The Voice Completed

by Sailorkir

The 7th Doctor finds a mysterious woman after picking up a powerful psychic distress call and is caught in a race to save her life and stop an evil plan that revolves around her voice. This was not my first Dr. Fan fic but it IS the first I had prepared

The Voice

A Doctor Who novella by:

Kirsten Maier

For Jean Ann Reisner and Jerry Maier

You both introduced me to the Doctor in your own ways; and without your constant badgering for the next chapter this book might not have been finished.

Chapter 1

Although its fellows were diving and wheeling placidly about the cliff wall, a lone bird flew frantically into the forest. It dogged and spun erratically between the trees, moving as fast as its bat-like wings could carry it. Its black beady eyes glimmered in the faint light of the forest, its hooked beak hung open to help draw air into its lungs. Small and dark, the size of an owl, it should have had no difficulty evading a normal predator. But it didn't recognize what hunted it, which terrified it even more.

The raptor couldn't have recognized the thick lurking shapes that shuffled after it, they were aliens. The aliens had come to the cliffs before, disrupting the nests. It knew to flee because they had made attempts to capture it before. It was slightly larger and darker than its fellows, the alpha male of the roosts. Each time the aliens had managed to capture it the others had come. The people of the forest, they were gentle. One would sing calmingly to it and release it back to watch over the cliffs. This time it could not sense the forest people and the aliens were getting closer.

A small man sat in his large reading chair and casually flipped through the pages of an English book he had collected on one of his last trips to Earth. He casually ran his fingers through his medium dark curls. His pale blue eyes curved down slightly at the corners, giving him a sad contemplative look as he read. He reached the final pages and snorted softly to himself. An amused smile curled gently up, softening his eyes. He shook his head as he set "The Gift of The Magi" on the small table beside him. "Humans must be some of worst species at communicating with each other I have ever met." He stretched lightly and shifted in his chair to stand.

He picked up the saucer and his teacup from the table and started to rise when he felt a change in the TARDIS. Her vibrations were higher pitched. He scowled and looked over towards the large console in the center of the room. The TARDIS was his ship, capable of moving through time and space. More than that she was a living sentient being and sometimes sensitive to things he was not. She seemed agitated; he set the saucer back down on the table, and winced as a mental blast hit him. He sat back heavily into his chair with a grunt, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. He pressed his fingers tightly to his temples and used his mental powers to throw up a quick psychic shield.

Just as he pushed the voice from his mind, it vanished. He stood briskly and tugged lightly at his rust colored vest, straightening it and the dark tie beneath. A few confident strides and he was at the control console in the center of the large room. He moved smoothly around the console setting it to track the source of the disturbance. The TARDIS was tracking an energy surge with an unrecognized pattern; the planet it came from was supposed to be uninhabited. The file showed the planet was named Tora, it was small with scattered forests and shallow lakes. He began to set the coordinates for Tora when he felt the vibrations of the TARDIS shift again, he had time to throw up his psychic shield but instead of a powerful surge all that came through was a very weak musical voice, calling for help.

His brow was knotted as he continued to scan Tora. The TARDIS was now hurtling towards an area near the equator. There was a portion of forest that seemed to have a man-made structure at the heart. He discovered a single life form, faint, near the structure. The voice called again; this time so faintly he only barely felt a breeze in his mind, the TARDIS seemed more sensitive to it and changed her pitch slightly as the call came back. She seemed to be answering the psychic call. He scanned the site one final time for other life forms, still finding only the one. He smiled and patted the console affectionately. "Getting a little sentimental are we girl?"

The hunting party of the northern village was moving at a slow pace through the forest. They glanced all around nervously scanning for any unusual signs. There had been strangers in the forests of late. Alien creatures that did not belong on their world lurked in the trees. Thick, low, and heavy, the aliens were not made for travel in the thick woods, like the hunters were. The hunters were agile and thin, they could easily track the intruders from the ground as well as the tree-tops. The hunters had come across the aliens a number of times now. The aliens seemed fascinated by the raptors that lived in the cliffs bordering the edge of the forest. The hunters had to protect the forest; it was their life, and harm to it was harm to them.

Each time the aliens took the alpha bird; the hunters had attacked and freed it. A swift raid seemed to catch the aliens off guard the first few times. It had been easy enough to steal and release the distraught bird. The last few times the aliens had been ready for them. Strange weapons had been used and one of the hunters had fallen with a nearly fatal wound on the last attempt. When the first faint shrieking calls of the raptor twined through the trees the hunters all froze. Sharp eyes accustomed to the dim forest light scanned for movement. The hunters were beginning to hear the sounds of the chase.

The TARDIS echoed with a metallic wheeze as it materialized slowly, landing in a gap between the forest trees. He strode purposely toward the doors, pausing at a coat rack to one side. He buttoned his neat dark suit jacket, and slid into a long overcoat. Grabbing a straw panama hat from the rack he tapped it firmly onto his head. As he flipped the lever to open the doors he snatched up an umbrella with a red question mark shaped handle. He tucked the handle of his umbrella in his coat pocket as he walked through the doors.

The TARDIS stood at the edge of a strange concrete and metal platform in the middle of dense forest. The platform was enormous, easily the size of two football fields. There was an odd circular chunk, quite large, cut away from the center of the platform, including a small portion of the dirt below. As he looked up at the trees that hung over the site he saw that the branches had been trimmed away in a similar odd pattern. It looked as though a sphere had been formed in the empty space and anything that had existed inside the boundaries had been neatly removed.

There were bits of metal debris around the area. He took a few steps away and turned to look at his ship. The TARDIS appeared in the form of a blue police call box, easy to spot against the green of the forest. A shrug of his shoulders shifted his coat more snuggly about him. His lips pursed thoughtfully as he scanned his surroundings. He began to cross the platform to get a better look at one of the larger chunks of metal when he heard a faint sound off to his left.

He turned toward the sound and walked a short way to the end of the platform. The concrete here had scorch marks as though something had exploded. There was a scatter of metal and wire debris leading away from the platform. Movement caught his eyes and he zeroed in on the debris. Buried in the heap of twisted metal and wires he could see an arm dangling limply, the fingers twitched slightly. He hopped lightly off the edge of the platform and moved to come around the other side of the metal mass. He could see a body that seemed partially fused to the wreckage. It was blackened with dirt and blood, and it was twisted away from him so that he could not distinguish a species.

The body shifted slightly and a soft dusty voice whispered for help. He carefully pulled part of the debris away and stooped to examine the body. "What in the name of Omega…?" It was a woman; she was attached to the debris around her by a set of straps on her wrists and a series of wires connected to her temples and chest. She was partially covered by a piece of blistered metal.

He pulled the twisted panel off of her and carefully shifted her onto her back. She had been wearing some kind of green body suit that was now mostly in tatters. She was slightly shorter than he was and thin, her ribs showed faintly through the fabric. Her hair was a light blond and long where it hadn't been singed. Her throat flashed with her rapid shallow breathing, he could feel the mental energy he had sensed on the TARDIS slipping away from her.

The aliens were closing on the bird; it had eluded the initial trap and went straight for the trees. It was imperative they get this specimen. It was larger than the others and stronger. It was the most likely candidate to survive the experiment. The thick trees and undergrowth made movement difficult for the aliens. Their low thick bodies were made for the sand and rock deserts of their home world. The damp forest air made their skin itch, and they grumbled as they moved loudly through the trees. Their leader had been clever this time; he had sent teams down to rig electric nets in the trees. They need only flush the bird into one of the nets and it would be incapacitated.

Two guards flanked the technicians who were flushing the bird. They scanned the forest for signs of the natives who had stopped them numerous times in the past. As the raptor flew on, it began to sense the forest people. It turned and began to zig zag toward them. They would help; they would protect it from the strange beasts it desperately out-flew. Something seemed to shimmer in the trees ahead of it for a moment. Its keen black eyes zeroed in on the spot.

He moved quickly removing the straps and wires from her body. He checked her major bones and neck for signs of damage. Finding none, he carefully pulled her into a sitting position. With a soft grunt he lifted her up. She appeared to be unconscious; her body hung limply in his arms. He moved swiftly back to the TARDIS, carrying her to the infirmary. He spent the next hour working quietly on her wounds.

He confirmed that the major sources of bleeding were not life threatening, and she had no internal injuries other than mild bruising. The worst damage she received was apparently a blow to the head, a nasty lump had already formed on the top of her head and she did not awake during his exam. He washed the sites of her wounds gently. There was a jagged cut on her right shoulder. A small gash on her head near the nape of her neck had done most of the bleeding. Finally he came to one long wound that ran from the top of her left hip down across her knee ending a few inches onto her calf. This wound seemed a bit older to him as it was partially healed and covered by a strange blue substance.

One by one he mended her cuts, scrapes, and gashes. When he checked her forehead she was running a mild fever. He frowned and lightly grasped one of her hands. The soft pale skin was cold to the touch. He fetched a blanket to cover her and a cool compress for her head. When he finished he stretched with a sigh, pressing his hands into the small of his back. He relaxed out of the stretch and rubbed his hands briskly together. Walking to a corner he picked up a plain metal chair and brought it to the exam table. He sat beside her with his left hand resting over her right, waiting patiently for her to regain consciousness. He touched her mind with his, letting her know he was there.

A forest surrounded her; it was still, not a single sound. Some part of her recognized that there was something wrong with this but she couldn't grasp what exactly. She felt that this should seem like home to her, a comfort. Instead of being comforting it was causing her hair to prickle on the back of her neck. She felt as though she was intruding on someone else's territory. She shivered and clasped her arms together.

She scanned her surroundings, sometimes moving several steps one way or another. Each time she stopped moving she found herself in the exact same spot where she had started. She was pondering this, and had just started to decide she must be dreaming when she bristled with goose bumps. Somewhere in the trees behind her, something was lurking. Lurking things were most always behind a person, she thought idly. She didn't know how or why she knew that but she was certain of it.

She strained to peer through the thick foliage and densely packed trunks. She could see nothing, but, was it getting darker to her left? Instinctively she moved slightly to her right. Yes it was definitely getting darker to her left, and something was still lurking, but it felt closer. She moved briskly to her right, towards the light and warmth. She felt almost as though she was being coaxed this way and then suddenly she was in a clearing.

She blinked, squinting against the sudden light before she realized it wasn't hurting her eyes. This has to be a dream then. Again the thought seemed foreign, her mind was in a fog. She relaxed her eyes and scanned the clearing. Standing in the center was a man, she couldn't make out his features but he held his hand out to her. There is safety in numbers. She wasn't sure how she knew that either but now did not seem to be the time to argue with herself.

She walked forward toward the man, as she got closer she realized that he wasn't standing in shadow but seemed to be made of them. His figure was almost hazy, no features could be seen but she felt as though somehow he was smiling at her. He extended his hand toward her and she took it carefully, it felt solid. The forest began to swirl around her, the trees dissolving together with the ground. She was cold and hot at the same time, and someone was with her.

The woman's face was very young; he placed her at about 27 years old for a human. Now that she had been partially cleaned up he had noted how pale her skin was, not even a freckle, as though she had never been in direct sunlight. He sensed something unusual about her, but it was elusive at the moment and he knew there would be time enough to pin it down once she was awake. Her mind was certainly unique; he was unaware of any humans with her apparent psychic abilities. He sat musing over who she might turn out to be, lightly tapping his fingers on his knee.

As he watched her he felt a shift in her breathing. She started to breath a bit deeper and she began to stir slightly. Her eyes opened partway and clamped firmly shut. She opened them again, this time the barest fraction. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, trying to adjust to the bright light in the room. She moved her head very slightly in his direction, when she saw the man her eyebrows drew together in confusion. "How did you get into my dream?" Her voice was barely a whisper. Her throat was dry but the sound was pleasant, and faintly musical. He lightly squeezed her hand and smiled gently at her.

