The legend
There was once a race, mightier and greater than any other. They were outstanding scientists and unbeatable warriors. They uncovered everything in the universe and new every other race and their mistakes. This race invented time traveling and came up with a liquid which made them regenerate immediately. The king of this marvellous race was once blessed with twins. But these two boys started a fight which shouldn't end well for both of them and their entire race.
They fought for their right to be the new king. Both of them builded up an army bigger and deadlier than any army before. They fought for thousands of years and split their race in two. But on the day their father died the whole war started to escalate. The twins brought the battlefield to the city. There was no place left to hide. It was an all-out war. When the brothers stood face to face on a pile of victims and corpses their final battle started. They fought for a whole week. When the final morning rose only one twin was alive. The superior one ripped the other ones heart out and placed it beside his own in his chest. The winner became king and threw the heartless body into the universe.
But there was no kingdom left to rule, no planet to live on. The war had destroyed every scientific success the only thing left was one single half destroyed time travel device. The new king had to leave his home with some survivors and started a new live on a new planet called "Gallifrey". He built up a new civilisation. They reinvented time traveling, kept the two hearts and renamed themselves. A new race was born, the Time Lords, Gallifreyans.
The universe, however, pitied the other twin an brought him back to live. But the missing heart couldn't be replaced. The reborn twin came, back to his old planet and found the survivors left by his brother and also started a new race called Yerfillag on a new planet. They reinvented their regeneration an were also able to convert it to a natural skill along with their universe resembling irises, and no heart.
A smashing appearance
“...The universe, however, pitied the other twin and brought him back to live. But the missing heart couldn't be replaced. The reborn twin came, back to his old planet and found the survivors left by his brother and also started a new race called Yerfillag on a new planet. They reinvented their regeneration an were also able to convert it to a natural skill along with their universe resembling irises, and no heart.” “And all of this really happened?” asked a little girl with long hair and a slightly frightened look on her face. I nodded:” Well, that's what everybody think happened. Do you believe it?” The five children who sat around me looked at each other and nodded. “Then it has to be true.” I replied and rose up.
“Now my little fellows it's time to go to bed. The second moon is about to rise.” “But Cordot,” one of them resisted and yawned “we aren't tired.” I started laughing, “Yea, you are definitely not tired. I will tell you tomorrow more about the Time Lords.” “Is it true that you met some when you where younger.” the long haired girl asked. “Hey don't make it sound like I'm old! I'm still young, and I'll tell you tomorrow about it. But only if you go to bed now.” They stopped muttering and rose to go to bed.
I accompanied them to their beds and started my saying-goodnight routine. I went from bed to bed covered their illuminating light stones. But when I covered the last one I heard a strange noise. It started of very quiet but it grew louder very fast. It sounded like a mixture of many not working machines which would explode every moment and it came from outside. I grabbed the illuminating stone and ran outside. Somewhere deep inside I already knew what it was. But I also knew that it couldn't, no it shouldn't be what I thought it was.
But my guts where right. It was a crash landed Tardis. A blue strange looking wooden box laid sideways on the floor. I looked back to the doorway. The children stood there fascinated and frightened at the same time. They didn't know what this thing was. Telling them was a bad idea and ordering back in the house was no use. I rushed over to the smoking box. When I stood just some inches away some doubts appeared in my head. “What if someone knows what this is?” “What if someone sees and reports you?” “ What if this Time Lord ...” No I couldn't let this thoughts take over. I placed my hand on the small handle and slowly opened the door.
A slightly familiar sight appeared in front of me. A small structure that's bigger on the inside. I really missed it. But all this smoke was definitely not normal. “Excuse me?” I shouted. “Would you mind leaving this planet? It's for your own safety!” I heard a shaking female voice:”Who is there? Can you help me? Please I need help!” A women? Wasn't the last Time Lord supposed to be male. “Excuse me, but you aren't the Time Lord are you?” I asked slowly searching my way through the junk to the female voice, “Shouldn't a Time Lord fly the Tardis?” I stood in front of a female human being, kneeling on the floor bend over a man lying there. “Oh right he's the Time Lord you are the companion, sorry about that.” I also kneeled down next to him.
The women looked at me with a frightened and sad expression on her face. “Can you help him? He has a high fever I tried everything but it's not going down. He has been like this for three days. Today he stood up ran to the console, murmured something, pushed some buttons and levers, broke down and here we are.” She looked around:”Where the hell are we?” I also looked around:”Well, it doesn't matter where we are, not at the moment, maybe later but who cares? You should care but never mind that.” And my random talking started again. Every time when something has to be done quick I start talking nonsense. I really should kick that habit. The women stared at me. “Oh I'm sorry.” I started to talk again,”We have to help him. And this slightly wrecked Tardis, poor thing.” I rose and wanted to pick up the unconscious Time Lord. “What are you doing?”, the women shouted and stopped me. “Helping him?”, her expression didn't change. It looks like I had to explain it as if it wasn't obvious enough. Well I guess humans are like this.
