Doctor Who_ Divided Loyalties Part 26

Morell smiled. Of course you are, Adric. You don't reach eleven until the next season.'

Adric shook his head. But I'm... I'm fifteen years old!'

His mother laughed. A lovely laugh he hadn't heard properly in years. Oh, my sweetheart, you are funny. Come, back to the home. I've your favourite stew cooking and Jiana is anxious to see you. I think she may have her eye on you, my little one.'

Adric scrambled to his feet, trying to back away, but his parents seemed so big. Which they would to a ten-year-old.

No. I am Adric. This is the s.p.a.ce station Little Boy II Little Boy II not Alzarius. I am in N-s.p.a.ce not E-s.p.a.ce. You are dead, as is Varsh and... and...' not Alzarius. I am in N-s.p.a.ce not E-s.p.a.ce. You are dead, as is Varsh and... and...'

His protests stopped as his voice faded, and the world seemed to move around him, almost swamping him.

His mother and father seemed giants now, looming over him, pointing and smiling.

Itchy kitchy koo,' his mother said. Do you want yum-yums?' She was holding out a plate of mushed river-fruit.

Your favourite.'

Adric had always loathed river-fruit. He tried to say so, but nothing happened.

Then the images blurred. His mother and father twisted, darkened and mutated into two other forms. Gradually recognition dawned - they were Tegan and Nyssa. The girls were poking at him, laughing spitefully, jeering at his attempts to push them away.

Oh look, Nyssa,' said Tegan. It's Adric being Adric. If he can't get what he wants he lies on his back, kicking and screaming like a baby.'

Well, Tegan,' said Nyssa, that's our Adric. A big spoilt brat who thinks he's all grown up when he's nothing more than a pathetic child. Oochy koochy coo!'

In the distance Adric heard a long shrill cry, like that of an irritating baby that demands attention.

He realised the sound was both in his head and coming from his mouth, the mouth of a six-month-old Adric.

And he screamed even louder.

Tegan could remember her dream now. Brisbane. The robot. The Toymaker and the other man, the one who had been trying to warn her against something. Was she supposed to be wary of the Observer? Well, frankly, after what had happened to her during her travels in time alongside the Doctor, she wasn't ready to trust anyone.

The sleepers had all awoken by now. They were all before her, three or four sitting, regimented, on each slab, all just staring at her.

Their G.o.d has deserted them,' the Observer said. You are the Chosen, the one they need to lead them now.'

Why me?'

Because you are pragmatic, straightforward and say what you think. Adric and Nyssa are too caught up in their own little worlds to be of any help.'

Tegan thought about this. Hang on,' she said slowly. If I'm the Chosen One, how do you know about Nyssa and Adric?

And the Doctor for that matter? Surely you could have chosen anyone in the universe who is pragmatic and the rest of it.

Why me?'

She faced the Observer and dared him to come up with a glib response. It's not me at all, is it? I'm just a convenient way of getting at the Doctor!'

The Observer smiled. You do yourself an injustice, Tegan. The Doctor has a part to play certainly, but no, it is you I... we needed. You are our Chosen One because of who you you are, not who you travel with.' are, not who you travel with.'

With whom you travel,' Tegan corrected him automatically. She glanced back at the ma.s.ses who faced her, imploring looks on their faces.

They need someone to lead them, Tegan.'

Lead them into what exactly?'

Battle. A battle of the mind. They have slept for years. Let me explain.' And once again the Observer touched Tegan's temple, and the world fell away around her...

3.

All That Glitters

Imagine s.p.a.ce.

Imagine the dust and clouds coalescing together, forming a planet - a blend of hard physics, chemistry, biology and an amazing amount of luck. Why should this one planet form here, in this insignificant speck of s.p.a.ce, 150 million kilometres from the nearest sun?

And why, within a few million years, should the Dymova emerge from their evolution, wasted physically but with an enormous mental range that could have elevated them to G.o.dhood among lesser races?

