Confussetern came silently
to the altar, with as much reverence and calm as he could muster. Though his
mind was a fierce and disturbed tumult of the purest fear and terror. He didn’t
even want to think on the thoughts that washed like fetid sewer water around
his mind. It was so difficult, for the girl's body in his arms weighed far more
than he had expected.
Tears streaked down his face as he hefted
the unconscious body of the teenager onto the altar. Not that it was truly an
altar. As he breathed in with relief as he let go of the body at last, he took
a step back from the moss strewn thing that most definitely did appear to be
merely an unassuming stone altar.
A line, almost like a ragged crack ran down
the exact centre of the old surface. He did not look at the body of the girl as
he laid himself down next her, making certain not to cross the line between
them. As he laid his head down on the cold stone, the same cold questions of
doubt stabbed at his heart. Was he right to do this?
His throat was bone dry, but his soul was
even worse. But only one thing he knew for sure. He had to keep it at bay. He
had to keep it out of sight. But he still closed his eyes as he pressed home
the button under his left hand.
Confusion and delusion. Yes, they were a
plague and a vice.
The girl next to him suddenly began to
softly groan. He tensed. He had not expected her to come around so soon.
Another wave of guilt stabbed at his core. But he could do nothing about the
outcome now.
In one more second the girl went from
softly groaning to suddenly shrieking in nothing more than naked agony as a
fierce beat of yellow energy fell over her body. She contorted and twisted. Her
skin pulled back over her face and started to crack. Her screams rang down his
ears. And as the secondary power beam washed over him, he could do nothing to
stop himself from hearing the utter anguish in her death throes.
All Confussetern knew was he had to hold it
back as long as he could.
The TARDIS somersaulted
freely like a spinning top through the vortex.
Within the confines of the impossible time
and space craft, the Doctor stared down at the console before her. A smile
slowly began to spread over her face. She turned to face Graham with a twinkle
in her eye.
"Nearly there!"
"That's good Doc" Graham mouthed
with a soft smile.
"Oh, you'll love Decendron, Graham.
The most amazing race of people you'll ever meet in your life. The
Decendronians are such amazingly gifted and creative and talented."
"I've heard that before," came
Ryan's voice from the stairs that led down into the further reaches of the
incredible time craft.
"We all have. What's so special about
the Decendronians then?" Yaz looked tired even after a night of unusually
deep sleep.
"In the Universal Book of Records,
they are!" The Doctor cried defensively, looking hurt at her companion’s
lack of enthusiasm. "Twenty billion centuries of no war, no racial kegs,
no "
"That sounds pretty much impossible to
me." Graham said solemnly.
"Look you lot, I know we've had a bit
of a rough ride of it recently. But I genuinely am trying to take you on a real
REAL holiday. I swear it!" The Doctor said quietly but with fervancy.
"Everywhere we ever go there is
always trouble, Doc. You can’t deny that" Graham persisted. The memories
of the Praxeus virus still burned in his mind even now.
"Not this time, Graham"’
"We'll believe you, thousands
wouldn’t" Yaz muttered sombrely.
"What is the matter with your grumpy
guts today?"
Ryan raised an eye brow as the Doctor threw
a lever on the console.
"You have to ask?"
The Doctor took in a breath and then let it
out slowly.
"OK. OK! We've had a bit of rough time
at the moment. But I promise you this time we will not have anything to worry
about" she sounded more pleading than they had ever heard her. Maybe she
was trying hardest to convince herself to believe her flowery words.
"Well, it's been a bit of a ringer
we've been through recently, you gotta admit that Doctor" Yaz said
soberly.
The Doctor shot Yaz a glare, but
immediately relented and then merely nodded.
"You'll all see. The Decendronians are
the most warmest, kindest race you'll probably ever meet!" The Doctor
threw her arms wide and her good mood re-emerged triumphantly. "I refuse
to be bullied by your reticence guys. Trust me, you won’t want to leave when we
get there..."
Elequiee smiled as her
husband came in through the kitchen door. He came up to her and wrapped his
arms around her waist.
"Something smells nice"
Confussetern whispered in her ear.
"Have a good day, sweetie?"
Elequiee kissed him softly on the cheek then gestured for him to take his place
at the dinner table.
"Not too bad I suppose dear" he
replied half-heartedly.
She placed a steaming bowl of tar in front
of him and her husband reached for a spoon.
"You sound tired, baby" she laid
a hand on his shoulder. Her gently took her hand and squeezed it.
"No, I'm OK. Honestly love."
She sat down next to him and they proceeded
to eat their meal in silence. She knew he was lying. Her husband had not been
the same since their Tyreena had died four months ago. She felt the immense
loss too, of course she did. Tyreena had been her own daughter. The pain would
never get any better. But they had to proceed with life.
"This is lovely darling"
Confussetern made a show of shovelling the tar into his mouth.
"Glad you like it. And how's that
slash on your back?"
"Dont go on about it. Its better now
Elequiee"
Oh, she hated it when he called her by her
name in full. That always meant a brooding session was coming on. She couldnt
take another one.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence.
Confussetern than sighed as a knock on the front door made him jerk in alarm.
"Oh great, who the hell is that?"
he spat with a deep sigh of annoyance.
"I'll answer it. You go on and relax
in the lounge. It won’t be anyone important." Elequiee pointed firmly and
her husband managed a feeble smile of acquiescence. He rose from the table and
disappeared from her sight as she headed to the hallway and the front door.
"Oh, Myg! Are you alright?"
The man on the doorstep was distressed, she
could see that from his red raw eyes and the tears streaming from them.
