Doctor Who Forgotten Suns Chapter Seventeen

It wasn’t nearly as bad as the Doctor had been anticipating.

He found himself inside a large circular room, which looked like nothing so much as a ‘space-age’ version of an ancient Roman amphitheater. This impression was emphasized by the tiered rows of seating that ringed the space. With Talamane acting as his escort and (possibly) bodyguard; he ambled cautiously down a pathway to the central stage, studying the gathered Oortelians that he passed. Curbing his natural inclination to smile greetings to all and sundry, the Doctor restricted himself to polite nods of acknowledgement.

The enclave representatives studied him in turn, with every appearance of - as far as the Doctor could tell - amazement and fascination, underpinned by intense curiosity. They were clothed differently from the Oortelians that he had met so far, favouring robes and tabards in heavy cloths of bewildering variety. If these were intended to indicate variations of rank or affiliation, they meant nothing to the Doctor.

He had not actually been expecting applause, of course, but a barrage of questions from a baying mob would not have surprised him unduly. He was very grateful to be proved wrong in his assumptions: the gathered crowd observed him in total silence as he approached the central stage.

Having been more intent on making eye contact with as many of these people as he could, the Doctor was startled to be confronted by his own features writ large as he ascended the steps. A very big globe took pride of place on the stage, containing an unsettlingly magnified close-up of his own face. He hastily recovered his composure, as Talamane joined him on the platform. She began to address everyone, her voice pitched to carry throughout the room.

“Honored Elders, Enclave representatives, and fellow Oortelians, thank you for your patient attention. Thadokta here is the first intelligent non-Oortelian that we have ever encountered, as you well know - I am pleased that you have agreed to greet him with such dignity.’ She turned her attention to one particular fellow in the front row of seating, respectfully asking, ‘Archivist First Valmik. May I assume that the suggestions passed on by Coms-Spec Thraxle met with the approval of the enclaves?”

“You may indeed, Sub-Commander, the proposal was most acceptable.’ The Archivist First, whom the Doctor thought looked to be an older gentleman - if his throat wattles were any indication - rose to his feet. ‘If I may first formally greet our celebrated guest, Sub-Commander?’ He hardly acknowledged the officer as she stepped back, waving the (slightly nervous) Doctor forward.

The Doctor entwined his fingers before his stomach and twiddled his thumbs, trying to look politely attentive. ‘On behalf of the Oortelian Enclaves,’ Valmik began, ‘please allow me to extend our warmest welcome, Thadokta. It truly is a momentous occasion for us. I trust that the Clade Commander’s people have been treating you well, and I hope that your medical examination went smoothly, causing no discomfort or distress to you.”

The Doctor blinked in surprise at this last, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead as he briefly licked his lips. He had no recollection of any medical exam, but concluded that it might be best not to mention that just now. As least he was able to reply with completely honesty. “No, no, none at all, Archivist First! Thank you for your concern, and for your most generous welcome!’ He momentarily considered correcting the man’s usage of his name, but decided it would probably be easier all round if he just accepted it. ‘Er… I believe that you have some questions for me? I cannot promise that I will know all the answers, and I may well have some questions of my own… but I always enjoy a good chat!”

“A good answer, Thadokta! You are correct, I believe that we have much to discuss! However, we do not wish to overwhelm or confuse you by all talking at once…’ Valmik cast an ironic gaze around at his fellows, but no-one noticed his theatricality. Although all were nodding agreement, they had eyes only for the alien, so he hurried on. ‘We have allocated subjects to various representatives, Thadokta, and they will introduce themselves to you, before posing their question. If anyone has anything to contribute to a particular discussion, they will raise a hand and wait for your permission to speak. This seemed like the most efficient approach to take. Are you happy with that suggestion, Thadokta?”

