Spark of Adventure
The Sound of Drums
A vortex appeared in a London alleyway, and the Doctor, Gazelle, Martha and Jack all appeared in the alleyway too. They all groaned and stumbled, trying to regain their bearings. "Oh, my head." Martha groaned
"Time travel without a capsule, that's a killer." the Doctor grunted, then turned to Gazelle "You alright?" he asked her
"Yeah, but let's not do that again." she replied, rubbing her temples.
Jack cracked his neck and led the way out of the alleyway and into the street. "Still, at least we made it." he said "Earth, 21st century by the looks of it. Talk about lucky."
"That wasn't luck, that was my brilliant Gazelle" the Doctor replied
On Malcassino, the Doctor and Gazelle ran over to where Martha and Jack were bracing the door against the Futurekind. "Jack, keep ya arm still." Gazelle said, flashing her sonic screwdriver over Jack's vortex manipulator.
I'm telling you it's broken." Jack told her "It hasn't worked for years!"
"It is now." Gazelle retorted, as the manipulator whirred to life again.
"Everyone grab 'old, now!" the Doctor ordered. They all grabbed onto Jack, and the Doctor pressed a button on the manipulator, sending everyone away to safety.
"I did nothing." Gazelle said modestly "An academy student could fix a vortex manipulator."
They were soon all sat in a public area, discussing their next move. "But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS." Martha pointed out "He could be anywhere in time and space."
"No, he's here." Gazelle replied "You can rest assured he's here."
"Who is he, anyway?" Martha wandered "And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor."
"If the Master's a Time Lord, he must have regenerated." Jack realised "He's changed his face, voice, body, everything. A new man."
"Remii, look." the Doctor told Gazelle telepathically, and she looked round to see what he was looking at, a homeless man tapping a rhythm of four on his mug. Both Time Lords frowned at that. There was something about that rhythm that seemed familiar.
"Them how are we gonna find him?" Martha asked, pulling them out of their thoughts.
"We'll know 'im, the moment we see 'im." the Doctor replied
"Time Lords always do." Gazelle added
Martha then noticed some posters on the wall nearby, encouraging people to vote Saxon. "But hold on." she frowned "If he could be anyone... We missed the election, but it can't be..."
Just then, a giant screen in the plaza showed a newscast "Mr Saxon has returned from the palace and is greeting the crowds inside Saxon headquarters." the newscaster said, and the screen changed to show a man in a suit walking through a building hand-in-hand with a blonde woman and waving to the press.
Martha then realised. "I said I knew that voice. When he spoke inside the TARDIS, I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him, we all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon." she pointed to the man screen, and the Doctor and both realised that this Harold Saxon was the Master.
"That's him." the Doctor swallowed "He's Prime Minister."
"The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain!" Gazelle gasped in horror
They watched as the Master kissed the blonde woman he was with, and the camera panned down to reveal that they were both wearing wedding rings. "The Master and his wife?" the Doctor stared. Now that was not like the Master he knew. The Master he knew regarded Humans as insolent primitives, and used them for his own ends.
The Master turned to the camera and made a speech "This country has been sick." he announced "This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far to say that what this country really needs right now... is a Doctor." he smiled into the camera."
"He knows we're here." the Doctor swallowed "We've gotta move fast."
Martha took them to her flat so they could get information on Harold Saxon and plan what they were going to do. "Home." Martha breathed as she looked around her home. It felt strange being back after all the months of travelling in the TARDIS.
"What've you got? Computer, laptop, anyfink?" the Doctor asked her
Gazelle noticed Jack dialling on his mobile phone "Who're you calling?" she asked him "We need to stay off the radar."
"Just some friends of mine." Jack replied "But there's no answer."
Martha fished underneath her TV cabinet and pulled out a laptop. "Here ya go, any good?"
Jack took the laptop "I can show you the Saxon websites." he told the Time Lords "He's been around for ages."
"That's so weird, it's the day after the election." Martha mused "That's four days after I met you two." she said to Gazelle
"And he was here all along, right beneath our noses." Gazelle replied
"Either of you gonna tell us who he is?" Martha asked
"He's a Time Lord." the Doctor replied
"What about the rest of it?" Martha probed "I mean, who'd call themselves 'The Master'?"
"It's his title." Gazelle explained "You see, when us Time Lords graduate from the academy, we choose a title for ourselves. I chose Gazelle, he chose the Master and the Doctor chose the Doctor."
"Come on, show us Harold Saxon." the Doctor said to Jack. Gazelle went over to join the men, while Martha went to her phone to check her calls.
"Martha, where are you?" Tish's voices said "I've got this new job. You won't believe it, it's weird, but they phoned me out of the blue. I'm working for..."
