Malik drags Elspeth to her feet, pulling back his fist. She glares at him defiantly, gritting her teeth as she wonders where he will hit this time. Suddenly he stops, staring over her shoulder. Slowly, cautiously, she looks as well, expecting a trick. There is a wheezing sound, and a big blue box with a flashing light appears, fading in and out before settling. A door opens and a man steps out. He is tall and wearing strange dark blue trews and coat. Beneath untidy brown hair his face is young, strange contrast to dark eyes holding years without number.
"And here I am..." He looks around the clearing, his smile slipping slightly, "not in 31st century Earth. Why, this place looks positively medieval. Phew, and it stinks too." He takes a deep sniff. "Radiation. Nuclear, I think, old but still strong, and on a massive scale, maybe even planet-wide." He suddenly sees Malik and, identifying him as the leader, comes over and enthusiastically shakes his hand. "Oh, hello, nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor. Don't mind me, just passing though. I seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Nice place you have here, very ... rustic."
Turning to look around he bumps into Elspeth, catching her before she can fall over. "Sorry, didn't see you there. Anyway, what's a pretty thing like you doing tied up here like a prisoner? That metal band can't be too comfortable either, and contaminated too. I'll just fix that, and be off again. Maybe I'll even end up in the right place for once."
He pulls out a strange metal rod and presses something on it. It emits a high-pitched whine and suddenly, the ropes holding Elspeth's hands and the demon band come undone. He nods in satisfaction and heads back to the blue box. One hand on the doorframe he pauses and, half turning back towards the others, mutters to himself, just loud enough for Elspeth to hear. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. What if Director Duprey's ridiculous BOT program did go ahead, and some idiot set it off? That would explain the radiation, but-".
He cuts himself off and spins around, staring at everyone in the cluster. Elspeth's face goes dead white as she hastily withdraws her probe, staring in shock. "You... your mind... you're not..." His eyes snap to focus on her.
"Ah ha, so it was you, was it? I'm a Time Lord by the way, but you. You're only human, how did you manage that? Oh, but of course! I was right, wasn't I, BOT was developed and activated. And that would have been the perfect catalyst to bring humanity's latent telepathy under conscious control. Add natural adaptations since then... What else can you do?" Elspeth looks warily at Malik and the Doctor nods. "Perhaps in private, then. Just come with me and we'll talk in the TARDIS."
Elspeth jerks to a halt. "Tardis? But he's supposed to be..."
"No, no, it's an acronym, T-A-R-D-I-S. Stands for 'time and relative dimension in space'. That's where it takes you; any time and place in the whole of the universe. Not that it's that simple, of course. You wouldn't believe the micronanic circuitry needed to balance the shifting annowaves of the time vortex to align the fundamental unirelativity points... and I've lost you completely, haven't I? Come on." Elspeth gasps as she steps inside the small blue box, staring at the cavernous room she has entered. The Doctor smiles at her reaction. "Yep. Bigger on the inside than the outside, that's my clever girl. Now sit down and tell me about these powers of yours."
The Doctor leads a dazed Elspeth over to a lounge and pushes her onto it. Taking a deep breath, she gathers herself and turns to him. "Well, I'm not sure how much I can tell you, but…"
"Wait a minute, let me try something first." The Doctor kneels in front of her, gently touching the sides of her head. He closes his eyes and she feels his mind reach out to her, waves of thought washing straight through her shields. She gasps; frantically building walls around her mind, feeling his probe push through them as though they don't exist. In panic, she reaches deep inside herself, calling upon the dark killing power curled inside. It comes and she uses it to push outward, throwing his mind off her.
The Doctor's eyes snap open, his hands going to his own head. "Oww. Maybe that wasn't the best idea without forewarning you. You certainly pack quite a punch."
She stares at him in surprise. "You're a coercer? Your probe was unfocused, but so strong. It passed straight through my shields." Her stare turns to a frown. "You also completely ignored the courtesy of asking entry to my mind."
He rubs his head looking uncomfortable. "Yes, well, I don't think I'm going to be making that mistake again any time soon. Tell me, do you like running?"
"Running?" she repeats, confused by his sudden change of topic. "Why running?"
"Well, you see, if you travel with me you tend to do a lot of running. Generally away from aliens trying to kill you ... with laser guns ... or worse."
"So, you're asking if I want to travel with a complete stranger, and with a high chance of being killed. Why? I get enough of that as it is."
"Ah, but with me you have all of time and space to explore. I can show you the fiery veils of the Medusa Cascade, the diamond beaches of Seti III, the singing trees on Arrapel Domanaii, and so many other marvels just waiting to be discovered. So, where do you want to go first?"
Elspeth blinks, breaking the spell of his words. "What? I don't ... I haven't said ... I can't! I can't come; I have to complete my stupid quest." She stops suddenly, aware that she has revealed to him what she hasn't told anyone else.
"A quest? Ooo, I like quests. What's your's?"
"It's all to do with the Beforetime weaponmachines..." To her surprise, she proceeds to tell him all about her quest, everything she has discovered and guessed. "So you see, I can't come with you."
"Oh, that's easily fixed! I think you've forgotten that the TARDIS travels in time as well as space. You could travel with me for years and still get back only minutes after you left, or even before. Although, that tends to cause problems. Another alternative, is that I take you back to your Beforetime, you get the necessary information straight from this Cassy person, then we go and destroy these weaponmachines. Add in a few side trips and I can still get you back before anyone knows you're missing."
Elspeth looks at him, eyes shining. "You can take me to her? I can actually talk to Cassy face-to-face?"
The Doctor springs into action, darting around the centre console pressing buttons and pulling levers. "Easy. I'll have to estimate the time, but I should be able to get it close enough. And... off we go!"
She closes her eyes in anticipation as the centre pillar starts rising and falling and the wheezing sound fills the room. The wheezing sound fades and she opens her eyes. She stares for a moment, blinks, then stares again. The TARDIS is gone and she is back standing to one side of the clearing, Malik and the other men still clustered in the centre. "Wha-"
"Innel mustnot go through timevortex/mindstream with Doctor/H'rayka. Must remember quest."
She jumps as the familiar mindprobe slices through her shields. "Atthis? What do you mean the Doctor is the one-who-brings-destruction?"
"Where there is chaos/destruction the blue box appears.
"But I thought you told me Ariel supposed to be the H'rayka?"
"H'raykaDoctor and Ariel-li are one." The mindprobe is cut off abruptly as a band of cold metal snaps once more around her neck. She spins around; horrified to find that during her conversation Malik has crept up behind her and replaced her demon band.
"So, prettyboy left you behind, did he?" Malik sneers, "Well, you're mine now." Elspeth closes her eyes as he raises his fist once more. These weaponmachines had better be worth it.