Author's Note:

This story was written in 1989, ten years before the movie "The Martix" was released.

Chapter 49

The Cavern Matrix

The instant Shadra immobilized his body, the Doctor's conscious mind was projected in to the Cavern Matrix. He knew at once what had happened. He also knew there was no way he could get out on his own. With nothing else to do, he decided to make the best of a bad situation and started exploring. He was suddenly aware of the intense conversation going on in the computer room. It had all the earmarks of becoming a full-blown argument.

Gently, gently. The poor woman's been through quite enough already. So have I, come to that.

The interior of the Matrix was a fascination and the Doctor happily indulged his curiosity. With any luck, he might be even be able to sort out how to free Lady Tostine. He would let his companions sort out the explanations.

"Shadra, let him go!" Jason said insistently.

"I have! Honestly, I have," she replied, equally insistent.

Jason gave her a skeptical look and Shadra immediately lost her resolve. She had absolutely no idea how she had immobilized the Doctor, and it was to this she finally admitted, unable to change the fact that the Time Lord remained a living statue; unmoving, unblinking, expressionless.

Jason hesitantly touched his friend and was alarmed when no aura registered. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on what he hoped would be a normal scan, but this was not to be. The information he picked up completely baffled him and he opened his eyes, studying the paralyzed figure in bewilderment. "Why so far away?" he muttered softly.

Tegan did not like the sound of this. Nor did she like the odd look on the Prince's face. "Why what so far away?" she said firmly.

Startled, Jason gave her a puzzled look. "What? Oh! Yes, well…" He cleared his throat, throwing a quick glance at the Time Lord's silent form. "It's, eh…difficult to explain," he said vaguely.

Tegan was in no mood to be put off. "Try."

"Try," the Prince repeated. Taking a deep breath, he said calmly, "It's just that…when I touched him just now, there was no aura." Tegan's eyes grew wide and Jason held up his hands. "It's there, but it's very far away. It's not like when he withdraws—like I told you before. It's different. It's as if…as if…" He paused, searching for the right words. "It's as if his body were in stasis, but his mind is elsewhere."

"Elsewhere? You mean literally!" Turlough exclaimed. "Oh no, Jason, not again!" He came up beside the Alterran, giving the Doctor's motionless form a closer look.

"Well, all I can say is, it's as if he were here, and yet, not here." Looking up, Jason asked, "Does that make any sense?"

"Not a bit," Shadra replied crisply.

"You know…?" Turlough began slowly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was in a kind of trance."

"If you didn't know better," came the Doctor's amused voice from around them.

Still wandering through the Matrix, the Doctor was unaware of the fact that his companions could hear him. They exchanged a look that was a combination of amazement, relief, and consternation as he went on with his observations. "Interesting. A completely self-contained psychic amplifier. Interconnected. Perfectly balanced. An engineering masterpiece!"

"I don't believe it," Tegan grumbled under her breath. "Here we are, worried sick about him, and he's off enjoying himself."

"Doctor…?" Turlough called.

Turlough? Good grief, can you lot hear me?" the surprised Time Lord replied.

"We can hear you loud and clear, Doctor," Jason called back in bewilderment. "Although, I'm not exactly sure why."

"Ah, yes, well…" the Doctor said slowly, "I've a theory about that—"

Tegan cut him off. "Doctor, where are you?"

"Ah, that's a bit tricky. I'm in the Cavern Matrix, you see. And…I'm probably still standing in the computer room as well," came the unhelpful reply.

"I see. Well, thank-you very much, Doctor," the Prince said tersely. "That makes it all about as clear as mud."

"I did say it was tricky," the Time Lord chirped brightly. "You might say I've let my mind wander."

"He's as bad as you are, Jason," Shadra remarked, now completely confused.

Turlough exchanged a knowing look with Tegan. Wherever he was, the Doctor sounded perfectly happy and unharmed, meaning there was no reason why they could not look around themselves. The young man went over to the computer and opened an inspection panel, seeing at once that he had no idea where to start.

"How in the world are we ever going to shut this thing off?" Turlough asked, a bit overwhelmed by the enormous piece of alien technology. It looked nothing like the delicate printed circuits and memory chips he was used to.

"I'm afraid this one's beyond me, too" Jason confessed as he came up beside his friend. "This type of energy transduction really isn't my field."

"What is?" Tegan asked, having noticed the Prince seemed to know a great deal about everything they had encountered thus far.

"Getting into trouble," Shadra snorted.

Tegan giggled. "No wonder he gets on so well with the Doctor."

"Hey, just a minute…" Jason protested, suddenly feeling out numbered.

"All right, that's enough!" snapped the Doctor. It had been a very trying two days and he was in no mood for squabbling. The rebuke shook the walls of the computer center and reverberated through the Crystal Cavern, silencing all present. "Jason, we need to centralize the power being drawn from the Matrix. Go and shut down the control console in the Crystal Cavern."

The Prince opened his mouth to reply, stopping when the Time Lord added acidly, "That is, of course, if you know the correct sequence."

Jason winced. It's your own fault. You're the one who said it wasn't your field. He turned to Shadra, a devilish look coming to his face. "You know, on second thought, Shadra, maybe you ought to leave him in there."