CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

A MAJOR RUN IN

“So, you’ve finally turned up again,” the Major said blandly. “Like a bad penny. What will your superiors say?” He became aware of his “escorts” moving to take up position behind him, cutting off any chance of his making a run for it. He acknowledged this with nothing more than a flicker of his eyelids before returning his attention squarely to the man before him.

“There are some in the Party who believe this…openness is an error in our leaders’ judgment,” Borodin replied coldly. “To allow Iron Klaus to simply walk out of KGB Headquarters…”

“I seem to remember hearing this before,” Klaus said in a bored tone. His reply was a savage slap across the face.

“Insolent dog!” Borodin snarled.

The Major touched a hand to his mouth. It came away with blood on it. “That’s the second time you’ve struck me.”

“The only way to bring a dog to heel is discipline. And I will bring you to heel, Major Eberbach.”

“You can’t even get my name right, what makes you think you’ll succeed in that?” came the defiant reply.

“I have what I believe is called ‘home field advantage,’” Borodin said with a smile. He stepped away from the door and nodded inside. “Take him.”

The men on either side of the Major took him by the arms and dragged him through the door, Borodin following behind.

The Major took in the room with a bit of a jolt. It was nearly identical to the way he had pictured a KGB interrogation room to be, all the way down to the gray stone walls. How is this possible?

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Borodin remarked.

The Major did not reply, choosing instead to take in every detail of the room. The more he did, the more unsettled he became. Suddenly his captor was ordering him searched for weapons. It was obvious he wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.

“Just look for weapons, you bloody perverts,” the Major snapped as his coat was stripped off. He was relieved of his gun and shoulder holster. Then he was dragged across the room and lashed to what looked like a large X the center of the room. He couldn’t decide if it were plastic or metal, the rubberized surface covering it obscuring the material. He might have a chance of breaking plastic, but metal was a different story.

Within minutes, the Major was securely strapped into place and stood glaring at his captor, refusing to speak. How many years had the KGB been trying to get him here? How many failed attempts at capture? Only to have his idiot superiors hand me over on a silver platter. He knew this would happen, but would anyone listen? Assurance of safety my ass. Fat lot of good that did him now.

The Major’s train of thought was broken when Borodin dismissed the guards. Klaus glanced over at the large mirror on one wall. It was obviously one-way glass and he wondered who might be behind it. Surely, there would be an audience for the interrogation of Iron Klaus.

Borodin gave a wry smile and crossed to the mirror. He then surprised his prisoner by dropping a shade over it. “No spectators today,” he said calmly. “It’s just you and I.”

The Major’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because too many minds clutter a room with noise.”

Klaus was completely thrown by this unintelligible reply. “What?”

“You’re willing to die rather than give up the secrets in your head. I find that…intriguing.”

Klaus found himself wondering if this man were quite right in the head. “What do you expect?”

“I expect fear,” Borodin said calmly.

Like that creature!

“Like, Major?” Borodin said in reply to the officer’s thoughts. He gave a small smile at the astonished look this produced. “Oh, yes. Did I forget to mention I can read your thoughts? Terribly sorry. Must’ve slipped my mind.”

An evil smile came to the Major’s face as several choice words to describe his captor and his tactics came to mind. He was rewarded with another slap across the face.

“Bastard!” Borodin snarled. “Why aren’t you afraid?”

“Fear clouds the judgment,” came the matter of fact reply. “And that’s the third time you’ve struck me.”

Borodin took the Major by the throat. “Defiance! Always with defiance!”

Klaus was puzzled by the look on his captor’s face. It was as though he were the one in danger. Then the Doctor’s words returned to mind. The alien didn’t seem to know how to handle aggression, fleeing from it each time it was confronted.

“The Doctor is too clever.”

“You are that creature, aren’t you?”

“Does that frighten you?” came the taunting reply.

The Major merely snorted. “You expect me to be afraid because you’re an alien? You’re not the first one I’ve ever encountered.” The hand at his throat tightened and he forced himself to stay calm. “I’m a professional. You won’t find me as easy to frighten as a load of peasants, a pathetic dreamer, or a mere boy.”

“Damn you!” The creature released its grip and stepped back, seeming at a loss as to how it should proceed.

“What are you called?” the Major asked evenly.

“What do you care!”

“Gathering information is my job. Did you decide to take Borodin’s appearance after he fled?”

“I didn’t flee!”

