by Clive May (clive@cj4386.demon.co.uk)

Of necessity: the 13th Doctor.  Rated U

Dr Who is copyright BBC.

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He had never before thought of the number thirteen as unlucky.

He turned his back when she left, finding something on the console to stare
at.  But in the end he weakened and switched on the scanner.  The woman
with the long brown hair walked away from the TARDIS.  She did not look
back.

The Doctor flipped off the scanner.  So, he had come finally to the end.
There was no longer any way forwards for him.  This was his thirteenth
regeneration.  Was thirteen unlucky?  Why did he think so?

Well!  If there was no longer any way forward, then he would go back.

Somewhere back there, he could not remember exactly where now, he had
incurred the debt.  It would have to be paid.

'No time like the present,' he joked to himself a little sadly, adjusting
the settings to zero.

Satisfied with the coordinates, he touched his finger to the demat button.

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The doors swung open.  A soft golden-green radiance flooded the TARDIS
console room.  The air was full of the sound of tinkling bells.  The sweet
sound discovered a tiny sad smile hidden in the tired lines of his face.
He lingered a long moment absently patting the edge of the console, then he
turned and walked out into the light.

Before the door of the TARDIS was a low alter of white stone.  In the
centre of the alter was a large blue jewel - deep in its heart a lambent
blue fire .

With reverence he approached the alter.

'Goddess?  Goddess - I have come to pay the debt.'

A deep, melodious woman's voice, vast yet intimate, spoke from the radiant
air.

'At last!  Doctor!  You have remembered the debt.'

'I've been busy.'

'But you have found the time?'

'There is always time.'

'Perhaps, Doctor.  Is this then the moment for which I am?'

'I shall pay the debt!' The Doctor affirmed.

'The price is high?'

'For an obligation such as this it would be petty to haggle.'

'Ah!  Doctor.  Pragmatic to the very last.'

'I do my best.  I've always done my best.'

But was that true?  His wayward mind summoned up the ghosts of those for
whom his best had fallen lamentably short.  But he would have none of that.
This was not the time or the place.  There was another and more important
matter to be considered here than the accounting of his tiny amount of
guilt.

He set them aside brutally.  He wanted only the best for this - his last
act!

This debt, he felt, must be paid with coins of shining gold - not dull
copper.

'You are determined?' The voice asked, breaking in on his thoughts.

'That goes without saying.  Else why am I here?  It is the manner of the
payment that gives me pause.   It must be done right.'

'I do only as I am bid.  I am but the voice.  You, Doctor, are the song
i must sing.'

'I am resolved.'

'Then summon me forth and let the song begin.'

He knelt before the low alter and placed his hands on the blue jewel.  The
air beyond the alter shimmered into the form of a tall, brown haired woman.
She wore splendid robes of green and gold.  She smiled at him and the touch
of her soft brown eyes on his was love - pure and simple.

She looked down at herself, inspecting the form he had conjoured
 for her.

'I would have thought perhaps, Tegan? But no.  Still striving for an ideal?
Pragmatic?  Why you are nothing but a romantic mystic at heart!'

In that part of his mind where he touched the Source, that part where he
had his understanding with his TARDIS, he put the question that did not
need words.

'Old friend?'

'Together, oldest and best friend!'

'Together,' the Doctor agreed.

Deep in her heart the TARDIS let go.  She relaxed the great energy dams and
gave up her life force to the Goddess.

The Goddess of Creation began her great melody.  Using the stuff of life
surrendered by the Doctor and his TARDIS,   she sent forth the song of
creation and brought a universe to birth.

The exquisite vibrations touched the expanding substance of space-time,
filling it with her promise.

The raw material was superb; she would make a fine monument to a fine and
noble being; it would be worthy.  She would craft it lovingly from the
Genius of the Doctor.  It would be her finest composition.

It was the biggest thing there had ever been.  It was the biggest thing
there was.  It was the biggest thing that ever would be.  It was the big
bang that began all things.

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The end.

Comments, suggestions or criticisms welcome.