Doctor Who_ Father Time Part 12

'That had occurred to me,' he admitted.

'You're not a human being, are you?'

The Doctor couldn't look her in the eye. 'I'm not sure.'

'No?'

'No.'

'I know I'm I'm human,' she said, surprised how angry she was. 'Why aren't you sure?' human,' she said, surprised how angry she was. 'Why aren't you sure?'

'How do you know?' the Doctor replied gently. 'You only think you know. I thought I was human of course I did. I thought I was like everyone else, that everyone else's life was like mine. I learned that was not the case.'

Debbie took a deep breath. 'And you travel through time?' Realisation dawned. 'Of course! I saw a photograph of you at a chess game in the fifties. You didn't look any younger. But you were just visiting the past.'

'I don't travel through time,' the Doctor said, 'well, I do, but only in the same way you do. I don't age.'

'But...' That was worse, Debbie thought.

'I told you I woke up in a train carriage. What I didn't tell you was that it happened over a century ago. In that time... well, I look a couple of years older now than I did then, no more.'

Debbie wanted this to stop, but it didn't.

The Doctor was deep in thought. 'Now, I've no idea what my lifespan is. I could live long enough to see time travel invented. How long could that be? I've lived over a hundred years, I'd only have to live a couple more centuries less, if mankind makes contact with a people who have already got the technology.'

'Shut up...' Debbie said, very softly.

But the Doctor continued, enthusiastically. 'Like... like the Prefect and his people. Maybe I don't remember meeting them because it hasn't happened yet. Perhaps this is where it starts now I know time travel is a scientific possibility, I'll dedicate myself to building a time machine of my own.' He hesitated, looking around. 'Or maybe I could skip all that by stealing one.' He looked thoughtful. 'Perhaps even this one.'

The Deputy bowed his head as he entered the Prefect's chamber.

'You sent for me?' he asked.

The Prefect was sitting on an austere, low chair. He said nothing, nor did he need to.

'You are worried by the Doctor's presence,' the Deputy told him. 'We know that this era was monitored and protected, and the '

'I know my history,' the Prefect snapped.

The Deputy tried to keep his master calm. 'We also know that Earth in this period is one of the Doctor's favourites, and is a major nexus. But the strategy computers discounted the probability of his intervention.'

'Computers,' the Prefect spat. 'If we'd trusted ourselves to computers, we'd have been dead a long time ago.'

'We registered no time travel to or from this zone except our own time corridor. He's got in under our detectors. He has also managed to find the Last One before the Hunters have.

The Prefect looked dangerously close to panic. 'This cannot be a coincidence.'

'The Doctor claims not to recognise us. As far as he is concerned, this might be before Last Contact.'

The Prefect was intrigued. 'Is that possible?'

'I will have to check the files,' the Deputy admitted, 'but time travel throws up these possibilities. He may be lying, but if he doesn't remember us, it gives us a great advantage. We have him and his companion where we can see them. This situation is far from lost.'

The Prefect nodded. 'We need to hear the Hunters' report before deciding on a course of action.' He pressed a control on the arm of his chair and a door slid open.

Rum and Thelash entered and stood to attention in front of the Prefect's chair. The Deputy took his place behind his leader and looked at the sorry couple in front of him. Everything about them looked unprofessional their clothes were flashy, impractical, in stark contrast to his own combat gear. The man in particular stood sloppily. The woman showed more potential, not to mention better muscle tone, but there was insolence there, mixed with complacency.

Were these really the best Hunters in the galaxy?

'Report,' the Deputy ordered.

'The Doctor is here,' Thelash said.

'Evidently. So?' the Deputy asked.

'So,' Thelash snapped, 'we should get out of here before he thwarts our plans, uses our own weapons against us, blows up our home planets and gives you another scar... sir sir.'

His partner's defiance had made Rum bold. 'Our contract says nothing about intervention intervention. The Doctor has contacted the Last One and...'

'Your mission has not changed,' the Deputy told them. 'We are very concerned with your performance. The Prefect is not pleased.'

'Isn't he?' Thelash began, glaring down at the Prefect. 'He's keeping very quiet. Are you as scared as I am, Prefect Zevron?'

The Deputy moved forward, ready to kill her for her insolence.

The Prefect held up his hand, stopping the Deputy in his tracks. Then he stood and stepped forward. Now he was right in front of the woman, one hand resting on the curved dagger that hung from his belt. He wasn't as tall as she was, but that didn't matter she looked small, like a tiny child alongside him. He smiled, and it was the sort of smile that made the woman take a step back.

'My colleague and I mean no disrespect,' the woman insisted quietly, her head bowed.

The Prefect reached out to stroke her face. She tried hard not to flinch.

'I'll deal with the Doctor,' the Prefect a.s.sured her. 'But I need to know where I stand. He has located the Last One.' He turned to her partner. 'Have you?'

'Our search continues,' Rum admitted, his voice trembling.

'You have already taken longer than you said you would. Doctor or not, the timegate reopens tomorrow night. We only have until then.'

'We are aware of the deadline,' Thelash said firmly, in her mannish voice. 'The delays were forced upon us our colleague colleague attacked a native, and as a result the local authorities are being more vigilant. We've had to keep a low profile, and spend time covering our tracks.' attacked a native, and as a result the local authorities are being more vigilant. We've had to keep a low profile, and spend time covering our tracks.'

'We operate better alone,' Rum added. 'If you hadn't insisted Mr Gibson came with us, we could have operated more openly.'

