Doctor Who: Dictatormocracy
Chapter Five
The manner in which the Doctor, Sami, Alice and Rob were lead away couldn't have been any more inhumane. They were grabbed by the security officers; gagged and then blindfolded. They were then dragged into one of the ugliest looking travel pods they had seen whilst in Shuton. It was completely grey and had bars on its windows.
They were driven away from the high security detention centre at top speed. The Caliprebun party's members weren't normally allowed out at night as it would look suspicious, but the damage that these three could do to the party meant that the risk was necessary. Darien was equally worried about Cordineezer's cover. It was vital that she could continue relaying vital information about the Comradetic campaign to him. He had to ensure that the disappearance of their captives would not be linked to the Caliprebun campaign as it would serve to blow Cordineezer's cover and would be as powerful an accusation as the recording of the man captured earlier. These captives needed to be dead or at least appear dead. It was not his call though. It would have to come from higher up the party's ranks.
When the prisoner transport pod arrived at its destination, the captives were dragged violently into the prison building and then through various corridors until they were finally relieved of their blindfolds and gags and pushed into a cell. After watching them being locked safely away, Darien took a guard to one side.
'Ensure that they are well guarded. They are to be given your utmost attention' he said
'I understand' replied the guard.
Darien then left the prison and made his way back to the Caliprebun headquarters. Three deaths needed to be arranged.
'This is all too familiar' sighed the Doctor.
'Why did you have to open your mouth!' shouted Sami angrily towards Alice. 'If you wouldn't have said those things, then we could have walked around in safety without being chased by monsters just for once!'
'I'm sorry Sami' said Alice solemnly 'If I would have known, I wouldn't have said those things I said'
Rob sat miserably in the corner of the cell deep in thought. He knew of other instances where party members had been kidnapped. In all cases they had not returned. Sometimes he even saw news reports of crashes where their names had been mentioned. The party would figure out that they had been kidnapped, but would not be able to prove anything and wouldn't be able to use it against the Caliprebun party. One thing was puzzling him; what exactly was this mysterious object that they were so worried about?
After the argument had finished, he asked them.
'Doctor. What is this thing that was stolen from you in the wood?'
The Doctor knew that this was a question that he could not avoid since it was the reason that Rob had been imprisoned with them.
'Well' he said 'It's our ship'
'Your ship?' asked a confused Rob
'Yes. It's not a conventional ship you see. It's quite ornamental'
'Then why did you land it in a wood not at one of the spaceports?'
'Because it doesn't land; well not in the normal sense of the word anyway. It materialises'
'How does that work?'
'I'm afraid that's rather complicated. In a nutshell as long as the TARDIS is locked away somewhere we cannot leave'
That was when Alice looked up shocked. She had had an awful thought.
'Do you think that they are examining it?' she asked.
'Definitely' replied Rob 'Whatever is in your ship is going to be looked at in detail. Any new discoveries they make will become theirs to use and abuse'
The Doctor; although uncomfortable with this notion said reassuringly:
'They won't get inside. They haven't got anything that can penetrate the outside of the TARDIS. It resists all kinds of cutting equipment and minor explosives'
'How so?' asked Rob
'That's a secret Rob. If only I'd set the HADS…'
Curiouser and curioser thought Rob. They desperately needed a plan that would get them out of their sticky situation and; hopefully into safety away from the prison. That is if they could ever get out…
Cordineezer was having a hard time dealing with the barrage of questions from Rob's co-workers. Luckily, Jack Kelly had departed Extas by this time (which also meant that the campaign team would soon follow). If she was to get in contact with Darien, she would run the risk of being detected by one of the nosy members. However, she could feel the communicator vibrate in her pocket, which notified her of an incoming communication – she had to respond.
Cordineezer carefully edged her way out of the hall and into the basement laundry room and turned on the communicator.
'Mission complete' said Darien though the communicator.
'That's good news' replied Cordineezer worriedly.
'What's the matter?' asked Darien
'They're on to me. I've had a barrage of questions from the campaign team asking about Rob. You need to make a news story and soon; otherwise my cover will be blown'
Outside the laundry room, unknown to Cordineezer was a member of the campaign team listening intently to every word being spoken by her. The women outside could just hear through the door what was being said.
'I've just been to see Mr Mainly. Rest assured we are working on an accident that Rob and his friends die in' said Darien
'But it can't wait! They'll find out!' replied Cordineezer hysterically.
'Don't worry Cordineezer. You can do it. I think that it is best that we don't contact one another until the news story has been released. Good luck'
Cordineezer put the communicator into her bag.
The woman listening outside caught the cue. It was time to conceal herself. She found a nearby store room and crept into it. She had concealed herself just in time as Cordineezer nervously walked out of the laundry room. Now that she knew the truth, she could report it to Steadwards Bohn. She had unearthed a spy and a traitor.
'Why haven't they just executed us?' wondered Rob
'Execute us?' said Sami in shock.
'Maybe they are staging some sort of trial so that they can make the execution legal and degrade us in the process' said Alice sadly
'I hope that this is all they are keeping us here for' replied the Doctor 'I have a feeling that this trap was quite unintentional'
'Unintentional?' asked Alice, surprised.
