The Sound of Drums

The group landed in an alleyway, all having side effects from using a Vortex Manipulator. Alyssa put her hand against a wall and dry gagged, The Doctor rubbed her back and said: "you alright?""Yeah." She said straightening up and looking at him

"Time travel without a capsule that's a killer." He said

The group took some time to recuperate before heading out of the Alleyway and walking out onto a street heading to Martha's apartment.

"Still, at least we made it. Earth, twenty-first century by the looks of it. Talk about lucky." Jack said, impressed that they managed to get there.

"That wasn't luck, that was me." The Doctor said, they walked for a little while before sitting down and Jack said after the Doctor had explained what he did to make sure they got to England at the right time

"The moral is, if you're going to get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator." Jack said,

"But this Master bloke, he's got the Tardis. He could be anywhere in time and space." Martha said why they were in London and not trying to figure out where the Master was.

"No, he's here. Trust me." The Doctor said,

"Who is he, anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the Professor."

"If the Master's a Time Lord, then he must have regenerated." Jack said, Alyssa looked up a

"Yeah, that's why his voice was different regeneration is when Timelords, Like The Doctor and The Master, or Time lady's like me change their face, voice body everything. That's why you two didn't recognize me" She said gesturing to Jack and Martha. " I guess I regenerate before the first time I meet you too. Right before he left, The Master regenerated." Alyssa turned her head when she heard a beggar start tapping a four-beat drum beat.

"Then how are we going to find him?" Martha asked,

"I'll know him, the moment I see him. Time Lords always do."

"But hold on. If he could be anyone, we missed the election. But it can't be." The Doctor got up and walked a little bit to see a TV that was on a lamp post "Mister Saxon has returned from the Palace and is greeting the crowd inside Saxon Headquarters."

"I said I knew that voice. When he spoke inside the Tardis. I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him. We all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon." Martha said as the group began to realize who the Master was,

"That's him. He's Prime Minister." The Doctor said

"Mister Saxon, this way, sir. Come on, kiss for the lady, sir." A person on the TV said

"The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain. The Master and his wife?" he said in shock as the Master kissed a female that was next to him. The Master then addressed the people of Britain.

"This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that what this country really needs right now, is a Doctor." The Master said, referencing the Doctor

The group then went to Martha's home to do more research on the Master's alias. "What have you got? Computer, laptop, anything. Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here." The Doctor said to Jack who had begun to call someone

"Just some friends of mine, but there's no reply." Jack said, Martha walked over and got the Doctor a laptop, "Here you go. Any good." He opened it only for Jack to take it from him "I can show you the Saxon websites. He's been around for ages." He said as he typed a website address in.

"That's so weird though. It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you." Martha said,

"We went flying all around the universe while he was here all the time." The Doctor said,

"You going to tell us who he is?"

"He's a Time Lord."He said, not giving her a straight answer. Alyssa just listened to the conversation, thinking about how The Master knew about her when in her belief he had never met him before today.

"What about the rest of it? I mean, who'd call himself the Master?" Martha asked

"Martha that's all you really need to know." Alyssa said, Martha sighed before going over to her answering machine only to shut it off when her sister Tish started raving about a new job she got. Jack played a video on Martha's laptop showing The Doctor that The Master was very popular,

"former Minister of Defence. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve. Nice work, by the way." Jack said, about when The Doctor took out the Racnoss

"Oh, thanks." The Doctor said barely paying attention,

"But he goes back years. He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look. Cambridge University, Rugby blue. Won the Athletics thing. Wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life." Martha said, clicking on pictures that The Master had lived a fake life, that fooled everyone in Britain. Jack made everyone a cup of tea and said "But he's got the Tardis. Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades." but the Doctor quickly shot down that idea. "Why not? Worked for me."

"When he was stealing the Tardis, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently. He can only travel between the year one hundred trillion and the last place the Tardis landed. Which is right here, right now." The Doctor said,

"Yeah, but a little leeway?" Jack asked,

"Well, eighteen months tops. The most he could have been here is eighteen months. So how has he managed all this? The Master was always sort of hypnotic, but this is on a massive scale. Alyssa you have been strangely quiet this whole time." That broke Alyssa out of her thoughts

"Yeah I'm thinking." Alyssa said

"About?" The Doctor asked,

"The Master knew me, somehow he knew me before he stole the Tardis he looked at me like he had seen a ghost. but if he knew me why didn't he stop when he saw me?"

