Doctor Who: The Ark (14 page)

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, I played a game of tennis with Mary...’

‘Tennis!’

‘Yes. And judging by some of her shots and the force behind them, she – and I think any of them – could wipe the floor with the competition at Wimbledon and every other tournament with no trouble at all!’

The Doctor sighed. ‘Nevertheless, let’s see what we can find out.’

Number Nine had entered the Launcher, laying the heat gun down on the seat near him. He spoke into the relay system. ‘Refusis Launcher to the spaceship Ark.’

The reply came immediately from Number One. ‘Yes, Number Nine! Give us your report. Are the landings possible?’

‘The planet offers everything we need. But I must warn you...’

‘Yes?’ Number One interrupted impatiently.

‘Listen to this carefully. When we first arrived we...’

He did not notice as he spoke that just outside the open door the shrubbery was being disturbed. The Refusian moved close to the Launcher.

‘... encountered some very strange -’ Number Nine continued. But then he broke off as the Launcher suddenly tilted crazily. Amazed, Number Nine glanced out to see that it was being raised high into the air... was being whirled around in a way that made him giddy as he desperately tried to hang on. Then it was flung away by some mighty, invisible force.

As the Launcher crashed to the ground a gigantic explosion ripped it apart, scattering debris over the landscape.

The Refusian had indeed taught Number Nine a lesson.

As they hurried toward the Launcher the Doctor and Dodo heard the explosion. Puzzled and alarmed, they ran through the woodlands until they found the spot where the Launcher had been resting.

It was now totally destroyed, its shattered remnants strewn all about, Dodo looked at the wreckage in dismay.

‘What do we do now?’ she asked.

‘Nothing, my dear. We shall have to wait until the next party from the Ark lands!’

‘But what if they don’t come? What if they decide to find another planet?’

The Doctor shrugged resignedly.

‘In that case, my dear, we’ll just have to stay here!’

7

In the Control Room aboard the Ark, Number One spoke urgently into the relay link:

‘Number Nine! Number Nine... give us your report.’ No answer. Number One impatiently abandoned his attempts to make contact with Refusis.

‘Why doesn’t Number Nine give us his report?’ Number Two asked.

‘I don’t know. It could be a simple break in communications... or it could be something else.’

‘Something else? What?’

‘It could be that he was attacked!’

‘But the report he started seemed to suggest that conditions on the planet Refusis were favourable.’

‘Yes.’

‘Then what can we do, Number One?’

Number One paced away from the control modules, deep in thought. There were several possible courses of action open to him... but then he made up his mind and firmly turned to address Number Two and other Monoids who were gathered in the Control Room.

‘We will proceed,’ he stated. ‘We will prepare ourselves for the main landings.’

Number Two nodded in agreement. He addressed the others: ‘Number One has spoken! Make the launchers ready for the landings and get the Monoid population trays prepared for the journey!’

Number One had already left the Control Room and was now followed by Number Two. Others also followed, to carry out their allotted tasks.

But Number Four hung back, addressing Number Seven.

‘The Leader has spoken. He has said that we must go.

But supposing that he is wrong? We are still not certain what Refusis is like.’

Number Seven nodded thoughtfully.

The Doctor and Dodo had left the spot where the Launcher lay in ruins and were making their way back to the castle.

‘Marooned on a strange planet,’ Dodo moaned. ‘Millions of miles from nowhere... and millions of years from the time when I was born!’

‘Oh, come on, my child.’

She paused, suddenly horrified by a thought. ‘That means I must be at least...
ten million years old
!’

The Doctor looked at her quizzically. ‘Now you mustn’t worry about little things like that. You’re looking very well on it.’

‘All right for you to say that! Heaven knows how long you’ve been around.’

‘A fair old time, I grant you.’

‘So you’re used to the idea. But I’m not.’ She sighed.

‘What I wouldn’t give to be back in my own time and...’

‘Well, what would you be doing at this moment?’

‘I’d be out shopping... new clothes... and planning on going to a disco!’

The Doctor looked around at the green fields and forests that surrounded them. ‘I always knew that there was something to be said for this place. Now I know what it is.’

‘What?’

‘Peace!’

Dodo snorted: ‘Too much of that and life can get to be dead boring.’

