8.
It was a secluded, private beach. White sands, palm trees, and water clear as crystal, on a sunny day. A cool breeze swayed the trees, and the waves lapped gently on the shore.
Serene sat on the sand, staring out at the sea. She'd been there some hours, unmoving.
The Doctor, busying herself with constructing an enormous sandcastle next to the TARDIS, was worried. But this was what Serene had requested, and she'd always said the ocean made her feel calm. With what she'd been through, it was hardly surprising she felt the need to sit somewhere tranquil. Although they still needed to have a serious talk about some of her actions on Taer Prime.
'Can't have her running around shooting people,' the Doctor thought. 'Might expect that from some of the people I've travelled with, but she should know better. And if it happens again, she might well kill someone, and I don't wanna think about how that'll change her.'
Her choice of words made her wince, and she couldn't block out the recollection of Serene screaming in agony as the Chameleon Arch altered her. The Doctor had done everything she could to try to make it easier, hoped it wouldn't be as painful for Serene as she remembered it being for herself.
'I did that to her. I was trying to protect her but it was me who hurt her the most. Maybe it would've been enough to just change their records…'
But she knew it wouldn't have been. Ideas like a ruling bloodline were tenacious, and if she'd missed just one record - and the architects had said they had a network across the galaxy looking for Regnant DNA, the Doctor would never have been able to find all of it - then it could've happened all over again one day, and she'd have had to always keep Serene away from this part of the galaxy, this time period, for her whole life.
'Whoa, gone a bit gloomy, Doctor. Come on, it could've been worse.'
But it wasn't that easy to shake off, especially now she was back to travelling with only one friend again. With a Team in the TARDIS, there'd always been someone else for her friends to talk to, other than her. And Serene didn't have a family to go back to either. Although…
As the sun began to set and the temperature dropped, the Doctor approached Serene and offered her the shawl from the Millefiori Galleria.
"Thought you might want this."
"Thank you."
Serene wrapped it around her shoulders.
"I picked up a new wrist thingy for your recall device too, when I went back to the Order. I synced it up so it's ready to go, and I gave it a few upgrades, so it's easier for us to communicate or find each other, if we get separated again."
Serene twisted brightly coloured fabric through her fingers, not taking her eyes off the sunset.
"You're so good to me, Doctor. I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what, exactly?"
The Doctor sat down on the sand next to her.
"For causing you all this trouble."
"Hey, none of that. Yes, you should've been honest with me from the beginning, but it probably wouldn't have made much difference. And we will have a very serious discussion at some point about you shooting people."
Serene looked down at her feet.
"I know. I'm not proud of that either."
"This isn't the time for a lecture, though. I've done things I regret too, a lot of things. And those are just the ones I can remember."
Serene gave a start.
"Oh, Doctor, I… I forgot. All this time finding out about my past, my identity. I forgot that you don't know yours either. I'm sorry, I got so caught up…"
She trailed off.
"That's understandable," the Doctor said. "I'm not really talking about me though-"
"Actually, that's not true," Serene cut her off. "I didn't 'forget', not really. I still have some of your memories."
She still didn't meet the Doctor's eyes.
"Some of them were private. I don't remember what they were now, but I made sure Professor Leyser removed them; didn't seem right, having access to something you didn't choose to share."
The Doctor was surprised to hear that.
"You never said?"
"How could I? I didn't know you'd invite me to travel with you, and we'd be friends. I didn't want you to think I'd pried. But I do remember…"
She hesitated, glancing over at her friend.
"Gallifrey. And not just your memories. Missy's too."
The Doctor didn't know how to react to that.
Serene looked back out across the sea, to the sky.
"A burnt orange sky, with two suns. A city in a glass dome. And running."
The Doctor smiled, though the words made her sad, the images Serene was describing clear in her mind; Gallifrey how she remembered it, not how it was now.
"Sounds about right."
"Not running away, just… running," Serene said. "For the sake of it. And a feeling of joy as you ran. But I can't tell if that's hers or yours, because I think you're both there."
