Doctor Who: The Eight Doctors

by Terrance Dicks

  sympathetically. 'He can be pretty tetchy at times. I've had quite a bit of trouble with him myself.'

  'I'm very sorry to hear that,' said the stranger solemnly. 'Permit me to apologise on his behalf.'

  'Oh, nothing really serious,' said the Brigadier hastily. 'He's given me a good deal of invaluable help. Don't know how I'd manage without him.'

  'You're very kind.'

  They heard the clattering roar of an approaching helicopter.

  'That'll be the Doctor now,' said the Brigadier.

  The roar grew ever louder, and then dwindled to a steady idling sound as the machine landed. They heard the helicopter take off again, slowly fading into the distance, and then minutes later brisk footsteps were coming down the corridor. The Third Doctor appeared in the doorway, with Jo just behind him.

  'Sorry to be late, Brigadier,' he began, and then broke off at the sight of the Doctor, standing by the window. 'Oh no! Not you again.'

  Time froze, leaving Jo and the Brigadier like statues.

  The Third Doctor strode into the laboratory and confronted his later self.

  'Well, I took your advice,' he said bitterly. 'Back on the planet of the War Games, remember? And look what it got me. Exile!'

  He pointed to the blue police box in the corner. "That thing's useless to me now! The dematerialisation circuit doesn't function and the Time Lords have taken away my knowledge of Time Travel theory...'

  The Doctor ignored the angry tirade. Fixing his eyes on the Third Doctor, he opened his mind to the link between them and the two minds became one.

  Memories flooded back. The second Doctor's trial, regeneration and exile to Earth. Autons, Eocenes, Martian astronauts... The disastrous Inferno project - an entire world dying in flames, with nothing he could do...

  More Autons, aided by the Master.

  The deadly Keller machine, the beautiful and treacherous Axons, beleaguered colonists in space, the terrifying Azal and, inevitably, his old enemies the Daleks. He saw the gloomy caverns of Peladon and heard the roar of the sacred beast.

  Finally, still fresh in the Third Doctor's mind, he saw the struggle with the Sea Devils, and the escape of the Master.

  Above all, he sensed the Third

  Doctor's burning resentment of his exile, his passionate desire to be free again at any cost. And something else was happening...

  What was it the First Doctor had said?

  'With most of the gaps filled in, the remaining barriers will start to crumble...'

  Just as the First Doctor had predicted, other memories were starting to come back. Memories from the Doctor's past that were still in the Third Doctor's future. Somewhere in the depths of his mind giant spiders scuttled in darkness...

  'Your exile certainly hasn't been dull,' he said.

  'Oh, I've done some useful work,' said the Third Doctor grudgingly. 'As the Tribunal said, Earth seems particularly vulnerable to alien attack.'

  'You've even had a couple of trips off-planet,' said the Doctor encouragingly.

  'Only to be yanked back to Earth - like a pet dog on an extra-long leash!'

  'Be patient,' urged the Doctor. 'Your exile will not last forever. One day the Time Lords will relent.'

  'When? Perhaps my entire life will be spent as an exile on this planet.

  Perhaps only my next regeneration will be free.'

  'No,' said the Doctor firmly. 'You, as your present self, will one day regain your freedom. You will revisit Earth, but it will be by your own free choice.'

  'How do you know that? You have only the memories I've been able to give you - my memories up to this moment.'

  'That's not entirely true,' said the Doctor. 'All my memories are still there, dormant in my mind. The more I can restore like this, the more of the others will come to life.'

  The Third Doctor stood for a moment, stroking his chin. 'So you know what will happen to me? How I will end?'

  'Not in any detail,' said the Doctor.

  'Nor would I tell you if I did. But I can tell you this - you will end this regeneration by your own choice - in a noble cause.'

  'But not just yet, I trust?'

  'Not for some considerable time.'

  'I'm very glad to hear it!'

  The air began to shimmer and the Third Doctor said, 'You'd better be off, old chap, before they see you.'

  'There's no great hurry. I've already met the Brigadier. He thinks I'm some kind of relative of yours!'

  Time resumed its flow and the Brigadier said, 'Ah there you are, Doctor, Miss Grant.There's a visitor for you Doctor, an old friend I gather.'

  The Doctor - his Doctor - gave the visitor a polite nod. Was there an edge of sarcasm in his greeting?

  'What an unexpected pleasure! How are you?'

  'All the better for seeing you, Doctor,' said the visitor.

  'I gather you've already met the Brigadier. Allow me to present my assistant, Miss Josephine Grant.'

  Jo Grant gave the visitor her most bewitching smile.

  'Pleased to meet you.'

  She held out her hand. The visitor took it and kissed it, and held it for a moment..

  He was, thought Jo Grant, decidedly dishy.

  'You know, I feel we're old friends already,' he said .

  'Of course you are,' said the Doctor.

