Chapter 9

The lift continued to climb.

Ace drew in a deep breath as it came to a halt and the doors opened.

"Remember," the Doctor said as they stepped out, "He doesn't know he's been found out. We need to keep that to our advantage."

Ace nodded, and then they began to walk along the dimly lit corridor as the lights flickered.

The end of the passageway was still in darkness, and Ace dropped her voice to a whisper.

"It was like this last time I came down here…are you sure you're okay with the lights, Professor?"

"It'll take more than a few bulbs on the blink to scare me away, Ace!"

"No – I meant, after what Dr Bradley said…she said you might have seizures because of the implant…I was thinking about the lights…"

The Doctor had not given the lights a second thought until she had reminded him.

"I'll be fine," he said quickly, hoping for the best as he continued to walk towards the darkened end of the passage, but now he kept his gaze downward, avoiding the glare of the flickering lighting as much as he could.

As he spoke again he kept his voice low.

"As far as Morgan is concerned, I'm just paying him a visit…we don't let on until we have to. I know you want to kill him Ace, but remember it's the antidote we're after. That's what matters most of all."

"Of course it does!" she agreed, feeling apprehensive as they stepped into the gloom at the end of the passage where the overhead lighting was dead.

"I'll go first," the Doctor told her, and then he stepped up to the door and knocked twice with the handle of his umbrella.


Far off in space, the Fourth Doctor's Tardis floated gently against blackness punctured by stars.

Romana stood by the viewing screen, the teleport device still alight in her hand as the power that ran through it made her eyes sparkle gold. She blinked and the residual power ceased to flow, and the device fell dark.

"I still think we should do more!"

She turned back to the Doctor.

He looked up from the console with a questioning look in eyes shaded by thick curly hair.

"More?" he echoed, "How much more do you need to do, Romana? He knows, you warned him. That should suffice. It would if I was him –"

"But he's not quite like you."

"All the more reason to step back. He knows not to meddle with history. That ship exploded due to self-destruct, there must have been a reason…a reason enough to kill all three hundred passengers on board. This is his battle, our involvement would only complicate matters."

Sadness shaded her eyes as she thought of the Seventh Doctor.

"Sometimes I wish we didn't look into the future. It's like opening Pandora's box."

He studied her thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

"We know he won't be able to take the antidote from the Master. We know he's going to suffer because of that. I just want to go back for one more hour and –"

"No."

The Doctor turned a dial and threw a switch and the crystal column rose and fell as the Tardis travelled on, deeper into space.

Hurt registered in her eyes as she looked back at him.

"He's you."

"Me several regenerations from now. And the Cassandra- Aurora is perilously close to earth when she explodes. That's reason enough to step back. We can do no more."

His tone had been final.

She placed the inactive teleport device on the console and looked into his eyes.

"I suppose I just wish I knew that other you in the future didn't have to suffer so greatly."

"Well I just took us back," he said, "Back into the past, to a far distant galaxy. Take a look at the stars, Romana. Let's watch them together and banish all thoughts of my future in another life. It's yet to be. So leave it alone and let it unfold as it should."

Romana gave a sigh as she looked out at the blackness of space and the swirling colours of nearby planets, all looked framed by stars.

"I do wish them well, they're up against so much," she said quietly.

And he stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You warned him," he said again, "That is enough."

And then they stood together in silence, watching stars burning brightly as planets turned.


As they stood together in the darkened corridor of the passenger quarters of the Cassandra-Aurora, the Doctor knocked on the door again with the red question mark handle of his umbrella.

"Morgan Vanrik?" he called out, "It's the Doctor…I'm out here with Ace…"

And then the door opened.

Ace looked down at the floor, thinking of nothing but how fast she could reach around and grab her bat if she needed it – he was the Master, and she hadn't known before because the bastard had tricked her, she had been alone with him as he asked about the Doctor's illness…. No doubt he had laughed about all she had said after she left, and the thought made her blood boil. She didn't want to look at him, because if she did, she knew she would hit him…

"Ace!" exclaimed Morgan Vanrik, "How wonderful to see you – and you must be the Doctor!"

