Ganne


12 - An Absolute Dictator?


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The door opened to admit a man and woman.  Genella's attention went,
naturally, to the woman first.  She was neat and pretty, with brown hair.
Genella was pleased to detect an air of determination and strength about
her.  She has guts, that one, Genella thought.

Switching her inspection to the other prisoner, Genella saw a tall, strong
man with a round mobile face.  An unruly explosion of brown curls erupted
from his head.  Perched precariously atop the hair was a broad-brimmed
hat.  He had two of the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

Snake eyes!  He had snake eyes!

The fellow advanced on the desk, a hand thrust out towards her.  His mouth
was open in a toothy grin.  The Snake Eyes were sparkling with lively
enthusiasm, and an infectious good humour.

"Hello there.  I'm the Doc..."

In her present delicate state, the man's jovial familiarity was just
simply too much.  Genella lashed them with the Ganne, more savagely than
she meant.  The woman went out like a snuffed candle; but the man just
blinked and looked aggrieved.  He spun to catch the falling woman, and
lowered her gently to one of Olan's much prized rugs.  Then he
straightened, and advanced on the desk with an expression of weary
annoyance clouding his face.  He leaned over Genella, placing his hands on
the desk.

Genella was suddenly very afraid.  The power radiating from this man was
awesome.  Being male, he could not be active in the Ganne; by rights he
should have been unconscious.  She lashed him again, putting every last
erg of power she could dredge up into the strike.  The only visible result
was that his expression changed to one of mild solicitousness.

"That's a very impressive Artron Mind Lash you've got there," he commented
amiably.  "But if you go on using it like that, you're going to get a
frightful headache."

It was nothing save her stubborn Dishone Clan Pride which kept her in the
chair.  The failure of her defences was a terrible shock.  Genella felt,
for the first time in her life, vulnerable and afraid.  However, she was a
Bah Dishone.  Her mother had been a Queen of the Ballan Tah, would still
be, were it not for that wretched Curse which had fallen upon that
beautiful northern country of pine forested hills.

With a conscious effort, Genella collected herself.  She laid a hand over
Phaedra's Bayonne, which lay across the desk beside the uneaten breakfast.
She took comfort from the feel of the weapon, and from the soldier
standing behind the prisoner, sword drawn.

Tentatively, she let her Ganne touch the prisoner's mind; and was relieved
to feel an overpowering aura of friendly concern emanating from him.  She
did not relax her wariness.  She met his gaze steadily, even though they
were 'classic' snake eyes.  "Artron Mind Lash ?" she inquired.

The man grinned at her.  He fished a spiced egg from the plate, smiled at
her apologetically, and popped it into his mouth.  Chewing with relish, he
straightened and gazed around the room.  "Ah.  Ganne.  I think you'll know
it as.  You are the Ganne Witch for this District, I presume?"

"You are here to answer questions...  Not ask them." she said.

The man looked disappointed.  "Oh dear.  I was rather hoping it wasn't
going to be like that." He perched his bottom on the corner of the desk,
deliberately invading her space.  He peered over his shoulder at her.
After a good, long inspection, he observed, 'you know, you don't look well
at all?" Turning his attention to the box, he peered into it.  "Ah, good,
our things." He began to rummage in the box.

Genella had not yet summoned the wherewithal to inspect its contents.  She
had no idea whether or not it contained weapons.  She chided herself for
her laxness, and signed to the soldier, who raised his sword.

The big man on her desk moved like lightening.  His hand came around and
snapped the long scarf from about his neck.  It whipped about the blade.
He twitched the scarf.  An eye blink later, the soldier was holding out an
empty hand.  Deftly, the Doctor caught the flying sword.  He unwound his
scarf from the blade, and held it up before him.

Genella sat firm in her chair, ruthlessly controlling the urge to scramble
out and back away.  There was no place of safety anyway.  Once she reached
the window at her back, no further retreat was possible.  Besides, a Bah
Dishone did not retreat - it was simply unthinkable - even for a wretched
specimen such as herself.  Watching the blade, she resolved that she could
at least die with the dignity and courage expected of a Bah Dishone.
Quite frankly, she had done very little in the last twenty years to make
the name of Bah Dishone shine with glory.

With a careful finger, the man tested the edge of the blade.  He drew it
away quickly, popping his finger into his mouth.  'Sharp," he observed.
"You know, you could do someone a really nasty injury with this...  If you
weren't careful." He gave her a toothy grin.  With exaggerated care, he
handed the sword back.

