Chapter Six: The Pharatium Complex
Evening had been and gone by the time a weary Doctor arrived back into Ambition. He scarcely recognised the town as he wandered from the bird-shed, his mind clouded with dark and foreboding calculations and stepped into what seemed a mardi-gras of celebration, singing and dancing, loud music and fast drink. Coloured paper lanterns were strung up from window to window illuminating the strip he walked down, as though the inhabitants had intended a drunken and half-hearted impersonation of the Hindu Divali. A little orb of light against the star scattered sky. The doors of the houses were open, wide open, the warm light spilling out onto the dark pavement. The air frizzled with glorious smells of ripe food ready from the fire for thirsty mouths and to hell with the heart disease. Where had the sunken figures gone? Had the superstition of ghosts so easily evaporated like every drop of moisture on the planet? Theres was dancing in the streets. There was probably no dancing anywhere else for all the people that were there just enjoying themselves. Business had been thrown to the dogs. This was a party, pure and simple.
If he hadnt had been so shocked The Doctor would probably have appreciated it. He still knew how to make a decent banana daiquiri but where would he get a banana on the Ranx? The one day he forgot to pack one with him. He wandered threw the high street unseen and disregarded by those who whooped and swayed past him. As he drifted through the calling crowds he for a moment noticed a young blonde girl with a dense Texan accent entertaining a throng of five beefy miners with necks the width of their enormous heads. He wandered on. The party was melting around him as he continued to think. It was too important to get distracted now. Things had been set in motion that could not be undone. He had to ride this to the end, see how far it went, see what he could do to help or prevent or deter what was his role here? And all the time he thought he felt as though something lurked behind him. Something stirred the etha in The Doctors wake. It had been in the TARDIS that morning, it had been with him on the train, it was there on the ride back to Ambition and here, now, it was reaching out to touch him:
Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head ;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
Never a truer word had Coelridge written in or out of his opium stupors, The Doctor had always been unnerved by the fact that the great poet had written The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as an allegory for him. It was unsettling, especially now. And that frightful fiend extended a bony hand perhaps a hollow breathing? But no. Alas he stood alone. Alone in a crowd. How true of his life. The world was turning quickly towards a new day. Whatever was going to happen-- it was going to happen soon, and The Doctor would have to be ready. He stood at an intersection of two streets and paused to get his bearings. Yet a smile cracked the old mans face and swelled his two weary hearts as he heard a familiar voice call him by name:
Doctor! Doctor! Over here!
He turned. It was Angel, running towards him out of the human maelstrom that partied like nothing else mattered beneath those paper lanterns. She was just a brisk grinning blur as she bounded over to him, a dusty glass of deep, pungent red wine in her right hand.
Where have YOU been? She beamed with motherly undertones. The Doctor sniffed.
Here and there
Have you been snooping?
Have YOU?
Yes, I have actually, she said with a smirk.
Excellent, he said, casually taking the glass of wine from her hand and drinking deeply from it. Urrgh. Fine enough vintage but hadnt been left to breathe for long enough. Urgent drinkers, get the bottle open, spread it round. Anywhere we can talk? He was still as cold and solid as iron, as present as a glacier.
Its a party Doctor, you can talk anywhere she sternly removed her glass from his hand as he looked around the heaving streets again.
Yes, he mumbled. I meant to ask about that. When we arrived Ambition exactly seem like the sort to break into spontaneous hedonism he said. Angel gulped back her drink with urgency to share the nugget of information she had found.
No, no, no-- thats the thing. Its the end of the seasons shift, fortnights holiday. She said with a smile. Six months straight of toil and they get this as their leisure. Not a bad idea in my opinion
Yes, well, youre a student youd be happy drinking home brewed punch out of a communal bathtub.
Which isnt as disgusting an idea as you may think. Sunny Delight and Vodka stirred at room temperature with scrubbing brush will make Cotton Eyed Joe sound twenty times better.
I suppose youve got to love the classics.
I do. Whod have thought Cotton Eyed Joe would be taken into space with mankind? Sometimes I think were mad. She barked a laugh. The Doctor seized her by the shoulders and fixed her with his forever stare. Something had gone very, very wrong-- or was about to go very wrong and he needed his companion ready to face the situation with him. It was just as well she wasnt actually drunk, but the old mans presence sobered her quickly.
Angel, weve got to talk
Battle stations. She straightened up, tucked that mischievous curl behind her ear and abandoned the glass on a hitching post. Abigail Holmes; ready and reporting for duty, sir.