Martha cut the recording off "Like it matters." she grunted. Right now, she couldn't be dealing with her family's trivia, not with an apparently evil Time Lord running the country.
Jack had soon brought up the Saxon party website. On it were endorsement videos from Sharon Osbourne, McFly and Ann Widdecombe, and Saxon's bio. "Former minister of defence, first came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve." Jack explained "Nice work, by the way." he said to the Time Lords
"Thanks." the Doctor muttered. Truth be told, that wasn't exactly his finest hour, and Donna's words afterwards rung pretty strongly for him. He was trying to change his ways, and with Gazelle's help, it seemed he was.
"But he goes back years." Martha said, looking at the bio "He's famous, everyone knows the story. Look. Cambridge University, rugby blue, won the athletics thing. Wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything, he's got a whole life."
"It's a lie." Gazelle said "He's forged all that."
Presently, Jack went into the kitchen to make everyone tea, while Martha freshened up "But he's got the TARDIS." he said "Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades."
"No." the Doctor replied bluntly
"Why not? Worked for me."
"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates." the Doctor told him "I locked 'em permanently. He can only travel between the year 100 trillion an' the last place the TARDIS landed."
"Which is here and now." Gazelle finished
"Yeah, but a little leeway?" Jack prodded, knowing how unpredictable the TARDIS was.
"Well, 18 months." the Doctor shrugged. "Tops. The most he could've been here is 18 months."
Gazelle suddenly realised something "18 months ago? That was when Harriet Jones was removed from office." she reminded the Doctor "We caused this."
The Doctor paled as the realisation struck him too. By deposing Harriet Jones, they'd created a power vacuum which the Master had exploited and somehow managed to rise to power. Once again, the Doctor's arrogant decision was coming back to haunt them all. "How he's managed all this?" he wandered "The Master was always sort of hypnotic, but this is on a massive scale."
"I was gonna vote for him." Martha remarked
"Really?" the Doctor stared
"Well, it was before I even met you two." Martha shrugged "And I liked him."
"Me too." Jack added
"Why?" Gazelle asked them both "What're his policies? What's he standing for?"
"I dunno, he always sounded... good." Martha replied, sounding a bit distant "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about... I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice..."
Then, the Time Lords both noticed that Martha was subconciously tapping a four-beat rhythm with her hands, just like the homeless man earlier. "What's that?" the Doctor frowned
"What?" Martha snapped out of her apparent trance.
"That, that tapping, that rhythm. What're you doing?"
"I dunno, it's nothing." Martha shrugged "It's just... I dunno."
Just then, a message flashed up on the website, indicating that the Master was making a broadcast on all channels. "Our lord an' master is speakin' to his kingdom." the Doctor muttered, switching the telly on.
The screen showed the Master sitting in the cabinet room of the rebuilt 10 Downing Street. "Britain, Britain, Britain. What extraordinary times we've had." he said "Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown. Falling from the skies, you've seen it happen." a clip of the Slitheen ship striking the Westminster clock tower played "Big ben destroyed." then a clip of the Sycorax ship played "A spaceship over London." next came a clip of Cybermen "All those ghosts and metal men." finally, a clip of the Racnoss webstar attacking London played "The Christmas star that came to kill." the Master finished his recap of the past two years worth of alien incursions "Time and time again, and the government told you nothing. Well, not ME, not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this... Citizens of Great Britain, I have been contacted. A message for Humanity, from beyond the stars."
The screen changed to show a hovering black sphere "People of the Earth, we come in peace." the sphere said in a girl's voice reminiscent of the Gelth's. "We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is for your friendship."
The screen changed back to the Master "Aw, sweet." he said "And this species has identified itself. They are call the Toclafane."
"What?!" the Doctor and Gazelle said together. They both knew there was no such species as the Toclafane.
"And tomorrow morning, they will appear." the Master continued "Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist, and lorry driver and farmer, and, oh, I don't know, every... Medical student?" he grinned maliciously at the camera.
The Doctor and Gazelle got the message. Gazelle grabbed the laptop, while the Doctor checked behind the telly and saw a bomb strapped to it. "OUT!" he yelled, and the quartet legged it outside at warp speed. They made it outside just as the timer reached zero and the bomb detonated, blowing out the upstairs window of the flat. They all hit the deck, with the Doctor shielding Gazelle from the falling glass and Jack doing the same to Martha.
"Is everyone alright?" Gazelle asked everyone when the dust settled
"Fine, yeah, fine." Jack replied
"What about you, Martha?"
But Martha didn't reply, she was busy pulling her phone out. "What're you doing?" the Doctor questioned her
"He knows about me, what about my family?" Martha replied, dialling her mother's number.
