Roughly the giant shoved her away from the doorway in which he stood.

'Hey,' she started.

Then she saw.

The room was the Lady Lianna's. She was inside. By the far wall, next to the window. In fact, she was attached to the wall via the rather lethal-looking barbed spear that had been rammed through her midriff and skewered her to the wall.

Standing and holding the shaft of the spear, his hands soaked in Lianna's blood, was the Doctor. The look of complete and utter shock and horror etched into his face made Bernice shiver. Slowly his head turned and he seemed to notice Torg and her for the first time. His eyes locked with hers and she saw something she couldn't ever remember seeing there before.

She had seen anger, sadness, bitterness and hurt. She had seen joy and laughter. But never, ever had she seen total uncontrollable panic.

As Torg growled and moved towards him, he stepped back, blood dripping to the floor. He let go of the spear and it vibrated slightly as it took the full weight of Lianna's dead body.

Behind Bernice she was aware of people gathering but she didn't turn until a soft voice she recognized came from right beside her.

I don't believe it...' Nic Reece stepped forward. 'Lianna! No!' he roared and tried to run to the body. With an effortless gesture, Torg held him back with his other hand until a couple of guards pushed past and took charge of the apparently listless Doctor. Then Torg escorted Reece back to the doorway, where he seemed to see Bernice. 'Benny? What's going on?'

'I . . . I don't know. I just got here and saw . . . this.' She gestured towards Lianna.

Before anything else could be said, a wail came from behind the crowd and Atissa lunged through them and into the room. This time Torg made no effort to stop the intruder. Atissa was on her knees, moaning softly.

Torg wrenched the spear free of the wall, and concealed Lianna's body as he extracted the weapon, dropping it to the floor. He laid Lianna down and another guard scooped up a blanket and laid it over the body, covering it completely.

Bernice watched Atissa for a few seconds longer until she realized the Doctor had been led away. She scanned the gathering but all she saw were the Pels' eyes, some angry, some astonished, most distraught. She pushed her way to the back in time to see the Doctor almost being dragged away, unresisting.

'Hey,' she called. No one listened so she ran after them.

Behind her, two pairs of eyes followed her. Nic Reece blinked, breathed deeply and wandered off. Neither of them saw the Pakhar holocameraman Jav watching from a nearby recess. He stuffed a paw into a pocket in his shorts and brought out the black box he had found bleeping earlier.

Time for a little chat with your owner,' he said. Repocketing it, he wandered back to his own quarters.

Bernice caught up with the guards; they weren't particularly hurrying.

'Where are you taking him?' she demanded.

The guards exchanged looks. 'To the cells, miss,' one eventually replied.

Oh great, can I come?'

'No . . . Benny, you mustn't.' The Doctor looked over at her, his eyes reddened.

'But. . .'

The Doctor's voice grew a fraction stronger. 'Too much danger. I need you to keep an eye out.'

The guards tugged at him. 'Come on, you. No time to talk.'

As they pulled him away, he looked back. 'My quarters. The chess set.

Bring it to me later. Not yet. I've been checked!' By this time they were alongside the relic room. Sskeet was standing by the door but he lumbered round as he heard the Doctor's voice.

'Doctor,' he started, and then took in the situation. 'What is going on?'

'That's what I want to know,' complained Bernice. Abbot and Costello here aren't being very helpful.'

'No . . . wrong era entirely. . .' was the Doctor's muttered response.

And he's not much help either,' Bernice finished.

excuse us,' started one guard but Sskeet didn't budge an inch.

'There has been another robbery,' he hissed and waved his clamped hand towards the room.

The Doctor perked up slightly and even pulled away from one guard. He managed to get a look into the doorway. Of course,' he said as he was restrained once more. It had to be that. Only one to go.'

As he was dragged away, Bernice allowed herself a look into the relic room. Sskeet pointed at the far wall where the Lance of Aggedor had once been. Beneath it ought to have been the Crown of Sherak. Instead there was an empty s.p.a.ce.

It was half an hour later that Savaar finally deigned to join the party in the cell area. Bernice looked around her. As Savaar stopped, Sskeet seemed to glide up beside him, most un-Martian like, she thought. They can be swift when they want to, then.

The Doctor was behind bars, although a quick wash had removed the blood from his hands if not his sleeves and he was looking slightly more perky. King Tarrol and Chancellor Geban stood to one side conferring, while Alpha Centauri bobbed, jittered and changed colour every four seconds. Bernice thought he was going to have a seizure if he didn't calm down. Torg stood guard by the cell door, the barbed spear in his hands.

Of Atissa and Nic Reece there was no sign.

