Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who
The Master is now ready to take over, the Doctor can try to stop him while others in the background learn the danger.
The Master Chronicles 19 - Sound of the Drums
Saxon Headquarters, London…5th June 2008…
With the election now only a short time away things were heating up as the time to make a move approached.
They had sensors all around the city keeping a sharp watch for any signs of artron energy in case the Doctor returned, things were tense as the Master and Teresa kept themselves alert and ready. The Master was of course doing his level best for the election but with a landslide victory projected and the Archangel Network enforcing his public image it was incredibly unlikely they were going to lose.
The actives were monitoring the system religiously, looking for any sign of the Doctor's return, meanwhile the Master and Teresa talked about tonight's key event.
"Professor Lazarus has completed the chamber and Constance has acquired all the data for us. With the Doctor's biological code, well this should be fun." Teresa told him, handing over the disc with all the data on it regarding the genetic manipulation technology and the Doctor's biological code that they had extracted from his severed hand which was happily bubbling away in a secure case nearby.
The Master smirked, knowing exactly what to do with this and asked as he spun the disc between his fingers distractedly.
"Are the Joneses in attendance?"
"Yes, Mother, sister and brother will all be present, Martha Jones has an invitation but if she's gone off with the Doctor so unsure if she will be there. Do you want me and the actives on scene in case it goes wrong?" Teresa asked him, knowing there was no way to predict just what was going to happen when Lazarus activated that chamber for the first time. There were simply too many variables to consider and given how it lacked any real kind of focus who knows what might happen.
Before the Master could answer the detectors went off, the actives at their screens scrambled to lock down the source and Devanna on her screen reported.
"Located at Martha Jones's flat, briefly appeared to take off then aborted. Confirmed Tardis is now stationary." She reported and the Master smirked.
"I think we can assume that the Doctor will handle this one for us." The Master said with complete certainty, then he had an idea that should make keeping tabs on them much easier. "Have we got any dolls present at the event?"
"Moore, he is observing the experiment." Teresa said, referring to one of the ex-dolls from the London Dollhouse who had taken to naming their actives after the surnames of famous Britons.
"Have him keep an eye on the Joneses at a distance and if anything happens and Mother Jones is separated from Martha Jones, make sure he tells her this…" He said and gave her a run down on the information he wanted Moore to give to Francine Jones. Teresa smirked, knowing full well that this would make sure she would co-operate with them.
- x -
Lazarus Labs, London…Later that Night…
"A giant scorpion, that's a new one." Echo said as she helped the team of actives Teresa had brought clear through the place and secure the chamber.
"You mean an old one, it came from dormant genes in human DNA remember." Whisky reminded her as they dismantled the device.
"So, we could have all ended up like that?" Sierra asked with horror having seen the disgusting creature on the CCTV footage. The others all shook with the mere idea of it but Victor put down his tools and hugged her from behind.
"But we didn't, and you are perfectly put together." He reassured her, she leaned into his embrace smiling now as everyone else rolled their eyes.
"Cut that out. We're here to dismantle the machine, not chat or flirt. You can do that later." Teresa said firmly and her glare made the two of them break apart reluctantly and carry on with their work.
"Who did the Master assign to work with the Jones family?" November asked as she was unhooking the control units.
"Dexter." Teresa said offhand and the actives all bristled.
"She is not one of us. She can't be trusted." Whisky told her, referring the actives and even Teresa herself. Teresa nodded but did her best to sooth their worries.
"But she is vicious, cold and calculating, just the Master's type. She is keen to rise and doesn't care who she has to hurt to do it. But if she steps over the line, we will deal with her." Teresa reassured them and they all started smirking viciously at that. Dexter was someone they had found in British Intelligence; she was a ruthless individual and one they needed to keep an eye but they were confident things were going exactly as planned.
- x -
The Master meanwhile was reworking his screwdriver so it could use the genetic manipulation technology against the Doctor, he honestly was almost bursting with excitement at all the ways he could torture the Doctor with this, grinning broadly with a sickening glee.
He had already sent Torchwood 3 on their little goose chase to the Himalayas, meaning they would be out of the way as election day came. They would realise they had been tricked but not fast enough. He had even arranged for a small alien incursion to keep the annoying nosy Sarah Jane Smith busy just in case. He wanted to leave the Doctor and his friends with no one to turn too.
He honestly was so eager to get things started he could hardly sit still, Lucy had once said he was like a bolt of lightning, pure energy that couldn't be contained.
He liked that, he thought with a smirk. It was true, he couldn't be tamed, be controlled, or be suppressed.
He was the Master, meant to rule and control all things.
And very soon the planet Earth would be his personal plaything, he thought with amusement knowing this was going to be so much fun, he thought and started laughing with excitement.
Saxon Headquarters, London…7th June 2008…Election Day…
"Another three gains. Almost there." Devanna said brightly as she monitored the votes as they came in.
The Master was eagerly awaiting the results as he stood there, November adjusting his suit so it was perfect. Teresa was on the monitoring system to keep an eye out for any sign of the Doctor in case he arrived. Lucy at his side was looking as excited as he was.
"It's going just as you predicted." She said with a wide smile, the Master putting at arm around her waist and holding it possessively.
"I said it would." He whispered in her ear which sent a shiver through her.
Moments went by until at last, they confirmed it.
"Landslide victory!" Echo shouted out in celebration as they all got to their feet, cheering and applauding the Master who lapped up all the attention and took a theatrical bow. Teresa too was clapping and cheering with them.
"Right, you need to get to Buckingham Palace and then to 10 Downing Street…Prime Minister." Teresa said with a smirk of triumph on her face. The Master returned it and told her.
"Right then, get ready and keep an eye on that monitoring system. I want to know the moment he comes." The Master said, sure that the Doctor was going to turn up today. "Teresa, Lucy, Echo, Whiskey, Victor, Sierra, November. With me." He said and walked out of the room with all of them behind him, all of them smirking as after nearly two years of work the time to take over had finally come.
- x -
Next Day…8th June 2008…
The press had descended on Saxon Headquarters as now The Master had been formally named Prime Minister. The flash of cameras was going off all around him as he, Lucy and Teresa all made their way down towards the atrium before heading towards Downing Street. Flanked by Echo and the others as his entourage.
Teresa was keeping an eye on things when she got a message from Charley who they had left to monitor things in their absence. Her smirk widened as it confirmed just what they had hoped and she whispered in his ear.
"He has arrived."
The Master was already smiling and now he looked positively gleeful, he told her with a beaming look.
"Get Nyssa, Cassandra and Kudlak ready for transport. I want them on the Valiant as soon as possible." He told her and she nodded.
"Already being arranged." Teresa told him with a smile. "And we've got Dexter and a team with Francine Jones and even roped in Clive Jones. Even if he warns her, well we've got the Jones family exactly where you want them. Not to mention Tish in Downing Street, the only real problem is Leo seems to have slipped the net." She told him with a frown but the Master didn't seem worried at all.
