Chapter 5
The Doctor paced the Control Room, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and moved to a Science Station. "Sexy, give me a graphic representation of the universe."
On a monitor a CAD diagram looked hauntingly familiar: the same distinctive shape as Nita's CAD diagram. He recognized it… "I've seen that before… Nita's experiment… the bubble. Of course… But that would mean I'm the one trapped in the bubble…"
As he considered the implications, the TARDIS suddenly shook. "Sexy, what's happening?"
"Explosive decompression: Decks Five through Fourteen. Sealing off forward sections."
"Cause?"
"A flaw in my design."
This was a new one. "Show me."
The image on the monitor switched to a cross section of the TARDIS showing a part of the ship simply missing, the section where more of the ship should be was outlined in flashing purple.
"Analysis…?"
"No ship's structures exist forward of Bulkhead Three-Four-Two."
"Superimpose the previous image over this one. Same scale. And continue to monitor."
On the monitor the bubble now appeared around the TARDIS. The ship shook again. On the monitor the bubble contracted, and at its edge more sections of the ship were missing."
"It's collapsing…" the Doctor realized.
"Hull integrity now compromised on Decks Three through Fifteen."
"How long can life support be maintained?"
"Four minutes, seventeen seconds."
Again the ship shook. On the monitor the bubble contracted, and another section was gone.
"Nita, I've reestablished the exact coordinates and attitude." Ace examined the bubble on a monitor… "The time bubble is contracting at a rate of five meters per second… we'll lose it in about four minutes…" She glanced toward the pool table… Shayde acknowledged, and turned to Nita…
"It's time, Nita," he said calmly.
Nita swallowed hard… sat back at her position… as Shayde sat opposite her…
As before, Shayde and Nita punched equations into their computers. Shayde never watched the computer, only Nita… Nita was concentrating, trying too hard…
"Let it go, Nita… let go of the anticipation… the expectations… the demands upon yourself… let it all go… leave it behind."
Nita breathed deeply… let go of tension in her face…
"Yes. The ability is there… inside you… you don't need to look for it…"
Nita closed her eyes, continuing to punch in equations…
The Cloister Bell continued to ring. The Doctor was pacing, stopped to stare at the diagram again as the TARDIS shook, then resumed pacing.
"Three minutes thirty seconds to life support failure."
"Shayde used his thoughts to alter time fields… and thoughts became reality… Now I'm in a time field… Could my thoughts have changed this reality?"
He was still not quite there, gave himself a pep talk: "Come on, Theta! What's the next step?!" He had an idea. "What was I thinking at the moment Nita's bubble formed? Bill Erwin… He said… all the people he'd known were gone… I thought of Susan… I went to see Nita… the flash… And that's when it started… when I started losing everybody!" A lightbulb went on. "My thoughts created this universe. Can they get me out of it again?"
"That information is not available."
"I'm not talking to you. Click my heals together three times and I'm back in Kansas? Can it be that simple?"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes… He concentrated… a beat later, he opened his eyes. Nothing.
"No, it can't be that simple."
No Cloister Bell. Nita was relaxing into the task… still entering equations with her eyes closed. Shayde, satisfied, closed his eyes… after a beat, he began to phase…
The Cloister Bell continued.
"Two minutes thirty seconds to life support failure."
"Sexy, hypothetical situation… a person is trapped inside a static time bubble. Determine a means of escape…"
"Escape would theoretically depend on establishing a stable threshold between the time field and the outer environment."
"Can you describe this threshold?"
"Negative. There are no known practical applications of this theory."
"Extrapolate from theoretical database. How might it manifest itself?"
"A dynamic atmospheric disturbance of great intensity."
"Disturbance? The vortex! They must have been trying to reach me! But how do I find it…? Nita, where do I go? Help me…"
Nita went deeper and deeper inside herself… using her extraordinary mental abilities, trying to reach out for her fiancé…
The Cloister Bell continued.
"Stable threshold… They've been trying to create a stable threshold. Where are they trying to do it?" The final piece of the puzzle fell into place. "Where did they do it the first time? The Control Room!"
He bolted for the corridor…
"One minute thirty seconds to life support failure."
The Doctor ran down the corridor. Suddenly there was a wall before him. "Where's the Control Room?"
"Failure in Corridor Four. Unable to proceed to Main Control Room."
"Just get me to anywhere on Deck Thirty-Six!"
The wall disappeared.
No Cloister Bell. Shayde was still phasing. His eyes and Nita's eyes were still closed. And then, incredibly, Nita began to phase too… In the background, the vortex began to form.
The Doctor stepped out of the corridor. It vanished behind him, revealing the grey, misty void. He saw it, took off at a run. As he ran, pieces of the TARDIS disappeared behind him. He was only keeping a few steps ahead of it!
Ace watched as Nita's phasing began to sync up with Shayde's. The vortex grew even greater. But then Ace glanced at her readouts, shook her head, looked at Nita, quietly- "We're losing the bubble…"
Cloister Bell. The Doctor charged in. The vortex was there, but beginning to break up! He leapt through!
The Doctor half fell, half tumbled out of the vortex. The vortex vanished in a flash of light. Ace moved to him. Nita and Shayde stopped phasing. Nita collapsed, exhausted. And Shayde, too, looked drained. Ace helped the Doctor to his feet. She smiled, embracing him.
"Ace…" He saw Shayde, "You…"
Shayde stared at the Doctor.
"Do I have you to thank for getting me back?"
"No." He stepped aside to reveal Nita. Nita stood slowly, uncertain. He held out his arms. Nita moved to hug him. They held each other in silence.
"Ace, if I may ask: how many people are there onboard?"
"Five, including your guest, Doctor Erwin," Ace replied, surprised.
He closed his eyes.
"Is there something wrong with that count?"
The Doctor smiled. "No. That's the exact number there should be." He held Nita even tighter.
The End
