CHAPTER THREE

The companions had been marched to the Agency where they had been split up. The women were escorted to an apartment which contained every luxury but, as Tegan said when she tried the door and found it locked, a gilded cage was still a cage. The Doctor was allowed to remain with Adric to oversee his recovery. They were then deposited in a vast, empty room which smelled of roses.

"A zero room," the Doctor said a little startled as the guards laid Adric down on the floor. "Of course, null interfaces!" A zero room cut off all interference and technology; it would nullify the temporal forces causing Adric's seizures.

"Precisely, Doctor," Atropos agreed. "You will be quite comfortable until Adric is recovered and can begin his work." He cast his dry gaze over Adric's form and went out, the door sealing behind him.

It was four or five hours later when Adric stirred to consciousness. The Time Lord stopped his pacing and knelt next to him. "Welcoming you back is becoming a habit," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like the Starliner's parked on my chest."

"I'm not surprised." At Adric's look of confusion, he patted his shoulder. "You had to be resuscitated. The last attack caused cardiac failure."

"Great," Adric muttered, copying Tegan's tone. "This collapsing business is becoming tiresome." He began to struggle into a sitting position but the Doctor held him still.

"I wouldn't advise that. Your ribs are very bruised."

Adric flopped back, looking caved in and defeated. "I've never been ill before." Alzarians were a healthy race, their recuperative abilities meaning that they had eradicated most diseases. Being confronted with an illness was frightening. He winced as he tried to take too deep a breath and his ribs protested. The Doctor noticed but there was nothing he could do to help. Atropos had refused his request for medical supplies or painkillers – probably because he wanted to undermine Adric's willpower. To take his mind off the pain, the Doctor filled him in on recent events, reassuring him that Tegan and Nyssa were safe and explaining the properties of the zero room.

His words were interrupted suddenly by the door unsealing and the two agents entering. "I see that you are recovered, Adric," Atropos greeted him coolly while Lachesis looked on, as impassive and taciturn as always. "I'm delighted."

The Doctor leapt to his feet, in indignation and panic. "He's hardly that. He suffered a heart attack, Atropos. He needs rest."

Atropos turned his cold gaze to his countryman. "We are aware of Adric's regenerative physiognomy." Two guards stepped forward at the merest gesture from him. Adric scrambled to his feet and the Doctor stepped in front of him protectively, both of them backing away from the advancing guards until there was nowhere to go. The nearest guard caught Adric's arm but the Alzarian used a neat trick Tylos had shown him, sharply reversing the hold and giving the guard a friction burn.

"We've been through this – Adric will not help you."

"Yes he will. Too much is at stake for your tender sensibilities, Doctor."

"´Tender sensibilities?´ Oh, you mean ethics? The Agency's principles have always been rather elastic. What happened to your oath to preserve the true timeline, Atropos? Went out the window, eh, immediately your own, spoilt little existence was threatened. Gallifrey is subject to the same laws of cause and effect as the rest of the pitiful little planets that you enjoy looking down on. The CVE will close and Gallifrey will die. Face it, Atropos, even Rassilon couldn't give Time Lords immortality."

Atropos ignored him and methodically removed his dark glasses, giving them a polish before slipping them into his pocket. "You will co-operate, either willingly or not."

"Guess which," Adric spat. It was a short ugly fight but the two men were heavily outnumbered. While they caught their breath and the Doctor, with building panic, tried again to reach Atropos with his arguments, a wooden chair was dragged into the zero room by Lachesis. It looked like it belonged on Death Row with restraints welded to the armrests and legs. Adric found his gaze was transfixed by the monstrosity and he realised just how futile his courageous words and intentions were when faced with the reality of torture.

"This isn't necessary!" the Doctor blustered. "Don't you understand what you're doing? You're risking the very fabric of time with your meddling!"

Atropos exhibited the first signs of anger. "I know precisely what I am doing – fighting for my survival. You are quick to distance yourself from your home planet, Doctor, while still enjoying its benefits – like time travel. Millions of Gallifreyans will die when the CVE closes."

The Doctor tried to reach him, tried to remain calm and empathic. "I know and it's a tragedy. But hundreds of millions will die if the CVE doesn't close. You can't fight fate."

