CHAPTER 10

THE LAIR OF THE DERLAG

Like something made from the distilled and concentrated essence of the most terrifying nightmares the hideous creature, huge and bloated, slowly pulsed and wheezed at the centre of the great cavern. Its main bulk was shaped something like a rugby ball, about 30 metres long and 8 metres both tall and wide where its girth was greatest. A virtual forest of white gangling, angled spider-like, legs extended outwards from the sides of its marble-white body.

From one of the pointed ends of the creature's body a long snout, shaped like an elephant's trunk, extended forward across the ice floor of the cavern, coming to an end by turning upwards and mushrooming out into a large fleshy funnel. On the creature's body above the beginning of the snout was a row of six widely spaced small black eyes, with eye-lids all opening and closing at different times. Below these, and to either side of the trunk, extended two long slowly writhing tentacles with claw-like ends. Hideous trumpets of flesh erupted all over the creature's body, inside each of which a dark membranous material billowed in and out as air was sucked in and then exhaled.

Bathed in the eerie green light emanating in patches from the glittering cavern walls, Barbara and Vicki slowly walked towards the opening of the creature's snout. They were each carrying a large jug of reddish-brown slurry. Gone from their faces was their initial expressions of terror. In fact, gone from their faces were any traces of expression at all. They stared, eyes dull and uncomprehending, and they moved more like robots than human beings.

In turn, they each stood in front of the hideous trumpet of flesh, raised the jug they were holding over it and slowly poured the lumpy liquid in. While the liquid splashed onto the brown-stained flesh inside the trunk, so ripples in it carried the food up into the creature's body. Air also hissed and gurgled noisily up the snout as it flattened out and writhed while the loathsome creature vacuumed up its nourishment.

A dozen Caspicoogas were toiling to move a tall, box-like, structure hidden below layers of net and rope. The box rode on a platform and two Caspicoogas strenuously transferred rollers from the rear of the platform to the front as others hauled on the ropes, pulling the platform over the rollers. As Barbara and Vicki moved to one side of the cavern and then stood motionless, the platform with its cargo was rumbled into position in front of the monstrous creature. Without pausing to rest, the Caspicoogas began unravelling the ropes and the netting.

Ian Chesterton felt numb as he and the Doctor were marched along the ice-walled tunnel towards the green light ahead. What had removed any last vestiges of hope for Ian was seeing the Doctor's normally indomitable spirit so utterly broken. Not a single word had they exchanged on the way down through the galleries and caverns of ice. The old man had not shown the slightest flicker of interest in any of the sights they had seen. Not even the magnificent workshop with the motive power of the machinery supplied by the Yakenta slaves, nor the sickening kitchen where Yakenta carcasses were hacked up and turned into some sort of food, had caused any significant reaction in the Doctor. The old man's normally keen and glittering eyes now seemed dull and lifeless.

Moments later they stood, bathed in green light, at the entrance to the cavern. Suddenly the Doctor's face showed a very strong emotional reaction indeed, as did Ian's - raw fear.

They both stared at the hideous entity within. Then, with a start, the Doctor noticed the tall box standing on the platform in front of the monster's waving tentacles, now becoming visible as the last of the netting and the ropes were being dragged from it. "My ship! My TARDIS!" he bellowed, suddenly becoming animated and breaking into a sprint towards his beloved space-time vessel. With lightning speed two Caspicoogas grabbed him and jostled him round to face the creature.

The fire in the Doctor's spirit was now very much rekindled. His face puckered with indignation and he spluttered loudly. "How dare you! Unhand me! Unhand me at once!" he roared, still struggling to free himself.

He ceased his struggles as the patches of green light in the walls and roof flared brightly and a low, growling, voice boomed around the chamber. "Be still, puny creature. You are in the presence of the Supreme Being."

