Beneath the Stone - Part 2

BENEATH THE STONE

Part 2

BY BERNIE FISHNOTES

Anselm was sifting through the papers on the desk, feeling depressed. After Ben had caught him with Simon Sandringham, life had been difficult. He’d told Simon to leave, and had promised never to speak to him again, but that wasn’t enough for Ben. He’d insisted on knowing where Anselm went every time he left the flat, and had even followed him on at least one occasion. He would find his e-mails had been read, and his Facebook account was clearly being accessed by someone in Ben’s flat. Anselm knew that he’d done wrong, Ben meant the world to him, but sometimes, Ben was just…

He stopped. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about his personal problems, he had a job to do. He looked out of the window, and saw Kyle and Katie carrying the geophys machine. Katie had been loving every minute of the last few weeks. She still liked Ben, and wasn’t going to let him forget how he’d been wronged. Kyle had said noting on the subject, but hadn’t spoken to Anselm since.

As if thinking about the Doctor caused him to appear, he heard the thunderous roar of the TARDIS, and it appeared exactly where it had been a few minutes ago. The door flew open, and the Doctor had shot out of the door, a look of panic on his face. At the exact moment, Katie and Kyle had exploded in a bright flash of light. Anselm covered his eyes, expecting the glass of the caravan window to be blown in, but it hadn’t. He leapt up, and ran out of the cabin.

“What happened?” Anselm shouted, rushing towards where Katie and Kyle had been. The Doctor was already there, scanning the ground with his sonic screwdriver. Ben hung back, in case it happened again. The Doctor gave a loud grunt of annoyance, and leapt to his feet.

“Ungh!” he said angrily. “Idiot!” he kicked the monolith, then started hobbling, his foot hurting.

“What happened” Anselm repeated.

“There is a ship underneath this monolith,” Ben said. “It must have mistaken the geophys signal for a transmission.”

“So they’ve been beamed down?” Anselm asked, relieved. He’d feared the worst…

“Well, it certainly looks like it!” Ben said.

“Can we rescue them?” he asked.

“I’m sure the Doctor can get us down there in the TARDIS” Ben replied.

The Doctor clutched his head, messing up his hair. “The TARDIS won’t fit.” He said in annoyance. “Anyway, we don’t know the exact depth.” He rested the back of his head on the monolith, and stood there, silent. He’d gotten them into this mess, and he hoped they’d be alright…

Kyle and Katie both awoke in a metal chamber, about two metres by two, with a small door recessed into the far end, all corroded with age. Opposite it was what looked like a sofa. Kyle sat down while Katie examined the geophys machine.

“Oh brilliant!” she said “all the wiring’s burnt out. It’s useless.” She threw it to the floor. She ignored the laptop, which was smoking slightly, and sat down next to Kyle. “You got your phone with you?” she asked Kyle.

“Yeah,” he said, pulling it out. It was warm, and the screen was black. He tried turning it on, but nothing happened. “Bugger,” he said “it’s knackered. Must have been the zapping we got.”

“Well dur!” Katie replied sarcastically.

“Where’s yours then?” he asked accusingly.

Katie said nothing. It was on the table in the caravan, but she didn’t want to admit it.

“Well this is just fecking marvellous” she said. “I’m stuck down here with Captain Chav!”

“Well, it ain’t exactly a picnic for me neither” Kyle retorted. “trapped with the Bitch Queen of Cambridge.”

“Well,” Katie said angrily, “at least it can’t get any worse…”

Almost as if fate was demonstrating how lax its willpower was, there was a noise form the door. It was slowly creaking open.

Kyle stood up, moving forward to get between Katie and whatever was coming through the door. He picked up the geophys machine, hoping to use it as a weapon. There wasn’t enough room for a good swing, but he could at least try.

The door slid open, squealing after millennia of disuse, and a figure appeared. It was a small, wearing a brown overall, covered in badges and symbols. It’s head was like that of an insect, with large, crescent-shaped compound eyes and antennae. The hard carapace was covered in dust, and there were areas peeling around the eyes. It was clearly having trouble breathing, and it was shaking somewhat. As soon as it saw Kyle I reached for a device on it’s belt and pointed it at him.

“sktzkstkzsktswkzstkztskztskztskzkstkztskztsktzsktktktks!” it screamed at Kyle.

“What?” Kyle said in reply.

“I don’t think it speaks English” Katie said from behind him.

“Language assimilated” the device said, and the alien put it back on his belt. “What are you doing in my ship?” the creature said accusatively “And what have you done to my cryo-system?”

