Chapter 5

In the TARDIS Control Room, Nita and her friends were still looking at Jol on the viewscreen.

Jol sized up the group. The cheerful playful man from Nestra was different here – his eyes revealed a mean intelligence… his speech was clipped… expression hard. "The expansion will proceed as follows… Carolyn."

Carolyn met his gaze. There was no acknowledgement of the intimacy they once shared. The group was ready to support Jol in any way they could. In essence, they had become agents of his will.

"Proceed to these coordinates…" He punched the coordinates into a panel. "We will rendezvous with the Endeavour. Resume distribution of the device aboard that vessel."

Carolyn nodded in understanding.

"Michelle… take a shuttle to Starbase Sixty-seven. Distribute the device to all starships currently docked there."

Michelle nodded.

"We also have an opportunity to introduce the game to the Timelord Academy."

"Excellent. See to it. The Ktarians commend your efforts, Nita. When the expansion is complete… you and your friends will be rewarded." Jol eyed the group.

Ace was on the move, mock-up game in hand. She passed a vistor, who glanced at her. Ace kept a straight face, not stopping for a second. Ace rounded a corner and approached a group of people engaged in a hushed conversation. She passed them quietly and with no eye contact, trying not to arouse suspicion. She came to the lift doors and touched a button. A tense beat, then the doors opened.

Ace entered the lift. Two people were already in the lift. Ace stood between them, trying to appear like nothing was out of the ordinary.

The lift started moving. A beat of silence. Ace stood cool and composed. But she couldn't help but glimpse at the people to see what they were doing.

One of the was looking right at Ace. Expression neutral, eyes searching Ace's face, he nodded a slight greeting. Ace nodded in return, then looked straight ahead again.

Both people started to scrutinize Ace. They looked down at her mock-up game, as if to make sure she had one. The tension in the room climbed a notch. This was the longest lift ride of Ace's life.

Finally, the doors opened and Ace promptly left.

Ace walked off, breathing a sigh of relief.

Ashleigh was at a work station in the Cloister Room. Ace entered, looking harried but determined. She went straight to a console and sat down. "I think we're gonna be okay. I've just got one more thing to do."

Ashleigh sat next to her at a parallel console. Ace was so involved in the work that she didn't look up at him. "Help me compile the forcefield overrides."

Ashleigh watched as Ace entered a few commands. Information came up on the console.

"What are you doing?"

"I created a site to site transmat program. If things get difficult, this'll keep us one step ahead. Did you get a chance to access the security tracking codes?"

A beat as Ace worked. Ashleigh did not answer, and made no effort to help him – rather, he just sat there, watching her. Slowly, Ace started to realize that he was not doing anything, and she looked up at him. "Ashleigh?"

He smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. And in one terrifying instant, it was clear: Ashleigh was not himself. His eyes shifted ever-so-slightly from Ace's face to a region just behind her.

Ace turned. Michelle was standing right behind her. She leaped up, turned to Ashleigh – he was holding out the game. "It's your turn, Ace. Play the game."

Panicked, Ace made a run for it. Michelle chased after her. Ace raced across the room, past the table, and made a sharp turn for the nearest exit. Ace bolted into the hall, closely followed by Michelle.

"Computer – activate security containment field on deck thirty-six, section fifty-two!"

A forcefield appeared in the corridor, effectively trapping Ace in a dead end. She stopped and pulled out her communicator. "Computer – transport program McShane One!"

Just as Michelle lunged to grab her, Ace dematerialized.

Ace materialized in another room. She raced out the door. She stopped – looked at her communicator, removed the front of it and tampered with the inside. Tossing the communicator to the floor, she took off running down the corridor.

In the Control Room, Nita was at the console with Carolyn.

"Michelle to Control Room. I've lost McShane. It looks like she rigged a site to site transmat."

Nita was displeased. "Security alert, condition three. Computer, shut down all transmat systems. Carolyn?"

