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the folds of the long scarf away from the Doctors throat. Before Zarn could prevent her she plunged her fangs
deep into his neck.
The doctor's body writhed and plunged as he felt the bite of the fangs, but the vampires held him fast.
The vampire raised blood-bedabbled lips. 'Drink! The blood of a Time Lord is sweet!'
Another vampire thrust her aside and took her place. Still others pushed back the Doctor's sleeves, plunged
their fangs into the veins at his wrists.
'Stop, you fools!' screamed Zarn. 'Stop or you'll kill him. We need him alive!'
His ravening followers paid him no attention, continuing with their dreadful feast. The Doctor struggled
furiously, but to less and less effect.
Already he could feel the strength, and the life beginning to drain from his body . . .
***
Romana ran along the dark forest paths, desperately making time and distance calculations in her head. So
long to reach the dome, so long to convince Kalmar of the urgency of the situation, to assemble an armed
force and return to the house of Zarn . . .and always the same result - too long to be sure of saving the
Doctor's life.
She could try and bring the rescuers back in the TARDIS - but despite recent success on Alzarius, the
TARDIS was normally even more unreliable than usual when it came to very short trips. The Doctor might
have been able to manage it, but she wasn't at all sure she could. The slightest error and the could all end
up a hundred miles away.
The only hope was that the vampires would keep the Doctor alive for the lengthy initiation ceremony that Zarn
had described and that she could rescue the Doctor before the vampire mutation was complete.
A vampire Time Lord was simply unthinkable. Romana shuddered at the thought of driving a steak through
the Doctor's hearts.
She ran as fast as she dared, dodging overhanging branches that lashed at her face, struggling to keep her
footing on the uneven path. At this point, a sprained ankle meant death for the Doctor, and for Romana
herself if the vampires found her.
She was sure that she was being pursued.
She broke into one of the larger clearing and found that death was already waiting there, in the shape of a
huddled figure at the base of a tree on the other side. She crossed the clearing and knelt beside the body
Wide astonished eyes stared up at her from a dead-white face. It was Xan, the boy that had found her the
medikit - which she's left at the house of Zarn, she remembered. The boy must have acted as the Doctor's
guide; he must've been sent back for help.
There was a gaping wound in his throat and his body had clearly been drained of blood. A sword he'd never
had a chance to use lay close to his hand.
She remembered Zarn's chilling words:
'The boy may never reach his destination. The forest paths are dangerous at night.'
She pulled the grey cloak over Xan's white face, then froze in disbelief as a familiar sound came from behind
her.
A wheezing, groaning sound.
She rose and whirled round, and was just in time to see a blue police box materialise in the centre of the
clearing.
What could it mean? Another Time Lord in another TARDIS? But why the police box shape? Only one
TARDIS was frozen into that ridiculous anachronistic form and it was standing in the rebel HQ. Or was it?
Suddenly Romana realised: Adric, of course, itwasAdric and K9 between them. They'd discovered what
happened and come to the rescue.
But when the TARDIS door opened, it wasn't Adric who stepped out into the moonlit clearing, but a tall,
good-looking young man with blue eyes and longish brown hair. He wore a brown frock coat, a wing-collared
white shirt and a grey velvet cravat, an ornately embroidered waistcoat, and tailored grey trousers. He looked
handsome, dashing and elegant - and strangely familiar.
He gave Romana a charming smile and a little bow. 'Good evening!'
'Who are -'Romana broke off with a gasp as their minds touched briefly. She didn't have to ask the question
because she knew. 'But that's impossible...'
'It is, isn't it?' agreed the Doctor. He looked at the huddled body. 'But I don't think there's time to discuss it.
What's going on here?'
Once again their minds met in brief telepathic contact and, this time,
Romana concentrated hard on their recent adventure. When it was over, the Doctor knew everything that
Romana knew.
He shook his head. 'Vampires! Who'd have believed it? Well, we'd better get busy and rescue me.'
'I was on my way to get help -'
'No time,' said the Doctor decisively.
'You'd already worked that out, hadn't you? We must act by ourselves.'
'Alone?' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]