"Not a problem, we have enough. Now, smile for the camera's girls. Its show time." He told them with excitement as he, Lucy and Teresa walked down the stairs towards the waiting press.
London Shopping Centre, Same Time…
The Doctor, Martha and Jack all stood in the middle of the shopping centre, all looking up at the news screen nearby as a horrible feeling came over them.
"And Mr Saxon has returned from the Palace and is greeting the crowds inside Saxon Headquarters." The crowd around all clapping as the announcement was made. The Doctor looked at the screen with a great deal of anxiety as he realised just how highly the Master had infiltrated the country. The image on the screen showed three people and their entourage coming down the stairs. The man in the middle, only in his thirties with short brown hair and a sharp suit accompanied by two women in suits of light cream and dark grey. All three were smiling at the cameras they made their way down towards the press, waving occasionally.
"I said I knew that voice." Martha said as she now confirmed the identity of the new Master. "When he spoke inside the Tardis, I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him, we all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon." She said now looking at the screen with worry alongside Jack while the Doctor just stared at the screen.
"He's Prime Minister." The Doctor said with worry at how difficult it might be to deal with the Master this time, still reeling from the revelation that the only other surviving Time Lord in existence was his old friend and archenemy. "The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain."
Then the screen showed the Master kissing Lucy and the Doctor was so astonished he exclaimed.
"The Master and his wife!" He couldn't believe the Master would actually get married and to a human given his complete disdain for the human race, but just then when he thought things couldn't get any worse, he saw the Master hug a woman with dark hair on his other side which made the Doctor exclaim.
"Oh, how in the hell did he get her back?!" He said with disgust, having hoped to never have to see that woman again. He remembered her from the brief meetings they'd had in the Time War and from what he had heard of the Master's exploits and crimes there. She had been as bad as he was and with no redeemable qualities at all.
The Master's companion, he thought with anger. The way it deliberately mocked the friends he'd travelled with infuriated the Doctor no end.
The news screen though then turned the cameras on the Master as he stepped forward to give a speech.
"This country has been sick. This country needs healing, this country needs medicine. In fact, I would go as far as to say that what this country needs right now…is a doctor." He said with a broad grin on his face, the Doctor knew what that meant. He was calling him out, letting him know that he knew he was here.
The Doctor frowned and turned to Martha and Jack, telling them quickly as he had no idea just how bad the situation was without more information.
"We need to get back to your flat, I need to do some research." He told Martha and the three took off at a run to get there as fast as possible.
10 Downing Street, London…
The Master walked into his temporary residence and already was bombarded with paperwork, aides handing them to him as he walked towards his first and spoiler alert last cabinet meeting.
"Finance report sir. Military Protocols sir. EC Directives sir. Annual Budget sir. Policy recommendations sir." Each one said as they pressed a red folder into his hands. He looked at them annoyed before passing them back to Whisky who took them quickly before Lucy spoke.
"I'm so proud of you Harry." Lucy said almost breathlessly as she really was, he had accomplished so much and his great plans were so close to becoming reality.
The Master smiled and gave her a gentle kiss before saying in a rather condescending way. "Bless."
Teresa almost shook her head; Lucy was his pet…nothing more nothing less. He would keep her around as long as he had a use for her or until she bored him and then he would just kill her on a whim. Seeing Tish Jones coming up to them and was about to annoy him Teresa smirked as she knew how he was about to cut Tish down to the size.
"Sir. Sir." Tish said eagerly as she approached. "If you don't mind me asking. I'm a bit new here, what is it exactly you want me to do?" She asked, knowing she had a job here but not what it was.
Be a hostage against your sister, the Master and all his people thought to themselves but the Master in his condescending way told her.
"Oh yes. Who was it?" The Master said dismissively.
"Tish. Letitia Jones." Trish Jones replied eagerly, wanting desperately to make a good impression on her new boss.
"Ah, yes…Tish." The Master said slowly and without much interest. "Well, you just stand there and look gorgeous." He said even messing with her chin before he and Whisky went into the meeting.
While Tish was left wondering just what was happening, Teresa and Lucy took each other by the arm and Teresa said.
"Well, best enjoy this place, we won't be here long." She whispered in Lucy's ear who beamed and told her as they went to check out the rebuilt 10 Downing Street.
"It's gorgeous. Have you been here before?" Lucy asked her and Teresa had to admit she had been.
"Once or twice. Helped sneak in here in 1868 and I used to come here to get…missions from the Prime Minister in the 1940s." Teresa admitted, grimacing a little as she remembered when she had been forced to work for British Intelligence.
"Wait…you don't mean." Lucy said looking surprised and a little awestruck before Teresa rolled her eyes.
"Yes…him." Teresa said with annoyance before she and Lucy went off to explore.
- x -
In the Cabinet Room meanwhile, the Master came walking in with Whisky at his side her pad in hand.
"A glorious day." The Master started saying to the cabinet who were already sitting around the table. "Downing Street rebuilt. The Cabinet in session. Let the work of government begin." He said before throwing up the red folders and their contents into the air, shocking all of them. Whisky at his side was smirking as she already knew just what he was going to do since she had been the one to help arrange it.
"Oh, go on, crack a smile." The Master said with a pouting before turning to Whisky and asking her. "They are a bunch of misery guts, aren't they?"
"No humour at all sir." Whisky said with a pout of her own as they pair sat at the table, ignoring all the looks from those around. "I meant to ask, did you want duck or lamb tonight? Its just chef wanted some extra time to prepare it."
"I think duck. Haven't had that since I was dining with George the 4th gods that man could eat. Mind you, the ducks on Draconia are almost three times bigger and at a feast they garnish them with all sorts of herbs so see if chef can do that." The Master said as he and Whisky sat down and then to the surprise of all of them, Whisky pulled out a mask from just below her desk while the Master followed suit.
The Cabinet was now wondering just what the hell was wrong with the man, one of them a senior member of the government, one that had served for years now Albert Dumfries looked at him and was bold enough to ask.
"What are you wearing?"
The Master responded but the mask muffled his voice and Albert said.
"Sorry, I can't understand what you're saying.
"Gas mask." The Master said, taking it off briefly so he could be understood.
"What for?" Albert asked him with genuine concern now that the man wasn't right in the head.
"Protection from the gas." The Master said more clearly this time and Albert asked, not realising he and the other members of the Cabinet were doomed.
"What gas?"
"This gas." The Master said as he leant back in his chair while Whisky pressed the command on her pad.
A small device popped up out of the speaker on the table and started jetting out gas in fierce blasts. The effect was immediate as the people around the table all started gasping for air as they found themselves unable to breathe, all except the Master and Whisky who both had their masks on. Albert stood up from his chair and as he struggled for breath he said in complete shock.