She let her head shift back and closed her eyes again. He leaned close to her ear, speaking quietly: "Can you tell me who you are?" At first she didn't move and he suspected she had drifted back off. Then her eyebrows drew together again. She shook her head, the motion so minor it would easily have been missed. "I can't seem to remember..." Her voice trailed off, her eyes opened slightly for a moment and then closed. She shivered and he tucked the blanket around her firmly, pulling it up under her chin. He felt her slip away again into the trance-like sleep she had been in.

The forest was still dark to her left; she calmly scanned the trees but found nothing. The strange man was there, and this time the lurking thing stayed away. She sat down in the clearing, waiting to leave. She had no idea how long she sat on the ground with her chin resting in her hands. She was closely watching her toes, as though she found them fascinating. She tried to remember why her feet were bare. As she tried to remember she rose and began to walk, the closer to her memory, the closer she drew to the dark woods. She realized with a start where she was heading and moved away. Briskly she wandered back to the center of the clearing.

She raised her head to scan the dark woods, still no sign of the lurking thing. Her head swiveled slowly around as she observed the clearing and the surrounding trees. There, near where the man had been, another figure! This one was shadowy as well, more of an impression of a form rather than an actual being. She felt as though they were regarding each other. It was speaking to her, was it a woman? She couldn't understand any words, it seemed almost as if they were talking through music and emotion. The shape came closer; yes it was female, thought its shape was vague. Its voice was familiar, like her own. She stood up and walked to the form, slowly she reached out and touched the shadowy surface.

Her mind seemed almost to lock with the shadow's. She felt the shadow begin to bend and twist. She was not afraid as it wrapped around her, it told her it was only trying to figure out what she was. She wondered if it would be kind enough to tell her once it found out. It bothered her that she couldn't place herself. She most likely would have been struggling to regain that information, if she wasn't finding this new being so singularly fascinating.

Suddenly the creature that had been lurking in the dark trees rushed forward. It was a swooping shape from the sky coming straight for her. She could feel its thoughts just as she could the female's. It was angry, it wanted to crush her to get control of her somehow. It wanted to harm the man and the female as well. Control, I am supposed to control you. She stepped free of the female and held her hands out to it. "No. Not yet, I'm still in control. Go away." She felt a power within her mind push it back. There was an awful screech filled with shocked rage. The strange creature veered away and left her in the clearing. She staggered, confused and overwhelmed. How did I know what to say?

When she turned, the female was gone but the man was right next to her. He took her hand, clutching it. She felt there was something urgent in the gesture but she could not understand. She was scared, shaking faintly and frantically scanning the trees for the creature. The forest began to blur and fade around her. She moved toward the man as the world evaporated.

She felt her body as she awoke, she had be struggling in her sleep, and moaning. She felt someone's hand on her own, patting it lightly. Her eyes snapped open and she was rewarded with starbursts of pain. She yelped and squeezed her eyes shut against the light of the room. A voice beside her made her jump slightly. "Sorry, I thought the light was dim enough for you, just a moment." She sensed movement beside her. She heard something scrape faintly on the floor, and footsteps moving away. She tried to gage where the owner of the voice was. After a brief pause she heard the footsteps again.

He was close to her, a hand rested on her shoulder. "Try opening your eyes again, slowly." She let her lids creep open, when she was sure there would be no blinding pain she let them slide open fully. The room was dimly lit and her large green eyes reflected like a cat's. A man with sad-eyes stood over her. He was peering down at her, staring carefully into her eyes. She only blinked back at him; finally he seemed satisfied and gave her a small smile. She felt herself respond to him immediately, smiling back although she didn't know why they were both so happy.

She realized she was lying on some kind of table and started to sit upright. He gently rested a hand on her good shoulder and held her down. Her mind flinched, memories flashed across the fog. Each scene was lasting only moments. Hulking shapes were poking and prodding her. She lay trapped inside some kind of cage. She was held down on a metal table, someone strapping her down. Fire running through my veins, pain, PAIN! She jerked under his hand and cried out sharply. He instantly removed his hand from her shoulder and watched as she quickly scanned the room. She was wild-eyed and panting like a trapped animal.

She calmed herself down after a moment and looked at him with a sad lost expression. "Where am I?" He glanced around the room, "The infirmary," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "You were injured. I brought you here to treat your wounds." She relaxed her muscles; he wasn't one of the shapes in her memory. She knew she felt safe at the moment but she was baffled about what had happened to her. There had been something else strange. She thought she had felt the lurking thing in her mind when she panicked. It hadn't liked whatever happened either. Wasn't that a dream? I'm being silly.

She looked around a few more times; pausing longer each time her eyes found the man. "May I sit up?" She had started to shift her elbows beneath her as she spoke, again his hand rested lightly on her shoulder. He shook his head slightly. "Not just yet, give yourself a chance to settle down and I will help you up, you took a rather nasty blow to the head." "Did I?" He frowned slightly; he could see she was floundering. Trying to pull anything, any detail from her mind but she couldn't. She was looking down and scowling with the strain. She gave up and her face relaxed but he was still aware of a sea of confusion in her eyes.

"Thank you, for helping me. How did you find me?" He smiled again softly at her, "You have a psychic call for help that is hard to ignore, and the TARDIS and I were able to track you with it." He waved in the air, gesturing to the wall. "Frankly I think you gave the poor old girl something of a shock." He smirked brightly and sat back down in the chair beside her. She curled up an eyebrow at him, the face of curiosity. "Old girl?" He nodded at her, beaming "The TARDIS; my ship, she heard you even more clearly than I did."

His ship. She pictured the female shadow in her dreams. There had been a friendly warmth, and intelligence to the being. Immediately the TARDIS responded to her, a faint hum in her mind, like a strange tune. She found she understood the tones. They formed pictures in her mind, like an impressionist painting. She smiled at the cheerful welcome and rubbed her forehead slightly. He felt the exchange between the two, the introduction from the TARDIS. The woman seemed to be responding back but it was hesitant, as though this skill were new to her. He drummed his fingers on his knee thoughtfully.

When he felt the TARDIS retreat out of the woman's mind, he slapped his hands briskly on his knees. He stood up and pushed the chair aside lightly. Leaning slightly over her he peered into her eyes again. She stifled a giggle and blushed under his stare. "So," he kept his face serene despite her laugh. "What exactly do I call you?" She opened her mouth to answer and then snapped it shut. She looked perplexed; her eyebrows pinched together, her lips curled down. After a moment she looked back at him worriedly. "I can't remember that either."

He patted her hand lightly. "It's all right, I'm sure your name will come back to you…" She cut him off abruptly her voice slightly raised. "No, not just my name, I can't remember anything." She reached up to run her fingers through her hair and hit the bump. She winced and hissed in, "Ouch!" She let her hand fall limply across her stomach. "No doubt because of that knock to the head." He tapped her forehead lightly with his index finger. She smiled weakly at him, failing to hide her concern. "I wouldn't worry, I'm certain it will come back to you."

He grinned at her and extended his hand. "Thankfully I just happen to remember who I am." He shook her hand, her smile improved. "You may call me Doctor." He released the handshake and patted her shoulder lightly. He gently moved, sliding his arm under her shoulders. "Let's get you up then."

The Voice

Chapter 2

The raptor angled straight for the gap ahead, increasing its speed. The aliens seemed to have fallen back, slowing down. It was outracing the predators and the shimmer must have been from one of the forest people. The raptor strained its wings and shot towards the small gap in the trees. Suddenly the shimmer resolved into a strange pattern in the air. Realizing its way was blocked, the raptor attempted to make a turn and avoid the barrier. Its wing tip almost cleared the net, snagging on a single thread.

A strange sensation began to hum through its wing. It jerked and over corrected with its body, sending the other wing into the net. Its body froze, bristling under the steady current that pulsed through it. It couldn't move, its wings would no longer obey its frantic mind, and its body fell into the net. Fire moved through the bird, it was afraid. The only sound it could hear was a soft electric hum.

The infirmary of the TARDIS was still dimly lit, allowing the Doctor's new guest to adapt to her surroundings. She was sitting on the edge of the exam table in the center of the room. Her legs dangled over the side and she slightly wiggled her bare toes. The Doctor was gradually increasing the light and watching her reactions. At first as the light levels rose she would wince and squint her eyes. He had brought the light to about half the normal level and she was beginning to adapt fairly quickly.

She no longer squinted at the increase in light. She seemed to have lost interest in the procedure and stared at her toes. As she sat, she began to idly hum. Matching one of the frequencies in the low purr of the TARDIS. The Doctor raised an eyebrow; her hum steadily grew into a single note. Slowly she began to add complexity fashioning a song. She seemed almost to be in a trance. The air began to shimmer in front of her; slowly an image formed, like a hologram.

A tiny image of the TARDIS floated in front of her, its tiny white light flashing. The Doctor absently flipped the light all the way on and she cringed faintly. The image vanished with the trailing note of the song. She looked over at the Doctor with a curious expression.

He crossed the room to her and pulled the single chair up so that he was sitting just in front of her. "What was that exactly, how did you manage it?" She started shaking her head. "I didn't exactly do it on purpose Doctor." He waved at her to continue. "I was just noticing that there was one sound the TARDIS was making that more or less seemed to be her voice." He leaned forward and patted her leg encouragingly. "Yes, yes, continue."

She looked thoughtful, searching for the proper words to describe what had just happened. "As I made it into a little song I was really focusing on her, wondering what she looked like, on the outside. Then I started to feel a kind of energy inside of me. It flowed out on its own and there was the TARDIS." She looked at the Doctor with a puzzled expression. "I'm certain I had some other purpose for doing that, but I can't remember." He was nodding at her at smiling encouragingly. "That's good, it seems that your memory is coming back then, bit by bit."

He was being so enthusiastic that she felt pleased with herself. "Can you remember anything else now?" She looked up and to her left, as though viewing a catalog of her memory for any new entries. "There was something bad, where I was, I'm afraid of it. It's hard to remember anything more than shadows." She shrugged and shook her head at him.

She sighed and looked frustrated, "Honestly Doctor I don't think I can remember any more just now." He looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin lightly. He slapped his knees suddenly and stood up. Taking her hand in his, he helped her to hop down off of the table. He noted she had a slight stiffness in the injured leg but she stood firmly. He pointed to the rear wall, "Try a few steps, and see if you can walk about." She turned and walked with a slight limp to the far wall. As she came back toward him he admired the graceful way she moved.

The leader of the hunting party pulled himself up to a high branch in his tree. Sparkling eyes zeroed in on a strange mass in the trees ahead. There had been a faint shimmer and now he could feel a soft hum in the air. He waved to one of the silvery shadows and it detached from its tree. The female moved to stand on a branch just behind him. She was the singer, a position of honor. She enchanted the animals in the forest with her song. She was also the most agile of the group.

He indicated the mass in the trees and she leapt swiftly from branch to branch until she was on the forest floor. Slowly she crept toward the gap in the trees. The humming grew steadily louder as she crept forward. There was no sign of the aliens yet but she stayed in the shadows. When she covered about half the distance she paused and allowed the other hunters to move in. When her fellows were closer to her position she slid around the large tree she had crouched beside. The hum was loud in her ears. Her eyes narrowed at the odd sight before her. A raptor hung in mid air. A strange sparkling web seemed to hold it in mid flight. The bird did not react to her presence, she sang softly to it, reassuring it that help was at hand.

She held her hands up for his inspection. "I don't suppose I can clean up a bit?" The Doctor twitched out of his thoughts and looked at her dirt-smudged fingers. "Yes of course." He turned and briskly left the room. She had to make a slight jog to catch up with him. They walked almost shoulder to shoulder, with his new guest only slightly behind and to his right.

They passed a few rooms that interested her, but his pace kept her from getting a decent peek at anything. He came to a door and spun on his heel gesturing through the doorway. She peered inside and then walked slowly into the new room. It was a small bedroom, warmly lit. The walls were covered with a deep brown wood. There were brass lamps at intervals casting a golden glow. A small bed with dark paisley covers stood against the center of the far wall.

