Doctor Who and the Eternity Cage (The Future Doctor Chronicles Part One)

Chapter Nineteen

The paralysing light faded to nothing and the Doctor got his first glimpse of his surroundings. He was in a long chrome corridor with an airlock at the far end, a far cry from interior he'd expected to see. He focused his attention on the woman stood in front of him, expecting to recognise her but he didn't. His jaw dropped though as he took in what she was wearing, the high collared golden gown was unmistakably of Gallifreyan origin.  

"What do you mean you're sorry, I don't even know you?" 

"You do Doctor and I'm sorry that we had to meet again under these circumstances. I've travelled a long way to be here." 

"Where did you come from?" he enquired totally confused by the situation. 

"A call came from such a great distance Doctor, from before the Time War. A summons beginning with the words, stop the Doctor or watch the universe fall. Using a colossal amount of energy they managed to transport me from E space to normal space but it came at a cost. Without the protection of a time ship, travelling through the vortex is extremely dangerous. The person you would have recognised lasted less than twenty four hours before regeneration was necessary." 

The Doctor felt faint, he found it hard to take in what he was being told. He didn't understand what was going on and what part he played in it. 

"Romana, is it really you?" 

She offered him a weak smile "Yes it is, I never thought we'd ever meet again Doctor." 

"Me neither," he confessed "they told you why the universe will fall didn't they?" he asked. 

"Yes and I didn't believe them to begin with but the message came through from the Lord President himself." 

"Which one Romana?" 

"Rassilon himself Doctor, from the dawn of time travel they knew what would happen. They knew one of their own would wreak havoc." 

"They must have got it wrong, all I've ever done is help people." he replied pleadingly. 

"That's what I thought Doctor but the message also came with a video log." 

"What did it show?" 

"You're future Doctor, it showed unspeakable things. I didn't want to believe it but the evidence was overwhelming." 

"I don't understand, what are you trying to tell me?" 

"Something inside you has changed Doctor and from this moment onwards it only gets worse. You lose your conscience, your compassion, all you do is destroy lives. The rest of your timeline is a disgrace to the Time Lord race and more importantly Doctor a disgrace to your previous lives." 

She turned around and tapped the darkened glass behind her, he shielded his eyes against the sudden harsh glare. He blinked and rubbed his eyes forcing them to focus on what was behind the glass, eleven pale emotionless faces stared back at him.  

"They must be here to witness what is about to happen. Of course they won't remember anything from today except for that inexplicable feeling of dread, that indistinct unreachable memory that will always stop them before they go too far. Tell me Doctor, have you ever been close to destroying an entire civilisation but then just as you got to that crucial moment, stopping for reasons you couldn't explain?" 

The Doctor looked from one ghostly face to another, as long forgotten memories came flooding back, he walked over to the window and stopped opposite his forth incarnation. 

"It was on the planet Skaro that I was given a rare opportunity to end the daleks once and for all," he held up his hands "I held the two wires in my hands, all I needed to do was touch them together and they would be gone." 

"You couldn't do it though could you?" She asked. 

He closed his eyes and shook his head, Romana walked up behind and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"What's going to happen to me Romana?" He pleaded  

"I sense that you know the answer to that already Doctor." 

Searching his mind he couldn't come up with an answer, so many thoughts were racing around his head. 

"Sorry I can't think straight." 

Romana reached into her robes and threw a metallic object into the floor in front of him. 

The Doctor looked down, at his feet lay a set of manacles, his hands trembled as a reached to pick them up. Examining them closely he noticed an inscription, holding it up to the light his hearts skipped a beat as the words 'The Doctor' flashed before his eyes. All of the pieces of the puzzle came together in an instant, he dropped heavily onto his knees and held his head in his hands. 

"It can't be true, the Rassalox is a myth, a legend to scare children." 

She gently took the Doctor's hands, secured them in the manacles and took a step backwards. 

"As with all legends this one contains a grain of truth. The Rassalox is real Doctor, but it wasn't created by Rassilon to rid him of his enemies." 

The Doctor looked shell shocked as he turned and stared into Romana's eyes. 

"Why did he create it?" 

"He created it to stop you Doctor, he looked into the future and foresaw a time when one man would risk the entire universe to destroy his enemies without even a glimmer of remorse." a tear rolled down her face "I'm sorry it's time." 

"Please answer one last question, why you, why couldn't he do his own dirty work?" 

"He believed it would be easier for you to take if it came from a friend, he was well aware of your feelings regarding the High Council of Time Lords." 

Romana's face paled as out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a door slide silently open.  

Heavy footstep approached the Doctor from behind, he felt a cold metal hand on his shoulder and as he looked up at the reflection in the glass it all made sense. The cold expressionless face of the cyber leader stared back at him, his disappearance had been part of this trap, he was meant to follow him to this moment. He winced as the hand tightened around his shoulder, pulled him to his feet and twisted him round to face Romana. 

"He chose to involve the cyber leader for two reasons Doctor. Firstly you took it upon yourself to destroy his race, for which you had no right and secondly he was worried that you wouldn't accept your fate." 

"Very wise." he replied gritting his teeth against the pain. 

A loud bang from the direction of the airlock caused Romana to twitch nervously. 

"I can't delay this any longer." she stated sadness evident in her eyes 

His hearts were beating so fast it felt as if they might rip from his chest, he'd faced dangers on countless occasions but this time it felt different. 

"Will it hurt Romana?" 

She was too upset to answer so instead she just nodded and turned her back to him as she made her way to the airlock controls. The cyber leader clearly following prearranged instructions walked slowly behind her. He watched as she inputted a four digit code and with a hiss the airlock slid open.