He smiled and extended his hand.

The Doctor forced a brief smile and declined his handshake.

"Please, come in," Morgan said, opening the door wide.

Ace exchanged a glance with the Doctor, who went into the room first, and then she followed, still avoiding the gaze of the man who she wanted to kill.

"It's a real honour to meet you!" Morgan exclaimed, "You are a true legend! Do have a seat, and feel free to ask me anything at all about my reasons for taking a place on this flight – I did explain to your friend here, but I'm happy to explain all over again if you still need clarification."

The Doctor sat down on the sofa, and Morgan sat beside him.

Ace remained standing, wandering over to a narrow window that showed a view of deep space beyond. As she stood there she saw the two men reflected in the darkened glass and she watched as the conversation unfolded, all the while remembering it would take seconds to grab her baseball bat…

The Doctor leaned casually against than back of the sofa, settling comfortably as he looked at Morgan.

"So you're the archaeologist who paid a fortune to grab a seat on this flight…"

"And I had a genuine reason, I did explain to your friend –"

"Wife."

He blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ace is my wife," he repeated, "We married today. We couldn't afford to wait because my life is at risk because of the toxin."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Morgan replied, "I hope your situation changes soon – there must be a cure, it's just a matter of discovering it."

"And perhaps it's closer than I think."

Ace turned to see the look in Morgan Vanrik eyes change to one of hostility.

"And how would you know that?"

The Doctor's fuse had proved shorter than he intended as rage spilled over. He moved much faster than Ace expected him to, considering all he had endured. The Doctor hooked his umbrella around Morgan's neck, pulling sharply, the movement a blur as Vanrik gasped for breath, his other hand was somewhere between his shoulder and his throat, digging his fingers in as Vanrik gave a sharp cry of pain.

"Because I know who you really are!" the Doctor fumed.

He met his gaze defiantly.

"And you will die!" he spat, half choking as he raised a hand and dealt a sharp blow to the side of the Doctor's head, his closed fist bouncing off the implant as the punch sent him sprawling to the floor.

Ace had intended to reach for the bat, but instead she gave a gasp as the Doctor rolled over on to his back, his hat beside him and his umbrella still in his grasp as blood trickled from beneath the implant half hidden by his hair. He was knocked out cold.

"No!" Ace yelled, "NO, you won't touch him again, you've done enough damage!"

She lunged at the man who was still on the sofa, and the bat clattered to the floor as she balled her hands into tight fists.

He had not expected her to attack him so quickly and with such rage, they both tumbled to the floor and then she was astride him, deflecting his blows as she lashed out with her fists. A solid, square punch to his face momentarily stunned him and sent pain searing through her knuckles. But the pain meant nothing to her as the need for revenge scorched through her blood.

"I'm going to kill you!"" she raged, "But first, first..."

Her hands were pressing into his flesh, twisting his face beneath the pressure of her grip as she dug her fingernails in and cybernetic fluid leaked out as the skin began to split, "But first, I'm going to rip off your face! SHOW ME YOUR REAL ONE!"

It broke apart beneath her fingertips, flesh and hair sliding off as the face beneath the artificial skin shone wet with cybernetic fluid.

The sight of him shocked her; here was a man she had believed died on the Cheetah Planet. She had hoped he was dead, wished him dead, wanted nothing more than for the Doctor's worst enemy to be wiped out…

But here he was, looking up at her with triumph shining in his eyes as he laughed darkly.

"My lovely Ace…how you've changed!" he exclaimed, "You've become quite a woman…wasted on him…"
And he flipped her over, she landed hard on her back and the breath was knocked from her body as he pinned her down.

