CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

BACKLASH

The Time Lord sprinted the remaining distance to the console room hesitating a moment at the inner door before slowly opening it. He saw Ace standing just on the other side nervously watching Juris, who stood at the open exterior doors, his back to her. The TARDIS had already materialized and was hovering several hundred feet away from the dome.

"I thought you'd never get here," Ace sighed relievedly as the Doctor entered the console room.

"Are you alright?" he asked, receiving a nod in reply.

"I didn't hurt her," Juris said in an almost injured tone. "I did frighten her, though. I didn't mean to…"

"Juris," Jason said as he slowly entered the room, "what are you doing? It isn't like you to go off half-cocked."

Sensing the fear and uncertainty of those behind him, Juris turned, an anguished expression on his face. He knew his father and the Doctor would oppose him, forcing him to use the power against them, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

"The temporal gateway is locked open," Juris replied softly. "Even the TARDIS couldn't break free. It's trapped in the energy field too. And when the field moves forward, it will engulf not just this planet, but hundreds—thousands—of others. No one will ever know it was all a lie. Gallifrey won't be able to stop it because they'll be too busy fighting with Alterrous."

"But we sent the message—" his father insisted.

"No, you only hope you sent the message," Juris corrected. "We don't know if it got out. And if it did, we don't know if it was believed. Our worlds will destroy each other over nothing."

"Juris, the energy required to redirect a time field of that magnitude will kill you if it gets out of control," the Doctor stated firmly as he crossed to the console to check the readings.

"I am aware of that," the Alterran Prince said softly. "So you'd better be ready to get us out of here when the dome goes up. I don't know what kind of a backlash the explosion will produce."

"No! This is madness. I won't allow it!" Jason thundered, storming into the room. He was halfway across the room when an invisible force stopped him, holding him immobile.

At the exterior doors, Juris stood with an outstretched hand. "I need your help, not your opposition."

Still at the console, the Doctor tried to take advantage of the diversion. While Juris' attention was focused on his father, he reached for the door lever. His hand was inches from it when he, too, was stopped by an invisible barrier.

"Please, believe me," Juris said calmly. "I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't!" his father snapped. "You've never had control of that much power before. What if it gets away from you?"

"As it did from you?"

The arrow found its mark. Jason stiffened visibly but made no reply, his eyes cold and angry.

"If you saw that in his mind, you'd've also seen he wasn't the one in control," the Doctor cut in sharply. "Even though he thought he was."

"And you think that's what's happening with me?"

To the amazement of all present, it was Reed who replied. "Of course they do. They have no choice. Otherwise they'd have to agree with the logic of your actions."

Still trapped in the force field, Jason said acidly, "We have a choice? We can't exactly stop him, now can we? Not since I was stupid enough to give him that sphere."

Stung by the remark, Juris lowered his hand, releasing Jason and the Doctor from the force fields. "If there were any other way you'd've thought of it by now." In a faraway voice, he said, "Strange, though. They talk of destiny. Fate. I don't know. But somehow I know I must do this. I was led here. I'm sure of it."

"Rubbish!" the Doctor snapped. "You came along for the ride."

"Yes! Remember what Asta said? Where do I fit in? It must be here. It must be!"

"Why?"

"Because…" Juris paused, admitting, "Because it's not like me to do this."

Jason caught his breath, his eyes growing wide. "No…" he breathed. "It's like me."

Before anyone could object further, Juris raised the Epsilon circuit and it started to glow, growing brighter and brighter. His face twisted in concentration as the ball of energy continued to grow until it suddenly streaked from the sphere, striking the dome. He took a step back, struggling to maintain control.

Suddenly it was as if time stopped, standing frozen in the moment before King Jason's very eyes. He had come to a realization that had never occurred to him before. He stared at his son, the sphere in his hand, the console room awash in the energy haze. He turned back to look at the scanner, seeing the image of the dome being engulfed by the energy beam. Looking back at his son, he caught his breath. "Dèjá vu?" he whispered.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the moment was gone and Jason was snapped back to reality. He saw the Doctor moving to overtake his son and came around the console to stop him, taking him by the arm and pulling him aside. "No, let him go."

"Jason, what are you doing?" the Time Lord protested. "He's going to kill himself."

Shaking his head, the Alterran monarch said firmly, "No. He's fulfilling his destiny."

The Doctor groaned, thinking Jason had gone over the edge with his son. "Not you too…"

By this time, the dome was red and shimmered in the distance as it absorbed more and more power. Finally there was an enormous explosion and the structure suddenly folded in on itself as the time field collapsed. Its work done, the energy beam snapped back into the sphere, the force of the backlash sending Juris flying across the console room, slamming him into the far wall only a few feet from where Ace was standing.

The Doctor called to Jason to hit the door lever the same instant he hit the dematerialization switch. Nothing happened. The exterior doors refused to close. Seconds later, the TARDIS was rocked by the shockwaves as the temporal gateway folded in on itself. The occupants of the console room were thrown to the floor. The Doctor stood clinging to the control console as if it were a life raft, fighting to keep the time machine from being sucked in to the collapsing time field.

Across the room Juris cried out in pain, the blazing light surrounding his body growing brighter. He writhed inside the ball of energy, unable to release the sphere in his hand.

"What's happening?" Ace cried.

"The energy backlash!" Jason cried. "It's killing him!" He tried to move towards his struggling son but was prevented once again by an invisible barrier when Juris reached out his free hand in his direction.

"No, Father, keep back!" he called out painfully, fighting the power flooding through his body. "It'll kill you too!"

"But not me!" Frankie suddenly exclaimed.

Alex held her back. "Are you nuts?" he exclaimed, pulling her further away. Frankie struggled wildly against his strong grip. "Alex, let me go! I nullify the power, remember!"

Alex did remember, but was not about to let Frankie anywhere near the seemingly out of control Alterran writhing on the floor.

Jason remembered, too. "Ace!" he called. "Take the sphere away from him! You and Frankie are the only ones who can touch it without being harmed."

"No way!" Ace protested.

"Do it!" the Doctor commanded. "Do it or we're all dead!"

Ace gave him a horrified look, but there was something in the Time Lord's eyes that made her suddenly turn and wrench the circuit from the Prince's hand. The same instant, the Doctor hit the door lever and the exterior doors swung shut.

The glow surrounding the struggling Juris then changed to a shimmer that started to fizzle like static. His body convulsed violently, distorting in shape several times, a cry of agony was torn from his throat. When the shimmering finally faded, he went limp, completely drained of energy, his eyes staring vacantly into space.

Horrified, Ace said in a small voice, "I've killed him."

"No, you've just saved his life," Jason corrected sharply. He took the sphere from her hand and looked over at the Doctor, following his gaze to the scanner. The TARDIS was practically inside the collapsing time field.

"Jason, if you can get us out of here, now would be the time," the Time Lord said, his voice unnaturally calm.

"Okay, hang on to your hats everybody," the King instructed.

The console room seemed to spin wildly, changing in color and size and making the occupants feel as though they were being pulled inside out. Then everything seemed to go black.

The Doctor was the only one other than Jason to remain conscious, although he would've rather he had passed out. It was not a journey he cared to repeat. On the scanner, he saw the dome collapse within the time field and then erupt into flames. This was followed by a gut-wrenching journey through what remained of the time field as Jason concentrated on sealing it for good.

When the console room finally returned to normal, the Doctor reluctantly released his grip on the control console. "Where are we?" he asked finally.

His former companion beamed back at him. "Would you believe Frankie's backyard?"