CHAPTER 12

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A CLUE FROM THE PAST

Gaston LeGault had been the 'doorman' of the secret headquarters of the Order of the Sun Queen since he was still a young boy which wasn't as fantastic as it sounded when you considered the fact that their headquarters was directly underneath his family's home in the southern part of Paris. He had literally grown up right on top of them since his father had been the 'doorman' of the mysterious group before him and he had inherited the job from him when he had suddenly died under 'mysterious circumstances' during one of the Order's many secret missions. Gaston was now going on close to thirty years of being the one who guarded their entrance from any and all intruders and kept anyone from getting too close to his masters.

In all of this time he had seen countless people and even otherworldly beings of all types go in and out of that door. He truly thought that nothing and no one that might show up to see the Order could surprise him anymore.

He was just about to find out exactly how wrong that he was about that.

"You will allow me to see the Order right away, Monsieur, or I will send an entire army of Musketeers here to storm this entire building within half an hour," A woman's voice suddenly said behind Gaston as he sat at his dining room table eating a meal.

"I'm afraid that you're not going to be talking to anyone, Mademoiselle. Not in this world," Gaston threatened before he even turned around.

He immediately jumped to his feet and pulled a gun out of his belt as he whirled to face the mysterious intruder in his home. His jaw instantly fell as soon as he saw who it was.

"I'd think twice about that if I were you, Monsieur. The King wouldn't take too kindly to my quick and sudden death at your hands I don't think," Reinette said with a smug smile as she stood there before him with a large satchel in her arms.

"He wouldn't particularly appreciate you killing me either since I'm his cousin. Just wanted to put that out there," Clara said nervously.

"Put the gun down or I will shoot you down without mercy," A male voice said from behind Gaston.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the woman he now recognized as Madame de Pompadour had indeed already brought a Musketeer with her. He was currently aiming a gun at the back of Gaston's head.

Gaston immediately lowered his gun very slowly to the floor as he said, "I thought that you were an intruder, Marquise. Of course I would have gladly welcomed you inside if I had known who you were."

"Would you, Monsieur LeGault? I highly doubt that. Not without official approval from the secret leaders of your Order of course," Reinette said with an enigmatic smile.

Gaston's eyes widened as he realized that she knew his name along with his exact relationship with the Order. Exactly how much did the Marquise know and what did that mean for him and his future?

"Oh, I know a great deal about you and your family's relationship to the Order over the years. Your masters aren't the only ones with eyes everywhere after all. I've known about this place and its relevance for a very long time now. I allow it to exist because it suits my purpose. Please don't make me rethink that opinion," Reinette said in a cold voice.

Gaston began to visibly shake now as Clara smiled at Reinette in amusement. He was actually more afraid of her than Marcel who was currently holding a gun to the back of his head. She always loved these moments when Reinette put the fear of the crown into someone just by the power of her will alone. She doubted that anyone not even the most powerful of kings could stand up to her when she was really determined to do something. That was when no force on Earth (or anywhere else) could stop her.

"Relax, Monsieur. If you do exactly as I say, you need not worry about any harm coming to you through me. If you don't, however . . ." Reinette trailed off with an undeniable tone of menace to her voice.

Gaston sighed as he said, "Knock me out."

"I'm sorry?" Clara asked in surprise.

"It's the only way for me to save face with them is to say that you took me by surprise. I'm sure that they'd believe that you were capable of such a thing if anyone was, Marquise," Gaston explained.

"Can I do the honors? I've never knocked anyone out before," Clara asked eagerly.

"I can't imagine why," Reinette said with a warm smile.

"You don't think that I can do it, do you? Just because I'm short doesn't mean that I can't pack a punch, Jeanne. Watch and learn," Clara said smugly as she balled her hand up into a fist and pulled it back.

"Actually I was hoping that it would be the Musketeer who knocked me out. If word ever got around that I was knocked out by the Baroness of all people especially with her being so small of stature, I'd never live it down," Gaston said with a grimace.