“ Look,” I started explaining, “lying here wouldn't help him. All this smoke and junk makes it even worse, and the Tardis can rebuilt itself faster when no one is there. So I carry our sleeping prince out of here into my house, where he can stay for this night. And only this night. If he isn't conscious next morning I'll carry him back here and set the Tardis to your time and planet. Earth isn't it?” She nodded, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say anything but I interrupted. “Good that's easy. I'll hide the Tardis for this night. Only the ones who know where it is can see it. Okay?” The women stood there with the still open mouth just starring at me.
“I'll take that as a Yes. Well, come on.” I picked up the Time Lord and started to slowly walk towards the exit carefully avoiding the junk. I stopped in front of the door and turned to the women and looked her in the eyes. “Listen, I, no we all on this planet aren't human. We might look like you but we aren't. So when we get out there just tell them your name. If anybody asks what species you are just answer: “Look at me what do you think”, and if anybody asks what he is just say the same. The most people from my race don't, let's say, don't get along well with others. And this blue box is your space ship and it's not ruined the smoke is supposed to be and you are just staying for one night.” I took a step forward, “ how about avoiding all conversations with other, I think that's the best.” The women nodded and opened the door for me and the Time Lord.
The sleeping prince
I stepped outside the Tardis and stood in front of a group of Yerfillagan. They stared at me, than at the unconscious man in my arms and finally back to me, desperately waiting for and explanation. ”Hi, “ I started, “As you can see I'm carrying an unconscious man in my arms would you please let me pass. That would be nice.” The women also stepped out of the blue box. I leaned back and whispered in her ear:” Could you please lock the spaceship. We don't want exploring kids in there do we?” I grinned, she nodded and did as I told her. The villagers cleared a path for me in order to let me to my house. The women followed me into my small, in stone carved, house right to my bed, where I put the Time Lord down.
I got two chairs from my living room, a bowl with a yellow glowing cold fluid and a small piece of fabric. I placed the chairs next to the bed and put the fabric into the fluid. The women sat down and starred at the fluid.”What is this glowing thing?” “It's called sersaw. Let's say it's the water on this planet. Don't worry it won't hurt him.” I put the wet fabric on the Time Lords forehead. “So,” I tried to start a conversation, “What's your name?” There was a little smile on her face. “Martha, Martha Jones, and yes I'm human. And you? What's your name? And what are you? You really look like a human.” I giggled “ Martha interesting name. My name is Cordot. We don't have a second name so just Cordot. And you don't have to know what I am. Well it's better not to know.” “Why?” Martha asked interested, “I travel with the Doctor, that's his name by the way, nothing surprises me.” “I won't say that” I laughed,” So he really is the Doctor, the last Time Lord.” I looked at his face, ”Well, I guess you are also tired. I have a second bed next door you can sleep there.” Martha nodded and I showed her the way. When she came into the room she took a look at everything. Well this stuff must be new to her but I think she managed to sleep there. “Oh and before I leave, can I borrow the key? I need to hide the Tardis. I promise I'll give it back.” She gave me the key and I left.
I went back to the Tardis. Thankfully the others who where there had left and it didn't look like they had tried to break in. I put the key into the keyhole, turned it around and opened the door. The Tardis had restored some bits and it had stopped smoking, which was good I guess. The bad thing was that every Tardis console was a little bit different. It took me quite a while to find the right buttons and levers to make the Tardis invisible. I left the Tardis and went back home.
A villager waited in front of my home ready to ask the hell out if me. I sighted and looked at him: “What do you want? I'm just helping nothing more nothing less and they will only stay for a night.” He eyed me and the direction I was coming from. “I hope you know what you are doing.” He looked deep in my eyes, “ I don't want you to cause trouble in our village. Understood?” I just nodded, pushed him aside and went into my house. I checked on Martha and put the key back around her neck. Afterwards I got fresh sersaw and placed the cold fabric on the Doctors head. I stayed by his side the whole night and changed the warm fabric on his head against new cold ones.
An unpleasant awakening
The first sun started to rise and the first creatures woke up. The sky and the land filled with all different sorts of living beings. It was a beautiful morning the slightly red light emitted by the first sun made the plants look like they were burning. It was an astonishing sight. But this wasn't the time to admire the landscape outside the window. I had to get the Doctor and his companion out of here. It was quiet easy to wake Martha but the Doctor was still unconscious in my bed. However, his temperature was almost back to normal. Which meant that he would wake up within the next one ore two hours. Unfortunately for him we hadn't had the time. “Martha,” I sat down next to the doctor, “I have good and bad news.” “Give me the good news first.” she answered while looking at the doctor. “Okay as you wish. The good thing is the Doctor is getting better and he should wake up in one or two hours.” I made a little pause. “The bad thing is that you two have to get out of here now.” “Why?”, Martha looked at me with a slightly shocked face. “Like I said yesterday. My race doesn't like strangers and other species. And we have a kind of extremely unfriendly relationship concerning Time Lords.” “What did they do? More specified what did he do?” Her voice was angry and worried. “Lets just say that history happened. Well, that's nothing a human has to know. We should focus on getting you out of here.” Martha wanted to reply but just nodded instead.
