7.
The Doctor flattened himself behind the half open hatch as the creatures paused and swung their grizzled heads from side to side. Katherine hardly dared to breathe in case the aliens heard her, but fortunately there was a soft beep from a communicator on one of the alien's belts. It picked it up and growled into it in a low, rasping voice. "Understood." Much to the Doctor and Katherine's relief, the creatures shuffled away up the corridor.
Katherine took a deep breath. "Doctor, what were those things?"
The Doctor took a quick peek around the hatch but the creatures had gone. "They're called Karzak. I've never encountered them before, but what I've heard isn't pleasant. They're scavengers, slavers or hunters. Selling for profit, no matter what the deal or who gets hurt along the way. Some very nasty eating habits too, not people you'd invite round for dinner!"
Katherine made a face "Charming as always!"
The Doctor smiled a little forcedly, clearly worried. He looked around the room where they had hidden. It was an auxiliary control room with some computer panels and screens, all shut down and offline. He blew out a breath. "Oh, I've had enough of wandering blindly about in the dark. Now the Karzak are onboard it could be dangerous too." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and set to work on one of the panels. "If I get some of this going," he said distractedly as he worked, putting some loose wires in his mouth, "we might be able to set up a life scan and see if anyone else is still around; Karzak included if I can get the settings right." He glanced up at Katherine and winked. "And we'll be able to find Megan too!"
Katherine smiled back. "Good."
"Here, hold this," the Doctor continued, passing Katherine the sonic screwdriver after he'd given the control boards a quick pulse. "Now if I'm cooking with gas today….."
The panel suddenly flared into life, then died away. The Doctor gave it a quick thump and this time it rebooted and stayed on, controls and readings starting to register. "Oh, I'm just so good!" he whooped delightedly as the screen above it came on and showed details of the ship.
The Doctor put on his glasses, interlaced his fingers and stretched them. "Okay, now for the tricky part………."
8.
Megan and Weaver crept carefully through the corridors of the Eclipse.
Megan was desperately trying to get her bearings and find the Doctor and Katherine, but all the corridors looked very similar to her and she was sure in her mind that she was lost. She glanced at Weaver; he was clearly edgy and clutched the heavy wrench tightly, so Megan decided to keep her manner light and positive.
"Not far now!" she whispered with far more confidence than she actually felt.
Weaver just grunted in reply when suddenly he stopped. "Someone's coming!" he hissed and held the wrench high, ready to strike.
Megan looked at him in alarm, but she could hear someone approaching and they didn't seem to be hiding the noise of their footsteps either. Steeling herself for a confrontation, she ducked behind Weaver for protection.
The noise of the footsteps got louder until around the corner of a corridor walked a young woman. She jumped back as Weaver gave a yell and was about to hit her with the wrench until he recognised who she was and stopped himself just in time. "Lyla!"
The young woman was attractive, with short ash blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She wore a dark green coverall and even, Megan noticed jealously, managed to look good in it. The woman's eyes flashed with both alarm and anger. "Weaver, what do you think you're doing?" she snapped.
Cal Weaver was at once cowed. "Sorry Lyla, I didn't know it was you. I thought it was one of those things that boarded us!"
The woman ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "I think the Karzak have got more important things to worry about right now." Then she noticed Megan and raised her eyebrows. "Who are you?"
Megan stretched out her hand to shake Lyla's but the other woman ignored it. "I'm Megan Williams."
"I'm Lyla Tann, the Eclipse's navigator. How did you get aboard?"
Megan was taken aback by the woman's rudeness. "I landed here by accident with my friends."
"Friends," Lyla asked sharply, "where are they now?"
Starting to get annoyed by Lyla's attitude, Megan snapped back "probably looking for me!"
"Then we better find them before we get to the colony on Garrok Six."
9.
The Doctor and Katherine peered at the computer screen as the Doctor tapped some keys on the control panel. "It looks like we're on the SS Eclipse, a cargo vessel heading for the colony world of Garrok 6."
Katherine raised her eyebrows for the Doctor to explain but he continued to look at the screen as more information flashed up. "Look, this is the crew manifest; Captain Erik Daniels commanding." More names followed on the list. "Fifteen in all Katherine" the Doctor sighed, "probably all dead now."
Katherine shuddered remembering the gruesome scene in the cargo hold. "Why kill them all?"
The Doctor rubbed his chin. "That's a good question. The Karzak, from what I've heard of them, are hunters and slavers; why not just keep the crew alive and sell then into slavery?" The Doctor's eyes widened as he thought. "No!" His mind raced. "Yes! No," he contradicted himself, "they'd need computer codes to get in!"