The Doctor agreed that this seemed a most sensible way to proceed, then tugged at an ear as he enquired. “I get the feeling that we may be here some time, Archivist First. Would anyone mind terribly if I sat down?” He had fully intended to just plonk himself down on the stage, but one of the Oortelians already on the platform brought a chair across for him. He sat down gratefully. “Well then, where do you suggest that we start?”

Resuming his own seat in the audience, Valmik looked back expectantly. “As you know, Thadokta, I am Archivist First Valmik. Before anything else, we would very much like to hear a more detailed explanation of your presence on the Ship of The Ancients, if you please!”

Having half expected this to be the first thing asked, the Doctor rubbed his chin as he gathered his thoughts, then began to repeat his (slightly edited) account again. “Well, it was all a most unexpected accident, really. My companions, Jamie and Zoe, and I, were travelling in our ship on a very routine journey. Everything was going swimmingly - I even had the opportunity to make some routine upgrades to the ships systems - when suddenly we encountered some turbulence…”

It wasn’t too long before the Doctor’s story was interrupted, as a number of hands were raised requesting acknowledgement. He gestured to someone at random, not having any way to determine who might be the most appropriate choice. The Oortelian stood and introduced himself. “Thank you, Thadokta, I am Theoretical Possibilities First Revelar. Forgive me if I am misunderstanding your words - are you saying that your craft landed, or perhaps crashed, inside the Ship of The Ancients?”

“Er… yes… well, as it happens, that is exactly what I am saying.”

“But how is that possible, Thadokta? Were you drawn inside through some opening that we are unable to locate?”

“That is a possibility, I suppose. My ship is quite small…’

The Doctor paused thoughtfully, then shrugged helplessly. ‘But as I told you, none of us actually saw that ship from the outside, so I have no idea. My ship was being subjected to a considerable shaking about, the three of us were thrown all over the place! Not to mention that the control room was full of smoke! It was a great relief when we were alerted to our landing, I don’t mind telling you! But we didn’t actually know where we had landed, I’m afraid… At least, not until we left our own craft.”

Revelar nodded slowly. “Thank you, Thadokta. I would like to discuss this further, my enclave has many theories that may provide possible explanations. However, that can wait… please continue.’ He made to seat himself then stopped, as if suddenly remembering something. ‘Oh, one other thing, Thadokta. A personal question regarding a disputed theory - are your people of Mammalian origins?” Before the Doctor could begin to formulate a response, the Archivist, Valmik, sharply instructed Revelar to be seated.

“This isn’t the time for your pet theories, Revelar! And we don’t want to offend our guest, do we?’ He sounded as if he imagined that the Doctor might find such a suggestion grossly insulting. As soon as Valmik invited him to proceed once more, the Doctor hurried to put everyone at ease.

“That’s quite alright, Valmik, and no offense is taken, Revelar! If it will help to resolve a dispute, I see no reason not to answer. Indeed, we do represent species’ of mammalian origins, just as you Oortelians are quite obviously reptilian. No harm done!’ He didn’t see any need to mention that he and his friends were actually from different species themselves: he had no desire to complicate matters even further. Leaning forward in his chair, the Doctor rubbed his hands on his thighs, making a show of collecting his thoughts. ‘Now then,’ he began, ‘where was I?”

It wasn’t long before the next interruption, which he did not find entirely surprising.

Having reviewed the events that took place during his seclusion with Dokta, Clade Commander Silandor returned his attention to the main screen. It was fortunate that the little alien had not heard much of the conversation between Specialist Palasar and his friend, Jaymee, before Silandor raised the privacy screen. It was even more fortunate that neither of them had seen the view from the Choltz woman’s visi-com. Silandor was unsure how he himself would have reacted to the sight of those dead troopers, at least in real time. That was the main advantage of replaying the recordings on his personal display pad, he supposed: it gave one a little distance from the scene.

For a while he had puzzled over their presence there in the first place.

