by Doctor Who
‘Must be from the book.’ Martha took it carefully from the girl. But it was the wrong shape. Too thick and curled to be from the pages or cover or even the spine of the diary. ‘He must have dropped it,’ she murmured. She held it up to the light, seeing the tiny cracks deep inside the old glass.
‘What do you think?’ she asked as a shadow fell across the ground at her feet.
But Janna had gone. The shadow was the Doctor’s. He took the glass from her and examined it. ‘I think this place is amazing,’ he said. ‘An amazing maze. Best sort. And I think we should get back to the castle before the press corps arrives in force. And I think,’ he said, tossing the piece of glass into the air and catching it again, ‘that our troubles may be just begin-ning. What do you think, Martha?’
‘I think,’ she told him, ‘that Janna’s sister is still alive.’
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TheDoctorpausedatanintersectionofseveralhedges.‘Yes,’
he decided at last. ‘This way.’
‘I followed her into the maze, you see,’ Martha explained.
‘Only Janna said she followed me. And it certainly seemed like there were two of them.’
‘Identical?’
‘Twins.’
‘No,’ the Doctor said. ‘No, that’s not right at all.’
‘I’m just telling you what I saw.’
‘Oh not you,’ the Doctor assured her. ‘No, I think it must be back this way.’ He spun on his heel and set off in the opposite direction.
‘Isn’t there some scheme where you keep going left or something?’ Martha asked.
‘That’d work,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘Except we just went right.
And it does rather assume the hedges stay put.’
‘The hedges move?!’
‘Well, I don’t know. Be fun if they did though. I was in a maze once . . . ’ the Doctor started to say. Then his voice faded as he paused at the next junction.
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‘Dip red white blue?’ Martha suggested.
‘Or eeny meeny miny mo.’ He tapped his finger on his chin.
‘I wonder which we should do. Perhaps we need to do one-potato two-potato to work out if it’s best to go eeny meeny or dip red.’ He shook his head. ‘Two routes, two choices, two little girls. And,’ he added, ‘two murders.’
‘Two?’
‘Chekz, and the man Janna saw looking in the mirror – whoever he was.’
‘Defron, maybe?’ Martha said, following him along his cho-sen path – straight to a dead end, and then back again.
‘Or one of the soldiers. Or Stellman, or . . . Who do you think? Colonel Mustard in the Great Hall with the Mortal Mirror? Colonel Blench – there’s a thought. He’s the commander of the GA troops. Nice man, for a soldier. What do you reckon, Martha?’
‘Well, I’m no expert . . . ’ Martha started.
‘No,’ the Doctor agreed. He sounded thoughtful.
‘Oh, cheers for that.’
‘Oh, but yes.’ The Doctor turned quickly and punched her lightly on the shoulder. ‘Yes you are, Martha. You’re brilliant.
You’re trained and everything. You can tell if someone’s dead.’
‘Yeah, well that’s not usually the desirable option. By then it’s too late.’
‘Never too late. Never say die. Well, hardly ever. Well, not much anyway. Though in this case . . . ’
‘Doctor – what are you on about?’
‘The thing is,’ the Doctor said, ‘does it matter if Tylda really died?’
‘It matters to Janna.’
The Doctor nodded. ‘Maybe that’s the point. She’s going out of her mind being haunted by the ghost of someone who isn’t dead.’
‘You think someone’s doing it deliberately?’
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The Doctor shrugged. ‘Why bother? Seems rather convoluted as plans go. If you want to discredit her, you just need to say she’s wrong.’
‘About what?’
‘About what she saw in the mirror? Who knows. And anyway, why would Tylda hide from her own sister?’ He clapped his hands together. ‘Right here we are – just through here.’
Martha followed the Doctor through a gap in the hedge. But her growing relief turned to disappointment as she saw the open square area with the large statue of a Zerugian warrior on a plinth in the centre.
‘Or not,’ she said.
‘That’s good,’ the Doctor said, nodding thoughtfully.
‘Good? We’re back where we started.’