I stood up and picked the still sleeping Time Lord up hoping that the other villagers were still sleeping. Martha accompanied me to the place where I hid the Tardis the night before. There wasn't any sign that anyone had found it. Martha unlocked the door and both of us stepped in. I put the Doctor on the floor and looked around. The Tardis had fully restored itself. I rushed over to the console and waved Martha next to me. “Can you please enter the date and place you were when you left?” She did as I told her. “So Cordot, can you fly a Tardis?” I nodded while I pushed some buttons. “But the Doctor said that only Time Lords can fly a Tardis.” I laughed, “Even the Doctor doesn't know everything. Okay Martha you have to listen carefully now. Okay?” “Okay I'll listen but only if you answer some questions.”
I nodded and Martha kneeled down next to the Time Lord. “If I'm not mistaking,” Martha started, “We, the Doctor and I, crash landed on a new planet with a human looking species. And this mysterious species hates other species. So my questions are: What are you? Where exactly are we? And the most important one, why are you helping me, aren't you supposed to dislike us?” Martha looked at me desperately waiting for a fulfilling answer. I have to say I wanted to tell her but at the same moment the Doctor slowly started to wake up. “Martha I'm very sorry.” I started explaining and slowly walked toward the door. “You might hate me for doing this but I have to do it.” Martha looked at me with a kind of irritated look on her face. I continued talking and walking. “The Tardis will fly back to where you came from. You must never tell the Doctor about this. All of this. Not this planet, not me, he must never know. And whatever you do don't let him travel here no matter what excuse he might think up!” I shut the door behind me and listened to the sound of a screaming Martha and the leaving Tardis. I could only hope that Martha would never tell this Time Lord about us, one of the greatest enemies of the Time Lords, the Yerfillags.
Doctors PoV:
Why is it so hot in here? Isn't there a voice? Yea this has to be Martha. “ Hey! You can't do that. Answer my questions! Don't just leave! Where the hell were we and who the hell were you?” Yep, this is definitely Martha, but why is she screaming? I slowly opened my eyes. My sight was a bit blurry. I only managed to see Martha next to me screaming towards the door. There was another sound. This odd sound the Tardis made while flying. The Tardis, why was it flying? I jumped up and ran over to the console. This shock thankfully restored my vision and cleared my brain. Okay think the last thing I remember was a dizzy feeling. Then three days sleeping because of some strange illness, and then, I only remember pushing some buttons. Oh right I wanted to go back to earth. I quickly looked around and saw a rather irritated Martha kneeling on the floor. But I didn't get much more time for thinking. The Tardis landed in it's normal unpleasant way and threw me back on the floor. “Martha are you okay?” “Yes, I suppose. Where are we?” I got up quickly and looked at the screen. “Earth, England, in front of you home apparently.” I rushed over to the door. This can't be I didn't set the Tardis to this place and nothing against Martha but she can't fly it. I opened the door. It was really England, Marthas home. Martha stood beside me with a surprised look on her face and only said “She really did it. This is my home. I'm back.”
Welcome to Yerfillag
I turned to Martha and grabbed her shoulders. “Martha! What happened?” I shock her without noticing that I was hurting her. “Doctor that hurts!” Martha protested and pushed me away. “I'm sorry.” I took some steps back into the Tardis. “But seriously what happened here? And who is this “she” you were talking about?” “I... well...nobody?” This made me curious. I walked back to her until we were just a few inches away from each other. She was breathing very fast and clearly avoided my glare. “Interesting... So there was a female something in here who could fly the Tardis, which by the way should be impossible, and you won't tell me what happened or who cured me. And yes I know that somebody cured me. If not I would probably be still ill or dead. So...who is this “she”?” Martha looked confused and irritated. She stepped back and seemed to think about something.
I grabbed my sonic screwdriver from my inner pocked and soniced Martha. No sign of any manipulating source, nothing wrong with Martha but what happened? “Martha look at me.” Martha slowly raised her head and looked me in the eyes. She was clearly confused and sad, why was she sad? “I don't know what happened. But there is somebody out there who knows how to operate the Tardis. This person might be a Time Lord or someone related to them or I don't know who. But I have to find her and I have to thank her.” Martha sighted: “I don't think this would be a good idea.” “Why? Did she threaten you? Did she hurt you?” I was kind of concerned. Martha always told me everything I wanted to know, well almost everything. But I've never seen her like this.
Cordots PoV:
When the Tardis had fully disappeared I was surrounded by the royal guard. This meant that somebody knew who the man was and reported it. There was no way this would end well. But why not make it a little bit more fun and interesting? I sighted: “What an honour to meet you all. I'm very sorry but you aren't on my guest list for tonights party.” One of the guards stepped forward. He wore a slightly different uniform. I guessed this made him the leader or something like that. I never liked the guards they didn't know what fun was or even meant. These guys were real party poopers. He cleared his throat and started to talk really loud. Did he think I'm deaf or what? “Miss you probably know why we are here?” I grinned: “Like I said there is not enough room in my home so you can't join my party. I am very sorry.” “We aren't here for your stupid party we are here to take you with us.” He really wasn't a fun guy. “Oh so a royal party! I never thought I could ever attend one. I'm really honoured.” I bowed slightly.
