Doctor Who: Ultimate Treasure (33 page)

Warily they got to their feet. Jaharnus picked up Alpha's rifle and edged forward until she could kick his outstretched hand. It did not move.

'It's all right,' she said with a sigh. 'He's finished.'

'All find their just reward on Gelsandor, both good and evil.'

Shalvis said.

Peri was not listening. She was staring down at Red's scarred body as it lay very still. She touched his furry side, but there was no trace of a heartbeat. Her eyes filled unashamedly with tears.

'Why did he have to be so brave?'

The Doctor patted her consolingly on the shoulder. 'He was certainly a remarkable animal,' he agreed.

'A noble beast,' Loxley proclaimed sincerely.

Arnella and Brockwell approached Shalvis. 'We have to know,'

Arnella asked brokenly. 'What has happened to my uncle and the professor? Are they... dead as well?'

'No,' said Shalvis calmly. 'Knowing you have chosen another way and cannot follow or aid them in any way, do you wish to learn their destiny?'

They exchanged searching glances, then nodded. Shalvis turned to the others.

'Have you decided yet? You must choose not to go through the blue door before I can reveal this.'

'My job's done,' said Jaharnus. 'Green for me.'

'And I', said Loxley. 'One bold deed is enough for the day. And I shall have enough genuine tales to tell now.'

Peri simply shook her head, still staring at Red.

'Certainly not,' the Doctor confirmed.

She looked questioningly at Dynes, who had rapidly recovered his composure and was directing the single remaining DAVE in recording the remains of Alpha and Red.

'Can I get a better shot from inside?' he asked simply

'Not substantially,' Shalvis replied.

'Then count me out.'

Shalvis crossed to the blank wall beside the four doors and touched its surface. The wall seemed to become transparent, like a giant screen. The image on it was softly lit, but they could clearly make out Rosscarrino and Thorrin reclining side by side in full body-contoured chairs. Their eyes were closed and they lay very still.

'Are they asleep?' Arnella asked tremulously.

'In a manner of speaking. When an impossible dream becomes an obsession, and life becomes intolerable while it remains unfulfilled, then only illusions can bring release. The Marquis would never have believed Rovan did not leave the Book of Lineage amongst his treasury, nor would the professor accept that we do not possess the secret of immortality. The truth would have destroyed them. They are at peace now, and will live out their lives believing they succeeded...'

The screen viewpoint slowly withdrew to reveal the rest of the chamber, and they saw it was huge and filled with row upon row of the contoured chairs. Each bore a still figure. There were creatures of many races in all manner of costumes, some ragged and torn, but none of them stirred. Every single one of that silent multitude slept the same eternal sleep as the Marquis and Thorrin. And as the viewpoint glided between their ranks, Peri realised that most of them were very, very old.

'Despite what you may think, Rovan was not entirely unmerciful, and neither are we.' Shalvis said.

The screen darkened and the image of the sleepers vanished.

Peri shivered. Arnella and Brockwell remained staring at the blank wall for a long time, then they slowly turned and walked hand in hand through the green door that led back to the surface. Loxley and Jaharnus followed at a respectful distance.

'Any final comments?' Dynes asked hopefully, as he and the single surviving DAVE headed after them, leaving Peri and the Doctor alone with Shalvis.

Peri glanced sadly once more at Red's still form. Then she frowned and edged closer. 'Doctor, why is there no blood?'

Before he could reply a swirling shimmering light enveloped Red's body, and it seemed to shrink inward. Then the light was gone and in its place stood a familiar form, with the ghosts of the wounds Red had suffered dissolving into its silver body shell as though they had never been.

'Kamelion?' Peri gasped in disbelief.

'I had interfaced with the TARDIS shortly before the Master took control of me,' Kamelion explained in his familiar deferential tones, having politely allowed them a few moments to recover.

'Also, I have a pseudo-metabolic extension into the fifth dimension, where I store or draw on mass to suit varied body forms. It was through this and the tenuous interface link that my mental pattern survived, trapped within the TARDIS's hyperdimensional fields. But I was confused and could not contact you nor regenerate a new physical form. It was not until we arrived here that I was released.'

'Ah,' said the Doctor knowingly, glancing at Shalvis.

