Part Ten: A Taste of Armageddon
The Doctor was still fuming over Tegan's abrupt departure an hour later, unable to fully clear his mind of her display of temper even while reviewing Castrovalva's impressive medical database and managing to maintain an outward calm. Too bad if she didn't understand the scientific theories he and the others had been discussing; it was all for her benefit so the least she could have done was show some patience while they thrashed things out…
Nyssa interrupted his thoughts by placing a hand on his arm and thrusting her data pad under his nose. "Doctor? Can you look at this for me? I must not be reading it correctly."
He peered down at the information she was showing him, shaken out of his own internal display of temper by the concern in her voice. "Hmm, that can't be right." Temperature, blood pressure, blood cell counts, even DNA, all perfectly equal, down to the last strand. How could such an error have occurred?
He continued to ponder the question while the lead biologist, Dr. Mergrave, hurried over to see what was wrong. "Is there a problem with the data?"
The Doctor pointed. "Here, do you see? According to this, Tegan's bioreadings are identical to Nyssa's."
"Which is impossible," Nyssa interjected with a frown, "since we're not even from the same planet or genetic stock." She was right – Trakenites might have looked Earth Human on the outside, but there were a great many internal differences to show that they weren't some lost Human colony claiming a different name for themselves.
"This can't possibly be right," the scientist agreed with a frown of his own. "Could we have gotten your data mixed up with Miss Jovanka's when you downloaded her medical files to our computer?"
"It's possible, but not very likely," the Doctor replied. "Nyssa, can you check?"
She ran nimble fingers over the data pad's surface, waited a moment, then looked over the information she'd just downloaded. "This is definitely Tegan's data, Doctor. It's Human, through and through – see this series of genetic markers here? But when I try to integrate the files with the Castrovalva database, they just come up as my data with Tegan's name over it."
"It must be some kind of computer glitch," Mergrave's lab assistant, Ruther offered as he joined the others in huddling over Nyssa's data pad.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before, I assure you!" Mergrave said, glaring at Ruther as if he'd spoken out of turn – which was probably exactly what he'd done; who wanted their supposedly state-of-the-art medical facility made to look less than perfect? – before giving the Doctor an apologetic smile. He hurried over to the communications panel and punched in a series of numbers. When a voice on the other end responded, he snapped: "Get Adric on the line. We're having a compatibility issue."
The Doctor froze, eyes wide as he looked back and forth between Nyssa, who clearly shared his confusion, and Dr. Mergrave. "Who?" he demanded sharply, crossing the room at vampire speed and snatching the communications device from the other man's hand. "Who did you ask for?"
Dr. Mergrave issued a strangled gasp and held his hand to his heart. "Arric," the medical doctor stammered out, glancing over at his assistant in confusion. "H-he's our dedicated liaison for the night, why? "
The Doctor knew what he'd heard. Superior Time Lord hearing, further enhanced by his current state, told him as much; never mind the fact that Nyssa clearly heard the same thing as evidenced by her similar reaction.
No, he knew what he'd heard, which meant that now he was being lied to. This man had the audacity to lie, straight to his face, as if he were some sort of simpleton who would just believe anything he was told. The thought enraged him, and he loomed over the shorter man, his eyes narrowed, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. "You're lying," he said flatly, as Dr. Mergrave shrank back from his enraged client. "Why are you lying to me?"
"I-I'm not, Doctor, I assure you!" he sputtered, inching away from the Doctor.
The Doctor could feel his fangs elongating and suspected his eyes had turned — yes, they must be red as blood right now, judging by the way Mergrave's own eyes widened further, standing out like dark pools as he blanched in terror. "What are you?" he asked, his voice hoarse, but then suddenly it was like a switch had been flipped and the scientist within him won out because he stopped backing away and darted forward, peering at the Doctor's eyes with a curious, and not in the least bit fearful, frown on his face. "Spontaneous alteration of ocular pigmentation apparently induced by emotional duress…amazing! I've never seen anything like it!"
The sudden shift was enough to bring the Doctor back to equilibrium as well. He fell silent, his fangs retracted and he took a step away from Mergrave with a sigh. "It's – it's one of the more unfortunate manifestations of my condition," he explained, hoping his eyes had returned to their normal, less menacing color. He turned and began pacing the room. Maybe the name was just a coincidence. Or perhaps he'd heard him wrong after all. "We have another friend, you see," he began by way of explanation and apology both. "He's – well, he's gone missing."
"In a manner of speaking," Nyssa interjected wryly. "Though we do know who he's with."
