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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Jason did not even pause. “I don’t think so, Comrade. You back off.” He slowly moved into the room, staying near the wall, his expert eyes sweeping over the Major’s injuries at the same time. To say the man was a mess would have been generous. His clothing was in shreds, his body was covered with bruises and small cuts, and his bare chest had what looked like electrical burns all over it. His face was battered and bloodied, his hair soaked with sweat. Jason suspected that the officer very likely had some broken bones, although this fact was not clearly evident. What was clearly evident was the fact that he had not given up. The instant the blade was held to his throat, Klaus went rigid, his hands balling into fists.

Keep fighting, Major, Jason silently encouraged. We’ll get you out of this somehow.

“Me back off?” the alien laughed. “Not a chance.” He gave the Alterran a smug look, content in the knowledge that no one knew his true identity—and his prisoner was in no position to be telling anyone. Notwithstanding the gag in his mouth, the Major’s vocal cords had been paralyzed, making it impossible for him to make a sound.

“You think I won’t shoot?” Jason said mildly.

“You won’t risk hitting Major Eberbach.”

“That’s true,” Jason agreed. Then a small smile came to his face as he stopped moving. “But from here, I have a clear shot.”

The shocked alien stiffened visibly, suddenly realizing its error.

“Now, Comrade,” Jason said in a firm voice. “Either you back away from the Major—very, very slowly—or I shoot you. It’s your choice.”

Klaus found himself wanting to laugh at the horrified expression on his captor’s face. Now who’s afraid?

The alien looked him in the eye, a low growl rising in his throat. Then he heard Jason cock the weapon and looked up. There was more than a look of defiance in the Alterran’s eyes. He would very happily fire.

“You’d kill me?” Borodin asked innocently. “Just like that?”

A wry smile came to Jason’s face. “Who said anything about killing you? I said I’d shoot you. The knee is always good.” He moved the gun slightly to point at the alien’s legs. “Of course, that’s assuming I aim low enough. I understand a weapon of this caliber has quite a kick. I’ve never fired one before. I might miss and hit something…higher.” He paused a beat, adding, “It won’t kill you. But you’ll very probably wish you were dead.”

The man everyone thought to be Borodin blanched visibly. He slowly moved the knife away from the Major’s throat and then let it fall to the floor. He held up his hands, backing away equally slowly. The next thing he knew, the guards were taking him by the arms and pulling him across the room.

Jason followed his progress with his eyes and jumped when the Doctor was suddenly beside him, taking his arm in an iron grip.

“Jason, you need to calm down,” the Time Lord said gently. “See to the Major.”

Jason closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “Doctor, I’m alright.”

“No, you’re not. You’re angry.”

“Angry? I’m bloody furious!” Jason corrected.

The Doctor did not even bat an eye. “Give me the gun.”

“Only if you’ll give me my arm back.”

The Doctor gave a wry smile before releasing his grip. He held out the Healer’s medical bag, which he happily exchanged for the gun.

Jason drew a deep breath as he turned to the injured officer. He could hear the Major’s labored breathing before he even approached him. Not a good sign. The exhausted officer’s head was back, his eyes closed. As soon as the Jason touched him, he started and went rigid, his eyes snapping open.

“It’s only me,” the Healer said quietly. “Try to relax.”

The Major’s eyes flickered in reply, his body relaxing slightly. When Jason touched him to examine his wounds, he clamped down on the rod between his teeth in obvious pain, his body going rigid once more.

“Sorry,” Jason said quickly. “I’ll try not to hurt you. But you’re in pretty bad shape.”

Already fully aware of his injuries, Klaus glared at him. Don’t tell me what I already know, you idiot. Just get me down from here.

Jason caught his breath when the officer’s thoughts rang through his mind again. “My God, I thought I was…” He turned sharply to the Doctor, who shook his head and looked pointedly over at the captive Borodin. Obviously, the Time Lord had heard the Major’s thoughts and had also deduced that Borodin was the alien.

Jason nodded his understanding before calling for one of the guards to assist him in getting the gravely injured officer down. He supported the Major’s weight while the other man unfastened the restraints.

“Just relax and let me do the work,” Jason said gently as the straps were removed.

Klaus had several thoughts on this, all of which were blanked out by pain as his arm suddenly dropped over the waiting Alterran’s shoulder. A moment later, he blacked out completely.

There was a stack of sheets on the table near the door and Jason asked the Doctor to spread one out on the floor. He was not about to place the injured officer onto the filthy stone surface. Once the cloth was in place, Jason gently lowered the unconscious Major onto it. He made another quick visual check of his injuries before pulling open his medical bag.

