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“Three” Altos said to Sabetha as he placed his
hand on his travel dial.
“Two,” Sabetha replied, holding onto her travel dial as well.
Their simultaneous “One!” was lost in space as they teleported to the
City of Millennius. They arrived back in the lobby of the courtroom
where they had left from earlier that day. Ian Chesterton’s death
sentence seemed ages ago even though only mere hours before his outlook
seemed quite bleak.
The city’s Chief Investigator, Tarron, was speaking with a man at the
lobby desk when Altos and Sabetha materialized.
“Oh, hello,” he said, sounding a bit bewildered. “You’re back?”
“I hope that’s all right.” Altos said with a chuckle.
“We were hoping to make this our new home, since our old one was just
destroyed.” Sabetha said.
“You and everyone else it seems.” Tarron said. He looked worried.
“What do you mean, Tarron? What’s the matter?” Sabetha asked.
“The hours since you’ve been gone...it seems that the whole of the City
of Morphoton has arrived in Millennius seeking refuge. Their city was
destroyed after they were under some sort of hypnosis. I’m still trying
to make sense of it all.”
“They’ve all come here?” Altos asked.
“They were burning the city when we fled with The Doctor and his
companions.” Sabetha noted. “But is there enough room for an entire
city’s population here?”
“That’s just the problem, Sabetha. There is not enough space and
certainly not enough jobs for their people. It’s a bit of a crisis.”
Tarron said. “But, you mentioned that you were in Morphoton?”
“Yes, we went there on our quest to find the keys of Marinus, but we
both fell under a form of mind control that plagued the whole of the
city. Barbara was the one who freed us and destroyed the Brains.”
Sabetha explained.
“Brains?” Tarron asked. “And I thought there was nothing left to
surprise me today!”
“So, what is being done to help the refugees?” Altos asked.
“Not too much yet,” Tarron said. “But perhaps with your knowledge of
Morphoton we can start an effective relief effort. What do you say, will
you help me spearhead this?”
Altos and Sabetha nodded in agreement without needing to consult one
another on the matter. Of course they would help people in need. Tarron
smiled his thanks and led them towards the courtroom.
“This was the largest indoor space we had to house them.” he explained
opening the door.
The cries of children, hushed conversations of adults, and overwhelming
odour of exhaustion greeted Sabetha and Altos on the other side of the
courtroom door. The scene was so far from earlier that day at Ian’s
trial, it was barely recognizable as the same place.
“My goodness,” Sabetha said. “Is there any organization to this?”
“Not yet” Tarron said. “They only arrived a couple of hours ago, and
they say that more are coming. We are not sure how exactly to handle
it.”
“It’s strange because we were all ordered around for so long, and
despite having our freedom, it seems what these people need at the
moment is some order to their lives.” Altos said.
“Precisely,” Tarron said. “It’s a delicate situation.”
“Let’s get started.” Sabetha said decisively. “If we have each family
sign in with a registrar, we can ensure parents and children are not
split up and that everyone can access adequate amounts of food. Do you
have any food?”
“I’m sure people will be willing to help donate. I can start sending out
the message for a food collection.” Tarron said. “But the real issue is
long term. Like I said earlier, we do not have the space or enough work
for all of these people.”
“I understand.” Sabetha said.
“We will talk to them.” Altos assured Tarron. “Perhaps we can go with
them to help rebuild the city of Morphoton.”
“Thank you.” Tarron said and left to begin the food collection.
Sabetha turned to Altos with a sad look.
“What’s the matter, my dear?” Altos asked pulling her chin up with his
finger.
“I just hoped we could start a simple life together. Now we are leading
a lost city’s denizens back to its ruins.” she replied.
“But is that not better?” Altos said softly. “We can truly build our
lives together from scratch in Morphoton. We will help to create new
infrastructure, new laws, new culture. Truly a new life.”
“You’re right.” Sabetha said. “The Doctor told me not to let my father’s
good work go to waste. His lifetime’s work was dedicated to helping the
people of Marinus to be the best they could be. It seems I can carry on
his legacy immediately. That is something to be thankful for.”
“Indeed!” Altos said and held out his hand to Sabetha, “Come, let us
begin.”
© Copyright Lorena Gay, Niki Hunter & Doctor Who Online, 2012.
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Written by:
Lorena Gay
Artwork by:
Niki Hunter
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