| Sigin decides that he will need to consult with his fellow mages
and with the Regent before he attempts the exorcism. This is too important
for him to make the final decision himself.
The Empress of the Dwarven Nation, Diane Walker.....is fighting down
the urge to jump up and down in impatience for this meeting to be done
with. She had heard rumors......and not believing, had gone down on a whim
to see the actual prisoners of this......."Tardis".....and had nearly fallen
over in surprise after seeing the man with a shock of white hair. She'd
never seen the three woman before, but she'd seen enough bootlegged 20th
century videos of Dr. Who to recognize one of the more beloved icons of
British science fiction! Walker KNEW this guy! Somehow, the TARDIS actually
had arrived here....and she was looking at the REAL Doctor...in the flesh!!
The exclamation she'd given off - in plain English - had both shocked....and
gladdened the hearts of the Doctor and companions. Shocked, because Diane's
tenor in the Military would make any old sailor stand back and take notice!
Delighted, for this curse word was....in ENGLISH!!
The guards had watched in silent, but alert, fascination as Diane spoke
with the Twins of Doom and this other fellow....and then asked in a professional....no
nonsense manner.....what the *&^( I had just said. Diane had lost the
need of translators to speak any Terran dialect upon becoming an avatar
to the Forge, but that gift did not automatically translate ordinary English
into something understandable to the person standing NEXT to her.
After a bit of discussion, Diane Walker nodded and said that perhaps
it would be best to see what was keeping the mages (who had been scheduled
to come down here to have a little chat with these guests.....).
.....
After navigating her way past several minor officials who felt even
an Empress of another nation should NOT interrupt business of state, she
had managed to get within hearing distance of the meeting between the Consort,
Regent of Ethiopia (after leaving the would be "road blocks" with blistered
ears), mages, and priests.
It had been a LONG, harried bull session. Records consulted, and memories
flogged for a possible solution to Trilling's unwelcomed guest. They pulled
it all together, and then consulted THE oldest being present with magical
knowledge.
While no longer able to cast spells, Ke'lan (aka Grailing) had the oldest
forms of mystical knowledge on the face of Terra Prime.
"Let's......see....." Ke'lan mutters, looking at the diagrams, prayer
scrolls, and wild guesses in front of him. "Well, I remember a.....detailed
but unlikely tale of something like this. From the tale and notes that
Synizn took on that one centaur.....Ravenmane who also had....for a time.....the
soul of yet another Fred riding along with him. (re: 1628) Hmmm."
"Yes, but that was rather different," Synizn demurred. "We could do
NOTHING to prevent the soul from departing (re: 7091), and even with a
Crystallic....I'm not sure we could have prevented the connection of body
to that.....idiotic soul."
Heads nod at that, for THAT version of Frederigo D'Honaire had
been stupid enough to read a magical tome aloud....without any control
materials....without ANY idea of the danger (that a child could have seen)!.
The magic had warped the man's very Matrix itself, transforming him from
human to centaur. It had also ushered in the much wiser young centaur known
as Ravenmane....and began a process that finally resulted in the connection
of body and soul for that Fred.
"But you made notes on what happened near the end...and this gives us
a clue at what must be done to send this evil soul....this.....Zular to
his just deserts in the Afterlife," the Pope of Ethiopia says. "I know
what and my aids will need to do with that and what the learned and true
friend of the Church, Ke'lan, but......"
"The choking point are.....details, numbers, and time," the Regent sighs.
"If we don't do this...and do this within the next five hours according
to Ke'lan....the struggle between the light and dark souls within that
ebony body will drive both minds hopelessly insane. And the real.....thing
that kills me is that we can not combine all our prowess together in this
effort. All together, if we could get all the mages here that are calling
in by magical mirror, we would perhaps have enough minds to handle the
details of it all....if no complications arose! As it stands, the most
we can combine without Crystallic for this kind of magical ceremony is......three.
What kind of minds could handle the demands?!"
Speculations and leaps of faith.....that's what this came down to. To
this..... roadblock.
"I....believe I have a candidate," Walker nearly giggles, giddy at what
she's about to suggest. "Dr. Who. You have Dr. WHO down in the gaol!"
Blank stares are all that greet that statement.
"Dr. What?" Sigin 2 asks blankly....never having seen a television show....much
less the classic British sci fi show.
"Who....not what," Inquirer corrected lightly, giving the smiling Empress
a strange look. "Uh, Diane...you feeling all right?"
The AI had a passing knowledge of this show from talking with others....and
was only familiar with the one picture of the show's fourth incarnation
of the brilliant Time Lord.
The Doctor down stairs was in his third incarnation/regeneration.
Inquirer was unaware of regeneration of Time Lords......or much about the
time machine he moved around in was the vehicle known as the TARDIS......
Eyebrows and hearts rise as the Empress, a long time Dr. Who fanatic,
explains.
First the Twins of Doom prove to be actually helpful in a sense, apparently,
by revealing the danger present amongst them.....somehow. The details weren't
quiet clear to them, but the fact was that the Twins somehow brought about
the approaching ruin of the evil Dark Trilling.
Could it be that the very legend would play a part in saving the life
of the GOOD Light Trilling?!
"But what of magical knowledge?" Rosepaw asks, suddenly seeing the obvious
problem. "What you told of him makes him to be knowledgeable about science....and
totally without real magical knowledge. Does he even have the magical.....gift?
The spark of magic within his blood?"
"They all have the gift," a mage who had handled a quick magical examination
of them (looking for hidden items of course). "Their auras denote none
have ever tapped it, however. Amazing."
"As.....for knowledge," Inquirer smiles. "We can run a soft patch....a
type of temporary neural connection between them, us, and have a crash
course in magic in cyber-space."
Of course, spells will be cast to tell the true nature of this Doctor....whether
or not he's actually a goody or not. If he isn't, this "Doctor" is gonna
need
a doctor!
******
"You want me to what?" the Doctor nearly laughs in disbelief,
then snaps back any objections or other negative comments as the wives
of Trilling give off a rumbling growl at him. This "Doctor" is the key
to their husband's survival. Never mind that their nation would be without
a leader without Trilling.
|
