In his peripheral vision, the Doctor could see that Rez had separated from the ever-growing crowd at the entrance. He was slowly crawling around the edge of the ma.s.sive room.

The lapse in the Doctor's monologue had given Brother Hugan a chance to break free of his spell.

'No!' he cried, raising the knife into the air again. The Doctor realised that his gambit had failed. Time for plan D. Or 149 was it E? As usual, he was in danger of running out of code letters for his improvisations.

'Wait,' he cried, dashing forward.

'Keep back,' shouted Brother Hugan warningly.

The Doctor stopped, his hands held out. He flicked the quickest of glances sideways and saw that Rez had reached a statue near to the altar and had begun to climb up it, keeping to the side furthest from the shaman's view. The Doctor just needed to buy him some more time.

'If Laylora needs a sacrifice then give her a proper one,' suggested the Doctor, changing tack.

The shaman waved at the p.r.o.ne figure on the slab of rock before him, enjoying the feel of the mock-Witiku talons as they brushed through Rose's hair.

'I intend to,' he told the Doctor.

'Not her,' said the Doctor dismissively. 'She's no one. Just another human. They're ten a penny.'

Rose, who was stirring back into consciousness, couldn't believe what she was hearing. She half-opened her eyes to try and work out what was going on. Realising that she was lying on the altar stone, it didn't take a great leap of imagination to guess. She didn't dare move as Brother Hugan and his huge knife were too close.

'If you're going to do this properly, sacrifice a real alien,' suggested the Doctor. 'How about one with two hearts? One who's the very last of his kind? Now that's what I call a sacrifice, eh? Am I right or am I right?'

Brother Hugan hesitated, the knife still in mid-air.

'You are offering yourself to die for Laylora?'

'Last of the Time Lords,' said the Doctor, throwing his hands in the air proudly. 'The one and only. A genuine dodo last specimen of an extinct breed. You want to make a sacrifice to appease the great and bountiful Laylora better make it a good 'un.'

The Doctor stood waiting for a response. The shaman was clearly mad but not so far gone that he couldn't appreciate an offer like this. Meanwhile, off to one side, Rez had disappeared behind the head of 150 the statue he had climbed. Hopefully he would get around the other side and be in a position to rescue Rose in another few moments. On the altar, Rose was now awake and fully aware of the situation. Her wide eyes met the Doctor's and, to her delight, he winked at her quickly. She prepared herself, cottoning on that he had something in mind.

'Come on, then, old fella. What about it?'

The shaman took a step back, considering. Suddenly a new voice rang out. It was Professor Shulough from the back of the chamber. Kendle had found and untied her during the Doctor's intervention.

'Don't listen to him,' she cried.

The Doctor glared back at her. Not now!

But the professor ignored the look and continued moving forward.

'Don't take him. Take me. It was my s.p.a.ceship that crashed here. If you want a sacrifice, take me!'

For a moment both the shaman and the Doctor were dumbfounded. Then another new voice was heard. 'No. Not the professor. Take me.'

This was Kendle, calling out in a firm voice. Then he too stepped forward and took up a position to one side of the professor.

'No, take me.' This was Hespell, pulling away from Ania Baker, who seemed upset to let him go.

The Doctor smiled. Maybe this was better than his plan. Now, where had Rez got to?

Behind the statue Rez was stuck. He had thought he would be able to sneak round the back of the head of the giant stone Witiku and reach the blind side of Brother Hugan. However, now he realised that the gap between the statue and the wall of the chamber was narrower than he had antic.i.p.ated.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to squeeze through the narrow gap but only succeeded in getting wedged in place. Now he had no option but to push against the wall with his legs and try to shift the statue enough for him to slip through. It was tough but he was in exactly the right position to gain the necessary leverage.151.

Slowly, but with increasing speed, the statue was beginning to rock on its base. As yet the movement was not enough to release Rez, but it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, each forward motion was bringing the statue closer to overbalancing. And from what he could hear, things were coming to a head in front of the altar. Brother Hugan looked around him in confusion. Now there was a chorus of offers. From all sides Layloran and human voices called out in turn, offering themselves as sacrifices in place of Rose. For the mentally unstable Brother Hugan, it was utterly overwhelming. He didn't know where to look or what to do.

He clutched one hand to his ear and raised the sacrificial knife high in the air in the other.

