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

  'Then obey me.'

  'The Castellan will have me shot, sir.'

  'Don't worry,' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'If he does, I'll have him shot. Now, you stay there, I'll only be a moment. Tell you what, I'll leave the door open."

  Varn nodded reluctantly, and the Doctor slipped inside the TARDIS. He found K9 still plugged into the TARDIS console.

  'How's it going K9?' There was no reply. 'K9?'

  The Doctor realised that K9 was completely immersed in his greatest pleasure, the absorption of fresh data. He was in a kind of blissful electronic trance.

  Varn was wondering whether it was his duty to follow the Doctor into the TARDIS when his doubts were temporarily put to rest by a staser-butt behind the ear. Andred caught the body and lowered it to the ground, helped by two of his guards. They had spotted the Doctor on their way back from the secret meeting, and the opportunity had seemed too good to miss.

  'I shall go in first,' whispered Andred. 'You two keep a lookout for any more of Kelner's bodyguards.'

  'K9! K9! K9!' said the Doctor reprovingly. 'This is no time to enjoy yourself.' He grabbed K9's tail antenna and with an effort lugged him free of the console. The connection broken, K9 looked up at him reproachfully.

  'Absorption of data was proceeding most satisfactorily, Master.'

  'Here, take this,' said the Doctor. He took the Matrix Circlet from his pocket and put it on K9's head, adjusting it to connect with K9's antenna. Unbuckling the Sash he slipped it over K9's head so that Sash and Circlet formed a kind of unit.

  K9's eyes lit up and all his antennae went rigid. 'Primary circuits locked in, commencing secondary feed.'

  'Take it easy old chap,' warned the Doctor. Such a sudden and massive data in-put was a strain even for K9.

  The Doctor heard movement behind him and turned.

  Andred was looming over him, staser in hand.

  'Andred, what a pleasant surprise! You're just in time, I've got something for you.'

  Andred levelled his staser-pistol at the Doctor's head. 'In the name of liberty and honour, traitor, I sentence you to die!'

  The Vardans

  The Doctor said, 'Please don't do that, I am the President, you know, show some respect, stun him, K9!'

  K9 did. Andred slumped to the floor.

  'Well, don't just stand there,' said the Doctor ungratefully. 'Get on with it, reconnect.'

  'Commencing re-connection.' K9 resumed his communion with the Matrix.

  The ominous shimmering presence of a Vardan at his elbow, Castellan Kelner sat studying his monitor screen. On it was a picture of a number of Andred's guards lurking furtively around the TARDIS. Kelner didn't quite understand what was going on, but he had seen more than enough to worry him. Nervously, he made a decision snapping his fingers to summon the bodyguard in the doorway. 'Take a squad and arrest Commander Andred and the guards who are with him. If they resist, kill them."

  The bodyguard saluted and departed.

  'Something is wrong?' enquired the Vardan coldly.

  'Nothing my bodyguard cannot deal with," said Kelner hastily. 'Just an infringement of discipline to be punished.'

  'You act correctly. Lack of discipline cannot be tolerated.'

  Kelner looked pleased. He was going to get on well with his new masters after all. Perhaps even better than the Doctor. In which case... was the Doctor's continued existence really necessary?

  'Come on, K9,' said the Doctor impatiently. 'Get on with it, they'll start to miss me soon.'

  He was so absorbed that he failed to notice that Andred had recovered and was rising groggily to his feet, the staser still in his hand. 'Die, traitor!'

  'Not now,' said the Doctor absently. 'Can't you see I'm busy?'

  Andred fired.

  Nothing happened.

  He fired again and again, still with no result.

  'It won't work in here,' explained the Doctor calmly, 'not inside the relative dimensional stabilizer field.'

  'Then why did you tell that thing to stun me?'

  'I wanted you out of the way for a bit. Now, are you going to behave, or shall I tell K9 to stun you again? I'd sooner not bother K9, he's rather busy.'

  Andred holstered his useless staser. 'What treachery are you attempting now?'

  'Something rather more efficient than your recent efforts I hope!'

  The Doctor returned his attention to the console. 'Come on, K9, get on with it.'

