CHAPTER 9
THE UNTHINKABLE
The Doctor could not quite believe what he was hearing. "You can't mean that?"
TWO snatched a laser pistol from one of the guards and started across the room, stopping when Jason said blandly, "You're not going to use that, are you?"
The Leader gave him an annoyed scowl. "And what's wrong with this?" he demanded, holding up the weapon.
The Alterran gave him a long-suffering look and sighed heavily. "Well, for one thing, if you use that, you'll blow a hole through him and the wall," he pointed out. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have a gaping hole in the wall with winter practically upon us."
Leader ONE snickered at this observation, much to TWO's annoyance.
Jason turned and started searching through a chest of drawers. After a moment, he pulled out a small caliber handgun. He quickly checked it over making certain it was loaded. "Here, use this," he said, holding out the weapon only to pull it back. "No, on second thought…" He turned a cold and angry look in the Time Lord's direction, his voice hardening, "I'll use it."
"You?" ONE replied, exchanging a surprised look with TWO.
"Yes. He tried to kill me once. I think I should return the favor," Jason replied bitterly. He looked down at the gun in his hand and then crossed to stand in front of the Doctor, who had been listening to this exchange in some bewilderment.
"Any final words of wisdom, Doctor?" the Prince asked.
"None that I can think of," the Doctor admitted. He was still trying to go along with whatever game his friend was playing, thinking he was making an elaborate show of things so he would be able to make his escape. He was about to learn the game was in deadly earnest. "I thought we'd worked all that out. Obviously, I was wrong."
"Worked it out?" Jason snarled viciously. "Worked it out!" Without warning, he grabbed the Time Lord by the throat with his free hand and thrust him back against the wall. Despite his size, the Alterran was considerably stronger than the Doctor and lifted his large frame several inches off of the floor.
The Doctor clawed at the hand at throat just to keep himself from choking.
"How does it feel? To know someone you thought was your friend might actually want to kill you? Terrifying? Sickening?" Jason hissed coldly. "Just apply a little pressure, isn't that how it goes? Who's going to save you now?"
"Are you going to shoot me or throttle me?" the Doctor gasped out.
The Alterran released his grip and the Time Lord dropped to the floor gasping and choking for breath. It took a moment for him to recover and he slowly returned to his feet, completely at a loss as to where this was leading.
Jason raised the weapon and took aim but did not fire.
"Try not to hit the window," TWO said mockingly, collapsing into a fit of the giggles.
Jason shot him a quick sideways glance and cocked the weapon, but still did not fire.
"Come now, THREE. Surely he's a big enough target for you," ONE jested. He stepped in front of the raised weapon, shoving the Doctor back against the wall and ripping open his waistcoat and shirt, exposing his bare chest. Exchanging an amused look with TWO, ONE stepped aside. "There. Is that easier for you?"
Jason's reply was to squeeze the trigger. The gun exploded and the Doctor felt a searing pain in his chest as he was thrown back against the wall. He fell heavily to the floor, not quite believing what had just happened. He had been working under the assumption that his friend would somehow get him out of the room. It had never even crossed his mind that the Alterran's threats were the real thing.
Jason knelt beside the downed Time Lord, looking him in the eye. "I've just put a bullet through your right heart, obliterating it completely," he informed matter-of-factly. "Within a few minutes you'll exsanguinate. Shortly after that you'll die and regenerate." He took out a small disk and held it up. "This stasis field generator will prevent that happening."
"It will prevent me bleeding to death, too," the Doctor gasped out painfully as the disk was pressed onto his shoulder.
A knowing smile came to the Alterran's face. He held up another disk. "Not if I scatter your molecules to the four corners of the universe."
"I can't believe this is all because of a single mistake."
"You know something, Doctor. Now we're even," Jason replied enigmatically and activated the stasis field. The Doctor shuddered, a painful gurgle escaping him before he went completely still. Jason activated the dispersal disk and stepped back, watching dispassionately as the Time Lord's body vanished into thin air.
oOo
Fitzhugh stood staring at the Matrix screen for several seconds. "Words…fail me," he said in a subdued voice. "We've already heard the testimony of, not one, but five noted members of the psychiatric profession who have concluded that the accused is an unbalanced individual. We have the sworn statements from his own physician, who has been treating the accused for more than eighteen years. Is what we've just witnessed your way of verifying that the accused is… unbalanced, Doctor?"
"I believe what you're trying to say is that your experts believe Prince Jason is a deranged lunatic with delusions of grandeur," the Doctor replied bluntly. "With all due respect to these learned professionals, their conclusions are nothing but a load of—" He broke off when Jason very quietly cleared his throat. "Psycho-babble," he said at last.
"The accused did exhibit violent tendencies—"
"He lost his temper!" the Doctor corrected sharply. "I read the reports, my lord prosecutor. And I must confess, if the situation were reversed, I would have lost my patience with those fine gentlemen as well."
Fitzhugh smiled thinly and then surprised everyone when he said, "My lord, I would like to amend the charges at this time. The Alliance between Alterrous and Gallifrey is quite specific in circumstances such as this."
"What circumstances would that be?" the Doctor asked sharply.
"For an Alterran to take the life of a Time Lord, the punishment is death," the prosecutor informed smugly.
"That's preposterous. On top of everything else, you want to add a groundless murder charge to your other allegations?" the Doctor said in an exaggerated disbelieving tone.
The prosecutor remained unfazed. "Do you deny that the accused did, in fact, shoot you through the right heart?"
"No."
"Did he admit to wanting to kill you?"
"No."
Fitzhugh blinked. "No?"
"He stated that he could prevent a regeneration," the Doctor corrected. "He also stated that I had, at one time, tried to kill him and that he was going to return the favor."
The prosecutor frowned. "Did you at one time try to kill the accused, Doctor?"
The Doctor drew a deep breath. "I'm afraid the answer to that is extremely complicated and would take far too long to explain than we have here. Suffice it to say, the answer is no, because it wasn't—" He blinked, suddenly realizing what Jason had been trying to tell him all those months ago. "It wasn't…me." He closed his eyes and groaned before turning to the Prince. "I am an imbecile," he said quietly.
Jason met his gaze and mouthed the words, "No comment."
Fitzhugh decided not to pursue the issue, asking instead, "Did you believe the accused intended to kill you?"
"No."
The Inquisitor intervened at this time. "Doctor, I realize you're acting as the accused's defense council," he began firmly, "but you must answer truthfully."
"My lord," the Doctor replied calmly, "until Prince Jason actually pulled the trigger, I was working under the assumption that it was all theatrics and he was somehow going to get me out of there."
"Let me rephrase the question," Fitzhugh said calmly. "After you'd been shot, did you then believe the accused meant to kill you?"
The Doctor hesitated before replying. "Yes."
"Was this violent attack provoked by you in any way?"
"No."
"Then I do not see the problem."
The Doctor gave him a piercing look before saying calmly, "I didn't die."