PEARL
Chapter Nine
Bypassing the trunk in the console room, I went straight to the store room where I thought I'd left my treasure box, one of many I admit, but I had not touched this particular one for at least a decade. Of course it wasn't there. Okay, wrong store room. I knew where to find another nearby and headed toward it. There were two identical doors side by side and for a moment I was confused. I didn't remember such a configuration in the TARDIS. I decided to open the right-hand door and reached for the handle, then on a whim opened the left instead. That was the right room. There was my treasure chest, dusty, shabby under the dust too, and unlocked, the way I always left it. This was not my only treasure chest, of course. It was, specifically, my Earth treasure chest. I found the piggy bank right away and took it out, but set it aside and briefly toyed with my other treasures. There were two cricket balls in there. I'd forgotten, and gone out of my way to acquire the one in my pocket. There were two tulip bulbs wrapped in wax paper. My fingers touched something unfamiliar at the bottom of the chest. I dug it out. It was the crankshaft of a Model T. Ah yes. It made me smile and I held it for a while before replacing it. Finally, I pulled the rubber plug at the piggy bank's belly and sorted through the coins that came tumbling out. I ignored nickels and dimes and filled my pockets with pennies, quarters, half dollars and silver dollars, checking carefully that none was dated later than 1959. I plugged piggy back up and replaced it in the treasure chest, then remembered that I had a wallet somewhere with paper money in it. It wasn't in the chest. It wasn't sitting out on any of the sparse furniture. There was a bookcase with only three books in it, none of them in English. I picked up the first one and flipped through its worn pages. It was a children's book, in Alzarian. I put it back and picked up the next one; as soon as I opened it, a wad of bills tumbled out into my hand. I closed and replaced the book, flipped through the bills to make sure they were American (they were) and stuffed them into the pocket with the coins.
I left the room and took two steps before turning back and staring at the right-hand door. Curiosity will one day be my downfall. I opened the door and stared into total darkness. I felt for the light button and palmed it on. The room flickered into brightness and I could see a single object in the center of an empty room that I felt sure hadn't existed until today. The single object turned and blinked at me. It was a glass deer with porcupine spikes.
"Pardon me," I said, closed the door firmly and walked rather rapidly back to the control room, my mind racing.
Nyssa, who had changed into a maroon swing dress, had returned with a yellow and orange teddy bear for Carly. "It was under Adric's pillow," she confessed. "He swore me to secrecy about it but I guess it doesn't matter now." Carly was hugging the bear and chattering to Tegan about something that had Tegan in stitches.
"We have a problem," I told Nyssa, then more loudly, to all, "I think Carly must go home and have… what time is it, anyway? Maybe dinner?"
"Lunch," said Carly. She didn't seem eager to leave. I glanced at the scanner; the troopers hadn't returned. I opened the door and walked her to it.
"Do you live around here?" I couldn't imagine she didn't; who would let a child that age wander far from home?
"I live upstairs," said Carly.
"Upstairs?"
"Upstairs from the store. My daddy is the butcher in Morley's."
"Sam," I said.
"Yeah, his name is Sam. Mr. Morley lives next door." She stepped outside and waved at me. "Thank you, Doctor!"
When I went back to close the door I found that Tegan had left the console room. "You were right, Doctor," said Nyssa. "I told Tegan to go find a longer dress." She looked me up and down. "I think you'll be okay if you just take off your coat." I did so, hanging it on the hat rack, and she nodded approvingly. Then I quickly put it back on, emptied all of its contents into my trouser pockets and removed the coat once more. Then a horrible thought struck me.
"Wait," I cried, dropping my coat onto the floor. "Tegan is back there alone?" Before Nyssa could respond, I was running. "Wait here!" I shouted, knowing full well that this particular instruction had never been obeyed and was not likely to be obeyed now. She was right behind me when I ran into Tegan in an otherwise empty hallway.
"What's going on?" asked Tegan, now clad in more modest attire that she later told me consisted of a long-sleeved red jersey and a black A-line skirt. Both she and Nyssa had opted for flat shoes. (Time travelers, it turns out, spend a lot of time running.)
