4. The Choice.

"I want to talk with Petrozena," Crystelle One says as she is marched out toward the foyer.

Petrozena is in the foyer when they arrive, having made a more leisurely exit from the bathroom.

"Petrozena, I need to talk to you," Crystelle One says, trying to contain her desperation. "Urgently, now!"
"What do you need from me?" Petrozena asks calmly, almost casually. .
"I need to tell you something. We need to arrest Trelim urgently."
"But there's no arrest warrant for him."
"I have reason to believe the Master is inhabiting his body."
"Oh?" Petrozena pauses in some disbelief. It takes a moment for the connection to be made. "Is that why the Master's body isn't responding? Just life signs but no intelligence."
"You must let me use my Tardis," Crystelle One says urgently. "It's stuck on Gallifrey. I can't land it and I can't call it. But I need it. Can you persuade the Gallifreyan authorities to release it?"
Petrozena looks at Crystelle One for a brief moment. "They won't listen to that!" She knows the Gallifreyan authorities, and how much trouble Crystelle One is now in.
"Then please release my daughter, Chloe. She can help us."
Petrozena overlooks the slight inaccuracy of Chloe's parenthood. Her mother is the original Crystelle, not Crystelle One. She knows this family well.
"Please, she was helping me when it all went wrong, and I need her."

Petrozena looks at Crystelle One again. "How did she get into the Judoon detention area from being in here? The Judoon are very sensitive about these things. I will need to placate them."

Crystelle One has a choice. Does she tell Petrozena about Chloe's Wristwatch Tardis (ref. 29) and end any secrecy it might have carried (ref. 31), or risk losing the possible detention of the Master? .

She sighs.


It's too difficult.
It feels so difficult. Sometimes she has access to a time machine, and sometimes not. . She likes to rely on her own family, but most of all she doesn't like to trouble the Doctor. It feels like a last resort.

"Alright," she says. "Just now I've no explanation for Chloe's entry there. I'll call the Doctor."


Crystelle One is denied Chloe's help. Only Chloe knows she has access to a Tardis, but Crystelle One doesn't know that.
Should she call the Doctor?


A grinding noise informs everyone present that the Doctor is arriving. His Tardis materialises in the centre of the Judoon reception area. When the Doctor arrives here today, he arrives in style, and very central!

The Doctor steps out of his Tardis flamboyantly but gently.
He sees Petrozena. "Well, hello! I'm honoured," he says gently.

He is well aware of the precarious relationship between Petrozena and the Judoon. Tolerance is top of the agenda, along with a degree of mutual distrust. What a shame he can't put everything right. They are so different, yet they both work well together towards one goal. The Universe is safer, and Petrozena keeps the Judoon in check when they follow the letter of the law without applying common sense. .

"What seems to be the problem?" the Doctor asks quietly, trying not to be overheard by Judoon who are present.
It is Petrozena who replies. "Doctor, Crystelle One, here, claims that the Master is inhabiting the body of one, Trelim, if you are aware of him."
The Doctor is aware of him. "Trelim. Hmm. He won't get very far in that ancient body. Where was he seen last?"
"In this very foyer."
"How long ago?"
"Maybe five minutes."
"Let's go, then! Crystelle One, with me please! You're the expert at tracking the Master!" .

They enter the Doctor's Tardis.

"Doctor, I would prefer my Tardis, but it's stuck on Gallifrey," Crystelle One says.
"Is mine too noisy?" .
"Doctor, your Tardis lacks subtlety. You can't do anything quietly or carefully with it." .

"Arguing already?" the Doctor grins. He likes the banter. "Never mind. Let's see what we can do, heh?" .


Ten Minutes Earlier.

The Doctor places his Tardis in an alcove in the Judoon foyer ten minutes earlier in an out of the way place and cloaks it. The foyer is empty, and they can just watch to see what happens. This is Crystelle One's favoured approach - observe, learn, understand, then act.

They see Chloe, Crystelle One and Trelim arrive in the foyer, and they watch as Crystelle One is arrested.
"Interesting!" the Doctor says, wondering why Crystelle One was detained. There's no time to ask.

The foyer clears of beings except Trelim.

"Let's get him!" Crystelle One says. She presses the Voice Control button on the Doctor's Console.
"Tardis, please could you take Trelim and place him in the Master Palace prison secure area."
A complex request. The Tardis grinds and Trelim simply disappears.

The Tardis has returned to the foyer having completed its task, but it's not apparent.

"Has he actually gone there?" the Doctor asks disbelievingly. He's never given his Tardis such a complex command, preferring to program it by more traditional means. Usually he despises the Voice Control, but here it has had its usefulness.
"Let's find out!" Crystelle One says. "Tardis, please show the location of the Master."

On the Console monitor a picture from the Master Palace shows guards unsure what to do with Trelim. He isn't a threat to them and is free to leave... at the moment.
"How did you get in here?" a Judoon guard accuses him. An anger rises in the Judoon guard. Their security has been breached. They have no idea how Trelim got into the Master Palace.
The Master in Trelim's body is as surprised as the guards are. In his surprise, he can't answer.
"You are detained for breaching our security!" A Judoon guard gruffly detains Trelim - for getting in! .

The Judoon guard detaining Trelim turns to a colleague. "We've never had so many people trying to get in!" .


Relief etches on the Doctor's face watching this on the Console monitor.

"That's such a relief," he says.
"Thank you, Tardis," Crystelle One says. The Console monitor screen goes back to showing the Tardis status again.


In the Master Palace, Trelim turns to his guard. "Tell me, did the Doctor come here today? If he did, then you know there was a Tardis here quite capable of moving me into here. That's how I got in!"
A bold assumption. The Master has never seen a Tardis used so smoothly. Today he's seen at least two extremely smooth and unexplained travels. The Master hopes this story might rescind his violation of Judoon security and yield his release.


In the Doctor's Tardis, Crystelle One breaks the Doctor's moment of relief. "Come on, Doctor, we must help Chloe! She's detained for the same crime - breaching their security!"

"How do you propose helping her out of that?" the Doctor asks. He's trying to see if Crystelle One can come up with a better plan than he has already worked out.

Neither plan turns out to be what happens.


The Doctor and Crystelle One arrive in Chloe's cell. It's empty.

"Where's Chloe?" the Crystelle One asks. "She was here when I left not long ago."

A Judoon guard approaches and laughs. "Your Tardis gets in too many places. Remove it or we'll have to take it off you!"
The Doctor recognises a soft warning from a Judoon. "To the foyer," he says. The Tardis grinds.


Chloe is in the foyer waiting for them. Happily, she runs into the Doctor's Tardis and hugs Crystelle One.
"They told me I likely arrived by Tardis, so I could go!" Chloe says triumphantly.

"Home then," the Doctor says. The Tardis grinds.


Just before the Tardis left, Trelim enters the Judoon foyer. He has been released, too. The three in the Doctor's Tardis don't see him as they leave.
"Alphon Three, I think," the Master says, programming Trelim's hyperspace transporter armband.

But all is not as it might seem!