“We ain’t done nothing to your stinking cryo-system!” Kyle said, raising the geophys machine.

The alien pulled another device from its belt, and pointed it at Kyle, who backed away, still keeping himself between Katie and the alien. “Why am I in such bad health? Where is the rescue ship?”

“What rescue ship?” Katie said, trying to get round Kyle. But he wasn’t letting her.

The alien looked at Katie. “You deny knowledge of the rescue ship?”

“We don’t know anything about a rescue ship. We don’t even know anything about this ship!”

The alien looked at her. “What is your planet of origin?”

“This one, Earth.” Katie answered.

“Nonsense!” The alien said. “I surveyed this planet from orbit before I landed, the inhabitants are primitive, pre-industrial…”

“You’ve been down here a while then!” Katie interrupted. “Humanity has developed industry, travelled in space, formed great civilisations…”

The alien stared at Katie. A mild telepathic field washed over her un-noticed. It could detect no sign of deceit, could it be true?

It lowered the weapon. “Then I apologise. Be seated, and tell me more.”

“Who are you?” Kyle asked, not trusting the alien.

“My name is Caudatus, and I am an archaeologist from the Dalmanite Institute for Universal Antiquities.”

“I’m also an archaeologist, Katie Ryan, from Kings College, Cambridge.”

Caudatus pointed at Kyle with a clawed hand. “And what of your servant?”

“I ain’t her servant!” Kyle protested.

“Life partner?”

“NO!” they both said in unison

“Sorry, I assumed from the way this human protected you that he was either in servitude or intending to breed with you. That is how many primitive races behave.”

“I ain’t breeding with her, mate” Kyle muttered under his breath.

“No, he’s just a friend.” Katie said.

Caudatus considered this. “You people are strange. I must make a note of this.” He pulled what looked like a PDA from his belt, and started scraping his finger across symbols at the side. “So, tell me of this planet’s history…”

The Doctor hadn’t said anything for nearly an hour, and this was making Ben nervous. He’d tried phoning them, but Katie’s phone was in the caravan and Kyle’s number kept going to voicemail. Anselm was lurking by the office, not knowing what to say or do. Ben went over to him. “They’ll be alright” he said.

“Ben…” Anselm started. A lump was forming in his throat.

“Yes Anselm?”

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“You’ve said that so many times, and I want to believe it.” Ben turned his back on him. “But how can I? I’ve been hurt before, and I really had high hopes for us. How could you?”

“I… I don’t know.” Anselm said. But he did. Ben was attractive, he had learning and a taste for the finer things in life, but his life was so difficult.

“Is it me?” Ben asked. He couldn’t see how it could, but he’d heard someone say it on Coronation Street, and it usually got a self-pitying answer.

“No,” Anselm said, predictably. Ben felt vindicated. “But in a way it is.”

“What do you mean?” Ben said, horrified.

“This lifestyle!” Anselm said. “All the monsters, and aliens, and deaths.” tears appeared in his eyes. “It’s too much for me. I just want a normal life, where I know that nobody is going to try and kill me.”

“Then why did I find you in the arms of that Sandringham person?” Ben shouted.

“It was a moment of weakness.” Anselm said. “I needed someone to be with, and you were nowhere to be seen.”

“I was solving a case, remember!” Ben said. “I had to debrief with Jack and the others.”

“And that took five hours?”

“It was a difficult case!”

“In a winebar?” Anselm said, accusingly. “You went out with everybody else, and got pissed. You even let your teenaged nephew get drunk, and never even thought to call me!”

“So you were jealous” Ben said. He rolled his eyes, “You want the world to revolve around you!”

“No,” Anselm said. “I want you to realise the world doesn’t revolve around you!”

Ben was shocked at this. Did Anselm really think that he, Ben Chatham, was so egotistic?

“Are you calling me selfish!” Ben shouted.

“Frankly, Ben, Yes.” Anselm shouted back, tears streaming down his face. “Everything is about you, and what you want, and how things effect you. Once, just once, it’d be nice if we did something I want to do!”

The Doctor wandered over. “Everything alright?” he asked.

Anselm muttered something, and stomped into the caravan, slamming the door behind him. The Doctor put his hand on Ben’s shoulder.

“Ben, I know you’re having problems, but they really need to wait. Kyle and Katie need our help, and you two arguing isn’t helping.”

