Chapter 4

Emerging from the bedroom, the Doctor was surprised to see Salliery coming up to him from the other guestroom. If he was in there, then where's Rose?

"Mr. Tyler, feeling better, I hope." Salliery smiled politely.

"Yeah, you know… it's been a long journey." Truth to be told, he felt exactly the same as he did when he woke up. Although he had to constantly suppress the urge to shake his head in an attempt to lift this 'blindness' -he had to admit that his sudden inability to feel time and space left him shaking- he was able to handle the dizzy spells and sudden tilting floor now. For one thing he was breathing normally again instead of relying on his bypass system. "I heard the meeting's about to start?"

"Yeah, in the drawing room. Is your friend not going to join us?"

The question sounded genuine enough, leading him to assume Salliery hadn't seen her. "No, I can manage on my own. She's sleeping."

"Good. I'll see you downstairs, Mr. Tyler."

The Doctor watched Salliery leave, and then headed for the man's bedroom. It was locked. "Rose," he called, knocking softly on the wood. "Rose."

No answer.

He wished he could be certain the room was empty, but without the sonic screwdriver it would take him a while to open the door. Time he didn't have. If he didn't get to the meeting soon, Salliery would get suspicious. He didn't like it, but reluctantly left for the stairs. He trusted the fact that Rose knew what she was doing and had just wandered off as she was prone to do.

The drawing room consisted of a couple of lush armchairs with the occasional footstool, a sofa, and a table with the familiar vase and lavender on top. Huge bookcases lined three walls, while the last wall supported two large bay windows. The Doctor nodded at Joe the government agent and then headed for one of the windows to look outside where the large lawn, which Rose had seen earlier, greeted him. He looked down to see some lavender growing beneath the sill. One by one the other guests filed into the room. Salliery entered last and offered them all a drink. Both the Doctor and Michelle declined. Just looking at the bottle of house wine caused nausea to rise in his throat.

"Thank you all for coming," Salliery started the meeting as everyone except him and the Doctor had settled themselves comfortably on the chairs and sofa. "Before I start talking business, there's a matter of importance I have to address first." He walked toward the table and looked around. "You see, one of us is not who he says he is."

Silence fell.

Still standing by the window, the Doctor kept quiet and calmly waited for what happened next.

"Are you saying there's a foreign agent among us? Or a spy?" Joe finally asked.

"Or a journalist?" Michelle opted with a chuckle.

"No," Salliery shook his head and put his glass down on the table. "If only it was as simple as that. No my friends, what I'm looking for… is a Time Lord."

Inwardly, the Doctor froze and watched Salliery scout the room for any reaction.

"A what?" Costa's voice sounded incredulous.

"The Doctor, I want him."

"I'm a doctor," the Doctor added innocently. "Of physics."

"Oh, this is not any Doctor." Salliery leaned in. "This is the stuff of legends."

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked, genuinely bewildered.

Salliery raised his voice when he spoke. "The one who travels through time, who meddles with people's history, with humanity. He thinks he's a God, has so many faces and is over nine hundred years old."

The Doctor tensed, but kept his composure as he stepped forwards to join the others.

"Nine hundred years old?" Joe laughed. "That's ridiculous."

Salliery eyed him suspiciously, before letting his gaze drift toward the others. "What's more, he's here." One by one he fixed them with a stare. "One of you, gentleman."

"Is that why you are having this meeting? Because you are convinced someone is this time meddler whatever?" Michelle spoke with a heavily French accent; obviously convinced Luc Salliery was crazy.

"Time lord," Salliery corrected. "And don't flatter yourself, he's always a man."

Michelle snorted and was about to say more, but Costa interrupted her.

"Now wait just a damn minute. You're saying one of us," he waved at Joe, himself and the Doctor, "is this … this… immortal, God-like… creature?"

"Oh he's not immortal," Salliery spoke convincingly.

"You're crazy," The Doctor pitched in.

"Really?" Salliery turned toward him. "So how come a certain device has gone missing from my room?"

"You're not making any sense here, Luc," Remy interrupted. "What kind of device?"

Salliery looked confused at Remy. As if their host knew full well what sort of device it was. A smile tugged at the corner of the Doctor's lip. Apparently the vineyard owner still tried to protect the alien that had once been his guest.

"Let's just say that a Time Lord is about the only person on this planet who would recognize the object for what it is," Salliery explained.

"So," Michelle spoke softly. "You are saying that he took it?"

