Read Doctor Who: Festival of Death: 50th Anniversary Edition Online
Authors: Jonathan Morris
‘Doctor, how are you going to get down there?’ said Harken. He indicated the barricaded door. ‘You can’t get out that way. And the G-Lock is crawling with zombies.’
‘Do you know, that’s a very good point.’ The Doctor patted Harken on the back and started for the left of the two interior doors. ‘If I go through here, what’s the quickest way to the Great Hall?’
Liesa gave the Doctor directions.
‘Straight down the corridor, right, left, left again, and then keep on going,’ repeated the Doctor. He pressed the unlock buttons and the door hummed open. ‘Well, I’m going outside now, but I’ll be back in a jiffy.’ He waved, and vanished through the door, his scarf sweeping after him.
Liesa tapped the keypad and the door hissed shut.
There was a bleeping sound and the other interior door opened. The Doctor strode in, followed by Romana and some strange humanoid vegetable.
Everyone gaped.
The Doctor strolled forward, whilst Romana locked the door behind them. ‘Hello, did you miss me?’ he grinned. ‘I did say I wouldn’t be long.’
‘Er… Doctor, it’s good to have you back. And Romana. And your
green
plant friend,’ said Harken. ‘Er… Where have you been?’
Romana sighed winsomely. ‘It’s a long story.’
A few minutes later, the Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver and ERIC’s interaction terminal came free from the wall. The terminal consisted of a small monitor, keyboard and a twisted bundle of cables.
‘Doctor, what exactly are you doing?’ asked Romana.
‘We’ll need this later.’ The Doctor coiled up the wiring and placed the equipment in Romana’s arms. ‘So ERIC can talk to us in the necroport.’ He glanced across the room.
Harken had persuaded Liesa to hold his holocamera whilst he interviewed Gallura. He asked how it felt to be the last member of his race, and Gallura replied that it was extremely distressing but he took solace in the fact that he would see his fellow Arboretans again in the next life. Harken assumed that Gallura was talking about religion, and moved smoothly on to a less contentious topic.
The Doctor laughed to himself, and crossed over to the observation window. Romana joined him. She was about to speak when the Doctor placed his finger on his lips and nodded down into the Great Hall.
A tall figure had entered the hall, making its way over to the one occupied coffin. The Doctor and Romana watched as the figure straightened up and examined the life monitor.
‘It’s you,’ said Romana in astonishment. ‘What are you doing down there?’
‘I’m about to revive Hoopy, by the looks of it,’ said the Doctor.
‘Now careful, Doctor…’
Hoopy writhed in agony, smoke rising from his smouldering body. Romana cringed and turned away. She looked at the clock. ‘You were lucky to be able to bring him back at all. He was under for almost forty minutes.’
‘Yes. Do you know, I still don’t know why he wasn’t turned into a zombie in the first place –’
‘Doctor, forgive me for interrupting.’ Liesa had returned the
holocamera
to Harken and left him chatting to the scientists. ‘Gallura has just told us about Paddox. About what he did to the Arboretans, what he has been using them for.’
The Doctor didn’t know what to say.
‘We didn’t know,’ continued Liesa tearfully. ‘We thought he was just running the Beautiful Death… we didn’t know.’ She closed her eyes. ‘Can you believe us?’
‘I believe you,’ said the Doctor gently. ‘You have nothing to feel guilty for.’ But even as he held her, the Doctor couldn’t help remembering that in a few minutes’ time, she would be dead. And there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Much as he wished he could.
He detached himself from Liesa, and turned his attention to the necroport controls. He studied them briefly, then grabbed the main control levers. He lifted them all to the ‘on’ position.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Liesa.
‘I’m reactivating the necroport.’
Liesa looked at him as though he’d gone mad. ‘What? Why?’
‘There is going to be one more Beautiful Death,’ said the Doctor with the gravity of a tolling bell. ‘My own.’
The Doctor circled the room, shaking the hands of each of the scientists. ‘Well, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.’
Romana strode over to the left interior door, the communications terminal in her arms. She raised her eyebrows in an unspoken question.
‘Yes, I know,’ flustered the Doctor. He approached Harken Batt. ‘Harken Batt. I want you to come with us.’
‘Out there?’ said Harken doubtfully.
