- Text Size +

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

END THIS

After what seemed like an eternity, the Doctor drew a deep breath and looked up. The Major was still standing beside him, a haunted expression on his face. He had the look of a man who had seen far too many men die unnecessarily. The Doctor could not help but wonder if his own face mirrored that expression.

Turlough was still at the console and had turned away. Eroica did not even attempt to hide his tears as he came to stand beside the Major. Then he heard the officer catch his breath.

Doctor!

The Major’s voice tore through the silence in the room like a gun shot, his tone one of warning rather than consolation. The Time Lord looked up and then followed the officer’s gaze to the scanner screen. A new alien slug had pushed the body of the other through the gash in the vortex and was now attempting the squeeze itself through before it closed.

“Right.”

The Doctor gently closed Jason’s eyes. Then he pulled a sheet of plastic from the pile beside him and used it to cover the Alterran’s body. He got to his feet and went to the console as quickly as he could.

“Let’s cover that wound, shall we?” he said coldly.

“Doctor, the TARDIS won’t dematerialize,” Turlough said shakily, hurriedly wiping the tears from his face. “I’ve already tried.”

The Doctor scowled, scrutinizing the instruments. He pressed several buttons, flipped several switches, and turned half a dozen knobs, apparently without any success. He heaved an exasperated sigh and finally gave the console an almighty thump with his fist. Behind him, the exterior doors gave a low whirring sound. He spun around just in time to see them judder slightly.

“A-ha! There’s the problem,” he said triumphantly. “The doors aren’t closed properly. Something’s jamming them.”

“I’m not surprised,” Eroica replied, taking in the debris still littering the room.

“Well, we’ll have to un-jam them, won’t we?” the Doctor snapped impatiently.

“Doctor, do you really think it’s wise for you to go out there again?” Eroica asked. “That thing wants to kill you.”

“That thing wants to kill all of us,” the Major corrected sharply as he strode to the doors.

“Now there’s a comforting thought.”

The Major gave him a dark look.

The Time Lord held up his hands. “Let’s worry about that after we’ve got the doors open.”

There were two sets of exterior doors, the larger set that swung into the console room, and the smaller exterior set that were part of the Police Box façade. The Doctor pulled the door lever and the internal set of doors swung open. The space between the two sets of doors was packed with debris.

“Well, that explains it,” the Time Lord muttered aridly.

“How do we clear that lot?” Eroica wanted to know.

“Simple. Pull it into the console room,” the Doctor replied. “Then open the second set of doors and chuck the lot.”

* * *

It took very little time for the three of them to clear the doorway. Once everything was in a pile, the Doctor tried to pull open the Police Box doors only to find that they, too, were stuck. He struggled with them a moment before realizing something had become wedged up underneath. It took the combined efforts of the Doctor and the Major to get what turned out to be Eroica’s pocket dimension from beneath the doors.

“I wondered where that got to,” the thief said as the Major turned around with the mangled cloth in his hand. Eroica reached out to take it, only to have it pulled away.

“You don’t need something that makes it easier to steal,” Klaus snapped.

Eroica gave him a steady look. “Then may I at least have Jason’s TARDIS key?” he said politely, indicating the object that had become tangled in the string and was dangling from it.

The Major looked at the key and gave a resigned sigh. It was obvious the Earl wanted it as a memento and he held out the pouch, allowing him to untangle the key.

“I promised not to lose this,” Eroica said in way of explanation as he clasped the key in one hand and held it to his chest.

The Major gave him an inscrutable look before turning to the Doctor. “I think you should have this back before the thief decides to steal the TARDIS,” he said, holding out the pocket dimension.

“Major, I don’t think even that pocket dimension is big enough to hold the TARDIS,” Eroica said in a petulant tone as he crossed the room.

“This is coming from a man who stole a tank!”

Turlough’s eyebrows when up. “You stole a tank?

The Doctor gave his companion a quelling look. “Dorian, Major, please! This really isn’t the time—”

The rest of the Time Lord’s words were cut off when the Major opened the pouch. He was intending to use it to make his point. Instead, bright light suddenly spilled from its depths. He was so startled that he dropped the sack as a rush of wind burst forth, filling the room. The exterior doors of the Police Box flew open with a bang, the debris swirling around the room.