"This is preposterous," Joe interrupted and stood up to face Salliery. "No one can live for so many years, believe me I know. I hold a few doctorates myself, and one of them is in biology. The body is not meant to endure for that long. The cellular decay makes sure-"

"Maybe you're just saying this to protect your own identity? You never told me you had a Doctor's degree?"

"I need it for the line of government work I'm in!" Joe snapped. "Ever heard of biological warfare?"

Salliery gave a thin smile. "Or how about you, Raphael. The hot blooded one? Or is that just a show to throw us off guard? Because Time Lords are extremely clever. They're masters at manipulating people into doing their bidding." He swiveled toward the Doctor. "Or you, John Tyler. The quiet physicist and his assistant." He watched them all for a while, then abruptly turned toward a cabinet and pulled open a drawer to take out a revolver-like object.

Behind a mask of deceptive calmness, the Doctor exchanged glances with the others. Joe and Costa looked uncomfortably at each other, and then included the Doctor in their stares. He could tell that none of them believed there was such a thing as a 'Time Lord,' that Salliery was just a crazy old coot, who unfortunately had the means to get them all killed. He had a bad feeling about this. Salliery had obviously gone through great lengths to get at him. Somehow, all of this must be linked with his recent illness. Maybe the trap had sprung from the moment he'd set foot on the estate.

"Do you know what this is?" Salliery rolled the heavy looking item in his hand; then held it up for all to see.

At the sight of the object, the Doctor felt his blood run cold. He stared at the small, bronze revolver, with its thin but deadly looking muzzle through which no bullet would fit. The light streaming in from the windows ricocheted of the gun's reddish surface. Anxiety worked its way up his spine and a heavy stone settled in his stomach. He walked forward as if to take a better look but froze behind Costa's arm chair. Joe, who'd backed off at the sight of the weapon also stopped moving as Salliery aimed the gun at the three of them. Michelle let out a soft cry and moved herself out of the way, nearer to the door where Remy was standing

"The Doctor knows, do you Doc?" Salliery spoke malevolent.

He knew.

Images surfaced again: Firenni's gut wrenching cry as the light-beam hit him square in the back. His own scream of denial as he watched his friend die in his arms. The shock of loss had lingered for weeks. The feeling of loneliness…

"My God, Salliery. Have you gone completely mad?" Michelle's voice pulled the Doctor out of his past. "No one here is over nine hundred years old!" She continued. "No one is a Time Lord and no one is a God! If anyone is acting like a deity, you are! You decide who is to live and who is to die now?"

Without warning, Salliery aimed for Michelle and fired the weapon. The high pitched whine of the gun drowned out her scream as a beam of bright white light instantly enveloped her. It was over within a second. Michelle stood momentarily frozen. Then threw her own weapon of colorful French curses at Salliery. She was unharmed.

"It doesn't look very lethal to me," Costa opted with a shaking voice.

"To a human, no," Salliery explained coldly and turned his attention back to the men. "But to a Time Lord," he lifted the gun. "This thing," he aimed again at the men. "Is deadly."

Only through years of experience did The Doctor manage to keep his air of outward calm.

A 'piranha-gun.'

In all his lifetimes, he had the good fortune to only come across the weapon once. That was enough thank you very much. This gun could kill him ten times over, literally. If it hit him, no regeneration could save him. The beam would suck away his energy within minutes. It was the only known weapon to do that, and one of the few things the Doctor truly feared. He'd seen it being used on Firenni a long time ago, seen what it had done to him, the image of his friend's face still clear as if it happened yesterday. For a split second fear got the better of him. His eyes rested a tad too long on the bronze object.

Like a vulture locating its prey, Salliery switched aim, fixing him on the spot with a gaze of cold satisfaction. "Isn't that right? Doctor."

Their eyes locked. Involuntarily, he raised his hands.

Michelle, Joe and Costa looked at him in astonishment.

"What do you want with me?" Knowing the show was over he dropped his voice to an authoritative low pitch. Despite his fears, The Doctor knew his tone still had a dangerous edge to it.

Joe opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again at the sudden voice change. Near the sofa, Remy watched him in awe.

"You're coming with me," Salliery commanded.

"Oh, I really don't think so. Not until you release them," he motioned to the other guests. "And I mean all of them."

Salliery walked forward. "You seem to forget who's holding all the cards here," he threatened, lifting the gun higher.

The Doctor suddenly felt the dreaded feeling of vertigo taking hold of him. He blinked a few times but managed to hold his ground.

"Not feeling a hundred percent, are you now?" Salliery taunted him.

It took a while for the dizziness to dissipate. "What did you do to me?"

