Read Doctor Who: The Visitation Online

Authors: Eric Saward

Tags: #Science-Fiction:Doctor Who

Doctor Who: The Visitation (7 page)

BOOK: Doctor Who: The Visitation
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'Wait!' The sibilant voice of the Terileptil Leader was heard. 'Follow but do not capture.

Report when he reaches his own craft.'

 

 

 

The Doctor's party jogged on, but the portly Mace was suffering badly. 'I'm dead,' he shouted, coming to a sudden halt. 'My frame was never designed for rapid acceleration.'

 

Anxiously the Doctor glanced over his shoulder. 'You can't rest yet.'

 

But Mace wasn't listening. He staggered over to the stump of a tree and collapsed.

Limply he pointed in the direction from where they had just come. 'They're not following,'

he said, 'we're quite safe.' Suddenly he closed his eyes and allowed his head to topple forward onto his chest.

 

'Are you all right?' said Nyssa.

 

'No, madam,' he groaned. 'I am about to die.'

 

'You haven't got time,' said the Doctor.

 

Mace looked up at the Time Lord. 'You are a cruel man, sir. I cannot go on.

 

I cannot move from this spot unless supported by a horse.' He mopped his brow with a filthy square of material. The thought of transport had cheered him considerably. 'The miller has one,' he continued. 'You could steal it.'

 

The Doctor's face suddenly lit up. 'Of course! The miller! Why didn't I think of him?'

 

'Doctor!' Nyssa glowered. 'You can't steal the poor man's horse.'

 

'Of course not! It's the man not the horse I'm interested in.'

 

Mace suddenly sat upright, a mean look on his face.

 

 

'The miller comes and goes at the house when he likes. Maybe he will help us - at least tell us what's going on up there,' the Doctor continued.

 

Nyssa frowned. 'Is that really such a good idea?'

 

'It's better we do.'

 

'It's better we leave the area, sir!' Mace chipped in.

 

The Doctor ignored the remark. 'Look, Nyssa, go back to the TARDIS and start work on the booster.'

 

'Alone?'

 

'You're more than capable.'

 

She was doubtful.

 

'I may not be able to find the miller. And we can't afford to waste time,'

the Doctor insisted.

 

Reluctantly she agreed, but she wasn't very happy about it.

 

'I'll be back as soon as I can.'

 

'Even sooner if at all possible,' said Nyssa embracing the Doctor. 'Good luck.'

 

Mace and the Doctor watched in silence as Nyssa followed the pathway back to the TARDIS. Once she was out of sight, the Doctor turned to the actor and said with great urgency in his voice, 'Which way to the mill?'

 

But Mace was sulking. 'I cannot move, sir. My body has ceased to function

 

'Just direct me then. You can wait here for the poacher and his friends.'

 

Richard Mace looked down at the pistols he was carrying, then at the forest all around.

 

'You can't fight all of them,' said the Doctor. 'Kill the three who are following us and others will come to avenge their deaths.'

 

Uneasy, Mace rose from the stump. 'I'll show you.' He said, straightening his stiff back.

'But you have a mean way of exposing a man's cowardice.'

 

With as much dignity as he could muster, Mace strode off into the undergrowth. The Doctor smiled, pleased the actor had decided to help.

 

 

Watching from high up in a nearby oak tree was a villager. Like those who had attacked them in the smoke, he was not wearing a control bracelet but a rough sacking mask over the lower part of his face.

 

As soon as the Doctor and friends were out of sight, he shinned down the tree and trotted back to his village to report their movements.

 

 

 

Tegan and Adric had inspected every inch of the room that was their prison cell.

 

'It's no use,' said Adric. 'We'll never get out of here.'

 

Tegan sat on the stool, fearing that he was right. The old house was too well built, its doors too solid. She allowed her eyes to wander around the room once again. Only this time they settled on the lintel of the door frame.

 

'Wait a minute,' she said, jumping up and dragging the stool across to the door. 'Look up here.'

