Time's Champion


 * For the name given to the Seventh Doctor, see Time's Champion.

Time's Champion is an un-authorized novel based upon a story by the late author Craig Hinton and completed by his friend Chris McKeon. The story is a thematic sequel to Hinton's earlier Millennial Rites and The Quantum Archangel, and to The Trial of a Time Lord. Published as an unauthorised publication with all profits going to the British Heart Foundation (a charity chosen by Hinton's family).

Cover blurb
'''IT SEEMS THAT WE HAVE FINALLY FOUND EACH OTHER, DOCTOR. A PITY. I HAD HOPED TO AVOID THIS REUNION; I'VE BEEN DISAPPOINTED ENOUGH ALREADY.'''

2008: John Benton is celebrating his birthday by having a few friends round to his house at Hilsley Halt. But the monsters are lurking.

1908: Writer George Mackenzie-Trench is suffering from writer’s block unable to foresee the ending of his novel, Time’s Champion, nor the consequences of its completion.

9908: The planet Caliban is under attack from Cyber-forces, and governor George Mackenzie-Trench intends to save their world by unleashing Abaddon, a powerful computer virus. But Abaddon has other instructions.

Meanwhile Gallifrey is under attack and the Keeper is seeking answers within the Matrix. President Romana is helpless: no-one is who they seem and the conspiracy goes even deeper than she can imagine. She needs the Doctor...

But the Doctor is on Earth in 2008, fighting to save the life of a child who must survive at all costs.

As Gallifrey is attacked by ghosts from the past, the Doctor, Mel and Benton find themselves in the middle of an epic and final battle as the ancient Gods choose their Champions and allow chaos to reign across all of time and space.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Melanie Bush
 * John Benton
 * Romana
 * The Valeyard
 * Spandrell
 * K9 Mark I
 * Vansell
 * Time
 * Death
 * Keeper of the Matrix
 * Kronos
 * Paul Kairos
 * Arlene Kairos
 * The Chaplain of Spite
 * Madame Clacice Beauvier
 * Maxil
 * Celestial Toymaker
 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Mike Yates
 * Sarah Jane Smith
 * Jo Grant
 * Stuart Hyde
 * Cybermen
 * Jorvic Chen
 * Abbadon
 * Christina Melanie Kairos
 * Morbius
 * Lady Peinforte

Individuals

 * Leela
 * Rassilon
 * Omega
 * The Other
 * The Master
 * The Rani
 * The Monk
 * Borusa
 * Susan
 * Ace
 * Jack the Ripper

Organisations

 * Faction Paradox

Races and species

 * Daleks
 * Ice Warriors
 * Silurians
 * Autons
 * Sea Devils
 * Chronovores
 * Quarks

Transcendental Beings

 * Transcendental Beings
 * Great Old Ones
 * Fenric
 * Gods of Ragnarok and Armageddon
 * Eternals
 * Pain
 * Fate
 * Life
 * Hope
 * Black Guardian
 * White Guardian
 * Great Intelligence

Publication History
In 2000 an American writer and fan of Doctor Who Chris McKeon submitted a story to Big Finish Productions, known as 'The Seventh Door' exploring elements of Remembrance of the Daleks and featured revelations concerning the Valeyard and the Seventh Doctor, this story was rejected by Big Finish. Undeterred McKeon continued to work on another story featuring the Valeyard and began to investigate other authors who had successfully written stories featuring the Valeyard.

While investigating previous authors' efforts to feature the Valeyard, McKeon discovered Hinton's novels and the two met online in Doctor Who forums to discuss the Valeyard. This correspondence led to McKeon learning of Hinton's intent to write a novel Time's Champion for the BBC Past Doctor Adventures, which was to feature both the Sixth Doctor's regeneration and the origins of the Valeyard.

However in 2004 the novel was rejected by the BBC.

The decision to reject Hinton's novel led McKeon to return to his earlier (rejected) Valeyard story concepts in the hope of eventual publication, but when he told Hinton of this, Hinton instead gave McKeon permission to complete Time's Champion itself, with the goal of working together to finish the draft for an unofficial online presentation. Before, during and after this period, Hinton and McKeon developed a strong friendship over discussing their ideas (and met personally at the 2005 GallifreyOne convention in Los Angeles), and when Hinton died on 3rd December 2006, McKeon progressed by himself, determined to complete the novel in his friend's memory.

