Menagerie - Martin Day [72]
Zoe reached down to pat the horse, not sure who was the most apprehensive. 'The Doctor is a traveller from . . . Well, I'm not quite sure where, actually, but I think it's somewhere very far away. Very advanced. I don't think he likes his own people much. He prefers to explore and put things right where he sees evil at work. He's very good at that. He bumbles around until things become clear to him. It can be frustrating sometimes. But I've missed not having him around the past couple of days.'
'And the boy you spoke of? I think you said he came from your world.'
Zoe nodded, remembering an earlier conversation. 'He comes from my past. The Doctor travels in time, you see.'
'Really?' said Raitak. 'If the knights were to discover that .
. . '
'If the Doctor has any sense he won't tell the knights too much about the nature of his travels,' said Reisaz.
'Why not?' asked Zoe.
The twins tried to spur their horse to quicken its pace.
Raitak turned to look at Zoe. 'One of the mental attitudes that the knights promulgate is a concentration on the present moment as if unconnected to past or future. It's a fantasy, of course. The moment someone talks to you of the preceding day or how much money you have for food tomorrow the whole thing comes tumbling down.'
'And even the knights need to plan: to build buildings or to recruit new members,' said Reisaz.
'But if you could live just for the moment,' said Zoe, struggling with the concept, 'you'd be entirely isolated from pain and suffering.'
'A coward's way out,' said Raitak. 'You need to confront pain and suffering and strive to defeat them. Your obligation is to make sensible plans for the future and to learn from the past. That's why the knights are so cold and inhuman: they have no inclination to establish deep relationships. These things can only happen over a period of time.'
'They certainly don't like people enjoying themselves,'
said Zoe. 'I was arrested for no good reason at all.'
'They're a mirthless bunch,' agreed Reisaz.
'It must have been very frightening for you,' said Raitak with an unusual tenderness. 'Coming to somewhere new and then suddenly finding yourself cast into a dungeon.'
Zoe smiled, the memories already beginning to recede.
'Even when travelling with the Doctor things don't always go well.'
'That's everyday life,' observed Raitak.
'I'm curious,' said Zoe. 'Why did you ask about the Doctor and Jamie?'
'We might have to fight those monsters together. If your life depends on someone it's good to know a little bit about them.'
'You're convinced that there will be more of those things?'
'I just have this feeling,' said Raitak solemnly.
The Dugraq scout knew of a secondary system of caves and tunnels that lead on to the surface, entirely bypassing the poisonous sewers. The Doctor and the disguised android followed close behind the little creature. The android scanned their surroundings for movement, alert for wandering Taculbain or Rocarbies.
The subterranean world was quiet, and darker now the power station was off-line. The android had found a couple of battery-operated torches before they left the building and the Doctor took these. He alone needed them.
The little circle of white light illuminated collapsed brickwork, faded plaster and finally the damp walls of natural caves. When the Doctor heard what sounded like a waterfall to their left the torch's beam proved too feeble to illuminate it.
For a long time the Doctor shadowed the dim figure of the Dugraq exactly. At one point he followed the skipping creature over a narrow ridge of rock. It was only when he safely reached the end that the Doctor wondered how deep the drop on either side had been.
They emerged from a narrow tunnel into a cave that was dappled with light. Even the Doctor could now see the way forward, a huge opening of yellowish brightness.
'You get a fine view of the city from here,' said the Dugraq conversationally as they emerged from the tunnel.
'At least, when it isn't raining.'
'Fresh air, with no matter how much rain, will suit me down to the ground,'