Chapter Thirty Eight
Rain lay on the sofa lazily looking through a magazine she had picked up when she and her husband stopped at a department store on Feltrox Eleven. It was a magazine devoted to genetic science and Rain thought it funny seeing all the examples of spliced animals inside it. Some of the crazy creatures scientists had developed reminded her of the flip books she had when she was a child that allowed you to adjust the different head, bodies and legs of animals and people. She was staring at a blue lion creature that had goat's hooves on it when she suddenly felt lips brushing her scalp and she glanced up at her husband.
"I didn't know you fancied genetic engineering," he said.
"Um…I don't really. I'm looking at all the weird animals people have made."
"Oh, that figures," the Doctor teased, rolling his eyes. "Of course, you'd just be interested in looking at the pictures."
"Hey," she said while he tickled her arms.
He knelt down and wrapped his arms around her.
"I was wondering if you could stop looking at the crazy critters and indulge me for awhile," he said to her.
"Indulge you? With what?"
"Remember when the Rani trapped us in that simulation room?"
Rain snorted.
"How could I forget? I loved the lovely romp through Arcadia," she said.
"Remember I told you this TARDIS had one as well?"
She looked up at him.
"Why? Are you wanting to take another stroll through Arcadia?" she teased.
"No, but I want to show you some more of my memories. You see, it occurred to me that you've been very open and forthcoming about your life so I want to return the favor and show you a couple of things about me, mainly having to do with my formative years at the academy. Not to mention I want to show you what the academy looked like since you would have gone there if it still existed."
"You want to show me some of your past?"
"Yes, but this is just between us, alright?"
"Sure, Thete."
He kissed her scalp, grabbed the magazine and threw it over his shoulder while she laughed.
"Quit looking at the daft animals, Latara. I have more interesting sights to show you," he said.
He held out his hand and she rose up and took it. He smiled as he escorted her out of the room.
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"Now, I've already programmed the memory I want into the TARDIS," he told her when they reached the simulation room. "I just want you to know a bit more in-depth about me and what I had to put up with on Gallifrey. Ready?"
She nodded and he opened the door. They stepped into a wide corridor and the Doctor shut the door behind him obscuring it from view.
"This is the academy," he said. "Or rather, this is the second floor west wing corridor of the academy. My advanced Gallifreyan law class is just down the way. Care to accompany me to it?"
"I would love to," she said.
He grinned and held her hand while they walked down the hallway.
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"Now, I have to warn you. This won't be like the last time. I've programmed it so we can see and hear everything that's going on but no one can see or hear us. That way we can talk in private if we need to," the Doctor said as they paused outside a classroom.
Rain nodded and he ushered her through the open door and she saw a memory frozen for the moment. The first thing she noticed was how average the classroom looked. Except for a few high tech devices on a table, the classroom looked like ones she had when she attended college. The desks were the same kind of half desks attached to the seats that she had used. There was a blackboard up front. Even the walls were the same drab ecru walls that were in every classroom she had ever been in. There were five rows of seats with about twenty seats to a row. Each row was raised slightly higher than the one before it. The students even had the same bored expressions on their faces and she noticed one near the back was nearly ready to doze off. The only thing that was different from her classrooms was the students were all wearing long orange robes that looked heavy and uncomfortable. She knew from her husband's memories that these were the robes Time Lords wore. However, they weren't wearing the skullcap and flared piece that she had also seen in his memories. The professor was, however, and he looked to be in his early 50's although she knew he was centuries older than that. Her husband took her hand and led her to the middle of the first row where a young boy with short brown hair and blue eyes slumped in his chair. She smiled and glanced at him.
"You?" she said.
"Yup, the one and only," he said.
He gestured to a boy with longer dark brown hair and brown eyes sitting beside him.
"This is my mate, Koschei, the one who'll eventually become the Master," he said, staring at him. "But at this point in time, he was just a student like I was."
Rain stared at him. He also had a bored look on his face and his arms were across his chest. The Doctor smiled at his wife.
"Let the drama begin," he said.
He shut his eyes and thought to the TARDIS and suddenly the memory came to life for them. She watched while the younger version of her husband let out a bored sigh and Koschei slumped down further in his seat. She turned her head and saw the Professor droning on about the laws of time while he wrote on the blackboard.
"Come on, ya old windbag, quit talking so we can leave early," she heard Koschei mutter.
She turned her head and smiled when she saw the young Doctor stifle a laugh at that.
