Doctor Who Ultimate Treasure Christopher Bulis

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The nine candles in the centre of the room stood tall and whole once more, looking as though they had never been lit.The other Seers crowded anxiously round Shalvis, who had slumped back on one elbow, and helped ease her upright.'You should not exert yourself so,' said the fifth.'Remember the danger.' said the second.Shalvis smiled wearily, and gently pushed aside their supporting hands.'I am unharmed,' she assured them.'The last sight was deeper than I would have wished.''What did you learn?' asked the eighth practically.'I glimpsed the true nature of the second who is apart,' said Shalvis with a slight shudder, looking up at their anxious faces.'Our powers alone will not defeat such evil - and we can do nothing to prevent its coming!'CHAPTER 2THE PRICE OF KNOWLEDGEThe public phone in corridor 25 of Astroville's Delta tower was little used, which was why Hok had given its number to his buyer.He had good reasons for not revealing his personal phone code.So he had lurked within earshot of the booth, cursing silently whenever somebody passed by.But at almost exactly the agreed second the phone rang.Hok reached it before the second tone had died away, punching the 'Sound Only Selected' key even as he accepted the call.'Buyer?' he asked simply to the blank screen.'Yes.Seller?' came the reply, in a voice Hok tentatively classed as humanoid.'Speaking.You will meet me in exactly one standard hour at Chocky's Inn, central concourse, level 3, corridor 14.You will each be wearing green trillis blossoms on your persons.Bring the full payment in the manner agreed.Do not be late.That is all.'Hok broke the connection and shuffled away from the booth as fast as his stubby, aged locomotor limbs would allow.As he went he rubbed a pair of his manipulator tentacles together in a gesture of anticipation he had learnt from some of his human acquaintances.The item had cost him a great deal to acquire, as had the computing time needed for its deciphering, but its sale would ensure he spent his declining years in luxury.This transaction alone would cover his expenses and leave a modest profit, but owing to the nature of the commodity in question there was no need to stop there.His merchandise was genuine and the provenances he had provided to all his potential customers were honest.But he had promised none of them that they would be his only customers.* * *'How about this one, Doctor?' Peri asked, sweeping out of the changing cubicle and striking a pose.The Doctor looked up from his chaise longue in the fashion house's main salon and benignly appraised the floor-length ballgown-like creation in diagonal stripes of crimson and cobalt blue.'Ah, yes.Most fetching.Of course, on Gamma Ceffilos 12, that style and combination of colours means you are a recently widowed mother still in mourning, but would be accepting new suitors after the next lunar conjunction.'Peri returned to the cubical to try on another costume.'Perhaps modom would care to try something slightly less formal?' the robot attendant suggested deferentially, lisping slightly.Yes, it actually had said: 'modom', Peri decided.Where had it been programmed to talk like that?Nevertheless, Perpugilliam Brown (Peri to her friends) admitted to herself that she was having the time of her life.Only a few days ago, relatively speaking, she had been on twentieth-century Lanzarote, Earth, and desperate to get away from her stepfather's boring archaeological expedition.Well she had certainly managed that - and then some.Who would have expected a disguised space-time machine known as the TARDISto be waiting for her on the beach? After a dangerous excursion to the planet Sarn, the Doctor, the TARDIS's owner, had agreed to let her travel with him for the remaining three months of her holiday.Of course, that three months could be spent virtually anywhere in time and space.Currently, at the Doctor's suggestion, she was getting acclimatised to mixing with alien races and cultures on Astroville Seven; a thirty-first-century spaceborn trading post many light years in space away from her own Earth.And, as she'd left with only what she'd be been wearing, wasn't it perfectly reasonable that she had to shop for some new clothes first? The Doctor had shown her the huge store of costumes for all occasions that the TARDIS carried, but she'd really wanted to chose her own from new.Once he understood, a mild indulgent look had spread across the Doctor's face, and so here she was.Peri caught sight of herself in the cubicle's multiple mirrors.She had clear skin, lightly tanned by the Lanzarote sun, with regular features framed by collar-length dark hair.Her figure was compact and well developed in a manner she was quietly pleased with.But at that moment, she decided, her most notable feature was the broad grin of sheer delight at the adventure she had found herself in.And she was determined to enjoy every second of it.The attendant produced a sort of silver metallic jumpsuit.'Perhaps this would be more to modom's taste?'For a moment Peri eyed the design with interest, then the silver glitter reminded her of Kamelion and she frowned.The shape-shifting android had been the Doctor's companion when she joined him.But it had come under the influence of the Master, the Doctor's arch enemy, who had turned it against them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Pokrewne