From: jfy@cis.ksu.edu (Joseph F. Young)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Reposting of "Stories of Nyssa" PART 3 of 8 by David E. Woon
Summary: Part 3 of Stories of Nyssa by David E. Woon
Keywords: Nyssa, Story, repost
Date: 17 Dec 92 22:26:20 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.drwho
Organization: Kansas State University, Dept. of Computing and Information Scienc
NNTP-Posting-Host: crucis.cis.ksu.edu

This story was originally posted around February this year...


------------------------------------------------------------------------
  This is the THIRD episode in a series.  Please address comments or
     requests for further information or the previous episodes to:
            ng436@pnlg.pnl.gov   (or)   ng436@traken.pnl.gov
  --  David E. Woon  --  Molecular Science Research Center -- BNL --
            --  Alumnus of Michigan Tech University  --
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  The previous episode, "The Last Cyberman", is probably the one I am
  least happy with.  The next two are, in my opinion, better reading.
    So if #2 didn't sit well, with you please try 3 & 4 (#4 will be
                           posted tomorrow).
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                            THE ATTIC OF ETERNITY
                                 (PART ONE)
                              by David E. Woon


BACKGROUND:

Having had a successful trip to meet the last Cyberman, Nyssa has
returned to Gallifrey and the Doctor.  She is beginning to consider a
new destination.

This double episode shall share a number of themes.  We shall continue
to explore the newness of Nyssa as a Time Lord, but we shall also come
back to the internal attitudes and emotions of both the Doctor and
Nyssa.  A third theme will be to consider some aspects of the Doctor's
own past: what sort of life did he come out of, why is he such a non-
conformist and other questions which may have been suggested to the
reader by the two previous episodes.  These are just a partial glimpse
of ideas which will come together here.

The early days in the life of a Time Lord, especially an adopted one,
are times of vulnerability, and Nyssa is especially vulnerable.  The
great advantage of being a Time Lord lies in the wealth of experience
which they may amass by virtue of a long lifespan.  Regeneration brings
longevity, but it also brings changes in perspective which strengthen
the benefit of experience.

The difficulty is simple: one does not gain one hundred, two hundred or
a thousand years of experience except by passing through one, two or a
thousand years.  A thirty year old Time Lord exploring on his or her own
for the first time is probably one of the more dangerous beings loose in
the universe.  Knowing that one will have an extended length of days
does not alleviate the passion of youthfulness, and hindsight still
remains one of the most successful forms of wisdom.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


SCENE 1:  The Amalgam pub

(The Doctor and the Master's Amalgams are meeting once again.)

D.  Nyssa did well in her visit to the last Cyberman, although she may
    have missed an important opportunity.

M.  Don't talk to me.

D.  Are you all right?

(Sarcasm and painfulness permeate the attitude of the Master's Amalgam
 in this scene.)

M.  I'm just fine.  Why don't you go bless someone else's presence?

D.  You're not all right, are you?

M.  I am the Master's Amalgam, not Rassilon's.  By definition, I am not
    all right.

D.  Rassilon's Amalgam is generally not any better company than you
    are.  Rassilon was not precisely angelic.

M.  Are you here for a reason, or do you just desire to exacerbate my
    lovely pain?

D.  I was wondering if you were aware of any sign of Nyssa's Amalgam
    yet.

M.  If I'd seen her, I'd hardly be as overwhelmed with joy as you have
    so fortuitously discovered me to be at the moment.

D.  I suppose.

M.  In spite of what I may have said previously in relation to the
    eventual impact on the Master of Nyssa becoming a Time Lord, all I
    have seen so far has been new evil and more of my own suffering.

D.  Is the Master aware of Nyssa's new status?

M.  No.  He's always creating new evil and I continue to suffer.  If he
    even remembers Nyssa, he wouldn't care that she had become a Time
    Lord.

