Chapter Twenty-Eight
Under Arrest
"What are you doing here?" Tolan demanded in a rare display of anger.
Amanda's eyebrows went up. "And hello to you, too, Tolan."
"Amanda, he knows who you are," Turlough informed warningly. "And he thinks you're the one who shot Jason."
"What? That's ridiculous. I've been here since this morning. You can ask Roxell."
"Why?" the Commander demanded.
"Why? Oh, for goodness sake, Tolan, don't pretend to be stupid, it doesn't suit you," the physician snapped impatiently, her condescending tone astonishing him. "Jason sent me here to hide from you."
"There, you see!" Turlough exclaimed. "Jason told me—"
"Jason told all of us," the Doctor cut in sharply. "We just didn't believe him."
"I'm glad you didn't or I never would've been here to save his life," Amanda informed bluntly.
"What?"
"I came down to tell you he survived the surgery—just—and is in the recovery room just inside the medical wing."
Tolan was incredulous. "You took part in the surgery!"
"You could say that. I performed it. I am a surgeon, Tolan, even if—" Amanda broke off, taking an automatic step back when the officer advanced menacingly. "Tolan, for pity sake, I'm his doctor! Your Medical Officer, remember?"
"Be that as it may," Tolan said coldly, "I'm still sworn to protect him. Until all the facts are in, you are no longer my M.O. or HH's doctor. In fact, I can't allow you anywhere near him."
Amanda felt a knot the size of a watermelon in the pit of her stomach when she saw his hand moving towards his gun. Throwing a frightened look in Turlough's direction, she said shakily, "And I thought Jason was kidding when he said he'd shoot me."
Tolan made no reply, his hand resting atop his weapon. He drew himself to his full height of nearly two meters, his face cold and stone-like.
"If I'd wanted to kill him, don't you think I'd've done it by now?" Amanda said reasonably, echoing Turlough's earlier statement.
"I'm not entirely convinced one way or the other," came the evasive reply. This, in point of fact, was not true. Tolan had come to rely on his instincts, and he had a gut feeling she was telling the truth. He could not allow this to get in the way of his duty, however. At least, not yet.
Turning to the scowling Time Lord, Amanda said desperately, "You were there, Doctor. Jason had plenty of time to tell you about me when you took him to the Zero Room."
"I do recall his being rather hostile towards you at the time," he replied icily.
"Do you also recall his allowing me to give him a pain killer?" Amanda asked pointedly. "Do you really think he'd've done that if he thought I was the one drugging him senseless?"
The Doctor gave her a startled look, the incident having slipped his mind entirely. "No, I don't suppose he would."
"Well, Commander?" she asked, turning back to Tolan. "What do you say to that?"
As usual, the Commander's face revealed nothing of what was going on in his mind. "I say you could be telling the truth," he replied blandly. "Or I could say you were trying to win him over in order to betray him later on."
"But I didn't!"
"The decision isn't mine, whatever I may think," Tolan went on calmly. "I'm only—"
"He's only doing his job," came Constance's voice from the communication link. "My Lord, I haven't heard that in a long time."
Spinning around, the Commander stared at the screen. "How did you get this broadcast frequency?" he demanded.
"My, my, aren't we touchy today," Constance quipped. "You called me, remember? I got your message and was calling to tell you the ARGO is missing, but you obviously know that already."
The Commander threw a questioning glance back at Amanda, who informed, "That's how I got here."
"Tolan, what the devil's going on?" Miss Sorenson demanded. "Why are you suddenly so cloak and dagger after all this time?"
"HH has been shot."
"What!" Constance gasped, a hand going to her mouth.
Dr. Spencer took a tentative step towards the screen. "If I may…? I can fill you all in on his condition."
Tolan considered a moment, saying at last, "Go ahead."
The gist of Amanda's report was that Prince Jason was hanging on to life by a thread. Once he was out of recovery, Roxell planned to move him to his old bedroom on the top floor. If his condition did not improve over the next several hours, it was very likely he would die there.
After a long pause, Tolan squared his shoulders and looked coldly at Dr. Spencer. "I want an explanation."
"Of what?" she asked, thinking he meant of her run down of the prince's condition.
"Why did you lie? If, as you say, you had nothing to hide…"
Amanda bristled, returning his look with an equally icy glare. "Just because Jason and I have a history doesn't mean I owe you an explanation, Tolan. I've explained myself to him. And he's the only one I own one to."
"Wrong," came Constance's authoritative voice from the communication screen. "I hired Amanda Spencer, not Xandora Legrand."
"You didn't hire me, Constance, Thorson did," the physician corrected sharply. "All he cared about were my qualifications, and I didn't lie about those."
"You still lied about who you are, Miss Legrand," Tolan cut in sharply. "And my orders are to take you into custody."
Despite the fact that she had known the Commander for several months, Amanda still felt a wave of panic wash over her when he bore down on her. She knew he worked closely with Prince Jason and had learned that his loyalty went beyond a professional level. She therefore expected him to hurt her, clamping down on her arm with vice-like force or twisting it behind her back before dragging or shoving her from the room. To her amazement, he did none of these things. Tolan's grip, while powerful, was not painful, nor did he rough her up in any way. Despite his obvious anger he was still an Alterran, his true nature repulsed at the thought of inflicting violent (and unnecessary) harm upon her.
"Doctor, you've got to do something!" Turlough objected as the protesting Amanda was taken away.
"He won't hurt her, Turlough," Constance informed knowingly. "He'll only scare her. He's very good at that."
The Doctor nodded, knowing she spoke from experience, she having once been arrested by the Commander herself. "You'll have to keep Jason's whereabouts to yourself, Constance," he said soberly. "The Emperor has ordered a security blackout, and to be frank, I'm astonished Tolan just violated it."
"That depends on your point of view. Since Aegis is out of his jurisdiction, I'm kind of his liaison here. He left a stack of things for his men to do while he's—" Interrupting herself, Constance asked quietly, "Is he taking her to Alterrous?"
"No. Oddly enough, the Emperor has ordered her held at Starbridge."
The critically injured Jason's mental stability suddenly seemed inconsequential as he hovered between life and death. The Doctor insisted on watching over him during the night, which as far as anyone knew might well be his last. Only the beeping of the prince's life support monitors broke the silence of his vigil.
For a long time the Doctor stood at a large sliding glass door gazing into the night. It was a rare night, Tel-Shye's twin moons full and high in the sky. Far in the distance he could see the moonslight reflected off of the ocean waters and readily understood why his friend had chosen this room as his own. The Time Lord would have liked to go out onto the rooftop porch to take in the rest of the sparkling night sky, but knew better. The last thing that Jason needed was to be exposed to the unfiltered elements.
Tearing himself away from the tranquil scene, the Doctor took a seat in the easy chair near the glass door. Sighing heavily, he pulled out his half-frame glasses and put them on, opening the laptop computer on the table beside him. The compact unit contained the extensive dossier Tolan had accumulated on Xandora Legrand (a.k.a. Amanda Spencer) and he proceeded to read the document files. Or at least, he tried to read them. It had been a very long day, and even though he was a Time Lord and did not require the same amount of sleep as humans, he was not immune to fatigue. Eventually he dozed off.