Authors Notes:
1) This story, Daughters Of The State, has been knocking about in my head for about three months in one form or another. Originally it wasn't going to be a 6th Doctor story - I had a different Doctor in mind. The more I thought about it though the more the story seemed to fit around Colin Baker's Doctor to the point where now I can't imagine it working with the other Doctor.
2)For those readers who are not British, I should just mention that the 5th November reference in the story refers to Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night) which is the big night of the year for fireworks parties in the UK. It celebrates the foiling of a 17th century plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
3) I must also mention that this story contains nudity, oblique sexual references and later chapters contain a large amount of violence. All of which has a genuine purpose within my tale. I have rated the story accordingly.
4) As ever, I do not own the character of the Doctor or any other parts of the series whatsoever. I'm just playing with wonderful toys created by other people. Please read and review. Part 2 of this story is already written and will be posted here in a few days time.
Daughters Of The State (Part 1)
Aristha stood nervously in line with her sisters as they all awaited the arrival of the Grand Usher. Between distractedly fingering her gold necklace and exchanging brief worried glances with her rival siblings, Aristha was desperately trying to hold back the rising feelings of impending doom and certain sorrow. At the very best she was about to lose one dearly cherished sister and at the very worst she was about receive a death sentence. Whatever the Grand Usher might proclaim, Aristha knew that nobody would leave this room feeling a winner. The unwieldy, bloodthirsty, hand of tradition was about to point its finger and life would never be the same again for any of these seven girls.
At the far end of the hall, seemingly in response to some unseen signal, the Palace Trumpeters lifted their instruments to their lips and began a sprightly rendition of the first few verses of the national anthem. How Aristha had grown to hate that tune over recent times. To her it represented nothing less than the whittling away of her happy childhood. Her official state duties had commenced just eight months ago, on the day after her eighteenth birthday, with a guided tour of a freezer factory. She had entered the factory floor to the sound of those trumpets. If the idea had been to instil a subservient mood amongst the workforce then it could only be judged to have been a partial success. Most of the workers had stood to attention and cast their eyes down to her feet as tradition required - no ordinary person was permitted to look upon the face of a Daughter Of The State without her express permission. The obsequious factory manager hadn't quite followed the good example set by his staff. He had cast his eyes down below Aristha's face but not nearly so far downwards as her feet. His inappropriate attention to her had made the day very uncomfortable but she had chosen not to make an issue of it. To do so would have meant instant dismissal and possible imprisonment for the wretched man and public humiliation for his, doubtless, long suffering family.
From that day on the state had dictated ever more how she spent her time. Membership of the Family Of The State meant a life of duty with no freedoms and it was life which she had grown to resent. Even she could never have guessed how much worse things would become. Last week had been the sixteenth birthday of her youngest sister, Nyiha. After the stiffly formal, palace organised, birthday celebration all seven sisters had been taken into their mother's office and shown a document that shocked them all to the core - The Official Secrets Of The State.
Jerking herself back to the present moment, Aristha fixed her eyes upon the intricately carved double doors as the procession entered to the sound of the trumpets. At the head of the party, of course, was the Grand Usher who, upon reaching the end of the line of trumpeters, stood to the side to make way for rest of the group. Next through the doors came the Elders Of The State. This was the all male council who governed the nation and was formed exclusively from members of the Family Of The State. Presently it consisted of all six of Aristha's brothers and her three surviving fathers. The nine Elders took their seats at the head of the hall in preparation for the arrival of Puecia, the Mother Of The State - mother to Aristha and all her brothers and sisters and supreme ruler of the nation.
Whatever the occasion, Puecia liked to make an entrance and today was no exception. A formidable yet handsome woman of around sixty years of age, Puecia was a force to be reckoned with.
"Commoners may raise their eyes and depart."
At the issuing of the command, for that was what it was, the trumpeters turned as one to face Puecia. With perfect synchronicity they lifted their heads as one and looked directly into her eyes for a full ten seconds before bowing and retreating backwards out into the corridor, the last to leave closing the double doors as she exited.
"Grand Usher, you may proceed."
