Sarah awoke with a start, one hand darting to rub a tender spot at the base of her throat. She'd been drugged. Feeling groggy as well as stiff and sore she stared around her at a small, well furnished but windowless room. What had – suddenly the memories crashed back into her mind, like a flood of ice water dousing her.
The Doctor! Gallifrey! They'd taken him! She levered herself off the bulky sofa on which she'd been laid and made a beeline for the massive door that was the only evident exit.
There was no handle, only an ornate keypad inset to one side. She pressed it and waited, fidgeting with impatience. Absolutely nothing happened. Naturally.
She reached into her vest pocket – but her sonic lipstick was gone. Biting back a groan, she pounded on the door with her clenched fists. "Hello? Open up out there! You don't understand, please – I must speak with someone immediately!"
The massive door, which looked as though it had been hewn from something at least as thick as oak, was so dense that she wasn't even certain anyone on the other side could hear her. Still she banged and pounded and shouted until her hands were red and her voice was hoarse – to no avail.
She stalked back to the couch and tried to sit, but a second later was on her feet again, unable to relax even for a moment while worry for the Doctor consumed her heart and mind.
Instead she paced restlessly back and forth in front of the door as her frustration and anxiety mounted. She had promised to help him, to take care of him, and here she was, caged and impotent. She had to think. Think!
Why had he come to her? If K9 was right, and there was nothing in the TARDIS medical unit that could cure him, why hadn't he returned to Gallifrey himself for help? Instead he'd set the coordinates for Bannerman Road, Ealing, Earth. Flattering as it was, there must have been a practical reason. Was it for something she had? Something she knew?
Without warning the heavy door suddenly boomed inward, causing her to jump backward in surprise. Two red-clad guards with flowing white cloaks marched into the room, their boots clicking on the marble floor.
The guard to Sarah's right halted a few meters from her, stared straight ahead, and announced, "Madame President Romanadvoratrelundar of the High Council of Time Lords!"
The guards turned smartly to flank the entryway as a queenly figure swept into the room. She was very slim, only about Sarah's size, but richly dressed in a golden gown and an ornate high collar that swept up in a fan shape over the back of her head. Straight blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her light blue eyes radiated a probing, restless intelligence. Although small in stature, her regal, imperial bearing made her seem far more grand and imposing.
In her younger days Sarah would have found herself thoroughly intimidated by such a majestic figure, the leader of one of the most powerful civilizations in the universe. But just now she was far too worried to be daunted and far too jaded to be awed.
"What's happened to the Doctor?" she demanded peremptorily of the woman, not caring if she was breaking or completely destroying some important Time Lord protocol. At the moment introductions, bows and ritual greetings were far down the list of her concerns.
The Time Lady didn't seem to mind. Instead, a pair of fine blonde eyebrows rose. "I was about to ask you the same question."
Sarah's shoulders slumped. "I don't know. The TARDIS just appeared, out of the blue – and when the door opened he fell out unconscious."
"Then you're not his…traveling companion?"
Sarah started. How could the President of Gallifrey possibly know about that? Long ago the Doctor had told her that his people never allowed such a thing. She shook her head. "I was, once. But not…for a long time, now. Half a lifetime, for me, and…I think, perhaps even longer for him."
The President's lips pursed. "You're from Earth, I presume," she said with a touch of hauteur. "Why would he have come to you? Are you a physician, a healer of some kind?"
"No," she denied quickly. "I'm not. And I've been asking myself that very same thing. Madame…Madame President –"
"Call me Romana," the Time Lady instructed. "The Doctor does." A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Then you know the Doctor?" Despite the constant worry that continued to gnaw away at her insides, Sarah's spirits lifted a little. If the President of Gallifrey knew the Doctor, then there was every reason to hope she might help him.
Romana's smile widened into a girlish grin that suddenly made her seem almost human. "Oh yes. I too traveled with him for a time. That's why I'm here now."
"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Sarah pleaded.
"A poison. Of Gallifreyan origin, one that's only effective on a Time Lord. In the days before Rassilon, such poisons were the weapons of choice among the various Houses. Each House made their own specific types, hundreds of thousands of them each with it's own biochemical composition." She sighed, frustration showing in her face for the first time. "Even with the use of the Matrix, it won't be possible to match all the possible chemical combinations against the poison in the Doctor's blood before it's too late."
