CHAPTER SEVEN
A/N: When we last left our players, the Doctor was trapped in the Master's TARDIS in a force bubble; the Master and Rose are on a planet of males, and they are torturing them. The Doctor, feeling the victims' sensations via a mental link the Master is sending him (just for a sick, twisted thrill), knows he must escape to help them….
His chocolate brown eyes widened as impressions from the Master began flooding his mind. The cry of agony from one victim as the young Time Lady gleefully tortured him told the Doctor he had to act fast. Time was running out.
Koschei's TARDIS, listen to me, the Doctor thought.
What is it you want this time? The Master's TARDIS mentally replied.
You know, as well as I do, that a TARDIS is more than just a Time Lord's slave. You have a mind, a will, of your own. Resist him! Free me! The Doctor started negotiating.
For a moment, he heard nothing, then…What do you have to trade in exchange for my help? The Master's TARDIS asked.
If Koschei does have you on some sort of leash, I will do everything in my power to help you break free of his control, the Doctor mentally promised.
NO!! The Master's TARDIS screamed. It is a trick, an illusion! You only need me to release you so that you can harm him. That, I will not permit!
If you know anything about me, the Doctor almost pleaded, you know I would never willingly harm Koschei. He was my friend. I will do anything to rehabilitate him.
You will destroy him! I know it! The Master's TARDIS cried in the Doctor's mind. DO NOT BOTHER ME AGAIN!!
The Doctor's eyes misted over with sadness. He ended his thought transmissions. He felt a twinge of pain as he considered what he would have to do to escape, and the discomfort it would cause the Master's ship. In a way, the Master's TARDIS was as much a victim as those on the planet they were on. As the next death throws of the next victim could be heard in his mind courtesy of the Master, the Doctor had an idea!
"Snap, crackle and pop!" he cried triumphantly, aiming the Master's brainwaves at the ship. The Master's TARDIS cried out inside the Doctor's mind; he could feel its screams as it fought to distance itself from the mental onslaught. The ship aimed its laser in the direction of its prisoner, struggling to cease the mental distraction. While it fought to regain control, the Doctor saw that the force bubble opened slightly—not enough to completely dissolve, but more than enough for him to walk through. He ran to the emergency control panel on the wall and, using the sonic screwdriver, disabled it and the Master's TARDISes thought processes.
I'm so sorry the Doctor apologized to the ship as it stopped screaming in his mind, stunned into inertia for a long moment. The Doctor went out, hoping that the Master and his young protégé had not killed too many of the planet's inhabitants.
XXXXXXXX
The Master watched Rose as she drained another victim they found for her to feed on. He wished he could completely bond with her as she fed, but that would not do. If he allowed that, she could, in time, subject him to her will. He would never let her see that level of her power. So he settled for releasing a small percentage of his mind to her, just as he would only let her feel part of the Doctor's mind until his enemy was completely broken.
His thoughts flew to his captive fellow Time Lord. He was preparing to send the latest mental transmission of the latest victim to the Doctor's mind when the Master realized something was horribly wrong. He frowned, cutting off Rose's feast once more.
"You know, I'm really getting tired of this," she protested. "You never let me completely feed anymore!"
The Master was so wrapped up in his thoughts of the Doctor that he didn't hear her. "I can't feel him…he's escaped!" the Master yelled angrily. He grabbed Rose's arm and tugged her away from her latest feed.
"How do you know?" Rose almost snapped. "He could be dead." A pair of angry, intense, crazy blue eyes turned on her.
"And me not feel his cries of anguish in my mind?" the Master chided, shaking his head. "No, I know him too well! He is coming, and we must be prepared!" Grabbing the man Rose had been cut off from, the Master looked into his eyes.
"Have you finished with this one, or is he not completely drained?" the Master asked.
"He isn't," Rose said tiredly. "I only had just started on him when you cut me off."
The Master stared at the man, willing him to be calm. His eyes lit up with fiendish glee as he knew how he could use him and the others Rose had drained.