‘I know where I am now.’ He pointed. ‘This way. Come on.’
He led her unerringly and without hesitation back through the maze and, in what seemed like only a couple of minutes, they were back at the main entrance.
‘I wonder who I need to see to apologise for the mess,’ the Doctor said.
Martha could see what he meant. Two areas to the side of the lawn had been churned up, mud and soil strewn across.
‘Landmines?’
‘Nasty things,’ he agreed with a sniff.
‘You think Tylda survived the explosion, all that time ago?’
‘I don’t know,’ the Doctor admitted. ‘I wonder if it matters?
Well, it matters to Janna obviously. And to Tylda. And if it does matter, does that matter?’
‘OK. Seriously confused now.’
‘So we need to get an expert opinion.’
‘And that’s me, right?’
‘Before the press people arrive,’ the Doctor went on. His words were all but drowned out by the massive roar of the huge spaceship that forced its way ponderously through the 127
shimmering bubble of the sky above and came in to land on the other side of the castle.
As soon as the Doctor and Martha reached the courtyard, Defron hurried over to them.
‘I am so glad I found you.’
‘Nice to see you too,’ the Doctor said. ‘Are we late for tea or something? I’m sorry. Crumpets?’
‘What?’ Defron looked from the Doctor to Martha.
‘Are there crumpets for tea? With jam? Got to have jam.’ He turned to Martha. ‘Haven’t you?’
‘Oh yeah.’
‘Essential. Don’t tell me there’s no jam.’
‘Doctor,’ Defron said seriously, ‘I do appreciate the value of maintaining a cover, really I do.’
‘A cover?’
‘Pretending to be eccentric and, well, a bit daffy.’
‘Doctor Daffy Duck,’ Martha murmured.
‘While of course underneath the pretence you are a coiled spring of razor-sharp intelligence observing every minute detail and planning every nuance of strategy.’
The Doctor sighed. He brushed mud from his lapel. ‘You’ve rumbled me.’
‘So, tell me please – what should I say to the press?’
Martha was astonished. ‘You want the Doctor to tell you what to say to the press? I thought you were the expert at that.’
‘But about the assassination. What information do I – can I – release?’
‘For the moment, tell them nothing. Well, almost nothing.
That is, very little.’ The Doctor held his thumb and forefin-ger close together to show exactly how much Defron could say. ‘Nasty accident, regrettable incident, all under control, that sort of thing.’
‘And that the GA team is actively investigating?’
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‘If you’re pushed, you can say that, yes. Good luck.’ The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder.
‘But, you won’t be there? Observing?’
‘Got to maintain our daffy cover,’ Martha said.
‘You taking the Mickey, Mouse?’ The Doctor looked very pleased with himself.
‘Very good,’ sighed Martha.
‘And where will you be?’ Defron asked.
‘Investigating.’ The Doctor took Martha’s arm and led her back towards the doorway into the castle.
‘But you will be there for the ceremony?’ Defron called after them.
The Doctor s
wung through 180 degrees, pivoting Martha round him as he headed back to Defron. ‘Of course. Absolument. What ceremony?’
‘After the press conference. In a couple of hours. The ceremony in the Great Hall to officially open the negotiations and sign the preliminary treaty documents.’
‘Live on telly?’ the Doctor asked.
‘Galactic News will be covering it, yes.’
‘Millions watching? Just the place for a great gesture from one side or the other?’
Defron shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’
‘You don’t think . . . ’ Martha said slowly.
The Doctor put his finger to her lips. ‘We’ll be there,’ he said.
‘And we want ice cream tubs in the interval. Chocolate, straw-berry, raspberry ripple. The works.’
‘I’ll talk to Hombard in the kitchens.’
‘One other thing,’ the Doctor said.
‘Yes?’
‘A girl died. A girl called Tylda. A while ago. She was killed by a landmine out in the grounds.’
‘Is this important?’
‘She’s dead,’ Martha said sternly.
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‘Well, yes, regrettable, condolences. But does it impinge on the current situation?’
