Chapter 41
The Best Laid Plans…
"Well, that's the last of it," Turlough announced as he reentered the console room of the Master's TARDIS. "Unless you can find anymore, Doctor, everything's been shredded." Since their arrival, he and Tegan had been removing documents steadily, taking them to the Doctor's own TARDIS and destroying them.
"Good, good, good. Excellent, in fact," came the muffled reply from beneath the control console. While his companions had been busy removing the paperwork, the Doctor had been busy with his contingency plan. Since his adversary was a proficient escape artist, he wanted to be ready just incase he managed to get to his TARDIS.
The Doctor appeared from under the console just as Tegan returned carrying a decanter. She looked around the room and then asked, "Where do you want me to put this?"
The Time Lord did not seem to hear her. Giving the controls a quick once over, a small chuckle rumbled from his throat, a grin spreading across his face. That will keep him guessing, he thought and went over to a table from which additional paperwork been removed. "Well, that should take him a while to sort out," he said gleefully out loud.
"What've you done?" Tegan inquired.
The Doctor was already at the table, pen and paper in hand. "Oh, a little of this, a little of that," he replied vaguely, waving the pen in the air.
Tegan stamped her feet in annoyance. "Oh! Doctor, you can be so—!" She cut herself off when the Time Lord turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised above amused dark eyes, an almost devilish grin on his face. This was the first time she had called him by name. "Irritating?" he suggested helpfully.
Tegan could feel her face becoming very hot and was glad when the Doctor turned back to finish writing his note. She chose to ignore the smirk on Turlough's face.
The Doctor asked Tegan to place the decanter beside his completed message, another devilish grin coming to his face. It suddenly occurred to him that this was the first time since the exchange that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Looking up, he said happily, "Now, Tegan, I believe you wanted to know what I've done. Well, to start with, I've activated the TARDIS's pause control. As soon as the Master closes the doors from the inside, his TARDIS will dematerialize." Then he, too, vanished through the double doors.
The Doctor waited for his companions to exit the camouflaged craft, locking the door and pocketing the key. His enemy would only be able to gain entry after the process was reversed. Turning to the puzzled Tegan and Turlough, he went on with his explanation, "Rematerializing will be a bit of a problem, too, as I've activated a randomizer in the console's command circuitry. Anything the Master tries to enter will be thoroughly scrambled. I also switched around a few circuits, just to make things interesting." With a mischievous grin, the Doctor added, "He'll be halfway across the galaxy before he gets it all sorted out!"
The Master and the captive Prince Jason made their way to the Crystal Cavern along the beach. Despite his desire to reach his destination with all due speed, the Time Lord kept the pace slow and unhurried to give the appearance of two friends enjoying a leisurely afternoon stroll.
One witness to this performance was the Palace housekeeper, who was glad the convalescing Time Lord had finally come out of seclusion. There were schedules to be kept, and the fact that the staff had been banned from his rooms was throwing everything behind.
The housekeeper sent word that the suite was accessible, hoping it was not in the same state of disarray as Turlough's. Why everyone had to break so much glass in one night was beyond her. Later, she decided she would have preferred discovering another broken mirror. A hundred broken mirrors. Anything other than the shattered body of Baylore. The second murder in as many days.
King Aaron had also observed his son's progress along the beach, watching in trepidation from an upper story window. He jumped when Captain Devron arrived, having forgotten he had sent for him. Without going into details, the King told the astonished Devron that the Doctor and the Master had exchanged places, ordering him to arrest the bogus Doctor and bring him back to the Palace, in chains if necessary. Aaron was not about to risk the life of his only child to the likes of the Master, no matter how forceful the boy's determination.
Devron bowed and withdrew, relieved that the waiting was over. Now he could plan his attack.
The King returned his attention to the window, discovering, to his horror, that the Master and Jason were nowhere in sight.
Devron left the King's upper chamber and walked straight into pandemonium. It took several minutes before he could sort out any intelligible explanation. When he did, he was numb.
Recovering himself quickly, Devron ordered the area sealed and then went to the Doctor's suite. With immense sadness he examined Baylore's shattered body, a violent rage like none he had ever known rising up inside him. Baylore was more than just one of his men, he was a very old and dear friend. A friend who had joined the Palace Guard just to stay at Devron's side. A friend who had studied night and day for his most resent, and well deserved, promotion.
Now Baylore was another casualty, a life snuffed out by the Master.
A growl rose in Devron's throat, his face darkened as he reflected on how easily they all had been manipulated by the evil Time Lord. Not any more, he thought angrily. Now he knew the truth, and more importantly, he knew where to find him.
The Doctor studied the control console in the Crystal Cavern for some time before finally giving a resigned sigh. The configuration was so totally alien that any attempt on his part to operate it would be unwise. Where was the instruction manual when you needed it? "I'm sorry to say I'm completely unfamiliar with the Alterran's crystalline technology," he sadly to his companions.
"I'm sure you're completely familiar with this, Doctor," came his own voice from behind him.
The Doctor whirled around to see the Master standing at the entrance covering him with the TCE. A dejected Jason was beside him and shook his head warningly when his friend's inquiring gaze fell on him, both indications that something had gone dreadfully wrong.
The Master advanced, motioning the Doctor and his companions away from the console and away from the Doctor's TARDIS. The battered Police Box stood almost directly across from the Master's own disguised TARDIS towards which they now moved.
Jason followed disheartedly behind the evil Time Lord, being startled out of his depression by an odd sensation. His strength was suddenly returning to him. He felt like an empty glass being refilled and glanced up at the rhythmically pulsing crystals. There was an odd little rhyme about them; a strange portion to the ancient legend about the Cavern and its origins. It had never occurred to him that it might actually be important, and now it seemed that it might be the most significant thing he had ever learned—but he couldn't remember it! Fighting off the Master's mental attack had scrambled his brain, leaving him unable to think straight, which both annoyed and frightened him. He had come to rely on his phenomenal memory, probably too much, and resolved at that moment to never again become complacent in his own abilities. That is, if he lived through this.
The Alterran was snapped back to reality when the Master leveled the compressor at the Doctor. "It would appear, Doctor, that I shall have to kill you outright after all."