Chapter 11

As she watched the robot approach, Sarah knew she had a split second to make up her mind. She could turn around and face this robot, or she could try and catch the alien by surprise. And there was Martha to think about.

Sarah turned back just as the robot caught sight of her and shouted "Intruder!". Its voice was high and warbled, like an odd machine. Sarah saw a bolt of light come from it out of the corner of her eye. But she was already moving. She slammed into the back of the alien, shoulder first, knocking it to the ground. She stumbled, but immediately she had regained her balance and was on her way to the stairs, hoping that her tackle had been enough of a surprise to slightly stun the alien. She reached the staircase just as she heard a furious yell from behind her. A wave of heat passed over her shoulder and a red stream of light hit the wall just ahead of her. Whipping around the 90 degree turn, she ran up the steps two at a time. When she reached the top, she turned left and ran straight toward Martha's cell. As she reached it, she noticed Martha was on her feet, peering eagerly down the hall. She pointed the screwdriver in her hand at the lock, and the cell burst open. Martha stepped out.

Suddenly, Sarah felt something hard press into her back. She whipped around to see the alien standing in front of her, it's face inches away. Sarah gave a startled squeal and raised her hands to block her face. As she did, she accidentally pressed the button on the screwdriver with her thumb. The end lit up, and the gun flew out of the aliens hand in a burst of sparks. The alien stumbled back and tripped over the edge. With a scream, it fell to the floor 10 feet below, landing on its head with a sickening crunch.

"Sarah!" Martha exclaimed, hugging her. "Thank goodness you safe. And John?"

Sarah nodded. "He's fine. But we need to get to the engine room."

"Why?" Martha asked.

"John said to use this on the engines at exactly 5:03. It's 12 till right now, so we need to hurry. It took me twenty minutes to get down this hall and who knows how long the other one is."

Martha opened her mouth to ask another question, but thought better of it and nodded. Sarah turned back to the stairs, but she stopped before she had taken a single step. The robot was just coming around the corner!

"Intruders! Exterminate!" It screamed in its warbled voice.

"Jump!" Martha called out immediately, motioning to the edge.

Sarah obeyed without question. She hit the ground and fell to her hands next to the green alien, who was either unconscious or dead. She hoped it was the latter. The impact jarred her, but she hardly felt the pain, immediately turning to run down the corridor. Behind her, she heard the robot fire at Martha, but it hit the wall. Then she heard Martha land and looked back to see her round the corner into view.

Sarah got to the door and flung it open. Martha followed through before it had a chance to swing shut again.

"Lock it Sarah." She panted.

Sarah turned and soniced the door shut. She heard the bolt click into place. Then she turned and followed Martha down the hall.

It took them less than 10 minutes to run what it had taken Sarah 20. By the time they arrived back at the fork, they were both panting for breath and holding stitches in their sides.

"One thing that never changes..." Martha panted. "The Doctor's adventures always put you in shape."

Sarah gave a breathless chuckle and nodded. "One sec...to catch our breath and then we keep going."

Martha nodded. After a few moments their hearts began to slow again, and they weren't gasping quite so hard. Sarah stood up from where she had thrown herself on the floor. Her legs were still wobbly, but they steadied after a moment.

"Ready?" She asked Martha.

"Let's go" Martha responded.

Sarah glanced at the clock as they started down toward the engines. 4:57.

John hurried down the corridor. Now he had made it to the hospital bay. Everything was white. Everything except the burn marks and the bodies. 'It's like a small black mark on something otherwise completely perfect.' he thought. Then he shook his head. What in the world was he thinking? Where was this coming from? These thoughts weren't his...were they? He couldn't tell anymore. And it scared him.

Soon he came to the end of the hospital wing. 'Next is the hangar where the Doctor is being kept' He thought. 'Where's the door?' He found the door, after a minutes search, but it was locked with a security code. He stared at the number pad, hesitating. How was he supposed to know the code? Then he shook himself. He closed his eyes and put his hand on the pad. His thumb seemed to move on its own.

2-2-3-9-6-5-3. Somehow, he knew it. He looked at the clock on the wall behind him. 5:00 on the dot. Hopefully Sarah was on time.

Sarah and Martha reached the engine room without further problems. "The Master supposedly has an army." Martha commented. "Where is it?"

Sarah shrugged. She was otherwise occupied with her own thoughts. Now that she was here, how was she supposed to know what the engine coolers looked like?

That problem, though, was easily solved. They soon spotted a sign showing the words "Engine Coolers." over a door.

"Well that was easy." Sarah muttered.

Sarah pulled the door and found it locked. After a quick flash with the screwdriver and a small burst of sparks, however, the door flew open. The room inside was stifling hot. There were tanks full of a green-blue fluid that bubbled like it was boiling. On the far wall there was a massive control panel with rows and rows of green lights flashing. Sarah wandered over to it. Each row was marked 'Cooler 1', Cooler 2', and so on. Sarah glanced at Martha, who nodded. Sarah lifted the screwdriver and pointed it at the panel. She pressed the button, feeling the familiar vibration. Instantly, the rows of lights turned red and an alarm began blaring.

