"But you can't be here. I'd remember it if I had been," the Doctor said.
"Well, the answer's obvious, isn't it?" the fancy gentleman asked, a bit condescendingly. "You've crossed over into my time stream. For either of us, these events haven't taken place yet." He held up the bauble he'd been working on when he stepped out of the Tardis. "That explains this. I hit a temporal membrane on the way in, and had a devil of a time getting through it. I thought the rematerialization circuit might be acting up, but it's fine. The problem is you."
"Will someone please explain what's going on here?" Pandora asked.
The Doctor didn't seem to notice her request. "Me? No, no. I've got the situation well in hand. You can just go right back to wherever you came from."
"'Well in hand?' You're going up against the Silence without the precaution of an eye drive. Pardon me if I remain unassured."
"What is the Silence?" Pandora asked.
"A race of aliens with a remarkable defense mechanism," the Doctor said. "You can't remember them if you aren't looking straight at them. I was beginning to suspect their involvement. See? I left myself a note." He showed off his arm, with the three ticks and the word, 'Silence'.
"'Beginning to suspect?' You didn't even bother to read the request, did you?"
"Doctor, who is this man, and what was he doing in the Tardis?"
The Doctor sighed and turned to her. "I've mentioned regeneration before. The thing that happens when a Time Lord dies. Pandora, allow me to introduce myself," he said with a gesture toward the older man. "This is the Doctor. He's the me that I once was. Doctor, this is Pandora, my companion."
"A pleasure to meet you, my dear," he said with a formal bow. He looked her up and down, then focused on her box. "And this, I presume, would be your famous box."
"I see you always thought you were funny," Pandora said wryly. "So, how come you and grandpa are here together? I thought that was dangerous, like if you shake hands with yourself the world blows up or something."
"Nothing of the sort happens," her Doctor said. "And why does he get to be grandpa? He's barely out of nappies."
"Steady on," the other Doctor said.
"Well, he looks older than you. How does that work?"
"Does he?" The two Doctors stood looking at each other for a while, like examining themselves in a funhouse mirror.
"I'll have you know I'm nearly six hundred years old. I'm in the prime of my adulthood."
Pandora looked back and forth between them and shook her head. "Anyway, what's up with the eyepatch? Did you lose an eye on some adventure? Does it grow back after a regeneration?" She leaned toward her Doctor and whispered loudly, "Is he the one that got shot in the back?"
"Ix-nay on the ack-bay," the Doctor said out of the corner of his mouth.
The other Doctor cleared his throat. "I can see you've already forgotten about the Silence again."
"What is the Silence?" Pandora asked.
"A race of aliens with a remarkable defense mechanism. You can't remember them if you aren't looking straight at them. I was beginning to suspect their involvement. See? I left myself a note." He showed off his arm, with the three ticks and the word, 'Silence'.
"Look, there's no use rehashing all of this. You're only going to forget again." He pulled a rather frustrated face. "If I knew I'd be running into company, I would have been sure to bring extra eye drives. Anyway, here's the invitation. Since you will be attending these discussions, you ought to have it."
"You won't be joining us?"
"And have to explain two Doctors? No, I rather think not. But this will free me up to explore. See what they're up to. If the Time Lords don't trust the Silence —"
"The Time Lords?" the Doctor said, he began reading the request that the Doctor had just handed him. "Oh, this just gets better and better. That favor's come due already…"
There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" the Doctor called.
"Alpha Centauri," came the response in the hexapod's high voice.
"Perhaps you'd better get back inside your Tardis for now," the Doctor whispered.
The other Doctor nodded his agreement and stepped back inside the blue box, closing the door behind himself.
"Please come in," the Doctor called.
Alpha Centauri let himself in and closed the door.
"And how are you, old friend?" the Doctor asked.
"I am well, Doctor, but I came to talk about the queen mother. I think it would do her well if you found time to stop by."
"Yes. I noticed her absence at the feast. I trust Erimem is alright?"
"I'm afraid not, Doctor. You know how reckless she can be. She went out riding several nights ago, despite the storm, and the horse was spooked by the thunder. She was thrown and badly injured, but it was hours before anyone suspected a problem and she was discovered. The healers are doing their best for her, but…" Alpha Centauri let the rest drift off.
"Of course I'll come see her. There are bound to be breaks in the negotiations. No wonder the king seemed so out of sorts."
