The Sands Of Time Part 20

'I meant to ask you,' Tegan said after a moment's pause, 'why a hundred years? Apart from the fact it's a good round figure.'

'I've been asking myself that.'

'And?'

'And it just popped into my head. Which is at least part of the problem. And now the stars are set in their courses, and so...'

'And so?'

'And so we have to be there when she wakes. I'll see you in five minutes.'

As she gathered together her belongings, Tegan was in an ambivalent mood. The Doctor's comments had worried her, but they were off to a time which was rather closer to her own, and where she would be reunited with Nyssa.

She wondered what Atkins would make of the late twentieth century. She had understood enough to realize he would have to come with them until they could return him to the time after he had first left with them. Perhaps the Doctor was right after all about the way that Time crystallized like a snowflake around your actions and despite your intentions. Whether she tried to trick her way out of it, or to go with the flow, events seemed set in their pre-ordained courses.

Before she left, Tegan carefully laid out the pale green dress she had bought in Harrods that morning.

Egypt - January 1897 The three mummies stood forming a perfect triangle in front of the position where the sarcophagus had rested. They had remained there, static, for the last few months guarding the statue of Anubis while their masters had been to London and back. In front of them, Simons bowed to the jackal statue with reverence and respect.

'Will just the one relic remain sufficient?' Ra.s.sul asked.

Simons nodded. 'The energy you will need for the next century is not great.

And when the time comes, the power will build as you need it. Orion will come into configuration and the signal strength will increase accordingly.'

Simons pressed the central square of the Nephthys cartouche and the heavy door to the inner chamber swung open. Ra.s.sul moved aside to let the mummies file through into the room beyond. As the third of the service robots pa.s.sed through, the door swung shut behind it.

'They will return to their charge points until you need them.'

'Until I I need them?' asked Ra.s.sul. 'Surely, you -' need them?' asked Ra.s.sul. 'Surely, you -'

But Simons was shaking his head. 'This body is already decaying, and the journey to the damper climate of England has not helped. The powers granted to you are more durable. You have waited this long, and now you begin the final stage of your journey. Another century is as nothing to you.'

Simons turned back to the engraved symbol of Nephthys' name. 'For me... '

Simons' last words were a cracked gasp. Ra.s.sul was not sure if he had actually said for me for me or or free free. But before he could decide, Simons' slowly crumpled to his knees, the bones in his legs cracking as they splintered and fractured. He pitched forwards, face smashing into the wall of the tomb. His head cracked open, dry powder cascading out and falling to the floor like sand in an hourgla.s.s.

As Ra.s.sul watched, Simons' body slowly crumbled away until only a fine dust remained. A sudden, impossible breeze cleaned it from the stone floor, and sent it scurrying into the corners of the tomb.

Ra.s.sul waited for a while. Simons was right, he had waited a long time.

And soon it would be over. Just a few short decades, and he too would be free.

The Valley of the Kings, Ancient Egypt (c5000 BC) The rain was still falling heavily as the G.o.ds made their way into the pyramid. The rain cascaded down the smooth white slopes of the sides, and waterfalled over the entrance. A blast of lightning split the black sky, making the pyramid seem to glow. Ra.s.sul looked away as the glare hurt his eyes. The rain was still falling heavily as the G.o.ds made their way into the pyramid. The rain cascaded down the smooth white slopes of the sides, and waterfalled over the entrance. A blast of lightning split the black sky, making the pyramid seem to glow. Ra.s.sul looked away as the glare hurt his eyes.

The G.o.ds made their ponderous way inside, their work complete. Horus and Anubis were last into the structure, Isis just ahead of them. Once across the threshold, Horus turned and looked back at the a.s.sembled priests. His face was just visible through the falling water as he nodded slowly in approval.

As Ra.s.sul watched, Horus raised his arms, made the sign of the Eye. Then he stepped back into the pyramid, out of sight in the darkness within. The next moment, without apparent change in the pyramid's form or shape, the water was no longer falling from the edge of the door frame, but continuing its cascade down the smooth unbroken side.