D.  He wouldn't, would he?

M.  Not unless she got in the way of his plans.


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 2:  Nyssa and the Doctor are back in the thinking room on his
          TARDIS, seated

N.  It will take quite a while to fill the rooms in my TARDIS with as
    much atmosphere as yours has.

D.  Things do accumulate, however.  You will then applaud the wisdom of
    designing a TARDIS so that it contains a nearly infinite volume.

N.  It would be like visiting the attic of Tegan's grandmother.

D.  Or rummaging through store rooms in an old museum or library.

N.  Speaking of accumulated knowledge and so forth, I'd like to ask you
    something about your beginnings as a Time Lord.

D.  Please, do.

N.  What was the High Council's advice to you at your Recognition?

(In the spirit of such stories, the Doctor should get up and wander a
 bit, occasionally resting an elbow against what would certainly be a
 mantle if the TARDIS could have a fireplace.)

D.  In order to understand what they told me, I will need to tell you a
    bit of what I was like back then.

N.  I wouldn't mind hearing about that at all.

D.  You know that I was an Outsider, a Gallifreyan who refused to live
    within the Domes.  That is how I was raised.  There is another dark
    story about darkly living at the base of a dark mountain that
    eventually leads to the day I met Kan'po, my teacher.  He is the one
    who adopted me.  He adopted others, too -- though I haven't a clue
    how he managed to avoid the Law of Primogeniture.

    I was a wild young man, somewhat dark of heart.  Life outside the
    Domes is a constant struggle and I am a bit introspective by
    nature.  I brought my wildness and the remainder of my darkness
    Inside with me.  The professors at college rarely enjoyed my
    presence in their classes.  I passed most subjects at a minimal
    level of apparent competence, but I did manage to absorb the
    theories and ideas.  I scarcely cared.  I studied what I wanted to
    study, and poked my nose into places where I nearly lost it.  That
    was when the other students started calling me "The Doctor."

    In the year before I finished I did a foolish thing which very
    nearly prevented me from graduating to Time Lord.  I stole a
    TARDIS.

N.  Which TARDIS?  This one?

D.  Of course.  I gather you haven't yet encountered your Amalgam yet.

N.  I don't even know what you're talking about.

(He goes on without explaining himself.  There would be no point.)

D.  I left Gallifrey and headed outward.

N.  Why did you steal a TARDIS?

D.  I was convinced that I would never finish my course, and it seemed
    the only way I would be able to leave Gallifrey.

N.  You've always wanted to leave, haven't you?

D.  Being content to be confined to one time and place has never been
    a strength of mine.

(Since he will become quiet for a moment, looking at things which the
 viewer can't see, we shall make a transition to where...)


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 3:  The Master, in mid-plot (his TARDIS, nearing the Attic of
          Eternity)

(The Master has stumbled across the Attic of Eternity.  He doesn't
 know what it represents, but he has plans for one of the objects which
 he has discovered there.)

(His TARDIS materialises in a dark and dusty corridor.  There is
 scarcely room for it among the packing boxes, bookshelves, crates
 chests, closets, and anything else which has ever been used for storing
 objects.)

(We see him emerge carrying some means of hand-held lighting.  There
 are footprints on the floor, but they correspond to his boots.  He has
 been here before.)

(He moves along a ways, following the footprints as much as his memo-
 ries.  There are a few places where the path diverges toward different
 distractions, but this time he does not stop to look.  He reaches his
 destination, an immense iron-bound chest.  He struggles with the top
 and throws it open.  He digs around a bit at the contents.  The camera
 angle could be from within the chest, to show his pleasure when he
 finds what he has come for.)

M.  My memory was correct.  I thought I had seen you before.

(He reaches for some object as the scene is cut.)


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 4:  Back to the Doctor and Nyssa

(The Doctor is still standing by the place which should have a
 fireplace.)

N.  What happened on your trip?

D.  I didn't get very far.  They used the recall circuit to pull me
    back.  There was talk of expulsion.  But Kan'po defended me and
    persuaded them to excuse my behavior as an aberration of youth.
    He caused quite a stir by sweeping in out of the wilds for the
    first time in several hundred years.  He got me out of trouble
    and then had a little talk with me.

