Chapter Twenty-One

Zero Room

Amanda was stunned when she saw the tears welling up in Jason's eyes. "Don't let him break you, Jason," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "Just be glad you don't remember." She administered the drug and pulled down his sleeves. In a normal voice she said, "Now, just try to relax. It'll take a few minutes for that to work."

The prince nodded weakly, wiping the tears from his face. He knew the others would think they was due to the pain and chose to leave it at that.

Once the drug had taken affect the Doctor moved Jason into the waiting wheelchair and took him into the TARDIS. Amanda's reaction to the impossibly large interior was identical to the countless others to pass through the double doors for the first time. Once she recovered from the shock, she voiced her doubts on how one room could be more beneficial than another.

Turlough groaned inwardly as the Time Lord launched into an explanation of Zero technology and how it functioned to block out foreign signals. He had theorized the implants were somehow picking up these signals and because Jason was in such a weakened state and unable to concentrate, he was could not shield his mind to block the perpetual buzzing the signals caused.

Arriving at their destination at last, Jason turned to Amanda and said mischievously, "Now aren't you sorry you asked?"

The Doctor gave him a disapproving look, but was inwardly pleased his former companion's sense of humor seemed to be returning as his pain subsided. "This is a new Zero Room, Jason," he informed as he positioned the Alterran in the center of the room. "What do you think?"

"I think…I'm going to like it here," the prince sighed happily. He paused as if listening and then leaned back. "You were right, Doctor. The buzzing's stopped."

"And the pain?"

"Tolerable. The drug's still kicking in."

Dr. Spencer looked around the bare room in amazement and annoyance. Granted there was a tangible tranquility about the place, but it was seriously lacking in furniture. "Doctor, I thought you said HH would be able to recuperate in here."

"Indeed."

"He can't sit up the whole time," she objected.

Jason could not help himself and chuckled. "Don't worry, that's not a problem in the Zero Room." He closed his eyes and stretched out his legs, letting his head fall back. Drawing a deep breath, he relaxed, a few seconds later he slowly rose into the air. "I'll bet you didn't think I could do it, did you, Doctor?" he asked playfully.

The Time Lord did not reply, being too amused by the amazed expressions on the faces of his companion and Dr. Spencer, both of whom he motioned to the door.

"You're not leaving him alone, are you?" the appalled Amanda objected as she was ushered from the room.

"He's perfectly safe in the Zero Room," the Doctor assured as he closed the door. "No one can get to him now."

"But to leave him unattended—"

"Amanda, let him sleep," the Doctor said firmly. "In fact, you should get some sleep your self." He told his companion to show the Medical Officer to one of the guest rooms before dis appearing down one of the seeming endless corridors.

Before Amanda could protest further, Turlough took her by the arm. "Don't even bother," he sighed. "I told you, it's no use arguing when he's like that."

"Turlough, I can't abandon HH in some alien environment and hope he'll be alright."

"Do you really think the Doctor would leave him alone if he thought there were even the slight est possibility of something going wrong?" Turlough countered sharply. "I was sent along as a bodyguard, for pity sake."

Amanda sighed heavily, accepting defeat. Or so she wanted it to appear. She allowed her self to be led to one of the guest rooms where she waited until she was certain Turlough had gone. Peeking out the door, she then crept out and made her way back to the Zero Room.

In the Sorenson Mansion, Constance went to her study to find Commander Tolan pouring over the findings his security team had brought with them. There were papers and laser disks heaped in a pile on one side of the desk, while the other side was a contrast in total organization; neat little piles in equally neat little rows.

"Tolan, what on earth are you doing to my study?" Constance asked as she entered.

Ignoring the question, he asked, "You run security checks on everyone who works at the Foun dation, don't you?"

Miss Sorenson was completely thrown by this unexpected inquiry. "What?"

"Background checks, security clearances, that sort of thing?"

"Why on earth do you want—?" Constance broke off. "It's that transmission again, isn't it?" Not waiting for a reply, she reached across and accessed the Foundation's security files containing the background checks of all personnel, past and present.

With a wry smile, the Commander asked, "Are you in there?"

"No," came the icy reply. "And neither is Turlough. Does that make him a suspect, too?" Pull ing up a chair, she asked in a normal tone, "Who, or what, are you looking for, anyway?"

Tolan tapped a folder bulging with papers. On top was a handwritten list of names. "There are a few people here whose background info doesn't jibe with what they've told us. I want to know about them first."

Constance glanced at the list of names and looked up. "Tolan, not all of these people were Argonauts."

"I know." Turning back to the computer, he asked, "Do you have to access by file number, or can I do it alphabetically?"

Miss Sorenson stared at him in blank astonishment. "Tolan Diondra, I can not believe you sometimes. I thought I was the cold-blooded one, but you take the cake. You were looking for a spy in the group, not my staff."

"Connie, my obligation to HH goes way beyond the Argonauts. You, of all people, should know that."

"Yes. But it doesn't mean I have to like it."

Tolan's eyes flashed and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Not everyone involved with the Argonauts were volunteers. Especially at the beginning. You brought in some of the staff to fill in the gaps, remember?"

"Ye-es," came the defeated sigh.

"Now, about the files…" The officer gave her his best puppy dog look. "Please?"

Constance gave him an amused sideways glance and rolled her eyes.

"Pretty please," Tolan said in a playful tone that would have shocked nearly everyone who knew him.

"Sweet talker," she quipped, receiving a broad smile in return. "Would it be foolish of me to ask why you haven't looked to see if HH has any info on these people in his memory extract?"

"No, actually, it wouldn't," the Commander replied. "Once Turlough got the information separated, we found out there was no index, if that's the right word. A person or event is set up as a kind of key in the memory block with everything pertaining to it is in a subroutine. The amount of information is so vast it'll take days just to sort it out. And finding a single individual could take hours without the right header."

"I found us."

"That's because we were all under a subroutine with the Doctor as the key. And he was at the beginning of the disk. The person we're looking for won't be there, otherwise the Doctor would know them." Glancing over at the bulging file, Tolan admitted, "I'd ask HH if he were stronger, but right now, I'd rather he didn't know what I was up to."

Miss Sorenson nodded, returning her attention to the computer. "I think your best bet would be to access the files alphabetically."