CHAPTER 19

DO YOU TRUST ME?

In a blink, Jason was in his true form. (The sight of which stunned the unprepared individuals watching in the courtroom.) His main body was large and bulbous in shape with sapphire blue crystals evenly spaced around the circumference. His appendages were tendrils, seemingly too numerous to count that snaked down to the floor, barely touching the surface as he hovered in the air. Suddenly the Doctor's body was completely entwined, a single thick tendril wrapped around his neck.

Too stunned to fight back, the Doctor could only struggle to get his breath back as his legs were thrust against the wall, thick restraints pulled tight around his ankles and thighs. At the same time, his arms were forced up into straps, securing his wrists and forearms into place. By the time he recovered enough to realize what was happening, two thick straps were being crisscrossed over his shoulders and upper chest, another across his hips, making it impossible for him to move. Nevertheless, the Doctor struggled briefly in his bindings. He did not attempt to speak, however, as the coil was still wrapped threateningly around his throat. He suddenly realized the pounding he was hearing was not the blood in his ears but someone on the opposite side of the door.

"That nonexistent man seems to want in very badly," Jason observed mildly. He returned to his guise as the Benefactor and crossed to the door. He opened it to find Justin about to fire his weapon at the lock. "Is there a problem?"

Justin went pale. "Sir!" he gasped. "I heard…um, sounds."

"Sounds?"

"Yes, sir. I thought you needed help."

"Indeed?" the man beneath the hood purred. He took a step back, allowing the man to see into the room. Justin's mouth dropped open when he saw the helpless prisoner spread-eagled against the wall and securely strapped into place. He could not quite believe that the man before him had managed to do single-handedly what he and four others could not.

"As you can see, I'm in no need of assistance. But perhaps a weapon would be prudent." The fake Benefactor held out a hand and Justin surrendered his weapon. Then he fled when his superior snarled, "Now go before I do the same to you!"

Jason returned to his normal human appearance and locked the door. He looked at the gun in his hand and gave a disgusted snort. "This thing's an antique. It's like everything else around here. Out of order." He tossed the weapon onto the Doctor's clothes that were in a discarded heap on the floor and then crossed to the computer, rummaging in the folds of his original disguise. The Doctor could not see what, but was certain he swallowed something.

"If you're not he Benefactor, what're you doing here?" he demanded finally.

The Alterran was idly twisting a piece of cloth through his fingers as he turned back to face him. "I should think that was obvious," he replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

"You followed me."

"Yes."

"How? And don't say in the transmat. How did you know exactly where I was?"

Jason gave a small smile. "That would be telling."

The Doctor pulled against his bindings in frustration, a growl rising in his throat. "More deception? Just how much of this is real? Where does deception end and reality begin?"

"Are you saying deception isn't reality?" the Alterran said as he slowly crossed the room. "Maybe some things are more real than others."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Do you really want me to spell it out?" Jason said in a slightly surprised tone. "Okay, my hatred isn't real. My anger, feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and rage that I feel every time I look at you…they aren't real either. None of this is real. It's all an illusion and I don't really want to kill you." He paused, asking sharply, "Does that clarify everything?"

The Doctor felt a chill run down his spine. Jason loved sarcasm and had an incredible sense for the ironic. With all that had happened since his arrival on the planet, he was certain that this was the meaning behind the reply. It was only then that he noticed the Prince was looking at the still healing bullet wound on his chest. The bandages were gone, but the wound was clearly visible. He felt both his hearts jump as it suddenly occurred to him that he had let his outrage blind him to the fact that he was completely helpless and locked in a room with a man—no, an incredibly powerful being—who had already tried to kill him once and seemed inclined to try a second time.

As Jason crossed the room, he seemed to start, throwing a quick look at the door before stepping directly in front of his helpless prisoner and placing his left hand flat on his chest directly over the bullet wound, an action that only seemed to confirm the Doctor's worst fears.

"Are you going to kill me, Jason?" the Doctor asked in as even a tone as he could manage.

When Jason looked up, his eyes were glowing so fiercely that the Doctor stiffened involuntarily, his throat going dry. He watched in an appalled silence as the Alterran's eyes changed from human to the crystalline sensors of his true form.

"Tell me, Doctor. Do you trust me?" the Prince said softly.

The Doctor had asked this very question a hundred times before as a reassurance. Now it seemed more like a taunt and he found it chilling. "What?" he asked in a horrified whisper.

oOo

The image suddenly froze. Fitzhugh was on his feet looking from the image of the Doctor's aghast expression and back to the man himself. "An interesting question given the circumstances," he observed condescendingly. "Please tell us, Doctor. At that moment. Did you believe the accused meant to take your life?"

The Doctor dared not look in his friend's direction as he quietly replied, "Yes."

"A little louder, please," the prosecutor said flatly.

"I said yes," the Doctor snapped.

Fitzhugh gave a grunt of approval. "Please tell the court why you believed the accused meant to take your life?"

"You don't have to enjoy this so much, you know!"

"Strike as unresponsive," Fitzhugh replied, repeating, "Please tell the court—"

"Because he'd tried once before!" The words were out of the Doctor's mouth before he could stop himself. He wanted to snatch them back, rewind the words as he had been able to rewind the extracts, but the damage was done. It was all he could do to keep from turning back to look at Jason, whom he was certain would be looking at him with the same expression of betrayal as the first day of the inquiry.

Fitzhugh continued to press home his advantage. "At the Tri Global headquarters?"

"Yes!"

"So, based on the information you had at the time, would you've described the accused as a dangerous, deranged individual?"

The Doctor gritted his teeth before replying. "Yes."

"You believed him deranged then, Doctor. Yet now you maintain he is not."

The Doctor had finally had enough. "Are you changing the focus of your inquiries to me again, my lord prosecutor?" he asked pointedly.

"If that's an objection, Doctor," Eustis cut in sharply, "you are sustained. You've made you point, Lord Fitzhugh."

oOo