Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thanks to everyone who kindly continues to review: crazychika495, Romana-II, tree1138, MayFairy, xxTeam-Masterxx, Aietradaea, Bad Dog No Biscuit and Astra68.
Chapter Ten today - gee, this is getting long!
CHAPTER TEN
Night was beginning to fall over Gallifrey. The double suns had sunk low on the northern horizon and the vibrant colour of the burnt-orange sky was slowly fading into darkness. Looking out the glass doors of Cardinal Borusa's study, Tejana could see the black evening shadows creeping down from the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, reaching eerie, elongated fingers deep into the Time Lord Citadel.
"It seems clear how it happened," Spandrell was explaining to Borusa. "The Master hypnotised Solis of the Chancellery Guard to murder the Doctor. Then, when that didn't work, he tried to trap the Doctor within the APC Net by overloading the neuron field. It must have all been too much for him – he collapsed and died, leaving Chancellor Goth still connected to the circuit."
Borusa frowned. "Natural causes?"
"Yes, sir. His body was extremely emaciated. He had come to the end of his regeneration cycle."
For a moment, the Lord Cardinal said nothing. Tejana could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. As Damon had said earlier, Borusa was the consummate politician. While Spandrell would see the case as closed from a law enforcement point of view, Borusa's perspective on it would come from a different angle altogether.
"No," he said eventually, in a clear, cool voice, slamming the palm of his hand sharply down on the surface of his desk.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows inquiringly. "No what, Cardinal?"
"The story is not acceptable. This is a very difficult, very delicate position. We must adjust the truth."
"Adjust the truth?" Engin echoed in a puzzled manner. "In what way, Cardinal?"
"In a way that will maintain confidence in the Time Lords and their leadership," Borusa replied gravely.
Standing unobtrusively at the back of the room with Damon, Tejana hid a small, cynical smile at the predictable direction the discussion was taking. It wasn't hard to guess what was going through the Cardinal's devious mind. Now that Goth was dead, the position of Chancellor was up for grabs. And of course, the most obvious candidate to fill the role was Cardinal Borusa, one of the most highly-respected members of the High Council. But if the general public ever found out that The Matrix had been infiltrated so easily by a renegade Time Lord, the political backlash would be enormous. Borusa would need to keep the scandal of Goth's betrayal to an absolute minimum, to ensure a smooth handover of the reins of power into his own capable hands. Especially since everyone knew that the position of Chancellor was merely a stepping stone to eventually becoming President. Knowing how ambitious Borusa was, she guessed that he was playing the long game, keeping his eye firmly on the big prize.
"How many people have seen this so-called Master since his death?" the Cardinal continued, his expression abstracted, deep in thought.
At this, Tejana's eyes widened in surprise. "Ohhh," she whispered in amazement to Damon. "Even Cardinal Borusa!"
"What do you mean, even Cardinal Borusa?" Damon queried, out of the corner of his mouth, keeping his voice low.
"Even Cardinal Borusa doesn't remember the Master. And he taught him, the whole time he was at the Academy. Cardinal Borusa never forgets anyone he's ever taught...even little upstarts like Runcible!" Tejana said. "The Doctor was right. To pull that off, the Master must have been absolutely brilliant."
"Brilliant, maybe...but still a cold-blooded murderer!" Damon replied sternly. "Not exactly someone you should be admiring, Tejana."
She knew Damon was right, but the strange sense of almost-recognition she had experienced when she had touched the Master's face continued to niggle at her. She couldn't seem to stop thinking about it.
"I know!" she retorted, somewhat defensively. "But still...even Cardinal Borusa, wow!"
"Apart from the five of us, only Hilred and the two guards who took the body to the Panopticon Vault," Spandrell was saying, answering the Cardinal's question.
"We shall need to rely on the silence of everyone concerned," Borusa continued, already restructuring the course of events in his mind. "We shall change the appearance of the corpse, Castellan. We all know the posthumous effect of a staser bolt. Within the hour, the body will be charred beyond recognition. Our story is going to be that the Master arrived on Gallifrey to assassinate the President, secretly. Before he could escape, Chancellor Goth tracked him down and killed him, unfortunately perishing himself in the exchange of fire. Now that's much better. I can believe that."
