Chapter 3: A Masterful Plan by a Not So Masterful Trickster
"Look…" said the Doctor as he was being held down by guards, "I can help…"
"You have done quite enough!" Uther looked down at him with ambivalence, "You have been found guilty of using magic which has been outlawed, you shall be hanged tomorrow at midday."
"Wait! As I keep telling you…its..ufff…not…uff…would you stop that" the guards stopped momentarily before a wary eye from the king kept them on their orders. It was not long before he found himself back in the dungeon cell, Merlin, Gaius, and Arthur right behind him. Arthur dismissed the guards who looked frightened by and larger of the Doctor as it was, and they quietly retreated up the stairs.
"Merlin informs me that you're not a magic user at all, and that you know exactly what this plague is." Arthur spoke, a slight goatee now graced his chin. "I trust him, he has shown me that magic isn't exactly the devilish thing my father believes it to be. The dragon, five years ago, nearly destroyed Camelot and he stood with me, and there he used magic to save Camelot. We've since learned a great deal together, under Gaius's tutelage. So speak candidly and maybe we can come to an agreement. "
"Five years, and still his energy sits beneath these walls" said the Doctor looking about as though he were entranced. His eyes wandered around the cell as he clenched his hands in his hair. "Well, we have two options, I can sit here and wait to die, or we can go and stop this plague. " Taking his sonic screwdriver out again he quickly unlocked the gate to his cell. "Now this plague comes from a planet called Tellados, the sixth planet in the Aldeen cluster which you know as Taurus. Though how it got here I don't know. For that we need to get to my TARDIS. "
Gaius sighed, "I'm too old for this, I will see what I can do about Uther here. Something had to change his mind about you."
"I would suspect a great many things have happened since yesterday." The Doctor frowned for a moment, "well best be off, good luck Gaius." The Doctor ran down the hall away from the stairs as Gaius ascended. Arthur and Merlin were right behind.
"You know there isn't a way out on this end," said Arthur, as he caught up to the Doctor.
"Isn't there?" said the Doctor with a wink. Reaching the last cell, he unlocked it and stepped inside. A strange glyph was written on the stonewall at eye level. "There is always a way out, remember 'magic' is what built this city Arthur." The Doctor leaned close to the glyph and peered at it and with a brilliant glow the wall disappeared and in its place was a high arched doorway.
"The Glyphs of Syrampha, technology that predates the whole of human history. Read it for what it is and it reveals its secrets."
The doorway opened into a vast room that neither Arthur nor Merlin had ever seen. Amidst the dust and cobwebs was a vast treasure mostly of cut jewels and in the center was a pedestal marred with many more of the runes.
"One day Merlin you'll know far more than any man has of your time, and that knowledge lies here. But for now we must move on." The Doctor approached another glyph on the far wall and as that door opened the previous closed sealing its self shut.
"There is something on Earth that has caused this plague, brought it with them here?" asked Merlin stepping over a fallen stone, "I mean something from out there?" He pointed up at the dark starry night sky thousands of stars glowed brightly.
"I'm from a planet out there…" mused the Doctor, "called Gallifrey, only it isn't there any longer."
Arthur looked up briefly before turning his head over his shoulder, the sound of alarms were trumpeting. "We best be moving quicker, they've figured out we have escaped."
"Not a problem…" the Doctor said, "I've got my key out and…" pressing on the key as though it were a car remote a quick beep came from in front of them. "Everyone in to the TARDIS."
The Doctor entered first followed by Merlin, but a bestaggered Arthur stopped abruptly. "You can't expect for all of us to fit in there, what type of…"
"Just…would you just get inside," said Merlin, "I promise you it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside."
Arthur stood with his mouth agape, unsure how to respond, before begrudgingly entering into the blue box.
"Ok, this is some magic!" he exclaimed, "How do you get it so big on the inside?"
"Oh, it is just a dimensional fold created by a temporal shift of the main matrix of the TARDIS core, the outside is just a moveable façade sort to speak."
"What?" Arthur said
"He means what you saw on the outside isn't really the exterior of this…" Merlin turned to the Doctor, "…and what exactly is a tardis?"
"TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension in Space" said the Doctor.
"Right, okay, sure…" Arthur looked at Merlin as Merlin looked back at him.
"So, what we need is to track the energy signature of the spores which are causing this plague."
"How do we do that?" asked Merlin
"Simple, we tap a source of the spores which have the energy signature and then we track it, and I've got just the source." The Doctor lifted a floor plate and started rummaging through one labeled Z.
"Zerbex, 'Zany Tricks for Kids', Zanzerbub, nasty race that was, little teeth, gnawed on their victims down to the bone. Ah here it is a Zorthene disease scanner, the handheld version. Useless on most human diseases, but perfect for extracting spores of the Kaliny Flu."
Again Merlin and Arthur looked at each other before turning with confused looks to the Doctor.
"Just hold still…" The Doctor scanned over Merlin and Arthur both. The scanner brilliantly shown red all over them. "…as I expected, furion radiation. Ok so…" he walked to the computer console and set the scanner on a small pedestal, "…we upload the information and…got it. Laying in a course…" he slammed a switch down and kicked part of the console, which hummed to life. The steady whir changed to a harmonic fall and lift, as though the TARDIS was breathing, it rumbled, rattled, and racked back and forth before reforming in a glade not far from the burrow of Kinsihg.
"I know this place," said Arthur, "It is Kinsihg, or what is left of it."
"What's happened to the trees? It's as though they have all just withered."
"The Kaliny flu doesn't just affect animal life, it affects all life. Plants and water life are the last to go as it takes ages to gestate in them, but once it does, the spores destroy the tissue around it and turn it into a green blue sludge." The Doctor said pointing out the green blue ooze that now trickled down the trunks of the trees. "Don't touch anything, walk on the path, you don't want to get that stuff on you."
"Right…"sighed Arthur. Merlin took the lead and the trio walked down the main path. On either side were the corpses of the dead, livestock, human, and plants alike.
Merlin turned to the Doctor, continuing to walk backwards down the path, "Something has just occurred to me, why won't the spores affect you?"
The Doctor smiled, "it's a common vaccination where I come from. That's why it only occurs every have millennium, a new strain forms and the old vaccination just doesn't quite cut it."
"Then why can't we make a vaccination from your blood, like you were talking about earlier?"
"Because, Time Lord DNA and Human DNA don't mix, and our immune systems are a bit more complicated than human immune systems."
Merlin nodded and turned about just in time to stop himself from tripping over a body sprawled across the road. Its flesh from the head down was stripped away and his skull was bashed in, the only remaining flesh was on his legs.
"That is disgusting," said Arthur gawking at the corpse.
"That's enough move along," said the Doctor.
They entered the town about midday. The buildings were black and blue, many had crumbled away, except for one, which was pristine and untouched.
"That is odd, how is it that house has been spared while the rest wither away?" said Arthur.
"That is where the energy signature is originating, and it is why we are here," said the Doctor as he rounded another corpse, "let's make a grand entrance."
The Doctor touched the handle before grabbing it and opening the door. Inside was something of odd bewilderment. A monk dressed in his habit and robes sat precariously in a chair, his foot tapping out a soft muted beat on the floor. A table with a single chair was before him and the Doctor and the room was lit from an unknown source.
"And so it begins," said the Monk, "careful you might miss the tip."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" said Arthur who began to draw his sword.
"It means young prince, the game is a foot."
Before either Merlin or the Doctor could stop him, Arthur stepped forward tripping a trap, which froze him still in a time lock.
"I see," muttered the Doctor, "Well then who are you? Gaspian, Slytheen?"
The monk raised his hood to reveal a young human face. "No dear Doctor, no I am none of those foul creatures."
"And how do you know my name?"
"Because you know mine."
Merlin, while the Doctor conversed raised his arm behind him and focused on Arthur with a few muted words, "Gollwng 'r hysgrifrwymau" his eyes glowed and Arthur fell back out of the space.
The Monk starred in amazement, "You are a cunning lad, few could aid in the escape of one trapped as he was."
"Ah…now, now I know who you are, hello Mortimus."
"I knew I wouldn't remain a mystery to you for too long, Doctor."