Doctor Who_ Divided Loyalties Part 22

Or comatose,' chipped in the Doctor. And look at his eyes.'

Dieter did so, pulling the lids back. The Dymovan's eyes were rolling, the only movement he seemed to be making.

He's dreaming. Deep asleep he may be, but his REM count is perfectly normal - which is, of course, completely abnormal for someone in his condition.'

Abnormal for us, maybe,' said the Doctor. But I wonder if this is his natural state.'

You mean, they never wake up, Doctor? That's ridiculous.'

Oh really, Commander? Why?' asked Dieter. Dymok seems to lack any real signs of industrial revolution, no cities, no wildlife, no changeable weather. The only thing this planet offers is this pyramid and a race of people who are in a coma, but dreaming. Who knows what their mental powers may be? Advanced telepaths are not uncommon, Commander, even this far out in s.p.a.ce. This could be how they live their lives. They are born, nurtured somewhere, brought out here and dream.'

The Doctor stared down at the dreaming Dymovan.

Dream a little dream of me,' he quoted. Perhaps we are the dream.'

You what?' Oakwood was getting irritable again, a sure sign he didn't understand what was going on.

There's a philosophy, Commander,' the Doctor said quietly, that suggests that we are all nothing but someone's dream.'

He smiled. Of course there are similar philosophies... that the universe is one man's fish-tank, for example, or that we are just biogenic algorithms in a vast organic computer, or that to some greater force the universe only exists for the blink of an eye.'

Cheers, Doc,' muttered Desorgher. I needed to lower my self-esteem.'

The Doctor knelt down beside the Dymovan again. Never fear, Mr Desorgher. There's always someone worse off than you.'

He looked over at the young telemetrist. Would you nip out and see if Nyssa's back yet?'

Desorgher turned to the giant doorway, then looked back, frowning.

Sorry, Doctor. Who?'

Nyssa.'

Dieter joined in. Who or what is a Nyssa?'

The Doctor stood slowly. Oakwood seemed to be staring at his compatriots oddly. Nyssa, the Doctor's friend. What are you talking about, woman?'

CPO Townsend reached out to touch Oakwood's arm.

Commander? What are you talking about?'

Oakwood turned to look at the Doctor, who just shrugged at the others' loss of memory and said How very interesting.'

Little Boy Il had suddenly become a very scary place. had suddenly become a very scary place.

Adric had awoken in the cabin that Lieutenant Paladopous had a.s.signed to him, feeling refreshed but oddly anxious.

One of the things he had learnt during his time with Tegan and Nyssa was the different ways people slept. The two girls often talked about their dreams. Adric didn't talk about his.

He couldn't, simply because he didn't dream. Or, if he did, he never remembered. The Doctor suggested it was something to do with the healing factor in his Alzarian genetic make-up - the slightest injury, and Adric's body healed within about an hour, completely. A bone break mended within about two.

Therefore, if dreams were how the human mind and subconscious relaxed, or whatever human minds needed to do, Adric's didn't seem to require this relaxation. Instead, he slept soundly every night, and woke rested and always instantly bright and cheerful. This was yet another thing the Doctor and the girls said they found annoying - though Adric never knew why. After all, better to be happy and bouncing first thing than wandering around moping and saying I'd like to wake up first, if you don't mind,' as they did.

The old Doctor was never tired or irritable in the morning.

So, feeling enthusiastic and energetic, Adric made his way back to the bridge, to see if there had been any word from the away team.

He was a little surprised to see so few people around, however. Surely, even at this early hour Paladopous had some crew working. But apart from a couple of technicians who said Hi' and explained they were now on their way to bed after a long night shift, he saw no one.

He was even more surprised as he jauntily sauntered on to the bridge, one hand in his pocket and the other holding an apple he was noisily munching that he'd... purloined... on his travels, to discover a virtually empty command area.