They both turned, startled, when a female voice spoke to them from out of nowhere. ‘Hello, Dodo.’

The Doctor stared at the direction from which the voice had come. ‘Who’s that?’ he asked.

‘This is Mary,’ answered Dodo. ‘You remember; I told you about her. The tennis player... Charlie’s sister.’

‘Oh, yes, of course,’ the Doctor acknowledged. He bowed slightly in the direction of the voice. ‘How do you do, my dear?’

‘I am very well,’ the voice replied. ‘And you sound in fine form, Doctor.’

‘Ah! So you’ve heard of me?’

‘My brother has told me about you.’ There was a rustle of leaves in bushes as she moved closer. ‘But you don’t sound very happy, Dodo?’

‘Well, it’s a nice place...’ Dodo said.

‘But I gather you would not like to stay here forever?’

‘Don’t take it personally,’ Dodo said quickly. ‘But back where I come from I’ve got all me own mates and...’

‘I understand perfectly,’ the voice replied. ‘Travel broadens the mind... but there’s no place like home, is there?’

‘That’s it!’

‘Then perhaps one day... but, meanwhile, my brother is waiting for you.
Au revoir!
’

There was a rustle among the foliage and they realised that the Refusian girl had left them.

‘I told you she was nice,’ said Dodo.

‘Yes. But now let’s go to the castle.’

Number One studied a large galactic hologram in the Main Hall. He indicated Refusis to Number Two.

‘At last!’ he breathed triumphantly. ‘A new planet of our own! Where we can establish our own way of life!’

Number Two nodded. But then he noticed Number Four conferring, with Number Seven on the far side of the hall. Employing the lip-reading art of old, Number Two was able to make out what the other Monoid was saying.

‘Number One was right to send out a forward party,’

Number Four said. ‘But I have the feeling that he is not right to proceed when the report from that mission was so incomplete.’

‘It is a rash thing to do,’ Number Seven agreed.

Number Two plucked at Number One’s sleeve. ‘Number One... a word of warning.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Number Four is beginning to question the wisdom of your leadership. Even at this moment he is conferring with Number Seven in secrecy.’

Number One chuckled complacently.

‘Don’t worry about that,’ he replied in a confident tone.

‘At the slightest sign of opposition we can easily get rid of them. As easily as we will destroy this ship once we have left it. Remember the final answer – the fission bomb!’

The voice of the Refusian greeted the Doctor and Dodo as they entered the main hall of the castle.

‘We are, as you must realise, concerned about the arrival of the Ark,’ the voice stated, ‘and what it will mean to this planet.’

‘Yes,’ the Doctor replied, ‘I can quite understand that.

That, I take it, is why you destroyed the Launcher?’

‘Yes. I was loath to take that action because here we have always known peace, never war or conflict.’

‘You’re not the only ones like that, Charlie,’ Dodo interjected. ‘You know, the Guardians – the human beings who travel in the Ark – they used to have your ideas, too!’

‘Yes, that’s true!’ the Doctor agreed. ‘But on the other hand you mustn’t think they were perfect.’

‘What do you mean?’ Dodo asked.

‘Sometimes they were extremely intolerant and selfish.’

‘Is that why they were conquered by the Monoids?’ the Refusian asked.

‘Exactly!’ the Doctor answered.

‘Maybe so,’ Dodo cut in. ‘But there are some among the Guardians who wouldn’t mind having a go at rising up against the Monoids and trying to do better!’

‘Then we will allow them time to make their attempt,’

theRefusian decided. ‘We will allow the passing of one day before we think in terms of employing defensive measures.’

‘Yes,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘One day! Thank you!’

Dodo spoke to the Doctor. ‘Now it’s up to Steven and the others.’

‘Quite so, my dear,’ the Doctor said. ‘Quite so. And there’s nothing that we can do at this moment to help them!’

In the Security Kitchen aboard the Ark Steven had been peering out through a porthole.

‘The Monoids are up to something,’ he told the others in the kitchen. ‘They’re rushing about all over the place.’

‘Do you think they’re preparing to leave the Ark?’

Venussa asked.

‘Probably!’ he replied. He looked around desperately.

