Doctor Who: The Sensorites (13 page)

Such was the
Sensorites' deference to authority that the Senior Warrior had
hastened with all speed to the Palace forecourt when he had received
the Second Elder's telepathic message. He had not even questioned the
Second Elder's motive for wanting the Firing Key. And so it was only
a matter of minutes before the Administrator, wearing the Second
Elder's sash, once more had the Firing Key in his possession.

As he dismissed the
Warrior and was about to return to the Disintegrator Room, he spotted
the Doctor, Ian and Susan. They had returned from the aqueduct and
were just now entering the Palace forecourt.

'Isn't that one of
the Elders?' asked the Doctor.

'It's the Second
Elder,' confirmed Susan. 'You can tell by the single sash
he's wearing.'

'I'd like a word
with him,' said the Doctor and promptly followed the Sensorite who,
upon seeing the Doctor's party, had begun to leave the forecourt
hurriedly.

'I say! You, sir!'
cried the Doctor and set off in pursuit.

Susan smiled at her
grandfather's new vitality. 'It's a funny place down here isn't it?'
she remarked to Ian.

'What about up
there?' said Ian, raising his eyes heavenwards. 'I wonder how
Barbara's doing on the spaceship?'

'I wish she was
down here with us,' sighed the girl.

'Why don't we ask
the First Elder if she can come down and join us now?' wondered Ian.

Susan nodded
eagerly and then greeted her grandfather who had given up his chase
of the 'Second Elder'. His face was flushed.

'Most
extraordinary!' he panted. 'He ran away from me!'

Susan began to
giggle. 'That must have looked funny, what with those silly round
feet! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!'

The Doctor and Ian
joined in her merriment. 'I can assure you, he was extremely mobile!'
laughed the Doctor. 'Now, come on, let's go and see the First Elder.'

Breathless from his
sudden burst of unaccustomed physical activity the Administrator
stumbled into the Disintegrator Room and triumphantly displayed the
Firing Key to his subordinate. 'Now I have the power!' he exclaimed.
'Soon the Earth-creatures will be no more!'

Suddenly everything
seemed to happen at once. The Engineer had neglected to retie the
Second Elder's hands after they had been released in order to use the
mind transmitter. With a mighty bound the Second Elder leapt out of
his chair and pushed the Engineer aside.

In one swift action
he wrenched the Firing Key from the Administrator's hand and began to
bash it down violently on the side of the Disintegrator console.

The Administrator
tried furiously to stop him and called on the Engineer to help him.
Staggering to his feet the Engineer seized a heavy metal bar from a
nearby workbench. Without thinking what he was doing he struck the
Second Elder a crushing blow on the head. The Second Elder let out a pained cry and
fell to the ground.

The Administrator
looked angrily down at the Firing Key which was now totally useless.
'He has destroyed it!' he exploded. 'The only other Firing Key is in
the possession of the First Elder and he will not part with it to
anyone!'

But the Engineer
was not listening. He stood staring, unbelieving, at the motionless
body of the Second Elder on the floor. 'He is dead,' he whispered.

Then panic took
control of him. 'We must leave the City at once,' he urged. 'We must
hide in the mountains!'

For a moment the
Administrator also stood still, shocked by the enormity of the crime:
a Sensorite killed by a fellow Sensorite. Then he recovered
possession of himself: yet another plan was forming in his sly and
opportunistic mind. He could use this undoubted tragedy to his own
advantage.

'No, do not be
foolish,' he said to his nervous associate. 'The death of the Second
Elder can help us, not condemn us. We must act quickly. I will
outline my plan to you . . .'

A Conspiracy of
Lies

Ever since Ian's
outburst the First Elder had been examining his attitude towards the
strangers and had found it lacking in compassion and sympathy, two
qualities the Sensorites prized in themselves. During the anxious
hours while Ian and Susan had been searching for the old man he had
been tormented by a totally alien feeling: guilt. He had merely
sought to use the humans to find an antidote for the atropine
poisoning, never realising that they too had feelings. Ian had made
him acknowledge the great debt he owed them; indeed, the
schoolteacher's willingness to risk his life for his friend was
worthy of any Sensorite.