Katherine was starting to get impatient. "Doctor, will you please explain yourself" she almost yelled.
The Doctor turned to her excitedly. "What if the Eclipse isn't the real target?" he gabbled. "We're heading for Garrok 6; a colony world, lots of potential slaves there all right. But, ah, how can they get in, because Garrok 6, if I remember correctly, has an energy shield to protect the colony from attack?" He paused and Katherine just rolled her eyes; she knew he was about to explain anyway. "I'll tell you. You hijack a cargo ship that's going there anyway, they'll have the correct protocol codes and you can slip right in!" He took a deep breath after all the frantic explanation and scratched his head. "They'd still need to access the codes from the computer though and they'd be pretty secure; only some of the crew would know them."
Katherine caught the Doctor's arm. "Then we'd better find Megan."
The Doctor nodded a little guiltily. "Yes, you're right, we had." He turned back to the panel and his hands flew across the keys until a schematic of the Eclipse appeared on it. "Keying in these life scans can be a bit tricky," muttered the Doctor, "especially if you want to be human-specific." Three white dots appeared on the screen. "It looks like Megan has found company!" he said slowly.
Suddenly, another five dots, this time red in colour, appeared on the screen. They were moving steadily towards the three white dots.
10.
Megan looked blankly at Lyla. "What's so important about the colony on Garrok Six?" she asked.
It was Weaver that answered. "We're supposed to pick up our cargo there; that's why the holds are empty."
Megan nodded, beginning to understand, but glared at Lyla. "Thanks, it's nice to be kept in the loop!"
Lyla's eyes flashed, but she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but it's been hard to stay alive around here. The Karzak are patrolling the corridors, picking off any crew that are left."
Megan put her hands on her hips. "You managed it."
Lyla didn't rise to the implied challenge. "Let's just find your friends?" She pulled out a hand-held scanner from one of the pockets of her green coverall. "I should be able to locate them with this." She altered a control and it gave an intermittent bleeping as she swept it around. "Up here," she stated and started up the corridor.
Megan tried to get a look at what Lyla had found, but the other woman had put the scanner back in her coverall before Megan got the chance. Megan looked at Weaver for support, but he just shrugged, overwhelmed by Lyla's air of authority. "Better do as she says," he mumbled.
Taking a deep breath, and followed by Weaver, Megan started up the corridor behind Lyla. As they reached an in intersection in the corridor however, Megan could hear footsteps approaching. Her smile of anticipation and relief in seeing the Doctor and Katherine again turned to fear as she realised there were more than just two pairs of footsteps, and that those footsteps were accompanied by ragged panting and snarling.
Out of the side corridor of the intersection, lurched four Karzak. Megan screamed and broke into a run, but the Karzak nearest her caught her before she had gone a few metres. Two other Karzak had grabbed Weaver and forced the heavy wrench from his grasp.
It was only then that Megan noticed that the Karzak had not touched Lyla and the pieces fell into place. "You bitch!" she yelled, struggling against the strong and sinewy hairy arms of her Karzak captor. "You sold us out!"
11.
The Doctor whipped off his glasses and headed out of the control room at a run. "Come on, she's in trouble, we've got to help her!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Katherine hurried after him. "How do you know?"
"Those dots – they were Karzak!"
They left the auxiliary control room at a dash and back into the dark metal corridors of the Eclipse. The Doctor looked both ways to get his bearings then tore down the corridor, his long brown coat flapping behind him. They reached an intersection, skidded around it and almost cannoned straight into a patrol of three Karzak warriors who were walking up the corridor towards them.
The Karzak snarled in triumph at the sight of fresh prey, saliva dripping from the sharp teeth in their long muzzles. They reached to their belts where they carried long and deadly looking whips.
Katherine screamed as the creatures advanced towards them and the Doctor pushed her behind him. He knew that they could never escape the Karzak by trying to run; their legs were too long and powerful and would catch them in seconds. There was only one option.
"Ah, hello - good to see you" he bluffed. "Nice, um, electro-whips there; probably deliver enough charge to stun or kill as required. No self respecting pirate or slaver should be without one!"
The Karzak were savage, cruel, and had low cunning, but were not, as the Doctor had guessed, terribly bright. They were used to the humans on the ship running from them or cowering in terror. No-one had stood and actually talked to them. They looked at each other in confusion, their dark beady eyes narrowed.
