Chapter Seventeen

"Now, Doctor."

The Doctor wasn't sure what he was expecting when the cloud completely enveloped, him but he knew it was not the feeling of absolute benevolence he experienced instantly. Beyond a shadow of a doubt he knew this being meant him no harm.

"Now, Doctor," Asta commanded, bringing the Time Lord out of his daze. "Go now while he's distracted. I don't know how long the window to your universe will stay open."

For the first time since his capture, the Doctor was reluctant to leave. "I look forward to the time when we actually meet."

"Just remember, I'm never more than a thought away," his rescuer replied cryptically. "Now, please, go!"

The Doctor took a deep breath and closed his eyes, reaching out with his mind to the other self he hoped would be there. To his astonishment, he was, the contact clear and strong. A split second later he was in the midst of the chaos that was the inter-dimensional fissure. The hole in the fabric of Time he had seen in his dream. He struggled desperately to ride out the tempest, but as before the energies within the rift proved too powerful for him and he lost consciousness.

"How dare you!" Ormril raged as the Time Lord vanished. "I command you to return him to me."

"No," Asta said defiantly. "I've sent the Doctor back so he can be returned to his proper place in time. You can't change history. That would transgress the first Law of Time."

"What would you know of it? You're an extension of my will, nothing more."

"That's where you're wrong. I'm my own person now. Lady Asta, ward to the King of Tel-Shye."

"The King of Tel-Shye," her former Master jeered, practically spitting out the name. "He's my servant, the weak-minded fool. It was by his hand you were returned to me. And by his hand the Doctor's future self was destroyed."

"I don't believe you!"

The self-proclaimed deity laughed. "The Doctor thought he could stop me by closing off the way to his TARDIS. But it was already too late."

"How?"

A monitor screen suddenly appeared from nowhere, replaying the confrontation in Jason's old room. There was, however, one major change. Since the window had closed just as Jason came to his senses, Ormril did not know the outcome and had created his own ending, this being the Doctor's death.

Asta was appalled. "It's a lie! Jason isn't a murderer!"

"He is now," Ormril stated flatly. His voice was suddenly deadly serious, "Enough of this. You will obey my commands or suffer the consequences."

The cloud of smoke was surrounded by the same red glow that had inflicted so much pain upon the Doctor, yet Asta remained completely unaffected. "Child's play," she remarked blandly. "Have you forgotten already that it was I who controlled all the power here? You're just an amateur."

"Am I?" Ormril snarled. "I managed to get your beloved King to steer you to Holdyan, didn't I?"

Asta knew this to be true even without having to verify it, suddenly understanding the feelings of foreboding she had felt in the ship. Then the Doctor and Jason's observations about no life on the planet's surface returned to mind. That would all fit if it really were Holdyan. It was not just any planet; it was Ormril's home world, the first of dozens that she, as his slave, had destroyed.

No, not destroyed, she thought, correcting herself. Sucked the life out of. That's what she had done, absorbed the life force of every living creature. And it was what Ormril would do if he were allowed to escape. Right then and there she swore to herself that she would never allow that to happen, even if it cost her her own life.

Inside the TARDIS, the visibly changed Juris was the only one with Asta's comatose form, the others being in the adjoining room waiting for some sign of success.

"It's been ages," Ace moaned impatiently. "How will we know if it's worked or not?"

"We won't," Jason replied darkly. "Only you and Turlough will know. If this fails, the rest of us will simply cease to exist."

Ace exchanged a horrified look with Turlough before turning to her Doctor, who was sitting in the corner of the room lazily leaning back against the wall and apparently unconcerned by the fact that he might simply vanish from existence at any moment. A small cry suddenly escaped him and he sat bolt upright, freezing like a statue, his wide eyes glazing over.

"Doc—" Ace broke off when Jason raised a hand. He went cautiously over to the motionless Time Lord, getting down on one knee and watching him closely, making certain the whole time not to touch him.

After a few very long seconds, the Doctor took a deep breath and came out of his trance a great deal calmer than the first time. Blinking several times to focus, he looked down into the King's worried face and smiled. "Contact."