Chapter 4

The TARDIS and the Terraberserker ship still faced each other. Nita and Carolyn's attempt to materialize the TARDIS around the Doctor had failed. Their options were narrowing. And Nita's patience was all but gone.

Carolyn was waiting in the Lounge.

The door opened and Nita entered and sat down. "Here's the situation on Cadonia. The entity has moved off several hundred metres."

"The Doctor's bioscan readings are stable. The Terraberserker's are not."

"He may have been injured… If the entity attacks again, the Doctor could be facing it alone."

"Materialization's completely out of the question. The Terraberserker ship has deepened the scattering field to the D region of the ionosphere. There's no getting through."

"Can you pinpoint the source of their particle beam?"

"They're using a polarity coil generator located aft of their warp drive. It's heavily shielded. Does the TARDIS have any weapons?"

"Not as such, but it is capable of shooting an energy beam. Do you think it would get through their shields?"

"Not with the first spread. It'll take a few hits."

"That's not good enough. I want to be able to knock out the scattering field in one shot and have the Doctor back on the TARDIS before they know what happened."

"If we selectively target the amplification pathways around the generator, it should be just as effective. And we can do it in one burst."

"How long to set that up?"

"I will have to adjust the prefire chambers. That'll give us the focus we need." She shrugged. "A few hours."

"Please get started."

"All right." Carolyn stood and left the room.

Nita continued to think to herself. "I'd prefer to find a peaceful solution. If we can talk our way out of this – so much the better. Unfortunately, it's not that simple."

She had found that the Terraberserker ego structure did not seem to allow what they normally thought of as self-identity. Their ability to abstract was highly unusual. They seemed to communicate through narrative imagery – by reference to the individuals and places which appeared in their mytho-historical accounts.

"It's as if I were to say to someone, 'Juliet. On her balcony.' An image of romance. Image is everything to the Terraberserkers. It embodies their emotional states, their very thought processes. It's how they communicate, and how they think. If we know how they think, can we get something across to them?"

The situation was analogous to understanding the grammar of a language but none of the vocabulary.

"If I didn't know who Juliet was or what she was doing on that balcony, the image alone wouldn't mean anything. We know, for instance, that 'Doman' was a great hero – a hunter. Tanagra was an island. But that's all. Without the details, there's no understanding."

It was necessary for them to learn the narratives from which the Terraberserkers were drawing those images. Given their current relations, that did not appear likely. They were at a dead end.

The Terraberserker Captain was on the ground, lying on his back. The Doctor was sitting upright on a rock a metre away, both daggers in hand, alert and protective.

Winfield indicated the scene. "Doman and Jalad at Tanagra." His voice had a certain finality – as though the incident with the creature made his point. He settled back.

"Our situation is similar to theirs. I understand. But I need to know more. Tell me more. About Doman and Jalad. Tell me…" The Doctor searched his memory. "You used the words 'Temba. His arms wide.' When you gave me the fire. And the dagger. Could that mean give?" He pointed at Winfield. "Temba. His arms wide. Doman. Give me more about Doman." The Doctor made a 'give me' or 'come on' motion with this hand.

Winfield smiled to hear the Doctor's efforts in his own language. But he understood. "Doman on the sea."

The Doctor thought out loud, trying to understand. The alien did not understand the Doctor's language – only when the Doctor repeated a Terraberserker phrase or image did Winfield show a glimmer of recognition.

The Doctor took a tiny stone and placed it on the sand in front of them. "Doman." The Doctor drew a big circle around the stone. "The sea." He swept his hand to indicated the small scene he had created. "Doman on the sea."

The Terraberserker gave an appreciative chuckle.

"A metaphor. For being alone? Isolated? 'Doman on the sea'."

The alien laughed again – then spasmed painfully, quickly covering his distress.

The Doctor stood. "Are you alright?"

The alien waved him off. "Kiazi's children. Their faces wet."

