Chapter Twenty-Three

"I Still Need Your Help."

"What!" Amanda was appalled. "Jason, I had nothing to do with your kidnapping. I swear it."

To her astonishment, the prince replied, "I believe you. I just don't think Tolan will. He's a good man. He's also a good security officer." Pausing, he corrected himself, "Actually, he's an excellent security officer. If he's running background checks, how long do you think it'll take before he finds out there was no Amanda Spencer until about three years ago?"

"Not long," came the meek reply. Shaking her head, Amanda started to laugh. Then she started to cry.

The floating figure slowly sank to the floor, only this time he did not remain there. His energy reserves completely restored, Jason got to his feet, crossing to the distraught physician and sitting down beside her. "I didn't mean it like that," he said gently. "I haven't been asleep all this time, you know. I've been thinking. Clearing my mind, as the Doctor would say. And if I'd had a clear head to begin with I never would've said the things I did. You could've killed me a dozen times over these last few weeks, and no one would've been the wiser."

"And you don't think I'm the one who tried to burn you out with that radioac—"

"No."

Amanda stared at him in blank astonishment, not sure what to think. "Jason, where am I supposed to go?" she asked finally. "I've no where to run."

"Is that why you stuck around even after you found out Curtis was the one behind this?"

Giving the Alterran a meaningful look, Amanda asked, "Do you really need to ask why I stayed?" She smiled in spite of herself when his large blue eyes widened in mock surprise and he said in playful alarm, "My dear woman, I'm a happily married man!" He was then truly amazed when she informed calmly, "I know. I've been keeping your wife posted on your progress since day one."

"I hope you didn't tell her about us or I'm really in trouble."

This remark brought another watery smile to Dr. Spencer's face. Things were already complicated enough without getting Jason's bride of two years involved. "Don't worry, I didn't."

Following her gaze to the papers on the floor, Jason nodded knowingly. No one knew the dangers the implants could pose better than the woman beside him. "You risked an awful lot on my account, Andy," he observed soberly. "And I'm not sure I deserved it. I really have been a bastard to you, and I don't mean since I woke up, either."

"I thought I was in love with you back then," Amanda suddenly heard herself saying.

"No, you were in love with me back then," came the startling reply. "That's what made it so painful. I didn't realize it until it was too late. I just thought you were, well…"

"Spying for Curtis," she completed, adding, "Sleeping with the enemy, as it were?"

Jason gave her a guilty look. "I should've told you about myself sooner. And now I'm sorry I didn't. I really misjudged you."

Amanda let out a small sob upon hearing his, causing the Alterran to heave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, do stop crying, you silly female," he moaned. "I said you had to leave. I didn't say you had to run. I still need your help."

"How can I possibly help you now?"

With a smile of irony, Jason said, "You're going to have to bear with me on this, Andy, because…it's going to sound crazy."

When Jason finished his explanation, Amanda had to disagree with him. His plan wasn't crazy, it was downright dangerous. She could not, however, fight his logic, as he seemed to have worked out every detail. He had even come up with a safe place for her to hide until her "identity crisis" could be resolved.

Grateful to be given the chance she thought she had lost, Amanda went to find Turlough. Jason, in the meantime, went to change his clothes before going to the console room to wait for his friends. When at last they arrived, they could hear him talking to someone through the partially open door, but could hear no reply. Was he talking to himself?

"You're sure he's alright?" Turlough asked before entering the control room. The prince was standing beside the control console and turned as his friends came in. For the first time in weeks, Turlough saw the Alterran in full health and the sight made him stop short. Jason's face was no longer drawn and pallid, nor were his eyes marked with dark circles. He stood erect, his head high, his striking blue eyes sparkling with life once again. It would not occur to him until later that all of Jason's scars were gone. The only thing he thought had not changed was his hair, which was still snow-white. Turlough found himself wondering if this oddly maturing feature was what gave the prince the air of authority that suddenly seemed to surround him.

The astonished expression on his friend's face made Jason smile. "It's good to see you, too, Turlough," he said evenly, his voice strong and firm. "I know you have a hundred questions, but first, I need to know something. Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No."

