The Story of Sally Armstrong (Doctor Who)

chapter 20

Sally walked along a corridor alone that evening. She wasn't sure of the time, or how long she had been walking for. She knew what they had to do but she couldn't help but wonder how different things would be for them after they were gone.

She noticed Aegrei from the corner of her eye. She wanted to say something but thought better of it. She turned to walk the other way but soon realized Aegrei was behind her, following her step for step. For the first time in hours, she looked around. Had she gone to a restricted area by mistake? Could that be why Aegrei was following her?

She turned, intending on telling her off. Sally recognized where she was and knew she had every right to be there. But as she turned, she found she lost her voice. A wave a guilt came over Sally as she looked at the girl.

Aegrei reached for Sally's hand. "I have to show you something," she said with a soft voice. Before she could answer she was being dragged away. She tried to ask what they were doing, but she didn't answer. She kept dragging her down a few more corridors.

They finally made it to the end of one. There had been no doors or windows. Sally could hardly remember how they got there. Was it two lefts, a right, and another left, or was it two lefts, two rights, and a left? She found her questioning her own memories over and over again. Why couldn't she remember how they got there?

Aegrei gave her a sympathetic look. "There is a perception and memory filter in these corridors that will make it impossible for you to remember how you got there. Don't bother trying to remember." Sally opened her mouth to ask how Aegrei was able to remember, but she beat Sally to it and held up a small piece of paper. She held it in a way that she couldn't read it, but it was clearly a map of the entire palace.

Aegrei began to point things out on the electrical grid. "See here..." She pointed to some buttons on the top right. "That controls the water supply. There is very little rain here, but no one ever worries about it because that is to a machine that takes the moisture out of the air and there is always more than enough water to go around." She then pointed to the top left. "These ones over here turn the wheat and other vegetables that are gathered into the food everyone eats. Just like water. food is hard to come by without these, and the people here would find it very hard to live without its ability to divide what we have in a productive way."

She then turned the side of a square cover. "The buttons under here control a dam that is holding back lava. If you look outside, you'll see a ditch. That used to be a river of the stuff. If these controls were no longer functioning, none of these things would work, and everyone would suffer for it. That was what was in the room, the power to all of these. That is what they are protecting." Her voice went from anger to desperation.

Sally, feeling a lump in the back of her through begin to back up. "Why are you telling me this? It means nothing to me. I told you it was a mistake before." She tried to make herself sound believable but knew she was failing at it.  

The girl almost ran up to her grabbing her hands. "He has evil eyes, Sally! He will do so much harm and not think twice about it. You must not trust him." She moved her one hand up to her face, caressing it. "I know these are not your plans, but if you go along with it you will be just as bad as him. Please, my sweet, think about your own soul."

Sally pulled away from the girl, partly scared, partly confused. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." She stumbled, taking a few steps back. The girl reached out for her again but fell short as Sally turned quickly around now running down the corridors. She had no idea what way she was going so it took her longer then she wanted before she made it back to her room.

******

She tried to compose herself before she opened the door. The Master would be in there and she didn't want him being cross with her as well. To her relief, he had been sitting on his bed with his eyes closed and wouldn't notice she had been crying. She didn't believe he was asleep. His face still had a sharpness about it that seems to slip away when on the rare occasions would actually drift into sleep.