Alpha Centauri tapped his claws together nervously. "If only that were so. The king is always like that. But without his mother present to guide the negotiations, this will be his first true test of leadership."
"And what of the nobles? Does the king have their full support?"
"There have always been grumblings. Even before the twins were born, there were nobles who denounced them as half-bloods, but their mother proved herself to be a strong and capable leader after her husband's death, and no one dared to grumble in public. After her accident, however, the nobles have been grumbling more publicly, and asserting their power more and more. Things would be different if only Peltanan were king. I believe they would follow him."
"And what of Peltanan? What sort of ambitions does he have?"
"Seemingly, none. He's never been seen meeting with the nobles without the king present, he's never said a word publicly that hasn't been entirely supportive."
"All the talent and the morality of a saint as well? Hmm. A true rarity, if it's true."
"You think the prince may be plotting something, Doctor?"
"I wouldn't go that far, not yet anyway. But I don't want to rule it out. Of course, the opposite may just as easily be true. If you were on the throne, and your wiser, more capable brother were always at your shoulder, you might be tempted to do something to remove him."
"Doctor, I don't —" Alpha Centauri's words were cut off by the sounding of a bell. "It's time for the treaty discussion. We can talk later."
"You go ahead, old friend. I would like a quick word with Pandora before we join you."
Alpha Centauri bowed and left the room. Moments later the Tardis door opened up.
"Did you hear all of that?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes. I had the scanner on. I take it you know this Erimem?"
"Yes. We travelled together for a time, and she decided to remain here after my most recent visit."
"Is that what happens to the people that travel with you? You marry them off to kings?" Pandora asked.
"It's happened once or twice, and it's not always kings. Sometimes it's environmentalists," he said with a sympathetic look toward the other Doctor. "What do you intend to do during our meeting?"
"I want to see what the Silence are up to in the mines. You should get a feel for who may be under their influence during discussions, especially if it's the king or his brother."
"Agreed. Give us a few minutes, to be sure you aren't seen."
The Doctor was doodling on his arm as they walked back toward the dining hall. Pandora watched as he drew something that looked like all those 'grey aliens' from abduction stories on telly, except he then dressed it in a suit and tie and made the tiny mouth look puckered. Suddenly a memory came flashing back. "I've seen some of those before! When Madame Velsine was talking earlier. They were standing behind her! How could I forget?"
"That's the nature of these creatures. You can only remember them when you are looking at them. Look away, even for an instant, and you forget they were ever there. Worse than that, anything they say when you see them hangs around like a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion. They can influence your thinking."
The Doctor was silent for a short time, thinking hard, but he stopped Pandora before they stepped back inside the meeting room. He held out his arm where she could see it, and spoke quickly. "I think that's who Madam Velsine truly represents. We have to assume they will be in there again. We can further assume that they'll speak to us and that we won't remember it later. Pandora, from the moment we go inside, you have to question everything. Anybody's motives could be influenced by these creatures, even yours. Even mine. If you find yourself feeling strongly about something, so strongly that you need to say something and convince others, probe that thought. Do you have a reason for feeling this way? Because if the answer is, 'I just do,' be very careful before you say it."
Pandora nodded.
The Doctor put down his arm. "Good. Now I'm trusting you to do that thing you do. Study the others around the table, if anyone is acting out of character —" But Pandora never got to hear the end of that statement, because a guard stepped out of the dining hall, and seeing them there, he held the door for them. "Thank you so much," the Doctor said to the guard, and ushered Pandora into the room.
The rest of the representatives were there already. The king sat at the head of a much shorter table, and the prince stood at his shoulder. Madame Velsine sat next to him, and opposite her, two seats remained open for the Doctor and Pandora. The Doctor sat down next to the king, and Pandora slid her box underneath the chair next to him, and sat down. Sslendak was next to her, and his personal guards stood not far away. Across from him stood Alpha Centauri, or whatever you called it when a hexapod did it, and at the far end of the table was the Nobility of Styne.
"I call to order, the three hundred eighty-fourth Galactic Council of Peladon to discuss a new treaty with the Pursuit, over acid mining rights and wealth sharing," the king announced. He had a ball of highly polished trisilicate in his right hand, and he banged it twice, loudly, onto the table.