"That is true," He said starting to think about it as well,

"I was going to vote for him." Martha said,

"Really?" The Doctor said,

"Well, it was before I even met you. And I liked him." Martha said,

"Me too," Jack said

"Why do you say that? What was his policy? What did he stand for?" The Doctor said,

"I don't know. He always sounded good." Martha said, and her fingers started tapping a four-beat rhythm "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about. I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice."

"What's that?" The Doctor said, breaking Martha out of what seemed to be deep thought.

"What?"

"That. That tapping, that rhythm. What are you doing?"

"I don't know. It's nothing. It's just, I don't know." Their conversation was interrupted by a sound coming from the Computer saying that a broadcast was about to start from The Master.

"Our Lord and master is speaking to his kingdom." The Doctor said, and turned on the TV, and watched the Master

"Britain, Britain, Britain. What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen. Big Ben destroyed. A spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill." As scene's from each disaster played, " Time and time again, and the government told you nothing. Well, not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this. Citizens of Great Britain, I have been contacted. A message for humanity, from beyond the stars." and the message flipped to a floating ball

"People of the Earth, We come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship." the sphere said, in a childish voice, before flipping back to the Master,

"Ooo, sweet. And this species has identified itself. They are called the Toclafane." The Master said,

"What?" The Doctor suddenly said,

" And tomorrow morning, they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman, and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. Oh, I don't know, every medical student?" The Master said,"I forgot something." Alyssa said, "we need to get out now."As she turned the TV around showing a bomb.

"Out!" The Doctor yelled, as he got up and grabbed the laptop and they exited the Apartment when they reached the street it blew up. "All right?" The Doctor asked everyone,

Yep!" Alyssa said, and everyone else said that they were fine too and Martha took out her phone

"Martha? What are you doing?" The Doctor asked,

"He knows about me. What about my family?" Martha said,

"Don't tell them anything." The Doctor warned,

"I'll do what I like. Mum? Oh my God." She said and had a conversation with her mother who tried to get Martha to go to there house. She then questioned "Dad, Just say yes or no. Is there someone else there?"

"Yes, Just Run!" Her father yelled, soon there were a bunch of shouts

"Dad, what's going on. Dad?" Martha said, Martha hung up her phone and walked over to her car saying "We've got to help them."

"That's exactly what they want. It's a trap!" The Doctor yelled,

"I don't care." Martha said before getting in her car and the Doctor getting in next to her, Jack and Alyssa getting in the back. Martha called her sister only for her to get taken too "What's happening? Tish! It's your fault. It's all your fault!" Martha said yelling at the Doctor. They soon reached Martha's mother's home only for them to watch them being escorted into a jail van. The Soldiers were about to fire and did but Martha drove out of there before the bullets could hit them. Only one bullet managed to hit the rearview window and shattered it. "The only place he can go planet Earth. Great!"

"Martha listen to me. Do as I say. We've got to ditch this car. Pullover. Right now!" Jack said, Martha soon did what he said and pulled over under a bridge. Martha walked over to Alyssa and slapped her

"You knew everything that was going on and what was going to happen why didn't you stop it!" She yelled, Alyssa said nothing just stared at the girl in shock. She was pulled away from her by Jack

"Oh don't you dare blame her, she can't tell us anything about the events and she can't change anything that big due to paradoxes and trust me you do not want to deal with a paradox." The Doctor almost yelled, Martha still glared at Alyssa as she followed the others and called her brother Leo, who surprisingly had not been taken

"Leo! Oh, thank God. Leo, you got to listen to me. Where are you?" Martha said,

"I'm in Brighton. Yeah, we came down with Boxer. Did you see that Saxon thing on the telly?" Leo said,

"Leo, just listen to me. Don't go home."

"I'm telling you. Don't phone Mum or Dad or Tish. You've got to hide."

"Shut up."

"On my life."