She turned back to the Doctor.
"Do you want to see? You could link our minds, if you want to."
The Doctor thought that through.
"One day, maybe. Do you mind having memories that aren't yours?"
"Not really. They aren't bad memories, I don't think. It's sort of like having dreamed something you've never seen."
"And none of them are of me being President?" the Doctor asked.
Serene's startled reaction showed that she hadn't ever seen that in their fused memories.
"You're not the only one who could've been in a position of power," the Doctor continued. She felt a little uncomfortable sharing that information, but it might help.
"I never actually wanted to be President of Gallifrey, so I ran away. Again. And Earth made me their temporary president a couple of times, when they were under threat, but I can't say it's for me, being in charge of whole planets. Not officially, anyway, not when there's all that pomp and circumstance. Oh, and the paperwork!"
"You've spent a lot of time on Earth?" Serene asked. "Before we met?"
"One of my favourite planets."
"Maybe I should give it another go. They can't try and burn me as a witch every time?"
"I'm sure I can find a time and a place where that isn't much of a risk."
They both smiled.
"I did have an idea of where we could go next," The Doctor said.
"Yes?"
"I might not know my whole life story, but that doesn't mean I don't know who I am. I met myself once, sort of, and she told me if I'd never felt limited by who I was before, then I shouldn't now. River said pretty much the same."
Serene absorbed that, thoughtfully.
"And at least I thought I knew who I was, growing up" the Doctor continued. "I had a home, a people, a family. Other than the Order, you never really had that. You said you were afraid of what you'd find out about your background, and while it seems you were right to feel that way, there is more to your people, all those planets than what we saw these last few days. How'd you feel if we went back, or forwards in time and had a look round? As tourists, just ordinary folk."
Serene turned to look at her, surprised.
"I - I never thought of that."
"It might give you some good memories of your people. There's thousands of years of history, and in the future the Alliance expands, makes all these agreements and accords with other cultures."
"Then… yes. Thank you."
They hopped back in time to before the architects' coup had begun, and went to Sito first, the agricultural planet, and spend several days exploring. It wasn't some rural, pastoral vision, but it was very beautiful and the different local cuisines they found had some of the best food either of them had ever tasted.
Then they went to Kenna, which was known best for its mining and mineral processing, and what had grown from that was hugely impressive metalwork, precious stone jewellery and art, and some of the most innovative engineering of the entire Alliance, more so even than the space station they'd arrived at.
Both planets had their own versions of the Millefiori Galleria, markets that had grown out of the unification process after the civil war, where people from all over the Alliance came to meet and trade. This made Serene feel much better; there was hope for peace, regardless of whatever people like the architects did.
Then they returned to Taer Prime, but in the time just before the civil war that had ended the Regnant rule. The Doctor knew she should probably have refused this request, knowing the trouble she'd had in the past with her friends wanting to see lost loved ones, but Serene had insisted all she wanted was to visit that time, to hear from the people in the street what they really thought about the Regnants, maybe see her parents from the distance.
'I know I'm gonna regret this,' the Doctor thought. 'But… this is the only way she'll ever know her family.'
So they went back to the capital city, where the Regnant family were due to make a public appearance on the balcony of the city hall, the same building their supposed loyalists would be held and tried in, a little over twenty years in the future.
'It's really not that long,' the Doctor mused. 'How much change these planets, these people implemented in such a short time.'
Serene was being very quiet, absorbing everything around her. As they threaded their way through the crowd in the square, she listened to what people were saying. On Sito and Kenna, post civil war, people no longer mentioned the Regnants, their subjugated past much, though the notion of independence and what it really meant within the Alliance came up a lot. But here, now, with inherited rule still in place, having been the system for millennia, it was very different. Closer to the front, there were flag wavers, people cheering their rulers, happy to see them, but further back, there had been quite open resentment, even some protesters.