Puecia settled herself comfortably upon her thrown and watched intently as the Grand Usher produced a fearsome looking knife from beneath his robe of red velvet and advanced across the room towards the Daughters Of The State.
The Doctor scowled furiously at the scanner screen in the console room of the TARDIS. Or rather he scowled furiously at the image which the scanner was currently showing him.
"Well that certainly isn't where I set the co-ordinates for."
It was not terribly unusual for the Doctor to find himself somewhere other than where he wanted to be but his normal default procedure in these circumstances was to bluff it out to his companions and pretend that such a detour was a great educational bonus or even intentionally part of his plans. Currently though, as the Doctor had no companions, there was little point in bothering with any such charade and so he could allow free reign to the vocal venting of his frustrations.
"What's wrong with you?" His fist hammered down on the console. "I mean, does that planet even resemble Krontep? Even loosely? No, no, no. I'll never forgive myself if I miss Peri's wedding."
At the thought of Peri his eyes misted over for a moment.
"I never had the chance to say goodbye," he murmured wistfully. "What must she think of me? Well, I suppose that Yrcanos will treat her well enough." The doubt in his voice was all too obvious.
Deciding to re-enter the coordinates for Krontep the Doctor busied himself around the console
The Grand Usher raised his knife to Aristha's throat and with one quick flick had removed her necklace and he added it to the five already placed in the silk bag which was attached to his belt. Aristha allowed herself to breathe again as the Grand Usher moved on to collect Nyiha's necklace.
The necklaces, which were structurally identical, had all been given to the girls at birth and each was engraved with the name and birthday of its respective owner. The girls had worn the necklaces every day since the time when they were adjudged old enough to take responsibility for them. These pieces of jewellery, although extremely beautiful, had seemed ordinary enough to the girls. After all, what is one more trinket when you are living in such luxury? It was only the previous week upon reading The Official Secrets Of The State that the girls had learned of the true and frightening significance of their necklaces.
With all seven necklaces now in his possession, the Grand Usher removed the silk bag from his belt and kissed it once before crossing the room and handing it over to Puecia.
Puecia got to her feet.
"My daughters, my most dear to my heart," she began. "Your moment has come."
Her daughters stood stock still and rooted to the floor in fear as Puecia's hand dipped into the bag for the first time. After a few seconds of feeling around inside the bag, her hand re-emerged with one of the necklaces draped over her index finger. Nobody other than herself was close enough to the necklace to be able to ascertain which of her daughters it had belonged to so the tension in the hall remained palpable as the Mother Of The State raised the necklace to her eyes and read out the inscribed name.
"Sajika, third daughter of Puecia, is to be the new Mother Of The State. As our law declares, the transfer of authority is immediate. I hereby abdicate the throne in favour of Sajika. My daughter, please take your rightful place."
Puecia stepped aside as Sajika walked towards the throne. As her daughter drew level with her, Puecia handed her the bag containing the remaining six necklaces before joining her husbands and sons on the Elders bench.
Shakily, Sajika dipped her hand into the bag and quickly drew out a necklace. She took a deep breath and only then did she look at it.
"My sisters, my most dear to my heart. Aristha, sixth daughter of Puecia, is to be the people's Goddess and leader of the Church Of The State," she said sorrowfully. Then her voice hardened. "Guards!"
The double doors reopened and the personal guards of the Mother Of The State marched in and stood before the throne with their eyes downcast towards Sajika's feet.
"Commoners may raise their eyes and receive my commands. My sister, Aristha, is your Goddess. Seize her! Escort her to the Holy Building and guard her well. Ensure that no male has any contact with her before my weddings take place at noon tomorrow."
As Aristha was being removed from the room Sajika looked away, a pained look on her face. As the doors slammed closed the moment passed and Sajika regained her composure. She lifted the silk bag above her head and tipped the last five necklaces onto the floor.
"My sisters, you are hereby released from the Family Of The State and are free to choose your own destinies out there amongst our people. I wish you all good fortune and prosperity."
