Doctor Who: Ultimate Treasure (31 page)

'Doctor,' said Peri, 'there's no end to second-guessing this thing and wondering if its a bluff or not. I don't think I can stand waiting here much longer. We have to find out the truth!'

'The truth? Is that fundamentally what its all about?'

And then they heard Falstaff say softly, 'Cowards die many times before their deaths: the valiant never taste of death but once...'

And he ran through the passage under the block.

They looked at each other in surprise, then dashed after him, Red bounding along excitedly in the rear, followed by the DAVE

unit.

The block did not fall.

Falstaff was lying sprawled on his face on the far side. They rolled him over and the Doctor examined him anxiously, then grinned. 'He's all right. Heart beating like a trip hammer. Fainted from shock, I think.' He slapped Falstaff's face lightly. 'Come on, Sir John. You've made it. Wakey, wakey...'

His eyes flickered open, and he stared at them for a long moment. 'Preston Loxley the Third,' he said faintly.

'Pardon?'

'Preston Loxley the Third. It's my real name.'

'Ah,' the Doctor said slowly. 'Well we had surmised it wasn't really Falstaff.'

'Why the deception?' Jaharnus asked suspiciously.

Loxley/Falstaff heaved himself up until he rested against the wall. 'It's nothing sinister, Inspector; just sad, perhaps. But you may not understand my reasons.' Peri thought his speech sounded strangely bland now, shorn of its antique frills and allusions. He sighed. 'You've always known who you are and what your purpose is in life. I haven't. My family was wealthy but completely undistinguished - and so was I. Other people had personalities that shone out - I had money, a glib tongue with nothing worth saying, and a slight weight problem. I wanted to be genuinely interesting: a real character. Someone people would remember, instead of wondering afterwards: who was that fat man anyway? Then I came across Falstaff in some ancient texts.

It was a revelation! Here was somebody who was fat, a cheat, and a liar, and yet he was popular. People forgave him his faults. And so I, well, borrowed him.'

'That was years ago. I've grown into the part since, you might say. But life sometimes rather cruelly imitates art, you know.

Falstaff was a coward at the core... and I slowly discovered that so was I.'

'So you came on the quest to prove yourself?' said the Doctor.

'Yes. But it's hard to abandon a character just like that. It's so much easier to keep up the barrier, and to go on making up excuses and talking your way out of trouble.'

'There's nothing wrong with talking your way out of things,'

said Peri sympathetically.

'If it's only your own life at stake, perhaps not,' said Loxley.

'But eventually you run out of words, and must either stand your ground... or abandon others in need. As I attempted to back at the inn or did in the forest.' He looked at Jaharnus. 'Sorry, Inspector.'

Jaharnus smiled. 'I think you've made up for it now I'm not sure if I would have taken the risk.'

'But you have always had something worth preserving. It was only through taking the risk that I discovered if I had also'

'And have you?' the Doctor asked.

Loxley rose to his feet. Peri thought he stood a little straighter than before. 'Yes, I believe I have,' he said slowly. 'Shall we continue? I'm still afraid, but I'll try never to let you down again.'

A tunnel curved away before them. A brighter light was reflected along it from some hidden source.

'I think this might be it,' the Doctor said.

The end of the tunnel opened into a large brightly lit chamber.

After the dark of the tunnels Peri squinted in the glare until her eyes adjusted. It was panelled with white marble. Several tunnel mouths identical to the one they had emerged from opened on to it, together with four heavy metal doors set in the facing wall.

Thorrin, the Marquis, Arnella, and Brockwell were grouped a little to one side, looking dishevelled and bewildered. Standing before them in front of the four doors were Shalvis and Dexel Dynes, flanked by two DAVE units.

Even as Peri took this in, another party emerged from a tunnel to their left. Gribbs and Drorgon she recognised at once, but she flinched in surprise at the sight of the tracked silver robot thing that accompanied them. Where had they found that?

Nothing, however, seemed to disturb Shalvis's equanimity.

'Your quest is over,' she said gravely. 'Welcome to the antechamber of Rovan's treasure vault.'

