CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

Klaus wasn’t sure what happened after he fired his weapon. He remembered an explosion and blinding white light. The next thing he knew, he was waking up on the floor of the console room, the exterior doors firmly shut beside him. There was debris from the destroyed computer room scattered everywhere throughout the console room.

He pulled what looked like a sheet of wallpaper off himself and slowly sat up. He took a moment just to make certain he was still in one piece before looking around the room. What a mess. Klaus slowly got to his feet and crossed to the console, leaning heavily against it a moment. He looked over at the scanner, seeing only static.

Eroica was on the floor a few feet away beside the prone form of the Doctor. Both of them were covered with dust, sheets of paper and plastic, and bits of rubble. There did not seem to be any sign of Turlough. Then a groan from the far side of the control console and a rustling of debris verified the young man’s presence in the time machine—and among the living.

Turlough was extracting himself from a pile of debris when the Major came around the console to look at him. “Are you alright?” the officer asked.

“What do you care, you lunatic?” the boy snapped. “You could’ve killed us.”

“You’re fine,” Klaus snorted dismissively, waving a hand in the boy’s direction.

“Not that you care,” Eroica groaned as he sat up, “but I seem to be relatively unscathed.”

“And the Doctor?”

Eroica pulled the wreckage off the Time Lord’s body and did a quick check. “Still unconscious. He seems alright.” He looked from the Major, to the scanner and back again. “What the hell happened?”

“How the hell should I know?”

Turlough was at the console trying to clear the readings. “I’m no expert, but it looks like we’re still in the vortex.”

“You mean…we went through all that for nothing?” Eroica moaned.

Turlough gave the Earl a dark look, as did the Major.

“Any idea what happened to Jason?” Eroica asked cautiously.

Turlough struggled with the console a moment and then turned to the scanner. It was still nothing but static. “It’s not reading anything, ” he said helplessly. “Let me see if I can clear the static.”

While the young man continued to struggle with the console, the Major started searching for his gun, which had apparently been blown from his hand by the exploding computer room. He tossed the debris aside, throwing papers and chunks of plastic into a heap as he went. He reached the far side of the room before finally locating the weapon. He quickly checked it over and was surprised to see it appeared undamaged. He returned it to his holster and was about to turn away when he noticed something protruding from the debris that made him stop short. A hand. A bright red human hand.

Klaus yanked the large sheet of plastic aside, revealing Jason’s battered form beneath. It took the Major a full second to register that the Alterran was back in his human form. Then he was kneeling beside him, checking for a pulse.

Jason moaned when the fingers touched his skin, his eyes opening a crack.

Klaus was uncertain as to whether the Alterran were conscious or not and took no chances, telling him not to speak. It was obvious that there was nothing he could do for him. Jason’s body was a twisted, bloodied, and broken mess, his skin a livid red. He looked like he had been burned, either by heat or with chemicals. Perhaps he had been, Klaus thought as he took in the rest if Jason’s devastating, and very probably mortal injuries.

“Turlough, get us out of here,” the Major ordered without looking up.

“I can’t,” Turlough replied helplessly. “The TARDIS won’t dematerialize.”

Klaus looked up sharply. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know!”

The Major issued a stream of curses.

Eroica sat back and gave a resigned sigh, a hand going to his head. “So we’re stuck here?”

Turlough threw his hands up. “We are until the Doctor wakes up.”

“Splendid. Who knows when that might be?”

To the astonishment of them all, the Doctor quietly replied, “I think now would be a very good time.”

Eroica nearly jumped out of his skin, his hand going to his chest. “Bloody hell!”

The Doctor sat up slowly, a hand to his spinning head. He looked around himself, his eyebrows going up. “You lot have certainly made a mess of my TARDIS,” he remarked aridly.

“You can thank the Major for that,” Turlough snapped angrily.

Eroica helped the Doctor to his feet and then over to the console, which he used for support as he moved from panel to panel, checking the readings. After a minute, he was able to clear the scanner of static.

“Do you really think you should be on your feet so soon?” the Earl said concernedly.

The Doctor glanced at the scanner. “I don’t really think I have a choice.” He turned his gaze to the Major, his eyes falling on the battered form beside him. “Oh, no…” He held out a hand in Eroica’s direction and the Earl came up beside him, helping him across the room.

“Oh, Jason, what did you do to yourself?” the Doctor said quietly as he got down beside his unconscious friend.

