The Doctor's Return

                                    Chapter V
                             "Who is the Commander?"
     The young woman opened her eyes as she heard her the key turn in her 
cell's door lock.  Her first instinct was to try to ambush whoever this was, 
but she hesitated, not knowing whether it was her beloved or her friend from 
Gallifrey.  She sat on her simple bunk as the door opened to reveal the 
Master.  She felt a twinge of fear, but she solidly stood her ground; she had 
now recovered from his torture that forced her body to regenerate, but the 
sight of her husband's mortal enemy could still make her flinch.  She fully 
expected to be led back to the torture device.  Instead, her captor dropped the 
key outside the door, walked mechanically into the cell, and closed the door 
behind him.  He moved to one corner of the cell, turned to face Romana, and 
finally stood motionless.  She cautiously arose and moved toward the imposing 
man in black.  When she had convinced herself that he, for some unknown reason, 
meant no menace to her, she moved closer and noticed the glaze that covered his 
eyes.  Further inspection convinced her that this was a mechanical form, not 
the human or Gallifreyan make-up she had expected.
     Despite the deactivation of his Cyber-created skelton, he was still able 
to use the vocal chords cloned by Sontaran technology to speak, albeit 
strained.  "help me" he croaked.  Romana gave a start at the sudden sign of 
life, then looked at the Master in astonishment.  "I need your help, wife of my 
enemy.  All of us face the same foe now."  He realized it would be difficult to 
convince this Time Lady, who knew his personal history up to his last encounter 
with the Doctor, that his thirst for vengence against his leader overrode even 
his bitterness against the Doctor.  He began to explain to her the entire 
story, already recounted herein, of the source of his latest body, and the hold 
the mysterious fleet commander has on him.  He ended the tale with one final 
plea.  "I know where the circuit is that lets him know what I am doing, what I 
am thinking.  You must destroy it.  You MUST!"
     Cautious, but partially convinced that the Master finally told the truth, 
Romana asked where the control circuit was located.  "At the base of my 
skull."  At this Romana hesitated.  They both realized that one mistake in that 
area could kill him; for all she knew the area was booby-trapped, making the 
danger to her as great as to him.  She was also not fully sure that this was 
not some new trap he had in mind for the Doctor.  "You have no reason to 
believe me, Romana, but I swear I tell you the truth.  You must disable the 
circuit ... at all costs!"
     Something in his voice finally convinced her.  She put her hand in a 
pocket and extracted the sonic screwdriver she had constructed long ago from 
the plans of the Doctor's own long-lost tool.  She adjusted it carefully, 
applied the tip to the top of the Master's neck, and activated the device.  The 
screwdriver's whirring was the only sound heard in the cell for several 
seconds.  Romana carefully watched the Master's body, ready to stop the 
operation if she noticed any adverse reactions.  The expected reaction came as 
the Master screamed out in pain, his hands clutching his head.  Instantly she 
turned the tool off, and the Master's body dropped limply to the floor.
     Somewhere else, a glowing indicator faded.  The hooded, black-draped 
figure turned his head toward the indicator.  "The signal from my servant has 
stopped.  Hmm.  Well, I had no further need of him."  He turned back to his 
work.
     Andred emerged from the lower levels of the Doctor's TARDIS.  Clean-cut, 
hair combed back, he looked at least a little more presentable.  Feeling the 
sag in his back, though, he realized that he was still physically an old man.  
He turned toward the scanner, still set to circle the perimeter of the outer 
shell of the TARDIS.  There was no sign of the Daleks returning to the scene, 
for which he was thankful.  He also regretfully noticed, though, that there 
wano sign of either the Doctor, Romana, or the woman who had befriended him.
     As the scanner continued its sweep, Andred noticed something glimmer 
around one corner.  He set the scanner to move back to the spot where he saw 
the reflection, and stopped its motion there.  The corridor was empty.  No, 
there was something coming down it ... a troop of Sontarans.  He had seen 
holograms of them before, but that did not prepare him for the sight of their 
unhelmeted faces.  He knew that Sontarans were cloned from a gene bank, and 
that they all were virtually alike.  These, however, varied not only in height, 
but in facial appearance as well.  Many of them had deformed noses, some of 
them had only one good ear, a few of them had no mouths.  Before he could 
ponder on this further, the troop circled around the TARDIS exterior.  They 
firmly grasped the sides of the police box and lifted with all their might.  