Those are the quirks of fate that created Dymok, Tegan Jovanka.

And the reason you must help is easy. Instead of becoming G.o.ds these poor, pitiful creatures opened their minds to invasion by another, who claimed to be their their G.o.d. He promised them an eternity of pleasure, of happiness. G.o.d. He promised them an eternity of pleasure, of happiness.

And what was his price?

To give him their dreams - to sleep and let their subconscious imaginations power his own dreamscapes. His own malevolent plans for universal domination.

He did this, this Great Old One from another universe. This Guardian of Dreams who said he would be there to protect them.

Oh, indeed, he has protected them - he allowed me to survive, to ward off unwelcome visitors in case they disturbed the sleepers. He gave me powers beyond those even the sleepers possessed - I could obliterate planets with but a thought. I could unpick your air-hostess uniform, one st.i.tch at a time, over a week until it fell apart - from a million light years away.

But it did not alter my loneliness - my abandonment.

Can you imagine what it is like to be suddenly cut off from your friends? To accept an offer on a whim without thinking about what the consequences might be? And then suddenly it is over - your G.o.d betrays you, gives you promises but in fact abandons you for ever, leaving you to go through the motions, performing tasks against your will because there is nothing else to do in the vast vacuum of boredom?

My mission, Tegan Jovanka, has been to protect my... the sleepers. To watch over them and ensure that while our G.o.d, our false, wicked and sly G.o.d, picks their mental powers bare to support his own fantasy realms, they remain alive in the hope that one day someone will come amongst us, help us find a new future. A new direction.

A fresh start - that is what the Chosen One' offers. I hope.

They will listen to you - you are different from them, different from the cruel G.o.d.

You are their saviour.

Oh, you don't want to be their saviour?

Then let me show you what will occur if you, our last best hope, abandon us now.

You see, the sleepers have awoken - and this has severely depleted the G.o.d's powers. Oh, he has a reservoir of their dream-spinning for now, but it cannot last much longer. He uses it too quickly, too eagerly for although it is not his to take so blithely, he does.

Observe. You see Dymok - do you see the building collapse - the black pyramid shatter and sink? Do you see the Dymova, unable to escape as their world crashes down upon them and strikes them dead?

And so, you ask, why do we not escape - flee this terrible G.o.d who has so mistreated us?

Because we are dependent upon him. If we abandon him, we die. If he abandons us, we die. It is a truly parasitic relations.h.i.+p.

But with a new Chosen One' to defend us, to talk with the G.o.d, to offer up a new menu of dreams, less stale and abstract than the ones sleepers offer now, we will be free.

But, you must ask, what of you? Will you not become a prisoner of your dreams as we have?

No, of course not. In a moment I shall reveal a secret to you, and you will understand everything.

But what of the Doctor? Your companion, your saviour?

Your planet's history is littered with martyrs, saints and saviours. You have your heroes, your legends and your G.o.ds. To you, the Doctor is all of these things rolled into one enigmatic package. You question how he flies through the vortex, unravaged by the pa.s.sage of time, protecting you along the way. He shows you the wonders of the universe - and the dangers as well. And despite all I have explained to you, all I have demonstrated, I see within you the desire to continue with him.

You marvel at his craft. His technology. His ability to change and repair his body when it is damaged.

Is he not a G.o.d to you? Is this not what G.o.ds can do?

No, he is flawed, and that is why you admire him. He cannot be a G.o.d because he makes mistakes - and that is how you can deal with him, how you and he can co-exist in his G.o.d-like world.

The Doctor is here to make another error, create another flaw. He is here to repair the damage he did to a lost soul a long time ago. And thus betray you and your friends.

Allow me to ill.u.s.trate my point by selecting one of your memories...

h.e.l.lo?

h.e.l.lo where am I?