‘Isn’t there any way we can get out of this kitchen?’

‘None,’ she replied. ‘The walls are thick and the doors can only be opened from the outside.’

‘Who opens them?’

‘They do!’ Dassuk replied. ‘Sometimes the subservient Guardians... Maharis, for instance.’

‘Then we must get him to help us.’

‘He won’t. He’s too frightened!’

Steven considered this as he paced restlessly. Then he announced: ‘All right! In that case we’ll have to get his help without his knowing it!’

Maharis walked through a corridor carrying a tray loaded with refreshments. On his way he passed a group of prisoner Guardians who were being escorted by an armed Monoid. The prisoners glared at him with contempt and loathing. He hurried on, trying to avoid their hostile stares, until he met and greeted another subservient Guardian.

‘What’s going on?’ the other Guardian asked. ‘All this activity...’

‘It’s only to be expected, now that the Ark is close to Refusis,’ Maharis replied.

Maharis was suddenly cautious. He had already spoken in haste to the prisoners in the kitchen and now regretted it. Because even if the Monoids were intent on destroying the Guardians, there was the chance that some might be spared, if only to serve. And if there was that chance then he wanted to be one of the favoured ones and there was no point in spreading alarm to others, for any reaction on their part might doom him.

‘I’ll be glad to be out of this spaceship and on that planet,’ the Guardian said.

‘Er... yes.’

The Guardian studied Maharis enviously. ‘I suppose you will be one of the first to be taken there,’ he remarked.

‘After all, you are the honoured servant of Number One.’

‘I suppose that could be true.’

‘Whereas I... I am the servant to Number Thirty-Five.

Why, he is not even a member of the Grand Council! So I suppose I will be a long way down the list of those who’ll land.’

‘It is only a matter of patience,’ Maharis ventured, placatingly.

‘You have always been lucky, Maharis! Your father, and generations before you, served the masters.’ He sighed. ‘I wish my forebears had had the sense to do the same thing.’

‘Yes... but now you must excuse me. Number One is expecting this.’ He indicated the food on the tray.

He walked on, leaving the other Guardian staring after him in envy.

In the Launch Bay area Number Five was supervising the loading of a craft.

Guardians loaded sealed containers in stacks aboard the Launcher. Number Five watched them carefully and called out ‘Be careful! Remember, each container has twenty trays... and each tray contains a thousand Monoids!’

His heat weapon was in his hands as he watched over them. ‘They were thoughtfully preserved in microcell form by your ancestors. They must reach their new life on Refusis safely!’

The Guardians went on working, obeying his bidding.

Maharis had delivered the tray of food to Number One in the Main Comfort Chamber. Number Two was speaking to his leader.

‘Everything is proceeding according to plan, Number One. We must have -’

Number One stayed him for a moment while he turned to address Maharis. ‘Thank you, Maharis. That will be all.’

Maharis, who had hoped to hover and hear more, nodded, bowed and withdrew.

Number One watched him go and there was contempt in his voice when he said: ‘Stupid, trusting creature! He and all his kind are still under the illusion that they will be coming with us to Refusis.’

‘They deserve their fate?’ said Number Two scornfully.

‘Yes!’ Number One leaned forward. ‘What were you going to say?’

‘I was reporting that the loading of the Launchers was proceeding satisfactorily.’

‘Good! Thcn you and I and all the other Monoids will leave shortly!’

The Doctor was thoughtful.

‘If only there were some way we could help Steven and the others,’ he mused. ‘But there’s nothing we can do. Now that the Launcher is destroyed we can’t even establish elementary contact with them.’

‘I know how you feel,’ Dodo said. ‘I feel the same way.

helpless!’

The Refusian addressed them. ‘There is no sense in worrying about things that you cannot influence for the moment. Try and relax. For instance...’ a drawer in the table was opened ‘... we could play a game of chess.’

The Refusian brought the game out and placed it on the table. Dodo stared at it, uncertainly.

‘Well, that game is not exactly my bag, Charlie,’ she said. ‘But you two go ahead and play.’

As the Doctor and the Refusian set the pieces out, the latter moving them with unseen hands, the Refusian chuckled. ‘I am beginning to like my name. “Charlie!” Tell me, is it a popular name?’