McGann

The Executor led the way around a corner. They were nearing the TARDIS, the glowing "Police Public Call Box" sign visible in the semi-darkness. The Executor leaned out and was greeted by blaster fire. He returned fire, his shots forcing their attackers to take cover.

"How does it look?" River called, taking the rifle from Max.

"They've got us pinned down!" the Executor yelled over the din of their return volley. "We can't get to your TARDIS or mine!" He fired another volley. "I may have to kill some of them!"

"You haven't been killing them?" River asked.

"Trying it his way!" explained the Executor.

"ATTENTION! ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP! REPEAT ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP! EXECUTIVE ORDER ALPHA-FIVE! ABANDON SHIP!"

The fire from the soldiers stopped. The Executor risked a glance and saw them retreating. "The Doctor?" he asked.

"In all likelihood," River said. She and the Executor moved into the open keeping their weapons ready in case a few soldiers changed their mind. "Max, get Stewart inside!"

"What is that an escape pod?" Max asked. The doors opened and he stepped across the threshold. The immensity of the room inside stopped him short. He was tempted to walk outside and make sure that he was not going crazy. He was halted by River as she rushed in. "But?"

"Yes, yes, it's bigger on the inside ooh, ah!" River said as she ran up the stairs to the console finding Stewart staring at the controls. She gently moved him aside and put the TARDIS in flight.

"Wait, what about those other chaps?" Max asked.

"I'm going to get you two clear of here," River said. "The Executor has his own ride."

Outside, the Executor waited until the Doctor's TARDIS was completely dematerialized before rushing into his own. He jumped into his command seat, sliding up to his console. Pressing a few buttons, he took hold of the control bars. Kicking the peg at his left foot and giving the throttle a twist, his TARDIS took off. Outside, the extra door disappeared, a repetitive whooshing noise in its wake.

The Executor frowned at his system's display. "All right you raving lunatic, where are you?"

The Executor

Inside the station's armory, Doctor Hardy stood at the controls of the Infinity Bomb fruitlessly trying to access its systems. He slapped at it repeatedly, the bomb rocking in its cradle. Wild-eyed, hair askew, he raged and kicked the deadly weapon. "I made you!" he roared at the inanimate object. "Speak to me!"

"It can't," said the Doctor standing nearby. "I've dead-locked the controls; sealed you out. One minute-ten."

Doctor Hardy drew a blaster from the pocket of his lab coat. "Unseal it."

The Doctor held up a hand. "Come with me. It doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to be like this. I understand everything you told me about humanity's struggle but you don't know what I know. You don't know that you'll be better for it. Humanity will rise above its humble interstellar beginnings and become something far greater. The human ideal will be achieved, trust me. In fact, don't trust me. Come with me and I'll show you."

"Show me?" Doctor Hardy frowned. His brain worked through the implication. "The corridors of time are real? My hypothesis is correct?"

"Yes, the Time Vortex," the Doctor said earnestly. "Through it you can travel anywhere in time and space. I can show you humanity's future and you will see that I am right."

Doctor Hardy eyes glazed over. "If we could master this Time Vortex our supremacy will be assured."

"No," the Doctor lamented shaking his head. "Stop! Listen to me!"

"We would rule the universe," Doctor Hardy said dreamily.

"No!" the Doctor pleaded.

"We would be gods!" Doctor Hardy exclaimed. He aimed his blaster at the Doctor's face. "You will show this to me!"

The Doctor lowered his hands in defeat. Beneath him a hatch materialized. It fell open and he dropped through as Doctor Hardy opened fire. The door slamming shut, a second later, it was gone. Three seconds after that, so was the station.

The Executor

River worked at the console, keeping the TARDIS level. Behind her, Stewart watched her work with keen interest. Max continued staring at every aspect of the room. From the top of the stairs leading further into the ship, he gazed in awe.

"How is?"

"Time And Relative Dimension in Space," River recited. "We're inside another dimension contained within the box on the outside."

"Right," Max said.

She twisted a dial. "We're going to hold here until they get back."

Max descended the stairs and met her at the console. "I want to thank you. What you did for us. What you did for him."

"It was my pleasure." River said, placing a hand on his.

"Thing is," Max said. "I tried to tell you before. I mean I agreed to everything. Thought it would help with his affliction. Get him to open up, you know? And it worked. I'd never seen him so engaged."

"What do you mean?" River asked.

"They didn't come for him," Max said. "He contacted them, the government. What kid knows how to do that, right? They built everything but it was his designs, all of it. Perhaps now he'll have a chance to be normal."

River's mouth dropped open in shock. She turned to the little boy and really looked at him. His cherubic face. His big brown eyes. His distant affectation but then he looked back at her and it was there; a gleam of something horrible.