Chapter 1
Australian Outback
October 2008
The small convoy of Hummers bounced along the dry and desolate landscape, kicking up dust as they plowed through the Australian Outback, quickly approaching their destination. Even from a distance, the occupants of the off-road vehicles could see that they weren't the first to arrive at the scene.
A darkly clad figure in the back seat of the second Hummer moaned slightly, plainly irritated. "Wonderful," he stated sarcastically. "Tourists. Or worse, law enforcement. Just exactly what we need."
Peri Langford, sitting beside the speaker, patted his leg. "Now, Harold. You don't know who they are. Besides, the meteorite landing was rather spectacular. All those calls about flying saucers and all. Can't expect that there wouldn't be some people interested in finding it."
Harold Saxon looked at the woman sitting beside him. If it had been anyone else, he would have made sure that she had never touched him in such a way again. However, this was his beloved Peri, the woman who had stolen his hearts. He could put up with just about anything when it came to her. "Peri, I don't expect there not to be interest. I expect to be first with everything. Which means that someone isn't doing their job," he finished, glaring at the back of the head of his assistant, who was sitting in the front seat.
Peri noticed the slight cringe in the shoulders of the assistant. Reginald Torkinson was nothing if not absolutely loyal to the man he worked for. She knew the extent he would go to assure that anything that his Master wanted would be taken care of in exacting detail. "I'm sure if these people are here, it's not Reggie's fault, dear. He knows how you like things and that would be his goal. Some things are just outside of human control."
The Master groused, "I suppose you're right. Can't expect him to be perfect. After all, only you and I are perfect."
Peri smiled at her lover. He had been so totally devoted to her since they had returned from that horrid time in Wales. She'd almost lost her life on that trip and still had nightmares. After all, being raped and left for dead wasn't something anyone would get over quickly if at all. Fortunately, there were the tapes that Harry had made to help her cope with those nightmares. She'd found that knowing the men had paid dearly for their crimes somehow lessened the sting. "Yes, Harry. That's it exactly. He tries his best and usually that is quite sufficient."
The Time Lord couldn't help but return the smile. "Reggie certainly is a boon, I have to admit." He knew that Peri's defending the assistant was her way of calming him. After all, there were a couple of times in the recent past when her words actually saved Reggie's life. Not that that was a reflection on Reggie's capacity as a loyal employee but rather on the Master's bad temper.
As the conversation lulled, Reggie's tension vanished with the knowledge that he wasn't about to get punched, stabbed, or generally mangled.
The convoy halted several yards away from the growing conflagration of vehicles at their destination. As they stopped, several people got out of the Hummers. Reggie got out quickly and opened the back door, allowing the Master to step out, his black duster billowing behind him as a breeze flitted across the open space. Peri followed, gently brushing down her pantsuit.
The Master went to the nearest police officer and inquired who the chief officer was. Learning the desired information, the two walked to the command station, the Master extending his gloved hand. "Dr. Harold Saxon, Prometheus Institute," he announced, putting on a friendly smile. "I understand you are in charge around here."
"Um. No. Professor Hawthorne is. We're just providing security for the site. We've already had several people trying to get through to the crater, some even trying to pick up debris."
"And where is this Professor Hawthorne?"
"She's over there," the police officer said, pointing to a good-looking woman in desert clothing.
"Is she now?" Harold questioned, squinting at the woman. He patted the officer on the shoulder. "Thank you for your time. You and your men can leave." He turned his head and looked deeply into the eyes of the officer. "Now," he ordered, knowing that the human would not be able to disobey him.
The police officer nodded almost immediately getting on the radio to call the force back to the command center.
Hearing that his order was indeed being followed, the Master grinned. "Rassilon, I love being a Time Lord."
"It does seem to create fantastic levels of efficiency," Peri smiled. "I can't imagine how long that would have taken me."
"With that body of yours... two minutes," he complimented.
"Oh, you..." she answered with a lilt in her voice and a slight wiggle in her step. She loved when he said such things to her.
Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that Reggie was still standing by the Hummer. "Come on, Reginald. Shift a bit with that container."
"Yes, sir," the assistant answered moving quickly to catch up with the two. He explained, "I was just awaiting your request. I know that you and Dr. Langford expect your privacy to be respected."