"Thank you, your majesty," Madame Velsine said in an oleaginous voice. "You asked me to present our initial findings, and I have very good news. While it will take longer than we've had, to set up a mining demonstration, we were able to collect a few liters of the acid. Our scientists were quite pleased with the chemical signature. The strength and make-up of the acid are quiet suitable for our needs. We can pay you a fine price for it — say, ten thousand galactic shares per metric ton?"
The king flushed and his eyes widened, but he said nothing. Alpha Centauri clicked his claws together in a gesture that could have been either nerves or excitement. Sslendak put his fist down on the table and said, "And what share of that would go to the partners of the Galactic Federation?"
"Well, that depends upon the negotiations doesn't it? I'm sure the percentage would go up if we were made full members of the Federation."
"The Arcturans were not expecting this discussion to encompass Federation membership, only mining rights," the Nobility of Styne said.
"I like to think all options are still on the table. Now, I was lead to believe that you would be interested in reaching the trisilicate at lower levels. Perhaps you've tried removing the acid yourselves?"
"The acid disintegrated our strongest materials, and attempts at neutralizing it resulted in a toxic gas that ate through our breathing filters," Sslendak admitted.
"Or perhaps I was misinformed, and the trisilicate that you can reach above those levels is sufficient for your needs?" she continued.
"Our trisilicate deposits are sufficient for generations to come," the king said, defensively. He was silent for some time, and his look of anger turned to one of frustration. "But it is true, new access points are harder to create and less plentiful than expanding our current mines to greater depths would be."
The Doctor had been silently contemplating his own arm through this. "I'm curious, Madame Velsine," he said, "what do the Silence want with the acid?"
"The Silence?" Alpha Centauri asked.
"The beings you know as the Silence, Doctor, are an engineered life form more accurately referred to as the Priesthood. We do not represent the Silence, we represent the Pursuit. When the Silence broke off from the main body of the Papal Mainframe, so did the Pursuit. But, while the Silence intends to ensure that the Question is never answered, the Pursuit has other, nobler goals."
"Yes, but —"
"Doctor, could you please confine your questions to the matter at hand?" the king interrupted.
"Yes, of course your majesty."
"How quickly can you drain the flooded areas with your method?" asked the Nobility of Styne.
"We can safely remove ten liters of acid per minute initially, fifty-five once we are established."
"You speak of this as if the deal were done," the Doctor said. "Have you made up your mind so quickly?"
Sslendak pounded the table, and his guards stepped closer. "We have established the desperation of our need, and the singularity of her capabilities."
"And yet this planet remains a sovereign world. It is not yours to dictate what they must do."
"May I remind you, Doctor," the Nobility of Styne cut in, "that you are here representing the concerns of Earth. Let the king speak for himself if he has any concerns."
The king looked surprised at being brought into this. "Yes," he said, eyes darting in an almost panicked expression, "Our sovereignty is very important to Peladon. Our workers rights and welfare must be considered, and um, appropriate, um…"
"Compensation," his brother inserted.
"Compensation. Right. Appropriate compensation must be given."
Pandora could feel every hair on the back of her neck go up. She was suddenly more afraid than she could ever remember being, and she had no idea why. Her breathing was coming in rapid gasps, and she heard a sound behind her, like she imagined a crocodile would make. She turned to look.
"Then we are agreed," Madame Velsine said, bringing her attention back to the table. Pandora couldn't remember why she'd been looking the other way. "The Pursuit will pump out the acid, with all due safety concerns considered, allowing Peladonian miners access to the wealth of trisilicate available at lower levels. All that's left to discuss are terms, payment and remunerations."
"We can't rush into this with so much left undiscussed," the Doctor said. "For example, the mines are already susceptible to the occasional collapse. What effect will it have to remove several tons of liquid that is potentially stabilizing the faults? I'm surprised at all of you, not considering that yourselves. Research needs to be done." He looked at the king suggestively.
The king's face was going red. "As ruler of Peladon, I will consider both the safety of the people and their quality of life. Our entry into the Galactic Federation has afforded us access to goods and services we cannot manufacture ourselves, and our primary trading commodity is trisilicate!"
Prince Peltanan squeezed the king's shoulder again, and said. "Perhaps, your majesty, we should recess to consider what's been brought to the table so far?"
The king calmed himself. "Yes, I agree with the prince. Let us all take time to consider what's been said."
Pandora heard that crocodile sound again, and looked around unsuccessfully for the source.
The king continued, "We'll meet again in three hours. Until then, Madame Velsine, continue the installation of your equipment. I would still like to see a demonstration of what you claim you can do." The king banged the trisilicate ball twice on the hardwood table and set it down.