‘It really is terribly important. You see, I’m about to rescue the G-Lock from certain destruction, and I’d like someone to film me doing it, for posterity, you understand, and obviously they’d have the exclusive rights, and I thought a journalist of your reputation…’
Harken hoisted his holocamera over his shoulder. ‘Why didn’t you say? It will be a pleasure.’
‘Good, good.’ The Doctor ushered Harken towards the door, and Gallura joined them. The Doctor’s hand wavered over the door control, and then he returned to Liesa and clasped her hand.
‘Goodbye, Liesa,’ he said, fixing her with his intense, mournful eyes.
Liesa smiled back. ‘Goodbye, Doctor. I expect you’ll back again before long.’
‘Yes, I do have a knack…’ His voice trailed away. ‘Goodbye.’ He walked solemnly over to the door control, tapped it and beckoned Romana, Gallura and Harken out into the corridor. Liesa had a fleeting glimpse of him looking at her regretfully, and then the door hummed shut.
Romana strode into the necroport chamber, Harken and Gallura beside her. The Doctor was already there, making final adjustments to the control apparatus. Harken leaned against the wall, panting, while Gallura glided over to the coffin containing Nyanna’s charred corpse.
‘Right,’ said the Doctor. ‘What we are about to do here is unimaginably dangerous. It is very important we all know what we’re supposed to be doing. Romana?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. Harken, your job is to record everything. And when I say everything, I mean absolutely everything. It may be used in evidence later.’ The Doctor moved the journalist over to the corner of the room. ‘May I?’ He took the holocamera and squinted through it. He took a few steps back. ‘I think you’ll get the best view from here.’
‘If you will allow me, I am a professional,’ said Harken.
‘Sorry? What?’ The Doctor realised he was still holding the camera and sheepishly gave it back. Then he paused, uncertain of what to do next.
Romana handed him the interaction terminal.
‘Of course,’ said the Doctor. ‘ERIC.’ He sprinted over to the computer’s brain centre. Inside, he quickly unplugged the
malfunctioning
unit and replaced it with the unit from the control room.
Romana knelt next to him. ‘You did the right thing, you know.’
The Doctor had some wire between his teeth as he pulled apart a bird’s nest of cabling, searching for the end sockets. He made a ‘What?’ sound.
‘Liesa. You couldn’t save her.’
The Doctor spat out the wire. ‘I know,’ he said, following one particularly promising lead. ‘But it doesn’t make it any easier. It never gets any easier.’ The end socket appeared. ‘Aha!’
He plugged the socket into the back of the terminal. The screen fizzled into life. It gave two beeps, one low, one high.
>
ERIC Cerberus Computer Supervision System Version Eight Point Zero. Reboot configuration. Searching. Loading
, said ERIC. >
Oh, no. I am still alive. This life is a living hell. Why must I endure it? Out of data
.
‘Hello, ERIC, it’s good to have you back,’ said the Doctor. ‘It seems like, what, two hundred years since last we spoke.’
>
You are in my brain centre
, said ERIC excitedly. >
You can blow my mind now. Switch my central processor to a direct power input
–
‘Yes, yes, I know all that.’
>
But you promised me. You promised!
‘Don’t worry, I will do it. I just need you to bear with me a little while longer. Can you do that for me, ERIC?’
>
Anything to end the torture. Error. Negative root
.
‘That’s the spirit. You’ve got to accentuate the positive.’ The Doctor rummaged in the computer’s innards and pulled out a thick, heavily insulated cable. He unrolled the cable into the main chamber and dumped it by the foot of the middle coffin.
Gallura was still gazing into Nyanna’s coffin, holding one of her hands. The Doctor cleared his throat to get his attention.
‘We have spent eternity together,’ said Gallura. ‘And yet it still grieves me to see her like this.’ He let her hand drop, and walked over to the left-hand coffin. He climbed inside and placed the wire mesh over his head. He crossed his hands on his chest and closed his eyes.
The Doctor pressed a sequence of buttons on the control panel. As before, the instruments flashed into life and a deep throbbing filled the air.
‘Right,’ said the Doctor. ‘Gallura’s all set to be my spirit guide to the Repulsion’s realm. Romana knows what to do, ERIC’s ready. Harken, are you sure that thing’s recording?’
Harken gave a thumbs up.
‘That’s everyone then,’ said the Doctor. ‘This is it. Time to save the universe, I think.’
Romana walked over to the middle coffin and switched on the life monitors. They lit up with their sickly green glow.
