The Doctor whistled a merry tune as the TARDIS was gently drifting through the Minne Verda - a rather small galaxy, not far off halfway between Gallifrey and Earth. Having no particular immediate destination in mind, the Doctor stood in the console room, checking some of the vast array of capacitators and conductors near the heart of his ship. He began to feel a little giddy, and replaced the temporal device he had been examining and closed the panel he had opened to access it. For a moment, he paced the console room, before a huge discomfort overcame him. He subsequently collapsed to the floor, groaning in pain. It wasn't regeneration itself; he was aware that it was another episode resulting from the regeneration that had recently altered his form; he was now rather tall, of average build with short, straight hair. It had also left his rather formal-style clothing in quite a tattered state. The pain involved in the initial process of regeneration was relatively short lived; but this was at least the second sudden subsequent episode he'd had. In fact, it could have been more than the second – his memory was uncertain; he felt as though there was a distinct gap between accessible recollections.
Unexpectedly, while still on the floor, the Doctor could tell that the door from the main corridor to the console room had been opened. A dark-haired young woman rushed in.
"Doctor!" she exclaimed.
The woman, of rather average height and build, came to his side. His severe discomfort had eased considerably a few moments before; now he was regathering his wits. The young woman was quite concerned.
"Doctor, are you alright?"
The Doctor lay on his back for a moment longer whilst considering his response at the slow pace at which his mind was working. Then, all of a sudden, his energy rushed back, and he quickly sat up.
"Yes… I'm alright. Just an episode from my regeneration." he explained, in a lucid manner that was typical of him. The Doctor suddenly realised he was speaking to someone that he wasn't expecting to be there, but who was becoming increasingly familiar.
"But I'm more worried about you… Who are you?" he asked, turning to the woman.
"What? I'm Cezara!" she replied in a way that indicated astonishment.
The name echoed with familiarity in the Doctor's head. "Cezara… I do know a Cezara…" he said, struggling with his memory.
"It's only been an hour since you picked me up from Vertanica!" The woman exclaimed. The Doctor was wondering at her meaning.
"Picked you up?"
"Well, you said I could travel with you." Cezara replied.
The Doctor paused in thought. If he had said that, the memory was not returning.
"Oh…" he started hesitantly, "Well, I suppose I must have trusted you… I wouldn't have let you in here otherwise!"
An indicator on the TARDIS console beeped, at which point the Doctor began to pull himself up from the floor, with the support of the console and Cezara's hand. Cezara suddenly realised she hadn't quite comprehended everything the Doctor had been telling her.
"Did you say 'regeneration'?" she asked with a certain disbelief.
"Yes…" the Doctor began, "I do… change… from time to time. Change my form. Mostly superficial, but I usually come out a bit different on the inside."
Cezara was amazed, in spite of all she'd seen so far.
"You just… look different all of a sudden?" she asked as the Doctor tended to the console, pressing two control buttons to bring the system back into order.
"Every so often, yes. It's a nice party trick…" the Doctor replied, before feeling weak again.
"Oh… But it's a bit of a strain. And sometimes brings on these episodes. I think I might have to take it easy for a while; should take a rest."
The Doctor turned to Cezara and continued to look pale and worn out.
"Can I trust you not to touch the TARDIS controls?" he asked before looking at both the console and Cezara. "Would you be offended if I locked them off…"
"I suppose you also fail to remember that I said I wanted to come with you so I could see the rest of my galaxy, just like the wealthy ones do…" Cezara interrupted, "And you also told me you could take me to other parts of the universe!" She looked sternly at the Doctor. "Now you say we have to sit here in this box?" she continued, already quite accustomed to the relative enormity of the interior of the TARDIS.
"No," The Doctor began, "I remember now. You said you 'liked the idea of travelling the universe'." he corrected Cezara, who looked highly unamused. "Well… we are travelling. Quite quickly, as it happens, nearing the edge of your galaxy." The Doctor explained as Cezara continued to wear an unimpressed face. "Besides, there's plenty to do in here!"
"Like reading history books from the library?" Cezara replied.