Andred was tossed about, trying desperately not to hit his head.  As often as 
he could he checked the scanner, to find that the Sontarans were carrying the 
TARDIS away from its landing place and down the corridor.
     Romana bent down and turned the limp body of the Master over, looking for 
any signs of life.  His eyes opened, and his hands went for her neck, then her 
shoulders.  She then saw something that no Time Lord could ever imagine:  a 
kind smile from the Master!  "Thank you, dear lady."  Slowly the Master turned 
and arose from the floor.  He moved slowly, testing his arms and legs.  "No 
damage ... except for that accursed leash."  He turned toward his lovely 
cell-mate, still holding the sonic screwdriver, and inquired if she could 
attempt to open the cell door with it.
     "I tried that already, just before you came in.  No luck.  The lock's 
vibration-proof."
     "As I recall, your husband once turned his sonic screwdriver into an 
electro-magnet.  If we could do that with your own, we might be able to draw 
the key under the door."
     Romana went to the door and stooped down, inspecting the crack below the 
door.  "I don't think we need to be that fancy about it."  She produced a 
barrette from another pocket, opened it, and worked one end through the crack.  
After only a few tries she had managed to snag the mat on which she had noticed 
earlier the key had dropped.  Carefully she drew the mat under the door.  To 
her dismay, however, the mat just fit in the crack; if she continued to drag it 
into the cell, the key would be pushed off by the door.
     Inside the Doctor's TARDIS Andred suddenly found that the floor had become 
a bit more stable.  He noticed that the scanner showed the TARDIS descending in 
front of a large door in a wall.  He recognized it as a standard "freight 
elevator" of sorts, installed in many time vehicles to allow heavy equipment to 
be moved from level to level.  Taking advantage of this temporary respite, 
Andred arose and moved to the control console.  After making minor tests to 
ensure that all systems were still functional, he programmed a small escape 
course into the computer.  His hand activated the dematerialization sequence 
just as the floor pitched again, throwing Andred violently against the coat 
rack the Doctor had placed in one corner so long ago.  He lapsed into 
unconsciousness as the center column began to rise and fall.
     "Keep bringing it in, but carefully.  I have an idea." the Master 
instructed.  Unsure of what he was planning, Romana nonetheless continued to 
reel her catch in.  As the edge of the mat came through the door she could hear 
the key drop onto the floor, just outside the door.  She tried to snag it with 
the barrette, but it lay just out of her reach.  Meanwhile the Master was busy 
uncurling a support wire from the mat.  "This should be more effective."  
Romana moved out of his way, as he lay down on the floor, spying through the 
crack the elusive key.  The wire brushed the key, but didn't catch.  The Master 
was about to make a second attempt when the edge of a silver foot appeared near 
the key.  A metallic hand reached down and picked up the key.  They both got up 
and moved toward the back of the cell, anticipating the worst.  They heard the 
key turn in the lock, but the door only opened slightly.  Carefully the Master 
opened it further, but there was no resistance from the other side.  He 
completed the motion and peered out the portal, only to see a vacated corridor 
of his TARDIS.  He waved Romana to follow him.
     The Doctor, his anger over what his old enemy had done to his wife finally 
cooling, had returned to the control room, hoping there to find a clue to where 
she was being held.  He scanned the console, noticing that the TARDIS had been 
programmed to journey to Gallifrey.  He turned to the scanner, which was 
directed aft of the Master's vessel; it displayed the massive fleets of the 
three races the Master had somehow brought together.  He turned back to the 
console and began manipulating the controls.  He noted that the TARDIS was 
travelling through normal space, probably to keep in view of the fleets, the 
Doctor thought.  Completing his task, he dematerialized the Master's TARDIS.  
He regretfully noted that he had not been able to veer from the programmed 
course, though; they were still moving toward Gallifrey, but, he hoped, the 
Daleks and Cybermen would not be able to find it.  He grimaced at what he 
thought next:  the Sontarans had once invaded Gallifrey.  They could still lead 
their allies to the planet of the Time Lords.  His train of thought was 
interrupted when a Cyberleader appeared in the doorway.  The Doctor whirled, 
only to see another Cyberman standing in the door leading to the torture 
chamber.
