AN: Another update. Huzzah!
Somehow this ended up VERY differently from the scenario that's been playing out in my head for the past few years ... I've yet to decide if I think the change is for the better. But the story just seems to take on it's own life when I'm putting it down on paper.
Anyway, hope you enjoy. And yes, I know it isn't very climatic. It isn't really suppose to be.
~ Chapter Seven ~
The Plan
In the console room the Doctor and Clara were sitting on the pilot seat talking quietly. They looked up as the Master and Ailla returned to the room, heading straight for the TARDIS' monitor.
The Doctor stood and walked towards them, "Ailla … I –" he started but was cut off by the woman in question.
"Save it for later, Doctor, now isn't the time for that conversation." She said without looking at the other Time Lord.
"Right, later." The Doctor responded, nodding his head, and glancing over at Clara, who smiled at him reassuringly.
"So. We need to get back to the control room and deactivate the materialization shields." Ailla stated. She looked at the Master, "you've been here for a while. Any ideas?"
"Well, I think it might be a good idea for us to split up. That way two of us can create a distraction somewhere else while the other two go to the control room." He said.
"That sounds like a good idea." The Doctor agreed. "You and I go to the control room," he said pointing between himself and the Master.
"So keen on keeping an eye on me at all times?" The Master scoffed. "I think I'll pass."
"I'll go with him, Doctor." Ailla said, before the Doctor had a chance to respond. "Then you and Clara create the distraction."
"Do you think that's wise? He might try to kill you again." The Doctor told her matter-of-factly.
"He won't." She said firmly.
"How can you be sure?" he asked.
She looked at the Master, "we have an understanding, I think."
The Master gave a single nod, confirming her statement.
"But you can't trust him!" The Doctor said in frustration.
"At the moment I trust him a hell of a lot more than I trust you, Doctor!" She shouted back.
The Doctor flinched. "Right."
The Master unsuccessfully tried to hide his smirk.
The room was silent for a moment, then Clara cleared her throat, "so, after we've created the distraction, what happens?" She asked.
Ailla looked at her friend, "the Autolycus will head out to see, what's going on, then the Master and go in, switch off the shields and head back to the TARDIS and that's it. Easy peasy."
"But what if something goes wrong? What if someone gets caught?" Clara asked.
"We could bring some communicators and update each other on what's happening." The Master suggested.
"Good idea." The Doctor agreed.
"Right. Let's do it." Ailla said.
oOo
Ailla and the Master were hiding in a corridor close to the control room. They were awaiting the signal from whatever distraction the Doctor and Clara were creating.
"Is it safe for us to be this close to the control room?" Ailla asked quietly, "what if they come this way?"
"Don't worry, I've never seen them use this corridor so hopefully they're not about to begin now." He replied.
"Fingers crossed." Ailla mumbled. "And what if they don't all head out to see what's causing a commotion?"
"In that case I'll hypnotize the one, who stays behind. It's easier to make it last for a while when there's only one." He replied. "But I doubt one of them will stay behind. In fact, we can't even be sure they're all in there … they could be out looking for us."
"Oh. I hadn't even considered that" Ailla said.
Suddenly a loud beeping sound could be heard from within the control room. Ailla looked down at the tablet in her hand and saw a blinking red spot on the map in the direction the Doctor and Clara had gone. A moment later two of the Autolycus exited the control room in a hurry.
"They're heading your way." Ailla informed the Doctor through the communicator.
"Right. We'll stay hidden until we've seen them arriving. And then we'll head back to the TARDIS" The Doctor said.
"Great. Stay safe." Ailla told him and put the communicator in her pocket.
"I'll go first, in case there's still one in there." The Master said and headed towards the door, Ailla right behind him.
They entered the room. The beeping alarm was so loud they would barely be able to hear what the other said. Ailla covered both of her ears with her hands. They looked around and quickly realised the last of the Autolycus wasn't there. The Master headed straight for a screen and started pressing the keys. The noise stopped.
"Finally." Ailla said. "I think I'd gone deaf if I'd had to listed to that much longer."
The Master grinned but didn't take his eyes off the screen.
The communicator in Ailla's pocket vibrated. She brought it to her face, "yes?"
"All three of them are here. I recon you've got 10 minutes tops before they head back. We're heading back to the TARDIS now." The Doctor informed her.
"Okay." She replied and put the communicator back in her pocket.
She looked around the room. She hadn't had much of a chance earlier when they'd captured her, because she'd been preoccupied studying the aliens themselves. She walked around, taking in the various stations. She went over to the station controlling the ships weapons and looked at the screen. She noticed there were coordinates entered and at the bottom of the screen it said to enter the passcode to fire the missiles.
"Master?" She called out.
"What is it?" He asked, still not taking his eyes off his own screen.
"Have you seen this?" She asked.
"What?"
"The weapons … they´re ready to be fired at something." She said.
"I doubt that's of any importance to us." He dismissed it.