Sarah turned to Martha and shouted over the alarm. "The engines?!"

Martha nodded and turned back through the door. Sarah followed her and closed the door behind her. It did little to block the noise. The alarm was beginning to hurt her head. As quickly as she could, she followed Martha through a door a little ways down the hallway. This door wasn't locked. And it felt even hotter than the first. A chugging sound emanated from the massive machines that filled the room.

Sarah hesitated, then lifted the screwdriver. Before she pressed the button, she glanced at a clock outside the room. 5:03. She pressed the button and held it down as she spun in a circle. Small bursts of sparks in the engines followed the screwdrivers path. As soon as she had pointed at all the possible angles in the room, she ran toward the door with Martha just ahead. As she threw the door shut behind her, a massive BOOM rocked the ground, throwing them to the floor.

Sarah stood up, and turned with a grin on her face to Martha, but as soon as she had, she felt a circle of white heat hit her in the back. Pain arched up her body. She screamed and fell back to the floor. She could hear Martha scream her name, and the warbled voice of a Dalek shouting "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

As she fought to keep consciousness, time seemed to slow. She felt every heartbeat as it coursed through her veins. Fire lanced with ice in her nerves. One last thought filled her head. 'I did it!' Then her eyes closed.

John entered through the door and immediately ducked behind one of the many boxes stacked near it. He could see the Doctor chained to a post in the middle of the room. And the Master in front of him talking.

"...But not a third time. And this time I know where they are exactly. But first..." He clapped his hands and a door at the other end of the room opened. Ten Judoon walked in, forming a line in front of the Doctor. "Your time has come, Doctor. No more running." He turned to the Judoon. "Fire." He said. Then he began to walk to the other end of the hangar as the Judoon readied their weapons.

'Now.' The consciousness whispered in John's mind. John sprang up from behind the barrel and began to walk toward the Doctor. "Hold on!"

Everyone in the room turned and stared. John noticed the Master's face take on an expression of surprise, and then of fear. It vanished quickly, and was replace once again by his cruel and haughty expression.

"Hold on hold on Hold ON! There, good, I have your attention. That's always a good thing to have." 'Where is this coming from?' He wondered in alarm.

"Now, where I come from it's kind of illegal to shoot people if you aren't some sort of government authority. And seeing as you don't seem to be at all related to our government..." He gave the Judoon a look." I hate to say that you are committing a rather serious crime. Now, I don't know if that makes any difference to you, but I thought you should like to know."

The Master cocked his head. "Who are you?" Then he shook his head. "No, it doesn't matter. You can deal with that one first." He said to the Judoon.

"Oh, I don't think so, Master." John called. The Master paused halfway through the door. "Huh, fancy that." John continued. "A human who knows your name. But that's not all I know. Do you remember the War? The War that lost you everything you ever had? All except your hate. You kept that. Why? What is it about your hate that you love?"

The Master turned. "I don't know who you are or where you are from, but you are going to die today." And he vanished through the door.

The Judoon, who hadn't seemed to notice John until the Master had left, turned to face him. They lifted their guns.

"I wouldn't be doing that if I were you." He said. His hand gripped the metal in his pocket. The metal from the TARDIS.

The Judoon seemed to take no notice. The voice in John's head again whispered 'Now' and John pulled the metal out of his pocket and, with a flick of his wrist, threw it at the Judoon. It was just in time. It struck the first laser beam halfway between them and exploded, throwing John back onto the ground. The Judoon flew a few feet and then slammed into the floor. They lay still.

As he sat up and his vision cleared, John gasped. The TARDIS was sitting in the middle of the room, completely whole and not harmed at all by the explosion, still its beautiful, perfect blue. John's eyes drifted off it and down to the Doctor, who was still standing. He looked strange, standing their smiling his head off, his clothes and hair singed badly. "That was brilliant!" He exclaimed.

John froze. He knew that voice.

"It was you?" He exclaimed.

The Doctor groaned. "Oh, please, what have I done now?"

"You were in my head, telling me what to do the whole time?"

"'Course I was. Now do you mind unchaining me?" John opened his mouth to speak, but the Doctor interrupted him. "I'll explain later."

John shook his head as he went to free the Doctor. 'I'll explain later...' That phrase was getting used to much.

As he was typing in the code on the rear side of the pillar to release the shackles, the Doctor muttered "So let's hope your sister is on time."

No sooner had he said it than a massive BOOM sounded through the room and the entire ship rocked underneath their feet. At the same time, John typed in the last digit and the Doctor was free and running toward the TARDIS.

"Let's go! Quickly!"