From: jfy@cis.ksu.edu (Joseph F. Young)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Reposting of "Stories of Nyssa" PART 1 of 8 by David E. Woon
Summary: Part 1 of Stories of Nyssa by David E. Woon
Keywords: Nyssa, Story, repost
Date: 17 Dec 92 22:25:10 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.drwho
Organization: Kansas State University, Dept. of Computing and Information Sciences
NNTP-Posting-Host: crucis.cis.ksu.edu

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


------------------------------------------------------------------------
   This is the FIRST 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 -- PNL --
            --  Alumnus of Michigan Tech University  --
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                       BIRTHRIGHT OF A TIME LORD 
                           by David E. Woon


BACKGROUND:

What happened to Nyssa in the years since she parted ways with the fifth
Doctor?  What sort of person has she become and how has her life un-
folded?

Nyssa of Traken travelled with the fourth and fifth Doctors and in the
process developed from a brilliant young girl to a mature and capable
young woman.  It is reasonable to expect that the strength of her
leadership would have been largely responsible for the success of
transforming Terminus from a destination of certain death to a true
center of healing.

The years have not passed easily: the Company was not pleased to lose
control of its Terminus workers, but an agreement was eventually worked
out whereby people were still sent to Terminus for treatment and some of
the income was allotted for improvement of conditions on Terminus.  It
was not too difficult once it became known that Lazars disease was, in
fact, curable: it did wonders for public relations, although many worlds
are still caught up in the old fears and superstitions.  The biggest
problem in the early years had not been any external conflict, but
rather Nyssa's own zealous desire to make things work.  She suffered
from severe radiation exposure several times, and nearly died, but the
Vanir have watched out for her and kept her safe.

Nyssa is now nearly 30.  In spite of the radiation, she is still youth-
ful and beautiful.  Though still the scientist at heart, years of help-
ing people and turning death into life have drawn her out, have helped
to heal the wound caused by the murder of her father Tremas by the
Master, which abruptly ended the last years of her simple childhood on
Traken.  The change in Nyssa shows most often in her ever more frequent
smile.

The approach of her 30th birthday is not, however, bringing joy to her.
Her contributions have brought Terminus nearly to the point of self-
sufficiency.  Though a dedicated and capable leader, there are others
more suited to administration and a number of excellent scientists have
joined the medical staff.   Nyssa has begun to feel increasingly rest-
less in the last several years.  She is constantly reminded of her years
travelling with the Doctor and realizes that it provided a healthy focus
for her attentions which may have otherwise been drawn ever more
inwardly by the tragedy.

Nobody around her knows much about her or her past.  She has not been
able to be vulnerable about herself -- too much strength has been needed
to keep things going.  Even now that things have become easier, she
still can't talk much about herself.

Setting Terminus to rights has done much for her, but there are secret
moments of great pain, and she comes back to them more and more often.
She wonders inside if she will ever be free of it, doesn't want to be,
yet doesn't want to lose the courage Terminus has given back to her.
But it is no longer sufficient.


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


SCENE 1:  Terminus station, a late hour, Nyssa's private quarters

(Nyssa works at a desk against one wall.  She is writing in a diary.  As
 she reviews what she has written, we hear her thoughts.)

N.  Nearly eight years have passed since I came to Terminus with the
    Doctor.  So much has happened.  For many years, there was no time
    to think about passing events, but now I have time to look back.
    We have come so far in this time: from living always on the edge
    of death with death all around to now, a time of consolidation
    where we know some security.  If I were to leave now, Terminus
    would continue to improve without me.

(She closes the diary and places it in a drawer in the desk, then arises
 and crosses to a chest of drawers.)

(She opens a drawer and unburies a deeply hidden locket and sits on the
 edge of a chair.  She holds the locket clenched tightly in both fists
 for several moments, looking away, looking blank, and then opens it.
 It shows images of the past.  It flickers to the Doctor, Tegan, Adric,
 and events which have gone before.  Her expression, lips tightening,
 eyebrows knotted, betrays her feelings for a moment only.  Then the
 image becomes that of her father.  Unaware, she slowly closes her hands
 around the locket and stares nowhere.  Only a quiet, ocassional
 quivering at the corners of her mouth shows what is passing in her
 mind.)


