Doctor Who: Festival of Death: 50th Anniversary Edition (21 page)

Tarie skipped along behind her mother, her wide eyes soaking in every detail. The entrance corridor had opened on to a gallery lined with statues and tapestries, lit by chandeliers sparkling like magic. Tarie imagined she was a princess, and the
Cerberus
was her fairytale castle.

Her mother smiled down at her. ‘What do you think of it all, Tarie?’

‘It’s all right, I suppose.’

Her mother laughed and lifted Tarie into her arms. She could see the faces of the people who had boarded with them; grey-haired people with glittering jewellery. There was a sense of excitement in the air, as well as the smells of perfume and polish.

>
Hi there everyone
! hailed a voice from the ceiling. Immediately the chatter hushed. >
My name’s ERIC, and I’m your friendly on-board Environmental Regulation and Information Computer. It’s my job to see that your trip is as enjoyable as possible. I’ll be taking you through the various facilities available, and giving out details of your accommodation and mealtimes, but first I really should introduce the crew
…

‘Who’s that?’ asked Tarie, fiddling with her blue dress.

‘That’s the ship’s computer,’ said her mother.

‘I like him. He sounds funny,’ Tarie giggled.

… Captain Rochfort and Lieutenant Byson. They’re both great guys, really friendly, and I’m sure they will make this trip one to remember
!

‘Grief,’ said Rochfort. ‘Is there any way we can turn that dratted computer off?’

Byson was making final navigational adjustments. ‘I don’t think so, sir. It’s designed to remain permanently online, for safety reasons.’

Rochfort pinched his temples. He could feel the opening twinges of a headache. ‘Are the coordinates logged in?’

‘Just finishing now, sir.’ Byson flicked two switches and a schematic stellar map appeared on one of the monitors. ‘All systems primed.’

‘Good.’ Rochfort leaned back into the comfort of his seat. His eyelids began to drift shut as thoughts of dinner eased their way into his mind.

‘Are you sure you’re absolutely tiptop, sir?’

‘What?’ Rochfort jerked himself upright. ‘Of course. Right as precipitation. Why, does something seem the matter to you, Lieutenant Byson?’

‘No, not at all, Captain Rochfort, sir. I just thought, if you’re feeling a little under the weather, perhaps a lie-down…’

‘Nonsense.’ Rochfort glanced at the chronometer. They were already ten minutes behind schedule, and they hadn’t even entered the traffic stream. ‘Engage the engines.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Byson pressed the ignition button, and the engines thundered into life.

‘The Doctor is dead,’ said Romana, unable to take her eyes away from the Doctor’s coffin.

Evadne looked to Harken. He nodded gravely. ‘He sacrificed his very life, attempting to defeat the terrible menace threatening the G-Lock,’ said Harken. ‘It was a noble and courageous death. Quite moving.’

‘You saw it happen?’ said Evadne.

‘Oh, yes. I filmed it. All seems a bit futile now, of course, but the intention was there.’

Romana listened with mounting horror. So this was the Doctor’s fate; to end up as a charred corpse in the wreckage of the necroport.

‘But how? I mean, what was he trying to do, exactly?’ asked Evadne.

‘Ah, well, that’s a good question, because you see –’

‘Silence!’ yelled Paddox, swinging his pistol round. ‘I have very little reason not to kill you all. My reserves of patience are not infinite.’ Harken fell into silence, and Paddox directed his gun towards Romana. ‘And you. Back against the wall now or you will join your dead friend.’

Romana looked at Paddox as though he was an unpleasant stain. Reluctantly, she raised her hands above her head and joined Evadne and Harken by the wall. ‘What are you trying to do?’ she said angrily.

Paddox indicated the strange plant creatures on either side of the Doctor. ‘Do you know what these are?’

‘Aboretans,’ said Romana. ‘The male is called Gallura.’

Paddox approached Romana, still holding two lengths of chain. ‘Yes. Now, how do you come to know that?’

‘Oh, you would be surprised how much I know,’ said Romana calmly.

‘As you say, these are Arboretans. And I have discovered their secret.’

‘What secret is that?’

Paddox took on a faraway look. ‘The greatest discovery in the history of science.’

Hoopy looked around the Great Hall uneasily. There was no sign of the zombies, but he had a feeling they would turn up when least expected – so he tried to keep his expectation of them appearing as high as possible.

The Doctor clanged down the staircase. ‘Come on, Hoopy old chap.’

