CHAPTER FIFTEEN

PAWNS

There was a loud, ominous crackle from the console, the black within the void becoming, if it were possible, blacker.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Jason demanded. "Who was that?"

"Get into the TARDIS," the Time Lord said quietly.

"What? No!" came the defiant reply

"Jason, this isn't your fight."

"Like hell it isn't! My entire race is about to be wiped out. And yours too!"

The Doctor was looking deep into the void, almost as though he were being drawn into it. "No, that was just the bait to get us here. To get me here."

"And this is the trap?"

"Yes."

"Set by whom? Not Reed, surely?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, the Black Guardian."

Suddenly Jason realized something that hadn't occurred to him until that moment. "You've faced him before, haven't you?" he gasped. "That's what this is all about. It's a vendetta!"

"That's one way of putting it, yes," the Doctor said softly, a faraway look in his eyes. "Now, please, Jason, do as I ask. This isn't your fight."

Jason stepped back to scrutinize his old friend, throwing a quick glance back at the TARDIS. "Doctor, if an unstable time field is surrounding the TARDIS in the presence of an open time fissure, won't that mean—?" He broke off, suddenly realizing what the Doctor was watching for. Just as high and low pressure systems cause storm fronts to develop, the time field would draw more unstable energy towards itself. He turned sharply back to the endless blackness, seeing a point of light developing within.

"Doctor, we've got to get out of here before that comes through," Jason said urgently, taking the Time Lord by the arm and finally bringing him out of his daze.

"No, I need to shut down the computer. That's what's holding the time fissure open, putting it into flux," the Doctor replied, setting the timer on the Nitro-9 he had taken from Ace.

"What if it doesn't shut it down and puts you into flux? Can you afford to lose a few hundred years?"

"This is no time for debate!" the Doctor hissed angrily, attaching the can to the console. "Now do as I say!"

"No! I'm not going to let you kill yourself over some misplaced sense of gallantry! Now come on!" Jason grabbed the Time Lord in an iron grip, turning him around and pulling him from the console.

Suddenly a ball of energy erupted from the void. It struck the Doctor from behind and engulfed him, running up Jason's arms and causing him to recoil. He immediately released his grip, crying out in pain. The dazed Time Lord staggered back against the console, leaning heavily against it as he fought to maintain his stability within the time field.

Although dazed himself, Jason still had the presence of mind to realize what was about to happen. "Doctor, the Nitro!" His hands and arms felt as though hundreds of needles were stabbing them, the pain almost blinding him. Unsure how himself, Jason managed to fight forward the few feet necessary to reach the Doctor and drag him away.

Seconds later the console exploded, throwing the two across the room. Jason landed in the center of the room, sliding across the floor to within feet of the TARDIS. The Doctor was thrown into a relay pillar, his head striking the hard stone surface. He fell face down to the floor, unconscious.

Having watched the entire scene on the scanner, Ace and Juris flew from the console room; Ace running to the Doctor, Juris going to his father, helping him to his feet.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," Jason said impatiently, waving his son away. Looking up, he saw Ace at the Doctor's side. "Ace, don't touch him!" he yelled as she was reaching out a hand.

Crossing the room, Jason carefully turned his friend over, a pained and horrified look coming to his face. The Time Lord was aging rapidly, his features a blur within the unstable time field. Jason tried to lift him but found he did not have the strength, the growing pain in his arms causing him to wince.

"Father, what's wrong?" Juris asked concernedly.

"Arthritis," the former Healer informed darkly. "Never mind me, help me get the Doctor into the TARDIS. The time field is draining his life force. You and I can handle a few decades here or there, but Ace can't."

Needing no further prompting, Juris lifted the unconscious Time Lord from the floor, carrying him into the TARDIS where they hoped he would be protected. To Jason's dismay, the Doctor's condition remained unchanged.

"Jason, what's happening?" Ace demanded fearfully.

"I thought I knew. Now, I'm not so sure." Jason looked at his fast weakening friend, trying desperately to remember all he had taught him of temporal engineering and time theory. Shaking his head, he realized it was no use. He was a Healer, not a Time Lord. Medicine was what he knew best. "The sickbay," he said at last. "There may be something there to help him." And me, he thought darkly.

The captive Reed was seated in a metal chair beside the less substantial one Jason had used earlier. He was hoping he might be left on his own, which would allow him to escape. To his chagrin, he heard Jason say to Ace, "I need you to stay here—"

"No way! I'm staying with the Doctor," she protested.

"Ace, you're the only one who can operate the TARDIS," the Alterran shot back. Even his own raised voice was painful and he winced, blinking hard to try and clear his head. He moved to the navigational controls, struggling to force his stiffening fingers to set the coordinates. "If you see any change out there, or this dial goes into the red, get us out of here."

"What about him?" Ace asked, nodding at the glowering Reed.

Jason turned to look at the captor-now-turned-captive, a set expression on his face. "Tie him into the chair, if you like," he replied, "but he's not going anywhere. Are you, Reed? Possession is nine tens of the law, you know. And you're going to stay right where I tell you, aren't you?"

