REALITY BITES
Lethbridge Stewart had never met Perpugilliam Brown but he had heard of her. When the Doctor had been a little Scottish man he had told the Brigadier about how the Time Lords had forced him to leave her behind on the planet of the mentors. The Brigadier looked at the Doctor and knew that he could not let slip that he recognised her name.
The Doctor and The Brigadier said their goodbyes to Guilliam and Herzz and left the office. They met Jamie and Alistair Jnr outside and decided to go back to the Brigadier's home to mull over events.
******
Guilliam and Herzz stood silently looking at each other when a hidden door in the bookcase behind Guilliam's desk opened and Zzorrann stepped out. "You will ignore that speculation about my mother," he ordered.
Guilliam and Herzz nodded their agreement.
"You performed well," continued Zzorrann. "The Doctor thinks his little revolution is running along happily. The fool forgets that the Council is elected already; electing a new council will not change a thing. The mind conditioning is under the Council's control and they are elected by the people. Therefore democracy is in action."
"But the Council never does anything without your consent," Guilliam noted.
"Exactly," Zzorrann replied. "The Doctor can play whatever games he likes with the constitution. In the end, when the dust has settled, any government needs money to operate and when they need money they come to me and my bank."
"So all this is irrelevant?" asked Herzz.
"Yes, pander to his ego. Let him think he is helping democracy." Zzorrann smiled. "I'd even be happy for him to bring the mind control to an end because in the end it is money that has always been the route of my families power and without the control conflict will spread and people will need to borrow more from me to protect themselves in uncertain times. It's all good for me."
"Yes, Mr Zzorrann. But what should we do about his pursuit of the Queen?" Guilliam asked.
"Nothing. Let him find her. She is perfectly capable of dealing with him herself. In fact, you could say she is finding the prospect rather appetising," said Zzorrann.
With that the meeting was at an end.
******
It was evening and the Doctor and Jamie were sitting on a balcony of the Brigadier's Villa. Their bellies were full and they were satisfied with their day's work.
"Doctor, do ye think we can sort things out here?" asked Jamie.
"Oh I'm sure we will Jamie. With the Brigadier to help us we can sort out the council and then find this bloodsucking Queen," replied the Doctor.
"Then we can be on our way?"
"Well almost. There is still something that is bothering me. What exactly caused the sudden decay in the condition of the city and the human population that the globes were created to battle. It's all very strange."
Silently a figure with long red hair watched them from the shadows. It turned away and entered the villa. When it found a quiet spot it picked up a small communicator from a table and put it to it's ear and began to speak.
"Hello Zzorrann, it's Alistair Jnr. I have something to tell you," he said.
*****
The Doctor and the Brigadier were deep in conversation, leaving Jamie at a loose end. After a few moments of kicking his heels, he deciding he might as well leave them to it, and walked from the balcony in the direction of the kitchen, looking for something else to eat.
If he hadn't chosen to step quietly he might not have picked up the whispered conversation coming from the hallway. "Yes, they're still determined." Jamie froze against the wall, listening. Was that Alistair Jnr? "Alright, I'll meet you later."
Jamie waited a few seconds, and then resumed his path to the kitchen, passing Alistair on the way. They exchanged a brief nod before going their separate ways.
Jamie grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. But now hunger gave way to suspicion. He knew there was something not quite right, but rather than seek a confrontation, for the moment he chose to bide his time.
*****
Guilliam stared at the latest government directive for a full ten minutes. But his eyes never took in a single word.
In his younger days he had been a vibrant member of the Council, as had Herzz and other contemporaries of their day. And the Chambers had been full of lively banter and discussion. But that was before Zzarr had joined the Council. A new age had been ushered in, and it was not one that anyone had been altogether happy with. True, there was new prosperity, but it came at a price. And the previously relaxed form of debate was replaced with that of a single vote system. And the only member to wield the power of veto was Zzorr, a privilege that was later passed down to his son.
Those who remained in the Council no longer had any real power to change anything, unless Zzorrann allowed it. It had been that way for many years. Guilliam remembered the Doctor's words - yes, the government had stagnated. But there was nothing anyone could do. There was now an inherent weakness within the Council that Guilliam despised.
Because he recognised that same weakness in himself.
*****
"It's so infuriating!"
The Brigadier looked up. "What is?"
The Doctor searched for a way to express his thoughts. "It's as though I'm missing something so obvious, and yet I can't see it."
