Doctor Who - Past Doctor Adventures - 53 - Warmonger (5th Doctor) by Terrance Dicks

Author:Terrance Dicks
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Comics & Graphic Novels, General, Adventure, Fiction
ISBN: 9780563538523
Publisher: BBC Worldwide
Published: 2002-05-05T07:00:00+00:00

‘Who comes, Reverend Mother?’ asked Ohica.

‘A thief! An army of thieves. The day I have always feared has arrived. They come to steal the Elixir of Life.’

‘What must we do?’

‘Wait!’ ordered Maren. ‘At present they are in distant space, at the very edge of the reach of my senses. I can do no more than detect them. When they are closer they shall feel my power.’

She turned to the little group of acolytes behind her.

‘Form the Circle, Sisters! Begin the Chant of Death!’

Soon a low rhythmic wailing arose from the cave mouth, echoing eerily through the mountain gorges. A mountain eagle flew within range of the sinister sound, checked and twisted for a second, then plummeted dead to the ground.

The chanting went on.

‘Why?’ screamed Morbius, in yet another of his rages. ‘Why did you bring the fleet out of hyperspace so far from Karn?’

Beside him Grimoire suppressed a smile, enjoying the Marshal’s latest tantrum – especially since, for once, someone else was the target.

The fleet navigator, a scrawny, red-faced man with the broken-veined nose of a drinker, was a cashiered Denali space fleet officer. His navigational skills had never been first class, and decades of determined drinking hadn’t improved them. When calculating the hyperspace jump to take them to Karn he had played it very, very, safe.

‘It’s a tricky business, Marshal, hyperspace navigation,’ he whined. ‘One tiny error and you can finish up millions of light-years beyond your target. Either that or in the middle of a planet.

Didn’t want to risk losing your fleet for you, did I?’

Morbius knew that what the navigator was saying was true –

hyperspace navigation was tricky and hideous accidents had occurred. But he also knew that a better navigator would have come out of hyperspace much closer to Karn.

The trouble came, he thought, from having to work with an army of mercenaries. There were plenty of experienced killers available. More technical and scientific skills were hard to come by. He’d approached the Denali, but they’d refused to have anything to do with him, something about a conflict of interest.

He’d had to make do with this drunken ex-Denali wreck.

Still, there was nothing to be done now. Although further from Karn than the Marshal wanted, they were still far too close to risk another jump.

‘All right, set course for Karn, maximum warp. Try not to miss it. Let me know when we’re in cannon range.’ He scowled at the trembling navigator. ‘And if the Supremo gets there before us, I’ll have your head!’

‘Not long now, Peri,’ said the Doctor.

They were in the control cabin of the Supremo’s flagship.

The cigar-shaped room was quietly busy, with white uniformed crewmen tending the complex banks of instruments that ran along the two sides of the room. At the narrower front end of the cigar was the command seat for the pilot/navigator. The Doctor and Peri were in two seats just behind him.

There was a feeling of controlled tension in the air. They were about to make the jump into hyperspace that would eventually take them close to Karn.

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