Epilogue

The warm light of the Source shone down the following morning, glinting from the windows of the TARDIS as it stood in the centre of the Civic Square. The Doctor and Adric stood a few metres away, talking with Suren, Byrnus and Proctor Morovan, the latter with his chest heavily bandaged and his arm in a sling. Tegan and Nyssa stood in the shade of the TARDIS, watching them speak.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Tegan asked her friend, who had been somewhat subdued since regaining consciousness the previous day. Nyssa blinked, pulling herself out of her daydream, and forced a smile.

"I'm fine," she replied. "My head's still a bit fuzzy, that's all. It's all been a lot to take in."

"You don't say," said Tegan. "I'm struggling to get my head round it all, and I'm not the one who–" she stopped herself, biting her lip. "Sorry, me and my big mouth."

"Don't worry, Tegan." Nyssa put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's been a shock for us all. The fact is, I died, and there's no getting away from that. But I've got a lot of life left in me yet." She smiled, giving Tegan's shoulder a squeeze. "Plus, it's freeing in a way, knowing when and where I die. Being the last Trakenite in the universe made me wary of taking risks with myself… now maybe I can start to live again."

Tegan nodded, before hesitantly asking: "Are you sure you don't want to stay the funeral?"

"Quite sure," replied Nyssa. "The Doctor says it isn't healthy to attend your own funeral."

"Well, he should know." Tegan looked over to where the Time Lord was talking with the Serenites. "Suren asked me to stay, you know."

Nyssa looked at her, surprised. "And will you?"

"I don't think so. He's a great guy, but things are a little too crazy around here for my liking… and that sun is a bit too bright. Besides, I've got my own future to get back to, and this is yours, not mine." She looked at Nyssa hesitantly, reluctant to ask the question that was on both of their minds, but realising it had to be asked, sooner or later. "Are you thinking about staying?"

Nyssa took a deep breath. "I…"

Her answer was cut short as she noticed the Doctor, Adric and the three Serenites coming toward them.

"Nyssa! Tegan! Ready to go?" the Doctor said cheerily. Tegan looked at Nyssa expectantly.

"Are you sure you won't stay?" said Brother Byrnus, "We still need a Keeper, after all."

Nyssa hesitated for a moment, then to Tegan's visible relief said: "Thank you, but no. I'm honoured to be asked, but I feel I've done all I can here on Serenity. The knowledge that some of the Master's evil has been undone is more than I could ever have hoped for. Besides, the Source existed for millennia without a Keeper, I'm sure it will do admirably now, under your care."

"Well," said Suren, "with the technology restrictions lifted perhaps we can develop a system to start scanning the population - you never know, maybe someone with the Source Marker will turn up, eventually."

"I'm certain they will," said Morovan, with a knowing smile. The Doctor looked at him questioningly, something prickling at the edge of his consciousness. He shook his head, the thought evaporating before he could get a hold of it.

"Maybe I'll come back someday to see how you're getting on," said Nyssa, "but for now I'm finding the attention a bit too much." She indicated the small crowd that had gathered in the square a few meters away. "The life of a full-time deity isn't really all that appealing."

The Doctor considered the three Serenites before him. "You know," he said throughfully, "you three have the makings of a good triumverate… the legal, the medical and the spiritual… just don't let the power go to your heads," he warned.

"No danger of that!" laughed Suren, "The thought of sharing a cell with Jonaris is more than enough of a deterrent!"

"And in the absence of a Keeper, that will be for the people to decide," said Byrnus, "They've been tyrannised for long enough."

The Doctor nodded approvingly. "Well, it looks like Serenity is in good hands." He turned to his companions. "We'd better be off."

Before they could leave, a small girl and boy approached from the gathering crowd. They stopped in front of Nyssa, each giving a practised curtsey and bow, the little girl holding out some flowers. Nyssa took them with a smile and a deep curtsey of her own. The boy stepped forward, tentatively pulling on her sleeve. He was no more than four years old, with dark brown hair framing a pudgy, round face.

"Please don't go, my Lady - you haven't answered my prayer yet!"

Nyssa smiled, crouching before the boy and looking into his wide hazel eyes. "Think of it then, and I'll answer, if I can." The boy smiled in delight then screwed his eyes shut, his tiny fists clenching as he prayed with all his might. Nyssa closed her eyes, letting her thoughts drift and opening her mind towards him. After a moment she smiled, chuckling as she opened her eyes again.

