Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord : The Ultimate Foe Read Online Free PDF

disposal, Madam. Briefly.’
    ‘The young person – the girl who died. Was that true?’
    She was referring to Peri.
    ‘Ah mmm... the pert Miss Perpugilliam Brown.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘That was clever of the Valeyard, exploiting the affection the Doctor had for her.’ The Master was remembering the second case which the Valeyard had submitted. In it, Peri was captured and her body used to house the brain of an ailing alien monster.
    To all intents, the Doctor had made little effort to save her.
    In the Valeyard’s version of events.
    The Doctor, watching the tale unfold on the Matrix screen, had been devastated by his pretty companion’s ghastly end.
    ‘An exploitation of which the Valeyard took full advantage,’ volunteered the Master. ‘But then, of course, he would know exactly how the Doctor felt.’
    ‘Do I gather the story was untrue?’
    ‘Let us say, Madam, the ending was prejudicially falsified.’
    ‘Then she lives?’
    ‘She is a queen. Set up on high by that warmongering fool Ycarnos.’
    Ycarnos was the leader of a marauding tribe whom Peri had encountered on Ravolox: a warrior of immense strength and size with an overwhelming personality to match. He had been attracted to the waif-like charmer and, by fair means or foul it would seem, had won her affections.
    ‘I’m pleased.’ The Inquisitor was genuinely relieved: the Doctor’s distress at being party to Peri’s demise had touched her.
    Death meant nothing to the Master. ‘Sentiment, Madam, has no place in a court of law. Nor will it keep the Doctor alive.’
    Or Sabalom Glitz.
    Who was at that moment walking into danger from which the Doctor would be powerless to save him...
     
    7

A Lethal Greeting
    Bright fairy-lights formed an arc above an illuminated sign
    –
    ‘THE FANTASY FACTORY’
    Splayed from the shimmering arc, twinkling, scintillating multicoloured bulbs were arranged to represent dazzling rays springing from a sun cut in half by the horizon.
    Below this resplendent display was a balcony that framed a glazed and curtained door. From here, a flight of wooden stairs descended steeply to a courtyard.
    Striding into the courtyard, the Doctor and Glitz were bathed in a rainbow hue.
    ‘The domain of Mr J. J. Chambers presumably,’ mused the Doctor. ‘A puzzle, Glitz. Why should the Master help me?’
    ‘I never asked. Minding other people’s business is the best way of getting into shtook!’
    ‘True.’
    ‘But it isn’t going to stop you, is it?’
    ‘Quite right. Come on.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Inside, of course. I want you to meet my other self.’
    ‘Not me. I’ve done my bit.’ Glitz shuddered. ‘Oooh!
    Feels just like someone’s walking over my grave!’ Hardly an original statement... but could it be a prophetic one.. ?
    ‘Just pop in and say hallo,’ the Doctor urged, making for the wooden stairs. ‘You’ll be perfectly safe.’ Famous last words!
    The glazed door was suddenly flung wide.
    The sharp, arrow-shaped barb of a harpoon glinted in the whirligig of lights, before streaking, with lethal accuracy, for its target.
     
    Glitz’s scream rent the air... as the harpoon thudded into his chest...
    The Master stared sardonically down from the screen: these minions were destined to be at his mercy – although they had yet to become acquainted with the fact. Revelling in his game of cat and mouse, he resumed baiting those present in the Court.
    ‘Come, no more questions?’
    Impotence was an intolerable condition for the Inquisitor. An able jurist with an incisive mind, she had been chosen from many candidates qualified to conduct this important enquiry. It was to have been the pinnacle of her career. The next step, a seat on the High Council. But the fiasco that was now unfolding would put an end to those ambitions.
    ‘You’ve stayed remarkably silent, Keeper.’ Failing to raise a response elsewhere, the Master switched his attack.
    ‘Still wondering how I got hold of this?’ Tauntingly, he held up the