Upon Craig Hinton's death, McKeon announced his position as the co-author of Time's Champion (Hinton had previously mentioned online that he was working with another, anonymous author). Within days, McKeon was contacted by Simon Guerrier, editor of the Bernice Summerfield audio adventures at Big Finish, who expressed his interest in attempting to publish the book through the company's Short Trips anthologies. Guerrier, however, informed McKeon that the chances of clearing the book's publication with the BBC were slim, and indeed this did not materialise. However, almost immediately after, McKeon was also contacted by David Howe, owner of Telos Publishing, a publishing company which had, until 2004, produced Doctor Who novellas and later the spin-off series Time Hunter. Howe offered McKeon the chance to publish Time's Champion as an unofficial work, using Telos' printing facilities to produce the novel (though not as a Telos Publishing book), whose profits would go to the British Heart Foundation (a charity chosen by Hinton's family, as the author had died of a heart attack). Howe himself offered to serve as the book's editor. McKeon accepted the opportunity and continued to complete the novel. In February 2007, Howe and McKeon met at the GallifreyOne convention to discuss preliminary publication details. On August 27, 2007, McKeon completed the text's first draft, which came out at 170,477 words. This, when examined by Howe, proved to be too large and very shortly thereafter McKeon went to work on the second draft with the goal to cut the word count to 90,000 words. This second attempt he completed on December 27, 2007, albeit with approximately 115,000 words. Howe began to edit this draft over in early 2008, and on February 10, 2008, McKeon received the edited third draft of Time's Champion, coming in at about 103,000 words. This text he subsequently re-read (at Howe's suggestion during their meeting at the 2008 GallifreyOne convention), to which he made some final revisions. This fourth draft was returned to Howe for final editing. Howe then submitted this draft to an independent reader for further alterations. By late March, this draft had been completed and turned over to another reader for a final read-through and opinion. On July 6th, 2008, the completed text and a cover drawn by renowned Doctor Who artist Alister Pearson were turned in for final publication, and the novel was released on July 21, 2008.

Plot
On January 6th, 2008, John Benton celebrates his 70th birthday and invites to his party several old friends. Unable to attend due to work commitments, Sir Stuart Hyde sends his friends Paul and Arlene Kairos (from The Quantum Archangel, to Benton's home. Arlene needs the rest as she is pregnant and also worries for her unborn child's safety given that her husband, Paul, is the human aspect of the deceased Kronos. Benton tries to assure her that all is well as they wait for the Doctor, also on the guestlist, to arrive.

In the TARDIS, Mel worries about the Doctor; although he knows about Benton's party via space-time telegraph, he still spends his days morose and dejected. Fed up with his attitude, she discovers that the Doctor has been deliberately avoiding the space-time location of the celebration; Mel sets the co-ordiantes and she seeks to set the Doctor straight. With a little help from the TARDIS, finds him in an art gallery. After passing through portraits of former companions, Time Lord enemies such as Morbius, the Monk, the Rani and the Master (which reveals that he was indeed the War Chief), and various monstrous alien races, Mel finds the Doctor viewing the pictures of his previous incarnations. The Doctor, aware of Mel's actions, is suddenly animated, and shouts that he is finally "ready" to face his future. He races to the Console Room...

On January 24, 1908, a young writer named George McKenzie-Trench is staying at Hilsey Halt, an out of the way hotel (which is in fact Benton's future home), trying to finish his magmum opus, Time's Champion, but he can't seem to find the right words. His hostess, the alluring Madame Clacice Beauvier, visits him and invites him to an evening costume party. She also reuquests an exclusive reading of the work for the occasion. Although shocked and feeling ill-prepared, Geroge agrees and tries to force himself to write...

In early 9908, on the planet Caliban, Governor George McKenzie-Trench of the Izarus Intent is struggling to finish Abbadon, a computer virus which will thwart the invasion of plans of Jorvic Chen and his Cybermen allies, who have plunged the galaxy into war. George's mentor and spiritual guide, Cardinal Leofrique Grandier, visits and offers him a datacube which he says contains vital information to complete the virus. Grandier then assigns McKenzie-Trench to speak at a mass requiem for the Calibanites. George begins his final preparations...

The Doctor and Mel arrive in Benton's barn, and the travellers are received warmly by their host. As Mel re-unites with her old uni friends, Paul and Arlene, the Doctor and Benton discuss the potential difficulties of the Kairos child's unique heritage. The Doctor, however, feels that there is nothing to worry about.

The Keeper, watching the Doctor on Earth, detects temporal distortions both in 2008 and 1908. With so many distractions, he realizes he must consult the Matrix if he is to know how to proceed.

