Cerf pointed. "You see the turrets around the castle wall there?"
"Aye," said Jamie. From the vantage point of the ridge, all the turrets and domes were visible, and most of the castle's outer wall.
"The top window in the second one on the left is my father's old office. I used to have my lessons there. He got me a tutor about a year ago, one Kedas Hron Hrothgar from somewhere on the outer edge. I hated him, I don't know why, but my father liked him. He was my father's best friend from the day they met."
Cerf stared out towards the palace. Afternoon sunlight was glinting off the domes. "A month ago my father died. His heart had been bothering him for a long time. We all knew it was coming. For some reason he made Hron Regent of Vanussia until I come of age. That's pretty soon now. Anyway, after the expected week of mourning, Hron got all new palace guards and came after us. I think they killed my mother, and most of our personal guard didn't escape. Gamra and Alendar got me out, and we've been hiding here ever since."
Alendar, who had scared Jamie half out of his skin by creeping back into camp silently and with no kind of warning, was the second Guard and the last of Cerf's party. He looked up and nodded curtly, got out a little round tin of something black and a rough cloth, and set about cleaning his gun. The four of them were hidden in a different thicket, finishing a meal of some kind of biscuit -- Cerf had told Jamie they had an almost unlimited supply somewhere.
"What I don't understand," said Jamie, "is why the place isn't swarming with sentries. Fake Emperors need even more protection than real ones, but there was no one about when we landed, and we were walking all over the place."
"That's where we were smart and they were not," said Cerf proudly. "We got away in my little hoverboat. For all they know we could be anywhere in Vanussia. The last place they're looking for us is here. The grounds are enormous too, and the sentries are mostly around the perimeter, so there's plenty of space for improvisation. You folks were lucky enough to come right between two of their scheduled walkthroughs." He paused for a moment and continued, "If your friends did end up down in the Labyrinth, let's hope they had the sense to stay where they were. You can get really lost down there."
"Look, you said you'd seen the other end of that transmat down in the caves," said Jamie. "Now, how do I get in there?"
"That's where we've been hiding," said Cerf.
"Can you show me how to get in? I have to look for my friends."
"You'll need a guide," said Cerf. "We'll help you if you and your friends'll help us."
"Now, just a minute. Help you do what?"
"The Thane of Krakor knew my father," said Cerf. "That's the only reason there's been peace so long. If I could get to the screen in my father's office, I could convince him Hron's a traitor. He could help me get back my kingdom. But we need some help getting in."
Jamie was about to answer when Alendar looked suddenly up at the Palace and then across at Cerf and spoke for the first time. "Hide."
"Hide, Jamie!" Cerf dragged Jamie deeper into the undergrowth. The Guards had already melted into the shrubbery on the left and right. Jamie and Cerf, running as quickly and silently as they could, almost ran right over a sinister-looking soldier in a khaki uniform and greenish hat. They split up, and Jamie almost ran over another one. The woods rang with shouts and blaster fire, and the khaki soldiers started popping up all over the place. There were very few ways in which such a chase could end. For Jamie, it ended with a searing burst of blue-white fire, and a sudden blackness.
-
Victoria was not happy. The Phestans had wasted no time in lashing their captives to the fancy handle on the front of the copper box, and were debating, presumably, what to do with them. The Doctor had protested loudly and eloquently in English, which the soldiers apparently didn't understand, annoying them no end until one of them had threatened Victoria with a stun gun. Victoria didn't like being threatened with stun guns and had let anyone within a twenty-mile radius know it.
The Doctor had shut up and kept a sullen silence since then, slumping with his back to the box. He looked like he dearly wanted to be playing his recorder. Victoria moped for a while, absently listening to the soldiers' strange language. Abruptly she turned to the Doctor and asked, "Doctor, what are they saying?"
The Doctor looked sharply at her. "You can't understand them?" She shook her head. He blinked, muttering, "That isn't right at all. Odd, very odd..." and then lapsed back into silence.
She waited a moment and asked again, "Well, what are they saying?" When he didn't answer, she continued, "If they're going to broil us alive or something I want to know about it."
"How should I know what they're saying?" he grumbled irritably. "I can't read minds."
Victoria laughed. "You can't fool me, Doctor. I'm sure... ow!" The Doctor had kicked her ankle lightly. "What was that for?"
"Ammonium dichromate," the Doctor said.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Shhh! You know, (NH4)2Cr2O7," said the Doctor, as if imparting some great secret.
