"No one makes a fool of the Graff Vynda-K and lives." "Sholakh." "Highness." "Execute them." "No, hold it, hold it!" "This must be a case of mistaken identity." "Mercy, Highness." "Spare these grey hairs." "Get up, you cringing cur." "Yes, get up, you cringing cur." "I'm just taking my friends for a little stroll." "Don't lie!" "Don't hit a cringing cur." "How dare you touch me!" "Guards!" "Highness." "Let's go." "What?" "You're right, Sholakh." "Take them to our quarters, Sholakh." "It may please me to squeeze the truth out of them at my leisure." "You heard, guards." "Move it!" "Nothing else missing, sir." "Well, that's something." "The thief must have been disturbed." "Whoever he is, he knew what he was doing." "Captain!" "What is going on?" "You heard the alarm." "Well?" "The gold's been stolen." "It was in your keeping." "I have summoned the Seeker." "The Seeker?" "A visionary." "No wrongdoer escapes the Seeker's bones." "I promise you the thief will be taken before morning." "Yes, well, I hope you're confident..." "What!" "What's wrong?" "The jethrik!" "He's taken the jethrik!" "The what?" "The scringe stone." "Look, it's gone." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Nothing is missing from here except your gold, merchant." "A blue stone, it was here just..." "You don't know what scringe stone is?" "I've never heard of it." "What is that?" "Actually, it's an instrument for..." "It's for measuring time on 19 different planets." "Let the girl answer." "It can also be used for modifying dithyrambic oscillations, cleaning your shoes, sharpening pencils." "It can even peel your apples." "You won't be so cheerful when the Graff has done with you, my friend." "Oh, I don't know." "Once I've explained this little mistake," "I'm sure we'll be the best of friends." "Sit down." "I get on..." "I get on terribly well with the aristocracy." "So, there's someone else, Garron?" "Another accomplice?" "Well, we'll get him." "The whole dirty gang of you will die together." "Now, don't anyone poke your nose outside this door, unless you want it shot off." "We're not a dirty gang, are we?" "Of course not." "Come on, you stupid old fool, come on!" "Let me see that." "Oh, thank you." "Why did you do it?" "I was afraid Unstoffe might give our position away." "Unstoffe?" "Junior employee." "What, with an open, honest face?" "Oh, yes, of course, you've seen him." "Yes." "I nearly bumped into him in the Relic..." "He's very light on his feet, isn't he?" "There, that should stop the bleeding." "Oh, thank you very much." "You're very kind." "If you like, I'll tell the Graff that you weren't part of my team." "He won't believe me, of course." "Then there's not much point in telling him, is there?" "Quite." "It's ironic, isn't it?" "What's ironic?" "You just made a competent arrest." "I do admire professionalism, especially in the opposition." "Now nobody'll ever hear of it." "We'll all die together." "Is that supposed to be comforting?" "There's no comfort in dying." "I've always said it was the last thing I want to do." "Why are you so sure that Graff will kill us?" "Who is he anyway?" "He's a cold-blooded maniac." "He likes killing people." "Then wasn't it a little foolhardy trying to sell him a non-existent mine?" "Mine?" "Yes, mine." "That's your game, isn't it?" "Mines." "If mine's mines, what's yours?" "We're searching for the first segment of the Key to Time." "Never mind about that." "Let's get out of here." "What's that, Doctor?" "I'm gonna whistle up some help." "Cover your ears." "Master?" "Psst!" "In here, quick!" "You!" "Here!" "Show yourself!" "What is it?" "Show yourself, hurry!" "What's the matter?" "What's going on?" "We're hunting the thief who broke into the Relic Room tonight." "That's what all the fuss is about." "You haven't caught him yet, then?" "Would we be poking about in these bone pits if we had?" "What a filthy hole." "Oh, well." "Now that I'm awake, you'll want to see in the bed?" "You can keep your fleas." "I know your face, don't I?" "Maybe." "It was well known in Shur once." "Of course, Binro." "Binro the Heretic." "So you're down to this, are you?" "I live as I must." "Not for much longer by the looks of you." "Well, you'll not be missed, Binro." "You think I care for the opinion of louts like you?" "Keep a civil tongue." "That old neck would snap like a dry twig." "Hey, it's all right, he's gone." "Bones of our fathers, bones of our kings, seek and find!" "By the flesh that once clothed you, by the spirit that moved you, seek." "Seek and find!" "Primitive mumbo jumbo." "They believe in it." "The Captain says it never fails." "Gods of the ice, come to the circle, come to the bones!" "Show, show, show what I seek!" "I see him." "He is at the place of fires." "The Concourse?" "My men have searched that warren." "That is where he is." "We will go there." "I will seek him out." "What now, Highness?" "Fetch the guards." "We'll follow them and if they find him..." "We take the jethrik." "Tell the guards we may have to fight our way out of the city." "When did you leave Earth, Garron?" "Oh, a long time ago." "I was just an ambitious boy in those days, taking my first steps in life." "Then I had a bit of trouble with a dissatisfied client and thought it best to leave." "Really?" "What happened?" "He was an Arab." "I sold him Sydney Harbour for $50 million." "Yeah, then he thought I should throw in the Opera House as well." "No!" "Oh, yes." "The