"YOU'RE INSANE!"
The Master just nodded energetically and gave him a pair of thumbs up as he fell to the table dead, the Master, now surrounded by bodies while Whisky arranged for their quiet removal just tapped the table with the same rhythm that echoed through his mind and just wouldn't stop.
1 Hour Later…
Teresa was looking through reports and ensuring the moving of Kudlak's cage, not to mention Nyssa's stasis chamber and Cassandra's medical pod to the Valiant, with the Cabinet now out of the way she was functioning as the Master's second in command and handling most of the responsibilities while the Cabinet was in 'seclusion'. She scoffed at that, seclusion what did that mean? She sneered but it would keep people in the dark till they were ready to strike.
Lucy had gone to sit down in one of the other rooms while she worked but Teresa as she got up to get herself a coffee, she heard with her bionic hearing just what was happening in the room where she had left Lucy.
"All of it! The school days, his degree, even their mother and father. It's all invented. Even his sister's life is fabricated." She heard another unknown woman say. "Look, Harold Saxon never went to Cambridge! There was no Harold Saxon. There's no Teresa Saxon either. The thing is, it's obvious, the forgery is screaming out. The two of them don't exist." The woman insisted and Teresa frowned before pressing her hand to her ear bud.
"Master, we have a rogue element. She's with Lucy in the sitting room."
"Understood, meet me there." The Master responded and Teresa left what she was doing and went down stairs, meeting the Master as they entered through the side door, both looking calm and collected. Arriving just as Lucy who had possibly the best moment to change sides, confirmed her loyalty.
"I've made my choice." Lucy told the reporter.
"I'm sorry." The blonde female reporter said with confusion.
"For better or for worse. Isn't that right Harry." She said, calling out to him as he stood in the room, the reporter not having noticed his or Teresa's arrival.
"My faithful companion." The Master said as he leant against the door, Teresa too was relaxed as she leant against the nearby wall.
She looked over and saw them both standing there and tried to slip back into a cover role.
"Mr Saxon." She said, clearly nervous but doing her best to cover it up. "Prime Minister…I... I…was just." She started to say before Teresa raised a hand and a finger to her lips with a mocking sneer on it. She took the hint and fell silent before Teresa with speed that was impossible ran across the room and blocked the other door, leaving her no chance of escape.
The reporter blinked in shock, not able to believe what she had just seen before the Master told her while striding to the centre of the room.
"But of course, you're right. Harold Saxon doesn't exist. Nor does Teresa Saxon." He said calmly, waving towards Teresa who gave a small mocking little wave.
The reporter immediately stilled; her suspicions now confirmed by the man himself. Teresa could feel her terror with her limited psychic abilities and sneered openly, knowing full well the woman wasn't going to leave the room alive and grew excited by the idea.
"Then tell me. Who are you?" The reporter asked with surprising calm. Teresa honestly couldn't wait; she loved this next bit.
"I am the Master…And these are my friends." The Master said, gesturing with his hands, twisting the classic line a little bit as four Toclafane appeared above his head. They gently moved around him in a circle while the reporter looked at them with surprise.
"I'm sorry." Lucy said, almost earnestly as she seemed to feel pity for the woman. That concerned Teresa as she knew that pity might turn her against them one day but she kept her suspicions to herself. The Master wouldn't like her fighting with his little plaything, Teresa thought to herself.
"Can't you hear it Mrs Rook." The Master said, revealing that he did know her name surprisingly. His eyes were unfocused as if he was distracted by something else.
"Hear what?" Mrs Rook asked, not sure what was going on anymore.
"The Drumming." The Master said with a distant voice, not entirely focused. "The drums coming closer and closer."
He didn't say anything else as the four Toclafane started converging on Mrs Rook. The woman realised what was about to happen and started making her way away from them but Teresa was blocking the door. The Toclafane deployed their sharpened blades as they moved towards her and said in a childish voice.
"The lady doesn't like us."
"Silly lady…now dead lady." The voices turning more sinister by each word as they backed Mrs Rook into a corner, the reporter started screaming as they finally advanced on her while the Master, Lucy and Teresa all rushed out of the room and shut the door. The door was excellent for cancelling out noise, but the Master didn't want to miss any of her suffering and wanted to mess with Lucy a bit so he opened it again so he and Teresa could both see and they each made faces at the sight before he closed it again while Lucy stood there looking like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.
Just for good measure he opened it again briefly for another look and then closed it, both the Master and Teresa making looks of fake horror on their faces while Lucy looked away, desperate not to see anything. Teresa then said quietly.
"One more time?" She asked eagerly and he mulled it over for a second before eagerly nodding and opening the door in time for them to see her demise and the pair exchanged a look of childish glee and a snigger before Lucy raised an important point.
"But she knew…" Lucy said in a breathless whisper as she staggered across the room. "Harry, she knew everything. You promised! You said Archangel was a hundred percent."
"99…98." The Master said offhand, not liking to admit it was impossible even with the psychic network to control everything.
"But if she's asking questions then who else? How much time have we got?" Lucy asked with a terrified desperation. The Master almost warmly extended his arms and Lucy without hesitation leant into his embrace while Teresa gave her a reassuring smile.
"Tomorrow morning." The Master said to ease her worries. "I promise. That's when everything ends."
"And no-one can stop us anymore." Teresa told her as Lucy relaxed into the Master's arms.
- x -
The Press Conference was only a short while later, arranged in the same room where the Cabinet had been killed only a short while before but their bodies had already been disposed of and the room tidied up.
The Master sat at the table while cameras were trained on him, Teresa and Lucy both standing proudly behind them while Tish nearby was confused as she still had no idea just what was going on.
"Britain…Britain…Britain. What extraordinary times we've had." The Master said with a relaxed expression on his face. "Just a few years ago this world was so small, and then they came…out of the unknown…falling from the stars." He said dramatically as images of the previous alien incursions popped on screen.
"You've seen it happen. Big Ben destroyed. The Spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas Star, that came to kill." The Master said as each one played, Lucy crossing her fingers as if to hope everything went well and Teresa put a hand on hers and squeezed in reassurance which Lucy eagerly returned.
"Time and time again and the government told you nothing. Well not me, not Harold Saxon." The Master said with firmness. "Because my purpose, here today is to tell you this. Citizens of Great Britain…I have been contacted. A message for humanity from beyond the stars." He said, smiling serenely as if this was the best news ever. He nodded to Whisky who played the pre-recorded clip.
A grainy image appeared on the screen but clearly visible was a sphere, with lights moving along the gaps in its metal shell. The Toclafane then said.
"People of the Earth, we come in peace. We bring great gifts; we bring great technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return, is your friendship."
