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'Why?'

`Because I knew it was my time. As my wedding present Tremas procured an audience for me with the Keeper. I wanted to know what my life would hold, that I was making the right decision in marrying your father. The Keeper showed me fragments of my future, warning me I would see happiness and great sadness among them. I knew I would die so you might live. But what greater gift could a mother give for her child than life?'

Nyssa looked to her father. 'You never told of this...'

Ì didn't know it all myself,' Tremas admitted. 'I had my suspicions but Lucina refused to speak of it, as did the Keeper. You know our rituals, my child. I could not interfere.'

Lucina sat down on a stone bench opposite Nyssa. Ì have imagined this meeting so many times, what we would say and do, wondering how you would react. And now that you're here

- I find myself quite undone'

Ì know how you feel,' Nyssa whispered to herself. She turned away from her parents, her eyes filling with tears. Ònly a few days ago the Doctor said I was guilty of suppressing my emotions, of keeping everything bottled up inside me. Now I can't seem to stop crying. If my heart is so full of locks and keys, why does it keep coming apart?'

`The Doctor - who is this? Have you been unwell?' Lucina asked.

`He's a friend. My only friend now, I suppose. I travel with him.'

`Why is he your only friend?'

`We never stay in one place long enough to make new friends'

`That sounds a very lonely life' The woman approached Nyssa, gently turning her round so they were face to face. 'It doesn't have to be that way, my child. You could stay here, with your father and I. We could be a family for the first time.

Would you like that?'

'Yes, more than anything. But...'

`But what?'

`The Doctor, he will expect me to return from this side of the rift. He won't understand if I never go back.'

`Would it help if you could talk to him - if you could explain?' Tremas asked.

The Doctor made his way gingerly down the hillside, movements restricted by the manacles and chains still shackling his ankles and wrists. After several stumbles and an undignified slide down the slope on his backside, the Doctor reached the pontoon where Vollmer was standing over a body.

Òh, no... James.'

`You recognise this young man?' the sergeant asked.

The Doctor nodded sadly. 'James Lees. A few days ago Queen Victoria made him the Royal Medium to her court. What happened?'

`We heard an intruder on the pontoon. When we came down here to investigate, he refused to identify himself or surrender. Pushed what looked like a corpse into the water and then made a run at us'

Both men stepped back in surprise as James coughed twice, blood spattering his lips and teeth. The Doctor crouched beside him, bending forwards to examine his body.

'He's been shot through the chest. Missed the heart but punctured a lung. He's probably drowning in his own blood.

There's nothing I can do for him' The Doctor motioned towards the pontoon. 'Look in the water. See if you can spot this corpse' James coughed again, words trying to escape his crimson-stained lips. The Doctor bent closer to listen.

Ì was just... just trying to get back...' James gurgled.

`Back to the... Other...' He said no more, his last breath leaving his body with a faint rattle. The Doctor sat back on his haunches, shaking his head sadly.

Ìt's not a body,' Vollmer called, looking over the edge of the pontoon. Ìt's one of the diving suits. He must have been trying to get it nearer the water.'

`He just wanted to get back to the Other Side,' the Doctor said, finishing the dead man's final words. 'Seven years of torment and now this. Not much of a life...'

In the distance Doulton's booming voice could be heard shouting at Johnson. 'What do you mean, the prisoner is already down there? What nonsense is this?'

`The sergeant said -'

`Who is in charge of this expeditionary force, Sergeant Vollmer or myself?'

The Doctor smiled at Vollmer. 'Time to face the music'

Lucina