XXXXXXXXX
The Doctor came to a small city not too far from where the Master's TARDIS had landed. He had felt the Master's thought-trail earlier, and knew he was on the right track. The buildings in the city were shaped primarily like hourglasses, or triangles, their brick fronts dull and non descript. Very few people were about; the dark pink sky and the green moon overhead signaled that it was night time. The Doctor's keen sense of time told him that it was somewhere close to the dinner hour, or slightly later.
He kept following the trail, hoping by Rassilon that he wouldn't lose it, and then saw a man walking down the street. Catching up to him, the Doctor cried, "Pardon me…"
The man turned around. He was dressed in a simple top resembling a jumper. It was a dark brown, almost 20th-century-Earth style jumper, and he had olive green pants. Although he resembled a human, his eyes were pink, with white pupils. His dark, almost black hair was slicked back, and his brows twitched with curiosity.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Hello. I was wondering if you could tell me what this place is, and where I might find some acquaintances who traveled this way?" the Doctor asked. He thrust out a hand, saying, "I'm the Doctor, by the way."
The man's fingers, four on each hand, took the Doctor's hand between two of his fingers in a hand shake greeting.
"I am Vole," the man said in harsh tones. He looked at the Doctor's eyes, commenting, "You are a stranger here."
"Yes, I am," the Doctor said, "and I am wondering where here is."
"Here is here…the compound on the planet Tarn," Vole replied. "You are looking for fellow strangers?"
"Yes, have you seen them?" the Doctor wanted to know. "One was tall and had piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair; the other was somewhat shorter, with blonde hair and a pink outfit."
Vole shook his head, responding, "I have not seen two like that." He walked toward one of the hourglass buildings, saying, "Besides, there wouldn't be any strangers like that here. No one ever comes here, except to purchase food and the like. This is a supply planet, not a place people choose to relax on."
"Oh, welll," the Doctor said slowly, thrusting his hands into his pockets, "these people are very special. Innocuous planets are their specialty!"
"You mock my world?" Vole asked, annoyed.
The Doctor shook his head, saying, "Nope!"
Vole continued onward; the Doctor followed. "There is only one station they would visit," Vole replied, indicating the door of the biggest hourglass edifice. "It is this one, the only one off worlders are allowed in."
"Ahhh, and why is that?" the Doctor wanted to know. Vole let the Doctor into the front entrance.
"It is the one with the most supplies," the Tarnian told the Gallifreyan. They walked right into a hallway, where Vole switched on a light. The Doctor strode ahead to a massive room stocked with cans of food, including meats, vegetables, fruits, and fruit drinks. They were stocked up to the very tall ceiling, and they were labeled with hourglass shaped symbols.
"You wouldn't happen to have bananas here, would you?" the Doctor asked hopefully.
"Bananas?" Vole echoed, his brows drawing together in confusion. "what are they?"
"Never mind," the Doctor answered. "Is anyone in charge here?" He looked around, but could see no one.
"Yes, there is the controller in the office upstairs. I will tell him you are here," Vole told the Doctor. He left the room as the Doctor investigated. He knew the trail of the Master and his student ended somewhere in the vicinity. He hoped that, by Rassilon, he would find them before they enslaved or annihilated too many aliens. He left the supply room and walked down the hallway.
As he neared another storage area that was marked with the symbols of Tarn, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to open the portal to see what was inside. The door slid open to reveal some units containing a vaporous substance in glass tubes. The Time Lord put his tongue to one of the tubes, wishing his TARDIS were there so that it could translate what the gaseous substance was. He jerked his tongue back suddenly, wincing at the practically frozen temperature.
"Some kind of variation of Freon gas?" he wondered. He sniffed the air, letting his nose confirm his hypothesis. He turned toward another portal on the far side of the room, his nose indicating there was something else nearby; something that didn't smell good. After opening the door, the benevolent Time Lord saw several figures lying on the ground. Walking to one, the Doctor checked for any vital signs. He found that although the aliens were unconscious, they were still alive. The Doctor wondered if the gasses in the chamber could have knocked them out. A cursory examination with the sonic screwdriver revealed something the Doctor had not considered.
He glanced back to see if Vole had returned when a murmur caught his attention. The Gallifreyan went over to a Tarnian who had regained consciousness and was struggling to stand up.
"Don't move," the Doctor cautioned.
