'You will be
punished for this offence!' snapped the Second Elder, struggling to
free himself from the grasp of the two servants.
The Administrator
sneered. 'I advise you to co-operate and answer all my questions.
Your Family Group is also my prisoner.'
'What have you done
with them?' the Second Elder asked fearfully.
'Nothing - so far.'
The implication was obvious, as was the Administrator's pleasure in
holding at his mercy the one Sensorite who had continually interfered
with his plans. 'Has the Doctor completed his experiments?' he asked.
The Second Elder
nodded.
'And the antidote
is to be given first to the man Ian Chesterton, and then to those of
our people who are also ill?'
The Elder confirmed
this.
'I do not believe
there is an antidote,' said the Administrator. 'The Earth-creature is
merely feigning illness. The Doctor pretends to
cure him, and then he will kill us all with the poison he has made in
our laboratory.'
'No!' protested his
prisoner. 'That is not true. I too had my doubts but our scientists
have worked with him and they say-'
'Silence!' The
Administrator cut him short. 'You are a traitor to our people. You
are not worthy to wear your sash of office.'
As the two servants
held the Second Elder, the Administrator took off the single black
sash his prisoner wore across his chest. The Second Elder watched
aghast, stunned at the Administrator's audacity: the Administrator
was taking off his own collar of office and putting on the sash of
the office of Second Elder of the Sensorite Nation.
'This so-called
antidote must be stopped before it poisons us all,' declared the
Administrator. 'The people will obey their Elders.'
'But the First
Elder himself has approved the antidote,' protested the Second Elder,
'And yet it will be
stopped,' came the reply. 'The Second Elder will stop it!'
'I will not!'
The Administrator's
mouth twisted into a sadistic smirk as he delivered his coup de
grace.
'I wear your sash
of office now. Who is to know that I am not the Second Elder?'
Into the Darkness
Carol looked
admiringly at the Doctor: she had a lot to thank him for. Not only
had he rescued her from the Sensorites' mental assaults, teaching her
to face her fear rather than hide from it, but he had also arranged
for John's treatment; and now that he had found a cure for the
Sensorites' disease it seemed that he had even won them back their
freedom. He was quite simply the most extraordinary man she had ever
met.
She wondered just
how old he really was. He could deliver abuse and criticism like any
crotchety old man; and the next moment he would approach a new and
apparently insuperable problem with all the unbridled enthusiasm of a
little boy. Beneath his thick white mane of hair his face was lined
and ancient. But in his firm blue eyes there sparked the mischievous
twinkle of youth, like two bright faraway stars in the night sky at
home.
But there was
something else in his eyes too, something which he shared with his
granddaughter, Susan. Carol found it hard to define but it was a deep
strangeness, an other-worldliness, something which set them apart
from everyone else. Just who were the Doctor and Susan? Where had
they come from? And, for that matter, where were they going?
Carol smiled at
him. 'You're tired out, Doctor,' she said.
'It's a happy
tiredness, my dear,' he sighed and eased himself out of his seat to
cross over to where John was still strapped to the Sensorites' mind
restorer, slipping in and out of consciousness. There were now but a
few streaks of white in the astronaut's otherwise dark hair.
'He's improving,'
said Carol in response to the Doctor's unspoken question. 'But
sometimes he goes back to that old state of confusion.'
'Well, you must
expect that. It will take some time but he will be cured. The mind is
a very delicate thing, you know.'
At that moment the
Senior Scientist entered the room, holding a jar containing a
solution of the antidote. The Doctor uncorked the bottle and took a
cursory sniff at the contents.
'Excellent, my
friend,' he said to the Senior Scientist. 'Make this up in large
quantities and see that all your people who are ill get it. And take
this to my granddaughter, Susan.'
'I shall send a
messenger immediately,' said the Sensorite and left the room with the
bottle.
The Doctor turned
back to Carol. 'Now we shall soon be off this planet, my dear, once
the Sensorites see the efficacy of my cure.' He rubbed his hands with
glee. 'You know, I was rather baffled by this atropine poisoning at
first because it only seemed to appear in one part of the City, in
one reservoir at a time. It's all very curious . . .'