This made him really angry and he started to shout: “I don't think you know how serious this is! You sheltered a Time Lord! The enemy of Yerfillag. You not only betrayed your planet you also betrayed our king! This in unforgivable!” “Oh so you noticed. You were really quick I thought this would take ages.Well, too bad he's already gone. And by the way he is your king not mine. Therefore I don't really care if I betray the king or not, he doesn't do anything relevant or good for this planet and this “we hate every other species” policy isn't the best. And yes, I know that I insulted the king but hey nothing is as bad as sheltering a Time Lord. No wait I know something, how about sheltering a Time Lord and a human, saving the Time Lords life and sending them back to a safe place. Yea I think that's the worst thing I could have done. Oh hey that's exactly what I've done. Whoops.” Oh yes this had to be said. All Yerfillagan around me just stood there and stared at me with an open mouth. This was a pretty neat view seeing all this puzzled elite soldiers standing around me.
Doctors PoV:
“Doctor,” “Yes Martha?” “This girl, on that planet...” “So we were on a different planet, no we probably were on earth you wouldn't address different looking species as “girl” or “she”, well maybe “she”...” “DOCTOR!” Marthas look was reproachful. “Sorry...” I sat down and tried to shut up. “That's the problem we were on a different planet. The girl or whatever she was told me. And she also told me not to tell you.” “Why? Why would she do that?” I felt Marthas glare on me: “Sorry again. I'll try to shut up” I made a gesture of zipping my mouth. “Don't just try it, do it!” I nodded, Martha sighted and started to explain. She told me about this girl called Cordot and the planet she lived on. But the thing that worried me the most were these two sentences “Her race doesn't like strangers and other species. And they have a kind of extremely unfriendly relationship concerning Time Lords.”
There were a lot of species I knew that disliked Time Lords, but only one of them resembles humans. And everything I knew about them wasn't nice. They had an enormous hatred towards others, especially Time Lords. Both species often fought bloody and long wars against each other with no winner. All attempts to achieve peace or just some years of armed truce failed. Both sides wanted to fight and did everything they could to keep this war alive. This race was called Yerfillag and I just couldn't understand that someone from this race would help a Time Lord and would be able to manoeuvre a Tardis. This Cordot was a quite interesting person. “Doctor! Are you even listening?” Martha shouted directly in my ear. I jumped up and smiled. “Oh yes, and I know the perfect place for our new adventure.” “Oh no, Cordot even said not to come!” “Yea but I'm the Doctor I never do what people tell me to do, okay sometimes I do but not very often. And when this Cordot person is, what I think she is, she might be in great danger.” I started to push some buttons. “ Lucky for us the Tardis has something like a protocol where I can look up our last location, pretty useful isn't it?” “Yes very useful but why is she in danger?” “Come on, use your pretty brain Martha. Cordots species is called Yerfillag and they really dislike every other species especially me, Time Lords. And what would you say would other Yerfillagan do if they knew who she sheltered?” I pressed some more buttons and the Tardis lifted of. “They would arrest her?” “Oh not only arrest. The sheltering of a Time Lord is punished with death penalty. This girl literarily gave her life for us, well me in particular.” “But why did she want me to keep this a secret?” I grinned as the Tardis landed and threw us around. “Why asking me if you can ask her?” I ran over to the door and opened it. “Welcome to Yerfillag!”
The royal guard
Cordots PoV:
The leader with his loud voice was the first one who got back to reality. “That's enough now! Take her away. I don't want so see her face ever again!” The soldiers came up to me, grabbed my arms and pulled me forward. The villagers started to whisper. I don't know what they were talking about but I bet it's wasn't anything nice. They pushed me into their hovercraft transporter. They not even bothered to tie me up. The knew me and I knew them. And we all knew that I wouldn't run away. If I wanted to, I would have already done it. They drove me to the royal castle and threw me in the dungeon beneath it.
I got a private cell on the far end of a long corridor. They clearly didn't want me to talk or see anybody. This meant they learned from last time they locked me up. When was it? I guess 50 years ago if I'm not mistaking. This time, however, would be different. They would probably try to sentence me to death very quickly. And they won't fail this time. They had enough evidence and more than enough people who disliked me. Only the children would probably miss me, well they would only miss my stories, but hey that's something isn't it? These stories were all I had left from the best time I ever had in my entire life so far and also probably forever, considering the fact that I would be dead soon.
Fast steps echoed through the corridor coming towards me. They roughly woke me up from my day dreaming. A visiter for me? No, there had to be more than one person, two, tree? Four! Yes, four, I could see their silhouettes coming closer in the dark. “What special occasion brings four visitors to my modest cell?” “Shut your mouth traitor. We aren't here to talk. The king wants to see you. Get her out of there!” “The king?” One of them unlocked my cell. “I am quite surprised. May I know the reason why?” I walked out of the cell and stood there flanked by the four guards waiting for them to move. “We don't know, and to be honest I don't know any reason why anybody would want so see you.” “I take that as a compliment.” I grinned and we all started to walk along the corridor.
