CHAPTER 20

"THEY'VE GOT HIM…"

Jason arrived at the console room to find the Doctor brooding. This in itself was not unusual in the midst of so serious a situation, but for reasons he could not fathom, the Alterran found it very disconcerting. He said nothing, however, silently following the Time Lord outside and waiting as he locked the door.

"Well, my Lord and Master," he said in a mildly sarcastic tone, "where to now?"

The Doctor turned to face him. "Jason, you're not still upset about that, are you?"

"Good Lord, no! Not unless you're still upset about my throwing you around like a rag doll. It's a miracle I didn't break something." Drawing a deep breath, he said, "Doctor, in my room…I found glass…with your blood on it. That's how your hands got sliced up, isn't it? I threw you into it."

The Doctor took him by the shoulders. "Jason, you were sick and delirious and out of your head. Now you're not. I'm not angry with you for what you did while you were ill, but if you don't stop feeling sorry for yourself, I'll hit you again."

Jason's eyes flashed and he broke into a broad smile. "Fair enough. But you still haven't told me where we're going."

"Back to the Temple."

"What! Are you crazy?"

"Probably." So saying, the Time Lord set off through the woods, leaving his aghast companion staring after him.

"Doctor, if Brogan catches you there again, he'll kill you!" Jason called as he came running after him.

"I am aware of that, dear boy. That's why you're coming with me. I think it's high time the Cult of Jaka was confronted by its Guardian, don't you?"

The Doctor's delighted smile was met with a dark look. "And just what happens if they decide to take a shot at their Guardian?" the Alterran asked pointedly. "I may be able to absorb high energy bursts, but old-fashioned projectile weapons are another matter entirely."

The Doctor scowled, this thought obviously having never occurred to him. "Then we'll both have to be careful, won't we?"

The time travelers arrived at the Temple just before dusk. It looked just as it had when the Doctor and Alex were attacked, deserted. Even before the building was in sight, Jason started to get edgy. He could not put his finger on why, thinking his ill ease was due to what had happened to his friends. It wasn't until he saw the Temple that his fear became more than he could stand. "We have to go back," he said fearfully, taking hold of the Time Lord's arm. "You have to go back."

"What? Now, Jason, don't start getting hysterical on me," the Doctor admonished. "You can see there's no one—" He broke off when his companion's grip tightened. Whether it was as a warning or from fear he could not tell.

"No, Doctor, it's this place. Can't you feel it? There's evil here. All around us."

"Now you're stating to sound like Leela," the Doctor snorted disapprovingly.

"I wish she were here. She'd convince you. You are in real danger here," the Alterran said warningly. "I can't explain it. I just know. You've got to believe me."

The panic in the young man's voice was undeniably real and it was this that the Doctor chose to believe. "Perhaps you should have a little scout round first. Just to make certain all is as it should be," he suggested.

This sounded an excellent idea and Jason transmuted into a seagull, flying to the Temple while the Doctor withdrew to a safer distance, which proved to be a mistake on both their parts. The Doctor had no sooner come around a thicket than he came face to face with two Cultists, who promptly grabbed him. A third man came up behind the struggling Time Lord, stunning him with sharp blow on the back of the head.

Unaware of the Doctor's capture, Jason flew completely around the Temple, seeing no one near the place. The impression of evil continued to grow the closer he got, as did the feelings of rage and hatred. The large ornamental doors were closed, making it impossible for him to see inside. He did see two men near the monolith at the base of the cliff and was intrigued. The transformed Alterran wheeled around and flew down to investigate.

Oblivious to the squawking bird, the men appeared to be trying to translate the inscription on the monolith. As far as Jason could see, they were failing miserably. It was written in an ancient form of his own language. Riding the air currents, he read what turned out to be a warning. The inscription stated that Jaka should remain forever separated from his power source. To reunite him with his power would bring death to all living things and possibly an end to the universe.

Ominous, Jason thought as he returned to the top of the cliff. In the distance he saw another stone structure and went to investigate, seeing it was a small shrine of some sort. He landed and returned to his human form, looking around in amazement. Four large ornate columns, each corresponding with one of the major compass points, held up the domed roof. "It must be the guidance system's triangulating compass," he muttered.

In the center of the shrine was a large stone alter that Jason assumed had been put there to make the place look authentic. Running a hand over its surface, he discovered two things; traces of blood, which meant the alter was more than ornamental; and he was trembling. "I cannot let this get to me," he said angrily. "Come on, Krystovan, pull yourself together."

After a minute, Jason flew back to the woods, going to where he had agreed to meet the Doctor, who was nowhere in sight. Returning to his human form, the Alterran started to back track, grumbling to himself the whole time, having assumed his friend had wandered off. Again. It wasn't until Jason found a rock with the Doctor's blood on it that he realized what must have happened and he blanched visibly. "They've got him…" he breathed in horror.

The Doctor regained consciousness inside the temple control room to find himself being immobilized on a large flat slab that was integrated into one wall. When he had first seen it, he thought it to be a strategic planning table. Now it seemed to have other, more sinister functions. There were circles covering the table's surface from which long metal strips emerged on either side of his extremities, overlapping each other to secure him in place.

"You lead charmed life, Doctor," Brogan remarked as the final set of clamps locked into place. "I thought I'd seen the last of you yesterday."

"Life's full of little surprises," the Time Lord replied aridly. "Been playing with the controls, have you?"

Brogan smiled evilly. "A few. This little gadget has enormous possibilities." Fixing his prisoner with an icy stare, he asked, "Who helped you escape?"

