Doctor Who - [093] - The Invasion Of Time Read online

  DOCTOR WHO

  AND THE INVASION

  OF TIME

  Based on the BBC television serial by David Agnew

  by arrangement with the British Broadcasting

  Corporation

  TERRANGE DICKS

  No. 35 in the Doctor Who Library

  A TARGET BOOK

  published by

  the Paperback Division of

  W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd

  A Target Book

  Published in 1979

  by the Paperback Division of W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd.

  A Howard & Wyndham Company

  44 Hill Street, London W1X 8LB

  Reprinted 1981

  Reprinted 1982

  Reprinted 1984

  Novelisation copyright © Terrance Dicks 1979

  Original script copyright © David Agnew 1978

  'Doctor Who' series copyright © British Broadcasting Corporation 1978, 1979

  Printed and bound in Great Britain by Anchor Brendon Ltd, Tiptree. Essex

  ISBN 0 426 20093 4

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Contents

  Treaty for Treason

  The President-Elect

  Attack from the Matrix

  The Fugitive

  The Betrayal

  Treaty for Treason

  The space ship was enormous, terrifying, a long, sleek killer-whale of space. Its hull-lines were sharp and predatory and it bristled with the weapon-ports of a variety of death dealing devices. Everything about it suggested devastating, murderous power.

  It was the flag-ship of the Vardan war fleet, heading towards a planet called Gallifrey.

  Inside the space ship was another of even more advanced design, though it would have been difficult to tell as much from the outside. It took the form of a square blue police box, of the kind once used on the planet Earth. Inside was an impossibly large control room. The craft was called the TARDIS, and it was dimensionally transcendental, bigger on the inside than on the outside.

  The control room held a many-sided central console and two people, or to be strictly accurate, one female humanoid and one automaton.

  The human was a girl called Leela. She was tall and strong, with brown eyes and long reddish-brown hair, and she wore a brief costume of animal skins with a fighting knife at the belt. She paced up and down the control room like a great cat. Leela was a primitive, a savage, raised as a fighting warrior in a tribe called the Sevateem.

  The automaton was shaped like a robot dog, and was appropriately called K9. Both were companions of that mysterious traveller in space and time known as the Doctor, and both were wondering what had become of him.

  The Doctor's behaviour tended to be odd and arbitrary at the best of times, but recently he had excelled himself.

  To begin with he had fallen into a strange, abstracted mood, silent for long periods, answering questions with brief, snappish replies. He seemed to be listening much of the time, staring abstractedly into space like someone straining to catch a faint message on the edge of hearing.

  The strange mood had ended in a flurry of equally mysterious activity. The Doctor had hunched himself over the control board and punched a long and complex series of co-ordinates into the navigation circuits, correcting and re-correcting as if determined to arrive at some utterly precise destination in space and time. And now here they were inside an enormous alien space ship. The Doctor had checked their arrival co-ordinates, given a grunt of satisfaction, ordered them not to touch the scanner, and marched straight out of the control room without a word of explanation.

  Leela and K9 were left to wait-and wonder.

  In the war room of the Vardan flag-ship, an enormous screen took up the whole of one wall. On the screen, against a backdrop of stars, was a visual display of the Vardan battle fleet, squadron upon squadron in the typical Vardan V-formation, heading remorselessly towards Gallifrey.

  Studying the display stood a tall, strangely-dressed figure. He wore loose and comfortable-looking clothes with a vaguely Bohemian air. An immensely long multi-coloured scarf was wound about his neck, a battered broad-brimmed soft hat was jammed onto a tangle of curly hair.

  There was a long curved conference table below the screen, and behind the table high-backed chairs held the members of the Vardan war council. An ornate, elaborately-sealed document lay in the centre of the table.

  The Vardan Leader spoke in a thin, impatient voice. 'Speed is vital, Doctor. Sign!'

