Chapter Four

To The Surface

After passing through the atmosphere, the shutters on the cabin windows opened, allowing Peri a bird's eye view of the planet below. She had seen just a quick glimpse of the satellite before the shutters were lowered, and was pleased to be able to see out again, although at first they were too high in the clouds for her to see anything other than a sprawling city below.

As the shuttle passed over the outer edges of the city, she could see several large fires that seemed to be burning out of control in the distance. There were also several buildings that looked as though a bomb had been dropped on them.

"Looks like there's been a war," she remarked. "Lots of people in the streets, though." She paused, adding, "Wow, what a mob."

"Peri, tell me exactly what you see," the Doctor instructed, his mind taking in all the information his companion supplied as the shuttle moved in for a landing.

"Well, it's either a war, a demonstration, a riot, or someone's soccer team lost the World cup." She went on to describe the whole, horrific scene.

Outside the window she could see hundreds, possibly thousands of people in the streets. Windows were being smashed, more fires were set, and looting was rampant. She could see no sign of any police or military intervention. Apparently this mob was running unchecked throughout this part of the city.

Peri was about to make a snide remark about what a nice place the Doctor had brought her to when she saw him cover his eyes in pain again. No, she thought, he's got enough on his mind. Better not make it worse.

Suddenly they both had enough on their minds when one of the cabin windows abruptly exploded in a shower of glass.

"Doctor, get down!" Peri shouted, diving to the floor. "They're shooting at us!"

"Nice of them to warn us we were flying into a war zone," the Doctor remarked aridly as his companion crawled over to him.

"Why don't they just put the shutters back down?" Peri asked as a second window was blown out.

"There's a good question," the Time Lord responded. "Let's just hope they don't hit anything vital or we won't be around to be asking any questions at all."

The time travelers had to grab hold of whatever was at hand to keep from being thrown across the room as the shuttle banked sharply. Obviously the pilot was attempting to avoid further damage from below.

The shuttle lost several more windows before reaching the safety of its underground hangar. The Doctor and Peri could hear a great deal of activity as the crew attempted to deal with the damage. There were shouts from out in the hangar that filtered in through the broken windows, and Peri chanced a quick peek, seeing a group of uniformed men heading towards the ship.

"Our escort, presumably," the Doctor observed darkly.

The journey from the hanger bay to their final destination was no less hair raising than the landing. The time travelers were loaded into an armored transport vehicle that slowly moved out into the streets.

"I'm not sure I want to be this up close and personal with this planet, Doctor," Peri remarked as the transport plowed straight through the thronging crowd.

"We don't seem to've been given a choice," the Time Lord replied darkly. After a moment, he said, "It's interesting, don't you think? They think you and I are some sort of saboteurs, yet from what you tell me, they're totally ignoring a rampaging riot right on their doorstep. Somebody's sense of priorities is rather skewed."

"If you ask me, they're all a bunch of raving lunatics."

As the vehicle moved ever onward, there was the sound of fists hammering on the side. There were also screams and angry shouts as well as the occasional bump that the Doctor felt certain came from someone being struck and then run over. Eventually the noise stopped as they emerged for the crowd, much to Peri's relief. She was certain her ears would be ringing for days after this.

After another half an hour, they arrived at their final destination. The time travelers were greeted with more guards and just a little civility. Peri stayed as close to the Doctor as possible, but as soon as they reached the prison area they were separated.

The Doctor was dragged into what he assumed was an interrogation room and thrust into a very hard wooden chair. It was there that he patiently waited for another half an hour. He recognized the technique immediately, of course, and suspected there was very likely a two-way mirror or camera in the room that enabled his captors to observe his reactions, since it seemed apparent they were attempting to unnerve him.

When the Chief Inquisitor finally arrived the Doctor could tell by his voice that he was disappointed his ploy had not worked. He was even further disappointed when the Time Lord failed to give any of the proper fearful responses to the threats being made if he did not cooperate.

"Mr. Farrell," the Doctor said mildly once the Inquisitor finished his tirade, "I'll be only too happy to cooperate in any way I can." He paused a beat before adding pointedly, "If you'll give me a chance, that is."

Farrell ground his teeth in annoyance, realizing at the same time that his prisoner had managed to make a fool of him without even trying. He took a seat across the table and listened as the Doctor patiently told his story that, not to the Time Lord's great surprise, was not believed.

"Surely you can come up with something better than that, can't you?" Farrell said challengingly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Of course. But you said you wanted the truth," the Doctor replied blandly. Hearing Farrell growl, he made a mental note that this man probably had a very short fuse and therefore should not be provoked further.

"The truth is," the Inquisitor snarled, "you and your confederate went to Generator 4 to sabotage it. When Chief Technician Anderson discovered you there, you killed him. But before you could escape the generator came on and your own handiwork trapped you. How am I doing so far?"

The Doctor remained silent, groaning inwardly. Things were going just as badly as he expected. He sighed heavily when Farrell started demanding the names of his contacts, his employer, and so on, and so forth.

"Maybe the King's lot can get something out of him," a voice suddenly suggested, causing the Doctor to jump. He had not realized there was another person in the room, and the fact that he was behind him did nothing to ease his mind.

Oblivious to this reaction, which he could have utilized to his advantage, Farrell jumped to his feet and snapped angrily, "No! This is still my investigation. I'm not about to hand the first real lead I've had in months over to that prattling old man. He's only in charge because of a bureaucratic loophole. What does he know about running a criminal investigation?"

The guard shrugged and opened his mouth, only to be cut off by Farrell. "I'll tell you what he knows. Nothing! And that's what he's going to get from me."

So there, the Doctor thought as he heard the Inquisitor drop heavily into his seat.

"Alright, Doctor," Farrell said coldly, "we'll go over it again. And this time, I want the truth."