Serene had given it a lot of thought. Some people valued tradition, thought of it as part of Zinariyan culture, (especially if their lives were relatively stable and comfortable), others didn't mind there being some kind of figurehead based on inherited rule, but still wanted democracy. But it was those who wanted rid of the Regnants altogether who would ultimately win out. And, she realised, by wiping out her family they had in fact shortened the civil war - if everyone thought there was no-one left to inherit, then the old way could never be reinstated, bringing in a new way by necessity.
Maybe she should feel anger towards those who murdered all of her family, who would no doubt have killed her too, given the chance. But though there was grief for those she had never known, she felt, oddly, that she couldn't take the actions of the rebels personally. A lot of democracies had been born out of revolution, from the execution of previous leaders. Maybe she would have felt differently had she grown up here, raised by her own parents within this system, felt that she was indeed born to rule, that she should have power due to nothing but an accident of birth. That was not a good feeling.
'How much of who I am is how I was raised? I try to be who I know I am, not what anyone else wants me to be, but...'
There was a loud fanfare, and up on the balcony, a man and woman appeared. They both wore long robes, simple and flowing but in gorgeous colours, and each had a kind of coronet on their head. Serene felt all breath leave her body when she realised she was, for the first time, looking at her parents.
The Doctor, standing by her side, put a hand on her shoulder in silent support.
The Regnants made a short speech, but Serene didn't take in a word, staring up at the balcony, her heart pounding and her hands shaking.
"Are you all right, dear?" asked the elderly lady to Serene's right.
"Y-yes. I just…"
"Is this the first time you've seen the royal family? It can be a bit overwhelming." The lady was wearing the Zinariyan flag - a golden sun flanked by two silver crescent moons on a blue/green background - like a cape, held closed at her throat with a pin of the crown shaped seal of the Regnants. Serene couldn't help but wonder what happened to this kindly old lady when the revolution began. Would she suffer for her loyalties?
"They're such a wonderful couple! And there'll be a baby before the end of the year."
The lady smiled, genuinely delighted at this, and Serene felt an indescribable sensation run through her. That was herself the lady was talking about. Her mother, standing only a few hundred feet away, was pregnant with the baby that would grow to be her, Serene.
She turned to the Doctor, speechless.
"Remember what I said," the Doctor said, understanding but firm. "We can't change anything."
"I know."
"We can go, if this is too much."
Serene turned back to look at the couple on the balcony.
"Not yet."
They stayed until the speeches were over and the crowd began to dissipate, then the Doctor and Serene wandered away. Serene was visibly distracted so the Doctor kept quiet, wanting to give her time to process everything. They ended up by the side entrance to the city hall building, where a line of people, presumably workers arriving for a new shift, were heading inside. A security guard was checking their passes as they went through, and Serene tensed as she saw them.
The Doctor caught wind of her intentions and went to grab her arm, but Serene had already ducked under a barrier and had slotted herself into the line.
"I'm sorry" she mouthed at the Doctor, who threw up her hands.
'Every time!' the Doctor thought, annoyed but not really angry. 'I knew she'd try something like this, and still I went along with it.'
Serene flashed the psychic paper at the guard, who let her inside. The Doctor checked her pockets. Nothing else seemed to be missing, but she hadn't noticed Serene taking it - had she been planning this all along?
'Fine, whatever. Not the first to pull a stunt like this. But I'm not getting her out of trouble this time. She can look after herself. I'm gonna-'
The Doctor thought about it. What did she want to do? Assuming Serene was coming back at some point, she probably had a few hours to fill. There was, no doubt, some trouble of her own she could get into, but there was an errand nagging at the back of her mind, something she meant to do earlier, not a loose end so much as a debt to pay off.
Serene followed the others going into the city hall for a while, then slipped off down another corridor. She didn't really know what she was doing, had only had half a plan of action in her head when she'd taken the psychic paper. But once she'd seen the two figures on the balcony, she'd known that glimpsing them from a distance wouldn't be enough, didn't know why she'd thought it would be. She'd gone most of her life not knowing who her parents really were, and until they'd arrived here, now, she'd actually been okay with that. Yes, her childhood at the Order had been a little strange and a lot lonely, but it hadn't been actually bad. So why was she doing this?
