Authors Note: Okay fairly lengthy chapter in this one. If you're familiar with the classic Who then you may recognise the small bits of the story line I've borrowed from one of the fifth doctor episodes and the erm artistic licence I've used to incorporate it as part of this storyline. For those who aren't familiar I'll add a note at the bottom of this chapter. Oh and a warning. This chapter is very wibbley wobbley, timey whimey. Enjoy.
Chapter summary: We get to hear Henry's side of the story and what actually happened to him at the end of 'Dalek'
End of Chapter Eight:
"I wish it didn't have to be like this but yes, Rose is worth losing a life for."
"I thought you'd see it my way," said Henry as he neared the Doctor's side. "Are we agreed on the conditions then, one of your future lives for Rose's freedom?"
A chill passed through Henry's body as the Doctor fixed his ice cold stare upon him before answering.
"I will give up a life but I want two things in return," he demanded.
"You still trying to be Lord of the Manor, Doctor?" sneered Henry. "You seem to forget who is in charge here. Still, I'm feeling generous today so tell me what you want."
"I don't want Rose to be alone. Have one of your staff take Darcia down to her. She-"
"Doctor, no," broke in Darcia but a quick shake of his head cut short any protest she was about to make.
"Darcia, just go, please. Right now Rose is scared and upset. I need you to let her know that she's safe. You've done all you can to help me. You can't do any more so be there for Rose until I can," he said softly.
Darcia nodded and the Doctor sighed in relief. He knew once she left him he would revert back to his original form but that mattered little now. She had captured more than enough data to shut down this set up for good but the turn of events to come must not be recorded. He turned his attention to Henry once more.
"Will you let her go, Van Statten?"
Henry sat back in his chair obviously weighing up the pros and cons of such a request. Eventually he appeared to make a decision and pulled out a small device from the breast pocket of his suit.
"This, Doctor is the digital code book that holds the key to destroying the nanites inside Miss Tyler's body. If Miss Tyler does anything stupid I have but to press a button and your precious Rose will be dead."
His attention then turned to Darcia, his 'I hold the cards' smirk wide across his face. "You appear to be a smart woman so I'm sure you won't give me a reason to use this."
There were so many things Darcia wanted to say to deflate this man's ego but to her credit she kept quiet. When Henry realised he was not going to goad her into a reaction he chuckled lightly.
"Well then, since there's not going to be any witty repartee I'll get the agent to take you to see Miss Tyler."
He pressed the intercom button on his desk and within two minutes Griff opened the door and walked into the room.
"You wanted me sir?" he asked.
The Doctor was pleased to hear him speak relatively calmly. They needed no slip ups now. The stakes for Rose were too high.
"Yes, I want you to accompany Miss Darcia down to Rose Tyler's room. Watch them carefully. The sale is not yet complete so ensure that they don't cause trouble."
"Yes, sir," complied Griff obediently before turning towards the door with Darcia in tow.
"What, no little messages for the love of your life, Doctor?" taunted Henry.
An urge to wring Van Statten's neck was the Doctor's first thought but he resisted the notion in favour of providing Rose with some instructions as to what should happen next. His brain worked overtime as he sought to come up with a message that would sound normal but would have his clever girl picking up on the hidden details. Suddenly the face of Jackie Tyler supplanted itself into his mind. Normally he would be horrified for allowing himself to think of the witch but right now she was the catalyst of a good idea. Smiling slightly to himself he related his message to Darcia.
The smile dropped after Darcia and Griff left the room leaving the Doctor and Henry alone.
"Have to say Doctor, I'm a little disappointed. Such boring messages to send to the woman you love."
"What Rose and I have to say to each other is our business, Van Statten. Now what I want to hear is how you came about knowing so much about the Time Lords and me."
"Ah, yes, your other condition. It's a long story, Doctor. I thought you were in a hurry to get Miss Tyler back and shut down this operation?" queried Henry.
"I will get Rose back and close down your business, that's true but you told me yourself you don't care about any of that. Once you've got my future life you're home free. Got a ship docked somewhere or a transmat beam handy, courtesy of your 'silent' partner?"
An amused laugh lifted from Henry's throat.
"Partner may be a bit too strong. I'm the one pulling the strings but to answer your question yes I have a way to get out at a moments notice. Want to see it?" Not waiting for an answer he pulled from his desk draw a device that he then strapped onto his wrist.
"Vortex manipulator! Amazing little piece of technology. Lets me go anywhere, anyplace, anytime. You aren't the only one who can travel now, Doctor," he boasted.
