The Master sat in a brown leather armchair in the console room. He sighed contentedly as he flipped through the pages of an aged and rather battered looking book. In truth he did not require rest in the way the Doctor and Alison did, but the trappings of comfort still held a strong appeal for him.

It was another sort of fatigue that plagued him these days. His time with the Doctor, though mentally stimulating, was often spent dealing with his immense ego. And Alison, well she kept the Doctor occupied, but she could be so irritatingly... human. The Master pushed these intrusive thoughts from his head and forced himself to focus on the volume in his hands. "No distractions." he muttered to himself "You didn't turn off your internal chronometer just to spoil it all by thinking about those two." He turned another page.

Suddenly there was a pounding on the Tardis door. The Master lowered the book slightly and peered over it's top edge in the direction of the door. He rolled his eyes and returned to his reading. Another volley of clumsy thumps sounded in the room. The Master closed his book abruptly and set it on his lap. "You have the key you idiot!" There was a short pause, then the pounding began again.

The Master rose and moved to the console. With a frustrated motion he pulled a lever on the panel and then strode to the opening door. As it slowly moved a young alien pushed his way inside. Frightened white eyes met the Master's as the youth grabbed his arms with sweating webbed fingers. "The Doctor!" he cried out "I think... I think they've killed him!" He was shaking uncontrollably and it looked as though he had been running for quite some time.

"Who's killed him?" The Master shook the alien "Where is he?" The boy opened his mouth to speak, then his eyes rolled back in his head. His knees gave way and he collapsed into the Master's arms. The Master sighed heavily and dragged the youth back to the armchair. "Yes, you seem like the sort of useless foundling the Doctor would take under his wing." He settled the stranger into the chair and began to check him for injuries. Aside from a few small sharp rocks imbedded in the alien's skin he seemed to be in good repair. The Master closed his eyes and with a barely audible click his internal chronometer reactivated and adjusted to the current time. "Well, well," he said opening his eyes and rubbing his beard thoughtfully "I suppose I should go and collect them."

The Doctor felt himself falling... falling... falling. It was relaxing somehow, the sensation of utter surrender. Then with a loud but painless crack he felt his body impact with water. That shouldn't have happened, he thought, the river had been too far away. He should have crashed to the immovable stones below. But somehow even that didn't seem to matter. He sank into the water soundlessly. He felt it quickly seep into his clothing, fill into his ears, and slip gently down his throat.

The Doctor awoke to a steady hand lifting his head and a fluid filled cup pressed to his lips. He sputtered noisily and drew back from the cup.

"Steady," said Alison as she brought the cup to his lips once more "you're going to have to take all of this."

"You're alive!" said the Doctor in surprise.

"And you're really awake." Alison smiled.

"Of course I'm awake."

"Well we couldn't be sure before," she placed the cup on a nearby table "Every time we gave you this antibiotic you talked in your sleep."

"We?" The Doctor turned to find that it was a large black bird that was supporting his head.

"This is Brinbek," said Alison "he helped rescue you from the fall."

"My thanks" the Doctor slowly sat upright, supporting his own weight.

Brinbek bowed slightly and turned to Alison. "Since his fever has broken and he's finally conscious I'll leave him to your care." He turned and walked from the room.

"He seems a solemn sort of fellow" said the Doctor.

Alison looked downward, then reached for the cup and handed it to him. "You need to finish this" she said quietly.

The Doctor took the cup from her and downed the last of it's contents. A look of disgust crossed his face. "Bitter." He felt the back of his head and found it had been neatly bandaged.

"Your temperature's finally gone down..." Alison placed her hand on his forehead and gave him a puzzled look "though you seem a bit cold now."

The Doctor gently removed her hand "It's quite normal for me I assure you." He looked around the rust coloured room. On the arm of a large high backed chair lay his coat, clean and ready for use. He swung his legs off the bed and began to stand.

"I don't think you're ready to..."

"It doesn't matter whether I'm ready or not. I must speak to the Toroth King, immediately

"Doctor this isn't really a good time."

He turned to look at her "If I'm right, the Toroth may not have much time left." He walked with determination to his coat.

Alison sighed "The King has only just learned that his son is dead."

The Doctor paused with his coat only half on. "You said I..."

"...talked in your sleep," finished Alison "yes you did." She fiddled absently with the bedcover "It came as quite a shock to Brinbek."

"Brinbek is?"

"Corbek's brother."

"I see." He slipped his arm into the second sleeve and drew the coat up over his shoulders "Nevertheless I must speak with him now."

"How are the Toroth in danger?"

"The Antazi have created a weapon that just might tip the technological balance here."

"The Antazi!" Alison laughed "That's difficult to believe, from what we've seen of their village..."

"A weapon doesn't have to be particularly advanced to be devastatingly effective!" he interrupted "Malik's far more clever than I gave him credit for."

"So... what can we do?"

The Doctor was about to speak when a great churning noise filled the air. He turned to face the far corner of the room as the Tardis materialized. Within moments the door opened and the Master stood framed in the doorway. "Well, it's good to see you're still alive," he tipped his head slightly as he noted the Doctor's bandaged head "if somewhat damaged." He reached his hand out toward the Doctor, in it was the Tardis mobile telephone. "Not a good day to leave this behind I think."

The Doctor quickly snatched the phone from his hand and placed it in his coat pocket. "What kept you?"

The Master crossed his arms "Leave it to you to send me an inept boy who had only just recently seen this city. I had to wait for him to regain consciousness before he could tell me anything..."

"Telk! Is he all right?"

"He's resting. After he came to and told me of your predicament he noticed that your "box" was bigger on the inside and promptly passed out again... well done."

"Who's Telk?" asked Alison.

"A fellow prisoner of the Antazi... and a friend."

The Master took a step backward into the Tardis interior, motioning for them to enter. "Well thanks to your friend I was able to find the both of you. Now if you're finished adventuring, could we please be on our way?"

"We can't leave yet," said the Doctor "I must speak with the Toroth. They're in great danger."

"Of course they are" the Master sighed.

"You keep the Tardis here." The Doctor smiled "We don't want to frighten the natives, do we?" He turned to Alison "We need to find Brinbek and explain the situation to him, perhaps he can persuade his father to listen to us."

Alison nodded "I'll take you to him."