'No,' said Satthralope's voice again.

'No?' said the Doctor.

'The House does not see a rebirth, but the Loom records the genetic metamorphosis.'

The Doctor smiled to himself. 'Tell us more.'

205.

She stood. Her old body bent taut in its possession. 'The Loom records that on that day, our Cousin Glospinninymortheras underwent the regeneration process on two separate occasions. He is currently in his fourth fourth generation, not his third.' generation, not his third.'

Glospin half laughed. 'The change was complicated by infection. I nearly died.'

The Doctor made a theatrical point of clearing his throat before starting to address the silent a.s.sembly. 'I would remind everyone that Glospin is, or was in his day, a eugenicist. Top of his field. On the day before Quences's Deathday, he visited me in my exile at the Capitol. We were both very obstreperous, but he was desperate to secure his inheritance, because he thought Quences might pa.s.s over him in my favour. We landed up fighting, during which said altercation, he obtained a sample of my skin.'

'Ask him how he escaped,' called Glospin. 'Ask him what rescued him!'

'Continue, Doctor,' said the voice in Satthralope's throat.

'Glospin then returned to Lungbarrow. After the Deathday, he deliberately made himself ill enough to die. He used my DNA sample to regenerate himself in my image.'

Innocet gasped. 'And then he murdered Quences!'

'And you saw me, Innocet, at least you a.s.sumed it was me, leaving Quences's room, just as he hoped. He then regenerated again into his current form. His fourth generation, not his third.'

Innocet faced Glospin. 'Were you that desperate? There's nothing to which you have not stooped.'

'Prove it,' said Glospin. 'They're lying.'

Satthralope's body had started to tremble. 'I saw the murder,' it growled. 'Satthralope said, she said that Quences lived. And the a.s.sailant...' Her eyes blazed at Glospin. 'I see it now. Relive it again. It echoes in my walls and corridors. The a.s.sailant lifts the double blade. He has a burn on his arm. A burn so deep, no regeneration wil heal it!'

The House shuddered around them.

Glospin grabbed at the Doctor and hauled him forward. 'Ask this one where I got the burn. Ask Redred about the proof I gave him. We've seen who he real y is. Ask Redred!'

Ferain looked towards the captain. 'Well, where is this proof?'

Redred felt the bruise on his jaw. 'I have pa.s.sed it to my superior, My Lord. To President Romanadvoratrelundar.'

'President?' said Innocet.

Glospin, his face snarling with rage, pointed at the Doctor. 'He's used us. He's far more powerful than he lets us see. He infiltrated our Family. Once, long ago, he lived on Gallifrey and he was known as the Other. This is where the legend came to. To our Family. Why else do you think we're all mad? And when he attacked me, it was the mythical Hand of Omega that came to his rescue!'

The entire gathering was staring at Glospin in disbelief.

'Innocet knows,' Glospin shouted. 'Ask her. She knows who he was!'

Innocet studied the Doctor hard. 'I know nothing of the sort,' she said.

Glospin laughed aloud.

'My Lord Ferain,' said the Doctor. 'I rest my case.'

'Just a minute,' said Chris. 'Don't forget about Arkhew. He saw the murder too and he recognized Glospin.'

206.

Glospin sneered between his two agents. 'Oh yes, that little runt came to me shouting accusations. But I didn't kill him. Owis did that. Strangled him and threw him in the mushrooms.'

There was a whimper from the group of Cousins.

'Little stoker,' growled Rynde.

Owis squealed like a cornered piglet. 'He told me to do it! Glospin told me, if I didn't get rid of Arkhew, I'd be terminated as an illegal Replacement!'

He disappeared under a hail of blows from his Cousins. The agents had to haul him out.

The Doctor held out a hand to Satthralope. 'Time, at last, for the wil to be read.'

She was clutching the datacore. 'He's dead,' she said. 'Satthralope lied. Quences is dead.'

'Yes, he is,' the Doctor said. 'Please release the will,'

'If you do,' shouted Glospin, 'then the Doctor'll get everything! Do you want that? He doesn't even belong here!'

The old Housekeeper was shaking. Thunder rolled again within the House.

The Cousins started to move in a ma.s.s towards the Doctor. The headless Drudge lurched in from the other side.

The Doctor s.n.a.t.c.hed the will from Satthralope's hands. 'Badger!' he shouted as he threw it across the Hall.

The ma.s.sive robot caught the datacore and held it delicately between its ma.s.sive claws.

The core gleamed with energy.

Instantly, Quences was standing like a ghost beside his own coffin. 'Please don't hurt my successor,' he said.

