"Enough!" bellowed the Warrior, attracting the attention of the Dalek Architect. I could see in his face that he was pained, struggling in vain to retain memories of his comrade, recently erased from time. I took advantage of the distract to continue sneaking around the Dalek towards the lens matrix of the superweapon. The rows of computer terminals provided just enough cover to mask me and the bulky roundel I was entrusted with.
The Dalek wheeled around, to face in the direction of the Warrior's voice.
"DOCTOR." It's electronic grating voice sounded more arrogant than a regular Dalek. "I WAS EXPECTING YOU TO ATTEMPT TO INTERVENE. THOUGH YOU ARE FAR TOO LATE. THE WEAPON HAS PROVED TO BE A SUCCESS."
"At what cost?" replied the Warrior, voice almost cracking. "I can't even recall the victim of your weapon. It doesn't just kill. It rewrites a person's entire existence. They never existed, and nobody remembers them."
"IT IS THE WEAPON THAT SHALL WIN THE WAR FOR THE DALEK RACE. TIME CAN BE REWRITTEN IN OUR FAVOUR, WHILE THOSE WHO OPPOSE US ARE FORGOTTEN."
"I thought the Daleks were the master race? Surely a weapon of this magnitude is merely the last resort of someone afraid of a straight fight?"
"THE DALEKS DID NOT DECIDE THE TERMS OF THIS WAR, DOCTOR. IT WAS YOUR PEOPLE WHO FIRST TRIED TO ERASE OUR EXISTENCE."
"That was lifetimes ago. Before I had the courage to do what was necessary to stop you. It is not a mistake I shall repeat. I was there at your very Genesis and I assure you, I will be there at your end."
"WE SHALL SEE, DOCTOR. YOUR COMPASSION ALLOWED US TO THRIVE. WITH THIS WEAPON, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PREVENT THE RISE OF THE TIME LORDS. DALEKS WILL BE PRONE TO NO SUCH WEAKNESS HOWEVER."
As the pair bickered with each other, I continued to make slow progress. I was beginning to feel the weight of the load I had to carry. The muscles in my arms were burning with the strain, and I had to struggle not to let it slip between my fingers. I was so preoccupied with the task ahead that I arrived at the lens matrix almost without realizing. Now, all I had to do was hoist the roundel in place, and hopefully everything else would take care of itself.
I was sure that I was in the Warrior's line of sight by now, as I clambered into position. I hoped he could delay the Dalek for a few more moments.
"THE WEAPON IS PRIMED FOR ANOTHER BLAST." came a voice from one of the Daleks below, transmitted via intercom. Unable to turn around in my current position, I could only assume the worst as I heard the Architect engage his motor drive. I would be impossible to miss.
"Eh..." stammered the Warrior, stalling desperately. I heard the motor stop, and reverse slightly. "You can't just take out Gallifrey, you know. It has defences."
"YOU DEFENCES WILL BE NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS WEAPON, COMBINED WITH THE STRATEGY OF THE EXPERIMENTS."
"It's not just the defences though. I mean, the histories of our two races are so deeply linked by now. If the Time Lords were wiped out of time, the consequences on your historical development and the Universe as a while are incalculable."
"THIS MEANS NOTHING. A PATHETIC DEFENSE."
"It could spell the destruction of your own race. Of life as we know it!"
"IT WILL SPELL NOTHING MORE THAN THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF THE DALEKS. EVEN IF TIME IS RIPPED APART, THIS VESSEL, THE EPICENTRE WILL REMAIN. IF WE BECOME THE ONLY LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, WE SHALL HAVE PROVED OUR MASTERY OF ALL LIFEFORMS. WE WILL BE SUPREME!"
I was done! I flashed the Warrior a quick thumbs up and readied myself to drop back to the floor. I heard the Dalek move again, obviously tired of his engagement with the Warrior. Just before I released my grip, I realized that I hadn't yet primed the roundel. Until I activated it's time field, it was just some heavy plastic! With a desperate flick, I watching in relief as some LED's lit up on its edge. I dropped down behind some electronics as the Dalek spun around.
"SET TARGET FOR GALLIFREY." Ordered the Dalek to his minions below. I began to hurriedly scuttle back to the warrior.