"Thank you for your consideration, Reggie," Peri answered before the Master could speak. "We really appreciate it."
The Master just rolled his eyes slightly, allowing the matter to drop as he continued towards his objective, namely the woman named Professor Hawthorne. "I see you've already planted your little scientific flag," he told her as he stopped beside her, causing her to look up from whatever it was she was writing.
"Yes..." she stated distractedly as she was still looking down. As her eyes rose, she saw a rather dapperly dressed attractive man looming above her. Based on the style of clothing, she didn't think he was there to provide scientific expertise to this project. "I wasn't expecting any show ponies around here. Who the hell are you?"
The Gallifreyan raised his eyebrows slightly at her words. While he knew that he had excellent taste in clothes and always held himself with the greatest care in public, he certainly wasn't out to impress anyone. Well, that wasn't exactly true; he did need to maintain a good appearance to achieve his goals. But after those goals came to pass, the only person he wanted to continue to impress was already completely in his power and vice versa. As he considered the rather rude person before him, he smiled at her naturally striking attributes. The woman had a slightly square face, though there still were some oval qualities. Long auburn hair draped down her back in a ponytail, allowing her immaculate complexion to be easily seen. Her blue eyes shone with intelligence, though there was definite annoyance there as well, as emphasized by the way her lips pursed. Extending his hand to her, he introduced, "Dr. Harold Saxon."
Professor Hawthorne blinked, ignoring the offered hand. "Dr. Harold Saxon?" She looked as if trying to recall some fact and then a glimmer of recognition graced her face. "From the Prometheus Institute? What are you doing here? I thought your interest was in further polluting near space with your satellites."
"Ouch," the Master stated bluntly. "Don't you believe in the betterment of humanity through technology?"
"I'm much more interested in the betterment of humanity through education and rigorous scientific thought," she answered without pause.
"They're one and the same, Dr. Hawthorne," he countered.
"So I've been told by others. However, if that were true, all of the great scientific breakthroughs that have occurred throughout history wouldn't have happened. What about Pythagoras... or... or... Newton? Most of the work that our own theories are now based on lived in a world of beeswax candles and vellum books."
"Which were made with their own version of technology," the Master added with a grin. "Besides, Newton wouldn't have developed his theory on gravity if someone I know hadn't dropped an apple on his head." He was thoroughly enjoying the banter with this intelligent woman.
Peri watched the two of them talking with growing consternation. She knew that Harry knew how to schmooze, how to work a room, how to put people at ease so he could slide the knife in without them knowing it, but this felt different. It was almost as if he was flirting with this professor and Peri didn't like it one bit. "Harry, perhaps you should make Dr. Hawthorne aware that she is trespassing?"
"Trespassing?" Hawthorne questioned with a frown. "Who is this? Your offsider?"
Harry glanced over towards Peri, noting the look on her face. Was that... no... jealousy? From Peri? He smirked slightly at the thought. If he could evoke such a reaction from her with a simple conversation with a fellow scientist - well, fellow being a loose term when it came to humans, especially one that was wrapped so nicely - it was just proof to him just how much Peri loved him. He decided that this attention was definitely... exhilarating. "Dr. Peri Langford is my colleague, Doctor..." he started. "I'm sorry. I didn't get your first name."
"It's Margaret," she said patiently. "What's this about trespassing? I'm here because having a meteorite of this size and composition is a major geological event and I'm a professor of Geology. Preliminary data is sketchy but rich. That's all I'm interested in."
"Oh, really? Do tell." He crossed his arms. "Especially since this..." He frowned at the object embedded in the ground for a moment. "... space rock... happens to have crashed on property belonging to the Prometheus Institute." He noticed the frown that again overtook the woman's face and stated, "However, I appreciate the work you have done. I'm sure it will provide a baseline for further study, Margaret. I may call you, Margaret?" he inquired, extending his hand once more in the hope that the friendly action would get the scientist to open up to him.
The woman looked at the extended hand and finally took it, deciding that following her grandmother's advice about catching flies with honey might be a good idea. "Thank you, Dr. Saxon. As I said, my interest is solely in learning more about the meteorite... the fact that it didn't break apart upon impact and the unique composition of its core. It's a fascinating phenomenon."
