Chapter 4 (Till The Kingdom Comes Down)
Many, many years ago….
The Doctor had taken Louisa’s hand and, followed by Atom, they had made their way down the narrow, carved steps and towards the lake down below.
“You’d have thought they’d have built railings.”
“Nah, why bother,” said the Doctor. “If you fall you can just regenerate instead of dying.”
Louisa stopped and raised her eyebrows at him.
He burst into a laugh and motioned for her to continue. “Only joking!”
“Miss Jenson does have a valid point,” said Atom. “Safety is paramount to most species.”
“Well, I don’t know the answer, Atom,” said the Doctor. “This staircase has likely been here since the ancient times. One day I’ll pop back and ask the people who built it why they neglected to put in a safety rail.”
“Such questions are unnecessary,” said Atom.
“If it’ll make you happy I’ll go and ask them,” smiled the Doctor.
They finally reached the bottom of the steps and it was only a short walk across more red grass until they reached the green-tinted water of the lake. A single, stone bridge crossed from the banks of the lake to the first cluster of buildings on the other side.
“It all looks quiet,” said Louisa, scanning the building for signs of movement.
“It is quiet,” said the Doctor. “Jacarthia isn’t as busy as it used to be. Lot’s of people have moved out. It used to be quite the place for older Gallifreyan’s to retire until the cutbacks.”
“Cutbacks?”
“Yes. After the Time War most of the planet was restructured. A lot of the outer towns and villages had their funding pulled back to rebuild the Capitol or bigger cities like Arcadia and Catinder.”
“But the Time War was ages ago you said.”
“Jacarthia never fully recovered. It still hasn’t recovered.” He pointed to the flags in the distance. “Look at the state of those. Tattered and torn. The town doesn’t have the money to keep going.”
“So the residents left?” asked Atom.
“Not all of them, but a lot. Lots of businesses closed. It’s the same all over Gallifrey, but Jacarthia was hit worse because, apart from the glorious views and lovely weather, it has nothing else to offer of any economic value.”
“That’s awful,” said Louisa.
“Indeed it is.”
He led his two friends onto the stone bridge as they made their way towards the town.
“Back in the day Jacarthia had guards in that tower to protect the town from Shobogans or any wild beasts.” He pointed to two dilapidated towers that stood either side of the far end of the bridge. “Now they can’t even pay anyone to do it.”
“So why are we here then?” asked Louisa as she watched a three-winged bird swoop down into the lake to catch a large, silver fish.
“Why do we always come to places?”
“To get into trouble,” said Atom.
“No, Atom. We come to help. That’s what I’m here for.”
“You never get involved in politics though,” said Louisa. “And why just this town? What about all the others?”
The Doctor stopped her, took both of her hands and turned to look at her. “This is the start. I’m not going to interfere. I’m just going to nudge things on a little. Hopefully other towns will follow suit.”
“And snowball?” smiled Louisa.
“Exactly,” he said, tapping her nose and jamming his hat onto her head.
“Snowball?” queried Atom as they continued their walk into town.
“Ummm…” was all Louisa could manage.
After a few minutes of gazing up at the different sizes and shapes of the metal buildings a man with swept back, chestnut hair, wearing long, blue robes emerged from a side building. He was smiling and approached the Doctor with his arms outstretched.
“Thank you so much for coming, Doctor.”
The Doctor dodged a hug and instead shook both of his hands. “Not at all, Mayor Stakran.”
“Please, just call me Stakran.”
“These are my friends, Louisa and Atom. They’ve been with me for a good few years now. They‘re like family I suppose.”
“And what’s it like travelling with a legend?” asked Stakran.
Louisa smiled and took a look around her. “A legend? Who?”
The Doctor laughed and shook his head, clearly embarrassed. “Please, Stakran.”
“Just joking Doctor,” smiled Louisa. “You’ll always be a legend to me.”
“Will you come to the palace with me?” asked Stakran, motioning for them to continue. “It’s only a ten minute walk from here. I can fill you in on all the details when we get there.”
“Of course,” said the Doctor, taking Louisa’s hand. “Come on, Miss Jenson; Atom. We’ve got a town to save.”
Now…
“So you were called Stakran?” asked Holly, looking directly at Stark.
“That’s right,” he said, looking wistful at the memory. “Well, when I came to Earth I could hardly continue to call myself that. Stark seemed like a clear, logical progression. A bit like Illithia to Lilly.”
“Well all this talk of the Doctor and his friends is really interesting,” said Richard, “but it still doesn’t explain anything.”
“Do you always skip to the end of a book, Mr Hicks?” asked Stark.
“To be honest, Roger, I don’t do a lot of reading. I’ve always been a TV and hands-on man.”
“I can tell.”
“Alright, you two,” said Holly. “Richard’s right though, we need to hear what happened.”