Lethbridge Stewart sympathised with his old friend's frustration. They had been discussing the question of the globes, and the sudden decay in the town centre for so long, that they both felt as if they were going around in circles. "Let's go over it again," he suggested. "Slowly and methodically."
"Oh, very well."
"Now, you placed that circuit against the column . . ."
"Yes, but before that, do you remember how the light in that globe began to fluctuate?"
"That's right," the Brigadier remembered. "And the close you got to it, the worse it became."
"And that had to be because of the circuit I was holding."
"Yes, what was that circuit anyway, Doctor?"
He shrugged. "Nothing important. Just something I was repairing from the TARDIS. Now, where were we? Ah yes, so the globe shattered . . ."
"And there was that faint vibration all around us," the Brigadier recalled, "which we didn't notice until after it had stopped." He paused, deep in thought. "It's a rum do, I don't mind admitting." He looked across toward the Doctor, and saw something like realisation pass over his face. "Doctor, what is it?"
"Oh my word." His voice held a note of fear. "Brigadier, I think the answer has been staring us in the face all the time."
"Why? What do you mean?"
The Doctor shot up from his chair. "Follow me. I'll explain on the way."
They passed Alistair Jnr on their way out. "Hey, where are you two going?" he asked. His father silently shrugged his shoulders, before closing the door behind him.
Alistair turned to Jamie. "What do you make of that?"
The Scot gave an equally unhelpful shrug. "That's the Doctor for ye," he replied. "Once he gets something in his head, ye just have to tag along."
*****
Herzz entered Guilliam's office to find his friend slumped in his chair, despondent. He felt much the same himself, and the two friends knew each other well enough to recognise the other's mood. "There really was nothing we could do," he said.
Guilliam laughed, with no humour. "Back to the same order of things," he lamented. "But does that make it right, Herzz?"
He sat down in the chair facing the Mayor. "Do you doubt the validity of Zzorrann's argument?"
"Do you doubt the validity of the case put forward by the Brigadier and his friend, the Doctor?" Guilliam countered.
Now Herzz expressed his own concerns. "I am uncertain. There are valid points for both sides, but . . ."
"Are you happy, Herzz?"
The question took him by surprise. "Define happiness for me, and I will answer."
"Very well." Guilliam chose his words. "When you retire for bed each night, do you look forward to the beginning of a new day? And do you enjoy the day that comes?"
"In that context, I would answer no," Herzz replied. "No, I am not happy."
"But if we dared to act on the Doctor's suggestion . . . ?"
Herzz nodded. "There would be doubt instead of certainty, disruption instead of a known routine - but there would also be challenges to meet, obstacles to overcome."
Guilliam sat back in his chair. "So we understand the choices . . ."
". . . But do we have the courage?" Herzz wondered.
The two men, one human, the other lizard, had much to think about.
*****
"So, how long have you travelled with the Doctor?" Alistair Jnr asked.
"Och, a wee while," Jamie replied. They had been talking for some time since the Doctor and the Brigadier had made their hasty exit. Alistair had offered Jamie a beer, but he had politely declined. The occasional glances to the clock on the wall did not go unnoticed.
Alistair gazed forlornly at the empty bottle. "Sure I can't tempt you?" Jamie shook his head. "Well, I think I'll have another."
He waited until Alistair was out of sight. Then Jamie leapt from his chair, across the width of the living room towards the hallway. Alistair had half opened the front door, when the Scot dived past him, slamming it shut and blocking his way. "And where d'ye think you're goin?"
"I . . . we ran out of beer," Alistair stammered. "I was just going out to the all night store to buy some more?"
"Oh aye?" Jamie was no fool. "Nothing to do with your private chat, then?"
"What do you mean?"
Jamie held up the small communicator. "I mean this wee thing. Now, what's going on, Alistair?"
He sighed. "Oh Jamie, why did you and the Doctor have to mess everything up?" He tried to push past, but the highlander stood firm. "Now, I don't want things to turn nasty."
Jamie took a few steps forward. "Well, if it's a fight ye'r lookin' for . . ."
*****
By the time they had arrived in the town square, the Brigadier was out of breath. "Really Doctor, I'm getting far too old for all this running around," he complained.
The Doctor shushed him. "Do you feel it, Alistair? That faint vibration?"
