A Time of Healing

Part Two

"Give me the Key."

Justin backed away against wall, shocked and confused by his friend's behavior. Panicking, he looked around wildly for a swift escape route.

David was blocking the only exit.

"Give it to me, or it will cost you your life."

Justin decided to reason things out with him, distract David while he quietly slipped out the door behind him.

"Look, Dave, I think you're making a big mistake," he started as he edged around him. "I don't know why this trinket is so important to you or why your acting so strange, but I intend to find out, you know. I intend to find out..."

He quickly dodged around David and rushed out the door.

"Stop!"

Justin didn't even look back.

He's coming!

The Doctor looked up suddenly. "Who?"

Justin Hill, he has the Key and he is heading this way.

"Justin Hill? That'll be Mel's uncle." He stopped and looked around him. "Which direction will he be coming from?" The question was directed at the entity. He felt its mind indicate a small pathway near to the clearing.

He's coming down this pathway. He'll be here anytime now.

Sure enough, Justin came running down the path a few moments later. He didn't seem to have noticed the Doctor or Ace until he had entered the clearing. He skidded to a stop. "Hey, what are you people doing here?" he asked, sounding extremely overwhelmed.

"We were...um, expecting you," the Doctor answered.

Justin stared at him. "You were what?" Before the Doctor could think of a suitable reply, the entity spoke again.

You have the Key with you, don't you, Justin?

Justin looked at Ace. "Did you say something?"

"No."

"Then who..."

I did, Justin. Do you have the Key?

Justin spun around. "Who said that?" he shouted, trying to trace the source of the quiet voice. Then his eyes fell on the capsule.

"How in Heaven's name did that get there?"

"I'm afraid there's no time to explain, Mr. Hill," the Doctor answered. A sudden thought hit him. "Did you come across anything on your way back from the hospital? A small coin maybe?"

"Well, I did find something..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gold disc he had found earlier in the clearing.

The Key of Zegraskar!

Justin looked around him wildly. "Will someone please tell me where that voice is coming from?"

"I told you, there's no time to explain," the Doctor said quietly. He reached for the Key. "May I?"

"Oh, sure," Justin replied and handed it to him.

Ace spoke up suddenly. "Um, Professor..."

"Not now, Ace."

"But, Professor, look."

The Doctor turned and looked behind him. David Littleton stood on the edge of the clearing, staring at the little group and, more intensely, at the capsule and the Key the Doctor held in his left hand.

Justin was the first to react. "David!" he exclaimed, astonished that his friend had followed him. The Doctor was equally astonished and slightly baffled.

"Who?"

"I work at the Pease Pottage Police Department," Justin explained. "David Littleton is my partner."

The Doctor nodded his understanding. David didn't utter a word, instead he began to advance into the clearing with slow, careful steps.

Please, Doctor, hurry!

"Why? What's the rush?"

I'll explain later. Open the capsule, Doctor, release me!

As these words were being said, a small golden light appeared from a tiny section of the capsule. After a few seconds, the light faded to reveal a circular depression big enough to fit a small coin into it, a small coin the identical size as the Key of Zegraskar. To the Doctor, it was obvious what he must do. He reached his hand out towards the capsule.

Before he could shove the Key into the depression a piercing scream rang through the small clearing. The Doctor spun around to see David leap at him, his eyes flashing with uncontrollable anger.

The Doctor felt the officer's hands tighten around his throat. With surprising strength, David slammed the Time Lord's body against the capsule. The Doctor looked into his attacker's eyes, they were burning with evil and hatred. Whoever was attempting to strangle him, human or not, was definitely not David Littleton.

"Doctor!" cried Ace. She and Justin moved to help him.

Justin ran over to the struggling pair and tried prising David's hands from the Doctor's throat. The young man held the Doctor in a death grip, every moment squeezing a little harder. Despite Justin's efforts, David refused to let go.

Ace stepped away. "Stay back, Justin!" she called, reaching into her trench coat. Bewildered, Justin stepped back.

Meanwhile, the Doctor managed to summon up enough strength to force David's hands from his neck. The possessed man seemed astonished that the Doctor was able to defeat him in battle. He hesitated for a few moments, which was exactly what Ace wanted.

"When you mess with the Doctor and company, mate, you're in for big trouble!" Ace shouted. She pulled out a can of Nitro9 and flung it at David.

The can hit the dirt with a heavy thump and detonated near David's feet. Propelled by the force of the explosion, the young officer was hurled to the ground and knocked unconscious.

