"Great-great-great-" said Leela, puzzled.
The Doctor grinned. "Don"t worry about it." He went over to Jackson. "There is is another way into the P7E, you know." another way into the P7E, you know."
"The bridge will be guarded..."
"Ah, but what about the other side of the ship-the goods entrance, eh? They still need food, don"t they, and they still need fuel, and the rock has to go in somewhere."
The Doctor beamed. "Come on, everyone, let"s get moving. You lead the way, Idas. Oh, and bring the sword.
I"ve had an idea..."
Before they realised what was happening the Doctor was bustling them off.
Some time later, after a long and wearying journey through the tunnels, they stood hiding in the entrance to an open area criss-crossed with tracks and filled with dump-trucks.
They were watching a gang of weary slaves shove a rock-filled dump-truck along a single-line track.
The track ran up to a rock wall and disappeared into a gaping mouth, from behind which came the sinister grinding sound of the Crusher.
The slaves wheeled the truck to the opening and tipped the load of rocks through the hole. They pushed the empty truck away. Nearby more slaves were waiting to wheel up more rock-filled trucks. From a command-post, black-hooded Guards stood supervising the operation. It all looked like a miniature railway yard, with the sweating bodies of slaves replacing the engines.
The Doctor tapped Jackson on the shoulder. "There you are! What did I tell you? There"s our goods entrance."
Jackson looked dubious. "We"ll have to overpower the Guards silently, before they can use their weapons. One shot and the alarms will go and they"ll know we"re inside.
it"ll he difficult..."
"But not impossible," whispered Leela cheerfully, reaching for her knife. This kind of commando operation was just what she liked. "If we can just get behind them..."
"Well, it"s just about feasible," admitted Jackson reluctantly. "If this plan of the Doctor"s works."
"Well, it"s not really my plan," said the Doctor modestly.
"I got it off a chap called Ulysses. He pulled it off a while ago... Come on !"
He began creeping towardg a siding filled with empty trucks.
Herrick recovered consciousness. He tried to move and found himself clamped into a heavy metal chair. A helmet had been fitted over his head. Leads from the helmet ran to a nearby console, where a black-hooded figure stood waiting.
Two more hooded figures dressed in sombre brown were standing over him. Their eyes glinted redly through the eye-slits of their hoods.
"Who the blazes are you?" whispered Herrick weakly.
"We are Seers, servants of the Oracle. I am Ankh, and this is my colleague, Lakh. Where are you from?"
"Minyos."
A searing pain shot through Herrick"s entire body.
"Liar," said Lakh coldly. "Minyos was destroyed a hundred thousand years ago."
Ankh repeated the question. "Where are you from?"
"Minyos!"
"Liar!" screamed Ankh. More pain. The pain stopped.
The man at the console called, "The readings show that he speaks the truth, Master."
"Silence," screamed Ankh. "We are the only survivors of Minyos."
"You?" jeered Herrick. "Never!"
"What do you seek here?" asked Lakh. "Why have you come?"
"We seek... the future..."
"There is more, Master. He is holding back."
"More!" ordered Lakh.
Another jolt of pain seared through Herrick"s body, making him writhe within his bonds. Ankh leaned over him. " What else? What else? We can make the brain boil inside your skull. We can make the brain boil inside your skull. What else? What else? " "
"All right, all right," gasped Herrick. "No reason you shouldn"t know. We are Minyans-and we seek the cylinders containing the Race Bank."
"Race Bank cylinders?" There was genuine puzzlement in Ankh"s voice. "What cylinders?"
"The cylinders contain the genetic inheritance of the Minyan people. They were placed on board this ship, the P7E."
"You are mistaken," said Ankh.
"He is lying," snarled Lakh.
Herrick writhed under another jolt of pain.
"There is no purpose, Master," called Tarn. "He speaks the truth-or what he believes is truth."
"The Quest," muttered Herrick. "The Quest is the Quest!
Lakh leaned over him until he could see nothing but the sinister hood and the glowing red eyes. "This is not a ship! Not your P7E. There is no such thing as this Race Bank of which you speak."
"If you were really Minyans you would know," said Herrick obstinately.
"The Guards and slaves are all of true Minyan descent.
So are we, though we have evolved far beyond them."
"Then who are you? What are you?"
