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Ì think I've coped with it quite well.'

`Have you ever heard of post-traumatic stress disorder?

It's a psychological condition that will be identified on Earth within the next hundred years. In essence, people who suffer a traumatic experience and are unable to cope with it can become anxious, prone to physical illness or increasingly withdrawn. If not treated, this can affect them for the rest of their lives. In some cases they become suicidal, hurting themselves and others'

Ì'm not from Earth'

`No, but you've been displaying many classic symptoms of the disorder. You've been having dizzy spells...'

`You said that was a mild mental disorientation, nothing more'

Ì thought it was at the time. Then I saw how you reacted to Adric's sudden death. Tegan was grief-stricken, shouting and screaming that I should use the TARDIS to rescue Adric from the freighter. But you hardly showed any emotion at all'

Ì was comforting Tegan, she needed me to be strong -'

`Comforting her - or trying to feel something yourself?'

Nyssa was starting to lose patience with the Doctor. `Look, just because I don't break down in tears whenever something goes wrong

Adric was dead, Nyssa. You saw him killed, yet you hardly reacted'

Ì'm sorry if my failure to share every emotion I feel with everyone at every moment fails to meet with your approval, Doctor! Not everyone can be like Tegan or Adric!' She turned away, refusing to look at him any more.

`Withdrawal - another classic symptom. With every successive loss you pull yourself inwards a little more, determined not to let anything hurt you again. You're trying to build walls around your feelings to protect them, when all you're doing is entombing those emotions' The Doctor let his hands drop into his lap. 'Do you know what the worst aspect of all this was? It was only when I glanced inside your journal that I began to see what was wrong'

Nyssa was furious. 'How dare you read my private thoughts and observations!'

Ìt fell open when you fainted in the Mausoleum. I only read a few lines, just enough to confirm it was yours. But those words crystallised my suspicions. "Traken is as dead to me now as my father. With Adric dead and Tegan gone, I have never been more alone." Aren't those your words?'

Nyssa's hands were shaking and she couldn't seem to stop them. Ì can't believe you invaded my privacy like that!

How you got no respect for my feelings, Doctor? How could you be so callous?'

Ì don't enjoy doing this, Nyssa, but it has to be faced before we can continue travelling together.' The Doctor took a deep breath. 'I know a little of the Traken rituals of death, how your people regarded the interdependence of the body and the soul. You believe Tremas will never rest easy while the Master uses your father's body as his own'

`You don't know what you're talking about, Doctor.'

Ìn a way you feel responsible for your father's death -

perhaps you could have saved him if you had done something differently. You probably think about revenge against the Master, despite such a concept being contrary to your beliefs. Perhaps you even wish you had died instead of your father, rather than be left behind to carry on without him'

`Stop talking to me this way - please!'

The Doctor stood and slowly moved towards Nyssa. `But most of all, I think you probably blame me for what happened. You believe I could have saved your father's life.

You think if I had stayed on just a few more hours to ensure the Master had perished, your father might be alive today -

along with the rest of Traken. Along with everything you ever loved and held dear. Isn't that right, Nyssa? Isn't that what you really think? Isn't that the truth?'

`Shut up!' Nyssa turned and shouted at the Doctor. 'Shut up! Please, just stop talking! Please!' She threw herself at him, fists and arms flailing, wanting so much to hurt him.

`Please, Doctor - please...’ Then she was crying, great sobs shaking her to the core, tears streaming down her face.

He folded himself around