Upon the bridge of the ship, Michelle Reynolds lay bruised and battered in a crumpled heap. She was unconscious, having been shoved off into a corner. Chanter Rusk had called off the attack on her when it was discovered that the Jewel was now active, and performing at maximum capacity.

"Enter the coordinates for the direct center of Earth's North Pole," he ordered. "Prepare to fire."

In Michelle's clouded mind, the same gender-neutral voice that was heard before spoke again.

You must rise. I pray that you hear me. Hear me and rise. He needs your help.

She could not reply, as the pain was too great.

Hear me, urged the voice again. Get up. It is coming, and I want you both safe. I am nothing without Him.

Even in the midst of the agony, an insatiable curiosity gripped Michelle. Who is this "Him"?

The one who has grown me. He is my God. You must help me. Help Him.

She knew who the voice was now, and who "He" was. Out of the view of the disinterested Kedron, Michelle began to struggle to sit up.

*******

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Rusk. Woe unto thee, the Doctor is free!" With a mocking smile, the Doctor clenched his fists in a fighting stance.

Chanter Rusk spun around, a phase pistol in his hand that was formerly concealed under his cloak. "Imbeciles! You let him escape! And he has obtained that tool back somehow!"

"Oh, don't blame the crew, Rusk. I just have friends in higher places than you do."

Rusk angrily glanced at Michelle, who remained motionless on the floor, eyes closed. For the moment, his suspicions were not aroused. "You will have a prolonged and painful death, Time Lord." He raised the weapon.

The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver. "Uh uh...if you shoot me, no one will be able to repair the irreparable damage to your computer."

Rusk's eye sockets narrowed. "A trick. A ruse! You are speaking falsehoods!"

"I'm afraid not. I would say that was a fairly stupid thing to do, leaving all your engines and machinery completely unguarded while you and the rest of your crew tended to the temporal drill. But I can't be held responsible for, as my companion would say, your 'dumbass' actions."

He stepped forward slightly. "I put a feedback loop in the central processor. If you don't put your weapon down, or if you make one wrong move towards that control panel, I'll press the button on my screwdriver and the entire ray will spit power backwards into this ship. Your panel will set it off. I can remotely set it off. Either way, you are screwed." He shook his head. "I've got to stop using all these Americanisms..."

Folding his arms, the Doctor continued, "I'm giving you this one last opportunity. Leave this space system now, and do not let me see you near Earth or near my TARDIS ever again. Go back into the Vortex, and find some other place and time to occupy."

Chanter Rusk scoffed. "Merely another Time Lord lie. And if I refuse?"

"Do you really want to take that chance? I don't think you do. I'm not going to repeat myself. Make a hasty exit for the farthest sector from here now, or it all goes up in flames."

There was a deathly silence that filled the bridge, as the Doctor and Chanter Rusk faced off against each other. "Very well," hissed Rusk. "I seem to have no choice in the matter."

The Doctor called out, "All right, Michelle, you can get up. Come towards me." He grinned wickedly. "I had hoped she was going to jump you from behind, but it looks as though that won't be necessary."

Wobbling, Michelle had been able to make it to her feet. "Doctor?"

"It's all right, Michelle, take slow steps towards me. We'll get those wires out as soon as the Kedron have gone." He grabbed her hand, and carefully began making his way towards the nearest airlock, waving the sonic screwdriver visibly in case anybody attempted to stop them. "The TARDIS is right outside."

Smirks on their faces, the Kedron watched closely as the Doctor and his companion forced their way through the ranks, until they stood by the airlock. Rusk opened his mouth, and the snake-like head protruded once again. "How quickly the Doctor forgetsssss...we are the sssssame. Thought-based creaturesssss…sssssame technology, sssame capabilities."

"What does he mean by that?" Michelle demanded. "I don't trust him, Spaz. There's no reason for them to just let us walk away. Something is fishy."

"Ignore it; let's just get the hell out of here."

The Doctor reached for the door of the airlock, seemingly oblivious to the dull ticking sound that emanated from somewhere nearby. Michelle's eyes widened in horror. "No…no, no, no…we're not escaping their trap, we've fallen right into it! Don't you see? They manipulate space and time, like Gallifrey! So does their ship!"