Why had Faramandar chosen to risk revealing the presence of his covert patrol to the official team? Then it struck him: the other two aliens! The troopers were probably attempting to capture them, planning to do so before Palasar’s detachment entered that section, which meant that Faramandar’s patrol were concealed somewhere nearby.

With the luxury of hindsight, he considered this to be an ill-considered tactical decision. The absence of the friends that Dokta had reported to Palasar would have raised suspicions: if not in her, then most definitely in her First. (Then again, Faramandar would not have been privy to that conversation…)

More critically, however, those soldiers had paid for his brother’s miscalculation with their lives. Obviously, nobody could have anticipated the arrival of the giant alien - that horribly warped and distorted embodiment of a character from legend, but if the troopers hadn’t been there at that exact moment…

No, it was just horrendously unfortunate timing. Second guessing past decisions served little useful purpose, outside of Officer Training School. Silandor was unsure what to make of the killings, but naturally found them deeply worrisome. Evidently the unexpected ‘Ancient’ could have also wiped out Palasar’s team with ease, but had chosen not to do so.

Its behavior was deeply puzzling. However, Dokta’s friend, Jaymee, claimed to have understood what the creature had said. The message had seemed pretty unequivocal to the Clade Commander, and he imagined that both Ghost Patrol First’s would come to a similar conclusion. It was now inevitable that they would meet soon. Silandor felt his decision to cut off Palasar’s feed to the Visi-Sphere was now doubly justified. Even in the shadow of larger concerns, he suspected that the enclave’s elders would not look too kindly on his well-intentioned subterfuge.

On the main viewer, Specialist Palasar’s quarter-screen was now focused on a close-up of the alien Jaymee’s face. She was evidently attempting to establish a rapport by ministering to his injuries. Dokta’s companion also had an astonishing grasp of the Oortelian language, but occasionally his peculiar accent made his words incomprehensible. Silandor muted the sound feed through his personal screen controls, bringing up the sound for the Mech-Tec’s screen. It soon became obvious to the Clade Commander that the man had no clear instructions to follow by this point.

His view kept alternating between all the different areas of activity happening around him, which was sound practice, but evidently the man did not possess the initiative to provide a verbal commentary of what he was observing. However, a quick examination of the other two quarters were even less useful. Tec-Op Choltz seemed unable to draw her attention from a group of troopers that were collecting a body from half-way down the next corridor section. Worse yet, the soldier that had been providing the overview screen was one of those troopers! His screen was showing the recovery of the corpse in close-up detail.

Without further consideration, Silandor enlarged Enteberol’s screen, so that it occluded the other three, then sat back to consider his options.

As he switched his personal display over to monitor Dokta’s meeting with the enclave’s, he realized that his inability to communicate directly with those aboard the other ship didn’t really leave him many. Whether it was because of some property in the vessels hull metal, or an effect of the apparent time distortion surrounding it: the situation was intensely frustrating.

Silandor determined that he must find a workable solution to this problem as a matter of priority.

It was as he began to describe the flight deck that he, Zoe, and Jamie had found themselves on that - predictably enough - the Doctor noticed stirrings in his audience, and a flock of hands rose into the air. This time he really wasn’t keen to nominate anyone, so he glanced towards Valmik for assistance. The Archivist took this as his cue to rise and address his associates. “Friends, I believe that we all want to know the same things here, so I shall take the liberty of opening this subject myself. Please continue to control your enthusiasm, and I’m sure that we will be able to proceed more efficiently.”

The Doctor felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as the Archivist turned back to him. He had the strongest suspicion that things might get a little involved here, and Zoe and Jamie were never far from his thoughts. He resigned himself to deal with one thing at a time, as Valmik asked. “Would you be kind enough to elaborate on this ‘flight deck’, Thadokta? Only, unless I am misinterpreting what you say, you appear to be describing a room built for… giants. Is that correct?”