"Indeed," the Doctor agreed. "An old, erm, acquaintance of mine is holding him, though his reasons for doing so have not yet been revealed."
Mergrave nodded slowly as he pondered. "Perhaps we may be of some assistance to you with this as well. Where were you when you last saw Adric?"
In less than an instant the Doctor was back in feral mode, fangs extended, eyes blood red as he lunged at Mergrave, pressed him against the wall and held him there with one hand pressed firmly on his throat. "I never said his name," the Doctor growled, his voice soft and deadly. "How did you know he's called Adric?" He pressed his hand in harder. "Where is he?"
Mergrave looked around the room for help, but Ruther was standing near the door, wringing his hands nervously as his eyes darted back and forth between his employer and the terrifying stranger who appeared on the verge of strangling him. Nyssa was just about to intervene when a blank screen at the far end of the room suddenly brightened into life.
The image it showed shouldn't have surprised either of them.
It certainly didn't surprise the Doctor. He abruptly left off menacing Mergrave and strode up to the screen, glaring at the Master's smug face. "I should have known," he snarled. "What did you do, hypnotize them into doing your bidding while you set your traps?"
"Hypnotize? How crude, Doctor. How unimaginative of you. Surely you can do better than that?" The smug expression morphed into a cruel smile. "Especially since it should be obvious that Castrovalva itself is the trap."
"It's a Block Transfer Computation, just like the false Adric!" Nyssa gasped out, reaching the conclusion seconds after the Doctor. "This whole city…he's created it just to lure us here!"
"Very good, Doctor. She's certainly a brain cell or two cleverer than your usual level of pet," the Master said in mocking approbation. "Unlike certain others."
He stepped back to reveal the rest of his Console Room, which now held a new prisoner: Tegan. Instead of the elaborate energy web that still pinned Adric to the wall like some exotic bug the Master had collected, she was chained next to him by a pair of oversized, wrought iron manacles, hands held over her head. She'd been gagged as well, but if her glare alone could kill, the Master would have been dead on the floor long since.
Adric, on the other hand, appeared to be in his own world; his eyes were glazed, there were traces of sweat on his cheeks and brow, and his lips were moving in a constant mumble too low for even the Doctor to hear, although he could guess what that was about. Like the Logopolitans that had shown him the methodology behind Block Transfer Computations, Adric had to keep up a steady chant of the calculations that maintained the charade that was Castrovalva.
At least he'd been spared the task of keeping up Mergrave and Ruther; a quick glance revealed that the two men had frozen into immobility at some point and were now nothing more than two-dimensional representations. "Let them go," the Doctor ordered, knowing he was going to be ignored even as he spoke.
As expected, the Master's response was a sardonic smile and slow shake of his head as he sauntered over to Tegan's side. "What do you think of the bonds I've fashioned for Miss Jovanka?" he asked, raking his eyes over her restrained form. "Old fashioned, I know, but considering how supremely gothic your situation has become, it seemed fitting. And do you approve of her new outfit? From what I gather, virginal white is de rigueur for the vampire's female victim."
The Doctor ignored the Master's mocking words; he'd already taken in Tegan's change of clothing into a diaphanous, floor-length — and quite low-necked — white gown. With part of his mind he hoped she'd been unconscious when the Master changed her — because he was quite sure that even the threat of imminent death wouldn't be enough to convince her to don such a thing herself. "Who knew you were such a fan of B-grade Human supernatural cinema?" was all he asked, with more than a hint of mockery in his own voice.
The Master's response was a scowl as he made a sudden grab for Tegan's head. She flinched back, then kicked out at him. He avoided her flailing limbs with ease, smirking as he held her tightly by the hair with one hand and undid the gag with the other, allowing her to give vent to her considerable spleen.
When she finally ran out of names to call the Master — and where, exactly, had she learned such a varied and colorful supply of invective in the first place? — and fell silent, her captor gave three slow claps. "What a delightfully foul mouth you have," he said with what appeared to be genuine admiration.
His expression hardened as he turned back to the monitor to face the Doctor and Nyssa, who had moved up to join him. "The two of you have exactly five minutes to leave Castrovalva before I have Adric cease his efforts at keeping it intact. After that, I expect you to turn yourself over to me at the coordinates I'm transmitting to your TARDIS."
"Or what?" the Doctor asked, not sure why he bothered since he knew exactly what the answer was going to be.
