FAMILY CONNECTIONS
"I'll say this for ye, Brigadier," Jamie said. "You're full of surprises."
"Yes, indeed," agreed the Doctor, staring in rapt amazement at the Brigadier's son. "So, you're Alistair Jnr, eh? How old are you, then?"
"Well, in human terms," he replied, "I'm coming up to my eighteenth year. I hope this hasn't come as too much of a shock."
"Oh no," the Doctor insisted. "No, not at all. It's just . . . well, it's a bit of a shock, really." And they all laughed at the strangeness of this situation. "You dark horse, Brigadier!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Doctor," he smiled.
"Well now," the Doctor hushed them all. "This is all very jolly, but Alistair, you were saying something about the TARDIS."
He shrugged. "Well, just that it disappeared."
"But where did it disappear from? Where was it last seen?"
Alistair thought back. "In the Great Hall of the Council Chambers. That's where it was kept before."
"I know the place," the Brigadier recalled. "It's a hotchpotch of counsellors and politicians, presided over by Mayor Guilliam."
"Guilliam?" Jamie exclaimed. "I know that name."
The Doctor was on the alert. "Where from, Jamie?"
"When I was at the library, checking on stuff to do with that Zzorrann character. Guilliam's name came up almost every time."
"Well, well, well." The Doctor considered this new development. "So we have a connection between the Mayor and our mysterious Mr Zzorrann. Very interesting."
At last some of the pieces were falling into place. "So, what's our next move, Doctor?" Lethbridge Stewart asked.
"Well, I must confess I've never met a Mayor before," he replied. "I think now would be a good time to call on our Mr Guilliam and see what he has to say."
*****
"Doctor, all I can say is that I have no idea what you're getting at."
Mayor Guilliam regarded the two visitors with some concern. The Brigadier he already knew from previous meetings, but this Doctor was an unknown.
The Doctor carried on. "Mr Guilliam, do you deny that you know Zzorrann?"
"Far from it," he answered. "He is one of our most respected bankers, and as such, has an interest in the affairs of state, according to the charter."
"I see." The Doctor appeared satisfied, and Guilliam visibly relaxed. "So how do you explain these deaths?"
Guilliam was thrown. "Deaths? I don't know . . ."
"Sir," the Brigadier spoke up. "Please don't insult our intelligence. There have been three reported killings - four after last night. Indications are that the victims died from severe blood loss. That is to say, their blood was completely drained from their bodies."
Guilliam sank down in his chair. "Oh no." The colour drained from his face. "If what you say is correct . . ." The look on their faces confirmed it for him. ". . . then it means that the rumours are indeed true. Our former Queen has returned."
*****
Many years ago when he had first joined the Council as a junior member, the youthful Guilliam had been proud to attend his first Council meeting. He remembered sitting in the position of the most junior member directly opposite the then Mayor Robert Tailor. Tailor had been a senior General in the US Civil War before the lizards had brought him here, but had soon adjusted to his new life and was by this time a very eminent citizen.
At that meeting the young child Zzorrann had sat between his mother, the ex Queen, and his father the famous lizard banker Zzorr. Officially the family were just ordinary citizens who had been given the honour of sitting in on the Council meeting. In reality the council was just a rubber stamp to follow their will.
Zzorrann had sat silently watching the meeting unfold as the council members spoke and debated while keeping a close watch on Zzorr's reactions to ensure they were not straying from what he would want them to say. They had been discussing a proposal to start re using the TARDIS to bring new humans to the world. Everyone knew that it was what Zzorr wanted them to do, and in the end that is exactly what they would do. But they put on a good show of having a debate and were about to vote.
Zzorr had clicked his tongue in satisfaction as he realised he was going to get his way, when his wife stood up and started shouting about how monstrous it was to kidnap people from their lives. Zzorr was just about to stand and silence her when without warning she grabbed hold of his head and ripped it clean off his shoulders. His body fell to the ground and she threw the head on to the council table.
