The Thanakian ship arrived outside the ruined capital. It simply faded in without fanfare, unlike a TARDIS. “You’re making the right decision, Madame President,” purred Miss Tarae, always eager to get a word in. “We’ll put their secrets to good use.” She was lightly caressing one of Romana’s shoulders. Romana decided to show Miss Tarae that such an act was a no-no by grabbing Miss Tarae’s fingers and squeezing tightly.
“I make the decisions on what to do with another race’s secrets, Miss Tarae,” she reminded, “not you.” The Thanakian ambassador then appeared in the doorway. “Greetings, Ambassador,” said Romana. “We welcome you to Gallifrey, such as it is.”
“We appreciate what hospitality you can give us, Lord President,” replied the ambassador. “We just hope the Rutan Host cannot penetrate your barriers.”
“No worries,” assured Rassilon. “The Transduction Barriers are still in operation.”
“We pray they will hold. We heard the Daleks tried to-.”
“The barriers have been strengthened,” assured Romana. “No one can get in without our knowledge.”
“We shall stay here to plan our campaign,” said the ambassador. “We ARE grateful for the hospitality you can provide.” The ambassador retreated back into their ship and the door shut.
“…Something just isn’t adding up!” muttered the Doctor.
Inside the Thanakian ship, the ambassador smirked. “Fools,” they remarked.
“Sir, how much longer?!” complained another Thanakian. “My fingers ache to pull the trigger-!”
“Calm yourself, Trooper,” replied the ambassador. “This is a necessary part of the plan. Once the Time Lords figure out what’s going on, THEN we drop the act. Until then, the disguise is to be maintained. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir,” replied the Thanakian.
The Time Lords returned to the citadel and rejoined with Amy and Lurra Rus. “…Rassilon,” said Amy.
“Hm? Yes, Amy?” asked Rassilon.
“You said something about making a new Eye of Harmony?”
“Ah, the contradiction in my earlier statements,” Rassilon sat down.
“The Doctor twigged to that earlier than I did,” explained Amy.
“Did she send you to gather information?” asked Rassilon.
“She doesn’t know I’m asking,” replied Amy.
“Everyone has their secrets, I suppose. Perhaps I had best spill mine. The original Eye was found, yes. But it had suffered damage. Recall how we said the Eye was made?”
“Yeah, using the potential time energy of a star trying to collapse into a black hole, only it can’t,” replied Amy.
“Well, the energies keeping that time field alive are starting to transform into something else,” explained Rassilon. “Something that can’t maintain the field around the singularity.”
“…And the collapse into a black hole will happen,” realized Amy.
“Omega left copious notes on the creation of the Eye of Harmony, but I need to find them within the Matrix,” continued Rassilon, “but every use of the Eye accelerates the moment it collapses!”
“How much of a strain was it in using the time scoop?” asked Amy.
“Not as much as the transduction barriers,” replied Rassilon. “And there’s a lot the current Eye is running. The barriers, communications, security, all of it, even when I’ve set it to reduced power.”
“Then we’re on a time crunch.”
“Romana has spent a few lives being an archivist,” explained Rassilon. “That’s why I need her newfound research skills.”
“To find Omega’s notes faster,” realized Amy. “And hopefully before the Eye collapses in on itself and takes Gallifrey and the people on it with it.”
“Precisely.”
“…Well, Lurra Rus is a mechanical engineer. I’m just the muscle.”
“Come now, the Doctor sees something beyond that,” soothed Rassilon.
“She’s right, Amy,” agreed the Doctor’s voice. Amy and Rassilon yelped as they turned to see the Doctor approaching a nearby console.
“Must you do that?!” protested Rassilon.
“Amy, you’re an empathetic woman,” said the Doctor as she started working the console. “A big hint of that is you making the offer to find a home for Lurra Rus and reignite her hope.”
“…She’s not wrong,” agreed Rassilon. Her curiosity then took over. “Doctor, what ARE you doing?”
“Let’s just say the math isn’t mathing here,” muttered the Doctor. She keyed up visual footage of the ships over Gallifrey.
“…Those ARE what Rutan ships look like,” remarked Rassilon. Then she blinked. “Hang on a minute, those ships belong to the Rutans at an earlier time. Before they started fighting the Sontarans. But that Thanakian ship is from…”
“From a later point in the Sontaran/Rutan war, far later,” finished the Doctor.
“A time loop?” guessed Rassilon.
“And from what you told Amy about the strain on the Eye, I daren’t run a full temporal scan.”
“We’ll have to risk a small one,” replied Rassilon. “If that IS a time loop, then there’s an illusion being played on us. And whoever is making that hypothetical illusion-.”