Right-- come with me
They perched on the side of a fresh water trough, bubbles gurgling as the filters allowed for fresh drinking water to be freely available. It was large, rectangular with thick, smooth concrete sides, cool in the evening air. Odd how the residents of Ambition had taken so easily to celebration despite their inhibitions of being out after dark. But after all, they had lit up the night and were all together. What could possibly be safer? No one could be taken if they were all there together, and thats what they were--- together. Ambition ran off of a all for one and one for all mentality. It had to, now that it seemed the ministry that effectively kept them there had little if any care for them. The Doctor almost admired them. But there were other things at stake. Without turning he said to Angel:
The passengers on the train were stolen. There are no two-ways about it. Something came, it butchered the train and it took two hundred people away like that he snapped his fingers. He could almost hear them screaming inside his head. Angel said nothing, just sat and listened to what he had to say. Whatevers at work here he said at last. Is at work in the tunnels. The mines must connect to a natural cave system that stretches out further than anyone here thought. They use teleports just under the surface appear out of nowhere grab the unfortunates and disappear again under the ground.
Who are they?
He told her he didnt know. He lied because he wanted it not to be true. He justified to himself that since he didnt know for sure, what was the point of causing panic? Nevertheless-- he would have to find out. He took a sharp inhalation, twisted were he sat as to face Angel and asked her what she had discovered.
Ive found out whats being mined here for one thing
The Doctor sat up straight.
Oh? What is it?
Pharatium.
His eyes widened, his lips parted as though he would say something but instead pressed his palms together and placed them close to his tight lips. The Doctor nodded silently.
Some of the miners are poisoned by it in the tunnels effects their biochemistry so they end up emotionless. Doctor Montgomery says that the effects are treated easily enough but its a real pain to diagnose because the patients dont know theres anything wrong with them. Look
She reached into the pocket of her denim jacket and removed a small canvas bag tied up with frayed string. She tossed it idly to The Doctor who snatched it deftly out of the air. Only once he caught it did he look at it. He quietly undid the fastening with one hand and poured the contents into his lean palm. It was a fine, pale powder that looked and had the texture of dried clay-- but it shifted and felt like deposited iron filings. Powdered Pharatium. Granules small enough to be inhaled as it was chipped from the rock.
Do you know whats so special about Pharatium, Angel?
I was hoping youd tell me.
The Doctor twitched the granules between his fingers, as though he was scrutinizing every individual speck with infinite curiosity.
It is a very rare and very complex compound. He said. Found in small deposits on worlds that are few and far between. It is used by doctors as a highly powerful emotional suppressant-- Pharatium treatments include mania, depression, hysteria, hyperactivity the chemical levels you out to a calm indifference. But so rare is the composite that it is only used in the most extreme cases.
Alright, that explains the miners, but I dont get why the empire would be mining it
When the industrialists found out about Pharatium and were unhappy with the profits they made from it as a pharmaceutical, they quickly discovered the second of its three unique traits. Fuel. You see as humanity blisters out they find planets with new and full fossil fuels: planets filled with coal, new forests, oil, gas, atmospheres and oceans to generate electricity. Its all very well and good to use fusion strips and nuclear propulsion to build your empire but sooner or later youll need something to fuel your infrastructure with. The industrialists discover that a single pinch of this powder will burn for a day and a half unattended and lets off no by-product whatsoever.
Angel blinked quietly as GCSE science lessons from long ago perked up in her head.
I didnt even think that was possible.
Neither did they. But there they had it. And of course they failed to realise the scarcity of the chemical until theyd decided to mass market it. Pharatium mine owners were suddenly bigger than the Popes. So at this late stage the human empire theyve found a planet filled with it. I dont think anyone would have calculated the chances of something else being here. Too busy running in with pick-axes and drills. Theres gold in them thar hills.
He fell quiet again and stared hard into the party. Something was looking back at him. On the edge of the spectrum. He tried to stare it down to no avail. It chilled him and he withdrew from the contest.
We have to get into those mines-- tomorrow. I have to see whats down there for myself
Im coming with you this time. Angel said determinedly. Not brushing me off that easily Doctor. I suppose I am your assistant after all. She smirked. The laugh shrugged out of him.
At day break? He said, a stab of sparkle in those glacial eyes.
At day break
And for a time they fell quiet, watching the dancing and drinking and singing people, so unaware of what was truly lurking beneath the ground they swayed upon. The moons were ripe in the sky, so bright they looked perfect for plucking. A full five minutes passed of quiet until Angel was compelled to break the deafening silence between her and The Doctor.
You said three unique traits she said, inclining The Doctors interest. Whats the third? Medicine, fuel whats the other one? He remembered and parted his calms where the powdered Pharatium still sat.
For reasons no one has been entirely able to explain he said, moving his head ever so slightly closer to the clay coloured powder. It becomes increasingly volatile in the presence of time-energy. And he closed his eyes, breathed deeply and lightly blew across the powder in his palm. It drifted, flashed orange and combusted into a fantastic green flame. The embers flickered in The Doctors palm, somehow unreal, somehow only slightly present, before the fire drew up all the powder and it crumbled inwardly on itself disappearing out of matter.