Doctor Who 5: Malum Sanatore.

Read the story from the start here: Doctor Who and Bladdud

“Hey! What do you guys think you are doing?” The night-watchman yelled.

“Sh-”

“Run!” The Doctor yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me from behind the issue desk. We ran into the corridor towards the terrace.

“Which way?! The museum is all locked up now?” I shouted.

“Uhh…” The Doctor was stumped, now of all times to become unsure of which way to go.

“Fire exit! Come on!” I pulled the doctor to the left and we ran to the door and pushed the bar to open it, “No, it’s locked! Who locks a fire escape?!” The night-watchman had rounded the corner and was gaining on us but the Doctor had pulled out his sonic screwdriver and zapped the lock so I almost fell over as the door opened. The Doctor ran out of the door and, once again, promptly collided with someone outside. The man threw the Doctor to the floor as I slammed the door shut.

“Hey!” I said jumping forward to pick the Doctor up.

“Stop right there Missy” The man said, producing a gun from his under his suit jacket.

I stepped back and put my hands up defensively.

“Doctor…?”

The man reached down and pulled the Doctor up by the scruff of his coat.

“You’ve become too interested in the wrong things, Doctor.”

“Oh yeah? I seem to do that a lot apparently. Anyway I don’t want to talk to you, I want to talk to your master. Who is controlling you?”

“Master?” I asked.

“Yeah, remember the mind control beacon? Listen to his voice, look at his eyes. Someone is controlling him. You don’t sound completely human old chap!”

It was the security guard from earlier who had escorted the young family from the Baths. His voice sounded dull and lifeless with a metallic rasp to it, and his eyes were also dull, of a man long held prisoner within himself.

“Who are you?” I asked nervously.

“Ben-Ged-Bentovin” the man replied. Then he  laughed, but without humour. “ Well he used to be. But humans are so weak, they give up without a fight!” he sneered.

“That’ because they aren’t used to having someone like you poking around in their heads.” The Doctor retorted.

“But you…” He inhaled deeply. “You smell different, you smell powerful. You have the essence of something very… tasty on you.”

“Tasty…?” I was starting to get worried now.

“He’s not going to eat us, don’t worry, he means the Tardis.” He stopped and looked at Ben-Ged. “Well am I right?” He demanded.

Ben-Ged smiled, revealing strangely pointy teeth, “I do not know its name but the box of light… come! My ‘Master’, as you call him, would prefer if he talked to you face-to-face.”

He prodded the Doctor in the small of his back with the gun to make him move.

“You may have a gun but there is two of us and only one of you, what if we don’t want to go with you? You can’t kill us because your master wants us alive.”

Ben-Ged clicked his tongue and the guide from earlier appeared from around the building to the left and a young woman appeared from the right. Both had lifeless scarred eyes and were grinning empty smiles showing sharp teeth, the street light glinted off of their Roman Bath name badges.

“I think that sentence should be added to the list with ‘what could go wrong’ or ‘this is going to be the best Christmas Walford’s ever had’” The Doctor sighed.

“Sorry” I mumbled as the guide moved in behind me.

“That’s ok, I had wondered where he had gotten too”

Ben-Ged gave the Doctor another push towards the woman and we set off, going around the side of the Baths. I had only just noticed how cold the night air was after the stuffy museum and started to shiver. The streets were empty, there was no noise from people or cars and even the birds seemed to be silent. Bath Abbey posed a menacing back drop to the small party as we moved away to finally meet this unknown Master. The Doctor gave me a quick grin, one that I hoped to be a ‘don’t-worry-I-know-exactly-what-I-am-doing’ smile and not a ‘I’m-completely-bluffing-but-isn’t-this-fun!’ smile. But for some reason I had my doubts. We went around the corner past the gift shop and I vaguely heard the Doctor muttering about how much he likes little shops and then we came to a stop by the Stall Street entrance. The entrance to the museum looked large and menacing in the star-less night.  The man pushed the Doctor forward and it was then that I noticed that the symbol from on top of the audio-guide box was also on the floor in front of the door.

“Stand there.” Ben-Ged said, pointing to the symbol.

I was pushed forward to join the Doctor and he had to catch me before I fell. The two guides stood behind us and Ben-ged moved in front of us.

“Ok, so what’s going on now?” I asked.

The ground beneath our feet shifted with a jolt, knocking us off balance and then slowly started descending.

“Ah clever! It is a lift with a perception filter, not that there is anyone around, but if there were we would be completely invisible to them. I had a friend who used one to get into his ‘secret base’. The Tardis uses the same technique to stay hidden.” The Doctor explained to me before a nudge from our guards silenced him.

We slowly descended underneath the street into a dark tunnel. It was obviously used frequently as it felt aired and free of dust. Ben-Ged pulled a torch out of his jacket and turned it on, you could hear the faint noise of movement as rats and mice scuttled away from the people invading their homes.