"Well, I can't do that yet," she said gently, "but if you keep me in your dreams, then one day, when you're a bit older, I might return." The boy smiled, his small face lighting up. "What's your name, dear one?" Nyssa asked.

"Lasarti," he replied.


The TARDIS time-rotor began to rise and fall, marking the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

"Where to now, Doctor?" asked Adric, scrutinising the controls.

"Well, I thought maybe a bit of relaxation time," replied the Doctor, "There's this spa I know in ancient Rome–"

"Rome? Isn't that Earth again?" retorted Adric, accusingly.

"I see he's back to normal," said Tegan on a low voice, turning to Nyssa. She frowned at the pained look on the Trakenite's face. "Are you ok?"

"It's nothing," replied Nyssa, "Just something keeps catching on the back of my neck, that's all." She pulled her collar down, reaching up to rub the offending area.

"Let's have a look," said Tegan. She lifted her friend's long curly hair up, looking where she had indicated. "Well, that's weird."

"What?"

"There's a scar back here. Your necklace is catching on it, where it's healing. But it's perfectly square."

The Doctor moved over to them, his escalating discussion with Adric put on hold.

"Let me see."

Nyssa turned her back to him, as he donned his half-moon spectacles to examine the wound. After a moment he looked up, the thought that had been bugging him suddenly bursting into clarity.

He rushed to the console without a word, quickly adjusting the controls before dashing off into the TARDIS interior. The time-rotor paused, then juddered into life again, its pace much quicker than previously.

"What was all that about?" said Adric, frowning.

"Not a clue," said Tegan, "He's off on one of his episodes again."

The time-rotor juddered to a halt, and before Adric could check the readouts the Doctor rushed back in again, this time carrying a large cricket bag. He rushed past the astonished faces of his companions, and activated the door lever.

"Stay here. Don't follow me," he said sternly, "I'll be back in a minute." And with that he rushed through the doors, firmly closing them behind him.

The three companions looked at each other, not knowing what to make of the Time Lord's erratic behaviour. Nyssa leaned over the console, checking the nearest monitor.

"We're back on Serenity again… but why?" she asked, confused.

"It's the same time zone as when we left," said Adric, consulting the readout on the panel in front of him, "But we've moved in space. Not very far, by the looks of it."

"I'm going after him," said Tegan decisively, moving towards the doors. Nyssa reached out to hold her back, wary of the Doctor's warning, but before the Australian could operate the lever the doors began to open inward of their own accord. The TARDIS occupants all took a step back as intense heat blasted into the console room, accompanied by a thick black smoke. There was the sound of an explosion, and then the Doctor burst through the opening, cricket bag in hand as he brushed debris from his shoulder and activated the door mechanism, shutting out the inferno behind him. He carefully deposited the bag on the floor, then set to adjusting the TARDIS controls, setting her into motion once more.

Tegan coughed as she wafted the remnants of the acrid smoke away from her. "Care to enlighten us as to what the hell is going on?" she cried.

The Doctor leaned on the console, trying to calm his breathing after his last few minutes of action before he faced up to Tegan's tirade.

"Er, Doctor…" said Adric, looking at the floor, "your bag seems to be… moving!"

"Ah, yes… better get it open…"

The Doctor took a deep breath and wiped his brow, before moving over to the wriggling holdall, carefully unzipping it, and pulling out a small bundle.

"The scar, you see… made me realise, what's been bugging me for a while," he said, breathlessly, "And Morovan just then, seemed so sure that a Keeper would be found… and of course he had access to the Order's facility… must have been their 'Plan B'… Obvious, really!"

He walked over to Nyssa, and passed the bundle to her. It was loosely wrapped in white linen, writhing and squirming in her grasp. Holding the bundle in the crook of her arm, she carefully moved the linen aside to reveal…

A tiny baby, no more than a few days old, naked and wriggling in her arms.

Nyssa looked up at the Doctor, eyes wide with shock, as Adric and Tegan crowded around to get a better look.

"But… how?" stammered Adric.

"Streuth, Doc!" said Tegan, "You can't go round taking people's babies! And why the hell would you want to, for that matter?!"

"Shhhhhhh," hushed the Doctor, more at his companions than the infant, "She's not anyone's child. Look at her."

They all looked down at the baby, who had quieted in the comfort of Nyssa's arms, her wrinkled face frowning under the bright lights of the TARDIS as she began to open her eyes.

