Author's Note: OK, just to prove I sometimes keep my promises, here is another chapter of this one. Only one or maybe two to go now, methinks.

Thanks to the following people for reviewing the previous chapter, it was lovely to hear from you:- MayFairy, Bad Dog No Biscuit, Romana-II, Padmay97, tree1138, Aietradaea, xxTeam-Masterxx, Astra68 and Lost Moon.

One of my lovely reviewers has suggested that maybe people don't review things because they are shy or don't know what to write. All I can say is, I'm not scary and I don't bite - I will always be delighted with any comment anyone wants to make. So please let me know what you think, even a two word comment, it would be much appreciated!

Also, if you haven't already read it, the latest chapter of "The Master's Rose" is also up - I would definitely love some reviews on that one (yeah, I know, self-advertising, so sue me, LOL!)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Now," the Master hissed malevolently at Damon. "Do as I say, boy, or both you and your pretty girlfriend will get the same."

Twisting Tejana's wrist viciously, he forced her to drop to her knees on the stone floor and pointed the stasar pistol threateningly at the back of her head. Damon knew he had no choice. The Master was obviously completely mad. Reluctantly, he stepped over the Doctor's supine body to the President's bier, stripping the gleaming Sash of Rassilon from the dead Time Lord and handing it to the Master.

The Master gave a laugh of pure triumph and shot the boy down anyway, the stasar blast taking him in the chest and flinging him backwards to lie on top of the Doctor. Tears of anguish streamed down Tejana's cheeks as she looked at their limp bodies, the very foundations of her universe seeming to collapse beneath her. Whatever the Doctor had done, however much he had hurt her, she had always loved him with both of her hearts. He was her beacon of light, giving her hope when things were at their worst, leading her on towards the dream that was always just over the horizon. And Damon...her precious friend, the one she could rely on, the one who had always been there for her, no matter what...how could he be gone, just like that? Gritting her teeth, she waited for the Master to kill her too, praying he would get it over with quickly. Her mind seemed to go numb, the treasured memory of the guardian angel of her childhood crumbling into acrid dust as she looked up into his hideous face, anticipating the blast that would end her life. To her surprise, he yanked her to her feet and began to pull her with him towards the door.

"They're not dead," he rasped. "Stunned. They'll live long enough to see the end of this accursed planet and for the Doctor to taste the full bitterness of his defeat."

Stunned? Not dead? The sharp relief blazed through her, galvanising her like a slap across the face. Instinctively, she began to struggle again. "Let me go! I have to help them!"

"Oh no, my dear – you're coming with me. You still have some value to me as a hostage, just in case the Doctor tries one last time to circumvent my plan," he snarled, tightening his grip on her wrist as he swiftly leant down to extract Spandrell's pass-key from within the old Time Lord's robes.

"What plan?" she demanded, digging in her heels and forcing him to drag her. "You're totally deranged, you know that, don't you? What good can that mouldy old Sash be to you? It's only symbolic, something the President gets to wear to make him feel important, it doesn't do anything!"

He turned and looked at her, his lidless eyes glaring madly from the shadow of his hood. "That's where you're wrong, little girl. This Sash is a technological masterpiece. It protects its wearer from being sucked into a parallel universe. All I need now is the Great Key and I can regenerate myself and release a force that'll obliterate this entire stellar system."

"The Great Key?" she echoed. "What for?"

"You will soon see!" he replied, opening the door and forcing her through it, before sealing it securely behind them.

But just before it closed, a small movement caught Tejana's eye. The Doctor was already beginning to stir.

A loud smashing sound reverberated around the silent Panopticon and glass tinkled musically to the ground, the shards scattering like sharp, sparkling ice. The Master reached into the ruined display case and drew out the long, black sceptre-like object that lay within, holding it up in front of him with gloating satisfaction.

"Ah," he muttered. "The Great Key. The Rod of Rassilon. Now nothing can stop me!"

Hoping to take advantage of his momentary inattention, Tejana began to edge towards the door, only to see the tissue compression eliminator swing around to focus on her again.

