Doctor Who_ Empire of Death - BBC Worldwide [73]
`Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, ruler of the British Empire!' Doulton retorted. ‘Her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, sent me a telegram demanding you be arrested, tried and - if I deemed it necessary - summarily executed'
`Could I see this telegram? Call me old fashioned, but I would like to check the exact wording. We wouldn't want you taking any unnecessary or precipitous action without the proper authorisation, would we, Nyssa?'
`No, that would be -'
`Silence!’ the general snarled. 'You are in no position to request anything. I believe you to be agents provocateurs of some foreign power, intent on destabilising the British Empire by attempting to assassinate Her Majesty when she visits this site.
You would claim what lies beyond the portal for your own country - but you shall not be successful!'
The Doctor ignored this last assertion. 'The Queen is coming here - why?'
`So she may see this gateway to the afterlife for herself. If she wishes, I will personally escort her through to the Other Side where she may be reunited with her late husband, the Royal Consort, Prince Albert'
Nyssa almost laughed. 'You're not expecting her to go underwater in one of those diving suits, are you?'
`There will be no need for such devices by the time Her Majesty arrives' Doulton outlined his plans to drain the flooded valley while damming the Clyde further upriver. `Within a day or two she will be able to walk into the afterlife'
`This is madness,' the Doctor countered. 'You and I have travelled through the rift and we both know it is not the gateway to some paradise of eternal life. Have a care, General. I heard you screaming in terror and pain on the other side of that portal.'
`Nonsense! I have never let pain or terror be my master.'
`Please, think again before you bring Her Majesty to this place.'
`Your pleadings come too late. I have already sent a telegram to Windsor Castle. It should reach Her Majesty shortly.'
The Doctor was not giving in yet. 'There is a murderer loose here. He has already claimed the lives of two officers and, I believe, a civilian was slain last night by that same hand.
Would you risk Her Majesty's life in such circumstances?'
`How can you know all this unless you are the murderer?' Doulton demanded.
`He saw it in a vision,' Nyssa replied, 'and so did I'
'Ahh, yes, the Lady Nyssa. Strange that one with such an aristocratic bearing and countenance should go unrecorded in every record of the peerage. Strange also that Scotland Yard could find no mention of any place or dwelling known as Traken within the Empire. Can you explain that riddle to me?'
`Where I come from is not important -' Nyssa began.
`Quite right. It is where you end up that most concerns me,' the general spat back. 'I have never ordered the execution of a woman but you shall become the first, unless the Doctor can offer some mitigating reasons why I should spare your life'
`Whatever you think of me, you cannot perceive Nyssa as a credible threat to you or your mission,' the Doctor said quietly.
'Show her some mercy.'
Doulton stepped so close to the Doctor that their noses were almost touching. 'There is no mercy in war, Doctor, you would do well to remember that. In the meantime I will let you live, until further proof of your crimes has been unearthed. But you shall both be shackled and remain so until I decide otherwise. Is that quite clear?'
`Perfectly so. Tell me one thing, General - have you been suffering any headaches since you returned from the dive yesterday? Dizziness, perhaps shortness of breath?'
`Don't try to be concerned for my health, Doctor. It doesn't suit your bland face.’
Ìt's just that I notice you have a tiny bubble in the aqueous humour of your eye. Some two hundred years ago an English physicist called Robert Boyle noticed a similar symptom in the eye of a viper that had been compressed and decompressed.
It was the first recorded observation of an illness known as the bends.'
`There is nothing wrong with me!' the general bellowed, veins bulging in his