Part 25 (2/2)

'You're the cause of our problems,' Dr Who interrupted. Our first step is to stop you from doing more harm.'

The Doctor directed his answer towards Jason. 'You shouldn't believe everything you absorb from the TARDIS databanks. Not until you have the maturity to interpret the information correctly.'

'If you're so good,' said Jason defensively, 'then why did you try to destroy Detrios?' Those words made Chris feel hollow.

He remembered Kat'lanna's face and he fought to hold down a 199 tide of misery.

'I wasn't trying to destroy it,' said the Doctor. 'The Detrians'

situation is of their own making; they have the technology to right it themselves.'

'How can you say that?' shouted Chris, without thinking. He fell silent as the Doctor turned his inscrutable eyes upon him.

Was there .a hint of surprise? A modic.u.m of hurt, that his trusted companion could challenge his word? d.a.m.n it, why did he he have to feel in the wrong? have to feel in the wrong?

The Time Lord resumed his explanation. 'The destruction of the crystal will not, in itself, doom the planet. It will simply return it to the situation it was in before all this began.'

'Which was?' Jason prompted.

'Desperate,' the Doctor admitted grimly.

'You mean they'll die?' piped up the red-haired stranger.

The Doctor glared at her, but unlike Chris, she was resolute.

'I mean they'll have to work to avoid extinction. And yes, the chances of their prolonging their existence are slim. But that problem already existed for them, its part of a natural pattern of growth and change. The fictional crystal is a stopgap solution which will have the side-effect of ending the universe. What would you have me do?'

Jason wasn't satisfied. 'Okay, but tell me why Earth's such a mess. You've visited often enough to do something.'

It was the Doctor's turn, evidently, to have a nerve hit. 'I couldn't expect you to understand,' he said. And he clearly hoped to leave it at that.

But the woman spoke again. 'You could try explaining!'

The Doctor shot her a filthy glance. Then he turned to Ace, who shrugged helplessly, and to Chris, who blushed and looked away. He felt he should lend support, give his friend the benefit of the doubt. But he wanted to hear the answer too much.

The Doctor took a deep breath and addressed them all, his tone subdued. 'I may be responsible for some of Earth's misfortunes. But then, I've saved your planet many, many times over. I've prevented invasions by Autons, Daleks, Cybermen and Axons, by Yeti and by renegade Time Lords. But the more 200 I meddle in your timestream, the more fixed it becomes and the more dangerous then is the slightest change to the established order. It becomes like solving a Rubik's cube, when to bring one piece into position means dislodging the others. Only this conundrum has no final solution. I must keep coming back, to guide things along the right path, to prevent the sort of historical anomaly which could bring the timelines cras.h.i.+ng down.' He looked at them earnestly, each one in turn, as if begging them for their trust. 'You're all from Earth, but from different eras.

This is Jason's present, Mel's future, Chris's past. If we change things in 2001 then Chris might not be born in 2954. He wouldn't then be instrumental in changing things now and a disastrous time loop would result. Even if Time could straighten that out, mankind might find its destiny altered.'

'Destiny?' Ace echoed.

The Doctor was tight-lipped. 'Even I don't know what the far future holds. I'd hate to even speculate.'

'If you'd never come to Earth,' said Mel, cutting to the heart of the matter, 'would it have been better?'

'I honestly don't know,' he said with appealing helplessness.

'I believe not. I try my best.'

He bowed his head, as if awaiting judgement. Chris decided to believe him. Mel spoke first, in a tightly controlled voice.

'That still gives you no right to murder the Detrians.'

The Doctor ignored her. He looked at Jason. Chris glanced towards the throne and saw that Dr Who had gone. 'And what about you? Can you see that things aren't as simple as we'd like to believe?' He reached out, but Jason pulled away. The air fizzed and the Doctor s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand back. He blew on it and looked at Jason accusingly. 'Especially not when you possess such power.'

'I don't . . .'

'I thought you were taking responsibility. You do remember the Land of Fiction?'

'I remember a dream about witches and superheroes.'

'And you recognize the energies which fill you, even if you don't understand why they do. You know that the events of the 201 past two days have occurred because you wished them. Like the eradication of the planet Arcalis.' The young man seemed taken aback. The Doctor pressed his advantage. 'The TARDIS told me about that atrocity.'

'It was the Trods' fault.'

'You know that isn't true!' The Doctor's anger was showing again. 'You accuse me of unspeakable acts, yet you yourself killed the harmless singing plants of Arcalis and wiped out the lizard people of Detrios -'

'They were green,' Jason whimpered.

'And murdered how many tribesmen at the site of your so-called Galactic Prison? Because they got in your way!'

Jason's hand flew up to his mouth and he stifled a sob. The Doctor's face softened and he reached out again, not so close this time. 'You can't afford to play games with abilities like that. Come with me. I can make sure there are no more accidents.'

He left the proffered hand there for a second longer.

Two seconds. Three.

Then Jason reached for it.

And alarm sharpened the Doctor's features as he turned to the doors and whispered simply: 'Oh, no.'

Chris realized why in the next moment. He could hear footsteps: the tread of many boots on carpet, approaching.

For a moment, Jason didn't know what was happening. He sensed the worry rippling through his visitors and he backed away, fearing trickery. The power rose and demanded release but he quelled it, remembering the Doctor's words. He wanted to believe that the Doctor was right.

Then he heard the footsteps.

The Doctor had rushed to his side and was holding his shoulders. 'Stay calm,' he said, not heeding his own advice.

'Somebody's about to do something stupid, but I'll handle it.

Don't get excited, you aren't in any -'

The doors flew open and the Time Lord wrenched himself away, placing his own body between Jason and the soldiers who were suddenly everywhere. The black woman at their head 202 aimed a gun at the Doctor, but another - Forrester, he realized, her image familiar from the TARDIS database - knocked it aside. Not him!' She pointed at Jason and he knew she was going to kill him.

The Doctor was shouting, but Jason couldn't hear him clearly.

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