Chapter 5
The TARDIS and the Sontaran ship faced one another down. Light-years beyond the edges of explored space, and virtually disabled, their survival may now depend upon Timothy Elder's telepathic rapport with an alien intelligence.
"The Doctor to Timothy Elder."
There was a beat before Timothy came on the com-link. "Doctor?"
"Please come to the console room."
"Professor, I don't…"
The Doctor signalled silence. He approached Ace. "Ace, we no longer have a choice."
Ace nodded reluctant agreement, but turned away distressed.
The TARDIS materialized aboard The Ship and The Doctor and Timothy stepped out. The corridor was rounded, organic-looking, with dim energy-veins resembling The Ship's exterior. The interior was very dark, shadows broken only by the lights behind the glistening walls.
Timothy's eyes were closed. He shook with tension, struggling against fear and the strange closeness of the alien which surrounded him. He spun away from the Doctor, his hands clutching at his head. "No… Too much. Too much."
The Doctor moved to Timothy. "Timothy?"
"I can't."
The Doctor reacted, attempting to pull Timothy back towards the TARDIS. Timothy, struggling against his pain, turns back to the Doctor. "No… No, don't."
"If it's harming you, we must return." Again the Doctor tried to pull him towards the TARDIS.
But Timothy was slowly beginning to assimilate the flood of information from The Ship. He relaxed, smiled peacefully. In this moment, two fantastically different life forms had made contact. Information had bee exchanged and a bond was forming.
"It's alright… Shirron tried to communicate a lifetime of experiences to me in a few seconds. It's alright now."
In the console room, Nita looked at her screen, disturbed. She adjusted a readout. Unsatisfied, she turned to Ace. "I lost the lock on them. Some kind of force field went up. The alien has thrown up a shield, it's blocking our sensors. The Sontaran's weapons systems are now at full power."
The cloister bell started ringing.
In The Ship's corridor, the Doctor watched as Timothy was now totally focussed on his communication with The Ship. He approached a glowing light panel on the corridor wall. He placed his palm on the panel and it glowed brighter. Timothy laughed softly as if The Ship just told him something wonderful. "Yes…" As Timothy removed his hand, the panel faded to its original intensity.
The Doctor, puzzled, approached the panel and touched it. There was no response. The Doctor scanned the corridor. "There is a large chamber twenty meters ahead."
"Yeah, I know." Timothy smiled. "I know everything, now. Come on."
The Doctor and Timothy rounded a curve in the corridor, but they were brought up short by the ribbed and membraned wall. Timothy stood for a moment. His eyes were blank, the stare wide-eyed. Suddenly the wall opened to admit the human and the Time Lord. The Doctor looked in wonder at Timothy who smiled.
The Ship's pilot's chamber was a small room narrowing at one end, again, organic in appearance. At the narrow end of the chamber the walls pulsed and writhed. Darkness, shadows, and lights which brightened and ebbed behind the flesh-like walls.
"Intriguing."
"This is the control centre where Shirron's crew guided their journeys. The ship and the crew existed symbiotically."
Timothy continued to explore the softly pulsing room He moved down the room to the pulsing walls, and softly stroked it. The pulsing forms responded by straining toward him.
The Doctor experimentally touched the ship's wall. It did not respond. The Doctor frowned. Obviously the ship had no interest in him.
"They needed one another. When Shirron had no one left to care for, it no longer had a reason to exist."
The Doctor recalled their earlier talk. "And is that the purpose of existence? To care for someone?"
"It is for me. Ace was right. I'll lose myself here."
Again, Timothy reached out, and stroked the ship. Suddenly The Ship extruded a portion of itself. It was clearly a chair being formed from the floor, and it was also clearly a signal to Timothy. He rested a hand lightly on the back of the chair.
"An invitation."
The Doctor was troubled. "I must remind you that our objective is to bring The Ship out of danger and report our findings to Unit."
Timothy settled into the pilot's chair. "I'm not going back, Doctor. I'm staying here."
The Doctor was puzzled.
The Sontaran commander reappeared on the viewer in the TARDIS. "Human, if you interfere with us, we will fire upon you as well."
"Commander, we are prepared to defend the life of the alien." Ace turned to Nita, "Sheilds up."
"Power levels aboard the alien are increasing, Ace! The diameter of the star has decreased by one hundred thousand kilometres."
"It's beginning."
The Ship's lights and engines blazed on full.
Timothy settled into the chair, and the ship with an effect similar to that which opened the doorway to the pilot's chamber, created a viewport with a view of the stars for the human. Timothy turned to look at the Doctor. "Explain to them… make them understand."
"But our mission…"
"…is to save The Ship and I will… but he's going to save me as well. All my life I've waited for this. A chance to find peace. Finally all the voices are silent. Only The Ship speaks to me now. Don't you see, Doctor? This is where I belong."
Nita checked her console panel. "The star is gonna go any minute, Ace."
"The Sontarans know that as well as we do."
"Power levels aboard The Ship are increasing beyond our sensor range."
The Ship was glowing brightly, as another energy pulse haloed the ship, and rushed toward the Sontaran ship. It struck, and the Sontaran ship tumbled away wildly.
Meanwhile the TARDIS dematerialized, the lights flashed and the cloister bell rang. Eventually, it rematerialized, things returned to normal and the bell stopped.
"Nita, what happened?"
Nita checked her readings. "We've been thrown clear of Beta Stromgren. Distance, three point eight billion kilometers. There is no sign of The Ship or the Sontarans, Ace." She checked her panel again. "Ace – on screen!"
They saw the explosion and flowering of Beta Strongren as it went supernova. Ace and Nita stood, stunned.
Suddenly the TARDIS dematerialized again, and rematerialized around the Doctor on The Ship, before dematerializing again and returning to safety. The TARDIS had rescued him herself.
"Doctor!" Nita, startled, did a double-take on the the Doctor, ran over to him and threw her arms around him. The Time Lord was unperturbed.
"Doctor, what happened, over there?"
"Difficult to explain, Nita."
Ace looked at the Doctor. "Tim?"
"I believe he has found what he was looking for, Ace."
The TARDIS spun through space. With all main systems at least temporarily restored, they were proceeding to Starbase 152 to look for parts for repairs.
The Doctor stood in the observation lounge gazing up at the stars through the ceiling. His expression was thoughtful. Ace entered.
They had had no further encounter with the Sontarans. As for the whereabouts of The Ship, and Timothy Elder, they could only speculate.
"You sent for me?"
The Doctor turned to face her. "Timothy's final request was for me to explain his decision to you girls. But I believe his hope was that you would understand."
Ace nodded. "What did happen, Professor?"
"I witnessed something remarkable." He considered a moment. "Individually they were both so…"
"Wounded? Incomplete?"
"Yes. But no longer. Through their joining they have been healed. Grief was transmuted to joy. Loneliness to belonging."
Ace was hearing an echo of something new in the Doctor's voice.
"Professor, you do understand…"
"Yes, Ace, when the TARDIS rescued me I realized that this is where I belong, with Nita."
Ace stepped to his side, and lightly laid a hand on his shoulder. They gazed up at the passing stars.
The TARDIS entered the vortex.