Stark nodded. “Well, I took the Doctor and his friends to the palace. At this point in Gallifrey’s history each town was handed a certain amount of funding depending on the importance to the planet. The Doctor, and myself, believed that the High Council needed to change their policies. All towns should be treat fairly and equally. Jacarthia was being stifled. We were getting to shortest straw amongst the short straws,”
“So he visited the High Council?” asked Holly.
“Visited is not the word I’d use.”
Many, many years ago…
“How dare you!” bellowed the old woman in the high collar. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“Please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten who you are, Madam President,” said the Doctor, his arms held by two guards.
The woman brushed a strand of grey hair away from her eyes and narrowed them at the Doctor.
“This is no way to talk to Madam President,” said a small man with sickly blue eyes.
“Forgive me, my Lady,” said the Doctor, “but I think you all need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.”
“The bigger picture, Doctor,” continued the President, “is that Jacarthia isn’t part of the big picture. At all. We cannot pump money into a town that provides us with nothing in return.”
“So you’re prepared to let the town die?”
“Everyone of importance has now left,” she said, sitting back down in her high-backed, ornate chair. “The ones that chose to stay do so of their own accord.”
“They have no choice but to stay. They can’t afford to move to a bigger town or city. And why should they?”
The Castellan - the man with the sickly eyes, Belgram - held his hands out in front of him. “If I may speak, my Lady.”
She nodded.
“How many times have we disagreed on something, Doctor?”
“Many times, Castellan Belgram,” he replied, shrugging off the guards.
“Many, many times,” he continued. “And throughout the centuries. Different Castellans. Different Presidents. We have been content to let you continue in your travels. You have been granted who knows how many incarnations beyond your original 13, and still you prod away at us.”
“I’m just trying to help the Jacarthians.”
“This is Gallifrey. Stick to helping out other worlds. You’ve helped us enough.”
“Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your voice, Belgram?” asked the Doctor, leaning forward, his hands on the table in front of him.
“Well, there was the Time War…” he raised his eyebrows and looked across to the President.
“What about everything else that came after that? The Stellar Winds, the Army of Mortok? What about the Advance of the Invincible?”
“Nobody is denying that you helped Gallifrey during all of those times,” said the President, her voice a little softer, “but nobody asked you to. You simply flew in with that antiquated box of yours and did as you pleased.”
“And if I hadn’t then your precious High Council wouldn’t be standing right now.”
“It is true, my Lady,” came another voice - a little old man with pure white hair. “I still remember the look on your face when the Fifteenth Terror broke into your nursery and the Doctor single-handedly took him down.”
“Thank you, Spandrell,” said the Doctor, giving him a wink.
“There is no denying these things,” said the President, “but this is not an invasion or a Fifteenth Terror in a child’s nursery. This is politics.”
“And that is your final word on the matter?” asked the Doctor, straightening himself up.
“It is,” she said, stony faced.
“Very well,” said the Doctor. And without another word the Doctor turned, nodded a goodbye to Spandrell, and then marched out of the door.
A few hours later the Doctor was stood in the beautiful, church-like palace back in Jacarthia, a holographic image of the High Council floating above a central console table.
“We’re all waiting, Doctor,” said Belgram.
The Doctor opened up a scroll, looked across to Stakran - who nodded for him to continue - and then looked to the hologram.
“I, the Doctor - with the consent of Mayor Stakran and the other 11 councillors of Jacarthia - hereby withdraw Jacarthia from the rule of the High Council of Gallifrey. To that end Jacarthia will no longer pay taxes or any income to the Capitol. All money or profit made will go towards the rebuilding and regeneration of Jacarthia. Control will be handed over to Mayor Stakran.”
“This is a dangerous move you’re playing, Doctor,” said the President, shaking her head.
“You left me no option,” said the Doctor, rolling the scroll back up and passing it to Stakran. “It was either that or let the people of Jacarthia die.” He pointed towards the hologram. “And mark my words, Lady, that other towns will follow suit.”
“We shall see,” said the President, arching her eyebrows.
“Yes, we shall,” said the Doctor, flicking the hologram off.
Louisa blew air out of her cheeks and looked at Atom.
“That was easier than I thought,” said Stakran.
“The hard part starts now,” said the Doctor. He reached out and took Louisa’s hand. “And it’s time we were leaving. You’re right, Miss Jenson - I don’t do politics. I’m sure there‘s a Dalek battle fleet somewhere out there that needs stopping.”
“Left a funny taste in your mouth?” she asked.
“Indeed it has.” He turned back to Stakran. “Can you handle this?”
“We can,” said Stakran, turning to his other, nodding councillors. “Gallifrey will have to concede eventually. When the other towns follow in our footsteps they’ll soon realise how much they need us.”
Now…
“Is that it?” asked Holly, looking a little disappointed.
“Not exactly,” said Stark. “That was just the start of the problems. You see the Doctor’s plan backfired and it sent Jacarthia right into the darker ages.”
To be continued...
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