"That," Genella said, stifling a giggle, "is generally what you are
supposed to do with a sword." An overwhelming desire to titter, from a
combination of relief and sudden amusement, all but undone her dignity.
The fellow was quite impossible.

"I think it's much nicer to beat them into plough shares, myself," the
Doctor said.  He perched himself back on the corner of the desk to resume
his poking around in the box.  "Do you mind?" he asked belatedly,
favouring her with a winning smile.

Genella shrugged, waving him assent.  She had to examine the desk top
while suppressing an urge to giggle at this impossible rogue.  She felt a
hundred times better for some reason.  The man's personality was
infectious.  Just a minute in his company had done her more good than all
the wine she had drunk in the last twenty years.  She decided she liked
him, and felt a little guilty about having lashed his lady.  'His lady?'
Genella frowned.  No?...  Somehow that didn't feel right.  This man
travelled alone, even when in company.

She addressed the corporal.  "Arlon.  There is no need for you to stay.
They are quite harmless." The guard saluted and left.  Having been
disarmed so easily, and in front of his superior too, he was not minded to
hang about.  If this ever got round the barracks...

The Doctor bridled at being described as 'harmless'.  "There's a few who
would disagree with you there...  Ah!  Here it is!" he exclaimed
triumphantly, holding up a small, black box.

'What is that?" Genella demanded.

The Doctor adjusted a dial, and flipped a tiny switch.  Genella gasped out
loud.  The unremitting pressure of the Curse was gone.  The world around
her came suddenly into sharp focus, in a way that it had not been since
she had come to this northern outpost of the Ganne Lands.

The Doctor grinned at her.  "There...  Doesn't it feel better without that
Artron Dissonance.  I don't feel it much myself; but I bet it's giving you
a bad time." He pocketed the device, and began to set things from the box
on the desk.  He frowned at the weight of Sarah's shoulder bag, stood it
carefully on the desk, and began to put things away in his pockets.

With the Curse lifted, Genella's fine control of Ganne returned.  She
quickly used the energy to sooth away the last remaining discomfort from
her previous night's binge.  The habitual self-possession of an High Ganne
flooded back with the easing of the numbing Curse.

She stood up.  "Who are you?" she demanded, her voice crackling with
renewed authority.  "What do you know of the Curse?"

"Oh, they call me the Doctor..." He answered her absently, his attention
now on a large wall map.  He hopped down from the desk, and moved over to
it.  "Where are we on here?"

Genella joined him before the map.  "There," she pointed to South Point.
It was marked about half way up the right hand edge of the map, where a
prominent river emptied into the eastern sea.

the Doctor nodded, stepped off a portion of map with his fingers, drew his
hand around in a flamboyant arc.  "At full strength, assuming a drop off
of one percent per mile...  About two hundred miles radius so...  It must
be somewhere in here?" He placed his hand over a portion of green coloured
map, glancing at Genella over his shoulder for confirmation.  "Unless it's
out at sea?"

"If you mean the Curse?  We make it to be somewhere here, near Starnford."
With a delicate finger, Genella indicated a dot in the centre of a round
lake.  "But, of course, by the nature of the Curse, we cannot be certain."

The Doctor stepped back, his expression thoughtful.  He glanced at her,
eyes alive with speculation.  He grinned broadly.  "I really think someone
should have a look at what's going on up there."

"We would if we could.  The curse..."

The Doctor nodded.  "The Artron Dissonance," he mused.  He took another
step back, and stumbled against Sarah's legs.  He'd all but forgotten
Sarah.

Going to his knees beside her, the Doctor lifted an eyelid, peering at the
white ball beneath.  He straightened, and gave Genella a look that raised
hackles all down her back.  "Was that really necessary?" he asked sternly.
"Poor Sarah.  She's going to have a terrible headache when she wakes up.
How long will that be?"

"About six hours," Genella answered.

"Can you bring her round sooner?"

"I could.  But it really would be better to let her sleep it off
naturally."

The Doctor toyed with the end of his scarf.  He asked at last, "you think
that would be best?"

Genella studied the comatose form of Sarah.  She nodded feeling
unaccountably contrite.  "It would be best, I think," she confirmed.

"In that case, is there somewhere we can make her comfortable?"

"There is a room upstairs which I use for overnight stays.  It's a bit
spartan, but..."

The Doctor bent and lifted Sarah without any visible effort.  "There's a
bed?"

'Yes.  An army cot.  It is not very comfortable."

"I don't think Sarah's going to mind that too much.  Lead on!"

Genella was half way to the door, when realisation struck.  Somehow, the
initiative had slipped from her grasp, and been skillfully taken up by
this infernal stranger.  He was now firmly in control.