The Master grinned widely as did Teresa and Lucy alongside all the actives watching the transmission like Echo and Whisky who were both in the room.
"Aww, sweet." The Master said mockingly while Lucy sniggered and Teresa had to put her hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
"And this species has identified itself…they're called the Toclafane." The Master continued, knowing the name would drive the Doctor mad with trying to figure out where they came from. Teresa herself was struggling not to giggle as she knew the Toclafane were just a Gallifreyian story to scare little children.
"And tomorrow morning they will appear, not in secret but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin." The Master said quickly. "Tomorrow…we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher, and chemist…every lorry driver and farmer…I don't know every…medical student." He added, deciding to give the Doctor a little clue that he was aware of where he was the entire time and had already rigged Martha Jones' flat with explosives.
"Tomorrow, everything will change." The Master concluded before the transmission ended.
"And…we're clear." The camera man said and without wasting another moment, the Master went to a private room to wait for little Martha to start calling her family to warn them. Teresa meanwhile went to confirm the cargo they were shipping to the Valiant was ready and that all preparations were in place while they waited for the Americans to hack their systems to see what they knew of the Toclafane.
Abandoned Warehouse, London…That Night…
Martha rushed in with some urgency, hopeful that no one had seen her while she was terrified for the fate of her family. She had no idea just what was happening to them, her parents and Tish had certainly been caught but Leo was completely unknown and she had to work hard not to let her fear show on her face.
"I don't think anyone saw me. Anything new?" She said as she saw the Doctor and Jack, eager to know if there was any news on her family.
"I've got this tuned in to government wavelengths so we can follow exactly what Saxon's doing." Jack told her and Martha impatiently got to the point.
"I meant about my family." She said, struggling to control her temper. The Doctor did tell her something as he stared at her laptop that both elated and depressed her.
"Still says the Jones family has been taken in for questioning. Tell you what though, no mention of Leo."
The knowledge that her brother was still free was a big relief to Martha, saying. "He's not as daft as he looks." But then replaced by a horrible sensation. "I'm talking about my brother on the run, how did this happen?" She asked, still unable to believe how bad things were right now.
"Nice chips." Jack said as he sat down on an old chair they'd found to eat while the Doctor tucked into his own portion and Martha perched herself on an empty oil drum.
"They're not bad." The Doctor admitted.
Both Martha and Jack, sick of being kept in the dark by the Doctor shared a look before finally Jack asked the question that they wanted answering.
"So, Doctor. Who is he?" Jack asked with a frown. "How come the ancient society of Timelords created a psychopath?"
"And what was he to you? A colleague?" Martha added, wanting to know exactly where the two men stood.
"A friend a first." The Doctor said as he popped a chip in his mouth, answering Martha's question as it was the simplest to answer. To be honest however well they had known each other, before leaving Gallifrey or after, he simply didn't know any more than they did about what had really created The Master. That had always bothered him because he honestly felt that if he had known that, maybe they could have helped him.
"Thought you were going to say he was your secret brother or something." Martha said jokingly and the Doctor was so surprised by that he stared at her for a moment before telling her.
"You've been watching too much tv."
Jack however been more aware of the myths around the Timelords had more questions.
"But all the legends of Gallifrey…make it sound so perfect."
The Doctor honestly nearly scoffed at that, knowing better than anyone that things were far from perfect. The problems that world had faced were ridiculously awkward and irritating, so much so that it had spurred his decision to leave and he honestly had no idea how his old friend Romana had managed them for so long.
"Well perfect to look at maybe." The Doctor said with a shrug as he leaned back and let himself remember the better parts of his old home. "And it was, it was beautiful." He said casting his mind back to Gallifrey before he had grown up…before the war he thought with old feelings of horror at how things had changed so much.
"Used to call it the 'Shining World of the Seven System'. On the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the citadel of the Timelords." The Doctor as images of the great planet formed in his mind. "The oldest and most mighty race in the universe. Looking down on the galaxies below, sworn never to interfere…only to watch." The Doctor said, trying to explain their stance even though he knew it was far from that simple but it was the way he preferred to remember them…not as the monsters they'd become he thought with sorrow.
"Children taken from their families at the age of eight, to enter the academy." The Doctor said although it was hardly as bad as that, more like boarding school. "Some say that's where it began…when he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity." The Doctor said with a mournful look on his face.
"As a novice he was taken from initiation, he stood in front of the Untempered Schism, it's a gap…in the fabric of reality." The Doctor explained, trying to make them understand just what it had been. "Throughout which can be seen all of the vortex. You stand there…eight years old. Staring at the raw power of time and space just a child." The Doctor said, remembering with fear his own initiation with a shiver running through him.
"Some would be inspired. Some would run away. And some would go mad." The Doctor said, thinking it must have happened then and there during that moment when the 'drumming' as the Master had put it had first started.
"Oh, I don't know." The Doctor said, trying to shake off those feelings but Martha asked him.
"And what about you?"
That was a question he didn't mind answering.
"Oh, the ones who ran away. I never stopped." He said flippantly, realising it had become the pattern of his life.
"And what her…the sister? You know anything about her?" Jack asked, referring to 'Teresa Saxon' as she was known.
"She's not a timelord and the Master never had a sister. I heard he found her on Earth but beyond that I don't know where she came from." The Doctor said with distaste. "I met them a few times during the war and I heard a lot about their exploits, she's like him…a psychopath without any morals or conscience. Those two tore their way across time and space leaving a lot of broken lives in their wake, a lot of devastation. I think she's human but I know she can move faster than some cars and hit harder than a sledgehammer to the face. And now she's with him again." The Doctor said, worried about how much damage the two of them could cause before he was able to stop them.
"After Canary Wharf." Jack said deciding to share some details of his own while the Doctor and Martha listened. "My team and I, we tried to get in to secure the alien tech inside so it didn't fall into the wrong hands…but the British Army got there first with her leading them. One of my people, he and girlfriend worked in that tower at the time, she was partly Cyber converted during the battle but it wasn't finished yet. Teresa Saxon had two goons drag him away from her before shooting her dead. And I know they took some technology from the tower before me and my team managed to get the then Prime Minister to let us in." Jack told them, referring to Ianto and what had happened to Lisa his girlfriend. Jack and the Doctor both knew that the chances of her making any sort of recovery had been slim to non-existent but it was horrible to do it like that.
"My god." Martha exclaimed in disgust, wondering how she ever could have admired her with the information she now had.
A beeping from Jack's vortex manipulator disturbed the moment and Jack then had to make a confession to the Doctor about just who he had been working with since arriving on Earth in the nineteenth century.
Berkut Group Base, Los Angeles, USA…Same Moment…
"Alien diplomacy. Bet Winters will take it over and turn it into a testament of his ego." Ruth Truewell told her boss Jonas Bledsoe as they looked at the news reporting the apparent alien contact in the main office of the former Dollhouse. Jonas looked at her with a deadpan look.
