Chapter Three: Mizradal
"So what do you plan to do now?" Kai demanded of Holly as she came back towards him bringing the child with her.
"I should think that would be obvious," she retorted.
"Well?" Kai asked.
"Return to my TARDIS, with the child and try to make repairs," she answered. "I should have tried to make repairs to begin with, but I admit I couldn't resist the temptation to go for a walk and see what this world was like. However I think I've seen enough to get the idea and now it's time to move on."
"How long do you think it will take to make repairs?" Kai asked.
"I have no idea," Holly replied.
"Well where do you plan to spend the night?" he asked her.
"My TARDIS of course," she replied.
"I have a hut that I built myself," Kai offered.
Holly glared at him. "I think my TARDIS will be much better."
"Fine," Kai said. "But let me walk you two back. I told you that this jungle is not the sort of place you want to get stranded in the middle of the night."
"I suppose you have a point," Holly answered. "Then do lead the way."
Kai began to lead the way through the thick brush of the jungle as the two women followed. Holly was quite talkative and jumped at nearly every single insect or other creature that came along. She didn't seem to get on all that well with plants or creepy crawlies. Kai was amazed at the speed of her reflexes when she jumped back from a rather large spider that had barely touched her shoe.
"Those are harmless," he assured. "They just look nasty." She made a face and continued to walk, still keeping a distance from the spider and every other creepy crawly.
The child on the other hand didn't seem nearly so surprised by the creatures of this jungle, but then after all, she was a native of this planet. She almost started to laugh when she saw the discomfort the Time Lady felt about being in the jungle. However, when she sensed she was being looked at, she suddenly drew a very serious and calm expression.
"Are children normally so quiet?" Holly inquired of Kai.
Kai didn't answer her, but bent over and looked in the little girl's eyes. "What's your name little one?" he asked her.
"Mizradal," she said with a smile.
"Is that where you were born?" he asked.
"I don't know," she answered. "It's just my name."
"It's also a village about two days walk from here," Kai answered. "I'd hazard a guess that you were born there. What were your parents like?"
"I don't know," Mizradal replied. "I never met them."
"How sad," Kai replied. "Everyone ought to know their parents. My parents taught me many things and were well respected within my clan. It is because of their deaths in battle that I have vowed the deaths of a thousand Seldati as vengeance." Mizradal said nothing, but continued along in silence. Holly continued to jump at nearly every creature she encountered and Kai assured her that everything was okay.
"Be glad it is not Gimblethrov season," he answered.
"Gimblethrov season?" she asked.
"They are in hibernation now," Kai answered. "But basically a Gimblethrov is a rather large insect. A very large insect; they typically run about seven feet tall and they like to eat trees. They don't eat people or actively seek to hunt them. However, if your movement happens to startle them, they will think you?re in their way and cover you with a nasty green slime to slow you down. The slime is poisonous to most humanoids."
"Another reason why I love this planet," Holly answered him. "Let's find my TARDIS and get back to safety."
"We're in the section of the jungle where I found you," Kai answered. "But I don't see a ship."
"It looks like a tree," Holly answered. "Follow me."
Kai glared at her. "What kind of sick joke is this? You make us risk our lives only to bring us to a tree?" Suddenly he became very angry.
"It's not a joke," Holly said defiantly. "This is my TARDIS." She reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a key. "Follow me," she said, as she vanished.
"We won't all fit," Kai protested, as he did so, pulling Mizradal behind him. Suddenly the jungle around him vanished and he was standing in the middle of a very large room. At the center of the room, seemed to be a large hexagonal computer system and he gathered that was the main purpose of this room. The room itself was decorated with opulence and elegance. A large crystal chandelier hung from the high vaulted ceiling directly over the console. On one wall there was a large view screen that showed the jungle where they had just been. Kai noted that it didn't have the look of most spaceship interiors. Red velvet curtains hung around the view screen in such a manner that it looked like a living room window. The walls of the room were beige and contained many roundels. The floors however were made of marble and covered in places with plush, ornate rugs. Kai noticed that there was a sitting area in one corner of this room that consisted of some interesting (at least that was the best adjective he could think of to describe the modern furniture) sofas. They were also red velvet and looked very comfortable. In the middle between them was a large, glass coffee table that had various books spread out as well as an open box of chocolates. Kai noticed that this room didn't appear to be the only one. He could see a long corridor behind him that appeared to be very vast.