The Tarnian's voice was a mere whisper as the Doctor strained to hear him. He murmured something in the Doctor's ear, then collapsed, unconscious for a second time.
The door slid open to reveal Vole, who stared at the Tarnians on the ground. He looked up, horrified, at the Doctor.
"What happened to them? Are they dead?" Vole asked.
"No, but they're drained of all their physical and mental energy." the Doctor finished. He indicated the Tarnian who had whispered to him. He was breathing rapidly. The Time Lord touched him briefly, and he slumbered peacefully.
"The two you are looking for?" Vole wanted to know, "might they have something to do with this?"
The Doctor started to answer, but heard some other voices in the outer hall. The door slid open to reveal four uniformed Tarnians. They burst into the room where the Doctor and Vole were.
One of them, slightly shorter than the Doctor, ordered, "Grab him!"
The Doctor held up his hands in surrender, inquiring, "Now uniformed Tarnians, can't we talk about this?" He thrust his hands into his pockets suddenly.
The leader of the Doctor's accusers stepped forward, saying, "You will stay where you are!"
"Oh, right!" the Doctor replied. He grabbed the sonic screwdriver inside his pocket and, feeling the activation switch, turned it on.
"TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS IMMEDIATELY!!" another uniformed Tarnian ordered harshly.
The Gallifreyan took his hands out, showing that nothing was in them. "Yes, sir," he said contritely. "By the way, I have superior hearing. You really don't have to shout."
Another held up a blaster, gesturing for Vole to step back. He tried to protest, but the Doctor shook his head, not wanting the Tarnian to be injured. When he was out of the way, the Doctor peered at his captors, querying, "What now?"
"Arrest him!" another uniformed Tarnian said.
The Doctor's eyes flew to one of the dimly lit lights hanging overhead, its mass the same size as a huge chandelier on Earth. After checking the weight of the lights so that no one would be seriously hurt, he looked again at the Tarnians.
"For what crime?" the Doctor inquired. "Your fellow Tarnians are not dead, merely drained of their energy."
"And you are the one who did this!" one guard accused. To the other guards, he ordered, "Take him to the holding station!"
"Oh, really? Would love to go there, except that I still have to save the inhabitants of this planet, which means, I have to catch the real criminals, which means…" he paused for dramatic emphasis, before he whipped his sonic screwdriver from its hiding place down his shirt sleeve and aimed it at the wire holding the light.
"Gotta go, save the day, an' all that!" he exclaimed as his would-be captors were pinned under the light. The uniformed officers murmured, and then collapsed into a stunned silence.
With Vole's assistance, the Gallifreyan dragged the officers into room he'd vacated. He used the sonic screwdriver to jam the lock. Another door opened from the back and a fellow Tarnian entered.
Vole said to the Doctor, "This is my brother." His facial features were identical, but rather than the hot pink eyes Vole had, he had salmon pink eyes. The eyes peered at the Doctor with suspicion.
"What's your name?" the Doctor wanted to know.
"Kole," the man answered.
"Right, Kole, nice to meet you," the Doctor replied, adding, "I'm the Doctor, by the way."
He didn't shake Kole's hand as he had Vole's as he walked out.
"Doctor, where are we going?" Vole asked. The Doctor jammed the lock Kole had entered through, then returned to the room where the drained Tarnians were.
"Were you able to contact the controller?" the Time Lord asked Vole. He shook his head.
"No, he wasn't in his office," Vole replied, "but I did leave a message."
"Helluva time to be taking a tea break," the Doctor muttered. He glanced at Kole, saying, "Are you a medical doctor, perchance? We've got to help them."
Kole bent to examine the Tarnian the Doctor had scanned earlier. "I am a medical transporter, and I have some training," he told the Gallifreyan. After examining his fellow Tarnian, Kole said, "We need to stabilize them with a cooling substance in the supply room next door. Once we do that, they should be all right until we can get medical attention for them, that is, if the controller allows it."
The Doctor frowned, querying, "You mean, he might not get doctors to help them?"
Vole responded, "Tarn is very much on a tarnak system. It means that, since our medical doctors and technologies are very low, only the most severe cases are attended to first unless the controller, otherwise known as the 'One In Charge' gives prior approval."
