Third of the Raven Series and part of the Fifth Doctor Fiction collection
A small rectangular box of soft Italian countryside faded into the deep blue of the TARDIS. The Doctor was first onto the landscape, but was quickly followed by his four companions who gathered around him like tourists to their tour guide.
Nyssa let out a quiet "wow!". The landscape was nearly as beautiful as the people's gardens were on Traken. The rich green vineyard that the TARDIS had landed in stretched as far as the eye could see in three directions whilst the fourth was taken by a huge Roman villa. Its brilliant white walls reflected the burning sun and the intense red roofs led Nyssa's eyes to the verdant hills behind the manor.
"The Roman Empire, then," said Tegan, "but I suppose anything more exact would be too much to ask? I mean can we expect Hadrian's elephants to descend on us at any moment?"
"What did they teach you in school? Hadrian had the wall, it was Hannibal who had the elephants! But anyway it is too early for either of them. The yearometer aboard the TARDIS dates us at circa 95AD and we are in Northern Italy close to the ruins of Pompeii under the reign of the emperor Domitian."
"Let me guess - put's Caligula to shame?"
"No, old Domitian's not that bad, but he is a bit power mad - a bit like Stalin."
"Are we in Rome?" asked Raven, "I've always wanted to visit Rome... well since last Tuesday anyway."
"There's more to Roman life than a few smutty pages of the Satyricon," reprimanded the Doctor, "although it is very interesting from a socio-political point of view. I would quite like to have a word with Petronius one day - perhaps even get a signed first edition... Anyway, Raven, if you are disappointed by the respectable conduct of the natives, I'm sure Nyssa will be happy to oblige you."
Nyssa glowered. It was clear that the Doctor would never get used to her relationship with Raven.
The Doctor was eager to make contact with the local farmer to obtain permission to park where they had and so the little party made their way around to the front entrance of the farm-house.
The Doctor knocked on the sturdy wooden door, but there was no answer. From within, a female could be heard crying.
The Doctor took Nyssa to investigate, leaving the others outside.
***
The first thing Nyssa noticed about the interior was its coolness after the heat of the midday sun outside.
The entrance room was all in white. The far end was open to a garden and there was a pool in the centre of the room beneath a break in the roofing presumably to collect rainwater. In the sidewalls were two doors to give access to other parts of the villa. It was through these that Nyssa followed the Doctor until they came to the source of the crying noises.
They came upon a small well-decorated bedroom. In the centre was a bed with a female on it. She was weeping heavily. A cluster of young males huddled around her trying to calm her. The difference in dress between themselves and the woman suggested to Nyssa that they were her slaves and she their mistress.
"Erm...can we help?" asked the Doctor.
"Not ... unless you are ..." Her speech was broken by sniffs and held back wails. "... Witches or gods and can bring back my hus... my dear Marcus."
"We're neither of those, just travellers looking for somewhere to stay," said the Doctor apologetically, "but tell me about your husband."
"Lucius, his best-friend, went to the ruins of Pompeii to ... search for treasure or something ... He never returned and so Marcus set out to find him and ... he is gone and he is so special to me, he's all I have. Please help me!"
"Okay, we will."
"Who are you, kind stranger?"
"I'm the Doctor and this is my niece Nyssa. We are travellers."
"Why do you wear such strange clothes? Have such strange names?"
"We are from Greece."
"Ah! My name is Julia. Tell me, are there many more of you?"
"Three: Tegan, my travelling companion and my two slaves: Adric and Raven."
"You travel light?"
"He travels the fastest who travels alone."
"Very wise. Tell me, dear Doctor, do you think Jupiter will return my dear Marcus if I'm a good host and offer you lodgings?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know. I'm not that kind of Doctor. But in return for such kindness I would use all of my strength to uncover your husband's disappearance."
"Then, as my husband would say, it's a deal."
***
Meanwhile, Tegan was bored.
"I'm fed up of always being left outside. Why does he always take Nyssa with him and not any of us?"
"I think it's because she's quieter for snooping around," suggested Adric.
"And just what do you mean to imply by that, maths boy?"
Adric didn't dare say anything else for fear of pushing his foot further in it. Instead Raven replied with, "I think he chooses her because she is the most perfect creature in the universe."
Adric was very nearly sick.
"Have you thought he may be manipulating your relationship with her?" asked Tegan, "I mean separating you from her? He doesn't like your cosiness with her, you know."
"I know. I don't really know what his problem is."
