Doctor Who Forgotten Suns Chapter Twenty Nine

After initiating the data transfer and signing off, the Doctor looked thoughtfully at the console and then the scanner - there were so many things he wanted to do. Clicking his fingers as he made his decision, he danced about adjusting a multitude of settings on the console. He didn’t need the scanner to show the star maps, not now that the Oortelians were dealing with that side of things, so he switched it back to default scan, just in case anything happened out on the flight deck. (He was pretty sure that everyone was getting along nicely, but it never hurt to keep a weather eye out, just in case…)

One of the monitors on the console would be perfectly adequate to display the information he wished to study next, so whilst he sorted that out with one hand, he adjusted the settings on his newly installed microphone with the other. “Hello, Null, I’m talking to you on our private channel, but don’t worry if you are overheard replying to me, the Oortelians still won’t understand you. I wondered if you could clear up a few misconceptions I probably have.”

“I shall certainly try, Doctor.”

“Splendid! Now, from what little we have had time to go into so far, am I correct in believing that you are of genetically engineered stock, and if so, could you tell me a little more, please?” As he spoke, the Doctor was scrolling through various records, rapidly decrypting the secure files for more thorough examination later. Null asked him to clarify his question, so the Doctor, still frowning in intense concentration as his fingers flew across the keyboard, replied, ‘Certainly! I don’t understand why you are so large, or why this ship is so huge - beyond having to accommodate people your size, of course. Are all your species as big as you?”

Null was apparently thinking about this carefully, as it took him a while to reply. Finally he said. “I find this a difficult question to answer, Doctor, as I have always taken the universe as I found it. I shall tell you what I know, but I fear that it will only lead to further mysteries: questions that I never thought to ask before. Still… So be it.’ As the pilot paused briefly once more, the Doctor quickly checked the scanner. Everything looked quiet, but that was because it picked up nobody other than Null and Jamie in the viewing range, which he decided must mean that everything was reasonably peaceful. ‘The short answer, Doctor, is no, not all of my race were of my size. In fact, the majority were only a little more than twice your own height, on average. From the way my creshe-mates and I were treated and raised - not unkindly, just rapidly and efficiently - we came to the conclusion that this was the baseline form of our progenitor species.

'We were never told much more than that we were to be the latest soldiers to take part in a war that had raged for millennia, and the largest yet. I cannot tell you why our size was important, although after talking to Zoe I suspect that it is, at the very least, impractical. The ships we flew were built by the previous generations of our kind, and though they were larger than the Progenitors, they would have been too small to operate and fly our vessels. I find myself deeply confused by this fact for the first time. It is not a pleasant sensation, Doctor.”

“I quite understand, Null,’ the Doctor replied, looking thoughtfully at the small screen before him, ‘it is only natural. It is never pleasant when circumstances force one to question one’s own assumptions. Let’s move on, shall we? Can you tell me anything about this war of yours?”

“It isn’t my war, Doctor,’ The pilot sounded resigned rather that offended. ‘None of us had any part in starting the war - my generation hadn’t even been… created… way back then. But we fought it nonetheless. None of us ever questioned why, all we wanted to do was survive long enough to win. I’m sure that you want to know what it was about - the original cause, or excuse, or justification - I don’t know any of that! History - beyond the vaguest of propaganda modules - was not a priority in our training, and none of us really cared, to be honest. You may find this hard to believe, Doctor, but we didn’t even know who we were fighting, just that they were the enemy!”

Null had been becoming increasingly emotional as he said this. The Doctor couldn’t tell if he was angry at the war… or at himself, for never having questioned any of this before. Clearing his throat into the ensuing silence, the Doctor gently offered,’ I don’t think that you need to blame yourself over any of this, Null. I strongly suspect that your people were manipulated in more ways than just genetically. Programming is an ugly word when applied to a sentient being, but it was possibly part of your, um… condition… that you questioned nothing that you were told. Um… What were you told about this ship of yours? What was your mission?”

The Doctor felt uncomfortable at seeming to dismiss the previous subject so rapidly, but they really didn’t have the time for a more in-depth discussion. A deeply unsettling premonition was beginning to grip him, as he delved further into the now decrypted files.

A stark note of surprise coloured Null’s unexpected reply, as he said, “That will have to wait, Doctor, I believe that one of the Oortelians wishes to speak to me.”

“Whatever gives you that idea?” The Doctor asked in a mixture of alarm and hope.

“The one in grey and orange has just asked Jamie to join it on my seat’s armrest, so that he can translate.”

