Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace (8 page)

After about five minutes the ledge finally widened out and the four men found themselves in another tunnel. This one was obviously man-made for the rough uneven ground abruptly gave way to a small flight of stone steps. About halfway down another tunnel branched out; but the men were far more interested in the bright light which flickered at the bottom of the flight of steps. Carefully, and as quietly as they could, they descended the stairs.

They found themselves in a large chamber. Seated on a small bench and with her back to them was a blonde-haired girl. As she heard their footsteps behind her she jumped up and turned around in alarm. She opened her mouth to scream, and then stopped in amazement.

‘You! What are you doing here!’

Ben was taken aback; this wasn’t exactly the sort of welcome he had expected.

‘Do you know her?’ asked Sean.

‘Course we do,’ said Ben. ‘She’s one of our lot.’

‘Don’t you ever sneak up on me like that again, Ben Jackson,’ Polly told the young sailor, furious for letting herself be taken unawares. ‘How did you get here?’

‘We found a tunnel in the mines that led straight here,’

he explained. ‘What is this place? Some sort of hideout?’

‘Yes,’ said Polly. ‘It’s right behind that horrible idol we were nearly sacrificed to.’

Jamie was looking curiously at the clothes Polly had been dressed in when she had been taken to Damon’s clinic. ‘What are the new clothes for, Polly?’

‘They were going to turn me into a fish!’ she said with all the indignation of a well brought-up young lady.

Despite himself, Ben couldn’t resist a snigger. Before Polly could dart a suitable piece of invective in his direction Jamie hastily attempted to diffuse the potentially explosive situation.

‘Have you seen the Doctor?’ he asked.

‘The last I saw of him he was going off with Professor Zaroff,’ she said uncertainly. ‘Haven’t you seen him?’

‘No,’ said Ben. ‘We heard nothing of him in the mines either... Still, I’d love to know what he’s doing now...’

At that very moment the Doctor was preening himself in front of a full-length mirror in the robing room of the priests of Atlantis – a small room just off the temple and adjoining the Council Chamber. Ramo had provided him with the traditional robes of a minor priest in the service of Amdo. The Doctor thought he cut a very dashing figure indeed in the saffron robes; he had drawn the line at wearing the elaborate head-dress however and held this underneath his arm.

‘With these robes you will pass unchallenged,’ explained Ramo. ‘Normally only those who are in the service of Amdo are allowed into the Council Chamber.’

‘Is the Council Chamber denied to Zaroff then?’ asked the Doctor.

Ramo shook his head. ‘No doors are barred to Zaroff.

He is a law unto himself.’

‘Yes, I rather thought he might be... Well, how do I look?’ The Doctor waited expectantly for Ramo’s vote of approval.

‘What?’

The Doctor sighed, bemoaning the priest’s lack of sartorial appreciation. ‘I just thought that I looked rather...

oh, never mind. Lead the way, Ramo.’

Ramo took him out of the robing room and to the doors of the Council Chamber, beside which stood two guards dressed in the traditional style similar to that worn by the temple guards. Ramo was known to them and his request for an audience with King Thous was immediately granted. The double doors were opened for them and the Doctor and Ramo were ushered inside.

The Council Chamber, the Doctor noted, seemed much more like a throne room. The walls were covered with splendid tapestries and the finely carved pillars were encrusted with dazzling jewels mined from the sea bed.

The floor was a finely patterned mosaic, depicting scenes from Atlantean myth and history, dominated once again by the great fish motif. Golden goblets and pitchers lay on long marble tables. The Council Chamber was a reminder of the glory of Atlantis before it sank beneath the waves.

Sitting on an elaborate golden throne in the centre of the chamber was Thous, the King of Atlantis. He was an old man who nevertheless retained some of the vigour of his youth. He had reigned over Atlantis for the past forty years, Ramo had told the Doctor, and owed his life to Zaroff. When the scientist had arrived in Atlantis Thous had been dying of what, to the Atlanteans, had been an incurable illness; Zaroff had saved him and now Thous considered himself to be eternally in his debt. It was a situation which Zaroff had continued to use to his best advantage.

Thous bowed his head and greeted Ramo and a man he took to be one of his fellow priests; he indicated that they should sit down. ‘Now, Brothers of the Temple, what is this important business you wish to discuss with me?’ he asked cordially.