Nor was he disappointed; the Master was annoyingly predictable at times. "Or your young friend and your Sanguinaria both die, of course," he replied, radiating an air of smug satisfaction that only added to the Doctor's simmering rage. "I understand you left your TARDIS a fair distance from the city, and of course, the sun will be rising within an hour, so I suggest you get going." He offered Nyssa an ironic bow. "So nice to see you again, my dear. I do hope the Doctor brings you along; I always treasure our father-daughter moments."
His image vanished, although the Doctor could still hear his mocking laughter ringing in his mind long after.
Nyssa's face was a combination of horror and grief, but there was no time for either of them to do anything but run. He grabbed her hand, pulling her along at a dead run as the room began to dissolve into nothingness behind them.
The last thing he saw before reaching the door was the flattened, frozen forms of Mergrave and Ruther winking out like the illusions they'd always been.
oOo
They raced out of Castrovalva's gates into the night, though even if it had been full daylight, Nyssa knew she would take no notice of her surroundings. The Doctor pulled her along behind him, back onto the moor they'd traversed in the opposite direction hours earlier.
The spectacular destruction of the city wasn't even enough to do more than fleetingly catch her attention. They paused briefly after getting well away from the stone wall that made up its perimeter, sparing a few seconds to watch as everything sort of…crumpled in on itself, exactly like wadding up a piece of paper until it was shaped into a rough sphere.
And then the sphere shrank in on itself even further, contracting into nothingness, marked not even by a flash of energy or light as it simply vanished into the darkness.
An entire civilization created just to lure the Doctor to this planet so the Master could do exactly as he'd done: capture Tegan and force the rest of them to do his bidding.
She hated him. The Master. She'd never felt such…rage…at another living being in her entire life. Her hatred was overwhelming, and she felt herself aching to be able to do something to him — hurt him, torture him, kill him — anything that would make him stop.
He needed to be stopped. Permanently. Before he could do any more damage to anyone else. "We have to stop him, Doctor!" she gave voice to this conviction as they began moving again, the Doctor setting the pace at a fast jog she could easily keep up with, even in the dark. "We can't let him keep hurting people like this!"
"I know," came the Doctor's grim reply. He never broke stride, not even when she later stumbled over some unseen obstruction in the gray, pre-dawn light and nearly fell. Not even when he lifted her into his arms and carried her the remainder of the trip without the slightest sign of effort.
The Master had to be stopped. She felt that to the very core of her being, and judging by the grim look on the Doctor's face as he carried her across the moor, he fully agreed.
oOo
Nyssa was right. The Master had to be stopped; the only question was, how? How could they stop him when he held not one but two hostages against them?
He still hadn't reached a satisfactory answer to that question by the time they reached his TARDIS.
He wasn't even winded, even though Nyssa weighed more than he'd initially estimated. Not that he would ever mention such a thing to her; even a Time Lord knew not to comment on a woman's weight unless he wanted the wrath of Heaven to fall on his head.
He helped her to her feet, unlocked the doors and followed her inside. She gave a murmur of thanks and closed the doors behind them both.
And then she promptly faded into the background of his consciousness as he rushed over to the opposite side of the console and found the promised coordinates waiting for him. After programming them into the TARDIS he slammed down the lever that sent them off on their unwelcome journey through space and time.
"Where are we going?"
He started at the sound of Nyssa's quiet question; he'd literally forgotten her presence as his mind considered – and discarded – plan after useless plan to get Tegan and Adric out of danger. "Not very far," he answered her. She was standing by the interior door, arms folded across her chest in a manner that might be construed as casual — if one didn't happen to notice how tightly her fingers were clutching her arms, which he certainly did.
He noticed it, just as he noticed how her heart was pounding in her chest, the blood roaring through her veins in what he knew was anger rather than fear. It was disturbing to see her this way, so inflamed by the Master; Nyssa was not easily rattled, and to see just how distressed she was now only served to underscore the gravity of the situation. "It's the same planet," he further clarified in answer to her question, "just a continent and several thousand years in time away from where we just were."
"What are you going to do to stop him?" she asked, her voice low and intense this time, quite a long way away from anything so simply defined as "quiet."
He met her gaze squarely. "Kill him."
He'd expected a negative reaction to his blunt words, but Nyssa surprised him by simply nodding her acceptance. "He needs to be stopped," she said, repeating her earlier words, and finally he understood the depth of emotion behind her deceptively simple statement.
He suspected the Master's little dig about "father-daughter moments" had served as the catalyst for Nyssa's rage. She wasn't bloodthirsty by nature; far from it, in fact. She had as gentle and loving a heart as he'd ever met, on top of a logical, scientific mind that had never in his experience degenerated into cold-bloodedness.
