Doctor Who: Ultimate Treasure (10 page)

'But Rovan knew there would be those, through the ages, who would come after him and his treasure, and so we agreed how they should be received. We could quite simply erase all knowledge of the last few hours and send you away unaware that any such place as Gelsandor exists. But we chose not to. Rovan believed that courage and determination should reap their just rewards - as should greed and deceit. So his treasure lies at the end of a difficult, perhaps to some of you, a deadly road. But any who survive may leave Gelsandor enriched, as was Rovan's intent.'

There was a deep silence broken by whispers and uncertain glances. Dexel Dynes alone showed no trace of bafflement or incomprehension.

'I publicly state that this situation and all participants here present constitute an item of exceptional newsworthiness, and claim the right to record it in its entirety.' he said excitedly.

'Please note your changed status as individuals in the eyes of the press. This declaration has been recorded. Remunerations on the standard scale will be offered to individuals for exclusive rights to their stories, should they survive.'

Peri felt slightly dizzy. The situation was strange enough without fanatical reporters. Only the Doctor still seemed calm and incisive. 'What else do you get out of this agreement?' he asked Shalvis.

'We do not claim to be altruists. Seekers of many races have come here over thousands of years. The study of their minds under stress allows us to extend our knowledge of mental phenomena.'

'How can we believe you?' the Marquis said sharply. 'You seem to have turned the quest for the most wonderful prize in history into an amusement... a game!' He scowled at Dynes. 'If you were serious in your claims you would not allow this creature to record it for the entertainment of the masses.'

'How do we know it's possible to find the treasure at all?'

Thorrin said suspiciously. 'Perhaps you're keeping it to yourself.'

'We abide strictly to our covenant with Rovan,' Shalvis replied gravely. 'Telepathy also makes us by nature truth speakers. We may withhold information, but we will not tell a direct lie.'

'You say there have been many seekers over the years,' the Doctor continued. 'Did any of them ever make it through to the end? If so, why hasn't the treasure been seriously depleted by now?'

Shalvis looked about her at the assembly, catching and holding their gaze one by one. Peri felt the presence of a powerful mind behind those clear eyes. 'I see some of you believe there is some deception involved. I shall say this: any that win through to the end will have to opportunity to receive exactly what they desire and what their conduct merits, no more, no less. I promise that the bulk of Rovan's treasure still remains, even though many have come before you and found the ultimate prize. Tomorrow the quest shall begin, and you will be shown the path that may lead some of you to the same goal. Until then I advise you to return to your craft and rest.'

'The Quest For The Ultimate Treasure,' Dynes said huskily.

'What a title!'

Back in the
Newton
an hour later, Arnella faced her uncle angrily.

'I will come with you. We don't know how long it's going to take, and I won't stay shut up in this ship any longer.'

'But Nell, it might be dangerous.'

'Well with all these strange people about it might be just as dangerous to stay here. You can't stop me coming, so you might as well let me.'

The Marquis shook his head in bemused defeat. 'You have your father's stubbornness and courage. Perhaps it is best. You above all must prove yourself worthy.'

Arnella could not admit to her uncle her true reason for wanting to accompany the expedition. It was because she was afraid it would be the last taste of real freedom she would ever know.

Alpha's strongbox tumbled through interstellar space.

Inside an electronic countdown sequence reached zero.

For some minutes nothing outwardly changed, then several slender antennae emerged from in its hard grey shell. After a further pause, concealed panels opened to reveal hyperdrive emitter nodes. With a surge of power the box blurred and distorted, then vanished into hyperspace.

Peri found it hard to sleep that night.

Of course there was no problem about accommodation room on board the TARDIS, but she was still conscious of their two unexpected guests and the unknown quantities they represented.

Just who really was Falstaff and why did he maintain the charade so relentlessly? Would Jaharnus really arrest them once the quest was over? For that matter, would she accompany them or stay to keep watch on the ships? And then of course there was the treasure hunt itself. The very idea that she was actually going on one the next day seemed incredible, and passages from Stevenson's Treasure Island kept insinuating themselves into her confused thoughts, until eventually they became part of her uneasy dreams.