Eroica was thrown back against the wall near Jason’s body, which seemed strangely unaffected by the chaos in the room. The thief grabbed at the nearest roundel to keep from being sucked out as the wind abruptly changed direction. Turlough had been standing at the console and held on for dear life. The Major was thrown back against the console and grabbed what he could to stay on his feet. The Doctor ended up beside him and expertly took hold of the console with one hand while attempting to manipulate the controls with the other.

“What the hell did you do?” Turlough demanded.

“The pocket dimension must’ve stored the energy release,” the Doctor theorized as his struggled with the controls.

“Doctor!”

The Time Lord looked up at Eroica’s panicked call. The plastic sheet had blown off Jason’s body and a stream of energy was now pouring into it from the pocket dimension. The Alterran’s inert form was glowing brightly.

“What’s happening?” the frightened Eroica called.

The Doctor shook his head. “I don’t know.”

After nearly a minute, and to the amazement of all present, Jason took a gulp of air, his eyes snapping open. When he looked up, the thief recoiled. The Alterran’s eyes were glowing a bright and angry red.

Jason slowly got to his feet, the light of the energy stream still pouring into him. His body started to expand, as if unable to contain the power pouring into it.

The maelstrom abated as suddenly as it began. All the debris was abruptly carried out of the console room, the doors to the Police Box exterior closing with a bang.

Then everything went deathly quiet.

“Jason…” Eroica said in a horrified whisper as the Alterran’s clothing started to burst at the seams, the skin beneath a livid red.

“It isn’t Jason,” the Doctor said firmly. “Jason’s dead. That’s nothing more than an animated cadaver.”

“Oh, God…”

The creature turned its gaze on the Doctor. “You survived,” it observed, a surprised tone in the almost unnaturally deep voice.

“Yes...” the Doctor replied evenly. “Who or what are you?” he asked cautiously.

The creature seemed to struggle with the reply. “Time…will be ours.”

The Doctor stiffened visibly. “No. I won’t allow it.”

“We will…use this host to complete entry.”

“What does that mean?” the Major wanted to know.

“It’s going to use Jason’s body to finish opening the portal into the vortex.”

“What! That’s…that’s…” Eroica found himself at a loss for words.

“It’s obscene!” the Doctor hissed. “I will not allow you to—”

The red eyes glowed even more brightly. “You can’t stop it. You won’t harm your…” The creature paused as though searching the Alterran’s memory for the correct term. “Friend. Even like this.”

The Doctor ground his teeth, a low growl rising in his throat. This was the truth and he knew it.

The creature turned towards the door only to find its path barred by the Major, who had his gun out and aimed unwaveringly at it.

“And what do say about me?” Klaus challenged coldly. A small smile curled the edges of his mouth when the creature took a step back. It was a smile that had sent the most hardened of KGB agents packing. A smile that sent a chill down Eroica’s spine. He knew what that smile meant, even if the creature didn’t. It meant Iron Klaus would very happily kill whoever or whatever he was pointing his gun at.

“Do you think I won’t shoot?” Klaus asked calmly.

The glowing red eyes closed, and the creature looked as though it were in pain. When it spoke again, the voice was Jason’s. “It isn’t sure, Major. But I am. I know you’ll do it if you have to.”

Klaus frowned. What kind of trick is this?

When the eyes opened, they were back to their normal blue color. “Time…” Jason struggled to say. He turned to the Doctor, a pleading look in his eyes. “If it gets control of the TARDIS—” He struggled a moment before saying, “Please, end this. Stop it, now!”

“How?” Klaus demanded.

When Jason turned back to face him, the Major found it very disconcerting to see the familiar blue eyes staring out from the bloated red creature now before him. It was obvious the Alterran was fighting the creature that had taken control of his body.

Jason knew his should be dead. No, he already was dead. Somehow, the creature was winding back the clock, extending his life in this unnatural suspension of the Laws of Time. Changing time to give itself more energy.

“How? How do we stop it?” the Major demanded again.

“Don’t let it—me…don’t…” Jason drew a deep breath.

The Doctor threw a quick look in Turlough’s direction. “Get ready to dematerialize,” he said quietly and then hit the door lever.