The 1908 McKenzie-Trench arrives late at Clacice's soiree, but she welcomes him happily to her Pastel Room. Alone, the two discuss her art collection from now dead artist who lived pain-filled lives, and then Clacice proceeds to tell her life-story: How she and her mother fled their home during a great conflict against her parents, and how their enemies damaged their ship so no return as possible for considerable time. Clacice details how she leanred her mother's arts, but fled home and visited the world and charmed its people with her own abilities. Eventually she returned home but found her mother gone, driven away and injured by a man from their home territory, a man who had stolen her mother's secrets. Clacice vowed vengance on the man, and his people. Listening to the tale, George cannot help but be repulsed by Clacice's masocistic tendencies, such as licking her own blood from a cut on her hand. Clacice, her tale finished, reuquests an exclusive reading of Time's Champion for the costume party. Although shocked and feeling ill-prepared, Geroge agrees, knowing he will have to force himself to write. Before he leaves, George asks Clacice if her guests are already at the Halt. She answers that they have been delayed in the storm, but not for long...

The 9908 McKenzie-Trench enters the Intent Compound's Auditorium of Rest to address the Calibanites- a race of sea-dwelling liquid geysers- one last time. He is overcome with emotion, knowing the same forrce which will destroy the planet's attackers will also destory its natives, but Cardinal Grandier arrives and consoles him, saying that he has been a force of good in his life. Grandier asks if his datacube helped complete Abbadon, but George says he never had time to use the cube. Suddenly enraged, Grandier assaults George, demanding that he forget the mass and return and integrate the cube's programming into Abbadon. Terrified, McKenzie-Trench obeys, and leaves Grandier to montior the progress of the incoming Cyber-fleet; he has less than an hour to ensure his plans are successful...

Benton's birthday dinner has gone well, and the Doctor offers a toast to his old friend, not knowing that in 1908, George McKenzie-Trench finally manages to conceive of a plot twist to carry his story forward: the premature birth of an important child. At this coincident moment, Arlene goes into premature, and exceptionally painful, labour. The Doctor, Paul, and Mel help Arlene to her room and prepare for a potential delivery. Benton attempts to call UNIT but his phone line inexpicably dies. The Doctor realizes UNIT cannot help them as light erupts from Arlene's stomach and time shatters.

On Gallifrey, the Keeper sees something in the Matrix, something he remembers from fifty years previously. Six beings, Time, Life, Hope, Pain, Fate and Death, speak, discussing a coming Breakdown which has now begun. Seeing the intruding Keeper, they instruct their Disciple to close the connection and the Keeper falls senseless...

At that "moment," the 9908 George McKenzie-Trench reaches his room just as the Cybermen attack. He uses Grandier's datacube and programs Abbadon, which suddenly transforms into a physical entity resembling a globular mass of chains. Abbadon then dematerializes, leaving George devastated. He retrieves a gun and raises it to his head...

In 2008, the Doctor knows he must remove this part of the Universe from space-time to save the rest. Paul refuses to leave his wife so the Doctor takes Mel and Benton to the TARDIS for the operation. Once there, the Doctor re-wires the console for the reality shift, and uses the transmitter from his space-time telegraph to generate the needed frequencies. The first attempt burns out the transmitter, but Benton suggests they use one from his own telegraph. Mel opts to return to the house to find the transmitter. Inside the house, Paul attempts to confort his wife but finds his hands pass right through her, a phenomenon Mel also experiences as enters the house and her hands pass through solid objects, just before she slips away. In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Benton experience temporary weightlessness as the local reality shifts completely and a hole rips open in the fabric of reality. One hope emerges: the TARDIS can still detect the Kairos child's lifesigns, although its time co-ordiantes are uncertain. With no more options, the Doctor sets course for Gallifrey...

Mel wakes to find herself in the same place as she left: Benton's home. She's greeted by Madame Clacice, who introduces herself and, not at all surprised by the means of Mel's arrival, informs her that two other people haeve similarly arrived, which Mel deduces by the descriptions to be Paul and Arlene. Clacice roughly orders her servant, Annie, to take Mel to see them. Mel befriends the frightened girl moments later and discovers that she and her friends have slipped back to 1908. She then hears a man crying in his room, and Annie tells her about their guest, George McKenzie-Trench...

The Doctor manages to slip the TARDIS through Gallifrey's transduction barrier and lands in the Panopticon, where he finds the High Council in emergency session, led by his old companion, Lady President Romana. The Time Lords have sensed the reality embolism on Gallifrey, but it is Vansell of the CIA who informs them of its true extent: the tear has penetrated the Six-Fold realm, the home of the cosmos' higher beings such as the Chronovores, Eternals, and Guardians. Romana activates a montior window into the Six-Fold realm, which reveals a scene of total war.

