by M. J. Baker
He had told the truth. Nothing but the truth. But not the whole truth. Something that he failed to mention - because nobody has asked - is that he and the Doctor weren't the only ones who had been near the teapot before Ohila drank it.
He'd had a visitor.
The serving boy struggled to contain himself as he prepared the tea for High Priestess Ohila. The worst thing he could do was to be inattentive at such a crucial moment in his life. He took a deep breath to calm himself and counted the seconds the leaves were stewing carefully. He reached for a pot of peranico, his own secret ingredient for his uniquely refreshing tea. No doubt one of the many things that had impressed Ohila in the week since he'd been assigned to serve her. Maybe she'd requested him specifically, so soon after the passing of Chief Worpin had left a vacancy among the serving chiefs, as a trial. Derrin shook himself and began carefully measuring out half a teaspoon of the powdered spice when he jolted, dumping a whole spoonful in the tea at once. He stopped himself from yelping in surprise and annoyance as he recognised the withered face and huge brown eyes that had appeared at his side.
Derrin had never served Ohica, her needs as the oldest person on Karn were so complex that only the chiefs and specially-trained serving boys ever did that, but he'd seen her a few times and heard the stories. The time-worn woman, so fragile her bones would shatter like her mind if she moved. She was crazy, that much was undeniable, but everyone who'd seen Ohica in person spoke of her with a gentle sympathy. Those big, sad eyes in such a weak form. Nothing sustaining her but her own stubborn body, the will to die but not the means. Derrin caught himself and activated his trained smile to cover his momentarily stunned expression.
Maybe this was a last-minute test, he'd thought, one final trial to ensure he could maintain his composed servility at a moment's notice, during a surprise kitchen inspection. To make sure he could handle the elder Ohica on his own. He made a low bow and opened his mouth to speak.
"Boy. Fetch me some firewine. Now!" she snapped. On her deep voice rode a crisp air of authority that was probably the reason Reverend Mother Maren had selected Ohica as her personal emissary during her time in service. Derrin looked stunned again. This wasn't the Ohica he'd heard about. That Ohica was an elfin lunatic who rambled nothing but nonsense. Not the stern, powerful figure that stood before him. After another moment of stunned silence, he snapped to attention. This was part of the test, it had to be.
"Right away, High Elder," and he turned his back to her to find the blue bottle in a nearby cupboard. But when he turned back a few seconds later, the obscenely old woman was gone. He jogged to the door and out into the tunnel, still holding the firewine, but found it deserted.
He'd told nobody, neither the Doctor nor the Sisterhood, and he would have lied if anyone had asked. It wasn't that he was trying to hide anything as much as protecting himself. It was impossible that Ohica could have poisoned the tea. There were no poisons on Karn and only senior members of the Sisterhood like Ohila and Koralo were allowed offworld. It was impossible that anyone within the temple could have done it, which was why no suspicion had ever fallen on him or anyone besides the Time Lord. The Sisterhood would have seen a kitchen inspection from another Sister, even a frail recluse like Ohica, as an irrelevant detail and to even bring it up would have been as good as an accusation. Such insubordination would mean demotion at best and a trial of his own at worst. The end of his chances to become a serving chief in either case, which was the closest thing to advancement a serving boy could hope for on Karn.
The lab was deserted, but the robe Derrin had taken from the entrance tunnel was still there, pooled at the foot of the Kharus spear propped up next to the door. So much for watching the trial, the viewing globe had deactivated, dropped to the ground and rolled into the corner of the room. It looked like the Doctor had spent the time playing with the neural mainframe. The devastation the old man had unleashed in the lab had been tidied. The scattered lights had been reattached, though one was missing, and ionic circuit boards had been stuffed haphazardly into the casing. Derrin was no engineer but it didn't look like a machine that would work as it was supposed to. Yet the nine remaining lights were glowing patiently and an active display nearby showed a series of gently fluctuating blue lines, each one labelled with the name of an elder. Except one, which was a motionless red line. Labelled 'Ohica'.
