Act I, Chapter II: The Ouroboros Letters


He had been brought before the council after spending a month in a tiny cell, the only people he saw being the cleaning lady of the council guard building and a security warden. Apparently there was some disagreement among the council about his fate. Some wanted to see him rot in a cell, others wanted to ship him off to a slave planet, a hand full couldn't understand why on Gallifrey they were so hung up on a silly portrait. He could only agree with this latter, little voice in the council.

But eventually judgement was made.

He looked up when he heard the doors slide open and head the distinct march of guardsmen approach. Moments later they appeared, accompanied by the Librarian herself. In a lush, majestic gown in light lavender and gold, her hair in a fantastic updo, half surrounded by the magnificent collar. She used her access card to open the bars of his cell.

"I take it I am not free to go?" the Corsair inquired.

"I'm afraid not. You are to be transported to Aduín 5."

"The oil drilling planet," he whispered with a weak nod. He had heard rumours of the desert world at the uncivilised edge of the seven systems. They were not nice rumours. It was a dreadful place, harsh, deadly to most, the working and living conditions were terrible, the indigenous creatures even more so. Well, that was a great fate to look forward to. He looked up.

"I am truly sorry," the Librarian admitted.

"You voted for me?"

"I spoke for you, Corsair. Whether you like it or not, you have done great things for Gallifrey and they need to count for something – even though you try to throw away who you are. Now get up."

He sighed and did as he was commanded. He stepped towards the Librarian and the guards who would escort him to the prisoner transport. Yet on his way, she caught his arm. He looked down at the older woman confused and could just see her slip something into his hand. He looked down at the small weight in his hand. A key. Small, silver, unimposing, like any ordinary old key. But it wasn't. It was a TARDIS key. The Librarian didn't look at him but turned away to close the cell again while he quietly followed the men out of the building.


It was night in Gallifrey when the Corsair was taken to the harbour where he would board a low-class spaceship that would take him to the edge. It was at least a year of travel out there, to Aduín 5, and not a comfortable journey either. No one spoke as he was taken to the harbour situated below the city, from where ships would be launched into the atmosphere. He looked around quietly, well aware that it might be the last time. He had only two options. Spend the rest of his life on Aduín 5 as a slave, drilling oil for the inner planets of the seven systems. Or take whatever TARDIS the Librarian had picked for him and run.

And running, well that was something the Time Lords had always excelled at.

It was a long shot to wait with his escape until they were in the harbour already but he had not questioned her choice, had been certain if she had given him this particular key it had to be for a ship in an area he would be able to reach without complication. And maybe someday he would get the opportunity to show his gratitude for her boldness.

He waited until they had uncuffed him before he did what he did best. Turn into an uncatchable piece of soap in the hands of the law. He overwhelmed two guards immediately and before the others could even think of reacting, he was already running. A group of TARDIS ships had been stationed down here, new ones, probably for the practical piloting training of some young scholars of the Academy. And there was a moment when he almost dashed right past the one. But there she was. His TARDIS. Or, well, she would be his someday. He slid the key in the small lock, the door swung open and he rushed inside, closed it quickly behind him and locked it. He sighed relieved and only then he turned around. Well. She wasn't as beautiful as the one he had seen in the hangar the other day. But oh she was a marvel as well. The lighting a little more orange, like the skies of Gallifrey, the consoles a little more nostalgic while the other ship had been rather minimalistic. Three doors led away from the console room and he would map the ship later, now he first had to get out of her.

With two long strides he climbed to the main console, checked all configurations and then charged the temporal shifters, vortex manipulator, and released the manual brake. She was purring beautifully and he laughed a triumphant laugh. With one quick move he pulled down the surveillance screen, saw the guardsmen attempting to enter his new ship, but failing miserably. And then they were gone. He pushed the screen away because there was nothing out there but the wild colours of the time vortex. The ship was flying smooth; he could hardly feel the otherwise turbulent tides of the vortex. It felt like the old days.

"Where should we go then?!" he asked aloud, half expecting a crew to respond before he remembered that there was no crew. He rushed around the console to check the coordinates, plan the route. And that was when things started to get complicated. He couldn't be everywhere at once and she was a temperamental lady, this TARDIS. Abandoning one of the six main task posts made her act up immediately. He was grumbling to himself as he began leaping around the console, alarms flashing all over the place. "I am trying, alright?! You could show some cooperation!"

But she didn't. On the contrary, she made it more difficult. She began shutting down various functions, forcing him to manually set them up again. Sparks began flying, the core was overheating. She was burning up! There was a heavy, loud bell ringing from deep within the ship, a final warning signal and he did the only thing he could possibly think of. He unplugged her.

Everything went dark and he was in free fall. He held on to the console for dear life and admittedly began counting the seconds to his first regeneration. And they crashed. Somewhere, somewhen.


