Doctor Who: Virgin Missing Adventures [024] - The Scales of Injustice by Gary Russell

Author:Gary Russell
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780426204770
Publisher: Doctor Who Books
Published: 1996-08-13T22:00:00+00:00

Liz looked again at the dead body, and then at Jana who had clearly reached the same conclusion.

‘Well.’ Jana tapped the envelope against her hand. ‘I guess that was our last message. We really are on our own now.’

The Reptiles’ base was a fantastic piece of architecture. Deep below the island, it had been built to circulate air from the surface, equalizing pressure naturally. Its passage-ways and ducting were designed to optimize the heat and humidity without the interior becoming stuffy. Condensation formed on the walls and drained into grated gutters, providing a constant supply of pure water in which the inhabitants could bathe and replenish their natural oils. It was also salt-free, and therefore drinkable.

Some of the walls were rough, jagged and unfinished. However, closer to the living areas, their surface was so perfect and flat that the walls became almost reflective. Stunningly vivid paintings adorned the walls at intervals, and tiny holographic images had been placed in recesses almost invisible until one encountered them. These art-works all represented reptile-people; some, the Doctor noted as he passed them, of hybrids or sub-species that he had not yet encountered.

Most of the reptiles the Doctor had seen so far bore little resemblance to those he and UNIT had met in Derbyshire. Just as humans varied in hair and skin tones, height and weight, so the reptiles differed in physical characteristics. Some seemed adapted for underwater life, others for extreme cold or life on high plateaux. Although it was untrue to say that no two reptiles looked identical, it was easy to group them together into families or clan groups.

However, the Doctor realized, if that was true then the group which currently held him prisoner, was the most mixed possible. They were also not represented in the art.

As Chukk led him towards a food area, the Doctor allowed himself to be the subject of stares and inspections and, sometimes, hisses from the various reptiles he encountered.

‘My people,’ Chukk had explained earlier, ‘have no respect for Ape life. I apologize.’

‘No need, old chap,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I don’t blame them at all.’

The journey so far had been following a downward path, leading further into the depths of the Silurian complex. Although he was capable of resisting extreme temperatures far better than any human being, even the Doctor was beginning to find the heat a bit stiffing.

‘Much further, is it?’

Chukk shook his head, his thin ears flapping slightly. ‘Not far. There is much you need to understand. You will appreciate why Baal is doing what he does to the Ape hatchling.’

They emerged from the narrow hot corridor into a room very different from it and indeed the rest of the Shelter. It was a massive cavern, reminding the Doctor of the Panopticon on Gallifrey. Or, in more human terms, of St Paul’s Cathedral. The room’s enormous domed ceiling was decorated with beautiful paintings showing Silurians battling and taming dinosaurs.

‘And I thought the Sistine Chapel was the pinnacle of Earth’s architecture,’ murmured the Doctor.

Chukk pointed upwards.

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