He stood, and the others quickly rose. The king and the prince left via the doors to the throne room, and the guards opened the doors to the outside corridor for the ambassadors.
Pandora retrieved her box and stood with the Doctor. He gestured for her to stay while the others headed for the exits. She looked at him questioningly, and he motioned her toward the throne room once the others had left.
Guards were stationed on just the other side of the doors, so the Doctor stayed back, Pandora pulling close to him and listening.
"I know. I'm sorry," the king was saying. "I wasn't ready for things to move along so quickly, but everyone was looking at me, and a king is expected to make decisions!"
"It's alright. Calm yourself brother," the prince replied. Pandora was struck again by how alike they appeared. If not for the crown one wore, they'd be identical. "Now that they're gone, let's just talk through what you think. We'll come up with a plan, and I'll help you with the words."
The king let out a deep breath. "The noble houses supply the mining foremen. If remunerations are insufficient, they will boycott foreign workers in the mines."
"Good. See? That's an excellent start. What else?"
"The workers, from the lower classes, won't work if it isn't safe enough, no matter what remunerations there are."
"Agreed. However, even they have been affected by the loss in profit from the mines by now."
"Exactly. We can't employ as many people if there's less work. They want to get down into the mines."
"So, should we talk to the nobles first? Get them on our side before returning to the table?"
"They already see me as weak! I should act decisively, then tell them why it's a good idea."
"Not all of them. And they are closer to the workers than you or I. Eventually, your words will filter down through them to the commoners. If we take advantage of that now, we may have a workforce, eager to return to the lower levels they had previously abandoned."
"Yes. I see." The king walked over to the throne and sat down on it, examining the ornate carvings on the arms as he stroked them. "But what of what the Doctor said? That removing so much liquid could cause mine collapses?"
The prince made a dismissive gesture. "He was only posturing. The Arcturans and the Martians were happy to steamroll us, and the Pursuit would be the ones to profit from it. The Doctor is a friend to our people, and threw up any objection he could come up with to buy us time, and perhaps a better bargaining position. It was quite clever. You should look for such opportunities in future."
"What's the use? You know I can't do that!" He stood up, removing the crown from his head. He walked quickly across the room toward his brother. "I'm no good at this. Here! Take the crown. You can do this better!"
The Doctor stepped into the room. "You know, you actually could," he said. The guards moved to block his path.
The Doctor held up his hands, showing that he had no weapons. He put one finger on each of the guards' swords and pushed them gently aside. "I can't tell the difference between you, and I've an eye for such things."
"It's alright, guards. Let them in," the prince said. "It wouldn't work. And he knows better."
The king placed the crown reluctantly back on his own head.
"Because you were marked at birth?" Pandora asked. "What's to stop you from just duplicating the mark? Then you'd both have one, and you'd be identical again."
"Like he said. It wouldn't work." The king shook out the sleeve of his robe, then pulled it back with his other hand. A glowing red figure of a stag was revealed. It appeared to be hovering just millimeters over his arm. While they watched, the stag startled, drew back on it's hind legs, then charged around his arm to come to rest in it's original position again. "They all know how to check. Once, when I had prepared a speech for days, and got every beat just right, Arcturus suspected we'd switched, and demanded to see it."
"The Nobility of Styne," his brother corrected.
"You see? It just comes naturally to you."
"May I have a look?" the Doctor asked. He held up the King's arm and viewed it from several angles. "Very clever. Talforian wave ink. Very expensive. Only practiced in one small world not too far from Arcturus." The Doctor released the king's arm. "Well, no matter, I've a brush back in my Tardis, and I'm a dab hand, if I do say so myself. I can whip you up a forgery that Rembrandt would be proud of. The question is, what do you two want?"
The twins shared a silent look for some time. Finally it was Prince Peltanan who broke the silence. "No. It was our father's wish. His majesty speaks only out of frustration. He can do this. It's just harder for him. But the things that you see in me — that would make me a good king, would also make me a good diplomat. The time is coming soon for Peladon to move out of the shadow of this federation, and to forge our own treaties with our neighbors. Not yet, but soon. And on that day, Peladon will require my skills elsewhere."
"The prince is right. There's a saying, our mother is fond of: 'Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.' It's true, but at the end of the day, it is my burden to bear. And as much as I complain, there are aspects of the job that my brother would find more difficult than I do."