"Not a good bet, was it?" he said as amusement crept into his voice and he held her arms down, "You thought you had such a life of excitement to look forward to, not much fun now, is it? Not much fun stuck with a sick Timelord whose days are coming to an end… Sorry about that. I had to eliminate him, Ace. If you're so determined to be the wife of a Timelord, perhaps you should find yourself another one."

He leaned closer, his lips brushing her ear.

"I think you and me could find a way to get along…"

And he pressed his face against her hair, inhaling the scent of her.

Ace stiffened, every muscle in her body ready for a fight.

He breathed out against her face as he looked into her eyes.

"You made the wrong choice back in Perivale. You should have joined me, the Cheetah Planet still lives within me, and I still feel its power - and I think you do, too…."

He smiled and his teeth grew sharp.

Ace knew her eyes were flickering, cat-like as she felt the swirl of anger rise within her.

"NO!" she yelled, and raised her knee, slamming it into his groin.

The Master cried out and fell back, losing his grip on her arms.

She sprang to her feet and grabbed her bat, holding it in a two handed grip as she looked at the man before her on his knees slowly recovering as she wondered where to hit him first.

"I won't fight for the sake of violence and hatred," she said as she gripped the bat tighter, "But I'll fight for him –" she glanced to the Doctor, who was still unconscious on the floor, and then defiance burned in her eyes as she looked back at the Master.

"I'll fight for him every single time. I'll do it for love."

"Love?"

The Master rose to his feet, suddenly recovered and seeming far stronger than she had first thought.

He laughed darkly.

"You are wasting your time," he said to her, "He's dying. Forget the Doctor, he's finished!"

She shook her head, stepping back as she wielded the bat.

"Give me the antidote."

He snatched up a stack of papers from the table.

"I've got a formula for the antidote right here," he told her, and he stepped back towards the hearth and cast the papers into the fire.

She stared at him in shock.

"Bastard…" she whispered, and then he bolted for the door.


Ace swung the bat and it hit wood, connecting with the door frame as the Master ducked to avoid the blow and ran from the room.

The burning paperwork slipped from the fire on to the carpet and Ace turned to see the rug beside the fire ignite.

As smoke curled up, an alarm began to screech and overhead sprinklers came on. As the water fell down, the Doctor became aware of rain falling on to his face, and then he twitched as it hit his face again, and opened his eyes and sat up sharply, becoming aware of the sprinkler system drowning the room in cold water.

His head throbbed as he turned to Ace.

"Don't let him get away…I'm right behind you…"

Ace ran from the room, and the Doctor tried to stand, but fell back once more as his head ached and the room span violently and blood ran from beneath the now dented implant that was fixed to the side of this head.

He thought of Ace, in pursuit of the Master, and wondered what kind of a chance she would stand against him alone…

The implant was throbbing. It was damaged; he could feel a stinging pulse of current flickering across wounded flesh beneath it.

He would be going nowhere unless he fixed the problem.

The implant had to go…

He took his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and activated it, adjusted the frequency and then raised it with a shaking hand, hoping his calculations had been right because he was in pain, slightly concussed and the implant was firing off mild electrical pulses along raw, wounded flesh. He knew one error in the calculation would mean the difference between the implant deactivating and the release mechanism snapping open, or blowing his own brains out…

He closed his eyes as he held the screwdriver to the implant and cautiously activated the control.

The screwdriver whined, heat seared through the implant and then started to burn.

"Come on…" the Doctor whispered, "Two more seconds…"

And the heat increased, and the small shocks that flickered across his head ceased, and there was a brief moment of pain as the release mechanism snapped open, and he switched off the screwdriver and grabbed at the heated metal, pulling it away from the side of his head.

It was cooling as he held it in his palm, noticing the serrated edges of the underside now stained like bloody metal teeth, and then he dropped it to the floor and used his umbrella to lean on as he staggered to his feet.

The vertigo was leaving him now and the pain that had throbbed through his head was fading.