'Now you are all gathered as was foretold,' Shalvis continued, 'the final stage may begin.'

The silver robot raised the wicked-looking gun it was carrying.

'I think not,' it said in a harsh, precise voice. 'You must be the one called the Speaker. You will follow my orders.'

'Alpha?' said Jaharnus, incredulously, gaping at the thing.

'Inspector Jaharnus,' it replied, with incongruous cordiality. 'As alert as ever. As you see, reports of my demise were premature -

in a manner of speaking. Qwaid, however, is definitely no longer with us: a victim of his own shortcomings.'

Red growled at Alpha, and the machine swung his gun round to cover him.

'You will keep that beast under control or I will kill it,' he said coldly, as Peri patted Red placatingly. 'I assure you my weapons are amply powerful enough.' His glowing eyes passed over the rest of them. 'You will all note that we are the only armed party present, and I for one am not constrained by any mental inhibitions against using weapons.'

'He speaks the truth,' said Shalvis calmly. 'We have no power over an artificial mind such as his.'

'So I trust you will be reasonable,' Alpha continued. 'If you will open the way to the treasure and do nothing to prevent my associates loading it on to our ship, there need be no unpleasantness.'

'That is not possible,' said Shalvis.

Alpha raised his gun and pointed it directly at her heart.

'You may kill me and all these present,' Shalvis said calmly,

'but it will not gain you the treasure. You see only the surface of this chamber, but its true functions are far more complex than you can possibly comprehend, and beyond the reach of any force you can employ. A certain procedure must be followed. Only once it is complete may the ways be opened according to Rovan's wishes. Then you may make your own choice as to which treasure you wish to take from Gelsandor. Choose well and you can leave enriched without any need for violence.'

Peri thought she detected the first edge of doubt in the Alpha robot's voice. 'What do you mean: "which treasure"?'

'Because the legacy of Rovan is more complex than you imagine. It is a measure of your ignorance that you were not aware of that obvious fact. Ask your companions or anyone in this room, if you disbelieve me. Though your mind is closed to us theirs are not, and they can recognise the truth when a Gelsandoran speaks it.'

Gribbs was nodding quickly. 'It's right, boss. They tell you if they're going to lie. This is the straight stuff.'

'Does the treasure include any more illusions?' the Doctor asked Shalvis almost casually. 'I suspect you're very good at them.'

'The only illusions will be those you create for yourselves.'

This seemed to decide Alpha. 'That is something I shall not be troubled by. Very well, do what you have to. But no tricks.'

'There will be none. Only self-deception by those who cannot recognise the simple truth when it is presented to them - as Rovan wished it to be.'

She walked over to the first door on the left, which had, Peri now noticed, a slight green tinge to the metal it was composed of.

'This way leads back to the woods where you landed. If you do not wish to proceed further I advise you to choose this path.

Remember, there is no shame in being satisfied with what you have already achieved. That is something to treasure in itself.'

She moved to the next door, which was tinted a pale yellow.

'This door will only take you into the lesser treasure room and nowhere else. Within it there is a collection of ephemeral material wealth, but nothing more of true and lasting value. I advise you not to enter this room unless that is all you wish for the rest of your life.'

The next door was tinted blue.

'This will bring you to what you most desire, if you do not possess it already. Only take this path if your need is of the utmost urgency, and you are certain beyond doubt it can be satisfied in no other way. I promise you will find what you seek, but once you are committed there is no return.'

She moved to the final door, tinted in red.

'Through here is the ultimate treasure. It is beyond meaningful description, limit, or measure, to make of what you will. But nevertheless, I expect many of you will be disappointed at what you find if you choose this way.

'Those, then, are the paths of Rovan. Now you must choose one, and only one, to follow. There are no second chances, and you must live with the consequences of your choice for the rest of your life. Take as much time as you wish and decide well.'

An intense silence descended in the chamber, broken only by the slight hum of the DAVEs as they flitted about catching close-ups of their intense faces. Dynes was silent, but his lips moved slightly as he subvocalised his observations to be recorded by his throat microphone.

