Gazing Void (short story)

	[[doctor::Eighth Doctor]]
	Cherenkov
	Huw Wilkins
	Short Trips: A Universe of Terrors

Summary

Four years after his involvement in the Hundred Days War, the Doctor returns to the city of Cherenkov where he defeated the brutal dictator Jeremiah Maru-Stahl. By showing the medal he was awarded for his actions, he is able to ensure that one of the offworld casualties is added to a memorial.

The Doctor then visits Maru-Stahl who was going to be brought to trial for his crimes, but his failing mental health prevented this from happening. The Doctor talks to Maru-Stahl inside his cell who then lapses into insanity. Over the next few days, the Doctor attempts to coerce Maru-Stahl into revealing how he changed from a beloved revoultionary leader into a ruthless dictator. After many days the prisoner finally tells him: to fight monsters, he became a monster. The Doctor realises that there is nothing he can do for Maru-Stahl and leaves in the TARDIS.

Characters

• Eighth Doctor
• Elias Greenwood
• Nguyen
• Jeremiah Maru-Stahl

References

• The Doctor mentions that he lost a companion during a war on the planet.
• The Doctor has a faint scar from the war that runs from his jaw to the bottom of his neck.

Notes

• The planet on which the story is set remains unnamed throughout the story.

Continuity

to be added

Timeline

• This story occurs after BFA: To the Death
• This story occurs before ST: Reversal of Fortune

External links

to be added