"I don't make such a bias bet." He told her coldly which she only smirked at before Adelle Dewitt who had reluctantly turned her hand towards her new job as one of their people reported.
"The Saxon files don't have much on them, could be a trap of some kind." She warned them with her clipped British accent. Jonas nodded in agreement; his own mind having reached the same conclusion. He had reached out the right people but none of them were listening.
Will Antros then came in with his own assistant, Becca Sommers. The girl now having not seen her sister in over a year and with her father not willing to take her in had come to live with Will and assist him in his work to decode just what the Master had done to Jaime Sommers. They were close to locating her, a lead from Cairo having given them an alias she might be using…Christina de Souza. A team was chasing her half way across the world but she had proven elusive.
"Jonas, I just got off the phone with Jae and Sarah. They nearly had de Souza but she managed to give them the slip. But from her hotel, they got a DNA sample from some hair she left behind…she's not Jaime." He told him with a disappointed look in his eyes.
The three senior figures all looked at him in surprise before Ruth asked.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Becca said, butting in with impatience. Her impetuousness had not done her many favours but she was a smart girl, like her sister they supposed and had learned a lot in the last year. "There are some similarities but the DNA is different. Its not her." She said with disappointment having hoped they might have finally been closing in on Jaime and get her back she thought desperate to find her sister and break what hold the Master had over her.
"Well then, maybe we have been looking at the wrong target because they wanted us too. They are almost twins after all." Adelle said with a cold realisation that somehow, they must have tipped the Master off that they were on to him.
"Teresa Saxon." Jonas said with annoyance that he and his agency had been sent on a wild goose chase while the real target had been right in front of them all this time. "If she is still under the Master's control then he must be close by."
"He is, I think he's Harold Saxon." Antonio Pope, one of their sharpest people said as he came striding in. "I went deep and all the background on him and his supposed sister, its all fake! Everything from childhood to qualifications, nothing in their history is real. I can't imagine how anyone missed this." He said, not sure how the whole world had been fooled by this act. While he didn't look like the man that they had known it had been mentioned in the UNIT files that he could change his appearance and that was apparently exactly what he had done.
"And now he is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom." Adelle said, now very nervous for her homeland as she realised the psychopath was in control of the government.
"More than that, we got some photos of his entourage." Antonio said putting down a series of pictures in front of Jonas, Ruth and Adelle. He picked to some faces in the background and asked. "Look familiar?"
Adelle took a good look at the photos and immediately saw a familiar face standing at the side.
"That's Echo…there's Sierra and Victor and that is definitely Whisky." Adelle said, seeing their familiar faces in the background and was somewhat relieved that they were still alive.
"So, what now?" Ruth asked, looking at her boss as was everyone else. They now had a lead on their main target for the first time since he had hit them but Jonas was silent as he realised his own agency's powerlessness.
Saxon was too dug in to remove, they couldn't remove a foreign leader without considerable backing and right now no-one in position to do that was listening. He could only wait to see just what would happen tomorrow and hope an opportunity presented itself.
Airfield outside London, UK…Later that Night…
The sight of the enormous 747 jumbo jet arriving with the colours of Air Force One would have impressed most people but the Master and Teresa both felt bored as they stood on the runway with Lucy and the Actives around them, not to mention British soldiers.
A pair of jeeps with blue lights approached, carrying the President and his own people. The Master had all of this well in hand and was about to play President Winters like a fiddle. What was a fiddle anyway he thought to himself while Teresa at his side felt an almost insane amount of glee at being able to mess with the President while Lucy was still in awe of it all.
The men disembarked from the jeeps and UNIT soldiers came out from behind, forming a line opposite to the British Army. President Winters walked forward at a considerable pace with Secret Service agents and an aide at his side. The Master was of course as cool as anything at their approach.
"Mr President sir." The Master said with a grin on his face, even making a mocking salute which only made Teresa stifle a snigger and Lucy grin wider.
"Mr Saxon. The British Army will stand down. From now on UNIT has control of this operation." He told them sternly like he was giving them an order. Inwardly the Master and Teresa hated that, disgusted that anyone thought they had the right to do that. In the old days they would probably have killed him on the spot for such insolence but held their tongues as they had everything in hand.
"You make it sound like an invasion." The Master said, playing the part of goofy Harold Saxon. The joker who was relaxed about everything.
"First contact policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968, and you've just gone and ignored it." Winters reprimanded him. The Master however remained flippant and said with considerable laxity.
"Oh, you know what its like, new job, all that paperwork. I think its down the back of the settee, I did have a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket…have you met the wife?" The Master said, pushing Lucy forward slightly but the President didn't even bother to shake her hand before getting to the point.
"Mr Saxon, I'm not sure what your game is? But there are provisions at the UN to remove you from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?" Winters demanded and the threat as pathetic as it was hung in the air. The Master nodded in understanding while making the motion that he was zipping his lips shut. Teresa was really struggling not to start laughing at the situation.
"Are you taking this seriously?" Winters demanded, not only at the Master but to the clearly struggling Teresa's face as well.
They both nodded without saying a word, like bad little children who weren't sorry at all for whatever it was they'd done but said so anyway. Lucy herself was hardly any better.
"To business. We've accessed your files on these…Toclafane." Winters said, trying to make it sound impressive that they'd gotten hold of them but the Master had only allowed them too. "But first contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil, to that purpose the aircraft carrier Valiant is on route. The rendezvous will take place there…at eight am." Winters said now more confident at being in control.
The Master, wanting to have some more fun with the overly stuck-up man started talking with his mouth closed, making completely distorted words. Winters was not amused by this at all.
"You're trying my patience sir." He said with angrily, so the Master made the motion of unzipping his mouth and asking.
"So, America is completely in charge?"
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes." Winters barked before turning to Teresa, who acted shocked at being the centre of attention. "And you little missy are about to receive a very generous offer for your patents and if you know what is good for you, you will take it." Winters told her, his own backers had all but demanded it and Teresa honestly would have snapped his neck right there and then if the Master would have allowed it.
"Did you just call me 'Little Missy'?" Teresa said with an insulted expression before turning to the Master looking offended. "He just called me Little Missy!" She told him and he nodded looking mockingly annoyed too.
"I will see you on board the Valiant. Come on, Connor, I want those details available on the flight." Winters said, his last nerve strained and started to walk away with his aide, a man in his early twenties with brown hair.
"It still will be televised though." The Master pressed as the President walked away, not caring either way but it was nice part of his plan. "Because I promised and the whole world is watching."
"Since its too late to pull out, the world will be watching…me." Winters said with considerable self-importance before stalking off to the jeep followed by his aide and protection detail as the Master, Teresa and Lucy watched.
"The last president of America." The Master whispered to them while Teresa pouted.
