Doctor Who: The Savages (12 page)

‘Oh yes,’ said the Doctor firmly. ‘Jano has now a sense of values — of justice, humanity — one might almost say "wisdom", if that doesn’t sound too immodest. And with this change he has become an explosive element in a civilisation such as his.’

‘Is this true?’ Steven turned to Jano.

Jano nodded slowly, ‘I think it must be. I know that since that experiment I have no longer been sure of myself and what I believed before. I have suddenly become aware of the evil we have been doing, and I am determined to bring it to an end.’

In the shadows the savages had been listening, bewildered, suspicious, uncertain. ‘You are going to help us?’ asked Chal incredulously.

‘Yes,’ said Jano simply.

Tor was contemptuous: ‘You could never get any of your fellows in the City to agree.’

Again Jano nodded in agreement. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘I shall not try to persuade them.’

That sounded to Steven exactly like something the Doctor had already said. It was a bizarre duplication, one man of the other.

‘Jano has another plan,’ said the Doctor.

‘How do you know?’ asked Jano.

The Doctor smiled. ‘I think it is the same as mine,’ he said.

Even Tor — and he was a man of a wary and suspicious mind — even Tor had got so caught up in what was happening that evening that he had forgotten the guard, bound hand and foot at the back of the cave.

And Exorse had made good use of the diversion. It had taken a long time, and a good deal of frayed skin, but he had rubbed the cords on his wrists until they were ragged enough to snap. He had then pulled up his feet, unnoticed in the dark with all the excitement around him, and he had cautiously managed to untie them.

While everyone hung on Jano’s words, waiting to hear what plan he had that might bring their release from a bondage worse than slavery, Exorse scrambled to his feet and shouldered his way through the few savages that stood between him and the opening of the cave.

Chal reacted quickest, shouting to Steven to apprehend him, but the guard was past him and away, taking a wild leap down the side of the slope, catching at the cliff path, steadying himself, and disappearing into the darkness before anyone moved.

Tor was in despair. ‘Now he will get back to the City, and that will be the end of all your fine plans.’

‘We must take that chance,’ said the Doctor. But then a second figure slipped through the crowd and made her way out of the cave.

‘Nanina!’ called Dodo. She guessed what the girl was up to, and tried to stop her. But she was too late.

Chal hurried to look out, but there was no sign of her. Nanina knew her way over these rugged slopes by day or night, and there was no chance of catching her.

It took Exorse far longer to climb down the valley side and make his way along the foot of the ravine than it took Nanina, and she caught him up before he had cleared the ridge.

He heard the sound of someone coming behind him, and he was ready to fight. He had a thick branch of wood in his hand as Nanina came up the path into a patch of moonlight, and he was swinging it to go into the attack, when he saw who it was.

‘Why do you follow?’ he asked. He stood looking at her, uneasy yet determined.

She made no attempt to hold him. ‘If you betray Jano,’ she said, ‘you betray all of us.’

He shrugged, and tossed aside the club. ‘Then what will become of us?’ she said.

‘It is Jano who is the traitor,’ said Exorse angrily.

‘What have you learnt today, Exorse? Nothing? ‘That we are people like yourselves?’ And as he didn’t reply she went on, ‘What chance shall we ever have if you go back and speak what you have heard?’

‘You think I should keep silent about treachery?’ he demanded.

‘You owe me your life,’ she said simply. ‘I have a right to ask you. If you are against us now, you condemn us forever.’ He could hardly bear to look at her, for he knew this was true. But there was such a thing as duty. He turned quickly and hurried on his way. She watched him until he disappeared into the dark.

It was a very sombre conference that Senta and the Elders held with Edal. And it was only when Senta felt he had no option that he spoke out.

‘I promised Jano I would tell no one,’ he said, ‘but now I must. The entire transference absorbed from the Traveller From Beyond Time was absorbed as an intransference by Jano. We knew this was a risk, and it appears he has taken in some very dangerous ideas in the process.’

There was a good deal of speculation, but no one could see how to handle the problem. It had never happened before. Edal cut across the intellectual analysis that was going on. ‘We can no longer trust him,’ he said. ‘He’s not fit to lead. I will take control. We must declare an emergency. And we must be ready for anything Jano tries to do.’