Suddenly his smile faded and a look of disbelief spread across his face. Before his very eyes the Doctor's image was changing. Within a minute the ginger-haired man in the red shirt and black trousers was gone leaving in its stead the familiar face of the man he'd seen arrive on Gwilgoloth earlier that morning.
"Well, well, Doctor," said Henry clearly impressed. "I show you a vortex manipulator and you upstage me with this little stunt. That another Time Lord trick?"
"No."
"Aw, is that all I'm going to get?
"Yes."
"Pity, it was a good piece of subterfuge. It got you inside after all, so kudos to you for that. Still it makes me disinclined to continue on with the rest of my story if you won't share information," rebuked Henry.
The Doctor's patience was wearing thin. It was only the thought of Rose that kept him from causing any harm to the man before him.
"Van Statten, I'll let you in on a secret. This box you hold and your knowledge of Time Lords can only have come from one source and that's another Time Lord. And if that's the case then you are definitely not the one pulling the strings.
"I rather think I would know if I'm in control -"
"But this vortex manipulator," continued the Doctor as if Henry had not spoken. "It's not Gallifreyan science. I heard these were being used by the Time Agency though I've never seen the device up close. Where did you get this from or rather who did you get it from?" he asked, his curiosity now overshadowing his initial ire.
"You're right, Doctor. This I got from a Time Agent."
"And what did you do to the Agent to get hold of your own personal time and space hopper. Cause their death too?" spat the Doctor bitterly.
"Oh, No. The owner of this trinket is alive and well. You mentioned her earlier actually."
The Doctor's mind promptly back tracked through all conversations held since he entered this room and as he settled on the answer he gasped the name out loud.
"Diana."
"Yes, exactly, Diana Goddard," confirmed Henry. "Seems like the Time Agency also heard about my little collection and sent Diana in to infiltrate and spy on me. Of course after the events with the Dalek she deemed me a liability and ordered my mind to be wiped."
"Well we know what a non event that was now, don't we?" retorted the Doctor sarcastically. "How did you do it by the way?"
"Easy, really. Like I said earlier no genius would be dumb enough to let their own machines work against them. When I built the memory eraser I programmed into it my own DNA codes. That way if the machine was ever used on me-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. The computer would recognise your genetic make up and refuse to work. All right, so you escaped the mind wiping. What happened then?"
Henry placed the time travel device back down on the desk before seating himself back in his chair again. He chuckled briefly before continuing his story.
"To be honest I wasn't sure what she was going to do to me but after one look at her face I knew she'd figured out what had happened and was clearly impressed. Then she told me she could use a mind like mine during her missions. Asked me to come with her so we could explore the universes together and-"
"In other words she gave you the option of going with her or she would have to dispose of you unpleasantly some other way," broke in the Doctor, clearly seeing through Henry's distortion of the truth.
Henry sighed in exasperation. "I think I liked you better the first time we met, Doctor but yes, okay there was no choice. I didn't want to die so I went with her and just for the record I did prove myself worthy several times. Even saved her life once thanks to some quick thinking. Oh, the things I saw, Doctor," he said, his eyes lighting up at the memory. "They were amazing." Suddenly though the eager gleam vanished. "Along with the good I saw an equal amount of horror. Things I wish I'd never seen or heard. Things that made my collection in Utah seem safe."
He paused momentarily to look the Doctor directly in the eye.
"I think you understand what I'm talking about though, don't you? There's always a penalty to be paid. Still-" he brightened, his cocksure confidence returning to the fore, "that's the way of life isn't it and speaking of prices due, don't you think you ought to pay yours?"
"What? Think I'm going to have the local cavalry storm in at the last minute before you've collected," sneered the Doctor. "I've said I will give up a regeneration, Van Statten and I'll keep my promise. Rose can't go anywhere till she's free of the nanites so come on, indulge the interests of this old alien and finish the story."
Henry rose from his chair and began to pace around the room.
"Well, I suppose it can't hurt to tell you the rest. Diana and I travelled for quite a while through time and space. However she was getting bored with the missions from the Time Agency so every now and then would go searching for some freelance work. They were usually quick and dangerous jobs and it was all very hush hush but she seemed to enjoy the extra excitement and I admit so did I. We managed to accumulate quite a large amount of money together and I think she started to trust me." Henry smiled. "It was Diana who got me this vortex manipulator although I guess she doesn't quite trust me fully yet because she sets the co-ordinates on it and I can't change it, not that I haven't tried, of course."