When we walked passed other prisoners the guards grabbed my arms. “Hey, guys.” I started to shout. “The king wants to see me. Isn't that great? Should I tell him something?” One of the guards hissed “Hey, shut up.” But it was too late. All prisoners started to shout, clap, stomp and scream. It almost resembled a riot. I loved the power of imprisoned Yerfillagan. I loved the sound of demanding shouts and the smell of the sweat from the frightened and terrorized guards. The guards quickly pushed me forward and ignored the up roaring mass in the dungeon. You could hear them all the way up to the doors leading into the kings hall. It was an astonishing feeling. Behind me the screams of the suppressed mass and in front of me the all mighty king. I wonder why he wanted to see me.
Doctors PoV:
I stepped out of the door and immediately regretted that I hadn't checked the location on the monitor. I was surrounded by surprised and shocked looking Yerfillagan who looked like they had seen a ghost. Do I really look that frightening? Well, never mind. “Hello, my dear Yerfillagan. Do you, by any chance, know a girl called Cordot?” Martha pulled me back and whispered into my ear. “Doctor, this is the exact same spot we crash landed. This is Cordots village. They definitely know her, but I think we aren't welcome.” She was right, oh she was totally right. They all starred at us with the intention to kill. “So you are this mysterious last Time Lord.” I looked around and saw a middle aged Yerfillagan stepping forward. “Yes, I am. I am the Doctor. And who are you?” “Do you really think I' would tell a Time Lord? And if you are looking for Cordot she's gone. They have taken her.” “Who?” Martha stepped forward. “Who took her? Why didn't you help her?” “Help her? Human I think you don't know a thing about us. This girl was a disaster she spoke of other species as if they were good. She poisoned our children with her crazy stories. We are all glad she's gone!”
“And we are glad you came Doctor. We were expecting you.” A male Yerfillagan wearing a uniform stepped out of the mass followed by, I would say, twenty soldiers. If I guessed correctly, and I did, these uniforms were the uniforms from the royal guards, the elite soldiers from Yerfillag and real party poopers. I turned around and eyed them. “You were? I am surprised. And you must be, the royal guard I guess? I am honoured. I guess you took Cordot with you am I right?” “You are right and because of the fact that you are the last Time Lord we won't kill you right now.” I had a bad feeling. The guards started to surround us. “And I guess you won't let us get away either?” “Exactly, we will execute both of you along with Cordot. So if you would like to follow us mister Time Lord? We'll bring you to our great king. He wants to speak to you before you die. Before we finally kill the last Time Lord.”
Old friends
The guards led us to the big hall. Martha often looked at me with a sometimes concerned look and sometimes with a reproachful glare. I thought she kind of couldn't decide if she should be angry or afraid. I, for my part, was really exited. Yes, I think exited. This was the first time a Time Lord would meet the King of Yerfillag. It was an enormous privilege to get an audience, despite the fact that I should get killed. This definitely wasn't as planed. Well, I never really had a plan to begin with. But I never expected them to catch us this fast and I never thought they would want to kill the last Time Lord. These Yerfillagans are really something else.
Martha and I were told to wait outside. The king was in the middle of an important meeting. They made it sound like we weren't important at all. Martha started to nervously play with her cloths and hair. “You don't have to worry Martha. I have a plan.” “Really you do?” Martha looked surprised and happy. “Well, I'm working on it.” I looked around searching for a way out. “You don't have a plan, do you? Let me guess you never had a plan do begin with.” “That's not true that's all part of my plan.” Martha just kept glaring at me. “Okay maybe not everything. But now we know where Cordot is and we get to see her isn't that good?” “It would be better if they won't kill us afterwards.”
I unconsciously raised my voice. “I won't let that happen. Nobody will ever have to die when I'm around!” Martha was surprised and slightly shocked. “So what's the plan, Doctor?” “I'm glad you asked. First of all we have to talk to the king. He might make an exception and lets us live. I hope he's as understanding as the rumours say. He let Cordot live despise the fact that she knew Time Lords and maybe traveled together with them.” “So our only hope is the understanding of the king who wants us dead? Sounds promising.” Marthas sarcasm was on it's peak again.
Cordots PoV:
The kings hall was as pompously and extravagant as ever. I really hated this place it was so clean, so rich looking, so extremely not my taste. However, the guards forced me to bow in front of the king. “Ah Cordot long time no see. 50 years I guess.” “50 years and your place looks as tiring as always. Honestly how can you survive all this sparkling and ass kissing?” I felt hating glares from all sides coming from advisors and heard some light giggles from some guards behind me, which made me smile. “Cordot, you never learn do you? Your attitude isn't the best, it makes everything worse.”
He made a waving hand gesture and all servants, guards and some advisors left the hall. After another, more demanding gesture, and an intense glare the others also left. “Now it's only you and me. Are you sure it was a good idea. This would be the perfect opportunity to kill you.” The king rose and walked down his throne. “We both know very well that you won't do that. You are clever and intelligent and you can believe me when I say that I want to help you.” “Oh, so you want to help me. How? I'm listening.” I crossed my arms and waited for his explanation.
The king sighted. “Cordot, you might have not noticed but I managed to change some laws. By the way where have you been? It was really hard to find you.” “Far away from you and your mob. And let me guess you invented the law that forbids playing outside ore something like that.” He shook is head in despair. “No, I changed the race laws! Now the contact with other species doesn't have to be the death penalty. Well, it depends on the contact. But saving a Time Lords life might kill you. You knew that didn't you?”
