Doctor Who_ The Dying Days Part 22

'Because that is how the ceremony goes.'

Xznaal grunted and complied.

Once he was settled, the priest held out a gold implement and lunged at Xznaal with it. The Martian caught the priest's wrist, making the human scream.

'What iss thiss?' he demanded.

The priest was in some pain, indicating that human nervous development had reached a more highly-evolved state than Xznaal had thought. 'It i-is the Anointing Spoon, your, er, your majesty,' the human bleated.

'I ssee. Explain the ritualss a.s.s you perform them.'

'As you wish. The holy oil has been stored in the Ampul a, now it has been transferred to the Anointing Spoon. I dab oil onto your er, hands, your breast and the crown of your head. This is the most sacred part of the ceremony.

It was first performed in 785 on Egfrith, King of Merc- '

'Enough explanation. Continue.'

The priest ushered in a couple of human helpers. 'Now the investment of the royal robes and other ornaments, each of which symbolises a part of your kingdom, physical and spiritual.'

'I ssee. You want me to wear thesse garmentss?'

The priest held out a white, sleeveless piece of cloth. 'This is the Colobium Sindonis, this,' he lifted up a thick gold cloak with crimson lining, 'is the Supertunica, or the Dalmatic - '

79.Xznaal struggled into them, ripping the first. The heavy cloak was enough to keep him pinned down on the throne.

He waved his claw to indicate that he was still conscious.

A human touched Xznaal's feet with tiny gold spikes.

'You are now a knight of the realm, Sir Xznaal,' the priest explained. 'A necessary condition for your coronation.

Now, if you could take the Sword of Offering - ' Xznaal took it in a single claw and examined it. Unlike the ceremonial swords of Mars it had clearly never been used in combat, but it was a great deal more ornate - the hilt and scabbard glittered with gemstones: diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Unsheathing the blade, Xznaal was pleased to see that the sword was of the finest steel.

'With this sword do justice,' the priest intoned, 'stop the growth of iniquity, protect the Holy Church of G.o.d, punish and reform what is amiss and confirm what is in good order and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this life, that you may reign forever with him in the life which is to come.'

'I am to sshare my throne with this Jessuss Chrisst?' Xznaal bellowed. 'I will accept no joint ssovereignty. Bring thiss Chrisst here. I challenge him to a duel, with weaponss of hiss choossing.'

Gerayhayvun hurried forwards. 'No, no, my Lord - your majesty. I'll explain afterwards.'

Xznaal nodded, glaring. 'You will do that.'

The ceremony proceeded. The sword was removed and laid on a flat table. The priest explained what was happening. 'The earl who is the greatest of those present, in this case Lord Greyhaven, will carry the sword naked before the king.' He turned to the humans. 'The price of the sword belongs to the Altar,' he declared. He turned back to Xznaal. 'The peer who carries the Sword of State now exchanges it for the sword you were bearing just then, the Jewel ed Sword for one hundred shillings.' Greyhaven placed a bag of coins on the table and handed over a larger sword. The human required two hands to lift it.

'Thiss ceremony iss ludicrouss. Iss thiss really how it iss done?'

'It is, and I agree,' Gerayhayvun called over. 'But it is necessary.'

Xznaal turned back to the priest. 'The hilt of that ssword ha.s.s bea.s.stss carved upon it,' he observed. 'Explain.'

'They are the lion and the unicorn, your majesty. Symbols of this land.'

'Undersstood.' Xznaal was beginning to feel more groggy.

'These are the Armills, symbolising sincerity and wisdom.' Two gold bracelets bearing stylised flower designs.

Next, the priest handed a gold globe the size of an impact grenade. 'Now, receive this...o...b.. set under the Cross and remember that the whole world is subject to the Power and Empire of Christ our Redeemer.'

Xznaal snorted, causing the priest to step back. 'Er, the Coronation ring is now placed on the fourth finger of the right hand and, er... ' He waved the ring feebly around Xznaal's claw.

'Leave it,' Gerayhayvun snapped. 'We'l worry about that later. Just give him the sceptres and get on with it.' Two gold rods were handed over - one apparently symbolised "Kingly power and justice", the other was the "rod of equity and mercy".

The priest said some prayer, and then held up a crown. It was gold, with the cross and fleur-de-lys motifs that appeared on many of the artefacts.

'This is St Edward's crown, your majesty. It dates back to the time of Edward the Confessor, as far as we can tell.

When I place this upon your head, you will be the rightful King of England.'

