Doctor Who Forgotten Suns Chapter Sixteen

It was with great relief that Faramandar had received the reports of his Third’s. It appeared that only the hatch in this particular section had been locked off! They would be able to get to the Oortelian airlock much more easily than he had initially feared. The Ghost First decided right away that discovering the status of the other Oortelian team was now his immediate priority, and led his patrol back to the appropriate hatch. After a quick study of the scene below - everything seemed to be quiet and organized - Faramandar determined to announce his presence personally.

Leaving his troopers behind (he felt it wisest not to alarm the other team unduly,) Faramandar slid through the opening and examined their activity further, noting the makeshift body bags sadly. When he identified the Patrol First, he silently but rapidly swarmed along the ceiling until he was in hailing distance. Predictably, Quetzlepod did not seem surprised to see him… The man must have been expecting someone after finding the dead troopers, after all. The others, including one of the aliens that those soldiers had been sent to retrieve, all jumped as they looked up and saw him. Q merely glared, as Faramandar slithered halfway down the wall, then jumped the remaining distance to the deck.

“So,’ Q said neutrally, ‘Clade Commander Silandor sent his nest-brother. May I ask why I was not advised of the presence of an advance patrol, Faramandar? Or is that information not pertinent to my mission?” The others with Q, two females, stirred uncomfortably; perhaps anticipating conflict. Faramandar watched them lead the alien a few paces away before replying.

“We are not at odds here, Q. It was implicit in my mission profile to keep my troopers unobserved, particularly by anyone wearing a visi-com unit. We are still on the same side, my friend, we just had different orders.”

“Such as?”

“To make sure that your own patrol wouldn’t encounter any unexpected surprises, actually.” Faramandar struggled not to betray any embarrassment as he said this, but was unsure how well he succeeded. Particularly when Q chose not to reply verbally, instead turning to glare pointedly at the four body-bags.

“What killed my troopers, Q?’ Faramandar asked, suddenly needing to know urgently. ‘I tasked them to capture that alien creature, and one other,’ Faramandar lowered his arm after pointing at Jamie, ‘but something else arrived. What was it?”

Q seemed surprised for the first time. “You didn’t see it? No, of course not, why ask otherwise.’ He looked at Faramandar thoughtfully for a moment, then shrugged. ‘You outrank me here, Sir. I shall tell you as much as I can, but before that, I must inform you that I have initiated a withdrawal to the Indigo Flame. Do you wish to countermand that, Sir?’ When Faramandar indicated that he did not, Q continued. ‘Then I suggest that you assemble your patrol, Sir, to expedite the process.”

Faramandar agreed. He activated his coms implant, noting that Q was regarding him with a curious expression as he did so. He gave the pre-arranged throat-click signal to his Second, Exetrallus, then asked, “Why are you looking at me like that, Q?”

“You have functional full spectrum implants, Sir?”

“Of course, Q, all of my Elite do. I would have thought that you were aware of this!”

“Yes, Sir, but I thought that perhaps they might have been deactivated before boarding this ship. You see, I was ordered to select only non-augmented personnel for my own patrol. There was a suggestion that our technology might somehow come into conflict with the systems on this ship - it is alien, after all.”

Faramandar froze. That possibility had not been mentioned in his own briefing, and he was uncomfortable that such an eventuality had never even occurred to him! This was supposed to be a derelict vessel, floating lifeless in the void, true enough. But still an alien vessel, non-Oortelian - he should have thought of such a potential risk himself! Then something else occurred to him, and he began to nod to himself slowly. “I think I can see another reason that you might have been instructed to use only implant-free soldiers, Q…

“To minimize any possibility of our detecting your presence?”

“Just so. It would have been unlikely, of course, but a great deal of caution has been applied to this mission. I wouldn’t put it past my… the Clade Commander to be so careful. Is there any particular reason that this is of interest you?”

“There could be, Faramandar. Do you need to supervise your troops, Sir?”

“Exetrallus has matters well in hand, Q. I must tell you, however, that I grow impatient with this conversation.”

“I understand, Sir. I shall provide you with a briefing on our encounter momentarily.’ Q paused and tapped the side of his jaw. ‘But just before I do, can I request that you instruct your Second to hold a few troopers back from the evacuation? I would like to introduce you to Specialist Third Palasar. She has a proposal that you may wish to consider - once I have told you what we have seen.”

It was like looking into a mirror, except that there was no reflection - of anything.

Zoe found the vision fascinating and perplexing in equal measure. “Is it safe to touch?” she called back to Null, who nodded agreement, or maybe permission. Reaching out cautiously, Zoe tentatively tapped the anomaly with a finger, half expecting it to slide off the shining surface, or be repelled in some other fashion. Nothing like that happened. Her finger simply stopped as if it had come into contact with a solid object, but she could feel nothing.

Even when she pressed the palm of her hand flat against it, there was no physical sensation; only the evidence of her own eyes, and the fact that her hand would go no further.

