Untold History from the Gallifreyan ArchivesA constellation is such only when viewed from a certain point in space, definitely not when viewed from a planet orbiting one of the stars in said constellation. However, the Doctor has, on occasions, referred to Gallifrey as being in the constellation of Kasterborous. This means that, in all likelihood, the Time Lords were somewhere else when they discovered Gallifrey - somewhere in the region that perceives the constellation of Kasterborous. The Time Lords, then, must, at some time in their history, have moved to Gallifrey. The closest that we can come to dating this is some time before the harnessing of the powers of the black hole, as Rassilon brought it back to Gallifrey. It is obvious that there must have been a very major reason for them moving to Gallifrey, since one doesn't move to a different planet simply because one doesn't like the neighbourhood. So, there was evidently something pretty cataclysmic on the cards for the planet. There are two probable causes for this : (1) There was a natural catastrophe coming (a mutant star goat?); or (2) They themselves were the cause of the catastrophe. It is most likely that the impending calamity was of their own doing. This is because, in their research into the power needed to travel in time, the solar engineers, whose field this was, would have been carrying out experiments involving vast amounts of energy. Detonating a star could have disastrous effects if it went wrong. This is precisely what happened. A junior solar engineer made a tragic error, by detonating a minor star at the wrong time, giving his people the equivalent of roughly six months before the effects would be felt by their sun in the form of a massive amount of sunspot and solar flare activity. The experiments were actually unauthorised and had been so dangerous that they had been kept "under wraps" since if it got out that scientists had been gambling with the future of their planet, the experiments would have been ceased immediately, with those responsible incurring severe retribution. Therefore when it became known that thier sun was going to do odd things, the secret organisation (an embryonic CIA?) used their influence over important people to make it generally believed that the cause of the sunspots and solar flares was a natural one. Having moved to Gallifrey the experiments continued, still a secret. Soon, though, it had to come out into the open, once the research into supernovae and black holes was complete. The scientists, spearheaded by Rassilon, had worked out how to detonate a star, thus creating a black hole, and then capture the black hole's power in the Eye of Harmony. It was now time to consult the High Council, asking for permission to carry out the "Great Venture" as it was known. Naturally, when describing their research, they had to be careful, as they couldn't let it be known that they had caused the disaster that had, by now, befallen their planet. Similarly, they had to be careful that the aforementioned junior solar engineer didn't let the cat out of the bag. In view of this, they offered him a choice. There was an important duty in the Great Venture that had not been over- whelmingly popular when volunteers had been requested, as it involved virtually certain death. That duty was the detonation of the controlled explosion. He was told that he could give his life in a glorious action - the detonation of the star. Alternatively he could have a painful, fatal accident, after first being discredited, should he consider telling all. Unsurprisingly, he chose to detonate the star. Equally unsurprisingly, he wasn't in Rassilon's fleet which returned with the Eye of Harmony. The Time Lords fulfilled their promise, and elevated the junior solar engineer to the status of hero. As Borusa said, millenia later, "The people need heroes ... sometimes it's even necessary to invent them. Good for public morale." Thus came about the creation of the CIA, the inhabitation of Gallifrey, and the creation of its first false hero - Omega. |