N.  Was he very angry?

D.  Actually, no.  Kan'po was an unperturbable sort of fellow.  In fact,
    he told me that he'd been waiting for me to make a statement of the
    sort.

N.  Statement?

D.  Kan'po strongly believed that actions meant nothing unless inter-
    preted as another means of expression.  "There are times," he'd say,
    "when actions speak what words cannot."  After the TARDIS incident,
    he talked about how dependent I am on the non-verbal statement.
    You've seen that it can be rather difficult for me to be open about
    myself.  Years later I realized that there was also a reproach in
    what he was saying, the gist of which was similar to telling a
    babbling child to be quiet and listen for a change.

    I don't suppose I've changed that much.  It is still easier for me
    to run off and do something than to stop and explain myself.

    As I mentioned before, this happened about one year prior to the
    completion of my course.  The last year was worse than any of the
    previous ones.  I still didn't believe I'd make it through, and my
    actions had only made relations worse with those overseeing my
    work.  But, as they say, somehow the time went by and I did manage
    to scrape through.

    The day of my Recognition came around and the session of the High
    Council was very well-attended.  I gather that many came just to
    hear how badly I was going to be dressed down.

    The Lord High President in those days was Althrusda, an ancient Time
    Lord and known as a hard man.  I feared that I would simply be
    rejected out of hand, and that would be that.  It would have meant
    being trapped forever on Gallifrey.  They would have let me stay on
    in the city in some technical role, but I would not have been a Time
    Lord.  I think I would have chosen self-exile back to the wilds of
    my youth, rather than to be so close to what I desired most.

    To my surprise, I was Recognized without hesitation.  I realized
    then that my sense of anticipation had not extended past that
    stage --  I hadn't thought at all about what the Council might say
    about me.

    There was a moment between the statement of Recognition and the
    Pronouncement of the Council.  The crowd waited silently.  Althrus-
    da himself spoke for the Council, just as ????? spoke to you.  He
    slowly stood, drew himself up, leaned forward on his hands against
    the railing.  He fixed me with his eyes for several moments, and
    began: "You have been Recognized this day as a member of the body of
    Time Lords.  It may surprise you, as well as a great number of the
    spectators, to learn that the High Council accepted you unanimously
    and unreservedly."

    "We do not foresee an easy path before you.  We see you as a man of
    action who will take your vow as a Time Lord into arenas which many
    of us would not seek out ourselves and will often disapprove of.
    Nor will your actions be free of consequence to others, consequence
    that may not be welcomed.  It is this last point which gives us
    greatest concern."

    "You have yet to manifest significant awareness of others.  Your
    youth has been a process of learning about the reality of the
    world.  The ability to conceive of the needs of others and to choose
    to act in their interest is, for you, a learned behavior.  We
    believe it is present in your character, but you must seek to
    cultivate it.  If you refuse this counsel, we fear for you and for
    those you may harm."

    "It is in this combined interest of both you and others that we, the
    Council, wish to strongly encourage you to live up to this nickname
    which has been bestowed upon you, `The Doctor.'  We believe that if
    you aspire to earn what this title implies about the character of
    its owner, that you will succeed as a Time Lord."

    "These are the words of the Council: take heart from them, but also
    take heed."

N.  That explains quite a lot about you, you know.

D.  Yes.  I was quite fortunate that Kan'po was my teacher and had begun
    to prepare me for what was to lie ahead.  It was his idea, of
    course, that my first solo trip should be to Armitage to meet the
    last Cyberman.  I don't know how he knew that a Cyberman was lying
    in the Lyssian caves, paralyzed by lack of direction rather than
    injury.  Kan'po has always known more than the average Time Lord.

N.  Doctor, I'm glad you sent me to the same place you went on your
    first trip.  Thank you.

D.  Well, I have to admit that I was a bit curious about how things had
    turned out for him.  It wouldn't have taken much to make the whole
    situation turn sour.

