by BBCi Cult
Norris stared open-mouthed as the door swung open and the Doctor and Atkins emerged.
'Am I glad to see you,' Tegan said almost before they were out of the door.
'Ah, Tegan. Likewise.' The Doctor waved his rolled Panama hat distractedly. 'I'm glad you got here all right.' He nodded politely at Norris, who was sitting stiffly in his chair and blinking. 'Now whatever happens,' the Doctor said seriously to Tegan, 'they mustn't get the cobra.' He looked round the room. 'Where is it, by the way?' His voice trailed off as he surveyed the damage. His gaze came full circle and met Tegan's.
She flinched, and looked away. 'Doctor,' she said, 'they got the cobra.'
'Oh Tegan.' With an obvious effort he pulled himself to his full height, jammed his hat on his head, and started a quick tour of the room. 'Well, I suppose it's not too disastrous,' he admitted. 'Just so long as they don't get Vanessa.'
Tegan said nothing. Norris stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor closed his eyes. 'Oh no,' he said quietly. 'I can't leave you for a moment, can I?'
'Maybe it doesn't matter,' Tegan said. She did not sound convinced.
The Doctor sat down on the sofa and thrust his legs out. 'Doesn't matter?'
'Does it matter?' Atkins asked.
The Doctor shook his head. 'I don't know,' he admitted. 'But I think it probably does. I'm not sure how she fits in yet, but she's important to what's going on.'
Tegan gulped. 'But Vanessa doesn't exist,' she said.
The Doctor and Atkins exchanged glances.
'You mean, she's dead?' asked Atkins.
'No.' Norris leaned forward in his chair. 'I was telling Tegan, Vanessa literally does not exist. I wanted to get her a passport, so we could go away for a holiday - maybe a honeymoon. But her father wouldn't let me borrow her birth certificate.'
The Doctor frowned. 'What did Vanessa say?'
'She was upset at first, then she seemed to decide she didn't need or want a passport.'
'Well, I suppose there's nothing too suspicious in that.'
'No. But I decided she was being hassled by her father and I'd apply for one anyway. So I looked into getting a duplicate certificate. Even went to Somerset House to look up the records.'
'So?' asked Atkins.
'So, Prior's story is that he married Vanessa's mother and almost immediately Vanessa was conceived. Then his wife died in childbirth. But I can't find anyone who's met Vanessa's mother apart from Prior. I can't get Prior to tell me the same story twice about his wife, or his wedding. And I can't find any record in St Catherine's House of the marriage. Or of Vanessa's birth. I even went to the hospital where she said she was born.'
'No records there either?'
'No, Doctor. Nothing at all.' Norris looked round at them. 'Neither Vanessa's mother, nor Vanessa have ever officially existed.'
The Doctor nodded gravely. 'I think it's time we got back to Kenilworth House. Probably long past time,' he said, unlocking the TARDIS door. 'And on the way, I'll tell you what I've discovered from the inscriptions in the hidden burial chamber.'
* * *
Fragments of Inscription from the Tomb of Nephthys
First Fragment (from earliest inscriptions)
After the great battle, Horus had Sutekh and his sister-wife Nephthys brought before him. And despite the entreaties of his colleagues, he would not have them put to the mind-sword as that would have made him no better then they.
Instead, he imprisoned Sutekh, bound him forever in the Eye of Horus such that he could neither move nor project his mind beyond the walls of the chamber which held him. And to increase his suffering, Horus provided the equipment Sutekh would need to effect his escape: to implant his mind in another from a distance and to destroy the Pyramid of Mars. But Horus ensured that it was outside of Sutekh's reach. He had the means, but lacked the access. He knew the infinitely remote possibility of escape, and that in turn increased his despair and his punishment.
But Nephthys, Horus treated differently. He knew that she was the greater evil, the greater cunning, the greater danger. So he imprisoned her too within a great pyramid. But before she was imprisoned, he had her mind removed to another body, a frail human, and the human was mummified alive to entrap the mind of Nephthys and bind it to the failing flesh.
