The two Phestans stared down the hallway at the settling dust their quarry had left. Aside from the dust, it had been a very clean escape.
Reluctantly, Khe put his weapon back into its holster and turned to his companion. "That girl would never have bolted on her own initiative."
Auburning was still staring down the corridor. "Well, she may still run into a patrol. But we're going to look ridiculous for letting her get away."
Khe snorted. "All the more reason to get a move on. We must learn who they are and how they got this far into the catacombs without setting off sixty intruder alerts; and I'm not entirely sure the Doctor can't understand the code. Come--"
With one accord the two turned and tramped back to the tunnel in which they had left the copper box. They came to the crossroads. And stopped short.
And stared in consternation at the empty loops of twine, now piled limply on the floor. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen, and the dust was disturbed in all six tunnels.
The two warriors circled the fork in confusion. Then the lieutenant noticed something else. "Look, sir! He's taken the antigravity units. There's no way we can move the box now without help."
Khe grew very red. "He could be anywhere by now. We'll never find him in these catacombs."
They both stared at the box, which was resting quite heavily on the rubber floor. Finally Auburning spoke up hopefully.
"We can't... open the box, can we? Rig up a suppression field and just carry the inner casing?"
"If the present field is disturbed it would automatically self-destruct. It's built that way. No, the only option is to go back to base and requisition more antigrav units." Suddenly there was a beeping noise. The commander took out his transmitter and extended the antenna. "Khe here."
The voice was scratchy. "Commander, Tellisn and the palace patrol caught two individuals snooping round the Emperor's backyard."
Alendar's eyes bulged. Khe covered the speaker with his hand and muttered, "That's impossible. It must be two other people." He turned back to the communicator. "And?"
"Sir, General Sode is gone to the Capital. We need you to interrogate the prisoners."
"Is this army made up of children?" said Khe acidly. "It is imperative that our mission be carried out. Isn't there anyone else capable of performing a simple interrogation?"
There was a pause. "Tellisn seems to think this is a special case," said the voice.
"On our way," said Khe. "And get out four more antigrav units. Ours... failed."
"That's odd," said the voice. "All right, signing off."
Khe put his communicator away. "Incompetent Vanussian scum," he muttered.
Auburning spread his hands in exasperation. "Commander, why is it so imperative that we get this box to the transmat room?"
"Forget it. Need-to-know basis, and you don't. Come on."
They stared at each other carefully. Finally, without another word, they started up a corridor.
As soon as the warriors were out of earshot, the Doctor, who had been pressed to the ceiling high above them the whole time, turned a knob on one of the pilfered antigrav controls and floated quietly to the ground.
The units were on their original setting, which, although sufficient to hold the Doctor on the ceiling, floated the much heavier box about half a meter from the floor. The Doctor turned the power knob from 'substantial', past 'very high indeed' and all the way to 'excessive', and set the field wide enough to include himself. Then, upside down, calmly walking the copper box along the ceiling, he set off in the opposite direction.
-
"All right, signing off." The petty officer pushed a button and turned to Tellisn. "He's on his way, sir, and you're to authorize another four antigravity units."
"Why?"
The Commander says his units failed."
Tellisn turned away. "All four at once? That's almost impossible!... Well, have the Ej'ka'enhr get another four out of stores."
Since Cerf had been led away, the stone-faced Tellisn -- a subcommander, as it turned out -- had done nothing but attend to the business of the base. They had moved to Communications, a small room just off the main cavern, containing several speakers, a panel full of colored buttons, and a large screen, presently dark. Jamie was sitting on a chair in a corner, quietly smoldering.
Tellisn, after dismissing the petty officer, sat down at the only desk and began typing something into a hand computer. Without warning he said, "Jamie. You do not resemble Alexander in the slightest."
Jamie was startled, but not caught off guard. "Aye, everyone's always said so."
"You do not speak alike either."
"Well... I've been away for a long time."
"I see. Very convenient. Where have you been?"
Sometimes the truth made an effective shield. "Scotland, England, Atlantis, Tibet, Skaro, Telos, the Moonbase, all sorts of places."