I shrugged. “Who knows. I might have known that or not. That doesn't matter anymore. I did what I thought was right and I would do the exact same thing over and over again. This we-hate-every-other-species-policy is pure rubbish. You know that, and jet you didn't change anything. I kept quiet about everything because I thought you would reform that way of thinking. But I was wrong. You are as ignorant as every other Yerfillagan!” “I am... I am not like them! If I were like them you would be dead by now. I am the one who kept you alive. It was me who forbid the killing. I changed the race laws and I will continue changing them until everybody respects other species. But all of this can't be done within some decades. These things need time. Yerfillagans need time to adapt to these changes. I can't force it on them. But I can introduce them slowly and carefully to other friendly species. And that's what I did all these past years. Some foreigners already live in the palace and in the central city. But you decided to hide in some little village and didn't even try to see what was happening around you!”
“Oh I'm sorry but I think you forgot that someone banned me, not only from the central city, no this someone banned me from every big city. No, wait that someone was you wasn't it? So how should I have known these things?” “And since when do you follow rules and laws. How should I have known that you would really do that?” The king turned around and walked up to his throne. I wanted to throw some good and sarcastic arguments at him when he shouted. “Bring my other guests in!” Other guests? Who could that be? No, don't tell me this Doctor guy came back. I turned around and waited for the door to open.
Doctors PoV:
The door opened and some guards and advisors came out, whispering in confusion. I couldn't understand much but I think the king must have ordered them out. He now was alone with some prisoner. That prisoner could be Cordot. But why would the king want to be alone with her? She was a criminal set on death penalty, maybe this was her last wish. No according to what Martha said, Cordot wasn't this type of a respecting-the-king-Yerfillagan. The guards and advisors tried to keep their voices down. They wanted to eavesdrop. That was no nice behaviour for guards and advisors. The conversation within the kings hall grew louder and louder. They must be shouting at each other. Suddenly it was quiet and we heard the king shout. “Bring my other guests in!” Finally, I would meet the king of Yerfillag. The guards led us to the door. They opened the door. I smiled at Martha and walked into the hall.
Stories of the past
The guards walked us into the great hall. It was an astonishing sight. We were in a big bright hall with 9 tall and massive pillars with impressive engravings at the top and bottom. The kings throne stood on top of a staircase in the middle of the room. But my admiration was stopped by Cordot. “Martha! Doctor! What the hell are you doing in here. You were supposed to leave!” “Well, sorry about that.” I turned around and examined her. She was quite small for a Yerfillag but only some inches smaller than me, she also had the typical pitch black hair but it was rather short for a female Yerfillag, Cordot wore the traditional clothes in purple, black and white, these long sleeved robes which were partly open at the back really fit her and she also had these astonishing universe resembling irises, pitch black with some highlights resembling stars and galaxies. I just smiled and continued talking. “I always wanted to visit this planet and I thought, why not use this opportunity. And here we are, we even got an audience. Isn't that brilliant.” “If this audience wouldn't include us getting killed it maybe could be brilliant.” “Oh Martha you have to be optimistic. This is such a magnificent race, so mighty and proud like no other one. And, oh look at these buildings brilliant just brilliant.” “I don't want to spoil your daydreaming Time Lord but as you might have noticed we don't really like strangers and especially Time Lords. So I'll ask again. Why the hell are you here?” Ouh this Cordot had some temper. “I already told you, … Cordot wasn't it? Of course it was Cordot I don't forget names.” “Silence!”
The king had risen from his throne and murmured to himself. “I knew bringing you to together would end like this.” He walked down the staircase. “I assume all three of you know why you are here. And no doctor you don't have to explain it!” The king now stood in front of us flanked by four guards. They really thought we would harm him. He sighted and started to speak again. “The crimes you have committed are punished with the death penalty. I, however, would be willing to change the punishment.”
A hissing and murmuring started around us. The advisors were confused and after some seconds the probably oldest advisor came forth and directly addressed the king without even looking at us. “But your majesty.” He bowed. “Are you aware of what you are saying. These three, and especially Cordot, committed crimes which are even worse than the usual death penalty ones! You let her go last time. But this time she has to die!” Cheering shout echoed from the other advisors. “Excuse me, but what happened “last time” Martha would like to know that” Martha looked at me and whispered. “You really need me for an excuse to ask that?” I just shrugged my shoulders and waited for an answer.
Cordots PoV:
“Why not asking her?” The advisor replied provokingly. Why did it always has to be me? Seriously, why me? I sighted hoping the king would interrupt but he just nodded. “Okay short version. I traveled with some Time Lords and fought some other species and unintentionally destroyed some parts of a city. Satisfied?” “Some parts? You and your friends blew up more than half of the city!” “Okay maybe a little bit more than some parts but we didn't destroy it. We saved you! However none of you narrow minded, ass kissing and hateful advisors will ever admit that!” The advisor just stared at me and the whole room was silent. “Okay, okay.” The king was the first one to speak again. “We should all take a deep breath and stop insulting each other! Understood.” Everybody nodded and the doctor took some steps in my direction.
