36. The Master's Freedom.

1. Escape Complete.

The Master opens his eyes and looks at Trelim.

His body has been lying as if brain dead for some time and Judoon guards have assumed he is brain dead.
Yet Trelim has awoken him.
Trelim is fearful and wishes yet again that he'd never come to visit the Master! Why had he ever thought this would be alright? It's already been a nightmare for him, and judging by the shine in the Master's eyes it's about to get worse. .

The Master sits up and looks around. He knows the contents of all the nearby large cupboards in the Judoon Master Palace as it's been nicknamed. He stands up, towering over the tiny, cowering Trelim.

The Master ushers Trelim in the direction of the cupboards; one in particular. He opens the cupboard and instantly has access to rope. Trelim is rapidly tied and bundled into the cupboard.

The Master reaches and removes the Hyperspace Armband from Trelim's arm.
Then he stands tall and breathes in. He knows it will be his last easy breath for a while. Regeneration is painful at the best of times but usually worth it afterwards. This time he knows it will be awful afterwards, but he knows it's his best choice.
"Now for my next trick," he says, relishing the taste of impending freedom. He knows that few other Time Lords have the ability to do his next trick which he's practised and perfected.

The Master feels the regeneration energy rising within him as he adopts his favoured regeneration position. He focusses his eyes on Trelim, tied in the cupboard...


Shortly, regeneration is complete. The Master now looks like... Trelim!
The original Trelim is still tied up in the cupboard, while Trelim appears to be standing nearby! .

The Master puts on the Hyperspace Armband and closes the cupboard door. Then he presents himself to the Judoon guard to be let out.
Quietly he speaks to the guard with his eyes downcast to avoid the guard suspecting anything at this promising moment for the Master. "Is it alright for me to go now?" he croaks.
The Judoon guard has been expecting this request and opens the door for Trelim to leave.

But it's the Master he's let out! .


Arriving in the foyer, the Master begins to recognise his freedom. It might actually happen! .

"Alphon Three, I think," the Master says, programming Trelim's hyperspace transporter armband with his preferred destination.

The Master is free...


The Master's full escape is documented in ref. 35.

It will take the Judoon a while to figure out just what happened! Even then the Judoon won't want to admit this blunder in a hurry!


Chloe's Wristwatch Tardis Registration.

"Dad, can you help me?"
This is a familiar theme heard in many places. .
Chloe approaches her father, Devyon, as he relaxes at the weekend. He has his feet up while reading an article on his communication device.

"That's fine," Devyon replies without really breaking his focus. "What do you need help with?"
He's relaxed with few cares just now, yet he has the feeling it won't be a simple small task that his daughter means; it rarely is with Chloe.

"Dad, I still want to register my Wristwatch Tardis on Gallifrey."

Chloe had built for herself a personal transport from plans from the Gallifreyan Library and had miniaturised it to fit into her wristwatch (ref. 29). It lacks all the safety features that a Tardis has but has the benefit of being untraceable.
Choe had gone to Gallifrey to see how such registration might be done a short while ago and had failed in this endeavour. She had failed to discover exactly what would be needed to register her Wristwatch Tardis, as she liked to call it (ref. 32).

"You had a go at that, didn't you?" Devyon asks cheerfully, hoping to forestall having to leave the comfort of his armchair.
"Yes," Chloe says, "but it still needs doing."

"How can I possibly help?" Devyon asks, hoping his current job as a Ground Based Spaceship Traffic Controller might tend to show his lack of qualification to assist. Devyon knows he's had a series of previous jobs that might qualify him.

Chloe grins at her father. "Thanks, Dad!"

Devyon hadn't intended his question to indicate his willingness to help, rather his lack of qualification to help! .


"Mum, where's the Gallifreyan Library information now?" Chloe asks.

She's been using a copy of the entire Gallifreyan Library that her mother was once asked by the Doctor to make in difficult circumstances (ref. 9). Afterwards, the Doctor's Tardis had apparently given her a copy for herself, but it might have been intended to be a second copy for Gallifrey. .
Chloe used it recently to build and miniaturise her Wristwatch Tardis (ref. 29).

"Please come into the study with me," Crystelle says gently and starts to wander in that direction.
They walk the short distance into their study room. A large machine sits in the middle of the room humming gently to itself. .
"What's this, Mum?" Chloe asks inquisitively.
"It's an Auto-Annihilator. The Doctor insisted we have it to protect the Gallifreyan Library chips."

"Wow, Mum, why does he want us to have that?"
"In case some enemy decides to take the chips. In the wrong hands you might have Sontarans who can live for ever and pop up anywhere in the Universe and do whatever they want. The Doctor was most insistent that we have this machine. If anyone tries to tamper with it, it will destroy the chips in under a second."
"Awesome!" Chloe says. She is amazed that the Library chips might be so interesting.

"Mum, can I use the chips to try to document my Wristwatch Tardis for registration?"

Crystelle groans. She will have to tell Chloe the bad news some time.
"Chloe, what I'm about to tell you is terribly secret," Crystelle says. "No-one must ever know."

Chloe looks wide-eyed into her mother's eyes. She knows some great secrets that her mother has shared with her, but never has her mother been so strict with a secret as now.
"Chloe, I don't know quite how to tell you this... The Gallifreyan Library chips have already been destroyed!"

Chloe gasps. Firstly, she won't have access to the source of all of her information, and secondly... why is it necessary to have the Auto-Annihilator in the house if there aren't any chips to annihilate?

"But Mum," Chloe stutters.
"I know you'll be disappointed for your Wristwatch Tardis registration, but danger was foreseen. Danger for us. Someone already knows we have something worth protecting here. But if we don't have the Auto-Annihilator, then Tinsel itself, our home planet, will be destroyed. The Doctor said the timelines showed this."

Chloe is appalled.
"So, Mum, to get this straight, we have to keep an empty Auto-Annihilator to prevent calamity for our planet?"
"Yes, dear," Crystelle looks into Chloe's eyes. She imagines the disappointment Chloe feels about not being able to register her Wristwatch Tardis.

"Just as well I took copies of the pages I used!" Chloe says cheerfully, then she skips off. .


A happy Chloe! But a rather tense background! (Ref. 35).