Free Doctor Who: Marco Polo by John Lucarotti Page B

replied and left the
tent. Then he saw Tegana crouched over the dying fire, putting sticks
on it. Ian returned to the tent.
    'Tegana's by the fire.'
    'Try to by-pass him without being
seen,' the Doctor said, 'Polo's the one to be told.'
    Tegana was pre-occupied with the fire
so it was not difficult for Ian to skirt around him and reach the
open flap of Marco's quarters. He went inside and shook Marco's
shoulder.
    'Marco, wake up,' he whispered
urgently. Marco stirred. 'The guard's been killed. I think we're in
for an attack by bandits.' Marco scrambled to his feet, grabbed his
sword and went into the main section of the tent.
    'Where's Tegana?'
    'Outside, tending the fire. We thought
it wiser to inform you first.' Marco rushed out just as Tegana picked
up a burning brand.
    'Tegana,' he hissed, 'bandits.' Tegana
threw the stick back onto the fire. 'Wake the
bearers. Arm yourself. Ian, ask the Doctor to escort Susan and
Barbara to my tent and put them with Ping-Cho.' When Ian returned
Marco handed him a sword. 'Do you know how to use one?'
    'Not the way you mean,' Ian replied
with a smile, 'but given half a chance I'll learn.' The Doctor came
out of the main tent.
    'What's the plan of battle, Polo?' he
asked.
    'We defend ourselves as best we can,'
Marco said and handed the Doctor a sword.
    'We are bound to be outnumbered. What's
needed here is strategy,' the Doctor retorted.
    'If you are as aggressive with a sword
as you are with your tongue we cannot lose,' Marco said. The Doctor
shook his head.
    'It's not enough.' The Doctor placed
the tip of the blade on the ground and rested his hands on the hilt.
'Definitely not enough. No, we must, we must. . .' - a devious smile
spread across his face - 'bamboozle them.'
    'I don't understand,' Marco admitted.
    'Perhaps a word unfamiliar to your
ears, which means to outwit or to deceive.' The Doctor looked at Ian.
'Chesterton, help me to hack down some of those bamboos. You as well,
Polo,' he ordered. 'And you. too,' he added, looking at Tegana.
    The four of them went to the edge of
the forest and began slashing down the bamboo stalks.
    'What is this about, Doctor?' Marco
asked.
    'We are about to build a better
bonfire,' the Doctor replied.
    From the depths of the forest Acomat
waited impatiently for Tegana's signal. He could
see the campfire burning but nothing else. He turned to the Tartar at
his side.
    'What keeps him?' he growled.
    'Perhaps the War Lord sleeps,' the
Tartar replied.
    'True. Tegana is not as young as we
are. Alert the others. We shall wake him up.'
    The Doctor was heaping bamboo stalks
onto the fire as Marco came over to him with some more.
    'Is Tegana right?' he asked, 'are you a
magician?' The Doctor was amused.
    'I would have thought you knew about
bamboo, Polo. It has compartments in it full of air and as they heat
up the air expands until the stalk explodes. Not unlike a Cathay
fire-cracker,' he added for good measure. Then they heard the shouts
from within the forest as Acomat and the Tartars came noisily towards
the camp.
    'Defend yourselves,' Marco shouted and
they all faced the forest.
    Tegana was inwardly fuming with rage.
He had told Acomat to attack with stealth and he had been disobeyed,
his plan had failed. Now Acomat must pay the price. The Tartars
swarmed from the forest with Acomat at their head.
    'So the Master of the World's War Lord,
Tegana, is awake,' he cried just before Tegana cut him down. Then,
the bonfire began to explode as Marco, Ian and the Doctor, shouting
'be off with you', and the bearers counter-attacked. Acomat's
followers took to their heels and fled back into the forest.
    Barbara came to the entrance of the
main tent. 'Are you all right?' she asked anxiously.
    'We set the knaves scuttering, my
dear,' the Doctor replied, waving his sword dramatically in the air.
    'And the explosions?' Ian pointed to
the fire and explained the Doctor's use of the bamboo.
    'The bandits thought there were devils
in the fire,' Marco added.
    'No, Polo, more