Kirk looked at the somber faces surrounding him as he stood at the head of the rectangular conference table. Of course, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, and McCoy were there. But Saavik was there as well; even though she was a Lieutenant, she was also the Science officer of record in Spock's absence, and Kirk was glad to have her there, if only to lend a logical air to the strange events of the last few hours.
"All right, is everyone here? Good; then let's begin. Please be seated." As everyone took a seat, he let out a small sigh. "Now, then. We all have heard of the events that took place a few hours ago, but they bear repeating, if only to assure ourselves that they did in fact occur."
"As we were preparing to begin our studies of the Narigeron Asteroid Belt, a phenomenon that can only be described as 'a spatial-temporal disturbance' enveloped the ship. A few moments later, our friend and time-traveller Gary Seven appeared. He proceeded to tell us this story." Kirk tabbed a switch on the console in front of him, and Gary Seven's voice came out of the air.
"Sorry for the entrance, Captain, but I'm in a hurry. I have information of great import to reveal to you, and they're not far behind..."
For several minutes, the bridge crew listened, rapt with attention, as the recording continued.
At the end, the crew heard McCoy's voice sputter, "Now, what is that supposed to mean-", then Chekov's shout.
"Keptin, there is another spatial-temporal disturbance forming outside the ship!"
Kirk turned off the recording, as he continued stating the facts. "At that time, an unknown life-form, blue and translucent, with some type of orifice on its upper region, transported onto the bridge. The alien fired some kind of energy bolt at Gary Seven, killing him. The alien then fired another bolt, killing a security officer who had fired at it, and then finally fired at Captain Spock. The alien and Captain Spock then vanished."
"Now, I have good reason to believe that Spock is still alive. From what we've been told, the alien, described by Gary Seven as an 'agent of Darkness', has been taking specific people out of their time periods and holding them hostage. I think that Spock was one of those people, and is now held somewhere against his will."
"So, we're going to go look for him, aren't we, sir?" Scotty was impatient. "I mean, we can't just wait here and see what happens, can we?"
"Mister Scott, that is exactly what we are going to do."
"But, why? Who knows what those beasties are doing to Mister Spock right now?"
"I understand your concern, Scotty, and believe me, I share it. But this thing could travel through space and time, and we cannot, unless you want to try the slingshot method, which isn't any good unless we knew when and where to go, which we don't. So, we have to stay here. Understood?"
Scotty sighed. "Understood."
Uhura spoke. "So, how long do we stay here, sir?"
"Until we get some kind of answers. And I think we'll get them when this 'Time's Champion' character arrives."
After a few seconds of sitting there in silence, the doors to the ancient Police Box opened, and the Doctor came out. He stepped forward a few paces, took a deep breath, and looked around. After a moment of this, he spoke.
"Well, Melissa, it looks like we're here. You can come out now."
From inside, Melissa's voice could be heard.
"Are you sure it's safe, Doctor?"
"Perfectly."
Melissa stepped out then, still in her blue jumpsuit. She looked around. "It looks safe... Where exactly are we, anyway?"
"I told you. The year 2293, and a little ship called Enterprise."
"I know that, Doctor. Could you please be a little more specific?"
"All right. In your planet's future, around the year 2067, a United Federation of Planets will be created. It will expand to include several hundred races of alien beings. We are on board their flagship vessel, the Starship USS Enterprise, registry number NCC-1701-A."
"Ah. And you think that this ship's technology has the capability to determine the composition of the sample you found on the Hinire Upsilon planetoid."
"Right. But, now that I'm here, I think there is more to it than that."
"What do you mean, Doctor?"
The Time Lord opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by the door to the Cargo Bay opening. Melissa noticed this, and hissed, "Doctor, hide!"
But the Doctor stood his ground. "We have nothing to hide, Melissa. These are good people."
A man entered the Bay; a security officer, the Doctor surmised. He looked around for a moment, and then spied the Doctor and Melissa. He cautiously pulled his phaser and spoke.
"Who are you?"
The Doctor looked at the officer and his weapon calmly. "I am the Doctor, and this is my companion, Miss Melissa Chambers." He reached into his left coat pocket; the security man, surprised by the speed of the Doctor's movements, pointed his phaser at the Time Lord.
"What are you doing here?"
"Please holster your weapon, if you would; you're frightening my companion." He looked at Melissa, who shot him a look that said, *You're not kidding, Doctor.* The Doctor's hand came out of his pocket to reveal-- a brown paper bag. He fished around in it for a moment, and then, smiling broadly, said, "Aha!"
