General Titus
smiled. 'You will not be ignorant of the true power of the Roman Empire for
much longer. Come with me.'
The Cavalier
followed Titus out of the tent and into the Roman encampment on the
mountainside. The soldiers, too, were leaving their shelters are gathering in
the centre of the camp. The Cavalier felt his hearts beating faster in his
chest. Everything seemed so wrong, so terribly wrong.
A young
soldier passed something to the General.
'Oh, of
course!' said the Cavalier, resigned to the strangeness of this corner of the
universe. 'You've got a radio!'
General Titus
spoke into the device. 'Attention! This is your general speaking. The hordes of
Hannibal have continued their advance, and have dared to defy our glorious and
righteous Empire. They must be stopped! Roll out the fighters!'
'What does
that mean?' asked the Cavalier. 'Are you sending in gladiators to fight for
you?'
'Not that
sort of fighter, I'm afraid. Look to the skies!'
Right on cue,
a deafening noise sliced through the thin air of the mountain, as something
distant grew steadily closer. The Cavalier stared upwards, along with the
Romans.
He couldn't
quite believe what he saw: three sleek jet fighters zoomed across the sky, high
in the clouds, leaving a trail of glorious red smoke behind them as they went.
General Titus and his troops all cheered, but while the Cavalier's mouth hung
open as he stared skywards, no sound came out.
There were no
words.
A deep
rumbling could be heard from far-off, across the Alps. It was unmistakably the
noise of the jet planes of the Roman Empire dropping their bombs on the
unsuspecting forces of Hannibal. But when the ground continued to shake long
after the distant explosions ceased, General Titus and his forces quickly
stopped cheering.
'The
mountain's coming down around us!' said the Cavalier, panicked.
Though they
were silent, the Romans were seemingly unconcerned.
'Do not worry
yourself, stranger,' said Titus simply. 'There's plenty of room in the transmat
pod.'
One minute
the Cavalier had been stood on a mountainside, with the screech of fighter
planes growing terrifyingly closer by the second, and the next he was in a
large stone courtyard in the middle of a city. He had finally reached Ancient
Rome, but it wasn't at all like he had been expecting.
The Roman
courtyard looked like it had been converted into some sort of transmat
hub--ancient and modern at the same time. The stony walls were lined with
electrical cables, all powering up the huge glowing circle in the middle of the
floor on which the Cavalier, Titus and the rest of the Romans had appeared. The
Cavalier had dozens of questions, but it seemed that he was not the only one.
A young woman
hurried over to General Titus. She was holding a microphone, and was flanked by
a man holding a television camera.
'A film crew,'
mumbled the Cavalier miserably. 'Oh dear.' He wondered whether the radio and
the fighter jets might have been the worst of it, but it seemed that the
situation was far worse than he could ever have imagined. Ancient Rome was so
utterly wrong.
'General
Titus!' shouted the reporter excitedly. 'Do you have any comments for everyone
watching at home? How was the battle? I should add, we are live, so please
don't swear.'
Titus flashed
a winning smile, and ruffled his hair. 'Do I look okay? Right. Comments? Oh,
well, everything went fine. Hannibal was well and truly trounced. No problems
at all. Rome is safe, as usual, etcetera.'
The reporter nodded. 'That's
fantastic. Thank you. I'll let you and the others head off to the bath house
and get cleaned up.'
Not even that
thought managed to put the Cavalier in a good mood. The whole situation was
overwhelming. He felt so uneasy, and knew he had to act. As a Time Lord, it was
his responsibility to fix it. Somehow...
But the
Cavalier spotted something out the corner of his eye. Standing beneath an
archway in the courtyard, cloaked in shadow, was what appeared to be some sort
of black knight. Glowing red eyes looked out from behind a heavy helmet, as if
piercing the Cavalier's soul.
He felt a
shiver run down his spine. Somehow, in his hearts, he knew that this was the
enemy who had destroyed his TARDIS. Now they were coming to finish the job--to
finish him.
The Cavalier
didn't know what to do. Should he run? Or maybe confront the strange knight? He
couldn't decide. So they stood for a while, as if oblivious to the joyful chaos
of the Romans all around, just staring at each other across the courtyard.
Suddenly
General Titus stepped in front of the Cavalier, obscuring his view. 'So,
friend, what will you do know? Are you planning on staying here? I think you'll
love it. We have all the mod-cons and over a thousand television channels...'
The Cavalier
stopped listening and peered over General Titus' shoulder to look over at the
archway, at the sinister figure beneath it. But he saw that there were now at
least a dozen of the black knights, all staring right at him with those red
eyes. There was no doubt about it. They were coming for him.
'S-stay
here?' The Cavalier couldn't take his eyes off the figures. 'Nah, General. I'm
afraid I can't. Actually, I-I-I think I'd better get going. Well done on the
battle and stuff.' The Cavalier planted a congratulatory kiss on the General's
lips, then turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could.
He hoped that
wouldn't be his last kiss. Not that it wasn't a good one, but he had that
privilege reserved for someone else. For an old friend from Gallifrey...