N.  I'm trying to choose where I will go next.

D.  I can suggest a number of possibilities.

N.  I know you can, but I think I should come up with this one for
    myself.


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 5:  Earth (at last), sometime, somewhere (England, mid 20th
          would do)

(In which the character Trefusis is introduced.)

(Trefusis may be cast in a number of different ways: he can be young and
 dashing or old and regal.  He must be self-possessed and yet, a bit on
 the side of a slumbering giant.  It is a mixture of self-possession and
 occasional vagueness.)

(Enter manservant [so it almost has to be England of the past]).

G.  Sir, you have a message from the automatic systems at the Attic.

T.  What is it, Givens?

G.  There has been an intruder in one of the vaults.

T.  Has anything been removed?

G.  Yes.  One of your baubles cannot be located.

T.  Which bauble would that be, Givens?

G.  The Star of Urkuz, Lord Trefusis.

T.  Oh, that's peachy, simply peachy.  I hide a needle in a haystack and
    someone lights in and plucks it out as if it were in plain sight
    with advertisements in blinking neon saying, "Here is the Star of
    Urkuz, one of the most dangerous mind sympathons in the known
    universe."  It's no wonder you carefully skirted the subject,
    Givens.

G.  I knew you would find the news unpleasant.

T.  It may be catastrophic.  I suppose there IS a chance that the
    intruder is some kindly, curious individual, but it is much more
    likely that we have a big problem on our hands.

G.  Will you be travelling to the Attic, sir?

T.  Immediately, Givens.  I shall have to change forms for the journey,
    of course.

G.  May I suggest the Splenditti Wizard?

T.  No, that's a bit too quiet for my mood.  I think I will use the
    Ghost of Argonia.

G.  An excellent choice, Lord Trefusis.

T.  Givens, I wish you would stop behaving like a sycophantic toady.

G.  Anything you say, sir.

(Exit Trefusis and Givens to undergo whatever arcane procedure they were
 discussing.)


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 6:  The Master's TARDIS

(He is looking for something [not the Star of Urkuz] and getting quite
 upset about it.)

M.  I would like to know how so many things get lost in this TARDIS.
    I know I left it here.

(His Amalgam shimmers into existence nearby.)

A.  If you want to know, I'll tell you.  I hide them.

M.  I'd begun to think that you had taken up my offer to leave and join
    the Doctor.

A.  Why, when there is still so much I can do here for entertainment?
    And besides, the Doctor doesn't need my help to frustrate your
    pathetic little schemes.

M.  Someday I will get the better of the Doctor.  It may, in fact, be
    rather soon.

A.  Scheming again, are we?

M.  I don't trust you.  Don't expect me to tell you what I'm working
    on.

A.  You don't need to tell me about the Star of Urkuz.  I'm your
    blinking Amalgam after all.

M.  Of course.  Now will you tell me where you've hidden the auxilliary
    orientation circuit?

(The Amalgam pulls something out of a pocket, somehow [his clothing has
 no pockets].  Although it is clearly a piece of electronics, it con-
 sists of a ball-like object connected by a loose wire to a cup-like
 object.  The Amalgam swings the the ball, trying to get it into the
 cup.)

A.  I was using it to test my hand-eye coordination.

(He succeeds in catching the ball in the cup.)

A.  There we go.

(The Master is beginning to fume.)

M.  Give that to me!  I will get rid of you someday, even if I have to
    destroy my TARDIS.

(The Amalgam passes the circuit to the Master.)

A.  Oh, don't to that.  Please, don't destroy me.  Life as your Amalgam
    is bad enough without being deprived of all existence.  Say, do you
    really think you can get rid of me by destroying your TARDIS?

M.  It would almost be worth the sacrifice.

A.  In the meantime, don't worry.  I will continue to do everything in
    my none-too-shabby power to keep your blood at a constant boil.

M.  At least you're consistent.


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 7:  The Doctor and Nyssa, outside Nyssa's TARDIS

D.  You've made a good choice, Nyssa.  A tour through the human colonies
    dating from the fall of the Seventh Empire will be quite informa-
    tive.