Romana deactivates the window and the Doctor announces that the Kairos child is understood by the Transcendental Beings as a breach of the Ancient Covenant, and has sparked this war in the Six-Fold Ream, the Breakdown. The Doctor proposes that the High Council permit him full access to the Matrix to retrieve the needed quantum mnemonics there to stabilise the child. The Council reacts in shock, and one, Niroc, the Lord President (CIA puppett) during the Doctor's Trial, openly opposes the action, citing the Doctor's known renegade history, including the existence of the Valeyard, the Doctor's dark, evil, future self who was his prosecutor at the Trial. Romana silences Niroc, and the Doctor defends himself before the Time Lords' uncaring mistreatment of himself, but he also commends them for their recent reforms and pleads for the approval, which is granted. Romana also agrees and hopes the Keeper of the Matrix will also oblige. The Doctor and Benton go off to find him...

The servant Annie brings Mel to where Paul and Arlene are, which is in fact their same room from 2008. Although the time disturbances have subsided for now, Arlene is unconscious and weak, while Paul is emotionally stricken and despondent. Mel tries to rally his spirits, but Clacice arrives and, with charm, dismisses Mel to tour the house while Paul and Arlene rest. Mel leaves, but promises to return quickly. Clacice them advances on Paul and attempts to seduce him with lures of power- not her power, but memories of his own, the power he once had. Paul lashes out and pushes Clacice away; she hits her head against the wall, but instead of collapsing, she seems to draw pleasure from the pain. She promises Paul he will give into to her assurances and leaves him and his wife locked in their room.

In the vortex, the virus, Abbadon, revels in its freedom and performs its true duty: to seek out a planet called Gallifrey...

The Doctor and Benton arrive at the Prime Mover chamber, the physical heart of the Matrix: a vast space with almost no physcial matter at all, save for the main Matrix terminals. While the Doctor ventures to access these, Benton explores his surroundings and encounters the Keeper, who somehow recognizes him as a "Sergeant." The Doctor arrives and the Keeper, not pleased to see him, tries to deliver the quantum codes to the Doctor as quickly as possible, but the Doctor wishes to discuss the changes the Keeper has made to the Matrix: it now boasts as a power source a portion of the Apocalypse Element, the mineral the Daleks used during their invasion of Gallifrey. The Keeper has no qualms of using such a malevolent energ; it made the Six-Fold Realm window possible. The Keeper then demonstrates his power by drawing the Doctor and Benton into the Matrix. He then takes the Doctor alone on a trip through his own memories (including a warm Gallifreyian night during a meteor storm of purple, green and brilliant yellow and his reunion with the Master on the War Games planet), and then to the repository of those memories, which appears as the hollow interior of an ancient tree. The Keeper accesses the needed codes and places them inside a hexagonal container, but refuses to deliver them unless the Doctor promises to depart from Gallifrey immideately, without voicing his concerns to Romana of the Keeper's activities. The Doctor reluctantly agress but, after leaving the Matrix, promises to bring the matter to attention when the current crisis is at an end. The Keeper scoffs at this, believing himself to be untouchable, just as he collapses in agony as the Matrix senses an imminent cataclysm. Romana communicates via hologram to the Doctor, revealing that something is coming, and then Abbadon arrives within the Prime Mover and invades the Matrix. As the room destabilises, the Doctor orders Benton to leave while he resuces the Keeper. The Doctor finds the Keeper mourning his dying Matrix, and although he tries to console him the Keeper repulses any sympathy, crying out that he was not expecting this to happen, not when he was finally ready. The Doctor notes the Keeper's odd behaviour, but manages to convince him to escape with him, as Abbadon burns the Matrix from within...

Back in 1908, Mel decides to tour the rose gardens at night-time and encounters George McKenzie-Trench, who has been drowning his writer's sorrows in alcohol. As they introduce each other, George reveals his difficulties and wishes he had someone to help him, which inspires him to ask Mel to read Time's Champion and advise him on how to proceed. Mel agrees, and the two return to the home, unaware that Madame Clacice is monitoring their actions...

Abbadon raveages the Matrix, and reaches The Tapestry, the Matrix's energy network conection to the Eye of Harmony. Abbadon infests the Tapestry and gains access to Gallifrey's precognition, which allows the virus to foresee Romana's offense, and to plan the perfect defense...

Inside the Watchtower's on Gallifrey, Romana can only watch in impotence as the Matrix Entrance Doors One through Six open and the planet begins to flood with reflected memories from various periods in the Time Lords' history, including unrecorded religious uprisings which threaten the Watchtower in the present. Before the recent memories of the Daleks' invasion can emerge, Romana decides on a new course of action, and, using her old TARDIS key from her travels with the Doctor, prepares a strategic departure with Vansell and as many of the High Council as possible...