"He's afraid you'll hurt her," said Adric.
"And you?"
"Yes. I think you will too."
"What! How come everyone's suddenly against me? I should have left you all to die on Deonisia."
"I'm not against you," continued Adric, "It's just...you're too impulsive. You see something you like and want it! She'll only be your sweetheart until you find someone new. But if you break her heart, I will track you down and kill you and that's a promise."
"Ooh! Smitten with another bloke's girl are we?" asked Raven.
Tegan was getting bored of this rather childish argument (even if she did start it). Instead she wandered across to the road where an old woman dressed in black was hobbling along.
"Don't stay here, child," she mumbled, "don't stay here. A tall dark stranger will bring evil. Evil and death. Evil, danger and death. You mark my words: if the sheep are purple, the day will be warm."
Tegan decided she was just a mad old woman and anyway she started hobbling off again so Tegan couldn't get any more explanation from her. She hoped that their little discourse had lost something in the translation by the TARDIS's telepathic circuits.
***
Dinner was a very Roman affair. Raven and Adric had been sent to the slaves' quarters to share a bowl of gruel, while the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Julia reclined on painful stone couches eating a meal of green olives and badly cooked door-mice. Tegan was actually envious of Adric and Raven's gruel. In fact the only thing in the meal fit for human consumption was the spiced wine, which Tegan had a lot of to disguise the taste of the door-mouse.
Tegan had tried several times to tell the Doctor about the strange old woman's curse, but he was so wrapped up in conversation with Julia that he didn't seem to notice her. She told Nyssa instead.
"I don't know what to make of it," said Nyssa.
"Do you think she's just a mad old woman?"
"We have...had a saying on Traken: Mad old women often speak truths."
"Oh dear."
"Do you think we'd better tell the Doctor?"
"Later. He seems too enthralled at the moment by Miss Italy Province 95," Tegan laughed.
***
The Doctor was fascinated. It seemed that Marcus Fabius Maso was a theologist farmer. He had made meticulous studies of all the principle gods, but seemed particularly interested in Diana, the huntress and her Greek counterpart Athena.
"It is a shame Marcus was not here to see you himself," said Julia, "he was so interested in the Greek side of things. He loved all your monsters and stories."
"Oh! That's only for the tourists," joked the Doctor.
"Marcus claimed to have evidence that the Medusa actually existed."
"Really? Now that is interesting."
***
There were enough spare bedrooms for everyone, except Adric and Raven, who with their new-found status as slaves had to sleep in their quarters at the back of the house. Julia explained that even their closest neighbours were the other side of Pompeii - an hour's walk and so they always made sure there were enough bedrooms for any guests that might drop in.
In the morning, Tegan, Nyssa, a slave called Heracles (due to his strength and Greek heritage), and the Doctor set off to follow where Marcus had gone a few days before; Julia organised a lunch for their - hopeful - return and Raven and Adric assisted Grumio, the household slave, with his duties.
"So is the Doctor a good master?" he asked them.
"Yes he is," replied Raven, "he travels a lot so we get to see many different lands."
"How exciting. But, I don't think I'd swap this for the world. It is so pleasant here in the countryside and I feel I have a mutual respect with my owners."
Adric was getting bored of this play-conversation and so he disappeared for a quick snoop. Presently, he came to what had to be Marcus' study. There was a bookcase lining one wall filled with scrolls. In a corner was a huge desk also covered in scrolls. Adric picked one of these up. It was labelled: 'The Stones of Diana'.
He opened it and settled his back against a tapestried wall to read it.
He fell through the tapestry onto the heavy floor.
The tapestry had concealed a hidden passageway that led deep into the ground.
Cautiously, Adric edged along the tunnel, glad that his Alzarian birth had given him better night-vision than your average humanoid.
***
Tegan groaned. All the way, the Doctor had been prattling away to Nyssa about the fall of Pompeii and how Vesuvius had erupted covering the town in molten lava and ash, yadda, yadda, yadda...
He had taken a five-minute story and expanded it to cover twenty and even made that twenty minutes seem - to Tegan at any rate - to be a year.
There was a sudden cry from Heracles the burly slave.
It seemed that he recognised a small cart abandoned in the distance. It belonged to Lucius, the friend who Marcus had gone looking for.
They hurried across to it. It was parked next to an opening in the ground that someone had dug. The Doctor and Nyssa went through this hole telling Tegan to stay with Heracles. The Doctor didn't want to shock the poor young man if there were only parts of his master down there.
