Doctor Who_ The Adventures of Henrietta Street - Lawrence Miles [100]
I do not believe from this that J. is dead. It does not necesarily follow.
Notice that Scarlette speaks of the apes in the singular, as the Beast, as if they were a disease like ‘the pox’ or a complaint like ‘the Prince’. Notice also that she now refers to Juliette as as if she’s unwilling to acknowledge her former student’s full name. The reasons for this will soon become clear.
Whichever version is closest to the mark, the outcome is certain. Over twenty-four hours later, Anji would return to the House, pale and retching, claiming that she’d spent some time ‘lost’ in a city which she seemed reluctant to describe as being either definitely London or definitely the other place (more on this unusual day-long excursion, and its consequences, later). Juliette didn’t come back at all.
But by the time Anji reappeared, everything had already changed. Because September 6 was the night when the Doctor held his ceremony to recall the TARDIS.
The members of the House met at the docklands of the river Thames, just before midnight. There was a fog over the river that night, which is significant: before the great industrial age there were few great smogs in London, so it was almost as if the city were paying tribute to the machines of the future, TARDIS or Jonah, being honoured by this ceremony. There was the Doctor, as usual completely oblivious to the world around him, pacing the bank of the river and looking out across the water. There was Scarlette, in her robes of brilliant red, silent and impassive by his side. And there were the other three women, Lisa-Beth, Rebecca and Katya. They too were in red, wearing their ‘bee’ uniforms. Perhaps they felt that, as they were about to desert the House, they had a duty to wear Scarlette’s colours one more time. Only Fitz was dressed in reasonably normal clothing, although with his lack of fashion sense even he must have looked suspicious.
On the stroke of midnight, the fog parted. Lisa-Beth describes the scene as if a warship-shaped hole simply appeared in the thick air. Moments later the Jonah was sighted, although whether it had appeared out of nowhere or simply drifted into view along the river is a matter of opinion.
There was a figure standing on the deck of the ship, and according to Lisa-Beth there was a ‘palpable tension’ in Scarlette. But the Doctor had already assured her that Sabbath would stay out of the way for the occasion, though he admitted that he had no idea where Sabbath would actually be. The man on the deck was Who, and he came attired in his best ornamental robes. Lisa-Beth reports being unimpressed by the old quack, saying that his appearance and his manner were both put on for show, but admitting that (as this was a ritual event) the show may have been important. Who’s robes were in shades of red and black, though those assembled suspected his clothing may have been hastily improvised from some form of dressing gown.
So it was that the people of the House boarded the Jonah for the first time, and to her credit Scarlette was the second to board the ship, after the Doctor himself. Who greeted each of the women in turn, kissing every female hand and issuing a stream of compliments in mumbled English. The women, used to this kind of play-acting, were graceful in return and failed to giggle. Somehow, surrounded by the fog as they boarded this grey steel monster, humour seemed out of place. Even Who’s levity felt wrong here.
Scarlette remained at the Doctor’s side as the party descended into the belly of the ship. Lisa-Beth notes that Scarlette seemed to take in every detail around her, but ‘never made it plain that she was searching for the captain’. Even Rebecca was muted, although she had seen the Jonah before. Lisa-Beth doesn’t record her own feelings, save that she was impressed despite herself on seeing Sabbath’s map room, with its catalogue of icons. There was an animal-stench in the depths of the Jonah, but at no point did any of the crew present themselves.