FOURTEEN
"Excellent," Plexaphedros said. "We knew you'd come round."
Bastard, thought Jack.
"I understand that you are frustrated, Captain Harkness," the slippery alien said to him. "But it is what it is." With this, Plexaphedros turned up his hands in a mild shrug, as if to suggest that there was actually nothing he could do about it.
They heard swift footsteps somewhere in the TARDIS, quickly growing louder. In a moment, Feeno stuck his head in, and breathlessly announced, "Martha's awake."
The Doctor unthinkingly turned and followed their purple friend down the hall. They were not pursued by the Namuh, as they all knew that there was no way to leave the TARDIS, and no way for the Doctor to go back on his promise.
As they followed Feeno, Jack said, "I assume you have a plan, Doctor Fly-By-The-Seat-of-Your-Pants."
Earnestly and quickly, the Doctor told him, "Not at the moment, no."
"No plan," Jack said contemplatively. "So you're going to run it by Martha. That's why where hurrying to her bedside."
"No, we're not running it by Martha, she's got enough to worry about," the Doctor replied. "I'm hurrying to her bedside to find out about her condition. And because I love her, and want to see her awake. She's spent far too much time unconscious of late."
"We're not running it by Martha," Jack said, again, contemplatively.
"You seem to be very good at repeating things I've already said," the Doctor said. "Have you got anything new?"
"Sorry, it's just that it's not exactly like you to just turn up your toes like this, and I'm finding that I need a bit of time to mull it over," Jack said, now struggling to keep up with the swifly-moving Time Lord.
"What has happened?" Feeno asked suddenly, just as they reached the bedroom door.
"The Namuh want the Doctor to take them to the year 2007 so that they can unleash unholy hell on Earth, and the Doctor has agreed to do it," Jack said flatly.
Feeno tried to hide his surprise. "Oh. And you think this is the best course of action, Doctor?"
"No, I don't bloody think it's the best course of action," he snapped. "But if we don't get into a time and place soon where we can get our hands on some antibiotics..."
"Oh, I see," Feeno said.
They were all silent. Jack felt a little guilty for being difficult about this. He'd been in love himself, and he knew how desperate the Doctor must be feeling.
"Look," the Doctor said, running his hands through his hair, and making eye contact with no one. "We could stand about for days and contemplate how to get out of this, and in the meantime, Martha could die. We could pull her in and get her medical opinion, but we all know what she'd say."
Feeno offered, "As before, she would volunteer to sacrifice herself to save humanity."
"Exactly. And she's done enough self-sacrificing lately. That's why I figured on cutting our losses and dealing with the unholy computer virus later," the Doctor said firmly. "I'm not saying I'm ready to sacrifice the human race, but I'm willing to cut it a bit finer this time."
"Dealing with the computer end later... cutting it a bit fine... it is what you're good at, I'll give you that," Jack said.
"So we are going to give them the impression that we're cooperating, and then we will two-ex them?" Feeno asked Jack, clarifying.
"Did you mean double cross them? Yes, that's exactly what we're doing. They gave us 24 hours to have Martha treated when we get to 2007, and then they're going to release a universal computer virus that will shut down the cities and cause chaos. We'll let them believe we're going along with it, and then... I don't know. I guess the sonic screwdriver will do its work."
"That's if I can work out where the 'drop site' is," the Doctor said. "That's... where are they inserting the virus? What device would they use as an envoy?"
"Whoa," Jack sighed with resignation. "Okay. What do you want to do next?"
"I want to see Martha," the Doctor said, now looking him dead in the eyes, and seeming as though he might weep.
"Sure," Jack said, turning the knob and letting them all into the bedroom.
They entered the room softly, and found Martha sitting up, sipping water. Jack grabbed Feeno by the arm and led him into an adjacent sitting area. He thought the Doctor and his lovely companion might like to be alone.
"Hello, love," the Doctor whispered with a smile. "All right?"
"I'm alive," Martha said. She tried to smile, but the terror was coming through loud and clear. She was clearly more frightened now than she had been on Korr just before her previous impending death. Of course then, she was drunk on new love and her body was strong enough to exert itself in the ultimate act of distraction. Now, she was only strong enough to think... her mighty medical mind could not stop wallowing in the biology, symptoms and implications of her condition. A big machine that snuffs out life doesn't scare a medical student so much, but a good virus will render one crippled.
In her weak smile, the Doctor understood all of this. More than anything, he wished he could distract her now.
He knew her thoughts, but responded only to her words. "That's all that matters," he told her, taking her head in his hands. He kissed her on the forehead.
The pads of his fingers behind her ears sensed a blister-like protruberance. The pustules were growing; the plague was getting worse.
"What do they want?" she asked. He opened his mouth to answer, and she added, "And don't tell me not to worry about it. I want to know."
He sighed, hesitated and then explained.
"We can't go back there," Martha said. "I'm contagious. Not to mention, hello? Computer virus? How are you ever going to find out where the drop site is? And how do we know we can take these beings at their words? How do we know that they'll actually give us twenty-four hours? They must know that that's more than enough time for you to figure out how to stop them... how do we know they're not just saying that so you'll do it?" This was too much for her, and she fell back against her pillow, coughing.
He brought her water cup to her lips and helped her drink. "Martha, I've thought of all that," he said as she sipped. "But we have to get you to some medicines or..."
She sighed, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were filled with tears.
"Guys?" Jack said, coming around the corner. "Sorry, we couldn't help but over hear the excitable screeching."
Martha smiled, and Jack smiled back.
"Do you mind, Doctor?" he asked.
"No, no. Come on in," the Doctor said, setting the water cup back down on the night table.
"I just thought of something," Jack said, sitting down on the foot of the bed, Feeno following suit. "I tried to break their will. I tried to get them to abandon their plan."
"I wondered if you'd try that," the Doctor said. "Didn't work, did it?"
"No, how come?"
"Probably because their will is too strong. Their desire to carry out this plan supercedes your telepathic signals... also, they're anti-human, which means that their strongest instinct isn't preservation of their own species, remember, it's the destruction of others. This is what they do, what they know, and your usual close your eyes and concentrate won't work on this one."
"Maybe if you and Martha went at them together," Feeno suggested. "Perhaps if they respond to your will on normal occasions, a stronger will, combined will, would effect them on this abnormal occasion."
"I think that's true," Jack told him. "It makes a kind of sence from a physics standpoint. Two human wills are stronger than one..."
"Now hold on, guys," the Doctor said. "That's probably true, but can we just let the lady concentrate on staying alive?"
"No, let me at 'em," Martha said, trying to pull her covers off. "I'll think them dry!"
"No, you stay put," the Doctor said, replacing the covers.
"Wait, it might not come to that. I think I have a plan," Jack announced carefully.
"Is it a good plan?" the Doctor asked.
Jack thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Actually, it's a pretty shoddy plan, but it's exciting, and it's all I've got. Wanna hear it?"
