Doctor Who_ The Infinity Doctors - Lance Parkin [133]
Gallifrey stood before them, defenceless. There wouldn’t be another chance like this.
‘Fire,’ he ordered.
The Doctor saw it in the mirror.
‘Gallifrey…’ he said, his voice trailing off. He concentrated, felt the breach in spacetime shift. But he couldn’t control the Effect.
The first missiles were detonating on the planet’s surface.
‘Gallifrey will be destroyed,’ she told him.
‘The Capitol Dome is indestructible.’
‘But Gallifrey itself isn’t,’ she insisted. ‘And Omega is loose.’
The Doctor stared into the mirror. ‘That is where I came from once, but not any more. I come from here, now. I belong here with you. He can’t hurt us, here. He made me a god.’
The picture shifted. There was a familiar young woman, with ash blonde hair. She was crying, in pain. His wife placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘Larna?’
He nodded.
‘She’s beautiful.’
The Doctor nodded again, a little embarrassed. ‘Look at her, though, she isn’t you, she never could be. She’s from there, and you’re perfect, you’re everything.’
‘You could stop Omega.’
‘I know.’
‘You are the only other being in creation in control of a singularity. You are the only thing that can stop him.’
The Doctor nodded.
‘You can go back, now. Omega was trapped here, but now that he’s exposed a singularity in the universe of matter, you can use it as a doorway. It’s a clear way home.’
‘This is home,’ the Doctor insisted. ‘You are all that I want.
I’ve left that place behind, with all its squabbling and imperfections and unrequited love and decay and…’ His voice trailed off as he gazed into the mirror and saw a man in his body pinning Larna down, as he saw her mouth screaming at him for help. ‘You are perfect, you are all that I want. If Omega had offered me the choice between this and that, then I would have chosen this.’
‘You must go back.’
‘I can’t,’ he said. ‘My will keeps you alive. You’re a figment of my imagination. If I leave, you will die. I can’t leave you. I can let this end.’
Perfect red lips smiled, a little uncertainly. ‘Everything ends. You know that, you know that it’s how it’s meant to be.’
She kissed him.
Omega was all over Larna. She could feel his breath on her face. Hot, ammoniac, like a bull’s. He was pinning her down, she could feel his strength on hers. Larna had always been strong, but she wasn’t anything compared to this. She could feel her muscles clench and strain against this creature, but it was as if they belonged to someone else. Her strength just wasn’t relevant.
‘Omega!’ a familiar voice called from behind her.
Omega released his grip, turned to face the new arrival.
Framed in the entrance to the pulpit was Savar, The one who could see. The force knife in his hand was a broadsword, longer than he tall.
‘I have waited a thousand years for this moment,’ Savar said, advancing.
‘Have you, now?’
‘He’s got a gun,’ Larna shouted over.
Omega levelled the Magistrate’s weapon, but Savar was already bringing his sword up. He sliced the gun in half.
Savar raised the sword.
Omega’s eyes flashed red.
A shadow fell over Savar, and when it lifted there was another Savar. A blind man in grey robes.
‘Master,’ Savar answered, lowering himself to his knees. ‘I offer myself to you. A body in this universe of matter. I have waited a thousand years to make such a sacrifice.’
‘You’re just an hour too late,’ he observed. He held his hand to his chest. ‘I have a body, now.’
The blind man hesitated.
‘Savar, Larna called. ‘Remember me? It’s Larna.’
‘Master…’ Savar said helplessly.
‘He’s going to kill you,’ Larna warned him. ‘He’s going to kill you unless you kill him.’
Savar was hunched up, he didn’t seem to be listening.
‘He’s been using you, but now he doesn’t need you any more. Kill him!’
Savar leapt forwards, swinging the sword, bringing it down hard on Omega’s shoulder. The blade connected with Omega’s neck, half-severing it. His head lolled.
Larna pulled herself out of the way.
The second blow sliced the left femur, the third chopped a kneecap.
Omega slipped over.
‘I