Three technicians were at their posts, and Lieutenant Paladopous was sitting in Commander Oakwood's chair.

h.e.l.lo,' Adric said, grinning. Trying it out for size?'

Everyone stopped to look at him. Slowly Paladopous swivelled round, staring intently Adric instinctively took a step back, and stopped eating.

Niki? What's wrong?'

Paladopous stood up, glancing quickly at the others, then, leaning his head slightly forward, gave him the same look the Doctor always gave him when he suspected Adric had broken something, reset something or not put the TARDIS toilet seat down.

The lieutenant scratched the side of his head and then spoke, slowly and clearly, as if addressing an imbecile.

Who the h.e.l.l are you?'

2.

She's Leaving

Nyssa felt the warmth of the sun on her cheeks and rolled on to her back, distractedly waving her arm across her face. As if brushing away cobwebs. Outside, the birds were singing and a slight and pleasant breeze washed over her, entering from the tiny window above the bed-head.

She opened her tired eyes, feeling the softness of the grey silk nightdress she wore. At the foot of the chintz bedspread sat a row of her stuffed toys, guarding her during the night, as always. She smiled down at Big Bear, top guardian and leader of her pack.

Morning, BeeBee,' she said. Thank you for another safe night. I think today I shall go and visit Melkur again. My mother-to-be takes her role as its guardian as seriously as you take the way you guard me - I can do no more than that.'

Nyssa climbed out of bed, washed and dressed, adjusted her hair and, with a final look at her toys, left her room.

She took the yellow-stone staircase down to the ground floor, surprised not to see at least a couple of fosters or one of the proctors taking a message or delivery of some sort to the consuls. Indeed, the whole court seemed to be empty. She crossed the garden where Melkur stood, moss growing among its carved joints, brushwood and a few dead flowers at its feet, and hurried into the consul chamber.

Yesterday, Melkur had been garnished with brand-new bluesh.e.l.ls and yellow cupbells. So why this morning did it look as if the garden had not been attended for some months? Where were the fosters?

Tentatively, fearing she might interrupt a meeting, Nyssa eased open the doors to the consul chamber.

It was empty, both of consuls and the Keeper. Although the absence of the latter was not in itself unusual, to find no one at all was unheard of. Someone should have been there, administering the Union, giving the fosters orders or even checking on the Source, the bioelectronic system that powered the harmonious Traken civilisation.

Nyssa? Daughter, save me?'

Father?' Nyssa looked to see where her father's voice came from. He sounded so... lost, so frightened. She hurried out of the chamber and began combing the citadel, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tremas.

Behind her she heard another sound. A dark chuckle that seemed to gloat at her confusion, relishing her distress.

She pushed open a door that she knew should have led back to the garden but which instead revealed a vast whiteness, with no perceptible top or sides. It stretched on and on and...

What is this horrendous place?' she called out. Father, are you there?'

Again, just the chuckle.

She opted to return to the consul chamber but behind her the doorway had become tiny, part of a model of the Traken building, garden and nearby towns. Resting on the other side of the model, grinning insanely, was the face she hated more than anything in the universe.

The Master! I should have known you were behind all this.'

The Master chuckled and said nothing. Then his face shimmered, as if caught in a heat mirage, and rea.s.sembled as the face of her father with long greying hair and twinkling eyes. For the first time Nyssa could see how similar the Master and her father really were. The figure stood, still dressed in the Master's velvet suit, but with her kind, compa.s.sionate and darling father's head.

Oh Nyssa, it was preordained thus. You must have known that.'

No. What do you mean... preordained?'

Tremas's eyes watered as he tried to smile at her. I'm so sorry I had to leave you, my dear. But it was always going to happen. Two would become one. Even my name is a distortion of his. It was destiny that brought him to Traken, destiny that took you away before he could destroy everything. Destiny that you would find the one man who could separate us, return us to our former selves.'

Who?'

