IDChapter19
They carried the tray of tea and fruit out to the sitting area. Placing it on a low-lying table, they sat and sipped their tea and ate thoughtfully.
"I wonder why I never had a dream?" Jon mused. "I feel a bit left-out."
"Maybe you just don't remember it," Rose volunteered.
"You both remember dreaming," Jon pointed out. "I was busy trying to keep mental voyeurs out, perhaps that's why, maybe they couldn't get through my defenses."
"I have a feeling we're going to find out," Rose stated. "It isn't a good feeling, either."
They hadn't long to wait. The door opened and two Judoon stood outside, motioning them to come out. They were then escorted out of the Visitor Dome, down yet another long, white block hallway, then into a huge room. The Judoon escort indicated that they should stop. It looked to Rose like a cross between the House of Lords and the UN of interstellar species. Sitting at the front of the room, upon a dias higher than anyone else, and presiding over all like a judge, was a being remarkably similar to M1.
"That must be the Shadow Architect." Jon whispered.
Sitting at a lower level and to her right was a highly decorated Judoon.
"And that must be the Chief of Security," Jon added, with a nod of his head in that direction.
Sitting at a lower level and to her left was another Shadow representative.
"Who do you think that is?" Rose asked.
"Don't know, whoever it is has no data pad, so they have noting to read or write with... Ah, I know. That's the Mentalist. He's here to make sure everyone is being honest. The only thing he's here to read is minds."
They looked out upon the rest of the room. Seated in the gallery at row upon row of long desks that matched the curve of the room were representatives of nearly every race Rose had ever met, and then some. From her adventures with the Doctor in her own universe there were Sontarans, Raxacoricofallapatorians, Sycorax, Forest of Cheem, Crespallions, and Krilltanes. Many others she recognized from the memories he'd shared with her of his life, and his adventures with Donna and Martha. Then from across the great room a pair of piercing blue eyes caught her attention, and her breath, before they disappeared, leaving her not quite sure she'd actually seen them. Wishful thinking, she said to herself.
The Architect rang a crystal chime, at whose clear peal all conversation stopped and all eyes were fixed upon the dias. She nodded to a Judoon seated near the entrance that the family was halted at. He stood, walked to the front of the room between the dias and the gallery, and announced,
"The Shadow Proclamation will now hear the request of these beings," gesturing towards the family, "to consider granting Level Six status to the planet known to its inhabitants as Earth, due to their acheivement of significant space travel, and thus granting free trade with, and protection from exploitation by, other worlds - for a period of one millenium."
Looking at John, the Architect asked, "Do you represent the planet Earth?"
"I and my family do." Jon answered.
"Please introduce yourselves to our membership."
"I am the Doctor. This is my wife, Rose Tyler, and our daughter, Arianna."
"How did it come to pass that you represent Earth? You are not human."
"No, we aren't." Jon admitted. "We are from another universe. We got caught up in an invasion that involved all of reality, and we got stuck here, in this universe, on Earth, while helping. It has been our home for several years now."
There was a moment of hushed murmuring throughout the gallery at this. The Architect paused a moment, glancing at the Mentalist who nodded, then with a gesture silenced the gallery, and moved on.
"Do the governments on Earth agree that they wish this status to be granted?"
"Yes, for the most part, they do." Jon declared.
"And those that do not?"
"Those that do not are limited to those who deny that life exists outside of Earth. They are not representative of the planet, they are limited to small, under-developed countries. Once we begin serious commerce with other worlds, they will have the opportunity to benefit from Earth's new status and galactic trade. I believe they will then 'see the light'."
"This will, of course, need to be confirmed. We will send ambassadors to Earth to verify your petition. Only when it has been confirmed will the vote of the Members be enforced. As Earth's representatives, do you nderstand and agree?"
"We do." Jon affirmed.
"Very well." The Architect stood and addressed the gallery. "How say you? Do we grant Level Six status to the planet Earth pending confirmation of their wishes? Do you agree to open fair trade with them, never exploiting them, until a millenium has passed?"
While the gallery murmured amonst themselves, Rose asked Jon in hushed tones, "What happens after the millenium?"
"Then they're promoted to Level Seven and they're on their own."
Rose looked horrified. "You mean they won't be protected?"
Jon smiled. "They'll be fine."
The Architect raised her hand and the murmuring stopped. "Cast your votes now. You have one minute."
A holographic screen appeared behind the Architect and the votes started tabulating. They watched anxiously as they accumulated, then stopped.
"All votes are in. The majority agree to award the status. Once confirmed, Earth will be promoted to Level Six status."
