The Doctor reached into his pocket and withdrew a scredriver. 'While I was in the workings of the tubes, I er...mixed up a few of the wires, rewired a few circuits etc. Those pods Kayj has just fired are on a loop co-ordinate - they should be zooming back here...' He grinned and led Peri out of the lift as it hit the ground.
Kayj stared in disbelief at the advancing line of Tecain's soldiers. 'Guast! Why aren't they dead?' he shouted.
Gaust was dumb founded. He had given the correct procedure, firing instructions, everything. So why weren't Tecain and his men dead? He checked the console. 'The pods were fired, sir!'
Kayj activated a small screen. 'Gaust, use the trackers to scan the surrounding area, I want a fix on those pods!'
Gaust examined the screen and the barrage of figures that spewed from a computer bank. 'The pods are...' He stopped dead, a wave of horror washing over his face. 'They're coming here...'
Kayj swung round on him. 'If you're playing a silly pathetic game, mister, I'll have you shot!' Kayj flicked on the main scanner and saw a line of pods heading for the Tower.
'No! No!' he screamed and ran from the room.
Gaust stood transfixed by the line of speeding spheres. The pods smashed into the Ivory Tower, easily crashing their way through the impregnable shell of Coarn. Gaust felt something like a blow to the chest and looking down saw a pod firmly affixed to his shirt. The guards and other workers in the room felt the same as more and more pods smashed through the walls and doors.
The spheres fell in twos and gas swirled around its victims, taking all but their uniforms and their screams of death...
~~~
The Doctor and Peri stumbled over the battlefield, the scream of the hurtling spheres mere whispers in the background. Another noise was heard - the noise of a rifle having a safety catch removed. They slowly turned and saw Kayj, a mask of fury smeared over his face.
'Saboteurs!' he screamed 'Saboteurs!'
Peri closed her eyes, and the Doctor put his arms around her. Machine guns fired and Peri tensed, almost feeling the spray of lead smashing into her.
Nothing.
She peered through the mist to see Kayj lying down, blood pouring from the row of holes in his back. Behind him, she could see Tecain and his men rejoicing over the death of the enemy leader.
Tecain raised his communicator. 'Haft control, do you read me? Kayj is dead, the Ivory Tower is ours - confirm that you're receiving our message.' A blip emitted from the communicator. He continued: 'We've also got two civilians here, a man and a young girl...' He stopped short when he realised that the "civilians" had gone, leaving nothing but a slight wheezing, groaning noise on the air...
~~~
5. Mecotos Gamma?
The Doctor's hands flew over the console, his ship spun and jumped through time and space. Peri walked into the console room, fully refreshed over her ordeal.
'Where are we going?' she asked the Time Lord as he tapped on the delicate instrumentation of the TARDIS.
'We,' he said, 'are, fingers crossed, heading for Mecotos Gamma. We must definately deserve a holiday after our ordeal...' Peri watched him.
'Where was the Ivory Tower? I mean, what planet?'
The Doctor slowly looked up from the console. 'Since man has developed his weapons to the point of melting men, planets have developed. You may find it hard to comprehend, but my assumption is that we have just left...Earth. Earth's distant future.' Peri stared at the Doctor, taking it all in, yet not understanding.
'You mean that was the future of my planet...'
The Doctor nodded.
'It might be...as I seem to remember telling another companion of mine a few regenerations ago, after the Daleks attacked the Earth from the future - there are all kinds of futures. Futures with wars, futures without. Let's hope destiny takes the correct path, and no wars and no melting devices ever emerge from your planet.'
Peri glanced skywards and muttered, 'Amen.' as the TARDIS continued it's journey through time and space, with destiny leading new adventures out for them.
written by
ROBERT HAMMOND
copyright 2009
artwork by
COLIN JOHN
ROBERT HAMMOND
JOE McINTYRE
copyright 2009