VII
Jack sighed, and checked his watch.
"How long has the Doctor been gone?" asked Eilidh.
"Not long," the former Time Agent replied. "Twenty minutes or so."
"Then why d'you keep checking your watch?" Eilidh queried.
"Because in twenty minutes, the Doctor could have beaten the bad guy, saved the Damsel in Distress and changed his face."
Eilidh nodded sagely.
"Half hour in the life, huh?" she commented. Jack nodded, and then checked his watch again.
--
Carde ran along the corridor. Something was off, he knew. The Admirals private escape pod hadn't been launched, the crew were all either dead, or gone – and there was no sign of the Admirals corpse. What's more, of all the escape pods, none of them held the Admirals code on the crew list (Zagrite escape pods needed the crew to sign on, so the officials who questioned them later would know everything about them) and that in itself was worrying, in that it suggested the Admiral was still on the ship, meaning that he could be anywhere...
Even the bridge...
Quick as a flash, Carde ran back the way he'd come.
--
The Doctor parried his opponent's blade, stepped back, stabbed forward, parried again, before spinning into a slash that sent the Admiral stepping back off balance.
"You are skilled Doctor," he commented, regaining his posture. "That makes your defeat all the more difficult to achieve, sweetening the moment when I finally do."
"If you do," the Doctor countered. "I might win!"
"Yes you might," the Admiral conceded. "I am no hopeless optimist. You are indeed a worthy foe. I will enjoy this greatly, one way or the other."
The Doctor slashed at him again, but instead of sprawling off balance, the Admiral got inside the Doctor's guard and cut his arm, before darting back, parrying the Doctors counter strike.
"Of course," the Admiral said, "I might also win."
"Yes," the Doctor replied, grinning, "you might. You might indeed. But I'm not planning on losing today."
"Neither am I," the Admiral said, "but alas, one of us must."
"You know where I've heard someone talk like you before, Admiral Sally?" the Doctor asked. The Admiral shook his head; ignoring the insult – he probably didn't think it was an insult – he instead took advantage of the Doctor's distraction to cut him across the cheek. Ignoring this, the Doctor smiled and continued. "The Javaman. Back then, I was a little more uptight, a little weirder – my coat was testament to that, it was hideous – and I tended to fight megalomaniacs a lot, and he was a little guy obsessed with controlling the secrets of time – you know, namedropper, etc. Anyway," the Doctor said, parrying another thrust and riposting it, before darting back and smiling. "I stopped him. And I'll stop you too."
The Admiral said nothing, but merely continued his assault. They darted back and forth, their shining blades leaving imprints on the eyes of any hypothetical watchers. This fight would clearly not be decided quickly...
--
Jack checked his watch again, and sighed. What was taking the Doctor so long?
"How long now?" Eilidh asked.
"Thirty minutes," Jack replied. "It's not like him to take so long without meeting the bad guy."
"So you think he's fighting the big bad now?" Eilidh asked.
"Yeah," Jack said. "That sounds like him."
Eilidh looked over to the door.
"Shouldn't we go help him?" she asked.
"He knows what he's doing," Jack sighed. "I hope..."
Eilidh stared at him for a moment, then walked over to the door.
"Hey!" Jack yelled.
"I'm going to go help him," Eilidh said. "Whether you like it or not."
Jack couldn't help but smile – she was like Rose in one respect at least, that she wouldn't just abandon the Doctor. He was about to follow her but –
"Ah!" she yelled. She ducked as laser blasts impacted around her.
"Get into the teleport booth!" Jack yelled. "I'll transmat you to the bridge and you can help the Doctor there!"
"What about you?" she asked.
"I'll be fine!" he replied. "Go!"
He shot at the first Zagrite trooper that came in, killing him instantly. He quickly set the teleport co-ordinates, and sent her off, before shooting two more.
He hoped, for the second time that day, that Eilidh would be ok...
--
The Doctor turned his head, as the figure of a woman materialised on the bridge. The Admiral noticed it too, and lowered his sword slightly.
Eilidh materialised, and the Zagrite crossed over in a moment, grabbed her, and held the sword – switched off – to her throat.
"Doctor?!" she yelped, bewilderedly.
"Let her go!" the Doctor yelled.
"I told you," the Admiral said, "that I was always planning on winning. Surrender or your friend dies."