“That’s right, Archivist First,’ the Doctor replied quietly, ‘I couldn’t quite believe it myself, at first. Not only was the room itself extremely large, but the seating that we saw was much too big for people like us - and I am including your good selves in that observation. I shall attempt to demonstrate.’ The Doctor rose from his chair and continued to explain, gesticulating unconsciously. “Now, by this point my friends and I had decided that we needed to explore further to, er… Well, just to see what was what, really. Remember, our ship was damaged, so we couldn’t leave right away, as much as we may have wanted to.

‘We couldn’t see a way off the flight deck, so the best option was to examine the control panel in front of the pilot’s seat. This should give you a better idea of the size of the, um… furniture. Now, my friend Jamie is about this tall,’ he waved a hand vaguely above his head. ‘Zoe is about my height, and she had to stand on Jamie’s shoulders before she could even reach the level of the seat itself!”

“One moment, Thadokta,’ requested Valmik, ‘are you saying that this ship was built by very large Oortelianoids?”

“Eh?’ blinked the Doctor. ‘Oh! Oh, of course! I see what you mean! Yes, the way that everything was designed or configured led me to that conclusion. The occupants would definitely have matched the bipedal model, despite their uncommon size.” Anything further that the Doctor may have said would have been drowned out by the sudden uproar. All around the amphitheater people became embroiled in arguments, while others rose to their feet shouting out questions. The Doctor took an involuntary step back, but placed a calming hand on Talamane’s arm as she came to stand beside him.

Everyone was clearly very excited, but the Doctor did not believe that anyone meant him any harm. It actually seemed to him that they were simply unable to bottle up their emotions any longer; as if the previous calm was simply too difficult to maintain. Archivist First Valmik, on the other hand, looked absolutely furious as he stormed up onto the stage. He flicked a hand at the Oortelian seated at a console by the large globe at center stage, shook his head, and then indicated to Talamane that he would handle this situation himself.

He did this by the simple expedient of crossing his arms over his chest and stalking around the circular stage. At each point he would stop and glare at everyone in his line of sight, until they calmed down.

Those standing and looking towards the stage noticed him first, naturally, and hurriedly quietened those seated around themselves. Word spread quite fast, in both directions around the stage. By the time Valmik reached the area of the stage where a view of Thadokta was obscured by the Visi-Sphere, he was almost surprised that they were still shouting. Once they had subsided under the glowering threat of his disapproval, Valmik glanced back at the sphere itself. Instead of the view of the back of Thadokta’s head he had expected to see, the Archivist found himself looking at the same frozen representation of the alien’s face that he had seen from his own seat.

As he completed his circuit of the slowly calming amphitheater, Valmik occasionally allowed himself a quick peek at the Visi-Sphere, only to be presented with the self-same image each time. How this was achieved he could not begin to guess, but - as much as it intrigued him - he put the odd phenomena out of his mind as he raised his voice. “My friends, you embarrass me! You embarrass yourselves! While I can understand your fervor – and you all know that I share it - I had hoped that we would be able to show a more unified front… a more dignified reception, to our guest.’

By this time he had returned to his starting point. ‘Please, Thadokta, forgive our reactions,’ he offered, ‘I imagine you have little idea of just how important your revelations are to the Oortelian people.”

“I believe that I am beginning to suspect, just a bit, Archivist First,’ the Doctor replied, then - reluctantly - forced himself to ask, ‘but, if it would not take too much time, perhaps you would care to explain it to me?” Valmik agreed to this request effusively, so the Doctor sat himself back down as Valmik returned to his own place in the audience. He watched rather glumly as the Archivist also sat down - evidently the fellow was settling in for a long speech.

Much of it followed a very similar line to Silandor’s own summary, until the archeological discoveries on Indigo were uncovered, when the Archivist offered the floor to that theories chap. Revelar, much to the Doctor’s surprise. “You must understand, Thadokta,’ began the younger Oortelian, ‘that until this discovery, our people had always had a certain understanding of where we had come from. Evidence of the existence of gigantic reptiles in Oortelia’s deep past led to the birth of a new science: to study these fossils and discover as many as could be found. A bewildering variety of species were brought to light over the decades, showing that many changes had taken place over millions of years.

