Doctor Who_ The Room With No Doors - Kate Orman [11]
‘Is everyone from the future as tall as you?’ the nun teased him.
‘No,’ said Chris. ‘Depends on where people come from and what they eat.
Hey, how did you know –’
‘I watched over Snowman-san in the infirmary,’ she said. ‘We were always getting into trouble for chattering. Tell me a little bit about your travels.’
‘Yeah. Well. . . ’ Chris realized he wasn’t walking any more, standing beside the town well, suddenly feeling too tired to move.
The nun waited.
‘We lost a friend,’ said Chris. ‘The Doctor had known her for years.’ The nun looked at him, silently. ‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘You can ask me about it if you want.’
Chiyono sat down on the edge of the well. She touched his arm, and he sat down beside her. ‘How did she die?’
‘Like a hero,’ he said. ‘It’s a long story, but. . . we were both poisoned, and there was only enough antidote for one of us. She insisted I take it.’
‘Oh, Kuriisu-san. What a terrible way to lose someone.’
‘Yeah. Well.’
‘She must have loved you very much.’
Chris looked down at the nun, and suddenly there was such a painful lump in his throat he could hardly breathe. Chiyono watched him, waiting. ‘I 23
don’t think so. . . ’ he managed eventually. ‘It was just that she was really old, and. . . ’ He shook his head.
‘You may also ask me about it,’ said Chiyono.
Chris looked at her with his sad blue eyes. ‘Where do we go when we die?’
Chiyono looked at him, considering. ‘What do you believe?’
‘Adjudicators believe in the Goddess,’ said Chris. ‘Justice. She makes sure that everyone gets what they deserve, even if it’s only after they die.’
‘But you don’t feel sure of that.’
Chris shrugged. ‘It must happen after we die,’ he said. ‘Hardly anybody gets what they deserve in this world. What do you think?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Chiyono. ‘I haven’t died yet.’
Dinner was rice gruel and pickled vegetables. Chris wondered if he should have smuggled a stash of chocolate bars in.
The monks ate in silence, after chanting and prayers. The Doctor had borrowed a couple of wooden bowls. He didn’t seem to mind the food, wordlessly showing Chris how to wield his chopsticks.
Chris expected to be sent back out to sweep again, but the Doctor took his sleeve. ‘The Roshi’s waiting for us,’ he murmured, as the monks filed out of the hall.
The old monk was in his room, kneeling on a tatami. A young monk was kneeling before him on another of the straw mats. The Doctor, of course, found it easy to sit Japanese style. Chris knelt awkwardly, towering over the other three.
‘This is Dengon,’ said the Roshi. ‘Two days ago I asked him to investigate certain rumours about a village in the valley. He’s come back from Hekison with some interesting news.
The monk said, ‘According to the villagers, one month ago, a god fell out of the sky.’
‘Ahhh. . . ’ said Chris.
‘The god landed in a rice field, and was taken back to the village, where it was placed in a shrine. Since then it has been performing miracles.’
There was a long moment of silence. Chris realized he was waiting for the Doctor to start asking questions, but the Time Lord was watching him, patiently. ‘What, what kind of miracles?’ he said.
‘The villagers say it has been making their crops grow, healing people, and protecting them from bandits and passing armies.’
‘Nothing more impressive.
‘No, Isha-sama.’
‘Meteorite,’ said Chris.
‘Could be,’ said the Doctor, tapping his fingers against his chin.
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Chris thought fast. ‘Or a bit of passing space junk. It isn’t radioactive,’ he added, ‘not if – there haven’t been any deaths?’
‘No, Kuriisu-san,’ said the monk.
The Doctor took the rainbow egg out of his pocket. ‘Could you hold this for me, please?’
The monk looked at the ovoid curiously. The Doctor put it into his palm, and soft blue lines appeared in the colour, stretching away from the young man’s fingers and crisscrossing the egg.
The Doctor nodded. ‘You’ve been in contact with a minor temporal anomaly sometime in the last thirty-six hours,’ he diagnosed. ‘This is excellent. You know, Chris, if