Doctor Who: Lungbarrow (40 page)

The Drudge angled up to look at Satthralope. Not an easy movement, since it had no head.

'He's asleep.' She stared down at the brown skeleton. 'He's asleep!'

She turned and vanished from the gallery.

The Doctor turned to Ferain. 'The Housekeeper ordered the cover-up of the Kithriarch's murder herself.'

'The murder that the Doctor committed,' said Glospin.

'She thought the House would destroy them al if it found out,' continued the Doctor. 'But to convince the House, she convinced herself as well.'

Innocet was glancing up around the galleries. 'I don't believe that was Satthralope talking.'

'Meaning what?' said Ferain.

'Her role as medium between the House and Family has been subsumed.'

The Doctor groaned. 'We were talking to the House itself, not the Housekeeper. Satthralope's no longer there. And I never apologized to her properly.'

'Commander.' Ferain indicated the Doctor and Romana.

'Escort these prisoners back to the Capitol.'

As guns were levelled at the Doctor, there was a yel from across the Hall.

203

The massive hulk of Badger had pushed through the Cousins and was bearing down on them. It knocked aside two agents like ninepins.

'No, Badger,' instructed the Doctor. 'They're not hurting me.'

'You are not leaving,' said the huge shaggy robot.

'Don't worry. No one's leaving,' the Doctor said. 'Not yet.'

Ferain turned angrily to the commander. 'I want the whole House evacuated now!'

As the commander lifted his wrist unit, his arm was seized in a wooden fist. The Drudge snapped off the device and crushed it in its fingers.

A crash resounded through the House as dozens of doors slammed themselves shut. The crowd of Cousins parted to let the diminutive figure of Satthralope through.

'Nobody leaves,' she announced, 'until Quences is woken.'

The Doctor stepped forward. 'Satthralope, is that you?'

Getting no response, he turned to the gathering. 'Cousins and guests, in the absence of substantial evidence concerning the alleged murder of Ordinal-General Quences, I wish to call a surprise witness.'

He gently guided Satthralope to a chair.

'I call one of the oldest living entities on Gallifrey, the House of Lungbarrow itself. Let it be both witness and judge.'

***

The forest of oversized furniture in the attic went on forever, with no sign of any route higher. The furniture moved and shuffled. It was like walking through a herd of restless cattle.

'It isn't easy,' Leela said, her arm in a makeshift sling. 'I don't know who to tel . I don't think they'll understand. Not even Romana.'

'I bet you she already knows.'

A look of bewilderment crossed Leela's face. 'I have told no one.'

'It's pretty obvious.' Dorothée ducked under a table. 'The Doctor. Tell him. I bet he'd make a bril iant midwife.'

But Leela looked distinctly uncomfortable.

'He's very young,' Dorothee continued. 'Andred, I mean.'

'That's another problem. While I get older, he stays the same.'

'Where I come from that's cal ed Cliff Richard. Didn't anyone say anything when you first got together?'

'I chose Andred. He had very little say in the matter.'

I can believe that, thought Dorothée. She stopped. Ahead of them, a ladder led up to a skylight in the sloping roof branches.

'Probably as good as anything,' she said and climbed up.

204

She turned and looked back down at Leela. 'We'l speak to the Doctor. He'l know what to do about you know what.'

***

Chris couldn't remember the last time he'd had to stand up in a court of law. Roz had always done the talking then.

He glanced at the Doctor, who nodded his reassurance.

'He was elderly with swept-back white hair.'

'Did you recognize him?' the Doctor continued.

Chris paused. He did not like the way Satthralope was looking at him.

'Was it the Doctor's first generation?' said Glospin.

'Yes,' he said. 'I've seen. . . I saw a picture.'

'Told you,' said the Doctor.

Ferain shook his head. 'A mere vision, however accurate, is not conclusive evidence.'

'Good,' the Doctor said. 'Remember that, Glospin.'

Innocet stood up. 'I saw the first Doctor leave Quences's room just before I found the body.'

'Interesting that.' The Doctor turned back to Chris. 'You say that Quences recognized the killer.'

'Definitely. But I couldn't hear what he said.'

The Doctor looked towards Romana, who had been talking quietly with Redred.