'Let the trial begin,' announced Tarrol.

'Trial!' Bernice jumped forward. 'What b.l.o.o.d.y trial? What the frag's he supposed to have done?'

'I should have thought that was obvious, even to a human female,' shrilled Centauri unhappily. 'The Doctor is to be tried for the murder of the Lady Lianna.'

'But he didn't . . . he couldn't . . . I mean you can't think. . .' Bernice desperately wanted to say something constructive. She suddenly realized that it simply hadn't occurred to her that the Doctor could have actually killed the woman. 'He just found her like that!' she managed eventually.

Savaar was behind her and rested a clamp on her shoulder. 'The only way you could know that for sure was if you had killed her yourself. Be very careful. Something is very wrong here.'

'Too b.l.o.o.d.y right it is mate,' snapped Bernice. 'Why aren't you helping protect him?'

'Why should I? I don't know the Doctor as you do, Shsurr. I have no evidence that he is innocent, any more than you do.'

Oh, get into the real world, Savaar.'

'Your loyalty does you credit, Shsurr. However, my security has already been compromised by the Cantryan boy. I can offer no reason why I should consider another of your party any more or less trustworthy.'

Bernice groaned inwardly - what had Kort done now? Still, that could wait - Savaar clearly hadn't executed him, but the Pels were quite likely to do so to the Doctor, according to Reece's descriptions of life on Peladon.

Atissa arrived.

If Bernice was expecting a grief-stricken daughter, tearful and gaunt, she was disappointed. Instead Atissa looked like the proverbial cat that had got the cream. 'By the ancient laws of Peladon, this man has committed a heinous crime. He must be punished. Aggedor demands it!'

Tarrol stood forward. 'Atissa, the Doctor will be questioned and tried. In the proper Pel way.'

Atissa turned on him, sneering. 'Pah! You think we care one jot for your Federation-tainted justice? No. Aggedor has proclaimed that he is to die.'

Tarrol attempted to speak again, furious at Atissa's words, but instead Geban walked to her. 'Atissa,' he said. 'Aggedor stands for truth and justice. He is a revered and respected guide and judge. Can Aggedor really allow an execution with no search for the truth?'

'Truth? What do you know of truth? The only truth is my mother's savage murder, and the people of Peladon demand retribution.' Atissa walked to the cell. The Doctor looked up and grinned lopsidedly at her.

Bernice sighed. Don't try your crazy charm, Doctor, for Christ's sake act normal.

'Tell me, Atissa,' he said. 'Tell me why I killed your mother. Give me a motive because I've been sitting here for an hour now and I can't think of one good reason why I would do her harm. She is . . . was a very dear friend.'

Atissa smiled and her eyes flashed. The smile vanished from the Doctor's face as if it had been switched off. He suddenly knew what she was going to say. 'You killed my mother because you are evil. You killed my mother because you are from the Federation. You killed my mother because you stole the Lance of Aggedor and then killed her with it. You killed her because you are an alien!' She's gone, thought Bernice. She's completely and utterly insane.

'This is insane. Completely and utterly.' Keri wriggled in her seat. At least take these bracelets off, yeah?'

Thebracelets' were standard Federation restraining devices: plasma fields capable of giving a nasty shock if the victim moved too much. Keri had seen them in operation many times but never expected to wear them. What made it worse was that her companion-in-crime seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

'Can't wait to tell my father,' Kort grinned. I mean, how many Federation Chair's sons get done for hacking and slicing?'

I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself, yeah. I'm rather embarra.s.sed.'

Their current gaoler, the Martian pilot, jabbed at a b.u.t.ton on the pad in front of him and the plasma fields flickered out of existence.

Oh,' said a dismayed Kort. I was enjoying that.'

Keri suspected that the pilot had turned them off for that very reason rather than because of her pleas. Damakort clearly brought out the wearied parent in everyone, even Martian pilots.

'Thank you,' she said.

The pilot said nothing back, but instead pa.s.sed over two large beakers of water. Keri gratefully swallowed hers, rubbing a few droplets off her whiskers. Kort sipped at his, still sulking at the loss of his restraints.

'What's going on, then? Lord Savaar said he'd be back shortly.'

The pilot replied without looking at her. 'There has been an . . . an incident within the Citadel. Lord Savaar is attending to it now.'

'Can you tell me what it is that I'm missing, yeah?'

I understand that one of the king's courtiers has been murdered. The Doctor has been accused of the murder. More than that I cannot say.'

Keri looked across at Kort. The boy was suddenly looking very serious and alert. He caught her eye. 'The Doctor?' he said. 'He's a bit weird, but murder?'

