Doctor Who_ World Game - Doctor Who_ World Game Part 19
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Doctor Who_ World Game Part 19

'What's his connection with the Countess?'

'He's promoting some crackpot nautical invention. Sub-something or other. She got him an audience with the Emperor.'

'What do you make of the Countess?' asked Serena.

'She's something of a mystery. She seems to have known the Emperor in his early days, she's got some kind of claim on him. She reappeared in Paris recently, and was immediately received in imperial circles. Why do you ask?'

'Just idle curiosity.'

To Serena's vast relief the Doctor reappeared, beaming and rubbing his hands. 'Ah, there you are! Sorry to be so long. When the Emperor commands, you know.'

He turned to Talleyrand, who had risen lazily to his feet.

'Monsieur de Talleyrand-Perigord, the Emperor's Grand Chamberlain and Foreign Minister. It's an honour to meet you.'

'Charmed,' said Talleyrand, and they exchanged bows.

'It's extremely good of you to take care of my young friend like this. A man of your eminence must have lots more important things to do.'

'A man of my eminence is frequently bored to tears by those he must engage in conversation,' said Talleyrand.

'Lady Serena has been a most delightful companion.

Mysterious, but delightful.'

The Doctor laughed. 'Serena? Mysterious? Not in the least. She's just a simple girl you know, very inexperienced.

Doesn't have much to say for herself not compared to a sophisticated chap like you.'

'Indeed, Monsieur de Talleyrand has a wonderful store of anecdotes,' said Serena. 'I now know far more about the affairs of the Emperor's court than I feel is good for me.'

'Oh dear, I hope you haven't been filling her head with nonsense,' said the Doctor with mock severity. 'She's been very carefully brought up, you know. She'll be shocked if you've been telling her celebrity gossip.'

'My apologies,' said Talleyrand languidly. 'We lead such shallow lives here at court that such trivia is all we have to discuss. Now I must go and acquire the material for more gossip. Lady Serena, Doctor. We shall meet again soon, I think.' He kissed Serena's hand, bowed elegantly to the Doctor and strolled away.

The Doctor sat down beside Serena and accepted a glass of champagne from a passing footman. He nodded towards the departing Talleyrand.

'Never think he was one of the finest minds in Europe would you?'

'I can hardly be expected to judge. I'm only a simple girl!'

The Doctor chuckled. 'That was meant as a compliment.

He's obviously been trying to pump you, and getting nowhere.'

Serena looked around. 'Is it safe to talk here? We could be overheard.'

'Not in this hubbub, surely, and they haven't invented bugging yet. As long as we keep our voices down we should be all right. Did Talleyrand get anything out of you, do you think?'

'I didn't have anything to tell him,' said Serena. 'There's very little I could could tell him and be believed.' tell him and be believed.'

'All the same if you've resisted an interrogation by Talleyrand, you've done well. How did you get on otherwise?'

'I like him,' said Serena. 'Under all that cynical frivolity he's extremely intelligent kind too, I think. He was telling me about his career, amongst other things. The mere fact that he's survived...'

'Survived and prospered,' said the Doctor. 'He's held high office under the Bourbon royals, the various revolutionary governments, and now Bonaparte.' He lowered his voice still further. 'When the Bourbons are restored, he'll serve them again and when they're eventually deposed, which they will be, he'll hold office under their successors. If all goes well...'

'What do you mean, if all goes well?'

'If nobody succeeds in perverting the course of history.'

'Well, we know who's trying,' said Serena. 'How did things go with the Emperor?'

The Doctor gave her a brief account of the meeting. 'He's got a socking great army all ready to invade England and there's precious little on the other side to stop them if they can get there...'

'Isn't that where the British Navy comes in? Once they defeat the French fleet...'

' If If they defeat the French fleet.' they defeat the French fleet.'

'I thought we'd made sure they did.'

'So did I. But Napoleon seems very confident. He's talking about some kind of secret weapon.'

'Something happened while you were away, Doctor. A man called Fulton came up and talked to Talleyrand, wanted him to attend some kind of demonstration.'

'Demonstration? Demonstration of what?'

'I'm not sure. It was all going to take place by the sea somewhere. Talleyrand snubbed the man and sent him away. Afterwards he said he was an American, trying to promote a new invention a sub something-or-other.'

'Good gracious!' said the Doctor. 'A submersible vessel a submarine! Someone tried to get Napoleon to finance a prototype submarine.'

'What happened?'

'Trials were a big disappointment and the idea was dropped.'

