Chapter Twenty-one
Laying on a soft surface that felt like shards of glass to his strained system the Valeyard struggled to focus on something, anything, other than the agony pouring through him. He could hear screaming, an unnatural screeching that just kept getting louder. It sounded like his voice, but he didn't understand how it could be coming from his throat since there was no air in his lungs, only blood. With his hearts pounding against the sensation of sharp cold steel that shredded them with every beat the Valeyard thrashed under a unrelenting burning radiation that tore at him with needling persistence. Taking a deep breath that brought him no sense of relief the Valeyard screamed again until his voice pitched higher than human hearing.
"Look at me, Sweetie, please just look at me."
The Valeyard could hear River's voice, and he tried to obey. Opening his eyes he cried out in terror as he was met with a vision of Jackels' lab before welding them shut again. When River put her hand on his cheek he automatically looked up at her. Confused he looked as now the lab was replaced by a bedroom in Dakari's home. The scenery had changed but the tearing pain still wracked his entire body.
"River! Make this stop! Please!"
"I would if I could." River replied gently.
"You can, you can help me..." The Valeyard gasped frantically. "I can't do it myself, I've tried...he's so powerful...I'm scared, I'm so scared of him...I know what he can do...I'm terrified of him..."
"Terrified? Of who?"
"Of him, of me."
"Try to relax, you're delusional."
The Valeyard jolted and cried out as a cold cloth was pressed against his temple. Shivering in agony he pulled away from the cool contact despite the fact that it was soothing. He fought to sit up but the sensation of the daggers still in his chest brought him back down. River was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to calm him without success. Lolling his head from side to side the Valeyard moaned as though caught in the grips of an unbreakable fever.
"Swee..."
"You could get him for me, he would trust you," the Valeyard continued to babble "you could stop this...please...please help me..."
"Hush, just concentrate on breathing."
"He'll kill me...if he finds me, he'll kill me...I can't let the Doctor find me..."
River carded her hand into the Valeyard's sweat drenched hair as he arched his back and screamed in renewed pain as the illusionary radiation intensified in his mind. He lost his ability to discern the present from the past as he felt himself trapped up against the hard metal table with the ion restraints cutting into his wrists. His chest felt torn into as energy snapped between the two imaginary blades. Terror washed over him as a deep blue energy started to glow over both his hearts.
"Wha...what's happening?" River asked as she jerked her hand away from the new glow.
Lost in his madness the Valeyard was unable to respond. An invisible icy hand gripped around his left heart and jerked him forward. The Valeyard clutched the sheets to keep from being torn away from River, but the phantom draw was too powerful. Flung through a vast spans of frozen darkness he landed hard on an equally hard surface. Disoriented but free from the agony he had been in the Valeyard slowly pushed himself up on his hands and knees and spat blood on the floor followed by a few heavy breaths that trailed glowing gold dust.
"Doctor?" A familiar male voice asked. "Doctor are you okay?"
The Valeyard snapped his head up only to find Jackles approaching him. With his voice suddenly lost the Valeyard scrambled back away from the Minyan scientist. Tripping over a broken heap of metal and wire debris the Valeyard was quick to get back to his feet. Looking around the destroyed lab in shock the Valeyard settled his eyes on Jackels. Losing his initial brush with fear he rushed up to Jackels and grabbed him by the throat. Jackels brought his hands up to the Valeyard's wrist but was unable to free himself.
"How did you do this?!" The Valeyard roared. "How did you bring me back here?!"
"I...I..." Jackels sputtered. "I didn't do anything. I was just...I didn't bring you here."
"I don't believe you!"
"I swear! I was trying to fix the voice records."
The Valeyard narrowed his eyes as he glared at his captive. Jackles looked far too terrified to be able to even attempt a lie. Furrowing his brow the Valeyard released Jackels causing him to drop to his knees as he coughed and gasped for breath. Looking down at the slight dark blue glow of rift energy that was still staining his chest the Valeyard laughed.
"Did I just dive through Time on my own?" The Valeyard asked himself rather than Jackles. "I did, I must have. If I can learn to control this...I *will* learn to control this!"
"Doctor?" Jackels whimpered.
"The Doctor can't help you now." The Valeyard hissed as his attention was pulled back to Jackels. "You had your chance to listen to him, to show him mercy, and you failed. He's willing to forgive you, but I never will."
"Wha..."
Jackels was cut off as the Valeyard reached down and pressed his fingers against Jackels' temple. Stiffening in shock it took Jackels a moment to find the breath he needed to cry out as the Valeyard forced the memory of all he'd been through under Jackels' device into his mind. Wide eyed and trembling Jackels did nothing to fight back as he became trapped in the delusion that he was living through his own twisted experiment.
Watching Jackels with a cold expressionless face the Valeyard continue the transfer even as blood dripped from Jackels' nose. Tears streamed from Jackels unfocused eyes as he fought to breathe. Eventually the Valeyard pulled his hand away and Jackels collapsed in a bitter weeping. The Valeyard looked down on him without pity or triumph, just a dispassionate stare. It was a while before Jackels collected himself enough to turn his face up towards his judge.
"I am so sorry." Jackels whimpered. "I had no idea how mu..."
"Don't you dare finish that lie." The Valeyard snarled. "I wish I could allow you to remember all you've just experienced, however you have a role to play in my past that can not be disturbed."
"What?"
"I have seen your future and I want you to know that you will die by your own hand before this is all over, I'm going to make sure of that."