“This way” he said and moved forward. We walked for about 5 minutes, mostly in the dark as Ben-Ged was the only one with a torch and it only gave out a small weak beam of light which lit his path but did not allow much light to fall behind, so I often tripped over cables or soft lumps which I could only assume were dead rats. The floor was made of uneven Bath stone, which made walking difficult, and there were large sections of stone (from the monument I presumed) scattered around which I kept walking into. I had very bruised shins very quickly. Ben-Ged eventually stopped and turned to the tunnel side, pulling a small switch that was hidden behind some carefully arranged cables and a door slid open revealing a dark space beyond. He turned his lifeless eyes onto us.

“In.”

We were pushed forward into the darkness, Ben-Ged moving in behind to keep us moving. We stumbled along in the dark until a voice halted us.

“STOP” the voice rumbled through the air and tunnel floor, seeming to emanate from the ground itself.

“I have brought the ones you wished to meet Master”

“WELL DONE BEN-GED-BENTOVIN. YET AGAIN YOU NEVER FAIL TO SERVE ME. YOU SHALL BE REWARDED FOR YOUR SERVICE.”

There was a click and a rumble and sudden brightness filled the room. Momentarily blinded it was difficult to see where we had ended up. I staggered backwards into Ben-Ged, who pushed me forward again with the barrel of his gun, my hands shielding my eyes blinking. The Doctor put his hand on my arm. We were in a small room, the walls made of cut sandstone, dusty in age. Water had seeped into the room from both the ceiling and the floor, allowing mould to grow in the damp and dark environment. The room was empty apart from what appeared to be a stone well in the centre, and it was from here that the voice seemed to be coming from.

“Who are you and why do you bring us down here in this manner?” The Doctor demanded.

“I WANTED TO MEET YOU, DOCTOR. THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL YOURSELF, IS IT NOT?”

“Yes, I am the Doctor, but you haven’t answered my question. Who are you?”

“MY REAL NAME IS UNPRONOUNCABLE IN YOUR HUMAN TONGUE BUT MY FIRST SERVANTS CALLED ME ‘MALUM SANATORE’  AND I DEEMED IT PERMISSABLE.”

“Malum Sanatore… the evil healer? What is your true name? I might be able to understand it” The Doctor said.

Laughter filled the room and then a strange combination of clicks and throat gurgles filled the room.

“Maybe not then.” The Doctor admitted. “Malum Sanatore has a nice ring to it… you could be Mal-y for short! A lot less of a tounge twister than your servants name! How long have you been here for?”

“EONS. TO LONG FOR EVEN MY MEMORY TO COMPREHEND”

“How did you get here?”

“AN UNEXPECTED SOLAR STORM KNOCKED MY SHIP OFF OF COURSE AND I CRASHED HERE AND HAVE BECOME STUCK EVER SINCE. I REMAINED DORMANT FOR PERIODS OF TIME BUT THEN I DECIDED I HAD HAD ENOUGH OF THIS ROCK. I NEEDED ENERGY TO POWER MY SHIP IN ORDER TO ESCAPE, SO I DREW THE POWER TO ME. I BECAME A GOD! MY SHIP HAD CAUSED A CRACK WHICH WATER FLOODED THROUGH; I USED THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE. HUMANS ARE SO EASY TO MANIPULATE AND BEND TO YOUR WILL. A SMALL AMOUNT OF HEALING, A TASK EVEN A CHILD COULD DO, AND THEY COME RUSHING.”

“So you healed Bladdud then?” I asked.

“I CARE NOT FOR NAMES!” The voice shouted. “THE FIRST ONE CONSIDERED HIMSELF KING. HA. IT WAS NOT HIS DESIGN TO BUILD HERE BUT MINE. HE BROUGHT HIS PEOPLE TO ME AND I FED OFF OF THEIR ENERGY.” The voice paused. “I SENSED YOU BACK THEN DOCTOR, THAT FIRST DAY. AH THE POWER THAT YOU CARRY WITH YOU. I WOULD HAVE HAD YOU THEN BUT YOU SLIPPED MY GRASP.”

“But I thought it was you who pulled us forward?”  I asked.

“Not entirely,” the Doctor replied. “The Tardis was being drawn towards the power of this creature. But it has only just reached that point. You have obviously increased your efforts to gain power.”

“I GROW TIRESOME OF THIS PLACE. THE SECOND TIME I FELT YOUR POWER, WHEN MY FAME WAS AT IT’S HIEGHT, I ONLY HAD HALF THE POWER THAT I NEEDED. PEOPLE GAVE ME THEIR ENERGY FREELY IN OFFERINGS TO THEIR GODS BUT STILL IT WAS NOT ENOUGH. SO I BEGAN TO FEED OFF OF THEIR ENERGY THROUGH THE WATER ITSELF.”

“And then the Roman Empire collapsed, leaving you with no worshippers.”

“A SLIGHT HINDERANCE. BUT EASILY SOLVABLE WHEN THE AREA WAS REPOPULATED. HOW ELSE DO YOU THINK THE MONKS FOUND THE SPRING AND DECIDED TO BATHE HERE?” if the voice had a face I would swear that it was smirking now.