The garden was destroyed. Not only a little messed up, but destroyed. It looked like a bomb had gone off there, nothing left of her flowers, her tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, her salad. She sighed frustrated as she stepped over a burning piece of wood that might once have been her garden shed. A pillar of smoke and dying flames was reaching up into the sky and there was a huge pile of metal, a cylindrical shape. She walked closer carefully, warmth still coming off the pile. She knew this construction. There were markings on the metal, a language she knew. Circular-Gallifreyan. Carefully, she placed a hand on the metal. It was cool, very smooth, but still the most impenetrable metal in the universe. And it remembered her. A smile flickered over her lips.

"Hey, beautiful Lady... it's been a while..." she whispered as she leaned closer, placed her cheek on the outer shell of the TARDIS she knew so well. She could feel the life in it, could feel it breathe, sense its heart beat deep, deep within this ancient, powerful, magical ship. "What are you doing out here, hm? And dressed like that? You look terrible," she teased. And then the door fell open. She jumped back surprised, stumbled two steps and then he fell out.

The Corsair rolled to his back, a painful moan escaping him. Every bone in his body hurt and he had trouble breathing. It took him a moment to let the cool air back in his lungs. He was seeing stars. Quite literally. There were constellations in the sky above him. Unfamiliar stars but he remembered his Academy days, where they had learned to navigate the universe. Time and space left distinct footprints. No two skies where the same at any given time of this infinite universe and Time Lords knew how to tell them apart. The stars of Gallifrey looked different from the stars of Skaaro. The stars of Gallifrey looked different today than they would tomorrow, different now than they would even in an hour. Time Lords learned to identify these sometimes subtle changes. Right now... he took a random guess, he had to be somewhere around Sol 3 or Sol 4. Probably some 5 billion years after the formation of the star they called Solaris. And if he wasn't completely off, Sol 4 wasn't sustaining life at that time. None of the rocks floating around that little star were. Except Sol 3. Earth. Or Dirt, as he liked to call it. Really, who named their planet Earth? During this time, it was a tragic little world, insignificant in the greater scheme of the universe right now. The human race. They would be great one day. One of the greatest even. But they were a young species, still had much to learn and as per agreement between the three great people of the universe – the Time Lords, Adarre, and Elyssian's – they let the humans evolve on their own. No interference until they were at a level equal to theirs. It would happen eventually, just not yet. And now, of all the places, he was stranded on this rock.

He sighed frustrated, covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes. And when he opened them again, there was a face hovering over him. He gasped, jumped away but regretted it immediately. He collapsed into a ball of pain, cursing under his breath.

"Don't. You'll just hurt yourself," the human female said in a calm voice. He looked up. She was a brown female, with black, long hair and brown eyes that had a golden shimmer to them, it might be the light hitting them just right. She was pretty. He guessed she had to be in her thirties, maybe even late twenties, it was hard to guess with their species. She smiled. "It's been a while."

"What?" he asked irritated.

"Since you showed your face here," she replied and looked over at the crashed TARDIS. "What have you done to her? She looks pathetic and she is pissed as hell! Did you yell at her? Did you try to do manual coordinate configurations instead of using the database? You know she hates that."

The Corsair listened attentively, his brows pulled together. His hand was on his chest, he still couldn't breathe properly.

"You... know me... and her?" he then asked, nodding at the crashed ship. He felt dizzy, was quite sure he'd fade any minute. The human turned back towards him, watched him a moment. He just wanted to speak again, but before he could, he fell backwards exhausted.

"Oi! Don't get so comfortable in my salad. Don't you have places to be, people to save?" she asked. He felt hands pull him to his feet, heard another voice, a male this time, and then things went dark around him.


When he woke, he was momentarily confused. It took him several beats of his two hearts to remember he was on Sol 3. He was lying in a bed, there was a pot of this hot, herb infused beverage some cultures on this planet enjoyed so much, standing on a small table next to him. The room was small. Wooden furniture, colourful curtains, very rural. No surprise. This really was an underdeveloped time to be on 'Earth'. He sat up. Someone had bandaged his wounds and from the looks of it, he had not been injured enough to require regeneration. Good. He liked this body.

He heard steps and was immediately alert, reaching for his sonic tool but realized whoever had bandaged him had also removed most of his clothes and his tool. His gaze shot to an armchair in a corner, where his clothes rested neatly folded, the tool lying on the pile. And then the door opened.

The female he had seen when he dragged himself out of the TARDIS entered the room and froze when she noticed he was up. She hesitated, then went to the large wardrobe and put some freshly pressed clothes in there.

"You look better. Rested," she said.

"Yes, thanks…"

"We took a look at the ship. You had the navigation lock still on. Lee bypassed it, you should be fine now if you do the coordinates with the database. Why did you switch the lock back on anyways?"

"I didn't switch anything on. It was the default mode…" he mumbled. She watched him sceptical for a moment while he poured himself a cup of the hot beverage. He looked up. "What was it your people call this?"

"Tea," she replied, her forehead wrinkled. She tilted her head, crunched her nose a little. "What regeneration is this for you?"

"I haven't regenerated, obviously," he replied, gesturing at his face that was clearly still the same it had been the night he had crashed into her garden. She looked at him with that strange expression for a moment, before there was something new in her eyes. Realization. She took a step back, put a shaking hand over her lips.

