which has been noted by the Academy Council, by the way.'

The Doctor had the temerity to at least look embarra.s.sed.

Sendok shook his head slowly and carried on with his lecture, asking an off-world student, a Gresaurus, to answer the problem he had set.

It was only later, awaiting Chancellor Delox's philosophy cla.s.s, that Rallon took the opportunity to whisper a question to his friend.

The Doctor's response was straightforward Badger has taken my reply to the Kitriarch. Suffice to say, my friend, the House will celebrate Otherstide without my presence.'

Wish I had your determination,' muttered Koschei. The House of Oakdown would never let me off so lightly.'

They'd send a chair to get you, though,' said Ushas coldly.

As would my House. Only the House of Lungbarrow would send a... pet.' Ushas spat out pet' as if it was the first time she'd ever uttered such a word. It certainly seemed a distasteful one to her.

Vansell waved them into silence as Chancellor Delox entered the room. Unlike most of the casually dressed lecturers or students, Delox always wore her full heliotrope robes and neck brace. It meant she had to walk more slowly than other people through the lengthy corridors, and she used this to remind everyone at the Academy that, for Time Lords and those in training, time was not something that should be, or needed to be, hurried. She was like that. One of the old school.

When she had started working at the Academy, it was purely a place for the chosen few, who went there to determine their suitability to ascend to Gallifrey's elite. These days, it was a place where enlightened races could also send their students, to learn the ways of the Time Lords, their morals, their philosophy and, to a lesser extent, their science. Of course, no one was ever allowed to learn even the basics of time travel technology - oh no. That was exclusive to Gallifreyans. After all, who else could be trusted with such knowledge? Even those worlds fortunate enough to be allowed to know of Gallifrey's existence lacked the moral fibre necessary to manipulate time.

Besides, the only task of the Time Lords was to watch and make notes, entering details of everything they witnessed in the Net. Seeing alternative time lines evolve, watching different parallel universes blossom into existence before their tired and unadventurous eyes, observing the births, lives and deaths of trillions upon trillions of individuals. That was what the Time Lords did with their special gifts.

And woe betide any member of any alien race (and aliens they were, here on Gallifrey, as if the term automatically implied some kind of inferiority) who asked questions about the properties of time travel, or how a TARDIS worked. They were sent home in disgrace.

I've heard rumours of a race who deliberately let themselves be known as Aliens and came to Gallifrey,'

Magnus had said over tea one afternoon. They sought time travel to help them conquer the universe because they were warriors, who lived to fight, but the Time Lords expelled them - not just from Gallifrey - and said if they ever returned, they'd wipe them out of existence.'

How could they do that, exactly?' Ushas snarled.

Magnus shrugged. Apparently they threatened to imprison the Aliens' world behind a force field and then run time backwards, erasing them.'

Jelpax nodded excitedly. It's true. The Time Lords said the Aliens would not only cease to exist but they'd never have have existed. I saw it in one of the record books in co-ordinator Azmael's library.' existed. I saw it in one of the record books in co-ordinator Azmael's library.'

A memory of this conversation flashed through Rallon's mind when he saw Delox. Yes, she was just the type to do exactly that.

Before she reached the podium from which she always lectured, or hectored, she clicked her fingers and pointed at the Doctor. She continued to point her fingertip at him as she walked, without setting eyes on him.

Stand. Explain to the cla.s.s the philosophy of Gallifrey. The Doctor stood and, unsurprisingly, he stammered as he replied - it was the sort of request that needed parameters. To answer it exactly and concisely could take several days. He said so.

Wrong.' Delox's voice sounded like a tree dying and breaking when hit by lightning. She pointed at Runcible.

You.'

Obedience. Honour. Understanding. Loyalty. Respect.'

Delox lowered her hand. Almost. You omitted to say Tradition. And tradition is as important as all those other qualities.'

She turned her attention back to the Doctor. You and your arrogant young friends seem to have forgotten everything instilled in you since the Loom. You believe that with your wanderl.u.s.t, your desire to know and understand the universe, to see what is out there, those of us content to abide by the rules which govern us are somehow weak. Lazy.

Immolators of knowledge. You are wrong. Our philosophy is based upon the word Tradition and everything else your fellow student said grows forth from that one concept. Without tradition, we have no life. Without tradition, we have no purpose. Without tradition, we have no - to use an archaic term - future. The society to which you belong has been created and continued, bettered and enriched by your forebears. By your families. By your Houses. To reject its rules because you do not agree with them is the ultimate conceit.