Fleeing from the Prime Mover, the Doctor, Benton, and the Keeper come up against shields which block their escape. The Doctor manages to open the barriers thanks to his newly reconstructed Sonic Screwdriver, and a young man (named Magnus, whom the Doctor indicates is in fact the Master) rushes past them, persued by Chancellory Guards of a previous era. The Keeper reveals that Matrix-Time is flowing on Gallifrey, and the history disruptions will destroy them. Benton hopes to reach the TARDIS, but the Doctor laments that the way is blocked. The Keeper smugly suggests they use his own TARDIS, and veers off to his personal chambers. Although Benton feels they cannot trust the Keeper, the Doctor reminds him that the Keeper still has the quantum mnemonics they require. Also, the Doctor somehow knows that he must follow the Keeper; his future depends on it. Inside the Keeper's chamber, they discover a room filled with columns of parchment. They also find a desk covered with similar papers covered in Old High Gallifreyian. The Doctor chances upon a crumpled white bag, filled with jelly-babies whohse heads have been chopped off. They then spy the Keeper's TARDIS, a white box whose surface appears to have been melted by fire. The Keeper appears and ushers Benton and the Doctor inside, and the three depart the living and the dead of Gallifrey, even as Abbadon continues its work...

Meanwhile, Arlene awakens, but Paul watches in horror as she cries out that Abbadon is coming, and waking up the monsters. Then the child within her begins to shine once more. At the smae time, Mel sits in George's room to read his book, and is struck with fear as she finds the book in written in the language of quantum mnemonics. Just then, the book bursts into light, as images of many great and terrible creatures appear in Mel and George's mind, the same creatures which materialize around Arlene, trying to reach her child. Helpless, Paul begins to pray to whomever might listen, begging for the safety of his family. Amazingly, a voice comes to him, and asks if he truly wishes to help his wife and child. Paul agrees, and he regians the power of Kronos. With these abilities, he drives the monsters away, and his wife and child relax into unconsciousness. However, the voice speaks once more, and Paul feels himself being pulled from the Earth and its time. Elsewhere in the house, Mel and George hear the voices of six entities speaking of a great war before the light within Time's Champion dies, and George collapses. Mel helps him to bed and urges him to destory the book, but he saya doing so will destroy him. As he mumbles of a rising angel (Kronos), Mel decides she has to get away from the house immediately. But as she leaves the room, a strong hand clamps over her mouth...

The Keeper traces Abbadon back to Caliban in 9908, and lands his TARDIS on the planet in George Mackenzie-Trench's room just as the man himself is about to shoot himself. The Doctor thwarts the suicide attempt, just as a Cyberbomb nearly razes the compoounds, gravely injuring McKenzie-Trench. The Doctor and Benton, unharmed, haul George from the rubble, and as the Keeper uses his TARDIS to clear the air of dust, George directs the Doctor to the remains of his light-harp, where the Time Lord discovers the Cardinal's datacube. Cardinal Grandier himself enters the room and suavely demands that he accompany the travels in their escape. The five, including the unconscious McKenzie-Trench, leave the dying world of Caliban...

Back on 1908 Earth, Mel finds her captor is in fact the servant-girl Ammie, who fearfully informs Mel that something evil is on the house with them. She directs Mel to the cellar, where a green light flickers in the darkness beneath. Mel descends alone, and discovers in a side room to the cellar a chamber filled with statures matching the monsters she saw in her vision: the Great Old Ones, including the Animus, the Great Intelligence, the Nestene Consciousness, the Dark, Fenric, the Primeval Beings, Chthulu, Nyartholatep, and the Gods of Ragnarok and Armageddon. Kneeling before the statues and offering her blood in sacrifice is Madame Clacice, her skin covered in metal piercings, praying that the book be completed. Clacice suddenly rises and welcomes Mel to her party. Mel tries to escape, but Annie, acting under hypnosis, blocks and bolts the door, leaving Mel trapped as Clacice seizes her...