"This is inside a tree?" he nervously asked.
"I suppose you can put it that way," Holly answered.
"How big is it?" he asked.
"522 rooms," she replied.
"522 rooms?" he demanded.
"Well I didn't see a need for any more," she answered. "At least not yet."
"How does it work?" Kai asked.
"Believe me if I thought you had either the mental ability or the lifespan to comprehend it, I wouldn't have allowed you to see it," Holly replied. Kai looked to Mizradal who was trying to take this all in, but still saying nothing.
"Mizradal," Holly began. "What do you think?"
"It's...it's like a fairy tale," she answered.
"Do you like it?" Holly asked. "Would you like to live here?"
Mizradal thought for a moment. "Live here?"
"Yes," Holly answered. "You will live in the most beautiful room you have ever seen, wear the loveliest clothes any little girl has ever worn, travel to places you've never heard of, and learn about things you can't even imagine yet. Would you like that?"
Mizradal thought for a moment. "Yes," she answered.
"Then come," Holly said, as she motioned for Mizradal to follow her. She totally ignored Kai and concentrated on her latest project; Mizradal. Mizradal obediently followed Holly down a corridor to a place Kai didn't care to follow. Obviously he wasn't needed or wanted. He thought about leaving the place altogether, except he had no idea how to get out. The thought of being trapped here indefinitely terrified him somewhat though he had to admit it was much more comfort than his hut. He sat down on the sofa and picked up a book. He didn't know what the strange symbols meant and he couldn't even identify the language it was written in, but that was not necessarily because they were in a strange language; he had never learned to read and he had never actually held a book before. Some S'o'h Maiyuoom could read, though the oral tradition was much more respected among his people. He could tell long stories from memory of his traditions and that was much more revered than the skill of reading. The S'o'h Maiyuoom hadn't use books for many generations. Not since computers had been invented and computers could tell the oral stories they held. Only those trained to maintain the computers needed to know what the symbols meant. He set the book down and decided to eat the chocolate. After a couple of pieces of chocolate, he fell asleep both from exhaustion and from the comforting hum of the room.
Kai awoke at the sound of footsteps as he was always on alert, even in the deepest of sleep. "Isn't she absolutely adorable?" Holly exclaimed as she brought Mizradal in the room. She used the same sort of tone she would have used for a kitten or a puppy or any other "cute" creature. Kai had made the observation that his strange new companion had a certain affection for any creature which she deemed as "cute" or "adorable," or any other of the similar adjectives she used to describe her pets. Perhaps that was what bothered Kai more than anything else; Mizradal was Holly's latest pet to be loved and doted over. It was obvious that Holly was very fond of Mizradal, but all the same her arrogant and condescending attitude towards the child greatly annoyed and even angered him.
He found the place in which she both resided and traveled to be overwhelming. With its long and winding corridors, high vaulted ceilings, and hundreds of rooms, the interior of this "TARDIS" far exceeded even the most opulent palace Kai had ever regarded. And when he considered that all of this was contained within the trunk of a tree, he pondered that it was the product of an immensely superior civilization. Despite the fact that its occupant appeared to inhabit the body of a young woman, he knew she was unlike any young woman he had ever met. She was just as alien as anything slimy and green with tentacles. How dare she present such an appealing form that he found pleasing to his eyes, so pleasing that he even succumbed to feelings he knew she could never return towards him. Such things seemed impossible by her very nature. He knew that if he spent his entire life in devotion to her that she would only regard his devotion with scientific curiosity and fascination. And even if she were to attempt to bear her soul to him, he knew he could never receive it. He found this place to be far too much to endure. He didn't have the desire to go and explore it's many wonders, partly because it was so alien and far beyond his comprehension that it terrified him. And he knew in some way that this "TARDIS" was more than just a travel device or even a home; it was in some way a manifestation of the personality of its alien occupant. And the wonder and fascination with which she approached the child made it obvious that she was a different sort of being than any he had ever encountered and that her very nature was vastly different from most species he had seen. She ushered the child into the room with the excitement of a scientist making a new hypothesis she could hardly wait to test.