This could not be endured.  She paused, half turned, meaning to assert her
proper authority; but the man rolled right over her.  "Oh, and have
another breakfast sent up while you're about it.  A night in your cells
does wonders for the appetite."

Genella actually had to squeeze her hands into fists to stop herself
jumping to obey his command.  How had this happened?  A Bah Dishone
dancing so readily to another's tune?  What made it worse was that the
person was male.

For a fleeting instant, Genella experienced a strong desire to stamp her
foot in agitation.  Instead, she preceded the Doctor out of Olan's office,
and up a flight of winding stone steps to a small room.

There was just the bed, a table and chair and a door to a small bathroom.
Light streamed in through a high arched window in the wall opposite the
bed.

The Doctor set Sarah down on the narrow army cot.  He felt her pulse.  It
was strong and steady.  He straightened, stuffed hands in the pockets of
his great coat, and sauntered over to the window.

He stood in the wash of light, gazing out in pensive mood at the vast
stretch of countryside.  The clear sky was an achingly lovely blue; it was
going to be a fine day.  The view was north, across the Great River to the
green hills of the Ballan Tah, some ten miles distant.

The source of the dissonance was out there somewhere.  If it could not be
located and shut down, then the TARDIS would 'die'.  His gallant old
friend would never lift off again from this world to take up the hobo
wandering among the stars.  He would have to sort this problem out, even
if the locals could not help.  He owed it to his oldest friend - not to
mention the fact that his curiosity was piqued.

This world had been settled from Earth in the far past.  It was so far out
that it had lost contact with the long gone Empire of Terra.  In
isolation, it had found its own level of life and technology.  When they
had first come to this pleasant little world, the Earth humans had not
possessed the capability to conceive of, let alone build, an engine that
would disrupt the Artron Field.  Now, they had the sensitivity to the
Artron Energy and so could understand the concept, but lacked the
technology.  It was a puzzle.  Whatever the way of it, there was something
going on here that ought to be looked into.

It would be prudent to stay on the right side of the locals.  These Ganne
were a powerful lot; they could make life very unpleasant for him, if he
annoyed them too much.  Give them cause to really lean on him, and it
would not be long before they got inside his head, and learned things it
would be best they did not know.  So, he'd better take the trouble,
however irritating that might be to him personally, to stay on the right
side of the Authorities here.

He turned from his thoughtful perusal of the sunlit silver and green
landscape.  Sweeping of his hat, he put on his most innocent grin.  "About
this Curse of yours?  I think it might be wise for me to have a look at
it."

Genella was still aggravated by the subtle change in the power position
between them, and quite mystified as to how it had occurred.  She wondered
what, if anything, might be done to put it back on a proper footing.  She
said, "the Ganne Council have worried themselves into a fret over how that
might be done these last thirty years or more - ever since the Curse fell
on the lands of the Ballan Tah."

The Doctor asked, "you are the Ganne Witch for this district?"

"That is so," Genella admitted.

"Good." The Doctor grinned at her.  "Then you can act independently of the
Council?"

"I could;" Genella answered reluctantly.  "Technically, I am an absolute
Dictator within my Province; but what is given lip service to, is not
always how it is in actual fact.  The Ganne Council have always been
fearful of plots and treasons against them.  And rightly so, for there are
always ambitious Ganne on the make, scheming a way to fit their backsides
into that prized seat.  And now, since the falling of the Curse upon the
Ballan Tah, not strictly Ganne lands, of course, but that's a mere
technicality, they are even more careful and suspicious."

"But you could authorise an expedition to see what's up?"

"There have already been expeditions; and none have come back," Genella
said; "but without the power of the ganne at their back, anything might
have happened to them.  Still, there is something very odd about the way
they have just disappeared without trace.  It's not as though the country
is entirely uninhabited.  There are still a few common folk making a
living across the river - foresters and farmers and the like; and the
Travelling Folk still cross back and forth between the Gynarchy and the
Ganne each season."

The Doctor returned his gaze to the view through the window.  Whether or
not they would help, he would have to go.

For several long seconds, Genella studied the man at the window,
considering the situation.  Guara, Genella knew, was very touchy on the
subject of the Curse, which would make any independent action tantamount
to suicide;but there was about the man a faint echo of the silver peace
she felt from the blue box.  With a terrible sinking feeling in her
stomach, Genella realised she was going to help him.  "One good thing
about being an absolute dictator in your district, though," Genella spoke
to his back, "is that we can order up whatever we like.  When would you
like to start?"


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