IDChapter33
Kor'Lo walked through the Shadow Proclamation compound with purpose. Stopping at an information kiosk, he took note of the functions scheduled. Of particular interest (or it would be to the Doctor, anyway, not particularly to himself) was a wedding scheduled in the Shadow Sanctuary. It was said that any union sanctioned there would last forever, not that Kor'Lo himself believed in such superstitious nonsense. After taking note of the scheduled functions and their locations, he went on to the Krillitane Ambassador's office to pick up the report he was expected to relay to the Office of the Esteemed Father.
"Kor'Lo! I was advised of your arrival. You're a bit early." G'Kak, the Attaché to the Ambassador observed dryly. He handed Kor'Lo a data cube. "You'll find everything there."
"Thank you, G'Kak." Kor'Lo gave a perfunctory bow of respect, turned on his heel, and left. Diplomats. He understood the need for them, but he'd much rather drop the pretense and call them what they were – spies in training. They always left a bad taste in his mouth, but then everything and everyone in this compound did. He returned to the ship and handed the cube to his Communications officer to be transmitted via a secure frequency once they were well away from here. Now on to the Doctor.
He walked into the guest quarters and was confronted by two Captain Jack Harknesses. Both said "Captain!", stood at attention, and saluted in the human fashion. The corner of Kor'Lo's mouth pulled back in the closest thing his beak could manage to a smirk. As the two Jacks mirrored each other's movements, spoke to him, and had identical inflections, he was reminded of just how good his Security officer, Son'Mar really was. He could not tell them apart, but then he didn't know Captain Harkness that well.
"Well done!" He announced, at which point Son'Mar dropped his morphic illusion. He had been the one on the right. "Where is the Doctor?"
"Right here," announced Jon, walking into the room. He had been lying on a bunk, resting. Kor'Lo walked up to him and Jon touched his temple and lightly skimmed his memories. "Very good, thank you." He now had the area of the compound where Isana was mapped, and knew where to be and when to be there. He walked over and touched Jack's temple as well, and felt Jack's anger at the wedding plans.
"Now, we have a couple of hours to refine our plan. Let's get to it."
Rose woke up refreshed and excited. The refugees were wrapped up in her story, and she felt it was having a very positive effect on them. She got up and stretched, then went to the area they had prepared for the 'necessary'. After attending to her needs, she washed her hands and headed out to the front of the caves. Looking at the sky, she estimated it to be mid-afternoon. A small group was sitting off to the side, shelling pods they had picked that day. Arianna and Alia were helping, as well as occasionally flicking empty pods at each other and giggling. Rose walked over to hug the children. Arianna proudly showed her the mound of seeds she and Alia had shelled.
"Good for you! I'm so proud you're helping!" She smiled at 'her' girls. They had become inseperable, and Rose wanted to adopt Alia. If only Jon would get back so she could ask him how he felt about it.
As if reading her thoughts, Monna asked, "Rose, when do you expect your husband and Captain Harkness back?"
"Soon, I hope." Rose replied, as she hunkered down and started shelling, too. "They'll be back with more supplies, we could certainly use them."
"And you miss him,"Monna said with a knowing smile.
"Yes, I do." Rose smiled shyly. "Besides, I was hopin' he and Jack would help me finish the rest of the story."
"You'll still finish tonight anyway?" Carra spoke up hopefully.
Rose grinned. "Probably, don't want to keep you waitin' too long." She picked up a handful of the seeds, as she saw the others doing, and chewed thoughtfully. They tasted a lot like lentils. "These would go great with some ham," she mused.
"Ham? What is that?" Monna asked.
"It's a smoked and salted meat, from an animal that looks a little bit like a plumbole."
Everything from guffaws to snorts of disgust was heard from the little group as they imagined eating a plumbole. Soon they were all laughing and joking as they shelled the pods, then when that was done they went on to the rest of the meal preparation. Mixed with the provisions they had rescued from the tunnels while vacating, they all had a good meal together.