Exorse burst into the conference room. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ barked Senta.

‘I have been a prisoner,’ said Exorse.

‘We know that,’ said Edal, watching him narrowly. ‘The stranger had one of the light guns, and I was taken to the Valley of Caves.’

‘You were with Jano,’ said Edal.

Exorse nodded. ‘That is why I am here to report.’ ‘You must tell the whole truth,’ said Edal. ‘We no longer trust him.’

‘The Captain tells us that Jano has become deranged. He has gone over to the side of the savages,’ said Senta. ‘Is this true?’

Exorse guessed the whole of their civilisation depended on his answer.

11 ‘Do You Think We Will Ever See Him Again?’

It was a strange sight as the oddly mixed crew moved through the scrubland in the light of the gun that Jano held. A train of prisoners was led by the Doctor, with Steven and Dodo following. Behind them in a straggling line came Nanina, Chal and Tor. Several other tribesmen brought up the rear while last of all came Jano, urging them on brutally, letting his light gun flicker over those who stepped out of line, sending them reeling on, as he shouted, ‘Get along. Keep moving. And keep your hands over your heads.’

There was no doubting who was the task master, and the weapon Jano carried acted with far greater force than a whip. Those on guard outside the City were relieved to see their leader back in his true style. The rumours that had flown round the City must all be false. Jano was clearly the strong man they had always known him to be.

They gladly opened the City gates and crowded along to cheer him on his way as he headed for the Conference chamber.

‘You have nothing more to report?’ Edal asked. He had made up his mind Exorse was lying. He couldn’t understand this epidemic of betrayal that seemed to be affecting the citizens. But he knew he could stem that tide.

‘I have no further information,’ said Exorse.

‘Very well,’ said Edal coldly. ‘We shall see what the interrogators can get out of you.’

Exorse turned to the Elders in alarm. ‘That is forbidden,’ he said. ‘Only the leader has the right to sent citizens to the Interrogators.’

Senta tried to explain. ‘Captain Edal has called an emergency. He has taken over the leadership in the absence of Jano.’

‘In the absence of Jano!’ Jano shouted robustly from the doorway as he drove in his gaggle of prisoners. ‘In the absence of Jano! But Jano is here! And in command! And demanding an explanation!’

He herded the prisoners into a tightly packed body against the wall, flicking the light beam like a whip, shouting, cursing them, striking a real terror into them that shone in their eyes. The Doctor marvelled and gave him top marks for his performance.

‘But Jano,’ said Senta nervously. ‘We did not expect you back.’

Jano spun round on him furiously. ‘Not back? Why not? Did I not say I would be back with the strangers as prisoners?’ He flicked the beam at the group with a flourish. ‘Well, there they are.’

Senta glowered at Edal. ‘So you were wrong,’ he said. He turned to Jano. ‘Captain Edal informed us you had gone over to the savages. He attempted to put himself in your place.’

‘Guard,’ called Jano, ‘the Captain is under arrest.’ ‘I demand to be heard!’ shouted Edal.

‘You will be heard at the right time and in the right place,’ said Jano. ‘Take him away.’

The guards bundled Edal out of the room, still protesting, but also bewildered that he had made such a mistake.

‘We apologise,’ said Senta.

‘That’s of no importance,’ said Jano. ‘We have work to complete.’ He indicated the prisoners. ‘Take them into the transference laboratory.’

‘All of them?’ asked Senta.

‘All, and at once,’ said Jano.

Guards began to shepherd the Doctor and his fellows into the passage that led to the laboratory. There was genuine alarm amongst the savages. Most of them had been along these corridors before, and the memories haunted them. They started making a terrifying noise.

‘Are they to be prepared for transference?’ asked Senta.

‘You will be given instructions,’ said Jano. ‘The Elders will follow.’

It was with deep, but vague misgivings that the Elders congregated in the laboratory. Jano dismissed the guards. ‘The Elders and leaders of the City remain,’ he ordered. And when everyone else had gone he took over the control panel and issued instructions for the safety doors to be closed.

‘What is happening?’ demanded Senta. ‘I am responsible for the laboratory. I must be told.’

