Doctor Who: The Savages (7 page)

They were almost on top of the two youngsters when Dodo stood up. She gripped Steven’s arm, and he turned to see the terrifying sight as the savages moved in.

For a moment the savages stopped and whispered together, seeing Wylda on the ground.

‘We must be careful not to hit him,’ said Tor. ‘We can save him without killing them,’ said Chal. ‘We could do it,’ Tor urged. ‘I’ll aim for the man.

You go for the girl.’

‘No,’ said Chal. ‘We must not kill. Think what the guards would do to us later.’

‘They have no light guns,’ said Tor. ‘It would be safe. It would be a just revenge.’

But Chal was not to be persuaded. ‘Revenge does no good,’ he said.

‘Let us wait no longer,’ said Tor, ‘or Wylda may die.’

‘It may be a trap,’ whispered Chal.

Steven and Dodo could hear the whispers, but couldn’t make out what was being said.

‘We’ll have to run for it,’ said Dodo.

‘Which way?’ said Steven ‘Back to the City?’ ‘That’s the last place I want to see again,’ said Dodo.

‘Think we could make it to the TARDIS?’ ‘We could try,’ said Steven.

The tribe of savages was fanning out. The half-circle around Dodo and Steven now made it harder for them to back away.

‘Don’t let them see you’re afraid,’ said Steven.

‘Who’s afraid?’ said Dodo, and the next second she gave a piercing scream. One of the savages came round a rock almost beside her. She scrambled behind Steven as the man raised his spear to throw.

‘Kill them!’ shouted Tor. It looked as though the savages were going to ignore Chal’s warning as they raced forward.

‘No, leave them. Do not kill.’

They stopped in the act of hurling their weapons as they heard a voice from the ground. Wylda was making a great effort to speak. He raised his hand to ask them to stay where they were.

‘Do not kill,’ he said again.

‘Wylda speaks,’ called Chal.

The savages strained forward to catch his whispered words.

‘They... are... friends,’ said Wylda.

The savages looked with disbelief at Steven and Dodo.

‘What do you do here?’ said Chal fiercely. ‘What did you give him to eat?’

‘We gave medicine,’ said Steven.

They looked at him suspiciously. ‘Why medicine?’ ‘Because he is sick,’ said Steven.

‘What do you care if he is sick?’ called Tor. ‘You are from the City.’

‘No, we are not,’ said Dodo defiantly.

‘You must come from the City,’ said Chal.

‘We come from another place,’ said Steven. He guessed his and Dodo’s lives might hang on this argument.

‘We have seen you,’ persisted Tor. He pointed to Dodo. ‘You were in the City doorway.’

‘We were taken there,’ said Steven.

‘You have friends in the City,’ said Chal. If you have friends there you are as they are. You take our lives, slowly, year by year.’

There was a wave of anger in the little crowd. They quietened only as Wylda spoke again. ‘She helped me. They all helped me. And the old man spoke against the City ways.’

‘He means the Doctor,’ said Steven. He looked down at Wylda. ‘Do you know where he is?’ ‘They have taken him,’ said Wylda.

‘Who has?’

‘The guard captain. Took him in the power of the light gun.’

‘You mean, they’ve taken him a prisoner?’ ‘Yes. To the City.’

Dodo looked at Steven with a frown. ‘Why would anyone do that?’ Steven shook his head.

‘The old man was angry,’ said Wylda. ‘He tried to help me. The Captain was angry also and gave orders. The old man did not obey.’

‘He never does,’ said Steven. He turned to look towards the City.

6 ‘Not Exactly A Witness’

The Doctor was more than a little put out by his treatment. And also by the lecture he received from Jano, who spoke to him as if he were a naughty child.

‘We do not understand you, Doctor,’ he said. ‘You took our honours gladly enough. So how can you now condemn this great artistic and scientific civilisation of ours? It isn’t logical. And all this fuss you make about a few wretched barbarians.’

‘I see.’ The Doctor drew himself up to his full height, fingers inside his crumpled jacket. ‘Your honours are only for those who agree with you and all you do?’

‘Of course not.’ Jano made everything sound reasonable. ‘But it looks as if you are set to oppose us.

‘Oppose you!’ The Doctor was indignant. ‘Of course I’m going to oppose you! Just as I have opposed the Daleks, and this, that, and the other, that may have menaced common humanity through the annals of space and time. That is, if you don’t hurry up and change your ways.’