Captain Kor'Lo and his Security officer Son'Mar walked down the white walled hallway to the Shadow Sanctuary. Behind them were six Krillitane guards, they were all in full dress uniforms, including floor-length capes. They entered the Sanctuary and sat down in the rear. Officiating at the wedding was the Shadow Mentalist himself. A few guests of differing species sat in front. As the ceremony began, music drifted in, it sounded as if it were all around them. A female member of the Shadows stood up and sang a haunting, lovely melody while Koschei entered from one side and Isana entered from the other, they met in the middle and kneeled before the Mentalist.
The Mentalist began speaking of the sanctity of the bonding ceremony, of its history, and it's insoluability. He spoke of the duties of the bonded pair to each other. He then asked each of them if they understood the bond they were creating, and both said "Yes," although Isana's response was muted. She was nervous, her head hurt, and she was trying not to cry. Finally, the Mentalist announced:
"I am about to join these two in an unbreakable bond. If there is any reason these two people should not be joined, step forward and make it known, or forever be silent."
At this point Son'Mar stood up, but he wasn't Son'Mar anymore, he was Captain Jack Harkness.
"I say they should not be joined. This woman was my fiancee, and this man tried to kill me, and kidnaped her. Her mind is not her own, and she should not be forced to do this thing!"
Everyone stood up, turning to look at 'Jack'. Koschei's mouth dropped open, and Isana screamed and cringed, not sure what to do.
"I killed you! I saw you die! How can you be here?" Koschei exploded, looking as if he was about to kill 'Jack' again, but he had no weapon.
Kor'Lo stood up and addressed Koschei. "You freely admit that you killed this man?"
"Of course I do, the man is a wanted criminal!"
Kor'Lo looked at Isana. "Did you see Captain Harkness die at Koschei's hand?"
Isana nodded mutely, not knowing what to do.
Kor'Lo then looked at the Mentalist. "Then I declare Clause 373 of the Shadow Proclamation to be in effect. This man," he pointed to 'Jack', "was a Consort of the Esteemed Father. As such, he was protected by the Esteemed Father Himself. I demand the right to take this man," (here he indicated Koschei) "who, by his own admission, and in front of this witness," (indicating Isana) "attacked and killed Our Friend." At this Son'Mar dropped his morphic illusion. "We also ask to take the witness into our custody to testify at trial."
Koschei was floored. Across his face raced a plethora of emotions from fear to rage to disgust (really, Harkness was a consort of the Esteemed Father? He thought, Ew!).
The Mentalist summoned the Security Chief. At this Koschei turned and bolted, trying to escape the way he had entered, but was tripped by Jon, who had his perception filter on and had entered unnoticed, and was standing by the Groom's entrance. One of Kor'Lo's guards grabbed Koschei and held him firmly. Soon the place was surrounded by Judoon, and the Security Chief determined that the Krillitanes did indeed have the right to take Koschei and Isana with them. Koschei was cuffed, taken to the Krillitane ship, and placed in a cell, screaming obscenities the whole way. Jon slipped out the door behind them and quietly followed.
Kor'Lo turned to Isana. "Lady Isana, would you come with us please? I promise no harm will come to you, and you will be treated as a Guest of the Krillitane Empire."
Isana looked at him fearfully. She didn't quite comprehend what had just happened, and conflicting emotions were warring within her. She rubbed her forehead, which was throbbing painfully.
Son'mar stepped up. "Perhaps I can help?" He morphed into his likeness of Jack. "Isana, please trust us. We mean you no harm. We have a doctor on board who can help you." Isana nodded quickly and allowed Son'Mar to take her arm and guide her.
When they entered the ship Jon was waiting. "Doctor?" Isana asked, surprised to see him. "Yes, Isana, I'm here, and someone else as well, but first we need to take care of that headache of yours." Jon touched her temple and sent her into slumber, catching her as she slumped. "Jack, it's safe to come out, she's asleep."
Jack quickly walked in the door and gently took Isana from Jon, picking her up and cradling her. Looking at Son'Mar, who had dropped his morphic illusion again, he asked, "Med bay?" Son'Mar nodded and took them back.