"Ooh, big mistake. You just pushed all of my buttons at once by saying that. Now I'm really going to enjoy this," Clara said in an angry tone as she swiftly punched the man in the jaw as hard as she could.

Instead of being knocked out however Gaston just stood there screaming in pain as he said, "You just broke my tooth!"

"Well, you won't have long to worry about it after this," Clara said as she punched him in the jaw again.

Gaston screamed once again as he said in a voice filled with pain, "Now you broke the tooth next to it."

"Oh, come on. That one definitely should have done the job. That was my best punch," Clara said in disbelief.

"That's more than enough, Clara. You're going to bring the entire Order up here in a minute if you keep that up. It's best to just let a professional handle this," Reinette said with a sigh.

"Go ahead, Monsieur," Gaston said with a smile of relief as he addressed Marcel.

"I don't believe that she was talking about me, Monsieur," Marcel said with a grin.

"What?" Gaston said as he turned to give Reinette a questioning look just in time to receive a massive punch in the face from her.

He instantly hit the ground in an unconscious heap as Reinette smiled with satisfaction.

"Show off," Clara said with a frown.

"I doubt Captain LeFevre himself could have done any better, Marquise," Marcel said with pride.

"That's because I was trained how to fight by the greatest pugilists from throughout Europe from an early age, Marcel. I insisted on it actually since I didn't want to face the mechanical men completely defenseless. It drove my mother absolutely mad since it wasn't 'proper' for a young lady," Reinette said with a small smile.

"Since when did that ever stop you from doing anything?" Clara said with a fond smile.

"Never," Reinette said with a grin as she began to search for the secret entrance to the Order's headquarters with her sonic pen.

She quickly let out a small cry of joy as she said, "I'm getting much better at mastering all of the uses of this device. I've already located the hidden door with it by using it as a metal detector."

Then she did a fast search of the entire area where she had detected the door and within a minute she had found a hidden switch in the wall as she pulled a decorative sword on the wall out of its scabbard. A section of the wall then immediately slid back to reveal a thick iron door that she knew could easily withstand the Musketeer's most powerful weapons.

Good thing for her that she had something far more powerful than that along she thought to herself as she used the sonic pen to instantly open the door.

"Be prepared for anything, Marcel. I don't think that the Order will use force against me but even I don't know how far that they're willing to go to protect their secrets," Reinette warned as she led the way inside.

"Shouldn't I go first in that case?" Marcel asked.

"No, then we'll have a fight on our hands for sure if we go in there with guns drawn. You're to provide back-up in case I need it but not to open fire until and unless I order it, Marcel. Is that understood?" Reinette asked in a no nonsense tone as she started down a small hidden corridor that descended deep beneath the ground.

"Yes, Marquise," Marcel said obediently as he and Clara followed directly behind her.

"Good. Besides I'd hate to have to explain to your family why you got shot, Marcel. I have to look out for you, don't I? From what I hear of your wife's temper, I wouldn't want her angry at me for any reason," Reinette said with a chuckle.

"Oh, so aliens and clockwork people are no big deal to you but Musketeers' wives scare you to death, do they?" Clara asked with a smirk.

"Oh, most definitely," Reinette admitted with a wide grin just as she reached yet another iron door at the end of the corridor and opened it with her sonic pen.

"Is there some reason for this intrusion on our privacy, Marquise?" Monsieur Nemo said in an outraged tone as he and several men with guns immediately greeted her on the other side of the door.

"Yes, there most certainly is. You paid me a visit at my home recently, Monsieur, so I thought that it was only fair that I returned the favor. I came here to ask you for your help with . . . this," Reinette said.

Then to the shock of all of the members of the Order present Reinette began to pull a metal dog out of the satchel that she had been carrying with her. As she laid it on the ground before them, Monsieur Nemo looked at it with a knowing smile and nodded.

"I see. It's stopped running hasn't it? You believe that we can provide you with a way to give it a new source of power," Nemo realized.

Reinette nodded as she said, "I knew that if anyone in this era could that it would be you. I know for a fact that you have all manner of 'recovered' alien weaponry and equipment in your base down there. I only wish to use some of it to help repower my new friend here, and then I'll be happily on my way. It's a small price to pay for my continued silence about your existence isn't it?"

