The Coming of the Teraphiles

  judge his expression behind the mask.

  'We'll get it,' Amy said. 'I know we will. Most followers of

  tournaments like this say we're the favourites.' She grinned.

  'And I have a good-luck charm from the Bubbly Boys!' She

  tapped her necklace making the spheres rotate. She was

  showing off, she knew, and silently admonished herself. She

  was 21 and still behaving like a kid.

  Captain Cornelius returned her smile. 'But you're two

  key players short. Your entire Second Fifteen is gone. Yes. I

  eavesdropped. If you'll forgive my presumption, you sound

  a little desperate, Mile Pond. Even with a good-luck charm

  from Abberley and Co. What is it, by the way?'

  Automatically she covered it with her spread hand. 'A

  very strange bit of jewellery,' she said, glaring at him. 'Some

  beads, which they pinched, as far as I could tell, from that

  horrible Captain Quelch. And gave to me. We have plan B.'

  She added, changing the subject so violently it left skid marks

  in the air.

  Captain Cornelius's attitude had changed subtly. He

  seemed at once more alert and more relaxed.

  'And if we fail,' put in the Doctor, 'what will happen to

  you in particular, captain, when dark tides run across the

  entire galaxy sucking out the light?'

  'I rarely leave my ship, even when we reach our island

  port in the Dwarf.' The pirate shrugged. 'Without light we

  are nothing. We long ago let our auxiliaries run almost to

  empty. All that colour was dangerous on a ship of our kind.

  No doubt we'll freeze and die. The heat death of a star clipper,

  eh?' And he laughed. 'But the multiverse will die soon after,

  and I would hate to witness that. Only General Force is mad

  enough to crave that experience. I think we do have interests

  in common.'

  'So you're proposing a compact of some kind?' The Doctor

  stood up and warmed his back against the fire before stepping

  politely aside.

  'You seem to understand me pretty well, Doctor. I suppose

  you should. What do you say, Mile Pond? Should we all join

  forces? It would be the end of me if the light went out. The

  end of us all, I'd guess. And what if we survived the end of

  the universe - the destruction of the multiverse, even - would

  we not be even more bored than we are now?'

  'Perhaps.' The Doctor was thoughtful. 'I'm surprised

  that you, of all people, are seriously proposing we form an

  alliance.'

  'It might be the only solution to any future difficulties.

  That arrow could be the oldest artefact in existence. Or it was

  stolen from our future and the ripples come all the way back

  to our here and now, mm?'

  The Doctor lifted a sceptical eyebrow. 'Now we're getting

  into the realms of the supernatural, captain.'

  'My scientists suggest the materials which constitute it are

  the key to understanding it, not the form i t s e l f . . . '

  Impatiently, Captain Snarri stood up. 'If I could have your

  word that this is not a diversion to hold our attention while

  your pirates board our ship...'

  'Certainly, captain,' The tall man put a forefinger under his

  Arlecchino mask and scratched his nose. He took a pull on his

  pipe. 'At some point, long ago, your Roogalator was removed

  from the very Hub of our cosmos and carried off. The thief

  who took it was an adventurer with no special motive except

  curiosity, the ability to negotiate an environment which would

  destroy the likes of us, and a greed for the power his curiosity

  brought him. He had discovered a kind of map which in turn

  led him to the regulator. He knew he had something crucial

  to the fundamental mechanics of the multiverse. So he tried

  to exert his own will upon it. By doing that he caused it to

  evade him by, of course, changing its shape.

  'Because it was never replaced, the multiverse became less

  and less stable. Either Frank/Freddie Force is the original

  thief or he learned about the object from the original thief.

  Either way, he still believes he can use it to gain total power

  over Creation. And that, I fear, is the sum of what I know or

  have guessed.'

  The Doctor rubbed his jaw. 'I can see how it is in our

  mutual interest. What do you say, Captain Snarri?'

  'I say we've little choice and if the pirate wants neither

  blood, souls nor treasure, I'll cooperate to do what's in the

  best interests of my passengers.'

  'Perhaps,' said Cornelius, 'we should settle details when

  we discover the Regulator and work out how to re-establish

  it at the centre of the multiverse? Assuming that's still

  possible. So let's agree to travel on together, at least for the

  time being. I have a small but up-to-date hospital aboard my

  ship. We can treat your injured. Save a few lives, with luck.

  And we have bots who could help you make some running

  repairs. If anything, the Paine is even better equipped than

  the Gargantua.'

  'So. Let's talk practicalities. What's your price, Captain

  Cornelius?' Snarri was anxious to get the pirate off his ship.

  'One thing now.' The masked man looked towards Amy.

  Again she felt that unfamiliar frisson. 'That's what I want for

  my assistance.' He pointed directly at Amy.

  'What?!'

  Unconsciously the Doctor took a step back, as if from a

  ticking bomb. 'You can't—'

  'That necklace. My price.'