~~~
Romana waited with the TARDIS outside the art gallery, while the Doctor returned the Laughing Cavalier to its rightful place. He emerged after a short while, deep in conversation with the woman who appeared to be the curator. She looked tired, and was no doubt in need of a good lie down after the dramatic theft of one of her paintings. Unfortunately for her, the Doctor was still talking.
When the Doctor had finally let the curator go, Romana asked where they were heading next. 'Back to the park?' she suggested.
'Not just yet,' said the Doctor. 'First, we've got to see an old friend.'
'Oh, yes. Poor old K-9, locked away because you can't pay your fine.'
'What?' replied the Doctor, confused. 'I was talking about the Cavalier! Thought we could pay him a little visit. It's been far too long since we last had a chat, and I need to warn him that some self-righteous little security cameras with a bad attitude are looking for him.'
'But what about K-9?'
'Oh, he'll be okay for a while. What's the worst that could happen to him, he gets a little rusty? And I'm sure I've got a spare in the TARDIS somewhere, if it came to it.'
The Doctor grinned at Romana; he was only joking. At least, that was what she told herself.
Above the entrance to the art gallery, a security camera swivelled to watch as the police box faded away. Its tiny mind clicked into action, realising that the box-shaped TARDIS might be its best hope of catching the criminal known as the Cavalier.
'Justice will be swift' it said, before it teleported away.
~~~
Panting for breath, he stood leaning against a wall and tried to compose himself. He glanced around, checking that he was alone. But at the far-end of the street behind him stood one of the black knights.
'No way,' sighed the Cavalier. He had to press on. 'What in the name of Rassilon is wrong with this place?'
Summoning what little of his strength was left, he started running again. He turned a corner--and ran directly into someone. The Cavalier was knocked to the ground. His body collided with the tarmac painfully, and it took him a moment to regain his senses. But without looking, he knew that it was a black knight that stood looming over him.
The figure spoke in a deep, rasping voice that suited its terrifying exterior perfectly. 'Nothing is wrong,' he said. It was a he, for it was a man's voice, albeit one heavily manipulated by machinery.
'What are you talking about?' asked the Cavalier. 'Of course it's wrong! There's technology here that doesn't belong in this time! It's completely impossible!'
'Incorrect,' replied the black knight simply and chillingly. 'It is not impossible. It is simply improbable. The chances are slim, yet it could still happen; indeed it has happened, as you can see.'
The Cavalier started to push himself up onto his feet, but the armoured man placed his heavy boot onto the Time Lord's chest, holding him down.
Unable to move, the Cavalier's voice trembled. 'Who the hell are you? And what do you want with me?'
Two more identical black knights stepped out of the shadows behind the Cavalier, preventing any chances of an escape. He was trapped, and at their mercy.
'We are the Zeronaughts. And we want you.'
~~~
The time rotor began its steady rise and fall as the TARDIS forged its way through infinity. The Doctor was busy at the controls, and once again, much to her annoyance, Romana had been reduced to simply being a passenger. She was forced to remain silent, keeping her intelligent criticisms to herself, even though she knew a faster, safer, and all-round better way to do what the Doctor was attempting.
An explosion rocked the control room and it tipped on its side. The violent lurch knocked both the Doctor and Romana off their feet.
'Oh, for heaven's sake, K-9!' the Doctor said angrily, picking himself up off the floor and doing nothing to help Romana. 'What have you done this time?'
'He's not here, is he? Remember? So there's only one person whose fault it is...'
'I suppose so.' The Doctor thought for a moment. 'Goodness, Romana, I thought you knew what you were doing!'
It took every ounce of strength in Romana's body to stop herself from answering back. Biting her tongue, she dusted herself off and checked the readings on the console. Despite the unintentional crash-landing, they had in fact seemed to arrive at the intended destination.
Outside the doors, the Cavalier awaited them.
~~~
General Titus searched long into the night to find the Cavalier, but there was no sign of him. The man was gone.
The flagship of the Zeronaught Accumulation blasted through space, slowly but surely ploughing through the inky void, past stars and planets and moons of a thousand colours. On the command deck of the starship was the leader of the Zeronaughts, known as Nil the Calculator.
He was dressed identically to the others of his faction--his whole body protected inside seemingly impenetrable black armour--and yet it was still possible to tell that he was in charge. There was something about him, the way he walked and talked and held himself, as if he simply exuded power and confidence with everything he did, subconsciously letting everyone around him know that he was dangerous.
Also, he regularly killed people, which had a similar--if not even more potent--effect.
'What is the prisoner's condition?' he asked in the low, heavy, rasping voice that he shared with all the others of his kind.
'Life signs are stable,' replied a lesser Zeronaught, who was working away at a computer console nearby. 'But the beat of his hearts has decreased, returning to regularity, and the lower levels of adrenaline support the conclusion that he is overcoming his fear.'
'Well,' said Nil, 'we'll have to do something about that.' He threw a lever on a nearby control console.
For a while, nothing happened. But the Zeronaughts waited patiently. A distant scream could then be heard, echoing up through the countless levels of the starship, having carried all the way from the holding cells. It was a cry of pain, as thousands of volts coursed through a body that was already weak, and had already suffered so much at the hands of the Zeronaughts.
The Cavalier
would not be able to take much more.
written by
SAMUEL MARKS
copyright 2013
artwork by
COLIN JOHN
copyright 2013
