SIX

Jason was absolutely correct. Ramsay was already entering the Command Center finding all but the Commander present. He knew the affects of the sonic disturbance wouldn't last long and quickly bound the unconscious crew in the same manner as Eric. Then he went to look for Aurora, finding her in the corridor outside the power station and the Doctor near the doorway to the reactor control room a few feet away. Within a few minutes, they too were securely bound.

The Engineer was about to leave when another thought struck him. If it hadn't been for this interfering stranger, he never would've had to act so hastily. Nor would he have had to expose himself to so many risks. The traitorous Ramsay dragged the unconscious Time Lord into the reactor control room and then shorted out the door mechanism, sealing him inside. With an evil smirk on his face the Engineer left, knowing the radiation leakage would kill the helpless Time Lord slowly and painfully.

Jason had been a silent witness to Ramsay's cold-blooded act and was horrified when the door was fused. Although reluctant to leave his friend, he knew there was nothing he could do to help him and followed after the traitorous Ramsay, watching in bewilderment as he made yet another space walk. This time to disconnect the power cables from the only ship left in dock. The name SILENT TRADER was emblazoned on its hull and Jason gave an amused grunt when he saw it. "They should've called it SILENT TRAITOR," he muttered. A sudden thought struck him and he looked back at the space suited figure. "Now…just how do you intend to get out of here, anyway? You can't use the transmat. The people on the ground will be suspicious. And you haven't got a—" Jason turned his gaze back to the starliner. "Or have you…?"

Passing through the hull of the station and then into the battered starliner, the Alterran looked around himself in amazement. He had expected to find the inside of the ship as bad as the out. Instead found himself on the flight deck of a fully operational, first class interstellar space craft that could be made ready for takeoff within minutes.

To his horror, Jason realized he was the only one who knew what was about to happen—and was completely powerless to stop it from happening.

Another explosion suddenly rocked the Spaceport and Jason looked up in time to see one of the unstable reactors rupture into space. A large chuck of debris struck the traitorous Ramsay, snapping his lifeline and carrying him helplessly into the depths of space.

The invisible Alterran stood staring out the window, not quite believing what he'd just seen. It was almost too good to be true, he thought. A secondary explosion brought him back to reality, reminding him of the Doctor's lethal proximity to the unstable reactors. The power plant could go at any moment, taking his trapped friend with it. Somehow, he just had to get him out.

Momentarily forgetting his ability to pass through walls, Jason dashed from the flight deck and though the ship, stopping dead when he reached the corridor to the exit hatch. "I've been here before," he muttered, looking around. He went to an open doorway and was delighted to see the TARDIS standing in the corner of the storeroom right where he'd left it.

"K-9," he said breathlessly. "K-9 might—" Shaking his head, Jason concluded, "No time," and continued on his way.


When the Doctor regained consciousness, he was able to free himself thanks to the tools across the room that Ramsay had overlooked in his haste.

"Doctor, I can't move!" Aurora called loudly from out in the hall, struggling in vain against her bonds.

"Just save your strength," the Time Lord called back as he searched along the wall for a manual release for the fused door. The lights flickered and then went out leaving the station in almost total darkness. The emergency lights came on, glowing dimly at the end of every corridor.

"Doctor!"

"Aurora, don't panic!" the Doctor said sharply. "It's just the lights."

Suddenly he realized there shouldn't be any light in the room with him and turned to see his companion's blue crystallized form glowing dimly across the room.

Having returned by this time, Jason saw it too and knew it meant his body was absorbing the massive amounts of radiation that were undoubtedly pouring in from the damaged reactor. He then reflected on the irony of how, without realizing, Ramsay had left the one thing in the control room that would insure the Doctor was not exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. Even so, he was still being exposed, notwithstanding the radiation suit, and needed to get out of the room as soon as possible.

Turning back to look at the Doctor, Jason felt it was now or never. He simply had to make contact. The connections to the life support system were hanging on by a thread and all it would take was one good jolt to knock them off. Crossing to where the Time Lord was still searching the walls, Jason concentrated with all his might to make himself heard. Taking a deep breath, he said firmly, "Doctor, you've got to hear me. You have simply got to hear me."

The Doctor's head suddenly started buzzing and he put a hand to his temple, wondering if he were feeling the effects of the radiation. Suddenly the answer became distinctly clear when he heard his companion's voice cry out in exasperation, "Doctor, please hear me!"

Startled, the Time Lord spun around, staring in amazement at the glowing shape on the floor. "Jason…?" he gasped.

Jason didn't know if he wanted to laugh, cry, or shout for joy, choosing instead to restrain himself. There was too much at stake for emotionalism. Drawing a deep breath to steady himself, he said evenly, "Doctor, it's Jason. Can you hear me?"

"Yes!" came the exuberant reply. The Time Lord was immediately beside the glowing form, bubbling over with joy, curiosity, and fascination.

"Doctor, there's a massive breach in one of the reactors," Jason informed. "I'm absorbing the radiation, but you shouldn't stay—"

"I've a bit of a problem there," the Doctor replied soberly. "I'm trapped in the control room."

"I know."

"You know? How?"

The Alterran sighed heavily. "I wish I could tell you, but there's no time. I can help you get out, though. You'll need to run a cable from my—from me to the door."

"What?" The Doctor was baffled. "How will that—?"

"Doctor, I don't have time to go into details," Jason said quickly. "I'm not sure how long we'll be able to talk. You need to wind the cable around me like you would with an electromagnet. You'll get a low voltage charge that should open the door."