 

Adric looked, but couldn't see anything to get excited about.

 

'There a fanlight above the door.' Tegan climbed on to the stool and examined the boards that were covering it.

 

'What's a fanlight?'

 

'A sort of window. If I can shift these boards, we might be able to get out.'

 

Tegan inserted her finger between the ill-fitting slats and started to pull. The nail securing the bottom of the board creaked and groaned as she lifted it. Tegan peered through the gap into the passageway outside. It was empty. She could also see that the glass in the fanlight was broken.

 

Tegan pulled again and felt the board give a bit more. 'Quickly,' she said,

'hold onto me.'

 

Adric wrapped his arms around Tegan's legs and braced himself against her with his shoulder. Given the extra support she was able to apply more leverage, but the board she wanted to move continued to resist.

 

'So near and yet so far,' she said, straining with all her might.

 

'Let me try. I'm stronger.'

 

 

'But not as determined.' Suddenly the bottom of the slat came away.

 

'Wel done!'

 

With the top end of the board still attached to the fanlight frame, Tegan raised the plank back against its fixing, and cautiously peered out.

 

Advancing along the passageway was the android, carrying a large wooden crate.

 

Tegan quickly withdrew her head.

 

'What is it?' said Adric in a low voice.

 

'The android.'

 

Silently they waited, listening to the rasp of steel on stone as the machine walked by.

On hearing the cellar door slam, Tegan instantly set about freeing the remaining slats.

She worked quickly and with determination although her arms and hands were sore and shaky with the unaccustomed effort.

 

With the last of the boards removed, she paused for a moment. 'I'm so unfit,' she muttered.

 

'Do you want me to go first?'

 

'Certainly not!'

 

And with more agility than Adric had expected, she pulled herself up, clambered through the fanlight and silently dropped to the floor in the passageway. She then moved quickly and quietly to the cellar door and listened. All was quiet but for the grunting and groaning of Adric as he half dropped, half fell to the floor. If Tegan hadn't been so scared, she would have been amused by the crumpled heap she saw.

 

'Come on,' she whispered, helping him to his feet. 'Let's get out of here.'

 

 

 

The Doctor and Mace crossed the clearing and peered into the rickety stable alongside the mill. The dull boom of a fast-running stream could be heard tumbling over the sluice, its power untapped, the water wheel stationary.

 

Silently they entered the stable. At one end was a harness room, its rickety clapboard door gently swinging on its hinges. Above them the well-stocked loft bulged with hay and straw. In the middle of the stable the miller's horse, hitched to a loaded wagon, patiently waited.

 

 

'Ah!' said Mace delightedly, 'the object of my desire.' Lovingly he patted and stroked the animal, then gently, reassuringly, blew into its nostrils.

 

'Hallo,' shouted the Doctor.

 

The sudden noise startled the horse, who snorted loudly. This was echoed by a donkey lurking in a stall at the back of the stable.

 

'Thievery,' said a disgruntled Mace, 'is a matter of stealth not hearty greeting, sir.'

 

'I'm here to see the miller, not to help you steal.'

 

'You are without pity, sir.'

 

The Doctor made his way along the side of the wagon towards the back of the building.

As he did so he heard the plaintive squeaking of rats. At first he didn't pay much attention, but then realised it was coming from under the tarpaulin covering the load on the wagon.

 

The Doctor lifted the corner of the stiff, heavy cover expecting several bewildered rats to scurry out, but instead found that the wagon was loaded with cages full of the creatures.

 

Quickly, the Doctor recovered the cages as the miller emerged from the harness room, whip in hand.

 

'Ah, good day,' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'Are you by any chance...' But the question remained uncompleted as the miller pushed by him and climbed up onto the box of his wagon. Undeterred the Doctor continued: 'I'll only keep you a moment.'

 

Richard Mace, who, on hearing the Doctor speak, had concealed himself behind the horse, now appeared, pistol in hand, and pointed it at the miller. 'You heard the gentleman,' he said in his best highwayman's voice.