The two men glared at each other for a moment then Atropos looked away with a dismissive gesture and nodded to Lachesis. "Secure him." Once Adric had been strapped into the chair and the electrodes placed at his temples and over his chest, the Doctor having to be held back by three guards, Atropos crouched to the Alzarian's eye level. "You will not co-operate willingly? Even to save millions of people?"

Adric swallowed and tore his gaze away from Atropos's mesmerising stare. "I won't."

The pain began, at first nothing more than a slight tingling like touching an electrified cattle fence, but continued exposure soon became uncomfortable and then intolerable. He gritted his teeth.

"Be sensible, Adric. This is level one only," Atropos murmured, his sibilant words coiling inside Adric's mind. "The mind probe has ten levels; by level 10 your nerves will be shredded and you will be nothing more than a gibbering mass without motor or fine control of your body. Yet your intellect will remain and I will extract the computations from you. Your suffering will be for nothing."

The Doctor closed his eyes, trying to reach his friend telepathically to offer what comfort and support he could. At Atropos's gesture, Lachesis, with the detachment of a Spanish Inquisitor, turned the dial and, despite himself, Adric gave a gasp which soon turned into a steady moan.

"Level two."

Adric fainted. When he came round, someone was holding a drink to his lips. His first instinct was to flinch but then his blurry vision recognised the Doctor and he drank thirstily, tasting blood from where he had bitten the inside of his cheek. The Doctor stroked back his hair and he could see real despair and anguish in the Time Lord's eyes. He wanted to be brave, face the torment as he knew the Doctor would but the very idea of withstanding even a minute had him shaking violently. Two guards pulled the Doctor away, ignoring his impassioned pleas, and Adric looked up to meet Atropos's level gaze. He saw there an indomitable will that he could never beat.

Squeezing his eyes closed in an attempt to erase Atropos's face from his memory, he tried to marshal his thoughts, summon up anything to get him through the pain. He recited complex computations but that only served to remind him of why he was here. Then he thought about the Doctor, recalling all the good times and how much he owed his friend and mentor. If it hadn't been for the Doctor he would have been stuck on the Starliner, bored to the point of madness by the Deciders' worship of routine and tradition. He would never have seen N-Space, would never have gained such good friends as Romana and K9 and now Tegan and Nyssa.

The dial was twisted again and he gathered every ounce of resolve. This was how to pay the Doctor back and show him that, despite the odd major mistake, he had learned. The pain was becoming excruciating but he held on, forcing his memory to recall all the adventures that he had enjoyed: the fancy dress party, Mace and 17 century Earth, Monarch, beautiful peaceful Traken, the buzz of Logopolis as a thousand voices intoned the computations, Arco shrivelling to dust, the Marshmen.

Undeterred by his victim's opposition, Atropos had the dial turned to level three, and against this new wave of pure agony which lanced along his spine, there could be no resistance. Adric began to scream and once he had begun he found he couldn't stop.

"Stop! I'll do it!"

The pain dissipated and he wilted in the restraints, unable to think or react the relief was so great.

"We will begin the computations in one hour." So saying, Atropos slipped his dark glasses back into position and swept from the room, his entourage following. Adric flinched violently as the Doctor tore away the restraints, shying away like a whipped dog who expected more lashes. The Doctor released his wrist and he slumped forward into his arms.

Precisely one hour later, to the second, Atropos returned to escort Adric, with a voluble Doctor in tow, to the Astrology Department, having first given the mathematician a bracelet constructed out of zero material to guard against temporal seizures.

"Do you know it's been decades since I came this way," the Doctor announced, once again filling the silence with chatter as they walked through the Science Wing. He stopped dead by one particular room but this time the ever-present guards were ready for the move and avoided bumping into him. He read the bronze name plate on the door and flashed a boyish grin. "The Dimensional Reconfiguration Department – has a much better ring to it than 'TARDIS repair shop', don't you think?" Without waiting for a reply, he single-mindedly pushed inside, inspecting various instrumentation panels. Adric remained quietly by the door. "This is where I ahem acquired the TARDIS," the Doctor continued, picking up a small hand-held device which beeped at him. The occupants of the room cast him a few disapproving glances but continued with their work. He stopped before a sleek black object which looked something like a coffin except it was stood vertically. "Very impressive," he murmured, gesturing for Adric to have a look. He clapped him on the shoulder, frowning slightly when Adric flinched from the contact. "Do you know what this is?"

