RECRIMINATIONS AND ADMISSIONS

Professor Halla sat at his desk and looked out of the huge picture window at the landscape that surrounded the large scientific centre where he was based. Here atop the tallest mountain on the planet he could see across the black dirt plains of Aerht to the City Republic of Paris. When he swung around and looked out of the equally massive window on the opposite side of his office he could see the city walls of Kharack, the capital of the lands ruled by Duke Zarkahn.

Duke Zarkahn was famous across the planet as a formidable politician, a matchless soldier, lizard patriot and merciless bully. He was also highly suspicious of scientists and humans. Which is why his impending visit to this research station to meet a human scientist like Professor Halla all the more unsettling.

The station had been established 100 years ago by the Parisian Council to use the knowledge of their kidnap victims to advance their technological power. It had worked as, in Human terms, Parisian society had moved from a medieval stage to an almost Edwardian culture with 22nd century technology.

Of course the city had not always been called Paris, but the reason for the change had never been explained to the human newcomers.

Duke Zarkahn's lands however clung purposefully to their indigenous ways. They could not however help themselves from picking up the odd technological breakthrough. And they were getting more tolerant of humans. They even let one of Halla's assistants visit to arrange this meeting and they only ate one of his legs. Which, considering what they did to the last human to visit Kharack, was very generous of them.

There was a short buzz from the intercom.

"Professor Halla, can you please come to the reception lounge," requested the voice. "The Duke has arrived."

******

Professor Halla entered the lounge and bowed respectfully at the Duke. The Duke was a mighty Lizard who stood nearly seven-foot tall and was dressed in silks and a velvet cape smothered in jewels. He carried a mighty sword in one hand and wore the bleached skull of a human on a chain around his neck.

"Your Grace, welcome to Ycarnos Station. Queen Perpugilliam has asked me to welcome you and to say that she will arrive shortly with the final components for the machine," said Halla.

The Duke nodded. He spoke back to the Professor but in his own lizard tongue, as he would not pollute his mouth with the human language. His voice sounded like a wrecked car being dragged over a cattle grate. His interpreter stepped forward to relay his master's response.

"My Master spits on your grave and pays tribute to your mistress and her success in obtaining the heads of two Time Lords at such short notice," he translated.

"Thank you very much, I'm sure," Halla replied, perhaps a little too quickly.

*****

Jamie lay on one of the bunk beds in the TARDIS bedroom. It had been the only place the Doctor could bring him, despite the long journey - longer, when he realised how heavy Jamie could be.

The Doctor still couldn't take it all in - in the space of two minutes, he and the Brigadier had gone from being the best of friends to the worst of enemies. And with Jamie still unconscious, there was nothing else he could do except wait.

*****

Lethbridge Stewart wept. He cried for the tragic death of his son, and the end of a long friendship with the Doctor. How could it have come to this?

It was ironic that, during his time at UNIT, he had had to inform countless families of the deaths of their loved ones. That was one part of the job that had never got any easier, however many times he went through it. The real tragedy was that he could never tell those families how their sons or husbands had died. How could you explain to a mother that her son wasn't coming home because he'd been shot down by a Dalek, or vaporised by an Ogron? And now, the Brigadier had some understanding of what they had gone through, for he was in the same kind of situation.

Why did McCrimmon kill Alistair Jnr, and in such a brutal way? Just a few hours before, they had been laughing and joking. It didn't make sense. All right, so the boy could handle himself in a tight corner - he'd proved as much during that business with the Yeti, all those years ago. So what could prompt the lad to turn into a crazed killer? No matter how he viewed it, the Brigadier couldn't find an answer.

*****

"Oh, ma head."

The Doctor regarded Jamie with his sternest look. "So, you're awake at last. About time too."

"Where are we?"

"In the TARDIS." Jamie could tell that the Doctor was in no mood for small talk. And he couldn't really blame him. "Now then, Jamie. What happened?"

The Scot struggled to a sitting position. "Doctor, ye don't really think that . . ."

"I don't know what to think!" The Doctor let his frustrations boil over. "I find you standing over young Alistair's body, the Brigadier accuses you of murder and throws us both out of his house. So no, I really don't know what to think!"

"But it wasn't me," Jamie protested.

"Then who was it?" The Doctor exclaimed. "Tell me everything you know."

Jamie was about to scratch his head, then felt the large bump he'd incurred, and changed his mind. "Well, I overheard Alistair talking to someone."

"Who? When?"

"I don't know who," he replied, "but it was after lunch. He had this communicator thing, and Alistair agreed to meet whoever it was. So later, after you and the Brigadier went out, he tried to make a getaway, but I stopped him."

The Doctor nodded. "Then what happened?"

"Well, this is where it gets a bit crazy," Jamie told him. "I was about to have it out wi' him, when this woman flew in from the balcony."

"What woman?"

"I don't know, but she grabbed Alistair and started to tear at him. It was horrible." Tears began to well up in Jamie's eyes. "I tried to help him, but she was just too strong. She was all over him like a banshee. And then she . . ." He faltered. "Oh Doctor, it was a terrible thing."

"What was, Jamie?" The Doctor was insistent. "You must tell me."