'By this point the House was shut off,' she said. 'Did any Cousin regenerate close to that time?'

'I did,' said Glospin. 'Satthralope was with me. She personal y nursed me through the change.'

'No,' said the Housekeeper.

The watching Cousins muttered and shuffled.

Her voice had darkened with a new strength. 'Not through the moment of change. He sent Housekeeper Satthralope away. Not even the House sees a rebirth. It is a private moment.'

'Yes, that's true, of course,' said Glospin. 'And I changed into my third generation as you see me now.'

'It seems your plea of guilt is wel founded, Doctor,' said Ferain.

The Doctor nodded. 'So it would appear.'

'No,' said Satthralope's voice again.

'No?' said the Doctor.

'The House does not see a rebirth, but the Loom records the genetic metamorphosis.'

The Doctor smiled to himself. 'Tell us more.'

205

She stood. Her old body bent taut in its possession. 'The Loom records that on that day, our Cousin Glospinninymortheras underwent the regeneration process on two separate occasions. He is currently in his
fourth
generation, not his third.'

Glospin half laughed. 'The change was complicated by infection. I nearly died.'

The Doctor made a theatrical point of clearing his throat before starting to address the silent assembly. 'I would remind everyone that Glospin is, or was in his day, a eugenicist. Top of his field. On the day before Quences's Deathday, he visited me in my exile at the Capitol. We were both very obstreperous, but he was desperate to secure his inheritance, because he thought Quences might pass over him in my favour. We landed up fighting, during which said altercation, he obtained a sample of my skin.'

'Ask him how he escaped,' called Glospin. 'Ask him what rescued him!'

'Continue, Doctor,' said the voice in Satthralope's throat.

'Glospin then returned to Lungbarrow. After the Deathday, he deliberately made himself ill enough to die. He used my DNA sample to regenerate himself in my image.'

Innocet gasped. 'And then he murdered Quences!'

'And you saw me, Innocet, at least you assumed it was me, leaving Quences's room, just as he hoped. He then regenerated again into his current form. His fourth generation, not his third.'

Innocet faced Glospin. 'Were you that desperate? There's nothing to which you have not stooped.'

'Prove it,' said Glospin. 'They're lying.'

Satthralope's body had started to tremble. 'I saw the murder,' it growled. 'Satthralope said, she said that Quences lived. And the assailant...' Her eyes blazed at Glospin. 'I see it now. Relive it again. It echoes in my walls and corridors. The assailant lifts the double blade. He has a burn on his arm. A burn so deep, no regeneration wil heal it!'

The House shuddered around them.

Glospin grabbed at the Doctor and hauled him forward. 'Ask this one where I got the burn. Ask Redred about the proof I gave him. We've seen who he real y is. Ask Redred!'

Ferain looked towards the captain. 'Well, where is this proof?'

Redred felt the bruise on his jaw. 'I have passed it to my superior, My Lord. To President Romanadvoratrelundar.'

'President?' said Innocet.

Glospin, his face snarling with rage, pointed at the Doctor. 'He's used us. He's far more powerful than he lets us see. He infiltrated our Family. Once, long ago, he lived on Gallifrey and he was known as the Other. This is where the legend came to. To our Family. Why else do you think we're all mad? And when he attacked me, it was the mythical Hand of Omega that came to his rescue!'

The entire gathering was staring at Glospin in disbelief.

'Innocet knows,' Glospin shouted. 'Ask her. She knows who he was!'

Innocet studied the Doctor hard. 'I know nothing of the sort,' she said.

Glospin laughed aloud.

'My Lord Ferain,' said the Doctor. 'I rest my case.'

'Just a minute,' said Chris. 'Don't forget about Arkhew. He saw the murder too and he recognized Glospin.'

206

Glospin sneered between his two agents. 'Oh yes, that little runt came to me shouting accusations. But I didn't kill him. Owis did that. Strangled him and threw him in the mushrooms.'

There was a whimper from the group of Cousins.

'Little stoker,' growled Rynde.

Owis squealed like a cornered piglet. 'He told me to do it! Glospin told me, if I didn't get rid of Arkhew, I'd be terminated as an illegal Replacement!'