It appeared to the others that Reed met the Alterran's eyes almost fearfully before nodding slowly. "Yes."

"And if he doesn't, shoot him," Alex injected coldly, handing her the gun Jason had thrown across the room.

The sudden eruption of the energy field had taken the Doctor completely off guard. He had miscalculated its rate of approach, having thought he and Jason would be well clear before it struck. He had been able to hold his own against it while he was conscious, but when the console exploded, he was pulled through the layers of time that surrounded him, finding himself standing within the black void itself.

It took a moment before the Doctor realized he was inside the twin universe to the one he had encountered during his interview with the White Guardian. He looked around cautiously, wondering where the Black Guardian might be lurking. Far in the distance, a light started to glow and he braced himself, expecting yet another energy field. Then he noticed that it wasn't pulsing. Nor did it seem to radiate sparks. Unable to think of anything else to do, the Doctor moved towards it.

As he suspected, the light turned out to be the oasis within which sat the White Guardian. He was seated in a high backed chair identical to the one in the TARDIS console room. Across from him, in the pitch-blackness, was the Black Guardian, a smug expression on his face.

As he drew nearer, the Doctor could hear what the Guardians were discussing and was mildly surprised to find it concerned him. Apparently, there was some debate as to whether the Black Guardian had any claim on his life, or for that matter, had any right to declare a victory for the dark game he was playing.

"Chaos will envelope the cosmos," the Black Guardian was saying in his usual grand tone. "The Dark will prevail."

"That remains to be seen," the White Guardian countered mildly, his tone no different than when the Doctor had spoken to him. "The Doctor has yet to complete this game you have started."

Uncertain as to his role in this debate, the Doctor remained silent, acknowledging the White Guardian with a slight bow, the Black Guardian receiving a baleful look.

The Black Guardian looked steadily at the Time Lord and then went on as if he were not even there. He looked at his rival, a low growl rising in his throat. "The Doctor's life hangs by a thread," he countered coldly. "His friends do not have the knowledge, power, or skill to stop him from being destroyed by the time field. Concede!"

"Don't be too sure," came the patient reply. "Unlike those you chose to do your bidding, the Doctor's friends do not require outside direction or programming to complete their tasks. They can be quite resourceful."

"Even if he recovers," the Black Guardian scoffed, "there will be no mistaking the time ripple's origins. The reaction will be swift. Chaos will return! Darkness will again overtake—"

The Doctor could stand it no longer. "Oh, please! Spare us your speeches! Your own arrogance will stop you, not me. You've blundered somewhere. You always do. That will be your undoing."

Enraged, the Black Guardian rose to his feet and for the first time the Doctor felt the enormity of the power he was opposing and took an automatic step back. It was only then that he realized the only thing keeping the evil being at bay was the White Guardian and he stepped further back into the safety of the Light.

"When the game ends, Doctor, your life is mine," the Black Guardian snarled. "Make no mistake of that!"

The White Guardian raised a hand, his face still passive. "Would you end the game now…?" he asked mildly, stopping his opponent in his tracks.

"If?"

What the White Guardian said next almost stopped the Doctor's hearts. "If I concede to you the Doctor's life?"

As Reed predicted, the time signal immediately registered on the Alterran security system, the unique signature of the Doctor's TARDIS being recorded as well. Once it was identified (checked and double checked,) Commander Tolan took the information to the Emperor, who was still confined to the Sanctum.

"There's no mistake, Majesty," Tolan concluded. "It's coming from the Doctor's TARDIS."

"And no word from either them?" the Emperor asked weakly.

"No, sir."

There was a long silence as the gravely ill monarch mulled this over. "What do your instincts tell you, Commander?" he said at last.

"That it's a lie. The Doctor would never betray the Empire."

"He owes the Empire no loyalty, Tolan."

"I know he's a Time Lord, sir, but he's…well, emotional," Tolan pointed out. "He would see it as betraying King Jason, and that he would never do."

The Emperor's crystalline eyes glowed a little brighter. "I agree. Someone wants very desperately to get us into a war with Gallifrey, don't they? Why, I wonder?"

"Perhaps when we hear from—" Tolan broke off when one of the wall panels let out a beep, indicating he was being paged. He excused himself and went to answer the call, returning several minutes later.

"It's seems we were right, Majesty," Tolan said calmly. "A priority message from King Jason was just received confirming this to be a hoax. He even went so far as to use the new security channel so we would know the message was genuine."

Emperor Quinton heaved a sigh of relief. "Commander, as soon as communication is restored, send my appreciation to our allies for their restraint in this difficult time." Pausing, he added, "And add my commendation to the Doctor for his assistance on their behalf."

On Gallifrey, the time signal had also registered, causing a flurry of activity in the security section. An emergency meeting of the High Council was called to determine what action should be taken now that war was inevitable.

By the time all the Council members were assembled, however, the Doctor's message had been received, confirming his original statement that the Alterrans did not want a war. Someone wanted to start one, however, and he advised the High Council that he intended to discover exactly who that was.