"The TARDIS has been breached." I explained as briefly as possible and then we ran. We were outside the TARDIS. We entered Morley's once more and approached the candy counter. "Excuse me, sir," I began. Morley looked at me in some surprise. "Can you tell me where we might find a nearby hotel or boarding house that isn't too expensive?" In truth I had no idea how much money I had on me.
"Yes, sir, I do, as a matter of fact," said Mr. Morley. "I'll show you when Sam comes back from lunch.
Within the hour, I had paid a week's rent in advance for the entire downstairs of the townhome owned by Mr. Morley;, who lived upstairs; it had recently been divided into two residences and Mr. Morley had been putting on the finishing touches to the part he had intended to rent out. It was already furnished and just needed a lick of paint; I told him not to worry about that. We had come along at just the right time.
"I guess we'll need to shop for some food," said Tegan, opening empty cabinets as Nyssa peered into the empty refrigerator.
"Well," said Nyssa, "I guess we know where to do that!"
"First," I said, "please sit down. We have to talk." We all sat down at a small yellow formica kitchen table and they looked expectantly up at me. "You know why we have to stay here?"
"We can't go back into the TARDIS," said Nyssa, "because that Spiker is there."
"How did it get there?" asked Tegan. "Is there only one? Just because you saw one that doesn't mean there's only one." How had I not thought of that? I must have blanched because she reached over and took my hand. "We're with you, Doctor." Nyssa nodded and put her hand over Tegan's.
"No," I said, firmly, not withdrawing my hand. "No, I can't allow that. I have to do this alone."
"Why?" cried Tegan. "Why do you have to do everything alone?"
"I'm responsible for you," I began, but Nyssa interrupted me.
"Doctor, we're responsible for you, too."
This took me so far off guard that I couldn't speak. I withdrew my hand from theirs and stood up, knocking my chair over; walked sideways a few steps, and then tried not to look as if I were fleeing as I fled to the room we had decided would be my bedroom. There was a low bureau with a frameless mirror above it. I bent to put my hands on the bureau, first flat, then clenched, and looked up at my reflection. I let my eyes unfocus on purpose; sometimes if you do that, you can see a different person who is also you. Relaxing my hand and fixing a loose gaze upon my image, I allowed myself to go into a trance. I repeated a kind of mantra: I am the Doctor. I am responsible. I am the Doctor. I am responsible. I am the Doctor….
I'd forgotten to close the door. They found me sitting cross-legged on the floor with my forehead pressed against the bureau, my hands on top of my head. I was okay. I was just thinking. I almost had it. I was sure I would get it. I stood up quickly, spun to face them, put my hands out to reassure them, closed my eyes until the room stopped spinning, opened them again and smiled. I don't think it was my best smile; my friends still looked frightened. "I'm fine," I said. "I'm fine."
We sat back down at the kitchen table and brainstormed. We had lots of questions and no answers but we would have to make up answers in order to act at all; otherwise, we would be paralyzed.
Was the Spiker I'd found the only one in the TARDIS?
How had it gotten into the TARDIS? And why?
Was it really in the TARDIS or was it some kind of projection?
Could it travel from room to room? Could it leave the TARDIS on its own?
What were its capabilities? Could it harm any of us?
How long would a search of the TARDIS take and how best could we coordinate our efforts if all three of us worked together – or should I insist upon going in alone?
What would happen to Carly if it took us a long time to find the Spiker? What would happen to her if we didn't find it?
If we found the Spiker, what could we do? Should we eject it and if so, how, and where? Wouldn't setting a Spiker loose on Earth create a new crisis? What about multiple Spikers? Or did it (or they) have a message for us, possibly even need our help? If it claimed to need our help, could that claim be a trap? If it wasn't a trap, then what?
If there were multiple Spikers in the TARDIS was this the end of our time/space travels? For that matter, could a single Spiker effect this?
We all agreed that aspirin should be on our shopping list.
The broken police tape still flapped around the TARDIS but no troopers, local cops or other figures of authority were in sight. We stared at the door for a while. Finally Tegan said, "We could go shopping first. I could use that aspirin."
"That presumes we're coming back," said Nyssa.