"Oh… oh, of course… you're younger. That must be what you meant, when you wrote we'd meet once more. The last time for me, the first for you… Now it makes sense… and you knew all along…"

"Knew all along? Knew what?" he asked, confused. She smiled.

"Where we were going. Now, drink your tea, get some rest. When you feel like it, your ship is in the garden, she's waiting for you."

"She hates me," the Corsair protested. The female laughed.

"Nonsense. She knows you now. I talked to her, it'll be fine. She won't cause trouble anymore. Trust me. As long as you use that database."

She left the room and he fell back onto the pillow. Knew where they were going? What on Gallifrey was she talking about, this strange human? He had to get out of here. He had to get this stubborn TARDIS running. What had she been talking about, navigation lock? Database configuration? Why would he need to use preset configurations? That was so much more work than what TARDIS ships should require. And how did she know about the TARDIS in the first place? And this… Lee she spoke about, how did he know how to disable a navigation lock? How did two humans know anything about Time Lord technology, let alone about TARDIS engineering? Had some other Time Lord accidentally crashed here before and had taught them. Or… she had spoken about knowing him… had they met in a later stage in his life, but an earlier one in theirs? Was that it, were their timelines aligned the wrong way? That could explain it. But what would possibly bring him to spend enough time on Sol 3 to bother teaching some random human about Time Lord Technology?

He sighed frustrated because there were no good answers. Not now at least. He took his cup of… tea, took a sip and then lay down again, trying to get some rest while his healing progressed. Once he was up on his feet, he would get some answers.


Rested and dressed, the Corsair climbed down the stairs of the small farm-house. It was a beautiful day and he heard laughter outside only to find the female, a male and two children in the garden. They were pulling his TARDIS back into an upright position. Or, the male was doing the work. The Corsair watched in disbelief. The TARDIS was a heavy ship. Despite it being a separate dimension on the inside, the weight it presented was still remarkable. And he just pulled it upright with a simple construction of a wind and ropes? How strong was this male? Was he even human?

One of the children, the young girl, pulled on her mother's sleeve and the female looked from her over at the Corsair. She smiled.

"Look who's up. And just in time, too."

The male turned towards the visitor and nodded quietly. He was a tall bloke, a giant really, making the female by his side look tiny. His hair was light, his eyes as well, there was something… unreal about him. No, definitely not entirely human. But apparently human enough to procreate with one, because these children were obviously theirs.

"Thanks for fixing her," the Corsair said weakly.

"You're right, it clearly is early in his timeline. He still has manners," the male said to his (presumably) wife and she chuckled. The Corsair turned towards her.

"So… you know me… at a later time?"

"I do. Or, we do," she added, nodding to her husband. She then reached into a bag she had been carrying around, pulled out a book bound in old, greasy leather. "I guess you'll be leaving now. I want you to have this."

"What am I supposed to do with that?"

He reluctantly took the book from her. What was he supposed to do with that shabby old thing?

"Open it."

He sighed, but did as commanded. The first page of the book was blank. The second showed a symbol, big and demanding in the centre of it. A serpent, biting its own tail. And underneath, it read in a neat handwriting: Ouroboros' Letters. The next page he turned made him look up at her confused. Because the very first of these letters was written in his own handwriting, the accurate lines of his hand when he was not using the complex symbols of his native language, circular-gallifreyan.

"What is this?!"

"Read it," she ordered.

He read it. It was a Good-bye. When he looked up, she smiled. "We'll meet again, friend. You'll meet us again, we probably won't meet you again though. After every meeting… I want you to read in this book, read my letters to you. I thought I'd never get to give them to you when you just ran off to save God knows who God knows where. Now I realise… you've always known about these letters. You cheeky bastard. You always knew… I guess now I understand what you meant when you wrote this. Our story is never really over. When it ends for you, it begins anew for me. And when it ends for me, it begins for you. When you fly to the stars, Corsair, take care of yourself. Oh, and by the way."

And before he knew it, she had slapped him flat across the face.

"What is wrong with you humans?!" he declared upset.

"That was for Aduín 5," she clarified. Then she got to the tips of her toes and placed her lips on his cheek quickly. "And that was for everything else."

"I really don't want to know what happened on Aduín 5…"

"You will. In due time. Now get out of here. Remember. Places to be…"

"People to save, yes, I got the idea…"

He approached his TARDIS, with the book the female had given him. He saw in the corner of his eye how the male placed and arm around her. "I don't even know your names. Abigail, is it? And... Lee?"

"You will know them! Don't worry. You will."

They turned and disappeared in their house, with their children. And when he turned back towards his TARDIS, she had opened her door for him, ready for whatever adventure might be ahead of them. He smirked. Places to be, people to save...


Author's Note:

A new chapter, in anticipation of the 50th Anniversary (for which I will by my cinema tickets soon!). The Corsair meets his only 'real' Companion in this one, but he doesn't know her yet ^^ Yes, I pulled a bit of a River Song with those two and the reverse timelines, but only a bit.

I hope you had fun with the chapter, more to come soon. Drop comments if you read it or write me a message, anything is welcome really as long as I know you guys enjoy it ^^

Now off to new adventures, Corsair!