Chapter 34
My head feels lighter the moment I step close to the Tardis, as if she's boosting the psychic shields. Funny how she used to just throw me in random places and now she's on my side. I did save her life, after all. A sense of dread stops me on the threshold, while the Doctor starts pulling bits and pieces from the console to wire Jack's tablet to it. "Right. So-", he starts, then sees me.
"Doctor, are you sure this is safe? If he finds me with the Tardis…".
He sighs, then comes back and pulls me inside.
"Don't worry about it".
"But-".
"No, no, look. Come on". He pulls the vortex manipulator from his pocket and plugs it into the tablet, then puts it on a small shelf that he opened from a latch on the console and attaches some wires to it. The light that I've seen other vortex manipulators do when they time travel lights up. Which is weird, because I didn't implant that.
The Tardis screen lights up with a map blinking with dots. It's the same that Jack and Ray showed us before. There's a few blinking dots around, and two small circles. "See? We're here"- he points at the dot surrounded by one of the circles. "And this-", he adds, pointing at the other circle, "this must be the Master's Tardis".
"But how does he have one?" I ask. "What if he tries to force the paradox now… he's seen what's to happen. He's going to try to change it, no?".
"No, no, not yet. You-", he sighs, still typing on the tablet. "You don't know, how that could feel like for him, especially now. You think of him as the powerful, newly regenerated Master you've met, but he's not him yet. I think he's just escaped the war.".
"But", I repeat, great. I can only protest now, apparently -"What if he goes to Malcassairo with his Tardis, then? And just waits until we show up-".
He groans again and drops the keyboard, pulls his glasses away and plays with his hair in frustration. "But", he repeats, "is that how you remember it?".
"I…", I start, but stop immediately. He's right. I'm still remembering it as I did. "No, I remember it-".
"See? It will still happen to him as it's already happened to us".
I take a deep breath. "How?".
"I don't know", he groans. I am annoying him, but, even if I know he doesn't like to talk about him, there's still something that doesn't convince me. "What's happening, Zoe? His Tardis is just going to die, I don't know. We're always tinkering with bits and pieces and mantainance, do you think he's taking care of that? But why are you so worried? You knew this was bound to happen, you running into him, at some point, right? What is scaring you?".
Excuse me? Why am I-
"No, no, no, Doctor. Question is why are you not?" I snarl. "I know you like to keep any conversation about him weird and mysterious and all, but he is your enemy, and the last time we ran into him, well, it wasn't exactly happy times, and he is here. Now. So, really, tell me, why aren't you worried?".
He looks at the ceiling, quietly. Which is a nice move, because if he rolled his eyes I'd probably punch his face.
"I'm not worried", he says, softly, inhaling and exhaling loudly before speaking, "because you're here, too".
This man.
I stare at him, he stares back.
"And", he adds, holding my shoulders, "when he'll find you, and it will be soon, I know you'll be all right".
I shiver. I'm not so sure. But at least the Doctor seems to understand that after we're done with this Time Agency mess, I might intentionally let him find me.
"Fine then", I cut it short. But then I smile, and he smiles back. The tablet blinks and the console beeps, showing us the calculations are completed. "Tablet thingy saying anything relevant to the present matter?", I ask, turning the screen to look at it.
"Oh yes", he types. "Just as I expected".
"First trip with this device, from here today to here today 25 years ago". I sigh. "I knew it".
"This means-".
"We have to run. Really run, now".
We quickly snatch tablet and vortex manipulator from the console and fly back to the building. In the elevator to Ritter's office, I remember something.
"When I met Jack, he told me the Time Agency wiped two years from his memory".
"Yeah", he softly says, rubbing his eye. "Told the same to Rose and me when we met him".
"Do you think it's us? He asked me, before".
He glares at me. "I'm not touching that man's mind. Not in a billion yea- woooah", his joke gets cut, as we walk into Ritter's office, where everybody is pointing guns at each other: Jack at Ray, Carol at Ritter, Ritter at Jack; Ray is holding a gun in his hand, but holding on the vortex manipulator which is now strapped on his wrist.
"Wait!", I scream, as Ray starts typing.
"Wait!" The doctor's also calling. From behind our back, two guards point their guns at me and the Doctor. "Oh, right", he groans, shaking his head. We raise our hands, casually turning around and back. "Let me just-".
