Baites did as he was told. When he opened the door, half of the room was gone engulfed in a bright light which sparkled with silver highlights. The same scientist who addressed the Doctor before was lying on the floor, half his body outside the light, the other half inside and stripped to the bone. Clothes, flesh and organs were gone, even the bones seemed brittle and old. Tegan shrieked at the horrible sight.Totally ignoring Baites now, the Doctor stormed into the room. The light was bright and still active. He raced over to one of the large computers and flicked a few of the switches. The other scientist was scrambling around not noticing the Doctor immediately. When he did he raced over to stop him.
“Stop, you have no idea what you are doing.” The Doctor didn’t move so the scientist shoved him aside and grabbed the master power switch. “We’ve got to shut the power off.”
“No, don’t!” The Doctor called out, but the scientist didn’t listen and cut the power to the project.
“Get Tegan out of here!” The Doctor called to Turlough. The light in the room seemed to be abating, making Turlough hesitate but the Doctor called out, “NOW!”
Turlough did as he was told and left with Tegan, followed closely by Private Baites. There was a sudden surge from the energy in the middle of the room. It reached out in various directions, especially where the power was being supplied. The scientist was suddenly enveloped in energy and he let out a yell of horror as he watched his own body age and decay. In a second he was a pile of ash on the ground. The energy finally abated, leaving various objects aged and others in better condition than they were originally.
The Doctor removed his hat as he looked down to the pile of ash.
“What did you do?” Captain Mitchell snarled at him.
“I did nothing. I was trying to shut off the power without causing an overload. This much power and energy needs to be shut down gradually, not all at once. He should have listened. Such a foolish waste of human life.”
“Who are you?” Mitchell asked almost to himself.
“I was answering your distress call. I’m called the Doctor and my companions are Tegan and Turlough.” He indicated the door and called out, “You can come back in now, the danger has passed for now.”
“I didn’t send any distress call, how could you possibly have known?”
“You were experimenting with time travel were you not?” The Doctors face frowned and he looked exasperated and perplexed.
“That information is classified.”
“Not to me, I picked up your errant stray tachyon particles in the vortex. That’s as much a distress call to me as anything else.”
“Doctor what was that?” Turlough asked with his harsh brusqueness.
“Are you sure we’re safe?” Tegan asked?
The Doctor turned from Mitchell for a second and addressed his companions. “Yes Tegan, as long as they don’t try switching the power back on, we should all be fine. Thank you for looking after my companions.” The Doctor nodded towards Baites.
“How am I going to explain this?” Mitchell said to himself more than anyone else.
“My suggestion would be to cover it up. You military sorts are good at that. Certainly don’t want anyone know you’ve started experimenting with time travel. Can you imagine if word got out?”Mitchell nodded with the Doctor.
“Now let’s see what we have here.” The Doctor examined the ticker tape, spewing out information.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Tegan asked.
“Ask Captain Mitchell. I need to check for any repercussions because of this.”
“You could fetch a broom woman.”
“Excuse me?” Tegan said shocked. She really wanted to help, not play house-maid.
“You did offer to help.” The Doctor said, hoping to ease the situation. “Turlough will help.” Turlough shot him the same glance Tegan gave Mitchell. The Doctor caught it and added, “there’s a good chap.” He concluded with a smile.
Turlough sighed but followed Tegan out of the room. Mitchell glanced towards Baites and Baites followed the two, showing them where cleaning supplies could be found.
“So what’s the verdict?”
“Well, you’ve got no shielding for the amount of power being generated. Once you find a way to do that, you’ll be ready for more testing.”
“Oh, I’ve found proper shielding I believe.”
“Have you?” The Doctor was perplexed.
“You did say you were a time traveler?” Captain Mitchell drew his gun once more and aimed it at the Doctor. “Perhaps it’s time to get a look at your time machine.”
“Oh I hate guns.” The Doctor said disappointed.
(To Be Concluded)
Next - Quantum Leap; Tear Down This Wall - Part 3
*This is part 11 of the 20 part 'Time And Alternate Dimension In Space'.
A Doctor Who, Quantum leap, Writers Block, Sliders & Legion of Super Heroes crossover.
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