Author's Note: Unfortunately, the plot I had planned for this chapter had so many holes in it, it was letting in water, so I've changed it somewhat. Therefore, the meaning of "Muda'Melaen" no longer holds any suspense. Sorry, guys! :)
It means "are you ready?" in Gallifreyan. I'm also interested at how many people knew that and how many had to look it up?
I have also found that, looking on the internet, there is a huge shortage of Gallifreyan language. Therefore, I have made my own up. Translations will be after the Gallifreyan (in italics). Sorry about this, but I could find translations of a magnificent five phrases! Which I don't think is enough to carry on a proper conversation. :)
"You can't say that!" The Doctor shook his head, deciding against believing that this wolf-thing had just asked him whether he was ready or not. "You're… you're… you're a… dog. You can't say… that!"
"Muda'Endis?" Are you done?
The Doctor made a chocking noise. "How can…?"
The wolf seemed to sigh. It placed one of its paws back on the Doctor's chest, who tried unsuccessfully to move away, and spoke again. "Delae'Shoun." Here we go.
The Doctor's eyes widened as yet more Gallifreyan dialect was used by something that shouldn't even have the brain power to form thoughts, let alone speak the oldest language in the universe.
There was a moment of utter stillness, when the Doctor felt like saying, 'well, is that it?", then the world seemed to tip sideways. The corridor folded in on itself, distorting roughly, and the Doctor felt himself being torn off the floor and hurled through the ceiling of the corridor, which wasn't there anymore. The wolf's paw was still on his chest, but it didn't seem to be attached to anything.
There were two lights ahead of him and he seemed to be rushing towards them. He didn't like this. Not one bit. He tried to pull away from the paw, but it seemed to have fused itself to his flesh.
The lights were getting larger and larger, brighter and brighter. The Doctor found he couldn't tear his eyes away from them.
When they were right in front of him, he stopped moving, and just hung there, though he didn't know where 'there' was, or even if 'there' was 'here'.
"Na'Qae." Greetings.
"Who are you?" The Doctor tried to move again, but his arms seemed to be stuck to his sides, no matter how much he struggled.
"Sendas." Animals.
The lights shifted apart and blinked. They were eyes.
"Mer'zaz Vazunat." You will travel.
"Why?" the Doctor shouted. "Who are you?"
"Mer'zaz Vazunat." You will travel.
The eyes blinked twice, and then went out. The Doctor was plunged into complete darkness for several second, before his head exploded with the light. It was inside his head and it hurt. His arms were still trapped at his sides. He couldn't move; couldn't get away.
He was suddenly jerked downwards, and it felt as if he was free falling. His arms became free, but they merely flailed from side to side, as the pain worsened, and the Doctor screamed.
"You've cracked the codes?" Jack didn't sound exactly hopeful because… well, because it's a Time Lord, and Toshiko is only human.
"Maybe." She gave the Brigadier a shifty look, glancing questioningly at Jack. When she got no response though, she turned back to her computer, tapping on a few keys. The lines of code reappeared. A few more clicks and they changed into hundreds of black and white squares. "What we have here is a Data Matrix. It's machine compressed information, which has been transformed into hard data, resulting in these." She tapped the screen, indicating the squares.
"It's still a brilliant job," she continued. "But even if an alien did this, which I highly suspect, it couldn't have in-scripted the data that far beneath the surface, simply because it was using Earth technology."
"So you can find whatever he hid in there?" the Brigadier asked.
Toshiko nodded, eyeing him warily. "It's a simple matter of finding which codes, or squares," she added helpfully, "are real, and which aren't. Then I can separate the coding from the data, reform them, and hopefully get the information. I could explain it, but I doubt you would understand."
Jack was smirking by the time she had finished. "Okay, Tosh. Thanks."
She nodded sharply, turning back to her computer, and busied herself with the keyboard.
The Brigadier looked a little nonplussed, so Jack slowly led him away.
"You really think she can crack a code the Master made?"
Jack nodded, after a moment of hesitation. "She's the best. If he really did use human technology, there's no reason why she can't." He glanced at his wrist-strap. "I'm gonna go tell the soldiers you brought with you to go back to UNIT. We don't need them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Jack smiled, moving towards the cog door. "This is the safest place in the world." He gave a little wave, before jogging out of the hub.
The Brigadier turned round, well aware that he was deep underground with a group of stranger.
"Coffee, sir?"
The Brigadier turned to see the young man who had called Jack and him in before. He was standing next to a coffee machine, a bland expression on his face.
"Um… do you have tea…?"
"Ianto, sir. And of course." A flash of annoyance passed across the man's face at the mention of tea, but the Brigadier convinced himself that he must have imagined it, because the next second Ianto was smiling. "Owen… that's our doctor… wants to talk to you." He indicated the medical area.