     The Cyberleader raised his arm.  "The commander orders this one to be 
brought to him.  You will take him."  The other Cyberman nodded silently, then 
took the Doctor's arm.  He noted that the grip didn't feel as bone-crushingly 
firm as he had had feared.  He began to struggle out of the grasp, but was 
reprimanded by a female voice coming from the Cyberman.  "It will be better for 
you to come on," it whispered.  The Doctor ceased his struggling, and the two 
departed through the door.  The Cyberleader stood firm until the door had 
closed, then turned and left the control room the way he had come.
     The Doctor and his escort had gone through the Master's "chamber of 
horrors" when the "Cyberman" released her grip on the Doctor.  "You're the one 
who saved me from the Dalek patrol, aren't you?"
     "Yes," the woman replied as they continued their journey, "and I helped 
your friends as well.  The inside of your TARDIS is fascinating."
     "How did you know what it was?"
     "I can't go into it just now.  You must help me.  I think you're the only 
one who can make the commander of this operation see any sense."
     "Who is this commander?"
     "You'll find out shortly."
     The duo had reached the end of the corridor.  Behind it the Doctor's 
enhanced hearing detected a high-pitched whining fading out.  He didn't need 
enhanced hearing, though, to hear the voice boom out it's command, "Enter."  
With that the door opened.
     The Doctor stared in shock.  The room was basically empty, except for the 
structure in the center.  It was the structure that so amazed the Doctor.  
There, standing in the center of the room, was a blue police box!  Not just any 
police box, though ... it had the feel of being dimensionally transendental.  
The Doctor continued to visually inspect it as his escort led him toward its 
door.  It was familiar, almost too familiar.  It was exactly the shape his own 
TARDIS had taken when he and his granddaughter first landed on Earth, in the 
twentieth century.  Just before the two had reached the structure its door 
opened.  The two entered.  The inside was indeed larger than the outside, but 
on a much smaller scale than the TARDIS itself.  Wires hung freely from various 
points, and the Doctor and his escort frequently had to duck under them.  To 
one side stood a lever which moved a large button in the floor.  The Doctor 
made mental notes of each piece of equipment, also noting along the way that it 
all appeared to be Earth technology, much of it heavily modified, but still 
undoubtedly Terran.  He noted the almost primative-looking scanner hanging at 
the far end of the room, pieces of oscilloscopes sitting on shelves suspended 
apparantly from the ceiling, tubes, controls, and switches all connected by the 
rat's nest of wires, and the familiar fluid links one a panel to one side of 
the lever.
     Near one set of equipment, the black-robed figure stood bent over, its 
back to the pair.  Upon sensing their presence, it stood up (though still not 
too straight), turned, and acknowledged their presence.  "Greetings.  I've 
waited a long time to meet you."
     The Doctor dared to speak to this mysterious figure.  "Who are you?
     "Why, yes I am.  How very observant of you."  This response simultaneously 
frustrated and puzzled the Doctor.  The figure raised his arms and pulled back 
the hood that hid his features.  Under the hood was a long face.  The hair was 
short but frizzy and snow-white. The moustache under the prominent nose showed 
its rapid approach to the glaring whitness the top of his head had already 
entered, but there was enough black still there to make it stand out from the 
otherwise pale face.  He dropped the cloak, revealing a formal smoking jacket, 
simple but well-kept shirt, and large bow-tie, most of which was stuffed inside 
the shirt.  For a moment the Doctor could see himself, as he was before his 
first regeneration, standing there with this foreboding but slightly humorous 
figure.  The aged but firm voice continued.  "For years I've wanted to meet a 
Time Lord ... ever since I built Tardis.  Since I learned about you, I've hoped 
that it would be you I would meet first."
     The Doctor hoped what he was thinking wasn't true, yet he dared to ask, 
"What is your name?"
     "Oh, of course it isn't," the gentleman replied.  "How quickly you forget 
things.  No, no, it isn't what ... it's Who.  Doctor Who."

                                   Next Time:
                                   Chapter VI
                             "Return of the Doctor"

Story (c) 1986 Joe Sewell
Melbourne, FL