AN: Yeah, so I think I may have a problem... someone, cure me please! I can tell from the views people are enjoying the story, but I can't tell if I'm just writing too quickly or what; I seriously think I need someone to hold me in check. And considering this is very seat-of-the-pants, I'm surprised it's gotten this far. The words just come so naturally. *groans* Help...

Once Trak had rounded up everyone who had touched me or the other two people, it was most of the crew in the base. I groaned. Not good. Not good at all, and they weren't going to like what I had to say. The commander wanted to know why I had all of his people in the medical wing, including himself.

I took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy to break. "We've been infected with a serious strain of… something." Everyone looked at me like I was mad. I winced. "The infection that Aryn had when she was in here; you remember it, Aryn?" Everyone turned to her. She nodded, lips drawn in a thin line. "Do you remember what it felt like?" A small quiver quickly disappeared as she nodded again. "Can you describe it for us, please?"

She looked at all the people gathered around. "It felt like I was burning up from the inside out; I couldn't open my eyes at all, no matter how much I tried. Moving hurt, breathing hurt. Everything felt like it was on fire. I don't know how long I stayed like that, but once the Chancellor took it away, everything went back to normal."

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Aryn." Now everyone's eyes were on me, burning with something I figured was boarding on hatred. I had to choose my words very carefully. "Whatever she had, most of us now have. I don't know how or why, but we do."

"You are absolutely the worst thing this base has come in contact with, Chancellor." The commander shook his head. "Before you got here, we were perfectly fine. Healthy, no losses or casualties. We were fine!" he yelled at me. He had started pacing as he began his tirade. "And you waltz in here—"

"I was dragged, thank you." The commander cracked his neck, veins starting to pop because of the tension in him.

"—thinking you were so intelligent," he hissed. His voice had quieted, everyone straining to hear what he would say next to me. I was standing in front of him, so I could hear everything. "Now I am sick of your games, Chancellor, Time Lord, or Time girl or whatever you are; make us the antidote and leave. We are not going to play party to any more of your antics." He stood there, imposing and impossibly large. I swallowed hard.

"I can't make you an antidote; I don't know how." Commander Gage's eyes raged with animosity; more animosity and hatred than I've ever seen in a being before. I lost my voice. What was I supposed to do? Sonic them all back to health? It would take an entire day! If only I had some place I could take them all at once to— I jolted. I had it. I had the place. But I had to hope the storm passed.

Right now, Aryn was the only one who could help me. We both had contracted the disease, so it was very probable that since we had been soniced free of it, our bodies had built anti-bodies to it.

I hoped.

We had bundled ourselves up, and headed out into the cold on tauntauns. Aryn was quiet as we trundled out into the freezing landscape. I activated my sonic every so often to make sure we were on the right path. It was after I made a sharp turn to the left that Aryn uttered her first words.

"What exactly infected us?" she asked, following in my footsteps. It would help us cover our numbers should pirates come again to try and grab any lumni-spice. I kept my eyes ahead, hoping to see a glimmer of my TARDIS.

"I don't know what infected us; all I know is that the sonic could extract it and burn it away. But my TARDIS—my TARDIS should be able to cure everyone at once. That's why we're here to find it and bring it back." I no longer worried about the cold; in fact, it wasn't too bad once you got moving. The tauntaun kept me pretty warm, all things considered. I smiled for a second and patted the creature on its head. The thing kept going, and soon we were at the point where my footsteps started. I got off and made my way to my TARDIS. I activated the control, and it popped back into view. Aryn frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I thought you said you needed to get everyone inside of that to cure them all at once. It looks barely big enough for the two of us, let alone an entire base full of people."

I grinned at her. "C'mon, we need to get this back to base. I'll let you help me fly it." Aryn looked skeptical.

"Okay, Chancellor. Whatever you say." I opened the door to my TARDIS, and motioned her inside. I grabbed the tauntauns as well. Aryn stepped inside and I heard her gasp in surprise. "What—but—it's bigger on the inside!" she marveled. She turned to me. "How is this possible?"

I laughed. "I'm a Time Lady, Aryn. Our technology is quite advanced. I'm only a thousand years, give or take, so pretty young, but our engineers are some of the best in the known universe." I situated the tauntauns near the door, and locked it. "All right, let's get this thing back to the base." I walked to the console, Aryn beside me. "Turn that lever clockwise half a turn; I'm going to activate my controls to guide us there." Aryn did as I asked; soon, we were floating our way back to the base doors, which promptly opened once I had established a comm link with them via the TARDIS. It landed gently on the metal floor, the base looking at the thing with cynicism.

"That thing is going to cure us?" one of the troops asked. "It's hardly bigger than a bathroom stall." Several others tried not to laugh at the comment.

I stepped out, with the tauntauns and Aryn behind me. "I'm quite sure this will be more than sufficient for what we need." The tauntauns were handed off to Aryn. She left to put them back in their pen. "Now, give me a few minutes to make sure everything is ready." I stepped back in and went to the back, finding the hallway I'd completely missed my first go-around. I stepped in and saw a door on the right. I opened it, and saw a slew of beds available. I looked up, and saw similarities to the sonic in the lights. "Nice," I said aloud, grateful that I really had thought of everything. Or maybe it was the engineers. I faltered a moment as I remembered my fellow colleagues. No matter. I had people to save. I slapped the side of the doorframe and went back to the entrance. "All right, everything is in order; now if you'll all follow me, please." Commander Gage was the first to step inside. If he was surprised at the size, he didn't show it.

"Which way?" he asked bluntly. He still wasn't happy with me. I gestured towards the back.

