Chapter 5
The Doctor and Ace were in the library.
"I don't see any alternative, do you?" asked the Doctor.
"We both know Nita is innocent."
"Of course she is. But as an Earth representative, I don't have the luxury of yielding to my personal feelings. The evidence certainly warrants a trial. I will have to allow extradition."
"Do you think there's enough evidence to prove her innocence?"
"Frankly…no. Why don't you spend some time with Nita?"
Ace acknowledged and headed to the console room.
Ace had returned to the console room, and while there had made a discovery. She looked up as the Doctor walked in. "Professor, I've discovered the source of the radiation. As you know, I have been looking for a phenomenon that reoccurs every five hours, twenty minutes and three seconds."
The Doctor nodded. "The interval between radiation bursts."
"I've found one such phenomenon on the planet's surface. It's the field generator that Raphael used in her research. When it's fully charged, it emits an energy pulse and then requires five hours, twenty minutes and three seconds to recharge itself. It must have been left on after the explosion of the lab."
"But why would the generator be affecting the TARDIS this way?" asked the Doctor.
"It shouldn't be," replied Ace. "It's a harmless Lambda Field generator. But I knew that somehow it was related to our radiation bursts, and that's when the pieces started falling together. I now know what is causing the bursts, Professor, and why the science base exploded. I also know who killed Doctor Raphael."
The Doctor, Nita, Ace, Huldah, Darien and Revna are back in the the Holoroom recreation of the space base laboratory.
"Chief Inspector, we've watched the events replayed over and over again," said the Doctor. "I've been impressed, and admittedly dismayed, by the body of evidence you've prepared against Miss Llewcots."
Huldah acknowledged his words.
"But isn't it remarkable that with all the witnesses, all the different points of view of the events aboard the space base, that we've never seen what really happened at all?"
"I don't understand."
"Allow me, with the help of Miss McShane, to explain. Computer, load Darien Program One, time code fourteen-four-one."
The holograms of Nita, Darien, Raphael, Ace and Revna appeared frozen as they did in Darien's version of the first lab scene.
"Play program."
"Fine. Whatever. Earth will get its Delta Wave converter. These things take time. I've had a few setbacks, that's all," said Raphael, defensively.
"Freeze," said the Doctor.
The holograms froze.
"Mr Raphael, this was from your deposition. It would suggest that your wife had failed to create Delta Waves."
"Yes. But she was very close to a breakthrough."
"She says here she needed more time," the Doctor acknowledged. "And she was upset by our early arrival. In fact, I maintain she already had made a breakthrough, and that she was lying to us."
"On what basis?"asked Huldah.
The Doctor glanced to Nita.
"For the last several hours, the TARDIS has been experiencing unusual radiation bursts," said Nita. "We've identified them as Delta Waves."
"Delta Waves?" asked Revna. "But that's impossible. From where?"
"From right here," Ace replied. "In the Holoroom."
"We recreated your science lab in every conceivable detail," the Doctor explained. "From all technical sources available including Doctor Raphael's own personal records. There is a slight margin of error, but essentially whatever was in the original lab is here."
Ace moved to the experimental display. "Including the Delta Wave converter that Doctor Raphael claimed didn't work, except it does work."
"Your field generator on the planet surface has been sending out harmless energy charges, and this facsimile has been converting them into Delta Waves."
"But the Holoroom can't create anything dangerous," said Nita, confused.
"It didn't," Ace acknowledged. "When you get down to basics, the converter is nothing more than a complex series of mirrors and reflective coils. The energy from the field generator on the planet simply reflects off elements in the converter which turns it into highly focused Delta Waves."
"And those waves have been randomly striking different areas of our ship as we orbit the planet and our angle to the generator changes," said the Doctor.
"Why would Raphael lie about her own success?" asked Huldah.
The Doctor nodded. It was a good question. "Computer, run Darien Program One, time code, fourteen three-eight."
The set changed to the space base living room, from Darien's story:
"Darien, someday I'll reward you for all your patience," said Raphael. "I'll get you everything you ever dreamed of."
"I have all the reward I need."
"Freeze," said the Doctor.
The Holoroom figures froze.
"Run Llewcots Program Two, time code, sixteen-one-zero," the Doctor continued.
The Raphael/Darien holograms disappeared and reappeared with Nita, from Nita's story, the champagne toast:
"To your success, doctor," said Nita.
"And the rewards that come with it," said Darien, pointedly.
"Freeze," said the Doctor.
The Holoroom figures froze.
"I never said that," said Darien.
"Nevertheless, it seems clear that your wife was motivated to earn the kind of rewards that would please you, Mr Raphael," said the Doctor.
"What's wrong with that?" asked Darien, defensively.
"She wouldn't have earned great profits from her dealings with Earth," said Ace. "We were only interested in a new power source. But if she could turn this into a weapon, it would be worth a lot to some other races. Doctor Raphael had been ordering extra dicosilium for months, that's a pretty good indication she was trying to create larger reflective coils."