"Well," said Tegan, "if we don't, it won't matter whether we went shopping or not, right?" She added, to me, "You said you have money now? What'd you do, rob a bank?"
"Sort of," I said, jingling a pocket. "Okay, let's shop." We entered Morley's, assured Mr. Morley that we were happy with our new digs and began to load up on staples: eggs, milk, tea (Tegan wanted coffee), fresh vegetables (I picked a sturdy stalk of celery to replace my wilting boutonniere), a few winesap apples, a loaf of marble rye, portions of filleted flounder, chicken breasts and ground beef (Sam was helpful here), some sliced provolone and a pickle from the barrel for each of us. On the way to the counter I saw a packet of safety pins, a ball of strong twine and that much-requested bottle of aspirin. I added these to the order. While Mr. Morley was ringing all this up, Tegan slapped jars of peanut butter and strawberry jelly onto the counter and Nyssa asked politely for another jawbreaker. We thanked our new landlord and carried our bags next door, where we found Carly and a redheaded girl (certainly Gwen) who looked to be about nine, waiting for us by our door, inside the entry hall by the stairs that led up to Mr. Morley's home. "Oh no," I groaned, under my breath. "Hi Carly," I said aloud. "You must be Gwen," I greeted the older girl.
"How do you do," said Gwen, holding out her hand. Each of us in turn took and shook that hand and Gwen nodded gravely, although she also had a little smile for us. "Yes, I'm Gwen."
The five of us went into the apartment and the children helped Nyssa and Tegan put all the food away. I tried to think how I was going to explain to the children that they could not enter the TARDIS and that we might be going away and were not sure how soon we'd be back. This is not at all what I had planned – not that I'd yet formed a firm plan but whatever it would have been it wouldn't have involved abandoning the little girl who didn't want to die, and the mysterious child who'd told her she would.
The groceries being stored and the aspirin being consumed (I declined), we all repaired to the sitting room, where the children sat on the uncarpeted wooden floor, my companions shared a worn but serviceable blue sofa and I occupied a delightful maple rocking chair with red plaid cushions.
I got right to the point… or one of the points. "So, Gwen, tell me about your idea that Carly is going to die. What's that all about?"
"You told him!"
"I magicked him here so it's okay to tell him."
"What about them?"
"I magicked them too."
After this exchange, Gwen seemed satisfied and told me, "No one else knows about this. Not my mom and dad, not Carly's dad, not her grandfather…"
"… not even my piano teacher and not Ernie either."
"Who's Ernie?" I interjected.
"He walks me to his house. His mom is my piano teacher. He's a big boy. He's almost 11."
"Okay," I said. "So we are the only ones who know. But we really don't know. Can you tell us about it?"
Gwen said, "I have dreams where Carly dies."
"Dreams?" said Tegan, doubtfully.
"Yeah, when I sleep and awake-dreams too. Everybody thinks I'm stupid because sometimes I don't answer when they talk, but that's because I am having an awake-dream. It's not a daydream, either. It's like a real dream. It's so scary!"
"I imagine so," I said. "Can you tell us about these dreams?"
"I don't think you're stupid," whispered Carly. "You're my best friend."
The children embraced briefly and then Gwen's face went blank. I stopped rocking and looked at her closely. "Gwen?"
"I think she's having an awake-dream," explained Carly.
"Don't touch her!" Tegan had half-risen to go to the child. She sat back down.
Gwen remained perfectly still, seated on the floor, her face quite blank, her breathing even but a bit slow, for several minutes. If she was frightened, her fear did not show on her face or in her posture. Then something materialized in front of her. Carly screamed and leapt back. I caught her and swung her away from the Spiker that had been inches from her, its quills brushing her clothing. Nyssa and Tegan were already on their feet. Nyssa grabbed Carly from me, Tegan picked up still-dreaming Gwen in her arms, and together they whisked the children out of the room and out of the apartment. The Spiker made a move after them and I yelled "No!" and blocked its way. It shot a quill at me and it struck me in my right thigh. I was determined not to fall, even though my leg was no longer supporting me. I landed on one knee but pushed myself back up and was able to grab a cushion from the rocking chair and smack the Spiker, hard. It didn't shatter, and I didn't know whether to be glad or unhappy about that, but I didn't wait to analyze my feelings; I took the other cushion and smacked it again on a still-prickly side. The pillows stuck to it and seemed to immobilize it at least partially. There were still exposed quills and I was out of cushions. Nyssa had returned, alone, and, seeing all this, now ran into her bedroom and fetched a couple of pillows, which I used to blunt all the quills. Her next stop was the kitchen; she brought me a butcher's knife, which I accepted, but instead of using it, I addressed the Spiker: "What do you want? Why are you here?"