Adric stared at his feet. "No."

"A TARDIS!" the Doctor supplied, his deliberately jolly tone faltering for only a second at his companion's apathy. "The new Type 62 if I am not mistaken. They switch the chameleon circuit off when they are repairing them." Something caught his eye at one of the desks but before he could go over for a closer look, Atropos intercepted him.

"Have we quite finished?"

He matched the agent glare for glare. "I have – have you? The Astrology Department is this way, I believe. Shall we?"

Once Atropos had departed, Adric glanced round the Astrology Department, impressed despite himself. Banks of computers stood along three walls while the floor space was filled with gigantic tables strewn with charts, models and books. A digital telescope stood to one side rotating gently as it scanned and recorded the stars. It was the viewscreen that captured Adric's attention for it took up the whole of one wall from ceiling to floor and showed a 3D image of a starscape. He cast a look over his shoulder, noting the two guards ranged on either side of the door, looking bored but attentive: no chance of escape. He pulled up a chair at the desk, settled himself and began scribbling.

A few hours later and he was making progress. "45675 to the power of 9," he read aloud from his note pad while the Doctor entered his calculations into the computer. The mathematician rarely used a computer, partly in imitation of the Monitor of Logopolis who had always used paper and partly because his brain worked too quickly to input the calculations using a standard keyboard. "(r4566 x Tr45764). No wait, that can't be right. That unbalances the omega string." He sighed and rubbed tiredly at his temples, trying to ease the tension headache. He threw his notepad to the table, feeling the helplessness and defeat well up. "I shouldn't even be doing this!" he snapped.

"You had no choice," the Doctor pointed out after a pause.

Adric offered a cynical smile. He was a weakling, a coward. The pain had been intense but what was a few minutes discomfort compared to the health of the universe? He had failed the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa, and ultimately everyone. He couldn't bare to look at the Time Lord. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, because he didn't know what else to say. "I should have been able to withstand the mind probe." He knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Doctor would rather have died than submit to Atropos.

The Doctor regarded his young friend, reading the self-loathing. "It's not your fault."

"Right." That was the problem – it was his fault. He'd messed up again. No wonder Varsh had lost patience with him and left him to form the Outlers – even his own brother knew he was a waste of time. And the Doctor; all the times when he had let the Time Lord down and acted like a total idiot: believing Monarch, using the TSS and nearly killing Aris – he hadn't even managed to save Earth from the freighter.

"Adric?" The Doctor's voice broke in on his thoughts.

"Don't. Please." It would be worse than shaming if he started to cry. He heard the Doctor's chair scrape back and suddenly his own was being forced round. He stared down at the Doctor's boots.

"Look at me. I said look at me. You're not a child so stop acting like one," the Doctor almost barked. "I don't like self-pity in anyone but I won't tolerate it from you, young man. You're far too much the fighter for that kind of rubbish."

"I failed you." He made the mistake of looking up at the Doctor, only to see an affectionate smile on the man's lips.

The Doctor perched on the table and waggled his finger at him. "Now you listen to me, young Adric: there was absolutely nothing you could have done to withstand the mind probe. Atropos would have reduced your brain to pulp and still extracted the information. This is not your fault." He prodded Adric's shoulder with his pencil for emphasis until Adric nodded and offered him a watery smile. "Much better. Let's get on then." He slid off the table, giving Adric's shoulders a squeeze on the way down. The mathematician reached for his pad, took a deep breath and continued.

The four reunited companions were waiting with various degrees of patience for Lachesis to return. The agent had taken Adric's completed computations to the main computer lab to run a series of simulations to ensure that the Block Transfer would work when it was finally uploaded. The door whooshed open and he crossed to Atropos, speaking to him briefly. Adric tried not to look nervous and crossed his fingers behind his back, something the old Doctor had taught him to do. Atropos approached, the merest hint of a smile on his gaunt face.

"Congratulations, Adric, the simulation has checked out. On behalf of all Gallifrey and Time Lord society – "

His arrogant words were cut short by Tegan. "We don't want your gratitude, you pompous windbag." She put her arm round Adric who tried not to look startled by her display of affection. "We just want off your stuck-up, holier than thou planet."

Atropos bowed frostily. "As you wish." He turned his dry gaze to the Doctor. "You and your female companions are at liberty to depart."