The Keeper cannot manage to land his TARDIS on Gallifrey due to the planet's fracturing local timeline. Forced to hover near the world, the Doctor takes the oppurtunity to confront the Keeper on how much he actually knows about the circumstances facing them. The Keeper admits he has discovered prophecies in Rassilon's Black Scrolls -The Arcanities of Rassilon- which predict a great time war -The Breakdown- and note three distinct events which must occur at the advent of the war: the writing of a book, the release of a contagion, and the brith of a child. The Doctor knows about the child and the virus, but wondrs as tothe significance of the book. Meanwhile, Cardinal Grandier thinks to himself that the time is right to make his move, and hopes his sister is successfully making hers. He pulls out a book from his robes, which the Keeper notices, just as the still-delirious McKenzie-Trench stirs and whispers something to Benton, who alerts the Doctor. The Doctor confronts Grandier with this information: that it was he who gave George the datacube, the datacube which activated Abbadon. Grandier nonchalantly accepts the accusation, even the fact that the datacube in Gallifreyian in origin. Grandier reveals that his real name is Leofrique DeSable and he is the Chaplain of Spite, a Time Lord, the son of Morbius; he and his sister will reclaim their family's lost glory. Holding the others at bay with a stazer, he, seemingly through random commands, manages to land the TARDIS on Gallifrey. The Keeper attacks the Chaplain, whose stazer accidentally discharges. In the confusion, the Chaplain escapes, leaving the Doctor and Benton standing over the burnt corpse of the Keeper. The Doctor keeps Benton from pursuing the Chaplain, due to the chaotic conditions outside the Ship, but vows to stop his plan. He then laments the Keeper's death, admitting how similar they were to each other. In sudden reaction, the Keeper rises, and removes the burnt remains of his face to reveal the awful truth: The Keeper of the Matrix is in fact the Valeyard...

''Far away, the being known as Saraquazel (from Millennial RItes) hovers over a region of storming space near a derelict space station. Ignoring a blue box, which approaches the station, Saraquazel prepares to return to his own universe; he has finally found a means to do so thanks to the Guardians. He remains somewhat unsettled to have learned that his home is not in fact the next universe after the Doctor's own, but simply an attached pocket dimension at the end of his universe, yet the Guardians have assured him that as long as the Doctor's cosmos exisits then so will Saraquazel's. Saraquazel enters the passageway to his home...and finds nothing, nothing but the grey. He fades away into the emptiness...''

The Doctor and Valeyard are not pleased to meet again, and the Valeyard refuses any help from the Doctor at first. However, due to the Chaplain's interference, the TARDIS begins to destabilize and the Valeyard reluctantly accepts the Doctor's assistance, although he insists nothing has changed between them. With Benton enlisted to monitor the TARDIS' condition, the Doctor and the Valeyard set out on repairs...

Meanwhile, Paul Kairos awakens in the Six-Fold Realm, and finds it in chaos. Thee Chronovore feeding grounds are deserted, the Eternal City is in ruins. Paul traces the two races to a cosmic battlefield, where both sides collide in fierce combat, watched over by the Guardians themselves. Paul has a brief encounter with the Celestial Toymaker, who revels in the great game afoot. The Toymaker asks Paul to send the Doctor his worst regards before joining the fray. Paul tries to find the Doctor for help, but another's mind catches his attention...

In 1908, Arlene wakes alone in the dark, and horrified to find her stomach covered in blood. At that instant, Annie enters her room and prepares to take the exhausted Arlene to the mistress of the house...

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor attempts conversation with the Valeyard, to little success; he manages to discover, however, that the Valeyard became Keeper of the Matrix when, after the Doctor had escaped the malfunctioning particle disseminator in the Fantasy Factory, the Keeper had arrived and the Valeyard dominated his form. Outraged, the Doctor condemns the Valeyard's callous disregard of life; the Valeyard responds that he had believed the Keeper was the Doctor. Benton then notices an alarm and the Doctor and the Valeyard investigate: on a monitor screen, an image of Abbadon infecting the Matrix appears. For some reason, the virus appears to be constructing a space/time tunell from the Matrix to Earth in 1908...

In Clacice's cellar, Mel sits within an energy field. She resolves not to wait for rescue and, remembering the TARDIS telepathic homing device that Doctor gave her, she uses the machine and sends a distress signal to him...

...which passes through the Six-Fold Realm within Paul's reach. He catches the telepathic message, listens, and locates its recipient...

In the TARDIS, the telepathic circuits flare and Paul speaks to the Doctor about Mel. The Doctor understands Paul's current transformation, but asks to be able to send a reply via Paul. Paul decides to do even better and opens a visual link beteen the TARDIS and Mel's prison. The Doctor and Mel exchange information, and the Doctor learns of the 1908 McKenzie-Trench, his book of quantum mnemonics, and Madame Clacice. Clacice herself suddenly overpowers the connection, casting Paul back to the Six-Fold Realm, and speaks to the Doctor. She informs him of her family's pursuits, and the Doctor realizes that the mother of Clacice and the Chaplain as a renegade member of the Sisterhood of Karn, and an old enemy (Lady Peinforte). Unworried, the Doctor promises to rescue Mel and thwart both Claice and her brother and cuts off the communication. The Valeyard is furious that the Doctor terminated a potentially valuable conversation; the Doctor replies that they know all they need to rescue Mel and attack their enemies. The Valeyard, disenchanted with his counterpart's attachment to his companions, refuses to assist the Doctor anymore and goes off into the Ship to spent his last moments alone, free from the Doctor. Benton offers to go after the Valeyard to appeal to anything left of the Doctor within him. Meanwhile, the Doctor has the inspiration to build a time corridor beteen the TARDIS and Earth, 1908. Yet, even as he begins, both McKenzie-Trenches mumble to themselves that the final fate of the Breakdown and the twin Doctors is inevitable...