"Thank you." The Brigadier nodded, watching the young man set off across the vast underground base, before starting towards the medical bay. "Owen?"
Another man looked up from a laptop. He was older than Ianto, but still younger than the Brigadier by some distance. Everyone is these days, thought the Brigadier sullenly.
"Yeah," Owen grinned. "Come on down, mate."
The Brigadier did as he was asked, coming down the steps to the right. "What can I help you with?"
"Well… Ianto and I were just wondering where Jack's been for the past three months?" Owen raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"He hasn't told you?"
"Hasn't got round to it yet. We've all kinda been on the go since we got back from the Himalayas day before yesterday."
"Well… I suppose I should fill you in. I think Toshiko is already, but should we wait for the young man?"
"Here, sir." Ianto appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying a steaming mug of tea.
"Thank you." The Brigadier smiled. "Well… you know about the Doctor, don't you?"
"Yeah," Owen nodded. "Jack talks 'bout him all the time."
"Well, that was where he was. With the Doctor. I don't actually remember much of what happened, but Jack does, and can probably fill you in on the details. But the Master… have you heard of him?"
Ianto and Owen glanced uncertainly at each other, before shaking their heads.
"Hmm. Doesn't surprise me. Jack didn't know about him either. He's an alien. He… tried to take over the Earth. That's who we're trying to find."
"So…" Ianto bit his lip. "Jack's been fighting this alien for three months?"
"Well…" The Brigadier stopped. "It's a little difficult to explain really. I'm sure Jack could shed more light on this."
Ianto and Owen glanced at each other. "We don't know when he'll be back," Ianto answered quickly.
Behind the Brigadier there was the sound of the cog door rolling open. "Arh! There you go!" the Brigadier smiled, placing his mug down of the medical bed. "You can ask him now." He smiled again, making his way up the stairs and back into the hub.
Ianto and Owen looked at each other uneasily. "Well," Owen said. "That was a great, bloody load of nothing!"
The Master's POV:
I approach the downed man slowly, drawing out the feeling of victory. He's cowering away from me and, even though the last time someone did that was on the Valliant, I've missed this sensation.
"Please." He holds up one hand, the other still plastered over his nose. "Don't kill me." His eyes are fixed on the knife.
I toss it from hand to hand, amusing myself with the way his eyes travel. "Why not?" I ask. "You're going to die anyway. You can die in pain, very, very slowly, or you can just let me finish the job. Your choice. Doesn't make a difference to me either way. You'll still be dead, and I'll have still killed you." I smile.
He swallows, coughing up blood. A bit of his bone must have lodged itself in his throat, because it's obvious he can't breathe properly.
I take a step closer. "I can make the pain go away," I say gently. "I can make it stop." I crouch down next to him. "Don't you want it to stop?"
Ever so slowly, he nods. I give him a wide smile, lingering in the moment, because I know with the Doctor, these moments of death are going to be few and far between. He starts to sob, pain appearing in his eyes.
"Ssh." I place my free hand on his shoulder, stilling his shakes. "It'll all be okay." I speak sincerely, and I can see in his eyes that he believes me. I lean forward, until I'm level with his ear, and smile. "Human," I whisper. "Stupid, little human."
He tries to pull away, but he's weak, and my grip on his shoulder is too much. I can see the death that is in my eyes reflected in his. The waves of fear rolling off him practically have me euphoric.
I begin to raise the knife.
"Please."
"Ssh," I say again. "Let me take away the pain."
The knife is just pressing against his throat, and all that's needed is one swift swipe to end it. I think I'll draw it out though. I promised a death quicker than the one he would have had otherwise, but I didn't promise it wouldn't be long itself.
That's when I hear the noise. The noise that makes my head snap backwards, my eyes bore into the south wall, and the knife slip from my open hand. The man manages to tug away from me, rolling across the floor, coming to rest against the north wall. Even though he's still alive, I know he won't move again.
I don't care about him though. I cross to the door I came through, throwing myself shoulder first into it again and again, regardless of the pain in my shoulder, ignoring everything but getting through the door.
I'd heard the Doctor scream. All that mattered was getting to him and killing the thing that made him hurt. Only I was allowed to hurt the Doctor.
The next second there's another scream, again from the Doctor, and I redouble my efforts. Only this time there's a word buried beneath the pain. It's a word he would never scream unless he was truly in pain.
"Meyopa!"
Master.
Author's Note: Phew! What do people think of the ending? I think maybe it's a little… clichéd? I don't know. Tell me what you think!
Oh yeah, and the Data Matrix I mention is used in the real world. Just thought I'd throw that out there. :)