CHAPTER 4

SURPRISE FROM THE PAST

The Doctor eventually caught up with his companion in the cafeteria. Jason was happily devouring a plateful of pasta; a second plateful of salads was set to one side: two slices of pie to the other. In-between was what looked like an enormous strawberry milkshake.

"I can see the lectures haven't altered your appetite," the Time Lord said amusedly as he sat down, looking pointedly at the two empty plates set off to one side.

The Alterran looked up, smiled self-consciously and then ignored the remark. "I'm so glad we stayed. I never realized what a good speaker my father was. He never should've given it up. He looked like he was having the time of his life."

The Doctor smiled. "Perhaps there were matters closer to home that he felt were more important."

His companion gave him a dark look through his eyelashes, knowing he meant himself.

At that moment a woman came up to the table, an enchanting smile on her face. "My goodness your young friend has a healthy appetite," she said to the Doctor.

The Time Lord looked up, breaking into a wide smile and taking in the newcomer as he rose to his feet. She was small and slender, her long brown hair pulled back in a thick French braid. While her clothing was simple in design, he could see that it was of the finest quality, as was her jewelry. Within a few seconds he had deduced this stranger to be a woman of breeding who, while having wealth, did not chose to flaunt it openly. She also appeared to be in the early stages of pregnancy.

His companion had a completely different reaction. He looked up and froze, his eyes growing wide as saucers. He stiffened visibly, sitting up slowly, the fork dropping from his hand.

The woman received this awestruck response with a flush of embarrassment. "May I join you?" she then asked.

Again Jason's reaction was a puzzle. Normally he would also have gotten to his feet to seat the lady. Instead, he gulped, and then started to choke, apparently overcome by the situation. He waved off the attempts to assist him, finally downing half a glass of water before he could speak. "Sorry," he said meekly.

"Don't you ever feed this young man?" the lady asked.

"Constantly," the Doctor replied. By this time, he was at a loss. He had seen his companion deal with members of the opposite sex on numerous occasions, and never once had he been so overwhelmed in the presence of a single female. He would soon learn why.

"I hope I'm not intruding."

"Not at all," the Doctor replied amiably, returning to his seat. "Good company and good conversation are always welcome."

"I saw this young man at my husband's lecture today, and—" Breaking off, she said, "Oh dear me. I haven't even introduced myself. I'm LiaDonna Krystovan."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he threw a startled look in Jason's direction. The young man nodded, turning back to the smiling woman, who was, in fact, his own mother.

"How do you do. I'm the Doctor. And this unfillable young man is Jason."

LiaDonna gave a small squeak of delight. "Jason!" she gasped. "Now isn't that a coincidence?"

Jason could feel his heart racing, his face suddenly becoming very hot. He could not believe it when he heard himself calmly reply, "We won't know until you tell us." He then watched in amazement as his mother blushed just as he always did himself. A hand went to her mouth and she smiled self-consciously. "Oh, dear, I didn't want to…" Smiling again, she said, "In case you hadn't guessed, I'm pregnant. And I haven't even told my husband that I've chosen a name."

"And it's Jason," Jason said firmly.

"Yes." Pausing, LiaDonna said, "He thinks it's bad luck to pick a name so soon."

"Why?"

Placing a hand on her slightly rounded abdomen, LiaDonna caressed where her baby was growing inside her. "I think he's just afraid something will go wrong." She gave a bittersweet smile. "This is the farthest along I've ever been. And, well…we don't want to lose this one."

Jason blinked. This one? As far as he had ever known, he was the only child his parents had ever conceived. He was about to learn otherwise.

"For a man of science, your husband sounds rather superstitious," the Doctor remarked breezily.

"He'll say he's a realist," she replied coolly. "But after my last miscarriage, he didn't want me to try again."

"I'm very glad you did," Jason said without thinking.

The Doctor groaned, his eyes rolling to the ceiling. To his delight, his companion recovered instantly. "You glow all over just talking about it. I think you'll be a great Mom."

LiaDonna smiled broadly, then a look of foreboding passed like a ghost across her face. "I hope so. I've lost five babies already. I don't want to make it six."

