Chapter 13 – Fairy Stories
The Master jerked up from his cot, tossed back the covers and lurched to his feet, before he stumbled forwards and fell to his knees.
"Susan!" She was in trouble! She was dying! Somewhere, out there in the dark and the cold, she was fading away. He was losing her!
He closed his eyes and reached for her. He didn't know what to do, there was no rational thought. He acted completely on instinct. She was his and he had lost everything else, he wouldn't lose any more, especially not her.
He found the fading glow of her mind and wrapped himself around it. He held that light, the dazzling sunshine of her soul, and saw how much dimmer it had become over the last century. So much sorrow, so much loneliness, had eaten at her bit by bit until she was a fractured, faded shadow of what she had been.
He could feel the sluggish efforts of her body to regenerate and he pushed on them, forcing them to function. He fed her his strength, his life, and little by little she shifted, changed, and was reborn.
He collapsed on the floor of his room, feeling like he'd run a marathon. So tired and spent that he couldn't even crawl back into bed, just falling asleep on the carpeting.
Darginian woke from his sleep to the sound of the Master's agonized cry.
"Susan!" he shouted and Darginian was racing down the corridor, gun drawn, wondering what could have happened.
He burst into the room and found the Master collapsed asleep on the floor, his legs tangled in the sheets. He was covered in a sheen of sweat and his eyes looked bruised from exhaustion.
He leaned over and checked the older man's pulse. It was a bit fast, but was already slowing as he slipped more deeply into sleep. Dar lifted him up and carried him back to the bed, slipping him between the sheets and covering him up again.
Asleep, the Master looked strangely vulnerable, the mask of his confidence and poise striped away to reveal a man who dreamed of a girl he couldn't reach.
Dar left the room and shut the door behind him. He wandered into the console room and checked the last few search algorithms that the Master had run. As usual the TARDIS had been set to keep track of one Dr. Susanatrevalar, to plot intercept vectors to worlds where she was stationed. Dar knew that this TARDIS was limited in where it could go, the Council had put limiters on it, and so the Master must know it as well. Yet, he still kept trying. Hoping for something that he had to know was hopeless.
Dar cleared the cache, making certain that no other agent could find those searches. His instinct was to protect his friend. He wasn't quite certain how it had happened, but the Master was his friend. At least three times now he could have killed Darginian, or left him to die and he had refused to. Had he been the monster that legend and rumor painted him, then Dar would have been dead by now.
He still didn't understand it all. He didn't know what had driven the Master mad, or how he managed to fight the madness off time and again, displaying moments of courage, of nobility, of gentleness, that Dar wondered if he was even aware of.
Either rumor was wrong, or something profound had changed inside the Master. Something that Dar suspected had to do with a green-eyed girl who'd stared back at the madman with longing, desire, and something that Darginian still couldn't quite believe.
She looked at the Master with love and love was what he'd returned to her. None of it made any sense to Dar, but he knew what he'd seen.
"Dar?" the Master stumbled into the console room.
"Here," he replied and nodded at his friend.
"I had a nightmare, I think." He was fishing to find out how much Dar knew, but the CIA agent just shrugged.
"After the month we've had, I wouldn't be surprised. I've been having some bloody awful ones myself," he replied, smoothly avoiding answering the implied question. Whatever was going on between the Master and Lady Susanatrevalar, it was intensely private and none of Dar's business. He wasn't about to intrude on it.
"Do you remember the girl who came to the Trans Mat?" the Master asked him and Dar blinked in surprise. In nearly a hundred years, the Master hadn't mentioned her aloud to him.
"Lady Susan," he answered and watched as the other man's eyes went gentle at the sound of her name.
"Yes." One word, but fraught with emotions so deep that Dar was shaken. That he was willing to reveal even so much of himself to Dar was somewhat shocking. There was real trust being built between them and he wasn't sure if that was good or not. He'd already compromised himself so badly with the CIA that he could be executed for all that he had failed to report so far.
