CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

POWER STRUGGLE

"So this is the best you can do for your final move?" the Doctor spat contemptuously as he picked himself up off of the floor. "Not very impressive, having a machine do your dirty work for you."

The Black Guardian snorted. "Reed has always been my puppet. You knew this and still you wouldn't destroy him."

"Unlike you, I don't take pleasure in the destruction of the weak and helpless."

"You're a sentimental fool, Doctor."

"Perhaps. How did you manage the Lord Emperor's illness, by the way?" the Doctor asked casually. "Reed couldn't've done that. Nor could he've panicked the High Council."

"A serendipitous circumstance," came the self-satisfied reply. "The Emperor was exposed during his tour of the outer planets. And a few questionable anomalies within the walls of the Capitol were all that was needed to panic your all powerful High Council into thinking they were being infiltrated."

"Ye-es," the Doctor agreed darkly. "In the face of danger they've about as much bravado as a colony of rabbits."

The Guardian gave him an evil look before ordering, "Reed, initiate regression program."

The android did not move, giving no indication that he had heard. The TARDIS navigational controls, however, did, sending the ship on its way.

Keeping a safe distance from the electrified console, the Doctor scrutinizing the readings. "No! Not there and not then!" he exclaimed, turning back at the scanner. "Even you wouldn't transgress the First Law of Time!"

Jason came up beside him, seeing what he meant, a horrified expression coming to his face. "No!" he gasped.

"Doctor, where's he taking us?" Ace wanted to know.

"Back to Teggell, at the precise moment Jason and I were there the first time," the Doctor replied in a horrified tone.

"Impressed now, Doctor?" the Guardian hissed smugly.

Ace was still lost. "You've crossed time streams before," she pointed out. "Nothing bad happened then."

The Time Lord glared at the Black Guardian. "Jason wasn't King then, nor did he expect to be."

"No, Doctor, think!" Jason exclaimed, his eyes fixed in the distance as he recalled the events of more than two centuries before. "I was out of my head, remember? If we arrive before I jumped ship, and stop—" His eyes glazed over. "I'll never have to face my duality. My whole past, the future, everything up until now will unravel."

Prince Juris' mind was reeling at all this. "But surely all we have to do is stay in the TARDIS."

The Doctor did not take his eyes from the Black Guardian. "That all depends on where we materialize."

"Is that all you believe this will do, Time Lord?" the Black Guardian asked tauntingly. "Affect the Alterran?"

The Doctor scowled. There was more in the Guardian's use of the title than contempt. He struggled to reach back through the centuries, the layers of his past lives. What was the key that would unlock—Key! The events on Teggell happened before he searched out the segments to the Key to Time! No wonder the Black Guardian had refused to end the game in exchange for his life. He was playing for even greater stakes, attempting to return the cosmos to the imbalance before the Key was assembled.

Seeing the realization of his words pass over the Time Lord's face, the Black Guardian gave a mocking laugh. "Now are you impressed with this move, Doctor?"

"Yes," the Doctor conceded. "When Jason's past unwinds, so does mine, doesn't it? Then what? You can't stop me from moving forward again."

"Can't I? You will all be swept away in the time storm."

"Are you saying we have no choice?" Jason asked suddenly.

"That is precisely what I am saying," the Guardian replied coldly.

"Yes. The thing is, neither does Reed. At least not yet." The King moved to stand in front of the silent android, ordering, "Reed, bring up the lights."

The lights in the room immediately came on, causing them to blink against the glare, their eyes having adjusted to the dark.

"Now," the monarch went on in the same firm tone, "plot a reverse course to Alterrous and initiate on my command."

"No!" the Black Guardian thundered from the scanner screen. "Reed, you will do as I command! Continue with your orders."

For the first time since the switch was thrown, Reed blinked, seeming to come awake. His eyes then moved to meet Jason's. "I must do as the owner commands," he said in a flat, toneless voice.

"Your owner is on Teggell—"

"No!" the Doctor countered, pressing home their sudden advantage. "His owner is here! Brogan is dead. Reed knows that. He's transferred all command functions to Jason."

The Alterran drew himself to his full height and turned, meeting the stunned Guardian's cold and angry stare unflinchingly. The Doctor watched this display in amazement, seeing something in his friend's manner he had never seen before; a confidence that actually radiated from him. It was as though he knew, unequivocally, what he was doing, despite the enormity of the power he was opposing.

During this battle of wills, the TARDIS continued toward Teggell, spiraling back in time. If it materialized on its set coordinates, a time storm would follow in its wake unraveling the past and destroying the future. Unless something happened to stop it, chaos would win the game.

"Give it up," the Doctor chided. "You've lost your puppet."

"Then you may have him. He's a pawn," the Black Guardian said dismissively. "And one must sacrifice pawns." He waved a hand and the console started to spark. The same instant, Reed's head jerked back, his body stiffening as power surged through the cables. Within minutes, he would be a useless heap of scrap metal.

Or so the Black Guardian thought.

To the astonishment of all present, Jason held out a hand and the power surge stopped, as did the TARDIS. He turned to the viewer, his blue eyes icy cold. "The game ends now," he stated flatly, his voice suddenly deep and rich. "No more pawns." He waved a hand in Reed's direction, going on to indicate the others as he spoke. "No more Knights." (Juris) "No more Bishops." (Ace) "Not even the powerful and unpredictable Queen." Meaning, of course, the Doctor.

"The King is the key piece on the Chessboard," the Doctor injected from across the room. "And we have our King."

"We have all the pieces," Jason said defiantly.

A chuckle turned growl rose up in the Black Guardian's throat, his annoyance with these delays beginning to show. "Your pieces, as you call them, haven't the power to alter the course of this game, Alterran," he spat contemptuously. "You are all pawns. I am the Black Guardian. And my Chessboard is the Dark."

"And I am the Guardian," Jason countered fiercely. "Guardian of the ultimate power source, and Guardian of the Krystovans."

The Black Guardian snorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he asked, "And what power do you hold with these…titles?"

Holding up a hand, Jason called "Ace!" and she threw him the Epsilon Sphere he had given to her for safekeeping. She had no idea how it came to be in her hands, or how she knew he would want it, but it was there all the same.

"I hold this power on Teggell," the Alterran said to the unimpressed Guardian. Then to the astonishment of all he reached into his shirt, pulling out a heavy gold chain attached to which was the Great Seal of Alterrous. "And this on Alterrous."

Before the stunned Black Guardian could react, Jason ordered, "Reed, reverse course, NOW! Everybody, hang on!"

The TARDIS shuddered violently as it reversed itself, spinning in and out of vortex as the Black Guardian fought the power of the Great Seal. This extraordinary power struggle threw the occupants of the console room to the floor a second time. When the shaking finally stopped, everyone had a new set of bruises to contend with.

The Doctor struggled to his feet, checking over the console before looking over at his Alterran friend, his face aglow with pride. "Check and mate, I believe."