Saran said defensively, "What would you have us do?"
"Act for once in your decadent, pettifogging Time Lord lives," said the Doctor furiously. He was conscious that his anger was betraying him into some very undiplomatic language, but he"d gone too far to stop now. "Deal with Morbius. He"s one of your own, isn"t he? You"re responsible for him."
Borusa said, "We have only your word for it that this renegade is Morbius, Amba.s.sador. He could have been lying."
"It was Morbius all right," said the Doctor.
"How can you be so sure?" persisted Borusa.
"Can"t you decode a simple anagram? Morbius Rombusi.
He"s so vain that he couldn"t bear to part with his name, so he scrambled it instead."
"Scarcely compelling evidence," said Saran. "After all, it could merely be coincidence."
The Doctor looked at them in unbelieving scorn. They were looking for a way out, a way to get off the hook. After all, if the General wasn"t Morbius, he was scarcely their responsibility.
They could go on doing nothing always the preferred option for the Time Lords. He should have expected it of course. After all, it was why he"d left them in the first place.
He made one last desperate effort. "Believe me, it was it was Morbius Morbius! I recognised him " The Doctor broke off, suddenly realising that he couldn"t explain his certainty without revealing his true ident.i.ty.
Borusa pounced on the slip. "But surely, you"d never met.
How could you recognise him?"
"How could he not?" said a voice from the doorway.
A grey man was standing in the doorway.
Grey robes, grey hair, and even a greyish tinge to the complexion. Only the bright green eyes added a touch of colour.
Nodding to the guards behind him to close the door, the grey man came over to the table and sat down, nodding to Borusa and Saran.
"I was not aware that you were invited to this meeting, Councillor Ratisbon," said President Saran.
"I invited him, Lord President," said Borusa. "The Amba.s.sador"s arrival aroused certain questions in both our minds. I authorised Councillor Ratisbon to investigate and report."
"I beg your pardon for the intrusion, my Lord President,"
said Ratisbon with smooth insincerity. "Only the fact that I have important information to contribute gave me the temerity. ."
"What information?" demanded Saran.
The grey man paused. It was obvious, thought the Doctor, that both Borusa and Saran hated and feared him. It was equally obvious that the fact caused him not the slightest concern.
"You were asking how the Amba.s.sador could be so certain that he recognised Morbius," said Ratisbon. "But as I said, how could he not?"
"Which means?"
"Surely one Time Lord can always recognise another?"
"The Amba.s.sador is not a Time Lord," said Saran peevishly.
"Oh, but he is. His mind is well shielded, but he is a Time Lord nonetheless. I can even tell you which Time Lord."
Ratisbon gave the Doctor a friendly smile. "Welcome home, Doctor."
Chapter Eighteen.
The Deal "Thank you," said the Doctor politely. "It appears I"m not quite the master of disguise I thought I was. How did you get on to me?" "I heard of the arrival of this strange amba.s.sador a foreign amba.s.sador who knows our transduction codes and who pilots his own s.p.a.ceship..."
"Security," said the Doctor solemnly. "Surely you appreciate that!"
"Of course," said Ratisbon. "All the same, I was curious." He smiled apologetically. "After all, it"s my business to be curious.
Perhaps I should explain that I"m "
"With the Celestial Intervention Agency? Don"t bother, I recognise the type."
"I"ll try and take that as a compliment, Doctor. To continue, I took the liberty of searching your s.p.a.ceship."
"Not mine," corrected the Doctor. "Borrowed, from Lord Delmar. I"m sure you found nothing incriminating."
"Oh, but I did, Doctor. Liberal samples of your DNA on the various surfaces you"d touched. I checked them with our files and there you were!"
Saran and Borusa seemed to feel they were being left out.
Borusa made an attempt to regain control of the situation. He glared accusingly at the Doctor.
"So, you"re an impostor Amba.s.sador Amba.s.sador! Surely you realise this invalidates your entire story?"
"You"re wrong on both counts," said the Doctor. "I"m not an impostor at all those papers are all quite genuine. I really am an Amba.s.sador of Karn, duly appointed by Lord Delmar. And as for my real ident.i.ty invalidating my story on the contrary, it supports it!"
"How?"
The Doctor sighed. "Do you really think I"d have come back to Gallifrey under any disguise if I wasn"t sure that my warning was vitally important?"
Borusa gave him a look of baffled rage. "Why didn"t you come as your true self?"
"To be honest, I wasn"t sure how I"d be received. The High Council tends to hold grudges about relatively minor matters..."
"Like the theft of a Type Forty?"
"Borrowing," pleaded the Doctor. "At worst, taking and driving away. It"s scarcely the latest model; it"d probably have been sc.r.a.pped if it wasn"t for me."
