President Anastania stood with the Doctor in the darkened hall that housed the Omega Arsenal. He remembered being here many, many years ago when he stole the Moment - the weapon that would bring an end to the Time War.
Those stakes were higher then, but he was willing to make the sacrifice. And he was willing to make the sacrifice now. Back then he had had two other versions of him talk him out of using the Moment to destroy Gallifrey. This time he only had himself. This time the sacrifice would only be to his own life. He couldn’t not make that decision this time.
“Well, here it is,” said Anastania. “To be honest we always thought it was a fake.”
She led the Doctor to a glass case which contained a golden rod, bejeweled with blue diamonds and a ruby-red glass tip.
“Then why did you keep it?” asked the Doctor.
She placed her hand on the top of the glass and it slowly melted away until the cabinet was gone. She grabbed the staff and handed it to him. “It was passed down through the generations. Tests were run on it, but even if it were real we thought it was too dangerous to even try. Sacrificing two TARDISes and a person to just check if an ancient weapon is real…” She shook her head. “Not worth it, Doctor.”
“I have to do this, you know, Madame President?”
She shook her head. “Not you, Doctor. Let the Master do it.”
“I don’t trust him. And I would never sacrifice someone else when I could do it myself.”
She grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes. “The difference is that the universe needs the Doctor. It doesn’t need the Master.”
“But don’t you see? These past few years have all been leading up to this - me finding the Master at Manchester Airport, meeting Lilly and being reunited with Celestia and Caleb. It’s all been leading up to this. Now all the players are in position.”
“He is a criminal.”
“Then let your guards take him prisoner when all this is over.” He took the weapon from Anastania and turned it over in his hands. “It does make me chuckle though?”
“In what way?”
“That once again I have to mop up the mess left by my own people.”
“Doctor, I’ve told you,” said Anastania, “I want to make Gallifrey a better place.”
“Exactly. And it starts with this - the end of the First Time Lord. Our first mistake.” He smiled at her. “You’re the future, Anastania, not me. My days are over.”
And with that he turned and made his way out of the Time Vault and back towards his TARDIS. Back towards destiny.
“Doctor,” said Lilly, “are you sure about this?”
The Doctor looked down at the small, blonde woman and smiled. She had come such a long way since the days of West Pilton. The things she had had to endure had made her the woman she was today.
“Your life is not with me, Lilly,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “You’re life is here with Holly.”
“But-”
He put his finger to her lips. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise, Lilly. I heard you and Holly talking earlier. I know that you’re meant to be together.”
“Doctor, I’m sorry,” she said, putting her head on his chest.
“Don’t be sorry. This is what I like to think I do. I take broken and lost people and help them find a purpose. I’m happy.”
“I’m just…I’m sorry for everything.”
“No,” said the Doctor. “We’ve had this discussion. The past is the past. We can’t change it, but we can repair it. That’s what I’m doing now.” He looked across at Holly who was standing by the TARDIS, tears in her eyes. “And you, Miss Dangerfield.”
“I’ll look after her, Doctor, I promise.”
“I know you will. She needs you. She’ll always need you.” He leant forward and kissed her on her forehead. “You were there for her in a way I could never have been.”
“I’m gonna miss you,” said Holly.
“You’re gonna carry on, Holly,” said the Doctor. “And I’m fairly certain that when you two decide to get married that you’ll have the best wedding anyone has ever had.”
“Doctor,” said Holly, blushing.
“We’ll send you an invite,” said Lilly. “I want you to be my best man.”
“My only regret is that I won’t be there to give you away,” said the Doctor. “At least not in body.”
Lilly looked sad. The Doctor walked away from Holly and the dark-haired girl went to stand next to her girlfriend. The Doctor stood next to the TARDIS doors and surveyed the room of people before him. There was Benton and Bethany standing side by side, a burgeoning love developing between them. Osborne was looking as cool as ever as he kept hold of his plasma rifle firmly…and then there was Faith. Faith was someone who he dearly wanted to take away and show her the wonders of the universe. But that wasn’t going to happen now. She had to repair her life with her ex husband and daughter.
Maxus walked in with the Master. “We’re just about ready. We’ve got five minutes, but I don’t think she suspects anything.”
“Do we know the plan?” said the Doctor. “Let’s go over it again.”