"You've got to trust me. Go to Boxer's. Stay with him. Don't tell anyone. Just hide." Martha said

"Ooo, a nice little game of Hide and seek. I love that. But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other. Must be, what, one hundred trillion years?" The Master said who was listening

"Let them go, Saxon. Do you hear me! Let them go!" Martha said, causing Alyssa and The Doctor to whip around take her phone

"I'm here." He said,

"Doctor."

"Master." He said in greetings

"I like it when you use my name." the Master said,

"You chose it, Psychiatrist's field day." The Doctor said

"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?" the Master said

"So, Prime Minister, then." The Doctor said,

" I know. It's good, isn't it?"

"Who are those creatures? Because there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made up name, like the Bogeyman." The Doctor said, trying to get at least some idea on what the Master was planning.

"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids Back home. Where is it, Doctor?" The Master said, asking about Gallifrey

"Gone." The Doctor said,

"How can Gallifrey be gone?"

"It burnt."

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead. And the Daleks, more or less. What happened to you?"

"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because I was so scared." The Master said, explaining how he survived the war.

"I know." The Doctor said,

"All of them? But not you, which must mean" The Master said, only to be interrupted by The Doctor

"I was the only one who could end it. And I tried. I did. I tried everything." The Doctor said sitting down, Alyssa sat down beside him but said nothing as The Doctor put him on Speaker so she could hear the conversation as well. Martha and Jack were nowhere near them.

"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilizations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?" The Master said,

"Stop it!"

"You must have been like God." The Master said,

"We've been alone ever since," the Doctor said, mentioning Alyssa, "But not anymore. Don't you see? All we've got is each other."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We can fight across the constellations if that's what you want, but not on Earth."

"Too late."

"Why do you say that?"

"The drumming. Can't you hear it? I thought it would stop, but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."

"I could help you. Please, let me help."

"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen. Here come the drums. Here come the drums." The Master said, and Alyssa looked at a man who suddenly started tapping a four-beat rhythm

"What have you done? Tell me how you've done this. What are those creatures? Tell me!" The Doctor said getting up and walking towards the man who was tapping the Four-beat Rhythm. Where some TV's were in a window, taking the call off of speaker mode.

"Ooo, look. You're on TV." The Master said

"Stop it. Answer me."

"No, really. You're on telly. You and your little band, which, By the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are." The Master said when the screen showed pictures of the Doctor, Martha, and Jack. but not of Alyssa. "Known as the Captain. They are known to be armed and extremely dangerous."

"You're public enemies number one, two and three. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them." The Doctor looked at Martha and Jack who were standing a couple feet away from them and gestured them to join her. Alyssa looked up at a Camera and, the Master, who was sitting in the Council room while the conversation went on, froze for a tiny second before saying. " Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?" The Doctor did exactly that and saw the Camera.

"He can see us." He said taking out his Sonic Screwdriver and destroying the Camera "Oh, you public menace. Better start running. Go on, run." The Doctor lowered the phone from his ear and said: "He's got control of everything."

"What do we do?" Martha said,

"We've got nowhere to go."

"Doctor we need to run," Alyssa said, the Doctor agreed with her and they started running.

The group took refuge in an old warehouse, where they spent most of the day there. The Doctor planning what to do to stop the Master. Martha who had gone to get food for the group returned. "How was it?" Jack said, who was waiting for her.

"I don't think anyone saw me. Anything new?"

"I've got this tuned to government wavelengths so we can follow what Saxon's doing," Jack said gesturing to his watch.

"Yeah, I meant about my family." Martha said,

"It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning. Tell you what, though. No mention of Leo." The Doctor said who was looking at a laptop, Alyssa was sitting by him looking at the computer and said: "Martha I know you are mad at me for not telling you what was going to happen but I promise you, none of your family is going to die." Martha looked at Alyssa and nodded thankfully. Jack walked over and sat down and asked "So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"

"And what is he to you? Like a colleague or" Martha asked and got interrupted by the Doctor "A friend, at first."

"I thought you were going to say he was your secret brother or something." Martha said, Alyssa laughed and said: "You've been watching too much TV."

"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect."Jack,

"Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was. It was beautiful. They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords, the oldest and most mighty race in the universe, looking down on the galaxies below. Sworn never to interfere, only to watch. Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad. I don't know."