‘Most Excellent Thous, this is a matter of life or death,’

Ramo began. ‘In no other circumstances would I have brought a stranger to you in temple garb.’

Thous started and stared at the little figure of the Doctor. ‘A stranger? Who are you?’

‘A man of science,’ responded the Doctor.

Thous’s tone immediately softened. ‘Ah, I see – one of Professor Zaroffs colleagues. Perhaps we should invite him to join us.’ He raised a hand to summon a guard but the Doctor stopped him.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ he advised. ‘I want to speak with you alone, Excellency.’ Thous’s suspicions were instantly aroused; but he commanded the Doctor to speak.

Ramo had warned the Doctor that the King considered Zaroff to be the deliverer of all Atlantis; it would be wise to approach the matter with great caution. ‘Excellency,’ he began, ‘the Professor is a wonderful man, a worker of miracles.’

‘Indeed you speak the truth,’ agreed Thous. ‘But have you seen his eyes lately?’

Thous was puzzled. ‘No... what do you mean?’

‘Have you noticed his eyes when he talks of his Project?’

the Doctor continued. ‘They light up like this!’ The Doctor widened his eyes, giving his very best impression of a mad scientist.

‘What are you saying?’ asked Thous slowly, as if the Doctor had somehow touched on the one nagging doubt in his mind.

‘The Professor is as mad as a hatter!’

‘Zaroff mad? It cannot be – he is a brilliant scientist.. he has brought our land untold riches..

‘Maybe so but he is also quite insane! It’s sad – a great loss to humanity – but unfortunately it happens to be true.’

Still Thous was unsure. ‘Ramo, what does all this mean?’

‘We believe Zaroff to be working not for the resurrection of Atlantis but for its destruction.’

‘I have heard such words from you before, Ramo,’ the King reminded him. ‘The priests have always resented Zaroff.’

‘The Doctor has proved it to me,’ Ramo said. ‘Zaroff’s plan will split the whole world asunder. This is not the action of a sane man.’

Briefly the Doctor outlined Zaroff s plan to the King.

The Doctor anxiously awaited his response, knowing that he was the only man capable of halting Zaroffs experiment.

But the King’s face did not betray his thoughts or feelings.

Finally he said: ‘So, the priests who once proclaimed Zaroff as the prophet who would raise our land above the waves have realised the consequence of such actions. While our land is lost you beguile the people with the promise of a better life to come. But what can you offer them when Zaroff has performed his great miracle? What can you tempt the people with then? Sometimes I think that you would prefer Atlantis to remain forever beneath the waves; then at least your power over our people would not be threatened.’

‘So you will not listen to us.’ The Doctor’s last hope had been shattered.

‘I did not say that,’ replied Thous. ‘I have heard your arguments –’

‘We’ve only just begun!’

‘I have heard enough! Now leave me and I will consider carefully what you have said. I will call for you when I have made my decision.’

He signalled to his guards that the Doctor and Ramo should be shown out. As they left the Doctor looked the King full in the eyes, almost pleadingly.

‘I hope you make the right decision, Excellency. On your decision rests the future of the world.’

The Doctor and Ramo were shown to a small waiting room while the King considered their words. It was, reflected the Doctor gloomily, rather like waiting for the dentist.

Would the King believe them? Could he be convinced that the man who had saved his life, who had brought all the benefits of modern-day science to this primitive land had done so merely to gain the resources he needed to carry out his insane experiment?

Finally they were summoned before the King. There was a thoughtful expression on his face. The Doctor and Ramo looked at him in anticipation. What choice had he made?

‘I have given your words great thought and I have finally reached a decision.’ The Doctor nodded eagerly, his eyes shining with hope.

Suddenly the door to the Council Chamber was flung open. Three black-uniformed guards marched in. Behind them, a triumphant gleam in his eyes, was Professor Zaroff.

‘There is your answer!’ cried Thous. ‘Professor Zaroff –

do with them what you will!’

6

Professor Zaroff looked down with disdain at the little figure of the Doctor clad in the priestly robes which were too big for him. When he spoke his voice was full of contempt.

‘I thought you were a scientist, Doctor,’ he said. ‘But you are just a little man after all. You disappoint me.’

