CHAPTER 13

THE RESCUE PARTY

Jasmine regained consciousness just in time to hear the end of Lilith's conversation with the Doctor. She slowly turned her head in his direction, weeping silently in despair. She never dreamed her uneasy feelings would lead to this. The man who would have saved her people had been betrayed. Now all was lost.

Jasmine had no way of knowing of the amazing changes that had come over her village since she and the Time Lord departed. Nor could she know of the rescue party currently on its way.

Baker put the stunned Gordon Taylor into a wheelchair and took him to the Center's deserted fitness room. After closing and locking all the doors, he dumped the Colony Leader onto the floor beside a sunken hot tub and hog-tied him, having scarcely finished when his captive groaned.

An evil smile parted Baker's lips. He went to the hot tub's controls, turning the hydro jets up to the FULL position. The calm water was transformed into a bubbling whirlpool. He returned to stand over the captive Taylor who had returned to his senses and started to struggle when Baker took hold of him, wriggling and squirming to such an extent that he actually managed to break free, falling straight into the swirling waters. Panic stricken, he trashed and struggled vainly to keep his head above the surging whirlpool.

Baker made no move to save him, calmly watching his futile efforts, each cry for help being rewarded with a mouthful of water. He knew his prisoner's hands and feet were bound in such a way the he would be prevented from standing or even kneeling in the shallow water. After it appeared his victim would not resurface, he finally reached in and dragged the gasping form out, dropping him in a wet heap on the floor where he lay retching and choking for several minutes.

Baker squatted down and smiled evilly. "You should know better than to go swimming alone, Mr. Taylor," he chided.

Once he could speak, Taylor sputtered, "Wh…what're you…going…to do to me?" He was certain the sadistic hunter had other plans for him and that his fall into the water had been purely accidental.

The smile on Baker's face was fixed. "Why…I'm going to do this!" He punctuated his sentence by striking his captive on the back of the head with the butt of his gun, stunning him. He then pushed the semi-conscious Taylor back into the whirlpool, watching in cold-blooded calm as the man struggled feebly before finally vanishing beneath the swirling water with a loud gurgle of terror.

Despite their feelings of hatred towards the hunters, the Terrellians could not just leave them bound to the tree, helpless and vulnerable. They left one of the rescue party to watch over them, armed with one of the hunters' own weapons. In this way the men would be both protected and prevented from escaping.

When the group reached the forest's edge behind the Research Center, Jason came to an abrupt halt. He wasn't about to lead his band of followers into a trap and chose to make a visual sweep of the area before proceeding any further. They may have left three hunters in the woods, but there was still a fourth somewhere.

"There's no movement at all near the building," Thatcher called down from his place high in a tree. "No one in or out."

Jason nodded approvingly. "Good. Come on down."

"I never thought I'd ask this," Laurel began slowly, "but…how are we going to get in?"

"We could just knock on the door," the Alterran grinned, indicating the large metal door at the back of the building. Laurel gave him a sour look, and his smile broadened. He held up the sonic screwdriver. "Or…we could just break in."

Higgins was preparing to inject Jasmine with the paralyzing drug when Dr. Jordan stopped him. "No, never mind that now," she snapped impatiently, pushing him aside. "It'll take too long. I only want her blood. Just make sure those restraints are secure." To the bewilderment of the technician, Lilith thrust a gag into Jasmine's mouth. "That should keep you quiet."

The frightened Terrellian gave a small cry of alarm as the strange object was forced into her mouth and tied into place. Then the restraints were tightened further, causing her to whimper in pain.

As usual, Lilith was oblivious to the Terrellian's distress, wanting only to dispense with her as quickly as possible. She was far more interested in starting work on the irritating Time Lord. She sauntered over to him, looking down into his face and smiling evilly. "I hope you're not too uncomfortable, Doctor. You see, you're going to have to wait until I've finished with this female you found so interesting. It won't take long, I promise you."

Had it not meant harm to Jasmine, the Doctor would have liked to have told her to take as much time as she needed. The next century, preferably. Or at least until the paralyzing drug wore off.

Dr. Jordan chuckled and moved away as Higgins came over to take the preliminary data "for the records," starting with the Time Lord's pulse. He took hold of the Doctor's wrist and blinked. "That can't be right," he muttered. Taking a stethoscope, he listened to one side of the Doctor's chest, hearing the steady beating of his heart. Moving the instrument to the other side, he heard the same thing. The Head technician's mouth dropped open, causing the Time Lord to smile in wardly.