N.  I'm curious how they managed to survive as local autonomies.

D.  I'll be leaving Gallifrey myself very soon.

N.  When will we meet again?

D.  Don't you think the question "when?" is a bit ambiguous for a Time
    Lord to ask?

N.  You know what I mean.

D.  It's hard to say.  Of course, if the need arises, I'll be with you
    as quickly as I can.

N.  What if the need doesn't arise?

D.  I'll look you up, from time to time.

N.  I'll be waiting.  Good-bye, Doctor.

(They touch in parting -- not a full hug or anything, but enough to
 show their closeness.)

D.  Good-bye, Nyssa.  Have a good trip.

N.  You, too, Doctor.

(She enters her TARDIS and it dematerialises.  We flash inside for a
 moment.  After setting the course, she finds the place where she had
 hidden the locket previously.  She looks at it for a moment and puts it
 back around her neck.)

(The Doctor waits until she is gone and walks across the room to his own
 TARDIS.  He enters and it also dematerialises.)


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 8:  The Amalgam pub

(The Doctor's Amalgam is enjoying a quiet moment when the Master's
 Amalgam enters in great agitation.)

M.  We've got to do something.

D.  This doesn't sound good.  What is the Master up to now?

M.  He has the Star of Urkuz.

D.  That's a mind sympathon, isn't it?

M.  A very powerful one.  With it, he may be able to enslave hundreds
    or thousands of worlds.

D.  Will he be able to activate it?

M.  Not easily.  He doesn't know how to use it yet, but there's a good
    chance he will solve the ignition sequence.

D.  What are we going to do?

M.  You know the problem.

D.  Yes.  You can't act because you're his Amalgam.  I can't do much
    either.  If I were able to remember the situation when I return to
    the Doctor's TARDIS, I could just tell him.  But the laws of time
    will erase most of this conversation from my consciousness.  I
    suppose I will have to do what we always do: try to remember enough
    so that I can steer the fate of the Doctor in the direction of the
    Master.  Do you know where he's going to begin?

M.  He hasn't decided yet.  He always leans toward using earth for his
    experiments, but it may not be the best location from which to
    start.

D.  Keep me informed.

(The Master's Amalgam nods his head.)


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 9:  Nyssa's TARDIS

(She is working in the control room, trying to master the intricacies
 of her TARDIS.  We watch as she tries to activate something, but
 subjects herself to "TARDIS lurches" rather than what she had in-
 tended.  She exchanges the manual she was using with another from the
 bookcase.)

(She is about to meet her Amalgam for the first time.  In light of the
 fact that an Amalgam is the sum of experience, the first view we have
 of Nyssa's will be of a undefined, almost childish character.  It will
 be full of technical expertise [being inter-related with the TARDIS],
 but a bit vague and very remote.)

(An insistent light begins to flash on the control panel,  Nyssa notices
 it and goes to investigate.  She sees a message repeatedly scrolling up
 one of the console monitors.  It reads: "Initial materialisation of
 Amalgam commencing.  Please stand by."  Nyssa is understandably
 confused but waits to see what's going to happen.  Her Amalgam begins
 to form.  It begins as an amorphous shape of swirling colors.  After
 passing through various forms, it solidifies into human shape and moves
 around a bit.  Nysssa is fascinated.)

N.  Who are you?

A.  I am your Amalgam.

(She remembers what the Doctor said about meeting her Amalgam [she hadn't
 forgotten even though he passed it off as a non sequitur.]

N.  No wonder the Doctor didn't say more.  What is an Amalgam?

A.  I am a functioning of your TARDIS.  I am its awareness.  My purpose
    is to store your experiences and help you to remember them.  As you
    continue to live I will develop greater personality.  I am now
    mostly computer and only a trace of you.

N.  Of me?

A.  I will grow to resemble you in many ways, though I am also an
    independent being.

N.  Why didn't anyone tell me about this?

A.  It is the way.  The Amalgam is the greatest secret of the Time
    Lords.  When a Time Lord dies, if they travelled extensively by
    TARDIS, there Amalgam will live on.