'Yes. If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it when we had been caught in that high security centre. They had the perfect alibi; four people trying to help extraterrestrial terrorists escape. They want something more…'
'… like the TARDIS?' finished Sami
'That is what I'm afraid of' said the Doctor in reply. 'They haven't given up on it'
The Doctor was sure that the reason for their imprisonment was to force him to open the TARDIS; revealing the inside. These thugs would perform all kinds of nastiness if they found out the secrets and had the capability to travel through time and space. They needed to get out of the cell and escape. Somehow they needed to be taken to the TARDIS and then to disarm the security guards and escape. The methods of the security guards would make this an impossible task however.
Darien was busy with his two plans. The priority at this moment was staging the death of the four captives. The other plan could wait until later.
'How close are you?' he asked sharply to one of the people assigned to working on the crash.
'We still need to obtain the travel pod from the ETTDC and some prosthetic bodies to use. It will take time to prepare this' replied the worker.
'Time is vital. The longer that this takes, the higher the risk of Cordineezer being discovered' Darien replied
The time to bring the captives to the prison hold where that blue box was being stored would soon come.
She watched as Cordineezer walked into the main hall. Cordineezer walked back to her desk and one of the party workers approached her. Yet another person asking about the disappearance of Rob Byron no doubt.
This could not wait. She had to inform Steadwards immediately. Hoping that he had not yet gone to bed, she entered the lift and pressed the button for the sixth floor. She walked to room number 118 and knocked thrice on the door.
'Just a minute' came the reply from a muffled voice inside the room
The door opened and Steadwards Bohn stood in the doorway.
'What is it Jean?' he asked 'Don't you realise how late it is?'
'I'm sorry Mr Bohn. I have a serious matter I need to discuss with you. We have a Caliprebun mole in our ranks' replied Jean
'A mole?' replied a surprised Steadwards 'You'd better come in'
They entered the room and Jean sat at his desk. Steadwards carefully closed the door behind him.
'I caught Cordineezer Mite talking to someone from the Caliprebun campaign on a communicator' she said 'She was in a basement laundry room. I caught as much of what she was saying as I could…'
'No need to mention all the intricacies, just tell me what she said' interrupted Steadwards.
'She mentioned the disappearance of Rob Byron and about creating a news story to cover his disappearance. I believe that they have kidnapped him'
'… and his three friends?'
'Yes, they have gone as well'
'Thanks Jean. I am going to deal with Cordineezer very soon. Passing information about our campaign to the rival is treachery and aiding in the kidnapping of four people illegal. Get back to work and don't mention this to anyone OK?'
'I won't'
Jean left room 118 and made her way back downstairs to the hall. As she passed Cordineezer's desk she looked at her and whispered to herself:
'Your days are numbered'
'As I see it' said Alice 'We let them take us and then make a run for it'
'They'll have guns' said Rob unhappily in response.
'… and I wouldn't put it past them to use more vicious methods to get what they want' said the Doctor
'Like pointing a gun at us?' replied Sami; scared.
'Yes. Just like pointing a gun at one of us' replied the Doctor
'So there is nothing we can do?' asked Alice
'That pretty much sums it up' said Rob 'They hold all the cards'
They fell silent; deep in thought. It appeared that their situation was hopeless.
An hour after Jean had returned to the hall, she looked up at the telescreen. A newsflash had just come in. The headline read "Fatal crash kills four" and in the report (predictably) was a photograph of Robert Byron. The room stood silent watching the news report in horror and shock. The news report detailed a crash between two travel pods near the centre of Shuton.
Cordineezer felt extremely relieved now that the news of Rob Byron had been broadcast. It now threw the suspicion of his disappearance away from her. She could continue with her reports just as she had done before. That was when she saw something she least expected: Steadwards Bohn entered the hall. Everyone in the hall turned to look at him as he walked straight over to Cordineezer.
'Can I have a word in private Cordineezer?' he said 'Come with me to my room now'
'OK' replied Cordineezer. She was worried and Jean was smiling; Cordineezer was finished.
Now that the business of staging their death had been concluded, Darien could continue with the business of the blue box. Upon his return to the prison, he raised the security guard on the door of the cell and told him that the time had come to get the prisoners.
When he arrived at the cell with a further three guards, he gestured to the guard to unlock the cell door
'Get them!' he barked to the guards
'What do you want?' said the Doctor as he was being dragged out of the cell
'We are going to find out what is inside your blue box' replied Darien.
They were dragged into a storage room. Inside was the TARDIS. There were various items scattered all over the floor. There were cutting torches, mild explosives and all manner of things; all of which had been used unsuccessfully to gain entry to the TARDIS.
'Been trying to break in have you?' said the Doctor sarcastically. 'So glad you didn't succeed'
'That is why you will open it up for us' replied Darien
'What can you possibly gain from opening up a decorative storage box?' replied the Doctor.
The stalker gestured to one of the guards who pulled out his gun and held it to Sami's head.
'Open it!' he boomed 'Or she'll die!'
END OF CHAPTER FIVE