The Doctor looked disgusted as he commented, "On Earth, that's called 'triage'. Didn't like that policy there, like it even less here."
Vole activated a panel on the wall. Some tables slid out from a small opening in it. Together, they arranged the Tarnians on the tables.
"You mentioned earlier that they were drained, Doctor," Vole said.
"Yes, their synapses indicated that the part of their brains that supplies cellular energy was depleted," the Doctor told him. "By the way, what does 'raynok' mean?"
Kole answered, "It is a flower. It is the only flower that grows on the planet. Why?"
"One of those men told me that before he passed out again," the Doctor muttered. "What does it look like?"
"It is red, sometimes pink or yellow, with petals, and it grows wild with sharp protrusions on its stem," Vole responded.
"Roses," the Doctor said softly.
"What?" Kole asked. The Doctor waved him off, his mind focused on a different question.
"How many supply rooms are here in this building?" the Doctor asked.
"There are five," Vole answered. "I and my incapacitated coworkers are in charge of them. I take care of the food, coolants, fuel, and other supplies."
"The one I looked at earlier, would he respond favorably to a stimulant produced by the coolant in the tanks in the room to the right?" the Doctor questioned.
"He and the others should," Kole replied. "We were adapted to utilize the fuels and other energy sources we look after here in small doses in our bodies."
The Doctor thought a moment, then inquired, "That might do until medical help arrives. What other kinds of energy do you have here?"
"We have petra, volumn, pantum…" Kole replied.
"Pantum?" the Doctor queried, his ears twitching. "You have pantum energy here?"
"Of course," Vole told the Time Lord.
"Where do you keep it?" the Doctor asked.
"Why do you wish to know?" Kole queried suspiciously.
"The two strangers I told Vole about might head in that direction," the Doctor answered.
"Strangers?" Kole asked. "Perhaps you should reveal all to me."
"I don't think I should. Better for me to go off on my own and all that," the Doctor said. "Now, where is it?"
Vole looked around to see that the coast was clear before he whispered, "This way…"
"Why are you leading him there, brother?" Kole asked. "He wishes to leave us behind once he sees the fuel station! He said he wants to be on his own! He does not care about our injured!" His eyes shot daggers at the Time Lord as he snarled, "I don't trust you!"
"If you don't trust me, then why are you with me?" the Doctor asked, raising a brow.
"I am with you," Kole practically snarled, "to prevent you from stealing the pantum energy!"
"And if you're wrong, the two I'm looking for will get away," the Doctor argued calmly. "Want that to happen, do you?"
Kole frowned, unable to come up with a suitable reply. They made their way into another room, this one larger than the last. The Doctor glanced at the tanks, which had green, slimy, gelatinous liquid resembling brake fluid in them. He knew that he had found the pantum energy chamber.
Pantum energy was a very valuable substance to Gallifreyan TARDISes. The Doctor learned at the Academy that the highly unstable yet immensely useful energy was necessary to keep the thought processes of TARDISes normal during trips in the void. It served as a mental energy salve, preventing the living ships from going insane when dealing with the many different time lines and the spatial paths required to reach them. The Doctor knew that, more than likely, the Master and his partner-in-crime would stop there after his student had had her meal since the Doctor confused the Master's TARDIS when he escaped. The evil Time Lord would eventually want to "borrow" some of the energy before risking any more temporal trips. He also knew that if the Master knew about the pantum fuel, he could capture him and his pupil before they harmed too many victims.
The Doctor's ever active mind was on triple overdrive as he pondered the questions surrounding the Master's mistress. Was she a creature who fed on the fuel too somehow? Was she, despite her seeming Time Lady signature, a robot of some kind who was also capable of cloaking herself? How and why was she with the Master? He wished he had some concrete answers to go with his many questions about the mysterious young woman.
"What makes you think I want it?" the Doctor asked finally.
"I saw the way you looked at it," Kole spat, holding up a weapon.
"Brother!" Vole protested. "He only wants to find some strangers he lost! He doesn't intend to steal the fuel!"
"I shall believe that when I don't see it gone!" Kole shouted. "How do I know this is not some trick to gain access?"
