Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers Part 16

'You can't do that,' exclaimed Dodo. 'We're trying to help you as much as we can. And, if things were different, maybe...'

'The Tartars sweep towards us, illness grips our people, it seems a monster roams this very building which I have sought to make a secure fortress...' Dmitri managed an ironic laugh. 'Even adviser Yevhen's daughter is in the grip of some awful trance that separates her from us. I wish I could travel to that land of safety and sleep as easily as her!'

'Look,' said Steven, resting a hand on Dmitri's arm. 'The Doctor is the most incredible person I've ever met. He will do everything he possibly can to help you.'

'And one or two things that are impossible,' added Dodo, trying to lighten the mood.

Dmitri smiled. 'I am sure you are right,' he said, though his words carried little weight of conviction. 'How is Lesia?'

'I really don't know,' said Dodo. 'I just hope your medical people can work out what's wrong with her.'

'It is a worrying development,' agreed Dmitri. He lowered his voice. 'And we must be wary. All creatures will endeavour to protect their young but sometimes they only succeed in injuring those they most want to help.' He stared at Dodo, his grave eyes underlining the allusion he was making. 'Do you understand?'

Dodo nodded. 'I'll stay with Lesia.'

'Excellent,' said Dmitri, striding towards the door. 'Come with me, Steven. There is still much to do.'

The robed man stared imperiously down at the soldier, who had remained on one bended knee at the bottom of the altar steps.

'And this note came from adviser Yevhen?'

The soldier nodded. 'I saw him write it with his own hand.'

The cleric turned the letter over between delicate fingers, as if the very words carried poison. 'And the letter speaks nothing but truth?'

'Forgive me, my lord. I do not know the contents of the note.'

'You believe in G.o.d?'

'Of course.'

'In the glory of Christ, his saints and the virgin?'

The soldier nodded furiously.

'And in the evils of apostasy, heresy and unholy ignorance?'

'I am loyal to my Lord and my country.'

The robed man approached a candle that burned pitifully to one side of the great altar. 'Bishop Vasil is not able to see to this matter himself, but he has made clear what should happen.' He applied the parchment to the flame, which expanded and brightened greedily. 'Adviser Yevhen suggests much the same thing. Listen carefully. This is what you must do.'

When Dodo returned to Lesia's room Nahum was sitting quietly on a stool at the sleeping woman's bedside. He immediately jumped to his feet, his face red with embarra.s.sment and his eyes wide with fear.

'It's OK,' said Dodo.

'OK?' repeated Nahum, clearly not rea.s.sured in the slightest.

'It's all right,' explained Dodo. 'I know.'

The young man stared at her blankly, though this time Dodo sensed the ignorance was less than entirely genuine.

'Lesia told me. About you and her.' She stepped over to Nahum's side, and extended a gentle hand to touch his arm.

'You must be very concerned.'

Nahum glanced around the room, as if seeking rea.s.surance that this was not a plot of Yevhen's hatching. After a moment, he averted his eyes shyness or fear, Dodo could not tell which and simply nodded his head.

Dodo perched herself on the end of the bed, and looked down at her friend. She seemed not to have changed, though that awful deathly look as if the real Lesia had departed, leaving only an empty sh.e.l.l behind remained as strong as before.

Dodo didn't know what to say: she had barely even spoken to Isaac's son before, let alone engaged him in discussions of life, love and death. So she sat in silence, glancing between Nahum's downcast face, the swirling cloud patterns through the windows and Lesia's unchangeable, empty expression.

'Lesia and I grew up together,' said Nahum after some minutes.

The interjection into the all-consuming silence was such that Dodo nearly jumped in surprise.

'Really?' she said.

'Because of our fathers we played together, were taught together. She was the sister I never had, and I her brother.' He paused, a distant look on his face. 'I truly believe Lesia knows more about me than anyone, save G.o.d. There have been times when she has proved she knows me better than I.'

Dodo nodded. 'She never has anything but praise for you.'

Nahum looked troubled. 'She is full of virtue... and forgiveness,' he said vaguely. 'But the one thing that surprised her was when we became more than friends.'

'I don't blame you for keeping it quiet,' said Dodo. 'Yevhen isn't exactly my favourite person round here either.'

'We will tell him... one day, when the season is right. I believe my father knows, though he keeps quiet and gentle counsel. But Lesia's father...'

'He'd go ballistic!'

Dodo wet a square of linen with water from a pitcher that had been left at the side of the bed, and dabbed Lesia's forehead with it. She wasn't sure this was terribly helpful, but it seemed to be the height of medical intervention as far as she could perceive. That, and leeches.

'I do think he cares for Lesia,' said Dodo. 'He just doesn't know how to show it.'

Nahum nodded. 'We all express our deep feelings in ways that are true to our inner character,' he said.

'Sorry?'

'A phrase of my father's. We are all consistent, in line with our virtue, our measure of received and expressible love.'

'I asked Yevhen for permission to sit with Lesia,' said Dodo.

'Actually, I ran into him in a corridor and I didn't want to do anything to cause him further irritation. You know, he seemed genuinely happy that I was so concerned. He told me what a fine girl she was, how like her mother, and how proud he was of her.'

'She died in childbirth.'

'Who?'

'Lesia's mother. She died bringing Lesia into the world.'

Dodo paused. 'Is that why Yevhen is so awful to everyone?'

Nahum shook his head. 'He has always been self-seeking,' he said, with remarkably little malice in his voice. 'But now he has another reason to rail against the iniquities of the world.'

'That's one thing I don't understand,' said Dodo. 'Ever since we arrived, you can feel the fear in the air. Most people are just waiting for the Mongols to show up and kill them.' She got to her feet, drawn to the window and the grey vista beyond. 'And yet you carry on as if nothing is the matter. You joke, and you laugh... You fall in love.'