The Doctor wasted no more time, blocking out all thoughts of pain and discomfort as he hurried out the door to find Ace, who was somewhere alone in the darkened passageway, still in pursuit of the Master…


The sprinkler system had activated through out the level.

Water poured down as the lights flickered and Ace pushed her wet hair off her face as water ran down her shoulders and exposed arms. She had not let go of the bat, she clung to it firmly as she made her way up the corridor, turned a corner and found herself in an area she was not familiar with.

"Where are you?" she yelled, and her voice echoed back at her as the water continued to fall.

She looked back over her shoulder, but saw no sign of the Doctor. Ace thought about how the Master had knocked him out with a single punch, and her anger grew.

"Stop hiding!" she shouted.

And the water continued to fall down, as the sprinklers continued to work and the lights flickered on and off.

Then she heard the sound of hurried footfalls on a metal stairway.

She turned, once again pushing wet hair off her face as she tightened her grip on the handle of the bat.

Through faltering lights and pouring water, she caught sight of a stairway at the other end of the corridor.

She ran for it, stumbling as lights flickered on and off and each time it happened, shadows leapt up the walls.

Ace was slightly breathless as she reached the stairway. It led to the next level, where at the top, a shadow shrank out of sight.

She drew in a slow breath, wishing she was not on a space craft, because she had never needed nitro nine as much as she did now – but such an explosion could rip a hole in the ship and kill everyone – what ever did cause this ship to blow in just under twenty-four hour's time, she was sure her nitro nine would have nothing to do with it, because she had taken the Doctor's advice and left it back at the Tardis…

She only had the bat.

Ace had the bat in wet, slippery hands and the water was still falling and the lights continued to falter, and the metal stairway was wet. It would not be the safest of climbs and she knew it was likely she would be walking into a trap.

But the Doctor was counting on her.

She glanced back and still saw no sign of him. She wondered if the blow dealt by the Master had been too much for the Professor to handle. He was weak, he was ill, and it was the Master's fault.

And the bastard was just a few short steps away…

She felt as if the weapon was screaming out to make contact with the head of the Doctor's enemy.

Ace kept a grip on the bat in one hand, grabbed the rail with the other, and began to climb the stairway.


The Doctor stood in the darkened end of the passageway, leaning against the wall as another attack of vertigo made his head spin.

He closed his eyes and drew in several deep breaths, fighting off the pain as the water continued to fall and he wasn't certain if his hat was soaked through or if blood was running through his hair because of the disconnected the implant.

He wondered if he had made a huge mistake by letting his anger get the better of him as he had sat there, looking into the eyes of the man who wanted him dead, while he had been so heavily disguised. Perhaps he would have stood a better chance if he had allowed the conversation to continue a while longer…

No. He knew it at once; he could not have sat there a moment longer as the Master's eyes shone with such gloating pleasure as he had looked at him, seen how sick he looked… Of course anger had got the better of him.

He used that same anger to block out his pain and weakness as he turned back towards the passageway, walking slowly at first and then gaining speed as he hurried towards the turn at the end of the corridor.

The water was still falling and the lights were flickering violently.

The Doctor reached the end of the corridor and heard a clatter on a stairway, the sound of someone hurrying upwards… it had to be Ace!

He took in another deep breath as the pain cut through his head, and then he made his way towards the flight of metal steps.


Ace reached the top of the stairs, stepped away from the edge and took the bat in both hands.

As she looked around, confusion filled her eyes – there was no one to be seen. Up here no water fell, on this level the sprinkler system had not been activated. She was in a wide steel room, across the other side of it up a small flight of steps, led to a sealed door, above it was a sign that illuminated brightly:

CARGO HOLD.

She pushed her wet hair off her face and it clung chilly to her shoulders as she stepped closer, her toned muscles flexing as she regained a firm, heavy grip on the bat with both hands.

"Come out…I know you're in here…" she whispered.

And a door slid back on a metal column set against the wall.