The Doctor sat back down. "Temba. His arms wide. Give me more. 'Doman on the sea…'"

"Tanagra on the sea. Doman at Tanagra."

"'At Tanagra.' A country? 'Tanagra on the sea.' An island." He gave a 'more' motion. "Temba… His arms wide."

"Jalad on the sea. Jalad at Tanagra."

"'Jalad at Tanagra.' He went to the same island as Doman. To Tanagra."

"The beast at Tanagra."

"The beast. A creature on the island? On Tanagra. Doman and Jalad – did they fight the beast?" The Doctor suddenly thought he understood. "They arrived separately. They struggled against a common foe. 'The beast at Tanagra. Doman and Jalad.'"

"Doman and Jalad on the sea."

"They left together," the Doctor realized. He indicated the two of them. "Doman and Jalad on the sea."

Winfield looked pleased. "On the sea-" The alien was wracked by a terrible spasm of pain. The Doctor again moved toward him, this time the Terraberserker was angered. "Zinda! His face black… His eyes red…"

The Doctor backed off respectfully. The Terraberserker got the pain under control. Smiled weakly – as if to make up for the outburst. "Callimas at Bahar."

The Doctor stared at him for a moment. "You hoped this would happen, didn't you? You knew there was a dangerous creature on this planet. And you knew from the tale of Doman that danger shared can sometimes bring two people together." He indicated their situation. "Doman and Jalad at Tanagra. You and me, here – at Cadonia."

The Terraberserker gave a confirmatory shake of his shoulders. Then fought another wave of pain. When it passed, he took a ragged breath. Then appeared to be waiting for something. He gave a 'go-ahead' indication to the Doctor. "Kira at Bashi," he said weakly.

The Doctor didn't quite get it. The alien mimicked the Doctor's 'you give me' motion. "Temba. His arms wide…"

"My turn? I'm afraid I'm not much of a story teller. And you wouldn't understand me anyway." He shook his head. "Shaka… when the walls fell."

The Terraberserker smiled – but was disappointed. The Doctor picked up on it. "Perhaps that doesn't matter. You want to hear it anyway…"

The Terraberserker was waiting… the Doctor thought for a moment, wanting to find the most fitting tale… "There is a story… A very ancient one. From Gallifrey. I'll try to remember…" He attempted to match the Terraberserker's 'story-telling' voice. "The Pythia. Was a great and powerful priestess. On Gallifrey. With great religious and monarchical power. Gallifrey began a war. A scientist opposed the religious and monarchical power wielded by the Pythia." The Doctor glanced at the Terraberserker – the alien's eyes were glazed, but rapt.

"Rassilon. The scientist. Commanded a fleet of Bowships. Gained popular and political support. The rule of the Pythia was finally overthrown by Rassilon and two other scientists. Pythia and Rassilon. At Gallifrey."

The alien's voice was extremely weak. As if he was just repeating the Doctor's words unconsciously. "At Gallifrey…"

The Doctor could see that Winfield was failing. The Doctor's voice became almost a whisper, softly making the transition to his own way of speaking. "This marked the start of the Intuitive Revolution, turning Gallifrey into a society based on rationality and a republic with an elected President (Rassilon), although a caste system remained. The three were ultimately responsible for Gallifrey's move towards a purely scientific society."

"Rassilon…"

"However, when overthrown the Pythia cursed the people with sterility before casting herself into an abyss. The curse resulted in the still birth that night of every unborn child on Gallifrey, including Rassilon's own son. Persecuted, her priestesses and acolytes fled to a nearby planet where they became the Sisterhood of Karn…"

The alien closed his eyes… the Doctor looked at him. The Terraberserker shuddered once – and was completely still.

The Doctor continued in a whisper. "The Pythia's curse forced Rassilon to find a new way to reproduce, leading him to create the Looms, cloning machines that can create new Gallifreyans to replace the dead…"

The Doctor stopped speaking. The clearing was utterly silect.