Tarnished Image (short story)
Tarnished Image was the third story in the anthology Decalog 3: Consequences. It was written by Guy Clapperton. It featured the First Doctor and Dodo Chaplet.
Plot
After solving a series of murders in Rotar City on Tarron, the Doctor and Dodo return to the TARDIS with a weekly newspaper digest which Dodo plans on keeping to remember the place. She hands it to the Doctor, who remarks on how sensationalist the reporting is.
The Vorassan cult, set up by Danta Vorass to take revenge against the humans who colonised Tarron, kill people with trepanning in the belief that the "Earth spirit" within them will be released. The Azmec Corporation hold a party to mark the launching of the holoprobe to replace the holoview and the TARDIS materialises, mistaken by the guests as part of the demonstrations.
The Doctor and Dodo speak out against Azmec and, some time later, break into their main building and find time travel technology. Dodo is almost kidnapped by robots and they are attacked by a Vorassan from the past. The Doctor and Dodo give an interview to Crakar Lund of the City Watcher and accuse the Azmecs of taking over Tarron by force, contrary to the official history. Later, the Doctor proves that the holovid purporting to be of the Tarronians accepting the Azmecs' rule is fake.
The Azmecs retreat from the resulting riots and civil unrest. Lund reports that the holoprobe was actually a time-scooper, bringing the Vorassans from the past to the present to kill the most promising Tarronian students and keep them from uncovering the deception. The falsified artefacts of Tarronian history are given to the Doctor, who reluctantly agrees to dispose of them in the Time Vortex to be destroyed by the time winds.
The Doctor regrets agreeing to destroy the artefacts as he believes that they are still part of the Tarronians' history even if they were faked and wonders if he did more harm than good on Tarron. Dodo reads the last lines of the final article, detailing how civilisation is in danger of breaking down without the Azmecs and that unemployment is rife.
Characters
Worldbuilding
- Rotar City is the capital city of Tarron.
- The Doctor has met the Azmec Corporation before, though then they had been using a different name.
- The destruction of Earth by solar flares occurred 10 centuries ago.
Notes
- This story is told almost completely through in-story news items.
Continuity
- The Doctor bristles at being called "Doc". (TV: The Time Meddler et al.)
- Dodo relates having witnessed the destruction of the Earth by solar flares and its survivors travelling to Refusis. (TV: The Ark)
- The Doctor reacts to being called "Grandfather", implying that he is reminded of Susan. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
- The base recording used by the fake holovid is implied to be the distress signal sent by Sarah Jane while under the influence of Cerunnos. (PROSE: Moving On)
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