"The Chief back there was under the impression that you had a few people interested in souvenirs," the Master stated. "I'm guessing they just picked up ordinary rocks thinking they were part of the meteorite."
Peri added to his query. "Just which college are you a professor of anyway... Margaret?" She couldn't hide the irritation towards this woman who seemed intent on taking her man from her.
Margaret looked from Harold Saxon to the woman. "I'm the Geology Department Head for the University of Melbourne," she answered the woman first. "I'm quite competent to be leading this expedition, I can assure you." To the head of P.I. - as people were beginning to shorten the institute's name after the many press releases that had come out about the great new satellite initiative - she answered, "Well... yes and no. Yes, they were thinking they were picking up parts of the meteorite but, no, they weren't ordinary rocks."
Harry's grin broadened noticeably. "I went to the University of Melbourne. Fine school," he commented. "And how were they not ordinary rocks?"
"Are you familiar with what happens to silicon at a nuclear blast site?"
"Trinitite," he replied. "Yes, I'm fully aware of the effects of a nuclear explosion on local geology. So, you're saying you found Trinitite here?"
"Again, the answer's not straight forward. The created substance is similar to Trinitite but it has completely different characteristics." She reached into her pocket and pulled out some irregular crystalline nuggets. Each had a glow that could be seen even in the direct sunlight of the Australian plain. "Here are a couple of them. The glow's not radioactive. Just thought you should know."
"Good to know. I didn't think they would be, given that you are carrying them around in your pocket." He took one of the nuggets and held it up to the sun, watching the glow flit across its surface. He couldn't help but be reminded of a trip he had once made to one of the museums on Gallifrey. Displayed there were a collection of rocks and nuggets from before the Age of Rassilon, back when Gallifrey's technology was as primitive as Earth's current state. His eyes widened when he realized that the nugget in his hand was similar. In fact, if it weren't for the more brownish hue, it would be nearly identical. "But... that's impossible!" he exclaimed.
"Well, not impossible," Margaret stated. "I mean, since this meteorite has apparently altered the molecular properties to create that nugget, by definition it is possible. I do understand your excitement, though. This is one special visitor from... 'out there,'" she smiled.
Peri rolled her eyes. "Dr. Saxon was just using a euphemism. He does understand that, if it exists, it's possible. Don't treat him like one of your first year students, Professor."
Margaret was surprised by the woman's outburst. "I apologize. I never meant to infer that Dr. Saxon didn't understand the concept. It was just a..." she trailed off with a weak smile. "Please forgive my lapse, Doctor."
The Time Lord, in the meantime, had taken the second nugget from Margaret, regarding it carefully and shaking his head. He wasn't about to contradict Peri here. It would bring up too many questions from Hawthorne. What neither of them understood was that he wasn't exaggerating with his words. There shouldn't be anything remotely like these rocks on Earth, not unless one of the smallest asteroids of the Constellation of Kasterborous lost its orbit and traveled the millions of light years between Gallifrey and Earth, breaking apart as it went. He was distracted from his thoughts when he heard Margaret calling him "Doctor." He thought of how many times he'd heard that title being used in reference to his old friend and current adversary. He knew that Margaret hadn't meant it that way. Still, for a moment it brought his old school chum to mind.
"No harm," he answered with a grin. "So, Margaret," he continued, the name dripping off his lips as if it were fine wine. "What can you tell me about our latest squatter?" If she'd found these nuggets, he was interested in her assessment of the meteorite.
"It's like no meteorite I've ever seen before. It has an energy signature for one. That's probably related to the creation of the nuggets."
"And I take it an energy signature from a meteorite isn't exactly commonplace around here." He gave her a wide grin, obviously showing that he knew the answer to that question even before he asked it. He walked around the crater, looking down at the object in question. "Any other interesting qualities?"
"We haven't fully examined it... but it looks denser than it should be. Certainly denser than a nickel-iron meteorite."
"So... it's extraterrestrial. It's very dense, like a lot of people in this country." He raised his eyebrows. "You don't think it could be 'alien,' do you?" He wiggled his fingers close to his face, indicating a lack of belief in extraterrestrial life.