The Master stood there with a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

"You found me!" he said mockingly, "Clever little girl."

She glared at him, gripping the bat so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Who are you calling little?"

He walked down the steps and away from his concealed Tardis, he was clad in black and wearing a flowing cape. Darkness glittered in his eyes as he spoke again.

"Yes, I set the trap and the Doctor walked straight into it. I developed a toxin worthy of destroying a Timelord, and I used a remote control arachnid to deliver it. I've also reprogrammed this ship to ensure it can not deviate from its flight path – it must return to earth."

A creeping cold was spreading through her bones and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was soaked because of the water. There had been something in his voice that told her there was much more to this plan than simply to kill the Doctor…

"What have you done?" she demanded.

"I took a second strain of the toxin and turned it into a virus that's capable of wiping out the human race. It's in the cargo hold. This is a ship of death, Ace. And the Doctor is dying with no hope of regeneration; what do you think of my plan? I deserve some kind of recognition for such a sterling effort – my enemy eliminated and earth's population wiped out…"

She shook her head.

"You won't do this…you can't! The Doctor will stop you!"

"The Doctor is dying!" he reminded her, "He's finished, Ace. You might as well drop that weapon, take my hand and step into my Tardis – it's your only way off this ship."

"Oh, shut up unless you've something new to say!"

Relief shone in her eyes as Ace recognised the Doctor's voice.

He was soaked from the falling water and a trickle of blood ran down his neck and stained the collar of his shirt, but he was recovered from the blow that had knocked him out. Anger blazed in his eyes as he stepped into the room, putting all thoughts of pain and weakness to the back of his mind as he glared at the Master.

"That's right, I'm not dead yet!" he said bitterly, "It takes more than a dose of toxin to finish me off!"

As he spoke he looked defiantly at his enemy. His face was pale and shadows hung dark beneath his eyes, but he was still very much clinging to life and had lost none of his urge to fight back.

"You won't feel that way for much longer," the Master promised him, "You're growing weak, Doctor. Perhaps you could linger on for a few more years if you had the right combination of chemicals to fight the poison – but there is only one antidote, and you will never have it."

And he drew a glass vial out from beneath his cloak and held it up.

Ace caught a look of desperation in the Doctor's eyes as he saw the white liquid inside the glass container, his only hope…

"Just give it to him."

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced to Ace, who had lowered the bat.

"Don't do this!" he said in a low voice.

But Ace took a step forward.

"I'll do a deal with you – give him the antidote and take me with you. Take me - I won't fight you! Please, let him live."

"Ace, what are you doing?" the Doctor yelled, "You can't reason with him!"

She blinked away tears and kept her gaze fixed on the Master.

"Me for the antidote," she said quietly to the Doctor's enemy, "It's up to you…"

The Master shook his head.

"I have far bigger ambitions than such a simple exchange," he replied, "But as the Doctor's life is so important to you…"

He paused, turning eyes that glittered darkly towards the Doctor, "We have been enemies for too long," he reflected, "Far too long, Doctor. I'm aware this antidote is your only hope. To me it was merely a precaution against infection while I developed the toxin – but to you, it's life."

The Doctor stared at him.

"I don't believe you have a shred of compassion left! Spare me the lies!"

The Master looked at him thoughtfully as he held up the vial containing the antidote.

"I'm aware I hold the only known cure, your only hope, here in my hand. I'm also aware of what the universe would be like without an adversary as worthy as you. And this has to end, now. No more of this war between us…"

The Doctor was still staring at him.

"Tell me what you want," the Master said, "Tell me, Doctor…"

He drew in a sharp breath, his gaze shifting from the Master to the antidote.

"You know I want to live!" he said in a hushed voice.

"Yes," the Master replied, "I do know that, Doctor."

And he let go of the vial.

As it fell Ace screamed No, and the Doctor could do nothing but stand there with a look of horror in his eyes as the glass container hit the floor and his only hope of a cure shattered into a thousand pieces…