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Daleks away to experiment upon. He spun about, clicking
off the light, and rushed outside.
Ben was in the dark for a moment before his eyes
adjusted. He and Polly followed the Doctor back into
Lesterson s laboratory. The tramp-like figure was
examining all of the equipment on the main bench with
great interest.
Polly moved to stand behind him.  But they re dead,
she said.  They must be.
 There s a difference between being dead and being
dormant, the Doctor replied. He held up the bulb in his
hand.  This light is dead right now, he pointed out. Then
he switched it on, oblivious to the fact that it blinded
Polly.  The Daleks simply need power, that s all. And then
they re as dangerous as ever.
Rubbing her eyes, Polly suggested:  Well, warn
everybody then.
The Doctor chewed at his thumb-nail.  But will they
listen? he argued.  Lesterson s a fanatic of sorts. He s
already lied to cover up his experiments. And the
Governor s only interested in maintaining his own power.
Then he mentioned "rebels". Turning to Ben, he asked,
 What does that suggest to you?
 I don t know, Ben replied.
 All isn t well in this colony, the Doctor amplified. He
looked very worried indeed.  No, I don t at all care for the
idea of a Dalek on the loose here.
 Blimey! Ben scoffed.  You don t half make mountains,
don t you? One Dalek!
 Yes! the Doctor cried.  One! And I assure you that one
Dalek is quite enough to wipe out this entire colony.
Quinn slipped into the room that Thane had assigned to
the Examiner. It was pitch-black inside.  Examiner! he
hissed.  Examiner! When there was no reply, he moved to
where the bed was and reached out to shake the man
awake.
The bed was empty.
With a muffled curse, Quinn switched on the bedside
lamp. The bed was still made, and had obviously not been
slept in. This was going to set his plans back. But where
was the man?
The door opened. Quinn looked up, expectantly, but his
face fell when he saw who it was in the doorway.  Bragen!
Dont you ever knock before you enter a room?
The Head of Security gave a sanctimonious smile.  I m
sorry if I... startled you, he said, clearly lying.  I expected
to find the Examiner in his room  not you, Quinn.
 Well, he s not here, Quinn snapped back. He didn t
care for Bragen s smugness at all.  You ll no doubt want to
snoop under the bed and in the closets looking for him, so
I ll leave you to it. As he tried to push his way past, Bragen
grabbed his arm.
 Just a minute, Bragen said coldly.
Angrily, Quinn jerked his arm free.  Don t try your luck
with me, Bragen, he warned.
 On the contrary, the security man said,  I m attempting
to avoid trouble. The Governor gave you explicit
instructions that you were not to talk with the Examiner
alone. Yet here you are, alone in his room. He gave a
mocking smile to Quinn.  I m sure you can offer a suitable
explanation.
 I can, Quinn agreed.  But I don t have to answer to you
for anything, Bragen. He jerked open the door. One of the
silent security guards was waiting there.  And don t try and
block my way again, he called over his shoulder before
walking off down the corridor.
Bragen slammed his fist angrily against the door frame.
He winced with pain, then managed to gather the tattered
edges of his temper together. Glaring at the guard, he
snapped:  The Examiner is missing! We must search for
him. He must be found  immediately.
Ben sat on one of the lab stools, watching the strange little
man examining the equipment. From time to time he
would jot down a reading or two with the nub of a pencil
on his shirt sleeve.  Of course, Ben said carefully,  the real
Doctor was always going on about the Daleks. He gave the
little tramp a thoughtful stare.  You wouldn t be trying to
convince us of something, would you?
The maybe-Doctor gave a loud sigh.  I had hoped you d
got over those suspicions of yours by now.
 I ll bet you had, Ben agreed.  Well, you re wrong then.
It s just a bit of a truce at the moment, isn t it? That s all.
He nodded across at Polly, who was nervously playing with
a spatula, turning it over and over in her hand.  I mean,
we re stuck with these people here thinking you re this
Examiner from Earth, aren t we?
 I see. The little man glanced at him from under his
shaggy fringe.  But the glue isn t very permanent, is that
it?
Polly gave him an almost apologetic glance.  It was very
convenient that you happened to fmd the real Examiner s
papers, wasn t it?
 I did find them, he insisted.  He was murdered.
Someone must have moved the body after they hit me on
the head. It was there. A sudden realization dawned on
him.  You think I faked this ID?
 It does make sense, mate, Ben replied.  Didn t Hensell
say that they weren t expecting an Examiner for two years
yet? What s wrong? he asked.  Couldn t get the TARDIS [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]