CHAPTER 59
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Once the initial shock had worn off, Mel looked in the direction of the shots. She saw a gaping hole in what looked like the rock face and scowled. There was light moving on it in a strange way and she moved closer, realizing that it was actually a piece of fabric with a hole torn in it. She caught her breath when she looked through the opening and saw the Doctor's securely bound form suspended from a pole. He looked like he was either unconscious or dead.
"Doctor!"
The Time Lord jolted up at his companion's call. He appeared just as relieved and delighted to see her as she was to see him.
Mel pulled on the fabric, tearing the hole to make it large enough for her to climb through. "Are you alright?" she asked as she pulled the gag from his mouth. He had an odd, almost haunted look on his face.
"Just get me down from here," he said in a strangely subdued voice.
Mel was already attacking the binding on his feet, but could not get the knot to come loose. "It's too tight," she said in annoyance.
"There's a knife in my coat pocket," the Doctor instructed in the same subdued voice.
His companion found the pocketknife and set to work on his bindings, eventually managing to cut them free. He disengaged himself from the pole and dropped to the ground, having lost the feeling in his legs as well as his arms. It took a few minutes for him to get the circulation back to the point where he could stand. Then he turned his attention to the downed Alterrans.
As the Doctor drew nearer, he saw immediately that the individual who had taken the full force of the energy blast was quite dead; the crystalline lattice of his silicon-based cell structure completely shattered.
The second individual had a large white gash across his main body just below his sensors where the energy blast had grazed past him. He was covered with injuries from the energy exchanges, and his sensors were glowing very dimly, an indication that he was alive and conscious—barely.
The Doctor did not yet know that it was Trevor who had taken the full force of the energy blast, nor could Jason tell him. He could do little more than watch as his friends cautiously drew nearer. Mel had picked up the energy weapon and brought it with her, holding it ready as the Doctor examined Trevor's body. Seeing this, Jason was too weak do more than retract his tendrils slightly when the Time Lord announced that he was still alive.
"Is it safe?" Mel asked cautiously.
"Safe?" The Doctor turned, seeing the gun in her hand. "Give me that," he admonished sharply, taking the offending weapon and returning it to his pocket. He then got down beside the injured Alterran to examine his wounds more closely. Jason reacted with pain when the Time Lord touched him, his body shuddering at the same time.
"I know, it hurts, doesn't it?" the Doctor said gently as he examined the worst of his wounds. "I am trying to be careful."
"He's awfully quiet for someone so badly hurt," Mel observed in bewilderment.
The Doctor nodded. "I think his communication center's been damaged."
"His what?"
The Time Lord looked up and pointed to his throat in way of explanation. "He can't speak."
"Which one—I mean, who is he?" Mel asked pointedly.
"I don't know. With all these injuries, I can't tell," the Doctor replied truthfully. "And he can't—" He broke off as he turned back, his hand having touched something metal. There was a chain around what one could loosely be describe as the Alterran's neck, this being the area between his main body and where his appendages began. He reached down and came up with two objects. In the palm of his hand, the Doctor saw the signet ring of the Royal House of Krystovan and Jason's wedding band.
"Jason…" he sighed relievedly. "I thought I'd killed you." He touched one of his tendrils and it weakly wound around his hand in response.
The gash suddenly grew, nearly doubling in size. Again, the Alterran reacted in pain. If he could've made a sound, it would have been to scream. His grip tightened and then went limp, his sensors going dark as he lost consciousness.
Suddenly the Doctor recognized the wound for what it was. "That's lattice damage!"
Mel had no idea what this meant, but from his tone she knew it could not be good. "What does that mean?"
Ignoring the pain in his shoulders, the Doctor lifted his injured friend from the ground "It means if I don't get him to the ARGO fast, he'll die," he said succinctly as he strode off in the direction of the TARDIS.