"When Ace and Nita arrived early she must have been worried that Earth was getting suspicious," said the Doctor. "She needed more time to finish her work. Raphael said that in all three versions. No doubt, she was afraid that Nita might learn the truth and cut off her support prematurely. Discovering Nita with her husband did not improve matters." He paused dramatically. "And, I submit, that she decided to murder Nita."
"Ridiculous!" Darien reacted.
"Is it?" asked the Doctor. "Computer, run Revna Program Four, time code eighteen-one-four."
The set changed back to the space base laboratory from Revna's story, Raphael and Revna…
"I'll contact the authorities," said Revna.
"No, I'll take care of that," said Raphael.
He reluctantly moved to exit, as Raphael, her mind working, moved across the room and touched a panel.
"Freeze," said the Doctor.
The holograms froze.
The Doctor nodded. "Revna, what is it that she's doing here?"
Raphael's hologram had been frozen as she touched the panel.
"Activating the generator on the planet," Revna realized.
"Why would she do that?" asked the Doctor.
Revna shrugged. "Maybe she was going to work on the converter, I don't know."
"Or she might have already been thinking ahead to her next confrontation with Miss Llewcots. Computer, play Llewcots Program Four, time code twenty-four-one."
The holograms of Raphael and Revna disappeared and were replaced by Raphael and Nita, as described by Nita:
"What are you going to put in your report, Llewcots? That there's no justification for all the extra discosilium I've requested? That is why they sent you early, isn't it?"
Nita shook her head. "Doctor…"
"I can explain why I needed it," said Raphael, too earnestly. "They have no idea what my problems are, there are explanations for all of it…"
"I don't need explanations," Nita interrupted.
They studied each other for a moment. Raphael seemed to understand where she stood now.
"Freeze," said the Doctor.
The holograms froze.
"To Raphael, that must have seemed as though Miss Llewcots was confirming her worst fears," said the Doctor. "And I believe this is when Raphael decided finally to kill her."
"You forget, Doctor…we know the energy pulse which blew up the reactor was fired from Miss Llewcots' position not Doctor Raphael's," said Huldah.
The Doctor glanced to Ace.
"We are hypothesizing that Doctor Raphael energized the converter at the moment of Miss Llewcots' transport out hoping to make her death look like a vortex manipulator accident," said Ace. "But something went wrong, the energy pulse hit the vortex manipulator and reflected back to the lab's reactor which caused the explosion."
"An interesting hypothesis," said Huldah. "But impossible to prove."
"Not really," said Ace. "We know that the field generator on the planet has been repeating a discharge command ever since the explosion. The intervals are like clockwork, except the explosion occurred point-zero-zero-one-four seconds after the first discharge, the only explanation for that variance is the time it would take the energy pulse to bounce back from the vortex manipulator to the reactor."
"I haven't the slightest idea what anyone's talking about," said Darien.
"Nor should you, Mr Raphael," said the Doctor. "We have arranged a demonstration to illustrate. Miss McShane, I believe it is almost time is it not?"
Ace acknowledged. "Computer, load program, McShane One, coordinate auto-engage time sequence."
The holograms of Nita and Raphael disappeared and reappeared in different positions.
"The next discharge from the field generator is scheduled to occur in a few moments," said Ace. "We have aligned the Holoroom program to recreate the final events as Miss Llewcots described them, only this time our facsimile will automatically process the energy charge from the planet and reflect it just as the original converter did before the explosion."
"If we're correct, we'll know it instantly," said the Doctor.
The program began automatically, the holograms began to move and talk:
"I will tell the Doctor to expect your grievance," said Nita.
"Do that."
Raphael sat herself at a console, began to work, entering commands. Nita's hologram pulled out her phone, "Yeah, hi, I'm coming back now."
Nita pressed a button on her vortex manipulator. Raphael glanced up, and suddenly an energy beam shot from the converter, hit the vortex manipulator and reflected back past Raphael into the reactor, and then there was a huge explosion that wiped out everything except of course the gallery. When it cleared there was just an empty Holoroom. The Doctor, Nita, Ace, Huldah, Darien and Revna were unharmed.
"Doctor Raphael killed herself, during her attempt to kill Miss Llewcots," said the Doctor.
"Doctor, I withdraw my request for Miss Llewcots' extradition."
Ace smiled. Nita relaxed.
The Doctor and Nita were at the console. Ace entered the console room. As she walked over to the console she passed by Nita, and lay a hand briefly on her shoulder. Nita looked at her, "thanks for being there for me."
"Well, Nita, have we any 'further business' in the Krithion system?"
"Not that I know of, Doctor. I'm more than willing to put it behind me."
"Then perhaps you'd be so good as to take us into the vortex?"
"With pleasure, Doctor."
They exchanged a glance. Nita then set the dematerialization sequence and they faded out.
The End