Xznaal hissed his pleasure. As the crown was lowered, the first few voices were raised. Nervous at first, the human crowd gradually got into the spirit of the occasion.

'G.o.d save the King!'

'G.o.d save the King!'

'G.o.d save the King!'

Trumpets and cannons were sounding in salute. Xznaal hoped that his gunnery crew didn't think of it as an attack.

'The moment that you sit on that throne, your majesty, you wil take possession of the kingdom,' Gerayhayvun informed him over the clamour.

Xznaal moved eagerly over to the next chair, throwing himself down. It didn't even creak under his weight.

'All hail King Xznaal the First,' Gerayhayvun said quietly.

Xznaal couldn't stand, not weighed down by robes and baubles. The power of his voice was undiminished, though, and he roared for attention. The crowd fell silent. He had prepared the speech that fol owed, perhaps spending more time on it than was appropriate when addressing beasts. 'Martian legendss sspoke of great hallss full of trea.s.sure where the greatesst warriorss went to when they died.' He said. The humans strained to hear him. 'Truly thiss iss ssuch a place.'

The humans slapped their paws together, apparently a sign of appreciation. Xznaal let the noise die down and then continued. 'On Marss, water is rare, frozen solid. Here it fallss from the ssky. If you humanss were to arrive on a planet where it rained gold, you might be able to imagine your delight. But could you desscribe your feelingss - could a mammal even experience the intenssity of emotion - if the native lifeform offered no ressisstance and told you that poolss of gold covered two-thirdss of the world'ss ssurface, that they had a word for ssuch a phenomenon, "ssea"? Your world is unlike ourss. The land and the ssky and the ssea crawl with life and mineral wealth.'

A human was talking to Gerayhayvun, bending over him, talking quietly into his ear. Apparently the other humans couldn't hear the conversation, but Xznaal caught every word. It came as no surprise, then, when Gerayhayvun tried to get his attention. Xznaal finished quickly.

'Everything here iss in ssuch abundance. Even the horizon is further away. I look forward to ruling you, my ssubjectss. Thank you for your human hosspitality.'

80.Once they were sure that Xznaal had finished, the guests slapped their claws together. Gerayhayvun leant across to him.

'My office has just taken a call from a friend of mine. She has found the Doctor. He's about a hundred miles from here, the police are on their way.'

Xznaal exhaled, pulling himself upright. 'Do you not want to be in on the kil ?' he asked.

'It would be nice to see the grin wiped off the Doctor's face,' Xztaynz offered.

Xznaal hissed his satisfaction.

All four of them sat around a big oak dining table. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

The Doctor took a deep breath. 'The Ice Warriors did not come here to avenge the memory of some dead clan chief, that was simply -'

'Wait a minute,' Eve objected. 'Ice Warriors?'

'The native race of the planet Mars,' the Doctor explained rapidly, 'The name is a rough translation of their own term for themselves, although literally it's nearer "Polar Bears". In the future, some people prefer to cal them "Indigenous Martians", but that's an ugly phrase coined in a rather ugly period of colonial expansion.'

'Like "Red Indians" and "Native Americans",' Alan said suddenly. 'Even the politically correct term imposes European cultural a.s.sumptions.' He looked over at Eve, pleased with his a.n.a.lysis. It was the first thing he'd said.

'Quite,' the Doctor continued. 'Now, the Ice Warriors claim to have come here to punish humanity for the crime of tomb robbery. This only provided the pretext for the invasion, and in fact the Martian war rocket was waiting in a powered orbit above the dark side of Earth's moon.'

Eve was still waving at him to slow down. 'How do you know all this?'

'Don't worry about that for the moment. Let me just explain what's happening. A number of people here in the United Kingdom have been involved in a conspiracy with the Martians.'

'Like who?' Eve said scornfully.

'Who has benefited most in the last twenty-four hours?' Lethbridge-Stewart asked them.

'Greyhaven?' Alan suggested.

'Precisely,' the Doctor said triumphantly.

Eve was shaking her head. 'Edward's not in league with the Martians. He brokered peace.'

'You know him?' the Brigadier asked.

Eve nodded, clearly preoccupied with something. 'I was researching a profile of him, and I'd met him to arrange an interview.' She paused. 'If he is working with the Martians, then he has good reasons.'

The Doctor looked her straight in the eye. 'I can't be sure what his motives are. Perhaps they are n.o.ble, perhaps he thinks that what he has done will benefit the British people. He wants to make his country great again, he wants to be its leader. What I do know is that to achieve his aims he has al ied himself with a warlike alien power and overthrown the elected government of this country.'

