Laura spent the entire seven years of her life growing up on the sheep ranch on the other side of Chelsea. She was upset to be forced out of her home and to live in a school during her summer vacation. It just wasn't fair and she wondered what bad thing she must have done for God to punish her and her family in this way. As quickly as the thought went through her mind, it was gone again and she picked up the plastic horse and placed Barbie back on top in its saddle, imagining sunnier days and greener pastures. Her fantasy was interrupted by a distinctly annoying buzzing sound. She cringed, hoping it wasn't a bee. She hated bees. She felt something brush her ear and let out a little shriek, then batted her hands all about her head, trying to ward off the alien invader. My brother must be enjoying this, she thought. The buzzing became louder and she felt her hand strike a large insect. Sure enough, as she turned around, she found herself face to face with a bee, hovering just inches away from her nose. She screamed out loud this time and tried to knock the insect out of the air. The last thing she felt was the stinger entering her hand. As the bee fell to her feet, a new presence overcame her, pushing her out of her own body and taking her place. The presence hated bees too, but for an entirely different reason. `Laura? Laura, honey, what's wrong?' Laura's mother, dirty and disheveled from the events of the past week, knelt down before her with a tear forming in one eye as she tried to wipe away Laura's. Laura shook off mom's hand and smiled. `I thought I got stung by a bee, Mom, but it was just a 'squito.' `Well, that was some scream for just a mosquito.' `It's all right, Mom.' Laura turned away from her mother and crawled up onto her cot. She yawned exagerratedly, then turned away and curled up with Barbie held close in both hands. `I'm gonna take a nap now.' `Um, okay, sweetie.' While Laura's mother recognized this as a peculiar reaction from her daughter, she was too tired to inquire further and simply returned to her own cot. She picked up Laura's brothers' jeans and resumed her mending job. Laura smiled and snapped Barbie's head clean off with one swift motion. A minor setback, but her new plan was working thus far. She needed some time to rest and recharge, but soon she would face the Doctor again and exact her revenge. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, content for now that she was in no danger of being discovered.
Traylen and Heer pressed the Master into one of the chairs facing the principal's desk, then backed away. The Doctor stood off to one side, arms folded, leaning against the wall. The Doctor glanced over at his old arch-nemesis and quipped, `Called into the headmaster's office again? You must feel right at home...' The Master glared up at him, then turned his gaze back to the window, crossed his legs smartly and clasped his hands together in his lap, as if he were doing nothing more than waiting for a business partner to show up for a meeting. A few moments later, Traylen and Heer snapped to attention as Colonel Sloan marched into the office, slammed two manila folders loudly onto the desk and dropped into the principal's chair. `Thank you, soldiers. That will be all.' The two men snapped their salutes away and left the office, Traylen pulling the door closed behind him without further comment from his superior officer. Sloan opened the first folder and perused its contents, pointedly ignoring the two men before him while he did so. The Master cleared his throat, impatiently awaiting a response. Only when he completed his reading did Sloan finally close the folder and look up at them. `All right, Doctor, Professor. Would you like to tell me what the hell just happened out there?' `As I told you, Colonel, the Master was working a scheme. He always does. I never suspected he'd be so stupid as to try to take control of the storm demon.' The Master tried to laugh off the insult. `What are you talking about? I tried to reason with the creature and after you interfered, I was forced to destroy it.' `Is this true?' Sloan asked the Doctor. `Of course not,' he replied. `You can't destroy a storm demon that easily. I should know. I've encountered this a few times before and haven't succeeded yet. Somehow or other, Achmael escaped, probably by assuming the form of some small animal like an ant or a jackrabbit that happened to be within range when his body expired.' `Are you serious?' Sloan asked. `He did it before, Colonel, two hundred years ago. I made the mistake of believing he was dead then and look what happened because of it.' `How do I know he isn't in this room right now, disguised as one of you two?' `Because we are Time Lords!' the Master stated. Sloan dropped his head into his hands in resignation. `Do I really want to know what that's supposed to mean?' `You do, but it would be easier if you didn't,' affirmed the Doctor. `All right then.' Sloan massaged his temples a moment, then looked up at the two men. `Assuming this is all true, what's happened to the storm demon now? Where has it gone?' `Out there, somewhere nearby, waiting to return and make his next move against us.' `What makes you believe that?' Sloan interjected. `The clouds, for one thing. The weather cleared up rather too abruptly after his supposed death to be a natural phenomenon. Past experience also tells me that storm demons are not so easily destroyed. If they were, Colonel, you'd have never encountered this one. He's been swimming the Pacific Ocean for two hundred years just waiting for this chance to avenge himself against me.' `So what am I supposed to do? I can't just wait here for this thing to come back and kill us all. I've got fifty civilians in that gym, in case you hadn't noticed...' `I know,' said the Doctor. `I know. Look, why don't you let me think about this for a little while. Maybe I can cook up something in the lab that can keep it at bay.' `You'll need help,' offered the Master. `Are you serious?' the Doctor asked snidely. `Do you really think I'd allow you to help me do anything after all the times you've--' `I don't see why not, Doctor,' Sloan interrupted. `Until I really know where your loyalties lie, I really don't see any reason for letting either one of you go on your way. Besides,' he said as he crossed his arms. `Until I take you off the list or Washington or Geneva tells me otherwise, you're both still listed as active UNIT scientific advisors. So, gentlemen, I suggest you advise.' The Time Lords looked at each other, at the Colonel and back at one another. They wondered how they had let the human outwit them both.
