Chapter Three: Return to the Undead

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor was scanning the time-stream for the next splinter of the Time Sirens. Lisa was leaning against the rail beside him and the Temperon was resting on the chair by the console.

“I hope getting the rest of them is that easy,” said Lisa.

“We got lucky,” said the Doctor matter-of-factly.

Simultaneously the console beeped and the TARDIS pitched violently, throwing the three of them off-balance. The Doctor clawed at the console to right the TARDIS, then stared at the information the computer was giving him.

“Warp ellipse cut-out?” the Doctor said incredulously.

Eyes wide, Lisa activated the scanner. Within the empty star field, a dull red glow had appeared. It grew brighter and closer, forming a solid shape very like a large pleasure craft that sailed the oceans of Earth.

“Mawdryn’s ship!” Lisa cried. “Materialize on board or we’ll crash!”

He didn’t have time to argue with her, plus the truth of what she was saying was right their in front of his eyes. Working frantically, the Doctor slammed down on the controls, flipping a switch and holding Lisa’s hands on it, indicating that she shouldn’t let go. He went to the other side of the console and worked more controls. The vibrating stopped and the ship’s interior could be seen on the scanner.

“We’re on Mawdryn’s ship,” said Lisa breathlessly. “The mutant who impersonated you…or tried to. He and the other seven of them wanted your remaining regenerations to end their mutation.”

The Doctor was, once again, staring at her, wondering how she could remember five of his regenerations ago.

“Doctor,” she said softly, reading his mind, “you nearly lost your ability to regenerate. Your Fifth self.” That really was all she needed to say. The Doctor’s Fifth incarnation was the first to have fallen in love with her; that simple fact ensured that the Fifth Doctor would always have a special place in her hearts. If it happened to him, she was sure to remember it.

Doctor, where is the Time Siren? the Temperon asked, bringing them back to the task at hand.

The Time Lord blinked. “Yes…right.” He worked the controls. “Right here on the ship it looks like. Wait…” He squinted at the readout as if he couldn’t believe it. “Two Brigadiers?”

Lisa thought about that, then reminded him that their old friend, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, had traveled to the ship twice within two time zones – one from 1977 that had gone with Nyssa, Tegan and Mawdryn in the TARDIS and one from 1983 that had come with herself, the Doctor and Turlough in the transmat capsule. It had been the meeting of the two Brigadiers that had shorted out the time differential and ended the mutants’ immortality.

“What’s going on, now?” she asked. “I think I’ll be able to tell how long we got ’til the ship explodes.”

He looked sharply at her, but started trying to find out the information she needed. “Our other selves and the 1983 Brigadier are in some kind of laboratory…Turlough and the 1977 Brigadier are wandering the ship…Nyssa and Tegan are inside the other TARDIS…that mutant – Mawdryn you called him? – is very slowly moving through the ship…and the Siren is also wandering the ship, but, thankfully, on the opposite side from everyone else. For now, at least.”

“The Siren might be heading for the younger Brig,” suggested Lisa. “ ’Cause if he doesn’t interfere with the transfer, then you won’t be a Time Lord anymore and won’t be able to regenerate. That’s an energy they could feed on.”

Quite possibly, agreed the Temperon.

“We won’t catch it in here,” said Lisa. “This ship is big, but I think the Temperon and I should go after the Siren alone. I can only hide the two of us.”

The Doctor didn’t like the idea, but she had a point. He put on a hand on her shoulder. “Be careful.”

“Always,” she said with a smile.

Lisa and the Temperon left the TARDIS and looked around the corridors, listening for the other people she knew were around. She could hear herself, the Fifth Doctor and the 1983 Brigadier talking, the 1977 Brigadier and Turlough talking and the painful groaning of Mawdryn as he was crawling towards the laboratory. Underneath all of that, she could hear the singsong-like hum again, the hum that signified the appearance of the Sirens of Time.

“Come on,” she said to the Temperon. Together they walked through the ship searching for the next splinter of Time Siren.

How do you know where you are going? the Temperon asked as they turned seemingly random corners.

“I can hear her.”

You must have very sensitive haring.

“Yes.”

