Ian felt a momentary dizziness, coupled with a surge of wild hope that he'd thought he'd never feel again. He was dimly aware of Lant exchanging a glance and nod with Nyra, then checking his watch. 'In the circ.u.mstances we'll give you an hour.'

Vendam received the exodus alert over his car screen, as he quartered the empty streets around the rendezvous point Herstwell had described.

He stopped for a moment to put a call through to his house. He ordered his servants to make their way to the Ship with his own and Plax's personal baggage, and a.s.sured them that he would be with them before take-off. He knew that, as first among the Elite families, he should be there at the Ship in person to see them safely on board but he could not abandon Plax. He realised with stark suddenness how alone he was.

n.o.body else would spare the time to help him search now, as the last hours ticked by.

He had to think! He couldn't continue driving up and down at random. If Plax had left the area where would he go?

If he'd headed towards the city centre he'd have turned up by now. And even Plax would have called home when the alert sounded.

But where else was there in the other direction but the wall... and the NC2 camp! Yes, considering Plax's interest in its occupants, he might have gone there out of sheer devilry.

Or perhaps a patrol had found him. If he couldn't give a proper account of himself they might have taken him there directly as a suspected escapee.

Vendam tried to put through a call to the camp but got no answer. Was the phone system already failing? He couldn't take the chance. He swung the big car around and sped off.

As Zeckler oversaw the hasty packing of the most precious of the church relics into their prepared carrying cases, his mind worked furiously.

He had prayed for guidance and had received this blow instead. If he had only been granted a few more days to establish his authority. Unless this was a test of his fitness?

Yes. Somehow, he must make the best of the situation.

There would be no midday service now. All the people, even the Believers, would only have one thing on their minds.

But Fostel's demise must not be wasted. Very well, if they would not come to him, he must go to them. There would be one powerful symbol of the old world that the people would carry in their thoughts as they boarded the Ship.

From his office window Draad could see the stream of cars start to arrive at the launch-site gates. He could also see the tiny dots of those who lived close enough to walk, merging with each other until they looked like columns of ants.

Capsules were stopping every half-minute at the nearest tube station and disgorging their quota to swell the growing throng.

He hoped the Watch would be able to keep order. He didn't want any panic. The people must board the Ship and take their places calmly.

'All executive orders of phase one have been carried out, Mayor,' Monitor said. 'The rest of the building has been evacuated. Your car is waiting for you.'

'Thank you, Monitor. Commence phase two. Transfer all command circuits and relays to the Ship. Close down all nonessential terminals.'

'Command executed, Mayor.'

The wall screens went blank. The green ring about Monitor's camera eye faded to darkness.

Draad picked up his small bag of personal effects, the same as everyone else carried, and took one last look around.

There was so much else he had planned to do... all irrelevant now. Perhaps it was better this way. Thirty days of anxiety and potential intrigue wiped away at a stroke. Still, he would like to have had time to talk to the Doctor about the stars again.

He left his office for the last time and did not look back.

Keldo looked down upon his men a.s.sembled in the flagship's cavernous hold, its crumpled walls and floors canted like those in the rest of the vessel. Many still carried half-healed scars of the crash, but they were unbowed and ready to fight. He felt fierce pride swell within him.

'Fellow Taklarians. Today we are done with hiding, with skulking in darkness. Today we return to the light!'

They cheered, waving their weapons in the air.

'We may be the last of our race, but we are warriors and carry the tradition and glory that was ours within us. And I promise you we will be mighty again, when we rebuild our empire on a new world.

'Even now the Arkavian ship is preparing for launch. All attention will be focused on embarking their people. After a year of inaction their military will be lax and we shall have the advantage of surprise. They think we are dead... soon we shall show them how wrong they are! We shall make our way to the surface, take whatever transport we need and make for the launching site. There, at the prime moment, we shall attack.

Our objective is the ship's control centre. Once that is in our hands they dare not use unlimited force against us. They will have to launch as planned.

'Once en route to Mirath we shall demand sufficient Arkavian women be made available for our purposes. I know the prospect of mating with members of an inferior race is repugnant, but the progeny will at least be half Taklarian and will be brought up in the Taklarian way on Mirath. Inheriting superior genetic stock they will survive the rigours of the new world better than the Arkavians. In a few generations they will be the only race on Mirath!

'Remember, we may be outnumbered but we are Taklarian warriors! We shall conquer and we shall prevail!'

They cheered wildly and stamped their feet. Keldo strode to the mouth of the tunnel that led to the city.

'Now follow me to victory!'

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

The Will to Live As Vendam drove along the last stretch of road leading up to the NC2 camp he glimpsed shabby figures running across the wasteland towards the city. But such was his preoccupation over Plax that the significance of what he saw did not register in his mind. It was only when he turned a curve of the road as it wound between hillocks of rubble and had to brake sharply that he understood.

An angry mob, perhaps fifty strong, filled the road in front of him. Before he could reverse more people appeared, swarming over the mounds of rubble and surrounding the car, beating on its sides with their fists. There was a terrible animal-like howl of voices: 'Stop it! Don't let him get away!'

Before Vendam could lock the doors they were torn open and rough hands pulled him from his seat. He lashed out desperately, trying to defend himself, but there were too many of them. He fell to the ground under a rain of blows. A kick from a heavy hoot caught him in the ribs while another struck his temple.

Dimly he was aware of his attackers climbing into his car, fighting among themselves for s.p.a.ce. With half a dozen more clinging to its sides it turned around and headed back towards the city, with the rest of the mob running along in its wake.

Then everything faded into blackness.

