Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me.
It all keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
	--Green Day



Chapter 5:  TRICKS

	The Doctor did not attempt to reason with the guards as they spirited 
him away from the main corridors down to the bowels of the castle.  It 
would do no good and probably just give him a headache.  They set him down 
in front of a wooden door with a small barred cutout window and one of them 
went to fetch the jailer.  The Doctor stood on tiptoe to peer through the bars 
and wasn't much surprised to see Romana sitting on a wooden bench against 
the wall, trying to look dignified despite the fact that her wrists were 
shackled and tethered to the wall with chains.  She grinned and stood up when 
she saw him looking through, but her smile faded as the jailer opened the 
door and the Doctor was escorted through and chained in similar fashion to 
the wall next to her.  The guards wordlessly left the room and the jailer shut 
and locked the door after them.  Romana looked up at him sheepishly as he 
stood, hands on his hips, regarding her expectantly with one eyebrow raised.
	"Sorry," she muttered.
	"What in the name of all that exists were you thinking about?  
Whatever possessed you to sneak into the palace by yourself?" he demanded.
	"I don't know!" she exclaimed.  "It seemed like a good idea at the time!"
	"Well we're in a fine situation now.  If tomorrow rolls around and I 
don't show up..."
	"I know, I know," she moaned, her head dropping into her hands.  "If I 
could explain it I would!"
	He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then sat down next to 
her.  "Romana...what were you thinking about just before you left the inn?"
	She sighed and stared off into space.  "Well, first I was looking out at 
the palace and it seemed like...it just seemed like I should go there, like that 
was the place to find all the answers.  But it didn't seem like a good idea to 
go without you.  Then..."  She looked at him,  puzzled.  "Then I looked over at 
you and suddenly I was afraid.  I wanted to get away from you."
	"You were afraid of *me?*"
	"Yes.  It's strange...I'm not afraid of you now.  But then, you seemed 
sinister, or..."  She shook her head.  "It's hard to verbalize.  That was what 
spurred me out the door...but when I think about it now it seems as though
those were someone else's thoughts."
	The Doctor looked at her, a dark suspicion forming in his mind.  
"Romana...I've just had a rather nasty idea."
	"What?"
	"Perhaps it'd be best to confirm my theory first."  He thought for a 
moment.  "You're the psychologist, what's the best way to dig out whatever 
might have put those thoughts in your head?"
	She frowned.  "You're saying they really *were* someone else's 
thoughts?"
	"It's possible.  There's got to be a way to find out."
	"Telepathy would be the best option for us."
	"Um...let's stay away from that method, shall we?"  If Romana was 
what he hoped she wasn't, using telepathy could prove chancy.
	"All right.  I suppose free association can be quite illuminating."
	He nodded.  "Right then.  Just relax and say the first thing that comes 
into your mind."  Romana looked skeptical but she leaned back against the
wall and took a few deep breaths, letting her eyes drift shut.  The Doctor 
studied her face for a moment and then began.
	"Gallifrey."
	"President."
	"Earth."
	"Water."
	"TARDIS."
	"Travel."
	"Ace."
	"Sister."
	His eyes narrowed a bit at that.  Sister?  Hmm.  Romana didn't seem to
 notice anything odd about her response.  He continued.  "Theo."
	"Danger."
	"Mother."
	"Father."
	"Doctor."
	"Enemy."
	The Doctor's eyes widened a bit in excitement.  Now they were getting 
somewhere.  He sped up the rate at which he fed her words, and he could see 
Romana's responses becoming more and more detached from her conscious 
mind, which was the whole point of free association.  "Time."
	"Space."
	"Chess."
	"Defeat."
	"Flask."
	"Prison."
	"Romana."
	"Fenric."  At hearing her own response Romana gave a start and sat up, 
her eyes snapping open.  She stared at him.  "Doctor..."
	His jaw worked.  Let me be wrong just this once, he thought.


