Chapter Seven

Just a Dream?

Turlough recounted the events surrounding the Doctor's collapse to the intrigued King Jason, who listened to each detail with an intensity that even Turlough found unsettling.

"Did the Doctor say anything after the temporal distortion hit?" the Alterran asked pointedly, receiving a shake of the head in reply. Unconvinced, he pressed on, "You're sure? Not anything? Even if it seems insignificant."

"He had a nightmare," Ace injected meekly.

Jason looked up sharply. "What?"

"Yes, that's right," Turlough confirmed. "He was convinced he'd seen a hole in Time."

"A hole in Time?" the King repeated slowly. "You're sure? Those were his exact words?"

"He called it a tear, too," Ace injected.

"Yes." Turlough concentrated to recall the exact words. "An enormous tear in the fabric of time. I think that's how he put it. He was afraid he was being dragged into it." Pausing, he added worriedly, "Jason, I don't think I've ever seen him as terrified as he was of that dream."

Seeing his friend's face darken further, Turlough scowled. "Does it mean something to you?"

"I'm not sure, yet. I'm still trying to figure out why it's happening at all. The TARDIS should be protecting him, so why isn't it?" Jason sat thoughtfully a moment. "Tell me. Was he doing any work on the telepathy circuits or communication systems? If they were left open—"

"Kamelion!" Turlough gasped.

The Alterran gave him a mystified look. "Kamelion?"

"He's an android. He was doing a diagnostic on the communication system and blew a fuse or something just before all this started."

Jason already knew all about Kamelion, but because of his suspicions surrounding the current situation, he did not reveal this to his friend. Things were already getting very complicated. "Is he still connected into the system?"

"Well, yes. I never went back to…" Turlough's voice trailed off when he saw the Alterran close his eyes in frustration. "Jason, what does it mean?"

"It means he's probably acting like an open window."

"That's impossible. All the safety—" Turlough broke off and groaned. "All the systems were knocked off-line when the TARDIS materialized inside itself."

"Which means it could be coming in from anywhere," Jason concluded. "Whatever you do, don't disconnect that android. If I'm right, then to close the window the wrong way could do more harm to the Doctor then's being done already."

"I don't get it," Ace said in bewilderment. "Why all this fuss over a dream?"

"I wish it were just a dream, Ace, I really do," the monarch replied soberly.

Ace exchanged a mystified look with Turlough, who asked, "If it wasn't a dream, what was it, then?"

"I'm almost positive it was a telepathic link of some kind. It's very likely he exactly saw what he said he did. The entrance to—" Jason's theories were interrupted by the arrival of Ace's Doctor, who greeted his visibly relieved companion and then took in the occupants of the room, breaking into a broad smile.

"Now here's what I call a Royal Flush," he chirped brightly. "An Ace, a King and a Knave; all in one hand." He received a chorus of groans in reply.

"And you, no doubt, are the Joker," Jason shot back smoothly. Nodding to the motionless form on the bed, he added, "Does that make him the Wild Card?"

"Not so wild at the moment," the Time Lord remarked.

"Don't be fooled by appearances, Doctor," the King said with a distinct edge to his voice. "This planet is a virtual ghost town." He stiffened visibly when his ward came to the door but said nothing, returning his gaze to the Doctor, who noted the reaction but was unaware of its implications. Instead he gave his Alterran friend an odd look, "What makes you say that?"

"I found a city a short distance from here. The buildings are crumbling on the outside, but look practically new inside. As if whoever owned them just walked away and never came back," the monarch informed.

"I came across something similar myself," the Time Lord informed. "Lots of greenery, but no animals inhabiting it." He glanced over his shoulder. "I did find your son and ward, however, and took the liberty of bringing them back with me." Blithely entering the room, the Doctor added, "I hope you don't mind. They looked so bored and I knew—" He broke off and put a hand to his head, staggering back a few steps.

Jason was instantly on his feet. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I feel very strange." With that the Time Lord promptly fainted. The astonished Prince Juris caught him as he fell, looking up at his father in shock.

With all eyes focused on the Doctor, no one noticed that Asta had also been affected by some sudden malady. She wavered a moment, closing her eyes and leaning heavily back against the door.

"Juris, quickly! Get him out of here!" the King commanded.

Needing no further prompting, the Prince swept the Time Lord into his arms and carried him from the room, Ace at his heels. From behind them, they heard the monarch call, "Take him to the console room and keep the door closed. It's his only protection now!"

"Protection from what!" Turlough exploded.

The King did not answer him, his gaze having turned to Asta, who was purposely avoiding looking at him. "Well…?" he said coldly. "Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean," she protested unconvincingly. "I told you I sensed danger—"

"Danger? Danger!" Jason was beside himself. "I'm not as big a fool as you think I am. The Doctor's body is completely out of synch from being dragged through his own time stream by a hamfisted amateur who's trying to pull him through a dimensional fissure."

"Jason, what are you talking about?" Turlough demanded, now completely out of his depth. "Do you know what's going on?"

"I do now. We're dealing with an enemy out of time." Jason held up a hand in anticipation the barrage of questions to follow. "Don't even ask, Turlough, because I can't even begin to explain it properly. We'll have to let the Doctor sort it out." With that, he started across the room.

"But what about this one?" Turlough called, pointing to the seemingly forgotten Time Lord on the bed.

Stopping at the door, King Jason glared pointedly at Asta. "Well?"

Lowering her eyes, she said sadly, "It's too late."

This was not the answer the monarch expected and he threw a horrified look across the room before grabbing his ward by the shoulders and shaking her. "Is he already dead?"

Receiving no reply, Jason shook her again, causing her to cry out. "Asta, is he already dead!" he demanded again.

"I don't know!" Asta cried, trying unsuccessfully to pull away. "No, I don't think so. The extraction's just taken place. That's why the Doctor's other self was affected."

Cursing under his breath, Jason shoved his ward roughly out of the way and strode out the door.

Now in tears, Asta called out in an insistent and pleading voice, "Jason, please, you must be lieve me! I didn't know this would happen! I didn't know!"

The King spun around and glared hatefully back at her, saying nothing, yet saying every thing. Too enraged to think of any suitable remark, he turned his back on her and stormed down the corridor.