Eyes that were a distinctive shade of pale green.

Tegan gasped, looking closer at the child's pale, porcelain skin and the scattering of light brown hair across her tiny head, that was already beginning to curl.

"Is that… but how can that be?" asked Adric.

"The scar on the back of Nyssa's neck can only have been someone taking a tissue sample, probably whilst you were sedated in the Infirmary," the Doctor explained. "And we know the Order was utilising cloning technology to swell their numbers - I had even been to their secret facility in the Procardinal's cellars. It looks like Jonaris took the opportunity to create his own 'Lady' as an insurance policy, but one that he could mould and control for his own ends. Morovan clearly knew of it - I couldn't risk the possibility of him using her in the future, so I took her from the facility, and destroyed it so they couldn't use any further samples that they might have taken."

"A clone?" gasped Tegan, catching up with the Doctor's lengthy explanation, "Of Nyssa?"

The Doctor nodded, smiling down at the child and playing wth her fingers. "It looks like you're not the last of your kind, after all," he said softly to Nyssa. She smiled, looking down at her infant replica.

"But what are we going to do with her?" asked Adric. "We can't keep a baby in the TARDIS!"

"Well, that's up to you, Nyssa," the Doctor replied. "Maybe you should take some time to think about it."

"Thank you, Doctor, but I don't think I need to," Nyssa replied, smiling. She looked down at the gurgling baby, and gently moved her blanket aside to show him something. "A product of an impurity in the cloning liquid? But however it got there, I think it tells us all we need to know."

"Ah," said the Doctor, as the implications of what Nyssa was saying dawned on him. He nodded, smiling warmly. "I'll set the co-ordinates."


Early morning mist hung in the gardens of the grand house, the late summer sun yet to rise and drive it away, although the rose-tinged hues of the sky above hinted at the dawn to come. The calls and chirrups of the dawn chorus were in full swing, only to be momentarily interrupted by a strange, wheezing/groaning noise, as the TARDIS slowly materialised on the gravel drive.

The doors opened, the Doctor and his companions carefully exiting from the time ship. Nyssa emerged last, carefully manoeuvring a small moses basket through the narrow door, trying not to wake its tiny occupant. Adric softly closed the door behind her, and the group began to walk across the drive towards the front door of the house.

Halfway to the door, the Doctor gasped.

"A 1903 Sunbeam 12HP Tourer!" he exclaimed, pointing at the shiny Edwardian motor car parked further up the drive. "What a beauty! Canary yellow too, my favourite!" He veered off toward the roadster, only for Tegan to pull him back.

"Focus, Doctor! We've got a job to do!" she hissed.

"Sorry, right you are."

They continued to the front door, a grand affair surrounded by two white Graeco-Roman pillars surmounted by an elaborate triangular portico above. The house appeared silent, the only sign of life a faint ragtime rhythm in the distance, probably coming from the kitchens as the staff prepared for the family to arise.

"Well, here we are," said the Doctor, turning to face his companions.

Tegan put an arm round Nyssa. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Nyssa nodded solemnly. "She belongs here, we know that. And these people can give her a far more stable and secure upbringing that I ever could. She'll be safe, and warm, and loved."

"I think that's all any of us can ask for," Tegan sniffed, her eyes welling with tears as she leant forward and kissed the sleeping baby on the forehead, "Goodbye, little one." The Doctor and Adric both said their farewells, and along with Tegan turned and slowly began to walk back to the TARDIS.

Nyssa set the basket down on the doorstep, crouching down to stroke the infant's soft, downy hair. Tucking her blankets closely around her, she made sure the note she had written was securely fastened to the side of the basket. She planted one final, gentle kiss on her cheek, then got to her feet, and rang the doorbell. The sound echoed inside the house, and after a moment the faint music was suddenly silenced.

"Goodbye… Ann," whispered Nyssa, then turned and joined her companions, taking one last look back at the basket before they entered the TARDIS once more, the blue ship fading out of existence as it carried the travellers off on another journey through time and space.

As the strange, wheezing/groaning sound died in the air, the front door of the house opened; a red-faced maid poked her head outside, her mouth dropping open as she noted the basket on the floor, and the peacefully sleeping child within. After a moment, she shouted back into the hall.

"Lady Talbot? Lady Talbot! I think you'd better come and see this!"