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Tegan would have launched herself at Atropos if the Doctor hadn't pulled her back, wrapping his arms round her until she calmed down.

"You had no intention of letting Adric go," Nyssa accused, her gentle features horrified.

"He was a tool, a mere utility."

"Funny," Tegan spat, "that utility just saved your planet!"

"The poor old pawn in a game of chess," the Doctor expanded, a cynical smile playing on his lips. "Adric is to be discarded without a thought, without a care, his usefulness over."

Atropos displayed not the slightest shade of guilt at his manipulations. "You are wrong in one respect, Doctor. I do take my oath to the CIA seriously. Now that Gallifrey's future has been safeguarded, it is my solemn duty to restore the true timeline in every other particular." His dead gaze swung to Adric.

"Typical Time Lord high-handedness," the Doctor began but trailed off with a sharp intake of breath as he realised the full import of the agent's words. "Absolutely not," he said, all colour draining from his face.

"What?" Tegan asked looking from the Doctor to Atropos and back again.

"He intends to restore time by taking Adric back in time to the freighter," the Doctor explained quietly.

Adric took a shocked step back, all his nightmares returning. "No," he murmured. "I can't."

The Doctor cast him a look although his attention was mainly fixed on Atropos who was watching the exchange with his usual disinterest. "It's alright, Adric. You're going nowhere. Not this time."

Atropos shook his head, his lip curling in a sneer. "You are a disgrace to Time Lord society, Doctor."

"If being an upstanding member means being like you, I am more than glad that I am a pariah."

Atropos ignored him and gestured for the guards to step forward. "I believe it is customary at moments like this for the condemned to say their farewells." He glanced at the guard. "Take them back to the zero room and guard them closely. If you will excuse me, ladies, gentlemen, I have a few matters to oversee. You have one hour."

"Don't just stand there, think of something!" Tegan snapped at the Doctor. He rounded on her, his own fear and frustration rearing up.

"The zero room is sealed and there are two heavily armed guards outside – what precisely do you suggest?"

"How should I know, I'm from Earth!" she spat back, throwing his own words back in his face. "You're the Time Lord with the centuries of wisdom!"

Nyssa intervened hastily. "You're not helping. Think logically. What can we do?"

"Nothing," Adric spoke for the first time since the news had been broken. "Perhaps Atropos is right."

The Doctor whirled round, his face flushed with anger. "Don't be ridiculous!" He paced round the room nervously, concocting and abandoning solutions. "Perhaps I could appeal to the High Council – no, that wouldn't work. If I could contact Leela - "

"We're running out of time," Tegan interrupted. "If we can't get out, can we get them to come in? Grab their guns or something?"

The Doctor glared at her. "That's the stupidest …" He stopped, a sudden grin transforming his face. "You know, it might just work." He turned to Adric impatiently. "Well, don't just stand there, you young fool," he snapped waspishly, "lie down."

"What …?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You're going to fake an attack." He was rummaging in his pockets again, examining each object, discarding some, keeping others. "Here," he said absently to Tegan, passing her her bra. "I believe this is yours."

A few minutes later and they were ready. Tegan and Nyssa crouched down on either side of the door, a piece of string held taut between them across the door at ankle level. The Doctor pounded on the door, shouting and yelling until the guard unsealed the door suspiciously, his partner covering them with his gun.

"Help me, he's having another attack," the Doctor said urgently, indicating Adric who was rolling about the floor, groaning in agony.

"Atropos gave instructions –"

"If you don't help me, he'll die," the Doctor interrupted, "and then Atropos won't be able to take him back to true time. He's already starting to fade," he added untruthfully. On cue, Adric gave a gasp and held his hands to his throat, making dramatic choking noises. Then he flopped back and laid still. The Doctor leapt to his side immediately. "He's not breathing!"

The guard dithered, tantalising inches from the door then he made his decision, leapt inside and immediately tripped headlong over the string. Before the second guard could react, the Doctor whizzed his cricket ball at him, having to aim at his nose rather than his head due to the man's helmet. He doubled over and the two women pulled him in, neatly disarming him. While Tegan watched the door, the Doctor checked the two guards were not seriously hurt while the other two secured their wrists with the string.

"Let's get out of here!" the Doctor suggested, grabbing Adric and chivvying him along.