The Doctor retrieved the remaining sheets and was handing them to Jason when an appalled voice suddenly exclaimed from the open doorway, “This is an outrage!”

The Doctor turned to see the Deputy Director standing in the doorway. The very man the Major had been on his way to see when he disappeared. How on earth did he find his way here? “I don’t believe anyone here will disagree with you,” the Time Lord replied mildly.

“Are you responsible for this?” the Deputy Director demanded, turning pointedly to Borodin.

“Just following standing orders pertaining to Iron Klaus, Comrade Deputy Director,” came the smug reply.

Jason looked up at the man standing in the doorway and then over to the alien. “What standing orders?” he demanded angrily. “To torture him half to death!” He did not wait for a reply, turning his attention back to his patient.

“We must call for a medical team,” the Deputy Director said, suddenly seeming to realize the urgency of the matter.

“No need,” the Doctor replied. “Prince Jason is a surgeon. Major von dem Eberbach couldn’t be in better hands.”

The Major returned to his senses at this moment. The first thing he was aware of was he was no longer suspended from the frame. The second was the plastic rod had been removed from his mouth. The third was that he was practically naked, his shredded clothing having been removed by the Healer. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing Jason in the process of tearing a sheet into strips, which he used to wrap the gashes on the officer’s legs to keep him from bleeding to death.

Klaus was still unaware of the fact that his thoughts could be heard by the Doctor and Jason. Nor did he know if they realized he was unable to utter a sound. Then he became aware of the Deputy Director arguing with the Doctor.

“Be assured, Doctor, whatever Comrade Borodin may claim, no authorization was given for this…outrage.”

“Don’t give me that! Everyone knows the KGB has been trying to get Iron Klaus in an interrogation room for years!” the Doctor snapped.

“Are you threatening me, Doctor?” the Deputy Director replied. “Let me remind you, you and your friends are guests of the Kremlin.”

“As is Major von dem Eberbach,” the Doctor retorted sharply. “A personal guest of your General Secretary, much good that did him. No doubt NATO will be demanding a full explanation—”

“Nein!”

The Major’s telepathic cry of alarm rang through the Doctor’s mind so strongly that he actually jumped. He stopped his tirade and turn sharply to look at the officer, whose desperate thoughts continued to sound in his mind.

“That’s what it wants! To stop the thaw in the Cold War.”

The Doctor’s mouth dropped open and he looked over at the alien, who had a smug expression on his face. “Is that what you’re trying to do?” he asked pointedly.

The alien blinked, his mouth dropping open. “What?”

Jason looked down at the Major, whose eyes were now wide as saucers. Then he looked over at the alien. “Right,” he said quietly, reaching into his bag. To the surprise of everyone, he pulled out a gun, pointed it at the alien, and fired, dropping him like a stone.

“Jason!” the Doctor gasped.

The Alterran did not even bat an eye as he returned the weapon to his bag. “Tranquilizer,” he stated matter of factly. “He won’t be vanishing into thin air for several hours.” He turned his attention back to his patient. “Major, I know you can’t talk,” he said gently, “but I can hear your thoughts.”

The Major’s eyes narrowed, only to widen in surprise when the Doctor asked, “How does that creature plan to stop the thaw in the Cold War, Major?”

The Deputy Director started to protest, only to be silenced by the Doctor. “It’s called telepathy. It would take far too long to explain the hows and whys. Suffice it to say, I can hear the Major’s thoughts. That thing opened a telepathic link and I intend to take full advantage of it.” He turned to the thunderstruck guards. “Please take your prisoner to wherever you take prisoners.” He threw a quick glance over to the door. “And take the Deputy Director with you. Prince Jason and I will look after Major von dem Eberbach.”

“Yes, sir,” the senior guard replied and then did as ordered, much to the annoyance of the Deputy Director.

While this was going on, Jason was treating the Major’s burned chest with an analgesic spray before going on to cover his upper body.

The Doctor crossed to the injured officer and got down beside him, opposite Jason. “Now, Major, what did you mean?” he said again. “Just think as you would speak and I’ll hear you.”

The Major gave the Time Lord a steady look before giving his reply. “The creature is trying to induce worldwide terror. To stop Glasnost. As you said, the KGB has been trying to get hold of me for years. NATO will accuse the KGB. The KGB will deny everything. Eventually, it will all spiral out of control. The disarmament talks will stall…”

“Disarmament talks?” The Doctor sat back, his eyes focused in the distance. “1987…”

Jason gave him a puzzled look. Now what does he know?