"I remember," he allowed some of his compassion to leak into his voice and the sad, dark eyes that looked up at him were filled with understanding.
"You haven't ever asked about her," he pointed out.
"No," he replied and looked down at the floor of the TARDIS. "I have been directly ordered to report all known facts, Master," he informed his friend, who startled at the reminder of who and what Dar was. "I was never told to report surmises, conjecture, or guesses, only proven facts."
"So, as long as something is merest conjecture, then you are not obligated to report it?" the Master asked him, his lips curling up in a smile.
"Precisely," he replied, feeling relieved that the other understood so quickly.
"Then let me tell you a purely hypothetical story," the dark-haired man suggested with a chuckle and Dar nodded.
"As long as it's purely hypothetical, I'd be happy to listen," he replied.
"Imagine a young woman; we'll call her Anna, shall we? Let's say that someone wanted her mind broken, but couldn't find anyone strong enough to break through her formidable defenses. One day, it occurs to the bastards that they could call in a powerful telepath and use him to do the job," he informed Dar, who was feeling a certain degree of trepidation as to how this story was going.
"How might the powerful telepath have felt about that?" he asked rather sharply and the Master gave him a lop-sided smile.
"I suppose that he hated the very thought of it, harming a schoolgirl was probably even beyond what he imagined he was capable of." The sick self-hatred in the Master's voice made Dar wince. "Still, it was do the job or die for the poor fellow, so he would have had to do it." A sudden gleaming smile surprised the CIA agent. "But imagine if Anna turned it all around on him. What if she were so brilliant, so amazing, that instead of being broken, she knocked through the fellow's shields, like they were tissue paper, and invaded him with ease?" Dar blinked in surprise and sudden wonderment. Everything came clear then to him, all of it, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Then that girl would be quite extraordinary," he conceded and looked up at his friend with a smile. "Such a girl, even if she's only imaginary, would be well worth whatever it took to get back to her."
"Yes, should such a girl ever exist, she'd be worth the cost," the Master sighed out and for a brief moment his misery was clear in his eyes and then was hidden again behind a wry smile and a shrug. "But, it's just an amusing story. After all, such a girl couldn't possibly exist outside of dreams." With that last rather melancholy statement, the Master withdrew back to bed, leaving Dar with much to think on.
Susan sat up in her hospital bed and smiled at the nurse. Her regeneration had been very difficult, but it had completed, which was a relief. She looked in the mirror that hovered in the air before her and frowned at the blonde hair, blue eyes, and upturned nose that met her gaze. She'd really liked the green eyes, she'd miss them. She'd never really fancied herself a blond either, she'd really been hoping for ginger, like Great Gran.
Hazy memories tried to catch her attention, but she was still somewhat disoriented and it was so hard to think. She drifted off to sleep.
"Susan," his voice was there and she opened her eyes and smiled. He'd come to visit her!
"Koschei!" she was happy to see him, which seemed odd to some small part of her brain, but everything was a bit fuzzy just then, so she couldn't figure out why.
"You're blond," he mused, fingering a length of her hair with a proprietary air that she ought to find annoying, but which merely made her mouth go dry with want.
"You're still the same," she noted. "I'm glad you're being careful," she added and he looked at her in surprise.
"I'd have thought you'd want me dead." He was frowning at her and she was shocked by the comment.
"What? Why?"
"So that you could get me out of your head!" he answered as though she were stupid. Her only answer was to sit up and wrap her arms around his neck.
"You're a certifiable madman, but I didn't think you were thick," she grumbled and then kissed him, her mouth ruthlessly attacking his. He groaned and leaned into her, arms holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.
Yes, she thought, this was right; this is what had been missing for the last hundred years of her life. He was pressing her back on the hospital bed, straddling her, hands working his magic on her body and she was ready for him, wanting him more than anything in this universe or any other.