N.  Very interesting.  That explains why there is no mention anywhere
    about having an Amalgam.  How am I to learn about you?

A.  You ask and I will answer.

N.  You remind me of a Cyberman I met not long ago.

(The Amalgam melts into the form of the last Cyberman.  Nyssa is both
 impressed and slightly taken aback.)

A.  It was on that trip that I first became aware.  I began to study you
    and your surroundings.  In time, I will understand you and be able
    to help you.

N.  I begin to see the value of having an Amalgam.

(It reforms.)

A.  If you would like to ask me any questions, you need only think and I
    will appear, as long as you are alone.  I cannot show myself to any
    other being, including other Time Lords.

N.  All right.  I'm sure I'll have a number of questions after I've had
    a chance to think about it.

A.  Then I will go now.

(It vanishes without fanfare.)

N.  Amazing.  How many more hidden benefits are there to being a Time
    Lord?

(It's now time for a shift in plot.  There is a sudden burst of ac-
 celeration which throws Nyssa to the floor.  She gets up and runs from
 console to console trying to identify the problem, but she can't regain
 control.  The TARDIS is being drawn somewhere by irresistable force.)

(It materialises in the Attic of Eternity, in a sort of open area with
 numerous doors and corridors.  Givens is standing by a machine which
 was clearly the cause of Nyssa's detour.  As it materialises, he snaps
 a switch which shifts it into a static mode.)

G.  (To no one in particular.)  The vessel has arrived, Sir.

(Nyssa emerges from her TARDIS and approaches Givens.)

N.  What's going on here?  Who are you?

G.  One moment, please.  The master will be here shortly.

(Nyssa misunderstands and is immediately apprehensive [it's difficult to
 discern between a lower and an upper case "M", when spoken.])

(There is a bit of wind, the sound of chains and the appearance of an
 apparition.  It speaks.)

T.  Good work, Givens.

(Nyssa is not particularly fazed by the ghostliness of Trefusis; Traken
 never developed that particular folk mythology.)

G.  Sir, this is not the same time vehicle.  It's profile is very
    similar and the locator was correct to lock on to it.  However, at
    this range, it is clearly a different vessel altogether.

T.  Then we shall have to let this young lady be on her way.

N.  I would very much like to know what's happening.

(They continue to ignore her.)

G.  She may be of some use to you.  The similarity in profiles is close
    enough that it is likely they have both come from the same place.

T.  Can you identify the origin?

G.  The improved detail from this vessel is sufficient.  It has come
    from the planet called Gallifrey, which would be the home of the
    Time Lords.

T.  Time Lords!  That does not improve the complexion of the problem at
    all, Givens.  Not at all.

N.  Pardon me, but would someone please notice me?  I would like to
    know what's going on.

T.  I'm sorry, we're very preoccupied with an important problem.

N.  Maybe I could help.

T.  If you are a Time Lord and know what they are up to, you can be
    of immense help.

N.  I don't know that they are up to anything at all.

T.  Our current facts indicate that a Time Lord has intruded here and
    stolen a very dangerous artifact.

N.  Where are we?

T.  This is the Attic of Eternity.

N.  I've never heard of it.

T.  And you never should have, either.

N.  That was your fault, not mine.

G.  Sir!

T.  What is it, Givens?

G.  I would suggest you explain to her what the problem is and show her
    our evidence.

T.  You're quite right, Givens.  (To Nyssa)  I could never get by without
    Givens; I would prattle away and never get to the point.  Let me show
    you what we know.

G.  Perhaps you would like to change form first.

T.  Good idea.  I'm not really a ghost, you know.  It just makes it
    easier to get from point a at time b to point c at time d without
    all the gobbledygook caused by the complications of corporeality.
    I'll just be a moment.

(He passes through a door [through, got it?]).

N.  What exactly is the Attic of Eternity?

G.  It is the place where the master stores the various objects which
    he has collected.

(Trefusis returns in a body essentially the same as the one he wore in
 Scene 5.)

