Chapter 31
Hide And Seek
Jason had scarcely gone from the Master's room before the Time Lord started racking his brain trying to think of the most likely place for his enemy to be hiding. The Doctor had been at large far too long, and the erratic psychic link between them was becoming more and more difficult to control.
Stepping out onto the balcony, the Master surveyed the area, his eyes coming to rest on the Doctor's TARDIS standing alone and apparently deserted at the edge of the lawn. "Of course," he muttered under his breath, "the most obvious place." Waving to a couple of passing guards as he descended the exterior stairs, the impostor walked quickly to the battered Police Box. The door swung open when he touched it and he paused. Perhaps the Doctor hadn't reached his TARDIS after all. Or perhaps he'd left the door open to make it appear as though he hadn't. Taking no chances, the Master cautiously entered, TCE in hand.
The console room was empty. Using the computer to scan the interior, the Master was able to confirm that the ship was unoccupied. Fishing through the Doctor's coat pockets, he produced the TARDIS key with a grin and then strode through the exterior doors. He glanced around quickly before locking the doors behind him. With a satisfied grunt, he looked triumphantly down at the key in the palm of his hand. There's nowhere safe for you to hide now, Doctor, he thought gloatingly. Not while I had the only key to your TARDIS.
Or so he thought.
"Turlough, I must get to the TARDIS," the Doctor was saying insistently.
Turlough, on the other hand, was trying desperately to get the Doctor to rest. He only succeeded in getting him to sit down. It was all too obvious the Time Lord was very close to the point of collapse.
"There're too many guards out there," Turlough pointed out. "It's not safe."
At that moment the Master strode by on the balcony and Turlough peered through the drapes. He shot a frightened look over at the Doctor, who gestured that he follow. "He doesn't know you know," the Time Lord reminded.
The uneasy young man crept out, watching from the balcony as the pretender entered the TARDIS. Unsure whether he should wait or go back, Turlough decided to wait a few minutes. Just as he was about to go back, he saw the Master reappear and lock the TARDIS behind him. Turlough dashed back to his room while the Time Lord's back was turned and watched silently through the drapes until he had gone by again. It was then that he realized he was holding his breath and exhaled, turning to report what he had just witnessed to the Doctor.
Greatly relieved, the Doctor nodded approvingly. Now the TARDIS would be completely safe for him to hide in. "Turlough, I must get to the TARDIS," he said yet again. He was hoping the TARDIS would be able to afford him some protection against the mounting instability.
"How? The Doctor—" Biting off his own words, Turlough corrected himself before voicing his objection, "the Master—has the only key. And don't you dare tell me to go ask him for it!"
The Time Lord smiled. "He hasn't the only key, Turlough. Tegan has one."
"Tegan!" Turlough was stunned. Since when did she have a key?
"I gave it to her before you joined us," the Doctor said in reply to his companion's unspoken question. "It was on a whim." Well, a bribe, actually, he thought, recalling how he had given Tegan the key when the TARDIS materialized on an Urbankan spaceship during one of his many unsuccessful attempts to return her to London Airport. He had considered taking it away from her when she almost got him killed by taking off in the TARDIS on her own. Now he was very glad he had let her keep it.
Turlough suddenly realized what the Doctor was suggesting. "Hang on a minute. You want me to sneak into her room and steal it?" he gasped. It was not so much the idea of the thief that bothered him as the idea that Tegan might catch him at it. As good as he was at thinking on his feet, he was in no mood to tangle with the quick-tempered Australian. Not after what he had just been through with the Doctor. Unfortunately, there was no other way. The Doctor could not go himself, and his desperation to get to the TARDIS was becoming distinctly unnerving.
"Turlough…" the Time Lord began forcefully.
His companion held up his hands in defeat. "I know, I know. You can't go yourself." He received a relieved look in reply. "Alright, I'll go. But on one condition. You promise me you'll at least attempt to rest while I'm gone." Turlough returned the Time Lord's dark look with one of his own. "I'm serious. You'll never get to the TARDIS if you can't even stand."
Had he not been so preoccupied, the Doctor would have been amused by his companion's seemingly sudden show of concern. He agreed to his terms, waving impatiently for the young man to go. "You'd better lock the door," he instructed.
Turlough gave him a wry smile and left.
The Doctor watched him go and then sighed heavily, being greatly relieved to have the assistance of at least one of his companions. Despite all his protestations, Turlough wasn't nearly the coward he made himself out to be. Leaning back in his chair, the Doctor sighed again. Now he could relax—finally, he thought, feeling safe for the first time since his disquieting arrest. He suddenly realized he was completely exhausted and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.
Having prepared a suitable story in case he was caught, Turlough drew a deep breath and entered Tegan's bedroom, hoping she'd had the decency to leave the key out in the open with her other belongings. He went quietly over to the dresser, finding the TARDIS key carefully placed in a jewelry dish. With a grin, he pocketed the key and turned to leave, inadvertently bumping a table just as he reached the door.
Tegan sat up so quickly, Turlough nearly jumped out of his skin. "Who's there!"
"It's only me," he whispered, positioning himself as though he were peeking in the door.
Tegan switched on the light, causing the young man to blink against the glare, his eyes having adjusted to the darkness. "Turlough? What on earth…?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said in complete honesty. "I just came to see if you were alright," he then lied. "You were rather shaky before."
Tegan was struck dumb, thinking the youth's obvious discomfort was the result of her having caught him in the act of showing some actual concern for her. Well, what do you know about that? Turlough of all people! As soon as she found her voice, Tegan assured him that she was perfectly all right and silently marveled as he left. What next? she wondered. First the Doctor started acting strangely, and now Turlough seemed to have had a massive injection of humanity She did not think she could take any more weird behavior from anyone else.
She was wrong.
Turlough returned to his suite to find the Doctor was not sleeping as peacefully as he had earlier. The restless figure in the chair seemed to be fighting off an attack of some kind and Turlough wondered if he were reliving the process that had gotten him into this mess in the first place. He jumped when the Time Lord suddenly sat bolt upright, looking as if he were about to spring from his seat.
"Twice in one night," the young man grumbled as he crossed to the chair. He touched the Doctor on the shoulder, but before he could utter a word, the Time Lord seized him in a vice-like grip, dragging him to his knees. To his added horror Turlough realized the Doctor was still asleep.
"If you're not the Doctor, then I'm in big trouble," he muttered. He struggled to disengage himself, having to force himself to call the Time Lord by name. Even though he knew he would have to eventually, it still felt very strange. "Doctor, it's me, Turlough. Doctor! Wake up!" His rising panic came through in his voice as he discovered he could not free himself from the iron grip.
The Doctor blinked awake, shaking his head and focusing on his frightened companion. "Turlough…?" he said dazedly. "Oh, Turlough, I've just had the most horrible dream. An absolute nightmare." He released his grip on the frightened young man, who fell back to the floor. The Doctor leaned forward, putting his head in his hands.
Turlough looked ruefully up at the distressed Time Lord. There had been a time when he would have delighted in the Doctor's present torment, but that was no more. Those days were long past and he hated what he had to do next. "If it involved switching places with the Master…" The Doctor looked up sharply. "Then it was no dream."