THREE
To his horror, the incapacitated Jason realized this woman actually meant to kill him, but was unable to do more than listen as the Doctor argued for his life.
"No, you don't. You haven't the slightest idea what his kind is," the Time Lord stated forcefully.
"Doctor, you said yourself you've dealt with Zygons," the woman with the gun argued.
"Yes. I've also dealt with Alterrans, both of whom can change their form. The one major difference is, Alterrans aren't hostile."
"All very interesting…"
"Undoubtedly, it's because Jason is Alterran that he's reacting at all," the Doctor concluded.
The Commander was still unconvinced. She'd lost too many friends to just accept what she was being told without proof, something the Doctor gave her when he asked, "Just how long is it supposed to take for that mist of yours to work?"
Lowering her weapon, Aurora said resignedly, "Actually, it should've worked by now."
The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, looking down at his equally relieved, but still confused companion. "Wh…what's…supposed to… happen?" Jason asked between breaths.
"The mist causes a metabolic imbalance that forces the Zygons to return to their true form," Aurora replied.
"What!" The Alterran was horrified. "Doctor…!"
"It's alright," the Doctor soothed. "Just calm down."
Jason shook his head vigorously. He could feel his strength failing and was certain the worst was about to happen. "Don't… you…see?" he said in a fast failing voice. "I…I could…misfire." With that, he promptly passed out.
"Oh, dear," the Doctor said under his breath, lying the unconscious youth on the floor before beginning a search of his pockets.
"What in the world is a misfire?" Eric asked, suddenly feeling completely lost.
"One of the worst things that can happen to an Alterran," the Doctor replied. He went on to explain that, unlike the Zygons, Alterrans could change form without the necessity of a body print. They were able to realign their molecular structure in a way that was difficult even for him to understand. What he did understand, however, was on those rare occasions when something went wrong, a misfire occurred. Instead of realigning, the molecular structure pulled itself completely apart, distorted and then returned to its original imprinted pattern. If left untreated, a very slow and unpleasant death would follow.
Despite their rarity, Jason had taken the precaution of supplying the Doctor with the medication necessary to treat him should he ever misfire, and it was for this the Time Lord was searching. He produced the small box from one of his capacious pockets with a sigh of relief.
Having never actually witnessed a misfire, the Doctor chose to play it safe and prepared the medication only seconds before Jason's body started to shimmer. The shimmering abruptly started to fizzle like static electricity and the Alterran's body distorted in shape several times, convulsing violently at the same time. Aurora grabbed one of the flailing extremities to steady it as the injection was administered.
Even knowing the reaction to the medication would be violent did not prepare the Doctor for what happened next. Jason went completely rigid and let out a wail of agony before, quite literally, turning to stone, his body crystallizing before the eyes of the horrified Time Lord.
The Doctor stared open mouthed at the fused mass of crystals that a moment before had been his companion. He looked over at the equally astonished Aurora. He sat silently for several minutes trying to reconcile what he had done. Accidental or not, he had just taken the life of a very dear friend. "I've killed him," he said at last.
Aurora had a different viewpoint. "Doctor, I can't tell you how sorry I am," she said guiltily. "If I hadn't been so paranoid, he'd still be alive."
The Doctor came out of his daze and looked up. "What?"
"It's my fault your friend is dead."
Before the Time Lord could argue one way or the other, the lights flickered and the sound of some very overworked machinery could be heard down the corridor. Aurora cursed under her breath. "There goes the power again," she grumbled.
Eric was already on his feet heading for the power room.
"The power?" The Doctor was justifiably puzzled. He was familiar with similar stations and knew them to be equipped with nuclear power as well as backup solar generators.
"We stripped down all the equipment when we built the base on the surface," the Acting Commander reminded. "Just after the last shuttle left, we had a meteor strike. It caused a massive systems failure and wiped out most of what little equipment we had left." Pausing, she added plaintively, "And now we're stranded."
"Stranded?" the Doctor echoed. "I counted more than two dozen ships—"
"Useless," Aurora interrupted. "Except for spare parts, that is. We've no fuel, and all the ships that were space worthy were used as transports until they gave out. The last one was used to shuttle everybody to the surface. And now that one will never fly again."
"I'd say you have a very serious problem, Acting Commander Aurora," the Time Lord observed. "How can I help?"
The woman gave him an astonished look. "Help? After what I've done…you'd still help us?"
The Doctor held up a hand to silence her and then asked if they might be able to put his companion's crystallized form somewhere more dignified than the middle of the floor.
Aurora took him to one of the nearby rooms. Like all the others it had been stripped of its furnishings, only bare shelving remaining. The Doctor carefully placed the Alterran on what had once been a bed and drew a deep breath. Reluctantly, he turned toward the door and tried to sound more cheerful than he was. "Now, which way the power station?"
After floating in blackness for what seemed an eternity, Jason opened his eyes and groaned, shutting them immediately. His hands went to his pounding head and he groaned again. Everything was so fuzzy. What happened? he wondered. The incident in the corridor returned vividly to mind, and a third groan escaped him.
"Doctor…?" Jason said weakly, then more loudly when he did not receive a reply. He struggled to sit up, a hand staying at his throbbing temple. "Doctor?" He looked around the bare room, wondering why his friend had left him alone. It wasn't until he stood up that the reason became clear, his own crystallized form lying in an inert mass upon the bed. He was neither dead nor alive but in a state of suspension, his consciousness trapped. Until his body was returned to normal, he would be fully aware of all that went on, but silent and invisible to all save himself.
Jason stared at the crystallized mass in horrified fascination. He'd studied this phenomenon in medical school, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine experiencing it first hand. "I'm…dreaming," he said shakily. "I've…I've had a misfire, and I'm…hallucinating, that's all. There's nothing to worry about, is there?" Knowing of only one way to find out, he turned to the door and walked slowly towards it, closing his eyes as he drew nearer. Inwardly he prayed he'd bang his nose against the solid sheet of metal, but instead he found himself standing in the corridor, having passed straight through the bulkhead.
His worst fears confirmed, Jason decided the first thing he needed to do was find the Doctor. What he would do next, he had no idea.