"Myg, what is it? Come on in..."
She was stunned when Myg slapped at her
proffered hand.
"Is he in?" he croaked with
anger. She had never seen him so enraged and unsettled.
"Yes, of course he's in the-"
"Elequiee, go into the lounge and shut
the door" Confussetern's voice rang out harshly in her ear. He gave Myg
almost a pitying and despairing look. Elequiee was momentarily stunned by the
fierceness of his tone, but she decided it best to quietly obey.
"I know why you've come"
Confussetern said simply. Myg's gaze hardened.
"Where is she, Confussetern? What the
hell have you done with her?"
"I’ve not done a thing, come with
me" Cunfussetern shoved his friend out of the front door and slammed it
behind them. "I've got something to show you"
Myg moved to intercept his friend.
"You are a liar. I saw her go out of
the factory with you" Myg's hands balled into white fists. His three eyes
narrowed to black slits.
"Oh, did you indeed?! I have not done
anything to your daughter. You’re my friend, or have you forsaken that memory
Myg?" Confussetern once again moved to walk past his confused friend.
"But we haven’t seen her for ten hours
Confussetern. Ten hours!"
"So, you automatically think that I am
to blame for that?!" Confussetern spat acidically.
"I don’t see who else can be. I
followed you to the church, man"
Confussetern halted as if his friend has
just slapped him across the face. For the first time Myg saw a flash a proper
fear flash across those features. It was all the proof he needed.
"You did what?"
"I saw you go in to the church with
her. Don’t pretend you’re deaf!"
"Oh, don’t you dare take that tone
with me, Myg Strekson. Your daughter is fine. I'll show you and then you can
jolly well shove off and get out of my life!" Confussetern spoke
resolutely. Myg's featuires clouded over with confusion.
"Just who the hell do you think you
are to accuse me of doing anything with your girl. How could you think I'd do
that?!" he was almost screaming as he crossed the street.
Myg now knew where they were going.
He was being led back to the church again.
Elequiee glanced at her
watch for the sixth time.
Something was most assuredly wrong. The
very air around her was cold as if in complete agreement with her reasoning.
She had never known her husband to have been as angry and detached as he had
been. Yes, Tyreena's death eroded her own soul and heart too, but she was sure
there was something more to her husband's mood than than just the death of
their daughter.
Her husband had been gone for an hour now.
It was dark outside the window. The streets were emptying. Elequiee pulled the
blanket up over her legs and resumed her tri-knitting, determined to remain
calm and bright. Maybe she was overreacting somewhat. Maybe her husband just
needed more time to get over the tragedy.
She cursed as she accidentally drove the
knitting pin into her finger. She sucked at it and shook her head. Oh, she could just do with a visit from her
friend again now. She really could.
Then she let out a startled cry as a
sudden weird, almost elephantine like roar stirred the air right in front of
her chair. She gasped as the blue police box outer plasmic shell of the TARDIS
hardened into reality and took up residence on the old burgundy rug on the
floor.
And then she gaped and grinned broadly at
the very familiar craft as the door marked Pull to Open cracked apart.
"Elequiee!" the Doctor burst out
of the TARDIS and wrapped the three eyed Decendronian in a tight and jubilant
embrace.
"Doctor!" Elequiee cried with
just as much enthusiasm.
"Oh, my sweetie, how in the nine
planets are you? It’s so brilliant to see you!" The Doctor's grin was so
full of hope and brimming with warmth that Elequiee forgot the cold for a
moment.
Ryan, Yaz and Graham all filed out of the
ship, Graham raised his hand in greeting.
"Don’t tell me, your latest marvellous
travelling friends?" Elequiee enthused, finally breaking away from the
Doctor's soothing embrace. This was such a relieving turn up for the book!
"The Doc's told us all about you,
Elequiee, right? ‘I’m Graham and this is Ryan and Yaz!" Graham said
warmly.
"Oh, it’s so so, so good to see you
all, it truly is!" Elequiee announced. "Let me see to some
refreshment whilst you sit down. I have a feeling you need it!"
The Doctor play thumped her friend on the
shoulder.
"Triple chocolate and Mykron
tea?!" she gabbled.
"You don’t need to tell me that Doctor,
I always know you have the same thing every time you visit!"
"Well you do make the best Mykron in
the multiverse sweetie" the Doctor beamed broadly.
"Let me give you a hand" Ryan
offered, but Elequiee raised a hand to bar him.
"Uh uh, my lad. You take it easy, do
what your Aunty Elequiee says!"
Yaz sat down on the sofa in the corner of
the room whilst Graham took to looking at the holophotos on the wall.
Ryan reluctantly obeyed.
"Good boy. Whilst In my house, you all
relax. And that’s an order!"
Yaz laid her head back and yawned as the
Doctor and Elequiee both left the living room.
"Well, nothing's happened yet. That’s a
good start!" she said softly, but Graham heard her.
"She seems really nice"
"Yeah, everyone's favourite
Grandma!" Ryan agreed.
Graham stopped by a large photo. In it,
Confussetern had his arm around Tyreena and Zanquith and Elequiee. They all
shared the same joyous and electric happy smile of contentment.
"Pretty girl" Ryan declared over
his Grandad's shoulder.
"Ssh, Ryan, you know the Doctor said
not to talk about their daughter"
"Sorry" Ryan apologised softly. He
moved to take the other seat on the settee next to Yaz.
Myg smashed into the
altar, his skull connecting hard with the mould covered stone. He barely had
enough time to feel the shock and surprise of his friend of 56 years' fist
smashing into his nose before his head connected with the stone and blackness
overcame him and swallowed him whole.
