A tense silence hung over the courtroom. There were just thirteen people present. No one else could be allowed to know what was happening here. Some of these select few couldn't quite believe what had happened. As bad as things had gotten, they could never have believed they would get this bad.

On a high chair overlooking the oval shaped room sat High Inquisitor Karvik. He was a small, slight man with a small puckered mouth and a faint stump of a nose. His hooded eyes fixed on some invisible point on the far wall. Amid the terror and uncertainty that gripped the audience, he seemed the one constant. It was said he hadn't even flinched when told the news.

After a few tense minutes, he finally spoke in a calm, steady voice, 'Bring in the accused.'

A blue cloud of light silently exploded to his left. When it evaporated a man was seated in the holding seat. It was a deceptively simple piece of furniture. No locks or straps for the arms, legs or head. They had long since evolved more effective constraints.

The audience were surprised at the man's appearance. His sandy white hair and shabby clothes made him look like a vagrant. Of course he'd have to be to have committed such a heinous crime. But they still couldn't believe that someone so innocuous could have gotten past their security. This building was said to be the most secure in the planet, the galaxy even.

His only remarkable feature was his face. It was twisted in a contemptuous sneer. His eyes darted from one person to the next. There was such venom in them, it was like with each look he was thrusting a dagger.

Karvik took a breath to ask for his identity. 'Do you confirm yourself to be . . .' he paused a moment as he read the name. It wasn't even a name, it was a title, and a presumptuous one at that, ' . . . the Master?'

'I do,' the accused responded, his sneer widening as if the name gave him endless pleasure.

'You are accused of the murder of Lord President Rassilon.' The suspect spat at the name. Karvik's eyes flitted towards him then back to his parchment. 'How do you plead?'

'Guilty.'

His voice was low and soft, but the smugness was unmistakeable. One of the audience members suddenly leapt from his seat and pointed a finger at the accused.

'Traitor!' he spat. 'You blackhearted fiend. You are a stain upon Gallifrey!' The accused grinned at this, showing his gleaming teeth. Every insult seemed to delight him more and more.

'Councillor Shavek!' Karvik barked. 'Control yourself or you will be removed.'

Shavek froze as if caught in the glare of warp train's headlights. "Removed" could mean any number of things and one look at Karvik told you he was capable of all of them. Bowing his head and apologizing in a piping voice, he returned to his seat, the accused's laughter jabbing at his back.

'You have been found guilty of first degree murder, treason, conspiracy with alien powers, threatening the safety and wellbeing of the state and threatening the lives of members of the Interior Council,' Karvik said matter-of-factly.

'I may have sneezed on someone as well,' the accused drawled.

'By the power vested in me by the People's Inquisition, I sentence you to death by vaporisation.'

'Do I at least get a headstone?'

'You will henceforth be removed to the Temporal Accelerator.'

The accused's face dropped, his grin collapsing into an shocked gape. 'What . . ? You can't!'

'Execution will commence in an hour's time,' Karvik replied, the shadow of a smirk in his voice.

'The Accelerator was decommisioned!' the accused exclaimed.

'We've brought it back.'

The accused scowled like a child who had lost a game for the first time in his life. 'You can't do that to me.'

'And why not?'

'Because I am the Master!' the accused snarled. 'You should praise me!'

'If it is praise you want, you shall have it,' Karvik said in his steady voice. 'We shall bequeath you the one honour one truly has in war – martyrdom.'

'I didn't do this to become a martyr!' the accused howled.

'Then why did you do it?'

The accused didn't reply. Instead he shot a glare at Karvik, twisted by a hatred the Inquisitor (who had never ventured beyond the citadel boundary) could never understand. Karvik met his glare with complete indifference.

The accused was again enveloped by the hazy blue light. It shimmered out of sight, taking him with it.