	Romana was restless, pacing back and forth in the small cell.  The 
Doctor had been gone for some time and the Daleks seemed to have forgotten 
about them completely.  She glanced over at Ace, who was sitting on the 
ledge with one leg curled underneath her, staring off into space with a slight 
smile on her face.  Romana stopped pacing and faced her, crossing her arms.
	"I fail to see what there is to smile about here," she said.
	Ace gave a start and looked up at her.  "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just 
thinking."
	Romana sighed and sat down on the opposite ledge.  "About something 
pleasant, apparently.  Please, tell me about it.  I could stand to hear 
something that wasn't about Daleks or time paradoxes or evil noncorporeal 
beings."
	"Well...I was just remembering my last birthday."
	"When was that?"
	"Oh, about three months ago.  The Doctor took me to see a fireworks 
display."
	Romana smiled in bewilderment.  "Fireworks?"
	Ace nodded.  "Not just any fireworks, the annual Hort T'Mara festival 
on Omicron Minor.  To hear him tell it, it's the most spectacular fireworks 
show in the universe.  I don't know about that, but it certainly blew me 
away.  I love fireworks, but I never got to see any really good displays when 
I was a kid.  I must have told him that ten years ago, and he remembered."  
She dropped her eyes, absorbed by the memory.  "We hiked up to a tall hill 
overlooking the festival grounds and spread a blanket and watched the 
fireworks.  It was such a beautiful night.  Not too hot or too cold, soft 
breeze, no one around..."  She glanced at Romana, one corner of her mouth 
twitching mischievously.  "I don't mind telling you, Romana, you haven't
lived until you've made love under a starry sky with fireworks going in the 
background."
	Romana smothered a laugh.  "Ace!"
	Ace shrugged and stood up, rubbing her arms.  "With how things are 
going right now I'd be happy just to be able to shake his hand."
	"Have you been apart much since you were married?"
	"Oh sure.  I went to visit my friend Maire for a week, he spent two 
weeks on some dusty library planet a few months ago hunting up information 
on some weird old mentor of his and I didn't particularly feel like going 
along, that sort of thing.  The difference was that all those times I wasn't
concerned that I'd never see him again."  She went to the door to the hallway 
and peered out the slot window, drumming her fingers on the metal surface.  
	"Maybe you should just try not to think about it," Romana said.
	Ace sniffed.  "Easy for you to say."  She turned around and leaned 
against the cell door.  "To tell you the truth...thinking of him makes me feel 
*better.*"  She paused.  "A long time ago, right before I left him the first 
time, he compared himself to Puff the Magic Dragon.  That's a storybook 
character from Earth, who had a little friend named Jacky Piper.  What he 
was trying to tell me was that he didn't want to be alone...that the dragon 
can't be brave without the little boy."  Romana smiled, understanding...after 
all, she'd been a companion once too.  "But since we were married it's 
different.  I'm never sure anymore which of us is the dragon and which of us 
is Jacky Piper.  Back then I might have made him stronger, but now we make 
each other stronger."  She turned back towards the window.  Romana gave a 
little sigh, a bit envious of their relationship.  Ace was again tapping her 
fingers impatiently against the polysteel.   "I hate this, not being able to do 
anything.  Davros could be pulling out his fingernails for all we know and I'm 
stuck in this cell!"  She punctuated the word "cell" with a pound of her fist 
on the door.
	"Something tells me that Davros isn't interested in harming the Doctor 
this time," Romana said.


	The Doctor followed along behind Davros, his ears ringing from the 
nonstop litany of megalomaniacal schemes and half-baked universal 
domination plans.  Finally they came to a long room set up as a laboratory.  
The Doctor tried not to look at all the vats and tables where Davros was
busy mutating new Daleks.
	"AND SO YOU SEE, DOC-TOR, MY ARMY OF IMPERIAL DALEKS GROWS 
DAILY.  SOON WE WILL RETURN TO SKARO WHERE WE WILL ASSUME OUR
RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THE SUPREME LIFE FORM."