"After everything that you have done for France, I would be more than glad to give you whatever help that you desire, Marquise. I'm afraid that this is far beyond even my ability to fix however. This machine looks to have been completely drained of whatever strange energy once powered it. I have no power sources of any kind at my disposal that I could use on it I assure you," Nemo insisted.

"Why am I having trouble believing that, Monsieur, with all of the many things that your group has collected over the decades?" Reinette said in disbelief.

"You can believe whatever that you wish, Marquise, but I can assure you that I have nothing that can help restore this machine to normal at my disposal. You have come all of this way for nothing I'm afraid," Nemo said.

"Perhaps you do and you just don't realize it, Monsieur. Let me have a look around just to make certain of that. I'm far more of an expert on such things than even you are," Reinette insisted.

"I'm afraid that I can't let you inside there, Marquise," Nemo said with a stern look.

"You will move aside and let the Marquise inside or I will force you aside," Marcel threatened.

"Marcel, not until I give the order," Reinette said as she shook her head no.

She didn't want this to end up becoming violent. Surely there was a much better way to resolve this for everyone.

"Are you going to let me in, Monsieur Nemo, or do I have to come back here with an entire army? I'm sure that the King would be most interested to know what you've been doing here if I were to tell him of your existence. He may just think of you as traitors to France and I'm not sure that I could disagree with him especially if I haven't seen what you have back there," Reinette said in an obstinate tone.

Monsieur Nemo's face fell because he knew that he had no other choice. The Marquise was too powerful for even the Order to overcome and she knew it too.

"Let her inside but stay with her at all times. Never leave her or her companions unsupervised for a moment," Nemo ordered his visibly stunned guards.

This had never happened in all of their organization's history after all.

Reinette smiled as she now boldly walked into the secret headquarters as if she owned it. Her eyes immediately widened as she saw the many pieces of alien technology that had been hidden within the cavernous chamber.

"It's simply amazing. An engine from a Vinvocci ship, a Sontaran helmet, a gun from Androzani Minor, a piece of Dalekanium, and even an Androgum cookbook," Reinette said as she studied each and every item on display there.

"You actually know what all of these things are? It's taken us decades to discover this information. How could you possibly know so much?" Nemo asked in shock.

Reinette smiled as she said, "I have my own secrets, Monsieur, that you are not about to become privy to anytime soon I'm afraid."

Then her smile faded as she added, "You're right however. None of this is any help to me in any way. Most of it doesn't even work anymore. It's far too damaged or ancient to be of any use to me whatsoever."

"We could still use the cookbook though if it has any recipes for soufflés in it," Clara said in a hopeful tone.

"If it does I'm sure that they're the kind of soufflés that not even you would care to make, Clara. The Androgums are cannibals. They'll literally eat anything . . . and anyone," Reinette said.

"Forget it. Suddenly I'm not hungry anymore," Clara said as she immediately turned pale while Reinette smirked at her.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't be of more help to you, Marquise, but as you can see we've found precious little of significance despite our reputation," Nemo said.

"Oh, I don't know. It's not all junk, Monsieur. Some of this could still be quite useful," Reinette said as she eyed one piece in particular that had caught her eye from the moment that she had entered the room.

Nemo immediately saw what she was looking at and said, "Do you have an interest in that piece, Marquise? Even we have no idea what it is to be honest. We've never been able to understand the bizarre and intricate designs on its surface and we've had no success in dismantling it for further study whatsoever. We've never been able to even so much as make a scratch on it. Would you perhaps know what it is?"

"I'm not certain. It looks so familiar to me and yet I can't place it for the life of me, Monsieur. Perhaps if you let me keep it for a while I may be able to find out more about it for you. Possessing it for a while may unlock some hidden memory," Reinette offered.

"Very well. I see no harm in it since we have no further use for it anyway. You may keep it if you wish as long as you and your companions agree to never tell anyone what you have seen here," Nemo stressed.

