The Doctor tumbled all over the control fields. He could barely stabilize himself as the Tardis's metal beams above him groaned and the ground vibrated with the strain.

"Nearly there, nearly there. Poor thing, we're almost there. Just a few seconds more"

The Doctor haphazardly stroked the parts of the control field he could touch without being knocked off his feet and bounced around the walls. With a final electrical wail and a deafening boom the Tardis stopped with only a forlorn but nevertheless annoyed bleeping of one single control light left blinking. The Doctor dragged himself to a switch and flipped it. All sound had stopped, around him the light had become yellow and gloomy.

"I certainly hope that wasn't too much for you. But you're a strong girl, aren't you, you can handle a bit of a bumpy ride can't you?"

The Tardis remained silent.

The Doctor knew that what he had just done was virtually impossible and never had been tried before. The protective fields of the Tardises should have equalled each other out in a sudden, hot and quite explosive way. Landing a Tardis in another Tardis would be like trying to land a party cruiser inside the helm of another one in Venice during a thunderstorm. So while it could not be done it was also extremely difficult.

Well, the Doctor told himself, what do they know, and pushed open the door.

"Ah, Doctor."

The Doctor had managed to land exactly where he had wanted to end up, in the control room. It had been some time since he has last seen it before. But of course she must have regenerated since then.

"You have redecorated.", the Doctor said, following the ancient protocol of the Timelords when meeting again. "I don't like it."

" I thought you wouldn't", the Rani responded. "I just made a fascinating scientific discovery, do you want to hear about it?"

"Are you not interested in how I saw through your face with the imaginary bars?"

"Not really, no.", the Rani conceded. "It was a bright little idea, but certainly not one of my best. I will make a note in my diary. Anyway, did you have a look at the so called spectre stones?"

"Yes I did, they are stones, very fascinating.", the Doctor said, aggrevated that the Rani took the initiative and spoiled a good entrance and an impressive speech full of gravitas and moral accusations.

"No, you must really look at them."

The Doctor stared. The realisation dawned.

"These are cerebral clusters. Old Earth Technology, the collected history of Earth comprised in copies of human memories. How did they end up here?"

"We made a terrible mistake. How unscientific of us both, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should never make assumptions and jump to conclusions unless you are in possession of all the facts. There was still one question that could not be explained..."

"How could the original inhabitants land on the planet, when the planet only formed to suit their needs."

"Precisely!", the Rani rejoiced, flipping a few tiny levers on her control in excitement. "There were not people at all. Did you not wonder why they looked all human?"

"And why the architecture looked strangely familiar..." The Doctor stopped, deep in thought.

"The Middle-American colony on Procyceea II.", he mumbled. " It was completely destroyed by a meteor strike, all inhabitants currently staying on the planet were lost. But cerebral clusters are immensely strong, made to survive and retain the memory."

"So you see?", the Rani jeered. "And you told me I would wipe out an entire species. Nonsense. They do not exist. They have never existed at all. This stupid entity made a few copies from what he found on the clusters. Like a kid doing a jigsaw, assembling the pieces so it matches the picture. It made itself some pets." The Rani almost burst with schadenfreude.

It took a little while until the Doctor could take this in. Then he said: "But you would still kill a scentient creature. And Rose, come to think of it."

"Ah,", purred the Rani. "You are another one to keeps himself some pets. I'm sure you will stumble over some other stray human that needs to be taken care of. Don't worry."

The Doctor tried to keep his voice calm, rage bubbling up inside of him.

"I can still make that right. Give me back the spectre stones,", he growled.

"Take them", the Rani said offhandedly, tossing the belt towards the Doctor, who caught it.

The Doctor scanned them with his screwdriver. He sagged.

"You deleted the memory.", he said silently.

"Correct. Well done. And now you will leave for the planet. Or at least your Tardis will."

Immediately the Doctor heard the unmistakable sounds of his Tardis restarting and the hissing, coughing grumble of her takeoff.

"What have you done?", the Doctor screamed, running towards his beloved spaceship.

"I am expelling your Tardis from mine, as simple as that. You didn't seriously think that I would let you park wherever you want to. Now you may leave with your Tardis and die. Or you may stay with me... and die more creatively."

The Doctor moved with lightening speed. He pushed the Rani away from the controls, typed feverishly a series of complicated numbers into the board, pulled down a red double-lever and threw himself against the readily opeing Tardis doors. As they closed, he could hear the sinister gong of the Cloister Bell. But it didn't come from his Tardis. The Rani screamed.