'No!' he screamed.

'Now, Rose!' shouted the Doctor at the same moment. Instantly Rose swung her legs around towards the Doctor and threw herself off of the altar. The Doctor leapt forward to grab her by the arms and pull her to safety. Brother Hugan brought down the knife and cried out in frustration, fury and pain as the blade met the stone altar with a bone-jarring impact at the exact spot where, mere moments ago, Rose had been lying. From above a sudden shadow engulfed him as the statue finally unbalanced and came crashing down. Dust and debris shot into the air as it shattered into hundreds of pieces. The Doctor, still holding on to Rose, rolled clear of the destruction. For a moment no one dared to breathe. Silence and dust competed to fill the chamber. The Doctor helped Rose to her feet and, without comment, gave her a hug. Finally he spoke to end the deathly quiet.

'Any chance of a nice cup of jinnera, then?'

Smiles and cheerful chatter broke out all around the room. And then the earthquake hit.152.

[image]

RosegrabbedholdoftheDoctor,butevenbracedagainsteachother they could not stay on their feet. Ugly black cracks zigzagged across the floor and in one corner a giant statue fell through into the chamber below. The floor that remained intact reared up at bizarre angles, turning what had been a flat rocky surface into a series of steep-sided islands. Parts of the wall and the ceiling were falling, showering the entire area with yet more dust and rubble. Somehow the Doctor and Rose managed to cross the broken floor until they reached the relative safety of the corridor. The tunnels, narrow and well constructed, were less vulnerable to the ma.s.sive earth tremors, which were continuing to shake the world.

'We have to get out,' Rose screamed at the Doctor, who had stopped to look back into the chamber.

'I don't want to leave anyone.'

Although the dust cloud made it difficult to see, it was evident to Rose that most of the people who had been standing near the entrance when the quake struck had escaped into the corridor. She could just make out the shapes of the professor and Kendle a metre or so in front of her through the dust-filled air.153.

The Doctor was leaning back into the devastated chamber and a moment later it became clear why. The dusty but smiling figure of Rez emerged from the chaos and hurried to join Rose.

'Everyone got out,' he gasped.

'Except Brother Hugan,' added the Doctor grimly. 'Come on!' And he started leading them away.

The aftershocks continued to rumble, causing more rock falls. The entire complex seemed to be shaking itself to pieces. Some loose rocks in the tunnel wall shook free and fell like lethal hailstones. One hit Rose on the side of the head and she stumbled and fell, causing Rez to run into her.

Ahead the Doctor was more concerned with the professor, who had fallen herself and was coughing badly. He helped the older woman to her feet and put an arm round her for support. Kendle came back to a.s.sist him.

'I'll get the professor out. She might be concussed,' the Doctor promised him. 'Can you go back and check on Rose and Rez?'

Kendle nodded and hurried back into the dust-filled tunnel. A few metres along he came across the two youngsters, Rez cradling Rose in his arms, and he could see blood on her forehead. Kendle bent and shone a torch on to the cut. To his relief it was just a flesh wound. Rose was already stirring.

'She'll be fine,' he told Rez.

Another aftershock hit, bringing more of the roof down. Kendle bent over the two kids, shielding them with his body. This shower of rocks seemed greater than the last and when the dust settled Kendle was not surprised to find that the tunnel was blocked, cutting them off from the escape route the Doctor and the professor had taken. Not wasting a second, he began to pull at the fallen rocks, but it looked as if this might be an impossible task.

'There's another way,' Rez told him, helping a slightly groggy Rose to her feet.

'Can you show me?' asked Kendle.

'Of course. I know these tunnels backwards,' he said confidently. 154 'You'd better,' said Kendle grimly, 'because if these shocks get any worse they won't be here much longer.'

Taking his point, Rez started back the way they had just come. Rose and Kendle followed him without further discussion. Mother Jaelette was waiting for the Doctor as he and the professor emerged into the light. She urged them to get away from the building as quickly as they could, pointing out the damage that it had already suffered. The long, low building that ran alongside the temple had already been flattened and all around them the other buildings that had been standing were now in a state of complete ruin. Here and there ma.s.sive cracks in the ground itself could be seen. Escaping through the forest was going to be almost as hard as it had been getting out of the underground tunnels.

'Have you seen Rose or Rez?' the Doctor asked urgently.

'Or Major Kendle?' added the professor.