So it was with
enormous relief that he greeted the Doctor's safe return, and he had
instantly seen that all his needs were catered for; he had also
thought of Carol and sent a messenger to the Medical Unit to give her
the happy news.

Now the Doctor, Ian
and Susan were once again seated in the First Elder's chamber,
gratefully sipping at the crystal water and discussing the peculiar
sequence of events which had resulted in Ian's not being given the
antidote to the atropine poisoning.

'I have made
enquiries,' the First Elder told them. 'The first supply of the
antidote was apparently interrupted by my Second Elder, and he has
since disappeared.'

'We saw him in the
courtyard,' Susan informed him. 'Grandfather wanted to talk to him
and he ran away.

'You just won't
accept that he's done something wrong, will you?' Ian persisted.

'I cannot: it is
inconceivable that he should do such a thing.' Despite his firm words
the First Elder seemed distressed and confused by his deputy's
strange behaviour. 'I selected him for office ... I know that
Sensorite and trust him implicitly.'

'And yet you can't
explain his actions,' Susan pointed out with hard
simplicity.

The First Elder
silenced her. 'A mystery does not mean he is guilty. There will be
valid reasons for his actions.' Somehow his voice lacked conviction;
the humans' questions had raised doubts in his mind, doubts which if
proved, could completely shatter the mutual trust which was the base
of order in the Sensorite City.

A Sensorite servant
entered the room, interrupting the conversation. Bowing low to his
leader he presented him with a long black cloak. 'For the Doctor,' he
explained.

The Doctor stood up
and graciously accepted the cloak. It really was a most splendid
garment, made of heavy black velvet and lined with red silk; as he
tried it on he realised just what a dashing figure he cut in it.

'Very smart,' Susan
said admiringly.

'Beau Brummel
always used to say I looked better in a cloak,' the Doctor reminded
her before thanking the First Elder and his servant. 'This is really
most civil of you! I ruined my jacket down in the aqueduct.'

The First Elder
politely acknowledged the Doctor's thanks and dismissed his servant.
As he left the room he was passed by the City Administrator. He had
now taken off the sash of Second Elder and was wearing his own collar
of office.

'The City
Administrator wishes to speak?' queried the First Elder, slightly
irritated by this further interruption.

'Urgently, sir. I
have something you should hear.' The Administrator's tone was
solicitous. 'It concerns the Second Elder.'

'Very well, speak.'
This Sensorite was tiresome and irritating at the best of times,
thought the First Elder; but it could be in their interests to hear
what he had to say.

With the First
Elder's permission the Administrator called the Senior Warrior and
the Sensorite Engineer into the room.

The Engineer
approached the First Elder, pointedly ignoring the party of humans.
'Sir, the Second Elder is dead: he was killed in the courtyard,' he
said slowly.

The First Elder
looked to the Administrator who nodded his head. 'What he says is
true, sir,' he confirmed. 'The Engineer has shown me his body.'

'I saw the man who
killed him,' continued the Engineer.

'Man?'

'Yes. It was the
man called the Doctor,' he declared.

Susan rose
instantly to her feet in defence of her grandfather. 'But that's not
true!' she claimed fervently. The Doctor put a restraining hand on
her arm, urging her to be calm.

The Administrator
ignored her outburst and beckoned the Senior Warrior forward. The
First Elder gave him leave to speak.

'I met the Second
Elder in the courtyard as he ordered me he Warrior said, believing
that he was speaking the truth. 'I gave him the Firing Key to the
Disintegrator. Then I saw the Doctor go after the Second Elder.'

'That is perfectly
true, sir.' The Doctor's voice was steady, but there was a challenge
in his eyes. 'I wished to speak to him - but I did not kill him.'

The Engineer
embroidered his lie. 'I saw the Doctor wrestle for possession of the
Firing Key,' he claimed.

'And here it is -
bent as if in a struggle.' The Administrator produced the broken
Firing Key from beneath his tunic.

'And when the
Second Elder refused to give up the Key I saw the Doctor take an
object from his coat and knock the Second Elder down to the ground
and kill him.' The Engineer completed his deception, satisfied that
he had played his role to perfection.