	"That's very interesting, Davros, but what's it to do with me?"
	"IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH YOU.  YOU HAVE MADE THIS 
POSSIBLE.  YOU WILL CONTINUE TO AID OUR INEVITABLE CONQUEST OF THE 
GALAXY...THEN YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE ULTIMATE PRIVILEGE OF BECOMING 
ONE OF US."
	The Doctor's heart sank.  That's what he'd been afraid of.  "I told you, I 
won't help you."
	"YOU HAVE ALREADY HELPED ME, DOC-TOR, JUST BY COMING HERE 
AND BRINGING YOUR COMPANIONS."  Davros stopped and swiveled around to 
look up at the Doctor, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back 
trying to keep his face expressionless.  "THIS HUMAN WOMAN WITH 
YOU...WHO IS SHE?"	
	"Just a friend."
	"JUST A FRIEND?  SHE CARRIED OUT YOUR ESCAPE FROM THE 
DETENTION LEVEL.  SHE COULD BE DANGEROUS TO US."
	"No!  She's no danger to you, Davros.  Leave her alone."
	"AH.  SO YOU CARE FOR THIS WOMAN?  DO NOT FEAR.  SHE WILL NOT 
BE HARMED.  SHE MIGHT EVEN BE OF SOME USE TO US.  I AM MORE 
INTERESTED IN YOUR TIME LORD COMPANION."
	"Romana won't help you either."
	"SHE WILL HAVE LITTLE CHOICE, DOC-TOR."  He made a motion to a 
nearby Dalek, who turned and rolled out of the room.  The Doctor watched it 
go, his mind trying desperately to think of a solution that would get them all 
out of this still humanoid and with their knowledge intact.  He knew the 
chances of another escape were exceedingly small, and none of them were 
armed.  The only possibility he could envision was rescue...and the only 
person who might be able to find them was Ace's husband.  He'd have thought 
that his future self would have been here already.  What could be keeping 
him?


	Romana's mouth opened and closed a few times.   "It's not possible..." 
she began.  Her eyes narrowed.  "Help me dig it out," she said tightly, 
raising her index fingers.  The Doctor shifted and allowed her to press them 
against his temples as he did the same to her.  He closed his eyes and they 
both concentrated on Romana's memories.  Gradually the blackness gave way 
to the interior landscape of her memories, no more than a jumble of 
mists...he could feel her presence with him.
	The chess game...I told you to wait in the TARDIS...
	Yes...I wanted to go with you...
	They both watched as the scene faded into view, the details muddied by
 the intervening years but recognizable.  The console room...his scarf 
swishing as he goes out the door...her face angry at being left behind...K9
says something about prudency...she wanders about the TARDIS, but she is 
impatient... then she goes to the door and looks out.
	Wait...this isn't how it happened.  I stayed in the TARDIS...  The scene 
started to shift as Romana tried to impose her remembered version on what 
they were seeing.
	Don't fight it.  This is what really happened...let yourself remember.  
The scene fluctuated and then refocused on her leaving the TARDIS.  She 
walks in the desert...she comes to the city gates...she bumps into a 
beggar...his eyes are strange she cannot look away...
	They hear Fenric's voice through the filter of Romana's memory as the 
merchant reaches out and touches her face...she cannot move she is 
transfixed by his eyes...You are not of this world...you are a Time Lord...you 
have felt my fingers upon your skin and you will not remember, but you will 
never forget me...one day you will not forget me and on that day you will 
serve me...
	With a jerk and a sharp intake of breath the Doctor yanked his fingers 
away from her temples and jumped up.  She stared up at him.  "One day you 
will serve me," she repeated softly.
	"You're a wolf, Romana.  You're one of his wolves.  You came to this 
palace to trap me here so I couldn't interfere with his plans!"
	"I didn't know!  I didn't remember!" she cried, horrified.