"Don't tell 'em anyfink." the Doctor warned
"I'll do what I like!" Martha snapped. Francine answered the call. "Mum! Oh my God, you're there!" Martha gasped in relief
"Course I'm here, sweetheart." Francine answered calmly "You alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Mum, has there been anyone asking about me?"
"Martha, I think perhaps you should come round."
"I can't, not now!" Martha replied
"No, but it's your father, we've been talking, and we thought we'd give it another go."
"Don't be so daft." Martha answered sceptically "Since when?"
"Just come round." Francine replied "Come to the house. We can celebrate."
But Martha was still sceptical "You'd never get back with him in a million years." she pointed out
"Ask him yourself." was Francine's answer.
A moment later, Clive's voice came over the phone. "Martha, it's me."
"Dad? What are you doing there?"
"Like your mother said. Come round, we can explain everything." Clive replied
Martha smelt a rat "Dad, just say yes or no. Is there someone else there?"
"Yes!" Clive answered, now sounding frantic "Just run! Listen to me, just run!" he was suddenly cut off and Martha could hear frantic shouting.
"Dad, whats going on? Dad?" Martha asked frantically. No proper answer, just more frantic shouting. "I've gotta help 'em!" she cried, moving to a car that Gazelle had 'requisitioned' for them earlier.
"That's exactly what they want, it's a trap!" the Doctor warned her
"I don't care!" Martha growled back
"They're in danger because of us." Gazelle told the Doctor "Least we can do is see what's happened to them."
The Doctor conceded and they all jumped into the car, with Gazelle driving, Martha in the front passenger seat and the men in the back.
They were soon speeding towards the Jones house. "Corner!" the Doctor warned Gazelle. She was a competent driver, but right now she was certainly flooring it.
"I know." she replied and turned sharply, nearly throwing the men sideways. "You'd better call ya brother and sister." Gazelle advised Martha.
Martha dialled Tish's number. "Come on, Tish, pick up." she muttered as the dialling tone sounded.
Finally, Tish answered "Martha, can't talk right now. We've just made first contact, did you see?" Tish said, only to start shouting for someone to get off her
"What's happening?" Martha demanded "Tish?" There was no answer, so Martha could only hang up. She had a good mind to scream at the Doctor that it was all his fault. After all, he was the one who made it possible for the Master to rise to power in the first place, but she remembered that she was the one who made Yana aware of the watch. If she'd just gone to the Time Lords before telling Yana about it, then maybe he wouldn't have opened it.
They reached the Jones house just in time to see Clive and Francine handcuffed and being bundled into a van by men in black suits, while a sinister-looking blonde woman supervised. Clive was screaming blue murder at the neighbours that it was their fault for voting Saxon, while Francine snarled at the woman that she was helping them, then she saw her daughter. "MARTHA! GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT!" Francine yelled
"Target identified." the blonde woman said to her men, who aimed their rifles at the car. Gazelle swiftly reversed the car in a 3-point turn and sped off just as the men opened fire.
"Gaz, move it!" Jack hollered as bullets ricocheted off the car. They all ducked as a few rounds shattered the back windscreen. Fortunately, they were soon out of the range of fire.
"The only place he go is planet Earth, great!" Martha grumbled
"We've gotta ditch this car." Jack said "Pull over. Right now."
Gazelle parked the car by an underpass and they proceeded on foot. "Martha, come on." the Doctor called to Martha, who was on her phone again.
"Let her do this." Gazelle told him. She knew Martha was calling Leo to warn him.
"Leo!" Martha gasped in relief as he brother answered "Thank God, Leo, you've gotta listen to me. Where are you?"
"I'm in Brighton." Leo replied "Yeah, we came down with Boxer. Did you see that Saxon thing on the telly?
"Leo, listen to me, don't go home." Martha urged him "I'm telling you, don't phone mom, or dad, or Tish, you've gotta hide!"
"Shut up." Leo laughed, thinking his sister was joking.
"On my life, you've gotta trust me!" Martha told him seriously "Go to Boxer's, stay with him, don't tell anyone, just hide!"
Suddenly, the Master's voice came over the phone "Ooh, nice little game of hide and seek, I love that." he said maliciously "But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other. Must be, what, 100 trillion years?"
"Let them go, Saxon!" Martha demanded, attracting the Time Lords' attention "Do you hear me?! Let them go!"
The Doctor took the phone, while Gazelle comforted Martha as best she could. "I'm here." the Doctor said into the phone.
"Doctor." the Master said seriously
"Master." the Doctor acknowledged his old frenemy
"I like when you use my name."
"You chose it." the Doctor retorted "Psychiatrist's field day."
