THE CHOSEN CURSE
Chapter 4 Neatly stepping to one side, the Doctor's outstretched hand snatched away Nazene's gun with reflexes so quick, that the gun was gone before the sergeant fully realized it. "Give me that!" The Doctor said, scowling like a disgusted parent. "Shooting people isn't nice. Besides, you could poke your eye out shooting one of these things!" The Doctor casually threw the rifle over his shoulder. It landed with a thunk and a splash in the middle of the stream. Dusting off his hands like a man who had just completed an unpleasant task satisfactorily, he turned his back on the soldier. Treating Nazene as if he'd just given him a time out in the naughty corner. The Doctor strode off into the woods, apparently with a definite destination in mind. "Coming, Donna?" He asked, not bothering to look behind him to see if anyone was following. Donna did follow, but after going a short way, she paused and looked behind her. Nazene was stood there, hands hanging listlessly at his side, looking for all the world like the Doctor had just taken away his favourite toy. "Are you just gonna' stay there doing your imitation of a petrified tree?" She asked caustically. But then, giving him a half smile, Donna moved her head in the Doctor's direction. "Come on then, soldier boy. If we don't catch up, he'll probably go off and have a good time on his own. He'll forget all about us, and end up going home with somebody else. I hate it when blokes do that." "Would not!" Came a shout from the Doctor, still walking up ahead. "Have you got like, I dunno', bat ears or something?" Donna asked him when she and Nazene caught up with him. "Cos' if you do, I'm gonna' have to be careful what I say around you, from now on." "You mean such as, 'you look like a number two pencil with really wonky hair?'" The Doctor suggested playfully, in a Donna-ish voice. "Er—yeah." Donna sighed, embarrassed. "Sorry." "No worries, Donna." He smiled, as he strode along the track. "Not everyone can do this 'do. I have to stick my finger in an electrical outlet every morning. And don't get me started on how hard it is to find a good hair gel made from cow slobber." "Glad I never had any desire to run my fingers through that hair." Donna said. Anyway," the Doctor continued, refusing to look at Nazene, yet speaking his thoughts aloud for the soldier's benefit, "this track leads to a farmhouse up ahead, but I think we'll leave this road and go in from behind. I've a funny feeling our pursuers haven't given up on us quite yet. Or maybe that funny feeling is just the curry I had for dinner last night." The Doctor hit his diaphragm a couple of times, then put his hand up to his mouth, giving a small belch. "Excuse me." He said. "Yeah, definitely the curry, then." "You think it might be a trap or something?" Donna asked, glimpsing a splash of white through the trees, which she assumed was a building. "I don't know, Donna. But even I believe sometimes that it's better to be safe than sorry.'" he shrugged, "Either way, heigh-ho, on we go." The farm lay quiescent, its low whitewashed cottage seemingly abandoned. Boards had been hastily thrown across the windows of the home, but the front door had been left wide open. Some odds and ends of discarded clothing and cooking utensils lay scattered on the floor of the yard. The only signs of life seemed to be near the barn. A few birds which resembled fluffy lavender coloured chickens pecked in the dirt in a desultory fashion. In front of the barn door, a sleek tabby cat was sat in the sunshine, fastidiously washing a white front paw. While Donna and the Doctor were checking the inside of the cottage, Sergeant Nazene had gone to explore the barn. Taking off his helmet, he'd climbed up into the loft under the roof, and was looking for a possible hiding place. Hearing a rustling in the hay, he prodded it with his foot, thinking it was a rat. He didn't mind rats, he used to have a pet rat, named Willard. But Donna might not be so well disposed towards them. All of the sudden, his foot nudged something soft and solid. It gave a little yelp of surprise. Well, he thought, he wasn't too far off. It was a rat alright, but not the kind with four feet and a tail. "Come on out of there, Commandant. It's only me. Sergeant Nazene." He sighed. He heard the Doctor call from down below, asking if he'd found anything. "Yes, but not what I'd hoped for." Nazene called down to him. He watched in amusement, as Commandant Ringstaff rose bottom first from the hay, as if unused to getting up from a floor. "Come on, you." the sergeant said, taking the man by the elbow, "Let's get you down from here and see what you have to say for yourself." He sighed. "If only the people of the empire could see you lot as you really are. Bet they'd think twice before cheering the country on to war." The two of them got down from the loft, Nazene helping Ringstaff, who seemed quite unused to climbing down a ladder. The Doctor and Donna looked at each other in surprise, recognizing this