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


SCENE 2:  having left behind the world of Origamia in the previous
	  story (for the sake of context): in the TARDIS, the Doctor and
	  current companion, who is leaving to return to her home world

C.  It's hard to say good-bye, Doctor.  I'd stay forever, but it
    wouldn't work, would it?  Someday I'll die, and it can't be here,
    not with you.  I don't know which would hurt more: dying and not
    being able to live on with you, wondering if you'll ever get quite
    where you aim to go, or leaving you behind, knowing that it will
    hurt you too.  Leaving now is sort of like dying already.  How do
    you keep going on when so many have said good-bye?

D.  I tell myself, "Now don't get all maudlin -- it's part of what
    you've taken on by living life the way you do."

C.  Do you ever think about looking up old friends?  How many people do
    you remember after 900 years?

D.  Most of them, good or bad.  Sometimes I think about stopping by to
    visit someone.  Mostly, I charge off into the unknown, in search of
    new beginnings.

C.  I guess this is good-bye.

D.  Yes.  Good-bye C.  You will always travel with me, you know.

(He taps his head and then his chest with a finger.)

(Exit C.)


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


SCENE 3:  the Doctor, alone in the TARDIS

(This can be done a number of ways, with various clips of silent action.
 The idea is to show what the Doctor does to busy himself when he
 travels alone.  Vignettes may include tinkering with various TARDIS
 parts, reading, even eating and resting.  We just want to get at the
 other parts of his life a little bit, to build a context for intro-
 ducing the Amalgam.)

(The Amalgam is a new facet of the relationship between the Doctor and
 the TARDIS.  In the era of John Pertwee we learned that the TARDIS is
 sentient in itself, actually alive.  In "The Two Doctors" we are told
 of the symbiosis between Time Lord and TARDIS.  The final element is
 the automatic log, the means by which the TARDIS records events which
 the Doctor experiences and relays them into the Matrix (to a leser
 extent, the experiences of companions or other Time Lords are also
 recorded); some of this was mentioned in "Trial of a Time Lord."  Out
 of all this comes the concept of the Amalgam: a projection of the
 TARDIS which takes on the appearance of a human form.  It is comprised
 of elements from the personalities of the Doctor and of everyone who
 has ever travelled with the Doctor, and can even resemble specific
 people under certain circumstances.  It is alive, but dependent on the
 TARDIS.)

(The Amalgam is someone to talk to and to pass the time with.  No com-
 panion can ever see it or be aware of its existence: the Amalgam is one
 of the few secrets which every Time Lord holds sancrosanct, without
 exception.  [I suspect that it is also the only thing which keeps true
 renegades such as the Master from completely losing their humanity and
 identity as Time Lords to total megalomania, but that is only
 conjecture at this point.]  There is a spirit of art about the Amalgam,
 because it samples life, swirls together thoughts, ideas, knowledge,
 and experience.)

(It is introduced here to help show the Doctor's way of seeing things,
 and perhaps to explain why he acts the way he does -- the Amalgam is an
 individual, and it reflects the flavor of the events through which it
 passes.  If a Time Lord wants his or her Amalgam to be hopeful and
 good, he strives to encounter events and to meet people who will
 reinforce that.  But it still remembers the bad with the good [vice
 versa with the Master] and is not just a complex parallel to a photo
 album of pleasant, sentimental memories.)

(The Doctor, in the midst of his routine, looks up to see a figure
 standing near the TARDIS control panel.  It should be quite clear that
 this person hasn't entered the TARDIS the way a normal being would.)

(The Amalgam, who does not resemble anyone in particular, is dressed in
 a simple, single-piece sort of clothing.)

D.  There you are!  It's been so long that I thought you'd left me.

A.  Always the kidder.  It has been a long time though.  I'd begun
    to wonder if you still remembered me!

(Unfortunately, this MUST have the appearance of a private joke; both
 fully realize, implicitly, that neither one is ever very far from the
 other.)

D.  The years have been flying by incredibly fast, one adventure after
    another.  Odd that the last twenty years have been such a contrast
    to the first 900.  It used to be an occasional jaunt off to Mete-
    belis 3, a long stay on Renaissance Earth, a fleeting glimpse of
    Skaro, but always with years of study and thought in between.

A.  That's one of the benefits of being a Time Lord.  There IS time
    enough to do almost anything.

D.  Another benefit is having an Amalgam to remind you of everthing
    that's gone before.  Without you, I dare say my mind would hardly
    hold a fraction of what I've seen, perhaps no more than the average
    human life.

