MAG.E 8/MAG.E 8 (Disk 1 of 2).adf/Who/C21/C21

Text File | 1995-07-27 | 8KB | 144 lines

@2Chapter 21
@1
 The Sisterhood of Karn stood around the burning funeral pyre with the
two Doctors and their three companions. No one said a word. The only
sounds were of Sarah's quiet sobbing and the crackling of the flames.
 Together, side by side, the bodies of the two warriors, one Ofran, one
Martian, burned swiftly and brightly. The rain had stopped temporarily
as if to mourn their passing. Both had been warriors, both had died
fighting for the cause they believed in. The seventh Doctor had
insisted that Tazaxxyr be given a proper cremation.
 Poor Sarah, Ace thought. Nobody should have to go through this. The
girl was standing close to her Doctor who had a reassuring arm around
her shoulders. She compared the two Time Lords. Both were so similar,
the same Time Lord. They were both good men, committed to righting
wrongs, and yet neither would give away the secret they held. She was
used to her Doctor's secrets - he was certainly a man of mystery. A
moment that stuck in her memory was after she'd helped him fight the
Daleks on Earth. He had hinted that he might not be just any ordinary
Time Lord - if there were such a thing as an 'ordinary' Time Lord. What
exactly had he meant by that statement? It worried her, not knowing.
Strangely though, she had allowed him to keep his little secrets
without experiencing the overwhelming urge to throttle the answers out
of him. Well, not often anyway. This particular mystery bothered her
immensely though. What was he hiding? What was his connection with the
most evil Time Lord she had encountered on her travels with him? She
was determined to find out.