I knew it could speak but instead it roared. It charged me impotently and roared again. I just pushed it back. Then I got behind it and pushed it to the door, out into the entryway, out of the house and onto the sidewalk. I grabbed a cushion, careful not to pull it off of those frightful quills. I am quite capable of roaring and I roared at it now: "Don't make me use this! Go back to Philt now and stay there! Leave these children alone and leave my TARDIS alone!" There was, of course, nowhere for me to use that knife, but there was some traffic on Pearl Street. I dropped the knife. "Shall we see how glass holds up under impact?"
"She called me here!" it roared back. I let go of the cushion and backed up.
"Do you know who I am?"
"You are an escaped slave and you will be returned and punished!"
"I am the Doctor and you will go home empty-handed and count yourself lucky!" With another great roar the Spiker pushed a cushion off of itself and shot a quill at me, but the cushion had weakened it and the quill fell at my feet. I picked up the cushion and used it as a shield as I rushed the Spiker, but my leg gave out at last and I missed. dropping the cushion. The Spiker simply walked into me, then, trying to impale me. I grabbed a quill in each hand and pushed, to no good effect, so I tried pulling. One quill came off in my hand and the Spiker shrieked. The other quill slipped through my fingers and caught me at the top of my shoulder. Suddenly I was a pin cushion, but the Spiker was weakening by the moment and nothing penetrated too deeply. It was like being stung by nettles: it hurt like hell but the only real injury was to my thigh, which, to my surprise, still had a quill sticking out of it. I pulled the quill out and threw it like a dart at the Spiker, chipping its nose. It rushed me again, I was hit this time, full on, and it was my turn to shriek. It kicked me a bit but at close range the kicks were feeble. I felt someone grab my legs from behind and tried to free myself so that I could pick up the plaid cushion and wedge it between myself and the Spiker, but I was unable to do any of that.
"Go away! Go back! I don't want you!" Carly was screaming at the Spiker and trying to pull me free of it, but at first I thought she meant me. I was so stunned that I stopped struggling for an instant. By the time I realized what she had meant, the three of us – Carly, the Spiker and I – were on the purple stratum of Philt.
The Spiker was not injured badly but was too weak to do more than hold me pinned to it. I knew that if I struggled I would fall as I had before and this time my injuries could prove fatal – and Carly, too, would be hurt. On the other hand, if the Spiker released me, the result could be exactly the same. I felt Carly's arms let go of my legs and I cried "No!" Then I felt a body supporting me from behind while four translucent hands separated me from one quill at a time, until I was no longer attached in any way to the Spiker. The two translucent beings set me down on all fours, next to Carly, There followed a long period of silence, during which I knew that these members of Fanty's species and the Spiker were communicating telepathically.
At last, one of the translucent beings pantomimed that I should climb onto its back, as onto a hobby horse, but I only understood when the other one communicated likewise to Carly, who got it and climbed on. Our liberators skimmed across the cloud, carrying us directly to the palace, through the portico and into a reception area, where we were able to stand up safely. I leaned against a cream-hued wall, and Carly came and leaned against me. Beings of a variety of species were being processed and led away, and eventually it was our turn. We were measured, weighed, peered at and poked at; someone who resembled Mar and Tar clipped our fingernails and toenails (we were left barefoot, which made me mad, because I had really liked those shoes) and then led us off to what appeared to be a kind of dormitory. We found cots next to each other and sat on them, looking around in a bit of a daze. Carly was too overcome to speak and I was exhausted, so I got her to lie down, tucked her in and then did what I seemed so often compelled to do on that planet: I slept.