She spotted a woman coming out of a storage room carrying a huge stack of fabric bolts in her arms, tall enough that her face was obscured. As she went to enter the lift, the stack teetered and began to fall. Serene hurried forward and put up her hands, stopping the pile from spilling.
"It's okay, I've got it!" she said to the woman half-hidden behind the fabric, and together they got in the lift, holding up the tower of material.
"Oh, thank you!" the woman said. "I should've got a trolley or something, but I didn't think this through!"
"I know that feeling," Serene replied. "Where are you taking this?"
"The Regnant's dressing room," the woman said, and Serene tried not to laugh. Only fair that this was going so easily, really, when you compared it to what she'd been through on this planet, in the future.
"I came here to see the Regnant too."
"Oh yes? Where from?"
"The Cerebral Order." It was, after all, half true. Serene was glad she hadn't changed out of her old tunic, in case anyone decided to question her further, or look up what the Order was.
"What's that?"
"It's an organisation dedicated to knowledge and study," Serene explained.
"Like a university?"
"Yes, but there's no emphasis on qualifications, or completing some arbitrary course. Some people go to learn something specific, others spend their whole lives there, just studying, working on whatever their specialisation is."
"That sounds lovely!" the woman said, her voice slightly muffled by the cloth. "I never got the chance to do anything like that; I apprenticed at a young age. Not that I'm complaining, you understand. I'm very lucky to have this job."
The lift dinged as it reached the right floor, and they carefully manoeuvred the pile of fabrics out into the corridor and through into the royal apartments, which were surprisingly simple. Serene had expected these rooms to be plush and opulent, but while the architecture was beautiful - fan vaulted ceilings, enormous windows and light wood panelling on the walls - the carpets and furniture were plain, hard wearing rather than conspicuous consumption.
Various attendants were busying themselves around the rooms as Serene and the other woman put the fabric bolts down at the end of a long table. Next to the table stood a dressmaker's dummy with a half-finished dress on it, which caught Serene's attention enough that she didn't notice anyone else come into the room until she realised it had gone very quiet.
Serene turned, and there was her mother.
She was young, far younger than Serene had expected, only in her late twenties, and, despite the royal robe, she didn't look as much like a queen as Serene had thought she would, either. Her eyes were the same vivid blue as Serene's, but other than that, the two of them didn't look especially alike.
"And who is this?" Regnant Adelais asked, looking at, unknowingly, her own daughter, the same person she was currently pregnant with.
"My name is Serene, Regnant," she replied, surprising herself with her own composure.
"I'm of the Cerebral Order, returning home as a representative."
"Oh." The Regnant accepted this with no apparent surprise at all, used to a constant procession of strangers in her life. She held out her hand toward Serene, who tried to think what she was expected to do in this situation. Floundering, she reverted to the only thing she could think of and, taking the Regnant's hand in both of her own, she performed the curtsey she'd learned at Carnivalé in Venice.
It seemed to do, and Adelais turned her attention to the dress, and the stack of fabric beside it.
"Yes, this will be perfect," she said to the dressmaker, removing her outer gown and handing it to an attendant, who replaced it with a more comfortable looking woollen robe. "And you'll make a matching wrap for the child, for her presentation day?"
"Yes, ma'am," the dressmaker replied, stepping out behind the stack of fabric so that Serene could see her face for the first time.
Not having had much to go on, she'd watched the video footage of how she'd arrived at the Order many, many times, especially when she was a child. Wondered who that person could have been, why they'd brought her infant self to the Order, how they were connected.
The face of that woman was something she'd studied carefully, committed to memory, and now here it was again, right in front of her.
Of all the possibilities, this was one she'd never come up with, and the shock of realisation made her dizzy.