"Oh, come on, there's plenty of other stuff, like the…" the Doctor began to search his mind. "Okay, all the other stuff is still rebuilding. The TARDIS regenerates too." he concluded, as he began to look like a man resigned to defeat. "Oh, alright. How about a compromise? I remember being recommended a resort colony on a planet not too far from here, called Averus… Actually, I believe it's right here in your galaxy…"
"Yeah, it is," Cezara promptly replied, "I've read about it. I think we have a citizenship agreement. Free trade and travel links. For the wealthy ones, of course. But I thought it was just an industrial place, with… maybe just an impressive factory or something."
The Doctor looked sceptical. "Well, I heard it's a resort colony. Set up by a benevolent bunch from another part of the galaxy." he explained.
Cezara was surprised. "I thought it was one of the furthest planets from the sun."
"Oh it is." the Doctor confirmed, "Very dark, very cold. Makes the whole complex thing quite an achievement, really." He busily worked the TARDIS controls, now seeming quite energetic and enthusiastic. He was now describing Averus with excitement. "Seems to be a well-kept secret, not many have heard of it. But my good and trusted friend says it's fabulous." His eyes lit up even more. "And they don't charge for anything! Which is just as well…" He dug into his trouser pockets. "'Cause I don't have any Averussian currency on me!"
"It's the same currency we have in Vertanica" Cezara started, before looking a little dejected. "Not that I have any either."
The Doctor looked with sympathy and slight amusement as Cezara began to show her realisation of the humorous side of her comment. The Doctor pressed two console buttons in a rather conclusive manner.
"On our way, then." the Doctor smiled at Cezara, feeling a lot of familiarity with her, but still not remembering the apparent circumstances of their first meeting. Cezara smiled approvingly at the Doctor, as he pressed a final button to set the TARDIS on course for Averus. Some discomfort returned to him, and he leant wearily on the console.
The resort complex was the only residential or commercially operated building on the small planet of Averus. With a horizontal area of 54 football pitches consistent across fourteen storeys, the complex provided the necessities of life for its live-in population, as well as many luxurious facilities, including two large pools and several arcades, for its surprisingly few guests.
Correspondent parts of the 12th and 13th floors were merged to make a large government office. It was open-plan; encapsulating the presidential office and most of the administrative facilities the president commanded. The government largely consisted of members of one family, with but a few from outside it. Every new member had to be trained and their trustworthiness assessed. Although the government had been in power since the construction of the complex, they were open to democratic election; however, they had not yet been challenged, as they led with true benevolence. Indeed, this was of the greatest importance.
Under the Averussian tradition of compound names, the ruling family's members had one-word titles, each with the suffix '-ag'.
The government office had a window spanning the vast height of the room - an entire two storeys. The president, Komag, was staring gloomily through it at the view of dark reddish-grey dust and craters, each barely the size of a playground roundabout, on the raw surface of the planet. His face was aged and his thinning hair mostly light grey in colour. He drew a heavy sigh, and began to look more frustrated and concerned. His son and minister for tourism (among other portfolios), Benag, softly approached from behind. Komag noticed the young man's reflection in the window, and only changed his expression slightly in welcoming gesture. Benag made a sympathetic face.
"Surely you knew there'd be a threat to our position sometime, father."
"I thought whoever or whatever it was would be much easier to understand… to undermine, if necessary." his father replied. "I never thought I'd fail, Benag." he continued. "I never thought we'd fail, especially not at such an inopportune time."
"They must know about…" Benag trailed off, unwilling to mention the subject of his sentence.
"They don't know!" his father retorted with frustration. "They can't know. They must suspect something."
At this point, a third voice was heard from behind them. "Come on, Dad, be real…" the cynical voice exclaimed, "Of course they know." It was Komag's elder son, the tall and rather slender Parniag. With the other two in silence, Parniag continued. "And the last thing we need to do is seek any help. I know you've been thinking about it, but if anyone else knows our purpose, they'll only let it decide that they'll turn against us, immediately or after the battle's won. Not that it would likely be won if they're involved in the first place." He paused to let the message sink in to its two intended recipients. "We don't need help."