  The bodyguard squad marched swiftly up to the TARDIS, taking Andred's guards completely by surprise. There was a brief useless attempt at resistance, which ended in massacre as the bodyguard squad ruthlessly shot down Andred's men.

  As the crackle of staser-bolts died away, the squad leader raised his communicator. 'Operation completed, Castellan.'

  'You might as well surrender, Doctor,' said Andred. 'This capsule is surrounded by my men. There's no way you can go outside and stay alive.'

  The Doctor ignored him. 'K9, I'm going outside for a moment, I'm relying on you. Don't let this idiot touch anything.'

  The Doctor headed for the door.

  'Goodbye, Doctor,' said Andred ironically, and waited for the sound of staser fire.

  The Doctor came out of the TARDIS and surveyed the bodyguard squad with a look of lordly surprise. 'What's going on here?'

  'These men were trying to assassinate you, sir.'

  'Did you have to kill them?'

  'Yes,' said the bodyguard bluntly.

  'Yes, I suppose you did.'

  'My lord President, I don't think you realise the seriousness of the situation.'

  'Oh yes I do! There's been an attempt on my life, and you've let the ringleader escape. Where's Commander Andred, eh? Not here, is he?'

  The bodyguard looked down at the dead men. 'Don't worry, sir, he won't get far.'

  'I should hope not! You'd better find him, before he comes back and has another go.'

  The squad leader saluted and hurried off, followed by his men.

  The Doctor went back inside the TARDIS. He smiled grimly at Andred's astonished face. 'No way I can go out there and live, eh Andred? I've got news for you, my friend. You're the one who's stuck here, your pitiful revolution has failed.'

  'You're lying!'

  'I wouldn't be alive if I was,' said the Doctor. 'What do they teach you chaps at the military academy, these days? If you can't pull off a simple palace revolution, what can you pull off?'

  Andred hurried to the TARDIS door and tried to open it, but it was shut fast. 'It's jammed!'

  'It's locked,' corrected the Doctor. 'It's going to stay locked until the invaders have gone. While I'm in here they can't touch me, and they can't read my thoughts, either.'

  'What are you talking about? Read your thoughts?'

  'Let me tell you a little about the Vardans,' said the Doctor wearily, and proceeded to do so.

  'So they can travel along any form of broadcast wavelength?' said Andred. 'Send image projections of themselves, as they're doing now, or materialise completely if they want to?'

  'That's right. And until they do materialise properly, I can't trace the wave back to its source and Time Loop it.'

  'But you've got access to the greatest source of knowledge in the universe.'

  'Well, I know I talk to myself, sometimes...'

  Andred pointed to the Circlet perched on the head of the blissfully absorbed K9. 'I was referring to the Matrix.'

  'Oh, that old thing,' said the Doctor disparagingly. He staggered and clutched at the TARDIS console for support. Suddenly, Andred realised that the Doctor was on the point of complete exhaustion, sustained only by sheer will-power.

  'Sorry,' said the Doctor apologetically. 'Been under a bit of strain recently. Well, that's the problem, you see, the Matrix has been invaded too. It's not safe for me to use it.'

  'Why didn't you just explain to the Supreme Council--'

  'Because the Vardans can read my thoughts. That's why I've plugged K9 into the Matrix, he's got no brain, not i
n the organic sense... sorry about that, K9, no offence.'

  'Can you trust a machine with so much knowledge?'

  'This one I can, he's my second-best friend. Aren't you K9?' K9 was too busy to answer.

  Kelner was telling the Vardans of the death of the rebel guards, and of the hunt for Andred. 'There is one other matter, sir,' he concluded. 'Unfortunately, it is a matter of the utmost delicacy.'

  'Speak.'

  'The President has been acting just a little oddly. For instance, at the moment he seems to have locked himself into an old time capsule. It is a little strange, don't you think, sir?'

  'We wondered how long it would take you to recognise and report this. You have just passed the first test of your loyalty to us.'

  'You knew that the Doctor was not reliable?'

  'We shall be ready to deal with the Doctor very soon. We have suspected him ever since he first made contact with us. It was too convenient...'

