"Order!" the judge shouted, banging her gavel several times. It took several moments for the furor finally to die down.

"Mr. Martin, are you serious?" the judge asked.

"Yes, I am, your honor."

"How can you call a planet as a witness?" Andred protested. "The witness stand isn't exactly big enough to hold it."

"All the planet needs is a voice," Morgan said, then he turned to Ulysses. "Didn't you say you could still talk to the Terrians, no matter how far away they are?"

"Uh huh," Uly nodded.

"That is a child!" Andred protested. "He's more concerned with magic tricks than this trial."

The Doctor stood up, reached across the aisle, took a coin from behind Andred's ear and handed it to him. "Andred, do be quiet and let Mr. Martin explain himself, there's a good fellow."

Morgan pressed on. "The Terrians have long shown themselves to be the voices, and the custodians, of G889," he said. "They always communicated to us by using Alonzo as their human voice. They chose him long ago. So if Uly can remain in contact with the Terrians over great distances, then Alonzo can contact them as well. I would like for Alonzo to take the witness stand, and to speak to us on behalf of the planet."

"This is absurd," Andred said.

"I agree," the judge said. "You are asking an awful lot of us, Mr. Martin."

Morgan took a deep breath and crossed the point of no return. "I can show the importance and validity of the questioning, your honor. I promise I will do so."

She gave him a long look, then said, "Very well. I'm trusting you on this."

Morgan turned to Alonzo. "Will you please take the witness stand, Mr. Solace?"

Alonzo nervously approached the stand and sat down. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Dream," Morgan said.

Alonzo bowed his head, and the courtroom was hushed, watching. After a moment, Morgan asked, "Have you made contact?"

Alonzo opened one eye. "Um...no," he said. "I can't reach them. There's nothing there."

Andred sighed heavily. The judge was about speak when Ulysses hopped up and ran to the front of the courtroom. "You can reach them," he said. "Here." He stood on the witness stand next to Alonzo, held his left hand, and bowed his head.

Slowly, the tip of Uly's staff began to crackle with energy and the courtroom muttered in astonishment. Everyone watched, spellbound, as Alonzo stood up and his body was surrounded by a golden aura.

Then the light shifted and a Terrian was standing in his place.

"It's the reverse," Julia whispered in awe. "It's the reverse of how the Terrians spoke to me that night. They're superimposing themselves over Alonzo."

The Terrian disappeared and Alonzo was back, but still surrounded by an aura. He opened his eyes. "That appearance was to prove that my words come from the Terrians," he said. "I told them we needed proof. They have just supplied it."

"Your honor," Morgan said quickly. "Do you accept that what we are about to hear are the words of planet G889 itself?"

"I accept that we are hearing from an alien race known as Terrians," she said, still rattled by what she'd just seen. "Beyond that, I reserve judgment for now. Please continue."

Alonzo took the oath on behalf of the Terrian people. When he was finished, Morgan said, "I ask that the Terrians please tell us all they know about Councilman Reilly."

Andred stood up. "Objection, your honor! You have already asked for this line of questioning to cease! Once again, the humans are concerned only with their own agenda and not the aim of this court."

"And once again," Morgan said, "your honor has my word that I can show relevance."

The judge pondered. Morgan swallowed. The Doctor held his breath.

"Very well," she finally said. "Continue."

"The Terrians know much about Reilly," Alonzo murmured.

"Then allow me to be more specific," Morgan said. "Do the Terrians know how he came into contact with the Time Lords?"

"Yes," Alonzo said.

"How did it happen?" Morgan asked.

"It all started back when we fought the second ZED," Alonzo explained. "When the bullet exploded on the mountainside, Ulysses ran out of the TARDIS because he was concerned for Devon. Later, the ZED ambushed us on the way back to the TARDIS. But before she ambushed us, while we were recovering from our wounds further down the mountain, the ZED walked inside the Doctor's TARDIS and investigated it because Ulysses had left the door open."

The Doctor's face fell into his hands. With that piece of information, conclusions started falling in his brain like dominoes.

"How do the Terrians know this?" Morgan asked. "How do they know anything about Reilly at all?"

"Because Councilman Reilly has captive Terrians aboard his space station," Alonzo said. "He has been studying them. But he doesn't understand that the Terrians have also been studying him in return. They know of everything he has done. They listen to his conversations, and they read his notes whenever they can catch glimpses of them."

The judge glared at Reilly but he didn't notice. He was transfixed by Alonzo, fascinated by what he was seeing.

Alonzo continued. "The ZED took readings of the console room in the Doctor's TARDIS, but she had to come back outside to upload the information to Reilly, because she couldn't transmit from inside the TARDIS. For this reason, she decided to ambush us outside the TARDIS instead of inside it. She attacked us, and we defeated her.

