Doctor Who_ Empire of Death - BBC Worldwide [31]
Mrs Walker nodded, shamefaced. The Queen stood up.
`We have heard enough. This woman deserves the sternest of punishments for these crimes'
Doulton nodded. 'And her accomplice?'
Victoria wavered, apparently unsure of what to do. She turned to the Doctor. 'What do you suggest?'
Ì would not be so quick to judge,' he replied. Mrs Walker may be all the things said of her here, but I believe there is more to James than meets the eye. If Your Majesty would permit me, I should like to study him - to ascertain whether or not he possesses the abilities claimed for him'
Victoria nodded. It is agreed. Doctor, you have a day to make your assessment and report back to us. The young man will be your responsibility during that time. General, have this impostor removed from the residence. Mrs Walker, we strongly suggest you maintain a healthy silence about the events you have witnessed here in the past few days - is that understood?'
The impostor just nodded.
`Good. If you keep that silence, we will look favourably upon granting you clemency. If you tell others what has happened here, we shall ensure you spend the rest of your days behind bars' The Queen swept from the room, the audience at an end.
Extract from Observations and Analysis, A Journal: I listened carefully as James recalled travelling around Europe with the Baroness, performing like a circus act for the crowned heads of different nations. When he emerged fully dressed from behind the screen, I asked him a question that had been nagging at me. 'Last night, when you began speaking with Adric's voice - how did it feel?'
`You want to know if that was real, don't you? That's what everybody wants to know - am I truly creating a channel between them and the dead? The worst part is I don't know.
Perhaps I am just telling you what you want to know, what you need to hear, giving you some comfort. But it feels more than that to me. It seems real' His face was warm and alive again. 'What do you believe?'
I admitted to the ulterior motive for my question, saying I had lost someone else who was close to me. I was careful not to say too much so James had a chance to prove the truth behind his words. His face fell at my request.
`Nyssa, you don't know what you're asking. Every time I reach out to the spirit world, a fragment of me dies - like someone is forcing splinters of glass into my brain'
`The nosebleeds...'
Ì never used to suffer them. Now it's after every episode, every séance. My head begins pounding and I feel a great blackness rushing towards me. It's terrifying'
I pointed out the contradiction of such fears. If James believed he had visited the spirit world, why should he fear death? Did he not already know what lay beyond this life?
Èvery living thing fears death,' James explained, 'it's a natural reaction to facing your own mortality. Even though I believe in the spirit world, the thought of dying still terrifies me. What if I don't make it to Heaven? What if the creator of us all cannot forgive me for the things I have done?'
`Such as aiding and abetting a thief called Mrs Sylvia Walker,' the Doctor interjected, striding into the bedchamber.
`The Baroness has been unmasked as an impostor and is being taken away. But you already knew that, didn't you?'
James nodded. 'I could sense her distress'
Ì don't doubt it for a minute,' the Doctor said. 'You have several remarkable talents - an empathic ability to read people's emotions, perhaps even their minds. Mimicry of voices you have never heard, that is quite rare. But speaking with the dead...'
`You don't believe I can do that?' James asked. I turned to the Doctor, eager to hear his thoughts about what we had witnessed so far.
'I'm not sure,' he said. The Queen has given me a day to decide whether or not you can be trusted. So let's start at the beginning. Tell me when and how you first discovered these talents of yours'
It was dusk when the soldiers finished establishing their encampment near Corra Linn. Vollmer insisted on posting guards to keep watch through the night. 'Surely that isn't