"Right," the Doctor began, flicking a switch on the console, "Almost there. Looks like the TARDIS has picked a good day to land, and…"
The room began to buzz a little as the TARDIS prepared to touch down.
"We're here!" the Doctor announced.
In an alcove of a fairly narrow hall in the Averus complex , a large blue box began to appear, fading in with a distinct, repetitive raw whoosh.
The Doctor flicked another switch on the console, bringing to life a small flat-panel display above its switchboards.
Cezara examined the picture on the screen with uncertainty. "We're in a corridor…" she said, questioningly.
"Yes." the Doctor began, "Living quarters. Don't worry; we're not blocking any fire exits."
Cezara remained uncertain. "So nobody will think anything of a… 'Police box' in their corridor?"
"Well, if they don't like it here, we can always move it, can't we." the Doctor countered. "I can fly it to a storage room. I'm sure they have one. Besides… an Earth police box is a bit of added décor!" The Doctor proclaimed vehemently.
The Doctor led Cezara to the TARDIS doors. As he opened the left door, a thought caused him to pause. "I think we'd better take rooms here." he started, tapping the other TARDIS door deliberately, and gesturing towards the back rooms, "I'm not sure they'll appreciate BYO accommodation."
Cezara smiled, somewhat amused by the Doctor's quip. She followed the Doctor out of the TARDIS.
Komag was leaning forward against a horizontal rail which followed the width of the vast window which gave the office a view of the harsh climate of the planet's surface. He continued to stare through it all, transfixed by the thought and worry in his mind. Parniag approached from behind.
"Dad… We have visitors." he began, "A corridor camera has picked up some sort of small ship in corridor 31Q."
Komag half-turned towards Parniag. "They didn't find the ship park, but at least they found the guest area." he murmured, before turning fully to face his son.
"Well, boy, have Benag welcome them. Remember, we can't treat them as suspicious. We'll lose the support of the populace entirely if we start that." he declared.
"Right, father." Parniag replied with a somewhat cynical tone.
The Doctor locked the TARDIS door before turning to Cezara. They were standing in the alcove, half of which was now occupied by the Doctor's craft. With a smile, the Doctor led Cezara into the adjoining corridor, towards a T-junction with another hall. They had only advanced a few paces toward the junction when a young man of below average height and slightly stocky build rounded the corner from the hall in front of them. He briskly approached them with a rather broad smile on his face and a clipboard under his left arm.
"Welcome to Averus." the figure began, "You have just arrived here as visitors?"
"Recommended by a friend." the Doctor replied as he extended his hand to the young man. "I'm the Doctor. This is… Err… Ka…"
"Cezara Laprin." the Doctor's companion finished as she too gestured to shake the young man's hand.
"Cezara… You're from Vertanica?" the young man enquired.
"Indeed." Cezara replied proudly.
"Cezara must be the most enchanting name Vertanica has." the young man returned. He then scribbled on his clipboard and then turned back towards the Doctor.
"Doc-tor…" he began. "You're from another world with a compound-name system?"
The Doctor looked slightly amused. "No, I'm from Gallifrey… It's just what I'm called." he said, with an air of humour.
"Gallifrey?" the young man queried, looking up from his clipboard with a smile.
"It's quite far away." the Doctor explained. "I doubt we have a trade agreement!"
The young man continued to write on his clipboard.
"Will you be needing one or two rooms?" he asked Cezara and the Doctor.
Cezara snickered. "I think he'd remember my name if we were staying in the same room!" she said jokingly, gesturing at the Doctor.
The young man smiled, finished jotting details on his clipboard and produced two cards from a wallet in his right pocket. He separated them and presented one to Cezara and another to the Doctor.
"I've put you in rooms 3135 and 3136, just up the corridor behind you." the young man explained, pointing between them in the direction of the rooms. "I'm Benag," he continued, "member of government in charge of accommodation. There's a button on your in-room communications system if you need me."
Cezara and the Doctor smiled and nodded.
"By the way, you have some complimentary clothing in your rooms, if they're to your taste." Benag said as he gestured mildly at the Doctor's attire. "OK, make yourselves right at home." he finished as he began to withdraw slowly.