President Saran, who"d been silent for some time, suddenly, and surprisingly, rea.s.serted his authority "I think we must continue this discussion in your absence, Doctor. Meanwhile, I must thank you for your warning. In spite of the rather strange surrounding circ.u.mstances, I believe it to be sincerely meant. Whether or not we should act on it remains to be decided."
The Doctor rose, his face grave. "Let me a.s.sure you, Lord President, that everything I"ve told you is the truth. We must must deal with Morbius. He is one of our own, and we are responsible for the harm he may do. If Morbius carries out a fraction of his present plans, the honour of the Time Lords will be sullied forever." deal with Morbius. He is one of our own, and we are responsible for the harm he may do. If Morbius carries out a fraction of his present plans, the honour of the Time Lords will be sullied forever."
Guards surrounded him as he left the room. He heard angry voices rising behind him, then the double doors closed, cutting them off.
"Come along, sir," said Captain Alaron. "We"ve arranged suitable accommodation for you."
"In the deepest dungeon beneath the Capitol, I suppose?"
Alaron looked shocked. "Oh no, sir, nothing like that."
It was some time later, and the Doctor was stretched out on a comfortable couch, refreshments on a table beside him. He was sipping fine wine and nibbling at an a.s.sortment of hors d"oeuvres.
He was in the sitting room of a luxurious suite. The room was filled with heavy, over-stuffed comfortable furniture and there was an entertainment suite with an extensive supply of holovids. Doors led off to a kitchen stocked with the finest food and drink, a luxurious bedroom, an elaborate bathroom with a small gymnasium beyond.
There were no windows, but the air in the room felt cool and fresh.
The Doctor found the degree of comfort more sinister than rea.s.suring.
He was in an oubliette suite.
It was a typical Time Lord solution to the problem of disposing of awkward individuals. No a.s.sa.s.sinations, no midnight executions, no dank and dripping dungeons with prisoners chained to the walls. Such things are crude and cruel, unworthy of highly civilised Time Lords.
In an oubliette suite, you wanted for nothing. Food and drink and even the holovid ca.s.settes were automatically renewed.
You could do anything you liked except leave.
There you stayed until you went mad, or killed yourself or simply died.
Then careful functionaries would take your body away and ready the place for the next occupant.
The Doctor knew that if the Time Lords decided to do nothing about Morbius, they would do nothing about the Doctor either. They would simply leave him where he was. His hopes, such as they were, depended on one simple fact. For all their faults, for all their hypocrisy and corruption, the Time Lords were, at heart, an ethical race.
The Doctor settled down to wait, not knowing if the wait would last hours, days, weeks, months or years or the rest of his lives.
In the conference room his fate hung in the balance for some time.
President Saran was reluctant to embark on a course of action that might jeopardise his chances at the forthcoming elections.
Borusa wanted to avoid a major scandal at a tricky time in his political career.
Ratisbon felt that stopping Morbius was an impossible task, best not attempted.
But at the end of the day, the Doctor"s hopes were justified.
All three wrestled with their consciences and failed to overcome them.
There could be only one decision.
President Saran summed up. "However much we may regret it, gentlemen, however much we may wish it were not so, one thing is inescapable. The Doctor is right right. We must deal with Morbius."
He raised his voice. "Guards! Bring back the Doctor."
It was with considerable relief that the Doctor saw the outer door to the suite slide open and Captain Alaron beckoning him to leave.
In the conference room, he found three grave-faced Time Lords awaiting him.
"We have decided to act upon your warning, Doctor," said President Saran.
"Thank you," said the Doctor. "What action have you decided to take?"
"That has yet to be decided."
Borusa said, "Since Morbius seems to be the source of the problem, why not take him out of the equation?" He looked at Ratisbon. "I understand your organisation has certain resources."
"I take it you mean a.s.sa.s.sination?" said the Doctor. "Quite apart from any ethical consideration "
"I"m not concerned with ethics," said Ratisbon. "I leave that to my betters."
"Well then?" said Borusa. "It"s the simplest solution."
"Except that it wouldn"t work," said the Doctor. "Morbius is surrounded by devoted fanatics. And even if it did work, chances are you"d only turn him into a martyr. Hundreds, thousands of mini-Morbiuses would arise to carry on his work."
Ratisbon said, "There is always temporal action. If someone goes back in time and kills Morbius in his cradle..."
Saran looked horrified. "Unthinkable."
"It is my task to think the unthinkable."
"The dangers are too great," said Borusa firmly. "It is against all Time Lord principles. Besides, we risk doing more harm than good. Unpick one fragment of the time fabric and who knows how much more will unravel? Temporal intervention can only be used in the greatest emergency."
"I agree, of course," said Ratisbon. "But this might be the greatest emergency."