fracturedrp | New arrival

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New arrival

The Master checked the readings on the control console of his TARDIS. He scowled. Three Dalek ships were attempting to cut him off. Escaping from the misbegotten lab accidents had become more difficult, since they learned how to time travel. Their methods, as usual, were crude, but highly effective. Fortunately, the Master congratulated himself on being even more effective!

Travelling in the Vortex was always tricky. It took exact calculations, often done in moments. A TARDIS and its pilot had to work together to stay on course and not get pulled to pieces by the Vortex's violent forces, but the Master had centuries of experience at quick escapes. He'd intended to materialize on Markeb in the constellation of Vela, but his fingers flew swiftly across the console, altering his coordinates. Changing direction in the Vortex was far from safe. Still, his TARDIS was top of the line and he was an expert pilot. The Master finished entering coordinates and pressed in the override.

A sharp jolt almost sent the Master plummetting to the ground, but he managed to stay up right. Despite the dangerous manuever, he was surprised to hear the ominous tolling of his cloister bells! Shutting down the alarm, the Master scanned the immediate area. He couldn't detect any Daleks. Grinning, the Master initiated materialization, waiting for the soft thump of landing.

When the materialization was complete, the Master studied his console, checking for damage. He frowned as he noted the alarm was still flashing red, though he had turned off the sound. He studied the coordinates and saw, to his annoyance, that they had shifted! He had intended to land on Sto, where he could remain fairly anonymous. Instead, he seemed to have landed on Earth in the middle of London, though something in the coordinates seemed off.

Earth was not one of the Master's favorite places, but it was fairly anonymous, when it wasn't under attack. He decided to take a quick walk to get rid of the adrenalin from the chase, then maybe grab a cup of tea. He checked to make sure his TCE was charged and in a handy pocket, then exited his TARDIS.

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"There." The meta-meta suddenly spoke up, reaching out a finger to poke at the screen. He'd singled out one of the numbers several lines before the variance the Master and the Doctor-thing were studying. He frowned, struggled briefly to come up with the words to express what he saw, and gave up. "There," he said again. "That one's wrong." 'Wrong' wasn't the right word by far, but his brain refused to come up with a term to express what he really meant.

The Master looked at the meta-meta's chosen numbers intently, then grinned, giving a nod of approval.

"Very good. You see, Andrew? He does have my genius," the Master gloated, almost paternally. "Take a look. We need only follow the flight path back to this point and we should be able to use these numbers to plot a course."

"Or mine. You didn't catch it any quicker than I did." Handy huffed to himself over that, almost too distracted by his jealousy and possessiveness to actually praise the meta-meta for finding it. A moment later he remembered and absently patted the blond on the arm.

"Still not clear what sort of interference you hit," he pointed out. "Could be dangerous."

"You might have contributed," the Master conceded benignly, but then scoffed at Andrew's warning. "It pulled my TARDIS off course and landed it in an alternate universe. I think we can take dangerous as a given."

The Master set the coordinates into his console, making sure to reverse his flight path precisely. He secretly examined both Andrew and the meta-meta, wanting to gauge their reactions.

Both of them watched as the Master entered the course information, Andrew watching to be sure he did it right and the meta-meta simply watching out of interest. Andrew was beginning to have doubts again - what if they did make it to the Master's universe but couldn't find the spot of interference again to come back? He'd sworn he'd never go back to how things had been when he'd first arrived in this universe, but he could hardly ask the Master for charity, either. He began to sweat, though he was much less afraid of what could happen to them at the site of the interference than of the thought that they might make it through but not come back.

"Ready when you are," he lied, too stubborn to admit how frightened he was. The meta-meta, in contrast, didn't seem bothered at all, and eagerly awaited the Master's next action.

"I've set the TARDIS to go into a holding pattern, right before we enter the site of the interference, where the numbers are wrong," the Master lectured. "From there, we'll do scans and try to discover more about the nature of the interference and the viability of findng coordinates to my home universe."

The Master looked up at Andrew, a smug, sly grin spreading his mouth.

"Relax, Andrew."

"What?" Andrew looked up from the display. "I'm fine - totally relaxed. I don't think it's possible to be any more relaxed than I already am."

Nonetheless, it took a concentrated effort for him to loosen his grip on the edge of the console, and he blushed a little, knowing how obvious he was being about it.

The Master chuckled, almost finding the display endearing.

"Forgive me. Of course, you are," he granted, dryly.

A warning from the console informed the Master that they had arrived and the Master pressed the lever that initiated the pre-set holding pattern. He grinned. They had landed precisely where he hoped. The Master engaged the viewscreen, allowing him and his guests to see what waited outside the TARDIS.

The alarm made him jump, afraid that something had gone terribly wrong already. When the Master simply settled the ship into its holding pattern he grinned sheepishly and craned his neck to get a good look at the display.