The lightning flashed again. And when Ra.s.sul blinked away the brightness and looked back, the pyramid was gone. The rain slowed, picking random holes in the dry square of sand.

Chapter Nine.

The first thing that Atkins noticed was the noise. The second was how clean and clear the air was. He walked along the Embankment in something of a daze. It was the world he knew, and yet it was not.

The trees had grown tall and strong; the buildings he recognized in the distance, like the Palace of Westminster were gleaming clean as if encased in limestone. Only Cleopatra's Needle and its attendant sphinxes stood unchanged from the last time he had walked this route. They walked by the front of the Savoy, which the Doctor remarked was now the back, and they pa.s.sed the warehouse which in 1896 had been the Necropolis Funeral Company. Atkins watched in amazement as boats sped past on the river, and gaped openly as horseless carriages noisily crossed the bridges over the Thames. The Doctor did his best to explain everything, and Tegan smiled and laughed.

When they reached Kenilworth House, the feeling of upheaval remained.

He had hoped that the familiar architecture, set apart from the rest of the disjoint city would offer a still point of continuity in the turned world.

It did not.

They made their way round to the busy road at the front of the house, and found the driveway gates open. The jackals watched them with stony eyes, their upright ears chipped and their claws blunted by the elements. The wall bulged outwards where a tree was growing into it. The trunk was forcing its way through the brickwork in a way the architects and landscapers had neither intended nor antic.i.p.ated. The house at the top of the drive, rising out of the ground like some huge ancient structure, was recognizable. Just.

The roof had been entirely replaced, the new one rising higher with a dormer window suggesting the addition of attic rooms. The ground floor had been extended outwards from the original house, the porch stretching the width of the frontage, and an annex added to the side. The upstairs bay windows had been replaced with more streamlined double-glazing, so that with the extensions at ground level, the whole house seemed to taper inwards from the base.

'That's the trouble with Time,' the Doctor said catching sight of Atkins'

expression.

'What is, Doctor?'

'Things are never the same again.'

'Well, I think it's a definite improvement,' Tegan said. She led the way up the drive, feet crunching on the gravel.

Across the street from Kenilworth House, a blue Ford Mondeo stood shadowed by a beech tree. The car was in every way average, an unremarkable model in a standard colour scheme. The owner had selected the car for these very reasons.

He watched the Doctor, Tegan and Atkins make their way up the drive, then checked his timepiece.

'Right on time, Doctor. As always.'

He smiled, and returned the hourgla.s.s to his jacket pocket. The upper bowl was almost empty of sand. Then Sadan Ra.s.sul started the engine, checked his wing mirror and pulled out into the traffic.

Aubrey Prior was alone in the library when he heard the doorbell. He frowned, glanced at the wall clock, and put down the heavy leather-bound volume he had been reading. Reaching for his stick, he pulled himself to his feet. His palm closed easily around the familiar smoothness of the carved handle of his walking stick as he pushed aside his chair and headed off towards the door.

'I'll get it,' he called up the staircase as he crossed the hall. There was no answer from above, probably his daughter had not heard either the bell or his shout. Prior was not expecting visitors, so it was probably Norris calling for Vanessa anyway. He shook his head and opened the door.

Outside, cl.u.s.tered round the doorstep, were three people. None of them was dressed in what Prior would have described as 'normal' attire. The woman was small and slim with close-cut dark hair. She was probably in her mid twenties, and she appeared to be wearing either her night-clothes or her underwear. A short white linen jacket seemed to have been added as an afterthought in case she got cold.

The other two were men. One was tall and blond, his age difficult to estimate. His eyes focused on Prior with an inner intelligence. His hair was parted at the side and he was dressed like an Edwardian cricketer. The other man was tall with dark greased back hair and a thin face. He seemed to be in his late thirties, and he was wearing evening dress complete with wing-collared shirt and black bow tie.

'Ah, h.e.l.lo there,' said the cricketer extending a hand. Then he saw Prior's hand resting on his walking stick. He quickly pulled back his hand and offered the other one. 'I'm the Doctor,' he said. 'I wonder if we might have a word.'