Tailor stood up and made a show of calling the guards. It was clear that he was going to have her arrested. She however had different ideas. She grabbed him by the hair and dragged him close to her. Then like a beast she sunk her teeth deep into his throat. The Council sat silently watching Tailor's body shrivel as the blood flowed from him into the Queen.
As the former Mayor's bloodless body fell to the ground the Council invisibly transferred their allegiance form the dead Zzorr to his widow. Young Zzorrann sat frozen in fear and the Council voted not to use the TARDIS again, in line with her wishes.
******
The Brigadier let out a breath. "Good Lord."
"So that's how all the killings began," the Doctor surmised.
Guilliam nodded. "She had been human once, but the pregnancy saw a physical and metabolic change in her. Our physicians still have no clear reason for it."
"Well, this ties in with what you told me earlier, Alistair," the Doctor said. "But why keep something of this magnitude secret?"
"Because it would not have been in the public interest." They turned to see Herzz enter from a side door. "Would you, Brigadier, have allowed such a scandal to be known on Earth?"
"I suppose not," Lethbridge Stewart conceded.
"But look at how restrictive your charter is shown to be," the Doctor remonstrated. "While you continue with your precious mind control, your people are stagnating."
Lethbridge Stewart noted the looks of shock on the faces of Guilliam and Herzz. "Now, steady on, Doctor."
"No, I will not be silent!" The Doctor's voice had a hard edge to it which rarely surfaced, but on this occasion, he felt it necessary. "In all my travels, I have seen dictatorships in many forms, and in some instances I have been involved in bringing them down. And here, on Aerht, the situation is no different. From all that I have seen and heard, for years you have been responsible for kidnapping humans from all of time and space, so that they might sucessfully integrate with other species. Am I right?"
"It has always been that way," Guilliam began.
"Then it must stop!" The Doctor paused for breath before continuing. "You have conditioned their minds so that they will accept the new lives you have prepared for them. But what you have also done is to remove a vital part of their thought processes - free will."
"Free will?" The phrase was unheard of.
"Yes. Those people you selected should be allowed to choose, rather than have the choice made for them."
Guilliam was amazed at such a proposal. "But if we were to allow such a thing, they might choose to leave."
"And then our charter would be in ruins," Herzz stated. "Our government would fall."
"But don't you see?" the Doctor persisted. "As things stand now, you govern a population who know no different. They have no will to challenge, because everything seems perfect in their eyes." He moderated his tone, not wishing to overreach himself. "Gentlemen, your Council has stagnated, allowing apathy and laziness to set in."
Guilliam and Herzz took in the Doctor's words, at last accepting the façade behind what they had believed was right and true. "But what can we do?" Herzz wondered.
The Brigadier stepped in. "Perhaps democracy is the key." They looked at him, uncertain. "On Earth, our government is elected not by its peers, but by the people, for the people."
Guilliam shook his head. "I understand the concept, but we could not allow that to happen here," he insisted. "Given our current situation, we would surely lose."
"Then you must put forward a strong case for yourselves," the Brigadier suggested. "Go out into the city. Meet the people, let them see that you are sincere."
"In the meantime," the Doctor offered, "perhaps you could endorse that sincerity by ending the mind conditioning - not at once," he added quickly, "but gradually."
Guilliam looked at Herzz, who nodded his agreement. "You have both given us much to consider. We accept the merits of your argument, but this will have to be agreed before a full Council meeting."
"Meanwhile," Lethbridge Stewart decided, "we need to track down Zzorran."
"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Although a rather think it's his mother, this Queen, who holds the all the cards."
The Brigadier smiled. "The last time I had to deal with someone's mother . . . sorry, Doctor. Ignore me, I 'm just rambling."
"Indeed?" A look passed between them. "Well, we can't stand here. Things to do."
"Just one more thing." The Brigadier addressed Guilliam and Herzz. "This Queen. What was her name?"
"She was never addressed by name," Guilliam replied. "But when she was first brought to our world, she was known as the Perpugilliam of Brown."
The Brigadier felt as though someone had just walked over his grave.