Good fortune was the last thing which the Doctor was experiencing. Krontep was still evading him and to make things even worse the console had just overloaded with a glittering array of sparks, bangs and flashes impressive enough to put any 5th November fireworks display to shame. To top it all off the scanner screen was now displaying what appeared to be a very thick mist through which the Doctor could make out very little other than a few vague shapes. Deciding that there was nothing else for it, he decided to explore. He pulled the lever which opened the exit doors and strode out of the console room…
…and straight into a thick pane of frosted glass. Rubbing his bruised nose in annoyance, the Doctor took a step back into the TARDIS to view the obstruction at a greater distance. Upon a second glance it seemed that there were actually two panes of frosted with some kind of magnetic strip dividing them.
"Ah," the Doctor muttered ruefully. He reached out and swiftly parted the two panes, which slid aside easily, and he stepped out into the bathroom proper.
"Materialising in someone's shower cubicle! Thank goodness Peri isn't here or I'd never live this down. Still, this could yet be rather awkward if there's anyone at home."
The Doctor perched himself on the edge of the nearby bath suite and studied his surroundings more closely. To call this a bathroom was really to undersell it by a wide margin. It was probably the most lavish and luxurious bathroom that the Doctor could ever recall having seen. The mirrors were gold plated, the carpet was lush and soft, the bath itself was almost big enough to swim in and the paintings on the wall were certainly not prints.
"Decadent but very impressive nonetheless," was the verdict. The Doctor stood up and examined some of the paintings more closely, whistling in astonishment at the seemingly genuine signatures of many of the leading lights of late 22nd century art.
"Let's see if the rest of the house is up to scratch."
After around half an hour of exploration there remained no doubt at all in the Doctor's mind that he was in the home of somebody of great importance. The furniture was opulent to say the least and this was also an abode which lacked for nothing in terms of the latest technology. The TARDIS had a habit of placing the Doctor right in the centre of the action and so, upon reflection, the private bathroom in a palace wasn't too strange a place to land. What did strike the Doctor as being strange though was the fact that nobody had yet turned up to either arrest him for trespassing, threaten him with immediate execution or indeed both. For a palace this was a remarkably quiet place. The Doctor was beginning to wonder if he'd go on for days wandering the corridors alone but then he rounded a corner on the second floor and came face to face with the naked girl.
"Good gracious," he exclaimed. "It's a long time since I've seen anything quite like that!"
Aristha gazed at the colourful stranger in total astonishment. "I beg your pardon!"
"That painting hanging on the wall behind you! I do believe that it's a genuine Galgathargo. Do you know when it last was that I saw a Galgathargo? No, no… of course you don't. Silly question. I'm the Doctor, by the way, how do you do?"
The Doctor reached out his hand and, despite herself, Aristha accepted it and shook it briefly before her astonishment returned.
"Commoner, you are standing there looking at a naked Daughter Of The State without permission being granted unto you to so much as lift your eyes above my toes and all you do is talk about a painting!"
"Well it is a very beautiful painting you know? Prison in paradise - I believe that's what old Herbian Galgathargo titled it. He wasn't entirely satisfied with that second lion on the left but I assured him that it had character. Well, it certainly had bite. Is it yours?"
The Doctor smiled at Aristha and seemed to notice for the first time that she was totally naked.
"You're not wearing any clothes," his tone was almost accusatory. "Here, put my coat on, even luxury royal palaces get draughty at this time of year."
Aristha gratefully accepted the coat. "Thank you, commoner."
"'Doctor' will do fine. Now how about you tell me how you came to be wandering around naked amidst all of this luxury. And don't tell me that all of your robes are at the dry cleaners."
"I am naked to prevent me from escaping from this palace. There are no clothes anywhere here."
Aristha led the Doctor downstairs into the drawing room. She sat down on a sofa and indicated that the Doctor too should be seated.
"As you must surely already know, I am Daughter Of The State Aristha."
The Doctor just shrugged.
"Do you never read the newspapers or watch the television, commoner?"
"Ah, well I have been a little out of touch recently. You see, I was on trial and so had little time to keep up with current affairs. Not even on my own planet."
"Ah, I see, " nodded Aristha. "You're an alien. That would explain much. Very well then commoner - I shall tell you my story, tragic though it is, and then perhaps you might be able to help me."