‘We’re going in there? Into the necroport?’ Hoopy said
incredulously
. ‘Have your brains popped out for lunch?’

‘Everything that has occurred has been as a result of that machine,’ said the Doctor. ‘I would rather like to have a snoop inside.’

‘Oh, double helpings of ungrooviness with freak-me relish to go.’

The Doctor paused, ruffling his hair. ‘I have a feeling something is happening in there we should know about. Now, isn’t that odd?’ Reaching the bottom of the steps, he walked towards the necroport.

Romana watched Paddox with detached amusement. ‘You have a slight problem.’

Paddox faced her, his laser pistol in one hand, chains in the other. ‘What?’

‘You need two hands to chain somebody up. You can’t chain one of us up and point your gun at the other person at the same time.’

‘Poor planning, innit,’ said Evadne. Harken laughed.

Paddox swung the pistol towards her. ‘Do not mock me. I do not mock easily.’

‘I have an idea,’ suggested Romana. ‘Why don’t you give me the gun, and I can point it at myself whilst you’re chaining Evadne up?’

‘No, I have a better solution,’ said Paddox. ‘I point the gun at you, and then you chain Evadne up.’

‘Of course.’ Romana suddenly looked over Paddox’s shoulder, and gasped. ‘Doctor, you’re alive after all! Thank goodness!’

‘What –’ Paddox whirled around, his gun arm outstretched. Taking advantage of the distraction, Romana launched herself into his back, knocking him to the ground and sending the pistol and chains clattering across the floor.

She raced across to the access ladder. ‘Evadne, well don’t just stand there, come on!’

Evadne was frozen to the spot, her mouth hanging open. And then Paddox recovered his pistol and aimed it at Romana. A beam extended from the barrel and caused a flash of sparks over her left shoulder.

Romana grabbed the highest rung and heaved herself up the
ladder
, her mind racing. Another part of the wall exploded just below her legs.

Reaching the top, she was relieved to find the hatch still open. She dived through and slammed it shut behind her. Without pausing for breath she turned and piled into the person blocking her path.

‘Romana!’ It was the Doctor, a surprised expression on his lips. Beside him was the lizard from the medical bay – Hoopy.

Romana was baffled.

Paddox retrieved the chains from the floor and advanced on Evadne.

Harken shifted his body-weight from his right arm to his left, and groaned. Not only had the Doctor and Romana’s plan failed, but he was condemned to die in the most unflattering position possible.

‘Hands up,’ barked Paddox. Evadne quickly raised her arms, allowing Paddox to manacle her wrists to the overhead ducting. He rattled the chain to make certain it was secure, and then returned to his instruments.

Harken craned round to face Evadne. ‘Hello, by the way. You probably already know me. Harken Batt.’

‘Never heard of you.’

Typical, thought Harken. ‘Leading insect-on-the-wall documentary-maker?
The Guilty Conscience
?’

‘No, doesn’t ring any bells,’ said Evadne. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘That, my dear, is a long story full of misfortune and great personal tragedy.’

‘Go on then, I could do with a laugh.’

The entrance to the hyperspace tunnel filled the monitor. A swirling blue whirlpool in space, funnelling to a narrow aperture. Inside, the tunnel would continue for ten miles, and then emerge into the Murgatroyd star system.

Byson brought the
Cerberus
into the whirlpool in a gentle arc. In front of them a string of spacecraft of a variety of designs and sizes were disappearing into the tunnel; through the window they could
see
the queue of ships following in their wake.

Rochfort slapped his palm down his face, trying to keep himself awake. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, how much longer?’

‘We’re in the approach curve,’ said Byson. ‘But the traffic’s getting quite bad now, sir.’

‘We’re going to be late.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘It’s ridiculous, we should have priority clearance. We shouldn’t have to wait in line with this… this rabble.’ Rochfort waved at one of the ships blocking one of their fore monitors. ‘Get out the way, you tortoids!’

‘ERIC. Can you give us a velocity check?’ said Byson.

> Sure thing, guys. Current velocity fifty miles per hour. We’re going pretty slowly but, hey, on the other hand, it gives us all a chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy the view
!

Rochfort swore, loudly.

The observation lounge brimmed with the sounds of clinking wine glasses and hushed conversations. Two fountains trickled like light laughter. Waitresses glided through the crowds, dispensing unwavering smiles.