"You have my word of honor," Reinette said as she quickly picked up the bizarre metal artifact before Nemo changed his mind.

"Mine too. I've never betrayed any of Jeanne's secrets yet, and I'm not about to start now," Clara agreed.

"I give my word as well. Besides who would believe me? They would all think me mad," Marcel admitted.

Nemo laughed at that as he said, "And that is one of the secrets of our success through the years. No one would possibly believe the truth anyway. Now if you'll excuse us, Marquise."

"Yes, of course. We'll be going now. Oh, and I think that you should probably have a doctor ready to tend to your man on the surface. Clara was less than gentle with him I'm afraid," Reinette said with a smirk.

The members of the Order began to laugh as one of them said, "The Baroness beat up Gaston."

"And what's so funny about that? Come on. I dare any of you to take me in a fight," Clara said as she put her fists up.

Now all of the men immediately went silent as they saw the anger flash in her eyes. Despite their teasing none of them was suicidal enough to want to face her wrath next after all especially if she could strike down a man as strong as Gaston.

"Come along, Clara," Reinette said with a deep sigh as she pulled Clara along with her.

"Gutless cowards," Clara spat out as she looked at the Order defiantly while Reinette dragged her away.

"With that one at her side, the Marquise doesn't need an army," One of the Order said with a shudder after she was out of earshot.

"Just be glad that the Marquise didn't search any deeper or she might have discovered that not everything here is quite as broken as she might believe," Nemo said as he pulled a hidden section of wall aside to reveal what he was almost certain was a ship from beyond the stars.

"It really wouldn't matter if she did, would it? We've been trying to learn the secrets of that craft for decades now, Monsieur, and still know next to nothing about it. We can't even open its front doors to see inside of it," One of the Order said with a shrug.

"One day we will though. I'm quite certain of it and on that day we will have power such as even Reinette Poisson has never dreamt of, my friends. We will have power enough to defy even the King himself. Power enough to defy the world," Nemo said with a malevolent smile.

Meanwhile Reinette was blissfully unaware of this as she made her way back to Versailles after she had ordered the bone weary Marcel to return home once more. As Reinette and Clara returned however, Reinette was immediately distraught to find that Josette was missing from her chambers.

"Josette! Josette, where are you?" Reinette called out in alarm as she searched the entire area outside for her.

"I'm sure she's just gone wandering off somewhere, Jeanne. She probably wanted to go exploring. This is Versailles after all. I bet she's driving some poor guard nuts somewhere asking questions about the paintings or the Hall of Mirrors right now. Don't get so worried," Clara said in a reassuring tone.

"I'll do what I like," Reinette said in anger as she rushed past her in an agitated state.

Clara groaned as she saw that Reinette was going out of her mind with worry once more about Josette just as she had once before when she had been taken by the Rutan. She could handle power mad secret societies and alien warmongers with ease but when it came to Josette she lost her head almost immediately as soon as it even so much as looked like something had happened to her.

Despite her seeming invincibility sometimes, it showed that she was only human just like everyone else though she supposed.

"Is something wrong, Baroness?" Gabrielle, Reinette's lifelong servant, asked as she saw Reinette rushing past her without even so much as a hello which was extremely unlike her.

"It's okay to just call me Clara when no one else is around, Gabrielle. How many times do I have to tell you that? Jeanne's all worried about Josette. She's gone missing and it's driven her right over the edge," Clara said.

Gabrielle nodded with a somber look on her face as she remembered all too well how distraught Reinette had become when she had lost her previous daughter years ago. She had been afraid at the time that she would never recover from it.

Thankfully this time it was a completely different story.

"She's perfectly fine. I saw her sneaking out of the Marquise's room shortly after the two of you left, Baroness. I followed her without her even realizing it straight into Mademoiselle Sparrow's room. She's been in there ever since. I think that she rather likes her and vice versa based on what little that I heard of their conversations together," Gabrielle said with a smile.

"She's with Sally?" Reinette said in relief as she immediately appeared behind her.