As she moved past the Doctor into the room he frowned faintly. Was her hair that color when I found her? He shrugged and followed her into the room. He pointed to a door in the sidewall to the right. "You will find a shower in there." She opened the door and poked her head in the small room. She turned back and found him standing patiently in the doorway of the room. "I won't be a minute," she chirped brightly and slid inside.

She removed her bedraggled body suit adding a few new tears to the failing garment. She wrinkled her nose at it and sighed. "It isn't as if I brought a change of clothes." She was staring at the shower attempting to puzzle out its function when she felt the TARDIS touch her mind. She smiled brightly and confidently activated the shower as though she had always used one. "Thank you very much." She reached out and patted the wall gently, the TARDIS purred back at her for a moment and then was silent.

In the other room the Doctor smirked up at the air. He lightly teased the TARDIS for fawning over their new guest. The TARDIS chose not to respond and he chuckled. As he shifted to get more comfortable, he found himself hoping she would be quick. He could think of a few companions he'd had who would practically live in the powder room given a chance. For the life of him he couldn't grasp why anyone would need so much primping.

The hunters barely had time to move in to flank the singer. She stood before a raptor that seemed trapped somehow. The net that held it was emitting a strange buzz. Their leader recognized the raptor as being the alpha male. He waved the others forward and in a flash the dark of the forest was shattered. Bright lights blinded them all, freezing them to the spot. The female that had been trying to sooth the trapped bird halted her song. Blasts erupted around the party, branches shattered all around them. The two hulking shapes on each side of the main group of aliens were firing weapons.

The hunters moved quickly, leaping out of range or behind cover. The leader tried to spot the female but his eyes had not yet adjusted to the glaring light. He could hear the raptor calling frantically. He moved down behind a tree and his eyes cleared enough to see that the female had fallen back into the net with the bird. She hung there limply, making no effort to move but her eyes were open and looking for him. He grimaced and moved toward her quickly. He had to get the singer off of the strange net. One of the aliens spotted him and leveled the weapon at her chest. It shook its large spade shaped head at him, and he froze.

She sighed happily as she climbed out of the shower, its dryers leaving her warm as she moved in front of the mirror. Her skin felt flexible again and she stretched slightly. Glad to be free of the clinging dirt she examined her light sandy colored hair briefly in the mirror. It had been evened out somehow in the shower and now hung just past her shoulders. She looked back with wonder at the shower and felt the TARDIS laugh at her surprise. She didn't bother to adjust her long dry hair, letting it hang in a soft curtain down her back. She climbed gingerly back into her body suit. The fabric split further and she groaned, thankful it was still holding together around her. She stepped out of the bathroom and found the Doctor sitting in a small chair in the corner of the room.

His elbow was on the arm of the chair, his chin rested on his palm. He had been drumming his fingers lightly against his cheek. He smiled at her; her fair skin practically glowed next to the dark wood. She had indeed been brief and secretly he was pleased. There were few things as aggravating to him as wasting time.

He pulled himself up and moved back toward the door. "What we need is a little tea, and we'll get something for you to eat…" he trailed off and turned back to look at her, rubbing his jaw. "We'll have to come up with a name for you, I'm not very well going to walk about calling you Girl." She stifled a giggle and followed him into the hall. Her face brightened as they walked along side by side. "How about something impressive sounding Doctor?" She was only barely concealing her impish grin. He pondered for a moment, "Dodecahedron?" She pursed her lips at him, her voice dripped with sarcasm. "How about something simple and ordinary?" He laughed out loud and she jabbed him lightly in the arm as they entered the control room.

Three of the aliens approached the net and stood beneath the two trapped figures. The fourth alien bent over a small black box at the base of the tree, it pushed a few buttons. The hum of the net slowed to a stop and the shimmer faded. The female hunter slumped to the forest floor and the raptor landed on top of her. The aliens lifted the raptor and placed it inside a small cage. The hunters clenched their fists, murmuring softly to the leader. He gritted his teeth and stepped forward but was stopped by the aliens with the weapons. Now one weapon pointed at him and the other was being firmly pressed onto the singer's head. One of the aliens lifted her into a cage as well, and slowly they began to carry her into the forest.

The aliens moved carefully, the first guard kept his weapon firmly against the female's skull. She stayed limp on the floor of the cage. The second guard kept his weapon trained on the hunters. When he felt they were getting too close he would fire a warning round. The hunters would scatter like leaves only to slowly emerge after a moment. The aliens finally made it to the clearing and their ship. They loaded the raptor first and then started to move the female onto the ship.

The Doctor waved her over to the armchair of the sitting area. He vanished out of sight behind her and she heard a faint rustling. He appeared beside her a few moments later carrying a tea service that he set on the table between them. She watched carefully as he poured the tea, her eyes never strayed from his hands. He handed her one of the two cups and saucers. She wasted no time sipping at the warm brown liquid. Her nose crinkled for a moment on her first taste. "I like it. It has such an interesting flavor." She took a deep breath inhaling the steam.

As she drank quietly he went to his bookcase and began scanning the volumes. After a few minutes of silence she set her cup and saucer down on the tray and limped over to where he stood. "What is it you are looking for Doctor?" "Hmm?" He looked startled for a moment as though he had forgotten she was there and then turned back to the books. "I'm looking for a suitable name for you. There has to be one in here somewhere."

She shrugged and glanced over at the table. The steam from the cups was no longer visible. She was just about to tell him the tea was getting cold when he spotted the book he was looking for. "Eureka!" She made a sour face at him. "I'm sure I don't care for that name much either." He waved dismissively at her, "No no no, I found the book I wanted, this will have your name." He jabbed his finger triumphantly on the cover as though he had just found the secret to the universe. He walked briskly to his chair and sat down. She moved so that she was standing behind him, peering patiently over his shoulder.

He began to thumb through the book, pausing finally on a page partway in. "Ah yes, this is what I was looking for." He muttered almost under his breath, scanning the page. His finger landed on an entry in the book and he smiled up at her. "Minerva." He beamed over at her; her head was cocked to one side while she considered this. "Minerva," rolling the name off her tongue as though she tasted it. Finally she nodded, "It does have an interesting sound to it, who was she?"

The Doctor's smile widened further, "She was the Roman goddess of music and the arts." Minerva blushed. "She was also portrayed as being a bit temperamental, but nobody is perfect." She snorted and pushed at his hat brim so that it sagged forward over his eyes. His smile wore a definite wry twist as he pushed his hat back into place. "You see? Fits you to the letter." She laughed back at him and nodded her head. "Thank you Doctor, yes it's lovely." He closed the book with a smug look of triumph and stood.

He strolled to the bookshelf, sliding the book back into place. He crossed back and sat in the large chair again. Minerva poured a touch of the hot liquid from the pot into his cup to warm it. After a few quiet sips he set his cup down and steepeled his fingers in front of him. "So the next step for us will be to find out how much of your memory you can get back. My scans all indicated you were probably human but as far as I know no one from Earth has your abilities."

He glanced over at her to make sure she was listening, he found her staring intently back at him. "The sooner we find out where you came from, the sooner we can get you back home." Her eyebrows knitted together, "But Doctor, if I wasn't from the planet you found me on, how did I get there?"

He tapped his fingers on his lip lightly a few times. "Yes well, I admit that has me somewhat concerned. Additionally, I should like to know exactly what happened there."

The hunters made a final move to get their singer back; one of them was hit in the shoulder by the weapon fire and dropped heavily to the ground. The other hunters froze but the leader kept moving forward, he had to rescue the female. The guard at her cage moved his weapon slightly and fired, the leader stopped, his face contorted in horror. The guard had let the weapon discharge just above her leg; a large gash ran across her thigh and down part of her calf. Sparkling red droplets rained onto the leaves bellow the cage. She made no sound but he could see her eyes, they were wide with pain and fear. Slowly the leader backed away. The aliens moved on board, and the ship lifted heavily into the air.

Inside the alien ship the raptor stirred, the effects of the net began to wear off slowly. The female hunter moaned as the numbness started to leave her. One of the aliens spread a thick translucent blue gel across her leg. The burning lessoned but did not stop completely. She could not understand what the aliens were saying and their actions were a mystery to her. She pulled herself as close to the raptor as she could get. It was starting to flap and struggle in its cage. Its wings were beating against the bars; she knew it would hurt itself badly if it didn't stop.

She started up her song again; it matched the soothing noise the female birds made to the chicks. The small bird began to settle, one shiny eye fixed on her. She held her hand out through the bars to it and stroked its beak softly. She increased her song, changing the rhythm faintly and the raptor began to sway slightly. Finally it fluffed its body and settled on the bottom of the cage. Its eyes closed heavily and it slept. Behind her she could hear the aliens rumbling back and forth to each other, they were gesturing excitedly to her.

Minerva sighed deeply and straightened behind the Doctor's chair. She rubbed her forehead and gave him a frustrated look, "Every time I think I'll find some scrap of memory I just find a lot of nothing." He rose from his chair briskly and held his hand out to her. "I know just the spot to do a little thinking and recuperating." He led her to the control console and began activating the controls around the unit. She watched his movements with interest for a moment but the second her eye rested on the large red switch to open the door a burst of memory fragments came back to her.

Minerva let out low moan and dropped to the floor. The Doctor looked up from the panel to see she had apparently dissapeared. He came quickly around the console and found her kneeling on all fours. She was gripping at the floor as though to keep herself from flying up to the ceiling, her knuckles were turning white with the effort.

There had been cages, and tests. Awful, probing tests. Strange creatures were examining them. The aliens prevented her from moving or speaking. They kept the bird from flying; its only defensive weapon was under alien control. They had both been hooked up to giant machines, electrical surges were charged through them. They were being kept side by side now, but they could not help each other. Then something happened; something terrible and they were both together, merged.

Minerva gasped, she was sweating, just behind the rush of memories she felt the lurking monster closing in on her in her mind. The Doctor called out to her, put his hands on her rigid shoulders but she could not respond to him. The memories were overwhelming her. Each fading from her as quickly as it formed so that she couldn't recall anything more than the terrible feelings. For a moment she swooned and then blacked out.

She was standing in the forest clearing, facing the darkness. She saw a large shape between the trees. It moved awkwardly on the ground, making an almost hopping move toward her. Minerva could feel its dark thoughts; it hated her, her control. It felt she was as bad as the aliens that took them prisoner. She was holding it captive in this forest in her mind and it wanted out. It came into the light of the clearing and she shrieked.

The walls of the control room reverberated from the sound. The Doctor watched in amazement as her hair grew a shade darker before his eyes. She gasped and muttered something about keeping control, but he couldn't quite make it out. She twitched, shaking on the floor. "Minerva, what happened?" He gently shook her shoulder and she managed to look up at him. Her face was white; eyes wide.

Every word came out a ragged gasp. "Doctor, something," in his mind he heard her: awful! "Is, happening." help me! She seemed to be only partially looking at him; her whole body was shivering. The TARDIS whispered softly to her. He helped her back to her knees slowly. She clutched at his arms desperately and scanned the room for a moment or two. She acted as though she expected something to jump out at her at any moment.

The Doctor's voice was quiet but commanding. "Minerva, look me in the eyes. Calm down. Now." Her eyes snapped up to his and she relaxed her grip. She reached up to rub her head and winced as her fingers hit the bump. She looked back at him, his expression was controlled but there was concern in his eyes. "Doctor, if what I am remembering." She paused, collecting her thoughts. "If what I am remembering is real..." she trailed off again; tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.

He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. "There now Minerva, stay calm. We will sort this all out together all right?" He dipped his head forward so that he was looking up at her through his eyebrows. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a weak grin. "What you may be remembering now could simply be a bit from a story you read. It may not even be something that really happened." She sniffled slightly and composed herself a bit. "Do you really think so? Even though it seems like part of me doesn't want to remember? Every time it starts to come back it fades away."

"It is possible." No, he thought as he patted her arm. I think I stumbled across something quite sinister and you are at the heart of it somehow.

Satisfied that she was calmed down properly he rose and flipped the last few controls and the TARDIS altered course in the corridor of space and time she traveled through. He took Minerva's arm in his and helped her to stand. Gently he began to lead her to a door to one side of the control room. "Now then, we can't really let you run about in that jumpsuit, it has seen better days I think." Minerva didn't really need to examine herself, she knew her clothes were in tatters and she blushed.

