CHAPTER 12

THE TRAP IS SPRUNG

Having been warned that the Doctor and Taylor were on their way, Dr. Jordan had the unconscious Jasmine taken directly into the main lab. She was talking to Jacoby just outside the lab door when the men arrived.

"Ah, Dr. Jordan, just the person we came to see," Taylor said conversationally. "The Doctor's been asking me about those plant creatures you've been researching…"

Lilith waved a hand impatiently. "I'm sure my assistant can answer any questions you may have. I'm rather busy treating one of the poor beasts right now."

"Really? You've got one here, have you?" the Doctor beamed. "May I see?" Not waiting for a reply, he pushed passed the astonished scientist and strode into the lab before anyone could stop him. The technicians who were strapping down the unconscious Terrellian stopped their work and stared at him. He in turn stared back, recognizing the helpless form stretched out on the table. "Jasmine…" he breathed in horror.

"Really, Gordon," Lilith was saying behind him. "I must insist that you both leave at once. I'm right in the middle of some very important research and I can't—"

The Doctor whirled around. "Research? Is that what you call the abduction and torture of innocent, peaceful beings?"

"Oh, now really, Doctor," Jacoby admonished. "They're only animals..."

"One might say the same thing about you, Mr. Jacoby," the Doctor snarled. "There's no humanity here. It's not even a laboratory. It's a chamber of horrors!"

"Come, come, Doctor," Lilith said condescendingly. "It isn't as though they were—"

"Human?" the Time Lord completed pointedly. "No, they're not human. But that doesn't give you the right to exploit them for your own personal gain." He turned to Taylor, thinking he had sufficiently made his point and was wondering why the Colony Leader had remained silent during the entire exchange. Seeing the gun in his hand, the Doctor cursed himself for not having realized sooner that he was being maneuvered. "So? You're in on it as well, are you?"

"Not exactly," Taylor replied mildly. "Dr. Jordan and I have reached what you might call an understanding."

"No, I'd probably call it a bribe," the Doctor replied bluntly. "Just how much silence did she pay you for, Mr. Taylor? She's willing to kill to keep her activities a secret. Are you willing to keep silent about that?"

Taylor gave him a blank look and turned to Dr. Jordan. "What's he talking about," he asked in bewilderment, lowering the gun slightly.

"Good grief, man! You can't be that stupid!"

Lilith sighed. "I'm afraid he is."

The Doctor suddenly grabbed the Colony Leader by the arm and swung him around, bowling him into Lilith and Jacoby and sending them all down onto the floor in a tangled pile of arms and legs. Then he bolted from the room.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots! Stop him!" Lilith yelled to the stupefied technicians as she tried to untangle herself.

Before anyone could react, the Doctor came backing into the room, his hands raised. Baker followed him; his weapon aimed at the Time Lord's stomach. "I believe you lost this, Dr. Jordan," the hunter remarked mildly.

Picking herself up off of the floor, Lilith marched angrily over to the Doctor. "You're going to regret having done that," she snarled. She snapped her fingers and two very large lab techs seized the Doctor by the arms.

"Lilith…" Taylor said shakily, "You're not really going to kill him, are you?"

"Don't be such an idiot!"

"I'm too dangerous alive. Isn't that right, Dr. Jordan?" the Doctor observed calmly.

Lilith merely snorted in reply.

"I suppose you'll arrange a nice little accident for me with Mr. Ellis." The Doctor paused a beat before adding, "Just as you did for Mr. Henderson."

The scientist turned sharply back to him, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. "What do you know about Henderson?"

"Enough. A large plant named Marjora told me—"

Dr. Jordan ground her teeth in rage and struck the Time Lord hard across the face with the back of her hand. "Get him on a table!" she ordered.

The Doctor fought with all his strength, but was seriously outnumbered. Several others joined in to force him down on to an examining table where he was securely strapped down.

Gordon Taylor watched all this in horror. "Lilith, you had Henderson…murdered?" he said in disbelief.

Dr. Jordan exchanged an incredulous look with her assistant. How could this man be so incredibly thick? Jacoby turned to the hunter, who was still standing by the main door. "Baker, if you'd be so kind…?" he said, waving a hand in the Colony Leader's direction.

"Certainly, sir," Baker replied and promptly shot down the aghast Taylor where he stood. Looking up, the hunter then asked, "Does Mr. Taylor know how to swim?"

