Doctor Who_ Empire of Death - BBC Worldwide [88]
What do you think of that decision? Is that sensible enough for you?'
‘I...’
`Never question my orders or my sanity again. Do you understand me, Sergeant?'
Vol mer snapped into a salute. Yes sir!'
`Very good. I suggest you get back to guarding the prisoner, since your life depends upon it'
Chapter Eight
February 21, 1863
Nyssa woke from a dreamless sleep, happy not to have wrestled with some vision in her slumber for once. Traumatic as the accident had been, it seemed to have put an end to her nocturnal horrors. She was in a place she knew better than any other, her bedroom on Traken. It felt good to be home again. She tried to sit up and winced, pain lancing across her chest. There was a dressing over the wound, held in place by bandages wrapped around her torso. Gritting her teeth against the stabbing sensation, Nyssa sat up and swung her legs off the bed. As always, her feet didn't quite touch the floor. All her childhood she had dreamed of being tall enough to sit on this bed and have long enough legs for them to reach the ground. When her father had heard of this, he suggested trimming a few inches off the bed's legs to make the dream a reality. But Nyssa's mother wouldn't hear of it. That would be cheating, Lucina had announced, and you should never cheat your dreams.
Nyssa stood and looked out of the window at the gardens.
She could see her father tending the trees and vines below, testing the success of his latest invention, an underground irrigation system. Soon it would time to gather the feijoa and tamarillo, and the house would be suffused with the sweet, sickly smell of fruit being boiled. The scent always made her gag a little, so strong and pungent was the aroma, but nothing was more redolent of the harvest season. She could mark the passage of time just by recalling what had happened to her with each harvest - starting lessons, getting her first guardian toy Bee-Bee, becoming a woman, her first kiss... She wondered what this season would bring.
`Nyssa? Are you up yet?' Her mother was calling from the cooking area near the courtyard, the sound of cutlery and plates being passed from hand to hand signalling that the morning meal was nearly ready. 'Come and help with the table!'
Ì'm just dressing,' Nyssa called back, not concentrating on what her mother was saying. The wound would hamper her movements for a few days yet, so she chose a simple dress of scarlet and crimson hues without too many fastenings. Putting something on her feet was too much like hard work so Nyssa ventured out into the courtyard barefoot, eager to quell the rumbling in her stomach. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten and the cold collation of meats and fruits on the table looked delicious. Standing beside the table was a small child in a blue tunic, a pouch sewn into the material.
`Hello,' Nyssa said. `Who are you? What are you doing here?'
The child whispered a reply. 'Don't trust them. Nothing here is what it seems.'
Lucina walked into the courtyard from the cooking area, a tray laden with steaming bowls of food balanced in her arms.
'Good, you're up at last. Your father and I were beginning to wonder if you'd ever get out of that bed. Clear a space on the table, you two'
Nyssa obliged, shifting the other food from the centre of the oblong table. The child had to kneel on one of the benches to help her. Once they were finished, Lucina laid her tray in the gap. 'There! Nyssa, go and call Tremas while your brother helps me bring in the rest.'
`My brother...' Nyssa stopped short, registering what her mother had said. 'But I don't have a brother. I'm an only child.'
Lucina looked at her in puzzlement. 'Of course you have a brother, Nyssa! He's standing right in front of you - aren't you, dear?' The small boy nodded, but his eyes widened as he looked at Nyssa.
Vollmer had ventured upriver to view the temporary dam, leaving Johnson and Hawthorne to guard the Doctor. The weak, winter sunshine had been enough to burn away the last remnants of morning mist. But clouds were forming in