Doctor Who: The Aztecs (4 page)

Susan was standing with a temple guard outside the antechamber when she heard footsteps. She looked up the stairs that led to the temple. Both High Priests were descending. Susan opened the antechamber door and went inside. The Doctor and Barbara were facing each other in stony silence.

‘The High Priests are coming,’ she whispered.

The Doctor pointed his forefinger at Barbara. ‘Be warned, young woman,’ he growled.

Susan was about to ask what was happening when the High Priests entered the antechamber. They bowed. ‘The temple awaits your presence, Great Spirit of Yetaxa,’ Autloc addressed her.

‘My handmaiden remains here.’ Barbara pointed to Susan.

‘As Yetaxa decrees,’ Tlotoxl replied.

‘However, Yetaxa’s aged servant will accompany the Great Spirit to the temple,’ the Doctor said, and Barbara did not fail to note the hint of menace in his voice. ‘We shall be honoured by his presence,’ said Autloc. Steeling herself for what she intended to do, Barbara walked regally from the room, followed by the two High Priests and then the Doctor, who turned to Susan just before he left.

‘Stay here, child,’ he warned.

A guard drew back the brocade curtain and let Barbara and the others into the temple. The walls and the terrace were lined with Aztec warriors. As Barbara approached the throne she looked furtively about her for Ian. There was no sign of him. She sat down and gazed before her. Tlotoxl’s obsidian knife lay glinting on the sacrificial altar. The two High Priests moved onto the terrace and Autloc raised his arms.

‘A vision has come to us, my people,’ he intoned, ‘the High Priest Yetaxa has returned so that you may look again on the sign of the coiled serpent.’ The Doctor thought that the whole ceremony would be ridiculous if it were not so gruesome, as no one two hundred and fifty feet below in the square could possibly hear a word Autloc said.

But Susan in the antechamber below heard and, defying her grandfather’s command, she went up the stairs and peeped through the curtain.

Autloc turned to Barbara. ‘Great Spirit of Yetaxa, step forth that we may honour you.’

Barbara stood and walked slowly out onto the terrace with Autloc at her side. She stood on the edge of the parapet, spread out her arms and looked down at the sea of faces staring up at her. There was not a sound, and the sky was dark and heavy with clouds. She returned to the throne and sat down. The Doctor with a slight inclination of his head signalled his approval.

‘Bring forth the sacrifice to Tlaloc,’ Tlotoxl commanded. Barbara’s hands gripped the arms of the throne. Two Aztecs pulled back the second brocade curtain behind which Ian, Ixta and the warrior stood. As the warrior came into the temple, he bowed to Barbara. Ian and Ixta, following him, did the same, but Ian and Barbara’s eyes met in an expression of sheer horror.

Tlotoxl picked up the obsidian knife and the warrior lay down on the altar.

‘Take his arms; Tlotoxl ordered Ixta, and then to Ian, ‘take his legs.’

Before he obeyed, Ian glanced at the Doctor, who looked away in distress.

Tlotoxl raised the knife above his head to the cloud-laden sky. ‘Great Tlaloc, God of Water, I, Tlotoxl, High Priest of Sacrifice, call upon you to look down upon our land with favour. Give us the water that is our life,’ his voice rose to a screeching crescendo, ‘and we shall honour you with blood!’

Susan screamed and ran into the temple as Barbara leapt to her feet.

‘Stop, Tlotoxl, I, Yetaxa command you?

The High Priest’s hands were quivering with frustration as he spun around to face Barbara.

‘Let no more blood be spilt.’ She looked at lan and Ixta.’Release him.’

The warrior jumped to his feet as they obeyed and he went angrily to the throne. ‘You have denied me honour,’ he accused her.

‘Then honour Tlaloc with your death,’ Tlotoxl said. The young warrior looked at the High Priest, then ran to the edge of the parapet, threw himself off and hurtled to his death two hundred and fifty feet below.

Barbara sat down in shock, then there was a blinding flash of lightning, a clap of thunder and the rain came down in torrents.

Tlotoxl leered victoriously at Barbara. ‘With death came rain,’ he proclaimed.

‘Without your sacrifice came rain,’ Barbara replied as steadily as she could.

Tlotoxl glanced slyly at Susan as he limped over to the throne.’Does Yetaxa speak as a God or the protector of a handmaiden?’

‘As a God.’

Tlotoxl’s hand, still holding the obsidian knife, shot out and pointed to Susan. ‘Then your handmaiden must be punished. She cried out and desecrated the temple. She transgressed the law.’

‘She did not know it.’

‘Then let knowledge be beaten into her.’