Even as Mel promises Clacice that the Doctor will make good on his certainty to rescue her, Paul flails back to the Six-Fold Realm, only to find that he has attracted the attention of the Chronovores. Meanwhile, back in the Valeyard's TARDIS, the man himself wanders its halls, cursing his relationship to the Doctor. Benton arrives and tries to persuade the Valeyard to return, but the Valeyard refuses to listen, and wanders into a dis-used and burnt room, which the Valeyard recognizes with disgust as a version of the Doctor's wardrobe room. Benton follows him there, and in further arguing the Valeyard looks at a mirror and sees himself for the first time without the Keeper's face. Suddenly, the image in the mirror dissolves and the mirror itself dissappears, revealing a hidden alcove, in which the Valeyard discovers an off-white three-piece Edwardian suit and cane. The Valeyard then finds himself dressed in the suit and the mirror restored. The TARDIS begins to shudder and the Valeyard realizes the Doctor's plan and rushes back to the console room, leaving Benton to mourn the Valeyard's lost soul. As he departs, another shadowy figure follows after him...

On Gallifrey, the Chaplain of Spite revels in the destruction he has unleashed, and remembers his childhood with his sister and their parents, Morbius and his Lady. He recalls their final moments together on Karn, and how his Mother revealed a future War far greater than Morbius' battle, in which he and his sister would play an important role. Leaving both her children with an amulet as a gift, the Mother took the Chaplain's sister to safety from the Time Lords, leaving DeSable with Morbius. However, DeSable fled at the first oppurtunity, and searched the Universe over for clues to his future destiny, finally discovering his role as Fate's Champion. Arriving at Caliban, he attempted to use their computer resources to construct Abbadon, but found he could not handle the quantum mnemonics alone, but then he remembered the power of his mother's amulet, and opened it...In the present day, the Chaplain enters the ruined Panopticon, confident of his victory...

The Doctor completes the time corridor, but finds it is too unstable to travel. Nevertheless, he decides to cross anyway, but just before he can, the Valeyard, with Benton close behind, returns, and offers to go in his place, citing his far stronger constitution. The Doctor is very skeptical, but agrees, knowing that he ultimately woule never survive the trip. The Valeyard locks down his Ship's systems and departs to 1908, leaving the Doctor to discuss his feelings with Benton. Benton asks if the Doctor knows what the Valeyard is, but all the Doctor knows is what the Master told him at the Trial. However, the Doctor makes the connection tahat the Valeyard is much like the Watcher from his fourth and fifth regenerations, albeit much more individual and malignant. The Doctor wonders hat power could have twisted any parft of him so fundamentally, just as he discovers on the TARDIS time scanner that the Valeyard's timeline is in fact a time loop...

Back in 1908, George wakes up and call out to Mel, remembering the books' awakening. He sees the book glowing ith power and tries to throw it from his room, but the power of the book enters him, overpowering his mind and covering his skin in mnemonic symbols. Annie arrives and summons George to the cellar...

In the Six-Fold Realm, as he sees the Multiverse beginning to collapse, Paul tries to esscape the Diviene Host, but they mage to force him into the Lux Aeterna itself...

In 1908, the Valeyard emerges from the time corridor not far from Hilsey Halt. He keys the corridor's energy signature into a wrist bracelet to ensure a speedy departure, and nearl collapses in agony as he feels the Breakdown's effects on local space-time...

In the Valeyard's TARDIS, the Doctor and Benton examine the datacube found on Caliban, and find that the program version of Abbadon is different that the one which attacked Gallifrey. McKenzie-Trench, who already awoken, confirms they are the same virus, and the Doctor and Benton are surprised to find the George covered in quantum mnemonics. George reveals that he is in fact constructed from the mnemonics themselves, formed by Morbius and his consort to help in their conquests. To rptect their children, and aid in their future destiny in the Breakdown, Morbius' wife spilt the mnemeonic constriuct into two parts, both of which were eventually activated by the Chaplain and Clacice as their respective Georges. At that moment, the George in the TARDIS reacts to what is happening to his other self in 1908; he sees the Book, and monsters rising in a storm...