Dorothee levered open the skylight. A shower of loose soil and rocks nearly knocked her off the ladder.

'Right,' she choked, spitting earth. 'Let's get a bit of fresh air into this mausoleum.'

She fished the cans of nitro-nine out of her pocket. They were sticky in her fingers.

'What is it?' said Leela. 'A weapon?'

'They're wet through. And G.o.d knows how old they are. I don't know if they'll work.'

Quences looked down at his skeleton.

'I expected as much,' he said grimly. 'When the Doctor here was loomed, I had a special consultation with the Bench of Matricians. Amongst other things, they predicted my murder. But they also told me the Doctor would be the most important influence on Gallifrey's future. That's why I hid the will from Satthralope and had my mind transferred, not to the Matrix, but elsewhere.'

'Into Badger,' said the Doctor. 'Stored in his positronic brain. That's why he's always so protective of me. Protective enough to kill.'

Innocet turned away.

207.

Quences regarded the Doctor with a paternal fondness. The b.l.o.o.d.y dagger bobbed in his chest. 'You are very precious to us, my boy. Our hopes always rested on you.'

The Doctor sighed. 'Misplaced hopes, Quences. Arrogance is a Family trait. I wanted my own way as much as you.'

Quences smiled. 'But now you have returned, as I knew you would. All this is yours now. I bequeath you the House of Lungbarrow, al its estates, its goods and chattels, and all its miserable, cringing Family. And you are welcome to them!'

'What?' said the Doctor.

'All of it is yours, Kithriarch. And well deserved too! You fulfilled none of the potential that we expected. None of it.

You are a failure and a disgrace to my name!'

The Cousins began to jeer.

'Just a minute,' b.u.t.ted in Romana. 'That is no way to address a former Lord President of the High Council of Gallifrey!'

'President? What President?' Quences raised his ghostly eyebrows. 'And who are you?'

'She's my successor,' said the Doctor, and Romana displayed her ring of office.

'The Doctor stood down with honour,' she said.

'Well, not real y,' said the Doctor, embarra.s.sed. 'I'm no longer President because I couldn't be bothered with all that power political business.'

'President?' whispered Quences. He stared down at his coffin. ' You You were President of Gallifrey?' were President of Gallifrey?'

'More than that,' said Romana. 'Much, much more.'

'Quences!' Glospin was calling to him. 'Alter the will. Make me your successor. It's my right.'

The old apparition turned towards him. 'Murderer! I know you kil ed me. I saw through your disguise. I'll change nothing, because I loathe every thieving, conniving, scheming one of you. The House stays with the Doctor. My boy, the new Kithriarch and former President.'

A near riot broke out. Cousins struggled against the agents to reach the Doctor.

'Get down!' Leela had appeared on the gallery above. 'Get down, all of you!'

An explosion roared above. Timbers and plaster rained down. The air was thick with smoke and anger.

208.

Chapter Thirty-three.

A Case of Domicide

The great clock of Lungbarrow exploded outward. Its coiled guts of cogs and dials spilt down through the smoke.

The apparition of Quences flickered and vanished.

Tremors of anger shuddered through the House, flooring most of them, including the remaining Drudge.

The Cousins had huddled around the Loom plinth, clinging to it like children clinging to their mother.

Dorothee, her face black with soot, had appeared beside Leela on the gallery. 'This way!' they called. 'We've blown a hole in the mountain!'

The Cousins abandoned the Loom and stampeded towards the stairs. The agents went with them, ignoring Ferain's protests.

Satthralope was crawling on the floor. Cracks spread around her. 'Gone away,' the old woman cried. 'The House no longer listens. It's no longer in me.' She shrieked as the wooden ring on her finger burst into flame.

The Doctor ran at her, but she pushed him away.

'I am the Keeper of the House!' She was climbing up into the palm of her chair. Fire had caught in her skirts. 'My House!' The wooden fingers of the chair closed and crushed her in its fist. Her keys clattered to the floor.

The Doctor stood unmoving as dust and plaster started to rain down through the smoke.

Chris started to pull at his shoulders. 'We have to get out!'

The Doctor shook himself free. 'Into the TARDIS. Take Innocet and Romana with you.'

'But there's nothing in there, Doctor!'

He started towards his ship, but Chris pulled him back. An avalanche of masonry crashed down around the TARDIS, blocking their escape.

'That was deliberate!' he shouted at the roof.

'Follow the others out,' said Chris. 'Come on.'

'You go. I'll follow.' The Doctor started pulling at the masonry round the TARDIS. 'Badger! I'm in charge now, so come and help!'

Chris faltered.