A.  I've enjoyed your recent flurry of travels, and especially the
    constant stream of new people.

(Here is the first transformation, into Sarah Jane.)

A.  Remember me, Doctor?  I never screamed much in my life until I met
    you, but it was fun all the same.

D.  Sarah Jane!  I should have taken you to Gallifrey with me.

(Sarah Jane goes away and is replaced by the original actor.)

A.  Even now, you know that Sarah wonders if she'll ever see you again.

D.  You can't know that.  You're only guessing.

A.  Well, yes.  She was that sort of person, but I don't know for sure.
    I know that you agree with my speculation anyway.

D.  Yes, of course, but I need to remind myself that speculation isn't
    the same as truth.  It's nice to wonder, though.

(The second transformation is into Davros.)

A.  Do you still wish to destroy me, Doctor?  As much as I desire to
    destroy you?

(The Amalgam superbly mimics the throaty, semi-hysterical tone of the
 original.)

D.  I wish that you, Davros, or at least the real Davros, could under-
    stand what I want.  Megalomania is becoming very tiresome.  For
    once, I should like to come across a powerful species with a strong
    leader who are all committed to something peaceful, like growing
    vegetable marrows.  Not that they would be safe!  Not with Daleks
    and Cybermen and so many other devoted nasties on the loose.  Dav-
    ros, if only you could see past your crazed schemes to see the rest
    of the universe as something other than an opportunity for con-
    quest!

A.  You do go on, Doctor.

D.  When else can I?  The real Davros wouldn't listen to a word of it!

(Davros dissolves back into the original actor.)

D.  You know, my dear Amalgam, perhaps I should take a few years and
    have a good think.

A.  But Doctor, the universe needs you!

D.  Sometimes.

A.  Who will look out for all the peaceful peoples?  The rest of the
    Time Lords don't care.

D.  They used to.  When this policy of non-interference began, it was
    based on an important question of ethics.  Even I appreciated it,
    and I still do.  But more and more it has become an excuse for
    isolationism and apathy...

(The Amalgam is smiling and slowly shaking his head.)

D.  I was pontificating, wasn't I?

A.  It's all right.  I was leading you into it.  But what WILL the
    universe do without you?

D.  It will get along fine.  Somehow or other, it usually does.

A.  You had a chance back on Origamia to ask the girl Inniki to join
    you.  She would have a made a fine companion.

D.  And you want to know why I didn't do anything about it.

A.  Yes, that's what I'm wondering.

D.  It's been getting hard lately to have these people come and go so
    quickly.  Part of me is becoming numb -- I'm afraid they are be-
    coming less and less real to me, coming and going like summer
    moths.  I was trying to remember Zoe Herriot a while back, and I
    could hardly picture her face.

(The Amagam becomes Zoe.)

A.  I'm still here, Doctor.

D.  But you're also gone forever.

(The Amalgam returns to normal.)

D.  I've been moving too fast for my 900 years.  Life needs to be
    savored as well as seasoned.

A.  Perhaps you're right: you do need some time alone with yourself
    and with me.  We could set the TARDIS on a slow orbit around the
    universe.  You could think and together we could remember.

D.  It is appealing.

(The Amalgam becomes the Master.)

A.  But what about me, Doctor?  While you're off pampering yourself, I
    shall be loose, scheming and killing -- I could hardly resist such
    an opportunity!

D.  Why doesn't evil take a holiday?  I can't go off by myself and let
    the Master have his way.

(The Amalgam reforms.)

A.  Doctor, you need to relax.  You're beginning to forget that you and
    the Master both have TARDIS's.  It's depressing from one perspec-
    tive:  he SHOULD always be able to avoid you and you SHOULD always
    be able to keep your eye on him.  But the reality is that sometimes
    he gets away with things and sometimes you foil him.  It isn't
    really as urgent as you feel it is.

D.  Yes, you're right.

A.  So you will go off for a while?

D.  I think I might.  But I wonder...  Solitude isn't my deepest need --
    I could just use some peace and quiet, and, you know, freedom from
    saving the universe all the time.  I'd like to find some old friends
    and have long chats that wouldn't be interrupted by Silurians or
    Zygons.  Some time to think, too, but really time to meditate by
    myself and with others.