"He called me little missy. Can we make his death long and drawn out?" She asked him with a childish voice and pout which the Master laughed at before reassuring her.
"Don't worry my dear. He will soon realise his own stupidity." The Master said with a smirk before telling Lucy. "We have a private plane ready and waiting, we'll be on the Valiant within the hour."
Then he gestured to Lucy to make her way to the waiting plane, the actives led by Echo as their entourage, security detail and the crew of the plane were all present too. In its hold was Kudlak's prison, Nyssa's Stasis pod, Cassandra's medical capsule and finally the Doctor's Tardis ready for activation at 8:02. Everything was in place he thought smugly.
Teresa meanwhile like the Master was distracted by a sudden presence, they both turned and looked at a position near the barrier net which was flowing in the wind nearby. Both of them immune to the perception filter so they saw the Doctor, Martha and Jack clearly.
They stared at each other, no-one saying anything but all humour was lost until they were distracted by the arrival of the police van carrying the captured Joneses arrived. Teresa smirked and gave them a little wave as the Master taunted them before both saw the Doctor and his friends had teleported away.
Both of them boarded the plane with the Joneses struggling behind them but the actives had them well in hand. They took their seats and moments later they were in the air, heading straight for the Valiant and the culmination of nearly two years work.
The Valiant Flight Deck…7:40 am…
The door slid open as the Master, Teresa and Lucy walked in. Despite having designed this place neither the Master nor Teresa had been on board since its launch. They had Echo, Whisky, Sierra, Victor and November with them as they stepped out onto the flight deck, all secretly armed of course and Teresa with her special hearing could already hear President Winters demanding that the whole thing bare his own seal rather than the UN to the aide Connor, John Connor if the name badge was to be believed and something about him made Teresa confused, like she had seen him somewhere before but had no idea just what as they followed the Master towards Winters. Lucy marvelled at the sights around her, not able to believe it.
The Master went up to President Winters and said with his usual chipper voice.
"Anything I can do? I can make the tea? Or isn't that American enough? I don't know, I could make grits, what are grits anyway?" The Master asked with an unconcerned look on his face. Winters and his staff all looked at him with disdain and Winters told him.
"If you could just sit." He told him and the idea that he was like a dog only infuriated the Master and they turned away and walked back to the table in the centre of the room.
"Moaning old misery guts." The Master said under his breath, 8:00am couldn't come fast enough as far as he was concerned. He cheered himself up by stroking his own ego by asking Lucy. "What do you think? It's good isn't it." Gesturing around the room.
Lucy looked round again and put her hand to her chest as the Master pulled out a chair for her, followed by another for Teresa next to her, both of them sitting down while Lucy told him what he wanted to hear.
"It's beautiful."
"Some of my best work…Ministry of Defence." He said, whispering into Lucy's ear just before he sat down. True Teresa had done a great deal of the actual engineering but it had been a joint effort and he had chosen the styling. "I designed this place…every detail." He said with smugness, slightly adjusting his tie.
"And to think, they're so stupid to think that they picked this ship." Teresa said, whispering to them both from her own chair while the actives stood back, ready to move when they were needed. All over the ship the Actives had put themselves in positions for the coming attack, ready to seize the ship when the Master gave the order.
- x -
But back over by President Winters, John Connor one of his aides and a rather intelligent young man noticed their attitude and was suspicious.
"Somethings not right." He said to the President, his father had drilled him in noticing small details in people saying it might be the only way to spot…them although he had never really had any proof of his claims about the supposed Terminators. "They're up to something."
"Connor, we are in control. That jumped up little bastard and his entourage can't do anything. Now, the details?" He reminded him firmly of his own position. John reluctantly helped continue the preparations but honestly couldn't shake the feeling that Saxon and his party were planning something.
- x -
Now only at two minutes to eight o'clock the meeting was almost here, the Master and his people were relaxed but ready. Able to move at a moment's notice while the President was amping himself up.
"Two minutes people." He said, pointlessly walking half way up the small stairs towards the flight controls so he now stood over everyone. The Master and Teresa rolled their eyes at the gesture but kept quiet as it wasn't time just yet and both were inwardly excited at what they had planned. "According to the treaty, all armed personnel must leave the flight deck." He ordered and the UNIT soldiers who served as the ship's crew left the room although Teresa noticed a few of the President's supposed aides were actually Secret Service agents and they were armed. She made a note of their positions on the deck.
"Jelly baby?" He said to Lucy, offering her one of the sweets from his pocket and she happily took one while he tucked into another. Winters continued talking although they were hardly paying attention.
The minutes slowly passed as finally eight am came, the cameras rolled with Winters standing there for his close up. He started giving his long rambling speech while bored the Master and his people to tears but they kept up their façade.
At the side, they saw the Doctor, Martha and Jack enter, sneaking in so the perception filter disguised them but it didn't worry them as the Master had planned for all of this. The plan they heard them of putting one of the perception filters around his neck honestly was the most rubbish plan they could imagine but whatever.
Then at last, show time.
The Toclafane appeared around the President, he welcomed them but their response surprised everyone.
"You're not the Master." They said, repeating that as they waited for him to appear annoying Winters as they refused to listen to him but then the Master, now the moment had finally come spoke as he got out of his chair and came over.
"Alright, its me!" He said eagerly and with his usual eager charm. "Hello!" He said to everyone on the flight deck and the cameras with a showbiz style wave, laughing before he said with a dismissive voice. "Sorry, sorry I have this effect on people. They get a little bit obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know, it's crazy!" He said rhetorically but Winters, now infuriated his moment had been taken and he was now being upstaged said sharply to the Master.
"Saxon! What are you talking about?" He demanded and the Master now got serious as he no longer needed to maintain any kind of façade.
"I'm taking control Uncle Sam. Starting with you." The Master said as he leaned back against the table with his arms folded, he was really going to enjoy this moment as he turned to the Toclafane. "Kill him."
One of the Toclafane did as he commanded and moved in before hitting Winters with a high-powered laser blast, disintegrating the President right in front of everyone.
Someone screamed and Teresa and the actives leapt into action, appearing almost as a blur Teresa ran forward and with her old hidden blades which she'd concealed under her coat's sleeves killed the Secret Service agents while Echo, Whisky, Victor, Sierra and November pulled out their Lawbringers and pointed them at the people around the room along with three members of the press who were also actives placed here just in case. Shouting out "NOBODY MOVE!" Again, and again to ensure they had everyone under control.
All over the ship the killing of Winters was the launch code for the actives, whatever their cover was they moved and started overpowering the UNIT crew with ruthless efficiency until they had the entire ship under their control.
Back on the flight deck though the Master exploded with laughter at the scene in front of him, exchanging a high five with Teresa as he came forward and almost leapt up the stairs to where Winters had been standing only a moment before while Lucy eagerly ran forward to stand at his side while Teresa stood on the other.