`Look, why don't we just have the Air Force go in and bomb it once we see it crop up again? Surely their stealth fighters will escape its detection until it's too late.' `I told you before. We can't destroy him.' `Oh, don't get sentimental now, Doctor. You know full well that we can't let this being continue to roam free.' The Master smiled and waved a hand at Jo, who sat bored on the other side of the lab bench. `I could care less if it decided to destroy this entire pathetic planet, but if it were to escape, to get off-world afterwards...' `Yes, exactly.' The Doctor swallowed his pride. `Look, the problem really is that I haven't the first idea how to destroy a storm demon and if you did, we wouldn't be having this conversation now.' `"How to Kill Storm Demons" wasn't exactly a required course at the Academy, you must admit.' `Not that you'd know,' said the Doctor, `but that was exactly my point. Look, I've run into Achmael before, here and on other worlds, but I was never entirely sure what I was up against. Nothing I've done before has ever stopped him for long.' As the Doctor trailed off in thought, the Master looked up at him impatiently. `Something troubling you, Doctor?' `There's something peculiar about this whole situation. Something doesn't reconcile. When I met him last, he was more refined, far more intelligent. The last time I met him on Earth, he was just as much of a monster though. I must be meeting him out of synch with his own lifetime.' `So you're saying we can't defeat him now because you've already failed in his future?' `Exactly.' `Wonderful, Doctor.' The Master stood up and stretched his arms. `You've trapped us in a temporal paradox.' `What if you just made him go away?' Jo interrupted. The Doctor looked up pointedly. `What did you say?' `What if you just did something to send Achmael away?' she repeated, a little more boldly this time. `In the movies, the vicar performs the exorcism ceremony and the demon goes back where it came from, right? Between the two of you, you ought to be able to come up with something.' `It's not that easy, Jo. We're dealing with science here, not magic, even if our brand of science does seem like magic to your people, but the fact is, I'll still run into him in the future. I can't change his future by changing my own past.' `Doctor,' the Master interjected. `If when you last met him in the future, he wasn't on the Earth, there's no reason to believe you weren't the reason he was able to leave the Earth.' `Maybe it's the way things happened all along,' Jo suggested. `You may be right,' the Doctor affirmed, stroking at his chin thoughtfully, `but how do we do it?' As they puzzled over this problem, they heard a loud pop from the other side of the lab. Martinez found himself the subject of sudden scrutiny as he sucked his bubble gum back into his mouth. He began to offer an apology, but the Doctor stood up excitedly and took the floor. `That's it! A time bubble.' `Of course! A time bubble,' affirmed the Master. `But how do we trap Achmael in it?' `A wide field beam? We won't get much range, but it'll guarantee that we trap him.' The Doctor thought it over another second. `We'll need some sort of projection device to really do the job.' `You mean you want to build a bubble gun?' Jo asked. The Doctor smiled at her. `Exactly, Jo! Just the thing.' He looked to the Master again. `We'll need a tachyon source.' The Master removed the tarnished remains of the Eye from his pocket. `Even if this device no longer functions to control storm demons, it does appear to be an excellent source of tachyons. Now if only we can find a way to strike it with a polarized chronon beam to liberate those tachyons...' The Doctor fished the burnt-out chronon polarizer from his pocket and set it on the table in front of him. `Think you can repair it?' The Master held it up to his eye and examined it more closely. `You did a wonderful job, I must say, Doctor. Missed your 300,000 lightyear tuneup, did you?' `Look, can you fix it or not?' `Given a few hours.' The Master set the device down. `We do have that long, don't we?' `I honestly don't know for sure, but I assume he'll need some time to assimilate his new form and recharge his powers.' `Then we'd best get to work.' The Master picked up the chronon polarizer and walked to the equipment cabinets on the far side of the room, trailed by Martinez. The Master began to extract various tools and electronics equipment from the cabinets, some of which he forced into Martinez's arms while stacking the remainder in a plastic crate on a nearby lab bench.