She looked at him rather strangely, obviously clearly wondering if this Dr. Saxon was off his rocker with his Saturday afternoon matinee kitschy-ness. "Of course, it's extraterrestrial. It came from space."
The Master glared at her with a hint of a grin, mild admiration mixed with a large amount of annoyance on his face. It was one thing to have to be around this simian-like creature with an attitude; it was even a greater irritation for her to be so... inflexible with humor. "I was being facetious."
She raised her eyebrow. "Right. You tend to do that a lot, I gather... at least it appears so based on several of your press conferences."
The expression on the Gallifreyan's face turned even sourer at her words. Already he could tell that he really didn't like this human in the least. Still, what was that saying of theirs? Something about sugar and an eating utensil... went along with an extremely annoying song in a children's film. "Let me guess. No sense of humor at all." He tilted his head and clicked his tongue. "Pity. Gorgeous woman like you... In that case, let me be blunter with my words. It's not from this solar system, is it," he stated directly, his eyes meeting hers. He wondered briefly if he could hypnotize her into being less annoying.
Peri turned her head quite suddenly in his direction. She was about to say something about his appreciation of the other woman's beauty when she saw something in his eyes which confused her. Turning to Reggie, who was standing back a bit, metal container in hand, she asked with her eyes if he could tell what was going on with this little tête à tête.
Reggie gave a little shrug at her glance, not knowing how to react to the situation. He'd never seen the Master flirt with anyone other than Peri. Sure, the man was smooth but that had nothing to do with the sex of his opponent, rather more to do with overall strategy. And even though he answered to Peri as well in a more secondary manner, Reggie wasn't about to get on the Master's bad side - a very nasty bad side, at that - by giving an opinion one way or the other on this apparently new behavior. He liked his head exactly where it was, thank you very much.
Peri sighed. If Reggie was this intransient about the situation, she figured that once she had Harry alone, they could discuss this... new activity of her lover.
Meanwhile, Margaret was answering the Master's question. "No," she stated just as bluntly. She tilted her head. "The fact that you're here, Dr. Saxon, I assume means that you are claiming this meteorite. I wish you would let the University examine it first. It's a great scientific find."
"Yes, I'm sure that it is. Which is why we are taking it into our hands for study."
Dr. Hawthorne frowned and narrowed her eyes. "I thought that the Prometheus Institute stood for academic excellence. The University has the proper labs set up. We have the equipment to fully run tests on it and we'd be more than happy to share any data with you."
"I'm sure you would but we have our own resources," Saxon replied before jumping into the crater and moving towards the object in question. "When did it drop again?"
"It hit earth four days ago," Margaret stated. She followed him. "Well, with your resources and our expertise, we'd be able to do the most intensive study of a meteorite ever."
"Nice try, Dr. Hawthorne, but... we don't need your assistance." Reaching down, he picked up the meteorite and tossed it between his gloved hands playfully.
"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, horrified at his actions. "That's a scientific specimen. It needs to be monitored to determine its properties. We've had a scan on it for two days to understand how it holds temperature, how it reacts as it cools, how it..."
"Two days?" the Master interrupted her. He looked up at Reggie with a glare, accusing him with his eyes for the obvious difference in time.
Reggie swallowed tightly before stepping forward. "I had spent those two days tracking the information about the likely location of the meteorite's final position, sir. There wasn't much information. If I hadn't run across the information about the need for security in this area, it may have taken longer."
Margaret sighed. "So that's what tipped you off, huh. What a fizzer. Damned if you do; damned if you don't." At the confusion on the newcomers' faces, she clarified. "Like you heard, we had souvenir hunters. It was either allow them to take more of the nuggets or have security show up. I opted for security."
"If it took our assistant so long to find out, how was it that you find out about the meteorite so quickly?" Peri queried. She already knew Reggie's prowess at discovering information before the general public could... most of the time.
"I was on another project about fifteen miles from here. The night the meteorite dropped, there was no question where it landed. I was just in the right place at the right time."
"And you kept the location as quiet as possible," the Master concluded.
"Exactly. From the moment we saw this, we knew it was something special. We wanted to get as much information as quickly as we could."