The Elders, Jano, and the Guards looked at him with amazement. This solitary old man was prepared to stand alone against them, against their powerful community. It was incredible! ‘This is most unscientific of you,’ said Jano. ‘I am sorry you take this stand. It is an obstacle in the way of human progress.’

The Doctor was further outraged. ‘How dare you call your treatment of these people "human progress"!’

‘They are hardly people,’ said Jano. ‘They are not like us.’

‘I fail to see the difference,’ said the Doctor coldly.

Jano felt he had one last duty to try to explain: ‘You must realise, Doctor, that all progress is built on exploitation of some sort.’

‘Exploitation!’ exploded the Doctor. ‘This is protracted murder!’

Jano sighed. ‘We have achieved a very great deal, more than you have seen yourself in any other planet on your travels — you admit as much — and all at the expense of a few savages.’

Surely the Doctor would now see reason. But he didn’t. Looking at Jano coldly, he said, ‘The sacrifice of even one poor soul would be too great for all the triumphs of your sort of civilisation.’ And, as he turned to march away, Jano signalled to the Guard.

‘Arrest him, Captain. Take him to Senta. Tell him this is an emergency, and I shall be sending him special instructions.’

The Captain caught the Doctor by the arm. ‘This way,’ he said.

‘Keep your hands off, young man!’ snapped the Doctor.

‘Move,’ ordered Edal, and he pushed the Doctor forward.

As the Doctor stopped, Edal was quick to use the light gun again. He wasn’t going to put up with any more nonsense from this old man from beyond time.

The light ray gripped the Doctor in its vice, and Edal projected him towards the door.

‘We have to do something to help him,’ said Steven.

‘There is nothing that can be done,’ said Chal.

Steven was exasperated by their resignation. ‘They are only men like us,’ he said. ‘We can fight them if we have to.’

‘They are too strong,’ said Chal.

‘We must stop them doing anything to the Doctor,’ said Dodo anxiously.

‘We cannot stop them,’ said Chal. ‘They have light guns.’

‘They will just use him like they use the rest of us,’ said Tor.

‘And how is that?’ asked Dodo.

‘They will take him to the great vats, and there he will become like the rest of us. Like Wylda.’ He pointed to Wylda, weak and breathless.

‘We’ll see about that,’ said Steven resolutely.

He took a few steps, as Chal called after him, ‘And if they catch you, you will become like the rest of us also.’

The horror of it brought Steven to a halt. ‘There must be something,’ he said.

The group of savages stood silent and hopeless.

To begin with, Senta was honoured to meet the Doctor. He thought he must be there as a special visitor.

‘I really don’t have time to show you much today,’ he said. ‘I have a full schedule.’

The Doctor glanced round the laboratory, taking it all in, understanding much of it at a glance, seeing the principles that operated this dreadful process.

‘This, I suppose, is where you conduct your experiments?’ he said.

‘Indeed it is, Doctor.’ Senta was surprised that Edal had brought this visitor without any warning.

‘No visit,’ said the Captain brusquely. ‘You are to suspend all other work and prepare for an emergency transference.’

‘Out of the question,’ barked Senta. He was feeling quite harassed.

‘The order comes directly from Jano,’ said Edal. Senta sought an explanation. ‘Are you interested in our work?’ he asked the Doctor.

‘Interested, yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Though I mightily disapprove of it.’

‘I shall be honoured to show you my laboratory in function,’ said Senta, then turned and hissed to Edal, ‘Very well then, where is the savage for this special transference?’

‘No,’ interrupted the Doctor. ‘I refuse to be a witness to such an appalling abuse of knowledge.’

‘That’s all right, Doctor,’ said Edal drily. ‘You won’t exactly be a witness on this occasion.’ He couldn’t keep the smile from his face.

‘I should hope not, young man,’ said the Doctor. ‘Instead you’ll have the privilege of experiencing it.’

‘I will what?’ The Doctor was astounded.

Senta turned on the Captain. ‘You don’t know what you’re asking,’ he said. ‘We cannot transfer such a high form of life energy as this. It’s never been done.’

Jano came into the room at that moment and heard him.

‘This time it will be done,’ he said. ‘After all, there is always a first time, and it will be an interesting experiment for you, Senta.’

‘But he is one of us,’ protested Senta. ‘A fellow scientist.’

‘You have your orders,’ said Jano firmly. ‘See they are carried out.’