"No I guess not, but where can we find clothes that will fit…" The door to the wardrobe room opened up. The assault on her senses of all the colors and patterns was almost overwhelming. It made the deep colors in the control room seem sterile. He turned back to her and smiled broadly, waving her into the room. She entered with him and stared about in wonder. The room was practically overflowing with racks of clothes. He bustled around selecting and discarding different items seemingly at random. She quietly watched; she felt certain this was a good time to stand clear and let him proceed.

He grabbed a piece now and again with a pattern that made her cringe. When he put them back she sighed with relief. He finally arrived at what was a satisfying decision to him and approached her with a bundle of fabric draped over one arm. He waved her back into a corner behind her. She turned and found a screen blocking the corner from view. She moved behind it to change, curious to see what had been selected for her. He stood just on the other side of the screen.

She only barely managed to get the jumpsuit off without it disintegrating entirely. She tossed the ruined garment over the top of the screen and he caught it nimbly. He wrinkled his nose at it and set it aside. "I think we should strongly consider burning that." She laughed brightly, holding her hand out over the top of the screen to take the first item. One by one the Doctor handed over the pieces of the outfit he had selected. When she was finished she made a little snorting sound and walked out from behind the screen.

"I confess, I hadn't expected anything this, unusual." She wore a white linen Victorian shirt with ruffled collar and cuffs. The shirt was tucked into a pair of black form fitting pants with a small row of gold buttons down the outer seams. The pants stopped just past her knee and were tucked into a pair of soft black leather boots. Over this she had a long dark green velvet coat. It had a thin stiff collar that framed her long neck. It fastened across her waist by a gold chain and hung mid-calf.

He smirked at her as she turned about in front of him slowly. "Well? How do I look already?" She had been peering at herself in the mirror across from her. Without her memory she didn't feel she could say if the outfit suited her or not. "I think you look rather fetching actually." Her blush rose from her chest all the way to her temples, she looked down at her boots. He took her arm in his again and escorted her from the room, grinning broadly.

When they arrived back in the control room he checked a read-out on his console. "Ah, excellent." He rubbed his hands briskly together and went to the coat rack near the TARDIS door. He hung his coat and hat, and then slid his umbrella into the stand. That done he walked back to the console. She had watched him bustle about the room quietly, smiling at his antics.

"Can I take this to mean we are near the destination you set for us?" He stabbed his finger in the air at her, "Correct!" He adjusted a few more settings, moving about like an undecided hummingbird. "We should be landing in a short while." He had barely finished his sentence and Minerva heard the vibrations of the TARDIS change, followed by a slight sensation of another course correction. "Right," He said clasping his hands together. "I think you and I both can do with a little spot of rest. Then we can see if our new location works any wonders for that memory of yours."

She nodded, feeling as though it was a futile gesture. It wasn't as if she intended to dispute his suggestions. He was a whirlwind, and she was enjoying the ride. He escorted her through the TARDIS back to the sleeping chamber and showed her into her comfortable room. "I shall come by to fetch you in the morning then Minerva. Sleep well and if you need me, press this button here by the door." He pointed to the tiny red button on the wall by the door. She nodded her understanding to him.

"Thank you again Doctor, I owe you so much." He smiled warmly at her one final time and left the room. She sat on the bed and removed her boots thinking there was no way she would be able to sleep after so much excitement. Immediately she felt her eyes start to close. She had only just managed to pull her feet up on the bed when she drifted off.

The lurking creature was waiting for her in the clearing again, glaring openly. It made no further move to attack but she could feel it was getting stronger. Was it her imagination or was it larger now as well? They glared at each other, neither one moving. The forest was devoid of sound and warmth, the light was failing around her and the shadows were growing long. As she slept her hair darkened into a rich amber brown.

The Voice

Chapter 3

The singer woke when one of the aliens shook her foot roughly. She made a specifically colorful statement about the alien's mother but it didn't seem to understand at all. She sat up stiffly and accepted the bowl the alien handed through the bars to her. She wrinkled her nose at the bitter smelling substance inside. She glanced over at the raptor and saw that it was greedily eating a similar bowl of thick liquid. She ate the stew-like food, it was acidic and she gladly pushed the bowl outside the cage after a few quick mouthfuls. She wasn't that hungry yet.

She covered her laugh as the alien attempted to fish the bowl away. The raptor bit its finger painfully in the process. It snatched her bowl and said something to her as it moved away. She suspected it had something to do with her mother and the corner of her mouth stayed curled up in a spiteful grin. The raptor became agitated once again and several of the aliens watched intently as she sang to it, they were taking notes and measurements with their strange gear. She ignored them, and when the bird's eyes drifted shut again she yawned and curled up herself. The singing took a little of her energy to calm the bird and she was exhausted from her ordeal.

The Doctor stood outside Minerva's room, a tone sounded softly inside, announcing he was there. He heard no other sound from her room. On the fifth chime he opened the door and let himself in. The room was dark and he could just make out her shape on the bed. He brought the lights up and smiled. She was half curled on her side, still fully dressed. She had only managed to get her boots off. Her hair was noticeably darker than when he had found her; he frowned. He reached out and touched her shoulder, softly speaking her name.

They both sensed the man; Minerva refused to take her eyes off the horrid bird in front of her. She felt the man approach and grasp her shoulder, pulling her away from the clearing. The bird's eyes narrowed, it sprang at the man. Minerva had been ready this time; she shifted into its path and raised her hands. "Stop!" It froze in mid air, writhing and screeching, its claws grasping at her. It was still focused on the man behind her. "No, I still command you, obey me and stop." Her voice sounded stronger to her ears than she truly felt. She felt its mind, for a moment, anger clouding its thoughts. Then it was thrust back into the trees. She allowed the man to pull her out of the clearing.

The Doctor pulled his hand away from her; there was no mistaking what he had just felt. There was something else hiding inside her mind. It had tried to get to him; attacking at the moment he touched her. He had felt Minerva's mind drive it back but they had locked for a moment and the next time she might not be able to push it away. Minerva was blinking at him from her bed. "Yes Doctor? Is it morning already?" He kept his expression unreadable. "Yes yes, I thought we would try for a walk." He reached out and raped lightly on the side of her head. "See if we can't jog something loose in that head of yours."

She grinned and ducked away, sliding up to sit on the edge of the bed. She ran her hands through her hair and barely flinched as her fingers grazed the bump. She became aware of her current state, she held her arms out and looked at herself. "Well, I guess that saves us some time anyway, don't have to get dressed." She pulled her boots on quickly and stood up. The Doctor had moved over to the door and waved her after him. She moved smoothly, the stiffness in her leg was noticeably better. "Where are we taking our walk this morning?" He turned his head slightly towards her as they moved towards the control room. "It's called The Eye of Orion."

They entered the control room and he fetched his coat and hat. "The atmosphere has some unique properties." He tucked his umbrella handle into his pocket and gestured for her to follow him. He flipped the lever to open the TARDIS door. Minerva peered doubtfully outside for a moment and then walked through. She was moving with more confidence than she felt.

As they stepped out into the soft, misty air he reached back and clasped her hand, guiding her down the slight slope from the door. "I am hoping that the atmospheric properties will give your memory a jog as we take our stroll." She stepped lightly onto the level surface beside him. "The fresh air is bound to do you some good…" he turned when he realized she wasn't right behind him. She had paused and was looking at the small blue police box. She tipped her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "I'm sure you hear this a lot, but how is it the TARDIS looks so small out here?"

The Doctor smirked to himself and heaved a melodramatic sigh. "People can be so wrapped up about size." He shifted back to her side. "The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental." He patted the TARDIS affectionately and held his arm back out to Minerva. "Fancy way of saying 'larger on the inside than out isn't it?" He rolled his eyes at her and snorted. "As I was saying there is a heavy bombardment of positive ions here, might help your mind relax and recover your memories." She took a long deep breath as he spoke.

"Well of course it probably won't be able to recover what the aliens wiped out." He stared openly at her; she blinked at him. He arched an eyebrow, "I confess I hadn't thought it would work so quickly." He turned to face her fully, lightly grasping her arms. "Minerva? Does this mean you remember what happened?" She was staring almost blankly at him. "I wish I could explain what I meant Doctor but I can't. All I have is this feeling that my past was erased intentionally, by some sort of aliens." Her brow knitted and the corners of her mouth turned down.

At first the aliens seemed fairly harmless. They hooked wires up to her or placed her in front of various machines and coaxed her into singing. It wasn't long before she puzzled out some of their language. She was getting thin from lack of exercise and she refused to eat much of the bitter stew, it made her throat burn. The one time she tried to keep more than half of it down, her stomach had rebelled. She had been sick all that night. They had kept her away from the bird most of the time, she would catch glimpses now and again. After what felt like a few months to her she was placed in a room on one side of a partition, the raptor was on the other.

They had done something to the raptor, she couldn't tell what but it made the bird highly agitated. She would sing to it and the aliens would monitor both of them closely. They seemed to be building some kind of large machine and she got the impression they were working on a weapon but she couldn't understand them enough to tell how she and the bird were involved. She tried to escape but the aliens were strong and well armed so she never made it far.

After a contemplative pause she started to walk again. "Doctor, there is something else. I thought it was a dream." They moved slowly towards a grouping of boulders. "Just now though I felt it, it must be real." She looked at him and paused. "There is something else in my mind, lurking in some dark corner, and I think it wants out." She slid ahead of the Doctor, perfectly navigating a small slide of loose shale. She turned and held her hand out to him, "Every time I get a flash of memory, I feel it there." She helped him balance his way down the slide and they walked to one of the smallest boulders.

He rubbed his chin lightly and pulled her down with him so that they were both sitting on one of the boulders. "Do you know what it is Minerva? Can you describe it for me?" She shook her head sadly and looked at her hands. "When I wake up I forget what I see, all I remember is feeling it there, watching me." He picked up her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Minerva, do you remember on board, when you formed the picture of the TARDIS?" She nodded slightly, still staring at her hands. "Minerva, look at me." She lifted her eyes so that she was meeting his gaze. "Can you do it again, only this time form a picture of what is in your mind?"

She frowned, trying to recall how had she had managed it the first time. "You hadn't seen the TARDIS but you used her energy pattern to form the model just the same." She was nodding faintly but her face was full of concern. "I think I can Doctor, but I'm not certain I really want to. What if it takes over, or gets free somehow?" He sighed patiently and shifted so that he was partially leaning on the handle of his umbrella. "I need to know what it is Minerva, I have to know what I'm dealing with before I can help you."

She considered quietly, a light cool sweat broke out on the back of her neck. She took a deep shaky breath and removed her hand from his. "I'll try Doctor, I hope you know what you are doing better than I do." He rolled his fingers in the air, signaling her to proceed. She shifted on the cool rock, pulling her coat more tightly around her. She stared almost idly for a moment at the toes of her boots, taking deep breaths.

Minerva's eyes shut and she relaxed her shoulders, slowly she started a hum. It was so quiet at first the Doctor only felt it. Gradually she increased the volume, shifting the pitch slightly. Her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clenched into fists as she focused. She reached into her mind until she brushed a tendril of the foreign presence. Slowly she started to match its energy pattern, forming the single note and finally the full song.

As the music drifted across the empty valley they sat in, a shimmer started in the air in front of her. Slowly it gained a light and solidity, the image came into focus. The Doctors eyes widened and he hissed in breath, she opened her eyes slowly. She was still holding the tune but her voice was threatening to catch in her throat. Floating in the air before them was an enormous bird of prey; it stood as tall as the Doctor. It moved and shifted snapping its beak in the air between them.

The bird was draped with black greasy looking feathers thick over its body. The wings were covered with a thin membrane like a bat's. Light filtered through them, highlighting the veins as they flexed. Its head was bare. The skin warty and dark brown; pooled in thick rolls at its shoulders. The large talons and hooked serrated beak gleamed like onyx.

