Chapter 10: Love 'em and Leave 'em
A ribbon of smoke floated into the air. It had been easy, almost too easy. The Kaleds were like children, so naive. And Rose--she had been the icing on the cake. No doubt she told everyone he had blown up the ship on purpose, to "save the universe." It would buy him enough time to get safely back to Earth. And that meant money, which meant freedom. And even a little something extra--he patted his breast pocket. He could afford to get his family off that cesspit. They'd go somewhere like Mars or Io...or even off-system. Alpha Centauri--he'd heard Alpha Centauri was nice.
Jack propped his feet up on the control panel, admiring the stars as they sped by. He took another drag from his cigar and sipped at his martini. Then he switched on the audio player. Soon the strains of the Glen Miller orchestra filled the air. Bliss. Absolute bliss.
Or it would have been bliss, had an engine light not started blinking insistently. Jack flipped the circuit off and on, in case it was a false alarm. But still it kept blinking. He swung his feet off the panel. "I suppose a perfect day's too much to ask for." He got up and headed back to the engine room.
About halfway down the central corridor, he stopped. A pair of wooden doors were set into the wall. He'd never seen them before. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. The doors were still there. He placed his hand on a handle; it turned. "Okay...this is weird," he murmured. Then, overcome by curiosity, he opened the door and went inside.
"This is really weird." Jack stood in the doorway and tried to understand what he was seeing. The books, the tea-trolley, the armchairs... He clawed at the top of his head for a moment, perhaps thinking this was all part of an elaborate Kaled virtual reality and he hadn't really left Skaro. Finally, he stepped inside and started examining the room more closely. He was about half-way around it when he realised someone was sitting in one of the arm chairs. "Um...hello?"
"Hello Jack." Rose turned around. Her expression was positively murderous.
Jack swallowed hard. "Rose!" He forced a laugh. "Uh...hi! Yeah! Good to see you again. So...how did you get here, exactly?"
"You're asking me for explanations?" Rose stood up. "Oh, that's rich, that's really rich. How about an explanation from you, starting with what you said to me about wanting to be a hero and saving the universe."
"Ah...well...you see, the thing is..." He sputtered. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Love 'em and leave 'em involved leaving. The leaving part was critical. They weren't actually supposed to be able to find him again.
"Cat got your tongue?" Rose advanced on him, eyes flashing. He backed away. She jabbed him in the chest with her finger, punctuating her remarks. "I'll explain for you. You're a thieving, lying, cowardly pile of stinking pigeon droppings. The only thing you care about is your own worthless skin, and possibly also the big cheque you're hoping to get when you deliver your stolen property."
By now, Jack was backed up against a bookcase. He tried to retreat further, and knocked an entire shelf of books to the floor. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I'll pick them up." He crouched down and clutched at the books. Rose glowered over him, menacingly.
"That's everything, I think." Chronotis walked into the sitting room, closing the wooden doors behind him. As he moved towards the jukebox controls, he glanced towards Rose and remarked airily, "I think that's enough, my dear. The poor boy looks positively terrified." He pulled a lever.
"What's that?" said Jack suddenly. "That noise?"
"Oh, that's just the TARDIS," said Rose. "It makes this sort of screaming noise when we dematerialise."
"A TARDIS?" asked Jack, uncomprehending. "What's a--never mind, I just remembered. There was an engine light on in my ship, I've got to--"
"No need, no need," said Chronotis. He was looking out the window. "Your ship has been...taken care of."
Jack peered over Chronotis' shoulder. He gaped. "What...that's my ship! How did you--"
"It is on a solar intercept course. Impact in about thirty seconds, give or take."
"I don't know what you've done," said Jack, sharply. "But I want you to take me back to my ship, right NOW!" Chronotis turned. Jack was pointing a gun in his face.
"Put that away, dear boy." He waved Jack off. "You'll get yourself hurt, playing with those things." He sat down in his armchair and reached for a book.
"I mean it! Take me back or I'll...I'll...I'll kill her!" Jack swiveled around, pointing the gun at Rose. She laughed.
"You're gonna kill me? Go ahead then, do it. I'm not a coward, not like some people. I'm willing to die for what I believe in."
