Doctor Who_ The Gallifrey Chronicles - Lance Parkin [100]
‘There would be panic. Overreaction. Many would seek to kill or contain this Time Lord.’
‘Others would seek to be him,’ Mister Saldaamir said thoughtfully.
‘It’ll all end up in the public domain if the High Council investigate what’s happened today. Still keen to report me to them?’
‘They sent you because of the prophecy?’
205
‘They are worried, Ulysses. Most of all by the idea that I am right, that the time for observation is over and we have to get out into the universe.’
‘You’re not the only person who believes that.’
Penelope had been listening to all this. ‘We have prophets of doom on my planet too, plenty of them. The only thing they have in common is that they’ve all been proved wrong in the end.’
‘The Supreme Council take it seriously,’ Marnal said. ‘They’ll do anything to protect the status quo here. I killed a few aliens. So what? You’ve violated every law of time.’
Penelope looked worried. ‘We will all suffer because of this,’ she told her husband.
‘No,’ he replied, stabbing a finger at Marnal. ‘He started a war, he’s killed sentient beings. We’ve done nothing of the sort.’
Mister Saldaamir shook his head. ‘The council know what we’re doing.
They always have. They won’t be able to turn a blind eye to our activities any longer.’
Marnal realised that he gained some satisfaction from seeing them arguing.
There was still more poison to drip in their ears. ‘They won’t touch anyone who doesn’t have it coming to them, I’m sure. So why would any of you have anything to be scared of? Perhaps you’re right and we should get everything out into the open.’
‘He’s trying to manipulate us,’ Penelope said. ‘Trying to scare us. He’s the one who’s done something wrong.’
Mama (looked at her. ‘I’m sure they’ll be very understanding about your son. How is little –?’
Ulysses turned around, punched Marnal square in the jaw and sent him slamming into the stone wall. Marnal hit his head and collapsed. He tried to get up but couldn’t muster control of his legs.
‘What are you doing?’ Mister Saldaamir asked.
‘He can’t jeopardise our project. We know he’s already covered his own tracks. There’s no trail.’
‘Are you suggesting we murder him?’
Ulysses spent just a moment too long considering the question. ‘No, no, no.
We go to his TARDIS. We use its telepathic circuits to erase his memory. I take him somewhere he can’t do any harm and dump him, then come back here and hide his ship.’
‘Where are you going to take him?’ Mister Saldaamir asked.
‘England, 1883,’ Penelope said quickly. ‘Earth,’ she clarified for Larna’s and Mister Saldaamir’s benefit.
‘That’s where you’re from,’ Ulysses noted.
‘Well yes, dear, once upon a time. I thought mother could look after him.’
206
‘Is exile to your mother-in-law’s the sort of punishment you had in mind?’
Mister Saldaamir asked.
Ulysses grimaced. ‘It’s perfect.’
207
Chapter Twelve
Reloaded
‘What?’ Marnal said, keeping the gun pressed to the Doctor’s forehead.
Rachel was trying to remember. She didn’t want to see the Doctor shot, and wanted either to stop the execution or buy enough time to get away from it.
‘The Matrix was something on Gallifrey, wasn’t it?’ There had been too much to absorb in Marnal’s books, but she remembered that snippet.
‘It was the repository of all accumulated Time Lord knowledge,’ Marnal said.
Rachel smiled. ‘That’s right, it was the main computer.’
‘So much more than that,’ Marnal said quietly. ‘When Time Lords died their memories were uploaded into the circuits of the Matrix.’
‘And if all the Time Lords are dead,’ the Doctor said, ‘then logically all their memories would be in the Matrix.’
‘The Matrix was destroyed with Gallifrey,’ Marnal said. ‘Yet another consequence of your –’
‘No,’ the Doctor stated firmly.
‘Then where?’
‘As I said to G.K. Chesterton, “Gilbert, the best place to hide a leaf is on a tree.” It follows that the best