  Captain Snarri burst out: 'This won't do. She's just an

  individual. She can't... she shouldn't—'

  'Don't worry.' Grimly Amy removed her 'celestial

  necklace' and placed it into the captain's outstretched hand.

  'There. Now you'll keep your word.'

  He bowed.

  Amy continued sharply. 'And there's a small price for

  giving you that A personal price, you could call it.'

  He waited.

  'Captain Cornelius, would you let me see your ship? Not

  her secrets or anything. Just the ship. She's so beautiful!'

  The captain's laughter was spontaneous. 'Why, of course,

  my dear. I was forgetting my manners. And you, Doctor -

  you will visit us, too, I hope?'

  The Doctor sighed, smiled, and gave in to temptation. He

  told himself it was to keep a watchful eye on Amy.

  Chapter 20

  Happy Ships

  WHILE HIS NANO-BOTS REPAIRED the big liner's wireless links and his

  engineering-bots crawled all over the battered brass and

  silver hull, taking charge of the major damage to the ship's

  superstructure and plates, Captain Cornelius followed

  at a distance, ready to help if the Gargantua got into any

  further difficulties. Amy, meanwhile, had been taken by

  the noncommittal Peet Aviv on a tour of the black clipper,

  marvelling at the system of pulleys and counterweights used

  to manipulate the sails, at her lockers full of exotic treasure,

  her galleys and pantries, her instruments designed to work

  entirely on reception of certain vocal codes, her guns, her

  crew made up of every form of intelligent life, half-flesh, all-


  flesh or metallic.

  The Paine was familiar, in that she resembled an old-time

  clipper, and unfamiliar in that the far-future technologies

  were almost impossible to understand, but Amy remained

  fascinated with the life forms: long-necked ostriches with

  simian heads, large saurians, the strange, alien beauty of

  snake-faced women. She saw little that seemed significant

  to their particular interest but she couldn't help noticing

  the restless atmosphere aboard. The crew seemed generally

  terrified. These weren't the people she had expected to find,

  full of mocking confidence, anticipating the great wealth

  every creature of flesh or metal would take home with them.

  She almost felt sorry for them, especially when she realised

  they feared the dark tide with a superstitious credulity Amy

  found unpleasantly infectious.

  She was led past buzzing gun bubbles full of blinding

  multicoloured energy, workshops, repair rooms and every

  kind of laboratory, where blinking lights and eerily coloured

  liquids mingled. But the atmosphere was horribly oppressive.

  Eventually she felt she could take no more and was glad when

  Peet Aviv escorted her back to Captain Cornelius's quarters

  where the Doctor was ready to return with her to their own

  ship.

  Captain Snarri still didn't trust Cornelius. The Doctor

  convinced him that, whatever his many crimes, Cornelius

  followed his own strict code and was always as good as his

  word. Cornelius knew what had happened on Pangloss.

  'Force, in short. Either deliberately or by mistake, the

  Antimatter Men attracted a dark tide. The storm destroyed

  everything except the core of the planet itself. They're lucky

  the star didn't go, too. That's Frank/Freddie for you when they

  lose their temper.' There was a chance, thought Cornelius,

  that some had survived below the planet's surface, but it was

  unlikely.

  Amy returned with the Doctor to the Gargantua full of

  the wonders she had witnessed on her tour of the great

  starjammer. She kept quiet about her feelings concerning the

  atmosphere on board the Paine.

  'It seems almost as big as the TARDIS inside,' she told

  Bingo, who had been waiting nervously for her to return.

  'But then you don't know what the TARDIS is, do you?'

  'The Paine is a big ship, then?'

  'Not as big as this one, but still pretty big. Sails that are

  miles across. Well, you've seen them. They just don't look

  as big as they do when you're standing right underneath

  them, looking up. Captain Cornelius is...' She was going to

  say 'dishy' but she guessed this might confuse Bingo and

  hurt his feelings, so she said: 'Very tall. Mysterious. Probably

  pretty ruthless.'

  'That's what I heard, too. Bit of a swordsman, I gather.'

  Bingo was an expert fencer.

  'I'm sure he is.'

  'But why did he let you two look around his ship just like

  that and come back here without giving us terms or anything?

  I mean, he's a bally pirate, isn't he? I thought you were mad

  to go in there with the Doctor. I was afraid I'd never see you

  again!'

  'He's as worried about the dark tide as we are. He wanted

  to join forces. He's hoping that if we stick together well have

  a better chance of surviving. Apparently those tides are even

  worse out near the Rim.'

  'I'd guess so. What with one black hole pulling our star

  systems one way and being pulled by an even more powerful

  one the other and this bally dark tide stuff all over the place,

  I'm getting a bit baffled, actually.' Bingo didn't think this was

  that much of an admission. He'd been rather baffled most of

  his life. 'I say, Amy, I was awfully worried about you while

  you were hobnobbing with that pirate johnny. Next time you

  take it into your head to do something like that, you'd better

  take me with you, you know.'

