CHAPTER 21
"YOU OPENED IT!"
The exterior doors of the Temple were abruptly thrown open with a bang. Brogan spun around to see a breathless Jason practically collapse in the entrance of the control room. He had heard the Doctor's tortured screams as the intensity of his pain increased and followed the sound at a full run. Taking in the situation in a glance, Jason looked around, seeing Brogan's ornamental staff just inside the door. Snatching it up, he pulled the knife from its hiding place and hurled it across the room. Alarmed, the High Priest took a step back, but it wasn't him Jason was aiming for. The blade found its mark embedding itself in the control panel, which promptly exploded into a shower of sparks. A split second later the excruciating bombardment ceased and the Doctor fell back, unconscious.
"For your sake, Brogan, he'd better be alive," Jason snarled threateningly.
Pulling the knife from the charred panel, Brogan turned menacingly to the intruder at the door. "Who the devil are you?"
The Alterran gave him a wry smile. "My name would mean nothing to you, High Priest. But the title you've given me might. I'm the Guardian."
For a moment Brogan was unsure if he should laugh or be annoyed. It was only when the audacious youth calmly entered the room that he realized he was more than annoyed. He was enraged.
The three men who had captured the Doctor had also seen Jason dash into the Temple and they appeared in the doorway just as he moved into the computer room.
"Kill this boy," Brogan ordered.
Jason spun around to see the men bearing down on him. He immediately returned to his true form, stopping the Cultists dead in their tracks. They stood staring in a combination of awe and terror, allowing the Alterran to take the advantage. He entwined his would-be attackers, effortlessly flinging them, one-by-one, out of the room. They slammed into the far wall with a sickening thud, falling to the floor of the Temple area in an undignified pile of bodies.
Suddenly feeling trapped, Brogan shrank back as the Alterran seemed to float into the room. Putting the knife near the throat of the unconscious Time Lord, the High Priest said, "Keep back! Keep back or he dies!"
"If he dies, then you die, High Priest," Jason hissed back venomously. "And I warn you, I know how to repair that panel."
Brogan shuddered but stayed where he was, hoping the monstrous aberration blocking his way would not press the situation.
He did not.
Content in the knowledge that he could deal with Brogan later, Jason turned his attention to the seemingly unopenable box. Winding a tendril around the container, he scanned it, letting out an involuntary cry. "It's a Keltian puzzle box!" he squeaked. "How disappointing. I was expecting something difficult." So saying, he turned the box on end, inserted a tendril into each of the fifteen holes and twisted. To Brogan's astonishment, there was a loud pop and the chest hinged open like a book. Jason then removed a set of stacked trays containing what looked like stone balls, all but one being about the size of an orange.
"You opened it!" the High Priest gasped, having found his voice at last. He straightened to look over at the object of his years of searching, taking the knife from the Doctor's throat at the same time. "How...? How…did you do that?"
"Even a child can open one of these old things," came the condescending reply. The largest of the spheres was about the size of grapefruit and Jason picked it up, catching his breath at the same time, being amazed and horrified. "So," he said softly, "it's not a legend after all."
Brogan, on the other hand, was disappointed when he saw it. "It's just a stone ball."
"That's what you think," the Alterran replied darkly. "This is an undamaged set of Epsilon power circuits." His eyes glowed fiercely a moment as a ghost memory floated through his head, the words "power of old" echoing through his brain.
Jason was jolted back to reality when his powerful sensors detected movement and he heard an almost imperceptible moan as the Doctor stirred weakly. Without turning, he was able to redirect his line of vision by simply using a different set of sensors, the crystals surrounding his body changing in brightness as he turned his gaze across the room. This process severely rattled the already shaken High Priest, who returned the knife to the Time Lord's throat as the Alterran silently drew closer.
Jason ignored him completely, being more interested in his slowly recovering friend. "Doctor?" he said gently. "Doctor, can you hear me?"
The Doctor's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the familiar voice. He felt drained and fuzzy and more than a little bewildered, especially when he realized there was a knife at his throat. Focusing with difficulty on the shape near his feet, he relaxed when he realized it was only his companion in his true form. "Jason…" he said in a relieved whisper.
"You were expecting, maybe, the Guardian?" the Alterran quipped, receiving a weak smile in return. "Are you alright?" he then asked in a serious tone.
"I am now."
Brogan was beginning to feel snubbed and pressed the blade a little more firmly against the Doctor's throat causing him to stiffen visibly. He was still immobilized by the clamps and completely powerless to defend himself.
"I don't know who or what you are," the High Priest began menacingly, "and I don't care! Now just back off, or—"
"Or the Doctor dies," Jason completed blandly. "Yes, I know. I believe you said that already."
Brogan's mouth dropped open. It seemed impossible to faze this creature.
"Look, I'll deal with you later," the creature was saying patiently. "Right now I've got some power circuits to destroy."
"No! No, you can't! You mustn't!" Brogan was on the point of panic. "If you really are the Guardian, then you must know it's your duty to protect them—"
"Protect them from what? Or should I ask, from whom?" Jason asked pointedly. "The fact of the matter is, my duty is to see to it this control room never becomes fully operational. Not by you. Not by anyone."