Melissa smiled; she knew what was coming. *And everytime he does it, it never fails to make me laugh.* The Doctor held out his quarry to the security officer. "Jelly baby?", he inquired, pushing the candy into the hand of the security officer. "What's your name, lad?"
"Uh, Harris, sir." The security officer answered uneasily. He wasn't sure if he was in control of the situation; Melissa couldn't blame him one bit. *The Doctor's the kind of person who makes you lose control of the situation all the time*, she thought. *And it always works.*
"Well, Harris, don't just stand there, eat it!" Harris stood there, looking at the candy. The Doctor, as if reading his mind, spoke softly. "Don't worry, Harris; it isn't poisoned. In fact, if I wanted to eliminate you," he continued, the smile never leaving his face, "wouldn't I have done it as soon as you came into the Cargo Bay?"
This reasoning seemed to satisfy Harris; he bit into the candy.
"Now, then, I need to find Captain Kirk. It is gravely important that I speak with him. Do you know where he is?"
Harris, his mouth still full of candy, nodded. The Doctor smiled.
"Good. Can we go to him, please?"
Harris swallowed his candy and spoke. "I will have to see, sir." He pulled out his communicator and spoke into it. "Harris to Bridge. I would like to have a secure line to Captain Kirk, please. It's important."
After a few seconds of silence, a voice issued from the communicator.
"Captain Kirk here, Lieutenant. What is it?"
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there is a man and woman here to see you..."
The Doctor interrupted. "No offense to humanity, Harris, but I am not a man. I am a Time Lord, and I need to speak to Captain Kirk immediately."
In the Conference Room, Kirk and the others heard the Doctor's voice.
"... I am not a man. I am a Time Lord, and I need to speak to Captain Kirk immediately."
Kirk reacted like he'd been shot. McCoy asked, "What's the matter, Jim?"
"The man said he was a Time Lord... Don't you get it? Gary Seven said that the 'Champion' who would visit us was 'a Lord of Time'. It's him!"
"Are you sure?"
"Right now, it's the best we've got." He spoke to Harris. "Lieutenant, bring this, er, Time Lord and his friend up here to the Conference Room. I would like to speak to him."
"Right away, sir." Harris switched off the communicator, then turned to the Doctor and Melissa. "If you would follow me, sir..."
"Of course, Harris, thank you." The Doctor and Melissa followed Harris out into the hallway and into the turbolift at the end of the corridor. As they entered the lift, Harris pressed a button, and the lift sped off. The Doctor turned to Harris. "Another jelly baby?"
Melissa punched the Doctor on the arm. "Not now, Doctor. We don't have time for this. We have to find out about Ace, remember?"
"Of course, of course." The Doctor was silent for a moment. "You sure you wouldn't like one?"
Melissa sighed.
"I'm Captain James Kirk. I'm sorry if I don't know the proper Time Lord greeting..."
"That's quite all right, Captain; I'm afraid I don't know it either." The Doctor smiled. "You see, I have been away from my people for a long time."
"And your people are..." McCoy was curious.
"I come from the planet Gallifrey, and don't worry, Doctor Leonard McCoy, you haven't met them. As a matter of fact, none of you have; at least, not yet." The Doctor smiled at McCoy's surprise. "Yes, Doctor, I know of you all, even though you have never heard of me."
"But, how..."
"My TARDIS has extensive records on each and every one of you."
"Your what?" Uhura was surprised.
"My TARDIS, Miss Uhura. "It stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It is my time vehicle." Harris spoke up at this point.
"It looks like a blue box, sir." The Doctor smiled.
"Yes, it does. But remember, looks can be decieving."
He looked at every one in turn, then 'hmmm'ed softly to himself. "Well, well, the great and noble crew of the Enterprise-A. This is a pleasure."
"You still haven't introduced yourself or your companion." McCoy persisted.
"Aye, you seem to know everything about us, but yet we know nothing about you." Scotty spoke up.
"Very well, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott- may I call you Scotty?" At Scotty's hasty nod, he continued. "Well then, Scotty, I am the Doctor, and this is my companion, Miss Melissa Chambers..."
Melissa reached over to shake the captain's hand. "Call me Mel.", she said, smiling over to the Doctor, who made a grimace and muttered something. Saavik thought, *Carrot juice?*
Kirk continued. "'Doctor', is it? Doctor of what?"
"Of nothing, and everything. It is my name, and who I am. Aren't all names this way?" The Doctor smiled.
"Pardon me, Doctor, but we were wondering... are you also called the 'Champion'?"
