The Story of Sally Armstrong (Doctor Who)

Chapter 21

Sally quickly regretted grabbing for Tom's hand to prevent him from finding that the Master tampering with the time vortex manipulator because now he wouldn't let go of it. She found that she was becoming more and more uncomfortable with it, but also found that her time with the Master had made her very good at faking her emotions. Somehow she maintained a smile as they walked along.

She was relieved when they made it to the hub and the man finally let go of her hand. "The showers are down this corridor and around the bend on the left," she began, but he was halfway down the corridor before she finished.

"I know," he called back. "I'll see you in a few."

As soon as he made it out of sight she began to frantically wipe her hand on the Master's jacket.

He jumped back in disgust. "What are you doing?!"

This did not make her stop. "His hand was gross!"

He grabbed at her wrist. "It's hardly my fault," he said, a slight whine in his voice. "Stop it!"

"It only happened because I was helping you. Deal with it," she joked, attempting to reach for his hand.

He pulled away, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Now, now, we will have none of that."

He seemed to still be in a good mood about it, so Sally decided it would be best if she didn't push her luck.

*****

A few minutes later they were explaining the situation to Jack. "So what you're telling me," Jack said, pointing to the Master, "is that you told him that he needed to bring all these people to this time, just to bring them back after you found him?" He folded his arms. "But why?"

"I have no idea," the Master admitted. "That's the problem with time travel. You can never predict the future or why you're going to do something until you do it." He paused for a moment. "The way I see it, we have to options: believe him when he says that I sent him, or assume that he's lying." He took a deep breath as if to give himself time to think it over. "I guess either way we should find the rest of them and take them home first. We can figure out if he's lying later."

"And how will we find that out?"

"Hope we see the signs that he's going to betray us before he does." His calmness about the situation seemed to put Jack on edge. "I find from personal experience that it's always best to assume someone is playing against you from the start. That way, you always have the upper hand."

"Maybe that's not a risk I'm willing to—" Jack began.

He was cut off when Tom entered the room with a pair of black pants he had not had on earlier, a damp towel over his head, and the manipulator around his wrist. "What did I miss?" he asked. "What's the game plan?"

Jack opened his mouth as if to answer, but the Master stepped forward. "I'll go collect all the people you brought here and take them back." He held out his hand, eyeing the leather wristband around Tom's arm.

Tom took a step back and looked to Jack for the go ahead. Jack, just as confused, gave him a slight nod. He slowly took it off and handed to him, not sure that was the best idea but not wanting to cause a commotion.

"Good job," the Master said with a smile that seemed out of place, strapping it around his own wrist. "Now, just give me a map of where and when everyone is and I'll be off." He allowed himself a little laugh, as if at something funny that only he knew about.

After he made about thirty dots on the map of Cardiff, accompanied by times and dates, the Master ripped it from the table and neatly folded it up. He left the room without saying a word.