Doctor Who: Target - Novelisations [060] - The Sunmakers by Terrance Dicks

Author:Terrance Dicks
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780426200598
Publisher: Target Books
Published: 1981-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

8

The Prisoner

‘The first thing,’ said the Doctor briskly, ‘is to deal with their scanners.’

Mandrel looked blank. ‘What scanners?’

‘Every few metres along the subways there are tubes along the walls –’

‘You mean the sun-feeds?’

‘I mean oculoid electronic monitors, plugged into a concealed cable. Cordo, I want you to go and get two of them and bring them here. Choose a short side tunnel if you can…’ The Doctor gave detailed instructions on how to find and disconnect the tubes. ‘Take care, Cordo. Unplug them very carefully.’

Cordo hurried away, full of the importance of his mission.

The Doctor sat staring into space, turning over plans in his mind, wondering if it was all worth while. If Leela was dead, it would be an empty vengeance at best…

Yet it was worth doing, decided the Doctor. A society that had driven someone like Cordo to climb on to that parapet deserved to he overthrown. And if they’d killed Leela…

Bisham saw the look on the Doctor’s face. ‘I don’t think she was badly wounded, Doctor. But there was nothing we could do.’

‘I know, Bisham,’ said the Doctor quietly. ‘I know.’

Kicking and struggling wildly, a strait-jacketed Leela was dragged into the Collector’s office by the Guard Commander himself. ‘The terrorist, your Excellency.’

‘Get this thing off me,’ yelled Leela. ‘Let me go!’

Busy with his calculations, the Collector didn’t even look up. ‘Name?’

Leela ignored him, still struggling with the jacket, and the Commander gave her a shove that sent her reeling. ‘Answer his Excellency!’

He jumped back, just too late to avoid a savage kick from Leela.

‘When I get out of this thing I’ll split you,’ she hissed.

The Collector looked up and Leela stared as if hypnotised at the tiny body and the pinched, malicious features set into the great bald head. To her fury, he was turning over her knife in his little claw-like hands.

‘Name?’ repeated the Collector in his thin, piping voice.

‘Leela,’ muttered Leela sulkily.

‘Place of birth?’

‘Why should I tell you –’

The Guard Commander grabbed the strait-jacket and shook Leela until her teeth rattled.

‘Place of birth?’ droned the Collector.

‘How do I know? I am a member of the Sevateem.’

‘What is the Sevateem?’

‘My tribe. Tell this gorilla to keep his paws off me.’

The Collector spoke into the voice-operated computer terminal at his desk. ‘Zero zero five, information report on Sevateem.’

After a moment an inhumanly calm voice chanted, ‘Zero zero five, “Sevateem”, negative report. Semantic analysis suggests linguistic corruption of “Survey Team”. Logical inference is: degenerated, unsupported Earth colony.’

The collector’s questioning went on. ‘How did you get to Pluto?’

‘By accident – as usual!’

This earned her a thump from the Commander. ‘Answer respectfully!’

‘The Doctor brought me, in something called the TARDIS – if that leaves you any the wiser.’

‘What is the Doctor?’

‘He’s a Time Lord.’

‘You led a criminal attack on the Company Correction Centre. Why?’

‘I heard the Doctor was a prisoner there, so I came to rescue him. By the time I got there he’d already been set free by someone called the Gatherer, I think.’

‘The interview is terminated,’ said the Collector abruptly.

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