"What d'you mean, he's not here?" Ace's voice was strident with displeasure as she glared at Kyris. She stood not more than two feet away from him, fists clenched, but he faced her calmly.

"I mean exactly what I said; he's not here. No signs of a TARDIS, no signs of the Master, not that we know what we're looking for, but I'm fairly certain he's been placed into the body of a bipedal, humanoid life form, and there aren't any here," Kyris replied patiently.

"He tricked us!" Peri exclaimed from the other side of the Console Room, her expression one of wounded disappointment.

"Course he did!" was Ace's scornful reply as she turned her glare on the other woman, then immediately back to Kyris. "Let me guess, he gave you false coordinates on purpose to get us out of the way."

"To keep us safe," Nyssa corrected softly. She touched Peri gently on the shoulder, a gesture of comfort and solidarity. "To enable him to focus on Tegan and John without having to worry about us."

Ace wasn't in the mood to hear the Doctor defended. Especially one she'd only just met and hadn't had the chance to form an opinion on. At least, until now. "We can take care of ourselves, he knows that. Or he should." Once again, she returned her attention to Kyris, this time stepping back the tiniest bit. "So where are we?"

"On an idyllic, uninhabited world in an out-of-the-way part of the Milky Way galaxy," he pronounced. "A great place for a picnic or a day at the beach."

"But not a great place to find the Master and finally give that bastard what he deserves," was Ace's unhappy response. "I could kill him!"

Wisely, everyone refrained from asking or even speculating as to which "him" Ace was referring to. Before she could say anything else, however, Kyris calmly raised one of her clenched fists to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Don't worry, I'll get us there. But you have to help." He glanced at the other three as Ace offered him a puzzled stare. "D'you think you can give us a few minutes? There's a kitchen not too far if anyone wants something to eat or drink."

Tyrel and Nyssa nodded and headed for the door. When Peri seemed about to object, Nyssa grabbed her firmly by the hand and half-dragged her along with them. "A cup of tea sounds just about perfect. Let us know when you want us back."

"It shouldn't take too long." Kyris returned his attention to Ace, still offering him a puzzled stare. "Ace, you were standing next to the Doctor when he had the read-out in his hand, you looked at it, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but all I saw was a bunch of numbers and letters, I couldn't half remember any of it."

"Not consciously," Kyris agreed. "But it's still in your memory. Those were the real coordinates. If you'll let me, with the help of the TARDIS, I should be able to pull those coordinates from your mind."

Ace took another step back, this time unconsciously, the wariness in her face translating into physical movement. "You mean, muck around in my brain?"

"Just to find the coordinates," Kyris replied, keeping his voice low and soothing. Non-threatening. "I give my word, that's all I'll look for and that's all I'll take out."

"I trust you," she snapped back, rolling her eyes ceilingward for a brief glare. "But I don't trust this TARDIS."

"I'll just be using the TARDIS to boost the connection, nothing else," Kyris replied. "If you trust me, then trust me to know the limits of a TARDIS when it comes to mental contact."

"All right," Ace agreed abruptly. "But only so we can find that bastard. What do I need to do?"

Kyris pulling her close for a passionate embrace. "I love you, did you know that?" he whispered against her lips when the kiss ended. He turned his head to nuzzle gently at her cheek. "Because you're a bundle of contradictions, because you're not afraid of anything, because of so many reasons I don't have time to list them all." He kissed her ear, then pulled away to tilt her chin up and gaze directly into her eyes. "All you have to do is concentrate on what you saw on that print-out the Doctor had. Don't focus on the numbers, just on the moment in time. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," Ace replied with a reluctant grin. "Course I can. I love you too, but get on with it." She cuffed him gently on the arm, then pushed all other thoughts aside, concentrating fiercely on the moment not so long ago in the Doctor's TARDIS.

Everything around her vanished, disappearing slowly into a white blankness until the only thing she could see was Kyris' eyes, until even they hazed into nothingness. Sound became muffled, the subtle beeps and whirrs of the TARDIS console fading into silence. Slowly a new image formed; the Doctor, standing next to his console, a piece of paper clenched in one hand. She drifted closer with no sense of movement, until suddenly the memory snapped into full existence; the Console Room in its white blandness, the others standing off to the side as she demands to know what the Master said. Then it faded again, until all that was left was the old-fashioned read-out in the Doctor's hand, a line of print, a string of numbers and letters. The real coordinates.

Ace blinked, and suddenly she was back in the present, in the Master's TARDIS (Kyris' and my TARDIS now, part of her whispered fiercely), staring dazedly at Kyris. Who was gazing back at her with a triumphant smile. "Got it!" He swooped in for a quick kiss, then dashed to the console and began entering the coordinates. "Tell the others we're on our way."

"Right," Ace mumbled, rubbing her head. It didn't hurt, not exactly, but it didn't feel right, either. She shook her head to clear it, moving slowly at first but rapidly increasing her pace as she regained her mental equilibrium. She paused as she opened the door, glancing back at Kyris. He looked up inquisitively, feeling the weight of her gaze. "Let's not do that again any time soon, OK?"

"It's a deal." Kyris returned his attention to the console, and Ace made her way out of the room, hoping the kitchen was being cooperative and staying in place today. She was in no mood to have to hunt for it.

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Author's Note: Remember the old saying: Anything worth having is worth waiting for. This is definitely a "slow and steady wins the race" kind of story, but I hope it's worth it. Please let me know, and I will try to pick up the pace as my "real" life permits.