Doctor Who Forgotten Suns Chapter Thirty Four

Silandor was beginning to pay attention more to the people around him, than to the Visi-Sphere display itself. He noted that Revelar looked as if he had been gut-punched as he took the coms-wand. “Are… Are you saying that we really have found a Ship of The Ancients, Thadokta?” The theorist rasped.

“No, Revelar. I am suggesting that this may be a possible explanation for the fossil fragment’s, and the debris, that your people have discovered over the years. I’m afraid that I cannot possibly comment on any - conclusions - that the Oortelian species may have arrived at based on such evidence.” ( Good answer, Dokta, Silandor thought to himself.)

“Ah, yes, Thadokta. I quite understand. But then, didn’t you just infer that this ship employed some form of time travel? I mean, you seemed to be agreeing with my theory, for a moment there.”

“Well, yes and no, my friend.’ (Silandor took a quick look at the Visi-Sphere. Dokta was once again centered in the view.) ‘You see, this vessel’s very presence here seems to indicate the existence of a… a realm outside of existence. I mean… even if these people had mastered light speed velocities, it would still have taken this ship five billion years to get to its current location, would it not? Also, you must note that it only advanced forward in time, and that this certainly wasn’t a planned, or controlled, excursion!”

The Clade Commander allowed the words to tune out of his awareness. Not that it wasn’t interesting, but he was more interested in judging the mood of the room. He was sure that he would pick up on anything that seemed particularly important. From his position, still seated in the aisle adjacent to Valmik’s seat, Silandor could only see those not obscured by the Visi-Sphere, and the stage upon which it stood. This presented no difficulties, however - he had other senses to call on. The general atmosphere was calm and collected, with an electric tang of intellectual fascination… Curiosity… Anticipation.

For the first time, Silandor became consciously aware of just how relaxed he currently felt in this company. His previous experiences with the enclaves in general, and certain individuals in particular, had mostly been adversarial. Silandor had always been supremely aware of the distaste and distrust that civilians exuded, when confronted with the military - himself most of all. However, he was honest enough, at least with himself, to acknowledge that he tended to react aggressively to such sensations - no doubt exacerbating the tension! Now, he could see these - very clever people - actually doing what they had come out here for, and the change in their general demeanor was remarkable.

Without knowing why, Silandor found himself listening to Dokta again, even as he continued to study those around him.

“Yes, I tend to agree with you there, Revelar. It does seem very likely that the ‘time bubble’ anomaly that your people discovered was indeed another effect from the accident… Sabotage… Enemy action, whatever. I would even go so far as to suggest more…”

After an uncomfortable pause, Revelar cleared his throat. “Er… Please do, Thadokta!”

“Oh, sorry, old chap! I was just ordering my thoughts. I’m wondering if this ship may have arrived here much longer ago than you suspect. Perhaps even before Oortelians existed! It’s just a thought, but what if it re-entered our universe protected within a much larger bubble of, um… ‘Slow time’? I imagine that this would have… dissipated… gradually, over the millennia - reaching the point of almost having evaporated entirely, by the time of your arrival.”

“That seems a little convenient, Thadokta. And, if you will excuse me, a bit far-fetched!”

“It does, doesn’t it? But I do believe that it is worth investigating.”

Deciding that he had heard enough, Silandor blanked out their voices again, concentrating on the scents that he could taste in the air of the auditorium. Instead of the fractious discontent and resentment he had become used to on this long voyage, the Commander could detect little more than the - tantalizing - aftertaste of live insects. True, this was heavily disguised by the odour of so many Oortelians in a confined space, but Silandor had become long accustomed to this - he no longer noticed it - unless he actively tried to. Mostly, he just got the impression that these dedicated people were - satisfied? Vindicated? They gave off a subtle aroma that… they were pleased. (Perhaps he should have enlisted their assistance earlier, but how could he have known how events would transpire?)

A new voice distracted him. “Thadokta!’ (It was the Archivist First, naturally!) ‘You mentioned that the full records that you have discovered  may be made available to us. Are you suggesting that you might withhold that information from us?”