The Major’s eyebrows went up. “So, you were Borodin all along. How very interesting. The Doctor believes you were trapped here.”

“Shut up!”

The Major’s eye flickered. Good. He’s getting rattled. “Shut up? I thought I was being interrogated.”

“I’m going to break you, human.”

“So you say,” the Major replied blandly. “Well, get on with it then.”

The alien gave another growl. It shimmered for a moment, changing into Eroica’s likeness. “How about I do it looking like this?” it asked tauntingly, taking full advantage of the Earl’s honeyed tones.

Klaus felt his heart jump and had to force himself to remain calm. “That’s your choice.”

“But it frightens you, doesn’t it? Just a little?”

The Major snorted. “You put on the Earl’s appearance like some fucking Halloween costume and then try to frighten me with it. I know it’s just you in there, whatever you are.” The creature’s response was to slap him across the face again before tearing his shirt open. Klaus stiffened visibly but remained silent, knowing perfectly well what his captor was attempting as his undershirt was slowly sliced up the center.

“Ah, so you do fear. Just a little, but I sense it,” the creature purred on in Dorian’s silky tones.

“Don’t mistake surprise with fear. They both create an adrenaline response.”

The alien hit a switch, tilting the contraption his prisoner was secured to back until he was almost lying flat. “No one is completely fearless, Major. Not even you.”

“So, you intend to torture me.” The Major sighed heavily, putting on his best bored expression. “Not very original, are you?” He stiffened visibly when his captor moved to stand between his spread legs. Then he reached up to play his hands over his exposed chest.

“I can be very gentle, Major,” the alien cooed seductively, giving him the look that always caused him into a panic.

Klaus had to concentrate to stay calm. He could not allow this creature to send him into a mindless panic. “Like you were with Lord Gloria?” he countered forcefully.

The alien gave him a steady look and then laughed. “He didn’t tell you what happened, did he?”

“He didn’t have to. I saw the bruises. You tied him up and beat the shit out of him.”

“Is that what he told you?” The creature let out a laugh that sent a chill down the Major’s spine. It did not sound like the Earl at all, despite the fact that he was still in Dorian’s form. This was a gravelly and very alien sound. “Oh, Major, are you in for a shock. Allow me to show you exactly what happened.”

Klaus scowled, uncertain what the creature was raving about. Then his eyes grew wide as the attack on Eroica played out before him. He tried to turn away, to close his eyes, to block out the images, but they continued in horrific detail.

“Oh, you can’t turn away, Major,” the alien taunted.

When the images finally vanished from his mind, Klaus turned an angry glare in the alien’s direction. “What the hell was the purpose of showing me that…that…obscene display? Do you expect me to believe that Lord Gloria would refuse anyone?”

“You think that was a false image?”

“Have you stopped reading my thoughts?”

The bogus Dorian gave a small laugh before he started running his hands over the officer’s exposed chest again. “I just thought you might like to know what to expect,” he purred.

“Like hell!” the Major snarled and started to struggle against his bindings for all he was worth. “If you do that to me, you bloody well better kill me when you’re through!”

The alien’s hands were already at the officer’s belt and he stopped, looking up. “Why?”

“Because if you don’t, as soon as I’m free, I’ll fucking kill you with my bare hands!”

The alien stiffened visibly. There was no questioning that the Major meant exactly what he said. Nor was there any doubt that he was fully capable of carrying out his threat. Why wasn’t this working? All the things that had worked to elicit fear in other humans were just causing this one to become more aggressive.

The creature had no way of knowing that Klaus was drawing on every ounce of his training. Fighting back his fear with aggression. Fear clouds the judgment, ignore it. Fear causes mistakes, ignore it. Fear is for later. For when you’re alone and can reflect on how close you came to losing your life yet again.

The alien sighed heavily, returning to its Borodin guise. “Well, then, Major,” he said in resignation, “it looks as though we shall have to just get on with the interrogation.”

Before the Major could comment on this, a plastic rod was being jammed between his teeth and secured into place. He struggled to fight it off, hoping he might at least be able to sink his teeth into his captor’s hand.

“And don’t worry about answering. I can still read your thoughts,” the alien said as he pulled a cart closer to his prisoner. “Not that I really expect you to tell me anything relevant.” He held up two small paddles attached to metal rods and smiled. “You know that these are, I assume?”

Of course, Klaus knew exactly what they were. These thoughts were verified and then blanked out when the paddles were held to his exposed chest, electricity arcing through his body. He went rigid, a scream of pain torn from his throat.