“Is there anything we can do?” Eroica asked. Like the Major, he had a pretty good idea what the answer would be. It was not the one he received.

The Doctor did not even look up. “Pray for a miracle.”

Eroica blinked. “What? You’re not serious?”

“That’s the only thing that will save him now,” the Doctor stated flatly.

“Wonderful,” the Major snorted, rising to his feet.

Eroica gave the officer a knowing look. “Now there’s irony for you, Major. He’s telling a room full of atheists to pray for a miracle.”

The Major met his gaze steadily. “What else do you do when the miracle worker is the one in need of a miracle?”

“You’ve spent too many years sitting in churches,” Eroica said scornfully. “You’re actually starting to believe all that crap about having faith.”

“And you call me a pessimist,” Klaus shot back. “Faith has nothing to do with it. I made a promise not to give up hope.”

“Klaus…” came Jason’s weak surprised voice. “You remembered.”

The Major turned sharply to the Alterran, a startled look on his face. Remembered? Of course he remembered. He remembered everything that ever happened to him.

“Jason, don’t talk,” the Doctor said gently.

“Doctor, he shouldn’t…remember,” Jason said insistently. “It…happened after…”

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “After your initial arrival?”

“Yes. After he…was hurt.”

Klaus frowned. Then he realized what Jason meant. He should not be able to remember what he did. Suddenly, events were in his memory that had not been there even an hour before. Everything that had happened after he and Eroica returned to the Lubyanka with Jason.

The frown on the Major’s face deepened as he realized not everything was there. Something was missing. He clearly recalled Jason carrying him as far as the transmat room and then…nothing until he woke up completely restored. Everything beyond that door was missing. Something had happened just as they arrived at the transmat room. Something Jason had said…

“Time out of joint,” Jason and the Major said in unison.

This was enough to bring Klaus out of his daze with a jolt.

The Doctor threw a quizzical look in the Major’s direction before turning back to the gravely injured Alterran. “Jason, please. Don’t talk.”

“No, Doctor,” Jason said as forcefully as possible. “You need to know…about that…thing.”

The Doctor threw a quick glance over to the scanner screen. “It’s dead, Jason. And so’s that creature we were chasing.”

Jason shook his head. “It’s not alone,” he informed. “It’s like…like…” He paused a moment, struggling to find the right analogy. “A bacteria.”

“What?”

“It found a weak point…in the vortex, like…when a bacteria…enters a cut in the skin.”

The Doctor’s eyes grew wide. “And we’re the anti-bodies,” he said in a small voice.

“They feed on time.”

“Feed on it?” the bewildered Eroica repeated.

“Altered timelines…”

The Doctor nodded. “That would produce an enormous amount of temporal energy.” Then he realized something. “Bait. The temporal corridor was bait to attract the attention of the Time Lords.”

“Yes.”

“And the alien? How did it fit into all this?” the Major wanted to know.

Jason gave a small smile of irony. “It had nothing to do with any of it. It was just…feeding on the by products. It really was a parasite.”

“Christ,” Eroica muttered.

“Doctor, there are thousands of those things.”

“Mein Gott,” the Major breathed in horror, his eyes wide.

“I didn’t realize… Then it was too late,” Jason said weakly. “I didn’t have the energy to…stop the damage.”

“That’s what you get for playing hero,” the Doctor admonished gently.

Jason gave him a weak smile, squeezing the Time Lord’s hand. “That’s what I get for losing my temper with an over abundance of energy to draw from.”

The Doctor’s eyes flickered but he did not reply.

“You have to…cover the wound before they push their way through.”

“I’ll do that. Now, you mustn’t talk. Please…”

Jason closed his eyes, swallowing hard. “It’s too late…” He could feel his strength ebbing away and squeezed his friend’s hand again. “Doctor…tell Shadra I love her and…I’m sorry.”

“Jason…” the Doctor said in a strained voice.

Jason opened his eyes, giving his friend an affectionate look. “Isn’t it strange?” he said in a quiet, calm voice. “I always knew you’d be with me when I died.” He seemed to relax, letting out a long breath before going completely still.

The Doctor felt the Alterran’s hand go limp, watching his bright blue eyes go dull. Lifeless. He closed his own eyes and lowered his head. It was difficult enough to say good-bye when companions went their separate ways, but to say good-bye when they died was beyond difficult. In fact, it was the worst feeling in the universe.