Chapter Forty-Eight

(Day 364...)

Martha stood on board the ship that was carrying her across the Atlantic to what was left of her country. She had opted to travel this way for safety's sake. She had no idea who this guy was who wanted to meet her, but if it turned out he was a spy, it was a lot safer to sail in on boat than to teleport in front of him and give away her secret. She looked out at the waves lapping against the bottom of the boat enjoying a headache free method of travel for a change. There were only five days left until she would meet up with the Doctor. She couldn't wait to see him and everyone else; she only hoped that he was still alive after a year.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The conference room door opened and two guards snuck inside. The lights in the room had been dimmed. The only visible signs of life were the two guards standing by the door who nodded at their companions. One of the men entering the room pulled out a truncheon and they silently crept over to the tent. They paused a moment listening for any movement, but all they heard was steady breathing inside the tarp. One of the guards picked up the empty dog dish that was sitting near the entrance and carefully moved it out of the way. Both of them squatted down in front of the tent and looked at each other. Nodding, they each grabbed a flap of the tent and pulled it back. They looked inside and saw the Doctor was fast asleep lying on his back and Rose was sleeping with her head and her left arm draped across his chest. They paused and stared at them and then the guard with the truncheon raised it above his head preparing to bring it down on the Doctor's skull.

Suddenly, the Doctor's eyes flew open.

"Sorry boys, no room for ya to sleep in here." He said to them.

The guard with the truncheon gasped as the Doctor's hand flew up and snatched his wrist. Rose was jerked awake by the noise and she looked around in confusion as the Doctor quickly sat up and shoved him back out of the tent. The other guard made a grab for Rose, but the Doctor put his fist in his face and he was knocked backwards. The Doctor looked over and saw the other two guards running to help their comrades.

"Rose! Run, hide!" the Doctor yelled at her. "It's you they want! Get out of…"

Rose screamed as the guard with the truncheon suddenly lunged forward and hit him on the top of the head knocking him out. As he fell back onto the bedding, the other guards grabbed the screaming, kicking Rose from the tent.

The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the guard bringing the truncheon down on her skull.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She awoke sometime later and found herself strapped to a table in what she guessed was a lab. She raised her head and looked around looking for any windows. She flopped her head back on the table when she noticed there were none. Her heart raced as she wondered where she was. Was she still on the Valiant or had they transported her to another location? She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Doctor's mind.

Doctor, are you there? She thought.

She cursed softly when there was no response. For one heart wrenching moment, she wondered if they had killed them and then dismissed that. The Doctor was right; it was her they had been after. They knocked him out because he had tried to protect her. There were only two possibilities left, either she had been taken back to the parallel universe and gone out of range, which was highly unlikely, or the Doctor hadn't regained consciousness yet. If that was the case, she was sure he would try to make contact with her as soon as he woke up.

She sighed angrily. She knew it was too good to be true. She knew the Master had been interested in her since learning about the Bad Wolf and giving his word to the Doctor wasn't about to stop him finding out if he could resurrect it or not. She steeled herself, mentally preparing for another night of pain like she had experienced with the mind raper machine. If she was going to die from this, she was going to go out bravely like the Doctor. She only hoped that if she did die, that the Doctor would be able to recover from the agony of losing her for good and move on with his life as he did when he thought she was lost to him the first time.

She looked over when the door opened and the Master stepped inside the room followed by two guards.

"Good evening, Rose. I'm so sorry I had to wake you. I hope you will forgive me." He said.

"Let me go! I don't have the Bad Wolf inside me anymore." She said to him.

"Oh, I'm not so sure. That's why I decided to go back on my word and find out. After all, if it is still in there, you'll be a very valuable tool in my conquest of the universe."

"I'll never help you and neither will the Bad Wolf." Rose said.

"Yes, I figured that. Which is why I have this handy little device for an occasion such as this." The Master replied.

He walked over to a drawer, opened it, pulled out something and walked back to Rose. He held it up to her and she stared at it. It was a shiny metal headband with a purple gem mounted on the front of it.

"This is a neural inhibitor. Kinda like the chip you had in your head except it fits around the outside. It keeps you from thinking and acting on your own. If the Bad Wolf is inside and I manage to unleash it, it will not be able to think for itself and vaporize me and the ship."

He nodded at one of the guards and he walked over and grabbed her head. Rose struggled to break free from his grip as the Master slipped the headband on. He nodded again at the guard and he let her go. Rose glared at the Master as the guard went and joined his comrade by the door.

"The Doctor will kill you when he finds out what's happened." Rose said.

"Oh I seriously doubt it since gramps can hardly walk on his own anymore, let alone mount an attack. The guards told me that they knocked him out first which means that when he wakes up, he won't have any idea what's happened to you. You will be stuck in here away from him and your thoughts will be inhibited, which means if he tries his little telepathy trick to find out where you are, you'll be able to hear him, but you won't be able to answer back. So, just letting you know ahead of time in case you start hearing voices in your head."

He walked over to a control panel.

"Don't worry, Rose, if I don't find any evidence that the Bad Wolf is inside you, I will return you to your Doctor's side and I won't trouble you again. I just have this insatiable desire to poke around and find out things like the Doctor does. I'm a show me kind of guy. So, don't take this personally, Rose. It's just business."

He pushed a button on the control panel and the purple gem glowed with a brilliant radiance. Rose's eyes glazed over and she stared unseeingly at the door.

"Now, let's get down to brass tacks and see if anything is hiding in that body of yours." The Master said opening a drawer and rifling through it.