“Probably has nasty designs on Gallifrey,” finished Amy. “But Miss Tarae probably has nasty designs of her own.”
“Yes, so who would backstab who first?” mused the Doctor. “As you say, we’ll have to risk a cursory scan. Monitor the strain on the Eye, Rassilon.”
“Naturally,” replied Rassilon as the Doctor began her scans. The Doctor’s brow furrowed.
“There IS a form of temporal energy,” she remarked. “And it’s looping. It’s a recursive time loop of events that happened BEFORE anyone arrived on Gallifrey. Months before I dropped you off here.”
“But that would take an impressive amount of power,” replied Rassilon. “Power that we currently don’t have what with the Eye decaying.”
“I think there’s something else with our Thanakian friends,” mused the Doctor.
“…If they ARE Thanakians,” muttered Amy.
“Yes, I was rather hoping you DIDN’T reach the same conclusion I did.”
“Doctor, you can’t seriously believe they’re camouflaged?” asked Rassilon. “The only ones who are capable of that are…are the Daleks!”
“Not entirely true,” replied the Doctor. “There ARE a few races that developed time machines like ours, but their versions of the Chameleon Circuit are more short-term disguises instead of long-term ones like the ones installed in a TARDIS. …Then again, there are two that developed Chameleon Circuits that function like ours.”
“Doctor, do you think the Daleks-?!” yelped Rassilon.
“Well, they DO have that DARDIS,” remarked Amy. “But would they use the Thanakians as their disguise or use the Rutans as part of their time loop?”
“…No, they wouldn’t!” realized the Doctor.
“Doctor?” asked Rassilon.
“The Daleks view the Rutans as the least deadly threat to their supremacy, unlike the humans!” explained the Doctor. “But there’s one race in particular that WOULD use them as part of a disguise!”
“…No!” realized Rassilon. “They wouldn’t dare! Not again!”
“Why not?!” asked the Doctor. “They’ve already developed methods of time travel, like the Osmotic Projector!”
“And it was on those grounds that both us and the Daleks forbade them from fighting in the Time War,” recalled Rassilon.
“Doctor, Rassilon, who are you-?” asked Amy.
“Doctor,” called Romana’s voice as she, Lurra Rus, and Susan entered the room, “have you seen Miss Tarae?”
“She was right behind me a minute ago,” replied the Doctor.
“Sir!” called the Thanakian Trooper. “They’ve detected the Time Loop of the Rutan Fleet!”
“Excellent!” praised the ambassador. “And knowing their intelligence, they’ll figure out it was an illusion!” The ambassador keyed in a command on a nearby communications console. “Scout Party 1 to Temporal Mothership, confirm that Gallifrey has detected the time loop!”
“Gallifreyan time loop detection: confirmed,” replied a gruff, male voice.
“Then deactivate it! It’s time to put all our power into weapons! We go to a war footing!”
“Sir,” called another Thanakian trooper, “our Time Lord dupe is approaching our ship.”
“Get me my flag and meson rifle!” ordered the ambassador.
Inside the citadel, the console beeped. Susan checked it. “Grandfather, the time loop’s dissipating,” she said.
“What?” asked the Doctor. She checked the console and goggled in horror. “Oh god, they duped Miss Tarae!” she said. “Everyone, outside now!” Everyone ran to the citadel’s exit.
Outside the Thanakian ship, Miss Tarae approached it. “Come on, my dear little Thanakians,” she purred. “Time to serve your master.”
“MISS TARAE, GET AWAY FROM THAT SHIP!” called the Doctor as she and her friends approached.
“Not this time, Doctor!” cackled Miss Tarae. “With the Thanakians as my slaves-!”
“Those aren’t Thanakians!” argued Amy. “They’re Son-!” She was interrupted by someone inside the ship opening the door and shooting Miss Tarae in the back. The ambassador stepped out with a smoking gun and a flag.
“Oh, drop the illusion!” scoffed the Doctor. “We know you’re not Thanakians, Corporal!”
“That’s GENERAL to you, Doctor,” replied the ambassador as it tore off something from its collar. As Miss Tarae started glowing, the ambassador’s illusion dispersed and in its place was a Sontaran General waving his flag! “In the Martial Year 76,042,” he laughed, “I, Trev the Temporal Terror, General of the 14th Sontaran Time Fleet, hereby claim Gallifrey, its moons, and satellites for the greater glory of the Sontaran Empire!” He then planted his flag, unfurling it to reveal the symbol of the Sontaran Empire as the ship he was using shimmered until it assumed the familiar spherical shape. Sontaran soldiers then stomped out of the ship, more than what the external dimensions would allow.