"Sounds like you’ve
been up to your old tricks. The universe will always be owing you so many
debts, Doctor" Elequiee said as she sipped her Triple Chocolate and
Mykron.
"Nah. I'm only helping out. Nothing
heroic, no big deal"
"Oh, shut up, you big fat liar!"
Ryan answered with a mocking tone. "No big deal stopping Praxeus from
taking over the Earth. You should get the intergalactic Cross...or whatever it
is" he ended with a clap of the hands.
"Yeah. And just how many times have
you saved Earth?" Graham added.
"And Decendron. Three times that I can
recall myself." Elequiee wagged a finger as the Doctor drunk down the
dregs of her own drink.
The Doctor almost looked uncomfortable with
the attention she was getting from her friends now. She got up from the kitchen
table and put the cup in the sink.
"Enough talk about me. What about
Confussetern. He isn’t usually out this late" The Doctor said, just a tad
of concern entering into her tone.
"He went out with Myg an hour ago. I
shouldn’t imagine they’ll be long" Though Elequiee herself was starting to
get a little worried herself now. Her husband was really wasnt usually out
after night fall.
"Don’t start thinking something’s
wrong already, please!" Yaz spoke quietly.
"He never could open up in front of
you and me, could he?" the Doctor looked at Elequiee with knowing and
probing eyes.
Elequiee shivered under the intense look.
"The wounds are still raw you know. Its best not to dwell on the past.
There's still the future to make!"
Ryan was the first to see Confussetern as
he came in through the front door. He shut the door and immediately his eyes
met Ryan's, his shoulders sagged.
"Who the hell are you?" he spat
harshly.
Elequiee sprang into view.
"Confussetern, don’t be like that, the Doctor's here!" she said with
a smile. But as the Doctor skipped up to throw her arms around him, he pushed
her back, nearly forcefully. "These are her friends Ry-"
"Oh, praise the Gods the Doctor's
here. I’m going to bed" he shoved past the Doctor, but she gripped his
arm.
"What, not even a hello?" she
asked.
"Look Doctor, just back off OK. I have
had the day from hell and I don’t need no universal do-gooder like you pawing
all over me at the moment, OK? I've got a headache!"
"OK, don’t bite me head off" The
Doctor threw her hands up in mock surrender, but Confussetern's stare remained
cold and embittered.
"I won’t have to if you all just back
off and leave me alone!" and with that Confussetern ran up the stairs. Yaz
winced as a bedroom door slammed.
Elequiee shook her head in dismay. "I
have no idea what is wrong with him"
"Pain takes different people in different
ways. Just give him time" Graham offered kindly.
Elequiee nodded.
"He was holding her when she died.
That has to be so hard" the Doctor whispered. But everyone heard her.
"You will stay the night won’t you
all? Please say you will. Maybe I can get his nibs to perk up by morning?"
Elequiee said whilst simultaneously stifling a yawn.
"Of course, we will. We all need a
rest" Yaz piped up vehemently.
"Thank you all" Elequiee sniffed.
A tear had formed in the corner of her eye.
It didn’t escape the Doctor's eye.
"It'll look better in the
morning"
Elequiee slunk into the
semi darkness. Her husband was sat up straight in bed. His eyes to the ceiling.
He barely even spared her a glance as she undressed, then pulled on her nightdress
and climbed in beside him. She laid a gentle hand on his but he didn’t even
seem to register the notion at all.
"Come on, love, Spill the beans"
she kissed him on the cheek.
He remained silent as a stone statue.
"Please sweetheart. I'm your wife,
talk to me" she stroked his cheek. He still did not move. Elequiee
restrained her annoyance. She would persist.
"Confussetern, will you please
acknowledge me?" she whispered sharply next to his ear. At last he seemed
to wake up and he turned to face her. Lines of tears streaked down his face.
"Oh, I’m so sorry Ele. I really am.
I've been such a miserable little fool!" he gripped her hand and brought
it to his lips.
"I don’t think you should go to the
factory tomorrow love" Elequiee rubbed his hand on her cheek. "You
look exhausted."
"Why did I talk to the Doc like
that?" Confussetern's free hand swiped at his own face viciously then and
his wife gasped.
"Please Confuss! What is the
matter?"
More tears sprouted to his face. Then his
eyes met hers and the dam broke. He started to cry like a man who had never
cried before.
"Oh baby. What is the problem. Please
tell me" Elequiee squeezed his hand tighter.
He pawed at his eyes as if embarrassed by
the tears,
"You do know I love you
Elequiee?" he stammered weakly.
"What a stupid question. Of course, I
know you love me"
Confussetern pulled her close then and they
kissed for a tender minute.
"I hate seeing you like this. Let me
help you darling"
"OK, I promise I'll try Ele"
Outside the bedroom door
the Doctor grinned as she took her ear away from the door. She retreated like a
ghost back down the upstairs hallway to the room that had been made up for her
and Yaz. She chided herself for her ever present vice of eaves dropping yet she
convinced herself it had been in a good cause. But she was glad her two
Decendronian friends were talking. Yaz was already asleep in her bed when the
Doctor entered the room quietly and slithered lithely over to her own
designated bed. She did not take off anything, but just spread herself out on
the bed, her eyes open and gazing intently at the roof.
If only the weird reading on her sonic were
but a mirage too. Her fingers tightened around the instrument in her pocket.