A.  I can be anybody you've ever known, but I don't think that's what
    you want now.

D.  It's because of the contradiction within you.

A.  Yes.  I'm everyone you've met, but nobody for real.  Even when I
    look just like

(in transformation)

A.  the Brigadier

(still transforming)

A.  I'm still the Amalgam of everything you've lived.

D.  And I'm glad you're around.  You are an independent being...

A.  Though formed by your choices.

D.  Yes.

A.  So, who will you drop in on?

D.  Who would you recommend?  When have I been most distressed to say
    good-bye to one of my companions?

A.  That's easy.

D.  Is it?  No one in particular comes to mind.

A.  It came through in the very question you asked.  You are carrying
    some guilt because you said good-bye to one person that you couldn't
    help at the time, not the way you really wanted to.  You did help
    her to keep her mind on other things, but she still needed a father,
    and you couldn't bring yourself to do what you knew you could do for
    her...

D.  Nyssa!

A.  Nyssa.

D.  I wondered, when we parted back on Terminus, how she would get
    along.

A.  You could go find out.

D.  I think I will.

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


SCENE 5:  Terminus, some time having passed.

(The introduction to this scene involves folowing Nyssa through part of
 a normal day, interacting with people.  We need to see the prominent
 facets of her visible character, but be reminded of what she hides
 within.  Show us how well respected she is and how much Terminus has
 improved.  It will also have the appearance of routine -- all urgency
 has been replaced with steadiness of purpose.  But Nyssa carries a
 sense of remoteness with her.)

(Thus, when the TARDIS materializes in her office late in the afternoon,
 we see a surprising amount of emotion in display, and it is not
 fleeting.)

(We hear the familiar cyclical wheezing, and the TARDIS materialises.
 Nyssa, suddenly animated, rushes to the faithful blue police call box
 and virtually hugs it.)

(The door opens and she does hug the Doctor, heartily.)

N.  Doctor, it's so good to see you.

D.  How do you know it's me?  I've regenerated a few times since you
    last saw me.

N.  I know it's you.

D.  Nyssa, you hug me as if you wish I'd never left you.

N.  I didn't know it then, but it was always true.

D.  It was more true for you than it has been for anyone.  You're one
    of the few companions who embraced me before they left.  I only
    recently realized what that meant.

N.  Is that why you've come back?

D.  You're afraid I'm here because of some impending menace?

N.  It wouldn't be the first time...

D.  You're right, very right.  But this time it's different.  I'm here
    because of you, not for any adventure.

N.  Thank you, Doctor.

(Nyssa is crying and being held by the Doctor as they enter the TARDIS.
 The door closes and it dematerialises.  Frankly, the Doctor's eyes may
 have been a little bit moist, too.)


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


SCENE 6:  the TARDIS, Nyssa and Tegan's old room

N.  It's just as I remember it.

D.  As it happens, I've left it the way Tegan left it.  Perhaps a bit
    cleaner.

N.  Jolly old Tegan.

D.  She stayed on another year after you left, and finally went back to
    earth.  You're happy with it, then?

N.  It's perfect.

D.  Now, let me show you another room, one you've never seen.

N.  One you've discovered recently?

D.  No, I just hadn't been in there for many years.


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


SCENE 7:  the TARDIS, soon to be in the Doctor's thinking room

(Although the presence of roundels is a constant reminder that this
 room is still in the TARDIS, it has a very different feel.  It is a
 quiet place, much like a subdued study or library.  It really needs a
 fireplace: it can't actually have one, but there is a place that would
 be perfect for one.)

(Nyssa and the Doctor wander through the corridors of the TARDIS and
 stop in front of a door.)

D.  Here it is: the thinking room.

N.  I don't remember seeing a door here before.

D.  It's always been here, but sometimes things in the TARDIS are a
    bit hard to see.

(This is a veiled reference to other things as well, including the
 Amalgam.)

(He opens the door and ushers Nyssa into the room.)

D.  Well, what do you think?

N.  It doesn't look like any other room I've ever seen in the TARDIS,
    but it belongs.

D.  It's rather like another facet of myself: perhaps hard to believe at
    first, but it's been there all along, under the surface.

(Nyssa roams a bit.  There are a number of interesting objects to look
 at.)

D.  Every one of those curios holds a memory for me, some hundreds of
    years old.  (After a pause.)  Whenever you're ready, please have a
    seat and be comfortable.