Tellisn looked up. "Moonbase? What moonbase? What are you talking about?"
Jamie thought fast. "Oh, it's not really on a moon, it's just called that."
"I have never heard of..." A sudden commotion from without interrupted Tellisn, and he rose and stared at the door. "The General is coming." There was a glint of grim humor in the subcommander's steely eyes as he glanced at Jamie, saying, "Don't tell him anything you wouldn't tell me."
"Eh?" said Jamie, blinking. But Tellisn was no longer looking at him. He shuffled the rest of the papers on the desk into a neat pile, stood up and moved away from the working side of the desk only just in time.
It was a primitive door, on hinges, and made a very satisfying slam as someone kicked it open. There was an immediate cloud of dust, out of which stepped a man with enough gold braid on his uniform to deck out several armies. His hair was a wild black mane and he had been out in the sun too long, and his eyes were like bottomless pits. He took the situation in with a glance and started screaming at Tellisn in the same bewildering language that Tellisn had been using with the guard on the hoverboat. The strange thing was, Jamie could understand some of it.
"Onash again. Onash! Onash! Onash! You idiot. Where is the other one? What do you think you're trying to do? You traitor! Aedrek khafitae aeno wwwm! You think you're in charge? Aeranh t'kath? You think you're the general? Do you? Do you? Do you?"
If Tellisn did, he wasn't saying. Jamie pressed a hand to his head. Whether it was the screaming or the recent stun, he felt his headache coming back.
The tirade continued. "Sode klaye Capitol, Khe kla the catacombs, Onash thinks he can take over? You blundering fija! Where did that knife come from? Hah? Where?"
Tellisn spoke evenly, as if reciting a lesson. "It belonged to this person. James Robert McCrimmon. He was armed with nothing else."
"Give me that!" The General whirled around and pointed the knife at Jamie. "Spy? James. Robert. Spies. You're a spy. You're all spies. You!" He whirled again and pointed the knife at Tellisn. "I know you. You're on their side. Guard! Tarj! Khafee! Lehalkya!"
Several soldiers piled into the little room. The General turned on them savagely. "Where's Tarj? You! Get Tarj! You and you, get these traitors down to the cells and if they try to escape shoot them down!"
Tellisn rolled his eyes to the ceiling as his wrists were locked together and fastened to the other end of Jamie's chain. He looked not at all worried about having been arrested as a traitor. He seemed resigned, as though things like this happened all the time. Jamie wondered what it was like to be commanded by General Sodos. It couldn't be all that pleasant.
The first guard turned to the door just as it swung open and the Controller stumbled in, almost too terrified to walk properly. The General greeted him with a pleasantly snakelike smile and spoke in such an ordinary, calm voice that Jamie almost looked around to see who else was in the room. "Ah, Tarj, what have you done in my absence?"
As the guards led the two captives through the door Jamie held back. "Hey!" he yelled. "I'll want that dagger back some day, y'know!"
-
Victoria waited for a while, hiding in the mouth of a passage through which she could smell clean air and grasses. Her feet kept going numb, and the tunnel echoed alarmingly every time she moved. Finally she said, very quietly, "Oh, he's not coming."
The passage became narrower and darker as she went along, but the cold fluorescent light of the Labyrinth quickly gave way to a golden, airy glow. Eventually she slipped past a particularly tight corner and out into a large cave. It was clearly inhabited. There were three sleeping blankets neatly rolled up, at least twenty large unmarked wooden crates stacked against a wall, and a flashy little hoverboat almost next to her.
For a moment she did not dare to move, in case someone else was in the cave, or outside and about to enter. Then she tiptoed to the crack that was admitting the golden out-of-doors light.
The cave was well hidden by shrubbery and boulders, but there was a good view out. She could see all the way down into the valley. There was the tree that had caused them so much trouble, and there was the blue monument of the TARDIS.
Victoria dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out the key. Then she threw caution to the winds, fought her way past the tangle of vines, and was through and running down the hill, calling for Jamie. He had to be there somewhere, didn't he?
Suddenly a stick shot out of the bushes and tripped her. A hand grabbed her arm, and she screamed.