Doctor Who and the Final Confrontation (The Future Doctor Chronicles Part Two)

Chapter Eight

He couldn't help but feel uneasy sharing the flight deck with Demetrius's casket. It was hard to believe that he'd been alive such a short time ago. At his age he'd never given much thought to his own mortality but recent events had changed that. It'd all happened so quickly. One minute Demetrius was approaching the witness and the next he had a knife sticking out of his chest. With less training and experience what chance did he have against such a person? 

The console in front of him beeped loudly making him jump. From the pitch of the beep he knew straight away that it was a communication from the Shadow Proclamation. The screen came to life and revealed who it was that wanted to speak to him. He swallowed hard as their face came into sharp focus. It was the Shadow Architect herself. 

"I'm afraid there isn't time for you to return home Agent Sylvester. You have permission to perform a space burial and once that's been done you're to head to Mondas. Recent scans have shown a significant increase in military activity on Mondas and Skaro. You're required to infiltrate their base and report your findings directly to me." 

He was about to change his co-ordinates when he sensed in her eyes that she hadn't quite finished with him yet. 

"Don't be as careless as Chief Agent Demetrius we can't afford any more mistakes." her forehead creased into a frown "Am I making myself clear?" 

Sylvester nodded solemnly and then breathed a sigh of relief as the screen went blank signalling an end to the communication. His career had changed so dramatically in such a short space of time and he had a feeling that the worst was yet to come.

Fortunately the nearest burial site had only been a few minutes away so he'd had very little time to dwell on what he had to do. There was no point in carrying out an elaborate ceremony so he simply loaded the casket into the airlock and released it. According to the burial permit the casket would slowly make its way to the nearest sun to be incinerated. He guessed that thousands of caskets floating around space would pose too much of a risk to travel.  

Setting the co-ordinates for Mondas he couldn't help but wonder if he was destined for the same fate as Demetrius. In his years of dreaming for a more exciting life he hadn't once considered the dangers he'd face. The Cybermen were officially categorised as a high level threat along with the Daleks and the Sontarons and because of that they were monitored closely. Monitoring them safely from a computer screen though wasn't quite the same as visiting their home world and spying on them.

Romana stood in front of the simple black capsule and thought to herself how bland and utilitarian it looked compared to the Doctor's Tardis. Somehow a 1960s Police box looked better despite the fact it represented an old and arguably decrepit time machine.  

She'd never imagined Rassilon allowing her to travel through time again. He'd made it quite clear that he distrusted her due to her closeness to the Doctor. Maybe he thought she'd steal a Tardis like he'd done centuries ago.  

The door reacted to her presence and slid across as she approached it. This was clearly one of the latest models with programmable entry enabling the Time Lords to control access to individual machines. As if attracted by the bright interior Romana felt compelled to enter. 

To describe the inside of the Tardis as bland would have been an understatement. The smooth square control room was completely devoid of any ornamentation or personal items. She frowned as she caught sight of the console itself. There was something odd about it but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Her frown turned to a look of anger once she'd worked out what was wrong. Large sections of the hexagonal console had no controls whatsoever. Metal blanking plates had been attached in place of the usual array of flashing lights, buttons and levers. Clearly they weren't taking any chances. 

The gentle humming she'd noticed as she entered the Tardis got increasingly louder as she neared the console until the previously motionless central column began to move. This was it then she thought. She was now on her way to Mondas to face whatever fate had in store. It wouldn't surprise her if they'd pre-set the Tardis to return after a set period of time. They'd be far more concerned about the Cybermen capturing a time machine than about whether she lived or died. 

Out of the corner of her eye Romana caught sight of a white padded chair. May as well she thought as she headed for it. There was nothing for her to do but let the Tardis follow its course and she saw no wrong in doing it in comfort.