At the sound of the name, the Doctor turned white, it seemed to the others. Even Melissa noticed, and wondered, *What's the matter with the Doctor? It's as if the name were like a knife through his hearts...*
But the Doctor recovered quickly, and answered, "Yes, that is true, I was known by that name. 'Time's Champion', it was, and during my last life. I don't particularly care for it, though; just 'Doctor' will do. By the way, where did you hear it?"
"Well, first from a light in a dream, and then from a... friend of ours."
The Doctor thought a moment. "This 'light' could have been the White Guardian..."
"Yes, our friend did mention a White Guardian."
The Doctor 'hmm'ed softly, then spoke again. "And where is this friend of yours? I would like to talk to him or her; it would appear that he or she knows a great deal more about things than I do."
Kirk's face fell. "I'm sorry, Doctor. He... was murdered just a few hours ago."
"I'm sorry, Captain. Please accept my condolences." Kirk noticed that the Doctor's voice held great sadness, the sadness of someone whom had lost people dear to him. He himself had sounded like that, Kirk realized, when Spock had died, and when David had been murdered.
*There has to be a way to stop this killing...* Kirk thought helplessly. *Gary, I promise, we will avenge your death. It will not have been in vain.*
McCoy spoke again. "Did I hear you right, Doctor, when you said that Gary Seven knew more about things than you do?"
"That's correct, Doctor McCoy. Intelligent though we are, Time Lords aren't omniscient. At least, I'm not; then again, I have always been somewhat of a renegade..."
"Well, then, if you don't know about what's going on, why are you here?"
"I'm here because I had a startling premonition. A dear friend of mine, a former companion in fact, was taken by some kind of strange monsters. Bluish in color, with an orifice on its head, I believe. I tracked my friend's whereabouts to a desolate planetoid in the far future, and found evidence of an unusual form of radiation. My technology is quite limited, however, and I could not identify it. I was hoping that here, in this place, in this time, you might know what it is."
Kirk nodded. "This is amazing. You see, we have encountered this entity that you speak of, first in a dream of mine, and then here on the Enterprise, a few hours ago. It killed our friend Gary Seven and kidnapped my first officer, Captain Spock."
"You mentioned Gary Seven before. I have heard the name. He worked for the Argus Project, does he not?"
"Yes, he did. You've heard of the Project?"
"Yes, I have. Our goals are similar, but their methods are quite primitive..."
Suddenly, a light enveloped the conference room, and when it had subsided, a woman was standing in the room. She was tall, and slight, with dark hair and green eyes. She was clothed in a one-piece black jumpsuit, and she turned to the Doctor, furious.
"How dare you call our goals similar, or our methods primitive, Time Lord!!" The woman launched herself at the Doctor.
Kirk, and everyone else for that matter, were astonished. The Doctor moved the woman around, his hand still on her chest, and pushed her into a chair. "Have a seat, will you?", he remarked acidly, as he removed his hand from her chest.
The woman remained frozen, though, as she sputtered, "I can't move! What have you done to me, you wretched Time Lord?"
"I've put you into a state of paralysis, using Venusian aikido. I picked it up in my travels, used it quite extensively during my third life, in fact." At the looks of the crew, the Doctor smiled.
"Don't worry, it is only temporary. Though, young lady, I suggest you calm down somewhat, or I will have to use stronger measures to protect myself. All right?"
The Doctor stated this calmly, the smile never leaving his face, and Kirk realized that this Doctor had many astonishing talents. *I'm glad he's on our side... But what if he isn't?* Kirk shook his head. *Stop it, Jim. You're being paranoid; he hasn't given you any reason for you to distrust him. Just keep your head, and everything will be alright.*
The woman began to calm down, and as she did so, her body began to respond. After a few more minutes, she spoke. "I suppose I should tell you who I am, and why I attacked you."
The Doctor just smiled. "That would be a good idea, madam."
The woman shot a withering look at the Time Lord. "Don't call me madam; I may be old, but not nearly as old as you."
McCoy interrupted then, speaking to the Doctor. "Speaking of which, you have been talking about yourself and your people as if you're some kind of ancient race. But, you look younger than us. Just how old are you, anyway?"
The Doctor smiled, as did Melissa. They apparently had known that this question was coming soon. "I, Doctor McCoy, am in fact just over one thousand years old."
Several mouths dropped around the room, including the woman in the chair, who spoke. "I had no idea you had been alive quite that long."
"So, how is that possible? Are you immortal? I remember reading material, rumors really, about immortals being around in large numbers in the late 20th-early 21st Century..." Kirk was astonished.
The Doctor laughed. "No, no, Captain, I'm not one of those. You see, Gallifreyans- at least, those who have become Time Lords- have the ability to regenerate our bodies when they become too old or damaged beyond repair. We simply... transform into a new body, persona, and identity."