In Los Angeles, the Berkut Group in the big screen in the Dollhouse main area had all been watching along with the rest of the world and looked on in shock. Jonas, Ruth, Will, Adelle, Topher, Paul Ballard and the others all watched in horror at what they were seeing. Becca was the hardest hit of all as she saw her sister for the first time in a year standing there at the side of this madman and helping him hurt people! Tears filled her eyes and she honestly was terrified.
Back on the Valiant though as The Master then with his insane grin now revealed turned to the cameras and told the people watching who were surely shocked at what they were seeing.
"People of the Earth, please attend carefully." The Master told them with the great thrill of his plan coming together. "Stop him." He called out to the Actives as the Doctor charged forward, Echo and Whisky quickly grabbed him though and forced him to his knees. With his archenemy now subdued the Master told him with exaggerated swagger.
"We meet at last Doctor…oh I love saying that." The Master said with a thrilled laugh.
"STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!" The Doctor demanded, still trying to exert his presence on everyone. His face enraged but the Master and the rest of them didn't care. The Master though wasn't done yet.
"As if the perception filter is going to work on me!" The Master said before turning to the other side of the flight deck where Jack and Martha were standing, reaching into his jacket pocket. "And look. It's the girlie and the freak, although…I'm not sure which ones which." The Master said trying to insult them. Jack, now knowing the game was up charged straight at the Master only for him to be cut down by the laser screwdriver half way there. Martha rushed to his side and checked him over as the Master boasted of his own screwdriver over the Doctor's sonic one and how Jack would revive and he could kill him again.
The Doctor, now desperate as he knew the situation was far outside his control and his mind was racing for time to come up with a plan.
"Master! Just calm down! Just look at what you're doing, just stop! If you could see yourself." The Doctor said, hoping to appeal to some remaining element of the Master's sanity but Teresa nearby looked at him with disgust.
"Is he really trying to appeal to your 'better nature'?" She asked with disbelief. The Master turned to her and replied.
"I know, it's sad, isn't it? I mean, here we are about to take over the world and here he is hoping I'm just a misunderstood little boy who's desperate for attention and needs a loving hug to set me straight." The Master said with scorn aimed straight at the Doctor who then turned to Teresa and told her.
"And what about you? You were human once! You had to have been someone else before him! Who were you? How can you let him do this?" He asked her with eyes blazing with rage, hoping that maybe she might listen to him. But Teresa just started laughing just like the Master, with complete abandon, no sign of sanity at all. The Master was laughing with her before he leant down and told the Doctor.
"She is my perfect creation, the perfect companion for me so don't bother. She knows her place." The Master whispered so only the two of them could hear and the Doctor was confused, not able to guess what the Master had done but the way that he said it, she was completely under the Master's control.
"Right, just a minute folks. A little bit of personal business…let him go." The Master said and Echo and Whisky rather playfully threw the Doctor hard into the deck making him wince with pain as the Master came down and knelt on the steps so they were eye level with each other. The Doctor tried to speak, hopefully that maybe appealing to the fact he might be able to make the so-called drumming disappear but the Master didn't give him a chance.
"How to shut you up? Oh, memory lane…remember Professor Lazarus? Remember him and his genetic manipulation device? Do you really think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence?" He said with a mocking scorn which unsettle Martha as she realised just how much she and her family had been manipulated. "I've been laying traps for you for all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver…but oh. If only I had the Doctor's biological code" he said tapping his fingers against his chin before clicking his fingers.
"Oh, wait a minute, I do." He said getting up and running over to the nearby table where a large case had been placed. "I've got his hand." The Master said proudly as he pulled it open, revealing the Doctor's old severed hand, bubbling away. The Master then started adjusting his screwdriver's setting as he talked.
"And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another…hundred years?" The Master said before blasting the Doctor with the screwdriver.
The Doctor screamed out in pain as his body was warped by the effects of the Master's screwdriver.
Jack revived and saw clearly that they had no way right now to defeat him, thinking quickly he took off his perception filter and vortex manipulator and handed them to Martha who was kneeling over him.
"Teleport." He urged her, needing to give her at least a chance to escape.
"I can't." Martha said, terrified at what was happening to the Doctor and the situation they were caught up in.
"We can't stop him." Jack told her, pushing her in hopes that she would do it rather than be a prisoner like them. "Get out of here. Get out!" He urged her.
Finally, though, the Master was finished and everyone looked, most of the people in disbelief at the extremely old man standing where the Doctor had been only moments before.
Martha scrambled over to him and took a hold as if to keep him upright.
"Doctor? I've got you." She reassured him and the Doctor, now incredibly weakened by the transformation was more grateful for her help than he wanted to admit. The Master of course had to throw some shade at her.
"Ahh, she's a would-be Doctor." He said with a dismissive humour before telling her with an exaggerated voice. "But tonight…Martha Jones, we've flown them in…all the way from prison." He said, gesturing towards the door on the far side where Kilo, Tango and Moore forced in her father Clive, her mother Francine and her sister Tish in the room in handcuffs.
"Mum." Martha said, looking at her with confusion as to why she would help him and not just trust her but Francine with tears in her eyes as she realised just how badly she had messed up said to her daughter.
"I'm sorry."
The Doctor meanwhile had managed to regain a little energy and asked with considerable effort, hoping to desperately get some useful information while getting Martha close enough to tell her what she needed to do as a plan quickly formed in his mind.
"The Toclafane?" He said in his now rasping voice. Martha getting back down to kneel beside him and took a firm hold of him, hoping to take some strength in this horrible situation. The Master made a show as if he couldn't hear him and knelt down too. "The Toclafane? What are they? Who are they?"
The Master honestly couldn't wait for him to figure it out himself as he knew it would break his hearts when he did but he decided to tease him a bit.
"Doctor. If I told you the truth…your hearts would break." He said, even putting a hand over them before getting back to his feet as the four Toclafane over his head asked desperately.
"Is it time? Is it ready? Is the machine singing?"
The Master checked his watch and saw everything was right on time, saying with calmness.
"Two minutes past." He then bounded up the stairs to were Lucy and Teresa were standing and turning back to the cameras to give a little speech. "So, Earthlings. Basically, end of the world!" He told them with some offhand voice before sticking his hands in the air. "Here come the drums!" He called out wildly while they all looked on in horror.
The song Voodoo Child by the Rogue Traders played in the background as they all saw out of the windows around the ship just what was happening.
A massive rip in the sky opened, a dark red gateway to what looked like another part of space and out of this rip appeared billions of Toclafane. The Master eagerly ran over to the side window to see in person while Lucy and Teresa danced with abandon together spinning each other around with huge smiles on their faces.