Mother Jaelette shook her head. 'I'm sorry.'

The Doctor looked at the temple, trying to work out if he dare go back inside. The ground buckled under their feet again and, before their horrified eyes, the front half of the building collapsed in on itself. New clouds of dust billowed into the air and the watchers had to stagger away, covering their faces and trying not to breathe in the foul air.

Deep underground the situation beneath the temple was grim. Time and again the three survivors had found their escape route blocked by a fresh rock fall and even Rez was beginning to lose his bearings.

'There must be a way out,' he muttered desperately. Rose came to a halt. 'Maybe we should just find somewhere that feels safe and sit it out?' she suggested. 'I once hid in a cupboard in 10 Downing Street while the house fell apart around me,' she told them, but just received blank looks in return.

Another wave of aftershocks made them stagger again. Kendle looked as solemn as ever, even though his face was now 155 coated with a thick layer of dust. 'I don't think we can risk that,' he said firmly. 'We have to get out immediately.'

Rez had pushed on ahead and called back excitedly, 'The staircase!'

Rose and Kendle hurried to join him. They had to scramble over another rock fall to reach it, but Rose was delighted to see that it was the staircase she'd used before. This time there was no hesitation about which direction to take. They started climbing, praying that there would be no further obstacles.

Elsewhere in the rapidly collapsing maze of tunnels a figure stirred and groaned. A fissure had opened up under the altar stone, so instead of being crushed by the falling statue Brother Hugan had been saved.

'Laylora provides,' he muttered, scrambling to his feet. He pulled off the now ragged Witiku costume and let it fall to the ground. Laylora had saved him again. Truly he was the chosen one. Nearby a statue of Laylora lay partially buried in rubble. Brother Hugan fell to his knees in front of the cracked face and gave thanks. Kneeling, he brought his head down to touch the ground in front of his G.o.ddess.

He felt a burst of energy running through his body and began to shake. It was happening again. The change. He closed his eyes and gave in to the agony and the ecstasy of transformation. He screamed as he felt his limbs stretch and grow. His skin sprouted heavy fur. His bones cracked and re-formed. Once again he was becoming Laylora's champion. She still had need of her Witiku.

Two of the Layloran women were struggling to hold back the Doctor.

'Let me go,' he demanded wildly. 'I have to go back for her.' He shrugged out of his coat, leaving them holding the sleeves, and bolted forwards, but he was immediately knocked off his feet by a violent jolt.

Mother Jaelette shook her head sadly.

'Don't be a fool. Look at it. It would be a suicide to try. There's no way to get in there.'156.

'There's always a way!' said the Doctor grimly, as Jaelette helped him to his feet.

'I promised her mother that I'd look after her,' he explained in a softer tone.

'Come with me,' Jaelette said gently. 'Let's get clear and wait until the aftershocks stop. Then when it's safe we can search for them.'

Still looking over his shoulder at the now almost totally ruined temple complex, the Doctor allowed himself to be led away towards the relative safety of the forest.

So far the staircase was working out. They hadn't come across anything they couldn't scramble over and they had made good progress in getting away from the most dangerous lower levels. The only problem was that they hadn't found a way out of the stairwell. Rose was fairly certain that they should have pa.s.sed an exit leading into the main surface-level chamber by now, but they hadn't. There had been one or two places where such an exit might have been, but rock falls had completely filled the archways, making them indistinguishable from the corridors.

Rez was thinking along similar lines. 'The way out at ground level must have been blocked, but we can escape over the roof if necessary,'

he told them.

They climbed higher and started to come across narrow window slits, which allowed the light of the twin moons in. They were too narrow to squeeze through but Rose was able to look out and see that they had indeed reached the roof level. They were inside the tower that the Doctor had climbed, which was, almost unbelievably, still standing.

Unfortunately, Rose could now see that there were two routes to the observation post at the top the path that curved around the outside of the tower and the spiral stone staircase that ran up the middle. The problem was there was no way to get from one to the other except, presumably, at the very top. Which meant that with every step the three humans were getting higher and higher above the roof of the temple.157.

Rose looked out of another slit of a window and surveyed the state of the temple below. It was not looking great. A huge part of the front of the building had already collapsed and she feared the rest would go the same way at any moment. Then she heard something that was even more frightening. Something clambering up the staircase after her. Something big and angry. A moment later they all heard the familiar roar. A Witiku. They had no choice but to continue their ascent.