Sarah blanched. "What will happen to him?" she queried tentatively, afraid to ask but even more afraid not to know.
"The poison attacks the cardiovascular system, until the victim's circulation shuts down and his hearts literally stop beating."
"Will he – will he regenerate?"
Romana blinked, trying to hide her surprise that this human woman was aware of the unique Time Lord ability. She shook her head sadly. "No. It suspends the regenerative capacity. I'm afraid that was one of the main reasons such poisons were created – they are the perfect weapons against a Time Lord enemy."
Somberly she regarded the human standing before her. "Now, Ms. –"
"Smith. Sarah Jane Smith," Sarah supplied in a faint voice. She was still reeling from everything Romana had told her, her mind unable to take it all in. If he was unable to regenerate…her thoughts recoiled from even considering the inevitable consequence that would follow.
"Ms. Smith. Listen to me – ah, hello?"
With a conscious effort of will Sarah forced herself to focus on the Time Lady.
"Yes, sorry…"
"If we're to have any chance of saving the Doctor, we must determine the exact identity of the poison that was used. Did you and the Doctor encounter any Time Lords in your journeys together? It's very important that you try to remember."
Sarah nodded. There was no question of having to try to remember. Every adventure she'd shared with the Doctor was crystal clear in her mind, as though they had taken place yesterday instead of thirty years in her past. "Yes, several," she said quickly. "There was K'anpo Rinpoche – but he was a kind old monk – and…" her blood ran cold. "Morbius," she said in a faint whisper.
"Morbius?" Romana frowned. The name sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yes," Sarah nodded. "On a planet called…Karn. We met a scientist, Solon, who had Morbius's brain in a, in a jar in his laboratory. He was creating Morbius a new body – from salvaged body parts, like a horrible Frankenstein monster, and he wanted the Doctor's head."
"Morbius!" Romana exclaimed, finally placing the name. A former Gallifreyan criminal. "But he was executed!"
"Solon said his brain survived," Sarah told her, still remembering aloud. "He put it in a new body and Morbius challenged the Doctor to a duel – a…a mind-bending contest – but the Doctor defeated him and the Sisterhood drove him over a cliff to his death."
"That must be it!" Romana cried excitedly, activating her sub-epidural link. "Physician Thurian, this is the President. You must immediately test all known poisons originating from the House of Morbius."
They waited. After a short silence, less than Sarah anticipated, Romana raised her head sharply and cocked her head, listening. Her eyes met Sarah's, who was staring at her intensely with a mixture of nervous dread and painful hope in her gaze.
"Yes," she reported to Sarah, "we have a match. Thurian and his staff are already beginning to synthesize an antidote."
Sarah expelled a pent-up breath, a little of the tension ebbing from her body.
"Let's just hope we've found the solution before it's too late." Romana started for the door, motioning her escorts ahead of her. "As soon as I have more information I'll send someone to inform you. In the meantime, I'll see what I can do about getting the charges against you dropped."
As she turned to leave Sarah reached out one hand, not quite touching the Time Lady but seeking to slow her progress. She didn't care a single iota about herself, but she couldn't bear not knowing the Doctor's fate. "Wait, Romana, please – is he going to be all right?"
Romana looked away, not meeting her eyes. "I'm afraid it's far too early to say."
Instantly all of Sarah's earlier tension returned, and she felt a sharp stab of fear like a knife in her gut. She balled her hands into fists and shoved them under her elbows to keep them from trembling. "Can I see him?" she asked in a small voice.
The Time Lady hesitated, and then shook her head. "I'm sorry. We have a very strict policy forbidding the admittance of off-worlders into the Citadel."
"Please," Sarah begged, ready to get down on her knees if it would make the slightest bit of difference to the regal and imperious woman standing before her. "Please."
Romana paused, considering. She would catch all kinds of hell from the Castellan for even considering the human woman's request, but there was something about her poignant concern for the Doctor's wellbeing that touched a chord in Romana's hearts. And after all, Ms. Smith's knowledge of the Doctor's encounter with Morbius and her timely arrival with him here on Gallifrey might yet make the difference in whether he lived or died.
Finally she nodded, noting the look of intense relief that flooded the Earth woman's eyes. "Come with me."
