Free Doctor Who: The Savages by Ian Stuart Black Page A

strangers.’ ‘Will they come here?’ asked Dodo.
    ‘It is possible,’ Chal nodded.
    ‘Where can we go?’
    ‘You are not safe here,’ said Tor. ‘And we are not safe as long as you stay.’
    ‘Be silent,’ said Chal. He turned to Dodo. ‘You will be safe in our caves.’
    ‘You cannot take them there,’ protested Tor. ‘The
    guards will follow. It is our last hiding place.’
    ‘They have helped us,’ said Chal. ‘Now we must
    help them.’
    ‘No. They are not our people.’
    ‘I am leader,’ said Chal. ‘I say they can hide here.’ ‘Then our destruction is on your hands,’ shouted Tor.
    Chal turned to Steven and Dodo. ‘Follow,’ he said and led them up the side of the valley.
    A number of gaps could be seen in the cliffs. In some of the openings were gathered groups of the
    7 ‘Come On, Soldier Boy. What Are You Frightened Of?’
    savages, looking on apprehensively. Chal led them to an opening that looked as if it had been cut out of the cliff with primitive tools. At the entrance a girl shrunk back in alarm as Chal led them in.
    ‘It is all right, Nanina,’ Chal told her, ‘they are friends.’
    They looked at the ceiling that had been carved out of the rock, rising above them. ‘It’s beautiful. Like a temple,’ said Dodo.
    ‘This is where we live,’ said Chal. ‘It is the only place in which we are safe.’
    Steven gazed at the delicately chiselled interior. ‘Who made all this?’
    ‘Our people.’
    ‘It’s superb.’
    ‘Our ancestors were fine artists. But as time passed we became less and less able to do such things as our talents were being drained from us.’
    Wylda called from the mouth of the cave, ‘Patrol! Coming this way.’
    They hurried to look across the valley. At the entrance to the valley a man in the uniform of a City Guard could be seen moving towards them through the fallen rocks.
    ‘It’s Exorse,’ whispered Dodo.
    He was coming along the bottom of the valley, holding his gun at the ready while Tor backed away before him.
    ‘Stay where you are,’ shouted Exorse as Tor turned to run. Tor stopped, terrified. Exorse held the gun trained on him. ‘Where are they?’ he called.
    Tor shook his head as though he didn’t understand. Exorse touched the trigger and a beam of light played over the savage. He stiffened in pain, then the light went off.
    ‘The next time I ask,’ said Exorse, ‘you will answer. Where are the strangers?’
    Tor hesitated, his eyes fixed on the light gun. Then he moaned in despair and looked up towards the caves.
    ‘Up there, are they?’ said Exorse. ‘Right.’
    He began climbing the valley slope towards the caves. Chal ducked back.
    ‘Is he coming?’ asked Nanina who stood anxiously behind him.
    ‘I think so,’ said Chal.
    ‘Go with them,’ she said. ‘I will stay on watch.’ She moved to the edge of the cave and peered down. Behind her Chal hurried away, taking the strangers with him.
    Exorse stopped below the caves and scanned the side of the valley. He saw Nanina watching. ‘You have the two strangers,’ called Exorse. ‘Tell them to come out.’
    ‘There are no strangers,’ she replied.
    There was a silence as he looked slowly round at the other caves about him.
    From the back of the cave Steven whispered, ‘What’s he doing?’
    Nanina waved him back: ‘Stay there.’
    ‘How many guards?’ Steven wanted to know. ‘Only one. But he has the gun.’
    She looked out. Exorse had started to climb towards her. She waved warningly towards the strangers.
    ‘Is there any way out of this place?’ Steven asked Chal.
    ‘There are passages into the rock, but they lead nowhere,’ he replied.
    ‘So we’re in a trap?’
    ‘Not a trap,’ said Chal ‘We can go into the passages.
    There are many. He will not know which one to take. Come, it is best.’
    They followed him to the furthest wall of the cave and ducked under a rocky arch into the gloom of a long, twisting tunnel. They disappeared just in time, for a