Threefer
As Captain Lange gaped at Jared – or rather, at Jared's pistol – Rose stepped back away from his grasping hands and pulled her own tiny derringer out of its thigh holster under her skirt, silently blessing Pete for providing the guns. Jared had only hesitated a brief second before taking his and sliding it into its holster on his hip. The image had branded itself into her brain: The Doctor With a Gun; and she knew she'd have to do some serious reflecting about the ramifications of it later. Was it only as part of his disguise as her bodyguard? Was it a serious commitment to protecting her, as promised? How far would he take it, if pressed? She had his promise, but... she still didn't know which answer she really wanted to hear. How different from the Doctor was Jared? How different did she want him to be? How different – and what differences – could she handle?
Pete had balked at Jared's being her only companion, wanting one of his own men along to protect her and take the pictures, but Rose had overruled him there, too. "Actually, Pete, he's the perfect person to be in there. Forget pictures; give him ten seconds, and he'll be able to tell you exactly what the weapon is, how to counteract it, and probably even put it out of commission for you." Pete still looked uneasy, but she quietly gave him the kicker. "It's both of us, or neither." So he'd given in. This Pete was as pragmatic as the next. Still, he'd had a very quiet word with Jared before the mission, and she didn't have to hear his solemn promise of retribution for herself to know it had been given.
Captain Lange took a sharp breath to bluster, turning back to Rose – and stopped again at the derringer now in her hand. He was obviously a quick thinker; she could almost see the decision to play along until it was safe to react. She'd have to watch him very closely while Jared did his thing. He spread his hands wide, then reached to put his palm on the reader, pausing to look at her again while the door clicked open. "Imposter or spy?" he asked simply.
On impulse, she decided to play it straight. Whatever the reason for her double's unthinkable actions, she wasn't going to put her in needless danger in revenge. "Imposter."
He grunted. "You're very good. You look exactly like her."
She smiled wryly, then stopped him with a hand when he moved to enter the door, edging to the threshold herself and carefully checking for any obvious security traps. Finding nothing but the usual control room setup and a single startled scientist in the traditional white lab coat, she sidled in, then motioned the Captain and Jared to follow. She pulled the nearest chair back as far from the console as it would go, then motioned Lange into it, positioning herself behind him and pressing her derringer into the base of his skull. Prisoner secured, she finally nodded Jared's release to go to work.
He did so rapidly, holstering the pistol and pulling out the sonic screwdriver. All three of them ignored the scientist's "Kapitan? Was ist dies?" though Rose kept an eye on him. Watching the achingly familiar vision of the tousle-headed string bean bending over a console and whizzing the sonic, then reading the data screens as they cascaded past, she had to blink back sudden prickling tears and take several deep breaths against the exploding pain in her chest. Then she ruthlessly squashed her reactions, promising to deal with them later, knowing she had to someday – and soon.
As she'd promised Pete, within ten seconds he'd found the answer, rearing back with such a patented look of horror that she almost snickered. "Are you insane?" he cracked, looking back and forth between the Captain and the scientist, a fifty-ish man with an almost caricaturistic goatee and half-moon glasses.
"What is it?" she broke in.
"A primitive warp star. Basically, a supernova in a can." He looked back at the scientist. "You realize that if you set this off, it will blast a chunk out of the planet the size of the moon, wiping out ALL LIFE ON EARTH?"
"Who the devil are you?" came the astonished reply, in English.
"I'm the –" Jared began automatically, then managed to switch tracks with only the tiniest gap. "– man who's going to stop this, right here, right now!" He didn't bother with further exposition, but clicked up a new setting on the sonic and began whizzing it against the console again. One deactivation coming up, as promised, thought Rose.
But suddenly he stopped, reading further screens, then slowly looked back at the lab coat again. "Who are you?"
The scientist swallowed. "Doctor Heinz Schroeder," he replied.
"And you invented this monstrosity?"
A silent, jerky nod.
"And are you also the one who sabotaged it?"
Everyone reacted to that. "Sabotage?" Lange hissed, leaning forward automatically. Rose reached with her free hand and dragged him back onto the derringer.
Schroeder ignored him, staring at Jared.
"How is it sabotaged?" Rose put in, worried.
"It's set to go off under certain conditions, probably when it's tested – not the full warp star, just a tiny auxiliary explosion. Just enough to sink the ship," Jared replied, continuing to gaze at Schroeder. "With you on board. Isn't that right? This is a suicide mission."
Another long, tense silence, and then Schroeder nodded. "Ja. I will not allow my name to be put beside the inventors of nuclear weapons as the killer of mankind. I will never allow this to happen. I will go down with the ship, and the program will end."
"But won't they just build another?" Rose jumped in, from her lifelong annoyance at the "prototype dodge" so often used in the cinema.
"No. I never wrote down most of my notes. My work is all in here," he said, tapping his head melodramatically. He turned back to Jared, pleading. "You must allow me to do this. If I live, they may find a way to force me..."
"And the rest of the men on board? You'd sacrifice them, too?"
"They are hardly innocent!"