Jason blinked, not having expected so immediate a response. "Don't humor me, Turlough. I need to know before we go any further."

There was a gravity in the voice that made Turlough's hair stand on end. He gave Amanda a sideways glance before turning back to the waiting Alterran. "Jason, I've told you this a dozen times over. I don't believe you're crazy. Period."

"What about the Doctor?"

Recalling the Time Lord's remarks in the Zero Room, Turlough lowered his eyes, his hesitation being answer enough.

"Until the facts are in, he's not sure," Jason guessed, receiving a reluctant nod. "That's all I needed to know." His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the young man. "But you. You really are sure, aren't you? And you always have been. Why?"

Turlough shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He could see the shadow of the king that Jason would become in the face of the Crown Prince standing before him. Was it this very experience that had made him so serious in the future? Could he answer without distorting that very future?

After a long pause, Turlough said, "I'm sorry Jason. I can't tell you."

Dr. Spencer raised an eyebrow. "You certainly have a lot of friends with skeletons in their closets," she remarked aridly, she being one of them.

Nodding, Jason said absently, "Yeah. I could make a fortune with what I—" He broke off, his eyes widening. "No… It couldn't be as simple as that, could it?"

"There's only one way to find out," Amanda stated firmly.

"What? How?" Turlough wanted to know.

Jason held up his hands. "One step at a time. First, you need to know about Amanda's skeleton." Drawing a deep breath, he announced, "She really is Xandora Legrand."

"What!" The appalled Turlough turned to the embarrassed physician, who purposely avoided his gaze. He turned sharply back to the prince. "Jason—!"

"Don't even think it, Turlough," the Alterran prince admonished sharply. "She had nothing to do with what Curtis did to me. I don't have time to go into it now. You'll just have to take my word for it."

"Jason, even if I do believe you, nobody else will."

"I know. That's why An—I mean Amanda," Jason corrected, adding, "It's going to take a while for me to get used to that."

"Just as long as you don't call me Zannie," Amanda said sourly. "I hate that."

"I won't call you Zannie, if you don't call me PJ."

The prince received a puzzled look from his friends, but did not elaborate, saying instead, "Anyway, Amanda has to leave before Tolan finds out who she is and decides to shoot her as a spy."

Amanda gulped. "I think I'd rather be arrested."

Jason gave a brief smile and then looked the vexed Turlough in the eye. "And you and I have a job to do at Curtis's Research Center."

Amanda laughed at the horrified expression this induced. "And believe it or not, that's not even the crazy part."

While the prince went over the details of his plan, Amanda went back into the isolation room. She returned some time later with a computer disk that she placed on the console beside Jason who was setting the coordinates for the Research Center. After wishing the others luck, Amanda left, her immediate goal being to elude Tolan's security team before she was found out. Jason did not reveal her final destination even to Turlough, thinking it safer if no one other than himself knew to where she was staying.

By this time the thoroughly confused Turlough was not sure who was crazy anymore. Jason for thinking his plan would work, or himself for agreeing to go along with it. He watched on the viewer as Dr. Spencer left the TARDIS and was puzzled when she suddenly hid behind the desk. The reason became apparent when the Doctor entered the isolation room.

"Jason!"

The prince looked up, a pained look coming to his face. "Sorry, old friend," he muttered and hit the dematerialization switch. The time rotor lit up, rising and falling as the TARDIS took flight.

The appalled Time Lord watched in disbelief as he beloved police box suddenly vanished before his very eyes. Recovering himself almost immediately, he made straight for the communication room.

Relieved, Amanda came out of hiding and slipped out the door making for the Foundation's shuttle bay and the ARGO, Jason's forgotten spaceship.

In the Sorenson Mansion, the Commander was annoyed when the radio suddenly interrupted his concentration, his annoyance quickly fading when he learned of the disappearance of the TARDIS, which he thought safely locked away in the isolation room.

"Who was inside when you left?" he asked, feeling his heart in his throat when he heard the Medical Officer's name. Then Jason's panic-stricken pleas that he not be left alone with her returned to his mind and he felt his heart turn over.

Finding his voice at last, Tolan said, "You'd better get up here, Doctor. I've found something even worse, but I don't want to broadcast it over an open channel."