"Yes, she's fine, Marquise. I'm sorry that you were worried needlessly. I didn't realize that you had returned or I would have told you immediately of course," Gabrielle said with a frown.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry about whatsoever. I'm the one who should apologize. I'm sorry for not saying hello earlier, Gabrielle, and thank you for watching out for her," Reinette said as she hugged her old friend gratefully.

Gabrielle smiled as she said, "I'm glad to do it. I'd do anything for you. You know that."

"And I for you, my friend. Come on, Clara. I'm going to give that child a piece of my mind for worrying me so," Reinette said in anger.

"Jeanne, don't. She wasn't being disobedient. She just . . . She didn't feel comfortable in a place like this alone. I could tell," Gabrielle said as she put a restraining hand on her shoulder.

Then she looked at her in horror as she realized that she had just stepped completely out of her station with her. She could get into immense trouble for speaking to a member of the royal court like that.

Thankfully for her Reinette Poisson was far above such petty behavior.

Reinette smiled at her reassuringly as she said, "Thank you for telling me that. I'll just have to make sure that changes then, won't I? I also thank you for speaking to me as an equal. That has always been what we are to my mind and I expect it to remain that way in the future."

"Thank you," Gabrielle said as she saw that the kind and caring little girl that she had loved and helped take care of from infancy was still very much alive and well in the woman before her.

"You are a member of my family too, Gabrielle. Don't ever forget that," Reinette said as she kissed her cheek.

Then she quickly left as she and Clara headed straight to Sally's room. Reinette immediately released a breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding as she saw Josette alive and well and talking to Sally on her bed.

"There you are. You do realize that you worried me to death just now, don't you?" Reinette said in an angry tone.

"Mother, I'm sorry. I . . . I just couldn't stay in there. I was afraid that . . . that they'd make me leave," Josette admitted in a worried voice.

Reinette immediately smiled at her and hugged her tightly as she said in a gentle tone, "You're not going anywhere, Josette Poisson. Never again. Do you understand me? They'll have to drag me out of here too if they try to make you go and I'd like to see them try."

"Even Louis wouldn't be that stupid," Clara said with a chuckle.

Josette smiled from ear to ear as she heard Reinette call her by her own last name. That made it more than official for her. This really was her home now. Up until that moment, she had been far from certain about that.

Then she remembered her promise to Sally as she said in an excited tone, "Mother, Sally found something lying nearby after that Rutan attacked her. She showed it to me but I don't know what it is. I think it's from one of your monsters."

Sally looked at her in surprise for a moment and then said, "Oh, yes. I think she means this, Marquise."

She then gave Reinette the energy converter from her ship. What use did she have for it now anyway?

Reinette immediately looked at it with a pleased smile as she said, "A Rutan energy converter. If this still has energy in it, then this could be exactly what I've been looking for all along. And you had it all along right at my own front door, Sally."

"I wish we had known that earlier. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with that stupid Nemo. That was nothing but a complete waste of time," Clara said with a frown.

"Oh, I don't know, Clara. I think that it might turn out to be quite worthwhile after all," Reinette said as she looked down at the piece of alien tech that she had taken from the Order in her other hand.

"That thing's useless, Jeanne. I wouldn't put much stock in anything useful coming from that piece of junk," Clara said.

Sally looked at the small device in amazement as she instantly realized what it was. She couldn't help but wonder if Reinette knew exactly how much knowledge and power that she had in her hands at that moment. She was fairly certain that she didn't. There was no possible way that she could after all no matter how intelligent that she was.

She was only human after all and this was so far beyond any human's comprehension.

"Maybe not but I think that this energy converter is a different story if I'm not mistaken," Reinette said in a hopeful tone as she pulled K-9 out of her satchel once more.

"What is that?" Josette said in a voice filled with awe.

Sally recognized the robot dog instantly as well of course. Her people knew all about the Doctor and his traveling companions after all. A sudden dread filled her heart at the thought that maybe the robot might recognize her for what she was too.

"He belongs to a friend of mine, Josette. He's his pet. Well, I suppose he's more like his friend really. Hopefully I can bring him back to working order once more so that they can be reunited," Reinette said as she studied the energy converter for a moment.

