From: bradkwillis@aol.com (BKWillis) Date: 28 Oct 2002 03:45:22 GMT Subject: Desert of Fear (New Installment, part 2 (2/2)) ---- The Servii stood enraptured, gazing awestruck at the manifestation of 'Overworld sorcery' around them as Babydoll bulled past them, Bella's slight frame still bundled in her arms. The TARDIS Console Room was a good twenty times bigger than the mausoleum-shape of the exterior, an octagon of pale gray walls inset with darker hex- shaped panels. It was dominated at its center by the Control Console, an octagonal pillar four feet to a side and covered with the various arrays of switches, keypads, screens, and other controls that only Cain could make any sense of. The Time Rotor arose from its center in a crystalline pillar that gleamed even in the low interior light. A big, overstuffed recliner chair was set against one wall, while a large viewscreen took up the wall opposite it. Cain slipped past them, shooing Servii raiders away from the Console, then hit the dematerialization control, sending them into the Vortex. The noise and sudden sense of dislocation that always accompanied that maneuver caused a flurry of warding signs among the Servii, but they held themselves admirably calm. Babydoll started to take a step toward Cain, but stopped when he swung around to her first. "Get her to the Zero Room, then get back here pronto," he barked. "Gonna need your expertise, babe." Babydoll felt herself flush with a bit of pride and being appreciated for a change, but hastened toward the door with Bella. "Gotcha, boss. Uh, where is the Zero Room?" The Time Lord had already returned to working at the console and she wasn't sure if he'd heard her at first. But then, without looking up, he called out, "Seraph! Show her to the Zero Room, then bring her back." Now the Servii gave back a few steps as yet another 'Overworld magic' made itself known. Seraph, the TARDIS computer's holographic user-interface, appeared next to the console. For reasons Babydoll couldn't fathom and that were probably connected with some weird psychological quirk of Cain's, the computer projected itself in the form of a woman. To be specific, a ghostly pale woman in a shapeless white gown, faceless but for two glowing golden eyes beneath her long white hair, floating footlessly and semi-transparently a few inches off the floor. Whatever else you might say about Seraph, her appearance impressed the holy Hell out of the Servii. As she nodded to Cain and led Babydoll out into the corridor, Rahaaz was moved to declaim, "Witness the power of the Overworld! An they command such wonders, how can aught but victory be before us?!" Babydoll wondered that too, but with a rather different emphasis. She had the sinking feeling that the worst of this whole debacle was yet to come. She sighed as she followed Seraph down the dim corridors. There was a wriggling in her arms as Bella got a hand up and tugged the ragged old coat away from her face. She glanced around the corridor, then up at Babydoll, smiling contentedly. "And what are _you_ so cheerful about?" the blonde demanded. "It's good to be here. Home, I mean." "Huh." Babydoll looked at the bland, featureless walls and shrugged. "Guess I never really thought of it that way. But you've been here for longer than I have, so I guess that makes sense." "I've been travelling with Cain for over a hundred years, Piggy." Seraph's high, trilling voice broke in. "One hundred forty-seven point three-six years, subjective time, Miss Bella." Babydoll tried to get her mind around that concept, but just couldn't do it. She was twenty-six years old, herself. To have been with someone for more than five times as long as she'd been alive... She just couldn't grasp it, the sheer immensity of almost a century-and-a-half. Together. All at once, she felt an unaccountable jealousy. There was a bond here that she could never be a part of, that she'd never even have the time to understand. People would grow together in such a span of years, would share more things than she could imagine. It wasn't fair, not even a little bit... She almost walked right through the projection of Seraph before she realized that she'd stopped in front of an open door. "This is the Zero Room, Miss Babydoll. Please place Miss Bella inside, then return with me to the Armory." "The Armory?" Babydoll asked, reflexively suspicious. "Cain said to get back to--" Seraph raised a spectral hand, cutting her off. "Master Cain has completed his course settings and is now in the Armory. I will guide you there once Miss Bella is within the Zero Room." Again that feeling of 'outsider-ness' gnawed at Babydoll even as she nodded and carried the vampire girl into the chamber. Always, it seemed, she was the one who didn't know, who had to be led, who was forever a stranger. The Zero Room was nothing special, or so it seemed. Just a blank- walled cube hollowed out of the heart of the TARDIS, containing absolutely nothing but the faint scent of roses. She looked around for a couch or bed to lay Bella on, but the room was bare even of dust. "Er, where am I supposed to... uh..." "On the floor will be fine," Bella answered. "I can take it from there." As gently as she could, cursing her own movements and wishing she had Bella's delicate grace, she eased the girl to the floor and unwrapped the trenchcoat from around her. Bella's skin had lost much of its bruised, puffy look, but her color was still all wrong and her eyes feverish, though human-looking. As Babydoll leaned over her,, not sure what to say or whether to say anything, Bella raised a finger to her lips and placed a small kiss upon it, then lightly pressed the finger to Babydoll's own lips. She whispered, "Thank you, Piggy. For taking such good care of me." Babydoll smiled crookedly back and whispered, "You're welcome, Fangs." Then, louder, "You get rested and I'll see you later, okay?" "Right as rain in a few hours, then you'd best watch out." As Babydoll started out the door, Bella called softly to her, "Hey." "Hmm?" "Let me know if your friend Mary ever gets that happy ending." The blonde nodded once, then closed the door behind her. As