Chapter 10
Paloup touched what looked like a time vortex manipulator attached to his forearm. With a flash of light Tituba disappeared.
"What did you do to her?" Donna demanded. "Where is she?"
"I returned her," Paloup answered. "She is of no use to me. Even with my improvements, she would not sustain more than perhaps thirty seasonal rotations."
"Thirty years," The Doctor clarified. "Of course she wouldn't survive much more than that. Humans don't. How long are you requiring?"
Paloup's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied The Doctor. "Forever, of course."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow and sneered with dissatisfaction at the Prodejyum. "Immortality…Really? Is that all you are looking for? With all the amazing technology at your disposal and all of time and space for you to explore, you waste time, effort and lives on the search for the fountain of youth? You, sir, are just...sad."
"Your opinion does not matter to me. As you see from the consent form you hold, all of my research has been with willing volunteers. I am well within the guidelines of the Covington Principles," said Paloup.
"Well of course you are. You kidnap persons from their own place and time and threaten them to help or never be returned. Or perhaps you lure them in with promises of immortality, withholding the information that you plan to strip away what makes them an individual to replace them with what makes you you."
Donna scoffed in righteous anger. The Prodejyum shrugged.
"But no matter what you tell them, most individuals would most likely jump at the chance to save themselves from whatever fears you construct with the aid of that Rabex emotional amplifier you have there."
Donna stepped up beside The Doctor. "You're such a bastard…wait … What's a rabbi's emotional amplifier?"
The Doctor pointed to Paloup's witches staff. "That is a Rabex emotional amplifier, more commonly referred to as a 'fearstick'. The Rabex used them as a defense mechanism to ward off ground forces who might want to attack them. It amplified the attackers' apprehension and caused them to run away scared or attack each other out of paranoia. The downside was that when they were actually invaded, the aggressor became so afraid that he … he returned and annihilated them."
"You are correct, Doctor. I came to acquire one of these fearsticks and with a few modifications, I found that I can focus persons fears to make them do my will. In most cases, it is only used so that they sign the consent form to keep within the Guidelines of the Covington Principles." Paloup paced about the room basking in the story of his own ingenuity.
"Cause you wouldn't want the Judoon traipsing about."
"As mercenary police forces go, the Judoon are the least of my worries. They are all about law and order. As long as I keep my log up to date, they will not take an assignment against me."
The Doctor could not see through the breathing device, but he was sure that Paloup was smiling with self-satisfaction. "But what of you, what does that make you? You murder people for your own immortality."
"Spare me your judgment, Doctor. I am righteous in my quest. I will not keep immortality for myself. It will be shared with everyone, everywhere. A few lives is a small cost for immortality" He raised his arms as if to spread his imaginary gift across the universe.
"But what is that cost; and the continued cost?" asked The Doctor. "Another's life, the benefactor's soul, and I am sure that a monetary exchange would be in order."
Paloup laughed. "Of course there would be. Nothing is free, and with immortality there will be a need for, ah, monetary exchanges to keep up a certain standard of living. It would be foolish to think otherwise."
"You are a fool, Paloup!" The Doctor walked closer. "I have seen communities who have mastered perhaps not immortality, but the fountain of youth."
"Of course, you have, Timelord,."
"It does not end well."
"So you wait a century. Things change."
"But, it doesn't change! It goes on and on." The Doctor had moved from pleasant conversation to a voice raised lecture. "No threat of mortality takes away an individual's drive for improvement, for continuation, for existence. You self-righteous idiot! If you were to live forever, you will see more than you care too until you no longer give a damn!"
"This from a Timelord? Are you not immortal? Have you not died four times already?"
"Six," Donna chimed in. "Six…that I know of."
"Nine," corrected the Doctor, shooting Donna an angry look. "I have lived nine lives. Nine very long, very satisfying lives. Nine lives which have taught me just a few things. Nine lives of loves, sorrows, victories, and regrets. Nine lives to realize that the victories keep getting larger and so do the regrets! Nine lives to watch my friends grow old. Nine lives to watch nations and words and universes repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Nine lives to pretend that I don't notice the havoc that takes place whenever my foot touches soil!...And nine lives to see how little and unimportant one crazy old man traveling in a box is, in comparison to all of space and time! And you know what keeps me sane? You know what gives me the drive to continue to be the best that I can be? You know what gives me the drive to push forward when it all seems for naught? No Timelord has lived past their thirteenth regeneration. I am NOT immortal. Eventually, my existence will end!...Quite honestly, with what all I've been through so far, I'm lucky to still be alive."