The Doctor shot Jason a warning look before he could remark on this. They were treading on thin ice and needed to backpedal before they fell through.

"Alright, enough dark thoughts, you've stopped glowing," Jason said in a firm, yet playful tone. "You said you saw me at your husband's lecture today? Where? I didn't see you. I know I'd remember seeing you there."

"Oh, you are a flatterer," LiaDonna laughed delightedly. "You were rather hard to miss. All by yourself way in the back of a roomful of stuffy old men. You were the youngest one there."

"Only in appearance," Jason replied with a wry smile. "I've already passed my first century."

"You have?"

"Yes, I'm Alterran."

The woman across the table sat back in her chair, studying him a moment and then looking at the Doctor. "Both of you?"

"No. The Doctor's—" Jason broke off when the Time Lord cleared his throat warningly. With out missing a beat, he said, "Incognito."

"A man of mystery," LiaDonna said playfully. Then to Jason, she asked, "Have you entered the second phase?"

Jason shot the Doctor a quick sideways glance. "I'm not sure, actually."

"From the looks of your appetite, I'd say you were well on your way." With a knowing smile on her face, LiaDonna rose to her feet. "Well, I think I've taken up enough of your time. It was very nice meeting you both." She shook the Doctor's hand. Then before he could stop her, she reached for Jason's. Before their skin even touched, a spark flashed between them, numbing Jason's hand and causing his mother to cry out. She took an alarmed step back but was prevented from falling by the Doctor who was behind her before she even realized.

"Are you alright, Mmm?" Jason gasped, having to swallow the word Mother as it came to his lips.

"Young man, I think you need to restabilize your energy field," she said sternly. "You've obviously entered the second phase."

"Obviously," Jason replied, apologizing for the unexpected discharge of energy.

Shaking her numbed hand, LiaDonna said good-bye and left, her awestruck son watching her as she went.


"Bryce, you have got to slow down!" Talbot thundered. They were in the CEO's office and had been going at it for some time. Had there been anyone else in the administration section, the sound of their raised voices would have attracted the attention of everyone there.

"You're starting to sound like George Hargrove," the CEO moaned. "I have a schedule to keep, Captain. You understand about schedules."

"I understand a great deal more than you do," the Captain snarled. "I warned you about over reaching the capabilities of—"

"My dear Talbot, you're the one who assured me that the schedule could be kept with no problems."

"That was before you started making your little changes. There's only so much the system is capable of handling. It isn't fully operational yet, and you've already got twice the number of workers than originally planned! And then there are all these guests coming in and out. The pro gram is still being updated."

"I'm sure you can handle it," Bryce Miller crooned.

Talbot glared at him. "Don't brush me off, Miller, I'm not George Hargrove. If we don't get these program anomalies sorted out, we're in for a full scale system shut down."

Bryce's eyes narrowed as he considered the situation. Sighing heavily, he said, "Very well. We'll just have to modify the schedule. What do you suggest?"

Before the Captain could reply, the phone rang and Bryce answered it. Looking up, he held the receiver out to Talbot. "It's for you."

The Captain took the receiver and listened to the frantic voice on the other end. "Calm down, calm down. There's no need to get in a panic," he soothed. "Yes, yes. I understand. Just assign the detail to keep watch on that section." Hanging up the phone, he looked at the CEO. "We seem to have a wandering guest," he informed. "He managed to get to one of the newer sections and positively panicked my Executive Officer."

"Why would a stray guest panic your ExO?"

"Because he seemed very interested in the control collars."

Bryce rolled his eyes. "That's why we had duplicates made and put in the gift shop," he moaned. "Don't your people understand anything?"

Talbot eyed him coldly. He understood a great deal more than this greedy, power hungry executive possibly could. Their partnership was one of convenience, and it seemed the junior partner was suddenly fancying himself the senior. Once the repairs were completed, he would put this weasel in his place. Until then, he would play along.

"My people only understand what I tell them. Rather like yours," Talbot said condescendingly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go see about the program updates. I'll have to get back to you on the revised schedule." So saying, he strode from the room.