Curious, Rain took advantage of the fact that no one could see her and wandered up to the podium while the Doctor watched her. She glanced at the professor's notes written in Gallifreyan circle writing and skimmed through the laws of time. She raised her eyebrow at one and looked at the Doctor.
"You're not supposed to have non-Time Lord people in TARDISes?" she said.
"Weeeeeell, I never fancied that law much," the Doctor said sheepishly.
"My husband, the rule breaker," she said.
"Yes, well you're about to find out I've broken many more rules than that one," he replied.
She looked around while the professor lectured.
"This looks like classrooms I had back on Earth, Thete," she said.
He chuckled.
"Well, I s'pose one classroom is very much like another," he said shrugging.
The Professor began to talk about the law of non-interference while Rain listened. She looked at the Doctor when he began to snicker.
"What?" Rain said.
"Ah, this is what I wanted you to see, Latara," he said. "Just watch."
"The law of non-interference states that Time Lords are not permitted to interfere in the events of history," the professor said while he wrote that out on the board. "A Time Lord's main purpose is to watch over all of time and space, but…"
"Professor…"
Rain turned her head and saw the younger version of her husband had his hand up in the air. Next to him Koschei was groaning and she noticed several students around him were nudging each other and snickering. The Professor didn't even acknowledge him but kept right on with his lecture.
"We Time Lords have a sacred duty to watch over universal events and…"
"Professor!"
Rain frowned when the Professor once again ignored the young Doctor. She glanced at her husband who smiled and winked at her.
"Isn't he gonna answer you?" Rain said, gesturing to the professor.
"In a moment. Right now he's desperately trying to ignore me."
"Why?"
The grin widened and he waggled his eyebrows.
"Since the founding of our society it has been the law that we must not interfere…"
"Professor!"
Rain jumped back when the professor spun around and glared at him.
"What is it, Merzet?" he snarled.
Rain was taken aback.
"He just used the first part of your real name," she said.
The Doctor nodded.
"I wasn't known as the Doctor yet," he said.
Rain glanced at the professor and was shocked to see how angry the professor looked while he glared at the young Doctor. She glanced at him and saw that old familiar smirk on his face, the one he used when he taunted his adversaries.
"Professor," the young Doctor said with his typical calmness, "I have a problem with this whole law of non-interference."
"Yes, I expect you do, Merzet," the professor said, coldly. "You seem to have a problem with laws and authority in general."
"Asshole," Rain said while the Doctor snickered.
"Oh, trust me, Latara. He wasn't the only professor who hated me," the Doctor said, gleefully.
"Yes, that's because I find many of the laws outdated and absurd but especially this one in particular, Sir," the Doctor said as cool as a cucumber.
Rain noticed Koschei was trying subtly to gesture to him to be quiet while the other students around him gave each other looks and rolled their eyes. The young Doctor ignored them all as he fixed his steely gaze on the flustered professor.
"And what, pray tell, do you find absurd about it, Merzet?" the professor said in a tone of voice that suggested he knew exactly what he was going to say.
"I don't understand why we, the Time Lords, need to sit back on our bums and watch the universe go by when there are many lesser beings who need our assistance," the young Doctor said, shrugging.
"It is not our business to interfere in the affairs of the lesser species, Merzet," the professor said.
"Then what is the purpose of knowing what we know? We possess the knowledge of time and space and can see the time lines and yet we do nothing? What good is knowing all this information if we just sit back and do nothing with it?"
Rain glanced at the professor and noticed he was trying to keep his temper in check.
"We are entrusted with watching over the universe, Merzet, not interfering with it," the professor said.
The young Doctor leaned forward.
"Then why do we know what we know if we do nothing about it?" he said.
"Mate, shut up," Koschei muttered beside him.
The young Doctor ignored him and gave the professor another look Rain recognized. It was the look that said I'm right and I'm winning this argument. Rain glanced at the professor who had a red face and was now speaking through gritted teeth.
"We are not permitted to interfere," the professor said in a strained voice.
"But why…sir?" the young Doctor said innocently.
"Because it's the law."
"Then why do we have the knowledge of the time lines then?"
Rain looked at her husband who was vibrating with silent laughter.
"Is this going to lead to the professor knocking you across the room, Thete?" she said to him.
"Nah, he won't do anything because he knows I'm right," he said, shrugging. "And I am right, that's why he's so flustered."
"We are here in this classroom to learn about the laws of time, not to question them, Merzet!" the professor growled.
"But shouldn't we be learning precisely the reason why the law was adopted in the first place, sir?" the young Doctor said. "I mean, it's important to hear the reason why the law of non-interference was adopted in the first place, right?"