***
The tunnel emerged into a fair sized room with a colonnade of columns running around its perimeter. Regularly spaced torches lighted the room and there was a giant beautiful female statue in the centre of the room.
Beneath this sat a darkened chanting figure. Adric hid and listened to the words.
"omne obscura est. omne nox est. noctura Athena omne est..."
Odd. The TARDIS couldn't translate...or didn't want to translate it.
Eventually the chanting man stopped and left the chamber. This gave Adric time for a better look around. He emerged from behind his pillar.
Thump.
Adric collapsed unconscious and was dragged into the light by the chanter.
***
The cavern was dimly lit only by light from the hole above. Nyssa and the Doctor dropped onto the ground. It was slightly soft and warm. The Doctor explained that lava took quite a while to cool underground. Nyssa shuddered, there was a skeleton hand in front of her protruding from the ground. This was a victim of Vesuvius, but opposite this were two more recent murders. For here lay the corpses of Lucius and Marcus.
***
Grumio had assigned Raven to sweep the corridors. It was whilst he was doing this that he came across the noise of a woman weeping. He knocked and entered the room that the noise emanated from. The woman was a beautiful brunette in her twenties. It was Julia. Raven had met her only briefly before and so had not realised quite how beautiful she was.
He sat on the bed and put his arms around her.
"You are very presumptuous for a slave."
"Sorry...I thought you'd need it."
"I just...I just want him back."
She cried into his shoulder trying not to notice how soft it was.
"I know. I know," murmured Raven as he stroked her silky hair.
***
When the Doctor had confirmation of the identifies of the bodies from Heracles, he sent him back to his mistress with the terrible news.
When Heracles had gone, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan once again entered the cavern.
"So what went on here?" asked the Doctor apparently testing his companions, but Tegan suspected he didn't know himself.
"Well...I suppose they had a fight and killed each other," said Tegan.
"Why?" asked the Doctor, "and where is the murder weapon?"
"They were looking for something," suggested Nyssa. "They believed it was here and began digging. When they found it, there was an argument over who its owner was. Things got out of hand and they stabbed each other to death with this dagger." As she said this, she removed a flap of Lucius' clothing which revealed a simple dagger. It had fresh blood on it.
"Look at the hands," suggested the Doctor.
"Er...nothing?"
"Exactly. If there had been a struggle, both men would have defensive wounds on their hands. In most instances like this the victim or victims have deep wounds on their hands where they have thrown them up to protect themselves. These often go down to the bone, but here there is nothing."
"That's horrible!" breathed Tegan.
"You know, human beings never cease to amaze me. In the past month you have seen mass carnage and now a double murder, but worse than that is a flesh wound?"
Nyssa had formulated a new theory, "Could they have been digging for something, found it and were knocked unconscious by a third party who then took the goods and stabbed both bodies to make it look like a struggle?"
"Not bad, Nyssa," said the Doctor.
"Hold on!" cried Tegan, "the old woman said someone evil was coming to the farm."
"What old woman?" demanded the Doctor.
"She came up to me while you were busy chatting up the rich widow."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I'm sorry...I forgot."
"Right, come on!"
"Where are we going?" asked Nyssa.
"Back to the farm, they could be in grave danger."
***
Raven had returned to his duties, this time removing leaves from the pool, when the main door thrashed open and the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan came running in, slamming it behind them.
"What's the matter?" asked Raven.
"Everything's okay?"
"Well, no... I think Julia's in a state. I was with her when she got the bad news - I'd managed to calm her down a bit, but she's anything but okay."
"That's a relief," said Tegan with feeling.
Raven shrugged and winked at Nyssa.
There was a knock at the door. Raven answered it. Behind it was a tall dark haired man in a toga and Jesus sandals.
"Yes?"
"Is Marcus Fabius Maso at home?"
"I'm afraid you're a little late. He's dead."
"Oh no!...Is his wife at home?"
"I don't thin..."
A voice came from the end of the hall, "It's okay, Raven, let him in."
Raven smiled, opened the door and did a mock bow at the stranger.
Julia led him into a reception room where she and the Doctor listened to what he had to say. Tegan and Nyssa listened intently at the door whilst Raven continued his work.
***
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Salvius Publius Tranguillus. I was a colleague of your husband. He contacted me about a certain... artefact... a ring."
"You're very welcome to have a look in his office, though I don't know of a ring myself."
"No.No. Marcus would not have let this off his person. It was a very special ring."