Quickly, I twirl his sonic screwdriver in my hand. Ray sees me and turns around, covering his hand. What he doesn't see is The Doctor waving the vortex manipulator from his hand. I point the sonic. "-Explain", the Doctor finishes. "Since we're not going anywhere now, are we?". He flashes a smile around the room.
Everybody looks confused. Ritter takes a deep breath.
"What have you done?", Ray screams, furious.
"Erased the base code", Carol says, as if thinking aloud.
"How?", Jack soflty asks me.
"It's the same device", the Doctor says, throwing it up in the air and catching it back again. "Stolen from an… associate of ours from the museum. The very first vortex manipulator in use, is the same prototype that Zoe and I brought here this morning".
"What?", Ray says, incredulous, looking at Ritter, who looks at his desk, laughing. Under a couple of red canisters, I see the paper I stole from Crane's desk. I guess they tried the diplomatic way, showing him evidence before this standoff.
"So you've stopped him, right?" Carol asks. "I don't understand".
Jack looks sadly at me. "I do". I nod. "And I don't think we stopped him. Let me guess, the first trip it ever made was right now?".
"Let's see what Ray has to say about it, hm?", Ritter says.
Ray looks confused and terrified. "I was… I was just following orders. I'm not- I'm not…".
"Oooh" I say, too loudly.
"Zoe, do you mind", the Doctor scowls me.
"But he doesn't even know" I whisper to him. "Not that it makes him more likable".
"Meh", he scoffs.
Carol looks sad and confused. "But how do you know he's going to- couldn't that be anyone? the Captain, or one of you two?".
I thought about it, at first. As the plot went crowded with familiar faces, at first I thought it could have been Jack. Or Chloe.
"Or... me?" Carol asks, shaking.
"Oh, I'm thick", the Doctor groans. "We're thick, we should have seen this coming".
Carol suddenly jumps at me, lunging for the sonic. She catches me by surprise, I didn't expect that. We stumble to the floor, rolling.
Ray makes a move for the Doctor, Jack throws himself between them. My hand gets hit and the sonic rolls around, Carol going after it fast. As soon as it's in her hands, she twirls to grab Ray and pull him out of Jack's grip. A guard shoots. We all stop.
Carol stands up, holding Ray's arm over their heads.
"Why not me?", she insists, looking around the room, then at us specifically. "Why can't it be me, Time Lords?".
I think about my words. I'm having trouble seeing how this unravels. She looks at the sonic, realizes she doesn't know what to do with it.
"Because", I say, "He's still here".
She looks between us and Ray. "Wh- what?", she looks puzzled.
The Doctor nods in the direction of Ritter. Jack glares, and suddenly looks worried. He searches for my eyes.
"What? What is it?", Ray says. "I don't-".
Carol looks between Ray and Ritter, and now she sees it too. "Wh- ah". She starts laughing histerically. "No. No, it can't be, no!", she cries. She nastily throws the sonic back at the Doctor, who catches it surprised by her anger.
Ray steps back. "I… ", he turns to us, a worried look on his face. "I understand now".
"Doctor", I tell him "We've got to get Jack out of here before-". He glares at me. "Please" I insist.
As if hypnotized, Ray gives his arm to Ritter, who restores the base code on the prototype, smirking.
Ray looks at the typepad, takes a deep breath. "Guess this is… Goodbye?", he says, panting, then activates the manipulator and vanishes.
The Doctor clenches my shoulders. I feel it too, the timeline finally giving it a break.
"Why didn't you stop him?", Carol cries, frantic. She points her gun at me, then at the Doctor, then again at me. "Tell me!".
"We couldn't", I explain, trying to stay calm. "It was fixed. The open time circle had to be closed".
"Or this entire planet would have been absorbed by the time vortex itself. I'm sorry". The Doctor shows them the tablet. Jack takes it, hesitantly.
"They're right", Jack agrees, looking at the tablet screen. "The anomalies have stopped entirely".
Carol finally understands and turns to Ritter. "This whole time", she says, bitterly. "But why?".
"Of course", Jack says, groaning. "Ray and Ritter shouldn't exist at the same time. Ray goes back to the past, the anomalies stop, Ritter wins the election".
Carol is still coming to terms with what she just found out.
