STEALING EDEN Part Seven Continued

"Once upon a time," Paul began. Sarah made a face. "Oh, come on! Give an old man his due here."

"You need a little snappier beginning or I'm going to fall asleep!"

"Very well. The Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey are an ancient race who live on the other side of the galaxy from us. They are humanoid in appearance--the man you met was one of them--but they have certain very key differences from humans. Time Lords are able to live for thousands of years, and when a body gets to be damaged or worn out, Time Lords have the ability to regenerate themselves a new body. Provided the damage isn't too great, mind you. If my head falls off, I don't have the power to grow a new one."

"Couldn't you live forever doing that?"

"There are only twelve regenerations possible. Then it truly is curtains for them. Time Lords are to some degree telepathic, are more resistant to extremes in environment, and heal very rapidly when ill or injured. Because of their advanced life-spans and some other complicated stuff I don't pretend to understand, Time Lords do not reproduce. When a new Time Lord is needed, one is grown from a gene loom. Or that has always been the theory, until recently."

"Life without sex. There's an interesting concept," Sarah said sarcastically.

"Not really. Time Lords are very boring. They debate a lot, pontificate even more, and scheme amongst themselves constantly. They observe the universe, but don't officially allow themselves to interfere." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Officially," Marriner continued, "Is a lot different from reality. I ought to know.

There was a brilliant scientist that ran afoul of the Time Lords once, by the name of Angelus. Angelus was a great geneticist who thought he'd try to hybridize the Time Lords with another species to create a better Time Lord. This idea got him blackballed from Gallifrey, and he went off to pursue his theories using a variety of alien species. All of his ideas failed, until he turned up on Earth and tried it on a human child he happened to kidnap from a family he killed to cover up his crime."

"You," Sarah said quietly. Paul nodded.

"I am no longer fully human. I'm not fully a Time Lord, either. I have some of the characteristics of each. I do have the ability to regenerate, which is why I survived being shot. Jennifer's wounds were too great. She never had a chance to regenerate."

"Did Angelus create both of you?" Sarah asked.

"We met, fell in love, and got married. What neither of us knew was that the modifications Angelus made have the ability to be passed from person to person in much the same way AIDS can. Time Lord biology is much more advanced than your own, and tries to assert itself when instituted into a new host. That normally kills the host, or makes it rather ill at the very least. Jennifer got quite sick on our honeymoon, but recovered after a month We didn't know until we started being able to read each other's minds that anything had happened. She became a Time Lord hybrid just as I did. Only we didn't have very much time together.

"So what happened to Angelus?" Sarah asked.

"The Time Lords got wind of Angelus after a few years and took him away. There was a great debate about what to do with me--whether I should be allowed to live or be killed. I told the Time Lords I would be happy to continue as an agent in residence to assist in any problems that might occur on Earth. They agreed, with the stipulation that I was not to use Angelus' TARDIS to travel in time and space. I cheat a little on that account, but I don't go hopping around the universe or off to visit Julius Caesar or anything complicated like that."

"I thought you'd never call," Kate told Lynda.

"It has been rather busy here. Spike and I have been touring talk shows all day telling the world we're going to be married. I haven't had a chance to get home for a while, and I just saw your fax."

"You two are going to actually do it?" Kate exclaimed, after a screech of delight.

"Absolutely, Kate. No doubts."

"I'm happy for you both," Kate replied.

"Enough adulation. We're paying for the call, let's get to work."

"What do you think of what we've discovered so far."

"I think we have a problem," Lynda replied firmly. "Marriner left a message asking for a meeting tomorrow morning at the offices. Quote: 'We need to discuss your future.' Bad news."

"One on one meeting?"

"No, he's bringing Sarah with him. Fat lot of good that will do me. I can twirl Sarah around my finger like nobody can, but if he's what we think he is, I'm not gonna have a prayer with either of them."

"Julie says we can't print it no matter what we find."

"Fool!" Lynda spat. "We have to get this story out to somebody, even if it means I have to write it by hand and set off the fire alarm at the school again to print it. This is too important for all of us not to follow up. What's she doing this for anyway if she won't run it--blackmail?"

"Yeah, that word did come up."

"Amateur hack! I'm going to really enjoy bursting her bubble."

"One more thing, Lynda. Julie says the McDowell girl is one of the financial team on the Junior Gazette buyout."

"Is she now?" Lynda said, interest piquing. "I think I'll do a little investigating myself, if that's the case."

"Assuming Julie doesn't beat you to her, and she'll even talk to us. Angie seemed to think she'd keep quiet."

"We won't know until we ask.."

Night had fallen, and the Junior Gazette staff had departed for their homes. Sarah had left too, her head spinning with new ideas and new concepts. Only Marriner was left now, until his peace was disturbed by Sophie and Laura barging in waving a piece of paper.

"News from America...."

"Kate and Kevin are there. They've met Angie Becker...."

"What are we going to do?"

Paul held up his hand to still the commotion. "The end game is beginning, you two. From this point on, you stick close to me and keep the guns loaded. Sophie, get Brigadier Crichton from UNIT on the phone. I'll want to speak to him immediately. After that, get Lynda Day on the phone personally and tell her tomorrow, 8AM, Sarah's office. No discussions. Laura, check to make sure that the cloaking devices are working and that no one will recognize you. I want you both at the Gazette building tomorrow as insurance against Thriptos and his Agency goons trying anything."

Sophie smartly saluted and went off to do her job. Laura lingered a bit. "Do you want the microphones taping tomorrow in the office?"

Marriner nodded. "I also want a camera rolling in there with a feed to the TARDIS communication systems. Whatever happens in that office gets broadcast live to the universe, and if the Time Lords get caught on Candid Camera, so much the worse for them."

Laura gingerly put her hand on Paul's. "You don't sound like you're going to win this one. Why?"

"Two problems, one room." Paul turned the teacup upside down, looking in vain for one last drop. "Ties up the loose ends in a hurry," he shrugged. He gave Laura a hug. "We may not win this one, but we'll go down fighting, right?"

"Absolutely, sir." Laura saluted and left the room.

Paul returned the salute, but when Laura looked back as she was leaving the room, she noticed his gaze had departed from her and gone to the painting of his wife on the wall. "Circles," he said quietly. "Always traveling in circles."

On To Part Eight