"There was nothing like that on the body," said the Doctor.
"Then...we are all in great danger."
"Why?"
The Man sighed. "I suppose I'd better tell you the whole story. A long, long time ago there was a beautiful woman called Medusa. So beautiful in fact that the goddess Diana herself was jealous of her looks. She cast the woman and her sisters into the bodies of monsters and Medusa's was the worst of all. Men could not look at her without turning into stone.
"Eventually she was slain by the hero Perseus. Upon entering the underworld, Hades felt pity for her and made her a handmaiden for his bride - in effect a goddess herself. She was given Libya as her domain and had many shrines there. But Diana, frightened that the other gods would discover her jealousy, entrapped Medusa into a ring forged from one of her own teardrops. She burnt the followers of Medusa and destroyed their temples.
But Diana's Teardrop - as the ring became known - held too much power. It was very dangerous in the wrong hands. And so Diana entrusted it to the three surviving priests of Medusa. They formed a brotherhood called 'The Brotherhood of Diana the Witch' and them and their descendants have kept the ring from doing harm for centuries since.
"The last of the brotherhood to keep the ring was an old man who lived in Pompeii. When Vesuvius erupted it buried the old man and the ring. I believe Marcus and Lucius were trying to recover it."
"But why would they do that?" asked Julia.
"Because myself, Marcus and Lucius are the current generation of the brotherhood and unless we recover the ring soon, the entire world could be in danger."
***
"Look! On my planet eavesdropping was always considered rude," suggested Raven to the two girls.
"Sssh! They're coming out," said Nyssa as she and Tegan tumbled over each other to look like they weren't listening in. Nyssa perched on Raven's arm while - out of sheer desperation - Tegan began sweeping the floor.
Julia was first from the room.
"My dear," she spoke to Tegan, "you don't have to do that - it's what we have slaves for."
"Yes of... course."
Lucia left for another cry while the Doctor explained his plan of action:
"Myself, Salvius Publius Tranguillus and Nyssa are returning to the crime scene. Raven, Tegan, I want you two to stay here and protect Julia and her household. If Marcus' killers are going to return, I don't want them taking Julia as well. And...er where is Adric anyhow?"
"I don't know," said Raven, "I didn't notice him not being there. I'll go and look for him."
"Good. Good. Right we'd better be off then."
***
Adric awoke in the dark. It was so dark that even he could barely see anything. His hands were bound around the back of a rough wooden chair.
Standing up, he crashed backwards into a wall, freeing his arms.
Feeling his way along the wall, all he had to do now was find an exit, or some daylight at least.
***
When they reached the outskirts of the sunken city, Nyssa knelt next to the cave entrance with the Doctor whilst Salvius examined the abandoned wagon.
"Nyssa look," said the Doctor, "see these bare footprints? They don't come out again."
"But both Marcus and Lucius were wearing shoes."
"Exactly. Interesting isn't it?"
They walked down into the cool cave where Nyssa began to poke at a wall, while the Doctor tried to make sense of the corpses' footwear.
"You know, Doctor, I don't think they were trying to find the ring. I think they were trying to bury it."
"To hide it from our friend you mean?"
Their friend entered and so that strand of conversation stopped. Nyssa in a flash of inspiration said, "The bare footprints must've been of a slave - I mean if you're a wealthy Roman, you don't dig for yourself."
"Of course, perhaps he was the murderer," suggested Salvius.
"Oh! I don't think that's very likely. Marcus' household seem to be very loyal, there's no reason to suggest Lucius' aren't too."
"Doctor, this piece of wall is made from boulders, whereas the rest of the cave seems to be made of cooling lava."
"You don't think...?"
"Yes I think that the slave is entombed here. It would explain why there are no slave's footprints leaving apart from those of Heracles."
The three helped each other to dismantle the wall.
The body of a slave half decayed with starvation fell forward. In his grasp was a small jewelled ring.
Nyssa picked this up, but Salvius roughly snatched it from her.
"Now I have Diana's Teardrop," he said, "nothing - not even you Doctor - can stop me now!"
***
Raven had all but given up in the search for the missing Adric.
He returned to Julia's bedroom to see if he could offer the poor woman any comfort. As he came through the door, Julia fell against him and, holding him rigidly, kissed him softly on the lips.
Tegan came up to doorframe as Raven held the kiss. Her eyes widened with shocked anger and, as if sensing the burning stare, Raven's eyes looked up. Tegan barged out of sight.
