Genesis Of The Doctor - A Doctor Who Story

34 - The Doctor

"Who, what, why?"  The Doctor leapt to his feet and began to frantically circle his cell, running with a shambling, hunched stride with the still-smouldering remains of his lab coat billowing around him.  In the background an alarm was ringing and a large part of the cell wall was gaping open, twisted and broken.

He fell back to the ground, his new wide hazel eyes staring at a fixed point in front of him.  He began to babble uncontrollably, "Who...ah!  This is weird.  Weird, what's going on? What's going down?  Going down? Third floor please.  It's ten to eleven; I want a cup of tea.  That's interesting Clive, very interesting.  Under very different circumstances it would be quite amusing."

He jumped up once again and resumed his circular run, this time in the opposite direction.  "Is it true? Am I back? Nah?" he giggled.  "Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, no that's Bananarama!  I miss Bananarama.  Stuffy Time Lords, no Bananarama!  Time Lords - I'm a Time Lord!" He slapped his head and fell to the floor again.

His hands explored his face, ruffling his brown hair and pulling at his gently hooked nose.  He put a hand on his chest and paused while he felt the duel beat of his hearts for the first time.  He then bent double as he pulled at his shoes, one in each hand. "These shoes are too small, or these feet are too big," then he muttered triumphantly, "Yes!" as he managed to remove first one shoe and then the other.

Once more he jumped up and walked barefoot over to the jagged hole blasted in the wall.  Crouching down he passed through it and into a larger, smoke filled room beyond.

"Hello, is there anybody there?" shouted the Doctor.  "Anybody?  Hello!" He coughed, the shouting having caused him to breath in too much of the acrid smoke which billowed around him.

He put his hand out to find the wall and, keeping it against the wall, began to make his way to the right.  "Hello, what's this?" he asked as his feet bumped into something large on the floor.  He bent down to peer at the object through the smoke and then straightened up as he realised it was the body of the Castalan, distorted and burned almost beyond recognition.  He raised his hands to his face, "No!  Was it me, did I do this?  Why can't I remember anything properly?"

Another voice answered, a rasping hiss of a voice, "No.  It wasn't you."  From the far end of the room a figure appeared as if it were coalescing from the smoke.  It was the same figure he had seen in the sewers of London hours earlier.

"Master?" asked the Doctor.  "My guardian angel.  Are you really here?"

"Yes, clearly I am here," replied the apparition, still not fully realised from within the smoke.  "I need to know where Milly Jansky is Doctor, I can't see her for some reason."  The Master paused, "Perhaps because I can't remember this period of time."

"Doctor! 'The Doctor', that's me. You called me 'Doctor'!  How do you know my name?  It's only just been decided.  Hasn't it?" he asked, unsure of himself.

"Oh, I have known your name for a long time Doctor, I have known your name for most of my life."  The Master moved further into the room and as he did so the smoke dissipated somewhat, revealing the face under his cowl; a skull barely covered by a yellow grey parchment-like skin, broken with pustulating sores, his mouth a lipless rictus grin of jagged, broken teeth.

The Doctor recoiled as the true appearance of the Master was revealed.  "I don't understand," he said.  "Are you saying that you are from my future?  That's impossible; time travel is impossible within Gallifrey - Gallifrey is outside of time."

The Master answered, "Not impossible, just difficult and highly improbable."

"But the energies that would require would be phenomenal; your arrival would be enough to tear The Citadel apart!"

The Master raised a gloved hand in a sweeping gesture that took in the devastation around them, "I see that you are beginning to understand.  Well, I really would love to carry on catching up with you but my time is short.  Do you still have the device that I gave you back on the Earth?  I would like it back if you don't mind?"

"Of course," the Doctor replied.  "It didn't seem to work in the end but thank you anyway." He held out the white wand and a skeletal hand grasped it.  It disappeared back within the Master's cloak.

The Master spoke again, "I need to find Milly Jansky.  Do you know where she is?  The Castalan wasn't a great deal of help to me."

At that the Doctor realised that his guardian angel was perhaps not as benevolent as he had seemed.  Deciding to err on the side of caution he answered, "I don't know where she is.  They just told me that she was alive and safe."

The figure lunged toward him.  "If you are lying to me..!" he snarled.  He was interrupted by a commotion behind him as a Chancellery guard rushed into the room.  Looking wide-eyed at the Master the guard shouted, "You! You caused this.  You are under arres..."  His words were cut off as the Master turned to him and grasped him by the throat.  With a flash of darkness he reduced the guard's body to a smoking pile of ash in an instant.

Rooted to the spot, the Doctor stared at the scene in disbelief.  His eyes rolled and he then regained his senses, running past the Master and into the smoke-filled corridor beyond in the direction from which the guard had appeared.  He fled the scene of death.

The Master took the white wand from within his cloak and touched it to a glowing green sphere that he was holding in a clawed hand.  It snapped into place and the whole assembly took on the same green glow.  He waved the newly completed device to and fro like a divining rod until it emitted a soft chime.  He set off in the direction that it was pointing, following the Doctor.