Chapter 52

Escape

"He's gone!" Tegan gasped, going over at where Jason had been standing only moments before. She turned in shock to the silent Time Lord, who shook his head sadly. "Oh no," she whispered. "Oh, Doctor, no."

"Look!" Turlough gasped, pointing to the sunburst in the center of the room.

They did, seeing a ball of golden light growing in brightness at the center of the sunburst. It blazed brightly a few seconds, fading quickly to leave behind a slightly dazed yet very much alive Prince Jason. He looked over at his thunderstruck friends, asking, "Did it work?"

Only Shadra knew they had succeeded. Before being completely cut off, she had chosen to play it safe, teleporting Jason to safety before the final flare of energy surged through the crystal, which would have seriously injured if not killed him.

With the power crystal restored, the energy flow returned to normal. Power stopped flowing through the wires in the cage, and the energy barrier shut down. No longer restrained by the barrier, Shadra freed herself immediately, returning to her human form. All that remained of the web was a tangled mass of wires at her feet. Then she waited for someone to remember to come let her out. She could easily have torn the enclosure open, but preferred a more dignified exit, which she hoped would be soon.

The Doctor was the first to return, emerging from the tunnel to be greeted with Shadra's most enchanting smile. It was appropriate, she thought, that he should be the one to let her out.

Jason was the next to appear, taking the freed Shadra in his arms and holding her tightly, a stray tear rolling down his cheek as he kissed her passionately on the mouth. Tegan and Turlough joined the reunion and the Doctor stepped aside, setting to work on disconnecting the stolen computer component. Since he was in no great hurry to return to Gallifrey himself, he asked Jason to do the honors of returning the component for him. It was request the Prince amusedly agreed to.

It took the combined efforts of Jason and Shadra in their more powerful true forms to remove the bulky element without damaging it. Within a few minutes, they were gently placing it on the floor.

"I should think it'll be alright there until—" The Doctor broke off when a familiar wheezing and groaning sound filled the air. To the astonishment of all present, the component abruptly dematerialized. "Good grief, that was fast."

"The Time Lords!" Jason gasped. "They've known all along!"

"Possibly," came the bland reply. "It's more likely they didn't trace the unit here until after the Master and I exchanged places."

"And they did nothing to help you?" Shadra was appalled. "Why…that's terrible."

"No, that's typical," Tegan stated bluntly. She could think of several instances when the Time Lords had hijacked the TARDIS so the Doctor could solve one problem or another for them, each instance being very dangerous and very one-sided.

The Doctor shot her a reproving look, but only a mild one. She was, after all, quite right. "It would appear the Master was expected," he observed. "I wonder what kind of reception he had coming?"

"I know the one I'd've planned," Shadra said with a distinct edge of revenge to her voice. "Receptions are one of my specialties."

"Ye-es…" The Doctor winced, rubbing his bruised shoulder. "Remind me to stay on your good side from now on." Glancing over at the broken wreckage in the corner, he added, "And since you've taken care of the transmat, we'll have to walk back to the Palace. But then, I expect you wouldn't mind a nice walk, would you?"

King Aaron stormed into the Crystal Cavern, the Palace Guard at his heels. To his surprise he found, with the exception of the Doctor's TARDIS, the room was empty. Exchanging a baffled look with Captain Devron, the monarch entered slowly.

Devron noticed the entrance to the computer room standing open and stopped the King's progress. He did not like the look of this and drew his weapon, leading the way himself. They were halfway across the room when the Doctor emerged from the tunnel.

"Oh no, not you again," he groaned. "Haven't we been through all this once already?"

"Where's my son?" King Aaron demanded. "What've you done to him?"

"What've I…" The Doctor was nonplused. "My dear Aaron, I've done nothing, I assure you."

"Don't give me that! What's going on in here?"

The Doctor smiled broadly, his eyes growing wide. "Wondrous things."

Jason and Shadra stepped from the tunnel at that moment, crossing to the dumbfounded monarch. Tegan and Turlough followed, remaining with the Doctor at the tunnel entrance.

"Don't you just love happy endings?" the Doctor asked whimsically.

Tegan shot Turlough a conspiratorial look before saying, "I love any ending I survive to tell about."

The Doctor heaved an exasperated sigh. "Spoken like a true romantic."

Several days passed as the official inquires were compiled; the language in regards to the mind-bonding process purposely vague. In the Doctor's opinion, the Master was given a great deal more credit than he deserved, but in order to keep the dangerous process a secret, he was willing to let it go.

When the Crystal Cavern was sealed, the Doctor's TARDIS was sealed inside, which did not set well with the usually even-tempered Time Lord.

Now it was Shadra's turn come to the rescue. She was able to persuade the Chief Investigator to allow the TARDIS to be removed from the Cavern by subtly reminding the stodgy official that the Doctor was not just a guest of the King, but also happened to be the Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords. She pointed out that it would be unwise for the investigation to escalate into a diplomatic incident involving their oldest of allies.

Grateful for the return of his TARDIS, the Doctor decided it was time to make his own escape—before anything else came up! Although saddened by the sudden departure, his companions readily understood the logic behind it.

Jason found himself torn when the Doctor announced he was leaving. He yearned for the freedom of his once vagabond existence, but was bound by his commitment to his people. Shadra knew he had always regretted his decision to leave the Time Lord's company and told him she would not force him to stay. She would, however, wait for him to return. Without realizing, she had done the one thing that made up Jason's mind. The love and devotion of the woman he adored, and had almost lost, had just been given to him with no strings attached. How could he possibly walk away now?

The Doctor's companions filled him in on everything that had transpired during the Master's impersonation and he was impressed at how Jason had been able to set aside his own immense grief in order to comfort and support Tegan. It was this that convinced the Doctor that he no longer needed to worry about his friend misusing his formidable powers. Jason had always tried to conceal his gentle, caring nature behind flamboyance, but it came through anyway, despite his efforts. The Doctor felt certain that if the Prince were to refine the powers he had already mastered, he would be a leader of preeminence. Now all he had to do was convince Jason of this.