"As you chose yours." the Master replied "The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that? And your girlfriend, named herself after an animal. What does that say about her?"
"Leave her outta this." the Doctor said sharply "So, Prime Minister, then."
"I know, it's good, isn't it?" the Master answered smugly "And don't forget, YOU made it possible for me. You got rid of the competition."
"Who're those creatures?" the Doctor questioned, not wanting his mistake rubbed in his face "Cos' there's no such thing as the Toclafane. That's just a made-up name, like the bogeyman."
"Do you remember all those fairy-tales about the Toclafane when we were kids?" the Master replied casually "Back home. Where is it, Doctor?"
"Gone." the Doctor replied stoically
"How can Galifrey be gone?!"
"It burnt."
"And the Time Lords?"
"Dead. And the Daleks... more or less. What happened to you?" the Doctor remembered that the Master had been executed. He knew because his eight incarnation's first adventure had involved the Master bodysnatching a paramedic and attempting to get a new life for himself via the Eye of Harmony.
"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War." the Master replied "I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself Human so they would never find me, because I was so scared."
"I know."
"All of them?" the Master changed the subject "But not you and your girlfriend, which must mean..."
"I was the only one who could end it." the Doctor replied "An' I tried, I tried everyfink."
"What did it feel like, though?" the Master goaded "Two almighty civilisations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?"
"Stop it!"
"You must have been like God. Tell me, how did your girlfriend survive?"
"I found her. She was dying, so I took her in and we've been together ever since." the Doctor replied "We fought we were alone, but not any more. Don't you see? All we've got is each other."
"Are you asking me out on a date?" the Master scoffed "I don't think the lovely Gazelle would like that."
"You could stop this right now." the Doctor persisted "We could leave this planet, we could fight across the constellations, if that's what you want. But not on Earth!"
"Too late."
"Why'd ya say that?"
"The Drumming. Can't you hear it? I though it would stop, but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head. The drumming, Doctor, the constant drumming."
"I could help you." the Doctor offered "Gazelle could too. The three of us, we could solve it together. Please, let us help."
"It's everywhere." the Master continued "Listen, listen, listen. Here come the drums."
The Doctor heard faint tapping over the phone, clearly the Master tapping a desk. It was the rhythm of four that the homeless man and Martha were tapping. Then he saw a man nearby tapping the rhythm on his legs. "What have you done?" the Doctor stared "Tell me how you've done this. What're those creatures? Tell me!"
"Ooh, look you're on TV." the Master said
"Stop it! Answer me."
"No, really. You're on telly! You and your little band. Which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So congratulations on that."
"Doctor, look." Gazelle called. The Doctor turned to see her looking at a telly in the window of an electrical shop. On the screen was a news report with picture of the Doctor, Gazelle, Martha and Jack, and the newsreader was describing them as terrorist suspects.
"You're public enemies one, two, three and four." the Master taunted "Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them. Now, go on, off you go. Why don't you start by turning to the right?"
The Doctor turned to see a security camera trained on them all "He can see us." he realised, and flashed his sonic at the camera, destroying it.
"Ooh, you public menace!" the Master remarked "Better start running! Go on, run!"
The Doctor turned to the others "He's got control of everyfink." he told them grimly
"What do we do?" Martha asked, staring at the news report.
"We've got nowhere to go." Jack added
"Doctor, Gazelle, what do we do?" Martha pleaded
"Run for your life, Doctor!" the Master goaded over the phone, before the Doctor hung up.
"We run." the Doctor said, taking Gazelle's hand, and they ran, needing to get out of sight before anyone could raise the alarm.
That evening Martha snuck into a disused warehouse, having managed to go to a chippy and get dinner for the quartet. When she arrived, she found the Time Lords working on the laptop, and Jack fiddling with his vortex manipulator. "How'd it go?" Gazelle asked Martha anxiously. She'd wanted to go with her friend, but she knew if they both went, they were more likely to be caught.
"I don't think anyone saw me." Martha replied, dishing out the food "Anything new?"
"I've got this tuned to the government wavelength." Jack told her "So we can follow what Saxon's doing."
"Yeah, I meant about my family." Martha huffed
"They still say the they've been taken in for questioning." Gazelle told her "But, on the bright side, there's no mention of Leo, he's still safe for now."
"He's not as bad as he looks." Martha smiled, glad that at least one of her family had avoided the Master's grasp. "I'm talking about my brother on the run." she sighed "How did this happen?"
"Nice chips." Jack remarked, as they tucked into their food.
"Actually, they're not bad." the Doctor agreed
"So.." Jack began, deciding it was time to get some on answers on who the Master really was "Who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"
"And what is he to you two?" Martha added "Like a colleague or..."