"Supreme Being! Huh! Supreme Being, indeed! The only supreme thing about you is your arrogance!" The Doctor flinched as two tentacles lunged towards him - but did not strike. The lights flared again as a low rumbling sound, like a perverted form of laughter, filled the air. The Doctor's face set like stone as he stared at the centre of the row of the creature's six beady eyes.

Suddenly the Doctor heard Ian's shouted voice, "Barbara! Vicki!" Still held between two Caspicoogas, the Doctor turned his head sharply to look at Ian, who was sprinting towards two familiar figures he could see silhouetted against the green light shining from the cavern wall behind them. Neither figure showed any response. The Doctor looked about him as the cavern lights flared again but this time no voice could be heard.

"Barbarrrrrrr…" Ian's voice slurred and died away as he reached the two women. He put his hands to his head and staggered to a stop.

The Doctor yelled out, "Chesterton! Chesterton, my boy! This creature is trying to take control of your mind! Resist it! Resist it as I do. You can. Remember the fungus we ate. Resist! Resist!"

Ian struggled to turn and look at the Doctor. "Yes, Doctor I…" A low rumbling growl of anger filled the air and the green patches of light flared brighter still. A moment later Ian lost his battle and he stood, silent and motionless, next to Vicki and Barbara.

After a momentary look of despair flitted across the Doctor's old face he pulled on a mask of defiance and turned to face the creature once more. "Why? Eh? Why? What possible use are we to you? Eh? Well?" The lights flared again as the creature's menacing form of laughter again filled the cavern. The Doctor flinched as several of the angled legs protruding from the creature twitched. This produced another rumbling surge of laughter.

"Animal…Doctor you are known as, yes, Doctor…I can see far enough into your mind to know that you already suspect what it is that I want…and you are correct. Your travel machine has great power and it is capable of transcending the dimensions. I will have it and that power will be mine."

"You would never get in through the door," retorted the Doctor churlishly. His face showed disappointment as more of the hideous laughter was the sole response to his goad.

"I have never before encountered a mind structured as is yours," rumbled the creature. "All the beings I have found so far have possessed only two levels of principle thought, one deep level driving their actions subconsciously and one less powerful conscious level. You have a very much more complex mind with several shifting levels of consciousness and unconsciousness. There is also something deeper in your mind which I cannot quite reach." A hawkish look flickered across the Doctor's countenance.

"No Doctor, you will not be able to keep it from me. Before long I will possess all your secrets." After a long pause the creature continued, "I can also sense that your life is nearing its natural end. You no longer possess the powers you once did. Your body is old and feeble. Your brain is no longer being fed with the quantities of oxygen and nutrients it needs to function with maximum efficiency…" the creature's rumbling voice tailed off. "You can regenerate your physical body!" it then exclaimed, "How is this done?"

The Doctor's face flashed with anger at the creature's discovery. "Oh, don't you know?" he replied waspishly, "I thought you could read my mind, eh?" The creature's legs twitched and the green lights flared again, this time without any noise.

"You are indeed a remarkable specimen, Doctor," boomed the voice at length. "You have even managed to close off a little more of your fascinating mind to me. But your efforts are futile, Doctor. You cannot keep up your defence for long. Soon you will tire and succumb to my will."

The old man drew himself up straight as he gripped the lapels of his fur coat, angled his head back, and stared defiantly into the middle of the row of six inhuman eyes. "I can resist you, er…what is it they call you? Er, oh yes, the Derlag. What does that name mean, eh? Derlag, hmm?" The lights flared again in time to a rumbling peal of laughter.

"No, Doctor, you will find no advantage in finding a respite, nor will you find any weakness in me you can exploit. However, I will grant you, unusual creature from beyond this world, some relief from your curiosity. A little time means nothing to me. In fact I…enjoy…yes, enjoy, interacting with your puny but interesting mind." The Doctor was startled by the sudden release of the grip of his two Caspicooga captors. As he looked to either side of him the green lights flared as yet again the inhuman laughter rumbled around the cavern as the two Caspicoogas that were holding him stepped aside.