she set off following Seraph to the Armory, she reflected that, while there might be some things she could never be a part of, there might be other things that maybe she could. ---- The TARDIS Armory was, reasonably enough given its owner's purposes, the largest room in the whole ship. Amid the racks and rows and bins of weapons -- including everything from spears to machine guns to staser pistols to rocket launchers -- Cain stood holding an old percussion revolver. It wasn't anything special to look at, just a long-barrelled Colt knockoff in .45, of which the Universe held an abundance; indeed, there was a rack of pistols just exactly like it right in front of him. But _this_ pistol, this one was special. He'd known it as soon as he'd seen it hanging there, despite not having set his eye on it in decades. ["I knew you couldn't do it. You're a disgrace to Gallifrey." "But... I thought you understood! You said--"] Hands acting on instinct, his fingers began picking paper-wrapped cartridges out of an open box and pushing them into the cylinder. ["I said what I had to. Nergal has suspected you of harboring treacherous sentiments for some time and he assigned me to find out how far you'd gone."] One by one, the six chambers filled. ["What, you thought I _loved_ you? That I enjoyed hearing you prate to me about your pathetic sentimentality? I, at least, am a _true_ Regulator. Unlike you, I know my duty and do it, no matter how... distatseful."] Now the percussion caps, little brass-bound packets of fulminate of mercury pressed onto the nipples at the back of the cylinder. ["So, drop your weapon, traitor. There are five of us and the child is already dead, as she was meant to be." "She's right, Cain. Ease that pistol out and drop it." "You fucking bastards. You utter, _fucking_ bastards! How can you-- She was just a little _kid_!" "Hypocrisy, Cain. You've done as much yourself, in the past. I don't see why you have a problem with it now. All for the sake of Gallifrey and the future." "Leave him be, Eris. You can't reason with traitors." "Lose that pistol _now_, Cain!" "Damn you all..." "It's done, Cain, and you've lost. Now we'll take you back to Lord Nergal for whatever punishment he sees fit. Perhaps you can sway _him_ with your weak-bellied moralizing." "Murderers... Lying, filthy, butchering _murderers_!" "The pistol, Cain! On the ground, now!" "Shoot him, Geryon!" "Damn you all to HELL!"] He snapped the cylinder in place and hefted the revolver. It still fit his hand just as if that were where it had always belonged. "Six shots," he muttered. "Six shots, four kills. And one got away. But not for long." He shook his head. "Holy Jeel, but you were an idiot, Surma. You get away once by the skin of your teeth, then come back for more and get whacked. The Universe is a better place without you in it. Without _any_ of you in it. Heh. We thought we knew how to ensure the future by taking people out, when the main ones who needed killing were _us_." He eyed the pistol for a long moment, running a finger along the barrel. "You did well enough the first time," he said to it, "I reckon you'll do well enough the second. This time, Kali-babe won't be coming back again." He thrust the pistol into his pocket, then moved on to get the other goodies he had in mind. ---- "Merry Christmas, babe!" Babydoll staggered as Cain dumped an armload of weapons and ammunition into her arms. Behind her, Seraph's projection winked out of existence, her orders completed. Babydoll kicked the door closed behind her and set the pile of armaments on the nearest table, where she could sort it out. "Where are the Servii?" she asked. Cain was already dragging a heavy crate out of its cubbyhole, a crowbar in his hand. He'd slung a pair of holstered staser pistols on his hips and had two katanas strapped across his back, making him look like a cross between Doc Holliday and Musashi the Samurai. Babydoll narrowed her eyes. When Cain put a sword on, it was a sign that he Meant Business, capitals intentional. He didn't Mean Business all that often, usually taking a laid-back approach to the schemes and plots he manipulated. Babydoll shuddered a little at the thought of what might lie ahead. "I left 'em in the cloakroom," he answered. "Didn't trust 'em not to screw something up in the Console Room, and as for letting 'em in here..." He just gestured vaguely at all the implements of destruction, letting her infer whatever she would. "Good call," she grunted, sorting through the stuff he'd given her. "Ooh, six-millimeter hollowpoints, my favorite!" She stuffed the ammo clips into her pockets. A short-barrelled auto-shotgun was next and she slung it onto her shoulder with a scarily happy grin. "All this ordnance, we must be heading into a real smegging mess." "So we are, babe. So we are. We're gonna go beard the snout- faced lion in his den." "The Vale?" she asked unnecessarily. He didn't bother to reply, but levered the side off the crate instead. The thing inside caught her eye and she went over to check it out. It looked like nothing so much as a blocky metal torpedo, about five feet long and half as thick. Its hide was of a dull, dense- looking alloy covered in bright labels bearing what had to be warnings in some terse alien script. "What's that, Cain? A bomb?" He nodded solemnly. "That's just what it is. A cobalt bomb. Specifically, a Morinian ten-megaton pocket nuke. Our ace-in- the-hole." She found herself not liking the ugly edge in his voice. "So, you planning on nuking the Lord of the Vale, boss?" "Probably not. I don't think it'd hurt him. But if all else goes to Hell-and-gone, it'll do just jack-dandy on his servants, at least." He flipped up an access panel on the bomb and began checking its settings. "But I have another use in mind for it. If all goes as it should and everything gets back on track..." He trailed off. "Yeah?" she prodded. He turned and looked at her, a terrible light in his eye. "Then it'll be time for Avis City's wanderings to end." She tried to swallow in a suddenly dry throat. "You're gonna nuke Avis City?" she asked. "I might just have to, babe. I might just have to."