"She . . . she tore out his heart!" And the tears fell freely, as Jamie turned away, his head buried in a pillow, totally distraught. "She killed him, Doctor. And I couldn't do a thing to help him. She was screaming 'traitor, traitor' as she attacked him."

"And then she just left?" asked the Doctor.

Jamie looked up from his pillow. "Well, yes. but no," he replied.

The Doctor gave Jamie a stern look.

"I tried to stop her. She was clawing and tearing at me but I would not let go. Then she just stopped, kissed me on the forehead and screamed."

The Doctor looked at Jamie with an even more stern expression.

"Then the scream went into a sort of wheezing and groaning sound," he continued.

"A wheezing and groaning sound?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes, that's what I said," replied Jamie.

"Go on," the Doctor prompted.

"Well, then it appeared out of nowhere."

"What appeared?"

"The TARDIS," said Jamie.

"What, our Police Box shaped TARDIS?"

"Yes," Jamie insisted. "The woman looked at me and said, 'Goodbye Jamie', got in the TARDIS and it dematerialised."

"Well, I think that explains what happened to my future self's TARDIS." The Doctor looked down at his friend's bedragged appearance. "Come along, Jamie. I think you'd better go and clean yourself up a bit. Then we need to go and rebuild some bridges."

*****

The Brigadier sat at his desk. The Gendarmes had long since taken Alistair Jnr's body away. It had taken his staff nearly an hour to clean up the mess. But the guilt was still there at the front of his mind. He had told his son to get close to Zzorrann, to pretend to leak information to him and pose as an informer. He had never dreamed it would lead to this.

It had taken him another hour or two to work up the courage to view the security takes of events. He watched Jamie stop Alistair and start arguing with him. He saw the dark shape enter through the window and begin tearing at his son. He watched Jamie try to intervene and he saw the TARDIS arrive.

He watched intently as the shape that had killed his son looked up into the camera lens and smile before it entered the TARDIS and disappeared. He recognised the face from the picture album the little Scottish Doctor had shown him after the Avalon affair. The Brigadier was angry that his son had been killed; he was horrified that he had blamed Jamie and he was determined to get revenge.

*****

The Doctor and a patched up Jamie stood outside the Brigadier's front door. "Are ye sure this is a good idea?" the Scot asked.

"No Jamie, but we have no option," the Doctor replied. "The Brigadier is our only contact on this world and we need him."

The Doctor raised his hand to knock on the door when it suddenly opened before him. There stood the Brigadier with the pain of the recent tragedy drawn across his face. He looked from the Doctor to Jamie. "Jamie, I'm so sorry," he said.

"Oh Alistair," said the Doctor as he reached out to touch his friend on the shoulder.

The Brigadier stiffened and pushed the Doctor's hand away. "Doctor, we have no time for mourning. I have something to tell you. It will probably break every Law of Time you have ever told me about, but you have to know about her."

"About who?" asked the Doctor.

"About Peri."

*****

Queen Perpugilliam leaned on the console of her TARDIS, shaking. Her encounter with Jamie had not been unexpected, but its outcome had brought past memories flooding back. To when she first met him on the space station and their adventure in Seville with their respective Doctors. And a later time, when he was much older. And now, for the first time in untold years, feelings of doubt and uncertainty, emotions long ago buried, now passed through her mind.

'Why am I doing this? How can I justify it? What have I become?'

"No! No, no no!" She clenched her fists tight, desperate to purge herself of these unwelcome reminders of her previous life. "I will not weaken! My resolve must be strong. It must!" Finally, she regained her composure, the trembling becoming less visible.

But the doubts lingered at the back of her mind.

*****

The Doctor could barely take it in. "So this Queen Perpugilliam once travelled with me?"

The Brigadier nodded. "Or will, in the future. Depending on your point of view."

"Quite. But how did your son get involved in all this?" the Doctor wondered.

"Alistair contacted Zzorran through work," Lethbridge Stewart replied. "He worked for him at his bank. As you know, there had been concerns about Zzorrann's business practices, so Alistair volunteered to act as a double- agent. Give them bits and pieces, and obtain information for us in return." The Brigadier shook with emotion. "We both knew there would be risks, but I never expected."

"Aye, well," Jamie muttered. "But why didn't he explain all this to me and the Doctor?"

"Now, be fair, Jamie," the Doctor said. "Alistair barely knew us for a day. He could hardly be expected to take us into his confidence on just his father's say so."

"Exactly, Doctor," the Brigadier noted, recovering. "The less who knew, the better."

"Did he find anything out?"

"Not much." The Brigadier began leafing through various notes. "Although there was something . . . ah, here it is." He read from the document. "Apparently, there was something going on at some research station outside the city. All top secret - the place is run by a Professor Halla."

"Halla?" Jamie and the Brigadier stared at the Doctor. His face was a picture of surprise and shock. "Oh, why didn't I realise?"

"Doctor, do ye know this Professor?" Jamie asked.

"Only by reputation," he replied. "He was the person I had agreed to meet at the Library - oh, it was something arranged a long time ago," he added, forestalling any further questions. "Yes, he's a most eminent scientist, in his field."