And this Academy does not require conceit. It requires obedience, honour, understanding, respect and, above all, your loyalty. Loyalty to yourself, your fellows, your people and your family. If you wish to achieve your doctorate, to join the ranks of the educated and wise, you - and I am talking now to all of you in this room, Gallifreyan or alien - will reject your immature predilections, your arrogant belief that you are somehow better than your elders. And you will work to learn.'

Delox returned her attention to the still standing Doctor.

And you. You in particular have got away with a great deal in this Academy. You stand there, thinking you are clever, educated and intellectual. You believe your desire to escape your home world makes you unique. Worthy of special attention. You are wrong. You are nothing. Your work is patchy, your attendance more so and even your appearance is a disgrace. You believe that getting a few high marks, a few eight out of tens from Cardinal Borusa, means you no longer have to work so hard, that you can relax.'

Delox suddenly slammed her hand down hard on her lectern, making everyone jump in surprise - not least the Doctor, who visibly blanched.

How dare you presume any of those things. You are nothing. You are one microscopic cog in the vast machinery that is this universe. Without you, the universe would go on and never notice your non-existence. You are unimportant to everyone and everything except yourself. Sadly, your belief in your own self-worth far outweighs reality - you lack the most important ingredient in an intelligent, reasoning being.

Humility. Until you learn some, I no longer require you in my cla.s.sroom. Return tomorrow when you have visited your Kitriarch. If you do not do that, you need not bother returning to this Academy except to reclaim your belongings from your rooms in the dormitory.'

Silence. Rallon realised that he, like Koschei, Ushas, Millennia and everyone else he could see, was holding his breath. He could swear he heard multiple hearts beating faster than normal. Everyone found something in the room to draw their attention away from the angry lecturer.

Only the Doctor did not take his eyes off Delox. Slowly he reached down and picked up his writing pens and clipboard, his notes and his data pad. One by one he placed them in his pockets, still never daring to take his eyes off the woman at the head of the room.

One day, Madame,' he said very quietly but very firmly, will make you proud of me and you will understand that the one word missing from your concept of our philosophy is the word change.'

And he walked out, head held high.

And Rallon, Magnus, Koschei, Jelpax and the others in the Deca all realised that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Rallon, Magnus and Millennia found the Doctor a few hours later. He was sitting on a rock at the base of a mountain not far from his ancestral home, Lungbarrow.

He was still wearing his dark, one-piece Academy suit, its pockets packed with pens and data pad. He clearly had not been home. He also looked as if he had been crying although none of them opted to mention this.

Despite this he was grinning from ear to ear, holding a quail flower in his hand. I understand now,' he said. Now it all makes sense!'

Which was more, Rallon decided, than the Doctor was doing.

Delox has done me the greatest favour possible. She has made me look inwards, discover the truth. She was so right, my friends, but also so terribly wrong!' He suddenly turned and looked back up the mountain, staring at a small hut where, presumably, one of the Outsiders lived. There was no one there, but the Doctor waved anyway and then carefully placed the flower in a pocket.

Millennia let her hand slip away from Rallon's and put both her hands on the Doctor's shoulders, concern in her eyes. Are you sure you are all right, Doctor? We were so very worried.'

He tapped her hands gently, and smiled up at her. Rallon didn't think he'd ever before seen a smile so cheerful, so exultant.

I am fine, my dear. Thank you so much!' The Doctor stood and looked at his three friends. Come,' he said. We have work to do.'

Some while later they were in one of the libraries dotted throughout the Academy. A few other students were hunched over computer data bases, making notes with pens and paper - a strangely incongruous mixture of technologies that the Academy seemed keen to encourage. The Doctor sat down and produced the small flower he had been holding near the mountain. Millennia reached out for it, but he slapped her hand away. She gave the others a look that spoke volumes, but he failed to notice it.

Instead, he scanned the flower and looked at a ma.s.sive blow-up of it on the screen. He sectioned it, rotating the image 360 degrees. Do you see? Millions of tiny atoms. Each one of astonishing complexity and beauty. Individually they are nothing, but put together they create something as beautiful as this.'

It's a daisy, Doctor,' Magnus grunted. It is white, yellow and green. Hardly beautiful.'

The Doctor shook his head. No, that's the mistake I made. But look harder. The beauty is not in its outward appearance but in the sheer brilliance of what it represents. Why? Why do daisies exist? How did they come to exist in this way? Why not red? Why not three foot tall or a yard wide?'