  Leela completed yet another circuit of the control room, stopped and stared impatiently down at K9. 'How much longer is he going to be?'

  'Prognostication in matters concerning the Doctor impossible.'

  'Prog-what?'

  'I cannot tell.'

  'Can you tell me where we are then?'

  'Affirmative.'

  'Well?'

  'Materialisation has taken place inside an alien space craft.'

  'Why wouldn't the Doctor let me go with him?'

  'I do not know. Prognostication in matters concerning the Doctor is--'

  'Impossible!' completed Leela. 'I know... but he may need help.' Leela was quite convinced that the Doctor was far too impractical to take care of himself. 'I'm going to take a look at the scanner.'

  'Do not touch scanner control, Mistress.'

  'I know the Doctor said we shouldn't... but wouldn't you like to see what he's doing, K9, who he's talking to?'

  'Negative. Curiosity is an emotion. I am not programmed for emotion.'

  'Oh shut up,' said Leela crossly. 'You're no help at all.' She turned on the scanner. Nothing happened. 'What's wrong? Why won't it work?' She flicked the switch impatiently. 'Why?' K9 didn't answer. Leela looked down. 'K9, sulking's emotional behaviour too, you know. If you cannot be curious, then you cannot sulk.'

  More silence.

  'K9, I'm sorry,' said Leela cajolingly. 'I didn't mean to shout at you.'

  'Apologies are not necessary,' said K9, but his tail antenna was wagging gently.

  Leela smiled. 'No, of course not. Now, can you please tell me why the scanner will not work?'

  'The Doctor immobilised the mechanism before he left.'

  'He doesn't trust me!' said Leela indignantly. 'What's he doing out there?'

  'It is time to conclude these formalities, Doctor,' said the Vardan leader impatiently. 'Sign the treaty!'

  The Doctor swung round. 'I never sign anything before I read it.'

  'Then read!'

  The Doctor picked up the document and scanned it rapidly. 'You promised me complete control over the Time Lords.'

  'You will have complete control.'

  'But in paragraph four subsection three, it states that--'

  'Mere lawyers' quibbles, Doctor.'

  'I've heard that one before,' said the Doctor suspiciously. 'Lawyers' quibbles can get you killed.'

  'Sign it.'

  The Doctor sighed. 'Oh well, I've signed so many things in my lives... one more won't make any difference.'

  'But it will,' said the Vardan softly. 'It will!'

  The Doctor produced an old-fashioned fountain pen from his pocket. 'Complete control?'

  'My word on it.'

  The Doctor scrawled an elaborate set of hieroglyphics across the bottom of the document, straightened up, and bowed elaborately. 'I am honoured to serve the glorious Vardan cause.'

  A
few minutes later the Doctor was being greeted with a barrage of questions from Leela.

  'Doctor, where have you been? What have you been doing? What's going on?'

  'Sssh!' said the Doctor. He went straight over to the control console and began punching up coordinates.

  'Doctor, where have you been?'

  'Order K9 to tell you to shut up!'

  ' K9 tell me to shut up? How dare you!'

  Taking Leela's repetition as an order, K9 glided over to her. 'Please adopt silent mode, Mistress.'

  'Now look here, K9...'

  The blaster extruded from beneath K9's nose. 'Imperative, Mistress.'

  Leela knew the blaster would only be set on stun, but being stunned by K9 was quite an unpleasant experience.

  Leela shut up.

  The Castellan's new suite of offices was an elaborate affair of transparent plastic and gleaming metal, with complex control consoles and brightly flickering vision screens everywhere. It was over-technological even by Time Lord standards, but Kelner, the new Castellan felt it helped to maintain his image. (The newly-formed Castellan's Bodyguard Squad served the same purpose) Kelner was a thin-faced, nervous, rather insecure Time Lord who owed his position to a combination of good birth and political intrigue.