  'Well, at least they don't suspect me yet,' said the Doctor hopefully. 'Banishing Leela and the others made quite a good impression, I think. Anyway, it was the only way I could protect them. Give me your helmet, Andred.'

  'What?'

  'Your helmet man.'

  Andred took the helmet from his head and handed it over.

  The Doctor peered inside. 'Well, it might work. Not much room, though.' Clutching the helmet he disappeared through the inner door without another word.

  Andred rubbed his eyes. 'Well, one of us must be mad! And if it isn't him...'

  Still busily absorbing data, K9 made no comment.

  The squad leader concluded his report. 'We've managed to arrest most of the Chancellor's Guard, sir. But there's still no sign of Commander Andred himself. We think he may have escaped to the Outside.'

  'That is most unsatisfactory,' said the Vardan softly.

  Kelner smiled. 'Don't worry, sir, he won't survive long out there. No one does!'

  An arrow thudded into a distant target, and there was scattered applause from the mixed group of Outsiders and Time Lords gathered outside the hut. 'Well shot, Leela,' said Nesbin.

  Leela shrugged. 'It is a good weapon-but we shall need many more.'

  'We will if we're going to feed all this lot.' By now Nesbin was almost embarrassed by the number of his followers. Expelled Time Lords were joining the Outsiders daily. Rodan was in charge of a kind of reception committee set up to find them as soon as they were expelled and bring them to safety.

  'The weapons will be needed for war, not for hunting,' said Leela.

  'We can't fight an alien invasion with bows and arrows!'

  'Why not?' Leela sent another arrow thudding into the target.

  She beckoned one of the younger Time Lords. 'Here, you try.' The Time Lord came reluctantly forward and took the bow. He drew and fired, nearly ending the life of old Gomer who stood watching some considerable distance from the target. Nesbin covered his eyes with his hands and groaned. He shoved the Time Lord aside, and beckoned another. 'Here, you try.'

  They tried Time Lord after Time Lord with the bow. Only one hit the target, and he shot with his eyes closed. They tested the Time Lords with knives and spears and clubs, until finally Nesbin lost patience and chased them all off with roars of anger.

  Leela shook her head despairingly. 'Not one of them is any use with any kind of weapon.'

  Nesbin said gloomily. 'So much for your army.'

  Leela wasn't dismayed for long. 'We shall just have to attack on our own?'

  'Who will?'

  'You, me, the best of your hunters. Sometimes a small, swift force is best.'

  'There aren't enough of us to capture the Capitol. The Castellan's bodyguard will all be armed with stasers.'

  'We shall not try to capture the Capitol, merely to rescue the Doctor. He will tell us what to do after that.'

  Nesbin scratched his head. 'But according to these Time Lords, your Doctor's on the side of the invaders.'

  'That is impossible,' said Leela flatly. 'We must rescue him. Choose your best warriors, Nesbin. Rodan will come with us to guide us within the Capitol.'

  Grumbling, Nesbin started to select his men.

  The Doctor dashed back into the TARDIS control room and clapped the helmet on Andred's head. 'There, that should keep them guessing.'

  The helmet felt strange and it didn't seem to fit. Andred took it off and peered inside. Built into the crown was a small but complex piece of electronic circuitry.

  'I've built in a partial encephalographic barrier,' explained the Doctor. 'It'll keep most of your thoughts a secret, but you'll have to concentrate.'

  K9 raised his head. 'Master, I have located the wave-channel being used by the invaders. It is an outer spatial exploration and investigation channel, number 87656432 positive. Unfortunately, I cannot detect where it is tuned to as there is considerable interference. Probability of deliberate jamming, nine five per cent.'

  The Doctor sighed. 'So, I've still got to persuade them to materialise, before we can trace their origin, which means they'll have to trust me, which means I'll have to dismantle the force-field around Gallifrey. It's the only way I can convince them I'm really on their side.'

  Andred was horrified. 'But you can't dismantle the force-field, not without blowing the planet to pieces.'

  'I can't, but perhaps Rassilon can.'

  'Rassilon?'

  'Why not? He's the greatest Time Lord scientist there's ever been, and he set up the force-field in the first place.'