‘The fossils that were closest to us in geological time were much smaller in size than those first giant lizards. Although no direct link to these beasts has been found, even to this day, the logical conclusion was that we were the ultimate product of an evolutionary process. It was the only explanation for our existence as a species - until the finds on the planet Indigo! Although the surviving evidence was scarce and fragmentary, it was a clear indication of another civilization - a race of giants, long extinct. Even as these clues were studied on Indigo, increasing efforts were made to discover if these Ancients had ever existed on Oortelia.”

“Am I to take it that such evidence was found?” the Doctor interjected, already knowing the answer.

Revelar looked triumphant as he replied. “Yes, Thadokta! It took many, many solar orbits, but incontrovertible proof was eventually found! The fossil records, and other evidence discovered, showed that the Ancients had indeed been present on our home world! Can you imagine how this changed our view of our own place in the universe? Is it not much more likely that the Oortelian species are the devolved descendants of an advanced spacefaring culture, rather than merely evolved from simple animals?”

“Yes, I can certainly see the appeal of such a notion.” The Doctor replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, adding sotto voce, ‘we all create God in our own image, I suppose.” He had actually just been ruminating to himself, so was surprised when Revelar answered him.

“You misunderstand me, Thadokta, the Ancients were not Gods. They were our ancestors! Again, we have found no direct link as yet, but our people have spent generations searching the stars to discover it.”

Archivist First Valmik gestured Revelar to be seated, as he pronounced, “And judging by your testimony, Thadokta, it would appear that we have at last reached the end of our long quest!”

With a mild frisson of alarm, the Doctor realized that he now had a better understanding of the Clade Commanders concerns.

Silandor’s cryptic comments had appeared to be deliberately vague and, perhaps, overly dramatic at the time: but if these people really believed that clues to the origin of their species were to be found on that ship… Well, that seemed rather unlikely, given the Commander’s description of the vessel’s pilot!

“Ah… I’m sure I couldn’t comment on that, Valmik,’ the Doctor hedged, ‘although I can honestly say that I personally saw no evidence of… giant versions of yourselves on the alien ship. The rest of the vessel appeared to just be empty corridors, until I encountered Specialist Palasar’s group.”

“Oh, Thadokta!’ the Archivist First responded, sounding almost jovial, ‘just the existence of the Ship of The Ancients, as you describe it, is proof enough! Who else would have built - or even needed - a vessel of such dimensions? I am sure that when we are finally permitted to board the Ship ourselves… Well, we Oortelian’s are a patient people, and we have had many generations to learn how to decipher the Ancient’s secrets - I am sure we will eventually ferret out the truth!”

Shifting uncomfortably on his chair, the Doctor managed to control an urge to get up and pace.

Tugging thoughtfully on his lower lip, he considered just how to phrase his next enquiries.

Finally, he said, “Forgive me, Archivist First Valmik, I have no wish to cast aspersions on the work of yourselves or your predecessors, but if I understand you correctly…

‘You are suggesting that this vessel is the product of a civilization that became extinct before your own species existed, yes?’ On receiving a confirming blink, the Doctor continued. ‘Ah… Well, and please don’t think me flippant; but does it not strike you that the ship is in astonishingly good condition for something that old? Or are you suggesting that these Ancients may still be extant, somewhere out, um… There?”

“Those are good questions, Thadokta, and don’t think that we have not considered them ourselves.’ Valmik replied in a reasonable tone. ‘To answer the last first, no, we have no expectations of encountering living Ancients - no matter how far our species explores. They are long gone, leaving behind only tantalizing clues. The first long-range information that we received about the Ship’s existence was recorded generations ago - you can imagine our disbelief when it was finally received!’ He paused to sweep a gaze around several members of the audience, before coming back to rest on Talamane. ‘Indeed, Fleet was entirely convinced that the Ship was a derelict from another space-faring culture: evidence that we were not alone in the universe.