‘You have all forgotten one thing, haven’t you?’ said the Doctor. ‘My feelings on the matter.’

‘I don’t think that will count for much, Doctor,’ said Jano.

‘I shall refuse to submit to such a nauseating activity. I am going out of that door, and don’t try to stop me.’

He was almost as good as his word, reaching the door before Edal trained his gun on him and brought him to a petrified stop.

‘Quickly,’ Senta called to his attendants. ‘Make preparations. Check all attachments. Dials to zero. Fasten connections. See readings are at max. We’ve never had anything like this to do before. Be on your toes.’

The attendants scuttled smartly to their tasks, strapping the Doctor onto the transference trolley and attaching the necessary equipment.

Jano hurriedly left calling, ‘Give me a full report, Senta, when the transfer is complete.’

Edal stood guard by the door. This was one operation he wanted to see completed successfully. He had found the old man very difficult, and he would now get what he deserved.

‘Use Channel AA11,’ directed Senta. ‘We shall be breaking new ground. This will be life force of a top rarified quality.’

The Doctor was rigid and helpless, fastened by a dozen connections to the abstractor platform on the trolley. Senta made a thorough inspection.

‘Excellent. Stand by.’

The trolley was manoeuvred into place in the recess amongst the chemical vats. Senta pressed a series of switches and buttons, and the transparent panels rose around the Doctor as he lay motionless, firmly fixed in the cubicle and clamped to the floor.

The first assistant signalled: ‘All correct, Senta.’ The panels clicked into place. The Doctor was now closed off within the mechanism.

‘Proceed with first stage,’ called Senta. ‘Feed in high input vats...’ A moment later he called, ‘Now feed in special vat.’

‘All levels correct,’ called the first assistant. ‘Vaporisation,’ called Senta. And the instruction

was repeated down a long line of laboratory assistants. ‘Vaporisation on. In full function, Senta.’

Senta manipulated the instruments on his control panel, causing lights to flash, the dynamo to hum loudly, and the gassy substance to flow into the closed cubicle. The Doctor was almost obscured by the strange gas.

‘Let me know the moment anything unusual happens,’ called Senta. ‘Transfer is on... Report readings.’

These were called back to him as the power increased and the whine of the dynamo seemed to intensify.

‘Point one.’

‘Point two.’ Then there was a pause..

‘Point three.’ The dynamo shot up a note.

‘Point four.’

Even Senta caught his breath.

The white gas clouded everything. The sound of bubbling through the vats was like a series of explosions.

‘Point six,’ was called. They had jumped a full point. Nothing could stand this — not even an intellect as powerful as the Doctor’s.

But still the reading edged up.

‘Point eight.’

Senta nearly threw in his hand. He wasn’t going to have his beloved equipment blown skyhigh. ‘It’s no use,’ he called. ‘We’ll have to power down.’

‘Senta!’ His assistant was waving with excitement as he peered into the cubicle. ‘It’s working. Look — energy draining off.’

Senta checked the dials. The man was right. They had cracked the Doctor’s resistance: he was being absorbed, his special qualities were being hived off into the great vats.

‘Keep all readings constant,’ he ordered.

‘That was a triumph,’ said his assistant.

Senta nodded. He was sweating. ‘It’s a miracle,’ he said. ‘What resistance the subject had, what tremendous strength. This is a classic. Our greatest yet.’ He switched on the communication with the central information of the City. ‘All according to plan,’ he said. ‘Vaporisation in progress. No problems. Subject unconscious, but survives. Cause for celebration. Out.’

Through the clearing gas the Doctor could be seen prone, white, almost lifeless. The noise from the vats drowned everything else. The liquid within was beginning to clear. The experiment was a success.

In a sense, Senta knew, the Doctor was no longer himself.

Jano was back in the laboratory very soon after Senta’s announcement.

‘I heard your message, Senta. You are to be congratulated.’

Senta indicated the array of instruments. ‘A perfect transfer,’ he said.

‘Remarkable,’ Jam) smiled. ‘How is the Doctor?’

‘Almost totally reduced,’ said Senta ‘But in good condition. He will recover in time, and like our other subjects, we shall be able to use him again.’

Jano nodded thoughtfully. ‘You realise what this means?’ he said. ‘As we have been able to make this transfer successfully, we shall be able to do the same with the other time-travellers.’

‘The young man and the girl?’ queried Senta.