Jamie was waiting, patiently, for a chance to speak to the Master alone. Trying to get him away from the others would lead to questions—and one thing that Jamie had learned was that it was Peri's Doctor who was to find out about the Valeyard's existence. Jamie couldn't let his Doctor find out, otherwise there would be a paradox—despite however much he wanted to tell him. He hated having to keep this from him.

The piper was left to pace for some more time before he could hear voices outside the Master's TARDIS. The Brigadier was issuing orders, while Victoria seemed to be pleading with him.

"I think they're here," Jamie announced.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," the Master quipped.

Jamie gave the Master a dark look, but then helped Victoria inside the TARDIS. She was soon followed by the Brigadier, Benton, and Yates, who were dragging in Salamander. While Benton had Salamander in his custody, the Brigadier and Yates had their weapons drawn and pointed at the Master, much to Victoria's nervousness.

"I told you, Brigadier, the Master is going to help us!" she said.

"Be that as it may, we cannot afford to lower our guard around him, not even for a moment," the Brigadier responded.

"And so you take your usual course of action," the Master noted, not even flickering an eyelid. "You point a gun at something and expect everything to go your way. Miss Waterfield, have you told them about my warning that I cannot guarantee their safety if they go beyond this room?"

"Yes," she said. "You have to understand why they're so cautious; they're afraid that you might… Well…"

"Try to, as they put it, double-cross them? Gentlemen, the problem at hand will have a devastating effect on all of us. I wish to live as much as you do. I am sure that Salamander wishes to live, as well."

"Si," the former dictator muttered. He glared at Benton. "Am I permitted to join them, huh? Or are you willing to impede our progress?"

The Brigadier nodded at Benton, who stepped back and indicated Salamander to join the others.

"How kind," Salamander muttered, as he joined the others. "How much have you told them, Maestro?"

"They are aware of all of our calculations; we are now attempting to come up with the proper coding sequence to override the machine," the Master said.

"Yes, the problem seems to be the information feedback," the Doctor said. "Instead of containing itself—"

"I am aware of what the problem is; it is my machine!" Salamander snapped. "Also, Maestro, we shall be needing some coffee; it is going to be a long night."

"Do I look like a servitor?" the Master asked, darkly. After a moment, he relented, deciding that if he had to have these humans in his TARDIS, he might as well give them coffee to prevent any complaining. "Oh, very well."

"If you think we're going to let you wander off alone, you are sorely mistaken," the Brigadier said, aiming his weapon at the Master again.

"I'll go with him, Brigadier," Jamie said, drawing his knife. "Ye lot keep an eye on Salamander; I'll keep an eye on him."

"Are you sure, McCrimmon?"

"Aye; I can handle myself," the piper promised. He gave the Doctor a reassuring nod to let him know that he would be fine before following the Master out of the console room.

They were going down a corridor when Jamie suddenly ran in front of the Master, holding the knife out.

"Now ye just stop right here for a moment," the piper ordered, quietly. "We need t' have a wee chat."

"I thought we established that we are, for the moment, working to achieve the same goal," the Master said, unconcerned with the knife point inches from his face.

"Aye, we are," Jamie agreed. "But there's another goal that we're trying t' achieve—one that's just between ye and me."

The Master gave him a blank stare.

"I cannot possibly imagine that you and I would be working towards any sort of goal besides this one," he replied.

"Aye, ye can—the Valeyard," Jamie said. He was met with another blank stare. "Och, come on—the Valeyard! Ye know what I'm talking aboot!"

"Do I look as though I know what you're talking about, you babbling primitive!? We don't have the time for this—and I certainly don't have the patience! The Doctor may be willing to listen to your prattling, but I am not!"

The Master moved to go around Jamie, but the piper darted out in front of him again, still holding the knife out.

"Ye're nae going any further until ye tell me e'erything ye know aboot the Valeyard!" Jamie insisted.

"What makes you think that I know anything about this… Valeyard!?" the Master demanded.

"Because ye're the one who told me aboot him in the first place!" Jamie said. "Or… ye will. It was a different one of ye."

"That is not possible," the Master said, with a roll of his eyes. "First of all, I do not see why I would bother trying to tell you anything. Secondly, my regenerations… Well, let's just say that I cannot change my appearance so freely."

Jamie's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Ye really don' know…" he realized. "Aye, forget it, then. Just forget I e'er said anything."

The Master now continued down the corridor with Jamie right behind him.

"Suppose you tell me about this Valeyard," the Master said, after a moment.

"It's… difficult to explain," Jamie said, with a sigh. "I don' know where t' begin. He is sort of the Doctor, but—"

"Allow me to save you the trouble," the Master responded, suddenly grasping Jamie's left wrist with his hand.

Jamie yelped, but then realized that the Master was using touch-telepathy on him, just as the Doctor did at times. The only difference, Jamie realized, was that the Doctor almost always asked for permission before peeking into his head.

Nevertheless, the piper didn't struggle, but he did bring the knife in his right hand slightly closer.

"That wasn't a Gallifreyan body I had," the Master stated. "It looked like a Trakenite body. Thank you for that information."

"What aboot the Valeyard?" Jamie reminded him, through gritted teeth.