"Reilly analyzed the readings the ZED took. He noticed a flow of chronons coming from beneath the console. Mankind has recently discovered the existence of chronons, even if we don't know what to make of them. After months of research, and analyzing other data the ZED took, Reilly was actually able to build a crude transceiver which was partially phased into the time vortex. He used this transceiver to send out messages. A Time Lord roaming the vortex heard these messages, materialized on the space station, and made contact with Reilly. This Time Lord is known as the Master."

There was a murmur of astonishment around the courtroom. Romana nodded to a nearby guard, motioning for him to stand by to arrest Reilly. For him, at least, this testimony was all the proof they needed.

"The Master had just been through an ordeal," Alonzo said. "A failed body transfer in San Francisco, 20th-century Earth. Reilly nursed him back to health with machinery the Master taught him how to build.

"As he recovered they became companions, and they formed an alliance. The Master promised Reilly that he would receive great power and knowledge in return for helping him. The Master learned where Reilly had gotten his transceiver. He told Reilly about the Doctor. Reilly took him down to the surface and showed him a hibernating tribe of Terrians he was studying. The Master entered the dream plane through the Terrians, and it was actually the Master who witnessed the Doctor meeting himself. The event is recorded in G889's history. Because he was a fellow Time Lord, the Master was drawn to that event, and he realized what it meant.

"The Master told Reilly he had some powerful allies, and the fact that the Doctor had broken the First Law of Time had given him an idea. The Master told Reilly that he had an insider helping him here on Gallifrey. He forced the set-up of this trial to get revenge on the Doctor. He left Reilly, telling him the Time Lords would call him as a witness for the trial, and all Reilly had to do was play his part. Within a day, the Time Lords appeared, just as the Master had said they would."

The judge was outraged. She was actually quivering with anger. "Who was this Gallifreyan insider of which the Terrians speak?"

Morgan glanced at Andred, knowing he was the one the Terrians were talking about. The judge herself had asked the question, and there was no stopping it now. Andred's career was finished.

"The insider was the Time Lord known as Konran," Alonzo said.

There was a single, undefinable moment of stunned silence, followed by gasps from around the courtroom.

Konran pulled a gun out of his robes, whirled, and shot the camera in the back wall, killing the uplink. He then grabbed Savil by the neck and put a gun to his head. "Nobody move!" he cried.

The guards stood braced, caught in a half-reaction, with their hands on their holstered stasers. Savil looked more shocked by the revelation of his mentor being a traitor than the fact that his life was in danger.

The Doctor took in the scene in a glance. Like Eden Advance and the judge, he was stunned. He looked at Alonzo and saw the glow around him beginning to fade.

The Doctor took a deep breath and plunged into the dream plane. He'd been there before and he knew the Terrians would welcome him. Alonzo, he said, don't lose your link with the Terrians. Keep contact with them no matter what happens. Our survival may depend on it. Then, without waiting for a response, he stood up and made his way towards Konran.

Konran started backing out of the courtroom, heading for the door. People around him started backing away. "Just put the wrist monitor on the desk, Castellan," he yelled. "I don't want you calling for backup. That's why I destroyed the camera. And tell those metal mutts to hold their fire!" He nodded at both K9s.

Andred took off his wrist monitor and gently laid it on the desk in front of him.

The Doctor approached Konran. "Why?"

"No time to explain, Doctor," Konran said. "All I can say is that I thought I was doing the right thing. Stay back!"

The lone guard sneaking up behind him stopped, then stepped to one side. Konran continued his retreat for the door, using Savil as a hostage.

"Where are you going to go, Konran?" the Doctor asked. "You can't leave Gallifrey."

"If my suspicions are right, Doctor," Konran said, "Gallifrey will be easy to leave soon enough. It's all gone too far to stop now."

"What suspicions?" the Doctor asked, tension in his voice as he slowly advanced up the aisle. "What are you hid-"

An explosion rocked the citadel.

The ground bucked like an earthquake, and everyone who was standing suddenly found themselves on the floor. Konran fell with everyone else, flinging his arms wide to stop the fall. He accidentally fired his gun at the ceiling. Savil fell forward and started crawling madly away.

Alarms went off across the city. Time Lords throughout the courtroom, their reverie broken by the sound, crowded madly for the exits, desperate to get away from the madman. Konran picked himself up and followed them. The Doctor started after him, but one of the Citadel Guard leveled his staser and fired, hitting Konran cleanly in the back.

"No!" the Doctor yelled, but it was too late.

Konran stood like a grotesque puppet on strings, his hands up and arched over him, groaning aloud to the ceiling. His gun slipped from his grasp, then he crumpled and fell.

Andred pointed to a group of five guards and said, "You! Whatever happens, protect the President at all costs! And you!" He pointed again. "Arrest Reilly and hold him." Then he picked up his wrist monitor and shouted, "Status report! What's happening?"