"Doctor, I want to apologise for being such a dry morose fool last night. It truly is wonderful to
see you"
Confussetern passed the Doctor a glass of
orangekellon juice which she thanked him for.
"Oh it’s alright Conny. Youve had a
rough ride recently, believe me I do understand"
"You’re cool mate, just take it
easy" Ryan re-iterated between a mouthful of toast.
"I shall endeavour to do my best"
Confussetern replied coolly.
Graham yelped as a grapemire seed hit him in
the eye. Yaz chuckled as he swiped at the sour offending article. Then she
returned to her own juice.
"I think we should go out after
breakfast" Elequiee had her hands on her husband’s shoulders, which she
was massaging gently. "Since you have been given the day off. I’m glad
they listened to me!" Elequiee had sneakily phoned the factory up in the
early hours to request her husband be allowed just a few hours off work.
Remarkably Confussetern had seemed OK with the news when she told him of her
little deed.
"I think that is a very good idea my
love. How about Meekre Park?" Confussetern offered.
"Yes! Absolutely! Definitely! Oh, I
haven’t seen the place in years" the Doctor jumped gleefully, spilling her
juice down her front.
"It’s even more beautiful since they
pulled down the old city buildings, the trees have gone even further!"
Confussetern informed the Doctor.
"Leaves of 60 different colours. Im not
sure I believe that!" Yaz said jestingly.
"You will, Yasmin, you will!"
Elequiee beamed.
And then the front door bell warbled.
Elequiee took her hands off her husband's
shoulders and went to answer it.
"Ulrek. Oh, what a lovely
surprise!"
The Doctor was surprised to see Confussetern
tense and look suddenly grey and strained as he had the night before once more.
His eyes betrayed some great source of unease.
"Doctor!" Ulrek's fan of
extravagant green hair bounced in the Doctor's face as her friend dived into
her arms. "You've come for a visit again!"
"Indeed, I have. Ulrek, meet Yaz,
Graham and Ryan!"
"Awesome to meet you! Any friend of
the Doctor is a friend of mine!"
Confussetern rose from the table and moved
over to the sink.
"What do you want Ulrek?" he asked
coldly.
Graham too could feel the renewed cold that
had taken over the man again too.
"Oh, it’s just I was wondering Conny,
have you seen Myg? He didn’t come home last night" Ulrek said, though she
didn’t seem to be too concerned, just maybe a little surprised at best.
"Oh? He was heading home to you when I
left him last night"
"So, you spoke to him then? He wanted
to see you" Ulrek informed him calmly.
"How should I know where he is now
then?" Confussetern's tone was cutting and sharp.
Ulrek seemed to have a little double take
at the tone with which he spoke,
"Sorry, Conny. It’s just he's never
been out all night like this before..."
"So, you came round here to start
hurling accusations at me, did you?"
Suddenly there was a long carving knife in
his hand. Ryan gasped. Yaz moved to stand next to Ulrek. Both she and the Doctor
and Elequiee stared back at Confussetern with some consternation.
"There's no need for the knife,
mate" Graham was now between the women and Confussetern.
"Why don’t you keep your nose out of
business that don’t concern you, you...ahhhhh!"
Confussetern screamed, the knife dropping
from his hands onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. Then he buckled and his
body hit the floor with a thump. The Doctor ran over to his prone form.
"What’s the matter with him?" Yaz
asked quizzically.
The Doctor placed a hand on Confussetern's
wrist, feeling for a pulse.
Then she suddenly jumped back as something
erupted through the skin of the wrist. A long, green glowing fibrous thread
hissed at her.
"Stay back Elequiee!" the Doctor
warned her friend, stopping her from running to her husband’s side. The sonic
was in her hand and flashing over the thrashing green frond. It seemed to
object to the warble of the sonic and shrank back immediately into the wrist.
Confussetern convulsed savagely, his whole chest rising off the ground before
falling again.
"Your husband's body has suddenly
become quite a battleground" the Doctor's tone was suddenly dark and
arresting. Ryan shared a knowing look with Yaz.
"I knew it wouldn’t be too long"
Yaz breathed sombrely as three more writhing threads ripped from Confussetern's
wrist.
"What are those things doing inside my
husband?!" Elequiee screamed, all colour now evaporated from her features.
"Stay calm Ele" Ulrek gripped her
friends arm strongly.
The Doctor studied the sonic and then
looked up at the mini crowd that had gathered around the body.
"I think your husband has been
implanting himself with something nasty. An alien infection"
Graham rolled his eyes.
They quickly got
Confussetern into bed. He had remained unconscious ever since the tendrils had
sprung from his wrist.
Yaz mopped the unconscious Decendronian's
brow softly.
"He doesnt look good"
"Why would he inject himself with a
lethal disease?" Elequiee was of course a mess by now, sitting next to her
husband on the bed. The Doctor offered her a caring glance.
"I have no idea. Maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe someone else infected him"
"And why would anyone want to do that,
Doc?" Graham piped up "Ulrek says he's one of the most loved men this
side of the Doghead nebula"
"And with good reason Graham.
Confussetern is one of the most kind and brilliant engineers I’ve ever known.
And I've known some great engineers, believe me" the Doctor replied.
"His service to this world has always
been exceptional" Ulrek tendered confidently. "He created the
Ranocron!"
The Doctor saw the shared confusion on her
friends faces. "Yeah, boy what a mind. The Ranocron's used on over 50
million planets in this sector of eternity alone..."
"Yeah, but what is a Ranocron?"
Ryan asked the question on all three of their lips.