“It’s very odd, I’ll grant you,’ Zoe admitted to Null as she walked back across the chamber towards him, ‘but to suggest that it is a solidified moment of time… I’m sorry, Null, that’s just too bizarre for me! In fact it sounds absolutely preposterous!”

Null just shrugged and waved away her comment. “That’s not really what I meant, Zoe. I don’t actually understand all this myself, as I told you. I’m just trying to tell you how I personally imagine temporal isolation to work - I never anticipated that I would need to understand it, that wasn’t my job. We were supposed to be re-activated by people who already knew all about it!” He was sitting on the deck outside the chamber, so that he could see and speak to Zoe more easily. His face still carried a trace of the stunned surprise he had displayed on opening the vault doors. Zoe had volunteered to enter alone, as Null was too big for the chamber that had been revealed.

There hadn’t been much sightseeing on the way here, Zoe reflected, as her huge companion had not wasted any time. As they rushed through various decks she had only been struck by the apparent emptiness of the place, although perhaps Null had a reason for travelling through specific corridors. When she had asked him about this, the pilot had explained that his ship was really not much more than a protective buffer zone around the treasure at its core; heavily compartmentalised for additional security.

There were more actively operational areas, such as the flight deck, engineering section, and the engines themselves: but the day to day living for the crew had mostly been aboard the survival pod.

When they had arrived at Null’s destination, he had pointed out a massive hatch cover that ran along one wall. “That contains my personal isolation chamber, Zoe, the one that was automatically opened by your arrival. Or at least, by your bio-trace, I believe. My crew… my friends… were all in larger units built into the survival pod. Something catastrophic - an accident or attack, maybe even mechanical failure - must have happened to them. But this is what I wanted to show you, Zoe…” He carried her further down the relatively short corridor section to stand in front of ‘The Vault of Memories’.

Naturally, Zoe had already noticed those doors; they would have been hard to miss, even if the lighting throughout the ship hadn’t increased. They more or less filled the end of this access corridor. There wasn’t very much in the way of distinguishing features though, they were fairly plain and utilitarian. At least for something that Null held in such obvious reverence, Zoe had thought. A crenellated parting ran down the center point, as if two melded cog wheels had been straightened out into a line; a Null-size keypad was inset into the right-hand door at the appropriate height. However, Zoe couldn’t see how even the pilot would be able to operate it. There appeared to be a solid seal of some transparent substance over it, like resin hardened around a prehistoric insect.

Lower down, there was a smaller door set into the large one. Null had drawn her attention to this, then gently set her down on the deck before it. Tapping a code into his wrist pad, he had explained. “We have a multiply redundant security system, Zoe, intended to ensure that only people who have the right may enter the vault. At least, that was the intention. Only I have the entry code to this door but, as you may have noticed, there is another step to be taken before I can access the keypad.’ The smaller door had now opened - apparently in response to Null’s signal. ‘This is where I would ask you to trust me, Zoe. I need you to step inside this sensor lock so that you can be scanned once more.”

Zoe looked dubiously at the revealed opening, which seemed to be unnaturally dark to her. Unless its size was simply an aesthetic affectation, which seemed unlikely given what else she had seen of Null’s ship; then it was intended for a being about two Jamie’s tall. “Why?” She had asked, simply.

The giant pilot had just repeated his request that she trust him, this time adding the promise that she would come to no harm. Zoe had decided to co-operate, despite her natural caution. It had seemed the most efficient way to find out just what all this was about.

Approaching the opening more closely, Zoe had noticed that it was not simply shadows that caused the darkness inside: the interior seemed to be constructed from black glass, uncomfortably reminiscent of an obsidian sarcophagus. Noting her hesitation, Null again reassured her. “It is perfectly safe, Zoe, you have my word on that. It is simply a more accurate scanning system than that built into my master control board on the flight deck. It is totally non-invasive - you won’t feel a thing, I promise.” Firming her resolve, Zoe had nodded her agreement and stepped into the darkness.

Once Null had ordered the door closed behind her, Zoe could see nothing at all for a few moments. Then a luminous blue glow began to form beneath her feet. More in curiosity than fear, she watched as the glow expanded to the sides of the dark space, transforming into a blue line that began to advance up the walls all around her. Zoe could see the blue line also travelling up her own body but, as Null had promised, she didn’t actually feel anything. She didn’t even have to squint when it passed the level of her eyes. Zoe watched the glow continue up towards the ceiling, where it had disappeared just as it had appeared; then a slight hiss of pressure differential informed her that the door was opening again.

Null collected her once more, beaming with pleasure. By this time it had seemed like the most natural thing in the world to step onto Null’s palm, allowing him to raise her. “Thank you so much, Zoe! I’m glad you could trust me - it worked! See?” Zoe felt herself whizzing upwards dizzily until she was facing the keypad that the pilot had pointed out before. Only now the substance that had been blocking access to it was dissolving or evaporating. Maybe even just fading out of existence - she really couldn’t make it out. Neither could she understand why this alien vessel seemed to recognize her. Null had tapped in a rapid sequence on the keypad, then stepped back to get a better view. Zoe, cradled against his chest, could feel that he was holding his breath.