The Doctor decided to press home with the advantage. "You're probably wondering who we are, what we're doing here and so on?" He paused as the creatures eyed him, snarling and panting, and then carried on. "Well you need to check with your commander; the plan has changed!"
"You have spoken to the General?" one of the Karzak grunted.
"Yes! Yes, that's right; you check with the General!" the Doctor nodded vigorously. As one of the Karzak pulled a communicator from its belt, he continued. "We'll just be," he pushed an open mouthed Katherine ahead of him, "down this corridor…….."
By the time the Karzak had looked around, the Doctor and Katherine had vanished.
12.
Megan and Weaver were held fast by the Karzak as Lyla Tann watched with a cold smile. "Oh, I sold them out a long time before you got on board! Who do you think sabotaged the ship in the first place?" she sneered.
Weaver was incensed. "How could you do that?" he shouted at her. "All the crew! Your friends!"
Lyla shook her head. "No friends of mine," she replied, "and the Karzak pay very well."
"We do indeed," snarled another low voice. From out of the darkness of one of the corridors loomed another Karzak. It was larger than the rest and more muscular. A long scar ran from the top of its head, across the bony ridge of muscle along the forehead and ended just above the large mouth that showed long, sharp teeth. The jerkin it wore was more ornate and decorated with what Megan thought were a patchwork of human scalps. She guessed that this was the Karzak leader.
The huge Karzak warrior put its paw on Lyla's shoulder. "You've done well Lyla, much better than my own warriors in fact." He turned and cuffed one of them across the help with enough force to break the neck of a horse. The Karzak yelped and cowered. "Idiots!" it roared. "I thought all the crew were taken and now I'm told there are more on the loose!"
Lyla nodded and pointed towards Megan. "The woman there mentioned some friends."
The Karzak leader smiled a terrible smile and grabbed hold of Megan, pulling her close to him. Megan tried vainly to stifle the terror she felt. "I am General Shalakur and I will find and hunt your friends," the Karzak gloated as the other Karzak warriors snarled and chattered. "My crew need some sport!" He turned back to Lyla. "Have you the access codes for the colony?"
Lyla nodded and produced the handheld scanner. "I loaded them into here just before I found these two. They took some pulling from the security files."
General Shalakur took the scanner and snarled with triumph. "Excellent, then we are ready to start the next phase!" He paused and then looked back at Megan and Weaver, his eyes filled with cunning. "Now we just have to wait until we arrive at the colony, I can allow my crew some distraction!"
13.
"What are you going to do with us?" Megan stammered weakly, trying to muster as much courage as she could.
Shalakur gave a cruel laugh. "An ancient tradition amongst my people called 'The Hunt'." The other Karzak panted eagerly, and suddenly released Megan and Weaver who looked around them in disbelief and growing panic. "We will give you time to run; to hide. If we catch you," Shalakur licked his lips, "we will eat you!"
Megan and Weaver looked at each other in horror at the prospect of the deadly hide and seek
Shalakur turned to Lyla. "Have you heard of our custom?"
Lyla nodded, her nose wrinkled with disdain. "Yes, it's barbaric, but that's your business."
Shalakur laughed again, an evil glint in his eyes. "Then you'll enjoy it when you take part!"
Lyla's eyes widened with fear and disbelief. "What do you mean? I helped you! You could never have done this without me!"
Shalakur nodded and held up the scanner. "But now your usefulness is over!" He pushed Lyla over to stand next to Megan and Weaver. "Run!" he growled. "Run or we'll eat you where you stand!" The other Karzak started pawing at the ground and emitting a high pitched baying.
Weaver grabbed Megan's hand. "Come on," he cried, "we've got to get out of here!" He started to pull her down the corridor as fast as he could.
Lyla looked after them. "What about me!" she shouted desperately.
"You're on your own Tann!" yelled Weaver over his shoulder.
"But we can't just leave her!" cried Megan
"Watch me!"
General Shalakur and the other Karzak howled with malicious laughter, panting and snarling excitedly. With a cry of terror, Lyla started running up the corridor behind Megan and Weaver. They turned a corner and pelted down another corridor. Much to Megan's alarm, the corridor ended at a hatch. Weaver pushed the control panel next to it but nothing happened.
Lyla ran up behind them. "Get the hatch open you fools!"
Megan turned on the other woman. "What do you think we're trying to do?"
Suddenly the baying from the Karzak got louder and Megan and the others could hear the creatures as they started down the corridor towards them.
'The Hunt' had begun.