"The creatures of this world call me the Derlag, meaning 'The Great Ruler.' It is a name from their mythology given to an all-powerful being that was said to rule long ago over all the races on this planet. It is fitting because I, and those like me ARE all powerful!" The menace in the Derlag's voice was unmistakable.

The Doctor pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "Others like you. Ah, yes, now, I had imagined that there must be others. My companions and I have just left a planet called Vortis where…"

"Yes, you are correct, Doctor, that was one of my kind."

"But the Vortis, er, Animus as it was called on that world, didn't look much like you and, er…"

"We are not all born the same. Also, the Animus, as you call it, was still very young." The old man stared, aghast.

"Yes, that is correct Doctor. In time it would have developed to become as powerful as I am. Each of us finds its way to a different world. Of course, many planets are unsuitable and so many of us die before we can become established. A few find an environment to which we can adapt and an indigenous lifeform we can enslave for our purposes." There was a pause as the Doctor's face betrayed that his mind was reeling at the enormity of the Derlag's words.

The lights blazed again as the Derlag responded to the Doctor's thoughts. "You are wondering how many like me exist, Doctor. I do not know. I and those like me were born into the void. I have little knowledge of my origins and merely sense that there are others like me. I was able to sense the presence of one on the planet you called Vortis more strongly than the others because it was nearby."

"Then you also…" the Doctor voice was tense and unsteady.

"Yes, Doctor!" roared the voice to an intense blaze of light as several of the Derlag's spidery legs flayed in the air and its tentacles lunged menacingly towards the Doctor, "Yes, I felt the light of life extinguished in my kin. I know that you and those who travel with you helped the indigenous lifeforms of that planet to kill…" The Doctor flinched and then closed his eyes for a moment and breathed heavily.

Ian's voice echoed across the chamber. "Doctor! Doctor!"

Stirring himself against the icy stab of fear that had frozen him, the Doctor called back to Ian, "Yes, that's it! Fight it my boy, fight it! You can, remember you ate the fungus - aaargh!" One of the Derlag's claws painfully gripped the Doctor's right leg. The old man glowered back at the six blinking eyes of the creature.

"Doctorfff…." Ian's voice slurred into silence once more.

"You cannot goad me into loosening my grip, Doctor. Accept your fate."

The Derlag released its grasp of the Doctor's leg and the old man stooped and rubbed at it ruefully. He then straightened to look into those six blinking eyes once more. "You do seem to have spread yourself a little thinly, eh? You know, er, controlling all the Caspicooga people. That could, er, be dangerous, hmm?"

"Even if that were true, Doctor, my powers are still strong enough to enable me to reach up to your vessel and ensnare it and ultimately bring it down to this planet."

"And what do you propose to do with it now that you have got it here?"

"Come now Doctor. Why verbalise a question to which you already know the answer."

"Very well, let me see if I have got the idea," the Doctor again straightened himself and gripped the lapels of his fur coat. "You desire a physical link between yourself and my ship, so that you can gain for yourself the facility of time and space travel."

"Yes!" rumbled the voice ever louder, as the lights flared brighter still, "I tire of this planet and its dwindling population. With the powers possessed by your machine I can traverse the infinity of space and the eternity of time, searching out populated worlds and selecting eras when the civilisations populating those worlds are at their most primitive and most easily subjugated. I will be the ultimate master!" The growling, rumbling, voice had risen to a fever pitch and now dissolved into maniacal laughter.

Illuminated by the flaring and flickering green lights in the cavern, the Doctor's features showed his raw fear and his outrage. "That is disgusting! You cannot transcend the laws of nature, nor tamper with the course of destiny. You cannot!"

The Derlag's laughter died away to a menacing rumble, "With the powers possessed by your travel machine I can. All of space and all of time will be mine. The peoples of the Universe will be my slaves to command as I please."