"Well, yes. Though it's only since yesterday I realised it was there at all. Does it mean anything?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the Doctor replied. "It's the same vibration one recognises from a TARDIS. In fact, the same vibration from my own TARDIS."
"What?" The Brigadier was astounded. "But that's impossible. These buildings, for example."
"All a brilliant shade of white," came the reply. "Not a speck of dirt or grime to be found."
"Like the console room," Lethbridge Stewart conceded. "But what about the globes?"
"That was something I should have seen before. Remember when I extended the TARDIS force field to save us from the effects of decay?" The Brigadier nodded. "That's when I should have seen it.
"These globes are a giant force field, extending across the city. And we're not outside at all - we're inside. Inside a giant TARDIS!"
*****
By the time they had returned to the villa, the Brigadier was bursting with questions, but they both fell silent as they saw the upturned furniture and broken ornaments. "Oh dear," said the Doctor. "I don't like the look of this at all."
Jamie was standing amongst the shattered ruins of the Brigadier's villa. His shirt and kilt were torn near to shreds, while his face and hands were smeared with blood. He was standing over the body of Alistair Jnr, which lay battered on the floor.
"Jamie, what have you done?" cried the Doctor.
The Brigadier stood silent as the shock of the sight before him sunk in.
"It . . . wasn't. I didn't . . ." Jamie could not finish his sentence.
Moving more quickly than his age would suggest, the Brigadier flung himself at the young Scot and swung his cane at him with as much might as he could muster. The silver handle of the cane connected with Jamie's head and he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Doctor we have been friends for many years but your boy has murdered my son. I suggest you get him and yourself out of my home immediately before I do something I will regret." The Brigadier was spitting with rage. "Mark my words, if I ever see the two of you again I will tear you both apart with my own hands!"
"But Alistair," the Doctor protested.
"Go, now!" he bellowed.
******
Across the street from the Brigadier's villa, a female figure stood in the shadows holding onto the still beating heart of Alistair Jnr. She watched the Doctor and the Brigadier arrive, then heard the commotion and shouting inside. Finally she saw the Doctor dragging the unconscious Jamie over his shoulder out of the villa, while the Brigadier stood in the doorway, shouting abuse.
"Oh Doctor, you always were so entertaining," remarked Queen Perpugilliam.
Lethbridge Stewart had never met Perpugilliam Brown but he had heard of her. When the Doctor had been a little Scottish man he had told the Brigadier about how the Time Lords had forced him to leave her behind on the planet of the mentors. The Brigadier looked at the Doctor and knew that he could not let slip that he recognised her name.
The Doctor and The Brigadier said their goodbyes to Guilliam and Herzz and left the office. They met Jamie and Alistair Jnr outside and decided to go back to the Brigadier's home to mull over events.
******
Guilliam and Herzz stood silently looking at each other when a hidden door in the bookcase behind Guilliam's desk opened and Zzorrann stepped out. "You will ignore that speculation about my mother," he ordered.
Guilliam and Herzz nodded their agreement.
"You performed well," continued Zzorrann. "The Doctor thinks his little revolution is running along happily. The fool forgets that the Council is elected already; electing a new council will not change a thing. The mind conditioning is under the Council's control and they are elected by the people. Therefore democracy is in action."
"But the Council never does anything without your consent," Guilliam noted.
"Exactly," Zzorrann replied. "The Doctor can play whatever games he likes with the constitution. In the end, when the dust has settled, any government needs money to operate and when they need money they come to me and my bank."
"So all this is irrelevant?" asked Herzz.
"Yes, pander to his ego. Let him think he is helping democracy." Zzorrann smiled. "I'd even be happy for him to bring the mind control to an end because in the end it is money that has always been the route of my families power and without the control conflict will spread and people will need to borrow more from me to protect themselves in uncertain times. It's all good for me."
"Yes, Mr Zzorrann. But what should we do about his pursuit of the Queen?" Guilliam asked.
"Nothing. Let him find her. She is perfectly capable of dealing with him herself. In fact, you could say she is finding the prospect rather appetising," said Zzorrann.
With that the meeting was at an end.
******
It was evening and the Doctor and Jamie were sitting on a balcony of the Brigadier's Villa. Their bellies were full and they were satisfied with their day's work.
"Doctor, do ye think we can sort things out here?" asked Jamie.
"Oh I'm sure we will Jamie. With the Brigadier to help us we can sort out the council and then find this bloodsucking Queen," replied the Doctor.