“So, Cordot, you travelled with Time Lords.” “Yes, I did. Anything wrong with that?” “No, absolutely not. However, I have some questions.” “Just ask if you are lucky I'll answer them.” We both grinned and he took a deep breath. “You, a Yerfillagan, travelled with some Time Lords. Everybody knows these species don't get along. Moreover they normally kill each other whenever they see the other species. So, how is it possible? What did you do to them or they to you? And more importantly how many are some. Two, three, four or even more? And who were they what were their names? Do I know them. I think I don't but that's not important. Oh and when were you travelling together? Where have you been, I meant to which places and times? You can fly the Tardis can't you? Did they teach you, well of course they did you clearly didn't learn it just by looking. And mastering a Tardis like you did was either luck or you are really good. However in order to be good you would have to learn it for quite a while, lets say, some years? Of course no one would notice, you flew with a time machine you could be back in the exact same night just some minutes later and nobody would know you travelled for some years and not just some minutes. Clever, really clever, and brilliant. That's why I love time travelling. You only have to be careful to not meet yourself that's always really confusing and weird. I once met myself, I was the previous one so I still have to visit my past self. Sorry I was of topic. So might I get some answers?” He smiled at me. I just looked at him and said. “Oh you stopped talking. Great, which questions would you like me to answer?” “You weren't listening?” I just shrugged my shoulders and grinned. “You were listening Cordot and you know what I want to know. I have the right to know. I am the last Time Lord, and your Time Lords might be alive.”I sighted. “No, they are dead Doctor. Every single one of them is dead. You are the last of your kind.”
Own truth (Part 1.)
He had a sad and lonely look on his face. “But they all gave their lives for a good purpose.” “How did they die Cordot. Please tell me.” But before I had even the slightest chance to answer one of the advisor shouted. “I hope they died the most painful and miserable death as possible, those bastards!” Okay this man definitely wanted it. “How dare you!” I quickly looked at the doctor. I saw anger rising in the doctors eyes, and I had to act before his anger takes over. I headed over to the advisor and continued shouting.
“Those Time Lords saved your little ass my dear. They saved a city! They gave their life for peace. They believed that Yerfilagans could change. But they were wrong. Oh and how wrong they were. This goddamn species only thinks about itself. We think we are superior but we are not. We are as low and arrogant as everybody else. And you little bootlicker dare to call those brave Time Lords bastards? You better think twice before you speak again. Or I'll make you sorry for what you said. And you know what I'm capable of. Just remember...”
“Cordot!” I turned around. I expected to king to stop me. But it was the Doctor. “It's okay now. I know we Time Lords...” “Oh don't think I'm defending you. It's not always only about you, Doctor. You might be the last of your kind but you aren't the only Time Lord I know, or knew. I am not doing this for you I do this for them!” Everybody in the room stared at me. Some of me clearly wanted me dead, others were shocked and a few were scared. I took a deep breath and calmed down. The king was the first one to speak. “I think further negotiations in this form are useless. Everybody who has something to say steps forward and gets the time to talk and nobody will interrupt, except me. Nobody! Understood?” The room filled with murmurs and nods.
The old advisor was the first to come forward, slowly followed by a far younger one. The younger one was even younger than I was, and I wasn't old. I really wondered how he became an advisor. Advisors are well educated and often noblemen. One of the guards, he seemed to be middle aged and experienced in combat, also stepped forward. I think he fought in the city 50 years ago but I'm no quite sure. I joined those three in their line along with the Doctor who seemed to be unhappy to be the last one to speak.
Doctors PoV:
I happened to be the last one in line. The first one was this grumpy old advisor. He was probably very conservative and he didn't seem to like either Cordot or me. Next to him there was a quite young advisor. He was either really skilled and educated or his parents were rich and helped with his reputation. The third person was one of the royal guard. He had the look of someone who had seen many things. Some were good but I guess most of them were tragic. He probably fought in at least the last two big wars and some civil wars.
“Is there anyone else who wants to speak up?” The kings voice cut trough the silence and my thoughts. He glanced around. “It doesn't seem so. Well.” The king turned around and faced the old advisor. “Would you please tell us your opinion on this matter and your solution.” The old one nodded and took a step forward. He cleared his throat and started his speech.
“Dear fellow advisors I bet you still remember the day our great city was attacked. You still remember the terrible message delivered by a brave soldier who was injured. Do you remember the look on his face? He was frightened, terrified and in pain. This young man who's message saved a whole city. This very man still suffers great pain. But this pain isn't physical, no. He suffers from psychological pain. He can't make the things he saw unseen. He can't undo what happened. He can't save all those dead Yerfillagan who died during this brutal attack. And he still doesn't understand why. He doesn't know why a Yerfillagan women would betray her own race.”
He glanced at Cordot who was clenching her fists. You could see how hard it was for her to stay quiet. “Why she would let some Time Lords in and helps them destroying a city and killing innocent civilians. And this Yerfillagan women who was responsible for all this pain and death didn't get punished. She was just banished. Banishment was far to merciful. She should have ben killed 50 years ago. That's why this Yerfillagan women, Cordot, has to die here and now.” The advisors look was filled with hatred and contempt. He raised his voice once more and almost shouted.