'Yes, we were responsible,' Shalvis admitted. 'We foresaw Kamelion's coming and his part in the defeat of Alpha. Through an illusion we made you think you had locked your TARDIS

when you left on the quest. This allowed us to bring an amorphous plasmoidal form we had created within reach of Kamelion's mind. With our help he was able to make the initial transition. This did not break the spirit of our trust with Rovan, nor was it totally selfish. Our actions were already part of a potential future, and in a manner of speaking Kamelion was on a quest of his own. Remember, it is our purpose to aid seekers of whatever kind to achieve their true destiny. And defeating Alpha was part of Kamelion's.'

Peri turned back to Kamelion. 'But why didn't you appear to me like this first off?'

'On Sarn I had caused you alarm and pain in this form. You would have been mistrustful to see it once again. Yet there you had also called me "friend" and cared for me, and I wished to repay that kindness. So when I traced your mind pattern in the woods, I analysed your desires and combined them in a form that would best serve and reassure you.'

Peri suddenly understood. 'Just before you appeared I was thinking of heroic dogs, knights in armour, and America. And I got something that combined all three, right down to the patriotic colour scheme!' She chuckled. 'It was a great disguise, Kamelion.

I'll always remember "Red". But it's good to have you back as you are.'

'Thank you, but I regret I cannot rejoin you.'

'Why not?' the Doctor asked.

'This form is unstable, Doctor. Too many of my functions were lost with my original body, and they can never be regained.

Gradually I would lose control of my patterns and become a liability once more. I have decided it is best if I leave you now with, if I may so call it, dignity.'

'No!' Peri exclaimed. 'Not again...'

But even as she spoke she realised Kamelion was fading. She began to see through him, as though he were turning into ice which was slowly vaporising before her eyes.

'Kamelion, you must hang on,' the Doctor said urgently. 'There may be a way to stabilise your new body.'

'Thank you, Doctor, but it is useless. You granted me a merciful release once, now allow me the same freedom to choose my ultimate destiny. It has pleased me to redeem myself. I hope 1 have fulfilled my functions adequately and given satisfaction.'

He was growing fainter by the second.

'Yes you have,' Peri said desperately, but please don't go like this!'

'Do not concern yourself any further, Peri Brown, or you Doctor. I am finally at peace...'

She tried to touch him one last time, but there was only a shape of mist. 'Goodbye... ' she said simply.

Then he was gone.

Peri swallowed hard and wiped her eyes. She looked up at the Doctor and saw a look of tender compassion. He put a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

'I know, it's not fair. But the universe is not fair, it just is. At least Kamelion had a chance to make good second time round, which is more than most beings get. Let's remember him at his best,' he suggested gently, 'acting with courage and purpose.'

She sighed. 'I'm just sorry I started this whole thing.'

'But if we, and especially Kamelion, hadn't been here, things might not have gone so well for everyone else.'

'I suppose so,' she agreed.

'And what's more,' he added, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper, 'Remember, Dynes will never know what a scoop he's just missed: Heroic Beast Really Reincarnated Shapeshifter Android!'

Peri had to smile at that thought. Then she frowned and looked at Shalvis. 'One thing still gets me. This all seems to have been predestined, but I thought we came here mainly because I wanted to?'

'There is free will,' Shalvis assured her. 'It shapes the future, which we can only glimpse imperfectly. Nothing is certain until it has occurred, and it was always possible Alpha would triumph.

Right to the last your actions were crucial, as indeed they were in the past, when your sympathy won Kamelion's gratitude. As the Doctor said, do not undervalue the qualities he demonstrated. I think Rovan would have approved of them.'

Peri shook her head in wonder at it all. Her eye caught the red door, the one nobody had opened, which supposedly led to the ultimate treasure. She smiled ruefully. 'Under the circumstances I won't try that one. I guess I can live without knowing.'

'My dear Peri, surely you've worked it out by now.' said the Doctor. And before she could stop him he walked across the chamber and calmly stepped through the red door.

'Doctor!' she cried, but he was gone. For a second she hesitated, then dashed through the door after him.

Beyond the door was darkness.

