge wooden doors swung open. The Doctor walked forward, into the darkness of the entrance hall, with Zoe still concealed beneath his cloak.
With a reverberating thud that sounded horribly final, the double doors closed behind them: and then there was the sound of a lock clanging shut, and of bolts grinding into place.
At the Control Centre, the Master who had been watching this little charade through a television camera concealed in the door panel sat back in his chair, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Mission accomplished," he said happily. "This time, the trap was foolproof."
8.
A Meeting of Masters "I wish I could make you understand!" exclaimed Jamie, in a sudden burst of frustration.
He paced the word-processing laboratory in which he was still trapped, desperately trying to find some way to get through to Lemuel Gulliver. For his part, Gulliver sat patiently on top of the storage cupboard, swinging his stockinged legs and trying to fathom what Jamie was talking about.
"You still say you saw no-one and heard nothing when the White Robots entered this room?" Jamie continued.
"I know not what they mean," repeated Gulliver.
Jamie sighed, and tackled the problem from another angle. "Listen... You heard the voice giving orders to search for me... Why do you suppose that happened?"
Gulliver shrugged. "I conjecture that these were orders given by some person in authority."
"The Master?"
The traveller hesitated for a moment, then replied cautiously: "It is possible."
"All right then... If there aren"t any robots whose job is it to carry out these orders? Who was I hiding from?"
"Why, sir, the Yahoos without doubt."
Now it was Jamie"s turn to be at a loss. "What do you mean by Yahoos? Who are they?"
"A cursed race of inferior creatures I never beheld so disagreeable an animal."
They looked at each other blankly: the chasm of misunderstanding between them was wider and deeper than ever.
Jamie threw up his hands in despair. "This isn"t getting us anywhere, is it? I"ve never seen any Yahoos, and you"ve never seen any White Robots, so we don"t know what we"re both talking about..."
Then he looked round swiftly, at the sound of the door opening, alert to defend himself. But in the open doorway to his immense relief stood not an enemy, but two friends: the people he most wanted to see.
"Doctor! Zoe!"
"Jamie at last "
Zoe took a step forward, but Jamie warned her not to come any closer.
"Stay where you are! Don"t move!"
"What"s the matter?" she asked.
"There"s some sort of gadget hidden down there a kind of light, and if you walk through it you"ll set off the alarm system. I got it going myself when I tried to get out that"s why they sent a gang of White Robots to hunt me down."
"White Robots here? Like the ones we met before?"
asked Zoe in dismay.
"Aye, the very same."
"Doctor, did you hear that?"
But the Doctor was hardly listening: he was much more interested in the warning system, and had stooped down to examine the beam of light.
"Ah, yes, the Robots. I"m not surprised, I thought they"d turn up sooner or later... But this this is really fascinating an early twentieth-century device based upon a simple photo-electric cell. Just make sure you step over it, Zoe, without breaking the circuit like this... " is really fascinating an early twentieth-century device based upon a simple photo-electric cell. Just make sure you step over it, Zoe, without breaking the circuit like this... "
He led the way, high-stepping across the light-ray; and no alarm bells sounded. Zoe followed his example, while Jamie watched apprehensively: but all was well.
She hugged him with relief, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank goodness you"re safe and sound what happened in the labyrinth? When we got back, you"d disappeared though we did find your jacket."
Now the Doctor returned the rough tweed coat, and Jamie slipped it on, thankfully, as he explained: "Well, I had one of those tin soldiers hot on my heels. But luckily I was able to do a bit of rock-climbing, and I got myself up the cliff face robots can"t climb, you see... But now I"m here, I"m not too sure how I"m going to get out again. I hid from the White Robots when they came searching for me, though this gentleman still refuses to believe it "
"I know not what they mean," repeated Gulliver, doggedly.
"Don"t start all that again! At least we"re all together now so let"s make some sort of plan to get out of here."
The Doctor shook his head: "Sorry I"m not leaving yet... I only just got here! Besides, I have some important business to attend to."
Zoe chimed in: "The Doctor"s made up his mind he"s going to see the Master."
For the first time, Lemuel Gulliver looked alarmed. He stood up and rubbed his chin, saying uneasily: "This resolution, perhaps, may appear very bold and dangerous."
