CHAPTER 12
SECOND RAID
After the recess, the Doctor described the events that followed his release from the Sanctuary. His return trip to the city involved a lengthy drive along back roads and semi-destroyed streets that eventually ended at the playground in Founder's Park. At some point between his arrival on the planet and his return to the park, the TARDIS had vanished, much to his annoyance.
oOo
Mission Day 50 - continued
The Doctor returned to the tunnel used by Telvec's group and was delighted to learn that the entire raiding party that had been captured with him had been rescued those who remained outside. He found himself greeted with both shock and suspicion. Before he could assure the group's leader that he was not a spy; and Philip that he had not risen from the dead, someone asked him, to his astonishment, if he had been to the Sanctuary, which prompted an explosion of rumors that had sprung up surrounding the facility.
Telvec had been in the middle of laying out the plans for a second raid on Tri Global's headquarters and found this interruption an annoyance. When he finally regained everyone's attention, he continued reviewing the plans, having been able to coordinate his efforts with several other groups. This time everything was meticulously planned, including enlisting the help of an inside person.
The plan called for a diversion in another part of the city, the idea being to draw as many of Tri Global's forces away from the headquarters as possible. Unlike the original debacle, this plan worked perfectly. The inside man disabled the alarms and was waiting when the group arrived.
The purpose of the mission, according to Telvec, was to take control of the building and remove the Triad from power. He had no way of knowing that this had already been done for him.
o
Telvec and his followers burst into the penthouse office and stopped short. Leaders ONE and TWO were sprawled on the floor, dead, each with a large hole burned into his chest. Jason was in a pool of blood on the floor between them, a knife protruding from his side. The only sound in the room was the Alterran's labored breathing.
"What the hell happened in here?" Telvec gasped, looking around in amazement.
"I think someone beat us to it," someone replied.
The Doctor ignored them, making straight for the gravely injured Alterran, who gave him a shocked look when he knelt down beside him. He assumed this was because he was supposed to be dead and gave it no other thought.
"They killed each other," Jason informed painfully. "And I think they've killed me, too."
"This isn't the time for melodramatics," the Doctor replied tersely. "It's bad, but I don't think any major organs are involved. So long as that knife stays put you're in no danger of bleeding to death." Looking up, he ordered, "Telvec send for a medic."
"What for?" Telvec snarled.
"What for? You've an injured man in need medical attention, that's what for!" the Doctor snapped angrily.
"I'm not wasting what little medical supplies I have on the likes of him!"
"If you want to learn the Triad's plans, Telvec, you'd best keep him alive."
Telvec snorted, crossing to the main computer terminal. "What do I need him for? I can learn everything I need from this thing. Supply routes, storage facilities, trading partners..." The smug expression on his face faded as he tried unsuccessfully to bring up any information. "If I can just …bring up…the files…" He frowned, cursing under his breath. "What's wrong with this thing?"
"The memory core's been wiped," Jason informed quietly.
The Doctor gave him a stunned look. "Wiped? By whom?"
"I don't know."
"You don't believe him, do you?" Telvec said angrily. "He's one of them."
Jason gave a small smile of irony. "Am I?" he muttered softly.
"You conniving alien bastard," Telvec snarled. He yanked the knife from the Alterran's side, pulling a cry of pain from him at the same time. Before he could strike a fatal blow, the Doctor grabbed his arm. "Give me that!" he snapped, wrestling the blade from his hand and savagely clubbing the astonished man to the floor at the same time. "Is this your glorious neworder?" he demanded angrily, throwing the knife across the room.
Jason moaned in pain, a hand going to the gash in his side. The knife had been acting as a plug, keeping the bleeding in check. With the plug gone, he was now bleeding profusely. He cried out in pain, grabbing the Doctor with his free hand as the Time Lord pressed his hands on the wound to try and stop the flow of blood.
"Get me that medic!" the Doctor cried. To his horror, air bubbles started to percolate between his fingers and he realized that when Telvec pulled the knife free he had also nicked a lung. If help didn't arrive soon, the Alterran would either bleed to death or drown in his own blood.
Having reached the same conclusion, Jason moved his hand from his wound, pulling a disk from his pocket. "It's too late," he said quietly.
The Doctor saw a dispersal disk between his fingers. "No!"
As Jason had said, it was too late. The disk had already activated and together they faded from the room.