"Are you all right?"Adelais asked. "Fetch her a chair," she ordered an attendant, who obeyed.
"Yes ma'am, just…" Serene took a deep breath. "Just a little light headed."
"My sympathies," her mother replied, dryly. She motioned for a chair for herself, and they sat side by side. "My duties often require I stand for far longer than is comfortable, especially in this condition."
She smoothed a hand over the baby bump, visible, but no further advanced than five or six months. Serene couldn't stop herself from staring.
"It's not been the easiest of pregnancies, but I'm sure she'll be worth it."
A million questions flooded Serene's mind.
"Did you plan to have a child?" she blurted out. "Or did you feel you had to? To continue the bloodline, I mean."
Adelais seemed surprised, but not offended by the question.
"I always knew I would have to marry and have heirs, if that's what you mean. It's part of being a ruler. I was fortunate that the man I chose to marry was a suitable match, and we both wanted children. My life would have been far more difficult otherwise."
She looked a little puzzled.
"Why am I telling you this? I don't know you, but I feel comfortable talking to you."
Serene smiled, recovering her equilibrium. She decided to take another risk.
"Have you chosen a name?"
"Not yet. It's difficult, finding something both of us like, something suitably royal. She may choose to adopt a different name, of course, when it comes her time to rule, but I favour Aster."
'Aster…' Serene tried it on for size.
"My favourite flower. Her father wishes to name her Calliope, for some mythical creature from another world. A muse, he said, who inspired poetry, but also held rulers to account, imposing justice and serenity."
Serene flinched, but Adelais didn't notice.
"Riordan does love to study other cultures. A nice idea, but I do not think it entirely suitable for a future Regnant."
Serene tried to take all this in. It wouldn't take much to change the future. A few words, here and there, and she could save her parents, maybe everyone. The Doctor would not forgive her if she did interfere, but perhaps it would be worth it.
The Regnant winced, kicking off her shoes and gesturing for an attendant to bring over a footstool.
"Rub my feet," she instructed the servant, taking the coronet from her head and handing it to another attendant. Serene bit her lip. So much for being like any other Zinariyan.
But then she recognised one of the men attending her mother - it was Arran. Twenty years younger, and in a far more lowly position than she'd have thought, given the arrogance he displayed when they met in the future. She glanced over at the other attendants; yes, there was Furej, holding a pile of books, presumably a speech writer then as he would be again. But other than a fleeting desire to take revenge on them for something that had not yet happened, right then all of them seemed completely unimportant.
"I will be glad when she's born," her mother was saying. "My ankles do swell so. But there's so much to do, preparing for a child. Midwives and nannies to hire, all her ceremonial clothing and regalia to commission, and all the future to plan - tutors for her education are so important, you can't start too soon."
Serene felt light-headed once more. Temptation was surging again, to say something, to cry out that there would be no future, not for Adelais and her husband, and that there would be no more Regnants, not ever, they would be the very last.
But there was one more question she had to ask.
"What if she doesn't want to rule?"
"Excuse me?"
"What if she doesn't want to be Regnant? Shouldn't she have a choice?"
"A choice? She is of the bloodline, how could she possibly refuse, and why would she want to?"
Adelais' tone notably chilled.
"We have ruled these planets for generations, an unbroken line going back thousands of years. It is the role she will be born for."
"But -"
"No, Serene of the Cerebral Order. You may be Zinariyan, but clearly you have been away too long. The Regnants rule because that is how it must be, and that should not be questioned. Of course, if we have more children, there may be some chance she will not be the one to rule, but that is rare. The first-born inherits. My siblings may have made passable Regnants, but it was I who was born to rule, and it will be the same for my daughter."
Part of Serene's brain was screaming at her to say something, tell her mother of the future, do something, anything to save her, and those who would die alongside her. But would she accept such a warning? And not just that... the coming revolution was not like the uprising the architects had attempted, a small minority seeking to grab power, but instead a movement that had been a long time coming, born from a need to break down the entire system. Her mother didn't just rule, she wielded absolute power and she agreed with the way things were, the lack of democracy, the subjugation of the colonies, in a way that Serene could not.
