Doctor Who: Dreams of Empire: 50th Anniversary Edition

by Richards, Justin

  Jamie almost dropped the tapestry. But somehow the Doctor had managed to land back on the chair. As it toppled over, he jumped down on to the bed, then immediately bounced off and landed neatly at Victoria’s feet. All three of them looked back at where the Doctor had executed his initial gymnastics. High above the bed, a white-spotted red handkerchief hung squarely over an arm of the chandelier.

  The Doctor chuckled and rubbed his hands together. ‘Well, at least they can’t see us now,’ he whispered. ‘Help me get Jamie sorted out, would you Victoria? Then we can decide what to do about the microphones.’

  Someone cleared their throat, wiping the smile from the Doctor’s face. They all turned towards the sound, which came from the outer door to the room. Sure enough, the door was open. On the threshold stood Prion, Trayx’s aide-de-camp.

  Prion’s voice was crisp and precise. It was devoid of accent, and there was but the barest hint of amusement as he spoke. ‘I trust you have found everything you need?’

  The Doctor’s boyish grin was back, spread across his face in an instant. ‘Oh yes, thank you. I think we’ve found absolutely everything.’

  ‘Then when you are quite ready,’ Prion went on, ‘the General in Chief asks that you join him for breakfast.’

  Jamie stepped forward. ‘We don’t take orders from anyone,’ he said loudly, aware that the strength of his words was somewhat diluted by the sight of the tapestry sliding to the floor behind him.

  Prion, however, seemed nonplussed. ‘It is an invitation, not an order,’ he said. ‘You are free to accept or not, depending on your own inclination.’

  ‘And on how hungry we are, no doubt,’ the Doctor added.

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘Oh.’ Jamie nodded, trying to look as if he had gained a concession. ‘Well, that’s all right then.’ He turned back to the tapestry.

  Before Jamie could lift the tapestry again, Prion said, ‘I wouldn’t bother. That camera doesn’t work.’

  ‘Oh?’ the Doctor asked with just a trace of eagerness.

  ‘Nor do three of the others. Maintenance is a problem with concealed systems. We would have to rip the walls and floors apart to get at the fibre optics. And that’s assuming we had access to sufficient spares and expertise.’

  ‘Yes,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘I can see it would be a problem.’ He coughed, as if to excuse changing the subject. ‘You mentioned breakfast.’

  ‘In the Banqueting Hall. As soon as you are ready.’

  ‘Thank you. We’ll be along in a moment.’ The Doctor smiled. ‘We just have a few things to discuss in private, if you don’t mind.’

  ‘Not at all.’ Prion nodded to them, and stepped backwards out of the room and into the corridor. As he closed the door, almost as an afterthought, he said, ‘Oh, and the microphones you mentioned haven’t worked for months.’

  ‘So where are we, Doctor?’ Victoria asked as soon as the door was closed. ‘What’s going on here?’

  ‘I’m not sure, Victoria. But there is something odd.’

  ‘That’s right, Doctor,’ Jamie chipped in. ‘First they try to arrest us for murder, then they let us go again.’

  ‘Mmm. They do seem to have given us the run of the place,’ the Doctor mused, tapping his chin with his index finger. ‘Then there’s the man in the metal mask. And the games of chess.’

  ‘We must be in the future,’ Victoria said. ‘If these people are playing chess, they must be from Earth.’

  The Doctor was already on his way to the door. ‘Oh not necessarily,’ he said as he opened it. ‘Chess is rather odd in itself. It’s the only game that seems to have originated in pretty much the same form in the majority of civilised cultures without any external influence. You find it from one end of the Spiral Nebula to the other side of the Geratic Divide.’ He was off down the corridor now, Jamie and Victoria hastening to keep up. ‘Even on Earth, you’ll find that the game of chess evolved independently in both China and India, and in almost exactly the same form.’

  Victoria gave a short nervous laugh. ‘How can that happen?’

  The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to face her. ‘I really have no idea,’ he said. ‘I don’t know everything. But I think it’s time we got some answers to the more immediate concerns.’

  ‘And how will we do that?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘Let’s ask someone in authority, shall we?’

  Despite the brighter light, the Banqueting Hall still seemed to have more shadows and dark corners than the geometry of the room should accommodate. Beside the heavy suits of armour round the edges of the room stood several armed guards, almost as impassive and still.

