The Corsair opened the door. Who would it be but Victor? He held up a key.
"Of course you would be here", The Corsair said. Clearly the man wanted to see her suffer. She snatched the key out of his hands."Do you have the dock pass?"
"You don't need one." said the Victor. "It's sitting on 84d same as your last TARDIS."
Sounds like overkill, why did you rent out a full dock for a TARDIS that doesn't need hull repair? 'that's right' thought the Corsair. 'the Lord president claimed ownership of all the docks last week.' Was this why? She looked at him slyly as she walked past him to the end of the hallway.
'Still overkill' she thought.
She walked up to a console next to the door at the end of the hallway and entered in '84d'. After sensing the small machine scanning her for validation, the door slid open to the dock she saw on the video earlier. But now, instead of the enormous platform being dominated by her uncloaked TARDIS, there stood a small white Cylinder with a sliding door which was closed. It was barely the size of wardrobe, and not the walk in kind.
Too wary to be fooled, the Corsair pulled out a probe from her inside pocket and scanned it. There was nothing unexpected from a TARDIS that she could hear from the probe's feedback, so she let herself settle for now.
She looked to her left and saw Victor standing a bit behind her, looking at her with a strange expression.
'What is it now?' She looked at him expectedly.
Victor swallowed deeply. "You haven't changed have you? You will go after them even if it means your life."
The Corsair felt short with him "Of course I will." She gestured to the TARDIS. "Because they matter to me first, above all. But I get that you don't understand. You care for very little."
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it? Isn't it, Victor? Then tell me! What is it that you care about so much, that you would throw the crew under the bus like this! Even-" she paused. "- even to prioritise the Lord President before the lives of your sister, and my family."
He grimaced and looked down. "I thought you wouldn't remember them."
"Huh! Because I'm just that stupid. You dodged my question again, but I am no longer interested. You disgust me." She spat at his feet, which is a rather primitive thing to do, and started walking determinedly to the TARDIS.
"Stop" Victor said. Then louder, "Stop" he called, as though she couldn't hear him.
"Take me with you."
She screeched to a hold and glanced over her shoulder. "What."
"I'm sorry." He said. "I know you'll never believe that I am, but I'm sorry. Please let me help you save them."
"You're not one to put your life on the line, Victor you know that."
"I traded everything for nothing! I didn't know things would go this far, you have to believe me Corsair!"
"I'll never believe you."
"Please, Just think about it for a minute! I can't let them die for my mistake. As soon as we leave we will both be fighting for our lives, I'm not doing this for my sake I swear to you."
The Corsair started walking again, so Victor ran to stand in front of the door. The Corsair lifted her eyes to his and wasn't sure what she found. She was smart enough to know it wasn't sincerity. But she wasn't sure what else it could be.
"The Lord president didn't know I'd be here, I took the job from someone else. But he has probably noticed by now. Please, he had never fully trusted me,"- (I wonder why) -" and when he sees the footage of this I ..." Victor pleaded with me.
He makes a good case, I'll give him that. And when we go to the unknown he might at least fight to stay alive. He always cared for his own survival the most. And I wouldn't want to be responsible for his death here on Gallifrey.
She had known Victor for decades, and served beside him in the war. But when push came to shove, he had proven himself more loyal to the Presidency than to his friends and the people of Gallifrey. Even in the days at the academy he would be distracted by power and his thirst for knowledge. He is prone to being swept up by it, his relationships absorbed by it. Though he once had a life filled with meaning, he was never content unless he was the most knowledgeable person in the room. And once he was, he searched out those who could give him more. More knowledge, more ancient secrets. That was where his allegiances lie. Being stuck on Gallifrey, imprisoned in time, such a being can grow restless. And the fact that their destination is so enigmatic could not be lost on him either.
Considering this, I feel as though I should indulge him. Call me generous.
"I have conditions" I said.
"And I will comply with them" replied Victor.
The Corsair scanned him with her probe. Loaded.
"Empty your pockets, all of them. And put on this bracelet. Then you can come."