"If I can. Do tell on."
For the next hour the Doctor listened intently as Aristha poured out her entire life story. She began by regaling him with tales of her childhood and the difficult transition to state duties. The Doctor barely interrupted her except to give the occasional nod of encouragement or grunt of affirmation. Eventually she reached the part about Nyiha's sixteenth birthday and the Official Secrets Of The State.
"We all filed into that room, myself and my sisters. I believe that my brothers were shown the same document later that same evening. My mother informed us that she had something very serious to tell us. She then told us about the secret rituals for the transfer of sovereignty from one Mother Of The State to the next. I'd always assumed that the position passed from mother to eldest daughter. I'd never met any of my mother's sisters and now I know why. The succession happens sixteen years after the birth of the outgoing Mother Of The State's youngest child. The succession is a lottery. Two of our necklaces are drawn at random from a bag. The first necklace tells us who is to be the new Mother Of The State. This time it was my third eldest sister, Sajika, she is to be married to our six brothers tomorrow at noon. The second necklace drawn tells us who is to provide the food for the wedding feast. Yes, Doctor - I see that you're beginning to understand. Tomorrow at noon I am to be eaten alive by my own family… In order to guarantee maximum good fortune for my sisters and continue the health and strength of the Family Of The State I must suffer the worst misfortune possible. This is it… "
Her voice tailed off. For once in his lives the Doctor was genuinely shocked and lost for words. After a struggle, the best that he could manage was : "And what of your other sisters?"
"They are now free of all duties and will go out amongst the people to live as they choose to live. They will never speak to anyone of my fate upon fear of the same or worse happening to them. They shall never return to the palace."
"Just as well really Aristha, what with all of the incest, polyandry and rampant cannibalism going on around here I somehow doubt that your family reunions would ever be a huge barrel of laughs."
He caught her glance.
"I'm sorry, but I am having a little trouble understanding all that you've told me. Are the whole population of this planet practicing cannibalism?"
"No, the common people know nothing of this. Tomorrow on the TV news it will be announced that I've been selected to lead our church. I'll be regarded by the people as a living Goddess whom none may enter the presence of. So the people will easily accept that they'll never see me again. My family aren't really cannibals, not in the way you mean. This only ever happens once in every generation at the succession."
"I see. Well what about the inbreeding? All of this stuff about all of the brothers marrying the same sister. Are you telling me that this has been going on for generations too?"
"Yes. Only a direct descendant of a Mother Of The State can be a Daughter Of The State. That's why at succession the remaining Daughters Of The State leave the palace. With me dead and my sisters banished there'll be no more Daughters Of The State until Sajika produces her first daughter - fathered by one of my brothers. "
"No, none of this makes any sense Aristha. With such a high level of inbreeding over so many generations then I would expect a very high level of mutation and deformity in your family yet you're…"
"I am beautiful. Yes, you may say it."
"Well that's certainly how human eyes would regard you. But that's not the most pressing issue. Right now it's your family's feeding habits which concern me the most. I'm not going to let anyone eat you - alive or otherwise."
Aristha smiled at him. "You can save me so easily Doctor. All of the guards here are female. No male is allowed anywhere near me between now and the wedding feast. Do you understand?"
"Not entirely, no."
"The only thing that will stop them from eating me is if they should discover that I am carrying a child. They will not harm me then. You must be the father to that child. But time is short, we only have but a few hours."
The Doctor leaped out of his chair as though boiling water had been poured into his lap.
"It's out of the question. Apart from the fact that I'm from a different planet to you, what makes you sure that one night with me would be enough to make you pregnant? And how on earth would you persuade your family that you are so? "
"One night is enough. We are a very fertile race, we can become pregnant at any time."
The Doctor shook his head.
"I know of no humanoid race where that's biologically possible. No."
"I assure you that it is true. Please… Help me."
The Doctor looked into her eyes and saw that she was telling the truth so far as she understood it. After what seemed an eternity to Aristha he slowly nodded.
"OK, I understand what I need to do."
END OF PART 1
(to be continued soon)