"Thanks!" Cezara offered Benag, who smiled and waved before turning to leave more briskly.
The Doctor had a look of uncertainty as Benag rounded the corner and disappeared from his sight.
"Friendly chap." the Doctor said, rather quietly. "That always worries me."
The Doctor turned on his heels, and Cezara followed suit. The Doctor began to lead Cezara up the corridor to their rooms. On the way, the Doctor took note of a rather large flat-panel display attached to the wall on his left. The screen was blank, and there was evidence that the unit was only recently installed. The Doctor raised the key-card that Benag had just lent him.
"I need kit and a kip." the Doctor declared as he worked the door-opening mechanism and swiftly dashed into his room. Cezara didn't have the time to raise a protest, so she too decided to inspect her room.
On entry to the room, the Doctor headed straight for the wardrobe, which turned out to be a small room with a rather odd mix of clothing hanging on several racks. After some digging around, pulling out some unlikely candidates and suffering a fair bit of indecision, the Doctor found a light-blue polo shirt and a black safari-style jacket with buttons and button-up pockets on the front. To go with this, he withdrew a pair of light-brown slacks from a well-adorned rack. A pair of rather smart, black shoes without laces caught the Doctor's eye, and he swiftly added them to his new attire.
Feeling a lot more comfortable, the Doctor strode back into the main body of his room. He stopped more or less in the centre of the room, and briefly scanned the area from that vantage point. "Not at all bad." He muttered. Something then struck his eye. Nothing in the room was branded or promotional, except a white coaster, which was only decorated by the words 'Future First' in large print and 'for Averus', in a smaller font, below. This made the Doctor a little more suspicious. His attention was then drawn, though, by a rather large gadget on the desk against the wall. It appeared highly advanced. As it stood, it had two adjacent flat vertical sides; the other sides were blended into one curve. In the centre of the curve, a little above the vertical centre, the device had a small screen, which came to life when the Doctor touched it. The display then showed a navigation menu, with important contacts ready for quick access. From this, the Doctor deduced that the gadget was in fact the communication system Benag had mentioned.
By now, the Doctor's intrigue had dispelled any thoughts of sleep. He had worked out how to contact a specific room, and entered 3135 into the system.
Cezara jumped slightly as the stylish machine on the desk began a softened series of bleeps. A large button near the top of the device flashed green, suggesting Cezara push it to stop the noise. The screen facing her came to life, with an option to touch it if she was interested in activating a video connection with the caller. After judging from the caller's room number that it must be the Doctor, Cezara obliged the machine and tapped the display. The Doctor's grinning face of anticipation then appeared on the screen.
"Hello, only me." he began. "Looks like they're all set up here. Pretty advanced, don't you think?"
"It's much better than what we had on Vertanica." Cezara replied. "I mean, the wealthy ones might have had something like this, but…"
"Oh, I think they're pretty wealthy 'round here." the Doctor interrupted as Cezara trailed off. "Did you say something about this place being industrial?" He asked.
"Yeah… well, I thought it was industrial… or a wasteland. I heard something like that." Cezara responded.
"Far from a wasteland." the Doctor snickered with suspicion. "They're making money out of something, and it looks like someone else is after it." he looked down at his desk before coming back to the screen. "Do you have a coaster that's the only thing in the room with a name on it?" He asked.
Cezara slowly turned to examine the desk. She spotted it, with some trepidation given the Doctor had mentioned it. "Yeah. I suppose it is the only thing I've seen with a name on it." she paused. "Future first…"
The Doctor nodded slowly as Cezara turned back to the monitor. She was concerned, but she wasn't quite sure why. The image of the coaster was now quite well ingrained in her mind and the Doctor's rather concerned face was associated with it. Cezara sat down on the edge of the bed, near the communication system, facing the screen.
"Right." the Doctor broke the silence. "I think I might go have a look 'round this place, what do you reckon?"
Cezara rolled her eyes and sighed in some annoyance at the Doctor's impulsiveness, and that she'd been pushing for adventurousness since the start.