Laura's eye blinked awake and she yawned, stretching her arms. Her headless Barbie doll fell to the floor of the gym as she leapt to her feet. `Laura, honey, are you feeling all right, dear?' `I...I have to go to the bathroom, ma.' `Okay, but you come right back and stay out of these nice soldiers' way, all right?' `Yes, mom.' Laura skipped out of the gymnasium and past the armed guard posted at the door. Once in the hallway and out of sight, she paused, smiling to herself and looking around suspiciously. `Now if I were the Doctor, where would I be hiding myself?' Laura asked herself. She decided to check the first hallway and see if he was in any of the rooms there.
`How's that chronon polarizer coming along?' the Doctor asked while squinting through a jeweler's glass at the contraption coming together before him. `Just a few more adjustments and it should be ready,' said the Master. `A few more bits of copper wire, I think, Jo,' the Doctor requested. Jo fished out some more small segments of wire which the Doctor immediately plugged into the circuit board. `There you go, Sergeant Martinez,' said the Master proudly as he handed the device to the soldier. `One fully functional chronon polarizer, courtesy the Master.' Martinez took it to the Doctor, who inserted it into the device. `I don't know how to say this,' the Doctor called to his comrade, `but thank you.' `Consider it payment in full for sparing my life on Exarius.' `And?' The Master simply grinned and didn't say another word. The door to the chemistry lab blew in suddenly, knocking chairs aside and nearly bowling the Doctor over as well. Laura dropped her hands back to her sides and marched into the room. The Master reached for his laser pistol, but a quick look from the girl heated it to an unbearable temperature and seared his hand. He cried out and dropped the gun to the floor. `And you may consider this partial payment on my revenge, Doctor,' said the girl as she grabbed Jo by the wrist and dragged her through the opposite door and outside, into her element. Jo fought to break away, dragging her heels on the ground, kicking and screaming, but this mere seven- year old had all the strength of a steroid-enhanced defensive lineman. `Jo!' Martinez made a move to follow, but the Doctor stopped him dead in his tracks with a swift chop to the neck. `I'm sorry, Sergeant, but I can't let you risk your life on this.' The Master carefully picked up his laser pistol, which had now cooled back to near normal temperature, and returned it to his jacket. The Doctor picked up the time bubble gun and hoisted it mightily. The Master smiled and indicated the door. `After you, Doctor?' The Time Lords followed, but were already falling well behind their prey. `He's really moving,' the Doctor noted. `We'll never catch him on foot,' the Master confirmed. `Come with me.' The Master turned and ran the other way, around the corner of the school building. The Doctor followed at a trot, but stopped in amazement and relief when he came around the corner and found what was waiting for him there. `Bessie!' The Master hopped into the driver's seat of the yellow roadster and the Doctor disappointedly took up the shotgun position. `I had Bessie shipped over when I arrived,' the Master explained. `I thought she might come in useful.' `Just drive,' the Doctor said, repositioning the bubble gun and focusing on rescuing Jo as quickly as possible.