“And you understood her? Clearly ? You are not just inferring this from witnessed events?”

“Yes, Doctor, I can understand… her ? It is a female? How can you tell? No, never mind, it is of no matter!’ The pilot was almost in a state of shock, the Doctor surmised, his words bubbling out uncontrollably. ‘I cannot understand this. Previously I only heard chirps and clicks and whistles, when the lizard people spoke, but now she is speaking my own language as if born to it! Is this your doing, Doctor - your little experiment worked?”

“Ah, quite possibly,’ replied the Doctor, trying not to sound too surprised himself, ‘although I can’t take all the credit… the Tardis probably did most of the work, she’s a clever old thing! But, whatever you do, try not to answer Palasar before you get a translation from Jamie! I cannot begin to emphasise how important that is at this stage in the proceedings… Um… Why didn’t Palasar ask Zoe to do the honours?”

“Zoe appears to be in deep conversation with the larger lizard… I mean Oortelian. I cannot tell what they are talking about, but apparently Palasar didn’t want to get involved. Ah! She is speaking! Perhaps it would be easier if I just ignored her until Jamie starts talking. That would allow us to continue talking, even we are interrupted frequently. Do you concur?”

“One moment, Null.’ The Doctor requested, manipulating the scanner controls until he had a fairly decent view of Palasar sitting on the pilot seat. Next to her sat a rather flushed looking young Highlander, dutifully listening to what the specialist was saying. “Right, I see them now! In answer to your question, Null, I don’t think it would be a good idea to divide your attention just now. I am sure that the opportunity to resume our conflab will present itself at some point, but for the moment, please concentrate on Palasar. Well, Jamie, really. I have a lot of data to compile from your ship’s records, and I would like to present my findings to both yourself and the Oortelians simultaneously. I can listen in on your conversation, if you like, as I work. I’ll just leave this channel open - if you have no objection, of course - and I can hear the others quite clearly through the scanner.”

“I have no objections, Doctor, please continue with your work. I am deeply interested in hearing what you find out.”

The Doctor sighed, slumping slightly as he flicked a switch that cut his transmission to the giant, then slowly dragged his attention back to the screens display. “I don’t think you are going to like it, my friend.” He murmured sadly.

As the Doctor continued skimming through the records, just trying to absorb a general overview of the information presented, he listened to the conversation taking place on the flight deck. He found that he could tune out Palasar’s throaty - almost musical - voice, and just pay attention when Jamie and Null were talking. Thus he was able to ignore the otherwise irritating repetition involved. The Oortelian’s questions, faithfully ‘translated’ by Jamie, proved interesting.

Jamie: “Hello, Null, thank you again for agreeing to cooperate with us. May I ask you some more questions?”

Null: “You may certainly ask, Palasar, although I cannot promise to answer.”

Jamie: “Are you alone? I mean, are you the only one of your kind on this ship? Are we likely to encounter any more of your race?”

Null (after an uncomfortable pause:) “I can’t answer that. I honestly don’t know if there are any more like me left, Palasar… Yes, I am the only survivor of whatever caused the damage to my craft, though. Originally we were a crew of six. The other five were all in the section of the ship that was destroyed. Epsilon Tau, Beta Aristophanes, and the others… I...

‘They went into the survival pod preparatory to entering isolation, while I flew the ship alone. Everything appeared to be running perfectly, all systems were slaved into my Master Control Board, and I had full access to the survival pod’s superior sensors.

‘When I was satisfied that we had reached safe distance - and were still on course for the specified coordinates - I ran a final check on the integrity of all ships systems, then went to wish my friends farewell. As Captain, it was my also my responsibility to ensure that the crew’s chambers would activate properly when I sent the signal. Of course, they didn’t hear my goodbyes… they were all sleeping soundly inside their chambers by then, but I didn’t feel like just leaving them. They all looked so peaceful… Particularly the women…’

The Doctor’s ears perked up on hearing this, and he halted the playback on his monitor. He realised that he had made another woefully inaccurate assumption on this ship - this time regarding the kind of being that he was dealing with. (Although he had yet to meet any personally, the Doctor had heard quite a few lectures at the Academy about genetically altered races or species. What had stuck in his memory the most, was that so many of them went down the path to cloning, creating each succeeding generation from genetic templates. Eventually the need for two (or more) genders became superfluous, and was written out of the code.)