The Doctor's eyebrows raised. "Admirable. Both of you. Well, should you ever change your mind, look me up. This doesn't have to be a prison sentence for either of you." He bowed to both of them. "Your majesty, your highness."
He and Pandora left the room. "Will we go and see their mother now?" Pandora asked.
"Soon. But not yet. We should find out what my former self has learned. I expect he's discovered something that will be of immense value in further discussions with the Pursuit.
They continued on until they reached their room. "What I'm most curious about, is what the Priesthood want with all that acid. I knew they were mining acid the last time I ran into them, but I was so concerned about my companion at the time, that it never occurred to me to ask why."
"The Priesthood?" Pandora asked.
The Doctor sighed and pulled up his sleeve. "These guys."
"Oh my god, Doctor, they were in the room with us!" A chill went down her spine as she suddenly remembered those figures, slinking about in the darkness around the table, telling them what to say. "And nobody else reacted to them! I didn't react to them!"
The Doctor pushed the door open. "Yes. Neither did I." The bedroom was empty but for the Tardis. "Doctor!" the Doctor called out, knocking on the Tardis door. There was no answer. "He must still be down in the mines. We'd better go find him if we are to learn anything before talks resume."
They left the room and continued down the corridor past the rooms of other ambassadors. The Doctor stopped in front of a portrait of a young woman with red hair, wearing the king's crown. He felt along the edges of the painting and murmured to himself, "No, that's not it." Then he looked up at the sconces on either side of the portrait and finally settled on the left one. He pulled down on it, and there was a click. The portrait swung inward.
"Ah. After you, Pandora." She stepped through, and the Doctor followed, closing the door behind them.
They were once again in the dark cave complex beneath the castle proper. The distant sound of dripping water echoed off the walls, joining with their footsteps and the pervasive sound of the wind that chilled Pandora. The rock wall looked like granite with veins of a translucent quartz-like material running through it. "That must be the trisilicate everybody's on about."
"Yes. That's it. And with good reason. The vast majority of ships of this era use trisilicate as fuel, especially the navy of the Federation. And with the ongoing war against Galaxy 5, a constant supply could mean the difference between victory and defeat. This way," the Doctor said, pointing down a sloping corridor that wound off to the right.
"But, you know how it turns out, don't you? I mean, you must be tempted to pop off into the future and see if the trisilicate supply ever dries up to the point where the war effort fails? That way you can come back here and do something about it."
The Doctor stopped and turned to Pandora. "Now, listen carefully, because if you ever suggest something like that again, it will be the last time we travel together. The web of time is a delicate thing. As time travelers, whizzing about from one end to the other, we have a duty of care to protect it as well as possible. When we work to make a situation better, it is without knowing the outcome, and we are still causing damage to the timeline. The hope is that we are causing more good than harm. When you move into the future, just to influence the past, you are sewing together two events, then ripping holes in both. Worse than that, you are fixing yourself as part of both events. If something were to happen to you, it could have drastic consequences for the fabric of the universe."
"Okay, I'm sorry I asked," Pandora said, chastened. "It's just that, you and the other you, here at the same time. Isn't that kind of the same thing?"
The Doctor turned and resumed heading downward. "Not even just 'kind of'. If my life were one long string, it already zig-zags all over creation, and now we have two points in my own personal history where that string is knotted together. Now, zoom out and imagine all the other strings, all the points between then and now where my string contacts someone else's. The need has to be great indeed for us to risk that kind of damage to the web." He took a left turn at the next junction, and Pandora followed along.
"Do you actually know where we're going, or are you hoping we'll randomly run across your other self?"
"Actually, just this once, I do know where I'm going, though I don't know where he is. There's a natural fissure in the bedrock that goes down several levels. They used to refer to it as the Glory Hole. The tunnels run for several levels below us, and I've no way of knowing which level he's on, except, most of those tunnels connect in some way to the Glory Hole. Once we get there, we could call out along the various tunnels. There's a higher than average chance that we'll manage to contact him."
They came to another branch, and standing in the left passage was a tall, fearsome creature in a cheap suit, with a head like a skull. A couple more figures could be seen in the darkness behind it. Pandora grabbed the Doctor's arm, and immediately forgot why.
They took the right passage instead.
"Can you smell that, Doctor?" she asked. There was an acrid odor in the air that burned the nostrils and made her feel like coughing.