"It is not necessary to know why it was adopted, only that it was," the professor said.
"But why is it wrong to question it, sir? Why is it wrong to question the absurdity of…"
"Because it is not absurd!" the professor said, startling Rain when he slammed his hand down on the table. "These laws were adopted after the overthrow of the Pythia by Rassilon and…"
"But why was this particular law adopted?" the young Doctor said calmly.
"To ensure the safety of time and space!"
"Ensure its safety from whom exactly?" the young Doctor said innocently.
The professor didn't say anything and Rain could see the gleeful look on her young husband's face as he leaned forward.
"What you're neglecting to tell us, sir, is the law was adopted because our esteemed founder Rassilon went on a rampage and destroyed several star systems who were trying to develop time travel at the same time he was…is that not true?"
Rain looked at the Doctor when the memory froze for a moment.
"Seriously?" she said.
"Yup, the founder of Gallifrey as I knew it went off the deep end and obliterated a few planets because he couldn't stand the thought of someone else being able to time travel besides the Time Lords."
He pointed to the professor.
"This was never mentioned in the lectures, of course, because it would call into question Rassilon's character and given the fact that he was revered as one of the three founders of our society, that was a big, big no-no. It's no different from humans revering George Washington or Lincoln or Gandhi or Mother Teresa and other leaders and famous people like them, putting them on a pedestal and not treating them as mistake making human beings. We were taught from an early age that Rassilon was infallible which is why he's so angry at me right now because I'm pointing out the fact that he's not. Rassilon is the reason this whole law was adopted because he caused several genocides and the Time Lords wanted to make sure that never happened again. Which don't get me wrong, that part of it is good but we were all born with all this knowledge and me and a handful of other "renegades" like me were the only ones who ever did anything with it."
He gestured to the other students.
"See them, Love? They're laughing and snickering at me because they're exactly like the professor. Everyone was taught blind obedience to the laws and that's one of the main reasons I was shunned was because unlike 99.5 percent of Gallifrey, I actually questioned things which is what you should do since blind obedience to anything or anyone is dangerous. But anyway, just wanted to point that out and why the professor there is losing his temper with me. So I'll start it up again."
He closed his eyes briefly and the memory started again. By this time, Rain could see the professor was almost ready to run up and deck her young husband who had a smug look on his face. She watched while Koschei eyed him and she could imagine him mentally telling him to shut his mouth but true to her husband's personality, he sat there enjoying every minute of the stir he was making. The professor suddenly changed tactics and he turned back to the board.
"Anyway," he said, writing. "The next law of time is…"
"Professor…"
Rain laughed.
"Jesus, Thete, you just don't know when to quit, do you?"
"I'm winning, Latara. I'm right and he knows it. That's why he's trying to go on with the lecture. I'm sorry but what I said needed to be said. And no, I don't know when to quit," he said, winking.
She glanced at the professor who had stiffened but kept on trying to write.
"Professor!" the young Doctor said, waving his arm around.
She jumped when the professor spun around and slammed his hand down so hard on the table; several papers fell on the floor.
"GET OUT NOW!" the professor screamed, pointing at the door.
"But, sir…"
"GET OUT, MERZET! NOW!" the professor bellowed.
The young Doctor shrugged and got up from his seat. Ignoring the snickers and pointed looks of his classmates, he put his hands behind his back and walked out.
"As you might imagine, I didn't enjoy the academy very much," the Doctor said to her.
He held his hand out to her and she walked over and took it. He led her out the door and they saw the young Doctor leaning against the wall by the classroom patiently waiting. Rain gave her husband a questioning look.
"I'm waiting for Koschei. We were inseparable at this point. Besides, there wasn't anywhere to go. The canteen wasn't open yet and you weren't allowed back in the dormitories so I had to wait."
"Um…how often did you cause disturbances like this, Thete?"
"Ya really wanna know?"
"I'm guessing a lot?"
"You guessed correctly, my love," he said.
He waved his arm around.
"This place…it had its uses and it was fine for some. But most of the Time Lords went on to serve in the government or the High Council and that wasn't for me. I had a sponsor who hoped I would get a seat on the High Council and I purposely did lousy so I had no chance of that. Made my sponsor furious but I'm far happier doing what I'm doing now than graduating from this and going on to be a cog in the governmental machine. But this isn't like Earth university, Love. You didn't have that much of a choice if you were loomed to be a Time Lord. You usually went on to a government position somewhere and spent the rest of your lives sitting on your fat, complacent arse doing nothing. I knew from a very young age that I didn't want to do that. I knew when I was a child how idiotic it was to sit back and do nothing."