"Behind the console, just into the hallway on the right. The door's open; make yourself comfortable on one of the beds." I guided everyone else in, all of them following the commander to the back room. Aryn had come back, and I needed her. "We need to make sure everything is working correctly; I need another set of hands to help me." She quickly agreed and took a spot at the console. It felt good to have someone alongside me. A faint smile crossed my lips. "All right, now make sure the door's locked, and everyone is in a bed." She was back in less than a minute.

"Good to go, Chancellor." She readied herself. I flipped a few switches, pulled out my sonic and inserted it into a spot on the console. I would need its power and properties for the treatment. It still needed a minute to warm up properly. I toggled a lever, making sure the sonic would be able to use all of its power for this treatment. A few more moments, and we were ready. I thumbed the comm.

"Treatment will commence in five seconds." I clicked off, and threw the main switch to that room. I heard gasps, moans, and a few people yelling, most of which I tried to ignore. It was hard. After a minute, I flipped the switch off. The TARDIS had beeped, meaning all traces of contamination were gone. My sonic was smoking slightly. My hand gripped the handle to the room tightly and forced the door open. I forced a smile on my face. "The TARDIS has determined all contamination is gone; you are free to return back to the base."

Some were still working on standing while others were only too glad to get out. A select few left the room and were in complete awe at my TARDIS. "It's so much bigger on the inside," one of them murmured, running a hand over the railings surrounding the console. He looked at the console, his fingers running over my controls. "This is marvelous," he said, looking and absorbing all of the details. I couldn't help but look around myself. It was pretty awe-inspiring. My center console contained everything needed to run the guy; all the switches, buttons, and drives. I knew what did what, but as for the names, that was beyond me. The times and coordinates were in one section, with everything else built in. Silver snaked through the columns and the interior, with greens and blues also peppering the walls, floors and ceiling. The time rotor also usually threw everyone for a loop; it's not every day you see a time machine. The man turned to me. Dare. Dare? "You told me you were different, and I didn't believe you. I tried to kill you, and you saved me—us," he corrected himself. His blue eyes looked into mine. "What are you?"

He was strange, this Dare. I wouldn't leave without letting him know. It was the least I could do. I smiled briefly. "I'll show you, if you'll let me." He nodded, and I pressed my first and fourth fingers to his jaw and forehead. I relaxed and let my thoughts flow into his mind. I allowed myself to control what he saw, mostly about Gallifrey so he could understand what I was and where I was from. I expressly didn't put the part about my friend in there; he didn't need to know. No one did. I let my thoughts slowly stop, giving him time to process what he'd seen. I brought my hand down, and looked at him again.

His lips were parted, as if all words were lost.

I gave him a tight smile and motioned to the door. "Hope everything that's happened doesn't deter you from whatever your goals are. It was… interesting to meet you, Dare." I left him standing there, stepping back to the console to work on the next location. I had often thought about the planet that Lord President Rassilon was trying to replace, and I needed to know if it was still there, if the Doctor had saved it. That's where my next destination was.

People were now working their way back to the TARDIS doors and back into the base. A few lingered, looking around at the open space and intrigued by the bigger-on-the-inside technology. Once I had everything input, I turned to the remaining people. "If you would be so kind as to make your way back into the base, I would appreciate it. I will be leaving here shortly, as I'm sure you gathered by your commander's rage. I wish you all the best, and good luck in the continued fight. Once I grab my pack from my room, I'll be off." I gathered everyone together and ushered them out, closing and locking the door behind me. There was no way I would let any of them stow away on my TARDIS.

As I walked towards my room, stares of hatred and smiles of gratefulness met me. Would it always be like this? I wondered, looking around myself. Would I always be so judged by my actions? I shook my head of these thoughts. So what if I was? I had done what I could to help those who needed it. I couldn't help that Aryn had contracted the disease. Now my steps faltered a bit as a thought ran through my head. Where had she picked it up? How had she gotten it? If it was skin contact, who had she touched that had the bacteria? Now I needed to know. If it had been who I think it was, who knows how far this would reach? Aryn. I had to talk with her. My feet lead me to the rec room where several of the people had gathered after the treatment. I looked around, searching faces. Dare saw me and came over. "Who are you looking for, Chancellor?"

"Aryn; it's important."

His brows furrowed in concern. "I'll help look for her; I'll check the mess hall." I nodded, thankful for his help. I continued to scan the faces, cursing myself as I couldn't find her anywhere. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Dare had found her in the dining hall, eating with her friends. When she heard that I need to speak with her, she came without hesitation.

"What is it, Chancellor?"

I bit my lip. This was going to be a bad habit of mine. "Who touched you during the firefight with the pirates?"

"Why would it matter?"

"Unless that person died, the disease went with the crew to Coruscant." Both of their eyes widened as the implication of my words changed everything. I looked at her. "I need to know if the person died, Aryn. I need to know Coruscant is safe." She turned and ran away from me. I squeezed my eyes shut. I can't believe I didn't consider this! A lump filled my throat, and I couldn't be there anymore, surrounded by the people I had just saved. Because if it had reached Coruscant, I had just endangered an entire planet with an unknown disease. I ran to my room. My head was swimming with this possibly catastrophic news. I was so stupid, so incredibly stupid, to think I had actually succeeded in saving the people here. I rubbed my face, trying to think. What did this mean? What would it do? How quickly would it take effect? I groaned, hating myself for having let those pirates into the base. That's what started this entire thing! I punched the bed and got up. I had to know. I had to know that they were all right. I grabbed my pack from the end of the bed and slung it on, heading for my TARDIS. Looks like Coruscant would be my next visit instead.