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything about the Valeyard, as it seems that it is something I will learn later on," the Master said. "Or, perhaps, this is a stable time loop—I learn from you, and then teach you so that you learn from me."

"That doesnae help anyone, then," Jamie said, bitterly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Now I know where to go to get a new body."

Jamie flinched, pitying the poor Trakenite who would eventually lose his body to the Master.

"Forget aboot that now," the piper said. "Ye've known the Doctor longer than I have. How… easy do ye think it'd be for the Valeyard to grow and get stronger?"

"There's no way to tell," the Master said, as they arrived at a room that held a food machine similar to the one on the Doctor's TARDIS. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the Doctor has this Valeyard festering in his hearts. It's as I told him—we are not as different as others would think."

"Aye, is that so? Well, I willnae let him become what ye turned into," Jamie vowed. "I can keep him good."

"Can you be so certain of that?" the Master said. "What you said about me applies to him—he's nothing but a crocodile. And you can't trust a crocodile."

"And ye heard me tell him that I trust him," Jamie shot back. "I know I'm doing my part to keep the Valeyard at bay. I saw what the Doctor's life would have been withoot me. He would have absorbed the Great Intelligence, which would have started to draw the Valeyard oot earlier."

"And how would you know of this?" the Master queried. "Alternate universes are not so easily accessible."

"I just happened to—och, no!" Jamie exclaimed, as the Master gripped his wrist again to read his thoughts.

"I see…" the Master mused. "The Great Intelligence attempted to corrupt the Doctor's timestream, and when you threw yourself out of the Doctor's timestream to stop it, it ended up sending you to this alternate universe. …And who is this Clara Oswald?"

"She scattered herself across the Doctor's timestream to stop the Intelligence; it's how the Doctor was restored to normal e'en after I came back to this universe," Jamie admitted, dully. "I don' really know who she is."

"Whoever she is, she may prove to be useful someday," the Master muttered, as he released Jamie's wrist.

"Well, it's no use trying to look inside my memories; I wouldnae know where to find her. So ye just forget aboot her, too."

The Master merely responded with a smirk as he now retrieved a tray of coffee and handed it to Jamie. The piper took a step back, suspicious, which prompted the Master to roll his eyes again.

"I told you, we are currently working towards the same objective," the Master reminded him. "And now it seems as though you are correct that we have another objective. Whoever this Valeyard is, it is clear that he is a threat to me; I am not eager to see him gain his existence. And you, of course, have your own reasons for preventing his existence."

"Aye, of course."

"Then you may relax," the Master pointed out. "I have a reason for keeping you alive as long as possible, don't I?"

"I think so?" Jamie asked, unsure.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Make yourself useful and carry that back to the console room."

"Ye go first; I want ye where I can see ye."

The Master exhaled in vexation, but agreed once again.

"I shall do my best to find out about this Valeyard so that my future self can properly inform you," he said.

"Aye, and in the meantime, I'll keep doing what I'm doing now t' keep the Valeyard at bay," Jamie promised.

"You do realize, of course, that your role in the Doctor's life is limited?" the Master reminded him.

"Aye, I know I'm only a mortal human with a limited lifespan—"

"Your lifespan? I wasn't referring to that," the Master said. "The Doctor's attention is a fickle thing—and who should know better than me?"

"What…?" Jamie asked, flatly.

"Just as you have taken my place in the Doctor's life, so will someone take yours," the Master informed him, plainly. "The other Doctor I usually have dealings with is currently traveling with a young lady named Josephine Grant."

"He cannae help that I'm nae here anymore," Jamie said, realizing that the Master was trying to drive a wedge between him and the Doctor. "I know he has other people he travels with after me; I've met some of them. And all of those other Doctors were glad t' see me again, which is more than can be said for the Doctor seeing ye."

"Just tell me one thing," the Master said. "Until you met me, did the Doctor ever mention me before? Keep in mind that this was before our disagreement on Darkheart."

"No…" Jamie admitted.

"If the Doctor cast me from his mind after our initial parting of ways, what makes you think that you will be a permanent fixture in his mind when the time comes for you to leave him?"

"We promised we wouldnae forget each other," Jamie retorted, not falling for the Master's bait. "Look, I know what ye're trying t' do, and it won' work. There's one major difference between ye and me—ye may have known the Doctor longer, but ye're also the one who turned against him! E'en now—yer main concern aboot the Valeyard is that he poses a threat t' ye, while I am concerned for the Doctor's mind and well-being!" Jamie smirked. "I know why ye're trying t' do this—ye cannae stand that the Doctor thinks more of me now than ye does of ye!"

The Master stopped in his tracks to turn back and glare at him.

"Don't mistake me for being so petty," he ordered, a little too quickly to be believable. "And while you are at it, do remember that unless we solve the problem with the vortex and the weather, anything regarding the Valeyard and the Doctor's future—as well as our own—will be rendered completely inconsequential. Since you clearly lack the intellectual capabilities to aid us in this current problem, you will be in charge of providing the coffee."

Jamie's smirk turned down into a scowl as they continued on their way back to the console room once more; the Doctor looked relieved to see that Jamie was alright, as they had been gone longer than he would have liked.

The piper gave the Doctor a nod to reassure that he was alright before pouring out the coffee, bitter that none of his efforts had provided any fruit.