"See for yourself."

To the doctor's surprise, Salliery took out the sonic screwdriver from his inside pocket and threw it toward him. He caught it. Since his captor hadn't used Rose to black mail him, The Doctor was pretty sure she was still safe and sound, somewhere. Still, he couldn't help but let his concern for her harden his voice. "Where did you get this?"

"In my wardrobe, on the floor. You probably lost it when you took the vortex manipulator. Go on. Use it." Salliery commanded.

A vortex manipulator? Pieces of the puzzle fell into place. A time-traveling device. So, that's how he got back to this century. If it's gone missing then Rose probably took it from his room. Good girl! The Doctor looked up. "I already checked. There's nothing," he admitted grudgingly.

The admission earned him a slight smile from Salliery, who seemed pleased that he'd managed to conceal the cause of the Doctor's illness from him. "Check for the compound found in the gun, Doctor."

The Doctor returned the cold stare, and then gauged the others in the room. Apart from Remy, who gave him a concerned look, they all watched the confrontation in bewilderment. Costa in particular seemed scared. Joe frowned, simply taking in all that happened, and Michelle ignored him all together. Instead, she kept her eyes on Salliery. He followed her gaze, adding his icy glance to hers.

Focusing on the task at hand, the Doctor changed the setting on the screwdriver. The beeping sounds drew Michelle's attention. He briefly locked eyes with her and could tell she was intimidated, but not scared. Purposefully, he lifted the screwdriver at the ceiling and turned it on, its whirring sound immediately filling the room. Then its blue light brightened. He lowered the tool, locating the source of his illness with acute precision. Steadying his hand, he found himself aiming straight for the table and bunch of flowers on top. "The lavender," he whispered.

Rose was right.

The compound was embedded in the scent of the purple flowers. No wonder he felt so bad. The lavender was everywhere, fields of them outside, and inside bunches of them in every room, permeating the air with their destructive chemicals.

"A fail-safe, Doctor. In case you showed up." Salliery explained as he walked around them toward the window. "I realized it would only be a matter of time before you would find out about my little operation there, and I decided to plan against it."

But the only reason I stumbled upon this place was because Rose needed a vacation. Of course, he wasn't about to tell Salliery that. Instead, he kept quiet and listened, contemplating the distance between him and the door.

"As you well know, the design of this gun has been greatly perfected over the centuries, Salliery continued. "However, despite the changes, it still contains the deadly chemical compound from the cumbersome prototype. I merely extracted and distributed it using the lavender." He motioned to the fields outside. "Its scent is now rich with these beautiful chemicals. I also managed to merge it with the house wine, which I'm sure you've been drinking. I used a low concentration of course, enough to make you feel its effects. Call it my first line of defense."

The Doctor desperately tried to get a grip on the situation. "But you knew I was ill. You knew the moment Rose took me upstairs," he sounded hoarse. Salliery continuously seemed to be one step ahead of him.

"Ah, but so was Joe here, when he arrived. Travel sickness, wasn't it Mason?"

Joe nodded. "I was out for a day."

"I have to admit, Mason," Salliery said, "that I kept a close eye on you."

"Yes, right, fantastic, whatever." the Doctor interrupted more joyfully than he felt. "My original demand still stands." His voice turned grim. "Let them go."

Salliery smiled. "You're in no position to make demands, Doctor."

"Ah, but I can be very, very stubborn," In a desperate bid, he aimed the screwdriver at Salliery, knowing it wouldn't do much good. "And if I were a betting man, I'd say you much rather have me cooperating, don't you?" From the corner of his eye he noticed Remy moving toward the window. The man gave a barely perceptible nod.

There was a short silence as his adversary gauged his options. "No can do, Doc, I need-"

Remy chose that moment to slam into Salliery, throwing him backward against the windowsill. The vineyard owner groped for the gun, causing Salliery to lose his aim.

The Doctor pelted for the door.

A burst of screaming, bright light hit him square in the back; enveloped him, instantly ripped him apart. He crashed into Michelle. She caught him in reflex as the whining ray penetrated the core of his being and like piranha fish would do to flesh, relentlessly started to chew away his energy and strip him of his lives, his regenerations. Eyes widening in shock, he gasped at the sudden pain when his lungs started to burn and he desperately tried to get some air inside.

The high pitched sound of the gun stopped.

He felt Michelle's fingers tightening and through a red haze looked straight up into compassionate eyes. Rose, tell her… He cringed with pain.

Then the gun fired again, and this time he fell into a deep pit of oblivion.

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