"A Whole New World"
Chapter 7
"Dereliction of Duty"
The Doctor fell asleep shortly after breakfast. After clearing away the dishes, Tegan and Romana retired to the console room for tea and conversation on the settee.
"I almost didn't tell him," Romana said quietly, staring into her teacup. "But I did my duty as a Time Lady, as President… and it nearly killed me to do it." Tegan glanced at her and knew not to ask questions; the Time Lady needed to tell her story at her own pace and in her own way, and she needed Tegan just to listen. Slowly, Romana began talking about the ripple she had seen in the Matrix that had caused the High Council to sanction the use of the Eye of Rassilon. She told Tegan about seeing Angelina's murder in the Eye, filling her in on the events that had happened while she and Sarah Jane had gotten loaded on Sonic Screwdrivers. "I knew I had to give them enough information to stop her being murdered."
"Thank you," Tegan said seriously.
"I didn't do it for you," the Time Lady said in a cool, matter-of-fact tone. "I didn't even do it for the Doctor. I did it because there was no other way to save the Universe."
"What?"
"I saw what happened when Angelina was killed. You were devastated, of course, but the Doctor… " She sighed. "The Doctor went insane." Tegan blinked. "It broke him, Tegan. And you weren't there to pick up the pieces, and I was no good for the job… besides, he wanted you, needed you, not me. But you – "
"I blamed him," Tegan finished, knowing herself well enough to know what Romana must have seen. "Probably threw it all in his face… the Rani, everything." Romana nodded.
"Something like that," she agreed. "And with the Doctor out of the picture, there was no one there to stop the invasion – "
"What invasion?"
"I can't say their name – " Romana began.
"What, are they like Voldemort?"
"Who's Voldemort?" the Time Lady asked curiously.
"He Who Must Not Be Named… never mind, it doesn't matter."
"All right. I can't tell you their name because I literally can't say it. Neither Gallifreyan nor human vocal cords are built for making that sort of sound." Tegan's eyebrows went up.
"Really? The Doctor once told me that no being in the Universe speaks a language that another species couldn't learn eventually; I can't remember exactly how he explained it. Something about gestalt and synchronicity. Sounded like a lot of Jungian nonsense to me, really." But Romana was nodding in agreement.
"No, he's right. We should all be able to understand each other. Even if it took you a hundred years to learn Gallifreyan, you could still eventually learn it – if you lived long enough. But these beings are from outside of our own Universe. We have no common ground. They are not part of our gestalt."
"Thank God for that," Tegan muttered. Romana gave her a brief smile.
"The invaders had worked out how to invade and conquer other dimensions, other universes. But one territory still eluded them."
"Time." Tegan guessed.
"Right in one," Romana replied. "They'd been capturing time sensitives – Tharils and whatnot – hoping to crack the secret of time travel. The rest of us can count ourselves lucky that none of their captors had that secret or were able to explain it if they did. The Tharils could no more explain to them how they 'walk the winds' than you could explain how your brain regulates your body's metabolism. And yet they were tortured to death – all of them – in the vain hope of learning the secret."
"But they did learn it, didn't they?" Tegan asked. "Or they would have eventually, right?" Romana nodded.
"Yes. They would have. If the Doctor had gone insane and stopped traveling, they would have captured a young Time Lord named Atraxis, fresh out of the Arcalian Academy and on his way to a research assignment in the Outer Rim. He would have broken quickly under their torture, surrendering his assigned TARDIS and everything he knew about time travel, which as you can imagine would have been quite a bit." Tegan put a hand over her eyes.
"Disaster."
"Quite," Romana agreed. "So I sent the Doctor to be tortured instead."
"You what?"
"I almost didn't do it. Really. I almost just…" She looked down at her teacup again. "I saw so many terrible possibilities for him in the Eye. I saw him tortured to death with electric shocks, his brain and nervous system so scrambled that he couldn't regenerate. I saw him tortured, regenerate, and tortured again, repeatedly, using up the rest of his lives in a hellish nightmare. I saw him tortured until he was broken and begging for mercy, spilling all of our secrets to his captors. But in every single scenario, he somehow managed to stop them, even though he died in the end. A few times, he escaped and came back here, only to die from his injuries in the console room before you returned from Paris. Once, you even went off with some rock singer, never knowing that he was dying on the floor in Angelina's living room." Tegan gave a little cry, covering her mouth with her hand as tears ran down her cheeks. Romana put a gentle hand on Tegan's arm. "There was only one scenario in which I saw him live, Tegan. And I think it's safe to say that it appears to have played out after all."
"Are you sure?" Tegan asked, almost begging.
"Yes, Tegan. I'm sure. He's not going to regenerate, and he's not going to die. This is the outcome I hoped for ever since I told him that he must begin traveling again."
"Oh thank God!"
"This whole episode has made me rethink things," Romana continued, biting her lower lip. "I am considering resigning the Presidency."
"Why?" Tegan asked, astounded.
"I shouldn't have hesitated to send the Doctor to his fate. The fate of the Universe was at stake, and he was the only one who could stop them. What's one life against so many others?" Tegan looked appalled.
"Is that how Time Lords think?"
"How would you make that choice, Tegan?" Romana snapped. "Does the Doctor's life outweigh the lives of every other person in the known Universe, everyone who ever lived, everyone alive now, and everyone who will ever live in the future?" Tegan thought for a minute.
"I don't… I mean, I… can't…"
"No, you can't. You're only human, after all," Romana spat angrily. "But I should be able to make that kind of decision without even thinking about it. I am a Time Lady of Gallifrey, after all."