‘Might do,’ the Doctor said. ‘So, how do I find out more about what happened?’
‘Talk to Colonel Blench. As the GA Force commanding officer, he has access to all Castle Extremis security archives. He’s in the Security Centre making final arrangements for the ceremony.’
Colonel Blench’s thin moustache twitched slightly, but otherwise he showed no surprise at the Doctor’s request.
‘We’ll see what records we can find,’ he said before giving instructions to a soldier sitting at a large computer console. ‘I warn you, there may not be much. Despite being on the front line, in recent times internal security here has been woefully lax.’
‘Searching now, sir,’ the soldier said as he worked at the keyboard. ‘Looks like there are some still images of the event.
Nothing much. Three-line report, which says just what you’ve told us, Doctor.’
‘Defron has filled me in a little on your role,’ the Colonel said. His eyes flicked across to include Martha in his comment.
‘Are you anticipating any trouble at the ceremony?’
‘Should we be?’ Martha asked.
‘After the death of Secretary Chekz? You tell me.’
‘So long as you’re ready for anything,’ the Doctor said.
‘Accessing those pictures now,’ the soldier called.
‘We’re ready,’ Blench confirmed to the Doctor. ‘Give us the release codes and we’ll do the job. Whatever it is.’
‘Excellent,’ the Doctor said. ‘Er, release codes?’
Blench was leaning over the screen as the images appeared –three overlapping pictures. So he didn’t see the Doctor and Martha exchange puzzled looks.
‘For release of weapons,’ Blench said. ‘As you know, we’re on a safety footing. So we’d need a formal release of weapons 130
from you political guys.’
‘Ah, of course,’ the Doctor said. ‘Never trust soldiers with guns. Wise policy. So you need official sanction for use of force from an accredited GA representative.’
Blench laughed. ‘I don’t know about accredited. But if you have the code that unlocks my soldiers’ weapons, then that’ll do just fine.’
‘Because without it,’ Martha said, wanting to be sure she’d understood this properly, ‘the guns won’t work.’
‘That’s right. So it’s a good thing we’ve got you here in case things do go wrong.’
Martha forced a smile. ‘Isn’t it just.’
‘There’s certainly something wrong here,’ the Doctor said.
He was examining the three pictures, which the soldier had arranged next to each other on the screen.
‘What is it?’ Blench asked.
‘Martha?’ the Doctor prompted.
Martha examined the pictures. They showed the twisted, broken body of a girl – a girl exactly like Janna. They were unpleasant and unsettling anyway, but even more so as it seemed she was looking at the girl she knew.
‘Well, she’s certainly dead,’ she said. Sadly, it didn’t need much medical training to know that for sure. There’s no way that girl is still alive.’ She turned away.
‘I was looking at the mud, here.’
‘The ground’s pretty churned up,’ Blench said. ‘Effects of the blast. It’s a pretty standard disruption pattern by the look of it.’
‘And here?’
‘The area was shielded by the poor girl’s body. So the ground is still intact.’
Martha forced herself to look. There was still grass growing where the Doctor was pointing. And footprints pressed into the grass, exposing the mud beneath.
‘Looks like she was on tip-toe,’ Martha said.
‘Colonel?’
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‘Looks like she was running.’
‘Even though she knew the area well, she also knew it was dangerous. Why was she running? Why wasn’t she picking every step with care?’
‘Maybe she was tip-toeing,’ Martha said.
The Doctor tapped the screen thoughtfully. ‘Can you pull back? Is there more of the background on the image?’
The soldier at the keyboard nodded. ‘Can do. It’s just grass and mud though. I thought you’d want –’
‘Just do it,’ Blench said.
‘Sir.’
The view of the image zoomed out. The girl’s body was tiny and alone on the broken ground.
‘Now zoom in here.’ The Doctor pointed to an area close to the body, between the girl and the wall of the castle just visible from the high angle of the camera.
The image zoomed in again. They all leaned forward, peering at the footprints stamped into the ground.