They finally saw her: a woman, again, in 1980s clothes. She probably stowed away on the transmat capsule, if Lisa had to guess. She didn’t really care.

Lisa took the arm of the Temperon and initiated her invisibility, simultaneously hitting the START button on the stopwatch around her neck, just in case.

The Siren blinked at the Spot where they’d disappeared, frowning, then was immediately tackled by Lisa and the Temperon, the invisibility cutting out and the stopwatch stopping.

“What are you up to?” Lisa demanded of the Siren. She didn’t answer, just struggled against their combined weight. Lisa shook her head. “Take her.”

The Siren disappeared as the Temperon absorbed her. They stood up and prepared to make their way back to the Doctor, but a sound made Lisa stop. She turned and saw a prone form lying on the floor of the ship, white robes stained with sweat and pus. She recognized him as Mawdryn.

Rather comically, she shoved the Temperon behind a pillar before the weakened mutant could see him, giving the Time Beast a meaningful look. She first listened to make sure her other self, the Fifth Doctor and the ’83 Brigadier had left the laboratory. It sounded as if they were about to, so she walked over to the barely conscious body.

He was wheezing with every breath, his heart hammering in his chest. He was in a great deal of pain, but he couldn’t die. Not until the two Brigadiers converged.

“Mawdryn…” she said softly, standing where he could see her.

The mutant started at the sound of her voice. “Who…who are you?” he asked, his voice feeble.

“Never mind. I want to help you. I can get you to the lab without you having to crawl there, but I won’t be able to connect you to the machinery. I can’t lift you. The Brigadier will do it…but you don’t know that.”

Mawdryn squinted his reptilian eyes as she knelt beside him, recognizing her. “You…were with the Time Lord.”

He’d probably seen her other self with the Fifth Doctor. She nodded. “Yeah, but if I help you, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not even me when you see me later. Things will be bad if you do. Very bad.”

“Why…would you betray the Time Lord…by helping me?”

Lisa winced. “I’m not betraying the Doctor,” she said defensively. This was the Fifth Doctor he was referring to. “I just can’t stand to watch you suffer. I know you’re in pain and I can help. If you agree.”

Mawdryn appeared to be weighing the options. Perhaps it was the pain he was in or just her simple act of compassion, but he nodded. “Yes.”

Shooting the Temperon a look that meant “Stay there”, she said to Mawdryn, “Take my hand.”

The mutant rolled over onto his back and took her hand. It was ice cold, yet slick with sweat and liquefied flesh. She felt him trembling and, in sympathy, she took his other hand, holding them both between hers, trying to warm them. Shutting her eyes, she listened. The laboratory was quiet, so she teleported them both away.

She didn’t have much time before the ’83 Brigadier return to the lab to connect Mawdryn to the regenerator. The mutant beside her blinked at the change of location. She started to stand up, but he clung to her hand with his remaining strength.

“Thank you…” he said faintly. “No one…has ever shown me that much compassion.”

“Remember our deal,” she said, squeezing his hand gently. She had always felt sorry for Mawdryn and his fellow mutants. She hadn’t had the opportunity to offer any help to him the first time around; she felt better now. “I have to go. Good luck.”

She could hear the ’83 Brigadier approaching. She let go of her his hands and teleported back to the Temperon.

What was that about? the Time Beast asked upon her return.

“Compassion,” she answered simply, then her eyes widened when she heard more footsteps coming towards them. Quickly wiping her hands on her jeans, she took the Temperon’s arm and both activated the invisibility and hid behind a pillar. If this was who she thought it was, her invisibility didn’t work on herself.

She was right as herself, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa came running past them on their way to the laboratory. Her hearts leapt at the sigh of the Fifth Doctor and she watched as the group disappeared around the corner. As soon as they were gone, she cut the invisibility and teleported back to the Doctor.

He embraced her the moment he saw her. “I was worried. What took so long?”

She wiped her hands on her jeans again before putting her arms around him. “Just a little delay. No problems. Everything’s fine. We’d better go before we’re caught.”

Though he probably sensed the lie, he ushered both of them into the TARDIS and immediately took off.

End chapter three.

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