Its large dark eyes shifted maliciously from side to side, scanning them both. In its forehead was a fist-sized crystal, white and clouded like a piece of quartz. Suddenly a burst of light flashed forth from the crystal. Minerva's song twisted into a cry of pain, her hands shot up to her temples and she slumped forward. The Doctor grabbed her as she fell, holding her tightly. Her whole body was shaking; sweat was running down her neck. She was making a soft crying sound into his chest.

After a series of more and more painful tests the aliens brought her into a sterile metal room. They strapped her down to a metal table; the cold stung her skin. A strange acidic smell burned her nostrils. She had to squeeze her eyes shut to blot out the light glinting off of the metal surfaces. Slowly they inserted a pair of needles, one into each of her arms. Her eyes snapped open in pain; the light of the room was blinding her. She couldn't see much to either side, vague shapes moved around her. Probes attached to a large machine were placed on her temples. She watched as they brought stands with bags of various colored liquids hanging them, one to each side of the bed. They plugged an attachment on the stand into each needle.

Gradually they activated the first valve on the stands. Her veins felt like they were being filled with ice water. She tried to pull her arms away but the straps cut too tightly into her flesh. Slowly they opened up more of the valves, the ice turned to a gentle warmth and then burning. She saw one of the aliens move to the machine and it flipped a red lever. Suddenly there was a flash in her head. It felt as though her whole body was on fire and her head was going to split apart. She cried out wildly until a mask was put over her mouth, muffling the sounds. She felt something being burned out of her mind just as she mercifully passed out.

The Doctor held Minerva quietly on the rock, allowing her shaking to subside. He stared at the air where the image of the giant bird had been. He thought he recognized the species although he hadn't heard of any growing so large. Minerva pulled away from him a bit and he released his hold on her. She brushed at her eyes hastily and smoothed at her pants legs. "Minerva, I believe I know what we are dealing with, at least part of it at any rate." He put his hands on her shoulders, turning her slightly so that she was facing him.

She raised her head and looked him in the eyes; her pupils had narrowed to pinpricks. Her skin was ashen, the fine blue veins of her cheeks in stark contrast. "I need to go back inside the Tardis, do you understand?" She nodded slightly and moved to stand, her knees buckled. He steadied her and got himself standing. He held his umbrella in one hand, using it as a cane to help balance them as they walked. His other arm was around her back guiding her to the TARDIS.

By the time they reached the doors she was walking slowly under her own power. He moved quickly ahead of her to access the TARDIS databanks. She walked in quietly and made her way to the chair in the sitting area. She sat down stiffly and stared straight ahead, barely blinking. After only a moment of searching he found the entry he wanted. The Doctor flipped a switch to have the data displayed on the small console monitor. An image of the bird they had seen appeared on the screen, this one was indeed smaller, although he wasn't certain how accurate in size her image had been.

The TARDIS image she had created after all had been no more than 6 inches tall. "This can't be good, I need more data." He scratched just above his ear for a moment, causing the light straw hat to slip slightly askew. "Minerva," he walked over to where she was sitting. Her eyes were calmed and her skin was regaining its natural color, but she was still staring blankly at the air before her. "Minerva." He squatted before her resting his hand on her knee. She blinked and flinched slightly and brought her gaze down to his. "Yes Doctor, I'm sorry, were you speaking to me?" Her voice was strained and distant. "It almost got loose, got control of me."

Her eyes came in to focus on his and she shook her head slightly. He kept his voice calm but firm and he kept his hand firmly on her knee. "Minerva, we need to go back where I found you. I believe I will find some clues as to what is happening to you." She shivered but her eyes were still bright and alert. She nodded at him faintly. "Yes I understand; are we leaving now then?" He nodded to her and straightened up to go back to the console.

"Doctor?" Her voice was whisper soft but he froze in his tracks and turned back to face her. "Do you, do you know what it is?" He nodded thoughtfully, "Yes I believe I do." She looked up at him, "Can you help me?" She paused and took a shaking breath. "Or is it going to take over my mind?" His frown deepened slightly and then he affected a faint smile. "I'm sure we'll be able to get this all straightened out." She decided he wasn't the best liar in the world but she nodded her thanks anyway. At least he hadn't abandoned her when he saw the beast.

He started to leave again and turned back to her. "Minerva, why don't you go get some rest, hmm?" She had been staring at the spot where he had just been; she leveled her gaze on his. "Thank you, I'll be fine sitting right here for now." He started to protest, to move her out of the chair and towards the hall. Her eyes stayed locked on his; her face was set, and he wouldn't move her without a struggle. He sighed and went quietly back to the console. He had learned that it was best not to argue with women at certain times, and this was one of them.

He began setting the controls to take them back to the planet he found her on. The TARDIS had a constant hum of life but she picked up extra notes, extra intensity when she dematerialized or rematerialized. Minerva unconsciously picked out the note that was her basic life energy and began to hum it softly with the ship. The Doctor was scowling deeply as he worked his way around the console. If she had somehow been combined with the beast, the experiment was going wrong, it was gaining control. He knew that if he couldn't find a way to split the two, or suppress the beast, her mind would crack like an egg.

He glanced up at Minerva and paused, she was singing again. Minerva had formed the energy note that was the TARDIS energy and had added a new note to it. The Doctor realized that she had found the signature to his mental energy and worked it into her song. As she merged the notes she picked up a third; her own tone, and began to weave them together. At first the music was idle, random. Then she began to focus, to give it structure, the TARDIS responded.

He felt the ship's power increase, felt it buzz with greater intensity as it worked to obey his directions. For a moment listening to Minerva's song, he swore he saw the TARDIS as a shadowy female form in his mind. He shook his head, this was a mental skill unlike anything he had encountered and she seemed to be wielding it like a toy. "We'll have to start working on her control of that." He muttered under his breath as he began to move around the console again.

The notes faded away and the TARDIS returned to her normal steady purr as they traveled through the space-time corridor. He finished the first portion of trip settings and straightened with a grunt. He rested his hands in the small of his back. The Doctor glanced up to the chair and saw that her body was slouched. Her head was tilted off to one side and her eyes were closed. He tipped his hat back on his head and smiled.

Standing in the forest she could strongly feel both the man and the woman's presence. She vaguely realized that it was the Doctor and the TARDIS she felt. When she looked behind her she could see the shadowy outlines that represented them both. She returned to scanning the trees and sky. She could find no sign of the bird; this made her nervous. She began to walk to the edge of the clearing, following the perimeter around. She hadn't gone far when she found a strange slumped shape in the tall grasses.

It was the bird; it was lying on it's back, wings askew. It appeared to have been knocked out cold. "Must have been when I slammed the door on you back there. Well it serves you right." She was tempted to give the thing a kick but decided against it. It didn't seem right to her to injure an enemy when it was down. It also didn't seem right for a bird to be her enemy but it was clear it thought she was to blame. "You may think I'm the cause of our problems but I know better. I remember now, more anyway. I know what they did, and I think I know why, I just hope I can keep all this with me when I wake up."

She sighed heavily and looked at the thing lying prone before her. It didn't seem especially frightening as it was. It was large but resting like it was it seemed like no real threat. Its tongue was hanging partially out of its beak, drying in the sunlight. She grimaced and reached out, lightly pushing it back in and closing it's beak. "There, that should count as my good deed for the day." She shuddered at the thought that she had just let her fingers get that close to it's beak.

She started to rise and something else tugged at her mind. It was like a deep memory only she wasn't generating it, the raptor was. She knelt back beside it and carefully rested her hand on its head. Slowly a sound came to her, a remembered song. She sang quietly to it for a while. She gently stroked its beak and the delicate membrane of its wings. She finished the song and sighed. A shiver crept up her spine so she stood and rubbed her arms briskly. Turning she walked swiftly back to the man and the woman at the other end of the clearing.

The Voice

Chapter 4

A strange metallic wheeze groaned through the TARDIS as she materialized on Tora. The slight jostle as she settled to the earth caused Minerva to stir in the chair. She looked around her surroundings, the disorientation of sleep beginning to fade. As she scanned her eyes across the console she saw the Doctor bustling towards the door. "Doctor. I'm coming along." She rose and started towards him. Her stride was strong now, closing the gap between them swiftly. He held his hands out towards her; she stopped with her shoulders pressed lightly against them.

He began shaking his head slightly, adopting a fatherly tone. "No no no, this sort of thing is best left to the experts." She put her hands on her hips and smirked at him. "Then you'd better call one since you don't know what we'll find any better than I do." His jaw dropped slightly and then clamped shut. He sneered slightly at her and started to the door. "All right, come along, but don't blame me if you blunder right into a trap and blow yourself to bits." She had been striding out the door as he spoke. Minerva paused and blushed and gestured for the Doctor to proceed. "After you then." He grinned slyly as he moved past her.

As she stepped out to join him she saw he was shaking his head. "Why is it no one listens to me until death becomes involved?" "Perhaps because you aren't quite as serious, Doctor." He reached up and tapped his finger lightly on her nose and then waggled it at her. He jaunted away from the TARDIS and began flitting about the area, checking each clue he came across. Minerva followed patiently behind him, closely watching everything he did and listening to each and every word.

Finally they made it to the edge of the platform and the large pile of blasted metal. "So the body of the debris I found you tangled in must indicate…" He trailed off holding his umbrella out to match the line of charred metal. Minerva's calm voice interjected when it was clear the Doctor wasn't going to finish. "The direction of the blast; which couldn't have been at the center of the sphere, they don't line up." He lowered his umbrella and stared with fascination at Minerva. She blushed faintly under his gaze. "Well Doctor; it isn't that I don't listen to you, just that I have my own opinions about some things."

"Clever girl." He smiled at her briefly and then waved her rapidly aside as he followed the line of the debris. He found a metal base at the edge of the sphere, part of it had blast marks and part was simply gone, defining another portion of the sphere's influence. It appeared to have been some sort of podium. He rubbed his chin and then briskly walked towards the trees away from the direction of the TARDIS. She jogged into step at his elbow and scanned the trees. "Now where to Doctor?" "There was an indication of a structure this way," he pointed in the direction they were heading. "I found it on the scanners as we landed."

He was moving at a brisk pace and she found herself practically running to keep up with him. "It should be just inside the edge of the forest, ah ha." They were at the top of a slight slope and below them they could see a dark shape in the forest. The building was a dark green, camouflaged into the trees. It had no obvious windows and only one door they could see from their angle. There was no activity of any kind around the structure, no vehicles or spacecraft tucked into the trees. The Doctor scanned the area carefully, making no sudden moves.

Finally after a few moments he seemed satisfied. He crouched down slightly and began to creep up to the building. The Doctor slipped from boulder to tree trunk quietly, winding his way to the door. Minerva trailed him like a dappled shadow. She was moving silently, darting her eyes about looking for any signs of motion. When he got to the corner near the door he turned and waved her quickly to his side. As she moved swiftly to his side she whispered, "What do we do now Doctor?" Her voice was a soft melodic sound, and full of apprehension.

He straightened up suddenly and beamed at her. "We knock." He reached out and rapped firmly on the metal door, the sound of banging echoed inside. There was no response at all; she glared at him from the bushes. "Just as I thought, no one left about." He began scanning the door for a handle of some kind. He found a large panel on one side and held his hand up to it. When nothing happened he scowled and leaned forward to examine it. She shook her head and sighed.

Minerva strode forward and watched him for a moment or two. She could tell the panel was where he felt the door opened. Finally she reached her hand out tentatively and touched the pad. She closed her eyes and focused on the energy pattern of the door's system. She began to hum softly and when she mustered the sound into a full note something in the panel clicked. The door swung silently up and open; the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "Very handy, but I suspect they didn't create you to be the ultimate lock pick." Minerva laughed and followed the Doctor inside, the door swung shut behind them.