Jack scowled intensely. But they had called his bluff; he wasn't going to shoot an unarmed old man or a girl. He shoved the gun back in its holster. Wordlessly he stared out of the window. His sleek, black ship disappeared into the sun. A moment later, there was a small solar flare. "So," he said, grimly, turning away, "I guess this makes me your prisoner. Where are you taking me?"
"Why," said Chronotis, "anywhere you'd like to go--and I do mean anywhere. Or anywhen."
"Like I said, it's a TARDIS." Rose smiled smugly. "It travels in time and space."
"But first, we need to meet a friend." Chronotis returned his attention to his book. Rose settled into an armchair as well. She, too, picked up a book, pointedly ignoring Jack.
Jack paced a tight circle in the corner of the room. They had destroyed his ship, his precious, precious ship. He could overpower them and steal this one; but from what he had seen of the jukebox controls, he doubted very much whether he could fly it. All his hopes were dashed. Well...perhaps not all.
Unconsciously, he patted his breast pocket. Rose glanced up at him. He turned away quickly. He didn't believe for a moment that he wasn't a prisoner. Most likely they were going to take him back to Skaro--and then he really would lose everything. He had to escape. He fingered a button on his belt...and vanished.
"Jack!" cried Rose, jumping up. She ran to the spot where he had been standing. "He disappeared! He...he must have transmatted away."
"Oh dear," said Chronotis. "Oh dear, oh dear. That is very bad." He moved quickly to the controls. "Sometimes people can survive in the Time Vortex for a few moments, but..." He shook his head. "There's no sign of him."
"Can't you reverse it somehow? Get him back?"
"No, I'm afraid I can't. I'm terribly, terribly sorry, my dear. It is exceedingly hazardous to attempt matter transfer whilst moving through the Time Vortex. His matter stream must have been dispersed immediately. Alas, the poor boy is lost."
Rose couldn't believe it. She sank into the armchair again and buried her head in her hands. She was tremendously angry at Jack for betraying her; but, at the same time, devastated to lose him yet again. The other Jack had also been a con man and a thief; but he had a good heart. Maybe this one had, too, deep inside. Now it was too late to find out.
"Something's wrong," said Chronotis. "We're at the rendezvous point, but no sign of the Doctor."
"What?" Rose shook her head, still feeling quite dazed. "Maybe he's just late." She got up and looked out the window. "His TARDIS can be a little unreliable--say, is that Earth?" She pointed to the blue planet slowly swirling down below. "Isn't that dangerous? I mean, the Time Lords know the Doctor likes Earth--"
"The Doctor prefers Earth's twentieth century. We're in its twenty-first. A miss by a minute is as good as a millennium--which is why he wouldn't be late."
"Just give it time," said Rose. "I know he'll come. How long has it been?"
Chronotis glanced at his watch. "His TARDIS should have materialised right there..." He pointed to an empty spot in the corner of the room, "...about five minutes ago. It's been too long, he's not coming."
"What? Just like that? Five minutes late and you're giving up on him? Once I had to wait five and a half hours--"
"It's time for plan B." Chronotis drew his chair up to the jukebox. "Before we go, I should warn you--there is the possibility of danger. I could take you home first--"
"No chance. What's plan B?"
"Well," said Chronotis, as he pulled the levers in his jukebox, "we need to get to a place that's somewhere untraceable, unplottable, and utterly unfindable. It doesn't even exist in time and space."
"You think that's where the Doctor is? Some kind of prison?"
"Yes, indeed," said Chronotis. "You're a bright little thing." His TARDIS jerked into motion.
"Look, no offense," said Rose. "But how do you think we're going to break someone out of a heavily-guarded Time Lord prison? I mean, you're not exactly…" She trailed off.
"Not exactly in the prime of life? Yes, it's a fair question. What am I doing here in the first place? I'm just a doddering old man with a ceremonial title and a memory like a sieve. Surely a younger, more vigorous Time Lord could have been a better help to you and the Doctor. But you see, my dear, the prison is not so much heavily-guarded as heavily hidden. It's completely impossible to find, unless you have the book. Or unless…" Chronotis glanced up at her, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
"Unless what?" breathed Rose.
"Or unless you're very, very clever and…you've been there before." He tapped his forehead. "If there's one thing this old brain remembers, it's this: how to get to Shada."
