Astonished at the sudden pa.s.sion in Linx"s voice, Irongron said uneasily, "That"s as maybe. Meanwhile, what about the weapons you promised?"
"Some you have already. There will be more. Keep your side of the bargain, and I shall keep mine."
Irongron scowled blackly for a moment then gave a great rumbling laugh. "We make good allies, Linx. Each has much that the other needs."
Linx said nothing. A moment later a little group of men entered the hall. Bloodaxe was in the lead and behind him came men-at-arms dragging Eric, Sir Edward"s squire. His face was bruised and b.l.o.o.d.y, and it was clear that he had been badly beaten, but his jaws were still clamped shut, and there was a gleam of defiance in his eyes.
"Has he spoken yet?" growled Irongron.
"He has a stout heart, this one, Captain. He has said not a word." There was a note almost of admiration in Bloodaxe"s voice.
"Good!" Irongron turned to the Sontaran. "A fair measure for you, Linx."
"Very well. Hold him still."
Eric looked at the Sontaran in horror. Irongron"s men were bad enough, but at least they were human enemies.
Somehow he knew that this squat armoured figure was something strange, evil, totally alien.
He struggled wildly in the grip of his captors as Linx advanced steadily towards him.
5.
The Doctor Disappears Linx marched up to the struggling squire and stood looking into his face. Then he reached into the pouch at his belt and produced a slim metal rod. He adjusted a control and held the rod up to the prisoner"s face. A light glowed briefly on its end, and there was a faint electronic hum.
Eric stopped struggling. He straightened up, his eyes wide and staring, and stood pa.s.sively waiting. Linx turned away.
"Well, come on, Linx," bellowed Irongron. "Have at him!"
"I have finished. Ask him what you wish."
"But you have done nothing!"
Linx held up the metal tube. "This is a key. I have unlocked your prisoner"s mind. Question him."
Irongron walked slowly up to Eric and stared into his blank face. "How many men guard Sir Edward"s castle?"
"There are but ten in the garrison now," said Eric promptly. "Old men for the most part, save Hal the archer."
Bloodaxe looked at Irongron in astonishment, and took a pace back, crossing himself. ""Tis witchcraft!"
Irongron went on with his questioning. "And does he plan to attack me with his ten old men?"
"He sent me with a message to Lord Salisbury, asking for aid. If he succeeds in raising a force against you, then he will attack."
"Listen to the fellow, Bloodaxe. He cannot babble fast enough!" Suddenly he noticed Linx moving towards the door. "Stay, Linx. Have I given you leave to go?"
The Sontaran ignored him. In a spurt of rage, Irongron s.n.a.t.c.hed up an axe and sprang in front of Linx, raising the weapon menacingly.
The metal tube was still in Linx"s hand. He raised it, the end glowed again, brighter this time, and a beam of light sheared through the axe-haft just below the head. The axe-blade fell on to the flagstone with a clang, and suddenly Irongron was clutching a useless wooden pole.
Linx thrust past him. "Each of us has much to do, Lord Irongron, and we are wasting time. I will be back."
Irongron flung down the axe-haft in a rage. "The insolent dog! By my sword, Bloodaxe, I shall pickle that star warrior of ours in boiling oil before I have done with him." He swung round on the prisoner, who still stood gazing blankly ahead. "Now, lad, tell me of the defences of Sir Edward"s castle."
Everything was quiet in the Research Centre. Most of the scientists had retired to their cubicles for the night. The Doctor however was still very much awake. He sat on the end of his bed, a.s.sembling a complicated looking apparatus from an a.s.sortment of electronic parts, which he was taking from a small black box. Someone appeared in the cubicle doorway. It was Professor Rubeish, gla.s.ses pushed up on his forehead, spiky white hair on end with excitement. "Miss Smith!" he exclaimed dramatically.
"Wrong cubicle, Professor. I"m the Doctor. Why don"t you try keeping your gla.s.ses on the end of your nose?"
The old man pulled the gla.s.ses back into place, and peered at the Doctor through thick pebble lenses. "Listen, Doctor. Miss Smith is not Miss Smith!"
"She isn"t?"
"No. And in that case-who is she?"
The Doctor put down his sonic screwdriver and sighed.
"I"m not sure I understand you, Professor."
"I just b.u.mped into Sir Matthew Dingle, the biophysicist. I told him I was on the same landing as Lavinia Smith the virologist, and do you know what he said?"
"He said she"s in her late sixties, and in addition she"s in America."
"He said she"s..." began Rubeish, then broke off, staring indignantly at the Doctor. "How did you know that?" He took a step towards the Doctor and b.u.mped into the bedside table and nearly sent the Doctor"s apparatus flying.
The Doctor grabbed it just in time.
"Do be careful, my dear Rubeish. This is rather delicate equipment."
"Suppose she"s a spy? What would we do?"
"Shoot her?" suggested the Doctor cheerfully. "Oh, come on, Rubeish, she can"t do any harm. She"s just a slip of a girl."