Looking at the Visi-Sphere as Dokta replied, Silandor believed that he was beginning to recognise some of the alien’s facial contortions. He looked rather uncomfortable and evasive as he replied. “Well, not me personally, Valmik. I do not believe that is my decision to take”

The Archivist immediately turned to Silandor. “Is it your decision, Clade Commander?” He asked, suspiciously.

Feeling sure that he understood just what Dokta was alluding to, Silandor decided to accept the blame, at least for the present. “My apologies Archivist First, but as Commander of this mission, I am bound by my orders. Any and all such information discovered, must first be cleared by Fleet Intelligence. I personally have no say in the matter, but I am sure that once the data has been cleared, it will be made available.”

“Hmmph!’ Valmik snorted, clearly expressing his displeasure. But the waves of anger and suspicion that the Commander had been expecting did not materialise. Instead, the Archivist simply addressed the coms-wand again, saying, ‘I trust that you heard that, Thadokta? Now do you understand why it is so important that we of the enclaves should be on that ship?”

On the Visi-Sphere, Dokta was clasping both hands about his lower face, tapping his forefingers against the fleshy protuberance at its center. Lowering them, the alien seemed to look straight into Silandor’s eyes, as he asked, “Clade Commander? Are you ready?”

“Yes, Dokta,’ Silandor replied, inwardly cursing his use of the man’s given name, instead of the honourific. ‘I do believe I am.” Feeling much more confident than he had anticipated, the Clade Commander rose to his feet to make the announcement.

The Archivist First had decided to shelve the issue of information distribution, for the time being. He felt confident that, now that Silandor had actually witnessed how valuable the enclaves’ contributions could be… Well, perhaps the man would be more amenable to reasoned discourse. It had been good to see the Commander taken down a peg or two by Ixtlequay! Of course, the crafty old star-seeker had known his identity all along - she had simply fired off a few shots from behind the battlements of advanced age. What had surprised Valmik most, however, was how the Clade Commander had taken it in such good part! He was obviously aware of her identity, and had treated the old lady with genuine respect. Valmik very much doubted that many others could talk to Silandor in that manner. At least, not without getting their head handed to them!

Observing the Commander rise to his feet, after that most curious exchange with Thadokta, Valmik could almost feel the energy radiating off the big man. ( This should be interesting, he thought.)

“Fellow Oortelians,’ the Commander began, ‘…and note my use of that term, for we now know that we are not alone. We now know that our galaxy, and maybe even the further reaches of the universe, can contain other sentient life-forms. How will we react, if and when we encounter them? I believe that we have set a good precedent, with Thadokta and his human friends!’

(Valmik was not alone in agreeing with this sentiment, and a susurration of approval wafted around the amphitheater.)

‘We have been able to work together, to cooperate for our mutual benefit, and the advancement of knowledge!’ Silandor allowed himself a dramatic pause, as if carefully weighing the consequences of his next words. ‘You all know that I have been less than honest with you - at least I have been honest about that! - I truly believed I was acting in everyone’s best interests… So you will no doubt be unsurprised, when I admit to holding back one more secret...’ The Archivist First was surprised when Silandor, apparently anticipating his involuntary resurgence of distrust, gripped his shoulder firmly. ‘However, I want you all to bear this in mind. Your reactions to what I am about to tell you - will prove if I was wrong in doing so, or not.”

Silence reigned. Noticing movement at the corner of his eye, Valmik looked back at the Visi-Sphere. Thadokta was nodding, apparently in approval, as he listened to the Clade Commander’s speech. For his part, Silandor seemed satisfied with the non-response, so continued. ‘Much of what Thadokta has just told us is news to me, also. But inferring from what I did know, I can tell you that only five of the crew were aboard the destroyed part of that ship. The pilot was… frozen in time, somewhere on the half that survived.

‘He is now awake, and I think that you should meet him.”

The Clade Commander directed everyone’s attention to the Visi-Sphere, before sitting down on the floor again. All eyes were glued to the view as Thadokta, making a hand clapping gesture, nodded decisively. The image inside the globe blurred for a few moments, before refocusing on an Oortelianoid figure in a strange vac-suit. It was against a blank background, so there was no indication of scale. Until one noticed that it held a gloved hand to its chest, perhaps in some form of salute… and standing on the back of that hand was Specialist Third Palasar!