Then, as the human woman was entombed, Horus ripped her mind into two fragments, even as it struggled to escape. The instinct, the intuition, Horus left within the dying woman. But the reasoning, deliberate, calculating evil he removed to another vessel. He placed it within a canopic jar, sealed with an inner force which bound the half-mind within it forever. And Horus knew that the evil of Nephthys was diluted and destroyed and her terror would never again awaken.
Second Fragment (from later inscriptions)
But when the robbers stole into the tomb, despite the traps and puzzles left by Horus, greatest of the ancient Osirans, the canopic jar which contained the essence and strength of Nephthys' evil was cracked. Fearing that her mind might yet escape, the high priests followed the wisdom of Horus as laid down for them in the writings of Isis and passed through the years.
The gods arranged another receptacle. And this was another human. She appeared in the appointed place at the time foretold. And she was without sin or blemish. Her spotless mind was a perfect container for the evil of Nephthys. She was imbued with the spirit of the Queen of Evil, and it was bound into her by the power of the stars. Then the new-born Child of Orion was laid to rest in the outer chamber, beyond the firstborn of Orion's earthly children. And she slept the sleep of the damned.
(Translated by the Doctor, from his own transcriptions)
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
Tegan, Atkins and Norris listened in silence as the Doctor finished the recitation from his notes.
Tegan and Atkins had filled Norris in on the background on the way to the TARDIS library. He had taken a little convincing that the Doctor, Tegan and Atkins had travelled in time, but the apparently impossible inner dimensions of the TARDIS and the events he had already witnessed that night left him little room for scepticism.
Now they sat round the reading table, the Doctor's notes and papers strewn over its surface, and looked at each other. Nobody seemed to want to be the first to venture an opinion.
Eventually Tegan spoke. 'Why Nyssa, Doctor?' Her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. 'And how did they know where to find her?'
The Doctor shook his head. 'I don't really know. There's obviously a temporal paradox, probably caused by the interference of the lode stone sarcophagus with the TARDIS's relative dimensional stabiliser.' His voice gathered an enthusiasm which belied the gravity of the subject matter. 'My guess would be that it plucked us out of the vortex, and somehow signalled the mind of Nephthys, the intelligent, reasoning side of her mind. She in turn influenced the unpleasant Egyptian gentleman we met at the British Museum, and he sent Nyssa back in time to the point where they were expecting her.'
'But why Nyssa? Why not you or me. Or anyone?'
The Doctor flicked through his notebook. 'It mentions how the receptacle had to be without blemish. I suspect they were trying to recreate the exact state of the canopic jar, which probably excluded external influence and energy rather like the Zero Room here in the TARDIS did. Nyssa would have been ideal.' He set down the notebook and leaned forward across the table, chin resting on his hands, and eyes alive with thought. 'Think of it, Tegan, Nyssa is from the Traken Union. For all her life the Keeper and the Source ruled such that there was no concept even of evil. What more pure mind could one hope to find anywhere in the universe? Nyssa must have been ideal for their purposes.'
Atkins coughed politely. 'Er, Doctor, I wonder if you could clarify one small point for us?'
'Just the one?' asked Norris quietly.
The Doctor nodded. 'If I can.'
'You said that Horus created the receptacle, the original canopic jar, in order to imprison the mind of Nephthys.'
'Part of the mind, y
es.'
'But then you said, just now, that it was Nephthys that brought the TARDIS to Victorian London, and who in effect found Nyssa in order to replace the jar.'
Tegan could see what Atkins was asking. 'That's a point,' she said. 'Why would Nephthys provide another prison?'
The Doctor looked at them across the table. 'Horus was long gone, him and the rest of the Osirans,' he said. 'The jar was cracked, and I think just a tiny fragment of Nephthys' mind was able to leak out. Enough to take control of a servant or agent, probably someone already with plans in line with her own objectives. Also, enough to detect the TARDIS and draw it to the British Museum.'
'But why bother?' Norris asked. 'Why go out and find your own new prison?'
The Doctor steepled his fingers. 'Say you were in the same position.' 'God forbid.' 'No, just consider for a moment. The high priests know the jar is cracked, and they will certainly find a replacement of some sort. Yes?'
Norris agreed.
