Peri joined him. 'Another ship?' she asked him nervously.
'Hmm', affirmed the Doctor. His hands began to flick deftly over the controls
'Are you taking off?' Peri asked. 'I mean, you've gotta help those poor people, not to mention those werewolves.'
'No, I'm not leaving, Peri. I have got a heart, you know - two of them. If the tractor field's activated it should drag us to the location of the ship. We should get to it before the wolves do.'
'And then?'
'And then it'll be dawn, as we've obviously on a different time scale to what is the norm on Mother Earth, The villagers will have changed, I'll get the final answers I need then set about finding a cure!' He beamed a smile that Peri knew exactly what the Doctor was doing. No mistake.
~~~
Well's bustled in to Egost's office, trembling from head to foot. 'Sir, sir, the cruiser hasn't been junked into orbit like the others and no Justices have reported in. Life form readings detect...' He studied the long strip of paper in his hands, '...only thirty two people left alive on Vrus and one of those has...has two hearts! No one we know has that kind of cardio vascular system. You know what this means?' He waved the paper in Egost's face.
'Yes. I do. It means our operation on Vrus is over. It seems that Parlcon has sent alien spies in to investigate and those colonist scum have informed them of our intentions and the Justices have been killed leaving the villagers alive.' He began to cry, tears of grief for his own standing. 'Supremident for all these years...and to end up with this...the curse around my neck. Stabbed in the back by my own administration and leaving only my enemies alive...'
'But, Sir. No one knows it was you who sent out those cruisers.'
'Ah, but Wells, the meat is going to run out now. They'll want to know why, then they'll discover the truth...I don't have any cattle farms! I'm a damned industrialist!' He put head in his hands and suddenly became more cheerful. 'Still, it can't get any worse, can it?' There was a sudden rap at the door and a discreet cough as it was pushed open.
Egost's oldest friend entered the room, his loyal batsman, Leonard. He carried on his arm, supported by his other hand a huge silver salver.
The odour of roasted meat wafted across in Egost's direction.
Egost looked appreciatively at the dish that was laid before him. He allowed the aroma to tease his taste buds; he could feel him mouth beginning to water as rich gravy was poured over the crispy, well done steak. 'Ah, Leonard, what delicacies for me today, eh?'
Leonard made a courteous bow with his head. 'For your pleasure, sir. The finest cut from the new batch in this very morning, sir. A la pre-cooked.'
'Pre-cooked?' quizzed Egost, suspiciously.
'Well, it came out of the transporter in its own crate. I've had your taster sample it already this morning. No ill effects, yet.'
Egost laughed confidently. 'And there won't be. No poison is that slow. Now, both of you leave me while I eat. Oh, and Wells. Open up the blinds on the way out would you - always did like the view.' He guffawed, his troubles momentarily forgotten.
With a great reverence he began to tuck in to the meal before him. He looked up after the first few mouthfuls and drank in the night sky before him; the clear blue liquid night, and rich full bodied moon. Why then, when he felt so happy, did he feel so strange? Queasy? Why did he suddenly push his steak away. He knew what he wanted...living, warm flesh!'
The creeping form of Wells burst into the office, gasping for breath. 'Supremident! It's the taster, sir. He's, he's...' He broke off and with mounting horror backed away from the snarling, salivating, angry looking wolf that relentlessly paced the Supremident's desk.
~~~
The Doctor and Peri stood in a ring of uncurling, dead bodies each lying in their own grotesque shapes that signified they were dead. 'We were too late. They've all been shot through the heart.'
'Who could have done it?' asked Peri, sickened by so much slaughter.
The Doctor was crouching near one of the thirty corpses, he reached up and held up a tiny box with the words "For Emergency Use Only. Contents: thirty one silver bullets." written on the top of the lid. 'The oldest remedy in the book for the werewolf curse. Had to be one of the Justices, came back to shut off the tractor when he saw all the trouble and made sure he was properly armed.'
Al the Doctor's theories were proved correct as he felt the barrel of a weapon in his back. 'Not again! I'm fed up with people poking guns in my back all day, you have no idea how irritating it is!' he snapped.
'Listen, stranger. You've got to take me to Homeworld. I can't stay here anymore, not with out food or nothing.'
The Doctor sighed impatiently, 'Oh very well, but you don't need to force me. I want to get to the root of all this. Tell me, this Supremident, is he on this Homeworld of yours?'
'Aye, that's right. He set us up, knew he could exploit these poor devils once he'd wiped out them ferocious Linxons. Humans are easier to control than animals, you see?' The Justice had realised the error of his ways, now his time was up.
'Yes, yes I see. The villagers were trapped here, making a life for themselves because the Supremident, whoever he is, wanted to make a profit, solve the population problem as well as the food problem and cover up the incident with the Linxons straight away. No one with Linxon's disease knows anyone else is suffering so they cover it up. A conspiracy of silence for both parties...' The Doctor's tone became very vehement. 'And look what it's resulted in - subjugation and mass slaughter of the innocents! Yes, by Rassilon, I'll take you to your Homeworld! That Supremident's got something to answer to!'
'Aye, stranger, you're right.' He moved to join the Doctor and shake him by the hand, in comradeship but the Doctor chopped him down with a single karate chop to the neck.
The Time Lord winced and rubbed his hand. 'I'm getting too old now, even for Venusian Karate - still, haven't had much use for it recently. Come along, Peri, we'll fix the TARDIS and pay a visit to the Supremident.'
'Do you think that's wise?' she asked pensively, never sure of himself or the Doctor.
'Of course it's...'
~~~
'...wise!' he said.
Peri bumped into the Doctor as she stepped from the TARDIS into the dim interior of the Supremident's office. The Doctor had been stopped in his tracks by the sight that greeted him. There on the table in front of the TARDIS stood a snarling wolf, while near the door to the office cowered a tall thin figure. Obviously the TARDIS' arrival had distracted the wolf long enough for the human to collapse from sheer shock. The wolf waited, growling, as the new intruders edged away to crouch near the startled Wells.
'It's the Supremident, he's turned into a werewolf, like the official taster, gorging itself on the kitchen staff down there...' he feebly gestured to the floor.
'What happened?' asked Peri, as anxious to know how they left a whole pack of werewolves on one world and found another here. The Doctor had the answer for her:
'They took Leon's corpse to the Courthouse, remember, Peri? They packed him up and served him and the infection's been passed on - poetic justice. Leon's revenge on his oppressors. Come on, Peri. Let's get out of here before el Supremo gets hungry.'
Peri felt like retching; Leon's revenge indeed!
Wells started to rise, shakily to his feet. The wolf on the table gave out a deep throaty growl.
The Doctor and Peri each holding each other moved as one to the open TARDIS door. 'I shouldn't if I were you,' warned the Doctor as Wells tried to follow them again. 'It's smelt it's prey and it wants you!'
'You're...you're not leaving me?' chocked Wells, gulping.
Peri's anger finally erupted. 'Why not? Your kind are despicable; you just disgust me. You caused the death of innocent people on that other world, even your own kind...you're..you're...' She broke off sobbing unable to bring herself to say anymore. Her companion finished her tirade for her.
'...you're the lowest kind of life form, humanilty itself. It's not the Linxon's curse but the curse of humanity.'
The door closed to the old battered blue police box and the wolf knew it was safe now. It launched itself with the greatest of ease, flying the distance to Wells in a few seconds, biting deep into the jugular, stifling the cry from the human before it.
Homeworld was cursed!
THE END
written by
DARREN FIELD
copyright 2009
artwork by
JOE McINTYRE
copyright 2010