"What about you?" Jack asked, about whether or not he ran away, got inspired or went mad

"Oh, the ones that ran away, I never stopped." The Doctor said, then Jack's bracelet beeps

"Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognize it." Jack said,

"Patch it through to the laptop." The Doctor said ready to play whatever they got.

" Um Doctor, Jack may have not told you the complete truth. But you can't get mad at him because you don't know the complete truth about what he has done." Alyssa said as the Torchwood logo appeared on the laptop. The Doctor looked up at Jack mad that he was apart of Torchwood

"I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now." Jack said,

"Everything Torchwood did, and you're part of it?" The Doctor said still a bit angry that he was apart of Torchwood.

"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it, I changed it, and when I did that, I did it for you in your honor." Jack said and the Doctor hit play and a female appeared on the screen.

"If I haven't returned to my desk by twenty-two hundred, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means if you're watching this, then I'm. Anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network." The Video changed to a screen that had a bunch of satellites that surrounded Earth.

"Everyone's got Arch-angel, The Master launched it. if you were planning on getting a position in the government you would use a network to hypnotize people. It's a mobile phone network that's worldwide." Alyssa said, and the Doctor took out Martha's phone and used his sonic Screwdriver on it

"It's in the phones! Oh, I said he was a hypnotist. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." The Doctor said and then tapped it on the table and it started playing the Four-beat Rhythm. "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere, ticking away in the subconscious."

"What is it, mind control?" Martha asked

"No mind control takes something else than a rhythm, well Doctor if you want to explain it," Alyssa said

"It's subtler than that. Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code, Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world. Oh, yes! That's how he hid himself from me because I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal canceled him out." The Doctor said,

"Any way you can stop it?" Jack said

"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it." The Doctor said

"And we can fight back," Martha said, Alyssa smiled

"Oh, yes." The Doctor said,

The Doctor took apart, Martha's phone, Laptop and started putting something on the back of each of the keys they had.

"Three Tardis keys. Three pieces of the Tardis, all with low-level perception properties because the Tardis is designed to blend in. Well, sort of. But now, the Archangel Network's got a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and Martha, look at me. You can see me, yes?" The Doctor said, grabbing his key and backing away.

"Yes," Martha said, and then the Doctor put the key over his neck

"What about now?" The Doctor said, Martha tried to look at him but her gaze kept going to the side. "No, I'm here. Look at me." The Doctor said, waving his hand, and Martha's gaze snapped back to his only to almost go to the side again

"it's like I know you're there, but I don't want to know." Martha said,

"And back again. See" the Doctor took off the key and rushed to the table giving everyone a key "It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed. Oh, I know what it's like. It's like, it's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist. That's what it's like. Come on." Alyssa smiled as she followed the Doctor, slipping on the key. They soon left the Warehouse

"Don't run, don't shout. Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows." The Doctor said,

"Like ghosts," Jack said,

"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts." The Doctor said reaching down and taking Alyssa's hand keeping her by his side.

The group then went to an airstrip where they knew the Master was and watched as he talked to the president of the United States about how they were going to take the address since the Master didn't inform the world before saying his address. The President soon left, and the master looked directly at the group before walking away. The Master was about to get into a car when a prison van came in and Martha's family was brought out

"Ha ha ha! Hi, guys!" The Master said and ran over to them to mock them a bit.

"Oh my god," Martha said, about to walk forward to stop him. Alyssa grabbed Martha's arm and pulled her back

"they will be fine, trust me." Alyssa said,

"I'm going to kill him," Martha said, angry about what the Master was doing to her family "What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack said,

"Now that sounds like Torchwood." The Doctor said looking at Jack out of the corner of his eye "Still a good plan."

"He's a Time Lord, which makes him our responsibility. I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him." The Doctor said, referencing himself and Alyssa. Who was watching the Master with great sadness on her face.

"Aircraft carrier Valiant. It's a UNIT ship at fifty-eight point two north, ten point oh two east."

"How do we get on board?" Martha asked as Alyssa typed the Coordinates onto her Vortex Manipulator. Which had always worked as a teleport, because the older Doctor gave it to her knowing why she needed it.