	His expression was dark, and Romana was chilled to be on the receiving 
end of the dangerous, powerful face he presented to his enemies.  "If he 
succeeds because of what you've done...if I lose her because of this..."  He 
could not finish.  Romana didn't know what to say.  She waited for him to 
continue but then the anger seemed to leave him.  His shoulders slumped.  
"It's not your fault.  Fenric trapped both of us here, you had little or nothing 
to do with it."  He pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.  "Listen to me, 
blaming you when I should have my mind on Fenric.  I can't even focus on the 
situation at hand."  He looked up at her, his face thoughtful.  "Can you justify 
all your actions so far?  Does anything else you've done seem...alien, or as if 
it weren't your idea?"
	Romana shrugged helplessly.  "How can I answer that question?  
Nothing else seems strange, but then I never doubted my memories of the 
chess game either!  If I can't even trust my own memory how can I be sure 
of anything?"
	He nodded resignedly, turning away.  "How can any of us ever really be 
sure of anything?" he murmured, looking out at the moon.  Romana frowned. 
 He didn't seem to be talking about Fenric.
	"Doctor...this is not your fault."
	"Of course it is," he said matter-of-factly, not turning.  "It's always 
my fault, Romana.  We might all three die in the past, and for what?  How 
many times must an enemy of mine strike at those I care about before I get 
the message?"
	"Stop it!" she exclaimed, rising.  "You're starting to frighten me!"
	He did turn then, his face eerily expressionless.  "Not nearly as much 
as I'm frightening myself.  I feel like I'm several people at once and there's 
not enough room for all of them.  Romana, I want to figure a way out of this 
but I can't think straight.  All I can think about is...is what's happening to 
her, and whether she's all right."  He closed his eyes and scrubbed his hands 
down his face.  "I can't take much more of this, I can't function this way!"  
He pounded a fist against the wall in an uncharacteristic show of anger.  
Romana strode over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, giving him a 
brisk shake.
	"Doctor, it is not a weakness to be worried about your wife!  Did you 
expect that you would just go on as if nothing was any different for you?  It 
doesn't mean you're any less yourself or any more vulnerable than you ever 
were...don't look at me like that, I can read you like a book and that's exactly
 what you're thinking.  Snap out of it!  I need your complete and undivided 
attention!"
	He looked at her blankly, and she could all but see his mind 
churning...but he didn't exactly look as if he believed her, either.  Romana 
was just starting to be really concerned when a glimmer came into his eyes. 
 His mouth slowly curled up into a smile.  Looked like a plan surfacing.
	"What?"
	"Think you can get the guard to come in here?" he asked.
	She stepped back, one eyebrow arched.  "Do you trust me?"
	"Yes," he said without hesitating.
	She smiled.  "Then plug your ears," she said, and before he had time to 
do so she let loose an ear-splitting scream that made the Doctor think of Mel. 
 He shrunk back into the corner as much as his chains allowed, anticipating 
her intentions, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.  Running 
footsteps sounded in the corridor, and after a moment the jailer appeared at
 the window.
	"What!  What's going on here!"
	Romana put on her best fainting-woman face.  "Oh, there was a huge 
RAT in here!"  The Doctor smiled to himself.  Good old Romana...a disease-
spreading rat in the Prince's palace would definitely get the guard's 
attention.  Indeed, a look of horror passed across the man's face and he 
rattled the keys in the door and burst in, looking towards the corner where 
she was pointing.  Scarcely registering the Doctor's presence, the jailer 
bent towards the corner.  The Doctor came up behind him and put a hand on 
his shoulder.  The jailer looked up confusedly and the Doctor swiftly 
pounced, pressing his index finger to the man's forehead, reaching into his 
mind to shut down his consciousness.  The jailer slumped to the floor 
silently, and in a few moments the Doctor had them unshackled.  They 
dragged the unconscious man into the corner away from the door where he 
wouldn't be seen by anyone looking in and stole into the hallway, carefully 
locking the door behind them.