"It's just … I recognize those coordinates, but I can't place them." Ailla said, trying desperately to remember where she knew those coordinates from.
"There!" The Master exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Shields are deactivated, and I've changed the password so they can't reactivate them."
"Great." Ailla replied distractedly.
The Master stood next to her and pulled at her arm, "let's go, before they return" he said.
"Yeah. Sorry, coming." Ailla said and glanced one last time at the weapons screen.
They exited the control room and Ailla pulled out the communicator from her pocket, "we're heading back to the TARDIS. The Master made sure they can't reactivate the shields" she said.
"Excellent. We're nearly back at the TARDIS ourselves. See you in a bit." The Doctor said.
Ailla put the communicator back in her pocket. Suddenly she froze. The Master noticed that she'd stopped and went back, stopping in front of her.
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
"I know what the coordinates are." She said.
"Coordinates?" The Master asked.
"The weapons" she clarified, "stars, we have to go back now!" She exclaimed and turned back the way they'd just come from and started running.
"Ailla, wait!" The Master called out, but she didn't react. He ran his hand from his forehead and into his hair, taking a deep breath, before he started running after her. He came into the control room and saw her standing by the weapons screen, frantically pressing it. "This isn't necessary" he told her calmly.
"Of course, it is! They have missiles aimed at Earth!" she all but yelled.
"I know." The Master said simply.
Ailla's frantic pressing on the screen haltered as she realised what he'd just said. "You know?" She asked.
The Master sighed deeply, "yes."
"And you weren't gonna stop it?" She asked in disbelief.
The Master looked at her in silence for a few seconds, "I …" he didn't have time to finish his sentence as all three of the Autolycus suddenly entered the room.
Ailla grabbed a phaser gun that one of the aliens must have left behind earlier and pointed it at them. "Stop right there or I'll blast your brains out!" She warned them.
The Master stepped closer to her, not even looking back at the aliens. The motion made her point the gun at him and he raised his hands as if to calm her down. "Remember we're a team." He said.
"Are we though?" She asked him, the hurt clear in her voice.
"Yes." He said simply.
"You knew they were going to blow up Earth and you weren't even gonna tell me?" She summed up, "I don't really see the team spirit in that!"
"They weren't actually gonna do it…" The Master said.
She scoffed, "right. They just put in the coordinates for fun." She glanced at the screen and lifted a hand to where the coordinates stood. "Perhaps I should just change this so the missiles will hit their own planet." She said sounding almost mad.
"You wouldn't do that." The Master said.
"I wouldn't?" She asked. "You underestimate me, Master. If they can blow up the only home, I have left without even blinking, I sure as hell can blow up theirs!"
"That's genocide!" The Master spoke in a firm voice. "I know you wouldn't do that."
"If the Doctor could do it to his own race, I sure as hell can do it to a race, who threatens to destroy the Earth!" She yelled at him.
The Master looked at his feet. "They didn't" he said quietly.
"They didn't what?" Ailla asked slightly confused.
"They didn't threaten Earth." He clarified, looking back up at her. "I put in those coordinates."
"On their orders?" She asked, fearing she already knew the answer.
"No." He said simply and sighed, "I did it to get the Doctor's attention … thought it may be easier to make him cooperative if we had a common enemy ... and you know how he loves Earth."
"You tricked me" Ailla stated.
"You? I didn't even know you were here until we met in the cell!" He exclaimed. "I'd forgotten all about those stupid coordinates until you mentioned them before. But I swear they wouldn't have fired at Earth after we left."
"How can you be so sure?"
The Master rolled his eyes, "because they don't even know the passcode."
Ailla almost laughed. "You're unbelievable – not in a good way."
"Yeah. I'm sure the Doctor will agree with you on that when you tell him." He said.
Ailla sighed. "I won't tell him." She said.
The Master's eyebrows lifted in confusion, "why?"
"Because I don't wanna risk him leaving you behind." She told him.
"Right" The Master said.
Ailla looked behind him, "why the hell haven't you tried to attack yet?" She asked the Autolycus.
The Master looked behind him and then back at the Time Lady in front of him, "I may have exaggerated how fast the hypnosis would subside" he said.
"What?" She asked. "You mean they've been hypnotized this whole time?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Ailla sighed, shaking her head. "Unbelievable" she mumbled.
"Yeah … you said that already." The Master told her.
"So, the Doctor was right? You activated the shields to begin with?" Ailla asked.
"Yeah … sorry." The Master said.
Ailla looked up in surprise, "did you just apologize to me?"
The Master stepped closer to her, "I did … don't get used to it," he said seriously, yet with a hint of teasing.
She smiled at that. "I take it your plan was to steal the Doctor's TARDIS?" She asked.
The Master almost looked shameful, "plans change … let's not dwell on the past." He told her.
"No more lies." Ailla said.
"No more lies." The Master repeated.
She took the Master's hand, "let's get back to the TARDIS" she said and pulled him with her out of the room.
AN: I hope you enjoyed it.
Until the next one,
Karina