The Doctor got up from where he had thrown himself to avoid the explosion. After he carefully dusted himself down, he turned to Ace.

"I thought you stopped using that stuff a long time ago," he said with a frown.

Ace shrugged. "Better safe than sorry, Professor."

Doctor!

In all the excitement, the Doctor had completely forgotten about the capsule. He realized that he had dropped the Key during his struggle with David and he bent down to retrieved it. He walked over to the capsule and shoved the Key into the depression in the capsule wall.

"But, Professor, you don't know what will happen!" called Ace.

"I have to take that risk. I want to know what this is all about."

As he was speaking, the capsule began to slowly pulse with a bright and golden light. The same light, Justin noticed, that the Key was pulsing with when he had first encountered David's strange behavior in the office. The light grew brighter as each moment passed and soon it had become so bright that the threesome had to shield their eyes from the glare.

A few moments afterwards, the intense glow faded. Ace glanced at the capsule, it hadn't changed except for a strange humming noise coming from it. She took a step towards it, but the Doctor held her back.

"Wait," he said.

The outline of a rectangular door appeared and slide away, revealing a darkened opening. From this the alien cautiously stepped out into the sunlight. Ace's eyes widened in alarm.

The alien's appearance was not what she had expected. It was humanoid, obviously feminine, her attire a plain white dress. She was strikingly beautiful also, with long auburn hair and dark, penetrating eyes. She observed the little group with curious fascination and interest. After a while, she spoke.

"I owe you my thanks, Doctor, to you and your friends. You did the right thing." Her voice was identical to the calm tones of the entity that had spoke into their minds. Obviously, this alien's race was telepathic.

"Your most welcome," the Doctor answered, "Now, may I ask who you are and why your here on Earth?"

"My name is Zaria, of the Zegraskarian race. I telepathically piloted this capsule to Earth, seeking the Key of Zegraskar so that I may be released from the imprisonment other members of my race had sentenced me to."

"Imprisonment?" echoed Ace, "So, you are a criminal!" Zaria shook her head.

"That is not true," she replied, "The people of Zegraskar are notorious for their evil and corruption. Unlike other members of my race, I was blessed with a sense of compassion and the gift of healing. They locked me away because I was not like them."

"They imprisoned you because of your differences? Because you used your powers for good and not evil?" the Doctor asked. Nodding, Zaria continued. "Upon discovering my special powers, they imprisoned me in the capsule so I wouldn't create trouble for them. They hid the Key of Zegraskar - the only object capable of freeing me - on Earth. It has taken me a long time to strengthen my powers enough to enable me to pilot the capsule to Earth and convince someone on this planet to help me find the Key and release me."

"Why should we believe you?" asked Ace.

Zaria pointed to the unconscious David. "That man has been possessed by a Evraal."

"A what?" asked Justin.

"A demon-like race enslaved by my people to bend the will of others. But did I use such a method to bring you here? Did I not plead discreetly for your assistance as opposed to forcing you here against your will? This is my sole defense, please accept it and help me escape to a place of refuge."

The Doctor was silent for a while; he looked down at his shoes as if he was considering the pros and cons of accepting the plea. Finally, he looked up and smiled.

"I'll help you in anyway that I can," he replied.

Ace spoke. "And that goes for me and Justin too," she said. Justin nodded.

Zaria smiled gratefully. "Thank you." Her smile faded as she glanced once more towards the still unconscious David, she shook her head sadly. "It's sad really, such a waste of life."

Justin panicked. "You...you mean David's dead? The Evraal killed him?" He closed his eyes at the terrible thought and gulped, hard.

Zaria looked thoughtful and approached the body of the once proud young police officer. She gave him a thorough - and strangely human-like - medical check. As soon as she was aware that the man was alive and that his breathing and heartbeats were strong and regular, she rose and turned to Justin.

"Your friend is alive and well, and has thankfully suffered from only minor shock when the Evraal dominated him. He shall recover.'

"What about the Evraal?" asked the Doctor, "Is it still active?"

Zaria shook her head. "As long as David is unconscious, the Evraal will remain dormant in his mind."

"How do you plan to dispose of it?"

"I shall simply banish the demon out of his mind. He'll be fine, I promise," she assured the Time Lord.

"Exorcism? What else are you capable of?" asked an astonished Justin.

Zaria looked rather bemused at this. "I am capable of many things, Justin. But on this planet, I fear that my powers are limited." She knelt beside David and pressed the palm of her hand gently down on his forehead. She closed her eyes tightly and remained silent.