“Myself and Maxus will be piloting mine and your TARDIS respectively, whilst you are in Trafalgar Square with the Staff,” said the Master.
“You’re gonna have to get out of my TARDIS pretty sharpish, Quinn,” said the Doctor.
“Escape pod on standby, Doc,” said Maxus, clapping him on the shoulder.
“You’re a good man, Quinn,” said the Doctor, shaking his hand.
“And am I not a good man?” said the Master.
“You were a good friend once,” said the Doctor, nodding to his old enemy. “Thank you for helping with this.”
“Not to get everyone in a tizz,” said Faith, “but we need to get moving on this.”
The Doctor nodded as he grabbed the Staff. The Master grabbed his arm and held out a paper bag. “Jelly baby?”
The Doctor smiled and picked out a green one. “Thank you, Koschei.”
The Master winked and nodded. “Don’t mention it, old man.”
“Okay then, folks,” said the Doctor, as Maxus and the Master entered the two TARDISes, “let’s get this show on the road.”
Faith and Osborne had driven the Doctor, along with Holly and Lilly, to the perimeter line. Celestia was standing beside one of the stone lions and she raised her head as the Doctor emerged from around the corner.
“Where is Koschei?” she asked, her hair blowing in the wind. It had started to rain and it was getting colder.
“He declined your offer,” said the Doctor, slowing climbing the steps to her.
“And you agreed?”
“Gallifrey needs stability,” said the Doctor. “The High Council have lost their way. Ever since the Time War they’ve been floundering making mistake after mistake. I believe you’re the only one who can put this right.”
Celestia smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “You have faith in me?”
“I do,” said the Doctor.
Across the street Faith spoke into her walkie-talkie. “Okay, fellas, what’s the situation?”
Above the planet the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Masters TARDIS had connected themselves to each other and both were glowing with crackling, yellow energy.
Inside the joined console rooms the Master was busy surveying the readings on his console. “Are we reading full link-up, Maxus?” he asked.
Maxus checked the readings on his console against a scrap of paper the Doctor had scribbled on. “Jesus, his hand writing’s terrible.”
“Just answer the question,” said the Master, looking frustrated.
“Yeah, yeah, I think we’re alright.”
“Mrs. Crossland,” said the Master, speaking into the speaking grill on his console, “we are ready to go.”
Down in Trafalgar Square the Doctor could hear Faith’s voice through a micro-earphone in his ear. “Good to go, Doctor. I’ll signal you when you can make your move.”
Celestia frowned at the Doctor. “Is there something wrong?”
“No,” said the Doctor. “Absolutely nothing at all.” He grinned. “Tip-top.”
Her eyes shifted from side to side. “No, I sense something.”
“I don’t,” said the Doctor. “It is a little bit chilly though. Would you like to borrow my jacket?”
“You forget that I sense disturbances in time,” she said. She grinned. “Oh, you’ve done your best to shield it from me, but I can tell there’s something going on.”
“You must be imagining things,” said the Doctor. “Now, let’s make some plans. Let’s kick some Time Lord backside, eh?”
“You’re the Doctor,” said Celestia, shaking her head. “You don’t succumb to anyone that easily. What are you planning?”
“Absolutely nothing,” said the Doctor, staring right at her.
“Tell me,” said Celestia. She flung out her hand and the Doctor was thrown backwards, rolling down the steps and landing at the bottom.
He put his hand to his ear and spoke. “Faith, tell those two to hurry up! She’s rumbled me!”
Celestia began descending the steps, her arm still reaching out towards the Doctor as he backed away across the flagstones. “You must know now that you can’t defeat me. Not without significant loss to yourselves.”
The Doctor went inside his blazer jacket and pulled out a small, compact version of the Staff of Roth. He flicked his wrist and the Staff extended to his full size.
Celestia laughed. “Oh, I’ve seen this before. It didn’t stop me then and it won’t stop me now.” She reached out her hand and the Doctor was flung into the air. He dropped the Staff and it rolled across the flagstones and into the gutter.
The Doctor couldn’t breath as he felt an invisible force crushing his windpipe. He could hear Faith’s voice in his ear shouting out orders to Maxus and the Master high up above.
“And now, my dear Doctor, you will die.” Celestia gripped tighter.
To be concluded...
No comments:
Post a Comment