This had sparked an interest in the younger Doctor, who thought that it would be fascinating to meet such a species. He had wanted to talk to individual representatives, to see if they really were individuals; and to study their thinking on many diverse subjects. Unfortunately, to date he hadn’t ( to the best of his knowledge, ) encountered a cloned race in his travels. (He briefly considered the Daleks, but those iterations of evil didn’t really fit the profile. He had certainly never encountered any that were inclined towards philosophical discussion!) Perhaps that was why he had so easily jumped to the wrong conclusion here. He seemed to be doing that far too frequently lately - he must keep an eye on that!

The pilot had remained silent as Jamie related his words to Specialist Palasar, and the Doctor couldn’t help hearing the uncertainty in her voice as she tentatively asked for further information. “I… I am sorry if these memories are painful for you, Null. If you do not wish to speak of your lost crewmate’s, then do not. But… and I hope that this doesn’t appear insensitive, but I don’t understand this talk of ‘chamber's’ and ‘isolation’, or where you were going, or why ?”

This ‘isolation chamber’ was a subject that the Doctor was interested in as well, for Null had previously only made the vaguest of references to him about it. The giant must have used the time that Jamie had spent as a go between in thought, for he answered fairly promptly. “No, I will say their names, everyone deserves to be remembered, and perhaps it will allow me to… perhaps you will…

‘The three girls were Rho Zyanya and Anat Adastra, who were my friends from an early age… and Tethys Yaretzi, who was so much more than that. We were bonded to be life-mates, if and when the war should end, and it is impossible for me to believe that she, most of all, is gone.

‘As I checked their survival suit connections one last time, I lingered longest over Tethys - she looked so serene. They had all taken sleep inducers to ease the transition. It was part of the procedure. We had been warned that the experience might be fairly disorientating. However, as Captain I did not have that option, because I had to be awake to send the activation signal: I refused to entrust our lives to any automatic systems.

‘I suppose at this point I should tell you what our isolation chambers were, but remember that we were only ever told what they did - not how they did it. Basically, as it was explained to us, the chamber places its occupant in a state of temporal isolation. But I didn’t know what that meant… none of us did. So then we were told that it was like an advanced sort of hibernation system, but instead of being frozen - cryogenically suspended - or encoded, the occupant of such a chamber would be isolated from the passage of time. We just took their word for it… I didn’t even bother to ask how a person could be ‘encoded’.

‘When I eventually laid myself down in my own chamber, I plugged into the required systems and closed my eyes. I thought that this may in some way counter the fact that I was not actually asleep. After a few deep breaths to relax myself, I sent the activation signal. Nothing happened. I counted three more breathes, then five: by the time I had reached eight breaths I opened my eyes again, assuming that something had gone wrong.

‘And that’s when I found out that my crew, my bond-mate, and half of my ship were gone - and I encountered your people invading my command.”

The Doctor found himself transfixed by this revelation, and not only because it could well provide a missing piece to the puzzle surrounding this vessel. He was well used to translocations through time and space by now - some very abrupt - but nothing like this. At least when surfing the vortex in the Tardis, there was a sense of transition, an impression of traveling - but the Doctor felt a deep sympathy for the giant pilot’s experience. To close your eyes for only a few moments… To be aware of only those moments, whilst time went on without you…

No, he didn’t think he would like that very much at all.

Still, he now had a few new search parameters to explore, so he returned his attention to his keyboard; determined to hack through the more heavily encrypted data that he hadn’t yet tackled. Just as the Doctor reactivated his display screen, a new voice broke the heavy silence outside the Tardis.

“Oh, that sounds terrible, Null! I’m so sorry to hear that!’ he heard Zoe say. ( Finished your conflab with Faramandar then, I see, the Doctor mused.) ‘I can’t begin to imagine what that must have been like for you…’ Zoe continued, sounding genuinely (and deeply) upset, ‘I’m sorry…”

“I too offer my sympathies, Null.’ Palasar added immediately after Zoe trailed off. ‘What you describe… Like Zo-Eee, I find it difficult to comprehend. I may be speaking out of turn here, but I personally would like to help you in any way that I can. I believe that this explains your response to our presence. Why you attacked our troopers… But you could just as easily have wiped us all out, I imagine - the fact that you chose not to… that was the main justification I gave for our setting out to find you.”

The Doctor smiled to himself at the young woman’s words, which he found both charmingly naïve, and deeply impressive. If the Oortelians, as a race, were as intelligent and forgiving as she - well, one could not help but hope for the future. He only listened to the rest of their conversation with half an ear, rapidly becoming deeply engrossed in the task he had set for himself.