The Doctor knew.
Derrin let out a frenzied gasp and ran towards the door, seizing the Kharus spear as he passed.
Chapter 14
The pair were silent for a few minutes. Rula had righted the chair and now sat in it, hands clasped in front of her face. The Warrior still stood over the bed where Ohica's body lay. He knew he was short on time but he had to think, to process, and plan his next move. He needed a sounding board, someone he could try and explain to and make sense of it himself. He needed a companion. Finally, Rula broke the silence.
"You said you were going to help her sleep. Did you-"
"I just meant sleep," he said quickly, "I didn't do this."
Rula puffy eyes met his and regarded the old man's face for a moment before giving him a weak smile.
"What did she show you? What did you see?"
Now it was the Warrior's turn to consider the young girl's face. She seemed to read his mind.
"I'll know if you're lying."
The Warrior sighed and turned away from her. He didn't want her reaction to distract him.
"She killed Ohila. I don't think she meant to though," he added hastily. "There's something in her mind, some presence or entity or...maybe just a manifestation of her brain's own degeneration, but it was preventing her from thinking straight. It may have been controlling her. Whatever the case, there's something it doesn't want me to see so..." he gestured at Ohica's veiled body.
"What happened?!" Rula demanded.
"She asked Ohila to bring her poison so she could end her life. Bylock. But rather than use it on herself, she distracted Derrin and poured it into the teapot he preparing for Ohila and...me."
That was it. That was the thing that didn't fit.
"The tea must have been poisoned before I drank it, but it didn't affect me," he continued. "That's not surprising. Bylock is pretty weak stuff. Kills anything conventionally mortal of course, but would have no effect on a Sister still taking the elixir or a Time Lord. Wouldn't even need a regeneration, easily dealt with by a Gallifreyan liver. So why would this...thing...this mind controlling Ohica request it specifically?"
"Why would it even get Ohica to ask for poison in the first place?" Rula asked. "Not to silence Ohila..."
"No, Ohila only had to be die because I showed up, in case she let slip this big damn secret she and Ohica knew. Perhaps Ohica was fighting back, resisting the control. It couldn't stop her asking for poison but made sure it was something that would have no effect if she tried to use it on them instead."
"So...that would mean the one behind all this is a Sister? One still taking elixir?" Rula asked.
"Possibly, but if they've got mental powers strong enough to keep Ohica alive without elixir then maybe they don't need it themselves either. That would mean the murderer is-"
Suddenly, Rula emitted a piercing shriek. The Warrior whipped around to face her in surprise. Her eyes were screwed shut and she was convulsing in the chair. Rula fell forward, hitting the floor heavily and lay sprawled and still.
"Rula! Rula? Are you alright? Can you-" the Warrior wheezed. He started to move towards her but stopped. His brain felt like it was being skewered by a long thin needle. With considerable effort, he turned and pulled back the blanket covering Ohica's body. She was inert; the thick, matted hair over her face lay still, but her brown eyes now burned crimson.
Those eyes. The same one he'd seen in her mind.
The Warrior found himself reaching for another robe on a peg embedded in the chamber wall and throwing it over his head. It was smaller than the other, tailored for the tiny Ohica, but it covered his face at least. Unst
eadily, his left foot took a heavy stride forwards and his right foot followed. With an almighty mental push, the Warrior threw off whatever had invaded his mind and was once again in control of himself.
Ok, he thought, you've got my attention. But I don't play games. Where are you?
He turned back to Ohica's body. Her eyes no longer burned red, but they glowed. He covered her with the blanket again and glanced at Rula's unconscious form. She was breathing but he didn't have time to check on her, the trial would be over by now and his younger self heading back to his TARDIS. The thought of apologising to her was quashed by another thought.
Left. Go left. Take a left. Turn left, the words whispered across his mind.