'But you've
discovered an antidote now,' said Carol. 'What's the use of worrying
over it?'
'Ah yes, that's a
cure - but why cure something when we can stamp it out altogether,
hmm?'
Carol was about to
question the Doctor further when John distracted her. He was
semiconscious and muttering to himself.
She bent down to
listen to him: 'Enemy . . . plotting . . .'
'He's more coherent
now,' Carol explained, 'but it's as if he were living in a dream
where he's surrounded by enemies.'
John was now fully
conscious and had caught Carol's words. 'Yes! Enemies, making plots .
. .'
The Doctor regarded
John thoughtfully, tapping his fingertips together. 'He might be more
lucid that you think,' he observed. 'I must leave you now, but I want
you to take a careful note of what he says.'
'Where are you
going to, Doctor?' asked Carol, surprised at the old man's renewed
burst of energy.
'I'm going after
the Senior Scientist and then we're setting off on a little
expedition. It isn't dangerous of course,' he said hastily in
response to Carol's look of concern. 'But when I've solved my problem
I'm sure we'll all be out of trouble.'
And without
explaining exactly what he meant the Doctor left the room.
On one of the
walkways which led from the Palace of the Elders the City
Administrator walked confidently with his collaborator, the Sensorite
Engineer. Upon his chest the Administrator wore the sash of the
Second Elder.
From time to time
Sensorites would pass by them and bow in deference to the
Administrator's assumed rank. He smiled and remarked to his
assistant, 'My plan is a success. All recognise me as the Second
Elder.'
'But what if your
disguise is seen through?' asked the nervous Engineer.
'The First and
Second Elders are well known only to those in high office,' he
explained. 'The lower castes rarely see them except at a distance,
and it is to the common folk that I shall expose the true nature of
the Earth-creatures' perfidious schemes.'
As a Sensorite
scientist rushed past them on his way to the Palace the Administrator
commanded him to halt. He was eager to try out his newly acquired
status.
'Sensorite, why do
you not acknowledge the Second Elder?' he asked.
The scientist bowed
respectfully to his superior. 'Forgive me, sir, but I have an urgent
appointment with the First Elder in the Palace.' He indicated the
glass jar he was carrying. 'The Doctor has found a cure for the
poisoning in our water supply. Here is the antidote.'
'You take it to the
Earth-creature that is ill?'
'The scientist
nodded and the Administrator held out his hand. 'Give the antidote to
me. I will deliver it. Return to your duties.'
The scientist
complied without question. He had no wish to cross a superior. After
he had left, the Administrator turned triumphantly to his accomplice.
'They are trying to
poison us all!' he declared. 'They say that without the antidote the
young man will die; I say he will live because he merely pretends to
be ill. This will prove it one way or another!'
He flung the glass
jar to the ground, smashing it into a hundred shimmering pieces.
Within minutes the precious antidote had soaked into the ground and
was gone.
The Senior
Scientist had treated the Doctor's request to see the City's aqueduct
with surprise. After some initial protests he had however bowed to
the Doctor's new status as an honoured guest of the Sensorite Nation
and had led him down to a vast underground cave system near the foot
of the Yellow Mountains, some miles out from the City.
Hewn out of the
solid rock was an enormous chamber, through which passed massive
leaden pipes, carrying water to the ten Districts of the Sensorite
City. The contrast between the airy brightness of the Palace of the
Elders and the enclosed darkness of the aqueduct was pronounced, a
fact the Doctor remarked upon.
'There is some
natural phosphorescence in the caves,' explained the Senior
Scientist. 'But all our attempts to light the cave and tunnel system
artificially have met with failure.'
'That must make it
rather difficult for you,' observed the Doctor. 'You Sensorites
dislike darkness, don't you?'
'We have no reason
to go down the aqueduct anyway,' the Sensorite said defensively.
'Perhaps it's
because you've neglected it so long that the waters have become
poisoned?' the Doctor supposed, with a hint of disapprobation in his
voice.