  Suppressing a smile, Amy promised to let Bingo know

  next time she decided to take off after a pirate. She felt rather

  pleased by his solicitousness. It was an odd feeling. She

  wasn't altogether used to it.

  'Well, young lady, did you pick up any dues?' The tone

  took her between the shoulder blades. She stiffened. She had

  almost forgotten that sound.

  'Hello, Mrs Banning-Cannon.' Amy turned. 'Clues?'

  'About my hat,' she announced with what might almost

  have been pride. 'It has been stolen again! From my cabin!'

  'Oh, really? Must have happened during the storm, yes?'

  Bingo was doing his best to sound concerned. Only a few

  weeks ago he had been watching a V, where it turned out the

  crook committed the crime unknowingly having been struck

  on the head and hypnotised by the person who didn't want

  to be caught. Bingo wondered if the knock he had received

  on the head during the storm had stunned him in the same

  way. He was beginning to suspect himself of the robbery.

  But if so, puzzled the hapless earl, what had he done with

  the swag?

  The Doctor was giving him suspicious looks. Or so it

  seemed to poor Bingo who, with a strangled word of goodwill

  to the baffled Love of his Life, did his best to disappear while

  Mrs B-C continued with her tale of the Second Theft of a hat

  which, even she had to admit, was no longer worthy of the

  name. There was, after all, a new and better hatter supplying

  her with exotic headgear.

  Why, the Doctor wondered, was anyone still concerned

  about that hat? 'Is there any chance,' he suggested hopefully,

  'that the hat could have been sucked out into space and is

  even now circling our hull?'

  'Not according to the crew.'

  The Doctor ran his hand through his already well-tousled

  hair. 'Nobody spotted a pirate lurking about, I suppose?'

  'It's possible one came aboard in disguise, but unlikely,'

  murmured Bingo.

  'Besides which, Captain Cornelius gave his word he

  wouldn't let his men bother us,' Amy reminded them. 'I

  think it's a matter of pride with him. Crooks have principles

  like that. It probably makes them feel virtuous.'

  'So we'll have to search the ship, I suppose.' Mrs B-C

  looked as if she was about to roll up her sleeves there and

  then.

  'There are rather more important issues, mother,' suggested

  Flapper, who had turned up in time to hear most of the

  exchange, 'than hunting for hats. We are being shadowed by

  the most notorious and feared pirate in the known universe

  and our ship is in serious danger of popping half her plates

  and plunging us all into the depths of space!'

  'Jane!' declared her mother. 'I never thought to hear such

  disloyal words from you, of all people.'

  'I'm being practical, mother.'

  With anyone else Mrs Banning-Cannon might have

  escalated such an exchange to Code Red, but hearing these

  words from the apple of her maternal eye stopped her pretty

  suddenly in her tracks. Her jaw dropped. Her eyes widened.

  Her nose froze in m
id-flare. A strangled sound came out of

  her throat. She said something like: 'Roospikentamee?' which

  others would later try to interpret, the general consensus

  being that what she thought she had said was 'Are you

  speaking to me?'

  'Oh, really, mother!' her daughter answered and, turning

  on a heel which seemed specifically designed for such a

  manoeuvre, she exited the hall with an almost professional

  sweep of her skirt, closely followed by Mrs Banning-Cannon,

  who was followed at what he considered a slightly safer

  distance by Hari Agincourt.

  The silence they left behind them was filled with a

  collective sigh from the Doctor, Amy Pond and Bingo, Earl

  of Sherwood.

  The hat was, as far as any reasonable search could determine,

  well and truly gone. Every one of the Gargantua' s vast decks

  had been searched as thoroughly as possible by passengers

  and specially adapted crew bots. It was even established that

  the hat had not been hidden on the outside of the ship's hull.

  Mrs Banning-Cannon had talked Urquart Banning-Cannon

  into offering an extraordinarily large reward for its return.

  In Captain Snarri's firmly held opinion the hat was even

  now drifting in space some light years behind them. He had

  even sent a skiff back to check for any remains, but they had

  found only a few smears of organic body parts. And now,

  as they approached the Ghost Worlds, the search had been

  abandoned. The massive gravitational pull of the black hole

  required considerable energy from the Gargantua simply to

  stay on course. For the Paine it was all but impossible to resist the power of the so-called Little Rock.

  Miggea's strange qualities, which permitted her to circle

  the Shwarzschild Radius without being drawn in and

  allowed her four planets Earth-like gravity could only be

  counteracted by the extraordinary engines of the Gargantua.

  The 'Shifter' system, the Ghost Worlds, should not logically

  have existed at all - and wouldn't have, if it hadn't been for

  their peculiar independence.

  Amy did her best to recall what the Doctor had explained

  to her about their nature, though she knew as well as he did

  that even if he had written it all out as an equation, as he

  had tried to do once when discussing variable time speeds,

  it would have made her head ache. There came a point in

  descriptions of certain multiversal phenomena when not