CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

TURLOUGH

Turlough was not pleased to be teamed up with the Major when he was sent to collect the energy readings. The Doctor had insisted that the best way to verify his theory would be to check the areas where the most recent sightings had taken place. He had also insisted that the officer go along.

The Major carried a map upon which the Doctor had indicated the areas they needed to check and the last energy reading that had been taken there. As the pair moved through the building, Turlough would report the reading and the Major would make a notation on the map alongside the Doctor’s figures.

It seemed that all of the readings were going down. Eventually, the pair finished at the furthest point, and turned to go back to the TARDIS. Turlough was inwardly grateful this odious task was over, as the Major had done nothing but berate him the whole time. The only reason the boy did not snap back was the fact that the officer was armed.

The Doctor is going to have a lot to answer for, Turlough thought darkly, sending him off with this control freak.

* * *

As Turlough slowly trudged after the Major, he suddenly found himself wishing he had stayed in Little Hodcomb with Tegan. As soon as this thought went through his mind, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“I’ve gone mad,” he muttered darkly. He looked up just in time to see the Major turn a corner further up ahead and sighed heavily as the call of, “Hurry up, boy,” followed.

“Coming!” Turlough called. “I know, I know. The readings won’t deliver themselves,” he grumbled, adding a few uncomplimentary remarks at the same time. His pace was far from hurried, however. It wasn’t as though the KGB was likely to hassle him now that the entire section of the building had been cleared. He stopped and looked down a corridor, recalling how it had been filled with people only a few days earlier.

When he turned back, he gave a startled cry. The Major was suddenly looming over him, a look of thunder on his face. “Don’t do that!” Turlough snapped, a hand going to his chest. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Can’t you follow even the simplest order?” the Major demanded.

Turlough gave him a dark look. “Look, I’m not one of your underlings, Major,” he snapped, having had his fill of the man’s badgering.

“You’re not anything as far as I can see.”

Before Turlough had the chance to come up with a suitable retort, his arm was taken in an iron grip and he was being pulled down one corridor and then another, in the wrong direction. Then he was being pulled through a doorway. “This isn’t the way to the TARDIS!” he protested. He pulled his arm free and tried to leave, only to be shoved further into the room. “What are you doing?” he demanded as the door was closed.

“You need to be taught a lesson, boy.”

“And who’s going to teach it to me? You?” Turlough spat bitterly.

“Yes, me.”

“You don’t know the first thing about me.”

“You tried to kill the Doctor.”*
* The Guardians Trilogy

Turlough stiffened visibly, his mouth dropped open. “Who told you—” His eyes grew wide as he realized what was happening. “You’re that…that…thing!” The reply was a wry smile that sent a chill down his spine. As frightening as the Major was, the alien creature was even more so. He could predict what the Major would do…well, more or less. But this thing. There was no telling.

“You can’t scare me like you did the Earl,” Turlough said in as even a tone as possible. “You can’t give me a twisted parody of what I want.”

“Do you even know what you want, Turlough?”

Turlough gave a bitter laugh. “Like I’m going to tell you!” He fought to keep in control of himself, to keep from running in terror, doing anything in terror. He waved a hand in the air. “Let me see what you really look like. Not this bad copy of the Major.”

The alien changed form, taking on the Doctor’s likeness. “Really, Turlough, there’s no need to be insulting. I know exactly what you want.”

“And what’s that?”

“You want to be accepted. One of the crew. You want the Doctor to trust you the way he does Tegan. Am I right?”

“Shut up!”

“The Doctor doesn’t want you around, does he?”

Turlough clenched his fists in rage. “I said shut up!”

“He doesn’t trust you. Nobody trusts you. Sometimes you wish you could just cut out your heart, it hurts so much.”

“You don’t know anything!”

“Oh, but I do,” the alien said in a low voice as it slowly started to advance.

The sound of Turlough’s terrified scream echoed out in the corridor, but there was no one there to hear it.

* * *

The Major was moving so quickly that he practically fell into the console room when he arrived. He took in the stunned occupants before he practically demanded, “Is Turlough here?”