"What you seek is impossible. For one thing it is not possible to link you to the TARDIS…"

The creature twitched and several of its legs reared up. "Doctor, beware! I am growing weary of your pathetic attempts to delay the inevitable. I learned much about your machine when I first ensnared it. I know that the exterior interface is given shape and substance by means of the mechanisms within. I also know that power can be transferred through that interface and the containment vector field can be made to envelop external bodies. This you revealed to me yourself when you caused the exterior interface to oscillate at resonance."

"Oh yes, I remember. I made the TARDIS a little too hot for you to handle, eh!" The Doctor pulled on a superior expression and broke into one of his characteristic chuckles.

"And despite your pathetic attempt to escape," asserted the Derlag as the smile on the Doctor's face rapidly withered, "I brought you down to this planet. But you know all this, Doctor. You continue with your futile attempts to evade your fate. I know that you are creating delay while the deeper levels of your mind are searching for a solution but there is NO solution, Doctor. You WILL do my bidding - and I WILL be master of all!"

"I will never help you in this evil plan and without my help you cannot succeed." Lights flare around the chamber once more.

"Enough! I am tired of your prevarication. You will now enter your machine and begin work. I will wait no longer!"

"No! Never!" The lights flared brightly and seemed to concentrate on the Doctor's figure, giving it a greenish-white aura. The old man yelled in pain and dropped to his knees. "Never! Never! Never!" he cried.

"You will obey! You will! You will!", roared the Derlag's booming voice, "You will obey! You will! You will! You will! YOU WILL!"

"Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!" The old man's swirling senses barely registered the voices of Barbara, Vicki and Ian shouting at him. Then he became aware of their hands hauling him upright. He also became aware of the several Caspicoogas that had been standing statue-like now becoming animated and jabbering in their guttural voices.

The flaring lights faded and with a loud moan the Doctor put an unsteady hand to his forehead. He looked about him at his companions and the approaching Caspicoogas. His aching brain quickly assessed this latest development. "Resist! Resist! This creature is not all powerful. It can be resisted!" he shouted.

The lights flared again and all the bodies in the cavern writhed as they struggled against the control now being re-imposed. The Doctor fought against waves of pain as he added his own powerful will to the battle. Suddenly he gasped as he felt the creature's evil presence leave his mind.

"That's it! Resist! We are winning, now! We can be free!" he shouted triumphantly.

"No! No! Resist it!" he called after Vicki, Barbara and Ian as they began walking, robot-like, back towards their former position over to one side of the chamber. "Resist! You can resist! Concentrate your free wills! Resist!" the old man bellowed desperately, and turned from his companions to the Caspicoogas in the cavern. To his dismay he saw the Caspicoogas also, one by one, succumbing to the Derlag's control and slowly move back to their former positions and stand motionless once more.

Again the lights flared and the evil rumbling laughter echoed around the frozen chamber. "You see, Doctor, your attempts at resistance are quite futile."

"Futile! Is that so?" retorted the Doctor vehemently, "You lost your control over my friends and the Caspiccoga creatures, didn't you, eh? I was too strong for you, wasn't I? Hmm? Yes, indeed! And if you lost your control of these people in this chamber then you also lost your control over the Caspicooga people in the citadel above us." The bile was rising in the Doctor's voice. "If that is so, how long before they could come down here and destroy you, eh?" Yet again the Doctor angled his head back and his hands gripped the lapels of his fur coat, as he struck a defiantly imperious pose. "If you try to control me, you lose your grip on the others. If that happens, they will revolt and you will be destroyed. I demand that you let my companions and myself go! At once, do you hear, AT ONCE!"

The whole of the creature shuddered and several of its legs flayed upwards as a thunderous roar filled the air and yet again the green lights flared brightly. "You dare to pit your puny mind against mine, Doctor! Know this, you WILL do as I command or I will have my slaves kill you and your precious friends. And, Doctor, death for each of you will be very slow and extremely agonising."

