Part 1 (2/2)

Although he had a pretty clear picture of what was happening, he still had no idea why.

'Would it be too much to ask what all this is about?'

The Inquisitor settled into her place, folding her hands on the table before her, glancing around the room with an air of brisk efficiency. 'The accused will remain silent until invited to speak.'

The Doctor sat bolt upright with indignation. 'The accused? Do you mean me?'

The Inquisitor gave him a withering look. 'I call upon the Valeyard to open the case.'

Sweeping the Courtroom with his sombre gaze, waiting until the attention of the serried ranks of Time Lords was fixed upon him, the Valeyard launched into his opening address, rolling the legal jargon around his tongue with all the relish of a gourmet savouring a perfect meal.

'By order of the High Council, this is an impartial enquiry into the behaviour of the accused person, who will be known for the purpose of these proceedings as the Doctor. He is charged that he, on diverse occasions has been guilty of conduct unbecoming a Time Lord.'

The Doctor leaped to his feet and bellowed. 'Not guilty.'

No one took the slightest notice, so he sat down again.

Unperturbed, the Valeyard continued, 'He is also charged with, on diverse occasions, transgressing the First Law of Time.' The Valeyard inclined towards the Inquisitor. 'It is my unpleasant task, Madam Inquisitor, to prove to this Inquiry that the Doctor is an incorrigible meddler in the affairs of other people and planets.'

There was a moment's silence as the Court absorbed the charges.

Studying the monitor screen built into her table-top for a moment. The Inquisitor said matter-of-factly, 'I see that it is on record that the Doctor has already faced trial for offences of this nature.'

The Valeyard said eagerly, 'That is so, My Lady. I shall also contend that the High Council showed too great a leniency on that occasion.'

Five years of exile on planet Earth thought the Doctor indignantly. Five years hard labour as Unofficial Scientific Adviser to UNIT. Call that lenient!

Although he had decided to keep the thought to himself, an amusing idea was entering his mind. Perhaps he had another card to play after all.

'Very well, Doctor,' snapped the Inquisitor. 'You have heard the charges. Do you have anything to say before the enquiry proceeds?'

The Doctor rose. 'Only that this whole thing is a farce. I am Lord President of Gallifrey. You can't put me on trial.'

With a general nod of farewell, the Doctor marched towards the door.

The clear cold voice of the Inquisitor stopped him in his tracks. 'Doctor!'

The Doctor turned, waiting.

'Since you wilfully neglected the responsibility of that great office, you have been deposed.'

'Oh,' said the Doctor, cast down. 'Is that legal?'

'Perfectly.' The Inquisitor smiled coldly. 'But we won't hold it against you.'

The Doctor walked back to his place in the dock and sat down thoughtfully.

'Quite the contrary in fact,' the Inquisitor went on. 'To see that your interests are fully protected, I propose to appoint a Court Defender, chosen from those Time Lords here present, to defend you.'

The Doctor studied the rows of impa.s.sive Time Lord faces.

'Ah! Thank you but - no thank you,' he said at last. 'I have been through several such inquiries before. I think it will be easier if I speak for myself.'

'Very well. The Court notes that the Doctor refuses the services of a Court Defender. Valeyard, you may proceed.'

The Valeyard rose once more, his sombre black-clad figure overshadowing the entire court room.

'Madam Inquisitor, I am not proposing to waste the time of the Court by dwelling in detail upon the activities of the accused. Instead I intend to adumbrate two typical instances for separate epistopic interfaces of the spectrum.

These examples of the criminal behaviour of the accused are fully recorded in the Matrix, the repository of all Time Lord knowledge.'

Ah yes, the Matrix, thought the Doctor. The all-encompa.s.sing telepathic group-mind to which every Time Lord was attuned, in which was deposited all the knowledge and experience of those Time Lords who had exhausted their reincarnation cycles and pa.s.sed on. The most valuable repository of information in the cosmos, accessible of course only to the Time Lords... The disadvantage, of course, from the Doctor's point of view at the moment lay in the fact that everything he said and did, indeed, everything he thought and felt was recorded in the Matrix, and available for recall.

The Valeyard said impressively, 'I propose to begin with the Doctor's involvement with the affairs of Ravolox, a planet within the Stellian galaxy...'

A giant visi-screen appeared on the wall behind the rows of Time Lords. Moving as one, like puppets, they swung their chairs round so that they were facing it, and the Doctor, the Valeyard and the Inquisitor all swivelled their chairs for a clearer view.

The screen showed first a mist-shrouded planet hanging in s.p.a.ce. Could have been anywhere, thought the Doctor.

Any one of a million planets in a million galaxies. Could even be Earth, come to that. The planet loomed larger and larger till it blotted out the screen, and the picture changed to show two figures walking in a wood of tall trees.

The Doctor leaned forward eagerly. He loved a good story, particularly one in which he himself was the hero.

And since his memory of recent events seemed to be a little hazy, the story unfolding on the screen might well be as new to him as it would be to the Court.

Well, thought the Doctor. So it begins...

But where would it end?

2.

Underground.

Sharing a big, multicoloured umbrella between them, the Doctor and his companion strolled in fine drizzling rain through a wood that was made up of tall, widely s.p.a.ced trees.

The Doctor wore his usual colourful attire. His companion, an attractive, dark-haired young woman, wore silver-grey slacks with a wide leather belt, a gold-coloured silk blouse, and a yellow blazer with diagonal stripes. It was a striking enough outfit in its way, though besides the Doctor's clas.h.i.+ng riot of colours it seemed almost subdued.

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