Jared stared at him, a million lies and promises flashing through his awesome mind. The same parade of faces that had tormented his twin on the Crucible (though he didn't know that) went zinging past his mental eyes, searing him with memories of those who had sacrificed themselves on his behalf.
"But that's the point," he whispered to himself, even as it hit him. They sacrificed themselves... He shook his head, and spoke again, with the quiet authority of nine hundred years. "Self-sacrifice for a greater good, or to prevent an evil, is one thing, and I would not stop you if that were the only option. But I cannot, and will not, countenance sacrificing others, against their will and without their knowledge and consent. That is the greater evil."
He caught Rose's shining eyes and they shared a long, level look of silent understanding. Then he turned back to Schroeder. "Besides, it's too late," he added, dipping his head toward Lange. A glance at his Captain, whose face was slowly turning purple with outrage, was enough to convince the scientist, and he wilted. The weapon would not be destroyed via his sabotage now. He watched bleakly as Jared bent back over the console, whizzing his device and apparently deactivating the system. A series of whizzes and keyboard commands, and a computer voice announced "Payload Released".
"I fused the components and froze the gasses, then released the separate units into the water. They'll sink and never be found – nor be useful if they are," Jared told the others. "It's done."
"Are you with the Resistance?" Schroeder asked, desperation beginning to seep into his voice.
This was Rose's territory. "We have contacts..." she replied vaguely, waiting to see what he wanted.
"Then take me with you. Send me to the Americans. They cannot force me to reveal what I know. I wish to defect." He pronounced the last carefully, as if it were part of a ritual.
"And how can we be sure that you won't reinvent this thing, willingly or not?" Jared asked.
Schroeder shook his head helplessly. "I give you my word. If that is not enough... I wish I could forget what I have learned," he added sadly.
"Jared?"
"Are you absolutely certain you want to forget? Because I can help you with that."
Startled, the scientist stared, then nodded. "If you can do what you just did, then I believe you can make me forget. But only this, ja?"
"Ja." Taking a deep, centering breath, Jared stepped forward and put his palms on either side of Schroeder's face, concentrating. Within seconds it was done, and he dropped his hands again, stepping back.
Schroeder's eyes had closed, now they flew open in wonder. "It is gone..." He looked around at the consoles. "I remember... I know what this was for... but how I made it... it's gone!" Smiling broadly underneath teary eyes, he reached for Jared's hand and shook it. "Thank you, mein Herr. Thank you!"
"You're welcome," came the reply. "Now I just want your word that you will not work to rediscover it!"
"Oh, yes, mein Herr! Absolut!" He stopped suddenly. "But you will still take me with you, ja?"
"I rather think we'd better," Rose broke in again. "The Reich won't believe your memory loss, will it, Captain?" She prodded Lange with her derringer again.
Lange shook his head. His face was no longer purple; all color had drained away instead. "Do you know what you have done?" he whispered hoarsely. "All of you?"
"Yeah. We just saved the planet," Jared said sarcastically. "Which we rather make a habit of, don't we, Rose?"
She smiled at him, but of course that wasn't what Lange meant. He shook his head, ignoring their mutual admiration. "You have also just signed my death warrant. Once this is known, even if you erase my memories of this night, I will face the firing squad." He leaned forward again, suddenly making up his mind – Rose had been right on his quick thinking. "Take me with you, as well. I beg you. I don't wish to defect, but I will live longer with the Americans than I will the Germans."
Jared and Rose stared at each other, surprised at this latest development. He tipped his head at her, You're in charge here.
She slowly walked around to the front of Lange's chair, so she could look directly into his eyes. After a long, assessing look, she nodded slowly. "Get us – all of us – safely off this ship, Captain, and I'll turn you over to the Resistance. You'll have to convince them of your sincerity. I can't make you any guarantees, but I do have some pull with them. I'll do what I can."
He stared back, assessing her in return. This was NOT the empty-headed little songbird he'd thought he was seducing. After a moment, he nodded. "I'll take the chance. Thank you."
^..^
He kept his word, getting them safely off the Leipzig past the curious Marine-Polizei, and back down to the little car they'd parked in the shadows of the wharf. Rose took the precaution, once they were out of sight, of having Jared blindfold both Germans and tie their hands while she carefully drove them to the rendezvous point in one of the empty warehouses nearby.
Their prisoners waited in the car while they explained to Pete what had happened. "Just look at it like this, Pete: we got a threefer! The weapon is destroyed, and you have both the scientist and an officer to show for it!" Pete stared, then snorted, then directed the three men with him to take the prisoners to a safe house and keep them under tight guard until they could contact the Americans.
As they turned to follow Pete back to their escape route off the base, Jared bumped Rose's shoulder. "Still make a pretty good team, eh?" She kept her face straight at his goofy grin, and he bumped her shoulder a couple more times. "Eh? Eh?"
"Nope," she said levelly, and his face slowly fell.
Then her eyes sparkled. "We make a brilliant team." A slow smile crossed her lips, and she reached for his soldier's tie, and pulled his head down for a quick, passionate kiss, before they turned and ran after Pete, hand in hand. As always.