CHAPTER TEN

"Tell me about them then" said Ace, beginning to get bored of the routine game she and The Doctor were playing with the beach ball, "The whole recruitment process, this 'showman', what's his game plan?"

"War"

"Planning to start one?" Ace asked

"No, war is already in place. He is to keep adding to it. He belongs to a race that is intent on recruiting people with character, people who will say 'no', who feel slightly pessimistic about things, they want that little bit of rebellion, once they settle on the appropriate age, captivate them with promises of a grander show, a better way of living, and if they take the bait, they live out years of their lives being groomed to serve in the war off-shore, off-world, somewhere out there in the stars. I'd go right to the heart of the matter but the planet is sealed away, no one bar the planet's privileged can access it, it's even time-locked by my people, a rare practise for them, I'd hate to see them resort to that, especially for a war, they might fall into a habit with that"

"See, why didn't you simplify all of that in the first place?" asked Ace

"Educational purposes Ace" replied The Doctor

"Creepy" said Ace, "So what are we doing playing about? Why don't we muck in, watch the show, stand up for everyone, put on a show of our own? A show of force, that'll bring the curtain down"

"Somebody is already doing that. A footprint made of concrete"

"What? Who?"

The Doctor glanced to the far right, Ace focused on who he was giving the eye to, she noticed Keith

"Him?" said Ace, curious.

"An off-shoot of a successful altercation I had with someone several decades ago. It feels fitting that the first door opened should be closed by the seventh exit"

"You're not simplifying anything again Professor" moaned Ace, "Care to let me in on what you mean?"

"Not everything can be explained as simple as that Ace. Some things you're best keeping to herself" The Doctor said

"Ex-excuse me?" a plump man said, nervously, as he approached the pair "I didn't get a chance to speak to you earlier. I called you out. You didn't hear me"

"Yes. I didn't hear you" The Doctor said, not looking him in the eye

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not meant to yet" The Doctor replied

"Who's this joker Professor?" asked Ace

"Someone who's trying to make me very early for a late appointment" The Doctor replied

"Please...just hear me out..." said Ottoman, "It's important you remember...sometime when it's all in-synch...sometime when it comes to you, in a dream perhaps...yes, perhaps..."

Ace tossed the beach ball at his head, Ottoman took two steps back

"Clear off" said Ace

"Speak your mind and return to your show...not that it stands much more of a chance" The Doctor replied

"Oh The Showman knows that. He knows that...you've done well Time Lord" said Ottoman, "He's guessed your hand in this...too much coincidence for there to be two snowmen in his lifetime...but it will only delay, not defeat us"

"This is your parting gift is it? To ensure I forget the day? Forget what I came here for?" The Doctor responded.

"Never forget...and never regret, find a way to save them. Save them all. When you stepped through the seventh door, on that world you call home, all those years ago, or all those years to come depending on far flung it is... did you ever once consider who designed it?" said a more cryptic Ottoman as he walked away, leaving even The Doctor lost for words for once

"Consider, and remember, create a concrete footprint in your own mind rather than insist they be moulded from other people" said Ottoman as he returned to the pantomime box from where The Showman was conducting his afternoon entertainment.

"Gordon Benet, that was weird" said Ace.

The Doctor tapped his lips with the tip of his finger, then shook his head

"Back to the ball Ace" he said

"Just like that?" said Ace

"No regrets" said The Doctor, "Let the snow gently fall where it must"