From: pih@doc.ic.ac.uk (Paul Ian Harman)
Newsgroups: alt.ql.creative,alt.drwho.creative
Subject: Doctor, Samuel Beckett (Part Eight)
Date: 13 Jan 1995 16:49:32 -0000
Organization: Dept. of Computing, Imperial College, University of London, UK.
Message-Id: <3f6aus$kv7@oak25.doc.ic.ac.uk>


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			     Doctor, Samuel Beckett
			     ----------------------
				       or

				 A Leap in Time
				 --------------

				 by Paul Harman
				 ==============

		Part Eight
		~~~~~~~~~~


	Alia, desperately looking for a way out of her predicament, glanced
around. The ccorridor forked: one way was blocked off by the approaching
Gallifrean guards, that left a choice of two. She was still deciding when a
small robotic dog wheeled its way out of one of the corridors.
	"Greetings Master, Mistress" he said.
	"Help me!" Alia said, momentarily taken aback at how K9 could see her
as she really was, rather than the body which she currently inhabited.
`Perhaps he can see Sam as Sam, then' she thought. Assessing the situation,
K9 turned towards the guards and fired a brief red laser pulse from his
nose.
	"Temporary paralysis, Mistress" he said, turned, and went back the
way he came. "Follow." he added. Alia lifted the semi-conscious body of Sam,
and set off after K9.


	The Master surveyed the control room in which he found himself. There
were black, featureless panels all around, and a dark metallic central console
at the far end. Having hypnotised all of the staff, they were now working on
projecting the image of the Master to Alia, in order that she might kill
Sam Beckett, and in doing this trap the Doctor forever in Sam's body,
effectively killing him.
	"We are ready," said Zoey, and the Master smiled one of his evil
smiles. He made his way towards the Imaging Chamber.


	Sam stirred, obviously still in agony but conscious. He noticed K9 in
front of him, and asked "Why did you... leave the TARDIS?"
	"Holographic projection appeared outside TARDIS."
	"You can _see_ those?"
	"Affirmative, Master."
	"What does he mean?" Alia asked.
	"Al and the Doctor..." Sam groaned, and clutched his chest, "...working
on way of me flying craft back to Earth."
	"Hmmm..." Alia said. K9 turned a final corner, and Alia caught sight
of the TARDIS.
	"Is that it? A blue box? We'll never all fit in there."
	"Incorrect, Mistress. Transdimensional Engineering."
	"Meaning...?" Alia said.
	"It's bigger inside than out." Sam replied. "It's there..." he
whispered.
	"What?"
	"A hologram of the console..." he said. "Help me into the TARDIS..."
	Alia put Sam's arm around her shoulder, and helped him walk into the
TARDIS. She carried him towards the console, and he almost fell onto it. He
turned towards the door, and looked intently at the holographic representation
of the console. One switch on the hologram was flicking itself on and off.
	"Aha!" Sam said, and made his way around the console until he found
the indicated switch. He flicked it, and as he did so he noticed that his pain
had reduced since he had entered the TARDIS. He made a mental note to himself
to ask the Doctor about that.
	Sam looked back up at the hologram to see which swith he had to flick
next. However, the hologram was still showing the first change.
	"How the _hell_ do I tell them to go on?" he thought aloud. At that
moment, a different switch began flashing.
	"Oh, I see! They can still hear me... okay."
	Sam worked busily, knowing that the Doctor was going through similar,
if not more intense, pain than himself.
	"New holographic presence outside TARDIS" said K9. Alia turned and
looked outside, and saw a man, dressed in black with a goatee beard looking
back at her.
	"Who are you?" she asked.
	"A friend - a friend who wants to help" the Master replied.
	"Who are you talking to?" Sam asked, unaware of the presence of the
Master, similar to the way Alia could not see the holographic console.
	"Just someone..." Alia said. Sam nodded, too intent on setting the
TARDIS moving to pay too much attention. The Master began to walk towards her,
and as he crossed the entrance to the TARDIS he disappeared. He re-emerged
seconds later, back outside the TARDIS. `The Doctor must have some protective
device on his TARDIS' he thought. `That may be of use to me.'
	"Do you trust this Sam Beckett?" the Master asked.
	"He saved my life, once" she replied.
	"How can you know that he is setting the right course?"
	"The Doctor is sending instructions..."
	"Ah, the Doctor. Such a strange character," the Master said. "On the
outside, a pleasant person, but hidden deep within...? Who is to say? Can you
afford to take that chance?"
	"But only the Doctor can fly the TARDIS..." Alia said.
	"Now is that true, I wonder? He is not the only Time Lord, you know. In
fact, you are on a planet full of Time Lords. I myself am one. Why not let
me show you the way to program a course, rather than using this second-hand
method?"
	Alis considered his offer, it did seem to have some sense.
	"Sam," she said.
	"Yes..." he replied, somewhat abstractly.
	"Are you sure this is the right course?"
	"Perfectly, it is from the Doctor."
	"But this man says he could help us, too."
	"If he is a hologram, then he will be the person who you have leapt
into, the person who hypnotised me before. I didn't trust him."
	"You must take the craft by force!" the Master urged Alia. "Otherwise
you may never be able to leap home! This is your chance!"
	Alia thought for a few moments, picked up a cricket bat that was
leaning against one of the walls, and advanced on the busy Doctor Beckett...

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-- 
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Paul `Ozymandias' Harman : pih@doc.ic.ac.uk -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
+-+-+-+-+-+ The amazing changing quote currently stands as follows: +-+-+-+-+-+
 "Maybe I am getting too young for this sort of thing."
	- Tom Baker, Invasion of Time