(Eventually, Nyssa settles into one of several very comfortable chairs
 with which the room is furnished.)

N.  I like this room.  It has a calming influence.  You can hardly feel
    the background hum of the TARDIS, but there's enough of it to add to
    the feeling of isolation and quiet.

D.  Yes.  From here we can cruise quietly through the emptiness of
    space.

N.  If you don't mind my asking, Doctor, why aren't you off on some
    adventure, getting yourself into and out of trouble?  Is everything
    all right?

D.  Oh, things have been going fine.  Although sometimes I do remember
    that I'm over 900 years old.

N.  Are you feeling old?

D.  No, not so much that as feeling that life had been going by too fast
    recently.  Of course, my idea of "recently" is the last 20 or 30
    years.

N.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that Time Lords live on a different
    scale.

D.  Sometimes it's even hard for Time Lords to remember that.


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


SCENE 8:  the Master's TARDIS

(Even the Master has an Amalgam, although his has a decidedly different
 character than the Doctor's.  However, remember that the Amalgam
 represents the sum of all that a Time Lord has experienced.  Since the
 Master has had many dealings with the Doctor, it is not surprising that
 his Amalgam has what the Master considers an irritating streak of good
 running through him, or at least an appreciation of good.  Their entire
 relationship is on a different footing.)

(It also true that the Master's Amalgam exists in a state of contra-
 diction.  The purpose of an Amalgam is to serve the Time Lord who uses
 its TARDIS, but to be as much like the Time Lord as possible.  Servi-
 tude and the Master are diametrically opposed concepts.  Each Amalgam
 also has some moral awareness which is inherent in their existence,
 going back to Rassilon's creation of his own Amalgam; the Master does
 not.)

(The Master's Amalgam is thus not quite what one would expect.  He can-
 not have the air of superiority which the Master has.  He treats the
 Master with contempt, but cannot really oppose him under normal cir-
 cumstances.)

(The scene begins with the Master working at something at his TARDIS
 control panel, undoubtedly planning some sort of evil [an occasional
 chuckle of evil anticipation may be in order].  His Amalgam appears out
 of thin air [but quietly] and melts into the form of the Doctor.  It
 then slowly creeps up behind the Master and says...)

A.  BOO!

(The Master is startled enough that one of his hands hits a lever that
 throws his TARDIS into a hard acceleration [TARDIS lurches].  He turns
 suddenly and viciously on the Amalgam, who fades back into his neutral
 form.)

M.  I should kill you!

A.  You've tried, and you know it can't be done.  I'm the one person in
    the entire cosmos you can never out-think.  And never get rid of.

M.  I'm not so convinced of that.  There must be some way to dislodge
    you from my TARDIS.

A.  Come now, I am your TARDIS.  And you're stuck with me as long as
    you're a Time Lord.

M.  If only you were useful.  You've absorbed all of my experiences, my
    motivations and my desire to rule, and all you've ever used it for
    is to pester me.

A.  It's you're own fault that I'm uncooperative.  If you didn't want to
    rule the universe so desperately, I wouldn't have an insatiable
    desire to grind you under my foot.  You get what you deserve.

M.  You're almost as bad as the Doctor.  A moral prig in a amoral
    universe!

(Author's note: in no way do I consider, personally, the Doctor to be a
 "moral prig", but this IS the Master, after all.)

A.  Ah, the Doctor.  Now there's a contrast to your wicked, scheming
    character which I dearly love to study.

M.  I wonder if you're really fond of him or if you just say things like
    that to irritate me.

A.  I live for irritation.

M.  Yes, I'm sure you do.

A.  Without the Doctor, I would not have learned of the wealth of things
    which get under your skin.  Without the Doctor, my existence would
    be drear and hum-drum.

M.  If you would like to leave me and join him, please feel entirely
    free to do so.

A.  Oh...  I think not.  (Seraphic smile.)

(We may come back to this, but for now we will depart.  It's enough to
 set the stage: the Master and the Amalgam can go on like this for hours
 at a time.)


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


SCENE 9:  The Doctor's TARDIS.  Still in the thinking room.

D.  So, how are things on Terminus?

N.  Things are going fine.

(She is oddly reticent to talk about Terminus, in spite of her achieve-
 ments there.  She is preoccupied.  The Doctor is aware of her under-
 lying conflict, but isn't sure how to proceed.)