The civil war and subsequent creation of the Alliance had been a seismic event, one that shook not only this planet but all Zinariyans, changed everything forever. No matter what she said or did now, nothing could really stop that, no matter if she wanted to. And did she? Even if she could save lives, what future would she bring, for herself, for everyone?
It was agony, but she kept quiet. The Doctor had been right.
Adelais got to her feet with a groan, an attendant helping her put her shoes back on.
"I have much to do. Are you visiting long?"
"No, Regnant."
"Then safe journey."
A sudden impulse made Adelais pluck the crown shaped pin from her dress and hand it to Serene.
"To remind you of home."
Serene was astonished. She grasped her mother's hand, wanting to embrace her but holding back.
"Thank you. I- I wish you well, Regnant."
Adelais swept away, followed by her attendants. Serene watched her go, eyes wide. Inside, she still fought the urge to try and change what was now the future, but also her past. Time travel could be wonderful, but it could also break your heart. How did the Doctor do this for thousands of years?
The dressmaker approached again, looking over Serene's clothing.
"Is that your uniform? From the - what did you call it again?"
"The Cerebral Order," Serene murmured, distracted, her eyes still on the space her mother had occupied.
"Cerebral Order. I'll have to remember that. Do you all wear these tunics?"
"Mostly. Different members wear different colours; I'm a lay sister, not a full member."
"Oh, right. But it's nice there?"
Serene turned to face the woman, suddenly realising what was happening. If this woman hadn't heard of the Order before, but she was the one to take baby Serene there once she'd rescued her from the revolution, then… she'd gotten the idea to do so from Serene herself, here, now, as an adult.
If she hadn't disobeyed the Doctor and come here, then the loop wouldn't have closed, and the future, her past, would have changed.
She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Time travel and paradoxes hurt your head.
"What was your name, sorry?" she asked the dressmaker.
"Selah."
"Thank you, Selah. For… helping me find my way."
She enveloped the other woman in a hug, which surprised Selah, but she didn't pull away.
"To answer your question, yes, the Cerebral Order is nice."
Serene stepped back, pinning the crown badge onto her tunic.
"There are libraries, and gardens, and it's… safe. I always felt safe there."
"Well, that's good to know." Selah smiled and Serene felt any chance to change the future on Taer Prime snap shut around her.
But although she would always feel a certain amount of anguish around this situation, she remembered the feeling of serenity she'd learned when in mortal danger, and held onto it.
"I should be going. Goodbye, Selah."
When she returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor was already there. She was leaning against the console practising tricks with a yo-yo, as if she was trying not to look like she was waiting for her friend. She didn't look up when Serene came in.
"All done?"
"I'm sorry-" Serene began.
"Are you?"
There was a pause.
"Not really."
"Didn't think so. But you didn't change anything? No warnings about the future?"
"I thought about it."
"Course you did. You wouldn't be a person if you didn't even think about it. What stopped you?"
"Other than knowing what you'd say if I did? The mess it'd make? I wanted to, but I couldn't. Even the thought that I could save my parents…"
"Did you find them?"
"My mother. And-"
Serene stopped. For some reason, she didn't want to talk about everything she'd discovered. It felt private.
"I got my answers."
"Okay."
The Doctor snapped the yo-yo back up into her hand, putting it away in one of her pockets.
"I finished what I needed to do, too."
"What was that?"
The Doctor took a moment to answer, staring into space.
"I don't usually go back to places I've escaped from. Don't follow up after people die because of me. But this time, we were already so tangled up in everything… I told you about Tilin? The engineer on the station."
"The one who built the drones."
"Yeah, and who figured out how to stop them. She was killed during our escape. She wasn't from here, so I went back to the station, cleared out her things and took them back to her family. They deserved to know she died a hero, saved lives. Otherwise they might never've found out what happened to their daughter, their sister, their aunt. Just another statistic, caught up in a coup she didn't even choose to get involved in. Sometimes, it's important to stop and remember all the little people affected by all the really big things."