'According to Talleyrand, Fulton is very thick with the Countess. They were talking together afterwards and the Countess was glaring at me as they talked.'

The Doctor frowned. 'Suppose the Countess is giving this fellow Fulton a bit of technical assistance, helping him to build a submarine which really does work? A working submarine could sink half the British fleet. We've got to put a stop to it.'

'How do we do that?'

'Napoleon's invited me to a secret weapon demonstration, presumably of this submersible. I'll just have to see what turns up, won't I?'

'There's Fulton over there, Doctor,' said Serena.

The Doctor glanced across the room and saw a tall, beaky-nosed man standing by himself and gloomily surveying the crowd.

'Excuse me a moment,' he said, and marched over to him.

'Mr Fulton?'

'That's right.'

'I understand you're an engineer, an inventor. My friend Lady Serena told me about you. I'm the Doctor. I dabble a bit in the sciences myself.'

'Well it won't do you much good round here,' said Fulton.

'This crowd don't reckon much to engineers.'

'My dear chap it's always the same,' said the Doctor sympathetically. 'They're happy enough to profit from the scientific advances, but despise the man who gets his hands dirty producing them. Tell me about your submersible. The Emperor invited me to attend the trials, I'm really looking forward to it.'

Fulton beamed down at him, scarcely able to believe he'd discovered a fellow spirit. 'That so, sir? She's called the Nautilus Nautilus. Right now I've got her in a workshop here at the palace. But we're taking her down to Boulogne soon for sea-trials. The Emperor's coming.'

'My ward tells me you tried to get the Foreign Minister to come too.'

'I thought it was worth a try. He's very influential and the Emperor listens to him. But he just looked down his turned-up nose at me and gave me the brush-off...'

Watching them from across the room, Serena saw that they were engaged in animated conversation, Fulton holding forth, the Doctor listening with keen interest, asking the occasional question.

After some little while, the Doctor looked across and gave her an apologetic smile. He said his farewells, bowed to Fulton and came back over to her.

'Sorry about that my dear, I couldn't miss the opportunity.

Very interesting fellow.'

'Tell me Doctor,' said Serena, 'are your ears burning?'

The Doctor rubbed one of them. 'No, why?'

'The Countess collared Fulton the moment you left him, and she doesn't look happy. Guess who they're talking about?'

'Let 'em!'

The Countess looked up and saw them watching her. She said something to Fulton, looking angrier than ever. She gave the Doctor a glare of deadly hatred.

Chapter Seventeen.

Deadly Rendezvous

A footman approached the alcove with a laden tray piled high with assorted canapes. Serena shook her head, but the Doctor jumped up and beckoned him over.

'Seems a jolly long time since dinner! Are you sure, Serena?'

'Quite sure, thank you. I'm too tired to eat.'

'Just let me have this little snack and we'll be off. I'll be as quick as I can.'

Accepting a plate from another footman even the plate, he noticed, was embossed with golden bees the Doctor loaded it with savoury canapes and began scoffing them down with surprising speed.

'These little chicken pie things are really excellent,' he said indistinctly. 'Sure you won't try one?'

Serena shook her head, watching him with amusement.

He looked like a greedy child at a party.

What an odd mixture he was! Even the effect of his new smart clothes hadn't lasted very long. By now he was looking slightly scruffy, a little clownish. But there was no doubt about his intelligence, his courage and the strength of his will.

She recalled Sardon's account of his capture. If he had not sacrificed himself so that the kidnapped humans could be restored to their own places and times he would still be free to roam the cosmos in his rackety TARDIS. The Doctor, she thought, would always try to do the right thing, as he saw it, whatever the consequences.

She remembered his own words. 'I do what I can and what seems best at the time.' The Doctor lived by a set of principles his own principles. No wonder he had fled from Gallifrey, a place where principles were often in short supply.

Serena felt a sudden pang of guilt at her disloyalty to her home planet. Was she being turned into a rebel like the Doctor?

Her eyes met the Doctor's. He looked amused and she had a sudden feeling that he knew exactly what she was thinking...

'You see?' the Countess was saying. 'You chatter about your project in front of the girl, and she tells the Doctor! Then he comes and pumps you and you blab everything!'

'I didn't even speak to the girl ma'am,' said Fulton angrily.

'That snob Talleyrand made a point of not introducing me.

And the Doctor already knew about the Nautilus Nautilus. The Emperor's invited him to attend the trials. And I can tell you this, he's a hell of a scientist. Got the basic principles immediately, even made a few useful suggestions. What have you got against the Doctor anyway?'