Almost despite himself, Silandor had been extremely impressed at just how rapidly - and completely - his passengers had responded to the challenge. As soon as the Tec’s had begun distributing the modified access devices, those who received them set to with a will bordering on fanaticism. (Regardless of which enclave they belonged to!) He had always harboured a suspicion that civilians were, when it got down to it, all merely out for their own ends: working to advance their own personal positions or agenda. The level of cooperation he was now witnessing put the lie to his prejudice, and he was grateful for it.

Astronomer First Ixtlequay was directing operations from the Visi-Sphere itself. (To his shame, Silandor hadn’t even been aware that the venerable dame was aboard, having been under the impression that she had passed away some time ago.) The Clade Commander watched with fascination as she coordinated the apportioning of specific data to various subordinates, evidently having memorised each individual’s special area of expertise. Even Valmik seemed to be doing everything that he could to support the effort, assigning scholars from other enclaves to assist where required, and he never seemed to slow down. The man was a blur of activity!

Although the Archivist First was usually the most pompous and irritating of men, Silandor was forced to admit that he truly excelled when called upon. So far, nobody had had recourse to ask for Silandor’s assistance, but he genuinely wanted to establish common cause with these intellectuals and dreamers. He considered Dokta’s assertion that they were all one team working together to be inspired, and he intended to make it work. At some point, he realised, he would need to make a personal appearance in the auditorium - as a show of camaraderie, if nothing else.

He made a mental note to have Thraxle send Enteberol to the hub - once the Tec had successfully installed the enclave’s communications link. Then Silandor switched screens to see what was happening on the other ship, but all he could see was Faramandar. He hadn’t expected that much to be occurring in Dokta’s absence, but there were limits! “Faramandar. Report.” He demanded, and had the satisfaction of seeing his brother blink. A rare display of surprise on the part of this particular Ghost First.

“Excuse me, Zoee, the Commander has just contacted me… I don’t know why you can’t hear him, presumably he doesn’t want you to. It is not my place to second guess my Commander.’ Silandor was beginning to feel distinctly irritated by all this, when Faramandar stared him straight in the eyes, through the medium of the display screen. ‘Clade Commander Silandor, all is quiet here… I am currently exchanging cultural comparisons with Thadokta’s companion, Zoee.’ Faramandar broke off momentarily, seeming to glance over Silandor’s shoulder, then continued. “Jaymee, Thadokta’s other friend, has just joined us on the pilot’s seat. He appears to be intending to talk with Specialist Palasar. I have noticed that those two appear to be quite comfortable with each other’s company. Do you have further instructions for me, Clade Commander?”

Silandor considered this for a time, running through possible scenarios in his head. He extrapolated various eventualities, and the actions that he might take to anticipate them, but decided that his brother need not be burdened with too many variables. “Not at all, Faramandar,’ he replied a heartbeat later, ‘in fact I applaud your initiative in volunteering for ambassadorial duties… please continue. However, I suspect that Specialist Palasar requires Jaymee’s assistance more than his company - no doubt she wishes to talk to Null again. Please monitor that - I want to know immediately if anything of significance occurs. Also, ask Zoee to contact Thadokta at her earliest convenience. I want him to know that our experts are performing magnificently. I would not be surprised if they have answers to his questions sooner than he may have anticipated. That being the case, I would like to speak to him personally as soon as possible. Please arrange that. I have other things to attend to. Silandor out.”

Taking the time to make a slow scan of his hub, Silandor noted with approval that Tec-Op Choltz had taken a position that would keep her out of the way, yet still allow her to respond rapidly should he require her services. The Commander continued checking that everything was in order, and nobody required his attention. After acknowledging a confidant nod from his supremely competent Second Spear, Silandor sank back into his throne, scraping his chin with unsheathed claws as he pondered a thought that had just struck him.

If - or rather when - his closeted experts found the required answers (he had no doubt that they would - if they were there to be found,) how would this be conveyed to Dokta? Yes, they now had a sort of two-way link for aural communication, but … Did they have the ability to transmit visuals or data packets back to the other ship? Another reason he would require Mech-Tec Enteberol here in the hub, when the man became available. As he began to evaluate other possible approaches to the problem, Silandor found himself re-examining Choltz - now nibbling at a ration bar with little evident enthusiasm - and remembering.

Palasar had said something like, ‘it may be primitive, but what does that matter, as long as it works?’

Clade Commander Silandor couldn’t agree more, so whilst he had the luxury of a few moments to himself, he indulged in a little Imagineering as he considered the possibilities.