Nahum did not reply instantly. When she turned to look at him, his face showed only puzzlement. 'But that is how this world is.' He shrugged his shoulders. 'I do not understand what you are saying.'

'I suppose...' Dodo sighed. 'I suppose I'm just saying that where I come from, life is pretty much a doddle. Women rarely die in childbirth, diseases don't wipe out entire cities Mongol hordes aren't forever waiting around the next corner for the right time to invade.'

'Then you and your people must be truly blessed, and the streets must resound with singing!'

'Hardly,' said Dodo. 'If anything, it makes people worse.'

'Then it is as I said,' concluded Nahum. 'By our actions, and not by our circ.u.mstances, do you see the true colour of our hearts.'

Dodo smiled. 'Do you say this sort of thing to Lesia?'

'If she allows me.'

'No wonder she fancies you something rotten.'

The room was a mess with papers, books and writing materials covering every possible surface: the floor, chairs, a low table set just in front of the window. But despite this, it was opulent: one wall was dominated by a great tapestry showing a hunting scene, and gold-coloured cloth hung in costly cascades from the canopy over the bed. The man could not believe how quickly the chamber's new occupant had brought it down into a mire of untidiness and dirt. It only confirmed his worst suspicions.

The man glanced down at some of the parchments, and saw arcane symbols and satanic language captured in ink. He averted his eyes, lest the meaningless written languages of Babel corrupt him, then strode towards the window and pulled the shutters together.

Without warning, the door on the far side of the room opened. The old Jewish adviser stepped in, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng with shock when he saw the soldier.

'Can I help you?' he asked, masking his surprise with politeness.

'I am...' The soldier struggled to find the words. 'I am patrolling the corridors and rooms. On Yevhen's instructions.'

'Yevhen?' Isaac arched his eyebrows. 'Even Yevhen should respect the privacy of those around him.' He smiled good-naturedly. 'Still, orders are there to be obeyed, no?'

The soldier found himself nodding curtly.

'I am looking for my wife,' continued Isaac, looking vaguely around the room, as if she were hiding in the shadows. 'You have not seen her?'

'No, sir, I have not.' The soldier stepped towards Isaac.

'Hmm.'

The man watched Isaac's gaze rest on the shuttered windows.

'It is dark in here,' the old man said. 'I thought I had opened the shutters, but am clearly in error. If you permit me to do so, my friend, then you will have little need for the torch you carry.'

'I have every need for it,' said the soldier, bringing his mail-covered fist on to the back of the adviser's head.

Isaac slumped to the floor with a throttled groan.

The man turned, taking one last look at the room the room of the heretic.

Then he dropped the torch on to a pile of papers, and made for the door.

XIII.

Dies irae, dies illa, solvet saeclum in favilla Dmitri asked me to accompany a small group of soldiers in their search for the disgraced Archbishop Vasil. I couldn't believe how quickly things had changed: less than twenty-four hours before I had been a fugitive, wanted for murder, hiding in the darkness under the cathedral. Now, it seemed, I was known to be innocent and was trusted by the governor so much so, in fact, that he seemed to have a role for me in his plans.

Of course, I am sure the trust only went so far. Doubtless I would not be allowed to enter the TARDIS, and I had the lingering suspicion that the men who searched so diligently for Vasil had also been instructed to watch over me. However, I did feel that some sort of bond existed between Dmitri and myself and, if I had felt for him in the past, my overwhelming sadness at the impossibility of his position was now complete.

A thorough examination of Vasil's quarters indicated that he had expected trouble of some sort. Servants in the residential quarters attached to the great cathedral indicated that the bishop had not been seen for some hours, and that he had neglected his ecclesiastical duties that morning. The last person to see him had observed a desperate attempt to pack a few possessions. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that he was either in hiding, or had fled the city it was unlikely, in either case, that we would find him easily.

We emerged from the semidarkness of the church buildings, and knew at once that something was very wrong. The air was rich with the awful aroma of fire, and a column of grey smoke hung over some nearby buildings.

'We are indeed doomed,' muttered one soldier with awful gallows humour. 'It seems they are burning the victims of disease now.'

I wasn't so sure. I pointed in the direction of the smoke, still unfamiliar with the geography of this vast city. 'Where is that?' I queried.

Sudden panic registered on the faces of many of the guards.

'Governor Dmitri!' exclaimed one.

We set off as one across the square and towards the great, dark building that housed the debating chambers, civil offices and residential quarters of the rulers of Kiev. We ran through narrow streets, hemmed in by buildings and overflowing with people who were either scurrying away in pointless panic or standing rock solid in the road, rooted to the spot in impotent terror.

The picture was much the same once we entered the building. Soldiers and servants rushed everywhere, or stood mutely in the shadows, but no one could tells us exactly where the fire was, and what was being done about it.

It was impossible to see the focus of the blaze from the front of the building, so we moved instinctively through the pa.s.sageways towards the rear. All the while, the stench of burning grew stronger, p.r.i.c.kling our lungs and making our throats raw. Although it was a high-status building, and thus largely constructed of stone, I had seen for myself that wood was a vital construction material. I feared that, unless checked, the flames would soon consume the governor's quarters completely.

At last we came to a knot of minor officials talking earnestly.

Beyond them, blocking a corridor from floor to ceiling, was a wall of fire.

'What's going on?' I asked, and the group immediately opened to reveal Isaac's wife and son at its heart. Both were weak with fear, and each had to support the other.

'Isaac!' exclaimed the woman. 'He is trapped in the inferno!'

'And where is Dmitri?' I asked.

'He is trying to find another way round,' explained Nahum.

'But I am sure this is the only way to get to my father's chambers.'