"A friend at first." the Doctor replied. A long time ago, he and the Master had been the best of friends, until they reached a parting of the ways.
"I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something." Martha remarked
"You've been watching too much TV." the Doctor scoffed
"And what about you?" Martha asked Gazelle "Did you know him?"
"Not personally." Gazelle replied "I was at the academy with his sister, but that was it. I knew of his reputation, though. Galifrey's most infamous child, they used to call him."
"But all the legends of Galifrey made sound so perfect." Jack frowned
"The planet was." Gazelle replied "It was beautiful."
"Just like you." the Doctor said, causing her to blush "They used to call it the Shining World of the Severn Systems." he told the Humans, both he and Gazelle going misty-eyed as they recalled their long-lost home "And on the continent of the Wild Endeavor, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the citadel of the Time Lords. The oldest and most mighty race in the universe, looking down on the galaxies below, sworn never to interfere, only to watch."
"Children of Galifrey were taken from their families when they were 8-years old to enter the academy." Gazelle added "They say that's where it all began, when the Master was a child. When he saw eternity."
"As a novice he was taken for initiation." the Doctor explained "He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality, though which could be seen the whole of the Vortex. You stand there, 8-years old, starin' at the raw power of time an' space, just a child. Some would be inspired, some would run away, an' some would go mad. Oh, I dunno." he sighed, snapping out of his reminisce.
"What about you two?" Martha asked
"Oh, the ones that ran away." the Doctor replied "I never stopped."
"I was a bit of A and a bit of B. " Gazelle added
Just then, Jack's vortex manipulator began to beep. "Encrypted channel, with files attached." he noted "Don't recognise it."
"Patch it through to the laptop." the Doctor instructed him
"Um, since we're telling stories, there's something I haven't told you." Jack said sheepishly. He patched his Manipulator into the laptop and the Torchwood logo appeared on screen.
"You work for Torchwood?" the Doctor glared
"I swear to you, it's different, it's changed." Jack tried to pacify him "There's only half a dozen of us left now."
"Everything Torchwood did, and you're one of them?" Gazelle frowned, shaking her head in disappointment.
"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf." Jack told her "And I never agreed with them, so when they were gone, I rebuilt it, I changed it. And when I did that, I did it for you two, in your honour."
Neither Time Lord were happy, but they decided to accept it for now. Jack pressed a button on the laptop, and the screen changed to show a reporter, Vivian Rook. "If I haven't returned to my desk by 22:00, this file will be e-mailed to Torchwood, which means if you're watching this, then I'm..." she tailed off. Everyone knew what she meant. She must have found dirt on the Master, and he'd silenced her. "Anyway, the Saxon files are attached, but take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started, when Harry Saxon became minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network." the screen changed to a graphic of Earth, with satellites orbiting it.
"What's Archangel?" Gazelle asked the Humans.
"I've got Archangel." Martha replied, holding up her phone "Everyone's got it."
"It's a mobile phone network." Jack explained "Cos' look, it's gone worldwide. They've got 15 satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."
The Doctor scanned Martha's phone with his sonic "It's in the phones!" he realised "Oh, I said he was a hypnotist. Wait, wait, wait, hold on..." he whacked the phone against the table and it began to beep in a rhythm of four beats "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious."
"What is it?" Martha asked worriedly "Mind control?"
"No, no, no, no, subtler than that." the Doctor replied "Any stronger an' people would question it."
"But there's a code hidden in there." Gazelle added, listening to the rhythm carefully "'Vote Saxon, believe in me' that's how he got people to vote for him."
"Oh, yes!" the Doctor exclaimed "That's how 'e hid 'imself from us. Cos' we should've sensed another Time Lord on Earth. We should've known way back, but the signal cancelled 'im out."
"Any way we can stop it?" Jack asked
"Not from down 'ere." the Doctor replied "But now we know 'ow he's doin' it..."
"We can play him at his own game." Gazelle finished
The Time Lords were soon busy pulling the phone and laptop apart, then using their sonics to weld the circuits to theirs's and Martha's TARDIS keys and Gazelle's watch. When they had finished, the Doctor tied the keys to strings. "Three TARDIS keys." he said "Three pieces of the TARDIS wiv low-level perception properties, because the TARDIS is designed to blend in, well, sort of, but, now, the Archangel Network's got a second, low-level signal. Weld the key to the network, and..." he picked up one of the keys "Martha, look at me. You can see me, yes?"
"Yep." Martha nodded
"What about now?" the Doctor asked, slipping the key around his neck. Martha's vision immediately shifted to the left. "No, I'm 'ere, look at me." the Doctor called. Martha tried to look at him, but her gaze just shifted far over to the right, past the Doctor.