Ritter spreads his arms, smiling. Carol throws herself to him, attacking. He moves quickly, turns around from behind his desk and stabs her neck with a syringe. "Wait, no-", she whispers before losing consciousness.
"No!" Jack screams.
Carol faints, and falls to the ground. Jack catches her and lays her down, gently.
Then, it all happens fast: I jump to Ritter, and I hit him. He clenches his chest and lets go of the syringe. The Doctor quickly gets to the desk and takes the other canister. Jack runs at the back of Ritter and holds him by the neck.
I hold the syringe and the canister in his face, and turn to the guards.
"Now", I say, sternly, while Jack, still holding Ritter, starts making his way to the door. "We are all walking out of here, very calmly".
"You will be waiting here a while", the Doctor instructs, sonicking the guards' radios. Then he crouches down and lifts up Carol, still unconscious.
The two exchange looks. With his other hand, Jack points the gun at them. "You heard him". They lower their weapons and throw them to the ground.
"You really think you can get away?", Ritter says, panting. "You idiots".
I open the door, the Doctor slides out past me. On the threshold, Jack slams the gun on Ritter's head and pushes him inside the room, before walking out with me and pushing the door closed. The Doctor sonics the lock, then we all breathe. Now that the timeline is fixed, the pressure of the Master knocking at my mind becomes more clear.
Mossey, with his head bandaged, shouts from the end of the corridor. "Hey!".
Jack stops, looks at us. "You run. Get her to the infirmary. I'll stop him".
"What will you do?", I ask him.
"Well. Guess there's going to be some running too".
The Doctor looks at him, smiles. Jack holds my shoulder and says. "My lady, it's been a pleasure. I have so many questions, but I'll save them for a quieter time". Then he turns to the Doctor. "Doctor, it's been an honor". I shiver, thinking of another Jack, in another time, saying the same thing on the Game Station before letting the Daleks ray hit him. The Doctor smiles fondly at him. "Same, Captain. Looking forward to the quieter time".
And then, we start making our way downstairs to the infirmary office. A lot of guards are running about, but there's no way to know if they're after us. The infirmary door is open, but there's no one inside. We slide Carol on a gurney, I put the the syringe and the canister on the side table. "Anyone there? Coming", a voice from behind a curtain says. We take a look at that poor brave girl and go.
"What's next?", I ask as we continue downstairs, more calmly now. "We should put that thing back in the museum, no?".
"I sure don't want to hang on to it", he says, sighing. "But first I need to jump back a moment and instruct Chloe".
I stop. "Are you sure? You would be jumping to an extremely unstable timeline. Isn't it better to go with the Tardis?".
"If things go sideways, I'd rather not risk the Tardis", he says, nonchalantly.
"Ha! So you admit there's a risk".
"How long have you been traveling with me?", he shakes his head. "Thought you were used to it by now", he jokes.
I pout.
"Don't do that, I'll be right back".
"It's just… this drumming in my head. It's… no wonder he's insane".
He looks into my eyes. "Should I stay?".
For one part, I'd love that. But also, I think I should meet him by myself. "No. I'll be fine".
He types fast on the keypad at his wrist. When he flashes into thin air, the drumming feels even stronger. With him out of sync, the Doctor's shields are not that powerful anymore.
I start walking to the park, and of course there he is, waiting for me right after the gate.
He smirks from afar. "There you are, love".
"Love?" I repeat, smirking back. I cautiously walk over him.
"Ditched your bodyguards, I see. I have to say, for a mate of mine, you hang with all the wrong company".
"The Doctor is still your friend, if you wa-aaargh", I say, as he stings me through the psychic link. I stumble back, my arm holding to a tree. "Don't… don't do that. Please".
He smirks again, walking closer. "Why? Does it hurt?", he says, without stopping.
"You tell me", I hiss. And hit back.
Surprised, he stumbles back and falls to the ground. But he doesn't let go.
Neither do I. "You see, first time we met, I'd been a Time Lady for just minutes. But, my mind, you gave me a very good psychic set up. And I have been training. So maybe you forgot-", I pant, pushing harder to slam him out of my head, drumming and all. "You set me up to be your guardian", I add, "Koschei".
He cries a horrible sound, that turns into a laugh.
I slide to the ground, my back resting against the tree. "Truce?".