Tarie pressed her face against the glass. Less than an inch thick, it was all that protected her from the vacuum of space. Looking to the left, she could see a shimmering blue light drawing near. It swirled around the ship, from top to bottom.

She glanced back into the lounge, where her mother was laughing far too much at some man’s joke. He poured her mother another glass of wine.

Tarie looked to the right. Behind them, hundreds of ships were lined up, one after the other. They all appeared to be perfectly still, but Tarie knew that was because she was moving too, at the same speed.

The nearest ship was a security transporter. She could just about make out the two figures sitting behind the viewscreen, just below the faded paint of the ship’s insignia. She rummaged in her satchel
and
dug out a pencil and her
I Spy Book of Space Travel
. She flicked through it, and copied down the ship’s grand-sounding name.

Skinner rested his elbows on the control panels. The bulk of an interplanetary leisure cruiser filled the viewscreens. They were so close he could see the passengers milling about in their observation bubble.

He activated the comms unit. ‘This is prisoner transport
Montressor
calling security. Now entering hyperspace. Will resume communications in Murgatroyd system.’

His companion in the cockpit, Hann, sat with his feet on the dashboard, thumbing through a paperback. Like Skinner, he wore a drab, brown internmentcorps uniform. ‘Don’t worry yourself. We’ll only be in there, what, fifteen minutes tops.’

‘It’s procedure,’ said Skinner, lighting a cigarette. ‘You know how biohazardous our cargo is.’

Hann lifted his nose out of
Shrieking Boy Veepjill – The Myth Behind the Truth – An Autobiography
. ‘Yeah, yeah. Danger of planetwide extinction if they got out, etcetera.’

‘Exactly. These aren’t ordinary criminals we’re dealing with. These are, well…’ Skinner went silent. ‘What was that?’

Hann shifted in his seat, listening. ‘Can’t hear anything.’

‘Shh.’ Through the reinforced iron bulkhead behind them, Skinner could hear the claws scraping against the metal wall. There was the jangle of manacles being shaken, and the clack of pincers. ‘They’re getting restless. They’re trying to escape.’

‘Probably just want feeding,’ said Hann, returning to his book. ‘Knowing them, they’d probably start on each other given half a chance. Don’t worry, they’ll calm down in a bit.’

‘I hope so.’ Skinner tried to concentrate on the radarscope readings. They were now seconds away from the interface. His hands twitched. The sooner they offloaded the Arachnopods, the better.

*

‘Dead?’

Romana flicked back her hair and swallowed. ‘Yes. You were down there.’ She pointed to the necroport. ‘Lying in some awful coffin.’

‘And you’re certain it was me.’

Romana nodded.

‘Oh dear.’ The Doctor walked down the aisle, deep in thought.

Romana ran to catch up with him. ‘Doctor…’

‘Evadne was right. I sacrifice my life to save the G-lock. It’s part of my past, my present and my future. There’s nothing I can do about it,’ announced the Doctor solemnly. ‘“What’s past, and what’s to come, is strewn with…”’

‘“… husks and formless ruin of oblivion.”’ Romana completed the quote.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. ‘So this is how it ends. After all my travels, all my adventures, I have no choice but to die here. That corpse you saw down there is going to be me, or rather, I am going to be that corpse. I can’t avoid that any more than I can alter my own past. Second law of time travel.’

‘The first law.’

‘Exactly. And now I can’t prevent my own death, any more than I can go back and resit my basic time travel proficiency test,’ said the Doctor. He thumped his fist against a nearby coffin, and the clang echoed back and forth throughout the hall. He yelped in pain. ‘Any more than I could go back and stop myself doing that.’

The short orange lizard joined them, his eyes peering out from under his sunglasses. ‘What’s the problem, Doctor? Things bad to worse?’

‘What? Yes, a slight difficulty. I’ve discovered that I’m going to save the G-lock.’

‘No way? Totally nice and groovy!’

‘Except that I die in the process.’

Hoopy frowned. ‘Say again?’

‘Never mind.’ The Doctor waved a hand in Romana’s direction. ‘Hoopy. You don’t know Romana, do you?’

‘We’ve already met,’ said Romana, without thinking.

‘I think not so,’ said Hoopy. ‘A lady such as yourself I would make a special point of remembering.’

‘Oh. Of course. Sorry. You haven’t met me yet, have you?’ Romana put out her hand. ‘I’m Romana. Delighted.’