"It's like I know you're there." Martha frowned "But I don't wanna know."
"An' back again." the Doctor said, slipping the key off, and Martha could see him clearly again "See? Just shifts ya perception just a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed."
"But there's four of us." Jack pointed out "And only three keys."
"I don't need a key, I've got this." Gazelle told him, pointing to her watch "It has a perception filter in there, saves me having to dress up every time we travel to the past. I've patched it into the Archangel Network too. See?" she turned the dial on her watch, and Jack found his vision shifting to the right. She turned the dial again and Jack found he could see her again.
They were soon walking through the city streets, Martha and the men wearing the keys and Gazelle using the filter in her watch. "Don't run." the Doctor advised everyone "Don't shout, just keep ya voice down."
"If we draw attention to ourselves, the spell will be broken." Gazelle added "Just keep to the shadows."
"Like ghosts." Jack nodded
"Yeah, that's what we are." the Doctor agreed
They'd found out from the government wavelength that Air Force One was heading for the UK, so they decided to head for the airstrip the plane was due to touch down, knowing that the Master would be there. Sure enough, when they arrived, they found the Master there with his wife, who they found out from the website was named Lucy. The American President, Arthur Winters came striding up. "Mr President, sir." the Master greeted, giving him a mock salute.
"Mr Saxon." Winters said dryly "The British Army will stand down. From now on, U.N.I.T has control of this operation."
"You make it sound like an invasion." the Master remarked
"First contact policy was decided by the security council in 1968." Winters told him "And you've just gone and ignored it."
"Well, you know what it's like, new job, all that paperwork." the Master said nonchalantly "I think it's down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket, and uh.."
Winters wasn't amused "Mr Saxon, I'm not sure what your game is, but there are provisions at the UN to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?"
The Master made a zipping his lips gesture.
"Are you taking this seriously?" Winters glared. The Master nodded. "To business." Winters continued "We've accessed your files on these, uh, Toclafane. But first contact can not take place on any sovereign soil. To that purpose, the aircraft carried Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there at 8 am." The Master said something rather muffled, further annoying Winters "You're trying my patience, sir." he grunted
The Master made an unzipping his lips gesture "So America is completely in charge?"
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes." Winters retorted "I'll see you aboard the Valiant."
"It still will be televised, though, won't it?" the Master asked "Because I promised, and the whole world is watching."
"Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching... me." Winters answered and walked away.
"The last President of America." the Master remarked to Lucy "We have a private plane ready and waiting. We should reach the Valiant within the hour. My darling..." he gestured for Lucy to get in the waiting car, which she did so. The Master turned and looked in the direction of the time travellers, almost as if he could see them. His attention was caught by a siren, and he walked over to a police van that had just pulled up. "Ha. ha, hi guys!" the Master taunted as Francine, Clive and Tish were escorted out of the van. Clive was quick to give the Master a piece of his mind, but the Time Lord wasn't bothered "All will be revealed." he smirked and the Joneses were led away.
"Oh my God!" Martha gasped
"Don't move." the Doctor told her
"I'm sorry, Martha, but there's nothing we can do for now." Gazelle added gently
"I'm gonna kill him." Martha growled as her family were bundled into a Land Rover.
"What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack said darkly
"Now that sounds like Torchwood." the Doctor glared
"Still a good plan."
"He's a Time Lord." the Doctor told him "Which makes 'im our responsibility."
"We're not here to kill him." Gazelle added "We're gonna save him if we can."
Jack began messing with his vortex manipulator "Aircraft carrier Valiant." he muttered "That's a U.N.I.T ship at 58.2 north, 10.02 east."
"How do we get on board?" Martha asked
"Does that thing work as a teleport?" the Doctor asked Jack
"Since Gaz revamped it, yeah." Jack replied "Co-ordinates set." they all held on to Jack's arm and the Doctor pressed a button on the manipulator.
They disappeared from the airstrip and reappeared in an engine room. The Humans both fell to the floor groaning, while the Time Lords stayed upright. "You alright?" Gazelle asked Martha
"I think so." Martha groaned "That thing is rough!"
"Oh, I've had worse nights!" Jack grunted, cracking his neck. "Welcome to the Valiant."
"It's dawn." Martha realised, seeing daylight out of a porthole. She went over for a closer look "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"
"A ship for the 21st century." Jack replied "Protecting the skies of planet Earth."
They all joined Martha at the porthole and saw that the Valiant was a flying aircraft carrier, like Cloudbase from Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons.
The quartet were soon running through the maintenance halls when the Time Lords suddenly stopped. "We've no time for sight-seeing." Jack reminded them
"No, no, shh, shh, shh." the Doctor waved him off "Can't ya hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"Doctor, Gazelle, my family's on board." Martha reminded
"Brilliant." was all the Doctor said, looking happy all of a sudden.