Brogan watched helplessly as Jason started to move back toward the power source, knowing there was nothing he could do to prevent its destruction. He suddenly remembered the knife in his hand and his eyes blazed with a murderous fury. He turned to the trapped Time Lord and smiled evilly, clamping a hand firmly over his mouth.
The Doctor tensed as the blade was again brought to his neck, moving under his ear. It was all too obvious his captor meant to slit his throat.
Once again Jason's powerful sensors saved his friend's life. He had detected the High Priest's treachery and was behind the astonished man before he even realized. A powerful tendril wound around Brogan's arm, forcing the knife from his hand. To prevent any recurrence, Jason then flipped him neatly across the room.
Out in the Temple area, Johnson had been listening to the conversation in the computer room with keen interest. He had discovered the doors open and found the three perimeter guards lying senseless on the floor. Pulling his gun, he then inched his way along the wall until he was at the edge of the control room door. Hearing the finality in Jason's voice, he dropped to one knee and appeared in the entryway, gun in hand. He was momentarily stunned when he saw the creature he had come to know as Crystal within the room and watched in amazement as it sent Brogan sailing through the air.
Jason picked up the movement at the door but had no way to get out of the line of fire in the confined space. It was only Johnson's hesitation that allowed him the time to get out from in front of the Doctor before the weapon was emptied into the room. The cornered Alterran was struck three times before he dropped to the floor, more bullets striking him on the way down, the last exploding into a wall panel.
The Doctor was horrified by the sudden and violent turn of events but could only watch helplessly from his place on the ancient torture device. He tried desperately to push the clamps open, but didn't have nearly the strength this required. They remained firmly locked shut. He raised his head to see his companion lying in a motionless ball a few feet away, his crystalline sensors completely dark. As far as the Doctor could tell Jason was dead.
"Good work, Johnson," the shaken High Priest said as he picked himself up off the floor. "That was perfect timing."
Johnson smiled. "Only bad timing on that thing's part. I came to tell you it'll be dark soon. The others are already arriving."
"The assemblage! I forgot all about it."
"I can see why."
Brogan waved a hand dismissively. "No, not that. Just look over there."
Johnson followed his gaze, his eyes growing wide when he saw the open box, its contents beside it. "It's open! How did you manage it?" He dumped the spent shells from his gun as he spoke, reloading the weapon as he crossed the room.
"I'll tell you all about it later. I want to install them first. Then we can deal with him." Brogan nodded in the Doctor's direction.
The two exchanged a meaningful look before glancing over at the captive Time Lord, who could tell by their expressions that they were planning an extremely unpleasant, if not excruciating death for him.
"Have the building surrounded," the High Priest ordered. "I don't want any interruptions while I'm installing the power source." He took a seat in front of the main control board and picked up a sphere.
Unable to resist the temptation, Johnson put down his gun and picked up one of the heavy, stone-like balls, putting a fingertip into a small indentation in what seemed to be its base. "Are you sure these thing'll work?" he asked, returning the ball to the tray.
"We'll know soon enough."
Johnson grunted and left, kicking the three stunned men in the Temple area back to their senses before shoving them out the door ahead of him.
The Doctor waited until Johnson had gone before he spoke again, his voice firm and serious. "Brogan, you mustn't reactivate that control system."
"Now don't start giving me trouble again, Doctor," the High Priest sighed without turning around, "or I may just kill you now." The spheres were all slightly different and he had to move them from hole to hole until he found the one into which it fit. The small indentation in the base fit over a pin in the bottom of the well, connecting it into the console.
"Brogan, listen to me," the Doctor said as the High Priest picked up another sphere. "That power source wasn't designed for humans. You'll never be able to control it. You'll only end up destroying this planet and yourself with it."
Fitting the stone-like orb into place, Brogan merely snorted in disbelief. "You really are getting very annoying, Doctor," he sighed, rising to his feet.
"Brogan, you must listen—" The Doctor's words were cut off as the High Priest jammed a gag into his mouth. "Now shut up! I need to concentrate," he snapped and returned to his place at the control board.
Completely powerless, the Doctor could do no more than watch as one sphere after another was fitted into place. After a few minutes, he became aware of a strange sound coming from the floor and raised his head. To his shock he saw Jason dragging himself, inch-by-inch, towards him. It was obvious the Alterran was in a great deal of pain, his body shaking with each movement.
Only one thought was keeping Jason going—free the Doctor. Animated by sheer will power he crossed the few feet necessary to get close enough to snake a long tendril up and hit the release button. The clamps securing the Time Lord clicked open and withdrew into the table.
Hearing the snap of the clamps, Brogan turned just as the Doctor sat up and pulled the gag from his mouth. "How the devil did you…?" Seeing the injured Alterran shudder, he snarled angrily, "You're both more trouble than you're worth."
Picking up the gun Johnson had been good enough to reload and leave behind, Brogan got to his feet. "Which heart do I aim for, Doctor?"