"Ah! Only about the invention of the
billenium, Ryan. A simple device. Converts any known metal or wood or plastic
or basically anything into food. This wonderful man has saved trillions of
lives on countless planets"
"He started the inter system
starvation fund." Ulrek added.
"Quite some benefactor then" Yaz
smiled.
"And I have not for one day ever felt
worthy to be his wife" Elequiee sniffed into a handkerchief.
"Don’t talk tripe Ele" The Doctor
retorted hotly. "You know you were half the brains behind it as well"
Elequiee tried her best not to blush.
"You are way too generous to me Doctor. Confussetern put the machine
together. He made it safe. We have not had a single return or a single
complaint about it in the 200 years he's been giving them away"
"I know."
The tendrils on Confussetern's arm darted
forward again, snapping at the wool of the bedcovers now.
"This isn’t anything to do with the
machine is it?" Elequiee's gaze was full of sudden fear and apprehension.
The likes of which the Doctor had never seen in her eyes before.
"I don’t think so. But something has
placed alien cells within your husband’s body" the Doctor spoke sadly.
"Why are we just sitting here, he
should be-"
"No hospital can help him at the
moment. Trust me Elequiee. I have something much better in the TARDIS. Yaz, be
a gem and get the time vector generator from the TARDIS will you?"
Yaz nodded and immediately ran from the
room and down the stairs to the TARDIS.
"What can you do with that?"
Ulrek enquired.
"I can use it to purge every single
alien cell from his body" The Doctor answered.
"Doc! Look out!" Graham yelled.
Confussetern's fist connected with her jaw
all the same and the Doctor barely had a chance to look surprised before she
hit the bedroom wall and slid down it, completely senseless. Elequiee screamed
as her husband’s other arm slashed across her face and sent her crying from the
bed.
"Calm down Conny!" Graham dived
forward to restrain the flailing man, but the fist again connected with his eye
and Graham sagged with a whimper of pain. Ryan made the sensible decision to
jump back into the corner as Confussetern then bounded from the bed and ran
like a man possessed.
"Conny!" Ulrek sprinted after him
after gathering what remained of her confused wits. Ryan ducked down to Graham,
giving him the support of an arm as he helped him onto the bed.
"Gramps, you OK?"
Graham nodded though already his eye looked
swollen and sore.
"That guy's got one mean hook" he
groaned. "How's the Doc?"
Ryan moved to the Doctor's side. "I
think she's just out cold. No bones broken"
Confussetern ran into the streets.
His whole body was on fire and the pain swept over his senses in an
overwhelming torrent. He knew he needed to do it again. And it ate into his
cavernously gangrenous soul but he had no choice. He had hurt his wife and
friends this time. This was starting to get serious. But he still wouldn’t give
in to the tendrils writhing and tearing at his core. But he would need more
bodies this time. How could he acquire them? He had to control the surges. They
were strengthening, but ever since he'd restricted himself to only taking
Decendronian lives the attacks had been fewer than they had been for a while.
He hated himself for his constant lies to his wife. He hated lying more than
anything else. All those times he'd claimed to have been caught up in work or
inter planetary missions. When really all he had been doing since Tyreena had
died was giving into the most massive fears he had ever known in all his life.
Tyreena was part of the cause of it. He had been so broken when she had fallen
from the gantry at the factory and died in his wan arms.
He was conflicted. Two sides of the coin.
But he couldn’t face the pain of his
daughter's loss yet, so he as usual gave in to his other fear. The fear he was
most ashamed of. The fear that had turned him into a murderer.
He had prided himself on his strength of
will though. And he knew what he required.
"Shut up!" he shot a venomous
gaze at the tendrils flailing on his wrist. As if they heard they receded
immediately, and sunk back into his wrist. Confussetern smiled. His will was
still there. He ran on towards his destination.
The Doctor's eyes snapped
open.
"Wow, that was some mean blow. How
long have I been out?"
Yaz helped the Doctor to her feet.
"Only a couple of minutes" she
said.
The
Doctor swayed for a moment, before grabbing her sonic screwdriver off the
floor. She pointed it out of the room and the wand warbled for a few seconds.
"Graham and Ryan have gone out trying
to find Confussetern" Yaz told her as the Doctor hurtled down the stairs
three at a time.
"I do wish they would be more careful.
Confussetern has become an extremely dangerous man indeed"
"Just what do you mean Doctor?"
Elequiee squealed in her ear as she reached the bottom of the staircase.
"The alien cells are attacking his
mind. He's unstable. He could become even more violent..." the Doctor
spoke with sadness but finality. " We have to find and restrain him. At
least Ive got the generator now. That should do the trick"
The Doctor breezed past Elequiee to the
front door.
She threw it open.
"Oh, hello!" she said awkwardly
to the three uniformed and armed three eyed guards that stood out in the front
yard, their fearsome looking lasers all pointing at her chest.
"Where is Confussetern?" the
tallest of the Guards spat viciously.
"And what do you want with him?"
the Doctor retorted vehemently, seeming to totally ignore the weapons.
"He is wanted by the Decendronian High
Police Command. You will tell us where he is located or you too shall be
arrested?"
"I don’t think so" Ulrek stepped
up defiantly behind the Doctor, dabbing at her wet eyes with a piece of tissue.
"That’s right you lot. You listen to
me. Whatever you want him for is not important right now" the Doctor began
but the lead guard viciously jabbed his gun into her chest then and the Doctor
stumbled back, winded.
"Alright, keep yer heads!"
Elequiee seethed as the Doctor stumbled into her.
"You consider murder not
important?" the shortest guard hissed.