The Doctor looked back from the forest at the scene of destruction. The earthquake had been a major one and the aftershocks continued to come every couple of minutes. Each one was accompanied by the sound of further damage to the temple site. The cellars and underground pa.s.sages were falling in on themselves and much of the area now resembled a quarry.

He was using tiny electronic night-vision binoculars to scan the area of the main temple for any sign of Rose. There was little to show now that the temple itself had until recently been in a better condition than the other buildings surrounding it. Now there was a gaping hole to the front of the complex that extended for about fifty metres. By the Doctor's reckoning, most of the subterranean areas must have been destroyed and it was only a matter of time before what was left on the surface went the same way. Where was Rose?

He moved his view upwards, noting that the central observation tower was still intact. It had taken on a slight tilt, reminiscent of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but that was the current extent of the damage. He thought he saw a movement and switched the device to maximum magnification. This was enough for the whole of one of the window slits to fill his screen and now he could make out figures. Rose, thank goodness, followed by Rez and then the st.u.r.dy figure of Kendle. All three were safe at least for the moment. But then he realised that there was a fourth shape moving, lower down the tower. He refocused his viewer and gasped in surprise. A Witiku! Had they missed one? Whatever the explanation, the creature was hot on the heels of Rose and her friends. The Doctor had to do something and, whatever it 158 was, he had to do it fast.

Nearby the professor and her two remaining crew members were recovering from their ordeal. The Doctor hurried over to them, pulling out a handful of trisilicate crystals from his pockets.

'Do you think this is enough trisilicate to get your ship in the air?'

he asked.

Rose couldn't believe that she was still running and up steps now. It was clear to all of them that they remained in terrible danger. Kendle had fired a few warning shots from his laser blaster back down the staircase, but the curvature of the stairs made it impossible to get a clear shot. It bought Rose and Rez some time to put some distance between them and the Witiku, however, so Kendle kept dropping back and firing, before turning and sprinting up the steps behind them. They'd been through this routine twice now and it was taking its toll on all of them.

'I'm getting too old for this,' Kendle gasped, as he caught up with the two youngsters again.

'How old are you?' asked Rose, her curiosity getting the better of her sense of politeness.

'Sixty-eight a week next Tuesday,' he told her. 'And not ready to cash in my chips yet.'

'Sixty-eight?' she repeated. 'That's nothing. The Doctor's 900 and something,' she told him, 'and look at him he's still going strong.'

She grinned at the bemused looks on their faces. But, having allowed themselves a moment's pause, they began climbing again. A few seconds later the staircase opened out into a wider s.p.a.ce, covered with a pyramid-shaped roof it was the observation deck. Across the way, Rose could see the exit that led to the external staircase.

She hurried over to take a look. It seemed a long way down. Kendle was checking out the possibilities of the room for defence.

'We should try and hold this position,' he announced.

'What?' Rose didn't understand. 'Shouldn't we start going down now?'159.

Kendle shook his head. 'We'd be too vulnerable. It's totally exposed. Another aftershock and we could go flying. And our hairy friend below could just leap down on top of us. We'd be best holding here and trying to neutralise the enemy combatant.'

'What do you mean "neutralise"?' demanded Rez, unfamiliar with the term.

Rose understood. It was military speak. 'You mean kill him, don't you?'

Kendle nodded and checked his weapon. 'And then what?' asked Rez.

Kendle shrugged. 'If I'm successful we can descend in relative safety. If I'm not, it'll be academic.'

Kendle moved to take up position at the head of the stairwell. The roar of the lone Witiku was close now. A moment later the hairy beast swung into sight. Kendle fired his weapon, shooting a ma.s.sive hole in the wall and forcing it back. The creature roared furiously and then went quiet. Rez and Rose looked at each other. What next? Rose sat down heavily and put her head in her hands. Wherever he was, she really needed the Doctor now.

The Doctor was concentrating hard, taking in the complex bank of controls in front of him. He was sitting in the pilot's chair on board the bridge of the Humphrey Bogart. Alongside him, Ania Baker and Jonn Hespell had worried expressions on their young faces. It had taken them three years at the academy to get the most basic piloting qualification and now the Doctor was proposing to fly the ship, as an aircraft, with barely a read-through of the manual.