"I'll say this for ye, Brigadier," Jamie said. "You're full of surprises."
"Yes, indeed," agreed the Doctor, staring in rapt amazement at the Brigadier's son. "So, you're Alistair Jnr, eh? How old are you, then?"
"Well, in human terms," he replied, "I'm coming up to my eighteenth year. I hope this hasn't come as too much of a shock."
"Oh no," the Doctor insisted. "No, not at all. It's just . . . well, it's a bit of a shock, really." And they all laughed at the strangeness of this situation. "You dark horse, Brigadier!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Doctor," he smiled.
"Well now," the Doctor hushed them all. "This is all very jolly, but Alistair, you were saying something about the TARDIS."
He shrugged. "Well, just that it disappeared."
"But where did it disappear from? Where was it last seen?"
Alistair thought back. "In the Great Hall of the Council Chambers. That's where it was kept before."
"I know the place," the Brigadier recalled. "It's a hotchpotch of counsellors and politicians, presided over by Mayor Guilliam."
"Guilliam?" Jamie exclaimed. "I know that name."
The Doctor was on the alert. "Where from, Jamie?"
"When I was at the library, checking on stuff to do with that Zzorrann character. Guilliam's name came up almost every time."
"Well, well, well." The Doctor considered this new development. "So we have a connection between the Mayor and our mysterious Mr Zzorrann. Very interesting."
At last some of the pieces were falling into place. "So, what's our next move, Doctor?" Lethbridge Stewart asked.
"Well, I must confess I've never met a Mayor before," he replied. "I think now would be a good time to call on our Mr Guilliam and see what he has to say."
*****
"Doctor, all I can say is that I have no idea what you're getting at."
Mayor Guilliam regarded the two visitors with some concern. The Brigadier he already knew from previous meetings, but this Doctor was an unknown.
The Doctor carried on. "Mr Guilliam, do you deny that you know Zzorrann?"
"Far from it," he answered. "He is one of our most respected bankers, and as such, has an interest in the affairs of state, according to the charter."
"I see." The Doctor appeared satisfied, and Guilliam visibly relaxed. "So how do you explain these deaths?"
Guilliam was thrown. "Deaths? I don't know . . ."
"Sir," the Brigadier spoke up. "Please don't insult our intelligence. There have been three reported killings - four after last night. Indications are that the victims died from severe blood loss. That is to say, their blood was completely drained from their bodies."
Guilliam sank down in his chair. "Oh no." The colour drained from his face. "If what you say is correct . . ." The look on their faces confirmed it for him. ". . . then it means that the rumours are indeed true. Our former Queen has returned."
*****
Many years ago when he had first joined the Council as a junior member, the youthful Guilliam had been proud to attend his first Council meeting. He remembered sitting in the position of the most junior member directly opposite the then Mayor Robert Tailor. Tailor had been a senior General in the US Civil War before the lizards had brought him here, but had soon adjusted to his new life and was by this time a very eminent citizen.
At that meeting the young child Zzorrann had sat between his mother, the ex Queen, and his father the famous lizard banker Zzorr. Officially the family were just ordinary citizens who had been given the honour of sitting in on the Council meeting. In reality the council was just a rubber stamp to follow their will.
Zzorrann had sat silently watching the meeting unfold as the council members spoke and debated while keeping a close watch on Zzorr's reactions to ensure they were not straying from what he would want them to say. They had been discussing a proposal to start re using the TARDIS to bring new humans to the world. Everyone knew that it was what Zzorr wanted them to do, and in the end that is exactly what they would do. But they put on a good show of having a debate and were about to vote.
Zzorr had clicked his tongue in satisfaction as he realised he was going to get his way, when his wife stood up and started shouting about how monstrous it was to kidnap people from their lives. Zzorr was just about to stand and silence her when without warning she grabbed hold of his head and ripped it clean off his shoulders. His body fell to the ground and she threw the head on to the council table.