‘You disappoint me, Zaroff,’ retorted the Doctor and indicated the black-suited guards who now held him and Ramo. ‘I didn’t think a man of science would need the backing of thugs like this.’

Zaroff took the point, but said, ‘Have a care, Doctor.

Your life is in the balance.’

‘Only
my
life, Zaroff?’ he asked, craftily seizing on Zaroffs words. ‘Do you mean you haven’t told your own people what is in store for them? Are you afraid, Zaroff?’

The Doctor’s words found their mark, and for a moment Zaroff hesitated, unsure of what to say. He realised what a danger the Doctor could still pose to him.

Finally he said, ‘I have obviously made a grave mistake, Doctor. If I hadn’t interfered with the temple sacrifice the sharks would have torn you apart... But it’s not too late. I shall return you to Lolem and tell him that I need you no longer.’ He glanced over to Ramo. ‘And he can have this stupid priest as well.’

‘No!’ the Doctor cried out. ‘You have no quarrel with Ramo. I persuaded him to help me; I am the only one to blame.’

Ramo shook his head, waiving the Doctor’s protests. He looked Zaroff in the eye; in that look were years of suppressed hatred. ‘That is not true,’ he said evenly. ‘I have always distrusted you and your science, Zaroff.’

Zaroff snorted contemptuously. ‘Take them away,’ he ordered the guards.

Ramo spat at Zaroffs feet. ‘The curse of Amdo be on you always,’ he said before being led away.

The Professor ignored the priest’s curse and turned to the Doctor. ‘Have a pleasant journey.’

‘Let’s not say goodbye, Professor. We will be meeting each other again.’

The scientist laughed off the Doctor’s words. ‘Not in this world, Doctor,’ he said, triumphant in his rival’s final defeat. When the great double doors had been closed on the Doctor and Rama, Zaroff turned back to Thous. ‘As always there is nothing to worry about,’ he said to the old King who had remained oddly silent throughout the whole confrontation.

‘And there is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the little man’s claims?’ Thous’s voice was unsteady; had the Doctor sown seeds of doubt in his mind?

Zaroff grasped the King’s arm. ‘Have I not sworn to you that my Project will raise Atlantis from the sea again?’ he asked fervently. ‘Haven’t I? Haven’t I?’

The King said nothing; instead he looked into Zaroffs wide staring eyes.

‘What is it?’ asked Zaroff, disturbed. ‘What is it?’

‘Nothing,’ said Thous thoughtfully. ‘Nothing at all...’

In the robing room the Doctor and Ramo had been stripped of their priestly apparel. Ramo was now wearing only a short tunic, and the Doctor his normal scruffy clothes.

With their hands tied behind their backs they were led by a group of priests and acolytes into the temple and made to kneel before two stone blocks directly in front of the steps which led up to the statue of Amdo. All around them priests chanted their homage to their goddess.

Surrounded by a group of child-priests Lolem was the last to enter the temple. He walked in stately procession through the group of assembled worshippers, pausing only briefly to look with scorn at Ramo and the Doctor.

Turning from them with a haughty sniff, he knelt before the statue and made his obeisances to the goddess.

The Doctor nudged Ramo who had been watching the proceedings, spellbound. ‘What happens now?’ he asked.

‘First the supplication and then–’ He nodded over at the temple servant who was standing close by them. He was dressed in the traditional black robes, helmet and mask of an executioner; in his hands he held a large ceremonial sword.

The Doctor gulped. The fact that Lolem had chosen this method of execution rather than the pool of sharks showed that he wanted them out of this world as quickly as possible.

He listened closely to the words Lolem was speaking. ‘I thought I recognised those words before,’ he said, almost to himself. ‘It’s the language spoken in Atlantis before the catastrophe.’

‘It is the everyday language of Atlantis,’ explained Ramo. ‘Those of high rank speak the language of Zaroff –

but the common folk and the priests chanting prayers still speak the language of our ancestors.’

The fact that Zaroff had persuaded so many people to adopt English as their language was further evidence of his great influence and his megolomania. But the Doctor had little time to consider this as Lolem said: ‘Accept, O

powerful and mighty Amdo, these your sacrifices.’

Two priests came up behind the Doctor and Ramo and, with surprising gentleness, pushed them forward until their heads were lying on the stone blocks. By their side the executioner raised his sword, ready to deliver the death blow.