The Doctor and Elequiee both suddenly took
a double take.
"What? Murder? My Confussetern? Are
you insane?"
"We wish we were Mrs Vanriksioncard.
But regrettably we are not" the tallest guard once more raised his gun to
aim right at her cranium. "I shall not ask again. Where is your
husband?"
"Can you still see
him?" Graham called out, panting for breath trying to ignore the throbbing
in his eye.
Ryan was ahead of him. "He went into
that place over there!"
He pointed straight ahead to a small
bungalow on the edge of the street.
"Then come on then!" Graham
wheezed, thumping Ryan on the arm.
A shrill scream tore through the air in
front of them. A scream of pain.
They saw Confussetern then. He bounded from
the bungalow, a woman's unconscious body thrown over his shoulder like a doll.
"OI!" Ryan yelled. Confussetern
met his gaze and only snarled back in fury. Then he was running like a man
crazed towards Decendron's High Church.
He ducked inside. He
paused to tap at a button set into the wall by the front door then made his way
once more to the altar. He threw the body of the woman onto the right side of
the cold stone surface.
At least his little defensive force shield
should keep them out for a little while. Enough for him to achieve his goal. He
threw himself onto the slab next to the woman's body and went through the
simple procedure again. He pushed home the button and the fierce yellow sheen
slanted over the woman.
"Hey, Con ahhhh-" Ryan had made
it to the front entrance but fell back as his head connected painfully with the
force shield. Graham reached him, panting for breath, a few seconds later.
"There’s some kind of forcefield round the door!" Ryan said
desperately.
"Dont worry mate, here comes the Doc and Yaz" Graham
informed him with a wheeze.
The Doctor was sprinting towards them, the
three Police guards behind her. Yaz was the first to reach the two men.
"We can’t get through the door"
Graham coughed.
The Doctor whipped out her sonic, sweeping
it over the doorway.
"Simple trybol forceshield. Child's
play to turn off"
Another wrenching and agonized scream fell
over them, tearing out of the church like a runner on acid.
The Police Guards shoved past the Doctor,
aiming their guns at the doorway.
"I wouldn’t if I were you, just let me
switch.." the Doctor began.
"Please do not interfere." the
tallest guard opened fire at the door.
The beam of the energy gun hit the
forcefield, and rebounded straight back into the guard's chest. He screamed as
his atoms ceased to exist.
"I told you not to do that!" The Doctor spat sadly as the
guard disappeared from existence altogether. "Why does no one ever, ever
listen to me?! You two, stop gawping and put the guns down now unless you want
to not exist either!"
The two guards were obviously smarter than
their leader. They lowered their guns and stood back to let the Doctor stand
forward.
"Trybol forcefields are always so
tricky but...." the sonic flared a fierce blue for a moment. There was a
click, and then she beamed. "That’s it. What a foolish waste of a good
life" she muttered to the air. It smelt of burnt flesh.
"Let’s go in then!"
Yaz was the one who led the way forward.
The woman was already
dead. Her body lay desiccated and broken on top of the altar. Confussetern was
now nowhere to be seen. The Doctor gazed sadly down at the poor broken form in
front of her.
"So that’s the answer"
Elequiee had fallen silent ever since her
eyes had fallen on the object that looked so much like an altar.
"But why?" she shrieked.
"Why has my husband killed this woman?"
Ulrek wrapped a protective arm around her
friend's shoulder.
The second guard spoke up again.
"And this is not the only life has
claimed sadly"
Ulrek glared at the man as if he were some little
fly to be squashed quickly under foot.
"What?" Elequiee whimpered.
"Hey watch out!" Ryan moved to
catch her as her legs buckled and she sank to the floor in a sagging heap of
helplessness and clear despair.
"Last night one of our constables had
the sad misfortune of uncovering a mass grave in the second precinct. He also
found a note from your husband confessing to the killings. And Im sorry to have
to inform you Mrs Laik, but your husband was one of the victims"
Ulrek's mouth fell open in confounded
disbelief.
She started to shake.
"You...you...what? What do you mean,
my husb-"
"What I said Mrs Laik. Your husband
was murdered by Confussetern."
The Doctor and Yaz both moved to Ulrek's
side, as she just stared blankly, uncomprehendingly ahead.
"Just what the heck is all of this
about?" Graham croaked hoarsely.
Tears strobed down Ulrek's cheeks.
"Perhaps...I could explain..."
The voice came from the back door. The
group all turned in unison to find Confussetern standing, a stubby gun in his
hand. The Doctor only took one glance at it and placed her hands out to keep
the group from stepping forward.
"Keep still, fam. That’s an acturan
pulse rifle he has there" she spoke gravely.
"Yes, keep still and just listen. Do
not try to fire upon me, or you will regret it fellows. Put those guns on the
ground now!"
The two guards needed no more warning. They
let their guns drop onto the cold stone ground.
"Do you remember the years and years
we came here, Ele? With Tyreena? Do you remember how much she loved the
Gods?" Confussetern's voice was thick and laced with anguish and naked
emotion. His finger tightened on the trigger.
Elequiee could only nod as she too recalled
her daughter's oh so vibrant faith.
"How she'd always sing so beautifully?
How she was always asking to make the offerings of incense? I was so so proud
of my girl"
Elequiee's head bowed to the floor.
Ulrek's eyes filled with raw anger.
"You killed Myg?!"
"Oh, do be quiet please Ulrek. I
really truly don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to. I told you to
keep quiet"
"We're quiet" The Doctor spoke
with assurance.