"What's she doing?" asked Ace. The Doctor put his finger to his lips to shush her and whispered quietly in her ear.

"She's trying to contact the Evraal in David's mind, probably to try and discover what's it's doing on this planet. Now please be quiet, it's a painful process and Zaria needs her concentration."

Aware that her uncle had left, Melanie Bush heaved herself out of bed and went over to the window. It was a beautiful mid-afternoon and the birds were chirping away, but the cheerful atmosphere did not match Mel's mood.

She had awaken for similar reasons as she had the night before, the same foreboding fear that something bizarre and strange was coming her way. It was the feeling that one gets when they sense their lives were going to change drastically. She had the same feeling only twice before; once just before the Doctor had entered her life and another shortly prior to the attack from the Soul Eater.

She sat down on the edge of her hospital bed, resting her forehead in the palm of her remaining hand. So much confusion, so much pain. She didn't think she could bare it any longer. Reluctantly, she dwelled on the events of the past few days.

When recalling the Doctor's visit to the hospital, Mel felt a sudden jolt of pain from inside her. She still couldn't believe that she had actually slapped him, slapped him for what he had done to her, for lying to her, for leaving her to live the rest of her life with only one arm. Then she remembered seeing him cry. She had trouble believing that too, the Doctor crying. But she was aware that it was also real, seeing his tears and hearing his sobs. She assured herself that it was real, that the Doctor would actually shed tears of pain and sadness for what he had done.

Come on, Bush, stop being selfish, she told herself. You're not the only one that's suffering, you know. The Doctor has risked his life for you sake on several occasions; he lied only to spare you from harm; he suggested the amputation to save you from the fate that the Soul Eater's deadly venom would have left you to. Anything would have been better - even an amputated arm, she mused - better than to change into one of those...those things. The Doctor did his best and he deserved her thanks, trust, and especially her friendship. Sadly, she wondered what had happened to the Time Lord. Where he was and what he was doing at this moment.

Probably something fun and adventurous. She sighed at this and decided to pass the time by watching the pigeons that had collected outside her hospital window.

You don't belong here.

David Littleton's thoughts and memories swirled around Zaria as she tried to contact the entity within him.

You're a parasite, a demon.

Pushing aside the powerful strength of pure thought, she forced her way through David's memories, his victories and failures of the past. Finally she found it, nestled in the depths of the young man's subconsciousness, feeding off of his thoughts and using them to achieve it's own ends.

Leave this man alone, he has done nothing to deserve this. Leave this place, I command you to leave.

Two tiny slits cracked opened to reveal blood red eyes. Shifting its position ever so slightly, the Evraal spoke.

"By whose authority?"

Its voice was nothing more than a quiet whisper, but its haunting tone struck right through Zaria's soul. She answered.

By all that's good and pure in the universe.

"Pure? This planet reeks of goodness. Its civilization is nothing more than a race of pathetic, simple-minded bipeds."

That isn't true, humans are capable of great amounts of compassion and kindness.

That may be useful to you, but not to the other members of your race and certainly not to the one that has dispatched me to hunt you down."

Hunt me down? Who sent you here?

"Delvare."

"Delvare!"

At the sound of the name, Zaria leaped up from the ground, breaking contact. The Doctor, Ace, and Justin exchanged glances.

"Who?"

Zaria glanced around at the three of them, registering their presence for the first time in several minutes. She took a deep breath. "Delvare, our so-called fearless and victorious leader," she spat.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So, you found out what you needed to know?" he asked.

Zaria nodded. "Yes, I did. Now it's time for me to finish this," she replied, kneeling down beside David once more.

Get out, leave him alone.

"You can do nothing to stop me. Unlike others of your race, you are a peasant, a weakling. You thrive on this fantasy called "compassion" and practice witchcraft you call "healing". If there is a person that is going to leave this man's mind, Zaria, it's going to be you."

No! No, don't do this!

The creature lunged for her, it's savage mind battling for the control of her own. And then all that was occupying David Littleton's mind was two separate forces, two entities, entangled in the legendary battle of darkness verses light, good verses evil. One was going to win, and one was going to die.

Lifting her head to the sunlight, Zaria slowly opened her eyes and broke the remaining contact she had with David's mind. Silently, she picked herself up from where she had been kneeling. She glanced down at David and waited.

David's body suddenly began withering and twisting on the ground. The Evraal within the poor man was suffering, slowly dying under Zaria's great healing power. The demon looked up at Zaria with pain filled eyes.

"Help me!"

