FOUR

Having resolved to confront his rival alone, the Master did not go to bed, choosing instead to doze a few hours in a chair. After he awoke he patiently waited for the Doctor to be left unattended a second time. His patience was rewarded shortly after dawn and he crept to his rival's room, seeing him rise from the bed. Obviously he had been waiting to be left on his own also.

The Doctor sat up slowly, groaning from the bruises he had received in the fall. Seeing his clothes hanging in the corner he grinned and went over to them. First order of business, get dressed. Second order of business, get away.

The second order of business turned out to be more difficult than he anticipated. He opened the door to find himself face to face with the Master.

"Leaving us so soon, Doctor?" the Master purred.

The Doctor took a step back. "Oh, you know…I didn't want to wear out my wel come."

"You appear to've done that already," the Master observed as he entered. "And without firing a shot, too. You are slipping."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "You think so?" he said evenly, hoping to draw his rival out more. Apparently even in this dimension they were at odds with one another.

"How did you get away from the Jotenns, by the way? It was my understanding they intended to have you executed immediately."

The Doctor sighed heavily and sat down, an action that puzzled his adversary. "I didn't get away because I was never there."

Just how hard a knock on the head did you get?"

The Doctor held up a hand. "I'm going to give you credit for having equal intelligence to the Master I know and explain this, one Time Lord to another." Drawing a deep breath, he said, "I was teaching inter-dimensional spatial theory to my traveling companion—"

"Your what?"

"—and the entry he made threw the TARDIS sideways into this parallel dimension."

The Master stared at the Doctor a moment and then started to laugh. "That's good, Doctor. That's very good. Imaginative, original—"

"And true."

"You wouldn't know the truth if it got up and bit you," the Master scoffed.

The Doctor blinked. Then a thought struck him and he looked his rival up and down, seeing, as with Jason, he was dressed in a totally different style. Before he gave voice to his suspicions, however, he wanted to know one thing. "If I'm supposed to be so evil, why are you the one masquerading as a visiting dignitary?"

The Master gave a wry smile. "I don't happen to be masquerading as anything."

"But you changed your name anyway. Just a little something for the occasion?"

Suddenly the Master was all business. "Alright, enough games. Why are you really here?"

The Doctor was taken aback a second time, feeling as though he were watching the ultimate in role reversal. Perhaps he was. "I've already told you why I'm here. It's a mistake. And considering how hostile relations seem to be between Gallifrey and Alterrous, a very big mistake."

"Seem to be? We're on the brink of war!" The Master's mouth dropped open and he gave the Doctor a horrified look. "That's it, isn't it? You're here to start a war."

"I'm not here to start anything!" the Doctor protested. "In fact, in my universe, you'd be the one starting a war and I'd be the one stopping you. How does that strike you?" He received a dark look in response. "I thought as much. Look, just keep an open mind and I'll try to explain."

The Doctor told his skeptical rival about the Alliance and his original meeting with Jason. He did not, however, identify the boy as the traveling companion he had left behind.

At least, he thought he had left him behind..

Jason had to finish a few minor repairs on K-9 before he was able to set to work locating the Doctor. The automation walked him through the necessary steps that would free up the console and allow him to follow and then retrieve the Doctor.

It was a very lengthy operation and the Alterran found himself wishing he had never even heard of inter-dimensional spatial theory.

The Doctor had barely finished with his story when Jason's counterpart arrived accompanied by the Master's aide: a young man named Cal.

"Swapping stories of home?" Jason asked acidly.

"I beg your pardon?" the Master said mildly.

"They know you're a Time Lord, Excellency," his aide informed apologetically. "The Security Ministry felt it best they be advised."

"You could've advised us yourself," Jason hissed contemptuously.

The Master bowed slightly. "My apologies, Lord Krystovan, but I was acting under strict or ders by your government that I not." With that, he took his aide and left.

The Healer turned an angry gaze in the Doctor's direction, causing him to stiffen visibly. He had seen that look many times before—and it always meant trouble.

"Now for you," Jason growled.