"Scan for artron residuals," he suggested after a moment of not seeing anything especially unusual that was visible to the naked eye.

The Master nodded, initiating the scan, frowning slightly. It bothered him, that there was no visual confirmation of the anamoly. Whatever had brought him here had to be fairly powerful and should have left visual traces.

"Have you spoken with anyone who has tried this or similar?"

Andrew shook his head, a bit sheepish. "Not that I know of," he admitted. "I don't really know anyone with a TARDIS who gives out rides, and it's just...never really come up. If they could get back, though, I'm sure they would have."

The Master nodded, distracted. Along with the scan for artron energy, he scanned for his own time trace. He was a bit disconcerted by the seeming normality of this area of space.

"There must be some trace of the event, even if the anamoly I traveled through is no longer there. Even if it closed, I should be able to duplicate it, if I can learn enough about it."

"Good luck with that." Handy wasn't sure if he meant that sarcastically or sincerely - he really did hope the Master could get back to his own home universe, provided he brought Andrew and the meta-meta back home before he left for good. On the other hand, he didn't think it was likely at all to happen.

"That looks like a secondary ripple," he said, pointing to a spot on the readout. The meta-meta looked over his shoulder with interest, but didn't comment.

"Thank you," the Master acknowledged politely, focussing his scans on the area in question. There was something, but his TARDIS scans refused to focus on it or identify it. The reading was diffuse. The Master made a soft, angry sound, almost a growl. He realigned the scans manually, using the numbers from his flight route.

"I can't get it in focus long enough to get coordinates," the Master explained, trying to sound unconcerned. "I need more factors."

Handy's brow furrowed, and he glanced at the meta-meta before catching himself and reminding himself that he didn't look to the meta-meta for answers, ever. He frowned at the screen, trying to think up ways to get those factors the Master needed.

[OOC: Meta-meta next]

"Use the..." the meta-meta trailed off, trying to concentrate. "Auxiliary power grid to...to...energy pulse. Send one." That would either stabilize the mysterious ripple or destabilize it even worse.

Andrew looked at him, eyes wide, and turned to the Master to object strongly to this plan.

The Master knew the risks and part of him hated that idea very much. On the other hand, the meta-meta was correct. A pulse, at the right frequency, could stabilize the ripple...or shut it for good. It was a risk. It might be the only way he could get home.

"Yes," the Master conceded finally. "We'll try it."

The Master began diverting power.

"Oh, you can't!" protested Andrew uneasily, though he'd already come to the same conclusions himself. "You don't know if that'll stabilize it or if you're just going to trap yourself here. You might never be able to leave again."

"No, I don't know," the Master admitted. "However, it gives me the best chance of getting home, with even odds. I don't have enough data and the scans aren't giving me enough information to try anything else."

"You could..." Handy started, but the truth was, he didn't know what else the Master could do. As much as it pained Handy to admit it even to himself, if anyone would have a TARDIS with working scanners, it was the Master. It wasn't any good to try to get him to wait and get help from one of the Doctors when his own TARDIS was in better condition and the ripple could resolve itself while they were dithering about back on Earth.

He frowned, knowing this was the only course of action that carried at least a chance of success, but not liking it any better for that.

The Master smiled in rueful understanding.

"Precisely, my dear Andrew."

He continued his preparations, letting the meta-meta help, as he chose.

It took the meta-meta a minute or two to cotton on to the fact that he was allowed to help with this. When he realized it, he began reaching a hand in here and there to adjust a setting or locate a reading, working silently. Andrew looked on, checking both their work over their shoulders, and once or twice pointing the meta-meta in the direction of something he'd missed, no less surprised that the Master was letting a meta-crisis touch the controls of his ship.

The Master grinned, mostly ignoring Andrew, but paying keen attention to the meta-meta. He wanted to see how the meta-meta responded to the Master's TARDIS. All in all, he was quite satisfied.

"So, you do retain at least some memories of the Time Lords you come from? He seems very knowledgable."

"I kept most of the Doctor's," replied Handy, still keeping an eye on what the meta-meta was doing. "I don't know what he remembers. Some, at least." Including a more recent episode in the life of the Master whose hand he'd come from that Handy still couldn't get him to talk about at all after the initial conversation that had revealed that something traumatic had happened to him.

"He's a bit jumbled," he pointed out. "He's better than he was, but...." He trailed off, watching as the meta-meta continued to go about his work, ignoring or perhaps not even noticing the fact that he was being talked about.

"Your attention to him probably helps," the Master speculated. "Of course, if he has memories from two Time Lords and possibly some from you as well...yes, I can imagine he is jumbled. I envy neither of you."

From someone as contained and aloof as the Master, this was a strong display of sympathy, even compassion. He finished his preparations in silence, almost as a rebuke to himself, for displaying such sentimentality. He set everything in place, until he was down to a final switch.

"It's ready."

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