	"What now?" she whispered.
	"Back to the TARDIS," he said, taking her hand as they slunk down the 
corridor.  "Then we use you to find ourselves."


	Ace couldn't sit still.  The thing most difficult for her in the universe 
was inaction, and she'd been forced into it while stuck in this cell.  Romana, 
bless her, wasn't saying anything even though Ace knew she was probably 
driving her nuts with her constant fidgeting.
	"What could be taking so long?" Romana asked quietly.  Ace looked at 
her fellow prisoner, who was probably just as worried about the Doctor as 
she was.
	"I don't know.  Daleks don't usually drag things out like this.  Then 
again, we're talking about Davros here.  He's not so predictable."
	As if on cue and without warning, the cell door slid into the ceiling and 
Davros himself rolled into the room, followed by the bridge commander.  Ace 
jumped to her feet.
	"What have you done with the Doctor, Davros?" she demanded.
	"NOTHING AT ALL, HUMAN.  HE IS UNHARMED.  WHETHER OR NOT HE 
STAYS THAT WAY DEPENDS ON YOU," he said, looking at Romana.
	"Me?" she asked incredulously.  "What do you mean?"
	"YOU WILL TELL US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT TIME TRAVEL 
TECHNOLOGY, TIME LORD.  YOU WILL TELL US ANYTHING WE WANT TO KNOW."

	"I won't help you," Romana said shakily...but Ace had to wonder if her 
resolve was as strong as the Doctor's.  He was used to this sort of thing, 
she wasn't.  Ace had never felt so helpless in her life.  She glanced around, 
trying to see if there was some way she could sneak past the bridge 
commander and get to the TARDIS.  Davros swiveled around to look at her.
	"YOU, HUMAN, MAY BE OF SOME VALUE TO US AT A LATER TIME.  YOU 
KNOW MUCH ABOUT DALEK TECHNOLOGY...BUT WE CANNOT RISK ANOTHER 
ESCAPE ATTEMPT."  He turned to the bridge commander.  "STUN HER," he 
commanded.  The bridge commander swiveled around to look at Ace fired.


	The Doctor and Romana made their way back to the laundry room where 
she'd snuck in.  It wasn't as tricky as he'd feared it would be...the palace 
was mostly deserted at this time of night and he only had to hypnotize two 
servants into letting them pass.  He was getting a headache from all this 
mental exertion, and he doubted it was over yet.  They crawled out the 
window and hurried out of the city.
	"I don't understand," Romana said.  "We don't know where they are!  I 
definitely don't remember that."
	"Doesn't matter.  You and Ace have a common connection...through 
Fenric.  We can use your mind to find hers."
	"A long shot!  My mind isn't poweful enough to detect that presence 
over such a distance in time *and* space."
	"The TARDIS is," he said as they came into view of it, waiting 
patiently in the shadow of the rock formations where they'd left it.  He 
pulled out his key and unlocked the door.  "It can find Ace for us using your 
mind as a pointer."  They came into the console room and the Doctor 
immediately started setting the controls.  "Fenric shot himself in the foot by 
having you sneak into the palace.  If you hadn't, I doubt we'd have ever 
known you were a wolf, and we wouldn't be able to find them now.  In a way 
I wish he'd tried something sooner!  If we'd known you were one of his
wolves we could have used you to find Ace long before this."  Romana still 
looked dubious.
	"Are you sure this'll work?"
	"Yes," he said, looking up at her.  "This is the way to defeat Fenric, 
you see.  You and Ace are both his pawns..."
	She smiled.  "And the pawns must work together," she finished.  "That 
was how you won the chess game."
	"Correct.  Put your hand on the plate," he said.  Romana placed her 
right hand palm down on the shiny silver square which marked the TARDIS's 
telepathic interface.  She tried to relax and let the TARDIS into her mind.  