He hurried after her.
"Tegan!" he cried and twice more before she finally turned to him, tears in her eyes.
"Men!" she began, "you're all the same! You don't care about Julia's feelings or Nyssa's feelings. All you care about is whether or not you'll get caught and where the next snog is coming from."
"You're not going to tell her? It wasn't how it looked."
"No it never is with your sort, is it?"
***
A solid thump hit the back of Salvius's head. He fell forward revealing Adric brandishing a heavy shovel behind him.
"Adric!" cried Nyssa.
"Well he did it to me first!"
"No. We're pleased to see you."
"Oh good! This way then, hurry!"
Adric led Nyssa and the Doctor through a series of dimly lit corridors into the secret subterranean temple of Diana the Witch.
"But I don't understand," said Nyssa, "who built this place?"
"I think I'm beginning to," murmured the Doctor as Adric led the way through the caves back to the farm. "The house at Pompeii where Marcus had excavated was Lucius' father's and this temple was built by him and the father of Marcus."
"Where does our shadowy man fit into all this?" asked Adric.
"Salvius?" said the Doctor, "Someone who had learned about the ring and wanted it badly enough to kill I suppose."
"Then who is the third member of the brotherhood?" asked Nyssa.
"Think about it, Nyssa, Salvius didn't mention that the brotherhood were all freeborn."
"Lucius' slave!" cried Nyssa.
"Exactly," said the Doctor, "He walled himself up alive to stop the ring getting into the wrong hands."
"The brotherhood? What?" asked Adric more than a little confused.
"I'll explain later," laughed the Doctor.
***
When they reached the farmhouse, the Doctor called a brief meeting with his companions about the recent events. When Tegan entered, he noticed her glare at Raven when he gave Nyssa a hug, but the Doctor decided that that worm tin was best left unopened. For the moment at least.
"Now I think Salvius will be with us at any moment. I think he will come via the temple, but you can never be too sure, so Nyssa, I would like you and Raven to guard the front door please. The rest of you I would like with me at the entrance to the tunnels.
"What are we going to do when he arrives?" asked Tegan.
"Give him the ring back, if he wants it so badly."
"What?!"
"Well, I have examined the ring and it has no extraterrestrial origins, nor does it have any supernatural powers. It is just a ring."
"But three people died, you can't just hand it over."
"If we hand him over to the authorities, it may well disrupt the time-stream. I mean who knows who his son will be? Your Hannibal, for example, our meddling could cause him never to exist, the decline of Rome would be postponed and who knows where we'd be? What I mean is, he may have been meant to get away with it. Don't worry Tegan, he'll get justice one day, the greedy ones always do."
"But what about Julia?" asked Raven.
"Well, that's the clever bit, we're going to give Salvius the ring in return for leaving Julia to get on with her life."
"But, I still don't see...?" questioned Tegan.
"Well, let's see now, shall we? Let's say, you are granted immense power for a day. You walk past a huge palace with ornate towers and gold domes, but you see a beggar with nothing sitting on the steps. What do you do?"
"I'd pick him up and give him a Royal apartment and fine clothes and money."
"But what would happen when you left? The beggar wouldn't know what to do or how to act. The rest of the Royal family would despise him and your plan would fall apart. But if you gave him a job in the kitchens or scrubbing the floor, he could begin to build on that. Don't you see Tegan? We can change things for the good, but change must be slow or the universe will reject it. We can't always be there to hold things together - we're not God."
***
The plan was executed perfectly and Salvius was so delighted to be reunited with the ring that he would have agreed to anything. Even so, the Doctor made him sign a legally binding document, which he gave to Heracles for safe keeping.
Julia asked the Doctor if he and his companions would stay for the funeral. They declined. They said they had a long journey ahead of them. The Doctor pronounced that in his opinion the triple deaths were accidental. He thought this was for the best.
Before they left, Julia hugged them each violently, even the Doctor's slaves and especially the slave called Raven.
Later that year Salvius was made advisor to the Emperor Domitian. He became rich and powerful. Almost a year to the day after his meeting with Diana's Teardrop, he was executed by his emperor on account of suspicious behaviour.
After the funeral, Julia sat alone in the rain in the garden. They had all left her now. Marcus, the Doctor... Raven. Would she grow old an lonely... or would she meet a millionaire whose wife had died in childbirth? Probably not. How she would have loved a child. Something to remember Marcus by. She felt a drop of water on her cheek. She didn't know whether it was tears or just the rain.