"Yes." she said with an intentional tone of cynicism. "I was just thinking of going out, myself."
The Doctor grinned and shut off the communication system at his end.
Cezara rose to turn off her machine, but at that point it returned to an idle state automatically, and she sat back down. She fell into thought, wondering for a moment at the possible implications of the coaster. She stared at it for a moment, before her eyes reverted to the communication system. She then realised that her mind had wondered momentarily, and rose to leave the room. In accordance with the instructions on the back of the door, she tapped two adjacent green buttons on the wall, which opened the room door next to them. On exiting, and peering down the corridor, she could see the Doctor had just left his room, and was looking alternately at two large display units on the corridor walls - one down the corridor to his left, and the other to his right.
"Odd, isn't it." he said. "We've got TVs in our room, so now they've gone and put more of the things in the corridors. I don't think they're here to suit an addiction to television, either."
"Maybe they'll have information on them." Cezara suggested.
"Or advertising." the Doctor replied, with a look that suggested his thought process was developing. He walked over to the display to his right. Cezara followed to maintain the distance she had been from him.
"You don't think it's something to do with the coasters, do you?"
"I don't know." the Doctor said rather slowly, as he examined the rear of the unit with his sonic screwdriver.
"It's not hooked up to anything yet." he declared, of the monitor.
"So they're brand new?"
"I guess." the Doctor replied as he threw the sonic back into the inside pocket of his jacket. "Anyway, perhaps we'd better go explore, hey?" He concluded.
They strode down the corridor, coming to the point where they had met Benag earlier. They then came to the junction with the perpendicular hall. The Doctor led, looking right, then left down the hall. To the left was a man tending to yet another display unit down the corridor. The Doctor was grateful to see this, and quickly set of in the man's direction. When the Doctor approached, the man smiled and nodded a greeting.
"Hello." the Doctor began, "What's with these televisions?"
"We've just installed them." the man answered, "Now they've given us the cables, and I'm hooking them up."
"Yes, okay. Who's given you the cables?"
"The government. They've been pioneering the whole project."
The Doctor started to seem a little impatient.
"What are they for, then?" he asked.
"I don't really know, it's a bit secretive. Something to do with the election, I think."
"Election?"
"Glad to see we have new visitors." the man said with humour. "The general election. This is the government's last resort. Too little, too late if you ask me."
The Doctor had a look of realisation on his face. "Aaahhh." he breathed.
"All they seem to do is waste money on these sorts of things." the man complained.
"Well, they seem to have done well connecting up the place, making everything work and all." the Doctor countered.
The man looked unconvinced and rather uncertain of himself. "Yeah, well…" he finished.
"Well, thanks…" the Doctor said, "And good luck with the err… installing!" He continued, pointing rather vaguely at the various display units around the place.
He turned back towards the junction, and saw Cezara standing a few metres away from him. He walked towards her, and she could see he intended to keep walking along the corridor.
"They're having an election." he said to her quietly as he approached. "I should have known."
Cezara remained silent. They continued up the corridor and round a corner to the left. Signs were indicating that they were on the way to the public facilities area. Halfway along the following corridor, they paused at a window to the surface of the planet.
"There's your wasteland." the Doctor said. "But there's something much better than that in here." He paused. "Or is it out there…"
They kept their gaze on the view through the window for a moment, before continuing along the corridor. They followed another sign indicating the direction of the public area, to a perpendicular corridor on the left. They came across a smartly dressed and made-up young man. With a clipboard under his arm, there was a feeling of déjà vu for Cezara and the Doctor. The man smiled broadly at them.
"Good evening." he began. "Are you visitors here?"
"Yes." the Doctor replied. "Another level of security, is it?"
The man snickered. "No, don't worry about that. I'm here to dispense some information. Are either of you from an affiliated planet?" he asked.
"I am." Cezara responded, again with a sense of pride. "I'm from Vertanica."
"Good. Well, you know you can vote in our election, don't you? My name's Jastar and I can give you all you need to know about what we at Future First can do in the government of Averus… and anything you don't need to know, if you'd like!" the man said smoothly, with a slightly exaggerated smile.