"This way." Gazelle said, and they sped off in one direction, with the two confused Humans following.
They sped into a storage bay to find the TARDIS "Oh, at last!" the Doctor grinned
"Oh, yes!" Martha cheered and the and she Doctor eagerly ran towards the box.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack wandered as he and Gazelle followed more cautiously.
The Doctor opened the door and his face immediately fell. The console room was bathed in an eerie red light and the console itself was blocked off by a wire-mesh cage. "What the hell's he done?" Jack gasped as they all followed the Doctor in.
"Don't touch it." Gazelle warned him
"I'm not going to." Jack replied
"What's he done, though?" Martha wandered as the Time Lords rushed over to examine the console "Sounds like she's... sick."
"It can't be." the Doctor breathed as he looked at the console "No, no, no, it can't be."
"What is it?" Martha asked
"He's cannibalised the TARDIS." the Doctor answered grimly
"Is this what I think it is?" Gazelle asked him
"It's a paradox machine." the Doctor confirmed. He bent down and examined a gauge on the cage. "As soon as this hits red, it activates." he explained to the Humans
"At this speed it'll trigger at two minutes past eight." Gazelle added, checking her watch.
"First contact is eight." Jack remembered "Then two minutes later..."
"What's it for? What does a paradox machine do?" Martha asked the Time Lords
"More importantly, can you two stop it?" Jack added
"Not till we know what it's doin'." the Doctor sighed "Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."
"Then we've gotta get to the Master." Martha determined
"Yeah, how we gonna stop him?" Jack wandered. It seemed that no matter what they did, the Master was always two steps ahead of them.
"Oh, we've got a way." the Doctor said, suddenly brightening up "Sorry, didn't we mention it?"
They had soon snuck into the Valliant's conference room, where President Winters was droning on to the cameras. The quartet could see the Master sitting next to Lucy, watching Winters' speech with amusement. "This plane, either of you gonna tell us?" Jack whispered
The Doctor held up the TARDIS key on his neck "If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see 'im for real."
"It's gonna be hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert." Gazelle reminded him
"If they stop me, you've got keys." the Doctor told the Humans
"Yes, sir." Jack nodded
"I'll get him." Martha said determinedly. She had accidentally awakened the Master and her family were paying the price for it, so she was going to stop the Master, even if it was the last thing she ever did.
"And I ask you now, I ask of the Human race to join with me in welcoming our friends." Winters continued his speech "I give you the Toclafane." four Toclafane materialised by him "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President of the United States of America, and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and it's associated moon."
"You're not the Master." one of the Toclafane said, this one in a male voice.
"We like the Mr Master." another one, the one with the girl's voice added
"We DON'T like you." the first one said to Winters
"I can be master, if you so wish." Winters stammered "I will accept mastery over you, if that is God's will."
"Man is stupid." the first Toclafane sneered
"Master is our friend." a third one, another male, added
"Where's my Master? Pretty please." the female Toclafane pipped in
"Oh, alright then, it's me!" the Master said, jumping to his feet "Ta-da! Sorry, sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed! Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the ability to laugh at myself? I don't know, it's crazy!"
"Saxon, what are you talking about?" Winters hissed
"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam, starting with you." the Master retorted maliciously "Kill him!" he ordered a Toclafane, which promptly fired a laser at Winters, completely vaporising him.
Panic set in, and the press tried to flee, but the Master's guards stopped them. "Nobody move! Nobody move!" they demanded, waving guns around.
The Master jumped onto the podium "Now then! Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully." he announced. The Doctor decided to try his chance and rushed for the Master. "Stop him." the Master ordered, and two guards pounced on the Doctor, forcing him to his knees. "And her." the Master pointed to Gazelle, and two more guards grabbed the Time Lady and forced her to her knees too. "We meet at least, Doctor." the Master crowed, Oh-ho-ho, I love saying that!"
"Stop this, stop it now!" the Doctor demanded, struggling against his captors.
"As if perception filters are gonna work on me." the Master sneered "And look, it's the girlie and the freak." he looked at Martha and Jack "Although I'm not sure which one's which." Jack rushed for the Master, who simply pulled out what looked like a golden screwdriver and fired a yellow laser out of it at Jack, killing him. "Laser screwdriver." the Master said proudly "Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long, I get to kill him again!"
"Master, just calm down." Gazelle pleaded with him "Just look what you're doing, just stop this! Think of of your sister, what would she say if she could see you now?"
The Master turned to the camera "Excuse me, bit of personal business, back in a minute. Let him go." he ordered the guards, who released their grip on the Doctor.