"I wouldn't do anything foolish, if I were you," he warned. "Take the Key."

Unwillingly, Tejana reached out and took the black rod from him. She couldn't help giving a little shiver as it slid into her grip. It felt repulsive in her hand, too slick, too smooth, too cold beneath her fingers. The Master moved over to the main dais, to the very same place where the Lord President had been murdered less than twenty four hours before. To Tejana, it suddenly seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Now, insert the Key here," the Master ordered, indicating a small, almost unnoticeable hole in the floor. "And turn it, in line with the markings on it."

She did as she was told, watching him carefully out of the corner of her eye, hoping for a chance to knock his weapon from his grasp. The Great Key sank easily into the narrow shaft, vibrating as it went, twisting within her hand almost like a living thing. Tejana had a horrible feeling that it recognised the hole and was glad to be home.

Almost immediately, there was an ominous rumbling beneath the dais and the floor slid smoothly apart. Tejana gasped and backed away, not a moment too soon, as a brilliant blaze of Time-fire erupted from the yawning maw below the dais, spiralling up to the ceiling in a stunning white column. Then the blinding luminescence seemed to fall away, revealing a huge, hexagonal crystal, taller than a man and as black as the night. Four pipes were attached to it, leading down beneath the ground into the heart of Gallifrey itself, each regulated by a red valve handle.

"What...what is it?" Tejana asked.

"The Eye of Harmony!" the Master replied, placing the golden sash over his head as he spoke. "Rassilon's Star. That which balances all things."

"The Eye of Harmony is just a myth!" she cried incredulously, remembering back to all the dry history lessons she had endured at the Academy, hearing again the boring voice of her tutor in her head:-

Now Rassilon found the Eye of Harmony, which balances all things, that they may neither flux nor wither nor change their state in any measure. And he caused the Eye to be brought to the world of Gallifrey wherein he sealed this beneficence with the Great Key.

She shook her head frantically. "It doesn't really exist, not any more."

"Oh, it exists, all right!" he crowed, circling the creepy black crystal with exultant jubilation. "This is the source from which the Time Lords derive all their power. Don't you understand what Rassilon did? What the Eye of Harmony is? It's the nucleus of a black hole, stabilised and set in an eternally dynamic equation against the mass of the planet. And now it's all mine. I shall have supreme power over the Universe. Master of all matter!"

With that, he reached for one of the red valves attached to the Eye and turned it, detaching one of the pipes from the crystal. The whole room shook violently, the lights flashing on and off like a warning beacon, great tremors twisting the floor as though an earthquake was tearing through the ground beneath the Panopticon.

"You can't!" Tejana screamed, trying desperately to keep her balance. "If you unleash the power of a black hole, you'll destroy not only Gallifrey, but hundreds of other worlds as well!"

"A small price to pay!" he returned, reaching for another valve. "When I shall live forever!"

The upheaval of the ground worsened. Great chunks of the ceiling began to rain down from above, smashing on to the floor with terrific force. In the corners of the great chamber, the huge black statues of the founding fathers of Gallifrey began to waver and fall, one by one toppling to the ground and shattering into pieces. The beautiful carved malachite walls began to crack, huge fissures shuddering from the ground up to the roof, spreading like a cancerous disease.

Realising that the fate of the whole stellar system was at stake, Tejana hurled herself bodily at the Master, kicking and punching and clawing at his eyes as she went. There was a burst of light from his tissue compression eliminator, but she was too quick and the shot missed. The weapon skittered from his hand, lost amongst the rubble littering the quaking floor. They fell to the ground, still struggling, as more blocks of stone plummeted around them. Tejana fought like a wild thing, but somehow, bringing to bear all of his unnatural strength, he managed to hold her down, one skeletal hand viciously crushing her wind-pipe. As she fought for breath, his other hand scrabbled around in the debris beside him, seizing a sizeable chunk of rock and raising it in the air, ready to smash it down on to her defenceless face.