The inside of the building was still, there appeared to be no traces of another being as they strolled the empty halls together. The Doctor pointed out how low the ceilings were in the building and that the hallways and doors were wide. The rooms they passed closest to the door appeared to be simple eating rooms and sleep chambers. The beds interested Minerva; they were a simple cot-like structure, deeply curved in the center with a long flat narrow board extending from one end. There was a triangular pillow on the end of the board. She felt a twinge of memory for a moment, a hint of what the aliens must look like but it faded.

She trotted lightly after the Doctor as he had moved further down the single straight hall of the building. As they continued on more and more memories began filtering back into her mind, so subtly she was not even aware she had reverted somewhat to her original personality, and was scanning the rooms for the aliens that had kidnapped her. Near the end of the hall they passed a series of rooms filled with various kinds of equipment and machines. She flinched slightly as she looked in the rooms, and the Doctor watched her reactions carefully.

They made it to the end of the hall, the hallway itself flared into a round cul-de-sac. There were four doors spaced evenly around the curved walls. Where the other doors had glass panels they could peer through these doors were solid. Strange markings were printed across each one. The Doctor seemed to be reading the labels, although she couldn't understand them. After a moment of scanning he reached out and opened the door to their left. This room had a pair of cages that stood one to each side of a partition.

He felt her at his elbow and she brushed past him into the room almost in a daze. Minerva walked up to the cages and her fingers traced the bars of the larger cage shakily. Her mind was beginning to process the memories she lost when she hit her head. She clenched her hand slightly and swiftly left the room. As she walked back past the Doctor he noticed that her eyes were open wide showing arcs of white around the jewel green.

He moved to the next room on the right and opened the door. This room also had two cages but now they were side by side. He peered around inside for a few moments. Finally her curiosity overwhelmed her and she looked around his shoulders. There were a number small to medium machines against the walls. Again images raced through her mind, she had started to shiver faintly. Part of her wanted to beg the Doctor to leave, the other part wanted to press on. The need to unravel her past outweighed her desire to run and she followed him quietly to the third door.

The third room was full of computers and the Doctor paused a moment in this door. Minerva had no memory of this room and it alone did not seem to stir up any reactions. The Doctor took note of all the room's contents and nodded faintly to himself before letting the door fall shut. He glanced up at her as she stood beside the final door. She was holding her arms tightly, the slight shiver making her hair whisper in small waves. He gave her a confident stare before peering into the final room.

The center of the room had a massive machine with two attached pods. Small evenly spaced control stations on all sides surrounded the machine. Large tubes and masses of wires led from the machine up to the walls and ceilings. There were tables with syringes and other medical implements parked near the two pods. He reached up and tapped lightly at the brim of his hat, setting it back on his head at an angle. He moved to close the door but Minerva reached out around him, bracing the door with her hand. "Wait, please." Her voice was hardly more than a breath of air beside his ear.

He watched as she scanned the room slowly, a shadow fell over her eyes. She reached up hesitantly and pressed her palm onto her temple. He could feel her muscles tighten, straining with the effort to remember this place. He could tell the memories, the ones that she had a chance of accessing, were staying just at the fringes of her mind. He reached out and squeezed her arm gently. She jumped slightly and let out a deep sigh as her gaze met his. He waved for her to follow him back out of the room. Minerva needed no coaxing to follow his lead.

He went to the third room in the group and walked inside waving Minerva after him. They approached a terminal that had a monitor low into the table itself. The Doctor scanned the room to his right and Minerva appeared to his left with an oddly shaped chair. It had more or less a normal armless chair base but the same plank the beds had extended from the back. She set the chair down for the Doctor and walked back to a corner station to fetch a second. He perched himself on the edge of the chair and studied the console before him. Minerva felt better in this totally foreign room, no feelings of pain or fear threatened to creep into her mind here.

There were a series of four dials under the screen and a switch on each side. The Doctor examined these for a moment and then the rest of the station; finally he pulled his chair up a bit closer to the counter. He flipped the switch to his right and nothing seemed to happen. Minerva shrugged at him from her new perch beside him. He reached out and flipped the second switch and the machine hummed quietly to life. The screen began to glow and a set of menus appeared. He slightly turned one of the knobs and the image tilted slightly. Each of the others revealed themselves to be controls for the display itself. He fiddled with the controls until he was satisfied with the display.

The Doctor scanned the screen quietly, apparently reading the menus before him. He reached out and tapped one of the lines in a menu, the line flashed and the screen began scrolling slowly with data. His gaze remained fixed on the screen as line after line rolled past. Minerva watched for a moment or two, when she spoke it was not English but rather her own language, she was unaware of the change. "I'm surprised you can read their language, I could never figure it out." The Doctor tapped the screen to stop the data flow and stared intently at Minerva. She began to squirm after seconds passed, "Did I say something wrong?"

Suddenly she realized, heard her own voice speaking strange words she somehow knew. She fell back to English in surprise. "Doctor, how, what just happened?" Her eyebrows drew together and slowly she realized how much of her memory had returned to her. "Do you remember everything now?" She frowned in concentration, her eyes darting back and forth slightly as though reading a mental book she just opened. "Most of the recent events I can. The aliens wiped out my past somehow, all I can remember is the days after that first operation."

She scanned through her memory when a thought suddenly came to her. She looked up at the Doctor and blinked in surprise. "But how is it I know your language?" He shrugged nonchalantly, "The TARDIS, when we first brought you on board." She shook her head in confusion. "The initial scan we made wasn't deep, at surface level you appear human, from Earth. When she touched your mind the first time she more or less downloaded what she thought you needed to communicate." He waved impatiently at her, "It's not that complicated, tell me what you remember, any details."

She sat back and rested her hands in her lap. Focusing on the cuff of his pant leg she began to drift through her jumbled mind. Slowly she pulled the trail of pieces into order and related what she knew. She didn't look at him as she spoke; instead she kept her eyes lowered. She unconsciously pulled her coat more snuggly about her as she began to speak.

"Aliens, I woke up surrounded by them on a metal table, I was strapped down and my mind felt like it was on fire. One of them injected me with something that made my muscles all go numb; they carried me into a cage and left me there. I couldn't remember anything about who or what I was. There was something on the other side of a wall from me; it sounded hurt, some kind of animal. I couldn't think straight; I think I passed out. They started doing all kinds of tests on me. Strapping me down to different machines, there was lots of pain. I could remember some basic things, my language, and bits of theirs. I could remember anything that was more or less second nature to me but my past was gone."

She clutched her hands in her lap, trying to quell the trembling she felt in them. "They had erased everything somehow. Eventually my cage was hooked up to another one, it had some kind of bird in it. It seemed familiar to me; it was tiny and scared. I tried to get us both out but couldn't figure out the cage doors. They put a strange heavy collar around my neck and suddenly I found myself singing. I couldn't control myself, the collar seemed to be commanding me somehow."

She paused for breath and began speaking quickly. "After a few days I think, they hooked us together with wires and tubes. We struggled but we couldn't pull away. They put us inside the pods on that big machine, when it activated it felt like being on fire. The pain was awful, and my mind was being filled, taken over. I thought my head would explode." The Doctor fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Minerva. She paused and wiped at her tears, she clenched the handkerchief tightly.

"I couldn't see or hear the bird anymore but I did see them pull something from the other pod. I think it was dead, I couldn't see for sure. They pulled me out of my pod and strapped me onto a mobile podium, and moved me outside. I started to struggle and they gave me another of the paralyzing shots. It was awful, I was awake but I couldn't move at all. They put that same large black collar around my neck and locked the podium to the edge of the big platform. I was facing a large metal object of some kind, the machine started to hum, I felt myself hum back. I tried to stop the song but the collar forced me on." She was taking small gasping breaths, her shoulders were quivering but she only squared them and pressed on with her story.

"This massive sphere formed in front of me and I was supposed to release this inner energy at it but something in my mind broke loose. It took over for a second and the sphere grew out of control, when the energy was let loose the sphere wiped out the whole platform. 11 of the aliens had been on the platform, and gotten trapped in the sphere, they just vanished. Something was wrong with the platform I was on. It had been partially hit by the energy blast. Then I woke up in the TARDIS."

Her tears had stopped but she still clutched at the handkerchief. Her face had drained of color and she stared blankly at her feet. "Minerva?" She looked up at him with a start and shuddered. "Sorry Doctor, I'm sure that isn't especially helpful." He waved his hand dismissively. "It is; it fills in some important gaps, suspicions of mine." He turned back to the monitor and began working swiftly through the menus. "The aliens are called Rathids, your people are Aorors. Apparently the Rathids selected you because your people have abilities they do not. Specifically your ability to use your song as a control focus."

He looked at her solemnly, his deep blue eyes filled with sadness. "Your home world, Zerni, has a very rare species of bird. Matrix raptors have a crystal focused energy beam that allows them to unravel the matrix of basic matter. It more or less ceases to exist; on your planet they use this skill to carve tunnels in the cliffs they nest in. I can't find the reason they did it, but the Rathids used you to build a weapon with the raptor's beam. They wiped your memory so that there would be mental room, if you will, for the matrix raptor. They needed you because some Aorors can control animals with their song. You would be able to give the beast's power focus, which they could control."

He sighed and ran his fingers across his forehead lightly and readjusted his hat. Her eyes were wide as she reached the conclusion the Doctor was getting to. "Since they could control me that gave them the power to control it as long as it was trapped in my mind. I could focus the energy beam so that it would have much greater power than when the raptor used it." He nodded as she shivered at the thought. "But Doctor, that means they could use me to do major damage, there is no telling what all I could wipe out."

He was nodding faintly and held up his hand, "Something is wrong however. The raptor is getting bigger, stronger somehow. I suspect it is feeding off of your mental energies." "That is what I have been feeling lurking about in my mind? That great hideous thing was the little bird I was first with?" He had turned and was shutting the machine down. "Yes, we have to split you two apart somehow, which means we have to find the Rathids' base. Otherwise it may manage to take control for itself."

He stood and started briskly from the room, Minerva dashed after him. "I thought this was the Rathids' base." He shook his head at her. "No, this is merely a science station, a satellite compound. We have to find the base Minerva, we have to reverse what they did to you and then destroy their research. Prevent them from being able to try again." He was speaking as much to himself as to her. They were back at the platform in the woods in a flash and he paused. They both scanned the platform, marveling for a moment at the complete removal of such a large area. Minerva shuddered beside him and moved a bit closer. He grabbed her hand and pulled her after him into the TARDIS. The doors had barely shut as he began the sequence to dematerialize.

The Voice

Chapter 5

The TARDIS was scanning for energy patterns and signals, anything that matched the Rathid structure they had just left. The Doctor directed her to start in the region of Zerni, as he expected she picked up a trace. The TARDIS was on the trail in a matter of moments. After a minute or two of searching they located the large mobile base of the Rathids. A science station of immense size that drifted slowly under it's own propulsion towards a misty green planet. "Is that Zerni?" Minerva's voice was quiet; her breath stirred the curls at the nape of his neck.

The Doctor looked up at her without comment for a moment. Then he began his regular dance around the console. A controlled waltz designed to get them to any point he chose. "It looks like solid forest, nothing but green." She moved in front of the monitor for a moment to peer at the planet, then deftly stepping away as he glided back to that panel. He nodded at her and stopped for a moment to look at the planet before shifting back to his task. Once he had the initial sequence started he paused and brought up data on the planet.

"Aorors are an interesting little race. They have a symbiotic relationship with the forests they live in. A culture that blends their modern science rather neatly with a more primitive life style." She cocked her head slightly in interest and watched carefully as he indicated various tidbits on the screen. "They have almost no weapon development, they use what they have mainly for hunting. Since the population has not grown very quickly and the forest growth is so dense the tribes don't tend to migrate and so territory wars and other similar disputes are an extreme rarity." He shook his head at the display. "Really too bad more creatures can't learn to be that way."

She was peering over his shoulder as he worked at the console. He made a soft snort and began to move again, now focusing on their destination. "Apparently we haven't collected much on your race, they truly keep to themselves. I suspect the Rathids came looking for a specific energy signature and found the matrix raptors. Collecting you was most likely a coincidence, I doubt they originally knew of your abilities." She shook her head and looked up at him. "So I'm just a stroke of good luck for them. How wonderful." He gave her a sympathetic look as he finished the course settings.

