p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"He walked unhurriedly out of the Capitol building and continued past the shell craters and rocks blackened by staser fire. The fires had all been doused, the bodies long since respectfully disposed of and even now ruby vegetation was just starting to poke through the cracked earth as if to reassure him that all would be well. But the Doctor knew it would take many years before the planet would truly flourish again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"He had dreamed of this moment ever since that terrible day when he had believed he had pressed that button. The images had often been tantalizing almost beyond the point of endurance but they had never been sad. Now that he was here though, taking in the aftermath of the worst catastrophe Gallifrey had ever experienced, the ruins of a once beautiful land, he found he couldn't help but weep as he walked./p
p class="MsoNormal"There were crude dwellings that had sprung up again outside the domed city and already there were farmers trying to scrape a living out of the meagre soil. They looked up and leant on their spades as they heard someone coming./p
p class="MsoNormal"Almost everyone in the outlands knew who he was and knew what a debt they owed him./p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"When the snooty Time Lords in their high castle had gossiped about the Doctor's exploits they did so with disdain and scorn but when those stories had filtered through to the outsiders; through half overheard snatches and hearsay, they had been celebrated as tales of adventure and derring-do in which the struggling had someone who would fight their corner, tales they would tell round campfires and as bedtime stories to their children./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"So the men left their work and went up to the Doctor and embraced him, and their wives came bustling of their houses with freshly baked bread and steaming bowls of their own scanty meals to share with him. It didn't matter that he was the President, to them he was much more than that, he was one of them and they dearly wished to display their gratitude for all he had done./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mugs of beer were passed round and, sitting on the ground in the evening air, the Doctor told them of his adventures first hand./p
p class="MsoNormal"As he did so he noticed their weather beaten faces, calloused hands and wiry frames and thought how hard life must be out here. The soil was poor, there were few surviving animals and little grass for grazing, he doubted that these people could afford to wait for Gallifrey to recover on its own; they would starve first. The city would offer to help them but they may feel too proud to accept such help./p
p class="MsoNormal"But if he could get them to accept emhis/em help he could use Capitol technology to make a big difference very quickly, after all there were all sorts of terraforming techniques that could be used to regenerate the planet./p
p class="MsoNormal"Even so he was no longer sure what he should do. He had fixed things for people before and been admonished for not letting them solve their own problems but then he had also been rebuked for allowing others to take responsibility for their own actions./p
p class="MsoNormal"He decided just to ask them, he couldn't go wrong there, surely?/p
p class="MsoNormal"He coughed hesitantly, "How would you feel about my advocating the use of terraforming equipment to make Gallifrey more habitable?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"There was quite a bit of heated discussion among the group and the Doctor waited patiently for them to come to a consensus./p
p class="MsoNormal"After a while one of the men rose to deliver their decision, "If it was any one of those toffee nosed gits who asked us we would say no and take our chances, but as we know you are truly thinking of us rather than your own political career we will accept your help."/p
p class="MsoNormal"There were cheers at this irreverently put sentiment, not least as it allowed them to thumb their noses at the city folk and still improve their admittedly dire situation./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the Doctor made his, slightly unsteady, way back to the Citadel he finally felt cheered that things were looking up./p
p class="MsoNormal"He had dreamed of this moment ever since that terrible day when he had believed he had pressed that button. The images had often been tantalizing almost beyond the point of endurance but they had never been sad. Now that he was here though, taking in the aftermath of the worst catastrophe Gallifrey had ever experienced, the ruins of a once beautiful land, he found he couldn't help but weep as he walked./p
p class="MsoNormal"There were crude dwellings that had sprung up again outside the domed city and already there were farmers trying to scrape a living out of the meagre soil. They looked up and leant on their spades as they heard someone coming./p
p class="MsoNormal"Almost everyone in the outlands knew who he was and knew what a debt they owed him./p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"When the snooty Time Lords in their high castle had gossiped about the Doctor's exploits they did so with disdain and scorn but when those stories had filtered through to the outsiders; through half overheard snatches and hearsay, they had been celebrated as tales of adventure and derring-do in which the struggling had someone who would fight their corner, tales they would tell round campfires and as bedtime stories to their children./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"So the men left their work and went up to the Doctor and embraced him, and their wives came bustling of their houses with freshly baked bread and steaming bowls of their own scanty meals to share with him. It didn't matter that he was the President, to them he was much more than that, he was one of them and they dearly wished to display their gratitude for all he had done./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mugs of beer were passed round and, sitting on the ground in the evening air, the Doctor told them of his adventures first hand./p
p class="MsoNormal"As he did so he noticed their weather beaten faces, calloused hands and wiry frames and thought how hard life must be out here. The soil was poor, there were few surviving animals and little grass for grazing, he doubted that these people could afford to wait for Gallifrey to recover on its own; they would starve first. The city would offer to help them but they may feel too proud to accept such help./p
p class="MsoNormal"But if he could get them to accept emhis/em help he could use Capitol technology to make a big difference very quickly, after all there were all sorts of terraforming techniques that could be used to regenerate the planet./p
p class="MsoNormal"Even so he was no longer sure what he should do. He had fixed things for people before and been admonished for not letting them solve their own problems but then he had also been rebuked for allowing others to take responsibility for their own actions./p
p class="MsoNormal"He decided just to ask them, he couldn't go wrong there, surely?/p
p class="MsoNormal"He coughed hesitantly, "How would you feel about my advocating the use of terraforming equipment to make Gallifrey more habitable?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"There was quite a bit of heated discussion among the group and the Doctor waited patiently for them to come to a consensus./p
p class="MsoNormal"After a while one of the men rose to deliver their decision, "If it was any one of those toffee nosed gits who asked us we would say no and take our chances, but as we know you are truly thinking of us rather than your own political career we will accept your help."/p
p class="MsoNormal"There were cheers at this irreverently put sentiment, not least as it allowed them to thumb their noses at the city folk and still improve their admittedly dire situation./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the Doctor made his, slightly unsteady, way back to the Citadel he finally felt cheered that things were looking up./p
