Chapter Seventeen: Impossible Choices

"Rose! We have to move!" the Master yelled as he shoved Donna onwards.

She was still. He had to forcibly move her towards an exit. The Doctor was still breathing, hardly, so the Master reluctantly lifted the Time Lord to his side. As he half dragged the Doctor away, he noticed that the gunfire was eating at the walls. It was so intense that some of the wall was gone. A conduit had split. The world fell silent as he stared at the broken piece, one two three four one two three four. Important. It was something important. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it meant something. What did it mean?

"Oi, spaceman number two! We have to move!" Donna reminded him with a glare.

He rolled his eyes and hoisted the Doctor closer to his body. They got to the next stairwell, where they secluded themselves for just a moment. It was clear that both Donna and Rose had cried over their Doctor, but the Master was completely detached. Rose took it the hardest. She had just gotten her Doctor back, and yet he was clearly on the edge of death. When the Master peeled back the pinstripe suit and took a look, he didn't say anything. It agitated both companions far too much.

"Well? Is he going to be all right?" Donna demanded. "Is the Doctor going to make it?"

"Yes, of course he is. I told you that it doesn't kill you. Just really hurts. Does a number on a person's complexion. Look at the poor chap. He's got third degree burns. Some swelling. Terribly unpleasant. But, he will live to complain about it. Barely."

Rose glared at him. "Barely? I'm confused. One second you say it doesn't kill and the next you imply the Doctor is hardly hanging on…"

"Did you not listen? It can kill if the person is hit more than once. And he was hit several times. The idiot took at least three hits for the pair of you. But, like I said, he made it through. He'll be out for some time. Can't say how long. So, if you want him to come along, we will have to drag him."

"Of course we want him along!" Donna screeched as she smacked his shoulder. "I'd carry the man myself. He's my best friend in the universe."

"Oh good. Then you can carry him," the Master snarled as he held out the Doctor. "Really, I worry about my back. It isn't what it used to be."

"You tosser! You will not leave the Doctor and you will not leave him to me. You know I'm not strong enough to carry him on, even if he is just a twig."

Rose pushed between them. "Stop it! We need to get moving. Earth is at risk. Wait a minute. Why aren't they attacking? Why is it so quiet? We didn't disable anything, did we?"

The Master thought for a moment. "Torchwood. I told them that I commanded the defenses. They're wonderful warriors, but they won't risk going in halfcocked. They must want Torchwood's defenses before unleashing their reign of terror. Clever. But, that means that they want my codes and your broach…and, by extension, you."

"So we just go and make them blow up, yeah? That'll end this and we can all go home. Have some tea. See to the Doctor," Rose nodded as she turned away from the injured form of her Time Lord. He looked so vulnerable. She hated to see him that way. "We need to finish this."

"Quite right, Rosie. Ginger, stay with Rose. I'll carry the Doctor. I suppose he can be helpful from time to time."

Sighing, the Master began to drag the Doctor up the steps to the next level. Rose was still silent and shaken, and Donna didn't say a word for once. Everyone was far too focused for banter. Just as they made it to the next level, a motion detector went off again. This time, there were no guns. There was a bright ray of light that transported them onto the bridge. They were instantly held by a force field, separated by species. Halmono was there in all his glory, laughing at their failure.

"You have failed! How does that feel, Master, to know that you are inferior?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I was about to ask you the same question."

"You know what we want," Halmono roared. "Torchwood. The codes."

"Fine. I don't have them. The truth is that Rose Tyler has the control, and so does the president of Torchwood, Donna Noble. They're the ones you need to talk to. Not me. I was just a pretty face. An authoritative voice."

The alien seemed unsure. "That is not possible. We spoke for months. You had the codes."

"I lied. We waited six months. You've seen what I can do to your ship. I could have moved in a second if I had the information, but I told you we were waiting on Rose, remember?"

Rose wasn't sure where the Master was going with this, especially since it might put her in danger. She sent a glance in his direction, and he waggled the sonic screwdriver behind his back. He'd gotten it from the Doctor before he set him on the floor. She knew that the Master had a plan, so she went with it.