The Senior
Scientist ignored the Doctor's conjecture. 'Shall we return now?' he
asked. 'I find the darkness ... uncomfortable.'
'Return? My dear
fellow, I haven't come here just to look-I'm going in there!'
The Scientist was
shocked. 'You must not!' he protested. 'You won't be able to see!'
'But I have a
torch,' exclaimed the Doctor as he produceda long silver object from
the equipment case he was carrying.
'There are monsters
. . .' continued the Scientist. 'We have heard them . . .'
'And not seen
them?'
'No. But they are
there,' he insisted. 'The noise is terrible.'
The Doctor smiled
kindly at his companion. 'I think you should return to the
laboratory,' he suggested. 'I shall be perfectly safe.'
The Senior
Scientist stared at the old man as if he were mad, and then turned
gratefully to go, leaving the chamber as fast as his dignity would
allow him.
As the Doctor
watched him go a theory was already forming in his mind. 'How very
convenient,' he reflected to himself. 'Noise and darkness - the two
things the Sensorites dislike the most. There's more to this than
meets the eye . . .'
He turned to follow
the course of the pipelines into the darkness beyond. There in the
inky blackness was the source of all the Sensorites' troubles; and no
matter what danger lay ahead he was confident that he would soon sort
it all out.
The Doctor was
enjoying himself immensely.
Back in the Palace
Susan was looking down at Ian's smiling face. They had waited over an
hour for the Sensorite scientist to bring the antidote, and when he
had not arrived the First Elder had sent one of his own servants to
fetch another sample from the laboratory. Now some time later Ian was
feeling much better although he was still weak and his face was
deathly pale.
'I cannot
understand why we never received the antidote,' said the First Elder,
disturbed.
'We got some in the
end though - that's all that really matters,' said Susan, and turned
back to Ian. 'Now, there'll be no running about for you for a while,'
she teased.
'Yes, Matron,' said
Ian, joining in the joke. 'I'm quite happy to stay here.'
The Senior
Scientist was announced and when he entered the room the First Elder
addressed him sternly. 'I asked for regular reports on the production
of the antidote,' he reminded him. 'Why have my orders not been
complied with?'
'Forgive me, sir.
The Doctor asked me to escort him down to the aqueduct. He said that
was where the root of all our trouble lay.'
The First Elder was
horrified. 'Did you not warn him?' he asked.
Susan left Ian's
bedside and joined the others. 'Warn him of what?' she asked.
'There are monsters
in the aqueduct. . .'
'And you let him go
down there alone!' Ian was outraged.
'I couldn't stop
him,' claimed the Senior Scientist weakly.
'Haven't you got
someone you can send down and help him?' Ian asked.
The First Elder
came to the defence of his fellow Sensorite. 'The caverns are dark.
We are helpless there. Other expeditions have tried to penetrate the
blackness and all have failed. Those that return speak of the most
terrible things. . .'
'Then I'll have to
go myself,' determined Ian, swinging his legs down off the bed and
beckoning Susan to help him to his feet.
'You're too ill,
Ian,' she protested in vain.
'I'm not that ill,'
was the angry retort. 'Anyway we can't stay here.'
Susan gave way to
his determination and helped him to stand. As she did so the First
Elder pleaded with them: 'If you are resolved to go down to the
aqueduct I shall not stop you; the Senior Scientist will arrange
transportation and show you the way . . . But I beg you, please
change your mind; you cannot save your friend.'
Ian looked
incredulously at the First Elder. 'We'll never know till we try, will
we!' he shouted, deliberately raising his voice. 'You people amaze
me: the Doctor's just saved your people and now you're perfectly
happy to let him die! Well, I'm not!' Disgusted, he turned to the
Senior Scientist. 'Now, lead the way!'
Susan and the
Scientist helped Ian out of the room, leaving the First Elder alone,
Ian's voice still pounding painfully in his ears.
The schoolteacher's
words had struck home and for the first time the Sensorite leader
recognised the true worth of the Earth-creatures. Determining to tell
his Second Elder how they had misjudged the humans, he raised his
mind transmitter to his forehead . . .