The Doctor began to walk onward and took an irritated tone. "I don't think we need political party information, thank you. We haven't been here an hour yet…" He stopped in his tracks. "Wait a minute, Future First? Now, Cezara, that's…" He turned on the spot, only to find no sign of Cezara or Jastar. He called for Cezara, and rushed back to the previous corridor junction. He looked both ways down the previous corridor, calling Cezara's name again. There was still no sign of her.
She approached a desk laden with pamphlets and paraphernalia, in a small but well-lit room, but curiously, Cezara wasn't entirely sure how she'd ended up there. The moments between being in the corridor and being in this room were blurred in her memory. Jastar was to the left of her, and there was another young man standing beyond the desk. He came half way around the desk, and introduced himself as Dassark. Jastar invited Cezara to sit at a chair on her side of the desk. She obliged and Jastar sat at a chair on the other side of it. Dassark remained standing. Cezara was becoming a little nervous. Jastar began to go through the campaign points for Future First.
"I've done some research on Gallifrey." Benag said as he came into the main body of the presidential office.
"What?" his father asked, suddenly awoken from contemplation. He was staring out the window, this time from a chair at the desk of the secretary, who was off duty.
"Remember I told you we had a guest from Gallifrey?"
"Oh yes. What about it?"
"Well, he could be quite useful. He might be able to help us. I think he might have command of time."
"We need no less." Komag said, as he span the chair around to face his son. "I hope those devious creatures don't know what we know about this man. They'll surely kill him. It's too late to bring charges on them before the last time we see them… Before the end of us."
Jastar gave Cezara another point as to the 'benefits' of voting for the Future First party. Then, without any prior indication, he went quiet. Cezara didn't appear convinced.
"That's it?" she asked. Which was part ironic and part genuine - Jastar had raised many points, but Cezara didn't really agree with any of them.
"So we haven't won you over, then?" Jastar asked with some idea of Cezara's answer.
"Well, you've given me something to think about." she answered, beginning to think it wasn't worth being impolite.
"But I tend to think you won't be voting for us." Jastar returned in a somewhat patronising tone.
"I beg your pardon?" Cezara exclaimed in outrage, leaning forward in her seat. "I don't think it's actually any of your business who I'm voting for. You don't have the right to ask me that!"
Dassark stepped toward the desk. "It is very much our business, and unfortunately, you don't have the right to vote for anyone else!" He said, uttering his first words since introducing himself.
Cezara was looking shocked and increasingly frightened.
"Yes." Jastar agreed, with an increasingly menacing look on his face. "We have to deal with 'disagree-ers'".
Dassark moved turned and reached for the wall beside him. He turned a knob and the light faded to a low level.
In a brief moment of calm thought, Cezara tried to rise from her short-backed armchair. But a beam had come up between the arms, across her knees and she promptly fell back into the chair. The beam lowered until it was touching her knees, and she had no way of sliding out. She began to panic, and Jastar rose from his seat. He strode over to Cezara, put a hand on her left shoulder, and forced her back into the chair. Dassark moved over to the far side of the desk, opened a draw beneath the top surface of it, and extracted what looked like a rather large TV remote control.
Cezara screamed.
"No-one can hear you, love." Jastar said in an ironically soothing tone. "But you can always keep on screaming if it helps."
Cezara just breathed quickly, in a state of terror.
Dassark walked back around the desk towards her and Jastar. As he reached the side of the armchair, Dassark stopped and tapped a few of the keys on the device, at which point a red light on the end of it glowed. Cezara noticed that the light had projected a red dot on the far wall. The dot moved sharply as Dassark lowered the device and walked over to a position right behind Cezara. Jastar used his free arm to lean her head forward, and flick her hair away to expose the back of her neck. Dassark raised the device so that it was pointing straight at the centre of that exposed area which was then marked by the red dot. Cezara's terror increased again.
"This is what we do with 'disagree-ers'!" Jastar declared, as Dassark pressed a large, prominent button near the top of the device which fired a beam straight at the red dot.
Cezara screamed again.
END OF PART ONE