  'No need to make a meal of it, old

  chap!' He sounded resentful, almost jealous.

  Sensing a certain tension in the atmosphere, the Brigadier cleared his throat. 'Come along, Miss Grant, you can give me a preliminary report.' He turned to the Doctor. 'I expect you two have a lot to talk about. I'd appreciate a word when you're free.'

  'Very well, Brigadier, very well. I'll do my homework and give you a full report.'

  The Brigadier raised an eyebrow and led Jo away.

  ***

  'The Doctor seems in an odd mood,' he said, as they walked towards his office.

  Jo nodded. 'He's been a bit down lately. The Master escaping again upset him. Maybe his visitor will cheer him up.'

  'Let's hope so. Seemed a pleasant enough young fellow.'

  'He certainly did,' said Jo. 'It's a funny thing, but what he said was quite right. The moment he took my hand, I felt as if I'd known him for ages...'

  ***

  In the laboratory, the Doctor was still trying to persuade his earlier self to take a more cheerful view of his exile.

  'Interesting work, pleasant surroundings, charming colleagues...'

  'Oh, it's all very comfortable - as prisons go,' said the Third Doctor bitterly.

  'Come now - '

  'Don't you understand? Surely I haven't changed that much! I'm a Time Lord. The freedom to travel in space and time is the whole point of my existence! Without it, I'm less than myself.'

  'That at least I can understand,' said the Doctor. 'I too am less than myself

  - than all my selves at the moment.

  It's not a very pleasant sensation.'

  'Perhaps so, but you've still got your freedom. Do you realise what a torment to me it is to see yourTARDIS

  - my TARDIS - standing there, taunting me?'

  The Doctor frowned. 'Standing where?'

  The Third Doctor pointed to the handsome grandfather clock. 'I see you've even managed to restore the chameleon circuit.'

  'No, I haven't. My TARDIS still looks like a police box -it's standing just outside in the grounds.'

  The two Doctors looked at each other, and then at the grandfather clock.

  'That clock wasn't here when I left,' said the Third Doctor slowly. 'It certainly isn't mine - and if it isn't yours, whose is it?'

  A door opened in the clock's polished casing.

  'Mine, Doctor,' said the Master, stepping out of the clock, the Tissue Compression Eliminator in his hand.

  'Did you really think I would give up so easily?'

  The Master and the Third Doctor confronted each other.

  'I told you earlier, Doctor, there's nothing wrong with my TARDIS,' the Mast
er went on. 'The chameleon circuit is in perfect working order. I knew the coordinates for this place. If you remember, I've been here before.'

  'Attempting to murder me with the help of a Nestene-animated telephone flex. Oh yes, I remember!'

  The Master chuckled. 'You must allow me my little amusements, Doctor.

  But this time the joke's over.' He raised the Eliminator.

  'You're not worried by the presence of a witness?'

  The Third Doctor nodded towards the tall, long-haired young man at his side.

  The Master gave the stranger a scornful look. 'One of your human assistants, Doctor?'

  'He isn't an assistant, exactly - and he isn't human either. Look again! Open your mind.'

  The Master studied the tall young man. Their minds touched, and the Master's eyes widened in shock.

  'They would never permit it. It isn't possible!'

  'Oh but it is!' said the Doctor. 'Hardly fair is it, two against one?'

  For a moment the Master's concentration wavered as he grappled with the concept of two Doctors present in the same time zone.

  Suddenly the Doctor sprang forward and grabbed at the Eliminator. They grappled for a moment, then the

  Doctor twisted the Master's wrist and the Tissue Compression Eliminator clattered to the floor. The Third Doctor snatched it up, just as a savage shove from the Master sent the Doctor staggering back. He cannoned into his other self and almost fell.

  The Master was already disappearing into his TARDIS. The Third Doctor raised the Eliminator and aimed it at the Master's back, but he didn't fire.

  The Master vanished inside the grandfather clock. With a groaning, grinding sound, the clock faded away.

  The Third Doctor looked at the Doctor and shrugged, slipping the Eliminator into his pocket.

  'I know,' said the Doctor. 'We were never too keen on killing, were we?

  And who wants a miniature Master for a souvenir?' The Brigadier and Jo Grant came hurrying into the laboratory.

  The Brigadier registered the Third Doctor's presence with relief, glancing quickly at the police box in the corner.

  'We heard this sound... I thought you'd left us, Doctor.'

  'I can't leave, Brigadier, you know that.'

  'But I must,' said the Doctor.

  'Brigadier, Miss Grant...

  A great pleasure to meet you again. Perhaps you'll see me off the premises, Doctor?'

  'With pleasure,' said the Third Doctor.

  Before Jo or the Brigadier could reply, the two Doctors hurried away.

  ***

  The Doctor's TARDIS stood in a quiet corner of the grounds. Strange, he thought, that there should be two TARDISes, so close together in the same time zone. But was it any stranger than the presence of two Doctors?