"You're making Goth into a hero?" Tejana blurted out angrily, ignoring Damon's cautionary hand on her arm and stepping forward incredulously. "Why?"
Affronted at her interruption, Borusa gave her a cold, quelling glance. "If heroes don't exist, it is necessary to invent them, child. It's merely good for public morale."
"And the Doctor's part in all this?" Engin asked.
"Best forgotten," Borusa answered smoothly, giving a small, dismissive wave with his hand. "Of course, Doctor, the charge against you will be dropped."
The Doctor gave a faint, ironic smile. "How kind."
"Conditional on you leaving Gallifrey tonight, " Borusa added sharply, raising an admonitory finger.
"Somehow, Cardinal, I don't want to stay."
Tejana heard her father's words, but refused to allow them to sink in, knowing they would hurt beyond all bearing. Of course he wants to leave, she told herself dispassionately. Why wouldn't he? There's nothing for him here. Nothing but a daughter he never wanted in the first place. Child of a woman he never loved...a responsibility and a burden he doesn't wish to shoulder. What is there in that to make him want to stay?
She felt Damon give her a concerned glance, but she refused to look at him, knowing the sympathy in his dark eyes would only make her fall apart. Instead, she stiffened her spine, holding herself together with an icy control that was becoming almost second nature.
"Good," Cardinal Borusa said in satisfaction. "Now, I believe you know something of the Master's past?"
"We've bumped into each other from time to time," the Doctor replied.
"Then you will go immediately with Co-ordinator Engin, Castellan Spandrell and young Damon to the Records Room, where you will assist in comprising a new biog of the Master before you leave," Borusa instructed. "It doesn't have to be entirely accurate."
"Like Time Lord history," the Doctor said dryly.
Borusa completely ignored his comment. Rising majestically to his feet, he fixed his gaze on Co-ordinator Engin. "A few facts will lend it verisimilitude, Co-ordinator. We cannot make the Master into a public enemy if there is no data on him."
"Yes, Cardinal," Engin replied respectfully. "I'll have an authentic-seeming data extract ready by the morning."
"I'll leave that to you then," Borusa nodded, content that the situation had been dealt with and would cause him no further problems. "Later, Castellan, we must take another look at data security. We cannot have Time Lord DEs simply vanishing from the records."
Spandrell nodded. "I agree, Sir."
Borusa straightened his robes and moved out from behind his desk. "Now, I must meet with the other members of the High Council to inform them of what has happened. Lady Tejana, you will wait for me here. I wish to speak to you upon my return."
Tejana's head shot up in surprise. "Me, Your Eminence?"
"Yes. I've received a complaint from Lord and Lady Brightshore," Borusa said sternly. "Something about their son's nose being broken. Of course, I have assured them that I do not take that sort of violence lightly and that a suitable punishment will be implemented."
Tejana coloured and gracefully dropped into a resigned curtsey. "Yes, Sir," she said in a listless voice.
"Well, I think that is all. Castellan, see that you attend to the cosmetic treatment," Borusa commanded, heading for the exit.
Spandrell frowned, not understanding what he meant. "Sorry, Sir?"
"The body, Spandrell," Borusa said impatiently. "The body!"
"Oh...yes, Sir. I'll have Commander Hilred see to it right away."
The Cardinal gave an imperious nod and swept grandly out the door, eager to assert his newly-prominent position with the High Council.
"Only in mathematics will we find truth," the Doctor muttered, watching him go. "Borusa used to say that during my time at the Academy. And now he's setting out to prove it."
Turning abruptly, he fixed his eyes on his daughter. "You broke somebody's nose?"
Tejana's chin came up mutinously, resenting the parental note of censure in his voice. After all, what right did he have to chastise her? A father she hadn't seen for decades; a father who dropped in only because of a High Council summons and was even now preparing to leave again, without a second thought; a father who had no idea what her life had been like since he had been exiled and most likely didn't care.
