3. Returning

'To encounter this absolutely ego-overpowering bull-man in the labyrinth, coming face to face with it, and yet escape the labyrinth alive and with a sane and coherently ordered mind, the mind must adopt the Mithras godman configuration, which is the only way to preserve the mind's integrity and avoid destructive control-chaos. The mind must identify with Mithras and have the mind of Mithras.

'To rely on Mithras as savior is to rely on the transcendent assumptions and mental worldmodel of self, time, and control that are represented by the Mithras figure. The only way to retain mental order during the encounter with the overpowering bull discovered lurking in the self-control subsystem of the mind, is to construct transcendent faith and identify with the higher Mithras identity and rely on that mental pattern as your only hope of escape and preserving mental order.'

- Michael Hoffman, ibid.

I'm not rated for instruments. Flying in fog, no, floating… Tegan blinked. It was grey all about her, with something blocky and blue before her. She wasn't flying or floating. She was walking, teetering on her high heels. Her heart was racing and her mouth was dry. She backed away, feeling endangered and not sure where to run. Phantom touches brushed her in unexpected place and she shuddered before realizing they were vines. She swept away the tendrils and wondered if she were imagining that low, sinister laughter. A bead of icy sweat trickled down her ribs and she set her back to the wall. There was no fog, but her surroundings lacked focus.

Tegan crept along the wall. I feel like a rabbit who knows the hawk is watching. But where is the hawk? Stone shifted behind her with a grating sound and adrenaline spurted through her blood.

Something blue. Very important. There… out there. She edged away from the wall.

don't mind me

Blue box. Oh, yes! She had gone into the blue box. Of course she had. She was inside it. No use going that way… she had to find the inside of the blue box and go out! Of course. Tegan struck out into the corridors again, following a tiny urging that called her through the fog. This whole business was ridiculous and once she found the responsible party she was going to make his life hell until he got her out of this.

Of course.

She thought she recognized the way, but the next turning brought her face to face with the stony arcade and the blue box. Which wasn't there, because she was inside it.

Of course.

Frustration and fear stewed in her psyche and made tears burn the corners of her eyes. The blue box that wasn't there dematerialized and she took no notice, because, of course, it wasn't there. "Just have to give it one more go," Tegan said aloud to brace herself up. Again she headed into the corridors, afire with determination. She was not the sort who gave up easily.

Voices ahead—finally, the crew! Tegan flung herself at the door dividing her from the first people she'd found on board this weird craft and fetched up in a clatter of heels by the console. Two people were staring at her, a tall curly-haired man in an absurdly long scarf and a dark boy in orange pyjamas.

Tegan Jovanka took a deep breath and anger heated her being from her heels to her topmost curl. "I demand to see whoever's in charge of this ship!" The two strangers exchanged croggled looks and it only whipped up her fury more. She was bewildered and tired and hungry and her feet hurt. How dare they look surprised!

Who was she? Who was she?

"Tegan Jovanka! And I'm not answering any more questions until you tell me exactly who YOU are." She turned her gaze from the boy to the man, who was hovering off to the side without looking at her directly.

Infuriating!

"I'm Adric, that's the Doctor," the boy told her. The tall man swept past her without a glance and taking the boy by the arm, drew him aside.

Even in a whisper, the man's voice was resonant. "Who is she? Where did she come from? What are we going to do with her?" He addressed the boy as if she weren't in the room.

Doctor? THE Doctor? What kind of a name is that?

Tegan felt like she was going to explode. Ignore her, would he? She wasn't going to 'politely' pretend she hadn't heard. She'd make this DOCTOR look her in the eye. "You can take me right back where you found me, Doctor Whoever-you-are!" She saw him visibly wince at her buzz saw tones—she'd had that effect on people before and for once was savagely glad. She'd saw his ears off if that's what it took to get some answers. "My aunt's waiting in a car to take me to the airport." On anger's high horse, Tegan was far above such minor details as flat tires.

That got a reaction. He turned on her, blue eyes wide and popping and his rich voice at full volume. "Your aunt? Woman in a white hat, red sports car?"

Finally, a connection to the real world. "You've seen her?' Tegan felt abruptly weak with relief.

"A little of her," he muttered, turning away. To the boy he said, as though his opinion mattered, "That settles it! She's got to come with us." Then they both walked away from her.

'A little of her'? The phrase stuck in the back of Tegan's mind, but the Doctor left her no time for questions. He turned his back on her again. "Settles what? Now wait a minute, Doctor!" She stormed after him, and following through the door stepped out…

( this is not the Barnett Bypass )

It wasn't. Her words died even as the Doctor shushed her. Tegan's wide eyes took in her first alien landscape.

"We're all very honored to be here," the Doctor assured the dignified man in black and gold robes.

"Where is here?" Tegan whispered her question to the boy Adric, but the Doctor answered, bending down to her so that his voice came unexpectedly at her ear.

"Logopolis."

Logopolis, right. Been there a million times, yeah. The sinking feeling of being out of her depth silenced Tegan. She had become an air hostess to travel to new places, but this was ridiculous. Logopolis.

Sounds Greek. It certainly isn't Narnia. How odd that in this odd place the most familiar sights were the Doctor and his blue police box.

A little of her. So: the Doctor was the way back to home and Aunt Vanessa. She'd stick to him like glue, see if she didn't! No matter what.

Of course.

(Why no one, not the Logopolitans, not the Doctor, not Adric, and certainly not Tegan Jovanka, noticed a potted shrub appearing out of nowhere and perching in an unlikely spot in plain view, remained an abiding mystery. The only certainty is that the Master had a good laugh about it.

Of course.)

The End