The First Elder
walked slowly up to the Doctor's party. They were now all sitting in
stunned silence.

'This is a grave
accusation,' he said sternly.

'And obviously
untrue,' sir,' declared Ian, standing up and moving over to the
Engineer. Some time ago on a distant planet the Doctor had proved
Ian's innocence in a murder trial. Now it was time to return the
favour.

He faced the
Engineer squarely in the face. 'How did you recognise the Doctor?' he
asked.

The Engineer
hesitated a moment before replying. 'His hair is different.'

'And?' Ian clearly
wasn't satisfied with the answer.

Confused, the
Engineer stumbled on. 'So are his clothes.' By his side the
Administrator was equally puzzled by Ian's apparently purposeless
questioning but he was in no position to warn his
accomplice to be on his guard.

'Oh yes, his
clothes,' Ian seized on the answer. Behind him the Doctor and Susan
exchanged a mutual look of understanding. 'You say that you saw him
take an object from his pocket. You could see quite clearly?'

The Engineer
nodded. What in the stars was this devious Earth-creature getting at?

Ian continued: 'You
are sure it was from his coat pocket?'

'Yes. I have
already said that.' The Engineer was becoming even more confused.
'Every Sensorite knows the Doctor by-'

He stopped. All
eyes were on the Doctor who had risen to his feet and was preening
himself magnificently in his new cloak.

'The Doctor's coat
was left behind in the aqueduct,' Ian finished his defence. 'You were
lying.'

'Then . . . then it
was a cloak he was wearing,' claimed the Engineer, panicking now.
'Yes, I'm sure of that now.'

It was now the
First Elder's turn to speak. 'I have just given the Doctor that
cloak.' He regarded the Engineer with distaste. 'Your story is a
tissue of lies. Senior Warrior -remove this Sensorite!'

As the Warrior
escorted the Engineer away, the Administrator waddled solicitously up
to the First Elder. He was concerned lest he be thought involved in
any way in the Engineer's deception.

'Sir, you must
forgive his wild accusations,' he whined. 'I did what I thought was
right. I felt his story should be heard.'

'You acted
correctly,' he reassured him. There was sadness and disappointment in
his voice. 'By his lies the Engineer has proved his guilt. But what
could have affected the Second Elder so much that he should want the
Firing Key to the Disintegrator?'

'The Second Elder
was always opposed to our visitors,' said the Administrator
cunningly. 'He took the Firing Key to attack them with the power of
the Distintegrator.'

'I bet he took the
antidote too!' piped up Susan, unknowingly giving support to the evil
Sensorite's lies. 'He was our enemy all along!'

The First Elder
signalled an end to the discussion. 'This is a sad matter . . .
but since the Second Elder too has betrayed us my sympathy shall not
be wasted on him. We must now turn our minds to choosing his
successor.'

The Administrator
produced the Second Elder's sash from beneath his tunic. 'I have his
sash of office here,' he said, handing it to his leader.

The Doctor's party
had been watching the scene between the two Sensorites with interest.
Suddenly Ian had an idea.

'Perhaps the First
Elder doesn't need to look further than this room for the Second
Elder's replacement,' he suggested to his friends.

Susan warmed to the
notion. 'Of course! If the Administrator gets high office because of
us he'd make a valuable ally.'

'Precisely what I
was thinking!' beamed the Doctor. Effecting his most statesmanlike
manner he strode up to the First Elder.

'We have no wish to
interfere in your affairs,' he began diplomatically, 'but the City
Administrator seems to have all the qualities of a Second Elder.
Perhaps he might be the ideal choice for your advisor?'

The First Elder
considered the matter. True, the City Administrator could be annoying
and at times too eager to please, but he had always served the
Sensorite Nation faithfully, running the City on smooth and efficient
lines. All he did was for the greater good of the Sensorites. And if
he could instill such confidence in these humans . . .

'Can you accept and
use justly supreme power and supreme authority?' he asked the
Administrator who was positively quivering with excited anticipation.

The Administrator
chose his words deliberately. 'My only ambition is to serve the
Sensorite Nation,' he claimed.