The Doctor's eyes snapped open. Uncurling himself from his foetal crouch, he sprang to his feet like a man possessed, his eyes wild.

 He stood motionless, his mouth open, staring at something elsewhere.

 "NO!" he shouted, his face twisted in anguish. "I can't let you *do* this!!"

 Contentment.

 Fierce, mean-spirited joy.

 "No!" he shouted, even as the doors hummed shut.

 "Don't...leave...us..." The former jester's voice faltered and faded away. The TARDIS was gone, grinding away into nothingness..

 "What the *hell* is going on...?" Jadi, frowning like a thunderstorm, Angela leaning on his arm, but straightening up as she recovered. Mon barely glanced in their direction, was already gone, striding away to his duties, to his new stewardship of the Primer.

 Wil turned to look at his ship-mates, his face pale. "I don't get it -- you shut the, er, 'Primer' down. What else could be wrong?"

 [At least I won't have to put up with you much longer. About bloody time.]

 {OOOHHH! TOUGH GUY! I THINK I'M FINALLY STARTING TO LIKE YOU...}

 [...?...]

 {*NOT*!! AH HA HA!!!}

 She'd barely made it on board in time. The Diracan had acted almost mechanically, powering up the shuttle and settling straight into a decaying orbit that was taking them slowly but surely into the sun's gravity well.

 Now they were starting to speed up.

 The temperature alarms were already going off. She dragged a sleeve across her dripping face and snarled a silent imprecation at a certain artificial intelligence.

 What was left of her mother lay sprawled inelegantly on the cabin floor, and Layra's eyes narrowed. That's all they saw her as: a thing. A robotic frame, her humanity a mere thin covering of flesh.

 "Bastards!" she hissed one last time, then darted forward, hand reaching into the pocket inside her tunic to feel for the precious time-vector generator.

 Toros' head snapped around, her eyes widening at the sight of the intruder bending over the Primer. She leapt to her feet, out of the pilot's chair--

 Layra shot her. A clean shot, to the head. Quick, merciful, even though you tried to destroy my mother, you BIT --

 For some reason she never was able to ascertain, Layra reached around with her right hand and reactivated the Primer. Her mother the robot. Talk to me, mummy --

 The Primer juddered, twitched, and creaked. Focusing its optic sensors on the shape bending over it, it reached up and fastened its hands around the human's windpipe.

 *You* left meeee!" it keened.

 "Nooo! I didn't mean tooo!" The fingers of Layra's hands pried desperately as the Primer began to squeeze. Dark spots swam before her eyes. "Mum, no -- !" She somehow surged to her feet, driven by pure terror. The robotic frame followed her up, still clinging to her.

 "You left me!" the thing that had once been Angela Ferris raged. "You left me, you left me! Never again!"

 A gasping, wheezing noise. Her. No, too loud. A cry, as if someone had seen something terrible. She couldn't turn to see.

 She kicked out with vicious precision, and miraculously, the metallic hands loosened. Layra's boot instantly thudded into the Primer's midsection again, and the robot body stumbled back and crashed to the floor.

 Layra stumbled back herself, and someone caught her.

 It was the last straw.

 She didn't even remember what she had done, but a few moments later she found herself backed into the corner, gun held before her in both hands.

 The intruder was on the floor, starting to scramble to his feet. Something about him made Layra pause, eyes narrowed, even as her finger tightened on the trigger.

 He looked up at her, a gash on his forehead trickling dark red, undisciplined curls all around his narrow face, eyes startlingly blue. But it was the anachronistic clothing, the singed velvet that she recognized.

 "*You*!" she snapped. "You were in the museum!"

 She pulled the trigger, but he wasn't there anymore. He was half-way across the cabin, heading for her mother, who was flailing about, trying to rise. Layra swung around, her aim following the stranger.

 "Don't!" he said. "You know what will happen." Layra snarled. He was blocking her way to the Primer, seemingly oblivious to the creaking as the robot climbed to her feet.

 "You can't have her!" she shouted. "I'm taking her away, and none of you will *ever* find her again!"

 Behind him, the robot lurched forward, arms outstretched. The man's eyes barely flicked to the side, acknowledging the movement, as his foot kicked back, tripping her. She collapsed, then began to climb back to her feet.

 "Sorry," the intruder said. Seemingly to the robotic remains of her mother, but his gaze was on Layra. "All right, but I don't think the inside of a sun is the best place to do that, do you? It will detonate her heart, and the results of the space-time rip will be quite nasty. Spectacular, but nasty."

 "I *know* that!" Layra shrieked. "Now get away from her!" She shifted the gun to her left hand, and reached into her pocket for a time-vector generator no longer there --

 "Looking for this? I thought I'd better hold it for safe-keeping."

 Layra stared at him, eyes blazing. "Get-away-from-my-mother," she said. "Or I swear I'll shoot. Whatever happens, I won't let anyone use her ever again."

 Eyes widening, he stepped to the side as the Primer clambered upright again. The stranger glanced from the Primer to Layra and back. "Oh, my..." he said, quietly. The robot reached out for him, her eyes glowing demonically, and he backed away, hitting bulkhead. Trapped.

 "Mother, stop."

 The Primer paused and looked over at her.

 "We're going away, now. You'll never be alone again."

 "Poor Angela. I really think it would have been better if she'd not been...reactivated. She seems to be psychotic."

 Layra ignored the intruder. "Come on, Mum -- it's time to go."

 The Primer stared at her for several long moments. "You won't leave me again?"

 "Never."

 And what was left of Angela Ferris nodded, turned and stalked over. She seemed much calmer. Layra let out a little breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, then turned to look the stranger in the eye, her gun trained squarely on him.

 "Toss me the generator."

 He hesitated for a few moments, then complied, and she caught it neatly.

 "In a way, this is all your fault," Layra said then, conversationally. "I could kill you for it. If she hadn't traveled with you, she'd never have absorbed all that artron energy. Then again, if she hadn't met you, *I* might not be here."

 His eyes narrowed slightly. "You know who I am?"

 Layra jerked her head in the direction of the tall blue cabinet standing in the shadows at the back of the cabin.

 "What do you think my mother told me for bedtime stories?"

 She reached with an arm to pull her mother very close, then pressed the activation switch.

 Well, if you weren't a time sensitive species, that is. Moments later, recovered, he peered at the now empty spot, then rubbed his chin, his gaze flicking around the rest of the shuttle cabin. "Do you know, I think that's much bett -- Oh, *no*."

 The few seconds it took to check on the fallen Diracan proved her to be beyond aid. And it was much too hot for comfort.

 The Doctor darted back into the TARDIS, the lifeless figure in his arms, and departed for a cooler clime.

 [Having a temper-tantrum about it won't help.]

 {SHUT UP, YOU JERK! IT'S ALL RUINED NOW! WE'RE BACK TO SQUARE ONE! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!}

 [Not quite.]

 {WHAT--?!}

 Look and learn, you irritating little twit.]

 {WHY YOU--!!}

 [Shut UP.]

 And the miraculous happened.

 Aggression shut up, and looked.

 To be Continued.