T.  I think this will do.  If you will come with me...

(The three of them walk a few paces and vanish to reappear where the
 Master had landed.  There are now a few more footprints and some
 equipment, which is shedding some light.)

N.  How did we get here?

T.  We Traversed it.  It would have taken days to walk this far.

N.  How big is this Attic?

T.  Get the lights, will you Givens?

(They come on and it is clear that they are in a simply enormous ware-
 house; the shelves along the walls rise for thousands of feet.  All are
 overloaded with things.)

N.  That big.

T.  I'm afraid I tend to get carried away collecting things.  Well,
    Givens, let us show this young woman....

N.  Nyssa.

T.  Nyssa, what we have learned.  I am Trefusis, by the way.

G.  The intrusion scanners alerted us that a time-space vessel had
    landed here.  An inventory indicated that a single object had been
    removed from this vault.  We arrived and found a collection of
    footprints.  The reconstructor can ascertain the general form and
    appearance from the slightest nuances the intruder left behind.

T.  Are you familiar with the fictional Earth sleuth Sherlock Holmes?

N.  I know someone who mentions him from time to time.

T.  Holmes would have admired this device.  Turn it on, and show Nyssa
    the intruder.

(Givens activates the machine and it quickly reconstructs an image of
 the Master.  This time Nyssa is visibly shaken.)

N.  I know who that is.

T.  Are you all right?

N.  I...  It's a shock to me.

T.  This does not bode well, Givens.  He is a Time Lord?

N.  Yes, and more.

T.  An evil man?

N.  (in great and sudden anger)  He murdered my father!

(Her face shows her anger, but it also shows a determination coupled
 to feelings of vengeance.)


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 10:  The Doctor's TARDIS

(He feels the sudden emotion rising in Nyssa and reads it accurately.
 His words in this scene represent both his knowledge and his first
 effort to telegraph back to her some reassurance.)

D.  Nyssa, the trial is upon you.  I don't know if you are ready for it,
    but remember that I am here.  I will watch and be prepared to move
    toward you when you need me.


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 11:  Back to Nyssa

T.  What happened to you?  First, you were shaking will rage and hurt,
    but it ebbed away as if you were touched with a healing hand.

N.  That sums it up well.  Far away I am linked to another individual.
    He felt my emotion and has sent me his strength.

T.  It is a wonder I have not seen before.

(She is recovering, at least on the surface.  She remains flushed.)

N.  So the Master has been here.  What did he steal?

T.  An object called the Star of Urkuz.  It is a mind sympathon of great
    power.

N.  You said it was dangerous.

T.  If the holder is of the wrong fiber, it can cause great harm.

N.  If the Master has it, you can be sure that harm is his intention.

T.  We will have to stop him.

N.  What does a mind sympathon do?

T.  If the holder can activate it, he can use it to control people's
    minds.  It is quite useful in its way.  It doesn't remove the
    thrall's will power at all -- it is steered into the purpose of the
    holder.  For good, it can be used to coordinate a multitude for a
    common purpose and insure true cooperation.  For evil, it could lead
    to the domination of a billion or a trillion minds under one man.
    The effect is cumulative and exponential; the more minds under the
    central influence, the further the range, the greater the multitude
    which may be controlled.

N.  The Master has always wanted to rule the universe: now he will have
    his greatest chance to succeed.

T.  But first he must activate the Star and master its defenses.  That
    will give us some time.

N.  We will also have the help of the Doctor.

T.  The Doctor?

N.  Another Time Lord.  My father by adoption.  The oldest enemy of the
    Master.


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 12:  the Master's TARDIS

(This is the first we see of the Star of Urkuz.  It is a small, plain
 gem, not faceted and not of regular shape.  It doesn't glow or do
 anything fancy.)

(The Master has been attempting to break through its defenses. We see
 him concentrating on the depths of the crystal.  He suddenly screams
 and clenches his fists: yet another approach has failed and rebounded
 with percussive pain through his head.  A man less obsessed would have
 already given up, but the Master regains his self-possession and
 breathes deeply.  Each time he gets a bit further.)