Until now. But who could blame her? The Master had heaped injury after emotional injury upon her; killing her step-mother-to-be, stealing her father's body and tricking her into believing Tremas was alive.
And destroying her entire planet through his ill-conceived attempt to blackmail the Universe on Logopolis by stopping the chanting that was all that was keeping said Universe going.
Kidnapping first Adric, and then Tegan.
No wonder she'd gone a bit bloodthirsty; he felt the same way himself, though if he were truly honest with himself, he couldn't be sure if that had more to do with the unwanted attributes of his current regeneration, rather than the merits of the situation at hand.
He gave an internal sigh. Something else to add to the list of things he'd been trying to ignore about his new self. He knew he'd never been one to suffer fools gladly, but now he suspected he'd cheerfully toss said fools into a volcano if they got in his way, and never think twice about it.
He'd reached that point in his depressing thoughts when the TARDIS signaled its arrival at the programmed coordinates — and a look through the scanner revealed that it had, indeed, done so. Good. Now was not the time for her to get temperamental and land them somewhere other than the desired destination.
Although night had fallen the Doctor felt no sense of the rejuvenation the TARDIS database had led him to expect. That was the burden of having his physiology locked in sync with Earth's day-night cycle; actual day or night on any given planet no longer mattered, only whether England was facing toward or away from the sun. By that reckoning he'd been up for nearly two days now, and could feel himself starting to fade a bit around the edges.
He would just have to ignore his fatigue, to push himself. There was too much riding on him, too many lives at stake, for him to give in to his body's needs now.
Oh yes, and ignoring those needs had worked out so well for him thus far, a jeering voice inside his mind reminded him. Certainly he could ignore his body's need for rest…as long as he took care of another need first.
If he wanted to face the Master at anything like his best, he needed blood. And since Tegan was currently unavailable, there was only one option available to him.
Nyssa.
He scrubbed a tired hand over his face, trying to frame the right words for his unorthodox — and undoubtedly unwelcome — request.
When he looked up, he found that she had anticipated him. She was standing by his side, one hand wavering over his arm tentatively.
Looking up at him, she said softly, "It's all right, Doctor. I don't mind." Then she proceeded to pull her velvet doublet up over her head and drop it to the ground.
Beneath she was wearing a simple white camisole over her support garment, and she eased the straps down over her shoulder, tilting her head to one side as she did so. "Hurry," she urged him.
He hesitated, feeling ridiculously as if he were somehow being untrue to Tegan by biting another woman. He quickly dismissed the feeling. There were larger issues at hand, and an infusion of blood would definitely help him fight his growing fatigue. "Thank you," was all he said as he bent his head to Nyssa's neck, his fangs elongating into feeding mode.
He braced himself for the same sort of reaction Tegan always demonstrated — and tried so desperately to cover up — but Nyssa showed no signs of unusual pleasure as he took her blood into his body. She put her hands on his arms, yes, but purely to steady herself; there was no sound of stifled sighs, no pressing of her body against his, nothing inappropriate in their contact at all, outside of the fact that he had his mouth pressed to her neck and was drinking her blood.
He was careful not to take too much; by this point he was well practiced in restraint. Whenever he fed from Tegan, he always had to control himself, to keep from drinking too deeply.
He dreaded his other physiological reaction most of all, but thankfully he felt no urge to engage in sexual activities with Nyssa.
All discoveries that would have to be taken out and reviewed at some point in the future. Provided he had a future in which to contemplate things, of course. "Thank you," he said again as he moved away from her. He handed her a pocket handkerchief and she pressed it to her neck. Why hadn't he licked her wounds the way he did Tegan's, to stop the bleeding?
Best not to dwell on such things at the moment. All that mattered was that he felt much more alert, less sleepy and sharper in all his senses. "How do you feel? Do you want me to take you to your room?" he asked, fighting his need to get out of the TARDIS and face the Master, knowing he'd never forgive himself if Nyssa were to so much as stumble out of weakness on her way to get some rest.
She shook her head. "I'm fine, Doctor, you didn't take more than a pint or two, judging by the way I feel. I'll get something to eat and then rest for a while."
"Try the pomjit fruit," he advised as he flashed her a quick smile. The smile faded as he turned to face the door, then he glanced over his shoulder at her. "If you're sure…"
Nyssa, still holding the handkerchief to her neck, nodded. "I'm sure. Go save them, Doctor," she urged. "And stop him from hurting anyone else ever again."