She woke in the early hours, local time, feeling as though she had hardly slept at all. It took five minutes under an alternately hot and cold shower before she felt reasonably alert. Then she went to choose some clothes for the forthcoming expedition.

Nothing she had bought in Astroville would be suitable, and, besides, it was all too good to risk spoiling.

The wardrobe room was vast, fading away into dark shadows on all sides, and filled with row upon row of costumes representing every age and style Earth had ever produced, plus some whose origins she could only guess at. Bearing in mind Gelsandor's mild climate, she chose a loose cord shirt and thigh-length shorts, knee-high woollen socks, and stout but supple walking boots. To this she added a hooded cape in case the weather turned. She then dialled up a coffee and sandwich from the food synthesiser and went along to the console room.

The Doctor, who she was not sure ever slept, had four backpacks complete with bedrolls and walkers' staffs already lined up along one wall. He himself had made no obvious concessions in his own costume to their forthcoming venture, apart from changing into walking boots similar to hers.

'Do you think it's going to take us that long?' she asked, examining the well-stocked packs.

'Shalvis has been careful not to specify any likely duration for the journey, but I'd be most surprised if Rovan's treasure was less than a day's march from here. Reaching it's meant to be a challenge after all.'

'I see we're going to have company along the way.'

'Inspector Jaharnus will be accompanying us,' the Doctor confirmed. 'I believe she's decided that way she can best keep an eye on both us and Qwaid and company.'

'You don't reckon she's interested in the treasure?'

'No, I think her sense of duty is far too strong for that. At least, at the moment.'

'Why should it change?'

'Your own country helped make the expression "gold fever"

famous in the nineteenth century. The prospect of suddenly acquiring vast wealth can do strange things to otherwise normal and well-balanced beings.'

'You reckon some of us are going to start gibbering, do you Doctor? I hope you don't think it's going to happen to me.'

'I trust not, Peri.' he said with altogether too much gravity. She changed the subject.

'And how's Falstaff making out? I see he's coming to.'

'Yes. He's spent half the night regaling us with his heroic deeds in what he claims are similar circumstances.'

'But underneath he's really scared sick, isn't he?'

'I should say that was an accurate assessment of his state of mind, but for some reason he's decided to try to live up to his boasts this time, which is not really in character. Well, we shall see.' He looked at her sombrely. 'Are you sure you still want to come yourself? Despite the circumstances, this is not a game.

'You might get hurt.'

'For that matter, Doctor, why are you going? You sure don't need the money.'

A distant look came into his eyes, as though he was staring out into infinity. 'Perhaps somewhere it's expected of me,' he replied obliquely. 'And of course, I do have this insatiable sense of curiosity.'

The other spacecraft were parked - if that was the appropriate expression, Peri thought - in three separate clearings in the park like wood within half a mile of the TARDIS. The various parties rendezvoused at a confluence of pathways approximately midway between them, just as the morning sun caught the higher branches of the trees and the dew was still on the grass. Each party exchanged uncertain glances encompassing varying degrees of hostility. Brockwell smiled at her but his companions seemed almost aloof. The three crooks, she noticed, were laden down with backpacks, multipocketed belts, bush knives and side arms. The rhinoceros-like one, Drorgon, also carried something resembling a slender missile launcher slung across his back.

Shalvis was waiting for them, with Dynes by her side. As they approached three identical DAVE drones swooped towards them to record their arrival, while one hovered expectantly over Dynes's shoulder. Drorgon growled and took a swipe at a DAVE

that ventured too close to him, but the tiny device bobbed agilely out of his reach.

Shalvis spoke. 'I must ask you all to confirm you are doing this of your own free will, knowing that the way ahead is dangerous and your lives are at risk. Are you all resolved to go on?'

They all nodded. 'Yes, yes, get on with it,' Thorrin said impatiently.

'Then you must begin by choosing the best route through these woods. There are signs you can follow but they will always lie. If you meet any of our people you can ask them for guidance, but they may not speak the truth about which direction to take, though they will remain truthful about everything else.'