They sprinted down the corridor and out of the building. Tegan, who was in the lead, saw the Garden and headed towards it but the Doctor called her back, taking them down a different route.

"Where are we going? The TARDIS is – "

" – exactly where they will expect us to go once they realise we have escaped," the Doctor finished for her. He led them across a cobbled square and over a fence to a building Adric recognised: the Science Wing. "We don't have long before those guards free themselves and hit the alarm – certainly not enough time to get to the TARDIS."

"So where are we going?" Nyssa asked.

"Tell me," the Doctor asked, characteristically not answering her, "What happens to a pawn if it gets all the way across the chess board?"

"It is exchanged for a more powerful piece."

He treated them to a triumphant grin. "Exactly. Atropos has been one step ahead of us since the beginning and I don't know about you but I am tired of being his pawn. It's time we went on the offensive as the Americans would say." He tripped the lock to the Science Wing just as the alarm sounded.

Tegan stood on guard at the outer door to the Science Wing. Thankfully it was late at night so the building was empty but she knew it would be only a matter of time before Atropos worked out where they were. She pressed back into the shadows as a detachment of guards led by Lachesis crossed the courtyard and entered the building opposite.

Inside, the Doctor had tripped the lock to the Dimensional Reconfiguration Department and ushered his two friends inside. It was dark and Adric swore under his breath as he caught his knee on something. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at him, apparently having heard the swear word, and passed him his pen-torch.

Nyssa gazed round at the coffin-shaped TARDISes, a sudden nasty thought occurring to her. "Doctor, you're not thinking of stealing another TARDIS! That's terrible!"

He had been looking rather longingly at the sleek black machines but he tore his eyes away to give her an affronted look. "Of course not! I wouldn't dream of it – I don't agree with stealing!" He shrugged and added, "Anyway, they're locked isomorphically."

Adric sniggered from the door and when the Doctor glared at him, turned on his most innocent expression. "So what are we doing here?"

The Doctor backed away from temptation and began rifling through the junk and paperwork on the desk. "I saw it yesterday when we came in here." The two companions exchanged glances, well used to the Doctor's annoying habit of not answering questions properly.

"Saw what?"

"Mmm? Oh, a remote control device. If I can find it, I can remote pilot the TARDIS here." He stuck his hands in his pockets and regarded his two companions impatiently. "A little assistance would be appreciated – if you haven't anything better to do, that is!"

A few minutes passed in the search but still they couldn't find the device. The Doctor was now rummaging through drawers, muttering to himself while Adric was trying to unpick a locked filing cabinet with his Badge. Nyssa turned as she heard a noise from the corridor and saw Tegan creeping down it. "Doctor!" the air-hostess hissed. "Atropos is at the main entrance, he's working on the lock!" She nudged Nyssa and they began dragging a nearby computer bank in front of the department door.

"It's no good!" Adric said in frustration. "Perhaps one of the technicians took it with him."

At that moment there was a thudding at the door as Atropos hammered on it. "We know you're in there!"

"Well, obviously," Tegan muttered with volumes of sarcasm, looking for something else to wedge against the computer bank.

"If you give yourselves up now, you will be treated leniently."

"Except Adric!" she shouted back. "No deal, Atropos!"

There was silence for a second then the wall beside the door began to glow: Atropos was using a laser cutter. He had cut half a man-sized hole when the Doctor, who had been checking through lab coat pockets, gave a crow of delight and held up a small instrument. He glanced at the ever increasing hole and began to tap buttons feverishly. His three companions backed away from the door as the heat increased. To add to their problems the heat caused a number of small fires to kindle which in turn set off the sprinkler system and the smoke alarm.

The hole was completed and a booted foot sent the cut-out across the floor. Through the smoke and drenching downpour stepped Atropos with his usual entourage of guards behind him. Tegan and Nyssa put up their hands, backing in front of Adric. The Doctor continued his frantic activity, barely glancing up.

"This foolishness is at an end," Atropos pronounced, his guards fanning out in front of the companions. "True time will be restored. You are an aberration, Adric, a temporal tautology."

Before Adric or the Doctor could reply, the TARDIS materialised between them and their captors, giving them just enough time to scramble inside. As the Doctor was closing the doors, he couldn't help but hear Atropos's last remark: "You can't win, Doctor. You said it yourself, you can't fight fate."