  The long wooden table down its centre was laden with silver dishes and tureens. Five places were set, two of them already taken. In one sat Trayx, a large goblet of wine in front of him. Beside him was a young woman. She had long, straight blonde hair. Her skin was perfect and pale as alabaster, and she wore a thin white dress that seemed to cling to her body. Prion was also seated at the table, but he had no silverware or crockery in front of him.

  Victoria followed the Doctor’s example and took one of the free places. Jamie sat opposite her. Trayx and the woman were already eating.

  ‘Forgive me,’ Trayx said, half rising to his feet as Victoria and the others sat down. ‘My wife and I have had a long journey. And I know wine seems a little extravagant at breakfast, but my body at least believes it to be the middle of the night.’

  ‘Oh, please carry on,’ the Doctor said happily. ‘We know the problem of adjusting to the local time all too well.’

  ‘Aye, we certainly do,’ Jamie mumbled.

  ‘Thank you,’ Trayx acknowledged, raising his glass. ‘Do help yourselves to whatever you want. And when you feel suitably settled, perhaps we can address the tedious necessity of introductions. For the moment, I think you know my aide-de-camp, Prion. This is my wife, Helana, and I, as you may already know, am Milton Trayx.’

  Helana nodded to them. ‘I am pleased to make your acquaintance,’ she said. Her voice was soft and low, but had a hard edge of determination.

  Jamie was already lifting lids and ladling hot food on to his plate. Victoria had no idea what most of the dishes were, though one looked suspiciously like scrambled eggs and another smelled rather like bacon. As she followed Jamie’s example, the Doctor was making their own brief introductions.

  ‘Travellers?’ Trayx seemed amused.

  ‘Yes,’ the Doctor said, apparently delighted that he had grasped the concept so readily. ‘We, er, travel.’

  ‘And you really have no idea where you are?’

  ‘No, as I say, our navigational equipment is a little faulty.’

  ‘Completely useless, if you ask me,’ Jamie said through a mouth full of yellow stuff.

  ‘Now, Jamie,’ the Doctor admonished. ‘Have you tried the green things?’ he added. ‘They’re really not that bad.’

  Trayx sat back in his chair, watching the three travellers intently. ‘You are on Santespri,’ he said, and Victoria could see that he was watching for a reaction.

  ‘And where, may I ask, is that?’

  Helana gasped out loud, covering her mouth immediately as if embarrassed at the display of surprise. Prion, by contrast, seemed unconcerned.

  Trayx’s own reaction was masked as he dabbed at his lips with a heavy napkin. ‘Doctor, you have indeed travelled a long way if you do not know of Santespri.’

  ‘We don’t know anything,’ Victoria said.

  ‘Ah,’ Trayx said, ‘now there you do yourselves a disservice. You can detect things that even the guards around this table do not officially know of.’ His raised finger stopped the Doctor’s comment on his lips. ‘But we’ll talk more of that later.’ He took another sip of his wine. ‘Would I be correct in my supposition, then, that you have very little knowledge of the recent history and politics of the Republic?’

  ‘Ah, that depends on which republic,’ the Doctor told him.

  ‘Haddron.’

&
nbsp; ‘I thought Haddron was an empire.’

  Trayx took a mouthful of food, allowing his wife to answer. ‘There are some who call it an empire. And in all but name it is.’

  ‘But while the distinction is subtle,’ Trayx said, ‘it is indeed important. In fact –’ he leaned forward slightly – ‘it is that distinction which is the raison d’être for Santespri.’ He took a mouthful of food, and chewed it slowly. ‘It is interesting,’ he said after a while, ‘that while you have heard of Haddron, you are not aware of the significance of this fortress. Tell me, where exactly were you headed when your craft crash-landed on the asteroid? How did you get through the exclusion zone without being detected on our scanners? And where have you come from?’

  The Doctor glanced at both Victoria and Jamie before answering. ‘It’s a long story,’ he said. He drew his words out so that even this short sentence seemed to go on longer than necessary or desirable. ‘And we have been rather out of touch recently. Frozen out.’

  ‘Aye,’ Jamie agreed. ‘Why don’t you tell us about this place? Why’s it so important?’

  ‘Yes,’ Victoria added, ‘please tell us.’