“She betrayed us, again. She betrayed the kings trust. And she sheltered a Time Lord, our enemy. He might be the last of his kind but he still is one. And all Time Lords want us dead! I ask you here and now, which city is next? What's your next target? How many innocent Yerfillagan have to die this time? How often will you betray us until you are satisfied? What is your next plan Misled Princess?” The advisors shouted in agreement. Cordot, however, flinched from the words “Misled Princess”. Was that her name? It seemed so. But why princess there is no sign of any relationship between her and the king. However, that could be the reason why he spared her last time and would do it this time again. But the king gave me no time to think and allowed the young advisor to speak. He stepped forward and looked around. The man stood there for about two or three minutes without doing or saying anything. The advisory got anxious and started to whisper. But he didn't seem to care he just stood there.
Own truth (Part 2.)
The young advisor stood in the middle of the room. Everybody stared at him, waiting for his speech. But the man only eyed one after another. He was also waiting. Waiting for someone to act to speak up, to question his behaving, his silence. Everyone kept silent for quite a long time. Until one of the other advisors shouted. “Will you hurry up boy. I don't want to wait any longer!” “And here it is. The biggest problem.” The young advisor had spoken without turning to the shouting one. “What problem? The only problems in this room are those three disgusting creatures and your silent speech.” While turning around and facing the angry advisor the young one calmly answered.
“These are no real problems. These are problems you made up, all problems are just made up. All the things you dislike or don't understand are problems. Everything that's against your thinking is a problem, everything new is a problem, the whole universe is a problem. But you aren't. You are perfect, flawless a superior creature. You all are! And this way of thinking and this problem creating behaviour are your biggest problems.” Wow, that man could talk. The room was completely silent. Everybody was astonished and surprised. This advisor was totally right. Every problem is manmade.
“I was there. I may have ben young but I was there. I was in the city when we were attacked. And I saw what those Time Lords did. Cordot is right. They saved us, they saved me. I don't know who attacked, but I am sure it wasn't them.” He looked at Cordot and smiled. “They saved a lot of people, children, women, men and old ones, they saved as many as they could. Of course nobody believed us when we told anybody. We kept quiet. Some of us were locked up because they were insane. But they weren't they just knew what they saw. They knew that not all time Lords are our enemies. And I knew, I have to change something, I have to show everybody the truth. This is the reason why I became an advisor.
I wanted to open your eyes, to help you understand. But you choose to be blind. You choose to ignore al of that. You wanted to keep this problem. You wanted the easier path to walk on. Therefore, let those three go. Let them be an example of our kindness and change. None of them did anything wrong. They didn't cause any problems. The guards who appeared in her village brought the problems. If they wouldn't have shown up nobody would have cared about them. They would have forgot about all this and lived their normal lives. But you had to order them to take her in. You caused all the problems. You are the problems of the Yerfillagans.”
He walked back in the line. Nobody had expected this kind of speech. It was brilliant, magnificent, I think I like that one. He sure knew how to talk and argue. I definitely had to talk to him after all this. The guard was the next to speak. I was quite interested to hear his side of the story. He stepped forward and looked at the king and awaited his permission to speak. A short nod was enough and the guard faced the mass and started his speech.
“I was also in that city, fighting. I, however, can't say if the Time Lords were the ones attacking or not. I never saw a Time Lord. I only saw some tiny strange creatures creeping around the city, destroying it and attacking civilians. I don't know if they were on the same side as the Time Lords and I also don't know what these things were. We checked every record, every species we know but not a single one resembles what we saw. When we killed one of this things they turned into dust and disappeared. But I do know that someone helped us.
Someone or something rescued civilians and defended districts we couldn't. We can't say for sure that Time Lords did it but it is possible. Despite knowing all these things we also kept quiet. We didn't want to unsettle our people. These creatures never appeared again. They left as fast as they appeared, without leaving a trace we could follow. The whole incident is a mystery.
Considering the punishment concerning those three, I would set them free. The brave man before me is right. The times of hatred are over. I have fought wars. I know what it feels like to stand on a battlefield. I know the face of dying species. And I can understand their hatred against us. All we did for the past millenniums was fighting, killing end exterminating other spices. Do you know the reasons why we did that? No? Exactly there were no reasons. We did it out of boredom. We were hard to kill and therefore almost immortal.
The Time Lords were the first ones who were a threat. Who were able to kill us easily.We, however, came up with a way to kill Time Lords. We just killed each other because we could. But this chain of hatred and revenge has to stop. And we are the ones to do it. We can end these endless wars. We only need to stop the senseless killing. And start seeking peace. We should start trusting other species and take this opportunity to show everybody that we can change. That Yerfillagans can treat others well and respect them.”
I clearly didn't see that coming. I thought he would glorify the war and justify the fighting. This man really saw a lot of things. He was tired of fighting, tired of keeping quiet and doing nothing. Many of the guards in this room whispered in agreement and nodded. The guard was clearly not the only one who thought like that. He smiled, bowed and walked back to were he stood before and waited for Cordot to speak as we all did.