"They didn't introduce themselves. We were being shot at at the time."

"You'd do well to dispense with this annoying flippancy, Doctor. It will save you a great deal of pain." Reaching over to the console, the High Priest touched a switch and there was an ominous crackle of energy from above. "Allow me to demonstrate." He turned the dial above the switch. Instantly hundreds of arcs resembling miniature lightning bolts played over the body of the trapped Time Lord causing him to cry out in pain.

Brogan watched with cold-blooded delight as his prisoner writhed helplessly beneath the onslaught. After a few seconds, the device was turned off and the Doctor fell back, dazed.

"That was only the primary setting," the High Priest informed threateningly. "Now. Who helped you escape?"

"You won't…believe me," the Doctor replied weakly.

"Try me."

Seeing no alternative, the Doctor said, "It was Dr. Albert. She wasn't killed by your Guardian. She was saved by him."

Brogan's eyes narrowed. "I warned you…"

"It's the truth!" The rest of the Doctor's protests were cut off as the energy played over his body once more. He strained against the clamps, but found it impossible to escape them or the hundreds of needle sharp stabs being inflicted by the energy bolts. When the source of his torment finally ceased, he went limp, feeling completely drained.

"Who are you?" Brogan demanded.

In a voice that was scarcely above a whisper, his prisoner replied, "I've…already told you. I'm…the Doctor."

"What are you?"

The Doctor blinked up at him, his vision clearing slowly. "I'm a traveler."

"From where? You're not from Teggell. I already know that."

"You don't seem surprised, if you don't mind my saying so."

"No," Brogan replied calmly. "Like yourself, I am not from this planet. And neither is this Temple, as you well know. The power source was hidden when the so-called jealous gods came to put Jaka into bondage. I believe those jealous gods were space travelers. Like you."

"Brogan, you know perfectly well I'm not a god."

"Perhaps not. But I think you're descended from the gods in the myth," the High Priest observed astutely. Picking up his battered volume on Teggellan mythology, he read, "…and although his enemies' form and countenance were like those of mortal men, they bore within their bodies the irony of having two hearts, yet possessing none." Looking up, Brogan remarked, "Not unlike yourself. And it was you, Doctor, who opened the door. I've spent the better part of three years trying to find the trigger, and you found it on the first try."

"Beginner's luck?" the Doctor ventured. Seeing his captor's hand nearing the switch, he said quickly, "Look, let's stop all these silly games. What do you want from me?"

"What makes you think—?"

"You must want something or you'd've killed me by now."

Brogan looked thoughtfully down at him a moment. "Tell me how to open the chest."

The Doctor blinked. "What?"

"You heard me."

"My dear Brogan, I've never even seen this chest of yours. How am I supposed to tell you how to open it?"

"You opened the door, didn't you? How did you do that?"

The Doctor remained silent a little too long for the High Priest's liking and the device was switched on again, breaking his silence with a cry of pain. Another followed almost immediately as his torment was increased by another click of the dial, the energy bolts stabbing him with greater force.

Enjoying the power he held over his helpless captive, Brogan watched sadistically for several seconds before finally cutting the power. "Now, Doctor," he said coldly. "How did you open the door?"

Dazed and breathless, the Doctor looked fuzzily up at his tormentor. "With a…sonic device," he said in a weak voice. "It…hasn't been…invented on this…planet yet."

Brogan cursed himself for not having thought of this sooner. "How incredibly simple," he muttered and proceeded to go through the pockets of his defenseless prisoner.

The Doctor remembered, to his relief, that he'd left his sonic screwdriver in the pocket of the coat he had dropped in a sodden mass on the console room floor. With all the things that had happened in the interim, he had completely forgotten to empty the pockets. "You won't find it," he informed softly. "I don't have it with me now."

His captor glared hatefully down at him. "Where is it? I must get into that chest!" Brogan waved a hand in the direction of the inoperative main control panel where the Doctor finally saw the infamous chest.

"I seriously doubt that that chest will be as easy to open as the door," the Time Lord observed. "The locking mechanism will very likely be of a completely different order."

"And you're going to help me find out what it is."

"No, I'm not. I'm not going to help you, Brogan, so you might as well kill me now."

An evil smile came to the face of the High Priest. "Oh, you'll help me alright, Doctor," he purred. "Eventually."

The Doctor knew what was coming next and said insistently, "Listen to me, Brogan. You've no idea what you're dealing with here—"

"And you do?" came the unbelieving reply.

"Yes! That power source is unstable. Even its own creators couldn't completely control it."

Brogan snorted. "Its creators were destroyed centuries ago."

"No, they weren't! You must—" The rest of the Doctor's words were cut off when another explosion of energy bolts assaulted him.

"Enough lies!" the High Priest snarled, turning up the intensity one notch more and tearing another scream of agony from the Time Lord's throat. "I've searched three very long years for that power source, Doctor, and I'll have the truth out of you yet. If you know the origins, then you must know the key. Now what is it!"

Fighting the incessant and blinding pain racking his body, the Doctor gritted his teeth, flatly and defiantly refusing to help in any way.

Brogan growled in anger, his hand tightening on the dial. "You will tell me," he said coldly and started turning the dial towards its maximum setting, one excruciating notch at a time.

The trapped Time Lord writhed and twisted helplessly in his bonds, each relentless click of the dial wrenching another scream of agony from him.

"Just how much pain can you endure, Doctor?" Brogan asked tauntingly.