as the man they last saw on the knoll, being taken down a peg by his emperor. He didn't look quite so dignified now, with bits of hay clinging to his beard, and to his formally pristine military uniform. Somewhere along the way, he'd lost the high, ridiculous looking hat he'd been wearing on the knoll. "What are you doing here?" The Doctor asked, "Finally told your boss to sod off and do his own dirty work, did you? Good for you!" "Why are you with these people, sergeant?" Ringstaff asked stiffly, ignoring the Doctor. "I thought you told the emperor you were going to execute them?" "Meh—changed my mind, didn't I?." Nazene answered carelessly. Ringstaff chose to ignore the soldier's attitude. He began pacing up and down, his mind so preoccupied, he didn't even notice the horse dung getting on his highly polished boots. "Well, you can forget them, we've got bigger problems, you and I." Ringstaff said dismissively. "Get rid of them and attend to me." "Oi!" Donna said, shouldering her way past Nazene, and getting right into Ringstaff's face. "He's with us, general jackarse. We're his friends!" "Listen ginger," Ringstaff sniffed, physically pushing Donna away from him with the tips of his fingers, as if she had some offensive odour. "when I want to hear from some loud brassy-brained female, I'll go down to the Red Light Tavern of an evening and purchase myself a shadowed woman." "Are you calling me a stupid wh—" A shocked and angry Donna gasped. "Tell me Ringstaff," the Doctor interrupted, calmly stepping between the two of them and staring down at the man, "do you kick puppies and take candy away from children? Stalk women on the web? Push the handicapped down stairs? Steal pension money from little old grannies?" "Erm—no, no. Of course not." Ringstaff stammered, stepping back from the Doctor. "Then don't you ever talk to Donna that way." The Doctor said, his eyes glittering with a Time Lord's anger. "She's my friend, and she's brave and clever and so much more than you could ever be, even on the best day of your life. And if I were you right now, I would make every effort to do the right thing and apologize to her, before I really lose my temper." He said, before turning his back on Ringstaff. Facing Donna, the Doctor winked and gave her a lopsided grin. Donna managed to keep a straight face, but her eyes shone with gratitude. None of her friends had ever stuck up for her like that, before. She always had to fend for herself. "My apologies, my lady." Ringstaff said, bowing. His face was pale. Though the Doctor hadn't once raised his voice or even made a threatening gesture, he had thoroughly frightened the man. "I spoke rashly and was impolite to you. I did not mean to cause offense." "I really can't abide a bully. Disgusting creatures." The Doctor murmured, keeping his back to the man. Then he turned around. "Hang on a minute." He said, tilting his head in curiosity. "Ringstaff, you said you and the sergeant here had bigger problems. What did you mean?" As the four of them seated themselves around the kitchen table inside the cottage, Ringstaff explained why he'd been hiding in the barn loft. Ringstaff was sat at the far end of the table. With his clasped hands resting on the table, the man's head bowed down, Donna thought he looked like he was praying. To the Doctor, the man suddenly looked old and tired. "I'd been Yenhir's friend and confidant since we were boys at school. I owe everything to him. I've put up with his boorish ways more times than I can remember." Ringstaff said, shaking his head, looking like he was truly baffled. "How he treated me today, was different. The emperor had changed, somehow. Not just scared. I think..." the man's tongue licked his suddenly dry lips, as his voice dropped to a whisper. "...I think the emperor's gone quite mad." Nazene rolled his eyes and pushed back his chair. He got up and walked to the front door, which was standing ajar, and looked outside. "What's changed?" The Doctor asked. "Yenhir didn't really hate the Dacanese. Truth is, he didn't actually care one way or the other about them. He'd never even been to this planet, until this morning. The emperor wanted to be here for the final battle, so he could take all the credit. You know, be shown live on national vid-media, waving the victory flag." Ringstaff snorted. "Well, you all saw how well that went. And, I'm afraid, it was all down to me. I'm to blame. It was me who ordered the auxiliary troops to the wrong position. And, I told the emperor's backup ships to go back home." "You bastard!" Nazene growled, turning his head to give Ringstaff an ugly stare. "Do you have any idea how many good, loyal Torsaaga soldiers died because of what you did?" "If we'd won, the emperor would've let the soldiers loose on Dacana like a pack of wild doggenbeasts, to do terrible things." "Why would someone like you care about that?" Nazene said. He turned to stare out the door. He didn't really care what this pompous ass had to say anymore. "I couldn't allow that. I