Half a dozen Taklarians broke through the thin sh.e.l.l of earth that had been left over the head of the new tunnel, swinging their guns to cover the comrades emerging behind them.

a.s.sault teams sprinted across the open ground and burst into the adjacent buildings, breaking down the outer doors with single kicks of their heavy boots. They swarmed upstairs and pounded along corridors, kicking open inner doors as they went, ready to silence any opposition. In a few minutes the reports came back to Keldo.

The buildings are empty, Prince. From the looks of them they've been abandoned for some time.'

'It is as we hoped. To the nearest roadway. We must find transport.'

The Taklarians pa.s.sed through the ground level of one of the deserted buildings, moving very quietly for such large men, until they came to a row of grimy windows set in an outer wall. They looked out on to an empty street with four cars parked along its length. There was no sign of any pedestrian traffic.

'Better this was done at night, but we have no choice so we shall be bold,' Keldo told his personal squad. 'After me.

Each try a car.'

He found a door in the wall, checked that they were un.o.bserved and led his men across the pavement.

The nearest car was unlocked. He forced his bulk into the driver's seat, and after a moment's fumbling with the unfamiliar controls, activated the main power-feed. The instrument panel remained dark. The car's power cell was dead. Cursing under his breath he hauled himself out of his seat. The others were doing the same, shaking their heads. All four cars without power? Keldo ran his fingers over the car's roof-sh.e.l.l, leaving metallic streaks in the layer of fine dark dust that adhered to its surface. His eyes darted up and down the street, noting for the first time broken windows in the building opposite. Then a faint hum came to his ears.

'Vehicle approaching, Prince!'

'Stop it as it pa.s.ses.'

They crouched behind the parked cars until the vehicle was almost upon them then sprang in front of it, guns levelled menacingly. It screeched to a halt, the driver staring fixedly ahead of him as though frozen with shock. Before he could move Keldo reached the door, tore it open, grasped the man by the neck... and found himself holding a legless dummy in his hand.

The rest of the squad gaped at him, guns drooping carelessly, astonishment for a moment overcoming even their inbred discipline. Keldo looked incredulously at the limp mannequin and then at the street about him, trying to a.s.sess anew the quality of the silence and stillness that enveloped it.

Then he tossed the dummy aside and signalled to the rest of his force. They swarmed out of the building on to the street.

'There is something wrong here. Spread out. Stop all moving vehicles. We must get to the Ship with all speed.'

Lant pulled up beside Curton's battered truck and they all got out. Ian and the Doctor hurried forward eagerly while the Susan android followed quietly along at the rear.

The engineer led them off the road and through an archway to an enclosed courtyard.

'This is almost the last branch we checked,' he explained.

'A pipe camera came on a blockage but managed to get past it to find this.'

There was a sunken depression in the ground with a muddy hole in the middle. Several palm prints showed clearly in the soft earth. Ian touched them. They were narrower and smaller than his own hand.

'There's more,' said Curton, leading them out of the courtyard and down a narrow pa.s.sageway. 'Before I called you I had a look round, thinking I might find your friend nearby.'

They emerged on to a small street of shops. Curton led the way along to a spot outside a small cafe and pointed to the window. Daubed on it in red sauce was the symbol B+S>.

'A vending machine's been broken into, there are a lot of sweet-bar wrappers scattered about and you can see where two people sat down for a while.'

Ian held out his hand to Curton. 'Thanks for keeping up the search,' he said simply.

'Well, you didn't give up while we were excavating the tower, and it seems your friend doesn't quit either,' Curton said. 'I could hardly do any less.'

'You'd better be getting along to the Ship now,' Lant suggested. 'We'll take over here.'

'I'll hang around for a bit longer if you don't mind,'

Curton said. 'I'd like to see my last job finished. I've got my case with me and no family to worry about.'

'As you like,' said Lant. 'We'll bring the cars round,' he told the others. 'Stay here.'

Lant and Curton hurried off. Nyra was peering in at the cafe front while the android stood a few paces away in withdrawn silence.

Ian turned eagerly to the Doctor. 'Could Barbara and Susan really have met up somehow?'

'It seems likely. Who else would she identify simply with one initial?'

'They can't have gone too far. As long as Barbara's left more signs...'

The implications of what he was saying struck him like a physical blow. His shoulders sagged. He said quietly: 'It doesn't matter if we find them or not, does it? When this planet is destroyed we'll all die. It's hopeless.

'Have courage, Chesterton,' the Doctor said. 'All may not be lost quite yet. Let us find Susan and Barbara first, then...

well, we shall have to see.'

Lant and Curton returned with the cars. They climbed in and headed in the direction indicated by Barbara's arrow.

After a minute Ian said: 'Wasn't it somewhere near here where those power cuts happened last night, and we chased that thing?'

'You're right,' Lant agreed. He swung the car round a corner and headed towards a belt of trees. 'The second blackout was centred around this park.

'There may be a connection between Barbara and Susan and the blackout,' said the Doctor. 'This thing you followed; can you show me where you lost it?'

Lant handed over his electronic map pad.

'It's marked... and we're down there.'

The Doctor mused over the image for a moment, then adjusted the controls to show a smaller-scale view of the entire city. 'Have there been many of these unexplained blackouts in the same area?' he asked.

'A few,' Lant admitted.

'Any a.s.sociated with unexplained disappearances?'

'As it happens there was a blackout in the area where we found the dead NC2 who we thought might have your key.

You can see where it's marked.'

'Yes... all in the same quadrant of the city.' Ian heard the Doctor mutter to himself for a moment, then say aloud: 'Yes, I think we should make for the place where you lost your mysterious quarry.'

'Shouldn't we search this area first?' Ian asked.

'No, trust me, Chesterton.'

'We haven't much time,' said Lant.