"Good morning, Susan!" her doctor called out and her eyes flew open to find herself alone in a hospital room, looking up as her chart was checked and her nutrients were adjusted. It was all she could do not to scream at him in frustration.
Another damn dream and she didn't even get to finish it this time!
"Hello, Doctor," she murmured and plastered on a smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace.
The Master awoke abruptly and groaned aloud. Omega! He hadn't dreamed of her like that in a hundred years and, when he finally did, he had to wake up before he'd even gotten to a fraction of the things he wanted to do to her. Life just wasn't fair.
Andred grinned up at Susan as she wandered into the barracks area. The best thing about the giant star forts was that the barracks areas were very nice, even if the Navy technically ran the fort, they left the Army chaps alone down here. So they felt free to post rude and suggestive signs explaining what the best uses for a Navy plebe might be. Susan rolled her eyes at one particularly vulgar one and he grinned even more widely.
"Sick bay not keeping you busy enough, my Lady?" he asked her and she gave him a wry smile, twisting a lock of pale blond hair around her finger thoughtfully.
"Well, Colonel, since you don't like me enough to come to sick bay to get your check-up…" she answered with a sly smile and he groaned aloud.
"It's not that I don't like you, my Lady, it's that I hate sick bays!" he protested and she grinned and pulled out a diagnostic wand.
"Then I will give you your check up right here," she retorted, while several other soldiers snickered quietly at his discomfiture. He glared at them and they quickly fled to other duties. Lady Susanatrevalar was the Doctor's family, so unlike the last two doctors on base, he couldn't just ignore her and hide. He'd promised to protect her and he took that oath quite seriously. Unfortunately, it now meant he couldn't throw a chair in her path and run away.
"As you say, my Lady," he replied, giving in as gracefully as he could.
Alarms began to wail and the station shuddered beneath them as something struck it.
"Did you arrange an attack to get out of your check-up?" Susan asked him as they bolted out of the barracks.
"No, my Lady, that I did not!" he called back.
"Direct hit on the bridge, activate auxiliary bridge," the computer announced and Susan went pale beside him.
"I've got to get to the sick bay!" she cried and he grabbed her arm, pointing to the damage map above their heads.
"You can't! It's gone!" She stared at the map and then whipped out her life sensor array, checking for signs.
"There are fewer than thirty life signs on the station, Colonel," she gasped out and he fought off a momentary paralysis. The base had had over two thousand personnel stationed on it.
"Let's get to the auxiliary bridge!" he ordered and they ran.
"Auxiliary Bridge is open to vacuum," the computer announced and they ran faster.
They reached the door and he ripped open the panels throwing the airlock protocols over to manual and slapping the sealant locks into position.
"Auxiliary Bridge is now air tight," the computer confirmed and he pulled the door open.
Susan stepped in to see carnage. She ran to the nearest still form and began taking life sign readings. Nothing. She went methodically through the room, but they were all dead.
Behind her, Andred was running damage control, darting back and forth between the stations trying to make sure that the rest of the base was air tight.
"Dalek fleet approaching, Dalek fleet approaching," the computer informed them and Susan's blood turned to ice.
"Omega," Andred whispered and when she looked up at him, where he stood, staring down at the tactical display, she saw that his face was bloodless and his eyes were fixed in wide-eyed dismay on the screen.
"Andred?" He looked up at her.
"We need to power up the Delta Wave Generator," he told her and she shivered. It was a last ditch weapon, since it would use most of the available power of the entire base to fire, leaving them without shields. That he suggested it at all, told her everything about how bad things were.
She scrambled to help him and then looked at the graphics. The spreading v-shape of the outgoing wave was shown engulfing the entire huge armada that was bearing down on them, but it also covered the Trinity, the three worlds, really a large planet and two huge moons, that the base orbited.
Billions of people lived on those worlds. People she had gotten to know quite well in the fifteen years she'd been stationed here. She'd spent her shore-leaves down there running a free clinic for the poorer residents. They'd all die along with the Daleks if they fired that wave.