The Doctor was at the console, Jason beside him. Eroica was in a chair a few feet away, leaning on his elbow, a bored expression on his face.

“No. He’s supposed to be with you,” the Doctor replied in an almost accusing tone.

“He’s missing.”

“What? How?” The Doctor threw a horrified look back at the console. They had started picking up yet another energy spike only minutes before the Major arrived. Which meant…

“He was following me, then he wasn’t,” the Major was saying. “I searched the area but couldn’t locate him.”

“So you thought he came here ahead of you,” Jason completed, receiving a nod in reply. “Well, he didn’t.” He threw a worried look in the Doctor’s direction. “Would he just wander off like that?”

“Not with a violent alien on the loose,” the Doctor replied knowingly. “In fact, I’m surprised he even let you out of his sight, Major.”

The Major shook his head. “I was careless. I let him lag too far behind.”

Eroica gave a startled cry. “Major, I don’t believe for a minute that you would be that careless.”

Klaus gave him an angry look, but it was himself that he was angry with.

Before the inevitable argument could begin, the Doctor intervened. “Major, take us to where you last saw him. We’ll start there.” He turned to Eroica, adding, “Not you, Dorian.”

“I wasn’t even thinking of going,” Eroica replied shakily.

“Good. You can hold the fort, as it were. And lock the doors behind us,” the Doctor ordered. He turned to Jason. “I’m going to assume you gave the Major your key,” he said in a mildly disapproving tone.

“I did. When he and Turlough went to find you the day Dorian was attacked,” Jason confirmed. “I explained about the psychic imprinting, too.”

The Doctor nodded, pulling another key from a compartment in the console and wordlessly handing it to the Alterran. He then turned to Eroica. “No matter what happens, do not open the doors for anyone. We’ll let ourselves in.”

Eroica shivered. “Don’t worry. I’m not getting anywhere near that thing again if I can help it.”

* * *

Jason looked around the empty hallway and then over at the Major. “You last saw him here?”

The Major nodded. “Right where you’re standing. Dragging his heels.” He tried not to sound disapproving. Turlough was his responsibility, and he had allowed himself to lose sight of him. If anything happened to the boy, he would never forgive himself for such incompetence.

“Yes, that sounds like Turlough,” the Doctor agreed. “No signs of a struggle, not that I expected any.”

Jason held up a hand. “Then let me listen. That’s how I found Dorian.”

The Major gave him a startled look. “You heard him?” Somehow, he felt he should have known the Alterran was capable of this, yet it still surprised him.

“Yes.” Jason closed his eyes, altering his sensor array to increase the volume of his hearing. After nearly a minute, he moved down the hallway in one direction, then back in the other. Suddenly, he heard a sound. A low gurgling moan. Pain. His eyes snapped open, searching the hall for the source of the sound. “He’s here…”

The Major watched the Alterran move further along the corridor and drew his gun. “That’s the wrong direction,” he said quietly to the Doctor.

“Which would explain why you couldn’t find him,” the Doctor whispered back.

* * *

“Mother of God…”

This was all Jason could think to say. The sight that met his eyes was too horrific for words. He would not have even known the body beside the alien was Turlough were it not for the boy’s red hair.

The Alterran Healer had seen his share of death, of mortal injuries, of man’s inhumanity to man. But this was just…just… Jason closed his eyes as he realized there were no words to describe horror he felt.

The alien did not even seem to care that he had been interrupted. He simply glanced up, the blade in his hand dripping red. His eyes locked on the Doctor and a cruel smile twisted his face.

“Goddamn butcher!” Klaus snarled. The alien creature was still in the Doctor’s form, but this detail did not even slow the Major down as he pointed his already drawn weapon at him. “Get away from the boy before I put a bullet through your fucking heart!” he ordered as he stormed into the room.

The alien did not move. He shifted his gaze from the Doctor to the Major. “Another step closer and I kill him,” he said coldly, causing the officer to stop short.

He’s still alive! How could anyone still be alive after…? The Major’s eyes narrowed, his hand moving fractionally as he drew a bead on the alien’s heart. “You kill him. I kill you.”

The creature considered this and gave a small smile. “Then, you win.” So saying, he promptly vanished.

