English stories 11 catastrophea (v1 0) terrance dicks

CATASTROPHEA TERRANCE DICKS Published by BBC Books an imprint of BBC Worldwide Publishing BBC Worldwide Ltd, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane London W12 0TT First published 1998 Copyright © Terrance Dicks 1998 The moral right of the author has been asserted Original series broadcast on the BBC Format © BBC 1963 Doctor Who and TARDIS are trademarks of the BBC ISBN 563 40584 Imaging by Black Sheep, copyright © BBC 1998 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham Cover printed by Belmont Press Ltd, Northampton Contents CHAPTER ONE - IN TRANSIT CHAPTER TWO - ARRIVAL CHAPTER THREE - IN TROUBLE CHAPTER FOUR - ON TRIAL CHAPTER FIVE - IN POLITICS CHAPTER SIX - HISTORY OF BLOOD CHAPTER SEVEN - BERSERKER CHAPTER EIGHT - RAGE CHAPTER NINE - RAIDERS CHAPTER TEN - UNWANTED RESCUE CHAPTER ELEVEN - HUNTED CHAPTER TWELVE - THE TRAP CHAPTER THIRTEEN - BAIT CHAPTER FOURTEEN - FIRST CONTACT CHAPTER FIFTEEN - THE PLAN CHAPTER SIXTEEN - INQUIRIES CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - AMBUSH CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - THE BEST-LAID PLANS CHAPTER NINETEEN - HOSTAGE CHAPTER TWENTY - PANIC CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - OUTBREAK CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - BETRAYAL CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - TASK FORCE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - THE JOURNEY CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - ATTACK CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - DOVE’S TIME CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - THE BLACK TEMPLE CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - THE CHANGE CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE - SKIRMISH CHAPTER THIRTY - THE FRENZY CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - CRISIS CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO - KRYLL CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - BESIEGED CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - FLASHPOINT CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE - THE LAST BATTLE CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - SOLUTION EPILOGUE CHAPTER ONE IN TRANSIT ‘What’s the point?’ said Jo Grant explosively The Doctor looked up from the TARDIS console ‘I’m sorry?’ ‘The point of Daleks Invading planets, oppressing other races ’ The Doctor’s greatest enemies were much on Jo Grant’s mind at the moment She and the Doctor had just survived a terrifying encounter with them on the jungle planet Spiridon ‘Mind you,’ Jo went on, ‘the Daleks are welcome to Spiridon as far as I’m concerned I just wish they’d stay there.’ ‘Quite a few of them will.’ There was grim satisfaction in the Doctor’s voice With the help of a Thal expedition, some of whom had sacrificed their lives in the struggle, the Doctor and Jo had defeated yet another Dalek plan to conquer the galaxy – leaving behind them a Dalek army, buried inside one of Spiridon’s unique icecanoes The Doctor looked thoughtfully down at Jo They made an incongruous pair A very tall white-haired man, his face lined with age and experience yet alive with youth and enthusiasm And a very small, very pretty fair-haired girl A wandering Time Lord and a trainee secret agent Jo was growing up, the Doctor decided The passage of time, the dangerous adventures they had shared, had matured her Although she still resembled the eager child who’d insisted on becoming his assistant, she was brighter and tougher than she looked She would leave him before very long, thought the Doctor resignedly One way or another, his human companions always did Already there had been the young Thal back on Spiridon who’d wanted to take her back with him One day there would be someone else, someone from her own world and time perhaps The Doctor always regretted losing his human companions, but he was going to miss Jo more than most Still, it was better than watching her grow old and die Sometimes humans, with their single, all-too-brief lifetime, reminded the Doctor of speeded-up flower photography In a matter of minutes they sprang up, flourished, withered and perished ‘Hey!’ said Jo, and the Doctor realised he had been staring silently at her for some time ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked ‘Why have you gone all broody on me?’ Not wanting to reveal his rather gloomy reflections, the Doctor said, ‘I was thinking about your question, about the Daleks.’ ‘Don’t worry about it, Doctor, I was just being silly.’ ‘Far from it As a matter of fact, you’ve touched on one of the most important philosophical questions of all.’ ‘I have?’ ‘The problem of evil, and why it exists in the Universe Why it’s permitted to exist.’ ‘And what’s the answer?’ Jo looked expectantly at the Doctor, convinced that no question could possibly be too difficult for him ‘It isn’t that simple, Jo One answer, and I don’t pretend that it’s entirely satisfactory, is that without evil there could be no good You need one to balance the other ’ Jo considered this proposition for a moment ‘You’re right, it’s not satisfactory,’ she said ‘For one thing, there seems to be much more evil about than good.’ ‘That often seems to be the case,’ admitted the Doctor ‘But remember, we’re seeing only a limited part of the picture Over the entire Universe the balance might be quite different.’ Jo was still far from convinced ‘Well, there must be an awful lot of good floating about somewhere to make up for the Daleks! And why we never seem to run into it? All this sweetness and light, I mean All we ever manage to find is trouble.’ The Doctor smiled ‘There are peaceful spots in the Universe, believe it or not There’s a place called the Eye of Orion I must take you to one day And of course there’s Metebelis Three, famous blue planet of the Acteon galaxy.’ Jo snorted ‘Huh! If we ever get there The scatterbrained way you seem to steer this contraption ’ The Doctor looked hurt ‘Really, Jo, these aspersions you keep casting on my navigational abilities are quite unwarranted The TARDIS may be a little temperamental, but as a rule I know exactly where –’ The Doctor’s face suddenly twisted in agony He put a hand to his forehead, clutching at the TARDIS console with his other hand Jo jumped to her feet ‘What is it, Doctor?’ ‘Pain,’ he whispered ‘Unimaginable pain.’ ‘What’s the matter? Are you ill?’ The Doctor drew a deep shuddering breath ‘Not my pain, Jo, the pain of an entire world.’ His hands began moving over the controls ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Taking us out of the space/time continuum.’ ‘But why?’ ‘I’ve got to investigate.’ ‘Why?’ asked Jo again ‘We’re supposed to be going home.’ ‘You don’t understand, Jo, I felt a sudden, immensely powerful telepathic impulse, a burst of pure pain It was as if – as if an entire planet was calling out for my help.’ He touched a control and a planet appeared on the monitor screen ‘And there it is!’ Adjusting another control, the Doctor brought the image into focus He studied instrument readings in silence for some time, then announced, ‘Quite a small planet, breathable atmosphere very close to a big sun Seems to be mostly tropical.’ The picture on the monitor zoomed closer to the planetary surface and Jo saw a tangle of lush green vegetation She shuddered, thinking of Spiridon and its poison-spitting plants ‘Do we have to go there? I’ve had quite enough jungles for a while.’ ‘It probably won’t be as hostile as Spiridon And besides, it isn’t all jungle Look!’ The picture changed and an aerial view of a city appeared on the screen A city of tightly packed, rambling wooden buildings huddled around a small hill, with a wide, sluggish river flowing past The city was surrounded with a massive stockade, as if to hold back the dense jungle which pressed in around three of its sides ‘They’ve even got a spaceport,’ said the Doctor, pointing to a flat plain just outside the city’s main gate, where a handful of ships stood close to some long wooden huts ‘Big deal!’ ‘It might be quite an interesting place,’ continued the Doctor ‘There’ll be fascinating native markets, colourful local temples ’ ‘Colourful local assassins as well, I shouldn’t wonder,’ said Jo ‘Not to mention muggers, thieves and cutthroats And a wide variety of man-eating nasties and ghastly tropical diseases if past experience is anything to go by.’ ‘Don’t be so parochial, Jo,’ said the Doctor reprovingly ‘Every planet has its dangers But it also has its own particular attractions, its own culture We’ll just take a quick look around and see what the trouble is If there’s nothing I can do, if it’s none of my business, we’ll simply leave and go home.’ ‘When did you ever find any trouble that wasn’t your business?’ grumbled Jo But the Doctor wasn’t listening As his hands moved over the controls, the rise and fall of the time rotor began slowing On the jungle planet Kastopheria, generally called, for excellent reasons, Catastrophea, there were troubles wall to wall The two men responsible for dealing with most of them were having their daily conference General Walton, commanding officer of the United Planetary Association’s peace-keeping force, fired his usual opening shot: ‘I tell you, Administrator, the situation isn’t tenable.’ ‘It never was,’ said Administrator Charteris wearily Walton snorted, wheeled round, marched over to the veranda and stood gazing out over the city He was a small, spare man, bouncing with energy, lean and fit despite his fifty-odd years There was a kind of terrier-like eagerness about him, a constant desire to get on with the job in hand It was a desire frequently frustrated by conditions on Catastrophea and this perhaps accounted for his permanent state of irritation Administrator Charteris, by contrast, was tall and plump, ... CATASTROPHEA TERRANCE DICKS Published by BBC Books an imprint of BBC Worldwide Publishing BBC Worldwide Ltd, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane London W12 0TT First published 1998 Copyright © Terrance Dicks. .. gardener told me He said to be careful, Cat City’s a dangerous place.’ ‘Cat City?’ ‘Short for Catastrophea City Catastrophea seems to be the name of the planet and this is its main city.’ Jo stared at... constant desire to get on with the job in hand It was a desire frequently frustrated by conditions on Catastrophea and this perhaps accounted for his permanent state of irritation Administrator Charteris,