The reaction in the auditorium was in stark contrast to that which had greeted the initial appearance of Thadokta. Instead of pandemonium, a deep hush blanketed the room. Valmik wasn’t even sure that anyone was actually breathing! This was just well, for Palasar immediately began speaking.

“Fellow Oortelians! It is my great pleasure to introduce to you, the Captain and pilot of this vessel, Aleph Null!”

The deafening silence that greeted this announcement was broken by a deep baritone voice. “Greetings to you all.’ it said in recognisable Oortelian. ‘Clade Commander Silandor. As this is a formal meeting, I would be addressed as Captain Aleph.” The Ancient, for Valmik found himself unable to believe that the Captain could be anything else, leaned forward slightly as he lowered Palasar gently out of sight. In that brief moment, he was startled to realise that he could see a clear reflection in Aleph’s helmet visor. It was the Tec recording the visi-com images, of course. She appeared to be standing on the armrest of a huge chair. As Silandor replied to the greeting, Valmik was deeply glad that he was not required to speak yet. (He wasn’t sure that he could !)

“Greetings to you, also, Captain Aleph,’ the Clade Commander said, with enviable calm. ‘I would like to offer an official apology, on behalf of the Oortelian Hegemony, for the unfortunate misunderstanding earlier. I request that we put the matter behind us. You have here the opportunity to address our finest minds, and believe me, they are keen to hear your story. Although Thadokta has done some fine work with your records, are you able to expand on what he has presented? You will not be interrupted.

‘Please?”

It was very difficult to tell what was going on behind that blank, golden screen. It was almost a shock when Captain Aleph began to speak. “Yes, he has been very helpful. You have to understand, much of what Thadokta uncovered… It came as news to myself, also. I am still having difficulty coming to terms with this experience, but I shall do my best.

‘Firstly, although I have no understanding of the technology, it is true that I have been in an isolation chamber all this time. However, what you may not understand is, practically no time at all has passed for me. As far as I could tell, I left my chamber only moments after entering it. To discover that half my ship was gone, along with my entire crew - my friends - I think it drove me a little bit mad for a while. Now, to discover that my entire civilisation - my entire species - has been extinct for five billion years: when I left Home less than six months ago… I cannot even begin to process that!

Valmik tried to picture himself in that situation, how it might feel… but it just wouldn’t parse. He shuddered in sympathy, and from the looks of introspection he saw around him, concluded that his reaction was not exclusive.

“As far as this ‘time anomaly’ business that has been bandied about,’ Captain Aleph continued, ‘I cannot help. I was not aware of it. But I can confirm what Thadokta said about myself and my crew. We were the end product of generations of genetic engineering. However, we coexisted with our baseline progenitors, and never asked why …’ He became very still for a moment, then brought his hand up, as if to touch his own face, before remembering that he was wearing an all concealing helmet. The giant appeared to study the hand briefly, as if not recognising what it was.

Valmik had the horrible thought that the Ancient might still be ‘a little bit mad’, but Captain Aleph lowered his arm. Straightening his shoulders, the pilot started again.

“I am grateful to the Clade Commander, for accepting responsibility, but I believe that Thadokta was actually leaving it to my discretion. As to whether I would share my data with you or not, I mean. I can assure you, I will be happy to make my files available to you - now that Thadokta has managed to decipher them for me. You see, even I would not have access to this information, were it not for his assistance. And that of his companions, Zoee in particular…”

As he was speaking, Captain Aleph appeared to be looking around for something. Finally, he tilted his whole upper body, so that he could look down to his right. But he jerked back, presumably in surprise, as a horrendously loud - and indescribably unpleasant - noise erupted from the speakers around the auditorium. Tec-Op Imanol reacted commendably quickly, despite his own pain, and slammed the volume dial to zero.

But the damage had already been done. As everyone in the amphitheater collapsed in pain or shock, only Silandor had reacted faster. Clamping his hands to his tympanic membranes, almost before he was aware that he needed to, Silandor remained conscious for a little longer. Long enough to see the swaying view on the Visi-Sphere tilt forward, providing a vertiginous sensation of falling helplessly…

Before everything blanked out…