'Wouldn't you rather, if you could manage it,' the Doctor asked quietly, 'find that replacement for them?'
Norris gave a short laugh. 'Not much of a choice, though, is it? Unless -' He stopped short, the smile freezing on his face.
'Unless?' prompted the Doctor.
But it was Atkins who answered. 'Unless you provide a prison you know you can escape from,' he said.
'Exactly.'
'But, how?' Tegan asked.
The Doctor shrugged. 'I wish I knew. The Egyptians and Prior are acting on impulses seeded thousands of years ago and passed on. The power seems to be focused through the relics, which our Egyptian chum is now collecting. Somehow they seem imbued with some of the instinctive power of Nephthys. I can only assume that she is working on some incredibly long-term masterplan.' He leaned back in the chair, swivelling it slightly to and fro. 'But I do know one thing.'
'What's that?'
The Doctor's face was grim, his voice equally grave. 'Somehow we've been caught up in the plan. Or perhaps we were always part of it. When Nyssa awakens, which will be very soon now, Nephthys, the most dangerous and evil of the Osirans, will be born again.'
For a long while, nobody spoke.
Then the Doctor stood up. 'Come along,' he said, grinning widely. 'We're nearly there.' And he started towards the library door.
Norris caught up with him ahead of the others. 'Doctor,' he said, 'I don't think I follow everything you've said.'
The Doctor smiled. 'I don't think any of us do,' he said as he held the door and waved them through into the corridor outside.
'But,' Norris went on, 'how does Vanessa Prior fit into all this?'
'Ah.' The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor as he walked. 'I really don't know,' he confessed. 'You call her Nessa. Nessa; Nyssa; Nephthys. You can be sure she fits in somewhere.' From the distance came the melodic chime of the TARDIS landing. 'We're here,' the Doctor said, increasing his pace along the corridor. 'Perhaps her father can enlighten us as to Miss Prior's role in all this.'
When they reached the console room, the Doctor immediately opened the scanner. It showed the basement tomb room of Kenilworth House. The sarcophagus containing Nyssa's body was in the foreground, the staircase behind.
'It's funny,' said Tegan, 'just an hour ago I was desperate for Nyssa to wake up. And now I almost hope she never does.'
The Doctor clapped her on the shoulder. 'Brave heart, Tegan,' he said. 'We'll think of something.' He closed the scanner again and reached for the door lever. 'If only we knew where the local power was being channelled from.'
'Local power?' Atkins asked. 'Couldn't it just be sent from Egypt?'
'Oh indeed it could. And undoubtedly is.' The doors swung heavily open. 'But there has to be a reception point. Even the mummies have a tiny pyramid on each of their lower backs to collect and focus the power they need.' The Doctor stuck his hat on his head and made for the door.
'Pyramid power,' Norris said, his eyes wide. 'So that's what he was doing.'
The Doctor stopped in mid-stride. 'Is there something you feel you want to share with us?' he asked politely, leaning forward and pushing his hat back on his head. Norris looked at him, his face blank. 'I was the architect for the rebuilding of this house,' he said.
'We know,' Tegan reminded him.
'I drew up the plans and supervised the work. But the plans were pretty much dictated by the owner. They reflected what Prior wanted, I just drew up the design, however bizarre.'
Tegan frowned. 'Bizarre?'
Norris nodded. 'I thought so then. Now I'm not so sure. The whole of the top section of this house - you must have noticed the slope of the upper walls, the heightened elevation of the roof?'
The Doctor said nothing. Tegan and Atkins looked from Norris to each other, and back again.
'I thought I was drunk,' Tegan murmured.
'Doctor,' Norris said, 'the whole of the upper part of this house, the internal structure, is a perfect pyramid.'
The Doctor walked slowly back to the console. He rested his hand on the door lever for a moment, staring down at the control. Then he looked up. 'I think I'd better make a couple of extra stops before I speak to Mister Prior again,' he said.
'Where are we off to now?'
The Doctor shook his head. 'Not we, Tegan. Just me. I'd like you, Atkins and Norris to find Prior. He probably doesn't realize we're on to him. Try to find out all you can about what's happening here.'