He disappeared under a hail of blows from his Cousins. The agents had to haul him out.

The Doctor held out a hand to Satthralope. 'Time, at last, for the wil to be read.'

She was clutching the datacore. 'He's dead,' she said. 'Satthralope lied. Quences is dead.'

'Yes, he is,' the Doctor said. 'Please release the will,'

'If you do,' shouted Glospin, 'then the Doctor'll get everything! Do you want that? He doesn't even belong here!'

The old Housekeeper was shaking. Thunder rolled again within the House.

The Cousins started to move in a mass towards the Doctor. The headless Drudge lurched in from the other side.

The Doctor snatched the will from Satthralope's hands. 'Badger!' he shouted as he threw it across the Hall.

The massive robot caught the datacore and held it delicately between its massive claws.

The core gleamed with energy.

Instantly, Quences was standing like a ghost beside his own coffin. 'Please don't hurt my successor,' he said.

***

'Right,' she choked, spitting earth. 'Let's get a bit of fresh air into this mausoleum.'

She fished the cans of nitro-nine out of her pocket. They were sticky in her fingers.

'What is it?' said Leela. 'A weapon?'

'They're wet through. And God knows how old they are. I don't know if they'll work.'

***

'I expected as much,' he said grimly. 'When the Doctor here was loomed, I had a special consultation with the Bench of Matricians. Amongst other things, they predicted my murder. But they also told me the Doctor would be the most important influence on Gallifrey's future. That's why I hid the will from Satthralope and had my mind transferred, not to the Matrix, but elsewhere.'

'Into Badger,' said the Doctor. 'Stored in his positronic brain. That's why he's always so protective of me. Protective enough to kill.'

Innocet turned away.

207

Quences regarded the Doctor with a paternal fondness. The bloody dagger bobbed in his chest. 'You are very precious to us, my boy. Our hopes always rested on you.'

The Doctor sighed. 'Misplaced hopes, Quences. Arrogance is a Family trait. I wanted my own way as much as you.'

Quences smiled. 'But now you have returned, as I knew you would. All this is yours now. I bequeath you the House of Lungbarrow, al its estates, its goods and chattels, and all its miserable, cringing Family. And you are welcome to them!'

'What?' said the Doctor.

'All of it is yours, Kithriarch. And well deserved too! You fulfilled none of the potential that we expected. None of it.

You are a failure and a disgrace to my name!'

The Cousins began to jeer.

'Just a minute,' butted in Romana. 'That is no way to address a former Lord President of the High Council of Gallifrey!'

'President? What President?' Quences raised his ghostly eyebrows. 'And who are you?'

'She's my successor,' said the Doctor, and Romana displayed her ring of office.

'The Doctor stood down with honour,' she said.

'Well, not real y,' said the Doctor, embarrassed. 'I'm no longer President because I couldn't be bothered with all that power political business.'

'President?' whispered Quences. He stared down at his coffin. '
You
were President of Gallifrey?'

'More than that,' said Romana. 'Much, much more.'

'Quences!' Glospin was calling to him. 'Alter the will. Make me your successor. It's my right.'

The old apparition turned towards him. 'Murderer! I know you kil ed me. I saw through your disguise. I'll change nothing, because I loathe every thieving, conniving, scheming one of you. The House stays with the Doctor. My boy, the new Kithriarch and former President.'

A near riot broke out. Cousins struggled against the agents to reach the Doctor.

'Get down!' Leela had appeared on the gallery above. 'Get down, all of you!'

An explosion roared above. Timbers and plaster rained down. The air was thick with smoke and anger.

208

A Case of Domicide

The great clock of Lungbarrow exploded outward. Its coiled guts of cogs and dials spilt down through the smoke.

The apparition of Quences flickered and vanished.

Tremors of anger shuddered through the House, flooring most of them, including the remaining Drudge.

The Cousins had huddled around the Loom plinth, clinging to it like children clinging to their mother.

Dorothée, her face black with soot, had appeared beside Leela on the gallery. 'This way!' they called. 'We've blown a hole in the mountain!'

The Cousins abandoned the Loom and stampeded towards the stairs. The agents went with them, ignoring Ferain's protests.