"I know."
Serene was thinking about Selah. She could ask to find what happened to her, after she'd rescued baby Serene - not to mention how she'd done that in the first place - but maybe it was better to leave some questions unanswered. And she should probably avoid putting herself in any more situations where she could be tempted to try and change things too. She just hoped that after delivering the last surviving heir to safety, Selah had escaped harm too.
"This might be pushing it, but-"
"Yeah?"
"Can we go to the future? Here, I mean. I want to know if the Architect's coup gets remembered in history. If - if I'm recorded as part of it. They said they were doing it in my name, but what we did to stop them… I need to know if people believe I was part of it."
"We can do that."
The Doctor didn't mention she'd sort of done that already, checking the TARDIS databanks as soon as they'd left Taer Prime the first time, to ensure that none of those who'd hurt her friend had escaped punishment. The Alliance didn't execute wrong-doers, thankfully, but they didn't believe in letting those who attempted to overthrow democratic governments to get off lightly, either.
"But if you go wandering off again…"
Serene held up her hands in surrender.
"I promise I'll be good."
They went forward a hundred years, and went to the central library, near to the city hall. The square hadn't changed a great deal, although there were more flower beds, some new architectural styles and sculptures.
Serene spent a few hours reading through books about both the civil war, and the Architects' attempted coup. Those about the civil war made no mention of her at all, just that all the Regnant family were killed. Those about the coup only briefly referred to the 'pretender' the Architects had tried to present, who was proven to be a fake. Most didn't even record her name, assuming that 'Serene' was a title rather than a name, that the architects were actually referring to her as 'her serene highness, the Regnant.'
She remembered visiting Venice, where the Doctor had told her that her name could refer to royalty, or sovereignty, instead of quiet and calm, and of the way she'd tried to bury her response to that notion, the tiny suggested fragments of her own history she'd gathered. Maybe if she'd told the Doctor everything then about what she knew, all this could have been avoided? But there was no point in thinking that now.
She read on. The Doctor escaped being recorded in this part of history at all, and the only picture Serene could find of herself was a still from the broadcast. With all the cosmetics and the fancy clothing, it didn't even look like her.
'I can live with that,' she thought.
The architects themselves were all sentenced to imprisonment in exile, and no attempt appeared to have been made since to revert the Alliance to a monarchy, or a dictatorship. Serene could have spent all day reading about her people, their history and more, but that could wait. The TARDIS archives would probably be able to find anything else she wanted, now she'd gotten what she needed.
She went to find the Doctor, who was amusing herself arguing with a historian.
"Dear lady," he was saying. "I have studied this era in depth for many years. I can assure you, there were no robots on Siddell III at the time of the Allurian Empire!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I was there," the Doctor replied, gleeful. "And they were absolutely beautiful. Tried to cut my head off a few times, but that seems to be a bit of a pattern with robots."
Serene tried not to laugh. The Doctor caught sight of her.
"Anyway, much as I'd love to stay and continue this chat, I have to be off. Hope I helped you keep an open mind!"
She left the man spluttering in confused outrage, and went back to Serene.
"All done?"
"Yes."
The Doctor could see her friend was genuinely calmer, relieved by whatever she'd found. Finally, they could draw a line under this. Serene would always have questions about her past - and the Doctor could relate to that - but the important ones had been answered.
"That's enough about me," Serene said. "You choose, where to next?"
The Doctor smiled.
"All of time and space, of course."
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine, etc.
- References to visiting Venice and Serene being tried for witchcraft are from 'Anamnesis' 3-5.
My next project (currently at the editing stage) is River Song and the Corsair having an adventure in the Isenal city, Laniyah, (as mentioned in 'Anamnesis', Chapters 10-12), then I have more ideas for the Doctor and Serene, which will be in a new story.
Thanks for reading!