"To answer your question, this is not a trick because I would not have sought your help in finding the two who probably wish to steal your fuel," the Doctor defended, adding mentally, to say nothing of hurting your people.
"What would you need with it?" Kole bit back. "The only ones who need that fuel are people who travel in TARDISes, and other Time Travel ships!"
Vole stared at the Doctor hard. His eyes became as wide as saucers as he hit upon a realization. "Are you a Time Traveler?" he asked.
"If I am?" the Doctor questioned back.
"Then you are a Time Lord," Vole suggested, looking to the Doctor for confirmation.
"Perhaps," the Doctor replied glibly.
"If you are, then the ones you are looking for may be, too," Kole said.
"And…?" the Doctor prompted. "I'm all ears."
Vole turned to Kole, saying, "Then, brother, if he is a Time Lord, the fuel is rightfully theirs to begin with. Remember, the Ones In Charge employed us to keep it safe for travelers like him!"
"He could be a criminal who travels through time, not a Time Lord," Kole argued back. "I have seen some Time Lords in their visits here; he does not resemble them! They are more stately in their dress than he is!"
The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair, saying, "Welll…it is rather a long story about my fellow Time Lords. I'd love to tell you it when there is more time, but right now…"
Just then, the lock the Doctor had jimmied grew red hot. He whispered to the two Tarnians, "Time to decide: do you turn me in, or do you trust me? Your choice, but either way, I am going to get help, and find those two strangers."
The door flew open. The Tarnians the Doctor had stunned emerged, holding up weapons. "Halt, or we will fire!" one screamed.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted. Kole and Vole raced out the back door, down the hall and up some stairs at the end of it. The Doctor ran in the opposite direction as the guards gave chase. He tugged open the door to the food storage station and before some guards caught up with him, he used his screwdriver to open up a panel with some wires. When the guards entered, each searching for the Time Lord, the Doctor connected the wires making the doors shut tight after he escaped. As the guards banged on the door and tried to blast their way out, the Doctor ran up the stairs, searching for the One in Charge's office on the floor above.
He found the brothers nearby. Vole tugged on the Doctor's arm, saying, "I do not hear the guards yet. Here is the office of the One in Charge! We will be safe with here!"
Vole looked back at his brother, advising, "At least let him decide about the Doctor's intentions!" Kole nodded as they burst into the office.
"What is the meaning of this?!" an older Tarnian shouted. Unlike the brothers, this one had a dark business suit out of Earth's 20th century. His hair was more unkempt, and it was a lighter brown. His eyes were a blue based red, with the white pupils of the Tarnian race.
"Hello, Mr…" the Doctor greeted, pausing to look at the nameplate on the alien's desk. "Sarna. I am the Doctor, and I need your help in apprehending two fugitives who have been making a mess of things."
"Speak, alien," Sarna instructed, "how did they exactly mess things up?"
"Some of your people have been relieved of their strength via telepathic contact," the Doctor answered. "Now, assuming you Tarnians are not capable of that power, the source can only be from the fellow travelers I am looking for."
"Assuming you are correct, how do I know I can trust you?" Sarna asked.
"Actually, you just have to take my word for it," the Doctor told him. "Also, I would send a medical team to check their vital signs. I have come across this before. If they are not treated soon, they could become mentally deranged, or at the very least, mentally challenged."
Sarna pressed a button on his desk. When a voice answered, he summoned a medical team to the gas storage station after verifying the Tarnians' whereabouts from the Doctor.
"What is your role in all of this?" Sarna asked the Doctor.
"I only wish to help you," the Doctor answered.
He started to give a description of the Master and his student, but the Tarnian leader cut him off, saying, "You don't need to concern yourself. I have heard about those two that you speak of. I am The Second to the One in Charge, and my guards will handle everything after I brief them on what has happened."
"Great!" the Doctor replied. Sarna led them into a room adjoining his office, saying, "I'll send for my guards right away and call off their hunt for you. Together, we will search for the miscreants and if they are guilty, we will bring them to justice." Sarna left the room.
The Doctor waited impatiently for Sarna and the guards to return. He was rocking back and forth, as Vole commented, "Relax, Doctor. Sarna will find the guards and take care of this situation."