“God fucking dammit!” the Major roared in frustration.

Jason mentally agreed with him as he went swiftly to Turlough’s side, only to be repulsed further on his arrival. It was all he could do not to be sick on the spot, a hand going to his mouth in horror. “My God…”

The Healer got down beside his friend, uncertain where to start. The boy’s piercing blue eyes were staring blankly into space, but when Jason touched him to turn his head there was a slight flicker of movement. Bloody hell, he’s still conscious! Jason felt his stomach lurch again and fought to stay in control. Turlough’s life depended on it. He quickly scanned his friend, discovering he had been completely paralyzed. If he survived, it would fade away. If he survived.

“Hang on, Turlough, the cavalry’s arrived,” Jason said gently.

The boy’s clothing was completely shredded, exposing his flesh to his attacker’s blade. The alien had hacked and sliced Turlough’s arms, legs and throat, yet, whether by miracle or by design, had missed opening his arteries and larger veins. Some of the cuts were scarcely a scratch, while others were deep gashes. These were nothing compared to the worse of his injuries. Turlough’s chest and abdomen had been laid opened with surgical precision. How can he still be alive? the Healer thought. He could see and identify the boy’s internal organs. Could see his lungs moving as he breathed. His heart pumping inside his rib cage.

Dear God, what does this thing think it is? Jack the Ripper?

“I can’t work on him here,” Jason announced, closing the gaping wound as best he could. “There’s too much damage. I need to get him to the TARDIS before he bleeds to death.” Then he wondered if the alien had kept the boy alive in the same way it had kept Dorian under its power. If so, he needed to move quickly before the effect wore off.

Jason looked up, seeing a look that was a combination of anger, horror, and guilt on the Doctor’s face. This was slowly being overshadowed by rage. He did not take kindly to having one of his companions attacked.

“Doctor, TARDIS!” Jason snapped, bringing the Time Lord out of his daze.

“Jason, don’t let him die,” was all the Doctor said in reply.

For once, Jason could not bring himself to make his usual promise. He did not know why Turlough was still alive to begin with. By rights, he should have died of shock and blood loss. Jason turned to the Major, who was standing beside the Doctor. “Major, have the patrols been started in this section of the building?”

“Yes,” the Major replied. “Two men each. Why?”

“I’m going to have to revert to carry him and I’d rather not be mistaken for that thing.”

“Jason can do many things,” the Doctor said knowingly, “but deflecting bullets isn’t one of them. He’ll need protection through the halls.”

“He’ll have it,” came the succinct reply. The Major was suddenly Iron Klaus, his face hardening. He drew his Magnum again, turned on his heel, and strode to the door, stopping on the threshold to wait for Jason to follow.

Jason observed the officer’s transformation with a shutter and found himself glad that they were on the same side. He returned to his true form, his tendrils entwining his friend with extreme care before slowly and gently lifting him from the floor. Turlough gave a low moan as this was done, causing the worried look on the Doctor’s face to deepen into unbridled rage.

This wasn’t a simple hunt for an alien any longer.

Now, it was personal.

* * *

“Don’t let him die…”

The Doctor’s words echoed through Turlough’s mind as Jason carried him through the halls of Lubyanka. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t fight. The creature had seen to that. He could imagine what he looked like, although the very thought made him sick. Mercifully, he was beyond pain, almost beyond comprehension.

The taunts had been unending. Just cut out my heart and get it over with! But no, it had to inflict one more cut, one more stabbing pain, one more opening in his flesh to allow his blood to spill out and drain his strength that much more.

Then it happened. The alien, the creature, his tormentor…was gone. Finally, someone had found him. Finally, voices he knew; Jason, the Major, the Doctor.

See, the Doctor did come! But too late. You’re too late, Doctor. It’s killed me.

Jason was beside him, working like a man possessed, telling him to hang on.

It’s too late. I’m already dead.

“I can’t work on him here…”

It’s too late.

“I need to get him to the TARDIS…”

Too late…

“Jason, don’t let him die.”

Turlough felt his heart miss a beat.

Don’t let me die.

* * *