Doctor Who_ The Gallifrey Chronicles - Lance Parkin [99]
Ulysses barked at him.
Marnal looked at Ulysses, and thought about his response carefully. He’d always enjoyed baiting this fool. ‘In closed session, yes. I’m sure they’d be interested in how you know about that.’
‘You transgressed their orders. You treated the mission like a military assault.’
‘The demands of this uniform –’ Marnal countered.
‘It isn’t a uniform if only you are wearing it,’ Penelope told him sharply.
‘My suspicions proved justified. There was a threat to Gallifrey. Didn’t I do exactly what you and your fellow explorers only talk about doing? The creatures in the Shoal had access to advanced technology They were on the verge of swarming across the universe. The High Council will read my reconnaissance report and take it at face value. They won’t worry if I leave out some of the details.’
Penelope sneered at him. ‘They will if we report you. You committed genocide.’
‘Better a million aliens die than a single Time Lord.’ He sneered at Penelope, letting her know that the sentiment was a calculated insult. ‘And better a pre-emptive attack fought thirty thousand light years away than those things attacking the Capitol.’
‘There was no threat of war.’
‘You have no idea what I found there.’
‘A temporal cicatrix,’ Mister Saldaamir replied.
‘A scar where space-time has tried and failed to heal itself,’ Penelope added.
‘An area characterised by anomalies in time and space,’ Ulysses finished.
‘You were watching me?’ Marnal tried not to sound rattled.
Mister Saldaamir smiled, baring sharp teeth. ‘No. We were watching the cicatrix. They are extraordinarily rare, and rather useful for the project we’re working on.’
‘The creatures there were in control of the phenomenon. I think they built it.’
Ulysses laughed. ‘They are attracted to it like moths to a flame. They’ve learnt to ride the hyperspace corridors formed naturally by the scar, but they didn’t create it. The scar formed over the damage caused by the brief appearance of a naked singularity there centuries ago. Nothing at all to do with the insects.’
‘They were plotting with other aliens to destroy Gallifrey. I saw their plans.’
204
Someone else had joined them. The young woman with the long blonde hair he’d just seen in the Shoal. ‘No. You saw me send experimental data back here. I am the Lady Larna.’
Marnal looked the woman up and down. ‘What’s going on here, Ulysses? If she’s a Time Lady, why don’t I recognise her?’
‘You wouldn’t, yet,’ Larna said.
‘You’re from the relative future?’
Larna nodded.
‘That doesn’t narrow it down as much as it might. But it does explain the advanced technology. You’re from after the attacks, then, Larna?’
She stayed very quiet. The other three were staring at her.
‘Ah. . . so you’ve not told the rest of this little clique?’
‘Tell us now,’ Ulysses ordered.
Larna took a deep breath. ‘For millions of years Gallifrey has existed in isolation. Soon – not imminently, not all at once – there will be a spate of attacks. Omega, the Sontarans, Tannis, Faction Paradox, Varnax, Catavolcus, the Timewyrm. You know some of those names, you will come to know the others. It is very important that Gallifrey survives all these attacks.’
‘Of course it is,’ Ulysses said.
‘You don’t understand. All things must pass. Gallifrey will fall. But it must fall at precisely the right time. The enemy is unknown to us. It will be until Last Contact is made. If it’s destroyed before that, by any of those other enemies, then the consequences. . . ’ Her voice trailed off. ‘That is as much as I know.’
Marnal looked pleased with himself. ‘The president and members of the Supreme Council know the prophecy. They have been told that a Time Lord now living will be central to all these events. That he will find the lost scrolls of Rassilon and lead Gallifrey from darkness.’
‘I hadn’t even heard rumours of this,’ Ulysses admitted, rubbing his chin.
‘This happens in our lifetimes?’
‘Our children’s, at the very latest. The council have been keeping it from even their senior colleagues. They fear the consequences if it is widely known.’
Ulysses