"It's called self-defence, actually," she answered, folding her arms stubbornly. "And I don't want to talk about it. It's my problem, not yours."
"Doctor, I really think we should get started on the Master's biog," Engin said hurriedly, sensing the beginnings of a domestic argument he didn't want to get involved in. "It will take some time to repair the damage to the APC, after all."
With that, he pulled out a data tablet and stylus and began to take some rapid notes. "What about his character?"
"Bad," the Doctor said curtly, his eyes still locked on his daughter's defiant face.
"I'm afraid you'll need to be a little more specific."
The Doctor's gaze swung back towards him. "Evil. Cunning. Resourceful. Highly developed powers of ESP and a formidable hypnotist," he rattled off, a slight frown creasing his brow. "And the more I think about it, the less likely it seems."
"What does?" Spandrell asked.
"Well...that the Master would meekly accept the end of his regeneration cycle. It's not his style at all."
"That is something we all must accept, Doctor," Engin said with a wistful sigh. He himself was already on his twelfth regeneration and his current body was steadily deteriorating. These days, Death walked with him as his constant companion and acceptance of the inevitable end had become painfully necessary.
"No, not the Master," the Doctor responded. "No, he had some sort of plan. That's why he came here."
Spandrell, who was not so young himself any more, gave a dismissive snort at the idea. "After the twelfth regeneration, there is no plan that can postpone death."
"He had a plan," the Doctor insisted. "Something to do with Goth becoming President. What's so special about the President, Engin?"
"Nothing. He's simply an elected Time Lord, usually from some senior position, such as Chancellor. He holds the symbols of office, but other than that he's no different to any other Time Lord."
"Symbols?"
"Yes," Engin nodded. "Relics from the Old Time. The Sash of Rassilon. The Key."
"Ah," the Doctor murmured, deep in thought. "Tell me about Rassilon."
"Well, it's all in the Book of the Old Time. But there is a modern transgram which is much less difficult."
"Can we hear that? Now?"
Engin shrugged. "Of course. It's held in the Records Room."
"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks and giving a small grimace.
The others all looked at him anxiously.
"What is it, Doctor?" Damon asked.
The Doctor gave a wide, cheerful grin. "I can feel my hair curling," he said in wonder. "And that means, either it's going to rain...or else I'm on to something." With that, he turned towards the door. "Come on then, Engin, Spandrell...you too, Damon. Tejana, you'd better stay here as Borusa asked – I'll see you later."
Yes, to say goodbye, no doubt, she thought bitterly, without replying.
Damon gave her hand a quick, comforting squeeze and followed Engin and Spandrell out of the room, leaving Tejana alone. She could hear Spandrell on his communicator, ordering Commander Hilred down to the Panopticon Vault, to stasar what was left of the Master.
Wearily, she walked across to the chair in front of Borusa's opulent desk and sank down into it. All the adrenaline of the day seemed to have seeped away and she was left feeling flat, dull and empty. Through the glass doors, she saw the huge, gorgeous heliotrope moon rising into the starry sky. Suddenly, she remembered what the moon of Earth had looked like, so white and pure and ethereal, so different from the amaranthine satellite of her own world. Hot tears rose up to choke her. She would never visit Earth again or any other planet. Seeing the Doctor once more, realising at last that she meant nothing to him, had crushed every dream she had ever had. He would leave again and she would be stuck here on Gallifrey forever, regeneration after endless regeneration, just doing exactly what she was told until she died.
Rebellion burnt fiercely inside her. She was tired of doing what she was told. And she wasn't in the least bit sorry she had broken Tabor's nose. She only wished she had done it years ago. Furiously, she dashed the tears from her cheeks. She wasn't going to sit here and cry. And she wasn't going to meekly wait for Borusa, either. Her thoughts returned to the twisted, dark corpse lying below in the Panopticon Vault. The weird sense of familiarity still bothered her and she needed to know what it meant.
She needed to see the Master, one more time.