Chapter 22: "Rumours of my death ..."
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." - Buddha
"Don't," the Doctor warned in a low tone, his hand instinctively moving to hold River back. For now Kovarian was unaware of who occupied one of the alien suits and if at all possible he'd like to keep it that way.
River's armoured head turned to look at him and he imagined her frustrated glare boring into him but he held his ground until she understood what he wanted. There could be no good reason to reveal her presence, beyond her pride and need to seek some kind of reparation for past wrongs. River nodded to indicate that she would remain silent … for now.
"Madam Kovarian, what a pleasure," the Doctor drawled. "And here, of all places."
"For one man, you are proving difficult to eradicate," Kovarian replied. "You've spread yourself throughout time and space, like a virus." As the voice of the Silence she was formidable – a tool yes, but an effective one who operated with full commitment to their core beliefs. After speaking with her one was always left with the impression of someone who really, really loved their work. That and a bitter taste in the mouth as though one had tasted something particularly unpleasant. The Doctor wondered for the first time just how the Silence had come across Kovarian in the first place. Perhaps it was she who'd found them.
"Oh, that's nice, that is," he smiled. "As far as compliments go, yours could do with some work."
"Your continuing existence is temporary Doctor," Kovarian smiled. "Enjoy it while you can."
"If you're counting on Lake Silencio to finish the job, forget it. Already been there – done that." It was his turn for a smug smile, so long had he looked forward to the day when he could reveal to the Silence their failure. "Rumours of my death have been grossly exaggerated."
Kovarian's facial expression took on a frozen, pale façade as she absorbed what he meant. "Impossible," she spat. "If you think to trick us Doctor, you're wasting your time. You may have a few details - enough to sound convincing - but we were there, monitoring everything. We saw you fall, we watched the funeral pyres burn until nothing but ash was left. Your future is already written - by me!"
"It's no trick and you and I both know nothing is impossible," the Doctor raised his arms and gestured around them. "Look at where we are. The fields of Trenzalore, the one place I should never, ever, be … and yet, here we stand. What have you got to say about that, eh?"
"It's not too late to kill you again," Kovarian gestured for the Silence, urging them to act. "You, Doctor, are long overdue for death. There's nowhere left to run."
"Perhaps you've forgotten my friends here," the Doctor nodded to the Kelad, who'd remained strangely silent throughout the entire exchange. "You want me dead. They want me alive. I'm looking forward to seeing who wins."
"We have you outnumbered," Kovarian addressed her words to the Kelad closest to the Doctor – River – assuming her to be the one in charge.
The Leader stepped forth, putting himself between the Doctor and Kovarian. It was an unspoken signal to the rest, who responded immediately by closing in around the Doctor and River until they formed an impenetrable armoured wall.
"The Doctor is under the protection of the Kelad," the Leader intoned. "You will leave this place immediately. If you fail to do so we will respond with our full force. Let this serve as our only warning."
"How dramatic," Kovarian drawled, smiling. "Surely there is no need for threats. Once you understand just how dangerous the Doctor is you'll want him dead just as much as the Silence does."
"The Silence – a defunct religious order whose core belief – that silence will fall when the question is asked – was proven to be based on an inaccurate translation of the First Prophesy of Reason."
The full name immediately piqued the Doctor's interest and a feeling of impending enlightenment descended upon him, and not in the direction of his prior suspicions.
"Defunct?" Kovarian motioned to her clerics and the tall forms of the Silence behind them. "I assure you our order is alive and well."
"In this time, yes," the Leader agreed. "The strength of the Silence will be fleeting."
"Oh I see," Kovarian sneered, "you're from the future. That must be why we've never heard of you."
"You are mistaken about this as well. We have existed since the beginning. Now and for millennia to come we are known as the Kelad. Before that we were known as Time Lords of Gallifrey."
"What?" The Doctor exclaimed while inside a stab of alarm or excitement or a strange mix of both shot through him. "You can't be Time Lords. I'd know! Besides, Gallifrey is gone, now and in the future – at my hand."
