Chapter 12
The Doctor looked over the body, putting on his glasses and taking out his sonic screwdriver. He moved the device over the body, checking for other injuries. The mans face still had a surprised look on his face which was mirrored in his open eyes. This gave Donna the chills.
"What do you think happened to him?" she asked, looking at the Doctor.
"Shot, I think… at close range by some sort of energy weapon but it's hard to tell which kind," replied the Doctor, as he looked closely at the wound on the man chest.
"It definitely was the fatal blow whatever it was," observed Donna, now looking at the large hole in its chest but quickly looked away as the sight of it made her feel sick.
"Hmmm…it looks like it passed through his heart burning everything around it," concluded the Doctor, although he noticed the similarities to a Dalek weapon. But, why Dalek? They couldn't even get into the TARDIS, although they had tried many times. And anyway, as far as he knew the Vitans didn't have any access to Dalek weapons and he still had his key.
"Who could have done that?" she asked, feeling angry and disgusted towards the murderer of this man, whoever he was. She had felt like this, ever since she met the Doctor, more so, she thought.
"Someone who had something to hide or who didn't like being followed," replied the Doctor, as he looked away towards the corner of the alley wall then back at the man.
"Being followed?" puzzled Donna, looking at the mans face again, but quickly looking away when she saw his face.
"Yup, it looks to me that this man had been following who ever shot him," said the Doctor, "his foot steps lead over to here from that corner where he must have hid before confronting his murderer."
"How do you know that?" replied Donna, looking at the floor behind the Doctor
"I have a sixth sense," grinned the Doctor, tapping the side of his head.
"Right… so, could he have been ordered to follow whomever shot him? By the Dalek perhaps?" asked Donna.
"Good thinking but its hard to tell," said the Doctor, although it wouldn't be surprising to him if that were the case.
"And, do you think that whoever has done this was also the person who has taken the TARDIS?" asked Donna
"Well, it's a strong possibility which seems to be the only likely one at the moment," said the Doctor, looking up at her.
"Who do you think it is?"
"Beats me", replied the Doctor, looking back down, whilst rising to his feet and looking around the alleyway.
"Another Time Lord, perhaps? Although I know that you said you were the last of the Time Lords. Do you think there could be other survivors?" asked Donna
"No, I would have known if there were others. I would feel them and I cant feel anything," he replied, "and anyway they're all dead."
"How can you be so sure? Cant they have masked their identity or something?" said Donna.
"I'm sure because I saw the last die in my own arms," snapped the Doctor, harshly.
Immediately, he knew he had over stepped the line. He shouldn't have snapped at Donna who, as he looked at her had a mixture of surprise and anger at his sudden outburst on her face. It was just the shock, sadness, anger and the constant reminder of being the last of his people, that he thought he had suppressed and put behind him, rearing its ugly head. Now he knew he hadn't and had taken it out on Donna. Guilt flooded through him, he never hated himself more than at this moment.
"I'm sorry, I was only trying to help!" Donna said softly, turning away with embarrassment, as tears from the shock of the Doctor's sudden outburst prickled her eyes. He instantly moved in front of her, grasping both her hands in his, trying to looking into her face but every time he did, she moved her head further away, unable to make eye contact.
"I know, Donna," he said softly, to her, "and, I'm the one that should be sorry, not you. I shouldn't have snapped at you…its just a very sensitive subject to me, and I should have warned you before. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
Silence grew between them. Donna could see a flicker of sadness and anger in the Doctor's face as he looked at her but instead of hating or even being angry at him, all she wished to do was hug him.
"Aw, come here," she said, pulling him into a surprise hug, which he returned, "I'm sorry, Donna," he said, softly to her back.
"Don't worry about it, no harm done," she whispered, sniffing and in response, the Doctor tightened his hug.
Sometime later, the Doctor resumed his scans of the area as Donna stood a few metres away, watching him. She felt helpless. The only way she knew how was to think of a way to get his ship back, the very last thing he had of his home and her only ticket off this planet. Maybe there was a clue in their short time together?
She searched her memories and at first she found nothing. Then, the memories of their first meeting came back to her. She remembered the Doctor saying something about Hueon particles. He had used them to bring the TARDIS back to him when they needed to make a quick getaway. Maybe that could work now.
"Doctor, what about Hueon particles?" she asked looking at the Doctor, as he moved up and down the alleyway. She didn't get an answer.
"Doctor? What about Hueon particles?"
"What about them?" he replied, not really concentrating as he looked at his sonic screwdriver as he tried to change the scan frequency.
"Can you use them to get it back?" she asked
"Get what back?"
"The TARDIS, of course. You used them before, can't you use them now?" she replied
The Doctor looked up from his silver device and looked into space, momentarily lost in his own world for a second then his face lit up, "Hueon particles!" he exclaimed. He turned to Donna,
"Aw, Donna you're a genius! An absolute genius!"
