Whom Gods Deploy
by Guy Moon
Rated G
Summary: The Doctor and Tegan stare out across a deserted world. But the Doctor has been here before, and then, there was a civilisation thriving.
Disclaimer: The BBC owns Doctor Who and characters.
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They’d been sitting here for over an hour.
Tegan let her eyes drift towards the Doctor, playing his cricket ball between his hands. He’s been doing that for over an hour now, as well, she thought. They were on a rocky outcrop, eyeing the vast sea stretched out below them. The sky- a shade of crimson- was bearing down with the distant sun beating its heat on the jagged rocks. The TARDIS was sitting neatly behind.
Tegan finally gave up, and turned to speak. “You still haven’t told me why we’re here.”
“No,” the Doctor muttered. “I haven’t.”
“Any chance I might know sometime soon?” she muttered, cynically. “I’m sure Christmas is coming around soon.”
The Doctor looked down at her, retorting. “They never had Christmas here, Tegan. They used to celebrate, mind you. Feasts of grandeur, lots of swimming… and when I introduced them to celery…”
Tegan frowned. “Who were they?”
“They’re…” he paused. “Sorry, they were called the Kristons. That was the name the Time Lords gave them. They were vibrant … nature was flourishing and the chain of evolution was working extremes here. They could have become so advanced. The Doctor paused, catching his breath, his eyes never wandering from vista of the sea.
“Celery eaters?” Tegan ventured.
“What?”
“They liked celery?”
“Just a habit of mine that I influenced once… They treated it like humans treat a crucifix. Warding off evil sprits.”
“Why?”
“Saw something good in it, I suppose.”
Tegan sighed, her eyes turning back to the sea once again. She kicked a stone meaninglessly with her foot. Instantly, it crumbled beneath her and the wind wafted the tiny motes of dust towards her. She coughed, and turned back. Silence fell once again. “And the reason Nyssa doesn’t have to enjoy this wonder of the Universe?” she asked finally.
“She’s resting. Best to leave her. After all, she’s been through rather a lot recently.”
Tegan raised an eyebrow. “Tell me about it.”
“It’s a shame, really. Sweet things get the worst time of all, so they say.”
Tegan eyed the Doctor as he walked towards the edge of the outcrop. For a moment, the thought crossed her mind that he was going to drop from the side. But, just as casually as he had walked there, he turned back and sat down once again, picking a stone from the ground and crumbling it between his fingers. An uncomfortable silence enveloped the landscape.
Finally, the Doctor perked up. “Of course, there must be something bitter there as well.”
Tegan frowned. “In Nyssa?”
“Not Nyssa, celery.”
“Oh, I see.” She paused. “Why?”
“Universal constant, Tegan. For every something bitter, there must be something sweet.”
“Rather harsh, don’t you think?”
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Tell that to the Kristons.”
It took a moment before Tegan ventured another question. “What happened to them?”
The Doctor sighed deeply.
Tegan, undaunted, continued. “It’s just that we’ve been sitting here now for what seems like hours, and you haven’t said a word; you’ve just sat and…”
“They’re dead, Tegan. A universal brilliance wiped out. Obliterated.”
Now it was Tegan who was left silent. “Wh… how?”
“The Time Lords.”
Taken aback, Tegan leapt to her feet and rounded on the Doctor. “The Time Lords? Wiped out a planet?”
“Yes.
“Why?”
“It was an accident.
“Some accident!”
The Doctor raised an eyebrow and got to his feet, playing with his cricket ball once more and his eyes squinting towards the horizon where the sun had begun to lower. The light reflecting in his eyes, he nodded at Tegan. “I suppose I haven’t faced up to it.
“Face up to it now, then.”
The Doctor sighed deeply once again. “The Time Lords were engaged in an astrological survey in a nearby solar system. What they didn’t realise- what they never predicated- was the extreme planetary shift that this solar system was experiencing. Even their most brilliant scientists failed to comprehend that the fuel release systems inside the rockets would have a catastrophic effect on the solar system’s orbits. Science aside, Tegan, the very presence of the rockets- of any rockets- inside this solar system sent the planetary orbits into chaos. The balance holding space and gravity apart was destroyed. There was spillage and shockwaves to thousands of other worlds. Planetary orbits were sent out of alignment… and this world was plunged towards the sun. The burning effect destroyed the civilisation that lived here.”
Tegan swallowed. “And what about the Time Lords?”
“By the time they restored this world, there was nothing left.” He turned to Tegan. “New universal constant, Tegan: the dead stay dead. There’s nothing that can be done.”
“Are all universal constants so harsh?”
“Every last one. Tegan watched as the Doctor headed towards the edge once again. “Don’t worry, I won’t drop.” Tegan took a moment to find her voice. “Why did you come here?”
“Sometimes, I need reminding.” He was staring impassively out towards the sea, playing with his cricket ball again.
“Of what? And would you put that thing away?”
He dropped the ball into his pocket and turned. “That for every bad, there must be good. That whomever Gods deploy do what they were created for. I can’t save them all.
“You were here?” she breathed.
“Living in their most advanced complex... But when you travel as much as I do, there have to be some that cannot be saved. It takes time to realise… but that’s why I come here. Every now and again. To remember that there will always be universal constants. The bad things that can’t be changed.”
“And how does that help?”
“Reminds me there’s always a reason to go on. That what I do serves a purpose. And that maybe… sometimes there’ll be more good than bad.”
“What about here?”
“There’ll be life here again. Only a matter of time.”
The Doctor turned back from the edge. Placing his arm around her shoulder, he smiled. “Brave heart, Tegan. Now… where next?”