"We can't! Andred, Trinity is right there! They'd be caught in the blast!"
"I know," he answered and kept working.
"Andred!" she cried. "We can't do this!"
"Susan, if we don't launch the Delta Wave, then everyone on this base will die, and then, after that, everyone in this sector will die. Twenty-seven worlds, fifteen space stations, and half the Allied Fleet are lying unprotected and the Dalek fleet is three times the size of the defending forces," he explained patiently, his eyes on hers grave and sad.
"Billions of people," she whispered.
"Who the Daleks will kill in about thirty-seven minutes, regardless, and there are tens of billions out there in the dark who will be next," he told her and she realized she was weeping.
"There has to be another way!" she demanded.
"Incoming missiles!" he shouted. "Shields at maximum!"
Another jolt went through the station and Andred, who wasn't in a sling, was thrown across the room. She unhooked herself and raced after him.
She dropped down beside him and scanned him, finding a collapsed lung and broken ribs, one of which was dangerously near his left heart.
"Don't move; your broken ribs could do some serious internal damage. She grabbed her med kit and opened it up.
"Delta Wave charged and ready for firing." The computer's voice was far too calm for Susan's tastes just then. Andred clutched her hand.
"Susan, you have to press the button!" Andred looked at her and his eyes were filled with compassion.
"I can't do that!" she cried out to him. She was shouting, but couldn't seem to stop herself. "I'm a Doctor! I took an oath to preserve life! I know these people, Andred, I have treated them, played with their children, been a part of their lives," she whispered, seeing in her mind the delicate fronds of Mag-ia, waving a laugh as they swapped stories, the laughing arboreal children who'd climbed her legs, the humans, the Gelph, all of them.
"And you will mourn them, Susan, but you will still do this thing, because there is no other way to save everyone else." She stared at him in horror, wondering how it had come to this. It was a military ship, filled with soldiers, yet she was the one being asked to do this thing.
"If I do this, then what will I be?" she asked him softly. "Because I won't be a doctor anymore. I won't be Susan." His eyes on hers were filled with sorrow for her, but there was no give in his face.
"You'll be the person who saved all those lives," he told her, trying to comfort her, even as his collapsed lung made him gasp and wheeze for air.
Susan stood up and moved to the wrecked controls. She carefully moved the body of the Wave operator out of the seat and sat down. It was a simple control, press a button and wipe out billions of lives forever. Her eyes were filling with tears again, her hearts were breaking, and she looked out at the three worlds sitting, like blue and emerald jewels glittering in the dark, and she pressed the button.
She could feel them dying. She could feel the Delta wave sweeping across the worlds, killing everything it touched and she fell to the floor, hearing their deaths in her mind, and she was screaming with them. She felt the Daleks' fear and their deaths as well and it was too much. After all that she had gone through, after everything she'd survived, this act was the one last thing. The one last thing needed to break her.
Susan shattered, falling into darkness and despair.
The Master cried out and Darginian turned to see him falling to his knees next to the wave form generator, his hands clutching his head. His expression was one of intense distress and Dar knew that somehow Susan was involved. He grabbed the Master and dragged him into his TARDIS before anyone else could see what was happening.
This bond between the Master and Susan was dangerous; Dar could feel that in his bones. If his superiors figured it out, he suspected that the Master's life expectancy would be about as long as a Mayfly's. He carried the Master into his rooms and lay him on his bed, removing his boots and loosening his collar.
"You'll make someone an excellent wife, Dar," the Master chuckled weakly.
"Sorry, you're not my type, besides, I think you're taken," he grumbled and those wry black eyes watched him with understanding.
"Assuming she survives the damn War," he retorted with a sigh. "She's collapsing, Dar, I can barely feel her." That cool confident voice was suddenly shaky and Dar nodded.
"I'll watch the door." Dar rose and went to make certain that no one would disturb the Master for a while. "You take care of her."