 

'He only wants a word.'

 

Still the miller didn't respond. As he leant forward to pick up the reins, the Doctor saw he was wearing a control bracelet.

 

'Walk on!' shouted the miller, as he flicked the reins.

 

Mace cocked his pistol.

 

'Let him go,' said the Doctor.

 

Puzzled, Mace stepped to one side as the wagon lurched forward and rattled out of the stable. 'Why did you let him go?'

 

 

'He was wearing a bracelet,' said the Doctor.

 

'Him too.' Mace ran a hand over his stubbly jowls and looked worried. 'What is going on, Doctor?' he asked in concern.

 

'I wish I knew.'

 

 

Adric and Tegan burst into the main hall of the manor house, ran across the room and out into the hal . Out of breath, Adric fell on the bolts securing the front door and attempted to release them.

 

'Please hurry,' said Tegan nervously.

 

'I am.' Adric struggled with the bolts. 'But I can't shift them. It's as though they've been sealed.'

 

Tegan also tried but with equal lack of success. 'It will have to be the window.'

 

They ran back into the main hall and Adric scrambled up onto the sill and started to work on the window catches.

 

'How are they?'

 

'Stiff.' Suddenly the latch gave and the window was open. 'Quickly,' he said, extending an arm towards Tegan.

 

As she reached for Adric's hand, the landing door was pushed open by the android.

 

'Jump!' shouted Tegan.

 

But Adric hesitated. 'What about you?'

 

'Get out of here!' she screamed. 'Save yourself!' Adric still hesitated. In desperation Tegan threw herself against his legs, causing him to topple through the window. At the same moment, the android fired. The wall close to Tegan's head exploded, the shock waves throwing her to the floor.

 

'Run, Adric!' Tegan spluttered, a sudden inhalation of flying stone-dust causing her to choke.

 

Tegan looked up at the massive shape that was making its way towards her.

 

 

Cautiously she got to her feet. Unable to think of anything more positive, she raised her hands and said in a dry, unnatural voice, 'I hope you realise I've surrendered.' She tried to sound flippant, but her voice lacked conviction.

 

 

The stable appeared empty but for Richard Mace and the donkey.

 

'Are you capable of carrying a tired thespian?' he muttered, staring into the animal's mournful eyes.

 

The Doctor emerged from the harness room and closed the door. 'Who were you talking to?'

 

Mace patted the donkey and smiled awkwardly. 'No one. I merely enquired after the donkey's health.'

 

The Doctor eyed the beast, realising what the actor was about. 'You're too heavy. He would never be able to carry you.'

 

Mace snorted. The donkey joined in in sympathy.

 

'Let's get back to the TARDIS and help Nyssa.'

 

'Not without the donkey,' he said firmly.

 

But their argument was curtailed as a dozen men suddenly poured into the stable and overpowered them. Kicking and struggling, both men were forced to their knees and Mace disarmed.

 

'We seem to have upset them,' grunted the Doctor as his arms were pulled back behind him.

 

A tal , thickly bearded man dressed in a shepherd's smock, detached himself from the main group of villagers. 'These people are plague-carriers,' he shouted.

 

'You jest, sir,' said Mace. 'We are free of the plague.'

 

'Quiet! The marks are apparent!'

 

The villagers shouted their agreement, although nothing could be seen.

 

Their fear was justification enough for convicting the two outsiders.

 

'I can help you,' said the Doctor. 'We haven't got the plague.' He tried to reason with them, but they refused to listen.

 

 

'Execute them,' shouted a voice.

 

'Execute them indeed!' screamed the man in the smock.

 

Hands gripped the Doctor's head, and before it was pushed forward and his neck bared, he caught sight of a man moving across the stable carrying a large scythe.

 

'Oh no!' screamed Mace, as he realised the reason why a basket had been placed beneath his head.

 

The man with the scythe positioned himself carefully and raised his curved blade.

 

The villagers jostled each other excitedly.

BOOK: Doctor Who: The Visitation
2.54Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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