"I can't track her. She's done something to the internal security sensors. I'll try bypassing her subcommands. Hold on…"

Ace was moving cautiously along. She stopped at an intersection between two corridors and knelt down. She reached into her pocket and revealed a small staser and pressed a command into it. She laid the staser on the arm rail, aiming it at the intersection… then activated it. The staser sent out a series of weak, sporadic bursts – the tiny beams absorbed harmlessly into the wall.

Carolyn and Nita were in the Control Room.

"I'm picking up a piece of her trail – sensors show power activation on deck six."

"Seal off deck six. Activate security fields on section twenty-three through twenty-nine."

"Ok."

In the corridor, Ace was gone. The staser is still sending out the bursts when a forcefield appeared at the intersection. The bursts started hitting the forcefield.

In the Control Room, Carolyn reacted to the console. "We've got her, Nita – section twenty-five. It looks like she's trying to break through the forcefield with a weapon."

"Michelle to deck six, section twenty-five."

Ace ran along another corridor. She stopped and peered around a corner. Two people were running toward her through the connecting corridor. Ace ducked back around the corner and waited. She looked again and the coast was clear. She made a run into the corridor.

The two people arrive at the scene of the first corridor – but Ace was nowhere to be found. Just the staser lying on the arm rail, sending out its tiny beams.

In the Cloister Room, Michelle and Ashleigh were at a console, trying to track Ace.

"Where the hell is she? I'm trying to islolate her with thermal sensors…" Michelle worked the console. She narrowed the scan field, deck by deck. "Unfortunately, she knows our procedures… she'll avoid corridors and public areas."

There was a tense beat of working the controls. Then Michelle reacted to the console. "I'm reading an unidentified heat source on deck seven, section twenty-three…" She pointed, "There." Michelle took off running.

Ace crawled horizontally along a narrow passageway, deep in the bowels of the ship. Suddenly, an access hatch opened behind her – it was Michelle. The woman started after her. It was a tense chase down the crawlway until… Ace made it to another hatch – the doors opened and Ace jumped through the doorway into…

A part of the service duct where Ace could stand up. She immediately pressed a button next to the doors, and as they started to slide shut – Michelle's hand stopped it from the other side. The doors started to open, Michelle's strength forcing them apart. Ace frantically kept pushing the 'close' button. Michelle reached in with both hands, using all her might and it was working, she was getting the doors to open all the way. Ace rushed across to another set of doors. She hit the unlocking code into a panel… the doors opened and…

Nita was on the other side. Ace leapt back, startled. Nita quickly stepped through the hatch toward Ace. Ace wavered between Nita and Michelle, panicked about what to do next, but there was no escape. She was trapped.

Nita and Michelle entered the Control Room, Ace in tow between them – they each had an arm. Ace struggled against their iron grips, to no avail. Ace was dragged to the console, where Carolyn stepped over to her. Ace could hardly believe her eyes. Here was the TARDIS crew, all looking and speaking like their normal selves – but their actions utterly alien. It was a chilling predicament – and Ace never stopped resisting.

"You gave us quite a chase, Miss McShane."

Ace was silent, glaring. Michelle put a little extra squeeze on Ace's arm. Ace reacted.

"Carolyn…"

Carolyn walked over and handed Nita the game. Ace eyed it with utter dread. Nita moved it toward Ace's head. Ace struggled like crazy.

"Hold her steady."

Michelle steadied Ace's head with a her hands. Carolyn looked at Ace with a soft expression, tried to comfort her. "It's okay, Ace. It doesn't hurt. You'll like it. I promise you…"

Nita hooked the game securely around Ace's ear. She pulled the arm extension in front of Ace's eyes. Ace shut her eyes tight, refusing. "No…"

"Her eyes."

Michelle reached in and forced Ace's eyes open. Nita activated the game, which came alive with tiny lights. The game sent out two this lasers – and they made contact with Ace's pupils. Ace tensed up. The lasers vanished. Ace's struggling started to subside… The playing field had a cone and a disc coasting across it. The disc started to skitter about, but it missed the cone. Ace's strength was sapping… "No…" The disc moved faster, closer to hitting the cone. Then finally, the disc dropped right into the cone. Ace's body tensed up. Then she relaxed. She slumped a little, succumbing to the game.