He sighed.
"But…I had no choice, my hearts. I had to go to academy along with every other Time Lord. So I rebelled in my own little way. I wasn't the most popular person there but I didn't really care. I was always a loner anyway. Koschei was my only real friend but that's because he was a bit of a nutter and no one would associate with him either. We bonded together back then for mutual protection and solidarity. This is why I like Earth so much. Because you lot aren't as bound to the rigid rules of society as we were. You had more diversity, more freedom of choice. I was loomed to be a Time Lord and from the moment I was created, certain rules were supposed to dictate my life and conduct and I wasn't having any of that which is why I was labeled a renegade."
Rain was silent, taking everything in. She had known a little bit of this but she hadn't known it was this bad for her husband and her hearts ached for him knowing that he had been punished by Gallifreyan society for trying to be different. She leaned back against him watching while his younger self waited patiently for his friend and sighed contentedly when her husband kissed the top of her head.
After a few moments, the other students began to file out of the classroom. She felt a brief stab of anger when she saw the mocking looks they were giving her husband's younger self. The Doctor leaned down into her ear.
"Why are you getting angry?" he said, curious.
"I hate the looks they're giving you, Thete," she said.
His hearts warmed and he kissed her head.
"Don't do that, Love. This is an old memory. It's centuries past so there's no need for you to get angry at it. Just think of it as an old movie you're watching," he said lovingly.
Finally, Koschei came out and she noticed the students were also giving him a wide berth.
"Are you completely insane, Merzet?" he said to the Doctor. "Are you trying to get yourself kicked out of here?"
The young Doctor snorted.
"Oh yes, Kosch, and that would be a terrible tragedy," he said, rolling his eyes.
He leaned back up and he and Koschei walked down the hall while the Doctor and Rain followed.
"Why don't you just keep your gob shut for once and just listen to the professors?" Koschei was saying to the young Doctor.
"Because I can't. I can't stand that they only teach half truths here. They teach that we're the superior beings, above everyone else."
"And aren't we?" Koschei countered.
The young Doctor stopped him and the Doctor and Rain stopped behind them.
"If we are then why don't we use our knowledge and interfere with history? Why don't we aid those in need and bring about real change instead of just sitting around in a stuffy office collecting dust while the universe goes by? We have this knowledge, we have TARDISes but we do nothing? What use are we then? We need to be out among the stars using what we know to change things."
"Little did I know, Latara, that I was sowing the seeds of my eventually damnation by telling Koschei all this," the Doctor said. "I was telling the would-be Master to go out and change history and I paid dearly for it later in life."
Rain put his arm around him and he stroked her hair while they watched and listened. Both of them started walking again and they followed.
"And you really think you're gonna change minds here if you keep on telling people this?" Koschei said to him. "You know no one is gonna listen to you, Merzet, no matter how loudly you scream at them. They're a bunch of stuffy old Time Lords who do everything the way it's been done for centuries and you're not about to change that. Why don't you just belt up and listen and then get the hell out of here and then you can do your own thing? You are bringing a hell of a lot of grief on yourself by speaking up and telling everyone these crazy ideas of yours."
"They're not crazy, Koschei, that's the whole point of my speaking up. Not interfering in universal events, that's what's crazy."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, give it a rest, will ya?" Koschei said, rolling his eyes.
"So he eventually got tired of you saying the same thing too?" Rain said.
"Yup, everyone did," the Doctor replied.
They headed through some double doors into the cafeteria.
"And now you get to see what we ate for lunch in the canteen," the Doctor said to his wife. "Doesn't that thrill you?"
He nuzzled her head when she giggled at that. When they entered, she looked around. The cafeteria was large with about twenty five long metal tables arranged around the room. The walls were painted the same drab ecru color and there were several colorful banners hanging down from the ceilings. Each banner was long and tapered at the end, fringed in gold with a gold tassel at the bottom. They had slogans written in gold concentric circles and she read a few of them while they followed the young Doctor and Koschei up to the queue of students waiting to get their food.
"Full Marks lead to a full life?" she said, reading one of the banners.
The Doctor glanced at her and looked where she was looking. He chuckled.
"Yes, more indoctrination by the powers-that-be. Funnily enough, I never got full marks and I have a very full life so bang goes that theory."
The young Doctor and Koschei got in the queue. Rain noticed there were racks of sealed food beside the students and occasionally one would reach over and grab something. She let go of her husband's hand and walked over to examine a rack. She pulled out a small white plastic container that had a clear sheet of plastic sealed over the top. She looked into it and saw a huge purple pureed glob. She made a face and showed it to her husband.