Oh, it's the TARDIS... hey, I recognise this. Yes, that's me and Nyssa and Adric and the Doctor in the TARDIS and me and Nyssa and Adric and the Doctor in the TARDIS and we've just taken off from that fake place, Castrovalva. we've just taken off from that fake place, Castrovalva.

If. If I hadn't been trying to operate the TARDIS data bank by looking up 'If', we wouldn't have found the file IF for bank by looking up 'If', we wouldn't have found the file IF for Information File, and if we hadn't gone there we wouldn't Information File, and if we hadn't gone there we wouldn't have needed to look up the Information File and thus I have needed to look up the Information File and thus I wouldn't have needed to think about 'if' and... circular wouldn't have needed to think about 'if' and... circular logic gives me a headache. Circular logic got us there, to a logic gives me a headache. Circular logic got us there, to a world of circular logic that bizarrely made no sense. world of circular logic that bizarrely made no sense.

On the way back, we were discussing the Doctor's enemy the Master; who had created the circular logic city as a enemy the Master; who had created the circular logic city as a trap but was caught in it himself as it collapsed back into trap but was caught in it himself as it collapsed back into the pure mathematics which had created it. the pure mathematics which had created it.

Or so Adric said.

The Master had been dying, the Doctor said. Time Lords can only regenerate, change their bodies, twelve times - can only regenerate, change their bodies, twelve times - thirteen lives. If a Time Lord tries to trigger a thirteenth regeneration it usually kills him. But the Master had regeneration it usually kills him. But the Master had attempted it anyway and, rather than dying, he ravaged attempted it anyway and, rather than dying, he ravaged his own body, becoming little more than a walking his own body, becoming little more than a walking cadaver cadaver On Traken, before I joined the TARDIS crew, Nyssa's father Tremas had demonstrated the power of the Source, a ma.s.sive Tremas had demonstrated the power of the Source, a ma.s.sive energy capsule that powered the planet The Master used energy capsule that powered the planet The Master used the power of the Source to extend his own life o n c e the power of the Source to extend his own life o n c e a g a i n , a g a i n , tr i g g e r i n g t h a t f a t e f u l th ir t e e n t h regeneration, but he needed extra material, a whole ne w body which he could merge with, absorb and take on. body which he could merge with, absorb and take on.

Nyssa's dad was the unlucky one and the Master ended up looking like a younger; rejuvenated version of Tremas. I up looking like a younger; rejuvenated version of Tremas. I re me mber, as we lef t the M as ter to h is f ate in re me mber, as we lef t the M as ter to h is f ate in Castrovalva Nyssa asked the Doctor if that was it. Was her Castrovalva Nyssa asked the Doctor if that was it. Was her father lost for ever or was there some way he could father lost for ever or was there some way he could separate the two men? separate the two men?

We had just seen the Doctor die and become reborn in a new body. body.

We had seen an intermediary version of him, the Watcher operating independently while it waited to Watcher operating independently while it waited to trigger the regenerative process that turned one Doctor into trigger the regenerative process that turned one Doctor into another. another.

And she had seen her father become young again, playing host to a new soul, if you like. host to a new soul, if you like.

Was it any wonder that Nyssa wanted to believe the Doctor could perform more magic and bring her father back - Doctor could perform more magic and bring her father back - reverse whatever the Master had achieved?

But the Doctor said it wasn't possible. That separating two individuals who have become molecularly bonded - I individuals who have become molecularly bonded - I think that's how he put it - was unheard of. think that's how he put it - was unheard of.

Not even the Time Lords could do that.

And so poor Nyssa, who had lost her father her stepmother her friends, her home and her entire planet to the stepmother her friends, her home and her entire planet to the evil of the Master had now lost that one final thing she had evil of the Master had now lost that one final thing she had clung to, her reason for seeking out the Doctor in the first clung to, her reason for seeking out the Doctor in the first place. place.

She had lost her hope.

And as I watched a little piece of her die that moment, I think a little piece of the Doctor died as well. think a little piece of the Doctor died as well.