Menagerie - Martin Day [101]
Jamie stood up, his teeth clenched.
'I'm . . . sorry.' The voice came from the far side of the room, the speaker stumbling over the inadequacy of the words.
Jamie turned and saw the bruised form of Araboam stumbling towards them over the shifting debris. His armour was dented and scratched, and blood was trickling from a wound in his side.
Jamie ran towards him and grabbed his arms. 'You're what?' he shouted.
'I must have been mad,' said Araboam. 'I've fallen so far from what once I believed.'
Jamie shook the knight like a rag doll. 'You were involved in all this! So you should have died, not Cosmae!'
Araboam began to say something, but for the second time that day Jamie clubbed him to the ground. He fell on to the unresisting body, still punching feebly at the man's head. 'It should have been you,' he said, as the tears finally came.
'You're the one who should have died.'
The Doctor and Defrabax were talking outside the ruined power station. They were the calm centre in a storm of activity as Dugraqs rushed to and fro, clearing the control room of rubble to ensure that all the Mecrim were dead.
'So what happened?' asked Defrabax.
'When I asked the android to pursue Zaitabor I also wanted to make sure that no one would tamper with the power station. Some explosives were installed that would trip in just before the main generating system went critical.'
The Doctor looked slightly apologetic. 'I meant to warn everyone about their existence, but it seemed to me that only a madman would try to use the power plant again.'
'And that's what happened.'
'Yes. When I realized that Zaitabor was going to use the power station to destroy the entire city I hoped that perhaps the smaller explosives would take care of the remaining Mecrim too. I was very lucky, and it worked.'
'What danger were we in from the Mecrim creatures?'
'It's difficult to say,' said the Doctor. 'If they were to become established in an area and begin to breed then your entire world might have been in serious trouble. In any event a lot would have depended upon the cooperation of the various societies on the surface.'
'Our world is very fractured, very insular,' said Defrabax.
'I hope that one day we shall all mature.'
'The other danger was the plague,' said the Doctor. 'I'll run some tests to make sure that you're not in any danger.
And I'll check up on Jamie and Zoe when we return to the TARDIS.'
'TARDIS?'
'My vehicle,' said the Doctor.
'Then you'll be leaving us soon?'
'Yes,' said the Doctor. 'There's always work to do somewhere else.'
Defrabax looked around him at the city of miracles again, still scarcely believing his eyes. 'I can guarantee that for weeks to come I will dream of nothing but the other lands and worlds that you have seen.'
The Doctor clapped Defrabax about the shoulders. 'Never lose your dreams,' he said. 'But in future try to dream in patience, there's a good fellow.'
'Wise words. If I had been more patient perhaps Cosmae would still be alive.'
'You don't know that for sure.'
'No. But I feel that I contributed to the lad's death. His mother will sleep less soundly in her grave tonight.'
'I sent Jamie up to explain things to Kaquaan,' said the Doctor. 'Told him that'd be more constructive than beating Araboam to a pulp.'
Defrabax nodded. 'I gave him directions to my house. If she isn't there now, she will be soon. Although she hardly knew him a couple of days ago, terrible events do draw people together. I hope she'll get over the shock and the sadness.'
'Victory is often laced with tragedy and grief,' said the Doctor. 'The sadness of triumph is a feeling that I know only too well.'
'It sounds to me as if you need a holiday,' said Defrabax.
The Doctor smiled. 'They rarely work out as planned.'
'Then perhaps you've been travelling too long. It's time to journey home.'
'No,' said the Doctor firmly. 'That at least is out of the question.'
Defrabax turned towards the power station. 'I must attend to Cosmae's body,' said Defrabax. 'Please excuse me.'
The Doctor nodded and thrust his hands into his pockets.