"You don't have to do anything except think of Ace and your connection to
her," he said.  "The TARDIS will do the work.  It also has a very close 
relationship with Ace, and believe me if it can find a way to get us to her it 
will."  They both waited for what seemed like forever.  The Doctor patted 
the console affectionately.  "Come on, old girl, you can do it," he murmured. 
 Finally the time rotor started to rise and fall.  They both let out their held 
breath.  "Ha, I knew it!" he exclaimed.  He watched the readouts change as 
they traveled.  He turned on the viewscreen and after a few moments it 
focused on two beat-up looking ships...Dalek ships.  He consulted the 
temporal readout. 
	"Where are we?" Romana asked, her hand still on the interface.
	"Those are Imperial Dalek ships...though at this point in time they're 
still just Davros' renegades.  According to this, Ace is on the larger of 
them."  He pressed his lips together.  "Fenric must have found a way to 
maneuver us into Davros' tender care, probably through Ace."
	"Doctor, we can't just storm over there and demand our own release."
	"Clearly not.  No...what we need is a distraction," he said, consulting 
the readouts, his bright eyes ticking over starcharts of the area.  
"There...that'll do nicely.  Nothing like a bit of civil war to take people's 
minds off things."  He punched in a few coordinates and the viewscreen 
shifted to show three smaller but sleeker Dalek ships.  "Those are the 
current Imperial Daleks, the ones Davros regards as the renegades.  I 
thought we'd find them nearby, this area is pretty thick with Dalek activity."
	"Hmm...they look they're in dire need of an anonymous tipoff," Romana 
said, smiling.
	"My thoughts exactly."


	Ace had just enough time before she lost consciousness to realize she'd 
been hit with a plasma discharge.  She slumped to the floor.
	"Ace!" Romana cried and started towards her.  The bridge commander 
got in her way and began pushing her out of the bridge and towards the cell.
Davros followed, pinning Romana between himself and the bridge commander. 
 Romana struggled against them as she tried to get past them to Ace.  They 
herded her towards the bridge and the cell door slid closed again.
	In the interrogation room just off the bridge the Doctor heard Romana 
call out Ace's name.  He stood and started for the door but was forced back
down by his Dalek keepers.  In a few moments Romana was shoved into the 
room with him, followed by Davros.
	"What happened?" he hissed at her.
	"They stunned Ace," she whispered back.  "I couldn't tell how badly she 
was hurt, but they want to keep her alive."
	"ONLY FOR A TIME," Davros added.  "THE STUN PULSE WILL RENDER 
HER UNCONSCIOUS FOR A FEW HOURS, BUT AFTER THAT SHE WILL DIE 
UNLESS REVIVED BY US."
	"Ah.  Nothing like a little time pressure to stimulate interrogations, 
right Davros?" the Doctor spat.  "I still cannot risk telling you anything."
	"I AM NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR POSTURING, DOC-TOR."  He focused his 
eye on Romana as two Daleks flanked the Doctor.  "YOU WILL ANSWER MY 
QUESTIONS.  IF YOU DO NOT ANSWER THEM, HE WILL DIE SLOWLY AND 
PAINFULLY WHILE YOU WATCH."
	Romana gulped and glanced at the Doctor.  He shook his head minutely. 
She straightened her back and gave Davros her most withering stare.  "I 
won't tell you anything."
	Davros quaked with anger.  "SO BE IT, TIME LORD."  The Daleks 
guarding the Doctor moved closer to him.  He steeled himself, but before 
they could act a klaxon went off and the red-alert lights began flashing.  The 
bridge commander's voice was heard.
	"EMPEROR TO THE BRIDGE.  RENEGADE DALEK SHIPS INCOMING.  THEY 
ARE PREPARING TO FIRE."
	Davros spun and rolled towards the bridge, casting an angry look back 
at the two relieved Time Lords.  The guards left with him, the door sliding 
shut behind them.