  Andred decided it must be the Doctor who was mad. 'Rassilon is dead, he's been dead for millions of years.'

  'Maybe so-but his mind lives on, remember, as part of the Matrix.'

  'Dismantle the force-field and the whole of Gallifrey will be helpless,' protested Andred.

  'Exactly,' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'That's why it's such a good way to convince the Vardans don't you think?' Before Andred could reply the Doctor said, 'That's the spirit! K9 you're in charge.'

  'But--' said Andred.

  The Doctor was gone.

  'I am in charge,' said K9 importantly. 'We will retrace the invasion circuit and fuse it.'

  'That circuit is used by the Academy for instruction in exploration.'

  Astonishingly for an automaton K9 made a joke. 'Then we will give them a day off school!'

  As the Doctor entered the great hall of the Panopticon, he was not surprised to see that the shimmering forms of three Vardans awaited him on the central platform.

  He climbed the ramp to meet them, the Circlet in his hand. 'I've been thinking about our little problem,' he began.

  'And you need to consult the Matrix? We know, Doctor.'

  The Doctor was scarcely surprised. He had been careful to keep the idea in his mind ever since leaving the TARDIS, and as he had expected, the Vardans had monitored his mind, and arrived before him.

  'Well, if you'll excuse me...' The Doctor put the Circlet on his head. His body went rigid, and he stood motionless for what seemed a long time. At last, with an effort, he raised the Circlet from his head, the signs of strain clearly marked upon his face.

  'There is a way, but it is difficult and dangerous.'

  The Vardan said, 'Proceed, Doctor. But remember, we can read your every thought!'

  Deep beneath the Capitol was a secret, long-disused control room. When the Doctor arrived there, he found one of the Vardans awaiting him.

  The room was packed with complex, incredibly ancient equipment, long-disused. No one had dared tamper with the quantum force field, since it had been set up in the days of the great Rassilon himself.

  The Doctor studied the controls, row upon row, bank upon bank of them. 'Difficult, very difficult,' he said. 'But not impossible!' He set to work, touching a control here, adjusting another there, dismantling several consoles re-connecting them in what seemed a very haphazard manner. He worked slowly at first, then with increasing confidence. He turned to the watching Vardan. 'Don't stare like that, you're making me nervous. This is
a very delicate operation, you know!' At last the Doctor stood back, rubbing his eyes wearily. 'Now, this is the tricky bit. I've reconnected the circuitry, and I'm about to feed in full power. Hold your breath, or whatever Vardans do!'

  Slowly he pulled back the master power-switch.

  The control room, the entire Capitol, and a large part of Gallifrey itself began to shudder and vibrate. The effect was strange and horrifying. Solid matter, walls, ceilings, floors, seemed to ripple like water, to shift and wave like the ever-moving sea.

  Distant cries of alarm could be heard from all over the Capitol.

  Kelner in his office, Leela and her band of warriors creeping stealthily towards the Capitol, even Andred hiding in the TARDIS felt the strange wave-like effect.

  In the control room the Doctor worked frantically at the improvised set-up trying to check and control the incredibly powerful planetary forces he had unleashed. 'Hang on,' he shouted. 'Nearly there...'

  The rumbling died away, matter became solid again, everything was normal.

  (In the TARDIS K9 looked up. 'The Doctor has succeeded. Imperative we reach president's office immediately. Come!')

  When the Doctor strode back into the Panopticon, a trembling Kelner was awaiting him, three Vardan projections grouped around him. 'There you are,' said the Doctor breezily. 'Well, I did it!'

  Even the Vardan Leader seemed impressed.

  'You have dismantled the quantum force-field?'

  'It's impossible to dismantle the force-field without vaporising the planet. What I have done is made a sizeable hole in it, directly above the Capitol.'

  'You have done well,' said the Vardan slowly. 'Now all our forces can be projected from our planet. Gallifrey is ours.'

  Kelner gave the Doctor a frightened look. 'A hole in the force-field? Then we're unprotected!'

  'You have our protection now,' said the Vardan ironically. 'Are you not satisfied, Castellan?'

  'Yes, yes, of course,' said Kelner hurriedly.

  'This hole, Doctor-is it permanent?"