Then she smiled in triumph as she stuck the device into one of K-9's access ports and pressed a button on it.

K-9 instantly came back to life as he said, "Recharging of batteries from external power supply commencing. It is estimated that this unit will be fully operational once more in a matter of moments and will not need another recharge for at least several centuries as long as no further total power depletions are necessary for human survival."

"I'm very glad to hear it," Reinette said with relief.

"I'd just be glad to understand it myself. I didn't get one word of that," Clara said with a grin.

"K-9's back to normal and won't need a new source of energy again anytime soon," Reinette said.

"Well, why didn't he just say so?" Clara said with a chuckle.

"Actually I did, Mistress," K-9 said in a smug tone.

"Well, say it in English next time so that I can understand it too then," Clara said with a frown.

"Affirmative. I will do my best to express myself in the simplest manner possible for you in the future, Mistress," K-9 said in an arrogant tone.

"I think I've just been insulted," Clara said in anger.

Reinette rolled her eyes as she said, "The two of you need to stop this needless squabbling immediately. Why can't we just be glad that our new friend is back to normal instead?"

"I am and I'll be even gladder when he leaves to go back to the Doctor," Clara said.

"Doctor. That name was mentioned before but I still have no records of him. He was my former master then? Is there any way of contacting him?" K-9 asked.

Reinette looked to Clara who still shook her head. Apparently the original Clara was still not talking.

"Not at the moment. Maybe we can later however, my friend. You can stay with us until then. I'll keep you in my chambers where no one will notice you. You may even prove useful on some of my investigations of alien attacks in the surrounding area," Reinette said.

"No doubt I will. I have an extensive database on all aliens in this section of the galaxy and should be able to help you locate them with maximum efficiency," K-9 assured her.

That made Sally even more worried as she wondered when K-9 would discover her.

"Sally, there's no need to look so concerned. You're not going anywhere either anytime soon. Not unless you want to of course. As far as I'm concerned, you can stay here as long as you want. Not only did you help me bring my friend here back to life again, but you were obviously there for my daughter when she needed someone. That means a lot to me," Reinette said in a reassuring tone.

Sally smiled at her gratefully even as Josette gave her a look that clearly said 'I told you so.' That still couldn't keep her from worrying about being discovered by K-9 however.

As it turned out, she didn't need to worry about that at all. She had much more pressing concerns as she would soon find out.

"Analysis of this area is complete, Mistress. I detect no alien presences here except for in that small device in your hand," K-9 said.

Sally and Josette now looked at each other in shock. Why wasn't she being detected as alien? She should be unless . . . somewhere she wasn't a Rutan biologically at all anymore.

What had happened to her and was there any way of undoing it at all? Did she really even want to after starting to find some measure of happiness for the first time in her life here?

"You mean that you were searching this room for aliens the entire time?" Reinette asked in surprise.

"Affirmative and I have found no alien presence except that object which you now hold in your hand. It is of unknown origin. My sensors cannot penetrate it so I cannot be certain of what it is. I do know one thing about it however," K-9 said.

"And what is that?" Reinette asked with a sense of undeniable anticipation in her tone.

"The writing on its surface is circular Gallifreyan from the planet designated Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous," K-9 said.

This time it was Reinette and Clara's turn to look at one another in shock as Reinette asked, "And what does it say? Do you know?"

"I believe it to be a name. The name of a former Lady President of that world if my memory banks are accurate: Romanadvoratrelundar," K-9 said.

Reinette's jaw dropped as she looked at her new friend in absolute astonishment. What was this strange device and what did it have to do with the Doctor's old friend and traveling companion?

And why did it seem so very familiar to her?

Next: Reinette doesn't have much time to ponder those questions unfortunately as she quickly comes across yet another new threat to France. This time it's in the form of a strange blob like creature with one eye that was recovered by some local children recently that it is said can actually talk. It's a being who will sound all too familiar to a soon to be completely terrified Reinette. Plus there will be more on Sally as she tries to find out exactly what's happened to her. How can she possibly do that though and what will she discover?