‘There’s two sets of prints,’ Martha realised.
‘She was running,’ the Doctor said. ‘And someone was chasing her.’
There’s no images or video of the actual event,’ the soldier said. ‘So we’ll never know if that’s true. Or who it was. Or why.’
‘Unless Gonfer knows,’ Martha said.
‘With respect, Doctor,’ Colonel Blench said, ‘this happened a long time ago. Before the treaty negotiations were even considered. ‘Are you sure this isn’t just a distraction?’
‘A distraction?’ Martha said angrily, pointing at the screen.
‘Look at the pictures. Look at what happened to her.’
The Doctor put his hand on her arm. ‘The Colonel may be right,’ he said quietly, ‘We need to know what happened, not least so we can help Janna put it behind her and move on. But maybe we are getting distracted. The press are here, there’s this ceremony in an hour or two. There are more urgent things.’
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‘Like what’s happening in the mirror?’
‘Like shutting down the mirror.’
‘What mirror?’ Blench demanded. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Nothing for you to worry about,’ the Doctor told him. ‘I hope. Just an attempt to sabotage the talks and stage a coup live on telly.’ He held up his sonic screwdriver. ‘Nothing a couple of undercover GA Agents can’t sort out in a jiffy.’
‘You think the Zerugians inside the mirror are a sort of fifth column?’ Martha asked. ‘Ready to come out and fight behind enemy lines, sort of thing?’
The Doctor led the way through Castle Extremis. They were heading for the Great Hall, by way of Gonfer’s quarters.
‘Perfect place to hide an army.’
‘But why in a mirror?’
‘Where better? Activate the portal between the mirror world and our own and out they come. No one will guess, and the scanners – even if they were up to the job – don’t scan glass.’
‘General Orlo?’
‘I don’t know. Not for sure. OK, he provided the mirror so it seems likely. But why kill Chekz? He seemed as upset a
nd surprised by that as anyone.’
‘Someone else then?’
They had arrived at Gonfer’s rooms, and the Doctor didn’t reply. He knocked on the door, and moments later Gonfer appeared.
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Hi. I’m supposed to be getting ready for this ceremony. We’re all being roped in to act as guides and hand out refreshments and stuff. Nice to be allowed out of our rooms again, really.’
‘Tell us what happened to Tylda,’ the Doctor said quietly, Gonfer shrugged. ‘There was an accident. I told you before.’
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‘No, you didn’t,’ Martha said. ‘You said she ran into the garden. You didn’t say she was being chased.’
Gonfer looked pale. ‘I told you, she upset one of the kitchen boys.’
‘You said she ran off,’ the Doctor said. ‘You said no one dared to follow her into the grounds. But someone did, didn’t they?’
Gonfer nodded. ‘That last day. The kitchen boy – she was always playing him up. Always teasing, bullying. I think he’d just had enough. We all had, really.’
‘So he chased her,’ Martha said. ‘And he didn’t stop when she ran into the gardens.’
‘He was so angry,’ Gonfer said. ‘He was close behind her. He thought, I suppose, that he could see where she was putting her feet and he just kept following.’
Martha could see Gonfer’s eyes moving as he spoke. As if he was watching the girl running, the kitchen boy close on her heels.
‘I guess she panicked when she realised he was going to catch her. Who knows what he’d have done to her if he did.’
‘But he didn’t catch her, did he?’ Martha said quietly. It wasn’t hard to guess how the story ended. And she’d seen the pictures.
‘No, he didn’t.’ Gonfer turned away, unable to look at them as he spoke. ‘She strayed from the safe path across the lawn.
The explosion knocked the boy off his feet and blew out the windows in the East Wing.’
Martha reached out and put her hand on Gonfer’s shoulder.
‘You saw it happen, didn’t you?’ she realised. The pictures were bad enough, but Gonfer had known the girl, had known the kitchen boy too, wherever he was now.
‘I saw it happen,’ he echoed. ‘Now I do what I can to help Janna. But she’ll never get over it. Not ever.’