"I'm sure your little adventures with Diana through time and space were fun but you still haven't told me how you came to meet a Time Lord and don't bother to deny that you haven't," said the Doctor, his patience fast wearing out again.
"I'm getting to it," protested Henry. "Diana and I were enjoying the hospitality of one of the pleasure planets on the Outer Linox system when her vortex manipulator started to receive a faint SOS signal. It appeared to be coming from the planet Xeriphas."
As the planets name left Henry's lips the Doctor bolted upright in his chair.
"Xeriphas," he repeated in a clearly shocked voice.
"Yes, that's what I-"
"When? I mean what year was it?" growled the Doctor.
"I hardly think it matters what-" started Henry but seeing the no nonsense look in the Doctor's eyes quickly continued to give an answer. "I don't know. I think I remember Diana saying something about the early 1980's."
Rising from his chair the Doctor began to pace about the room, muttering fiercely under his breath, the consternation clearly showing on his face.
Henry watched him with interest but could not help but flinch a little when the Time Lord turned to face him again.
"What happened Van Statten when you got to the planet?"
"I really don't know, Doctor. Only Diana could tell you that. She left me on the pleasure planet, stating that she would return and she did but she didn't come back via the manipulator and she wasn't alone."
"What did they look like?" demanded the Doctor as he continued to wear a path back and forth across the room.
"What does all this matter?" queried Henry impatiently.
"Just tell me!"
"Fine, he was quite tall, had brown hair, moustache and a short beard. He looked like he'd bought his clothes from some Regency out of date op shop but his eyes, yes I remember those very well. When he looked at you it was if he could see right through to your very soul," finished Henry softly.
"And was there anyone else with him?" queried the Doctor.
Henry nodded.
"Yes he had some sort of android or robot with him."
The Doctor stopped pacing for a moment, a sad smile adorning his face.
"Ah, yes Kamelion," he murmured almost to himself before shaking off the memory of the lost android. Kamelion was gone, along with so many others of his companions. There was nothing he could do for them now. He had to stay in the present to make sure he didn't lose the most important companion of all; his Rose.
He stopped his pacing and returned back to his chair. With a heavy sigh he began to speak.
"Van Statten, I know who it is that Diana rescued. He calls himself the Master. I often wondered how he managed to escape from Xeriphas. Now I know. So what happened? Did you and Diana start working for him?"
The other man eyed the Doctor curiously for a few minutes before resuming the rest of the tale.
"To be honest I initially wanted to get as far away from that man as possible but Diana seemed enamoured with him and he really didn't give us any reason to mistrust him. He appeared to be quite grateful for the rescue although evasive about his reasons for being stuck on the planet. I don't suppose you'd care to share why he was there?" he asked hopefully.
The Doctor shook his head. "It's a long story Henry and I'd rather not dig up the past even if it seems not to be done with me. So what happened next? How did you get from rescuing the Master to being here on Gwilgoloth presiding over the biggest slave auction in the universe?"
"We travelled together for a while. His space ship or TARDIS as he called it was a more luxurious option to the gut wrenching side effects of the vortex manipulators. After a while the Master and Diana got quite chummy and he appeared to confide in her. Perhaps he found her attractive, I mean I always found her quite beautiful or perhaps he was interested in her skills as a Time Agent but eventually he found out about Utah, the Dalek and ..."
"Me," uttered the Doctor wearily.
"Oh, yes," confirmed Henry. "We had quite the chat and he was very sympathetic about the loss of my artefacts in Utah. That's when he showed me pieces of his own collection. Things he had taken from Gallifrey including the box for storing future regenerations. He told me quite a few things about the history between you and him and about the Time Lords. Talk about eye opening conversation."
He fixed a hateful stare at the man opposite him.
"You humiliated and ruined me, Doctor but the Master; he helped me see what I needed to do. I had built up a dynasty, a collection beyond price and now it's gone thanks to you. So today I'm returning the favour. I'm taking something from you, your regeneration, something precious that money can't buy," he finished aggressively.
The Doctor however appeared to be unphased although inwardly he was scared as hell.
"Van Statten," he began coldly. "You have no idea what the Master is capable of. Don't you see he that he's using your grievance as a chance to attack me? That is the only reason that he would use his power and resources to help you construct this whole scheme."
Henry snickered in defiance.
"You're wrong, Doctor. It was my plan, my scheming. Oh, I'm sure there is no doubt that my success here today will please him no end but this is all about me and you and my reward," he boasted.