The Doctor clenched his eyes shut and he breathed heavily as his already pale face grew whiter still and a sheen of cold sweat glistened on his skin. There was a pause. "Better us four die than I let you loose on the Universe of time and space," he at last replied in a quiet, unsteady, voice.

The inhuman laughter again filled the air. "You maintain your pathetic efforts to evade my will, Doctor. You know very well that you would not sacrifice yourself and your companions to torture and eventual death."

"I cannot let you have the powers that you want. I cannot! I must not!" The Doctor's voice was fraught and emotional.

Again the cavern sounded with rumbling, mocking, laughter. "You are indeed a weak and pathetic creature!" boomed the Derlag.

The old Doctor's face puckered. "I will not…"

"Enough!" roared the Derlag, "I see you require a lesson. The young female will be the first."

"W-What! No! Stop!" pleaded the Doctor as he saw Vicki begin to walk towards him, as did three of the Caspicooga. One of them was drawing a large knife with a corrugated blade from his belt.

"No! Don't! Please! I'll do what you say. Please! Please!" begged the Doctor as Vicki and the Caspicoogas continued to walk towards him. The girl stopped and the three Caspicoogas moved to stand around her.

"Stop this! I'll do as you say!" implored the Doctor.

Yet again the rumbling, menacing, evil laughter sounded in the cavern. "Yes, Doctor! I can sense that this time you mean what you say. I have broken your will, Doctor. I can begin to see into your mind again. You are my slave now. I will have the power I desire. I will have it! I will! I will! I WILL!" The Doctor sank to his knees in despair as the Derlag's maniacal laughter boomed and echoed around him.

The Doctor stared morosely at the controls in front of him. He now stood in his usual Edwardian attire, his fur anorak discarded. The covers were off several sections of the console and cables trailed about amongst the dials, switches and levers. Some cables trailed down to open panels on the plinth that supported the console. The adjustments were now nearly complete. The ship now seemed very empty and he felt very alone inside it.

Outside, the creature had shuffled closer to the space-time vessel and had clamped its talons onto its police box exterior.

The normal, warbling, hum that pervaded the interior of the vessel seemed now a little lower in pitch as if the TARDIS, itself, both sensed and was reacting to the despair of its owner.

"Hurry! Hurry! I am impatient to taste my new power!" boomed the voice over the communication circuit.

The Doctor looked at the Derlag's hideous appearance in the scanner screen and he braced himself. "Very well," he rasped as, lunging forward, he desperately began to wrench at the levers and switches in front of him. Suddenly he yelled, his voice rising to a scream, as a stab of terrible burning agony wracked every fibre of his body. He stumbled and fell to his knees, gasping and moaning.

"You are a fool, Doctor!" blasted the inhuman voice, "I can now see ever deeper into your mind. Your intention to make your escape, leaving your companions to their own fate, caused you too much emotion for you to hide it from me."

Moaning, the Doctor used the edge of the control panel to lever himself back upright. The Derlag's voice again sounded. This time it had an unmistakably supercilious note in it. "No, Doctor! Abandon the thoughts you now have about attempting to kill me by channelling power to the outside of your vessel. Your struggles are futile, especially so as I can sense that you are rapidly tiring. You are getting weaker and weaker. Very soon I shall have you under my complete control without having to loosen my grip on my other slaves."

The Doctor leaned on the edge of the control console and breathed heavily. The voice boomed triumphantly as the Doctor, his spirit now crushed and his soul full of despair, slowly and reluctantly set to work re-adjusting the controls. "Yes, that is it Doctor. Accept your fate. I am the superior being. I will be the supreme master of the Universe!"

The Doctor's trembling hand hovered hesitatingly over the master dematerialisation lever as the evil creature's booming laughter once more filled the TARDIS control room.

The Doctor closed his eyes - and drove home the lever.