"The Doctor – chosen to activate The Moment, effectively destroying Gallifrey and forever locking the planet so that at no point in time could anyone undo what was done," the Leader recited. "With no warning of what was to come, none could escape. None but those, with foreknowledge granted by the One, already long free of Gallifrey's influence or it's detection."
"I don't understand," the Doctor protested. "Are you saying that one of the Time Lords escaped the planet before it was locked and was somehow able to get more of you out? Because again, I'd know. In all my travels I've only come across one other Time Lord who managed to survive."
"The Master," the Leader acknowledged. "We are aware of his actions, and his end. We also know that he was hidden from you for some time."
"While your little reunion is all very interesting, it doesn't change anything," Kovarian reminded them that she was there, and still intent on convincing the Kelad to side with the Silence. Her plans had taken a hit now that it appeared the Doctor had real allies on the field on battle, but she wasn't giving up. "The Doctor must die, here and now, before it's too late."
"The Doctor will live. He will hear the question and he will answer. The question the Kelad were always meant to ask." The Leader was all calmness and certainty as he faced his adversary.
Kovarian stiffened.
"That's right," the Doctor smiled, forced to push aside the multitude of questions he wanted to ask the Leader. "Did it never occur to you to wonder who exactly it was that was going to ask this unanswerable question? Not you, and certainly not me since I didn't even want to be here in the first place. It's them. It was always them. They're just a lot better than we are at keeping themselves under the radar."
"Very well," Kovarian must have realised a peaceful solution wasn't on the cards anymore. "If it's a fight you want, the Silence will deliver."
She stepped back, the clerics moving forward to take her position as the first line of attack, their weapons raised, ready. The Silence started swaying from side to side behind them, that eerie noise they made beginning to sound out. Electricity like energy formed around their hands, the first wave of attack bursting forth with no further warning and striking the nearest Kelad soldiers.
Around each, the energy bolts struck the Kelad protective barriers visibly, the field lighting up with overlapping domes of light. When the dust cleared, the Kelad remained untouched, no visible signs of damage. Their response was swift – the air shimmering around each and then rushing forward, like heat off a sidewalk. When it reached the advance line of clerics, each froze, their expressions shifting to agonising pain. There was no time for screams – a moment later each fell to the ground and didn't move again.
The Silence did their moaning screaming sounds in protest, sending forth another round of energy bolts. This time the Kelad directed their retaliation directly at the taller forms of the Silence. The Doctor watched, sure his alien nemesis would be much harder to take down than the human soldiers. That shimmering heat wave struck the nearest minion and an ear splitting high pitched scream emerged. The Silence jerked back and forth as if trying to break free. It took longer but the end result was the same – the minion falling to the grass, unmoving.
After that it was a free for all, heat waves rushing forth as soldiers ran to take cover where none existed. The Kelad held their ground, tracking their foe as it rapidly spread out around them. The weapons might be advanced but the fight was barbaric in all other respects and the Doctor felt dismay and revulsion rise from deep within, made worse because the battle was being promulgated by those whose origins were as his own. It made him sick that at the core, each death could be attributed to his own continuing existence.
"The Doctor," Kovarian shouted. "Kill the Doctor and this ends!"
Perhaps that was the way. He'd dearly hate to give Madam Kovarian what she wanted but it had to be considered as an option.
"No," River warned him, her armoured hand falling heavily on to his shoulder, holding him in place as effectively as if she'd handcuffed him to a pole.
"It has to be considered," he said urgently, frustrated by her interference. "What if I die in the usual way?"
"You'll regenerate," River replied.
"Only if I let it happen," the Doctor reminded her. "I can choose not to."
"Can you?" River challenged. "That's not your regeneration energy my love, it's mine. You might be able to call it forth at will, but I don't think you'll find it as easy to control as your own would have been. It's not like I had any real idea what I was doing back in Berlin."
"What are you saying?"
"I was focussed on making sure you wouldn't die, determined that you couldn't," River explained. "As I recall my intentions were pretty adamant on the point."
"And you think that means I won't be able to choose," the Doctor concluded. His eyes narrowed as he considered her words. Regeneration was a tricky business and he admitted that she could be right. If he couldn't stop if from starting there was little chance he'd be able to halt it, only redirect it as he'd done once before. With no handy receptacle to receive it, he'd put everyone around him in danger. The results were too unpredictable for him to risk it.
