IDChapter39
The day that the Esteemed Father was to bring the rescued Gallis was at hand. Excitement charged the air as Kor'Lo informed them that their arrival was imminent. Temporary housing had been erected, rooms furnished, clothing procured, food prepared, and everyone was looking their best. Even Jack was cautiously optimistic, hopeful that Isana had gotten some much needed rest and would be ready to come back to him.
As a precaution, Krillitane escort ships had arrived the day before. Four had landed in the surrounding countryside, and others orbited Karn, keeping watch. The Esteemed Father's warship descended slowly through the atmosphere to settle into the valley below. It was impressive to see such a large ship set down so gently into the turf. It was in the shape of a great bird of prey, and the underside of its wings and fuselage dripped with weapons.
The Esteemed Father was also appearing in his more reptilian persona, it was his habit to morph into it whenever in the public eye. In his own palace he resumed his 'natural' form, which he had changed over the years to humanoid, but everywhere else he preferred to appear more like the rest of his species. Jack, of course, was familiar with this habit and had advised Jon regarding it.
A door on its side lowered down to the ground and first armed guards stepped forth and lined either side of the path up the hill. Another personal guard then led the procession, followed by the Esteemed Father, then Isana, then another personal guard, then the new refugees. Kor'Lo and his soldiers stood with Jon, Rose, Jack, and the others at the top of the hill. Nearby a building which would become the community center had been built so the Esteemed Father and Jon could address everyone. As the Esteemed Father and his entourage reached the top of the hill and stopped, Kor'Lo and the Krillitane soldiers saluted him, and he returned it. Kor'Lo then announced,
"Hear ye all, ye are in the presence of His Eminence, the Krillitane Esteemed Father. Beware your actions and your words!"
At this all the Krillitanes but his personal guard went down on one knee, heads bowed, and remained that way until the Father announced,
"Blessings to all who serve me well, ye may rise." He then stepped forward and took turns embracing Jon and Jack, then Jack presented Rose to him.
"Esteemed Father, this is the Lady Rose Tyler, wife of the Doctor, and my good friend."
To Rose the Father gave a slight bow of his head and took her small hand in his large, gloved one and greeted her, "Lady Rose, of whom I have heard much, it is an honor to finally meet you." With this he slowly kissed and released her hand.
Rose blushed furiously, even in his reptilian persona he was extraordinarily handsome, she thought. His head and neck bore a handsome horned crest, and his neck scales caught the sun and shone in every color in the rainbow, the colors dancing as he moved. "It is my honor as well, Your Eminence," she said softly. He leaned in closely and said just as softly, "You may call me simply 'Father'." He smiled as he gazed intently into her eyes.
"And now," he said, breaking his gaze on Rose and turning to address the small group of Gallis who were waiting, "I present your lost comrades, who are now free to live as they wish."
Isana then stepped forward to speak.
"My friends," she began, "It is good to be back with you. Not only do I bring lost friends, but I also bring another alternative to the Doctor's plan for us all."
Jon, Jack, and Rose all looked gobsmacked, and immediately turned their gazes on the Father, wondering what he had done to Isana.
Isana continiued, "As you know, I organized our small Underground Railroad and fought along side you to keep the few Gallis left on this world safe. Because of our unique physiology, sooner or later we were found and kidnaped, and the Shadow Proclamation did nothing because Karn is not a member, and our world, Gallifrey, no longer existed.
"The Doctor, with the help of the Krillitane Empire, can keep you safe, and he has a plan to make us powerful. But I searched my heart and found I did not want that for myself. With the help of the Esteemed Father, I was able to lose the genetic markers that identify me as a Galli, and my physiology is now Karnian. I can now move freely anywhere I chose to go, and live a normal life.
"I am not trying to discourage anyone who wishes to stay with the Doctor and share his vision for Gallifreyans. I am simply, through the Esteemed Father, offering an alternative to those who, like myself, have had enough and don't want to fight anymore. Thank you." At this she stepped aside and the line of new Gallis moved forward, and were embraced by the settlement members.
Jon sidled up to the Father and said quietly, "You know, you could have given us a heads-up about that. Poor Jack is beside himself, wondering what you did to Isana." They looked over as Jack kept discreetly trying to catch Isana's eye, and she just as discreetly moved to avoid him.
"I did nothing, good Doctor. It was her own idea. I would never alter a 'free' being without their consent. I did tell her that she needed to talk to Jack about it, but for some reason she feels revulsion at the idea. I didn't violate her privacy to try to discover why."
Jon nodded. He knew she had been acting a bit strangely toward Jack before they left the Krillitane homeworld. They watched as the new Gallis mingled with the original group, then Jon decided to get everyone fed.
"Alright everyone, can I have your attention please?" He waited for the hubub to die down a bit. "We have some wonderful home-cooked food over at the community center, courtesy of Monna and Dorvack," he pointed to the nearest building, "and after we all sit down and have a meal the Father and I will say a few things and then we'll get started with getting your information and getting you settled in."
Slowly the crowd moved into the building. Monna, Dorvack, and Carra were waiting to serve everyone. Jon and the other leaders hung back until all the Gallis were served and tucking into their food. Some actually wept as they tasted dishes they thought they never would again. Except for the Father, their own eyes shone with unwept tears as they surveyed the happy scene. Carra came over and seated them at the head table, and they were served at their seats. Then Dorvack stood between their table and the others, and cleared his throat. A hush came over the building.