The Warrior bowed his head to hide his face in the robe and stepped towards the door, which opened for him. He walked out into the corridor, stretching further than he could see under the hood in both directions. He could go right, if he chose, back to the lab to find Derrin and get him to lead the way out of the temple. Leave this mess behind him and get on with fighting a different futile battle for his own group of near-immortal psychopaths.
With a grimace, the old man thought the words he was about to say before Rula had collapsed. A warning that he was onto them. And he was coming for them.
Time Lord.
The Warrior turned left.
Left, right, left, right, left, right.
The Warrior marched down corridors, turning off into new ones whenever the voice breathing across his mind told him to. He couldn't see, so had to trust the voice was leading him the right way. Even so, his determined strides were attracting attention and he could almost sense eyes on him when he saw passing feet on the marble floor. It didn't matter. The Warrior presumed that whoever wanted to see him and had psychically knocked Rula out would want him to move unnoticed. Maybe it was keeping occupied the minds of any Sisters he passed. It wouldn't work on the serving boys, being non-telepaths, but he knew they weren't in the habit of challenging a Sister, even a suspicious one.
Left
Derrin had seen Ohica while he was preparing the tea and he hadn't said anything. Kept it a secret from the Sisterhood and from him. Did Derrin ever consider it a secret? Maybe saying something could have given the Warrior a chance to allay the suspicion on himself and investigate with the help of the Sisterhood, the Warrior thought bitterly, rather than sneaking around under a humid robe. At the very least it would have saved him time going straight to Ohica and attracting the attention of this insurgent Time Lord, whoever they turned out to be. But, then, he may not have found out about the acceleration of the Sisterhood's development, like the neural mainframe. He could feel the marble-sized neural node in his jacket pocket, bumping against his hip as he walked. Seeing the Time Lord technology that had accelerated Karn's development had been vital to get him this far, to learn all that he had. If Derrin had been totally honest, he might have missed it.
Right
Besides, he hadn't been particularly honest with him either. The truth was he didn't care who killed Ohila, except insofar as it would help him find out why the Sisterhood had made the Doctor choose to destroy himself and create the Warrior. Ohila said it was to fight the Time War, but she could have forced that on him. Why did he have to make the choice? Whoever the organ grinder was, Ohila was still the monkey. She still played a role in creating him and for that he hated her. At least he tried to.
Left
Despite himself, the sound of Ohila's sobbing over her former teacher played on his mind, momentarily blocking out the directions still being barked at him like orders. Her willingness to help Ohica die even though it broke her hearts, the pity that he'd seen in her eyes when he'd confronted her in the cave. The Warrior, who had witnessed the Universe's capacity for loathing, found himself incapable of hating such a creature. All he could find when he thought of her was emptiness, a hollowness that hurts more than grief. Regret.
HALT!
The guiding hand on his mind evaporated making the Warrior light-headed for a moment. He dared a glance upwards and found himself staring into a bare stone wall at the end of a deserted, dead-end corridor. The Warrior flung the robe off in frustration.
"Well, now what?!" he spat aloud, eliciting nothing but mental silence.
This was the entrance, he was sure of it. Maybe it was a test to see if he could figure a way inside. Well, if there was a Time Lord behind this then there's only one way he or she could identify themselves unmistakably. The old man placed a withered finger on the wall and concentrated. It glowed orange for a second and a thin crack, identical to the one he'd seen earlier, fractured it instantly. He hated using regeneration energy so frivolously. It was a miniscule amount, relatively speaking, but what if all these minor withdrawals meant it ran out at a crucial moment? He occasionally had nightmares about his final regeneration emerging without eyebrows.
Like the tunnel entrance, this crack was dimensionally-engineered camouflage. The Warrior found the correct angle quickly after taking a step to his right and standing on the tips of his toes. This time, the crack dilated into a grand oak door, carved with symbols resembling the looped pattern that adorned the Sisterhood's temple and robes. Still on his toes, the man skittered up to it, pushed the door open and stepped inside, surrendering himself to the total blackness within.