Because that is the way of the universe, Doctor,' Millennia said quietly. The Academy teaches us that the intricate mathematics that cause creation have been examined and -'

Can't you see, Millennia?' the Doctor interrupted gently.

There's more to life, to us, us, than this place. This Academy. This planet. I thought all that we, the Deca, could really do was dream. That it was our destiny to stay here and regret what we had been born into avoiding, just as it was our destiny to dream. But no. No, I see now we can change things. We can be as significant in our universe as each of these daisy molecules is in its. There is such beauty in this flower, so much depth. So much more than we ever see at a glance as we walk through the meadows near the hills.' than this place. This Academy. This planet. I thought all that we, the Deca, could really do was dream. That it was our destiny to stay here and regret what we had been born into avoiding, just as it was our destiny to dream. But no. No, I see now we can change things. We can be as significant in our universe as each of these daisy molecules is in its. There is such beauty in this flower, so much depth. So much more than we ever see at a glance as we walk through the meadows near the hills.'

Or as we tread on the daisies as we walk on them to get back to the sands.' Rallon was bored. C'mon, Doctor, where is this taking us?'

The Doctor started tapping at the computer, leafing through sheet after sheet of doc.u.mented data. It's all here, you know. The secrets, the rumours, the legends and the facts.

The Time Lords have access to it but are afraid to use it.' His fingers breezed over the touch-sensitive keys as he used his natural skill for mathematics to upload terabytes of Information to his data pad.

Rallon smiled slightly at a private memory - of Cardinal Borusa telling their cla.s.s over and over again that the truth, the answers to all questions, could only be found in pure mathematics. The science of the legendary Logopolitans made real. That was what Millennia had referred to. But here was another kind of truth - the truth that there was more to life than maths. Science. There was a universe of life to be explored. Rallon suddenly understood, and shared, his friend's haste.

With a rather exaggerated flourish, the Doctor logged off the computer and tapped his data pad, now filled with the uploaded information. We need to get the others to see all this, choose our target.'

Magnus stepped back. Our target? What do you mean?' The Doctor looked hard at him and, for the second time in less than a day, Rallon saw that look in his eyes.

A look of fire. Of danger. Or something not quite...

Gallifreyan.

Not normal.

Millennia wants an adventure. That's what we're going to have.'

I do?' she mouthed at Rallon, but he just kissed her cheek and spoke softly.

Go along with it!'

The Doctor grabbed his pad and almost ran out of the library. The others followed a few paces behind, smiling sheepishly at the angry looks from other students who wanted nothing more than to study in peace.

Unseen by any of the departing students, or any of the library staff, was an extraordinary occurrence by the computer console at which the Doctor had been working.

Unseen, because for just a few moments Gallifrey stopped.

Totally and utterly stopped.

Time, for the galaxy's only beings who could really claim to understand the concept, simply ceased to exist.

A piece of paper knocked off a desk by Millennia's departing robes hovered immobile in the air. A red liquid being drunk by a librarian solidified as an unmoving lump between the edge of the gla.s.s and his throat.

And in the corridor outside the four hurrying students simply didn't move.

Inside the library, the air shimmered and distorted until the effect was large enough for two black-and-white attired recorders to step out, as if the air were a door.

Which, in a way, it was.

Silently, they looked around and then one of them picked up the Doctor's discarded daisy.

Definitely the one.' He reached over to the console the Doctor had used and tapped on the keys. The shimmering air stretched with his arm and enveloped the computer, reactivating it. He made a few keystrokes and withdrew. The computer once more regained its frozen composure.

Erasure completed!

And, daisy still in hand, the recorder stepped back into the air, followed by his compatriot.

The air stopped shimmering.

The librarian drank his drink, the piece of paper flopped to the floor and, outside in the corridor, the quartet of hurrying students continued their running.

No one on Gallifrey was even aware that time had stopped.

Except those who had made it happen.

Later that night, it was obvious to Rallon that the Doctor had forgotten about his Kitriarch's orders.

There was to be no visit to Lungbarrow tonight.

Instead most of the members of the Deca were in Jelpax's room, watching as he, the Doctor and Mortimus their history expert - a.s.similated the Doctor's procured data.

Drax wasn't there, nor Ushas. Both were finishing an Academy project. If the Doctor even noticed their absence, Rallon could see it mattered little to him.

Vansell was apparently disinterested, hovering by the door.