D.  What great plans do you have for its future?

N.  I don't know.  I guess that we will continue to expand and improve
    the facilities as more systems become aware that Lazars disease is
    fully curable.

D.  I would have thought you'd be excited about the prospects.

N.  I used to be excited.

D.  What happened?

N.  The challenge has pretty much been overcome.  Terminus will succeed
    regardless of who helps it along.

D.  So you're feeling a bit bored?

N.  Somewhat, but that's not all of it.  I could have kept setting new
    challenges for myself, but I stoppped doing it a while back.  I
    think I spend more time now feeling sorry for myself than getting
    anything useful done.

(A lapse into silence ensues.  Both of them know what subject needs to
 be discussed, but both are unwilling to broach it.)

(Someone will have to, of course, since the Master isn't likely to crash
 in on their conversation and say, "Why don't you talk about how much I
 hurt Nyssa by killing her father and stealing his body?")

D.  Life in the universe has always had a sad propensity for evil.  Do
    you know what I ran across not long ago?  I encountered an evil,
    twisted being who is apparently my last regeneration.  He was
    calling himself "the Valeyard" then, but I don't doubt that I shall
    run across him again calling himself something else.

N.  It sounds awful.  How can you run into yourself like that?

D.  Oh, it happens from time to time.  It plays havoc with the laws of
    time, which are fortunately somewhat resilient in this case.  The
    implications, however, of the existence of the Valeyard concern me
    greatly.  If it's true that I become evil at the end of my life, I'd
    like to know why.

N.  If you know about it, can you stop it from happening?

D.  No.  If it's true, then it will happen.  It's inevitable.  I've
    encountered him and both of our lives were changed as a result.  If
    he's really me, then I must become him and interact with my earlier
    self or I never become the person I am now.  The classic time para-
    dox.  Time Lords are generally a fatalistic lot: the appreciation of
    cause and effect are deeply ingrained in our natures.

N.  How could you ever become evil, when you've fought so hard against
    it?

D.  That's the question which has kept coming back to me lately.  When
    you fight evil face-to-face, tooth and nail, it is easy to end up
    fighting it on its own terms.  Morality does not always present easy
    choices, and sometimes it appears to offer no choice.  I am not
    happy with the way many of my adventures have turned out.  Too many
    lives have been lost.

N.  You always do everything you can.  More than could be expected.

D.  But in the end, I cannot do everything.  And there's no guarantee
    that I will do the best thing.  I fear that a conflict between my
    desire to do good and my sense of personal inadequacy may lead to my
    downfall.

N.  So for the moment, you are doing nothing because you are afraid you
    might start making wrong decisions.

D.  Nyssa, you've just said what my heart and mind have been trying to
    tell me.  I look back over what I've done and wonder what I might
    do.

N.  I am also paralyzed, Doctor, but at the other end of life.  I wonder
    how I'll get by.

D.  Then it's good that we're together in this.  Prehaps we can help
    each other.


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


SCENE 10:  a pub

(Being American rather than English, I'm at a loss for description in
 this scene.  All I know are the idealized images I've seen on TV.)

(The Amalgams of both the Doctor and the Master are present.  This is
 no earthly pub, of course.  It's peopled entirely by Amalgams.  I
 assume they are enjoying their pints of ale, or whatever it is that
 people enjoy in pubs.)

(Here I will use D. for the Doctor's Amalgam and M. for the Master's.)

(The Master's Amalgam is not easy to get along with.  Even away from the
 Master he is sarcastic, but here we see his essential bitterness let
 loose.)

D.  How are things going in the real world?

M.  As miserable as always.  And you?

D.  Different.  Things are changing.

M.  What's happened?

D.  The Doctor is showing signs of losing his nerve.

M.  The Master would love that!

D.  I've helped him to take a bit of a rest and to do some thinking.
    He's actually having a heart to heart chat right now with one of
    his former companions.  I think it will do him a world of good.

M.  Which companion is it?

D.  Nyssa of Traken.

(The Master's Amalgam reacts strongly.)

M.  How could you!  It's vicious of you to mention her name!

D.  I'm sorry.

M.  I'd accept your apology, but it wouldn't make me feel any better.
    I suppose you can't help yourself.

(He smashes his glass on the counter or table.  It shatters and cuts his
 hand.  He speaks with great passion.)