think our people, our planet would suffer, far more than the people of Dacana." The man, looked at the Doctor, trying to put his feelings into words. "Doctor, ours is supposed to be a civilized planet. We have rules and laws which are the foundation which shores up that civilization. If we begin to behave like mindless beasts to the people here, I believe it would be the catalyst which would crumble that foundation, and we'd start doing those things to each other." He sighed and shook his head. "Still, I don't suppose one man can make a difference, now." "So you didn't turn traitor because you actually care what might happen to the people who live here. Donna said, frowning. "You're just worried about your own world." "What's happened to the Dacanese has happened. I can't do anything to change that now. If I'd gone against the emperor's plans I would've booted out of office and lost everything. Possibly even my life, if the emperor had decided to pitch one of his tantrums." Ringstaff said defensively. "But, something tells me," the Doctor conjectured, "that isn't the only reason why you're here, is it?" "No. The emperor is planning something that will kill us all. Ringstaff said ominously. "I was trying to contact the Dacanese resistance, but ran into a squad of imperial guardsmen, down in the valley." "What is it, what's happened?" The Doctor asked urgently, his face suddenly showing grave concern. "When Dacana sent a diplomatic contingent to negotiate the surrender of our army, the emperor welcomed them into his headquarters. He acquiesced to everything they asked for, with only one provision." Ringstaff wiped his brow. He suddenly looked nervous and had begun to sweat. "That after negotiations were completed, they provide him with a ship to return home to Torsaaga with. While waiting for the ship to arrive, the emperor then played the gracious loser, and offered them some refreshment. The drinks were poisoned. Hiding the bodies, the emperor called the ship's pilot into his headquarters on some pretext. The pilot was also killed, and last I saw, one of the emperor's men was putting on the pilot's clothing, with an aim at taking over the ship." "Remind me never to have dinner and drinks with the emperor." Donna said dryly. "Quiet, Donna." The Doctor said, but not rudely. He leaned forward worry creasing his brow, having noticed Ringstaff's agitated emotional state. "Why did you say, that one man can't make a difference now? What's going to happen?" "Before I...got away, the emperor had confided in me, what he intended to do. He was shocked and frightened at our sudden change of fortune. He always thought that he was invincible, that nothing could touch him. I think it's affected his mind, Doctor. He said he was going to go home and initiate the Red Phase One. That's otherwise known as The Final Solution. Total instantaneous destruction of a planet. In this case, it's to be Dacana." "What the hell!" Donna gasped. "This planet's about to go up in flames, and you're just sitting here nattering away like we're at some flippin' ladies lunch? Why didn't you say so in the first place?" "Typical bastard politician." Nazene muttered, not bothering to turn around. The sun was setting, painting white, gold and rose coloured ribbons across a soft blue sky. He used to like sunsets. He wondered if the mind held memories of things like this, after you died. But maybe that would be too cruel. Perhaps this was the last sunset he would ever see. Nazene suddenly shuddered for no reason. Turning to look at Donna, he said,. "Ringstaff is more concerned about justifying his actions, Donna, rather than worry about the consequences of them." "Doctor, I don't know what to do." Ringstaff said, spreading his hands helplessly. "If I could get off this planet and back to Torsaaga to stop him, I would. But, there's no time. The emperor's already left. It's a four hour flight back to my planet. He'll be more than halfway there by now. We're all dead, no matter what planet we're on." "What does he mean, Doctor?" Donna asked, liking the sound of this less and less. "The two planets." The Doctor said grimly. "They're too close together. If this one is destroyed, a lot of the debris will be sucked into Torsaaga's orbit. Huge chunks of this world will enter the atmosphere, and be pulled towards the planet below." "You mean, like the Big Bang Theory back home on earth? All life being wiped out?" Donna asked. "Exactly like that." The Doctor sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Only with the amount of debris generated by this planet's destruction, nothing will survive. Not even the planet. Chances are, that will eventually begin breaking up, as well." "You mean everyone on both planets is dead, no matter what." she said, suddenly afraid. The Doctor said nothing, and Donna wasn't sure he had heard her. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean, Donna." Was the Doctor's final, chilling answer.
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