AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my original draft, this was to be the end of the story. But it seemed so contrived that I just couldn't leave it there. And, well...there were a few unanswered questions.

CHAPTER 47

SHOWDOWN

Roogg let out an angry snarl and turned to his communications officer, who was still trying to trace the breach in the internal sound system. "Forget that, fool!" he snapped. "Contact Heladin Alpha at once. Tell them to kill all the hostages. Immediately!"

The Wieonol membership instantly erupted into cries for mercy, all of which were completely ignored. Irritated by the noise, Roogg ordered the room cleared. After several minutes only the Doctor remained, standing silent and completely at ease in the center of the room, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Just who are you, little man?" the General demanded, annoyed by his nonchalance.

"Who, me? Oh, I'm nobody," the Time Lord replied breezily.

"A nobody who calls Ambassador Krystovan by name."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up. "Oh, you noticed that, did you? Well done. You'll be back amongst the Elite in no time."

Before Roogg could respond to this patronizing pat on the head, his communications officer chimed in. "General, I'm getting a very strange reply from Heladin Alpha. They said that the only hostages are you."

"What? Are they drunk? Try them again."

The Doctor cleared his throat dramatically, gaining the General's attention. "That won't do you any good. The message means exactly what it says. The Alterran Imperial Guard stationed on Heladin Alpha removed your hostages sometime yesterday—or was it the day before? The troops that were hiding them are currently under arrest."

"Impossible!" Roogg thundered.

"That's the trouble with self-important despots like you. Overconfidence. While you were busy stacking the deck, you forgot to make allowances for a wild card." With a knowing smile, the Doctor added, "That would be me, by the way."

Roogg had had enough of the Time Lord's arrogant and condescending attitude. He got to his feet, pointing a finger at him. "Kill him!" he shouted. "Now!"

The General's men slowly drew their weapons, almost disappointed to obey the order. They had enjoyed the Time Lord's sudden and very open show of disrespect to their leader. As the first weapon was drawn, the entire floor suddenly started to shimmer. A split second later, Commander SorRell and several of her troops seemed to rise out of the floor, every one having a weapon trained on the flabbergasted Gres-Fa-Raayn.

"Twitch the wrong way and you're a dead man, General. The rest of you, drop your weapons. Now!" SorRell ordered coldly. There was a cacophony of noise as the outnumbered Gres-Fa-Raayn practically threw their weapons to the ground.

"Oh dear," the Doctor tut-tutted from within his ring of protectors. "Did I forget to mention that I brought a few of the Imperial Guards along with me? Emperor Quinton wants a few words with you about your attempt on the life of his Ambassador, the destruction of the Imperial escort, your presence on the protected planets…" Pausing, he asked, "Have I forgotten anything?"

"The attempt on the life of a meddlesome Time Lord?" came Jason's voice through the public address system. In the background, Grant could be heard giggling.

"That's quite enough from you," the Doctor snapped. "I'm sure this is enough evidence to overturn the Gres-Fa-Raayn's claim of sovereignty."

"More than enough," the Ambassador agreed. "They're all yours, Commander. And thank-you again. I'll be waiting for your next transmission, Doctor. HRH out." There was a crackle and click as the connection was cut.

"Doesn't look like you'll be joining the Elite after all, does it, General?" the Doctor observed. He watched in the greatest of satisfaction as the protesting Roogg was taken from the Grand Council Chamber along with his men.

Heaving an enormous sigh of relief, the Doctor climbed onto the throne and closed his eyes, relaxing for the first time in days. That's one problem dealt with, he thought, wondering how he was going to tackle the next one.

The members of the real ruling council hesitantly reentered the Council Chamber to find the Time Lord apparently dozing on the throne that had previously been occupied by Roogg. Fearing they had simply traded one invader for another, the President of the Council bowed low. "I am G'rl'k, former President of the Wieonol Council."

The Doctor sat up upon hearing this, jumping to his feet. "Former? Former! My dear G'rl'k, I've just liberated your planet. Would you so quickly put it under someone else's thumb?"

"I don't understand," G'rl'k replied.

"I'm not surprised," the Time Lord replied tersely.

"What is the name of our liberator that we may thank you properly?"

"If you're looking for someone to thank, I suggest you look no further than your grandson, l'X'el."

"l'X'el! That troublemaker!"

"Indeed. He said you'd say something like that." The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "When was the last time you saw him?"

G'rl'k gave him a puzzled look. "I don't know, a week ago, perhaps longer." Waving a hand, he snapped, "I haven't the time to keep track of him. I'm only called when he and his brother get themselves into trouble, which I'm pleased to say they haven't done for quite some time."

"No, they wouldn't've done. They're the ones who contacted me for help," the Doctor informed calmly.

"What? Just who are you?"

The Alterran sentries at the far doors motioned to the Doctor that they were ready and he raised a hand in acknowledgment. Turning back to G'rl'k, he stated, "I am known as the Doctor. I believe you may have heard of me. You were only an infant the last time I was here."

The stunned Wieonol President's mouth dropped open but before he could think of a suitable reply, the Doctor said, "Now, I believe you have some duties to perform, President G'rl'k."

"Duties?"

"Returning some people to their families." The Doctor waved a hand and the doors were opened, the former hostages flooding in. The room exploded into a happy chaos of greetings and tears of joy, during which the Time Lord quietly slipped away.

The Doctor did not know how long he stood staring at the temporal manipulator. He had circled it several times, but did not attempt to touch it, fearing he might further upset the timelines. Eventually he gave up and entered the TARDIS, running several scans of the room and surrounding area. The results made him scowl and widen the scan. When he was satisfied he had all the information he could gather, he contacted Jason to let him know he was returning for the Wieonol trio…and Grant.