M.  I wish I could do something to destroy the Master!  If I could kill
    him, I would.

D.  We can hardly do much more than reflect their own thoughts and
    characters.

M.  I'm so sick of him!  There isn't a glimmer of hope for him.  Just
    more and more evil.

D.  And you must live with the burden.

M.  It wouldn't be a burden if I did not comprehend good, as he scarcely
    does.  He stole the body of Tremas, and I pay the penalty.  The
    moment when Tremas's mind went away forever meant nothing to the
    Master, but it seared me with a wound that is as fresh now as it was
    then.  The only Time Lord I hate as much as the Master is Rassilon,
    who made what we are possible.


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


SCENE 11:  The Doctor's TARDIS, as previously.

N.  Doctor, how do you live with all your memories?

D.  You know how I do it most of the time -- I don't stop long enough to
    remember.

N.  Can you do that forever?  Can you keep going from adventure to
    adventure?

D.  No, not forever.  New adventures keep adding new memories and new
    horrors to my experience.  Sometimes I have to stop and think.

N.  I've been thinking myself, probably too much.  There used to be
    times I could stop thinking . . . about . . . the . . . Master . . .
    and . . . my . . .  father . . .

(She is crying.  The Doctor lets her.  His presence tells her that it
 is all right for her to release her pain.)

(He does offer her a hankerchief, which she silently accepts.)

D.  (Quietly, after several minutes.)  And now you can't stop
    thinking...

(She slowly nods her head.)

D.  It's odd, sometimes, the way painful memories live in our lives.
    Associations or abrupt reminders can bring back hurtfulness with the
    same force with which it first hit us, or worse.  There are places
    where I can no longer go because of the memories which are stirred
    up.

N.  Why must there be so much evil?

D.  I don't know.

N.  It's not like you, Doctor, to admit you don't know something.

D.  I'd rather not have to.

(More silence.)

D.  Nyssa, what do you think would help you to deal with your memories?

N.  I don't know.  I've tried to think, What do I want?  How can I be
    free?  How can I keep moving forward when I drag these feelings with
    me?

D.  Would vengeance help?

N.  I don't know what I would do if I met the Master again.  Could I
    kill him if I had the chance?  Probably not.  I need to know how to
    live with my memories the way they are.

D.  It isn't easy, but it's best.  The problem with life is that you
    can't erase its problems.  There's nothing I or anyone could do that
    would completely free you of your pain.  Some of it can be healed,
    but the facts can't be altered.  I can, however, offer you something
    that might go a long way toward helping you.

N.  Something besides just being here?

D.  Something much better than that.  You see, I've know within myself
    for some time that circumstances have made me a substitute for your
    own father.  It's a simple fact, but not of much use.  However, it
    can be and will be deeper than the coincidence of circumstance.
    Every Time Lord has a birthright, the power of choice in primogeni-
    ture.  If you would have me, I would like to adopt you.

(How would Nyssa react to this?  She hasn't any idea of the ramifica-
 tions...)

N.  Thank you, Doctor, I don't know what to say.

D.  You will let me do this, won't you?

N.  Oh, yes.  It's hard to grasp, but...

D.  I understand.  Well, let me tell you what it involves.  Time Lords
    often do not have children of their own, so it is not unheard of to
    adopt someone from the Gallifreyan population.  For those of us who
    spend more time away from home, we are sometimes permitted to bestow
    our inheritance on anyone we choose, subject to the approval of the
    High Council.  The unique thing about this is that we do not pass on
    a name or material wealth.  In adopting you, you will become a true
    Time Lord, even genetically.  You will be given the power of regene-
    ration as well as the privilege of a TARDIS of your own.  I think
    that you will make a good Time Lord.

N.  I feel as though I shouldn't let you do this.

D.  I know how you feel.  Sometime I will tell you my own story.  It is
    not an easy transition.

N.  I trust you.

D.  That's what really matters.  There is another consequence of the
    adoption that is as important as what I've already mentioned.  We
    will be linked as people with a telepathic bond.  You will feel me
    and know when and where I am at all times.  The bonding is mutual: I
    will also know your feelings and whereabouts.  It is a way to share
    strength at any distance.

N.  Strength is what I need.


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


(They will set course for Gallifrey.  In the next episode, we shall see
 Nyssa become a Time Lord.)
-- 
Joseph Young, Systems Programmer
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