  Trayx laughed. ‘There are certain security questions I should like answered before too long. But I can see I shall get scant answers to my questions until your own peculiar curiosity is satisfied. Well, so be it.’ He nodded to his aide-de-camp. ‘Prion, perhaps you could explain briefly where we are and why we are here. At least then I can be getting on with my breakfast.’

  ‘Briefly, sir?’ Prion asked.

  Trayx sighed. ‘Always so literal. About two minutes.’

  Prion nodded and turned towards the Doctor and his friends. ‘Haddron, as you now know, is a republic,’ he said. ‘It is governed by a Senate which is presided over by three elected Consuls. The senior of these is the Consul General.’

  ‘What’s that got to do with this place?’ Jamie interrupted.

  ‘Shh, Jamie,’ Victoria said with a frown. ‘Let him tell us.’

  ‘Nearly two years ago, Consul General Hans Kesar declared himself Consul General in perpetuity. In effect he wished to make it a lifetime post. He garnered a lot of popular support. Of the other two Consuls, one was politically weak and unlikely to pose a threat to his aspirations, while the other was Kesar’s closest friend since childhood.’

  ‘So,’ the Doctor said quietly, ‘Kesar tried to set himself up as Emperor and only the Senate could stop him.’

  ‘So it seemed. But while he was also popular with the army, Kesar had not reckoned on the fierce loyalty to Haddron of the second Consul. When the crucial Senate debate took place, Consul Milton Trayx, Commander in Chief of the Haddron Armed Forces, spoke out against his former friend. The vote was a landslide against Kesar.’

  The Doctor turned sharply, and looked at Trayx. Jamie and Victoria both followed his gaze. But Trayx seemed not to notice as he pushed his fork into a chunk of meat. It was Helana who met Victoria’s stare. She gave the slightest of nods, then looked down at her own plate.

  Prion continued, oblivious to this. ‘While Kesar was popular with the military, he could not command the sort of loyalty that Consul Trayx could. The armed forces were unequally split in Consul Trayx’s favour, though Kesar’s troops were already prepared. There was a year of bloody civil war before the Republican forces triumphed. Kesar was defeated and captured. He was tried for crimes against the Republic and inevitably was found guilty.’

  ‘Thank you, Prion.’ Trayx pushed his empty plate away from him and dabbed his lips with his napkin. ‘You can probably guess some of the rest, Doctor. Kesar could not be executed. He still commanded a tremendous following among the people as well as some of the military. Making him a martyr would simply open the door to another potential emperor and start the cycle again.’

  ‘Exile?’ the Doctor asked.

  ‘Yes. Exile. Kesar was stripped of his title of Consul General, although technically he had another year of office left. He was exiled to a distant outpost, a frontier fortress long since within the outer boundaries of Haddron space, but nonetheless remote and forbidding. He was sent here, to Santespri.’

  ‘Then,’ the Doctor said slowly, ‘the man in the mask…’

  ‘Is Hans Kesar. Yes. And his chess partner is his former General in Chief, Axell Cruger.’

  ‘That old man?’ Victoria asked, astonished.

  ‘That old man,’ Trayx said loudly, his voice suddenly edged with uncharacteristic emotion, ‘was once known as the Blade of the Devil. He was the most ruthless officer under my command. Ruthless and costly. He would sacrifice the long-term advantage for a quick victory, commit men needlessly to a hopeless situation to save face in the short term.’

  ‘A tactician rather than a strategist,’ the Doctor mused. ‘I guessed that much from his chess.’

  Trayx poured himself more wine from a pitcher on the table in front of him. ‘That is a generous description, Doctor,’ he said. ‘But it matters not now that he is here. Kesar and his retinue are treated well. His troops even share some of the guard duties. Patrols are organised during the day so that Kesar’s men work with my own.’

  ‘Is that not dangerous?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘They are Haddron soldiers. They deserve to keep their dignity, whatever their loyalties may have been. They are locked into their quarters within a secure area at night, as are Kesar and Cruger. In that way they are reminded of the error of their ways, of their crimes against the Republic.’

  ‘You’re not just thinking of them, though, are you?’ said the Doctor.

  ‘No, Doctor. That is very perceptive of you.’ Trayx sipped his wine. No one spoke. ‘There is a fine balance,’ he went on at last, ‘between victory and defeat. But for the grace of the gods, it could be us who are the captives and Kesar and Cruger our jailers.’