Barbara stood up and went to Susan’s side. ‘No one shall be punished for an offence committed in ignoance.’ ‘I demand that she be punished,’ Tlotoxl snarled. ‘No,’ Barbara was adamant, but she knew a compromise had to be reached. ‘Let her instead be taught respect for your customs’

Autloc stepped forward. ‘I shall take her to the seminary,’ he said.

Barbara smiled at him.’So be it, Autloc.’

‘The Great Spirit of Yetaxa has spoken.’ He bowed and led Susan from the temple.

Tlotoxl turned away and went out onto the terrace, where he stood in the pouring rain. He held the obsidian knife in both hands and placed the tip on the altar. ‘No, no, this is not Yetaxa who speaks,’ he murmured, the rain streaming down his face. ‘This is a false god whom I must destroy’ He stabbed at the altar with the knife and the blade broke.

As soon as she was back in the antechamber, Barbara took off her head-dress, threw it to one side, slumped onto a couch and toyed with the coiled snake on her wrist.

The Doctor stood over her.

‘Well, young woman, are you satisfied, happy with your day’s work?’

Barbara stared at the carpeted floor, fighting back the tears which welled up in her eyes.

‘You wouldn’t be advised, would you?’ the Doctor persisted, ‘dear me, no, you knew better.’

‘I couldn’t sit there and watch that young man being sacrificed,’ Barbara’s voice was choked and she bit on her lower lip.

‘Do you think we felt differently?’ the Doctor snapped.

Barbara shook her head in misery.

‘Then why didn’t you leave well alone? Human sacrifice is part of their religion and there is nothing we can do about it.’

‘I had to try.’ She was barely audible.

‘And look at the result. Tlotoxl has certainly lost faith in you, which puts all our lives in danger and Susan is locked up in some sort of school.’

‘At least she’s safe there.’ Barbara swallowed hard. ‘She was perfectly safe here until you started meddling.’

Barbara clenched her fists.’I wanted it to rain without that young man being killed.’

‘Barbara, he wanted to be offered to the Gods. It made him one as well’

The tears began to trickle down her cheeks. ‘I didn’t think about it in those terms’

‘You just didn’t think,’ the Doctor retorted angrily. Barbara buried her face in her hands, her body wracked with sobs. The Doctor stood by uncomfortably and his anger turned in on himself. He had been unreasonable and he knew it. Barbara’s experience of travelling through time and space was extremely limited, his was considerable to say the least. He could become a Babylonian deity at the drop of his hat, but for Barbara to have the role of an Aztec god thrust upon her must be very difficult indeed. He went to the couch and sat down beside her.

‘Oh, please, please, just go away,’ she sobbed, ‘and leave me alone.’

Instead the Doctor put his arm around her shoulder and with his other hand took a large handkerchief from his pocket. ‘I’m sorry, my dear,’ he said gently, ‘I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you.’

Barbara looked at him through her tears and shook her head. ‘No, I’m crying because you were quite right.’

‘Here, dry your eyes.’ The Doctor offered her his handkerchief. She took it, dabbed her eyes, wiped her cheeks, and sniffed.

‘What have I done to us?’ she asked, tugging at the handkerchief.

‘It’s done now,’ the Doctor shrugged, ‘but what happens next is also up to you.’

‘Me?’ Barbara looked surprised.

The Doctor tapped the palm of one hand with his other fist. ‘Hold off Tlotoxl,’ he said.

‘How can I? As you’ve just said, he has no faith in me.’ ‘But Autloc does’ The Dotor had a glint in his eyes which Barbara had seen before.

‘You want me to play them off against each other,’ she ventured.

The Doctor nodded. ‘Yes, Barbara. The more Tlotoxl doubts you, the more you must convince Autloc that you are Yetaxa.’

‘You believe Sacrifice won’t dare defy Knowledge’ ‘You saw for yourself, my dear. Tlotoxl wanted Susan beaten, but when Autloc suggested taking her to the seminary he gave way.’

‘What about you and Ian?’

The Doctor waved a hand in the air. ‘Ian can take care of himself’ he assured her. He then told her that, in the garden, he had chanced upon an Aztec lady who knew indirectly how the temple was constructed. He straightened his tie and winked at her. ‘I’ll soon find out about the entrance to the tomb.’

‘Doctor, you’re an old rogue’ Barbara rebuked him with a smile.

‘But really, Barbara, it’s up to you. As long as you are here, and they trust you, we are reasonably safe’ ‘I understand,’ she replied.

The antechamber door opened and Tlotoxl limped into the room. Barbara and the Doctor remained seated. You enter unannounced,’ Barbara said haughtily. ‘I proclaim myself only to my Gods; Tlotoxl replied and looked at the Doctor. ‘Let the old man go down to the garden.’