"We are the Seers, the servants of the Oracle. Our flesh has been changed by the one we serve. See!"
The two sinister figures swept off their hoods-and Herrick gave a gasp of horror. Their heads were made of polished metal, with two great glowing red crystals for eyes.
The servants of the Oracle were no longer human. The heads they wore had been given them by their Master.
One by one the slaves pushed their trucks up to the mouth of the Crusher. One by one the trucks deposited their rocks and were pushed away. There was a steady crunching roar as the Crusher devoured its food.
The last two slaves on the line were Idmon and Idas.
They pushed a truck which seemed curiously light. A length of plastic sheeting had been tossed over the top.
The Doctor and Leela were crouched down inside the truck. They heard the roar of the Crusher coming nearer and nearer...
"Any minute now, Leela," whispered the Doctor.
But at this point the Doctor"s plan went a little astray.
Idas was supposed to stop the truck before before he tipped it, giving the Doctor and Leela a chance to climb through the hole and work their way round the Crusher and into the ship. he tipped it, giving the Doctor and Leela a chance to climb through the hole and work their way round the Crusher and into the ship.
At the last moment his foot turned on a chunk of rock.
He stumbled, inadvertently shoving the truck forward.
To his horror it tipped tipped-shooting the Doctor and Leela straight towards the Crusher...
Chapter Twelve.
The Battle Just as the Doctor"s truck reached the feeder-hole, a second truck appeared, pushed up by another group of slaves. As it came level with the squad of Guards it stopped. Jackson and Orfe leaped out, shield guns in hand.
As Orfe dropped down from the truck, a Guard raised his blaster. Tala shot from the side tunnel, and the Guard fell-straight on to an alarm b.u.t.ton. The howl of a siren filled the air.
More Guards appeared and opened fire on the rebels.
Jackson and Orfe fired from behind the truck. Tala and her armed slaves joined in from the side-lines, and the Guards were caught in a deadly crossfire.
The howl and whine of blasters filled the air.
The Doctor, meanwhile, was clinging to the edge of the truck by his finger tips, trying desperately not to slide out and through the hole. Below him he caught a glimpse of a pit filled with whirring, grinding, sharp tooth cogs, pulverising the chunks of rock into powder.
The metal of the truck was slippery with fine rock-dust, and the Doctor felt his fingers beginning to slide. Leela was scrambling for a hold just above him... and if she slipped and fell on to him...
The Doctor felt hands grasping his feet, taking the weight from his aching fingers. He slid down carefully, and Idas helped him to his feet.
Leela came down after him, and the Doctor helped her from the truck.
He peered through the mouth of the Crusher. It was a steeply slanted shaft, leading straight into a pit filled with grinding machinery. There was no way through it or round it - not in one piece, anyway!
Abandoning his original plan, the Doctor dodged behind the truck. A fierce three-cornered battle was raging all around him. Orfe and Jackson were hiding behind the nearest trucks, exchanging fire with the Guards. Tala and her freed slaves were shooting from the side-lines.
"Come on, Leela!" shouted the Doctor. Ducking and weaving, they ran across to Jackson. At the sight of the Doctor, K9 zipped out of a side tunnel to join them.
"Right," said the Doctor briskly. "We haven"t much time, so everybody stay calm. K9, back to the ship, check all systems are in order and prepare for blast of. We may be leaving in a bit of a hurry."
"Affirmative," said K9 and glided away.
The Doctor turned to Jackson. "I"m going to try to find some other route to the Oracle. It"ll mean working my way round the ship. Can you and the others manage to hold off the Guards?"
"We can try, Doctor," said Jackson grimly. He ducked as a maser-bolt whizzed past his head.
"Good! Leela, you"re coming with me."
"I"m staying to fight!"
"You"re coming with me! You too, Idas. Have you got that sword?"
Idas paused for a moment to clasp hands with his father.
"Take care, my son," murmured Idmon.
"You too, father."
"Right, Jackson," said the Doctor. "We"ll be off. Can you give us covering fire?"
"Ready when you are, Doctor."
The Doctor sprinted for the side tunnel at the back of the loading area, Leela and Idas at his heels.
Guards opened fire as soon as they broke cover. Jackson and the others replied with a sustained volley from their shield guns. The Doctor and his two companions reached the tunnel entrance and disappeared from sight.