The Time Lord gave the Alterran's now less than inert form a curious look before doing as instructed. "Jason, can you, huh…see me?" he asked hesitantly as he carefully wound the cable around the crystallized form.

"Yes," the invisible Jason replied amusedly from his place near the door. "I'm not trapped in the way that you think."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up and his companion could see the dozens of questions forming in his mind. "No time, Doctor" he said quickly. "No time. There's so much you don't know."

"How true," the Doctor said sagely. With the cable strung, he crossed to the door, throwing a quick glance across the room. "Well, here goes," he said hopefully and touched the cable to the opening mechanism. There was a crackle of power and the door jerked open a few inches. Encouraged, he tried again and was able to get the door open far enough to squeeze through. On the other side he found Aurora still struggling unsuccessfully with her bonds. She was both relieved and concerned when he finally emerged.

"Doctor, the radiation…" she said as he cut her loose.

"Don't worry, Commander," the Doctor grinned. "I've already told you. Alterrans absorb radiation."

Before Aurora could think of a suitable reply, the station was rocked as more stabilizers failed. There was a cacophony of bangs and clangs on the exterior hull and then the entire station went silent as all the machinery stopped.

"You've just lost power and life support" Jason announced.

"What!" the Doctor gasped.

"I didn't say anything," Aurora said in bewilderment, only to be hushed by the Doctor as he returned to the partially open door. "Jason, say that again."

"I said, you've just lost your power and life support," his invisible companion repeated. "The connections were—"

Aurora cut off Jason's explanation. "Doctor, who are you—?"

"Aurora, please be quiet! I can't listen to both of you at the same time," the Time Lord snapped impatiently.

The Commander's eyes grew wide and she peered into the room, seeing only the glowing crystals on the floor. "Doctor, can you actually hear him?" she asked softly, wondering if the Time Lord were crazy because he could hear the voice of a dead man, or her because she believed him.

It wasn't until that moment that the Doctor realized he hadn't actually heard Jason with his ears as much as with his mind, suddenly comprehending what his companion meant about not knowing how long they would be able to talk. Apparently the telepathic connection was only temporary.

Suddenly Jason's voice came through in an urgent tone. "Doctor, I can't explain, so you'll just have to trust me. Get everyone to the ship called SILENT TRADER. You'll be safe there."

"Alright," the Doctor agreed. He turned from the door, turning back when his companion added, "And don't bother looking for Ramsay. He's the one who did this to you."

The Time Lord had several hundred questions, but knew they'd have to wait. Looking at the bewildered woman beside him, he asked, "Aurora, do you know a ship called SILENT TRADER?"

Aurora scowled. "Yes," she replied slowly. "It's the only one left in dock. Why?"

"Because that's where we're going to take your crew."


The Doctor and Aurora moved as quickly as they could through the growing gloom. The emergency lighting was growing dimmer by the moment and would no doubt fail well before they reached the Command Center. The Commander felt along the wall for a locker where she prayed a few lanterns had been left behind. For the first time in weeks, luck was on her side and she found, not one, but four working lanterns. Armed with these, the two were able to move even more rapidly through the station.

The Doctor stopped at the life support unit, wanting to see if it were completely deactivated. Unable to make the door work, he was about to continue on when he heard muffled sounds from inside. "Someone must've gotten trapped in there when the power went out," he said, having to pry the door open. Inside he found the bound and struggling Eric, who confirmed what Jason had told him about Ramsay.

By the time the three reached the Command Center, the temperature within the station had dropped dramatically. They released the rest of the crew and headed for the SILENT TRADER. Once all were safely onboard, the Doctor announced he was going back for his companion, whom he had not heard since leaving the power station.

"Doctor, you can't go back in there with life support gone," Aurora protested.

"There's still plenty of air left, I should think. I'll probably freeze to death long before I asphyxiate," he said cheerily. "Anyway, I owe it to Jason to try. He just saved all our lives. The least I can do is try and save his."

The Commander sighed. "I still think this is all just wishful thinking on your part."

"Believe what you like. I'm still going."

"Oh, all right," Aurora conceded, grabbing a spacesuit to protect herself from the cold. "Then I'm coming, too. Even if it's just to say I told you so."

The Doctor flashed a broad smile, leading the way into the accessway and then back through the now tunnel-like corridors. The emergency lighting had completely failed by this time, the light from their lanterns cutting through the darkness like a beacon. Frost had started to form on the walls and floor and Aurora found the silence extremely disquieting. She tried not to let her ill-ease show and followed silently behind the Time Lord, watching his breath rising like smoke in the still and icy air.

Arriving at the power station at last, the Doctor forced the door further open. The first thing he noticed was the blue glow from the crystallized Alterran was gone. The reason for this became shockingly clear when he turned his light down to the floor. The fused mass of crystals had been transformed and lying in its place was Jason in his human form, the cable the Doctor had wound around his crystallized form still wrapped around his body. He was covered in a thin layer of frost and the Time Lord was certain he was frozen solid.

Fortunately, this was not the case. Even after the Alterran changed form, he continued to absorb the incoming radiation, maintaining the current that was running through the cable. This ongoing energy conversion had kept the air temperature around his body warmer than that in the room, and was the only thing that had prevented him from freezing to death.

The Doctor was at the boy's side instantly, pulling off a glove and searching for any signs of life. To his relief, he found a weak pulse. "He's alive," he announced, "but nearly half frozen."

"We've got to get him out of here," Aurora said firmly, and quite unnecessarily, the Doctor thought as he handed her his lantern. He cut the cable from around Jason's body and then lifted him from the floor, carrying him back to the starliner where, hopefully, they could revive him.