"It must be the acid," he responded. He lifted the front of his hoodie over his nose and continued on, taking a left at the next branch. They could see light coming from around the corner ahead.
As they rounded the corner, they came to a large open area with a ledge around it, leading to other passages. Just at the edge, an iron ladder was secured to the rock below them. Torches ringed the hole in the ground, and more light could be seen coming from below. Chains were suspended from somewhere above, some holding large iron carts of trisilicate ore.
"Watch your step," the Doctor said. He stepped cautiously up to the edge, holding the front of his hoodie over his face as he looked down. Pandora could no longer resist the urge to cough, but curious, she joined the Doctor at the edge and looked over.
The Glory Hole slowly tapered as it went down, and there was a ledge at the base of the ladder, then another, and another, each with passages leading off in all directions. Beyond that, was a bubbling pool with vapor rising out of it. As bad as the smell was in the passageway, their eyes now burned from the fumes. Pandora immediately pulled back from the edge.
"Hang on. I think I hear something. Pandora edged closer again, enough to see where the Doctor was pointing, but not far enough to expose herself directly to the vapor.
There was some sort of commotion coming from one of the tunnels two levels below them. It sounded like the shuffling of many feet, then perhaps a voice saying, "oof!" Finally someone cried loudly, "Hai!"
The Doctor's face brightened. "Those were the days!" he said.
A worker stumbled backward into view, in orange coveralls and holding a massive spanner. He recovered and ran forward, out of sight. Seconds later there was a sound of metal on stone and another scream of "Hai!" and the spanner went skittering across the ground and over the edge.
Then the Doctor backed into view, his arms raised protectively in front of him. Another worker charged at him, and with a loud cry, the Doctor delivered a chop across the worker's neck, and he crumpled to the ground. Immediately, another worker came in from the other side, swinging a pickaxe in a broad downward motion. The Doctor side-stepped it and turned to face his assailant.
The worker recovered, and hefted her pickaxe, facing off with the Doctor. The two circled each other, feinting occasionally.
"Wow Doctor, you used to have some moves!" Pandora said.
"I'll admit I'm a little out of practice these days, but I remember my Venusian aikido, and I imagine I could still hold my own, if necessary," the Doctor said, somewhat defensively. "Let's get down there." He turned and started down the ladder.
Below, the Doctor was attacked from behind by the first worker again, now disarmed. He leapt on the Doctor from behind and got his elbow under the Doctor's chin. The woman with the pickaxe chose that moment to swing. The Doctor ducked, throwing the man off his back and into the woman before she could complete her swing. She dropped her pickaxe and struggled to keep her footing. The Doctor straightened out his jacket and returned to his defensive position.
Pandora and the Doctor got to the bottom of the ladder, and looked around for the next ladder. Finding it, they rushed over to it and started the climb down.
The Doctor saw them and smiled. "Well, it looks like the cavalry has arrived. If you give up now, I'll —" Suddenly he was hit hard from behind by a forth combatant, a brute of a man holding a shovel cross-wise. The two workers he was facing off against were swept over the edge and into the acid pit below. The Doctor fell to the ground, spreading out his weight to slow his slide. He came to a stop right at the edge.
"No!" the Doctor said, watching the fight. He took his feet off the ladder and slid the rest of the way down. He took off running toward the big man. Pandora was slower down the ladder, with her box in one hand.
The big man raised his shovel and brought it down edge-wise. The Doctor looked up just in time to see the blade coming and rolled out of the way, right off the edge.
He managed to grab hold of an outcrop with one hand. The big man brought the shovel back up and smiled broadly.
"No!" the Doctor screamed, and the big man turned toward him. The Doctor hit him full-force, knocking him back into the wall, his head slamming into it with a sound like a coconut.
The Doctor made sure he wasn't getting back up, then turned to reach for the Doctor, whose grip was slipping. He was scrabbling for a second handhold. "Reach for me!" the Doctor cried, but it was just too far.
"Here!" Pandora yelled. The Doctor turned to see her holding out the big man's shovel. He took it from her and turned back, only to see the Doctor lose his grip and fall into the acid below.
One big splash and he was gone. The Doctor flipped over onto his back, eyes opened wide in horror.
Pandora was hyperventilating. "What does that mean? What does that mean?"
"All my yesterdays… Everything I've done between then and now… My past… it's unravelling." He met Pandora's eyes, and a single tear ran down his face.