‘A not unreasonable position for the military to take, I freely admit: but as paradigm shifting as such a discovery would be, we of the enclaves hoped for so much more. That is why those of us present were willing to undertake such a long voyage, although we are beginning to suspect that it has actually been much longer than we realized at first…”

“I’m sorry?’ Perked the Doctor, suddenly intrigued. ‘I don’t think I understand?”

Valmik regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, then once more addressed his fellows. “Forgive me, my friends. I know you were promised a chance to address Thadokta yourself but, for the sake of expediency, I must again beg your indulgence. I will call upon the expertise of Archeologist First Saxatrage and Theoretical Possibilities First Revelar only, but first…’ He stood. ‘There is evidence that time is being, or has been, affected or… influenced in some fashion in the vicinity of the Ship of The Ancients, Thadokta.

‘How far that influence spreads is open to debate. The Clade Commander, for reasons of his own, has not been entirely forthcoming: but we can replay some very interesting recordings for you later, if you wish. For now, suffice it to say that, inside a certain sphere of influence - time itself appears to run at a different rate. We have had many debates concerning time and the Ancients over the generations.”

Gesturing to another, apparently elderly Oortelian, Valmik relinquished the floor. The Doctor watched with some concern as the old fellow was assisted to his feet by those either side of him. He was about to suggest that this was not strictly necessary, when the archeologist began speaking. “I am Saxatrage, Thadokta, it is a truly remarkable honor to meet you.’ His voice was surprisingly strong. ‘What my colleague is referring to, is the condition of the evidence that has been gathered from several disparate worlds, over a very long period of time. As each new finding was catalogued, certain anomalous readings began to be repeated. Originally, at the first sites, these were put down to error, or misunderstanding by our researchers. As the patterns recurred, however, we had to re-examine our assumptions.”

The old gentleman broke into a wheezy cough for a moment then, waving a hand in apology, continued in a lecturing tone. “It is really quite simple, when considered in hindsight, but it took us a considerable time to actually believe our own findings. Allow me to explain… The fossilized bone fragments were quite straightforward to analyze and examine, despite the astonishing discovery that they represented. The fossil formation followed precisely the same process as those we had been studying for so long on Oortelia itself, before we had even imagined leaving our home planet. This being the case, it was simplicity itself to confirm that they had been laid down in the same geological timeframe as the strata in which they were found.

'However, there were also fragments of technological artifacts, and trace elements of unidentifiable metals and chemicals. Now, some of the digs covered large areas, so any dating discrepancies were originally put down to these finds being unrelated to our main area of interest. Another factor was that much of the material was so strange, so alien, that our conclusions were not considered trustworthy. Even material that was found in close proximity to, or even fused with the fossil evidence… well, it was just dismissed as later contamination. In short, those readings that we were actually able to take of these artifacts… Indicated that they were younger, in geological terms, than the fossils of the Ancients themselves.

‘Obviously, the findings were dismissed as… dubious, at the very least. As the evidence became available for study by other enclaves, it was expected that the harder sciences may at least be able to glean some information from this material…’ Saxatrage creaked slowly around to beckon Revelar to stand, before being helped back into his own seat. ‘But it was actually the softest science of all that began to develop possible explanations.”

Bounding up from his seat enthusiastically, Revelar bowed to the venerable archeologist before turning to the stage. “Many thanks, Honored Elder, and hello again, Thadokta! You may recall that I wanted to discuss with you some ideas as to why your ship actually crashed inside the Ship of The Ancients? Good… excellent!’ As he acknowledged the agreement he had received, the younger Oortelian drew himself back almost defensively; as if anticipating ridicule or derision. ‘Now, please, Thadokta - hear me out before you dismiss what I am about to say - but I want to talk to you about…

'Time Travel!”