"Then we can be on our way?"
"Well almost. There is still something that is bothering me. What exactly caused the sudden decay in the condition of the city and the human population that the globes were created to battle. It's all very strange."
Silently a figure with long red hair watched them from the shadows. It turned away and entered the villa. When it found a quiet spot it picked up a small communicator from a table and put it to it's ear and began to speak.
"Hello Zzorrann, it's Alistair Jnr. I have something to tell you," he said.
*****
The Doctor and the Brigadier were deep in conversation, leaving Jamie at a loose end. After a few moments of kicking his heels, he deciding he might as well leave them to it, and walked from the balcony in the direction of the kitchen, looking for something else to eat.
If he hadn't chosen to step quietly he might not have picked up the whispered conversation coming from the hallway. "Yes, they're still determined." Jamie froze against the wall, listening. Was that Alistair Jnr? "Alright, I'll meet you later."
Jamie waited a few seconds, and then resumed his path to the kitchen, passing Alistair on the way. They exchanged a brief nod before going their separate ways.
Jamie grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. But now hunger gave way to suspicion. He knew there was something not quite right, but rather than seek a confrontation, for the moment he chose to bide his time.
*****
Guilliam stared at the latest government directive for a full ten minutes. But his eyes never took in a single word.
In his younger days he had been a vibrant member of the Council, as had Herzz and other contemporaries of their day. And the Chambers had been full of lively banter and discussion. But that was before Zzarr had joined the Council. A new age had been ushered in, and it was not one that anyone had been altogether happy with. True, there was new prosperity, but it came at a price. And the previously relaxed form of debate was replaced with that of a single vote system. And the only member to wield the power of veto was Zzorr, a privilege that was later passed down to his son.
Those who remained in the Council no longer had any real power to change anything, unless Zzorrann allowed it. It had been that way for many years. Guilliam remembered the Doctor's words - yes, the government had stagnated. But there was nothing anyone could do. There was now an inherent weakness within the Council that Guilliam despised.
Because he recognised that same weakness in himself.
*****
"It's so infuriating!"
The Brigadier looked up. "What is?"
The Doctor searched for a way to express his thoughts. "It's as though I'm missing something so obvious, and yet I can't see it."
Lethbridge Stewart sympathised with his old friend's frustration. They had been discussing the question of the globes, and the sudden decay in the town centre for so long, that they both felt as if they were going around in circles. "Let's go over it again," he suggested. "Slowly and methodically."
"Oh, very well."
"Now, you placed that circuit against the column . . ."
"Yes, but before that, do you remember how the light in that globe began to fluctuate?"
"That's right," the Brigadier remembered. "And the close you got to it, the worse it became."
"And that had to be because of the circuit I was holding."
"Yes, what was that circuit anyway, Doctor?"
He shrugged. "Nothing important. Just something I was repairing from the TARDIS. Now, where were we? Ah yes, so the globe shattered . . ."
"And there was that faint vibration all around us," the Brigadier recalled, "which we didn't notice until after it had stopped." He paused, deep in thought. "It's a rum do, I don't mind admitting." He looked across toward the Doctor, and saw something like realisation pass over his face. "Doctor, what is it?"
"Oh my word." His voice held a note of fear. "Brigadier, I think the answer has been staring us in the face all the time."
"Why? What do you mean?"
The Doctor shot up from his chair. "Follow me. I'll explain on the way."
They passed Alistair Jnr on their way out. "Hey, where are you two going?" he asked. His father silently shrugged his shoulders, before closing the door behind him.
Alistair turned to Jamie. "What do you make of that?"
The Scot gave an equally unhelpful shrug. "That's the Doctor for ye," he replied. "Once he gets something in his head, ye just have to tag along."
*****
Herzz entered Guilliam's office to find his friend slumped in his chair, despondent. He felt much the same himself, and the two friends knew each other well enough to recognise the other's mood. "There really was nothing we could do," he said.
Guilliam laughed, with no humour. "Back to the same order of things," he lamented. "But does that make it right, Herzz?"
He sat down in the chair facing the Mayor. "Do you doubt the validity of Zzorrann's argument?"
"Do you doubt the validity of the case put forward by the Brigadier and his friend, the Doctor?" Guilliam countered.
Now Herzz expressed his own concerns. "I am uncertain. There are valid points for both sides, but . . ."
"Are you happy, Herzz?"