"It"s the mind that can be dangerous, Doctor," said Rubeish solemnly. "Some women can think almost as well as a man. Do you know, she tried to tell me you you were a spy. were a spy.
Typical female cunning that."
At this rather unfortunate moment Sarah popped her head into the cubicle. "Ah there you are. I wasn"t sure if I was on the right floor."
The excuse was feeble enough, and Rubeish glared suspiciously at her. "Goodnight," he snapped and scurried into his own cubicle, slamming the door behind him.
Sarah looked at the apparatus on the Doctor"s table. It seemed to contain valves, condensers, and a number of oddly-shaped aerials. "What is that thing, Doctor?"
"My alarm clock."
"Oh, don"t be so patronising. What is it really?"
The Doctor straightened up. "This, my dear young lady, is a rhondium sensor. It detects the presence of delta particles. At a pre-fixed spectrum density an oscillation begins in this cylinder here, which opens a vacuum valve, which triggers an alarm bell, which wakes me up. Clear?"
"Why do you want to be woken up when it detects delta particles?"
"I happen to be very interested in delta particles,"
snapped the Doctor. "Why do you ask so many questions?"
"Because I"m a journalist." Sarah noticed that the Doctor was stretching out in the armchair beside his bed. "Are you going to sleep there?"
"If you will allow me to!" The Doctor glanced pointedly at the cubicle door. "Goodnight, Miss Smith."
Sarah took the hint and went back to her cubicle.
Almost immediately Rubeish popped out of his and came over to the Doctor. "Psst, Doctor! Shouldn"t we tell the Brigadier?"
"Tell him what?"
Rubeish nodded towards Sarah. "About her her."
"We can decide what to do about Miss Smith in the morning-if we"re all still here. Goodnight, Professor."
Rubeish went back into his cubicle. He sat on the end of the bed, a worried frown on his face.
Sarah sat down in her armchair, pulling a blanket over her, determined to stay awake.
Only the Doctor seemed calm and relaxed. Sprawled out in his armchair, he was dozing contentedly.
Nothing else happened for quite some time. Sarah"s head nodded, and she dropped into an uneasy sleep.
Rubeish stretched out on his bed fully dressed, wondering if he ought to rouse the Brigadier and tell him about Miss Smith. He was still wondering when he too fell asleep.
In the Doctor"s cubicle a valve in the rhondium sensor glowed brightly, and there was a low-pitched ringing.
Instantly the Doctor sat up, awake and alert. He examined the apparatus. On a compa.s.s-type dial a needle was swinging-pointing directly at Rubeish"s cubicle. The Doctor jumped up and hurried over to Rubeish"s door.
"Rubeish? Rubeish!"
A peevish sleepy voice called, "What is it? What"s the matter?"
Relieved, the Doctor said, "It"s all right, just checking.
Nothing to be alarmed about."
He went to his cubicle and stood staring thoughtfully at the apparatus. Sarah appeared in the doorway. "What"s happening?"
"For a start, you"re asking questions again!" The Doctor studied the compa.s.s needle. It still pointed straight towards Rubeish"s cubicle-and if anything the trace was stronger. Suddenly they heard a yell and a crash-then silence.
The Doctor raced to Rubeish"s door and flung it open.
The cubicle was empty. A bedside lamp lay smashed upon the floor.
"He"s gone," said Sarah unbelievingly. "But we were watching the door-and there"s no other way out!"
The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. "And he was in here a moment ago. I was speaking to him."
Sarah noticed something on the floor and picked it up.
It was Rubeish"s spectacle case. She looked inside. "Well he won"t have gone far. His gla.s.ses are still here-he"s blind as a bat without them."
Sarah at his heels, the Doctor went back to his own cubicle and again studied the readings on his tracking device. Shaking his head, he opened the black box and took out a bulky object like a strangely shaped torch.
"What"s that?" asked Sarah.
"A black-light lamp. I"m just going to check the landing.
Stay here!"
The Doctor hurried on to the landing just as two patrolling sentries appeared. "Have you seen anyone out here?" demanded the Doctor. "Or anything unusual?"
"No, sir. Everything"s quiet."
"Keep still!" Watched by the baffled soldiers the Doctor switched on the black-light lamp and swung it round in a slow arc. He scanned the corridor with no result, then turned his attention to the staircase leading up to the next floor. He swung the invisible beam of the lamp along it, starting at the bottom and moving it slowly upwards. As it reached the darkness at the top of the stairs a strange figure appeared. It was wearing silvery armour, with a great domed helmet.
One of the sentries gave a gasp of astonishment, swung up his sub-machine gun and fired a long raking burst. The figure vanished, and the sentries clattered up the stairs in pursuit. Shaking his head, the Doctor turned and went back into the dormitory. Heads were popping out of the cubicles, and there was a babble of confused questions.
Ignoring them, the Doctor went back into his cubicle.
He studied the readings on the dial, compared them with readings on the black-light device, made a few rapid mental calculations and nodded thoughtfully. Suddenly he heard Sarah"s voice. "What happened, Doctor? What were they shooting at?"
"Shadows, I"m afraid."