Despite Alpha's menacing presence, Peri felt herself drawn by the thought of what might be behind the doors. She looked from one to the other. Just suppose she chose the big one. She saw the same look of calculation on the faces of Jaharnus and Falstaff/Loxley.

Then she caught the Doctor's eye and he gently shook his head.

* * *

He knew he'd been given the exact truth by Shalvis, but he didn't know what to make of it. Lies were easier to handle. 'I don't like this,' Drorgon said unhappily.

'Which one do we chose, boss?' Gribbs asked plaintively.

'Let the others make up their minds first,' said Alpha.

He sounded calm and collected, but Gribbs noticed a slight whirring from his locomotor tracks as they jerked forward and backward by tiny fractions.

Thorrin and the Marquis edged forward even as Brockwell and Arnella pleaded with them. Thorrin licked his lips, eyes darting between the blue and red doors.

'Which of them, if any, represents most closely the path Rovan took?' he asked Shalvis.

'I cannot tell you that,' she replied. 'He did not want his choice to influence others.'

'But you promise these choices have been presented to us exactly as Rovan wished?' the Marquis asked.

'Exactly so,' said Shalvis. 'We have kept our trust according to his instructions.'

'The blue door... it has to be,' muttered Thorrin.

'Yes, he had to have provided for the future,' said the Marquis, half to himself.

'Uncle, please no!' Arnella begged. With a shudder she forced herself to add, 'I... don't want to go through with it any more!'

He turned terrible eyes towards her. Not so much angry but shocked and uncomprehending.

'Arnella... you cannot abandon your birthright... your duty! Not after we've survived all these tests to prove we are worthy. Yes, that's what they have been for, you see: to choose a worthy successor when the time came! You are of Rovan's blood and somewhere in there is the proof. You will be the first empress of the Cartovallian line for almost forty-five centuries! Think what that will mean!'

'I am thinking!' said Arnella wretchedly. I'm not sure it will bring so much good. If the old empire was so wonderful, why did it fall so easily? Why is the Terrestrial Empire falling now? Things change. This may not be a step forward but a step back. Listen: in the forest I had a nightmare. I wasn't sure what it meant then, but now I know. I was imprisoned within a bush of thorns, being sucked dry by these flying parasites, but being fed by a vine that was part of the bush. My blood and their wastes fertilised the ground and so the vine which fed me. Day after day. It was a living death. That is what this will mean and I won't do it!'

'If your father could hear you now!'

'Oh, Uncle... this search for the book killed him and has changed you terribly. It must end. If the people want an empress that badly they'll find one, but not simply because she happens to share a handful of genes with Rovan's line.'

She felt Brockwell put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze gently. The Marquis's eyes flashed at him.

'It's you! You've poisoned her against me, against her duty!'

'No, sir. I love your niece, but I've said nothing to her about this. There hasn't been the opportunity. It's her choice... and I think it's the right one.'

Arnella looked up at Brockwell and smiled, though her eyes were wet with tears.

'Then... it is left to me,' the Marquis said brokenly. 'I will keep the succession alive alone. Goodbye, Arnella.'

He walked stiffly towards the blue door. Arnella reached out for him, but Brockwell held her back. 'No. It's his right.'

The door fell open at his touch and he passed through. They had a glimpse of a corridor beyond, then the door swung silently shut again.

Thorrin looked at the door, then at Shalvis.

'Can any number use the same door?'

'Any number. One person's choice does not alter the next person's chance of success in any way. So it has been for thousands of years.'

Thorrin licked his lips again, as though weighing every word.

'But only the worthiest ever reach this far?'

'I cannot make any assessment of their individual worth.'

'Surely not many... only the select few. That has to be what he intended...'

Brockwell was looking at Thorrin in concern. 'Professor, just what is it you think is in there?'

'I told you to think, Will! Why else would somebody like Rovan, who had everything he could possibly desire, come here? For one thing only: the reason I'm here. The ultimate treasure is immortality!'

Suddenly there was silence. Everybody in the chamber looked at him. Thorrin gazed back at them with blazing eyes.