"But he's your friend – "
"If he had remained only my friend, perhaps I wouldn't have had a second thought about sending him off to face torture and certain death. But we became lovers, and that changed everything… just as he'd warned me it would."
"You were lovers?" Tegan asked with disbelief. "When?"
"It's not important," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The important thing is that I was almost guilty of an insane dereliction of duty, and that sort of thing can't be allowed to happen again." They were silent for a long moment.
"I can't speak for the Time Lords," Tegan finally said. "But I know I'd be nervous of a President who could send someone off to be tortured and killed without batting an eye, especially if that someone were an old friend and… and more."
"If the Time Lords knew what I nearly did, they'd be nervous of me as well," Romana said ruefully, shaking her head.
"In my book, anything that makes that lot nervous is a good thing!" Tegan said with a shrug. Romana laughed.
"Yes, some of them could definitely use a good shaking up." She looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I'll give it to them."
"So you're going to resign after all?" Tegan asked, sounding disappointed.
"Oh no," the Time Lady replied with an impish smile. "I can't resign after resolving to shake things up, can I?"
"What are you going to do to them?"
"Well, for one thing, I understand that the Prydonian Academy could use a Dean with better manners… I wonder if the Doctor would be interested in the position." Tegan laughed.
"I doubt it!"
"Mmm, I doubt it too," Romana said wistfully. "Oh well," she said briskly, rising to her feet. "It was only a thought."
"Hang on," Tegan said, looking thoughtful. "Before you rush back to Gallifrey… I think I might have an idea for your new Dean." Romana made an eyebrow at her.
"Oh?" she asked, sounding interested.
"Yeah," Tegan said with a grin. "And you talk about shaking things up… wait 'til they get a load of my candidate!"
Tegan was sitting in a chair by the Doctor's bed when he woke.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully, smiling and setting aside the book she'd been reading. "Or rather, good afternoon!"
"How long have I been asleep?" he asked, sitting up.
"A few hours. You look much better, by the way. How do you feel?"
"Better. That chair can't be comfortable," he said seriously. He pulled aside the covers and patted the space beside him. "There's plenty of room."
"You're feeling a lot better, aren't you?" she exclaimed with relief. He grinned.
"I certainly am!" He patted the bed again. "Care for a demonstration?" Tegan laughed.
"I haven't had a shower in six days, Doctor. Trust me, you don't want me in your bed!"
"I'm sure I'm far dirtier than you," he told her ruefully. "The holding cell they tossed me in between torture sessions wasn't exactly the Waldorf Astoria. No sink, no shower… really, I should have lodged a complaint with the management!" She didn't know what to say to that. Instead of searching for the words to frame a suitable reply, she pushed off her shoes and slid into the bed next to him. She reached out for him, but he backed away.
"Not out of pity," he said quietly.
"Pity? Never!" she said scornfully. Suddenly, her dark eyes filled with tears. "I missed you," she said quietly. "I was so worried about you. I almost can't believe you're back; I feel like I need to convince myself that you're real." She wiped her eyes. "Does that make sense?" He nodded.
"But let me take a shower first… and if you'd like to join me, I'll show you just how real I am!" he invited.
"Need help scrubbing those hard-to-reach places, do you?" she asked innocently.
"I can think of one or two spots that might benefit from special attention," he said with a completely straight face.
"Hmm, I bet you can!" she agreed. He got out of bed and started for the bathroom. She remained where she was, just watching him.
"What are you waiting for, Christmas?" he asked teasingly.
"Yeah, and I'm thinking about what I want for my present," she said saucily. His eyebrows went up.
"Have you been a very good little girl?" he asked in a low voice. She rose to her feet and stretched languidly.
"No."
"Oh dear… well, I think Santa's got a piece of candy for you anyway!" She broke out laughing and followed him to the bathroom.
Quite some time later, he showed her the room with the hot tub.
Though the Doctor was now completely healed, he and Tegan didn't leave his TARDIS for another eight days.
Angelina and Munch had just finished a romantic dinner in the Atlantic Dining Room on board the Victory.
"I got you something," Munch told her as the waiter set their desserts in front of them.
"Oh Munch, you shouldn't have," she said, watching as he fumbled in his pocket for whatever it was.
"I wanted to surprise you."
"This cruise was quite a surprise itself!" she told him sincerely. He shrugged.
"I wanted everything to be perfect," he said.
"For what?"
"For this," he said, snapping open the little box to show her the diamond ring nestled in black velvet.
Later, in their stateroom.
"What are you doing?" Munch asked, watching her shove at one of the twin beds.
"I'm trying to put them together," she said, as though the answer were obvious. Munch frowned.
"You said you wanted a ring on your finger," he reminded her. She gave him an exasperated look and held up her left hand.
"Look. Ring. Finger. Ring on finger." His eyebrows went up. "Now, please help me shift this, would you?"
Munch didn't have to be asked twice.
Item from a New York Post gossip column:
OH NIKKI, WHAT A PITY!
SUPERMODEL NIKKI BENSON has announced her semi-retirement.
"I'm not quitting completely," the curvaceous cutie told this columnist. "I'm just cutting back a lot. I'm moving and I'll be living pretty far away from things. Getting back to do modeling jobs will be kind of inconvenient, so I'm not going to be working as much."
When asked what fabulous locale she would soon be calling home, the giggling glamour puss replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you!" Dubuque, perhaps? "No. Even weirder than that!"
If there's something weirder than a supermodel moving to Iowa, this columnist would love to hear it!
CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 8, "And Now, An Important Announcement..."