'Seems unlikely, yeah,' Keri agreed. 'Frag, I've just thought of something.

Neal Corry's gonna want to know why I'm not covering this, yeah!'

The Martian pilot finally turned to look at her and she could have sworn that behind his red-plastic protected visors, she saw a smile in his eyes. 'Do not worry. Your holovids are the last thing on Neal Corry's mind.'

'What do you mean by that?' Keri demanded, but the pilot turned away.

The conversation was over.

Cold.

It's so d.a.m.ned cold.

Why am I cold? Teeth chattering. I can't feel my fingers or toes. How did I get here, wherever here is. I thought h.e.l.l was supposed to be searing hot, not like the crukking South Pole! The noises. The lights. Of course. There was a doorway and I . . . I touched it. Thinking of Jaim Geha.s.sig, after all this time. They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. Is that what I was seeing - the sum total of my life? One person? Frag, no. I'm not dead. I can't be - too much to see and do in this galaxy. Places to go, people to meet. I've spent too long at GFTV, it's become my life instead of a way of supporting it. If I ever get out of here, wherever here is, that's it.

I'm giving it all up. Get in touch with Jaim and see if we could have another go. If not, well, tough luck on me. There's more to life than that.

That's a.s.suming I do get out of here.

It's so dark. Teeth have stopped chattering, but I'm still cold. The rest of me must be waking up and adapting. Like that time on Telos - again investigating the Cybermen. Now that was cold! Christ, there was that Australian bimbo as well - whatever happened to that one, eh? It's a blindfold! How could I be so stupid? I'm inside that abandoned refinery - whoever I saw inside must have dragged me in. But why blindfold me? My hands aren't tied, though. Maybe if I . . .

Yeeoow! b.l.o.o.d.y plasma cuffs. Stupid of me. Maybe if I shake my head, slowly, the blind will fall. It doesn't feel too tight, certainly not cutting any circulation off. And anyway, some movement will help warm me up and Someone's coming towards me. I recognize that sound but it can't be . . .

Light! Yes of course! It all makes sense now. Now I can see.

'H**'. My voice has gone. Clear my throat. Hhhufff. excuse me chaps, but what the frag is going on?'

Jav was sitting in the room. Not his room, but the room he'd sat in earlier when he'd discovered the black box. It was in his hand now. It would be worth a fortune. In front of him was a case. In it was the Crown of Sherak.

Jav recognized it from his and Keri's filming in the relic room earlier. Yes, this looked like being the end of a good day.

He didn't give a d.a.m.n about the Peladon treasures. Frankly, it was a primitive backwater without the basic amenities. Even the Federation equipment was a hundred years out of date. Everything broke whenever you used it. No, with the money he'd make out of this he could leave GFTV and set up on his own. Maybe a little racket on a frontier world - knocking off p.o.r.n vids. A good mix of Good Girlz and Joy Boyz. A good standard of living from that.

And if he didn't get what he wanted, well then he'd just have to tell one of the Federation representatives what he'd discovered here.

He sat against the wall and thought back to his childhood on Pakha. A childhood where, as a member of one of the poorer families, he was encouraged to have a bit of a sc.r.a.p, find new ways to get food and water.

After that blasted tram crash, his mother was left alone apart from him.

He'd fought hard to work in the holovid area. worked hard (well, cheated quite a bit, but it taught him how to get by). Yeah, it'd taken time but now he was set up for life. Maybe he'd chuck a bit his mother's way. No, frag that, why bother? He'd struck lucky, it was his call, his turn. Yeah.

'Can I help you?' Jav smiled. 'I wondered when you'd get back. Bit of a furore upstairs, eh?'

'Nothing that can't be handled by the Federation.'

'Good. Now, look here. I have a proposition for you . . .

'No. Let me guess. You found the stolen treasures here. And, I note, the communicator that is bringing me something - from your world in fact.'

Jav frowned. 'What's your plan then?'

'Can't you guess? I'm a dealer in fine arts and treasures. This pathetic planet is ripe for ripping off and indeed Nic Reece has talked the inhabitants into putting them together in one room for safety. Of course, that makes it even easier for me to go along and make them disappear.

Might just as well hang a sign on them saying "please take one". Then I sell 'em to the highest bidder and make a fortune.'

The little Pakhar was still confused. 'So what's coming here from Pakha?'

'Ah. Literally the jewel in my crown. I spent months on Pakha trying to find it but had to leave in a bit of a hurry. Managed to find a rough location for it and sent some . . . friends to get it. When you found my little box of tricks flashing earlier it was them telling me they'd got it.'