Mizradal stood before him adorned in the finery of a princess. She wore a red velvet dress trimmed with lace ruffles and a satin ribbon. Her stockings were lace and her shoes were polished black paten leather. Her hair had been braided into two long braids that were tied with ribbons and curled at the end. She was a beautiful child and the transformation from a dirty slave girl was miraculous to say the least. Holly motioned for Mizradal to sit in a rather plush chair and the child, who was still very much used to doing everything that was expected of her, obediently took a seat. She was very quiet, as no doubt as a slave she was beaten if she spoke when not spoken to. But as she sat in the chair without making a sound, she looked down at the ground and kicked her legs (which dangled from the chair) back and forth in a very normal childlike fashion. "So Kai," Holly repeated in a tone that reminded him of the condescending, patronizing tone royalty often took when addressing their subjects, "Tell me what you think. Is she not absolutely adorable?"
"Yes she is," Kai answered in the same nervous tone a subject would use to reply to a fickle whim of a queen. "She is very...cute," he finished.
"Good, I'm glad you think so," the Time Lady answered as she took a seat on the sofa across from Kai. She adjusted her gown as she took her spot in the middle of the sofa. She had changed into a long, flowing, pale, blue, satin gown with split sleeves. Her long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders. Kai found himself staring at her slender figure that was accentuated by her choice in gowns and once again realized he was attracted to her. He cursed himself for being so foolish, for she was far less attainable than a Seldati princess. He realized he might claim victory over a Seldati princess's heart and affections only for them to be forbidden to marry. But the being before him could only hurt him because she wouldn't return his affections, all the while being entirely innocent of any cruel intentions. She would never intend to hurt him; he knew that. But all the same, she would hurt him a thousand times only to innocently apologize and continuing just being whatever she was that so hurt him. He finally put his finger on it; she could never really need him, at least not in the same sense that a normal woman would need her mate. From what could he save her or rescue her? He realized his usefulness to her ceased when they left the jungle because she was so far advanced and beyond him that she couldn't ever emotionally need him the same way. She had lived considerably longer than he had and would continue to live for thousands of years long after he was gone. She hadn't told him that she would live as long as civilizations and empires, yet somehow he sensed that she was far more powerful and far older than her youthful appearance had originally led him to believe.
"Well," Kai said. "I suppose you have no need of me. I should be on my way." He started to get up and he hoped that she would let him exit now before it was too late. He was finding himself more and more attracted to her every minute and the only reason he had stayed this long was for this reason. And the more he sensed that his attraction was in vein, the more he sensed he couldn't stop it. So the best thing was for him to just leave and not get involved.
"Actually Kai, you're wrong," Holly said to him. "I do have need of you."
"For what?" Kai asked.
"You've got to help me take care of Mizradal," she answered.
"Why do you need my help?" Kai asked.
"Well you're obviously much more familiar with children than I am," she answered. "And you know how to..."
"Relate to them?" Kai finished.
"Precisely," Holly replied.
"Perhaps we should go for a walk," Kai suggested. "And not discuss these things in front of Mizradal."
"Please don't go," Mizradal spoke up for the first time without being spoken to. She was almost afraid of herself for saying it as she was no doubt not supposed to do such a thing in any of the previous places she lived. "I like you."
Kai looked at the child. "It's alright," he said. "We're just going to go and talk this over. We'll be right back."