The Brigadier didn't like the sound of this. "And which particular field are we talking about, Doctor?"

He hesitated for only a brief moment. "Cybernetics."

*****

Professor Halla had returned to his office and was shuffling through his papers, when the familiar wheezing and groaning noise began to fill the room. He looked up as the shape of a blue Police Box materialised in the centre of his office. The doors opened and the unmistakable shape of the Queen hobbled out. In one had she held a heart and in the other a half decayed head.

Halla indicated for her to place the objects in a large wooden box sitting on his desk. When she had done this he closed the lid and spun the combination lock.

The Queen eased herself down in to a large cushioned sofa close to the large picture window. Halla moved over and sat down beside her. "You need to rest. Your strength is draining away faster than ever," said Halla.

"Only because I have not fed today, and that can easily be resolved." The Queen seemed to relax and she almost seemed human again.

"So all we need is the last head," said Halla.

"Indeed. And if I know the Doctor he should be on his way here very soon. Are you sure it will work if both heads are from the same Time Lord?" asked the Queen.

"I am sure," replied Halla. "In fact the Paradox involved will probably make the device even more powerful."

They both looked at the humanoid shape in the corner of the office. It was like a giant piece of armour standing seven foot up to the shoulders where a space for head to be inserted was visible. Polished until it appeared to be gold, the figure also had a gap in the centre of its chest where a heart could be placed.

"The Duke Zarkahn has arrived," Halla announced.

"Good. The fool is not even aware that he is here for his own funeral. Did he bring enough of the ore to initiate the device?"

"Yes, but he seems a very formidable figure. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course," she smiled. "The device will make a most appropriate wedding gift. With one head, a hybrid heart and the ore from the Duke's mines we only need the final component - the Doctor's living head. Once that is in place and the device is operational he will marry me. And then, shortly afterwards, when Zarkahn succumbs to a strange illness and I inherit his titles and lands as his widow, things will be in place."

Halla nodded.

"With the device, Paris, the Duke's armies, the ore from his Ziton 7 mines and two of the Doctor's TARDISes under my control, everything will finally be in place for the invasion of Gallifrey," the Queen declared with a triumphant smile.

"And then we can get married?" asked Halla.

"Yes, my dear Halla. And the Time Lords will pay for inflicting this vampiric curse upon me when their blood provides the wine at my wedding," she replied, before planting a kiss on Halla's forehead.

A voice from the intercom system interrupted them. "Professor Halla. There is an unidentified shuttle cruiser approaching Ycarnos Station."

"This is Queen Perpugilliam," she announced, taking the call. "Stand down all defences. Allow the cruiser free access to the station." She sat back in her chair, elated. "He comes, Halla. The Doctor is almost here. After all this time, our long wait is at an end."

*****

The cruiser in question was making unsteady progress toward the station. "Doctor, are you sure you can fly this thing?" the Brigadier wondered.

"Of course I can." He seemed surprised that his abilities should be called into question. "I admit, I may have problems with helicopters," Jamie's face paled at the memory, "but I can assure you I have full control over this shuttle."

"This research station," Lethbridge Stewart wondered. "Is that also created by this other TARDIS, like the city?"

"No, I don't think so," the Doctor replied. They were now close enough to make out some detail. "Look at the way it's contructed - oval shaped domes overlapping each other. No, I think we're well outside the TARDIS force field now."

"It's awful quiet," Jamie observed. "As if they're expecting us."

The Doctor's face was grim. "Yes, I'd noticed that too, Jamie. Ah." One of the domes opened out to reveal a vacant launch bay. "I rather think that's for us."

The Doctor steered the shuttle toward the bay. "I do wish you had stayed behind, Brigadier," he added. "I would have been much happier not to involve you."

"Not a chance, Doctor," the Brigadier insisted. "I have one or two scores to settle."

The three friends were silent for the rest of the flight.

*****

Once the shuttle had landed, they had progressed some distance into the station with no hint of trouble. "You do realise," Lethbridge Stewart noted, "that we're probably walking into a trap?"

"Oh, I'm fully expecting it," the Doctor replied. "I would have been disappointed if that wasn't the case."

"Then let us dissappoint you no longer, Doctor." They turned to find a lizard of mixed race beckoning them onwards.

"Ah," the Doctor surmised. "Mr Zzorrann, I presume. I wondered when we would meet."

"You do me a great honour, Doctor," Zzorrann complimented. "However, I fear that our meeting will soon be cut short - literally."

"I take it that Queen Perpugilliam is expecting us?"

"No, I literally mean you will be cut short," replied Zzorrann.

Jamie and the Brigadier were grabbed from behind by lizard guards and watched the next few moments in increasing horror.

A giant lizard emerged from behind some crates and was followed by even more guards. A human in a white lab coat and carrying a large silver box followed behind them. The big lizard drew a massive sword as long as Jamie was tall and spun it around his head. Then with a sudden and swift motion he swung it towards the Doctor and then back in to its sheath.

The Brigadier and Jamie looked on in horror as the Doctor's head fell from his shoulders and hit the ground with a thud. A second later his limp body fell into the dust before their feet.

To be continued . . .