The Master then raced back to the flight deck, blowing a kiss to Martha who had been listening to the Doctor whispering his plan in her ear and he quietly passed her his own perception filter as she might need it a great deal more than he.
The Master dragged Lucy and Teresa up to the upper-level window after punching the air in victory, Lucy looked out with astonishment while Teresa grinned widely at the sight in front of her, relieved that at last…they were in control.
"How many do you think?" The Master asked Lucy, smiling with satisfaction as they all descended from the rip which closed when the last of them came through. Lucy was breathless and in shock but she had to say something.
"I…I don't know!"
"Six billion." The Master said proudly before finally shutting the music off and telling the Toclafane. "Down you go kids!" He said, waving as if to make them.
And descend they did, swarming over every human settlement around the world, racing towards the ground and the helpless humans below.
"Shall we decimate them?" He asked Lucy, holding her tight against him, sounding excited at the idea while next to him Teresa smirked widely too. Lucy looked almost excited too. "Nice word…decimate. Remove one tenth…of the population." He commanded to the Toclafane.
The spheres didn't hesitate to follow his orders and began to attack the humans below, distress calls from all over the world started pouring through the speakers as a tenth of the population, roughly sixty million people were being wiped out. All resistance, crushed.
While the Master, Lucy and Teresa though had been distracted by this the Doctor had finished explaining his plan to Martha who with tears in her eyes, got up and stepped away from him. She stood up, seeming almost in a daze as the Doctor, Jack and her family looked at her. One of the actives though took aim at her, thinking to stun her as he knew what the Master had in mind for her but John Connor who had been on his knees like everyone else and horrified at what was happening saw the threat and without any hesitation leapt out, grabbing Martha to swing her round so he would shield her with his own body. At that moment, Martha triggered the teleport and disappeared from the flight deck and took John with her right before everyone else's astonished eyes.
The Jones Family looked on in surprise while the Doctor and Jack shared a look of resignation, knowing that they were in for a very long and hard wait before they had a chance to be free again. It all hung on Martha's shoulders and it would be harder on her than anything before. The Master turned around and saw what had happened, his face contorting with fury before grabbing having Teresa grab the Doctor by one arm and drag him up the stairs as roughly as she could so she could hold him in front of the window, getting the best view of what was happening below them.
"And so it came to pass that the human race fell." The Master said poetically, eager to rub his victory and what was happening to his precious Earth and its people, eager to hurt the Doctor while Teresa, Lucy and him smirked at all that was happening. And so, he continued. "And the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of All, and I thought it…good." He said, eager to rub salt in the wound while the Doctor looked on in horror at all that was happening below them.
Field, Outside of London…Same Moment…
The rough teleport threw both Martha and John to the ground as they arrived in a heap, Martha was shocked at his sudden appearance and asked him with anger as they separated themselves.
"Just what are you doing?!" She nearly yelled at him, her nerves already stretched to breaking point as it was and now, she had this stranger to deal with. He had been one of the President's men she remembered so he wasn't with the Master but still it was unwelcome.
"One of his goons was about to shoot you. I grabbed you to make sure you weren't hit." John yelled back, not understanding any of this but then they both turned to face the city and saw the massive number of Toclafane hanging over it. They could almost hear the screams of people as they were slaughtered by the spheres and both grimaced before Martha said as she ran off and John followed her.
"I'm coming back." She said, swearing to herself that she would bring down the Master whatever it took and it was going to take her awhile she thought with dread.
"Please tell me there is a plan." He asked her, knowing the scale of things stacked against them.
"Yes, but I need to travel, and I have to do it alone." She told him but John who was quite fit caught up with her and made her stop now they were in the cover of the woods nearby to their landing spot.
"Do you have any survival training? Any knowledge of means of travel or where to find supplies? I do, my father taught me." John said sternly as he knew the hardness of travelling in such conditions, knowing his father Kyle had prepared him for a different kind of apocalypse but this was certainly a bad enough situation to use those skills he had drilled into him. "I can support you; I will do anything to bring down Saxon and you could use my help." John told her. He knew not what she was intending but realised he would need to prove himself before being let into her confidence.
Martha was torn, she knew better than to just trust anyone but the idea of handling the task of spreading the Doctor's name across the entire world and staying free while being hunted by the Master was really daunting and she really didn't have any idea just how to start. If he could do the things that he said he could then it would make things a great deal easier.
So, she handed him Jack's perception filter, he looked at the key strangely and she told him.
"It's a perception filter, it makes you not invisible but unnoticeable. If we're going to be travelling the world then you'll need it." She said and John took it slowly, not sure about it but was willing to take somethings on faith given the situation.
"Then I will do whatever it takes to help you get around the world." He told her and extended his hand to her. "John Connor at your service."
Martha slowly took his hand and replied.
"Martha Jones, now we need to move." She told him and he smiled before saying.
"Yes ma'am." John said as they continued running through the woods, Martha actually finding his America accent reassuring, like Jack was with her during this and she joined him running as she had a lot to do.
- x -
The Valiant…A Few Hours Later…
The Master was in his element, his control over the world was now complete and he was just getting started. He had begun assigning Section Chiefs to make sure things ran smoothly while the Valiant remained home to his loyal little dolls who would operate the ship for him, knowing he could trust them to watch the rest of his underlings.
The entire human race was now his slaves, the Master thought with satisfaction, putting his feet up on the table on the flight deck while Lucy at his command was changing in a gorgeous dress. He only wanted the best looking around him, he thought with his vanity clear. The freak Captain Jack had been secured and the Joneses would be doing the menial work he had chosen for them. He was angry at Martha Jones's escape but was confident he would catch up to her soon enough. In fact he was kind of looking forward to the chase, it gave him a thrill having to work for it and an excuse to prolong her suffering when he finally caught her.
But he also had other things to occupy his time, he thought with satisfaction as he considered the little mission that he'd sent Teresa on.
- x -
Torchwood 3, Cardiff, Wales…
The door opened as they forced the lock and revealed the Hub for all to see, Teresa hadn't been here since 1885 when it was first opened. It had changed a lot she thought as she led her team inside. A Pterodactyl screeched at the sight of them, clearly not knowing them and not wanting them in its home. It swooped down to attack them but while the rest of the team scattered, Teresa stood her ground. The creature lunged at her but at the last moment Teresa grabbed it by the throat and impaled it with her hidden blades, killing the creature.
She threw its body away and wondered just who kept a dinosaur as a pet before taking another good look around as she had to clear this place out of any useful technology before heading to London and other places like the Black Archive. The Master wanted the technology and so she made sure he would get it, Teresa thought with a smirk.
There we are, hope you liked it and please leave a review to let me know what you thought.
Next Chapter - The Master tightens his grip on Earth while Martha and John wander the Earth and try to spread hope. They meet some characters who had their lives changed by the Master long before he took over and pick up a new companion of their own.