The Master's TARDIS
The Master strode into the Console Room and surveyed his prisoners with an air of satisfaction. No longer forced into mumbling the endless, complex calculations required to keep Castrovalva functioning, Adric was slumped in his energy web, as much as it would let him do so, of course. Still, his head was resting against the wall and his eyes were shut, no doubt in exhaustion.
Tegan, however was a different matter. She was once again attempting to express her hatred of him purely through the medium of admittedly impressive glare.
He wondered idly how long it would take her to realize that he'd stripped her naked in order to change her into her present costume, then dismissed the thought as irrelevant. He had much better ways to torture her than to taunt her with comments about his assessment of her body's many faults.
The sound of an alarm pinging caught his attention; with a wolfish grin he moved over to the scanner and opened it up. Ah, good. The Doctor had arrived at last. "Company's here, children," he announced, his voice full of gloating anticipation. Finally he would have the Doctor exactly where he wanted him: firmly under his thumb. Forced to do his bidding.
And when that thrill had palled?
He would kill him, kill them all.
He pulled the lever that opened the door.
oOo
The Doctor walked into the doorway of the Master's TARDIS and stopped, looking over the other Time Lord's Console Room, so similar in size and shape to his own. He took in the sight of the two captives: Adric was looking back at him, mouth pressed into a grim line, eyes awake and alert, though he could see the signs of exhaustion on the boy's features.
Tegan, on the other hand, simply looked furious. For once he was able to ignore, quite easily, the distraction presented by her heaving chest, even though there was far more of it displayed now than in any of the other clothes he'd seen her wearing.
He waited a second longer before initiating eye contact with the Master, keeping his gaze firm and unwavering, determined to have his way in one thing before surrendering himself. "Let Adric go. You have Tegan to guarantee my behavior, you don't need him anymore."
The Master smirked. "But I told you, Doctor, I have plans…"
"Change them." He knew he was on thin ice, giving the Master orders when the other man clearly held the upper hand, but he was out of patience. "Let Adric go now."
"Or what?" the Master, raising an eyebrow as he deliberately parroted their earlier conversation.
"Or I walk away," he said flatly. "And before you remind me that doing so leads to their deaths, may I remind you that we all know you have no intention of letting any of us leave your TARDIS alive. But if I leave, then at least I'll still be alive to avenge them. So let Adric go," he finished softly. "If you do, then there's a chance you might actually get what you want from me."
He locked gazes with the Master, who was the first to look away, shoulder raised in a casual shrug as though doing so because he didn't care rather than out of the sure knowledge that he wasn't going to win this one. Without a word he reached under the edge of his console and depressed a button.
Adric stumbled free of the energy web in which he'd been confined for so long, knees trembling but managing to keep to his feet. "Very well, Doctor, he's free," the Master said with a quick eye-roll. "Step inside."
The Doctor gestured Adric forward, ignoring his adversary as he gave the youngster a visual once-over. Satisfied that he was unharmed in any significant manner, he gave his instructions. "My TARDIS is just over the hill. It's been preset to take you and Nyssa far away from the Master's reach, just enter this destination code." He rattled off a string of numbers he knew Adric would easily commit to memory as he dug into his pocket for a TARDIS key, dropping it into Adric's hand as the newly-released captive stepped warily past the Master and stopped in front of his friend.
"But Doctor, I can't just leave you and Tegan!" he protested.
The Doctor gave him an ungentle shove toward the opening just behind them. "Yes you can," he barked, keeping his voice sharp and commanding, making certain Adric understood how deadly serious he was. "Now go."
Adric hesitated a moment longer, looking over his shoulder uncertainly, but the Doctor gave a sharp nod and finally the boy moved, staggering off on unsteady legs into the night. In the proper direction.
He waited until Adric vanished from sight behind the hill that he'd indicated before turning back to the Master. Taking a deep breath, he stepped over the threshold and fully into his enemy's TARDIS.
oOo
Adric hesitated as he reached the hill, then turned back. He couldn't do it, just leave the Doctor and Tegan in the Master's hands. He'd spent too much time as that evil man's captive to allow anyone else to suffer the same fate. Perhaps there was something he could do, a Block Transfer Computation he could perform…
Before he could ponder any further, the Master's TARDIS dematerialized, carrying the Doctor and Tegan away with it to suffer who knew what horrible fate.
Too late.
A/N: One companion saved, one Doctor lost. Hm, wonder what the Master's Eeeevilll plans are? Stay tuned and you'll find out soon enough! :) R&R as always very much appreciated! It's possible that I'll have a sequel posted and perhaps a one-shot in between. Um, most thoughtful reviewer gets a sneak preview? Sound fair? (Yes, not above resorting to bribery...)