Accompanied by the sounds of disengaging mechanisms, a hum of power, and a startlingly sharp hiss: the vertical jaws of the vault doors had separated. Each slowly slid aside into its respective wall, retreating into recesses that had not been apparent before. They revealed another chamber beyond, centered in a solid looking bulkhead. Literally centered: the chamber’s floor started some distance above the corridors deck. Perhaps yet another security measure, but something else was a little odd about it. Frowning in puzzlement, Zoe had belatedly realized that, although it was still very big from her own perspective, there was no way that Null would be able to squeeze into it. “Um… is this what you were expecting to find?” she had asked. From his bewildered expression, and the slow denial of his shaking head, it had been obvious that it was not.

And so Zoe had been the one to enter the chamber, or perhaps antechamber, with Null’s approval and assistance. She had first noticed that it contained several banks of sophisticated looking consoles. However, these were evidently designed to be operated from a standing position. Quiet apart from the absence of any seating, Zoe could not see the desk surfaces, only the display monitors that filled the walls above them. However, these were of little immediate interest to Zoe: she had instead found her attention being drawn to the luminous, mirror-like surface at the far end of the chamber.

Now that she had had the opportunity to study it up close, Zoe felt no nearer to understanding it. Null’s fumbling attempts at explanation had been no help, in fact she suspected that he was just as confused as she was. Fighting down the small part of herself that suspected that he was being deliberately evasive, Zoe asked. “You weren’t expecting to be unable to enter the vault yourself, were you?” Null looked momentarily distracted, then shrugged again.

“To be honest? No, it just never occurred to me that the vault might be of a scale with a previous generation. Although, now that I have had time to process the matter… perhaps it should have been obvious. I had always assumed that we were not just sent to act as guardians of the vault; but that we would play an active role in recovering the Memories. As much as I dislike the notion, I have to conclude that we were misled for some reason…’ He paused for thought for a moment, then looked back at Zoe so sharply that she almost jumped. “You can speak my language, Zoe, you were able to understand the writing on the flight deck. Do you think that you might be able to do the same with the systems in there?”

Zoe looked up speculatively at the towering consoles around her. “Well, I don’t see why not, Null. You could say that I have a talent for languages these days, but… You will have to reach in here and hold me up so that I can see the displays. I assume that the language will be the same as on your board?’ Null confirmed this with a perfunctory nod. ‘Then all I should have to do is read out what I see, I guess. Any instructions or information would probably mean more to you than they would to me!”

Null remained seated outside the anti-chamber, but adjusted his position slightly. Once he was comfortable, he made a passable seat of his cupped hand, then carefully offered it to the girl that he was rapidly coming to consider a friend. “Thank you for doing this, Zoe, I am very grateful for your assistance. I promise that, whatever we find out here - my next priority will be the recovery of your companions.”

As he approached the entry portal with his escort, the Doctor had to fight down the uncomfortable suspicion that he was about to be thrown to the wolves…

At least, this time, his passage through the Indigo Flame had been a little more dignified than his initial experience! Silandor had assumed command again, once he had spoken to the Doctor, and tasked Sub-Commander Talamane herself to introduce him to ‘The Enclaves’, his original escort having been ordered elsewhere. She had been courteous and polite, a most delightful guide in fact, and she had given him a few little tidbit’s about the people he was going to meet.

However, she had also spent quite some time holding a one-sided conversation with someone that the Doctor couldn’t see. He had assumed that this must be a subordinate, already with the members of the enclaves, simply from the tone of her instructions. This too was a handy bonus, as it allowed the Doctor time to review the Clade Commander’s last few comments to him.

“Do not be surprised, Dokta,’ Silandor had said, ‘if they have already surmised much of what I have told you. From my own conversations, I imagine that they must already suspect that I have kept some details from them. They have been informed of the temporal discrepancies that we have encountered, but not in full detail.”

And: “Do not underestimate the intelligence of these people, Dokta. They are the descendants of a great Oortelian legacy. If you let slip even a hint of a technology that we do not currently possess - that could be the spark that sets the forest aflame.”

And: “This is a request, Dokta, not an order. Please do not mention your encounter on board the derelict… I suppose I should stop calling it that, really. Allow me the time to gain a better understanding of the situation - I will inform the Honored Elders of the enclaves myself, when I consider it wisest to do so. Also, I would appreciate it if you do not initiate any speculative theorising yourself. Rather, I suggest that you confine yourself to responding or contributing when they speculate - and believe me, they will.

‘Endlessly, if permitted…”

Talamane stalked ahead of him, still whispering something to thin air, and the portal irised open for her. He could hear another voice coming from inside, announcing his own imminent arrival. As the sub-commander invited him to step through the portal, the Doctor took a fortifying breath, straightened his bow tie: and marched in to meet his audience.