(He recovers, but not quickly.  The pain fades -- his determination does
 not.  He looks at the fist which hides the Star and slowly says:)

M.  I am the Master.

(He opens his hand to begin again.)


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 13:  The control center at the Attic

T.  This poses a sticky problem.  We don't know where he'll act or
    when.

N.  He's always favored Earth.

T.  It's not likely that he'll use it this time though.  It's too
    remote.

N.  You think he's more likely to start in a region of the galaxy where
    the stars are closer together?

T.  He's most vulnerable at the beginning.  Although even at its
    weakest, the Star is formidable.  He'll need to build up a power
    base before he can do much.  I'd rather catch him before he can
    start.

N.  I know we don't have much time for tangents, but can you tell me
    why such a dangerous thing was in your Attic?

T.  It's my weakness.  I never throw anything away.  When you've been
    around as long as I have, it becomes sort of embarrassing.  I
    built the Attic to store everything.

N.  How did the Master find it?

T.  The Attic or the Star?  I suppose I should answer both.  The Attic
    is well hidden, but not impossible to find.  It can't be done
    without a dimensionally transcendent space-time vessel of a certain
    configuration, but obviously it can be done.  I suppose I shouldn't
    have left even that minimal opening.  It's a bit of vanity on my
    part.  Although I don't foresee running out of life, I suppose it
    may eventually happen.  I didn't want the Attic to be hidden
    forever, so I made it very slightly accessible.

N.  To evil as well as good.

T.  I couldn't control that.  I haven't found a law of physics yet
    which recognizes moral character.  Although I'm still open-minded
    about it.

N.  What about the Star?

T.  That would appear to be a mere vagary of fate.  There are other
    dangerous objects in the Attic, but they are scattered about.
    Nothing is labeled, either.  He could have searched an entire
    lifetime for some weapon or dangerous piece of knowledge and never
    found a thing.  However, he did find something.  A vagary of fate.

N.  Now we need to find him before he can put his good fortune to use.

(The Doctor's TARDIS wheezes into sight.)

T.  What is this?  I thought this place was well hidden!  It's more
    like Charing Cross Station!

N.  It's the Doctor.  He found the Attic because I'm here.

T.  By means of the psychic link you share.

(The door opens and the Doctor strides out.  He behaves in his typical
 flippant manner, but it is edged with anxiety.)

D.  Hello, Nyssa.

N.  Doctor, this is Trefusis (Givens is not present).

D.  Hello, I'm the Doctor.  What seems to be the problem?

N.  The Master is loose with a dangerous weapon.

D.  Then I hope we shall be able to deprive him of it.


	  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 14:  The Master's TARDIS materialises on Ahm Thonset, a world
           near the edge of the galactic core.

(Ahm Thonset is heavily populated with humanoid life.  It is a bright
 world; its own sun is hard to pick out in the daytime, and night is
 far brighter than our earthly days.  The people live in well-protected
 domes, very tightly packed together.  The Master has landed in a large,
 open mall, filled with several thousand people.)

(He steps out.  His face is mostly vacant.  His eyes rest lightly on the
 Star which he is holding out at armlength in his right hand half-way to
 vertical from horizontal.  As he emerges, a small group of people stop,
 turn, grow silent, and raise their right arms [held up like the
 Master's] in response to the Master's call through the Star.)

(We pan back and watch the wave pass through the crowd as ever more
 arms are raised.  At last, the entire crowd is enthralled, all arms
 raised in obedience to the Master's will.)

(The shot returns to his face.  His empty expression is replaced with
 a wan smile.  His evil glee is a mere flicker of times past, but
 he is a greater threat now than he has ever been before.)


------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          END OF EPISODE THREE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- 
Joseph Young, Systems Programmer
KSU Department of Computing and Information Sciences
Manhattan, Kansas 66506  FAX: (913) 532-7353  Phone: (913) 532-6350   
Internet: jfy@cis.ksu.edu  UUCP: rutgers!depot!jfy