For a rare moment, Victoria was speechless. Then a shadow fell across the floor and she suddenly noticed that the taller Phestan had come over to see what all the noise was about. This time she got the hint.
"The decomposition reaction of ammonium dichromate is very exothermic," said the Doctor, as if continuing a conversation. Then he looked up, pretending to notice the trooper for the first time. "Do you mind? My young companion is getting her physics lesson."
The trooper snarled at them and went back to his comrade and their very noisy discussion. "Infernal cheek," muttered the Doctor, and lapsed back into silence. The younger soldier seemed to be disagreeing with the evil-looking one about something. Victoria found herself hoping the younger one would win.
Her gaze strayed to their uniforms. "There's a funny thing," she said. "Look at their hats, Doctor. Don't those tassles look exactly like the ones on your recorder?"
"Yes," said the Doctor in surprise, "so they are. I was given those tassels here, you know, in the future."
Minutes later the Phestans seemed to agree on something, and motioned the two time travelers to rise. They guided the Doctor and Victoria, still tied to the box, through the dusty maze as if they knew every inch of it.
-
Jamie opened his eyes, sat up and promptly fell over. He felt cold metal around his wrists and a terrible pounding in his head and a stiff wind whipping past his ears -- he was moving, and moving fast. He sat up again and shook his head to clear it. He was on the deck of a boat long and low and powerful, sailing, he guessed, towards the city he had seen earlier, at an incredible speed.
He noticed that Cerf was sprawled on the deck next to him. The young Prince seemed to be breathing normally, and Jamie considered waking him, but decided against it. The pain of waking up normally was bad enough without help.
The boat itself was nothing special: just a large gray oblong deck ringed by a black metal railing, a few funnels and benches, a thick spool of cable and what looked like a control booth in the front. Jamie had seen far fancier vessels since he had become the Doctor's companion. Nothing to write home about, he thought, and at once regretted thinking. The cuffs on their wrists were apparently made of copper and stout chains led to the rail, which meant that they couldn't jump out and swim to shore, even if Cerf turned out to be in any kind of condition for swimming. Fine. We'll just have to escape some other way then.
Turning, Jamie saw a guard sitting on a metal bench on the other side of the boat. He was of average height, thin, dressed in a dull khaki uniform and a funny hat with a tassel on it. And he was staring straight at Jamie.
Jamie flinched. The man had the meanest face he had ever seen and, if that weren't enough, was fingering a dangerous-looking weapon -- a gun of sorts. Seeing that Jamie was awake, he fingered his trigger, winked nastily and sneered at the prisoners.
In moments the boy's Highland spirit reasserted itself and he got to his feet. "Here now, what's the idea of all this?" he demanded, rattling the chain indignantly. "Who do you think you are, anyway?"
The guard let out a short bark of laughter and called out to someone in the front of the boat. The harsh language was like nothing that Jamie had ever heard. A reply floated back. The guard shouted something sarcastic, turned to Jamie and snarled. Jamie glared back defiantly but retreated to the rail.
That was when he realized that the 'boat' was sailing on air. This shocked him for a moment, but he had seen stranger things since joining the Doctor.
The Doctor... it suddenly struck Jamie that he could have been unconscious for hours, and the Doctor and Victoria were still missing. Or had they returned safely to the TARDIS and found him gone? Maybe they were already looking for him. Heartened by the prospect, Jamie sat down next to the rail and watched the gleaming city draw closer.
Cerf awoke and groaned, "Owooo my head."
"Don't worry, Alexander, you'll be fine in another few minutes," said Jamie loudly.
"Alexander?" Cerf tried to get up and then decided not to try that again for a while.
Jamie had picked the first name to come into his head. "Look, we've been captured," he whispered. "Just go along with me, all right? You don't want to be telling them who you really are."
Cerf moved his hands, heard the clink of chain, nodded and hung his head in a sudden flare of agony. He looked around painfully. "These are the spies I was telling you about. The ones who've been watching the palace. I guess we'll find out who they are soon enough, eh?"
Suddenly the hovercraft swerved sharply to the left. It seemed to be heading toward a steep grassy bank along the side of the lake. As Jamie watched, a section of earth slid slowly down, until most of it extended out over the water. Jamie heard the creaking of heavy machinery. Behind it gaped a black square hole, framed by metal bars and locks.
The hovercraft shot into the hole without even slowing down.