Zaria looked upon him with no pity. "No, you brought this upon yourself, demon." The Evraal was devastated. She could have been mistaken, but she thought she saw fear in those evil eyes.

"B-but you're supposed to have compassion and pity for the injured and the suffering..."

"And also the good and the innocent," she finished. 'You are a demon, a creature of evil and death. You devour people's memories and emotions; you bend their minds to achieve the deceitful purposes of your masters. I asked you quietly to leave and you did nothing, now I am forced to rid this man's mind of your influence the hard way. I am sorry, demon, you give me no choice but to destroy you."

"No!"

With a terrifying scream of pain, the Evraal dissolved into a cloud of dark mist. It flowed out of David's body and rose at least twenty feet above the clearing. Desperately, it attempted to use its powers once more.

There was a deafening clash of thunder and lightening. The sky grew dark and a sudden wind started to blow strongly around the small group.

"What's happening?" cried Ace as the heavy winds ripped at her trench coat and threatened to sweep her from the ground.

"The Evraal is resisting!" the Doctor replied, shouting so he could be heard over the thunderous roars. "It's trying to prevent Zaria from destroying it!" He turned to look at the Zegraskarian, Zaria seemed unaffected by the Evraal's power. Without effort, she remained standing, her eyes closed in concentration.

And then it was all over.

Knowing it was beaten, the Evraal surrendered itself to the Zaria's will. The mist hung in the air for a few moments, helpless and pitiful. Then seconds later, it burst into flames. As soon as the Evraal's presence was no more, the sky and atmosphere returned to normal. The Doctor let out a huge sigh of relief and glanced around the clearing.

"Everybody all right?" he asked anxiously. Ace nodded and straightened her trench coat while Justin tried to smooth his hair back into place. Satisfied, the Doctor turned to Zaria.

"Now, since all that is over, I would hope that you could clear up one small matter for me?" the Time Lord asked. Zaria frowned before answering.

"And what may that be, Doctor?"

"When Ace and I were traveling through the Vortex, we experienced a bit of time distortion and were dragged back here to Pease Pottage. I take it that was your doing?"

Zaria sighed and shook her head. "For once you overestimate me, Doctor. I never had and never will have the power to do such a thing. I don't control the Vortex, I heal."

The Doctor frowned. "Then who..."

"I think the blame falls upon me, Doctor," said an unfamiliar voice, causing everyone to suddenly turn to the source of the statement.

The newcomer, a tall figure dressed from head to toe in a tasteless black attire, stepped into the tiny clearing. He was a young man, with slicked back dark hair and a cruel smile.

"Professor, who is that? Do you recognize him?" asked Ace.

"No, I've never seen him before, but Zaria obviously has." He pointed to the female Zegraskarian, who was staring astonishingly at the tall figure.

"Delvare!" she shouted. "What are you doing here?"

Ace's eyes widened. "That's Delvare?" she asked, pointing to the sudden intruder. Taking in Zaria's nod, Ace frowned and the Doctor stabbed an accusing finger at the young man.

"You were the one responsible for pulling us out of the Time Vortex!"

Delvare held his hands up in mock surrender. "Of course I am, I thought that you presence here might liven things up a bit."

Ace snorted. "Like that makes any sense, but how did you manage to get us here?" At this, Delvare smiled and produced a complex looking piece of equipment from inside his cloak.

"But that's impossible!" Zaria exploded. "Our race had long ago banished the use of time travel because of its disastrous side-effects to us and to all other life forms. Use of such technology is strictly forbidden!"

Delvare's smile faded and his voice became grave. "Maybe forbidden to you, Zaria, but not to me. After all, I am the ruler of Zegraskar, such limitations do not apply to me." He held up the strange piece of equipment and started to tinker with it, making occasional glances at the group as he did so. "This little wonder is what helped me to bring you here, Doctor. I knew you would easily locate Zaria for me. Which is much more convenient that me than having to search an entire planet to find her."

Whatever response the Doctor was conjuring was immediately interrupted by a groan from the now semi-conscious David. Delvare looked coldly at the police officer, his eyes betraying no mercy.

"Defenseless biped, the Evraal should have destroyed you when it had the chance," he muttered as Ace and Justin helped David into sitting position.

Waving away Ace and Justin's assistance, David stood up and looked around uncertainly. "W-what happened?" he stammered. "What's been going on around here?" he asked when he noticed the Doctor, Ace, Zaria, and Delvare for the first time. Then he spotted the capsule.

"What the-"

Ignoring him, the Doctor turned to Justin. "Justin, I suggest that you take David away from here. Now, please."

"But..."