"It's that sound, that sound in your head." the Doctor tried to reason "What if we could help?"
"Oh, how to shut him up." the Master snorted "I know, memory lane." he sat down in front of the Doctor and Gazelle "Professor Lazarus, remember him and his genetic manipulation device? What, did you think little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you two all this time, and if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology in one little screwdriver..." he held up his screwdriver "But, ooh, if only I had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute, I do!" he got up and rushed over to a silver case "I've got his hand!" he pulled the case open to reveal the Doctor's severed hand "And if Lazarus made himself younger, what I reverse it? Another 100 years?"
"No!" Gazelle pleaded, realising what the Master was about to do, but it fell on deaf ears. The Master flashed the Doctor with his screwdriver, and the Doctor threw his head back, screaming in agony.
Jack revived as this happened. "Teleport." he whispered to Martha, taking off his vortex manipulator and giving it to her.
"I can't" she replied. Her friends had been captured, her family was somewhere on this ship and she couldn't just leave them all.
"We can't stop him. Get outta here!" Jack urged her. The Master had them beaten, he was holding all the trump cards and there was nothing they could do.
Gazelle struggled furiously against her captors, trying to get free so she could help the Doctor, but it was no use. All she could do was watch helplessly as right before her eyes, the Doctor gre older and older. At last, the Master switched his screwdriver on and the Doctor fell to the floor, now a wizened elderly man. "Doctor, I've got you." Martha said, coming over to help him.
"Aw, she's a would-be doctor." the Master smirked "But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown 'em in, all the way from prison." the doors opened and Francine, Clive and Tish were escorted in by armed guards. All three were handcuffed.
"Mum!" Martha breathed
"I'm sorry." Francine sobbed, feeling responsible for everything. At Lazarus Labs, she'd been approached by a man who'd told her that the Doctor was dangerous, and she'd rather foolishly believed him and helped the Master's people try to track the Doctor. She realised now just what a terrible mistake she'd made.
"The Toclafane." the Doctor rasped "What are they?"
"Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break." the Master replied callously
"Is it time? Is it ready?" the first Toclafane asked
"Is the machine singing?" the female Toclafane added
The Master checked his watch "Two minutes past." he told the Toclafane, then jumped onto the steps to stand beside his wife "So, Earthlings... Basically, um... end of the world!" he held his screwdriver up to the air "Here... Come... The... Drums!"
Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills began to play over the speakers as the paradox machine activated. Lucy stayed on the steps, bobbing to the song, while the Master swaggered over to the porthole and watched gleefully as a rift opened in the sky and millions of Tocalafane poured out of it. The Master then returned to his wife, playing air guitar to the solo, then they both watched the descending Toclafane out of a large observation window. "How many d'you think?" he asked her
"I don't know." Lucy shrugged
"Six billion." the Master replied, and flipped a switch, stopping the music "Down you go, kids!" he called to the Toclafane, who descended on the ground below and began firing indiscriminately at innocent civilians. "Shall we decimate them?" the Master asked Lucy "That sounds good. Nice word, decimate." he turned to the Toclafane "Remove one tenth of the population!"
Soon, voices came over the radio, begging for help. The Doctor whispered something to Martha, who nodded tearfully, then she stepped back and activated the vortex manipulator, disappearing. The Doctor telepathically relayed what he's told Martha to Gazelle, who nodded. There was one chance to stop all this. It was a long shot, but it was the only way.
Martha reappeared on a grassy area overlooking London. She watched with a heavy heart as the Toclafane attacked the city, then she looked to the sky. "I'm coming back." she said determinedly. She had a mission, and she was going to accomplish it, come hell or high water.
On the Valiant, the Master had dragged the Doctor over to the window to see the devastation being unleashed below. "And so it came to pass that the Human race fell and the Earth was no more." the Master said triumphantly "And I looked down on my new domain as master of all and I thought it... good."
To be continued...
Author's notes: Well, two chapters in two days, a record for me! I'm aiming to get this story done in time for Christmas, so I'm working double time on my writing. With 15 days to go till the big day, I'm on target. Gotta say, it was fun writing the Master. Although my favourite Master is Roger Delgado's incarnation, writing the Simm incarnation was fun. I changed the song the Master plays during the Toclafane's arrival, as the song they use in the actual episode is awful! And a 1980's heavy metal anthem works better for an alien invasion than 2005 pop rubbish! Wonder if anyone on YouTube's gonna try editing that scene so that Run to the Hills plays. I'd certainly watch it! I dropped in a little homage to Lizziexx's Lunar Cycle series in this chapter, with Gazelle mentioning the Master's sister. If you've read The Lunar cycle, you'll know who the Master's sister is. Anyway, see you all next time!