The question took him by surprise. "Define happiness for me, and I will answer."
"Very well." Guilliam chose his words. "When you retire for bed each night, do you look forward to the beginning of a new day? And do you enjoy the day that comes?"
"In that context, I would answer no," Herzz replied. "No, I am not happy."
"But if we dared to act on the Doctor's suggestion . . . ?"
Herzz nodded. "There would be doubt instead of certainty, disruption instead of a known routine - but there would also be challenges to meet, obstacles to overcome."
Guilliam sat back in his chair. "So we understand the choices . . ."
". . . But do we have the courage?" Herzz wondered.
The two men, one human, the other lizard, had much to think about.
*****
"So, how long have you travelled with the Doctor?" Alistair Jnr asked.
"Och, a wee while," Jamie replied. They had been talking for some time since the Doctor and the Brigadier had made their hasty exit. Alistair had offered Jamie a beer, but he had politely declined. The occasional glances to the clock on the wall did not go unnoticed.
Alistair gazed forlornly at the empty bottle. "Sure I can't tempt you?" Jamie shook his head. "Well, I think I'll have another."
He waited until Alistair was out of sight. Then Jamie leapt from his chair, across the width of the living room towards the hallway. Alistair had half opened the front door, when the Scot dived past him, slamming it shut and blocking his way. "And where d'ye think you're goin?"
"I . . . we ran out of beer," Alistair stammered. "I was just going out to the all night store to buy some more?"
"Oh aye?" Jamie was no fool. "Nothing to do with your private chat, then?"
"What do you mean?"
Jamie held up the small communicator. "I mean this wee thing. Now, what's going on, Alistair?"
He sighed. "Oh Jamie, why did you and the Doctor have to mess everything up?" He tried to push past, but the highlander stood firm. "Now, I don't want things to turn nasty."
Jamie took a few steps forward. "Well, if it's a fight ye'r lookin' for . . ."
*****
By the time they had arrived in the town square, the Brigadier was out of breath. "Really Doctor, I'm getting far too old for all this running around," he complained.
The Doctor shushed him. "Do you feel it, Alistair? That faint vibration?"
"Well, yes. Though it's only since yesterday I realised it was there at all. Does it mean anything?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the Doctor replied. "It's the same vibration one recognises from a TARDIS. In fact, the same vibration from my own TARDIS."
"What?" The Brigadier was astounded. "But that's impossible. These buildings, for example."
"All a brilliant shade of white," came the reply. "Not a speck of dirt or grime to be found."
"Like the console room," Lethbridge Stewart conceded. "But what about the globes?"
"That was something I should have seen before. Remember when I extended the TARDIS force field to save us from the effects of decay?" The Brigadier nodded. "That's when I should have seen it.
"These globes are a giant force field, extending across the city. And we're not outside at all - we're inside. Inside a giant TARDIS!"
*****
By the time they had returned to the villa, the Brigadier was bursting with questions, but they both fell silent as they saw the upturned furniture and broken ornaments. "Oh dear," said the Doctor. "I don't like the look of this at all."
Jamie was standing amongst the shattered ruins of the Brigadier's villa. His shirt and kilt were torn near to shreds, while his face and hands were smeared with blood. He was standing over the body of Alistair Jnr, which lay battered on the floor.
"Jamie, what have you done?" cried the Doctor.
The Brigadier stood silent as the shock of the sight before him sunk in.
"It . . . wasn't. I didn't . . ." Jamie could not finish his sentence.
Moving more quickly than his age would suggest, the Brigadier flung himself at the young Scot and swung his cane at him with as much might as he could muster. The silver handle of the cane connected with Jamie's head and he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Doctor we have been friends for many years but your boy has murdered my son. I suggest you get him and yourself out of my home immediately before I do something I will regret." The Brigadier was spitting with rage. "Mark my words, if I ever see the two of you again I will tear you both apart with my own hands!"
"But Alistair," the Doctor protested.
"Go, now!" he bellowed.
******
Across the street from the Brigadier's villa, a female figure stood in the shadows holding onto the still beating heart of Alistair Jnr. She watched the Doctor and the Brigadier arrive, then heard the commotion and shouting inside. Finally she saw the Doctor dragging the unconscious Jamie over his shoulder out of the villa, while the Brigadier stood in the doorway, shouting abuse.
"Oh Doctor, you always were so entertaining," remarked Queen Perpugilliam.