“You’re right” Ben said, turning away from the caravan. It was probably best to let Anselm calm down before continuing this conversation

Katie sipped the drink Caudatus had offered her. It was very bitter, and tasted a bit like lemon, but for once had decided to bite her tongue. Kyle had refused a drink, and was sat next to her, bored to death. For the last hour (well, he assumed it was an hour, his watch just showed a blank screen) Katie and Caudatus had been discussing history. Kyle had attended a lecture with Ben once on Palaeolithic bowls, and had been asked to leave for snoring. Caudatus had been taking notes the whole time, and had been enthralled by what Katie was saying.

“So many cultures, so much history!” he said, overjoyed. “This could be the thing that makes my career!”

“Well, I’m glad to help!” Katie said. “It’s nice to find someone who actually has an interest in the past!” she added, glancing at Kyle.

“I’m interested in how your culture preserves your history. Do you have any organisations dedicated to preservation.”

“Loads” Katie said. “I’m a member of about ten of them!”

“Really,” Caudatus said. “Well, this has been very interesting. I’m going to have to verify everything, naturally, and send up a probe.”

Katie didn’t like the suggestion that her knowledge wasn’t sufficient, but she said nothing.

Caudatus left the chamber, and closed the door behind him. Kyle opened his eyes and looked at Katie. “You finished?”

“If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that I had!” she snapped.

Kyle sighed. “Well, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Telling Caudatus all that stuff.”

“He’s a historian” Katie snapped “He wants to know about our history.”

“If you say so.” Kyle said, closing his eyes again.

Katie began to wonder, maybe Kyle had a point. Still, how often was he right?

Regret began to form in Katie’s mind…

The Doctor was pacing up and down when there was a sudden flash. Where Katie and Kyle had vanished from appeared a brass-coloured sphere covered in spines.

The Doctor rushed over to it, and pulled out his sonic. He ran it across the spines, pointing it at the tips, which glowed faintly.

“What is that contraption?” Ben asked.

“It’s a probe. The Dalmanite pilot must still be alive.”

“If the pilot is still alive, that means we can contact it, and get him to return Kyle and Katie.” Ben said.

“It’s not that simple” The Doctor said.

“Well, I know it’s going to be upset about missing out on nearly two millennia, but we can take it home, can’t we?”

“That would be a bad idea.” The Doctor said, putting away his sonic screwdriver. “If the Dalmanites find Earth, you’re in trouble.”

“But you said they were academics, interested in history and alien cultures.”

“They are, in a way.” The Doctor said. “And that’s why we have to stop them”

“You are speaking in riddles, Doctor!” Ben said, getting annoyed again. “Just tell me what’s so wrong with the Dalmanites taking an interest in Earth’s history.”

“Because they have an overactive superiority complex” The Doctor said. “They’ll find the Earth, see if it needs protecting, and begin the preservation process.”

“But why is that a bad thing?”

“Because if they decide that you lot are incapable of looking after your history, they’ll have to confiscate it.”

Ben couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “They’d steal our history!”

“Fleets of ships will come, taking the pyramids, the ziggurats, the castles and manor houses. All the historic documents, all the artefacts from every age. Everything will be taken away, and placed in museums on Dalmanite.”

“Well, it’s lucky that we can look after our history” Ben said. “With organisations like the National Trust, English Heritage and the World Archaeological Society, I think humanity is perfectly capable of protecting historic items and sites, and have done for nearly a hundred years!”

“Let’s hope the Dalmanite sees it that way.” The Doctor said, looking at the probe.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ben asked indignantly, but the Doctor was staring at the probe.

Caudatus looked at the data that was coming in from the probe. A nearby dwelling had a connection to a global information database, protected by a security system so primitive it actually made him laugh. The database confused Caudatus, so many illustrations of humans in strange postitions, but he found what he was looking for. Firstly, from the movement of the stars, he was able to calculate that he’d been buried for nearly 2000 years, which alarmed him. Still, he thought, the Dalmanite Empire would still be going. Still considering this, he got to work. The history of this planet was far greater than the human Katie had said, and there was so much of it preserved around the world. Then he found what he was looking for.

War.

Every country had had a war, and many were fighting one as he read. The humans were war-like, and seemed proud of their destructive tendencies. They built memorials to the dead of their wars, rather than denying them, as they did on Dalmanite, they had museums of war, they played war games.

Then he found pictures that really disturbed him. Museums with their roofs blown out be aerial bombs. Statues being blown up in remote areas. Ancient tombs being flooded to provide power for modern cities. Historic buildings being demolished in the name of progress…

This was it. Caudatus knew what he had to do.

Earth would need a conservation order put on it…