Chapter 15
The panic that had followed Derrin all the way from the lab to Ohica's chambers burst at the sight of two prone bodies. One was a young Sister, sprawled beside the bed, her back arching and falling steadily with deep, strained breaths. The other was covered by a strewn amber blanket, but the silhouette it created was unmistakably that of the tiny elder Ohica, still as the tomb.
The serving boy dropped the spear he'd been carrying, went over to Rula and rolled her over. She coughed wetly and her breathing became easier. After a few seconds, her eyes fluttered like mayfly wings and, on recognising Derrin, she gave him a smile that slid off her brown-gold face as memory set in. She looked at him with a mixture of horror and confusion but said nothing.
Neither spoke as Derrin helped Rula into the chair beside the bed and crouched beside her, but after a moment neither could hold themselves back.
"Where is he?" they said in unison. Derrin with fury, Rula with concern.
The Sister waited patiently for Derrin to calm down, welcoming the chance to clear her head, before recounting what had happened and what they'd discovered. Derrin shuddered when he learnt that Ohica had poisoned the tea when she'd distracted him in the kitchens.
"So he killed her for it. For killing Ohila." he said, glancing at Ohica's body.
"What? No!" she said earnestly. "The mind controlling her killed Ohica."
"That's what he said, right?"
"Yes...I would have been able to tell if he'd been lying."
"Would you? You said yourself that your telepathy is underdeveloped."
"You forget yourself, serving boy," she snapped.
Derrin's shoulders went back automatically, but he faltered at the sight of the kind girl's face. He was accustomed to deferring to Sisters who looked younger than him, but it was harder when he knew this girl, though tall and imposing, actually was younger. Especially since Rula didn't seem any more convinced by her pulling rank than he did.
"Besides," she said primly, "it knocked me out, I felt it."
"How do you know that wasn't him as well?"
Rula didn't respond. Derrin stood up and turned to her.
"We have to find him," he said calmly.
"Why? And, while we're at it, how did you find me?"
"I got back to the lab and he was missing. He tried to rebuild that neural...machine thing, looked like he made a right hash of it too..."
"I did that."
"Oh," Derrin coughed, "it's working wonderfully. But I noticed that Ohica's...brainwaves? That little light thing? It was missing."
"The neural node. I think he's still carrying it. But, again, why do we need to find him?"
"Because..." Derrin faltered.
"Ohica was old," Rula continued, "everyone's been expecting her to die for years. We've got nothing keeping us involved. We simply tell the Reverend Mother that we came to visit her after the trial, maybe to tell her that her old pupil was dead, and found that she'd passed away too. Then...I don't know. We get on with things. The Doctor can do what he wants."
"Why did you help in the first place if you're going to walk away now?"
"I wanted to find out what happened to Maren, you know about the Elixir Crisis right?"
"Some of it...what's that got to do with anything?"
"Ohica was the last living person who could've told me what happened and now she's dead. It's nothing to do with me now. Nor you. The Doctor can't threaten you anymore."
"I have to stop him!"
"Why?"
"Because!" Derrin exploded. He took a deep breath.
"Because...I helped him. I let a Time Lord loose in the temple. He told me he wanted to find Ohila's killer but I didn't think he'd…" Derrin looked over at Ohica again.
"He didn't, I told you-"
"In any case, he's only gotten this far because of me. Anyone who dies now is my responsibility," Derrin swallowed a lump in his throat.
The two were silent for a moment.
"Rula, please," Derrin pleaded, "Is there anything I can do to find him? You don't have to get involved just please do this for me."
Rula's softened at the sight of the young serving boy's face. She thought for a second, hoping that she wouldn't be able to think of anything and let Derrin be justified in walking away with her. To her dismay, she had an idea.
"The neural node," she said with a sigh. "It gives off a brainwave signal. If the Doctor's still carrying it, we can track him telepathically. Except we'd need a sample of the original neural pattern so we'd know what we were looking for."
The pair looked at Ohica's veiled body.
"I take it…" Derrin trailed off.
"No brain activity," Rula confirmed.
"We could get some elixir, bring her back."
