Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or its characters.


"We are gathered here to witness the trial of the Time Lord known as 'The Doctor', for many crimes"

The Doctor stood alone nervously (although he tried to not look like he was nervous) in front of a jury and prosecution of solemn faces- his fellow Time Lords, who so despised him. Granted, he never liked them either, which explains why he left this godforsaken planet in the first place! They were too restricting and far too boring. It drove him out of his skull, so he left a long time ago. It was so long ago that he had already used up his original body, of old age! Unfortunately, leaving Gallifrey is against the laws of Time Lord Society.

"Most significantly, breaking our non-interference policy…"

The Doctor scoffed at their mention of the non-interference policy. It was rather outdated in his opinion. He understood perfectly the dangers of creating a paradox, altering history, or even coming into contact with one's past or future self, but preventing him from visiting history? That was going too far. Then again, he had broken this law the moment he left to see the universe with his granddaughter, Susan. He had forgotten how long ago that was, by now Susan was long gone living her own life. It wasn't as if he was the worst offender of their precious non-interference laws! He remembered that dratted Mortimus- trying to alter the Norman invasion of England! That would have wreaked havoc upon Earth's timeline if he hadn't been there to stop him. And last he heard, Koschei and Ushas were running loose out in the universe, which meant neither of them was up to any good.

"…and altering the fate of the human race in a very significant manner."

So they finally brought that up then. It wasn't as if he was doing anything wrong! They all knew how beneficial humanity would be to their own galaxy. He had to save them somehow, in the little way that he could…


In the TARDIS, several years earlier in the Doctor's personal timeline

"Doctor, me an' Victoria were wonderin'" began Jamie. Jamie McCrimmon, a young Scottish piper from the year 1745, was rescued from the battle of Culloden some time ago by the Doctor, and was a very inquisitive young man. He had learned a lot during his time on the TARDIS, and had a fascination with everyday things like the light switches and the stars, which always made the Doctor pleased. He loved to see the wonder on Jamie's face whenever they landed in a new place.

"Yes?" replied the Doctor. He wasn't expecting much, since Victoria was only from a hundred years after Jamie's time, he was certain that the both of them had a plethora of questions.

"Well I was wonderin', an' when I told Victoria she got curious too, but why is it ye never land the TARDIS on Earth after Ben and Polly's time? 'Cause they mentioned it a few times before they left. "

The Doctor certainly wasn't expecting that. It was quite a difficult subject. He took a moment to prepare himself before replying.

"Alright" he said solemnly. "Bring Victoria, and go to the lounge, and I will tell both of you."

The boy left to find Victoria, a girl about Jamie's age whom they had come across in several adventures. The Doctor went to the lounge, full of several soft chairs and a sofa. He figured this news would best be delivered to his human companions while seated. Soon, the two of them came in together and joined him.

"Now you must understand that time is very complicated. The reason I never go too far into the Earth's future, is that in the year 1981 on your calendar, the Earth will be destroyed in an enormous inferno. I do not know how it happened, except that the destruction came from somewhere in Great Britain. Some fool set loose the power of the Earth's interior with a drill or something and the planet was covered in lava. Everybody died" said the Doctor, hanging his head. He was very upset every time he thought of those poor people, billions of them wiped out by the foolish actions of a small group of people. There was nothing he could do to stop it, since it was a fixed point in time.

Victoria asked, after a period of silence "Is there absolutely nothing that can be done to help them?"

The Doctor replied "That I do not know. You know, I've never really thought about it before. I have seen humans in my travels, after the cataclysm, but I cannot see how they lived past it. The entire Earth was destroyed, and in that time, there was no space travel. Something is definitely wrong. Or is it right? Hmm…" He sat quietly, continuing to think about this contradiction he had never really thought about before. Logically there shouldn't be any humans left after 1981, but there were. As he sat thinking, Jamie and Victoria left the room, leaving the Doctor alone with his thoughts.