She grabbed the sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the door. The chameleon circuit lining the door of the airlock suddenly fluctuated, revealing one of the temporal charges magnetically pinned to the door that the Doctor had brought aboard. It was set to explode outward, with five seconds left on the timer.

My God…they want to kill not just us, but the TARDIS as well!

"Forgive me, Spaz. I can't let them take the TARDIS." As if in slow motion, Michelle brusquely shoved the Doctor aside, ripped the charge off the door, and leaped to the side, throwing herself on top of it.

***

The energy burst was loud, flickered purple and gold, and completely enveloped Michelle, along with a few other Kedron crew members. The Doctor gave an anguished cry, and rushed to her side.

Chanter Rusk cackled, "Friends in higher places? Friends in need are friends indeed. Friends will be friends. Goodbye, Earth." He pressed the command code on the control panel.

And, just as the Doctor had promised, the feedback loop triggered, firing the ray backwards into the ship. Computer terminals exploded, showering sparks everywhere. Panicked Kedron rushed for the escape pods, but began to scream in terror as they found that their ship was on lockdown, with 30 Terran seconds left to go.

"I didn't lie," managed the Doctor through gritted teeth. He pulled Michelle's arms up over her head, and managing with all of his strength, opened the airlock door, pulled her into the TARDIS, and sailed away in a burst of light.

Flames engulfed Chanter Rusk, as he sat back down in his chair and laughed maniacally. "A good fight, Time Lord! But you are not immortal! Only we, we Kedron, truly live on!"

His laughter could still be heard as the entire Kedron ship imploded in a giant fireball, then faded to nothingness. The space where it had been wavered momentarily as the space/time continuum returned to normal. Crittendon High School was as it had always been, with only something that looked like the Aurora Borealis in the night sky. Graduates still spoke of the colors in the sky that night with fondness years later.

***
The Doctor laid Michelle flat out on the floor of the TARDIS. Blood poured from her eyes, nose and mouth onto the prom dress. He carefully took off the Kedron cloak, and balled it up into a pillow under her head.

"A foolish, foolish thing to do!" snapped the Doctor. His hands trembled.

Michelle grinned with bloodied teeth. "It had to be done."

He yanked out the stethoscope from his jacket pocket. "Thank you for not taking this, by the way."

The Doctor went to listen to her heart, but she listlessly pushed the metallic circle off her chest. "You're not going to need that."

"Stuff and nonsense. You'll be fine." The Doctor stood up to retrieve some medicine from a cupboard in the TARDIS wall. Michelle grabbed his hand.

"Just…just sit still for a moment in your 900 years, okay Spaz?" She coughed. "Stay by my side, please." Purple and gold lights had begun to sparkle throughout her body.

"You've got to fight it…I know you can make it through this."

Michelle laughed dryly. "You almost sound like you're begging me."

He looked directly at her. "I am."

"I don't…I don't think that begging will be enough this time. What about Laura and Alice?"

The Doctor blinked frantically, trying to keep his eyes clear. "They'll live happy lives. Everyone is safe, thanks to you. The Kedron weapons hitting the school never happened." He interlaced his fingers with hers. "I can't do this again…can't do this again!" The last words almost came out as a yell.

She hushed him. "You can do this, Spaz. And yes, in answer to your prior question, it does hurt badly."

He managed, "I'm sorry…I'm–"

"So, so sorry. I know. You're good at that line."

The Doctor took both her hands and placed them on his hips, underneath his coat. "Forgive me…" he stammered, as she had done earlier.

She joked, "All this intimacy and apologies–I feel special! We had so much fun though, didn't we? I…I think…"

"Yes?"

"What a ride…" Michelle burst into painful giggles. "It's like the Phil Collins song. I…I've been waiting for this moment for all my life." Her eyes rolled lazily toward the ceiling. "Oh Lord."

Both eyes closed, and Michelle relaxed visibly, before her body dissolved into a pool of purple and gold light, and was no more.

The Doctor could only stare at the place where she had lain, a bloodied cloak now all that was left. And the TARDIS screamed out in grief.