"Yes, I believe he does," Lilith replied offhandedly.

Baker shook his head. "Such a shame. He'd've been able to save himself in the river, if he hadn't struck his head." With that, he proceeded to drag the stunned man from the room.

When the villagers heard of Jason's plan to destroy the lab, they all quite naturally wanted to help. While glad of so much assistance, Jason was forced to point out that so large a group would be far too conspicuous. He therefore chose only six others to go with him; Marjora, because she was village physician and could care for Jasmine should that prove necessary. Laurel, because of his obvious fighting spirit. Dillon, of course, as he would not be left behind. Thatcher, who volunteered to act as scout and who suggested two others to round out the team.

As the group made their way through the forest, they heard a signal from Thatcher further on ahead. The hunters were coming. "Everybody hide!" Jason commanded. "And remember what I told you. If they spot you, lead them to me."

The Terrellians promptly vanished. A few minutes later the hunters entered the clearing just ahead of the group. Dillon and Jason had taken refuge behind a large fallen tree and after watching the men a few minutes, Dillon whispered, "Jason, they're not after us."

"How can you tell?" the Alterran whispered back.

"They're not moving the way they do when they're stalking us. They're moving as they do when hunting one of their own."

"One of their own? Another human, you mean?" Dillon nodded. "Another human, hmmm? I wonder?" Jason looked at the small hand mirror he'd pulled from his pocket. He had intended to use it to flash light in the hunter's eyes. Instead, he had a flash of inspiration and smiled devilishly. "Watch this," he grinned, pocketing the mirror. He rose to his feet and walked casually over to the three men, stopping when he was directly in front of them.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ellis," he said amiably. "Or is it good evening? I can never tell on alien worlds. Out for a little stroll, are you?"

"Not exactly. We've been looking for you," the Hunt Leader replied coldly.

"Have you now? I'm flattered. Any particular reason? Or did you just miss the pleasure of my company?"

Ellis and his men drew their weapons and took aim at the unruffled young man. "No one's going to miss you, boy."

"You know, I reeeelly wouldn't do that if I were you," the Alterran cautioned mildly, watching the hunter's trigger finger the whole time.

Ellis snorted and the men fired in unison. The same instant Jason transmuted into a large mirror, reflecting the beams back to their source. The astonished hunters were transfixed in the discharge of their own weapons and dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Returning to his human form, Jason sauntered over to the motionless figures, looking down in feigned remorse. "I did try to warn you," he said reprovingly, shaking his head.

The stunned hunters were securely bound with their own ropes and then lashed to a tree.

"Poetic justice," Jason observed as he picked up the guns. Turning to the others, he said seriously. "Let's do us a little hunting of our own, now, shall we?"

Lilith came and stood over the Doctor, who observed that the others in the room had taken no notice of the events that had just transpired. They acted as if it were an everyday occurrence. Considering what Marjora and the others had told him, he would not have been surprised to find it to be the norm. "I take it I'm to die on the operating table," he said to gloating Dr. Jordan.

She smiled evilly down at him. "Later, perhaps. I'm going to process you first. You did say you wanted to know what I was doing in here, didn't you, Doctor?"

"I already know what you're doing in here. And I think you know more about these creatures than you're willing to admit."

"And what if I do?" came the taunting reply. "You're in no position to do anything about it." She took a hypodermic from a tray, measuring out a larger than normal dose of the paralyzing drug.

"You know they're not dumb animals, don't you?" the Doctor asked pointedly. His reply as to have the needle jabbed into his arm. Almost immediately, he felt a strange warmth spread throughout his body as the immobilizing drug took effect.

Dr. Jordan motioned to Jacoby, who came over with a puzzled expression on his face. "Things are getting a little too warm around here," she said in a low voice. "First that boy, then Taylor, and now this Doctor person."

Jacoby's eyes widened. "Do you think the galactic authority is on to us?" he whispered.

"I'm not going to chance it. As quietly as you can, start preparing to abandon the operation."

"I can start immediately, if you don't need me here."

Lilith nodded and waved him out. She then looked down into the face of the helpless Time Lord. "My goodness, Higgins," she gasped in mock surprise. "What an unusual subject we have here. We'll have to run every test on him." Her voice hardened as she added coldly, "And I mean everything."