 The planet Gallifrey, and all was returning to somewhere near
normality. The work to rebuild the Transduction Barriers to Rassilon's
original designs was underway and the Citadel was now fully
repopulated, buzzing with more activity now than it had seen for some
while. The Time Lords had so much to discuss.
 Mersaga had addressed his people and told them to buck up their ideas.
Gallifrey was no longer to be a stagnant society. It would stay alert
and ready against the threat of attack and take a more prominent role
in the running of the galaxy.
 To the disappointment of all who heard of his bravery during the
recent events, Castellan Spandrell stepped down from his office. "It's
time for me to retire," was his simple reason. Despite their implicit
objections, nobody argued with him. They felt that he deserved to spend
his last two incarnations in retirement.
 Within the Inner Sanctum, the two Doctors, Ace, Terrana and Sarah Jane
were waiting patiently for the President of the New High Council. They
hadn't been waiting for long, but the Doctors, especially the younger
of the two, were eager to be off.
 Ace took advantage of the time to move over to Sarah and put a
comforting arm around her shoulders. "Are you going to be alright?" she
asked sympathetically, an expression of concern on her young face.
 Sarah gave her a brave smile and wiped away a fresh tear from her red
eyes. "I think so," she replied, her quiet voice thick with barely
contained emotion. "I hadn't known him for long," she complained
bitterly, "but he was so nice to me. We could have been something,
Ace."
 "Dorothy," Ace corrected her, instantly regretting the disclosure of
that hated name. It was a little more friendly than 'Ace' though. "Call
me Dorothy."
 Sarah smiled through the tears. "Thank you... Dorothy." She sniffed
unhappily. Her voice rose in anger as she demanded, "Why did he go and
have to get himself killed?"
 "It's typical of men, they do stupid spur of the moment things without
thinking of the consequences."
 "He saved the Doctor's life," Sarah pointed out miserably. "He doesn't
seem to be particularly grateful."
 Ace looked at the tall man who claimed to be the same Time Lord as her
shorter travelling companion. "I think he is," she replied. "He's just
not used to showing it. He's scared that if he starts showing too much
emotion his enemies will get the better of him. I know my Doctor's
grateful," she added with a smile. "He'd be dead too if it weren't for
Keev, remember."
 "It's so unfair."
 "I know," Ace said, hugging the other woman as she began to cry again.
"It's all horribly unfair."
 At that moment, the double doors were opened by two Chancellory Guards
and Mersaga entered, seating himself at the head of the High Council
table. He turned to the heroes, or hero to be more precise, of the day:
the two Doctors, and said, "I thank you both for your help, and your
companions. The Celestial Intervention Agency has interfered in your
past for long enough Doctors. Henceforth you shall never again meet
yourself."
 "I'll believe it when I see it," the seventh Doctor remarked.
 The fourth Doctor was looking worried. "It's just occurred to me why
you can't remember any of what happened to me," he told his future
incarnation, his expression sour.
 "They wipe your recent memory," the Doctor replied, nodding. "I worked
that out too."
 The Doctor removed his floppy, brown hat and addressed his general
surroundings. "I won't have it, d'you hear?" he cried.
 "But Doctor," the President implored him, "we must do this. Your life
has been paradoxed enough times already. We must clear your mind of
these occurrences or your future incarnations will know what is going
to happen and act accordingly, changing history."
 "You should have thought of that before you informed me that there
could have been the slightest possibility that perhaps Morbius might
just have escaped from Karn, maybe," the fourth Doctor snapped,
exaggerating his approximations. "Goodbye," he added suddenly.
 Without another word, he was running for the door, with a hasty
farewell to his other self and his future companions, he scooped up
Sarah who just had time to say goodbye to Ace and her other new friends
before she was rushed outside, past two stunned guards and into his
waiting TARDIS. Mersaga smiled but made no attempt to stop him. The
Police Box dematerialized and with a clunk and a wheeze of straining
temporal engines, was propelled back into its correct time stream.
 "So he managed to get away without having his mind wiped," Ace said.
 The Doctor gave a knowing look at the smug Mersaga. "I don't think
so," he replied. "When the CIA are involved, nothing is certain."
 Mersaga addressed the remaining Doctor. "Will you stay now, Doctor? I
promise we have changed for the better from the stuffy old Time Lords
that have gone before us. We need your knowledge to help us rebuild the
Transduction Barriers."
 The Doctor chuckled. "No thank you, my Lord President. I'd prefer to
continue my aimless wanderings. Now that you've extracted all my
belongings from my fourth incarnation's ship, I'd like to collect my
TARDIS from Salfron and leave."
 "As you wish, Doctor." He turned to Terrana. "And what about you?" he
asked her.
 "With permission I should like to remain here and help you," she
replied.
 Oh well, thought Ace. Despite all we've been through perhaps it's for
the best that she doesn't come with us. "We promise to come back and
visit you,"  she assured the Time Lady. She turned to the Doctor.
"Don't we Professor?"
 The Doctor actually looked quite sombre as he mumbled his agreement
with obvious reluctance. Ace smiled. I think he's actually going to
miss her, poor soul, she said to herself. Maybe the old codger's not
quite the saint he makes out to be.
 Together, the two travelling companions wandered to the transmat bay
that would transport them to Salfron's. On the way, Ace took the
opportunity to ask the Doctor something that had been bothering her.
 "Doctor?" she said.
 The Doctor tapped his chin with his umbrella. "My dear Ace," he said
flamboyantly. "How may I be of assistance?"
 "Sarah's mind was wiped too, yeah?"
 The Doctor pondered for a moment. He seemed to realise what was coming
next. "Yes it was."
 "Then she won't have any recollection of Keev?"
 The thousand year old Time Lord breathed an ancient sigh. "No. She
won't."
 "So she's not even going to remember she was ever in love with the
poor bastard. It'll be like she never met him, and he never died."
 "These things happen with time travel, Ace. They're ultimately
inevitable. Come along." The Doctor stepped onto the transmat booth and
held his hand out to her.
 She followed him, and as they disappeared she vowed to always remember
Keev for her unfortunate friend. Well, she thought, somebody has to.