"On behalf of Earth, we thank you!" Jon grinned, the family bowed to the Architect, and they turned to leave, but the guards barred their exit. Thinking that perhaps they had overlooked some formality, they turned back to the Architect and Jon raised his brows in a silent question to her.
"Our business with you is not finished, Doctor. This morning the Shadow Mentalist's Assistant was found dead at her console. Our investigation indicates that she was murdered, and your wife is responsible."
A collective gasp was heard throughout the gallery as all eyes turned to Rose. She stared at Jon,
aghast and speechless, shaking her head. Jon took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. She clearly had no idea what the Architect was talking about. He turned to face the Architect.
"How can that be? We were locked inside our quarters and drugged!"
"M1 was investigating your minds when your wife caused a fatal synaptic overload in her. Behold!"
The holographic screen reappeared with the visual record of M1's investigation. It showed her first inserting herself into Arianna's dream, again everyone in the gallery jumped when the golden wolf attacked. It then showed her interaction with Rose's dream, with Rose bursting into golden energy and the screen going black.
"It was at this point that M1 died. Your wife killed her."
Rose finally found her voice. "But... but I didn't mean to! I had no idea I could even do such a thing!"
"How can you seriously charge my wife with a crime when you imprisoned us, drugged us, and then invaded her mind? Perhaps instead of blaming her, you should blame yourselves! What gives you the right to do such things?" Jon spat furiously.
"The Shadow Proclamation is the ultimate authority in the known universe. As such, we have the right to thoroughly investigate all persons and requests coming to us. You and your family do not make sense. You are blocking our telepaths on some levels. We interpret that as dishonesty. What are you hiding and why?"
"I don't know what you are talking about!"
Jon truly didn't. None of the family did. When a Time Lord chooses to forget something they really and truly do, unless they leave a key, which in this case was distance away from the Shadow Proclamation. The memory is still there taking up space, which the telepaths sensed, but it is irretrievable until the key unlocks it. Unfortunately, there was nothing any of them could do about it.
"Do you deny the evidence you have seen with your own eyes?" The Architect asked.
"What I deny is intent! Rose had no conscious control of her dream, she cannot be held responsible for unconsciously defending herself from an unknown invader!"
"Nevertheless, our laws are clear. The penalty for harming a Shadow is death. Otherwise the attacks on our selves and our authority would never end. There are many who would take our authority if they could. We are aware of them, their ploys, and their intent to udermine us. If our authority should ever fail, if we should ever be overcome, the universe would fall into chaos, and the suffering would be unimaginable. This we cannot allow, and so we rule with iron fists, so that the universe remains at peace," the Architect pronounced imperiously.
Jon retorted. "And what authority do the Shadows answer to? What makes you think your iron fists are always right? Do you not see that imprisoning and invading the minds of the very people who come to you for help and protection is just... wrong? It flies in the face of what you should stand for - the right of every being to have their own mind, their own private thoughts, and the freedom to think and feel and live their own lives freely, and to defend themselves against those who would interfere with that freedom!"
"And do we not also have the right to defend ourselves, Doctor? Does M1 not have the right to have her killer brought to justice?"
That rebuke silenced Jon for a moment. He looked at Rose helplessly and heaved a great sigh.
"I cannot explain what happened. Your Mentalist can confirm, I'm sure, that Rose and I are telling the truth." The Architect looked pointedly at the Mentalist and he nodded. Jon continued, "We truly did not know she had such an ability. But now that we do, I can train her to control it. Surely your laws have some capacity for mercy, for accidents that happen through no one's fault. Surely you can see that she was only defending herself from what she unconsciously perceived as an attack?" Picking Arianna up in his arms, he went on. "Please, I beg of you, have mercy on my wife. She is just one being to you, but she is everything to our daughter and me." At this Arianna looked imploringly up at the Architect with her beautiful, tearful golden eyes. "You have acknowledged that our race no longer exists. Our daughter does not fit in on Earth. We just want to find a new home and live our lives in peace, we don't wish you or anyone else any harm. Please."
The Architect regarded Jon and Arianna with some sympathy. "Our laws do not have mercy for he guilty. Because they do not, we are not burdened as many societies are with crime and over-burdened court systems. Our justice is swift and final, and thus the most effective deterrent to crime. The evidence is clear, and you do not deny it. The sentence is death, to be carried out immediately." She rang the crystal chime.
Before Jon or Rose could even draw a breath, the Architect met the eyes of the Chief of Security, and he pointed his weapon at Rose and fired.