"It's something to think about," River replied.
"Then what do you suggest?" he demanded. "Look around us River – we're in the middle of a war zone, an out of control battle, and the last time I checked neither of us had any kind of weapon! Do you really think we can escape this, let alone find a way to end it as it must be ended?"
"I don't know!" River shouted. "I just can't let you sacrifice yourself … I can't, not after everything we've been through to prevent it. I'm sorry."
The Silence were outgunned in a one on one battle with the Kelad, but they were intelligent and powerful individually against most foe. Collectively, their strength was enough to push the Kelad back. The Doctor felt like he'd been sucked into a spiralling tornado; he was trying to keep track of what was going on around him but there was 360 degrees of action taking place and it was impossible even for him to see it all at once.
The ground shook when one of the Kelad fell, victim of a concerted effort by a large group of Silence, all directing their resources at one individual.
The soldiers on either side immediately closed ranks, renewing their defences and redirecting their offensive strike. The group of Silence minions responsible were hit at once, all shrieking and moaning before falling as one to the ground.
It was brutal and disturbing. The Doctor just wanted it all to stop but for the first time he didn't have any idea what to do.
"River," he pleaded. "This is criminal. We have to do something."
"Wait," River urged, her greater height giving her an edge. "Something's happening."
The Doctor tried to see through the armoured figures surrounding him. When he did he swallowed, grimacing. He'd hoped for a retreat but that wasn't to be. The field was littered with the bodies of clerics and Silence alike, equal now in their defeat. Only one remained, seemingly standing guard beside Madam Kovarian who's somehow survived the battle.
"Don't do it," the Doctor whispered, sure he knew what was going to happen next.
Kovarian raised her wrist and spoke rapidly. The fleet of ships that had dropped them off reappeared, this time firing rapidly at the Kelad. It was like one of those old Westerns he's always liked … bullet like projectiles pinging off the ground as they headed for their target.
Before they could reach the Doctor, a wave of shimmering heat burst forth from the sky, passing through the fleet, reminding them all that the Kelad had a presence in space above the planet was well. It was like the Silence ships all hit an invisible brick wall – all stopping abruptly in the air and then falling straight to earth. The explosion was fierce, pillars of fire and black smoke rising up.
"Stop this!" The Doctor yelled, his senses offended by the destruction where less than an hour ago the field had been the personification of natural beauty. "Can't you see that it's too late? You're already beaten! Please, don't throw away more lives," he begged.
"Compassion, from the Doctor," Kovarian called, with a chuckle. "How novel."
"Madam Kovarian," River pushed through the Kelad until she was standing at the front of their group.
"No," the Doctor said, trying to break through to get to River.
"River Song?" Kovarian moved forward, her eyes narrowed as something in the way River addressed her gave away her identity. "Is that you?"
"Yes," River confirmed, despite the Doctor's protests.
"Well, well," Kovarian laughed. "I don't know whether to congratulate you or commiserate. You really aren't looking your best my dear."
"How many more will you sacrifice?" River ignored the taunts.
"As many as it takes," Kovarian replied. She shook her head. "He must be stopped."
"And you're that sure that you're right, that these soldiers from another time who clearly have technology well in advance of yours, are wrong?"
"They're fanatics River," the Doctor muttered grimly. "You won't convince them."
"We will wipe the Silence from existence if you persist in this folly," the Leader warned, backing up River's approach.
Kovarian was silent and then she nodded. "Very well," she said abruptly.
The Silence minion beside her lowered his hands, the blue energy around his hands subsiding.
"What, just like that?" the Doctor asked incredulously.
"How typical," Kovarian drawled. "You beg for our surrender and when we give it you're still not happy."
"I just didn't expect you to give in so easily."
"What other choice did you leave us?" Kovarian demanded. "We can't stop the Kelad but you can Doctor. History will cast you as the destroyer of everything unless you stop it. Don't be a pawn."
"Doctor," the Leader broke in. "The time draws near. We feel it."
"Right, so this is it then," he tried to say in a light, casual tone. "The Fall of the Eleventh."