"I urge you to reconsider." warned the Warrior. "You can't be sure of the consequences. Whatever happens next is the result of your actions."
"ENOUGH, DOCTOR. YOUR TIME IS COMPLETE. FIRE THE WEAPON!"
With a shuddering tremor, the beam sparked into life again. The large cylindrical beam struck the lens matrix as it had before, except this time a temporal reflector stood in it's path. Instead of focusing the beam through a network of amplifiers, it was redirected back towards its own origin. The red tint of the beam grew darker, like blood, as the light doubled back upon itself. The barrel of the weapon began to glow white hot. Wailing sirens rang out across the vessel.
"EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!!" Cried the Architect, panicked.
"I tired to warn you." said the Warrior, with a smile that held no mirth. "Your weapon has been rigged to reflect upon itself. Effectively removing itself from time. This is frankly impossible, but don't worry. The paradox engines will give out long before causality is irrevocably strained. In fact, it's a tactic I picked up from a human who fought off some of your damned Vakarians."
"Doctor!" I yelled, no time now to sooth his ego with the relevant title. "Shouldn't we be getting out of here?"
The Dalek Architect was livid, sensing it's imminent destruction. It was only a matter of moments before the unleashed temporal forces ripped him and his craft into atoms. It unleashed an energy blast from its ray gun, destroying the lift controls and our escape route.
The Warrior and I dove for cover behind a particularly large cooling bank to our left. The Architect rose into the air above us, but was still unable to get a clear angle on us. Switching tactics, it fired a continuous beam at the metal bank. In seconds, it was already glowing red and beginning to fizz harshly. The Dalek would punch through in moments. The Warrior withdrew his screwdriver.
"What are you going to do? Fix the metallic structure as the Dalek rips it open?!" I cried, almost hysterical.
"Don't you pay attention. Really." He snorted in response. As he activated his screwdriver, I remembered our earlier escape. I actually cheered with joy as I heard the TARDIS once again. It formed itself around us, keeping us free from external dangers. The Warrior was unable to relax as I was however. He rushed to the controls, keen to remove us from the disaster zone before the whole thing blew.
We rematerialized in the space around the saucer, in the middle of the square of Time Lords summoned earlier. Below us, the vessel crisscrossed with glowing cracked lines. Parts of the hull seemed to disintegrate, revealing a writhing mass of burning energy below us, like the fires of a white sun. There was a dramatic flash, and by the time my eyes had adjusted, the vessel was no more. There was nothing in its place. An implosion, rendered non existent as the weapon destroyed itself. Except for one remaining object. A pirate ship floating in space, before us. With a sudden bang like a punch to the head, I remembered the Corsair. Then I remembered forgetting the Corsair. Time, I had decreed, is weird.
After a brief congratulatory chat with the Gallifreyan strike force, the Warrior bid farewell, saying it was time he dropped me home.
"Probably for the best." I mused, although honestly I didn't know if I wanted to stay or go. The Warrior needed someone by his side, a companion to keep him in check, but I wasn't built for war. Fighting rift based threats in Cork was not comparable to the horrors of time based warfare.
"Here we are. Same rooftop where I picked you up, and only five minutes have passed in relative time."
"Doctor, I..."
"Don't! For the last time..."
"Doctor. Listen, please. You are a good man, whatever you tell yourself. I know you need to think that you're a different person right now, to give you strength to keep fighting. But you are fundamentally the same man you have always been. You are not cruel or cowardly, despite what you tell yourself. Even today, you stood against the Daleks without flinching. And despite their plans, you still have them a chance to back down. It was their own arrogance and blood lust that killed them, not you."
"Mere semantics. Any act if war can be justified or rationalized in the moment."
"Believe what you must, Warrior. But you're still the Doctor to me."
As I said my final piece, I was ushered out of the TARDIS by the Doctor. Form the doorway, he gave me a final cheery wave, before responding.
"You are utterly incorrigible, Arven. And stubborn as a mule. Humans just don't take no for an answer! Nonetheless, I look forward to meeting you again. When I've shrugged of this mantle and the Doctor can return."
"Goodbye, Doctor."
With a chuckle, he shut the door. Moments later, the TARDIS vanished, off to some other battlefield, no doubt.
No comments:
Post a Comment