"When she fell from that gantry....Do
you know what it was like? To hold my own daughter in my arms and watch the
life ebb out of her. And where were those damn Gods then eh? Where the hell did,
they vanish to?!"
"Maybe they wanted her to come home
early" Ryan suggested calmly.
"Is that what you think? You deluded
cretin! My daughter's faith in them was unshakeable even as she bled out in my
grasp. She told me to keep the faith. She told me not to be sad. She told me to
carry on"
"Sounds like she had sense, your
daughter" Yaz spoke softly.
A fierce bolt of directed heat shot over
their heads and the whole group as one went to the floor.
"Next time the bolt will be between
your eyes!"
"Oh put the gun down, Conny.."
Elequiee moaned feebly. but her husband caught the words.
"I desperately tried to keep the
faith. I desperately wanted to believe the Gods had just taken my girl home.
But I....but I..." Confussetern staggered momentarily, but instantly
righted himself. "I couldn’t....yet I did. But my guilt at not stopping
her fall....oh what a burden of fire to consume any soul..."
"You couldn’t have done anything to
help her, Conny" The Doctor spoke with calm restraint.
"That’s easy for you to say. That
feeling...it’s so raw and unbearable. But I always tried to believe. And I
think I still do. That’s why I had to kill them!"
"Why did you kill my husband?"
Ulrek stammered, her voice almost consumed by sobs and grief.
"Because I can’t ever face the Gods.
I can’t ever ever face them. I’m so scared of what they may do to me. So I have
to live as long as I can....I won’t ever let them take me as easily as they
took my Tyreena...."
The Doctor nodded as if she totally
understood him. She pointed a finger at the altar. "That’s a Galuxian
regenerative cubicle isnt it Conny?"
Confussetern nodded, his eyes pools of
black nothing.
"I can’t ever go before the Gods! That’s
why I had to live forever...that’s why I took their lives....I found this thing
one day when out in the Praxonian cluster. Drifting in a Sensorite space
explorer it was. Who would have thought those harmless looking mind readers
could have owned such a device?"
"Every civilized race has dark
secrets" the Doctor breathed.
"A device that extracts all the
binding life from one body, and safely transmutes it into a form that can be
channelled into a host body. When I found this, I was in absolute Heaven. I
just will not ever be taken before the gods who took my little...my
little..."
Then Confussetern screamed as masses of
green tendrils erupted from his arm. He sagged onto the floor like a burst
balloon on the end of a pin.
"But you in all your brilliance didn’t
know the device didn’t work absolutely efficiently. It didn’t completely make
all those stolen cells safe.....so you have been slowly mutating ever
since"
"All those trips away...the weeks and
weeks I didn’t see you." Elequiee spoke almost mechanically.
"He was hiding away trying to overcome
the side effects. Hid all the bodies he'd amassed whilst trying to live
forever. But Confussetern, a lone question. If you still believe in these Gods
of yours, why dont you want to meet them? Why wouldn’t you want to see your
daughter again if she's there with them?"
"What, and live with them forever in
lah de ha happiness forever?? They still took my daughter's life.... they still
let her die. They left me empty for so long...and I...and I was...I am...so
scared"
"You're totally insane!" Ulrek screamed.
And she was running forward then, shoving past Ryan, sending him careening into
Yaz who in turn took Graham down with her. Elequiee shrieked in a paroxysm of
anguish.
"Ulrek! Don’t!"
The beam caught Ulrek right in the face.
She barely had time to scream before the flesh seared off her face, then her
bone and marrow also faded till nothing was left of her at all.
"Confussetern!" The Doctor
yelled. "I think you'd better put the gun down NOW...! Please..."
Confussetern gurgled in agony as the tendrils
suddenly darted towards his own face. They sprang round his neck like cheese
wire. His hands flew to his throat.
Elequiee's scream filled everyone's ears till
they couldn’t hear anything else. The second guard raised his gun and fired. The
bolt missed, but the force of it was enough to send Confussetern's own weapon
spinning across the marble floor.
The Doctor sprang forward, yanking the Time
Vector generator from her pocket. With one swift movement she thrust it in
front of her and activated the generator. A golden beam of light flowed like a
lightning bolt towards Confussetern. It struck home.
His body went rigid as a stone statue.
Then the tendrils themselves seemed to
scream as they shrunk back like receding ants into his arm. The beam then
washed over his entire body like some fire from heaven. Then the light faded
and Confussetern fell forward.
And Ulrek was upon him, clawing at his
throat with frenzied hands. But then she gasped as Yaz's firm hands caught hers
and pulled her away from the body. Ulrek struggled wildly but Yaz held on.
Graham and Ryan were already at
Confussetern's side. He moaned and his breathing was laboured and strained.
The two guards made to come forward, but
the Doctor rounded on them.
"Just stay where you are you two. Give
him some space for just a minute"
"Keep still Ulrek" Yaz spoke
softly into Ulrek's ear. But she still struggled.
The Doctor strode up and bowed in front of
Confussetern as he finally managed to raise his head.
"You’re clear of all those infections
now Confussetern. Well at least all the physical ones." she laid a hand
gently on his shoulder. "You hurt a lot of people. I know what losing a
family member is like. I saw my own father killed by shabogans for nothing more
than a ten quint marthek. But I didn’t spread my anguish around on everyone
else. I didn’t kill others. You need some serious help my friend"
"You need to be strung up and flailed
alive! You murdering...sick..." Ulrek began till she could no longer hold
back her ocean of sorrow. She sank into Elequiee's arms and the two friends
held each other like they never had before.
The second guard coughed meaningfully.
