Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [64]
‘You have my word that I am not here to spy on you.’
The Doctor sighed. ‘There are things I must achieve,’ he said, ‘but I cannot allow Mongke to become too interested in me.’ ‘Are you truly from the heavens, as you implied?’
‘I am but a traveller,’ said the Doctor simply. ‘I would be a stranger in all the lands of this world.’
‘You are from paradise, then. You are an angel, and you cannot allow Mongke to see that.’
The Doctor shook his head. ‘No, but I have something about me of value. Knowledge.’
‘Knowledge of what?’
‘Of the future. I know that a future khan – Kbubilai – will rule over an empire yet more vast than that of Genghis, the first Great Khan.’
‘I could predict such a turn of events.’
‘But I know how it will be achieved. I have met him!’
Abd N-Nun Ayyub was about to press the Doctor for more details when a third figure approached the fire. He bowed low to both men. ‘I am Ling,’ he said by way of introduction. ‘You are called the Doctor, no?’
The Doctor nodded.
‘Then we have much in common,’ the man continued. ‘I, too, am a physician – something of an expert in my field. And I too am a stranger here.’
‘We are a long way from Chung-tu and the former Chin Empire,’ said the Doctor.
‘What do you know of the city of Chung-tu?’ queried Ling, excited.
‘I recognised your accent,’ said the Doctor. ‘And I know that the Chin were attacked by Genghis some thirty years ago.’
‘I told you this old man was wise,’ said Abd N-Nun Ayyub with a smile.
‘May I sit with you?’ asked Ling.
‘Actually,’ said the Doctor, ‘I was about to ask Abd N-Nun Ayyub if he wouldn’t mind accompanying me on a short walk.
My legs are a little stiff. Will you join us?’
‘I would be honoured.’
Abd N-Nun Ayyub helped the Doctor to his feet. ‘Is there anything I can show you? Mongke has instructed me to allow you whatever liberty you desire within the area occupied by his army.’
‘But not beyond it?’ queried the Doctor with a smile.
‘You would not get far!’ interjected Ling brightly. ‘Only a fool would try.’
‘Then I shall not,’ said the Doctor. ‘In any case, for the moment, I belong here.’ He turned to the interpreter. ‘I would very much like to see the siege engines.’
‘It will be a long walk,’ said Abd N-Nun Ayyub.
‘It would be preferable to even another moment in the saddle,’ said the Doctor.
They set off across the valley floor, making their way through the numerous rows of rounded tents that housed the sleeping army. Abd N-Nun Ayyub explained that these were similar to the gers of the original Mongol nomads, portable yet comfortable dwellings ideally suited to a life on the steppes. They were made from woollen felt, stretched tightly across a wooden frame, and both Abd N-Nun Ayyub and Ling had become so accustomed to sleeping in them that they felt almost uncomfortable now in buildings of stone.
‘Your very presence here,’ said the Doctor to the two men, thinking aloud, ‘says so much about the Mongol mentality. They are not invaders in the usual sense. They are not interested in foisting their culture on others, but in acquiring, learning, utilising all that they find.’
Ling nodded. ‘Their invasions are bloody,’ he whispered,
‘but once they have appointed overseers, life continues much as before.’
The Doctor thought of Kiev, of the city’s pretence at normal life, and – if the history books were to be believed – of its sure and certain fate.
‘In my homeland, the people enjoy many freedoms,’
continued Ling. ‘The Mongols do not change our way of life or prohibit our religions. Only the severest of crimes evokes the penalty of death, and all civil institutions run smoothly and without corruption.’
‘But, as you say, this comes at a great price.’
Ling nodded. ‘Before the Mongols came, there were some fifty million people living within the Chin Empire.’ The Doctor heard his voice crackle