"Does that thing work as a teleport?" The Doctor said,

"Since you revamped it, yeah. Coordinates set." The three grabbed the Vortex Manipulator and teleported on board the Valiant, Alyssa following close behind.

They soon were on board the valiant, where they were in the sky and it was dawn. The group stops running when the Doctor stopped running suddenly and looked around"We've no time for sightseeing." Jack said, but the Doctor instantly shushed him

"Can't you hear it?" The Doctor said,

"Hear what?" Jack asked confused,

"Doctor, my family's on board." Martha said trying to get the group moving again so they could help them.

"He's hearing the Tardis," Alyssa said, the Doctor smiled down at Alyssa and said

"Brilliant this way." Before taking off and the others following. the group ran down a hallway and opened a door to see the Tardis "Oh, at last!" The Doctor said rushing towards it. "What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack said before the group ran in only to see the beautiful ship red and sounding almost like it was sick "What the hell's he done?" Jack asked, "Don't touch it." The Doctor said looking at the console which was now just a big cylinder of metal going to the ceiling. "What's he done though? Sounds like it's sick." Martha said, The Doctor then put together what the Master did to it and said: " It can't be." Running forward and around the cylinder "No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be." Alyssa looked at it, sad and said: "Oh, beautiful girl what has he done to you."

"Doctor, what is it?" Martha asked,

"He's cannibalized the Tardis."

"Is this what I think it is?" Jack asked, slowly figuring out what he's done "It's a paradox machine." The Doctor leaned down by a dial and said "As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past eight."

"First contact is at eight, then two minutes later"

"What's it for? What does a paradox machine do?" Martha asked,

"More important, can you stop it?" Jack said

"Not till I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."

"Then we've got to get to the Master," Martha said,

"Yeah. How are we going to stop him?" Jack said,"Oh, I'm sorry did we forget to mention? The Doctor has a way he always comes up with a plan." Alyssa said smiling up at the Doctor.

The group then went to the flight deck and entered right when the address had started. They stood by the wall and watched as the President introduced the Toclafrane. Where Jack asked, "This plan, you going to tell us?"

"If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert. If they stop me you've got a key." The Doctor said, saying that he failed for them to try. Which they all agreed to try. They turned to the front where four spheres appeared

"My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President-Elect of the United States of America, and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon." the President said

"You're not the Master." One of the Spheres with a male voice, said talking about the Master.

"We like the Mister Master." One of the other spheres with a female voice said,

"We don't like you." The Second Male Sphere said Winters who was obviously confused watched the Sphere's "can be master if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will." he said,

"Man is stupid." The Second male sphere said, "Master is our friend." The other male Sphere said. "Master is our friend."

"Where's my Master, pretty please?" The Female said, finally the Master jumped up and went to the front,

"Oh, all right then. It's me. Tada! Sorry, sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy." the Master said,

"Saxon, what are you talking about?" Winters said,

"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam, starting with you. Kill him." The master said and one of the Spheres took out their weapon and shot Winters disintegrating him Alyssa watched as chaos erupted around him, everyone trying to get out of the room. The Master ran up the stairs and said into the Camera "Now then, peoples of the Earth. Please attend carefully." The Doctor ripped off his key to get the Master but two guards grabbed him. "We meet at last, Doctor. Oh, ho. I love saying that." The Master said,

"Stop it! Stop it now!" The Doctor yelled fighting against the guards that were holding him.

"As if a perception filter's going to work on me. And look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which." The Master said referencing Jack and Martha, Jack ran forward but the Master shot him and he fell to the floor dead. The Master then turned to Alyssa and walked down the stairs and towards her. "And you, dear sister, what are you doing with the Doctor?"

"What," Alyssa whispered as the Master put his hands on her shoulder,

"Tanda, please tell me you know who I am." The Master said, but she just whispered what again. The Master sighed and gestured for a guard to come forward. The Master then took his hands off her shoulder and said: "Take her to my office." Alyssa's arms were grabbed as she was forced back towards the door. She fought against him and yelled the Doctor's name only for him to struggle harder to get to her. Alyssa was soon pulled out of the room and away from the Doctor.