Zoe said: "I couldn"t agree more that"s exactly what I keep telling him, but he won"t listen to me."
"What makes you say that?" the Doctor asked Gulliver.
"I think you should not be here. The Master makes the rules for the government of this Kingdom: it would be unwise for you to disobey."
"You think he shouldn"t try to see the Master?" said Zoe.
"So do I."
Gulliver pondered, then said: "If you will consider my advice... Swear a peace with him and his Kingdom: find yourselves a place to lodge, and stay quietly with the expectation that things would mend."
The Doctor nodded, and appeared to take this recommendation to heart. "Yes I see... Well, I shall certainly think over your advice very carefully, my dear chap... I"m sure we"re all very grateful."
Gulliver doffed his hat and bowed low: "Your servant, sir... Young lady and young gentleman... Your servant."
And he took his leave of them pa.s.sing through the electric beam once more without disturbing it in the very least. The door shut behind him.
"But if you don"t see the Master, what will you do?"
Jamie wanted to know.
"Who says I won"t see the Master? It"s what I came to do! I can be rather stubborn, once my mind is made up."
"But Doctor " Zoe protested. "You told Mr Gulliver you"d take his advice and "
"Forgive me, my dear I told him I would think think about his advice. Well, now I"ve thought and I"m quite convinced I"m doing the right thing. We"ve got to fight back take the battle into the enemy camp." about his advice. Well, now I"ve thought and I"m quite convinced I"m doing the right thing. We"ve got to fight back take the battle into the enemy camp."
"That"s more like it!" Jamie rubbed his hands. "What"s the matter, Zoe are you feeling scared?"
"I"m not scared exactly " she hedged. "But I do think it"s all pretty hopeless... I mean, we"re surrounded and outnumbered we"re fighting in the dark we never know where the next attack is coming from... The Medusa was bad enough, but "
"Oh, aye the Medusa," Jamie remembered. "I read about that while I was here."
"You read about it?" The Doctor c.o.c.ked an enquiring eyebrow. "How? Where?"
Jamie crossed to the tickertape machine, picked up a handful of paper ribbon and showed it to the Doctor.
"See for yourself... This stuff kept churning out and then it suddenly stopped."
" The Doctor test report... Failure... Cancel... The Doctor test report... Failure... Cancel... " The Doctor frowned, and slowly his brain cleared. "Do you know, I believe I"m beginning to understand." " The Doctor frowned, and slowly his brain cleared. "Do you know, I believe I"m beginning to understand."
"I wish I did," said Jamie ruefully.
"Look at it this way," the Doctor began, taking it step by step. "When someone writes about an incident that has actually happened we call it history... You follow me so far?"
"Aye go on."
"But suppose someone writes about something that hasn"t really happened we call it fiction right?"
"Right."
"So if the written word comes first, and the incident happens after it this is how fiction is created. The Master wrote about a sword, tempting me to slay the Medusa. If I"d fallen into the trap and actually done it suiting the action to the word, so to speak it would have become an incident in fiction, and I myself would have turned into a fictional character!"
"That"s horrible... " Zoe shuddered. "What would have happened to you after that?"
"After that I should only have been able to say or do whatever the Master created for me to say and do... I should have been trapped in this dimension for ever a figment of his imagination."
"Trapped for ever ?" Zoe shied away. "Come on, let"s get out of here before it"s too late!"
"Zoe, be careful !"
The Doctor tried to call her back, but it all happened so quickly she stepped through the beam of light, saying: "It must be safe Mr Gulliver walked through it "
And as she broke the circuit, all the alarm bells began jangling again, and the metallic, distorted voice boomed through the speakers: "Attention, attention! There are still aliens at large... Renew the search... "
Zoe retreated in horror: "I"m sorry I didn"t realise I thought if he went through "
The Doctor explained: "Gulliver isn"t real, remember he"s not flesh and blood like us."
"That"s true," Jamie agreed. "I noticed myself he doesn"t cast any shadow." Then he broke off, hearing the approaching electronic hum. "The Robots they"re on their way... There won"t be room for all of us in yon wee cupboard!"
"Where else can we hide?" Zoe looked around frantically.
Only the Doctor stood his ground: curiously unmoved.
"We don"t need a hiding-place," he said calmly.
"What do you mean? We can"t let them find us "