Epilogue
The Morning After…
It had taken a dozen slaves several hours in the baking sun and blistering sand, but finally the twenty-foot tall statuesque corpse of the Braxlavax 'gods' had been transferred from the banks of the Nile to a chamber deep in the foundations of the Valley of the Kings. The Pharaoh himself was there to witness its delivery and erection.
"Careful with that!" he bellowed as the petrified hybrid pitched forward sharply, the slaves scrabbling to regain a hold on their ropes. "They may not have been gods, but you shall handle them with respect, nonetheless! Ra knows what might wake them up again," he added fearfully under his breath.
"What…what is it, Sire?" inquired the foreman with a wipe of his brow. "It looks like several of gods, and yet none at the same time…a truly horrific sight."
You should have seen it when it was alive, the Pharaoh sighed and turned to address the foreman. "It is a long story, and one I have little desire to recount again so soon."
"Very well, Sire, but," the foreman hesitated, not wishing to speak out of place, "but, your Majesty, what of the heroes, those who saved us?"
"They wished to be called nothing more than ordinary travellers," Rameses corrected, "but you have a point; although they wished not to be acknowledged, I'm afraid there's just too much to be kept quiet. The world must know, future generations must be prepared."
"So, you think they're all connected?" asked the foreman, gazing cautiously at the towering alien fossil. "Those two travellers, this statue, and… and them?"
The Pharaoh sighed heavily, pinching his brow. He had tried desperately to put the traumatising ordeal of the first visitors far behind him, but it would seem the past would forever haunt his memories. "Indeed, I do. There's something…not of this world about them all." Another reluctant sigh, a clap of his hands. "Let's go, everyone! I desire this chamber to be sealed-up, until such a time we are ready to face the omens they contain… and if I ever see another visitor in my lifetime, it will be too soon…"
And so, the large chamber was evacuated, leaving behind the petrified remains of the Braxlavax, an obelisk with panelled carvings on all sides and a cylindrical tip, and some paintings on the wall between the two.
Paintings of a thin man in robes of brown and blue, and of his female companion, dressed in crimson…
…And paintings of two conical figures standing either side of a deep, dark hole…
The End
Next Time: A remote scientific outpost. A seemingly-derelict spacecraft that holds a terrifying secret that could endanger all life. A project gone horribly wrong. With all hell breaking loose, do two mysterious stowaways hold the key to salvation?
S1E2: The Starbase of the Dead.
A/N: Yes, I've decided to continue this into a series, or at least a miniseries of six stories! If all goes well, I may branch into a 'full series' of around 12-13 adventures. Either way, the overall plot we're beginning to build up to WILL come to pass – and it'll be one hell of a ride, albeit one that will derive majorly from Series 4 (the Tate series), hence branching off into non-canon territory nearer the end.
Thank you one and all for staying with me to the end of this one! Hopefully it's been a ride you don't regret taking with me, despite all the pesky delays! 'Starbase of the Dead' begins TODAY, and will – like any good Who fanfic series – display a total change in tone as the setting changes to 20,000 years or more into our future!
See you there!
Dave