Doctor Who: Galaxy Four by William Emms Page B

would find or how they would cope with it. Yet, as was usual with the Doctor, all that could be done was to press on. He did so, his eyes bright with curiosity. Offered no choice, Vicki went with him.
    Steven sat at the table and pondered on the Drahvins. Such beautiful creatures, yet so totally lacking in warmth. It seemed to him a shameful waste. What sort of being wilfully created women like these? They were fit only to obey orders and that was probably their only reason for existing at all. Still, he supposed it was better to have mindless minions rather than intelligent ones who might start asking awkward questions. The better the mind, the more likely it was to start trouble, a fact well known to all dictators on Earth, who had long made it their practice to take the minds of the young and manipulate them to their own devious ends. Freedom of thought can have dangerous consequences. They never allowed any such thing.
    He was achieving nothing by silence. He addressed Drahvin Three who chanced to be nearest. ‘D’you mind if I have some food? I’m famished.’
    She glanced at him coolly, then crossed to a cabinet and took out a tin. From this she shook out two tablets and dropped them into his outstretched palm. ‘Eat.’
    ‘No, no,’ he said. ‘You misunderstand. I haven’t got a headache. I’m hungry.’
    ‘That is our food. It is good.’
    He looked down at the pills and felt his hunger leaving him. There was no way in the world those things were going to do him any good. What he felt more inclined to was a good beef roast with potatoes and greens on the side and plenty of gravy, preferably followed up by something light, such as strawberries and cream. What good were these things? He looked gloomily up at Drahvin Three. ‘I’ll bet Maaga doesn’t eat these.’
    ‘No. She is our leader.’
    ‘Then I’ll try what she has, if you don’t mind.’ ‘You cannot. It is food for leaders only.’
    He stared narrowly into the vacancy of her face. ‘That doesn’t seem very fair, does it?’
    She was confused. ‘Fair?’
    He began to feel that he was achieving something, however slight. The thing to do was to keep going while he had the edge, to try and stir up a little resentment, if possible. ‘Why should she have special food while you have to eat junk like this?’
    She looked at the tablets. ‘It is food.’
    ‘Oh, sure,’ he needled. ‘Great stuff. I can see it going down well with a touch of salt and vinegar, or perhaps a little salad dressing. I suppose Maaga has lots of other special things as well?’
    ‘She is our leader and has leader’s things.’ ‘Like what?’ he asked.
    ‘Her gun, her food, her – ‘
    ‘Her gun?’ he cut in.
    Drahvin Three nodded. ‘A leader’s gun can destroy anything.’
    ‘Even the Chumblies?’
    ‘I do not understand.’ It was a statement of fact. No confusion showed on her face and nor did anything else.
    ‘The machines,’ he said. ‘The robots. Those things that keep banging about here all the time, trying to get at you.’
    ‘They too can be destroyed.’
    ‘Then surely it would be better if you all had these guns. You wouldn’t have to fear the machines then, would you?’
    ‘There is only one. Maaga has it because she is the leader.’
    Her logic, he felt, was impeccable. She had obviously been reared to believe in only one set of values and anything not fitting was to be dismissed.
    Well, if Maaga and her companions could do it, why shouldn’t he try the same? After all, there was little to be lost and a good deal to gain if he could disrupt this cosy little arrangement. ‘You could use it when you went out on patrol though.’
    She gave an almost imperceptible pause. ‘Yes.’ ‘Then doesn’t it seem right that you should?’
    The curtain came down again. ‘Only if Maaga says so.’
    Steven sighed inwardly. Always he came up against the brick wall that was Maaga and her rules. There had to be a way round it, but he was not having much