'I wasn't aware that anyone was ill,' Prior told him, ignoring the offered hand.

The Doctor leaned forward. 'You don't know who I am?'

'Certainly not. Should I?'

The stranger's mouth twisted up on one side, as if he was biting the inside of his lip. 'Maybe not,' he said after a moment. Then he broke into a grin. 'I know, perhaps this will help.' He reached into his jacket pocket, frowned, then tried the other pocket. He pulled out a piece of white card, tapped it proudly against his thumbnail, and offered it to Prior.

Prior took the card suspiciously. He did not let his eyes stray from the Doctor's face until he had the card held up in front of him. It was half of an invitation card, printed on plain white stock with a gilt edge. It had been torn across the middle.

'I think you had better come inside,' Prior said quietly.

'I'm terribly sorry,' the Doctor said as they were shown into the library, 'but I'm afraid we don't know your name.'

'Prior,' the man said. 'Aubrey Prior.' He limped his way across the room to a large oval reading table. Several chairs stood round the table, and the top was littered with papers and books.

'Thank you. Well, as I said, I'm the Doctor, and this is Tegan and Mr Atkins.'

Prior waved them to the chairs round the table. 'Please bear with me a moment, Doctor.' Prior was counting along the books in one of the shelves.

He found the one he was after, and took it down. From inside the cover he took a faded brown envelope, which he brought back to the table.

Tegan watched Prior make his unsteady way back to the table. He seemed to be in his mid fifties, grey and distinguished. A little overweight perhaps, but he was evidently still fit, apart from his leg. He sat down heavily on the chair at the head of the table, and laid his walking stick down on the cluttered surface. Tegan caught one of the papers as it skidded out of the way, and replaced it. Prior smiled at her, a warm, genuine smile. Tegan smiled back, and looked away.

On the table in front of her, the handle of the walking stick was level with Tegan. The stick itself was light wood, highly polished. The handle was made from the same piece of wood, not added on to the main body. It was carved into the shape of a sphinx.

Prior opened the envelope carefully. The edges were worn with age. From within he drew a piece of card and laid it on the table. It was old and yellowed. Beside it he placed the card the Doctor had given him outside the front door. Then he gently teased the two halves together. They fitted perfectly. Except that where Prior's card was discoloured and crumpled, the gilt faded and the printed letters chipped and worn. The Doctor's half was pristine and new.

'I've looked after it,' the Doctor offered as Prior stared down at the completed invitation. 'Evidently.' Prior looked up. 'I did not expect you would ever come. I didn't think - I didn't know what to think.' He shrugged, and picked up the two halves of card, holding them together and comparing them.

'Is she here?' Tegan leaned across the table, eager to find out where Nyssa was. 'The mummy? Oh yes, she's here.' Prior lifted his stick from the table, gripping the sphinx as he pushed himself to his feet.

'Sir?' Atkins spoke quietly to Prior as he pa.s.sed him.

'Yes, Mr Atkins?'

'May I ask a question?'

'Of course. I think there may be several questions.'

'I used to know this house extremely well, many years ago. It has changed.'

Prior nodded slowly. 'It must have been many years ago. I've been here for nearly twenty-eight years, and it was my uncle's before that. It's been in the family since it was built by Lord Kenilworth in the last century.'

Atkins waited patiently, hands behind his back.

'There was a fire, several years back,' Prior explained. 'The house was gutted and needed extensive rebuilding. All finished now, I'm pleased to say.'

'A fire?' The Doctor was quickly at Prior's side. 'What about the mummy?'

'Oh don't worry, the bas.e.m.e.nt was unaffected.' Prior nodded again, and looked round his three visitors. 'Come on, I'll show you.'

'Who is it, father?'

They were crossing the hall when the girl called down to Prior. She paused on the half landing, looking over the banisters. Her long dark hair fell forward so that her face was shadowed. She swept it back with a hand to reveal the immaculate features of her face, cla.s.sical and slightly aquiline.

Her green eyes were large and wide, the pupils slightly oval like a cat's.