Opera House." "Yeah, the Opera House, but I refused." "One must have some scruples, mustn't one?" "Well, of course." "I couldn't let that noble edifice to our cultural heritage" "fall into the wrong hands, could I?" "No." "But my refusal upset him." "He took the impressive documents that I had prepared to the government and so my little ruse was prematurely rumbled." "He came after me with a machine gun." "It was the most harrowing experience." "I never went back." "I'm not surprised." "There are men out there planning to kill us and you're sitting here chattering!" "Please don't panic, Romana." "Come and sit down." "Come and sit down." "Listen, when you've faced death as often as I have, this is much more fun." "Go on, Garron." "Tell us about the jethrik." "Jethrik." "What's so special about jethrik?" "Tell her, Garron." "She doesn't know about it?" "No, she doesn't, do you?" "I thought such ignorance only existed on grade three planets like this." "Don't patronise me, Garron, just tell me." "It's only the rarest and most powerful element in the universe." "Without jethrik-drive, there'd be no space warping, and I'd still be safely at home on Earth." "Where did you get your piece?" "Stroke of good luck." "I acquired that some years ago." "You stole it." "Oh, that's a very blunt word, isn't it?" "Fraud's another one." "Tell me, Garron, how many jethrik mines have you sold since then?" "I don't sell mines, Doctor." "No?" "No, I sell planets." "That's how I realised you weren't from Alliance Security." "They've been tailing me ever since I sold Mirabilis Minor to three different purchasers." "Oh!" "Oh, I was in my prime in those days, my golden period." "Do you know, I think his social maladjustment is entirely due" "to a deep-rooted sense of rejection." "What?" "Look, all I do is take a little from those who have too much and then I spread it around a bit." "I help to keep the economy in balance." "Yes, but if this piece of jethrik's so valuable, why don't you just sell it?" "And then you'd have plenty to spread amongst those who need it." "I don't think it's worth all that much." "Tell me something, Garron." "Why do you think the Graff was interested in buying this planet even before you conned him into believing there was a jethrik mine here?" "He's crazy!" "You don't know about the Graff?" "I'm asking you, Garron." "He was Emperor of Levithia once, and a bad one, a tyrant." "Raised an expedition force to go off to the Frontier Wars, leaving his half-brother on the throne." "When the wars was ended, his people refused to let him return." "And now he's got nowhere to go, is that it?" "Says he's looking for a new world." "What?" "A new world." "Yeah, that's why he's here." "Somewhere where he can raise a battle fleet and force the Levithians to have him back." "It's a mad, hopeless dream." "But a madman's money jingles in my pocket as well as anyone's." "Mad or not, he saw through you." "That was Unstoffe's fault, my dear." "He's a terrible ham at heart." "Shh." "All right now, pay attention." "Orders from the Graff." "It seems that these natives have got a line on the thief, the one who took the jethrik and His Highness' gold." "He's trapped in some place called the Concourse." "The natives are planning to raid this Concourse just before dawn." "Only, we'll be there as well." "When they arrive, we'll shoot the lot of them, is that clear?" "No survivors, no tongue-waggers." "We take the jethrik and the gold and we head straight back for the ship." "With any luck, we'll be gone before they know what's hit them." "Kro, you stay and guard here." "If all goes according to plan, you should hear the firing from here." "When you do, kill all the prisoners immediately, understood?" "Right, sir." "All right, then, follow me." "I don't like the sound of that." "A lot of people are going to die if we don't get out of here." "Including us." "Yes." "We've got until dawn, Doctor, how long's that?" "Must be nearly dawn now." "Aren't you frightened?" "Yes, terrified." "If only my wrist speaker was working, I could warn him." "I mean, as long as he's free, we've got something to bargain with." "They made too good a job of that." "Hey, wait a minute." "A little hearing-aid I planted earlier." "It's on the same wavelength as Unstoffe's two-way." "Unfortunately, it's got no call button." "Give me what's left of your own two-way." "Thank you." "Thank you for helping me escape." "It was nothing." "Why'd you do it?" "Well, I know what it's like when every man's hand is against you." "Binro the Heretic?" "You heard that, eh?" "Well, it wasn't much of a heresy, my friend, just a little thing." "What?" "Oh, it was many years ago now." "Have you ever looked up at the sky at night and seen those little lights?" "Mmm-hmm." "They are not ice crystals." "Go on." "I believe they are suns, just like our own sun." "And perhaps each sun has other worlds of its own, just as Ribos is a world." "What do you say to that?" "It's an interesting theory." "What?" "A broad-minded man." "Perhaps in the north..." "They are a different people, after all." "You see, my friend, I have taken measurements of those little lights and of our sun, and I can prove that Ribos moves." "It circles the sun, travelling far away and then returning." "That's the reason we have our two seasons, Suntime and Icetime." "Nobody believed you?" "Nah, those blockheads." "They prefer to believe that Ribos is some