Personal file recovered from the corrupted archive of Professor River Song:

Encrypted File ∑j/7/µ

Readers must have signed Non-Disclosure Agreement 71β or be in possession of a Mark 7 Engram Drive. Luna University accepts no liability for damage to persons or properties incurred as a result of reading this file.

Circle Time: Phrase used by Ri'Jinn peoples to describe unusually close alignment between Time That Was and Time That Is. Theorised to be a chronological anomaly allowing intersection of the known universe with a point preceding the Great Cataclysm [see also Big Bang: Ωa/1/₢].

Investigation of phenomenon ceased after the annihilation of research team α786. No further research recommended.

Torchwood Archive Recording — Walker Expedition — Unknown Crew Member:

"It's funny, isn't it? The things you make up. The rules. If that thing had said it came from beyond the universe, I'd believe it, but before the universe? Impossible. Doesn't fit my rule. Still, that's why I keep travelling. To be proved wrong."

"Professor," says the Tertiary Prosecutor, conciliatory. "I am sorry. But the Doctor has refused legal aid and—"

"Because he's an idiot. I did mention that part, didn't I?"

The little lawyer extends placatory paws; lizard mouth a thin line to begin with. "You were quite clear on it."

She sighs. "Can I at least arrange a visitation?" Jail-breaking is something of a speciality, after all.

Apparently the Tertiary Prosecutor is also aware of this. He shakes his green head. "I'm sorry, Professor Song. I really am."

She finds her way back outside the Supreme Court, out into boiling midday heat. Twin suns beat down as she unfurls her parasol and strides away from the gleaming marble building. What to do, what to do…

Finding the TARDIS is probably the best start. Unfortunately, the Doctor, with uncharacteristic presence of mind, appears to have her shielded. Locating the ship will require luck as well as judgement. She picks her way down the street, returning the amiable nods of passing lizard-people. It seems a relatively sane and pleasant planet. What can be at the root of the Doctor's apparent lapse of sanity, to be captured breaking inside one of their secure power facilities?

She turns suddenly, not quite sure at first what it is that has caught her attention. Instinct, the kind honed over decades of adventure, has drawn her out of reverie. Her eyes narrow. A uniformed officer. Not running, but walking quickly. Then another. And another. Moving calmly back up the street; towards the Court.

At times like this it is important to be seen, to be witnessed. Standing away from the Court building, both hands occupied with her parasol and handbag. Absolutely no question that she is not complicit in the Doctor's escape.

Alarms start to blare.

River grins.

"So, no luck on Kitian IV."

River prides herself on being able to get along with almost anyone, but there's something about the Lady Me that scrapes across her nerves like a file. Maybe it's the grin; that sense that something somewhere is oh-so-funny and she's just missed the joke. Or the feeling that somehow she just doesn't quite measure up—

"No," she says, nodding to the barkeep. "He escaped before I had the chance to arrange a meeting."

"And no ideas as to where he went next?"

"Or when."

"The man's a tidal wave," says Me, shaking her head as she swirls the ice in her glass. "How can it be this difficult to find him?"

"He's running," River replies, receiving her own drink. She takes a sip, almost winces at the burn. "You know better than most, if the Doctor doesn't want to be found…"

"He can be trapped."

River puts down her glass, very deliberately. "And how well did that work out last time?"

Me shrugs. "Fairly appallingly. Or brilliantly, depending on who you ask. And when."

There's the nub of it, River supposes. "Clara Oswald?"

"She can find him."

"I can find him."

Me turns those too-knowing eyes on her. "No," she says, steadily, "You can call him. There's a difference. Clara's who we need when he's not answering. The trouble is, these days, she's about as difficult to pin down as he is."

"Well, you travelled with her. Where's the first place you'd look?"

"That's the problem. Exactly the same place you'd hope to find him."