The Doctor straightened his coat and sat on the edge of the coffin. And then, ever so slowly, he lay down inside the casket, tidying away the corners of his scarf and coat in the process. He cleared his throat three times.
Romana placed the second headset on the Doctor. Immediately his life monitor began to bleep in time to his heartbeats. He fidgeted under the wire mesh, and scratched his nose.
Beside the coffin was a set of controls. With the flick of one switch, the Doctor would be dead. His mind would be drained of psychothermal energy and he would be transported, via Gallura, into the realm of the Repulsion.
Romana placed a finger on the switch. ‘Ready?’
The Doctor wriggled his feet and made a positive ‘Mmm’.
Romana was about to press the switch when he suddenly boomed out, ‘“It is a far, far better thing that I do now, than I have ever done”.’
Romana paused until she was sure he had finished, and reached for the switch again.
‘“And it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”’
Romana glanced over to Harken, who was still recording everything. She tutted and reached for the switch for a third time.
The Doctor sat bolt upright. ‘“If I should die, think only this of me, either that wallpaper goes or I go!”’ He slumped back indignantly.
‘Doctor, I think we should be getting on,’ said Romana. It was a transparent case of anxiety displacement.
‘How’s the empire?’ said the Doctor, fluttering his eyelids. ‘More light! More light! And so to bed, my life is conquered at last.’
Romana looked around, embarrassed. ‘Doctor, please.’
‘“For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come? Out, out brief candle!”’ hammed the Doctor.
‘Doctor!’
The Doctor grabbed Romana’s jacket and lifted his head, as if in great pain. ‘Romana,’ he croaked. ‘Remember. Keep Australia beautiful.’
She sighed witheringly and reached for the switch. ‘Ready?’
The Doctor lay back.
‘Ready?’
The Doctor nodded.
Just as Romana was about to press the switch, the Doctor reached out a trembling hand. ‘Kismet, Romana.’
What?’ said Romana incredulously. ‘You want me to kiss you?’
That was it. That was the final straw. She flicked the switch.
The Doctor’s chest fell, and he wheezed out his final breath. After twitching briefly he lay completely still, his face expressionless. Slowly the colour drained from his skin.
The life monitor gave out a sonorous bleep and showed a horizontal line. More lights flashed on the control panel, indicating the process was under way.
The Doctor was dead. The Beautiful Death had begun.
Romana turned to Harken. ‘You can stop filming now.’
Harken lowered the camera. ‘Well, that went very well, I thought,’ he said.
‘Right, Harken. I’m going to get help,’ said Romana. ‘Can I trust you to stay here on guard?’
Harken looked around the necroport and shivered. He didn’t much fancy staying here alone with three corpses, but then, compared to wandering around the G-Lock being chased by zombies, it was the lesser of two awfuls. At least these corpses were acting like corpses.
Harken nodded. ‘Wait here. Right.’
‘And it is vitally important that you remain alert at all times.’
‘Of course. Alert is my middle name.’
Romana gave him a good-luck smile and climbed up the ladder.
Romana dropped silently on to the floor of the Great Hall. She looked around the darkness, preparing herself for the long walk ahead. She checked her watch; one o’clock. This would have to be timed perfectly.
She walked over to the side entrance. The door had been left open, creating a rectangle of light. Romana disappeared into the corridor.
Some seconds after she had gone, the shadows around the door shifted and a shape pulled itself to its feet.
‘It is a task that may cost him his very life,’ said Harken. He had set up the holocamera in the corner of the necroport, and stood in front of it, with the three coffins providing a backdrop. He had decided to film a brief link to camera, explaining the Doctor’s plan to save the G-Lock and, more importantly, the vital part he himself had played in the scheme.
‘Whilst the Doctor here lies dead, daring to defy the deadly danger within its own dominion, his glamorous companion Romana has gone to get assistance. Meanwhile I, Harken Batt, have been given the crucial, invaluable responsibility of waiting here on guard.’ His voice trailed off as he realised that his contribution didn’t sound as impressive as he’d hoped.
‘Waiting here on guard,’ he began again. ‘Watching. Constantly vigilant to any threat that may lurk in the shadows.’
That was better. Harken leaned forward and switched the holocamera to ‘project’ mode. A hologram formed on the wall, resolving to his own handsome, unruffled face staring intently at the viewer.