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Yartek scanned the Voord in the room with
distaste. None deserved to be here, but the riskiness of the task at
hand showed the true colors of the cowards who had not volunteered. Soon
their dissent would not matter. Soon he would control the Conscience of
Marinus and with that all of the Voord’s impulses.
He did not know the name of anyone in the room. It was not his business
to know names. He was, after all, their leader. His name was the only
one of importance. He listened as they spoke among themselves,
deciphering who would best serve his needs in the attack on Arbitan’s
island fortress where the Conscience was stored.
Two Voord quickly stood out to him as possible right hand men. Yartek
focused all of his attention on them. They were decisive in their
judgments of what others said, but not didactic or overbearing. They
seemed willing to go the extra mile for the cause of the Voord, even if
he had not fully explained that cause to them. In fact, none of the
Voord were fully aware of what Yartek sought, only that they were to
penetrate the tower on the island, overpower Arbitan, and reclaim the
Conscience.
The way Yartek saw it, his father had passed on the duty to him to take
control of the Conscience and reprogram it to force his own corrupt impulses upon
the whole of Marinus. Once he controlled the machine, he would control
the planet. His father had failed so many years before, enabling Arbitan
to scatter the keys of the Conscience across this alien world that had
now become the Voord’s second home. Where his father fell short, Yartek
would succeed. He would not share power. By disposing of his inept
father, he had proven that.
With that in mind, he called the two Voord to him for further
questioning.
“Tell me,” he asked them, “Once this is done, what do you hope to
happen?”
“Whatever you wish for
us, sir.” the taller Voord responded.
“And what about you?” Yartek asked the shorter Voord.
“To help you control Marinus, sir.” he said.
Yartek nodded. He did not want help controlling Marinus. He wondered
exactly what this Voord meant by his comment.
“What is your name?” Yartek asked the shorter Voord.
“Ramar” he said with confidence. Clearly he felt that his answer had
pleased Yartek.
“Well, Ramar, I would like you to join me on this task.” Yartek said and
smiled.
“Thank you, sir.”
“You as well,” Yartek added to the taller Voord. “What is your name?”
“Kalt, sir, and thank you, sir.”
“I’m entrusting you both to choose another Voord to join us in this
task. The submersibles are waiting for us outside. Meet me there once
you have chosen.” Yartek told them and stood up to leave the room.
Once he reached the door, Yartek turned to watch how Kalt and Ramar
behaved. He saw that Ramar went directly to a specific Voord, while Kalt
questioned several. Perhaps Ramar was working with that Voord to take
control of the Conscience once Arbitan was killed? Perhaps they were
planning a coup to overthrow him and control Marinus for themselves?
Yartek hurried outside to the submersibles and saw in the horizon a
strange blue box appear on the sands of the island that held the
Conscience. His paranoia told him it could be aliens coming to steal the
Conscience of Marinus. He ran through a list of possible enemies, none
of which owned a blue box ship.
Ramar, Kalt, and the Voords they had chosen came outside then, acid
suits in hand. Yartek saw that Kalt carried an extra suit, presumably
for him. He also saw Ramar look across the horizon to the blue box. He
seemed to be giving a sign to the intruders, and when Yartek looked back
to the island, he saw four aliens exit the ship and look out over the
acid sea, directly at Ramar. That settled it. They had come to help
Ramar kill him and steal the Conscience for their own use. Ramar would
not be getting away with this, thought Yartek to himself.
“Sir,” Kalt said as he approached Yartek with the extra suit.
“Kalt,” Yartek said in a hushed voice, “Come close and tell me, do you
wish to prove your worth to me?”
“How, sir?” Kalt asked.
“Ramar is a traitor. I need you to dispose of him, but it must be
discreet.” Yartek said.
“Sir?” Kalt replied. Murder was not natural on Marinus, even for a Voord.
Arbitan had seen to that with his Conscience machine eradicating all
evil thought.
“Do you wish to prove your worth or not? You will be my right hand man
once we arrive on the island.” Yartek said.
“I will do as you ask.” Kalt said quietly with a curt nod.
Kalt quickly walked away to the submersibles. He picked up a rock from
the shoreline and tapped the glass of Ramar’s submersible ever so
slightly, causing a tiny crack to form. It was enough for the acid to
seep in during the journey under the sea to the island. Yartek smiled.
That was quite discreet. He had chosen well with Kalt.
“Everything looks good.” Kalt said rejoining the group. “We should suit
up.”
The Voords put on their acid suits. Yartek watched Kalt approach Ramar.
“Let me help you.” Kalt pulled on part of Ramar’s suit and said, “There
you go, all adjusted.”
“Thank you.” Ramar said.
Yartek looked at the suit, it was hard to tell, but it looked like Kalt
had caused a rupture in the fabric. It was just enough to make the
material permeable to the acid. Yartek nodded at Kalt and then faced the
group.
“We leave now to the island to take control of the Conscience and
restore power to the Voords. I saw from here another alien race trying
to steal it for themselves. Their ship lies on the sandy shore. One of
you will sabotage their ship, and the rest of you will accompany me
to the tower. If you encounter one of these aliens, know they are
hostile. Kill them on sight. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir!” all four of the Voords said.
“Then our task begins.” Yartek said and led them to the submersibles.
They climbed inside their individual submersibles and set the
navigational units for the island’s coordinates. This launched the
submersibles into the acid sea. Yartek smiled as he thought he could
hear Ramar’s faint screams as he dissolved into nothing inside of his
suit.
© Copyright Lorena Gay, Niki
Hunter & Doctor Who Online, 2012.
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Written by:
Lorena Gay
Artwork by:
Niki Hunter
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