Once they had removed her wedding dress and placed her in a comfortable medic tunic and slippers, Jon's eyes darkened as he assessed her physical injuries. She had a lot of bruising that was healing, but no broken bones. There were dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't gotten much sleep, and she had lost weight. Apart from that, she seemed healthy enough. Jon then gently stroked her face, and entered her mind. What he found was a mish-mash of distorted memories, and spaces where some had been either hidden or deleted entirely. Gently he repaired what he could, but he could do nothing with the memories he wasn't familiar with. He was going to need Jack's help with those, and possibly some of the refugees back on Karn might be able to help. When he came to the memory of Jack's death, he started to nudge the fragments of memory back in their allotted spots, when Isana woke up with a start, screaming. Gently he and Jack tried to calm her down, but she kept looking at Jack and cringing, begging him to leave her alone. Jack left, seeing that he wasn't helping, and Isana calmed down a bit.
"Isana, why are you afraid of Jack?" Jon asked gently.
"I don't know. I know I shouldn't be, even if it isn't really him, but I can't help myself!" She cried into his shoulder.
"That really is Jack, actually," Jon soothed her. "He didn't really die back in the tunnels after Koschei shot him. He's alive, and he loves and misses you very much. Remember how much you wanted to marry him? You told me and Rose about it one night when we were still in the tunnels."
"S – sort of," she stuttered, still shaking.
"Koschei and the Mentalist did some terrible things to you, but they can't hurt you anymore. You've got to trust me, Isana. You're safe now. We're going to take you back to your friends on Karn, they'll tell you themselves that nothing Koschei put in your head is true. OK?"
She sniffed and nodded. Jon eased her up so that she was sitting, and helped her swing around to face him. "Let's get you set up in a bunk, and I'll bring you something to eat." She smiled a bit at that and he helped her off the bed and down to the bunk area, where he got her as comfortable as he could. "I'll be back soon," he promised her.
Going around the corner he found Jack waiting, just as he expected. The Captain had been keeping his distance, staying out of sight but not out of earshot. "What is Isana's favorite food?" Jon asked him.
"I once whipped up something akin to mint chocolate-chip ice cream, she couldn't get enough of it."
"Can you do it again?"
"I'll check the galley and see if they have the right ingredients." Jack ran off to see what he could come up with while Jon hovered near Isana, just in case she needed anything.
Isana lay curled up in the bunk, unable to sleep. She felt better than she had in days, but was still frightened and confused. She might have been even more so had she realised that Koschei was on the same ship. The Krillitanes had sealed him in a sound-proof cell, he had screamed obscenities until he could scream no more, now he was huddled miserably in a corner. On his way back to the galley, Jack could not help himself. He entered the security area and asked to see Koschei. The guard shrugged and let him walk up to the doors and open the solid, sound-proof one. Between he and Koschei there was a second door, made of metal bars that had current running through them. Jack was careful not to touch them, he'd had experience with them before. He smiled at Koschei.
"Hey good lookin'," he crooned flirtatiously. "Whatcha got cookin'?"
"Nothing for you, you Krill bastard," Koschei croaked.
"Oh, I'm no Krillitane, and my parents were married. I'm the real thing. See?" He opened his greatcoat to show Koschei the burnt hole in his shirt where he had been shot. Then he lifted the shirt up to show healthy, pink skin underneath. He grinned. "Healthy as a horse, no thanks to you. Oh, that's right, you don't know what a horse is, do you? Well, anyway, I'm very healthy. I wonder," he said whimsically as he tucked his shirt back in, "I wonder how long you'll be healthy after the Esteemed Father gets through with you? Want me to put a good word in for you?"
Koschei spat at him. "His consort?" He croaked, "You disgust me."
"Yeah, I'm sure I do. Oh and, the feeling's mutual. But at least when I'm disgusting, it's consentual. Not like what you did to Isana." Jack's eyes now glittered with anger. "I promise you, Koschei, you will pay, and pay dearly for what you did to her. When I'm through with you, the Esteemed Father will seem like your best childhood playmate." With that Jack slammed the outer door shut and headed to the galley.