	"It's about time I showed up," the Doctor shouted to be heard over the 
klaxons.  "I certainly have impeccable timing."


	The TARDIS materialized in the holding cell.  "It should have brought us 
right to her," the Doctor said as they emerged.  They looked around, puzzled. 
 The ship rocked with a weapons hit.  "Sounds like the renegade Daleks found 
them all right."
	"Doctor!" Romana cried, spotting Ace lying on the floor behind the 
TARDIS.  He rushed over and knelt by her inert form.  Romana watched as he 
checked her pulse and flipped up her eyelids.  "Is she all right?"
	"No.  She's been stunned.  She's alive but she won't be unless the stun 
effect is counteracted," he said tightly.  He picked her up and hurried into 
the TARDIS, darting into the first room off the console room to set her down 
on the bed, Romana close behind him.  He stared down at Ace's face for a 
moment, reaching out to touch her cheek.  He turned to Romana.  "Take her 
to the Domain, they'll know how to take care of her."
	"What about you?" she asked, trailing him as he went back into the 
console room. 
	"I've got to execute a jailbreak," he said, pulling a few objects from 
his toolkit under the console.  He rummaged in Ace's knapsack hanging on the 
hatstand and came up with a gray aerosol can.  Smiling, he pocketed it.
	"You can't let the renegade Daleks destroy this ship, Davros and his 
Daleks have to survive!"
	"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it."
	"How will you get back?"
	"His TARDIS is here too, remember?  I'll meet you at the Domain, now 
hurry!" he exclaimed, disappearing out the doors.  Romana sighed and 
dematerialized the TARDIS.
	The Doctor watched as his ship disappeared, not letting himself think 
too much about the safety of its unconscious passenger.  He went to the 
hallway door of the cell and pulled out an ordinary red U-shaped ferromagnet 
with an electric booster attached.  He pressed it against the polysteel wall 
where he knew the door controls were located, activated the booster and at 
once there was a click as the mechanism engaged and the door slid upward.  
He ducked into the hallway.  "The fancier they make the plumbing the easier 
it is to stop up the drain," he muttered to himself.  He circled around to the 
far side of the bridge, peering in each door window as he passed until he 
came to a door with no window.  The ship rocked again with another blast 
from the renegade Dalek ship, and he felt the hum in the floor as Davros 
returned fire.  Not much time.
	This was the only door with no slot window in it.  He leaned an ear 
against it but could hear nothing.  Soundproofed...must be the interrogation 
room.  He whipped out his trusty old Dalek plunger arm, scavenged from a 
dead Dalek ages ago, and socketed it into the locking mechanism.  The old 
tricks never fail, he thought, twisting it to the left.  The door slid open.  
	"Well, it's about bloody time!" the Doctor exclaimed.  "What took you 
so long?  I was about to be tortured!"
	"Save the histrionics for later, we're in a bit of rush," he replied.  The 
Doctor and Romana ran into the hallway and the Doctor twisted the plunger 
arm back, closing the door.  "With luck they won't realize you're gone until 
we're well away."
	"Is Ace all right?" the Doctor asked anxiously.
	"I hope so.  Romana took her to the Domain in my TARDIS.  Where's 
yours?"
	"Deck 3."
	"Let's go."  The three sprinted down the hallway to the lift, where the 
Doctor used his plunger arm to get them access.
	"Where'd you get that?" the Doctor asked, indicating the plunger arm.
	"Souvenir," he replied shortly, using it again to request deck 3.  The 
lift hummed into life.   He turned his head slowly to look up into his own face, 
which was looking back down at him speculatively.
	"Short again, eh?" the Doctor said, smirking.
	"I'll thank you not to sneer.  At least I got a normal nose this time 
round."  The lift door opened onto a deserted hallway.
	"Seems a bit dead for a battle," Romana commented.