The Valeyard arrives at Hilsey Halt, and finds the entire house enveloped within a powerful forcefield, surrounded by what appears to be angels falling through its light...

Inside the house, Clacice prepares to sacrifice Arlene upon an altar, while Mel watches from within her prison. She briefly gains hope as her George enters the cellar, but quickly loses her rising spirits when she sees her friend covered in mnemonic writing and obeying Clacice's commands. Clacice orders George to start the ceremony...

The Doctor decides he must act, but must know if he can trust his George, given the condition of his other self, which the 9908 counterpart can sense. Geroge reveals that while separate, the two halves of his persona are more susceptible to suggestion (and due to an oversight of their creators, unable to function properly - hence their respective mental blocks), but since the Chaplain has betrayed and abandoned him, this George is completely determined to help the Doctor and defeat their enemies. The Doctor understands, but still canot grasp why the Chaplain would wish to destroy the Matrix, until George reveals Abbadon is not a destroyer but a container, which revmoves all living and non-living matter in its grasp and places such into a pocket universe - an eternal living death. The Doctor finally realizes that Abbadon is not destroying ther Matrix, but storing it within its personal dimension, but for what purpose? Benton hazards the guess that there is a connection between the Book, the Child and the Virus after all, that perhaps DeSable and Clacice want to build their own Matrix. The Doctor agrees and concludes that the Virus is not only packaging the Matrix but is sending to 1908 to download into the Book Time's Champion. Benton adds the final piece by realizing that Arlene's baby will be the power source to this portable Matrix, and forever a slave to the machine. Just as the Doctor onders how the day can get any worse, the TARDIS informs him that the Matrix is about to collapse into Abbadon...

Just as Abbadon is about to swallow the true heart of the Matrix, its Soul, it finds itself under some form of attack...

The Doctor knows the Matrix will not give up without a final fight, but he also concludes he must take action or all is lost, for George can sense that the Chaplain - located within the Panopticon - is adding his power to Abbadon, and together they will consume the Matrix at last. The Doctor resolves to confront the Chaplain directly, even while knowing the conditions outside will probably kill him, but he still chooses to act, for why else is he the Doctor? Instructing George and Benton to keep a watch for the Valeyard, the Doctor exits the Ship...

In 1908, the Valeyard advances and starts to push forweard through the energy surrounding Hilsey Halt...

On Gallifrey, the DOctor advances through the streets of the Capitol towards the Panoopticon, surrounded by the dead of his race. He trips and falls, and seeing himself as the last his kind, he begins to buckle under the pressures of time crushing upon him...

Through great pain, the Valeyard eakens and curses his wasted life spent in shadows, but thoughts of beating the Doctor drives him on, past the forcefield, and into the house. He finds the cellar door, opens it, and decides to descend, all the while knowing he is probably making a grave mistake...

The Doctor ignores his fears and rises up, races to the Panopticon and enters. He finds the Chaplain aiding Abbadon via a dimensional portal, and pushes off his pedastal. The Doctor preapres to use his Sonic Screwdriver to summon the Presidential Coronet and isolate the Matrix and speaks to Abbadon itself, who laughs at the Doctor's efforts and reveals that its actions are authorized by the highest authority, and decides to sho the Doctor someone who agrees on this point. Abbadon shows the Doctor the cellar of Hilsey Halt...

...where George begins to read from Time's Champion, summoning all of the most terrible monsters from before Time began. Suddenly, the Valeyard emerges from the shadows and brandishes at Clacice a weapon - his version of the Sonic Screwdriver, the Harmonic Disseminator- but instead of resucing Mel, he wants Time's Champion for himself...

The Doctor knows true betrayal, even as the CHaplain attacks him from behind with his powers, stopping the Doctor's hearts. DeSable takes the Screwdriver and prepares to summon the Coronet, not to isolate the Matrix, but to embrace it, and fulfill his family's destiny. Helpless on the ground, makes a final desperate plea, and blacks out...

Continuity
As a non-canonical work, this novel shares no continuity with any other work. Laying that to one side, however, one can note that the authors attempted to use the Valeyard, who had first appeared in DW: The Trial of a Time Lord. An alternate version of the Valeyard appeared in DWU: He Jests at Scars.... It is somewhat unclear which of the two was intended here.

Timeline
As a non-canonical work published without the permission of the BBC, the events of this novel didn't happen, and they cannot be placed within the Sixth Doctor's lifespan. Nevertheless, the authorial intent was that it occured after BFA: The Wishing Beast but before: PDA: Spiral Scratch