"That's it, Ace… just let yourself go…"

Suddenly, the control room lights went out. There was darkness and confusion. The door to the corridor opened. A short, portly figure stepped out of the brightly-lit interior – a dramatic silhouette against the light. As the door closed, the figure raised up an arm, aiming a device toward the room, causing a series of bright white flashes of light. The effect was blinding and erratic, like a flashbulb going off in the darkness. With each flash of light, there were reactions:

-FLASH! Nita reacted, wide-eyed and stunned, the light blinding her.

-FLASH! Michelle fell back, hands in front of her eyes, the light causing her pain.

-FLASH! Carolyn stumbled back, dazzled by the light.

A beat of darkness, then…

"TARDIS, resume normal illumination."

The control room lights came back on. The Doctor was standing in the corridor doorway, holding a palm beacon that had been modified to send out flashes of light. He has the beacon trained and ready to fire again, if necessary. But the crew looks dazed, like they're coming out of a deep sleep. One is rubbing their eyes… another simply regaining their balance.

"Michelle, you will find a small alien ship off the starboard side. Secure it with a tractor beam and raise our shields."

Michelle was at first uncertain, looked to Nita. Nita nodded, okay. Michelle worked the console. "Engaging tractor beam."

The TARDIS seized the Ktarian ship with a tractor beam.

"Are you all right, Nita?"

Nita considered, head still foggy. "I think so…"

"Doctor, we are being hailed by the alien vessel."

"On screen."

Jol appeared on the viewscreen, his outrage barely contained. "Nita, explain yourself."

"The explanation is simple – your attempt to capture this ship has failed."

"Release us immediately. Or we will open fire."

"Tactical analysis, Michelle?"

"Their weapons capability is substantially inferior to our shields. They are not a threat."

"Get him off the screen."

The viewscreen returned to a starfield.

Carolyn was shaken. "I can't believe what we were about to do…"

A beat… Nita moved to Ace – there was a relieved look between them. Nita approached the Doctor, surprised… "Doctor… we sedated you…"

"I discovered what you had put in his IV and replaced it with saline."

"Ace's subsequent diversions gave me adequate time to modify the palm beacon. The optical burst patterns we programmed were successful in counteracting the addictive effects of the game."

"And our visitors?"

"We have programmed the main computer to transmit the same optical pulse to all display screens, work stations and terminals throughout the ship."

"That'll reach almost everyone. Send out a medical team to treat the rest."

"Ok."

Carolyn joined the Doctor and they headed for the corridor. Nita stepped up to the console, regaining her composure, but still rattled by the whole experience. "We'll take the alien vessel to the nearest Alliance starbase." She set the coordinates.

The TARDIS floated in the vortex. Several days had passed. They had delivered the Ktarian vessel to Starbase Eighty-two. They were now soon to rendezvous with the Starship Merrimack, which would take Ace back to the Academy now that her vacation was over…

Ace stood at the bed in the guest quarters, dressed in Academy uniform, packing her travel bag. Ashleigh was beside her, handing her clothing. He held up a swimsuit. "I never saw you wear these. Afraid someone might see your birthmark?"

She took the swimsuit from him. "Who started that birthmark rumor, anyway?"

He shrugged innocently; she pulled him close and they kissed. A moment, and they parted gently. Their relationship had matured over the past few days.

"Wish you didn't have to go."

"Me too."

"You'll write, won't you?"

"Somebody's got to kill those rumors you keep hearing about me."

They smiled, and embraced one last time.

Nita's voice came over the com. "Ace, we've rendezvoused with the Merrimack. Please come to the control room."

Ace tapped the communicator button. "On my way." Ace closed her travel bag. A moment between them – this was goodbye. "I'd better go."

"Here…" Ashleigh handed her a small red book. "A gift. So you'll remember."

Ace took the book, curious.

"Ashleigh's Laws. All one hundred and two of them."

Ace was moved by the gesture. Arm in arm they walked toward the door.

"Law number one hundred and three…"

"Yes?"

"A couple of light years can't keep good friends apart."

The End