  Not, of course, that there really were two TARDISes - or two Doctors either, come to that. All very paradoxical.

  He fished the key from his pocket and turned to say goodbye.

  The Third Doctor was staring fixedly at the police box, the Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator back in his hand.

  'That's my TARDIS,' he said fiercely.

  'Mine!'

  'No, it isn't,' said the Doctor gently. 'It will be one day -but not yet.'

  'What's to stop me from taking it now?'

  'You'd be stealing your own future!'

  'What's wrong with that? At least I'd be sure of having one. Tell you what, since you seem so keen on it, you can stay on here and serve out my exile.'

  The Doctor shook his head. "That would be paradox upon paradox. No, I can't do that. And I can't hand over

  my TARDIS:

  'I could make you!'

  The Doctor glanced at the Eliminator. 'With that? I don't think so. After all, it would be a sort of suicide. And if you didn't use it on the Master, you'd scarcely use it on me.'

  'Don't be too sure! I might do it just to prove you wrong!'

  'I know you won't do it,' said the Doctor. 'Because you didn't...'

  Even as he spoke the Doctor realised that what he said wasn't necessarily true. By his very presence he was already altering time. Who knew how much more things might change, perhaps for the worse?

  The Third Doctor picked up the doubt in his mind and smiled grimly.

  'Exactly!

  Now you're here, anything can happen!'

  He stood there for a moment, toying with the Eliminator, looking longingly at the TARDIS.

  He looked at the Doctor.

  The Doctor met his gaze.

  'Well, make up your mind. Are you going to do it or not?'

  The Third Doctor smiled wryly.

  'You're right, of course. Much as I'm tempted, I can't do it - any more than you could.' He tossed the Eliminator to the Doctor.

  'A souvenir for you! Goodbye - and good luck.'

  'Goodbye,' said the Doctor.

  'Remember, you already have your place in Time Lord history. My future is still in considerable doubt.'

  He raised a hand in farewell and vanished inside the TARDIS.

  Moments later, the Third Doctor heard the heartbreakingly familiar wheezing groaning sound as the

  TARDIS faded away. He stood staring into space for a moment. Then, drawing a deep breath, he turned and went back into UNTTHQ.

  Jo and the Brigadier were waiting for him, and there was work to do.

  Chapter 9

  Interludes

  The Doctor stood at the TARDIS console, his hands spread like those of a concert pianist, about to commence some great concerto. He was a very different Doctor from the one who had staggered into the control room after the Master's booby trap. Some of his identity, and much of his confidence, had been restored to him.

  But there was still a long way to go, and he was far from being in control of his own destiny.

  He closed his eyes and waited to see where - and when - the TARDIS

  would take him next.

  His hands began moving over the controls.

  ***

  President Flavia stared thoughtfully at the tempograph on the giant monitor screen. As before, it showed seven blue segments of varying lengths and one shorter red one. Light traces showed that the red segment had curved back to touch the first, second and third segments in turn. It was now moving towards the fourth.

  'As you see, Madam President,' said Chief Temporal Technician Volnar fussily, 'the pattern continues. The Doctor has interacted with his first, second and third incarnations -'

  '- and is now heading for the fourth,' concluded Flavia coldly. 'Since nothing has changed, why have you sent for me?'

  'Your pardon, Madam President, something has changed. The screen shows the situation until very recently. Then this happened.'

  Volnar touched a control and the pattern changed. For a time the red segment continued to move towards the fourth blue one, then it disappeared altogether from the screen.

  'Well?' snapped President Flavia. 'What does this mean?'

  'I am not sure, Madam President,' said Volnar miserably.

  'Is the Doctor dead?'

  'It is possible, Madam President. Or perhaps he has somehow gone beyond the range of the temporal scanning

  equipment.'

  'Is that possible?'

  "Theoretically, Madam President. I could check the manuals and the archives.'

  'Do so. Let me know when you have something to report.'

  As she made her way back to her office, Flavia's mind was filled with the image of the red segment blinking out of existence.

  Had the Doctor too ceased to exist?

  Chapter 10

  Vampires

  In the middle of a crowded circular chamber, inside a dome in the forest, two very different figures sat on plasti-steel packing cases, sipping rough red wine from tarnished silver goblets.

  One was a very tall man with a tangle of curly hair and wide, inquisitive eyes. He wore loose, comfortable clothes coordinated in rich burgundy. An impossibly long scarf was wound around his neck. A
battered broad-brimmed soft hat was jammed on the back of his head.

  By contrast, the young woman beside him was small, neatly dressed and thoroughly composed. She had fair hair, a high-domed forehead and, quite unconsciously, a haughtily superior, aristocratic air.

  The man was the Doctor, now in his fourth incarnation. The girl was the Lady Romanadvoratrelundar, Romana for short, the Doctor's Time Lady travelling companion.