sort of battleground over which the Sun Gods and the Ice Gods fight for supremacy." "They said that if I did not publicly recant my beliefs, the gods would destroy our world." "And did you?" "In the end." "See?" "These hands..." "Useless for work now." "That's why I live here." "Binro, supposing I were to tell you that everything you just said is absolutely true?" "There are other worlds, other suns." "You believe it, too?" "I know it for a fact." "You see, I come from one of those other worlds." "You?" "I thought I should tell you because one day, even here, in the future, men will turn to each other and say, "Binro was right."" "Put your finger there, Romana." "Of course, I can't promise you this will work." "Without a receiver, we won't even know if it's worked anyway." "Right, so keep your fingers crossed." "Not you, Romana." "Most satisfactory." "What is it?" "It's, er, someone trying to make me happy." "That should catch his attention." "You use it, Garron, he knows your voice." "K9!" "Master, mistress." "Just a moment, K9." "What's that?" "Never mind about that, Garron." "Get on with it." "Hello, Unstoffe." "This is Garron." "You can't call me back, so listen carefully." "You've been traced to the Concourse." "They'll be raiding the place any minute." "Get out while you still have a chance." "I repeat..." "Don't bother, I heard you the first time." "There's only one chance for you now, my friend." "We must take refuge in the Catacombs." "Come, follow me." "Over here, out of sight." "Is he dead?" "Negative." "He'll be out for hours." "I used stun mark 7." "Come on, quickly, let's get out." "Which way is the Concourse?" "Straight ahead, down the stairs, then turn right." "Come on." "K9, don't stop at all the corners." "Come on." "Bones, bones shine in darkness, show what I seek!" "Shine with the ice light, shine with the corpse light, bring to the circle the one whom I seek." "If he be near..." "Our men have covered all the exits, Highness." "No one will escape." "Now, now, now!" "What is this place?" "Everybody comes here eventually, though not always alive." "They call it the Hall of the Dead." "Let's not stop, then." "The Catacombs are this way." "Come." "Well, come." "You're not afraid, are you?" "The Concourse that way is guarded." "Well, look, I'll take a look this way, okay?" "Doctor, if they're all out searching for Unstoffe, why don't we go down to the Relic Room and get the segment?" "It'll be unguarded." "Because it's not there." "Not there?" "But surely it's taken the shape of the crown." "The crown has nothing to do with it." "Look at the tracer." "That's the opposite direction from the Relic Room." "Yes, it's pointing towards Unstoffe and his piece of jethrik." "Oh, you mean it was disguised as the jethrik all along." "Yes, I thought you'd have realised that, a bright girl like you." "How did you know?" "How many times do you think that crown has seen the light of day?" "No idea." "I'd say twice a century." "So?" "Listen now, listen." "We took two bearings on the segment in the Tardis, remember?" "Uh-huh." "Now, obviously, the segment moved a considerable distance between the readings." "So?" "But the second time it stayed put in the cabinet." "And it could only have been there the day when we arrived, so it could only have been the lump of jethrik which didn't belong there." "Exactly." "Garron and Unstoffe planted it there." "Of course." "Simple, isn't it?" "Brilliant." "Well?" "All clear that way." "Good." "Unstoffe got the message." "How do you know?" "This little gadget points towards the jethrik and it's pointing that way." "Unstoffe's got the jethrik?" "Exactly." "Come on, follow me." "He has gone." "Gone?" "But he can't have." "He is no longer in this place." "But you can find him?" "It will do no good." "The one you seek is in the Catacombs." "Well, Captain?" "He's escaped us." "You assured me he would be found." "He has gone to the Catacombs." "He'll die there." "The matter's over." "No, Captain, the matter is not over." "He has my gold." "Your gold, eh?" "My men will not go to the Catacombs for your gold." "Why not?" "What are these Catacombs?" "An ancient labyrinth beneath the city." "The home of the long dead and of the Ice Gods." "Careful, careful." "These steps are treacherous." "How far do these stretch?" "Nobody knows." "Our ancestors made them long, long ago to house their dead." "They..." "They say the Ice Gods live here." "But you don't believe in the Ice Gods, Binro." "No." "No, of course not." "Look, do you want to go back?" "Yes..." "No, I'll stay here with you." "What was that?" "The Shrievenzale, I think." "A colony of the creatures lives down here." "You mean the same as that thing that guards the Relic Room?" "That was a small one." "Look, Binro, I think we'd better think about this." "The fact that they can exist down here proves there must be another way up to the surface." "See, they hunt for smaller animals out on the tundra, and then return here to their lair to sleep." "That's all very well, Binro, but can we tiptoe past them?" "Well, let's see, shall we?" "Garron?" "Huh?" "Your friend's got a good nose for a hiding place." "Straight ahead." "Sentient life form." "Watch!" "Sentient life forms approaching." "Which way?" "Behind us." "Quick, into these holes." "He'll have gone deeper than this." "Now we have him." "He cannot escape, and no one will ever know how he tried to trick the Graff Vynda-K."