	"That's just it, it's a battle.  All the Daleks should be occupied, which is 
why I arranged for the renegades to attack.  We could still run into one, 
however, so stay alert."  They hurried down the hall and sure enough, a 
patrol Dalek appeared from an adjoining corridor and saw them.  It turned 
towards them and rolled forward, screaming the usual Dalek threats.  The 
Doctor didn't slow but kept running towards it, leaving his startled former 
self and Romana behind.  He rushed at the Dalek, ducking its disintegrator 
blasts, and before it knew what was happening he grasped its eyepiece 
decisively and jerked it downward hard as he could, snapping it off.  The 
Dalek spun away, screeching about its vision being impaired. 
	"Impressive," the Doctor said admiringly as he and Romana came up to 
him.
	"You learn a few things being married to an ex-Dalek killer.  Daleks 
have trouble with quick, decisive actions," the Doctor commented, tossing 
the eyepiece away.  "Where is it?"
	"This way," the Doctor said, starting off down the corridor again.  
They rounded a corner to behold the blue police box just where they'd left it. 
 "I'm surprised the Daleks just left it here," he said, pulling out his key.
	"They had a lot on their minds," the Doctor said as the three Time 
Lords bundled into the TARDIS.  The Doctor went to the controls.
	"Off to the Domain, then."
	"No, we have one little thing to attend to first," the Doctor said.
	"What's that?"
	"I can't let those renegade Daleks out there destroy this ship now," he 
said.  "It would throw everything off."
	The Doctor looked at him thoughtfully.  "Ace said something to that 
effect as well.  Is this about the Hand?"
	"Yes, but that's not important right now.  Just get us to that lead 
renegade ship, somewhere inconspicuous like a cargo hold."  The younger 
Doctor looked doubtful at the prospect of such a precise short hop.  The 
Doctor pushed him aside, realizing how much better he'd gotten at flying this 
thing since his fourth incarnation.  "Here, I'll do it."  His hands flew expertly 
over the controls.
	"Hm.  Seems I've a lot to learn," the Doctor said to Romana, watching 
as his future self dematerialized the TARDIS.  The short trip only took a few 
seconds, and as the time rotor stopped moving the Doctor bounded to the 
door, withdrawing the aerosol can from his pocket.  "What's that?" the 
Doctor asked him.
	"Nitro nine."
	"A progenitor of nitro-nine-a?"
	Chuckling, the Doctor nodded.  "Indeed it is.  I gather Ace still keeps a 
few beads in her boot sole."  He sobered, looking over at himself.  "Set the
TARDIS to take us to the Domain now.  I'm going to set this timer for ten 
seconds and set it near the electrical system controls.  As soon as I get 
back, get us out of here."  The Doctor nodded, setting the proper
coordinates. 
	The Doctor ducked out the doors and glanced around.  The control panel 
was over near the door.  He set the can on top of the switch box, twisted the 
top and ran back to the TARDIS, which immediately dematerialized.  The 
nitro-nine detonated after exactly ten seconds, the explosion taking out most
 of the lower hull and blowing the entire electrical system of the renegade 
Dalek ship.
	The Doctors and Romana watched on the viewscreen as the ship 
careened out of control.  
	"Without the lead ship, they won't be able to defeat Davros.  One ship of 
renegades more or less won't alter things appreciably...I hope," the Doctor 
said.  He leaned against the console, the crisis over...but he still felt deeply 
troubled.  He could feel his younger self looking at him.
	"So you really are married to her, eh?  I didn't think she was lying but 
it was still hard to believe."
	The Doctor smiled distractedly.  "Yes, I'm really married to her."
	There was a brief pause.  "Well, she's quite a remarkable person."
	He nodded.  "Yes, she is."  He looked up at himself.  "Quite frankly, I 
don't deserve her."  The time rotor stopped.  The Doctor hit the door 
controls and left without another word.
	The Doctor and Romana exchanged a glance.  "What do you suppose he 
meant by that?" he mused.
	"No idea."  She thought for a moment.  "But I don't think he knows what
 he meant either."



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