Paloup folded his arms; his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Nine of thirteen lives….Doctor, you're only a teenager… Five Timelord lives to go? That's the best offer I've had yet! But first…" He unfolded his arms and leveled the fearstick at The Doctor. "I need you to sign the consent form."
The Doctor clutched at his side. One hand across his chest and one at his ribcage.
"Doctor? Doctor! What's wrong!" screamed Donna, running to his side.
"I … I believe I am having a heart attack! A couple in fact. Ow that hurts!"
"So what does The Doctor fear?" Paloup waved the fearstick over the Doctor and giggled with delight.
The Doctor began to tremble and collapsed to the floor.
Donna glanced at the troll witch mast on the staff and saw its eyes glow yellow. "Enough!" she yelled.
Jumping up she grabbed the staff with both hands and tried to wrestle it away. Stealing a glance at The Doctor, she saw that he had stopped shaking but was still lying on the floor grabbing his sides. Paloup seized the distraction and twisted the staff upside-down. The staff was wrenched from her grip with one hand just as the end of the staff slapped her aside the face. She continued to hold on with all her might as Paloup continued to try to rip the staff from her remaining grasp. Her wrenched wrist throbbed painfully as she tried to grab the staff again. As he yanked the staff towards him, Donna pushed and they both crashed into the wall.
That's when Donna noticed the tube. Paloup's breathing apparatus appeared to have a tube that ran to a tank on his back. With her hurt hand she grasped it. Pain shot through her arm and wrist as she closed her fingers around the rubbery surface. With all of her might she yanked and was surprised at how easily it gave way. She lost grip on the fearstick and fell to the floor. She immediately found the eyes of the troll witch staring back at her and starting to glow.
"You are…" The Prodejyum cut off. Lowering the staff he checked his breathing equipment and noticed the missing tube.
"Looking for something?" asked Donna, dangling the piece of tube still held in her sprained hand.
Paloup's eyes widened in horror and he reached to open the manipulator on his wrist. With a sonic whir the manipulator sparked and smoked. Donna spun to see The Doctor flip the screwdriver in the air before pocketing it and rising to his feet. Donna jumped up as well and snagged the fearstick, with her good hand, flinging it across the room. "No immortality for you?"
Paloup began to panic, but The Doctor grabbed the tube from Donna and held it back in place. The Prodejyum breathed in deeply. "But no death sentence either, which is more than you deserve."
Paloup breathed laboriously through his apparatus which must have been leaking through The Doctors fingers. "You should kill me, Doctor. If you do not, I will kill you."
"Another death threat! Get in line! I swear I just don't…"
"And I will kill you too," Paloup addressed Donna.
The apparatus hissed and Paloup looked pleadingly back the The Doctor. The Doctor looked very cross. "Paloup, let me explain this to you once. I don't like you. I don't think you are worthy of wasting my efforts on bacause I don't think you are worth saving. If you want to do yourself a favor, prove me wrong. But whatever happens from this time on…" The Doctor tightened his grip on the apparatus tube and the hissing stopped. Paloup breathed deeply in relief. "…do NOT mess with my friends. Now…"
As The Doctor turned to examine the situation, Paloup took a deep breath and turned to run out the door. He tried to snag the tube from The Doctors tight grip first, but gave up and raced from the room.
"Doctor!" warned Donna too late, but The Doctor had not moved. He stood there examining the room with the tube still tightly grasped in his hands. It looked as Paloup could change his mind and slip right back into position and continue to breath normally if he chose to. The Doctor slowley turned his head to Donna. "Guess I was right after all."
There was a commotion in the corridor and investigation found Paloup face-down dead outside of the next cargo door. A menagerie of creatures Donna had never seen before were disappearing from their glass cages in a flash of light.
"Come on," said The Doctor running back to the cargo room where they had found Tituba. The animals there were disappearing too, one after another.
"Doctor, where are they going?" Donna looked around to realize she was alone. "Doctor?"