The Doctor noted that he had been relegated from the aged servant of Yetaxa to an old man.

‘Enjoy the company of your new-found friend,’ Barbara said as the Doctor stood up, bowed and muttered his obedience to Yetaxa’s commands. Tlotoxl waited until the Doctor had left the room, then looked at Barbara with naked hatred in his eyes. ‘I would ask you’ — he spat out the words — ‘how shall a man know his Gods’?’

Barbara held out her wrist with the bracelet on it. ‘By the signs of their divinity,’ she replied.

‘And if thieves walk among the Gods?’

‘Then, indeed, how shall a man know,’ she conceded. ‘By the secrets of the Gods’ minds,’ Tlotoxl stabbed a finger repeatedly against the side of his head.

‘It is true’ Barbara agreed that their knowledge would reveal them.

‘How many heavens are there?’ Tlotoxl snapped. Barbara laughed. ‘Does the High Priest of Sacrifice covet the mantle of the High Priest of Knowledge?’ Her voice was light.

‘How many heavens?’ he snarled.

‘Thirteen.’ Barbara was grateful for her interest in Aztec culture.

‘Name them.’

‘If the truth of my divinity lies hidden in my mind. Let Autloc seek it,’ she replied.

‘So he shall.’ Tlotoxl’s voice was full of malevolence. ‘Just as the chosen warrior, whose grandfather built this temple, shall challenge your servant.’

‘To what purpose?’ Barbara asked.

Tlotoxl stared into her eyes. ‘To determine which one of them will survive to command the Aztec armies.’ Barbara was shaken. She knew the shock had shown in her eyes, and she also knew that Tlotoxl had seen it.

The life-size clay model of a warrior wore a loincloth. sandals and a head-dress. On its chest was a small red circle to indicate the heart. Ixta stood at the other end of the courtyard holding a javelin, which he threw with devastating accuracy into the circle. Ian, who was watching with Autloc, thought Ixta would be a useful addition to a darts team. Ixta swaggered over to them, his tight hand on the hilt of the short sword hanging at his side.

‘Thus shall my enemies fall,’ he said arrogantly. ‘Real enemies can hit back,’ Ian remarked quietly. ‘I have no fear of death,’ Ixta retorted.

‘Perhaps not. The dead never win.’

Autloc looked sharply at Ian. ‘How would you attack?’ he asked.

‘A little more cunningly; Ian replied, ‘I’d use stealth to surprise my enemy.’

‘This also I can do.’ Ixta spun around and when they were face to face again, the sword was drawn and the tip touching Ian’s stomach.

Ian smiled at Ixta as the chosen warrior slid the sword back into its scabbard. Ian held up his left thumb. ‘This is all I need,’ he said casually.

Autloc looked surprised and observed that to win a victory with a thumb would require magic.

Ian shook his head. ‘Knowing your enemy’s weakness isn’t magic,’ he said, ‘it’s commonsense.’

Ezra laughed and pointed to himself. ‘What weakness have I that is vunerable to your thumb?’

‘You’d be surprised,’ Ian replied.

Ixta hesitated, doubt in his eyes.

‘Don’t worry, Ixta, I won’t kill you. Not this time.’ Ian remained composed; Autloc was intrigued and Ixta bristled.

‘You mock the arts of war and I defy you to harm me,’ he challenged.

Ian looked at the studded club that lay on the ground beside them. ‘Pick up the club, Ixta,’ Ian pointed to it with his left thumb.

Ixta eyed Ian suspiciously and then bent down to pick up the cudgel with his right hand. But he never quite reached it, as Ian was astride him from behind and had clamped Ixta’s right arm in a half-nelson hold, leaving him powerless to pick up the cudgel or draw his sword. At the same time Ian rammed his left thumb onto the pressure point behind Ixta’s left ear. For a few seconds Ixta thrashed vainly with his left arm to disengage Ian’s thumb, and then went limp. Ian released him and Ixta slumped to the ground. Autloc stared at Ian in astonishment.

‘Give him a little time,’ Ian smiled at the High Priest, ‘he’ll soon wake up.’

At that moment Tlotoxl limped into the courtyard. ‘Autloc, there is a task lobe...’ he stopped short when he saw Ixta.

Autloc turned to him. ‘He sleeps. Yetaxa’s servant won the victory with his thumb.’

Tlotoxl looked warily at Ian and turned back to Autloc. ‘You saw the blow?’

‘There was no blow.’ Autloc held up his left thumb. ‘He defeated Ixta with this.’

‘Tell him to rest until the sun has passed the zenith,’ Ian advised as he walked away.

‘Where do you go?’ Autloc asked.

‘For a stroll,’ Ian was enjoying himself.