"That's amazing!" Chekov spoke excitedly. "How many of these lives have you lived, Doctor?"
"This is my eighth life, Mister Chekov. I have thirteen lives available to me. Rather better than being a cat, don't you think? At least, that's what I kept telling Wolsey." He didn't elaborate on this last; instead, he continued.
"I've had some interesting regenerations, I can tell you. My first incarnation died of old age, but after that, I was painfully forced to regenerate, then I was bit by Mebellian spiders, then I fell off a radio telescope, then I contracted spetrox toxemia, then I hit my head on the console... my, I was clumsy that day. Oh, yes, and then I was shot three times, then drugged with anesthetic and probed with a thin wire. Ohhh, not fun at all, let me assure you ..."
Kirk loudly coughed, which got the Doctor's attention. "Oh, I'm sorry, Captain. You see, I do have this tendency to ramble..."
"I understand, Doctor, but wouldn't you like to know whom our guest is and why she came all this way to attack you? I sure would."
The woman became indignant. "I didn't come here to attack him." She gestured toward the Doctor, who smiled back and bowed. "Although he does deserve it."
"Me? And just what did I do to arouse your ire, madam? Park my TARDIS in a no time-machine zone?", the Doctor answered flippantly.
"All right, that's enough." Kirk looked toward the Doctor and the woman. "Be quiet, both of you. I want to get to the bottom of Spock's disappearance, and I'm sure you want to find your friend, Doctor, don't you?"
The Doctor became serious. "Yes, I do."
"Then why don't we all just sit down and behave civilly so we can sort this whole situation out, all right?"
The Doctor nodded; all the combativeness had been taken out of him by Kirk's words. Melissa heard him sigh. *He so desperately wants to find Ace. She must have been very important to him, more important than I ever realized. I wonder...*
Melissa let the thought hang, unfinished, in the back of her mind as Kirk spoke to the woman.
"Now, then, who are you, and what are you doing here?"
The woman paused and looked at everyone, even the Doctor, before she spoke.
"My name is Lyta. I am a member of the Argus Project; in fact, I was Gary Seven's partner. As for why I'm here, I've come here to help you find those responsible for his death. Purely and simply, I want revenge. And you're going to help me get it."
Lieutenant Commander Data, the android helmsman of the Starship Enterprise, scrambled to his feet and took a look around. *Hmmm... intriguing. Some type of radiation is obscuring my stereoscopic vision. Attempting to identify...* His eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment.
*Yes... it is the same type of radiation I detected when I was taken from the Enterprise. Triolic radiation, definitely. Then there is no doubt the Devidians did kidnap me and bring me here.*
"But for what purpose?" He had, over the past seven years of serving on the Enterprise, developed the habit of talking to himself. He found that it helped him collect his thoughts and focus. As he began to walk around, taking in more and more of his surroundings, he continued to do so.
"What purpose would I serve them being here? Obviously, they want me somewhere where I cannot interfere with their plans. This begs the following questions: What precisely are their plans? What do they plan to do with me? Have they taken anyone else? Has the Enterprise begun to track me? Where exactly am I..."
He stopped short his soliloquoy, as he noticed something with his advanced vision. *Impaired though it may be, I can still detect something metallic in the northeastern direction. I shall investigate...* And with that, he began to move in that direction. He had gone no more than maybe twenty or thirty feet when he heard a voice call out.
"You there, stop!"
Data whirled around, and his hand went to his phaser, which he belatedly realized has not there. *Ah, yes, I did not carry one today.* The sight he was met with made him wish with an almost human-like detachment that he had.
Right in front of him was a young woman, no more than twenty or twenty-five years of age, Data reasoned. She was dressed in some kind of one-piece jumpsuit. Her steely gaze focused on Data as she tightened her grip on the weapon she held in her hand.
Ace looked at the android before her. "All right, Yellow-Eyes, why don't you tell me who you are and why you're here before I blow you to atoms, huh?
Artwork by Robert Sankner, Copyright 1997
Cris Lawrence, alias Doc8 on Dalnet, is a 20-year-old sophomore Political Science student at Miami University of Ohio. In addition to this story, he is currently working on two other Eighth Doctor stories: "Picture of Guilt", featuring the first adventure of Melissa Chambers and the Doctor; and "The Play's the Thing", which, with some revision, will hopefully become my first published New Adventure sometime in 1998. Cris is also a fan of the DC Comics character The Flash, and you can see the culmination of his obsession on his Scarlet Speedster Web Page