He waved at her from across the console, signaling her to follow him to the sitting area. He paused halfway to the chair and turned so abruptly she almost collided with him. "Almost forgot, we need seating for two." He disappeared through the hall door that led back further into the TARDIS. She hummed quietly, using the tune to speak with the TARDIS. She quietly asked where to find tea and the ship guided her to the food dispenser. After a brief awkward moment of puzzling out the instructions she was heading back to the sitting room with the tea tray.

When he strolled back into the sitting room with a second chair he was surprised to find her standing over the table with the tea set. He placed the chair on the other side of the table and accepted the cup from her as he settled into his own chair. He lifted his eyebrows slightly at the cup and took a light sip. A slight nod let her know she had prepared his cup properly and she felt pleased despite her apprehension about their destination. She settled into her own chair and cradled her cup in her hands, savoring the warmth through the china.

He set his cup back down on its saucer after a moment or two and steepled his fingers in front of his chest. "I plan to land the TARDIS on their ship. We should be able to infiltrate their security. As soon as we gain access to the main lab controls and databanks I should be able to find a way to reverse the process. Then we can slip back out without any of them the wiser." He looked at her smugly; she was blatantly staring back at him. "Surely you have a better plan than that." He beamed at her and patted her knee reassuringly. "The simple plans always work best." She didn't feel comforted.

The Doctor finished his tea and went back to monitor their progress from the far side of the console. She shifted in her chair, trying not to squirm. She finished off the last of her tea and sighed down into the empty cup. Instead of feeling calm her nerves were buzzing like live wires. She spent the next several minutes carefully examining the buttons on her pants and the spines of his books. She couldn't read them from where she sat but the subtle mix of colors was slightly distracting. She had just started to relax slightly when she felt a shift in the TARDIS.

The TARDIS began her soft wheeze as she materialized on a lower deck of the space station. Minerva looked at the door with apprehension and then back to the Doctor. He was still at the opposite side of the console. He gave his umbrella a shift and tapped his hat snuggly into place. He reached his hand out for the switch to open the door and Minerva's hand rested over the top of his. She had sprung out of her chair and moved to intercept him quickly. "Doctor, are you certain you know what you're doing?" He heaved a sigh at her. "I always know exactly what I'm doing. Now come along, we haven't got time to stand around indecisively."

He pulled the switch under her hand and walked briskly into the hall. Minerva followed behind him quickly, clenching her fingers together tightly. He glanced both ways and looked a bit too indecisive for her taste. He pointed down to their left and they started off from the ship. He paused only long enough to lock the TARDIS door behind them. The pair made it exactly ten feet when a pair of slumped figures came around the corner before them.

The Rathids were a short heavily built creature. They had dark leathery hides like a muddy elephant. Exceptionally stocky hind legs moved them forward efficiently. They walked as quadrupeds, their thick forearms helping to balance their top-heavy forms as they moved. The two Rathids that approached were dressed in plated armor and wearing weapons. The first one drew his firearm and pointed it at them, the second paused so that he was now staggered back apace from his companion. Their voices were sonorous, so deep they were difficult to understand. "Remain where you are, you have violated the station."

They had long thick necks and heads. Their black eyes glared in the low station light as their heads swung slightly from side to side. The second spoke up as the first paused for breath. "You will be presented to the leader." They wrinkled their lips up on their full muzzles, snarling at the pair of rogues. The Doctor lightly held his hands up in supplication; Minerva resisted the urge to knock his hat off. "Doctor!" She hissed at him through clenched teeth, "Do something." He tipped his head casually back towards her. "I am doing something, I'm surrendering." Minerva only barely bit back a scream.

The Guards moved up to them carefully, the first kept his weapon leveled at them, the second fastened a heavy wrist restraint one end to the Doctor and one to Minerva. The first waved them forward with his gun and started down the hall behind them, the second was in the lead.

After climbing upwards through the metallic tunnels of the station for several minutes they came to a dead end in a long hallway. Although the Doctor had to adjust to the lower light of the hall Minerva was instantly able to see the faint outline of a door.

The guard in the lead extended his neck and rested his chin on the panel in the wall. His face was illuminated for a moment and then a soft click came from the panel. "So that is how those work, chin prints perhaps." The Doctor had stooped to look at the fingerprint-like texture of the Rathid's chin skin. A deep growl straightened him up, Minerva groaned softly. The door swung up and open on silent hinges. The Doctor paused in the doorway for a moment to examine the panel until the first guard poked him in the side with his gun. Minerva made a faint squeaking sound and lightly pushed the Doctor away from the gun and into the room.

They had entered a large room similar to the computer lab on the base. This room had some equipment just like the secondary rooms at the base and was occupied by a number of Rathids. Most sat at various stations, their large heavy heads rested on the long boards that extended from the chairs. At the front center of the room was a podium with wires and small straps hanging loose. Minerva froze at the sight of it but the Doctor gently tugged her wrist with his, pulling her along after him. The front wall was one giant viewing screen, the large sphere of Zerni turned slowly before them. A large stand with a throne was facing the screen and dominated the center of the room.

A Rathid sat on the throne; he was larger than the rest and sported a shaggy coarse hair mane down his long neck. He was speaking to a smaller female, giving instructions in a similar but deeper voice than the guards had. His cloths were similar to other Rathids in the room. White blankets almost like a toga draped about him. A fancy silver border shimmered as he moved with each word. The female nodded finally and moved away, her soft blue robes fluttering about her thick legs. She walked with only one arm; the other was occupied holding her notes.

The guards ushered them up before the stage. The Doctor tipped his hat brightly to the Rathid and rocked back lightly on his heels. "Good afternoon, I'm the Doctor…" The large Rathid cut him off sharply. "Be still, human." Its voice was like heavy gravel and it glared at Minerva. "You have stolen property which belongs to the Rathid Empire." The Doctor shook his head lightly. "Oh no, I didn't steal her, I found her." Minerva began to fidget slightly beside him; she didn't like the sound of this. "Appears you had some trouble with your experiment. So I brought what was left, namely her, back to you."

Minerva stared at the Doctor in shock and balled up her free fist. "What?" He continued smoothly, ignoring her seething glare. "As a scientist myself I found your experiment quite interesting actually. The mistake was a natural one to make of course." Some of the technicians had looked over in interest at this display. The Rathid leader lifted his head from his board and made a chopping motion at the Doctor silencing him once again. "Enough, remove The Voice from this odd human and prepare her for the device." Minerva made a strangled sound as the guards approached them.

The two guards moved to comply, one fastened the restraint fully onto the Doctor and the other used it's sheer physical strength to restrain Minerva. A single muscled arm wrapped tightly around her waist pinning her arms to her sides. It half dragged, half carried, the struggling woman from the stage towards a small side door. Minerva wasn't speaking coherently but the grunts and wheezes were easy enough to translate as anger. The Doctor watched her go quietly and turned his gaze back to the leader. "The Voice, eh? An appropriate name, but I'd have picked something with a bit more flair."

Minerva kicked and clawed at the guard but it's grip remained firm, it was unaffected by any of her attempts to free herself. She even tried to bite it finally in desperation but its smoothly curved back gave her no purchase and its skin was so tough she doubted she'd have done any damage. It squeezed the air out of her lungs finally and she sagged slightly on its shoulder. The small lab they entered contained two Rathids; both were in silver trimmed robes but theirs were not as complex as the leader's had been. One looked at the odd sight and gestured for the guard to bring her closer.

The Rathid scientist produced a syringe and the guard used his free hand to hold Minerva's arm still. The needle sank into her upper arm and she started to scream but the sound died the instant the plunger depressed. She sagged limply in the guard's arms and he placed her up on the metal table in the room. Her muscles had all relaxed and would not obey her commands, the most she could do was keep her eyes open. Although the paralyzing effect mimicked sleep she was fully aware of the electronic probes being affixed to her temples. She knew what they were preparing her for, and she couldn't scream for help.

As Minerva lay prone on the metal table her mind raced to comprehend what had happened. She couldn't believe the Doctor had simply turned tail and left her to the Rathids. She had felt so certain that he would help her, that she may get something of her life back. The more her mind raced the more the Matrix Raptor mentality started to stir. The great bird became aware of what was going on outside of its shared body. It sensed the hated aliens and started to draw power to it. She felt it stirring in her mind and knew that it would make a play to escape once they forced her to use the power weapon. She could feel it building its power, and she knew she wouldn't be able to hold it back once it struck.

The Rathid leader was studying the man before him. The Doctor had begun to sway gently back and forth slightly as he talked to the Rathid Leader. The great Rathid's head swung slowly side-to-side, tracking him. "So of course, having studied the area and the subject." Left. "I know exactly what had gone wrong with the experiment." Right. "In fact I suspect with my help." Left. "We can make your device work perfectly." Right. "Really a marvel of modern sciences." Left. "I wonder if you might enlighten me on the purpose of this invention?" Right.

The leader blinked once heavily and his chin came to rest on the pad. He spoke slowly to the Doctor, making him even more difficult to understand. "The primary weapon development was concerned with home world protection." He blinked again and shifted slightly, the Doctor resumed his light swaying. "We would be able to neatly remove from our airspace any unwanted visitors." Another blink and now his eyes remained half-lidded. The Doctor slowed his swaying a fraction and kept his eyes locked on those of the leader. "We wanted a natural power source, something easy to control and replace if needed."

The leader made a grumbling sound and shifted in his chair, he did not raise his head from the platform. "Of course when we came to collect the bird the Aoror's moved to stop us. They thwarted us a number of times before we decided the best course of action was to take an Aoror along with the bird. The hostage proved useful, it was able to control the bird, keep it calm. The weak Aorors were unwilling to act against us for fear of hurting the hostage."

The leader's thick black tongue snaked out and ran across his muzzle. It had a nasty gleam in its oily eyes. "We have decided their race is a waste, they simply infest the planet and keep the birds from multiplying, so we will eradicate them and then harvest the planet. Then our enemies will be prevented from…" The Doctor rolled his hand in the air, interrupting the leader. "Creating a similar weapon, yes all nice and tidy isn't it." The Doctor failed at hiding his scowl as he finished the leader's sentence. He muttered under his breath, "Typical." He stopped his swaying entirely and took a single step towards the platform.

"If I may be permitted, I would be willing to give you the missing link to your weapon." The leader blinked and raised his head slightly. "In exchange for what?" His dark eyes gleamed greedily at the small man before him. The Doctor smiled broadly. "Just a front row seat, nothing like watching a good loud bang." The leader made the Rathid equivalent of a smile back and waved to the remaining guard. "Free his hands so that he may assist, but keep a close eye on him." He turned his gaze back to the Doctor. "If he attempts sabotage, eliminate him immediately." The guard nodded to the leader and moved to remove the restraint on the Doctor's wrists.

The Doctor moved about slowly, tracking the activity on the various panels in the control room. He glanced up casually to the image of Zerni looming over him. He paused at one station and leaned in, pointing to a few lines of an equation. "You need to alter that slightly, at that level the station will suffer a feedback just like the base did." The Rathid at the station stared at the lines for a moment and then made an adjustment, slowly the whole station moved back from the planet. "Perfect." The Doctor gave the Rathid a cheerful pat on the back and was rewarded with a gun barrel in his side. He held his hands up and stepped back slowly.

The guard lowered the weapon and made a low rock-tumbler growl at him. The Doctor continued this way for several minutes, flitting here and there and giving suggestions. He sometimes flicked his fingers near the controls but every time he came close the guard would jab the gun at him. When they wheeled Minerva out on the metal table, he moved back to the leader. He watched silently as Minerva was lifted from the table, her body limp like a rag doll. They propped her up against the struts of the podium. They began fastening the wrist restraints to her and then one approached with a thick black metal ring. It snapped this around her neck snuggly and ran a couple of wires from it to the podium.

