CHAPTER 13

END OF THE TRIAD

"Jason, you don't know what you're—!"

The Doctor was not where he expected to be and looked around in blank astonishment. He had assumed he would end up at the Sanctuary. Instead, he was in the transmat station on the flight deck of a fully operational spaceship. Beside him, Jason let out a low moan, the disk dropping from his fingers and clattering to the floor. His breathing had turned into a low whiz and the Doctor feared his lung was close to collapsing, if it hadn't already.

"Recall signal," Jason informed painfully.

"Recall?" Suddenly the Doctor understood. "This is the ARGO!"

"Yes." As firmly he could manage, the Prince said, "Computer, activate sickbay."

"Activating."

The wall to the Doctor's right parted, revealing the ship's sickbay beyond. Needing no further prompting, the Time Lord lifted the gravely injured Alterran from the floor and carried him into the room, placing him gently on an examining table.

"Please step away from the patient," the computer requested.

"Déjà vu," Jason said weakly as the Doctor took a half step back. "Now I'm the one…who's going to…bleed to death."

"Do you think so little of your computer?" the Doctor asked, adding pointedly, "Or of me?" The reply was not what he expected.

"Computer, command function…designation—The Doctor."

"Acknowledged," the computer replied. "Initiating diagnostic scan."

Jason gave the Doctor an unfocused look. Before he could say anything more, his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness. The same instant, the table retracted into the computer and the scan of his body began. Minutes passed like hours as the systems hummed and buzzed.

The Doctor nearly jumped out of his skin when an alarm suddenly sounded. Then another, and another… He dashed from one terminal to another, trying unsuccessfully to get into the cabinet, but the scan had locked out all the instruments. Finally, he thumped his fist on the Med-computer in frustration and the alarms stopped as abruptly as they started.

The Doctor blinked, looking at the computer in bewilderment. "Computer," he said at last, "what's your patient's status?"

"All physical activity has ceased," the computer replied blandly.

The Doctor felt both his hearts miss a beat. "You mean he's dead?"

"All physical activity has ceased," the computer repeated.

The Doctor gave the machine an annoyed look and muttered a few uncomplimentary phrases. He cleaned the blood from his hands and found himself wishing he had arrived a few minutes earlier. Perhaps then…

Shaking off these thoughts, he set about the painful process of preparing the Alterran's body for transport back to Tel-Shye. Whatever his old friend may have turned in to, the Doctor felt his family deserved the have him back properly. With the assistance of the computer, he was able to clean the blood from Jason's body and change he clothes from those of the Triad to his more traditional, casual style. Finally, he moved him from the table in the sickbay to a transport capsule.

The Doctor stood looking down at the inert form for several minutes, dozens of questions flying through his head. The predominant one being why? Why had his former companion and, apparently, former friend chosen to abandon his values, ideals, and—yes, his morals? Why had he turned on everything he had once held dear? Why?

"O proud death," the Doctor quoted. "What feast is toward in thine eternal cell? That thou so many Princes at a shot. So bloodily hast struck?" He drew a deep breath. "Oh, Jason. What happened to you? How could you've come to this?" he said in a quiet sad voice. Regrettably, he knew he would never learn the answers to these questions and finally closed and sealed the capsule.

With this difficult and heartbreaking job out of the way, the Time Lord crossed to the command chair and practically fell into it, feeling completely exhausted. After a few minutes, he asked, "Computer, is it possible to contact Tri Global headquarters?"

"Affirmative."

"Then do so."

A moment later, he saw the bewildered face of Telvec on the main screen. "I see you've managed to hold your command position," the Doctor remarked, causing the man to jump.

Telvec looked at the face on the screen in shock and then leaned in close. He had only seen a video link on science fiction programs on television. Would the real thing be as simple to use? he wondered and cleared his throat nervously. "Er, hello, Doctor. Back from the dead again, I see. Where are you?"

"I'm aboard the ARGO," the Time Lord replied unhelpfully.

Telvec scowled. "The…ARGO?"

"Yes, it's Jason's shuttlecraft. Never mind that," the Doctor said dismissively, "I've called to tell you that Jason didn't make it."

This news caused the room to erupt into a mass of chatter. "Quiet!" the leader thundered. "Doctor, are you telling me that that friend of yours is dead?"

"Yes, Telvec, that is exactly what I am telling you. There is no more Triad."

Telvec sat down before the screen; growing more comfortable with the technology the longer he used it. "Look, Doctor, I know he was your friend once, but I won't pretend to being sad that he's dead."

The Doctor nodded, understanding the man's feelings.

"When're you coming back?" Telvec then asked.

"Back? What do you need me for?" the Time Lord wanted to know.

"We've located the local warehouse. Victory's in hand."

The Doctor sighed heavily. "You've a long way to go before you can declare victory, Telvec. The price that's been paid already is too high. I can see nothing worth celebrating in that."

"You really are a Sage, Doctor," Telvec stated admiringly.

"Thank you, Telvec. But right now, I don't feel very wise. Just very old." With that, he cut the transmission. The Doctor sat staring into space for several minutes, lost in thought. Finally, he looked up at the blank screen in front of him. "Computer, how do I access the ship's logs?" He expected to be refused entry and was not disappointed.

"Command designation required."

The Doctor was about to start hacking into the system when Jason's last words returned to mind. "Command designation—The Doctor," he said firmly.

"Authorization accepted," the computer replied.

A monitor in the console came to life, presenting the Doctor with a menu of options. He pulled up the listing of all the entries and saw he had hundreds from which to choose. "How many separate logs are there?" he asked.

"Four."

"Isolate just the personal log entries after arrival on Eldeberon."

The screen flashed, eliminating the majority of the entries. It still left more than a hundred to go through.

"It'll take days to sort through that lot," the Doctor muttered. "Unless…" He had a flash of inspiration. Jason was a brilliant programmer and would've gone out of his way to make the information in his ship's computer easily accessible. There had to be a way of sorting through everything quickly. "Computer, is it possible to search through the log for specific entries?"

"Affirmative. Please indicate search parameters."

Another menu flashed up and the Doctor gave a satisfied grunt when he saw the numerous options available. "Multiple search. Keywords: Glyateven, Triad, and the Doctor."

"Acknowledged. Searching."

The screen dimmed and the Doctor heaved a heavy sigh. He leaned forward and laid his head in his arms, closing his eyes. He intended to rest until the computer completed its search. His exhausted and still recuperating body had other ideas and he fell fast asleep.

oOo