h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The darkness pressed inward from the screen. The sense of loss that he felt was so, inadequate, so meager compared to the actual loss, that he felt guilty feeling it. It was impossible! He saw Sutekh vanish in the time tunnel! He was temporal dust!

His minds eye kept recalling the picture as if that would change the present. It didn't; he checked the scanners. They all said that the planets were devoid of life.

Someone had to have interceeded, but who and why? Sutekh was far too dangerous to trust, let alone save to be your lacky! He flipped some switches and the center column rose and fell rhythmically! He waited a few seconds and then opened the view screen again.

"The last line of resistance against him," He whispered to himself, "Not even my lot could stop him."

The ancient society of the Timelords turned to dust. Nothing was alive. The transduction barriers had held, but only long enough for them to identify the threat and take in a fearful gasp! Then how did he escape? He checked the time field. He was lucky; he'd left Gallifrey long before hand, and was probably still unaffected by Gallifrey's destruction. He was aberration, though, even now he was a temporal oxbow. Sarah, whoever that was, had vanished almost instantaneously, but his timelordness would buy him time, but how much was unsure. He'd never experienced this bad a temporal mutilation, who knew how long it would take for all the quantum particles to re-orient cohesively.

He had to go back to stop this from happening; try and default it so that he won't have to worry about it, or will he the paradox that this will cause; it didn't matter.

"I can't let this nightmare happen?" he growled under his breath.

"But it's already happened!" Insisted the voice in the back of his head, "If you interfere, you'll break your most solemn vow as a timelord!"

"It doesn't matter! If I don't interfere, there won't be any Timelords to vow to!" HE retorted mentally and pressed the button. THe whine started. He had made his decision and there was no turning back. HE had to live with it now.

Somewhere out in the universe a voice laughed as it watched the little blue box fade from view.