The Doctor leaned towards the leader and held his hand up as though sharing a secret. "What exactly is that for?" The leader angled his head so that one eye was staring directly at the Doctor. "A control collar, it keeps The Voice under our complete control during the operation." The Doctor nodded sagely and rocked back on his heels slightly. "Of course that was the major flaw back at the base. I did some experiments of my own on my way here to return her." He was intently studying his loafers.

The leader nodded and waved at him. "Continue, explain what you found." Across from the two conspirators Minerva was given an injection, slowly she began to support her own weight. At the exact moment she seemed about to speak one of the Rathid scientists signaled to a Rathid technician at a control console. It inputted a command and the collar lit up around her neck. Minerva froze into place like a statue, staring straight ahead. She was standing ramrod straight, directly in front of the stage.

"That collar gives you control of her which you need right up to the point where the energy burst is released. At that exact moment you must shift the collar to lock onto the bio pattern of the raptor." He noted the leader was following him and continued briskly. "She can control the raptor's power surge, and it can't feedback the system. Once the power is released you snap control back onto her. Brilliant if I do say so myself." He beamed up at the leader and watched as the giant Rathid rubbed his chin.

The leader signaled to the scientists and one technician, they approached the other side of the stage. The Doctor could hear them grumbling back and forth over what he had just explained. Finally the four were nodding and the leader was handing out new orders. The two scientists began to adjust the collar, and the technician worked on the controls for it. The leader nodded at the Doctor slowly. "My scientists and controller inform me that your theory is quite sound. They are implementing the changes now." The Doctor nodded and twirled his hand in the air waving off the praise nonchalantly.

"If this is a success Doctor then you will be regarded very highly among my people." The Doctor beamed up at the leader and then lowered his gaze back to Minerva, the corners of his lips curled down into a scowl. He watched every move the controller made with hawk-like intensity. Minerva's mind raced, the collar kept her from doing anything, her body and even most of her mind were under Rathid control. She struggled mentally, tried to find a way to tap into the electronic signature of the collar but she couldn't form the hum to meld with it.

Inside her mind the Matrix Raptor was coming to the foreground. She could feel it pacing the mental expanse of its prison, ready to lash out at the first opportunity, just as it had back at the base. This time it would destroy all of the aliens, including the female that held it trapped in the forest of her mind. Its hatred was like a dark cloud in Minerva's mind but she couldn't shut it off, the power of the collar still held her.

She reached out with her mind and for one moment she thought she felt the TARDIS but she had to relax to quickly, the effort was too great. She was getting tired; she could feel the fatigue in her inert muscles. She reached out again, desperate to find anything to hold onto, any comfort. She simply couldn't use her powers without the song. She was too weak to reach out again. Why is he doing this? I was certain he wanted to stop them. She tried her muscles one more time. Nothing happened at all, not even a faint twitch. If I could sing I'd use my last mental blast to knock that hat right off his head. Standing next to the leader the Doctor's mouth twitched in a faint smile.

The Voice

Chapter 6

The technicians were all settling into their stations quietly. The scientists had moved to stand on the right side of the leader. Everything was moving to the culmination of the experiment. The Rathid leader pulled himself up in the chair and raised his head, giving his rough voice extra volume. "Activate stage one of The Voice." The station began to hum with power as the control room activated the first stage.

The wires and lights on the podium Minerva stood on began to flicker. Her body twitched faintly and a soft hum started in the back of her throat. Her muscles were all clenched into knots. The Doctor moved subtly away from the leader towards the row of control consoles. After a moment or two the power build-up seemed to level off and the leader raised his head to its full height. "Activate stage two, begin the focus for the weapon." The technicians were all intent on their screens. The scientists and the leader were watching the main screen intently. The leader licked his chops again, like an agitated predator.

The power coursing through the podium increased in pitch, and Minerva's body stiffened severely. Her joints looked ready to unhinge and her back was arching. Her hum increased into a note and tiny spark of light began to flicker in the space between the planet and the station. The Doctor positioned himself right beside the technician. The note was splitting into a song and gaining volume. The light before them was flaring and pulsating now a large ball of energy.

The raptor flexed its wings and dug its claws deeply into a branch. The forest prison was starting to fade. The woman who controlled him was loosing her power rapidly now. A thin line of saliva ran down the corner of its beak and along its neck. It started to beat its wings rapidly; its eyes were glowing softly with the crystal in its forehead. Freedom and revenge were at hand.

An enormous sphere of light appeared between the station and the planet. The Rathid leader's eyes flickered like a pair of oil lamps in the light. The Doctor's hand flashed for a moment at the edge of the technician's console. The leader took in a deep breath and bared his teeth. "Energize the primary weapon force." The scientists wrinkled their muzzles into snarls.

There was a pause in the room. A split second passed and everything held still on the station. Even the technicians shifted their gaze to the large view screen, the giant glowing sphere held all the dark eyes transfixed. Minerva felt the full rage of the Matrix Raptor as it leapt free of her mental bonds, showering it's full power forward. Then utter havoc ripped through the station.

Now free the matrix raptor had hurled forth the total force of its energy weapon. Part of its energy and part of the station's became caught in a feedback loop on the collar's control. The Doctor had designed the loop to duplicate the energy siphon that had combined them on the planet, but this one worked in reverse. One of the technicians activated his reconfigured controls per the Doctor's suggestions and the raptor found itself trapped by the collar's signal.

The raptors presence was ripped from Minerva's mind as the siphon pulled them apart. Sparks were beginning to dance on the podium. The Rathid leader was still focused on the sphere, which had begun to undulate out of control. The raptor was fully removed and the collar shorted out from the feedback, falling free of her neck. Her body fell forward on the podium. The podium was shorting in earnest and the control consoles near began to suffer from the surge effects. Suddenly the sphere blasted outward and the podium exploded. Minerva's body was thrown clear; the violent momentum was sending her crashing into the leader's platform.

The force of the blow should have killed her. As the podium erupted the Doctor leapt forward, pulling her body into his. They slid roughly but without serious injury into the platform, her head shielded by his chest. The station was suddenly rocked by the first shockwave of the power sphere. The Rathids who had been standing were all thrown off their feet. Some that were sitting were tossed like rockslide debris across the room. The Doctor was up and hauling Minerva to her feet. The control room was spiraling into chaos.

He sprinted for the door pulling the dazed woman behind him. The damaged system left the door partially ajar and he dove for it. They were through the control room door and off towards the TARDIS before Minerva had even fully registered what had happened. The leader was frantically trying to move the station back and command his dazed followers. The sphere had now filled the view screen's expanse, hiding the green planet and the stars from view.

The station bucked and groaned as the directional field Minerva had created slammed into it. The Rathids in the control room were struggling to counter the effects. The leader was being assisted off of his platform by the Rathid guards. The Doctor and Minerva were both now sprinting full speed; he pulled slightly ahead of her and began fishing wildly in his pockets for the TARDIS key. He got the door open and waved her in, clutching his hat to his head with his free hand. The doors shut behind them, the TARDIS began her wheeze and sigh into the time vortex.

The ball of power created by the raptor engulfed the station in a strange gradual motion. It bent around the frame as though it were water; the light grew in intensity. A few pods jettisoned from the station's sides. With a sudden burst of speed and power the wave of the weapon overran the floundering station. The station exploded backward for a second and then was suddenly engulfed by the sphere. The Doctor and Minerva were tossed around the control room for a moment as the shockwave hit them. The light of the sphere faded and nothing remained where it had been.

The Doctor had managed to clutch the console and stay upright as the TARDIS was tossed; Minerva had been thrown to the floor and slid into the metal arch support near the sitting room. Her body remained motionless as the Doctor stabilized the TARDIS. He had activated the screen on the wall and watched as the ball of light flared one final time and then winked out.

The Doctor steadied himself immediately and jogged around the console to check Minerva. She was unconscious; a small cut from the metal support ran across her forehead. Her bright blood stood out sharply against her pale blond hair. The Doctor lifted her carefully and carried her into the infirmary of the TARDIS.

Minerva was standing in the forest clearing; the darkness was swiftly retreating under bright sunlight. She watched all of this with mild interest; she could sense nothing from the lurking beast as she watched the shadows fade completely. She took a step forward and suddenly she was standing in a warm red room. Soft carpet and wooden walls, faint music filled the air. She faced the center of the room and saw three rich high-backed chairs.

Two were occupied, one by a man and one by a woman. They had no features, they were simply shadows but they radiated warmth and moved as though they had substance. The shadows each held a hand out to Minerva; she sat in the chair between them and rested her hands in theirs. She sighed and settled back into the cushions.

Minerva sighed softly and let her eyes flicker open, she knew she recognized the room but it took her a moment or two to place it. She blinked slowly and then began to scan the room, moving her head slowly. She was aware of someone to her right so she turned her head to find herself staring into a pair of soft blue eyes. The Doctor smiled at her and ruffled her bangs lightly. "You seem to have an unnatural ability of getting bonked on the head. Perhaps I should study that." She smiled faintly at him and reached up, lightly knocking the slightly battered panama hat off his head. She closed her eyes and drifted back into sleep.

Minerva walked into the sitting room and smiled when she saw the Doctor in his chair, his nose buried in a book. She moved quietly over to the small table and rested her fingertip briefly on the teapot. The china walls were warm and a faint trail of steam rose from the spout. His cup was dry and undisturbed beside him. She quietly prepared his cup first and then her own, picking up the saucer she moved the cup so that it was in his line of sight. He looked up at her with an impish smile and took the cup. Minerva settled herself comfortably next to him and they passed a few moments quietly together.

Finally Minerva set her cup down on the table and leaned towards the Doctor, he closed the book lightly and set it in his lap. "Doctor, I remember landing on the station, and I remember being led into a lab but everything gets fuzzy after that." He steepled his fingers and leaned back in the chair. "I knew the basics of how they had combined the raptor's essence with your own, and also the principles behind the weapon. I allowed them to hook you up to the machine, and convinced them I was going to correct the feedback issue. Instead I set up a chain reaction, the resulting feedback removed the raptor and then the uncontrolled energy ball blasted back on the station and wiped it out. Destroying the data on the entire project."

He grinned at his own cleverness. "The foolish things hadn't left anything at the Tora base. The data I accessed was fed to the terminal via a direct link to the stations computer. Very sloppy really." Minerva stared at him for a moment and then her eyebrows knitted together. "That explains why I can't feel the raptor in my mind anymore. So the whole thing has been reversed?" He nodded at her and shifted slightly in his chair to face her. "If you knew the whole time what you were going to do, why didn't you tell me you were going to let them have me?"

His eyebrow curled up slightly. "Would you have agreed to that plan?" She sighed heavily and rested her chin in her hands; she knew he didn't need a reply. He leaned forward and patted her knee lightly. "I'm sure it will be strange adapting to life without the powers you gained when they combined you." She started to say something but he barreled on. "That white hair will take a bit of getting used to as well." He had reached out and tousled the end of the braid she was wearing.

She glanced up at her bangs; her hair had indeed gone a crystalline white now that the raptor's influence had been removed. She had checked on the TARDIS database; all Aoror females had white hair, and the males all had black. She shrugged lightly at him. "I don't know Doctor I kind of like it, it matches my outfit don't you think." He smiled and picked his book back up; flipping to find the page he had been on. "Oh, and Doctor, about those lost abilities?" He didn't look up from the book, "Hmm?"

The quiet hum didn't catch his attention, and he would have overlooked Minerva's steady clear note if it hadn't been for the small image of her, no more than four inches that appeared before him. The image wiggled its fingers hello to him. He clapped the book shut on the phantom and raised his eyebrows at Minerva. She smiled back at him coyly and leaned back into her chair. She picked up her teacup and took a sip. "I don't know Doctor, I don't feel that I'll miss them all that much." She fought back her smug grin only barely.

He seemed to ponder this for a moment and then shifted back into his seat, picking up his own cup. "Well that changes things, I can't have you running loose with unchecked powers all over your planet. Perhaps it would be best if I kept you under observation. Teach you to properly use those talents of yours." She smiled into her cup and so she missed his light smirk. "I think that sounds like an excellent plan Doctor."

141