'And what will you be doing?' Atkins asked.
'Don't worry about me. I'll be back here before the fun starts.'
'You think this will be fun?' Tegan asked.
'Oh yes,' the Doctor said as he ushered them out of the TARDIS and into the basement. 'I'm just not sure who for, that's all.'
Prior was in the drawing room. He was sitting alone by the empty grate, a facsimile of the notes from one of Carter's expeditions open on the coffee table beside him. He was leaning forward, chin resting on the sphinx handle of his walking stick. He was staring into the fireplace, as if transfixed by the dancing yellow of the fire that was not there. Perhaps he was day-dreaming, or perhaps he was watching the flames raging through his house as the fire took hold.
Tegan, Atkins and Norris stood just inside the door, watching him. He seemed unaware of their presence, even when Atkins coughed quietly and asked if they might join him. As they exchanged worried looks and sidled into the room, Prior turned slightly, his watery eyes staring past them.
Then his eyes seemed to focus, and he coughed suddenly and shook his head. 'I'm sorry,' he said quietly as he looked from Norris to Tegan. 'Really I am.'
'Sorry?' Norris stood directly in front of Prior and bent forward so that he was looking directly into Prior's face. 'What do you mean, Aubrey? What's happening? What's going on here?'
Prior did not react. The answer, instead, came from the other side of the room:
'That, Mister Norris, I think we shall all discover before too long.' Sadan Rassul stepped forward. He had been standing by the window, looking out into the night. Now he faced them across the drawing room, a semi-automatic pistol in his hand. 'You are back from Cornwall rather earlier than I had anticipated,' he said as they backed away from the gun. 'No doubt the Doctor gave you a lift. Where is he?' He addressed the question to Tegan.
'I don't know. And I wouldn't tell you if I did.'
Rassul raised an eyebrow. 'In that case, I won't bother to ask you again. But your tacit confirmation that he brought you here is sufficient for the present.' He laughed. 'The present. What a strange term to those of us who exist outside Time,' he said. 'Though I confess the Doctor's particular relationship with Time does give him several advantages. For example, I had to drive back from Cornwall like the very devil.' His round, hairless face cracked into a broken smile. 'But perhaps that is my prerogative.'
Atkins pushed his way in front of Tegan and Norris. 'May I ask what you intend, sir?'
'Indeed you may. Though I am sorry to have to decline to
answer. For the moment.' He nodded to Prior, who stood and walked stiffly towards the door. 'In the meantime, however, I would invite you to join me in the basement for what will be the culmination of my long life's work. And of Mister Prior's rather shorter existence.' He waved the pistol to encourage them on their way. 'I would suggest that you all accept my kind invitation without too much fuss.'
Nobody moved. Prior stood stiffly at the door, his eyes again glazed over. Tegan, Norris and Atkins held their ground. Rassul smiled, his face cracked across with satisfaction as from behind him a loud swell of discordant music rose from the organ and echoed round the room.
'I have had so long,' Rassul said quietly as the organ music faded, 'so very long to form an appreciation of the motivations and eccentricities of human nature.'
'Oh yes?' said Tegan. 'And what's it taught you?'
'That a short sharp shock, to coin a rather modern phrase, is an especially effective incentive. Now, you are all expendable to a greater or lesser degree, and I do not intend you to disobey me again.'
He raised the pistol, and sighted along it. The report was like a fist slammed into an open palm. It echoed and ricocheted round the room like the organ chord before it. Norris stood for a second, open mouthed in amazement. Then his eyes rolled upwards, as if trying to see the hole in his forehead from which the blood poured down his face. The viscous liquid dripped off his chin and splashed to the wooden floor. Norris tottered, seemed almost to slip on the sticky mess at his feet, and collapsed.
They descended to the basement in silence. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tegan went over to the sarcophagus. Atkins joined her at the dais, looking down at the body of Nyssa. It was completely wrapped in the bandages, silent and still. But Tegan knew that before long her lungs would heave in a great breath of air and she would begin to waken. As Tegan watched, she was almost sure that there was a slight movement, a rise and fall in the chest. Almost.