Peri felt a moment of giddiness and a sensation of rapid acceleration. Rings of light flashed past her. She saw the Doctor's distant silhouette and reached out desperately towards him.

Then came a sudden pressure and the rings of light vanished.

She was standing beside the Doctor on the threshold of a wide archway. Before them a flight of steps led down to a stretch of green lawn fringed by tall, graceful trees. The Doctor gave her an infuriatingly bright and knowing smile, and suddenly she recognised the setting.

It was a doorway of the white pyramid where they had first met Shalvis.

She gaped at the Doctor but he simply put a finger to his lips, ambled lightly down the steps and set off towards the corner of the pyramid, forcing Peri to dash after him. Around the other side the rest were waiting for them.

'What kept you?' Jaharnus asked. 'That tube of theirs got us here quickly enough.'

'Oh, we came by the scenic route,' the Doctor said lightly.

There was an argument in progress.

'For the last time, I don't want to give you an interview,' Arnella was saying to Dynes.

'Not even a passing thought on the Marquis?' Dynes persisted.

'The public might find that rather strange.'

'I don't care what they think.'

Then Brockwell stepped between them.

'Excuse me, Dynes,' he said in his usual diffident manner.

'Over the last few days you have been willing to watch us suffer and almost die on several occasions, for the cheap gratification of your viewers. And now, even when it's over, you continue to annoy the woman I love. Under the circumstances, I think this is a very reasonable response...'

And he punched Dynes carefully on the nose, sending him sprawling backward on to the neat grass and causing the remaining DAVE to weave about in search of a new angle. Dynes clapped a hand to his face, trying to staunch the blood, and stared up at Brockwell in disbelief.

'You know what you've done!' he exclaimed somewhat nasally.

'Assaulted an accredited member of the information media during the execution of his legitimate duty in a situation of high news value. Before eyewitnesses!'

'Sorry, I wasn't looking,' said Loxley quickly.

'Did you see anything, Peri?' the Doctor inquired.

'See what, Doctor?'

'Inspector Jaharnus?' Dynes appealed, now clasping a handkerchief to his face.

'As you reminded me a few days ago, this planet isn't in my jurisdiction.'

Dynes glared at them all. 'Well I have it recorded! That's evidence enough.' And he pointed at the hovering DAVE.

There came a single shot from Jaharnus's commandeered rifle, and the DAVE tumbled to earth in a shower of smoking fragments.

'That felt very satisfying,' Jaharnus admitted. 'What a pity it was watching you when I did it.'

Dynes gaped at her and the smouldering wreckage of the DAVE, then turned to Brockwell. 'There are backup recordings in my ship. I'll still take action against you.'

'So sue me,' Brockwell challenged. 'You won't get much because I'm not rich...' He looked at Arnella and smiled. 'At least, not in any way you'd understand.'

'If it's not too much trouble, could you give our friends a lift back to Astroville?' the Doctor asked, after a decent pause.

'Peri and I are going in another direction.'

'Of course,' said Brockwell, 'We were heading there anyway.' He looked at Arnella. 'We have a lot to talk about, and perhaps certain official arrangements will need to be made - if you think so too, Arnella?'

Arnella looked at him and took his hand, and Peri saw the sadness slowly begin to lift from her face to be replaced by a quiet hopefulness.

'Yes, I think so,' Arnella said simply. Then she turned to the Doctor and Peri. 'Goodbye, and thank you.'

'Good luck,' said Peri.

'Under the circumstances,' Jaharnus said, shaking hands with the Doctor and Peri, 'I won't be needing you as witnesses against Qwaid, Gribbs, and Drorgon.'

'Your investigation is over, then?' asked the Doctor.

'Yes, I suppose it is,' She gave a curious smile. 'Do you think that's what Shalvis meant when she said I was also a seeker?'

'Perhaps. We're all searching for something.'

'But what sort of report am I going to write on all this?'

'I shall assist you, Inspector,' said Loxley heartily. 'There is nothing like a little creative fantasy to smooth the rough edges of life.' He doffed his hat and bowed to Peri and the Doctor.

'Goodbye, my friends. Parting is such sweet sorrow.'

'Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing... and like enough thou now know'st thine own estimate,' replied the Doctor in kind.