SEVEN
When the rescue party arrived at the dungeons, Jason stopped and looked cautiously out the exit, seeing the administrative offices close by.
"How are we going to find him?" Cal wanted to know. "There must be hundreds of rooms down here."
"Yes, I know," Jason replied. "And this is only the first level." He returned to his usual human appearance, changing into the clothes the Master indicated his counterpart wore. "Wait here," he then whispered and pushed open the door. He went into the office and walked up to the desk, receiving a startled look from the clerk.
"Lord Krystovan!" the young man gasped, quickly shuffling several papers aside and succeeding in sending most of them to the floor. "Ddid you …forget something, sir? The Doctor hasn't been moved. You can rely on us, sir."
"I should hope so," Jason replied, hoping his voice sound threatening enough. "There is a guard on the door, isn't there?"
The nervous clerk shuffled through a stack of papers, half of which he dropped to the floor. He turned to his computer terminal and attempted to access the information. After more than a minute, he said, "I'm sorry, your Lordship. I can't seem to access any information on room 168. It mustn't have updated."
Jason gave him a cold and angry look. "You lot are an incompetent bunch of half-wits," he hissed. "Is this what I'm to rely on?" With that, he stormed from the office. As soon as he returned to the safety of the passageway, he sagged against the wall, heaving a sigh of relief.
"A very convincing performance," the Master purred.
Jason was not sure if he meant in the office or at the present time and chose not to inquire, uncertain as to whether he really wanted to know the answer. Straightening, he said, "Room 168. This way."
The room was unguarded, much to everyone's relief. Jason was the first to enter, the sight of his battered friend causing him to stop short. Recovering himself quickly he carefully lowered the Doctor into a chair and checked him over, going on to snap his bindings with his bare hands, an action that stunned his uneasy allies who had no conception of his true physical strength.
"Doctor," he said in an urgent voice. "Doctor, can you hear me? It's Jason."
The Doctor moaned, his eyes opening briefly. He muttered something and closed his eyes again.
"We've got to get him out of here," Jason said urgently, and rather unnecessarily in the Master's view.
Cal suddenly hissed at the door, waving a hand to silence him. "There's a guard out there," he said in a panicked whisper.
Jason exchanged glances with the Master. "You take care of the Doctor, I'll take care of the guard. And be careful. He's got some cracked ribs."
The Time Lord raised an eyebrow but kept his thoughts to himself, motioning his companion over. They lifted the semi-conscious Doctor from his chair, a moan of pain escaping him as the two tried to support his weight between them.
Jason drew a deep breath and straightened, reaching for the door. The knob turned in his hand and he realized the guard was going to come in. He quickly pulled the door open and stepped into the hall, astonishing the guard at the same time. "Is this how my prisoners are guarded?" he demanded loudly. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to decide to show up for duty?"
The unfortunate guard blanched visibly and attempted an apology, but was cut off by the raging Lord Krystovan. He upbraided the guard and the entire security system before ordering him to the administration wing to report his own incompetence.
The guard was no sooner out of sight before Jason had the door open and was waving the others out. He stood as lookout as they practically carried the Doctor into the safety of the tunnels where he was placed on the floor. Jason knelt down beside him and checked him again.
"Doctor," he said softly, "can you hear me?"
"Ye-es," the Doctor replied acidly, not bothering to open his eyes. "Now what do you want?"
Jason blinked and looked at the others in bewilderment.
"I think he believes you to be your counterpart," the Master observed astutely.
"Doctor, it's me. Jason. Your Jason. The one who got you into this mess to begin with."
Upon hearing this, the Time Lord opened his eyes and struggled to sit up a bit more, a groan of pain escaping him. His companion put a hand on his shoulder. "Careful, Doctor. You've got a couple cracked ribs," he said concernedly, the statement immediately confirming his identity.
"Jason, how the devil did you get here?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, it wasn't because I knew what I was doing," the Alterran replied darkly. "K-9 had to sort everything out."
The Doctor leaned back against the wall and took in his band of unlikely rescuers. Turning to the Master, he observed, "You'll forgive me for expressing my surprise at your presence here, considering how our last meeting ended."
"Your choice of traveling companions was a very convincing argument in your favor, Doctor," the Master replied. "To such a degree, in fact, that we've joined forces in this endeavor."
"Indeed? Then you would agree that we are very likely the products of mirrored parallel universes?"
"I would," the Master replied. "With a few anomalies, but otherwise consistent."
"Would I also be correct in assuming you're here to stop the Emperor from being assassinated?" the Doctor asked startlingly.
After a long pause, the Master replied, "That was my intention."
"Wait a minute, Master, you can't exactly walk up to the Emperor and tell him what you suspect, you know?" Jason cut in forcefully. "I've noticed Alterrans don't exactly trust Time Lords here." Throwing a meaningful glance in Cal's direction, he added, "And vice versa."
"Jason, he needs to be warned—"
"How? Tell me that?"
The Master did not respond directly, asking instead, "Tell me, Doctor, how much is this young man like his counterpart?"
"They share the same face and lineage. There the similarity ends," the Doctor replied succinctly.
"And how well do you get on with your Great uncle, Jason?" the Master then asked.
"I hardly know him, why?" came the bewildered reply.
The Doctor did not like where this was leading and sat up a little more. "I think know where you're going with this," he said softly, "and I don't think it's such a good idea. Our being here is bad enough without adding to it with outright interference."
"You've already interfered, Doctor," Cal injected firmly.
The Doctor sighed heavily. This was indeed true. Turning back to the Master, he asked, "So what's the plan? Or are you just on a fishing expedition?"
Cal blinked, looking over at Jason in amazement.
"I know," the Alterran replied. "Eerie, isn't it?"
The Master waved a hand in their direction before helping the Doctor to his feet. "Enough from the pair of you," he said firmly. "We need to find Emperor Quinton and try to make him see reason. He may just listen to you, Jason."
The Doctor gave his companion an amused look. "What do you think Quinton's counterpart will be like?"
"I don't know," Jason responded. "What's the opposite of stone-faced calm? Me?"