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7th December 1783
All I am venturing to say is… surely a life of peace isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Nothing extraordinary – it’s just that everything was finally going to plan. The creature in The Sea assured me that once it had read the mind of Mr Williams it would have everything it needed. I had followed all of its instructions. We had a bargain. I had given them my patients and it had cured them.
There have been times when I have wondered if I have really been doing the right thing. But luckily I have Perdita, ever present Perdita, to come and squeeze my hand and tell me it’s for the greater good.
It hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes someone has come to the clinic, someone in desperate need of a cure, and I have had them wheeled down to the beach just once, only to receive a message – ‘I’m afraid they have nothing we want.’ And I have had to watch them die.
It wasn’t like that to begin with. At the start, The Sea wanted everyone. Everyone I could give it. Then it became picky.
My brother is a terribly fussy eater – boneless fish, only certain cuts of meat, and carrots and potatoes only. Curiously, I’ve observed that picky fellows never have a problem with puddings. Odd that. The beach became just the same – refusing simple people with just enough money for the cure. It only wanted powerful people, or army people, or government people. It couldn’t get enough of them.
I would ask, I would ask several times, ‘Surely, you have enough now? Can’t you begin curing the others, please?’
The answer would come back: ‘Soon, soon, but first, we must understand your world. We must have more.’
So I would bring more.
For the record, I must just point out that this goes against my every principle as a medical man. People must be cured, irrespective of who they are. But it’s all very well standing on a beach trying to deliver a lecture on medical ethics. There’s a story of a king who tried to prove his power by ordering the tide not to come in. He stood on the shore shouting until he drowned. It was a bit like that. The Sea made it plainly apparent that it was not to be ordered. It was quite nice about it, but very firm.
It was incredibly interested in Prince Boris. That’s why it assigned Kosov to follow him around personally. ‘This one is… this one is of much interest to us. He is lazy and sleepy and yet… his family is so cruel. Underneath all that indolence is a genius. A military genius. He will do much. Much for us. We cannot wait until we have made him better. Both in his body and in his mind.’
I obeyed them. What choice did I have?
Finally, just finally, I thought, I could sit down. Just sit down in my chair for a few minutes and look at the fire and think about everything. We were learning everything we needed to from poor Mr Williams. We had Prince Boris firmly under Kosov’s control. We were at last winning. We even had the Doctor running scared – he knew that if he didn’t help us, Mr Williams wouldn’t be cured.
Surely everything was finally going to plan, wasn’t it? The matter of the gun and the warning from Prince Boris worried me, but I dismissed them. Sometimes it was nice to sit in front of the fire and admire your winning hand.
‘ Someone will try and kill your wife… ’
The thought kept returning to me, even as I sat in front of the fire. I could not enjoy even a moment’s peace.
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