  Spandrel the previous Castellan, now retired, had been content with shabby chambers in an old, run down quarter of the Capitol. But then, Spandrel had been a tough, no nonsense character, who felt no need to keep up appearances. Kelner was very different.

  The new Castellan sat behind an enormous desk in his inner sanctum. The outer offices held his various assistants. Chief among them was a handsome young Time Lord called Andred, Commander of the Chancellery Guard. Andred was seldom to be found at his desk. He didn't much care for Kelner, and took good care that his various duties kept him out and about in the enormous sprawling Capitol, the city-sized complex of buildings that was the seat of all Time Lord government.

  At this particular moment Andred was at his desk for once, which was fortunate since an urgent and alarming message had just arrived.

  Andred was impatiently demanding further details from the speaker on the other end of the communications circuit. 'Speak up, man. Where? When-no relative time, fool! Thank you!' Andred sat frowning for a moment. Much as he loved the grandeur of his position, Castellan Kelner didn't really like to be troubled with actual work. He would reprove you for bothering him with trivia-and complain even more savagely if he wasn't told everything he needed to know. Andred rose, and went into the inner office.

  Gorgeous in Castellan's robes, Kelner sat gazing into space, presumably contemplating his own importance.

  Andred coughed and Kelner seemed to become aware of his presence. 'Yes, what is it, Commander?'

  'A report has just come in, sir.'

  'Continue.'

  'Temporal scan has just picked up an unidentified capsule approaching Gallifrey.'

  'Unidentified?' Kelner was displeased. Everything on Gallifrey had to be identified, docketed, regulated. An unidentified capsule was against all the rules.

  'At this distance, within our own Continum, the capsule, is still unidentified.'

  'But it is one of our own?'

  'Long-range scan of molecular patina seems to indicate Gallifreyan origin,' said Andred cautiously. 'But it's still too early for a positive identification.'

  'Present defence level?'

  'Still on Green, sir.'

  'No sense in taking chances, Commander. Go to Amber.'

  'Yes sir. I'll need the code-key, sir.'

  There was a structure of multicoloured globes on Kelner's desk, rather like a laboratory model of an atom. Kelner took one of the little globes from its setting and handed it to Andred.

  Andred took the globe and left the office. Returning to his own control complex, he held the globe before a scanner. 'Main security? Commander Andred speaking. Please establish Amber Alert immediately.'

  There was a brief musical bleep from the console as the command code was recorded and accepted.

  The Doctor and K9 were alone in the control room. Leela had gone off in a huff.

  The Doctor was studying his control console. 'They've put an Amber Alert on me! An Amber Alert! Cheek!'

  K9 was baffled. He wasn't programmed for slang. 'Cheek, Master?'

  'Yes, cheek!'

  'Cheek... physical characteristics... humanoid facial component.'

  'Wrong,' said the Doctor absently.

  K9 whirred and clicked. 'Data check insists definition correct.'

  The Doctor ignored him. 'An Amber Alert, eh?'

  It wasn't clear if he thought the degree of alarm was too severe, or not severe enough.

  'We have confirmation now, sir," reported Andred. 'The capsule is definitely Gallifreyan.'

  'Then what is all the fuss about?'

  'It's still unidentified, sir.'

  Kelner punched a control panel and a set of symbols appeared on the readout screen of his desk computer. 'Only two Time Lords are currently absent on authorised research. If you check their molecular codings...'

  'I've already done that, sir. Neither of them match.'

  Kelner rubbed long, bony hands together in alarm. 'Then who is in that capsule? Unauthorised use of a Time Capsule carries the death penalty, Commander. See to it!'

  Andred went back to his console. 'Commander Andred to all Guard Leaders. An unidentified capsule is approaching the Capitol.' He paused, formulating his orders. 'If there is no sign of life, the capsule will be destroyed on materialisation. If a sentient life-form emerges, arrest and hold for interrogation.' Andred paused. 'If the alien resists arrest-kill him!'