The Doctor stepped away from Confussetern.
The guards reached to heave him off the
ground.
But Confussetern's fist wafted into the
second guards face and he fell.
The third guard raised his gun, but
Confussetern kicked him under the chin and he went sprawling.
"Oh, come on mate...don’t be
stupid..." Graham warned.
But Confussetern wasn’t listening.
He merely glanced to his wife where she
held Ulrek to herself for all she was worth.
"Please forgive me Ele...please
forgive me..."
And he shoved the barrel of the gun under
his chin and fired.
His shattered body fell to the ground, and
was at last still.
The Doctor stared at the corpse, aghast and
silent. Her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head and took a step closer
to the body.
Then she closed a hand over her face.
"Faith and doubt. Two of the most
forceful elements in eternity. They have both led far stronger beings to
premature destruction...or to something better" The Doctor said as she sat
with both her arms around Ulrek and Elequiee on the settee in Elequiee's shell
of a home. It was as if the house itself knew of the tragedy that had befallen
its owners. And it cared too. "I've seen both of them bend and warp such
wonderful, beautiful and inventive minds. Minds just like your husbands. And the
death of family. I know it can be so abominably intense."
"We know just how you feel" Ryan
said, his hand clasped around Ulreks. "I lost my Mum and my Nan. Both of
them were two of the loveliest people you could have possibly ever known."
Graham smiled as images of Grace flashed
back before his eyes. "But you can’t lose your friendship over this. Don’t
let tragedy keep you both from moving on and having a life. Don’t let the
emptiness win. Tell it to shove it. Ulrek, be proud of your Myg. The same for
you as well Elequiee. Don’t ever let go of the memories. Remember what they
achieved."
"Stay strong and stay together. You
both need each other." Yaz added soothingly.
"I don’t know what to feel
anymore" Elequiee admitted barely audibly.
"That’s understandable. But don’t let
the pain eat away your hearts. You two have such wonderful, kind hearts. We don’t
want to deprive Decendron of them, or the universe for that matter. You’re far
too valuable!" The Doctor kissed them both lightly on the forehead. Both
women held her tight in their grip.
"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you
all" Ulrek stuttered feebly. "Thank you for being here for us"
Graham Yaz and Ryan all nodded and gave
the two women their very best smiles under the circumstances.
Then they stepped into the TARDIS.
But the Doctor hovered in the doorway.
"Are you sure you two don’t want to
come with us? Some time away...could be a great tonic..."
"No, but thank you so much Doctor.
But we need to stay here. This is our home." Ulrek spoke through her
trembling.
"Thank you for staying for the
funerals, dearest friend" Elequiee's gaze clouded over again.
The Doctor gave them her most understanding
and brightest smile. "Oh, you are so welcome. It was an honour. I won’t
ever forget your husband’s ladies. And you remember what I said...never stop
believing..."
And with that the Doctor stepped into the
TARDIS and silently closed the door.
Ryan stared at the TARDIS
doors for a long time after the ship had left Decendron. Yaz stepped over to
him, lacing her arm through his.
"Penny for them?" she asked
softly.
"I know just how he felt" Ryan
said. "When Nan died. The pain was so raw. I thought I was going to drown
in an ocean of brine" He squeezed her hand tightly.
She winced but didn’t say
anything.
Graham nodded in concurrence. "Grace
would be so proud to see you now, son" he said. He swiped a threatening
tear from his own eye.
"And she'd be just as proud of you
too, Graham" the Doctor spoke from where she stood by the console.
"Look fam…I'm so very sorry about Decendron. I promised you a break, and
yet again it was anything but. I think I’m jinxed!" she slammed the
console in anger. Her face flushed and livid by sudden but obvious self-loathing.
"Its OK Doctor" Ryan replied.
"None of that was your fault Doctor.
Just a poor man who got mixed up because he lost his daughter"
"He was terrified of the afterlife.
But at the same time..." the Doctor didn’t finish the sentence. "Well
we can leave all that for finding out later can’t we?"
"The undiscovered country can stay
undiscovered for just a little longer" Graham announced boldly.
The Doctor nodded with the traces of
another smile curling the edges of her lips.
"We seek to learn the mystery of the
Nietnrey. Do we progress to join the stars or maybe to make us perfect homes
with friends forever with no end? Do we ne'er know boredom or hatred or old age
any longer by the gabe....all these fears and dreams let them be softly and
kindly answered one day for our soul's sakes"
"Doc, what are you going on about
now?" Graham voiced Ryan and Yaz's thoughts as well as his own.
"Oh, just a eulogy I read on
Aldeberran 3. Somehow it seemed appropriate"
For just a moment a shadow of a memory
lanced over the Doctor's synapses, but then it was gone.
"You've never spoken of your family
much before" Yaz was giving her the smile that always made the Doctor's
hearts swell with gladness.
"No. I haven’t really have I?"
The Doctor walked back over to the console,
her hands gripping the sides. She didn’t speak for a long time.
"They were the very best of me. You'd
have loved my family"
A solitary tear dribbled down her cheek and
fell to the floor of the console room.
"What were they like?" asked Ryan
inquisitively.
"Oh they were so special.....My Mum
and Dad...my little Sissy. My broth-" the Doctor coughed and then her gaze
once more appeared to grow grey and dejected, somehow far away even.
"Your brother? What was his
name?" Graham pressed on.
Testing the ice, seeing if it at last would
break.
The fam looked at the Doctor expectantly.
"Oh, he used to be so incredible. Then
one day..." she stammered. "Well, his name was...."
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