"Go, leave my sight," Delvare interrupted. "My plight concerns the Doctor, not you or any of your pathetic race."

With one last look at the capsule and then at Zaria and the Doctor, Justin took David by the arm and led him out of the clearing.

After they had gone, Delvare turned to who all was left in clearing: the Doctor, Ace, and Zaria. "Now, Doctor, be reasonable. Hand over Zaria and I will let you and your companion leave this planet safely."

"Safely?" echoed Ace. "You can't do anything to hurt us."

"I can and I will," Delvare replied, pulling a blaster out of his tunic. Zaria's eyes widened but she said nothing. Delvare smiled cruelly and carefully trained the weapon on the Doctor.

"Hand over Zaria, Doctor. I was not making a request."

The hospital door had opened once more.

Mel sat up almost immediately as Doctor Edmonds came into the room. He looked thoughtfully at his clipboard, which he carried under his arm when he entered.

Then he glanced up at her with a big smile. "Good news, Melanie," he announced cheerfully. "You have made a very swift recovery, so will be allowed to leave the hospital today."

Mel smiled back. "Great! When may I go home?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"Can you give my uncle a ring so he'll be ready to pick me up soon?" asked Mel anxiously.

"Of course. Now if you'll excuse me." He left, closing the door and leaving the room once more at the mercy of silence.

"You've got to be kidding."

"No, I'm not. That's what really happened." David was slumped on his chair in the office, resting his face in his hands. He was well recovered but was having a hard time taking in Justin's story. "Justin, I appreciate your fondness for the unnatural, but this is going a bit too far..."

"But it's true, Dave."

"What, a unidentified flying object spotted over Pease Pottage? A beautiful alien on the run from her own people? A murderous young man of the same race that has come to sentence her to eternal imprisonment? I find that a little hard to believe, Justin."

"Then how do you explain what could have happened to you?"

"I fell asleep, nothing more."

"Look, David, I don't have time to argue about this..." Justin began, but stopped in mid-sentence when the continuous ringing of a telephone interrupted their conversation. Sighing, he got up from his chair and picked up the receiver. After a few minutes of hasty nods and mumblings he turned to David. "That was the hospital, Mel's ready to go home."

"You better be off then."

Justin nodded. "Right, see you," he said and was out the door two minutes later.

Mel was fully dressed with a small suitcase at the foot of her hospital bed. She gazed out the window, relieved that she'll finally be leaving soon. Excited as she was about going she was also wondering how she was going to spend the rest of her life with half an arm amputated.

Removing those thought quickly from her mind, she turned her attention to the beautiful world outside. The pigeons were still there, pecking their cares away. Then a flash of white caught her eye. She leaned forward to get a closer look at the birds and to make sure that she was not mistaken.

She wasn't. There, a little ways from the pecking pigeons, was a small dove. It was prancing about on the ground, ignoring the pigeons and glancing about itself curiously, as if taking in its surroundings.

Mel smiled; doves were very uncommon around Pease Pottage and she took a great pleasure in watching the cute little bird.

After thirty minutes - she was surprised that the bird had remained in the same place for that amount of time - Mel grew bored of watching the dove and turned from the window to wait patiently for Dr. Edmonds to return with her uncle.

There was a quiet pecking noise coming from the window a few minutes later. She turned around and froze. The dove was standing on the windowsill. Her eyes fell upon the window curiously.

It was tightly shut.

Frowning, she looked down at the dove. "Now how did you get in here?" she asked the bird. The dove looked up at the sound of her voice but did not fly away. Instead, it hopped down from the sill and went right up to her. Baffled, Mel stood completely still, wondering what the little bird was up to.

Then it happened.

She knew that the event her senses had foretold was taking place because of the strange, bizarre feeling that ran down her spine; the same feeling that had kept her awake for many days. The bird stood as still as she was. Then its body began to glow with a bright, golden light. It grew brighter with each passing moment, engulfing the room with burning gold rays. In the center of the blinding light, the dove's body dissolved and molded itself into an easily recognizable humanoid form. As the light gradually faded, Mel got her first glimpse of the figure. She was a tall, very beautiful woman with auburn hair who was wearing a plain white dress and sandals.

Shocked, Mel backed away; reaching for the button that would immediately call the nurse. As if reading her mind, the intruder held up both hands.

"No! No, don't call the officials, please!" the woman begged her in soft tones. It was a voice that Mel found slightly reassuring. She hesitated.

"My name is Zaria," the woman continued. "I'm not going to hurt you."

End of Part Two

Part 3