"I know," she joked, smiling, "but do you have any we can use?" she asked
"I think I do somewhere," replied the Doctor, as he rummaged through his coat and jacket pockets. After a few minutes, he froze mid search and a large grin spread across his face.
"Bingo!" he cried as he fished out a small container filled with clear liquid.
Donna smiled in relief as she saw the liquid in the Doctors hands. Then a sudden worry raced into her head.
"Is that it? Is that all we've got?"
"I'm afraid so," replied the Doctor, as he held up the bottle in his hand, looking at it.
"Will it work? Because didn't you say before, that in order to work the Hueon's needed to be in a living thing?"
"Yes I did but didn't I also say that the TARDIS is a living thing, a brilliant living thing in fact, with the only surviving source of Hueon radiation in the entire universe? So yes, I think it may work," he replied, not really sounding too confident, "but," he added, "lets find out for sure, eh? What have we got to lose?" he grinned.
"Oh, but I think that you should do it," he said, turning to Donna and offering her the small container, "because if what happened to me in the lift was anything to go by then I don't want the container to brake before the process is complete."
"Ok, but are you sure this is enough?" asked Donna, taking the bottle from the Doctor.
"Should think so but there is only one way to find out," he said, as he sat down onto the floor. He looked at Donna and saw the confused look she gave him.
"Better sit down before I fall down," he explained
"Ah, got ya!" said Donna.
"Ready?" asked the Doctor, about a minute later.
"Ready as I'll ever be!"
"Right… good, twist the top of the bottle and then watch it, ok?"
"Ok," said Donna
"Do it," commanded the Doctor as he braced himself for the oncoming wave of pain that he knew was coming.
"Here goes," thought Donna as she prepared to twist the top of the bottle. Then the Doctor suddenly started to scream and writhe around the floor. Donna instantly looked down at the bottle. She hadn't even begun anything.
She looked back at the Doctor who was now doubled over in pain. Through his laboured breathing, he shouted to her to carry on. But, I'm not doing anything, she wanted to shout back.
After a few more agonising minutes of helplessness, the wind, that was still as anything before, started to pick up and the familiar sound of the TARDIS's engines became louder and louder. The familiar blue timber shape of the TARDIS started to materialise right in front of them. Finally, the flashing light on top of the TARDIS stopped flashing with the sound of the TARDIS parking itself. Silence took over. Donna just looked at it, stunned.
"Donna?"
She instantly ran towards the Doctor who was now on the floor on his side, breathing heavily.
"Doctor! Its come back!" she replied, happily. She knelt beside him, and tried to help him up. All over his face, beads of sweat rolled down, his eyes were partly closed.
"Doctor, are you ok?" she asked, anxiously
"I'm fine," whispered the Doctor, with a small smile on his face,
"Did it work?"
"In a sorts…" she replied, hugging the Doctor, which he returned. He then realised what she had said.
"In a sorts?" he questioned, pulling away to look at Donna's face. She didn't answer immediately.
"Donna? What happened?"
"I didn't activate the particles…," she began
"What?"
"Before I turned the top of the bottle, you screamed out in pain…I didn't know what to do…then the wind began picking up and I heard the TARDIS and saw it appear."
"She came back by herself?" said the Doctor, in disbelief
"Yes, Doctor," replied Donna.
Over Donna's shoulder, the Doctor looked up and at the sight of his precious ship back where it should be, he smiled. He rose up with the help of Donna and slowly moved towards it. He caressed the surface with his hand while looking around the surface checking for any signs of damage. Donna could hear him whispering to it, like you would to a best friend.
Suddenly, anger replaced the relief he felt. He reached for his key, unlocked the door and raced inside. By the central control column, he saw a figure looking forlorn and sad. Its head was looking down towards the floor, so he couldn't see who it was but he didn't need to. He already knew who it was. He knew it was the Master. He had come back but how?
The Doctor froze on the threshold of the TARDIS, in shock. Eventually, he moved forward a few steps to allow Donna inside. His eyes instantly moved to the man sat on the floor. What he saw surprised him. The Master was now blonde and was sat down near the console, his face covered, by his hands, apparently upset.
The Doctor also felt an intense sadness coming from the TARDIS itself. This was added to by the darkened lights and the absence of the gentle hum that normally resounded around the control room.
The anger came back in a flood, overwhelming the Doctor. It tore at him. A part of him wanted to check the current state of the TARDIS but a another part, an increasingly large part, wanted to show the Master how meaning being pain and sadness really felt. But, then he knew that this wasn't the time. He needed answers and violence was not the ideal way to get those answers, no matter how he felt. He also had a sinking feeling that all was not as it seemed and a bigger problem had shown itself, and he knew he had to get to the bottom of it and quickly.