Suddenly the Doctor asked, “What’s the date?”

Jason blinked. “Don’t look at me.”

“It’s the twenty-second of August.”

The Doctor frowned, searching his encyclopedic memory. “Yes, of course. INF. NATO had a hand in that from the beginning. But the outcome made Bonn very nervous.” He looked over at the now completely baffled Jason.

“Doctor, I’m not following,” the Alterran said helplessly. As usual.

“INF. Intermediate Nuclear Force. The INF Treaty was—will be—signed in December of this year. But before that happens…” He turned his gaze to the Major, looking him in the eye. “Would I be correct in assuming you know about the announcement Chancellor Kohl will be making in a less than a week’s time?”

Klaus met his gaze but did not reply.

“No one other than Jason and myself can hear you, Major,” the Doctor reminded.

“I can’t breach security, Doctor. Not even for you.”

The Doctor’s eyes flickered, a wry smile coming to his face. “Then let me tell you your future. On the twenty-sixth day of this month, the Chancellor of West Germany will announce a plan to dismantle short-range INF missiles. Missiles that will not be replaced with more modern weaponry. But, there’s a catch. The plan is contingent on the United States and the Soviet Union eliminating all of their LRINF* and SRINF** missiles under the proposed INF treaty. The treaty that’s supposed to be signed in December.”
* LRINF - long-range intermediate nuclear force
** SRINF - short-range intermediate nuclear force

Jason’s eyes widened. “The treaty that might not even be agreed upon if the KGB and NATO start pointing fingers at one another.”

The Doctor nodded. “And in the face of that, West Germany will doubtless withhold the announcement after it learns that the NATO officer in question is one of their nationals.”

Klaus closed his eyes upon hearing this. He never once questioned the fact that he might have to give his life to prevent a war. Now, it seemed, his death might actually start one. Bloody ironic.

* * *

The Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS and then stood aside, allowing Jason to enter first. The Alterran had once again returned to his true form in order to carry the Major without injuring him further. He made straight for the inner door, pausing only long enough for the Doctor to open it for him.

Klaus had lost consciousness when he was being swaddled in a clean sheet before being lifted from the floor in the interrogation room. He returned to his senses just as the Alterran was passing through the inner door. He slowly opened his eyes and struggled to get his thoughts in order. Then he registered Jason in his true form and closed his eyes again. This was the second time he had regained consciousness to find himself badly injured and entwined in the Alterran’s tendrils.

Not again.

“Couldn’t be helped,” Jason replied. “Just hang on. We’ll be at the sickbay soon.”

The Major’s eyes flickered open, an annoyed look flashing across them. “I don’t like having my thoughts read.

“That can’t be helped, either, I’m afraid,” the Doctor said matter of factly. “But if the pattern holds true, it won’t last long.”

Good.

“But before that happens…” the Doctor went on. “What else can you tell us about that creature? Making so blatant a political statement seems to break its pattern.”

I got the impression that was the original plan.

“Original plan?”

Apparently, Ivanov was the brains behind it all. The changing political climate was a threat to his power base.

“As are you, apparently.”

I don’t believe so. It was just trying to make me afraid.

“You’re joking?” Jason injected in amazement. “You?

The Major’s eyes flickered, but he was too weak to lose his temper and let the remark pass. “The room was exactly as I imagined it would be, almost to the last detail.

“It took that out of your mind, believing you’d be afraid of it,” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “But you weren’t?”

I was…disconcerted at first. That’s what made me suspect it was that thing in the first place.

“Interesting.”

“You were correct on several points. It doesn’t know how to handle a direct confrontation on its own. I think that was what it needed Ivanov for. The more I pressed for information, the more uneasy it became.

“Did you learn what is it?”

No. What I learned is it adapts very, very quickly.

The Doctor scowled. “So I’d noticed.”

“And we still don’t know the first thing about it,” Jason sighed. “We managed to capture it, but can we hold it?”

“Yes.” The Doctor stopped just outside the door to the sickbay and held out the bundle of the Major’s clothing he had been carrying. “Jason, while you’re working on the Major, I’m going to go ask for some help.”

This statement was enough to cause the Alterran to stop dead. “What? You really think the CIA will tell you anything?” Jason felt the Major stiffen in his grasp when he said this.

CIA?

“Not the one you’re thinking of Major,” Jason replied knowingly, taking the bundle from the Doctor’s hands. “Although this one is just as unhelpful.”

“They’re the ones who sent me here,” the Doctor said coldly. “It’s high time they did a little assisting themselves.” So saying, he turned on his heel and headed back to the console room.

* * *

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