Saxon tossed the meteorite in the air again, catching it skillfully. "Which was absolutely nothing. Am I right? I mean, other than it's 'unusual.'"
"It takes time to properly study these things," she said, watching him toss the unique specimen around as if it were a baseball. Her next comment was dry as the brush around them. "If this is the way you plan to study it, I doubt the results will be very useful to researchers."
He stopped playing with the meteorite, giving her a hard look. "Dr. Hawthorne, I will remind you one last time that this is property of the Prometheus Institute. Don't worry your pretty little head. If we find anything of scientific value to the University, we will let you know." Looking to his left, he called out, "Reginald, bring the container. I have a specimen for you."
"Yes, sir." The assistant moved into the crater with the metal container he'd been holding since he'd left the vehicle.
The Master opened the box with one hand before gently placing the specimen into the padded interior, completely contradictory to the way he'd been handling it previously. Closing the box and latching it, he tapped the top of it before gesturing Reggie to take it to the car. He then turned back to Margaret with a smile. "Relax, Dr. Hawthorne. That precious rock is in very good hands," he stated before crawling out of the crater lithely.
Margaret Hawthorne glared up as she watched him and his party leaving. "Aren't you just a figjam! Coming waltzing in here and taking over without so much as a by your leave." Not getting a reaction from him and realizing there was nothing she could do short of assaulting him - which really wouldn't go over well considering his public and political clout - she called after them. "I still think this is a mistake."
"Blimey, you're as cross as a frog in a sock," Saxon called back to her. "Your opinion, Dr. Hawthorne, is duly noted. It is also noted that, unless you leave these premises within the next five minutes, you will be arrested for trespassing on private property." Seeing the stunned look on her face, he continued. "Oh, do be a love and leave any nuggets you or your team have collected on the property. They belong to P.I. as well." He reached into his pocket, taking out the nuggets he'd stashed there, the same ones she had given to him earlier. "And thanks for these samples, beautiful."
"You're making us leave? Why? The fact that the meteorite just happened to fall on your land doesn't mean that you get to waltz in here and keep one of the greatest Australian scientific finds."
"Actually, according to our contract with the government, yes, it does," he replied. "Now, move along. I'll just leave a few of my people behind to escort you off property. Maybe if you are a very good girl, I might just let you see the results we come up with. Of course, you're going to have to prove it to me just how good a girl you are." Giving her a wink, he turned away from the crater and walked to the caravan of Hummers. A few moments later, the P.I. team was on their way, leaving the scientific team wondering what had just happened.
Having placed the meteorite in the cargo area of the vehicle, Reggie took his place in the front, keeping his head straight forward as he was wont to do when not sure if the Master would want his input or not, the latter being the preferred action most of the time. He looked into the backseat through the mirror, however, and noticed that his mistress was most definitely pissed as she settled into the vehicle. He wouldn't even venture to think how his boss would interpret her body language, having her arms crossed and her jaw set.
Whistling as he slipped into the back seat beside Peri, the Master tapped the driver's shoulder, an act which informed him to return to the Prometheus Institute with their newly procured bounty. Crossing his legs as the car moved forward, he exhaled with contentment, not even noticing the look on Peri's face. After a long silence, however, he could feel her eyes burrowing deeply into him, causing him to frown in confusion and turn towards her. "What?"
"'What?' he asks me," Peri grumped. "I can't believe you did that."
He blinked at her words. "But that meteorite is amazing!" He dug into his pocket to pull out the nuggets. "And these... these have characteristics of rocks found only on Gallifrey! That field out there is a practical gold mine!"
"That's fine and dandy, but it's not what I'm referring to," she said, her words cold enough to cause frostbite.
"Then what, pray tell, are you referring to and do we have to put up the partition to prevent the staff from hearing a row?" he asked, his own voice turning frosty simply because it was obvious that she was angry with him... again.
"Oh. You don't have to put anything up. I'm not talking to you. Ergo, they won't hear anything."
He rolled his eyes. "If you aren't talking to me, then why are there words coming out of your mouth?"
Her eyes narrowed as she turned away, pulling herself physically as far from him as she could.
"At the very least, you could tell me why you are so upset."