Tremas coughed, as if the battle to keep his face was more than he could take. The Doctor, of course. He knows how to do it.'

No! No, I asked him. Many times. He said you were dead...

that the Master had destroyed you completely when he used your body to regenerate his own!'

The Master's face solidified again, blotting Tremas out.

Nonsense, girl. The Doctor knows how. He just cannot be bothered. Better to let your father wither away and die than help me, his nemesis. His oldest foe. He simply cannot be bothered.'

And with a final chuckle of malevolence, the Master faded away, leaving Nyssa alone in the sterile realm of nothingness.

She stepped back as the model of Traken suddenly ignited and disintegrated into ashes, which themselves faded away.

Nyssa's feet touched something and she looked down. It was her toy bear, Big Bear or BeeBee. As she bent over to pick him up, seek comfort in something from home, something familiar and loved and missed, BeeBee seemed to begin growing until he was sitting, life-sized, beside her. Slowly his head turned to face her, his cotton-thread mouth turning upwards in a smile.

h.e.l.lo, Miss Nyssa,' he said in a booming voice, exactly as she imagined a teddy bear would sound. I'm here to help you through the maze.'

What maze?' she stammered, too astonished to think clearly about how a stuffed toy could grow, move and talk. Yet hadn't he done that once before? In a dream, perhaps...? That one.'

Nyssa looked to her left and saw that a vast array of multicoloured plastic' blocks had appeared. They reached up about three times her height, forming a wall with three openings. Through each one she could see blocks receding into the distance.

Oh. I see.' And Nyssa looked back to where her father/the Master had been.

The secret you seek, Miss Nyssa,' said BeeBee, the truth about your father, the Master and the Doctor, is at the centre of the maze. If you want to learn more, I suggest we go. But fear not. I shall lead you for there may be many traps and dangers along the way.'

And no doubt even more when I get there,' Nyssa said. don't think I like this place, BeeBee. But I don't imagine I have a great deal of choice, do I?'

No, Miss Nyssa. As you know, we have a saying on Traken - a darleel, the trap that must be sprung.'

Nyssa marched ahead of the bear to the right-hand opening in the wall. To be honest, Big Bear, I'm rather fed up with Traken at the moment.' And she marched through the gap. BeeBee, despite his proposition, walked behind her, to guard her rear.

Tegan woke to find herself lying flat on a cold slab of what looked like solid marble. It was polished and smooth-edged, as if to prevent anyone getting nasty scratches or b.u.mps if they walked into it.

She eased herself up, pulled her knees in close until she was sitting upright, and looked around. She was in another part of the cathedral structure, that was certain. And of the Observer, there was no sign. She had no recollection of exactly how she came to be here, but doubted that the absence of the Doctor, Nyssa and the crew from Little Boy II Little Boy II boded particularly well. boded particularly well.

Realising that no one seemed anxious to visit her, she got off her slab and decided to explore. Except there wasn't too much to see. The chamber she was in was lit by flaming torches, like the part of the building she had already seen (which meant there was a fresh air supply somewhere - a possible escape route?), and she was surrounded by row upon row of dead bodies on slabs like hers. They were all grey-looking, like the Observer.

She tried to think of the things she had learnt since travelling to alien planets. First up: don't panic. Secondly, observe and learn without saying too much (yeah, right, Dad used to call her a mouth on legs and rarely had he said anything so true). And thirdly, if in doubt, blame Adric.

The Doctor? Where was he? The Observer had given her a vision, something that made her doubt the Doctor. Yes, and just for one moment she had succ.u.mbed - exactly as the old man had wanted.

One thing about me, Tegan thought, is that I'm b.l.o.o.d.y stubborn. Adric and Nyssa might be vulnerable targets when it came to brainwashing, but Tegan Jovanka was made of sterner stuff. The Observer had made a big mistake.

Not at all,' he hissed in her ear.

She turned, to give him a bit of a tongue lashing, but stopped herself.