Chapter Twenty-Seven

Starbridge House

Even more surprises awaited within Starbridge. The group arrived at the main door to be admitted without question, the wounded Prince Jason being taken to an examining room where Roxell, the resident Healer, was waiting. The puzzled travelers were shown to rooms that had apparently been prepared in advance.

"It seems we were expected," the Doctor remarked to the others. The servant indicated their rooms, going on to say that a change of clothes would also be provided.

The Doctor was taken aback by this, not having realized until that moment that, save for Turlough, they were all covered with blood. He accepted the servant's offer, going on to arrange to meet the others in the downstairs waiting area once they had gotten cleaned up.

Tolan and Fane went to their adjoining rooms where they went over the security measures that needed to be taken. The Commander had the Lieutenant discreetly contact Tel-Shye's Royal Guard to have a small security force sent to assist in securing Starbridge until his own team of Imperial Guards arrived.

Tolan arrived at the waiting room the same moment as the Doctor and Turlough. It seemed an eternity before anyone came to tell them what was going on. Finally a nurse appeared to inform them, not to their surprise, that Prince Jason had been taken into surgery. She handed the Doctor a paper, informing, "Healer Roxell insisted that I give you this and tell you the implants have been removed."

The Doctor stared unbelievingly at her. "That's impossible!" he gasped. "They're inoperable."

"As you can see from the image, there are no foreign bodies of any kind in Prince Jason's scull."

From his place across the room, Turlough informed softly, "He pulled them out."

The mental picture this conjured up made even the Alterrans shudder.

"I'm sure you already know the surgery will take some time," the nurse went on. "Healer has ordered a meal prepared for you and suggests that you wait in the library. You'll be able to use the communications station there, Commander. It's the only one in the house set up for secure transmissions."

Glancing in the direction indicated, the Doctor hesitated, remembering the library to be one of Jason's favorite rooms, which was probably why it was the only one with a security set up. He was unable to refuse, however, as Tolan was already out the door and making his way down the hall.

Lieutenant Fane was already in the library, accompanied by three Royal Guardsmen. He informed his commanding officer that Tel-Shye's Royal Guard had put out a priority call to King Aaron, informing him of his son's whereabouts. As fate would have it, this was one of the rare occasions when the monarch was not on Tel-Shye. Tolan gave a satisfied grunt before ordering a security sweep of the area, to be followed by a continuous patrol.

While all this was going on the Doctor was silent and benignly wandered the room. His mood changed dramatically the instant the door was closed and Turlough realized he had not been spared the Time Lord's wrath after all. He had only been given a brief reprieve.

"I want an explanation and I want it now," the Doctor demanded.

"Doctor, I—"

"What were you thinking!" the Doctor exploded. "You were supposed to be looking after him, not chasing after shadows!"

"We weren't chasing shadows!" his companion objected. "We were chasing after Legrand. Jason thought he could find out who hired him."

"How?"

His companion shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "By going into the computer and running through the logs."

The Doctor gave him a blank look. How did Jason expect to find out what he, Constance and Tolan had been unable to find in weeks of searching?

"By using the implants to go in mentally," Turlough informed hesitantly. "He switched off all the security protocols so he could link into it through the extraction helmet."

The Doctor was horrified. "He what? And you let him! How could you be so stupid?"

"Why? Because I don't think he's a raving lunatic?" came the forceful reply. "He wants to find the man who made his life a living hell and then tried to kill him. Is that so crazy? I don't think so. If he'd told you his plan, you'd've thought he was mad, wouldn't you? But he's not mad, Doctor. You didn't see him after he left the Zero Room. He was himself again."

The Doctor opened his mouth but was cut off.

"I know what you're going to say, but you're wrong. Jason did find something. More than even he suspected." The young man went on to tell of the invasion force currently amassing at the Alterran border.

The Doctor was beside himself. "Is there anything else you may've overlooked telling us until now? An assassination plot, perhaps?"

His companion responded with a dark look. There was a great deal more he desperately wanted to tell, but he did not want every detail met with hostility.

The appalled Commander was already at the communication link in the corner of the room. It took him only a minute to access the satellites' long-range surveillance system. "They're on the move. Just coming into range," he announced, seeing the fleet on a direct course for his home world. "How do they expect to get through the Outer Boundary?"