`Come along, woman. Stop wasting time or I shall kill you here and now!' Jo stared frightfully at the terror before her. How could such a sweet-looking little girl be filled with so much evil? In any case, she decided that she had best play along for now. The Doctor would be here soon...she hoped. `Now just relax,' Achmael said in her high-pitched voice. `It will all be over soon.' Jo closed her eyes and screamed as Achmael reached out to her. She heard the shot of a laser pistol ring out and opened her eyes to see Achmael pull his hand away and turn towards the Doctor and the Master. The Time Lords dived to either side as Achmael pulled down another lightning bolt, this time straight into Bessie. The Doctor looked up at the car sadly, then scrambled to his feet and charged forward. `Jo, you must get away!' Jo wasn't going to argue with him and scrambled aside as quickly as she could. Achmael, miraculously, ignored her and focused her own attentions on the two approaching Time Lords. A puff of breath expanded into a gale force wind, which knocked both the receding Jo and the closing Master flat to the ground as the Doctor closed to less than ten meters' distance from her other side. Achmael whirled to her right and faced the Doctor as he depressed the firing mechanism. Sadly, nothing happened. Achmael roared with glee and took slow measured steps towards her waiting prey. Curiosity won her over as she stepped forward. `Doctor, what is that?' The Doctor looked up in terror, then fiddled with various controls on the device, stopping to depress the firing mechanism between each attempt. `It doesn't matter,' Achmael hissed. `Time to die, Time Lord.' She raised both fists towards the Doctor and slowly opened them. Winds came up again, more slowly this time, and icy pellets of hail began to drop directly on the Doctor. The Master awoke, rolled over onto his knees and rapidly assessed the situation. Inspiration hit and he shouted at the top of his lungs, fighting to overcome the roar of the increasing winds. `Doctor!' he cried. `Did you remember to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow?' The Doctor looked up in surprise and a smile crossed his face, ever briefly. `Oh. Right!' Achmael laughed as she increased the size of the hailstones ever more. They pounded painfully into the Doctor's skull, but he somehow ignored the sheer agony of it and remembered his task. Finding the neutron polarity switch, he threw it into reverse and pulled the trigger one last time. The Doctor held on with both hands as a ball of green and orange plasma erupted from the bubble gun followed by a brilliant rainbow-colored cone that surrounded the Storm Demon and held her firmly in place. Achmael's eyes opened wide and a surprised shriek began to escape her lips as the chronon field enshrouded her. Within seconds, the cone collapsed into a sphere and trapped Achmael inside a shimmering ball of energy, her jaw frozen amidst a raging scream that slowed to a silent halt. The hail stopped abruptly and the winds abated. Achmael was held fast in time, unmoving, unchanging, as she would remain until such time that the field collapsed. The Doctor turned a blue knob and redirected the beam, slowly pulling the device around so that he could point it up toward the sky. Such effort was required that one might have imagined he was lifting the contents of a garbage truck all at once with his bare hands. The Master noticed his difficulty and rushed to his aid, turning the blue knob to its final position, then grabbing hold of the Doctor's arms in order to stabilize him as an orange pulse of energy roared out the end of the bubble gun. The two Time Lords shuddered in place as the pulse grabbed hold of the time bubble and propelled it straight out, launching Achmael and her prison into space and away from the Earth, once and for all. The weapon's energy spent and its task completed, the Doctor lowered it, otherwise unmoving. The Master's face flushed slightly in embarrassment as he released himself from his bear hug. No sooner did the Master step away than the Doctor fell backwards, collapsing onto the ground, his own energy supply also exhausted. His clothes were now in rags and his hair was matted with blood. Welts and bruises were beginning to show all over his body. As a jeep approached from across the grassy field, the Master composed himself and marched briskly in the other direction, leaving the Doctor in the mud. Martinez pulled the jeep to a halt a dozen meters from the Doctor's body. Colonel Sloan hopped out and helped Jo to her feet, then raced over to the Doctor. `Doctor,' called Sloan as he kneeled over the Doctor and tapped at his face with an open palm. `Come on, wake up. Are you all right?' The Doctor forced his eyes open, then looked past Sloan and smiled at Jo. `We did it, Jo. I can get you home now...' Jo smiled at that, then began to chew at her lip as if there were something important they were forgetting. `Where's the Master?' asked Martinez, who by now had joined them on the field. Sloan helped the Doctor sit up so he could look, but Jo caught the movement first. She pointed to the Doctor's antique roadster, parked only a few dozen meters away behind a dissipating cloud. `Look! There he is!' she exclaimed. The Master heard her cry and responded by waving a friendly farewell just before he pulled open Bessie's boot and climbed straight in. `What on Earth--?' Sloan himself stopped in mid-sentence as Bessie's engine began to emit a wheezing, groaning sound. A split-second later, she vanished from the field without a trace. The Doctor stifled a laugh. `Not on Earth, my good man. Not any more.' `That wasn't the real Bessie?' Jo asked. `No by a long shot, Jo. This Bessie was his TARDIS all along!'
Copyright © 1994 Michael "The Admiral" Zecca