"Stewed pomberries, trust me they tasted about as good as they looked, Love," he said.
She put it back and walked back to him. The queue was slowly moving up towards a bunch of dinner ladies who were standing behind a glass sneeze guard scooping food onto trays. Once they got up to them, Rain looked at the entrée and made another face when she noticed it was black, in pieces and resembled eel parts. The other food didn't look much better. Her husband leaned down in her ear.
"Now you know why I like Earth food so much," he whispered. "I would have given anything to have your Navajo tacos when I was here. Trust me, the food was bland and disgusting but I was a student with hardly any money and we stayed here so my only options were eat or starve."
"I would have starved," Rain said.
He chuckled.
"There were times when I did but unfortunately I didn't keep that up for long," the Doctor replied.
She grimaced when a dinner lady scooped a bunch of the eel parts onto the Doctor's tray.
"What the hell is that crap?" she said to him.
"Kratok. It was disgusting, dear, trust me," he said.
"I can imagine," she said, watching while another dinner lady put something on his tray that resembled refried beans.
Once the food was put on his tray, the young Doctor took it and waited for Koschei. Once his was finished, they walked together and the Doctor and Rain followed them. Along the way, she noticed the majority of the students stopped eating and talking to look at them. She could see them snickering and nudging each other and heard muttered comments about them being losers and daft. She tried to take her husband's advice and pretend it was an old movie but the comments still got on her nerves and she couldn't help feeling a bit protective of the man she loved. They walked with them to an empty table near the back and they sat down at the end of it, all alone. She glanced around and noticed the majority of the students went back to eating as soon as they sat down but there were still a few who were pointing and whispering to each other. Rain couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu about it all since she had also experienced being ostracized. She supposed that was why her hackles were being raised watching her husband undergo the same thing and she was glad that he had the friendship of one person even if he did go on to become his worst enemy. She watched quietly while the two of them made small talk about their professors and homework and what was going on in their classes.
Suddenly, a ginger haired boy ran up to the young Doctor and shoved him from behind. Rain gasped when he nearly went headfirst into his food.
"Heard what you said to the professor in your Gallifreyan law class, Theta," he sneered. "Sounds like something a daft git like you would say."
Koschei gave him a look of warning and the young Doctor tried to ignore him but the student persisted.
"Well, come on, Theta? Aren't you gonna say something witty back to me?" he said. "Little Theta who thinks he knows everything? Come on, Theta, say something witty! I wanna hear it."
"Now you know why I despise being called Theta," the Doctor muttered to his wife.
She gasped when the boy nudged the young Doctor's head and he instantly leapt from his seat and spun around to face him. Rain shivered when she saw the darkness in his eyes and her husband put a comforting arm around her and kissed her cheek. She glanced at the boy who was trying to hold his ground, but she could see the fear in his eyes.
"Go…away…now!" the young Doctor said with a warning tone that Rain knew very well.
The boy tried to stare him down which Rain figured was for the benefit of his friends and the rest of the cafeteria who were watching the whole thing intently. Koschei was quiet but there was also a menacing look on his face while the whole scene played out in front of him.
"You're a basket case, Merzet, you know that? You and your insane friend there. I'm surprised you didn't get thrown in the insane asylum after your initiation. It's where you two nutjobs belong."
Rain gasped when the young Doctor suddenly seized the boy by his robes and slammed him back onto the table behind him.
"I believe I said go away," he said between gritted teeth.
"Merzet!" a man in full Time Lord regalia yelled as he ran towards them. "Headmaster's office, now!"
Rain glanced at the young Doctor who still had a hold of the boy's robe and was staring him down with a look of fiery rage that could have melted steel. This time the student didn't put up a brave front and he was visibly shaking with fear. The Time Lord pulled the Doctor off him.
"I said, headmaster's office, Merzet!" the Time Lord snarled at him.
"He started it," Rain said, pointing. "Why isn't he going?"
"Because funnily enough most of the time the staff didn't see that part. Just me losing my temper," the Doctor said.
Rain watched while the young Doctor glared at the staff member before he headed up to the cafeteria door. The boy leaned back up and watched him go. He waited till the Time Lord walked away before muttering, "Freak." under his breath. Rain put her arms around her husband and he smiled at her as he kissed and nuzzled her cheek.
"Do you mind if I jump ahead a bit and show you another memory?" he said to her.
Rain nodded and her husband closed his eyes.