"Dr. Jordan, he's got two hearts!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Higgins," Lilith responded without looking up.

Holding out the stethoscope, the technician said, "Listen for yourself."

The scientist sighed heavily and straightened, crossing over to the insistent technician. "Really, Higgins," she scowled. Taking the stethoscope, Lilith listened to the Doctor's chest, first on one side, then the other. "Good Lord!" she gasped.

"There, you see!" came the triumphant response.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Lilith muttered, seeing the Time Lord's eyes sparkling up at her. He was obviously very amused by all this. "You are full of surprises, aren't you, Doctor?" she said, more than a little intrigued. "How many more do you have in store for us?"

The Doctor prayed that some miracle would occur so she would never get the chance to find out.

Jason and his rescue team were almost at the Center's rear entrance when the bay door beside it suddenly opened and one of the little transport vehicles driven by Baker backed out. As the door closed automatically, he turned the vehicle around, almost running Jason over in the process. He hit the brakes and went for his weapon. The Alterran had already anticipated this reaction and fired first. The stunned hunter slumped over the steering wheel.

"Well, that's four down," Jason said mildly, waving the others over.

Dillon went to the back of the vehicle and pulled back the tarp covering it, hoping to find his beloved Jasmine beneath. The sight of what did lay beneath transfixed him in horror.

"Jason…" he said in a quiet voice.

The Alterran was in the process of pulling the unconscious Baker from the vehicle and he looked up in irritation when Dillon called him again. Seeing the look on his face, Jason went to the back of the transport, a gasp escaping him when he saw Taylor's corpse beneath the tarp.

"He's been drowned," the Healer observed finally.

"He has been murdered," Marjora corrected sharply. "Another human killed by his own kind."

"Not just any human," Jason breathed in horror. "That's Gordon Taylor!" He dashed to the door and pulled on it without success. Then his eyes fell on the input pad set into the wall and he cursed himself for having overlooked the fact that the rear doors might be security coded. Drawing a deep breath, Jason closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. His Terrellian followers were already jittery enough. The last thing they needed was for their unofficial leader to panic.

Using the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, Jason successfully opened the rear door without setting off the alarm. He smiled inwardly. The Doctor would be rather proud of that, he thought, although he wasn't sure how proud his father would be of his having learned this questionable skill.

Opening the bay door, the Alterran waved the others in. They dragged the unconscious Baker in with them, dumping him in a heap beside the door. Jason, in the meantime, hopped aboard the transport, returning it and its grizzly cargo to the garage area. The vehicle had barely stopped when he jumped out of it and hit the mechanism that would close the doors. Then he turned his attention to the hunter, dragging him over to the transport and leaning him back against it, binding him hand and foot. Then just to make certain Baker couldn't escape, Jason pulled his hands up over his head and secured them to the steering wheel. A sudden thought struck him and he gagged him, going on to write a quick note that he pinned it to the unconscious man's shirt. On the outside he wrote "READ ME BEFORE YOU UNTIE HIM" in bold letters.

"That takes care of him," the Alterran remarked, brushing his hands together in a gesture the Terrellians did not understand. He already had Ellis' weapon in his possession, Dillon having the one that had been taken from the hunters in the woods. Picking up Baker's gun, he handed it to Laurel and nodded.

The group moved to the interior door and Jason cautiously opened it. In his mind he could see the layout of the building, but only the areas Lilith had shown him. Unfortunately, the garage had not been one of them. "Which way?" he asked. Dillon pointed to the far end of the corridor and then led the way, although any one of them could have done so. The route to the main lab was as burned into their minds as surely as the identification numbers were burned into their flesh.

The group had only managed to reach the end of the hall when a man and woman appeared from around the corner. The sight of the Terrellians caused them to stop dead in their tracks.

Jason, quite naturally, reacted first and fired at the astonished pair, downing the woman who was nearest. His second shot missed as her coworker who threw himself out of the way and bolted down the adjoining hall. Jason gave chase, calling, "Stop him! He'll sound the alarm!"

It was already too late. A loud bell went off almost immediately, resounding throughout the entire building. Terrified by this horrible and unfamiliar noise the villagers remained rooted to the spot. Jason's reaction was quite different. He cursed in several languages and looked back, doing a double take when he saw no one was following him.

"What're you waiting for?" he yelled. "You're the hunters now! They're running from you!"