“So let me get this straight. You crash landed here and in order to leave you have been taking people’s energy to power your ship and in return you would heal them to keep people coming. I’m not going to lie, I fail to see the big issue here.”

“But it wasn’t enough. People stopped bathing here nearly 50 years ago, you aren’t even meant to touch the water at all now, so you had to come up with another way to feed your ship. All those missing people in Bath, the unsolved murders, the people in the river? They were you and your ‘slaves’. The staff often joke about the amount of wives and husbands who go missing when they visit the baths, usually just to be found spending too long in the museum. But how many of those tourists wind up here? In your lair? Dropped down to where you wait, hungry for power? What happened to that small boy?” The Doctor rounded on Ben-Ged-Bentovin now, angry and accusing. “Do you remember him? You escorted him ‘out of the building’ for ‘being dangerous’. Did he and his family actually make it out of the museum?”

“They were needed.” Ben-Ged said his voice free from emotion.

“DOCTOR YOU GET INCREASINGLY ANGRY YET WHAT CAN YOU DO? YOU LIKEWISE ARE HERE, IN MY ‘LAIR’ AS YOU CALL IT.”

“I can offer you a way out. I can help you escape from here and go home.”

“OH I WOULD HAVE LOVED THAT. ‘WOULD’ BEING THE CORRECT WORD. I HAVE FINALLY TASTED THE TRUE POWER THAT RISIDES ON YOU AND YOUR COMPANION AND I WANT IT. WITH THE POWER OF THE BOX OF LIGHT I CAN NOT ONLY RETURN TO MY HOME PLANET BUT ALSO RULE IT. I WAS BANISHED FOR BEING SMALL AND WEAK AND YOU CAN GRANT ME THE POWER TO RETURN!!!”

Scrapping and scratching noises were coming from the depths of the well, I turned round to see that the two museum staff members had moved forward from their positions flanking the door to come towards us. I backed away, towards the well.

“Doctor! Now would be a great time to come up with an ingenious plan to save us!”

“Thinking!!”

One of the guides, ‘Darren’ his name badge read, was quickly approaching the Doctor so he started backing away towards the wall, avoiding the well. The woman was headed towards me, a scary grin on her face, getting closer, pushing me towards the well. A large scrapping sound came from behind me and I turned to see a large tentacle come out of the well. It was black, dripping water and slime. I wanted to scream but found that I couldn’t. I just stared at it, my mouth wide. While my back was turned the woman grabbed me and started dragging me towards it.

“Doctor! Help!!”

“Wait! Don’t do this! I can help you!” He shouted, battling with the Darren, Ben-Ged closing in on him too.

The tentacle snaked out as if testing the air and then rushed straight towards me, wrapping itself tightly around my wrist. I pulled my arm back suddenly, hitting the woman in the face so she staggered back and dropped me, and managed to drag myself free across the floor. The tentacle recoiled slightly and then made a dash towards my leg and wrapped myself around my ankle and started pulling me across the floor towards the well and the darkness beyond. I clawed at the floor, trying to get a grip to hold onto but the flagstones were flush and I kept being pulled slowly closer. The Doctor was fighting Darren, desperately trying to get over to me, he feigned a punch and then used his foot to hook the man’s legs from under him. He fell with a heavy thump and the Doctor quickly jumped over him and ran towards Ben-Ged, flooring him with a single unexpected punch, and kicked the gun away. He rushed over to me, grabbing my hand.

“Don’t worry I’ve got you!”

“Get this off of me!”

The doctor fumbled in his pocket with one hand bringing out his sonic screwdriver and zapped at the tentacle around my leg. The voice from the well screamed and tightened its grip, and pulled me across the floor with a yank.

“Doctor! Stop helping it!”

“Sorry, sorry… wrong setting…” He twiddled with the controls.

“Doctor!” The tentacle had now pulled me half way up the wall of the well, dragging my leg into the cold and damp darkness. I grabbed hold of the edge of the top but could feel my strength fading.

The Doctor rushed forward and zapped the tentacle again. This time the tentacle recoiled with a sharp hiss and the doctor dragged me back over the top of the well and we fell into a pile and then quickly shuffled away from the well. The woman had picked herself up and was walking towards us hissing. The tentacle reared back up from the well and darted towards us at the same time that the woman did and collided with her. The tentacle grabbed her, and pulled. Dragging her kicking and screaming into the well. The screams faded and were replaced with gurgling as she entered the water with a splash.

“But, but she was one of it’s slaves….?” I gasped.

“It didn’t care who it has as long as it has someone. It isn’t going to wait for long though. It still wants the Tardis and the power it has.” The Doctor said standing up. “You ok?”

“Yeah.. I’ll… I’ll be alright” I said, levering myself up.

“YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME DOCTOR. I WILL HAVE YOUR POWER” I could hear the tentacle writhing below, scraping its way up again and shuddered. The Doctor took my hand again and pulled me towards the door. Ben-Ged was shaking himself awake as we ran past, trying to find his gun. We ran through the door and the Doctor locked it.