The exterior doors had scarcely closed when Jason seemed to double over in pain as the creature clawed at his mental defenses. “Fire, Major! I’m dead. Kill this thing. Don’t let it take control of the TARDIS!” It was all too obvious that Jason was not giving up without a fight. It was equally obvious that he was losing the battle as his body distorted further. Then a low growl rose in the Alterran’s throat. When he finally straightened, his eyes were glowing red again. The creature had won.

Klaus did not even hesitate. He fired his weapon, blowing a hole in the Alterran’s chest and sending him flying back into the wall. The look on the creature’s face was one of shock as it struck the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

Eroica had been behind Jason and found himself splattered with blood. He gave an alarmed cry as the Alterran’s body struck the wall beside him and slumped to the floor, an enormous pool of blood forming almost immediately. Eroica jumped back, dropping the TARDIS key. It landed in the puddle of blood at his feet. “Dammit!”

To the amazement of all present, the pool of blood started to glow. It began around the key and slowly spread, eventually engulfing the shattered and bloated corpse. The hum of the TARDIS console momentarily grew louder, the time column flickering several times. The Doctor turned sharply to look at the readings, his eyes growing wide. “Clever girl,” he said approvingly.

“Doctor,” Eroica gasped as he backed away from the glowing form, “what’s happening?”

“The TARDIS seems to be trying to separate the alien’s DNA from Jason’s,” he replied calmly.

“What? How?” This was Turlough, who was starting to feel completely lost.

“The same way it did in the transmat.”

“Doctor, we had a copy from the buffer for that,” Turlough objected.

The Doctor turned to look at the creature. The glowing red skin was starting to ripple, the color fading. Then the Alterran’s body started to take on a more humanoid appearance again.

“Dorian, how did you get Jason’s TARDIS key?” the Time Lord demanded suddenly.

Eroica blinked. “What?”

“Did you take it or did Jason give it to you?”

Eroica’s mouth dropped open. “This is hardly the time to be worrying about whether or not I stole something, Doctor!” he snapped angrily.

“Tell me!”

“Jason gave it to him.” This was the Major, who was just as confused as the thief as to why this was suddenly of paramount importance. “Why does that matter?”

“Because it will still have his DNA coding!” Turlough gasped, his eyes growing wide.

“So?”

“Don’t you remember? Jason told you about—” Turlough broke off when he realized what he was saying. All that would have been erased in the return trip in the transmat.

But Klaus did remember, and he still had no idea why.

“Dorian, if you’d stolen the key, Jason’s DNA fingerprint would’ve been erased,” the Doctor informed. “He put a copy of his DNA in the computer for a comparison when we separated the imprint from the buffer.”

“Doctor, I didn’t follow any of that the last time you explained it,” the Earl said helplessly.

The glowing form suddenly convulsed as the alterations made to Jason’s DNA were relentlessly removed. After several minutes, the Alterran’s body went completely still, having returned to normal. A glowing cloud of red mist rose into the air the same instant the exterior doors swung open. The cloud was then sucked from the room, the doors swinging shut behind it.

The Doctor turned to look at the scanner, his hands flying over the controls. “Now, let’s plug that hole.”

Turlough exchanged a bewildered look with the others. He had no idea what the Doctor actually intended. “How are you going to…um, plug the hole?” he asked finally.

The answer came when the TARDIS gave a violent shudder, sending them all staggering.

“I think the old girl will do rather nicely until the Time Lord’s can fix that tear in the fabric of space/time,” the Doctor remarked airily.

Turlough turned to look at the scanner, seeing nothing but swirling colors and distorted shapes. “I don’t have to press the button, then,” he said calmly.

The Doctor frowned. “What button?”

Being nearest, it was the Major who replied, pointing to the button that Jason had indicated earlier. “This one. Under the console,” he said as he calmly lit a cigarette.

The frown on the Doctor’s face deepened and he came over to see what the officer meant, his eyes growing wide when he leaned down to look under the console. “Who told you to press that?” he demanded.

Turlough was taken aback and exchanged a baffled look with the Major and the Earl. “Jason did,” he said defensively.

“What? When? Why?”

“Doctor, what is it?” the Major asked practically. “From your tone I can only assume it isn’t what we were led to believe.”

The Doctor straightened. “No.” He pressed a switch and the button flipped around, concealing itself within the console again. “It must never be pressed under any circumstances.”

“Never? Why?”

“Because that’s the self destruct switch. If you press it, the TARDIS will explode.”

You must login (register) to review.