  The President-Elect

  'Like a dog-biscuit, K9?' said the Doctor suddenly. 'Or a ball-bearing?'

  K9 was hurt. 'Please do not mock me, Master.'

  'Where's Leela?'

  'Immersed, Master.'

  'What?'

  'Totally immersed in H2O, Master.'

  'This is a fine time to take a bath!' said the Doctor indignantly. 'That girl's got no sense of occasion.'

  Leela swam to and fro in a luxurious swimming pool that was only one of the TARDIS's many surprises. Since it was dimensionally transcendental, the interior of the TARDIS was virtually limitless in size. Leela had discovered the swimming pool on one of her trips of exploration, to the astonishment of the Doctor who had completely forgotten it was there. She used it often now, especially when she was worried. It seemed the nearest thing the TARDIS could provide to the open air.

  Leela was worried now, as she swam length after length with smooth, powerful strokes. The Doctor's strange behaviour seemed to be getting steadily worse. She couldn't shake off the feeling that he was heading blindly into terrible danger. Climbing out of the pool, she shook herself dry and went to find him.

  Andred paused at the entrance to the Castellan's office. 'They've estimated the landing place of the capsule, sir. Right in the heart of the Capitol. I think I'll go and supervise its destruction personally.'

  Kelner waved him away. 'Of course. And remember, Andred, an alien who can steal and control a capsule is dangerous by definition. He is to be captured, interrogated, and then executed.'

  'I will see that all the regulations are observed, sir,' Andred stiffly replied, and marched away.

  In the war room of their flag-ship, members of the Vardan council were studying a complex flickering of symbols on a video screen. 'Interesting,' said the Leader softly. 'He appears to have landed.'

  One of the council said dubiously, 'Perhaps they will kill him at once.'

  'No matter. There will be others...'

  The TARDIS appeared at the bottom of a flight of steps in one of the ante-chambers of the main Capitol building. The choice of arrival point was a worrying one, decided Andred. The Chancellor's office was very close.

  The moment it materialised the TARDIS was surrounded by a squad of Chancellery Guards. They waited, tense and alert, stasers trained on the blue box.
/>   The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor strode out.

  He stared arrogantly about him, suddenly appeared to notice the guards and favoured them with a lordly wave. 'Well, hello, gentlemen. It is nice to be back!'

  Andred gave a signal, and the guards brought their stasers to their shoulders.

  The Doctor beamed. 'Good, very good. I like to see a smart bit of drill!' He strode up to the nearest guard like some visiting general. 'And where are you from, my man?'

  There was just the right note of jovial authority in his voice and the guard answered automatically. 'Gallifrey, sir.'

  'Gallifrey, eh?' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'Never heard of it!'

  He strolled down the line and stopped in front of another guard. Before anyone could stop him he snatched the man's staser, peered down the muzzle, then threw the weapon back to him. 'Disgusting, absolutely filthy!' He raked the line of guards with a withering stare. 'Call yourselves an Honour Guard? Disgraceful, a rabble that's all you are, a rabble, not fit to guard a jelly baby!' With a sudden change of mood, the Doctor fished a crumpled paper bag from his pocket and offered it to the nearest guard. 'Would you care for a jelly baby, by the way?'

  Andred came forward. Somehow the situation was getting out of his control. 'I don't think you understand, we're here to arrest you...'

  His voice tailed away, as he caught sight of Leela, who had suddenly appeared in the TARDIS doorway. He stood staring at her open-mouthed.

  'Good, good,' said the Doctor cheerfully, and he strode towards the door. 'Let's get on with it, shall we?'

  He set off at a brisk pace, and Leela started to follow him.

  The Doctor whirled round. 'Where do you think you're going? You stay here till I send for you!'

  Baffled and resentful, Leela stayed where she was, and the Doctor disappeared.

  Andred hurried after him. 'Number one section with me, number two, guard the girl.' Leela was left standing beside the TARDIS. The guards closed in on her.