Part Four
It was nearly dawn by the time they arrived back in front of the royal palace, parking the flying car (somewhat dirtied by the chase by the dragons and its time spent in the lake) next to the drawbridge and hurrying inside, their arms laden with the precious metals and stones which not surprisingly drew suspicious and surprised looks from the red-robed guards, but no one tried to stop them.
They arrived at the door to the throne room to find it manned by a weary looking guard.
"We bring the lost treasures of this planet to present them to your queen, El-Medr," the Doctor announced. Jo giggled at his haughty tone.
The guard stared wide-eyed at the objects they were holding. "No … These can't be … The treasures are only myths …"
"Look closely," said the Doctor, and the guard looked.
"Well, I have to say … Ar-Doktr, I have never seen anything like this before in my life." The guard seemed lost for words. "This – this is amazing. Enter, enter. The queen has been awaiting you all night."
The guard opened the door, and the two travellers walked through it. Sure enough, Queen El-Medr was still sitting on the beautiful throne, though it was nothing next to the objects in the arms of Jo and the Doctor. The queen looked tired, but she brightened up immediately the moment the Doctor and his companion entered.
"Ar-Doktr, you have returned – you have brought the treasures!" She broke into a huge smile. "My ancestors have been kind to me this day! Here, lay them all down in front of me so that I may inspect it more closely."
The Doctor and Jo walked forward and laid out the treasures in front of the throne. El-Medr stepped down from her seat and knelt in front of the row of priceless items, examining each one in turn with a look of increased wonder on her face. When she had finished, she straightened up again and fixed the Doctor straight in the eye.
"Ar-Doktr, I cannot thank you enough. And you too, El-Djo. What in the name of all the kings of Ar-Amed can I do for you in return?"
Jo opened her mouth to speak, but the Doctor got there first.
"Queen El-Medr, I ask only three things of you. Firstly, that you give us our lives as you promised; secondly, that you give us also our freedom; and thirdly, that you demand Ar-Setm show himself and meet justice."
"Yes, you will have all of those things. I shall have a guard bring Ar-Setm to you immediately …"
A man stepped out of the curtain behind the throne. He had a pointed little black beard streaked with white, and cold, piercing eyes. He was dressed in a white robe with a white headdress that strangely suited him. "That will not be necessary," he said coolly. "Ar-Setm is already here."
"Master," breathed Jo. "What are you –?"
"I should think it's obvious what he's doing here," the Doctor said fiercely. "He wants to inflict some diabolical plan on the poor, peaceable citizens of this planet! You've been the power behind the throne of Ar-Amed for some time. It was you who had us arrested, was it not?"
"Of course," said the Master, smiling. "But I had no intention of destroying the planet, Doctor. I only wished to find the treasures. Think – the profit I could make from their sale. And you – you have brought them to me!"
Without warning, he lunged at the golden spear lying on the ground, and thrusted at the Doctor, catching his right forearm. The Doctor let out a gasp of pain and fell to the floor, and with remarkable agility the Master scooped all of the remaining treasures into his arms – a considerable load for one man – and sprinted for the door. "Goodbye, Doctor," he said, turning. "I hope to see you again soon." And then he was gone.
"Are you alright, Doctor?" asked Jo. The Doctor nodded. El-Medr was still staring at the door through which the Master had taken the treasures.
"My guards will stop him."
"No, they won't," panted the Doctor. "They know him as the queen's great advisor Ar-Setm – which is of course an anagram of the word 'Master', you should have realised that, Jo – why should they try to stop him?"
"I am sorry, Ar-Doktr, I did not realise …"
"Of course you didn't, very few people do. I don't blame you. Remember what I said, El-Medr, you are be a great queen …" The Doctor clutched at his bleeding arm. "That spear cuts remarkably well for a purely ceremonial weapon …"
"Doctor, we have to do something," said Jo urgently.
"Yes … yes, Jo … you're right … come on, run!"
And without even stopping to glance back at the queen, the Doctor dragged himself to his feet and sped off through the door and down the long corridor, Jo at his heels. They burst through the golden front door onto the drawbridge, but the Master had gone – and so had the flying car.
"He's taken it, he's taken the car." Jo pointed into the distance. They could see the vehicle speeding its way out of the front gate of the city, into the sunrise.
"We'll take another one," said the Doctor, still clutching his arm, nodding towards a second flying car hovering nearby. "Get in, quickly. You'll have to drive, I'm afraid, Jo, with my arm like this … just copy what I did earlier as best you can … Yes, it's that button there to start."
Jo pressed the button as hard as she could, and the car lurched into life, and soon they were speeding after the Master, rocking uncontrollably from side to side as Jo tried to learn how to control the vehicle.
"I don't like this, I don't like this at all …" she muttered.
"Just keep on going straight ahead, straight ahead!" the Doctor ordered, now wrapping his injury in a white silk handkerchief.
"I'm trying … I never imagined I'd learn to drive a flying car at all, and I certainly never imagined I'd learn like this!"
They sped off, through the front gate, across the red fields now illuminated by the early morning light of the white sun.
"I can't catch him, Doctor, he's going too fast …"
The vehicle was not of the same model as the one they'd been in earlier and which the Master had now stolen, and it did not seem to be capable of the same speeds.
"Don't worry, Jo, if I'm right about something we should catch up with him eventually …"
"Have you any idea where he's going?" Jo asked, her hair whipping across her face.
"He seems to be heading to the coast … I doubt he'll get that far …"
"What d'you mean?"
"You'll see … you'll see …"
They sped on, but they did not seem to be gaining on their quarry. The expansive mauve sea was in sight now, and the Master showed no signs of stopping.
"Doctor!" shouted Jo over the roar of the engines. "When you said about him not getting to the coast, I think you were wrong."
"Carry on, Jo … it won't be long now … I think it's starting already!"
The Doctor pointed with his uninjured hand. The Master's craft seemed, impossibly, to be slowing.
"What's happening, Doctor?"
"You'll see, you'll see." The Doctor was smiling despite his injury.
They were gaining on the Master now, getting closer to him by the second. "Doctor – he's stopping!" exclaimed Jo. "He's stopping, he's stopping – he's stopped!" Sure enough, the Master's car had come to a halt hovering above the waves of the sea, about a hundred yards from the clifftops, and a small figure could be seen jumping up and down angrily inside it. Jo let out a whoop of delight. "Doctor! He's run out of petrol!"
"Well, it won't be petrol, but whatever fuel these flying cars use, yes. I thought he might … we were in that car all night, and it won't have reacted all that well to being completely submerged … I knew it would run out of fuel sooner or later."
They glided up level with the Master's vehicle, whose occupant was now sitting angrily in the passenger seat and drumming his fingers on the dashboard. "So, Doctor … you have defeated me again …"
"You put up a good fight, I'll give you that. Come on, hand over the treasures …"
Reluctantly, the Master did so. He grimaced, then stood up. "Doctor … you are going to regret this …"
He launched himself at his rival, but it was a mistake. The Doctor swung at him with his uninjured arm, a ferocious karate chop that sent the bearded Time Lord collapsing to his knees, and then, tipping forward, falling into the sea a hundred feet below …
"Not a bad dive," commented the Doctor, looking down. "He'll have fun swimming to shore in those robes …"