This story has been rewritten. See chapter one for details.

Chapter 3

Rows of tables topped with all manner of objects met him as Victor entered the inventory room: jewelry boxes, sculpted busts, and paintings in gilded frames, furniture, books, and silks.

Sikah bowed, tablet in hand. "My Lord, all shuttles have reported in. We have cataloged all items according to your instruction."

A wooden chest with intricate carvings and a silver latch sat under the table. Victor tipped it over with his foot. "A reproduction." He picked up a bronze figurine and let it fall to the ground with a clank. "Fake as well. Why do the ignoramuses I have for soldiers insist on collecting copies and genuine relics without distinction? And why is it my so-called experts can't tell the difference?"

Sikah shifted in place.

Victor rested against the table and looked out at the piles of less-than-impressive goods. With Gallifrey and her treasures gone, what was left for him now? Was he doomed to spend the rest of his time squashing primitive governments and gathering dusty baubles? Where was the challenge in that?

A red tassel on the table in front of him caught his attention. Attached to it was a blade with an edge cut into the shape of teeth.

"Now this is interesting." He picked it up. "A Terileptilian broadsword, not even from Starfall. Rare indeed. Put it on display somewhere conspicuous. Double check the authenticity on everything else. If I find anything fake on my walls there will be blood to p—"

Pain squeezed his head like a vise. The handle slipped from his grasp and toppled into a pile of fine dishes. Porcelain shattered against the floor. He braced himself on the table and exhaled a stream of energy, flecks of gold dissipating into the air.

Blasted regenerative neural implosions.

Sikah's dark skin turned an ashen light gray. "My Lord?"

He waved him off. "It's nothing."

The shadewalker's slits for irises all but disappeared.

Victor pulled himself to his feet. "I assure you, Sikah, my face may have changed, but trust that I am no less you master that I was before, and no less powerful."

Sikah dipped. "Yes, my Lord."

"Be on guard." He tugged on the edge of his velvet jacket. "Change often brings unrest. Let me know of any chatter, any rumor or doubt. I will deal with any insubordination swiftly and harshly."

Sikah folded his arms behind him. "What of the human girl, my Lord?"

"What of her?"

"Ayaliah told me of her impertinent temperament during your tour earlier." Sikah pulled his tablet out from behind his back. "Will she require extra security? I can assign Thet to—"

"No," he said with more force than he intended. He cleared his throat. "For now, no. I'll deal with her myself."

A short time later, the tracking locator in his screwdriver led the way as Victor stepped onto one of the upper balconies. The girl lounged against the stone balustrade. Her hair lay limp against her bare back, her toes peeking under the hem of her pale gown. Two galaxies collided in slow motion above her silhouette, swaths of pink and blue smeared across the sky. He could just make out the frozen crests of an ocean gliding underneath the ship.

"Ah," the girl said at the sight of him. "The tour guide returns." She peered over the rail at the waves glittering underneath in the starlight. "Tell me more about this so-called 'rouge planet' you've got us orbiting. How did it freeze?"

He put his screwdriver away and rested his elbows on the banister beside her. "No one knows the real story. Legends on Starfall say the world was infatuated with the sun who gave it warmth and life, but his affections were unrequited. The sun transformed into a galaxy to be with her lover in the sky, but in her haste, she left the world to freeze inside and out. Now no matter how far he flees, the world can't escape the sight of them in love's embrace."

"Life of the party, you are."

"Makes for a great view though." He looked up at the misshapen spiral nebula. "Don't you recognize those stars on the left?"

Her gaze dropped. "No. I'm a long way from home."

"Perhaps not as far as you think. It's almost unrecognizable now that it's in the third stage of collision, but your people use to call it the Milky Way. And that there"—He pointed to the galaxy encircled around it—"that's the Andromeda galaxy it's colliding with, over five billion years after your time."

He waited for awareness and fascination to chase away the melancholy that marred her face. Instead, she fell silent.

A fountain gurgled in the empty courtyard below, casting rippling reflections along the stonework. She watched the patterns that danced along her interlaced hands. "You're not gonna let me go, are you?"

"No."

The girl slouched against the rail and rubbed at her eyes. "As if I don't have enough to worry about."

"Don't act so surprised," he said as he angled toward her. "You offered your mysteries as leverage for your life, and I accepted your offer. Now it's time you paid up."

She propped up her head with exaggerated effort. Her cheek bulged to the side of her fist. "Whadaya you want?"

"Let's start with your name."

"Nope," she said with a pop of the 'p'.

He raised his brow. "That wasn't a suggestion, human. Tell me."

"I. Can't."

How quickly the mood turned. He dropped the tone of his voice in warning. "You will or I will take it from you."

She brought herself to her full height and shook her head at him as though he'd caused her some great disappointment. "What happened to you? How did you come to be this?"

"Wrong response." He advanced with all the commanding presence he could muster, but she didn't budge.

So be it.

He pushed his fingers into her temples and yanked with the full power of his telepathic ability. Moments of her childhood flashed before him in quick succession. Rose, her name was Rose.

She gasped and wobbled to stay upright. "So alone."

He ripped another memory and her teenage years appeared—an idiot boyfriend named Stone and another named Smith.

She fell against him for support in some sort of half-hug, arms tight across his neck. He inhaled the tangy aroma of her hair. Whatever the fragrance, it was worthy of the highest praise.

"Nothing you have ever known has been kind," she said into his ear. "It's no wonder—"

He pilfered another memory and saw the shadowy outline of a man next to a box. She arched her head back and tugged him downward until his lips hovered just under her jaw.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as her body shuddered against him. "You've never known love. I—I can't imagine."

He pulled back, her head cradled in his hands. "What did you say?"

Rose pushed herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his.

Visions inundated his mind—vortex and light and the slow burn of eternity—some sort of telepathic projection. He stumbled back but she held him firm while her fingers twisted in his hair.

A low groan escaped from an inner place he couldn't determine, much less restrain. He relented to her deepening kiss while his hands moved of their own accord along her shoulder blades, down the silken fabric of her gown, and up into her yielding hair to press her closer.

Strange emotion emanated from her, surrounding him in warmth—love. She loved … him? No, she was thinking of another.

He lifted another memory. His own face appeared, bright and handsome with a foreign smile that looked like a permanently-stamped feature.

He jerked back and held her at arm's length.

It all made sense: why she recognized him on Starfall, why she knew so much about his species, why she wasn't surprised by his ship, why she all but threw herself at him. This women knew his parallel counterpart—intimately.

A thought unsettled him. "You saw into my mind, didn't you?"

"Yeah," she said in a breathy voice.

By the Eternals up above … "How?"

"Dunno. It just … happened. I thought you meant it to."

He gripped her shoulders and shook. "Tell me what you saw."

"I saw the Time War. Your parents were killed right in front of you." Moisture welled in her eyes. "You were just a boy."

No. She couldn't have seen—

"Then I saw how they forced you to fight. All those poor orphans. You chose your new name the day you vowed to take down the council."

His chested pounded. "Stop." He'd been compromised, completely compromised.

"It's okay," she said as she reached for him. "I understand now, why you wanted your real name to be kept a secret."

He swatted her hand away. "You know nothing," he said through gritted teeth. "Speak of this to no one." He shoved past her and barreled down the steps.