Turlough cleared his throat before saying quietly, "By using the transponder codes Legrand got out of Jason's head."

"What! They have all the codes!" the horrified Commander gasped.

"Jason said they know everything he knows. And, apparently, he knows them all."

"We'll never get them all changed before they reach the Outer Boundary."

"Jason wrote a program he said would take care of that," the young man informed, adding hesitantly, "At least, he hoped it would."

"Great," the Alterran officer sighed. "Any other encouraging news?"

"Don't ask," the Doctor injected darkly. "We learned this little tidbit when I asked the same thing, remember?"

His companion scowled, choosing not to respond.

Tolan rolled his eyes, turning back to the terminal. "I'll contact the Emperor. There still may be something he can do."

Turlough sighed and turned hesitantly back to the Doctor. The look he got in return made him shudder. He never felt in more trouble than he did at that very moment.

"Come over here," the Time Lord hissed.

Were it anyone other than the Doctor, Turlough would not have complied. Nevertheless, he knew, in spite of his obvious anger, the Time Lord would not strike him, even though he seemed very tempted to.

"What did you mean about finding Legrand?" the Doctor asked quietly.

Relieved to finally be asked a question in a normal tone of voice, Turlough tried to reply in the same way. "Jason thought the android was sent to throw you off."

"Why?"

"Because you never went back to the Center after it showed up. Someone's been there, too, because I tore the place apart and couldn't find the extracts you told me about."

The Doctor stared into space. It had never occurred to him the android might have been a red herring. How could he be so stupid as to leave the Center wide open like that? To his relief, Tolan informed him that he had sent Fane to collect the extracts the day after they returned to the Foundation. "They're all safely locked up in Constance's study," he said calmly.

"I'm glad one of us thought of it," the Time Lord remarked.

With a wry smile, Tolan said, "I better've thought of it. Leave or not, I'm still Head of Imperial Security on Alterrous."

A servant arrived at that moment to announce that dinner was served. The three exchanged glances, none of them especially in the mood to eat. They did so anyway, however, as it seemed an absolute certainty it was going to be a very long night. Turlough was glad to have his interrogation put on hold for any reason. But once the meal was over, the trio returned to the library and the questioning resumed in earnest.

"Alright, Turlough, out with it," the Doctor said coldly. "What was the plan? And I mean the whole plan?"

"Doctor, I've been trying to tell you, but you won't let me," his frustrated companion replied. "Amanda—"

"Amanda!" the Doctor groaned, rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me she's in on this, too? No wonder Jason got himself shot."

"She wasn't even there!"

"She wasn't at the Foundation, either," Tolan injected. "Believe me, we looked. And the Research Center is only about a sixty kilometres away. She could've used a transmat to cover that short a distance."

"Why bother? She could've killed him at the Foundation any time she liked. But she didn't."

"No. But a mysterious stranger suddenly appears out of nowhere to do the deed at a location only you and she knew about," the Commander snapped acidly.

"I don't care what you say, Tolan," Turlough replied defiantly. "Jason doesn't believe she's involved, and I believe him, even if you don't."

The Alterran officer gave him a cold and angry look before going to the communication link. "I'm afraid I have to go by evidence, not anyone's beliefs, including HH's. He's not infal—" Tolan broke off and scowled down at the screen. There was a priority message waiting for him and he read it in bewilderment, turning back to the others. "The Emperor has ordered a security blackout on all information pertaining to HH's whereabouts. And—he wants Miss Legrand held at Starbridge." Exchanging a puzzled look with the Doctor, he asked, "Do you ever get the feeling everybody knows what's going on but you?"

"Yes. And I don't like it." The Time Lord turned pointedly to his companion, who reflected on the irony of this remark. Usually it was the Doctor who knew what was going on and everyone else who was in the dark.

"If you'd both stop interrupting me," Turlough said in exasperation, "I could tell you what you want to know."

"All I want to know is where Xandora Legrand is," Tolan said coldly.

"I don't know."

"Why not? I thought she was a part of the plan."

At that moment the door opened and a familiar voice said, "What's all the shouting about? I thought all the action was in the medical wing."

To the astonishment of the men in the library, Amanda calmly stepped through the door.