Doctor Who_ The Infinity Doctors - Lance Parkin [112]
‘Parallel universes?’
‘Such places exist, but this was our universe, riddled with paradox and contradiction likes weevils in a biscuit.’
The Doctor drew back a little. ‘I know a number of seafarers who prefer their biscuits with weevils. It adds to the taste, and weevils are a very good source of protein, or so I’m told.’
Omega was ignoring him. ‘In all of those realities, in every version of history I am trapped here. Sometimes by treachery, sometimes by design, once even through choice.
There are an infinity of choices, an infinite number of Doctors.
Yet I am all the Omegas, I am the only one.’
‘So you’ve searched all those different realities looking for a way to escape, and never found the answer?’
‘I have the answer.’
‘The breach in spacetime? The Effect.’
‘I have used it to observe the universe of matter. As it grows, so do my powers there.’
‘But they are still very limited. And I rather think that the Effect is out of your control now. When Savar’s TARDIS fell into the black hole, you tried to use it to escape, you tried to power it up using the anti-matter here. But it didn’t work for some reason, it just triggered the Effect. You might have lit the blue touch paper, but now the anti-matter‐matter reactions have spread far faster and further than you were expecting.’
Omega’s face was a mask of rage, ‘True, but this is not a bad thing, it allows me control over events.’
‘Including events in the past?’
‘Indeed.’
‘You can’t change the past, it’s impossible.’
‘Shall I bring back Larna, make it so she never died?’
Omega paused. ‘Make it so that you never killed her?’
The Doctor straightened. ‘Yes.’
‘As you wish.’
The image in the mirror became cloudy, and then began to resolve.
The door to the Castellan’s office slid open, and the Lady Larna walked in, escorted by a member of the Watch.
The young woman had changed back into high-collared dayrobes. Her hair was tied back. It was formal clothing, but not her robes of office. She refused to sit, forcing Acting-President Voran to stand as well. What she wore was a message, one that Voran had no difficulty in decoding: she was quite prepared to lose rank and status as a result of her actions, but she would not recant them.
‘Lady Larna,’ Voran said, hoping to convey a patronising tone.
She gave a small nod. ‘I am not sorry for my actions, and demand my right as a Time Lord to stand before a full Tribunal to justify them.’
Voran smiled, and decided to sit after all.
‘After all this is over Lady Larna, I sincerely hope that there is enough of Gallifrey left to hold a judicial review.’ He made a show of looking through Constable Sapro’s report. ‘It says here that when he entered the power room, you were clearly trying to prevent the Doctor from jumping into the time column.’
Larna grimaced. ‘If that idiot hadn’t pulled me away, I’d have managed to stop him.’
Voran chuckled. ‘Perhaps. In view of the current crisis, we will have to delay your trial. You demonstrated a great deal of guile and technical expertise in helping the Doctor to sabotage the power room. We need those talents to undo the damage. I’m going to second you to the restoration team.
Dismissed.’
Voran’s secretary, Pendrel, came bustling through the door, pushing his way past Larna.
‘Couldn’t you knock?’ the Castellan asked irately, holding up the sheaves of Sapro’s report.
‘Apologies, Acting-President. It’s rather urgent, sir.’
‘Have you noticed, Pendrel, that everything seems to be urgent this morning?’
‘The Sontaran delegation want to talk to you, sir, they say that their leader has been kidnapped.’
The Doctor watched Larna leave the Castellan’s office. The image in the mirror began fading away, replacing itself with the Doctor’s own, haunted face.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘She is a beautiful young woman.’
‘Yes,’ the Doctor said, faintly embarrassed.
He remembered her lying on the mosaic floor of the power room, her blood spilling over the tiles, the knife that had killed he in his hand. He