Chapter 42

Confrontations

"No!" Tegan cried.

Turlough grabbed her arm, preventing her from going to the Doctor's side. He was desperately hoping there was a plan in all this chaos.

"I feel I must compliment you on the loyalty of your companions, Doctor," the Master said mildly, shifting his gaze to Tegan. "When only a short time ago, they thought I was you…"

Tegan could appreciate the irony of this remark all too well. She had gone out of her way to look after this impostor, up to and including serving him his own private breakfast. Now it appeared she was siding with his sworn enemy.

During this confrontation, the seemingly subdued Jason was trying to come up with a way of forestalling the torturous and seemingly inevitable deaths of his friends—not to mention himself. He needed time to think, as did the Doctor, who was currently drawing a blank.

"It's alright, Tegan," the Prince said evenly. "He has no idea what he's about to do." Jason shot a quick glance in the Doctor's direction, hoping his friend would realize he was trying to buy time.

Which he did, and received the warning with mixed feelings. More accustomed to leading than following, the Doctor prayed his former companion knew exactly what he was doing.

The Doctor was not the only one to have mixed feelings. The Master was having a few of his own, having thought the Prince to be completely under his control. He was irked by Jason's sudden, open defiance and baffled by his ambiguous statement. "You resist me, young Prince," the Master remarked as he moved behind his shackled prisoner. "You'll soon discover this to be a vain exercise. Just as the Baroness has."

The Doctor blinked; only one to realize the significance of the Master's statement. At first, he thought he had heard wrong. "Has?" he asked pointedly. "Not had, but has, present tense. Shadra's still alive!"

"Bravo, Doctor, you go to the head of the class," the Master purred, pleased that his rival had picked up the hint he had dropped intentionally.

"Alive!" Jason gasped. "But that's impossible! We found her body."

"No, you found a body," the Doctor corrected sharply, stressing the "a" pointedly. "The question is, whose was it?" He turned his gaze to the Master, their eyes locking in silent battle once again.

The significance eluded Jason, who looked from one Time Lord to the other. "What're you talking about?" he demanded.

The Doctor did not take his eyes from his opponent. "Did you scan the body you found?"

Jason shuddered before admitting that he had not been unable to bring himself to do so.

"Something you were counting on, I trust?" the Doctor observed blandly, receiving an evil smile in reply.

Jason struggled to take this in, struggling even harder to bring his thoughts together. If it wasn't Shadra, then who was it?No one was missing, and the only person to leave in the last day was Cedric when he transmatted…transmatted! Baylore was in charge of the transmat!

The Prince's jaw dropped open, his eyes growing wide as the pieces suddenly fell into place. "No," he breathed in disbelief, "not Cedric. Even you wouldn't be so crude as to…" His voice trailed off as a smug expression came to his captor's face.

"Congratulations, my Prince," the Master cooed. "I always knew you were as equally obtuse as the Doctor."

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard!"

"You seem to be of the same opinion as your fiancée on that point."

"Where is she?" Jason demanded, having completely forgotten his pretense of submissiveness.

"Not far," the Master replied vaguely. "You may even live long enough to see her again." Returning his gaze to his enemy, he said, "Not so for you, my dear Doctor."

Captain Devron returned to the security center to find the news of Baylore's abominable murder had already swept through the ranks. The entire Palace Guard was assembled and awaiting instructions. Not needing the entire complement, he handpicked a dozen of his most experienced men and dismissed the others.

Devron chose not to go into detail when relaying the King's instructions. He stated simply that somehow the Doctor and the Master had exchanged places. It was imperative, therefore, that the Crown Prince be located, as he had last been seen in the company of the impostor. King Aaron had ordered the Master brought back in chains if necessary, and the Captain was deeming it necessary. As far as he was concerned, the Time Lord calling himself the Doctor was not longer to be trusted.

"Won't this be a little difficult to explain to the High Council?" the Doctor asked evenly, adding, "My Lord President?"

The Master smiled almost proudly as his adversary slowly untangled his scheme. "Do you really think anyone on Gallifrey will object to my having rid the cosmos of the Master?"

"So, you really are returning in my place. I thought as much. I knew you wouldn't've gone to all this trouble just to steal my remaining regenerations."

"In this case, Doctor, they're merely an added bonus," the Master replied, his voice hardening as he went on to add, "As you won't be having any further need of them." With that, he took careful aim at his helpless sworn enemy.

The Doctor fell silent. Having run out of options, he waited for the bulbous end of the compressor to glow as it released the ray that would kill him with agonizing slowness.

Jason, however, had been putting more pieces together. If Shadra really was alive, it was possible that the Master was controlling her in the same way he controlled Baylore, and possibly Cedric. He would have needed the transmat to get Shadra out of the Palace undetected, which made Baylore's cooperation, and silence, essential. Whether or not Shadra was currently under the Master's control was anyone's guess. One thing Jason was certain of, however, was that not long after the discovery of the shrunken corpse, the dizzy spells began. Since Time Lords were telepathic, the Master and the Doctor would have been linked together long before the process was initiated. Was it possible the Master's excessive telepathic activity in the form of mind control had caused of the accelerated deterioration of the link? The episodes were getting closer and closer together, and another must be due at any moment now.

Jason wondered if baiting the evil Time Lord into another battle of wills would trigger a surge of instability, thereby rendering him powerless. By the same token, it might also kill the Doctor, but what choice did he have? If he didn't do something, the Doctor would die anyway. And with Tegan and Turlough so close at hand, maybe, together, they could pull it off.

It was a big maybe.