Tailor stood up and made a show of calling the guards. It was clear that he was going to have her arrested. She however had different ideas. She grabbed him by the hair and dragged him close to her. Then like a beast she sunk her teeth deep into his throat. The Council sat silently watching Tailor's body shrivel as the blood flowed from him into the Queen.
As the former Mayor's bloodless body fell to the ground the Council invisibly transferred their allegiance form the dead Zzorr to his widow. Young Zzorrann sat frozen in fear and the Council voted not to use the TARDIS again, in line with her wishes.
******
The Brigadier let out a breath. "Good Lord."
"So that's how all the killings began," the Doctor surmised.
Guilliam nodded. "She had been human once, but the pregnancy saw a physical and metabolic change in her. Our physicians still have no clear reason for it."
"Well, this ties in with what you told me earlier, Alistair," the Doctor said. "But why keep something of this magnitude secret?"
"Because it would not have been in the public interest." They turned to see Herzz enter from a side door. "Would you, Brigadier, have allowed such a scandal to be known on Earth?"
"I suppose not," Lethbridge Stewart conceded.
"But look at how restrictive your charter is shown to be," the Doctor remonstrated. "While you continue with your precious mind control, your people are stagnating."
Lethbridge Stewart noted the looks of shock on the faces of Guilliam and Herzz. "Now, steady on, Doctor."
"No, I will not be silent!" The Doctor's voice had a hard edge to it which rarely surfaced, but on this occasion, he felt it necessary. "In all my travels, I have seen dictatorships in many forms, and in some instances I have been involved in bringing them down. And here, on Aerht, the situation is no different. From all that I have seen and heard, for years you have been responsible for kidnapping humans from all of time and space, so that they might sucessfully integrate with other species. Am I right?"
"It has always been that way," Guilliam began.
"Then it must stop!" The Doctor paused for breath before continuing. "You have conditioned their minds so that they will accept the new lives you have prepared for them. But what you have also done is to remove a vital part of their thought processes - free will."
"Free will?" The phrase was unheard of.
"Yes. Those people you selected should be allowed to choose, rather than have the choice made for them."
Guilliam was amazed at such a proposal. "But if we were to allow such a thing, they might choose to leave."
"And then our charter would be in ruins," Herzz stated. "Our government would fall."
"But don't you see?" the Doctor persisted. "As things stand now, you govern a population who know no different. They have no will to challenge, because everything seems perfect in their eyes." He moderated his tone, not wishing to overreach himself. "Gentlemen, your Council has stagnated, allowing apathy and laziness to set in."
Guilliam and Herzz took in the Doctor's words, at last accepting the façade behind what they had believed was right and true. "But what can we do?" Herzz wondered.
The Brigadier stepped in. "Perhaps democracy is the key." They looked at him, uncertain. "On Earth, our government is elected not by its peers, but by the people, for the people."
Guilliam shook his head. "I understand the concept, but we could not allow that to happen here," he insisted. "Given our current situation, we would surely lose."
"Then you must put forward a strong case for yourselves," the Brigadier suggested. "Go out into the city. Meet the people, let them see that you are sincere."
"In the meantime," the Doctor offered, "perhaps you could endorse that sincerity by ending the mind conditioning - not at once," he added quickly, "but gradually."
Guilliam looked at Herzz, who nodded his agreement. "You have both given us much to consider. We accept the merits of your argument, but this will have to be agreed before a full Council meeting."
"Meanwhile," Lethbridge Stewart decided, "we need to track down Zzorran."
"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Although a rather think it's his mother, this Queen, who holds the all the cards."
The Brigadier smiled. "The last time I had to deal with someone's mother . . . sorry, Doctor. Ignore me, I 'm just rambling."
"Indeed?" A look passed between them. "Well, we can't stand here. Things to do."
"Just one more thing." The Brigadier addressed Guilliam and Herzz. "This Queen. What was her name?"
"She was never addressed by name," Guilliam replied. "But when she was first brought to our world, she was known as the Perpugilliam of Brown."
The Brigadier felt as though someone had just walked over his grave.
