Chapter Thirty

Memories

Despite her inability to fight off the Doctor's attack, Muriel's other skills were impressive. The Time Lord had barely taken hold of Turlough's hand when the mental link was established. Suddenly it was as though they had been transported into the Research Center's computer room, standing back as invisible observers. As promised, they saw the events exactly as they transpired.

The Doctor was stunned when he saw the physically restored Jason walk through the doors, seeing what his companion meant about his being himself again. The reluctant Turlough followed and as their conversation replayed itself the Doctor realized he had gravely misjudged his companion and threw an apologetic look in his direction. It was all too obvious the boy had not gone along with the Alterran's plan as wholeheartedly as he had assumed.

The speed with which Jason wrote the intricate satellite program amazed the Doctor, who could feel his friend's inner turmoil when the time came to transmit it, his hand hovering over the button. Even to destroy an invading enemy caused Jason to hesitate, for it still meant taking a life, or in this case thousands of lives. By this time, the Doctor was so caught up in the events playing out before him, he lost himself completely…

Jason slammed his fist on the computer, annoyed and angry with himself and his own morality. The door opened and he looked up, expecting Curtis Legrand to step through. To his amazement, a young girl entered and he leaned back in his chair and stared at her. She looked around the room, seeing the implants embedded in the extraction couch. "Oh, you took them out," she whined.

Jason was incredulous. "Who the devil are you?"

"A messenger," she replied sweetly.

Jason blinked. "A messenger? From whom?"

"The holder of your destiny," came the grandiose reply.

The Alterran's eyebrows went up and he folded his arms. "And they think I'm crazy," he remarked aridly.

The girl the Doctor assumed to be Andrea went on to say, "He said you'd come back."

"He did, huh?"

"Yes. I was to wait for you."

"And why's that? In case I discovered…oh say, an invasion plot, perhaps?"

"You weren't supposed to find out!" Andrea whined, stamping her foot.

"I didn't just find out. I'm putting a stop to it," the prince stated flatly. Before the girl could protest further, he demanded, "Alright, enough games. Who's really behind all this?"

Andrea obligingly told him that Legrand's original benefactor was her employer, who had always known the extracts were indecipherable. He had orchestrated and financed the kidnapping, but the ultimate goal having always been to gain possession of the transponder codes. Since Legrand would never have agree to something so trivial, the first phase of the plan had been engineered to simply discourage him and thereby make him more willing to listen, his reward being total control over the captive Alterran prince.

"And after he'd driven me insane, then what? Was I supposed to die on that abomination over there?" Jason spat bitterly.

"You were supposed to be rescued and taken to Alterrous. Why they kept you here on Aegis, I'll never know," came the baffled reply.

As a Healer, Jason knew the answer to this. If all he had heard about his condition when found was true, he was far too unstable to be transported anywhere. And at the Foundation he would still be under the protection of the Argonauts.

"So the invasion wipes out Alterrous and me with it. Was that the plan?"

"Yes. My master doesn't seem to like you any more than Legrand does," Andrea said matter of factly.

Jason could feel his temper rising and rose to his feet. "If he hates me that much, why didn't he come himself? Too afraid?" The next question went unasked. He knew he would not get a straight answer and could only guess at the identity of this mastermind.

Andrea snorted indignantly. "He has more important things to worry about. That's why he has servants."

"Servants like Legrand?" Jason hissed. "I'm surprised he didn't send him along with you."

"That fool? He's useless. He's gone completely over the edge."

"No kidding."

"Ever since you were rescued, he's become obsessed with ruining his daughter's life."

"What?" The Alterran's eye grew wide and he straightened. "So he's trying to destroy Andy instead of me now, is he?"

"Not instead of you. Because of you."

Jason was horrified, his blood running cold. "Is he going to kill her?"

"I don't know. Probably," Andrea replied vaguely. "She's his problem, not mine. Not a part of the plan at all."

"And neither is my stopping the invasion, is it?"

"No. The plan was for you to die." Suddenly this seeming child pulled out a handgun. "Now, you get to die a hero." So saying, she emptied the weapon into the aghast Alterran.

For Jason, high-energy weapons were no threat, as he was able to absorb their energy without effort. Old-fashioned projectile weapons were another matter entirely. He needed time to transmute into another form when they were used against him. Otherwise, they were deadly.

The bullets slammed Jason back against the wall, spinning his body around and causing it to jerk with each impact. It was not until his attacker ran out of bullets that he dropped like a stone to the floor. To his surprise, he did not lose consciousness and rolled painfully onto his side.

"Not dead yet!" Andrea said in annoyance as she came to stand over him. "I can't believe how hard it is to kill you."

Unarmed and completely helpless, Jason could do little more than watch as the assassin slowly and methodically reloaded the weapon. With an evil smile on her face, she brought it down to his temple. "Not going to beg for mercy?" she asked tauntingly.

Jason looked into her cold, emotionless eyes and swallowed hard. "Just get it over with," he whispered, closing his eyes and waiting for the inevitable. He heard her mutter, "So brave," in an approving tone. Then the gun exploded and he jumped, being even more amazed when he realized he had not been hit. He opened his eyes to see, to his added amazement, Muriel grappling with the enraged Andrea.

Muriel pulled her sister Mythryn away from the downed prince shoving her against the wall and knocking the gun from her hand. Cursing under her breath, Andrea promptly vanished.

With the immediate threat gone, Muriel turned her attention to the seriously injured Alterran. She knelt beside him, shaking her head. "Oh, PJ, what has she done to you?"

"Yo…you…saved me," Jason breathed unbelievingly. "Why?"

"Sssh, hush now," Muriel said softly, putting her fingers to his lips. "You must save your strength."

"But…you're not…"

"I know. We're not allowed," the Mythryn soothed, stroking his cheek. "We're not allowed to shoot people, either."

"What?" Jason gasped. "She's the one—?"

"Yes. Please forgive me. I never dreamed she'd go this far." Suddenly Muriel looked up as though listening. "You'll be alright now. Your friends are coming."

The prince could feel his strength ebbing away and leaned against the wall. "You must go."

"They won't be able to see me."

"Muriel, please…"

"PJ, I can't leave you. You need my help."

Swallowing hard, Jason insisted, "You must…stop her. Please…for me."

Sensing the others drawing nearer, Muriel looked up again. "I can't go without doing something."

"Nothing…you can do."

Thinking hard, she said at last, "Yes, there is. I can give you sustaining energy. It'll give you something to draw on until you get some proper help." Placing a hand on his bleeding chest, she sent a wave of energy through his body that would double his reserves for a short time. Picking up the gun, she said quickly, "I'll be back. I promise," and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"If I'm not dead…I'll be at…Starbridge," the prince whispered, closing his eyes the moment she disappeared.

A split second later, Tolan and Fane burst through the door. When the Doctor himself entered the room, the memory link ended.