"Greetings fellow Gallis. I am Dorvack, a fellow Gallifreyan," at this there was a round of applause at being bold enough to say the word which had become a curse. He continued, "and I am very proud to finally be able to say that in public." Another round of applause burst forth. "It is thanks to these five people," gesturing to Jon, Rose, Jack, Isana, and the Esteemed Father, "that I -I mean, WE, are able to do this." Another round of applause. "They will be introducing themselves to you later, so I won't be taking up your time by going into details, but these two in particular, the Lord Doctor and the Lady Rose Tyler, are the reason why you are here, and we all owe them a debt that can never be repaid." At this Dorvack seemed to run out of steam. Self-consciously he added, "I just wanted you all to know that straight off, and well, enjoy your meal, it is a pleasure being able to serve you." He retired to get his own plate and sit with the other servers as another round of applause erupted.
"It seems the tradition of Lords and Ladies is going to continue." Jack remarked from his end of the table. Jon was seated in the middle, to his right was Rose, to his left the Esteemed Father, and Jack and Isana were at either end, flanking them.
"I suppose it was ineveitable," Jon agreed. "Not all Gallifreyans become Time Lords, so that was how we distinguished ourselves from the non- Time Lords."
"So there will be a class system in the New Gallifrey?" The Father asked Jon. Jon smiled at the reference.
"I really didn't want there to be one." Jon answered. "But I haven't come up with a better solution. We're just going to need to stress somehow that being a Time Lord, while being an honor, does not make one Gallifreyan 'better' than another, just 'different'."
"Just like being an engineer isn't any better than being a teacher," suggested Rose.
"Exactly. We need to stress that everyone has an important role to fill, and none of us can function properly without the others."
"So how do you determine who becomes a Time Lord and who doesn't?" The Father asked.
"On old Galiifrey, we went to Academy to become Time Lords, and I almost didn't make it." Jon admitted. "I and my best friend were rebels. It's so ironic that the fate of Gallifrey wound up in our hands. Now it's come full circle, and I'm re-creating our society. Hopefully we'll do better than our predecessors. Anyway," he continued, realising he'd gone a bit off-topic, "everything at Academy was a test, and I do mean everything. You go to do your laundry, the only machine available is broken, what do you do? You go to eat dinner, all the seats are taken, what do you do? A bully walks up to you out of nowhere and starts on you, how do you handle it? You're running late through no fault of your own, you've got to get to class for your final exam, and some poor little old lady needs help. That actually was Koschei's final exam, and he almost failed it. Fortunately, I was there with him, and thanks to me he passed."
The Father's eyebrows would have raised if he had any. "Koschei?" He asked.
"Yep. My best friend's name was Koschei." Jon smiled ruefully.
"Interesting." The Father changed the subject. "You mentioned Looms once before. Tell me about them."
"A Loom literally weaves strands of DNA together to form a blueprint for a fetus. Then we take an egg from a Gallifreyan woman and inject the DNA into it. The fertilized egg goes into an incubation chamber, and the Loom then monitors the development of the fetus until it is ready to be born. This way we can prevent genetic anomalies from occuring and every baby is born healthy."
"I see. Were all Gallifreyans born this way?"
"No, not all. But having children born 'naturally' were frowned upon, there were too many things that could go wrong in the process. It was risky for the mother and the baby."
"Yet you and your wife don't seem concerned about that." Jon gave the Father a sharp look. Could he know that Rose was pregnant again?
Rose spoke up, "On my world, all babies are born naturally. We don't have the technology to create Looms, even our incubators can only handle very well developed fetuses. So, I am more comfortable with the natural approach to reproduction."
"I see." The Father nodded agreeably.
Jack could stand it no longer. He stood up. "Excuse me, but Isana and I need to confer about something." He went to her seat and took the back of her chair expectantly. She sighed and stood up, allowing him to pull her chair out helpfully. He then gallantly offered her his arm, which she took, he covered her hand protectively with his own, and they strode out of the building together.
They walked down a path into a copse of evergreens. Spying a nice log lying in a patch of sunlight, they walked to it and sat.
Jack started. "Isana, I've been around the block a few times, I know when I've been dumped, but could you tell me why? You must know how much I care about you."
Isana smiled up at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "Yes, Jack, I do know how much you care about me. You've rescued me twice now, saved my life both times I'm sure. I just – well, I just don't think I'm cut out for this life anymore. Koschei was right about one thing, I don't have to live this way anymore. I've come to realise that I want to settle down, and you yourself told me before that you're not that kind of man. Since then I've learned more about what kind of man you are, and you were right, you're not the kind of man I want to settle down with. I need someone more stable, more ... normal."
Jack studied her face as she spoke. He was pretty sure he knew what she meant by 'normal', it was her polite way of saying heterosexual. Or maybe it was the fact that she now knew he's had interspecies sex. In any case, he had accepted long ago that some people simply were not ready to accept 51st century morality. It was time to move on. As long as it was Isana saying it, and not some convoluted personality that Koschei had implanted in her, he was OK with it. Sooner or later he'd known he'd have to move on and leave her behind, at least now it was on her terms, both of them could live with that.
"OK." He smiled and planted a soft kiss on her lips, which she shyly returned. Then they hugged, laughing, and he stood up and held out his hand to her. "Time to get back to our new lives," he said. She eagerly agreed.