"The great Gallifreyan intellect can't figure it out, huh? Let me give you a clue about Earth women. We don't like having our noses rubbed in our men's flirtations. Especially with the type of woman that is so obviously interested!"
The Master gazed at her for a long moment, taking her words and adding them to the actions he took to get information and obtain their spoils. "You're upset because I used whatever means were necessary to get what we came all the way out here for?"
"You could have found another way," she reasoned. "Or at least not had me there to witness your ogling her."
"Ogling?" he questioned with a frown. "I wasn't ogling anyone!"
Reggie, having heard his share of arguments between the Master and Dr. Langford, acted to protect himself and immediately put up the partition between the front and back seats. If he didn't hear the argument, he wouldn't be forced to take a side.
Peri saw the partition go up. "Oh yeah? Then why is Reggie putting up the partition? You don't think that just screams that I'm right?"
"He's putting it up so that he won't have to listen to your false accusations," the Time Lord countered.
"My false accusations! What was that 'gorgeous woman like you' stuff? Was that all necessary?"
"What's wrong with that? She is attractive, after all. And it's a pity that she doesn't have a sense of humor..." He thought about his initial conclusions to the expression he had seen on her face at the time. "I was right! You're jealous! I've never encountered a jealous woman before. So this is what they mean by the term 'green-eyed monster.' Or blue-eyed monster, in this case..."
Her eyes narrowed almost to slits. "Oh... she's 'gorgeous' and I'm a monster! I can't believe you just said that!"
How did a simple act of schmoozing for information lead to this? the Master wondered with growing disconcertion. He could already tell that he was digging himself into far deeper a hole than he was already in... and he didn't even know how he got into the hole in the first place! If the expression on Peri's face was anything to go by, he knew that he was about to be on the receiving end of one hell of a punch in the nose. "That didn't come out the way I had intended," he tried. "Of course, you aren't a monster. I'm just extremely flattered that I can get you jealous."
"You did that on purpose!" she said, suddenly sniffling as tears filled her eyes. "Oh, Harry. How could you!"
He sighed in frustration. He was approaching the second mantle of the Earth now with the increased digging. Why did relationships have to be so complicated? If it weren't for the fact that being without her on the high points of this existence was absolute agony for him, he would be tossing her from the moving car. If it were any other human, that is. And he didn't think it would be wise to ask her if she were menstruating like he did the last time she was in this state. That had resulted in an icepack on his male equivalent. He was going to have to do something to prevent any further damage before it became... damaging. Slowly... and extremely cautiously... he slid closer to her. "Peri..." he started. Reaching over, he took her hand. "My Peri... I'm... I'm... sssssorry." Even after over a year of being in a relationship with her, that particular word was difficult to say, especially when he had nothing to be sorry for.
The tears had started to fall from her eyes. "Really? You mean that?" she asked looking over to him with small glances.
"Of course, I do. I love you. I never wanted to hurt you, even inadvertently... unless you want me too," he told her. At least there was a truth in that statement. He leaned forward and started to gently kiss her tears away. "None of that, now. It was a silly thing back there and it was only to get what we were after. I had no idea that you would be so affected."
Peri felt the kisses on her face and between his words and actions, was soon kissing him back intensely. As she pulled closer to him, her voice was a virtual purr. "I accept your apology." With those words, she started to kiss his neck as her hands began to explore. "Just don't do that again. Otherwise, I might have to kill the little vixen."
"Ooo... promises, promises," he replied with a grin, the thought of her actually killing to keep him an aphrodisiac to him. "Might have to do it again when it isn't something important." He looked into her eyes. "You know how I enjoy watching you work." With that, he forced his lips against hers, shifting so that he had her pinned against the door. "Perhaps I'll even get that drill you've been eyeing to make that work even more pleasurable."
At those words, she became even more amorous. Her purrs became louder as the two of them began to divest each other of the hindrances in their attentions.
Reggie had decided that perhaps he'd venture a look, just to make sure they weren't killing each other. The small glance he took told him the opposite was about to occur. Turning back abruptly, he told the driver, "Keep your eyes on the road."
The driver, having been Saxon's chauffeur for a while at this point, didn't question the instruction, instead pointing out to Reggie the kangaroo in the distance.
