It was ten years ago when the Arillus home world was attacked suddenly and terribly. The planet was devastated, whole cities were turned to burning fragments and the death toll was beyond any meaningful expression of numbers. The survivors fled their dead world in as many ships as they could; they pledged to make their race continue. Many ships didn’t make it but one or two found suitable worlds. Only two person knows exactly what happened there; the person who caused the destruction and Susan Foreman...


Susan Foreman, renegade Time Lady turned galactic adventurer, set the controls for the distant planet of Cxiblim Prime. It was an ancient frozen world of glaciers and frozen seas. The planet was a Rutan colony planet until the Sontarans had ‘liberated’ it. Now it was being colonised by humans.
Susan left the console room of her stolen TARDIS and rested on one of the plastic easy chairs. Soon her eyelids got too heavy and she fell asleep.
It was the same old dream she had for the last century and a half ever since he had left her on Earth. Her grandfather had meant well, she could still feel his love in her mind. The three subsequent and all too brief meetings with him had only made her lonelier.


The main dome was empty when Alex Furlong entered. It should have been filled with colonists enjoying the midday meal. All the places were set out and there were meals on the tables but there were no people.


Susan could always control her dreams, it was one of the ways her people could repair damage when rendered unconscious. She was just better at it than others; it was one of her gifts.
Moving back through memories she remembered after the Time Scoop had taken her to the Death Zone on Gallifrey. She had helped Grandfather to the TARDIS only to find an older, regenerated, version of him lying on the floor. She supposed that eventually that would happen to her but there was plenty of life left in her yet. Then there was the time she was pulled out of her time stream by the Rani and she met the version with that awful coat. Finally there was the time on Earth when she stole the Masters TARDIS. She had witnessed a much younger version of him, full of energy like he used to be. She had been forced to kill the Master with a trap. After that, her innocence had died along with his villainy. Now a century and a half of penance later she could almost look at herself in a mirror and not feel a monster.


Alex heard a strange sound and turned round to see a large food machine appear from thin air. “That’s not possible.” He was too shocked to faint.


Susan woke up and pulled on her coat. The readings said below the freezing point of water but that was well within her people’s tolerance. She opened the doors and left to explore.


“Who are you?” Alex asked the stranger.
The stranger said nothing. A strange object was produced which fired a beam of blood red light.
Alex screamed in absolute agony. His body was on fire and everything seemed to be getting larger. His head felt like burning coals in the heart of a furnace. Death came soon and it was a mercy as his body was crushed in on itself.
The stranger laughed as he picked up the doll-like corpse. “I am known as the Master.” He laughed again.


Susan found the main dome after a few hours exploring. Hopefully they would offer her some tea, which was the real mark of a flourishing colony. The base seemed abandoned, there was nobody about which was very strange.
Entering the main dome Susan found everything set for a meal of some kind but there were no people eating the cooling food.
“Ah welcome my dear.” The Master was standing behind Susan. “So glad of you to join me.”
“Where are all the people? What have you done with them?”
“They were unreasonable.”
“You killed them all? What for? For some sick game?”
“They had weapons: Guns, knives and grenades. It was self-defence I assure you. Well almost, I did so enjoy making some of them plead for their lives. It gives one a tremendous rush of, power. You could share that power. You have the will to end a life deliberately. You sabotaged my weapon remember but I can forgive. Join me and we shall rule the universe together.”
“Sabotaging your weapon was the most difficult decision I made. I still feel the pain inside from it like a stain on my very soul.”
“Oh come come my dear. People like us shouldn’t feel upset because we had to make a hard choice. You have tasted the will to conquer and you liked it didn’t you? You want to feel powerful again don’t you so you can feel safe.” Opening a door the Master brought out a gagged and bound colonist. “Take this worthless life, he cannot stop you. Or release him if you wish. It’s that choice I’m offering you. The ability to choose who lives and who dies. Think how good you would feel to spare the lives of a single life. Now multiply that feeling a billionfold and you know how merciful it feels to rule the universe.
“I, I want to release him. Please let him go.”
“You see, you can choose. The will to rule is inside you child. Now if I was to tell you this man is a criminal, guilty of attacking a woman and killing her would you release him I wonder? Mercy or justice, what does your heart tell you?”
“Did you kill someone?” Susan watched as the man shook his head. “If he is innocent then I cannot kill him.”
“Here is all the proof you need. Evidence of his guilt.” The Master handed over the log from the Colony’s elders.
“In front of all these witnesses?” Susan read all the evidence. “You killed her for no reason except your own madness.”
“Now you see the truth. I have killed but always with a reason. This animal preyed on an innocent. He is diseased and the judgement of the court agrees with both of us. I call on you to carry out the judgement of the court.
“End his life?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.”
“You killed me.”
“That was different.”
“How was it different? I was a killer the same as he is.”
“I had no choice.”
“You think his people were going to set him free. The colony would not have endured many more deaths.”
“It’s not humane.”
“We’re not human. We’re Time Lords or have you forgotten who and what you are. We have to set a higher example for the lesser races.”
“We’re not supposed to interfere at all.”
“Then why are you here I wonder.”
“I was exploring the universe and helping those who can’t help themselves.”
“You broke the first law of time, you interfered again and again. Now you refuse to accept that laws are important.
“There isn’t any point is there. There is no colony for him to destroy. You got there first. He’s nothing compared to you and that’s why I have to kill you, not him.”
“Very good, feel the hate build up in you. I’m a monster, slay me. Use that laser gun inside my TARDIS. I will not stop you.”
Susan found the laser gun. It was a clumsy design but it had a full power pack. She aimed it at the Master’s head. She was ready to fire when a familiar sound was heard. “Grandfather!” She saw the blue police box materialise into existence. She ran over to the doors. “Oh Grandfather, I’m so happy to see you.”
The TARDIS doors opened and the Doctor smiled at Susan.
“Grandfa...” She paused mid-sentence. “Grand...mother?”
“Hello Susan, It’s so good to see you again after all these years.” The Doctor hugged her granddaughter.
“Doctor? My you have changed.” The Master sneered and pointed the Tissue Compression Eliminator at both women. “Not to worry, it will be exquisitely painful.”
David had managed to sneak up behind the bearded loony and he used the cricket bat to hit him as hard as possible in the shoulder.
The shock of the attack made the Master drop his weapon.
Susan took aim at the Master but didn’t fire. “Leave this place Master, get out of my life for good. Next time I may not be so merciful.”


Susan and the Doctor chatted for hours about how the Master had tried to persuade her join his side. The Doctor held Susan as she cried. David and Claire had made themselves scarce for a few hours and the Doctor was grateful for their patience.
“I’m sorry for leaving you for so long Susan. I meant to call in a thousand times but my life was so hectic. I knew you had learned how to be yourself and you didn’t need me anymore.”
“I have my own life now, I try to help out as much as I can. Hopefully we’ll meet up again soon. It’s not such a big universe anymore is it?”
“No, it’s not.” The Doctor ruffled Susan’s hair. “I set our ships to exchange information so you should have a full account of where I’ve been.”


Susan returned to her TARDIS. She felt more complete somehow. It was if she had extinguished the guilt inside of her soul and replaced it with something else. Hope.