  ‘You should always treat others as you would want them to treat you,’ Victoria said. ‘My father taught me that.’

  ‘A fine maxim.’ Trayx was staring off into space. ‘And that grace goes double for me,’ he added quietly. ‘If I had chosen to join Kesar, who knows what victories and defeats might have followed?’

  The Doctor studied Trayx’s impassive features for a moment. ‘Oh I think that it’s you who do yourself a disservice now,’ he said. ‘What do you think, Prion, as an impartial observer of this conversation?’

  Prion’s answer was immediate, and confident. ‘Whichever side had Milton Trayx as commander in chief of its forces would have won.’

  Jamie gave a short laugh. ‘I would say that depended on the odds.’

  Prion turned slowly to face Jamie. ‘Then,’ he said levelly, ‘you are privy to information that I am not.’

  ‘Yes, well be that as it may,’ the Doctor said quickly, ‘there is one other question I should like to ask.’

  ‘Yes.’ Victoria guessed that this was the same question she herself had. ‘Why does he wear that mask? Is it a part of the punishment?’

  Trayx did not answer immediately. Instead he stood up. Helana reached out her hand to him as he walked slowly past her chair. He took it, caressed it for a moment, then let it go as he went over to the fireplace. He carefully set down his wine on the wide mantel shelf, and turned back to face the table. He was standing close to one of the flickering lights, and Victoria could see that Trayx’s eyes were moist.

  ‘After his trial,’ Trayx said, ‘Kesar was taken away to await deportation.’ Somewhere beneath Trayx’s words was a well of suppressed emotion. ‘He was in the corridor, on his way out under guard when –’ He broke off, pausing for a moment before he continued. ‘It was a bomb, something laced with a huge amount of Zenon VII. It caught us in the confined space, but Kesar and his guards took the brunt of it.’

  ‘Zenon VII,’ the Doctor said quietly, ‘is a powerful incendiary. It burns hotter than molten lava.’

  ‘The guards were killed outright,’ Trayx was saying. ‘None of them stood a chance. But somehow Kesar held on to life. Despite the burns.’ Trayx
took a deep breath. ‘The flesh was stripped from his face. His vocal cords melted, the heat was so intense.’ He turned back to face the fire, head leaning forward so that it rested on his arm on the mantel.

  ‘So, he was lucky to survive,’ Jamie said.

  ‘No.’ Trayx’s voice was mumbled through his sleeve. ‘I do not think so.’ He turned back to them, his face and voice as composed as ever. ‘You will recall what I said about making a martyr of him. It is we who are lucky.’

  There was silence for a while. Then the Doctor stood up. ‘Thank you for the meal, Consul,’ he said. Trayx waved a hand in acknowledgment. ‘Now perhaps Prion could show my friends back to their rooms? They are rather tired after our ordeals.’

  Trayx nodded to Prion.

  ‘What about you, Doctor?’ Jamie asked. ‘Are you not joining us?’

  The Doctor bustled Jamie and Victoria in the direction of the main door. ‘I’ll be with you soon,’ he said. ‘I just want to try some of that excellent wine. That is,’ he added, raising his voice, ‘if Consul Trayx doesn’t mind the company?’

  ‘I am always glad of intelligent company, Doctor,’ Trayx said. ‘And I think there are several matters we have yet to discuss.’

  ‘Yes indeed,’ the Doctor said with a laugh. ‘Now run along, you two and we’ll sort out all the boring stuff.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure, Doctor,’ said Victoria.

  ‘Quite sure, thank you, Victoria.’

  Behind them, Helana was also on her feet. ‘I shall leave you to your important matters,’ she told her husband. She had to stand on tiptoe in order to kiss him gently on the cheek. Then she turned and swept out of the room. Several of the guards, stoically impassive during the breakfast conversations, leaned forward slightly to watch her as she passed.

  Victoria and Jamie were still in the other doorway. ‘Come on,’ Jamie said quietly. ‘It’s clear he wants us out of the way.’

  Victoria nodded. She turned to look at Prion, standing patiently beside them. His face seemed somehow too balanced, his eyes piercing blue and his complexion pale and smooth. ‘Perhaps you can tell us about this castle,’ she said to him. ‘The decor and the architecture are fascinating.’