Jano faced his fellow rulers. By this time they were more than apprehensive. ‘What I have to say,’ said Jana, ‘will be hard for you to understand. It may seem like madness, as it would have seemed to me a short time ago. For no man gives away the powers with which he has control over his fellows. No man lightly relinquishes his advantages, be they ever so inhumane and unjust.’

Now they were sure something was very wrong. They should have listened to the Captain. Edal had been correct, and Jano was on the point of some folly. Senta edged towards the doors.

‘Stay where you are,’ called Jano. He still had the light gun in his hand, symbol of the domination the people of the City had wielded for so long. Senta froze; he had no desire to be immobilised in its rays.

The Elders found themselves shouting out time-honoured catch phrases, words they had heard Jano use himself: ‘We have never used our power for ill, Jano,’ they called. ‘Look at the superb life of culture, art and reason we have built up.’

Jano nodded. ‘Yes. For ourselves. To the exclusion of the rest of mankind.’

They were dumbfounded. ‘What mankind?’

Jano waved a hand towards the prisoners. ‘Our fellows,’ he said.

There was a shocked silence. Now they knew he was insane.

‘This is what I am asking you to do,’ said Jano. ‘Here, in these rooms lies the source of our power, and our ability to do evil. I don’t expect a change of heart from all of you. That would be too much. Generations of privilege have ingrained a prejudice in us that will make it impossible for most of us to behave according to a principle. All we can do to be sure we stand on the side of right and humanity is to destroy the mechanism that gives us this power in such an evil fashion.’

Word by word the Doctor knew what Jano was saying, knew what he was about to say. It was a strange dual personality that functioned. The Doctor’s thoughts were being heard as Jano spoke. The Doctor trusted that the power of the intransference would last until the deeds were done.

The Elders looked blankly at their leader. They needed to be told in words of one syllable exactly what it was he was proposing.

‘I am telling you to destroy the equipment in this laboratory. The plant, the controls, the designs, the entire instrument of transference. It must never happen again.’

Senta regained courage in his outrage. ‘I will not allow it. It would be sacrilege.’

‘It’s sacrilege to do anything else,’ said Jano. ‘As the leaders of our community you must take the lead. Everything must be smashed to atoms.’ He picked up a heavy instrument from the control table.

‘Stop him!’ shouted Senta.

He raced forward but Jano had already struck. The panel before him shattered and a jet of vapour hissed into the room.

Senta pointed to the bell by the door. ‘The alarm!’ he called and one of the Elders hurried to turn it on. In the distance the siren sound swept through the city.

‘It doesn’t look as though Jano is getting much support,’ said the Doctor. ‘Perhaps we should lend a hand.’

The prisoners didn’t need a second bidding. They snatched up anything that was handy, and began laying into the tiers of instruments that had brought them so much pain. The noise of breaking machinery was, quite literally, shattering, but it brought a wild delight to those at last making a stand for freedom. It was at that moment Senta realised all was not lost. The damage done so far was not irreparable, and they could fight back.

They had overlooked that one of the guards was still present; Exorse stood by the door, uncertain, hesitating, but holding the light gun that could save the City.

‘Use it!’ shouted Senta. ‘Exorse... The gun! Before it is too late. Jano is out of his mind. He must be stopped.’

And one part of Exorse’s mind told him that Senta was right: Jano was destroying the world as they had known it, and what was to follow was any man’s guess — it would be uncomfortable, perhaps dangerous, and unpredictable. But the other part of his brain was in a turmoil, guessing that his leader had taken a stand that would bring another type of world into being, a world in which life for them all would be better.

‘Exorse!’ It was a last plea from Senta. ‘It’s for your own people!’

Exorse saw through the dust and debris the slight, lithe, figure of Nanina, wielding a rod of metal, sending it down with a crash on the very instrument that had so nearly taken her life. The joy of that action seemed to restore all the vitality that had gone from her. Chaos surrounded her. Exorse elbowed his way through the crowd to join her. He used the butt of his gun to smash the machine next to her. She looked at him, stopping her own efforts, and he saw in her eyes her private happiness.

Wreckage lay at the Doctor’s feet. He knew that by now it was impossible to restore anything of the mechanism that filled the room. The great vats beside him bubbled fiercely, a cauldron spilled over, fumes seeped through, draining away. Wires, connections and broken conductors littered the floor. It was time to call off the onslaught.,