“If you want to die for some noble cause,” the creature taunted, “perhaps I’ll give you the opportunity.”

* * *

The sudden hammering on the exterior doors of the TARDIS almost caused Jason to jump out of his skin. He had arrived in the console room only moments before and was in the process of giving the Doctor a progress report on Turlough.

The Doctor activated the scanner and scowled at the sight of two more soldiers. “Now what?” He threw Jason a sideways glance to see him shake his head.

“Maybe I will have to be a fly on the wall,” the Alterran muttered.

The Doctor gave a groan, pulling the door lever. “I hope this doesn’t mean the Major’s caused an international incident,” he said as he exited. A minute later, he returned, a grave expression on his face.

“Oh, no…” Jason moaned. “He hasn’t…”

“No. The Major never turned up at the Deputy Director’s office,” the Doctor replied soberly.

“What?” Jason gasped. He looked at his watch and then back up at the Doctor. “But…he should’ve been there more than an hour ago.”

“I know.”

The Time Lord gave the Alterran a steady look. Jason did not reply. He simply nodded, turned, and left the console room. A few minutes later, he returned with his medical bag and silently followed the Doctor out the doors.

* * *

“Doctor, this is getting to be a bad habit that I want to break,” Jason said as they walked through the empty corridors. “First Dorian goes missing, then Turlough, now the Major, of all people.”

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed. “This thing does seem to be singling us out, doesn’t it? If it is the alien, that is.”

“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better, y’know?”

“Jason, I think of all of us, you are the least likely to be overpowered by this thing.”

Jason gave his friend a steady look. “That does not bode well for you, then, Doctor.”

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks. “That’s a very nasty thought.”

“You’re the one who thought of it.”

“Not directly.”

“Oh, sure, blame me.”

Before the Doctor could think of a suitable reply, the device in his hand gave a loud beep. “That’s it,” he said happily. “Jason, if I didn’t say so before, I’d like to thank you for giving the Major a key to the TARDIS.”

Jason gave a snort. “Now he’s happy.”

The meter in the Doctor’s hand suddenly started squawking loudly and he stopped, looking at the door before him. “Here, it seems,” he said as he shut the device off and pocketed it. He glanced back at the soldiers he had, well…ordered to accompany them in the search. “You might want to get your weapons ready,” he said quietly.

Jason held up a hand for silence and closed his eyes, tuning in his hearing for any unusual sounds. Nothing. “I don’t hear anything,” he said quietly. “I don’t like it.”

“Then step aside and let these gentlemen go first,” the Doctor instructed.

Jason threw the guards a sideways glance and nodded, obediently stepping out of the way.

“We’ll need the key, sir,” the senior soldier said apologetically. “That door’s made of reinforced steel. We won’t be able to break it down.”

Jason sighed heavily and returned to his position in front of the door. “What’s in there that it needs a reinforced door?” He looked back at the guards who were clearly uncomfortable. “Well…?”

“It’s an interrogation room, sir. Sound proof.”

“I’m sorry I asked.” Jason turned back to the door. “Just get ready to follow me in.” So saying, he gave it a mighty kick, practically knocked the door off its hinges.

The alien within jumped when the door suddenly crashed open. He had a very large knife in his hand that he had used to slice up his prisoner’s clothes and then gone on to use to make small cuts in his exposed flesh. His eyes locked with those of the shocked Alterran for a brief instant before a puzzled expression flashed across his face.

Jason took in the sight of the bruised and bloodied form spread-eagled on a cross that was now almost vertical. He did not have to see the man’s face to know it was the missing Major von dem Eberbach. “God dammit!” he thundered, his medical bag dropping from his hand as he stormed into the room. He snatched up the Major’s Mangum that was on the table beside the door and aimed it at the alien.

“Jason, no!” the Doctor cried. “You’ll hit the Major.”

Klaus helplessly took in the situation. He still had the plastic bit jammed between his teeth and clamped down on it in frustration. Shoot him! Never mind me, just shoot this bastard.

Jason caught his breath and was sure he was imagining things as the Major’s words rang through his mind as clearly as though he had shouted them at the top of his voice.

The alien turned back to the Major, a smug expression on his face. “He won’t chance hitting you, Major,” he said in a low growl. He took a fistful of his prisoner’s hair and jerked his head back, exposing his throat to the blade that was still in his hand. Then he looked over at the glowering Alterran.

“Back off or Iron Klaus dies.”