"I wonder," the Time Lord mused, taking his glasses out of his pocket and chewing on them thoughtfully.
"Did you notice that he never wanted me to give their names or vital descriptions? Not only that, why didn't he mention the possible theft of the pantum energy?" the Doctor asked the brothers. "Rather odd behavior, don't you think?"
Kole shrugged, saying, "But he said he had heard about them."
"And that's another thing," the Doctor went on, ignoring Kole's comment. "Why would he need to fetch his guards? Why not sound a general alarm, or something?"
The Doctor went over to the door and tested the lock. It was not locked. He went through Sarna's office and out into the hall. "I don't think we should be here when they return," he said. The trio exited into the hall. They did not get very far as Sarna, the Master, Rose, and some guards returned, blocking their escape.
"So, Doctor, you wish to see the One in Charge. That would be me," the Master replied calmly.
"I figured you'd say that," the Doctor said equally as calmly. In front of the trio, Sarna and the guards' expressions grew blank. The Master regarded the rival Time Lord.
"You don't seem surprised," he asserted, looking at the Doctor's knowing gaze.
"To quote Shakespeare," the Doctor started, then amended, "well, myself, actually, 'I know you of old.'"
"And I know you," the Master said derisively. "I knew you'd think I would come for the pantum energy, so I arranged all this."
"You weren't after it?" the Doctor asked, perplexed. The Master looked at the Tarnians, commanding them to withdraw and to forget everything with the exception of Sarna before addressing the Doctor. The Tarnians, including the two brothers, left the Time Lords and Lady presently.
"Not at first, although I am grateful to you for showing me where it is," the evil Time Lord said, grinning. To Sarna, he whispered, "bring me the Pantum." Sarna left to do the Master's bidding.
"You won't get away with stealing it," the Doctor said. "I'll stop you!"
"Really?" the Master asked. "'Pull the other one', I believe the humans say. Just how will you stop me when you'll be too engaged trying to stop my pet?" He caressed Rose's cheek. The Doctor looked as she purred, turning her face toward him.
Koschei went on, saying, "You see, my lovely consort here must feed on a regular schedule. This planet was the perfect place for that: off the beaten path, a place where no one would ask too many questions if some of its inhabitants were to become mentally unstable, and…" the Master paused, as Sarna returned. He told the Doctor with triumph gleaming in his eyes, "Thanks to you, I get two prizes rather than one!" He held up the tube with the fuel in it, brandishing it in front of his enemy.
"Forget everything you heard," he commanded Sarna, "and leave us." Sarna left, his mind totally blank until he reached the hall. When he did, and the guards came in answer to his summons, Sarna led them to the storage room where some medically trained Tarnians who had joined the deputy leader assisted the injured.
"Perhaps we should adjourn to my ship," the Master said, flicking a device in his pocket. He, his student, and the Doctor were transported back to Koschei's TARDIS instantly in the medical area.
The Master looked at Rose, who licked her lips in anticipation. Rose's eyes locked on the Doctor's, her expression resembling a wolf before it devours its prey. The Doctor found that he couldn't move. He was bewitched by her hazel eyes.
"I've come around to your way of thinking, my pet," the Master said.
She caressed him, asking in the Master's mind, Now?
"Yes, now!" Koschei mentally told his fellow Time Lady. The Doctor looked at Rose, feeling their minds merging with each other. The Master's enemy tried to break free of her bonding with him, but Rose had him spellbound.
"You see, herr Doctor," the Master said jeeringly, "my pet feeds on mental energy as I am sure you suspected, but I couldn't very well let her feed on you right away. You would have seized the advantage when she wasn't strong enough. Now that she has fed on some Tarnians, she will have the power necessary to drain you!"
"Me?!" the Doctor cried. He felt his strength ebbing as Rose continued her attack.
"Ooohh…this one's just as good as you!" she squealed in delight to Koschei.
"Enjoy, my Queen, but don't kill him just yet," the Master instructed. Rose nodded, going into the Doctor's thoughts. As the Doctor and Rose's thoughts began to intertwine, he heard the voices who were her constant companions in her head in his mind. The voices grew louder and louder, culminating in a mind-deafening crescendo.
The Master looked on as, inside his mind, the Doctor screamed.