"Reward?" questioned the Doctor suspiciously. "What has he promised you?"
Smirking madly Henry answered him. "Not that it's any of your business once you have given up the life but the Master has promised to use your regeneration to extend my own life span."
The Doctor's two fists slamming down on the desktop wiped away the smile on Henry's lips.
"You're a complete fool, Van Statten if you think for one moment that the Master is going to give you that life. Whatever he's said to you about this is a lie. Humans and Time Lords are too different. Giving you this life is just not possible. You'll be as good as dead the instant you return."
"No," shouted Henry. "You're wrong. Besides Diana wouldn't let him do that."
The Doctor shook his head. Stupid, stupid apes. Even the cleverest of them was obviously an idiot. The time for games was over. Ruthlessly he pushed on.
"You think you're indispensable to him? You forget how well I know the Master. Companions are no more than toys to him. Toys that he loves to play with until they are no longer useful or until he gets bored with them. Once you bring my regeneration back to him your usefulness is over. Diana, with her Time Agency connections will probably fare better but don't trick yourself into thinking that she'll protect you. She'll look after her own interests and go where the power is and that lies with the Master."
"Then what would you have me do, Doctor?" screamed Henry in a voice that was at least an octave higher than normal.
"Stop this now," suggested the Doctor. "Release Rose and hand yourself over to the authorities. Do the right thing and take responsibility for what you have done."
"No."
"What?"
Henry stood behind his desk, fury written all over his face.
"I said no! I won't spend the rest of my life in some prison where my talents will suffocate while my body eventually withers and dies."
"So you're going to take the chance that the Master is either telling the truth or is feeling generous about letting you live on your return then?" said the Doctor, shaking his head in disbelief.
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Doctor. I can't be locked up. Not when I've seen what's out there. There is so much I want to do and with an extra life I'll be able to do it. Don't worry about me, Doctor. I'll make the Master see how much he needs me," replied Henry arrogantly.
Sadly, the Doctor nodded his head.
"Then I say it again, Van Statten. You are a fool. Everything that happens from the moment you leave here will be your own fault."
"Well then," retorted Henry. "We had better not keep Lady Fate waiting then should we? The time for talk is over, Doctor. I believe you have a debt to pay."
As he spoke he pulled the box decorated with the Gallifreyan designs into the middle of the desk.
"Right, now you're going to put both your hands on top of the box and keep them there. Just remember I've still got the code book right here so any problems from you means a very painful death for Miss Tyler," threatened Henry.
The Doctor could barely contain the snarl that left his lips in reaction to Henrys taunt.
"Let's get this done so we can part ways, Van Statten," he growled before placing his hands on the box.
Immediately he felt a tingling sensation in his palms that grew stronger until it was almost painful. Golden light sprang forth from between his fingers, spreading across his hands and slowly curling its way up his arms. He felt like his whole body was burning and he wanted to howl at the invasion of it all. The pain intensified and it took everything in him not to scream out his agony.
"Oh, by the way," sneered Henry from in front of him. "This might hurt a bit."
Far away in the Time Vortex, Diana Goddard received a signal on her Vortex Manipulator.
"Have you news for me, my dear Diana?" asked the Master from behind her.
Diana started. She had not heard him approach but quickly overcame her shock to answer him.
"Yes, Master. It appears that Henry has started collecting the regenerations of the Time Lord."
"Excellent," replied the Master. "I knew that human girl called Rose would be his downfall the minute you told me about her. His love for the Earthlings has always been his greatest weakness." His evil laugh rang out. "Henry has that fool thinking he's giving up just one future form but the box will keep draining him of his regenerations until it's full. If the Doctor is lucky, he may have at least one more life left or perhaps none at all. I wonder what that will do to him? How delightful it will be to find out!
Stroking his beard, he gave another dark chuckle before leaving the room.
Additional Notes: References to the Planet Xeriphas are taken from a fifth Doctor episode called Time Flight and featured the Master played by Anthony Ainley. At the end of the episode the Master was stuck on Xeriphas. I am not familiar with classic Who so could be wrong but there appeared to be no real explanation as to how the Master got away from the planet before his next encounter with the fifth doctor in the episode The Kings Demon. In that episode the Master has Kamelion with him whom he says he brought with him from Xeriphas. Therefore I have used a little artistic licence to have Diana Goddard and Henry Van Statten rescue the Master which of course gives him a shot at hurting severely a Doctor from the future.