"It's true, Hal my pal," Rose smirked. "I've got the codes. I've got everything. Donna has the clearance and I have the numbers. Maybe we can deal."

"Deal? We do not deal. All will listen to us."

Give Rose's distraction, the Master had just enough time to disrupt the force field and slip through a gap. The Doctor was trapped inside, but he wasn't awake yet. Surprisingly, the Master purposely left the sonic for the Doctor. It would be their way of escape. The Time Lord had to wake soon, the Master knew. It'd be up to him, as much as he hated to admit it. He gave a lasting look at Rose and then vanished down the corridor.

"Well, we aren't cheap or easy, mate. Our information will come at a price. You can have the codes, but only if you cut us in," Rose attempted to redirect.

"We want at least forty percent. Fifty would be better," Donna broke into character, as soon as she saw that the Master had escaped. Rose gratefully smiled in her direction.

"But you wanted to spare Earth! You wouldn't want a deal. Something isn't right…" Hal turned to the Master to find that he was gone. Groaning, the alien rippled in displeasure. "Escaped! Find him!"

Rose grinned and whispered under her breath, "Good luck, Koschei."

The Master easily got to the bed chamber. All of the other travelers, and the Doctor's limp body, were slowing him down before. The place was a grand bedroom with gold and marble, so it was pretty easy to find the technology. The blinking console was in the solid gold wall. He set to work on the protocol. It took some doing, but he got it moving. However, there was a slight problem.

The ship's systems were not operational.

He looked into it further and his hearts sank. It started to make sense. When he saw the damaged conduit several floors down, he subconsciously knew that it would disrupt the system. The shots fired took out part of the ship's mainframe. He couldn't successfully blow up the ship with the wiring falling apart. If he could repair it, the code would go through. But what could he use to bridge the gap?

"Master," Halmono called in a thunderous voice. "I ask for your eyes."

Slowly, the Master turned to find a feed behind him. It was of Rose and Donna. They had weapons pointed at them beyond the force shield. They were of the same technology, so the shots could make it through the beam. Searching for a way out, he managed to find the Doctor in the corner of the video. He hoped that his old adversary was awake, but he wasn't so lucky. The Doctor was still out.

"What do you want?" the Master demanded. "What do you want in exchange for their safety?"

"You have exactly ten of your Earth minutes to get back here. If you are not here in time, both of the women will be slain. You lied to me about the codes. They do not have them, but I know that you do. We want those codes so that we can take Earth once and for all. If you do not give the information to us, or we discover that you have given us false information, they will also die."

The Master met Rose's gaze. He could see her broach shining in the light. His first instinct was to forget about Earth and save her. So, he cleared his throat to answer, "Fine. I will be right there."

"Don't!" Rose shouted with tears in her eyes. "Please. Don't. I will never be happy if my planet, my family, is dead. I would rather die than live in that world. If you love me, find a way to save them. Do it for me. You're their only chance. My only chance. I need you."

"Ten minutes!" Hal thundered as he cut the feed.

Silently, the Master checked the time. He couldn't make it all of the way to engineering to find cable. He couldn't risk wandering from room to room to find something. That would only waste time. What could he do? He started to pace, mumbling to himself.

"It's only a basic, electrical current at its core. What conducts electricity? What do I have on hand to fix a gap that's about this wide?" he paused as he stretched his arms to mimic the exact length, glancing at his arm span. "No. No, that can't be right. There has to be another way. If the Doctor were awake…but…he isn't…"

He thought for a moment. No matter what happened, there was no way to win. Either they all would die on the ship, or Earth would die and Rose would leave him alone. There was a very slim chance that they could succeed. If he managed to complete the conduit and start the destruct protocol, the Doctor could get Rose and Donna out. He knew that such a thing was almost impossible. No matter what, the choice was his. He got to decide who would die and who would live.

For the first time in his life, would he do the right thing with that power?