The Prefect nodded. 'That is regrettable,' he agreed. 'But at the same time, this is a primitive civilisation. Are they really so much of a match for you?'

'I know we're being well paid,' Rum replied. 'We appreciate that you want a return on your investment.'

The Prefect turned to him. 'Your mission is a simple one,' he reminded them.

'We have made progress,' Thelash said.

'Progress?' the Deputy asked sceptically.

'Sir, we have familiarised ourselves with the area.'

'This was meant to be a s.n.a.t.c.h-andgrab operation, not a sightseeing one,' the Deputy reminded them.

Thelash glared at the Prefect. 'There has always been the chance of hostilities, and the need to prepare for them. The Doctor's arrival proves we were right to take such precautionary measures. Sir, we have been aware of the Doctor's presence since yesterday and have monitored him. It is clear that he is still investigating this situation, sir.'

The Prefect nodded. 'I have heard enough. We can find out from the Doctor where the Last One is hiding.'

The Deputy began to usher the Hunters from the room.

'Hey!' Rum objected. 'What happens now?'

'Your services are no longer required.'

Thelash dug her heels in. 'When do we get paid?'

'We will review that shortly,' the Prefect promised.

'What does that mean?'

The Deputy smiled. 'It means if you behave, we'll pay you. If you cause any more trouble, then we'll slit your throats.'

The Doctor and Debbie were sitting in silence when the door slid open and the Prefect and the Deputy entered the reception chamber.

The Doctor raised his gla.s.s. 'Thank you for the drink.'

The Deputy smiled, his earlier gruffness replaced with an amiability that Debbie found at least as disturbing.

'No doubt you have many questions,' the Prefect deduced. He was talking to the Doctor, and barely seemed to notice her. She wondered if the women on his planet were second-cla.s.s citizens, or whether it was a more personal snub.

The Doctor nodded. 'Where are you from?'

'You said you were time travellers,' Debbie reminded him.

'We are from your future.'

'When, precisely?' the Doctor asked, businesslike.

'The exact figure is difficult to calculate,' the Deputy told them. 'But it is several million years hence.'

Debbie was looking over at the Doctor. 'And that is where the Doctor is from?'

The Doctor was already shaking his head. He may not know what he was, but he did seem to have some sense of what he wasn't.

'The Doctor has visited our time zone on a few occasions, but is not a native. Now, if I may: where is the Last One?'

'Who?'

'Miranda,' the Prefect explained.

The Doctor sat back in his chair. 'Last One? Last what what, precisely?'

'The last empress of the most corrupt regime the universe has ever seen,' the Prefect said, letting the words hang in the air.

'Miranda's not an empress,' Debbie said, laughing. 'She's just a girl. I remember her starting at the school.'

The Doctor winced, and put a finger to his lips.

'So you know her as well?' the Deputy asked.

'I know her,' Debbie said, defying the Doctor's silent attempts to shut her up. 'And she's not some evil s.p.a.ce queen.'

The Prefect nodded, but didn't look at her. 'She is not what she seems. She contains the seeds of evil. It is her genetic destiny.'

The Doctor snorted. 'Nonsense.'

'She is not human, Doctor. She is the last of her kind. Power corrupted them they became decadent, s.a.d.i.s.tic. They believed themselves to be above all other life forms. The lesser races were... playthings playthings to them. Their powers were unrivalled. They started a sequence of events that led to whole galaxies being evacuated, whole sections of the timeline being erased. When that was done, when most of s.p.a.ce and time was left broken and dead, they imposed their regime on the survivors, exterminated any opposition.' to them. Their powers were unrivalled. They started a sequence of events that led to whole galaxies being evacuated, whole sections of the timeline being erased. When that was done, when most of s.p.a.ce and time was left broken and dead, they imposed their regime on the survivors, exterminated any opposition.'

The Prefect paused.

'And so it was for a thousand years. The Imperial Family, rulers of the universe, answerable to no one but themselves. Millions died through their neglect, their cruelty, or just for their sport. There was a Senate, but it was powerless: it lived in fear of the Emperor.'

'You were a Senator?' the Doctor guessed.

The Prefect smiled. 'Yes. There were powerful and influential factions within the Senate. I am the ruler of Faction Klade. The Imperial family let us fight among ourselves for sc.r.a.ps of power and wealth. But then we stopped fighting. Secret meetings were held, alliances forged. A revolution was hatched. The leader of this insurrection was my mother, a powerful Senator. And when the conspiracy was discovered, and my mother was dragged from her home and murdered in the street, that was when the revolution started. Fifteen years ago. I was made to watch, holding my infant brother in my arms.'

Debbie tried to smile sympathetically. The Prefect must have been about her age when it happened.

'The civil war was brutal, but it was short. The Imperial Family were wiped out, many by my own hand. A new regime rose, a more democratic system is now in place.'

'I like a happy ending,' the Doctor informed him.

'It isn't over, yet,' the Deputy snarled at him. 'There's still much rebuilding to be done, there are still many wounds that must heal. The Prefect is a key figure in the reconstruction.'

'If that's keeping you busy, then why leave there to come here?' Debbie asked.

The Prefect looked at her for the first time. 'An intelligent question,' he commended her.

'And the answer?' the Doctor asked.

The Prefect smiled. 'The war, as with all wars, saw refugees. Even before that, to escape the political purges instigated by the Imperial Family, many people fled into the depths of s.p.a.ce or '

'The depths of time,' the Doctor completed. 'People used time machines to hide in the safety of the past.'