"We don't know yet, Castellan," Harrigan replied.

"Well, find out!" Andred yelled. He looked up to see that Reilly was being held at gunpoint. The guards he had just assigned to Romana formed a cordon around her as she ran forward to join the Doctor, kneeling by Konran.

Julia was right behind her, prepared to help in whatever way she could. But when she reached them, Romana caught her eye and shook her head. Back at the front of the courtroom, the judge was standing, looking out over the crowd of people in shock. Danziger was comforting True, who was crying.

"Konran, please," the Doctor said. "Tell us what's happening."

"Wanted...to be...like you, Doctor," Konran said, then coughed. "You always fought the people who needed fighting."

"But I never sought it out," the Doctor said, pain in his voice. "What did you do?"

"I wanted to set a trap for the Master," Konran said. "He contacted me. He thought I would be sympathetic because I turned down a position on the High Council." He coughed again. "I played along, thinking I could outwit him and deliver him as a prisoner to the High Council. I thought...I could be a hero."

"Oh, Konran," the Doctor said. "You were so out of your league."

"I know that, now," Konran said. "He ran circles around me. I'm not as clever as you. Should never have tried it. He told me about the nanites in Leela's body. From that point on, I was just another hostage in his schemes. I had to do as he asked."

"You were the one who passed the information about my meeting on the dream plane to the Castellan," the Doctor said. When Konran nodded, the Doctor asked, "Did you kill Parillon?"

"No," he shook his head. "The Master killed him. Just for kicks. No reason. Just to throw you off the trail. You spent so much time...trying to figure out the motive. But there wasn't any." Konran actually smiled a little. "He got you, there."

The Doctor's face was hard. "Where is the Master now?"

"Don't know," Konran said. "He never gave me his location." He closed his eyes, winced, and convulsed once. "The explosion...it was the transduction barrier." His voice grew fainter. "The first bomb was a decoy, to make you think you had found the real explosive. The real one just went off, and the Daleks...are on their way." He collapsed, breathing hard. "The Master...is still working with them."

"They're invading Gallifrey?" Romana asked.

"That was their plan all along," Konran said. "You, Doctor...you were just...the icing...on the cake. Gallifrey's...what they really want."

The Doctor just looked up at Romana, sadness in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor," Konran said. "I just wanted...to be...like you."

Konran became still. His head lolled to one side, his eyes open.

"Will he regenerate?" Julia asked.

"No," the Doctor said sadly. "The stasers of the Citadel Guard are designed to kill even a Time Lord." He closed Konran's eyes. "It's probably better this way. There could be no regeneration from this."

Andred's communicator beeped. "Castellan!" a voice said, so loud that everyone could hear. "A neutron bomb has taken out the transduction barrier! The whole of Section 4 is just gone, and there's a Dalek war fleet coming out of Crossamain! It's the biggest I've ever seen!"

"What do you mean, 'out of Crossamain?'" Andred snapped.

"I mean the fleet was inside Crossamain!" the panicked voice yelled. "We looked behind Crossamain, but we never thought anyone could be hiding inside it! They must have been hiding in its core, shielded by neutron star alloy. We think two assault shuttles have already landed, filled with ground troops, near your position, but we're not sure. The main fleet will be here- hold on! The Daleks just released a barrage of missiles! Impact in-"

There was a tremendous roar throughout the city, all around them. The sound was deafening. The building shook and rubble fell from the ceiling. There were screams as several Time Lords were buried by falling sections of the ceiling. Julia rushed to help, and people started digging at the rubble.

Andred spoke into his communicator again. "Central control, give me status!" No response. "Control! Give me status! Captain Harrigan!"

All that met his ears was static. Everyone in the courtroom looked at each other, unable to comprehend the disaster befalling them. The Doctor looked down at Konran and bowed his head. From outside came the rumble of more explosions as the first bombs in over a million years began to fall on Gallifrey.

Then, with a deafening crash, the back wall of the courtroom was blasted inward.

Pandemonium erupted as the dozens of Time Lords that were left scrambled for safety, not knowing where to find any. Everyone near the back wall stumbled around, choking on the dust, unable to see. But whatever was beyond the dust could see perfectly, for energy beams began slicing through the dust with pinpoint accuracy, and the Time Lords near the back of the courtroom fell instantly, screaming as they died, energy coursing through their bodies and charring them black.

Through the dust rolled a horde of shadows, shadows that gradually became conical shapes, armored shapes with eyestalks and guns.

The Daleks had arrived.

They all began shouting at once, as loud as they could, in a bloodlust. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Capture the President of Gallifrey! Exterminate all alien forceeeeessssss!!!!"

Everyone scrambled madly, falling to the ground or running. The Citadel Guard and both K9s blasted away, but they could not penetrate the enemy's armor at all.

As one, the Daleks opened fire on the courtroom.