"No...please..."
"Please?" The Valeyard repeated distastefully. "How many times did you listen the Doctor scream that in vain? He was wasting his breath, and so are you. You must face justice for your crimes and the penalty is death."
Jackels coward from the Valeyard's touch but he was not fast enough to escape. Pushing the memories he had just imparted on Jackels into his subconscious the Valeyard ensured that when the time came that Jackels would take his own life. With the directive hidden in his mind Jackels passed out. The Valeyard left the broken lab knowing that the Doctor would arrive with the others soon to play out the past.
Although he knew that every second he remained in the past the greater his chance became to distributing his own timeline the Valeyard couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. Going over to the teleport system the Valeyard over rode the lock down and transported himself down into the depths of the ship where the TARDIS still rested. Ithican's men were busy trying to hack into the cables that ran from the TARDIS to the rest of the ship.
Having teleported into the shadows of the forest of water pipes the Valeyard adjusted a setting on the Vortex Manipulator that he wore that slipped him a second out of phase with the rest of the Universe. It was a dangerous state to stay in using the wrist device, but for now it would ensure that he was invisible to Tarin and the others.
Walking up to the TARDIS doors the Valeyard ran his hand across the deep blue wood. The windows started to glow at his touch, a sign that the living time machine was not happy.
"Clever Old Girl, you know I shouldn't be here." The Valeyard smiled sadly. "I'm not here to take you away, I know you have work to do."
The TARDIS windows went dark again as the Valeyard took his hand away. Starting to feel the effects of using a Vortex Manipulator to keep out of phase with Time the Valeyard took a step back.
"I miss you so much. Don't worry, I'll get you back when the time is right."
Retreating once more to the shadows the Valeyard reset the Vortex Manipulator and snapped back into the normal flow of Time. He inspected the growing infection that was spreading out from under the crude time device. River had identified the problem as a 'time burn', but the Valeyard was hiding a different secret under the thick leather band.
Suddenly realizing that he had a golden opportunity while here on the Minyan ship the Valeyard stalked off to find one of the ship's living quarters decks. Finding what he needed the Valeyard walked down a long hallway with doors on either side. The rooms were mostly occupied by the D memory class and other nonessential members of the crew that had been ordered to remain out of the way while the rest of the ship dealt with what they still thought was just a 'memory accident'.
Selecting a random door the Valeyard pressed on the small pad on the side of the door that would chime an alert inside the room. A middle aged man opened the door. He looked a little shocked to see the strangely dressed man on his door step at first, but he quickly recovered and smile.
"Hello." The man greeted. "Can I help you?"
"I am doing a check on everyone on this living deck after the memory accident."
"Yes, of course. I feel fine."
"How are your wife and your children?" The Valeyard asked in concern.
"My wife is laying down to rest, but I can wake her..."
"No need. Thank you for your time."
"Thank you."
The Valeyard walked further down the hall and selected another door. A young woman answered the door with a similar reaction to the Valeyard as the man. She was a little more shy than the man he had just disturbed, but she managed a smile. At her side was a boy who looked to be no more than six even though the Valeyard knew he was hundreds of thousands years old.
"Hello?" She greeted hesitantly.
"I am sorry, wrong door."
"Oh, okay...is everything alright?"
"Just fine."
The woman was too shy to question the Valeyard further and retreated back into her room. Once again the Valeyard wandered down a few more doors before choosing another. When a man who appeared to be in his thirties answer the door the Valeyard greeted him with slight bow. The man furrowed his brow at the odd display but didn't seem alarmed.
"I am doing a check of everyone on this floor," the Valeyard stated "are your wife and children home?"
"Uh, no. I'm not married."
"My mistake. May I come in?"
The man hesitated for a moment, but with no real reason to expect danger after two hundred thousand years of peace he nodded and stepped to the side. The Valeyard walked inside and waited for the door to slid shut before turning to face the other man.
"How can I help you?" The man asked.
"I apologize for this as I have no rights to you as I did with the others, but you have something I need that I can not get anywhere else."
"Wha..."
The Valeyard lashed out and slammed the young man against the closed door. He clamped one hand down over his mouth before he could call out for help. The Valeyard pressed his other palm against the man's chest. A light blue bordering on white glow escaped from under the band of the Vortex Manipulator that was on the wrist of the hand that was pinned over the man's heart. The glow intensified and seeped into the man's chest.
Closing his eyes the Valeyard turned his face away as the man in his grasp began to convulse. The man didn't struggle long before he went completely lax. The Valeyard eased the man to the floor gently even though there was no point in handling him with care. The man's open eyes were already glazed over in death. The Valeyard pulled his hand away as the icy white glow on his palm died down.
"I am sorry, but sacrifices must be made and the Minyan people owe me so much more than any other." The Valeyard explained to his victim. "Just a few more missing puzzle pieces and I can perfect the Timonic Fusion Device."
Blood started to drip out from under the Vortex Manipulator band and the Valeyard hissed in pain. Going into the small bathroom he undid the metal buckle that held the strap in place. Taking the device off he revealed the blue sonic screwdriver crystal embedded into a wound that couldn't close in the underside of his wrist. The crystal glowed briefly before going dark again. The Valeyard washed off the fresh blood and stared at the crystal with a bright smile.
"Soon I will be able to face the Doctor without fear...he will just be the Last of the Time Lords, but I will be the First of the Time Masters!"