'Excuse me,' said Willis Brockwell diffidently, but I thought you told us yesterday that your kind never lied?'

'But I have just told you that you may be misinformed, so it is not a fundamental deception.'

'But that's not fair,' Peri exclaimed.

'We do not believe Rovan intended the way to be either fair or easy, Perpugilliam Brown,' she replied, making Peri feel as though she was about eight years old and had just said something foolish in school class. 'If you apply your reason you will be able to choose the quickest path through the woods.' She glanced at Qwaid's party. 'You may also win through to the next stage by simple perseverance, of course, but in any case you must all keep to the paths if you wish to remain safe.'

'Safe from what?' Jaharnus asked.

'That you will find out. Are there any further questions?'

'Can we use our ship?' Qwaid asked.

'You may operate it now, but not to aid your journey or avoid any obstacles until you have reached the treasure.'

Dynes cut into the thoughtful silence that followed. 'Has anyone any words for the viewing public before you set out on this historic quest?'

'If you publish anything scurrilous or defamatory about myself or my niece I shall sue,' the Marquis said simply.

'Keep those things away from us,' Qwaid warned him, glowering at the camera drones, 'unless you want them turned into scrap.'

The Doctor tipped his hat politely but said nothing.

Peri shook her head, unable to cope with mad reporters at that moment and just wishing they could get started.

Falstaff swelled proudly. 'I do not embark upon this perilous way for personal gain, but to raise funds for a good and noble cause in a far-off land I may not mention...'

As he continued in the same manner, Peri shrugged helplessly at the Doctor, who smiled back.

'Be quiet you fool, and let us get started.' Thorrin snapped, interrupting Falstaff's fantasy.

'Do not let your words run so shrill, sir,' Falstaff replied easily,

'lest by their tone you reveal your fears and alarm the womenfolk.'

As Thorrin gaped back at him incredulously, Shalvis pointed a slender hand down a particular path leading off through the trees that was a little broader than the others. 'That is the beginning of the trail that leads to Rovan's treasure.'

They set off, each party trying not to mingle with the others, followed by a flock of DAVEs that glided after them at a discreet distance.

The woods on either side of the path grew thickly, with many broad-leaved bushes, trailing wisps of moss, and hanging vines filling in the spaces between the lower tree branches and the ground. It reduced visibility to a few yards on either side, making them feel uncomfortably enclosed. Peri shivered. The peaceful beauty of the woods around the TARDIS's landing site seemed to have evaporated within the space of a few paces. Was this natural, or more of the Gelsandorans' mind tricks?

The first junction they came to was unmarked by any sign.

Four paths diverged from it, curving gently away into the woods.

Almost gratefully the three parties separated, each taking a different path by unspoken consent. Dynes's drones followed them, one to each party.

The TARDIS party had walked perhaps a hundred yards, when the new path forked. At the apex of the fork was a neat white-painted post bearing two wooden boards with arrow-tapered ends. Peri thought they wouldn't have looked out of place on a country road, apart from the legends they bore. The one indicating left said WHITE PYRAMID, while the other to the right was ROVAN'S TREASURE.

'Ah, this is one of the lying signs of which Mistress Shalvis warned us,' said Falstaff.

'I didn't think she meant it literally,' said Jaharnus.

The Doctor was smiling. 'Well, at least it's a simple problem to start with, assuming we take the deception at face value, and there are no genuine signs among the false ones to further confuse matters.'

'That was too easy,' said Peri, as they took the left path.

'I doubt if they'll remain that way,' the Doctor warned her.

Thorrin's party had arrived at a fork in the path as well. Their sign showed that the treasure lay to the left, but the other path was unmarked. Arnella saw Thorrin glance at it for a moment almost contemptuously, then stride ahead down the right-hand path.

Qwaid, Gribbs, and Drorgon had arrived at a T-junction. On either side the paths curved rapidly away out of sight. Both paths, according to the sign, led to the treasure.