It was the Brigadier's turn to speak. 'He's almost certainly implicated in the a.s.sa.s.sination of the Prime Minister.

We've uncovered evidence of a conspiracy dating back over twenty years. Greyhaven has been using his influence all that time, collecting allies and equipment.'

'You make him sound like a Bond villain,' Eve objected.

The Doctor gestured helplessly. 'Greyhaven isn't relevant, anyway. Xznaal wil use him as long as he's a good little puppet, and kill him the moment he steps out of line. Greyhaven has given them a foothold, and now he's served his purpose. At the moment, we aren't sure what the Martians are planning, but whatever they are going to do, they won't be stopping at the English Channel. The Martians want the Earth, and they'l kill the entire human race if they have to.'

Alan looked puzzled. 'If the Martians can build s.p.a.ceships and they're hostile, then why haven't they tried to invade Earth before?'

The Doctor peered up at the two Americans through his fringe. 'Believe me, they tried.'

'Do you have any evidence for any of what you are saying?' It was clear that Eve knew that the Doctor was tel ing the truth, but that she found it almost impossible to cope with what he was saying.

The Brigadier knew as wel as anyone what Eve must be feeling at the moment. Nearly a quarter of a century ago, back when he was a Colonel, he'd met the Doctor for the first time. In less than an hour everything that Lethbridge-Stewart knew to be true, his entire world-view, had been challenged. Friends were enemies, there were monsters, demons and things that existed out in s.p.a.ce that man couldn't comprehend. From that moment until his retirement, Lethbridge-Stewart only knew two things for certain: the world depended on him, and he could trust the Doctor.

'No,' the Brigadier said, 'We have no proof. That's why we cal ed you here. Together we can travel the country and collect the evidence.'

'You can send it back to America, show the world what is happening here,' the Doctor said, a gleam in his eye.

Eve was defensive. 'What is happening is that Britain has formed a mutually beneficial alliance with an advanced alien race. I'm telling you that if that ship had appeared over Washington, the President would have done just the same.'

'This isn't the bold new future, it's chaos,' the Doctor shouted.

81.Lethbridge-Stewart tried to remain calm. 'I used to work with the United Nations, as you know. I still attend reunions, I talk to this generation of soldiers. Have you ever talked to anyone who was a peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia? Do you know what frightened them most? It wasn't the bombing, the snipers, the sh.e.l.ling or the piles of dead children. It was the fact that they were patrolling towns that looked like English towns.'

The Doctor was staring into the distance, as though he was looking into the thoughts of each and every soldier.

'They walked through the rows of semi-detached houses, all the burnt-out Volvos and petrol stations and primary schools, and they saw how fragile it al was. Yugoslavia used to be where they went for their holidays, but only six months later there were minefields on the beaches, and blood down the white concrete walls of al those big seafront hotels.'

'The Martians are here,' Eve insisted, 'But nothing else has changed. The Archers is still on twice a day, the milkman still brings you bottles of milk, the BBC is still funded by the licence fee. People are quite capable of turning Britain into Bosnia without any help from aliens.'

The Doctor was trying to communicate his urgency to her, while also remaining patient. 'It's calm in London. Too calm. The streets are deserted, because no-one dares to come out. But have you noticed how the television and radio is keeping very quiet about the rest of the country? From what we can gather, whole regiments and police forces are refusing to co-operate with the Provisional Government. It doesn't matter - there are quite enough who will do the Government's work for them. In a week's time, if we don't stop it, this country will have slid into chaos and civil war.'

Eve was shaking her head again. 'Look, some people find it difficult to deal with the Martians. I'm freaked out, and it isn't even my country. But they aren't an army of occupation - they haven't left their ship yet. In a week's time people wil be used to having the Martians around. Edward says that they are here in peace, and there's proof of that: if the Martians were going to wipe us out, they would have done it by now.'

'Listen to what you are saying,' the Doctor insisted. 'The only reason the Ice Warriors haven't wiped us out is because it suits their purposes not to. If things don't go their way, they'l destroy London, then Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh - '

She glanced at her watch. 'You don't know that.'

'Wait a moment,' Lethbridge-Stewart said, 'Are we keeping you?'

'I'm sorry?'

'Why did you look at your watch just then?'

'I... '.

Lethbridge-Stewart levelled his gun at her. 'Doctor it's a trap!'

82.

Chapter Eleven.

That Which Does Not Kill Us...